Chapter 4: The Sundering
"So … what are you all doing up?" Kira asked.
"You know I can't sleep when it's raining." Tolle said snappily.
"Neither of us are used to sleeping on hard cold rock." Sai said, motioning to Flay and himself.
Kuzzey shrugged and Simon just continued to smile. Kira glanced at all of them. "Ah, okay then."
Simon broke the awkward silence. "You know, I always suspected, but I could never prove anything, you were always so clumsy that I began to doubt myself. I see that was a mistake. Well, ta ta!" he walked off, grinning victoriously back into the Main Hall.
Sai sighed. "I'll go make sure he doesn't do anything stupid." As he turned, Flay turned with him, apparently unwilling to face Kira on her own anymore. "Thanks Sai." Kira said.
"I'll go with him." Kuzzey volunteered and walked off as well, leaving only Tolle to stare at Kira and Milly. "Look, Tolle, I –" Kira started.
"Don't start that Kira, I thought being your friend meant something. I thought our friendship meant we could trust each other, no matter what. I'm disgusted that you would try and lump me in with all of those people who can't accept others for who they are or what they are."
By this point Kira couldn't look his friend in the eye. "I'm sorry Tolle, but-"
Tolle cut him off again. "But what? Man, I don't care what you are, you're my friend and it wouldn't have made a damn difference if you were a Natural."
"Try living on my side of things! Never sure if people will accept you or shun you, or worse, attack you. Even living in a neutral colony doesn't solve everything; people share the same views everywhere." Kira countered, letting off some steam.
Tolle didn't respond, he just walked off. Kira held his head in his palm in defeat. "Hey, cheer up. Tolle will cool off by the time morning rolls around, so stop beating yourself up over it." Miriallia said sympathetically, making Kira look at her. "I can understand where you're coming from as well, being the minority, even in neutral colony, can be scary."
"You always were the understanding and patient one of the group."
Miriallia looked at him proudly. "Comes with the territory. Now we should go back inside, I'm not sure what time it is, but it's probably way too early to be having conversations." Kira smiled and followed her back to their blankets.
As they were walking, Kira could hear two people whispering, and it sounded like Flay and Sai. "What's gotten into you Flay?" Sai asked.
"I don't know, I mean I know Kira is a nice guy, but all my life I've heard nothing good about Coordinators thanks to my father. Now I'm confused." Flay replied.
"Kira wouldn't do anything to hurt anyone on purpose unless they deserved it, being a nice guy is just who he is."
"But who knows how many other Coordinators are living on Heliopolis, fitting in like Naturals?"
Kira heard a deep sigh, probably from Sai. "Why should that bother anyone? We're all human."
He missed the reply, having walked too far away, now at his 'bed'. Rubbing his eyes tiredly, he felt his fingers twitch violently again. Kira stared at them and blinked once. As his eyes opened his hands were holding a high-powered machine gun, and the sounds of other guns being fired could be heard.
Looking up, he saw Athrun and Nichol ahead of him, laying down covering fire for Rusty and Olor as the two of them retreated. "Maintain Covering Fire!" Athrun ordered, and Kira instinctively moved forward and opened fire, squeezing the trigger for multiple 3-round bursts.
Athrun pulled a stick out of his backpack, and at the end of the stick was a grenade. He flipped the safety off and flicked another switch, letting the trigger pop out. "Fire in the Hole!" he warned and then fired the RPG.
Olor and Rusty managed to make it behind the makeshift cover as the rest of them ducked to shield themselves from the exploding grenade. "Back to the Hall, go go go!" Rusty and Olor shot to their feet and started to run, their rifles at the ready. Nichol followed and then Athrun, with Kira being last.
Feral noises could be heard from behind them and Kira turned just in time to see a shape emerge from the rubble and start its charge. "Incoming!" he warned, and then opened fire, the bullets hitting the shape as it continued to approach even faster.
It swiped at Kira and he dodged, sliding backwards on his back and continuing the fire. The thing finally went down just as Kira's clip went dry. A hand extended itself over Kira, and he gratefully took it, standing up again. "Good job." Athrun said.
Kira looked at Athrun's eyes, and then focused on his reflective safety glasses. He stared at his reflection. "Kira? What's wrong? Kira?"
Gradually the voice shifted into a more feminine tone and Kira became aware of being gently shaken. "Kira? Wake up. Come on Kira, its breakfast time." Miriallia said, struggling to wake her friend.
