Gundam SEED Destiny
Kira
By: Tellemicus Sundance
Legacy of the Dark Knight

This isn't a chapter. Rather, it is my way of finally bringing closure to this story because I don't think I'll ever finish it. I know that many of you were (and still are) disappointed that I gave up on this story, just as things were really starting to get interesting. I know because I'm just as disappointed in myself, probably even more so than any of you are.

Without further ado, here are the spoilers for what I'd originally had planned for this story.

Gibraltar Incident

After arriving in Gibraltar and donning the disguise of a common ZAFT green soldier, Akira begins discreetly planting bombs and setting timers throughout the base. Although Rey is also at the base and can partially sense his presence, Akira is purposely suppressing his to hide among the crowd. Though feeling rather anxious, Rey can't pinpoint exactly why. Akira focuses a majority of his attention on the mobile suit ammunitions and energy cells. Once he's finished, he meets with Tolle in the prison and clues him into what he was planning. Later that night, after Athrun, Shinn, and Heine are given the Destiny, Legend, and Fate Gundams, Akira hacks into the computer network and gets into contact with Athrun. After determining that Athrun no longer agrees with Durandal's policies and questionable goals, he outlines a perfect escape plan for Athrun to use.

A short while later, Akira crashes the network and cuts off all power to the base. Coupled with time bombs he planted earlier, this causes mass confusion and panic throughout the base. During the initial confusion, Akira locates Meer and enlightens her to the fate of the Falacci and their murder by ZAFT forces under Durandal's orders. Because he strongly believed that she still hadn't seen the err of her trust in Durandal's omniscience, Akira left her with the warning that if they ever met again on opposite sides of a conflict he'd punish her. With his message delivered, Akira fled the base to begin the next phase of his plan.

Athrun was able to steal a motorcycle and fled out the front gate and towards the waiting plane that Akira had prepared, which could take him to Orb. Tolle also used the loss of power to escape from his prison cell. However, he decided to hijack a GOUF to escape the base, which of course drew Shinn's attention. Despite using a Coordinator mobile suit he wasn't familiar with, Tolle was able to put a very good fight against Shinn, but he was still outclassed. During that battle, Tolle reams into Shinn about the choices he's made and his inability to learn forgiveness. Unknown to either of them, they had been broadcasting their argument over an open channel, all of the ZAFT base heard them. Even though Shinn killed him in the end, Tolle was christened as the Orange Knight of Orb by the ZAFT soldiers who'd witnessed the battle.

It was only after this Akira managed to arrive with the Karai Gundam for Tolle. Too late to save Tolle and having attracted ZAFT's attention, Akira steals a rocket booster and blasts up into orbit with the Karai. His destination was the Mathilde Colony, not knowing it had been destroyed a while ago.

Battle of the Debris Belt

As Athrun was slowly making his way to Orb and Akira towards the former Mathilde Colony, the ZAFT operation Harvest Reapers had managed to corner the Early Harvest and Late Autumn in the Debris Belt. Because the ZAFT commander, Aleron Delahaye, was an EH traitor, he was able to perfectly predict and counter all of Captain Brimfield's tactics before they were even made. Had it not been for the X-unit Gundams, the pirates would've been annihilated. As it were, they suffered massive damage to their ships, lost over half their mobile suit force (including the X3 Loyalty), and were limping away when Terminal forces and Akira in the Karai arrived, attracted by the X3's nuclear explosion. Caught by surprise by unexpected reinforcements, the ZAFT team was soundly defeated and retreated.

Though weary of each other at first, because Akira was well-known and friendly to people on both sides, Terminal and the surviving Early Harvest pirates rallied together and opened negotiations. It was during these negotiations that certain interesting facts were discovered.

ZAFT Conquers the Alliance/Revolutionary New Gundam

Though setback by the loss of a significant portion of the supplies, the allied ZAFT and Earth Alliance forces march on Heaven's Base. With help from the Destiny, Legend, and Fate Gundams, the battle was short but bloody, a nearly one-sided fight with ZAFT emerging victorious. But, despite the arrest of numerous Logos members, Djibril escaped and made his way to Orb.

In space, construction begins in desperation for the completion of a new Gundam design. During their mobilization at the beginning of the war, Terminal forces had discovered a strange Gundam frame from the previous war in one of the warehouses they'd commandeered. However, the Gundam had never been completed and the design plans were nowhere to be found. With the arrival of the Early Harvest, Professor K had taken a quick tour of their hangar and recognized the frame some of the data she and Akira had stolen from ZAFT. With a quick study of the plans, they began modeling the machine to fit Akira's preferences because he was the only Coordinator strong enough to withstand the tremendous G-Forces and overwhelming power the Gundam would've been capable of.

The Karai Gundam was upgraded for use by Coordinators and given to Captain Brimfield as a sign of good faith and thanks. And during this month of construction, the X1 Courage and X2 Honor are seriously upgraded with numerous new weapons and abilities.

Akira was spending a significant portion of his time helping out on the Gundam's construction so as to keep his mind off of Lacus. Now that he was quickly beginning to realize to realize that he really had once been Kira Yamato, he was constantly finding himself confused over his feelings about many things; chief among being Lacus. Though he does care deeply for her, he doesn't to be with her if it means he has to be someone he no longer remembers being.

Operation Fury

Arriving in Orb at long last, Athrun is surprised to learn that the Archangel has already received his Infinite Justice Gundam from Terminal, on recommendations from Lacus. He is also just in time to launch with Cagalli in the Akatsuki to defend Orb from Operational Fury and the Seirans' incompetence. Arriving late, the Minerva launches the Destiny and Fate into the battle. While Athrun is busy fighting against Heine, Shinn goes to aid in the search of Durandal. However, he's unable to keep his hatred of the country back and begins indiscriminately attacking fleeing Orb citizens and soldiers.

Having caught wind the coming attack, Terminal jumps into action. They send the X1 Courage, X2 Honor, the Karai, DOM Trooper, Hizacks, and Akira in his new NOVA Gundam transporting Lacus to the Archangel. Lured away by these dangerous new opponents, the ZAFT forces quickly are defeated after they witness the NOVA's incredible fighting abilities. The NOVA reduces the Destiny and Legend to little more than flying cockpits, completely defenseless, but Akira allows them to retreat. Because he hadn't grown accustomed to the NOVA and had gotten multiple injuries during the fight because of the intense G-Forces and he's forced to retreat to the Archangel for immediate medical attention.

Despite Akira having to retreat from the battlefield due to his injuries, the battle still hasn't ended. ZAFT forces continue pounding against the Orb defenders. Shortly afterwards, the remaining Phantom Pain forces arrive offshore and aid in the defense of Orb. However it wasn't out of loyalty to Djibril that they took up arms against ZAFT, it was because of Akira saving their substitute commander's life earlier (aftermath of the Battle of Lohengrin Gate). But it isn't until Djibril launches for space that the battle comes to an end. Afterwards, these remaining Phantom Pain forces follow their old commander's lead (Neo) and officially join Terminal.

