Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

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Phase 45 - Operation Purity

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The Destiny Gundam latched itself into the Megami’s central catapult with a crash, as the machine came to life. Shinn Asuka shut his helmet’s visor, scowling out at the patch of space before him. They were here— the Minerva, that bone-white Eternal-class cruiser that had launched the Freedom, and another Eternal cruiser.

“Looks like it’s mostly ZAKUs and GOUFs,” Mwu’s voice warned grimly. “There’s a few others, but we can’t identify them from here and they’re scrambling our scans. So we’re just going to shoot at them and hope that they don’t shoot back.”

“So in other words, we’re winging it,” Dearka put in, smirking.

“It’s not like we have FAITH units breathing down our necks every day,” Andy added. “Murasame teams, protect the Megami. We’ll take care of the heavy hitting.”

Shinn closed his eyes, reaching out to feel the presences of his enemies. He felt Rey out there— that was a given. Shiho was coming as well…and then there was Kira—

Shinn’s eyes opened in disbelief. It couldn’t be— he had died at Antarctica.

“Shinn, you’re clear for launch,” Miriallia reminded him.

His eyes flashed— Kira Yamato was out there, again. But this time, he would go down.

“Shinn Asuka, Destiny, going out!”

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As the Providence Gundam rumbled onto the battlefield, Rau smiled up ahead at the tiny specks of light taking off from the dim form of the Megami. He reached out with his senses, feeling Shinn and Mwu among their ranks, waiting for him.

“Operation Purity will now commence,” Talia’s voice announced through the Providence’s cockpit. “All mobile suits, advance and engage at will— keep the enemy mobile suits occupied. All ships, split up and flank the enemy vessel. Constantinople and Babylon, begin your run.”

The ZAFT ships began to move, and Rau smiled to himself. He glanced over to his fight— his screen was filled by the shining form of Kira’s new Strike Freedom Gundam.

“Kira,” he said, “the time has come.”

Kira narrowed his remaining eye at the Megami— Lacus was on that ship, the last vestige of his past that remained, the last enemy standing in his way.

The mobile suits took off with a flash.

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Shinn glowered up ahead at the familiar feeling of Rey‘s presence— the ZAFT mobile suits opened fire, fanning out around the Megami.

“Return their fire!” came Andy’s order. “The Murasames can protect the ship! Engage them as far ahead as possible!”

Shinn scowled; the Destiny charged, arming its beam rifle. Somewhere in there was Rey— if he was ever going to find out if that was indeed Kira Yamato still alive within their ranks, he would have to go through Rey.

A storm of beam shots shrieked by the Destiny— Shinn skirted aside as the familiar net of beam fire moved to surround him. Another beam shot came streaking out of the darkness— Shinn batted it aside with his beam shield, glaring up ahead as his foe came charging in.

Inside the Legend Gundam, Rey scowled down at the Destiny.

“You have run loose long enough, Shinn!” he growled. “Our war ends now!”

The Legend’s DRAGOONs swarmed around the Destiny— Shinn scowled in frustration, activating the beam wings and taking off over the Legend’s head with a blur of afterimages. He dove aside as the two beam spike DRAGOONs streaked towards him— the Legend charged up towards him, beam javelin drawn, and the two mobile suits crashed together as Shinn blocked the javelin with his beam shield.

“I’m not here to fight you!” Shinn snapped. “Kira Yamato is still alive! Where is he?!”

The Legend surged forward, throwing the Destiny back— Shinn rocketed aside as the DRAGOONs opened fire again. “That is not your concern!” Rey shouted. “You will not face him until you have defeated me!”

Shinn blinked in surprise as he felt a new sensation coming from Rey— there was conflict, hatred and disgust clashing with a sense of obligation and duty.

“He’s still alive?!” Shinn growled, twisting and turning through a net of beam blasts.

“Another way you let me down, Shinn!” Rey cried, bringing his javelin back down with a crash. Shinn darted away, returning fire with his beam rifle, rocketing upward and letting the DRAGOONs’ shots pass through afterimages.

“I chopped the Freedom in half!” Shinn snarled. “How could that not kill him?!” He backed away again, firing his rifle— the Legend skirted around his shots and returned fire. “If that’s the case, get out of my way and I’ll finish the job!”

The Legend’s DRAGOONs swarmed again, forcing Shinn back with a blur of afterimages as the Legend gave chase. “Our plans are too far along to let you meddle with them!” Rey shot back; the Legend swung its javelin down, and Shinn barely blocked it with his beam shield. “Whether Kira Yamato lives or dies today is irrelevant! But you will not be allowed to stop us!”

“You’re going to destroy the world!” Shinn exclaimed, surging forward and sending the Legend reeling back. The Destiny drew its anti-ship sword with a flash and charged. “Is that your big plan for everyone?! To kill them all?! Is that the world I was fighting for?!”

