Wasting no time, everyone quickly boarded the Archangel, before more enemies... either ZAFT or Earth Forces... could show up to prolong a fight which had already gone on for far too long, in everyone's estimation. They did pause long enough to check the shattered remains of the ZAFT force for survivors... an unfortunately vain hope. The monstrously large and heavily armed mobile suit that had tried to nuke them had visited only slightly less total destruction upon the ZAFT forces. There were few mobile suits that existed in pieces larger than the hood of a small car, each blasted apart by hundreds of rounds of high explosive shells and missiles, or melted by the unimaginable heat of multiple beam cannons and even hyper impulse beam cannons. The few that were still mostly whole... like Commander Randolf's destroyed mobile suit, which had only been cut in half and half crushed, had then been set alight by incendiary weapons and were slowly melting into pools of molten trash... the heat was too intense to approach closer than ten meters.
The scale of the damage was totally unnessecary... mobile suits that were plainly destroyed had been shot up like tin cans apparently just for the fun of it. It reminded everyone once again that their enemies were not just men... they were something... else. Not more, but not altogether less either. It hardened the resolve of many, even as it spread icy fingers of dread in the hearts of others. The thought of the close call with the nukes was never far from anyones mind. However, even the close call with death couldn't keep weariness away forever. Though Murrue was rested, remarking in total unabahsed surprised at how refreshed she felt, everyone else had been up for at least a day, more like three days in the case of the Yamato's, Haw's, Buskirk's and Argyle's. Through almost constant flying and fighting, everyone was more than ready to hit the racks in the Archangel at the first opportunity
Kira did not wake at all for longer than it took to use the bathroom and eat a few meals until they were almost the the Kusanagi's Antarctic bunker-hanger. Well... that was not strictly true. After the first awaking from the sleep of mind numbing exhaustion he and Lacus had held a "Re-affirming of their living relationship" so to speak. The efforts from which had promptly dropped him back into the land of deep slumber for another twelve hours. No one bothered them. In fact, Kira would have been stone dead stupified if most of his friends had not done similarly. There was nothing like escaping the threat of instant death to shake one to the very core and make you want to look for comfort in the people you knew best. And when you were seventeen and eighteen... well once you were already that close, it really wasn't all that many steps until you were rounding home plate. But it had only been the once.
After that everyone was too damn busy all the time. After waking the second time Kira had forced himself to his feet, finding Lacus already gone, the sheets where she had been only lukewarm... she'd been gone more than an hour then. He grinned. It was so in character for her... now that one crises was over she was throwing herself headlong into the next. Getting dressed he'd yawned and found his feet carrying him down the too familiar corridors to the hanger decks, where everyone's mobile suits were stored. Chief Murdoch looked up from where he was bent over one of the two Skygraspers that were still stored on board... presumably they had been rolled out because the Archangel was back in atmosphere.
"Those commando friends of yours really know how to twist a guys arm to get what they want." Murdoch commented with his usual gruff sourness, managing to sound like the world had gone out of its way to give him problems specifically.
"I don't know if I'd call them my friends... more like acquaintances that won't leave a friend of mine alone and so travel with us." Kira replied. Murdoch blinked slowly, mind clearly elsewhere.
"Yeah, whatever, kid. I won't say I have any clue what you're talking about, but if they've been hanging around with you and the pink princess, they can't be all that bad." Murdoch said with a shrug. "Obstinate bastards though." he mumbled almost as an afterthought
"I'm not so sure on that score myself." Kira muttered. He looked around the hanger. There were a lot more people around... old faces from the mechanic crew of the Archangel from last war... bearded Desert Dawn freedom fighters moving crates of supplies... smartly dressed Orb soldiers in clean new uniforms... the hanger was bustling like it practically never had except during the most critical of moments during the last war. "So why are you tooling up the Skygraspers? Did Kisaka send us some pilots too?"
"Nope. Thats what I was talking about with the commandos. Apparently their leader guy... the one with the incredible fake sounding name... pitched a fit of holy hell because we left his precious plane back in the desert. Not like there was anywhere to put it on board. But still, the man practically had a stroke right there on the bridge and Captain Ramius finally told me to get a Skygrasper out of cold storage to shut the mouthy bastard up. Though how good a pilot he'll be is something I'm waiting real earnestly to see... he's a ground pounder... probably can't fly a shuttle into the ground." Murdoch continued, sneering slightly with the long time spacers disregard for the ground forces in any military.
