I've been enjoying reading some of your predictions. Just remember things are not always as they seem.
Enjoy this next chapter.
Phase 14 - Resistance and Failure
It was the next step in his fight to become stronger. He needed to face someone who he believed to be stronger than himself. Uzumi and Yaro had been undergoing mobile suit training at the military academy but that was not enough for Uzumi. He had been battling anything he could trying to become better and stronger in an attempt to escape the darkness that now threatened his mind.
"Are you sure?" she asked looking at the two simulators before them.
"More than ever," he said as he prepared to board his side of the simulation. Meiko was a bit nervous at this but she had agreed because Uzumi said they both needed to conquer the darkness and that becoming stronger was one step to breaking free. She had no doubt that she would bury him in this battle but she was a little worried about what he might do if she won on a steep margin. He had been working very hard but she had trained every waking moment of her entire life for this; the feeling of the cockpit of a mobile suit was the most natural safest place for her and had been for a very long time.
"The simulators are ready Uzumi," the technician of the lab said. Uzumi looked at Meiko with a smile.
"Don't hold back," he said, "I want you to fight me with everything you've got." She nodded and boarded her simulator and he boarded his.
It was so real a mobile suit before her, a hostile enemy. She smiled as she charged first spinning around his suit with grace as a different side of her manifested; the side that ROW loved, the warrior. Uzumi countered whirling and following her moves knowing that he had to keep up or he would loose. Her mind was focused now as he pulled out the first weapon and fired on her. She quickly surveyed everything she had been given to work with and memorized every control in an instant. His moves were obvious to her and she was able to easily dodge his fire. She quickly whirled about and pulled out a gun firing at his weapon instead of at his mobile suit. He quickly moved back as the gun exploded and opened his arms revealing two cannons.
"Is that all you got?" He taunted unnerving her. Though she kept telling herself the battle was fake she found it hard to do little more than defend against him. He now fired at her trying to pin her down but she was somehow able to dodge his fire taking off out of his sight at an alarming speed. He was amazed she really was good, better than he had expected but her fighting style reminded him of something. Some enemy he had faced before. He concentrated on finding where she had gone when his mobile suit lunged forward after having been kicked by her and a shot hit the side of his mobile suit weakening his armor. He instantly felt anger rise up within him as he put his cannons away and pulled out a beam boomerang and launched it at her, then fired at her with everything he could causing her to focus on dodging. He watched as her suit was clipped by one of his shots then he quickly moved in with both beam sabers activated and caught her off guard but she knew he had picked the wrong weapon to challenge her with. She pulled out one of her beam sabers blocking his attcak. She then shoved him back then whirled out her other saber
She quickly followed after him flashing her beam sabers and quickly spinning his own attack back on him. One of his beam sabers flew out of his hand and exploded as he hung on the other trying to fight her off. Her mind was completely focused as she delivered a series of quick moves and he was barely able to keep up. She heard him cry out in desperation as he tried to fight her off but she soon had him pinned down and defenseless. She raised her beam saber for a final blow when memories began to hit her.
Life after life. Death after death. So many gone by her hand. So many killed. Guilty stains that followed her. Peace that she did not deserve.
Now she sat looking at the mobile suit before her and it was impossible for her to think of it as anything else but Uzumi. It was different now, she knew him, she cared about him. Simulation or not she could not kill him. Fear filled her mind as she cried out at the pain that now ripped through it. She was a monster and this battle was too close to real for her. She knew it would not be long and this battle could be real. She moved her mobile suit back and hit the self destruct ending the simulation.
She stepped out quickly and tried to leave the room but he caught up with her grabbing her arm.
"You stopped," he said looking at the fear in her eyes, "but you won. You could have ended it by killing me but you choose yourself. I told you not to hold back." Sadness filled her eyes as she looked at his kind face.
"It was too close to real," she said looking down, "to much for me to face." Tears began to fall down her face and he quickly pulled her into an embrace not knowing why it was that she cried, only knowing that he was there for her. She knew that they would probably be forced to fight each other for he was like Yaro, all goodness while she was all evil. She was ROW's warrior, and with her came pain.
"I'm sorry," Uzumi said.
"No," Meiko whispered, "I'm sorry."
