Trials And Lies

Chapter 11

AN: And I don't own Gundam SEED or any of its counterparts.

Cosmic Era 75
Golden Triangle, Northern Thailand

36 hours till Ultimatum deadline...

"Acknowledged, Overwatch. Vulcan-Actual to all units, Callsign Ragnarok, we're mission launch. Lay down flare and mortar fire."

"Understood, Commander. Mission is a go, I repeat, mission is a go."

"Stay close to me, Commander Yamato..." Karmen said as she smiled revealing her sharp teeth, taking off the ghillie blanket in a single motion. The cool air blew past Kira's hair comfortably as pops from behind the fire-team sent a hail of metal and fire down on the lone village, like a rain of punishment from God as the rest of the squad behind him took off their cover too, revealing deadly eyes with menacing auras.

"...This is the part where a boy turns into a man."

Kira couldn't believe his eyes as he watched a full squad of heavily-armed specialists sprint through not only the hazardous grassland riddled with fences downhill towards the village, but also through oncoming enemy fire while avoiding them skillfully at the same time as if it was second nature. Before Kira could enjoy the scene before him further though, he felt a strong pull that brought him right onto his feet and pulling him downhill. Like he earlier thought, he wasn't a foot soldier. Such a forward and head-on attack injected unparalleled primal fear into his being that made his knees shake unsteadily as bullets wheezed past.

"Are we really doing this!?" Kira tried to make a U-turn before an explosion a few meters to his side caused him to keep going straight, shrapnel and dust flying right at him, hitting the ballistic goggles that he was wearing and throwing him off. His ears rang as he tried to make sense of what's going on, before a hand gripped his arm and pulled him hard, guiding the way.

Kira could literally hear Karmen's amused laughter echo into his radio and mind as the ringing slowly dissipated, "Whoa there, Commander! You alright?!" her smile amid the lethal flying bullets and shrapnel somehow of a comfort to the young Coordinator as they took cover in a pre-existing ditch.

"This is crazy!" Kira complained as he felt the trembling of his hand trying hard to hold onto his rifle. If he knew this was the reality of shock troopers on the front-lines, Kira wouldn't have signed up for it with an enthusiasm that even Lacus couldn't turn him down, "I'm gonna stay here-!"

"Look at me, Commander! Just a few seconds more of running downhill, then everything will be okay!" Karmen struggled to keep her voice discernible beyond the sounds of gunfire and mortar explosions, "We just need to get to cover! Keep your eyes on me, and follow my every step!"

Before Kira could react, the commando grabbed Kira's vest and pulled him towards the village, leading the way through the messy battlefield while the young pilot just followed closely. He felt slightly safe, but that's just it. Potholes and flying branches, everything else was his enemy. After what seemed like an eternity of running, Kira finally reached the wall of what seemed to be a large factory at the edge of the village.

"Well done, Commander! Keep this up and you'll be a national sprinter in no time!" Karmen exclaimed as she grinned, Kira noticing her unconsciously grabbing at her chest as if in pain before she put a finger on her headset, "Vulcan-Actual to Vulcan-4, we're in. Set up a perimeter and divert traffic if possible."

"Understood, Vulcan-Actual. Ceasing mortar fire and setting up sniper over-watch," Kira decided to move and look around as Karmen was communicating and coordinating, noticing a stack of sacks near the corner of the building. With curiosity, he quietly took out a knife and stabbed through the chest, causing a brownish-green powder to come pouring out.

"Are these the drugs the mission briefing talked about?" he asked himself while he looked quietly as the contents spilled onto the floor, unable to ascertain the exact nature of the powder.

"Affirmative, Commander. Its opium...or rather, the unrefined form of modern day drugs and money," Karmen looked over Kira's shoulder. Now that he had time to notice, Karmen was actually taller than Kira was. He wondered if she'd one day rather be a basketball player or an athlete, "Come on, Commander. I know my chest is eye-catching but its embarrassing if you stare at it for too long."

Kira blushed at the thought as the sounds of gunfire and screams suddenly crept back into his awareness. He essentially forgot he was in a battlefield as they continued on, silently muttering to himself.

"...I wasn't staring at your chest."

