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

17. Persephone's Children

Gundam SEED Destiny
Kira
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Phase 17: Persephone's Children

January 1, 74 CE
Residential District, Mathilde Colony
7:09am

The man known as Captain Jonas Brimfield sat in the office section of his room in the residential district of the colony. He was silently reviewing the short list of supplies he was hoping to trade or sell to the representatives of the Junk Guild. The supplies were just mobile suit frames, engine thrusters, and discarded weaponry, most of which had been repaired at some point. Unsurprisingly, repaired artifacts tended to sell for much more than their unrepaired counterparts.

At that thought, Brimfield let a small smirk cross his lips. Even though the Early Harvest was first and foremost a pirate ship, the crew and him spent more time salvaging among junk yards and old battlefields and fixing their prizes into working condition than their 'partners' in the Junk Guild did. In fact during the previous Valentine War, the Early Harvest had received numerous requests from the Guild to officially enlist among their ranks because of the fact that pirating in space during the war was far from being a very wise decision. That was actually the reason why pirate raids had slightly dwindled in that recent past, save for a few hardcore pirate fleets and organizations like Serpent Tail. Of course, Brimfield had refused every single request graciously.

Glancing at his watch, Jonas realized that it was almost time for the Junk Guild representative to be arriving. He quickly climbed out of his chair and gathered up his notes and other necessary documents. As he exited his room and walked leisurely down the hallway towards the radio terminal next to the conveyor belt that would shuttle him at several times the normal walking speed, he plucked up the speaker. Quickly punching in his ID code, the colony intercom system whined to life for a moment before he spoke up. "Attention, crew. The Junk Guild representatives will be arriving shortly. You know your duty stations. Get to work!"

That was the thing that Brimfield appreciated most about his crew. Unlike many other pirates, where loyalty is measured only by the amount of profit they bring in or by some common goal (usually revenge or hatred of someone or something), the Early Harvest crew functioned like a community. There were those who disliked or distrusted someone, they would get into fights and petty squabbles, and they tended to have to work very hard for long hours with no apparent payment. Yet, in the end when they went to bed in the evening, it was a common but generally overlooked fact that they trusted one another as annoying neighbors and fellow employees do. Brimfield had taken them in and offered them a source of income and a life style that was usually only marginally dangerous. In a sense, this made them all a big family living under the roof of the Early Harvest. It was this feeling of being a part of a community that made them operate at levels far above most pirates.

Ironically, it was their strict rules and policies towards the other pirates they occasionally interacted with that set them apart from the others. Where most pirates liked to only train their people enough to be effective enough in combat, the Early Harvest emphasized on the most rigorous training regime outside of a standard army and demanded absolute discipline. Most of them were nothing short of perfect professionals in their respective fields. And it was also how they somehow acquired a nickname among the other pirate factions. It was a name that Brimfield couldn't help but shake his head and snort at the irony of it. If only they truly understood what it meant, the original creators of the derogative slang probably wouldn't have used it to describe them! He had once explained it to Akira and the boy had actually collapsed from lack of oxygen because he had been laughing so hard.

That thought brought Brimfield to a slightly complicated series of emotions. On one hand, he missed the boy like a father would miss his long-lost son. Though news of the happenings of Earth and the war was far from being up to date or reliably unbiased towards one faction or the other, he was still able to see a growing effect that Akira was causing. He was giving the citizens of Eurasia a sense of hope thanks to his unrequited aid towards them. Akira was fighting for a much higher goal than simply ending the war, just as Brimfield had suspected he would when he left long ago. The boy had taken his lessons of morals, justice, and life to heart. For that, he was very proud of the boy and he actually almost wouldn't mind trying to help him in some way.

On the other hand, things were finally starting to become much more dangerous. The Alliance and ZAFT were likely now starting to actively hunt him down. And though Akira could fight off twenty enemies by himself, not even he would likely last long against a full-on battle against the combined might of the two enemy militaries. In Brimfield's opinion, the Neo Freedom's final destruction was approaching rapidly. And regardless of whether Akira died with it or not, it would ultimately all be for naught if the people of Earth and the PLANTs let themselves forget just what the Gundam and its pilot had been fighting for in the first place. And one certainly didn't need to be a genius to figure it out at this point.

So despite as much as he wanted to help the boy, he also wasn't about to send any of his people off to fight a battle that they'd ultimately lose. Plus, hardly any of them held much loyalty towards their homelands anymore anyway. Besides, of his entire supply of available mobile suits and transports he could've possibly sent, only the new X-units would've been really helpful to the boy's cause. However, none of their pilots had even effectively field-tested them yet. In fact, he had a sneaking suspicion that Lieutenants Dalen and Henry were still fine-tuning the OS even as he rode the conveyor belt towards the port district.

If the boy were smart, he'd locate and join up with the Archangel. At least that way he'd have some allies who mirrored his goals and could adequately support him in the coming dark days. However, he was also sure that Akira would stubbornly refuse aid from anyone in his quest to continue his lone crusade. It would likely have to be force-fed down his throat before he finally relented; he was stubborn in that way.

With a resigned sigh, Brimfield pushed those thoughts out of his head. Now wasn't the time for those, not when he had a potentially profitable sale to make to his Junk Guild partners.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Communications Tower, Port District

"Early Harvest, this is the Rust Bucket of the Junk Guild, do you copy?" a distorted voice spoke up over the communications. The space freighter that was gently approaching was just an old Marseille III-class, minimally armed or armored.

"This is Mathilde Colony Tower Control," Brad, the radio receiver, responded as he carefully studied the broadcasting frequency of the approaching cargo ship. There seemed to be a fluctuation in the beginning portion of the wave pattern. Perhaps there was something wrong with their communications equipment? That would account for the static that was filling the radio. "We have you on radar. Please cut your engines at distance 2,000 and await confirmation of identification codes."

"Roger, cutting engines and awaiting confirmation," the broadcaster responded after a brief delay.

As the receiver began to run the codes through the computer, he let out a small sigh while sipping his coffee. They really needed to get some newer brands because this gunk they had in store was just atrocious! Honestly, you'd think that some of the other crewmembers would be of the same opinion.

A chime from his monitor drew his attention to the approaching freighter. "Rust Bucket, please cut your engines and await confirmation of your identification codes."

"Roger that, cutting engines and awaiting confirmation," the broadcaster responded.

Looking out through the reinforced window of his tower, Brad absentmindedly waited for his computer to finish confirming the codes. It was taking slightly longer than was usual, but with an old freight like the Marseille III-class, it was a forgivable error because there were so many of them in existence. From his respectably-high vantage point above the colony in his communications tower, he could effectively see the entire port district of Mathilde.

The Mathilde Colony was segmented into three separate but connected divisions; the port, the residential area, and the factory district. In times past, the colony had only been lightly guarded with only a dozen automated CIWS batteries throughout the colony's layout. Since the Early Harvest and Captain Brimfield had commandeered it, they had been steadily and efficiently replacing and upgrading those pathetic defenses to something much more formidable. The factory and port areas were now protected by numerous batteries of warship-grade beam cannons, missile launchers, and quite a few more CIWS. In contrast, the residential area was covered mostly by CIWS and a few missile launchers to minimize the chance of crippling friendly fire and the deaths of the unprepared crewmen and their families.

This new, revamped version of the colony that Brad and many others had been calling home for the past few years offered respectably formidable defenses. These defenses had often helped the families to get a few much-needed restful nights of sleep after the repeated pirate attacks in the past few weeks. Those weren't the only new defenses that formed around the colony in recent times. Thanks to the numerous attacks, there was now a surprisingly extensive debris field scattered around the asteroid, effectively blocking the colony from most attacking forces. The only location that this new debris field had been cleared away was the area directly above the spaceport.

A louder warning chime drew Brad back to the present. The Rust Bucket was so close to the port doors that he could actually see it unimpeded from his tower.

"Rust Bucket, cut your engines and return to distance 2000 or we will open fire!" he said, speaking in a slightly-panicked tone. "Rust Bucket, do you copy?! You're on a collision course with the port hangar!"

"Roger that, you Persephone scum," the broadcaster said in a cold voice.

It was only at that moment that Brad saw that the Junk Guild's emblem upon the hull of the freighter was a fake. The color scheme was a shade too dark and rumpled, as though it were hurriedly draped over the side of the ship to cover up something else.

