This chapter was so very hard to write for some reason, I don't know why I just feel like none of the scenes were turning out the way I wanted them and I kept making alterations to how things worked and nothing was working. It's been frustrating because I feel like I put so much time into this and didn't get out what I wanted from it!
Here we go again. More battle but this time an alliance will be formed.
Phase 20: Standing Alone
"The pilot of that mobile suit is STELLAR!" he cried out as the Freedom stopped at his approach.
It was a day that had scared him forever, the day he lost Stellar and a large part of himself. She was a girl who needed him so much, she needed someone to understand her and to care for her. All she got instead were people forcing her to fight in a war she did not want to participate in. She was afraid of death and she did not belong there but still she was placed on the battlefield. Shinn Auska starred out into space reliving the moment. He had reached out to her, she had responded but then she had become scared of something. Kira really had no choice, she was destroying the lives of many innocent people and she couldn't control herself but for Shinn it was all Kira's fault. He had been blinded by rage.
It wasn't the last time he was blind to the truth, he failed to see everything that was happening behind the scenes with Chairman Durandal and how his twisted plot would have destroyed the world they lived in. He had dug himself so deep into his stubborn hatred that he had tried to kill those who were just trying to save the world. It was Athrun who finally got through to him; Athrun's words broke though his rage and set him free from the darkness that he had lived in since the death of his parents and his sister. That day he finally realized the truth and that day he became a different person.
Shinn had changed so much since that day. He came to terms with the truth about his life and the fact that no amount of anger or vengeance could bring back his parents, his sister or Stellar. Now he looked back to his battle with Athrun as the day his life really began. He had found peace in ORB and in the friendship of those around him. Gone was the selfish boy whom cared about nothing else but his own hatred. He had taken his place alongside Kira and Athrun as the most powerful mobile suit pilots in the world to protect the peace that Cagalli and Lacus were forming. There had been ups and downs through this journey and the anger that had been so much a part of him still surfaced from time to time but his heart was now whole.
Now he was about to enter battle alongside the people who he considered his family. ROW had hurt them all already through the death of Uzumi, the boy who was the best of them in so many ways. Thinking about it filled Shinn with a different kind of anger, this wasn't anger for vengeance it was for justice. ROW had committed a crime against the fabric of the universe in creating that monstrous weapon and they fought as if they cared not for the lives of others. The organization was unjust and Shinn knew it was up to the ORB troops to show them what they were causing. Lacus Clyne would not permit her troops to fight with everything within them, she held them back letting them only disable mobile suits not kill. This tactic was ignored by ROW as they sent out both robotics and real agents to try and upset the balance of the battle. It was much harder to switch between fighting styles than it was to fight one way. Shinn had decided he would fight one way and one way alone, the way of a solider. He had decided that no one in ROW deserved to live and he knew that this time he was right.
"I am saying that you hold every answer in your own mind," she said, "you will soon discover the truth of what happened eighteen years ago at the changing of the world. You will return from the place of darkness you now dwell in to take your place alongside Lacus as a leader in this world Kira. You must return to your family or all will be to late; you must save them Kira for an evil draws near unto them and even now one of them has been overtaken."
They were words he had heard once in a dream, or something more than a dream. His mother that he had never known had appeared to him and spoken these words at a time that seemed so far away for him now. Since then he had seen many things. He had spent time as a ROW captive, a Redemption guest and then had once again taken his place on the battlefield. With everything happening around him Kira had almost forgotten the dream entirely but now that he saw the pain that was in his family he knew that it was more than just a dream, it was a clear warning of what might happen. Yaro Yamato had not been overtaken by the darkness then but he was now, if that was the case who was the one who was completely overtaken?
In his younger years, Kira Yamato had been exposed to war in one of the most heartbreaking ways. He had become part of the Archangel crew because he was the only one who could protect the ship at the time and his friends would be in danger without him. He faced war, he faced enemies and friends and what he had learned guided him through his life. It made him who he was, and he now fought to protect lives, not to take them. So many people around him had questioned the effectiveness of his methods of fighting but he remembered the pain of fighting with everything that was within him and the wrong that he had found when he took a life. He had friends, among them Tolle and Flay; both people he cared about dearly. Tolle had always treated him the same even though he knew he was a coordinator when so many other of his friends had changed around him and Flay had been there for him when he could barely stand to fight. In the end their deaths had been defining moments in who he became but it was the friend who he almost lost that changed him. Athrun had fought him with the intention of killing him and he had fought back with the same intention.
Revenge. He had felt it, he had seen it and he hated it. It was an emotion that ate out the hearts of those who carried it and yet it would not leave until it had fulfilled it's purpose. Kira Yamato was not above the feeling though he seemed strong enough to resist it, in truth no one was. He knew what Yaro felt and he knew what so many others felt now for if anyone took the lives of one of his children he would want them dead as well. It was a part of him he had always wished he didn't have to carry for vengeance was the reason most wars dragged on and on.
Unforgiveness. It went hand in hand with vengeance. Why take your revenge? Because you can't forgive those who have wronged you and because you can't forgive yourself for letting something bad happen. It was not easy to be above the darkest emotions that lived within him, he fought himself on it so many times. It was a constant struggle when he was faced with two choices and the darker of those was easier than the more moral choice.