Tears of the Stars

As he's recovering from his injuries from the battle, Akira finds himself playing with Lacus' child, Kawayui, whom he nicknames Yui-chan. Unnoticed by either of them, Lacus watches them interact with a wistful yearning. Meanwhile, Neo finally decides to remain with the Archangel because he feels a close familiarity towards Murrue.

Furious and humiliated at how easily he was defeated, Shinn puts himself through rigorous training exercises to better attune himself to the Destiny's abilities. After Lacus exposes Meer as a duplicate during Cagalli's broadcast that ZAFT interrupted, Durandal puts Meer into seclusion in Copernicus City. He also orders the Minerva back into space for a bit of R&R. Also, ZAFT forces notice several Earth Alliance fleets grouped around the O'Neil Colonies and are positioning them at various points throughout the region. While at Copernicus City, when Meer hears that the Archangel had docked, she sees her chance and flees to join the crew. Thanks to reluctant help from Akira, she was allowed entry to the warship (after being thoroughly checked and screened for tracking devices). When she's allowed to meet the real Lacus and learns of her connection to Akira, Meer finally understands how and why Akira was able to so easily believe that she was a fake. She remains on the Archangel for the rest of the war.

On the moon, Djibril fires the Requiem. But because of a minor alteration to one of the reflection stations, he misses his intended target but still destroys six PLANTS. Learning of the devastating power and the death toll, furious ZAFT forces destroy the reflector station and the Minerva trashes the Requiem base, killing Djibril as he tries to flee in the Girty Lue.

Battle of the Requiem

When ZAFT forces fire the repaired Requiem into the final remaining Earth Alliance base to oppose them and the Destiny Plan, Terminal scrambles to destroy the various reflector stations and beam emitter. It is during this battle that the Early Harvest and Late Autumn face off against Aleron Delahaye again, he's piloting an upgraded version of the Dominator Gundam that had been captured by ZAFT forces during the Destroy Incident. During the battle, the Early Harvest is severely crippled. It is finally destroyed when Captain Brimfield sacrifices himself and the ship to use the Early Harvest's energy shield to block a premature blast the Requiem at the Terminal fleet. Aleron is killed by a combined effort between the vengeful remaining Early Harvest mobile suits, the X-units, and the Late Autumn.

Then the Minerva and a significant portion of the ZAFT fleet arrive. A gigantic battle ensues as the remaining Terminal forces try to stall the fleet as the Archangel battles and cripples the Minerva while Athrun and Mu destroy Requiem. Akira faces off against Heine but isn't fairing too well because his injuries from the previous battle hadn't completely healed and the NOVA begins to overheat.

The battle would've ended in the eventual defeat of Terminal by the ZAFT forces had Akira not pushed the NOVA so hard that it needed to activate its emergency Super NOVA cool down, creating a massive cloud superheated particles to fill the battlefield and cause both sides to retreat away from the miniature sun that the NOVA Gundam had become. However, while this emergency system saved Akira's life and prevented the NOVA's unstable reactor from melting and exploding, it also reduced the Gundam to useless slab of steel once the metal cooled off. Had Akira not ejected himself from the cockpit shortly after the system and heat had died down, he would've been trapped inside it.

Battle of the Messiah

As he was floating out in space above his destroyed Gundam, Akira's memories finally began realigning themselves. He remembered battling against Rau Le Creuset, he remembered Athrun, Cagalli, Lacus, and all his friends, but most importantly he remembered why he'd subconsciously decided to forget all about his past. It was the discovery of his origins, being the Ultimate Coordinator and the dark past that surrounded it, that he'd didn't want to associate with, so he'd locked it all away inside himself until he'd felt 'ready' to face it again. He finally acknowledged that he was indeed Kira Yamato, but that he was also Akira Iyadomi.

While Kira was undergoing this revelation, the ZAFT fortress Messiah had finally decided to enter the battlefield. Launching the Destiny, Legend, and over two hundred mobile suits, Durandal was fully expecting to destroy the Eternal, Archangel, and Terminal before they had a chance to regroup.

However, just after the NOVA's emergency cool down system activated, Lacus had the Eternal launch their spare Gundam towards the NOVA's last known coordinates. This Gundam was the accumulation of the Neo Freedom's battle data that Terminal had uploaded from the OS, merged with modern technology. Lacus had named it the Divine Freedom. But because of the discovery and completion of the NOVA, it had been set aside to be used as a backup. Kira was able to board and activate the Divine Freedom as it neared his location.

Using it and joined by the Courage, Honor, and Karai, he directly attacks the Messiah's forces. Despite being heavily outnumbered, the Gundams are able to tear through their enemies due to their greater combat experience and better suits. After dealing with the ZAKUs and GOUFs, the Courage and Honor turn their attentions to destroying the Messiah while the Karai and Freedom battle against the Legend and Destiny respectively. It was a brutal battle, but Lieutenant Ken Ohajin (acting Captain of the Late Autumn and pilot of the Karai) and Kira were able to defeat their opponents, crippling the ZAFT Gundams. Shinn is knocked unconscious and the Destiny floats away, Rey is able to get the Legend to limp back aboard the Messiah.

With the Messiah practically falling apart and being evacuated because of the damage inflicted by the Courage and Honor, Kira lands the Freedom inside and goes to meet with Durandal. Kira finds Durandal still inside the command tower, waiting for him. As they argue over their beliefs of how the world should be run and whose dream of a future would be better, Rey sneaks in prepares to shoot Kira. When all words are spoken, a single shot is fired.

Outside, ZAFT forces are in disarray because of the destruction of the Messiah and their loss of contact with Durandal. Thanks to Terminal scrambling their forces and surrounding the disorganized fleet, the ZAFT forces surrender and peace talks begin at last. More four hundred lives were lost in the Battles of the Messiah and Requiem.

Among those missing were the machines and pilots of the Divine Freedom and Destiny.

Epilogue – Five Years Later

It is the evening of the anniversary of the Valentines Wars, Lacus (Supreme Chairwoman of the PLANTS) is throwing a small party for all her friends in her home. Many people come to celebrate with them, including Cagalli and Athrun who were briefly able to escape Orb with their twin sons. Even Meer, who had taken up her own musical career, attended the party.

After a long party, Lacus' husband takes the children and tucks them into bed, but not before telling them the story of the mysterious Dark Knight of Freedom. He tells of the young man's many battles, his disappearance after the Battle of the Messiah, and that the belief of the peoples of Earth and Space that the Dark Knight wasn't dead but that he had once again gone into hiding, awaiting the day for which war would once again threaten the peace of the world. Later that night, Kira Yamato learns that his wife, Lacus, was pregnant with their third child.

On that same evening, a young man with amnesia departs from the secret Izanami colony. He leaves in search of discovering his lost identity, his only clue being the mobile suit he'd been rescued in: the Destiny Gundam.

