Phase 50: Sacrifice after Sacrifice
Everything slowed down to a halt as everyone on the battlefield seemed to have their attention focused on the resulting explosion caused by GENESIS. All the units froze, no more rounds of fire were being exchanged between either side as what had just happened began to sink in.
"N-No...It can't be..." Shani murmured, realizing what the only thing that could've caused the explosion was.
"It's not possible..." Athrun whispered, letting the Justice drift.
"Ai! Please! Say something! You can't be gone!" Shani hollered, not caring about the tears he was crying but rather on trying to get in contact with Ai.
"S-She can't be gone..." Crot murmured.
"Why! Why her!" Shani kept shouting, not wanting to accept the fact that Ai was gone.
"How could GENESIS have fallen to a mere child!" Creuset hissed. Everyone else was speechless. A cold, bitter feeling washed over the pilots as they scanned the debris for any sign of the missing child. The ZAFT forces and the Earth Alliance stopped dead in their tracks, trying to figure out what had just happened. Lacus had witnessed the whole thing and couldn't bear it anymore as she pushed Andrew out of the way and accessed a com. link with all of the units in the area.
"Do you now see? This is the true nature of war! A little girl lost her life trying to defend what is right! Peace cannot be attained by salvaging better and stronger weapons! Is a victory really a victory when people are mourning in sorrow? When the lives of loved ones are lost? Why must we continue to fight when there will only be more suffering? What do you people hope to attain? I urge you all to think...to make a choice for only you can bring an end to this war...by choosing not to fight any longer..." Lacus preached.
"Stand down...there's no point in fighting..." Shinn stated. "Move back to your ships this instant." Slowly, the GINNs began backing off towards their respective ships.
"Shinn, what the hell are you doing! We have the Earth Alliance on the run! They are the menace to all coordinators! We must eliminate them!" Creuset reasoned.
"I think the only one that needs exterminating is you..." Shinn spat, bring out the Impulse's beam sword.
"You...are you going to betray me as well?" Creuset questioned. "Then you'll end up just like the rest of them!" The Providence moved forward in an attempt to destroy the Impulse. The Strike Daggers paid no mind to ZAFT's situation and decided to leave it as that as they headed back towards their ships until another voice came over the com. link.
"You can't just retreat! Go on! Finish them! You can destroy them if you strike now! We can still win this!" Azrael urged, sounding quite desperate. The Strike Daggers came to a halt, but none were responding to Azrael's commands.
"Enough Azrael..." Orga growled. "Can't you see? There is no winner to this war..."
"Never! I will win this war! No matter what the cost!" Azrael sneered. "Attack, use all of the weapons! I don't care what you hit as long as it brings us victory!" The crew of the Dominion paid no mind to Azrael as they ignored his orders.
"We won't take anymore of your bullshit!" remarked one of the operators who seemed to have had enough of Azrael's judgement.
"Yeah, you can't tell us what to do anymore you heartless bitch!" added another.
"Then you're all worthless!" Azrael growled. "Every single one of you! You're no better than those Biological CPUs!" Azrael shoved one of the operators out of their place and started manipulating the controls. "If I can't win...then no one can..." Azrael murmured, activating all of the Dominion's weapons.
"Damn...we can't let him go through with this!" Auel remarked. "Everyone , we gotta stop the Dominion!" All at once, units came swarming from all directions to stop the black legged ship before it's final assault could be launched.
"Azrael, you can't win!" Murrue shouted as the Archangel aimed it's Lohengrin cannons straight for the Dominion as with the Kusanagi. The Eternal provided support along with the Strike and the Rouge. It all came down to this, whether this war could be resolved and even the fate of some units...
"Raithe... Why did you..? Dammit!" Lyai said in frustration as she slammed her fist against the controls briefly until she noticed the conflict still going on between the ships and against the strange Gundam. "What do you suppose that is? I thought they were on the same side."
"Yeah well... It seems to me like that guy needs to be put in his place, don't you agree?" Meamie stated, wiping away her tears slightly. In all truth she too was saddened for what had all just occurred but she knew that the only thing she could do now was end the fighting there. "Let's take that jackass out, now!" she said as the Pegasus shot a barrage of fire aimed directly at the Providence. Since it was being knocked around slightly by the Impulse her shots grazed the unit but just enough so to take out it's DRAGOON system.