“What other world will finally stop abusing us?!” Rey answered, the DRAGOONs firing again at the Destiny and forcing it back on the defensive. “What we do now is irrelevant!” The Legend charged, brandishing its javelin. “You are fighting against the fate of the universe!”

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The Strike Rouge rattled as a beam rifle blast from a Blaze ZAKU Warrior landed against its shield— Lunamaria grunted as the Strike Rouge shook, and returned fire with her beam rifle. The ZAKU boosted aside and raised its rifle to fire again—

Another beam shot blew its right arm off, and before the ZAKU could react, the Gaia Gundam took it down with a rifle blast to the back. Luna blinked in surprise as the Gaia rocketed up next to her, deflecting another beam shot and returning fire. The attacking Slash ZAKU Warrior dove aside and went on the defensive.

“Stella!” Luna exclaimed— Stella’s eyes widened in surprise as the Gaia’s sensors blared. The Gaia kicked the Strike Rouge in the chest, forcing the two mobile suits apart, just in time for a thick green beam to go slicing through space between them. Stella turned her eyes toward the attacker, taking cover behind her shield and putting herself between the enemy and the Strike Rouge.

Up ahead, two Slash ZAKU Warriors were streaking in, escorting a GOUF Ignited painted in black, crisscrossed by jagged white lines, toting a “Barrus” heavy particle cannon. It fired again— the Strike Rouge and Gaia rocketed apart, as the two Slash ZAKUs opened fire with their beam rifles.

“Stella!” Luna cried, as the left-hand ZAKU swept in around her, spraying her position with beam Gatling fire. “We have to get rid of that cannon!”

Stella narrowed her eyes at the attacker, as the second ZAKU stormed in from behind. She somersaulted over its head, spearing it in the back on a beam rifle shot, and charged up towards the GOUF. It rocketed aside, firing its particle cannon again; Stella boosted aside, returning fire with her own rifle, but the GOUF smacked her shots away and took off over her head.

Inside the GOUF, Valentine arched an inquisitive eyebrow at the oncoming Gaia. “So,” she murmured with a chuckle, dodging another volley of beam fire. “The little Extended girl who took our famous ace away from us.” The Gaia charged, firing again— Valentine cackled gleefully and dove upwards, pounding another particle cannon shot back down towards her. “How scary are you one on one?!”

The Strike Rouge dove in from the side, squeezing off a beam rifle shot towards the GOUF— Valentine scowled and smacked it away with her shield, turning her left-hand beam guns towards the Strike Rouge. The remaining ZAKU came roaring in behind Luna, beam tomahawk upraised— Stella cut it down with a beam rifle shot to the stomach and charged up towards the GOUF.

“Stay back!” Stella shouted. “I’ll get this one!”

The GOUF fired its cannon again— Stella jetted aside, returning fire, but the GOUF slithered out of harm’s way. Luna raised her beam rifle to open fire— inside the GOUF, Valentine smirked.

“And what do you think you’re doing?!” she laughed, whirling around and sending her left-hand heat rod lashing forward. It curled around the Strike Rouge’s beam rifle— Luna’s eyes widened in surprise, and a moment later, a golden electrical shock went slicing through the delicate weapon. Luna abandoned it as it exploded in a blaze, taking cover behind her shield.

“Dammit!” she grunted. “Stella— ”

Valentine glanced back towards the Gaia— her eyes went wide in shock as the Gaia lunged up into her face, blasting her particle cannon in two.

“What?!” she screamed, backing away and hurling the broken weapon into the Gaia’s face. Stella batted it away as it exploded, switching to her beam saber and charging forward. “Damn you,” Valentine growled, “you’re better than I thought!”

The GOUF backed away, drawing its beam sword with a flash, and went storming down toward the Gaia.

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As the Gunner ZAKU exploded into a cloud of flames, Athrun whirled around, bringing his beam rifle to bear on another charging Slash ZAKU. The ZAKU pulled back behind its shield, firing back with its own rifle, but a moment later Athrun fired his Grapple Stinger forward, clamping it into the ZAKU’s side. With a shout, he yanked it forward, impaling it through the cockpit on his boomerang blade, and tossed the sparking wreck away. He turned as more beam shots came streaking in— they landed with a flash against his beam shield, and he raised his beam rifle towards his attacker—

There was a flash of familiar white, black, and blue, and a torrent of beam bolts sent Athrun reeling backward behind his beam shield. He looked in disbelief at his attacker—

“The Freedom!”

Floating before the Infinite Justice, the Strike Freedom Gundam extended its wings. Inside the cockpit, Kira glared up at his opponent.

“There you are,” he said quietly. “I didn’t think you had died at Antarctica.” He flicked on the radio, switching to a broad frequency, narrowing his eye at the Infinite Justice.

Athrun Zala’s disbelieving face appeared on the screen.

