"Kira Yamato/Suletta Mercury!" - Normal Text.
"Strike/Aerial!" - Some Random-Ass Bold Text That I Put Just To Make It Look Cool When Other Fanfics Do It Cuz Why Not Text.
"Launching!" - Thinking Text.
"Bruh" - Comms/Mic/TV Audio/ZOOM Meeting/Flashback Text
"KIRAAAAAA!" angrily shouted Athrun at the Strike for revenge as both mobile suits locked their blades onto each others' shields. Shortly after they disengage from their blade lock giving themselves distance from one another, "How dare you?! You killed Nicol!" Aegis transformed into its attack mode and fired a Scylla beam at the Strike, which Kira easily avoided thanks to the Aile Striker Pack the Strike is currently equipping.
Inside the Strike's cockpit, Kira is focused on the Aegis, until he heard his best friend, Toelle Koenig's voice from the comms, "Kira!" shouted the poor soon-to-be-dead boy as he fired beams from his assigned Skygrasper to the Aegis. This surprised Kira as he replied back trying to stop his soon-to-be-dead best friend from dying, "Tolle?! No! Stay back!"Because Toelle is a stubborn lil shit, he ignored Kira's pleas as he fired a missile toward the Aegis.
The Aegis dodged it and threw his shield to Toelle, who just made a funny face about how fucked up he is as the shield collided with the cockpit, decapitating Toelle and his Skygrasper explode with Kira screaming his name.
Tolle's dead, and Kira is in disbelief as he began to silently cry. Until he activated his SEED factor, or SEED mode cuz it sounds better, due to his blind rage and ready to kill his former childhood best friend. Both the Strike and Aegis activated their thrusters as they charged at one another ready for each other's oncoming attack. Once they are near, the screaming started.
"AATTHHHRRUUUNN!" screamed Jesus Yamato as the Strike deflected the Aegis' right beam saber as followed by slicing off the Aegis' left arm from the Strike's beam saber equipped right arm.
Strike then took a little bit of distance in the air from the Aegis as he kicked the Aegis away by kicking its head. The Aegis recovered its stance in mid-air as it landed on the ground and jump on one foot, and Athrun inside the cockpit dead-set ready to kill Kira as the Strike charged at the Aegis readying for another attack.
"I will..." declared Athrun, ignoring the low battery warning on one of the Aegis' monitors or something in the cockpit, "DESTROY YOU!" Activating his SEED mode for the very first time, Athrun ignited both of the Aegis leg beam sabers as he slashed off the Strike's shield-equipped left arm followed by a lightning strike in the background. Strike then retaliated by decapitating the Aegis' head with its remaining arm, and finally, Aegis countered back by slashing the Strike's chest, barely missing the now exposed Kira.
"ATHRRUUUNN!/KIRAAAAAA!" both pilots screamed as the Aegis transformed back to its Attack mode and trapped the Strike with its remaining limbs, surprising Kira. The red Gundam tried to shoot a beam from its Scylla, but it didn't work because the suit is now low on battery, which Athrun noticed as the Aegis lose its Phase Shift Armor by turning into a dull gray instead of red. Then Athrun noticed on his monitor that the Strike is trying to move, with no other choice Athrun activated the Aegis' self-destruct sequence and escape via the main cockpit and equipped jetpack. Kira saw the fleeing Aegis' pilot from the Strike and then gasped as he realized what Athrun did, the Strike's emergency shutter activated and the next thing Kira saw is the Aegis' self-destruct.
At the Archangel, at Mirillia's post... in front of her are two signals. One is SKY GRASPER - 002, aka Tolle Koenig's unit, in which the words "SIGNAL LOST" was shown. Then at the bottom is X-105 AILE STRIKE, aka Kira's, was shown, as the words "SIGNAL LOST" were shown next, surprising Mirillia.
Now we're back at Ad Stella... more specifically Ad Stella 119, the year that Prospera Mercury became the President of Shin Sei. Currently, she's with the Science Division, overseeing the project.
