Chapter 2
The Game Begins
Cosmic Era 76, August 10th, PLANT Capital Aprilius One: Clyne Residence. In the glass gazebo sitting in the middle of the backyard were a trio of three individuals. The first person sitting at a metal white table holding a tea cup in one hand was a man drawing close to his early forties wearing a teal trench coat and the uniform of the ZAFT military underneath.
The second was a female in her early twenties with long pink hair, gray eyes and a white party dress seated to the left of the older man with a pink round robot hopping up and down in her hands. The last individual was a young man roughly around the same age as the young woman, except he was wearing a purple and black ZAFT uniform worn by members of the PLANT Natural Defense Committee. He had brown hair and purple eyes and was taking a slip from his teacup.
The gathering was enjoying an afternoon tea and conversation together regarding daily events such as sports and various subjects, but the group was interrupted by the arrival of a forth person. He entered the gazebo with a folder filled with papers under his arm; this man was wearing a green and white ZAFT uniform and had red hair. He gave a salute to the seated trio upon entering the interior of the small glass room.
"At ease DaCosta…what brings you here?" The thirty-six year old man asked.
"Forgive me Commander Waltfeld, but I have something both you and Chairman Yamato have to see. It's regarding our investigation into the destruction of the shuttle carrying the visiting dignitaries from Orb, Eurasia, and the Atlantic Federation." Martin DaCosta replied as he handed the folder he was carrying to Kira Yamato, a member of the PLANT's Natural Defense Committee and an ace pilot from both the First Bloody Valentine War and the Second Bloody Valentine War.
"So what did the team discover?" Kira asked as he opened the folder to examine its contents.
"Nothing, they were destroyed by what we assume to be whatever had destroyed the shuttle." The ZAFT soldier answered with a grim expression on his face.
"What?" The young woman exclaimed.
"They were destroyed by a lone mobile suit armed with a DRAGOON system according to the testimony of the only survivor we found. He was all that remained of the investigation team we sent into the debris belt."
"Who was the survivor?" Andrew inquired.
"A pilot of one of the Long Range Reconnaissance GINN that had been deployed with the Endurance. Apparently his life was spared for the sole purpose of having him deliver this letter." Martin said as he held up the letter and waited for Kira to take it. "We found this letter was written in blood."
"Blood?" Lacus Clyne, Kira Yamato's wife and Supreme Chairwoman of the PLANTs, asked as the matter concerned her.
"Yes, and we ran a DNA match. We found one match." DaCosta said as his face looked grim.
"Whose blood was it?" Andrew asked.
"Rau Le Creuset's blood?"
A long silence fell over the group as the frightening revelation that the one man who during the Bloody Valentine War nearly brought humanity to the brink of self-destruction six years ago. Kira took the letter and opened it, and he proceeded to read its contents. The lettering of the message was written in a fine Vivaldi script. It read the following: Kira Yamato. You may have killed me those years ago, but my will and sprit live on. You will soon find the sprits of the dead are not silent and they cry out for revenge from beyond the grave. My promise of humanity's self destruction as it is destined for will happen, but in the meantime...let's play a game of cat and mouse. You may be safe from me for now, but who is to say your friends on earth are? Be warned: from this moment on your friends including Lacus will not be safe from my wraith. I shall make them suffer to the point where they: including you shall be begging me for death. We'll see each other soon enough. From: Le Creuset.
Kira slammed the letter on the table as Lacus moved her head over to read it, and just as Kira was she too wasn't what could be described as happy about it. "Impossible...Rau and his machine the Providence Gundam was engulfed by the beam from Genesis. There is no way he could have survived that."
"Your own machine weathered a nuclear blast. Not like the beam that claimed Rau's life, but nevertheless something like that should have killed you." Andrew added.
"Maybe, but regardless if he is alive or not: The fact is that our friends are in grave danger." Lacus noted.
"I am afraid it may be too late. On my way here, I received word that less than an hour ago, Sai Argyle was killed in a car-bombing incident. Kuzzey Buskirk was also found killed a few hours ago in his home by what we were told was done by some street gang members when they looted his home. We also received reports of a few other crewmembers that had once served aboard the Eternal and the Kusanagi as well as the Archangel during the first war have been slain either by bombings or brutal murders carried out by hired killers." Kira was outraged by these events, but was saddened more than he was angry by the deaths of two of his closest friends.
"What about the others?" Lacus asked.
"We managed to get word out to them about this and we brought most of them into protective custody here on the PLANT. We alerted Orb as well and they are doing the same thing. However?"
"However?" Andrew as he eyed DaCosta.
"They haven't found Murrue La Flaga and Mwu."