Everyone in the Voltaire was on edge ever since the destruction of the Decemberius colony took place. Everything happened too much too fast and there was only so much one could give in response to such a spontaneous threat. Yzak yawned as he rubbed his temples, looking over the tactical data in the bridge of the ship trying hard to at least find a clue on Lacus' whereabouts.

"Hey, Yzak," the voice of his old friend shook him out of his thoughts, turning to Dearka after hesitantly tearing himself away from the datapad, "You sure you wanna do this? I mean it does feel right to you but...do you really want to give in to the demands of a force that ruthlessly killed millions in a single night?"

"Do I look like I'm giving second thoughts about this, Dearka?" the Commander gave an annoyed look as he continued on with the datapad, "An enemy has his knife on the neck of billions of people. Proper protocol and logic dictates we satisfy the enemy's demands to ensure safety of the masses, or do you need me to decide for you where your allegiance lie?"

In response to Yzak's provocation, the blonde officer grabbed the 'apparently' hypnotizing datapad from Yzak and frowned hard. Dearka was getting tired of Yzak's constant hardheadedness and pride to remain deathly fixed on ideals and the good of the many by totally sacrificing and forsaking his own wants and desires. Sure, it is admirable, but Dearka would never let his own good friend experience such a thing in his lifetime. Life is just too short to let it be all war, death and nothing else.

"I am conflicted. Cause you know why? At the end of all this...your gun, will be pointing not only at Lacus herself, but eventually also at Shiho," Dearka lost count to how many times he had to have this kind of debate going on with Yzak ever since they started off together. Who was Yzak trying to impress by doing all this? Was it just pure conviction to protecting any and all life, or something more personal? In the end, Dearka realized himself that even if he was Yzak's good friend, there are depths in the Commander's personality that even he wouldn't be able to comprehend. As is with the hearts of humanity.

"..."

"I'm not prepared for that. And if I know you as much as I do, you aren't either," Dearka finally declared as he tossed the datapad away while he was making his way out of the bridge of the Voltaire, "The Athena's Captain knows what's really going on. I suggest you check in with him, Yzak. If you really care, you would."

The intermittent silence broke gently as the hiss of the elevator to the Voltaire closed. Years ago, if you'd ask if Dearka would be in this predicament, he would've brushed it off and say it is just a day in the life of a ZAFT officer. But now that he was facing such things up close and personal, the tensions of politics, tests of friendship and the pain of sacrifice, the young blonde wished the world was much more simpler...more easy.

But Dearka knew definitely that things would be much, much worse before it gets easier.

"All crew, be advised. Going to condition orange! Commander Joule, please report to Command for briefing."

"Come on, give us more time, damnit."

The only thing that Shiho hated when changing into a new uniform was the fact that the footwear would always be as stiff as bricks and you'd feel as if you're lugging around dead weight at the end of your feet. It was no different when she changed into the Visotoniki's uniform, but at least she didn't have to wear the knee high boots that the ZAFT military had the first day she graduated ZAFT Military Academy. She could really get used to the stealth boots, and the zipper by the side of it really makes it much more easier.

Not that there was much to do in the place she was in. In fact, what was interesting about it was that she was no longer in a military base like she expected, but at a five-star hotel. The penthouse no less, somewhere within an Eastern European city overlooking the ocean and harbour, the sunset a magnificent sight considering that Shiho is no longer expected to be on constant vigilance. Decked out in casual sleeveless and compression pants, Shiho walked down the corridor within the hotel a floor down exploring, before a loud crash could be heard causing her to strike a readied stance with her handgun out from her shoulder holster.

"If you're trying to con me and thinking you can get away with it, you're in for a real treat," Conrad's voice seeped through the opening of the doorway menacingly, "Like a new hole to let you learn how to smoke your filthy weed with."

Apparently, the whole room was in a standoff between Conrad's men and what appeared to be a mafia group of some sort striking a deal. Shiho leaned in closer as she tried to listen in more on the conversation in an attempt to figure out what's what even though she already knew how the game was played by her brother. The other voice seemed provocative, and worse, prodded insults at Conrad that defied all logic of self-preservation.

