Gundam SEED Destiny
Kira
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Phase 21: Going Down in Flames
January 18, 74 CE
Aprillis 1, PLANTs
10:51pm
The image that lay on the screen was definitely one that inspired fear. An image of a burning city in ruins with its massive destroyer standing ominously amidst the rubble and was silhouetted by flames and smoke with its red eyes glowing brightly. Even though he knew full well what that machine's capabilities were and the ways that it could be defeated and destroyed, this image was still enough to churn even Durandal's gut with a primeval fear. And perhaps it was in fact his knowing about the X1 Destroy that made this instinctive fear all the more terrible than it should've been had he only now just found out about it.
However, that deep rooted fear was almost instantly crushed as his analytical mind began to put things into perceptive and how he could use this situation to his even greater advantage. To a degree, he couldn't help but thank Djibril for finally putting this long-coming scheme into action. This would be one of the major final plays in this game that would ultimately win things over into his favor…if everything played out how it should've.
With expert control, Durandal was able to restrain the small upward twitch of lips as he stared at the large Gundam. Though it was unfortunate that he knew that many of the ZAFT forces that had been stationed in the cities that were likely to be attacked would be killed by this machine, they would ultimately play the role that he'd given them in order to further his goal. After all, in chess sometimes you must sacrifice a few pawns to finally strike at the enemy's heart from an unnoticed angle.
What could only make this situation even better for Durandal was if the Neo Freedom were to appear, as he strongly suspected it would. Though he strongly suspected that the Destroy would eventually fall under the Freedom's strength, there was no denying that the legendary Gundam wouldn't be able to escape that battle unscathed. And every bit of damage done to the Freedom would only help his forces towards the goal of eventually destroying or capturing the Gundam.
Instead of that small smile that wanted to break across his face, Durandal put on a surprised and horrified façade, along with a good portion of the Councilors and personnel that were gathered in the room with him. Turning quickly, he began calling out for immediate emergency standby orders of all ZAFT forces that were within the area of the Destroy's path of travel and for them to aid in the immediate evacuation of all civilians.
It was time to play the helpful neighbor during their time of need.
KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA
January 19, 74 CE
2 miles west of Berlin
4:50am
After that first attack on Warsaw, a general warning had been sent throughout Western Eurasia. That there was a large machine attacking large cities and residential areas with no warning and no clear objective beyond massive devastation and death. Civilians were fleeing their homes out of absolute fear, especially those who lived within the vicinity of the large machine's flight path as it had shown itself to spare no one who was in sight.
Akira, listening to the civilian radio as he sought to hunt down the Hands, had quickly heard the reports and immediately switched targets. The Earth Forces had finally decided to unleash that monstrosity? It had taken him only a short amount of time to determine a rough estimate of the Destroy's direction of travel. Based on the reports, it was slowly heading towards Berlin. With a city of that great size, it was inevitable that the citizens hadn't been able to properly flee yet. And given the Destroy's coldhearted slaughter of Warsaw, he knew that a repeat performance was inevitable.
If it reached Berlin!
Up ahead of him, he could see that the massive bulk of the machine's mobile armor form. It was flying towards the outskirts of the city at a slow but steady pace. Further ahead and forming a protective barrier directly in front of the Destroy was a thick line of ZAFT mobile suits and land battleships. Hovering around the Destroy like a swarm of gnats were Jet Dagger Ls, Euclid mobile armors, a handful of Rapiers, and even the Chaos Gundam. The fighting hadn't yet broken out, but with the Destroy's approach, it was only a matter of minutes before it did.
Cloaked under the Mirage Colloid, Akira swiftly flew to within a short distance behind the approaching Earth Forces. Just as he was about to raise the Full Burst targeting computer, he felt another.
Just like those times previously, when he'd felt Kawayui's fear back in Orb, or that presence back at Lohengrin Gate and Diocuia. This time the presence was neither scared nor focused, it was feeling sad and confused, but resigned to its fate. At least those were the lingering impressions he sensed on the person when he felt the person sudden perk up when it sensed him as well. Despite his hope to the contrary, Akira had a sudden feeling that he knew where this feeling was coming from.
Moving almost instinctively, he activated the Full Burst targeting and immediately opened fire. The unexpected volley of beams that seemed to spring out of nowhere had caught many of the Earth Forces flatfooted, resulting in over ten Daggers, three Euclids, and seven Rapiers disabled or destroyed in the span of three to five seconds; more than half of the Destroy's escort force.
That was the Destroy's few weaknesses, without an escort force to protect it from close-range attacks, it was all but vulnerable. Its great size was both a blessing and curse, for it made the Destroy very slow to react (by modern mobile suit standards) but it also allowed for it to carry so many weapons.
However, one machine, a violet and lime-green Rapier which signified it being either an ace pilot or the commander, had reacted with astonishing speed and agility to dodge the beam that had been shot at it. That clinched it, that person was indeed one of his enemies. Another one like him was out here…that made everything that much harder!
The escort mobile suits' surprise didn't last long. Almost immediately the remaining suits had shifted into a circling pattern around the Destroy, searching all areas in an effort to locate him. Scowling deeply, Akira punched the Freedom's engines and came to a hover high above them. With the Full Burst computer up, he locked and fired as best he could on the moving targets. Unlike last time, most of the remaining eight Dagger Ls and Rapiers had managed to locate and react to the attack, thankfully the last three Euclids had been brought down by his railguns. Those mobile armors would've made his job a hell of a lot more difficult than it already was.