Before he could react, a hidden compartment on the freighter suddenly opened and a pair of large beam cannons appeared. They took quick aim up at his tower and fired. Just before the large green beams reduced the tower to debris and killed Brad, he had managed to hit the emergency alarm button. Unfortunately, he didn't have the power or authority to activate the defenses.

The faux-Rust Bucket therefore met no resistance as it blasted the hangar doors open.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Internal Conveyor Belt, Port District
7:15am

Although the asteroid itself was quite large and the colony had been separated into different areas to minimize potentially dangerous accidents, the force of the explosion had sent a gentle tremble through the large space rock. And though space silenced the explosion and channeled off a great deal of the immediate shockwaves, an almost unnoticeable rumble could be faintly heard from where he was presently riding the conveyor belt towards the port. At near the same moment, the alarms sounded; klaxons dropped into view in the many rooms and hallways with their fierce red lights flashing angrily as an obnoxiously blaring siren rang to life.

Deeply ingrained battle instincts quickly switched the Captain out of his previous businessman's mindset into that of a battle-hardened military commander. Tucking his folder under his arm, he launched himself into a furious sprint down the remaining stretch of the conveyor belt. Reaching the end of the belt, he dashed to the side, up to another one of the colony intercoms. Punching his code again, he brought up several security camera feeds of the exterior of the port.

Thanks to the magnified images, he was able to see what had apparently caused the alarm. An old Marseille III with large pieces of cloth draped over its sides showing a now clearly-visible fake Junk Guild emblem was floating just inside the threshold of the primary hangar. Even as he watched, a small flare of light became visible. This explosion was considerably louder than the previous. Switching to an interior camera, Brimfield almost let loose a howl of rage. They'd destroyed his beloved ship's engines! They were going to pay for that…

Rapidly recomposing himself, he studied the image closer. The faux-freighter had opened several hidden compartments, allowing armored infantry and five mobile suits to exit. An invasion? If so, there'd be no chance that this ship was operating by itself. It must have friends nearby.

Switching back to an exterior camera, he did a quick search of the space around them. But there didn't seem to be any—there they were! They were still a good ways off, but he'd been able to spot them thanks to the faint glow of their engines and the unnatural coloring they had against the background of space. He couldn't tell what they were, yet one was clearly an Agamemnon-class among them.

This was about to get very ugly, very quickly.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Residential District
15 minutes earlier…

"It hurts…it hurts… It hurts!!" a young voice managed to yell out between excruciating waves of agony. The young boy didn't know how long he'd been surrounded by the blackness, but the pain he was experiencing seemed to have existed for as long as he could remember. But even as horrifically agonizing as the pain was, he was still slightly aware of certain things going on around him, namely to two men standing nearby, watching over his thrashing form.

"Number EC 0454 continues to experience heightened pain in response to the SS-enhancement treatment we have administered to it," an uncaring voice suddenly spoke up from somewhere beyond the realm of darkness. It was muffled, as though speaking from behind a barrier of some sort.

"I see," said another voice. "This is most unfortunate. We shall have to alter our plans for the eradication of those filthy space monsters."

"Indeed, Captain," the first man admitted. "And it truly is disappointing that this project seems to have run into a dead end. I suppose the common Coordinator just isn't compatible with our enhancement treatments. But to only have discovered this little setback after such extensive research and training of the subjects…it's extremely disappointing."

'What are they talking about?' he couldn't help but wonder between spasms of his pain.

"Yes, I had been quite looking forward to the possibility of commanding a team of enhanced Coordinator super soldiers to exterminate their own kind. A truly bittersweet irony if that situation had occurred."

"Yes sir," the first man acknowledged once again uncaringly. "If we can continue to receive the proper funding for our projects, I will have our chief engineers and scientists redesign and enhance the neural implants and enhancement drugs immediately."

"Very well then," the Captain agreed. "However, if you fail us once again, we will take matters into our own hands, Doctor Strum… As for these new dropouts, dispose of them."

'Dispose of…?' he questioned himself. 'Doesn't that mean…get rid of? Throw away? Destroy? Kill? Death?!'

"Yes sir, Captain Sutherland," Doctor Strum replied, not caring in the least.

"I DON'T WANNA DIE!!!" he screamed as his eyes snapped open and he simultaneously leapt to his feet, sending his bedspread billowing outwards in his panicked rush. After a frantic moment of searching, Charles 'Goldie' Goldsboro finally remembered where he was and why. Letting out a long, deep sigh, he dropped back onto his bed and rubbed his face as he attempted to fight back the lingering memory and phantom pains.

He had only been four years old when they'd kidnapped him, brought him to that accursed place, assigned him a codename and number, and put him through those horrendous tests and training. They had tried and failed to brainwash him and alter his body through the use of drugs in an attempt to control him. Then they'd started trying to control his mind directly with those 'implants'. Throughout it all, he fought against them in what ways he could until that fateful day arrived.

Even with all the agony that they'd already put him through, the last thing he wanted to happen was to be killed like another unsatisfactory experiment reject. He wanted to return home to his mother, father, and two elder sisters back in Martius 5. He wanted to visit his aunt, uncle, and cousins in Sextilis 9. He missed them all dearly. He was sure that they were worried about him because he had gone missing mere days before his birthday. So when he managed to overhear the Captain person and Dr. Strum, something inside him had snapped. He was going to return home no matter what it took! Thus when the doctors had come to deliver him his dinner rations, most likely poisoned, he attacked mercilessly. He was just a few months short of being fifteen when he fought his way to freedom and was somehow able to make his way back to the PLANTs.

'Only to find that your family had all died in a tragic accident the same day that he'd disappeared,' Charley remarked snidely at Goldie's current morbid thoughts.

With nowhere else to go and feeling the terrible weight of being completely alone and isolated, Goldie had headed straight to the spaceport. Without his family, what was the point of continuing to live on in this cold, uncaring world? Had he not run into a certain man on his way towards the airlock, Goldie would've died that day for certain.

But now he was here, on the Mathilde Colony as a member of the Early Harvest pirate crew and the pilot of one of their first original Gundam models produced. And he would continue to use all his laboratory-gained skills to make the Captain proud since he had given him a new home, a new family, and a new life!

His morning ritual of reaffirming his resolve to that goal had scarcely been completed when the blaring, flashing alarms suddenly sounded through his small apartment. Another attack?! Leaping to his feet, he practically jumped into his flight suit and rushed out his door within mere moments of the alarm sounding. He was quickly joined in the hallways by a literal wave of running pirates and crewmembers as they rushed into their own spacesuits, snapping on helmets, and running towards the most likely location that the attack was taking place as they took up various weapons of death and destruction.

Goldie had actually been mere meters from entering the flood upon the conveyor belt when he heard the Captain's order for him to launch. That could only one thing.

'Oh, this is going to be fun!' Charley cheered, already feeling the anticipation for the slaughter that was to come.

However, from this location, it would take him a while to reach the factory hangar.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA
By: FictionReader98

Factory District
7:18am

Two of the pilots of the new X-units were already residing within the cockpits of their respective mobile suits. Unlike their third companion, these two could easily be described as early birds.

Lieutenant Henry Siemer sat in the cockpit of his newly-assigned mobile suit, the EHG-X1 Courage. He was currently double-checking the calibrations of the weapon's targeting scopes. The X1 was a long-range support unit and he didn't want any of his shots to be off by so much as a centimeter.

Lieutenant Dalen Bertelsen, on the other hand, was whistling to himself softly as his fingers flew across the keyboard, working on the OS for the mobile suit recently assigned to him by Captain Brimfield. He was doing some refining on the operating system since it was still fresh off the assembly line and it wasn't quite suitable for space warfare. It wouldn't do anyone any good if the mobile suit was jerky and he became sick to the stomach from excessive and rocky movements.

In fact, that very experience had happened once when he was a rookie and training in his first mobile suit. Some idiot back in the Academy who had been using it previously tried to be smart and messed with the controls without anyone knowing. So when it was his turn, the reaction speeds were way too fast and he found himself losing control of the machine within the first minute. And after about five minutes of stumbling and tumbling, he'd vomited inside his cockpit during a combat simulation before finally coming to a crash. He had spent the next five hours cleaning the cockpit, and the next year as the Academy's laughing stock. Definitely not a pleasant experience.

