Gundam Seed: Kira Reloaded c22 (Patreon)

“I know?” Kira looked confused for a second.

“It should be obvious.” He sighed at her.

“There is only one Cagali who has connections to Orb’s Mobile Suit development team as well as has a bodyguard at all times.” The Pilot of Strike’s confused look changed into a smirk.

By this point, Lacus was next to him and had a look of realisation.

“...She is Orb’s Princess.” The pink-haired girl said with a look of realisation.

“That’s my Lacus.” Kira nodded at her words.

“So let her enter.” He then looked at the shell-shocked guard.

“R-Right!”

The guard let them enter.

Cagali looked at Kira with a slightly annoyed look. Her identity got compromised easily by this guy!

Still, she walked inside.

Her eyes ended up on a blue-haired teen dressed in prisoner clothes.

“...You are one of the people who stole those machines and blew up Heliopolis.” The girl right away went on the offence.

“...Hmm?” Though Athrun looked confused.

“...She is Orb Princess, Athrun. She is somewhat pissed that you blew up her colony.” 

“...Kira!” Athrun ignored Cagali and instead looked furiously at Kira.

But Strike's pilot ignored him and instead brought coffee to the Desert Tiger.

“...That’s for you. I heard you like coffee. I kinda like mocha myself.” 

“KIRA! Don’t ignore me!”

“...I don’t ignore you. I simply have nothing to say to you.” Strike's pilot sighed as he turned to Athrun.

“Thanks, kid. You are not that bad.” Andrew Waltfeld smiled as he finally got his first coffee since… forever! (Not really, two days tops)

“Yeah, but I am keeping your LaGOWE,” Kira smirked.

“...Sure. It’s not like I can deny that.” The Desert Tiger sighed in resignation.

“...Damn it! SHUT UP!” Cagali stomped her feet. She is getting pissed that everyone is ignoring her!

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“...”

“GOOD! Now tell me, did you steal that machine!?” Cagali was pleased that everyone stopped talking.

“...Yes. I was part of the team. Though we had no idea the colony would blow up.” Athrun calmed down and finally replied.

“...Your Command is one crazy bastard. He sends two GCUE with anti-fortress rockets inside the colony.” Kira chipped in. He can’t control himself. He does want to burn that masked freak.

“...”

Athrun didn’t reply as he saw the GCUEs launch. Not that he could stop it.

“...So it’s that Commander's fault that Heliopolis got destroyed.”

“...Yes.” 

“I see. And the machine? You piloted it the whole time?”

“...Yes.”

“...And I piloted Buster. What of it?” Daerka said from the side.

“They are a mistake! They should have not been created!”

“Oi! Oi! Don’t speak trash about my Strike!” Kira complained immediately.

“I was the one who designed the OS and tailored the neural link and other software functions! Do you know how many days that took? 

You can’t talk shit about someone's hard work!” 

Grrr!

The blonde princess growled at him.

“Do you know how many people those machines killed!” She replied with anger.

“Not many. After all, I disabled them most of the time. Isn’t it right, Athrun? Buster’s pilot? We exchanged fire four times, and I always send you guys packing.” Kira wanted them to reply, but he got nothing. At the same time, Athrun was making some strange noises. 

“...”

“!!!”

“...Kira. I think it’s enough traumatising the pair.” Lacus finally came in as she was listening. 

“...Since you asked.” He sighed and walked towards Lacus.

“Enjoy your coffee, commander. I won’t be coming back here for a while. I am almost done with Buster’s repairs; it will be ready for combat soon.” Kira waved his hand at the Daerka and Desert Tiger before he left.

“...Damn that, Kira. He is more crazy than I remember.” Athrun spoke as his hand was trembling. He could see that craziness in his eyes. But it disappears the moment he is with Lacus.

‘Maybe it’s for the best. Lacus can at least calm that madness of his.’

He doesn’t want to know what Kira will do when Lacus is not around.

“...You know him?” Cagali asked with a frown.

“Yes, I studied with him on the Moon before the war,” Athrun said with a tired voice.

“Even when he was a kid, he would practise martial arts like crazy, design AI, create software and engineer robotics. I don’t know if he used to sleep at all.” The Ace pilot of ZAFT replied to her.

“...So he was like this the whole time?”

“...Yes. But now he has a Mobile Suit and is fighting against his people.”

‘So it’s his sheer talent which is getting released through war.’ Andrew Waltfeld thought with closed eyes as he was enjoying his coffee.

‘What a pity. I would like to see him release that talent and hard work through more peaceful ways.’

~~~

Kira returned to his work as he fixed Buster in a matter of few short days. 

The machine only had a destroyed head, so he swiftly repurposed Blitz’s head and made it into Buster’s. Before long, the second GAT unit was ready for combat.

While he was fine-tuning the second machine, other mechanics brought the refined metal on board as promised. Archangel stopped to refine all the metal.

“...So how are you planning to allow us to fight in water?” The Lieutenant asked Kira.

They were in the hangar bay. The Ace pilot of Earth Alliance can see Buster all ready for action with a shiny new head. 

“Retrofitting the thrusters for more power. And adding hoovering extensions.”

Kira showed him the upgraded schematics for those two machines.

What he saw was Buster’s and Strike’s 3D images spinning on the laptop.

He could see Aile's packages placed on both machines!

“...Wait… you are planning to add Aile package to Buster!?” 

“The Frame is nearly identical. All I need is to add Strike’s hard points.”

Kira swiftly selected the ranged GAT unit and showed its back.

“Besides, I am thinking of adding Positron cannons here.” Kira showed how he was planning to install Positron cannons on the wings, which can be bent forward and act like artillery.

“...Holy… kid…” 

The Lieutenant liked the cannons, but…

When does he come up with this!? 

More importantly, what is in his head!? 

Doesn’t he think about anything else?

“Yeah. It will be cool. Regardless, I need to adjust a few weapons for underwater fights~.” 

He sounded excited to try out something new. After all, he needs to keep up his image as Invincible Strike, the Warship Slayer.

