Gundam SEED Destiny
Kira
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Phase 13: Operation Hunter

November 25, 73 CE
Diocuia, Turkey
7:33pm

"Chairman, has there been any word on the whereabouts of Ms Clyne?" "Do you know why she was taken?" "Is it true you've already established a rescue mission for Ms Clyne?" "Mr. Chairman, what's the significance of the gun that the kidnapper had left behind?"

Durandal's face was nothing if not impassive during the interrogation—I mean interview—of the press. This was perhaps one of the most delicate yet easily very rewarding jobs of being a well-known or important politician. Anything and everything he said could and would be heard by many millions of people. Some politicians tended to forget that on occasion if they were caught in the midst of a dire crisis of some sort, which could easily lead to their downfall since the media had a very long memory. This situation, though truly unexpected, was still nothing that Durandal couldn't handle.

In fact, he almost felt like smiling in gratitude for Meer's very public kidnapping. Many of the people in the crowd who had gathered during the act had been able to photograph or record it as it was happening. Durandal's people had already secured one such video and photograph, which they were now attempting to clean and magnify the image so that the entire world would finally see the face of the pilot of the Neo Freedom.

Holding up his hand to stall the rapid-fire questions, Durandal's calm presence to the crisis seemed to have a sudden resounding effect on the reporters as they quieted down to hear him speak. "My friends, it is indeed a sad fact that Ms. Clyne has been kidnapped and by a person who we have no true idea of his intentions towards Ms. Clyne, the PLANTS, nor even the Earth itself. But I urge you all to remain calm in the crisis, so we will not jump at shadows."

"However, I do have a message for the individual responsible for all this, as I am sure that he's watching this broadcast," he stared straight into the numerous cameras with a powerful gaze. "If you return Ms Clyne to us within the next forty-eight hours, I will grant you amnesty. I also understand the symbol you had left behind. An empty weapon can hurt nobody, which is clearly your intent for Ms Clyne. You have shown yourself to be a protector of the people, Akira Iyadomi. So why do you decide to strike at us among the PLANTs now when you could be doing so much more aiding us in our struggle?"

Durandal had little doubt that Akira Iyadomi wouldn't even give his offer a second thought before discarding it, if Athrun was correct in his assumption. However, by delivering such an offer in such a way, the public would view Akira's kidnapping of Meer as some sort of malicious crime against them and their attempts at ending the war quickly. He was effectively trapping the Freedom pilot into either submitting to his demands to keep his name clean or to be truly labeled as an enemy of both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance together. But if Athrun was correct, that was probably just what Akira wanted to begin with.

However, this now meant that Durandal finally had his excuse to take more aggressive actions against the maverick to his plans. "However, until Ms Clyne has been safely returned to us, unharmed, I'm afraid that you have effectively become ZAFT's number one most wanted individual. I hereby initiate Operation Hunter, whose sole focus will be to bring you to justice for your crimes against the PLANTs and Earth alike, as well as the rescue of Ms Clyne. Consider this fair warning, Mr. Iyadomi."

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

Archangel, Scandinavia
7:40pm

"Well, that's it," Tolle said with a tiny grin on his face. "It is official: I am so jealous of Kira right now!" Feeling the various glances on his shoulders, the scarred Orb ace turned and said with a wide but slightly strained frown, "He gets to do all the fun stuff and we're stuck here on the Archangel for weeks at a time, just like in the last war."

"A necessary evil," Andy drawled slightly as he shifted uncomfortably in his chair before he turned his gaze back to Chairman Durandal as the interview continued.

He, too, had begun feeling a somewhat mild case of cabin fever for the past week or so. There were only so many times you could perform routines before they became monotonous and boring, slowly driving a person to their limits before things began to heat up from tempers. Watching the news grew boring and predictable, maintaining the Archangel was practically pointless due to the fact that nothing needed immediate repairs, and you could only teardown a mobile suit so far before you had to reassemble it. And even his beloved hobby of developing new coffee flavors just wasn't enough to him occupied for very long.

"I'm beginning to think that maybe we should've insisted on Kira joining us back in Orb," Murrue said quietly, leaning back her captain's chair. "At first it had seemed like a good idea to let him go and do as he wished. But lately he's been getting more and more reckless."