"It wasn't your fault Kira," he felt hands wrapping around him as he heard that honey sweet voice whisper into his ear, "none of it was your fault." He put his hand on hers and held it tightly.
"My mind knows that Lacus," he said with sadness in his voice, "but my heart can't believe it. What if I had moved faster, what if I had done this, what if I had done that. It's the same as it always has been, I wonder what if things could be different even though I know they can't. The past is in the past. It's gone there is nothing anyone could have done or can do to change that." Her grip tightened and he felt a few tears hit him. He turned around to see her crying.
"I know you understand Kira," she said putting on a smile, "I know." He embraced her and held on, for she had been the one to see him through his darkest nights. Lacus had been there even when he didn't deserve her and he knew she always would be there.
"There is a storm coming again," he whispered, "and this time things will be different."
Meiko Virea File 1, was what the label said as she opened it up using the hacked computer terminal. She was tired of being in the dark about everything ROW stood for and she wanted to know everything they knew about her. She should have done this long ago when she first started questioning ROW but fear had always kept her from it. She had been afraid of what she would find, afraid that somehow everything would not turn out the way she wanted it to. She opened the first file and saw a long description of the abilities which she possessed, almost like an advertisement. This was not strange to her, Liene did used to lend her out as an assassin, her missions then were very grim but she pulled them off better than any of the other agents.
Meiko Virea A2: Liene's Warrior, The next file read and in it was a profile on her physical information and a few photos of her. She frowned at this thinking about how Liene had been using her as a product all this time. She saw a file she was interested in when she clicked out of her profile Meiko Virea, genetics and parents; something she had wondered about her whole life was her real past. She had wondered where her mother went and who her father was. Opening the file she was upset as she saw that everything there had been completely deleted.
"Damn it," she whispered at it. As she looked through the rest of her file she saw that they were dull and uninteresting and things that she already knew. She searched longer through the ROW files trying to find information Items flashed by her as she read them with blinding speed, Kira Yamato, Super Seed Theory, Ulren Hibiki, Yaro Yamato, Milady Redemption, Yzak Joule, The Reversal, and she finally stopped when she ran into a file that puzzled her. A picture of a girl that looked strangely familiar with her short dark red hair and warm welcome smile. The girl looked young and happy sitting next to Mike Shurstre and John Liene. She flipped to the next photo and saw the same girl smiling as she held up a ROW emblem. How could any one be excited about being in ROW? She read through the information on the photos, the girls name was Rayla Frost. She flipped to the next one and saw the girl again with Mike holding his hand and pointing out toward the stars. There was something about her that made Meiko feel like she knew this girl from somewhere.
"What are you doing?" she flipped off the screen when she heard Mike's voice and turned to see him looking at her confused. She looked up at him with anger in her eyes.
"Did you know about the backup system Liene had installed in my mobile suit?" She asked with an accusatory tone.
"No," he quickly said before turning away, "not until the battle. I was there when Liene used it."
"Then why didn't you tell me?" she almost yelled but she was able to hold back. This was not the place, they couldn't afford for anyone else to hear this conversation. She had just seen things she could have never imagined and she now understood so much more about the organization which she had grown up into. This was not a place of peace and their goals would never bring about a true peace. Everything she had been told growing up was a lie.
"I wanted to Meiko," he replied, "I wanted to tell you that it wasn't your fault but I never got a chance! There never seemed to be any time, Liene was watching you so intently."
"Excuses," she turned away looking down, "they never bring about anything. You were afraid of what I would do, and you had a right to be." He had never seen her like this, it was as if a resolve had passed over her; in her eyes was a darkness he had never seen before. Her intentions were no longer innocent.
"You're right," he succeeded, "I didn't want you to do something you might regret."
"So it's much better for me to regret something I didn't do?" She countered, "who are you really? You profess to care about me yet you are with ROW? Nothing makes sense anymore."
"It never did make sense though, did it?" he asked her, "your life was always chosen for you Meiko, you never did anything that you wanted to. I on the other hand had every choice that anyone could ever want. I had a future and I gave it away because of something I cared about more and that was the world in which I lived in. Meiko you were always the reason why I was in ROW, because I knew that you had a greater destiny that this and I knew that you needed someone around you that would try to protect you from the darkness you would be subject to. Can't you see that I've only ever tried to help you?"
"But why?" she pressed on, "why was I born if my life was not to be mine? How could I have a destiny when all I see now is darkness, Mike. All I ever wanted was to have something that I could hold on to. You say you wanted to be there for me yet when things were at their worst you never were and I faced so much alone."
"But you see it all now don't you Meiko?" he needed to know what she had determined to do, "you see who you are!"
"Yes," she looked back at him and he could no longer read her, "but do you see who you are? Who was this Rayla Frost?" He did not expect that question as memories flooded his soul. Memories of the simple dreaming girl who loved life and saw goodness all around her, he girl who desired to see the world for everything it could be. Rayla Frost had been everything to him and yet she had not seen him in the same way.
"How did you know about her?" he asked as tears filled his eyes and the events played out in his mind again.
They ran together down the hall, she dragged him on to a place where they could talk. In her arms was a sleeping baby, one that he recognized from the Nursery but not the one he would expect her to he holding.
