Gundam SEED Destiny: Revised (6/27/07: Completed)

[OpMegs]

First, before starting off, a foreword.

I enjoyed Gundam SEED. I mocked it for its occasionally goofy parts, but on the whole it was a fun show that(other than clip shows) didn't make me think I wasted my time watching it. Then I got to SEED Destiny and looked at the plot before going to the trouble of finding some way to watch it...and just blinked at how badly they'd screwed it up. Furthermore, I kept seeing connections...ways they could've pulled together a decent storyline if they'd just had a dedicated "characterization editor" or something that said "Y'know, this doesn't make sense". In the end, this resulted from it. It's not a straight-up story, really. It's more of a plot outline of how Destiny COULD have gone. Some elements will be the same. Some will have slight changes. Some pieces of it may be completely dropped. It's not an "episode by episode" guide of how I'd change the series so much as a bird's eye view of what could have been.

Also, I make no real claims on this material. If anyone wants to do something further with the concepts here, just mention my name. It's digital words on the internet that I'll never make a profit off of. No reason for me to be possessive.

*****

Prologue

- Court martial at the PLANTs. Dearka Elsman and Yzak Joule are brought up on charges of treason and desertion. Yzak, as his only observed actions were against the enemy EAF forces, is declared not guilty by dint of insufficient evidence. Dearka is judged guilty, but pardoned at the last moment by new PLANT Supreme Chairman Gilbert Durandal. "Your desertion was not to the Earth Alliance, but to a segment of ZAFT forces loyal to Lacus Clyne, who saw the insanity of Patrick Zala before any of us did. While your former rank will not be restored, there is no reason to execute you for following your conscience, especially when it turned out to be the right decision." Afterwards, a manifestation of Rau Le Creuset speaks with Durandal over his chessboard, amused at his decision. Durandal responds that Patrick Zala's ideals and his own could not be any more different, and that in time that will become obvious.

Act I

- Cagalli is invited to attend the christening of the new ZAFT battleship Minerva as a gesture of openness between the PLANTs and Orb by Durandal. Accompanied by Athrun in disguise as her bodyguard, the pair are present when Phantom Pain troops attack, taking the partygoers hostage and seizing three of the Minerva's four prototype mobile suits. The terrorists are unable to locate the Impulse due to its modular parts being stored in separate sections, leaving them to assume the Chest and Leg flyer are parts of it yet to be assembled, which they have no time to take with. An assault action led by Talia Gladys and her pilots disables the soldiers holding the hostages and attempting to steal the Minerva itself. However, the Chaos, Abyss, and Gaia escape under support from Slaughter Daggers and a Mobile Armor that Athrun finds strangely familiar.

- The Girty Lue rendezvoused with another ship, picking up the Biological CPUs designated to pilot the three Gundams in combat. Unlike the previous sets, these seem almost younger, Stella in particular seeming to be a young, naive girl. Neo Roanoke questions their handler about this and is informed that each has a code word that triggers a berserker like frenzy in combat, allowing them to be unique infiltrators as even they are unaware of their combat capability.

- Cagalli runs afoul of angry ZAFT pilot Shinn Asuka, who briefly confronts her over his anger regarding her father's handling of the invasion of Orb. The young ZAFT pilot believes that he sacrificed Orb's civilians' safety simply to hold to his idealistic view of the world. Before Cagalli can refute this, combat alarms alert everyone to the Girty Lue's return, intent on destroying the Minerva before it can be used. Shinn charges off along with fellow pilots Lunamaria Hawke, Rey Za Burrell, and Heine Westenfleuss. The two ZAKUs, backed up by Shinn in the Impulse Gundam, fight off the attacking Gundams while Heine uses his GOUF's heat rod to heavilly damage the Exus mobile armor. Sounding a retreat, the Girty Lue vanishes as the Gundams and Exus retreat.

- The Minerva docks at Orb, undergoing repairs from its combat with the Girty Lue. During the repairs, Talia meets Murrue Ramius, an exile from the Earth Alliance following her desertion during the First Bloody Valentine War. They discuss Murrue's past as Talia asks her how she came to decide to abandon her home and the Earth Forces. Murrue tells her that it was because she couldn't support what the Earth Forces were doing anymore, as they seemed to be moving beyond political considerations and into the realm of outright immoral actions. "It was a time when I looked at what I'd been ordered to do, and what those orders were accomplishing, and had to look in the mirror and say this is wrong. Once I came to that conclusion, I knew what I had to do, no matter how hard it was." Talia asks her where she found the strength to do so, and Murrue makes a vague reference to "a close friend...who taught me that even the impossible can be made possible."

- Cagalli, meanwhile, seethes as she watches newly elected Orb Chief Representative, Yuna Roma Seiran, sign a treaty officially inducting Orb as part of the Earth Alliance. She can't believe that Orb's leaders have forgotten so quickly who invaded them simply to pillage and plunder only three years ago.

- In the debris belt, Yzak Joule's Nazca encounters Coordinator terrorists piloting old GINN High Maneuver Type mobile suits. While he orders his group to sortie, they're unable to prevent the detonation of nuclear munitions that send Junius 7's debris on a crash course towards the Earth, due to unexplainable electronic interference blocking the Nazca from firing its guns accurately. Out of sight range, the Girty Lue cloaks and moves away.

- The Minerva is alerted to the emergency, and immediately takes off. Knowing they need as many mobile suit pilots as possible, Talia lets Athrun know that she knows who he is, and asks him for his assistance in the battle. Athrun, realizing the threat, agrees. He also gives Cagalli a ring, telling her to keep it safe until he gets back, before taking off with the Minerva. He finds the Savior Gundam waiting for him, which looks suspiciously like the Aegis and Justice. When asked, Talia merely says that Chairman Durandal had it express transferred to fill the empty slots left by the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss.

- In orbit, the Minerva crew fights desperately to defeat the terrorists involved. Athrun in particular is forced to face down the reason behind their actions: they support the views of his dead father, Patrick Zala. Minerva and the Nazca's group do their best, before settling on a desperate measure. Sending out every member of the Nazca's crew to lifepods which are picked up by the Minerva, Yzak sets his ship's navigation on a pre-programmed path. The Minerva's positron blaster cannon cracks a hole in Junius 7's center, which the Nazca is then rammed into. Yzak abandons ship in his GOUF, and afterwards activates the ship's self destruct remotely. The Nazca explodes, shattering the primary mass of Junius 7, but not vaporizing it outright, causing debris to rain across the planet as the Minerva's crew watches. On Earth, the council of LOGOS watches as well, Lord Djibril proclaiming step one to be complete.

Act II

- Despite the Minerva and Joule team's desperate attempts to stop Junius 7 and ZAFT's disaster aid in the aftermath, public sentiment turns against Coordinators again. The newly united Earth Alliance and the PLANTs seem on the brink of war....which is triggered when a stealth battleship of Phantom Pain fires nuclear missiles from the middle of the EAF armada standing by near the PLANTs. ZAFT's Neutron Stampeder causes the missiles to go off prematurely, devastating the fleet, and with both sides blaming the other for the nuclear attack, war is quickly declared.

- Athrun, using one of the Minerva’s shuttles to get to the PLANTs in order to attempt to find out who supplied the terrorists with such high-model mobile suits, is dragooned into ZAFT service again when Durandal calls his actions at Junius 7 a "field promotion" and re-instates him. Faced with the Earth Alliance threatening nuclear launch again and Durandal's seeming desire for peace for both sides, Athrun reluctantly accepts the situation and flies as a ZAFT pilot again aboard the Minerva. Shinn, however, is not happy with Athrun's involvement, feeling that his group is being undercut by Athrun's sudden promotion.