“Kira?!” he exclaimed. “Y-You’re alive?!”

Kira’s eye burned in rage, and he tore off the right-hand glove of his flight suit, brandishing his skeletal metal arm.

“Look what you’ve done to me!” Kira screamed, his remaining eye bulging with fury. “First you took Fllay, then you took the Freedom, and now you’re taking my own body away from me!”

“What?!” Athrun exclaimed. “I didn’t— ”

“Enough!” Kira pulled his glove back on, and a moment later, the Strike Freedom took off with a roar, brandishing its beam rifles. “I won’t let you take anything else from me!”

The Infinite Justice rocketed over the Strike Freedom’s head, firing at its exposed back with his own rifle. The Strike Freedom whirled around, deflecting the shot with its beam shield, and fired back with a full burst from its rifles, railguns, and Callidus cannon. Athrun growled, skirting aside from the shots. “After all that you’ve destroyed, you have no right to complain about what’s been taken from you!” The Infinite Justice stormed forward, switching to its twin beam saber. “Not after you killed Cagalli! Not after you destroyed Orb’s future!”

The Strike Freedom switched to its own saber, and the two shining Gundams met with a crash, sparks flying from their clashed sabers. “I won’t let you get in the way!” Kira cried. “The world has to change, and I won’t let you rob me of my power to change it!”

“What does killing the people who want peace have to do with making the world better!?” Athrun shot back. “You’re just a tool! You’re just Rau’s tool!”

“You’re wrong!” Kira shouted. The Strike Freedom surged forward. “We’ll have a new world! A better world! A world where Fllay won’t have to die again!”

“You goddamned FOOL!” Athrun roared, charging back against the Strike Freedom and forcing it back with a kick to the chest. Kira growled, backing away and drawing his rifles again.

“I will make you understand, Athrun!” he snarled.

The Strike Freedom’s eye flashed— Athrun blinked in surprise as the wings released a plume of sapphire exhaust—

And with a flash, the DRAGOONs took off.

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“Shit,” Yzak grunted, as the Calypso went spiraling back under a hail of beam fire. He glanced up ahead, finding a red mobile suit storming towards him, beam rifle drawn. He magnified the image, and his eyes flashed. “It’s her!”

Inside the Savior Gundam, Shiho looked dourly at the Calypso. It was a machine far beyond hers, but she could take it down with enough firepower. She armed the plasma cannons and opened fire— the Calypso darted aside, returning fire with its beam rifle, but she deflected it with her shield, backpedaling as the Calypso closed in, drawing a beam saber.

“Dammit,” Shiho growled, backing away and switching to her own saber. “If that’s how you want to fight, then come and get me!” The two machines roared together— the Calypso came down with a devastating overhead strike, and Shiho let out a scream as she swung her own saber horizontally to block it.

The side screen activated with a flash— Shiho blinked in surprise, and a moment later, found herself face to face with a scowling Yzak Jule.

“Yzak?!” she exclaimed. The Calypso surged forward, pushing her away, but did not pursue, instead floating before her, beam saber shimmering in the darkness of space.

“What the hell are you still doing out here?!” Yzak snapped. “I thought you had enough sense to leave while you could still get away!”

“I can’t do that!” Shiho protested— the Savior rocketed away from the Calypso with a volley of CIWS fire, and Yzak pulled back as the bullets ricocheted harmlessly off his Phase Shift armor. “I’m not going to abandon my country or my people!”

“Your country and your people are going insane!” Yzak shouted, plowing through the CIWS bullets and storming towards the Savior. “Are you going to stand aside and let them destroy the world!?”

“This war was thrust upon us!” Shiho shot back, as the Savior deflected the Calypso’s saber strike with its own. “You were there, Yzak! You know we didn’t drop Junius 7, but the Alliance declared war on us as if they did!”

The Calypso surged forward, throwing the Savior back— Yzak charged, saber pulled back. “And you’re the ones who invaded the Earth!” he snarled. “Don’t act like you’re innocent! ZAFT is as guilty as the Alliance!”

Shiho ground her teeth, taking off without a word over the Calypso’s head and firing back down on it with her plasma cannons. Yzak artfully slipped by the shimmering red beams, hurling both his beam boomerangs at the Savior’s chest.

“This isn’t as simple as just killing Naturals!” Yzak shouted. “And it’s not going to solve anything if you do! That’s what we did last time, and look where it got us!”

“That’s because there was no decisive victory!” Shiho responded, batting the Calypso’s boomerangs aside with her shield and returning fire with her plasma cannons again. The Calypso rocketed aside, drawing its beam rifle and squeezing off a shot that went searing by the Savior’s right leg. “We’re trying to end the war too! If we defeat the Alliance in space— ”

“Then you’ll piss them off and they’ll come back again!” Yzak screamed— the Calypso’s eyes flashed, and it spiraled through the Savior’s plasma cannon volley, charging up towards the Savior and brandishing its saber. “How many more people have to die before you start thinking beyond ‘us against them’?! That’s not going to solve anything, that’ll just get us all killed!”

