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

19. Dawn of Aggression

Gundam SEED Destiny
Kira
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Phase 19: Dawn of Aggression

January 14, 74 CE
Toulouse, France
3:16pm

Infiltrating the Alliance testing facility was an exercise in boredom. Thanks to the identification that Captain Ito had provided them with, along with some fairly inventive acting on their parts, the gate guards had allowed them access without anything more than the common procedure hassle. Once inside, they were quickly found and guided through the facility by an undercover agent of theirs who'd been conveniently stationed there.

Now standing just around a corner of the hangar in which their new machines were waiting, Yoshi, Carter, and Maria mutely prepared for the small massacre that they were about to unleash. They loaded their automatic pistols, prepped a grenade or two, and unsheathed combat knives while pulling on some light body armor, all with the expertise of a trained assassin unit.

"There are about ten mechanics per machine," their guide whispered. "And about sixteen guards in total. Most of the mechanics are gathered around the computers and monitoring systems for the machines' final preparations." Turning back to his companions, the man said, "This is as far as I go. Good luck."

"Thanks for the help, sweetie," Maria purred as she suddenly seemed to materialize in the man's arms. Before he could react, she pulled him into a deep, fiery kiss of gratitude.

"We're behind schedule," Yoshi growled. Kami, he despised Maria at times like this!

Breaking off her kiss, Maria turned and pouted at Yoshi but she complied nonetheless. Leaving the slightly dazed spy behind, she joined her teammates at the corner. Seconds later, they sprung from hiding charged into the hangar. The brief firefight that ensued was just that: brief. Caught flatfooted and totally by surprise, none of the soldiers managed to find cover in time to escape the tsunami of deadly bullets fired their way, much less return fire.

Ignoring the stunned and terrified mechanics, the three rebels easily made their way towards their selected Gundams. As they were in the midst of boarding them, one of the mechanics had smashed the alarm, triggering sirens to flare to life in the facility. Sadly the mechanic didn't get far before Yoshi's grenade landed right in front of him, ending his life mere moments later.

Closing the cockpits, the three pilots immediately set to work booting up and refining the current OS of their machines. Fingers dancing over the keyboards, the three machines' eyes flashed ominously as they came to life. Moments later they shifted from their dull grays into their customary colors.

Carter's machine became a proud white with the boxy backpack, large beam cannons mounted upon it, and the shoulder and chest armor turning a dark blue. As it pulled free of its restraints, the large Schlag beam cannons folded behind its backpack swung up over its shoulders and fired, blowing open the hangar's locked doors. With pride, he launched his new Gundam out into the light of day.

Maria's machine turned a bright blood-red color. As she walked her machine out from smoking debris that had once been the hangar doors, she gunned the thrusters and was immediately pressed back into her seat from the sheer G-forces caused by the powerful engines. With all eight wings spread wide, she blasted off the ground at startling speeds.

Yoshi's maroon and orange armored Gundam walked smartly out of the hangar. Unlike the previous two, who had strong similarities to their 'father' machine, this mobile suit had neither a backpack nor wings. Instead it carried a large sword and beam bazooka upon the back of its shoulders and wore awkward looking waist armor that hung as far as its knees. Rising gently into the air, the third machine turned and surveyed the Alliance facility for any signs of trouble.

"This Gundam is awesome!" Maria cheered giddily as she put her machine through a series of high-speed maneuvers that most other mobile suits couldn't even hope to mimic.

"We don't have time to play around, Maria," Carter said firmly as he and Yoshi rose higher into the air. "Let's get these back to the Liberator so we can plan our next move."

"AW!" the excited lady pilot whined childishly. "But I thought we could at least play with the factory down there for a little bit! Please?"

"We're leaving now," Yoshi growled. Facing the bright red unit, his machine reached up and grabbed a hold of the hilt of his large sword. "Or I will destroy you right here and now."

"Fine then," Maria snapped as her mobile suit turned and flew up towards her partners as they pulled away from the facility. "I'm coming, you pissy, old geezer."

"I will enjoy killing you when the time comes," Yoshi promised, glaring slightly at his disobedient fellow pilot.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Djibril Manor
3:30pm

"Would anyone care to explain to me how this came to be?" Djibril asked in a surprisingly calm voice. It was an act, they all knew it. He knew that they knew that he was positively furious that this could've happened. Now, at what could likely have been the worst time possible! "How is that a trio of vigilantes could not only infiltrate a highly secret facility, but also make off with our latest Neo Freedom prototypes?"

Taking an almost idle sip of his beloved wine, Djibril watched the faces of his underlings with deep interest. Under his keen scrutiny, he found an interesting display of emotions on their various faces. But the one he saw on Lally McWilliams was certainly the one that had captured his attention almost immediately. "Is there something you'd like to share with the rest of us, McWilliams?"

Chuckling at how quickly he'd been found out, Lally shrugged nonchalantly. "Not really, but I assume that you're likely going to throw another fit if I didn't."

"What have you done now?" Djibril demanded angrily, finally starting to let his real emotions slip to the surface.

"Why I merely transferred some highly-capable weapons into the hands of my newest undercover unit," Lally admitted, a sneer pulling at his lips. "And this unit is much more efficient than your beloved 'Phantom Pain.'"

"Explain," Alwin Ritter requested forcefully. "None of us are in the mood for these pointless games, McWilliams. Things are bleak enough without us going for each other's throats."

"True enough," Lally nodded in easy agreement. "You all are aware of that new group called the 'Hands of Freedom'? I created them with their ultimate goal being the destruction of the Neo Freedom."