Unreleased Gundam Data

ZGMF-1001HMX/DC Slash ZAKU Phantom
Model number: ZGMF-1001HMX/K, High-Maneuver Experimental-Type/Delahaye Custom
Unit type: commander type mobile suit
Manufacturer: Integrated Design Bureau
Operator: ZAFT (Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty), Aleron Delahaye
First deployment: unknown
Accommodation: pilot only, in standard cockpit in torso
Dimensions: overall height: 19.1 meters
Weight: max gross weight 88.1 metric tons
Power Plant: ultracompact energy battery
Equipment and design features:
Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network (DRAGOON)
Hard points for mounting Wizard packs
Sensors, range unknown
Fixed armaments:
2 x MMI-M826 "Hydra" Gatling beam cannon, mounted on backpack
2 x shield, mounted on shoulders
Optional hand armaments:
1 x MMI-M633 beam assault rifle, stored on rear waist
1 x MMI-558 "Tempest" beam sword, stored behind right shoulder
2 x MA-M941 "Vajra" beam saber, stored on hip armor
Remote weapons:
6 x GDU-X5 beam assault machine cannon, stored in shields and on waist

ZMOI- X01T NOVA (based on 00 Raiser and Strike Freedom)
Model Number: ZMOI-X01T, Zero Multi-range Operation Interceptor – Experimental Unit 01 Third Generation
Unit type: prototype assault mobile suit
Manufacturer: Terminal, Early Harvest
Operator: Akira Iyadomi
First deployment: March 22, 74 CE (Second Battle of Orb)
Power Plant: ultracompact proton reactor (nuclear ghost particle reactor)
Color: Blue, gold
Height: 18.8M
Weight: 79.89t (tons)
Equipment and design features:
"HiMAT 2.0" ballistic attack system
Movable wing-shields (shields can produce a force field that reflects all beam attacks)
Neutron Jammer Canceller
Sensors, range unknown
Super NOVA, emergency reactor cooling system (Trans-AM Burst)
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
"Voiture Lumiere" light propulsion engine system
Fixed armaments:
2 x Z2X5X 12.5mm CIWS, fire-lined, mounted in head
2 x AAF-Q10 Type X "Safian" railgun, mounted on hips, swivels back to double as a venire booster (experimental)
2 x ZMOI Type X "Nova" plasma cannons, mounted on wing-shields, doubles as a rapid-fire cannons (experimental)
4 x beam shield generator; 2 mounted on wing-shields, 2 mounted on wrists
Optional Hand Armaments:
2 x MA-M21KF high-energy beam rifle, combinable sniper rifle, stored in wings
1 x ZCM-999 "Soul Edge" anti-ship beam sword, stored on back (experimental)
2 x MA-M7X VPS armor short sword/beam saber, combinable, stored in wings (experimental)
4 x Type 100X beam saber, stored in legs and shoulders

EHG-X2T Honor
Unit type: prototype attack mobile suit
Model Number: EHG-X2T, Early Harvest Gundam-eXperimental unit 02-Terminal
Manufacturer: Mathilde Colony (Early Harvest), Terminal
Operator(s): Early Harvest, Dalen Bertelsen
First deployment: March 22, 74 CE (Second Battle of Orb)
Power Plant: ultracompact hyper deuterion nuclear reactor
Color: Faded orange (torso, shoulders, forearms), white
Equipment and design features:
Mirage Colloid
Neutron Jammer Canceller
Sensors, range unknown
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
Armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in chest
1 x MMI-RG59V mobile shield, mounted on left arm
2 x MX2351 "Solidus Fulgor" beam shield generator, mounted on wrists
2 x M71-AAK "Folding Razor" anti-armor knife, stored in hip armor
Optional Hand Armaments:
2 x RQM60 "Flash-Edge" beam boomerang, stored on shoulders
2 x MMI-980 "Claymore" anti-ship sword, combinable, stored on back
4 x MA-80V DRAGOON assault beam cannons, stored on back
1 x MMI-M633 beam assault rifle, stored on rear waist
2 x MA-M941 "Vajra" beam saber, stored on hips

ZGMF-XX0A Divine Freedom
Unit Type: Prototype assault mobile suit
Manufacturer: Integrated Design Bureau
Operator(s): Terminal, Akira Iyadomi
First Deployment: April 29, 71 CE (Battle of the Messiah)
Power Plant: ultracompact hyper deuterion nuclear reactor
Equipment and Design Features:
Neutron Jammer Canceller
Sensors, range unknown
Variable Phase Shift (VPS) armor
"Voiture Lumiere" light propulsion engine system
Fixed Armaments:
2 x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted on head
2 x M100 "Balaena" plasma beam cannon, stored in wings, mounted over shoulders in use
2 x MMI-M15E "Xiphias 3" rail cannon, folded underneath hips, spread out in use
2 x MX2200 beam shield generator, mounted on wrists
Optional Hand Armaments:
2 x MA-M02G "Super Lacerta" beam saber, stored on shoulders
2 x MA-M21KF high-energy beam rifle, stored on hips, can be combined

And these are my final little treats for you that I'd been saving to use in the coming chapters. These were originally written by my friend and co-author Fiction Reader98 about his character of Dalen Bertelsen. I hope you enjoy these little pieces he'd written a long time ago.

Battle of the Debris Belt

Brimfield gripped his chair hard as the Early Harvest shook from yet another blast. "Enemy mobile suits approaching!" He heard the CIC operator, Yachi Lungho, shouted from his chair. "Two Slash ZAKU warriors and a Gunner ZAKU coming at us from the starboard side!"

"Contact our mobile suits, tell a few of them we need some cover support now!" Brimfield hollered as a series of small explosions appeared on one side of the pirate vessel. Its weapons attempted to shoot them down, but the three ZAFT machines were too fast.

"We've got fires on decks 3, 5, and 17!" another crewmember shouted in fire.

"We just lost an engine, maneuvering ability reduced by forty percent!"

That's when a small explosion erupted from behind Brimfield who quickly turned his head around in time to see two of his people flew across the room. They were dead before they hit the opposite wall.

"We just lost the second Lohengrin sir!" Nojiri reported, fear more than apparent in his voice as Yachi and another crewman ran over to the burning destroyed consoles, using fire extinguishers to get it under control.

"Where are those mobile suits?" the Captain demanded again. Seeing that the fire was mostly under control, Yachi jumped back to his position and rechecked the readings without issue this time. "... none available sir..."

Brimfield turned his head to look directly at the man. "What do you mean 'none available'? How many are left?"

"... Seven."

It was like someone had taken a hammer and hit the entire bridge crew at once in the stomach as the Early Harvest shook once more. Only seven mobile suits left? How? How could they have lost so many so quickly? Brimfield's eyes shifted to the windows themselves, not needing any sort of reading to tell him just how many units the ZAFT still had operational. "The Courage?"

"I can't contact it sir."

