Celestial Being Chronicles - Chapter 127
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.
"Why are you here?" Yumi Yamato asked, standing across from Athrun Zala, as they both stood on the front lawn of the Yamato mansion in Orb.
"Because I wanted to visit Kira." Athrun answered.
"Do you think now is the best time for Kira to be reminded of what he went through, and where he is right now in comparison to you and everyone else?"
Athrun's eyes widened. Even the last time he had spoken to Yumi in person she had never spoken so bitterly.
"He thinks this is a pity visit, Athrun. You're here because you pity him. Don't pity him." Yumi's lips quivered and her eyes became watery. "Don't you dare pity him. That makes him feel less than human."
"He's not less than human." Athrun said.
"He feels that way." Yumi replied. "He's convinced he's a monster and no matter how hard I try I can't shake it from his head. He's got voices talking to him. Zombies. Demons. And because of Junius Seven falling from the sky all he can think about is another war starting. And you're a reminder of that."
"How am I a reminder?" Athrun asked, barely keeping his voice down.
"You got to save the world again. Kira's stuck here where he can't make a difference. You think he wants or likes that?" Yumi made a scoffing noise. "You're shoving your success and your heroism in his face by being here."
Athrun simply stared at Yumi, completely stunned. "You really think I came here to mock him? Yumi, come on. I think he just needs to see a friend."
"He hurts me every day." Yumi said, tears beginning to stream from her eyes. "Many mornings when he wakes up he doesn't see me as human. In his nightmares he is adrift in some reality where all the people he killed or died because of him torture and haunt him. There is blood all over his hands, his entire body."
Athrun looked away, wincing. "I'm aware of that."
"Look at what he did to me." Yumi said, lifting up her shirt a bit. The bruises on her abdomen were plain to see, and seeing Yumi injured nearly jolted Athrun off of his seat.
"I, uh...I didn't know Kira could do that." Athrun said.
"He's capable of anything when he is possessed by his nightmares." Yumi said. Her hands gripped her knees. "And every time he hurts me, it tears him apart a little more. I want to help him so much but sometimes it feels like there's nothing I can do. He would be fine if his nightmares could be disspelled."
"What about a psych-" Athrun began.
"That won't work, Athrun." Yumi cut him off. "We tried that already. He went into SEED Mode and nearly killed the psychiatrist."
Athrun knew what SEED Mode was. He had seen the SEED shatter himself. But it hadn't happened to him nearly as much as it had for Kira. Kira had seen his SEED shatter dozens of times in a span of months, while Athrun's SEED had shattered less frequently over a briefer span.
SEED Mode was an ultimate berserker mode, where the Coordinator who saw the SEED shatter was capable of feats far greater than humans could do. Granted, Naturals seemed capable of it too, Cagalli had seen a SEED shatter too in the final battle, but it seemed to be far less frequent and barely even possible for them.
Yumi looked down. "Sometimes I wonder if it's SEED Mode itself that's doing this to him. I don't know. I'm out of explanations. Kira didn't do the horrible things he sees himself doing. He killed people, but he never killed civilians. He never annihilated cities and burned them to the ground. Why does he see himself doing these things?"
Yumi began to shake softly, and Athrun rose from his seat. Athrun realized that Yumi had no one to talk to about this, not until he had come. He wondered how long Yumi had been keeping this inside her. How long Yumi had been wanting to talk to someone but couldn't.
"Why?" Yumi asked. "Why did this have to happen to him? He is such an amazing person. Why?"
"I don't know." Athrun said as he embraced Yumi softly. "I just don't know."
Yumi began to cry into his shoulder then, and Athrun held her tightly.
Cagalli Yula Athha opened the conference room door, and Kira followed, only to make a right and stand in a corner. Cagalli, meanwhile, walked to her seat at the end closest to the door. Everyone else was already seated, including Unato Sieran at the far end and Yuna to the seat closest to Cagalli on the right.
Too close for Kira's liking.
