While I am on winter break I might as well take advantage of it. I've been writing like crazy! Things are progressing smoothly now. Enjoy this next chapter those of you who are still with me!
Phase 35: Phoenix: She shall rise again
Frederick Turnal stood before the officials of the NEA now and they had all just agreed to again stay out of the affairs between ORB and the PLANTs. It was something he regretted doing but it could not be helped. They all knew that right now there was a large battle going on between the two forces and it was common knowledge at this point that everyone expected ORB to loose. This was something that they all knew would be devastating upon the world should it happen but they also understood what greater forces were at work. Jayley Lired was not the only enemy they had to worry about there was ROW and someone else. At the moment NEA forces were spread thin fighting ROW on their own borders, though they wished they could aid ORB there were no spare troops to send.
Something else weighed in Turnal's mind as well, some idea that had began to possess him when the NEA officials had taken a private meeting with the PLANT council, these people were being controlled by someone else. He began to see that the plot against ORB was more elaborate than he had first realized and he was worried that there was some other force behind Jayley's sudden rise to power.
He left the council room quickly as they were all dismissed and he was followed by the woman who was his right hand in affiars of the state. She was a specially trained operative of the NEA and she knew him well, Sherri Sithe.
"Somethings troubling you," Sherri said as they walked together down the hall. He knew he couldn't really hide it from her even if he wanted too. He was troubled by so many events. He had originally thought that ROW was behind Jayley but now he believed that perhaps they were victims of her whims as well. There was clearly something wrong with that woman but it seemed no one else saw what he saw. her ability to lie to the world was uncanny and he strongly believe someone had to be backing her for her to be so influential.
"It's just with everything that's happened," he began turning to Sherri, "I don't believe that we can stay out of everything much longer. ROW needs to be defeated yes and we don't want to start a war with the PLANTs for fear of causing another valentine war but I can't see us being allowed to sit back and protect our own borders any more. We need strength Sherri but we're not getting it. I am beginning to see that perhaps while we have been scared of ROW all this time something else has begun to infiltrate us. Call me paranoid but when I look into the eyes of my own council members I see that some of them have other goals. I don't know what to so with this situation, they are elected by the people so there is really nothing I can do but hope I am wrong." She looked at him and understood, she too had begun to suspect that ROW wasn't the only enemy of peace that they would have to face, just the most known one.
"But if that's the case then we could be in even bigger problems than we are now," she responded to him with her own musings, "I can't see this alliance of nations not becoming a war zone if everything persists. We're trying so hard to keep ROW out, perhaps we should pull out of those nations that they are affecting and reign our borders in tighter." He didn't agree with this, he didn't want to let ROW win any more ground but they needed strength and the longer they waited to try and obtain it the weaker they were becoming.
"We need more troops," he said, "more forces! We need more power if we are to keep up with where the world is headed." She didn't understand this.
"What are you suggesting we do about it?" she asked him.
"Perhaps the only route to take is to ally with the PLANTs," he said as his thoughts heightened to a realization.
"We can't do that!" Sherri protested, "we'd be fighting ORB!"
"Not a military alliance," he responded to her, "an agreement of clemency, a way to bide our time. We need them to view us as a conquered area and not as a threat." Sherri looked at him confused, "don't you see? We will be used as a pawn in someone's game if we don't do something the world won't expect! We have to discover who our enemies are and until we do we have to protect our people!"
"But allying with the PLANTs and with Jayley will most certainly turn ORB's eyes to us!" Sherri said.
"If ORB even exists tomorrow," Turnal replied to her, "they are not out concern because they might fall now and if they do then we have to one else to protect us. We are on our own in this as they are and we must find a way to beat our enemies at their own games." He knew now that he was on the right track in what to do.
"Then how go about this?" she asked.
"You're a coordinator," he said with that voice that she understood as him planning something, "we have to get you up there once we make the alliance. We have to know what it is they are planning and we have to stop them." He was sure now that they had been tricked. Jayley knew what she was doing, she was growing in power while every else was focused on ROW. He also knew that Redemption was getting closer and closer to finding a way to destroy ROW and if that small organization succeeded then the last enemies of peace would be those who were working with Jayley. He had to take measures to stop them and he realized now that this was his reason for being alive and his destiny.
