Gundam Seed: Kira Reloaded c36

“One machine! ONE MACHINE! How hard it is to blow up one machine!?” Patrick started to rant as he realised that… ZAFT is losing! Against one machine, no less!

“Sir! Emergency! Three warships are entering the battlefield! One of them is Eternal, then the Legged Ship and Orb’s Izumo-class.”

“Figures…” The Supreme Chairman scoffed before ordering the ships to intercept them.

“Separate a portion of the defence fleet to intercept. Pin them down and destroy it.”

The officers looked perplexed when they heard that. Aren’t Clynes in the Eternal?

“And where is my Genesis? Is it ready? Fire then!” Patrick exclaimed he was losing patience!

“Sir, we still need to calibrate the focusing lens. Considering Kira Yamato is not staying in a single place.”

“Ugh!!!” The man exclaimed with growing anger as he slammed his fist into the armrest.

~~~

The Justice Gundam was broad aboard the Eternal. The hatch opened, and Athrun came out. The first thing he saw was a gutted-out Strike.

For a second, he was confused. But then he made a connection.

Kira used Strike’s parts to improve Freedom. But was the stuff he developed that good?

Well, he didn’t need to think after he recalled how Freedom moved so well.

“Athrun, can you come over to meet me?” 

Siegel Clyne's voice spread through the comms.

Without wasting time, the blue-haired teen floated over to the doors and took the elevator to the changing room.

“Mr Clyne. My thanks for rescuing me, but is there a reason why you rescued me? I am…”

“The situation is bad. Your father has built a weapon of mass destruction behind everyone’s back. On top of that, in his quest for revenge, he plans to make Earth inhospitable.

Even now, as we speak, he is planning to shoot it again. We need all the help we can get to stop him.”

Siegel said that Athrun recalled how different his father was and then how serious Kira was in his fight. He had fought him several times before. His tone used to be more joking like war was amusing to him.

But now it’s different.

“Even if I want help, my machine is broken.” He pointed at the state of Justice.

“I could get a familiar machine for you.”

~~~

The pair swiftly transferred into a Legged ship where a familiar machine waited for Athrun…

“N-No way! Aegis is mine!” Cagalli complained as she was holding the leg of the GAT unit.

“Stop being unreasonable, Cagalli!” Her father sighed.

“Didn’t you hate the machine before?” Lord Uzumi spoke with a baffled tone.

“I did, but then I didn’t! Besides, he is the enemy! He is the one who stole it in the first place!” Cagalli looked at Ahrun as if he were a criminal.

“We don’t have time for this.” Siegel massaged his forehead as they are about to enter the battlefield and the only commanding officers they have is Mu La Flaga who is about to prepare his sniping job. 

And the Astray forces they have from Orb have barely any combat experience.

One individual Siegel trusts enough is Athrun, which he has known from a young age.

“Cagalli, you have no combat experience, and this is a life-and-death situation.” 

“...Fine. But I am lending it to you! Do you hear me!?” The blonde girl huffed as she let off the Gundam’s foot.

‘What a spitfire.’

The blue-haired teen sighed in relief. He never meet a girl like that.

“The machine is upgraded with the latest technology provided by Kira. If you want to run it, you need this.” Cagalli pulled out a red memory stick and handed it to him.

“The machine’s AI only responds to Kira or anyone with a memory stick.” The girl explained to him.

“Just be careful, Kira… well he is very senstive when it comes to his Gundams. The only thing he is more triggered is when Lacus is involved.” 

“...Yeah, I know…” 

Athrun grimaced. He knows all of that… well enough.

“Oh? You know?”

“Yeah. I have known him since elementary school.” The blue-haired teen looked at Aegis.

He is back where he has started… 

“Interesting.” The girl wants to know more, but…

“You can speak later! Athrun, can I trust you with this?” Siegel asked him.

“...Yes, this is more important than the war. My father needs to be stopped.” Athrun clenched the memory stick and looked at the Gundam.

“Then go. It appears you have found your confidence. Let Aegis do the rest.” Cagalli smiled slightly while saying that.

For some reason, when the girl said it like that, Athrun realised something. 

“Now go!”

Athrun proceeded to float towards the cockpit of the familiar machine.

But then he was surprised: When he entered the cockpit, he didn’t see any consoles, only a seat!

He was confused for a second, but he sat down anyway. The 360-degree screens started to power up.

The blue-haired teen noticed a single socket for the memory stick, so he placed it there.

At that moment, the control sticks came out, and the seat adjusted itself to fit him perfectly.

He then saw the Orb flag appear on the screen, and the powering-up pop-ups started to appear on the screens.

“...damn… is this how far Kira developed them?” 

[The assessment is not wrong, Athrun Zala]

“Who?”

[Artificial Intelligence Legion. I am the OS powering GAT/ORB X-303 Aegis]

‘AI that can speak!? Like self-awareness!?’

“...Are you Kira’s creation, too?”

[I was created with the purpose of assisting. My designation is a virtual butler. I operate systems and assist in combat situations.

But to answer your question, yes, I was created several years ago while the original GAT units were still being developed.]

Athrun had a look of realisation. Things started to make sense to him! Why he could not self-destruct Aegis at that time?

“You were implanted in Aegis from the very beginning!”

[Correction. I am Aegis. The GAT unit OS is built around me just like any other GAT-type machine.]

