Celestial Being Chronicles - Chapter 98
Disclaimer: I don't own any of the Gundam series, nor any of the various series which are used or referenced in my fic, so please point that damned lawsuit cannon at someone else, also, don't read this if you are not of legal age to read such material. The story contains possibly disturbing content and should not be read by close-minded people (i.e., people who are easily offended.) Everything in the story is fictional. I am also not responsible for any actions taken by people who read this story and society's problems. I do, however, own my original character; Hope Yamato.
About five minutes had passed since the Freedom Gundam had mysteriously appeared, stabbing the Divinity in the left arm before quickly falling back on the defensive.
"I see that it's starting to take effect." Kira was annoyed with the pilot of the mobile suit in front of him, not in the least because she was probably responsible for the Divinity's current problems.
"What do you mean?" Kira demanded. The pilot of the Freedom Gundam, whom had introduced herself as; Lena Sutherland, laughed, sounding somehow cruel and feminine at the same time.
"When I stabbed you, the blade automatically injected nanites into your machine, all of which are programmed to utilize environmental materials to multiply. I'm guessing that in about a minute, they'll reach your cockpit and cut the main control circuits, leaving you completely hel-" Lena was interrupted, mainly by the twin rail guns shells that caught the Freedom in the chest. "Fucking retard! Those shells aren't doing anything!"
"That might not, but this will." Kira promised, the Divinity leveling its electromagnetic cannon at the Freedom. The Freedom Gundam folded its arms, and stared.
"What? One of those kenetic penetration rounds? It's just a little more energy than those explosives." The Divinity merely shrugged before it fired. There was a white streak, with a very slight hint of blue, like a dwarf sun traveling at supersonic speed. Within a millionth of a second after firing, the projectile was embedded in the Freedom's left shoulder, and Kira could literally see the Freedom's armor melting from it. The next instant, the projectile exploded, the Freedom's arm flying away in no less than ten pieces.
Inside the Freedom, Lena gaped. Now, she didn't have to rely on the cameras to see the Divinity. She could just look out of the enormous hole in the Freedom's side. "What the hell?"
Kira shrugged as he replied. "Anti-matter."
"Damn." Lena muttered, moving the Freedom a lot more than before. Even if he didn't have any more of those rounds, normal projectiles could finish her off, with the big hole in the armor.
Now both Gundams were circling each other, hovering in the air, The Divinity aiming its electromagnetic cannon at the Freedom while the blue-winged mobile suit covered the hole in its torso with its physical shield.
Kira almost cursed profoundly when the Infinite Justice Gundam suddenly dropped in from above, slamming feet first into the Freedom's back and sending the white mobile suit slamming into the ground. With the Divinity getting torn up on the microscopic scale, he didn't have any time to waste in dealing with the Freedom.
"Athrun, Get back!"
"Fuck off, Kira!" At that point, the Freedom elbowed the Justice in the face, knocking the crimson mobile suit slightly off balance. A large cannon emerged from the Freedom's back, mounting itself over the Gundam's remaining shoulder.
Kira instantly recognized it. It was a miniaturized hyper accelerated linear cannon, from some of the G-Project's theoretical schematics. Like the original hyper accelerated linear cannons used by the Archangel and the Excalibur, it used both rail and gauss magnetic systems.
He couldn't do anything about what came next.
The Freedom flew backwards rapidly, before firing while still moving. The shot blasted straight into and through the Divinity's physical shield, before then continuing through the electromagnetic cannon and limb to embed itself in the Divinity's side. Athrun took back control of his body, horrified by what happened next.
The Divinity was blasted apart, armor, endoskeleton structure, and other parts flying everywhere, melting all the while from the extreme heat. Most of it wasn't anything like solid by the time Athrun processed it. His reaction was obvious.
Without a word, the Justice's beam claws ignited, gripping onto the barrel of the weapon and slicing it apart. The other claw ripped off torso armor, clawing for the cockpit. The Freedom didn't take this lying down, smacking the Justice in the head again while powering up its thrusters. The duo flew into the sky, angling off towards the horizon.
"There's no way...it can't be true..." Cagalli said, slumping down on the floor of the Excalibur's bridge. Similar expressions were on the faces around her, from Mayu to Lacus.