"That's Alkire for you." Kira agreed. "Though he's pretty good. He put his passenger jet through some pretty flashy maneuvers in Switzerland."
"There's a difference between flashy and useful." Murdoch retorted, his voice muffled as he shoved his head down under a cockpit console.
"He indirectly caused two mobile suits to shoot each other down via friendly fire..." Kira trailed off, wondering why he was sticking up for Alkire so much... it wasn't like he even particularly liked the man... he'd even gotten into a fight with him... though it had mostly consisted of Kira flying off the handle and trying to punch Alkire's light's out. Kira suddenly felt ashamed... it was true he'd been upset but those soldiers had been planning to kill them and Alkire had saved his life. He would have to apologize for how he'd acted. "But have you seen anyone else around?"
"Of the commandos? Nah... well there was that creepy guy with the black hair and gloves... Scandanavian name... he was hanging around trying to help out with the repairs and refits but he just wasn't fitting in... nobody could warm to the guy and he eventually just disappeared."
"That's definitely Vladimir all right." Kira said, suppressing a shiver. He did not elaborate... Vladimir's story was his own to share, not Kira's. "But I meant like..."
"Like the pink princess, your buddy Athrun, Cagalli, the blond guy and Miriallia, right?" Murdoch cut him off, cursing under his breath as he shocked himself slightly as he fumbled with a circuit lead. "Haven't seen the blond dude... Dearka... that's his name. Nor Miriallia. They a couple or something, because they seem to be spending a lot of time together?" Murdoch went on, leaining out of the cockpit for a moment, mind not focussed at all on Kira.
"Chief." Kira implored. Murdoch shook himself, looking more aware.
"Yeah... sorry... lot on my mind, kid. The war and all... so much work that's just gotta be done. But you probably know about that as well as I, eh? Anyway, last I heard Athrun, Cagalli and your Princess were all up in the captain's cabin, making plans and doing other strategic level stuff that really doesn't interest me. But you should probably head up there. God knows why, but everyone seems to want your opinion these days." Murdoch said with a smile, his head re-concealed under the console.
"Thank's chief." Kira replied. Murdoch waved a hand awkwardly, nearly overbalancing and falling headfirst into the cockpit.
"Don't mention it. And tell the princess hi for me."
Kira walked away, shaking his head. In some ways it was good to be back, surrounded by the people who had come to mean so much to him during the last war. But in lots of other ways it hurt... really badly. Everyone on the crew was at least a friendly acquiantance if not a friend... but it seemed he never saw them except when there was fighting to be done and he was directly or indirectly responsible for their lives and futures. It was a heavy burden he was heartily sick of... but he'd bear it... this time and as many other times as need be until peace was assured. He swore it. He headed for the main elevator that would take him to the command levels of the warship.
"We have you on our radar." Kisaka was saying on the large viewscreen mounted on on wall as Kira walked in. "I'm glad your trip was much less eventful this time around." Kisaka's eyes turned slightly to face the door as it opened to allow Kira entrance. Kira met Kisaka's eyes, taking in with only slight interest the heavy cold weather gear that was barely visible in the video-picture... plainly it was quite cold in the hanger-bunker. Kira noddedly slightly in greeting to Kisaka... he really did not know what to say. He'd never really spent much time around the staunch Orb bodyguard... Kisaka had spent more time in meetings with Cagalli, Mu, Murrue, Lacus and the other leader types during the last war. He barely even knew the man at all, truth be told. Besides the fact that he was Cagalli's de facto guardian and friend and that he was a skilled, courageous and honorable man that is. It was almost disconcerting that people like Alkire and Vladimir knew Kisaka better than he did. Speaking of Alkire and company... Kira looked around the room. None of the TEMPEST team was present. He relaxed slightly... it was easy to plan to apologize but in truth he was still pretty upset about what Alkire had done out in the desert... he didn't know if he could really make a heartfelt apology right now.
"I don't know about that... waking up from my long... rest... to find myself staring down a pair of nuclear missiles did no good thing for my heart and nerves, that is for sure." Murrue joked, her face only darkening for a moment when she thought back on how weak she'd been... allowing herself to fall into a coma of grief and despair like that. Mu wouldn't have wanted her to do anything of the sort. It would have repelled him, she was sure. Still... that was in the past. She pushed herself past it, as she had done for too many tragedies so far. "If it hadn't been for yet another crazy stunt from Kira here we probably all would have gone up in a cloud of ash."