For a moment there was silence that greeted his proud announcement. "And, I'm proud to say, that they have been performing far above what I'd originally hoped they would. Thanks to their attacks and Durandal's smear campaign, the majority of the public is no longer so willing to favor Akira Iyadomi over us or even ZAFT."

"You do realize that thanks to Durandal's speech the Freedom will seek them out and destroy them, right?" Lucs Kohler asked as though he were talking to a young child.

"But of course," Lally agreed, his sneer not fading in the least. "This is why I granted them access to the facility that was housing the Lacerater, Devastator, and Dominator. Those three machines will be more than capable of handling the Neo Freedom when it finally shows up."

"And what about our forces after they've destroyed that annoyance?" Djibril demanded, glaring heatedly at his underling. "Many of our future plans revolved around the firepower and capabilities of those three machines! Now that you've given them to civilians, there's a very good possibility that they'll end up in ZAFT's hands. Have you thought of that?! This is why you do not take action without informing the rest of us!!"

"Perhaps I've neglected to mention that Captain Luna Ito is the leader of the Hands?" Lally remarked idly. Seeing the surprised and relieved expressions of his fellow trillionaires, he continued, "She will have everything well under control after everything dies down. I have little doubt that she'll return our Gundams back to us in time for them to hear the Requiem play."

At the mention of their trump card, Djibril finally began to relax and adjust to Lally's information and plan. Yes, as long as they had those machines when they finally moved to let the Requiem sing its beautiful tune, they would ultimately emerge triumphant in this war of purification.

Giving Lally one final glare, Djibril hauntingly growled out, "They had better be, McWilliams. They better be…"

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

January 16, 74 CE
Minerva, northern Spain
8:53pm

The pilot briefing room was currently housing four individuals. Seated in the front row chairs were Athrun, Heine, and Shinn with Captain Gladys standing near front wall. Projected upon the wall was the basic layout of a ZAFT base, a nearby civilian city, and the surrounding terrain.

"As you may have already realized, this is the location that we predict as the most likely target of the Hands of Freedom terrorist group," Gladys said, her voice stonily calm and composed. "The city and factory of Albacete has been a long supplier of metal frames and fixtures used in mobile suits and other weaponry for ZAFT since even the previous war. At the pace that we're currently setting, the Minerva is expected to arrive shortly after six in the morning."

"Captain, how are we sure that the Hands will even appear at this site?" Heine asked.

"Unfortunately the source of this information was classified, even for me," Gladys replied in a stiff voice. Oh yes, Durandal was once again up to his games. And the fact that he didn't tell her where he learned this (among a few other things) was what was beginning to annoy her. "Suffice to say that the Chairman has every confidence that we're not walking into another trap."

Of the three pilots, only Shinn seemed to accept her statement immediately, looking almost relieved. Leaning forward slightly, Shinn asked, "What is our current attack strategy, Captain?"

"With help from the garrison stationed near the factory, we will be expecting an additional five mobile suits to aid in this battle," Gladys said, turning back to the projected map. "We'll station the Savior and Impulse here, in the small fields and pastures west of the garrison. You are to provide protection and backup for the garrison. The Minerva will be waiting at the southern end of the factory about two miles five kilometers away from the garrison, here, to provide cover fire for the factory."

Turning back to the pilots, she looked somewhat resignedly at Athrun's slightly questioning expression. Holding up her hand to forestall his inevitable question, she said, "I'm well aware that you still aren't fit to pilot, Athrun. That is why I'm requesting that you allow Commander Westenfluss to use the Savior for the time being. I cannot allow any able mobile suits to just sit in the hangar for this mission."

"Of course, Captain," Athrun acknowledged easily, nodding his admission to his orange-haired commander next to him.

Nodding in response, Heine looked back at Gladys with his own questioning gaze. "Captain, is there any particular reason you feel that we should deploy both our remaining mobile suits for this mission? Last I heard, though those pilots are quite skilled, the Hands still only use Rapier mobile suits. I believe that Shinn could handle them all by himself." That statement drew a deeply self-satisfied smirk from Shinn.

"Unfortunately, yes, we must," Gladys said, gazing at Shinn. She wasn't sure that she liked that look on his face in response to Heine's compliment. "Along with this mission data I received, I have also been informed that the Hands have only recently acquired new machines: Gundams of unknown abilities. It would be extremely foolish to underestimate them."

That statement brought a sudden apprehension to the gathered pilots as they suddenly truly understood the situation they were in.

"This is going to be a very hard mission," Gladys said seriously. "Get some rest while you still can. Dismissed."

Standing up, all three pilots saluted the Captain in response to the dismissal. Upon returning it, the blonde woman exited the room. Turning back to his fellow FAITH agent, Heine let a small smile on his face. "Don't worry, Athrun. I'll bring the Savior back into one piece, I promise."

"The Savior can be replaced," Athrun said quietly. "Just make sure you come back in one piece."

Nodding, Heine reached out and caught Shinn's shoulder as the younger pilot attempted to leave the room. Earning the boy's attention, the FAITH agent's expression drew into an extremely serious one. "Shinn, I know that the Captain didn't say anything about it but there's something I think you should really consider carefully about this mission."

"What?" Shinn asked, his curiosity plainly seen on his face.

"I have a sneaking suspicion that a certain person could appear at some point during this mission," Heine said carefully, watching critically as Shinn's expression immediately changed from curiosity to anger. "And while I certainly don't pretend to understand what he's trying to achieve, if he does appear, it will likely be to destroy the Hands. Just like we are going to be doing. If he does appear, don't attack him."