"Come on...there's no way Kira can be dead...right?" Hope said, looking down. Everyone else was , understandably silent.
At the same time, in Alaska, William Sutherland's slight grin faded completely as the last of his three visitors exited his quarters, the door sliding silently shut. Then he reached down into one of the drawers and pulled out a file, flipping through it until he reached one specific document.
OMNI Enforcer / Blue Cosmos Intelligence Profile
Name: Kira Yamato-Athha-Clyne
Date of Birth: May 18, CE 55
Age: 20
Gender: Male
Blood Type: A
Eye Color: Violet
Hair Color: Brown
Height: 165 centimeters (5 feet 4 inches)
Weight: 79 Kilograms (175 pounds)
Nationality: Orb Union
Allegiance(s): Clyne Faction, Celestial Being, Orb Union
Position: Prince of Orb, Leader of Celestial Being, Sub-leader of Clyne Faction
Known Relations: Caridad Yamato (Deceased Mother), Haruma Yamato (Deceased Father), Uzumi Nara Athha (Adoptive Father), Lacus Clyne (Wife), Cagalli Yula Athha (Twin Sister), Hope Yamato (Twin Sister), Murrue Ramius (Mistress?), Athrun Zala (Brother-in-law?)
Genetic Type: Coordinator (Ultimate?)
Psychological Profile: Very slight sociopath, very slight psychopath, slight paranoia, possible God-complex
Political Leaning: Strongly anti-Blue Cosmos
Mobile weapons: GAT-X105 Strike Gundam, ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam, CB-X60D Divinity Gundam
History: Yamato has no 'official' history beyond his 'adoption' by Uzumi Nara Athha after the Battle of Ptolemaios. However, OMNI Intelligence suspects that Yamato is a former subject of Doctor Hibiki's 'Ultimate Coordinator' experiments, perhaps even his son, although no records obtained from the Lagrange 4 facilities confirm or deny this. Also, according to Vice-Admiral Edward Abaddon, Yamato is apparently responsible for the death of Admiral J. Abaddon, although this claim is unlikely, considering Yamato was perhaps 10 at the time. To this point, Yamato has participated in several operations openly, masquerading as an Orb Intelligence Agency operative in the Battle of Heliopolis, as well as the combat action at Artemis, where he managed to escape the custody of Vice-Admiral Abaddon and turn the loyalty of the entire crew of the Archangel to Orb. Then he fought above Africa in Earth Orbit against Admiral Krowhart's Third Fleet. Afterwards, he engaged in several skirmishes on Earth, ranging from North Africa to the Indian Ocean before his mobile suit, the CB-X60D Divinity Gundam, was destroyed in combat with the reverse-engineered GAT-X105A Freedom Gundam, piloted by Commander Lena Sutherland. However, according to Commander Abaddon, Yamato managed to evacuate the Divinity prior to its destruction, impossible as it seems. Presently, judging by the vicinity of both ZAFT ships and the Archangel, it is likely that Yamato has already been recovered, and is at Orb. On a slight side-note; Yamato has claimed to have commited omnicide on multiple ocassions.
Skills: Eyewitness accounts suggest Yamato is an extremely skilled mobile suit pilot, with a kill count numbering in the millions, including ZAFT and OMNI kills. Also, judging by progress reports and teacher comments recovered from the Heliopolis Institute of Technology, Yamato is extremely skilled in computer software technology, and thus can be said to be a highly proficient hacker as well. It should be noted that he was able to complete the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam's Operating System during a fifteen-second lull in a fight with a ZAFT GINN. As a Coordinator, Yamato presumably possesses the same advanced learning capability, heightened intelligence, and increased healing rate, as well as the same near-immunity to diseases and viruses. However, if he is one of Hibiki's 'Ultimate Coordinators' then it could be said that his Coordinator attributes are greater than normal, probably to an extreme degree.
Side Note 1: The Blue Cosmos members of OMNI (e.g., most COs, NCOs, and quite a few enlisted soldiers) have noticeably increased preparations for the upcoming operation against Orb since Intel revealed the possibility of Yamato being an 'Ultimate Coordinator'.
