Chapter Text
A small, emerald-green mechanical bird cut through the artificial breeze, its wings whirring with a soft, rhythmic hum. It soared over the manicured trees of the colony park, banking sharply as it headed toward a secluded gazebo overlooking a lake.
Below, Kira Yamato sat hunched over his laptop, the glow of the screen reflecting in his tired eyes. His fingers danced across the keys, coding with a speed that defied human reflexes, while the news broadcast played in a small window in the corner of his display. "According to information just received," the female reporter's voice crackled, her expression grim as she adjusted her earpiece.
"ZAFT forces have breached the outer perimeter and have approached to within six
kilometers of the Kaohsiung base." The mechanical bird descended, its tiny metal talons clicking as it landed softly on the edge of Kira's laptop screen. It tilted its head, its optical sensors whirring.
"Birdy?" the creature chirped, its synthesized voice mimicking a curious trill.
"Kira!"
The shout broke Kira's concentration. He looked up, blinking away the lines of code, as a group of his fellow students approached. They looked carefree, a stark contrast to the maps of the Kaohsiung front displayed on Kira's monitor. Quickly he closed the program he was working on and pulled open another one.
"So, this is where you've been hiding out," one of the students teased, leaning over to look at the screen. "Professor Kato has been looking everywhere for you."
"Again?" Kira asked, his voice trailing off as he looked up. His brow furrowed with a mix of feigned confusion and exhaustion. Standing beside his friend was a young woman with a sharp, expectant look on her face.
They both looked a little bit out of breath—their hurried breathing a jarring contrast to the artificial breeze rustling the leaves. "He was insistent, Kira," the female student added, crossing her arms.
"He told us to find you and bring you to the technical college immediately. No detours."
Kira gave a resigned nod and began to clear his workspace. He moved with a calm efficiency, but his mind was clearly elsewhere. "Is it about the assignment from last week?"
He didn't wait for an answer, snapping his bag shut. "I don't know," she admitted, watching him. "But he seemed... rattled. Are you helping him with something big again?"
"Dang it," Kira muttered under his breath, his shoulders slumping under the weight of his backpack. "I'm still drowning in the project he gave me last week. If he wants more, I'm going to need another life just to finish the code."
He reached for his laptop, intending to shut it down, but the audio from the broadcast suddenly spiked. The calm, professional tone of the news anchor was replaced by the raw, jagged sounds of a battlefield.
"It's begun! Get to the shelters! Now! Now!" A voice screamed through the small speakers, distorted by wind and static. The screen showed a frantic, handheld camera feed of people sprinting through a dustchoked street. "Don't look back! The sky—look at the sky! It's way too dangerous!"
The male student stepped closer, his eyes widening as he leaned over Kira's shoulder, drawn in by the flickering violence on the screen. "Wait... is that breaking news? What's happening?"
Kira didn't answer immediately. He stared at the screen, his pupils reflecting the orange glow of a distant explosion caught on film. With a quick, practiced motion, he tapped a key, maximizing the window until the devastation of the Kaohsiung front filled the entire screen.
"Here, barely seven kilometers from Kaohsiung... the sounds of battle continue to echo!"
The reporter's voice was strained, competing with the distant, thunderous booms of heavy artillery.
Behind the camera, the shaky frame captured the terrifying scale of the conflict: Mobile Suits—massive and indifferent—trampled through the city's architecture, sending plumes of concrete dust into the air.
In their shadows, a frantic stream of civilians scrambled for safety. "Damn..." the male student muttered, staring intensely at the grainy footage. "If these scenes are already a week old, the city might have fallen by now."
Kira offered a grim, silent nod. Beside him, the girl watched the screen, her expression clouded with a quiet, lingering worry. She didn't look away from the smoke on the horizon of the video, her brow furrowed as she processed the scale of the destruction.
Kira let out a weary sigh and snapped the laptop shut. The sudden silence in the gazebo felt thick and expectant.
"Kaohsiung isn't that far from here, is it?" the girl asked, her voice low and contemplative. "Will... Earth be alright?"
"Birdy!"
The mechanical bird gave a sharp, cheerful chirp that felt strangely out of place. It pushed off from Kora's shoulder, its metallic wings whirring as it ascended toward the clouds, leaving the heavy atmosphere of the room behind.