"So Trey stood up to you?" Liene said. He sat next to Gilligan Manchester and Mike Shustre on a shuttle that was taking them to ORB. Liene had decided that it was time to see what information Meiko had gathered since she had been in ORB for over a month now. She was his best agent and had always completed her missions in perfect fashion but he was unsure that this time would be different. The last time he saw Meiko she had just been forced to kill a child, and for some reason it had broken her. It was as if instead of growing harder with every battle she was growing softer and it worried Liene. Sending her to befriend Uzumi Zala had been a dangerous move as the boy's kind nature and charisma were both legendary. Liene was also worried about the effect the Yamato children could have on her if she was in ORB. The oldest was a boy named Yaro who was near her age and Liene was worried about what might happen if those two met.
But he had decided that she was the best person to send. Now he was a bit unnerved by Trey Likra Day, Meiko's mobile suit partner, standing up to his superiors. The boy had an influence over Meiko though she tried to fight it. Meiko tried not to make friends and John Liene watched as she resisted the advances of anyone who tried to be kind to her but sometimes she slipped up. It was apparent to him that her and Trey worked together so well because they were friends and they always had each others backs on the battlefield.
"Yes," Gilligan said still angry about how Trey had acted, "I felt that contacting you was the best thing but I couldn't just let him wander free so I locked him up."
"You did well," Liene replied, "Meiko may take it hard but we need to show her the consequences of defecting."
"Do you really think that is necessary?" Mike spoke up, "she has been with us since she was a baby. If anyone is loyal I would think she is."
"You don't know that for certain," Liene replied, "I have seen even the loyalest shaken by doubt. Don't forget Rayla, she was my right hand and the day I lost her I knew that no one could be completely trusted, not even you." Both Gilligan and Mike knew this well, the day Liene had lost Milady Redemption was the day that his plan escalated and the day that he swore that Meiko would become the perfect solider but nothing more. And as such Meiko had never understood everything ROW was trying to do, she had been kept ignorant as any newcomer would be.
They needed answers so Athrun went to work. ROW was playing with them all, from the moment that Lacus was exiled from the PLANTs. Something was going on that Athrun was sure they were missing and he was going to find out what. Cagalli sat behind him watching him work intently and offering advice of what to do as he navigated the world on his computer and tried to understand what was going on. He was using every technique he knew to hack the networks of the world and he was covering his tracks as he did so.
"Are you sure you'll be able to find something this way?" Cagalli asked, "I mean this may be what ROW wants, for us to hack into the governments of the world so he can accuse us of sabotage or something." Athrun frowned at the thought but he knew how careful he was being. No one could catch him at the rate he was going.
"Trust me Cagalli," he said continuing his search. ROW had a strong presence in Africa as well as South America. It seemed they were on all other continents as well just not as strongly. He saw the devestation that the countries were suffering as he probed. He knew that all this was pointing to something huge and that it was coming soon. He sensed that ROW as playing them all like Gilbert Durandal had sixteen years before. It was as if ROW's plan had not moved for ten years because they were waiting for something and that recently the unrest had escalated like they were moving faster toward something that he did not understand. His fingers moved faster and faster across the keyboards as he searched and searched until finally he was back in ORB after having found nothing.
"It makes no sense," Athrun said angrily, "how can no one else know what is going on?" Cagalli slipped her arms around him.
"We will know soon enough," she sighed, "even now it is as if all the world is frozen waiting." Waiting for ROW to finally attack.
Meiko walked into her apartment building after a long day of classes. It was getting more and more annoying that she had to pretend that she did not understand everything the teachers were talking about. She walked to her door and took out her key when it opened revealing Mike, Gilligan and John Liene himself all standing in her living room. She had expected them to come for her soon but not this soon, she still had not figured out exactly how she was going to hide the information she had found about Yaro and Uzumi.
"Meiko!" John Liene stepped forward placing a hand on her shoulder as Gilligan went to close the door, "It's been awhile, I've missed having you in space but I trust your stay here has been beneficial?" Meiko at that moment knew everything depended on how she could play the situation. She had been letting her emotions show while in ORB but all that would have to end in this moment. She would have to be blank, expressionless in order to lie to him. She quickly put on her blank face though her heart was filled with fear at Liene's presence. She was unsure that she could handle this but she had to. She had to protect everything she had found.
"I am not sure that it has," she said dryly sitting down on the couch, trying to avoid his touch as she knew that her fear might cause her to start trembling, " have found nothing though I did everything I was asked."
