Mobile Suit Gundam SEED DESTINY

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Phase 36 - Blood in the Water

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“Attention all units,” the booming voice of the ZAFT commander roared out, as ZAFT’s fleet of Vosgulov submarines and land battleships crawled forward, guns aimed steadily at Onogoro Island. “Operation Fury will now commence. All units are to proceed towards your assigned targets and attack at will. Commence bombardment!”

A swarm of missiles lifted off from the ships, as the land battleships opened fire with their guns. On the Minerva, Talia sat back as the bridge locked itself into its lowered position.

“All mobile suits, prepare to take off,” she called out. “Arthur, aim the Tristans and Isolde at our first target.”

“Yes ma’am!” Arthur answered. “Target is now the Onogoro port’s fuel stores.”

Talia looked up ahead at Onogoro Island’s naval yards, teeming with mobile suits and surrounded by warships. The missiles were coming down on Onogoro now— the Orb guns opened fire, but could hardly expect to stop them all in time.

“All mobile suits,” Talia said, “take off!”

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Athrun grunted as the Justice Gundam shook. He glanced angrily at the BABI sweeping in behind him, firing its machineguns— with a growl, Athrun somersaulted forward, firing his beam rifle and taking the BABI down in a single blast. He turned back towards the Akatsuki as it streaked down towards the Orb National Defense Headquarters.

“We’ve probably going to have to fight our way through,” Athrun warned. “We’re still enemies to the Seirans.”

“They can’t be stupid enough to fire on the enemy of their enemy,” Cagalli snorted.

A beam rifle shot speared an incoming DINN from above, blowing it apart, and the Aegis Gundam dropped in with another rifle shot to ward off an approaching BABI.

“Don’t count on that,” Andy said as the Aegis leveled off next to the Akatsuki. “Human stupidity is a powerful force.”

Another wave of beam fire cut down another squad of ZAFT mobile suits, and the Strike, Duel, and Buster dropped in from above, forming up around the Akatsuki.

“It’s going to take all six of us to get in there,” Mwu added grimly, deflecting an errant beam shot with his shield. “Especially considering the last time you tried to get in there.”

“Jona is probably on the Takemikazuchi,” Cagalli growled.

“We can deal with him later,” Andy said quickly. “Protecting Orb is more important than finding Jona.”

“What about Shinn and Stella?” Athrun asked, glancing anxiously at the Aegis. “Where are they?”

“Captain Ramius asked them to go play with the Minerva,” Andy answered, smirking. “They’ll be making their own fun.”

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“Shinn Asuka,” Rey Za Burrel growled, as his Guul-equipped Blaze ZAKU Phantom streaked up towards the Impulse Gundam, “today you shall finally die!”

Shinn growled angrily at the familiar pressure from Rey and glanced at the Gaia Gundam. “Stella, you take the left. I’ll hit them from the right.”

“Understood,” Stella answered, her voice mechanically calm. The Impulse and Gaia rocketed apart, opening fire with their beam rifles simultaneously— Rey slammed on his brakes, jetting backwards and letting the shots streak past.

“We’ll go after the Gaia first!” Shiho’s voice shouted. The Savior rocketed overhead, transforming into mobile suit mode and showering the Impulse with beam fire. “Form up for the Spearhead maneuver!”

Inside the Impulse, Shinn blinked in surprise as he felt a familiar sensation of danger prick his senses. He saw the two ZAKUs, the two Impulses, and the Savior line up to attack the Gaia— he felt his pulse quicken as he moved to open fire.

“Stella!” he screamed.

Stella narrowed her eyes as the mobile suits approached. A seed burst in her mind— she rocketed upwards to avoid their first volley, firing back with her beam rifle as they wheeled around for another pass. They lined up again in a straight line, overlapping just far enough to allow them all equal firepower as they swung around to attack again.

The Impulse flashed back into the fight, Shinn screaming, and rammed Rey’s ZAKU with its shield. Rey growled as the formation broke off.