Side Note 2: An increased reluctance to engage in said operation has been noted amongst the less fanatical Blue Cosmos members and much of the enlisted troops.
Personal Note 1: Considering Yamato's track record, I don't blame them.
Personal Note 2: Recommend that Yamato be labeled as 'Person of Mass Destruction' (PMD)
After reading over the profile, William felt a slight twinge of pride every time the words 'Commander Abaddon' passed his eyes, even tearing up a little bit as he remembered his daughter's promotion. Immediately after that, he chuckled a bit when reading the personal notes.
'I gotta remember to track this guy down. He doesn't wrap up his reports in layers of shit to cover his own ass.' As a soldier, Sutherland hated bureaucrats on principle. After digesting the document, which was not completely accurate, he leaned back in his chair and stared at the ceiling.
"If they didn't check you for weapons and lock you up if they found any, I'd have brought a knife to kill myself." Shinn grumbled, tailing Kira and Misato into the building. For this particular meeting, it had been decided to use an unknown facility, an out-of-the-way place. Mainly because the content of the meeting would be of particular interest to any OMNI Enforcer Intelligence agents, or any Blue Cosmos sympathizers, and Orb SpecOpsIntel was making its paranoia clear.
The three walked through the halls, past a few dozen armed and armored Orb Military Police officers, before emerging into a large round room. Aside from the lowest, circular part, wherein a large circular table capable of seating up to twenty people was placed, the room was seperated into three sections, one marked with the ZAFT flag above it, the other with the Orb flag, and the last marked with the Celestial Being flag.
The representatives from Orb filed into their desiginated section, of course, and were joined by several of the higher politicians from Orb. In the ZAFT section, Andrew, Rau, Athrun, Meyrin, and the rest of Le Creuset team sat, along with Lacus and the vast majority of her bodyguards. In the Celestial Being sections sat Kira, Murrue, Lunamaria, Shinn, Mu, and the rest of the Excalibur's bridge crew, along with Murdoch.
Then their attention switched over to the central round section, as Uzumi, followed by the five other Noble families took their seats. Kira saved a very unpleasant grin for Unato Ema Seiran.
On the other side of the massive table, Lacus sat down, closely flanked by Hope and Misato. Considering the delicacy of the situation, both global and orbital, this was probably going to be one of the first diplomatic negotiations to be conducted like this in centuries. The advent of near-instantaneous communications had rendered the status of diplomat little more than an honorific, whereas before a diplomat was pretty much considered to be the country he or she was representing.
Considering the fact that any wireless communication between ZAFT and Orb was bound to be intercepted by OMNI orbital assets, it was too risky to talk about the current subject in such a manner, and shipping the actual heads of state in either direction was so far out of the question that no one had even mentioned it.
If anyone had any doubts about the seriousness of these talks, they were dispelled when a total of four Orb SpecOpsIntel teams took up positions around the doors. Kira nodded at the team guarding the door to the Orb section.
"If we may get started." Uzumi said, nodding to Lacus. She nodded, smiled, and stood up, drawing the attention of everyone in the room.
"Thank you, Chief Representative." She began. "As you know, the PLANTs have been at war with the Earth Alliance since the Bloody Valentine Incident." She went on to describe the continuous damages and difficulties experienced by not just the PLANTs, but even the Earth Alliance itself, and the mounting casualties in the conflict. "And thus, the PLANTs would like to ask the Orb Union for an alliance."
Needless to say, it wasn't really all that well received by some of the Orb people. It took a few entreaties from Uzumi to get them calmed down and a few pointed stares from Unato before they could continue.
"We understand your situation, Miss Clyne." Uzumi started. "But as you know, it is a principle of Orb not to attack another nation, or intervene in the conflicts of other nations."
"I understand and respect that, Chief Representative Athha." Lacus replied, bowing slightly. "However, this conflict is already one in which Orb is involved in."
"What do you mean?" Uzumi asked, cocking his head to the side.
"Despite the fact that Orb has not actually taken real action in the war, the support of some of its more influential leaders, has led to the image that Orb has in fact taken a side by helping the Alliance in developing its mobile suits. And then there are the actions of Kira Yamato, who is well-affiliated with Orb, in coercing the crew of the Earth Alliane warhip Archangel, the ZAFT warship Minerva, and many others to defect. By any means, it would seem that Orb has gotten itself very involved."