"You can't have him!" Meiko yelled at the top of her lungs as the Phoenix charged. Everyone who saw it was amazed, this machine had come out of nowhere with one of the most reckless moves they had ever seen. The machine rammed into the black gundam throwing it back twenty feet, an unheard of feat then it's engines stopped as if it was standing between the Dreamer and the strange black gundam.
All turned to see what had entered the battlefield and the firebird shined and sparkled as the first time in the day the clouds parted before it. Meiko felt a light shining forth from her own soul as surely as a light shined down from heaven upon her. She felt joy as she smiled and anger within her for what that Gundam had tried to do to Yaro. She watched now as the machine had the audacity to get back up and face her. Did that obscure thing think that it was anywhere near strong enough to handle the might of the Phoenix? Her eyes were coy as she turned to the battlefield before her, she had a moment. She targeted everything she could and with one blast unleashed a large amount of firepower into every PLANT unit around her causing them to all explode in front of those who were fighting them. She then turned and caught a beam with her sheild and sent it flying back toward the ship it came from.
At this point the Black Gundam reached her and she met it's attack move for move, predicting everything this trivial pilot tried to do and countering it with strength. She smiled as she could see right through the Gundam's feeble attempts.
Yaro couldn't fathom who had come to save him nor what it's intentions were but instantly the strange new machine had taken over the battlefield and all eyes were upon it waiting for it to make a move. He thought about backing up the machine but he knew that whoever was piloting it had the battle well in hand. There was really nothing more for him to do about it. He turned back, Athrun would be ready for Stage 8 now, perhaps they were still following his tactics.
Kira launched the Justice into the battlefield and immediately fought to disarm the mobile suits around him, they were getting far to close to the command base and Cagalli. He had come out here to save Yaro originally, but he like everyone else had seen the new mobile suit that had taken over the skies it was then that his seed burst and he felt something else there too. There was another force.
"Athrun!" he heard Cagalli's voice, she had seen it too and all the weary ORB soldiers saw it as well, a mass of ships appearing on the horizon and quickly moving toward the battlefield, attacking the PLANT fleet.
"I know," Athrun said to her looking on in wonder.
"Who is it?" Cagalli asked.
"I have no idea!" Athrun exclaimed as he could only watch.
"Attention all ORB and PLANT forces," she knew all of them could see her now as Milady Redemption appeared with her masked face before the world, "the machine you see before you now is the Phoenix, you have right to fear it for it is a force to be reckoned with. However, to the ORB forces we are you allies, Redemption and we have come to fight along side you as we should have long ago. To the PLANTs, you have followed a fool, a woman who cares not for you but for her own selfish ideals, a woman who was once a part of ROW and who now is taking action to destroy Lacus Clyne and forever end the peace that this world deserves! Our answer to this, you will be taken down, for we are here to execute justice and you are on the side of wrong."
Kira was shocked at the broadcast, Redemption had stayed back watching in the shadows for so long yet now they were here and he was sure Yzak was with them. His suspicions were confirmed when he saw the Honor flying into the battle along with the other Redemption mobile suits. Kira was not going to let them take over the battlefield by themselves, no he was a part of this too.
He quickly fought off machine after machine until he and the Honor were fighting together. He had to speak to Yzak about this even though the battlefield was no place for their talk.
"Kira Yamato I presume," Yzak said with a smile appearing on his radio as the two fought together amidst the wave of fresh PLANT forces that had been sent to counteract the new Redemption forces. So Yzak had recognized his fighting style despite the fact that he was now in the Justice.
"Yzak," Kira affirmed, "I knew it was you! What are you all doing here now?"
"You see we have found a warrior to lead our charge," Yzak responded referring to the fire colored Gundam that now tore through the skies only twenty feet away from them with her mobile suit completely wrapped around the black one trapping it in a death lock. Kira's eyes filled with shock at what that pilot had done to the machine in such a short time.
"He's going to destroy that Gundam!" Kira responded, "that's the one that's been giving us all so much trouble!"
"A gundam sent to destroy the Dreamer," Yzak said to him surprising Kira, "that machine's target was Yaro and I'm sure if you fought it you'd be able to beat it as well, but our Phoenix wanted to do it for you. She is very headstrong after all." So the pilot in the machine was a girl, this was not that much of a shock to Kira but he had automatically assumed that Redemption's finest warrior would be a boy.
"Once that Gundam is down be vigilant," Yzak said to Kira, "this battle's not won yet!"