“No more of these stupid plans!” Ruumari shouted. “I’ll finish him off here!” The Blast Impulse lined up for a killing shot to the Impulse’s back with its beam rifle. He blinked and glanced to his left, just in time for the Gaia to shoulder it aside, sending its shot sailing wide of its target. With a finishing kick to the side, the Gaia sent the Blast Impulse reeling towards the ocean, and then jetted backwards to avoid a rifle shot from the Sword Impulse.

Inside the Force Impulse, Shinn screamed as he kicked Rey’s ZAKU in the stomach, forcing back. Rey snarled furiously, unleashing a storm of missiles from the Guul and his Blaze Wizard— Shinn grunted in surprise, slamming on the brakes, jetting backwards, and firing a defensive salvo of CIWS fire to wipe out the missiles before they could impact. Rey burst through the smoke, wielding a beam tomahawk, and brought it down with a crash on the Impulse’s shield.

“Shinn!” Rey shouted.

Shinn’s eyes flashed. He surged forward, knocking Rey’s ZAKU back, and fired a shot through its Guul, wiping the subflight system out with a thunderous blast. And with a final roar of engines, he lunged back up into the ZAKU’s face and sent it spiraling back towards the ground with a devastating kick.

Before he could pursue, his senses flared to life again— the Impulse leapt back, just in time to dodge a volley of plasma cannon shots, and the Savior shot past in mobile armor mode. It transformed in midair, rocketing up over Shinn’s beam rifle blasts, and came back down with a second volley that Shinn barely avoided. He backed away as the Savior leveled its rifle off at the Impulse.

“We’ve been following you and fighting you for too long, Shinn,” Shiho said dourly. “It’s time to end this.”

The Savior switched to its beam saber and charged.

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The Takemikazuchi shook as another missile slammed into its flight deck. Jona growled angrily as the ship’s anti-aircraft guns finally blazed to life to take down the next volley of missiles.

“What the hell is going on with the first line?” he demanded. “They should not be able to attack us this early!”

“ZAFT’s amphibious units are tearing us apart, sir!” one of the bridge crew answered. “Their forces are too overwhelming!”

“Dammit,” Jona growled. “We will not allow ZAFT to beat us! Fight to the last man if you have to, but throw those bastards out of our waters!”

“Admiral,” Todaka spoke up warily, as the Takemikazuchi shook again. “We need to rethink our strategy. We cannot win this battle by numbers alone.”

A storm of missiles smashed into a Kuraokami-class cruiser near the Takemikazuchi, splintering the beleaguered ship under a chain of explosions and pounding it under the ocean’s surface. Jona scowled.

“Mobile suits approaching!” one of the bridge crew cried. Up ahead, a wing of ZAFT BABIs came streaking down towards the Takemikazuchi.

“The Murasames!” Jona shouted.

“It’s too late!” Todaka cut him off.

A wave of beam fire ripped through the ZAFT ranks, tearing the BABIs apart. Jona watched in disbelief as a squadron of Windams shrieked by overhead. He glanced over the island, eyes wide, and found himself staring at the vanguard of an Earth Alliance fleet.

“Admiral Seiran,” a deep, gravelly voice began. Jona looked back at the screen, stunned, to find a stout old man in an Earth Alliance uniform, his face almost obscured by a bushy gray beard, standing before him on the main screen. “Grand Admiral James MacIntyre. We are here to help you beat ZAFT back.” He paused. “And,” something on his end made a terrifying crashing sound, “we have brought a gift.”

“Look at that thing!” one of the Takemikazuchi’s bridge crew shouted. Jona looked back at the Alliance fleet, and his eyes widened in disbelief as the Destroy Gundam rose out of the depths of a massive battleship.

“ZAFT will make no further progress here,” MacIntyre intoned. “All units, open fire!”

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“The Alliance is here?” Cagalli exclaimed in disbelief. She glanced over her shoulder— sure enough, an array of Windams and Dagger Ls were streaming onto the battlefield, and the Alliance’s warships were slicing into the side of the unsuspecting ZAFT fleet. And with a thunderous crash, the Destroy Gundam set down on a small unmarked island, flashed its eyes ominously, and unleashed a beam cannon barrage that sent an entire squadron of ZAFT BABIs and DINNs spiraling into the water in flames.