"I can hardly claim credit... Frost did most of the work." Kira joked... realizing as he did so that the inclusion of Frost's name had soured the jest irrecoverably. Only Murrue managed a real laugh... she of course had no idea about Frost. Everyone else managed a few weak chuckles... barely a smile in Lacus's case. Kira groped awkwardly for something else to say... he'd never been good at these social things. He was saved from further embarrassment by an incoming call chime. A second later another familiar face appeared as the view screen display split to allow the second call. "Mr. Waltfeld!" Kira exclaimed in surprise. Andrew Waltfeld tipped him a wink and gave a nod to everyone else in the room. Kira noticed that he too was wearing cold weather gear.
"I wasn't expecting you to show up in person, Andrew." Kisaka said, slightly surprised. "I thought you were keeping an eye on things up in the PLANTS." Waltfeld laughed and waved it off, unconsciously using his amputated arm, causing the limp sleeve to judder slightly before he corrected.
"With Miss Murrue finally deciding that the rest of us had had enough fun and getting into the game? Not likely. Besides, I'm a third wheel up in the PLANTS... I can hardly go out in public without being recognized and Dicosta has got the old intel network running like greased lightning... he doesn't need any help from a warhorse like me. And until we get back to space for the duration, there is little point in me going to the Eternal. I'm about an hour away from the bunker. Just calling ahead so you didn't blow me out of the sky when I showed up out of nowhere."
"I'll try to remember to warn the anti-aircraft defenses." Kisaka said dryly. Waltfeld smiled, the scar tissue on his face tugging the expression into an even more cocksure look.
"Much obliged. Now... while we're all mostly here... what do you guys think of what's gone on so far?"
"Geez... you sure know how to ask the hard questions." Cagalli muttured. Her relationship with Waltfeld had never been as cordial as it could have been... he'd been someone she hated for such a time that even though she without a doubt knew he was one of the good guys and on their side... she still found herself wishing he wasn't there right then. After all... he'd been indirectly responsible for Ahmed's death... no... no, she couldn't let herself go down that path. Not when she'd been so vocal during the last war in steering everyone else off that selfsame cycle of bloodshed.
Athrun noted her slight discomfiture... he'd been one of the few people she'd told about her feelings about everyone else... so he knew what she was likely thinking. He stepped up to take the initial hack at the situation as he saw it while she gathered her thoughts. "I don't think any of us is happy about how it's gone so far. However, such statements are rapidly becoming so obvious they almost feel banal. None of us want this war yet here it is, so we're going to have to deal with it as best we can. I personnally think the battles at Washington DC, Gibraltar and elsewhere up to now have been nothing but preludes to the real war. We're still in the operation Uruboros stage of the last war... both sides are still finding their footing and re-establishing their strengths in order for the serious fighting later on. I know that is a bit heartless... to count the horrendous fights at DC and Gibraltar as nothing but preliminaries, but I don't see how else we can look at them. So far there have only been small scale battles involving perhaps a hundred mobile suits all told in any one battle... I discount DC because a city encompasses more than one battle... and no use of weapons of mass destruction until a few days ago... which thankfully failed, though the Earth Forces showed as little restraint as I was fearing."
"The Earth Forces aren't the only ones who are gearing up for a different sort of war... most of the rumors I've been hearing up here are obviously panic stirred gossip but some things I feel we have to take more seriously. ZAFT is buying up lots of new mobile suit designs... opening up the defense market to civilian contractors was really a good move for them... competitivness amongst the companies has led to quite a few advanced designs... a few of which I'm sure you already encountered in the desert. I have the data files on both of the new types you've seen, by the way. The ones with Mirage Colloid are called Efreet and the big ones are Grendels. But besides them I hear ZAFT is working on a few more nasty surprises like the Gugnirs and a really super secret project of some sort going on in one factory... I don't know what it is but anything soaking up nearly forty percent of the defense budget can't be something friendly." Waltfeld replied. Everyone paused a moment at that last revelation.
"Forty percent of the entire defense budget!" Kisaka exclaimed, shocked. "Do you have any idea how much funding that is?"