It felt like his eyelids creaked open, and he slowly sat up. "I'm awake, I'm awake." He said tiredly. Standing up to stretch, he felt his bones and joints pop from sleeping awkwardly. "That had to be the worst night's sleep I've ever had." He groaned.
"A little food and coffee will cure that." Tolle said, walking up to the two of them. Kira instantly turned. "Tolle." He said with a hint of surprise. "Look man, I'm sorry about last night and-"
Tolle waved it off. "Don't worry about it too much. I can understand just how hard it was for you, and I could tell just how bad you felt about it as well. Besides, right now we have things to concentrate on that are more important. Manson said it's still raining out there, just as heavy if not worse than before."
"So what's for breakfast?" Miriallia sighed, Kira would never change.
The eight male students from the PLANTs were gathered around Rau, while Lacus was off eating. "We're in a precarious position here. If it comes down to the worst case scenario, we are only nine to either defend or attack more than 150 people. We have enough armaments to supply almost two full squads. Suggestions?"
"Sir, I suggest we continue to recon this temple and be prepared for the worst." Rusty said.
"No shit genius." Yzak muttered under his breath. "Did you have a suggestion Yzak?" Rau asked calmly. Yzak lowered his head. "No sir, I don't."
Athrun volunteered. "We might not be as alone as we think. Perhaps if we managed to recruit some help from the others …"
"Anyone in particular you have in mind Athrun? I think it would be best if you brought one aboard first, to show them how." Rau prodded.
"I already have a recruit in mind sir."
Kira was sitting, his back leaning against a wall, staring at where the two cuts on his fingers were. Miriallia came over and sat down, mimicking his position. "What are you up to?" she asked.
"Pondering. I still can't remember where I got those cuts from, it's a little creepy." He replied. She knocked him lightly in the shoulder. "Don't force it; it'll come back sooner or later."
"Kira, we need to talk." Athrun said, having approached silently. Milly jumped a little in surprise whereas Kira just looked up calmly. "About what?" Athrun looked at Miriallia, and then back at Kira. "Alone if possible."
Mir got up to leave but Kira held her down. "Whatever you have to say to me, she can hear it as well, I know I can trust her." Miriallia looked at her friend in shock, and Athrun continued.
"Very well then. Kira, I'm offering you the chance to defend your friends it comes to that." He said bluntly.
"Defend us from what? A lot of us are only teenagers, it's not like we're going to start a revolt or anything." Milly asked.
"Look, it probably won't ever come to that, but the Commander and I agree that it's best to be prepared."
"Commander?" Kira asked.
"What the hell is this Le Creuset!" someone yelled from across the room. Students gathered around the commotion, anxious to see what would happen. Kira shouldered his way through the growing crowd with Miriallia right behind him and stopped when he saw the eight boys standing in front of Rau.
"Well?" Cyril demanded again, motioning to the open crates, full of weapons. Kira stared at them; they looked all-too similar to the one he wielded in his dream. "Allow me to explain." Rau said calmly. "These eight fine young men are not only students; they are also graduates from the ZAFT military academy."
"The Earth Alliance Government would have never allowed you or them to step foot on Earth soil had they known this Le Creuset. You are in a direct violation of the treaty set between the Earth and the PLANTs." Cyril countered.
"Perhaps so, but the fact remains that we are here, and until this storm abates we will continue to be here, along with you."
'So this is what Athrun meant.' Kira thought. Carl stepped forward. "Perhaps if we started on our ways, and resume the tour as was planned for today. It would at least occupy our minds for a while." He suggested.
"I don't believe splitting everyone up is a good idea Doctor Ryan." Rau said. Cyril was furious. "And why not?"
"This temple has not been properly scouted, nor do we know who or what inhabited it. I believe it is too dangerous."
"Well you and your students are free to stay behind, but anyone else who wants to see more of the temple is free to come along." Cyril offered.
Kira decided to stay behind, while Miriallia, Tolle and Kuzzey went with the group. Flay, Sai and Simon also stayed behind, but Kira kept his distance, still wary of Simon. The nine other Coordinators students remained behind, which offered Kira some solace. He sat back against the same wall he was leaning on earlier, staring at his fingers again, trying to remember.
Soft spoken voices reached his enhanced hearing, and he could tell that they were from Simon, Flay and Sai. "I can honestly say that I've learned one thing on this trip at least." Simon started.
"Come off it Simon, I really don't want to hear this again." Sai protested. Flay added her voice to the mix. "It was boring the first time you told us, and this time won't make it any better."
"Yeah, but …" Simon started to say something else but at this point, Kira just ignored him and stood up. He walked over to Athrun and the rest of them. "Need any help?"
