Phase 48: Unbroken


Liene stood in front of Meiko, confessing his madness and his sins but now he thought back to what led him here. He was John Trien, son of Melran Trien, a man who sought to make a difference and a man whose life was ended after which Liene changed his last name to Pri. John Pri saw so much bad in the world and he had rejected it as Yaro did but so many things changed him, so many dark things.

John Pri smiled as he realized his discovery in the realm of genetics could be the cure to a great many ailments. He had been working for months at a genetic research lab in space and just moved to Eurasia to present his research. He had been working for many of those who created coordinators for years and he had been working to understand the complexity of genetics and the existence of certain genetic factors. John Pri smiled as he saw on his screen the isolated section of DNA he had been trying to find for years, a piece inside every human that seemed to be getting stronger in a certain bloodline, it was the Seed factor. Today was the day when he would present it to the Eurasian nation in hopes to get a grant to study it further and to harness it's power to bring about a brighter future where humanity could unite for a common cause of bettering the world.

"You've been pouring over that for the past year, it's not going to disappear John," His wife said kindly as she entered the room, he turned to see Labiella looking very beautiful. She had just born him his second child, a baby named Ralen who he knew would make him proud. The child in fact was one of his first successful experiments, as he and his wife both agreed to try and increase the seeds power within their second child to see what abilities could be formed from it. His son was born with a striking resemblance to his mother with his dark hair and blue eyes.

"I'm not worried about that Labiella," he said with a smile, "I'm just hoping that what we did will give our son a brighter future." She laughed at this as she walked closer to him.

"You have ensured his future with this," she said to him putting a hand on his shoulder, "Now Ralen will be strong enough to make a difference and to be whoever he chooses. In this I know that we were right." John nodded taking her hand to kiss it.

"You're right," he said to her.

Everything seemed so promising then but the truth was he never got the chance to present his life's work, for someone else had been watching his progress and waiting for him to use everything he did, just waiting.

"The infamous John Trien," John turned from his work to see a man he did not recognize enter with a woman and another man. John looked at the clock, he was up late thinking about his presentation the next day and he knew his wife would come looking for him soon and now he was surprised to see others in his lab; others that knew his true name.

"Yes," John Pri responded with a heavy heart, "but it's been a long time since I've used that name. If you are blue cosmos I do not seek to cause any problems, I am just a natural like you looking to better the world through science." The man laughed at the things he said and walked toward him looking at the computer screens with admiration, it was in that moment John Pri thought he had an odd look to him.

"I am not from blue cosmos," the man responded with a voice that made John seem like he could be trusted, "no, but they might answer to me if they could talk to me. Alas I keep them at arms length." This John did not understand. "They are misguided of course, these advancements of science are not to be rejected as abominations but rather embraced as ways to bring about a better world, that is my interest in you John, not to stop you but to use what you have discovered." John looked at him confused, his research was not complete but rather in an odd stage where he was still unsure about it. His son was his first trial and they would not know for many years if he had been successful or not. How could this person come with suck a cocky attitude and act as if John Pri had already succeeded.

"Who are you?" John asked him and the man turned for a second.

"I am like you," the man responded, "sorry I didn't introduce myself. My name is Gryser Cerrian, the founder of every major government in the world in a way. I can guarantee your funding tomorrow if you listen to everything I have to say."

"Go on then," John responded not really understanding what the man was saying, but he was wary about what he was hearing.

"Do you ever wonder why wars start John?" The man asked and John just stared, "they start when the world needs a change, and when things are at a breaking point. I come from a family that for hundreds of years have overseen this world and it's breaking points, starting wars to clear things up and ending them at will. We are responsible for some of the greatest military leaders, scientists and politicians to ever be raised up, all in the name of keeping this world balanced. It is a great art but it seems we are nearing another breaking point and there will be war again but my family has lost it's influences in the world and I am unable to intervene. In this war we will need men with certain talents to prevent other men from making mistakes that will end everything, the balance of power must be restored in order to protect mankind from itself." John did not like the sound of what he was hearing from this man, he wasn't sure he trusted him.

"Then why are you telling me this?" John asked him. It was an odd thing to be hearing from someone he had only just met and someone who was claiming he could help.

