"The Isolationist delegation has arrived." Ezalia informed the other PLANT representatives, holding a hand unconsciously to the microbud transmitter in her earring. As the representative from the military committee, she'd been placed in default command of the security forces as a matter of course. Realizing what she was doing she quickly dropped her hand back to her side, but she didn't fool herself into thinking she'd gone unnoticed... her son and his girlfriend both were far too sharp to not notice a lapse like that, not that it really mattered but still... she was getting sloppy. Too much frustration and stress... she'd thought the last war was bad, but only the hysteria of the time right up to and including Jachin Due was anything close to the way things had been ever since the failed invasion of this very Moon. A further comm from the security forces outside caused her eyes to widen considerably. "Repeat that again!?"
"What is it, Ezalia?" Eileen Canaver asked, a hint of concern worming through her otherwise composed political poker face. Personally the de facto Chairwoman of the PLANT Supreme Council was cheered immensely to see the daughter of her dear friend Siegel Clyne present, still so obviously full of determination to make a difference in making the world a better, more peaceful place in the finest traditions of diplomacy... but even that wasn't enough to entirely lift the feelings of imminent doom pressing down on her. It had not been a smooth and easy or short tenure of office for her, much to her personal chagrin. All she'd wanted to do was prevent Patrick Zala from committing genocide, and then hold together an interim government until a proper series of successors could be chosen, but things hadn't worked out that way at all, had they?
"I think I can tell you, Mrs. Chairwoman." Lacus spoke up from her seat across the roughly circular table from Eileen. The table seated twelve, as the proposal had indicated four members at most from each concerned side should attended. While neither the PLANTS nor the Isolationist government really considered the Clyne Faction a "side", both superpowers were fully expecting them to show up anyway, with mixed feelings. Eileen and Ezalia were relieved, Tad Elsman and Orsen White distrustful, while the Isolationist party was more than likely to just ignore them as much as possible. But at least they were there. "President Argyle is here in person."
"He's what!?" Tad Elsman leaned forward suddenly, his eyes intense.
"Sai doesn't govern like previous members of the Earth Alliance... he's a very hands on leader." Kira answered. "Don't lump him into the standard mould for Alliance leadership, for your own sakes." Kira was sitting in the chair closest to the PLANT delegation, as far as he could physically be from the seats for the Alliance delegation. He was pretty sure he and Sai could keep their differences under wraps for the duration of the meeting, but he saw no reason to provoke matters by sitting in close proximity to him either. To his left was Lacus, and then Athrun and then Ms. Murrue, sitting across from Eileen Canvar, Ezalia Joule and Orsen White respectively, while Mr. Elsman was sitting "next" to Kira, if by close to four feet away around the curve of the table could be considered "next to". The PLANT delegation aides and supporters clustered against the wall behind their councilmembers, while the other members of the Clyne Faction did likewise on their own wall.
Sai didn't keep them waiting long. Within less than a minute the double doors leading into the room swung open and two men stepped through. Neither were instantly familiar to anyone currently in the room... the one on the right was tall and of medium build, with close cropped prematurely grey hair, while the one on the left was short and more muscular, with the complexion and black hair of someone from the Latin America's. Both were dressed in the standard suit and ties of government security... FAGG suits as Katie had called them scornfully... but there was nothing particularly amusing about either of these two men. After a few seconds of looking at the grey haired man Ysak stiffened. "It's the guy from the church... the one who tossed me like a pokerchip..." Ysak muttured sourly. Katie meanwhile was sharing a brief shocked raised eyebrow with Lacus... the man on the left was plainly visible to them from all perspectives, but the grey haired man on the right was only there to their physical senses. It was very disconcerting for Lacus, and not much less for Katie... she remembered that Asmodeus had been like this too. Smoothly, with entirely military precision, the two bodyguards stepped to the side of the doors.
Sai's grand entrance was... both not nearly as grand as some had been expecting and far more grand that was entirely proper for modern diplomatic convention. He swept into the room at the head of his delegation, which consisted of only three other people... his wife Vanai and their two baby children. There was no fanfare of trumpets or wordy announcement like some had feared, but it wasn't exactly the done thing to bring your wife and kids to a high level diplomatic event, especially if you didn't bring any other advisors... it smacked of despotism or feudal monarchy. These days a leader had advisors for everything, and almost all important decision were at least looked over by a group of people, if not an entire wing of government, before a call was made either way. Showing up with just guards and family to a peace conference to determine the fate of the world... it was like saying that he didn't care what everyone else in his government thought, that he was the only one with the power to make any important decisions... and having that much power concentrated in the hands of one person was extremely dangerous, history had proven time and again.
Sai nodded when he saw who was in the room, his gaze passing over both the Clyne Faction and PLANT delegations coolly and evenly... though Kira noticed a definite tensing of jaw muscles when his eyes met Sai's for a brief moment. However, there was nothing more than that and Kira breathed a small sigh of relief as Sai's gaze swept on to Mr. Elsman. Sai was apparently willing to set their personal differences aside as well, that was a very good thing, at least for the context of the meeting. Sai made no greetings, merely nodded once his inspection of the room was complete and then pulled out a chair for himself and his wife in the middle of the section for the Alliance party and sat down. Eileen froze halfway to her feet, wrongfooted by the whole entrance, which was abrupt to the point of rudeness. It was common to rise, mouth a few greetings, shake a few hands, get introductions going and a little small talk besides... that was how informal negotiations were conducted. She'd expected it to be at least an hour or two of beating around the bush with diplomatic red tape before anything of substance was brought up... but then again she'd expected to be dealing with diplomats, not a nineteen year old President.
"You're the ones who asked for a informal meeting to discuss a cease fire and perhaps a longer lasting peace beyond that." Sai said into the shocked silence. "I'm here and listening." He looked around the table again. "I see that you're all somewhat shocked by my manners. That is unfortunate, but if you wanted me to act like a diplomat, make this official and I'll be glad to bow and scrape to the diplomatic code of conduct, but I thought we were here to TALK, not play word games over tea and biscuits."
"You're very direct." Orsen White commented, looking uncomfortable. This sort of confrontational leadership style was familiar to him... it was how Patrick Zala had acted in the bad few weeks before GENESIS. Not a good image to parallel too. "But we can handle direct, if that's how you want to play it." The trick was not to let on that you were off guard, even if they knew you were anyway. He was a politician with a multi-decade long career... he wasn't going to be intimidated by some kid half his age.
"It is. Given the rather eleventh hour nature of these talks... something that is entirely your fault... I figured you wouldn't want to waste time on pleasantries." Sai steepled his fingers on the table in front of him. He set out no documents, carried no folders or even a personal computer. "You have roughly twenty hours and thirty seven minutes until the end of my grace period and you lose your terrestrial holdings, which I clearly outlined and published both in the news and online. I have been nothing but open and clear about my intentions for the past three months and you have done nothing but ignore me. So pardon me if I'm less than sympathetic to you now that you finally realize I am serious and have been all along."
"Your Isolation plan is frankly obscene and unworkable." Ezalia retorted. So the kid wanted to ride roughshod over the diplomatic code... she could handle that. He wanted direct... no one could be as direct as a Joule. "Total trade and diplomatic separation between the PLANTS and the Earth is not only impossible, it is insane. The PLANTS were never designed to be fully independent of Earth's food supplies, despite the steps we have taken to increase our own self reliance. Likewise, the entire reason the PLANTS were built in the first place was to serve as a manufacturing base for materials and products that could not be produced on Earth. While we relish autonomy from the economic sanctions and tithes our former sponsor governments placed upon us, we have never desired to cease trade altogether... merely pursue it under our own terms. To cease trade altogether would destroy our entire economy and lead to a breakdown of our entire nation as well as the deaths of millions of innocent people from starvation and privation."
