AUTHOR'S NOTE: This one's on the short side, but it wraps up the immediate aftermath of the Destroy's rampage and starts to set the stage for what comes next.
PHASE 23: The World Revealed
May 17th, Cosmic Era 75
CVN-133R John Paul Jones
Megan Kinney slumped in her chair, exhausted. The past five days had been the most grueling for her in a very long time, made even moreso by the fact that she was working almost entirely alone.
Although the equipment that had been used to maintain Stella had been removed and destroyed when she went missing and was written off, that used for Auel had remained, and been left behind onboard the Jones when O'Donnell and Rice had left with Stella soon after they'd arrived, which was fortunate.
But apart from herself, the Lodonia personnel attached to their maintenance had also transferred out.
The room was dark, and a bed and stacks of medical equipment, taken from the ship's medical bay, had been set up in the empty space in front of the single dormant "pod" that was normally used for the Extendeds when they slept.
Stabilizing Stella's condition in the immediate aftermath of the battle had been the easy part. But the ravages to her body had taken a severe toll.
After her extended absence, she and her team had just about pulled off a miracle to bring her back, but Kinney had argued fruitlessly that her recovery was still not complete, and she still needed more time.
Rice and O'Donnell had overruled her - Stella was healthy enough to fight, and that was all that was needed.
So when she saw that kid again, the anger in his eyes when he'd seen her, she understood; she felt the same anger herself, directed at O'Donnell and Rice.
"What have they done to you?" She wondered aloud as she looked over at the bed, where Stella slept, hooked up to an array of monitors that tracked her pulse, blood pressure, and electrical activity in her brain.
This last one concerned her the most, because the results she was getting were abnormal, and she could not quite understand why.
The little wardrobe that had held her clothes and Auel's hung open in a corner.
Stella's clothing had been removed following her disappearance, but against orders, had not been destroyed - she had kept them hidden in her quarters, and with Auel's death, his own uniform had been destroyed.
So she'd retrieved them and hung them back - the two-tone blue-and-white dress hung in front. It was such a pretty thing, and to Kinney's view, fit Stella better than a military uniform.
She glanced at her watch. She hadn't slept for more than an hour or two at a time in forty-eight hours, and as the EEG suddenly beeped loudly, she knew she would not be getting any sleep any time soon.
'I have to save her…' She thought as she stood, and got back to work.
Wilhelmshaven Naval Base
"So I guess it's official then - we're at war with the Atlantic Federation." Mudie Holcroft commented uneasily as she looked up at the screen in front of her. President Baum, as he finished speaking, stepped away from the podium.
Soon, the screen cut to a news anchor who began discussing the broadcast. "Wonder what's gonna happen now."
She knew that their current assignment to the Jones was an unusual situation; it was, after all, an Atlantic Federation carrier.
"The Republic of East Asia is allied with the Atlantic Federation," Sven Cal Bayan commented. "It's very likely that an attack could come from there. I expect we'll be reassigned before long."
Mudie looked around the bar, which was on the base, an expression of marked distaste as she saw the room dotted with green uniforms amidst the usual sea of blue.
"And what about ZAFT?" She asked in an undertone.
"The Atlantic Federation is an enemy of the PLANTs." Sven replied. "I expect that they will not be a problem."
"And if they are…" Mudie started to say, but did not finish her sentence. At that moment, Captain McCaffrey entered the bar, and walked over to them.
He might be an enemy now, but Mudie respected McCaffrey - she knew his reputation, and she'd served on his ship since they'd left Izmir.
Until they were told otherwise, he remained her Commanding Officer.
"Sven, Mudie." He said. "I suppose you've heard the news."
"Yes, sir." Sven replied.
"Puts me in an awkward position, doesn't it?" He said, his craggy, battle-scarred face twisted in a lopsided grin. "An Atlantic Federation carrier in enemy territory, with two enemy pilots onboard his ship."
"So are we being transferred off, then?" Mudie asked.
"Nope. Not unless you want to." McCaffrey commented. "I've been in touch with the base commander and Vice-President Marshall, and they've authorized the Jones to remain here until I receive other orders from Portsmouth. You two just might be the best pilots I've ever had under my command, and I'd just as soon keep you around."
-"Very well, then." Sven commented with his usual calm. "Unless we are ordered otherwise, we will remain."
Mudie nodded.
-"Thank you, sir." She said. Then, looking around again, she asked "What about that ZAFT ship? Are they staying here as well?"
-"No, the Minerva will be leaving once her resupply's completed, probably in the next couple of days."
Mudie sighed in relief. Allies or not, she'd feel better once the Coordinators were gone. She didn't trust their kind, though after the last couple of days, she was starting to have second thoughts.