However, this recent attack compromised his location and the sixteen mobile suits began to fire blindly up at him, laying down a barrage that forced him to drop his Mirage Colloid so he could use the PS armor as protection from any lucky shots. With the loss of his invisibility, three Daggers, Rapiers, and the Chaos immediately attacked him with a vengeance. Even the Destroy was turning to face him.
The battle was on!
KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA
5:13am
The scene that greeted them as they arrived wasn't quite what she was expecting. Oh sure, she wasn't quite sure what to expect, but what she saw certainly wasn't it at all. The large monstrosity was hovering only a few short miles away from the city and its suburbs. The area surrounding it was best described as complete chaos. Multi-colored beams were being shot from everywhere, making the immediate airspace extremely hazardous for even the most skilled of pilots. There were just about three Jet Dagger Ls, five Rapiers, the former ZAFT Gundam, and that large black monster. And they were fighting against the evasive Neo Freedom, who was frantically dancing through the chaos in a desperate attempt to fight back.
Cagalli watched the monitor with wide eyes and her mouth hanging partially open in disbelief. She had vivid memories of Kira fighting in the Freedom at Jachin Due and the Mendel Colony; her twin had always been extremely skilled at piloting. But what she was seeing now put to shame those memories; somehow in the intermitting years, he'd gotten so much better!
However, even with that clear increase in skill, he hadn't gone through the battle unscathed. From the images she was seeing as the Archangel came racing towards the battle, it was clear that he was slowly but steadily losing the battle. The Neo Freedom was more heavily damaged than she'd ever seen it being before. It had lost three of its left wings and the plasma cannon on that side, two of its lower right side wings were also destroyed along with the railgun on its hip, and it was missing its left shin and shoulder armor as well. In that condition, it wouldn't be able to fight for much longer!
"I'm going out there!" she said immediately, spinning in the chair she was sitting in to face Murrue. "Kira needs all the support he can get!"
"Lady Cagalli, allow us to launch as well," a familiar voice asked as Lieutenant Amagi and several Orb pilots suddenly appeared on the main monitor. "This battle may not have anything to do with Orb, but we can't sit back and do nothing."
"Okay, let's go!" Cagalli agreed quickly as she stood up and hurried to the elevator. She wasn't going to let her little brother die out there. She just couldn't sit back and watch, having to go through all that again!
As she quickly changed into her favorite pink flight suit, the Strike Rouge and several Murasames were hastily equipped and checked for launch. By the time that she'd arrived in the hangar and boarded the Rouge, it was all ready to go, save for being equipped with its Striker Pack and weaponry. Quickly booting up the CPU, she unlocked its systems and prepared for launch with her stomach twisting itself into tight knots as a familiar fear and primeval excitement for battle rose up inside her.
Once loaded and set on the catapult, she called out over the radio, "Cagalli Yula Athha, Strike Rouge, taking off!"
She braced herself against the immense G-Forces as she rocketed forward off into the skies. Clearing the catapult rails, she activated the Phase Shift Armor as the Aile Striker's wings snapped into place and blasted herself off towards the battle taking place with seven Murasames right behind her.
The eight Orb machines came swooping into the fray with their beam rifles blazing, taking out the Jet Daggers and two Rapiers in their surprise attack and inadvertently causing a brief lull in the battle. As the Murasames broke away to begin attacking in their standard strategies, Cagalli pulled her Strike Rouge up to the momentarily hovering form of the Neo Freedom. Up close, the damage done to her brother's machine looked even more severe than she'd first thought it was.
"Iyadomi," one of the Murasame pilots suddenly called over the radio. "Leave these small fry to us! You go handle that monster down there!"
Quickly bringing up her own communications, Cagalli opened visual with the Freedom. For just a brief instant, she stared at the image of the panting pilot of the Neo Freedom. His hair was slightly longer, mixed with blonde and brown coloring, and his clothing was visibly coated in sweat. But it was the gaze in those violet eyes that brought a small smile to her face. He was surprised, almost relieved, to be receiving help apparently.
"Need some help there?" she asked in a teasing voice, causing a momentary flinch to run through Kira's body. Then he visibly winced as he reached up to rub his head in a clearly pained gesture. Now that she knew what symptoms to look for, Cagalli found herself believing Lacus' earlier declaration of Kira having amnesia even more so than before.
"C-Cagalli Yula Athha?" Kira asked, his voice strictly neutral despite the undertone of being surprised and confused. "Why are you here?"
Before she could answer, an alarm suddenly sounded in the Strike Rouge. Both Cagalli and Kira immediately evaded the barrage of cannon fire that had originated from that black monster below them. Dodging the shots as best she could, Cagalli found herself being hard-pressed to do anything other than to use her shield to take the impacts. Whoever was piloting that monster was one hell of a good shot!
A sudden barrage of missiles came racing up at them. She brought up her rifle and even used her CWIS to shower the projectiles, destroying as many of them as she could, but there were too many! Suddenly the Neo Freedom jumped beside her and unleashed a barrage of its own CWIS, destroying the missiles that she'd been unable to hit.
"Please pull back," Kira said with real concern in his voice as he launched himself directly towards the black monster. "You're too important to Orb to be out here. You can't leave that country in the hands of the Seirans, which will happen if you get shot down!"
