By: Shadow Chaser
Previously on Gundam SEED: Entropy Rising…"Mr. and Mrs. Yamato, you're Naturals, am I correct?"
"Well, be lucky that you made your son a Coordinator. With his wounds, as a Natural he couldn't have survived."
"Doctor, can you tell how is Princess Cagalli?"
"I'm sorry young man, but the Princess' condition is based on need-to-know information. When her camp has sent out a press release, then you will know. Until then, I apologize…"
"Februarius 3! They're being attacked by a rogue group of mobile suits! ZAFT forces require our aide!"
"First contact Headquarters. Ask them if the Archangel is supposed to be launching to Februarius 3 as scheduled. If not, contact Quinn Misali and tell him that the Kusanagi needs to go help them suppress the forces. That should give the Kingfisher something to do."
"Am I dead?"
"Shouldn't you be familiar with this place, Kira Yamato?" Rau asked.
"Why should I?" his other corporeal self shouted back.
"Why Kira, this is your birthplace…"
She had wanted to tell Kira as soon as he turned the legal age for an adult, but now…he had so much to deal with, especially in light of what happened yesterday… Telling him about his own past just wasn't the right thing to do at the moment… It can wait…
In the early morning hours during the change in guards a man crept in quietly, unnoticed by anyone or the security cameras. He wore the uniform of a hospital worker, a perfect cover for his own assignment. He had gotten the message from his superiors to finish the job and finish the job he would.
His inside contact had told him where remaining councilors of Orb's ruling council were located in the hospital and ultimately where Cagalli Yula Attha was being sequestered.
Phase Four – Scouting
"It's most definitely the PLANT trying to attack us! Why would they go after the Senate in Orb? They're trying to bomb Orb! Orb should join us in renewing the war! We cannot let something like this go unheeded!"
"No! It is the Earth OMNI forces who are attacking PLANT and ZAFT! They killed our representatives!"
"Did you even see the footage and analysis?! Senator Ingriss was FROM EARTH! She was the one in front of that bomb! She-"
"Ingriss was formerly working for the East African government! They are loyal to ZAFT and so she was ZAFT's representative!"
"It was Amalfi who bombed the place! He left just moments before the bombs went off!"
"Amalfi is innocent!"
"Many Earth senators DIED in that explosion, are you telling me that it is still the Earth's fault?!"
"Yes! Many of the PLANT's representatives are dead! Only one survived!"
"Senator Amalfi is a PLANT representative isn't he? So two!"
Dearka shut the television off in disgust as he sat in the mess hall aboard the Archangel. Officially their leave was over and now the Archangel was on standby, their original mission to Februarius 3 cancelled by Acting-Leader Ledonil Kisaka. The Kusanagi was to be sent to Februarius 3 to help ZAFT forces in containing the rebels. All the media outlets including the ones that were part of PLANT were reporting the same thing – blaming each other and everyone in between for what had happened in the Senate Hall.
He was sickened to hear that Senator Amalfi was the main culprit in the eyes of the Earth Alliance and felt angry at those ignorant Earth bastards that dare throw mud at Amalfi's name. Nicol's father shouldn't have be subjected to such a disgusting inquiry, but Miri had pointed out before she went to take her shift minutes ago, that Amalfi's leaving minutes before the bombs went off was a bit suspicious.
But that was really unreasonable. He knew Nicol's father, and based on his former teammate's personality, he knew where Nicol got half of his temperament. The Amalfi's were generally pacifists but willing to fight for whatever they believed in. There was no reason for Senator Amalfi to bomb the whole place up…no justifiable cause.
Throwing the remote onto one of the tables, he stalked out and wandered down the corridors. He wanted to go check on Athrun, seeing that his friend was in such a distraught state, but military regulations and the fact that they were all on standby prevented him from doing so. Captain Ramius was a harsh captain, but she commanded her troops well and had their loyalty. She had changed, he could give her that much, and knew that it was from her love's death during the war two years ago.
He was still reeling from the events two years ago…surrendering to OMNI, then finding out that the Archangel went rogue…joining up in their crusade to stop both sides from wiping each other out…finally finding something he wanted to protect…the cease-fire and subsequent reassignment to Orb's Liberation Forces… It happened so fast that he didn't even get a chance to really do anything. He had visited his family after the cease-fire was called and when the call went up for recruitment for the LF, he had joined. He didn't expect Miri to join the LF considering she was still distraught over her boyfriend's death and when she had showed up the same day to sign up, he was very surprised.