"... The Loyalty?"

"... Being trashed by that black Slash ZAKU Phantom..."

Delahaye's unit from what his pilots had said. And the Honor was still grounded due to its problems. He suddenly felt ten years old as he just sank into his chair.

How were they going to get out of this?

"Enemy ships moving!" another woman spoke up. "The Laurasia is coming at us head on and the other two are moving off to the left and right!"

Flanking maneuvers. They intended to cut off any escape routes and trap them from all sides.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

Professor K nearly lost her footing as the ship rocked again. "Prepare to receive!" She shouted at the others as a damaged GuAIZ flew in and crashed against the safety harness (No idea what the proper term is). "Get the man out of there and begin maintenance!"

"Commence cooling of mobile suit." a female crewmember announced as water hoses began spraying down the damaged machine. A loading ramp was moved to the cockpit as a team began cutting through the cockpit to get the man out as K shot a fleeting glance at the lifeless Honor. It gave the lingering impression of a warrior that had lost its soul, unable to fight even as battle raged all around them.

There were times she could had sworn the machine was crying at being useless in such a critical time, but that was ridiculous of course. Machines couldn't cry.

That's when the klaxons appeared, bathing the hanger in red and noise as all heads jerked to see a new horror. A Blaze ZAKU had burst into the hanger, it's gaze looking around as it pulled out its assault rifle and opened fire on the damaged EH mobile suit, blowing it to pieces along with the support crew.

"Take cover!" K yelled, throwing herself behind a piece of debris as the ZAFT machine turned its weapon and fired off another shot further damaging the hanger.

That's when a large sword came flying out of nowhere as it pierced the cockpit of the ZAKU resulting in its destruction. K just watched in disbelief not wanting to believe where that sword could have come from. That buffoon wouldn't dare try and - !

That's when the Honor walked over and recovered its single Claymore blade from the wreckage.

Never mind... yes, he would.

"Lieutenant!" K shouted as the Honor reached down and picked up the rifle. "Get your ass out of there right now! It's in no shape to go out!" The Honor just turned around as it headed towards the exit as K followed along, a vein threatening to erupt from her forehead. "You barely have any weapons left! Your machine still hasn't been repaired and the reaction is still a hazard! You won't last thirty seconds out there!"

"Then I better make those thirty seconds count." came a response from the Gundam pilot at last as it got on the catapult.

K was ready to erupt on the moron as she walked to the wall communicator to alert Brimfield. Maybe he could talk some sense into this idiot! "Do you have a death wish! If you go out there..."

"... if I don't, we're dead anyway." Dalen replied.

K's hand halted for a moment.

"We're losing. If I stay, we're going to be blown to atoms from ZAFT. It's no different from being blown to atoms from the Honor. If I've got to go, then I'm taking as many down with me."

K slowly turned around as the Honor engaged its Mirage Colloid as it shot out of the hanger to join the battle. It was more than joining a losing fight.

He wasn't planning on coming back.

KIRA – Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny – KIRA

"Dalen Bertelsen, Honor, launching!"

The Gundam's engines ignited as he shot out of the hangar bay as he switched on its Mirage Colloid. His fingers flying over the controls he brought up a small monitor to watch the reactor's levels. A red screen came to life with the number eighty-seven percent appearing.

87% Dalen repeated mentally, his enhanced mind going through the calculations. At normal operations, he estimated it would take ten minutes before time was up. So K had been lying about the thirty seconds to discourage him.

The Honor appeared on the battlefield to see about eight mobile suits converging on a dying Early Harvest and the Late Autumn was in worse condition. The ZAFT ships were now moving in to directly attack the pirate vessels as well. He quickly looked up the IFF signals to get a look at his allies. There were about five EH mobile suits left and the Courage didn't appear anywhere. He hoped Henry was still alive out there. The Loyalty was off to the side engaged with a ZAFT mobile suit which he could only assume was Delahaye himself.

Time to get to work. He noticed that the radio was out and quickly flipped it off before anyone else could chew him out. "One last dance, Honor. Let's make it good."

There was a loud beeping sound that brought a smile to his face. It was almost like the Honor was agreeing with his statement.

Whatever happened here, he had accepted his role as a Gundam pilot as he put his borrowed rifle in the empty Claymore slot.

He pushed the Honor's systems as it flew off to the battle ahead hoping that by putting more power into the engines, he might be able to slow down the heating problem some. Flying at faster speeds than he normally did, he took a page out of Goldie's book and rammed into a ZAFT Gunner ZAKU as it was about to blast an EH Strike Dagger. The startled ZAFT mobile suit wasn't able to react as the Honor stole its Orthros cannon and shield before kicking the machine hard. It went flying backwards as it slammed into a floating piece of debris, exploding as a result.

"Watch your backs!" He shouted, turning on the radio for the remaining EH mobile suits to hear him as he swung the X2 around to see two approaching ZAFT ZAKU Warriors at him. He dashed to the side as it put considerable power into the Orthros and fired.

The recoil from the weapon lurched the Honor backwards as an red intense beam of destructive energy that completely pierced the first warrior and continued on to the second one, destroying both in seconds.

Dalen couldn't help but whistle at the sight. Maybe he should get one of these! Getting back into battle mode, he zipped past the grateful Strike Dagger as he zipped towards the other pirate mobile suits, firing several more blasts almost at random in an attempt to draw attention of the ZAFT mobile suits on to himself. A Blaze ZAKU turned its attention on the X2 as it fired with its Firebee guided missiles at him, which the Honor quickly took refugee behind a piece of ship debris.

The Honor flew upward as it fired another shot, but he missed the Blaze ZAKU entirely, but succeeded in blowing off the arm of another ZAKU warrior.

Should have known it wasn't so simple to shoot. Was it any wonder why Henry had spent so much time at the Firing Range?

90%

The Blaze ZAKU came dashing towards the Honor flanked by three other machines as they all constantly fired at the Honor, forcing the Gundam to back off from the ZAFT. In between dodging the ZAFT's blast and avoiding the debris, none of his shots were hitting the enemy machines.

"This is helping with the power issue, but if I can't hit the enemy, doesn't really matter." Dalen muttered under his breath, just barely dodging another blast. The four ZAFT machines targeted at once as they fired at the fleeing Honor as it took cover behind another piece of floating debris. The piece blow apart but the Honor was nowhere in sight.

The pilots immediately knew what the pirate scum had done as they all began firing in random directions. Seconds later, the Honor appeared as his Mirage Colloid shut down only getting half as far as he wanted but it would have to do. In his malfunctioning right hand was the Claymore blade, while in the left held the beam rifle, and the Orthros cannon mounted on his back.

Dalen pushed the Honor's thrusters to their max. The Gundam flew like a rocket towards the enemies now much closer to them as he fired off his beam rifle repeatedly. Two ZAKUs were destroyed in the volley while the other two broke off to the sides planning to trap the Honor in between. The former Faith agent jerked his machine to the left streaking towards the Gunner ZAKU as it fired again and again.