"Yes, let's!" added Lyai as she brought Leviathan in and slammed the unit hard from above, giving Shinn a bit more space and some time to recover.
"Hey why don't you leave this one to us, cutie?" Meamie said as she saw his face for a brief moment and gave him a slight wink.
"Yeah, after all we can't have a nice pretty boy like yourself be pushed around by this psycho." remarked Lyai as she took her position at Meamie's side. "Well then, shall we take him out for good and be done with it?" she questioned.
"Attack pattern Gamma Delta; we can take that thing down with ease." Meamie said as she awaited Lyai's signal.
"Now!" she said as the two rushed the Providence into some nearby debris from GENESIS. Both units shot back to see that they had crippled the unit slightly, but not enough for Creuset still had enough control to do harm. Aiming their cannons they both fired a few rounds to wear away at the controls and waited for the smoke to clear. The battle would not be over until all those seeking war and destruction had gone as well.
The Dominion could barely defend against the attacks by the mobile suits.
"We don't want anymore to do with this! We're evacuating!" remarked one of the operators as the others nodded and began desperately making their way to the escape shuttle.
"You can't leave! We need to fight them!" Azrael shouted.
"Too bad, fight them yourself!" sneered another operator. Suddenly, a small click was heard.
"Don't you dare move another step..." Azrael murmured, pointing a gun at the remaining portion of the crew. "That is, unless you want to leave the Dominion in pieces!" Being unable to do a thing against Azrael, the crew had no choice but to cease any movement.
Meanwhile, outside, the units were still battering the ship. 'Hey...shouldn't the crew have evaacuated by now?' Orga thought, seeing how no one had yet to use the escape shuttle, 'Damn...Azrael's probably not gonna let them go without a fight...I'd better go check it out...' The Calamity shot towards the Dominion's hangar, with Orga hoping to find out what had happened to the crew onboard. Crot noticed where the other unit was going and decided to question the other pilot about it.
"Where the fuck do you think you're going! That ship is gonna be scrap metal soon and I don't think you want to be on it..." Crot hollered.
"Don't worry, I'll be back...I just need to check something..." Orga stated.
"And get your ass killed! I don't think so!" Crot argued, moving Raider in Calamity's way.
"Move Crot..." Orga muttered.
"I won't let you go back there!" Crot stated, not waivering in his decision.
"Don't you find it odd that the crew hasn't evacuated yet? And I'm sure you know what kind of man Azrael is...put the two together and what do you get!" Orga reasoned.
"I see...but I want you back in one piece got that?" Crot remarked. "Now get going..."
"Yeah." Orga replied as the Calamity moved past the Raider on it's way to the ship.
Orga managed to break into it's hangar and spotted the portion of the crew that managed to make it off the bridge. "What going on?" he demanded.
"I-It's Azrael...he's got the others hostage up on the bridge..." stammered one of the personnel.
"Hey, hold on...I'll be right back...don't move from here unless I don't get back in fifteen minutes, got it?" Orga questioned. All he received were slight nods from the crew. He dashed off grabbing his handgun in the process. 'Azrael...your time's just about up...' Orga thought as he reached the door that led to the bridge. He decided tp hurry as tremors could be felt throughout the ship. "Here goes nothing..." he murmured as he walked through the door, handgun held tightly in his hand.
"What the?" Azrael questioned, surprised by their 'unexpected' visitor.
"Let them go Azrael...this ship's ready to blow and you know that!" Orga stated.
"You can't tell me what to do! I'll kill you! You're nothing but a defiant tool!" Azrael hollered as he fired several shots toward the pilot. Orga managed to dodge some of the bullets, but cringed as two of them managed to bury themselves in his arm.
"Fuck you!" he growled as he shot several shot in return and gave a smirk of satisfactory as most of them managed to find their target.
"Gah...damn you..." Azrael managed to gasp, trying to get back up.