The faces of the middle-aged men and women looked grim. Yuna's face was blank, but not in a stupid or dense way, just...blank, like he was hiding all emotions. Unato, the eldest person in the room, had his hands folded in front of him.
Unato spoke first. "You all should know why we're all here today. The situation with the Gundams is spiraling out of control, and both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance are throwing accusations at each other. We're caught in the middle, and repairing all of their ships that could wind up turning this island into a war zone. We need to decide what to do before the situation continues to deteriorate."
Cagalli spoke first, much to Kira's surprise. "Wouldn't the obvious solution be to throw all of the ships out of Orb waters?"
"That's the neutral standpoint, Cagalli, and that may not be the best idea." Yuna said.
Cagalli folded her arms. "Explain."
"I think the time has come for Orb to choose a side, Cagalli. Right now Orb public opinion has swayed towards siding with the Earth Alliance." Yuna said.
"Thirty-five percent, Yuna! Thirty-two percent advocate neutrality, and twenty-four percent want to side with ZAFT! There's no majority viewpoint." Cagalli said.
'It looks like Cagalli's going to try her father's line.' Kira thought. 'And here I thought she'd give in and support joining the Earth Alliance.' He smiled inwardly. Cagalli would never give up her father's ideals so easily.
Yuna frowned. "So you say, Cagalli."
The other ministers just watched the argument in silence, as Cagalli and Yuna continued to argue it out. It was clear who was in control of the discussion. Now it would be up to Cagalli and Yuna to encourage everyone else to come to one of their sides.
But then Yuna slammed his fist on the table. "But there's intangibles you don't know yet, and why public opinion will further shift towards favoring the Earth Alliance! Look at the leaked broadcast of this clip on your screens!"
Cagalli's eyes widened, and Kira was able to get a peek at Cagalli's monitor from his corner. It definitely looked like ZAFT mobile suits, though he recognized them. They were from that radical remnant he had fought. The GINNs in particular looked haphazard and made out of spare parts.
But how would the public know the difference between that and normal ZAFT suits?
Cagalli's fists were so clenched her knuckles were turning white. Finally, she spat. "Who released this?"
"It doesn't matter anymore, Princess." Yuna said emphatically. "It appears to have been recovered from the Junius Seven wreckage in Europe."
"It was a small group of terrorists that did this, Yuna! Everyone knows that! ZAFT, the Earth Alliance, us, we all fought these people to prevent catastrophe! The amount of casualties are in the hundreds instead of in the millions because of us! There's no way public opinion will shift in favor of the Earth Alliance because of this!"
Cagalli was being quite persausive with her voice, using all of her skills at making speeches to try to regain any lost ground. However, compared to Yuna, she was a political neophyte. She was raw, inexperienced. She ran the risk of sounding irrational.
It was Yuna's turn to be dramatic. "Your father's ideals don't matter anymore, Cagalli!"
"What!" Cagalli snarled.
Unato finally spoke. "Cease, both of you! A shouting match is not going to get us anywhere!"
Cagalli and Yuna both looked at Unato.
"We need to seriously consider our options. The clip was broadcast this morning worldwide and remains on the networks. We won't know public opinion for some time to come. What matters is how the Earth Alliance and ZAFT will react to this. They, not public opinion, will dictate our choice."
"I apologize, Father." Yuna said and he sat back down.
"I apologize as well." Cagalli said, but even from Kira's perspective he could tell that Cagalli was giving Yuna the evil eye.
Unato took control of the conversation. "We have two ZAFT ships in port as well as two Earth Alliance ships. If the situation spirals out of control they will begin shooting each other, and both sides have Gundam machines. The devestation will be catastrophic."
"The obvious solution would be to throw them out of our harbors." One of the ministers said.
"Yes, but it's not quite that simple." Unato said. "Even if they leave the island they will still be in Orb waters long enough that if a war is declared they could begin dragging us into a conflict."
"How long will it take for us to throw them out?" asked a different minister.
"They have to be given twenty-four hours' notice, that's the standard law for removal from a neutral port. That's an entire day before they'll pull out."
