Celestial Being Chronicles - Chapter 115
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.
The Excalibur's hanger bays were once again bustling with activity. Fighter, bomber and interceptor aircraft had all been fully loaded with weapons and were now being moved from the large hanger deck to the equally large flight deck. As with the aircraft, the Excalibur's compliment of mobile suits and Gundams had been fully recharged and resupplied, thus, they were also being moved to the flight deck.
The clouds themelves were suddenly cleaved apart as the bow of the Excalibur punched its way into the lower portions of the Earth's atmosphere. As the dagger-shaped warship descended below 35,000 feet, a faint rumble shook the ship.
"Well, so much for the Moon landing taking place on July 20th, 1969." Hope Yamato smirked from the cockpit of the Destiny Gundam. "It seems that we just impacted with, and completely beat the shit out of, the Saturn Five rocket which was being used by the Apollo 11 spaceflight."
"I told you, Kira." Murrue sighed within the cockpit of the Strike Freedom Gundam. "I told you that commencing the final stage of atmospheric reentry and launching our forces over the Kennedy Space Center was a bad idea."
"Be quiet, Murrue." Kira retorted. "Or when we get back, I'll lock you up in the dungeon with a pump attached to breasts and another one buried in your pussy."
"Ohh, that sounds like fun." Murrue grinned.
"You won't find it to be very fun after I restrain you to the electric chair and decide to accidentally leave it on at full power." Kira smirked as he continued. "Sure, you might enjoy it for a few hours, but after a while, even your body will want the constant pleasure to go away."
"I don't know about that, Kira." Cagalli spoke up from within the Akatsuki Gundam's cockpit. "Lacus restrained me to the electric chair once, and the feeling of that metal dildo vibrating wildly inside me, while sending relentless waves of electricity coursing through my body was absolutely wonderful."
"I knew you'd enjoy it, Cagalli." Lacus giggled from the cockpit of the Chimera Gundam.
"That's enough, all of you!" Kira finally yelled. "We have a mission to complete, and even if we didn't, I wouldn't want to discuss things like that on an open communications line."
"Kira." Lexi's voice suddenly spoke, even as she ship once again shuddered ever so slightly, although this time the shuddering was nearly constant. "The United States Air Force has deployed hundreds of aircraft in an attempt to shoot the Excalibur down."
Lexi, being both an advanded artificial intelligence and a hologram, was actually at all of the stations on the Excalibur's bridge simultaniously. Although, in order to avoid confusion, her holographic visage had taken the appearance of the crewmember that was normally posted at the respective stations.
The amethyst-eyed man allowed an annoyed sigh to escape his lips as he accessed the exterior cameras, but he was mildly surprised by what he saw. Swarming around the ship were hundreds of various aircraft, ranging from fighters and bombers, to helicopters. The attackers were unloading all of their machine guns and missiles into the hull of the massive dagger-shaped ship in a desperate attempt to blow it out of the sky.
"Nearly 100 fighters consisting of; McDonnell-Douglas F-4 Phantom IIs, Northrop F-5 Tiger IIs, McDonnell-Douglas F-4G Phantom II Wild Weasels, General Dynamics F-111 Aardvarks, and Vought A-7 Corsair IIs." Kira muttered, as the fighters swooped past the cameras. "Three dozen electronic warfare aircraft consisting of; Grumman A-6 Intruders, and Northrop Grumman E-6A Prowlers." He continued. "Three dozen attack helicopters consisting of; eighteen AH-1 Cobras, and eighteen AH-64 Apaches." He paused for a few seconds before finishing. "Although, there appear to be only four reconnaissance aircraft; two Grumman E-2 Hawkeyes, and two Lockheed SR-71 Blackbirds."
"Multiple bombers inbound!" Lexi's voice suddenly shouted. "A trio of North American XB-70 Valkyries, followed by four Corvair B-58 Hustlers, with six North American A-5 Vigilantes at the trailing end of the flight!" Lexi's voice suddenly bordered on panic. "All of the incoming bombers are carrying nuclear weapons!"
"So?" Kira scoffed. "The Excalibur is equipped with neutron jammers. Those bombs might dent the hull, but they can't detonate in the form of a nuclear explosion." As if on cue, the dagger-shaped warship was violently rocked as the bombs hit the hull and detonated, sending huge nuclear fireballs blossoming into the sky.
"Ow." Lexi's voice spoke once more. "Nuclear weapons hurt."
Kira's stomach twisted at the image that appeared on his subscreen a few seconds later. The image of an Eternal-class ship, its hull colored azure with crimson wings. Kira knew that ship well. It was the Alexandria, tenth of the Eternal-class of ships, and like all the Eternal-class ships since the Eternal II, the Alexandria was completely capable of atmospheric flight. The Alexandria had seemingly vanished from the Excalibur's hanger bay a few months earlier, and now it lay in the hands of the Earth Alliance. It was their flagship. And it was headed towards the Excalibur.
On the bridge, one of Lexi's holographic images, specifically the one at the sensors, which bore an appearance similar to Lacus Clyne, glanced up anxiously at the communications screen, and by extention, towards Kira. "They're transmitting a white flag signal using the diplomatic code."
Kira swallowed distastefully. "So, they want to negotiate a cease-fire, do they?"
"It certianly seems that way." Lacus spoke from the cockpit of the Chimera.
