Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED.

Chapter 8: Gods and Devils

Things had taken a very strange turn for Kira and Lacus, and things had already gotten strange enough. They had after all already encountered alien beings, confronted a masked psychopath who they had thought long dead, and spent time in an otherworldly dimension. Then after being returned to Earth and finding themselves in Athrun's house, the couple had learned from Athrun that they had been missing for three months. Not long after Athrun had come in, the three had sat down and Kira and Lacus began to tell him what had happened. Needless to say, Athrun had found their story a little on the unbelievable side.

"Do you honestly expect me to buy this?" Athrun exclaimed as he got back to his feet. "Aliens? Commander Le Creuset? Other dimensions?"

"I know how hard this must be to believe Athrun, but it is what happened." Kira calmly insisted.

"Athrun, do you really think that Kira and I are the kind of people to make a story like that?" Lacus pointed out.

"…No, of course not." Athrun admitted as he sat back down. "Sorry I reacted that way. Things have been pretty tense lately."

"Perhaps you should tell us what's been going on since we left." Lacus suggested.

"Right, of course." Athrun agreed. "I guess it all started about four days after you two disappeared. The PLANTs were still in an uproar and the chairman of the defense committee at the time, Ian Vargas, claimed that the council had received evidence that the Alliance was responsible for Lacus' abduction. The Alliance of course denied this, and the war started to go down hill after that. About two weeks after this 'evidence' was introduced, Vargas became the new chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council."

"Vargas is in charge of the PLANTs now?" a very shocked Kira exclaimed.

"Yeah, and the moment he took office he's been fanning the flames of the war." Athrun gravely confirmed. "All in the name of avenging Lacus and all the people who died when the Clyne Colony was destroyed. It's been like in the first war all over again. Orb has been on high alert for the past month and a half."

"How's Cagalli been doing since all this happened?" Kira asked.

"About as well as you'd expect." Athrun answered. "And your disappearance hasn't helped much."

"Maybe we should all go see her tomorrow." Lacus suggested.

Before anyone could respond, both Kira and Athrun heard the sound of a twig snap outside the open window in the room. Suddenly Athurn noticed the red dot from a laser site shining on the side of Lacus' head.

"Lacus, get down!" Athrun cried.

Within less then a second, Kira dove at Lacus and knocked her out of the couch she was sitting in and down to the floor. A single bullet flew through the window and hit the wall a moment later.

"Are you okay?" Kira asked.

"I think so." A very startled Lacus answered.

Athrun meanwhile had dove to the floor and went over to a small metal box he kept near the door under a table. As quickly as he could, Athrun unlocked the box and retrieved a gun. He crawled over to the open window and as fast as he could, got back up and fired two shots outside in the hope of hitting the sniper.

"We have to get out of here!" Athrun told the other two. "Go out the back! I'll be right behind you!"

Kira and Lacus got up and ran towards the back door through the kitchen, followed closely by Birdy and Mr. Pink. Athrun fired two more shots out the window before running after them. Soon all three had gotten outside behind the back of the house. But before they could get very far, three men in black suits carrying guns blocked their path. Six other armed gentlemen soon showed up and the trio found themselves surrounded.

"Nice try, but not good enough." One of men standing in front of them said. "You might wanna say your prayers."

Just as the men were about to pull their triggers, a flash went off in both Kira and Lacus' minds and they felt a familiar presence. Suddenly a figure wearing mostly white jumped out of the bushes behind the three men in black and tackled the one in the middle to the ground, knocking him out in the process. In a flash, the attacker jumped back to his feet, delivered a roundhouse kick to the stomach of the armed man on his right, followed by an uppercut to remaining thug's jaw. Both Kira and Lacus quickly recognized who the attacker was.

"Gar?" a surprised Kira asked.

"It is good to see you again sir." Gar greeted after quickly turning to face them.

"You don't have to be so formal with him big bro!" a female voice called down. "You're not pretending to be his aid anymore ya know!"

