Gundam SEED Destiny: Kira

by Tellemicus Sundance

He had no memory, found drifting amongst the final battlefield. Two years of peace have passed since that day, unrest and distrust are again rising. This is the story on how he recovers what he lost, what he forgot, and what he never knew he had. DISCONTINUED

11. Differences of Brutality and Necessity

Gundam SEED Destiny
Kira
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Phase 11: Differences of Brutality and Necessity

November 20, 73 CE
Bandar-e Anzali, Iran
6:43pm

The day after he'd had that brief conversation with that little girl and her mother in the diner, Akira had been feeling his sixth sense tingling even more vibrantly than it had been since he entered the port town. It had taken some careful maneuvering on his part because his stalkers were surprisingly skilled at remaining unobtrusive to his wandering eyes. There were easily six different people following and watching him at all times that day until he finally managed to corner one in a hardware store.

Letting out a sigh, Akira resisted the urge to make any snide comments about how utterly ridiculous this entire situation was. How he gone from seemingly shopping for a few new sets of tools to being handcuffed, blindfolded, and led through a secret underground tunnel system so quickly? And he knew for a fact that that's where he currently was due to the cool, damp air, the smell of mud and dirt that seemed to cling to the walls, as well as the uneven surface for which he walked upon.

Thanks to his strange sixth sense, despite being blindfolded, he could still almost 'see' where he was going with an almost disturbing clarity. In front of him he could vaguely sense a trio of armed men. He couldn't really 'see' necessarily, but he could sense their slight hostility. This caused a vague sense of danger, alerting him to where they were in reference to himself. The same could be said about the other trio of armed locals behind, who were keeping their weapons at the ready as he was led through the twisting maze of the underground tunnels.

However, Akira had quickly realized that they were attempting to confuse him. He could tell that they were leading him in circles, thanks again to his strange awareness. He knew this because not only could he sense their hostility at him, but he could also feel slight changes in wind and air pressure whenever they passed a particular set of corridors.

Finally, after what must've been ten minutes, they reached a set of doors. Once inside, the blindfold was removed and he once again had to resist making a snide comment. The room only had a single light which hung in the center, over the only table and a pair of chairs. There were no windows and there was no possible exit except for the door he'd come through. Sitting at the opposite end of the table was the interrogator to match the scene, looking like he should've belonged in some cliché spy film; a hard-faced breaded man with a deep scowl of suspicion.

"So you're the young man I've been hearing so much about," the man said without an introduction as Akira was forcefully seated into the nearest chair. "Akira Iyadomi."

"What do you want?" Akira asked in a neutral voice. "I have things to do and places to go. I do not have time to waste being interrogated like a common criminal."

"You should show some respect to your superiors," one of the guards snapped as they took up positions along to the side of the table and around Akira.

"Where is your Gundam, boy?" the breaded man demanded, his gaze not wavering from Akira's face.

Looking the man straight in the eye, Akira stretched out his awareness. He couldn't sense any emotions, but that sense of hostility that was slowly causing his danger sense to go haywire seemed to dampen slightly as they waited for his answer. "A Gundam? What makes you think that I even have one of those?"

"Don't play the fool, Iyadomi," the man barked, anger beginning to blossom inside him. "We all know you were the pilot of the Neo Freedom when Junius 7 fell."

"How do you know that?" Akira asked, his gaze deceivingly annoyed as he stared at breaded individual. "And just who are you anyway?"

"ZAFT is doing its best to cover-up all information regarding the Neo Freedom," the man said dismissively. "But the Alliance spies in ZAFT are very good at their work. It was a simple matter for some of us here to start hearing rumors about the legendary Freedom being piloted by a dead ZAFT soldier. We also know that you've been raiding and destroying Alliance factories and outposts throughout Eurasia for the past month… And you can call me Ahmed if you must."

Akira wasn't sure if he was angry at the Alliance for spreading rumors or at ZAFT for failing to keep his alias identity a secret. That would mean that he'd have to start establishing whole new identities in order for whenever he had to visit a city or town, so no one would jump to conclusions like these people had.

"Where is your Gundam?" Ahmed repeated his original question. "I know you still have it and that you are fighting to takedown the wretched Alliance, like the rest of us. We need that Gundam, more than anywhere else. And I know that you know this just as well as we do."

"You want me to destroy the Lohengrin," Akira said bluntly, a small frown on his face. "Unless I'm mistaken, one of your people already has plans to bring ZAFT in. Why do you want me to do your dirty work when you've already allied yourselves with someone else?"

Ahmed's frown was his only outward expression. However, Akira's special awareness easily picked up on a sudden spike of danger. He must've pissed them off with that last comment. "While it is true that young Coniel is going to be our representative and will deliver some crucial data to the ZAFT task force, not all of us are willing to pin all our hopes on their success. As the Alliance has already demonstrated, they are quite capable of defending the Lohengrin with deadly force. We want an ace ready to come into play if things start to go badly."