"I've had just about enough of your damned voice..." Orga coldly remarked as he fired several more shots towards the man who had caused him and others so much pain. "That takes care of him...why don't you guys get out of here? This ship isn't gonna last much longer..." Orga stated as he watched the remainder of the crew scramble away. 'Speaking of which, I'd better got going, or else I'm gonna get a mouth full from Crot...' Orga though as he dashed back to the hangar. He quickly climbed back into Calamity's cockpit as shot out of the Dominion just as the ship exploded in a fiery blaze.
"Heh, at least you made it out..." came a voice as Orga turned the Calamity around to face the Raider.
"What? Don't tell me you doubted me!" Orga remarked.
"Who knows...you were taking quite the while..." Crot replied as a smirk appeared on his face. Shani had been listening in on Orga and Crot's conversation, but he still only had one thing on his mind...
Meanwhile, Nicol and Miguel had spotted Shinn and the girls fighting against Cruset.
"Hey, mind if we join in?" Miguel questioned.
"We'd be happy to help!" Nicol commented. Dearka had made his way over to the Duel.
"Yzak, hey, are you alright in there?" Dearka questioned.
"Yeah, doing just fine...as for the Duel...I don't think I can say the same..." Yzak replied, his voice clouded with static from the damaged control panel.
"You've done enough anyways." Dearka chuckled as he came to assist the Duel. Miguel and Nicol came at Creuset with all they had hoping to be rid of their ruthless commander once and for all. The Blitz came and struck the Providence up close with it's blade. While Miguel came up close for a final finish.
"Sorry commander, but you have to go..." Miguel murmured as his GINN brought out several huge missiles and aimed straight for Providence's cockpit.
"N-No, you can't do this to me!" Creuset hissed.
"Hell yes I can!" Miguel replied as he fired the missiles and watched as they all landed their target.
"Is he gone?" Nicol questioned, trying to peer through the smoke on his screen.
"I think he is..." Miguel commented, finding demolished scrap littering the spot where the Providence used to be.
"Let's get out of here then..." Nicol quickly stated, not wanting to be near the demolished Gundam. Both of the units headed back towards the group as they watched the GINNs and the Strike Daggers head off.
"We have to look for her..." Shani spoke up suddenly.
"He's right, she could still be out there..." Athrun added.
"Everyone spread out and look." Cagalli stated. The units began searching the debris around the area where GENESIS had exploded.
"I'm not finding anything..." Mwu muttered.
"We have to keep trying... she never gave up on us..." Crot murmured, still searching through the debris.
"Come on, just look harder..." Miguel commented. Dearka and Yzak were scanning the area using the Buster's sensors.
"There's nothing showing up..." Dearka murmured.
"Damn...we have to find something..." Orga muttered.
"We can't give up..." Nicol whispered, still rummaging around.
"Search every area, we're bound to find something." Shinn commented.
"Don't skip out on anything, got it?" Stella commented as the Gaia, Abyss and Chaos searched through one area.
After a while, many of the pilots were beginning to feel slightly hopeless.
"Maybe we should be heading back..." Sting murmured. "We've combed the area and found nothing..."
"I don't know..." Athrun remarked. "Maybe we should stay..."
"We've been out here for so long...what if she really is...gone?" Dearka stated.
"Come on, there's nothing left..." Stella commented. The others followed in silence, trying to not accept the fact that she was no longer going to be among them. A grave tone was set as they were about to return to the ships until a slight feud caused them to turn around.
"I'm not going until I can find something!" came a stubborn yell.
"But Shani..." Crot mumbled.
"We have looked, Shani...sometimes, you just have to accept these things..." Orga reasoned, trying to get the other pilot to calm down.
"No! I-I won't! I don't care! Y-You can just leave, but I'm not going anywhere!" Shani shouted, not noticing that he was crying tears once more. "I-I'm not leaving..."
"This doesn't feel right..." Meamie said softly as she stopped heading for the ships. "Kanta... the commander... Not him too..." she said trying to hold back her tears.
"You're right... It doesn't..." responded Lyai with a hopeful smile. "There's still hope, he might not have been killed by the explosion, Meamie." she reasoned as the Leviathan went back to searching, soon joined by the Pegasus.
"... ... ... H-... elp... ... u-... us... "
The static transmission made the units freeze.
"That voice!" exclaimed Lyai as she desperately looked around in every direction. "It... it can't be..."