He had also tried to convince Yzak to sign up, but his friend deterred, saying that he had a lot to think about and subsequently disappeared. He had tried asking Yzak's parents where their son went off to, but even they didn't know or were either tight-lipped about it. Every time the Archangel was sent out on a mission Dearka always conducted his side mission to find out where his friend went off to, but each time was a failure and he always come back empty handed.
"Ah! Watch your head kid!" Kojiro Murdoch's voice made him look up just in time to duck from one of the workers carrying a heavy long box and was tipping over from its uneven weight.
He wasn't surprised to find that his wanderings took him to the hanger bay as it always had, and nodded a thanks to the head of maintenance. He stopped in front of his Buster Gundam and stared up at its face. It was a hardy machine…almost destroyed so many times, yet repaired in such great quality by Murdoch's efforts.
"What's with the down-in-the-dumps look kid?" Murdoch suddenly spoke by his side, but Dearka wasn't startled. He knew the Chief Petty Officer was just concerned about all the pilots aboard the Archangel and about those who were former pilots like Athrun and Kira.
"The news," Dearka replied, "it's trashy."
"Kid," Murdoch laughed lightly, "the news is always trashy. Journalists always go through the materials they have and the higher-ups beyond them choose what news and analysts to put forth. Don't blame the journalists themselves, blame those corporate executives."
"But the journalists should have some objection at least," Dearka groused.
"When you're paid that much money, you don't complain. You just do your job," the mechanic clapped his shoulder, "come on. Captain's going to be calling a meeting in a few minutes. Let's go crash it early."
Dearka sighed then nodded before he let Murdoch steer him away from staring at his Gundam and towards the briefing room.
Lacus Clyne bit her lip as she watched Eileen Canaver, the newest chairwoman of the Supreme Council, fend off allegations that Aaron Amalfi was part of the scheme to bomb the Senate Hall in the neutral nation of Orb and to kill at least a majority of the Earth senators, especially those that opposed his plans. She knew Amalfi, and in fact when she had been named chief delegate of PLANT to the Senate, she had appointed Amalfi herself to be her voice when she wasn't able to make it to the Senate meetings.
Amalfi had a kind soul, she could see that, even though he had originally conceived and installed the N-Jammers in both Freedom and Justice Gundam himself. He wasn't a bad person, just a grieving person for his son lost in the war. She had wanted to give him a new start, away from war, in which he could propose and see the peace that lies beyond the war that had clouded a lot of ZAFT and the Supreme Council members' minds.
Eileen Canaver had seen that too and now they both worked together to keep the peace and stop war from escalating once again. It wasn't an easy task and even now, it was getting harder. This new wave of terror and fear with the Senate Hall bombings scared a lot of people and made people regress back to their old habits of pointing fingers at each other.
Lacus had wanted to address the media, but Eileen said that it wasn't wise at the moment because then she would be targeted by the press and perhaps analyzed to include her with the current allegations thrown at Amalfi. But she knew that eventually she would be thrown into the turmoil – her actions analyzed and blamed. Eileen just wanted to protect her for a little longer…just a little more.
But she didn't want to be protected anymore. She wanted to do things her own way, even though she knew it would be a hard road. She was due to leave for Orb in less than two hours, her political reason would be to help calm tensions in the wake of the attacks, but in reality, she wanted to see Kira. Eileen knew of her relationship with Kira Yamato and had told her to leave as soon as she could. Athrun had even contacted her and she had promised him that she would try to be in Orb as soon as possible.
She loved Kira, but she knew that she could never be with him…but she would be his 'sheath' so to speak, him the unguarded blade that swung wildly even in times of peace, and she would be there for him. He needed her and she needed him – soul mates was the term for it, but only then, it was just soul mates, not lovers, but just two kindred spirits relying on each other.
"…I will take no further questions," Eileen's voice suddenly cut through her thoughts and she looked up to see her friend and ally, though the woman was at least twice her age, walk from the press podium towards her, ignoring flashes of cameras and microphones trying to be shoved into her face.
"Ravenous wolves," she heard the leader of the Supreme Council mutter and she smiled faintly as she followed by her side.
"What will happen now?"
"Amalfi's going to have to make his own public statement. I just don't understand why he left to take a message. Fortunately, when you get to Orb, contact him and have him make a statement. He's been reclusive since the bombings and none of my messages are getting through to him. I think he knows that he's the main culprit…"
"He knows what's at stake, Eileen," Lacus replied as they both got into an unmarked black car that was to drive them to the spaceport. "I chose him after all."
"I know," Eileen suddenly rubbed her forehead and tossed back a part of her long blonde hair. "No one told me this job was stressful… Too bad we can't send you to Februarius 3…"
"Hmm," Lacus tilted her head.
