Gundam Seed: Kira Reloaded c25 (Patreon)

Lord Azumi looked at the white ship docking at the harbour. A few moments later, the gangplank lowered, and people disembarked from the ship.

The Chief Representative saw his daughter's blonde hair.

He sighed in relief. She is finally back!

Cagali’s maid was the first one to rush over with a bunch of butlers. They took her to one of the rooms to dress her up. 

The girl looked panicked when she saw her maid. The old lady was as traditional as it got!

“...Oh my. It looks quite serious.” Lacus commented as she saw what was going on.

“I wasn’t expecting Sigel Clyne’s daughter to be aboard the Archangel.” Lord Azumi got the attention of Lacus and the rest of the crew as he and his group approached the Earth Alliance’s people.

“...Chief Representative, It’s an honour. I would like to request your assistance. I wish to return to PLANTs.” Lacus slightly bowed before speaking to the man.

“Such thing can be arranged. Though I do wish to know how you ended up in the State of Art Earth Alliance Military vessel.” He said that while looking at the white military vessel.

“I saved her in Julius Seven debris field. She was in a life pod. After that, she took refuge on the vessel.” Kira chipped in, making Lord Uzumi look at him. He had a realising look on his face.

The man recognised the boy immediately. He knows his identity… His real identity as Ultimate Coordinator.

“...You must be Kira Yamato, the infamous pilot of Strike. Orb knows of your exploits. Your recent battle was quite something else.

Not every entire section of the military ceases to exist.” The Leader of Orb slightly grimaced as he was well aware of what was happening in his part of the world.

“Well, I did what I had to do to make everyone on the ship survive,” Kira replied with a complex look.

“...Indeed. I understand you want to tell me something, Kira Yamato. Your look tells me that you wish to discuss something?”

‘As expected from Lion of Orb, this guy kept his small Island nation independent against the Military Juggernaut of Earth Alliance.’

Kira was pleased by how quickly this old man discerned the brown-haired teens' intentions.

He wouldn’t be surprised that Lord Uzumi has some idea why Kira decided to make his pit stop here.

“Yes, I do. I want to upgrade Strike before the next major ZAFT move, and for that, I have an offer you can’t refuse.” Kira pulled out a blue memory stick.

“...Do you realise that sharing classified military secrets is a capital offence.”

“Well, aware, sir, but this is something I made before I was involved in the war. This is something of my creation, nothing to do with Orb or Earth Alliance.”

“I see. Then let my men check on this before I come back at you.”

After discussing it with Kira, Lord Uzumi went to speak with the Captain and the Lieutenant while people from Morgenroete arrived to check the data.

Kira is well aware that Uzumi presents a tough front as a leader. The man is looking for an edge against ZAFT and Earth Alliance, which will allow him to keep their independence, as mobile suit development for them is lagging behind at this moment.

One could say that Kira is their saviour.

~~~

Soon after, Lord Uzumi requested to have a private conversation with Kira because the data they had obtained excited Morgenroete.

Sure enough, they had a meeting in the Headquarters of Morgenroete on one of the islands in the Orb’s archipelago.

“I be frank, Kira Yamato, we agree with what you want. In fact, we will give you everything you want. In return, we wish you expertise in Mobile Suits.

You are the one who put together all of the OS for GAT units, didn’t you?” Lord Uzumi asked as he read the data on one of the islands, more specifically, Onogoro. Their facilities are quite huge.

Considering it goes deep into the underground.

“Let me guess… the OS to pilot the machines is lacking, and Natural pilots can’t make them work?” Kira replied that he already knew about the issue.

“...Indeed. Kira Yamato.” A woman’s voice got the teen's attention as a lady with brown hair in her thirties.

“I am Erica Simmons, Senior Engineer for Morgenroete. I will help you with whatever you request of Morgenroete.” The lady introduced herself.

“I must say, the data you gave us is years ahead in Battery technology. Are you sure you just want to give us that?” she asked him with crossed arms.

“She is correct, Kira Yamato; such technology is ahead of its time.” Lord Uzumi also chipped in.

“That is because, once the war is over, I will be returning to Orb,” Kira said with a sigh.

I want you two to listen to how things play out.” The Ultimate Coordinator sighed before crossing his arms and explaining.

“Once we leave Orb and rush to Alaska, the battle for Alaska will start. ZAFT will invade Alaska. Earth Alliance is sacrificing their capital for a chance to blow up a majority of ZAFT forces.

They will fail since I will be there, and my gut feeling is telling me that there is a surprise waiting for ZAFT and me there.”

“...you are saying they will sacrifice you and Alaska just to cripple ZAFT!?” Lord Uzumi’s eyes trembled as it appeared he had underestimated radicals who rule the Atlantic Federation and, in turn, Earth’s Alliance.

“Indeed. The attack will cripple but not crush ZAFT. They will redirect their efforts on Panama.” 

“...If that happens…”

“Orb will be on the list,” Kira said to Lord Uzumi, who nodded seriously.

“...Indeed.” 

“That is why I am here to make sure this nation survives.” Kira sighed as he revealed the ‘main dish’.

“...You mean—”

“I have a plan. I plan to rob Blue Cosmos and its leader, Moruta Azrael. With that wealth, I want to buy Morgenroete and start developing mobile suits for Orb.

Of course, this depends on Lord Uzumi…” 

“...”

“...”

The Chief Representative had… questions.

“...I…don’t even know where to start.” The old man leaned into his chair and sighed. What he just heard is absurd… but an opportunity to wrestle Morgenroete from those pesky nobles.

Kira placed another memory stick on the table.

“This is data that Morgenroete has been working with Earth Alliance against your wishes, and it has all the details of how I will do it.

The only thing I need is your approval.” Kira pushed the memory stick towards the Leader of Orb.

The Lion of Orb looked at him for a second.

“...I wish to know why. Morgenroete is our shield and sword. One simply can’t buy it. It’s a military company.” He asked instead of taking the stick.

“That’s because I love robotics, and I can’t put aside such an opportunity, and I wish to make Murata Azrael pay for blowing up Junius Seven.

Simply killing him is not enough. I want to take all the bloody money he got and reuse it to help Earth, Orb and even PLANTs.”

“...Hmm, I will accept this under one condition.” He raised a single finger.

“You will need to show proof that you can do it. Murata Azrael’s family is deeply connected to the Atlantic Federation.

I want to see if you can do it AND if you can end this war.

If you can, then we shall continue this conversation.” He explained his terms.

“Good enough for me.” 

Kira still pushed the memory stick, which the old man eventually took.

“Just read what I have on it. You will find some dirt you can use on the World stage. Maybe it will help you against the radicals from the Atlantic Federation.” The Ultimate Coordinator smiled.

After all, his AI was collecting dirt for a while. Communication might be limited, but not impossible. With how regressed Computer Software has become, thanks to the Reconstruction War, Kira can abuse it as much as he can until it is patched.

“...I will keep that in mind.”