"Over here! Over here everyone please come quickly!" shouted Meamie as the Pegasus made it's way over to a long chain of debris. The Leviathan soon joined her as the two units froze in place at the sight before them.
There now orbiting in the chain of debris from GENESIS were the two fallen units. The once proud OMEGA unit, Fenrir and what remained of their mother ship, Epsilon along with the Cerberus itself. Each unit had sacrificed much in the battle and now those sacrifices were finally repaid...
Two small pilots were now shielded from harms way beneath the debris, still alive and breathing.
The transmissions that were being sent between the Forbidden, Calamity and Raider suddenly came to a halt as they heard the words that had been sent through the static clouded transmission. The Forbidden immediately headed in the direction of the Leviathan and the Pegasus followed by the Raider and Calamity. The others quickly abandoned their idea of heading towards the ship and quickly headed for the spot where the transmission had come from. Shani was speechless when he arrived on the scene. Still in tears, he managed to push himself out of his cockpit and made his way to the two pilots as they laid in the debris.
"Ai...I thought I had lost you for sure this time...but I'm glad...you're okay...and it's all over..." Shani murmured, cradling Ai tightly in his arms. Everyone else had also left their cockpits and gathered around.
"We need to get them to a ship immediately." Stella explained, noticing their current conditions.
"Let's hurry then, we don't want to lose them." Crot stated.
"They should come back with us, the Eternal has a pretty good sick bay and it's the closest ship." Athrun commented.
"Sure...make sure they get the medical attention they need." Shani muttered, reluctantly handing Ai over to Athrun as Orga picked up Raithe and handed him over to Kira.
"Don't worry, we'll make sure tht nothing happens to them." Kira replied with a smile, glad to see that the two were still alive and that the horrible war was over. Athrun and Kira made their way back to the Freedom and the Justice and sped off towards the Eternal.
"Come on, let's get back to the ship, I don't want to stay here any longer..." Miguel commented as he manuvered his GINN back towards the Archangel.
"Alright, I wanna get outta here too." Dearka commented as the Buster and the Duel headed towards the Archangel.
"Everything turned out alright after all..." Auel remarked as a slight smile formed on his face.
"We won't have to fight anymore..." Sting added.
"Looks like you guys are going to have to board the Kusanagi." Cagalli commented, gesturing towards the remains of the Epsilon.
"Yeah, you're right, now let's get out of here...the others are already back on the ships." Orga remarked.
"Then what are we waiting for?" Crot questioned.
"Let's go then!" Sting exclaimed as they all headed back towards the ship leaving the battlefield behind them.
"Everything turned out alright in the end didn't it?" Andrew questioned, waiting for a reply from Lacus.
"Yes, it did...the fighting, the anger and hatred, this war has now come to an end and I am glad that there were no casualties among the pilots." Lacus stated.
"Lacus!" came a shout.
"Oh, Kira, Athrun! You're back!" Lacus exclaimed, leaping up from he seat and making her way over to the two pilots. "Are you both okay?"
"Yes we are." Athrun replied. "Ai and Raithe are currently recovering in sick bay, they're the ones who stopped GENESIS."
"I see." Lacs replied. "I'm just glad no one fell victim to this war...we are very fortunate indeed."
"Yeah, that's true..." Kira replied, thinking back on their rigorous battle that they had managed to pull through.
"You two should get some rest, you must be exhausted." Andrew commented as he also made his way to greet the two pilots. "What you did out there was amazing."
"Ah, thank you..." Kira replied.
"I think I might just go take a nap for a bit..." Athrun commented, beginning feeling the aches that were beginning to catch up to him.
"Me too." Kira added as he followed Athrun off the bridge. "Please inform us of any change in Ai or Raithe's condition."
"Sure thing, now go rest up, you deserve it." Andrew replied. "It's amazing what those two can achieve..."
"You did it!" Murrue exclaimed as the rest of the Archangel crew greeted Miguel, Rusty, Yzak, Dearka, Nicol and Mwu.
"Heh, we're just glad to be back here in one piece!" Dearka chuckled.
"That's wonderful!" Murrue exclaimed. "I'm just so happy that you all made it back safely. Now that the war's over, we can all start over..."
"Yeah, in fact, I'm kinda looking forward to life without war!" Nicol happily remarked.
