Disclaimer: I don't own GW, this is just for fun.

When Light Dies

Chapter 4

A.C. 182

"...as of this moment, people of the colonies, we must arm ourselves against the oppressions of the earth. Everyone here knows that because of over population on Earth, we the working class people were sent away to live in the resource limited space colonies while the rich ruled the planet alone. We complied to this arrangement with the hope that they would just leave us in peace. We thought that maybe this way we could finally escape their absolute control, their exploitation of our lives, our soul. Then we found out otherwise. Even with the millions of miles separating us, they still manage to take hold of our lives, we are like dogs on a leash controlled by these neo-aristocrats. No more! The time has come for us to retaliate once and for all, we will not be slaves again. The people of the colonies are a new race of human beings, no longer are we the dependent workers. It's time for change! We must claim our independence! We must fight! Are you with me?!..."

Applauds and roars came from the crowds underneath the podium. As we expected, it was quite easy to tackle that weak spot in these people's hearts. All they needed was a little push and encouragement to let out their anger. No, it was not their anger, it was their rage.

I glanced at the man on the podium again and directed my attention to Howard who stood beside me against the cold, bullet proof vehicle. He looked pleased with a hint of smirk on his lips.

" Nice speech he delivered there. Did you write it? " I asked while gazing back at the speaker and the enraged mob around him, shouting, cheering.

" As a matter of fact I did. It's working very well, don't you think?" Howard replied almost excitedly.

" Sure, why not. It's working perfectly to get those people killed." I spoke with a tone of sarcasm.

He paused completely losing that smirk of his. The fire in his eyes remained but somehow it felt cold and dark.

" Hn. It's the only way. Unfortunately, a little sacrifice is necessary." He ran a hand over his forehead. " By the way, I still don't get it why you insisted on bringing the kid with us. He's only two years old." He pointed toward the inside of the metal covered vehicle at the small occupant.

" You know very well why I brought him, Howard. " I lowered my head and stared at my boots. " When will it begin?"

" Patience, Lowe, patience." He peeked at his watch. " Patience."

" It's unfortunate, isn't it?"

" What the hell is wrong with you, Lowe." His sharp glare could penetrate a layer of metal.

I ignored him and watched our men passing out munitions to the civilians. Men, women, old, young, were all armed with weapons ready to give up their lives for something they believed, something great, something that would make them heroes.

" It's time." Howard gave out the instruction. " Lowe, get ready. There will be no failures in this operation, you hear. I won't allow it."

" Hn." I didn't believe him.

" Hey, you over there!" I called out to the female guard near our carriers of weapons. " Watch out for the Kid!" Don't forget to let him out, I added silently.

" Yes sir. " She saluted.

* * *

" Go, go! Everyone get into your position!" I ordered. Howard had given me a small squadron of twenty people to command, and I was supposed to be responsible for their lives. To hell with that! There is no "we" on the battlefield; there is no need for a hero.

In the distant the march began as our man who infiltrated the crowd shouted incendiary chants. One by one the people followed with their blind rage and sang the song of their freedom. It was their last song, the song of their deaths. " Down with the Alliance! Down with Earth! Down with Oppression!"

Like the wave of a tsunami, they swallowed completely the street in front of the Alliance's arsenal. Still, it wasn't enough to conquer their hunger for blood, for revenge and lastly their hunger for freedom. The crowd moved like a fluid but as more and more people joined the march, they became a single bubble of rage, waiting for the moment to burst. In that distinct moment glass would shatter, sound would mute, and blood would spill to cover the flower fields. That was my mission, to help to create that moment of total destruction.

The Alliance soldier who was guarding the entrance of the arsenal was no longer standing erect on his post but trying to calm the crowd with feeble effort. He held onto his weapon tightly with trembling hands as fear slowly consumed his inside. He was after all still a boy, but we only saw him as an enemy. The crowd pushed onward trying to break the iron gate of the arsenal where they could join the soldier on the other side, except their goal was to destroy it rather than defend it. The young soldier panicked as they neared and pointed his gun at the people.

" Nobody comes near, you hear! N...no...nobody comes near, or I'll ....I'll fire!" His voice was broken as his body shook violently. He was only thinking of his duty and nothing else. " I'll say it one more time! Don't come near this gate!"

His voice was lost in the cries of freedom, and the crowd pushed on with their bodies as they congealed together into one giant steel ball. Someone fired into the lock system of the gate and the barrier was broken. Without waiting for his back up to arrive, the soldier aimed his gun and shot into the crowd. He wanted to be the hero of the day, yet he failed to realize that heroes never live. Never fully comprehending what he was doing, he fired continuously at the already enraged mob. Bodies began to fall but they were soon forgotten as the people directed their anger at the lone soldier. Several shots were fired at him and he too fell to the ground as his blood began to soak his gray uniform. It was an instant death. The mob crossed the barrier and paid no heed to the soldier's body as they stepped on the corpse. It was a soldier they killed, but it was a boy that died.

The back up troops came numbering in the hundreds, and one by one they lined up in a human barricade with their guns aimed at the civilians. The mob continued onward without fear ready to give up their lives in a second.

" They wouldn't do it. They wouldn't dare do it." One of the men in my squadron commented as we trailed behind the shield of the angry mob. We were cowards.

" You think?" I questioned without looking at him. I couldn't stand his confidence.

" I think? I know so. They wouldn't risk so much to fire."

" That guard fired, didn't he?"

" He was inexperienced. He fired without a direct order from his commanding officer. He was just an ignorant boy, he doesn't know any better." He explained.

" And we killed him." The conversation ended right there.