Cagalli snorted as she said, "Kidnapping Lacus' double isn't reckless; it's pure stupidity! Now ZAFT is going to hunt him down like a serial killer. And with so many people torn between helping the PLANTs and supporting Kira, there's no safe place for him to hide anymore."

"You got that right," Andy agreed with sad resignation. "And when the Chairman's window of amnesty closes, it's only going to get that much tougher for him."

"That may be so," Lacus said from her seat at the communication's station. "However, the longer Kira manages to evade them, the possibility of the people not blindly following the Chairman anymore slightly increases. Although, depending on Kira's actions from now on, this could also work to Durandal's advantage now."

"The smartest thing Kira could do now is lie low for a little bit," Tolle commented from his slouch against his old station's chair. "Let things blow over, and when his trail's cold strike where they're least expecting it."

"But he won't," Cagalli muttered in a knowing tone. "He'll keep fighting to protect people, no matter where he is…I wonder how Athrun's taking all this?" She couldn't help fiddling with the ring the blue-haired Coordinator had given her as she said that.

"Probably no better than any of us, I'd venture," Andy remarked idly.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

Diocuia, Turkey
8:00pm

Colonel Hirai Hisashi let out a low sigh of resignation as he set his new orders down on his desk. Though they were entirely predictable, he already knew this was going to be an extremely difficult mission…if they even achieved it at all! Colonel Hisashi and his crew of the Lesseps-class land battleship, the Alhazen, and its entire contingent of ten ZAKUs of various models had been reassigned to carry out Operation Hunter. And although the Chairman had authorized him the right to request any aid from any ZAFT forces nearby, Colonel Hisashi could already see that they were at a massive disadvantage.

The Neo Freedom had bluntly shown itself to be a superior all-round Gundam. The machine would strike without warning and vanish just as quickly afterwards, usually by use of its acquired Mirage Colloid. The pilot seemed to target only Alliance factories and battles between guerillas and soldiers. But, most importantly of all, it never stayed in one place for very long. That was the ultimate disadvantage for the Alhazen at this point because it could only go so fast across certain terrain. Colonel Hisashi would have be able to perfectly predict his target's next moves, conceal his forces until his target arrived, and then strike hard and fast enough to shoot it down long enough to rescue Ms Clyne or learn her whereabouts from the pilot.

Yes, it was going to be very difficult.

But there was some good news at least. If the pilot of the Neo Freedom kept to his previous pattern, he'd be heading in a general westerly direction. So chances seemed pretty good that he'd at least have to stop somewhere in Eastern Europe, somewhere preferably close to the Black Sea at this point.

"New orders, Colonel?" a gentle voice asked as Hisashi's office door slid open. Deputy Captain Jasmine Mutomura walked in with that silky grace that was better used by royalty than soldiers. Hisashi spared only a moment to stare up at her vibrant green hair before he nodded crisply.

"Operation Hunter," he said simply, running a hand through his graying black hair. "Effective immediately. Looks like the Chairman wants us to be running about the countryside for the rest of the war."

"Don't be like that, Colonel," Jasmine said, smiling cutely at his annoyed comment. "He wouldn't have assigned us if we didn't have the necessary skills to complete the mission."

Okay, that was true at least, he quietly agreed. In ZAFT, Colonel Hirai Hisashi was renowned for being an expert of seek-and-destroy missions from the previous war. Although he never amounted to much and never participated in any of the major battles of the war, his Team was still responsible for no less than a dozen successful missions against guerilla-like foes. However, the Neo Freedom was in a class of its own in that regard!

Sighing again and shaking his head to rid it of any unnecessary thoughts, Hisashi looked up and said, "Recall all our forces for immediate mobilization. I want the Alhazen prepped and ready for launch by no less than 2100 hours, we depart at 2130 hours tonight."

Snapping into perfect military decorum, Captain Mutomura threw a precise salute as she barked out, "Yes, sir! Right away, sir!"

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

Baia Mare, Romania
9:56pm

The chill of late autumn and near winter was very noticeable here in contrast to Diocuia only a few hundred miles to the southeast. Despite the exceptionally large city of Baia Mare that was located only a short mile away in the flatlands directly south and west of these foothills, there was relative isolation in the heavily-forested bluffs and hills of northern Romania. The added benefit of all the tree cover was only an added incentive for Akira to choose this as his current hiding spot with the fake Lacus as his prisoner.