"How's the Warp Drive?" Prospera asked the lead scientist. The Warp Drive Project. A key for Kira to be sent back home to his timeline someday.
"We're making some progress, madame." the scientist informed her from his computer, "All we need to do is do some test runs to see if we've reached this so-called Cosmic Era timeline. Like right... now."
In front of Prospera and the group of scientists and engineers is the Warp Drive Engine (Okay, the Warp Drive Engine looks like the GN Drive Chassis. Yeah, how original.) hooked up with wires and such, which beginning to glow bright. Too bright for the matter that caused the people to cover their eyes. As the Warp Drive began to glow... some unpleasant technical noises began to be heard. Oh dear.
"Oh dear... CUT THE POWER, PEOPLE!" the scientist yelled out as the engineer manning the power of the Engine immediately complied and it soon turned off.
Once the bright light faded and the power of the Warp Drive Engine cut off, Prospera uncovered her face to see that the Warp Drive Engine was still intact... but not before giving off a few sparks.
"Another fail... but we're making progress!" the scientist cheered with a hopeful tone, "Just a few fixes and improvements, we're gonna make history!"
Unknown to them... that experiment is also the start. The start when Kira Yamato and the Strike are transported into Ad Stella.
Back at the battlefield, the Strike was thrown back on the ground, with its Phase Shift slowly coming off of the Strike, before it glowed and engulfed in the explosion.
At the hangar, Murdoch and Mu heard the explosion, but one of the mechanics then noticed the stored Sword Striker was glowing, then Murdoch looked back Mu's Skygrasper, also glowing.
"What the hell?!" Murdoch gawked as he, Mu, and the rest just looked at the Sword and Launcher before they were engulfed in a bright light, and the people covered their eyes. The light soon toned down as the mechanics and Mu opened their eyes to see... the Striker Packs were gone.
Miriallia was now just calling out in desperation.
"What was that explosion?"Mu asked from the hangar.
Murrue then looked back at Mu, "I don't know what the explosion was. However, the fact is... that communication has been severed... with both Strike and Skygrasper Number Two."
"Yeah... about that... the Launcher and Sword Striker are gone."
Murrue gasped at that, "What do you mean by that?!"
Then Murdock joined in on Mu and Murrue's conversation, "Both the Striker Packs glowed and they vanished!"
Miriallia kept on calling for her two friends, but Natarle walked over to Miriallia's console and shut off the communication line, and sadly told her, "That's enough." Natarle then looked back at Murrue, "Captain! What are the damages to the ship? There's no sense fooling ourselves and waiting for things to get better!"
At the corridors of the Archangel, Deark Elsman, pilot of the captured GAT-X103 Buster Gundam, was being escorted by an Alliance Soldier.
Back at the bridge, the radar then detected some foes.
"R-Radar detecting something from six o'clock." Kuzzy informed as Murrue looked back at him, "Three of them."
"They're DINNs! They'll be here in 15 minutes!" Jackie Tonomura informed Natarle. The Archangel crew gasped at that. Not expecting more enemies at a time like this.
"Prepare to intercept!" Murrue ordered.
"That's impossible!" Natarle reported. "We're currently unable to use half of our firepower! At this rate, we won't last ten minutes against those DINNs like this!"
Miriallia then started trying to reach Kira once again, only to have Natarle shut off the line once more, starting to get annoyed with the girl, as she told her, "Will you cut it out? Ensign Yamato and Crewman Koenig are both MIA! You understand, right?"
Miriallia went into total shock, as everything seemed to blur around her. She knew that Lieutenant Badgiruel was right, but the fact did not register with her as her shock and quickly rising despair began to cloud her mind. No one even bothered to stop her as she ran from the bridge. The minute that Miriallia had ran out the door, Newmann reported that their power had been restored.
"We're taking off! Maximum propulsion!" Ramius ordered Neumann, who complied in the end.
"Taking off at maximum propulsion!" The Archangel then punched its thrusters to the max as it was now lifted off of the ground.