But some scars ran too deep. For so long, she had hated the Coordinators, and perhaps not entirely wrongly - she had grown up on Earth during the April Fools Crisis, and had lost friends and family during those terrible months of 71. With so much of the planet dependent upon nuclear power, the global shutdown of the vast majority of power plants on Earth had created horrifying living conditions in what had once been affluent nations - exacerbating already deteriorating economic conditions following the cessation of exports from the PLANTs to the sponsor nations.
She had never forgiven them this. But now...
"The only good Coordinator is a dead one', he used to say.' she thought as she remembered her mentor, Lukas O'Donnell - whom she had helped to shoot down in the battle, while a Coordinator had helped to save the lives of millions of her countrymen in Hamburg. And still countless others had sacrificed their own lives in their own attempts to do so, during the rampage of that monstrous mobile armor...
That they had failed did not diminish their sacrifice, nor that of her own late shipmates onboard the Compton.
"All right." She said. But she knew that the 501st reported directly to Vice-President Marshall. She would wait to see what his orders would be. After all, she was a soldier - that was her job.
PLANT
Aprilius One
Gilbert Durendal was in his office, seated behind his desk. A television crew was in place, and Meer stood nearby.
Then the broadcast began, and he began to speak.
"Good day everyone. I am Gilbert Durendal, the Chairman of the PLANT Supreme Council." He began.
This broadcast was going out worldwide, to every nation on Earth as well as the PLANTs.
"I know it may appear unseemly for me to be broadcasting such a message at this time, when a state of war still exists between the PLANTs and the people of Earth. However I must ask you to forgive me, and to listen to what I have to say."
Onboard the Minerva, Abby advised Yzak of the broadcast, and immediately Yzak ordered the monitor turned on, and the address broadcast throughout the ship.
"I would like for all of you to understand something." Durendal said. "I would like to explain the real reason this war has not yet come to an end - the truth of why we even found ourselves once again at war in the first place."
The image on the screen changed, displaying images of the Destroy being attacked by ZAFT mobile suits, which it effortlessly destroyed. "These images, as many of you may know, were taken a few days ago when the Atlantic Federation's new superweapon emerged from Central Eurasia and advanced westward. It attacked without warning, and four cities were completely destroyed. As soon as we became aware of it, ZAFT forces, alongside forces mobilized by President Baum, engaged the weapon in battle. Though we succeeded in stopping it, millions of lives were lost."
Meanwhile, the Archangel was hidden in an out-of-the way valley a short distance away. Murrue likewise saw the broadcast, as did everyone on the bridge, and wondered at the strange timing of this announcement.
"Hang on," Waltfeld commented as he watched. "They've edited out the Freedom from this footage."
Murrue immediately saw that he was right. Though the footage showed Eurasian Federation and ZAFT forces engaging in battle against the mobile armor, and even the Minerva and its mobile suit, none of the footage showed either the Freedom or the Archangel.
"What is Durendal planning?" she wondered. On the screen, Durendal stood, his voice rising as he stepped out from behind his desk.
"Why did this happen? Who says that peace between us is not permitted, that the PLANTs and the Earth must fight?"
-"It is a fact," Meer spoke up next, stepping forward into the camera, "that this war was begun with a single horrific act, one that was perpetrated by a handful of Coordinators. We will never forget that we were unable to prevent it, or the tragedies that resulted."
On the Minerva, everyone was watching. And as he did so, Athrun frowned, remembering that Kira had told him Lacus had been killed by Coordinators. Again he wondered whether Durendal knew - whatever he had told Kira, there was a doubt.
"However, how can we allow things to remain as they are now? Haven't we seen enough suffering from this endless cycle of hatred?" Meer asked.
Even Athrun had to admit that her performance was convincing.
"I believe from the bottom of my heart that if you could please just listen to what the other side has to say, you can look ahead with hope, to a world of true, lasting peace. And I believe that this is the desire of people everywhere."
'It's not a performance' Athrun suddenly realized, 'She might be impersonating Lacus, but she really believes what she's saying.'
Throughout the Eurasian Federation, and even in many places in the Atlantic Federation and Republic of East Asia, the people applauded this passionate appeal.
However, not all of them felt so, and in his stronghold, Teivel Jibril was panicking.
"What is going on, here? Stop that broadcast now!" He raged.
-"What's the meaning of this, Jibril?" Bruno Azrael asked over their communications line. "Where is Durendal going with this sermon?"
-"This problem is on your shoulders, now deal with it!" said one of the others. But no matter what he tried, he could not get the broadcast off the air.
-"Unfortunately," Durendal now said, "there have always been those who at all costs would prevent such harmony. They have been with us since antiquity, demanding that people fight - because of the profits that can be generated. "You're a coward if you don't fight, and you're a traitor if you don't follow orders," they say as they hand you the weapons, inventing enemies out of whole cloth - and it is clear that they are the ones behind this latest tragedy."