"Provisions have been made to provide food and other vital supplies to the PLANTS for a year or more after the Isolation is enacted." Sai replied calmly, unflinching in the face of her criticism.
"Though their offer is appreciated, Orb can barely support itself right now, much less us as well!" Mr. Elsman jumped in. "And so far, Orb is the only nation that has pledged to support that ammendment to your so called plan and they were the ones that negotiated its inclusion in the first place!"
"I am very sorry you feel that way, but as a national as well as world leader, I have to put my own people first." Sai replied. "I have already spent... wasted many say... billions of dollars providing recompensation for Coordinator families to extradite back to the PLANTS, and I plan to spend billions more in that area as well, until every last Coordinator has left Earth. I have been more than generous in my offers of aid to any nation..." Sai glanced at Athrun in his Orb Representative's outfit. "... that requires it. I have institued a three month cease fire and grace period that you all have spent rebuilding your armed forces, instead of focusing on solving the problems you're complaining about now."
"Easy for you to say... you have a world with massive amounts of food, water and living space, not to mention free air and a host of other comforts not available to us in space." Ezalia replied harshly. "Building more agricultural colonies is not a process for months... maybe, just maybe, in a decade or so, we might be able to start planting crops on newly constructed colonies that would render us minimally self sufficient... but thats no garuantee, given that with the loss of Junius Seven and the damage to Junius Six we've lost almost an ninth of our home grown agricultural production."
"I cannot provide food support for a decade. I cannot allow for more than two years further contact between Coordinators and Naturals at the absolute limit, and so far I haven't heard any compelling arguments for extending my deadlines past its current date." Sai answered.
"Can you perhaps explain again your reasoning behind this... separation policy...?" Eileen asked slowly, trying to hide her dismay at the uncompromising nature of the Isolationist leader.
"It's rather simple." Sai replied. "Naturals and Coordinators do not get along. It's a proven fact that when one group of people is thought to be more special or advantaged or just different than another group of people and both groups live intermingled or in close proximity... violence is always the result. Always. It's a part of human nature, sad though that is. I'm not saying Coordinators are at fault... in fact its almost one hundred percent true that both these wars were entirely the fault of us Naturals. Because, by and large, the average Natural is jealous of Coordinators. Because you are smarter... you live longer and healthier... you're stronger, faster, tougher... capable of going further and accomplishing more than any Natural, even if they work just as hard as you. Generally speaking anyway, there are always some exceptions to any rule. And jealousy leads to discontent, which leads to anger, which leads to action... and thus the continuing cycle of violence we've been in ever since George Glenn left for Saturn."
"But wouldn't you say that the problem isn't that Coordinators are inherently better at everything than Naturals... just that that false conception, widely promulgated, has yet to be properly refuted?" Lacus spoke up. It was hard, she couldn't get a real sense for how everyone else was feeling... though it wasn't too hard to guess how the PLANT councilmembers were taking Sai's announcements just by looking at them... with her Newtype senses almost shut down in caution. There was still the question of the unknown Newtype that had so dramatically affected Mr. Elsman, and both she and Katie were extremely reluctant to extend themselves too openly... if the Newtype could have such an affect on a Stump, there was no telling what they could do to a fellow Active or a Latent. "Everyone here knows that I am undeniably a Coordinator, but that simple fact of genetics doesn't make me inherently better than you except in a few areas, President Argyle, just as you yourself have skills and abilities in other areas which far exceed my own."
"Putting aside the question of abilities and skills, lets talk inherent natures." Vanai spoke up, a kid on each knee, both babies staring at the crowd of new people with delight plain on their faces. "You're all first or second generation Coordinators... how many of you were sick as babies? How many Coordinator infants die from SIDS (Sudden Infant Death Syndrome) or other birth related problems? How long can you all expect to live and stay active? One hundred years? One hundred twenty? More? Even with the top of the line medical care I can afford, in all likelyhood I won't live to see one hundred... and you all will still be running marathons then."
"Well, that's what Coordinators are... humans genetically enhanced to live longer, happier, better lives, from infancy to seniority. The process doesn't always work out as planned, but by and large the traits and skills and abilities of the parents are passed on to their progeny with a high degree of accuracy." Mr. Elsman retorted. "I'd hate to sound like an arrogant ass, but I just don't see why people DON'T want to advantage their children by making them Coordinators... who doesn't want a better future for their children?"
"Not everyone is as advantaged as you are. In fact, the greater majority of people on Earth aren't. Creating Coordinators is not an especially difficult process... but its not free either. It's against the religious views of others, and some people just don't want to go to the hassle. For some it's a tradition, or a family more, or accidental. There are as many different reasons for not wanting Coordinator children as there are people to think of them." Sai replied. "And of course, I do still want a better future for my children, and all children, both Natural and Coordinator. That's why I've instituted the Isolation Plan." Sai paused a moment to stare around the table again. "It's not for us. Not for our generation. I know it's going to be hard for everyone from my generation and older... even tragic in a lot of cases. But the world for our children, and our childrens children and so forth down the line... that is the bright and peaceful world that my Plan ensures."
"I still don't see how you can square sacrificing millions of innocent lives in starvation riots with bringing an eventual peaceful world, of which there is no set garuantee." Athrun cut in. "Both Cagalli and I have been over your Plan word by word, and though we were glad to see you flex on a few points, there are quite a few more that we're still strongly against. The forceful relocation of Coordinators from their homes... it reminds me of what the Nazi's did in the early stages of the 20th century to their Jewish population."
"I'm not sending them to death camps or forcing them to leave uncompensated..." Sai started to protest. Athrun held up a hand to stop him.
"You are sending them up to an environment that doesn't have the space or the resources to facilitate their presence, where a great many of them will probably end up dying from starvation if the food supplies... already strained from the damage to Junius and the attacks on Australia... dry up. It may not be a death camp with barbed wire and poison gas chambers, but the effect is the same." Athrun said forcefully. "Not even mentioning the ethics of thinking money can compensate for sundering people from friends, family and the life and happiness they have living where they are now."
"And even if you manage to enforce and implement your Plan, what garuantee does anyone have that your political predecessors will be of the mind to hold to your promises?" Eileen pointed out. "We could end the war here and now, ignoring any of the problems we've already brought up, and then two, four or however many years down the line when a Hawkish President takes over the Atlantic Federation or Eurasian Federation, get attacked again, using the very forces you propose be built up as peacekeepers. Politics is an ever changing gameboard... what is certain and irrefutable now might not be so after a change of leadership..."
"Don't presume to lecture me just because I'm not a fortysomething career politician." Sai cut in icily. "I'm well aware of the realities of politics and changes in policy after a change in leadership. Thats why I intend to make the far greater portion of the peacekeepers entirely NGO (Non-Governmental Organization) based, so that the ever changing tides of politics cannot affect them."
"I think we might be straying from the heart of the issue here, and letting ourselves get too far bogged down in details." Lacus said, coughing politely a few times to draw attention to herself. "This conference is about finding out if a cease fire and subsequent peace negotiations can be started, is it not? I suggest we resolve that issue first, before anything else. This war is not something either Naturals or Coordinators desires, am I right?"
"I know I'm heartily sick of it." Kira hadn't realized he'd spoken out loud until he saw everyone shoot him a glance. He flushed slightly and then shrugged... might as well say a piece while he had the floor. "Pretty much everyone here knows who I am, and knows about the somewhat unique perspective I've had on both wars, being a Coordinator that fought against ZAFT at first. Everyone has lost friends, family and more to these wars... and yet they keep continuing on anyway, despite how sick everyone is of them. This is probably not a surprise to anyone, but I agree with Lacus... I think that if the problem of the ignorance of just what a Coordinator is that most Naturals have could be educated away then both sides could live in peace. Sure, there will always be those who, even with education, refuse to accept that Coordinators or Naturals are not necessarily better or worse... just different... but that's why we have criminal justice systems."