A good number of the Orb politicians sitting at the table turned to glare at Kira. Upon meeting the bloodthirsty gaze of Shinn and the space-cold stare of Kira, they turned back with their knees turned to jelly.
"You make a good point, Miss Clyne." Unato said, taking the stage from Uzumi. "Miss Clyne, may ask of you just how many people died in the nuclear attack on Junius Seven?" Lacus looked at him, slightly confused by the out of the blue question, but she answered nonetheless.
"Exactly 243,721 people died during the Junius Seven tragedy Mr. Seiran. But surely you know this?" Unato set a grim look to his features.
"I do, Ms. Clyne. But would you agree that ZAFT's retaliatory actions of dropping Neutron Jammers all over the Earth during the April Fool's Crisis was justified and above all else...Humane?" Lacus, Hope, Misato, and the Le Creuset team with the exclusion of Rau himself, seemed slightly uncomfortable by the intensity of his question
"Well, yes, Mr. Seiran, I think it was given the circumstances, though I personally would have preferred if it had not have happened." Unato at this point seemed perfectly calm but in the room everyone felt a sort of ominous sensation.
"Ms. Clyne, would you care to make an educated guess at how many civilians on Earth have died as a direct result of the April Fool's Crisis?"
"I can't say that I honestly can, Mr. Seiran."
"Would you like for me to give you an estimate based on conclusive facts?" Lacus simply nodded her head in a slightly disturbed affirmative. "Since April 1st, Cosmic Era 65, until now my intelligence division has gathered enough information to come up with a reasonably accurate figure. Current estimates and reports would indicate that the death tolls in the vast majority of earth metropolises and urban areas are now over 95 Percent, some of them in hospitals and due to the shutdown of crucial medical equipment from the power outages. Others are due to the failure of high-speed public transportation systems. Other causes include the spread of sickness and disease due to the failure of waste-disposal systems, Optimistically speaking this means that a mere 2,769,530,000 civilians died as a direct result of ZAFT's drop of Neutron Jammers upon that day." Lacus and the rest of the ZAFT and PLANT representatives had looks of horrified shock on their faces. Unato proceeded with a very cold tone to his voice "Tell me, Ms. Clyne, how does the destruction of Junius Seven and it's inhabitants humanely justify that number of deaths. Orb can not ever ally it's self with ZAFT officially, making some deals under the table is fine but realistically I should have you, your entourage, and every member of ZAFT within Orb arrested and handed over to the Earth Alliance as a peace offering." Everyone tensed then, the SpecOpsIntel teams in the center stepping slightly forward as Hope and Misato reached for their side-arms. "The only reasons I don't is because you did help to protect many Orb refugees and Orb property, as well as the simple fact that the Earth Alliance and OMNI Enforcer will still legitimize a seizure of Orb's Sovereignty anyways. My own personal rules also mean I'm loath to betray you and your people in such a manner but an official alliance between Orb and the PLANTs can not and will not happen so long as I have the power to stop it. Am I clear?"
"But...Minister Zala...he said that there would be few casualties...and that only the OMNI Enforcer military would be affected in any meaningful way..." Lacus muttered, coming to terms with the new information.
"In that case, I would suggest that you contact the PLANT Supreme Council for clarification." Unato said coldly. "Until then, I would suggest that we adjourn for a break." Everyone filed out then, and all took notice of the two heavily armed and armored soldiers looking after the PLANT and ZAFT members.
"WHAT!" Siegel Clyne barked, rather astonished at the out-of-the-blue accusation thrown out at one of his close friends and colleagues.
"I know. Are you sure Mr. Zala was speaking the truth?" Lacus asked urgently. If he hadn't...neither Clyne would be happy with him.
"I don't think he was, Lacus." The pop star jumped slightly and turned to find the ace mobile suit pilot and son of the person in question, Athrun Zala standing blankly behind her.
"Athrun!"
"You know, after Junius Seven...I don't think that he was really in his right mind." Athrun continued, his mind working over every time he'd seen his father since the Bloody Valentine tragedy...since his mother died.
