Chapter 17
Kai
"This is kind of fun." Thought Kai as he danced with Hepner. Around them were various couples that were enjoying their time with each other, dancing to their hearts content.
"This is great, wouldn't you say, Kai?" Asked Hepner as she danced with Kai Shiden, dancing to the tunes of the music playing all over the expansive room they were in. They've only been dancing for a few minutes, but both would say that it was a blast.
"Yeah." Said Kai with a small smile as he looked at Hepner's pretty blue eyes. "Didn't dance much, even as a reporter, and even then, it's with people I don't care about. It's refreshing to be dancing with someone that I actually know and care for." Hepner smiled at that, happy at Kai's answer.
"So, I'm someone you care about, huh?" Asked Hepner as they continued to dance while looking at each other's eyes.
"Yeah, I care about you." Said Kai. "And it's not just because you're a pretty face. You're a good person and I don't you suffering any more than you already did. The same goes for your people. Bakharov is right. The people that are suffering right now aren't the same people that started the One Year War. They've been manipulated by those people. And it's time that the rest of the Earth sphere knows that." Hepner was pleased to hear all that from Kai's mouth, it made her feel confident that there was a real shot for her people that the rest of the Earth Sphere will stop hating them and they can all go back to having true peace.
She was soon torn from her thoughts when she saw that the dance would soon be over. As a result, she looked over at Kai and wanted to do something bold.
"Kai." Said Hepner, catching Kai's attention.
"Yeah?" Asked Kai. He was then surprised when Hepner jumped up and gave him a quick peck on the lips. Widening his eyes in shock, Kai looked at Hepner as he tried to process this while Hepner herself looked embarrassed at what she had just done. Before either of them could react, they heard Erika leave the room immediately and she soon gave her reasoning.
"There's an old Zeon Zaku coming online and it's about to fire at this building!" Yelled Erika as she tried to force some people near her to run away. "We have to leave now!" Upon hearing that, people were starting to panic, creating chaos within the party. It made things difficult for people to leave they all tried to scramble to the exits. Only a few made it out before a 120mm round hit the building and completely destroyed the party room, killing everyone inside. Outside, after firing the initial round, the old Zaku began to pepper the capital building with more rounds, damaging it further. Taking precise shots, the pilot aimed for specific sections of the old Zabi family palace, as if he was aiming for specific spots. By the time of the tenth shot, a security team from the capital building managed to acquire an old anti-mobile suit launcher and fired it. However, the Zaku dodged the missile fired and quickly fired on where the shot came from, killing the security team. It was about fire again on the capital when its head was suddenly shot blown off by a projectile-based weapon, sending the Zaku crashing into the ground. At the same time, a mobile suit team began to converge on the down Zaku. Around their feet was a convoy of Federation APCs and tanks. They all had been out on patrol nearby when they received a distress call from the palace and so they quickly abandoned their patrol to head towards the palace, arriving just in time to see the destruction caused by the Zaku. Approaching the downed Zaku and those that were with it, the Federation forces tried to apprehend the assailants but were forced to gun them down after they fired at them, killing one soldier and wounded two others. As a squad of Federation soldiers were securing the bodies, two other squads ventured to the palace to assist anyone that survived the attack.
Kai
Coughing, Kai as he got up. Looking around, he saw smoke and fire coming from the room where the party was. Kai, Erika, and Hepner were some of the first ones out, so they were safe from the attack. However, the shockwaves of the attack sent them to the ground. Hence the reason Kai was on the ground in the first place.
Looking around the ground, he saw Erika and Hepner were still alive. A little worse for wear, but alive. In addition, he saw that Aina Sahalin made it out along with her bodyguard. Or at least someone he thought was her bodyguard. Aside from her, he saw Merc was operational, a little dented, but operational, and a few faces that he didn't know. As he was trying to get a gather of who survived, he heard some coughing and turned to see Hepner getting up from the ground.
"What the hell was all that?" Asked Hepner as she got up, her dress dirtied as a result of the attack.
"Zaku mobile suit attacked us." Explained Merc as he looked around before looking at the smoke coming from where the party used to be held. "Holy shit. If Erika and I hadn't warned you all in time, we all would be dead right now."
"Yeah." Said Kai as he looked at where Merc was looking as well. "Yeah, you're right." It was then that Kai realized they needed to leave now or else they'll be consuming too much smoke and thus he quickly lead everyone out of the floor and to some Federation assistance, hoping that whoever attacked them wasn't inside the building as well. As he walked, however, he felt that something was amiss. Something very amiss.
Meanwhile
As if by prophetic means, Kai was right. Something was very much amiss in Side 3 as, throughout the capital colony, riots and firefights were breaking out everywhere, including areas that were labeled green by the Federation, between Side 3 military personal and Federation personal as well. Ranging from minor firefights with patrols to the destruction of Mobile suits.