"I don't have the exact figures... the funding is top secret as well, goes through all kinds of dead drops and random transfers as I'm sure you can appreciate... but I'd say this single project, whatever it is, is soaking up around twelve billion dollars a month. And costs for it have been going up every month since we got wind of it... whatever it is must be one hell of a package... but there is no evidence of a GENESIS level construction project anywhere within the PLANTS either. So as to what it is... that's anyone's guess." Waltfeld responded, looking more than a little nervous. It was never a good thing to know a potential enemy was whipping up one hell of a big bad something and you didn't know what it was at all. That kind of lack of knowledge could lead to things getting very messy to say the least.
"What about the direction the war is heading? Where will the next battle be?" Murrue wondered.
Kira sighed. That was what was so hard about their current situation. Unlike last time when they were too busy worrying about how they were going to survive the next day to wonder at the bigger picture, now they had to look at the war as a whole and decide where they would do the most good. It would mean splitting their forces. It would mean making a lot of choices he wasn't going to like... in a world wide war he couldn't be at more than one battlefield at at time... people would be dying all over the place and there was not a single thing he could do to stop it. Not unless they could somehow find who was responsible for the war... well... Blue Cosmos... but how could they find the real heart of Blue Cosmos? It wasn't like the terror organization put out flyers indicating where it's leaders were meeting or its main headquarters was located. Lacus gripped his arm in comfort, waiting for someone else to answer. Lacus tended to hold her counsel for the moment she judged best... usually near the end of any particular meeting.
"I predict the next fight will be in the Atlantic Federation. Perhaps the communications hub at Navajo mountain in old Colorado. If the PLANTS could knock that out it would give them a decisive advantage for at least a month or so. And the PLANTS have already proven how good they are at combining orbital drops with low orbit bombardment. Other than there, the Earth Forces will probably strike at Carpentaria to deny ZAFT the chance to re-establish a fleet presence on Earth again." Kisaka said confidently.
"We have to assume that Orb is also among ZAFT's priority targets now." Cagalli cut in, her voice hitching a little. "They can't afford to have such a well manned naval and air base located so close to Carpentaria and Australia... they'll never have operational freedom until Onogoro and Kaguya are disabled for good. Plus they probably wouldn't at all mind the opportunity to salvage some technology from Morganroete... the PLANTS aren't the only ones with a interest in advanced technologies after all."
"That's a good point." Murrue conceded with a nod. "Let's concentrate on those major battle zones for right now. How are we going to respond? Should we show up in force to a single most important battle, or split ourselves up and attempt to migitate as much damage as possible?"
"I believe we should split ourselves up as much as possible... even if it degrades from our combat effectiveness." Lacus said. Everyone went quieter to listen to her. Kira was, as ever, awed by the respect Lacus commanded with only gentle words. "After all, we aren't here to fight in the war... fighting in the war will acheive nothing but turn both sides against us as both perceive that the other side is being aided unfairly. As much as I hate to say it, while the war takes shape and until we can get a better idea of who the real enemy is and where they are I believe we should deploy ourselves to the areas where nuclear missiles and other weapons of mass destruction are likely to be used. I say it is our top priority to stop the use of weapons such as those before anything else. Every single death in this war pains me greatly... but that pain is nothing compared to what I and every other person will feel once both sides begin indiscriminate use of weapons of mass destruction. We have to stop the war from escalating to their use at all costs."
"So we become like... thermonuclear game wardens?" Waltfeld said, once again unvieling his slightly warped take on things. "Keeping the deer of mass destruction safe in their glens." Nobody said anything for a long moment. "What? Did I say something funny?"
"Somebody is letting their nickname go too far to heart." Athrun whispered to Kira.
"That or the cold is already getting to him. I'm cold just looking at him." Cagalli added.
"You need to work on your metaphor, Andrew." Murrue said with a tiny smile. "Though on a simplistic level, its accurate enough." She paused a few moments. "So where will the nukes next be used? Strategic missiles require substantial support crews in addition to whatever forces are assigned to guard and transport them... we should be able to detect any buildup at least a few hours in advance of a battle starting. And how should we dispose our forces, on a more defined level than just "split up"?"