"Because you are a vital piece in preventing some certain individuals from causing chaos," Cerrian said to him, "it seems that I can not intervene in this war as I would have years ago. My power is waning and I no longer posses the weight I used to, I need you to help me create an army of soldiers that will give me the power to put things back in their proper place before the entire world ends." John knew at that moment he was dealing with a madman and that he shouldn't help him.

"And what makes you so sure that I would help you?" John responded, "you see I don't think anyone in the world should possess the power you claim to have had in the past, and my science wasn't created to make super soldiers. Hell I don't even know if it will work." Cerrian seemed to laugh it off what he said.

"Come now John," He continued, "we both know that's not true, why else would you have tested it on your own flesh and blood? You must be certain that it will come to something great if you put as much faith in it to place your own child in it's bind." This caused John's eyes to darken, something about this man was wrong. He knew too much and the look in his eyes was dark, if what he said was true he was seeking to control humanity and that alone was not to be born. John make a certain vow in his mind at the moment not to fall into this trap.

"You can't force me to do anything," he responded angrily, "you don't have an army at your disposal." Cerrians eyes darkened now.

"Careful," Cerrian responded, "you wouldn't want to see things fall apart would you? If you don't help me this world may end and chaos will ensue for even now there are those in the PLANTs seeking to bring this world into greater harm. You can not seriously refuse to help me." John shook his head.

"And you can't seriously think that I am not going to see past your guise of helping the world," John almost yelled with anger, "you're acting arrogant which is the first sign, you're lusting for power to help yourself gain not to help this world. I will have no part in your madness." At this point both of Cerrian's guards drew guns.

"You better think about what it is you are saying," Cerrian said, "think carefully about your wife and sons and the future you want them to have. Think about your own life and the past you have had. Perhaps if everything was in balance then and I had the power I needed your father would not have been murdered by some of the same people I am trying to stop. Think hard Trien, you're not going to walk out on this are you?"

John Liene remembered that day well, his wife and had entered, a battle had ensued and she was killed along with his eldest son, that moment broke him but in the end he made it out with something more important. His life's work in the form of a small child, Ralen who would grow to be Yaro Yamato with a power the boy did not even understand. For Yaro's super seed did not come from natural growth as Meiko's did but rather from the tampering of his father. The events drove Liene mad with anger, that such a force could exist in the world and that people could become as powerful and as dark as Cerrian. He vowed that day to used whatever means he had to end it and he gained power in order to challenge it and destroy everything he saw in the world that was dark. Innocent lives were taken in the fray but the greater good was what he served in this.

"Please Meiko," Liene said, "Cerrian killed all my family except Yaro whom I saved. He is mad and cruel with a lust for power I didn't understand then but I have seen over and over again since then. Everything I did was to stop him, listen to me."


"The boy finished sir," one of his men said as Cerrian stared out to the battlefield with darkened eyes. This was was Liene had wanted, somehow he knew that Liene had some reason for doing this. What it was Cerrian did not understand, but he knew that he would not be drawn into open battle by it. Jayley had near betrayed him with her actions and she had paid for it with her life. Now Kiran had destroyed the weapon Jayley had revealed but that was not what concerned Cerrian.

"It's a small matter," Cerrian responded with an edge to his voice, "let the rest of this run its course." For he was going to watch the world recover from this, he would make sure that everything was peaceful again and under his control. He just needed a few more pieces.


The name hung between them as Meiko breathed in and more memories came to her, it was something she had failed to see earlier and as she saw Liene now she realized he was telling her the truth. He was telling her everything he had denied her for so long. He had sunk to the deepest depths of darkness in order to bring the world back around and in the process his soul was destroyed. Tears filled her eyes as she realized his fate and felt her hatred from him change to anger for how everything went down. He didn't have to do the things he did and all his careful plans unraveled while he desperately tried to pull them together again. He fought his enemies using trickery and trying to draw Cerrian out but in the end the world rose up against him. He thought through it now as well but he realized it wasn't in vain, for before him was the hope the world had and though he had failed to create her as a weapon she had become strong anyway.

"So much death?" Meiko questioned, "so much pain. Uzumi, everything else that you did. You're saying you did it all so that war could end forever. That is what you always said to me but I couldn't see it. You made an error John Liene, a huge one. Did you not see how you could have made a larger difference by making allies of us all instead of assaulting us as you did." Liene smiled at her words, for he knew all along that there was probably another way, it was his anger that made him do the things he did.