"HOW!" Gilligan protested, "Cagalli had to have helped Lacus! How could you have found nothing?" Meiko knew it would be easier to fight Gilligan than to fight Liene so she rolled her eyes at him and frowned.
"Well maybe she hid it very well because I found nothing," Meiko flatly replied, "I did everything you told me to! I befriended Uzumi, and though it took awhile I got invited to his home. While there I saw nothing that reminded me of Lacus. No signs that she was hiding there and no signs that she was in any way associated with the Attha family anymore." Meiko began to think that she would get through this with no problem though a feeling in her mind told her to be wary.
"Anymore?" Liene asked, "why would you say anymore?" Liene knew Meiko was hiding something by the fact that the blank expression she put on her face was very forced. Something was going on with her that he did not like, it reminded him too much of the past.
"Because," Meiko hesitated looking toward Gilligan's angry expression to Mike's worried face, "I... um, I mean we all know that..." she fought to hide her emotions, "Lacus and Cagalli worked together sixteen years ago to fight the Destiny plan and they worked together in Gibraltar from what I hear."
Liene was able to mask his own anger at this moment, it had taken the girl too long to respond when in the past she always knew what she was saying. He was sure that she was hiding something and he aimed to find out what. He turned to Gilligan and the man went to the next room of the apartment while Liene himself sat down on the computer. Meiko tried to stand up but he motioned for her to sit down. She was confused by all this and she began to realize that Liene did not buy what she was saying. She turned to Mike hoping that he would back her up but he turned away hiding his own emotions. He knew Meiko well enough to know she was lying and he knew Liene well enough to know that he saw right through her. This plan had been risky, sending Meiko out on her own into the heart of ORB and now Mike was sure that she had really become Uzumi's friend. She had not faked friendship like she was told to, she had let her loneliness dictate her actions.
"So you found nothing?" Liene asked turning from Meiko's computer to her but she was resolved to keep her emotions hidden. He looked toward her face and saw nothing but the mask of a warrior.
"Nothing," Meiko responded letting a little anger come up. She was resolved to win this, to beat Liene at his own game for the sake of her friends.
"And you found nothing so you did a lot of research on Leyas Yamato of all people," Liene responded turning the screen toward her and on it she saw the Yamato family photo, "and Yaro Yamato." Liene smiled at how Meiko's mask just dropped at the sight of the photo. For a split second he saw fear in her eyes replaced by anger.
"I wanted to know who to look for," Meiko replied.
"You began to suspect that Lacus's children may be here, didn't you," he replied with a wry smile, he was sure he found everything. When she did not respond he continued, "so you looked them up a few days ago because you found nothing?"
"She probably found nothing Liene," Mike spoke up trying to defend Meiko, he knew she was upset about something, "she wouldn't lie to us."
"Stay out of this Shustre," he almost yelled at Mike who backed down. He then turned to Meiko, "why are you lying to me?"
"I am not," Meiko replied looking down.
"You are," Liene walked across the room and pulled her off the couch looking into her eyes with anger, "and you are going to tell me everything right now." She did not respond as her blank expression stayed on her face. Liene then threw her back to the couch, "if you won't respond I will make you." Meiko almost smiled at that, no amount of ROW torture could ever break her. She had felt everything they had at one time or another and she was sure Liene knew that. What card did he have up his sleeve now. He waved his hand toward the other room and out stepped Gilligan and a few guards with Trey held at gunpoint. She stood up at the sight of him.
"Trey!" she said turning to Liene, "you leave him out of this!"
"But he is s huge part of it isn't he?" Liene said taking a gun from one of the guards and pointing it at Trey, "you're only friend in ROW Meiko, would you really betray him to protect your new friends." Anger was now all over Meiko's features, Liene had her backed against a wall.
"You wouldn't dare," she spat, "he is one of your best pilots, you wouldn't dare kill him!" Liene then cocked the gun.
"Do you care to test me on that," she was trapped. Memories of Daniel, the only other friend she ever had began to flood her mind.
"Don't do it Meiko," Trey finally spoke up, "they are monsters, what ever they say doesn't matter." Gilligan then punched the boy's gut leaving him gasping for air. Mike watched as Meiko's angry expression left and one of defeat replaced it.
"Lacus Clyne's children are here," she whispered and Liene stepped forward.