"Obviously we need to divide the Gundams between the Kusanagi and the Archangel... we also have four new Astray Guardians aboard the Kusanagi, with no designated pilots as yet... our pilots were delayed in Orb and we don't know if they'll be able to reach us in time." Kisaka began. "I understand you have two skygraspers aboard the Archangel... combined I'd say our force is quite respectable. We should be easily able to interdict any weapons of mass destruction before they are detonated or fired." Kisaka continued. He was about to say something else when the door to the Archangel's bridge swished open again. Kira didn't look to see who it was... by the twisted expression that flashed across Kisaka's face he could place a pretty good bet. So it was that he did not jump like pretty much everyone else... who'd all been lost in thought... did when Vladimir's dry voice came from startlingly close behind them. Kira half twisted, having forgotten just how stealthy Vlad was... it was a good ten feet to the bridge door and Vlad was standing right behind him, a slightly uncertain but still determined look on his face.
"What about the crop dusters? Or the suicide bombs. The terrorists. The assassins. The gas. The poison. The plagues. The media. What about them? All are weapons of mass destruction... though many do not see them as such. How will you stop them?" Vlad asked softly.
"I'm... not sure what you mean. Or who you are." Waltfeld said cautiously.
"He's a old pupil of mi..." Kisaka started to say. Vlad held up a hand to stop him.
"Best we all start out on the same level, Colonel Kisaka, sir. I want this out in the open so that it doesn't cause problems later." Vlad continued, his voice calm and steady even if his face was twitching a little. "My name is Vladimir Valkavich. My name is also Andre Forkav. I'm sure you know who that is, esteemed Desert Tiger." Vlad said, tone neutral. Athrun watched Andrew Waltfeld go blank and then slowly turn to look at everyone else.
"This is a sick joke, right? Please tell me that a monster like the Strangler isn't talking to me." Andrew said in a very small voice. The bridge was dead quiet... most of the bridge crew having absolutely no idea what was going on.
"I killed your first cousin on your mother's side, your uncle on your father's side, both of that uncle's children and your second cousin's boyfriend. I cut off their heads after suffocating them with my bare hands and sent your father and mother their tongues with threatening notes pinned to them on your third birthday." Vlad replied, his voice even quieter than before. "I was supposed to kill you next but our safehouse was discovered and I had to make a quick getaway before the job went through. Your father found some documents carelessly left undestroyed that led to the capture of almost a third of our network in the PLANTS, and which included the plans for his and your assassination."
The silence was far longer and more tension filled than before. A long series of expressions swam across Waltfeld's face... old pain, disgust, anger, hatred, confusion, shock and even a little fear chief among them. "That's not a joke." Waltfeld said at last, his voice brittle.
"No, sir... it is not. I am sorry." Vlad replied. Waltfeld's image turned to regard everyone else.
"I suppose the rest of you already knew... of course... except for Murrue." Waltfeld gulped, collecting himself. "Well..." he coughed. "Well... I won't pretend that isn't a kick square to the balls. But now is not the time or place for old problems from my childhood to be addressed. I'm glad to know about it... because the problem will most assuredly be addressed." Waltfeld's voice went colder than the air around him for that last bit. "But... what was the rest of that stuff you said, about crop dusters and gas and such, Vladimir?"
"Of course, sir. Thank you." Vlad said. He looked at everyone else, a look of near contempt stealing briefly across his features. "You are all thinking far too narrowly. You speak of nuclear weapons and giant space lasers and other massive, visible and easily trackable weapons of mass destruction. That, to me, shows you have little to no grasp on the realities of the current situation."
"What don't you enlighten us then?" Dearka snapped, off put by the tone of Vlad's disregard.
"I shall, so listen carefully." Vlad replied, his voice getting even more hard edged as he forgot about his discomfort caused by stepping forward to Waltfeld. "You are all thinking like regular military... you can't help it, since thats what you are. Even Instructor Kisaka works primarily on the domestic security side of things... not international war or terrorism. And terrorism is what you should most definitely be worried about. Blue Cosmos is... among other things... the foremost terrorist organization on Earth. Last war they were disorganized in their efforts... crippled by lack of widespread public and even private support. Everyone saw them for the nutjobs they are. But now... now Earth feels it has been wrongly and brutally attacked... the terrorists will find no shortage of backing now, as sanctioned instruments of revenge rather than extremist weirdo's. They will be able to hide anywhere on the planet just by asking... people unable or unwilling to join the regular military will flock to their cause in droves." Vlad informed everyone.