"What are you talking about?!" Cagalli asked confused as she engaged an attacking Sword Rapier.
"Let's just say that the Seirans had plans for the Neo Freedom when they recovered it after the Break the World incident," Kira said absently as he attempted to pierce the monster's positron shield with his railgun.
Rather than continue the conversation, Cagalli focused on bringing her shield up as she switched the rifle for a beam saber. As she watched the Sword Rapier's beam sword slam into her shield heavily, which knocked her towards the ground below; she let out a yell of anger. She wasn't going to die here! Not when she finally caught up to her brother! For the first time after almost two years of dormancy, something exploded in the back of her mind and filled her with a cool calmness.
Recovering quickly, she dodged the hasty follow-up strike and slashed up at her attacker, cleaving the Sword Rapier's over-extended arms off. As the now armless mobile suit attempted to flee, spraying a shower of Vulcan fire at its enemy, Cagalli let out a battle-cry as she rushed forward and delivered a decisive slash down the center of the Rapier's cockpit. As the dead mobile suit fell from the sky, she turned and launched herself at the violet and lime-green Launcher Rapier that was attempting to shoot her brother in the back.
Rushing forward and grabbing her beam rifle, Cagalli blasted at the Rapier with a vengeance. The Rapier's pilot was no slouch though, as he was quickly able to locate her and turned to face down his newest enemy.
KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA
Elsewhere, the seven Murasame were using their numbers to overwhelm the Chaos and the Rapiers. The Murasame pilots had once fought beside these very same pilots before they'd joined the Archangel, so there was sense of familiarity amongst them. But evidently the Rapier pilots had greatly improved since that last battle. They were actually able to block or dodge most of the shots, only attaining relatively light or insignificant damage to their machines. However, it was taking a considerable portion of their concentration to be able to react in time to the numerous attacks. This had the fortunate advantage of distracting them from being able to target the Neo Freedom or protecting the Destroy.
During all this, the Archangel was distracting the Destroy as it attempted to blast the monstrosity by using its Gottfried beam cannons and Valiant rail cannons. However the Destroy's positron shield was very powerful, able to easily block the attacks. Before the Archangel could fire another round of attacks, the large Aufprall Dreizehn beam cannons were fired at the warship. But the Archangel was more than capable of dodging of the dangerous beams, which continued on and struck a small hillside on the horizon and instantly obliterated it.
That was when the Neo Freedom made itself known to the Destroy again. It dropped out of the sky with its last remaining pair of beam sabers in hand, plunging them up to their hilts at the Aufprall Dreizehn beam cannons' bases, melting the metal and energy casing inside instantly. Jumping free, the Neo Freedom left its sabers behind as the heavy beam cannons suddenly exploded violently, blowing a large hole open in the back of the Destroy. The explosion melted the fastenings of the heavy cannons to the backpack and sent them tumbling to the ground below as twisted and blackened slag. However, as the Freedom gained altitude, the Destroy sent a rapid volley of its Nefertem plasma cannons up after it, trying to use its overwhelming firepower to hit the ever evasive Gundam.
As he pulled himself out of the line of fire, Akira had to grit his teeth in anger. With as damaged as the Freedom now was, there was no way he'd be able to successfully take down the Destroy. And although the unexpected arrival of the Archangel and its mobile suits was a true blessing, it didn't change the fact that only he would be able to combat that giant mobile suit. A bitter part of his mind couldn't help but point out: if only he'd had the Archangel's help from the beginning, he wouldn't be having this problem!
The Destroy was angling itself to send another missile barrage up at him. Smirking slightly, Akira put the Freedom into a drastic dive downward. As he was flying forward, he spotted a discarded beam sword from one of the Rapiers and quickly snatched it up, its beam instantly reigniting in his Gundam's grip. Rushing forward with the intent to impale the Destroy's cockpit, Akira brought the beam sword to bear—Danger!
Immediately breaking off his attack, Akira spun around to see who'd attacked him. A semi-familiar maroon and orange Gundam with a large beam bazooka in its hand as it came racing forward.
"You?!" Akira yelled in surprise. "What are you doing here?! I thought you went back to the Liberator, Yoshi!"
"I have had enough of letting scum like you run around doing as you please, Iyadomi," the man growled over the radio. "And it is time for you vanish like the insignificant whelp you are! Die, Coordinator scum!"
He accented his proclamation with opening fire upon the Neo Freedom mercilessly. Thankfully the Destroy held back to watch the battle take place between the Freedom and its unexpected ally. Dodging the relentless assault of the Dominator, Akira growled in anger. He didn't have time for this!
"GIftzahn attack!" Yoshi called out as the strange waist armor rose and shot out ten small DRAGOONs.
Dodging, blocking, and evading the numerous attacks from multiple angles took on a whole new meaning of difficult for Akira, even more so when he tried to shoot down the tiny but shockingly maneuverable weapons.
"Why are you doing this?!" Akira demanded as he spun around, firing at the small objects. "Why are you helping the Earth Forces? Do you realize what they're even doing here?!"
"They are setting an example to what will happen to anyone who dares side with genetic beasts like you!" Yoshi snapped back as he fired his bazooka into the midst of the chaos he was creating.
Dodging the sudden frenzied attacks of the DRAGOONs, Akira's snarl became etched deeper into his face. Yoshi was a Blue Cosmos supporter, now he understood why he was never at ease when he'd been aboard the Liberator!
