Gundam SEED: Destiny Falling

By: Shadow Chaser

A Sequel to Entropy Rising

Phase Eleven – Secrets in the Isolation

Onogoro Island, Orb

Athrun could not quite keep the shock from appearing on neither his face nor his jaw from dropping open at the news. It was one thing to hear that Kanoko Yamato was once part of the Ultimate Coordinator Project at Mendel, but quite another to hear that before that, she was a member of Blue Cosmos, the most fanatical group of Coordinator-haters that ever existed. He took a quick glance at Canard and Lacus and saw that while Lacus had schooled her expression to be neutral, there was sadness in her eyes. Canard just looked completely appalled.

"Everyone in Rodina was part of Blue Cosmos, because it was they who funded our research," Kanoko started softly, bringing his attention back to her, "but there were some scientists who were more fanatical than your average member."

"Was the virus part of their research?" Lacus asked gently.

Kanoko nodded, "Yes. Back then, we had been assigned to research a way we could use a gene therapy of sorts to prevent anyone from tampering with the human genome ever again, thereby slowly eliminating Coordinators and preventing future parents from creating first-generation Coordinators.

"Sometime after we started the research, my assistant and I stumbled upon a particular component of the supposed therapy and we realized that it could be used as a biological weapon and as a way to permanently activate a particular set of genes within every person to enhance their cognitive abilities.

"The misconception was that humans used only 10 percent of their available brain functions for day to day tasks. In reality, no one knows how much brain function is used as it varies from person to person, Natural and Coordinator, but the component we discovered could enhance a person to the point of being a Coordinator, without the genetic alterations."

"But isn't that still altering genes?" Canard looked confused.

Kanoko shook her head, "No, only because it was a man-made virus we created."

"I don't think Blue Cosmos would have allowed that to stay under wraps for long," Athrun muttered a bit darkly.

She glanced at him and nodded in agreement, "They didn't. By that time, my research assistant had decided to take the fall and credit for it while I was making my own plans to escape the facility and start a new life. I had realized that I didn't want to be part of anything that had so many disregards for human life. She helped me escape and I burned all of the files we've had on that particular component."

"Why did you join Hibiki's project then? That was certainly a lot of human life wasted," Canard snorted disdainfully, narrowing his eyes at her.

Athrun wanted to defend Kira's mother, but even he was curious as to why she had joined up with another project that apparently placed so little value to human life, judging by the number of failed attempts before Canard and Kira were created. But as he stared at Kanoko, he could see the guilt written on her face and knew that she carried a lot of skeletons and darkness in her past. This woman was privy to so much of history, mostly its ugly side, but survived to see a new future…

"I…" she looked like she was about to break down in tears before chewing the bottom of her lip and steeling herself once more, "I was taken in by Dr. Hibiki's lies. He had claimed that he wanted to help others, to create the perfect Coordinator to help both Naturals and other Coordinators: to help Naturals by providing the perfect DNA strand in which to study new cures; to help Coordinators by attempting to find out why the population was declining generation after generation. To do all of this and more…I didn't realize how many precious lives we had sacrificed until Katherine opened up mine and Uzumi's eyes.

"I realized then that I was no better than what I was at Rodina. I was a coward…who was easily swayed by lies and the false promise of better futures."

"They sound like excuses," Canard muttered and Athrun glared at the man.

"Canard," he growled; brother to Kira and Cagalli or not, he was wrong about Kanoko.

"No, he's right," Kira's mother held up her hand to stop him from saying anything else, "They are petty excuses."

"Auntie, what happened to the research assistant that helped you?" Lacus suddenly asked.

She shrugged, "I don't know…but as far as I knew, the virus was never released to the public so I can assume that she destroyed her notes and refused to tell others what we had discovered. But based on what I found from the blood samples I received, I'm not too sure if she did withhold the information. Otherwise, someone else could have stumbled upon the same discovery we had and just applied it."

"It sounds too much like coincidence to be true," Canard rubbed his chin, "OMNI and more importantly Blue Cosmos never operates on chance or discoveries. There's always a method to their work."