The Calypso lunged up over the Savior’s head, coming down with a powerful overhead swing. Shiho deflected it with her own saber.

“I’m tired of killing people!” Yzak cried, eyes flashing. “If you can’t understand, then I’ll tear you down where you stand!”

“Yzak…” Shiho murmured.

The Calypso rushed forward, pushing the Savior back, and Yzak charged with a scream.

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A hurricane of beam blasts ripped across the battlefield, as the DRAGOON units of the Providence Gundam and Akatsuki flashed across space, spewing green bolts at each other as they darted back and forth. The shining Akatsuki spiraled through the bombardment, beam shots landing uselessly against its golden armor, and squeezed off a beam rifle shot towards the hulking Providence.

“You still don’t understand!” Rau cackled, jetting aside to avoid the Akatsuki’s shot and returning fire with his own beam cannons. “No mere man can stop the will of the world! Not even one such as you, Mwu La Fllaga!”

Mwu scowled, rocketing up over the Providence’s shots and drawing his twin saber, as his remote turrets struggled to keep up with Rau’s overwhelming DRAGOONs. “Neither can you!” he shouted back, charging towards the Providence and ducking under its beam cannon blasts. “You forget that there are people in the world who will save it!”

“Oh, but they are easy to account for!” Rau laughed. “Look to history! What has happened to every evangel of peace, every soul who thought he could save the world from its own bloodlust?! They thought they could change the world after World War II, but if humans could really see past their own greed and will to dominate, no history book would mention any Cold War or the Oil Wars or the Reconstruction War!”

“That‘s just your perversion of history!” Mwu snapped, as the Providence ignited its own saber and deflected the Akatsuki’s saber blow. “You’re not the only one who’s suffered because of the Coordinators! Just ask all the families who lost someone at Panama! Just ask all the people who starved and died because of the energy crisis! But you’re the only one trying to punish anyone for it!”

“And I have every right to!” Rau cried, surging forward and bringing his saber back down on the Akatsuki’s shield. “Humanity declared its reverence for human life, even as it made human life its plaything! Every human civilization has been destroyed at the pinnacle of its greed and corruption! And now so it will be with these Sodomites of the Cosmic Era!”

“You’re not God!” Mwu screamed, swinging back with his own saber. The Providence backed away, firing its beam rifle, but the shot landed harmlessly against the Akatsuki’s golden armor, as Mwu charged back in close. “You have no right to decide who lives and dies!”

“Ah, but I will not!” Rau laughed, stabbing forward with his own saber to block the Akatsuki’s horizontal strike. “The world will be punished this time by the pinnacle of all its sins!”

“Kira?!” Mwu exclaimed— the Providence sent the Akatsuki reeling back with a devastating kick to the stomach.

“It is all too fitting!” The Providence vaulted over the Akatsuki’s head, showering it with beam shots and moving in with its saber. “The world will perish at the hand of its greatest creation, its most grievous sin!” The Providence came in close with a crash— Mwu barely deflected its saber stroke with his shield. “Perhaps as the fires consume them all, they will realize the irony! But they will all be punished! We, the waste of this Cosmic Era, will not be forgotten!”

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“Minerva’s position!” Murrue shouted, as the Megami quaked under a barrage of missile explosions too close comfort.

“It’s gaining on us, seven o’clock!” Miriallia answered urgently. “Captain, at this rate— ”

“Missiles incoming!” Sai interrupted.

Murrue ground her teeth, glaring up at the screen as the Minerva pursued the Megami insistently.

“Captain!” Sai added. “There’s an energy flux from the Minerva!” He paused. “They’re charging their positron cannon!”

“They’ll tear through us like tissue paper if they hit us with that Tannhäuser of theirs,” Murrue growled. “Neumann, push the engines harder!”

“We’re already running at 110 percent!” Neumann protested.

“Then give me 115!” Murrue shot back.

On the bridge of the Minerva, Talia narrowed her eyes at the Megami. They were on the run and soon to be cornered, but cornered animals fought fiercest.

“Tannhäuser is almost completely charged,” Arthur reported. “We can fire as soon as it hits full charge.”

“Wait,” she instructed. “Let the Constantinople and Babylon get into position first.”

On the Megami, Murrue watched uneasily as the beam blasts from the two Eternal cruisers sailed over the Megami’s hull. There were too many mobile suits out here for three ships. There had to be at least one more—

“Captain!” Sai cried in alarm. “Up ahead!”

Murrue looked up towards the space ahead of them, watching in horror as two more Eternals materialized before her, their guns swinging towards the Megami.

“Where did they come from?!” Neumann yelped.

