Gundam SEED Phase 39: Athrun

M1 Astray pilots Asagi and Juri continue to hold off the advance of the Strike Dagger forces. Nearby, Mu’s Aile Strike Gundam and Dearka’s Buster Gundam also fight the Strike Dagger teams. In the air, Clotho transforms and attacks Kira, followed by Shani. Athrun calls Kira and then pulls out his double-sided beam saber to fight Clotho and Shani. Kira then cuts in with his beam saber and asks Athrun if ZAFT is going to participate in the battle, but Athrun says he chose to join the battle on his own. Kira dodges Clotho’s hammer, and Athrun attacks Clotho with his beam saber while Kira uselessly fires at Shani. On the ground, Orga begins firing into the air and nearly hits Clotho and Shani. Nearby, Mu and Dearka wonder what’s going on in the air. The Calamity Gundam jumps onto an Orb ship and begins firing into the air again. Orga fires at the Forbidden Gundam, which deflects the shot and sends it in the direction of the Raider Gundam. Kira fires his railguns at Shani, but the Forbidden Gundam deflects them all. Clotho fires at Athrun, and Kira kicks Shani, followed by Athrun. Shani then attacks from above with scythe, but Kira and Athrun dodge and fire their beam rifles at him, which are deflected. Kira then fires his railguns at Shani at point blank range, but they have no effect. On the ocean, Alliance ships fire missiles into the air, but the Archangel destroys them. On the ground, Dearka and Mu continue to fight the Strike Daggers along with the M1 Astray girls. On an Alliance ship, the captain criticizes Azrael and tells him his Gundams aren’t doing as well as was expected. Orga fires at Shani, and his shots are deflected in the direction of Kira and Athrun, who see that they don’t care about their own allies. Suddenly, Orga, Clotho and Shani gasp in pain as their drugs wear off and force them to escape. Azrael isn’t happy that they’ve come back, and he orders the captain to end the battle and recall the Strike Daggers. In the air, Kira thanks Athrun for the help but says he wants to discuss what happened. Athrun gets out of his cockpit and says he was ordered to capture or destroy the Freedom Gundam, but he doesn’t have the desire to do that now and wants to speak with Kira.

With the battle having ended, the Archangel lands and the mobile suit pilots take a rest. Everyone watches as the Freedom Gundam and Justice Gundam land nearby and Kira and Athrun climb down from their cockpits. Orb soldiers point their machine guns at Athrun, but Kira tells them he’s not an enemy. As they walk towards each other, they both think about all their experiences up to now in the war. Before either can say anything to each other, Cagalli runs up to them and calls them both idiots. The Archangel and all mobile suits are taken back to Morgenroete for repairs. In the skies, Uzumi flies overhead in a Heli to survey the damage. Kira tells Athrun about the situation in Orb, which isn’t looking very good. He says that if Orb joins with Earth, ZAFT will be destroyed, and if they join with ZAFT, the same will happen to Earth. Kira says that he killed Nicol, but he didn’t know him and didn’t want to kill him. He also says that Athrun killed Tolle and also didn’t know him or want to kill him. Kira says it would be great if they could live in a world without war, but the war keeps increasing in scale and eventually both sides will be destroyed. Kira says he has to return to work because he doesn’t know when the Alliance will attack again. Athrun asks him what he’s done about the N-Jammer Canceler data, and Kira says if anyone tries to take it he will kill them. Miriallia runs away crying, and Dearka tries to talk to her. She yells at him and says that even if she kills Athrun, it won’t make Tolle come back. On the Spengler ship, the captain tells Azrael that Orb has requested peace talks, and Azrael finds that ridiculous. He asks when they can attack again, and the captain says it all depends on when the Gundams are ready. Athrun asks Cagalli why she’s sticking close to him, and she says she’s just watching over him. She thinks Kira has changed, but Athrun says he’s still the same guy. She asks him what he will do now, and he tells her that he’s not sure. On the Alliance ship, doctors give Clotho, Shani and Orga drugs that will last longer. After having their fill, they launch in their Gundams and head for Orb.