Meiko fired her weapons all at once releasing the Phoenix's hold on the Black Gundam and swiftly jumping back as many of the machine's functions changed. She smiled as the pilot seemed angry. The pilot was not as fresh on the battlefield as Meiko but Meiko knew she herself would have a time limit to get things done. She had been recovering for a little over a month from a giant explosion and coordinator or not she wasn't exactly in the mood to fight a battle that dragged out like so many had a tendency to do.
"I won't let you beat me!" the girl in the other machine yelled to her, "show me your hatred! Fight me like he did! I want to see your anger!" So this pilot was trying to provoke her enemies to weakness. Meiko didn't loose her cool dodging the machines attempts to attack.
"You've just show me yours," Meiko said to her in a calm voice, "now it's time to show you the true power that I have. For I am more than I have ever been before and no little mobile suit pilot like you can stop me." It was then that Meiko invoked something within her machine and a large blast was sent forward busting through the defenses of the black machine and destroying all of it's weapons and cameras leaving it completely defenseless. Meiko smiled at this and she was of a mind to end this girls miserable life but that would prove nothing at this point so Meiko jetted off into the battlefield disabling and destroying mobile suits as she went. It was then that she started fighting mutiple suits at once, a strong force of veterans that backup came her way in the form of the Justice.
She knew that Athrun Zala was fighting in a new mobile suit called the Truth so she wondered who this was now that was fighting with her.
"Who are you?" the pilot asked her and she was shocked to see that it was Kira Yamato with whom she was now fighting alongside. This brought back memories of the battle with the STING, the two had made an excellent team in the past and now she realized that together they could end this battle.
"I am the Phoenix," she responded to him forcing her voice to deepen to disguise herself. All he could see was a black helmet with a black shield that hid her face, it was tinted for this reason. He couldn't see who it was he was talking with but she seemed to want to keep it that way. "You will do nicely," she said with a smile he could not see, "let's save ORB, Kira Yamato." So she knew who he was but he had no idea how.
Kiran was fighting a machine when suddenly Yaro flew by and disarmed it along with Trey and Leyas. He missed having the battles to himself, now that his siblings were getting involved he was getting less and less disarms to his credit.
"I can't believe it's you in there," Leyas said to him with a smile.
"Focus Leyas!" he heard Trey yell as they fought another enemy together. Well Kiran was happy that at least Leyas was with someone, not facing a battle alone. A double piloted mobile suit, and a nice one at that. She wouldn't be able to handle piloting a single mobile suit alone, and Trey was probably doing most of the work now. Yaro said nothing as he backed his siblings up and checked his weapons systems. They were getting worn down from the constant fighting that he had been doing for hours and the recharge on his arm weapons was going slowly.
The Dreamer had been built for the defense of ORB and as such it was one of the biggest projects in Morganrate history. When Yaro questioned why Athrun wouldn't be getting this machine, Athrun affirmed that he thought it would be better to place it's power in someone elses hands. It had a positron cannon with as much firepower as a ship and within each arm there was a special weapon developed for this machine using the theory behind Nuclear power. The ORB scientists had developed a reaction of gas elements that had triggered a different kind of energy which somehow completely stopped nuclear power generators. The effect was temporary in disabling a machine for about twelve to thirty hours depending on the amount of energy exposed. They also discovered that the energy blast could dissolve any nuclear blast as well. A weapon that was truly powerful.
Now Yaro wished he had that weapon, if he had enough to take out the whole fleet things would have been better. Now they were fighting. He saw Trey and Leyas fighting a machine and intervened sending a shot into the machines camera before flying to meet up with Athrun who was fighting alongside Shinn.
"I just got a transmission from Kira," Athrun said to Yaro as he approached, "he is going in with the Phoenix to capture the command ship, we are to disarm as many ships as we can. We have backup from our own fleet as well as the Redemption fleet." Yaro agreed to the plan and they set out to do it.
Yzak fought his way through the battlefield trailing Shinn, Athrun and Yaro as they broke through the enemy lines. Meiko had apparently cleared a path and now the Justice and the Phoenix were fighting together, it was so different than the last time Kira and Meiko were side by side. This time she was free and Liene was not there, in fact no one around knew that it was her.
"Athrun," he contacted the Truth as he destroyed a unit that came close to his old friend.
"Yzak?" Athrun was momentarily shocked when he remembered that Kira had told him that Yzak had ended up in Redemption, of course he was here with them now. Old friends reunited.