- Before leaving PLANT to return to the Minerva, Athrun is introduced to the concept of Meer Campbell, a lookalike of Lacus that Durandal is using to calm the populace. Furthermore, Durandal has apparently further involved Athrun in the deception by claiming that their engagement is still intact. Meer plans to play along, being rather attracted to the famous pilot, and in the process gives Lunamaria the impression that they're sleeping together. Heartbroken, the young pilot turns away, eventually finding Shinn, who does his best to comfort the girl despite his incomprehension of the situation in general. While on PLANT, Athrun meets with Yzak and Dearka and is informed that ZAFT is planning to reoccupy their Earth-based bases. His investigation into the Break the World terrorists only uncovers a single inexplicable word: LOGOS. In Orb, Andrew Waltfield informs the Minerva under Cagalli's orders that Orb will soon become a member of the Alliance and to leave while they still can. In the Orb capitol, Cagalli argues for neutrality, but her arguments fall on deaf ears that believe at least as a member of the Alliance, Orb will not be invaded again.

- Acting on Andy's warning, the Minerva leaves Orb, only to find an Alliance fleet waiting for them. Shinn triggers a SEED mode that allows him to defeat the mammoth Zham-Zha mobile armor and the Minerva's positron gun cuts a way through the fleet for the Minerva to escape. When they rendezvous with Athrun's shuttle, Athrun is greeted with the news that Orb has joined the Earth Alliance and ended its neutrality.

- In their private home, Kira and Lacus are attacked by Coordinators piloting the latest amphibious ZAFT mobile suits. The Freedom makes short work of them, but the attack, combined with the happenings of the world outside, convince Kira that he has a duty to return to the fight. Lacus privately contacts Andy, and the pilot leaves Orb, heading to the Archangel so as to escort her to Terminal, the resting place of the Eternal and the home of the organization the impromptu Three Ships Alliance had become, in fear of something like this.

- In Orb, Cagalli is framed by Yuna as a ZAFT sympathizer, using Athrun's revealed identity as evidence. Before she can be arrested, Terminal agents save her from her captors and Kira in the Freedom escorts her to the newly refurbished and relaunched Archangel. While Yuna immediately orders the Archangel to be pursued, loyalists to Cagalli's father simply let the Archangel submerge and escape.

- Unable to return to space, the Minerva makes plans to fly to Gibraltar and the ZAFT mass driver there. The Minerva's crew fight their way through Earth Alliance defenses between them and their objective, pursued the whole way by the Girty Lue and the three stolen Gundams of Phantom Pain.

- While at Diocvia Port, a ZAFT held location in the Pacific, Athrun watches a concert of Meer's on television, wondering where the real Lacus is. Shinn meanwhile meets Stella, before saving the young girl from drowning. Trapped on an island with her for the night, Shinn promises the young girl that he'll protect her from the bad things, and as the girl sleeps, he thinks back to his younger sister, Mayu, and how similar this girl is to her. He resists the urge to cry. The next morning, Athrun finds them and brings them back. Shinn says goodbye to Stellar, who returns with her "brothers" to the Girty Lue.

- As they approach Gibraltar, the Minerva is cornered by a combined fleet of Alliance and Orb forces, as well as the stolen Gundams. The Archangel arrives and Cagalli begs the Orb forces not to fight, but Yuna orders a ship to jam the transmission channel. Kira begins to disable Alliance and Orb mobile suits, as well as ZAFT suits that attempt to fire back, allowing the Minerva to escape the trap as Shinn clears the way with his berserker-like SEED mode. However, Heine's GOUF is destroyed by Gaia, though the Girty Lue is nowhere to be seen.

- Arriving at Gibraltar, Athrun and Talia are commended, being inducted into FAITH for their efforts. When questioned about LOGOS, Durandal reveals that Blue Cosmos, the anti-Coordinator force behind the war, is bankrolled by a group of arms merchants that incite wars to profit off of the weapons sold on either side. The forces pursuing them were most likely agents of LOGOS.

- Before they leave Earth, Durandal orders the Minerva group to investigate a nearby base. Covertly followed by the Girty Lue, the group finds the primary production facility for Extended pilots. Shinn is outraged by the place, and Athrun shaken. The footage pirated by the Girty Lue causes unexpected malfunctions in Auel and Stella, reducing the former into a sobbing heap and causing Stella to go berserk, launching alone in her Gaia to "protect the lost ones". Though surprised, Athrun and Shinn easily defeat the rampaging suit.

- Under orders from Durandal, the Minerva travels to deliver the steadily sickening Stella to a ZAFT research facility. Doctors onboard the Minerva reveal to Talia that Stella's body, while tuned to perform similar to a Coordinator's in combat, can't support itself without whatever the Alliance does to keep her alive. Talia notes that by the time they get to the research facility, they may have nothing to do but turn her corpse over for dissection. Shinn overhears this and is outraged. Finding Stella, who recognizes him, he frees the gravely ill Extended and takes her to the hangar. Rey opens the hangar doors for him and lets Shinn utilize his ZAKU Phantom to escape.

- Shinn broadcasts an appeal to the Phantom Pain forces in the area with his and Stella's location, and Neo arrives in a Slaughter Dagger. Shinn has him promise to take her away from things like war and mobile suits because she's a gentle girl, and Neo agrees, taking her with him. Upon returning, he hears Stella's stories of how Shinn is "the nice man" she met at Diocvia Port. When he hands her over to the medics to help her, he also orders her memories to that point in time erased.

- Shinn and Rey are arrested on charges of treason and imprisoned, though Shinn makes a passionate statement that simply letting Stella die so she could be dissected was wrong, either way about it. Though Talia agrees privately, she still sends him away. In the cells, Athrun and Shinn argue over what he did, as Athrun knows that Stella will most likely just be put back into battle. Shinn is somewhat dumbfounded by this and asks what he should have done instead, angrily. Athrun returns that sometimes there IS no right thing to do, and leaves. Chairman Durandal meanwhile pardons Rey and Shinn, causing Shinn to have a somewhat boastful confrontation with Athrun afterwards.

- In Europe, Stella is outfitted as the pilot of the massive Destroy Gundam. Neo reassures her, and tells her if she doesn't destroy all the scary things, they'll come and kill all of them. Due to Eurasia having some PLANT sympathies and also being somewhat unsupportive of the war, Djibril orders Phantom Pain to use the Destroy to make an example of them. Several cities are leveled, as well as ZAFT forces from Gibraltar sent to defend against the Destroy's monstrous onslaught.

- Both the Minerva and the Archangel set out towards Berlin to stop the Destroy as it demolishes the capital. The Freedom launches and causes Stella to activate the Destroy's transformation. Impulse launches as well, and the two mobile suits begin to whittle away at the Destroy until Neo tells Shinn that the Destroy's pilot is Stella. He then attacks Kira, who is surprised by the pilot's skill. However, the Freedom is the superior mobile suit and he quickly sends the disabled Slaughter Dagger hurtling towards the Archangel. Shinn attempts to calm Stella down and begins to make headway through the girl's artificially induced amnesia, but when she sees the Freedom shoot down Neo's Slaughter Dagger, she goes berserk, forcing Kira to stab a beam saber into the Destroy, setting its reactor off. Stella is fatally injured by the explosion, and she dies in the hand of Shinn's Impulse after he digs her out of the Destroy, saying "You said...you'd...protect me...." With the destruction of the Destroy as well as the defeat of their commander and the destruction of the Chaos and the Abyss by Archangel's Murasame complement, the LOGOS forces retreat from Berlin. Shinn buries Stella, also recognizing the Freedom as the mobile suit responsible for the death of his parents and sister.

****

More to come, naturally, and I hope you found it interesting.

[Ragormha]

I don't understand...this was basically just a synopsis of the series, except the every start, what are we supposed to review or comment on?

[OpMegs]

Yeah, the second part is considerably different. After all, that's where the series went considerably worse. Admittedly, I probably should have finished the thing and posted it all at once to give a better perspective on that, but when one works long enough on something, they want to get SOMETHING down on "paper" as it were.

Admittedly, any change on there's essentially got a given reason behind it(The Nazca at Junius 7, the change of reason why Cagalli's at the PLANTs, and even the fact that Neo's not piloting a Windam), so curious people can feel free to ask about anything that seems odd or random. Beyond that...well, the other half's about done now, so I guess it'll be easier to comment on then.

[Dark Duel]

So question: Are you altogether retconning the Windam out of existence, or would it appear in a limited faction as a Command Unit.
Quite different, and quite good.
Love the nixing of that ridiculous wedding, and I do like that Luna's character is changed just a tiny bit, makes her seem like less of...shall we say, an airhead.
Looking forward to seeing what you do with the next few parts.

