Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

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Phase 04 - Burning Gravestone

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"I can't believe they're dropping it."

On the darkened bridge of the Megami, Murrue Ramius sat in the captain's seat, expectantly waiting for disaster to strike. The Megami was steadily cruising towards the imposing remains of Junius 7, and already puffs of fire and beam shots could be seen against its darkened surface.

"This must be hard for the Coordinators," observed Arnold Neumann, at the helm. "Seeing Junius 7 like this, and having to destroy it."

From her seat near Murrue, Lacus Clyne looked sympathetically at him. "It's alright," she said gently. "If it has to be destroyed to save the people on Earth, it has to be destroyed. That's what the people who lived there would have wanted."

Murrue glanced over at her. She was still smiling, but that was all too easy to see through. Two years of pain had taken its toll on her, a toll not easily discernible by many, but Murrue could see it in her eyes. They had lost their usual glow; her smile was almost fake. But she smiled at Murrue, and Murrue could not help but smile back, even if she knew her own smile was indeed fake as well.

Outside, the Megami's catapults were active. Out of the center catapult, the Aile Strike Rouge went hurtling forward, followed by Andrew Bartfeldt's crimson, gold-and-black-lined Aegis Gundam and Mwu La Fllaga's Aile Strike. Within moments the Orb Raiders' six Gundams were racing towards Junius 7, with the Orb Raiders' modest force of Murasames not far behind.

“They’re really dropping this thing,” Dearka Elthman’s amazed voice muttered from the Buster. “Crazy bastards.”

“How dare they,” Yzak growled from the Duel. “It’s a cemetery, dammit. You don’t do this.”

“Calm down,” Athrun said sternly from the Justice. “ZAFT has four ships in there trying to install meteor breakers, but they‘re under attack from the guys who got this thing moving. We need to help them.”

“If you say so,” Dearka snorted skeptically. “Though I don’t think they’re gonna take too kindly to us.”

“Then don’t piss them off,” Andy said shortly from the mobile armor mode Aegis. “We’re almost there. Get ready.”

On the bridge of the Megami, Murrue listened as Miriallia Haww grimly read off the report.

“ZAFT is reporting 25 percent casualties,” she said somberly, “and have lost seven out of thirty two meteor breakers.”

A visual of the attackers appeared on the main screen. Murrue frowned, puzzled.

“They’re GINN High Maneuver IIs,” Sai Argyle said somberly. “They’re doing very well against ZAFT’s new mobile suits.” He paused, frowning. “Wait a minute,” he added. “There’s another signature here...this is that ship that stole those ZAFT machines from Armory 1!”

Murrue looked forward. “What?” Sure enough, the blue hull of that mystery battleship was cruising in from the opposite side of Junius 7, and the Chaos, Gaia, Abyss, and six black Doppelhorn Dagger Ls were on their way towards the battlefield. In front of Junius 7 were two Nazca-class destroyers, an Eternal-class cruiser, and the Minerva. And the Megami was now cruising into the battle as well.

“I sure hope we’re all on the same side this time,” Mwu muttered from the Aile Strike. “Stopping this thing while fighting off those ZAFT troops will be a pain in the ass otherwise.”

“Murasames,” Andy said sternly, “be prepared to fight back and cover the ZAFT units that are trying to break this thing up. We’ll take care of the other attackers.”

“Commander,” the as usual cautious voice of Martin DaCosta protested, “will you need cover?”

Andy snorted dismissively. “Of course not. You worry about Junius 7, we’ll worry about the mobile suits.”

Murrue sat back and prepared to wait. It surely would not come to ship-to-ship battle, but she ordered the weapons to stand by anyway. And with that done, all she could do was wait and hope.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“It’s them!”

The shouts went up among the ZAFT troops as they struggled against the mysterious horde of black and purple GINN High Maneuver IIs. A Blaze ZAKU Phantom alighted on a rock floating near Junius 7’s descending remains, watching as another GuAIZ R was cut down by a GINN’s beam blast.

“Voltaire,” the pilot said, his words broadcast among the ZAFT ships and mobile suits, “we’ve confirmed the presence of the Orb Raiders.”

As the Minerva’s four remaining mobile suits advanced, the news streamed into their cockpits. Inside the red Gunner ZAKU Warrior, Lunamaria gasped in surprise. The Orb Raiders—the rumors all said the Justice Gundam flew with the Orb Raiders! And the Justice’s pilot was—

She keyed up the viewfinder and searched for any sign of the Orb Raiders.

Not far away, inside the Savior, Shiho glanced anxiously over her shoulder, looking in spite of herself for the Duel Gundam. It was rumored that the Duel was with the Orb Raiders, but that wasn’t confirmed. And Shiho was still in charge of the mobile suits—she couldn’t get too worked up yet.

She glanced over at the Force Impulse. Rey’s white Blaze ZAKU Phantom was hovering almost possessively over the Impulse. Could she leave things in Rey’s hands?

“Commander, what are your orders about the Orb Raiders?” Rey asked calmly. Shiho blinked for a moment.

“Leave them alone unless they attack you,” she said haltingly. “We’ll await official orders otherwise from Chairman Dullindal and Captain Gladys.”

Shiho glanced back towards the dim shape of the Orb Raiders’ infamous battleship, the Megami, as it slowly appeared on her right. Yzak had to be there. She would find him.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“Athrun is here.”

Valentine glanced across the locker room at Kira. He stood facing his locker, his helmet in his hands, staring down at the floor. His fingers clenched around the helmet’s sides.

“Kira,” Valentine said quietly, drifting over to him, taking him by the shoulders, and turning him around. “You will defeat him this time.” She took him in his arms, burying his face in her chest, and ignoring his muffled exclamations of surprise. “You’ve trained for this. You will defeat him.”