To make matters even worse, not just military personal were attacked. Both the Federation and the Republic of Zeon government would later find out that both people against and supportive of the new regime were killed in the green zones, leaving them befuddled at what was going on and who was responsible for all this. Just what the masterminds behind all this wanted.
Later that day
Lombard
"This is a disaster, commodore." Said Kowen as he spoke to Lombard via laser transmissions. Lombard just nodded as he recalled what happened a few hours ago.
To the embarrassment of the Side 3 militia and some Federation intelligence officers, the attack on the Side 3 capital building managed to slip through undetected and it cost the lives of many Side 3 politicians, amongst them as Bakharov himself. Many of whom were very cooperative with Federation officials whenever they interacted. To make matters worse were the riots that happened throughout the capital colony of Side 3. They were doing their best along with the Side 3 militia, but things were not dying down. Whenever they suppressed or stopped a riot in one section in the capital colony, another would occur soon after. And what really left both Lombard and Kowen stumped was that all of these new riots were being caused by people that they had no knowledge of before they attacked.
"I can't understand how all these terrorists managed to stay hidden from us for so long." Said Lombard as he looked at Kowen in exasperation. "How did ECOAS and Intelligence miss all of them? That shouldn't be possible." Kowen nodded in agreement as he tried to figure out what just happened as well.
It was not possible that both the ECOAS teams and the personal from Federation Intelligence would miss all these insurgents and terrorists. He knew some of the finest men and women of both organizations were stationed in Side 3 and a good number of them were permanently stationed in the Capital as it was of the utmost importance to keep under stable conditions. And it was because of them that they had the intel they had on all the terrorist and insurgent activities throughout the entire Side. Yet somehow new groups of Side 3 rebels came into being and attacked the capital side, attacking both those for and against the Earth Federation. It didn't make any sense. When Kowen had asked the leader of the Earth Federation Intelligence department in Side 3, he told Kowen that none of the bodies they've taken so far, as no terrorists so far wished to be taken alive, were of known people that they were keeping an eye off. That either meant they were from a different side or someone has been getting sloppy. Or worse, there were some corrupted individuals within the Intelligence department.
Not knowing which one of those is the worst, Kowen informed Lombard to speak with the various Intelligence officers in the capital as well as the various ECOAS squad leaders. They needed to figure out what was going on before things got worse. Both for the Federation and for Side 3 as a whole. For, if the situation in Side 3 rises to unacceptable levels, then the Earth Federation may send the Titans Special Task Force to deal with the situation, and given Jamitov's views on Spacenoids, Kowen was sure that the Titans were not going to treat them with as much respect and dignity as his own forces have.
Meanwhile
Federation
"I'm sorry, Mr. Shiden, but your crew has been…" The soldier that spoke was then interrupted by Kai raising his hand up.
"No need to say anymore." Said Kai as he looked at the soldier with a blank face. "I already knew that they were gone the moment I saw they weren't with me and the others." The soldier then gave Kai his sympathies before leaving. Once he did, Kai sighed as he thought of Crick, Slick, and Tick.
To his horror, his entire crew was among the dead from the attack on the capital building. His loyal crew for most of his career as a reporter were now dead, unable to retreat into an open server for them in time to escape destruction as they were attacked so suddenly.
Sighing as he remembered his crew, Kai felt something he never thought he would have to experience again. Self-loathing and regret. He experienced it once before when Miharu died in the One Year War, where she died in place of him. He felt like he should have died instead of his crew. He lived a good, if short life, and they only lived for around two years or so. They may be machines and some people will use that as an excuse to not mourn them, but not Kai. To Kai, those three robots were so full of life, if a bit annoying sometimes, that they may as well be living beings. Living beings that didn't deserve to die so quickly. Plus, they didn't know anything about war and didn't kill anyone, so there was no reason to kill them. He then remembered that war and violence didn't care about anything like that. It just took whatever it wanted from anyone and anything, no matter what. Sighing again, he looked around his room and wondered what to write about this disastrous day. It went so perfectly well and then everything went to shit. And he had to report it all in his article. God damnit. And to make matters worse, he had no idea who would do such a thing.
The most logical and most obvious suspect was the various Principality of Zeon loyalists in Side 3's capital. That party, after all, had many supporters and sympathizers to the Earth Federation. Wouldn't it be a great boon and victory for them if they all suddenly just died from a terrorist attack? Most would have probably chalked it up to them, but Kai's gut feeling told him a different story. In addition, his mind was also telling him something was off.
For starters, how the hell did those terrorists manage to acquire an old Zaku model in the colors of the Red Comet? Not only would it take an absurd amount of paint to color that Zaku in the colors of the Red Comet, but how the hell did they manage to acquire a Zaku in the first place? Nearly all Principality of Zeon equipment that wasn't in the hands of the Zeon Remnant was confiscated by the Earth Federation, which includes mobile suits. So how did a bunch of terrorists that delude themselves into thinking they're patriots get ahold of such a valuable piece of equipment and its weapons? He may not know of anyone in ECOAS or in the Federation Intelligence branch, but he was certain that wouldn't have slipped by them at all.