"Why?!" Shinn demanded hotly. "Iyadomi is an enemy of ZAFT! He doesn't deserve any mercy for what he's done!"

"Shinn! He hasn't even attacked ZAFT!" Athrun barked immediately. "Not even when he kidnapped M—Miss Clyne, he didn't even kill anyone!"

"Of course he hasn't attacked us," Shinn drawled, glaring fiercely at Athrun. "He had his cronies do it for him. What he's doing is nothing better than indiscriminate terrorism!"

"In case you haven't realized it, Shinn," Athrun said seriously, restraining his rising anger as best he could. "Kira prefers to work alone. There is no way he'd try to rally people to his cause, even if it was maintain the Freedom while he continued to do his 'indiscriminate terrorism'. He is far too independent to work with strangers like that for any real length of time!"

Loud coughing from Heine interrupted whatever response Shinn had been preparing to yell back at Athrun. "You both do have good points to support your individual points of view," he said diplomatically. "And until he is finally captured or gives a statement, we will never truly learn what he is trying to accomplish and whether the Hands are a part of his grand scheme or not. Thus, this argument is completely pointless."

Though both of his companions looked far from ready to concede from their beliefs, they did back down slowly.

"Getting back to the previous subject," Heine said, earning Shinn's fierce gaze yet again. "The reason that I'm asking you to not attack the Neo Freedom should it appear is quite simple. We are going into battle against a trio of unknown Gundams. And while I do believe that our allies at the Albacete Garrison will be more than willing to help, I don't believe that we'll be able to take down these new machines with just them for reinforcements. It would be much wiser to allow Iyadomi to help us in destroying them than to turn this battle into a three-way. After all, truthfully, Iyadomi still has yet to openly oppose us in this war… Do you understand, Shinn?"

The boy's fierce gaze didn't waver, but he nodded slowly.

"Don't make me turn this request into an order when we're out there," Heine warned seriously. "And unless the Freedom explicitly attacks us, I would greatly appreciate it if you left it alone."

Letting out a long sigh, Shinn nodded more readily. Though he couldn't help but pray to all that was holy and mighty that the Freedom did attack him. So he could have the excuse of self-defense when he killed that devil spawn of a human being—for good this time!

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

January 17, 74 CE
Near Albacete, Spain
6:16am

The sun had scarcely left the horizon, shining its blinding golden light down upon the earth. And emerging from the retreating shadows a trio of dark shapes rose up into the air. As they approached the awakening civilization in from of them, the three shadows split apart towards their own targets. The white and blue machine flew towards the factory that was visible on the opposite side of the city. The maroon and orange machine flew towards the ZAFT garrison that was nestled only a short kilometer away. And the blood-red machine was floating high between the two locations as a look-out. This proved to be a very good thing for the three attackers as the red Gundam had quickly been able to spot the incoming silhouette of a certain well-known warship.

"Hey, guys, it's the Minerva!" Maria declared over the radio. "Incoming from the north, almost four kilometers away still."

"Hands," Captain Ito's voice barked out. "Switch to Phase Two, Plan Bravo Three! Maria, distract the Minerva long enough for Carter and Yoshi to complete their objectives."

"You got it!" the young woman cheered as she launched her Gundam towards the approaching ZAFT ship.

As she drew closer, the Minerva launched a massive salvo of missiles and fired her large cannons directly at her. Coming to an immediate halt, Maria threw her Lacerater's chest up and a positron shield ignited in front of her Gundam. The missiles and cannon fire impacted heavily upon that shield, but they didn't penetrate it. Once the assault ceased, Maria literally came face to face with the launching form of the red Savior. The red ZAFT Gundam bodily tackled her Lacerater before she could react and sent them tumbling uncontrollably towards the ground.

As Maria managed to break free and spared herself impact with the ground, a warning came up on her screen showing the Impulse had just launched and formed into itself into its full form. Growling in annoyance at the sight of that pest, she brought up her shield and fired the Scorpion railgun that was installed in it. Predictably, the Impulse was able to dodge the shots before making a nosedive towards her.

Another warning sounded, the Savior was on its feet and was firing at her with its plasma cannons. Jumping away, she twisted and brought her shield up to block the beam that was still on course to hit her. The impact knocked her backwards slightly, just enough for her to spot the charging Impulse. Turning, she again used her shield to protect herself from her attacker's beam saber. Kicking out, the Lacerater hit the Impulse's torso and knocked it away from her. Before the Savior could get off another attack on her, Maria launched herself back up into the air and towards the Minerva.

Grabbing her Schwert Gewehr beam sword, Maria rushed forward to disable the Isolde railcannons. But before she could get close enough to deliver a crippling blow to the cannons' turret, a heavy impact upon her back reminded her of her previous enemies. Spinning around, she spotted the Impulse charging forward with its beam rifle firing at her. However, the Savior had transformed and was flying away towards the ZAFT garrison.

"Incoming, Yoshi," she called playfully over her radio. "The Savior is coming to save the day again!"

"Be quiet!" Yoshi barked hauntingly. "I'm not in the mood for chitchat."

The Impulse proved to be an immediate distraction that silenced the retort that was on Maria's tongue. It holstered its rifle and snatched a beam saber again, coming rocketing forward in an attempt to slice the Lacerater to pieces.

Opening up a link to the Impulse, she teasingly called over as she dodged and blocked his advances, "Sorry—not quite! You'll have to try harder than that, honey!"

"You're a girl?!" the Impulse's pilot asked, clearly surprised as his image appeared upon a side screen.

"And you're just a kid?!" Maria asked with disbelief and resignation in her voice. "Well, that's too bad. I was hoping for another yummy pilot, like Iyadomi, but can't have everything I guess."