The Honor dodged right and left as it continued flying towards it until he managed to slash through the mobile suit right at the waist point. He flipped the Honor around just as the Gunner exploded as it landed against a floating piece of ship hull, used it as a brace and blasted off towards the Blaze ZAKU once again, which took out it's beam tomahawk as the Gundam closed in on it, swinging it's half Claymore blade once more. Due to it being only at half efficiency the ZAKU managed to dodge it with ease as it swung its ax down on the functioning left arm of the Honor.

By pure reflex Dalen squeezed the trigger button of the Honor's CIWS. Bullets rang out from the Honor's headpiece as it struck the ax itself. As a result the Blaze ZAKU simply hit the Honor's left arm as opposed to slicing it. Recovering before Dalen could the ZAFT mobile suit kicked it's thrusters into overdrive, ramming the Honor hard, making it lose both of its weapons from its hands.

The pirate went spinning out of control as the enemy took out it's rifle once more ready to shoot down the Gundam when Dalen had the Honor grabbed a random debris (which from the look of it was the hand unit of a mobile suit) as he hurled it right at the ZAKU that would had made a baseball pitcher proud.

The object hit the ZAKU right in the head, lodging it quite firmly. The Blaze ZAKU's aim went wild as Dale could practically see the pilot working frantically as half his monitors went out. Not wasting the chance, he jumped to the side and grabbed his Claymore and proceeded to stab the Blaze ZAKU through the cockpit.

92%

Dalen jerked the Honor backwards to reclaim its equipment as it put both that and the sword away and brought out its new Orthros cannon once more. Looking around he saw one of the Laurasia-class was closing in on the Early Harvest and pounding it hard.

With a flick at the controls, the Honor blasted off towards the enemy ship firing the beam cannon. If there was one good thing about attacking a large warship, it was that it was a large target. Very easy to hit even with poor marksmanship skills.

That's when he noticed his first two shots missing the ship completely.

Dalen had a sinking feeling of disbelief in his stomach. Somewhere out there, he was positive Henry was snickering in delight in an 'I-told-you-so' manner.

Gritting his teeth he jerked the Honor faster as he took more time in aiming for his next shot. This time, one of the Laurasia's 937mm dual high-energy cannon was hit.

The two ships continued pounding each other with the utmost intensity as both ships continued to have portions blown off and destroyed though it was very apparent the Early Harvest was on the losing end. The Honor skimmed the ZAFT ship's port side as he fired on it over and over again all in the same area hoping that the damage would increase exceptionally if he hit the same area over and over.

That's when the Early Harvest sole remaining Lohengrin opened fire on the Laurasia right through the center. Dalen didn't have time to see the exact damage of the ship as he noticed a particular duel happening behind him. The Loyalty was fighting against a black Slash ZAKU Phantom and losing. Badly.

That had to be Delahaye. Goldie might be a bit of a loose cannon but he wasn't about to lose any more friends in this if he could help it! Placing both beam weapons on his back, he took out his half Claymore blade as he reactivated the Mirage Colloid, fully intending to cut down the traitor before he knew what hit him. A necessary action despite any misgivings he might have. If Goldie couldn't beat this guy, he sure as hell couldn't especially with the state the Honor was in.

That's when he saw Delahaye's machine was more than just a simple ZAKU Phantom as it had a number of modifications on it. The most notable feature was the DRAGOON system mounted on the ZAKU's back. It was currently setting up for a shot at the Loyalty with its beam rifle and both Hydra Gatling guns. If Dalen had the Honor strike like planned, Delahaye would probably be destroyed but he still would be able to fire off those shots and destroy the Loyalty... but if he rammed the mobile suit it would deter the beams but also miss his one golden opportunity.

There was no choice in the matter.

Milliseconds before Delahaye fired, the Honor appeared right at its side slamming hard into the mobile suit, and predictably throwing off its aim as the beams just missed the Loyalty. The Claymore did manage to cut through the beam rifle.

He flipped on his radio as the weapon exploded. "Goldie, clear out, I've got my own bone to pick with Delahaye!"

"You bastard! I so HAD him! Who told you to butt in!"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, you're welcome. Clear out and get plenty of distance." Noting Dalen's tone, Goldie started protesting anew with a touch more panic in his voice as Dalen shut the radio off.

The black ZAKU recovered as it pulled out its Tempest beam sword as it clashed with the Honor's Claymore, sparks flying from the beams.

"So I get three for three." Delahaye stated with glee when he took a closer look at the Honor. It only had one of its fabled Claymore blades in its left hand, with a ZAKU beam rifle and Orthros cannon mounted on its back with a ZAKU shield on its right arm. On its right shoulder was a long ugly slash mark as he could see the circuitry exposed. At the Honor's chest was a large black scorch mark. Delahaye nearly broke out laughing. It was still unrepaired from its last engagement and resorted to being a scavenger on the battlefield in order to fight! How the mighty had fallen!

[Presuming that Henry fought him first, then Goldie, then Dalen]

"You want to take me on, Bertelsen." Delahaye's voice erupted from the ZAKU Phantom as their blades clashed again and again. "Fine, here I am!"

95%

Even if I don't get you, we're both going down shortly. Dalen thought as their blades clashed again. The Honor burst forward swinging its blade again but Delahaye blocked easily once again. With a flick of the ZAKU's hand, he diverted the blade down, and then shoved his own beam sword towards the Honor's cockpit.

Dalen gripped his controls hard as he rotated the Honor ninety degreesallowing his slower arm to intercept the sword. Delahaye then charged forward himself, sending the Honor spinning backwards.

The EH pirate recovered quickly enough as he swung his sword at the Black ZAFT machine but it ducked it slicing forward with its own blade, which Dalen countered by having the Honor take a back flip, narrowly missing the beam as it gave a right kick at the ZAKU Phantom's hand. It didn't lose its grip on its sword like Dalen hoped as it kept it's arm revolving a force circle then stabbed forward again slashing off the Honor's lower right leg.

The Honor leaped forward intending to slam it's shield into the enemy machine but Delahaye had both of his Hydras open fired on it, blowing the shield away, but Dalen continued on with a right punch directly on the ZAKU Phantom while at the same time firing it's CIWS once more to blow apart the right Hydra.

That's when Delahaye turned his left Hydra firing on the Honor's damaged chest portion. Fortunately due to the angle, the damage was light but it was still enough to blow the Honor away from Delahaye.

In a move that had to be one of mockery, Delahaye had his machine punch the Honor further back before rearing his sword again to cut the Honor in half but Dalen blocked. Delahaye added a spin himself to strike again so Dalen accelerated quickly to avoid the blow. He tried to stab downward on his enemy when the black ZAKU grabbed the Honor's left foot and threw him off balance, making his sword stab miss. Delahaye came in with a new lunge meant for the Honor's chest damage again but Dalen barely managed to move his right hand in front of the sword. The beam blade cut through the Honor's right hand destroying it but deflecting it away from the Honor's chest and instead lighting scratching the Honor's upper shoulder area.

