SailorStar9: Chapter 36 is up, this is Chapter 37. Read and review.
Disclaimers: Don't own, don't sue or I'll sink a SEED mode Kira after you. And flames will be extinguished by a fire extinguisher or used to burn joss sticks.
Chapter 37: Lacus Times Two
"I know that somebody with the same face, voice and name sa me is with Chairman Durandal." Lacus continued. "However, I, as the daughter of Siegel Clyne who fought alongside the Archangel in the past war, am still with the ship alongside Princess Peacecraft of Sanc."
In the Minerva...
"This is...!" Arthur gasped.
At the Sanc Parliament House...
"I would like to state that her and mine are not the same, nor are our wishes the same." Lacus added. "For the moment Princess Peacecraft reclaimed the deflected ORB faction from Onogoro Island, ORB had been officially dissolved."
On the space station...
"Hey, what's this about?" Dearka asked.
In the Archangel...
"I... I...!" Meer stammered.
"I do not support Chairman Durandal's actions." Lacus continued.
"Huh? What?" Meer stuttered.
In the Minerva...
"What?" Shinn gasped.
In Gibraltar...
"Stop our broadcast." Chairman Durandal instructed.
"Yes sir, but..." one of the officers started.
"Just stop it." Chairman Durandal repeated. "We're playing right in their hands."
"Yes sir." the officer replied.
"Damnit." Chairman Durandal cursed.
At the Sanc Parliament House...
"Those who fight are not wrong, but those who do not fight are also not wrong." Lacus continued. "The ones at fault for everything are those who incite you to fight – Logos, the merchants of death. Is the Chairman speaking the truth?"
At the Daedalus lunar base...
"Now, this is...!" Djibril chuckled.
At the Sanc Parliament House...
"Is that really the truth?" Lacus continued. "The neither Coordinators nor Naturals are at fault. That the wold created by them is at fault? Please do not fall into the trap set by the words 'You are not at fault.'"
At the Daedalus lunar base...
"This is great!" Djibril laughed as Meer sunk to her feet in defeat in Gibraltar . "Contact the Sanc government immediately!"
However, Lacus' next statement cut him off. "Of course, I'm not covering for Mr. Djibril. However, I also do not trust Chairman Durandal. We must find out more about his true intentions."
In Gibraltar...
"Damnit!" Chairman Durandal hissed.
Across the world...
"What is the meaning of this?" a citizen inquired. "Why are there two Lacus Clynes?
She's a fake!" another argued.
"But Sanc is...!" his partner protested.
In Gibraltar...
"That's right." Chairman Durandal quickly made preparations. "We need one more shuttle right away."
"I'm sorry... I... um..." Meer stammered.
"Well, it was quite the accident." Chairman Durandal soothed. "I'm sure you were surprised, but I was surprised as well. I'm sorry. Why did something like this happen? But in this case, we have no choice but to change our plans a little."
Across the world...
"That's the real one!" a citizen protested.
"Well, but, Chairman Durandal..." one of his companions pointed out.
"What are you talking about, everyone?" Conille barked. "ZAFT aren't bad guys! Logos and the Alliance are the bad guys! And isn't ORB on their side?"
"Yeah, that's right." a man agreed, resting a hand on her shoulder. "Did you all already forget who made us suffer and who freed us?"
"That's right!" the crowd roared. "That's right! ORB is part of the Alliance! We can't believe the words of someone who resides there!"
"But ORB is no more, isn't it?" a woman pointed out meekly, silencing the men.
Blushing faintly when she saw everyone's attention was on her, she added, "The other Lacus said it, right? 'For the moment Princess Peacecraft reclaimed the deflected ORB faction from Onogoro Island, ORB had been officially dissolved.'"
"Or have all of you forgotten it was whose ideals that had supported us all this while!?" she almost shouted. "It was Peacecraft-hime's ideals, right?"
In Gibraltar...
"Oh, there's nothing to worry about."Chairman Durandal consoled. "But you should go into hiding for a little while."
"Huh?" Meer gasped. "Umm, but..."
