Gundam Seed: Kira Reloaded c24

~~~~~~Soon After at PLANTs~~~~~~

“...Destroyed?” Patrick Zala dumbly commented as he got the latest report.

“You telling me that 16 submarines, 32 GOOhn and 32 DINNs, were destroyed by a single machine and a warship!? Just how incompetent you are!? Does this make any sense to you!? Does it!? Tell me!

It’s ONE machine! O.N.E!!!” The current Supreme Chairman pointed one finger.

“...” The officer didn’t know what to say. He was looking uncomfortable just being here as Patrick continued to rant.

“And yet, he keeps on destroying my forces left and right!”

“...Umm…”

“WHAT!?”

“...Supreme Chairman… what should we do now?” 

Patrick looked like he was about to choke the soldier. But then he took a deep breath and calmed himself.

“...Nothing. We will leave them be… for now…” The man turned around and looked like he had swallowed a lemon.

“We don’t have forces to spare. Operation Spitbreak is upon us.” 

“...Understood.”

The soldier saluted before swiftly leaving the man, who returned to his office seat and looked at the family picture of his son and wife on the table.

“I will get my revenge.”

~~~~~~Meanwhile~~~~~~

“There you are.” Lacus walked on the observation bridge, where she found Kira.

“...Yes, the evening breeze is just what I need, Lacus.” The brown-haired teen replied as he leaned at the handrails.

“...How are you feeling? Lieutenant said that you performed beyond his wildest expectations. That’s something, considering he saw you fight before.” The girl ended up standing next to him.

“...It wasn’t a true fight. I consider it a strategic manoeuvring.” He said with a sigh.

“It was still a fight and victory, no?” She noticed that his ‘fighting spirit’ was bumped down.

“...Yes… well, I fried several hundred people and then erased another 20 with my Positron Cannon. I would say it was a complete wipeout.” He said while looking at the sunset.

“...It’s sad, isn’t it?” 

“...It is.” 

“...you don’t want to do it again?” She asked him curiously.

“...I do have mixed feelings. Hmm, I would say it differently. You see, this victory secured your return to PLANTs because ZAFT does not have the manpower to interfere.

I was surprised how many of them were here. But after destroying them, we have a clear corridor to ORB,” he said with a strained smile.

“...” 

‘...So he is sad that I am leaving… well… I…’

Lacus' cheeks turned red. She already knew that he liked her a lot, but…well, she was not immune to these words—not by a long shot.

She is slightly used to his flirting. But this was different…

“...I see… but it's not like we won’t be seeing each other.” She tried to spin it in a positive way.

“Indeed. But still, I do feel that I need my ‘Lacus energy’ as close as possible.” He said that while pulling her closer with one hand.

“...”

She blushed before sighting.

“...Then do so.”

After hearing that all clear, he pulled her closer, and once again, he hugged her from the back.

“...Does that mean you will be giving Cagali to Orb? Allowing a safe passage?”

“Indeed. You do realise that our rations are quite low. We didn’t take much from the locals after they got their freedom from ZAFT. 

On top of that, I need to see their Chief Representative.”

Lacus could sense how his tone slightly shifted into an excited one. The girl knows that he has a bunch of plans for Orb after the war and now.

It makes her wonder how he is so certain of everything working out in his favour…

She finds his confidence something akin to a safe haven, where she doesn’t need to think about anything, knowing that Kira will solve everything.

“...No doubt about your future schemes to get that ‘fat fish’.” She called THAT man by the nickname Kira gave him.

“Part of it. Yes, but I have developed a bunch of things that I want to show him. After all, I am still an engineer.” 

“...”

Lacus slightly smiled. No matter what, he still had something going on. He had a war to wage, fighting absurd odds, and yet he still thought about developing connections for…after War!

“...I do wish to have a portion of your enthusiasm.” the girl said with a sigh.

“Hmm, well, my secret is my passion for what I love. Obviously, I love you a lot. That is why you see so much of my attention on you.”

Lacus blushed heavily again…

“But this is why I am so obsessed with my stuff. Passion and obsession can make even the most talentless individual a force to be reckoned with.

Athrun is an individual whose talent is no less than mine. But he lacks… drive. I don’t mean simple drive; I mean passionate drive.

As long as he doesn’t have that, he will never win against me.”

“Hmm, so that’s your secret… I see… I will need to think about this.” The girl looked serious, and it appeared she took it to heart.

One could see that Lacus before this ‘wavered’, thought about what she could do to help with war.