I actually have a "Rewritten Destiny" project I've been working on, which is also considerably different. Most notably, Athrun actually isn't so spineless in the early parts of the series.
Anyway, can't wait to see part 2.

[OpMegs]

So question: Are you altogether retconning the Windam out of existence, or would it appear in a limited faction as a Command Unit.

Quite simply, I always found it ridiculous that LOGOS's super-duper-secret Phantom Pain....is outfitted with the latest grunt suits fresh from EAF factories. If you're going to go through the bother of making a unit that doesn't exist for all intents and purposes(and it's said blatantly on Gundam Official that the Girty Lue doesn't, according to the EAF's documentation), why outfit them with weapons that they clearly couldn't get anywhere else but by working for you? Since the Slaughter Dagger is essentially a high performance version of the old Dagger, it makes more sense on what is supposed to appear as a secret militia. In Stargazer, I believe most of Phantom Pain's grunts pilot Slaughter Daggers for that matter.

The Windams still exist, and are the EAF's replacement for the Strike Dagger/Dagger L. Phantom Pain doesn't use them because it'd be a massive tip-off that they're EAF supported. Which, if you'll notice, even some of the EAF doesn't know, as evidenced when another Girty Lue-class ship sets off the nuclear exchange in a very "Morte De Arthur" style scene early on. This is mainly because, after SEED, I couldn't justify LOGOS pretty much running the EAF. After the first war, you know Blue Cosmos sympathizers would've been hunted down to prevent another bout of insanity like with Azrael.

Hence my reworking SEED Destiny's war into...exactly what it, supposedly, should've been. A war stirred on by LOGOS sitting in the shadows, using Phantom Pain(and Zala sympathizers) as their primary pawns to trick both sides into open conflict.

I actually have a "Rewritten Destiny" project I've been working on, which is also considerably different. Most notably, Athrun actually isn't so spineless in the early parts of the series.

That's one thing that I had to bend some plot threads around to avoid in Pt. 2. Ironically, the Savior's lifespan was increased by almost half again as a result (as I absolutely hated how that fight went down. Made absolutely no sense). I look forward to seeing it. As quickly as this format allows me to write, there's something about seeing it actually written that appeals.

[OpMegs]

Act III:

- As Durandal prepares to announce the existence of LOGOS to the world, he also orders the Minerva to hunt down and destroy the Archangel. Given their typical mode of operation, they'll most likely interfere with ZAFT's hunt for Djibriil just as they interfered with the Alliance's attacks. Talia, though uneasy at the concept of fighting the Archangel and Murrue, accepts this logic. Knowing Athrun will disapprove, Durandal fails to tell him what their orders are. However, he does show the pilots the nearly completed Legend and Destiny, which will be piloted by Shinn and Athrun after the completion of their next mission, with Luna taking command of the Impulse. As Durandal retires to his chambers, “Rau” notes that Gilbert’s tactics are impressive. After all, if he’d announced LOGOS’s existence now, like he was already ready to do, the Archangel wouldn’t intervene at the next attack and most likely help instead. Letting them attack due to their consciences and thus seem to be protecting Djibril makes Talia’s reactions much more predictable. It’s almost something Rau himself would’ve done.

- Luna asks Shinn why he's so eager to attack the Freedom, he explains that his family were living at Orb during the invasion. The Freedom attempted to shoot one of the enemy mobile suits and missed it somehow, shooting downwards and hitting a building which then collapsed and crushed his parents and his little sister. He only survived as his sister had dropped her cell phone and he went back to retrieve it.

- ZAFT forces attack the EAF Heaven’s Base, suspected of harboring Djibril. The leader of LOGOS deploys three Destroy units to defend himself, however, and initial attacks upon the base rack up considerable casualties. As they approach, the Minerva’s crew is informed of a critical weakness in the Destroy design that the evaluation of the wreckage at Berlin has discovered: the reactor powering the heavy beam cannons is insufficiently armored in the units’ mobile suit mode. Using this knowledge, Shinn goads the Destroys into transforming by harassing them with the Force Impulse, leaving the units open for Luna and Rey’s ZAKUs to snipe the units using Gunner Wizard packs.

- Learning of a supposedly unprovoked ZAFT attack on an EAF base, Murrue orders the Archangel to head that way in order to prevent another slaughter like Panama. However, when the Archangel arrives, it falls into the trap laid down by Talia, pinned in place by heavy fire from units that had waited for the ship to arrive and not participated in the earlier assault. Shinn attacks the Freedom in the Impulse, using tactics devised by Rey and ejecting both the Leg Flyer and Top Flyer at Kira. They explode via self-destruct as Shinn combines with a new set in Sword Sillouhette form. As Kira recovers, he blocks a blow from the Impulse's anti-ship sword, only to fall as Shinn swings its second edge around and slices the Freedom from its armpit joint through its upper body and out its head. The Freedom falls into the water in two pieces. Athrun is horrified, watching as the Minerva fires on the Archangel. Murrue orders the Archangel into a dive, jettisoning one of its engines and detonating it to pretend as if it were destroyed. Cagalli meanwhile retrieves the remaining segment of Freedom's cockpit from the water in her Strike Rouge, Kira having jettisoned the Freedom's reactor before it could explode, leading ZAFT to assume both targets destroyed.

- On worldwide TV, Durandal reveals the existence of LOGOS to the world, and divulges information on several prominent PLANT, Alliance, and Orb officials implicated as being a part of it. Yuna Roma Seiran is one of them, and Durandal reveals they know that he's harboring Djibril. He makes it clear that he intends to hunt Djibril down no matter where he hides, the implicit threat of a ZAFT-backed invasion of Orb obvious.

- Horrified by the actions taken during Operation: Angel Down, Athrun remains in his quarters until they return to Gibraltar. Once there, he attempts to escape onboard the Legend, only to run into Shinn in the hangar. Shinn deduces what he's doing, and Athrun promptly gets into a brawl with him, knocking the younger pilot unconscious. In anger, he considers killing him in revenge for Kira, but then tosses the thought away in disgust, leaving. Heading back aboard the Minerva, he finds soldiers waiting outside his room as an alarm goes off. He hides in Meyrin's room, who pretends that he's not there to the soldiers searching. She asks him if Meer is actually Lacus, which Athrun admits she isn't. Further worried by such a revelation given that Athrun also admits Lacus is alive elsewhere, Meyrin helps him escape, and is forced to run away with him in the Savior when Rey discovers them.

- Shinn and Rey are dispatched in the Destiny and Legend to capture or destroy the Savior, and Athrun asks Shinn if he even considered for a moment that ZAFT is doing exactly what the Alliance did to Orb in the last war. However, when Shinn starts to waver, Rey tells him that Athrun killed Luna's sister Meyrin in his escape, which enrages Shinn, causing him to attack even as Meyrin tries to say she's alive, heavily damaging the Savior with the Destiny's hand mounted beam cannon and sending it to a watery grave as well.

- Luna is informed of her sister's death at Athrun's hand, vaporized by the Savior's beam rifle as she tried to close the hatch to prevent its escape. Grief-stricken, she seeks comfort with Shinn again, the male pilot being the closest friend she has after Heine’s death.

- Meyrin and Athrun are rescued by Terminal agents and brought back to the Archangel's underwater hangar, where Athrun is happily reunited with Kira and Cagalli, who he's overjoyed aren't dead. However, he also is introduced to the recovering Neo, who looks shockingly like the dead Mu La Flaga.

- At the PLANTs, Lacus and Andy discover Durandal's former ties with LOGOS, only to be discovered by his enforcers. They flee aboard the Eternal, along with partial information on something called the Destiny Plan.