Akira was silent for a moment as he stared at his interrogator. Ahmed's firm gaze made it clear that he believed in what he said. He certainly hoped that ZAFT would triumph in the battle now that they were being given some new information, but he was fearful for his family and people in case things went wrong. The guards all seemed to mirror his sentiments to a small degree as well.

"You believe that destroying the Lohengrin will cripple the Alliance power here," Akira said, resting his still-cuffed hands upon the table as he lowered his gaze. "And that once ZAFT is able to destroy Suez, you will be able to live in peace… That once ZAFT has completely destroyed the Alliance's military strength, they will return to the PLANTs and you will simply carry on living your lives."

"Where are you going with this?" Ahmed asked, his frown deepening.

"Once the Earth Alliance has been destroyed, Chairman Gilbert Durandal will become the most powerful man in the world. Do you believe that the man will simply give up all that power once he's tasted what he can do with it? Power corrupts even the purest of souls; history has shown that repeatedly throughout its course."

"He's spouting the same crap that Coniel told us about," one of the guards said suddenly, scowling in anger. "Chairman Durandal is a good man and the PLANTs aren't to blame for this stupid war!"

"Do you really believe that?" Akira asked in a quiet voice, glancing at the speaker with a hard gaze in his false-blue eyes. Seeing the man's unwavering resolve was so obvious that even if Akira had been blindfolded it would've been visible. "Why do you believe that? Is it because he's got a fake Lacus Clyne supporting his every move? Is it because he said that he didn't want to acquire new territory, despite sending more ZAFT forces to Earth? Or is it because you simply just want to follow a man who will make tough decisions for you and will have others do the work for you?"

Anger was radiating from each of the men in the room, though at differing levels and intensity. "Are you saying that you're a supporter of the Atlantic Federation?" one of the other guards demanded hotly

"I fight for neither ZAFT nor the Earth Alliance," Akira replied, turning his gaze back to Ahmed, who had remained silent for the past few moments. "While I admit that the Earth Alliance is playing the role of the bad guy quite well at the moment, I'm not going to join the ZAFT campaign of discreetly conquering the world. I'm only trying to end the war while saving as many lives as possible, be it ZAFT or Alliance, civilian or soldier."

"I see," Ahmed said, silencing any comments that the guards had likely been planning to make. He turned and gazed unseeingly to the side, no doubt in deep thought. After a moment of careful thinking, he turned back to Akira with a calculating gaze in his eyes. "I understand your point of view, Mr. Iyadomi… However, I'm sure that many others will not. They will eventually hunt you down and execute you like a common war criminal. In the end, you will have accomplished nothing."

Akira's gaze was passionately resolute. "If I must become the target of Durandal and the Alliance's aggressions, then so be it. I can take care of myself just fine. And as long as there are people like you in this world, there is always hope for a brighter future."

There was a flicker of a smile on the man's face for a brief second. But quickly reminding himself of his task at hand, the man said, "So if you're not here to destroy the Lohengrin, why are you here in our humble little town, Mr. Iyadomi?"

"I may not support ZAFT or Durandal," Akira said bluntly, "but I will not allow the Alliance's actions here to you people go unpunished. And I plan to punish them dearly."

"What do you have in mind?" the man said, his shaggy eyebrows rising slightly in interest. "Perhaps we could be of assistance?"

Akira finally allowed a small smile to cross his face. "Well, I have been in the market of looking for some high-explosives. If you have any…"

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

November 20, 73 CE
Bandar-e Anzali, Iran
7:15pm

In the quickly darkening hours of the evening, all was as peaceful as a militarily-overrun town could be. The citizens went about their usual lives, trying their utmost to avoid the soldiers who had practically conquered their home. The soldiers, mostly officers stationed at the Lohengrin Gate, merely drove back to their current residence. These few soldiers were among the more 'dangerously privileged' group when compared to what the infantry had to deal with. They were allowed to purchase temporary living quarters in the town, which were much more comfortable than any barracks building. However, what they gained in comfort, they lost in security. Several of these officers had been assaulted and their dwellings ransacked or destroyed during the first ZAFT attack on the Lohengrin Gate. But now that the Alliance had shown how much better equipped it was to fight a war with Coordinators, the officers lived with much less fear of returning to their apartments to find it broken into or vandalized. The citizens now knew better than to do such things.

This sense of renewed security also made the soldiers complacent. That was how Akira had been able to easily enter one apartment after another. But despite his best efforts with the computers, he couldn't find what he was looking for. Either the officers weren't allowed to bring their work home with them, or they kept their work on a ghost drive which they carried with them at all times.