"Liene wants me dead Mike," she said struggling to catch her breath, "I defied him. This is all wrong, can't you see it? Everything around us is a lie! Liene's goals will not bring us to a lasting peace, he will plunge the world into death and darkness and everything that is good will be gone! I can't allow this to happen, I can't allow him to continue all this! I need you to help me get out of here please, Mike!" He had turned away and her words as he realized what was happening, he had suspected Liene's goals were twisted but what Rayla said had just confirmed it.
"I'll go with you," he said, "if things are that bad you'll need help once you get out of here."
"That's the other part," she replied with sadness, "you can't come with me."
"Why not?" he protested when she cut him off before he could say anything else.
"THIS IS WHY," she yelled holding up the baby she held, "because Liene is using children to exact his plans! He is going to destroy their lives and I can't find her Mike! I can't find Meiko, I need you to help me please. I need you to stay with them, to stay with ROW! I need you to watch over her!"
"And what will you do?" he asked, "there is no place in the world left for you to run out there, what of your past?"
"The truth is I've always had a place to run," she responded, "and I will return to that place. I will create an organization that will counter ROW and stop their plans before it's to late."
"So you are just leaving Meiko behind?" he questioned.
"Not really can't you see that," Rayla argued, "I'm leaving you to protect her! Please Mike, for everything we've fought for up to this point you can't allow John Liene's words to hold you back and to twist everything you are! Please Mike you have to help me do this! For the fate of the world, for everything we've worked for!" He saw the desperation in her eyes and he knew that he could not resist any request she made.
He had agreed to her plan and he had stayed behind in ROW training Meiko and trying to teach her how to respect life but it was much harder than he had thought. Meiko was a headstrong child with a will to be who she was, she never wanted to be what Liene wanted her to be from the beginning. It was as if something inside of her rejected everything Liene was and he realized it for what it was. As time had gone on Liene had realized that the only way to train her was to keep her in fear, doubt and pain and he had done that so well.
"Rayla Frost was a ROW agent who worked with Liene on his child projects," Mike began when he looked back toward the girl who had grown up in all this, "you were the only one who actually made it through everything. The training, everything you were forced to go through. Rayla watched over you when you were first brought here and cared for you I believe. Rayla did not truly understand what Liene was working for when she joined, she only knew she wanted to fight for peace to atone for something she had done in her past. When she realized that Liene's mind was filled with his own madness she turned on him, stole a lot of information and stuff from him and fled ROW. I loved her but she never really loved me and in the end I helped her escape though something told me not to. From what I hear she is still alive somewhere, watching and waiting for Liene's downfall."
"So you worked against ROW in the past?" she asked.
"It was a hard time," he replied turning away, "and a very hard choice, but I chose to stay with ROW because I knew you would need someone." It made a little sense to Meiko, Mike had always treated her like a daughter guiding her on though it wasn't always easy. They were separated because many members of ROW thought he was making her too soft. The thought made her wonder about her real parents, the files had been deleted but she knew ROW must know who they are.
"And who are my real parents?" she asked, "the information was deleted from the records."
"I don't know," he responded Liene had kept that secret well hidden and he only had his suspicions, "all I know is that Liene felt that you were valuable to his plans."
"All pilots board your machines," An alert sounded on the radio broadcasting to the entire ship.
"Know this that I am not taking this anymore Mike," she spoke with authority, "If Liene wants me as his warrior he is going to have to realize, I make my own rules now. So stay out of my way." With that she stormed off toward her mobile suit reminding him of everything he always knew she could be.
"I won't Meiko," he whispered when she was gone, "the world is and has always been yours."
"You promised me you'd always be here," she said looking into the blackness in front of her, she sat inside the Pain waiting now and speaking to the darkness, "and now I know that I'm not alone." Tears fell from her eyes once again as she held on to the pain of her past and thought about the deep darkness of her future. There was nothing left for her in this world and it was time to leave everything behind.
"You promised me I'd be alright," fear washed over her at the thought of all that was coming, "Uzumi, Uzumi."
"Maybe one day it will all make sense," he stood beside both her and Yaro all watching the sunset, "the darkness that exists in the world." They had just finished a long hike to see this. It was something that everyone in ORB talked about, how the hike up this mountain helped them make decisions in their life. Yaro now saw resolve in the reflection of the light on the ocean before it, because though the sun had to leave it was determined to come back again. Uzumi felt hope for though he battled with the dark feeling inside him he knew that somehow everything would turn out right. Meiko tried not to feel anything at all but she felt the same hope as Uzumi, hope that her life could still change.
"But if we can't escape this darkness then what are we to do?" she asked him.
"We have to face it," he responded, "no matter what things try to stop us and no matter how many times we mess up we have to keep facing it. To keep trying again and again until we defeat it. It's what makes us human; we are to stupid to give up and to smart to fail."
The memory faded as she lifted her head and looked out into the darkness around her once again, "we have to keep facing it." She wiped the tears out of her eyes and replaced her sadness with determination. Today the world would see her and no one else, they would not control her anymore, she was ready to be somebody. Liene was not going to control her and no one was going to give her sympathy,
"It's going to be alright."