"I promise you that I will do you no wrong." Chairman Durandal assured. "I appreciate your work."
Meer gaped, thinking about what Athrun told her before he escaped.
"Thanks to you, the world has really been saved." Chairman Durandal added. "The people and I... we will never forget that. So it'll only be for a short while."
"Now, Lacus-sama." Sarah gestured.
"Yes..." Meer started.
"We will go up to the Messiah as planned." Chairman Durandal told his aides. "Have there been any movements with the Alliance forces on the Moon?"
"No, nothing at all." one of the officers replied.
"I see..." Chairman Durandal noted. "Well, a lot of things can happen."
"Yes." the officer agreed.
"But it's all too late." Chairman Durandal added as he took his seat in the shuttle. "We've come this far already."
On the Minerva...
"They can't be serious!" one of the soldiers remarked after the broadcast.
"Really, what's going on?" his companion asked. "Well, even if she's a fake..."
Disgusted with the mutterings, Rey exited with Shinn and Lunamaria following him.
"Um, Captain..." Arthur started when Talia entered the bridge.
"Don't ask me." Talia replied. "I have no idea what's going on either. But one thing that's for sure is that our commander isn't Lacus Clyne."
"Ah..." Arthur stated.
"It's not like she give s us our orders." Talia added. "That's..."
"A message from the fleet headquarters." Abby reported.
"What?" Talia blinked.
"The Minerva is to return to Carpentaria and launch in order to rendezvous with the lunar fleet." Abby read.
"What?" both Talia and Arthur gasped.
"We're getting sent up to space all of a sudden?" Arthur was shocked.
"Rey." Shinn called out. "Rey, wait up!"
"What is it?" the blond asked.
"Well..." Shinn started. "Sanc's Lacus Clyne... what do you think about her?"
"What do you mean?" Rey inquired.
"Well, I mean..." Shinn stammered.
"Which one is real?" Lunamaria asked the question.
"What, even you too?" Rey sighed. "This is stupid. The enemy's goal must be to confuse us like that. They probably expect us to start worrying about the truth, like you. It's a rather clever mind game. But why? Why do people worry about it? Is it because the real one is always right and the imposter is always evil? I don't care about that."
"Rey..." Shinn started.
"The Chairman is right." Rey concluded, stopping that his shared quarters. "That's all I need to know."
"Shinn..." Lunamaria noted.
"Ah, yeah..." Shinn nodded.
"Shinn!" Lunamaria gaped, when Shinn groveled over the previous fight against Athrun.
"Aside from that, there are other things we need to think about." Rey added. "The Freedom and Athrun Zala..."
"Athrun?" Lunamaria echoed.
"Yeah." Rey replied.
"Athrun? Lunamaria pressed. "What do you mean?"
"He's alive and on the Archangel." Rey supplied.
"What?" Lunamaria gasped.
"He is the one piloting this unit." Rey showed her the Justice on his laptop.
"Then Meyrin too...?" Lunamaria added slowly. "Is Meyrin alive too?"
"Well, I don't know about that." Rey replied. "But if she's alive, there's a chance she's on that ship."
At the Daedalus base...
"Gounod:Twenty minutes until target point." an officer announced. "Requiem: generator activation: 85%. Numbers 23 through 55 are at a critical state. Power flow: nominal. Super-scale reflector: critical deflection value 3129. Activating sub-cooling system GR. Bypass connected."
"But are you really firing this thing?" the base commander asked.
"Of course." Djibril replied. "That's why I took the trouble to come up here."
"Those words are reassuring." the commander noted. "I'm grateful. It gives meaning to our hard work in a place like this. These days, there are too many soft politicians who can't fire the weapons when necessary even though they spend a huge sum of money building them. They make military men, like myself, wonder why we're even here."
"I am not a coward like the President not an idealist like Durandal." Djibril scoffed. "I will fire my weapon when I need to, in order to protect."
"I see." the commander remarked.
Near the relay station...