He sighed as he smiled at the memory as he continued to work. As embarrassing as that was, he had come to terms with it a long time ago, now able to smile himself about it. It was nothing compared to... he didn't even want to think about that day. But to say he had been surprised when the Captain had presented the mobile suit to him would be an understatement.

It nearly turned his stomach.

Being the professional soldier he had been, he hid his initial reaction well. He had merely nodded, replied 'Yes Captain' with a salute. He often wondered why the Captain had chosen him to pilot this machine. His...discomfort...with mobile suits wasn't exactly a secret with the Early Harvest crew, though the reasons why were. Perhaps that's why Brimfield had chosen him to pilot it; make him come to terms with his past and finally move on.

He blew through his nose and continued working, whistling another of Miss Clyne's songs. Music always seemed to help relax him. Sometimes it was the only way he was able to fall asleep at times, especially back in the early days. Half the time, he didn't know whether to consider Brimfield a genius or a proverbial bastard. He was truly gifted to be able to lead an operation of this magnitude, and run it successfully at that. Though he was a bastard because he was never direct and always let his actions speak for him. The problem was that those actions almost never meant what you would think they did.

So far, he had gotten out of operating a mobile suit since he had been with Brimfield by working on the Early Harvest itself (typically commanding the CIC) or leading missions like the raid on that Earth Alliance lunar base. And now nearly three years after his departure from ZAFT, he was back in a mobile suit.

The former FAITH agent bent over and began working on the next set of computer equations and matrices when the base alarms began ringing at once. Looking up from what he was doing, he felt the urge to groan. Yet another attack. Most likely a pirate attack again. Though... he couldn't help but consider the timing. They had been expecting to be meeting with members of the Junk Guild for several goods. This seemed like too much of a coincidence for both to happen at once.

"Attention all hands." Dalen's head jerked upward as he pushed aside his computer and got out of the seat, standing in the open cockpit as he looked outward in the factory. To the side, he saw Henry partially climbing out of his X1 Courage. However, Goldie was nowhere to be seen as the X3 Loyalty remained undisturbed on his opposite side.

"We've been deceived." Brimfield's voice was echoing through the factory. "The ship in the hangar is not of the Junk Guild! They've already taken the hangar and are working on towards the factory and residential area. All hands are to mobilize and repel them! Lieutenants Siemer, Bertelsen, and Goldie: launch immediately!"

"You heard the captain! Let's move, people!" shouted Lieutenant Henry Siemer as he stepped into his role of combat commander.

Dalen merely nodded to himself as he jumped back into his seat as the cockpit slammed shut. He began the boot up process, the Neutron Jammer Canceller coming online.

"Dalen, you take care of the port. I'll handle the residential area," came Henry's voice in the Honor's systems.

"Copy that," the former FAITH agent replied as he returned to his task. He just hoped this didn't end badly, already imagines from that day were appearing in his mind.

Shoving them to the side, he finished his preparations for his new Gundam, the EHG-X2 Honor. Simultaneously, all the power cords plugged into the pair of powering up mobile suits disconnected as the harnesses disengaged. The two machines took a few careful steps outward, free of all restraints for the first time ever. Dalen had his machine give Siemer the thumbs up, while the Courage nodded in reply. With that, its engines ignited as the Courage made its way out the factory entrance into the cold emptiness of space.

The man just watched his comrade for a few seconds before making his way to the port. The Honor was a close combat melee type, so it only made sense for him to be the one to retake the port. He was far less likely to cause any collateral in the hangar than either Siemer or Goldie's machines. In a way, he was grateful for that since he didn't want to be the one worrying about the others in the residential area and was very thankful that Henry had that job.

On the other hand, the Captain would have his hide if he made a mess of the port.

He chose to take the interior route because his number one priority was to retake the hangar, preferably undamaged. If he had taken an exterior route, it would mean disabling warships and weapons before he could concentrate on the port itself, an action that would give him away and make his task all the more difficult. In his opinion, the wiser course was for him to sneak in and secure the hangar then deal with the remaining forces outside.

Besides... he figured Henry and the Courage would take out those obstacles on his way to the residential area.

The Lieutenant made his way to the rear corner of the factory, where a small assembly line was located. The original colonists had used this line as a means of transporting goods directly from the factory to the port. If he was quick, he would be able to use this to get to the port before the enemy could secure the area and lock it down.

Dalen flipped a switch and activated the Mirage Collide as the Honor made its way through the passageway. Already he could hear the sounds of battle raging outside the base. Quickening his pace, he soon found himself at the port exit. He slowed his speed considerably, lest his footsteps of all things gave him away. Staying close to the walls, Dalen looked around the shaft corner and into the hangar.

The hangar itself was large enough to hold about three Laurasia-class warships side by side, though the exit was only wide enough to permit one ship through at a time. There were four vessels inside the hangar right now: the Early Harvest itself, as well as three shuttles. To the far left were about a dozen EH mobile suits awaiting deployment and Dalen knew full well that there were forty more on the ship itself. Looking around, he saw that a Marseille III-class freighter blocking the entrance with its bulk, preventing anything from entering or leaving the port, save for the open hatch on the side. There were several EH crew member's lying dead on the ground through the port, no doubt the ones that were to greet the "Junk Guild" and were the first to receive the nasty surprise. About twenty or so other enemy men and women were roaming around the hangar, weapons ready and looking for trouble as they professionally scouted the hangar.

It was a common enough tactic: send a small group foremost to secure the area, and then allow the mobile suits and remaining troops to land safely. ZAFT had done the same thing with the raid on Heliopolis.

There were five enemy mobile suits in the hangar already, acting much like sentries. Three Strike Daggers, one GuAIZ and one ZAKU. One each of their shoulders had an emblem of a blood red Shark fin.

The Blood Fins. He knew about them. All of the Early Harvest personal had. It was another pirate group. A collection of war criminals, renegades and deserters, comprised of both Coordinators and Naturals and one of the more aggressive pirate groups as they always left a great deal of bloodshed. It was something Captain Brimfield did not condone himself, as he valued life and people greatly. Though that did not mean he wasn't above issuing execution orders to those who needlessly or savagely abused their power over others. It was his policy towards raiding nation's ships and stealing to do was to do as minimal damage as possible until the ship's surrender as well as to take as few lives as possible.

Pirates, however, were another story. As far as Brimfield was concerned, it was an eye for an eye, but he always made a point of making other pirates 'throw the first punch first'. And all those under Brimfield followed that same policy.

Dalen took several deep breaths as he willed himself to stay focused on what he was supposed to do. Refocusing upon the situation in the hangar, he noticed to his slight dismay that the Early Harvest'sengines and weapon turrets had been blown off. The ship itself wasn't going to be much use then. Against his better nature, his eyes drifted back to the foot soldiers patrolling around and his heart sank a bit when three of them were making their way to the docked mobile suits.

Instinctively, he had the Honor pull out the beam assault rifle stored on the rear wrist. He aimed the weapon at the three men, knowing he couldn't allow them to enter their own mobile suits and add to the enemy numbers. And immediately, the memories came back.

He had been part of Operation Spitbreak and the attack on JOSH-A, piloting a DINN. With the Duel, Dalen had been among the first to breach the Main Gate of the Earth Forces Headquarters. It was thanks to pure luck that he had survived what so many of his friends and colleges had not. After successfully breaching the Main Gate, he found himself critically low on fuel and ammo, prompting him to return to a Vosgulov submarine for refueling and reloading. That act had saved him from the base's detonation as the submarine was far enough away it was able to clear the blast radius.

Like the rest of the survivors, he had been burning with rage at all who had perished as a result and was eager for payback. So when it was announced they were going to strike Panama with the surviving forces in an attempt to 'ground' the Earth Alliance on the planet, he was all for it just like everyone else. He had lost a brother and a sister, as well as many close friends as a result of the blast and he was perfectly ready to return the favor to the Natural scum tenfold! Never mind it was practically a suicide mission, it was a necessity and he was prepared to give it all for revenge!

So they had attacked Panama, only to find that they had mass produced their own mobile suits – the Strike Daggers – and met the ZAFT force head on. While the Naturals piloting the new machines were laughable, the Strike Dagger's tech and weaponry were actually superior to that of ZAFT's mobile suits. But with experienced in the ZAFT mobile suits, it made the fighting relatively even. Yet with the added firepower from the Earth Force's standard tanks, batteries and other factors, defeat would have surely come to the ZAFT forces. Fortunately, they had planned for a drop of Gungnirs to disable the Alliance's forces and it worked perfectly.