The ORB ships and the Clyne faction looked out to the battlefield as ROW's army arrived, the exact same one they had faced before and once again accompanied by the STING which had been repaired in a short three days. Shockingly quick to all who saw it now. Lacus Clyne breathed in deeply thinking about the last battle and holding back the tears she wanted to cry. Things would be different this time, they had to destroy it and that alone would be very hard.
"Launch our forces," Lacus ordered, "and tell them to clear a path to that ship!"
"All mobile suit teams launch prepare to launch, Clyne faction forces gather aim all guns down the center," Leyas spoke Lacus's orders clearly. This strategy was much more ruthless than anything Lacus had done yet, she was going to fire right into ROW's forces then launch her mobile suits to fly straight toward the STING.
"Are you sure about this Lacus?" Andrew Waltfeld asked her.
"We can't stand down this time," Lacus replied looking out into the battlefield, "we can't let anything else happen!"
"All ships are prepared to fire," Leyas informed her.
"FIRE!" Lacus yelled.
As soon as the blasts shot through the battlefield taking down many robotic units the Freedom and the Destiny launched together with all other mobile suit teams. Kira and Shinn moved together instantly and were met by resistance from a few ROW agents.
"Remind you of old times Kira?" Shinn asked, "when we were both in ZAFT."
"The sad thing is that these enemies give you time to reminisce," Kira responded with a slight chuckle, "I bet you don't see how it took me and Athrun so long to break through last time."
"No I see it," Shinn responded with a cocky voice, "boredom. " The Destiny and the Freedom worked off each others moves disabling all five ROW agents then flying through the opening the Clyne faction ships had created. Kira then noticed that the ORB forces had joined the battle with their mobile suit teams. The council had indeed sent a huge amount of mobile suits, they wanted revenge for what ROW had done to them and they wouldn't let anything stop them.
"Where are you Meiko?" Yaro asked looking out from the Eternal into the battlefield. Anger flashing through his eyes as he stared out waiting. He had been ordered to launch but he had disobeyed, he was waiting for her to make an appearance. There was no time to waste power on the units that did not matter, he was going to take her down today and no one was going to stop him.
"Yaro Launch!" He heard Leyas's frustrated voice. He shut off his radio shutting his family out for now, they had no way of understanding how he felt and they would not like what he was about to do.
"The Clyne Faction forces have already broken past our mobile suit line," a bridge member informed Liene. He smiled at that, he still held back a whole carriers worth of robotics for this moment. The Freedom and the Destiny had both been sent and the Justice must have remained in ORB, he had indeed broken Athrun Zala enough to keep him out of the battle. Everything was going to his advantage.
"Tell the Pain to launch," Liene said with his twisted smile, "it's time to lure the Visage out."
I know your out there Yaro, Liene thought watching the battlefield intently, now come show us the meaning of the word vengeance!
"Sir the Pain is not launching!" Gilligan said with anger yelling through the radio to Meiko who was not responding.
"Tell her to get herself out into that battle now!" Liene ordered angrily.
"She is not responding to us, we can't get through to her!"
"Take over Gilligan," Liene said jumping out the door. It was time to use the system again on her, he wasn't going to let her defect. He wasn't going to let his warrior break now. Once he arrived there he was shocked at what he found. None of his controls worked anymore, he couldn't see the Pain or connect with it. He was overcome by rage now as he yelled out in anger, something had happened to his machine and he was sure that girl had done it. She was getting too smart for her own good. He had to get to the hangar before she launched.
Shinn ripped through the robotics nearest to him. It was exactly as Kira had told him, these things were so persistent it was just so annoying! And on top of that they all looked the same, for a second he thought he was just going mad shooting down the same unit over and over. He shook his head trying to pay attention to the battlefield around him as well as the units he was fighting. The ORB forces were certainly giving it their all today, if any of them had doubts before they were all gone now. Shinn searched the battlefield now for the Pain, the famed ROW mobile suit with the strange pilot.
"Watch your back," he saw a unit near him explode as the upgraded impulse flew by him to fight off a robotic unit near him.
"Luna," he sighed as they fought off a swarm of robotics back to back, "these things are just like annoying flys that won't go away!"
"Well then we will have to make them go away," Lunamaria said slicing through one. They worked together through the swarm, it was still something Shinn was getting used to. Lunamaria had been true to her word and they had stopped fighting and started working together for the same goals.
"What's the status on Dearka's unit?" Shinn asked her. Part of the plan included Dearka's mobile suit unit trying to shut down the STING again so that they could focus on destroying it.
"I heard that many of them went down before they could make it in," Lunamaria responded.
"Have they found that things weakness yet?" he yelled as he disabled the mobile suit of a ROW agent.
"Still working on it," Luna said ducking behind his mobile suit as he held his shield up deflecting a nearby shot. They were in perfect sync now, a team that was not going to go down without putting up an epic fight.
"Damn it Yamato!" Shinn yelled as he saw Kira moving toward the STING at high speed without backup, "He thinks he can have all the fun himself?"
"Let's join him then," Luna said suddenly taking off after the Freedom. Shinn followed her admiring her rash decision, it reminded him a lot of himself of course. He still wondered about the Pain, it had not made an appearance and the Visage still had not launched either. Something was going on and he knew he didn't have time to focus on it all. There was a task to be completed now, the defeat of the STING.