Dalen brought his Claymore around with the Honor's good arm swinging widely at the ZAFT commander, all of which he blocked with his own blade, then he took out a beam saber in its free hand.

With two weapons now, Delahaye pressed his attack on the Honor with Dalen madly using his Claymore to block the strikes. Delahaye got a mad grin on his face as he continued swinging both blades faster, harder on that Claymore sword until it finally snapped in half from the sheer pressure.

Dalen gave a gasp of surprised at the sight of losing his second beloved sword. Not letting Delahaye capitalize on his new advantage he hurled the remains of the Claymore at the ZAKU which effortlessly batted it away.

This allowed Dalen to kick the broke portion at the ZAKU. It shattered against the mobile suit and while it didn't do any damage, it did allow Dalen to back off from the battle as he got a fair amount of distance as he drew out the Orthros beam cannon and firing off a shot. However Delahaye avoided his shot in time as the remaining three DRAGOONs [presumably I'm guessing at least three of the six have been destroyed previously, perhaps more) came zipping after the Honor.

The Coordinator realized his mistake almost at once. With the Orthros he was too slow to fire and destroy the cannons as they danced around him. He should have used the beam rifle, as it was much easier to fire on small, fast targets and Delahaye hammered in on his mistake.

So dodging both beam and debris as best he could, he settled on firing the Orthros at Delahaye himself who dodged easily, but that one moment allowed Dalen to kick a piece of debris at the nearest cannon. It went off course and slammed into a large debris piece, resulting in its destruction.

The remaining DRAGOON cannons came after him as Dalen abandoned the Orthros. One of the DRAGOONs shot through the beam cannon, thoroughly destroying it into several times as it exploded. The pirate quickly took out his beam rifle and fired off a round but missed.

That's when beams shot out towards Dalen from Delahaye's direction as he was now using his remaining Hydra to shoot from afar while his remaining DRAGOON cannons did their magic. Dashing to the side he fired off several shots from both rifle and CIWS thought his aim was always off thanks to Aleron Delahaye's shots from his position, making sure to stay a fair distance away from him. Delahaye was also making a point to shoot any large piece of debris the Honor could use as cover.

In a desperate action, he deliberately slowed the Honor allowing a hit that further damaged the Honor's right shoulder but allowed him to shoot down one of the two remaining DRAGOON cannons... which in turn let the last one destroy his rifle.

With his weapon gone, he tossed aside all thoughts and strategy as he pulled out one of his beam sabers. To his surprise the beam burst out faster, longer and more intense than before as it pierced the last remaining DRAGOON cannon destroying it.

Barely containing his surprise, he subconscious turned on the radio to ask Professor K about it, only to get an earful of shouts and threats nearly blowing out his eardrums consisting of calling him idiot/moron/dumbass in various and colorful terms.

"Yell at me later, what did you do to my beam sabers?" He interrupted

As though he flipped a switch, Professor K responded automatically. "Since we didn't have the materials to fix your machine, I decided to be inventive and hook your sabers directly to the power source to give you more options. It's how I discovered the Honor's problem. Now get back here! There's still time before the Honor reaches critical and..."

"Your concern is touching. Thanks." Dalen said cutting her off with a flick of the switch as his eyes glanced at the monitor in question.

Knowing his time was just about up, he slammed the beam saber against the other one he had to form a double sided one as he flicked his trump card.

Flashback.

Once the group had returned from the colony and reported their encounter with 'Hercules' to Brimfield, Dalen tracked down Professor K to ask her something.

"Is there anything else I should know about the Honor?"

K had a look on her person that suggested he was diving into the deep end on ill advice. "There is one other feature." She consented as she told the pilot.

It took about twelve seconds for the information to sink for the Lieutenant. "WHAT!" How could she not tell him about that earlier! "YOU HAVE ANY IDEA HOW USEFUL something like that would have been earlier! Especially against three ZAFT GUNDAMS AT ONCE!"

A loud painful slap echoed down the entire hanger bay.

"That's exactly why, you idiot! You'd probably abuse the system and just make matters worse instead of better." She breathed out her nose to calm down as she explained to him the dos and don'ts of it as Dalen made such to give it his full attention, lest he be slapped again.

End of flashback.

97%

Now or never.

With that he activated both beams with furious intensity as he dashed off towards Delahaye black Slash ZAKU Phantom who prepared to fire again when he saw the Honor seemingly flaming in front of him with a trail of flames appearing behind the Honor as it moved faster than ever!

Dalen continued to dodge Delahaye's blasts as he streaked towards the man in a fiery blaze as he remembered the basis that K had told him about the Burning Mirage.

"We installed this on the Gundam's as a last resort that is a truly double edged sword. It first requires the deactivation of you Variable Phase Shift Armor in exchange for essentially making the machine hyper-active by making the machine's reactions improve dramatically, weapon power and improving the speed by a factor of two or even threefold.

The main problem was the time limit that one could have this active for, generally about five minutes. Due to the intensity the Burning Mirage takes on the Gundam, long use will result in the machine's OS completely crashing on you. It would take an entire reboot to get back online, something you're not going to have the luxury of in a heated battle since you'll just get blasted to space dust if you have to rewrite everything from scratch. Even for someone like Akira it would take twenty minutes, if not more. So use it for only two or three minutes TOPS."

Two or three minutes would be perfect. Even if he did go the full five, it didn't matter anymore.

98%

The Honor flew down towards Delahaye who fired over and over again but thanks to the Burning Mirage he avoided all the blasts until he was right in front of the bastard again as he slashed downward with his double beam saber, which the black ZAKU avoided at the last second. Dalen then shoved his weapon backward to pierce the ZAKU's chest when the left Hydra Gatling blasted the handle of the double beam saber blowing it to pieces before it could touch the mobile suit.

But that was enough for Dalen as his machine jerked to the left as his CIWS blasted the Hydra to atoms as he got behind the Delahaye's Slash ZAKU Phantom and put it in a makeshift arm lock. Putting his thrusters on maximum he blasted away from the battle zone, taking Delahaye with him as his eyes watched the monitor's numbers slowly climb. Almost time. The Early Harvest and others would be out of the blast radius right when the critical moment arrived.

Delahaye seemed to realize exactly what Dalen was planning because his ZAKU began struggling like mad, its right arm in particular moving and whacking the Honor. "Hang in there," Dalen said, half to himself, half to his machine. They were only thirty more seconds away before...

That's when the ZAKU gave another powerful gesture with its right arm. The damage on the Honor's right shoulder grew worse as a result as it expanded further, tearing about the inner circuits and machinery even more as Delahaye delivered one final more thrust at the shoulder.

Combined with the damage from Mathilde and the earlier fighting with the EH traitor was too much as the shoulder's damage became complete as the Honor's right arm completely fell off. With only one arm left holding on, Delahaye was easily able to use his free arm to get out of the Honor's weakened grasp and bolted from the Honor like a bat out of hell.