“The Mirage Colloid!” Sai shouted. “Captain, we have to— ”

“Steer to port!” Lacus put in suddenly, her eyes dim and wide. Neumann yanked the wheel to the left, and the ship tilted out of the way of a barrage of beam blasts from the two warships. Murrue looked up in disbelief at Lacus— she stared forward resolutely at the screen before her. A white bolt of energy split the air in front of her— “They’re coming back,” she said dourly.

Murrue pushed it to the back of her mind— there were more important things to worry about now. “We’ll have to get creative,” she growled.

“Captain, one of the Eternals is swinging around in front of us!” Milly exclaimed.

“Neumann, flank speed, straight towards the enemy ship directly in front of us!”

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“How can he use these things?!” Athrun snarled, as the Infinite Justice dove through a net of beam fire from the Strike Freedom’s DRAGOONs.

“I have these powers too!” Kira cried, pursuing the Infinite Justice and firing its beam rifles wildly. “I have powers you can never hope to have! And I won’t let you take them away!”

The Strike Freedom combined its rifles and fired a pulsing green blast down towards the Infinite Justice— Athrun skirted around it and returned fire with his beam rifle, but the DRAGOONs swarmed around him, forcing him back behind his beam shield. “Dammit!” he growled. “Kira…!”

“You won’t get in the way!” Kira screamed, as the Strike Freedom charged. “You won’t stop us this time! This time the world will be set right!”

“You’ll destroy us all!” Athrun shouted. The Infinite Justice drew its twin saber again, spiraling through the DRAGOON blasts and storming towards the Strike Freedom. “Is this really what you wanted?! Is destroying everything really the way you think you can improve the world?!”

Kira’s eye flashed furiously, as the Infinite Justice charged, and he stowed his rifles on the Strike Freedom’s hips, drawing a beam saber of his own with his right hand. “You don’t know anything!” Kira screamed, as the two machines clashed. “And you don’t deserve to understand!” The Strike Freedom surged, its engines activating with a roar, sending the Infinite Justice staggering back. “You’ve taken too much from me, Athrun!” The Strike Freedom raised its saber, coming down with a crash and a staggering overhead strike. “I WILL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!”

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Dearka scowled in frustration as his missiles went streaking across space and hit nothing. Up above, the Force Impulse Gundam slalomed through a wave of beam blasts from the Judicator, firing back with its own beam rifle and forcing Dearka to pull back behind his beam shields.

“Dammit!” he shouted. “This one is good!”

The Mustang rose up behind the Impulse, brandishing its anti-ship swords. The Impulse ducked around the Mustang, opening fire with its beam rifle and forcing Andy back on the defensive.

Inside the Impulse, Aoma narrowed her eyes at the two Alliance Gundams. “They’re powerful,” she growled. “But they’re not invincible!”

The Impulse lunged to the side as the Judicator opened fire with another burst of beam cannon fire. The Mustang came streaking in, brandishing its anti-ship swords— Aoma pulled back as the Mustang brought them to bear with a crash. The Judicator moved in from behind, lining up for a killing shot with its twin beam carbines— Aoma scowled, somersaulting over the Mustang’s head and taking off again.

“I can’t take these two on with a beam saber,” she grunted. “Meyrin! Send me the Sword Silhouette!”

The Mustang came down with another powerful sword swing— the Impulse jetted aside, and an instant later, Aoma threw her shield up in defense as the Mustang tried to cut the Impulse in half with a beam saber-assisted roundhouse kick.

“You’re not bad!” Andy chuckled approvingly. The Judicator lined up for a killing shot from behind with its chest cannon— Aoma backflipped over the Judicator’s head, and Dearka barely managed to turn and block the follow-up beam saber swipe with his beam shield.

“Now you’re just pissing me off!” Dearka shouted.

Aoma looked up at her sensors’ insistent beeping, finding the Sword Silhouette streaking by overhead. She pulled away with a beam rifle blast, taking off over her foes’ heads. The Judicator opened fire with another beam cannon barrage, but Aoma expertly avoided it, seizing the Sword Silhouette’s beam boomerangs and flinging them both at the two Alliance Gundams. Dearka shot them both down easily, cursing, but an instant later the Impulse charged back into the fray, wielding two blue anti-ship swords, and it slammed against the Mustang with a crash, swords clashed.

“Well, now it’s getting more interesting,” Andy said with a smirk.

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The Savior ducked under a saber swipe from the Calypso and backpedaled, firing its plasma cannons, but Yzak batted the shots aside with his beam shields and kept on charging.

“I’m not through with you yet!” he screamed, lunging up above the Savior and coming down with a rattling overhead swing.

“I don’t want to fight you!” Shiho shouted, pushing back against the Calypso's saber.