Everyone, including the remaining thugs, looked up and saw standing on the roof of the house under the moonlight a young woman who stood at about four and a half feet tall and looked to be in her very early twenties. She had short blonde hair that looked like spun gold and iron-grey eyes. The young woman was wearing an outfit similar to Gar's. Only it included an odd silver hammer-shaped pendant that hung around her neck.

"Who's that?" Kira wondered.

"I've seen her before." Athrun recalled. "That's Cagalli's secretary, Tara."

"Get her!" one of the thugs ordered.

As soon as the men in black began to fire up at the roof, Tara leapt off, flipped around in the air, and delivered a powerful flying kick to one of the thugs. She then tackled the thug on her right to the ground and knocked him out with her fist. Before the thug on her left could fire a shot, the blonde jumped up and kicked the gun out of his hand.

"You guys better run while you can." Tara warned the remaining thugs. "Otherwise I might start to get mad."

"Yeah right! Like we're afraid of a little girl like you." Laughed a bald thug standing only a few feet away. Tara's expression twisted into one of murderous rage at the remark.

"What… did you… just call me?" Tara asked through gritted teeth. Gar sighed heavily as she clutched the pendant around her neck. In a flash of gold light, the pendant had changed into an odd sledgehammer with a head made out of a sort of strange silver metal and a short gold handle. "TASTE THE POWER OF MJOLNIR YOU ASSHOLES!"

The blonde slammed the hammer into the ground with such force that it sent a wave of earth at the remaining thugs, sending them five feet into the air. Tara walked away towards Kira and the others as the men in black hit the ground, grumbling to herself as the hammer she held turned back into a pendant.

"Tara, don't you think you went a little overboard?" Gar asked the young woman as he crossed his arms.

"Those jerks were asking for it!" Tara replied as she put the pendant back around her neck. "Besides, it's not like I called down a bunch of lightning bolts to zap them."

"Who are you people?" Athrun interrupted.

"There will be time to explain that later Athrun Zala." Gar answered. "Right now we must retreat to a safer location."

"Hey Atrhun, isn't Mu and Murrue's place near here?" Kira recalled. "We could stay there for the night at least."

"Yeah, but I'm not sure we can trust these two." Athrun pointed out as he gave Tara and Gar a suspicious look.

"Really? You say that after my brother and I just wiped the floor with the guys who're about to kill you?" Tara asked, sounding rather offended.

"How can we be expected to trust you when you're not who you say you are?" Atrhun argued. "You're clearly not the shy secretary Cagalli has working for her."

"It's called undercover work, genius!" Tara shot back. "It's the only way my brother and I could keep an eye on things without the guys who're really trying to kill you getting wise!"

"Tara, calm yourself." Gar ordered. "We cannot afford to waste time arguing about such things."

"It's okay Athrun, we can trust them." Kira assured him. "Gar helped me out when I was fighting Le Creuset. He helped Lacus too."

"Kira, are you sure?" Athrun asked.

"If they wanted to kill us, they would've done it already." Kira pointed out.

"…Okay then." Athrun finally agreed.

Mu and Murrue had just finished dinner and were getting ready to spend the rest of the evening watching a movie. Just as the couple had sat down on the couch, there was a knock on the door.

"Who could that be at this hour?" Murrue wondered.

"Probably Mrs. McGreevy from down the road with more of those god awful muffins of hers." Mu assumed as he got up. "Those damn things are like rocks."

"She means well." Murrue pointed out. "Besides, once we get enough of those muffins, we can finally repave the driveway."

Mu went over to open the door and was very surprised to see who was on the other side. "Kira?"

"Hey Mu." Kira greeted. "Mind if we all come in?"

Once Kira and the others had come inside, Kira and Lacus told the La Flagas about everything that had told Atrhun earlier that evening. A sort of pause fell over the room once the younger couple had finished.

"…That's a… pretty unbelievable story." Murrue finally spoke.