"You guys can catch up later we've got to finish this," Athrun almost laughed as Shinn interrupted them and they all jumped into the battle surrounding a PLANT ship. Yaro immeditatly started disarming the guns when an idea rushed through his head. He broke formatino shocking the veterans and swooped to the back engines of the ship dodging fire as he went. It was as he suspected the line was perfect and one good shock could end the movement for multiple ships at once.
"Cover me Athrun!" he called for his uncle and Athrun immediately saw what his plan was. Yaro shifted in his machine as it transformed to cannon mode and there he let off a large shot which broke through the engines of five ships in an instant, disabling their movement. Athrun smiled at Yaro's determination. The boy seemed alright this time.
It was then that Athrun realized he had thought this too soon. After the engines were shot Yaro instantly transformed back and broke formation swooping down the battlefield toward something. Things had just been going good and now they were certain to turn.
Mobile suits swarmed around the Minerva as Meyrin shouted orders for her crew. It was then that Kiran had come to help them because he had realized their dire state of affairs but Meyrin began to realize that there were too many for Kiran to beat on his own, he needed help and now Ceveris was too injured to go out there and help.
"Kiran!" Alicesia yelled to her best friend, "you need to call for backup! The Minerva's port engines are damaged and you can't stop them all by yourself!" But he did not respond to her as he fought on trying to hold back the forces that were coming at his ship. He had been with this ship for a long time now, and he had fought alongside these people. His mobile suit was called the Courage because that is what he needed to have in him now, Courage to stand against his enemies. He would not allow his friends lives to end, not today. He would rather die than watch them die. His power levels were getting critically low as his mobile suit was not as advanced as the other ones and he was beginning to feel the sway and fear of battle coming over him. He had to hold out, he knew that he had to.
Anger filled Yaro as he swooped in front of Kiran's beaten down mobile suit blocking a shot that would have been the end of his brother. It seemed that he had arrived just in time, the Courage's power had just failed. Yaro let out a shout of rage as he let go of his control fighting and destroying every unit around the ship.
"GET INSIDE KIRAN!" Yaro yelled at his younger brother. Kiran did not like what he saw now, the darkness had returned to Yaro's eyes and the contorl he had been trying to show throughout the battle had been slowly wearing down.
Yaro began to realize that he was loosing the battle with his anger earlier, then Tripp's life had been taken. There was no time to mourn on this battlefield but he wasn't going to sit back now. His brother's life had just been placed in the balance and so many other things were about to occur. The PLANTs had overstepped their bounds in coming here. They were trying to destroy all the people that Yaro cared about and the people that he had sworn to protect with his life. But it wouldn't take his life and he knew it as the blue glow filled his cockpit and he launched into the battlefield now fighting to destroy.
"Does he ever listen to your commands," Yzak asked as the three Veterans continued attacking the ships.
"What!" Athrun lifted his eyes in shock. The rain was falling down again and thunder and lighting crashed as the whole battlefield saw it. Yaro had taken his anger and now he was fighting as he had at the outposts, with passion and anger leaving massive devastation in his wake. The darkness had taken him over again, all the careful planning and talks Athrun had taken the time to have with him had not changed anything; something within Yaro was breaking forth once again and if it was this prevalent, was it even possible to stop it?
It was as if she felt it coming on, a dread within her heart as she fought alongside Kira working their way back through the enemy forces. This fight together had proved very much like their last one, no one could stop them as they fought side by side. The war hero and the Phoenix but something inside Meiko's heart tugged at her emotions now and begged her to see what was coming.
They both saw it, her and Kira saw as Yaro broke the seed in his mind to fight in the rage that he felt from those who would dare attack the people that he cared about. She felt darkness radiating from him and she began to feel guilt, because she knew now that she was the one who had brought on this darkness, because she couldn't save Uzumi and because she had chosen the path of attempting suicide to save him. Everything she had done had been for him and now she saw the results of it all.
"Yaro!" Kira exclaimed. His son had been angry the last time he had seen him but what he saw in Yaro was different. The things he was doing on the battlefield and the darkness that was unleashed. This was not something the boy had been raised in and seeing it here broke something in Kira he didn't realize he had. His seed glowed and his eyes glowed as he watched the boy he had raised fight the way he was. Meiko could somehow feel Kira's energy growing at the sight of Yaro and she knew what she had to do though doing it alone placed her in more risk. Even so she was the one who was really responsible for everything that was taking place with Yaro now and she was going to be the one to save him.