- On board the Archangel, Murrue struggles with ordering the interrogation of their prisoner, much to said prisoner’s amusement. However, Kira’s unlocking of the scrapped Slaughter Dagger’s flight recorder reveals its operation near Junius 7 at the time of Break the World. The Archangel’s crew don’t know what to make of this as the LOGOS unit wasn’t registered as present at that conflict. Athrun, however, notes the strange interference that Yzak mentioned to him afterwards, and suspects its involvement in the terrorist attack. Neo congratulates them mockingly on the deduction, even though given his unit’s non-existential status according to the organization it came from, knowing that a ship with no loyalties listed in no military registries with pilots and crew that all don’t officially exist assisted in Break the World does little to change the situation.

- On Earth, Terminal's hangar is informed that the Eternal is under attack. Kira pilots the Strike Rouge equipped with a space booster, managing to get through the advanced ZAFT mobile suits despite the fact that the Strike Rouge is hopelessly outdated. Climbing out of the damaged mobile suit, he is greeted by Lacus who shows him the new Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice that they'd completed construction of. Taking the Strike Freedom out, he disables the enemy suits and ships with the Strike Freedom's new DRAGOONs.

- ZAFT invades Orb due to intelligence regarding Djibril hiding there. The Archangel ferries Cagalli there where she summarily orders Yuna arrested on suspicions of treason. Yuna laughs at her for thinking she can do such a thing, only to find himself in handcuffs seconds later. In the face of the ZAFT onslaught, Erica and Kisaka show Cagalli to the hangar where the prototype next generation Akatsuki is stored. It hadn't been intended for combat just yet, but they really have no choice. Meanwhile, Murrue gives Neo a Sky Grasper with which to leave the field of battle since they really can’t do anything with him anyway, and she’s not one to stoop to torture.

- Cagalli heads out and quickly takes advantage of the Akatsuki’s capability to beat back an assault. Noting the change and the unique mobile suit, Talia orders Shinn to intercept it in the Destiny. As the two battle, Shinn’s angered when he realizes that Cagalli’s the pilot, saying that harboring Djibril is even worse than what her father did. Cagalli snaps back that she didn’t make the decision and that hunting Djibril down would be much easier for her men to do if ZAFT wasn’t busy repeating the exact same thing the Earth Alliance had done to Orb three years ago. Furthermore, she wished he’d get over his damn grudge, given that her father’d resisted the Alliance’s invasion because he knew they were Blue Cosmos puppets, and that Shinn and his family would’ve been hunted down as crimes against nature if the Alliance had succeeded. Shin, shocked by this, wavers for a moment...before the Strike Freedom and Infinite Justice break the atmosphere. The Strike Freedom and backup DOM Troopers proceed to help turn the tide of the assault.

- Inside the Archangel, Lacus climbs out of the Infinite Justice, only to find Athrun dead set on using it to join the battle. However, seeing his injuries, she refuses to let him involve himself, as he’s yet to recover from his injuries and thus going out would be a stupid waste of his life even if he won. Outside, the Archangel survives an attack by the Minerva’s positron cannon due to the intervention of Neo’s Sky Grasper. His comment on “making the impossible possible” causes a shocked reaction from Murrue.

- As the land troops are wiped out and the tide turns against ZAFT due to the Archangel’s interception of ZAFT’s ocean bound fleet. Talia takes command of the fleet after the flagship is taken out, calling a retreat rather than further the assault. Neo’s Sky Grasper is damaged and he has a flash of a forgotten memory as he comes in for an emergency landing.

- On the other end of the island, a shuttle takes off, heading for the atmosphere. Realizing what it is, both the Archangel and Minerva move at top speed to intercept it, with Luna in the Impulse finally managing to destroy the shuttle….only for another shuttle to take off in the opposite direction. Onboard, Djibril comments that it certainly was a good idea to have Yuna’s escape shuttle take off first, or he might not have survived. Unable to catch up due to the ploy, both forces can only watch as the shuttle breaks the atmosphere.

- Neo and Murrue talk on the Archangel’s deck. Before the battle, Neo’d been positive he knew who he was and what his life was about. Now, now he’s not so sure. His mind tells him he’s Neo Roanoke, and that he’s never met Murrue before he was captured…but his body seems to know her regardless. Discomforted by this notion, he asks to be allowed to remain aboard the Archangel until he discovers just how he knows her. After all, he doesn’t officially exist, so it’s not desertion.

- On board the Minerva, Luna’s grown suspicious. She never thought Athrun to be capable of cold-blooded murder, and if he fired a beam weapon inside to account for the lack of Meyrin’s body, how come there wasn’t a huge hole in the Minerva’s plating? She shares these suspicions with Shinn, who is equally troubled by the logic involved. Luna sneaks into the Minerva’s control center with Shinn as a lookout…only to find the security camera footage of the event is mysteriously missing.

- Durandal tries to use Meer as a mouthpiece to decry Orb’s “willing assistance in the escape of a known war criminal”, only to have Lacus intercept the transmission with one of her own. When the PLANT transmission fights its way back, Meer shocks everyone by admitting that she’s not the real Lacus Clyne, and that she’d merely been filling in to allow Lacus to choose to live a normal life away from the public eye if she wanted. Furthermore, since Lacus has shown herself to be coming back to the public eye, she’s grateful to allow her to take back the identity that’s rightfully hers. In his office, Durandal blanches as Meer wasn’t supposed to say that but rather to decry Lacus as an imposter.

- The Minerva pilots’ suspicions have to wait as Djibril unveils LOGOS’s secret weapon, the massive Requiem cannon. Built in the crater left by GENESIS’s attack on the moon three years ago, its design echoes the massive weapon but is refined to allow it to fire near continuously as long as it is charged, and its relay stations allow it to target anywhere on Earth or in space. The first shot wipes out several PLANTs as a declaration of a new war of extermination against the Coordinators. Talia is shocked that even LOGOS is willing to bring back such a horrendous weapon as GENESIS was. The Minerva is immediately tasked with taking out the weapon before it can fire again.

- Having revealed his trump card, Djibril is strangely unprepared for the scale of the assault on the Requiem facility. Several Destroys are caught still under construction and annihilated, while LOGOS sends everything from Ghells Ghe and Zham Zhas to old Moebius mobile armors out to engage ZAFT. However, given the sheer numbers of ZAFT forces deployed against Requiem, this isn’t enough and the firing controls are destroyed by Luna in the Impulse before Requiem can fire. Djibril attempts to escape aboard the Girty Lue, but it is intercepted and destroyed by a sudden new force’s arrival, as several Minerva-class ships and the ZAFT mobile fortress Messiah arrive on the field of battle. Talia looks on worryingly as troops from the new ships land and begin to occupy the Requiem facility.

- While trying to discern Durandal’s next move now that he possesses Requiem, the Eternal receives an emergency message from Meer, fearing that she’s going to be killed for admitting to be the fake. Lacus takes Athrun and Kira along to save her, only to find out that the message was a trap by Durandal’s agents, who plan to kill Lacus and create another, more loyal duplicate. Lacus is shocked, and a fight breaks out, before Meer ends up jumping in the way of a bullet by one of the assassins. As Meer collapses, she tells Lacus that she had to live. She’s Lacus Clyne and Meer…is just Meer. Lacus, however, won’t have it, and breaks her cover to get Meer to the hospital to save her life. ZAFT agents attempt to intervene…but are held off by the populace who help Lacus and her group escape.

- Durandal addresses the world with a speech on how he intends to end the constant struggle between Naturals and Coordinators via his Destiny Plan. Utilizing genetic profiling, each person will be identified for their ideal employment and be assisted by the government to attain that place, regardless of whether they are Coordinator or Natural. The PLANTs and the Earth Alliance will all become one super-power, and humanity’s destiny among the stars can finally be achieved without the specter of civil war. However, in the Three Ships Alliance, Lacus reveals to them the other side of the Destiny Plan that Terminal recovered: the fact that the system, while seemingly fair, favors Coordinators as an elite race of superior humans ruling over a permanent underclass of naturals due to their superior genetic abilities.

- On the Minerva, Shinn wonders about how different any plan that judges someone on their genes can be from what Blue Cosmos spouted. Meanwhile, he walks in on Rey taking several pills and is informed that Rey has to take them to suppress the pain and accelerated aging that his improperly cloned body goes through. He also reveals that his loyalty to Durandal is because under the Destiny Plan, no one will ever have to suffer what he does ever again. Shaken, Shinn leaves, as Rey recalls an earlier meeting just after Jachin Due, where Durandal informed him of Rau’s death. As he was created to be just like Rau, Durandal suggests that he has a responsibility to continue his “brother’s” work of ending the conflict between Coordinator and Natural.