"I thought so too when I heard it." Athrun admitted. "But it is the only thing that explains what's going on. Besides, Kira and Lacus aren't the kind of people to make up a story like that."

"As strange as this story sounds, I believe it." Mu admitted. He then looked at Gar and Tara. "But there is one thing though. How do you two fit in?"

"I'm Tara Thorson, and most of you already know my brother, Gar." Tara introduced. "We're with the CIA."

"Do you really expect us to believe that?" Athrun snapped. "The Central Intelligence Agency hasn't been around for years!"

"Central what?" Tara asked with a raised eyebrow.

"The Central Intelligence Agency. It was a covert organization that was part of the United States government before being absorbed into the Atlantic Federation's greater intelligence network." Gar explained. "Didn't you read the briefing on this planet before we got here?"

"I skimmed it." Tara told him. "Well, the pages with the pictures at least. That briefing was as long as a novel. Besides, there isn't anything about Earth that we don't already know from our ancestors."

"Your lack of knowledge on the Central Intelligence Agency would prove otherwise." Gar pointed out.

"Oh please, like knowing a bit of historical trivia is vital to our mission." Tara argued. "Sometimes you take things way too seriously big brother."

"You two aren't from Earth, are you?" Kira deduced.

"That is correct sir." Gar confirmed. "The full name of our organization is the Celestial Intervention Agency. And it is made up of people from several different worlds."

"Just what is the purpose of this agency of yours?" Lacus asked.

"To observe primitive developing worlds and monitor for any threats to the natural development of that world's society." Gar explained. "And if such threats occur, we eliminate them and try our best to correct the damage."

"Think of it like this, say you have some planet that's people are at a level of development similar to your world's Bronze Age." Tara interjected. "Then say there's some big shot alien comes to that planet and pretends to be a god in order to exploit those poor people. Our job is to step in, kick that alien's butt or whatever it sits on, and then do our best to repair the damage it caused."

"And so you're saying that these other aliens, the Yulock, are trying to do the same to our world." Mu deduced.

"Correct, I'm afraid." Gar confirmed gravely. "Your people were finally on the verge of a lasting peace until the Yulock came. They used their agent, Rau Le Creuset, to spark a new war, thus setting your people back a great deal. Our mission now is to find a way to get rid of the Yulock and end the war."

"Are the Zsagel part of this group of yours?" Kira asked, remembering the aliens from the Domain of Light.

"Nah, those guys are way beyond even us." Tara replied. "Nobody really knows much about them, except that they seem to be a force of good. But the truth is, they made our mission way easier."

"What do you mean?" Kira asked.

"Part of our mission was to get you and Chairwoman Clyne back together so that you may lead the human race." Gar admitted. "Unfortunately that part of the mission was proving far more difficult than I realized."

"I still say I should've taken that part of the mission." Tara cut in. "I had the perfect plan."

"Getting them together and intoxicated was far from the perfect plan." Gar told her.

"Well it was a better plan than whatever it was you were trying to do." Tara argued. "Either way it doesn't matter. Not only are those two back together, our Ms. Clyne is now pregnant. It's more than we could've hoped for."

"Wait, you're pregnant Lacus?" a startled Athrun asked.

"Oh, yes. Kira and I forgot to mention that part I guess." Lacus replied. "I suppose it still hasn't sunk in yet. And before all of you ask, Kira is the father."

"I see…" Athrun replied. "Well then, congratulations I guess."

"Thanks." Kira and Lacus said together.

"Okay then, so you two are really aliens." Athrun continued, turning back to Gar and Tara.

"Yep, we may look like you guys, but we're pretty different physically." Tara confirmed. "For one thing we age a lot slower than you. Go ahead, guess how old I am."

"Uh, a thousand?" Kira guessed rather jokingly.

A furious expression came to Tara's face. "WHY THE HELL ARE THEY ALWAYS OVER WHEN I ASK THEM TO GUESS?" Tara yelled as she scooped up the flowerpot on the coffee table and threw it in Kira's direction. "I'm only two-hundred and fifty-three, you jerk!"