"Hey, come on now, scumbag. This kind of tech is in itself rare and hard to find. If you don't wanna pay double than what was agreed, I can just take this elsewhere-!" before the speaker could even finish his words, Conrad gripped him by the shirt and slammed his back onto the table which somehow managed to not sever his spinal vertebrae. In the same instance, one of his henchman got his gut plowed by a deafening high-caliber round from Conrad's smoking gun as a threat but ultimately as an example for refusing to comply.

"I think my brain 'glitched' for a bit there. I thought I heard you say you'll take it 'elsewhere'," Shiho's brother claimed with a smile on his face, which if one was smart, would recognize that it meant something else altogether. Sending people off to the afterlife happy just took a literal meaning for Conrad.

"D-damn it! Fo-for a carbon copy of someone dead, you really do-!" once again, mafioso was immediately riddled straight into his chest two gunshots that immediately sent him into a lifeless state on the table. Conrad's men then proceeded to effortlessly gun down the rest of the henchmen present in cold-blood, leaving only one of them who cowered in the corner in fear, wetting his pants as he felt the blood of his comrades seep through his pants.

The female soldier outside backed off a bit as the standoff came to a close, the pungent smell of urine and fresh blood causing Shiho to put her hands over her mouth and nose so her dinner won't come back out. Holstering her gun back into its proper place, Shiho's thoughts then quickly drifted back to what the mafioso said before he got himself switched off by Conrad.

What did he mean by 'carbon copy'? Shiho started to feel confused, scared and ultimately conflicted. Reports came in during her time in ZAFT whereby Athrun Zala and the Minerva crew uncovered extensive and brutal human experimentation, including that of cloning genetic materials which resulted in the creation of Carbon Humans. The details were sketchy...but Shiho once again had this sick feeling rise from deep inside her like the time Ryuzaki revealed the conspiracy within ZAFT.

It can't be. Condrad is her brother irregardless of shape and form. His memories were there and he's not changed at all. Violent, yes, but that's just because of the missions he needed to accomplish to satisfy a larger goal. Shiho ultimately deferred everything to her brother's judgement and would readily follow him into the fires of war if need be. But if he was a-...no. Shiho shook her head violently as she hugged herself while walking back up to her room.

Conrad is still alive. Nothing can change that for her.

It struck Kira as odd that a large entity force known as the Visotoniki, who currently were the puppet-masters of Librarian Works and its trophy figurehead Prayer Reverie, was able to run around undetected by any and all organizations especially those of advanced stature like PLANTs or the Orb Union. And it is a bigger question mark as to why the Voskhod-3 which was a splinter cell of the Visotoniki had decided that breaking away from the main group was a logical decision, considering its influence and power extended like the arms of a menacing tarantula.

If only one small group of such biologically augmented soldiers were capable of destruction to a village within a few minutes, Kira could only imagine what Conrad is capable of beyond their obvious possession of nuclear weapons. As he inspected the soldiers captured from the Voskhod-3's latest raid, he noticed they were in hard cold fear, trying their best to avoid eye contact with the female Commander next to Kira.

"Say, Karmen. Were you the only female specialist in Visotoniki?" he asked with a restrained voice, not knowing whether he sounded belittling or plain weird.

"Not really, Commander," she returned the curiosity with a bone-chilling smile, "Project VISOTONIKI ran mostly on trafficked humans and those abandoned by conflicts past. So since most criminal syndicates around Earth were keen on their sexual exploits and slave trades, most were young innocent girls like I was," she continued on as she seemed to be distracted for a split second by the communication on her headset, "So, Visotoniki has more ladies than men."

Kira's spine shivered as he listened to her explanation. He was a man, which meant he almost had next to nothing to try and comprehend or understand the suffering that the unfortunate have had to suffer, "I'm sorry for asking. Its just that-!"

"Hold that thought, Commander," the commando placed a gentle arm on Kira's shoulder, pulling up her face mask up to her nose, "We have company."

"Vulcan-Actual, be advised, large convoy of heavy armor with aerial escorts en-route to your location."