The Alliance fleet protecting the Gounod relay station deployed its Windams and Euclids to defend the station from the incoming ZAFT mobile suit squads launch, which included Yzak in his GOUF Ignited and Dearka in his Blaze ZAKU Phantom.
"Damnit, there's quite a number of them as reported." Yzak spat.
"Yeah," Dearka agreed. "But why are they in a place like this?"
"Who knows?" Yzak scoffed as the Alliance started their attack. "The only thing that's for sure is that it's not to facilitate good will."
"Let's go!" he ordered.
"Alright!" Dearka agreed.
In space...
"Suspicious movement in Sector 12?" Chairman Durandal echoed.
"Yes sir." an officer replied. "Although our response was delayed since it was outside our defense perimeter, a cylinder-type colony is moving slowly."
"Towards PLANT?" Chairman Durandal pressed.
"There's still a large distance for it to cover though." the officer replied. "The Jule Team and Chanis Team that launched to monitor it are currently engaged in a battle against its defense fleet."
"I understand." Chairman Durandal noted, his shuttle arriving on the Messiah. "Please continue reporting on this event as your top priority."
"Yes sir." the officer replied.
At the Daedalus base...
"Gounod is at it target position." an officer declared.
"It's braking?" Yzak gaped. "At a place like this?
"Frontier and Czerny, position stable." an officer reported. "They are currently expanding their fields. Requiem, generators activating. Time until critical state: 480 seconds."
"What?" Dearka demanded. "What are they trying to do?"
"I don't know!" Yzak replied. "But we must stop it! Pull around to their engines!"
"Alright!" Dearka replied, the two flying towards the cylinder.
"Is Jezek here?" Chairman Durandal asked, arriving at the Messiah.
"Yes sir." his aide replied.
"Any additional information about the moving colony from before?" Chairman Durandal inquired.
"Nothing yet." the aide replied. "Because we aren't certain of its objective, we've ordered the Jule Team to concentrate on stopping it."
"Hmm, that's good." Chairman Durandal nodded.
At the Daedalus base...
"The defense fleet should retreat from the line of fire." the intercom announced.
"What will we be targeting?" the commander asked.
"Aprilius, of course." Djibril replied. "This isn't a warning. Target: Capital of PLANT, Aprilius."
"Inputting target point: Aprilius." the firing officer started. "Final safety released. All generators are at a critical stage. Preparations for the first movement are complete. Requiem System, preparations for firing complete. Opening seer. Initiating countdown. T-minus 35 until firing."
"Release the trigger." the commander ordered.
"Now, let me perform this piece for you, Durandal." Djibril declared, taking up the remote. "A requiem for you all!"
Pressing the trigger, the massive cannon fired, and the beam was deflected through several colony clusters.
In the Messiah...
"A high-energy object has formed on the other side of the Moon!" a soldier reported. "This is...!"
Near the relay station...
"Yzak!" Dearka barked, the Requiem's beam thundering towards them.
"All units, evasive maneuvers!" Yzak gave the order.
"What in the world is that?" he gasped, the beam blasting past his team.
"The beam curved?" Dearka was shocked.
The Requiem then continued its way until it hit four PLANTs directly. Several PLANTs broke apart and two others collided into each other.
"This is...!" even Chairman Durandal was stunned. "What in the world...? This is impossible..."
"What is the meaning of this?" he demanded outloud. "Where did that attack come from? What in the world happened?"
At the Daedalus base...
"Direct hit on Januarius 1 through 4." an officer reported. "December 7 and 8 have collapsed due to a collision with Januarius 4."
"Januarius?" Djibril demanded. "What is the meaning of this?"
"Yes sir." the operator replied. "It seems Gounod's angle of deflection deviated from calculated values. It's likely due to the battle."
"Damn, to miss destroying Aprilius...!" Djibril cursed.
Near the relay station...
"What in the world...?" Yzak was stunned.
"Januarius... and December too?" even Dearka was shocked.
"Damnit!" Yzak fumed.
"From the other side of the Moon..." Dearka mused. "To think that they would use a technique like that..."
"Dearka, we're destroying this thing!" Yzak barked. "If there's a second shot, PLANT will be finished for sure! We will destroy it no matter what!"