Just like in alternative reality, Kira's speech gave her directions. This time, Kira boosted her morale.

~~~

A while later, Kira went to see Captain Ramius.

“Captain, we should move to Orb before moving to the Alaska base,” Kira told the Captain.

“...I was wondering when you will be asking that.”

“...Huh?” 

“Kid, you are not THAT hard to read when it comes to your pink princess.” The blonde Lieutenant chipped in as he was there, too.

“...I see…”

“Orb is the only place where she could return to her PLANTs, and we will hand over the princess back to her people,” Mu La Flaga said as he looked towards Cagali’s bodyguard, who was watching and listening to the conversation from a distance.

“Indeed. Then we can restock supplies, too.” Kira said with a small smile.

“Indeed. However, there will be some difficulties and dangers,” Ensign Badgiruel said with a sigh.

“We are of Earth Alliance with highly sensitive and prototype technology.” She said that while looking at Kira.

“Do you realise that sharing technology or anything like that will lead you to court marshal?” she clarified to him.

“Indeed. So I can simply give the things I developed while I was a civilian, though I will send my bill to Earth Alliance after that.”

“...Ugh…”

“Besides, I do need upgrades for Strike, and Morgenroete is where Gundam was developed in the first place. They already have half of the technology… right Cagali?” Kira smiled while looking at blonde hair poking from the side.

“You can’t be serious! You want to give more destructive technology to Orb!?” She exclaimed loudly.

“You do realise that your country is on the chopping block? There are three mass Drives on Earth’s surface. One is controlled by ZAFT, one is controlled by Earth Alliance, and one is controlled by Orb.

All it takes is for ZAFT to invade Panama, which is the most likely target. If it falls, Earth Alliance will gaze upon a very small and barely protected island nation with no allies.” 

“...”

“You are making that up! W- Why would they do that? Orb is neutral!” While she tried to give a tough front, he made sense to her, not that she wanted to accept that.

“If I see this, then your father saw this miles away. You need to remember that nations are ruled by people, and people can be greedy and unreasonable. Being strong in character and might will protect you from those.” Kira sighed before looking around.

Everyone is looking at him as if he grew up another head.

“What?”

“Have you ever considered joining Human Resources for Earth Alliance, Ensign Yamato?” Ensign Badgiruel asked him.

“...I prefer my mobile suit over constant human interactions. Anyway, I need to prepare some data for Orb to keep you satisfied, Ensign Badgiruel.” Kira bit his farewell and proceeded to walk back to his quarters.

“...Very well.” The black-haired officer nodded at him as it appeared he did care somewhat about the military protocol.

Once the conversation was over, Lacus swiftly got close to him and hugged his arm. 

“...Hmm?”

“It was quite the lesson, and you are right.” The pink-haired songstress meant what he said to Cagali. 

“I guess. I mean, I did think about this kind of thing a lot. I suppose I know certain things which people are still trying to figure out.”

As he said, he brought her to his room. Lacus ended up sitting on the bed while Kira proceeded to sort out some of the data he wanted to share and upgrades for Strike.

However, he realised that Lacus was there and that he could give her something.

He prepared to copy ‘Legion’s Portal’ for her since, thanks to the OS model the GAT units came with. Legion has already spread through whole PLANTs.

They should be fully stored in PLANT military and R&D, meaning that the virus should have spread to civilian technologies as well.

“I do have something for you.” 

Lacus, who was playing with her pink robot, looked at him. 

“What is it?” She asked him.

He showed her a memory stick.

“This is ‘Legion’. If you ever need help while you are in PLANTs, insert this into any computer you have, and it will assist you.

Hacking, data research, analysis, anything—it will do it for you.” He said that while taking her hand and putting the black memory stick on her palm. 

“...I see… So it's like A.I.?” she asked, but then a robotic voice spoke from the room's speakers.

[Artificial Intelligence, Legion, I assist in mobile suit controls, targetting, data analysis, mobile suit development and an array of other functions, Miss Lacus.]

Lacus looked around, but then she saw something on the laptop screen.

“...Oh… wow… your AI technology is that advanced!” The girl realised that this Legion was leagues ahead of her, Mister Pink!

“Indeed, and he will keep you safe until we meet again.” He smiled at her before sitting on the bed next to her.

“Because I know that you won’t be staying silent, won’t you?” He whispered with a knowing look.

Lacus showed him a ‘smile’.

“Who knows, Kira? Who knows.” She pocketed the memory stick before putting Mister Pink away and then getting closer to Kira by sitting on his lap.

“For now, I will do some other things~. We only have a couple of days left.~” Lacus slightly smiled as she, too, started to feel ‘weird.’ She knew that time was starting to run out for her, and she couldn’t run away anymore.

“Lacus?”

“Shhh~”

She leaned forward and proceeded to kiss him. There was no need to talk more after that.

Though… beyond kisses and snuggles, the pair didn’t do more.

After all, it was not the time yet. There are a bunch of things they need to do before becoming ‘serious’.

But it was enough for Kira to know that his Pink Princess was no longer lagging behind. He does know that the other Kira was a passive guy, and Lacus was a passive girl. It took them around four years to share their first kiss.

It’s horrible indeed. But this time, it was only a couple of months, and he made her initiate the first proper intimate contact.

He calls that a victory.

~~~~~~Days Later~~~~~~

[HALT! YOU ARE ENTERING ORB’S NATIONAL WATERS! TURN AROUND OR WE WILL OPEN FIRE!]

An entire fleet of ships is approaching Archangel from an island. They are about to enter ORB's territory.

“Well, Cagali, the stage is yours.” Kira motioned for the blonde to speak with HER navy.

“...Ugh… I hate that smug look you have.” The blonde complained before stepping forward and addressing her people.

“This is Cagali Yula Artha, cease your hostilities.”

[P-Princess!? You are back!?]

Sure enough, the change of tone was a complete 180-degree change.

“...It appears it did work.” Captain sighed in relief, just in case they were in level 2 battle stations….

Except that Kira didn’t bother to get into his mobile suit!