And true enough, Kira strained his ears to listen beyond the rustles of the grass outside before hearing the distant sounds of choppers and armored vehicles rolling into the area. It definitely wasn't reinforcements, looking at how the rest of the squad quickly took cover in the shadowy crevices of the village as well as the fact that the colors on the vehicles were never once seen by Kira before, except at Kaohsiung back during the first Bloody Valentine.

Kira quickly took cover next to Karmen inside the manufacturing plant they were in under a window, and made the final checks on his rifle. There was no way they could beat the incoming forces this time. They had no heavy weapons and any available Mobile Suits were primarily used to maintain a defensive sphere around the Archangel back in the Pacific. The young Coordinator quickly puts on his night-vision device the moment Karmen killed the lights of the whole village.

"I didn't expect them to be here," Karmen said with a curse, before looking at Kira, "Commander...we're going to be killing these soldiers, good men with friends and families waiting for them back home. Are you sure you want to do this?"

"...I-!"

"Attention, interlopers. You are in violation of the Equatorial Union security regulations," the loudspeaker blasted throughout the whole village from the helicopter as searchlights began scanning the area,"and are required to surrender your arms or we will use lethal force! We will take you dead or alive!"

There was a long moment of silence before Karmen pressed her finger on her headset, giving out an indiscernible order of a different language that Kira wasn't able to understand. It sounded Russian but...

"Execute."

Kira could've sworn his heart almost jumped through his throat and out of his mouth as he felt a devastating explosion that threw him off even though he was crouching with his back against the wall of the manufacturing plant's interior. The shock-wave itself hammered the very foundations of the building he was in with the glasses of windows shattering all over the place. Again, his ears rung bells from the deafening sounds of more explosions and gunfire, Kira screaming and covering his head as the chaos took itself to another level.

"Advance, Commander! Don't let them take a breather!" the radio in Kira's headset crackled in as he felt an arm roughly pull him, the voice barely penetrating the brief hearing loss. Everything went by so fast, with flashes of lights blinding him here and there as he moved his feet blindly, all the while looking down. Kira got tired mid-way of trying to run away from a fight that could present a bullet to the face at anytime, and quickly tried to find his rifle slung around his shoulder, looking up with squinted eyes.

His supper almost made its way back out of his stomach as he watched bodies strewn all over muddy ground, blood all over the place. A gasping soldier with his bottom half clean off from his torso, crawling desperately towards safety as his innards dragged along the dirty ground. Screams of pain and agony as shadows of black-clad soldiers with glowing green lights as night eyes moving in for the kill, serrated knives ripping through necks of young soldiers begging for mercy, or the clean entrance of a high caliber bullet inches from the face before exploding through to the other side leaving a fatal ballistic trauma.

"Vulcan-2 through 7, bzz-control-bzz-armored vehicles! Bzz-chopper-bzz-noying me!"

Even his legs have no idea where they were with the constant shaking and trembling of the ground. Kira Yamato was effectively shell-shocked. Not so much by the battle, for he had been in a few firefights in his time. But from the overwhelming murderous intent that seeped from the woman and men at his beck and call. It took some time for him to react, but Kira eventually put up his rifle and began running through the messy field, shooting his own share of hot lead through his enemies.

And before he knew it, he was taking cover behind an armored vehicle, his body returning slowly to normal control as it adapted to the stress.

Coasts of Vietnam
Archangel-Class Battleship

"Super 6-1 reporting no hostile activity in sectors Lima-4-4 through 6," Lacus Clyne yawned to herself politely as the radio transmission crackled into the bridge of the Archangel. The night sky seemed peaceful as always, not affected by any matters around and on Earth, and Lacus was envious of that. Some days she would just wish she could leave this all behind and live a quiet life away from everything, "Bingo fuel in 3 mikes. Requesting RTB, Angel-4."

"Understood, Super 6-1. RTB for refuel at Point Charlie-3-6. Angel-4 out."

But alas, Lacus took it upon herself ever since she was the leader of the Clyne Faction to become the hand that offers aid and reprieve for those who are unable to make a stand for themselves, for those who are weak. Mu La Flaga soon came in, breaking the silence of the bridge as he offered a cup of hot chocolate to Lacus, who received it with a grateful smile and thanks.