Even without the Mirage Colloid active, the arrival of the Neo Freedom would've gone almost completely unnoticed. The darkness of the night sky over the woodlands was very deep thanks to the thick cloud cover that blocked out the moon and stars above. Transforming the Freedom back into its mobile suit mode, he landed the giant machine with a dainty precision in a small clearing. Maintaining the colloid, Akira ducked the Gundam down and had it creep slowly into the forest cover. Normally he'd have dropped the colloid as soon as he landed, but with the sleeping lady in his lap he decided to be extra careful to avoid detection from any of ZAFT's observation satellites over the Earth. Once he was satisfied that the large Gundam was as hidden from view as he could get it with it being in a deep crouch, wings tucked in and lowered, he finally deactivated the colloid.

Letting out a low sigh of relief, he looked down at the sleeping face of the pink-haired double. While her hair a shade darker than the real Lacus', the shape of her face was nearly a perfect imitation. The poor girl had worked herself up into such a panicked frenzy during that first half hour of captivity that Akira had been forced to knock her out, something he felt very little remorse over since she had quickly worn on his nerves. And yet now as he stared down at her peaceful sleeping face, he felt that eerily familiar jab of pain in the back of his mind. Before he was able to summon the willpower to suppress it, he was presented the face of another pink-haired girl who was sleeping soundly on his shoulder. Miss Lacus…?

Shaking his head vigorously to clear the image from his mind, he turned his attention back to locking down the Neo Freedom's OS. He had immediate supplies to get from the nearby city; a place which he couldn't bring this young lady to unless he wanted to draw unwanted attention. He also couldn't leave her outside or she'd run off, so he'd have to lock her in the cockpit of the Neo Freedom until he returned. And with a lock on the operating system, she wouldn't even be able to activate the radio to call for help on the off-chance that she managed to find the activation controls.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

November 26, 73 CE
7:03am

Consciousness came back slowly to her, her mind as foggy and dark as where she now lay at. Where was she? Why was she here? What time was it? Shouldn't one of her handlers have come by to wake her up? She vaguely remembered that she had a concert to attend to in the afternoon at some random city in eastern Turkey. She couldn't waste time sleeping in like she use to do because there were so many things that needed to be done beforehand. And this bed was extremely uncomfortable!

As she tried to roll over to find softer portion of the bed, her arm hit something that sent a stinging numbness through her wrist as her movement was abruptly halted. Blearily opening her eyes, she stared down uncomprehendingly at the strange thing that dared injure her. It took a moment in the dark that she was in to see it was some kind of control lever, the kind that she had generally seen used in mobile suits. What would one of those be doing…in her…bed? Now she remembered! She'd been kidnapped by some crazy pilot in a Gundam-like mobile suit!

Sitting up abruptly, Meer immediately tried to survey her surroundings. In the darkness it was difficult but she quickly realized that she'd been sleeping in the mobile suit's pilot chair, which had somehow been lowered into a more comfortable position for its sleeping user. None of the monitors were activated, obviously, but it was clear that they had long since landed and with the absence of the pilot that could mean that he was no longer anywhere nearby.

Hurrying up towards where she knew the exit hatch was located, it was to her great dismay that she found it closed and locked when she tried to open it. She was trapped in her kidnapper's mobile suit while he was out doing whatever! As that thought reached her mind, Meer felt a tiny wave of hope rise in her. Maybe she could somehow power up the suit and call for help on an open channel radio? There were surely either ZAFT forces or sympathetic Naturals nearby who'd hear her and come to help right?!

She didn't know how long she'd fiddled with the various controls in her blind attempts to find the 'on' switch, but it couldn't have been more than ten minutes before a sound reached her ears. There was a strange clunk echoing sound coming from somewhere off to her left side on the outside of the mobile suit. As the sound grew closer, it grew louder and more recognizable as footsteps until they stopped at the cockpit's entry hatch.

Meer didn't even have time to look around for possible weapons to defend herself when the hatch suddenly slid out. Two things immediately came to Meer's attention when that hatch slid open. The first was that though the sun was still clearly on the horizon, the brightness of sky above nearly blinded her after her long time in the darkness. And the second thing was a rush of bitter cold air and quite a few snowflakes that came sweeping down into her formerly warm sanctuary, nearly freezing her on the spot.