"Kiran have you finished the analysis yet?" Meyrin asked. Kiran and Alicesia had decided to switch to the Minerva for this battle as the Tranquility was sitting it out on earth. Kiran had quickly been given a job of searching through the plans of the STING for an easy weakness but so far his finds had all been to complicated. They needed to take this thing down fast before it had a chance to fire another five blasts at them, for some reason it had done nothing except launch robotics at this point.
"No I'm still working on it," Kiran declared when Alicesia looked over his shoulder.
"What about that?" she asked pointing to a large structure that was protected behind the cannon, it was some sort of power reactor that held an anti-nuclear structure. If a nuclear blast was set off in that area the battlefield in front of them would disappear in the flames.
"The reactor," Kiran shook his head in disbelief, "it's too risky, even if someone could get close enough it would mean we would all have to be far enough away to avoid the blast! They has to be someway of destroying the weapons without setting that off."
"But if someone could get to it?" Meyrin asked, "and we could get out of here in time."
"We would need a nuclear bomb or a whole lot of firepower and whoever made it would not get back in time,' Kiran yelled.
"Damn," a crew member said with a whistle, "it seems they made this thing indestructible." Kiran looked over the design again and wondered if that was the case, it was getting really annoying for him to see these plans. He couldn't figure out any other way but the way Athrun and Kira had chosen and then the STING would return.
Lacus felt the sting of pain in her heart as she watched the battlefield before her. It wasn't supposed to happen again, she had sworn her life to protect the peace after Gibraltar. War had almost broken out because of the actions of a few terrorists and she had worked on the treaty to prevent it from happening. She had given up so much for this world and yet it seemed like even through it all she was getting nothing back for all her hard work. People continued on in hatred of each other and mankind seemed to strive to kill each other. Was her life a waste or was their still hope? Uzumi had believed and so had many others who had lost their lives. Here on the battlefield ORB and the Clyne faction fought together to defend that hope for peace and to die for it. She could not afford to loose faith now, the very life she lived would be a lie if she faltered.
The seed exploded in the back of her mind as she felt the lives around her fighting desperately for the hope she believed in.
"Mother?" Leyas questioned when she saw her mother's eyes, something had changed about her disposition, as if suddenly her mother had grasped a hold of a strength that could tip the balance of this battle.
"Fire main cannon's at the STING," Lacus spoke with authority, "Keep believing, keep fighting. We are going to win this!"
Her ashy eyes watched the battle intently as her mobile suit sat in the darkness behind the STING's main cannon, surrounded by it's mirage colloid, a weapon she rarely used because to her it represented cowardice. The Visage still had not shown and there was a slight hope in her heart that Yaro had not made it to this battlefield, that would make everything she had to do so much easier. The ORB forces were fighting with incredible strength from the anger that they felt in their hearts. She watched the Freedom continue to disable units while so many had given up on that style of fighting, Kira Yamato showed his true strength in this battle. Her eyes then turned to the Destiny and the Impulse, two mobile suits that fought together in such perfect sync, something she knew was very hard to find in two different pilots.
It was time to stop hiding here in the shadows now, the battlefield was alive but waiting for her before it could completely awaken. She moved into position stealthily, in a way no one expected then she turned off her mirage colloid, finally revealing herself. Come what may she had to face her fears and she had to fight for her own heart and no one else. With this resolve her seed exploded in her mind, the first time her course was clear.
It was as if the battlefield stopped the moment the Pain was revealed in all it's darkness. The ORB forces near her seemed to react first flying directly toward her and firing everything they could.
"Just leave me be," she spoke softly now maneuvering around them easily and moving with a sureness that very few had. She swung around the nearest units slicing at different areas and disabling them quickly, no one would die because of her this time.
"I'LL DEFEAT YOU!" She heard an ORB pilot yell over hear radio. She dodged his misplaced shots and met his beam saber attack in stride defending against him. she knocked him back with a surge of energy from her mobile suit, spun around to fire on the weapons of another nearby unit, and made it back around to slice the legs off the previous unit.
"You really think that I'll go down that easy?" she said to the two pilots, "NOT TODAY!"
"THERE IT IS!" Yaro yelled moving quickly through the battlefield toward the Pain. Meiko Virea was going down today, he would make sure of it. His seed exploded in the back of his mind as he took down any units attacking him with greater speed than he had ever had before.
"Kira, Kira!" He heard Lacus's frantic voice come over his radio.
"Lacus!" he almost yelled her voice acknowledging her message. The worst had instantly come to mind, if the Eternal were shot down... He quickly shook the thought away, nothing bad was going to happen to Lacus and Leyas while he still breathed.
"Kira," he saw that she was in seed mode, "Yaro has just launched and the Pain has entered battle! The STING hasn't fired yet, what should we do?"
"I'll handle everything Lacus," Kira declared taking in a quick breath as he turned to fight off another robotic unit, "just hold on back there!" So it came down to Yaro or the STING, he had to decide quick what to go for first. Last time focus on the STING had cost the life of his nephew, could he let the same thing happen to his son? He turned to see the Pain across the battlefield disabling the ORB units that were fighting her, she had waited this long to show. Could it be that things were different now? The pilot moved with more assurance. He wondered now what choice Meiko had made.