That was why Akira now lounged out in the hallway of one apartment complex, seemingly reading a newspaper. The one he had located seemed to be the residence of a Captain or Major who had a high-security clearance in Lohengrin Gate. As he watched a woman now stop at the doorway and fumble for a set of keys, Akira discreetly folded the newspaper and returned it to the small hallway stand. Moving forward unhurriedly, he watched as the woman entered her apartment.

There came a small snap, followed by hissing air and a cry of distress. The woman seemed to fumble and stumble about in her apartment as a slight cloud of smoke began to creep out from the crack of the doorway. There came a gentle set of thumps and a moment later, all was silent. Waiting a few moments nearby, Akira quickly surveyed his surroundings. No one seemed to have noticed what had just occurred in the officer's apartment and the hallway was empty.

Slipping into her still-unlocked apartment, Akira silently shut and locked the door behind him. The sleeping gas booby-trap he'd left had done its work perfectly. The woman, a Major, was sprawled on the floor only a few short meters away with a few lingering puffs of the gas quickly dissipating. Moving forward, he carefully inspected her to be sure that she wasn't faking it. However, without even a tingle of warning from his danger sense and the steady rise of her chest told him that she was indeed asleep.

Picking the Major up, he gently laid her down on a nearby couch. Then he went digging through her bag. Besides several little items that he set aside for later examination, he found just what he was hoping for: a standard issue military ghost drive. Quickly booting up her computer, he easily hacked her password and plugged in the drive. Hacking into the ghost drive proved to be an interesting challenge, but he managed it. With all the information he found, with a surprising little bonus, he was now properly equipped for his task.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

November 20, 73 CE
Harbor, Bandar-e Anzali
7:38pm

Ducking behind the dumpster in the alley he was hiding in, Akira pressed the detonator. An instant later, a loud explosion tore up the quiet evening in the town. The harbor warehouse on the east side of the port was suddenly blown to pieces in a huge fireball. Almost immediately afterwards, personnel began racing over to see what had happened and to douse the fires before they could spread to any nearby buildings.

Akira let a small smile of appreciation cross his face. It would seem that his trust in the rebellious locals hadn't been misplaced. Shortly after they begun discussing his purchasing of several IEDs, Ahmed had requested that he and his men aid Akira in whatever he was attempting to do, so long as it drove the Alliance out of their town. While Akira didn't trust them to be of much help in hacking computer databases and networks, they certainly knew the essentials for building and placing IEDs. He'd requested that they plant some in one of the Alliance warehouses in the harbor, his only explanation being that it would be a crucial stepping stone to the destruction of the Lohengrin.

And now, as he watched from his hiding place, his theory had been proven correct. A considerable number of engineers and technicians ran out of the mobile suits' hangar. He easily spotted the pilots being among that crowd and couldn't help but shake his head in slight disbelief. The Alliance either picked real morons to be pilots or those two needed to be harshly retrained. A soldier must never ever abandon his post!

Moving forward silently, he slipped into the hangar and quickly surveyed his surroundings. He couldn't help but blink slightly in surprise at what he saw. Standing on opposing sides, facing one another, were a pair of Dagger L mobile suits, and not the Strike Daggers like he'd previously researched. Shaking himself out of his surprise, he quickly noticed that one of them wore the Jet Striker pack, with its shield and beam rifle hanging from a rack nearby. The other Dagger wore the Dopplehorn Striker pack, also with its shield on a rack. It took only a moment of consideration before Akira boarded the Jet Dagger.

Bring up its OS, Akira instantly began rewriting it. "Upgrade the calibrations by thirteen percent. Reset the CPG, update the control modules to the quasi-cortex molecular ion pump. Rebuild neural linkage network thirty percent, upgrade meta-motor cortex parameters twenty-nine percent, restart forward feed, transfer functions. Correct for eighty-one percent hydraulic deviate. Systems online."

That would have to do for now. With the drastically different systems and units built into the common Alliance mobile suit, Akira would be lucky if he didn't shatter any more than seventeen of the ion pumps or tear the hydraulics to pieces due to his faster reflexes.

Activating the Jet Dagger L, Akira quickly grabbed its shield and beam rifle from their racks. Pulling free of the restraints, he walked several steps forward and jabbed the shield violently into the Dopplehorn Dagger L's head piece, completely crushing it and any chances of it pursuing him. Turning, he walked the Dagger out of the hangar. It wasn't until moments after it took flight that an alarm was sounded throughout the harbor. That meant that Akira had just a few minutes before he was met by any interceptor forces that Lohengrin Gate might send.

For the umpteenth time, Akira couldn't help but wish that he could've used the Neo Freedom for this fight. But due to a crucial mechanical error that Akira had accidentally caused while trying to upgrade it, the Freedom wouldn't be able to properly fight back with any real degree of success. This Jet Dagger's poor supply of weaponry and the battery power alone would drastically limit his fighting potential. He would have to focus on doing as much damage as quickly as possible, not long and drawn out battles, so that he would have enough power to complete his objective.