Then a dark figure appeared over her, silhouetted by the dazzling cold blue sky. Lifting something forward, he called down to her, "Put these on. It snowed last night here." After stating this, the figure dropped several pieces of thick clothing down upon her. "If you want some light, there's a little yellow button in the top right portion of the forward control panel that will light up the interior for you." With that said, the man abruptly closed the hatch to spare her from the cold. Although, now that it was inside, that was a purely subjective gesture.

Quickly abiding his directions, Meer sought out the small button. When the interior was indeed bathed in light, she quickly changed into the clothing he'd dropped for her. And so she went from wearing her attractive concert dress to a pair of thick black pants, a heavy purple sweater, an unremarkable white winter jacket, and simple brown hat and gloves. Once she was fully redressed and gathered up her old clothes, she knocked loudly on the hatch above her.

This time prepared for the brightness, Meer was able to actually see the person above her as he offered her his hand of assistance. As he pulled her out of his Gundam, Meer glared resentfully at the slightly taller man in front of her even as she attempted to adjust to the deep coldness around them.

"Are you hungry?" he asked kindly, gesturing slightly to the side where there was a small column of smoke rising. "I've got some breakfast cooking. It's just some canned soup and bread, but it's better than nothing."

Meer didn't answer him, merely continued to glare angrily at him. Seeing that he wouldn't get a response from her, the man merely shrugged in a clearly unimpressed manner before moving away. Meer held her glare on his retreating form even as he jumped from the mobile suit's chest area to the left arm where he used the large shield as a gradual slide to the ground before he disappeared from view under the slab of metal.

'How dare he?' she couldn't help but ask herself. 'Really, how dare he kidnap me, take me to who knows where, keep me locked up in something nearly as good as a prison cell, almost freeze me solid, and then offer me some breakfast as though he'd done none of the aforementioned atrocities! Does he truly know who I am?! One word from me and I could easily get the entirety of the PLANTs calling for his blood for these injustices!'

She could've very easily gone on with these silent rants in her mind, but her stomach was kind enough to remind her of one very important detail. She was quite hungry after having only a small lunch before her concert and missing dinner yesterday due to being kidnapped. After a moment of serious consideration, she slowly and carefully followed the same route that the man had taken off the snow-covered mobile suit.

After she'd stumbled down the slide of the shield (how did he make it look so easy?), she found a very cozy looking camp hidden and protected under the shield's bulk. Though it hadn't been enough to keep the snow from reaching it, there was decidedly less of it here than there was on the other side. There was a small tent set up, and even though she couldn't see inside, Meer was quite sure that it was packed with either blankets or quite thick sleeping bags. He had spent the night out here in the cold, alone, while she slept in the pleasantly warm cockpit of his mobile suit? Against her better judgment, Meer's initial opinion of the man went up a peg or two for that small gesture of chivalry.

"You could've used the cable hoist instead of following me," the young blond man said from where he was sitting on a small snow-free rock in front of a fire that he'd built. He was busy attending to the promised meal of canned soup. He hadn't even removed the soup from its cans, but merely placed them close enough to the flames to slowly heat them up at a controlled pace. Quite close to the fire on the opposite side of where he was sitting was a small fold-up camping chair, clearly meant for her.

"So, what's your name?" the blond asked without looking up as she took a seat in the chair and began to soak in the warmth of the flames in front of her.

For half a second, a flash of fear went through her being. Had she somehow been found out? The Chairman's plan and need for her would be completely destroyed if he knew who she wasn't was and decided to spread it! But then she quickly calmed herself down. There was no way he could know she wasn't the real Lacus Clyne; no one even knew where she had been for the past year at least!

"I know you're not Lacus," the blond interrupted her even as she started to open her mouth to defend herself. "I know because I know where she most assuredly is. So who are you really?"

"What are you talking about?!" Meer demanded impulsively. "Of course I'm Lacus!"

"Where were you on the morning of November 2?" he asked, finally looking up at her. There a certain gleam in those powerful blue eyes that momentarily froze all mental processing in Meer's mind as she stared into them. When she didn't immediately respond, he continued in calm voice, "You were up in the PLANTs, trying to calm everyone down after the nuclear attack. And you've been there, in the public eye, until a few days ago."

Returning to slowly stirring the cans, he was quiet for a moment before saying, "Therefore, you couldn't have been in Orb, hiding in a shelter against a group of ZAFT assassins who'd been sent to kill you."