"I have always known that," he responded, "but I fought to draw Cerrian out. I did cause pain and death and I killed so many. I invaded nations, brought in civil wars and gained power as I went and I got Cerrians attention because he sent his agents out against me multiple times. Jayley Lired, Ceveris Matthews, Meyor Are and in the beginning Daniel Hannis." She was surprised to hear Daniel's name in the list as she watched his face change, "I forgot he was your friend." Liene smiled, "cause you had no idea that he was working for Cerrian to get you out of ROW." She winced at what she heard now but the pieces fit. Jayley stepped out of bounds of ROW and retained her protection. Ceveris appeared when he was needed to save forces that would defeat ROW.

"But what about the war with the PLANTs?" Meiko continued, "how do you explain that error? Ceveris was fighting against Jayley in that war, there are too many gaps in what you are saying." He smiled and nodded as he understood.

"That was another ploy to bring you out," Liene said, "Cerrian realized you were alive and wanted to find out if you were still formidable. He stole one of my rejected pilots, Gera and trained her to fight Yaro in hopes you were watching. He even swayed Mike to betray me enough to help Jayley further her plans. Ceveris was just in play to get information on ORB's moves." She still looked at him with doubts, "I learned of the various agents only recently, right before I declared war on the world to draw him out but it seems that move failed as well. He is watching everything unfold now and interfering." Meiko shook her head stepping back.

"And you've know of this danger for so long!" she yelled now and protested, "you fought me when you all along knew who I was! You know everything about me, that all you had to do was tell me the truth! Liene you could have continued the peace yet you chose to cause so much darkness! No matter what reasons you still let yourself do these things!" He looked to the ground now, he understood that she could not stand the sight of him, for his hands were covered in the blood of so many.

"I knew your hatred," Liene responded to her anger, "you wanted me dead. Would you have listened to anything I had to say before? I had to tell you something true so that you would be reunited with your family and in a place where you were more stable, that is what Mars was about. Now here today I beseech you as the man who raised you to listen to me this once."

"But you tried to kill me!" She yelled at him, "you shot me in the back when I left the STING! You set a trap for Yaro and I on Mars!" He winced at the other incident.

"I was angry and I was unable to see clearly," he offered another apology, "there is a madness inside of me that did many things I am ashamed of, but I ask you to see past that to what I am offering you now, a truth you did not understand before. The whole truth of everything you never saw." She breathed in just staring at him, a truth she did not understand before. Cerrian's existence. There was no lie in John Liene's eyes and though she didn't understand it she knew she believed him and though it didn't change her hate for him she had to admit in her heart that she may now fail at the task she set out to do. For how could she kill John Liene now when she knew she needed more than what he had just given her.


Kiran held his breath as he searched for an out, but the guards were not wearing ZAFT uniforms so he wasn't sure how reasoning with them would work. He looked at Meyrin who was very broken by the picture before her, and Ceveris's body lay a little farther away. Kiran breathed in taking his gun in hand and checking his ammo, there was only so much more he could do if Meyrin didn't take the lead here. He had disarmed the weapon but they were very close to death at this point and Ceveris's sudden shift had not helped the situation. Still the name echoed in Kiran's thoughts, Gryser Cerrian.

"Meyrin," he said trying to get her attention as he ducked lower hearing more shots toward him. She snapped at his voice and looked at the hopeless situation before her, it wasn't over and she swore Kiran would be protected, that she would give her life for him. She knew what was needed now to get him out of there.


Yaro swirled down as he moved in with the archangel, they were going on a dangerous route down toward the next cannon and he protected the ship as his eyes continued to glow with the super seed. He moved swiftly but also kept in mind that the ship was much slower than he would be and he needed the backup of Mu and Jacob as well to move his machine in at it's strongest range. He watched the battlefield as he fought, trying to see ways to improve upon their strategy. Meiko was nowhere to be seen but he trusted whatever it was she was doing now was important enough to leave the whole battlefield to run the way it was now.

"Moving into the second barrel," Murrue said loudly on his speakers and those of all forces who were moving to aid the group, "Keep on top of yourselves and defend Yaro!" It was then that she realized something, "move out of range everyone!" She shouted her last orders as the three remaining barrels of the cannon fired large shots. Yaro's eyes followed them as one headed toward the ZAFT cannon but missed taking out many ships on the way, one of them being the Minerva! Horror filled his eyes.