"I'm sorry I can't here you, can you please speak up?" Liene asked mocking her.
"Lacus Clyne's children are here!" Meiko almost yelled now, "They are living with the Atthas!" At that moment tears welled up in her eyes as she realized what she had done. She had betrayed them and now she was sure she had lost them.
"Good," Liene said lowering his gun, "I knew you were still on our side Meiko." He put a hand on her face, "Dear little Meiko you will always be one of us." Mike knew that Liene had just broken Meiko with this and that the girl would never be the same. Liene had always taken everything from her but this time she had tried to defy him and failed. If she ever defied him again Mike was sure she would win and ROW would be shaken on that day.
As Liene and the others walked out the door with Trey leaving her alone she began to feel the darkness escalating in her mind. The feeling that connected her to Uzumi was growing and now she had to try and undo what she had done.
Lacus Clyne marched to the council room in the Clyne faction base knowing that now was the time to escalate their plans toward the future. ROW showed no signs of backing down and neither could anyone else; she knew in ORB Cagalli and Athrun would be mobilizing while she was responsible for making sure her faction was ready for anything. She walked into the council room strongly and stood before all those who had reamined her loyal commanders.
"Welcome to you all," she said sitting down on the seat at the head of the table, "by now I am sure you are all aware that the PLANTs were taken from us by an agent of ROW. I fear Jayley had kept the PLANTs 'peaceful' but vulnerable and we will soon see what that is going to lead to. I invited you all here because I believe ROW is going to attack somewhere very soon; either here or ORB." She then stood up pointing back toward a screen that held pictures of different ROW ships gathering in space. "These are from our various hidden outposts in space, and it seems they are all ROW class ships. They have all been moving toward this area in space," she circled her hands over a map that appeared, "and we can no longer ignore their actions." Everyone was silent knowing that she was not done speaking, "we must make sure we are ready to mobilize at any minute for a battle is coming. We have seen this for awhile and now we must be completely ready for it. ROW must not advance anymore than they already have!" The room clapped at this.
"So we are mobilizing?" Andew Waltfeld asked with excitement in his eyes.
"We are mobilizing," Lacus repeated looking at each person sitting there. They had all effected her in some way and she was grateful to them for everything they had done. Their loyalty had followed her from the time she was a young girl and now she was a strong woman who would lead them to victory.
Meiko paced around the apartment trying to keep herself from crying at what she had just been forced to do. She had just sealed her fate and betrayed everything that she swore to herself to protect. Yaro and Uzumi and Leyas would all suffer because she was not strong enough and she hated herself for it. She then heard the door to her apartment open.
"You just keep getting weaker, don't you," she froze at the sound of the cold voice coming from behind her and she turned to find herself face to face with Jurme Krey, a pilot Liene had trained alongside her since they were kids. She never liked him as he was always unfriendly and competitive and he never liked her because no matter what she always seemed to be so much better than him at everything. Liene must have brought him down to earth as she knew Liene always favored his attitude over hers.
"I am not weak; I have never been," she spat not bothering to hide her strong dislike of the boy in front of her, "you're the weaker of us both because you have no care of what you hurt."
"And yet you've never stopped fighting for Liene," he laughed unnerving her, "we're both the same you see."
"No," Meiko said strongly as tears filled her eyes, "I am nothing like you!" She looked at him and he was surprised to see the burning hatred in her eyes. She had always been so little, so emotionless and now she was filled with anger like any other ROW agent he had met. There was a darkness inside of her that he could see, something that she had tried to fight but something that had been put in her from the time she was a little child.
"Your problem is that you will never admit that you belong in ROW," he said mocking her more, enjoying how hollow he was making her feel, "you are ROW's top agent. Your reputation in the world is legendary because everyone fears you. They fear that if they get on ROW's bad side Liene will send you."
"That's not true," Meiko yelled, "It's not just me."
"It is just you Meiko," he said, "and now you are breaking but then again you were always like glass, so very fragile." She angrily smacked her hands against his chest, her cheeks were tear stained and her heart was frozen.
"Just leave me alone," she said turning away.
"You've always been alone," he said before walking out the door.
She ran through the streets though the sun was long set, she had a destination and no one was going to stop her. She was fighting a war within herself not understanding why she always gave into Liene and not understanding why she felt like she did not belong in ROW. She had been raised by John Liene and that alone should inspire her trust in him but for some reason there was always a part of her that kept her from ever trusting him.