Akira was just over halfway to his objective when his danger sense began to prickle and an alarm sounded on the console. Bringing up a screen, he spotted a trio of Jet Dagger Ls flying towards him with their rifles raised threateningly.

"Attention, Jet Dagger!" a hard voice growled over the radio. "Land immediately or we will be forced to shoot you down! Do you copy? Land immediately!"

"No can do," Akira replied simply before shutting down the radio and turning to face his opponents. He quickly launched a trio of Würger missiles at the mobile suits. As they scattered, he launched himself directly for the closest one. The Jet Dagger never had a chance to dodge him as it was still trying to destroy the Würger. Snatching a beam saber, Akira hacked the left arm and head piece clean off, as well as heavily damaging the Jet Striker. The ruined Dagger L didn't explode as it fell to the ground, but the Jet Striker did when it was hit by the missile.

A pair of explosions to the side drew Akira's attention. One of the Jet Daggers had lost its head piece where the missile had struck it and was quickly descending to the earth below. The other Dagger had managed to evade and destroy the missile. However, its back was to Akira, who instantly switched his saber for the rifle. One shot destroyed the Striker pack and sent the Dagger L falling to the earth, mostly undamaged.

Smiling slightly, Akira quickly turned and resumed his earlier flight path. Too bad the rest of this fight isn't going to be that easy, he thought spitefully.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

November 20, 73 CE
Lohengrin Gate
7:57pm

Colonel Terry had never been one to lose control of his temper. Indeed, when he had been but a mere child, he never threw a temper tantrum or started fights with bullies he knew he had no chance of winning against. Instead, he had always focused himself into achieving his revenge in some other form. Like plotting ways of getting those who'd wronged him into great amounts of trouble. It was thanks to this coldhearted and utterly focused ruthlessness that he had been able to rapidly climb the ranks in the military to reach his current post. However, for all his training and habits, Terry was very quickly finding himself reaching a level that had never occurred to him before.

When the alert from the harbor had reached them, a report of the Jet Dagger stationed there being stolen and the Dopplehorn Dagger being critically damaged, he had felt very little concern over the issue. It had been a simple matter of tracking the stolen Dagger as it flew away from the harbor and towards a small mountain not even six kilometers from Lohengrin Gate. He knew he should've started feeling concerned at that point, but he didn't. After all, what could a single Jet Dagger do, especially one that was probably being piloted by one of those untrained rebels?

However, the fact that the pilot was clearly flying towards one of the secret power regulation stations did cause Colonel Terry to dispatch a trio of Daggers to intercept it. He figured that would've been more than enough since his men were all highly-trained soldiers. It was to his great surprise that the stolen Jet Dagger had been able to destroy all three Daggers within a few moments of one another. Unprepared, the Jet Dagger arrived and destroyed the regulation station completely unopposed.

With the regulation station's destruction, the entire Lohengrin Gate gave an almost audible whine as a considerable portion of its power supply was suddenly cut off. When his radar officer detected the Jet Dagger now flying towards the second regulation station, Terry had quickly ordered seven of their Daggers to intercept and destroy the enemy at all cost. This battle lasted a bit longer, but the result was the same. The stolen Jet Dagger utterly crushed its opponents and continued on to the regulation station.

It was at this point that Colonel Terry finally realized the truth. The pilot of that Jet Dagger was no ordinary person. He had just destroyed a third of their defense force and reduced the Gate's power reserves by forty-three percent! Even if the remainder of his mobile suits were able to destroy the Jet Dagger now, the damage done would severely cripple their operations until repairs were made. With fifty-three percent of its power available, it would drastically cut down the Lohengrin's recharge cycle and lower its combat effectiveness critically!

"Colonel!" the radar officer cried suddenly. "Enemy mobile suit is heading towards the regulation station of Section 3, Area 11!"

If the pilot was able to destroy that station as well, the Lohengrin Gate would be reduced by an additional twenty-seven percent of reserve power! And even with the Gate's emergency generators running at full power, there wouldn't even be enough to fire the Lohengrin!

Giving into his temper for the first time in his life, Terry turned and snapped out, "Deploy the Gells-Ghe and the Windam team! I want that mobile suit destroyedon the double!"

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

2 kilometers west of Lohengrin Gate
8:01pm

Seeing the final station up ahead of him, Akira almost let out a sigh of relief. Akira's mobile suit was almost out of power and had gained some rather serious damage due to the large battle he'd been involved in. But, however strangely it may have seemed, none of it was caused by the enemies he'd fought against.