"So you're saying that you can justify the murder of thousands just because you hate Coordinators?!" Akira demanded, evading the large beam bullet and taking advantage in the split-second lull to destroy three of the DRAGOONs. "How can you say that?!"
"Because you are abominations of nature," Yoshi snapped back. "Creatures that came to birth due to the insatiable hunger of scientists who wanted to play God!"
"We may have been brought into this world artificially," he said, rolling around and blasting two more DRAGOONs in the process. "But we're still people! We each have hopes, dreams, fears, and flaws! Isn't that what makes us human?!" Another DRAGOON was struck and destroyed.
"Of course not!" Yoshi yelled as his four remaining DRAGOONs grouped around him. "Only those who were granted to right be born naturally have the right to be called 'human!'"
Lunging forward suddenly as the DRAGOONs suddenly split apart, the Dominator grabbed its large Schwerlast Degen and brought it down powerfully upon the Freedom's raised shield. The power of the blow knocked the Gundam backwards, right into a spray of DRAGOON fire that it wasn't able to dodge. Even as the Freedom began to respond and dodge, the small beam cannons continued to pummel the Gundam relentlessly. The DRAGOONs quickly blew apart its small beam claw shield, destroying its last Balaena and railgun, blowing its entire left leg off, and even blowing a grazing hole through the Freedom's right shoulder.
"Now it's time for you to DIE!!" Yoshi yelled as he lunged forward, again swinging his sword towards the Freedom. With its back to him, there was no way it could dodge or block this time!
That was when a sudden massive flare of fire blinded his Gundam's sensors. The sudden flare had so much force behind it that it actually pushed his Dominator away, leaving it only slashing air as the anti-ship sword came down. A split-second later, the flare vanished…as did the Neo Freedom!
"What the?!" Yoshi said, surprise clear in his voice as he stared. Quickly coming back to reality, he began looking for the Neo Freedom. "Where is he?!"
A small trail of flame caught his eye and quickly turned and fired in its direction, missing completely. A streaking trail of flame on his opposite side and moving behind him! Turning again, he fired and sent his DRAGOONs after the flames. But it was too fast!
"How's he doing that?!" Yoshi growled to himself as he was frantically looking around. "And how is moving so damn fast in the atmosphere?!"
Snapping the Dominator around in a random turn, he spotted the flaming trail as it rapidly came rushing up to him. With a shout, he brought his sword forward, but his right arm was cut off was the flaming missile passed him! Following the flames, he pointed his bazooka after it and began taking desperate shots in an attempt to strike it. Impossibly, the flame trail did an abrupt 180 turn while still traveling at those insane speeds! It was rushing him! His DRAGOONs quickly gathered around him as he sent a barrage forward, none of the attacks landed as the flaming missile seemed to ghost around and through them. It was almost on him! Dodging to the side, Yoshi attempted to save himself, but it was for naught as his left arm joined his right in being completely cut off. The blow also sent the Dominator reeling uncontrollably.
"We may not be 'natural' to this world," Akira's voice said from the radio, clearly strained. "But we all want to live, and we will always fight to ensure that we can live! That is why and how we Coordinators are every bit as humane as you 'naturals' are!"
With a sudden slash from behind, the Dominator lost not only its headpiece but also received fatal damage to its engines. As the heavily damaged and disabled Gundam fell from the sky and the battle, the Neo Freedom finally came into view of all those present.
Everyone, even those who had been battling more moments ago, came to a brief halt to stare at what the Freedom had become. It was hovering proudly in the air just in front of the Destroy, while holding a pair of beam swords that it'd evidently acquired from the debris below them. Its Phase Shift Armor had faded, leaving it a dull gray color. But flaring out around the mobile suit was an angry aura of fire and sparkling particles, though most of the fire was concentrated around the Freedom's engines, giving it a strange image of possessing wings of fire. Even as heavily damaged as it was, the sight that they beheld was a truly fierce one.
Despite the image that he was giving his audience, Akira was every bit as surprised as they were. He had no idea what was happening or why, only that when the Dominator had come rushing in to kill him, he'd not only felt that familiar sensation of something exploding inside him, but something had been triggered in his Gundam as well. And now as he hovered in front of everyone after taking down the Dominator, Akira was finally able to notice and read the message that had appeared on a side window of his monitor.
Akira Iyadomi,
If you are reading this, then it means that you've most likely been having your ass handed to you by someone—or some army—that you frankly shouldn't have messed with.
What you are using right now is a little something I like to call the Burning Mirage. The theory behind it is simple: the Mirage particles that we've applied to your machine have essentially become 'hyperactive' with a little help from an internal version of Geschmeidig Panzer. This has theoretically caused them to create a vacuum within the atmosphere, allowing you to travel and fight in ways that are normally impossible.
Now get your ass outof there before anything happens to you, brat! This is still a highly experimental system, so I don't know what the possible repercussions could be for overusing it!
~Professor K
"Think I'm going to have to kiss you the next time I see you, K," Akira muttered as he turned his attention back on the Destroy below and in front of him. "But there's still one last thing I need to do before I leave here."
KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA
Neo was not having a good day, to say the least. That Athha kid, if that who was indeed piloting the Strike Rouge, was proving to be a very difficult foe to shoot down. He could tell that it had been a while since she'd actively piloted a mobile suit because the Strike Rouge's movements were slightly more awkward and slow than they should've been. But at the same time, she was a good shot with her beam rifle and made excellent use of her shield, and always somehow managed to dodge that which she couldn't block. Had their battle continued uninterrupted, he knew that he could've used his Launcher Rapier's superior batteries to outlast the Strike Rouge, even when factoring in how much power he was throwing around with the Agni cannon. But then two things had happened that turned the tide of battle against him.
At this point, only he and Sting were the only ones remaining of the escort force for the Destroy. Sting was constantly finding himself on the defensive against the Murasames' attacks and from being outnumbered seven to one. It was an inevitable fact that it would happen, with only Sting's stubborn refusal to give in that prolonged it for so long. But the Chaos Gundam was finally sent reeling after having its two weapon pods destroyed while mounted upon its back. Their explosions had shaken Sting so badly that he had been unable to reorient himself in time to respond to a Murasame that came swooping down and hacked the green Gundam into halves, destroying both pieces within moments. Only the reinforced cockpit and additional safety features that ZAFT had installed into the machine had saved the Extended's life.
The second thing to happen was the sudden seeming transformation that the Neo Freedom had undergone. Despite his years of combat experience and battle-ingrained cool composure, Neo had found himself momentarily frozen at the controls of his Rapier as he watched the flame missile that the Gundam had become tear apart that maroon and orange unit that had suddenly appeared and attacked it.
That split second freeze had caught Neo at a very bad time because that was when the Orb Murasames came rushing in to aid their Representative. Reacting too late, Neo was unable to do anything but cry out as they sliced his Rapier to pieces. By some form of twisted fate, that final slash had sent his specialized Rapier crashing down towards the Archangel. The rapidly approaching form of that large white warship was the last thing that he saw before the main monitors went dead and his dissected cockpit crashed onto the deck of the warship's hull, just under the bridge.
The massive jolts and explosions that tore through his cockpit section would've sent Neo bouncing like a rubber ball on a rollercoaster. With his head spinning almost uncontrollably and fighting against the darkness that was quickly seeping into his vision, Neo pulled the emergency ejection and tumbled out of his Rapier onto the deck of the Archangel, his helmet rolling free of his face as he collapsed. Faintly, he could hear the explosions of the battle that was still taking place, but the darkness had finally won out against his fading strength and claimed him in its comforting blackness.
KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA
5:35am
With a loud battle cry tearing its way out of him, Akira sent himself rushing forward at the Neo Freedom's newfound top speeds. Reacting quickly, the massive mobile armor form of the Destroy launched a spray of missiles at him. However, cloaked within the field of burning Mirage Colloid particles that were surrounding him, none of the missiles were able to get a proper lock onto him and thus he was able to bypass them easily.
Nearly upon the Destroy, Akira suddenly pulled the Freedom upwards. As he did so, he threw one of the beam swords that he'd found forward. Traveling at those speeds and aimed with incredible accuracy, the beam sword buried itself up to its hilt in the focusing gem of the positron shield, causing a small internal explosion that incinerated the mechanisms that powered it and rendered the positron shield inoperable.
Rocketing over the Destroy as it recoiled from the loss of its energy shield, the Neo Freedom abruptly changed course and dropped heavily upon the backside of the large Gundam, thrusting its remaining beam sword deeply through the metal. Had Akira used a beam saber, it would've had no effect on the Destroy's backpack, which was coated with the same anti-beam metal that was used on most standard shields.
Roaring loudly from the amount of effort it took him, Akira dragged the beam sword forward along the edge of the backpack, burning and tearing a deep gouge through the metal that protected the Nefertem that lined it. With a loud metallic screech that could be heard even in the midst of the chaos in Berlin, Akira finally tore through the final cannon on the right side.
Hovering for a split second in front of the Destroy's main cameras and ignoring his rising discomfort from the how hot it was seeming to become, he grabbed the beam sword that was still sheathed in the focusing gem and flared the engines, once again tearing a deep slash through the left side's Nefertem plasma cannons as he raced towards the back of the Destroy.
Blasting back up into the sky as a series of explosions rocked the Destroy from the damage he'd just inflicted upon it, Akira raised the beam swords and hurled both of them at the monstrous machine's backpack once again. This time, the swords impacted the missile launchers, penetrating more than deep enough to pierce a few of the missiles' warheads and triggering multiple more explosions that all but blew the top half of the backpack clear off the Destroy.
Quickly flying over the Destroy as it became obscured in a plume of vile black smoke, Akira dropped into a slight hover a considerable distance away to watch. Would the pilot decide to fight on, using the Destroy's Gundam mode, or finally call it quits? Though it was wishful thinking, he truly did hope that the Destroy would stop before he truly had to destroy it.
That was when he noticed two things happening. One was the Destroy confirming what he'd feared would happen as it began to move and shift, quickly taking on its mobile suit form. The massive machine towered as proudly over the battlefield as it could with all the damage that it'd sustained, its fierce green eyes glaring hatefully at the insect that dared bring it to any harm.
The second thing was a sudden alarm blaring to life in his mobile suit. Quickly checking the gauges and damage assessments, Akira paled in horror at what he was seeing. The Burning Mirage was overheating the Freedom at an increased rate! Without the PS Armor active to help dissipate that heat, combined with how hot the Colloid particles were from being their 'hyperactive' state, it only served to enhance the problem!
If he didn't cool the Freedom down quickly, the reactor would meltdown and give out. That would mean he'd be—DANGER!!