"What?!" the boy demanded hotly. In clear anger, the Impulse gave a sudden shove that pushed the Lacerater a short distance away from him.

"I bet you're still sucking on your momma's tit, eh?" Maria continued, shaking her head woefully. "Such a shame, that is. You look like you might've become so—"

Little did Maria know, she'd just unknowingly tapped upon the hairline trigger that was Shinn's rage, unleashing the monster within. A bestial battle cry from the Impulse silenced her rambling as the ZAFT Gundam suddenly attacked with a whole new level of ferocity.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Just as Maria had reported, the Savior Gundam was soon tearing through the skies, showering beams and bullets down upon Yoshi's Dominator. Due to a lack of a shield, the maroon Dominator was forced to dodge all the attacks. Yoshi couldn't help but growl darkly under his breath as several bullets and beams splattered off his new Gundam. Whoever the pilot of the Savior was, he was sure a damn good shot, even for a wretched Coordinator! And he was just about to destroy the remainder of the defenders of the ZAFT garrison as well.

Taking advantage in the small pause created when the Savior transformed back into a mobile suit, Yoshi raised the waist armor and pointed it towards his enemy. "Giftzahn, attack!"

Launching out of the waist armor, six miniature DRAGOONs opened fire upon the Savior. The Savior's pilot was understandably surprised with the sudden appearance of the small DRAGOONs. It was only thanks to that surprise that the small beam weapons were able to blow off its right leg. But after that, the Savior went into immediate evasive maneuvers, sometimes dodging the small weapons by mere centimeters.

Taking out his large Schwerlast Degen anti-ship sword, Yoshi let out a furious howl as he launched himself forward in an attempt to cleave the red Gundam into two while it was distracted. But due to the erratic maneuvers it was taking, the Savior was able to slip away from Yoshi's strike as it blocked yet another beam blast on its upraised shield. Not giving the Coordinator a chance to retaliate, Yoshi turned and delivered a fast slash towards its cockpit, only to be blocked when the Savior drew one of its beam sabers.

Quickly withdrawing and allowing his Giftzahn to continue to occupy the space monster, Yoshi took a moment to reexamine his enemy. Whoever was flying that red machine was good, very good. He would have to play this safe until he could find an opening in the pilot's defense so he could destroy it.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

With the Savior busy attacking the Dominator and the Impulse distracting the Lacerater, the Devastator was left relatively unprotected. At first it started out small. Carter was busy destroying the factory, testing the limits of his own Gundam's DRAGOONs, when a warning popped up on his screen. Two ZAKU Phantoms that had managed to slip past Yoshi when the Savior arrived were bearing down on him.

Dispatching these two units proved to be surprisingly more difficult than he'd anticipated. The pilots of those ZAKUs continuously dodged and evaded each shot that Carter took at them, pushing the Guuls they rode upon to the very limits that they could fly. It came to the point that Carter was forced to swing the DRAGOONs on his backpack forward and send an unrelenting barrage of beams at them that he was finally able to shoot them down, not quite able to destroy them entirely.

After that little skirmish, he found himself under attack by the full power of the Minerva itself. Wave after wave of Dispar missiles, Isolde railcannons, and even blasts of the Tristan beam cannons attacked him with a bitter coldness. They were trying to pin him down, if not outright destroy him. But it was thanks to his Gundam's maneuverability and his DRAGOONs versatility that allowed him to remain in the air.

'They're not holding anything back,' Carter quickly realized. 'They want to destroy us here and now. Capture likely is only a secondary motivation.' "Liberator, what are your orders? I am unable to properly destroy the objective with the Minerva's presence and I cannot destroy the Minerva by myself."

"Hands, switch to Phase Four," came Luna Ito's command almost immediately afterwards. "Fall back to a safe distance and proceed to Phase Five."

"Roger," Yoshi and Carter responded simultaneously.

"AW!!" Maria whined yet again. "But I'm finally having some real fun here! The Impulse brat is really good!"

"And that is why we're withdrawing, Maria," Carter countered. "We can't afford to lose, not now of all times! We're finally being taken seriously. So we must fall back in order to properly prepare for the next assault."

"But I—" whatever Maria was going to say was lost forever to Carter. For it was then that a sudden impact and explosion to his Gundam's backside knocked him out of the sky.

"What the?!" he yelled, very much surprised and angry. There was no one behind him a second ago!

The attack came without warning. It started with a pair of railgun blasts, one each aimed at Yoshi and Carter. Those attacks impacted their targets perfectly, knocking them off balance, even destroying the beam bazooka that the Dominator was carrying behind its left shoulder. But forewarned by those attacks, the next one missed its desired target. Maria was quickly able to guess from where those railguns had originated from and correctly guessed that she'd be targeted next.

That was how she was able to successfully dodge the plasma blast that had been aimed for her. However, due to how close she had been to the Impulse, Maria's sudden evasion exposed the ZAFT Gundam. The plasma blast completely destroyed the Impulse's right shoulder and heavily damaged the Force Silhouette, causing both to explode and sending the shell-shocked Gundam falling from the sky.

Ignoring the Impulse, Maria tried to locate the attacker yet there was nothing but empty skies in front of her. Suddenly, a large gray shape appeared a startlingly close distance away from her. Only her chemically-enhanced reflexes helped Maria to dodge backwards as her attacker drew a beam saber and took a vicious slash towards her. But even with her reflexes, the Lacerater still received a grazing cut across the front of her cockpit.