"What are you talking about?" Meer couldn't help but ask.

"The fact that you don't recognize me only proves that you're not Lacus Clyne," the blond said in a distracted tone. "Because I was the one who saved her and the others from those ZAFT assassins."

"How could you possibly know that that wasn't someone else?" she demanded in as calm a voice as she could muster.

"Because the Lacus there actually knew specific things about the previous war," he said, taking a small taste of the soup to test its temperature. Apparently satisfied, he picked up the can and stuck a spoon into it before handing it to her, along with a pair of bread slices. "The Lacus there didn't generalize things like you do in your speeches." Though, with his amnesia, neither did he remember anything specific outside of what old newspapers and history texts said.

Despite her hunger, Meer couldn't help but stare at the young man for a few moments. Had he…had he really saved Lacus Clyne? But…but that couldn't be true! He must be lying!

"Eat up before it gets cold," he commented softly from where he was now stirring the second can.

Another growl of her stomach was all the prompting that Meer needed to immediately tuck into the chicken noodle soup and bread. With her slightly increased appetite, the small meal was devoured within several minutes.

"Who are you really?" he asked again once she'd finished scraping the can clean.

"Who are you?" she demanded in the same tone he used.

"You can call me Akira Iyadomi," he replied uninterestedly. As he continued, he gestured towards the mobile suit above them. "I'm the pilot of the Neo Freedom."

"The Freedom?" Meer asked, immediately turning her attention to what she could see of the large Gundam. "But…but how? I thought it was destroyed at Jachin Due."

"…For all intents and purposes, it was," Akira stated, his attention clearly still on his slowly cooking meal. "When we were found, I was one of the people who repaired it. Now I use it to free those who have been oppressed or require aid."

"What?" There was something…not quite right about that statement he'd made; she just couldn't put her finger on what though.

"Are you going to answer my question, or should I just pick a name for you?" Akira asked bluntly as he finally took his meal and began to eat.

"I'm Lacus Clyne," Meer repeated insistently, causing Akira to glance at her from over his soup can. Then he let out a sad sigh before returning to eating his breakfast. "Where are we? And why did you kidnap me?"

"I'm sure you can figure why," Akira said softly as he dipped a bread slice into the soup.

"…So I can't help the Chairman keep the people calm during this stupid war?" Meer guessed, her eyes narrowing into slits as her anger increased substantially. "Is that the reason?! You want this war to escalate into genocide like the last one almost did?!"

"No," he contradicted easily.

"Then you're really fighting for the Atlantic Federation?!" Meer guessed again in an appalled voice, almost unable to wrap her mind around such a ludicrous (but not unheard of) idea.

"No," he contradicted, just as calmly as before while he continued to eat.

"Are you doing this for money?" she asked, nearly out of ideas for what could drive a person to do such things. "Fame? Or do you simply enjoy battle and death?"

"No," he said, in that unchanged calmness that was rapidly wearing on her nerves.

"Fine then!" she snapped. "Why are you doing this?!"

Akira was silent as he merely continued to eat his meal in a slow and calm fashion. Meer just glared hotly at him as he ignored her presence. Once he was finished, he gathered up the empty soup cans and utensils. Just as she was about to yell at him for ignoring her, he reached into his tent and extracted a bundle of newspapers and held it for her to read the headlines. Though Meer wasn't an expert on multiple languages, she had certainly studied how to read the various dialects and tongues. Thus she was easily able to translate the bold-faced words.

'Lacus Clyne kidnapped by Neo Freedom!!' filled the top portion of the page with a picture of her in the hands of the large mobile suit back in Diocuia. Under the top headline was a smaller one, 'Chairman promises Pilot amnesty for her safe return.'

"Do you know what this is?" Akira asked, his eyes focused upon her now. "Chairman Durandal manipulating Lacus' influential position to his advantage yet again."

Meer couldn't suppress a derisive snort at that. "Oh really? It looks more like he offering you a way to keep your life."

"And that's why it's so important to have gotten you away from him," Akira said as he carelessly tossed the paper into the flames. "You believe, beyond a measure of doubt, that he's faultless."

"What are you talking about?" she demanded.