Her heart was racing as she thought about what Liene would do now with the information she gave him. The first thing she had thought was that he would try to steal them all from ORB to use to bring Lacus out of hiding but she realized he was not that stupid. He was going to use Jayley Lired, his puppet in the PLANTs to do all the work for him and her friends would suffer for it. She ran on not fully understanding what drove her to act against the organization to which she belonged but knowing that what she felt she had to do was greater than anything she had ever felt before. Yaro and Uzumi had become a part of her life in the short time that she was in ROW and for the first time ever she had more than one that she was willing to sacrifice everything for. She had allowed Liene to back her into a corner with Trey, and as her best friend she had to give in, but she would not allow that again.
She arrived at her destination in front of the large gates that led to the Attha mansion. It was dark and everything was closed off except for a few gaurds patrolling the area. She slowly slipped back not wanting to be seen in case she looked suspicions. This might not have been her best idea but at this late hour Liene and the rest were less likely to check on her. She quickly moved into the small grove in front of the mansion and pulled out a small phone. She quickly dialed Yaro's number, it had been very easy for her to memorize it. She hoped he would pick up.
"Hello," she heard a tired voice say and she spoke trying not to sound frantic.
"I'm outside the mansion," she said quickly, "there are guards, I need to speak to you now! Please come down and let me in!" He heard the fear and desperation in her voice and wondered what was going on. He quickly jumped out of bed and moved quickly.
"What's going on?" He asked.
"Just hurry," she replied desperately, "I don't have much time!" It only took him a few minutes to explain things to the guards and after that he calmed her down telling her she should come in out of the cold before speaking to him. She was frantic but she knew he was trying to help so she went with him. Once there were inside she was unsure about her decision but she knew she could not afford to do nothing.
"What is it you wanted to talk about?" he asked looking into her scared violet eyes.
"It's awful," she said not sure where to begin or how much she should tell him. Thinking about everything that had taken place that day inspired fresh tears to come from her eyes and she finally got the courage to speak, "I know who you are."
"What?" Yaro asked surprised.
"Yes Yaro, I do," she looked down, "You are the adopted son of Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne. Your siblings names are Kiran, Leyas and Kayla it did not take long to make the connection from there." He did not say anything so she continued, "I didn't tell you earlier that I knew because I knew that you wanted to keep it a secret from everyone. I know why, because there are so many people out there looking for some way to connect your mother to ORB and then the PLANTs would attack or something. The world is so twisted." She quickly wiped tears from her eyes and looked at him. His face was thoughtful but he continued to be silent which made her more nervous than she was.
"I came here at this time because I was scared for you," she said trying to find the right words, "People are beginning to suspect. They are going to be looking for evidence that you are here so you and your siblings should not leave the mansion for anything!"
"How do you know?" Yaro asked confused, "and we're safe in ORB, no one knows us here."
"It didn't take me long to figure it out," Meiko spoke a little louder this time, "and it's not going to take others long either! You have to be careful, I'm saying this because I understand these things. I know things... and I don't want you to get hurt." Her voice broke as more tears came from her eyes, she was talking to him like a friend and yet she was his worst enemy. He was safe until she had come to ORB, it was all her fault that he was in danger now. Why couldn't she just tell him the truth? What would he say? Would he try to help her? Would he throw her out?
"We're fine Meiko," he said putting his arms around her trying to comfort her, "my family and I are safe here." Meiko pushed him away and looked at him.
"You won't be fine if you don't listen to me!" She protested, "stay out of sight and stay away from me."
"Stay away from you?" he asked confused again, "why? You're my friend, I care about you!"
"BUT YOU DON'T KNOW ME!" She yelled realizing that she might have just woken the rest of the house and whispered the rest, "I'm not a good person, I'm just not. I can't explain it but I want you to be safe so just forget about me." Yaro was surprised by her outburst, in all the time he spent with her she had never been so crazy as she was now. Something was bothering her and she was not telling him everything.
"You need to calm down," he said, "nothing is going to happen."