"Sorry." A frightened Kira quickly apologized.

Mu chuckled and shook his head. "Should've kept your mouth shut kid. Or at least guessed a much lower number."

"I am only four years older than Tara." Gar interjected. "But as you can see, we look far younger."

"That hammer Tara used when you fought those men, she called it Mjolnir." Athrun recalled. "I remember reading that name in mythology once. It was the name of the hammer used by the Norse God, Thor."

"You are correct Athrun Zala, Mjolnir at one time was the hammer of Thor." Gar confirmed. "The mythological beings you know as the Norse Gods were actually people from our home world. They came to this planet while fighting a great war, and inadvertently became known as gods to the primitive cultures of the time and region they appeared. Tara and I are descendants of Thor, and by extension his father, Odin."

"And that's why Tara has that hammer?" Kira asked.

"Yep, I sort of inherited it." Tara confirmed. "And before you ask, the thing's not magic. It's a level of technology that's a little beyond anything you might understand."

"How did you inherit it, if you don't mind me asking." Kira inquired.

"In a way nobody ever expected." Gar sighed as he rubbed the bridge of his nose.

Fifty years before on the planet known as Asgard, Gar, who at the time was wearing a gold tunic and brown leather pants stood in a stone cathedral-like room before a short pedestal that had Mjolnir on it. On the far wall on the other side of the room was a large portrait of a man with long red hair and a beard. This of course was a portrait of Gar's honored ancestor, Thor. Entering the room was a muscular man who was about eight feet tall with short black hair and a beard, wearing a sleeveless grey shirt and black pants.

"So you actually showed up, eh cousin Gar?" said the tall man with an amused expression.

"It is my duty as a member of the family, cousin Volkav." Gar replied. "Our grandfather requested that I come. And as he is the elder of our family, I have no right to refuse."

"Funny, I didn't think you wanted any part of this test." Volkav noted. "Not that it matters though. There's no way you'll be able to wield Mjolnier."

At that moment, an old man with a long white beard wearing golden robes entered the room. He walked slowly with a long gnarled wooden staff and had a solemn expression. Gar and Volkav bowed reverently to the old man as he walked up behind the pedestal.

"Gar, Volkav, it is good to see you both here on this day." The old man greeted.

"It is an honor to be here, grandfather." Volkav replied.

"Long ago near the end of our great war with the Jotunn, our noble ancestor Thor died in great and terrible battle." Gar's grandfather began. "With his last breath before dying, Thor encoded his hammer, Mjolnir, so that it may only be wielded by members of his line. But only by the members of his line who can use the hammer's full power. Only those of our family who can lift the hammer are the ones who can wield it. Which is why the two of you have come here today, to see if you are worthy of our ancestor's legacy. Now then, which of you wishes to try to lift the hammer first?"

"I shall go first, grandfather." Volkav volunteered.

"I had a feeling you would offer yourself first, Volkov." Gar's grandfather replied. "You have always been eager to prove yourself. Very well, but be aware that though your body is strong, you may not be the one."

"We'll see about that." Volkov scoffed.

Gar's burly cousin walked over to the pedestal and grabbed onto the handle of the hammer. He gave the handle a strong pull, but could not lift it. Volkov tried using both hands, but the sacred hammer still would not move. After what seemed like five minutes, a red-faced Volkov finally let go.

"It seems that you were not worthy, Volkov." Gar's grandfather observed. "A shame, but it is how it is. It is now your turn to try, Gar."

"With all due respect, grandfather, I still do not believe I am the one to wield Mjolnier." Gar admitted.

"And why is that, my boy?" Gar's grandfather asked.

"While it is a great honor to wield the hammer of our ancestor, I have never felt that it is within my destiny." Gar answered. "I've just never had any desire for it."