"Then maybe Rodina would also hold a cure to the plague, right?" Athrun asked, feeling a slight bit of hope fill him. If Kira and Cagalli were at that place and a cure could also be found, then Admiral Ramius would have to allow a full-scale assault on the base.

"If we do allow the Liberation Forces in, it would have to be planned very carefully. I can talk to Senator Ingriss about allowing our ships into Siberia, but if we are wrong, then the Forces' reputation would be discredited, especially since Cagalli is still missing. I can persuade the PLANT Supreme Council, but the Earth Senate would still look at it as hostile acts from PLANTs and from ZAFT instead of seeing a coalition force," Lacus' grave tone made him look at her and he realized that she was telling the truth.

Metaphorically, anything they did at the moment was on eggshells. Cagalli had the support and respect of most Naturals within the Earth Senate, especially with her acts during the Talon Incident. While the LF had the respect of all military bodies, there were still countries like the Eurasian Federation that disliked the presence of Coordinators within the LF. With the recent Blue Cosmos attacks on Moscow and Berlin, it did not endear them to their good graces, especially since they took heavy losses in Berlin.

"I'll talk to Murrue about this," Athrun gave the three of them a grim smile, glad that they were at least getting somewhere. The Eternal was already in dock, having undergone a massive overhaul that prevented it from racing to Berlin to aid the other ships, but he suspected that its repairs were probably nearly complete and he could get the Justice from its berth.

The only foreseeable issue he had with the plan was that the Kusanagi would not be able to go along with the advance force, having suffered too much damage. It would take a while for the ship to be fully repaired. In fact all of the warships docked right now would have to undergo extensive repairs before they would be able to go into combat again. Plus gathering almost all of the LF's resources for one decisive strike against Rodina would take time, as there were quite a few ships in space patrolling the LaGrange points and they didn't know any information regarding the forces around Rodina or its layout.

"Lowe and the others of the Junk Guild may have some information regarding the topographical area of Rodina. I'll talk to them," Canard nodded, folding his arms across his chest.

"I will ask the Senate to remain calm in light of this crisis," Lacus gave them a faint smile before glancing at Kanoko, "they will also need an update on the virus. Any chance of making a cure?"

"Now that I know what to look for, there is a better chance. I don't know if I can give a definitive answer at the moment, but the sooner we raid Rodina, the better off I may be able to find the appropriate files and try to create a cure," Kira's mother looked at them with solemn eyes.

"Good. It will be hard to keep the Senate in line without Cagalli at the moment, but anything you can give me before I go before them would be much appreciated," Lacus stood up and touched her on the shoulder before nodding to the two of them and then headed out of her office.

Athrun took that as his cue to head out and inclined his head towards Kanoko. "Thank you, Auntie. I know it was hard for you, but the sooner we can bury these ghosts, the better off we'll be." He headed out of her office, intent on seeing Captain Gladys first regarding the Minvera's orders and to reassure the crew that something would be done to find the other captured pilot, Shinn Asuka.

Lacus headed away from Kanoko's office and towards one of the many conference rooms she knew the rest of the Orb Council would be in, eager to hear Admiral Ramius' debriefing and eager to pounce on any inconsistencies before asserting their leadership over the rest of Orb. She knew that in the eyes of the Orb leadership, she was an outsider, and some of the members still suspected her strong ties with PLANT were an attempt to encroach upon the neutrality that Orb had long held.

Even in the eyes of most of the members of the Earth Senate she was a foreigner, a Coordinator who had too strong ties to PLANT, but yet in the eyes of PLANT, she was a foreigner with too strong and sympathetic ties to the Earth and Naturals. Though she was respected and her reputation was in high regard with her brethren, she was still an outsider.

Even so, she knew her voice would be heard, especially in the current crisis they were facing. She knew it was a risk to expose herself, after the doctored footage had been broadcast all over ESNN, but she had to reassure the people that she was not making armament deals nor betraying anyone else. Kira's capture by Blue Cosmos had taught her that they were all targets now. Someone wanted them dead or incapacitated.