"Where are the last confirmed locations of Skygrasper Two and the Strike?" Murrue asked the CIC Operators.
"A small island at seven o'clock!" Dalida informed Murrue.
"We cannot return there in our current condition!" Natarle pointed out.
Murrue clicked her tongue, Natarle's right, so she asked Mu in return for an alternative, "Commander! What's the status of Skygrasper One?"
"Impossible! It's not ready! And I can't fend them off now that the Launcher or any of the Striker Packs are gone!"
"Captain! They'll sink us unless we leave this region at once!" Natarle suggested to Murrue. It might be dumb, but they need to survive.
"But..." Sai started as he looked at Natarle, "If by chance, both Kira and Tolle successfully escaped..." Natarle had to admit that she did not have an answer for that, and she understood that everyone wanted to know if there was a chance the two were still alive, but the risks to the ship and crew were just too great even.
"Anything from Alaska headquarters?" Murrue asked.
"Still no response!" Neumann replied.
"Captain! Are you telling all crewmembers to die?" Natarle asked Murrue. The crew then looked back to Murrue and Natarle.
"Continue to try to reach them!" Murrue ordered as she clenched her fist, "And send out the coordinates of this island and a rescue signal to Orb!"
"To Orb?"
"We're asking them to save lives! Orb will accept!" Murrue assured to Natarle.
"But that nation..."
"I'll take all responsibility!"
Natarle just looked at her as Neumann then informed Murrue about the DINNs, and then she immediately gave the order, "Boost engines to maximum! Our priority is to leave this region!"
The Archangel then left the region.
Back at where the Strike and Aegis fought, an Astray Red Frame was there, with its sword ducked onto the ground, pretty much it tried to deflect the blast radius of the Aegis' self-destruction before. Its cockpit opened to reveal the pilot, Junk Guild member Lowe Guele, then ran to the spot only to meet...nothing but explosion marks.
"No no no... Where's the Gundam?!" Lowe desperately said.
He looked around, desperate to find the Gundam and the pilot, but nothing. Lowe looked down, frustrated and upset at the outcome as he turned around and went back to his Astray Red Frame. Then he left the scene.
Timeskip to the morning, ORB force arrived at the island, with Cagalli with them. Cagalli's eyes widened when she saw the remains of the Aegis as she and Ledonir Kisaka walked through the remains as other ORB Forces tried to inspect or remove the junk.
"It appears that the red machine self-detonated... and the Strike was..." Kisaka said as he and Cagalli arrived to see... nothing. No Strike or the remains.
"The Strike's not here! Kira's not here!" Cagalli shouted as she desperately looked around, "He might've been somewhere on this island!" Then she turned around and started to run but...
"Colonel Kisaka! Over on the beach!" one of the men called out to Kisaka and Cagalli took notice of this, hoping that it's Kira that they'd found.
"Kira!" Cagalli shouted as she and Kisaka went over the location. They found the boy, but it's not Kira... it's Athrun Zala, unconscious.
A little bit of a time skip... Athrun's now at ORB's aircraft, but he is still unconscious. He then woke up soon afterward when a ray of the Sun hit his face as he glanced around, he noticed that there was a small amount of pain in his left arm, which led him to see that it was wrapped in a bandage with a sling.
After struggling to sit up, Athrun paused when he heard a familiar, female voice state in a neutral, yet still angry tone, "I see you're awake."
Athrun looked up to see Cagalli approach him with a scowl on her face, and a gun pointed at him, "You're presently flying with us on an ORB aircraft. We found you lying on a beach, and took you in."
"ORB?" Athrun repeated, "What does a neutral nation like ORB want with me? Or am I in the hands of the Earth Forces now?"
Cagalli just glared at him as she leveled her gun in response. After letting Athrun remove the IV in his arm, Cagalli asked the question that she needed answered. "There's something I have to know. Are you the one who destroyed the Strike?"
That was when Athrun's smirk vanished from his face, as he quickly recalled everything that happened before he lost consciousness. "Yeah." Athrun confirmed.