"You coward, fight me now!" She heard Yaro's voice come over her radio as she saw the Visage bearing down toward her with its weapons firing. He was holding the largest rifle of his mobile suit and trying to lock onto her. She dodged the shot and it hit a few robotic units that had come to back her up. She quickly turned out her mirage colloid and swung around the units that were coming toward her. She quickly flew by the Visage slicing through the large rile with her beam saber and turning off her mirage. She wasn't going to let this battle go any other way but her way.
"I gave you the chance to kill me and you didn't take it," she spoke to him with authority, "you were unable to do it! Yaro I know who you are and I know that this hatred is not you! Yaro wake up!"
"You killed Uzumi!" he accused flying toward her with his beam saber. She caught his attack and quickly knocked the Visage back.
"I didn't Yaro," she yelled blocking his attack again and dodging his fire, "Uzumi saved me, can't you see that? My mobile suit was a trap all along, I couldn't control it! You have to believe me, please! YARO!" She dodged his fire again moving in for close combat. This battle wasn't one she wanted to fight but she had known it was coming and she couldn't let this darkness beat him.
"You were planning this all along," he yelled, "we thought you were our friend!"
"And I thought you were mine!" she responded when she noticed another ORB unit moving toward her. She quickly attacked Yaro throwing him off, she then spun around and sliced off the arm of the ORB suit and fired at it's main camera disabling it before turning back to Yaro.
"Listen to me Yaro!" she cried out, the seed driving her determination on, "you once told me you loved me! Just listen to me! Uzumi was killed by John Liene, he was using an override system to control the Pain! I had no control! I couldn't stop him!"
"If you knew about this then why did you go into battle?" Yaro asked continuing to try and take her down, "it's because you're one of them!"
"I never had any other choice but to be one of them!" she yelled back thrown off by his accusation as memories of all the things she had been forced to do flashed through her mind. She had seen more death than anyone else her age should have to and she had survived to this moment for a reason. She could see it now, a light that had always laid in her heart waiting for her to find herself. She was not born to be ROW's robot, she was born to be free. She was born to live her life in a way she saw fit and not in the way that was dictated to her by anyone around her. This moment she knew would determine the rest of her life now, she had to break free. A slight violet glow illuminated the cockpit of her mobile suit as her seed energy jumped and fell simultaneously. Something was awakening.
"WATCH OUT!" Lacus yelled as the STING fired for the first time this battle, the blast moved right by the eternal closer than any others that had come toward them.
"The Starboard missile launchers are down," Leyas reported, "too much heat!" They felt the ship rock as there was a small explosion on the starboard side of the ship caused by the heat from the blast. Lacus knew they could not afford to take another hit like that as Leyas yelled that the engine performance had just decreased by 20% on the starboard side.
"KIRA?" She questioned.
"He is fighting a few ROW agents," Leyas replied, "but the Destiny and the Impulse are trying to deactivate the STING's main cannon again, there are more robotics than last time!"
Kira knew what he had to do now as he saw the Shinn and Lunamaria heading toward the STING, they were veterans and they could surely handle that machine, he had to stop Yaro and Meiko. He did not want to loose his son they way Athrun had lost Uzumi and he did not want Uzumi's death to be in vain. He had raised Yaro to be better than this, to be better than he was so what was it inside of this boy that caused him to react like this? He fought through the battlefield knowing he didn't have much time, he had to stop that battle.
He had to stop Meiko and Yaro for if they continued neither of them would make it out.
"It was a system that Liene installed in my mobile suit!" Meiko yelled as she dodged Yaro's attacks. He had gotten much better since the first time she faced him and she knew that if she faltered now that he would destroy her.
"You expect me to believe you!" he yelled at her slamming his mobile suit into the Pain and kicking off of it. With precision he turned the Visage and the main cannons to fire at the Pain with blinding speed but Meiko read his moves and blocked the blast with her anti beam sheild. She pulled out a beam saber and quickly moved into close combat where his weakness seemed to be.
"I won't let you kill me," she declared, "There is something much more important an stake Yaro, don't be a fool! We have to stop ROW!"
"YOU ARE ROW!" he yelled fighting back her attempts at close combat, "you are everything that we have worked so hard to destroy and I will make sure you will never kill again!"
"It's a risky plan Liene," Gilligan said after hearing what Liene wanted him to do, "but I think we can pull it off. Are you sure he's the one?"
"I am," Liene responded looking out toward the Pain and the Visage's fight, "I've looked for so long now. I've seen the hatred of hundreds but I haven't seen anyone that is quite like this boy, we have to apprehend him now since Meiko is wavering."
"Are you sure that we can't break Meiko again?" Gilligan asked.
"I'll know soon enough," Liene said with a twisted smile, "I'll know everything!"
"LUNA WATCH OUT!" Shinn grabbed the Impulse and slammed his engines to the max flying just out of the path of another blast from the STING. Shinn watched in amazement as the blast tore through two ORB ships and seemed to sail through the sky endlessly.
"Thanks Shinn," Luna said as he released the Impulse and another wave of robotic attacks began.
"That thing's fire power is incredible," Shinn said as they fought side by side, "we have to stop it!"
"I know!" Lunamaria responded, "why can't they just stop!"