Kira looked up at her disbelievingly, his face still red. “Valentine—”

Valentine cut him off with a kiss, and he blinked again, his face growing even redder.

“I’ll protect you out there, Kira,” she murmured against his lips. “You won’t have to face him alone.”

“N-No,” Kira protested stumblingly. “It’s my fight.”

“I know,” Valentine said gently as she pulled away, “but I’ll be there if you need me.”

“Valentine,” Kira murmured again, kissing her a second time. Valentine pulled away gently, smiling at him.

“After we return,” she said soothingly, touching his reddened face. “To celebrate.”

Kira blushed again, as Valentine drifted back to her locker and strapped her helmet on.

“For now, though,” she continued, “we have a job to do.” She closed the neck seals and looked back at him. “A mobile suit from the Minerva will handle the meteor breakers. Commander Le Creuset will turn our troops against the Orb Raiders. You will be there to help us take them down.”

“R-Right,” Kira answered awkwardly. Valentine smiled at him as he put on his own helmet.

“You won’t have to fight anymore,” she said calmingly. “Just one last battle, Kira. Then you’ll be free.”

Kira nodded and followed Valentine out of the locker room.

In the mobile suit hangar, the gray forms of the Freedom and Providence Gundams stood side-by-side, along with Valentine’s black, red-spattered ZAKU Phantom and a half-dozen standard green ZAKU Warriors, marked with distinctive white right-hand shoulder armor. The pilots were making their way into their machines. Rau Le Creuset, eschewing a space suit for his usual white uniform as usual, stood with crossed arms on the Providence’s open cockpit hatch.

“You understand our mission, Kira?” Rau asked rhetorically from the Providence’s hatch. Kira nodded and pushed off towards the Freedom. Valentine alighted near the Providence’s hatch, and Rau looked emotionlessly at her.

“Is he ready?” he asked quietly.

Valentine smirked back.

“Of course he is,” she said. “Just watch, Commander. You will see the true power of the Ultimate Coordinator.”

“I should hope so,” Rau snorted in annoyance. “Up until now all you’ve been doing with him is toying with him. I’m not sure how making him your illicit little slave will bring out his true potential.”

Valentine’s expression soured. “Hey, who’s the manipulator here? I know what I’m doing.”

Rau shrugged it off and uncrossed his arms. “Sato and his men are putting up quite a fight,” he went on. “Our job here may be easier.”

Valentine glanced over her shoulder at the Freedom, as Kira conversed with a couple of mechanics at its cockpit hatch.

“Then it will simply be up to him,” she said softly.

“Stay near enough to help him if he needs it,” Rau instructed. He turned and ducked into the Providence’s cockpit. Valentine pushed off and aimed for her own ZAKU’s cockpit, and landed on the hatch as the Slash Wizard pack was put into place.

She looked back one more time at the Freedom and smirked.

Time to see how well my little soldier can fight.

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“Shit,” Shinn growled inside the Force Impulse Gundam. “Them again.”

“We’ll take them down for sure!” Luna exclaimed, scowling. Shinn’s eyes picked out the Gaia ahead, as the Chaos, Gaia, Abyss, and six black Dagger Ls came streaking towards them. The Gaia had been the source of that mysterious pressure. This time, he would find out what was causing it.

Shinn engaged the booster. “Shinn!” Shiho shouted. “What are you doing?! Our objective—”

“Let him go,” Rey said calmly, cutting her off. “We’ll probably have to deal with them anyways.”

An explosion flared up as the Daggers leapt into action, attacking the GuAIZ Rs and ZAKUs as they struggled to fend off the GINN High Maneuver IIs and set up the meteor breakers. A pair of Murasames from the Orb Raiders swept in, spewing beam fire, and the Daggers darted out of harm’s way. The Chaos rocketed between them, towards a ZAKU stalwartly defending a meteor breaker, but a beam blast stopped it short and the distinctive crimson-and-black Aegis dropped down on top of it with a beam saber slash.

There was another flash as another GINN was destroyed, and from the flames emerged a familiar shape. Shiho gasped in surprise—was it the Duel?

“Rey, I’m leaving you in charge,” she said shortly, cutting the comm before anyone could protest. The Savior darted out of formation in pursuit of the Duel.

Inside the cockpit of the ZAKU Phantom, Rey snorted dismissively. Gil had been right—Shiho’s obsession with the former Commander Jule would indeed prove useful.

“Lunamaria,” he said calmly, “go with the Commander. She will probably need help.”

“R-Right,” Luna said with a hint of disappointment. The Gunner ZAKU Warrior banked after the Savior, and Rey scanned the battlefield for the placement of the meteor breakers.

There was pressure on the battlefield. One point of pressure he recognized: it was Rau. Another pressure was faint but also familiar: it was the mobile armor pilot that had destroyed the Minerva's mobile suits in the Debris Belt.

But there was a third pressure. It felt like Rau, but something had been changed. It was coming from the direction of the Orb Raiders.

Arming the beam rifle, Rey allowed a hint of a scowl to cross his face. Destiny would get moving, one way or the other, and no rogue Newtypes would be stopping it.

The ZAKU roared down onto the battlefield.

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Andy blinked in surprise as the Aile Strike came into contact with the Aegis, and Mwu La Fllaga's dour face appeared on the monitor.

"Andy," Mwu said simply, "I feel pressure from something. Be careful."

Andy eyed him carefully. Damn Newtypes and their crazy pressure. "Pressure from what?"

"Three points," Mwu answered, unblinkingly. "One is definitely Creuset. One of them I don't recognize, but it's faint and it's coming from that blue ship that nixed those ZAFT Gundams.” His eyes narrowed. “Yeah...I know who he is.”

“Who is he?” Andy asked. Mwu paused for a moment.