"What happened to the pilot? Did he escape like you did? Or..." Cagalli demanded, finding herself unable to say what the other explanation might be. "We couldn't find Kira anywhere. Even the Strike was missing." she then elaborated after Athrun did not respond. After more silence, Cagalli grew more and more anxious and demanded, "Say something!"
Athrun then hung his head so that his bangs hid his eyes and replied with a small, yet sad smile, "I... killed him."
Cagalli's eyes went wide with shock at this, and before she could move or say anything Athrun continued, almost as if he was in a trance saying, "I... killed him. I grabbed onto the Strike with my Aegis, and then self-detonated. I can't imagine that he could've escaped."
Cagalli's hand shook as she rushed up and grabbed Athrun by the front of his shirt and pointed her gun at his head, but still Athrun continued, "That was the only option I had left... to defeat him."
Then Cagalli got a good look at Athrun's eyes, and saw that tears were starting to form. Unable to comprehend why Athrun was crying and deal with the sudden realization that Kira was dead, "Bastard!" Cagalli just slammed Athrun down on his bed again and aimed her gun again, only to find herself unable to shoot for some reason. Finally, Cagalli got up and slammed her fist into the wall as she began to let her own tears fall, "Damn it!"
As Cagalli cried, Athrun sat up again and moaned, "But why...am I still alive?" He then glanced at his bandaged arm as he continued, "I guess it's because I escaped in time." He then turned to see Cagalli had spun around to level her gun at him once more, and he gave a grim smile as he stated, "Or because you're destined to finish me."
Cagalli could hardly believe the crap this guy was saying, and suddenly found herself ranting for an apparent reason, "Kira was always living dangerously... didn't always know what he was doing, and cried easily! But he was kind. He was a great guy!"
Athrun then looked away and gave a small smile with a statement that shocked Cagalli to her core. "I know. So he really hasn't changed one bit. He was always like that."
"You...," Cagalli asked tentatively as she lowered the gun.
"He was a crybaby, wishy-washy... and really smart, but he without thinking them through."
"Did you know Kira?"
Athrun felt his sad smile getting more and more sad by the minute as he revealed the truth to Cagalli. "Yes. Very well. We'd been friends... since we were little. We were the best of friends."
"Then... why the hell?" Cagalli stuttered, and suddenly she found herself getting angry with Athrun all over again. She then marched over and grabbed Athrun by the front of his shirt again as she shouted, "Why would you, a good friend, kill him?"
Athrun was silent for a moment before he turned away as best he could in sadness and shame while crying out, "I don't know. I have no idea why, either! We separated as friends, and the next time I saw him we were enemies! I told him to come with me on numerous occasions! He was a Coordinator! He was one of us! It was wrong that he should side with the Earth Forces!" Then flashbacks happened, the Lacus Exchange for starters.
Cagalli just stared in shock, unable to comprehend whatever logic Athrun felt he had as he ranted and cried, unable to say anything at all as he continued, "But he wouldn't listen to me! He fought against us, and he hurt my friends! And then he killed Nicol!" Then flashbacks where Kira killed Miguel and Nicol with the Sword Strike Gundam.
"And that's why you killed Kira?" Cagalli finally asked, "You?"
"He was an enemy! He was no longer on my side! I had no other choice but to kill him, did I!" Athrun argued.
"You idiot!" Cagalli shouted as she grabbed Athrun's shirt, "How could you come to that conclusion? How could you end up doing something like that?!"
"He killed Nicol! Nicol loved to play the piano. And he was only 15. Yet Kira killed him when he was only fighting to protect the PLANTs!"
Cagalli had heard enough and immediately retorted, "Kira also fought only because he wanted to protect others! So why did he to be killed?! And of all people, at the hands of a friend!"
That was the nail that hit the final mark for Athrun, and the young, injured Z.A.F.T. pilot could do nothing more than start sobbing uncontrollably. Cagalli was not about to let him off with that though, and asked him, "One kills because another is killed! Then gets killed because he kills! How the hell is that going to bring us peace?! Well?"