“All the more reason to get this over with quickly!” Andy shouted. “Before they start edging into power here too!”

The main entrance to the National Defense Headquarters was blocked by a burnt-out M1 Astray, slumped against the smashed front of the building and staring up lifelessly into the sky, impaled on a CGUE‘s sword. The Gundams circled around to the back of the building and set down towards the rear, at the base of a short cliff that had been blasted apart, revealing the Defense Headquarters’ complicated underground warren of access tunnels.

“We can get in through here!” Mwu exclaimed. “Andy, get some Murasames over here to guard our machines!”

Inside the Justice, Athrun pulled his handgun out of the survival case, checked the magazine, and opened the hatch, lowering himself to the ground. Cagalli was already halfway towards the exposed tunnel. Athrun took a deep breath and headed after her.

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Kira glanced at his cockpit displays as the message came in.

“Our troops have entered the enemy’s headquarters,” Rau said, “and we have confirmed the death of Orb’s Chief Representative. However, our forces are pulling back in order to deal with the Alliance fleet.”

“Then what is my special mission?” Kira asked, pausing to fire a full burst to wipe out a squadron of Murasames.

“Cagalli Yula Athha is making her way into the headquarters,” Rau said. Kira flinched at the sound of her name. “She will more than likely cause us trouble. Find her and stop her.”

“Yes sir,” Kira said quietly.

“Remember what they did to you, Kira,” Rau reminded him. “Cagalli is just as guilty as Athrun and Lacus. Remember that.”

The line went out. Kira looked up ahead, at the smoldering form of the Orb National Defense Headquarters. He saw a glint of gold near the back of the building— the Akatsuki.

“Henderson team, Alvarez team, come with me!” Kira shouted, taking off towards the Defense Headquarters. Two squadrons of BABIs swept in behind him. Kira narrowed his eyes at the building— they would be in there.

A wing of Murasames came streaking towards him, beam cannons blazing. The BABIs took evasive action— Kira scowled and rocketed up into their ranks. With a scream, he unleashed a full weapons burst, sending half the squadron plummeting into the ocean. The rest of the squadron backed away— Kira cut them down with another full burst. He turned and glanced down at the building below.

“Guard my machine until I return,” he ordered. The Freedom dropped down to the ground, smashing open a wall with its shield. Kira opened the hatch, seized his pistol, and rushed out.

They were in there. And they would pay.

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The Savior circled around the Impulse with a beam cannon blast— Shinn ducked underneath it and returned fire with his beam rifle. He grunted in disgust— the Impulse was at a disadvantage in firepower. He had to get in close.

“Was Stella that important to you?!” Shiho demanded, as the Savior unleashed another volley. Shinn dodged it easily and rocketed over the Savior’s head, showering it with beam rifle fire. “Didn’t you even feel remorse?!”

“I haven’t killed you yet!” Shinn shouted back. “Don’t make me regret it!” He switched to his beam saber, bringing it down with a crash on the Savior’s shield. Shiho drew her own saber and swung back— Shinn deflected her blow with his own shield, leaving the two mobile suits locked in midair.

“Would you kill your comrades in cold blood, Shinn?!” Shiho yelled. The Savior surged forward, sending the Impulse reeling back. “Would you kill us to protect her?! You said you would! Would you do it?!”

Shinn scowled up at her. “You’re not one to be asking me that!” he snapped. “I killed Heine, didn’t I?!”

“Would you kill me?!” Shiho shot back. The Savior came back down on the Impulse with a crash, sabers slamming together. “Would you kill Luna?! Would you kill Rey?! Would you kill Captain Gladys?! How many people will have to die to keep Stella safe?!”

“You can always just leave me alone!” Shinn growled. The Impulse jetted back to avoid another saber swing from the Savior. “I won’t have to fight any of you that way!”

The Savior charged. “I can‘t do that!” Shiho screamed. The Savior and Impulse slammed together again. “You betrayed us! I can’t let you walk away! One way or another I will bring you to justice!”

Shinn ground his teeth as the Savior flung him backwards, towards the ocean’s surface. He fired the booster, skimming along the water and dodging a beam cannon volley from the Savior. Shiho took off after him, brandishing her saber.