"The Minerva is down!" he yelled out to the Archangel in shock, "I repeat the Minerva is down!" Murrue looked in the direction surprised to see the ZAFT cannon had just moved out of range but it was true the Minerva had been engaging that cannon and they were shot down. Meyrin would have been aboard that ship and many other comrades. She stood up and held her hand to her forehead in salute and many of her crew followed her.

"Take out the next barrel, we have to stop this thing!" Murrue ordered as anger filled her now.

"I'm going in!" Yaro affirmed as he flew his mobile suit closer and warned others to remain out of it's range. He prepared to fire on it when someone's voice came over his radio, it was Jacob.

"Look there!" Jacob declared pointing to the first barrel as it suddenly transformed and a new barrel appeared in the place of the one Yaro had trashed. Yaro's eyes widened as did everyone else's as that last barrel shot alone toward the battlefield and hit many ships along it's way. Yaro shook his head trying to figure everything out now, if ROW could just replace their parts at an instant everything they were doing would be cancelled out. He could destroy as many as possible and still not make much of a dent. He had to figure out how they were replacing them, he needed Kiran but the courage was nowhere to be seen. Surely it had not been shot down, he was sure he would have heard of it. With a little work of his computer he located the machine inside the large ZAFT cannon ship. So Kiran was alive it seemed.

With that in mind Yaro turned back to the Cannon he was working on. Just because these things could come back did not mean that he should stop working on them.

"Don't let it get you down!" Yaro declared angrily his seed growing brighter as he perceived many things, "they will have to run out sometime!" WIth that he approached the next barrel and transformed his mobile suit firing a large beam that glowed bright blue.

In the midst of his super seed his perceptions became even stronger toward the one he loved now, Meiko Virea was still strong but now he saw something he knew that even she didn't see. He quickly focused his mind again on the barrel, one more blast should do the trick.


Lacus stared out into the battlefield watching things turning the other direction. ROW had produced backup ships and were coming in strong now, she herself was ready to make a move, Leyas had laid the ground work and today she realized that she had to return. She turned to Waltfeld and then back to the battlefield, he was capable enough to handle this now.

"I'm taking Kayla with me," She said to him as she looked toward the PLANTs, "The council will be in disarray after what has just been revealed. The ZAFT forces need guidance that they can not give. I'm going home today, and I'm taking my place as chairwoman. My term's still not up!" She stood up as her seed ignited in her mind and Waltfeld nodded, he knew that this was something she could handle and she would take guards with her.

"Shiho will guide your shuttle as well as Shinn," Waltfeld said to her, "He's coming from the tranquility." Lacus nodded, she knew he had just dropped Lunamaria off as she wasn't feeling well.

"Good," Lacus said to him, "protect the ship Waltfeld, you've always been a loyal friend." He nodded.

"Just make sure you handle yourself well in there," he responded, "I have seen you command a room like no other, now get going!" She smiled as she turned to exit the bridge and Waltfeld issued orders on how to proceed closer to the PLANTs.


Kira flew through the ROW ships and dodged many shots that came from them. His seed was brighter than he had ever seen and his mind was shaper than ever before. He realized the plain truth that he had broken his super seed for the first time and he was unsure how to use it and he knew it would take time to grasp but he was ready to start learning. It started today as he saw through the minds of many, traversing the battlefield searching for his daughter. He saw Leyas in the control room, he saw Lacus leaving the Eternal and he saw many other things but his own daughter's mind was hidden from him. He thought back to the beginning of everything.

He was captured by ROW earlier in the year when Lacus had been forced to flee the PLANTs, it was his first mistake leaving her alone but he was trying to figure out what had been going on around them. There were so many unexplained things in the world and the tips he was getting were helping him through. Somehow through it all a vision of his mother helped him see clearly, he didn't understand then but he did now. She was telling him of his family and the danger his wife and children were in as well as the darkness Meiko was in. Since he didn't have any knowledge of who Meiko was for so long he had never figured out what she meant when she said even then one was lost in the darkness, but now he saw it clearly. He had to protect her, not just because it was his duty as her father but because the world needed her beyond today. He didn't know what evil things Liene might have planned for her and he never understood her willingness to walk into his traps but he knew that somehow something was telling him to get to her as quickly as he could.