At that point, neither one of them could hold back their tears anymore, and they both just sat there sobbing at the loss of their shared friend, and at everything that had happened.
After the tests about the Warp Drive Engine become a failure, Prospera soon left the area as she walked through the hallways of Shin Sei. She kept on walking and walking, not giving a shit about things that are around her as she is focused on her plans for revenge against the man that killed her beloved... the man that killed her friends... the man that killed her mentor... Delling Rembran. ... Until she arrived in the infirmary. Once she entered she saw her daughter, an eight-year-old Suletta Mercury, looking at a huge tube filled with blue liquid. Once she heard footsteps, Suletta turned her head and saw her mom. Why is Suletta here? Well, Prospera thought why not bring her daughter to Shin Sei.
"Ah! Okaa-san!" Suletta exclaimed as she ran to her mom and hugged her.
"Ah, Suletta." Prospera hugged back with a smile, "Sorry you had to stay here, I was busy..."
"It's fine, Okaa-san!" Suletta smiled back, "I have Kira-nii-chan accompanying me." Then she looked at the tube, "Okaa-san... when do you think Kira-nii-chan's gonna wake up? I wanna play with him!"
Prospera looked at the tube with a sad expression at the start... in the tube is a 9-year-old Kira Yamato... in his shorts, floating, wearing a rebreather, and... glowing marks appearing on his face and body... like the effects from using the GUND... but instead of red, it's purple. A nasty one.
"He'll be awake soon, Suletta... Mommy's near to find out how to cure him." Prospera reassured her daughter with a pat on her head, "Just be patient. You'll be able to play with him."
Looking at Kira's ill body, Prospera couldn't help but remember...
"Elnora-san, Wendy-san, get out of here!" Kira Yamato in the Strike desperately exclaimed to the two as the Aile Strike fiercely fought off some Heingra's equipped with... the prototype of the Antidotes. The Strike repeatedly fired its beam rifle to the Heingras then did a few kicks to the ones near him.
"Kira! Behind you!" Wendy warned, but the Strike is a second too late as the Arm Claw of the Heingra grabbed the Strike's torso and began to do its thing.
"A-AAAAHHHH!"Kira cried out in pain as he felt the Proto-Antidote surge through his body and purple marks appear.
Multiple beams from the Lfrith killed the Heingra as the Strike pushed it off before it could explode on him.
"S-Sorry, Kira! But are you alright?!" Elnora's face appeared on his monitor with a worried expression. The same goes for Wendy when her face appears. The two gasped when they saw Kira's state, repeatedly gasping.
"Damn it! Just what the hell have they done to him!"Wendy cursed as the Lfrith Pre-Production grabbed the Strike's arm and fired her beam rifle to the remaining Heingras while Lfrith herself went to the Striker Pack Storage Trailer and began to push while her GUND-Bits did their thing to the other Heingras.
"We'll find out later, right now we need to go!" Elnora said as both Lfriths began to move while also firing at the Heingras.
Fast forward to the future in Mercury... three years after the Vanadis Incident.
Kira, now nine years old, soon found himself being placed in the tube as he was forced to wear a rebreather and wear shorts. He looked to an eight-year-old Ericht, who was sad that this might be the last time she saw Kira gone with Wendy and Elnora accompanying her. Apparently, they soon found out about Kira's illness. The purple marks on his body are side effects of the Antidote the Heingras from before used, and the Antidote the Heingras used are prototypes, no wonder he got sick. So the only way for him to live is to be placed in the tube and filled up with the blue liquid that could hopefully stabilize his sickness, which was what Elnora and Wendy did as Kira closed his eyes with a sad smile and the tube he was in started to fill up.
RF2: Double Update Lezgo! Well, that's it for this chapter. It's small I know... Gundam SEED's EP 31 is just the main characters grieving about Kira's "death" and Tolle's death. And TBH, I have no more ideas to write more about this chapter so... Yeah. Anyway, that's all from me. This is RF2, signing off! See you!