"Go Kira," she prodded him, "just make sure that he gets out of this alive!" She noticed the PLANT forces were starting to target Yaro as their commander realized he was now causing the most damaged. Kira needed no more prodding from her as he flew through the battlefield toward his son.
"You can do this Meiko!" She saw the face of her mother on her radio screen now. No doubt Milady had caught everything that was going on. Meiko nodded to her and drew her weapons showing them to her enemies as she flew through the mass of ships and mobile suits disarming and destroying as she went. She cared not for what she was doing but she fought with a control that was unmatched by the PLANT solider's vain passion.
She flew over the mass of ships and came to the one she knew was the flagship. She began destroying it's weapons systems rapidly and she knew they would not be able to keep up.
Verria sat there in shock as the the new machine tore apart the defenses of the large ship. She began ordering mobile suit teams to back her up but this machine was unstoppable as it disabled mobile suits quickly. Verria began to realize that Redemption had garnered the winning pieces, and now she had lost this battle.
Yaro tried to fight it off but it had taken over him, the dark anger that was in his heart. He hated these people for how they were fighting his family and threatening those that he loved. He was not going to stand by and let it happen any longer.
"Damn you alll!" he yelled firing at anything that moved. It was then that a red mobile suit came into sight and before he could fire on it he got a transmission.
"YARO! It's me, it's your father!" Kira yelled as he dodged a shot that came from Yaro's mobile suit. The voice Yaro knew as well as the face, the man that had raised him. Somehow he couldn't believe his eyes as he saw Kira Yamato, his father hadn't abandoned them after all. He was here. Suddenly his anger faded as tears filled his eyes at the new revelation and he began to realize what he had just done and what he had done so many times while fighting for ORB.
"Father," Yaro said as more tears flowed from his eyes and exhaustion began to overwhelm him. The Justice took hold of the limp Dreamer and began to fly it toward the Archangel which was fighting nearby. It was then that a broadcast interrupted the entire battlefield.
"You are beaten Jayley Lired," a girls voice said broadcasting to the battlefield and to every radio on the continent, Meiko knew this transmission would get to the PLANTs as she spoke surely. No video just audio.
"I have here your flagship, and your general Verria," Meiko continued, "all forces are being commanded to stand down as we speak, I have arranged it with your general here in exchange for her life and the lives of her remaining forces. She will be granted leave on the condition that you inform ORB of your surrender and the end of this pointless war with them. If these terms are not met and you still wish to continue this war with ORB I will not hesitate to destroy this flagship and the rest of your Damned fleet. You see that the Redemption troops have cut off there escape and with the superiority of our machines to yours I have no doubt that you will loose everything in this battle should you allow it to persist."
Everyone was shocked at what this girl was saying. She was threatening one of the largest militaries in the world, the PLANT forces would be dented by this loss if they lost this entire fleet. She could weaken the whole nation if Jayley refused, but it was as if she knew Jayley was going to say yes. Milady held her breath as she understood Meiko now, either way the girl would let them go but Jayley had to believe she would not which is why Meiko had taken lives this day. It was a terrible tactic but it was effective and the war with ORB would end buying Redemption and Meiko the time they needed to execute their next plan.
"You must give your answer within the next thirty minutes," Meiko said, "for we can't stall this battle for long. Would you like to see many more lives taken in a war that should have never taken place or will you find your humanity and surrender?"
Jayley was completely shocked at the broadcast before her. This girl had just stood between her and victory, one little girl! She had beaten Gera and taken many of the PLANT soliders lives with her. Everything was going smooth before she had arrived. How could someone like this exist in the world? The impudence of this brat made Jayley angrier than she had ever been in her entire life.
"NO!" Jayley yelled and the PLANT council was shocked by her outburst, "Who does she think she is to challenge us?"
"We have to give into her demands," one of the council members said with a heavy heart, he had actually believed they had won this one, "she has us completely cornered, to refuse her would be allowing the massacre of our troops! This is impossible! I can't believe that Redemption could turn the tide of one battle so much!" It was uncanny! Jayley stared at the machine and wondered where Rayla had found this girl and this machine when suddenly images flashed through her mind. Comparisons of everything that had taken place, the girls voice, attitude, rage, fighting style and everything that she could gather in that moment matched. The willful stubborn Meiko was dead, and yet this phantom bore so many similarities with her! Had Rayla had another child or was the girl that was threatening her now Meiko Virea returned from the dead.