"Meiko," he said her name searching through his mind, "where are you?" It was then that the path became clear to him, where she was and he saw briefly through her tear filled eyes as she spoke to John Liene not hostilely as he expected. The Image faded but it was clear to him what ship she was in and that the danger may not be immediate but it was real and present so he changed his course heading to where she was and fighting with anger to get to here before everything changed around them.


Kiran looked up holding onto his gun but Meyrin sprung into action moving from her barrier and firing into the group of guards, her anger and hatred became clear as she killed three instantly. They scattered as Yaro moved with his seed breaking in his mind once again and he shot down another two. Meyrin was much faster though, no matter what shots came for her she was killing. It was then that a shot hit her arm, another her leg but she fired again as another shot hit her chest she was on her knees but she held her good arm and fired two more shots.

"Kiran get out!" She yelled to him with the strength she had left, "get out of here." His eyes filled with horror at the sight before him as two more shots hit Meyrin and she fell still to the ground. Tears filled his eyes and anger captures his soul.

"NO!" He yelled rushing forward not back and he shot killing another another. He fired and fired with his seed ignited and the quickness of anger fueling his blood they couldn't hit him. He launched himself into a flip over the barriers and faced the three remaining guards killing two of them quickly as the third one dropped his weapons and stumbled back Kiran held his gun to the man who was even more obviously not ZAFT.

"Who sent you?" Kiran demanded shooting the man in the arm. The man cried out.

"I don't know anything," the man said begging for mercy, "please don't kill me, I'm under orders. I have a family!" Kiran fired again this time into his leg causing him to cry out again.

"I'm asking you again," Kiran declared with anger, "who sent you!"

"It was Cerrian," the man responded, "we're here to keep peace not to fight, but it's Cerrian! He's after you and your sister Leyas, he wants you for some project that's all I know! Please don't kill me." But the man's begging cries were unheard as Kiran unloaded his gun by firing all his remaining shots into the man. He turned away and looked toward the hangar with anger. His innocence was lost today, his sister was in danger and whoever they were also were coming for him, he had to get back onto the battlefield before that happened. He felt warm tears in his eyes and saw the blood on his hands from everything. He also saw the bodies of Meyrin and Ceveris, his comrades whose lives had been cut short today.

He leaned down to Meyrin and too her hand with one of his and saluted her with the other letting himself cry. She was the one who let him fight in a mobile suit first, his captain who always believed in him when others doubted his age. She was someone he counted on, today lost in the fray of a deadly battlefield. He wanted to just sit there and cry because also the man who trained him had been torn and conflicted in death because of this Cerrian.

For the first time Kiran saw the world clearly and it was darker than he had feared, for everything they were fighting against was not as it seemed. There were so many things in the world he knew now that he didn't understand but in this moment he vowed himself that he would fight them off. He wasn't going to stand down and let this injustice continue. When this was over and ROW was finished he knew that it wasn't going to end, he would make sure that everything fell back into place. He had spilled blood today and with that act he had changed, from boy to man and now he was a true solider.


Lunamaria's breath was short as the doctors were all around her on the Tranquility. They were monitoring as she nearly collapsed leaving the Impulse behind, she knew something was wrong as her heartbeat was irregular and she cried out in pain once again.

"We're loosing the fetal heartbeat," one of the nurses said causing Lunamaria to panic. She had just discovered she was 3 months pregnant two weeks before and it was happy news she had hidden from Shinn so that she could fight, now it seemed like such a stupid idea. She didn't want to loose her child, she wanted to have a family with the man she loved. She felt tears in her eyes as the idea of loosing that seemed so foreign and horrible.

"Please," she said desperately to the doctors, "please help me! Save my child!" The doctors were around her and she was trying to calm herself but watching the monitors was terrible and she knew they would sedate her soon if she didn't calm down.


Shinn blasted out onto the battlefield, the doctors were with Luna now and he would have to protect her ship until they determined how she was doing. He flew around the Tranquility destroying machines as he went clearing them of danger and he turned to survey the battlefield. As long as the STING 2 had it's cannon working there was huge danger, it seemed that the ZAFT cannon was successfully disabled before the Minerva went down but there was no sign of Kiran's machine which meant he was still inside and he had not called for help so Shinn assumed that he was alright.