… too... perfectly...

The entirety of the Earth Forces were disabled, the ZAFT forces began slaughtering the defenseless and surrendering EA troops. While a handful of people, the Duel included, did not take part in this action virtually everyone else did and did it gleefully.

And to his eternal shame, former Commander Dalen Bertelsen participated as well.

At first... it haven't even registered what he was doing. He just had the chance for revenge he was waiting for and took it gleefully. Towards the end of his own rampage, he turned around to bask in what he had done... and his face fell in horror.

The sight of so many people dead the ground slapped him in the face hard, like waking up someone from a dream to reality. All the destroyed lives he had just ended hit him harder than he thought possible and each life had been defenseless, with many surrendering themselves. It wasn't like in combat; where one was trying to kill you and you had to kill back in order to survive. This was... there was no excuse for this... there number of bodies lingering on the ground easily numbered into the triple digits... each one had pleaded for mercy, begged to be spared and wept when he ignored them and fired upon them anyway.

That's when the radio had kicked on, and he heard his follow soldier's statements.

"HA! HA! HA! Serves you right! Are your toys broken!?"

"Hanna was at Alaska, this is for her!"

"We're not taking any Naturals prisoner!"

Subconsciously, he had taken off his helmet, as if not believing what he was hearing. Not wanting to believe that just mere moments earlier, he had been saying very similar words. Yet more and more such statements came from the different men and women there were committing these atrocities…and laughing while doing so! In a desperate attempt to shut out what was going on outside, he flipped the radio to any other channel, just so he wouldn't have to hear anymore!

"To the last soldier our defense forces fought heroically!" came a Natural news reporter. "The destruction of JOSH-A and the sorrow that accompanied that loss will forever be marked in history as a day of infamy. But despite this loss, we shall never submit to them. What right do the Coordinators have to threaten the security of our skies? The sacrifice that was made was immense, however; we must overcome this great loss and overcome our enemies where ever we may find them! We must gather our strength and fight against the arrogant Coordinators in order to protect the peace, the security and the future of Earth!"

Dalen knew this broadcast well; the Atlantic Federation had been broadcasting it repeatedly since the fall of JOSH-A. Already he could see the TV images of the massive crater were the base had once been, the lingering bodies of the countless soldiers littering the ground, all the hospital shots of the injured survivors with many shots focusing on young children to emphasis the point. When he first saw it, he dismissed it, knowing the real purpose was to just inflame the Natural population with lies and half truths of the "Space Monsters".

But now... those imagines of the dead and injured were flooding into his mind. He just added to that death toll for no reason at all! And for what!? To prove that they were Space Monsters after all!? To become the very things that the Naturals and Blue Cosmos were labeling them!?

For the second time in his life, he vomited inside the cockpit of his mobile suit. At the same instance, the DINN inexplicably dropped the rifle in it's hand, the weapon falling to the ground with a clang.

Monster... monster... monster... monster... monster... monster...

MONSTER!!!

WHAT HAD HE DONE!?!

He gave a cry right there as he reached for his side arm and blasted the radio with two shots, not caring how stupid a move like that was. He immediately turned the DINN around and took off from Panama, flying into the air to get himself as far away from the death and carnage as he could. He flew for who knew how long, pushing the mobile suit to just keep on going and going. Eventually, the DINN began running out of power and he half landed, half crashed in a forest of Coast Rica.

Bertelsen shook his head, forcing out the memories. Stay focused on the job, idiot. Now's not the time to zone out! Giving his head another shake, he focused on the three men approaching the EH mobile suits. Shooting three men in the back like this was way too close to what happened in Panama. Just move along... move along... don't make me shoot...

He breathed a sigh of relief as the three men moved on. Seems they were just making sure the mobile suits were empty. They weren't going to commandeer them... yet. He put his rifle back as he glad he wouldn't have to shoot men like that. It went without saying he would give anything to go back and undo that horrible sin he had committed during Panama.

He went back to surveying, noting the weaponry on each machine. The Strike Daggers had their standard shield, beam rifle, and beam saber. The GuAIZ was equipped with two beam rifles, beam claws on its shield and vulcan cannons. The ZAKU had four grenades, likely a beam tomahawk in its shield, and was carrying a beam bazooka.

That ZAKU had to been taken out first. Its weaponry would be the most destructive to the port. The GuAIZ would have to be next. If he took those two machines out, the three Strike Daggers should provide only minimal difficulty.

He needed surprise on his side to do so, so that meant taking an action he really did not want to do, but he couldn't afford to let his personal feelings get in the way. If he didn't act by surprise, the hangar would be damaged. Breathing into his stomach, he carefully walked across the hangar, moving as quietly as he could. Given the battle raging outside, it wasn't too hard especially with the Mirage Collide active.

Once he was close to the ZAKU, he took the Honor's beam rifle in the left hand and one of his "Folding Razor" anti-armor knives with his right hand. Carefully, he aimed the rifle at the GuAIZ as he held the knife close to the ZAKU's thruster engine.

Instantly, he fired a shot at the GuAIZ cockpit while simultaneously shoving the knife into the engine of the ZAKU as his Mirage Collide deactivated. The GuAIZ blew up immediately, the pilot unable to react at all to the surprise attack. The knife cut through the ZAKU's engine, causing an overload within the machine. Abandoning the knife, he threw the damaged ZAKU as hard as he could towards the freighter blocking the entrance. Using his now free right hand, he grabbed one of his two "Flash-Edge" beam boomerangs and threw it towards one of the Strike Daggers as all three of them now realized what was going on. The beam boomerang cut through the waist of the nearest Dagger while the ZAKU collapsed a short distance towards the freighter, exploding.

The explosion, with all those grenades, was surprisingly quite big. The entire bow section shook from the shockwaves as the freighter rocked from the force, small fires breaking out all on the ship.

By this time, the other two Daggers held up their beam rifles and opened fired on him. He held up his right arm where his small shield was attached to block the shots. Putting his rifle away, he grabbed one of the massive half swords "Claymore" from his back. Accelerating the Honor, he took off towards the two Blood Fin units too quickly for them to properly respond. He slammed into one of the Strike Daggers with his shield, sending it crashing to the ground. He quickly turned around and slashed down through the other Dagger, chopping it in half as it exploded. The Dagger on the ground attempted to shoot again, but Dalen had the Honor kick the rifle out of the hand and stepped down hard on the cockpit. A second later, the Claymore stabbed the downed mobile suit, destroying it.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw several of the foot soldiers now rushing forward in an attempt to board the EH units. Ignoring his stomach doing several flips, he fired a single shot from his vulcan guns mounted on his chest. The shot hit just a meter in front of the men, stopping them in their tracks.

"I wouldn't do that," he said, speaking through the Honor's systems. He did his best to sound impassive and cold. "This is the only warning you get. Try that again, and I won't miss. If you want to live, I suggest you stand down and—"

He was cut off as his machine rocked from an impact as he turned around and looked at the source. To his disbelief, he saw the first Strike Dagger – the one he had thrown the beam boomerang at – was still active. Apparently, he hadn't hit the cockpit when he thrown the weapon, so the upper body was still active. Even if it couldn't move.

He gave a silent curse at the oversight of not confirming the destruction of that mobile suit. The Dagger fired another shot at him and he moved the Honor out of the way as he hurled the Claymore sword directly at the Blood Fin machine. The beam continued on its path and struck one of the shuttles, destroying it right at the same moment the Dagger exploded.

"Captain's going to skin me alive," Dalen told himself, as he turned his attention back to the foot troops. Once again they were heading to the docked mobile suits. He was about to fire when the doors burst open and several EH crewmembers bursting into the hangar, weapons firing at the invaders. The Blood Fins stopped at their attempts and took up positions as they fought back.

Thank you, thank you, thank you!

Very relieved he would not have to slaughter more men in a mobile suit, he took a single shot with the vulcan cannons right next to the biggest cluster of men. The shot threw them all in a panic, as they clearly expected more shots from the mobile suit. With the confusion, the EH members quickly closed in and subdued the troops.