Time slowed to a near crawl as Akira took in the entire situation within an instant. The Destroy was powering up its three massive Super Scylla multi-phase beam cannons mounted in its chest, aimed towards his general direction. Behind him was the Archangel, already trying to dodge away from the blast area of the Super Scylla. But to Akira, the warship seemed to be traveling through molasses, way too slowly. And behind the Archangel was a 'relatively' small section of the Berlin suburbs!
He didn't stop to consider his actions. Not for an instant.
Akira grabbed the Neo Freedom's shield while quickly dropping to the ground, down to wear he somehow knew there was another shield, one that had been previously used by one of the Rapier mobile suits. As the Destroy's Super Scylla began to glow ominously, ready to unleash their deadly load of energy, he shot back up into the air. As the Destroy finally blasted its cannons, Akira let out a loud battle cry as he rushed the oncoming energy at his top speed with both shields raised and ready.
For one eternal moment, the Neo Freedom had been able to hold the energy at bay. But almost instantly, the continuous stream of energy began to flow forward despite the minor obstacle that lay within its path. To stop that blast was the rough equivalent of trying to use a kitchen bowl to catch a tsunami on the beach.
Utterly impossible.
The beam energy began seeping around and between the shields, tearing and burning away at everything it touched, namely the Neo Freedom. As the Gundam began to slowly disintegrate under this assault, the sheer force of the beam energy began pushing the Freedom backwards at an increasing rate. But still the Neo Freedom pushed on, its critically overheating engines screaming in protest as it attempted to confront its latest foe. Even as portions of its being began to melt away, it pushed on.
Until its reactor died.
With no opposing force pushing against it, the Destroy's beam energy slammed into the shields that were still tightly clenched in the Freedom's hands, seeming to wash it away in its tsunami of power. The beams impacted with a river on the horizon, just missing the suburbs, and created a large explosion that quite literally showered the immediate area with water vapor and mud.
After the explosion had died down, there was a single moment of absolute silence on the battlefield as everyone conscious and living stared at the location where the beams had hit. But aside from the rush of icy water moving forward to fill the new crater, there was no movement. The seemingly invincible, unstoppable, undefeatable Neo Freedom Gundam, piloted by the young man known only as Akira Iyadomi, did not rise from the debris to do battle again.
There was only smoke, steam, and water. Nothing else.
"KIRA!!" Cagalli screamed, tearing rushing out of her eyes.
KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA
5:40am
Completely ignorant of what had just occurred, Shinn climbed into the cockpit of the Core Splendor with a deep frown on his face. The reports from their frontline forces that were waiting for the Destroy to enter the city of Berlin or targeting range had been unsettlingly vague. But the one thing that had been confirmed without a moment's doubt was that only had the Neo Freedom decided to once again intervene in the affairs of the world, but so had the accursed ship of that Athha bitch! And had Shinn not received direct orders from Captain Gladys, Shinn wouldn't have hesitated to attack either of those two.
However, as much as he hated to admit it, he had to agree with the Captain's orders. As opposed to either the Freedom or the Archangel, that big black monster was the one responsible for destroying three Eurasian cities and killing thousands of innocent people. As much as he'd grown to hate Iyadomi, Shinn would still reluctantly admit that he didn't attack and kill innocents…he had his cronies do that for him!
Pushing those thoughts aside, he quickly powered up the Core Splendor with practiced ease as he was lifted up to the catapult. Lowering his visor, he called out, "Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, launching!"
Within seconds of his launch, the corresponding pieces of the Impulse were sent rocketing after him. Once all the modules were attached, the young super ace sent his Gundam racing forward to meet his titanic foe face on. It was with great reluctance that he ignored the bitch's Strike Rouge and the seven floating forms of her weakling underling Murasames. All of them had been staring off into the distance for some reason, but he didn't care. He had a job to do, and he would be damned if it wasn't him who took down this monster!
Almost too late did the Destroy's pilot notice his approaching form and opened up with a salvo of desperate Super Scylla beam blasts. But thanks to his incredible super-Coordinator reflexes, he was easily able to weave between the beams. As he was practically on top of the Destroy, he grabbed a beam saber and delivered a decisive slash that cut deeply into the cockpit of the machine. It was only after he'd backed away and was preparing for a finishing stab into its heart that he noticed something…familiar about the pilot. Zooming in, he came to a horrible realization. The pilot of that monster was Stellar!
But…how could that be?! That masked man—Neo?—had said that he was going to take her away from war! He wasn't going to force her to fight again! So why was she in there?! Neo had given him his word!!
'Athrun was right,' a small, bitter part of his conscious whispered to him. But he savagely ignored it in his confusion and horror at the fact that he'd almost killed Stellar!
KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA
5:47am
He had no idea how long he'd been unconscious. No idea how long he'd laid here, sprawled in his pilot's chair, surrounded by total darkness with only the faint sounds of water rushing around him. It could've been for only a few minutes, a few hours, or even a few years. He didn't know and he didn't care. What he did care about was one simple truth.
He'd failed.
With that last reckless act of his, he knew that he'd all but destroyed his beloved machine. The fact that he was still somehow alive despite enduring that tsunami of power must've had something to do with the fact that the shields he'd been using were angled directly in front of the cockpit, thus protecting him from the brunt of the energy. But the fact that he was alive didn't change the fact that his Gundam was now almost nothing more than a heap of twisted slag. How could he stop a war, much less fight, with a machine that was for all intents and purposes destroyed?