“I used to be in an Earth Alliance mobile armor unit,” he said quietly. “This pressure I’m feeling...it has to be...he was my commander. Neo Roanoke.” He paused again. “And one..." Andy's brow furrowed.

"What?"

"One of them is like Creuset."

Andy quirked an eyebrow. "'Like Creuset?' What do you mean?"

"It's like there's two Creusets," Mwu said, pausing as he tried to search for words to explain. “One is definitely Creuset, but the other...it’s like a shadow of him.”

“A shadow?” Andy asked, blinking again. Mwu shook his head in frustration.

“Well, don’t you worry about it, I will. But if you run into someone who really gives you trouble, tell me and I’ll take care of him.”

Andy narrowed his eyes at Mwu. “Are you saying that because I don’t have special powers like you?”

Mwu looked grimly at him. “Yes,” he said bluntly.

Andy stifled a sigh. Another time he would have argued with Mwu—but something stopped him. It wasn’t worth arguing. Mwu was different, and had a special, higher power—and Andy couldn’t argue with that.

“I’ll let you know,” he said gruffly. The Aegis disengaged the communication link, and Andy sat back, staring resolutely ahead at Junius 7.

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The GINN High Maneuver IIs were not long in noticing the incoming Orb Raider mobile suits. As the Murasames branched off to cover ZAFT’s beleaguered GuAIZ Rs and ZAKUs, several of the GINNs broke off and charged towards the Justice Gundam. Athrun narrowed his eyes, but he blinked in surprise as a voice tore through his cockpit.

“How dare you!”

The GINN this was coming from charged and fired with its beam carbine. Athrun dodged the shots and fired back, but the GINN dodged with ease and deflected the remaining shots with its shield.

“How dare you!” the voice repeated. “We come here to drop and burn this gravestone and right the world’s wrongs, and you of all people come to stop us?! Athrun Zala!”

“Athrun!” Cagalli’s Strike Rouge came screaming in with a beam rifle blast, but two more GINNs rose to meet her with drawn swords. Athrun returned his attention to the opponent who knew his name as it strove to flank him.

“We came here to right ZAFT’s wrongs!” the mystery pilot shouted. There was a blast as a meteor breaker went off, and another as the GuAIZ R that had planted it was destroyed. “ZAFT became weak with Clyne and his successors!” The GINN drew its sword and slammed it against the Justice’s shield, and Athrun grunted against the blow, drawing the Justice’s beam saber to swing back. “He let this happen! He let these people die!” Athrun scowled and forced the GINN back. Another GINN came screaming in behind him, and Athrun ejected the Fatum, swiveled around, and blasted it down with the Justice’s beam cannons. The mystery pilot’s GINN roared in again, and Athrun boosted upward to dodge its sword swing.

There was another blast as another GuAIZ R was wiped out, and Athrun glanced to his right. Yzak’s Duel dove away from the explosion as a GINN pursued, but with a quick movement, the Duel cut the thrusters, letting the GINN overtake it, and in one beam shot the GINN was wiped out in another explosion.

“Shit,” Yzak grunted, “these guys are Coordinators too!"

“All the more reason not to let this thing drop!” Andy shouted, as the Aegis shot by in mobile armor mode overhead, with the transformed Chaos hot on its tail.

There was another blast as the mystery GINN came storming in again, and Athrun deflected its sword strike with the Justice’s shield. He brought the subflight lifter storming in behind the GINN, but the mysterious attacker somersaulted over it, and Athrun barely managed to twist it out of the way of the follow-up beam shot and dock again with it. The GINN charged back into Athrun’s face for another sword swipe.

“You traitor!” the pilot shouted as the sparks flew. “You betrayed us! You betrayed us all!”

Athrun grunted as the GINN pushed harder, but a moment later beam shots from the Strike Rouge forced it off. “Athrun!” Cagalli cried, as the Strike Rouge came to a halt next to the Justice. “Athrun, what’s wrong?!”

He was a traitor. He had betrayed his friends, his family, Rusty, Miguel, Nicol...his own people, and he had turned his back on them. He looked at Junius 7, as the GINNs steadily shot the GuAIZ Rs and ZAKUs out of the sky.

"Athrun, snap out of it!" Cagalli shouted, interrupting his untimely rumination. The Strike Rouge grabbed hold of the Justice's arm.

The mystery GINN came screaming in again, and the Justice and Strike Rouge darted apart to avoid a sword slash. Athrun shook his head and focused on his adversary, snapping his beam saber into a fighting stance.

"Why don't you understand?!" the pilot screamed. The sword came down against the Justice's shield. "Why don't you understand that Patrick Zala chose the right path for us Coordinators?!"

Athrun's eyes widened in horror, and the Justice lurched as the GINN delivered a kick to its chest. An image flashed before Athrun's eyes of his father's superweapon, GENESIS, leveled off at the oncoming Earth Alliance fleet, firing, wiping them all out...

The GINN charged in for a finishing blow, but the Strike Rouge dropped in its way and chased it off with a round of beam shots.

"Athrun!" Cagalli screamed. "What the hell is wrong with you, Athrun?!"

Athrun looked at her numbly. She had been there too, when he found his father...

"Athrun, snap out of it!" Cagalli exclaimed. "Or else you'll get killed out here!"

Beam shots rained down on the Strike Rouge, and the pink mobile suit deflected them with its shield and fired back. The three incoming GINNs branched off, but one was caught in Cagalli's returning salvo and destroyed.

Athrun shook his head again. Cagalli was right; he had to fight. He couldn't die out here. Not yet.

A pair of GuAIZ Rs below was struggling to put a meteor breaker into position, and a trio of GINNs was sweeping in for the kill. Athrun narrowed his eyes and charged.

I can still stand in your way, Father.

