Disclaimer: I own nothing of Gundam Seed.
This chapter has been difficult from the beginning. I simply can't get the quality up to where I need it to be. Eventually I'll edit it, I suppose.
A/N
Treachery, observations, and a wearing off of drugs.
Here is a full summary of the story:
In an act of desperation the ZAFT Supreme Council sets into motion Operation Ether. Named after the hypothetical matter that was once believed to make up space, Operation Ether is a massive covert effort where, among other things, "giant drill-like structures, towering and made of glossy black metal were constructed at the target locations. Torture devices from the pits of hell itself. Come to earth to create doom for man." However this scheme, brought to life through treachery and deceit, goes horribly and irrevocably awry. Political and economic chaos on both the earth and PLANT strengthen with each passing day as paranoia and unrest take root in every echelon of society. While in the shadows, powerful dormant factions awaken to change the future of humanity. Armageddon looms on the horizon...
Threshold of Heaven
Morgenroete Observation Deck D ( Heliopolis)
General Loem stood before the window with his hands clasped behind his back. Aside from a few setbacks, everything was going according to their plans. Below, where he watched with a slight frown, the chaos on the Block D-13 floor was beginning to die down. He glanced suspiciously to Mickaelo Dast, leader of the environmentalist Earth United Organization, EUO.
He turned away from the window to glare at Dast accusingly. "I thought you said that the drugs would last longer on them. The civilians are already beginning to slow down."
Dast looked up from his newspaper as if he couldn't care less about Loem's problems. With a sigh he tossed the news paper onto the table in the center of the room in a fluid, careless motion.
"I never said how long the drugs would last. The fact that you diluted it by mixing it with their drinks..." he shook his head in feigned disappointment. "It would have been more potent in its pill form."
"Wouldn't it be a bit conspicuous to give them all pills," Loem snorted. "They thought they were coming to Heliopolis for some sort of environmentalist rally, or some such bullshit we told them. It was easier to mix the powder in their complementary drinks on the shuttle-"
There was a click as the over head intercom switched on.
A man's voice crackled through the speaker, "sirs, four of the mobile suits have been captured. We are unable to find the fifth, but are under the presumption that it was taken for last minute inspections somewhere else within the facility."
Dast looked up at the speaker embedded into the speckled white and blue ceiling, "what of the ship? The something- angel."
The man on the other end of the intercom faltered. "They didn't make it far enough. The doors to that block have been sealed from within-"
"Imbeciles! That was the main objective!" After a deep breath, Dast walked over to the viewing window and looked down on the people below with something akin to disappointment. He inclined his head towards the speaker, "No matter. Take what you can. Have my shuttle made ready.
"Yessir." The comm. clicked off.
Loem took a tentative step forward, steely gray eyes glinting at the near completion of their plans. "You...you mean our shuttle? And there is my payment to-"
"No." Dast cut in coldly, drawing a gun from the inside of his fine silk jacket. The foreboding motion commanded the officer to silence. "No, I mean my shuttle. You have served your purpose. May God have pity on your soul for your evil deeds." That morbid sweetness, chilling and perversely beautiful in its intonations, sealed Loem's fate.
It had been difficult to get his operatives into positions of power within the military. Many had been forced to kill on the battlefield to earn their promotions. However the deaths of a few ZAFT were trivial. After all, ZAFT could simply create more soldiers in test tubes or whatnot. So it was of no concern. Getting them all sent to Heliopolis as crew was simple. All problems could be solved with a little monetary aid.
It was almost sad that all those faithful followers of his had to die for this plan to work.
Block D-13 Entry Way (Heliopolis)
The Heliopolis students remained against the block door,waiting the battle out huddled together and afraid. Kira looked up from the floor. Did shadows move behind the windows of one of the observations decks? He narrowed his eyes, it was on the other side of the block, but he could barely make out a military uniform of some sort on one of the figures. The one in the uniform was slowly backing against the window, it looked like his hands were raised. He was warning no, surrendering? Kira leaned forward to try and make out the details
Another man emerged from the shadows of the room; however this one was pointing something at the soldier. Pointing, what, Kira wondered.
Kuzzey glanced up to find Kira straining to see something. He squinted in the same direction, but found nothing but a shadowed observation deck, blurred by plumes of oily black smoke.
Kira's gaze latched onto the man who was now backed against the windows, the folds of his uniform smoothed against the glass. It was white. He was an officer. The civilian's arm drew back as the soldier began to slide down the window. Kira blinked, trying to refocus his eyes. The smothered back of his uniform wasn't white, it was red.
Perhaps something had gotten into his eye, blurred his vision. Looking away, Kira leaned over to rub his closed eye. After blinking a few times Kira turnined again towards the observation deck. The soldier wasn't there this time. But the window where he had been, remained smeared with red.
"Hey Kira," Sai reached over and poked him in the shoulder, "Can you hear it? The Emergency intercom is calling for an evacuation."
Block E-7, Mobile Assault Ship Archangel ( Heliopolis)
Murrue looked down at the uncertain soldiers manning unfamiliar posts on the bridge. They would have to be prepared for a situation such as this, she told herself repeatedly. This was war. She looked to the crew, issuing her first command from the captain's seat. "Fire up the auxiliary boosters. Lieutenant-" Murrue craned her neck to look up at Mu. "Find out how many we have taken on and if they're suitable to help man the ship."
Mu nodded and exited the bridge, his retreating footsteps silenced as the door slid shut. Lieutenant, or rather, Captain Ramius took a deep breath and turned back to the bridge with a silent prayer.
On the mobile suit deck, the Strike, the only G-Unit that had been saved, stood forlorn in the darkness.
Block D-13 ( Heliopolis)
Lawyers, dentists, housewives, and businessmen stood in the middle of the block floor. A single palpable question prickled the air now rank with the scent of death. How did we get here?
Many were dead. Their bodies lay prostrate on the steel floor. Some were propped against fallen trucks. And many still clutched their crude weapons, as if they could save them from their own wretched mortality.
The confused silence was broken as a woman broke into a sob. The heart wrenching wail echoed against abandoned machinery. Soon people began shouting and running to the fallen. Friends were found dead, and loved ones lingered on the threshold of heaven.