"Lexi, open a communications line." Kira replied, after a moment of thought. "I guess it's only fair to see what they have to say."
The shock rippled through the crew's hearts, and Kira forced himself to remain calm as another of Lexi's holograms, this one, seated in the captain's chair and bearing an appearance similar to Murrue, stared at him with disbelief etched onto her face. "Sir, you're going to negotiate a cease-fire?"
Deep within his heart, Kira felt the need to say yes, to turn the ship around, and to put an end to all of this. But he knew that he would never forgive himself for turning his back on humanity, for turning his back on his mission to eradicate all conflict. "I will hear his case." Kira said at last. "I didn't say that I would do as he asks." He waved at the hologram of Lexi whom was perched at the communications station, and bore an appearance similar to Meyrin Hawke. "Send the transmissions. I'll take it here, in the Divinity's cockpit." He paused for a moment before adding. "Also, I want these negotiations broadcast throughout the ship."
A few short seconds later, the communications line opened, and Kira Yamato's bright amethyst eyes met the cold brown eyes of Joseph Copland, the current leader of the Earth Alliance. The old man scanned Kira's surroundings through the monitor, and under his steely gaze, Kira tried not to shiver.
"Supreme Commander Yamato." The old man said at last. "I trust you understand why I've opened communications with you."
Kira pressed down his emotions and sat back in the cockpit. "Of course. I will hear your case."
"Our gassing of the Copernicus City lunar colony was completely unjustified." Joseph said, hanging his head. "Thus my case should be rather obvious. I wish to surrender, putting the entirity of the Earth Alliance under Celestial Being's control."
"I was under the impression that ZAFT forces had attacked Copernicus City." Kira responded, his eyes widening slightly. "Even so, what assurance do you give that if we do accept your surrender, humanity will survive?" He asked, narrowing his eyes. "You should have come to make this case before you attacked Copernicus. Sadly, there's no turning back now."
"Supreme Commander Yamato." Joseph said, and Kira felt a chill wash over his body. "You know full well that doing the right thing requires no reward outside of itself. Do you think I don't see the tremble in your hands? Do you think I don't know your history? Do you think I don't know that you stopped a senseless slaughter like this at the height of the Bloody Valentine Wars? I know you are a man who would not kill millions of people for no reason. And yet you have done exactly that. You have buried a good man somewhere within you, and I am here to appeal to you to dig him up."
Kira swallowed and felt his heart race. Somewhere in himself, the somewhere that Joseph had so effortlessly found, he knew he agreed, knew that he had to throw off this charade and atone for his sins. "I was naïve then. I am not now."
"No. Now you are a murderer." Joseph leaned forward. "I do not care what you do with me. I do not expect you to stop attempting to eradicate all conflict. In fact, if you went about it a little differently, I might even be convinced to support your cause. I appeal to you instead, Kira Yamato. The man who saved the PLANTs from Murata Azrael, and the Earth from Patrick Zala. Somewhere within you beats the heart of a man who fights against injustice instead of causing it. I am here to bring him back."
"I'm afraid you're wrong, Joseph." Kira said quietly. "But there is one part of me that remains the same. I am a man of my word. I have let you plead your case." He stood up and drew a pistol from his uniform. "And I am also under orders to kill you."
Joseph frowned. "So be it. My work here is done."
For a moment, Kira's finger twitched over the trigger, as visions of this man leading his new world danced before his eyes, but then he saw Fllay Allister's death, GENESIS, the ZAFT warship Executer, and the Requiem again, he clenched his teeth and pulled the trigger, instantly utilizing his divine abilities to teleport the speeding bullet from the barrel of his weapon, and through the heart of Joseph Copland.
"Captain." He said into the intercom as he waved the smoke away and replaced his weapon. "Begin the attack."
On the bridge of the Alexandria, Joseph Copland's heart monitor went dead, and William Sutherland felt his own heart sink into his stomach. Just as Joseph himself had predicted. The rest of the bridge crew listened wordlessly to the long, heartless tone from the little heart monitoring device, before Sutherland bowed his head and threw the power switch. Their disbelief hung in the air.
In the captain's chair down in front, the young officer named Shinji Ikari, in the old off-white Alliance uniform glanced up anxiously at the older man. "Orders, sir?"
Sutherland glanced painfully over at the Excalibur, just long enough to watch as the dagger-shaped warship's guns angled towards the Alexandria. "Evasive action, now!"
The Alexandria obligingly swung down as the Excalibur's cannons fired, and the crimson-winged warship rocketed away before the enemy could lock on. Sutherland settled back into his chair and swallowed his emotions as Shinji barked out orders and the crew set to work.
The Divinity Gundam hummed as Kira Yamato guided it into battle and steeled his nerves for a fight. Joseph Copland's words still ricocheted through his mind and sent a wash of coldness down his spine. Deep in his soul, he knew that the man which Joseph Copland had sought was still there. That man would have flown into this battle on the other side, the side standing against him, protecting this city.
But that man was gone, and this one, the one whose hands rested on the Divinity's shuddering controls, was the one that was left.
He looked up in surprise at a feeling of mental pressure up ahead and keyed on his camera's zoom feature, and then he frowned in surprise, as there, floating protectively before the Alexandria, waited a black Gundam with blood red wings and a shimmering green beam sword.
"Who...?"
With a flash from its eyes, the GAT-X777S Judgement Gundam charged.