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"Shit!" Sting shouted, as the Chaos rattled. He raised the Chaos's shield to deflect another beam shot as the crimson Aegis went back on the offensive. "How the hell can he do so well in such an old machine?!"

The Aegis stormed in with an ignited beam saber and the mobile suits met in a shower of sparks. Sting's eyes widened as his eyes caught sight of a stylized tiger's head stamped onto the Aegis's left shoulder armor. He'd seen that emblem before in training—that was the Desert Tiger!

"No way!" Sting snarled, pushing back against the Aegis and forcing it back. He drew the Chaos's beam saber, scowling at his opponent. "The Desert Tiger! Just my fucking luck!"

The Aegis charged again, and the Chaos deflected its saber stroke with its shield, swinging back. The Aegis would not be taken down so easily and mirrored the Chaos's move, leaving both mobile suits pushing helplessly against each other.

Sting narrowed his eyes at the Aegis and concentrated. The gunbarrels lifted off.

"Alright, Desert Tiger," he yelled. "Let's see you stand up to THIS!"

The gunbarrels activated and took off with a flash, while Sting pushed the Aegis forward with a blast from the Chaos's thrusters. As the Aegis tumbled backwards, out of the Chaos's way, the gunbarrels opened fire, and the Aegis immediately began to dodge for its life. Sting smirked, watching his foe dive this way and that, and charged towards it. The Aegis revved up its own saber and charged back, Sting saw a flash of yellow at the bottom of his field of vision, the Chaos rattled as the mobile suits clashed—

And Sting cursed as he realized that the Aegis had just torn a long gash across the Chaos's chest.

"Goddamn Tiger," he growled, spinning around to face the Aegis. It came charging in again, but Sting stopped it with a barrage of missiles from the gunbarrels, and the Aegis reverted to its mobile armor form and took off.

Still scowling, Sting recalled his gunbarrels, transformed his own machine, and took off after the Aegis.

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The ground shook as a mobile suit set down, and inside the Savior Gundam, Shiho cast a cursory glance over her surroundings tensely. The Duel Gundam had set down here. She opened up the comm frequencies and looked around again. She would find him. She had seen him. She wouldn’t let him get away.

The Duel appeared from behind a loose piece of the PLANT's wreckage. Shiho’s eyes widened in anticipation—it was the same Duel she remembered, with the gleaming Assault Shroud and all! A GINN High Maneuver II rose up after it with its beam carbine raised, but Shiho fired a beam rifle blast to take it down. The Duel turned in surprise, and Shiho immediately opened a communication link.

There he was. Yzak Jule. His scarred face still twisted in anger, framed by a white helmet. Shiho smiled.

“Commander Jule,” she said quietly. “We meet again.”

Yzak Jule blinked in surprise. “Shiho? That’s you in there?”

Shiho swallowed the growing lump in her throat. She couldn’t cry. Not here. “It is,” she said, her eyes tearing up in spite of herself. “H-How have you been, Commander?”

Yzak’s face immediately went stern. “This isn’t the time for that,” he snapped. As if to emphasize his point, another GINN dove in from nowhere. The Savior ducked as the Duel shot it out of the sky with a single beam blast. “I didn’t come here for you,” Yzak added. “I came to stop this thing.”

The Duel turned to leave, but the Savior reached towards it, stopping it, and Yzak glared back at Shiho.

“I...” she started hesitantly, “I’ve been looking for you.”

Yzak fixed her with another glare, but Shiho was undeterred.

“Why did you go?” she asked.

A Blaze ZAKU Warrior exploded in the sky above them.

Yzak narrowed his eyes. “All of PLANT knows why I left,” he snarled. “ZAFT killed my mother. I’ll never forgive them.”

“But we need you!” Shiho protested. “These kids need one of the old Creuset team pilots in charge!”

The Duel spun around and swung its beam rifle up into the Savior’s face, and Shiho’s eyes widened in surprise.

“I mean it!” Yzak yelled. “I’m never going back to ZAFT! Not after what they did! If being around me is so important to you then you can leave ZAFT too! But I’m not going back!”

Shiho stared disbelievingly at Yzak’s scowling face. “Yzak...”

“Now shut up,” Yzak snapped, “and go help your allies set up the meteor breakers. That’s all I came to do.”

“But what about me?” Shiho exclaimed as the Duel turned again.

“What about you?” Yzak asked in irritation. Shiho blinked again, tears welling up in her eyes once again. This wasn’t the way it was supposed to go. She knew Yzak would be like this, but to think he would actually point a weapon at her...

“I...I need you here,” she said quietly, almost whispering. Yzak stared at her for a moment before he looked away.

“I’m not going back,” he said, though his voice had lost some of its edge. “I can’t anyways.”

“Yzak!” Shiho protested. “I—”

Everything was interrupted in a burst of static, and a moment later a voice could be heard over everything.

“Attention ZAFT mobile suit forces,” the voice began authoritatively. “This is Commander Rau Le Creuset!”

Shiho looked up into the space above Junius 7, and sure enough, a bone-white Eternal-class cruiser was hovering over the battlefield. And floating above Junius 7 was the Providence Gundam.

“All mobile suit forces are to be advised that the Orb Raiders have hostile intent! Do not allow them anywhere near you! Drive them off at all costs!”

“What?!” Yzak exclaimed in outrage. “We’re here to stop this fucking thing, the same as you! Commander Creuset, what the hell are you talking about?!”

“Yzak!” Shiho shouted.

“All mobile suits are warned, the Orb Raiders have hostile intent!”