“You’ve caused us too much suffering! You’ve led us around the entire Earth Sphere on a wild goose chase! This ends now!”

The Savior raised its saber for a killing blow— Shinn screamed and rocketed forward, kicking the Savior in the face before it could strike. Shiho blinked in disbelief— a moment later, Shinn delivered a punishing kick to the Savior’s stomach, sending it plunging into the ocean.

Shinn glanced over his shoulder as the feeling of danger returned, and scowled at the approaching Sword Impulse and Blast Impulse.

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“Close the compartments! Damage control, get moving!” Todaka shouted, struggling to be heard over the blaring alarms.

“It’s no use, sir!” one of the deckhands cried. “The controls aren’t responding!”

“Captain, fires have broken out all over the ship and the water level on the port side is rising!” another officer exclaimed. “We’re going to capsize at this rate!”

Sitting in his chair amidst the shouting and blaring alarms and intermittent red lights, Jona glowered hatefully at the ZAFT Lesseps-class land battleship looming in front of them. “Abandon ship,” he said quietly.

Todaka nodded gravely. “It can’t be helped,” he said. “Give the order to abandon ship!” He turned wearily to face Jona. “Admiral,” he said, “get to the lifeboats.”

Jona arched an eyebrow at him. “You’re not coming?” he asked.

Todaka straightened up, looking Jona square in the eye. “I have lived under your rule for two years,” he said, “and watched you turn Orb from a paradise into a hell. I will be glad to die now, rather than watch you burn our country down again.”

Jona purpled in rage. “How dare you— ”

An explosion behind the bridge tower cut Jona off. Todaka nodded to a pair of deckhands, who quickly seized Jona by the arms and pulled him off the bridge before he could say anything more. As the bridge emptied, Todaka stepped up towards the helm.

“The engines are still operational,” he said quietly. He looked up at the Lesseps in front of him. “I suppose I can go down fighting.”

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The Takemikazuchi lurched forward— in his lifeboat, Jona stared back in disgust as the ship began to move, crawling towards the Lesseps in front of it. Todaka was going to go down with the ship— well, that was fine, that bastard could feel free to die now.

An ASH landed on the Takemikazuchi’s deck and smashed out its bridge, but it was too late— the Takemikazuchi plowed into the Lesseps, and a thunderous explosion tore both ships apart.

The crew, in their scattered lifeboats, stood up and saluted. Jona scowled. That bastard had gotten what he deserved.

He turned at the sound of a mobile suit engine, and found a purple Windam descending towards his lifeboat.

“Admiral Seiran,” a voice said. Jona blinked, realizing that the voice was that of Colonel Neo Roanoke. The Windam stretched out its hand. “Quickly now, Admiral, we don’t have much time.”

Jona glanced back at the columns of smoke towering over his country. He stepped onto the Windam’s hand, steadying himself against its palm as its fingers closed around him to hold in in place. Inside the cockpit, Neo smirked, pulling away from the beleaguered lifeboats.

“I’m the Phantom Pain,” he said. The crosshairs for the Windam’s CIWS guns passed over the lifeboats. “I don’t leave witnesses.”

Neo grinned and opened fire.

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Ruumari screamed; the Blast Impulse fired its beam rifle up at the Force Impulse; Shinn scowled and dodged the shots, twisting down towards the water and firing back.

“You again,” Shinn growled.

“I’ll tear you apart, traitor!” Ruumari screamed. On one of the islands, Aoma turned at the sound of Ruumari’s voice.

“Ruumari! Don’t!” she shouted, turning to take off.

The Blast Impulse fired again, but Shinn dodged and shot Ruumari’s beam rifle out of his hand. Snarling, Ruumari fired the Blast Impulse’s weapons in a full burst, sending a tower of water flashing up into the air.

The Sword Impulse dropped in, swords upraised; Shinn jetted out of the way and kicked Aoma aside. The Blast Impulse attacked again, and Shinn twisted out of the way of Ruumari’s shots with practiced ease.

“You keep coming after me,” Shinn grunted, “but you never learn!”