"Hmm… your reluctance is interesting, Gar." His grandfather noted. "It has been the dream of every member of our family to wield Mjolnir. But perhaps the one who wishes not to wield the hammer is the one who is most worthy to wield it."

"I say it's pointless to try, grandfather." Volkov commented. "If I can't pick it up, there's no way Gar can. But go ahead and try Gar. That is why you're here, isn't it?"

Hesitantly, Gar approached the pedestal and looked at the hammer. And just as he was about to reach for the handle, the large doors to room slammed open behind Gar. Gar and his two family members turned to see Tara standing in the doorway wearing a strapless gold mini-dress and heels. A goofy expression was on her face.

"What's goin' on here, a funeral?" a clearly drunk Tara asked.

"Tara, your mother said you were attending a friend's wedding celebration." Her grandfather spoke.

"That, that party got to be a real drag, granddad." Tara replied as she staggered in. "Why's everyone so serious? Oh, it's that hammer thing, right?"

"Tara, you're drunk!" Gar exclaimed.

"What? I'm not, I'm not drunk." Tara laughed. "I only had, let's see, one, two, three… fifty glasses of ale. Oh wait, I guess I am drunk. But I'm, I'm not as think as you drunk, I mean drunk as you think I am. Go on with your thing, don't, don't mind me."

"Gar was about to try and lift Mjolnir." Volkav informed his drunken cousin. "Not that he'll be able to."

"Oh, and why, why is that, cousin?" Tara asked.

"Because I couldn't lift it, which means Gar has no chance." Volkav smugly insisted.

"Pfft, well of course you couldn't lift the thing." Tara replied. "You probably need a brain to use it, which is why Gar… is… perfect for this."

"As if a scrawny weakling like him could wield the hammer of our forefather." Volkav scoffed.

"Are, are you gonna take that from this oaf, big brother?" Tara asked. "Go ahead and grab that hammer and whack him upside the head with it."

"Your brother is reluctant to try and lift the hammer." Gar and Tara's grandfather admitted.

"Probably because he's afraid of showing just how weak he really is." Volkov taunted.

"Oh that is it, brother! You, you gotta do it now." Tara declared. "Did you, did you hear what that oaf just did? He called you out. You, you gotta do it now. Go on, lift that thing and knock that smug grin off Volkov's face!"

"Yes, go on Gar. See if you have what it takes to wield the hammer and face me." Volkav dared.

"I have no wish to fight you, Volkav." Gar told him.

"Yes, because you're afraid." Volkav taunted.

"Look, I'll show you how it's done, brother." Tara said as she staggered over to the pedestal. "All you gotta do is grab the thing," she continued as she grasped the handle, "and give it one big yank."

With that yank, Tara lifted the hammer from its hallowed resting place, causing the jaws of her relatives to drop, even Gar's. Her grandfather was so stunned that he dropped his walking stick. With the drunken haze over her mind, it took Tara a moment to realize just what she had done.

"You… you lifted Mjolnir!" their grandfather exclaimed.

"Impossible!" Volkov declared. "How can this be?"

"Oh wow, I guess you gotta be hammered to wield the hammer. Get it?" Tara laughed.

"…That afternoon is still a blur to me." Tara admitted in the present. Kira and the others were simply stunned.

"After that day, Tara began her training to wield Mjolnir." Gar continued. "As for me, I began a different sort of training, and eventually I was called again by our grandfather to see if I could wield the spear of Odin, Gungnir, which I was able to do. Ten years later, Tara and I joined the CIA to put our abilities to good use."

"Well I guess that explains who the two of your two are, but what about these other aliens, the Yulock?" Murrue asked. "Who or what are they?"

"The Yulock are one of the most insidious races in the Galaxy." Gar explained. "They often ignore interstellar laws to get what they want. And all they want from the human race is your death and your planet."

"The Yulock usually work like this." Tara continued. "They find a primitive world and start a war between its inhabitants, making both sides think it was the other side's fault. Then they cause the war to escalate until both sides are dead. After that, the Yulock move in and take the planet for themselves."

