Haman Karn VS Kira Yamato

As the Aile Strike Gundam surged out of the thick smoke, Kira Yamato's roar of fury accompanied the barrage from his high-energy beam rifle, all directed at Haman.

"Whether it's you or them, why must you all force me onto the battlefield! I've had enough!"

Faced with the raw, naive emotion characteristic of a youth raised in an era of peace, Haman—who had grown up in the suffocating tension of a world where war between the Principality of Zeon and the Earth Federation was an inevitability—could not empathize, and certainly had no intention of indulging him.

"Peace and justice are not things that fall from the sky.

If you possess such power yet do nothing but wallow in self-pity, it is nothing more than the hollow whining of a spoiled brat!"

Haman was not only sharp-tongued; she immediately launched an offensive that looked just as fierce.

However, judging by the fact that she only deployed six Funnels and a single set of four-tube missiles, it was clear she was not yet exerting her full strength.

Yet for the still-green Kira Yamato, facing an all-out attack of this caliber from a Newtype-use Mobile Suit for the first time was already beyond what his physical instincts could easily handle.

In his frantic, disorganized attempt to counter everything at once, he took three high-explosive missiles and two hits from the Funnels.

Fortunately, the freshly maintained Strike Gundam did not lose much combat capability from two Funnels that he had instinctively steered away from his vitals, and the missile damage was absorbed entirely by his Phase Shift Armor.

"Is this all the so-called Ultimate Coordinator amounts to?

To be so pretentious while lacking the strength to back it up—it's laughable!

Perhaps I should just end your misery today!"

While effortlessly parrying another wave of covering fire from the Archangel, Haman continued her verbal assault, closing the distance to the Strike Gundam and initiating a new wave of attacks.

Opposite her, Kira quickly adjusted his strategy, focusing his energy on the more threatening Funnels and resolving to rely on his Phase Shift Armor to tank the missiles he could not dodge.

At the same time, he continued to vent his emotions over the open channel.

"What 'Ultimate Coordinator,' what 'power I possess'—I am just a first-generation Coordinator whose parents were both Naturals! I only wanted to hide from the war in Orb and never wished to be involved in this conflict!"

Relying on a significantly more effective strategy, the damage Kira sustained in this wave, aside from the jarring vibrations to his machine, was limited to a simple drain on his battery.

Seeing Kira's timely adjustment, Haman found her opponent far more interesting and grew increasingly eager for the fight.

Thus, while continuing to expose truths and mock him, she prepared to ramp up the intensity, initiating a wave of all-range attacks at close-quarters combat distance.

"It seems you have been well-protected by your foster parents until now, Kira Yamato.

But no matter, this lady will let you die with your eyes open today.

Your biological father was actually the most brilliant genetic biologist, Dr. Ulen Hibiki.

In his quest to create the 'Ultimate Coordinator' of his dreams, he exhausted his research resources on failed experiments, eventually going so far as to use one of the twin embryos from his own wife's womb as a test subject.

You, Kira Yamato, are the only successful embryo that was born, standing upon the foundation of countless failed experiments whose fates are better left unsaid.

As for your foster parents, because the conflict between Coordinators and Naturals had already been severely exacerbated by those with ulterior motives, your mother's sister—Via Hibiki—entrusted you and your un-adjusted twin sister to the Yamato couple while you were still in swaddling clothes.

Just as she had feared, Mendel was attacked by Blue Cosmos shortly thereafter, and your biological parents perished.

At the request of your foster parents, your sister was adopted by Representative Uzumi of Orb, and you were able to live in peace under his silent protection until now.

But now, the flames of war have spread so violently that there is no longer a single peaceful corner left in the Earth sphere, and Heliopolis, that once-secluded sanctuary, was destroyed by your own hands.

For someone like you to still scream 'no more war' and try to escape the fighting—it is truly laughable!"

Already mentally shattered by Haman's words, Kira was skillfully baited by her Funnels and forced to take the four-tube missile barrage head-on, causing the Aile Strike Gundam to suffer a momentary, critical stun.

Haman seized the opportunity, using the mechanical claws of her Newtype-use Bigro Custom to pin the Strike Gundam's arms, rendering it immobile and forcing it to face the large, charging Mega Particle Cannon mounted on her nose.

However, because she had just fired the cannon to flush the Strike Gundam out, even though her custom Newtype-use Bigro Custom had a much higher output than a standard model, it still required a moment to charge enough to destroy the Aile Strike Gundam at such close range.

Facing this "stay of execution," Kira was momentarily paralyzed by the shocking revelation of his heritage; the Strike Gundam remained motionless, appearing as if he had abandoned all resistance.

At this moment, neither the Archangel—which viewed the Strike Gundam as a precious test subject and combat asset—nor his friends, who saw Kira as a dear companion, would allow such a situation to continue.

On the Archangel, seeing the situation deteriorate to this point, Badgiruel made a firm decision.

"Archangel, turn to port! Gottfried, target the enemy's large mobile armor, lock on immediately!

Aim for a position as far from the Strike Gundam as possible, and fire the moment you are ready!

Valiant, stern missile tubes, keep the Igelstellung firing!

Hangar, prepare the Launcher Striker for the Strike Gundam, wait for my command to launch!"

On the other side, among his friends, Miriallia, who had a direct line to Kira, called out in desperation.

"Kira, pull yourself together!

No matter what your background is, you are still our good friend, Kira Yamato!

Kira!"

Inside the cockpit of the Strike Gundam, feeling the "death" approaching like a physical weight, Kira's life began to flash before his eyes.

Through the passage of time, he seemed to see his biological parents arguing and his mother weeping in secret, then the separation from Cagalli while he was still an infant, followed by childhood memories with Athrun, his student life on Heliopolis, his affection for Flay, and his recent reunion with Athrun.

As his mind suddenly seemed to clear, Kira finally began to manifest the true power of an "Ultimate Coordinator."

"Perhaps you are right, and I truly should reflect on myself—but for that very reason, I cannot die here!"

Accompanied by Kira's hoarse roar, the Strike Gundam in its desperate state forcibly ejected the Aile Pack and triggered its self-destruct.

In the sudden, violent explosion that followed, the two machines were forced apart by the blast.

On Kira's side, although he used the last of his battery to power the Phase Shift Armor of the Strike Gundam's core unit to avoid a fatal blow, even his body as an Ultimate Coordinator could not withstand the shock, and he lost consciousness in the blast.

As for Haman, relying on her Newtype precognition, she managed to escape with only severe damage to the mechanical arms of her Newtype-use Bigro Custom, suffering little other loss.

However, with Kira having traded the total destruction of the Aile Pack for this narrow window of opportunity, the beleaguered Archangel once again demonstrated the resilience that allowed it to survive against all odds in the original timeline.