Gundam SEED Destiny
Kira
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Phase 26: Return of the Pseudo-Songstress

January 31, 74 CE
ZAFT Gibraltar Base, Spain
9:43am

After what had seemed like an immensely long time ago, the Minerva finally reached the docks of Gibraltar. A good number of the crewmembers let loose small sighs of relief as they felt the engines slowly power down and the ship settled down in its place in the water.

As various mechanics and crewmen went about their tasks of properly securing and stabilizing the warship's internal systems as they slowly died down, the mobile suit pilots of the ship stood within the lounge as they patiently awaited the order for permission to disembark.

Though not a word was spoken between them, there was an almost palpable tension hanging over all of them due to the presence of one of them. Heine was leaning casually against the wall with his arms crossed as he stared off into space near the lounge door. Athrun was silently sipping a cup of coffee as he stared yearningly at a feed from one of the exterior cameras, watching the activities of the personnel as they linked the Minerva into position in the port. Lunamaria was perhaps the most relaxed of the group, lounging back in her chair with her feet propped up on the tabletop, a rather blatant disregard for regulations but none of her companions had the interest or felt the need to enforce the military standards to correct her. Rey was sitting over near the far corner reading some novel, though none of his companions could see the title of the book he held. And Shinn sat on the couch, leaning over the table as he reviewed the recorded battle of his defeat against the GOUF on his laptop with a deadly concentration in his red eyes.

"Hey, Shinn," Luna said, glancing over at the younger pilot. He didn't even raise his gaze from the monitor, which slightly irked her. "Are you still moping over that battle? Get over it already, it was draw after all."

"…No it wasn't," Shinn said quietly, distractedly. "…I'm not moping."

Snorting quietly, Luna glanced over her companions. Athrun and Heine seemed to be off in their own little worlds while Rey had merely glanced in her direction when she'd spoken up. "What're you gonna do when we can disembark? Gonna go disappear on us again?"

Shinn didn't seem to hear her as his gaze was now solely focused upon a certain portion of the battle-feed he was watching.

"You're about as exciting as a box of nails," Luna grumbled, wishing that some of her other friends and crewmembers could've gotten a few minutes of free time so she could have a good conversation with someone.

Glancing over at her companions again, Luna noticed that she'd gotten Heine's attention. And upon seeing his slightly raised eyebrow, a sudden devious idea struck her. Crossing her legs and settling into a slightly more 'sexy' slouch in her chair, she pitched her voice to that of reluctant resignation as she said, "That's such a shame. I was hoping that you'd be up for some steamy sex after we disembarked, but I guess not."

It took exactly seven point three four seconds for her words to filter through Shinn's mind, for comprehension to the words' meanings to click within his one-track mind, and for him to reflexively jolt around as he immediately turned to stare at his fellow Red with wide eyes and begin sputtering confused, questioning, and indignant noises. Heine merely raised his hand to his face in order to hide the smirk that had appeared. Poor Athrun had been in the middle of taking another sip and ended up blowing a whole mouthful of air into his drink, spilling it over his hand and soaking a good portion of his uniform. Rey had just sent another glance at her before returning to his book.

Unable to help herself, Luna let loose a loud stream of laughter at her companions' expenses. That couldn't have worked out any better than if she'd planned it out beforehand! And she was still quietly laughing even several minutes later when all five of them finally made their way to the Minerva's exit.

As she was waiting for her sister to catch up to her at the exit, Luna noticed that there seemed to be an unusually large crowd of people gathered around one of the closer mobile suit hangars. Focusing upon the scene more carefully, Luna felt a sense of déjà vu as she spotted a semi-familiar mass of long pink hair on a woman who stood at the front of the crowd. The only thing missing was that there was no loud singing, music, or excited cheers floating through the air.

"Is that who I think it is…?" she asked loudly, drawing her companions' attentions over towards what had captured her interest.