All fifteen ion pumps in the right arm had ruptured, causing the hydraulics to have no recoil cushion. The friction quickly ground the gears smooth, resulting in the entire appendage hanging lifelessly to the side. There were also no more than four functional pumps in each of the remaining limbs. The primary maneuvering thrusters had been unable to keep up with Kira's almost inhuman reflexes. Due to the immense G-forces put upon them, as well as with an inferior cooling system, most had blown themselves out and were leaving a noticeable trailing of smoke behind him. The controls of the cockpit themselves were almost shot, a side-effect of the loss of the ion pumps since the worn gears and braces could no longer adequately grip themselves.

And while the Jet Striker pack itself was a bit twisted and bent out of shape because of the high-speed maneuvers and even higher degrees of stress he'd put it through, the firing controls to the seven remaining missiles he had still worked properly. Had they not, he would've been forced to self-destruct the Dagger at the station itself. But as it was, that wouldn't be necessary.

With a small sigh of relief, he let fly his final barrage of missiles. They flew fast and true, impacting heavily against the small surface feature that held the power conduits. The numerous explosions ripped the conduits apart and splattered the surrounding area with a waterfall of sparks and burning gases.

"Mission complete," he muttered to himself.

An alarm caught his attention as an image appeared on the screen. He counted no less than ten Jet Windams and the Lohengrin Gate's sole mobile armor defense, the Gells-Ghe. The commander of the Gate must've been desperate, furious, or to have sent that after him! But they were still a fair distance away; he should be able to escape in time.

Turning the staggering Dagger away from the destruction that it had just wrought, he boosted the thrusters to the highest levels he could safely do with the mobile suit in its current condition. As he flew away, he was constantly looking around for something to aid in his escape. There must be a cave or at least a small stream nearby he could use to hide in. There!

Dropping altitude quickly, Akira didn't bother trying to land daintily. The ruined Dagger L landed roughly on its feet. But because of the angle of which it landed on, as well as the damage inside the legs, the suit collapsed on its knees with its face digging a deep trough in the dirt as it slid to a halt. Inside the cockpit, Akira was violently jostled around, even with the safety belts he was wearing.

As the suit came to a halt, he hit the emergency eject button and discarded the safety harness. Dropping awkwardly to the ground, he staggered to his feet and ran towards the stream that was no less than thirty meters away. Ignoring the fact that his shoes would be soggy for hours afterwards, Akira dove under its surface as the Jet Dagger L self-destructed behind him.

Even without his danger sense to warn him, he could tell that the Windam pilots and Gells-Ghe were searching for him. But since the sun had long since set, their visibility was rather limited in the mountainous canyons of the region. And even if they were using infrared, the cool water he was in was perfect to disguise and lower his body heat. Thus he swam unhampered with the current to speed his progress for the next half hour, only coming to the surface for air before submerging again.

And he continued to swim in the stream until he finally felt his danger sense all but disappear.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

November 21, 73 CE
33 miles south of Lohengrin Gate
7:10am

Coniel drove the buggy along the top of the cliff with all the ease of an experienced adult driver. Flying a short distance over her small head was the massive ZAFT warship of Minerva, with its cargo hatch descending towards the ground, waiting for her drive up on it. It was with a great deal of relief that she finally mounted the hatch and was hoisted into the innards of the monstrous warship.

Only after the hatch had sealed itself did Coniel remover her goggles and the scarf protecting her face from the sand and grit of the desert climate. Quickly gathering her small bag from the back of the buggy and climbing out of the small vehicle, she dusted herself off and turned towards her welcoming committee. There was a man in the standard ZAFT black uniform of an officer and a very cute blue-haired young man in a purple flight suit standing next to him.

"Hello there," the young man greeted with a kind smile on his face. "I'm Athrun Zala and this is Deputy Captain Trine. And who are you?"

"I'm Coniel," she said simply. "Thank you for letting me come and help out."

Smiling that small smile of his, Commander Zala nodded as he motioned her towards the doorway. "Not at all. Actually I'd like to thank you on the behalf of the entire crew for coming to help us. This isn't going to be an easy operation."

They walked in relative silence through the large ship. Coniel wasn't certain how far they'd walked, but she had very easily lost her way through the various corridors that they'd taken. Even though Zala and Trine walked with a confidence of clearly knowing the interior well enough to travel it blindfolded, Coniel couldn't help but to slightly marvel at its sheer sophistication and the feeling of absolute power. Was this what all warships felt like when you walked through them?

It wasn't until they reached the debriefing room that Coniel began to lose her faith in the ZAFT forces. While Coniel would freely and openly admit to not knowing the first thing about how ZAFT or any military force operated, how could they have possibly allowed such a rude and undisciplined individual as that red-eyed loudmouth in the red flight suit to enlist was beyond her understanding. His loud boasts and childish attitude certainly didn't do much to soothe Coniel's fears, especially when she learned that he was going to be the one who flew through the cave! In fact, she was quickly coming to believe that he was going to fatally screw up the mission. The fact that Commander Zala, who was undoubtedly very skilled since he was the Commander, was resolute in his decision to have this…pilot fly the mission did not renew even a candle's flicker of her former faith of ZAFT in the boy.