"I can't stay any longer," Meiko replied standing up, "I just had to warn you that you're in danger. Please, please just take my advice and stay safe!" He watched as she quickly walked from the room and headed down the stairs. He wanted to follow her but he knew she did not want him to so he stayed there stunned at what had just taken place. Her words had hurt him for some reason and he began to realize that he liked her more than just as a friend and that he was scared that something was going to happen to her. He quickly stood up and ran to the rail to discover that she was already gone.
"How can I stay away from you?" he whispered, "I love you." He was suprised at what he had just said; in the short time he had known Meiko Virea he had grown to love her.
"Well, well, well.. what have we here," Jayley smiled at the photos before her. It was as she had suspected all along, Lacus Clyne was allied with ORB and she finally had the evidence she needed. Lacus Clyne's four precious children were now in ORB and had been for quite sometime. This meant that ORB had at some point made contact with Lacus Clyne, for how else could her children have moved from the Eternal to ORB? Jayley laughed in delight as she thought about the possibilities. John Liene's little spy had proved useful after all! Upon receiving the information she had quickly called a council meeting and she knew that their time had come.
"I have called you all here today for an urgent matter," she spoke strongly a few hours later in front of the PLANT supreme council. Now all her doubters would see the strength that she had, "We finally have the evidence that ORB helped Lacus Clyne in her escape from justice. See the photos here," she pointed to a screen behind her, "Lacus Clyne's children have been hiding in ORB under the watchful eye of none other than Cagalli Yula Attha."
She was sure now that her reign in the PLANTs would be secure upon the upheaval of ORB, for they would either give up Lacus's location or suffer the wrath of the PLANTs.
"Stay away from the windows," Cagalli ordered as she had called the children out of school and forced then to return home. Yaro was confused as to what was going on but his aunt clearly was distressed by something that was going on. Kayla seemed to be the calmest of them all as Leyas and Kiran argued in hushed whispers about what might be going on. Uzumi had returned from school with them and him and Jeffery wanted to know what was going on as well. Cagalli sighed as she saw the six of them now sitting before. She whished Athrun was here with her to tell them but he had left to call Shinn on the problem that was now before them.
"What's going on?" Yaro finally asked and everyone was instantly silent waiting for her answer. She motioned for Kayla to come over and put an arm around her niece.
"Today when I was in council the nation of ORB received a transmission from the PLANT government," she looked down knowing that this news was going to hit them hard, "the PLANTs have discovered that you have been hiding here, how I do not know. But they have photo evidence of you being here and they have demanded us to hand you over to them and give them the location of your mother." They six pairs of eyes before her all looked alarmed and she quickly hurried to finish what she was saying, "I have discussed every alternative with the council and for now we have agreed that you are all just children. So we have told the PLANTs that we do not know the location of Lacus Clyne but when the Minerva asked us to take you in we thought it best to accept. We have claimed that you are children and that we took you from your mother to prevent you from being corrupted. Our offical actions are not in the service of Lacus Clyne but in the preservance of innocence." She had done the best she could now she only hoped the children could accept this.
"Does this mean that we have to leave?" Leyas asked, "because they won't let up! Jayley Lired is not known for just giving up on something and if she supects..." Cagalli cut her off.
"No," she said strongly, "we are not sending you away now, not after all this time. Honestly, there is some debate on the council about what to do but for now I have the situation under control. What is important is that you all need to trust me."
"But we don't want to be the cause of war in ORB," Kiran said, "It's unfair for your people because we are not a part of this country." He was the most distressed by all of this because he was beginning to love the country and he did not want to see anything happen to it. Kiran was scared by the recent turn of events and with his father still missing he was completely nervous about what was going to happen.
"We will not allow there to be a war, Kiran," Cagalli said remembering the past times ORB had been forced to fight, "your uncle Athrun is calling back the Minerva and we will stand strong on this. We will not back down."
"What I want to know is how they found out we were here," Leyas said in an annoyed voice trying to piece it all together.
"We don't know that yet but we are working on it," Cagalli said looking around at the children she had vowed to protect, "What is important now is that we pull together and that we all stay safe. None of you are allowed to leave without either a body gaurd or another person guarding you. I suspect that there might be spies out there who are just waiting for you to make one false move. I encourage you to stay in the mansion as much as possible. I will handle the politics of the situation but the rest is up to you." These words brought memories of the night before to Yaro. Meiko had begged him to stay indoors and to stay safe because there were people looking for him. How did she know all this and what was she hiding from him?