99%

It was pointless to chase him. If he did, the others would get caught up in the explosion. As he mentally braced himself for it a new set of alarms went off in the Honor as he saw the screens all go blank one by one in a matter of seconds. Dalen couldn't believe his eyes, sure the he had another few minutes, as he watched the OS crash all around him, taking the power offline with it as the Honor's Burning Mirage, thrusters, everything all shut off. The momentum continued pushing the Honor further back until it collided with the hallowed remains of an Earth Alliance Nelson-class cruiser.

Seems that my little self explosion isn't meant to be. Dalen thought as he felt the Honor slam down on the hull in a sitting like position. Whether he liked it or not, he was out of the battle fated to only watch now as he absentmindedly began working on the OS, knowing full well he wouldn't finish before someone finished him off.

Dalen gave a small smile as Terminal units flew over to recover his Honor. "Looks like we get to live to fight another day." He said out loud as he patted the side of the cockpit.

It was time for a few changes.

Honor vs. Destiny

Missiles exploded all around the Orb island of Onogoro like fireworks on the fourth of July. Mobile suits of ZAFT, Earth Alliance and Orb configurations fought one another in a massive brutal battle in the land, sea and sky. BABIs, ASHs, GOUFs swarmed against the defending Astrays, Murasames, Windams and even a few Rapiers.

The ZAFT forces were lead by the ever present Minerva and countless Vosgulov-class submarine carriers. In the bay was several Orb Aegis-class and smaller Kuromikami-class vessels flanked by the Archangel and a single Spengler ship belonging to the Earth Alliance.

Prior the ZAFT forces had landed on the beach head and easily making their way into the city. The Orb defense forces had been in chaos and discourage making them seem like green amateurs rather than highly professional soldiers. It would have been laughable if it hadn't been so pitiful.

Then two things happened to change the tide of the battle. The first had been the Archangel with its Gundams and many Murasames that had attacked the unprepared ZAFT flank, throwing their ranks into disorder of their own. At that moment, the Orb forces seem to get their heads together and formed a real counterattack and began shoving the invading army back to the sea while its civilian population at last began evacuating. Then to everyone's surprise, a single Earth Alliance ship appeared from out of nowhere throwing the ZAFT units all the way back to the shoreline and out of the city entirely.

The designation from the EA ship came as the 81st Autonomous Mobile Group.

The ZAFT forces would not be easily deterred. Once the initial shock from the unexpected forces and worn off, ZAFT struck back lead by the Minerva and the launching of its fabled Gundams. The result was a bloody stalemate on the beach head with the ZAFT determined to get back into the island interior and the Orb defense forces equally determined to push them into the sea. Something was needed to give…

Then that something happened. Six landing craft dropped right into the middle of the city on the orders of Lacus Clyne. Emerging from three of them were DOM Trooper Mobile Suits. The purple machines slammed into the ZAFT's rank hard sending many machines flying. From the other three came more Gundams.

The EHG-X1 Courage. The EHG-X2 Honor. The EHG-X3 Loyalty.

Immediately the three pirate Gundams sprang into action, surprising all sides completely. Even more from the Archangel, Phantom Pain or even the three DOM Troopers. Everyone was wondering where these three Gundams came from… and whose side they were on.

The trio of Gundams struck in unison at the warring machines. The Courage blasted three BABIs out of the sky at once. The Honor entered the beach fray, slicing an enemy machine completely in half with its giant sword. The Loyalty took off at berserk speed in the air lines blasting down mobile suits as easily as swatting flies as it made a beeline for the nearest ZAFT submarine.

The Honor stabbed another machine from the chest, content to stay back and help the land forces while the Loyalty and Courage took on the brunt of the attackers. Dalen caught a ZnO about to blast an unsuspecting Orb Astray. Without hesitation, he hurled his combined Claymore right at the thing, cutting right through its engines completely, blowing it into pieces.

Accelerating the Honor he blasted towards the surprised Orb unit as he kicked a descending GOOF out of the way, recovered his fallen blade, and then cut it in half. He gave a brief wave to the confused Orb pilot then zipped off to the next opponent.

That's when the ZAFT Gundams broke off their original attack into several directions, clashing into the Archangel and Early Harvest Gundams, while one came directly at the machines on the land.

The Destiny.

The ZAFT mobile suit began firing its beam cannon into the Orb defenders taking out two Astrays, a Murasame and even a Rapier.

Immediately ZAFT struck. Ten GOOhNs erupted from the sea firing a large spray of missiles decimating many of the defenders. Several airborne units swooped down like hawks converging on the hole in the Orb lines.

"Close that hole!" Dalen shouted over the radio to the Orb forces as he shot into the air. "I'll take care of this guy!"

The Honor took off towards the Destiny as it continued firing its weapon again and again, the shots dangerously close. It took everything Dalen had to dodge the shots. The pilot had gotten better than he was at Mathilde. The Destiny fired off another round, which the former FAITH member blocked with his Claymore. He quickly separated the blade into its two smaller pieces as slashed at the Destiny which dodge the Honor's strikes with ease.

Okay… this pilot had gotten a lot better than the last time.

Dalen struck again but the Destiny flew higher in the sky as a result and aimed its beam cannon again firing a shot. He moved to block shot when the Destiny threw a beam boomerang at him.

Having no choice, the Coordinator put the Honor in reverse to avoid the attacks. Dalen saw the shot carry on and in flash of horror it hit a portion of a city, decimating a portion of a city block.

"HEY!" Dalen shouted, images of Panama flashed through his mind as he recombined his sword and attempted to get back at the mobile suit, only for it to start firing randomly. As a result Dalen was hard pressed to keep avoiding the shots and many continued hitting portions of the city, many sections sprouting flames.

Grinding his teeth in anger, he flew like a rocket towards the thing using his shield mounted on his right arm to deflect any close beams as he flipped through the radio frequencies. "Whoever you are, stop shooting so recklessly! Your fight is with me!"

"Who are you to tell me…?" The voice of the pilot retorted angrily before coming to an abrupt stop. "I know that voice…"

A second later communication was established as the pilot of the Destiny appeared on the screen, his helmet off. A young man's face with black hair and deep red eyes. "Justin Johnson!"

Dalen felt himself slapped and doused in ice cold water. He knew that face. "Shinn! Shinn Asuka!"

Both pilots momentarily forgot everything around them. Including piloting their respective mobiles suits as the Honor slammed into Destiny at full force. Both pilots rocked in their respective mobile suits as their machines shook from the impact and fell towards the warring earth blow.

Both quickly recovered their machines and hovered in the air like two warriors of legend. Dalen was just amazed. The pilot of the Destiny was Shinn? Sure he had heard about the Destiny but pirates got very little information on the war and he never heard who the pilot was. He also wondered how the hell Shinn recognized his voice. The helmet's voice filter should have… he quickly checked it and saw that the device was dead. What a time for technology to fail on him…

For a few moments the two Coordinators couldn't help but stare at each other.