It was only after she'd put a safe distance between her and her new enemy that Maria finally identified it. It was the Neo Freedom! With its right camera-eye exposed and glowing angrily, it gave a sense of foreboding rage to the once-pristine Gundam.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?!" she screamed furiously over an open radio channel, allowing everyone to hear her shocked rage. "We're on the same side!!"

"Wrong," a cold voice countered on the same channel. "The three of you, and that battleship of yours, cannot possibly be fighting for peace!" With his piece said, Akira Iyadomi immediately launched himself forward to incapacitate or otherwise destroy the murderous Gundam in front of him.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

As soon as he pulled himself back to his feet, Shinn turned to glare up at the thing that dared attack him while he was distracted, like a coward attacks! Yet what really annoyed him was that he, the Minerva's super ace, hadn't even been able to react in time to dodge or defend against the attack. He'd show that bastard just who he was messing with as soon as he exchanged the damaged parts for new ones.

The damage to his Impulse's right shoulder was severe. The entire right arm had been completely blown off by that plasma beam. The Force Silhouette had also added a moderate degree of damage to the internal circuits and conduits when it exploded. Because of the close proximity, some of that superheated shrapnel had actually managed to penetrate the backside of the Gundam's headpiece, partially damaging the Impulse's camera systems. However, though the damage only caused a slightly fuzzy image to replace the once crisp and clear one, he had quickly managed to locate the new arrival to the battle.

His eyes widened significantly as he soon recognized the form of the Neo Freedom above him as it fought a ferocious battle with that new Hands Gundam. So it was the Iyadomi who'd attacked him?!

Now the sneak attack made sense. Iyadomi must've somehow found out about his vow to kill him and decided to take him out before he could carry through with his self-appointed mission. Of course, that made perfect sense! And as this revelation made itself known to Shinn, the boy's hairline temper snapped yet again as something exploded in the back of his mind.

"Minerva, send out the Chest Flyer and the Sword Silhouette!" he barked out angrily as he propelled the Impulse into a more convenient position to receive the replacement parts.

"R-Right," Meyrin acknowledged, slightly surprised at the amount of rage that had filtered through his voice. "Chest Flyer, loading for launch; standby Impulse."

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Akira was attacking with a ferocity that was surprising even for himself. However, as he pressed on, his beam saber clashing violently at the Lacerater's beam sword, he 'sensed' the approach of the other two. One of them, the maroon and orange suit, was rushing in attack speeds with a massive sword drawn. The other unit was approaching much more cautiously due to its proximity to the Minerva, which seemed to be rotating to gain a more advantageous firing position on the battling machines.

With his awareness, he was far from surprised when the blood-red Gundam suddenly pulled back. Using the space gained by her retreat, Akira spun around and raised his shield protectively in front of his cockpit. Not an instant later, the Dominator's sword smashed heavily into the shield, leaving a startlingly deep gash in the heavy metal.

"Come in, Iyadomi," a confused voice called over the radio as Akira engaged the Dominator in combat. "Why are you attacking us? We're doing this to help end this war before it further escalates, like the last one did."

"You're wrong," Akira growled in annoyance as he attempted to penetrate Yoshi's defense. "You obviously don't understand what even starts wars to begin with. So how should you be able to know what you're doing is wrong?!"

As Yoshi's large sword blocked yet another slash of his beam saber, Akira had to forcefully restrain his temper. Apparently Yoshi was an extremely skilled pilot, nearly as good as Akira himself. It was taking a good deal of his concentration to keep up with the savage and powerful attacks that Yoshi was dishing out. Batting aside Yoshi's sword yet again, he delivered an upwards slash, only to be blocked when Yoshi drew a beam saber with his Gundam's free hand.

Growling in deeper annoyance, Akira quickly put some distance between him and Yoshi. Sheathing his saber, he drew his beam rifle and began taking quick shots. Clearly that maroon Gundam had the advantage at close range, and since Akira had managed to destroy its bazooka, that limited its long-range attacks.

"Taste my Giftzahn!" Yoshi snarled in a rare moment of rage as his waist armor rose and eight small spikes appeared just inside as they prepared to launch.

But before he could finish whatever he was doing, Akira had already opened fire. He didn't know what those spikes were, but they sent his danger sense screaming. Yoshi quickly dodged the shots, using his large sword as a shield for some of the closer beams. This is it! He just needed to blast the Dominator with everything he—Danger!

With the Freedom already in HiMAT mode, Akira was able to easily evade the source of what had sent his obscure sense ringing. Shooting like a rocket through the space where the Freedom had been was the newly-repaired and reequipped Impulse, a beam sword held clenched in its fists as it had clearly attempted to skewer the Freedom on it like a shish-kabob.

'He must've mistaken my earlier attack as being directed towards himself,' Akira realized, his annoyance growing as the Sword Impulse turned and gave chase to his still-retreating form. Opening a channel to the frequencies that ZAFT commonly used, he called out, "Back off, Impulse. I've got a job to do here, and you're interfering!"

"I will not allow you to continue to spread chaos onto this world any longer, Iyadomi!" a loud, furious voice screamed back at him. "I will kill you, right here, right now!!"

The Impulse came rushing forward again, sword posed for a vicious slash. Frowning deeply at the pilot's attitude and beliefs, Akira forced back any reply he intended to give. It was obvious the boy wasn't going to listen to reason. That would mean that he needed to take the brat down before he got lucky.