"Don't do this Yaro!" She cried out more desperately as she realized his attacks were only getting stronger. She wasn't getting through to him, something was very different about the way he was acting and gone was the boy she knew. Tears filled her seed marked eyes as she realized that she may have to loose this battle in order for him to really see. He didn't want to do this, it was something inside him and she knew that he had hesitated before. He had the chance to end her life on ORB, she gave it to him and he didn't take it. There was still a chance that the Yaro she knew was inside this boy who was now so filled with hatred.
"Meiko!" She heard rage as suddenly a few ORB suits flew toward her battle and in his rage Yaro turned to face them.
"NO WAIT!" She cried out wondering who these were. She watched in horror as Yaro fired and destroyed one in a second. She instantly moved the violet glow appearing again, this time slightly brighter as she set her mobile suit between Yaro and the forces that were coming for her. Her mobile suit was thrown off as it was hit by a blast from Yaro and blasts from the ORB troops.
"YARO!" She yelled to Yaro as she saw the Visage stumble back as Yaro realized that he had just fired on his own troops. "Please Yaro you have to believe in me! Please, I didn't kill Uzumi! Yaro can't you see that I need you now, I need you to help me! You told me you loved me, Yaro!"
Her words sliced through his heart in a way as something broke on the inside of him and tears streamed out of his eyes. He was Yaro Yamato, he had always been the kindest of people fighting only when he had to and never letting hate overcome him. He had always believed in a future without hatred and without fear though many others told him it was impossible. Yet now his future was darkened with the ashes of his own blind hate, his father and Shinn had tried to warn him yet suddenly he felt a while light envelope him.
"If you kill Meiko you will undo everything I worked so hard to do," he heard a voice he knew well and saw him before him, Uzumi Zala his cousin. The one whom he had lost.
"Yaro you have two different desires waring inside of you, but it has always been destined to be that way," Uzumi spoke his words with more wisdom than he ever had on earth, "I know so much more now and I fear that there are some things you will not be able to control but there are some things you will Yaro. Now you have to see that Meiko has always been telling the truth, but you know that don't you?"
"No Uzumi," he tried to deny it but guilt filled him all the same, "but it was the Pain, you're gone because of her."
"I made my choice," Uzumi responded, "Meiko has just made hers. It's too late for me, but it's not too late for you or for her. Please Yaro see the truth of what is happening around you! Yaro you have to fight the hatred, or else it will consume you."
"YARO WAKE UP!"
His eyes opened and he saw it, the Pain flying toward him with it's beam sabers glowing brightly as it sliced through the bottom of the Visage, taking away the legs of his mobile suit then slashing away at his arms. With that the Pain jumped back to disable a few ORB and ROW units that were fighting near her. Meiko had suddenly come to life and he saw it now once again, the light he'd always known was in her and the light that he had fought so hard to protect on the last battlefield. The light that Uzumi had given his life for, nothing had happened in vain because she had come to life and Yaro had tried to stop that.
"I'm not going to fight you anymore Yaro," he heard her voice clearly, "I'm not going to do it because I know now that you were right all along. I am not this! Yaro I might have been able to save Uzumi but I didn't know everything I know now! I have something I have to do now that you may not understand but know this, things are different. I may be in ROW but I am no longer with them, my heart is free."
"Meiko," he spoke her name for the first time since his cousins death without hatred. Before he could say anything else the Pain blasted away from him toward the STING but it was soon met by more ORB forces trying to attack it. She didn't kill any of them, though there were so many she was fighting to disable now.
Meiko fought the ORB forces when suddenly a blast snaked past her view and hit her machine hard in the right side weakening her armor. Her seed blazed as she caught the next attack with her beam saber and saw herself face to face with the Strike Freedom, Kira Yamato had arrived. The prescence of the other mobile suit seemed to break another barrier inside her mind as for a third time the violet glow filled her cockpit. This time it remained for a few more seconds than the two times before but it faded just the same. She fought back his attack knowing that he would consider her disarming of Yaro hostile, she had to set this right as well but there seemed to be no time. He was moving the same as her, with speed and agility as if he was mimicking her to make her go crazy. She tightened her grip on the controls of the Pain as she fought to keep up with him, she couldn't afford to let him disable her.
"Kira listen to me," she cried out as she sped up her movements to try and surpass his, "It's not what you think! I'm in control!"
"What?" Kira questioned as suddenly the Freedom's attacks stopped.
"Liene put a system in my mobile suit, I couldn't control it last time," she spoke quickly and desperately but as she did she noticed something out of the corner of her screen, something she had not noticed before as she had blocked out the radio of the Visage from reaching her. Suddenly a swarm of robotics surrounded the two mobile suits and attacked the Freedom, leaving the Pain in tact.
"Kira!" she cried out as she fought to navigate through the units. She saw the Freedom trying to quickly slice through them and she watched in horror as another wave surrounded the Visage.
"MEIKO HELP HIM!" she heard Kira's voice cry out as the older pilot sliced through the units at a blinding speed but even he wouldn't be able to make it through all of them in time. She blasted her engines knocking them out of the way and taking advantage of how they would not attack her. The seed glow once again filled her cockpit as she crashed into robotic, after robotic.