It was only after she'd informed the gathered pilots about the semi-secret cave tunnel that led to the Lohengrin cannon that she felt it was time to add in some extra facts that she'd only learned a few short hours ago.

"There's something else I think you should all be aware of," she said, regaining all the pilots' attentions. "Early last night, something happened at the Gate. I don't know the full details, but one of my friends told me that some lunatic attacked the Gate by himself. He said something about that lunatic damaging the Lohengrin's power source so badly that it might not have enough juice to even fire until it's repaired. The entire base has been in an uproar ever since."

Now that got their attention.

"Say what?!" the loudmouth demanded. "Then what's the point of us even going in there?!"

"It's because we don't want them to repair whatever damage has been done," Athrun answered, quickly overcoming his own surprise and thinking rationally once again. "And as long as the positron cannon is still there, the Alliance will continue to use this route. Because we don't know the extent of the damage done, we will continue with this strategy. We won't let them continue to exploit this area."

Athrun's little speech not only silenced any lingering questions and doubts about Coniel's claims, but it also solidified the numerous pilots' resolve to complete the original mission. Picking up where he'd originally left off, the young Commander continued with their basic plan of attack. Despite the slight reassurance she felt from Athrun's words, Coniel had quickly retreated to the side of the room where she stared intently at the boy. She couldn't help but hope that if she glared at him hard enough, he might pull a miracle out of the large sack of hot air he seemed to be made of. When the meeting was over and the pilots were dismissed to prep their respective machines, Coniel was once again guided back through the large warship towards where she'd left her buggy.

"I understand that you're worried about your people," Athrun said, hoping to at least raise her hopes slightly. "You don't need to worry. I promise you that we'll succeed, and that Shinn will be able to pull this off successfully."

Glancing up at the young Commander, Coniel's frown didn't waver in the least. Turning her attention to the floor, she muttered out quiet, "I knew I should've gone looking for Akira."

If Athrun hadn't been a Coordinator, he most certainly wouldn't have been able to hear that whispered statement. As it was, he came to an instant halt as he stared down at the girl intently. "Akira…Akira Iyadomi? How do you know about him? …You mean he's here with the Neo Freedom?!"

She looked up at the young man with a slightly surprised expression. Honestly, how could Coordinators' hearing be that good?! Coniel nodded slowly as she answered, "Th-The Alliance officers in my town have been talking about them ever since Junius 7. And I—uh—I don't know about the Freedom, but there was definitely an Akira Iyadomi in my hometown for the past few days."

"Did you talk to him?!" Athrun asked with a very strange tone in his voice. It was somewhere between impatient demanding and fearful begging. "What did he say?! What's he trying to accomplish by attacking the Earth Alliance?! Has he seen Lacus yet?!"

Coniel couldn't help but blink up at the young man as he suddenly turned demanding and yearning in comparison to the previously cool and calm Commander he had been. "Uh…I only spoke to him for a little bit two days ago. He had been saying some pretty ridiculous things, so I didn't take him seriously because I didn't know who he was." Seeing the questions that Athrun was about to voice, she cut him off prematurely. "He said something about ZAFT and Chairman Durandal going to conquer the world after he defeats the Alliance. And something else about him using a fake Lacus Clyne."

Seeing the confused and slightly surprised expression on Athrun's face, Coniel just shrugged as she continued, "Like I said, utterly ridiculous! However, I think I'd definitely trust a crazy Neo Freedom's pilot over that loudmouth any day of the week!"

"Kira isn't crazy," Athrun muttered quietly as he began walking back towards his earlier destination. "But he's far more perceptive of things that many others would've missed, misunderstood, or not even considered…I wonder what he's up to here. Is he going to try to destroy the Lohengrin himself or does he have something else planned?"

"Kira?" Coniel asked, frowning up at the veteran pilot. "Who's Kira?" Not receiving an answer from Athrun, Coniel let out a small derisive snort. Shaking her head to refocus her mind, Coniel simply said, "Whatever. I just hope the idiot doesn't do anything to hurt my town, or there's going to be hell to pay!"

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

Bandar-e Anzali, Iran
8:05am

Akira was perhaps the calmest person in the entire town at the moment. He wasn't entirely sure why he was still here now that he'd completed his objective. He most certainly didn't want to attract too much attention from ZAFT, at least not when he was outside a mobile suit. But he found himself…compelled to stay and watch as the events unfolded around him. He was armed with a pair of pistols he'd purchased from the local rebels last night, and he had a strange feeling that he was going put them to use in the very near-future.