"I'm just happy that it's all over and we can move on." Yzak commented.
"It'll be kinda strange...no war, but it's an adjustment that I'll be glad to make!" Rusty added.
"You kids...we actually did it!" Mwu remarked as he joined in the conversation.
"Everything's going to be so different now..." Shani remarked as he looked out of one of the windows and stared out into the now empty battlefield that was once filled with soldiers who were willing to battle to the death.
"There's no one to control us now..." Crot added.
"Maybe...we can actually 'live' life...you know, be 'normal'." Orga suggested.
"Heh, only time can tell...we'll just have to wait and see." Shani replied.
"We wanna know how that would feel too." Auel added as Stella and Sting also stepped into the hallway.
"I can't believe it...he's gone." Sting murmured.
"The only man who could've kept us from ever being happy is now gone." Stella added.
"I guess that's why, beneath all the questions, there's a feeling of happiness... and I want to savor it." Shani stated, turning back to face the others.
"Face it, no more war, no more Azrael." Crot added.
"Yeah...things are going to be very different, but it'll be for the better." Orga stated. Everyone nodded in agreement as they looked forward to a life without fighting, a life without war...
"Ai... Ai... Please get up."
'F-... Father..? Is that you!'
"Ai... We're all here please wake up..."
"F-!" Ai woke up abruptly as she sprung up from place and looked around desperately for the source of the voice. It was then she realized who was calling out to her from her comatose state. "Raithe... I-it's you!" she exclaimed.
"Ai, you're awake... I'm glad." he replied as he sat down at the edbe of the bed. He had just recently woken up himself but was more concerned with her well-being.
"What happened? I... I thought we were..."
"I came to you just in time. If it wasn't for those few seconds then we both would have never made it... But that's not important anymore..." he stated a bit bluntly as Ai looked carefully into his eyes. "We've been transferred here, we're currently in the PLANTs and it seems the others are out getting themselves back to normal. Or as normal as they can be..."
"Then... it's finally all over, isn't it brother..?" she questioned hopefully, trying to fight her tears.
"Yes... it's finally done Ai. We no longer have to hide now. We've finally fulfilled our purpose..." he said softly with a smile as he wiped away her tears. "And I know that there are more things in store for us here than anywhere else. Instead of fighting." Ai nodded slightly as she moved over to Raithe who took her in his arms.
Fate had been on their side and after their long and tired struggle for peace it had come thanks to the sacrifice they were willing to give. Yes, as it was and it had been Ai would no longer have to live by her code. For every sacrifice she had done she had gained a new ally in the process. Sacrifice after sacrifice and finally...
Peace...
Father... If you can hear me now please I want you to know this more than anything else. Whatever it was they made me into I was still me through it all and I'm glad that I can finally start to remember. Now I can move on. A lot has happened since then, father. I'm so very grateful for what you did that day. You believed in me and now I can finally believe in myself. And Raithe, I found him, father! I found your son... I found my big brother... after all these years...
I'll go on living for you and everyone else who we've lost. I've learned that sometimes in order to truly make a myth come to life sacrifices and sorrow will follow. But after all the tears have passed and when you finally reach it you learn that all along that myth was a dream. A dream and a memory that passed me by so long ago it took me so long to finally remember. So thank you, Cerberus... father...
I'll never forget... and I'll never be alone. Never again...
Author's Notes: Well people, there you have it! The end of War Torn! Can you believe it? I never thought it would ever be months and 50 phases later but we made it. Anyway, to all who have been faithfully been reading, thank you so much. This story was a long way coming for both Flame and myself and to see it completed and read by so many is very heart-warming indeed. Please feel free to contact me and review if you still have any questions. War Torn, a Gundam Seed/Destiny role play turned fanfiction started from the whim of too weary writers, has reached its conclusion but just as the storiesgo thereare still many unanswered questions... I hope you all await its return as the creation of a new project now ensues.
How will our war torn pilots cope with life now that the war has finally ended? Can the trio really acheive a normal life? And what of the remainder of OMEGA? Will the girls find peace in the place they've found and have they really coped with the loss of both their commander and dear Kanta? What of Raithe and Ai, now newly discovered as brother and sistser, just what are the secrets behind their past lives..? All of these questions and more await an answer...