Creuset’s voice disappeared, and everything went to hell.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Inside his white Blaze ZAKU Phantom, and behind the sturdy bole of a desiccated building, Rey Za Burrel looked over the scenery. The ZAFT mobile suits were busily trying to fend off the attacking GINNs, and the Daggers certainly weren’t helping either. Rau’s orders to attack the Orb Raider mobile suits had also proven effective, as none of the ZAFT mobile suits were attending to the meteor breakers.

As his crosshairs passed over one of them, Rey narrowed his eyes. Gil’s new world order would be finally begin to be realized with this shot.

A single beam rifle shot later, the meteor breaker exploded, wiping out a nearby pair of GuAIZ Rs. Rey ducked to safety, using the blast as a shield, and dove out of the vicinity and after a nearby GINN.

Close by was another meteor breaker. Rey tilted his beam rifle to the side, firing at the meteor breaker and destroying it as well. The GINN threw its shield up to block the blast, and Rey eyed it carefully.

“Are you helping us?” the GINN’s pilot asked wearily. Rey’s expression did not change as the ZAKU Phantom stood to its full height, and its monoeye flashed.

“Chairman Dullindal thanks you for your valiant sacrifice for the coming new world order,” he said authoritatively. “Unfortunately, your utility to his plans has expired. Farewell.” He raised the ZAKU’s beam rifle and, before the GINN could react, drilled a shot through its cockpit, destroying it in a blaze.

Turning, he found a trio of GINNs sweep down on a GuAIZ R and a Gunner and Slash ZAKU Warrior defending another meteor breaker, and though two of the GINNs were destroyed in a beam volley, the third one managed to squeeze off a shot that pierced the meteor breaker and destroyed them all. Rey looked around the battlefield again—if he could only take out a few more meteor breakers, then whatever happened next wouldn’t matter.

Even that obnoxious pressure he was sensing wouldn't matter. It felt like Rau, but it had something else to it, some element that Rey couldn't identify. It was like sensing the same person, but twice the pressure—and that pressure was not completely identical.

Rey willed the distractions out of his mind. Gil's plan was more important. It would be accomplished, no matter what.

He clenched his fists around the controls of his mobile suit and took off into the fray.

——————————————————————————————————————————

With a loud electrical shriek, the Force Impulse and Gaia Gundams met in a clash of beam sabers and a shower of sparks. Shinn grunted and squinted through the light at his foe. The Gaia stared back impassively at him.

“Damn you,” he growled. “I’ll kill you here!”

Inside the Gaia, Stella stared back angrily at her own opponent.

“You again,” she snarled. “I'll take you down!”

The Gundams separated with a shriek and circled around each other, charging again. Inside the Impulse, Shinn let out a yell, and the mobile suits slammed together. Shinn cursed under his breath as his beam saber was deflected by the Gaia’s shield, and swung his own shield up to deflect the Gaia’s saber. The two machines were stuck against each other, and Shinn gunned the Force Impulse’s booster, roaring down towards Junius 7 and pushing the Gaia backwards.

“This is it!” Shinn shouted. “Die already!”

Inside the Gaia, Stella glanced down at the fast-approaching ground. “I won’t lose!” she yelled defiantly, firing the Gaia’s own boosters. The Gundams were stuck pushing helplessly against each other in midair, and both pilots grunted as their machines shook.

Shinn blinked in surprise as he was aware of that distinct pressure again. It only came from this machine—but why?

A strange feeling flashed through him. Arrayed in front of the Impulse was the Gaia, and from it was emanating an utter storm of feelings—Shinn didn‘t know why he could sense it. But somehow he knew that a tornado of emotion was swirling and twisting inside the Gaia’s cockpit, and all that raw emotion was being thrown at him.

The Gaia and the Impulse jetted apart again, and the Gaia fired its beam cannons at the Impulse.

“YOU!” Stella screamed. Shinn deflected the shots with his shield and kicked a stray piece of Junius 7 towards the Gaia. Stella scowled and slashed the rock in half lengthwise with her beam saber, kicking the two halves apart and charging up towards the Impulse.

The sabers clashed again, and Stella gunned the Gaia’s booster to push the Impulse backwards, screaming all the way. Shinn grunted as he was pressed back in his seat, and quickly kicked the Gaia up in the chest. As it stumbled back, Shinn kicked it again, slamming it down into the ground, and stormed in for the kill. But as he landed with a saber slash, his attack came up empty—the Gaia somersaulted backwards and delivered a devastating kick to the Impulse’s chin. Shinn grunted as he was thrown back into his seat again and raised the Impulse’s shield to barely deflect the Gaia’s follow-up saber slice.

“Dammit,” Shinn growled, feeling pain flare up on his head and a warm fluid trickle down his temple. His head throbbed like a drum, but he pushed the pain aside with sheer willpower and charged again, shoulder-ramming the Gaia and knocking it back. With a final kick to the face, he pulled back and dove behind a towering, abandoned building for cover.

Swiftly pulling off his helmet, Shinn was dismayed to discover blood inside, matting his hair and on the right side of his head—he'd hit his head hard enough to negate even the padding inside his helmet. Snarling, he put the helmet back on and the Impulse dove back out of cover.

The Gaia was still collecting its wits, and in the cockpit, Stella felt tears in her eyes and a burning pain and blood on her head. She ignored the pain as she was taught to and stared at the Impulse. That scary blue Gundam had hurt her. It was going to pay.

“You,” she growled, “I'LL FINISH YOU!”

The Gaia drew back its beam saber and charged. Shinn tensed.

“Damn you,” he sneered, raising the Impulse’s saber. “This ends here!”

The Impulse charged back, and the mobile suits met with a crash.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“Yzak!” Shiho cried, as the Savior boosted into the Duel’s path, blocking its way. “Yzak, please, listen to me! At least stay around after the battle so I can talk to you!”

“Get out of my way!” Yzak shouted back. He raised the Duel’s beam rifle and pointed it at the Savior’s chest. “Otherwise I’ll use this thing! This is your last chance, Shiho!”

