By: Shadow Chaser
Phase Nineteen – Truth of Birth
Sven Anderson looked around at his 'guests'. He smiled as he saw the defiant look upon Kanoko Yamato's face and at the three people huddled in the corner. Snorting slightly he gestured for them to come out of their hiding place, but they stayed stubbornly in there. Sighing, he shrugged…there was always the stubborn ones. Walking over to the center of the room he saw his faithful servant, Griever usher both Kanoko and Ledonil Kisaka in.
"Ah, welcome, my dear colleagues. It's been so long since we've met and chatted," he greeted with a toothy smile.
"You were supposed to be dead," Kanoko spat at him and he smiled.
"Yes, yes, I was…but here I am, alive and well," he spread his hands out, "you would like to know why? Well, your dear friend Katherine did try to kill me, but I was the one to kill her."
"What?!" he laughed at her outburst and the paleness of her face.
"But the little bitch unfortunately blew up all of my research, all of what I was trying to save. But luckily, Patrick Zala and Anton Ariga LaFlaga had their notes and so I was able to build on Ulen's research again. Surprisingly, Zala kept a lot of the samples he had stolen from Ulen and only a few of the fetuses used by Hibiki had survived so I was able to rebuild and create my dear Nikolai.
"But, I didn't want to stop there. Why leave the genes unexplored for the ultimate Coordinator when you can actually improve upon it. Come here, Nikolai…show them…"
He didn't even blink as he saw his creation teleport from behind both Kanoko and Ledonil next to him, but smiled at the gasps of surprise that came from both groups. A small nod and Griever teleported again, this time to a vantage point where he was able to see everything.
"He-"
"Teleportation, ahh…more than that, I'm afraid, but you'll be able to see much later. You, my dear Doctor Kamiya, used to wonder at the exploration of the human genome. You used to see the project as something that you would hope to quell more illnesses and perhaps expand the life of humans beyond what we have now. Have you lost that fervor?"
"Yes," she said in an icy voice, "because of what freaks like you did. You created life in such an artificial way that couldn't be contained! You unleashed horrors into this world…you try to create life whereas God should be the one to do it!"
Sven shook his head, "That is disappointing my dear Doctor. We all create life on our own, don't we? We all try to breathe into the life of our own sons and daughters for us…so isn't that artificially creating life? How can you say that and have that first creation as your own son?"
"Kira is none of your concern," this time it was her husband that said and Sven turned his attention to the man who was crouched behind a control panel.
"Ah, Akuma. You had your mission to capture the experiment you call Kira, didn't you? But you betrayed your own mission and your own organization. Zala was going to breathe life into the one you called Kira and you denied him that chance," he smiled maliciously, enjoying every minute of the conversation.
"I didn't deny him. Kira was going to be used as a weapon of mass destruction. I couldn't allow something like that on my conscious…no human in their right mind would," Keiji Yamato said in a dark voice.
"Then you are saying we scientists are insane?"
"Only some of you," Keiji countered and Sven's lips pulled into a wider smile.
"Then we are all scientists. We are all trying to create life just to see our dreams and our experiments. There is nothing different between you or me!"
"There is a difference and you are a monster! He-" he watched as Kanoko stabbed a finger in Griever's direction, "is an abomination. A warped creation that shouldn't have to exist in such a miserable fashion!"
"You're right of course," Sven shook his head in mock sadness, "it is not my dear Nikolai's fault he has to exist in pain so many times. Of course to remedy that one must die. It is either him or your 'Kira'. I personally think that Nikolai is superior to the original…it is the greatest creation!"
"You're insane," Ledonil said and Sven smirked at the former head of security to Dr. Hibiki.
"Quite the contrary, Commander, I'm perfectly sane. I just have a vision of the future. Where Coordinators and Naturals can exist under one leader that can help people with his powers," he said in a voice that was like a teacher teaching children.
"Do you expect to be that leader?" Ledonil asked.
"Why of course not. I'm only the one to usher in the new era. Once that's done, I will rest on an island and watch as the world continues its course to peace. Of course, the first thing that has to happen is for both ZAFT, OMNI, and Orb's destruction."