She wanted to cry for Kira's sake, wanted to desperately rescue him, but she knew that he would want her safe. Tears would be shed later, even though her heart felt like it had been torn in two. To have him in Blue Cosmos' hands…it was unthinkable and it scared her, probably more so than Athrun or even the others knew. But she would be strong, for his sake and for hers. She would hold the line for Cagalli's sake and for Athrun's sake. She would not falter, nor would she fail. She had to be strong until he was back with them…then she would allow herself a small measure of comfort in his arms.

She took an elevator that shot her immediately up to the executive levels of Morganroete and stepped out, looking around the various Council members that milled about. She noticed that Admiral Ramius had not yet arrived, probably still talking to her men and directing the quarantine personnel to set up stations around the Archangel, ReHOME, and Kusanagi. Some of the Council members nodded their acknowledgment to her and she nodded back a greeting before she found the person that she was looking for.

Rondo Mina Sahaku was standing next to Reverend Malachio, the two of them in a quiet discussion. While Reverend Malachio was not an official member of the Orb Council, he was a welcomed guest whose occasional sage advice had help guide the country with a steady hand. He was respected in Uzumi Nara Attha's tenure and through Homura Attha's tenure and thus was still respected even now. To see him among the other members waiting to debrief Admiral Ramius was not a surprise.

However, Rondo Mina Sahaku was a surprise. Lacus had only heard of the woman and never met her in person until she had stepped off the Archangel a few hours ago. Rumor had it that she had originally supported the Attha family's rule of Orb, but was completely disgusted when Orb was attacked by the Earth Alliance, especially the Atlantic Federation, and thus retreated to her space fortress the Ame no Mihashira. Her brother was killed sometime during the war and left her very bitter. How she had came to Earth again and gotten herself back into the political circle of Orb was a mystery.

A mystery that she intended to find out. She knew that the Sahakus were a very powerful family; even her late father had occasionally mentioned that as Coordinators, the Sahakus were political geniuses. Her father had once told her that if the Sahaku family were not affiliated with Orb, then perhaps one of the members of their family would have become Supreme Councilor of the PLANTs and maybe the war with the Earth Forces would have taken a different direction.

Malachio caught her eye and she stepped towards them. Holding out her hand to Mina, she gave the woman an easy smile, one that she always used for crowds during her concerts. "Councilor Sahaku, we weren't properly introduced earlier. I am Lacus Clyne, Representative of the PLANTs."

"Good to finally meet you, Representative Clyne," Mina replied, shaking her hand and giving her an equally sincere smile, "and please, just call me Mina. Titles are for idiots."

"You may call me Lacus then," she could feel the strong grip Mina had and it only reaffirmed the woman's position in her mind.

"I have to say, I am a fan of your songs. Your latest single, 'Fields of Hope', very hauntingly beautiful. My brother Ghina would have loved it," the older woman looked a bit sad when mentioning her brother, but it was so quick that Lacus almost didn't catch it.

"I am sorry for your loss. My father had spoken about you and your brother in high regard," she replied.

"Siegel Clyne wasn't it?" she gave a small laugh, "forgive me for saying this, but your father had tried more than once to convince the two of us to abandon Orb and live in the PLANTs. It was foolish for him to do so."

"I see," Lacus could hear the pride and venom in her voice, "then you wouldn't mind me asking, why come back now? If it is only to assert your position if Princess Cagalli does not return-"

"So that's the reason why you really want to meet me. I was told that you were unfailingly frank, but not as harsh as the bull-headed Lioness Princess," Mina suddenly laughed, not sinisterly, but not friendly either, "rest assured, Lacus, I am only here to make sure that the idiot Seran doesn't get his grimy hands on Orb's leadership. We Sahakus have long supported the Atthas and will continue to do so, even though they've made a few mistakes along the way."

Lacus allowed herself a genuine smile to appear on her face, "My fears are allayed, Mina. I apologize for questioning your motives."

She waved her apology away, "Question all you want. Just make sure that when you and the Liberation Forces are ready to move, you will have my support and I will force the other council members to agree with you."

"Please do not do that," her smile turned into a slight frown, "if we force any decision that others do not want to make then it is nothing more than a dictatorship."

Mina stared at her with a raised eyebrow before slowly nodding, "You have the same courage your father had, except probably more than he will ever have. If you had come to me with anything less than that, I would have dismissed you and what the Liberation Forces have stood for right then and there."

