Chapter Twenty: The Prelude to Chaos
"Setsuna." Setsuna's eyes snapped open from his daydream of the past, alerted by Adrian's voice as he leaned against the wall, sitting in Setsuna's chair within his office. Setsuna shook his head subtly trying to wake himself up, whilst looking at Adrian.
"Sorry Chairman, you were saying?" Setsuna apologized, feeling his head throb with anxiety.
"I was SAYING…" Adrian sighed, with an annoyed tone in his voice. He had just arrived after recovering the staff aboard Januarius, and after putting in so much work, he was very annoyed. "That we need to figure out what to do with those damn annoying Naturals. Honestly, sending in a friggin' kid Extended to destroy the capital… do you know HOW much paperwork I gave to my five secretaries?"
"I can only imagine sir." Setsuna growled, unable to comprehend what Adrian was complaining about.
"Enough for me to sign for the rest of eternity, THAT'S how much…" Adrian scowled, rubbing his fingers into the corners of his eyes. "Little prick… Not to mention the revival of the Three Ship Alliance… even worse is the fact they're now defending the Earth Alliance too…"
"Actually sir, I don't think that is entirely the case." Setsuna interrupted. "The Strike Freedom was attacking their flagship until approximately twenty minutes after the Destiny landed within the ship. Chances are Shinn Asuka has been captured and taken as a hostage, hence why Kira Yamato is defending the ship from our attacks.
"Hmmm…" Adrian leaned back, stroking his chin slowly, looking up at the ceiling with his dark green eyes. "What do you think? They our enemies?"
"Sir?"
Adrian spun the chair back to face Setsuna head on, and leaned on his desk, gazing deeply at Setsuna as he became lost in thought. "Yes. After all, Lacus Yamato is high up in the chain of command there, and Kira Yamato is the figurehead of their little group. It would be safe to assume that the pair of them may be trying to wrench command of the PLANTS by force…"
"I wouldn't jump to conclusions yet, Chairman." Setsuna responded, as he tried to defend the Yamato name for Feldt's sake. "If anything, we should establish contact with them first before we make our next move."
"Then I'll leave it in your hands, Captain."
"Sir, I'm only a co-"
"Not any more. I'm promoting you Setsuna." Adrian smiled. "I want this matter handled quickly. Confirm for yourself what the intentions of the Three Ship Alliance are, who they are allied with, and if they do stand against us, capture Kira and Lacus Yamato. Dead or alive."
Setsuna looked at Adrian blankly, trying to hide the feeling of anger and frustration at hearing such an order, knowing that no matter what action he took by following Adrian's orders, he would end up killing Feldt's parents. Standing up calmly, he saluted, and left without a word, when a vibration on a miniature terminal echoed in his shirt pocket. Reaching into his left breast pocket under his uniform jacket, he pulled out a blue terminal and read the message. The message was short, and to the point.
Descend to Earth; Kira Yamato's actions decide our plan. –Tieria
Setsuna quickly deleted the message, and tucked the small box back in his pocket, thinking to himself as he played the message from his subordinate in deep space over and over in his mind. "So… that's what I need to do? Feldt, I'm sorry… but I need to do this for you."
Time seemed to drag on for hours as a message printed slowly out of the printer. The paper that fell into the tray was promptly picked up by Cagalli, who looked over it carefully before she read it aloud. Her eyes widened a little bit more with every letter and character she skimmed over, finally reading from the beginning, loud enough for Kira, Athrun and Judau to hear. "Concerning the exchange for prisoners of war, Shinn Asuka and Mayu Hawke, the Earth Alliance is hereby declaring an ultimatum towards the return of these two prisoners?"
"What?" Athrun cried out in shock.
"This language…" Kira grimly muttered. "Casval's got something big planned…"
"The prisoners are to be returned only after the arrival of the ZGMF-X30A Eternal Freedom has arrived at Panama Airspace, piloted by Carrus Yamato…" Cagalli continued with amazement. "The Eternal Freedom is to be escorted by two Murasame class Mobile Fighters. Upon arrival of the Eternal Freedom, Shinn Asuka will be set free along with the ZGMF-X42S Destiny, and escorted to Orb Airspace by the Murasame units?"
"What the hell is this? They're just giving us old man Asuka?" Judau exclaimed.
"There's more…" Cagalli grimaced. "Once safety of Shinn Asuka and Carrus Yamato is confirmed… Mayu Hawke will be released into the custody of Carrus Yamato and allowed safe passage back to… Orb Airspace?"
"Crap!" Judau yelled out. "Why would they give up BOTH prisoners for nothing?"
"Listen to the request again Judau…" Kira growled silently. "Those demands are too specific towards escort size, strength, and even the pilots used. Casval's planning to do something involving my son…"
"Kira, I'm sorry." Athrun answered sternly. "But Carrus and Mayu are both my responsibility, not yours. I cannot allow this exchange to happen."
"What? This is a good thing!"
"Are you deaf?" Cagalli burst out at Judau. "Casval intends to use Carrus for something! Maybe strap a nuclear warhead to his Mobile Suit, possibly for some experiment…"
"Either way, this is too dangerous." Athrun sighed, believing he had to leave Shinn and Mayu to die. "We'll be putting Orb's forces at risk if we let this exchange go on.