"When he first came to you to play Lacus Clyne, what were his reasons?" Akira asked, staring at her from over the smoke and flames of the burning paper. "Was it to merely protect the PLANTs and keep the people calm? Or was it to agree with and support whatever the hell he does in this war? How long ago did he actually come to you and had you prepare for this role?" His only answer was a deep glare from the girl across the flames. "The fact that he went through all this effort for you—for this role—indicates that he considered this war not only a possibility but that he was expecting it to happen. If he could waste time preparing one little girl to become an imitation of Lacus Clyne, he could've certainly put that time to use preventing the war from ever happening."

Despite her best efforts, Meer couldn't stop herself from thinking thoughts that she really didn't want to think. The truth was that Durandal had come to her a good two months before the Break the World Incident. He had said that he suspected something bad was about to happen and that he needed someone to help him keep the people calm during that crisis, and since the real Lacus Clyne was nowhere to be found, he had asked her to temporarily fill those shoes. But when the war broke out, his need for her to continue that role had increased drastically. It was a role that Meer had been all too happy to continue doing. She had never questioned how Durandal could've known that something like Junius 7 was going to happen, which would start this new war. But now that she couldn't help it. How could he have predicted something like this?

"With a Lacus Clyne supporting all his efforts, regardless of what they are," Akira carried on. "all the people of the PLANTs and a large percentage of the people of Earth would all but blindly follow his plans. They would grow to think of him as flawless because he had the support of someone who was renowned to be an advocate of peace and understanding. Thus, when he eventually starts making less than politically or morally wise decisions, the people would still follow his lead because he was so flawless."

"Why are you saying this?" Meer asked, her voice little more than a mere peep in her uncertainty.

"You asked if I fight for the Earth Alliance or money or fame or to simply keep war and battles going?" Akira said quietly. "The truth is I hate fighting, I hate killing, and I especially hate wars. But what I hate more than anything else in this world is the thought of people who go to bed at night fearing to never again see their loved ones who are fighting on the frontlines."

"This is war!" Meer snapped defensively for the Chairman's sake. "Killing and deaths are unavoidable!"

"Are they?" Akira asked calmly. "Surely you know of the great skill of ZAFT's mobile suit pilots. Do you honestly think that they couldn't go through an entire battle being unable to do anything but kill their enemies? Though the cockpit of a mobile suit is indeed the largest and easiest of targets and it would be difficult, disabling an enemy's machine is not impossible."

"They were enemies, trying to kill us!" Meer snapped, forgetting that she was no longer playing the role of Lacus' personality in her anger at Akira. "And we were only protecting ourselves when they attacked us!"

"Is that what you'd tell the countless families and friends of those poor men and women who've been killed on the battlefield?" he asked, his voice and expression those of great sadness and disappointment. "They were enemies! They were trying to kill us! We had to protect ourselves, so we killed them!' Those are the words of Patrick Zala and his followers."

That last statement silenced Meer's immediate defensive retort.

"And while you're busy rallying people to protect themselves against their 'enemies,' more lives are being lost when they could've been spared," he continued softly. "More families will learn that their beloved sons and daughters, husbands and wives, brothers and sisters, mothers and fathers will never be coming home because you insisted on killing them. And by doing such, you've assured yourselves that this war would never truly end because when those victims' children grow up and become strong, they'll want revenge for your vengeance."

Looking directly into Meer's uncomfortable eyes, Akira said bluntly, "The real Lacus would understand this. She'd never preach words that mirror those of a genocidist, and that is exactly what they are once you peel away the deceit. Nor would she blindly follow a man who's using false pretenses to continue a pointless war."

Standing up with the intention of breaking camp, he said, "Until you understand that, really understand that, I'm afraid that you'll be stuck with me for however long it takes."

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA

November 29, 73 CE
John Paul Jones, Suez Base
6:36am

If there was ever one thing that could be considered an advantage about being the commander of a unit that officially didn't exist, it was that they were the first ones to receive any new 'toys' that the weapon development teams created. But that same thing could also be considered the biggest disadvantage for a ghost unit like Phantom Pain because they'd be nothing more than the dummy drivers of the new equipment. So they'd be going into battle without field tested equipment, without knowing whether or not that same equipment had specific limitations, or if there were hidden faults in the design that could prove fatal for the user that hadn't been discovered during lab testing.