"More of your "People are not defined by abilities alone" ideology, Kira?" Sai spoke up. "Don't get me wrong, I think its a very good way of thinking... its just I don't think the average joe or jane on the streets will buy it. It may be true, but in popular culture for centuries now... people ARE defined by their abilities, or are perceived to be, which amounts to the same thing."
"Well, just saying its pointless to try without even trying doesn't help much either, Sai." Kira retorted. "Look at Orb... before the Alliance invaded, Coordinators and Naturals co-existed...maybe not in perfect harmony but certainly without violence and rampant prejudice."
"And look at what their tolerance has bought them, time and again. Orb has been invaded and sacked how many times in the past few years? Two... Three? Yes, do look at Orb. That wreckage is exactly what the entire world will look like if we don't enact the Isolation Plan." Sai replied firmly. He looked directly at Lacus. "You want to talk peace, that is fine with me. Here are the terms. Cease all hostile action immediately, withdraw all your troops and material from Earth within the next two weeks. Fully comply with the terms of the Isolation Plan. If you meet those terms, I garuantee peace."
"Agreeing to the Isolation Plan is entirely out of the question." Eileen answered equally firmly. "We will gladly accept a cease fire and a mutual standown of our active military forces, and we would dearly love to pursue an active mutual disarmament plan. We're even willing to discuss possible war reparations."
"That is Orb's stance as well." Athrun added with a nod at Canaver and the other PLANT delegates. "Minus the war reparations."
"You people really don't seem to understand your situation completely, do you?" Sai seemed thoughtful for a moment. He sighed and shook his head. "Very well, I wanted to be polite about this, but you don't leave me any choice. My terms are not negotiable. I'm not a political dealer, I have no interest in further compromise. I've told you what you need to do to bring peace, and I've gone out of my way to make things easy for you people, but this is the line in the sand. The Isolation Plan WILL commence in a little more than twenty hours, come hell or high water. If you don't want to leave peacefully, I WILL deport you by force. I have the forces to do it, you know that."
"You can't be so inflexible..." Lacus started to protest. Sai pounded his fist into the table to interrupt her.
"I have been the defintion of flexible and I won't bend any further. You should be glad I let you speak at this meeting at all, because the Clyne Faction certainly isn't recognized as a legitimate political state by my government, and I haven't heard the PLANTS make a declaration either way on the subject. You are rogues and deserters from both sides, pursuing your own agenda's with your own means... I was willing to extend the olive branch and work with you if you would work with me, but if you cannot meet my terms then I am very sorry but I cannot see a reason to listen to you any further."
"We came here to negotiate... not surrender to terms." Ezalia spoke up, fuming. "You are right... currently you do have a military advantage over us. But just because you have the might does not give you the right to dictate unconditional terms to us. We are not defeated and we have NOT surrendered. You claim to be different from the Alliance leaders in the past, but you still spout the same nonsense, when it comes down to it!"
"You attacked Orb twice without provocation, and committed atrocites during both occupations. You blame us for the state our nation is in, when it is your fault in the first place. Not only that but you threaten to attack us again, to enforce a dictate that is entirely unconstitutional in Orb, which, whether you currently choose to recognize it or not, is a soveriegn nation!" Athrun was almost on his feet he was so furious. And he wasn't even born an Orb citizen. It was a damn good thing Cagalli wasn't here... a fistfight would already be in progress at the very least.
"It's not the ideal world... to make an omelette you have to break some eggs. And Orb is one of those eggs. To ensure a peaceful future for all mankind, Natural and Coordinator, if you cannot work with me willingly, then I will force you to." Sai said flatly. "I cannot allow compromise... any compromise in the Isolation Plan beyond what it already has will render it useless and the wars will continue, year after year, generation after generation, until one side or the other is entirely annihilated... or more likely still, we wipe each other out. At all costs, I cannot allow that to happen while I have to power to stop it. Why am I the only one here who can see that?"
Is he being goaded... are we all being goaded... everyone is so angry so fast... Lacus thought furiously. Who's out there!? Who are you!? What do you think you're doing!? Stop this manipulation at once! This is our last chance to stop this war diplomatically! Don't you care... this war affects you too!?
Who are you talking to? Katie asked, even as she cautiously probed again... she and Lacus and Kira and Ysak were still the only Newtypes she could detect within her range. She didn't feel like her emotions were being controlled or influenced... but someone had calmed Mr. Elsman, and it hadn't been her or Lacus. Is anyone out there? Hello? We aren't your enemy. For an instant she got the feeling someone was watching her, like she was being observed from the other side of a one way mirror... but then the sensation was gone like it'd never been.
"I think these negotiations are over." Eileen Canaver stood gracefully. "We came here with the intention of forging the beginnings of peace between our two peoples... not listen to the ravings of a child who refuses to accept any vision but his own. Your Isolation Plan is illegal, unethical and frankly impossible, from our persepective. No Coordinator with a shred of common decency could ever acquise to such a thing, especially not if they have responsibilty for our people as a whole. I don't look forward to the time, twenty something hours from now, when you enact your so called plan... but neither do I look away. We are ready for you and we will not go down without a fight if you think you can force us to do your will so easily." She turned to look at Lacus. "Ms. Clyne, I deeply appreciate your efforts in bringing these talks together and you have my deepest personal sympathies. But the PLANTS cannot deal with the Isolationist government peacefully as long as it maintains this stance."
"I cannot blame you for coming to that decision, Chairwoman Canaver." Lacus replied. It wasn't easy holding back the tears of frustration and disappointment and even fear. It was even harder to keep from unintentionally broadcasting those feelings... certainly Kira picked up on them, from the concern and anger plain on his face and the steely look in his eyes when he contemplated Sai, who just stared back quietly.
"Mr. Zala... Zala-Attha, excuse me." Eileen continued, looking at Arthun. "I must also extend to you our most sincere thanks for Orb's courageous and selfless support in this issue, despite the cold shoulder my government has been giving you. I cannot say this officially, but I will do whatever I can to get the PLANTS to recognize Orb once more, as is its right. We cannot offer more than that though, in these trying times." Eileen didn't care that Sai could hear her... he probably knew just as well as her what dire straights ZAFT was in... it was one of the reasons he felt he could be so demanding, obviously. With those words she bowed once, formally to both Athrun and Lacus, then marched from the room with her delegation behind her, ignoring Sai.
"I suppose you're rather angry with me now, aren't you Kira?" Sai said, as the PLANT delegation filed out. He maintained his gaze lock with Kira. He'd had a lot of practice in gaze games, dealing with Cervantes, Asmodeus and Cyprus for as long as he had. Once, the sight of the naked dislike on his former friend's face would have been so painful to him that he wouldn't have been able to bear it for more than a few moments... but that time was long past. He let the almost palapable anger and frustration from Kira just flow right through him like it wasn't there at all. "That's too bad... I was hoping I'd be able to catch up with you a little after we agreed to work together again, but I guess it didn't work out that way, did it?"
"Sai... how could you..." Kira started to say. Sai cut him off with a derisive snort.
"Don't preach at me, Kira, you remember what happened last time. Your way is very virtuous, very courageous and very admirable. It's also impossibly unrealistic, especially for a world leader in my position. No... my way is harsh, but it's the best path open to us now. Don't worry, I'm not like Azrael or Cervantes... my troops already have orders to minimize casualties to the maximum extent... I feel the same way about that as you and Lacus do. I don't like unnessecary killing and I will not condone it in my military."
"Sai, you can't think that you're just going to walk all over ZAFT, even with your current numerical advantages. Carpentaria has survived everything the Alliance has thrown at it for almost three years of solid war, including a massed nuclear attack. I've looked at your task force strengths, and I just don't see the reason for your confidence." Murrue spoke up, her eyes downcast, as if unwilling to look at her former subordinate.