The Blast Impulse’s engines flared to life as it skimmed over the water. The Sword Impulse attacked again; Shinn kicked behind himself, knocking the Sword Impulse back again, and charged back towards the Blast Impulse.

“The one in the Sword knows what he’s doing,” Shinn said to himself, “so I’ll take care of you first!”

The Blast Impulse jetted away and fired another full burst. “You monster!” Ruumari shrieked. “You betrayed us! Come and face justice!”

The Blast Impulse unleashed a storm of missiles; Shinn cut through them with a CIWS burst and fired his beam rifle, blowing off the Blast Impulse’s left beam cannon. Ruumari grunted as the Blast Impulse quaked, and fired the remaining guns back at the Force Impulse. Shinn dodged easily once again and turned towards the Sword Impulse.

“Ruumari! Pull back!” Aoma screamed; the Sword Impulse hurled both its beam boomerangs, but Shinn dove over them easily and charged, drawing his beam saber.

“When will you guys give up?!” Shinn yelled.

The Sword Impulse’s anti-ship swords clashed against the Force Impulse’s saber; Shinn let out a scream, and the Force Impulse thrust its saber skyward, forcing the Sword Impulse’s arms up into the air. The Force Impulse took off over the Sword Impulse’s head; Aoma’s eyes widened in disbelief—

An instant later, the beam boomerangs sawed through the Sword Impulse’s right arm and right leg.

The Force Impulse fired a beam rifle shot from the air; Ruumari watched in shock as the Sword Impulse plummeted towards the sea, heedless of the incoming blast; a moment later, the Blast Silhouette exploded, throwing Ruumari’s Impulse forwards.

“Ruumari!” Aoma shouted. “Catch!” She hurled her remaining anti-ship sword at the Blast Impulse, as the Sword Impulse crashed into the water.

Above the Sword Impulse, the Force Impulse caught the Sword Impulse’s severed arm, seizing the second anti-ship sword and igniting the blade.

“You traitor!” Ruumari screamed, as the Blast Impulse fired its thrusters and took off towards the Force Impulse. “I won‘t let you touch Aoma!”

Shinn saw the Blast Impulse charge; the seed burst in his mind, and he saw the Blast Impulse raise its sword above its head. With lightning speed, Shinn severed the Blast Impulse’s sword arm at the elbow and kicked it in the face. Ruumari screamed as the Blast Impulse fell; Shinn snarled in rage and charged; a shriek of splintering metal tore through the air—

Shinn clenched his teeth as the Force Impulse’s anti-ship sword went plunging into the Blast Impulse’s cockpit.

He let go of the sword; the impaled Blast Impulse collapsed towards the water and exploded.

“RUUMARI!” Aoma screamed.

Shinn winced at the familiar feeling of a life vanishing. He turned and took off back into the battle.

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“The ZAFT troops must be pulling back,” Andy observed, as he raced with Cagalli through a dark, damp tunnel lined with exposed pipes and superstructure. “They weren’t expecting the Alliance to show up.”

“That’s no excuse not to hurry!” Cagalli exclaimed. “We have to get in control of the situation here before they do!” They rounded a corner— they all came to a halt in disbelief, staring at the figure before them.

Kira Yamato scowled back at them, gun drawn.

“Kira?” Athrun exclaimed in disbelief. “What— what are you doing here?”

Kira cast a hateful glare at Athrun and pointed his gun at Cagalli.

“What the hell is this?” Mwu shouted. “Kira, what do you think you’re doing?”

“Get out of our way, Kira!” Cagalli said, taking a threatening step forward. Athrun grabbed her by the shoulder, but she shook him off. “Get a hold of yourself! We’re not your enemies! Why are you fighting us?!”

Kira’s face twisted in rage, his eyes darkening, tears forming at the edges.

“We’re trying to turn Orb back into a haven!” Cagalli went on, glaring at Kira. “Who put these ideas in your head that Athrun killed Fllay, or that we betrayed you? We aren’t your enemies! Stop— ”

“You betrayed me,” Kira snarled.

And he pulled the trigger.

For a moment, the only thing anyone could hear was the gunshot echoing among the pipes. Cagalli stared forward with hollow eyes, blood gushing from the hole over her heart. She pitched backwards lifelessly.