He noticed that several were about to interrupt. He held up his hands for quiet again... he'd never been as good at the whole public speaking thing as Alkire... but this would have a far more dramatic effect coming from him, TEMPEST had decided. "You people see a target or an enemy or something you wish to prevent. So you build up your forces, make your plans, read your intelligence and then go in and accomplish your mission. All well and good when the enemy is playing by at least a reasonably similar set of rules. If both sides were content to simply amass weapons of destruction like nukes and hurl them at each other, even on a worldwide scale, then your plans would undoubtedly be of great use. But the war is not going to be fought that way. Not entirely or even mostly."
Vlad paused and saw that everyone was paying close attention now. Good, maybe they'd wake up and smell the coffee, like Alkire would say. "Nukes will be used. But they are the least of our worries. As Captain Ramius said, they are easy enough to detect and easier to disable. But what are you people going to do when a crop duster veers from its directed path in the heartlands of the Atlantic Federation breadbasket and sprays a fine mist of bacterial growth hormones across a thousand square hectacres of prime crops? Of course, this is not just a flight miscalculation... since the mist being sprayed is actually ebola 2... or 3... or some entirely new virus. Within a month the grain is shipped to the corners of the Atlantic Federation... a week after that and hundreds of thousands are infected... one week later and the death toll will be in the millions. It wouldn't be a difficult operation for the PLANTS... they could actually accomplish it easier with a low altitude orbital pod loaded with the germ. Figure ten million dollars in production and mechanical costs and the war is over in less than a half year, without a single shot being fired. And given it took PLANT doctors to cure the last Ebola... well... if they improved upon it there would nothing we Naturals could do to stop it, vice burning anyone who contracted it before they spread it further... wouldn't that be fun... the pyres for the diseased would probably be visible from Aprilus." Vlad paused again for effect.
Utter horror and disgust were written across most faces. Good. "Or to look at the other side of the coin... many pathways were utilized by myself and my former comrades to infiltrate the PLANTS for kill raids before the first war. Many were closed or discovered during or even before the war. But well over half remain. And thats just the ones I know of... who knows how many there actually are. It would take longer than the disease from heaven method, but with its new resources I'd say it's perfectly feasible for Blue Cosmos to begin large scale infiltration of the PLANTS. I am an accomplished killer... but I'm not unique. Imagine a hundred like me loose amongst the civilian population in the PLANTS. Overall death toll would be low... thousands maybe... but the effect on morale would be devastating, yes? And how hard would it be, really, to smuggle in a few briefcase nukes or poison gas canisters or germs... most will be caught and stopped... but it only takes a single miss, doesn't it? And Blue Comos has the numerical superiority to keep such attacks up for years, until eventually they start succeeding."
"And that is just the tip of the iceberg." Vlad said, warming to the subject. "Soon both sides will be sending hit teams after opposing leaders... of course national leaders can be replaced... but still the period of disruption that follows an assassination would provide a decided military advantage for the side doing the killing, even if only for days or hours. Or better yet... what will you do if terrorists from Earth attack a day care center in the PLANTS... babies make good targets for terrorists... what will you do then, in your mighty Gundams? Or if PLANTS operatives instigate a industrial accident which renders an entire major city into an uninhabitable wasteland... will your Gundam's wipe up the poison waste with huge mops? And then we get into the really vicious weapon... the media. I believe Miss Yula Attha and Mr. Zala have already suffered depredations from that vile institution... can you imagine how Blue Cosmos will warp everything the PLANTS do into an atrocity and vice versa... within weeks both sides will be clamoring for bigger and better ways to kill off the entire opposing side. And then... how will the media cover us, and you? Will they be kind to the merciful Archangel, come to stop the war from escalating out of control? Don't hold your breath, lest you suffocate as surely as my own fist was around your neck!" Vlad stripped off his gloves, baring the black metal skeletal fingers of his augmented implants. He clenched and unclenched them, letting the sound of roughened steel rubbing together with bone crushing force resonate across the bridge.