He couldn't. He'd failed. There was no longer any way he could fight either. He was a wanted fugitive by both the EA and ZAFT. There was no way they'd allow him anywhere near one of their mobile suit hangars, they'd sooner arrest him for treason or some other trumped up war crime that he'd likely not even committed. And even if he was able to manufacture a new identity, it was inevitable that they'd realize that he wasn't who he said he was.
There was no longer any point in fighting. He'd done the best he could under such difficult circumstances and with limited funds and resources. And it was unlikely that he'd be able to find his way to one of the rebel factions, like perhaps the Archangel, to make much more difference in this war.
He didn't need the sheer and overpowering darkness of the cockpit to tell him that the reactor was dead. And without the reactor, there was no power. Without power in his Gundam, he was completely useless.
A weak humming sound filled the silence of the cockpit. Followed shortly afterwards by a flickering light that slowly came to life on his monitor with steadily increasing power and brightness. Raising his head, he stared silently at the glowing screen as more and more lights began to slowly come back to life around him, filling the cockpit with their weak rays.
"…Sure," Akira whispered quietly to his beloved friend and ally. "This will be your final fight."
KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny - KIRA
5:52am
For one eternal moment, everything was right in the universe as far as Shinn was concerned. After he'd finally managed to get through to Stellar and stop her frantic attack that had resulted in massive damage to the landscape just outside of Berlin, Shinn had gotten Stellar to calm down. He could see her now, despite bleeding from various wounds where shrapnel had hit her from his first and only attack, she was wearing a truly beautiful and hopeful smile on her lovely face. Not even the tears that were streaking down her cheeks did anything to hamper the glowing beauty that she had become to him.
But then reality came crashing down on them like a mega-ton brick. A pair of high-powered beams came rushing out of the skies and struck Stellar's Gundam. One of the beams had hit her Destroy's headpiece, completely blowing up its main camera. The other beam had obliterated the focusing gem on the right Sturm Faust arm, which triggered the arm's complete destruction.
Quickly turning around to find the person who'd dare attack his Stellar, Shinn surveyed the entire battlefield but he couldn't find anyone within his sight that seemed to be responsible for the attack. None of the Murasames, or even the Strike Rouge, were equipped with the kind of firepower that he'd glimpsed from the corner of his eye. In fact, they seemed to be searching for Stellar's attacker as well!
That was when they suddenly angled their headpieces upwards, apparently having spotted something. Repeating the gesture, Shinn spotted something floating high in the air, very high, at least a good three kilometers! Zooming his camera on the object, it took him a moment to recognize it due to the severe amount of damage inflicted upon it. But once he did, he scowled hatefully.
Under the normal circumstance, Shinn would've felt positively elated to see the Neo Freedom reduced to little more than a hovering, badly burned and mangled torso. It was missing almost everything that could've been used to identify it as the Neo Freedom: its wings, its legs and railguns, and even its headpiece! The remaining torso was burned and warped, its Phase Shift Armor currently inactive as it was clearly straining to remain hovering at such an altitude. However, that very same torso was also sporting a pair of workable arms who held an Agni hyper-impulse cannon in each of their grasps. Agni cannons that were clearly aimed at the Destroy—at Stellar!
With a roar of outrage, Shinn grabbed his beam rifle and went rocketing up to shoot the Neo Freedom down. As he went, he yelled out, "What do you think you're doing, Iyadomi?! You don't know what's going on here! Don't interfere!!"
He didn't receive a response beyond seeing a series of sparks and electricity dancing along the Freedom's right arm as it prepared to fire its newly-acquired cannons a second time. That was the only warning that Shinn had when the Gundam suddenly unleashed its second volley. Frantically, he jumped in front of one of the beams with his shield upraised. The sheer force of impact knocked the Impulse out of the sky momentarily.
Quickly regaining control of himself, Shinn turned and watched helplessly as the beam that he couldn't block struck the Destroy's left arm as Stellar attempted to bring its positron shield up. However, it was too late as the Agni's blast tore through the focusing gem and resulted in the destruction of that arm as well. With a bestial growl forming in his throat, Shinn pushed the Impulse's thrusters to their maximum as he went racing up to destroy Iyadomi once and for all!
However, it almost seemed that he wouldn't have to. Apparently that electricity that had been flickering off the Freedom's arm hadn't been for show. Just after the right side Agni had fired, the entire cannon had exploded, taking the arm with it and inflicting further damage to the already injured Gundam. There was another explosion that lit up the Freedom's backside as one of its engines suddenly gave out. A large smoke cloud was billowing from that destroyed engine as the Gundam began to fall from the skies.
But even as it fell, the Freedom pointed its remaining arm and cannon down towards Stellar!
"I won't let you kill STELLAR!" Shinn yelled as images of his family's deaths played in his mind. Though he hadn't seen who actually done it, as far as he was concerned, the Freedom was the one responsible for their deaths. And he would have his revenge, on top of saving the girl who meant so much to him!
A sudden alarm distracted Shinn. Glancing in the direction of his attacker, Shinn couldn't help but freeze as he located who it was. The Destroy's Super Scylla beam cannons were glowing ominously as Stellar maneuvered them skywards towards the Freedom—and him!
"Stellar, wait!" he yelled, despite knowing it was too late. That was when the Iyadomi fired his shot.