Everyone froze in silence. That meant that if the situation continued to fall apart war could break out before either side's ships were out of Orb waters.
"So the best way to protect ourselves is to pick a side." Yuna said. "ZAFT or the Earth Alliance."
Many ministers murmured in agreement.
Then Cagalli spoke, and her words caused Kira's mouth to fall open. "Then the logical step would be to approach the Earth Alliance, wouldn't it?"
Everyone froze, especially Kira. Yuna looked shocked. Even Unato looked a little fazed. Nobody had expected Cagalli to say something like that.
'Cagalli, what are you thinking?' Kira thought.
"Allying with ZAFT makes little sense. We'd be alone on this planet, inviting the Earth Alliance to turn our country into a battleground. If we're to ally with someone we have no choice but choose the Earth Alliance. That makes it doubly important we approach the Earth Alliance instead of them approaching us. We need to dictate the terms of an alliance."
Suddenly, Kira realized what Cagalli was doing. Unato seemed to know as well. "In other words; we're offering the Earth Alliance assistance instead of the other way around."
"That's right. We're the ones making the move, we're the ones telling the Earth Alliance how everything's going to play out. This includes letting ZAFT ships out of Orb waters. That will prevent any combat from happening in our waters or on our land." Cagalli said.
Yuna was fuming, Kira could tell. But Yuna was the one who advocated an alliance in the first place. He couldn't side against Cagalli here, not without looking hypocritical.
"And we'll dictate how our ships and soldiers will be deployed. I don't think all of our conditions will be accepted but we'll make a few we can concede without really changing everything."
Cagalli folded her arms. "In short, I will not let Orb become another fleet to be thrown into war to be carved up. We'll become the Earth Alliance's factory. We designed the Gundams in the first place. We can build more of them. Let the Earth Alliance waste money and lives fighting ZAFT again. If we're a factory, the Earth Alliance will have to protect us. We get nothing but benefits from this. We make no offensive manuevers and generally stay out of the war, and if the Earth Alliance wants our factories to produce, they'll have to protect them."
It was her father's strategy from the first war, only remade with more security guarantees...and no diplomatic relations with ZAFT. Her father's strategy had bought Orb eleven months of peace during the war. If war broke out again, if Cagalli's strategy gained Orb even half that amount, she would look like a genius.
She had made her move to protect her country, and to minimize the power which the Sierans wielded. But it seemed to come at the cost of something, Cagalli's own ideals. It was almost sad for Kira to observe this, watching Cagalli sacrifice what she believed in order to prevent political marginalization and keep Orb safe.
"Well, is it a bad plan?" Cagalli finally asked.
"No." Unato said. "It's a good plan. I'll have the alliance offer drafted immediately. That is, if we have a sixty percent majority."
The votes swung Cagalli's way by about eighty percent, including Yuna's vote.
"All right, let's hope this works, Princess." Unato said. "It's a gamble but it effectively keeps us out of the war. Your father would be proud of you."
Cagalli nodded, but there was a solemn grace to her movements that suggested she didn't believe that at all.
But thenm before anything else could be said, an aide busted into the room. "I'm sorry for interrupting, but turn your monitors to channel 267! Hurry!"
"Why?" Unato asked.
"It's Lacus Clyne!" The aide answered. "She's about to make a speech to ZAFT!"
'Lacus?' Cagalli and Kira thought in unison.
"Lacus Clyne?" Cagalli sputtered outloud.
Yuna looked completely flabbergasted. "What's she doing? She fell off the face of the planet!"
'This makes no sense.' Kira thought to himself. 'When I left the mansion this morning, Lacus was still there! There's no way she could have gotten to the PLANTs from there in time, not even with her Celestial Being shuttle, and there's no broadcasting equipment in the mansion. Then that means...the Lacus making the speech is a fake.'
Cagalli and Kira looked at each other. She had come to the same conclusion from the look on her face.
Lacus Clyne continued her speech, continuing to preach the virtues of peace.