- On Earth, several nations have varying reactions to the Destiny Plan, but Orb, newly broken away from the Alliance after Cagalli was voted via emergency measure into the position of Chief Representative, rejects it outright as there’s no reason to go along with such a plan with LOGOS gone. The Atlantic Federation rejects any situation that requires them to be subordinate to the PLANTs. Durandal spins their rejections as being the last bastions of LOGOS and orders the Requiem fired, obliterating the Atlantic Federation’s orbital space station with one shot and killing the AF President. With Orb next in the firing line, the Archangel launches into space, leaving Cagalli behind to look after her nation as they join the Eternal and the Kusanagi in space. Neo is given the Akatsuki to pilot after his actions at Orb, and officially joins the Archangel’s complement. Before they depart, Athrun gives Cagalli a ring “for later”, leaving a dumbfounded Cagalli in the hangar as he boards the Eternal.

- The Three Ships Alliance, alongside a fleet combined of EAF, Orb, and ZAFT forces that object to Durandal’s stance on the matter, assault Requiem, and are intercepted by the forces there. Talia launches their mobile suit complement, but orders the Minerva to hang back and support the Messiah, as she is further worried by the increasingly autocratic means that Durandal is taking in his implementation of the Destiny Plan.

- When Durandal is informed that the Archangel’s forces are preparing to attack the relay station, he notes that it’s in the best of hands. Rau notes beside him that he can be certain of that, as Durandal made sure that Commander Joule knew he’d be under investigation for war crimes if not for Durandal’s lenience in keeping the evidence hidden.

- Athrun and Kira, utilizing METEORs, confront Yzak at the relay station. Yzak tries to justify his allegiance to ZAFT as being a soldier, but Athrun isn’t having any of it. He knows that Yzak was as horrified as he was when GENESIS was fired during the first war, and that the Requiem is even worse. Dearka notes that Athrun has a point, and decides that if Yzak is going to defend this thing, he’ll have to defend it from him too. Yzak, torn again, simply floats there as the forces destroy the first relay station.

- A group of ZAFT and EAF ships attacks Messiah directly. Irritated by this and the destruction of the relay station, Durandal orders them obliterated. The Messiah’s massive hangar is cleared as pieces are shifted into place….revealing a miniature of the deadly GENESIS cannon. Even loyal ZAFT forces are shocked when the Messiah fires it, obliterating the entire attack force in a single shot.

- Near the wreckage, Yzak is horrified at the firing of Neo-GENESIS. Shaking off his confusion, he opens a band on all ZAFT channels, declaring that Durandal has betrayed the principles ZAFT was founded on, and that they can’t support something so obviously wrong. Inspired by his words and the one mobile suit charge on the Messiah, over half the ZAFT forces switch sides, with the exception of the elite units that arrived with Messiah.

- As the Destiny, Impulse, and Legend close in on the ships they’ve been assigned to, Shinn is shocked as the Infinite Justice intercepts him, with Athrun being still alive. Luna asks him why he had to kill Meyrin, and Athrun replies in shock that he didn’t, and that she escaped with him after they were caught in the hangar. He’s about to identify who did it when the Legend’s DRAGOONs assault the Infinite Justice, their all-range attack countering the Justice’s considerable melee skills and destroying his METEOR. Onboard the Eternal, Meyrin contacts Luna, letting her know she’s still alive and that Rey was the one that chased her into escaping with Athrun. The Legend proceeds to wreak unholy hell on the Impulse and Destiny when they turn on it, the two suits not prepared for the all range onslaught. When Luna’s suit is shot down, Shinn freaks and goes into SEED mode, destroying several of Rey’s DRAGOONs in a single burst of the Destiny’s heavy cannon, forcing him to flee…right into Kira and the Strike Freedom.

- After a brief clash, Kira disables the Legend that he recognizes him now for what he is, now that he’s seen him in action…and that he should know that Rau died under the illusion that humanity was hopeless, but that being a copy like him doesn’t mean Rey has to. Rey demands to know how Kira can be so sure, and Kira tells him that he was born to be the Ultimate Coordinator, yet he decided he just wanted to be Kira Yamato. Rey doesn’t have to be another Rau Le Creuset, unless he’s in such a hurry to end up the same way Rau did. Confused and beaten, Rey flees and Kira lets him go. When Shinn asks him why he did that if Rey’s still dangerous, Kira replies that Rey’s already been beaten more deeply than the damage to his mobile suit.

- Onboard the Minerva, Talia is asked for orders as the ship stands between the Messiah and the oncoming attack from renegade ZAFT units. She freezes, unable to decide, until the Messiah fires again, this time obliterating a swath of formerly friendly forces. Hovering up close to the Messiah, Talia recalls Murrue’s words, and makes her decision. The Minerva’s positron cannon opens up, destroying one of Durandal’s loyal ships, as the cruiser attacks the ships that’ve passed it from behind, where their designs place much less weaponry. Seeing this, Yzak orders a group of mobile suits to break through the blockade and support the Minerva as it turns towards Messiah and the Neo-GENESIS cannon.

- Kira and the Strike Freedom break through the blockade due to the confusion caused by the Minerva’s defection, allowing it to attack Messiah directly. However, he’s only playing for time and distracting the defense forces into trying to target his considerably maneuverable mobile suit, allowing the Minerva, Archangel, and Kusanagi to combine their positron cannon fire to punch through even Neo-GENESIS’s considerable phase shift armor, causing the weapon’s next shot to misfire, slagging its focusing mirror and rendering the weapon inoperative.

- One of the Messiah’s escorts opens fire on the Archangel, firing a positron beam. Neo reacts with the Akatsuki’s DRAGOONs, forming a series of beam shields that the positron beam breaks through one after the other. Seeing no other choice, he throws his mobile suit into the path of the beam just before it hits the Archangel’s bridge, his mind flashing to a similar scene as it happens [visual flashes between the Strike’s sacrifice and the Akatsuki performing the same actions, increasing in tempo up until the impact]….and survives, the blast splintering and bleeding off of the Akatsuki’s beam coating due to the weakening of its power burning through the previous beam shields. On the bridge, Murrue stares at the blast in shock until the blindingly bright Akatsuki lands on the Archangel’s hull as two of its DRAGOONs destroy the positron blaster in question. She has Miriella bring up the Akatsuki’s communications channel and asks Neo if he’s alright. “I’m fine, though if you’d use my real name, it’d be appreciated. We’ve got a lot to talk about when this is over, Murrue.” Murrue stares as the Akatsuki charges back into the battle, before tearing up.

- Shinn prepares to get Luna to the Eternal since her suit is wrecked…before she ejects the damaged parts and transforms the Core Splendor into jet mode. With Shinn covering her, they fight their way along through the melee to the Minerva, where Luna has the Minerva launch a new set of parts, combining into the Launcher Impulse. She lands on the Minerva and begins to supplement its firepower as Shinn attacks in the sky, defending the Minerva from attack.

- The fight is suddenly interrupted as the Requiem pierces a section of the attacking fleet, a new relay station had been moved into place. Dividing the responsibilities, Athrun and Neo attack the Requiem while Kira enters Messiah. Running into a barrier field erected over the spot, Athrun is stumped as to what to do, before Neo notes that his suit is not quite as limited….and passes right through, thanks to his beam reflective coating. Destroying the field’s power generators allows the Justice to enter and destroy the power core with its flight pack.

- Kira enters Messiah, causing havoc amongst the internal structure of the Messiah and landing in an internal hangar. Using the confusion caused by his earlier attack, he makes his way into the abandoned bridge of the fortress.

The following has been running through my head for days, so I’m breaking the format into script format to get the proper feel.

[Kira enters the control room, facing Durandal who is alone on his command chair. Kira holds his gun on him as he approaches.]

DURANDAL: And so now you come. The great Kira Yamato, the Ultimate Coordinator.