On the other hand Virea had disappeared completely earlier and had not shown up since. The Phoenix had not been destroyed or else everyone would have noticed it, he wondered what she could be doing that was taking so long. She seemed to carry the weight of the world on her shoulders when in Shinn's opinion she needed to lighten up and realize that everyone else was just as concerned about the world as she was and that they would all fight to protect it as she did. He rolled his eyes at the thought of her doing everything alone. He noticed Yaro was having trouble keeping the barrels of the cannons down and watched in awe as he destroyed on and it replaced itself. Whatever game ROW was playing they came to win. The lines of ROW seemed thicker than earlier yet the world forces lines were thinning out as time went on. Something was amiss that he knew he didn't understand, he only hoped that they could figure it out before they lost this battle.


Jurme Krey sat back in his mobile suit as the Truth fought him, he knew that what he was doing here was utterly pointless in the scheme of things since John Liene was not fighting himself. From what Jurme gathered Liene was doing important work with Meiko Virea, who had once again rushed into the ships of her once home.

"Give me all you got!" Jurme said to the machine in front of him, he wanted to fight Yaro Yamato but it seemed the Dreamer had eluded him and he was against Athrun Zala instead, this was a fight he wasn't going to win and he knew that. Athrun was the better pilot and was probably one of the best in the world but Jurme knew at this stage he was sent to weary and not to kill, which would have been sad to anyone on the world's side, but in ROW's ranks each person understood their place and their goal. His place was here and his goal was to be disabled and not killed. If the world survived this he wanted to see everything change as Liene promised it would, for he knew that no matter how they tried to recover the people of the world were already devastated by this moment and by the things that had already happened.

It was in the fight that the Truth suddenly backed off and another Clyne faction mobile suit took its place as Dearka stepped up taking over for Athrun.

"This is just plain annoying," Athrun had complained to Dearka, "we need to help Yaro get that ship down!" Dearka destroyed the robotic he had been fighting and told Athrun to go as he took Athrun's place to fight the gundam before him, it was a ROW style one which meant it had quite a few weapons and a lot of secret new advancements but the pilot was lacking, given time he would give out completely.


"So you keep saying," she spoke bitterly as her memories were all there, Meiko Virea was fully aware of everything now, "you keep saying you killed so many times to save the lives of so many, but you're still wrong. No matter what your reasons where what you did was still wrong John Liene, you can't tell me now that your intentions change everything that I mean to do and everything that I am supposed to do." Her gun was tight in her hand as she was aware, "please tell me that you can change that? Give me back my life, give me back Uzumi, give me back everything that should have been for I am only one of many lives you have destroyed. I want my life back, I'm tired of this! I'm tired of the fight and the road that leads to more and more destruction."

"You don't see Meiko that even if it hadn't had been me someone else would have claimed you!" He declared, "you had a destiny the moment you were born and if I hadn't trained you then you still would have ended up fighting because it's who you are!" She looked at him doubtfully, she didn't believe that Destiny's were set in stone but rather that they were shaped and formed by a person's choices but the way Liene seemed to speak now made her realize he believes she was predestined to be this person she was now. He continued on that note, "I never believed in anything till I heard the prophecy of your birth and life then I saw it unfold before me Meiko. It was said you would be conceived in vengeance and hatred, born and raised in darkness then destroyed by your own inner divisions but in the end you would rise again and destroy the bonds that hold us. That's who Cerrian is, the bonds that hold us! You have to stop him!" She saw that Liene really believed everything he was saying but she didn't understand where this kind of prophecy could come from, it was too contrived and cryptic. She felt the gun slip from her hands and drop to the ground as she was overcome.

"I believe you," she said to him, it was all to crazy now to be contrived. Liene was a madman but his imagination could only bring him so far in this, Cerrian was the real enemy all the time and Liene twisted the world to bring out a force strong enough to fight and destroy him. That meant all along everything that happened was all part of a plan that was too shocking for her to take in but she wanted to hear the whole story before she just gave in now. This battle was meant to draw Cerrian out and perhaps it had, in that instance she wanted him destroyed.

"Cerrian is here," Liene said as if reading her thoughts, "he is influencing events as we speak and I know you understand that much." She nodded.