"YARO!" She cried out when she realized that they were not attacking Yaro but surrounding him. She watched in confusion as the units took a hold of the damaged Visage and began to fly it toward the Prejudice. She shook her head in disbelief and turned toward the Freedom. A few ORB forced had joined Kira in taking down the Robotics. In anger and under the influence of the seed she let out a cry and started slicing through them. The battle between the swarm lasted for a few more minutes when finally Kira and Meiko's two mobile suits stood facing each other and a broadcast interrupted them both.
"Attention all Clyne Faction and ORB forces," John Liene spoke with clarity not wanting to betray his true anger. Today Meiko had defied him once again but this time he had won something more, "now under the custody of ROW forces is Lacus Clyne's son Yaro Yamato, we have taken him prisoner and are holding him hostage. If you do not comply with our demands we will not be able to garuntee his safety. First we wish that you would with draw from the battlefield immediately, second we wish that the Pain would return to our ship and thirdly we wish that you would give us all the information that you have on the group known as Redemption. You have three minutes to meet the first two demands and three hours to meet the second. If in the course of time you do not meet all the demands laid out Yaro Yamato will die."
"Kira can you hear me? Kira?" Meiko spoke quickly now knowing that they didn't have much time now, the minutes were ticking away fast and she had a lot to explain and so little time. The Eternal and the ORB ships had sent up their signal flares issuing their withdraw and the Freedom would be leaving soon.
"I have to withdraw and you have to return to the..." but she cut him off before he could finish.
"I'm with you completely, with everything that I have," she spoke quickly with authority, "ROW never cared for me, they've always used me and left me empty. Uzumi died for me and now I will fight for you and your side." Kira listened and any doubts he had about this girl fled, the conviction in her voice made something inside of him tell him he had to trust her. She had to return to the ROW ship now but they weren't fully aware of how much she had defected at this time. The wheels in his head began turning as he realized what she was trying to get across to him.
"Yaro?" he asked.
"Wait for my signal," she replied and he saw her face on the monitor, her eyes were expressing everything. She spoke so much with so few words and he knew exactly what she was planning now.
"Alright," Kira said but before he could say any more the Pain blasted away so he turned and headed back for the Eternal praying that his new found ally would be able to complete her self imposed mission. His son's life was at risk now but something told him to trust this girl so he would. He trusted Meiko Virea without question.
"Your plans are near failure!" Mike Shurstre declared as Liene stood in the hangar of the Prejudice watching the Pain return and watching his men lead Yaro from the cockpit of his wrecked mobile suit.
"Meiko Virea still returned," Liene smiled as he spoke, "and there are ways to make her more, compliant." Both men watched as Meiko lowered herself from her mobile suit, her red pilots suit glinting off the lights above her. Liene did not understand what she had done on the battlefield, nor did he knew what exactly had taken place out there. All he knew is that it appeared as if she was still wavering, enough to where he could still have her of he played his cards right. She walked toward them and removed her helmet shaking out her long red hair and he saw a fire in her eyes that he had never seen in her before. She lifted her hands as she approached.
"You have me now," she said with defiance, "so are you just going to stand there or are you going to kill me." Mike's eyes widened at her words and Liene stepped forward masking his anger with sincerity and kindness, trying to win her back over.
"Meiko we are not taking you prisoner," he said sweetly, "we are your friends and I hope you will be able to see that."
"What kind of friend installs a system into another's mobile suit because he is suspicious of her motives?" Meiko accused, "what kind of friends minipulate and lie to each other? Liene why? What do you want from me?"
"I raised you Meiko," Liene said as anger began to grow in him at her words, "don't you understand that I'm on your side."
"I understand you perfectly," Meiko replied with a slight smile, "too perfectly." She saw Gilligan Manchester use the electric baton on Yaro who was fighting the guards. Yaro looked in her direction at that moment with fear, pain and sorrow in his eyes and her strength began to waver at his gaze. Gone was the hatred and in it's place was a brokenness she never thought she'd see.
"Come with me now Meiko," Liene said placing an arm around her, "we have things to discuss." She went with him only glancing back one more time at the cries of Yaro filling the hangar. She prayed he would have the strength to survive for just a little while longer.
"We're close now," Milady said to Yzak, "very close."
"You know we could loose everything here now as well," Yzak responded, "this is a gamble, are you sure your willing to let it happen?"
"Yes," Milady said with a smile, "more sure than ever."
So I think it's the worst chapter I've written for the entire story because I don't think I suceeded in getting every emotion across! I don't know what has been wrong with me, I want to write but every time I sat down to work on this chapter it seemed like nothing was flowing right. I would be so much easier if I could just direct a team of animators to take everything I envision and make a series out of it because writing is a much different form of communication.
Thanks toFenikkusumaru, Joaker Oak, Byron Lancaster, BitterSweet09, survivor18, CPT Freedom, Shy Rose, SamuraiGundam, and i am kira for the reviews! They all really mean a lot to me as a writer because from them I get constructive criticism and praise which helps me develop into a better writer so let me know what you think this time and REVIEW!
Note to Shy Rose and Survivor18 - I am working on an Uzumi oneshot as you requsted Shy Rose and to survivor18 I am looking into putting the pictures on photobucket.
Thanks to you all again and REVIEW!
-WintersChill