"We are currently in the grip of madmen, people who will do anything to win the war. We are trapped here, like this cup in my fist." Vlad said, picking up a aluminum thermos, which he promptly crumpled like paper. "We are trying to push the visible threat away, to prevent being ruptured like the cup was... but in doing so we ignore the far greater threat..." his left wrist snapped back and a thin shiv blade spun through the air to stick quivering in the window glass right next to Ysak's head. "Of a knife, cleverly hidden, in this case... or the media... the poison... the terrorist... the assassin... the plague... in the case of the world. You need to carefully consider that this war is not going to be nearly as pleasant as Jachin Due and Boaz were. In fact, this war is going to make both of those detestable battles look like a snowball fight in the schoolyard. We just wanted to make sure everyone was on the same page... so that nobody was caught off guard when things go to shit. And they will go to shit. Soon. How will you respond when the terrorist puts the gun to the child's head? Or you see the plagued clamoring for aid in the streets of New New York? Or when the Chairman of the PLANTS drops dead with his skull blown apart. Or when both sides media brand you all as race traitors... the lowest scum, fit only to be executed along with all your families on sight?"
"Much as I hate to admit it... he has a pretty good point." Kisaka said after about a minute of uneasy glances being shared around. "I was brought up in the regular military, where even the thought of attacking civilians through diseases or poison or sabotage or assassination was unthinkable as a method for winning a war... but in a situation where weapons of mass destruction have already been believed to be used by both sides... as Andrew said before Jachin... once pulled once, a trigger becomes easier to pull every subsequent time. I have little doubt that if this war is allowed to escalate for as long as the last one did... well, I think Vladimir did quite a complete job of outlining what lies down that path."
"So not only do we have to stop both sides from annihilating each other with nukes... we have to try and end the war as quickly as possible before both sides start upping the ante?" Dearka said, disbelief in his voice. "And I thought the shit we had to do during the last war was impossible!"
"No one ever said it was going to be easy." Cagalli replied. "If you want out..."
"I didn't say that. I'm just griping a little."
"Well, thank you for bringing your concerns to our attention, Vladimir." Murrue cut in. "But before we start worrying about even the stuff for next week, we need to decide on our basic force allocations now, so we can form plans for later subsequently." she sat down in the captain's chair and started calling up information displays on the main screen. "I think I can say without going too far out on a limb that you'd prefer to have Cagalli on the Kusanagi. Since the Kusanagi has much more room for mobile suits I think we should keep most of the high maintenance suits there... hey, you know, I just realized I don't know anything about any of the mobile suits. Maybe someone else should be making the calls, hmm?"
"I think I'm going to stay here. No offense, Kisaka but the people I know best are on the Archangel." Kira said immediately. Kisaka nodded, unsurprised.
"I'm going to..." Athrun started to say.
"You are coming with me." Cagalli interrupted. "I'm not going to let you and Kira get together again and compound thoughts on winning the war all by yourselves. Or the selfless sacrificing bullshit you almost pulled last time. Besides, you and Kira are our two best pilots... we shouldn't put both of you on the same ship."
"Very logical argument for someone who would mainly just get unbearably horny if he were elsewhere." Dearka whispered very faintly in Miriallia's ear. She barely managed to stifle her giggle, drawing a suspicious look from Cagalli and a tolerant one from Athrun, who'd heard the little comment well enough.
"Dearka and I have to be assigned to the same ship since we're in the same machine." Miriallia said next. And I might suffer a bit like Cagalli if we were seperated. she admitted privately to herself. "Since Orb built the Grand Buster I would assume it has better facilities for it, I think we should go to the Kusanagi."
"Fine by me." Dearka agreed.
"So that means Ysak will stay on the Archangel with Kira and I." Lacus said. To Kira she sounded almost impercibtibly less than enthusiastic about that development, but he doubted anyone else would be able to pick up on it. Kira looked at Ysak, who was quite obviously more than a little unenthusiastic about the situation, but was unable to argue against common tactical sense... they couldn't put everyone on the Kusanagi.
"I guess that means we are staying on the Archangel too." Vladimir put in. "Since I doubt very much that Katie and Chanel will voluntarily leave Ysak's side and none of us will leave them alone here. No disrespect intended."
"That brings up another good point... who are you people? And can you do anything to help besides point out all the bad things we have to watch out for?" Murrue asked. Kisaka sighed and she turned to look at him.
"This is going to be another long story, but I suppose we should get it out of the way." Kisaka said wearily. "It started a few years before the last war..."