She suddenly leaned down and lowered her voice a bit, "It's not looking good, is it?"

"How-"

"I have my associations with the Junk Guild and Serpent Tail," she gave her a conspiratorial smile, "and if it is truly Blue Cosmos behind the Princess' kidnapping, I can provide Admiral Ramius with information regarding some of the targets my brother and I used to carry out for them."

Lacus blinked in surprise. She had always secretly prided herself as a conduit for information, especially since that was what her namesake force in the LF was supposed to do, but this was news. She glanced at Malachio and he nodded, confirming what Mina had whispered to her.

"Murata Azrael was an idiot. He didn't know we were Coordinators," her lips curled into a crooked smile, "but he did give us a lot of information. I'd be more than happy to share them if it will bring the Princess back sooner."

"Thank you," Lacus said gratefully just as the elevator dinged again and she turned slightly to see Murrue exit along with Captain Quinn Misali of the Kusanagi, the two of them looking grim.

As if an unspoken order had been said, the other Council members headed into the executive briefing room and Lacus looked up to see Mina brush past her, squeezing her arm once in reassurance before following the others into the room, leaving her alone with Malachio. She took the blind man's hand and smiled up at him, even though he could not see her, "Shall we follow?"

"Please," he gestured for her to lead the way and she followed both Murrue and Captain Misali in, the doors closing behind them.

Rodina, Siberia

Cloning…

When Kira first heard that word uttered from Terazuma's mouth a part of him hoped that it wasn't true. He had hoped that he had seen the last of the nightmares from Mendel with the death of Griever a year ago and the end of the war two years before that. But now, with Alexei claiming to be a perfected clone of Gilbert Dullindal or the other way around…

He knew that he shouldn't judge that all clones were evil, but he knew that time and time again, nothing good came of anything to do with clones. Not Griever, not Rau Le Creuset, not even the attempt at cloning. And if Dullindal was the clone of Terazuma and the two claimed to share the perfection of cloning, then why the hell was one with Blue Cosmos and the other the Supreme Chairman of PLANT?!

He sat in his bed, propped up by two pillows. Judging by his internal clock, he estimated that it had been less than a day since he had been introduced to the man. He found that his wounds had healed rapidly, but he knew that he still lacked the energy for any sort of escape, so he bid his time by studying his room and when he could, the corridor outside whenever the door opened to admit either Dr. Oligav or an assistant in.

He knew that he would have to find his sister through what was probably a maze of metallic and stone passageways, and potentially defeat her guard, a severe-looking woman named Shiho. He wished there was a computer console of sorts that he could try to hack into to get a layout of the area, but apparently Terazuma wasn't joking when he said he knew everything about him.

And that was what scared Kira the most. How did someone like him, a Blue Cosmos member, know everything about him? As far as he knew, the Ultimate Coordinator Project at Mendel was top secret and privy to only a few select sponsors, two of the most dominant were Patrick Zala and Anton Ariga LaFlaga. Even so, no one in their right mind would tell the world of the project unless they wanted anathema declared on them by both PLANT and the Earth Alliance.

Could Terazuma have been involved with the Talon, perhaps as a background supporter of Sven Anderson? Maybe that was how he found out his information about Kira? But that wasn't possible. Even though Anderson created Griever, there was no way that he could have perfected the process. Kira got headaches whenever Griever was around and a sick déjà vu sense. That was how he figured out how the Brimstone survived the hellish battle in Panama and how he knew that Griever was at Mendel to try to kill him.

It was also how he was able to infiltrate the remnants of Mendel once more when he was trying to find Griever within the vast colony. He let the headache he had felt in Griever's presence lead him in the right direction. But then Anderson had ranted that he was the perfection of a Coordinator and Griever was nothing more than a substitute. So did that mean that Griever was not a perfect clone of him?

And if so, what did Terazuma mean by that Dullindal was a perfect clone of him? Did the two not suffer headaches? He had long suspected that Rau Le Creuset was not a perfect clone of Mu's father, especially since he went completely psychotic and wanted nothing more than to let the world burn. So then how did Terazuma, who was probably a lot older than Rau create a clone?