~~~

Erica Simmons was on the fence when it came to the chaos by the name Kira Yamato. The kid was dangerous, very dangerous.

This boy detonated an EMP bomb equivalent to a nuclear warhead in the Indian Ocean.

When she read the report, she was baffled by how the boy was able to pull this off with just batteries from mobile suits!

So, yes, this could be either a boon or a curse to have this chaos incarnate in their nation.

“Hmm… what is this?” 

Since the plan was a go, they took Kira back to Archangel, but then they had to stop as Lacus Clyne was leaving.

Erica smirked when she saw that Kira Yamato had just kissed Lacus on the lips before letting her go.

“...Well, Orb is great for raising families, don’t you think Lord Uzumi?” The brown-haired woman asked as she knew he saw this as well.

“We do have great social services and long maternity leaves.” The man replied as there was a small smile on his lips, too.

It appears they don’t need to worry. As long as things play out for them, they will have a pilot of a mobile suit, which a major nation like PLANTs needs to send an entire Task force to deal with.

For such a small nation, such a person will make them stand equal if not better than world superpowers.

…

…

…

“Well, I have to go. No bet my father is waiting for me.” Lacus looked sad, but this was the only choice. If she doesn’t leave her fate in Alaska, it will be horrible.

That is why she needs to return.

“I will come to visit you when I have a chance.” He cupped her cheeks while saying that.

“...Be careful. I know you might have the most advanced AI in the world, but it's not all mighty.” She told him to watch himself.

“Don’t worry, I won’t go down until I see you again.”

She frowned when she heard that.

“You should word it more properly, Kira! It sounds like you plan to perish just to see me!” The pink-haired beauty pouted at him.

“Right, I won’t perish, not before we die from super duper old age!” He joked for a second. This time around, she laughed before kissing him and then walking towards her shuttle, which would take her to PLANTs.

“Much better, Kira; I will see you soon.” 

This time around, the girl had an entire backpack of stuff she collected from months spent with Kira… one of them was her pink uniform of Earth Alliance…

It will be awkward if ZAFT finds it…

As Kira watched the shuttle launch from Mass Drive into space, the Senior Engineer walked over to his side.

“...Quite a surprise, Kira Yamato, wasn’t she Siegel Clyne's daughter? If I recall correctly, she should have been engaged to Patrick Zala’s son.”

Kira showed her a ‘smile’.

“Indeed he was until he was not. Funny how fate works in mysterious ways. I piloted Strike. He piloted Aegis. Until that, Aegis ended up as scrap metal in my hangar.” 

“...”

“...”

“Anyway, let’s get Strike up and running. Legion, send him here.”

Kira pressed a button on the comms device in his ear, and sure enough, the mobile suit was getting loaded into the Catapult Deck aboard Archangel.

Not long after that, everyone could see the machine skiing through the water. When it arrived at the shore, it jumped into the air and landed in front of Kira.

“...Impressive, you were able to push the OS to such a point. No doubt you expanded its processing power?”

“Yep, I had to place a custom motherboard and an array of expansions.

One of the reasons I want to upgrade it here is to work on a custom cockpit I designed but lacked materials for.” Kira nodded at her observations before telling her why he wanted it done here.

“Very well, then let’s begin. I do want to see your work, Kira Yamato.”

“We will meet you in Morgenroete.” 

With a nod, the Ultimate Coordinator boarded his Custom Strike.

It was time to improve his Strike! Further and beyond its original capabilities!