"I do believe that it is," Heine observed, he had the best eyesight among them by far. "She must've been rescued recently; I haven't heard anything about this."

Looking over at Athrun's expression, Luna noticed that he was every bit as surprised as the rest of them and she was also sure that she'd seen a small amount of relief and confusion filter through his gaze as well.

"Hey, sis," a familiar voice called from behind her, distracting Luna from her observations on her former Combat Commander. "What're you staring at? Hey, is that—?!"

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Aprillis 1, PLANTs

It was with a deep frown that he read through the report that had been presented to him only a few minutes earlier. It unsettled him quite a bit, especially considering he'd sent a fleet that frankly should've been more than just a little excessive firepower to accomplish its mission than anything else. How exactly was this possible? Of the five ships and almost three dozen mobile suits he'd sent to handle the pirate colony, only a single Laurasia, two ZAKUs, and most importantly of all the three new Gundam models had managed to survive the battle. And even then all of them had received some fairly intense damage!

When Captain Hajime Yatate had mentioned the existence of three pirate Gundams and their relative combat strengths, along with their usage of Mirage Colloid, Durandal knew that he couldn't allow these men to continue to produce such machines unopposed. Even if they hadn't produced these so-called 'X-units', he'd have ordered an attack on them regardless. The recent uprisings in pirate attacks would've been the perfect cover-up story as he sent his forces to eliminate the one pirate faction that he now knew had direct ties to unleashing the Neo Freedom and Akira Iyadomi, and unintentionally threatening his entire plan.

In fact, the reason he'd decided to send such a large force to deal with these pirates was because of the fact that he now knew they had been the ones to recover and train Akira Iyadomi after the Second Battle of Jachin Due. If their combat training regime could produce a pilot of Iyadomi's caliber in less than two years, then what did that say about their more experienced pilots who'd been in the group even longer? If they'd ever decided to interfere or resist him when he finally introduced his true plans to the world, it would predictably be no simple matter of…correcting them. He needed to cut them off now before they could potentially grow even stronger. But the result of the battle was still surprising, even to him.

Although they had sustained heavy losses of their own, including several dozens of their mobile suits and the colony itself destroyed, the pirates and their Gundams had survived the battle. However, this was thanks to the pirates possessing several new weapons and technology that his forces had been unaware of. Lightwave barriers that protected their warships, Mirage Colloid upon each of their machines, acquiring a Nazca warship to add to their forces, five new formidable mobile suits that were clearly based off some of ZAFT's very own rejected designs, and most startling of all nuclear warheads! Just how well connected or skillful were these pirates to have acquired or produced such weapons as nuclear warheads and acquiring secret mobile suit data without anyone having noticed? The threat levels of these 'Early Harvest pirates' had just taken a substantially great spike upwards.

But what had irritated Durandal the most was learning of the damage inflicted upon his own Gundam units as they had fought against the pirates' X-units. He had originally decided to send his new Gundam models along with the mission so that they could be given a field test against a respectably strong enemy before he delivered them to their pilots. They were merely there to keep the X-units occupied and then to help his ZAFT forces capture or destroy them once the colony itself had fallen. And even though their current pilots were certainly skillful, they just weren't quite in the same league as the pilots for which those machines were meant for. But regardless of that, there should've been a critical difference in battle strengths between the pirate Gundams and his.

Returning his attentions to the monitor in front of him, he called up the recorded images of the battle. From the Legend's point of view, he watched as an orange and yellow striped machine that was clearly based on the Savior Gundam came racing forward and recklessly crashing into the Destiny's energy shield with its own physical shield. The Destiny had fought against a machine that was clearly taken after the Sword Impulse and fought in a fairly unorthodox manner, not necessarily relying upon its weapons. And the pilot of that sniper/artillery Gundam was clearly a former professional soldier, given just how precise and fluid his attacks and strategies were during the battle.