"Numbers are no longer our only advantage." Sai replied with a small smile. "I won't fool myself... Carpentaria will be a tough nut to crack, but with the forces I have allocated to it, victory should be accomplished within a day. I have a ninety percent certainty on that. Afterwards, that task force will be reinforced and resupplied, then it will come to Orb. From the moment that task force opens communications with your wife, Athrun, you will have precisely twelve hours to surrender and comply. No more. This is your only warning."
"Her reply will be the one you are expecting, President Argyle." Athrun retorted coldly. "Neither of us responds well to threats, or to being messed with by meglomaniacal fanatics. I can assure you, Orb will resist you to the last, even in our current weakened state. We will not abandon the rights of our people, never again."
"Very well... now that we've finished threatening each other, lets move..." Sai was interrupted by Cyprus laying a hand on his shoulder and leaning down, after receiving an urgent communication several minutes before, during the heated heart of the negotiations. "Yes, Cyprus?"
"Report, sir. Tiamat attack. They hit New New York City, sir." Cyprus replied shortly.
"What!?"
"Just a few minutes ago sir. It was a decapitation attack... they were after you. They broke into the governmental complex from one of the secondary access points and nerve gassed the entire area."
"Nerve gas!?" Murrue asked, her eyes wide in horror.
"Indeed." Cyprus nodded once. "Casualties are high, and the gas has a long lifetime, so we will not be returning to that particular complex for several years. A seperate but likely related attack was launched on the harbor area by the Fury and the Tiamat mobile suit company. Damage there is also severe."
"Damn it, Asmodeus... you just can't sit quietly in your grave can you!?" Sai gritted his teeth in anger and frustration. "Why can't you see that your time on the stage is over, and has been since you surrendered to me? It is the obligation of the defeated to stay that way, at least for a few years!" Sai calmed himself and looked up at his friend and guard. "We had no warning of the attack?"
"This is a man who taught me much of what I know, sir." Cyprus replied levelly, in a way a more solid reply than any other confirmation. "And given the failure of this attack, there will be others, in the future."
"Well... I'd hoped to spend some time with my old comrades, even if they do despise me currently, but once again, needs must. Earth needs me, so I must bid you all farewell, much as you may not believe that I have your best interests at heart. I daresay the next time we talk will be sometime after my task forces reaches Orb waters." Sai looked down and away for a moment as he rose to his feet. "Do try... not to end up dead." With those parting words Sai turned around and stalked out of the room, Vanai on his heels shooting a venemous glance over her shoulder at Lacus and Kira and Athrun and as many other Coordinators as she could pick out as she did so.
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"Well, that hardly required my touch at all. What a wonderfully confrontational man." Noah muttured under his breath as he watched Sai Argyle and the rest of his rather small delegation re-enter their limousines and drive away. Eileen Canaver and Orson White had already left as well along with a security detachment and much of the rest of the PLANTS delegation. Ezalia Joule and Tad Elsman had predictably remained behind, obviously still interested in re-bonding with their children amongst the Clyne Faction. "Of course he's delusional, but in a charming manner. It's too bad he's a Natural, he could have been very interesting to work with. He certainly has no trouble seeing the big picture, even when most everyone else can barely think past their own noses."
"Formed an impression on you did he?" Gilbert Durandel said suddenly from a few steps behind him. Noah had to fight the urge to jump... his Newtype senses were still in lockdown to avoid detection from the Clyne Faction Newtypes, and as a result his own situational awareness was much more limited than usual. Being forced to rely on the standard five senses was so bothersome. "He's not an easy man to influence... he combines teenage stubbornness with crusading idealism and national pride. It is not a favorable combination for a politician." Durandel sounded mildly disdainful, but of course Noah could not currently tell for sure, which was another annoyance.
"I suppose you'd prefer someone like Lacus Clyne or Ambassador Zala-Attha?" Noah replied, not bothering to turn and look at the man. He couldn't let on that he was currently at a severe disadvantage... without his powers he was being forced to rely on his own expansive mind, which though powerful was only keeping him even with Durandel's decades of extra experience.
"They are less than optimal as well, but if forced to pick, yes, definitely. All three of them, including Representative Zala-Attha as well... teenagers should not be political leaders. It only causes problems. They just don't have the necessary perspective in time and experience."
"President Argyle seems to have quite a long term perspective to me." Noah replied neutrally, fishing for an opinion.
"That is the impression he was trying to give, but I don't believe it. At most he is thinking a decade or two into the future... if instituted his Plan will have reprecussions felt for centuries. I cannot condone a leader who fails to understand the full ramifications of his plans... he has to go. And so do I, my car is leaving shortly. I will talk to you again, I am sure." Durandel nodded curtly and left.
Well, that cinches that then. Durandel will never go along with my own plans, if he's against something that has ramifications only a few centuries long. He'd never go for something that will change humanity for all of time. Nothing less than expected. But he is right... Sai Argyle does have to go. I'll have to put some thought into it...
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"Ysak..." Ezalia trailed off, her voice choking as she struggled to regain her equanamity of mind after the unexpectedly short and confrontational peace talks... though they really hadn't been all that peaceful, had they? A part of her mind was already working on what sort of report she'd have to give the other members of the National Defense Committee, and the ZAFT High Command. President Argyle seemed supremely confident in the ability of his forces to handily overwhelm the remaining ZAFT terrestrial forces... and though she knew that was a political ploy amongst other things, she had to admit she had a fissure of doubt as to the ability of the bases to hold out, isolated as they were from each other and meaningful support from the homeland. After all, the Alliance had shown a distressing amount of technological progress in their war machines during the lunar invasion, and they still retained their vast numerical superiority and industrial capacity advantages. Maybe they would have to bring Operation Overload back up for debate once more.
"Mother." Ysak stepped forward and embraced her, something more that was unusual for him. He was growing up so much, and all while she was away from him. She'd thought she'd gotten over the fledgling leaving the nest nostalgia after he'd joined ZAFT, but apparently it was back with a bit of a vengeance. She wanted to tell him to come back with her, that she would smooth over the problems ZAFT high command had with his insubordination, that they would go back to being the happy family they had always been... but she knew that was nonsense. Much as she didn't want it to be that way, Ysak had his own life now, was walking his own path. He had his friends and the people he obviously cared a great deal about, and she could not ask him to leave that behind for her, especially when she couldn't give him any garuantee's at all about what would happen if and when he did return to the PLANTS. She felt her eyes tearing up just a bit as she hugged her son for all she was worth.
"I'm so proud of you, Ysak. I'm always so proud of you. Don't you ever forget that." Ezalia said quietly. "I know you have to go back with the Clyne Faction. Back with the friends and comrades you've risked your life to be with this entire bloody war."
"Friends and comrades might be going a bit far in some cases." Ysak rolled his eyes at Athrun, standing with Kira, Lacus and Alkire by the limo. "But I've learned to be tolerant of the annoying nature of my co-workers."
"Curse of the Joule's... we're always working with frustrating people." Ezalia managed a slight smile. Her eyes fell on Katie, who was not quite not watching Ysak say his goodbye. "She seems like a good girl. Lots of depth of character. She's a Natural then? Not that it matters, there are plenty of good Naturals."
"Sometimes she makes me wonder, but yes, she's a Natural. A very frightening one. I wish I had time to sit down with you and her and get the whole story out, but there just isn't the time. You need to get back to the PLANTS, I need to return to the Archangel. Both of us are going to be fighting our respective fights rather sooner than we'd been hoping for." Ysak slowly released his mother from the hug. As he did so she surprised him by reaching up and touching a finger to the scar still crossing his face.