Something exploded in Akira's mind and he gained a sudden heightened awareness and reflexes. As the Impulse came rushing forward, Akira mimicked its maneuver, blasting forward at full throttle. Just when they were nearly upon one another, Akira brought his shield up, angling it perfectly, and expertly smacked the Impulse's sword away from him. This move clearly caught the boy by surprise, and with his Gundam still in the midst of charging forward at considerable speeds, he was little more than a sitting duck to Akira because of this. Punching the maneuvering thrusters he'd long ago installed in the Freedom's wings, Akira was able to roll slightly to the side and dodged the rampaging Impulse's body. As he was spinning, the Freedom's leg shot out and kicked mightily into the ZAFT Gundam's torso, knocking it haphazardly to the side.

As the Impulse was sent careening head over heels, Akira finished his roll and aimed once again at the Dominator. A flash of red off to the side of his monitor caught his attention. It was the Savior Gundam flying towards the group at impressive speeds. Pausing, Akira and the three others each turned and prepared to defend themselves.

'Will you follow your friend's example?' Akira couldn't help but wonder as the Savior drew closer. Then the Savior's Amfortas cannons suddenly opened fire, arcing past the Freedom and sending the Dominator and Lacerater dodging.

"Sorry about Shinn," a calm voice sudden chimed over his radio. "He's a little impulsive when it comes to certain things. And just to clear the air, our primary objective is those three Gundams there. I promise that Shinn will be adequately punished for disobeying his orders once this is through."

"Well that's nice to hear," Akira remarked dryly. At least this one seemed more like a professional than the Impulse's pilot—Shinn?—was in terms of being a soldier. "You take the ugly one, I'll handle the rest."

"Which one's the ugly one?" the Savior asked with a hint of amusement in his voice.

"Take your pick!" Akira said as they rushed towards the three Gundams in almost perfect synchronization.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

By this time, Shinn had managed to regain control of his Gundam and was flying back to attack Iyadomi again. His temper was rising uncontrollably at the realization that even with his 'battle calm', the Freedom had still be able to manhandle him like a adult knocking a child aside! That was a grave insult, and he'd make that bastard pay for it! Dearly!

Because his focus was solely upon the winged machine in front of him, Shinn failed to take into account exactly where he was and what was going on. He was actually almost upon the Freedom, sword raised to deliver a slash down its center when a red blur suddenly seemed to materialize out of nowhere in front of him, easily blocking his Excalibur beam sword with its own.

"Don't go forgetting that I'm your opponent, baby-face!" that bitch giggled over the radio as she knocked him away. Raising her shield, the Lacerater began repeatedly firing its railgun and sending Shinn into a crazy dodging and blocking pattern. "Come on, boy! I wanna see what makes you such a damn fear to the Alliance's pilots! Fight me seriously! I wanna have some fun before I kill you!"

"Fine then!" he growled in rage. She was purposely blocking him from reaching Iyadomi. That meant that he'd just have to kill her to reach her leader. "Here I come!!"

Seeing the Impulse stopping its dodging, the Lacerater immediately ceased its firing. Flicking its arm to the side, the Scorpion shield detached itself and fell to the ground below. Then the wings upon its backside suddenly detached, revealing themselves to have been a new type of Striker pack all along. The wings flew off to the side, clearly on automatic pilot, as their Gundam prepared for full, unhindered combat.

"Let's play, baby-face!" the bitch cheered over the radio as she sudden went into an unexpected fast charge.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Luna watched the three battles with interest and annoyance. Though she had anticipated the appearance of the Neo Freedom, the accursed Minerva and its Gundams had thrown a massive monkey wrench into her plans. Without the Minerva present, the three new Gundams would've been able to concentrate their firepower and abilities, probably even have been able to takedown the Freedom within the first ten minutes of combat. But with the Minerva present, their machines were now forced to divide in order to protect themselves adequately at the skill and expertise of the ZAFT pilots.

Things had gone from bad to worse right from the appearance of the Minerva. Because of the meddling ship's appearance, the Hands hadn't been able to completely finish their missions before they were drawn off. And though the Hands' Gundams were quite a bit superior to the Savior and Impulse, the battle between them would've been a long and tiring one. Then the Freedom showed up and launched a surprise attack, delivering considerable damage to the Devastator in particular by shredding two of its DRAGOONs.

While the Hands could handle either the Minerva or Freedom alone, with the two together it was proving to be a fast losing battle. Though Luna had hoped against hope that the ZAFT forces might've decided to turn a blind eye to the Hands in favor of destroying the Freedom, those hopes had especially skyrocketed when the Impulse suddenly attacked Iyadomi for that accidental misfire. But then the Savior appeared and started working with the Freedom to fight the Hands. That meant the tide of battle was without a doubt against them. She had no choice. Against these odds, their chances of achieving their goals, let alone victory, had plummeted dramatically.

Turning to her Lieutenant, she said, "Launch signal flares, we're withdrawing immediately from the area. Pull the Liberator back to the designated location immediately following the flare launch."

"Yes, madam!"

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

The three flares that were launched from a surprisingly close location to the battlefield were quickly noticed by everyone in the area. However, it was quite obvious that most of the combatants weren't quite ready to call it quits. Two in particular were clashing no less violently with each other than they had been before the flares appeared.

Yelling out in his blind rage, Shinn grabbed his Flash-Edge boomerangs and hurled them towards the Lacerater. Taking a hold of his Excalibur beam sword, he immediately sent the Impulse charging towards his enemy. Maria simply activated her Schneidschutz positron shield to block the boomerangs and forced the Impulse to immediately cease its charge, lest it break its remaining Excalibur upon the shield like it had with its other one earlier.

With the Impulse momentarily halted, Maria dropped her shield as she threw her own boomerangs at him. As the Impulse was busy dodging and blocking the beam weapons, she then grabbed the pair of beam daggers that were hidden in the Lacerater's forearm armor and hurled them at the Impulse while it was distracted.