“Then don’t!” Yzak shot back. The Calypso charged, firing its hyper impulse cannons. The Savior ducked under the shots and deflected the Calypso’s follow-up saber strike with its shield. “I’m trying to end this war, and I’m sick of having to fight all my old comrades to do it!”

The Calypso sent the Savior back with a jarring kick to the face, and charged forward, swinging its saber down towards the Savior’s right arm. Shiho somersaulted over the Calypso’s head, kicking it in the back as she did, and pulled away, switching to her beam rifle.

“You can’t ask me to betray my country, Yzak!” Shiho shouted, opening fire with her plasma cannons and forcing the Calypso to pull back, deflecting the shots with its beam shield.

“So you’ll be an accomplice to genocide?!” Yzak snapped back, blasting away at the Savior with his beam rifle. “So you’ll be an accomplice to whatever evil things Dullindal has planned?! Open your eyes, dammit! ZAFT is no different from the Alliance! I didn’t realize that until I’d already lost someone dear to me! Do you want to wind up like that too?! Does the person you care about most have to die before you can finally see the truth?!”

Shiho glared back at Yzak. “I already have,” she murmured.

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Beam shots blazed around the Destiny as Shinn spiraled through the Legend’s DRAGOON barrage. The Legend opened fire with its beam rifle as Shinn approached— the Destiny jetted aside and kept charging, surrounding itself in afterimages and drawing back its anti-ship sword. The Legend swung its beam javelin up as the Destiny came down with a powerful horizontal swing.

“Dammit, Rey!” Shinn shouted, glowering at his hulking foe. “I don’t want to kill you!”

The Legend forced the two machines apart with a beam rifle blast, barely deflected by the Destiny’s beam shield, and Shinn went back on the defensive as the DRAGOONs swarmed around him. “This is the price you will pay for abandoning the path you were meant to take!” Rey cried, as the Legend squeezed a beam rifle shot through the torrent of DRAGOON blasts. Shinn spiraled around the shots, letting them pass through a wave of afterimages, charging towards the Legend. “You have suffered ever since you abandoned us for Stella! You have lost all your friends, and now you fight your former comrades, those you do not want to kill! Now do you understand?!”

The Legend blocked the Destiny’s diagonal sword stroke with its javelin. “You were using me!” Shinn screamed. “The life I have now can’t possibly be worse than what you were going to do with me!”

“You can leave too!” Shinn shot back, squeezing off a long cannon shot from between the net of beams. The Legend boosted aside, letting the shot tear past. “The Chairman doesn’t own you, Rey! He’s just using you too! You can break away from him!”

“No!” Rey snarled, his eyes flashing with anger. The Legend and Destiny crashed together again, sword and javelin clashing, sparks flying. “I am a defective clone!” Rey said furiously. “My body is decaying away, and I will die soon! I entrusted my hope for Gil’s future to you, because you would live to make it and see it! I entrusted all my hope to you, and you betrayed it, just as my body is betraying me! I will die no matter what you do, but I will not spend the twilight of my life forgiving your treachery!”

“Rey…” Shinn gasped, staring in disbelief at the blond boy’s scowling face.

“You betrayed more people than the Chairman when you deserted us for that Extended, Shinn,” Rey hissed. “So I will destroy you!”

The Legend roared forward, pushing the Destiny back. Shinn glanced over his shoulder in surprise, finding the beam spike DRAGOONs streaking towards his exposed back.

“Now, Shinn,” Rey cried, “go back to oblivion!”

Shinn’s eyes flashed, and he somersaulted over the Legend’s head, kicking it in the back. Rey snarled in frustration, diverting his DRAGOONs to open fire on the Destiny.

“I won’t let you kill me, Rey!” Shinn shouted, weaving his way through the storm of beam fire and bringing his sword down with a crash on the Legend’s javelin blade. “I won’t let you destroy everything I have left!”

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“Your naiveté is truly astounding, little Mwu!” Rau laughed, as the Providence’s DRAGOONs swarmed around the Akatsuki’s remote turrets. “You have lived in this world for thirty years, watching humanity tear itself apart for the sake of its greed, and yet you still think that there is some inherent good in them! Are your eyes blind, or do you just choose not to see?!”

“It doesn’t matter what you think of people!” Mwu shouted back, as the Akatsuki dove past the Providence’s beam cannon blasts, brandishing its twin saber. “You don’t have the right to judge humanity! You’re playing God as much as the people who made you were!”

“Only I have the right to render such judgment!” Rau cried, swinging back with his own saber and stopping the Akatsuki’s attack. “I hung on their cross, I wore their crown of thorns! Now I have returned and I will carry out my sentence on this broken world!” The Providence put all its force behind its counter-swing, sending the Akatsuki reeling backward. “It is only the acceleration of the inevitable! Someday the world will bring this upon itself! I have merely brought us to the door— it is they who will go through it!”