"Haven't you worn it long enough?" Ezalia asked. She wasn't expecting to get a smile from her son, but that is indeed what she received. He gently touched his own fingers to the scar as well.
"There are some flaws it better suits me to hold onto, rather than deny they ever happened. Originally I kept this scar to remind me of someone I promised to kill, but that is no longer the reason it's there. Now, like any number of other mementos, this mark on my face is just one more reminder that I have more than myself to be concerned about." Ysak replied. "Maybe after this war is done for good... but its somehow managed to become quite a part of me."
"So you have found closure... that's all I was worried about. Keeping the mark physically never bothered me... I'm extremely happy to see you moving past the emotional mark the injury left as well." Ezalia stepped back a pace. "And now we both have to go our superate ways again. Do try and keep in touch, Ysak. I love you very much, that will never change. And I'm sure your father would be at least as proud of you as I am."
"I love you too, mother. I will come back to the PLANTS after this war is done. There is no other home for me. Thank you for understanding." Ysak said quietly, brushing a well of moisture in his own eyes away with a quick flick of his hands. With no further words between them, they both turned to go their seperate ways, much more at ease with the world than before the meeting, even considering the events that occured.
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"Dearka, hold on a moment." Tad Elsman reached out his hand to grab his son by the shoulder, but stopped well short when he saw the barely perceptible flinch. That tiny gesture, probably not even visible to a non-Coordinator, was still enough to feel like a punch in the gut to the councilman. Physical discipline had never been used in the Elsman household, though his children frequently complained that the verbal battering their father and mother used was worse than a few whacks on the ass with a rod. But still, to actually have his son flinch from his touch... well, Tad was no more immune to guilt than any other man. "I need to talk to you before you leave."
"Sure thing, Dad." Dearka sounded pleasant enough as he turned, but Tad was no fool. He could almost feel the dread with which his son regarded any sort of personal consultation with his parents, and well should he considering the massive divergence in philosophies between parents and child ever since he joined ZAFT after the Bloody Valentine tragedy. Tad knew that he and his wife were being perhaps too controlling in demanding that their son not do his part to defend his nation in a time of need, but he couldn't help himself at times. People died in wars, lots of people. Pacifistic ideology aside, Tad loved his son far too much to just let him go off to the front lines, where he could be killed at any time. He used to live in dread of the phone and email, always expecting any government correspondence to contain a so called black card... one of the mass produced condolences ZAFT sent out to the family and friends of the deceased. Things hadn't gotten any easier when he'd learned of Dearka's capture by the Alliance, if anything that had been worse because he no longer was sure he'd even get any notice at all if his son died.
"I... may have been overly harsh... earlier." Mr. Elsman said slowly, uncomfortable. He could count the number of times he'd been forced to apologize to oe of his children because he'd been legitimately wrong on one hand. Apology didn't come naturally to his fiery nature, which of course had contributed in large part to the rift between him and his son. Things had been said, on that morning Dearka had first packed up and run away to the ZAFT academies, that Mr. Elsman still deeply regretted, almost two and a half years later. "Please try to understand... your mother and I view fighting in wars to be abhorrent and wrong, but it isn't our place to force our ideals on you, I realize that now. And despite the fact that I'm still furious at you for running away and joining the military against my wishes... I can understand why you did so. Your mother and I love you so much, Dearka..." Mr. Elsman fought down a hitch in his voice. "... please try not to let what we said forever change your relationship with us."
"Dad..." Dearka wasn't quite sure what to say. His father didn't apologize to people. It just didn't happen, in Dearka's experience. His father was either right, or partially right. Never wrong. Yet now... "I can't forgive you just like that. And now really isn't the time or the place. But after this war is over, one way or another... I think I'm ready to have a family again."
"That's all I needed to hear." Mr. Elsman regained his composure. He extended his hand. "I would tell you to be careful, but I'm pretty sure you know how to do that better than I do. Good luck in your... endeavors." Mr. Elsman had been about to say fights, but he wasn't able to force out what was to him one of the dirtiest words imaginable.
Dearka regarded his father's extended hand with a neutral expression for several seconds, then tenatively reached out his hand to shake with his father. "Thank's, Dad. You too. I'm not sure which of us needs it more, at this point. Say hi to mom and the girls for me. I'm still thinking of you all, don't you ever doubt it." They shook up and down once, and then let go. Standard business handshake. But it was a start.
"One more thing." Mr. Elsman said as he turned to head to his limo. "Your girlfriend... Mirialla, right? Could you remind her that jokes about genetics..."
"I already did, Dad. That one just slipped out in the heat of the moment, something I think we're both familiar with."
"Ah. Quite. Well, in that case, good day, son."
"See you around, Dad."
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"How much time?" Eric Kellson tried for bored nonchalance. He was pretty sure he failed at that worse than he usually failed most grammer tests in high school, but it never hurt to try. He was currently standing on the maintenance catwalk outside the cockpit of his Templar unit, deep within the bowels of the Victorious. The other pilots of the 71st Special Mobile Squadron stood nearby, with their own Templar's being situated either port or forward or aft of Eric's. Like him they were all dressed in the darker navy blue and black flight suits of Isolationist Elite pilots, vs the lighter blue and white or orange and white suits of the regular pilots.
"Less than ten minutes, sir." First Lieutenant Hendricks said, clearly fighting his own case of the nerves. Unlike Eric, none of the other four members of the 71st SMS had yet seen actual combat. They'd all graduated in the top 50 percent of their class at both the Alliance Mobile Training School and the more advanced Flight Specialist Unit Program, where they'd been taught to fly the complex and powerful Templar units, besides just Cavaliars, Cataphracts and Dagger JA's. But training simulations could only carry you so far, though Eric did have to admit the new simms were a lot more accurate in all respects than the ones he'd initially trained on. "Still no signs of stand down at Carpentaria." Hendricks was staring at a handheld vidscreen hooked into the shipwide data net.
"Try and relax people, even Elementals aren't a match for a Templar, technologically speaking." Eric tried to do some morale boosting, though he was leaving a couple things unsaid.
"Technologically speaking, sure." First Lieutenant Kissinger, one of a relatively small number of female mobile suit pilots, spoke up. "But these are battle hardened veteran Coordinators we're talking about. Redcoats even! Don't get me wrong, Captain Kellson, sir, I do have confidence in my own abilities... but these people are GOOD, capital underlined letters GOOD."
"And so are all of you." Ashino stepped around a corner, attired in his own flight suit, which was solid white except for a black helmet, a color scheme that matched that of both the Bane and the Independence. The pilots all snapped to attention and threw stiff salutes, which Ashino waved away. He still didn't like being saluted, it felt wrong to him. "All of you are graduates of a program even some Coordinators would not be able to pass. Bear that in mind, while dealing with the jitters."
"Aren't you nervous at all, sir?" Hendricks asked. He was the newest to the unit, though they were all extremely new anyway. He was unused to the sight of Supreme Commander Ashino just stopping casually by for a chat. Hell, for that matter he was still in awe of Captain Kellson, one of the most decorated mobile suits aces in the entire Alliance. Rumour said the Supreme Commander was dating Captain Kellson's sister, and that was the reason he got all the awards, but Hendricks didn't believe that anymore, not now that he'd simmed with the Captain. Hendricks was pretty hotshot, but Captain Kellson was just fucking good. Though it had been a surprise to learn that the Supreme Commander really was dating his sister, even if they weren't supposed to talk about it like that with Ashino around.
"Nervousness was never a part of my post battle emotional allocation. You could say I am almost entirely unable to be nervous about fighting. If only that were true for other walks of life... no, maybe not." Ashino, as usual when he made a comment about himself, managed to confuse pretty much everyone but Eric or another of his close friends. "Just stick together and play to the strengths of the Templars and I'm sure you will all acquit yourselves in an exemplarly fashion. Don't try to be a hero, or win the battle all by yourselves. It is the duty of soldiers to fight for their country, but dying for your country is both wasteful and stupid, unless there is no other choice."