"She's bluffing!" Jayley said turning to the council thinking about who Meiko was and if it was indeed her the girl would never take the lives of so many, "she won't destroy them! We have to refuse! We have to keep fighting ORB!"
"If we do that we risk the image of the people," another council member said in protest, "We will be portrayed forever as the council that chose war over so many lives, we will have betrayed our own people regardless of whether or not this girl is lying. She has us in a corder Jayley, certainly you see that! There is no way to refuse her!" Jayley slammed both her hands down.
"Tell the world we knew her bluff?" Jayley questioned, "we can't let her get away with this!"
"She just did!" Another member declared.
Cagalli was shocked as she watched the transmission along with the world, the PLANTs declaration of surrender because of a tactic that Cagalli and the others would have never dreamed of using. Redemption had just risked everything by threatening to destroy the PLANTs whole ground force with that transmission. Such a move would have sparked the hatred of so many coordinators but somehow the effect had worked and Jayley was now before them all surrendering.
"We will surrender this war," Jayley said to the public, "we will end the war in ORB in exchange for our hostages. We will not allow so many lives of our nation to be taken in the pursuit of war."
Meiko sighed in relief as she watched the PLANT fleet leave. They had been given a few hours to clear out and the Redemption and ORB fleets watched in awe as the Phoenix oversaw their leaving.
"You did well Meiko," Milady said to her daughter via transmission.
Meiko floated there a little longer when she noticed another mobile suit beside hers, it was the Truth. Athrun Zala was watching them leave as well, probably in awe and gratitude for how she had just saved his nation. In her heart it was a just move, a way to atone for not saving his son on the last battle they both fought.
"Who are you?" she saw Athrun's face on her screen as he was in awe of what this single girl had just accomplished.
"I am simply Phoenix," Meiko said to him not allowing him to see her face either, "nothing more, nothing less."
"Then thank you Phoenix," Athrun said expressing himself. For this was something he knew his nation and the world would never forget.
Liene's eyebrows raised as he read the report of what had taken place in ORB. Redemption had showed up and one of their warriors had single handedly ended the entire war. It was uncanny and so different from what he would have expected from anyone following Rayla, to reckless and risky to have been ordered by that woman; no whoever was behind this scheme was stronger than his old companion and he had no doubt he would have to face this pilot as well if Redemption persisted. He had finally found a formidable enemy.
"How are the advancements going?" Liene asked as Mike entered the room.
"Everything is on schedule," Liene smiled at this. Mike was performing his role still staying on the good side of ROW. Right now he was useful but that was about to expire, for there was something else Liene noticed about this enemy. He was going to get his hands on the tape of her transmission to put his mind to rest but as he kept thinking about it he began to see it more and more clearly. He didn't have much time left now. His ever crafty mind knew what actions Milady would take next and he understood what that meant for him and for his organization but he knew she wouldn't expect how ready he would be fore her. Mike saw something in Liene's eyes that he didn't understand but he knew it struck fear into his heart.
Yaro tossed and turned and Kira sat beside him as the doctors had said he was fine just exhausted. He had been fighting through every hour of the battle and at the very end he lost control. A tear slipped from Kira's eyes as he tried to think of what his son had been going through down here without him. He had left the boy to his own feeling that it was time for Yaro to make his own mistakes, perhaps that was the worst move he had made because he had left Yaro in suffering.
Kira had called Lacus after the battlefield and she had assured him that there was nothing he could change now and that it was going to be alright. She had faith that he could help Yaro get through this but he couldn't see how. The little boy he had raised was destroyed the day he stepped into a mobile suit and it was confirmed when he had lost Uzumi and Meiko. Kira had thought that he had gotten past everything but now he saw that it was his own mistake in not really understanding the heartache Yaro was going through. Every strength Yaro had was a mask that disguised the problem and because of that he was being taken over from within. He cursed himself for not seeing it till now.
"Kira," he turned to see Athrun enter. His friend had tried to help Yaro but Athrun wasn't responsible for this, no Kira now believed that he himself was the only one who could be blamed for not helping his own son but abandoning him to his own rebellion. He had only seen Yaro's darkness as rebellion and nothing more.