"ASSHOLE!"

For a moment the entire battlefield froze from the utter scream of pure hatred. Coordinator. Natural. Soldier and Civilian. Orb and Invader. Enemies and allies all stopped for one moment as they all seemed to know just who screamed such fury.

A second later, Shinn slammed the butt of his beam cannon at the Honor and the Claymore went flying out of the EH Gundam's grasp. "YOU LYING BASTARD!"

"Shinn! Wait!" Dalen pleaded as Shinn attempted to fire his beam cannon at point blank range so Dalen had the Honor clasp its hands and double back-knuckle the weapon out of the Destiny's hand. "Calm down kid!"

"Calm down?" Shinn repeated as the anger intensified three fold as the Destiny drew its anti-ship sword. "CALM DOWN! I'LL CUT YOU IN HALF!"

As promised Shinn had the Destiny strike wildly with its sword, no form or thought to it at all. "Shinn! Stop!" Dalen pleaded again before taking the Honor in a dive towards the ground. The Destiny flared its elegant wings as it took off after him. The entire battlefield just watched as the two Gundams flew like maniacs in the sky. High. Low. Straight. Low. Up. Down. Right. Right. Left. "SHINN! KNOCK IT OFF!"

"SHUT UP! YOU ARE DEAD! DEAD!" The Destiny charged again with another wild strike. This time, Dalen whipped out both beam sabers and clashed with the monstrous blade, but the force sent the Honor sprawling through the air. What I wouldn't give for my Claymore back. He started to call again but Shinn was already on top of him, swinging the giant sword once again.

The beams came in contact again in a furious flash of sparks and energy until the beams overloaded completely exploding in the Honor's hands as the sword slammed into the Honor's chest. The only reason the Honor's VPS armor held was because more than half of the Destiny's force had been absorbed by the beam sabers.

The former FAITH agent gave out a scream as he plummeted and crashed into the city, the road turning into a huge crater as a result. Dalen shook the pain off just as he saw Shinn sweeping down on him. Screaming like a baby, Dalen quickly activated the Honor's thruster and zipped away just as the sword stabbed into the ground just missing by meters.

"Shinn. I didn't lie intentionally!" Dalen shouted.

The Destiny's response was to draw its beam rifle and firing madly. "LIAR!"

Dalen would have dodged but he was now very much aware he was in a city now so he blocked with his shield. "Shinn! Not here! This was your homeland!"

Another feral scream erupted from the young man as Dalen gulped. Wrong thing to say idiot… The Destiny leapt recklessly on the Honor. So fast! Shinn swung his sword wildly, clashing with the Honor's shield over and over again. "YOU LYING BASTARD! JUST DIE!"

Dalen was hissing through his mouth. His shield couldn't take any more of this. But it was also an opening. With only one hand, even a Gundam couldn't hold a massive sword very well. If he could knock it out of Shinn's hand…

With that Shinn swung again and Dalen intercepted with the Honor's shielding slamming it as hard as he could into the sword, stopping it as his shield split in two.

And the second he did, the Destiny brought its beam rifle up at his exposed right shoulder now to blow it clear off. Dalen instantly realized his mistake; that he had fallen for Shinn's seemingly 'reckless' attack. Shinn was about to squeeze the trigger when the Honor quickly kicked upward, the motion tilting the Honor backwards just enough to avoid the blast.

The pirate saw that Shinn couldn't care less if civilians were hit from the fighting so he had to get out of the city as fast as humanly possible! The Honor turned around and took off with the Destiny hot on his trial. He slammed a foot on the ground and tried to get past the ZAFT Gundam, but Shinn blocked easily attacking with both his sword and beam rifle.

Laser shots missed the Honor hitting builds, cars, even scattered trees as explosions ripped across the city like blooming flowers. The Honor flew into the air again desperately trying to get out of the city but the Destiny simply would not let him pass! Dalen found that he had to retreat deeper and deeper into the city to just avoid Shinn's crazy assault and constant chanting of "YOU LYING BASTARD!"

The Honor flew furiously across the building tops trying to get away. Back and forth it went with the Honor running and dodging and the Destiny blasting and yelling. Orb citizens scattered like roaches in the light to get away from the mad Gundam pilots.

The Destiny caught up with the Honor once again, forcing Honor down on the streets as the chase continued through the city straits, with the roads and buildings resembling Swiss cheese. Then the Honor took a quick right and the Destiny followed… only to see that the Honor had disappeared completely!

Shinn brought the Destiny to a complete stop. "YOU LYING BASTARD! COME OUT COWARD! I'LL SEND YOU TO YOUR GRAVE!"

No response. As Shinn continued to look for his prey and that's when the Honor deactivated its Mirage Colloid. Before Shinn could react, the Honor struck delivering a left jab to the Destiny's left hand, knocking the sword out of its hand on to the ground. Dalen wasted no time in hitting the Destiny with its right hand in the head.

Shinn felt his face go hot in anger. The lying bastard dared to mock him with that stupid boxing of his! He wouldn't have it! He aimed his rifle again but a quick kick form the Honor sent it flying out of the Destiny's hand.

"You should have paid more attention to my lessons Shinn!" Dalen roared as he had the Honor punch the Destiny over and over again. The Destiny's engine flared as the Destiny tried to get altitude but the Honor grabbed its foot. "Oh no, you don't!" Dalen yelled as he pushed the Honor's system to the max and even into the red zones as the Honor threw the Destiny on to the ground in a judo throw like maneuver. A second later, the Honor's foot slammed right on the Destiny's cockpit, pining the machine to the ground.

"Now calm down and listen!" The older coordinator shouted, the order firm in his voice.

(Fiction Reader98's Note)

Well that's what I got so far. Have several different endings in mind to wrap it up.

Again, I did this mostly just for fun since I've had these ideas in my head for awhile now: Shinn relentlessly chasing Dalen, screaming at the top of his lungs, causing needless damage to Orb as a result, which given his history I think is a rather interesting development for him. Heartless, but interesting.

I also just made up my own setting, not sure what you planned using ideas I had suggested to you: Phantom Pain joining the Orb defenses – as part of the Earth Alliance, it would make sense for some EA forces to join them, that was the whole point in allying – playing on Akira saving the commander's life earlier as well as the Early Harvest hooking up with the Junk Guild in orbit along with Lacus, and launching the three EH Gundams with the DOM Troopers to assist Orb. I can see Dalen doing it to try and atone; Goldie to have his fun and Henry… not sure but probably shouldn't be too hard for him to as well.

(Tellemicus' Note)

For any inconsistencies you might've found in Fiction Reader98's chapter scenes, please understand that he wrote these with only partial knowledge of what I was aiming to do in the storyline. So don't hold it against him and please don't complain about it, okay?

Until next time…