"Secure the port as fast as you can and get those mobile suits online to provide support!" the Lieutenant's voice rang through the hangar as the remaining Blood Fins all laid down their weapons, falling on their knees and putting their hands on their heads. One of the EH gunman gave a nod in his direction, acknowledging the order, so Dalen had the Honor hurry over and recover the Claymore sword from the wreckage. Shouldering it on his back, he reached down and grabbed two of the discarded beam riles. "I'll clear the entrance."

With that, the Honor dashed off towards the damaged freighter. He rushed towards the ship's makeshift catapult, only to find a disembarking GuAIZ unit. Immediately, he raised his left rifle and shot at the thing, but it held up its shield and blocked the shot. It attempted to fire back itself, but Dalen maneuver his mobile suit right up to the thing and kicked the shield arm upright, exposing the cockpit area, which Dalen blasted with his right rifle at point blank range.

The GuAIZ mobile suit exploded as the Honor charged down the freighter, rapidly firing with his borrowed rifles. In the rain of beam energy he sent down upon the ship, portions of the hull were blown apart as the beams seared through the heavy metal. Twice, a Strike Dagger came out and attempted to stop him, but to no avail.

As Dalen was busy attacking and destroying the pirate transport ship, several of the EH mobile suits came to life, their eyes glowing menacingly in rage. Catching sight of his approaching comrades, the Lieutenant half-smiled in relief before returning his attention to his work at hand.

Once he was sure the damage he had done was critical, he tossed both rifles to the ground and reached back, grabbing both half blade Claymores from his back. Whirling them around in front, he slammed the two blades together, forming one massive sword blade. Igniting the beams around the edges of the massive Claymore blade, he gave a loud yell as he slashed through the hull as easily as a hot knife cut through butter.

He was easily able to cut himself an opening clear through the freighter and the Honor charged out into open space right as the Marseille III-class freighter exploded. Once the fire and shrapnel had ceased, the debris of the former ship had cleared away, revealing a mostly unblocked exit from the port. This thus allowed the other EH mobile suits to launch and support the defenses.

Seeing his job done, Dalen piloted the Honor and headed towards the remaining Blood Fin ships and mobile suits, determined to help drive them away. Checking his scanners, he saw that the Blood Fin fleet was all present at Mathilde Colony.

Upon further inspection, he realized that the fleet had broken itself into three groups and each one was focusing on one of the colony's three sections: hangar, factory and residential areas. The force that was covering the port area was of three warships: a former ZAFT Nazca-class and Laurasia-class, and an old Earth Alliance Nelson-class. Already their mobile armors and mobile suits were heading towards him, weapons blazing.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA
By: animefan29

Factory District
7:21am

Once outside, Henry activated the Courage's Mirage Colloid camouflage. Flying close to the surface of the colony to hide his heat signature, he made his way over to the residential area.

In terms of priority the residential area was the lowest on the list of the colony's three districts, having no productive value. Add in its internal framework and you have the reason why there were only a few missile launchers and CIWS guns. Being an area where there would be virtually no combatants and minimal weaponry, any honorable military force would avoid damaging it. But pirates weren't known for their honor or mercy. It wouldn't be beneath them to take civilians hostage. And it would be Henry's job to secure their safety.

Sure enough, once the Courage was far enough along curve of the colony he could make out the enemy forces. Their markings identifying them as members of the Blood Fins. 'Enemy combat strength confirmed. Four TS-MA2 Moebius mobile armors equipped with standard linear guns and missile pods. Two GAT-02L2 Dagger L mobile suits, standard armaments, no striker packs. And finally one Nelson-class battleship, and one Drake-class escort ship.' The enemy's obvious strategy was simple yet effective for their purposes. First use the Daggers to take out the built-in defenses. Then the Nelson moves into a synchronous stationary position with its main guns trained at the colony, its weapons best suited for punching through the colony's wall. Finally the Drake moves into a flanking position to protect against a possible attack from the direction of the factory district, while the Moebius and Dagger Ls split into two groups of three, one suit and two armors, that move relative north and south to guard from those areas yet can still quickly respond in case the Drake is attacked.

'A solid battle plan,' appraised Henry.'They've evenly distributed their numbers to get the maximum effective defense perimeter. However they are primarily expecting an attack from the factory district where the second entrance is, and probably from only half-finished machines. But because of their men at the port, they don't expect an attack from that direction. Theoretically, their reaction time should be slower from that direction.'

Having formed his battle strategy, Henry maneuvered the Courage until it was facing the pirates from the direction of the port. Then, while still under the cover of Mirage Colloid, he opened the large shields that covered a majority of the front of his Gundam. As both the Kerberos cannons and the shoulder-mounted sniper rifle were brought up to bear, the targeting scope for the high-energy cannons came up first and centered on the Nelson. It and the Drake were the primary targets because their weapons could do the most damage to the colony.

The scope centered on the target, the Courage positioned to face the battleship's starboard side, just a little above and before the ship. His breathing slowed ever so slightly as his mind entered what his old drill sergeant called "sniper's state." His finger on the trigger, Henry whispered a mantra taught to him by the man who trained him. "One shot, one kill." Deactivating the Mirage Colloid, he fired his first shot.

The multi-colored stream of energy shot forth, piercing both the Nelson's bridge and its engine section causing the entire ship to explode spectacularly but Henry wasn't paying attention. 'Turn starboard 53 degrees, up 12 degrees.' The cannon's scope had been replaced by the rifle's scope, its target centering in on the engines of the Drake. Four quick successive shots later and those engines looked rather similar to Swiss cheese. With a sniper rifle, the beams didn't have the pure destructive potential that most modern beam weaponry did. However, with its engines in such a state they would be unable to operate, meaning that the Drake will be forced to hold its current position unless the law of inertia took over and carried it away from the colony.

His primary targets eliminated, Henry folded the cannons and rifle before closing the shields and flying out into the debris field away from the colony. The sudden attack had worked to his advantage in delaying the pirate's machines' counterattack, just as he'd predicted. But that surprise was over now, and the enemy mobile suits and armors were rapidly moving to attack. And Henry would prefer it if they shot into empty space instead of towards the colony.

The Courage jarred a little as linear rounds from the Moebius units impacted against the heavy shields, but with the VPS that was all that happened. Grimacing, the Lieutenant switched his mobile suit's weapons to the quadruple missile launchers. Quickly locking onto the targets, he launched a spray of Firefly missiles towards them; two for each of the suits and one for each of the armors.

The Dagger Ls countered by firing their Todesschrecken CIWS guns, each destroying both missiles flying towards them. However, lacking the defensive weapons, the Moebius units could only maneuver and dodge. Two succeeded, two did not. But his objective had not been to destroy any machines, but rather to distract them long enough for the Courage to get properly up into the debris field.

Watching from behind one of the larger chunks of charred debris, Henry lied in wait. Not knowing the direction an enemy machine might appear, he quickly switched out the emptied missile launchers in favor of the Deluge railguns. Soon enough, one of the Dagger Ls appeared to starboard, searching the field for the Courage.

Targets sighted, he fired both railguns on the Dagger. The projectiles ripped through the machines right arm and upper torso.

As the ruined mobile suit drifted off, the Courage's proximity alarms sounded and the mobile suit was rocked with explosions from behind. Swinging the mobile suit around, Henry saw the two remaining Moebius firing the rest of their missiles. Reacting quickly Henry opened the shields, unfolded the Kerberos, and fired. The large beam of energy swept through not only the missiles, but the armors as well, destroying both.

Henry refolded the cannons only for the proximity alarm to blare again, alerting him to the upcoming presence from behind. Swinging around, he saw the last Dagger charging, its shield protecting its cockpit and a beam saber in its right hand. Henry responded by pulling a beam javelin from the left Kerberos and simultaneously pulling a beam pistol from the right hip. When the Dagger struck Henry blocked with the beam javelin while using the beam pistol to shoot out the Dagger's left shoulder joint and then the head. Then Henry quickly pushed off the Dagger and shot it through the cockpit.

With all enemy targets eliminated, Henry flew the Courage back towards the colony. On the way back, he looked over his handy work and with great distaste thought, 'It's much too easy to kill when you can't see the faces of those you fight.'

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA
By: FictionReader98

Hangar, Port District
7:25am

Dalen took a deep breath, knowing that his skills were quite rusty due to three years of not piloting a mobile suit. So he was quite grateful to know that he wasn't alone against these forces. "Alright boys... let's skin us some shark!" he shouted over the radio to the other EH mobile suits. That got a round laughter in response.