But the thing that was really setting him on edge was something so intangible and impossible that he couldn't help but believe it. His awareness was telling him that there was…another nearby. And this one, unlike little Kawayui, was very, very focused and determined to accomplish its tasks. Akira could only assume that it was one of the Minerva's pilots, which was all the more reason that he didn't take the Neo Freedom and flee just yet.

The ZAFT attack on the Lohengrin Gate had just ended. As expected, it had been an overwhelming victory for ZAFT since the Alliance defenders couldn't even fire their primary weapon, and had their complement of mobile suits significantly reduced. Though they had most certainly tried everything to reroute all available power to the cannon, it still hadn't been enough. And despite the Dagger and Windam teams' truly valiant efforts, the pilot of the Impulse had easily been able to overpower them and destroy the Lohengrin. Since all available power was being routed into the Lohengrin, when it was destroyed it caused a breath-taking chain reaction that completely leveled the entire underground base, killing all inside.

Seeing the destruction of their hated oppressors' base, the citizens of the town had instantly rebelled. Many of the off-duty soldiers, and just as many on-duty ones, had quickly found themselves mobbed and utterly overpowered. Many of those soldiers were subjected to truly brutal beatings that made the 'punishment' that they had administered to the citizens in the prior attack seem like a mild slap on the cheek.

As the Savior and Impulse Gundams flew over and landed in the center of the town, the beatings had mostly ceased. However, the still surviving soldiers were being gathered into a group near where the Gundam duo had landed. Quickly seeing how they were angling the beaten and bound prisoners, Akira's stomach twisted into a tight knot as his anger flared. How could they do that?! The soldiers had all but surrendered already!

Turning to a nearby large flatbed truck, he jerked the door open and pulled out the protesting driver without a word. Gunning the engine, he tore towards the group that was preparing to execute their prisoners in the traditional military style. The roar of the engine and the loud honking of the horn was more than enough to create a sizeable gap for him to enter. However, as he pulled the truck into a quick halt and disembarked, many of the townsfolk began to protest loudly.

"SHUT UP!!!" he yelled as he ran in front of the group of prisoners and spread his arms. "That's enough! Hasn't there been enough killing today already?! And they've already surrendered!"

"They were the ones who killed my father and brother!" One of the crowd members yelled angrily.

"So by killing them, you'll get your lost ones back?!" Akira demanded, glaring at the crowd.

His danger sense was starting to become almost painful from how fiercely it was beginning to pound in his mind. He could easily tell that these people were filled with rage and quite ready to unleash that wrath upon the ones they deemed guilty.

"And what about them?" Akira asked loudly, gesturing slightly towards the still-cowering soldiers behind him. "Do you think that they don't have family and friends? What will happen when they—"

A sudden drastic spike in his danger sense warned Akira a split second ahead of time. Dropping into slight crouch, a piece of heavy pipe that had been aimed for the back of his head flew over him harmlessly. Before anyone could react to his seemingly-impossible dodge, his hands flew to the back of his waist where his pistols were hidden. He had them yanked out and pointed them to the sides while still crouched over.

There was a moment of silence that hung thick over the crowd as they registered what had just happened and what could've happened.

"I understand why you're angry," Akira said coldly, his voice carrying over the crowd. "But by giving into that anger, you become nothing more than destroyers, murderers, the very same beasts as those that you've hated for so long."

Standing up with his pistols still up and ready, he said, "That is why you people are going to be better than them. You'll let them live, knowing full well that you'd intended to kill them yet didn't. Why? Because forgiveness is one of the first steps toward peace and redemption. You people do want peace, right?"

Though he received no verbal answer, he did receive countless glares. Seeing their chance to escape with their lives, the Alliance soldiers crawled into the truck that Akira had hijacked. As the truck was beginning to pull away, Akira jumped upon the tailgate, keeping his pistols on the crowd. And he stayed in that position for several blocks after the driver had gunned the engine and sent the vehicle flying down the road. As his danger sense began to wane, Akira returned his pistols to their holsters.

Turning around, he saw that many of the Alliance soldiers were staring at him, strange expressions covering their faces. "What?"

"Why did you save us?" one of the men asked in a thick voice. "You're a Coordinator, aren't you?"

"I may be a Coordinator," Akira confirmed, nodding slightly. "But I fight for peace, not for nations."