"Yes sir!" his troops chorused.
On the Minerva...
"Captain!" Arthur shouted, Talia dashing out of her room.
In the Archangel...
"What? PLANT?" even Murrue was shocked by the news Miriallia told her.
In the Sanc Parliament House..
Merci stood stunned at the destruction wave the Requiem caused.
On the Minerva...
"What in the world is this?" Talia demanded.
"Januarius... That's impossible...!" Shinn muttered.
"Mom! No!" one of the crew wailed.
"Why... why did such a thing?" Shinn mumbled.
"It's Djibril." Rey supplied.
In space...
The ZAFT fleet opened fire on Gounod, and a squad of Gunner ZAKU Warriors blasted it to pieces.
On the Minerva...
"They shot us from the other side of the Moon." Rey added. "All while we were concentrating on Arzachel from the front. To think that they would have something like that on Daedalus..."
"Why?" Lunamaria pressed. "From the other side? That's impossible! How?"
"They've installed super-scaled Geschmeidig Panzers on abandoned colonies and curved the beam several times." Rey explained.
"No way..." Shinn gasped, realizing what it meant.
"With this system, they can hit any target freely, depending on the position and number of deflector points." Rey added. "It's truly a technique of the Devil."
"Such a... such a thing...!" Shinn hissed.
"It's our fault for letting Djibril get away." Rey concluded.
"Letting Djibril get away... but that's...!" Shinn spat as Merci hurried to the Archangel.
"Either way, we needed to have killed him." Rey noted.
"All hands are prepared for launch." a crew member declared.
"I"m sure you're all tired from the repeated battles." Talia addressed the bridge crew. "But this the moment of truth. If we don't do our best here, we won't have a home to go back to. Do you understand?"
"Yes madam!" the crew chorused.
"Engines at maximum. The Minerva is launching." Talia declared.
At her command, the Minerva took off to space.
In the Archangel...
"It's the same as when the Genesis was fired." Athrun noted. "There's no stopping it now..."
"Yeah...." Kira agreed. "PLANT definitely feels this way, but I'm sure everyone is sick of this."
"But we do not have the means to stop this repetition of being fired upon and firing back." Lacus pointed out. "Everyone want to be happy and live happily. All of us fight because we think we need to fight in order to attain happiness. I'm sure the Chairman wants to show that world an entirely new answer. The world with no more fighting that the Chairman speaks of. The world where people will no longer quarrel with each other is a world where everything is determined by the genes that a person is born with. That is my conjecture."
"By genes?" Murrue echoed.
"That's the Destiny Plan." Merci supplied. "By determining a person's role through the genes that the person is born with and weeding out, readjusting, and controlling those who are incompatible."
"Weeding out and readjusting?" Miriallia echoed.
"It's true that in such a world," Athrun added. "People will be freed from the uncertainty of their future and possibly live without worrying or suffering."
"You can live according to the destiny that was decided for you." Kira continued. "In order to obtain all the power we're capable of, we've even meddled with the roots of humanity: our genes. It's the ultimate result of our world of Coordinators."
"There probably won't be any fighting there." Lacus added. "Because everyone will live knowing that fighting is pointless for their destiny."
"What is he in such a world?" Neo thought to ask. "A king?"
"Destiny will be King." Murrue corrected. "Our genes. I wonder if he'd be the priest then."
"Is it pointless?" Athrun wondered.
"Is it really pointless?" Kira noted.
"Do you not do pointless things?" Neo joked.
"I don't give up that easily." Athrun decided.
"That's true." Kira agreed.
"Me neither!" Merci cut in.
"Me neither." Neo added. "I guess."
"That's right." Murrue agreed. "Me neither."
"Let's go up to space as well, Athrun." Kira offered.
"Kira...!" Athrun gaped.
"We need to stop the Chairman." Kira told him. "Our future isn't created by destiny."
"Yeah." Athrun agreed, the reunited friends sealing the promise with a handshake.
SailorStar9: Now that's done, read and review.