"Sure... there's no need to worry," the male student replied, his voice carrying a forced brightness. The girl nodded slowly, though her gaze remained fixed on the darkened laptop screen. Sensing her hesitation, the student leaned back, crossing his arms with an air of certainty.
"Think about it. Even if they're closing in on the mainland, we're a neutral entity. It's unthinkable for a place like the Orb Union to become a battlefield. No one would risk the international backlash."
"Really? Then I guess... I guess we're okay for now," the girl muttered, though the words sounded more like a prayer than a conviction.
While they spoke, Kira remained motionless, his eyes distant and unfocused. The conversation around him faded into a dull hum as a jagged memory suddenly resurfaced—sharp and intrusive. Remembering the day his entire world changed. ‘How quickly life changes huh?’ He thought while the faces of those he cherished most appeared in his mind.
"Kira?"
The male student's voice was like a sharp blade cutting through the lingering fog of the past. The surprise trip his mother took him on to visit an old friend of her's and met those who he would call his closest friends and allies. Kira blinked, the phantom weight of that nostalgic memory still heavy in his chest as the reality of the present rushed back in.
"What are you doing? Let's go," the teenager urged, pausing on the paved walkway. He glanced back with a look of slight confusion, wondering why his friend had suddenly gone vacant in the middle of their talk.
Kira took a steadying breath, shaking off the echoes of a promise made in a world that no longer existed. "Right," he replied, his voice a quiet murmur that was quickly swallowed by the breeze.
He adjusted his bag, the laptop inside feeling like a lead weight against his side. The metallic rasp of the strap's buckle felt cold and mechanical—a stark reminder of the technology that was currently tearing the world apart elsewhere. Overhead, the sky was a perfect, mocking blue.
****
Kira Yamato walked at a steady pace, the weight of his bag a constant presence against his shoulder. The three students moved along the edge of a clean, sunlit road that wound through the greenery of the park toward a nearby bus station. The air was calm here, filled with the distant sound of wind through the trees rather than the thunder of engines.
Waiting at the station were three girls clustered together, their voices carrying on the breeze.
"But I told you..." the girl in the center muttered, her face flushing a soft pink as she looked down shyly.
Her friends leaned in, teasing her with playful smiles and stifled giggles, clearly enjoying whatever secret they were sharing.
The pink-haired girl let out a soft, melodic giggle of her own, but as she glanced up, her eyes met Kira's. A look of sudden recognition sparked on her face though it vanished just as quick.
"Huh? Miriallia-chan!" she called out, her shyness momentarily forgotten as she waved to the girl walking beside Kira.
"Hi!" Miriallia replied with a bright, easy grin, stepping forward to greet the trio.
"Hey! I bet you're in on this too, Milly!" one of the other girls—a girl with deep, dark blue hair, exclaimed, her eyes dancing with mischief as she pulled Miriallia into their circle. "You have to tell us what's going on!"
Kira stepped back slightly, offering a small, polite smile as the girls began to chatter. Giving the girl with pink hair a small nod in greeting going unseen by those present.
"Know what?" Miriallia asked, her curiosity piqued as she leaned into the huddle of girls.
"Come on! Just stop it already!" the pink-haired girl pleaded, her face turning a deeper shade of crimson. She tried to maintain a look of sternness, but her flustered expression only fueled her friends' amusement.
"She got a letter from Sai Argyle!" one of the girls—a student with light brown hair—blurted out, unable to keep the secret a second longer. She nudged Miriallia with a playful elbow.
"But she keeps insisting that nothing is going on and refuses to tell us a single word about what it says!"
Kira, who had been standing a few paces back, felt his eyes widen in genuine surprise. "Eh!?" He blinked three times in rapid succession, his mind momentarily struggling to connect the studious, serious Sai Argyle with the idea of a secret love letter.
Beside him, Miriallia looked equally stunned, her jaw dropping slightly as she turned her gaze toward their blushing friend.
"No way!" Miria exclaimed.
"Would you girls just put it to rest?" the pink-haired girl scolded, though her voice lacked any real bite. She hid her face behind her hands for a moment, the heat of her blush visible even through her fingers. "It's not like that at all!"