Athrun’s eyes widened in horror.

“CAGALLI!”

Yzak was the first to draw his pistol, as Athrun caught Cagalli‘s body. “You bastard!” he screamed, lining up for a shot at Kira’s head. Kira ducked before Yzak could fire, escaping into the shadows as Yzak fired rounds after him.

“Yzak!” Dearka said, quickly pulling him down as Kira returned fire. Andy and Mwu spread out to either side, opening fire with their own weapons, and Kira slipped off into the shadows again.

All eyes turned to Athrun as he knelt on the floor, holding Cagalli’s bleeding corpse, his head bowed. He didn’t make a sound.

“Athrun,” Dearka began quietly. He stopped short, noticing that Athrun’s shoulders were trembling, his arms wrapped tightly around Cagalli’s corpse.

“Commander Bartfeldt, Commander La Fllaga,” he said quietly, his voice trembling as badly as his shoulders. “Please take Cagalli back to the ship.” He paused. “Yzak, Dearka, come with me.”

“For what?” Yzak asked, trying to sound subdued.

Athrun looked up, his eyes afire through his tears, dulled and lightless with fury.

“We’re going to find Kira.”

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Luna screamed as her ZAKU went spiraling out of control. Behind her were three Murasames, one of which was painted bright gold, with regal-looking lion symbols on their left shoulder armor. They circled above her like hawks as she struggled to regain control of her Guul.

“Who are these guys?!” she exclaimed, finally leveling off and activating her long range cannon. “They’re not normal soldiers!”

The Murasames came circling down for another pass, opening fire with their beam cannons. Luna darted backward, firing her own cannon to ward them off. They pulled back from the shimmering red beam, but came wheeling around to attack again.

“I’m not going down that easily!” Luna shouted. “You can’t— ”

The sound of a beam shot cut her off— a moment later, she looked down in horror at the green beam shaft piercing her Guul. It exploded, and as the ZAKU went pitching up into the air, she caught a glimpse down below of a white machine with its own rifle extended.

Her eyes widened in disbelief. “Rey?!”

Down below, Rey scowled at the falling red ZAKU. “You know too much, Lunamaria,” he said. “Your usefulness to the Chairman has expired.”

He fired again, blowing off the Gunner Wizard and sending the ZAKU lurching forward. Luna stared in disbelief as Rey’s ZAKU as it turned and stomped away. She turned her eyes towards the rapidly approaching ocean and desperately fired the ZAKU’s thrusters, trying to glide over the ocean’s surface. She glanced up ahead—

With a shriek of disbelief, she landed painfully on an island, grinding to a halt in the dirt. The Murasames came down around her, and Luna opened her eyes to find herself staring down the golden Murasame.

She ground her teeth. Rey had betrayed her. Rey had tried to kill her. Rey would try to kill her again if she returned, somehow, from this.

Perhaps it was better to just disappear.

I’m sorry, Meyrin, she thought, squeezing the tears out of her eyes.

With that, she popped the hatch open and stepped out, holding up her hands.

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It was the middle of battle, but as the Aegis and Strike Gundams brought back Cagalli’s silent Akatsuki, nobody could find the voice to speak.

“This is Strike,” Mwu’s voice said softly. “Cagalli is dead.”

Sitting in the chair above Murrue’s, Lacus made no attempt to hide the tears in her eyes. She bowed her head. She had felt it— she had felt the fiery, untamed presence of Cagalli vanish. And for an instant, she had felt Kira— cold, ruthless, angry. But she could not bring herself to believe it. Kira…he couldn’t…could he?

“I know it sounds heartless of me to say,” Mwu went on, “but once we dock, I’m taking the Akatsuki. Athrun went after Kira. We’ll have to bring him back before he gets himself killed.”

“Did…did Kira do this?” Murrue asked, staring in shock as the Akatsuki was pulled into the hangar.

“He’s not Kira anymore,” Andy put in, as the Aegis set down the Akatsuki in its usual berth. He glanced down at Cagalli‘s body, her eyes closed, her face still looking surprised nonetheless. “Captain, what should we do about the body?”