"I know that the events which have taken place over the last few days have been emotional for every human being, whether they be in ZAFT, Orb, or the Earth Alliance." Lacus said. "I know a lot of people in every country are quite angry. But we must only think back to three years ago, to what happened the last time we chose to let our anger take control."
Lacus closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and continued. "Uncontrolled anger will only lead to another war. Please get involved publicly with your governments to stop this rush to arms and keep the peace! Every country lost a generation of children and parents, sons and daughters, mothers and fathers, aunts, uncles, and cousins. Do we want to lose another generation, especially over three Gundams or the terrorist attack that destroyed Junius Seven?" She had modified the speech there. It had originally been more ZAFT-biased, but Lacus Clyne would never take sides when it came to war. She'd plead for every citizen in every country to calm down.
"I don't think so! The last war nearly led to a total apocalypse that would have condemned the Earth to a swift death and ZAFT to a slow one! If we let ourselves rush into another war, how long would it be before the horrors of nuclear weapons and Genesis are once again unleashed? Everyone must calm down and think about the consequences of another war! Encourage your politicians to find a peaceful solution to this crisis! We barely survived the last war. Could we survive another one that could even be more destructive?" She was almost done. "This is Lacus Clyne. Please do not succumb to hatred. Find peace, and end this war before it begins. Thank you."
The camera switched off, and Meer Campbell broke character. "I thought that would never be done." She said, still in Lacus's voice.
The cameraman grinned in embarrassment. "Lacus Clyne has a flair for the dramatic." He said.
Suddenly, the cameraman's face became more serious. "If you are caught publicly you have to remain in character, all right? Say things Lacus Clyne would say. Very few know you aren't the real Lacus."
"You don't think I know that? That's part of the reason I demanded so much money. I have to live someone else's life." Meer sighed. "I guess I should be going."
Kira thought that the meeting had been loud when Cagalli and Yuna had been going at it, but it turned out that he had no concept of what loud was until after the end of the fake Lacus's speech. Everyone was chattering, arguing, yelling. There was no concept of order anymore. It was like Lacus had proclaimed that God had come to smite them all. Cagalli had walked over to Kira while everyone was fighting.
'Do you think we should perform some armed interventions?' The blonde telepathically asked.
'Against who?' Kira answered.
'Against ZAFT, of course.' Cagalli replied, her mental voice becoming somewhat angry. 'Those bastards have what could be a clone of my wife!'
"How the heck did ZAFT get such a perfect impersonator? She looks exactly like the real Lacus!" Cagalli hissed, no longer utilizing her telepathic abilities.
"I don't know, but I wish I did." Kira said.
Cagalli sighed. "Theories aren't going to get us anywhere. We need facts, Kira."
"Well, I don't have any facts as to how they found a perfect impersonator." Kira replied. "Unless they somehow cloned Lacus without our knowledge."
Cagalli looked at everyone, who remained absorbed in their own arguments, and finally she made eye contact with Kira again. "Celestial Being is coming out of retirement, those who can make it anyway." She said, causing Kira to simply nod in agreement. "Andy, Murrue, Lacus, everyone. Try to get Dearka too, before Orb decides to break diplomatic relations with ZAFT."
"Including Athrun and Meyrin?" Kira asked.
"Including Athrun and Meyrin." Cagalli said. "We have to find out a way to stop this war and fast. I don't think what the fake Lacus said is going to be enough. ZAFT seems hellbent on war."
"I don't understand it myself." Kira said. "Durandal doesn't seem to be the type of man who'd start a war."
"Well, he is." Cagalli snarled, her slowly rising anger now seeping into her voice. "While that fake Lacus was doing her speech, something showed up on the monitor that no one else seems to have noticed. ZAFT just broke diplomatic relations with the Earth Alliance."
Kira's eyes widened. "He has very poor timing."
"No, this is just a game. Durandal snuck this in hoping that we'd be obsessed with the fake Lacus's speech and not notice it. He's probably trying to provoke the Earth Alliance to strike preemptively. Make them think war's inevitable so they'd attack to have the advantage."