"How do we stop him?" she asked now, she was all into this and thought she felt as though Liene deserved death she needed him to divulge what he knew first. Vengeance took a back seat to ending the pointless war in front of her, Liene would get what was coming to him at some point but she determined now that it wouldn't be from her.


Kiran blasted out of the large ship that he had confirmed was not a ZAFT ship but rather one that was completely different. Whatever game was being played here there was someone else on this battlefield messing with them and he had purpose in his mind now. Someone was after Leyas and he had to find her and stop them. He turned about in the battlefield searching for Leyas and Trey's dual mobile suit. After that message he assumed she would be out soon but there was no sign of them, they may have run into trouble inside. His only hope was to ask Redemption forces which PLANT they had gone into and try to locate their signal to send them a message.

Kiran entered a fight with a ROW machine that he knew was run by a human. He quickly twisted around it and shot a vulnerable part in the back then drew his beam saber and sliced off it's cameras before flying toward the Redemption line which was looking weaker than the last time he saw it. On his way he was met by another swarm of robotic units that aggravated him now. There had already been too much lost today and he would not tolerate anymore.

"Get out of my way!" He yelled as his seed continued driving him toward his goal.


Leyas turned off the broadcasting instruments as she heard continued guns going off down the stairs below the room. She knew it was not safe to leave yet or else Trey would have come for her, so she searched her person for weapons but realized she left her gun with Trey. Not that it would have been much use, she was a lousy shot. Her father had declined to teach her so she had tried to teach herself but to no avail.

She felt now as if she should have one on her for some reason, something made her feel as though something was terribly wrong around her as she turned about the room searching for some signs of danger but it seemed nothing when she suddenly turned and came face to face with a man that held a gun toward her. Her first instinct was to scream but she felt consciousness leave her as someone grabbed her from behind and held a cloth to her face. She struggled for a second before everything went black and the men took her from the room.


"Watch out!" Trey yelled as Flay moved quickly but not quick enough as a bullet sunk deep into her arm and she crashed behind cover reeling from shock. Trey looked around firing again to try and take out what seemed to be like a few more guards left. They were almost there and then he could bring Leyas back out. Hopefully she got through the system and got the word out, Jayley was denounced today and would never be a threat again if everything went smoothly.

"Go Gern!" Flay yelled to one of her guards as he moved in with his guns firing and killing two of the guards, Trey followed taking down another one and moving over the barrier that was in front of him to another area of cover. That last move seemed to be it as the remaining guards fled the area leaving Trey shocked and ready for more but there was nothing else. They must have been tired of getting shot down her, Trey knew that in that situation they were more uncommitted than the Redemption group was. He walked over to Flay as he knew Meiko would not be very happy with him if he didn't take care of her mother out here.

"You alright," he asked her and she smiled as she breathed hard.

"It'll mend," Flay responded shaking her head, "but we have to get out of here before they come back." They turned toward the stairs and began to move up toward where Leyas was since she didn't come down immediately.


Kira flew his machine into the side of the massive ROW ship with his eyes still glowing, but much fainter now that he had reached his destination. He knew Meiko was inside he and he saw the proof with the locked Phoenix sitting before him. He quickly locked his machine and got down. There were dead guards in a trail leading out of the hangar and he also realized this was Meiko's work. No matter who she was he had to realize death wasn't as big to her after being raised in ROW; the way she viewed these people was with more hatred than the rest of them after what they had done to her.

He couldn't shake the feeling of danger or the image of Meiko reasoning with John Liene, everything seemed out of the ordinary and something was wrong here.


"What you need to know Meiko is not so much how to kill him," Liene said to her now that he realized she truly believed him. It was his greatest achievement now before him, the weapon who still had a heart to listen and he knew now that he had succeeded in everything he set out to do years before. Meiko was ready for her next task and he knew that she would not disappoint in righting the world. "For you Meiko will be able to do whatever you set out to." She nodded.

"I will do what it takes," she replied, "but there is no Redemption for the things you have done, you will answer to the world Liene. That is the deal I make with you now, I will do what you want if you will take responsibility for what you've done." He expected this hitch up, she was not one to just let things slide, he had hurt her too badly for that. He had taken her childhood, her life, her freedom, her will, and then he had taken the life of her best friend and he continued after that to torment her till he drove her into the power that she needed to fight now. He had succeeded in pushing the Phoenix to true greatness and he was satisfied with knowing that he had finished. She was right, there was no redemption for him but it no longer mattered.