Thanks to which direction the Impulse had chosen to turn as it was once again facing its enemy, the daggers bounced harmlessly off the shield attached to its left arm. Had the Impulse turned from the opposite direction, the daggers would've buried themselves in the Gundam's torso, likely killing Shinn within seconds of penetration. Not even stopping to consider his near-death, Shinn let out a bestial howl as he once again launched himself into a charge, Excalibur out front and center.

Seeing the intent of the infant piloting the ZAFT machine and blatantly ignoring Carter's orders to retreat, Maria took out her own beam sword and launched herself forward as well. This fight was just too much fun to stop now! This kid was good, very good! So he was definitely worth the effort to kill at any cost. Screw the punishments that she would likely receive afterwards! She was having fun and she refused to stop until she'd finally proven to the brat before her that he was nothing compared to her!

With loud battle-cries from both of them, the Impulse and Lacerater threw themselves into a suicidal frontal charge. He would end the bitch here and now, and then it was Iyadomi's turn! She would prove that he was inferior to her, because she was the greatest destroyer to ever have lived! Beam swords out and ready, they clashed.

Instinctual reflexes faster than any normal Coordinator were the only things that saved Shinn's life in that clash. As the Lacerater bore down upon him, he managed to angle the Impulse's flight path just enough that when its sword struck, it only stabbed in the Impulse's left shoulder, narrowly missing the cockpit. The Lacerater, on the other hand, was stabbed straight through the torso. In the blink of an eye, Maria and her machine found themselves nearly torn into two pieces by the Excalibur buried within them. Maria died within seconds, unable to comprehend just what was happening to her and why she had failed.

Only chance allowed the Lacerater to fall from the sky without exploding. Had the Excalibur hit just a few short feet lower, it would've ruptured the Lacerater's Neutron Jammer Canceller, with an atomic explosion the inevitable outcome of such an accident.

Panting heavily from the sheer amount of physical stress he'd endured in the fight, Shinn barely had the sense of mind to land his Impulse upon ground next to his defeated opponent. As he did so, the batteries finally ran dry and the VPS armor faded immediately afterwards. But Shinn didn't care, he'd won.

'Now all that's left is Iyadomi,' he snarled to himself, turning the Impulse to look in the direction that he'd last seen the Freedom being at.

It was still there, floating off to the side, wearily watching the also-drained Savior and the Minerva. Though the Savior had also landed awkwardly on the ground below and posed no immediate threat, the Minerva was another matter altogether. In its current state of being partially damaged still, the Neo Freedom could still manage to cause significant damage to the ZAFT warship if it wanted. And knowing Iyadomi, the bastard was probably seriously thinking about it before he hightailed it out of here like his cronies did!

"Minerva," Shinn barked. "Activate the Deuterium Beam, and send out the—!"

"Stand down, Shinn," Heine's voice interrupted. "You've already destroyed one of the Hands' Gundams, the other two are in full retreat, and the Freedom isn't attacking us either. The battle is over."

"Yeah, but—"

"Shinn…" there was a definite warning in Heine's tired voice as he drawled out Shinn's name. "Unless we are explicitly attacked, this battle is over. Our objective was to intercept and destroy the Hands, if possible. Remember?"

"Yes, sir," though he said it, Shinn was far from ready to quit. The Freedom was right there! And they weren't letting him go after it?! What were they thinking?! They had a chance to end its madness here and now, and yet they were likely going to just let it escape?!

As if reading his mind, the Freedom suddenly holstered its weapons and blasted high into the air. After gaining a certain elevation, it vanished from sight as its accursed Mirage Colloid was activated.

Shinn let out a frustrated howl as he watched his prediction came true.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Bonaparte, Russian Steppes
9:23am

There was a fierce snowstorm raging outside the mechanic behemoth known fittingly as the Bonaparte. This massive land battleship was the very pinnacle of conventional weaponry development with many missile launchers, a massive amount of CWIS cannons, a hangar capacity for almost fifty standard mobile suits. Even if it were all alone, even the greatest of ZAFT aces would hesitate at having to face down such a monster battleship.

From his seat in the captain's quarters, Neo Roanoke watched the footage of the battle taking place. Apparently the news crew of the city that it was taking place near had braved the hazardous zone as they went about showing it on live television to the entire world. And it was indeed a very impressive fight, especially when the Neo Freedom had started fighting alongside the two ZAFT Gundams. He couldn't help but find himself impressed by the sheer combat potential of the three unknown machines that had initiated the attack.

However, what was more impressive was the seemingly never-ending amount of improvement that the Impulse's pilot had shown. The boy was a far-cry from that lucky but awkward newbie who he'd fought against outside Armory One on the day of the Gundam thefts. He had fought toe-to-toe against a clearly superior machine and won. And it was all thanks to his ability to quickly adapt and his impossibly fast reflexes. Neo couldn't help but wonder just how well he'd be able to fight against the boy now. They hadn't fought since they encounter in the Indian Ocean only a few short months ago.

But as impressed by the Impulse's pilot as he was, he was more so by the Freedom's pilot. Neo had long since realized that the pilot, this Iyadomi that everyone was calling him, was a first-rate pilot in all regards. He clearly had the experience of a true veteran, he pulled no punches when he fought, and yet he didn't kill needlessly. Iyadomi had a sense of honor about him that Neo couldn't help but finding himself respecting.