As Athrun was getting over the truth, the Aegis was loaded into the catapult bay.

[The machine has been upgraded since you piloted it last time. As the Mark 2 model of Aegis, it can still transform. However, there are several modes you can use with Mirage Colloid.]

A pop screen appeared in front of Athrun. He could see speed mode, artillery mode, and rapid transport mode.

“And how do I use it? There are only basic controls here…” Athrun is not used to such a minimalist cockpit.

[AI-assisted Neural link, you need to think or tell me.]

‘Damn that, Kira… just how he has been doing this…’

Athrun realised that Kira was not just fighting but developing machines simultaneously.

It was crazy just thinking about it.

“We are giving you a spare Linear Ultra Impact Railgun Rifle.”

A girl popped on his screen. Athrun is not used to seeing a white uniform-wearing comms officer. Hell, he was in an ex-Earth Alliance ship that defected to Orb…

His life is surely becoming chaotic.

‘Not to mention my father wants to kill billions…’

As he sighed, he pressed the button on his helmet, and the glass went down.

“I understand? Any instructions on how the weapon works?” Athrun asked the girl.

“Well, it's a very high-impact weapon, and is it a railgun at once? It works well on phase shift armour and regular machines. So do count your shoots, as it doesn’t have many of them.

While Aegis has four batteries, we don’t have that many spare rifles yet. Considering it's Kira's creation, it only works with AI assistance.” 

“Right, you guys used it in Africa, no?” 

“The prototype of this prototype.” The girl nodded.

The answer made Athrun sweat a bit. These people are crazy using so much untested tech…

“Do I need to be worried that it will blow up in my face?”

“Not really. There is a bigger chance Aegis blowing up first.”

“!!!”

The blue-haired teen looked around. Is he in danger!?

“Come now. You were piloting a nuclear-powered machine before this one. Are you more relaxed with a nuke under your seat than this machine?” The girl smirked while seeing the hypocrisy in the teen.

“Fair point.” 

The ZAFT elite took a deep breath and decided to get this over with.

“This is Athrun Zala, Aegis! Launching!”

With a press on the control stick, the machine was launched from Archangel toward the battlefield in the distance.

~~~

“Hey, Cagalli! I need some cover here! I need to focus on this thing!”

Mu La Flaga popped on the screen. But the blonde ace quickly saw a different person piloting it.

“Oh, aren't you the ZAFT kid?” The Buster’s pilot said with a surprise.

“Yeah, a desperate situation requires desperate actions,” Athrun said while using the Linear Railgun to shred a head of GCUE. 

‘Damn the sheer force of this weapon…’

Athrun quickly realised how much more responsive and faster his previous machine was—to the point that he dared compare it to Justice.

No, it is even better than Justice at speed and response time. He might be on battery again, but he can dish out more damage…

Thanks to all the Mirage Colloid in the machine frame! No wonder that girl said about him blowing up! What Kira created is playing with fire in the most literal sense!

“Heh, you are right! Anyway, cover me while I take out those focusing lenses!”

“Focusing lenses? But those are at least 150 kilometres away!”

“That is why I have this.” Mu La Flaga showed Athrun what Buster was holding. It was a super long barrel… a rifle? Or more like a sniper rifle…

The machine laid it down on the top of the catapult deck.

“Sure… I guess I will make sure no one gets close to you.” 

“We will help as well!”

The pilots of the Astray mobile suit said to the pair as the Orb warship started to launch the mass-produced machines.

“Great! Then let’s get this over with!”

Buster rushed to take his position as he laid down the Buster and started to target.

~~~

Kira looked at the info Legion was showing.

‘About time. I am feeling tired already!’

The Ultimate Coordinator looked at his hand. It was trembling already.

He is feeling sore and can’t sense half of his fingers at this point.

“Legion. Begin constructing a route for me. The fastest way of blowing that thing up?”

[Blowing it up the way we are is impossible. The best alternative is destroying the focusing lenses and disabling the navy.]

‘...Or blowing up a nuclear-powered mobile suit. Like how Athrun did.’

Kira grimaced as he realised that he will need to fight the remaining army… and that is still a lot. He already disabled more than half of ZAFT army.

“Well, I guess I will just destroy it from inside out.” 

[That is a possibility. But I would need to download the schematics of this construct.]

“We will think of something now. Let’s make a direct line of sight for Lieutenant!”

The Ultimate Coordinator blasted forward and once again used the multi-lock-on system. He targeted tens of machines and warships and launched his beams and railguns at them. By this time, he was already out of missiles.

Once they were down, he rushed forward and engaged in closer combat with the huge beam swords provided by the Meteor System.

He was slashing and slicing through GCUE, GuAIZ, and the Nazca and Laurasia ships behind them.

With a sweaty forehead, Kira blasted deep into ZAFT defence lines before using the Multi-lock system one more time.

After the explosions settled down, a purplish-yellow meteorite passed through and slammed into a focusing lens in the distance. 

The explosion was reflected on the dish, and everyone saw the explosion and destruction of the lense.

“Not bad! With this, it will take ages for another lens to be brought over.

Kira exclaimed with a tired voice as he used high speed to weave around the enemies and rush towards the Genesis. ZAFT forces were shocked by the destruction of the recently brought focusing lens!

Now they need another one!