-"SHUT IT DOWN! CUT THAT BROADCAST OFF AT ONCE, DAMN IT!" Jibril screamed, increasingly angrily as on the screen Durendal continued to speak.
"The organization Blue Cosmos is well-known; a terrorist group who detest Coordinators, referring to them as dangerous mistakes or monsters who should not be allowed to exist. But what you do not know is that it was created by these same individuals, who hide in the shadows, fabricating new enemies and ensuring war is constantly raging somewhere...the very same ones whose political influence has shaped the policies of the Atlantic Federation for decades. They are merchants of death: The military-industrial complex, Logos! They are the true enemies of anyone who hopes for peace."
As Durendal spoke, Jibril and his cohorts watched in helpless horror as the screen changed and each and every one of them was identified on the screen, their image and their name plainly visible.
-"He did it," Yzak mumbled, remembering their conversation long before in Bandirma, "The crafty son of a bitch actually went public with this."
Elsewhere on the ship, the reaction was mixed, most surprised, many optimistic. With the true enemy revealed, perhaps now the war could be brought to an end. The screen changed again, once more showing Durendal and Meer.
-"From the bottom of my heart," Durendal concluded, "I wish for a world that never again knows the scourge of war. And so since Logos continues to block our efforts, I will take this opportunity to announce a global military campaign, with the specific goal of eliminating it and its members!"
The broadcast ended, and Shinn smiled.
These were the monsters responsible for everything that had happened. They were the ones who had done those horrible things to Stella, and to countless others. And now, they would finally get what was coming to them.
A global military campaign, the Chairman had said. With the Minerva on Earth, it seemed a sure bet that they would be asked to take part.
He hoped it would be soon.
While the mood onboard the Minerva and in all of ZAFT's installations on Earth was positive, the people in the Eurasian Federation - especially the survivors of the recent attack in the Western Eurasia - were likewise throwing their support behind Gilbert Durendal and his stated goal to eradicate the warmongers of Logos.
In Orb however, the broadcast had a very different effect, especially at the estate of the Seiran family.
Unato Ema Seiran, his son Yuma, and many of their supporters within the government were gathered at the family's palatial villa, where months before the reception had taken place after the treaty was signed with the Eurasian Federation.
There was worry etched in every line of Unato's face, as he considered recent events. After the near-destruction of the Orb fleet in the Mediterranean Sea, their influence within the Council of Emirs had all but evaporated, and it had taken considerable efforts on his part and on that of his remaining allies to dissuade Cagalli from arresting the both of them on the spot.
However, she had used the incident to strip them both of their positions on the Council.
Although as the patriarch of one of Orb's Ruling families he continued to enjoy the discreet support of many within the military and political structure, their own ability to steer the course of government in Orb was nearly gone.
Unato sensed Rondo Mina Sahaku's handiwork, and seethed at the reversal; the Seiran and Sahaku families had never been allied, but as an enemy of Uzumi Nara Athha in his own right her late brother had at least tolerated the Seirans' own machinations.
But Mina had proven an even more devious political manipulator than he had been, and by allying herself with Uzumi's brat she had made it possible for that treaty, severely undercutting his own efforts. And now…
-"What's going on, Father?" Unato asked in an undertone, stepping up to him as he did so. "They've even identified the Ritter Group and the Groht Family on that list."
Two of the Seirans' strongest remaining supporters had been the Ritter Group, which manufactured equipment and weapons for Orb's police and military forces, and the Groht family - not one of the Five ruling noble families, but still of some influence, and like the Seirans one with ties to the Alliance.
Many other prominent figures in Orb had also been identified, including the Seirans themselves, and Unato Ema Seiran was not sure what to do…
Neither, for that matter, was Cagalli Yula Athha, who at that moment was in Orb's Cabinet building, meeting with the Council of Emirs.
She too had seen the broadcast, and as the screen was turned off she saw general consternation among many members of the Council, most acutely with Councilmen Asahina, Kawaguchi, and Himura. Though even the others were worried.
Her expression worried, she turned to Rondo Mina Sahaku, who sat nearby.
"The Seirans are on that list. Along with a lot of Orb's most influential citizens." She started to say.
-"Not just that either - many of these are multinational entities with strong ties to a number of nations on Earth, including the Kingdom of Scandinavia and the Equatorial Union." Mina replied.
Cagalli nodded, her expression apprehensive. If Durendal's stated goal of a global military campaign was correct, then that could only mean...
-"This is going to be big trouble." She said apprehensively.
She only hoped that she was wrong, and she wondered with some dread what Kira would do next...