"Are you sure the new captain of the Kusanagi is all right? I mean, he seems a bit…pirate-like," Eileen looked a bit doubtful.
"Princess Cagalli chose him. After all, they are a part of Orb. I have no say whatsoever."
"But what about the Eternal?"
"They're now part of Orb so Captain Bartfield and the Eternal are no longer under my command, Eileen," Lacus smiled at her friend, "don't worry about it. Princess Cagalli told me that Quinn Misali is a good captain for the Kusanagi, even though he's named the Kingfisher."
Eileen nodded, still a bit unsure, but as the car pulled up next to the shuttle that was take Lacus to Earth and to Orb, she touched her shoulder. "Be careful down there, Lacus. There may be Blue Cosmos activity at work in Orb that we don't know about."
"I will…" Lacus smiled in reply before stepping out of the car and walking up the stairs to the shuttle.
Kira awoke to distant sounds of a bustling hospital and as he opened his eyes and stared at the ceiling he blinked. He remembered his previous dream…fuzzy images about labs and scientists, Colony Mendel, and then him in the arms of a woman with purple hair running for her life…his sister next to him in her other arm… But then everything else was fuzzy and he couldn't remember anything beyond that point.
He turned his head to his left and saw an opened window in which bright sunlight was streaming in, birds chirping outside. He turned his head the other way and found Athrun quietly passed out in a chair next to him, his arms making a makeshift pillow on the extendable table beside his bed. Tori was on his shoulder, in sleeping mode. Letting a brief smile touch his lips, Kira tried to prop himself up slowly as he felt stiff, but there was no pain.
He half succeeded as he managed to shift himself higher up on his bed, but that was about it. Frowning, he tried to lift himself up, but suddenly his left arm started to shake from the sudden efforts he was putting into his muscles and he fell back onto the bed with a thump.
That thump startled Athrun and woke him up and he blinked around widly before he focused on Kira. With Athrun shifting, Tori also snapped out of its sleep mode with a chirp. "What are you doing?"
Kira gave a smirk at Athrun, noting that his best friend's hair was thoroughly mused and that Tori was picking at the spiky ends. "What does it look like, trying to get up." He finally sat up and breathed a sigh of relief.
"How do you feel, Kira?" Athrun waved Tori away who flew away from his shoulder and instead perched itself on one of the monitors hooked up to Kira.
"Tori!"
Kira hunched forward, still not used to his muscles being all weak and watery on him. "I feel fine…stiff…how long was I out?" He raked his hair back, but his bangs still sprung forward. Giving a sideways look at Athrun he saw that his best friend had a concerned and worried look on his face.
"About a day and half. I'm glad you're okay," Athrun smiled sadly, "you had me worried really badly."
Kira narrowed his eyes in concentration as he tried to remember what had happened but all he got was blurred images of an explosion in the Senate Hall…something about finding Cagalli…helping Taylor…and then blackness. "I…don't remember…"
"It's nothing," Athrun placed a hand on his shoulder and gave it a squeeze, "the good thing now is that you're safe."
"Is Cagalli okay?" Kira remembered that finding Cagalli after the explosion was his utmost priority. He noticed that Athrun had stiffened when he mentioned her name. "What…"
"They won't let me near Cagalli and I haven't heard anything since she's been transferred to the hospital," Athrun curled his left hand into a fist, "even Kisaka wouldn't tell me what's going on. I would have gone looking for her, but there are guards everywhere liable to shoot anyone."
"Oh," Kira stared at Athrun for a second before he closed his eyes and concentrated. He had heard that twins had a link to each other, even if they were fraternal like he and Cagalli were. Perhaps, even if he was born in an artificial womb while his sister in their mother's womb, they would still have the link. He searched his own mind, consciousness, and soul…and suddenly found a spark that he innately knew was his link with his twin.
Touching it with his mind, he felt it respond and opened his eyes to see Athrun staring at him worriedly, wondering if he had suddenly passed out. "It's all right…Cagalli's fine…"
"How do you-"
"It's a twin thing," Kira laughed lightly before a sudden burst of pain on his left side made him stop and his eyes bug slightly. He pulled up his shirt to see that the left side of his abdomen had a curved line of black stitching string in it. So that was what happened to his wound and why it hurt when he laughed…
"You okay?" Athrun asked and Kira lowered his shirt.
"Yeah. Just can't laugh too much…that's all," he smiled faintly.