He had the Honor hold its shield protectively as he speed towards the enemy pirate forces, artillery and beam weapons slamming on his shield over and over, while several of his fellows provided cover fire as they all sped towards the Blood Fins.

The Honor came right up to the first of the enemy suits, a Strike Dagger, and swung the Claymore sword down at it. The pilot reacted quickly, able to avoid the strike with some quick accelerating to its engines. The Dagger pulled out its own beam saber, only to have the Honor whirl around and kick it in the chest with its right foot. That knocked the machine off balance long enough for the Lieutenant to drive his massive sword through its chest, destroying it.

Beside him, several EH mobiles suits were firing rapidly with their weapons. One managed to hit a Blood Fin mobile suit, blowing it into space dust. In response, a GuAIZ fired its anchor claws out towards the EH machine, blowing both of its arms off before firing a shot from its beam rifle and blowing it up. An old EH GINN fired it's weapon at the GuAIZ but the pilot blocked the shots easily enough and rushed towards it, the beam sabers mounted on its left arm ignited to life and Dalen heard his comrade's final screams as the GINN was chopped in half.

It had been Michael. A former Natural Army officer who had left the Alliance after the attack on Orb. A friend.

Hissing under his breath his breath, Dalen headed towards the enemy GuAIZ unit as it was already going after another ally. Taking out his second beam boomerang, he hurled it at the Blood Fin who managed to dodge in time. Fortunately, it caused his aim to be off as he missed the EH Strike Dagger.

The GuAIZ took notice of him as it came at him with its beam sabers ready. The weapons clashed with Honor's massive Claymore sword. Dalen attempted to take another swing, but the GuAIZ jumped back and avoided it. It began firing its Pollux IX railguns at the Honor, which Dalen countered by spinning the Claymore in the Gundam's hands, making a makeshift shield that blocked the shots. Once that barrage was over, he raised the sword and charged again, beginning it downward on the GuAIZ, which once again dodged.

But this time, Dalen had been expecting that as he separated the weapon into the two smaller half Claymore blades. He swung the right one at the Blond Fin, catching it by surprised as he severed it's left arm, it's shield and beam sabers flying off and exploding.

The former ZAFT machine activated its thruster and attempted to flee backwards, laying down a series of shots to cover its retreat. Dalen piloted the Honor in hot pursuit, weaving and dodging the various shots. In an attempt to close the gap, he fired off several rounds from the Vulcan guns. The GuAIZ had no choice but to bring up its remaining arm in a vain attempt to block the shots, but that was all that Dalen needed. Giving another boost of his engine, he brought up his left Claymore blade and slashed through the remaining arm, then thrust his other blade into the cockpit.

He quickly backed off as the GuAIZ exploded. If he had that much trouble with against an older mobile suit model, looks like his skills were really rusty. If he survived this, he would have to retrain himself to get back to his peak since there was no chance of convincing Brimfield to get him off the hook of piloting this thing.

At the same time, several of the EH units were taking strife runs on the Nelson-class' port side, blowing up several weapons' placements. That's when four old Moebius mobile armors appeared behind them, firing their linear guns and missiles. One of the EH suits was hit in the back, and before he could react as he crashed into the Blood Fin ship. The mobile suit skipped across the hull several times before finally exploding. The other two quickly turned around and shot at the mobile armors. All four were destroyed quickly. But one of the EH mobile suits was destroyed by the ship's weapons while the remaining one took off.

"Matthew, George, Charlie, Able, Nickolas!" Dalen called out the names of those piloting Strike Daggers, GINNs and CGUE. "With me: we're taking out the Nelson!"

"Aye, aye!" came the voices as the six machines at the damaged pirate vessel, spitting into two groups.

Matthew, George and Charlie in their Strike Dagger, GINN and CGUE hit the damaged port side, while Dalen, Able and Nickolas attacked on the starboard side. Several more mobile armors came out them but there were easily dispatched. With the Natural and Coordinator flanking him and providing him cover, Dalen recombined the Claymore before attacking the 'neck' of the ship, cutting the bridge from the rest of the ship. The bridge exploded, leaving a remaining large chunk of ship now drifting. Dalen gave the signal as he and the other five all flew to the port side of the ship as the other mobile suits from the hangar joined the fighting.

All the gathered mobile suits quickly joined the Honor on the portside of the hull, using the ship as a large barricade for cover. Giving an order, the consortium of mobile suits powered up their engines as much as they could, some going well past the safety limits. The result was a brief but intense burst of momentum that hurled the remains of the Nelson-class right towards the Laurasia and Nazca ships. While the Nelson was nowhere near fast enough to properly collide into the two functioning ships, it was drawing a fair portion of their firepower on it, leaving them slightly vulnerable.

As the two former ZAFT ships coldly blasted the Nelson ship as they also moved out of the way, the Honor and other EH mobile suits made a beeline for the two ships. Six Blood Fin mobile suits – two ZAKUs, one GuAIZ and three Strike Daggers – flanked by a number of remaining mobile armors appeared.

The enemy units began firing wildly at the Honor and others. One of their number wasn't fast enough and was blasted to pieces. Another life lost.

In anger, Dalen placed one of his Claymores onto his back and took out his beam rifle, firing a series of shots at the enemy, each one striking a mobile armor. He sped towards a ZAKU in the group, swinging his sword at it. As expected, he missed but it did allow him to achieve his real objective: stealing one of the ZAKU's grenades. He lobbed the thing at the ZAKU, where it exploded at point blank range. He spun around and fired a shot at another machine, hitting it in the head. He rushed the mobile suit, turning around to slam the Honor's feet into the Dagger. He used the machine as a brace to launch himself at another mobile suit, while at the same time propelling the Blood Fin unit into a mobile armor, destroying both.

Dalen's Gundam soared through the emptiness of space towards another Strike Dagger but before he got halfway, he felt his machine rock from an explosion. He looked back to see the other ZAKU had fired a bazooka at him, though his VPS armor took the worst of the hit. Utilizing a series of short bursts, he regained position as a GuAIZ unit came after him. Reacting as best he could, he withdrew his second combat knife and stabbed forward, hitting the Blood Fin machine in the cockpit. A small explosion happened around the cockpit as the machine drifted, so Dalen took his beam rifle and shot the thing.

Three mobile armors flew towards him, but were destroyed by several of the other Mathilde defenders. But he paid it no mind as they continued battling it out with the remaining mobile suits and fending off the coming mobile armors. An EH Strike Dagger and a Blood Fin Strike Dagger pierced themselves in the cockpits, destroying both.

The remaining Strike Dagger and ZAKU were tag-teaming as the EH mobile suits converged on them. Giving each other cover, they took out three of them and not suffering a scratch themselves. Dalen heard each of the pilots scream, Able among them. He took off towards the two Blood Fins. "Leave them to me! The rest of you hit that Laurasia-class!"

After acknowledging the order the other mobile suits veered off, going for the Laurasia while the mobile armors opened fired. The Honor sped towards the two mobile suits, using his shield to block their shots while evading as much he could. He fired back over and over again, but the two mobile suits separated, going into different directions when he got closer. His Claymore swung into nothing. Once again, his machine rocked with enemy fire. He quickly turned around as a grenade appeared before him, followed quickly by an explosion. The two Blood Fins hollered in glee as they looked at the results through the dissipating smokescreen.

A carbon-charred shield was all that was there.

"A shield!?" Both pilots exclaimed. Where the hell was...

The pilot of the Strike Dagger looked behind him as a proximity alarm sounded. He was just in time to see the strange new mobile suit, with its massive anti-ship sword combined once again, seemingly appear out of nowhere. The anti-ship sword slashed through the mobile suit, and Dalen would later swear he heard the pilot's screams as he died. He quickly turned around and fired several of his Vulcan guns at the remaining Mobile Suit. The shots rattled on the ZAKU harmlessly until several bullets hit one of its remaining grenades. A second later, yet another mobile suit was blown to pieces.

Dalen didn't waste any time in turning the Gundam around towards the battleships. Several mobile armors and EH personnel had perished so far, but the Laurasia-class was heavily damaged, with the Nazca-class providing support fire. The Honor flew towards the damaged ship, taking out three mobile armors as he flew by. Seriously... why would anyone use those things anymore? They're not even useful. He held out the Claymore blade as he made way to the Blood Fin ship. The massive sword struck just above the bridge aware as he ignited his thrusters to the max, allowing him to slash down the entire length of the ship, all the way to the engines.