Athrun worked quickly entering every code to open the frequency, he had to get in contact with the Minerva. He was not sure what region they were in now but he knew that they would return as quickly as they could once they got his message.
"Athrun?" he had done it, he heard Shinn's voice and saw his face on the screen before him. He knew that Shinn did not expect to hear from him any time soon. He also knew that the Minerva knew what was happening as well as anyone else on earth. The PLANTs had not just bothered to ask ORB alone, they had broadcasted their request to the entire world and now all eyes turned to see what would take place. Cagalli's response was sure to keep war at bay for now but Athrun was sure that ROW was not just going to wait around for the politics of the issue to settle.
"Shinn I trust you heard what is going on between the PLANTs and ORB now," Athrun said.
"Yes I have," Shinn replied affirming what Athrun knew, "I should have just taken the kids aboard the Minerva and spared us all this." Athrun sighed at that, Shinn had suggested it once but Athrun knew that Lacus wanted them completely off the battlefield and the peaceful land of ORB was just the right place for them until now.
"Then you know the situation we are in," Athrun sighed, "and we need your backup support in this. If the PLANTs do attack we will need you on our side."
"Meyrin was talking about this earlier," Shinn replied, "I told her we would await your orders but she was absolutely certain you would call us back so we left as soon as we could. We are now still in Africa and it may take us up to a week to get back with all the ROW ships about. Everyone is mobilizing out here, it's like we feared. Things are about to get a lot worse." Athrun was surprised by Shinn's words.
"But you said a few weeks ago that you had not found much ROW activity out there," Athrun declared wondering what changed.
"Not until now," Shinn replied, "we had a brush with a ship this morning and we keep sighting more and more. It's like they all just appeared out of nowhere! Like they were waiting for this to happen."
"If that's the case they may be mobilizing toward ORB," Arthrun replied with anger in his voice, "we can't allow this nation to fall, it is one of the last beckons of hope in the world!" Shinn nodded understanding every word Athrun said.
"Then we will hurry with every bit of strength we have," Shinn responded, "and we better pray Lacus was right and Kira is safe and coming back to us soon. If fight breaks out then we are going to need all the help we can get." How were they going to get out of this? Would a miracle come for them if a battle broke out or was the end near for them? They had fought and won so many times in the past but Athrun wondered if their luck was about to change. A person could only be so lucky in their life. His thoughts then turned to his son Uzumi and the darkness they boy was feeling; was it somehow connected with the mobilzation of ROW around the world? Would they get through this?
She sat staring at the world before her on the screen replaying the message to ORB over and over again trying to figure out what move would be made next. ROW was moving out and Liene was threatening her organization. Redemption would be destroyed if she made any move at this time but she could not afford to let ROW win. She felt anger growing inside her at the helplessness she felt now. She had not felt anything like this since the first war, so helpless and useless. She looked at the message before her again as her vow sounded in her head.
I will save this world. I will intervene in the darkness. I will destroy ROW and John Liene. I will redeem myself.
This was just what ROW wanted, Liene wanted her to feel weak and helpless. He wanted her to sit back and be afraid to show herself but she knew something was happening that she could not ignore. She had found out where Meiko was and she was not going to let the girl get hurt by Liene's selfish schemes. Milady had been forced to leave the poor little girl behind all those years ago and she had vowed to her that she would return. Now she would not fail on any of the vows she made. She would have to get Kira back to Lacus and though she could not launch her own fleet she would watch and wait for the chance to do what she had planned from day one. She was not useless not now. The door behind her opened and she turned to see Yzak.
"I figured you'd be watching it again," he said walking up to her, "what are we going to do about all this?" She looked him in the eye with anger expressed on all her features.
"We are going to get Kira back to Lacus," she said, "I believe the STING has launched but we can not do anything about that but stay back. Liene will be expecting us to show up and he won't fire it until we do. Because of this the others will be safer if we hang back. Next we are launching the Reversal again but this time we are watching and waiting for our chance. For Meiko has been in ORB all this time right under our noses and we could have done something had we known but it is too late now. Our next step is to wait for her to make a move."
"Are you sure she will?" Yzak asked, "she has been with ROW since she was a baby, she has definitely changed since the last time you saw her. She's so different now Milday, she is a grown woman! She has made a choice to stay with ROW, a choice!"