"That's not going to happen," the man crouched next to Keiji said and Sven tilted his head for a second, trying to fit a name with the man, and suddenly remembered him as the infamous Kingfisher.
"Why not Kingfisher?" he asked, "ZAFT betrayed my work here at Mendel by nearly destroying my career. OMNI shunned my superior abilities and sent me off to work at a penal colony. Orb…they could have done something but they let me rot! YOU ALL LET ME SUFFER AND NO MORE!!"
"You're right, no more," a new voice spoke up from one of the doors and Sven stared at the entrance, surprise jolting him as he realized that the person hidden by shadows was Kira Yamato…
Kira stayed in the shadows, propped up against the door frame. His leg felt like it was on fire and the pain that radiated from his wound sent spasms each time he put weight on it. He was glad that Mendel was near-zero-g, but any movement from his leg still gave off fiery pains of protest. He held his gun steady at Sven Anderson, knowing that Griever was still in the room, but Anderson was the real target for now.
"Kira, so glad you can join us!" Anderson's booming voice made him narrow his eyes, "I trust that you're feeling well?"
He didn't answer as he knew that Anderson was baiting him, whether to give away his position to Griever, or for something else, he didn't care. All he cared about was getting rid of Anderson and getting rid of Griever. The pain in his head had become very acute and it was like stabbing millions of knives into his head all at once and repeating the process over and over again.
"Oh wait…you can't be feeling well, it's the pain isn't it? It's clawing at you…I know because it is the fate of two almost clones, meeting one another. They can't exist at the same time…that was why that 'accidental' death of Anton Ariga LaFlaga was no accident. Surely you must have heard it from Rau, didn't you?"
Kira didn't answer, but he was listening carefully.
"Ah, I sense your hesitation," Anderson said in an oily voice, "Rau never told you did he? I'm sure he told you of your circumstantial birth…after all, he could have never kept such a secret to himself. No…Rau knew for a fact that you were the only successful test trial only because the brothers that came after you would have experienced an acute pain that eventually could kill both you and your siblings.
"When he was first 'born' I guess you can say, he began to experience pangs of pain and he realized that it was because he was a clone of Ariga. He realized that only one of them could exist and thereby made sure his predecessor was eliminated. However, sadly he wasn't able to contain the gene that made him have those deadly headaches and eventually succumbed to his own madness. However, I have perfected that gene so that when you die, my dear Nikolai would not suffer the same fate as Rau Le Creuset. After all, how could something so perfect be the one to die?
"But what to do about Princess Cagalli? She too is sibling… She too could suffer the same fate. The objective then is to eliminate the one that has caused all of this too. She was the one, if that bitch Katherine had not given birth to her, wouldn't have gotten into this whole mess!
"Weapons…weapons are what we need. Not some stupid birthing process in comparison. There are no weapons that exist right now. The improvement of clones is what needs to be done!"
Kira stared as he realized that Anderson had started to babble, and began to pace around. The man was mad…making speeches one minute, the next pacing like a mad scientist with plans for world domination. He narrowed his eyes… "You forgot one thing, Anderson."
"What?!" the man snapped, angry at being interrupted in his musings. Kira noticed that his father and Kingfisher were edging out, ready to shoot both Griever and Anderson while his mother and Ledonil were edging towards cover behind a group of control panels.
"Dr. Ulen Hibiki may have created me, but I'll always be human. I've come to accept that," he gave a quick look towards his mother and father before staring back at Anderson and took a step forward from the shadows. His eyes crystallized into seed-mode and he raised his gun up, "my sister is not the cause of all this, but she helped create a weapon. Me."
"….Your…eyes…" this time Anderson looked completely shocked and Kira fired.