Mwu clenched his teeth, backing away as the Providence pounded the Akatsuki’s golden armor with beam cannon blasts, as the Providence’s DRAGOONs and the Akatsuki’s remote turrets dueled around them.

“This is the proper path!” Rau shouted. “This is what humanity’s greed has brought it! You cannot save them now, Mwu— you never could!”

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

With a crash and a shriek of twisting metal, the Strike Rouge went staggering back, the GOUF charging after it, shield positioned in front of it. The Gaia lunged up behind the GOUF— it whirled around and blocked the Gaia’s saber stroke with its beam sword.

“Leave Luna alone!” Stella shouted, firing the Gaia’s thrusters and pushing the GOUF back. “I won’t let you hurt her!”

“Damn this little girl!” Valentine snarled, somersaulting over the Gaia’s head. She whirled around, deploying her right-hand head rod, but a moment later, the Strike Rouge dropped in to cut in half with a beam saber blow.

“I can fight too!” Luna cried, lunging forward towards the GOUF and kicking it in the chest. Valentine grunted as the GOUF went tumbling back, and raised her left arm to open fire with a shower of beam bolts, driving Luna back behind her shield.

“Luna!” Stella exclaimed, vaulting up in front of the Strike Rouge and deflecting the GOUF’s beam bolts. “Let Stella fight this one!”

“But Stella— ” Luna began.

“Stella won’t let Luna get hurt!” The Gaia took off, brandishing its saber, charging up towards the GOUF. Valentine grinned gleefully as the Gaia approached.

“You can’t last forever,” she chuckled. “You’re only an Extended, after all!”

The GOUF charged, sword upraised, and the Gaia swung back to block its downward hack. Valentine laughed and slammed the Gaia upward with a knee to the stomach, then knocking it back with a kick to the face. She raised her left arm and opened fire again—

Valentine’s eyes flashed in frustration as her beams dissipated against the Strike Rouge’s shield.

“Luna!” Stella exclaimed in surprise.

Luna looked over her shoulder, smiling at Stella. “I won’t let you fight alone,” she said. “That’s not how friends fight.”

Up ahead, the GOUF raised its beam sword and charged. Stella glanced back at Luna and smiled, and the two Gundams took off.

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

The Mustang rattled as the Impulse brought both its anti-ship swords down against the Mustang’s own two blades. Andy grunted as his mobile suit vibrated under the blows. “Stay back, Dearka!” he instructed. “You’ll be more of a threat to me than him at this range!”

“I have to do something!” Dearka protested, as the Judicator lined up for a killing shot from behind. The Impulse skirted aside before the Judicator could fire, and Andy pursued with a shot from the Scylla head cannon.

“You have beam sabers, try to get in close!” Andy shot back, bringing both his swords down vertically; the Impulse swung back horizontally, blocking them both. “Dammit, he’s good…”

Inside the Impulse, Aoma eyed the Judicator warily. As long as she stayed in melee range, she had the advantage, but that was no excuse not to finish off this red one quickly. She fired the booster, knocking the Mustang back, and with a lightning kick, sent the anti-ship sword in the Mustang’s left hand spiraling away. Andy cursed and pulled back as the Impulse combined its swords and brought the blades down on the Mustang’s remaining sword.

The Judicator rushed in to the side, catching the sword in one hand and reigniting the blade. “I always wanted one of these bigass swords!” Dearka laughed. Aoma cursed as she noticed the Judicator rocketing toward her, anti-ship sword in hand. She boosted away and took off, detaching her swords, as the Mustang and Judicator gave chase.

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

“Enemy warship is not changing its course!” Sai exclaimed. “Captain, we’ve got to do something quickly or else we’ll collide!”

“Activate the Mirage Colloid!” Murrue ordered. “They’re not the only ones who can disappearing tricks!”

The Mirage Colloid came to life with a flash— the Megami vanished. Murrue leaned forward, peering at the Eternal-class in front of them as its guns fell silent.

“Neumann, start the maneuver!” Murrue continued. “Romero, Sai, watch the timing! We only have one shot at this!”

The Megami’s engines burst to life, and the ship rocketed forward, ponderously tilting and rolling up over the Eternal. Murrue watched as the seconds ticked by, agonizingly slowly, as the Megami inversed itself over the enemy warship.

“Drop the Colloid!” Murrue ordered— the Megami returned to the world in flash. “All dorsal guns, FIRE!”

The Megami’s Gottfrieds and Valiants blared to life, smashing through the Eternal below them and ripping it apart. The Megami slowly righted itself as the ship behind them was broken in two by a massive fireball.

“Enemy ship destroyed!” Sai reported. “The other one is taking damage from debris!”

“Hard to starboard!” Murrue cried. “Gottfrieds, fire as soon as the enemy’s in range!”

Another eight beams went lancing out from the Megami and sliced through the second Eternal-class, tearing it apart with arms of fire.