Before they could continue to question him, he turned and lightly jumped off the side of the truck, skidding and sliding until he came to a stop. As the truckload of fleeing Alliance officers continued to race down the road, he raised his arm in farewell towards them. To his slight surprise, several of them managed to give small salutes of respect before the truck crested a hill and disappeared from sight.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

ZGMF-X23S Savior
8:14am

The operation had been a shocking success, especially with how reasonably easy it had been. The Dagger and Windam mobile suits had been quite easy to mop up, with only that weird mobile armor being any real challenge to the ZAFT pilots. When they landed in the town behind the Gate, a crowd had gathered around the Gundams' feet. Though Shinn had quickly disembarked to relish in all the attention and hero-worship, Athrun had remained in his Savior to survey the town itself. He had easily spotted some partially smoldering wreckage over by the harbor, as well as a damaged Dopplehorn Dagger L lying on its side partially outside its hangar. That was probably the work of the locals, who had gathered up a group of bloodied Alliance soldiers and were clearly intending to execute them coldheartedly.

This was where Athrun's interest had been drastically piqued. He had watched the entire confrontation between the mob and a single brave young man who'd thrown himself between the two groups, shielding the Alliance officers with his own body. The blond was clearly trying to talk the locals out of executing the soldiers, and not doing too well. But then one of the locals had thrown something at the person, who had somehow dodged it despite clearly not having seen it. Athrun had quickly realized that this person had to be a Coordinator, due entirely on how fast he moved when he'd dodged and drew his pistols threateningly at the mob.

Seeing this action, Athrun had quickly disembarked from the Savior to lend a helping hand. There were numerous instances in history where a rabid mob had brutally killed those who opposed their ideals, the fact that this person was clearly doing just that said lot about his personality and courage, as well as his stupidity.

However, by the time that Athrun had reached the area, the soldiers and blond had long since disappeared. All Athrun could see was an old flatbed truck filled with white uniformed people racing out of sight at high speeds.

"Who does that creep think he is?!" one of the mob demanded to another nearby. "The Alliance is nothing but monsters! They deserve death!"

"That was Akira Iyadomi," a heavily breaded man snapped from the side. As Athrun glanced to the powerfully-built man, he quickly realized that he must've been someone of importance to the town since a considerable majority of the crowd suddenly silenced their outraged arguments. "And he's only doing what he thinks is best for the world. And I must say that I applaud him for his courageous actions last night and today…When you people have had time to calm down and think rationally, I believe you will thank him as well."

"Nyugodt, are you saying you're on his side?!" someone in the crowd demanded loudly.

Looking sharply over at the speaker, Nyugodt's stare could've sent shivers down even the most resolute of individuals. "I'm saying that I'm grateful for his help, no matter what form it came in, since it has helped to finally free us."

Nyugodt turned and walked through the crowd as his statement was finished, leaving a bewildered mob in his wake. Athrun watched the big man as he made his way through the crowd towards him.

"Are you the Commander of this operation?" the man asked gruffly, his hand reaching into a hidden inner pocket of his vest.

"Yes, to an extent," Athrun answered, carefully watching the man.

Giving a small nod, Nyugodt extracted an object from his vest and held it out to Athrun. It was datachip hanging from a thin strand of twine. Based on its shape and size, it was probably one meant for video and surveillance. "Consider this a 'thank you' from the people of Bandar-e Anzali. I hope you'll make good use of what's on this chip."

"What is it?" he asked, examining the chip before draping it over his neck and stuffing it under his flight suit.

"A peek into the ideals of a certain individual," the man said before he vanished into the crowd.

A certain person's ideals? Did that mean what he thought it meant? Shaking his head, Athrun made his way over to where Shinn was still celebrating with the townsfolk. They had to return to the Minerva so that they could continue on with their original orders.

---

(Author's Note) I hope this chapter lived up to your many expectations. However, I'm quite sure that many of you were surprised with what happened. Akira neither destroyed the Lohengrin, nor did he directly aid ZAFT, and then he turns around sand saves a handful of Alliance officers from being executed. What a surprise, eh?

I have to bow down nice and low to my friend animefan29. Not only did he once again beta-review this story, but he pointed out some really big mistakes that I was making when I started writing this chapter and offered some very good alternatives. Let's just say that in the original draft, Akira completely destroyed the port. Which, as animefan29 'gently' reminded me of, would've killed the town's economy rather than weaken the Alliance stranglehold on them. Not my best idea.

Also, for those of you crossover fans, I've got a small advertisement for you. It's called Evangelion Seed, a Eva/Gundam SEED x-over. A story that I had challenged animefan29 to write back in September 2008. And now he's finally been able to post the first real chapter of it. Believe me when I say that it is most definitely worth reading! Between the two of us, the story stays remarkably true to both genre, character personalities, and the situations they find themselves in. I highly recommend it, along with his various other crossovers!

Oh yes, several of you have made a comment about how this story is similar to Gundam 00 and how Akira is like Jason Bourne. I have a confession: I have seen neither of which. The fact that my story seems to come across so close to them is nother ing short of a coincidence, I swear! But that's what makes your remarks about being such so amusing! ^_^

IED—Improvised Explosive Device, like the infamous Pepsi-bomb; military slang
Nyugodt—calm (Hungarian, I believe)