Information was the lifeblood of war, and clearly his forces had been sorely lacking of it in this operation. Information upon these formidable X-unit pilots would've been a blessing indeed! The only things that Captain Yatate had been able to give him was that everyone in the pirate faction used codenames and that many of them were defectors of both ZAFT and the EF from before or during the First Valentine War.

And while that information was certainly enlightening, it didn't answer one critical question: how did the pirates acquire the data for the Savior and Impulse Gundams? The most logical answers were that they had observed the Gundams in their respective battles since their deployment and built machines based off their appearances and abilities. Even though that thought could easily be used to explain the X-units' designs, it failed to explain those five new mobile suits they'd used. The only logical answer for those, however unlikely it could possibly be, was that the pirates had somehow hacked into ZAFT's most top secret database networks and stolen the Hizack plans, all without being detected or traced whatsoever.

Yes, these Early Harvesters could've become a very dangerous enemy when he tried to enforce his ultimate plans. But now that they no longer had that colony or factory to use, they were nowhere near as dangerous. Oh, they could certainly still possess several new weapons onboard their warships that he wasn't aware of yet and for that reason ZAFT would continue to hunt for them. But it was now only a matter of time before they were hunted down and destroyed.

"Mister Chairman!" a voice called over the intercom, interrupting his thoughts.

"Yes, what is it?" he asked, trying to keep his irritation at the interruption from showing in his voice.

"Please turn your monitor onto the international news channel! Something's happening!" There was a peculiar hint of excitement in his secretary's voice, sparking Durandal's interest as he decided to comply with the request.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Terminal Earth-based HQ, Orb territory

"—and even Athrun had been a very good friend of mine," the brown-haired boy on the monitor said quietly, looking very saddened yet resolutely determined.

"Athrun?" the pink-haired beauty that was floating near him asked, a strange hint of some emotion within her voice as she uttered the name.

"Athrun Zala," the boy clarified.

"How much longer are you going to watch those?" a loud voice asked from behind him, interrupting the slight stupor that he'd unknowingly fallen into.

Turning back to glance at the long-haired blonde who was sitting up in his own bed, Akira let a small smirk cross his face as he saw the slightly annoyed look in the man's eye. "Not much longer actually. I was actually going to turn it off in a short while anyway; I'm bored."

The man, whom Akira learned was named Captain Neo Roanoke, just glanced away with a slight sigh of annoyance. "You're going to get yourself into a lot of trouble if you do what I think you're going to do."

Just staring at the man for a brief moment, Akira finally said, "I'm really that obvious? Hm…well, no one else seems to have caught on just yet."

"That's because they think you're someone else," Neo muttered bitterly, mostly because he was receiving the same treatment.

"Maybe," Akira acknowledged quietly, his thoughts shifting back to the Archangel's security footage that he'd accidentally discovered a few short days ago. "but you can't blame them for wanting their old friends and comrades to come back to them, can you?"

Neo glanced over at Akira for a moment, his gaze clearly contemplative. But when he heard an audible click, he let out a low grunt and turned his attention back to his own monitor which was showing the latest world news.

Hands finally free of the handcuffs, Akira easily withdrew the small metal fragment he'd taken from Neo Freedom's wreckage and gently hid it back inside his pants pocket. Thanks for teaching me that trick, Captain Brimfield. It was quite easy for him to now unbuckle the leather straps that bound him to the bed, as ordered by Lady Cagalli who had lived up to her promise of shackling him down if necessary.

Standing up and stretching his aching body tentatively, he fought back a slight wince as a jolt of pain shot through his backside. It may have been only a short while ago, but he was still far too injured to do any strenuous activities for a few more weeks.

"I'm going to the cafeteria," he announced as he headed for the door. "Would you like me to get you anything while I'm there, Captain?"

"A bottle of water would be nice," Neo admitted quietly, his gaze not wavering from the monitor.