"And what do you suggest we do?" Siegel asked, not without some sympathy.
"I'd suggest you get the fuck out of there." They all looked to see Kira standing nearby, Hope and Misato flanking him. "If Patrick Zala has managed to keep the actual casualty figures a secret from everyone on the Supreme Council and those affiliated with them, that means he has the support of much of ZAFT and the media."
"And that means." Misato continued. "That if any of you started asking 'questions' then there will probably be a few 'disappearances', so to speak."
"So, I think you'd better leave, right the fuck now." Hope stated, openly and bluntly, as was her nature.
"I...I suppose that would be the most prudent course of action..." Siegel agreed, nodding. "Very well. But where are we going to run to, and how?"
"There's a colony at Lagrange Point Four." Kira supplied. "It's rather run down, especially since it was attacked by Blue Cosmos, but we have managed to to restore it. It's large enough to hold all of what you'll have. You should probably start by contacting all the ZAFT units that you know can be trusted, and smuggle your families out of the PLANTs."
"Thank you, Mr. Yamato."
"It's my pleasure."
Lacus said good-bye to her father and closed the line. She gave Kira a thankful look, before turning to glance concernedly at Athrun. The ZAFT red pilot was leaning against the wall, looking suitably shell-shocked for someone who'd learned that their father may be one of the worst mass-murderers of all time. Kira wordlessly walked over and leaned against the wall next to him
"Hey...You remember that time in 4th grade, when we reprogrammed the cafeteria robots?" Kira asked, attempting to lighten the mood, drawing a snort and a chuckle from Athrun.
"They went completely nuts and started splattering everyone with mashed potatoes and gravy." He snorted, drawing Kira with him into a short, shared laugh.
"And that other time, when we hacked the teacher's in-school messaging programs and started sending around bogus messages." Kira managed to blurt out through his laughter.
"They all thought there was a month-long holiday!" Athrun wheezed, drawing the two into further spirals of hilarity as more incidents were remembered.
The meeting has had resumed about thirty minutes after Unato had called for a break, with some noticeable exceptions. Rau was missing from the ZAFT section, saying that the outcome had been decided. Athrun, Meyrin and Lacus were now seated in the ZAFT section, and the Orb SpecOpsIntel team in the center section had likewise been redeployed to guard the Orb section.
"Miss Clyne, would you like to start?" Uzumi asked, leaning forward, elbows on the table and hands intermingled in front of him.
"Yes, Mr. Athha." Lacus said, rising from her seat. "After communicating with Chairman Clyne, and select members of the PLANT Supreme Council, it has been determined that Minister Zala and others of the Supreme Council, as well as some of ZAFT's high-ranking personnel, have deceived us and the PLANTs. Thus, it is determined that Patrick Zala and his supporters are war criminals of the highest order, and shall be arrested and turned over to Orb personnel, to be turned over to the Earth Alliance."
"Heh, politics." Shinn muttered to Kira.
"I have to say, this seems to be a rather important scapegoat." Unato said slowly.
"Not at all." Lacus denied. "After viewing the current evidence of his initial deception over the effects of the Neutron Jammers, it has been judged that Zala and his supporters cannot be trusted any longer."
"You do realize that arresting him is unlikely in the extreme? Considering that, by your own word, he has managed to subvert the majority of ZAFT HighCom to his side, it would mean that even speaking to him of it is more likely to get you killed and your family imprisoned, at best." Unato pointed out, still resting in his chair.
"You can't kill or imprison God." Kira finally spoke up, his voice calm, yet deadly serious.
The sound of fingers tapping on a keyboard was what Yzak Joule heard, a few hours later. The sound piercing the light hum of the maglev train, and even the conversations of his fellow ZAFT redcoats.
"For the sake of my sanity and the safety of your skull, couldn't you wait until I'm reletively far away from you to do that, Kira?" Yzak Joule shouted. The Leader of Celestial Being didn't even look up from his laptop, still incessantly typing away at a speed of about 500 words per minute. Growling, the white-haired Coordinator got up and walked across the aisle towards Kira.
In the seat next to Kira's, Hope was silently sleeping. Thus far in the trip, it had been a peaceful and quiet rest, without any loud or annoying sounds that could have distracted Yzak from his current target of Kira.