"That's frightening just to think about." Kira said.
"That's why we need the group together. I'm going to try to keep diplomatic channels open with ZAFT as long as possible. I'll gather the people in Morgenroete and the Orb military. You go after the people who scattered. Miriallia. Kira. Lacus. Dearka. There's a few others to add to that."
"Dearka's in the ZAFT though. How would I get him?" Kira asked.
"At least get in contact with him and we can wire him to the meeting." Cagalli said. "Maybe Dearka will be able to get us some sympathizers from within ZAFT so that we can find out what's going on."
"Good plan." Kira smiled slightly. "You want me to start with Dearka or start with the others?"
"Get an encrypted message to him, don't try to meet him in person. We have the equipment to do it at the mansion, so get to him from our place." Cagalli said.
"Meeting date?" Kira asked.
"Three days." Cagalli answered. "That should be enough time for those who scattered to get back here."
"The war could-" Kira began.
"We can't get everyone together any faster than that, Kira." Cagalli interrupted. "Now go. Once this damned meeting is over I'll do my thing." Kira nodded. He walked towards the door, and shut it behind him.
Celestial Being was coming back. But could the private armed organization stop yet another war?
That was a question that even Kira couldn't answer.
"Cagalli's calling for a meeting of Celestial Being, to be held three days from now." Kira said as he "I don't know what location she has in mind, but I bet it is where the Excalibur is hidden."
Lacus nodded. "Now that I can do something about. Hopefully Malchio and the new teacher will be here by then so Hope and I can go."
She turned to Hope. "You feel up to it?"
Hope, who had been silent the whole time, nodded slightly. "I guess." She said.
"Hope, either you can or you can't."
"I'll go, then." Hope said quickly.
Lacus seemed to accept that answer and she turned to Kira. "If Hope and I can't make it in person, we'll still attend by video conference."
"Speaking of that, I need to borrow your system for a bit to get in contact with Dearka."
Lacus nodded. "That's fine. How many people are you trying to track down?"
"Everyone who went their separate ways." Kira said. "Cagalli's handling those who are in Morgenroete or remained close by. I'm tracking down everyone else. If you have any info as to where they went..."
"I think Miriallia became a reporter." Lacus said. "She's probably where a big story is. That probably means she's at one of the military bases right now. I don't know where Sai went and neither does Hope."
"And don't ask me where Setsuna went." Hope added. "He fell off of the planet. No one's had any luck tracking him down over the last three years. We don't think he's dead, but..."
Kira nodded. "Your info on Miriallia is a big help, trust me."
Lacus sighed. "How bad is everything, Kira? Who's being the aggressor?"
"ZAFT is the aggressor." Kira said. "They just broke diplomatic relations with the Earth Alliance. Cagalli and I both think that ZAFT is trying to provoke the Earth Alliance into restarting the war."
"And how is Orb going to respond to this?" Lacus asked.
"Cagalli decided to side with the Earth Alliance under conditions dictated by Orb. Basically she's shooting for Orb to become the Earth Alliance's supply base and keeping her soldiers out of the fighting."
Hope's eyes widened. "She decided to go against Lord Uzumi's ideals?"
"She faced political marginalization if she chose to stick to them." Kira said. "I don't like it either but I understand why she did."
Lacus frowned. "I hope she didn't make a big mistake. Letting go of your ideals, even slightly, starts a slippery slope, Kira. Cagalli just let herself be corrupted."
"I'm not sure I'd put it that way." Kira said. He suddenly felt some pressure in his chest. He didn't want ot think of Cagalli as corrupted, he really didn't.
"It's one little thing." Lacus said darkly. "And once you let your ideals slide, even just a little, it gets easier to do so more and more until you have no ideals other than staying in power."
"You need to tell Cagalli this instead of me." Kira said.
"I will." Lacus said with finalty. "Now get in contact with Dearka. I'll try to track down Miriallia and the others while you do that so you have some direction. Hope, you stay here and help Kira in any way you can."