KIRA: It’s over. Your scheme ends here.

DURANDAL: Scheme? Is it so horrible that I want to make the world a better place?

KIRA: A better place as you see it. People deserve the right to choose.

DURANDAL: The right to choose. How naïve. Look at where the right to choose got the human race just a few years ago. A war that nearly destroyed us all. And now if not for my intervention, we would be in exactly the same position.

KIRA: If not for you, this entire war wouldn’t have started!

DURANDAL: Is that so? How do you figure THAT wild conclusion?

KIRA: Lacus found your links to LOGOS. You started the war from the other side so you could look like a savior to the PLANTs, and then hunt down Djibril when it was you that was manipulating him to start the war again.

DURANDAL: …a brilliant deduction. LOGOS was a useful tool, a means to the absolute end of conflict. Can’t you see the poetic justice? Using the spreaders of war to end it?

KIRA: Just like you had LOGOS help the terrorists that dropped Junius Seven? Like the terrorists that came after me and Lacus?

DURANDAL: After Lacus Clyne, specifically. Regardless of what verbose title you bear, you are still one boy and unlike Ms. Clyne, you have very little influence off of the battlefield. With young Ms. Campbell as my pawn, I could’ve controlled the PLANTs with ease. With Ms. Clyne removed from the board, my pawn would become the queen necessary to drive this to its proper conclusion.

KIRA: You in charge of everyone? What gives you the right to control everyone’s destiny?

DURANDAL: I am the only one that has that right! The only one that understands the truth of this situation!

KIRA: I’ve heard that before, from a madman.

DURANDAL: Tell me I’m wrong then. When left to their own devices, mankind continually moves ever closer to annihilating itself. The human race needs someone of vision, of drive to guide them to a new age of its true potential! If you leave this to chance, there will always be more Patrick Zalas! More Muruta Azraels! More Djibrils! The cycle will never end until someone takes control by force and turns the stampeding herd of humanity away from the cliff it’s running towards!

KIRA: You’re wrong. We can change that! Move on away from war! People can change. It’s what we’re given a choice in life for! You say they can’t, and that leads to people like Rey who feel trapped in a role they don’t want, a life they don’t want. Do you really think that’s the best way to change things?

DURANDAL: Sacrifices must be made. Rey was an instrument, my loyal knight. And he served his purpose until you ruined everything. But what about you, Kira Yamato? What if they don’t change? What will you do if there’s another war?

KIRA: I’ll fight to change things, because I have to. But that’s if there is another war. Right now, this one’s coming to an end.

DURANDAL: Don’t make me laugh. I know you, Kira Yamato. I’ve watched battle after battle. You never kill. You aim that gun towards me and look impressive, but you don’t have the necessary steel in you to pull the trigger. You can’t kill a man in the heat of combat! What makes you think you could gun me down in cold blood?

[Kira looks uncomfortable at that concept, before Durandal pulls out a pistol and aims it at Kira.]

DURANDAL: I, however, have no such problem.

[We see a muzzle flash as a gunshot goes off, then pull back to Durandal, who collapses to the ground with a bleeding spot in the center of his chest. Kira looks shocked and looks back behind him, only to see a quivering Rey in the doorway who collapses to the ground, dropping a smoking pistol. Durandal looks at him in shock.]

DURANDAL: Rey…why?

REY: He’s right…it doesn’t matter that I’m a clone. I’m not Rau….and I won’t let you put anyone else through this…predestined hell of an existence that you did to me.

[There’s a sharp rumble as Durandal looks up from where he’s lying on the steps to his chair.]

DURANDAL: What…what was that?

REY: Your precious Legend’s nuclear reactor self-destructing next to Messiah’s power core.

[He turns towards Kira, visibly restraining trembling hands and convulsions.]

REY: Get out of here, Kira….you have a life to go back to.

KIRA: Not without you. You can still choose your life too!

REY: I did…already….He….accelerated my aging…after Rau died…needed…someone new….I’ll die in a year, maybe less….but I stopped him…and that’s….that’s good enough. Now go….before…the core breaches…entirely. And if….you see Shinn…and Luna….tell them…I’m sorry…

[Kira looks at him, then nods sadly, running back to the Strike Freedom and escaping from the Messiah as its core, damaged by Legend’s explosion, detonates, carving huge chunks out of the fortress and sending it plummeting towards the lunar surface.]

- The Messiah crashes directly into the Requiem cannon, destroying both as ZAFT forces loyal to Durandal realize they’ve lost and surrender.

- Talia looks at the crashing Messiah and pulls out a small locket from her uniform, containing a photo. It’s herself, Durandal, and a young Rey, seemingly at a park of some kind. She looks down at the CIC and lets a tear slide down at the monitor which reports “Legend: Signal Lost”

- Orb serves as a neutral arbiter between the EAF and the PLANTs in taking on the new treaty. While popular opinion wishes for Lacus as the next Supreme Chairman, she politely turns them down, preferring not to get involved in politics. After the passage of the Solar Treaty, Tad Elsman is elected Supreme Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council.

- Terminal is officially authorized as a three-way jointly financed and operated military organization between the EAF, ZAFT, and Orb, with the intention of hunting down the remnants of LOGOS and Phantom Pain.

- Kira Yamato and Shinn Asuka meet at a memorial for war casualties in Orb, where Kira finally meets the person who wanted to kill him. Shinn, however, restrains his anger and asks simply why Kira wasn’t more careful, to which Kira explains that, while he didn’t shoot at the mainland itself, the mobile suit he was fighting, the Forbidden, deflected his beams and it most likely sent one into the city. He apologizes for Shinn’s loss, which impresses Shinn as it actually wasn’t his fault. The two depart on neutral, if not good terms, with a sense of mutual respect.

- Murrue and Mu visit Talia’s home in the PLANTs, where Murrue meets Talia’s young son, Raymond.

- Athrun retires from ZAFT service and FAITH, returning to Orb and Cagalli

- Meer Campbell, recovered from her injuries and with surgery done to undo the alterations that made her resemble Lacus, begins a novice singing career quietly bankrolled by the Clyne family.

- Lacus and Kira move into a home in the PLANTs, Lacus having learned that obscurity might shield her from attention, but could also have negative consequences with someone using her name for the wrong reasons.

- Shinn and Luna return to active duty aboard the Minerva. Meyrin is seen teasing her sister about her potential interest in the young pilot, a position that Luna vehemently denies.

- Roll credits.

Author’s notes:

A few minor facts that I really couldn’t find a place to fit in or make too clear, but really had in mind as stuff that would probably be written into “fluff” segments between the major plot points.

- While she accepts it, Lacus is mildly weirded out by the sheer level of hero-worship she inspires in the populace of the PLANTs, which was one of the reasons she and Kira retreated to hermithood after the first war.

- After being outfitted with the Impulse, Luna had the engineers assemble its components so that it would launch in its combined mode rather than separate Top Flyer, Leg Flyer, and Core Splendor segments, reasoning that while that was an advantage, there was a tactical vulnerability in launching in pieces.

- About the only argument Yzak can win with Dearka is the fact that he’s still on-and-off with Miriellia, despite neither of them openly acknowledging it.

- Durandal’s father was a member of LOGOS, from which he inherited knowledge of the organization. His father’s successor on the LOGOS council was Durandal’s pawn in manipulating the organization.

- Murrue’s cabin in the Archangel features a number of pictures on the wall, most prominently the “Archangel Command Crew” image of herself, Natarle, Mu, Neumann, and the other guy whose name I forget that’s seen in one of the Destiny closings.

- Sai is currently employed with Morgenroete in Orb as part of the technical staff (a throwback to the experiments we see him doing at the beginning of SEED) , but not at the headquarters itself, hence his absence.

- The Windam is the widely known successor to the Dagger L in the OMNI Enforcer’s mobile suit forces. The Slaughter Dagger is an elite unit based off the prior Dagger and utilized exclusively by Phantom Pain

- Despite the fact that EAF units are used by LOGOS, and controlled by them, both the EAF and ZAFT were unaware of the Girty Lue-class ship that started the nuclear engagement at the beginning of the war, thus leading to both sides honestly believing the other side had instigated the war.