Clutching his chin, Kai was thinking hard on this when the door this his room opened up, revealing both Hepner and Erika. They both wore sympathetic and sad looks on their faces as they made their way to Kai's couch.
"Hey Kai." Said Hepner as she tried to smile as she sat down, but Kai could see it was in vain as he could still see the sadness in her eyes. The tears also didn't help. "How are you holding up?"
"Fine physically." Said Kai with a sigh. "Didn't get any injuries from the attack and the doc said I'm perfectly fit for duty tomorrow. You two the same?" After getting a nod from both of them, Kai spoke up again. "Mentally though? I'm sad. I lost the greatest crew that I could have ever asked for. Sure, they had their downs, but they got the job done and made for great company."
"I saw." Said Hepner. "They were good people, even though they were robots." Kai just nodded at that, not offended at all. He could imagine Slick having a problem with it, but Crick and Tick wouldn't have as that was what they were. Machines. Erika then spoke up.
"If it's any consolation, they died as heroes." Said Erika as she sat down to the right of Kai, sad as well but more in control of her emotions. "Aina told me how they pushed both her, her bodyguard and a few others to safety just seconds before the first round it. If it weren't for them, those people would be dead." Though that certainly provided some comfort to Kai, it still didn't lessen the loss a significant amount. What would, however, do it was to ensure their deaths weren't in vain, which was both to ensure their killers are brought to justice as well as to ensure their goal of making people see that it's pointless to view Side 3 as the enemy anymore. He knew how to do the latter and can do later, but the former was what he needed to focus on first before the killers getaway. Plus, he had the sneaking feeling that something more was going on.
"It helps a bit, but I need to bring their real killers to justice." Said Kai, causing both Erika and Hepner to look at him in surprise. "There's no way any Zeon terrorists would be able to get that Zaku without help. There's just no way. And I need to figure out whose responsible for getting them that thing before they disappear forever." Both Hepner and Erika looked at each other before nodding.
"You bring up a good point Kai." Said Erika before frowning. "I have to admit, you're right. It's just not possible for any Principality terrorist to have been able to get a mobile suit without inside help. There's just no way." Hepner nodded at that before asking a question.
"But who would want to help them out?" Asked Hepner. Kai didn't have the answer to that, but he didn't care. He was going to find out and he was going to make them pay for all the people they helped kill.
"Don't care who they are." Said Kai. "All I care about right now is exposing them and having the Federation arrest them." It was then that Erika asked a question that left Kai a bit quiet.
"And what if they're a part of the Federation?" Asked Erika, causing Kai to be quiet. She was about to explain her reasoning when Kai suddenly widened his eyes in shock and recognition.
"No way." Said Kai as he got up before getting up and going over to his room's phone. "No way. No..yes way. They would absolutely do such a thing if my facts are right."
"Kai?" Asked Hepner worriedly as Kai typed in a number. "What's wrong?"
"I'll tell you soon." Said Kai assuredly as the two girls gathered around him just as the phone call went through. "Listen, commodore Lombard, I need you to get me the serial number of the Zaku that attacked the Capital Building. I have a hunch that it may tell who is really behind all this." After a minute, Kai spoke up again. "Thank you, sir." With that, Kai ended the call and looked at Erika. "I hate to admit it Erika, but that theory of yours may prove to be true." That caused both Erika and Hepner to widen their eyes in shock. Erika had merely asked that question as an unlikely outcome. To think that someone in the Federation really wanted those people in the capital building dead, was something that Erika didn't want to actually happen.
"But why would someone in the Federation do such a thing?" Asked Hepner in shock. Kai just gave her a grim look before speaking up.
"I can think of one person. Or rather an organization." Said Kai, shocking both Hepner and Erika.
Meanwhile
"Everything is going according to plan, Supreme Commander Hymen. Mr. Shiden will take the bait and come to this location. From there, he will be instrumental in achieving the results that we want much sooner than we initially anticipated."
"Good." Said Hymen with a satisfied smile. "I see you have adjusted your plans a bit."
"Adjustments were made when we realized how we can manipulate Kai into helping us unwittingly. Though there are risks involved in this, I believe they are well worth it compared to the rewards we receive." Hymen nodded at that as the call ended. Soon. Very soon. Things will be as they should be. Already a proposal to enable his Titans to take the reigns of holding Side 3 with video proof of what was going on in the capital building was sent to the Earth Federation Council. That should enable things to be swung in his favor. And it'll continue to do so once Kai falls for the trap made by his men. Oh yes.
Before I end this chapter, does anyone have a title in mind for the sequel that'll take place during Zeta Gundam? Any ideas?