Kira sighed, knowing that all of his questions would probably never be answered, even if he managed to escape and ask his mother about it. He suspected Ledonil would know even less and his father would refuse to talk about anything to do with Mendel. Asking Terazuma would probably get him nothing more than lies and it would acknowledge the fact that he was agreeing to aid him, with whatever he wanted.

But he still wanted to know how Terazuma came about the information on him and Cagalli. That information in his hands, in the hands of Blue Cosmos, could destroy everything they had worked so hard to achieve. It could destroy Cagalli, Athrun, and Lacus. He didn't care if it destroyed himself, but he was worried about his friends. The Liberation Forces would fall apart and both OMNI and ZAFT would be at each other's throats once more. Peace would be forever shattered in an instant.

However, he knew that he had at least one bargaining chip left. So far Terazuma was all hot air and no proof…

The door to his room suddenly opened and Kira looked up, his body tensing defensively before his eyes widened as he saw Cagalli being unceremoniously shoved into the room, the door closing once more.

"Cagalli!" he gave her a half smile, watching her brush herself off before facing him.

"Are you all right? Did that bastard do anything to you?" Cagalli rushed over and dragged the lone chair in the room next to his bed, staring up at him with concern.

"No," he shook his head, "I'm fine…"

She narrowed her eyes for a second before putting her hand on his forehead, making him blink a bit in surprise. "Hmm…you're not running a fever;" she took her hand away, "are you sure?"

"I'm sure;" he gave her a solemn nod, "are you okay? That guard did drag you away."

"Shiho's just like that," his sister shrugged, "it scares me though. I've been treated really well, or at least as well as I can be while being stuck in a freaking room, which scares me."

"Me too," Kira noted that Dr. Oligav, even though he suspected he may have been faking, was a caring doctor. "I don't want to be pessimistic, but I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop."

"Same here," she gave him a grim look, "do you think you're well enough to make an escape?"

"Now?" Kira realized that his sister probably knew more about the layout of wherever the hell they were since she had been a prisoner of Terazuma's far longer than he had been.

"If not now, when you idiot," she hissed angrily at him, "of course now!"

"What about Shiho?" he asked.

"What about her? She's a Natural, not a Coordinator," Cagalli scoffed.

"You sure? She could be one of those Natural-enhanced pilots," Kira cautioned. He had seen how strong Shiho's grip was on Cagalli when she dragged her out two days ago and suspected that the girl wasn't your average Natural, if she was that.

"A what?"

"Murrue told me that the pilots we fought during the war three years ago in Orb, Mendel, and Jachin Due were Naturals who were enhanced with a drug cocktail, turning them into living CPUs. She suspected that it was Blue Cosmos' attempt to try to get Naturals on par with Coordinators," he quietly explained.

"And we're in Blue Cosmos' lair," Cagalli finished for him before a frown appeared on her face, "it explains how the pilots were able to steal ZAFT's Gundams from Armory One, but Shiho isn't a pilot as far as I know."

"How?"

"I've seen the pilots who stole the suits. And I can tell you for sure that whatever Blue Cosmos is doing to them, it's definitely not like the Extendeds we encountered during the war. These guys are like probably the second version of the experiment. If Shiho is an Extended she may have a trigger word like that girl, Stellar."

"Trigger word?"

"The pilot of the Gaia, Stellar Loussier, collapses into a heap whenever you say the word 'die' to her. I don't know for sure if the other pilots have trigger words too, but if Shiho does have one, I haven't seen anyone use it on her."

"More importantly-"

"Wait, escape isn't that important?! Kira!" Cagalli hit him on the arm and he winced a bit.

"Wait, just listen," he held up his hands before dropping his voice to a whisper, "I need access to a computer console before we leave this place."

"Why?" she asked.

"Terazuma knows about us, about the Ultimate Coordinator Project, and about the war."

"Everyone knows about the war," his sister hissed, "but how the hell does he know about Mendel? And what does he know?"

"I don't know the full details, but he claims that he knows about my mom and dad, about the details of my life, how I fought with Athrun, how I survived the battle, how Lacus and I…"

"No way…" Cagalli looked shocked and Kira nodded.