"Very well Meiko" he conceded, "I will answer to the world. Cerrian is…" his words didn't finish as Meiko's danger sense spiked and a gunshot sunk into Lienes abdomen. Meiko spun around drawing a gun, flipping and firing all in a sweep of motion her bullets rained into the person who had fired the shots and Meiko's eyes widened as she saw Gera collapse to the ground, firing one last time into Liene's chest right before Meiko's bullets hit her.

"I did it for the world," Gera spoke to Meiko as breath left her. Anger filled Meiko as she turned rushing to Liene as he fell to the ground. She had him in her arms and she knew now he needed to give her the information or else everything was for nothing.

"Just hold on Liene," she said to him trying to bring up her super seed to hold his life in place but nothing was happening so she spoke to him urgently, "Liene you need to give me the information now, please Liene! I need to find Cerrian!" At that moment Kira entered with a shocked face at the sight before him. Meiko was crying over the dying form of John Liene and Gera lay dead nearby.

"Meiko," Liene said to her, "the answer is here," he put a small disk in her hands, "use it for the world. Your redemption is complete, now win me mine!" She let out a cry of anger now, he was supposed to answer to the world, everything made sense now. Cerrian's claws were in everything and he knew that Liene was going to give him away to the Phoenix, what he didn't count on was Meiko being as angry as she was now over Liene's death. This would not end the battle, she knew Liene was not controlling things out there but he had handed that to someone else. No the battle would end when Cerrian went down. Her eyes darkened now as she looked up and she knew the path before her, for it was one that she knew would lead her to the end of this and she would end it before she lost anything more.


"I'm home," Lacus said as she burst through the doors of the council camber with her guards fanning out from behind her and Kayla stepping beside her. The Enter PLANT council turned in shock to see her, but she knew they had nothing really that they could say in apology for how they had messed everything up with Jayley's election. "Miss me," she said with a glowing smile as she took her place in her chair.

"Lacus," one of them spoke up but she gestured for them to be silent as many ZAFT military officers filled the room.

"This council is no longer worthy of action," Lacus said raising her eyebrows, "ZAFT is taking you all into custody and you will be undergoing quite a heavy investigation. Those clean will continue to serve but those with questionable pasts will be removed and elections will take place for replacements. According to the code in Article 8 of the governing manuals ." They all stared at her in shock, dumbfounded before they started to protest but there was nothing they could do. She had won here and she knew by the past that at least a few of them were in fact associated with ROW. She settled back in her seat saving a victory before sending orders to the ZAFT forces, they were going to take ROW down today. She was back in power now and ready to fight.


Meiko stood up and turned to Kira who still did not understand what brought him here. He saw anger in her eyes and a desperation he didn't understand, whatever Liene told her had changed everything about her and what he saw now he knew would change everything. She had tears streaked down her face and blood on her hands as she looked to him with a fallen countenance.

"This ends today," Meiko said to him with extreme heights to her anger, she looked at the disk in her hands, "he was foolish to keep everything from me until now but it's not too late." He looked at her questioningly and she nodded to him, "we've been played since the beginning. Liene has toyed with all of us till this moment, not because he wanted war but because of real peace, now it's time to finish everything. We've all been marching to the beat of another's drum for too long, Gryser Cerrian dies today." He knew that whoever it was she was speaking about was in for it, for she was dead serious and ready to destroy anything in her path.

"Meiko I don't know what your planning but see reason now," Kira said to his daughter, "you have no idea what your getting yourself into. At least with ROW you know what your up against, you can rush into this." She turned now on him with anger.

"We've lost too much time already!" she yelled, "even now things are falling to pieces, I have to go now! I won't rest until he's gone!" Kira realized Meiko's resilience was not broken by what she saw before her now but it was stronger than before, she was going to get what she wanted no matter the cost and her anger made him wonder at what Liene had said to her. For she had let tears fall at his death and was now working with information he had given her, the change was a complete 180 from what had been in her mind before the battle. Something was strong in his spirit now as well, there was an intense sense of danger and extreme peril in what was about to happen. The battle was coming to a close and he wondered now who was going to come out on top. This Cerrian, ROW or the forces of the earth and those who fought for a better tomorrow.


Getting close! Next, Phase 49: Yaro's Path
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-WINTERCHILL