"I can't believe I allowed this to happen," Kira said wiping a few tears from his eyes and standing up from where he sat. Yaro continued to toss and turn as nightmares of the darkness filled his mind. "I was so sure that he would figured things out on his own that I didn't realize that all he wanted was for me to understand and to help him get through this. He had never lost anyone before and right when he did I thought he was strong enough to get through it on his own, I didn't realize what it would cause. " Athrun nodded, he hadn't realized either. They were both so used to the realities of war that they understood what it meant to pick themselves up after something tragic occurred. IT had never corssed their minds that Yaro would not be able to do this, but then again they should have thought back to the day they lost their first friends to the grimness of war. It near destroyed them from within but they let it all out, Yaro still claimed he had put it behind him.
"You can't blame yourself anymore," Athrun responded, "we all made the same mistake in this, I noticed it but I waited till too late to do something about it. I believe that what I did helped him but I am not sure why it didn't last very long." Kira was very grateful to Athrun for what he had done but he was still mad at himself, this was his own job. Yaro was adopted but in Kira's mind he was still his son and he loved him as much as his other children, seeing him suffer like this took it's toll on him.
"Well now I have to find someway to help him get through this," Kira said trying to think of how, he had always had someone to help him through the dark then he left Yaro alone for so long.
"He knows he's not alone in this Kira," It was as if Athrun had read his thoughts as he spoke his next words, "he knows that we are here for him every step of the way, he just has to let go of the past. He was worried that you wouldn't understand, just show him that you do and I am sure that everything will fall into place, he seeks your approval above all." Kira nodded now and Athrun hoped he got him to understand.
"I will have to be completely honest with him about everything in the past," Kira responded thinking through things, "perhaps the problem is that I never let him know the truth about the past."
"We can't wallow in that now," Athrun said thinking of the reason he had come here now, "Yaro will awaken soon and when he does you can speak with him. Right now we have important matters to discuss, the ORB council met and decided to accept Redemption but Cagalli is uneasy. We are meeting to discuss their motives. Please come Kira, I believe Lacus says you can speak for the Clyne faction in matters such as these."
"She will be arriving here soon," Kira said, "I asked her to come down and she said she would." Athrun nodded, he was glad for Lacus would be able to help Kira through this more than anyone else could.
Lacus breathed in as Kayla followed he through the halls of a small ship, they couldn't attract attention to themselves so they had decided not to bring the Eternal. Lacus was just running a final inspection. She was thinking about Yaro and everything Kira had told her. She knew Kira blamed herself as she blamed herself but she also knew that it didn't help to wallow in self pity. Yaro was old enough that she would have expected him to be able to handle himself but she knew that he had taken everything harder than the rest of them.
"Worry will get us nowhere mother," Kayla said a if reading her mothers thoughts, "i warned him, so he knew this could happen. Just stay strong and I am sure we can bring him out of this." Lacus nodded at her youngest daughter, she hoped the girl was correct.
"They came to help us," Cagalli said, "but that doesn't change the fact that they put so much on the line with their actions! The pilot of the Phoenix held a PLANT fleet hostage almost singlehandedly, I am sure Jayley was not happy about that! Think about how the world saw her actions! It was a violation of humanity to even threaten to take that many lives!" Athrun tried to calm Cagalli down as Shinn whispered something to Luna. Kira looked around at the familiar faces of his comrades, Mu and Murre were there as well. He near laughed when he saw Shinn and Luna holding hands, it was about time those two made up. He turned back to the matter at hand. He had fought alongside the Phoenix during the battle and he saw that the pilots antics were bold, reckless and effective all at the same time. She fought without fear and she knew what it was she was doing; she had commanded a nation and ended a war.
"The fact is Cagalli we can't look back on what they did because it's over," Kira said with a sigh, "and this girl who fronted the assault ended an entire war. Who knows what would have happened if that battle continued without her being there. We have to thank them for what they have done for us."
"But we have to ask them why as well," Shinn spoke up, "I have a strange feeling that their motives weren't just to end this war. They are an anti ROW force and they're coming here makes little sense unless they expect us to aid them in return for the aid they gave to us."
"Yes I suspect that is the case as well," Murrue said, "but I also suspect that they had another reason to come."
"What reason?" Luna asked, she was confused by their presence as well.
