Gundam Seed: Kira Reloaded c29

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SLAM


A fist slammed into the table, making everyone grimace. Here we go again…


“Can someone tell me? What is that!?!” Patrick Zala pointed at the pictures of the new Strike and its combat abilities.


“That punk improved that machine to the point that it can resist our entire invasion fleet!” 


Images of Strike moving at borderline supernatural levels and then utilising firepower equivalent to that of a Capital Warship are something concerning!


“I want this studied! I want answers! And someone tell the R&D I want Freedom and Justice finished on the double! We can’t wait anymore!” 


Patrick’s hand was shaking as he was pissed and could barely control himself. 


The summoned officer swiftly nodded before leaving the Supreme Council Room.


“With Alaska blowing itself up, we have nothing to hold that territory.” One of the members said to the Supreme Chairman.


“...I know. Since they thought they were smart, I want Panama taken from them! They think they are smart with such a sacrificial move. Well, they are wrong! Now send a word! Forces are to regroup and launch an invasion into Panama!”


“Understood.”


As Patrick instructed the military officer, one of the officials was sitting silently at the council table.


It was Siegel Clyne, the father of Lacus Clyne. He looked at pictures of the improved Strike. The man had already heard stories about this pilot from Lacus and his intense interest in robotics.


‘This war has to end. I want to see what he can create when conflicts do not constrain him.’


He thought with a sigh as he was thinking about his next move. 


~~~~~~Orb Union~~~~~~


Lord Uzumi, with his cabinet members, was watching as asylum-seeking defected ships from Alaska entered their national waters.


One of them was state-of-the-art Archangel with its crew.


“It happened just like he said it would.” 


“I say it's concerning how right he is, considering what will happen next.” The nobles of Orb were…concerned.


They know that next will be Panama, and then… Orb. Thankfully, they have Kira Yamato, who has defected and is now joining Orb.


However, the price of his ‘services’ some of them consider far too high. 


But for the sake of peace and independence, they are willing to work with such an ambitious teenager.


~~~


As the crew of Earth Alliance left their warships, the leaders or Orb approached them.


“Well, it appears your trip to Alaska was a short one.” Lord Uzumi said to Kira as he followed closely what happened to the HQ of Earth’s Alliance.


So far, everything went just like Kira had said would happen.


Next is the invasion of Panama. If that happens, then well… 


Orb is next.


“Yes, and I have all the dirt you want on Atlantic Federation.” Kira pulled out a memory stick.


“You can use that to destabilise the Alliance.” He handed it over to the leader of Orb.


“...I will make sure they walk on thin glass.” The politician smirked as he pocketed the memory stick.


Ahem!


Captain Murrue Ramius coughed into her hand to get their attention.


“We have defected from Earth’s Alliance and are requesting a safe haven from the Alliance.” 


Lord Uzumi smiled upon hearing that.


“Sure, we will distribute new uniforms shortly to your men, Captain Ramius.” 


“My new pilot uniform should be blue, Lord Uzumi.” Kira chipped in as he raised his hand.


“Of course.” The leader of the Union nodded at the Strike’s pilot’s request.


‘These two…’ 


The Captain massaged her forehead. Just how much they have foreseen and worked behind her back to set this up?


“Cool, I want a custom one too.” Mu La Flaga joined the ‘fun’.


“...Mu! You can’t…” Captain snapped at the blonde.


“Lord Uzumi, what about the prisoners?” Lieutenant Badgiruel chipped in as she realised that they had defected to Earth Alliance and were now joining Orb Union… full time…


Internally, she was grimacing, but part of her was relieved. They won’t be serving radical extremists with questionable agendas anymore.


“Release them. You are no longer with Earth Alliance, but Orb and Orb are not at war with ZAFT.” 


“Very well.”


“I won’t be returning Buster, Aegis, or LaGOWE to them.” Kira once again chipped in as he looked annoyed at such a possibility.


“Don’t worry—they have been ‘confiscated.’ Only military personnel can have mobile suits in Orb Union,” Lord Uzumi reminded Kira.


If he wants to keep them, he needs to stay in the military.


“I see, good enough for me.” 


~~~~~~Moments Later~~~~~~


The Brig doors opened as… Orb soldiers entered the room! Seeing them has confused the ZAFT soldiers!


“We are setting you free.” Captain Ramius said to ZAFT soldiers behind bars.


“...Hmm? Something happened?” Commander Andrew Waltfeld asked as everyone approached the bars.


“Well…” Kira poked his head and looked at them.


“Earth Alliance decided to sacrifice us, and we declined that offer, so we joined Orb. That means you guys are no longer prisoners. Isn’t that just great?” 


“What he said.” Captain rolled her eyes as she looked at Kira.


“So you all are free to go. Orb will arrange a shuttle back to PLANTs.” 


“What about our machines?” Daerka asked with a small frown.


“Confiscated. Besides, Orb won’t arrange that big of a shuttle to space for you.” Captain explained. Besides, she could sense Kira’s getting territorial next to her.


“...Fine.”


One by one, the soldiers opened the cells for them and set them free.


“Well, this was a ‘fun ride’,” Commander commented as he recalled the bumpy moments they were experiencing.


“I am glad you enjoyed Archangel Express,” Kira commented back with a grin.


“Yeah, I won’t be joining it again, kid.”


“Hmm, it depends on how well you perform on the battlefield.” He shrugged back before looking at Athrun, who looked as pissed off as ever.


“See you later, Athrun.”


“What happened to Lacus? I haven’t seen her.” He said with an angry tone.


“At PLANTs, she left last time we were in Orb. You don’t think I would take her to Alaska?” Kira replied with a questioning look.


“You will never know with someone like you.” Athrun tried to goad him, but Kira simply grinned back at him.


“Hah, and that’s why you always lose to me, Athrun.” Kira shook his head before leaving the brig.


Tsk


Athrun clenched his fist. He wanted to make him snap at him, but Kira's reply only made him mad!


“He would rather kill you all than let her get into danger, kid.” Mu La Flaga chipped in as he was at the back with crossed arms.


“You are alive because of her words to him. I'm surprised that he didn’t get angry with that comment.” The blonde said, wondering what Kira was thinking. Lacus is, in a way, a trigger word for him.


“Can we just leave? I don’t care about Athrun’s failed love life.” Daerka groaned with a bored tone.


The blue-haired teen looked at the blonde ZAFT pilot with a pissed-off look.


“What? It's true, isn’t it?” 


“Okay, okay, you two, let’s get out of here!” The commander grabbed both of them and proceeded to pull towards the doors.


‘Boys, they will never change.’ The only female in the group shook her head after seeing the interaction.