“Commander Hahnenfuss!” another voice shouted. Beam shots came flashing down out of the sky, and Lunamaria’s red Gunner ZAKU Warrior came hurtling out of nowhere, firing its beam rifle at the Duel. Yzak snarled and jetted backwards, deflecting the shots with his shield and firing back.

“Lunamaria! Stop it!” Shiho shouted, as the ZAKU slammed down nearby. “He’s not our enemy!”

“But Commander Le Creuset said—” Luna protested.

“SHIT, all of you shut up and get the fuck out of my way!” Yzak screamed. The Duel crouched to take off again, but Luna opened fire again and Yzak was forced to dodge. “I don’t have time for this!”

“Lunamaria, I told you to stop!” Shiho yelled.

“But Commander, it’s an enemy!” Luna exclaimed. “We can’t—” She was cut off as the Duel raised its beam rifle and drilled a shot through Luna’s rifle, and she abandoned the sparking remains before they exploded and activated the Gunner ZAKU’s long-range beam cannon.

“Yzak isn’t an enemy!” Shiho screamed, as Luna’s ZAKU opened fire again on the Duel. Yzak stormed in, clipping his rifle to the Duel’s leg and drawing a beam saber, and slashed the cannon in half, smacking the ZAKU aside with a kick to the chest. It rocketed down into Shiho’s face, slicing the Savior’s beam rifle in half and knocking it backwards with its shield.

“I’ll stop him!” Luna shouted, charging back in with the ZAKU’s beam tomahawk. The two mobile suits met with a crash, and Luna yelped in surprise as the Duel struck back with a body slam. Before she knew it, the Duel had severed her ZAKU’s right arm at the elbow, and a kick to the face forced her backwards. The Duel raised its beam saber for a killing slash—

And an instant later, the Savior had shouldered the ZAKU aside and deflected the slash with its shield.

“Lunamaria! Retreat! That’s an order!” Shiho shouted, glaring furiously at her.

Luna stared at her for a moment. “Yes ma’am,” she said quietly, as the ZAKU turned and took off.

“Why are you still getting in my way, Shiho?!” Yzak snapped. “I’ll kill you if you make me! Now move!”

The Duel fired its thrusters all at once, slamming the Savior backwards and burying it in rubble. With a roar of engines, the Duel leapt up into the air, replacing its beam saber on its backpack and drawing its rifle again. A GINN came diving in, sword drawn back, but the Duel somersaulted over its sword slash and fired a beam rifle shot into its back, and then continued on its original path, in one fluid motion.

The Savior dug itself out of the rubble, and Shiho glanced around frantically for any sign of the Duel.

“It can’t be,” she murmured.

A GINN came sailing in, and Shiho turned towards in.

“I lost him,” she whispered to herself. The GINN raised its beam carbine, and reflex and instinct took over as Shiho leapt over the shot and charged down to slice the GINN in two.

The Savior landed as the GINN exploded, and Shiho turned around to find more GINNs coming towards her.

“I lost him,” she repeated. “I...I...”

The eyes flashed, Shiho screamed, and the Savior charged.

——————————————————————————————————————————

“Megami, this is Strike,” the voice of Mwu La Fllaga reported dourly, as the Aile Strike landed on Junius 7. “We’ve got some problems here.”

“So we’ve heard,” Murrue’s voice answered grimly. She paused as a GINN came streaking in towards Mwu’s Strike, and he deflected its shots with his shield and shot it down with his beam rifle. “Those two Nazca aren’t looking very friendly either.”

“Then I guess you should pull back,” Mwu said curtly. “There’s no sense risking yourself here.”

Another explosion flashed overhead, and Andy’s Aegis dove by in mobile suit mode, landing and jumping off again as a volley of missiles slammed down into the ground. Mwu took cover behind his shield as the Chaos and its flashing gunbarrels roared by overhead. A storm of beam shots flew by next, and Dearka’s Buster slammed down onto the ground next to Mwu. The Abyss raised its lance overhead, dropping down for a victorious slash.

Mwu raised his beam rifle and fired, forcing the Abyss back. It responded with a flurry of beam shots, and the Buster dove behind the Strike as Mwu took the shots to his shield.

“Thanks,” Dearka grunted as the Buster combined its guns. He fired the high-energy rifle into the sky, and the Abyss dodged and fired back with its chest cannon. The Buster and Strike leapt away from each other as the shot smashed into the ground.

“Mwu,” Murrue said urgently. “Are you alright?”

“We’ll be fine,” Mwu answered with a smirk. “This guy isn’t so tough.”

“That’s not what I’m worried about,” Murrue elaborated, her face grim. “The altitude...”

Mwu’s eyes widened as he remembered Junius 7’s altitude. He looked up and dove out of the way as the Abyss came down with a lance slash. “Shit, the altitude! We’re gonna have to pull out soon!”

Not far away, the Buster unleashed a shower of missiles on the Abyss, forcing it back. “Did they get any meteor breakers in place?!” Dearka asked as the Buster alighted next to the Strike.

Junius 7 began to rumble, and the ground began to splinter.

“I guess that answers that,” Mwu muttered, as Junius 7 began to split and the Abyss was thrown in the opposite direction of the Strike and Buster.

Mwu glanced over his shoulder at the Earth. They were running out of time.

——————————————————————————————————————————

Junius 7 splintered and before Shinn knew it, he had lost the Gaia among all the loose debris. He glanced over his shoulder—half of Junius 7 was still falling towards the Earth. With a sigh, he turned and boosted towards it.