"But what IF he's going to exchange them both for nothing?" Judau argued.
"He won't." Cagalli answered angrily. "Casval La Flaga is known for his dangerous and often obvious tactics, and will willingly do something like this to strike us right where it hurts…"
"And usually, it's by putting pressure on one or two individuals…" Athrun sighed, looking worriedly at Kira. "In this case… Kira and Carrus."
Judau looked around the room, seeing Kira, Athrun and Cagalli remain silent. The tension in the room drove him madder with every second, and he decided to speak his mind with a raised tone. "Look, I know you damn Adults keep saying that's what's going to happen, but what if Casval does give them up without a trap? You're so damn-"
"JUDAU!" Kira yelled suddenly, forcing a deathly silence to befall the room once more. Kira stared at the table, his head in his hands, as his eyes looked through the gaps in his fingers. Getting up slowly, he walked toward the door to leave the room, when he paused for a moment. "This is Carrus' decision, not ours. If we decide for him, he'll never forgive me for this."
"Kira." Athrun sternly interrupted, looking at the back of Kira's head. "I don't want to remind you of the painful truth, but Carrus hates you with every fibre in his being. We need to do what protects Orb and not your own feelings."
"I know that, Athrun." Kira sighed. "But even so, if that was Cagalli in the base, wouldn't you be the first to fly there alone?" Athrun paused for a moment to consider Kira's words, not wanting to admit Kira was right. "We're soldiers, and I agree we need to do what we can to protect our homes, but we also need to stay true to our own hearts. If we can show kindness instead of force, isn't that going to take us one step closer to peace?"
"This isn't a time to follow our hearts Kira. That could end up killing hundreds or thousands of people."
"I know… but I still want to let Carrus decide." Kira answered. "He's the one who has to go there; he's the one who has the right to decide if it's worth saving her." As he finished, he opened the door, and left promptly, heading straight for the Archangel.
(M.N: Soundscape to Ardor, Shoji Meguro)
Carrus frowned after listening to Kira's brief report to him. Lacus sat in her chair, her body trembled at the very thought of what Kira said to her. Carrus' eyes saw the worry that Lacus had, even though she attempted to disguise it with a smile. Carrus looked back to Kira, as he slowly began to talk. "So why tell me all this? Did you honestly think that we should go with this?"
"That's up to you." Kira answered simply.
"And what if something DOES happen to me, you want the blame to be shifted onto me because it was my choice, don't you?" Carrus' voice began to rise in pitch and deepen in tone, as his began to crinkle angrily.
"No. If something were to go wrong, it would be my fault for letting you make your choice instead of listening to your Uncle Athrun."
Carrus growled deeply at Kira, turning his gaze away. "You're despicable… always taking the blame for everything that fails, even though it's not your doing to begin with… and all because you force yourself on these situations…"
"Would you rather I stand by and let the world try to fix itself?" Kira answered candidly, simply confusing Carrus even more.
"No! But still… It's because of that I don't even know who the hell you are… I barely know your own face if it weren't for those pictures of you at home… I can't even begin to understand why Feldt still has so much hope for you…"
"Carrus…" Lacus whispered.
"Mother was always home you know!" Carrus barked at Kira. "She always tried to save the world from the colonies! But you always had to leave for the front lines! And now you've dragged me into it with that damn machine you made!"
"It wasn't so different for me when I was your age." Kira answered with a frown. Carrus looked at Kira in surprise. "You studied your history right? So you know I was the pilot of the original Strike Gundam, during the first Bloody Valentine War, correct?"
"Ye… yeah…?" Carrus stammered, as Lacus slowly stood up and left the room.
"Then you probably never learned what I had to do. The only reason I fought was to protect some friends, including your Aunt Cagalli I might add from a ZAFT attack force. I never chose to pilot the Strike without seeing them in danger. Had I never been near the Strike, I wouldn't have used it, and the world would be very different today. But the fact is I did!" Kira began to yell, taking Carrus by surprise. "And I knew that by doing it, I would end up fighting Athrun of all people! My own best friend, and you say that I dragged you into this? Your reason to fight never once outweighed my reasons not to!"
"Se… seriously?" Carrus was amazed at his father, unable to comprehend even slightly what was said, never knowing that his father and his godfather had once fought against each other.
Kira quickly calmed down, but he was clearly still tense from his outburst. "I'm sorry Carrus… I forget that your life truly was different… you have to know that I designed that machine to protect you the same way the Strike once protected me. And even though I lost, and got the Freedom in return, only to fight even more…"
"No matter what, the moment you started, you couldn't finish…"
"It was all for someone. I just had to protect someone very dear to me… the same as you…" Kira smiled, sitting down on Carrus' bed.
"You mean… Mother right?"
"…Not at first…" Kira sighed. "I have to know… Do you truly love Mayu… and does she truly feel the same for you… does being with her actually make you happy?"
"Why are you asking this?" Carrus asked.