"I think that goes for you too, sir." Eric piped up. He heard the intake of breath from the other four pilots, but they didn't know Ashino like he did. Hell, he still wasn't sure he really "knew" Ashino, but he'd talked with Jean a bit and made some of his own observations as well, ever since he'd apparently been appointed unofficial aide to the Supreme Commander. Ashino didn't play favorites cause Jean was Eric's sister... but Jean WAS Eric's sister. "All of us got some sort of life to get back to after this is all over, you included."
"Point taken." Ashino acknowledged. He knew Eric was right... of all of them, Ashino was probably the most prone to less than rational behavior, at least in regard to preserving his own life. Just one more side effect of being a BCPU. "We'll be going in with the second wave. We'll be securing a landing zone for the Archmage and Cataphract units, and then proceeding to the front to seek out and neutralize the enemy command unit as quickly as possible."
"Aye, sir. So they won't do this the easy way then?" Eric asked. Some pilots would have been put out, since being assigned to guard a big time commander usually meant staying away from danger and having any real effect on the course of a battle. Of course it was the opposite with Ashino... Eric's fingers twitched, because now he was sure they were going to be in the absolute middle of the battle.
"It is my understanding that the PLANTS official and unofficial stance amounts to: Screw you and your plan, if you want us come get us, unfortunately." Ashino answered. An alarm pinged at his wrist. "That's the five minute warning. Mount up, and after we launch form up on the Independence. Good luck to you all, I look forward to fighting alongside you to win this battle, and advance the cause of peace one more step."
"SIR!" They snapped salutes again, as he ambled back the way he came.
"Now thats a fucking badass guy right there." Kissinger commented, after Ashino meandered out of view.
"No doubt." Eric smiled, debating if he should tell her that Ashino could still easily hear them. He decided to save it for the moment. "Like the man said, mount up and good luck people." Eric put action to words, feeling the ship shudder slightly under his feet as he started to climb into his Templar. That would be the undersea elements of the first wave being launched, the new Devilfish class underwater mobile armors.
Isolationist scientists had considered the problem of ZAFT's underwater superiority. Regular attack submarines just couldn't cut it against machines like the Goohns and Zno's, with their far superior speed and maneuverability, not even considering the new Water Elementals. But designing a new class of mobile suits to operate specifically underwater would take a great deal more time and effort than the Isolationists could afford, since most of their mobile suit designs stemmed in some fashion from the Strike, which was not designed at all for underwater combat. In the end, they had decided instead to descend from the Moebius mobile armor design, and thus the Devilfish Undersea Mobile Armor had finally resulted. More like a subsurface fighter jet than a submarine, a Devilfish was shaped like an elongated speartip six meters long and a little more than three wide at its widest point. Pyramidal in cross section, the nose of the machine came to a sharp point, and four large fins covered the first meter and a half of the nose, one on each side of the nose, with additional wing like structures near the aft end of the mobile armor.
Devilfish were propelled by water jet propulsors, far more powerful versions of the same devices that personal pleasure watercraft used. Flat out, a Devilfish could hit more than ninety knots (more than 100mph) at test depth, which was more than four hundred meters. Maneuverability was only average, but the machines were well armored and as safe as they could be reasonably made, compelte with a workable ejection system. They were single pilot affairs, which was just as well... with the weapons and engine systems, there wasn't all that much room left for the pilot. Each Devilfish mounted four forward firing and two rear firing 330mm torpedo launchers, as well as a dual 155mm railgun turret on the dorsal surface. Beam weapons didn't work underwater, but railguns and other munition based systems worked just fine. Finally, each Devilfish carried three 3250mm rocket propelled ship killing torpedos on an external ventral surface rack. Though in limited supply, each of the massive torpedos was a garuanteed kill of a mobile suit or ship up to cruiser size, assuming it hit. Finally, the nose and forward fins were extensivley reinforced and sharpened, allowing for ramming and sideswipe attacks. The 1st CAD was equipped with ten squadrons of Devilfish, for a total of thirty armors... hopefully more than enough.
Eric was just finishing his pre flight checks when the timer reached zero. Time had officially run out for Carpentaria and all other ZAFT bases on Earth. The entire world seemed to hold its breath for a few moments. And then the battle commenced, as the ships in the 1st CAD launched hundreds of ship to surface and ship to air missiles at the Carpentaria defenders, those ships that were able to also began shelling the ZAFT defenses to soften them up. In return, mobile suits seemed to swarm out of Carpentaria's hangers and defense lines like insects from a kicked hive, and their interception fire mixed with that from the fixed defenses to form a sort of reverse rain that raced up to meet the incoming missiles and shells. Explosions filled the air and smoke clouds began to gather as both sides exchanged long range volleys. The next step was the swarms of fighter-bomber jets and Skygrasper-II's, flashing past the mobile suit CAP's on supersonic bombing runs. Unable to pursue the much faster jets, the ZAFT mobile suits were forced to try to shoot them down as they came or went, which was easier said then done when the targets were moving at more than 2000mph. Of course many shots did strike home, sending wrecked jets and pieces of jets tumbling through the sky in fiery explosions.
The real battle began when the Strike Dagger JA's and Cavalier's of the first wave engaged with the DINN's, Bucue's, Efreet, Grendels and Elementals of ZAFT's outer defense lines, even as the Devilfish encountered the Goohn's and Zno's deployed by the ZAFT submarine carriers. Initially the battle seemed relatively even, with the more powerful Elementals and prepared defensive positions of the ZAFT forces being more than equal to the superior numbers of Daggers and Cavaliers. But then the Isolationist's finished forming up and they began using their own new tactics, forming into trios and quads, utilizing the ability of their nigh impenetrable citadel shields to link into a powerful barrier shield stronger than the sum of its parts. Even repeated fire from heavy weapons utterly failed to penetrate these shield walls, and it was as ZAFT began to concentrate its forces on breaking through these formations that the 1st wave first struck out with its own punch.
Both FRALA units had set up on the front launch deck of the Victorious, with a clear view of almost eighty percent of the battle zone. FRAA did not function as well in atmosphere as they did in space, and the time interval between shots was longer than it would be otherwise, but when confronted with bunched targets, even only two shots was devastating. Almost twenty ZAFT mobile suits never really knew what hit them, the blue-white beams of the FRALA being almost impossible to see in broad daylight. Still, the effect was more than visible, as mobile suits collapsed or exploded, cut neatly in twain by miniscule beams of unimaginable heat. No armor any mobile suit could mount was any defense. The sudden, nigh inexplicable loss of so many machines threw ZAFT into disarray and the 1st wave began a slow but steady push outwards on all fronts. As this was happening, the second wave began deploying, the transport ships carrying the Archmage and Cataphract units moving up under heavy escort from the Independence and the Templars of the 71st SMS, as well as more Dagger's and Cavaliers. As the escorts cleared the way of mines and provided anti-missile defense, the transport ships sailed right over the heated and bloody conflict between the ZAFT underwater mobile suits and the Devilfish unmolested.
The transport ships sailed at flank speed right up into and onto the beach, their reinforced nose sections, much like those of icebreakers, more than up to the shock of driving into the sand. As soon as the ships came to a halt, the entire frontal section folded down into a ramp, and the Archmage mobile support outposts, all four of them, began to deploy, grumbling down their ramps on their massive treads. Each Archmage was an ugly box thirty meters square and twenty five meters tall, bristling with weapons on its upper decks and equipped with two battlefield repair/salvage facilities and enough supplies to maintain a coterie of 4 Cataphracts for up to two months in the field under normal battlefield conditions. Long armored cables linked the energy inefficient Cataphracts to the nuclear reactors inside the Archmage, allowing for near unlimited combat stay time. Phase shift armored and protected by the Citadel shield walls of its four Cataphracts, the Archmages with their heavy weapons and CIC computers were a major addition to the forces assaulting Carpentaria.