Just then a knock came from his door and it opened slightly to reveal Lacus' face before a pink Haro bounded in and nearly smacked both him and Athrun in the face before Kira held up one of his hands to catch the pink robot.
"Myta! Myta! Haro!" the Haro whom Lacus called Pink-chan or Pinkie, said into his hand before he placed it at the foot of his bed where it promptly began to roll around, Tori flying from its perch to chase it. Pinkie, noticing that another fellow robotic companion was to chase it promptly rolled to the ground and began to roll around, leading Tori on a chase.
"Kira, Athrun," Lacus greeted as she entered and closed the door behind her.
"Lacus," Kira was surprised that she was here. He had heard that she was still at PLANT.
"I'll tell the doctor you're awake now," Athrun got up, sensing that the two wanted to be alone and Kira nodded before he opened the door and left, closing it behind him quietly.
Lacus took the seat Athrun vacated and gently touched his face with her fingers. "I got here as fast as I could, Kira. I'm so sorry for what's happened."
Kira blinked, "Why are you apologizing…if you were there at the Senate meeting…you could have been killed…"
Lacus shook her head firmly, "I should have been there. Then nothing like this would have happened."
"But Lacus…"
"Shhh…its okay Kira," she grasped his hand with hers and their fingers laced together. Kira felt at peace whenever she was near him and he knew that she would always be there to support him. He leaned against her shoulder and felt her arms engulf him.
"Lacus," he asked in a hushed voice.
"Hmm?" she was humming a song.
"Why did this have to happen? We all fought so hard for peace…why now?"
Lacus stopped her humming and he looked up to see a sad expression on her face. Granted they were the same age, but to him, she looked a lot older and wiser – more mature like Athrun. He had been taken aback by her apparent naivety when he had first met her, but appearances were always deceiving and she had been very mature since the first day – it was just the fact that she chose not to show her maturity.
"Sometimes there are those who felt they've been cheated of something they think they deserve. That's why they always want others to be hurt so their goal can be achieved. We're still in the age of learning how to trust one another…"
Kira nodded before closing his eyes. "Lacus…can you sing for me?" He could feel her smile looking down on him and she started to sing softly. Within moments, Kira was fast asleep, this time, dreaming of peaceful dreams.
Athrun kept fingering the badge that he wore on the outside pocket of his jacket. One of Lacus' aides had given it to him and said that he had been cleared by her to visit Cagalli who was located a few floors above Kira's room in an isolated place. He was surprised that Lacus knew, but he suspected she figured Cagalli would be kept in tight isolation and since only a few select people knew of their relationship, he wouldn't be allowed to visit her. Though he was grateful that now he was able to visit her, he wondered how did Kisaka react to this…or maybe he didn't even know…
As the elevator stopped and opened, Athrun stepped out and immediately the crescendo of safeties taken off of sub-machine guns, and pistols was heard. He blinked at so many men in black suits pointing guns at him.
"Who are you? State your purpose here," a man came forward, his hold of the gun on him not wavering.
"Athrun Zala. Lacus Clyne told me that I was cleared to see Princess Cagalli," Athrun frowned as he handed the man his badge slowly, as not to startle any of the other men in black from being trigger-happy. First the police, now this… There were times in which he wished he was back with ZAFT – at least the security process was a lot less hostile than here.
"He's cleared," the man called out to the others before handing him his badge back and as one they all lowered their pieces, safeties clicking back on in a messy staccato. The man led him along, not bothering to apologize (not that Athrun expected people in their line of work to do so), and knocked once. "Princess, a visitor by the name of Athrun Zala here to see you."
Athrun heard the distant outburst before a slight yelp and then Cagalli's muffled voice, "Let him in!"
The man in black opened the door and Athrun stepped in. He smiled slightly as he saw Cagalli rubbing her elbow looking a bit mournful before she gave her side table an offending glare. "It's not the table's fault," he helped, making her turn her gaze on him and he saw her face light up with delight.
"Athrun!" she made a move to get out of the bed, but Athrun rushed forward and stopped her from doing so by giving her a tight hug.
"Don't," he whispered as he released her before pulling up a chair and sitting next to her bed. "Cagalli, you shouldn't move."
"But…" Cagalli protested before a frown appeared on her face, "what took you so long?!" She hit him none-to-gently on his arm.
Athrun winced in pain; she definitely could hit hard, "Ow. Before you keep pummeling me, Kisaka didn't tell me where you were initially. Only Lacus who just came a few minutes ago handed me a badge and told me that I was cleared to see you."
"Idiot," Cagalli hit him the arm again, but this time it was gentler. She smiled at him and Athrun blinked in surprise as he saw tears in her eyes. He lifted up a finger and wiped away her tears.