That strike, along with the rest of the damage so far, proved to be the straw that broke the camel's back. Explosions riddled all over the vessel, each one building off one another, making each successor that much bigger until it finally broke into two pieces…and then many more.

One more to go, Dalen thought as he turned the Honor towards the remaining warship, the Nazca-class. As he rushed into attack, hegot a burst of inspiration. A Nazca could prove useful for their operations, with its speed. And if they did need to evacuate Mathilde Colony, another big ship besides the Early Harvest would be very useful. "Minimal damage boys!" he shouted over the radio. "Target the weapons only! I repeat: target the weapons only!"

Once again, a series of replies was heard as the mobile suits finished the last of the mobile armors and began blowing apart each of the weapon placements. The Honor itself used its swords to slice through the two main cannons below. Several other mobile suits dashed towards the rear of the ship and fired, inflicting heavy damage on the engines. Nodding in approval, the Honor jumped back and then flew up until he was in front of the bridge. Dalen could see the startled crew from this close and for a brief moment, he hesitated.

Then he plunged the anti-ship sword directly into the bridge.

The area exploded, killing the command crew instantly. He saw the remaining engines power down as the ship floated lifeless.

Sometimes he hated his life...

With that, he gathered the remaining EH members around him and headed towards to the next part of the battle.

As it was, he would later learn that in this part of the fight alone, eleven Early Harvest members had lost their lives. Of the Blood Fins: twenty-five mobile armors, seventeen mobile suits, and of course the three ships had been destroyed, with a fourth disabled.

And an unofficial casualty was the contents of Lieutenant Dalen Bertelsen's lunch…again.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Factory District
7:36am

Nestled safely under the blanket of Mirage Colloid and drifting gently amidst the debris field, Goldie carefully maneuvered his X3 Loyalty towards its target location as per the instructions left to him by Lieutenant Siemer. It was taking him a painstakingly long time to reach the optimal attack point that the combat commander had recommended. With the lack of air or wind currents to dissipate the heat emissions of his engine thrusters, he was forced to drift almost lifelessly towards where he was needed to go. And thanks to the sniper of their little X-unit team randomly blasting into the debris field to trigger some of the mines planted within to confuse their enemies, it was causing Goldie to go slightly slower so that his Gundam wouldn't be caught by a shower of shrapnel. Actually, he'd already lost count of how many times he'd had to use his shield to protect himself.

'This is so boring,' Charley whined. 'Why can't we just attack right now? We're certainly close enough!'

"That isn't part of the plan," Goldie replied coolly. He was every bit as annoyed as Charley, but he had far more self-control than Charley likely ever would. "If we come out of the colloid now, we'll be throwing it all away. Do you really want to deal with Lieutenant Siemer because we disobeyed orders again?"

'Why should I care what some wannabe combat commander thinks?' Charley snapped. He'd had enough of this!

Wincing and letting out a growl of pain, Goldie could feel Charley rising up, taking control of him again. He fought desperately to resist, to hold him in check, anything; but it was for naught. Charley would not be denied this!

"Besides," Charley continued as a sinister sneer spread across his face, he was fully in control now. "I LIVE TO FIGHT!!!"

The Mirage Colloid vanished as the mobile suit appeared from seemingly out of nowhere. Then its gray coloring shifted to mostly orange with a few bright yellow stripes and highlights. Boosting its engines, the Gundam suddenly shifted and changed into its mobile armor mode as it went rushing off towards the enemy warships.

'Charley, stop it!' Goldie yelled futilely. 'You're ruining the plan!'

"Screw the plan!" Charley yelled ecstatically as he rapidly closed in on their attackers. "It's playtime!!"

Letting out a crazed cackle, he attacked the closer of the two ships. It was a Marseille III-class transport. The blazing Amfortas plasma cannons tore large holes through the unprepared, marginally armored spaceship. The multiple shots riddled the portside with deep holes; several of them even blasted clear through the other side of the vessel. The Marseille III didn't explode from the damage done, but precious air, debris, and personnel alike were all sucked out into the vacuum of space once the numerous explosions died down.

Laughing loudly at the destruction and death he'd inflicted, Charley yelled out, "Did you see that, Goldie?! Goldie?! HAHAHAHA!! This is fun!"

'Stop it, Charley!' Goldie ordered. 'As members of the Early Harvest, we—'

"Spare me the sentimental dribble!" Charley snapped, already looking for his next plaything. "Let's have some more fun!!"

Swiftly rolling to the side to dodge a desperate salvo of CWIS fire from the old-styled Earth Forces Drake-class, Charley continued his insane laughter as he angled towards the ship. Changing back into a mobile suit, the Gundam grabbed the Vajra beam sabers on its shoulders. Swooping up from under its bow, Charley jabbed his sabers into the Drake's forward-facing Vulcan cannons. Flaring his engines, Charley's Vajra sabers burned twin lines through the hull of the old-generation warship as he rocketed towards the stern.

Shooting out from under the Drake's engines, Charley spun his Gundam around. Bringing the Amfortas cannons up, he fired them straigth inot the engines of the Laurasia that had been futilely trying to shoot him down as he shredded the Drake. The high-energy beams tore through the armor and the engines easily. Goldie pulled the Loyalty back to watch with glee at his handiwork. The damage done to their engines proved to be their downfall, resulting in Drake going up in a large explosion and followed shortly by the Laurasia.

"OHH! Look at all the pretty colors, Goldie!" Charley cheered to his other self. This was just so much fun! He was the ultimate warrior, the ultimate destroyer, and this was his greatest pleasure! This was what he lived for! What he was meant for! What he had been rebuilt for! And how he so dearly relished it!

Sharp jolts off the Loyalty's VPS armor quickly returned Charley's attention back to the present. Swinging around to face his new enemies, he spotted a formation of only ten approaching GuAIZ and Strike Daggers. Exchanging one of his Vajra in favor of his beam rifle, the maniacal Coordinator said, "You know what I see, Goldie? A WHOLE LOT OF SMALL FRY!!"

With a loud cheer, Goldie rushed straight into the heart of the formation, beam rifle blazing.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Great White, Agamemnon-class warship
7:50am

The final ship of the Blood Fins fleet, the Great White, was floating ominously three kilometers outside the debris belt of the asteroid colony.

Though Commander Sansui could be said to be a formidable mobile suit pilot in battle, he was little more than lucky Second Lieutenant when compared to the many others who shared his same rank when it came to battle strategies. There were only two things that had allowed him to ascend to the post of the Blood Fins' commander: his greed and his savagery.

When his old ship had been allowed to enlist into the Blood Fins' armada, he had went meet to the former Commander in person, only to shoot a hole into the bridge's viewport. The unprepared Commander and his entire bridge crew of Loyalists had all been sucked out into the vacuum of space. It was immediately afterwards that he'd named himself the newest commander. If there had been any disloyalty shown towards him, Sansui killed them on the spot. However, he had quickly won himself the loyalty of the rest of the fleet when he'd led them through a series of raids that had not only boosted their reputations, but brought in considerable more wealth than the former commander ever had.

But all of those raids had been entirely thanks to luck.

And then the wretched Earth Alliance had the nerve to come and force him out of his secret base in one of the O'Neil colonies?! If it hadn't been for their overwhelming numbers, Sansui would've had his fleet attack them in an instant. But he ultimately complied. With nowhere else to go, he had taken his fleet to the pirate sanctuary of Heaven's Fortune; a massive space station designed by, constructed for, and used solely for pirates as a not-so-secret black market. It was there that he'd learned of the repeated attempts on the infamous Mathilde Colony and he knew he'd found his calling. Clearly the goddess of fortune and luck was smiling down upon him.

Under normal circumstances, attacking the colony would've been a very grave mistake, no matter how powerful the attacking force may be. But after so many attacks in such a short time, the resolve and efficiency of the high-class Persephone-damned 'pirates' would've been worn away to allow another easy win for his fleet! Plus, he'd had a personal vendetta against that accursed Captain of theirs for several years now.