So when Chairman Durandal had started that smear campaign of naming Iyadomi as the leader and creator of the Hands, Neo had quickly discovered the truth of the matter by reading between the lines. Durandal was frantically trying to discredit Iyadomi now that he was clearly on the verge of victory. Sadly though, it seemed to be working. And Neo had little doubt that this latest battle would only be used to further fuel the fire that Durandal was tenderly feeding. Suffice to say, Akira Iyadomi was likely to face some hard times and bad press in the near-future unless he finally came out of the shadows.

An incoming call broke Neo from his thoughts. Muting the news report he'd been watching, he opened the incoming call to see Lord Djibril's face on the screen. The man had a surprisingly calm expression on his face, especially considering that he no doubt knew of the destruction of one of his pet projects. And if he were calling now, then that could only mean one thing.

"Captain Roanoke, what is the current status of the Destroy's pilot's combat efficiency?" the man demanded.

"Stellar has achieved over ninety percent of combat potential in the standard simulations," Neo reported neutrally, as his role dictated. "In the…special simulations, Stellar has shown a seventy-five percentage of victory, and gradually rising as she grows more accustomed to its standard attack pattern."

"Good, very good," Djibril practically purred in his delight at such good news.

With her beating that Gundam three out of four times, it showed some serious promise that she just might be able to on the real battlefield. But if Neo had learned anything in his life, and especially as the commander of Phantom Pain, then it was that even if she scored a straight hundred percent of victory in simulations, that was still no guarantee that she could still beat her enemies in reality. And with as much as he cared for the girl, on top of the sheer threat that she represented when piloting the Destroy, Neo found himself honestly fearing for the girl's life when she finally crossed paths with him again.

"I would also like to report that the retraining of our Rapier pilots has also bore fruit," Neo continued, no less neutrally than he did earlier. "They have achieved an average of eighty percent combat potential with their Rapiers. All that's left is to deploy them to gain actual experience, sir."

"Good, very good," Djibril repeated, his sneer widening slightly. This was much better news than he'd been hoping for, and much quicker than he'd anticipated receiving it. Then it was time.

"I assume that you've seen the news already," Djibril said, his tone dangerously suggesting that it was in Neo's best interest to confirm his assumption. Upon receiving the blond captain's nod of acknowledgement, he continued, "Then I believe it's finally time for you to bring order back to Western Eurasia. I don't care how many cities you burn, you will not cease until they've surrendered themselves unconditionally back to the Alliance."

"Yes, sir," Neo said, acknowledging the order he had been dreading hearing for quite some time. This was not the reason that he'd enlisted into the Armed Forces all those years ago! But orders were orders. And soldiers followed their orders to the letter.

Thus, Western Eurasia would burn.

---

(AUTHOR'S NOTE) Whoo, that was a work out. I really hope you all enjoyed the big battle scene. And thank you FictionReader98 for giving me that 'missed shot/hit the Impulse' idea. That was just what I needed to get the drive to finish the chapter.

GAT-X170 Lacerater (very loosely based on the M1 Astray Red Frame)
Unit type: prototype melee combat mobile suit
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance (Atlantic Federation)
First deployment: January 14, 74 CE
Powerplant: ultracompact nuclear fission reactor
Color: Red/gray (body), red (wings)
Equipment and design features:
Maneuvering thrusters across the entire body and wings for heightened agility
Neutron Jammer Canceller
Sensors, range unknown
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Fixed armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in chest
2 x RQM60 "Flash-Edge" beam boomerang, stored on shoulders
1 x shield, mounts M443 "Scorpion" mobile railgun, mounted on left arm
"Schneidschutz" SX1021 positron reflector shield, mounted on chest
1 x MA-BAR721 high-energy beam rifle, stored on rear waist
2 x ES04B beam saber, stored on hips
2 x EX08A beam dagger, stored in forearm armor
Wing Pack: (can be discarded for increased mobility)
1 x "Schwert Gewehr" 15.78 meter anti-ship sword, stored on the wings' base
1 x MX-RQB516 beam lance, stored on wings' base

GAT-X271 Devastator (Infinite Freedom's concept, based on Tallgeese II and Providence)
Unit type: prototype artillery mobile suit
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance (Atlantic Federation)
First deployment: January 14, 74 CE
Powerplant: ultracompact nuclear fission reactor
Color: white (body), dark blue (backpack)
Equipment and design features:
Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network (DRAGOON)
Sensors, range unknown
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Fixed armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head
1 x "Scylla" 580mm multi-phase energy cannon, mounted on chest
2 x "Schlag" 125mm high-energy long-range beam cannon, mounted on backpack, folded over shoulders when in use
1 x MA-MV05A composite shield, mounted on left forearm
4 x M2M3 76mm beam cannon, mounted on shield
1 x beam saber, mounted on shield
4 x M2M3 76mm beam cannon, mounted on right forearm
2 x ES04B beam saber, stored on hips
Remote weapons:
6 x DRAGOON System, mounted on backpack and waist (6 x general type beam cannons)

GAT-X272 Dominator (based on Gundam Throne Zwei)
Unit type: prototype attack mobile suit
Manufacturer: Earth Alliance (Atlantic Federation)
First deployment: January 14, 74 CE
Powerplant: ultracompact nuclear fission reactor
Color: maroon/orange
Equipment and design features:
Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network (DRAGOON)
Sensors, range unknown
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Fixed armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head
1 x "Todesblock" 337mm plasma-sabot bazooka, stored on left shoulder mount
1 x "Schwerlast Degen" anti-ship heavy buster sword, stored on right shoulder mount
2 x ES04B beam saber, stored on hips
Remote weapons:
10 x DRAGOON "Giftzahn" System, mounted on backpack (10 x mini-beam cannons and anti-armor penetrators)