It was for these very realistic worries that Captain Neo Roanoke stared up at the large machine above him. It was the latest model of the Earth Alliance's mass production lines, christened the GAT-05 Rapier. From what little information Neo could gain from the men who'd delivered it only an hour ago, it had been built using the stolen data of the old ZGMF-X10A Freedom. And it was certainly easy to see the 'family resemblance' to that legendary Gundam in the yellow eyes of the head piece.

Though the Rapier carried many of the design features of the older Strike Daggers and Windams, there were two crucial differences between the Rapier and Windams. The first of which was the fact that the Rapier could only be equipped with the Sword and Launcher Striker Packs. The second difference, and also the reason that made it impossible for compatibility with the Aile or Jet Pack, were the large wings that hung on its back. Though the Rapier only carried four of the Freedom's eight wings, they still offered all the maneuverability provided by the Aile Pack.

The mechanics promised that the Rapier would be a machine that was vastly superior to the Windam in all ways, nearly equal to the fabled 'Gundam-class' from which it was descended from. And as he stared up at the mobile suit, Neo couldn't help but silently agree that it did look like a very impressive weapon. But only on the battlefield could it prove its worth. Fortunately a battlefield was exactly where this violet mobile suit with its lime-green wings would be going in a very short time.

With the loss of Lohengrin Gate, as well as the large ZAFT occupation that was taking place in the region, the Alliance's control was weakening in a truly critical area. And with that damned ZAFT warship in the area, things looked pretty bleak for the Suez Base at the moment. Once the Orb fleet arrived in a few days, they'd begin their assault on that new ZAFT base that had been built in the harbor of Diocuia. Normally, when against that warship, Neo would've been torn between anticipating a hard-won victory or a staggering defeat like the last few occurrences had been. Truly, that was one powerful ship with just as powerful mobile suits. Even Neo had been hard-pressed to survive in that last battle against that new red Gundam and the combinable blue one.

He could only hope that these new Rapier mobile suits that they'd received would prove to be the critical piece that would finally shift the advantage to their side.

(Author's Note) Well, there you have it. Not as long as some of my more recent chapters, but oh well. Next chapter we'll most definitely be seeing a major battle or two, and not necessarily because of the Earth Alliance pulling Orb into the war. Although that part will certainly have a considerable portion of the next chapter due simply to how Tolle in his beloved Fortitude Gundam would the situation differently than Kira did in canon.

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter, despite it being yet another mostly talkative one. Please tell me what you think of Meer and (A)kira's conversation, animefan29 and I paid special attention to that piece. I had really wanted to keep her personality as close to canon as it had been shown as to this point.

And I bow down (yet again ;D) to animefan29 for his suggestion of the Earth Alliance creating a mass production model of the Freedom. I admit that I really hadn't considered that possibility so much as to the Alliance creating a series of experimental models based on the old data they'd acquired in the previous war. As it stands, I hope you all enjoy reading animefan29's babies in the next chapter because they will most likely be playing a significant role in so way (I still haven't figured just how though).

GAT-05 Rapier
Unit type: prototype mass production, all-purpose mobile suit
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance
First deployment: December 2, 73 CE (Battle of Dardanelles)
Powerplant: ultracompact energy battery
Color: White (body), navy (torso), gray (wings)
Equipment and design features:
Sensors, range unknown
Striker Packs (Launcher, Sword)
Basic armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, mounted in chest
1 x A52 offensive shield type E, mounted on either arm
1 x MA-BAR721 high-energy beam rifle, stored on rear waist
2 x ES04B beam saber, stored on waist
2 x MMI-M20S "Pollux IX" railgun, folded underneath hips, spread out in use
2 x Mk315 "Stiletto" rocket-propelled anti-armor penetrator, stored in hip armor
Optional armaments:
2 x 350mm gun launcher, mounted on right shoulder (Launcher Pack)
1 x 120mm anti-ship vulcan gun, mounted on right shoulder (Launcher Pack)
1 x "Agni" 320mm hyper impulse cannon, mounted behind left arm (Launcher Pack)
1 x "Schwert Gewehr" 15.78 meter anti-ship sword, stored on back (Sword Pack)
1 x "Midas Messer" beam boomerang, mounted on left shoulder of Sword armor (Sword Pack)
1 x "Panzer Eisen" rocket anchor, mounted on left forearm, can be fired out on a line (Sword Pack)