The initial infiltration of the colony by intercepting and destroying the Junk Guild vessel, and then sending one of his Marseille III to seize the hangar had gone off without a hitch. With the hangar blocked, none of the formidable EH mobile suits would be able to launch a proper retaliatory attack as his ground troops surged in and took control of the spaceport. That part of the plan had actually been well on its way to succeeding when suddenly the wretched defenders revealed trio of completely unexpected aces. Three new mobile suits that performed and fought at well above the levels of the fabled Gundam-class! The sword Gundam had shredded his primary invasion force. The sniper Gundam had blasted the second invasion force over the residential district to pieces. And finally that transformable Gundam had slaughtered his remaining three ships and their mobile suits all by itself.

If not for those incredible new machines, the colony would've been his at long last!

Sansui couldn't stop himself from snarling in an almost animalistic way as he clenched his fists tightly at his sides. How could things have gone to so wrong so quickly because of three new machines?! All that he had left was the Great White and its fifteen mobile suits, nowhere near enough to overpower the strengthened defenses of the Mathilde Colony. He had lost precious resources, manpower, and his reputation after this humiliating setback! He would have to rebuild his fleet from scratch, raid countless ships and other colonies, and somehow maintain his position as the commander for a crew of bloodthirsty and treasure-hungry pirates. It would take him months, if not years, to be able to mount another operation like this again!

But he was Commander Sansui of the ferocious Blood Fins' pirates! He could still pull a win out of this! He knew he could!

"Commander! Incoming transmission from the colony!"

"Put it on the screen," he barked.

The image of the hard-faced Early Harvest Captain in a space suit appeared before him and the bridge crew. In the background, Sansui could clearly see the debris of what had clearly been the Marseille III he'd sent earlier. And there was a line of prisoners partially visible over Brimfield's shoulder, no doubt the pathetic fools who he'd mistakenly trusted to carry out the mission of securing the spaceport. If he ever saw them again, he'd put a bullet in each of their heads himself!

"Commander Sansui," Brimfield said calmly, his expression and voice an indistinguishable neutral. "Still up to your filthy tricks and tactics I see."

"What do you want, Brimfield?" Sansui demanded. Oh how he loathed that man!

"I'm offering you and your remaining crew one final chance to leave our colony," Brimfield said. "We shall return your men to you, unharmed, and you will leave immediately."

"And what makes you think I care about those useless fools behind you?" Sansui snapped, glaring fiercely. "Nothing you say will change my mind! I will have that factory! And I will have your head when this day is through, you Persephone-scum!"

Brimfield merely stared coolly back his fellow pirate captain. "Do you know of the ironic significance of you calling my people and I as 'Persephone's Children'?"

Sansui's glare deepened considerably. Of course he didn't know the full story behind the stupid name that the other pirates had started calling the Early Harvest. All he cared about was the fact that it sounded like an extremely derogatory term used to describe these loathsome 'pirates'.

"Captain!" the radar station called out suddenly. "Three enemy mobile suits heading straight for us! It's those new models!"

"All cannons and missile launchers fire!" he barked immediately. "Shoot them down!!"

Turning, he sent a renewed glare at Brimfield. So that was what the man had been up to? Distracting him while his underlings snuck up on his ship?! He'd show the bastard! Sansui swore to himself to throw the man out the airlock as soon as he'd conquered this colony!

"Persephone was indeed the daughter of the Greek goddess of the harvest," Brimfield continued as he saw that Sansui was again looking at him. "However, she had been kidnapped and later wed to Hades, the God of the Underworld, thus making her the Queen of the Underworld."

Outside, the transformable Gundam came tearing forward at breakneck speeds. As it shot past the starboard side of the Great White, it fired repeated blasts, blowing massive holes through the hull of the large warship. Next, the sword Gundam shot forth, easily dodging the futile defensive fire from the CWIS, and jabbed its massive beam swords into the portside of the ship. Gunning its thrusters, the Gundam slashed down the entire length of the warship.

As the sniper Gundam lined up for a shot, Sansui came to a sudden realization. A revelation that Brimfield almost immediately confirmed. "That would make us on the Early Harvest the children of the God of Death."

The sniper Gundam's shot tore clean through the bridge, killing all inside and triggering the inevitable destruction of the Great White and the deaths of the pirates. The Blood Fins were no more.

---

(AUTHOR'S NOTE) Whew, that was one heck of a monster chapter. Much, much longer than I'd originally predicted it being. I hope that everyone enjoys this chapter, especially the parts where my friends (animefan29 and FictionReader98) had written and created their own characters in the story. While I currently don't have much of an idea of what's going to happen to them, I can state with certainty that this will likely not be the last time we see the Early Harvest. Oh no, they still have a role to play in this story.

In case any of you are wondering, the three X-units are all based on data that (A)Kira and Professor K had stolen from ZAFT in the beginning chapters. And while the X2 Honor is remarkably similar to the Sword Impulse, the X1 Courage is based strongly off a fusion of the Blast Impulse and the Dynames Gundam from 00. Not much to say about the X3 Loyalty, except that I just really liked the Savior's design. Big time thank you for animefan29 for helping me refine these three into the beauties they are now!

Martius—March
Sextilis--August

EHG-X1 Courage (based on ZGMF-X56S/γ Blast Impulse Gundam)
Unit type: prototype artillery and sniper mobile suit
Model Number: EHG-X1, Early Harvest Gundam-eXperimental unit 01
Manufacturer: Mathilde Colony (Early Harvest)
Operator(s): Early Harvest, Henry Siemer
First deployment: January 1, 74 CE
Powerplant: ultracompact fusion nuclear reactor (experimental)
Color: Faded orange (chest), white; brown (Full Shield)
Equipment and design features:
Extreme Long-Range Targeting Sensors, range unknown
Mirage Colloid
Neutron Jammer Canceller
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Fixed armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, mounted in chest
2 x MMI-M16XE2 "Deluge" hyper-velocity rail cannon, mounted on back of Full Shield Pack, folded over shoulders when in use
1 x long-range sniper beam rifle, can unfold into standard beam rifle, stored on right shoulder
2 x M2000F "Kerberos" high-energy long-range beam cannon, mounted on back
2 x GMF39 quadruple missile launcher (AGM141 "Firefly" guided missiles), mounted on Kerberos beam cannons
2 x 'Defiant' beam javelin, stored in Kerberos beam cannons
2 x beam pistol, stored on hip armor

EHG-X2 Honor (based on ZGMF-X56S/β Sword Impulse Gundam)
Unit type: prototype attack mobile suit
Model Number: EHG-X2, Early Harvest Gundam-eXperimental unit 02
Manufacturer: Mathilde Colony (Early Harvest)
Operator(s): Early Harvest, Dalen Bertelsen
First deployment: January 1, 74 CE
Powerplant: ultracompact fusion nuclear reactor (experimental)
Color: Faded orange (torso, shoulders, forearms), white
Equipment and design features:
Mirage Colloid
Neutron Jammer Canceller
Sensors, range unknown
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in chest
2 x RQM60 "Flash-Edge" beam boomerang, stored on shoulders
2 x MMI-980 "Claymore" anti-ship sword, combinable, stored on back
1 x MMI-RG59V mobile shield, mounted on left arm
1 x MMI-M633 beam assault rifle, stored on rear waist
2 x M71-AAK "Folding Razor" anti-armor knife, stored in hip armor
2 x MA-M941 "Vajra" beam saber, stored on hips

EHG-X3 Loyalty (based on the original ZGMF-X23S Savior)
Unit type: prototype transformable attack mobile suit
Model Number: EHG-X3, Early Harvest Gundam-eXperimental unit 03
Manufacturer: Mathilde Colony (Early Harvest)
Operator(s): Early Harvest, Charles 'Goldie' Goldsboro
First deployment: January 1, 74 CE
Powerplant: ultracompact fusion nuclear reactor (experimental)
Color: Yellow (body), faded orange (wings, backpack)
Equipment and design features:
Mirage Colloid
Neutron Jammer Canceller
Sensors, range unknown
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head
2 x MA-M941 "Vajra" beam saber, stored on shoulders
1 x MMI-RD11 aerodynamic shield, mounted on left arm
2 x M106 "Amfortas" plasma beam cannon, mounted on backpack, can be fired in mobile suit and mobile armor mode
2 x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm machine gun, mounted on backpack
2 x MA-7B "Super Fortis" beam cannon, mounted on backpack
1 xMA-BAR70 high-energy beam rifle, stored on rear waist