As soon as they hit the beach they began their relentless attack, anti-air quad 25mm gatling beam cannon mounts sweeping entire sections of sky clear of enemy munitions in storms of energy, 450mm railgun turrets combining with 150mm high energy beam cannons to blast away at mobile suits and defensive positions, while the main cannon of each Archmage, a 150cm positron "lohengrin light" discharged again and again, clearing a path ahead and neutralizing any enemy concentrations in a wash of capital class energy. The slow moving Cataphracts added their own weapons to the fray, using their heavy hyper impulse beam cannons, gatling cannon and missiles whenever they could drop the Citadel shield wall effect, and their 375mm artillery firing at maximum ascension to fire over it when they could not, sending precision bombardment fire deep into the base structures of Carpentaria even as they plodded forward. The Daggers and Cavaliers of the first and second waves joined forces, either falling into support roles for the Archmage units or pushing forward to strike deeper into ZAFT's defense lines.
It was to the latter role that Ashino and the 71st SMS dedicated themselves, advancing far ahead of the extremely slow and clumsy Archmage units and their inexorable progress. As Ashino moved forward he could easily pick out signs that showed that Carpentaria had yet to fully recover from the previous invasion by the Earth Alliance... burned out bunkers, bomb craters, destroyed wreckage that wasn't fresh, etc. Ashino was pleased with how the Independence handled... it felt good to be back in a mobile suit again, especially one that was based off his beloved Bane. Say what else you might about BCPU's, they did love their machines, their "other halves" in many ways. He had to admit, it also felt good to be engaged with Coordinators again, with ZAFT, the enemy he had been designed to defeat. He knew where he was at in this battle, what he was supposed to do, what he was supposed to feel. It made a very nice change.
The firepower of the Independence and the 71st SMS backing it up was incredible. Though unable to utilize the multitarget system like Ashino could, the elite pilots of the 71st SMS still managed to pump out a prodigous amount of accurate fire that blew mobile suit after mobile suit out of the sky, covering each others backs and overlapping fire lanes so that for the entire first twenty minutes of their battle no enemy managed to approach within two hundred meters of them. They took fire many times, but all the pilots remained calm and allowed their training to take over, forming Citadel shield walls when they could and using their machine's high maneuverability and CIWS systems in other cases. The morale effect of having five Freedom's plus another Gundam besides fighting on their side was tremendous for the Isolationist forces, and terrible in turn for ZAFT, still smarting from the unexplained disappearance of their own Gundam after the fighting on the Moon.
Thirty minutes after the Archmages hit the beach the 3rd assault wave moved in, sailing over the now quiet waters where the ZAFT undersea forces had been dealt their first major naval defeat since the war began, overwhelmed by the not nearly so inferior Devilfish. The third wave consisted of the jets and bombers that had survived the initial attack undamaged, along with the infantry and conventional armor forces, who landed and then rapidly marshalled up, following in the clearly defined wake of the four Archmages. ZAFT fought for every meter of ground they lost, but in the end, they kept losing ground no matter what they tried. The Elementals and other mobile suits were, by and large superior to the Isolationist machines on an individual level... but with the new tactics and defensive technologies the Isolationists were deploying, not even mentioning shock weapons like the Archmages and the 71st SMS plus Ashino, standard mobile suit forces just weren't enough. By the time the Victorious and two escort vessels steamed into the harbor entrance of Carpentaria and began shelling the harbor facility, preceeding their entry with two more FRALA blasts, ZAFT was on its last legs. That was a little over two hours after the attack started.
Fighting had almost stopped by the time the first Archmage reached the outskirts of Carpentaria base itself at the four hour mark, though ZAFT had never officially surrendered. It wasn't until Ashino and the 71st SMS hunted down the location of the command post and blew it sky high, after waiting ten minutes for a response to their surrender demand and the first companies of the infantry forces started securing the buildings, at the six hour ten minute mark, that the admiral in charge of the Victorious, received a comm from the surviving ranking officers of the ZAFT defense forces, indicating their desire to surrender. The mood amongst the Isolation forces was celebratory and slightly disbelieving. In a little over six hours, they had accomplished a task that three previous assaults, one preceeded by strategic nuclear attack, had singularly failed to do. The surviving ZAFT forces were disbelieving and shocked... in a little more than six hours a base that had withstood everything the Alliance had ever thrown at it, including strategic level nuclear weapons, had fallen to a conventional assault. They were also worried, as one of the first demands from their Isolationist captors was access to the civilian populations being sheltered in the secure bunkers underneath the base. ZAFT well remembered what had happened during the last invasion of Carpentaria with civilians.
Eric Kellson would always remember that day. Not just the fight itself, during which he and his unit fought brilliantly and with valor, but most especially the time after the fight, after he landed his Templar and was instructed by Ashino to proceed to a nearby bunker, where he would liase with the ZAFT forces in opening it and begin removal of the civilians in preparation for extradition to the PLANTS. He approached the cluster of ZAFT officers, haggerd looking in dirty and torn purple and white coats, guarded by a full company of armed marines. The despair and shock on the faces of the Coordinators was enough to twist a small knife in Eric's guts... did ZAFT really have such a low opinion of the Alliance? Did they really think they were just going to slaughter all the civilians or send them to death camps or something? Eric straightened his spine and saluted the officers sharply, clearly something they hadn't been expecting, judging from their hesitant response.
"My name is Captain Kellson, CO of the 71st SMS of the 1st Isolationist CAD." Eric said smartly. "I'd offer to shake hands, but you look like you've had a hard enough day already, so I won't force you to be any more civil than you want to be."
"I'm Brigadier-General Walters, of the Carpentaria Defense Force. I am currently the senior ranking officer left alive. I felt I should take personal responsibility in acquising to this demand." A forty-fiftiesh looking man with salt and pepper hair clad in the purple coat with black shoulders outfit of a ZAFT staff officer replied tiredly and a shade unsteadily. He didn't offer to shake hands either. "I never thought I'd see this day."
"To be honest sir, I wasn't really expecting to until recently either." Eric answered. "But rest assured, the Isolation is not Blue Cosmos. Your civilians are as safe with us as they are with you. We don't hate Coordinators, sir. We just can't let ourselves be around each other anymore."
"I won't argue with you captain, as you are the victorious one here." Walter's voice left no doubt that if the situations were reversed there'd have been a hell of an argument. "Let's get this over with." Walters turned to the bunker door and slowly keyed in a password, then swiped a passcard and submitted to a fingerprint scan. The Brigadier-General then stepped back several paces and cast a suspicious eyes at the marine company as the door locks began slowly disengaging and the door itself began slowly grinding open.
"Weapons safe!" Eric ordered. It wasn't technically within his powers, to order marines, but for once it was nice to be known as the sidekick to Supreme Commander Ashino, because the marines obeyed without more than a moment's hesitation. The gesture also made the ZAFT officers relax almost visibly. Eric stepped forward, so that he would be the first to enter. The door finally slid fully aside, revealing a room with six more locked doors in the walls, each obviously leading to a seperate shelter. Eric picked one at random. "If you would, sir?"
"You garuantee their safety?" Walters asked one more time, staring Eric in the face. Later on, Eric would never be able to explain why he did, and he never would have done it if he'd known there was a combat newscrew amongst the marines recording the whole thing. Keeping his eyes on Walters, Eric rapidly unbuckled his belt and slid off his pistol holster. Discarding the belt and then the holster, he handed the safed weapon to Walters.
"If I so much as breath in a manner that makes you think I'm about to order harm on your civilians, by all means, blow my head off, alright?" Eric stepped up to the keypad. "What's the code, general?"