"I know that Yzak," Milady yelled, "but I knew that child very well, I watched over her when she was alone. Liene had me take care of her and she is the reason why I saw the truth about everything. I can't give up on her like so many others have already, she has no one left and I know there is a light in her! I saw that light and goodness every time she smiled" Yzak knew the topic of the little girl was a touchy one to Milady, she had watched over the young girl from the moment she was left with ROW and she had always believed that the little girl was special and that she would see the light.
"I only hope you are right Milady," he sighed, "for everything you have done depends on her now."
Dearka watched as ORB was farther and farther away. Athrun had finally secured a safe way to get him back to the Clyne Faction base with a message to Lacus on what was really happening in ORB. The PLANTs were very angry with Cagalli for resiting them but with the world watching they were unable to attack for now. They had proof that the kids were there but they had no proof that Athrun and Lacus had ever met or that the Minerva is attached to ORB. The fear that they all had was getting stronger as they watched the skies waiting. He knew that the world was about to be turned upside down by whatever happened on earth. He turned to the girl that sat in the seat beside him as he flew the small shuttle. Mirallia Haw had asked to accompany him to the base with information on the fighting strength in ORB. She had been working as both a reporter and as a technician in Morganrate.
"Things are about to get crazy," Dearka said.
"I know," Mirallia replied, "but I am glad that we all have each other. The bonds that we formed in the last two wars are still strong enough to see us through this one, I have faith that we will make it through." He wanted to believe every word she said but he had a feeling that something terrible was about to take place. The ranks had to hold and none of them could afford to fold in fear now.
Leyas watched the sun set from the window in her room that faced the ocean. It was so peaceful and beautiful around her yet the world outside was trembling in darkness and fear. Her song was useless here in ORB and she knew that soon she would have to return to the PLANTs and revive the people that she loved so much. Though the peace of ORB had caressed her in hard times she knew she would always belong to the PLANTs for it was her real home and she hated abandoning it to darkness.
"Do you think that this thing will get resolved soon?" Yaro asked walking into her room. She turned around to face him and leaned back in the window. The room was still filled with the glow of the setting sun as she frowned.
"No," Leyas replied not bothering to hide her attitude about it all, "but I know that I don't belong here at all."
"What do you mean," Yaro asked. He knew Leyas had thrown the biggest fit about being forced to leave the PLANTs. He himself had been very happy to leave as ORB was his homeland from the time he was a child. He had never really felt like the PLANTs were his real home. Now he worried about ORB, the country was in danger because of him and his siblings and he was powerless to do anything.
"I mean I want to go home!" Leyas exclaimed, "I want to sing to my people again! The song of peace, of hope, of light! I want to drive away the darkness and stand before them as I used to and I know you want to be back at the Eternal inside of the Visage fighting for the truth. We both need to stand up and fight for what is real and stop sitting here!" Yaro knew that every word she spoke was true. He wanted to return to th Eternal to fight ROW and he knew that Leyas would always belong in the PLANTs. She had always been the one to stand on the stage proudly beside her mother and on her own encouraging the people. Lately she had become very restless waiting for another chance.
"I do want to return to the battlefield," Yaro sighed, "but I think that our wishes are about to be granted. This unrest has only gotten greater since we have been here and no one is going to deny us the right to fight for the future Leyas."
Wow things are getting crazy, I just realized I am three chapters away from a major moment and six chapters away from one of the biggest moments in the series! I am so excited now, I hope to get to that point before the summer ends so hang on tight because things are going to get rough soon!
Because you have all been so good I am going to tell you the next few chapter names
Phase 15 - ROW's Sting
Phase 16 - So Much Like Falling
Phase 17 - Battle In Space
Phase 18 - The Final Breath
Phase 19 - A Race Run
Phase 20 - Standing Alone
Phase 21 - A Wish For Redemption
Phase 22 - Meiko Virea
Hope that keeps you interested in what is coming next. I'm getting really excited and kinda anxious about how the rest of the events are going to play out. I have the basic outlines of each chapter written out but I usually get really suprised as I start writing them. At this point there are a few characters that I really love what when I originally wrote them I did not have huge plans for them. There are things that I have written that I did not originally plan that I have been very happy with.
So keep reading cause there is so much more coming!
REVIEW! REVIEW! Seriously your reviews lately have encouraged me so much that I have been trying to update at least once every week so keep them coming!
Thanks for reading
-WintersChill