"To save ORB," Kira replied thinking it through, "as they have done, for ORB is one of the last safeguards of this world and to let it fall would be a reckless move on their part. I do agree with Shinn that they want something in return but we will never know until we ask them and the fact remains that the Phoenix let them here but it didn't bear their banner nor fight with their forces. That machine was like a one man army making it's decisions alone. I don't think Redemption planned on her doing what she did." It was that that puzzled them all, who was it that could fight like that then make such a huge decision as to call the PLANTs into answering on the spot.
"She claims her name is Phoenix," Athrun said thinking it through, "she is hiding behind a mask and not revealing her true identity."
"You talked to her Kira," Luna said turning to Kira, "Who do you think she is? Have we encountered her before." Kira had not really thought about it much, he had been focuse on Yaro through the end of the battle till now, he hadn't really thought about the pilot in the strange fire mobile suit.
"I haven't really thought about it much," Kira responded slowly, "but she knew who I was and I just felt like I knew her for some reason, as if I had fought beside her before."
"That's odd," Mu said trying to make sense of it, he had never seen anyone fight the way that girl fought, it was so different in style and so fascinating. She left behind all feelings and technical reasoning yet somehow she was so very effective.
"By the way Luna," Murrue spoke up, "where is Meyrin? I would have thought she wouldn't miss being here."
"Meyrin," Luna shook her head as if she didn't understand her sister, "She stayed behind in the Minerva because Ceveris is hurt."
"Ceveris Matthews?" Kira asked in shock, had had thought that guy had disappeared when Meyrin had dumped him. What was he doing here now?
"He rescued the Minerva when it was MIA and came back with them," Mu responded filling him in. Kira laughed at that then everyone else followed. Meyrin had been so stubborn about him,it was hard to believe she would just accept him back but hard times called for desperate measures.
Meyrin didn't want him to know she was there, so she sat in the shadows waiting for him to awaken. The doctor said he would. She didn't know why she was so worried about him. He had caused her so much pain in the past and he thought that helping her now could atone for it. He was a fool in so many ways but she now saw that she was the greater fool. He had changed so much in his ways and he had submitted himself to fight for ORB because he cared about her, this was something he would have never done in the past. She let a tear escape her eye as she thought about how horrible she had been to him, perhaps now was the time to forgive him and forget everything that had happened in the past.
The world they were in was hard, she didn't know what chances she would have but her heart was now telling her to take a chance for the only man she had ever loved.
"Can I let go long enough to take a breath and say what I mean?" she asked herself.
Survivor18 - To answer some of your questions. The person who appears before Yaro is not Gera, but rather something else that will be revealed in the sequel story but I also might touch on it a little nearer to the end of this story. I believe you are the only one who noticed the inconsistencies in Milady's story, that is because she is hiding something else as well from the world and she is still uneasy about revealing her identity to Meiko. She want's Meiko to feel what she has to say within her story but she doesn't really lay out the facts keeping it vague. Part of the reason for this is things that she doesn't want anyone to know and another is that she doesn't believe that her story is inconsistent; it's the truth she's lied to herself about for so long. Like Yzak accused her of being a coward earlier that is what she will continue to be for a little while longer. She is hiding behind her mask and her lies trying not to face herself and the things that she has done before ROW and within the organization as well. Hope that clarifies on her part.
Thanks to Byron Lancaster, Fenikkusumaru, Capt Freedom and Survivor18 for reveiwing the last few chapters. You four have been with me for a long time now and I am glad that you are all still around! Thank you for reading and reviewing, your reviews have kept me going over the past six chapters and I suspect they will continue to keep me going!
Now Review, review, review! This chapter came fast and I am focused now to get this story to progress for the sake of the new year.
And I posted awhile back the openings and endings I would put on this if it were a animated series, now I have the final of those two for you starting this phase. These are the songs attached for the next part of the story till the end.
Opening: Destiny by Nami Tamaki - This song has an unbeat and hopeful feel to it as well as having lyrics that fit several of the characters. We are entering the final arch of the story as this last arch draws to a close. Now we will see more secrets revealed and more battles to be fought.
Ending: M by Ayumi Hamasaki - I have been listening to a lot of Ayu recently and I think that this is my favorite J-pop song in the entire universe. I think it also fits this story and the characters desires at this point in the story. I really relate it to Meiko and to Milady as well.
So review! NOW!
-WinterChill!