- This author cannot spell Djibril’s name correctly or reliably to save his life. He wishes they’d just been obvious about it and named him Gabriel like it translates to in English.

[Dean_the_Young]

I liked this, as I feel it made a much more "reasonable" Destiny overall. The fact that Kira isn't god and Shinn isn't wasted also help.

And the bullet point format wasn't that bad either. It's not what most people are used to, but I mainly post in a alternate history/counterfactual forum, and many to most timelines use a similar format to that, such as in this time line called "The War of Mexican Intervention".
http://alternatehistory.com/discussion/ ... hp?t=26116


So, have you considered doing something like this for another gundam series?

[Thundermuffin]

Nice, very nice.

Better justifications for pretty much everything that well, wasn't justified too well in the actual series.

My only complaint is that Sting and Auel seem to get pushed aside.

[OpMegs]

I liked this, as I feel it made a much more "reasonable" Destiny overall. The fact that Kira isn't god and Shinn isn't wasted also help.

Yeah, initially I considered moving him to secondary character status, but the more I worked on it, the more I realized he was really wasted as a character, given his motivations. Probably the scene that convinced me he was worthwhile was the jail cell argument between him and Athrun, which shows he's not an idiot by any means.

So, have you considered doing something like this for another gundam series?

Considered somewhat, but I'll admit beyond the CE universe, the only series I'm familiar with to a level I could is G Gundam, and I rather like how that turned out. Admittedly, I'm considering doing so with Wing if I find a way to watch it. Something tells me it's RIPE for that kind of thing.

My only complaint is that Sting and Auel seem to get pushed aside.

That's a little bit of the series, and a little bit me. I admit I haven't seen the earlier episodes(pre-Destroy) of Destiny so much as I've seen the later ones, so I never really got a grip on them except through summaries and Wikipedia.

You'll notice this lack of early episode knowledge is also shown by the fact Shinn and Kira don't meet each other in Orb before the war starts, although I think that works better. Shinn only knowing the Freedom as the cause of his parents' deaths and not the pilot behind the controls allows him to demonize the unknown Freedom pilot much more than if he'd met him.

[Chris]

You'll notice this lack of early episode knowledge is also shown by the fact Shinn and Kira don't meet each other in Orb before the war starts, although I think that works better. Shinn only knowing the Freedom as the cause of his parents' deaths and not the pilot behind the controls allows him to demonize the unknown Freedom pilot much more than if he'd met him.

See, but the thing is that Shinn doesn't know Kira is the pilot of Freedom until the end of FINAL PLUS. When they meet at Orb, Kira is just some guy that Shinn talks to. I don't think they ever even exchanged names, and they certainly didn't say anything like, "BTW, I'm a mobile suit pilot, what do you do?" Therefore, Shinn ends up demonizing the mysterious Freedom pilot in the exact same way, even though he did meet Kira.

[OpMegs]

Ah, well then, I stand corrected. Admittedly, it seems that cutting the scene out(unintentionally no less) did absolutely nothing to the narrative flow, so I guess that was there mainly for the audience in the same way that Yzak was present when Athrun returned Torii through the fence at Orb.

[Dean_the_Young]

I liked this, as I feel it made a much more "reasonable" Destiny overall. The fact that Kira isn't god and Shinn isn't wasted also help.

Yeah, initially I considered moving him to secondary character status, but the more I worked on it, the more I realized he was really wasted as a character, given his motivations. Probably the scene that convinced me he was worthwhile was the jail cell argument between him and Athrun, which shows he's not an idiot by any means.

Over all, I'd say the characterization you chose worked out well for everyone. The more reserved Lacus, and Luna who does more than wear a miniskirt, abolishing the "you killed my sister, let's make out" romance, and that. I readily agree that Shin (and most gundam anti-heroes) are deserving of a second chance they rarely get in their own series.

Even the actual villains had more dignity; Yuna was evil and not pathetic, and LOGOS actually made sense.

So, have you considered doing something like this for another gundam series?

Considered somewhat, but I'll admit beyond the CE universe, the only series I'm familiar with to a level I could is G Gundam, and I rather like how that turned out. Admittedly, I'm considering doing so with Wing if I find a way to watch it. Something tells me it's RIPE for that kind of thing.

Wing might be harder to "improve" than you think, since making it halfway realistic would involve introducing the politics of the world that are only vaguely touched (the different movements in the Earth government, in OZ, in the colonies), as well as making convincing argument about why a world government can't afford some gundarium of its own.


But of course, who says you even need to improve? Different can work just as well. As my recent topic in the anime section showed, I have a bit of interest in trying to change Zeta Gundam, and making the tyrannical titans win. I've even half-way planned it out, and if I ever get around to writing it out (only after I finish the drabbles I'm stuck on currently), it would be in the fashion you've written. I wouldn't be trying to destory and recreate the original work, merely change it.

For example, here's an idea for you that would be about G Gundam. Write one of these counterfactuals... about what if the Devil Gundam had never truly been corrupted? It goes onto Earth and starts trying to fix things, but is forced to hide and act secretly/suspiciously as parts of the Neo-Japan government try and use it for their own ends. And when Neo-Japan ropes Domon into it all with the story of the devil gundam and more...

[OpMegs]

Even the actual villains had more dignity; Yuna was evil and not pathetic, and LOGOS actually made sense.

Ah, graci. Admittedly, that all spun out of getting rid of the hilarious(but nonsensical) marriage plotline. I joked with one of my friends that I told about this that Yuna'd suddenly developed criminal mastermind tendencies when he stopped being an idiot. Similarly, though I considered keeping his original death(crushed under a falling GOUF randomly), I figured that it was a rather abruptly ridiculous ending for the character he'd become. Dying as a pawn in Djibril's escape plan was much more fitting, and let Luna actually accomplish something there(Luna being absolutely useless was one of my least favorite bits of Destiny as I like her for some reason I don't understand), even if it was a feint.

As for LOGOS, Wikipedia gives little information on what exactly it IS beyond a "Shadowy military-industrial organization", which sounded to me like someone that'd profit off of continued warfare. From there, its connection to several oddities(the latest amphibious ZAFT suits in the attack on Lacus, and the High Maneuver Type GINNs at Junius 7, as well as Phantom Pain's tendency to have the best and most advanced weapons) led to the concept of LOGOS as stirring the pot, which in turn led to the Phantom Pain cruiser at the nuclear standoff. Though not mentioned, I suppose you might suspect LOGOS of providing ZAFT with the Neutron Stampeder in the first place. It'd certainly fit.

Wing might be harder to "improve" than you think, since making it halfway realistic would involve introducing the politics of the world that are only vaguely touched (the different movements in the Earth government, in OZ, in the colonies), as well as making convincing argument about why a world government can't afford some gundarium of its own.

Well, the first thing I'd work with is characterization. Two words: Relena Peacecraft. Admittedly, unlike Destiny, Wing might come out a whole 'nother beast afterwards. As for world situations...if there's one thing I can honestly be accused of, it's that I enjoy worldbuilding more than I do writing. I've worked out entire fictional political situations(which is one of the reasons that Counterfactual Titans thread is so interesting to me despite only seeing bits of the series itself. I love considering how the inner politics of the Titans would play out with such characters involved) but when I try to implement them as actual FICTION, I stumble across the fact I tend to make things more epic than they need to be, and generally it spirals out of control. That's actually why this is in the format it is and not an actual story. As you can see, I had at least one scene that I could see in my head as if it were actually written, but I accepted my limitations and put it into a way that I'd actually FINISH it.

For example, here's an idea for you that would be about G Gundam. Write one of these counterfactuals... about what if the Devil Gundam had never truly been corrupted? It goes onto Earth and starts trying to fix things, but is forced to hide and act secretly/suspiciously as parts of the Neo-Japan government try and use it for their own ends. And when Neo-Japan ropes Domon into it all with the story of the devil gundam and more...

....you, sir, have intrigued me. I must ponder this, yes...