The Agni beam flew long and true, burrowing deep into the center Super Scylla cannon and causing untold amount of damage. To make such a shot—without its headpiece—was nearly the equivalent of hitting a pinprick with a pencil from a hundred meters away while blindfolded: practically impossible! And yet, before Shinn's wide-eyed gaze, he watched helplessly as the chain reaction began. First the center cannon was engulfed in a bright golden light, then it spread to the two other cannons. Then the accumulated beam energy that had been gathered tried to find the shortest route of escape. But because of damage gained, the easiest route had been shattered, resulting in a massive explosion that blew the Destroy's torso completely in two. Though he couldn't see it, Shinn was almost positive that Stellar was being showered by shrapnel and fire as her monstrous machine continued to explode around her.
However, the Destroy wasn't the only one. Up in the sky, just seconds after firing that final shot, the remaining Agni cannon exploded in the Neo Freedom's hands. The shrapnel of the heavy cannon pummeled the vulnerable Gundam mercilessly, easily penetrating the armor in certain locations. One of those locations was the last remaining engine, which finally gave up the ghost and joined its brother in exploding.
He was floating just behind his pink-haired angel as she led him through an unfamiliar series of hallways. She was dressed a modest but pretty white and purple dress while he wore a ZAFT Red Coat. He wasn't entirely sure where she was taking him, but he trusted her unconditionally. And as they passed through a pair of locked doors and into a darkened chamber, he realized that his questions were about to be answered.
Though he'd never really seen a proper one before, he had quickly realized that they were now floating through a mobile suit hangar. To his left there stood a large, shadowy form of a mobile suit and his angel grabbed the railing next to them to stop her momentum, a move that he quickly copied. They now stood just in front of the giant machine. So this was what she'd wanted to show him?
That was when the lights of the hangar suddenly sprung to life, throwing back the shadows to reveal the proud and powerful form of a very familiar face to him.
"A—A Gundam?" he stuttered out in his surprise.
His angel giggled quietly for a moment before she said, "Actually, that's not what it's called. This is the ZGMF-X10A Freedom." Turning to face him, she smiled brightly at his still partially stupefied expression. "But I think I like 'Gundam' more because it sounds more powerful."
As they returned their attention to the mighty Gundam that stood before them, the young lady continued her little speech. "Under orders of Chairman Zala, they designed a new machine with the same capabilities as the Earth Forces' mobile suits they captured and then added state-of-the-art technology to it."
Still partly confused, he turned and asked, "But why? Are you—?"
"I believe this machine has the power that you're going to need," she interrupted softly. "Because neither will nor strength alone, while be enough. That's why."
But…this machine was…how could she manage to…? Before he could stop himself, he blurted out, "Who are you? Really?"
"I am simply Lacus Clyne," his angel said with a pleasant smile, finally and fully identifying herself to him.
His angel had given him his greatest weapon.
With the loss of its engine, the flaming wreckage of the once proud Gundam plummeted out of the skies, crashing into the earth below and coming to a halt for the last time.
The Neo Freedom was no more.
(AUTHOR'S NOTE) I'm evil, aren't I? ^_^ I hope you all enjoyed this chapter as much as I did writing it! And I thank all 68 of you who voted on my most recent poll. I'm sure you can all see why I chose to post it now eh? Though I have to admit that the sheer amount of you to have voted surprised me, even more so when I realized that most of you had in mind what I had planned to happen all along. Am I becoming predictable again? Well, I guess it's time to really pull out all the stops!
But I can honestly say that I'm very much looking forward to reading your opinions on the battle and the Neo Freedom's destruction. All 68 of you. ^_^
For those you who are wondering (all of you I'm sure), I got inspired for the 'Burning Mirage' after watching Gundam 00. And I must bow down to my friends (animefan29 and FictionReader98) for helping me to refine this idea and doing some major beta-review on this chapter.
As you can probably guess, the Burning Mirage is based heavily on the Trans-Am system, but with much more severe side-effects. Here's a full list of capabilities and limitations.
The Burning Mirage works on pretty much the same level of using the Mirage Colloid particles as the Geschmeidig Panzer on the GAT-X707E Forbidden Vortex. But unlike the Forbidden Vortex, the Burning Mirage affects the atmosphere rather than water, essentially creating a 'bubble' of vacuum in the air, which allows the Neo Freedom to travel and fight at levels of speed and maneuverability that it normally can't because of the wind resistence.
But in order for the Colloid particles to be able to perform such an act, they need to be at extremely high temperatures, which give them a sparkling appearance. Combined those high temperatures with the Neo Freedom's engines and you've got what seems to be a cloud of fire that's covering the Gundam.
But that isn't the only advantage gained. Due to Professor K's genius, she created an internal version of the Geschmeidig Panzer to be used in conjunction with the Burning Mirage. This system essentially helps to boost the flow of power from the Neo Freedom's nuclear reactor, granting it short bursts of energy that are of far greater quantities than would normally be available.
However, like I've shown in the chapter, if the particle temperatures climb too high too fast, they can basically cook the pilot alive if they aren't able to cool down the machine quickly enough (which is how Akira was able to return so quickly after being blasted by the Destroy, he'd fallen into that ice-cold river). These high temperatures also have numerous affects on the mobile suit itself, such as weakening the armor, making the metals more malleable than they should be.
Well, I believe that's about everything. See you next chapter!