"How horrible!" Lacus commented.

"So now these Yulock are running this scheme with Earth and the PLANTs." Athrun realized.

"Yes, and they have help." Gar revealed. "Very often, the Yulock will recruit natives of the planet they wish to procure in order to fan the flames of the planet's war."

"You mean like Rau Le Creuset." Kira noted, his eyes narrowing at the thought of the masked man.

"Rau Le Creuset is a bit different. The Yulock seem to think of him as one of their own kind." Gar commented. "You are correct though sir, he is one such example. But the agents I speak of are humans that have been promised things such as power, wealth, and long life in exchange for helping to bring the downfall of their own people. And after witnessing what has transpired in the last three months, I am certain that Ian Vargas is such an agent."

"That would seem to fit." Athrun agreed. "But I'm guessing he's not the only one, is he?"

"Nope, some of the guys running the Alliance are probably agents too." Tara confirmed. "And a few military officers on both sides, and maybe even some politician's secretary. They could be in your media too."

"Unfortunately, Vargas is the only agent we're sure of." Gar informed them.

"So what do you suggest we do about this?" Lacus asked.

"At the moment, we don't know." Gar replied. "And there is another problem that must be considered as well."

"What other problem?" Kira asked, not liking where the conversation was headed.

"Sometimes, when the Yulock find a primitive world with fairly advanced weapons technology, like Earth, they use that technology to their advantage." Tara explained. "They give the inhabitants bits of their own technology so the poor suckers can use it to augment their weapons. Then when it's all over, they take whatever new weapons were created from the war and sell on the interstellar black market to the highest bidder."

"So they're using us to build new weapons too?" an outraged Lacus asked.

"Yes, and they may have already done so." Gar gravely confirmed. "This war has been going on for quite some time now. It may only be a matter of time before such weapons are deployed on the battlefield."

"This whole thing is way worse than I thought it was." An overwhelmed Kira spoke.

"And the big question is still how to stop these guys." Mu pointed out.

"…I think Athrun, Kira, and myself should go see Cagalli with Mr. Gar and Ms. Tara." Lacus decided after a moment. "Perhaps she could provide some way to help."

"At the very least, the Athha mansion will be a far more secure location." Gar agreed. "But I suggest we wait until morning to travel."

"In the meantime, the five of you can stay here for the night." Murrue offered.

"That would be great." Kira agreed. "Thanks."

The hour had grown late. Yet Kira and Lacus were still both wide awake in their small room at the La Flaga house. The two of them were still trying to take all that had just learned from Gar and Tara.

'So what's the plan after we get to Cagalli's?' Kira asked telepathically.

'I don't know. We've never faced anything like this before.' Lacus answered. '…I'm actually pretty scared, Kira.'

'I am too.' Kira admitted. 'But we're not alone in this. We have Gar and sister, not to mention Athrun and Cagalli. And we have each other too. We'll find a way to stop all this somehow.'

'Yes, you're right. Now that we have each other again, we can find away to stop this threat and save our future.' Lacus agreed. 'We have to, especially now that we have our child to think about.'

'Yeah, but for now we should get some rest.' Kira suggested. 'Goodnight.'

'Goodnight Kira.' Lacus replied.

With that, the two of them finally managed to fall asleep in one another's arms. In that sleep the found the sanctuary that allowed them to forget about the abominable chaos lurking behind the war, at least for a single night.

END OF BOOK 1

Afterward: So this is pretty much where I should've ended the first part of the story when I did it originally. I apologize is this first book is a bit too short. But don't worry, this story is far from over. The reason it has to end here though is because Kira and Lacus are going to step out of the spotlight for a bit. They'll both be in the next story of course, but it'll be in more of a supporting role. The next "book" will focus more on Athrun and Cagalli, as well as a certain pair of ZAFT pilots.

So for now, stay tuned for Nemesis Book 2: The Devil Gundams

In the meantime, please review and let me know what you think.