~~~~~~Later~~~~~~


Several days passed after the ‘battle’ of Alaska, and the Panama invasion began. 


Even if Earth Alliance deployed their new Strike Daggers, mass-produced mobile suits to balance out the battlefield, it was no match for ZAFT's overwhelming numbers of the invasion fleet. Blitz and Duel were leading the front, and ZAFT was fighting with a vengeance for the trap Earth Alliance tried to use on them.


As predicted by Kira, Panama has fallen, and Earth Alliance no longer has the capability to deploy troops to space.


That leads to ZAFT’s closer to victory than ever before.


On the other hand, it leads to Earth’s Alliance getting cornered, meaning that they are about to do something desperate: invade an independent country with the capacity to launch things into space.


Because of the incoming war, preparations are being made in Orb. Citizens were notified, and the army was expanded. Mobile suits are being prepared.


As this was happening, things were happening in Morgenroete.


“...C’mon, Kira, it’s not like you are piloting this machine.” Mu La Flaga exclaimed with a sigh. They watched how Aegis was being transported to Morgenroete. 


“That's right! I will be piloting it!” Cagali walked over as she puffed her chest.


“If you scratch the paint job, I'm going to make you repaint the whole frame,” Kira said in a dead serious tone.


His tone made Cagali flinch.


“I-Its a war machine! It's supposed to get scratched and stuff.” 


Before she could say more, he grabbed her by the neck and pulled her closer.


“This is a Gundam! Not some GINN or DINN. They represent what we are! Their power is greater than any other run-of-the-mill mobile suit!


Each and every one represents something. The best example is the myths of King Arthur and his knights. Each knight was special and stronger than any simple soldier. They wielded magical weapons like holy swords.”


Kira kept on ranting about how important they were, Gundam; it sounded so insane that people took it seriously.


Eventually, he let go of Cagali. The girl even forgot to resist, given how seriously this crazy guy sounded.


“...If it so important to you—”


“Its conviction to your ideals. How strongly you believe in your ideas. A Gundam will make it happen. I wanted to protect Lacus. I want to fight for a world where I can relax and do my thing of tindering away my days.


So, as long as you believe in yourself, you will be invincible inside one of these.” He said to her as he watched Aegis being taken away from Archangel.


“...I see.”


“If you break Aegis, I will make you put it back together piece by piece. Princess or not, there won’t be peace for you.” 


Gulp


“Y-Yeah, I will see you later, guys!” She rushed away after the trailer with Aegis.


“Is what you said true?” Mu La Flaga asked him with a serious look.


“Which part?”


“...The Gundam part.”


“That is my belief. If you believe in something, you will always be stronger than the rest. Trust in your mobile suit to perform, and it won’t going to disappoint you.” The Ultimate Coordinator said to him.


“I suppose you are right. I always thought that Strike and his brother machines had this… strange feeling to it.”


“Well, you have Buster. I suppose we have time to start improving it into Mark II.” 


Mu La Flaga’s eyes widened as he then grinned.


“Sure. I'm up for that!”


“Good. Since Erica Simmons took my Aegis and LaGOWE, she will have to humour me with Buster’s upgrades.” Kira smirked as he found a way to ‘fight’ back.


“...Sounds like a plan.”


~~~~~~PLANTs~~~~~~


At the capital city of PLANTs, Aprilius One, on the outskirts of the city, on the beautiful countryside estate, there was a manor facing the lake.


Inside the estate, a pink-haired girl gazed at the lake with an absent-minded look. The girl had just received the news.


Alaska’s invasion was a failure.


The girl was confused. When she returned, her father said that the attack would be on Panama, but Kira said it would be on Alaska.


Eventually, Kira was right; the attack was on Alaska, but then the attack failed. She heard from her father that Kira told ZAFT to let them pass; he didn’t want to fight them.


It was strange to hear that.


‘Heh… so he did listen to my request.’ The girl recalled that she asked something like this at some point.


‘But now, since we are at this point. ZAFT is close to winning. All we need is to sue for peace, and this will be over…


But… if they don’t…’


Lacus bit her lower lip as she realised that she was about to rebel alongside her father. Patrick Zala had already lied to them once, and now they would test him again.


[Miss Lacus, Athrun Zala wants to speak with you. He has arrived at your front door entrance.]


The girl’s eyes widened for a second. She was expecting this, considering she was with Earth Alliance for over two months. Everyone kept it silent. But Athrun was there.