"So we've already shown you the Main Hall, which you had the pleasure of sleeping in last night, and the prison chambers and the burial chambers. I think perhaps we should pay a visit to what their Library." Carl suggested.
"A library? How can their still be books after all this time?" Tolle asked. Carl smiled. "The techniques used to preserve paper are on par with ours, assuming we still used paper. And if you remember, we did find that volume earlier this month."
On the way to the Library, the students and Carl passed through a large room filled with human bones and in the center of the room was a pit of acid, with the only way to cross it being over a single stone bridge in the center. There had to be thousands of bodies thrown everywhere, piled in corners and around the pool itself.
"Well this wasn't in the report." Carl said, flipping through the pages on his clipboard. He started to lead the students over the bridge, and as they walked, one of the skeletons fell into the pool of acid.
The smell of rapidly burning bone was almost too much for Miriallia. "Oh god, I think I'm going to be sick."
She managed to bear the stench and Doctor Ryan opened the doors to the Library, revealing not a normal book-filled library like one might expect, especially with the recovered volume currently sitting in the Main Hall, but instead the walls were covered with human flesh, and on that flesh were the markings of their language.
Mir didn't even have a chance to voice her queasiness; she barely managed to turn away as she vomited and she wasn't the only one. Several more students followed her motions, and even Tolle could barely keep the bile down. Some of the students ran back out of the Library of Flesh, but Carl barely noticed.
"This was definitely not in the reports." He said, staring at some of the script. It seemed to be different from the writing found in the book, something that seemed far more recognizable. Two and two and 38 came together in his mind "Oh shit." He muttered.
He turned to his students. "Back to the Main Hall everyone, I think we've seen enough for a while." The students gladly obeyed, rather grateful that they wouldn't have to find anything even more disturbing, assuming it was out there.
Carl walked faster than he normally did, barely stopping himself from bolting into a dead run, the students struggling to keep up with their queasy stomachs. It wasn't just some ancient civilization of humans they were dealing with, it was far worse. The only thing in Carl's mind was the urge to go faster.
Kira sat with Lacus, cleaning some of the rifles to ensure that nothing would jam if they were forced to use weapons. She was an intriguing girl, full of life and innocence, and always looking on the bright side of things.
She laughed at his jokes, blushed at his compliments and generally enjoyed the time they spent together There was no way he could deny that she was pretty, she had a lot of the students drooling after her, but he couldn't say that she was the prettiest or the smartest. "So what are you taking in college?" Lacus asked.
Kira swabbed the barrel of the X50 with rubbing alcohol, looking at the tiny reflection of his face. "I'm really not entirely sure, but it'll have something to do with programming, it comes naturally to me."
"You know, there's a big demand for qualified programmers and assemblers on the PLANTs, particularly on Aprilius One, my home PLANT." She told him. "Is that so?" he mused.
Kira looked down the sight of the rifle and then set it aside and grabbed a new one to start cleaning. Lacus had similarly finished cleaning hers and set it down, moving to pick up a new one. There was only one left and their hands laced together by accident. Blushing lightly, Lacus immediately withdrew her hand and apologized.
Not seeing the big deal, Kira merely shrugged and grabbed the rifle to start cleaning it. "You can probably start taking these back to the Commander, I'll only be a few minutes." He suggested.
Olor and Miguel watched from a small distance away as Kira broke the rifle down with practiced ease. "He's got the speed for sure; it looks like he's barely trying." Olor noted. "Had he joined ZAFT, he would have easily graduated in the Elite section, like Athrun's squad and Rusty." Miguel agreed.
Finishing reassembling and cleaning the last X50, Kira set it back into the padded container and closed the lid, picking it up and placing it with the others. He was going to inform Rau that the rifles were all ready to go when Doctor Ryan entered the Main Hall, looking worried, and lagging behind the aging man were many queasy looking students, including Miriallia, being supported in between Tolle and Kuzzey.
"Miriallia! What happened?" Kira asked, rushing forward to help support her. Just as Kira got to them, Tolle collapsed to his knees, desperately trying to hold his breakfast. "It was nasty Kira, you should be glad you stayed behind." Kuzzey said simply, letting go of Milly, forcing Kira to pick up completely.
Her vision focused on Kira's worried face. "Kira?" she asked weakly. "I'm here." He reassured her, walking over to where their blankets were. She rolled her head onto his shoulder. "Don't leave me."