"Why are you crying?" he asked gently.
"I'm so happy, that's all…" she sniffed then hiccupped slightly as she tried to get her tears under control.
"How are you feeling?" he asked after a moment of silence passed between the two of them.
"Better. The doctors said that it wasn't as bad as it looked. The splinter missed most of my organs and they said that I needed less stitches than Kira. How is he doing?" Cagalli replied.
"Kira's fine. He's been having nightmares, of what, I don't know, but Lacus is with him at the moment so he should be resting fine," Athrun didn't mention to Cagalli that he was really worried when he had overheard a conversation between Kira's parents – something about Cagalli's father and a lab of sorts that somehow involved Kira.
"That's good…" she pursed her lips briefly before she looked outside of her window. "The doctors said I should be able to leave within a couple of days…they want me here for further observation just in case I get an infection or something like that."
Athrun didn't say anything, as he knew that Cagalli wanted to say more, but didn't press her. She looked so sad… He wished that he had brought her a present of sorts, but it the impulse of finally being able to see her and to know that she was all right that made him take the pass and go straight up to her room. She finally gave a soft sigh and turned to stare at him.
"Why Athrun? What happened to all our efforts?! Orb was supposed to be a neutral nation! What did we do to deserve all of this?! Why, Athrun? Why?!" she asked, her voice fierce, her eyes blazing at anger, but not directed at him. Her hands curled up into fists, nails digging half crescent moons into her palms as she squeezed her eyes shut.
Athrun caught her fists with his before she could slam them onto her bed and held them tightly. "Cagalli, listen, it isn't your fault-"
"Yes it is! I should have known something like this was going to happen!"
"No, you couldn't! You're not a predictor of the future!"
"Then I should have been prepared!"
"Cagalli!" Athrun let go of her hands and grabbed her shoulders, forcing her to look at him, "Cagalli, look-Look at me!" He stared deep into her hazel-brown eyes, forcing her to look at him. "Listen, you couldn't have known. None of us could have. All right? You're alive while others are dead. Don't blame yourself for it, okay?"
"But-"
Athrun shook his head, "You're alive. After you get out of the hospital, its for the people that are still living to pick up the pieces and help those who are dead to find out who did this to them, okay?"
Cagalli stared at him for a minute before she suddenly burst into tears and buried herself in his arms. Athrun was startled for a second, but knew that she was crying out all of her pent up emotions for the last two years since the war's end. "Shh…its okay…" he stroked her hair and back gently as she continued to cry.
To his employers, his codename was Griever, a skilled jack-of-all-trades. He crawled quietly away from the vent he was looking from, retracing his steps back to the janitor's room on the heavily guarded seventh floor of the main hospital on the island. So the Princess had someone special to her, and he happened to be the son of the late Patrick Zala. Getting past him would be hard as he could immediately assess from what he saw and heard, Athrun Zala would protect Cagalli Attha with his life – he knew that.
Luckily, there had to be some time where Zala would be visiting his friend Kira Yamato down on the fifth floor. Griever wasn't able to decipher the level of the relationship between Zala and the Yamato boy, but it was no matter. As soon as Zala was gone, he would make the first of his many moves. Princess Cagalli was priority on his employer's lists, but the security guarding her made it almost impossible to penetrate from the outside, even if one was dressed in the garb of hospital workers.
Her guards personally delivered the meals, taken from the workers outside of her room to prevent any assassins. He knew that he only had a couple of days before she was discharged and after that, it would be almost impossible to track her movements.
He felt his left foot drop slightly and knew that he was out of the vent. Hanging by his fingertips, he dropped down to the floor, barely giving a look at the dead janitor that rested by a rack of cleaning supplies. Carefully putting the grate back up, Griever raked a hand through his brown hair and smoothed out the wrinkles in his janitor's uniform.
The room in which the Princess had been put into was a well-suited one and a wise choice by her guardians. There were no tall buildings from where she could see, and the tallest was only two stories. Everything looked out to the harbor…no sniping position for him. However, sniping the other council members of Orb would be no problem as a few of them had rooms ill chosen.
So the question was, how to get in… The night shift was just about the same as the day shift, but there was one advantage – little to no power was used during the night and at least majority of the hospital was asleep except for the security guards. Night was one of the best times to strike, but it would also be risky.
He would have to come back later and scout out the area at night before made his move. With the Princess gone, it would start the domino effect for his employers. No, Blue Cosmos could rot in their little world for all he cared, it was the world of Coordinators that ruled now…