Down below was an explosion, and pair of GINNs dove in towards a mobile suit standing stalwartly in front of a meteor breaker. The mobile suit struck back, and two spinning white objects ripped through the GINNs and destroyed them. Shinn’s eyes widened—those were beam boomerangs, belonging to—

The Justice Gundam caught its boomerangs, returned them to its shoulders, and looked up at the Impulse.

“You!” Shinn shouted, boosting towards the Justice. “I’ll take your head for sure!”

“Stop!” the pilot’s voice shouted. Shinn slammed on the brakes, eyes widening, as the grim face of Athrun Zala appeared before him. “We have more important things to worry about!”

Beam shots flashed around them, and the Justice and Impulse both pulled back as a dozen GINNs came roaring in, beam carbines blazing.

Shinn grunted and glanced at the Justice.

“We’re here to stop Junius 7 too,” Athrun Zala said as the Justice dove behind cover. Shinn ducked behind a burnt-out building as the GINNs attacked. “We’re on the same side here,” Athrun continued. The Justice drew its beam saber. “They’re our enemies.”

Shinn clenched his teeth in fury. Athrun Zala was a traitor, but Junius 7 couldn’t be allowed to fall on the Earth either.

The Impulse drew its beam saber as well, and the two Gundams glanced at each other.

“What’s your name?” Athrun asked quietly. Shinn glared back at him for a moment.

“Shinn,” he said tersely. “Shinn Asuka.”

Athrun nodded. “Alright then, Shinn,” he said, looking back at the oncoming GINNs. “We're both in the same boat, so we're going to have to work together. You take the GINNs on the right. I’ll handle the left. Okay?”

Shinn nodded again after a moment’s hesitation, and Athrun narrowed his eyes.

“Go!”

The Impulse and the Justice charged out of their hiding places, beam sabers ignited. The GINNs stormed towards them, and Shinn let out a yell.

The Impulse ducked beneath the first GINN’s beam shot and stabbed through its chest, wiping it out in a blaze. The second GINN came sliding in around him, sword drawn, but Shinn swung his own saber, cleaving through the GINN’s sword and through its waist. A pair of beam shots from the Justice seared over the Impulse’s head, taking down a GINN behind him, and Shinn glanced over at the Justice. Another GINN stormed into his field of view and he slashed it in two, and then drew his beam rifle to shoot down a fifth GINN, ejecting the Justice‘s subflight lifter in one fluid motion. Athrun bisected the sixth and seventh in one slash, while the lifter smashed into an eighth GINN rushing in behind the Justice. Shinn finished it off with a burst of CIWS fire, as the subflight lifter circled back overhead. The ninth GINN rose up behind Shinn with its sword raised, but Shinn stabbed backwards to take it out. The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth stormed in towards the Justice as it docked with its subflight lifter, but Shinn picked off one with his beam rifle and Athrun slashed the remaining two in half.

As the smoke cleared, the Justice looked over at Shinn.

“Help me get that meteor breaker set up,” Athrun said, as the Justice gestured towards the machine. Shinn hesitantly put away his beam saber and rifle, and the two machines drifted to the breaker and set to work positioning it.

“Why does someone like you work for Orb...?” Shinn asked, glaring across the way at the Justice.

Athrun looked back, blinking. He opened his mouth to reply—

And then everything began to shake.

——————————————————————————————————————————

It was still falling. Nothing they could do would stop it now.

Gilbert Dullindal sat on the bridge of the Minerva, watching emotionlessly as the beleaguered ZAFT mobile suits struggled to stop Junius 7's inexorable descent. The mysterious blue warship that had so dramatically stolen the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss Gundams had withdrawn as it passed the threshold altitude—nothing more could be done now. The Voltaire and Rousseau were pulling back, but some of the GINN-piloting terrorists who were dropping this colony still remained, making any sort of withdrawal difficult. The Minerva had boldly decided to forge on ahead and break up as much of the remains as possible with its positron cannon, and so Gilbert, sitting behind the captain and allowing her to take care of things now, sat back and waited.

Outside, most of the ZAFT forces had pulled back, but some still remained, fighting the terrorists as the edges of Junius 7's outline began to glow red.

"Chairman," Talia interrupted quietly, glancing up at him. "This will be a rough reentry sequence."

Gilbert calmly smiled. "I didn't think it wouldn't be," he answered dismissively. "I'll be fine, Captain. You have more important things to worry about."

Talia turned back around. "Shield the bridge," she ordered. "Charge the Tannhäuser and prepare for the reentry sequence."

The bridge lowered down into the Minerva's darkened battle bridge, and Gilbert sat back to wait.

——————————————————————————————————————————

"Shit, Yzak, how long were you off with your girlfriend for?"

Yzak scowled at the Buster as the Duel alighted on the deck of the Megami.

"That's Yzak," Andy said, as the Aegis turned to look at the bridge. "But where's Athrun?"

"Athrun hasn't come back yet?" Cagalli asked, as the Strike Rouge stood up.

"Princess, don't," one of the Murasame pilots started. The Strike Rouge revved up its engines, and a trio of Murasames moved in to hold her down.

"Wait!" Cagalli shouted. "But what about—shit! Athrun! Where are you?!"

Yzak glanced over his shoulder, looking for the Justice.

"Athrun will be fine," Dearka said calmingly, standing in front of the Strike Rouge anyways. Yzak narrowed his eyes.

Where'd that bastard go anyways...?

——————————————————————————————————————————

Shinn looked around uneasily. Junius 7 was entering the atmosphere, and it was still mostly in one piece. The GINN-piloting terrorists had wiped out most of the meteor breakers destined for Junius 7, and though it had been split in two, one half was still plummeting towards the Earth. Athrun Zala’s Justice Gundam stood by him with an activated meteor breaker, but no effect could be seen.

A beam blast smashed into the ground by them both, and one last GINN came roaring in.