On the bridge of the Minerva, Talia scowled as the Babylon went down in flames. The captain of the Megami was certainly no amateur.

“Captain!” Arthur exclaimed in disbelief. “They…they destroyed the Constantinople and the Babylon…!”

“So I saw,” Talia growled. “Signal the Absolution and the Deliverance. We’re pulling back.”

“What?!” Arthur cried, turning in his chair. “But we didn’t— ”

Talia cast him an icy glare. “That’s an order,” she said sternly.

Arthur turned back to his console, crestfallen. “Yes ma’am…”

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

Shiho glanced at the retreat flares out of the corner of her eye, pulling away from Yzak and the Calypso. The Minerva was ponderously turning away from the battlefield— there were two fields of wreckage that, Shiho presumed, used to be the Constantinople and the Babylon.

“This is your last chance, Shiho,” Yzak snarled. “Are you going to help Dullindal destroy the world?”

Shiho looked at Yzak; tears welled up in her eyes, and she turned, taking off for the Minerva.

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

“Retreat flares already?” Rau chuckled, pulling away as Mwu marshaled his remote turrets for a counterattack. “It makes no difference whether you live or die, Mwu! You cannot stop what I have set in motion now!”

The Providence recalled its DRAGOONs and took off, leaving Rau’s laughter echoing inside the Akatsuki.

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

The GOUF shuddered as the Gaia sliced off its left arm at the elbow, sending its shield spiraling away. Valentine growled, noting the retreat flares in the back of her mind, and fired a point-blank beam gun blast at the Gaia, slamming bolts against its shield and driving it back.

“Valentine,” Rau’s voice chucked as the GOUF took off as fast as its engines could carry it. “Did you have fun playing with the Extended?”

“Shut up,” Valentine snapped. “Why are we retreating? We haven’t destroyed the Orb Raiders yet.”

“The Constantinople and Babylon were destroyed,” Rau said with a shrug. “And I suppose Captain Gladys has lost the will to fight.”

Valentine glanced over her shoulder, back at the Gaia and Strike Rouge, watching her retreat, and scowled.

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

Dearka watched with a sigh of relief as the Impulse took off, the Minerva’s flares shimmering in the darkness behind it. He glanced at the Mustang and tossed its errant anti-ship sword back at it.

“He was something else, eh?” he chuckled, watching the Impulse retreat.

“It won’t be the last we’ve seen of him,” Andy said dourly. He glanced over at the Judicator. “Let’s get back to the Megami. We won’t want to hang around.”

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

The DRAGOONs slammed back onto the Legend’s body— Rey scowled hatefully at the Destiny as he turned to leave.

“Wait!” Shinn shouted, rushing towards the retreating Legend. “Rey! You don’t have to— ”

“I already told you!” Rey shouted, firing a full barrage from the DRAGOONs’ beam cannons. Shinn took cover behind his shield, as the force of the beams’ impacts sent him reeling backward. “I will not walk the same path you are on!”

The Legend took off into the darkness. Shinn watched him go, silent.

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

The Infinite Justice and Strike Freedom circled each other, firing their beam rifles and barely missing, swinging apart and firing on each other again. Kira snarled in anger as he saw the retreat flares, and opened fire with another full burst, fencing the Infinite Justice in with his DRAGOONs.

“Kira!” Valentine’s voice shouted. “We’re retreating!”

“I can still beat him!” Kira insisted.

Valentine’s eyes flashed angrily. “That’s an order, Kira!”

Kira blinked in surprise and looked back at the Infinite Justice, as it came charging towards him. He scowled and somersaulted over its head, taking off towards the Deliverance. He glanced over his shoulder, scowling, as he recalled his DRAGOONs.

“I swear, Athrun,” he murmured, “one day…one day I’ll finally kill you!”

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

Lacus sat back on the bridge of the Megami, carefully masking her sigh of relief. Murrue rubbed her temples anxiously and glanced up ahead, as the Megami’s mobile suits began to return.

“It seems safe to say that ZAFT sees us as a threat,” Lacus said quietly. All eyes turned to her. “I think it is our responsibility to find out why.”

“Dullindal wants us out of the picture, that’s for sure,” Sai remarked, wiping the sweat from his brow. “But, um, how are we going to find out what their motives are?”

“At this stage in the war, whatever plans they have for the final battle in space would be coming to fruition,” Murrue said, sitting back in her chair. “If they have some kind of weapon, they’ll probably be moving it. The Alliance’s fleet is gathering at Daedalus Crater, and I have no doubt that ZAFT is gathering a fleet of its own as well.”

Lacus glanced across space, towards the Moon, at the dim array of lights beyond it. “Captain,” she said, “if I may, I would like us to set course for the PLANTs.”

“And find out what Chairman Dullindal is up to,” Murrue finished.

Lacus nodded grimly.

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

To be continued…