Nodding despite the man not seeing it, Akira left the room and carefully stalked down the hallways. Unlike the last few times that he'd been down these halls, there was quite a bit more activity going on in them. Various uniformed personnel were walking down the halls, some of them were rushing through the halls in a hurry to complete a necessary task while others were moving at an unhurried pace. Dressed in a spare uniform that Cagalli had supplied for him, Akira did his best to remain as unobtrusive in the crowd as he could, a special trick he'd picked up while he was traveling around Earth. And in no time he'd reached the cafeteria and ordered a small meal of beef sandwiches and potato salad.

Just as he was about to start eating, a semi-familiar young woman with golden-brown hair slid into the seat opposite of the one he was sitting at, causing alarms to sound loudly in his mind. Had he been found out already? Glancing up at the girl's bright eyes, he quickly felt yet another annoying flash of déjà vu as he recognized her as the young woman from the CIC (both from the Archangel's recordings and from his brief visit to the bridge with Cagalli not too long ago).

"Getting into trouble a little early today, aren't we, Kira?" Miriallia asked with a slight smirk on her face.

"Trouble? No way," Akira said, a small but devious grin growing on his face. "You're only in trouble if you get caught."

It happened so fast. Just as those words had left his mouth, he caught a slight flicker in Miriallia's gaze to behind and above him. Before he could do little more than wonder what she was looking at, he felt the sudden arrival of a large and extremely dangerous presence looming over him, filled with righteous rage.

"Kira!" Cagalli yelled, latching onto his earlobe and yanking him backwards at a sharp angle so that he was staring up at her face.

"I'm in trouble," he managed to utter before Cagalli began lighting into him with all the ferocity she was known for.

"What are you doing here?" Cagalli demanded hotly. Without even waiting for an answer, she continued on. "You're supposed to be in the Infirmary recovering! You're not in any condition to be out and moving. How did you escape this time?! I swear, if you do this again, I'm going to post guards outside that doorway to make sure you don't get out again!"

Akira didn't answer verbally, but he couldn't break free of her grip either. His gaze flickered down to the table where he stared longingly at the meal that was resting temptingly in front of him. He couldn't help but wince noticeably as Cagalli gave his earlobe an especially vicious squeeze to regain his attention. Who knew Cagalli had such a vicious grip when she wanted to use it…? Okay, maybe that should've been obvious, but still!

Miriallia just watched the interaction between her long-lost friend and his sister with a wide smile, barely able to keep her quiet laughter from escaping. It was nice to have Kira back with them and she couldn't help but hope that he stayed with them for good this time.

Cagalli's rant was silenced by the sudden projections of a startlingly familiar voice through the warship's intercom. A voice that had Akira immediately breaking free of Cagalli's vice grip and heading to the nearest wall terminal and hacking into its systems for a visual.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

ZAFT Gibraltar Base, Spain
9:45am

Fears and emotions that she hadn't felt since the time of her kidnapping now were flooding through Meer as she stood in front of a massive crowd. It would not have been an understatement to say that the entire base had been gathered out in front of the platform to watch and hear what she had to say. There were thousands of blinding camera flashes, several dozens of news crews and camcorders, and several thousands of people surrounding her. It took a lot of effort in order to keep herself composed and playing her old role as Lacus Clyne.

The last time she'd been in this position, she'd been overwhelmed by feelings of pure ecstasy because her dream had finally come true. She had finally become the singer and star that she'd always wanted to be, people were finally paying real attention to her! She had been making a difference in the war because people were listening to her, taking her words to heart. The Chairman and her helpers had been correct; she truly had become Lacus Clyne.

But this time was different, very different. This time, she had no prepared speech. This time, she had no scheduled performance which she had been practicing several days to do. This time, she had no real intention of singing. This time, she wasn't the visiting superstar but a runaway captive. This time, she really couldn't generate the strength necessary to even smile at the crowds that stood before her.