Putting her mind on a brief ease, Lacus sipped on the hot drink before putting it aside, laying back against her seat and hugging herself to keep any warmth that she could get. It seemed to feel like forever that she really took a break and sat down, closing her eyes for a few moments as she let the silence of the bridge cloud her mind. But all that came to her were the faces of the people she lost, of the people she would lose if she didn't keep her game up. Lacus sat back up with her eyes alert again not even a minute into her mental furlough.

"Lacus?" Murrue Ramius turned to look at the fallen princess with a worried look on her face, "You should get some shut-eye, you know? We can't have you collapsing from exhaustion. Last I heard you were malnourished after departing the Nocturnal Delta."

"Its okay, Captain. I'm alrig-!"

"No you're not!" the Captain exclaimed in a voice that was coated with forceful concern disguised as annoyance, "Everyone around here...knows you're not."

And she was right. Lacus let her eyes fall downcast as she clasped her hands together in reaction to a sudden incursion of anxiety. The truth was already out there, laid out open and bare for all to see. There was no way Lacus could ever go back to PLANTs, her home, or anywhere in the world that maintained a semblance of a formal government. She would forever be considered a nomad. An outcast. Or even an exile.

"Things are looking bad, Lacus. Everything that the Clyne Faction has done is now pinned on you," Murrue opened up a portion of the screen to show the underhanded dealings the said factions had that was disseminated by Librarian Works to the public ranging from illegal weapons manufacturing and multitudes of unethical human experimentation that obviously excluded Project VISOTONIKI, "You have nowhere else to go. We're with you in all this, Lacus. But we can't maintain this forever. Even the Archangel needs a home."

Lacus was about to protest and fight with every fiber of her being that the Voskhod-3 was with her all the way, before an incoming radio transmission broke them off from the conversation.

"Vulcan-Actual to Angel-Actual, Vulcan outfit is Oscar-Mike to your location right now in mobile armor on route-47. Break," Karmen's voice came online on the audio-only channel, "Onyx 2-1 and I are taking a different route and will be at your location in 5 mikes via on-site procured air vehicle."

Lacus' heart lifted as she stood up slowly, apparently smiling the moment the callsign Onyx was mentioned which most obviously was Kira. She was about to stand up and make her move for the Hangar of the Archangel, but was halted by another alert transmission that came with an alarm blaring all around.

"Hangar Bay, status?!" the Captain spoke as she tried to find out what was happening.

"Bzz-ve an unauthorized-bzz-tain! The Akatsuk-bzz-!"

The transmission blacked out promptly, followed by a devastating explosion that sent shock-waves throughout the whole ship, shaking everyone on board. The automated announcement system kicked in along with the alarms. Mu La Flaga quickly ran off after they ascertained the bay doors of the runway was forcefully shot out, leaving only Murrue and Lacus with the crew. Not long after, the Akatsuki was seen speeding off into the dark night sky in a beautiful blaze of gold.

"Of all the times to let this happen," Lacus looked out forlornly as the sight of the golden Mobile Suit got smaller and smaller, her hand on her chest as she felt her stomach take a nosedive and her heart race, "H-Hierarch?"

"Ready to receive, Chairwoman Clyne."

"Please follow the Akatsuki. Make sure nothing happens to it or its pilot before the Freedom gets to you."

"Processing. Instruction acknowledged, Chairwoman Clyne. Initialising tracking maneuver," the synthesized reply came as Lacus began feeling light-headed, her surroundings starting to feel blurry as the room spun slowly. Severe exhaustion already visible in her eyes, she grabbed hold of the Captain's chair tightly as she tried her best to remain conscious, feeling the need to see the night through. Cagalli was one of the few precious people that she knew and to lose her now would only be another dreadful loss that Lacus could not take. The critical points. She can't stop now.

"Lacus?" Murrue turned to look at the younger woman, totally caught off guard as the former Chairwoman of the PLANTs fell headfirst into the hard floor, causing a sickening sound to reverberate throughout the bridge from the impact. Lacus' body felt like lead at this point, every part of it not listening to her as the surroundings faded to black, sounds of panic accompanying her before she fell into a deeper level of consciousness.

"You still fail to grasp the underlying truth, Patrick. We didn't evolve."

AN: Happy New Year guys! :)