"I will kill you here, Athrun Zala!" the pilot screamed. "You will pay for your treachery, on the grave of those who died for it!"

“What the hell is this?” Shinn exclaimed, as the Impulse drew a beam saber and crouched for battle.

The GINN raised its sword, and Athrun drew the Justice’s beam saber and tensed for the blow—

And a moment later, beam shots slashed through the GINN, wiping it out. The Justice rattled, a beam saber slammed against its shield—

"Kira!"

The Freedom Gundam floated over the Justice.

Kira Yamato's eyes flashed beneath the plastic and metal of a red ZAFT flight suit and helmet. The elegant insignia of FAITH was stenciled on the chest of his flight suit and the Freedom's left shoulder.

“You!” Shinn shouted incredulously.

"I expected to see you here, Athrun," Kira said quietly.

"What are you doing here, Kira?!" Athrun exclaimed. "I thought you were—"

"Be quiet!"

The Freedom pushed the Justice away, and the two mobile suits landed roughly on the surface of Junius 7. The Freedom pointed its beam saber combatively at the Justice.

"You thought you killed me two years ago, didn't you?" Kira growled. Athrun stared in open-mouthed shock—this was not the Kira Yamato that had fought by his side at Jachin Due. "But now look at me," Kira went on, glowering at Athrun. "I'm in FAITH. I'm a soldier. I'm respected and loved for who I am, not for my powers as a Coordinator experiment." The Freedom began stalking ominously towards the Justice, and Athrun backed away to keep his distance. "I have the power to protect people now, Athrun. The power to protect people from you."

"Kira—" Athrun began, but the Freedom charged, and the beam sabers slammed together in a shower of sparks.

"You killed her!" Kira screamed, his eyes alight with fury. "I saw you kill her, Athrun!"

"You don't understand, Kira!" Athrun cried back. "I was aiming for Creuset, but he—"

"LIAR!"

The Freedom lunged forward, sending the Justice staggering back, and charged in for a killing blow Athrun barely managed to deflect.

In the Impulse, Shinn watched in disbelief as the Freedom attacked the Justice. He saw his family dead on the blasted hillside of Onogoro Island in CE 71, and he felt his blood run hot.

“You,” he snarled, his fists clenching around the Impulse‘s controls.

"Kira, what the hell is wrong with you?!" Athrun shouted. "Get a hold of yourself! Kira!"

The Freedom charged again, and Athrun grunted, swinging back in a quick counterstrike that left the two Gundams' sabers locked again.

"You made me your little weapon to bring peace!" Kira shrieked, as the world began to turn red. Athrun looked around urgently—Junius 7 was entering the atmosphere. Continuing this fight was suicide. "You used me as the Ultimate Coordinator! You saw me and the Freedom as the same thing!" The Freedom pushed harder, and Athrun grunted under the pressure. "And now you're here again to stop me from doing what must be done!"

Athrun grunted again as the Freedom tried to lunge, and the two mobile suits were left pushing against each other. "Kira, we're here to stop this thing!" he shouted back. "But now we can't! Now come on, we have to get out of here! Staying here now is—"

Both were cut off as the familiar red and blue of a positron shot ripped up through the ground. Athrun realized in horror that the winged ZAFT warship, the Minerva, was trying to break up the remaining pieces of Junius 7 with a positron cannon. He yelped in surprise as the Justice quaked again, and looked back to find the Freedom attacking once again.

"Kira, are you mad?!" he screamed. "We're on a giant piece of Junius 7 in atmospheric reentry, and the Minerva's blasting it apart with a fucking positron cannon! Do you not see any danger here or what?!"

"Be quiet!" Kira shrieked back. The Freedom drew back its beam saber and lunged towards the Justice. "I'll make you pay, Athrun!"

The Freedom came charging in, but the Impulse slammed into it with its shield.

“Not if I have anything to say about it!” Shinn screamed. “Your head is mine!”

The Freedom kicked the Impulse in the face, knocking it away, and Shinn let out a yell as the Impulse tumbled away over the flashing red debris.

“Shinn!” Athrun shouted. His attention returned as the Freedom came blazing in for another attack.

Athrun ground his teeth, saw an opening, and in an instant delivered a scything roundhouse kick to the Freedom's head, sending it staggering back. With the Freedom momentarily distracted, Athrun unleashed a spray of molten debris from the ground of Junius 7 with his beam saber and dove backwards for cover. Up ahead, he could see the blazing red silhouette of the Minerva as it swung its positron cannon around again for another shot.

Athrun looked around one more time, but Kira was nowhere to be found.

The ground shook again, and Athrun grunted in pain as he was thrown back into the Justice's cockpit seat. He tensed and latched onto the ground, and prayed for a miracle.

——————————————————————————————————————————

The world was red. Shinn Asuka squinted. His head was pounding. Very far, down on the surface, he could see the dim form of a handful of islands in a mass of water. A sinking feeling dawned on him as he realized where he was headed.

Orb...

The memories came flooding back, and he squeezed his eyes shut, shaking his head fiercely, trying to force them off. He refused to again see his parents' corpses, Mayu's severed arm, the smoldering crater, and the Freedom overhead...

A shape to his right caught his eye, and looking across, he saw the Justice Gundam riding a shrinking piece of Junius 7 through the atmosphere. Shinn blinked in surprise as the frictional cherry glow of atmospheric reentry began to fade, and the Justice discarded its atmospheric shield. Overhead, the distinctive black warship of the Orb Raiders, the Megami, glided in through the atmosphere, and the Justice fired its thrusters and rushed up towards it.

The Minerva was not long in following and was steadily gliding down towards Orb. Shinn looked after the retreating Megami with a suspicious glare.

At last, he cut the thrusters and boosted up towards the Minerva.

——————————————————————————————————————————

To be continued...