“We’ll give her a burial at sea before we leave Orb’s waters,” Lacus spoke up through her tears, drawing everyone’s attention. “Cagalli must be left at Orb. She can surround and protect her country forever that way.”

“I’m going to bring Athrun back,” Mwu said, undoing his restraints. “No more of us will die today, I swear.”

As Mwu’s line cut out, Lacus stared down at the ocean, feeling numb. Kira had done it— he had killed Cagalli. He had destroyed his own sister.

She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears.

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“KIIIIIRAAAA!”

The Justice Gundam came down with a crash onto the Freedom Gundam, sabers clashed. Athrun screamed, his dull eyes flashing, as he surged forward, putting all the strength the Justice’s subflight lifter could muster behind his charge.

“WHY?!” Athrun shrieked. “YOU MONSTER! ANSWER ME!”

“You’re the one who killed Fllay!” Kira screamed back, swinging his saber back at the Justice. The two mobile suits grappled again, before jetting apart and circling each other. “Now you understand the pain you put me through!”

“SHE WAS YOUR SISTER!” Athrun roared, firing his beam cannons as he charged back into the Freedom’s face. “SHE WANTED TO SAVE YOU!”

“I don’t need saving!” Kira snapped. The Freedom boosted away from the Justice, firing a full burst after it. Athrun skirted it and charged again, attacking with a dramatic downward hack that Kira caught horizontally.

“YOU BASTARD!” Athrun shouted. The Justice heaved forward again, pushing the Freedom down towards the water.

“She was standing in our way!” Kira shot back. “She was going to make us all keep fighting and dying!” His eyes flashed as he saw the seed. “She betrayed me! You betrayed me! I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!”

The two Gundams tore apart from each other, circling each other again, before Athrun lunged in for another saber stab. The Freedom deflected it and bashed the Justice in the face with its shield, sweeping in for the kill. Athrun let out a wordless yell and swung his saber down to block the Freedom’s horizontal swipe at the Justice’s waist.

“I…I…” Athrun murmured, glowering into the eyes of the Freedom Gundam, into the eyes of Kira Yamato. “I LOVED HER!”

The Justice surged again, shoving the Freedom down towards the water, and Athrun roared forward, saber raised.

“KIRA!”

The Freedom charged back up towards the Justice, its own saber drawn back for a killing blow.

“ATHRUN!”

There was a crash— the two mobile suits met in a shower of sparks, slammed against each other, struggling to overpower each other.

“I’ll track you down,” Athrun snarled. “I’ll find you! I’ll kill you! I’LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU!”

“You have no right to say that to ME!” Kira shrieked. The Freedom kicked the Justice in the chin, sending it staggering back, and swept in to attack again. Athrun looked up, too late, as the Freedom’s saber was already coming down—

…and landed against another beam saber. Athrun and Kira looked up furiously, finding the Duel Gundam there, beam saber drawn and blocking the Freedom’s killing swing at the Justice’s torso.

Athrun grunted as the Justice Gundam rocked, the Buster Gundam dropping in to seize it by the arms, and a moment later, Dearka took off. Kira turned his furious eyes on the Duel— Yzak backed away with a burst of exhaust, unloading his missile launcher into the Freedom. As Kira backed away with a CIWS burst, the Duel took off after the Buster.

“LET ME GO!” Athrun shrieked. “I’LL KILL HIM!”

“Not while getting yourself killed too!” Dearka shouted back. “Control yourself, Athrun!”

“He’ll kill you while you’re like this!” Yzak added, pausing to shoot down a BABI as it swept in behind them. “Get a hold of yourself!”

“HE KILLED CAGALLI!” Athrun screamed.

“And he’ll kill you too if you don’t calm down!” Dearka snapped. “Calm down! You’ll have time to fight him later, but you aren’t going to die here too, not if we can help it!”

Athrun fell silent for a moment, his fists clenched tight around the Justice’s controls, his arms trembling.

“I’ll…I’LL KILL YOU, KIRA!”

Dearka and Yzak exchanged a dour glance and boosted back towards the Megami.