~~~

After sorting out his loot, Kira had quite a bit of metal, so he made sure he separated everything, including wires, different types of metals, and more material for the Phase Shift Armour, as he still needed to fix Aegis.

Regardless… ZAFT should have attacked them the moment Desert Tiger lost, as they were the weakest at that time.

By this point, Kira has more time. If he has more time, he can make weapons and more ‘ammunition’ to fight his enemies.

“...Kira, you should rest.” Lacus walked over as she looked at him sitting on Aegis’ separated leg with a Laptop on his lap.

“...Hmm…Yes, I should. Besides…” He jumped down, closed the laptop, and walked over to her.

“We are entering the Red Sea soon. I was about to get you to join me.”  As he said that, he grabbed her hand and pulled her closer to himself.

“Let’s go.” 

She nodded at him as she was a little bit excited to see the sea for the first time.

The pair walked to the observation deck and stepped outside.

What they saw was still the desert, but in the distance, at the horizon, they could see something blue.

“...This is the first time I will see the sea.” She said to him as they walked over to the hand railing.

“...Same… though I am thinking of buying a house next to the sea. With big windows which overlook the sea or the ocean. It will be most likely at Orb. The weather there is always fantastic since it’s at the equator.” He explained to her with a small smile as he already had some idea what he would do after he won this war.

Yes, win. Having confidence that he can do it is half the battle already fought. He studied war philosophy until his eyes were bloodshot.

“...Oh… I see…” She sounded intrigued. The girl wonders what his plans are after the war is over.

“...Don’t look surprised, Lacus. War or Peace, I have plans for both.” He said to her as he noticed her curious look.

“...do I am in those plans.” She asked curiously.

“Of course.” He replied the very next second.

“Orb is a beautiful place from what I saw.”

“...And you relentlessly antagonise the Princess of Orb. You do know she can make your life difficult.” Lacus was nervously reminded of what he was doing to Cagali.

“...Such thing can be solved. All I need is a fat fish to end up on my target.” 

At that moment, Kira had an image of a radical blonde man in his head.

That right. All he needs is certain man to make his move. Kira already has his viruses spread through the Earth Alliance network, unlike ZAFT, which required delicate positioning to get his viruses, like GAT units OS. Earth Alliance is less protected. His Legion has spread far and wide.

All he needs is account access to transfer all the money.

It's not like Kira is waging war for minimal gains. Nope, this war will make him rich. 

Not only that, but he is also planning to get Morgenroete. To get that, he needs evidence, and he has it in spades. Once he wins the war, he will use his War Hero status to get into Orb’s nobility.

As long as ZAFT and Earth Alliance play their part, he will have everything in place to get on the top.

And one thing is for sure. He can trust radicals to do radical things.

As one man said,

‘Chaos is a ladder’.

“... ’Fat Fish’?” Lacus looked confused, but this was where Kira got behind her before he hugged her. 

“...Look, the Sea.” 

Lacus blushed as she felt his hands on her. She had no time to see the sea! He is distracting her!

She trembled as he felt his breath on her ear! 

“...Relax…” 

After a few moments, she slightly relaxed as she was not used to close contact like that.

…

…

…

As the warship entered the sea, the temperature slightly dropped, and the dry weather was replaced by moist one though it was still warm.

“...You didn’t reply. What do you mean by ‘Fat Fish’.” She casually enquired. She doesn’t mind the contact at this point.

“...Hah… I thought I made you forget it.”

“...If you don’t want to tell me, then it’s fine.” She sighed, realising that she only knew the tip of the iceberg when it came to Kira.

“...My fat fish is Murata Azrael, the head of Blue Cosmos. Once ZAFT takes over Panama, Earth Alliance will turn their gaze at Orb. This is where I will take him out and take all of his wealth.” He explained to her honestly without holding back.

“...You think—” Her eyes widened as she recalled what Ensign said on a bridge.

‘Big operation… by ZAFT! They will take Panama, and then Earth Alliance will attack Orb…

But how does he know that Blue Cosmos will be part of the invasion!?’ 

Honestly, his revealing of this information only raised more questions.

“...Say Lacus…”

“...Hmm?”

“...You shouldn’t think too much about these kind of things. Leave that stuff to me. Once this war is over, it will be up to us to see how we will spend all that loot we have collected.” 

He said with a smile. It's funny how, by dissolving the United Nations and all the treaties, they can easily allow someone like Kira to behave like Genghis Khan. 

Leave it to radicals to leave the gates open for chaos that is Kira Yamato, the Ultimate Coordinator.

“...I don’t think it's that easy to rob people…” She said with a strained smile.

But then he whispered into her ear.

“...It is… my Ai is already in position. All I need is his personal Computer Access.”

Her eyes trembled as she didn’t know what to say about that!