Kanoko dove behind a control panel as Kira fired his handgun, but she heard the other barrage of fire coming from her husband and Kingfisher. She didn't care as she covered her head with her arms and closed her eyes tightly. She didn't want to see anymore blood…no more violence…
Soon the firing stopped and she unwrapped her arms and looked up. Her son hadn't been the only one firing… She still couldn't believe the words Kira had said…they were haunting and chilled her to the bones. It was as if all of the pressures he had faced turned into something else and he had wielded it with dangerous fury. She wondered what had changed in Kira to make him like this…
"Kira?" she whispered his name as he saw him standing still as a statue, staring at the fallen form of Anderson. His gun was lowered, but his eyes were still cold, still in that crystallized state that scared her so much…what had Dr. Hibiki create? No…he didn't create anything, Kira wasn't created; he was her son…
"I…I…" he stared at the gun in his hand and Kanoko watched as his eyes returned to their normal soulful state…but tears had started to bunch in the corners and she gasped as he suddenly collapsed to the ground.
She started to rush over, but someone she had never expected to see beat her to it. Athrun was instantly by Kira's side, prying the gun from his hand and kneeling next to him, a hand on his shoulder to comfort him.
"It's all right, Kira…its over. You don't have to do this anymore," she heard his whisper as Kira started to cry.
It was then that she noticed that Griever was no longer standing, but had collapsed in a heap where he was…unmoving. She wondered if he was dead, but ignored it as she didn't want to see the face that looked almost exactly like Kira's…dead…
She got up slowly and walked over to where Athrun and Kira were before kneeling down next to her son. Catching Athrun's eye he nodded then backed off slightly as she wrapped her arms around Kira and let him cry onto her shoulder. "There, there…" she soothed him gently, rubbing circles in his back as tears poured from his eyes.
She looked up and saw her husband walking over to help a young girl up. She looked lost and confused, but a broken gold charm bracelet was in her hand and blood was seeping down her arm where someone had shot her. He caught her gaze and nodded before she turned to see Ledonil checking to make sure Sven Anderson was truly dead while Kingfisher was checking to make sure Nikolai Mercus was dead…
Was it over? Kanoko hoped so as she held her son in her arms.
Outside the rest of the Talon forces surrendered to the LF after the Brimstone had been heavily damaged. Both Yzak and Dearka sat back in their cockpits of their Gundams, exhausted after finding a new wave of forces that were hidden. They had been fighting furiously to contain them and even with Cagalli's help barely kept them off.
On board the Babylon, to which Lacus had taken command, she sat in the captain's chair, her face showing relief at the completion of the battle. They had received a lot of damage, but the worst was of the Archangel and the Kusanagi who had taken most of the damage.
"Eternal to Babylon, Miss Lacus do you read?" the worried voice of Andrew Bartfield came over and Lacus gave the exhausted looking man a small smile.
"I read you Captain," she said, trying not to let her tiredness show.
"Good news…both Anderson and Griever have been eliminated," Bartfield said, giving her a wan smile.
"And Kira?" she had seen Kira disappear into Mendel and immediately worry had clung to her.
"He's fine. Wounded, but he'll be fine," Bartfield said and Lacus nodded in relief.
"Thank you Captain…"
Meanwhile, aboard the Archangel, Murrue Ramius slumped into her seat as she rubbed a hand massaging her temples. She had sent the crew for damage assessment and it was mostly quiet save for the occasional calls of what damages each section had sustained. The battle had been won…the Talon had been defeated. Mu, we're fine, she thought to his spirit, you can sleep safely now…
Hours later there was only two people left in the colony area. All others had retreated to a relatively safe distance. Both Kanoko Yamato and Ledonil Kisaka, the only survivors of the horrors of Mendel stood in a shuttle, watching as the remnants of Mendel floated in space. They had spent hours meticulously combing the whole colony and planting explosives and destroying any files that were relevant to the whole project. All the tanks that had contained fetuses were destroyed and Kanoko had shed no tear for the dead babies…they were not human, not to be used anymore…death was a better alternative for them.
"Ready?" Ledonil asked her in a gentle voice.
"I don't know…I'll never be ready, but do it anyways," she replied and Kisaka pressed the simultaneous detonation switch. All at once, the explosives wired to various stuff in the colony went off and Mendel exploded into a giant fireball before the vacuum of space dissipated it quickly – leaving only dust and ashes…
"The door's been closed on this era…it is time for a new one," Kisaka said in a solemn voice and Kanoko nodded.
"Truth of words," she whispered.