"Because I want to know you are fighting for the right reasons." Kira quickly answered looking at Carrus with the most sincere look he had ever seen his Father give to him. "There was someone before your mother."
"What?" Carrus was shocked even more. "Before… Why are you telling me this?"
"Because looking back now… I loved her. But at the same time… She lost her father in a battle in space, one that I tried to protect him in, but Athrun was there, and I ended up fighting against him. He was killed by a lone Ginn that destroyed the battleship he was on, and afterwards …" Kira paused, looking down at the palm of his right hand, staring at the scar that lay embedded in it. "…Never mind…"
"What happened?"
"She died… Killed in a shuttle at the battle of Jachin-Due."
"Oh…" Carrus sighed. "Kira… I'm sorry… If I had even the slightest idea…"
"I never told you or Feldt for a reason." Kira chuckled nervously. "Your mother had spent the better part of two years trying to heal the emotional scars left on me, and what's ironic is I never really had a chance to recover until I fought in the second Bloody Valentine War."
"…That so?" Carrus smiled.
Kira nodded slowly. "So, does Mayu truly care for you like you do for her."
"Kira… she spent months improving her grades in high school, graduated early to University, chased me down to Onogoro island, stuck with me during an invasion, and has never let me out of her sight since. Believe me, I don't care for her nearly as much as she does for me. And I love her with all my heart…"
"Then that's all I need to hear." Kira chuckled, rubbing the top of Carrus' hair. Carrus felt annoyed, yet assured at the gesture, almost as if a gap in his life had just been filled. "Get some rest, if you want to rescue her, you need to be well rested, all right?"
Carrus nodded with a chuckle. "Yeah. Thanks… Fa… Da… uh…"
"Just call me what you want." Kira chuckled. "You are who you are after all."
(M.N: Kaze No Kodou, Sato Toshihiko)
"Momma's boy! Momma's boy!" Carrus suddenly jerked his head toward the door, which had suddenly opened, and Mister Pink had bounced in, with Lacus crouching at the door, her face turning bright red. Kira burst out laughing, and Lacus' face screwed up into an unsatisfied glare that was directed at her husband.
"It's not what it looks like!" Lacus grouched, throwing her hands into her hips, her silver dress rippled against her body the moment her hands crossed her hips.
"I really do wonder where Feldt gets her quiet nature from if it's not from you or me!" Kira sniggered.
"Kira. She DOES get that from you…" Lacus grumbled, making Carrus flick his gaze between both of his parents constantly, only to sigh and give up trying to understand his own family.
"No wonder I left Augustus to live with Uncle Athrun… He's way cooler than you two…"
(M.N: Unified World, Kenji Kawai)
Casval sat at his desk quietly, watching the radar screen avidly, waiting for the sign that three Orb signals would appear on the edge. His patience was truly being tested, having to wait for the moment he had been waiting for. He took no notice to his door sliding open, and Shinigami walking in to stand behind him.
"Uh… sir?"
"Any news from our scouts at the PLANTS?" Casval interrupted.
"No sir, but the President of the Atlantic Federation is getting anxious to hear your war report." Shi answered promptly. "After all, we did take heavy losses in the last battle, including a Destroy Gundam which cost the government alone over thirty billion-"
"Such a bureaucrat…" Casval sighed.
"I agree sir." Shi answered. "But he did say, and I quote: 'all you did was kidnap some Coordinator girl, her estranged father, and turn the neutral union of Orb into a country out for blood over their citizens unfair capture'. Not to mention the negative press of Raven attacking Januarius… The Earth Alliance hasn't received such attention since the second Bloody Valentine, and Logos really fucked that up sir."
"I know… I know…" Casval answered.
"Permission to speak freely sir?"
"Go ahead."
Shi cleared his throat, his narrow eyes fixed on his commander. "We should just hand over the girl and her father."
"Out of the question."
"Though I respect your desire to change the world, and I would follow you to the end to help you realise it, the fact is that we are at a major disadvantage right now. We will end up looking like Logos did and have the citizens turn against us at this-"
"The Earth Alliance is no longer the lapdog of Logos like it was in the past, Shi." Casval continued, turning in his chair to face Shinigami with his deep blue eyes. "We are a completely autonomous force owned by the people, for the people."
"Sir, they're accusing you of mass-murdering civilians!"
"I know they are…" Casval sighed. "But right now, Coordinators are our enemies as long as Adrian Viper controls them in the palm of his hand…"
Shi lowered his gaze, closing his eyes in wonder. "At this rate, we'll turn the world against us…"
"I know." Casval scowled. "We have few options right now… We must continue our operations as they are. We will act in defence from now on, no longer offense, but the girl does not leave until I allow her to. Understood?"
"Yes sir." Shi answered with a loud clack of his heels, and a snap of a salute to Casval, who stood up and returned the gesture. Shi turned away, marching out of Casval's office, and out the door. He looked up to the screen again, and narrowed his eyes as he remembered Kira's expression in the last battle.
"Kira Yamato… What will your next move be?"
(Closing: Tsunaida Te, Li'l B)
A Note From The Author
I know, whole 'nother chapter. Awesome, right?