The group dissolved into a fresh wave of giggles and lighthearted bickering. For a few heartbeats, the world was small and safe, bounded only by the walls of the bus station and the harmless drama of a school crush.
****
The door to the lecture hall swung open, and the students spilled inside, their voices instantly bouncing off the lecture hall’s walls. The hall was a mess of organized chaos, a few others students clustered around the front working on computers connected to a huma- sized robot.
"Hi!" Tolle called out, his cheerful voice cutting through the mechanical drone of the lab. A young man with light brown hair and orange-tinted glasses looked up from his workstation, his face lighting up with relief as he adjusted his frames.
"Oh, Kira! You finally made it," he said, offering a tired but genuine smile. "We were starting to think you guys got lost." Kira offered a nod of greeting, but his attention was quickly pulled toward the far side of the room.
Standing against one wall of the lecture hall was a teenage girl. She stood perfectly still, her arms crossed as she waited with an air of quiet, restless intensity. Her presence felt out of place among the bustling students.
Tolle, never one to let a mystery go, leaned over to one of the other students and gestured toward her with a subtle thumb. "Who's that?" he whispered, his eyes wide with curiosity. "Oh... She's a guest here to see the Professor," the student replied in a low voice, barely looking up from his monitor.
"The Professor told her to wait here until he was ready. Apparently, she's been here for a while."
"Hmm, I see," Tolle muttered, his gaze lingering on her for a moment longer before he turned back to the task at hand. Kira, however, wasn't as easily distracted.
He looked around the room, noticing the Professor's chair was empty and his terminal was still logged in. "And where exactly is the professor?" Kira asked, a small frown of concern forming as he looked toward his friend.
Regardless, Kira got to work on the new assignment handed to him by professor Kato. It wouldn’t do to arouse suspicion at such a critical stage.
Minutes ticked while everyone got settled and got to work on their own assignments given to them by the professor as well. When 10 minutes passed a sudden notification popped up on the terminal Kira was working at. Subtly looking up, Kira made sure no one was paying attention to him and opened the message.
Zaft assault underway. Proceed to G-weapon hangers. Foundation assistance inbound.
~ Ingrid
Kira’s eyes widened slightly before he looked up, catching the eye of the mystery girl and mouthed one word, ZAFT. The girl, feeling eyes on her, looked up and gave Kira a small nod in acknowledgement.
It was time.
Just then, a shockwave arrived with a deafening roar echoing loudly in the lecture hall. The floor buckled, the lights flickered, and Kira was nearly thrown from his chair. He gripped the edge of his desk, his violet eyes reflecting the red emergency glow of the sirens.
"An asteroid?" Tolle asked, his voice trembling as he gripped the edge of a terminal to steady himself against the violent tremors.
****
In space outside the colony, while ZAFT and Earth Alliance forces were battling each other, a ship hidden behind a Mirage Colloid system steadily drew near the Heliopolis colony. From the unseen ship 2 mobile suits launched, both equipped with the Mirage Colloid system as well.
Inside the lead mobile suit a woman with long blue hair and purple eyes looked upon Heliopolis and had a faint smile on her face. “I’m coming Kira.” The woman whispered softly to herself.
****
Back in the university research lab, the world felt like it was tearing itself apart. The floor buckled again, a deep, metallic groan echoing through the walls.
"What is that? What's happening?" Mirialla muttered, her voice trembling as she clutched at her desk.
Tolle quickly moved to her side, wrapping an arm around her shoulders to steady her. "It's okay, Miri. Just stay low!" Kussey, adjusting his orange-tinted glasses, rushed to the heavy emergency exit hatch.
He heaved the manual lever down, and the door hissed open to reveal a scene of absolute pandemonium. A river of panicked civilians was surging toward the upper-level shelters, their faces pale with terror.
"Hey! What's going on out there?" Kussey yelled, grabbing the arm of a passing man.
"ZAFT! They're inside the colony!" the man gasped, his eyes wide as he pointed toward the darkening horizon of the factory district. "They're destroying everything! Get to the shelters!"
"Let's go! Move, move!" Kussey signaled to his friends, ushering them into the emergency stairwell.