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Aoma found herself on the barren shore of a tiny island, the maimed remains of her Sword Impulse Gundam lying on the side, washed up on the surface by the explosive destruction of a Vosgulov nearby. She dropped her helmet in the sand, staring at the plume of smoke rising from the spot where Ruumari had died.

“He…he’s gone…” she whispered. “…he…”

Something washed up at her feet in the surf. She looked down hollowly at it— Ruumari’s helmet sat at her feet, blackened and bloodstained. She picked it up slowly, staring at the broken, bloody glass, the red-stained, empty inside, the cracks and burns and spots of blood.

At last she collapsed to her knees and cried.

“Why couldn’t you just listen?!” she sobbed. “Why did you have to die?!” She looked up at the column of smoke. “WHAT DID YOU PROVE NOW?!” She turned away angrily, squeezing her eyes shut, her tears falling onto the blackened surface of his helmet. “What am I going to do…what am I going to tell your parents?!” She looked up again. “I told them I’d look after you! I told them we’d both come back! Why did you have to get yourself killed?!” She pounded the surf with her trembling fist. “DAMN YOU! COME BACK!”

There was a crash behind her— she turned around, finding Rey’s Blaze ZAKU Phantom towering over her. It knelt down next to her, putting one arm around the maimed Sword Impulse and hoisting it up.

“We are retreating,” Rey’s voice said over the ZAKU’s loudspeaker. “This attack has been a disaster. The Minerva is pulling out, and other units are likely to do the same. Come on.”

Aoma looked around desolately, picking herself up and clutching Ruumari’s empty helmet. “What about Luna?” she asked. “Where’s Luna?”

Rey was silent for but a moment. “Lunamaria was killed,” he said.

Aoma’s bloodshot eyes widened in horror. “Killed?!” she echoed. “She was— ”

“We are out of time,” Rey cut her off brusquely. “Get on. We’re going.”

Aoma made her way haltingly into the Sword Impulse’s cockpit and shut the hatch, enveloping her in darkness. She looked down at the dark shape of Ruumari’s helmet and cried.

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

Meyrin was sobbing uncontrollably. It was not military protocol to leave a hysterical crewmember in his or her post, but Talia could care less. Two of her pilots had died, along with the countless other ZAFT soldiers. Up above, the hulking form of the Destroy Gundam wiped out another Petrie-class battleship with its huge back-mounted quadruple cannons, sending dozens more ZAFT soldiers to their graves.

“Have we…lost?” Arthur asked quietly.

The Savior Gundam cruised into the hangar. Up above was a tower of smoke, and nearby, an island where Rey’s ZAKU Phantom was supporting a dismembered Sword Impulse. Talia knew the day would come where Ruumari would finally go too far, but that did not make it any less shocking when the blow was finally struck. And to think that Lunamaria had died as well…

Talia glanced at Meyrin, still sobbing hysterically. She cast a dour glance at Burt; he nodded in response and stood to gingerly take Meyrin by the shoulders.

“LUNA!” Meyrin shrieked, leaping out of her chair and rushing up to the screen. “COME BACK!”

“Meyrin— ” Arthur began, rising from his seat.

“Take her back to her room, and send for someone to fill her post in the meantime,” Talia cut in. Arthur looked at her in surprise. “That’s an order.”

“Y-Yes ma’am,” Arthur answered nervously, turning to take Meyrin by the shoulders and guide her off the bridge.

Talia watched numbly as Rey’s ZAKU took off and landed on the Minerva’s starboard mobile suit deck, stomping down into the hangar. She glanced at the battlefield— the ZAFT units were no longer bothering to retreat in an orderly fashion, but were simply fleeing in terror in the face of the unstoppable Destroy and the unexpected firepower of the Alliance fleet.

“We’ve received a priority message from the fleet commander,” Burt reported. Talia glanced grimly at him. “We are to retreat to Antarctica.”

“As I thought,” she said. “Malik, set course for Antarctica. Engines to maximum.”

“Yes ma’am,” Malik answered quietly, setting to work at the helm.

Talia sat back, staring at the plume of smoke that had once been Ruumari.

Everything, it seemed, was going to hell.

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

To be continued…