There was still some commotion, mainly caused by Doctor Ryan and Professor Ferguson which attracted many, if not all, of the aides working in the Main Hall. They all clustered around a white board near the large book. Carl Ryan had a felt marker in his hand ready to be used to write underneath the symbols copied onto the board.
Kira had taken a look at the board while the students were away on their tour earlier in the day, and it had read 'The Tale of Isis, Goddess of the Damned'. He could hear Carl mutter and when the Doctor stepped back, Kira was in the right place to see the new words. It read 'The Legend of Icess, the Queen of the Forsaken.'
"Why Icess and not Isis?" one of the aides asked.
"Isis was an Egyptian Goddess, claiming titles like 'Queen of the Gods and Goddesses'. She was also worshipped in Heliopolis under the name of Menhet. Her tale can be found in Egypt and the surrounding area, but not in North America." Cyril replied.
"So who was Icess?" the same aide asked.
"A monster." Carl whispered.
"Did you know that some of your students are missing?" Rau asked, interrupting their little gathering.
"What?" Cyril's head whipped around to face Rau as the masked Commander stepped forward. "Take a count; I believe at least 10 are missing since your little tour this morning."
"Oh god!" Manson said trying to do a quick head count.
"We've got to go look for them." Carl said. "I agree, but I believe you and your students should not be part of the search." Rau informed them.
"And why the hell not Le Creuset?" Cyril demanded.
Kira, who was gently soothing Milly, stopped. "Stay here, I'll be back." He whispered to her. She could only moan gently as he lowered her down and stood up.
"You might lose more of them. I suggest that we leave the search and rescue operations to my squads."
"You son of a bitch, you think that nine people can effectively search a temple of this size?" Cyril argued.
"Of course not, and not all of us will be searching either. I, Olor and Matthew will be staying behind just in case." Rau told them.
"Even better!" Cyril yelled, throwing his hands up in the air. "Six kids instead of nine!"
"My squads have the experience and the equipment to properly carry out a search and rescue, but any volunteers would be put to good use I assure you." Rau said.
"Volunteers?" Cyril asked dangerously. "No one in their right mind would volunteer for this or for you and -"
"I volunteer." Kira interrupted.
Rau smiled. "That was only a fluke Rau!" Cyril argued. "Don't expect it to happen aga-"
"I volunteer as well." Tolle interrupted. He looked at his shocked friend. "What? There's got to be something I can do, no matter how small." He justified to Kira.
"Me too." Miriallia managed to speak as she walked up and leaned on Kira heavily.
"Well then, it seems that we have a change of plans. Olor will head out with the search teams while I, Kira, and these two stay behind." Rau changed his orders.
"Sir." Athrun spoke up. "I believe it would be best if Kira joined the search parties. He has the instincts of a trained soldier, able to choose and act under pressure and he has the technical assets."
"That's pretty high praise Kira. Alright then, Kira and Olor will join the rescue teams. You two will remain behind. What are your names?" Rau asked.
"I'm Tolle, Tolle Koenig."
"Miriallia Haw."
"Good. Split into pairs and get your equipment. Send reports every fifteen minutes and when you find something of interest." The boys saluted their commander and ran over to the equipment containers.
Athrun handed Kira a combat vest and a pair of safety glasses, a 10mm handgun and one of the rifles that had been cleaned earlier. "The rifle can attach to the clip on the vest, making it easier to carry around." Athrun explained and then handed several spare clips for the handgun and the rifle along with extra shells for the secondary shotgun mode.
He went through a brief explanation on how to reload each weapon and basic pointers on how to shoot. Kira noted the stick on Athrun's back, and asked about it. "That's a Sturm Faust, basically a single shot rocket propelled grenade. Flip the safety cover up, press the button, the trigger pops out below, take aim and fire."
Yzak and Dearka, Rusty and Olor, Miguel and Nichol, and Athrun and Kira finally ready and suited up. "Remember, locate and retrieve the students and bring them back here, nothing stupid and no heroics, you understand."
"Sir yes sir!"
"Then you have a go."
The booted steps of eight young men could be heard, jogging away in search of the missing students, their numbers confirmed to be twelve. "Cyril still doesn't agree with this Commander Rau." Ron said, stepping beside the blond man.
"He doesn't have to." Rau replied, staring at the end of the corridor where the search teams disappeared out of sight. "All he has to do is pray for the safety of your students."
Took me long enough eh? Well you know about V90 being delayed thanks to my OS crashing, and it turns out I forgot to transfer my partially completed version of chapter 4 to my laptop, forcing me to recreated a few pages.
But fear not, it's here now. Please Read and Review.
Prayer