[Dean_the_Young]

Ah, graci. Admittedly, that all spun out of getting rid of the hilarious(but nonsensical) marriage plotline. I joked with one of my friends that I told about this that Yuna'd suddenly developed criminal mastermind tendencies when he stopped being an idiot. Similarly, though I considered keeping his original death(crushed under a falling GOUF randomly), I figured that it was a rather abruptly ridiculous ending for the character he'd become. Dying as a pawn in Djibril's escape plan was much more fitting, and let Luna actually accomplish something there(Luna being absolutely useless was one of my least favorite bits of Destiny as I like her for some reason I don't understand), even if it was a feint.

I can tell you in one word why you like Luna. Miniskirt. She's one of the few characters who's clothing is more popular than the character.

Though spill the beans. You got the idea from Wing, didn't you? When the peace faction of the Earth is killed off in an identical manner? Ah well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

As for LOGOS, Wikipedia gives little information on what exactly it IS beyond a "Shadowy military-industrial organization", which sounded to me like someone that'd profit off of continued warfare. From there, its connection to several oddities(the latest amphibious ZAFT suits in the attack on Lacus, and the High Maneuver Type GINNs at Junius 7, as well as Phantom Pain's tendency to have the best and most advanced weapons) led to the concept of LOGOS as stirring the pot, which in turn led to the Phantom Pain cruiser at the nuclear standoff. Though not mentioned, I suppose you might suspect LOGOS of providing ZAFT with the Neutron Stampeder in the first place. It'd certainly fit.

Yes it would indeed. Remind me of something, though. Did LOGOS actually involve PLANT members? I was never quite clear on that from the manga. It would make much more sense if it was.

Wing might be harder to "improve" than you think, since making it halfway realistic would involve introducing the politics of the world that are only vaguely touched (the different movements in the Earth government, in OZ, in the colonies), as well as making convincing argument about why a world government can't afford some gundarium of its own.

Well, the first thing I'd work with is characterization. Two words: Relena Peacecraft. Admittedly, unlike Destiny, Wing might come out a whole 'nother beast afterwards. As for world situations...if there's one thing I can honestly be accused of, it's that I enjoy worldbuilding more than I do writing. I've worked out entire fictional political situations(which is one of the reasons that Counterfactual Titans thread is so interesting to me despite only seeing bits of the series itself. I love considering how the inner politics of the Titans would play out with such characters involved) but when I try to implement them as actual FICTION, I stumble across the fact I tend to make things more epic than they need to be, and generally it spirals out of control. That's actually why this is in the format it is and not an actual story. As you can see, I had at least one scene that I could see in my head as if it were actually written, but I accepted my limitations and put it into a way that I'd actually FINISH it.

I know that stumbling block; it's crippling me on the two Titan drabbles I'm trying to work on now. Nothing's wrong with your approach, though. If you check other time lines on the site I linked to, you'll find that a number of people avoid the problems of characterization by avoiding things like quotes and scenes in the first place, and using various means to get the attitude of the time out.

For example, here's an idea for you that would be about G Gundam. Write one of these counterfactuals... about what if the Devil Gundam had never truly been corrupted? It goes onto Earth and starts trying to fix things, but is forced to hide and act secretly/suspiciously as parts of the Neo-Japan government try and use it for their own ends. And when Neo-Japan ropes Domon into it all with the story of the devil gundam and more...

....you, sir, have intrigued me. I must ponder this, yes...

[/quote]

Thank you, but I should say that that's nothing to other things out there. Try a series where a more successful American Revolution leads to a super-Nazi south african state that enslaves the world, a near future invasion of cannibal reptilian centaurs, or a universe where lizard men from another solar system try to conquer the world during WW2. Now that is the crazier stuff.

[OpMegs]

I can tell you in one word why you like Luna. Miniskirt. She's one of the few characters who's clothing is more popular than the character.

Ironically, no. I've seen more of her in her flightsuit. I think it's a combination of her hair and because it's a red Zaku that isn't Char Aznable.

Though spill the beans. You got the idea from Wing, didn't you? When the peace faction of the Earth is killed off in an identical manner? Ah well, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.

And again with irony...as I said elsewhere, I haven't seen Gundam Wing between a number of random episodes when Cartoon Network was airing them, which were the second episode, an ep where Wufei nearly loses his Gundam to enemy soldiers because he put it away while he was emoing, and Heavyarms taking apart an OZ group in what I think was the Arctic(which, to this day, impressed me with the effectiveness of Heavyarms original's switchblade). Still, as a man once said, all the stories in the world have been told. It's how you use the pieces effectively that marks originality.

Yes it would indeed. Remind me of something, though. Did LOGOS actually involve PLANT members? I was never quite clear on that from the manga. It would make much more sense if it was.

Actually, other than Yuna being informed that Durandal named members of several prominent Orb families, and Djibril receiving requests for assistance from other Earthbound members of LOGOS that come under attack by popular uprisings, the anime never directly says who the people Gilbert names are. I just added PLANT members in because it makes little sense for LOGOS to have absolutely zero presence among Coordinators, even if Blue Cosmos was funded by them.

Thank you, but I should say that that's nothing to other things out there. Try a series where a more successful American Revolution leads to a super-Nazi south african state that enslaves the world, a near future invasion of cannibal reptilian centaurs, or a universe where lizard men from another solar system try to conquer the world during WW2. Now that is the crazier stuff.

Ah, a Harry Turtledove fan. I'm still working on his Darkness and the aforementioned WW2 alien invasion storylines myself.

[Dean_the_Young]

I can tell you in one word why you like Luna. Miniskirt. She's one of the few characters who's clothing is more popular than the character.

Ironically, no. I've seen more of her in her flightsuit. I think it's a combination of her hair and because it's a red Zaku that isn't Char Aznable.

Flight suit counts as clothes, me thinks.
Only anime can make piloting suits sexy, rather than giant and cumbersome. Compare the flightsuit of a jet pilot, and then compare it to, say, Rei Ayanami. Figures.

And again with irony...as I said elsewhere, I haven't seen Gundam Wing between a number of random episodes when Cartoon Network was airing them, which were the second episode, an ep where Wufei nearly loses his Gundam to enemy soldiers because he put it away while he was emoing, and Heavyarms taking apart an OZ group in what I think was the Arctic(which, to this day, impressed me with the effectiveness of Heavyarms original's switchblade). Still, as a man once said, all the stories in the world have been told. It's how you use the pieces effectively that marks originality.

It is a nice and evil idea, no denying that.

Actually, other than Yuna being informed that Durandal named members of several prominent Orb families, and Djibril receiving requests for assistance from other Earthbound members of LOGOS that come under attack by popular uprisings, the anime never directly says who the people Gilbert names are. I just added PLANT members in because it makes little sense for LOGOS to have absolutely zero presence among Coordinators, even if Blue Cosmos was funded by them.

That kind of fits what I thought. If anything, I bet events spiraled out of LOGOS's control during the first SEED. They would have wanted a steady conflict to insure the arms contracts, but not only did the uncontrolled racists perform actions that spiraled events out of the safety lines, but both sides nearly totally beat the other, which would be unacceptable for LOGOS.

Ah, a Harry Turtledove fan. I'm still working on his Darkness and the aforementioned WW2 alien invasion storylines myself.

Turtledove is what you read when you want a mostly reasonable story, as long as you don't mind his repetition and the fact that when he has a theme of parallelism going, there aren't many surprises to be found. Plus, the length is nasty at times.

Stirling is what you read when you want the exoctic (Draka, Island in the Sea of Time (ISOT), Dies the Fire), as long as you don't mind his personal personality and beliefs.

Still, there are a number of tips from Turtledove you could use for a work of your own. Turtledove often has a character unrelated to an event either read of it in a newspaper or hear of it on the radio, which gives the impression and information that needed to be given but couldn't be told directly. That might be useful for you.

[Nagato21]

Wow! I've got to say OpMeg your rewrite was awesome. I read a lot of Destiny alternate stories, but this one takes the cake, its too bad Bandai didn't hire you as a scriptwritter two years ago.
I have been thinking in doing an alternate 0083 and Zeta for some time, so let me know if you've got the same idea. You too Dean the Young.
We might be able to work together so PM.