'And...now!' The more sadistic part of Hope's mind ordered gleefully, causing her to let out a very loud and obnoxious snore. Just as she predicted, Yzak snapped, going for Hope's throat. Instead, Hope wrapped one of her hands around Yzak's neck, squeezing hard, without Hope herself noticing the action and continuing to sleep. By now, Hope was guessing she'd only need a few more seconds to permanently imprint her fingers into Yzak's neck.
"AH! Hope, let him go!" Cagalli cried, grabbing Hope's arm and tugging.
"Kira! Help us here!" Dearka Elsman jumped on Yzak, trying to wrestle him away from Hope. Finally, Kira saved what he was working on and looked up.
"I told you guys not to get too close to her!"
"What you didn't tell us was that she sleep-strangles!" Athrun Zala hissed, just before Yzak accidentally kicked him in the gut. Cagalli caught Athrun and pushed him back, joining him in grabbing Yzak and helping Dearka pull him away. Yzak's own struggles to get Hope's hand off of his jugular were actually impeding the efforts of his comrades to do the same.
Kira astonished them all by swiftly drawing Hope's huge survival knife and pressing the flat of the blade to the back of her neck. Instantly, Hope's arm went limp and floppy, falling from Yzak's neck to rest on Hope's side.
"Grrrrrrr! WHY DON'T YOU KEEP A LEASH ON THAT THING?" Yzak roared somewhat hoarsely, massaging his neck.
"I did at one point. She used it to strangle someone." Kira answered, to the astonished and disturbed looks of the ZAFT redcoats and to the sighs of Cagalli.
"Why did she stop when you pressed your knife to her neck?" Dearka asked, glancing over the head of the seat Hope was sitting in. To the casual observer, Hope would appear to be sleeping like a baby. Actually, even a trained spy would conclude that she was perfectly harmless at this moment, disregarding the earlier throttling.
"I don't know why, but the feeling of anything cold on that part of her neck tends to calm her down from one of her rages." Kira supplied, shrugging as to why that would have any effect. In reality, that was an unfortunate side-effect from the Alliance experiments in nano-technological augmentation that had made Hope as she was. A sudden decrease in temperature on the epidermis on the back of the neck, where the central nanomachine control was, would cause the nanomachines assigned to the muscular system to temporarily malfunction, ceasing the progress of conscious signals to the muscles before being repaired by maintenance machines.
"We're here!" Cagalli celebrated when the train stopped, dragging their luggage behind her as she raced up to street level, completely bypassing the other departing passengers and would-be boarders, barreling up the escalators.
"Damn, she's fast." Dearka noted, with Nicol nodding sagely next to him. "I wonder how all that energy translates to their experiences in bed..."
"Pardon?" Kira asked, turning his head swiftly away from his packing to glare at the duo with an expression that promised instant torture should they delay in responding.
"I-I-I-It's just a joke! Hahaha..." Dearka blurted, holding his hands up in an attempt to fend off the terrifying glare.
"Damn." Cagalli whistled as the group walked into the foyer of the huge mansion which they would be living in.
"Yeah, Andy had to negotiate with Lucifer to get this space." Kira said. "He got a pretty good deal. Ten pure Orb virgins sacrificed per year so long as we promise to use this place for the purposes of death and destruction. It's better than the terms OMNI got for their Debris Belt places. They have to spend eight hours a day praising the landowner. It's a wonder they ever get anything done."
The ZAFT redcoats stared at him.
"Who the hell is Lucifer?" Yzak asked.
"Oh right, you guys were raised in the PLANTs. You didn't have to deal with all the religious bullshit here on Earth." Kira said, before going on to mutter something about terrorists and nuking Jerusalem.
Kira blearily opened his eyes as his cell phone shrieked from his bedside table. He groped for the small, palm-sized device, grabbed it and held it to his ear. It automatically answered the call.
"What the hell, Lexi? It's...it's two in the morning...what? Please tell me you're kidding...yeah, well, the problem with shit is that it tends to happen." Removing the phone from his ear, he stabbed the center of the touch screen with his thumb and sighed, rising from his bed.