Keeping to the back Kira and the mystery glanced at each other and the girl turned around bolting off in the opposite direction. Taking that as his cue Kira bolted after the girl. "Go on ahead! I'll bring her back!" Kira called over his shoulder, his heart racing as he vanished into the smoke, following the mysterious girl toward the heart of the commotion and the sound of intense gunfire.
Catching up to the girl, Kira gave her a small smile. “Ready Cagalli?” Kira asked as the two sprinted through deserted hallways of the technical college.
The now revealed Cagalli had a grin on her face. “I am brother.” Together, brother and sister burst through a door and emerged on a catwalk overlooking a fierce battle for control over Earth’s prototype mobile suits.
“Here, Cagalli. Use this for the Strike.” Kira ordered with a serious look on his face, handing Cagalli a storage drive. Nodding her head in understanding, Cagalli gave Kira a brief hug.
“I will thanks Kira. And good luck.” With that both brother and sister parted ways. Cagalli to capture the X105 Strike for herself while Kira headed for a hidden hanger where his own mobile suit was waiting.
****
The air in the hangar was thick with the acrid scent of cordite and burnt ozone. Lieutenant Murrue Ramius pressed her back against a shipping container, her breath coming in ragged gasps as she exchanged fire with the ZAFT infiltrators.
The exchange was frantic—a desperate dance of muzzle flashes and ricocheting lead. One of the Alliance technicians, crouching behind a stack of crates, leveled his submachine gun and unleashed a precise burst.
The bullets found their mark, catching a ZAFT soldier square in the chest. "Rusty!" Athrun Zala's scream tore through the chaos. Seeing his comrade crumple to the floor, Athrun's eyes flared with a cold, vengeful fury.
He broke cover, moving with a lethal, predatory grace that betrayed his elite training. His weapon barked three times, the rounds finding the technician before the man could even register the movement.
"Damn it... we're losing ground!" Murrue hissed. Realizing the infantry battle was a lost cause, she made a desperate sprint for the open cockpit of the X105 Strike. She scrambled up the maintenance ladder, her boots clanging against the metal as she lunged for the pilot's seat.
At the same time that Murrue reached the Strike, Cagalli did as well. Murrrue was stunned for split second who she believed to be a civilian before the girl ceased Murrue by the arm and threw her into the Strike’s cockpit and got in as well.
Inside the Strike’s cockpit Murrue threw a heated glare on the civilian now sitting in the Strike’s cockpit chair. “Save it for later Lieutenant Ramius. I am Cagalli Yula Atha.” Cagalli snapped, not having the patience to deal with the Lieutenant at the moment.
Murrue paused as she heard the name the girl gave her and looked at the girl more closely. Recognition flashed through Murrue’s eyes as indeed the girl seated in the Strike’s pilot chair was indeed the heir of the Orb Union. Feeling explosions going off outside as the cockpit closed Murrue decided to save her questions for later. They had a G-weapon to keep out of ZAFT’s clutches.
Meanwhile in a hidden part of the Morgenroute facility Kira quickly entered the hanger where his own mobile suit was stored. Standing tall and proud in the middle of the hanger was the Shiva Freedom.
Stepping onto the zipline anchored to the Shiva’s cockpit Kira was hoisted up into the air. Entering his mobile suit’s cockpit Kira activated the ignition sequence bringing the Shiva Freedom to life. “Here we go.” Kira muttered to himself.
Once settled in the pilot chair Kira activated the phase shift armor turning the mobile suit from dull gray to a black, red and blue color scheme. Grabbing the energy rifle stored on the Shiva’s back Kira took a deep breath before activating the thrusters and blasting through the hangers now open roof.
Outside a chain reaction of fuel cells ignited in the sub-level below the area where the X105 Strike and X303 Aegis was located. A wall of white-hot flame erupted from the floor, a towering inferno that threatened to consume everything in the bay. The blast wave was immense, turning the maintenance scaffolding into molten shrapnel and bathing the mobile units in a hellish, orange glow.
Through the rolling curtains of fire, three silhouettes emerged. Inside the Strike Murrue watched in shocked disbelief as an unknown mobile suit landed beside the X105.