He was wrong though, they did fire. The undeclared war has finally begun as fear, anger, death, and confusion all mixed together into a whirlpool where civilians and soldiers alike were drowned. Our units were broken up and the last thing on their minds was order. Men ran like animals amidst the chaos. Screams could be heard a mile away and the so well coordinated plan traveled down the drain without a single hope to retrieve it. I hoped Howard was happy with the result. He should be, after all he was the master mind behind of it all.

I fought my way through the chaos firing at soldiers as well as some civilians who had gone wild in the head. There was no need for these crazy people to run around hurting people, was there? The mob was pushed back over the gate and out of the arsenal. The soldiers, however, didn't stop the shooting but kept on going like robots controlled by the men inside the building. Nearly half of the original mob had vanished during the riot and this was only the beginning. Even the civilians who didn't participate in the march was now caught in the bullet rain. The mob spread out in all directions, some running for their lives, others fighting for a lost cause.

"Mommy! Mommy! Mommy!" A child screamed on top of his lungs desperately wanting the world around him to hear his plead. " No! Mommy! Wake up, Mommy! Please open your eyes!!" The shrieks could tear open one's heart into pieces. It made me tremble. " Mommy! Mommy! I'll be good now, please wake up! Just wake up...wake up...please...please..." It got so loud that my ears pained, yet no one seemed to hear the cries. To them the sorrows blended in with the smoke, the bullets, and the corpses. The plead continued but the voice died down as his hope disintegrated. " Mommy...mommy...no...what's wrong...mommy...please...please..."

I could see the child's mouth open yet no sound came out of it. It was as silent as the night. His hands covered his tear stricken face. Around him, bodies fell, fires burned, footsteps quickened, and once in a while legs kicked the child in the ribs making him fall too onto the blood washed ground.

I got near enough to him to see that he was now coiled up into a ball and was sobbing in pain. "No..." When he opened his eyes, I was surprised to find them a shade of violet. The same violet I saw two years ago on the shuttle. He was Julia and Mike's son.

Another wave of footsteps came and carried him away when they were gone. I lost sight of him.

* * *

It didn't take much effort from me to get back to the van where the Kid was supposed to be kept at. Of course when I opened the cool steel door, there was no one inside. I hoped he were able to witness the bloodshed, to hear the sorrow, to never ever forget these images, and I hoped he had died.

" You, there. Come out and show yourself!" I readied myself for combat. I knew he was there when I first arrived.

A man in a torn Alliance uniform dragged himself out from the back of the other vehicle. In his hands was the Kid pressed close to his captor with a gun pointed at his temple. I saw fear in both of them.

" Drop your weapon!" The soldier demanded and held on to the Kid more tightly as he squeezed the tiny arm with great strength. The Kid let out of a whimper but it was subdued immediately.

" So what if I don't? Shoot the kid? Is that what you want to do?" I smirked with my gun still aimed at him. " Using a kid as your shield, how very brave."

" Shut up, or I'll kill him!" His body shook with fear and anger.

" Go right ahead, if you can kill him before I kill you."

" You wouldn't dare!" His hands trembled.

" Odin." The kid stared at me with his sad eyes. Then he lifted his head up and stared at his captor. " Why? " He was afraid but only I could tell.

" Shut up! All of you just shut up! I've had it enough with you! I'm going to kill you!" He pressed down on the trigger.

Bang.

The soldier leaned forward then fell onto the ground with a bullet hole in his head. The kid, unharmed, went down with him for the man was determined to hold on to his prey. They hit the dust with a loud thud. I wiped the smoke off of my gun.

" How stupid. He is better off dead anyway." I went over to the Kid. He broke lose the hold but remained beside the corpse. I bent down too to see what had caught his attention.

" Why, Odin? Why? " His Prussian blue eyes gazed down at the dead soldier.

" He's dead, kid." I simply stated the fact. " I had to kill him."

" Or I would be like that too?" He asked. " What is 'dead'?"

" Dead? It means that he can't never wake up anymore. He is no longer in this world, and his family will never see him again. He is lost to them and he'll never return. That is dead, Kid."

" Will they miss him?"

" They will, and they'll seek revenge to kill the person who took him away from them."

" Why don't I miss my family? They told me my daddy and mommy are dead, but I don't miss them. I don't want to kill anybody." His eyes traveled back up to meet my own. I could see tears forming around those blue orbs.

" I feel bad, Odin. Really bad. " Tears dropped down onto his cheeks. " But he's not my family."

" Don't feel bad about anything, Kid. He's dead, that's all. I don't want you to cry, you hear? If this happens again, I don't want to see any of those tears coming down your face, or else!"

He wiped them off at once and stood up with an already dried face.

" There you are." It was Howard. " I see that you are still alive, Lowe." He was not in the best of moods.

" A successful mission, Howard?"

" Lowe, I don't want to discuss it and that's final."

" How bad was the casualty?"

" 46 deaths and about one hundred wounded on the civilian side. We lost another 19 from our special units. " He sighed. " I was only trying..."

" There is no point to explain." I grabbed the Kid's hand and started out to check on the wounded.

" Lowe! Where are you going?"

" To do some good for once." I didn't stop.

" Instead of helping the wounded, why don't you go help at the orphanage. They've got their hands full today. You are good with kids, you should go."

" I'll go where my mind takes me."

" Well, if that's what you want. We are still staying with the scientist, you know where that is." He left too to clean up the mess he created.

" So Kid, wanna go pay a visit to the orphanage?" A pair of violet eyes stared at me from my memory.

* * *

" ...the end of the riot. In other news today, the Cinq Kingdom fell under Alliance military attack for violation of Article XI..."

The last of Heero Yuy's legacy was destroyed.

"...there were no survivors..."