"S-six... six four nine five three Alpha Golf Zulu." Walters looked without comprehension at the fully loaded firearm now in his hand. As Eric tapped in the code sequence, Walters slowly gripped the pistol by the grip and pointed it, somewhat unsteadily, at Eric's unarmored head. The door hissed open and revealed a dimly lit room. Almost before the door could fully open, a child raced out. The boy couldn't have been more than five, a middle schooler by Coordinator standards, if not nearly as emotionally mature. The tousel headed blond kid grabbed Eric right around the waist, hugging him tight.
"Daddy?" The kid sobbed, just starting to raise his head to look at the person wearing a flight suit the same color as his fathers. Eric's breath caught in his throat, this was definitely NOT a planned event. For all he knew the kid's dad was dead... hell, given how long ZAFT had held out, it was very likely. He might have even been someone Eric himself killed. There was no way of knowing, right then and there. Eric swallowed and fought back moisture in his eyes as he placed a hand gently on the kid's head, even as he slowly knelt to wrap the kid in a hug.
"No, sport, I'm afraid I'm not." Eric said quietly. He felt the tears on his cheeks. "But I'll see what I can do about finding him, one way or another." By now others had come to the door, adults. They looked at Brigadier-General Walters and took note of his worn appearance. Still, that in itself wasn't enough.
"Did... did we win, general?" one woman asked, looking slightly askance at Eric and the boy. Walters was still pointing the gun at Eric, but his hand was trembling so bad he didn't think he could shoot straight. When the woman asked him that question he broke down. His arm dropped, and the gun, still on safe, dropped from suddenly nerveless fingers.
"No... no, Ma'am, I'm afraid we didn't." Walters replied, half collapsing against the nearby wall. "As of several minutes ago, Carpentaria belongs to the Isolationists."
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"Six hours ten minutes! I would never have guessed a number TEN times that long!" Alkire said in amazement, watching the news play across the bridge screens of the Archangel, along with every other important person in the Clyne Faction. After the failed peace talks, everyone had returned to the Archangel, about as grim as they could be, despite the personal happiness of Dearka and Ysak. Lacus had retreated to a room by herself, and Kira had given her a half hour to collect herself before entering himself. That had been the last anyone had seen either until just before the attack on Carpentaria commenced. Though her distress had still been quite apparent to the crew nonetheless... even Stumps could feel the emotional blowup she and Kira had worked through together. Katie had told Lacus not to worry about getting mad, and she'd taken that advice to heart. In retrospect, Katie resolved never to tell Lacus to let herself go quite so literally ever again... for a Newtype it had like being tossed overboard in the middle of a hurricane. It was at times like that that Katie was glad her own emotions were much easier to deal with... fuck with her and she got pissed, no guilty feelings about it.
"Sai wasn't talking out of his arse there, when he said numbers were no longer the Alliance's only advantage. They've undergone a complete tactical renniessance, and they seem to have put out roughly five years worth of technological updates all at once on top of that!" Waltfeld agreed. "Submarine mobile armors, portable lightwave barriers, long range laser cannon, those mobile bases, entire units of Freedom's, plus a brand new Gundam... I don't mean to sound callous, but defending Orb was going to suck before... its going to be hell, now."
"News reports that similar assaults against ZAFT's holdings in Europe and the Mediterranian have been similarly overrun by the Isolationists. As of this moment, in any real sense of the world, ZAFT has lost Earth." Murrue added, her voice disbelieving. "All except for Orb, assuming Sai sticks to his plan, which I see no reason why he wouldn't having just come from meeting with him, the war is effectively over. ZAFT no longer has the forces to do anything but defend the PLANTS, and even then they probably wouldn't hold out against a dedicated assault the likes of which we just saw take Carpentaria."
"Never thought we'd be the people still fighting at the last. Us, the Clyne Faction, the people most dedicated to bringing peace...and we're the only force still fighting now. The irony is painful." Dearka commented.
"Yes it is." Lacus acknowledged, her voice steely. "However, it doesn't change what we have to do next. As much as I'd like to do the easy thing and surrender to Sai and bring peace at last, we cannot do that. The peace that Sai wants is not the peace we have fought to bring to the world. His peace will lead to millions more people dying slow, painful deaths, and the resulting hatreds will only lead to more and bloodier conflicts in future generations. We still have not stopped the cycle of hatred that comes from killing people... Sai's peace only delays that cycle, it does not break it. And so, against my own ideals, I must decide to fight on, letting the war continue with no good solution I can see in sight, because to give in to this peace is even worse than going on fighting."
"I don't want to fight anymore either." Kira added. "But, like Lacus, I can't give in to this peace. Not knowing, like we all do, what it means if we do. Perhaps its hypocritical of me, of all people, to continue fighting when peace has been accomplished, but if thats what it takes to prevent a catastrophe the likes of which we can barely imagine happening in the near future, then so be it. But Lacus and I have talked this over extensively. Even though we two have decided not to give in to this peace, we cannot make that decision for everyone else. Neither of us would blame anyone if they wanted out now. We are outnumbered and outmatched like we have never been before, up against an entire planet. We cannot ask you to stand against that, to fight to what might very well be the death, unless it is your own free will. Not when you can easily live in peace on that selfsame planet just as soon as you want to."
"Well, thats fine for the Naturals, but we Coordinators don't really have that much choice, do we?" Ysak said witheringly. "We're soon not gonna be welcome on Earth, unless Orb does the impossible and manages to defeat the entire rest of the Earth. And we all know what lies ahead on the PLANTS if everything goes down the tubes. "I don't know about anyone else, but I sure as hell don't got anywhere else better to be than here, and no where else I can even come to close to making as big a difference. I'm here till you kick me out and probably afterwards too."
"Hear, hear." Dearka added with a sardonic grin. "If we don't see this through to the bitter end, well, I at least wanna be able to legitimately bitch about not having enough food, if we lose." His gallows humor didn't bring many smiles, but it was the best he could manage.
"Orb is not only Cagalli's nation, but now my nation as well. If they want to kick out the Coordinators, they're going to have to drag me out, kicking and screaming, with nail marks on the ground, before I let a single civilian be deported illegally." Athrun said seriously. "The odds are against us... even more than usual. But theres nothing I can see to do but stand up to them until I die or they go away, whichever happens first. And I have no practice at dying."
"ZAFT's done, and they probably don't have space for a bum like me anyway." Waltfeld said with a small grin. "You'd better believe I'll be there, couldn't live with myself and this arm otherwise."
"Ever since JOSH-A, I've commanded the Archangel in the service of fighting for what I've considered right and just, no matter the odds or what people say. I'll put what you said to the crew, but I don't think we're going to have any quitters at this stage in the game. We've all too much invested in bringing about the true peace you envisioned for us, Lacus, for anyone to consider doing anything but seeing it through to whatever end it turns up being." Murrue put in firmly. The bridge crew nodded in steadfast agreement.
"I'm where Dearka is, and so is my happiness. And my home is Orb." Miriallia said simply.
"Well, damn." Alkire said slowly. "Way I see it, even if the war's over, the war's not over till we make Vlad and James and Chanel happy. Going along with Sai, even if that is the sane, non-suicidal way to do things, just wouldn't fit with that philosophy. And I couldn't let Ysak and Katie stay while I left... I can stand a lot of indignity, but my pride would never allow that. Plus you lot are totally helpless outside those machines."
"I'm with the Major, because that is what I do." Was Victor's reply. Raine said nothing, but nodded her strong agreement.
"I'm still here, though I can see why asking me would be something of a waste of breath." Katie commented, her arm around Ysak's waist.
"To Orb then?" Murrue asked.
"To Orb." Lacus agreed, sharing a brilliant smile with Kira that cheered everyone on the bridge for hours afterward.