But despite those differences, there was something else…different. She couldn't really put her finger onto what it was, but something had changed in the atmosphere that was surrounding the entire ZAFT base and its personnel, something…dangerous. Something that she had likely not to have noticed if she hadn't been kidnapped and forced to consider options and questions that she'd have otherwise thought ridiculous.

With these thoughts, questions, and fears at the forefront of her mind, Meer stepped forward to begin her first true speech. A speech that she had created of her own free will and that no one else had even looked at or over to make corrections. If nothing else she did in this war or in her life, this speech was going to hers for all eternity.

"Hello my friends, I have returned," she called out in the microphone she wore clipped to her left ear as she waved her hand slightly. "I know that many of you have been deeply worried about me. Thank you, all of you, for your concern and I am sorry for worrying you. I assure you that I was being kept safe and unharmed after I'd been taken by Akira Iyadomi, pilot of the Freedom. Though it was only recently that I've managed to escape and return."

Taking a small pause to gather her thoughts, Meer also took a slight breath. What she was about to say would most likely have a fairly significant impact upon many peoples' opinions of the deceased enigmatic pilot.

"I spent a considerable amount of time with him and I believe that I've come to understand just why he had fought. He hated fighting and violence, and he did his best to end this war without being drafted into one of the militaries. And I know there are those who claimed to fight in his name, the Hands of Freedom, but they weren't. They are just using his name as an excuse for violence against those they view as the enemy. Akira sought only to prevent loss of as many lives as possible and to end the war peacefully. And above all else, he fought alone. He never had any connection to the Hands beyond trying to stop their assaults."

It wasn't entirely a fake sigh of resignation as she prepared to continue. "I'm sure that every one of us could find it in our hearts to not condemn him for attempting to bring peace, even if his methods were a bit unorthodox. And I do mourn his loss at the Battle of Berlin. But, for one, I am very grateful for his courage to stand up to any entire army alone in order to protect the lives of so many innocent men, women, and children. This world would be a much kinder place if we could all possess such courage and determination, I know it."

Clasping her hands as a smile found its way onto her face, Meer finally reached the epilogue of her speech. "Please, everyone, let us never forget Akira Iyadomi. For he has shown to us how the actions of one person can shift the difference between life and death, from defeat to victory. And with the courage and persistence that he has shown me, I hope to honor his memory by finishing what he failed to accomplish. Please everyone, let us bring a quick end to this war and allow peace to return to our world once again."

There came a thunderous applause from the gathered crowd. Some of them were cheering as loudly as they could for their returned idol. Many were clearly thinking over the various statements she'd made in her speech, but they still clapped politely to show their appreciation. Meer managed to work up the strength for a small smile as she raised one of her hands in a bid for silence.

"I'll take any questions for you at this time," she said in a firm, if slightly quiet, voice.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Terminal Base, Orb territory
10:00am

As Lacus' double continued her speech on live television, Cagalli's gaze was focused upon her long-lost brother. A variety of emotions flashed across his face as he watched and listened intently to the young woman's speech. There was anger, surprise, fear, and anxiety before finally settling into a cold determination that she'd only seen on his face when he was going to go into combat.

"Kira?" she asked quietly.

Tearing his gaze from the monitor, he focused upon her for a moment before his eyes narrowed ever-so-slightly. "Miss Cagalli, there are lives in danger. I need to borrow a high-speed machine, right now!"

(Author's Note) I'd like to thank Akatsuki Leader13 and Maileesǽya for helping me get ideas for Meer's speech and reviewing it, respectively. Thanks guys, you have no idea just how annoying it was to not be able to think anything for that scene. Public speaking has never been a strength of mine.

As several of you probably know, I recently started a new story. Please understand that that does not mean I'm going to abandon this story. I will admit that my inspiration for this story has been slipping lately, but unlike most of my other stories I actually have a very good idea of what I want to happen in this story and how to make it happen. That being said, I really need is more of your wonderful reviews to work up the needed motivation to finish this sweetie.