"I'm serious," he said, "I don't know how he got this information, but if he has proof in his computer files, then I need to erase it before we leave."

"Why didn't he release it to the public?" he sister wondered. "Why did he wait to tell you all of this when he could have easily released it to the public when I was captured?"

"Cagalli?" Kira prodded his twin, both through their bond and with his hand.

Suddenly her eyes widened as she stared at him in horror, "Oh shit…"

"What?"

"H-Him! That guy! It all makes sense now! He's going to use him for—that fucking bastard. He's using him and her just to discredit Athrun and Lacus. He'll take them down with the information he knows!"

"Wait, what are you talking about?!" Kira tried to calm his sister down before she turned and looked at him.

"When I was captured by that bastard and knocked out, I noticed he looked exactly like Athrun," she furrowed her brow in anger, "it caught me off guard for a second and he was able to knock me out. I don't know if that guy is anything like Griever, but a few days after I woke up I was forced to watch a reenactment of some underground bunker area where it was very dark and a bunch of the Earth Senate's Senators were there along with a pink-haired girl who looked creepily like Lacus."

A pit of dread started to well in Kira's stomach as he remembered the doctored footage that was shown by ESNN hours before Berlin turned into a war zone once more.

"What I can't believe is that Ingriss was actually there. Not some actress who looked like her, but Ingriss had willingly participated. You would think that after her sister was killed by the Talon she would be more inclined to hunt the bastards down that did it. But they had used that creepy girl's image and told her that she was going to portray Lacus agreeing to some armament deal before they declare her missing from Moscow- She's not missing is she?"

"Lacus is well," Kira secretly hoped that the Archangel had escaped from the battlefield. God help whoever he was going to kill if Lacus was killed in the attack.

"Good, because whereas I'm not sure about the guy who looks like Athrun, Triton or something like that, is a clone of Athrun, but I definitely do know that the girl they hired to portray Lacus is definitely an actress of sorts. Her name's like Meer or something like that. Some floozy," Cagalli waved her hand before she looked at him intently, "if Terazuma knows about you, me, Athrun and Lacus, he'll use those two to discredit them."

"Public opinion was already questioning whether Lacus was missing or not from Moscow when Blue Cosmos attacked us," Kira narrowed his eyes, understanding where his sister was going with her thoughts.

"Did you guys announce if she had been found?"

"No…"

"I hope the others figure it out before anything else happens because if what I think is probably what Terazuma will do, it'll be bad."

"What is that?"

"They'll probably want to kill Lacus then use the actress, Meer, to completely substitute her."

"Not quite, but very close Kira Yamato, Cagalli Yula Attha," Terazuma's voice from the door made them stare up in shock as the man stepped in and smiled down at them.

"Sir?"

"She has asked you to upload your location."

"It would compromise my efforts here."

"I know, but things have turned for the worst."

"Sir, what about Strike and Rouge?"

"Priority omega."

"Yes, sir."

She shut off the scrambled communicator and stepped out of the shadows of an abandoned hallway. She squared her shoulders and took a deep breath. Things had gotten a little more complicated since the arrival of the one she recognized and code named Strike. There was also the other one she had named the Impulse, but after a bit of a background check, she had decided that he was not worth the effort.

She had hoped her superior officer would recognize the code name she had given to Strike, and apparently he did for she had received the omega order. Based on the news she had gathered in her posting, it would take at least a week if not a bit more before anything happened.

It would have to do for the time she needed to prepare her priority omega. The only problem was that she would have to do it while the battle raged. There were too many people and too many variables at the moment to safely execute her orders.

Author's Notes:

I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Things may seem to be winding down (just a bit), but that's only because our characters are now starting to piece together what they know! However, this is only the beginning of everything and we are definitely not even close to the halfway mark of this story! I hope I did Rondo Mina Sahaku some justice…she's kind of complex character to write for, luckily she's just here for a cameo appearance.

Oh yeah, for those of you who may be confused by Kanoko's explanation, just remember, she's still keeping some secrets, especially when they concern Rodina and Mendel. She's got a lot of skeletons in her closet that she would rather keep hidden from others.

Again, please review! I love and thrive on reviews!