So perhaps this isn't the greatest thing for me to do but I have started planning another story. I haven't written it yet but it is called Gundam Seed ROW's Minx and it's another prequel to GSR about Rayla Frost's time in ROW. Would anyone be interested in reading something like that cause if not I won't even start writing it.
So I got a good positive response for the last chapter which made me happy that I am back on track, thank you piano! This next one was a lot more battle than the last and there will be a moment that will scare you all so just keep in mind who the main character is and don't fret.
Phase 22: Sacrifice
"I'm starting a militaristic organization known as Redemption," she spoke to him with boldness and authority, "the point of it being to counter a terrorist uprising that has been planned by a man named John Liene for years and to save the life of a little girl who is destined to save the world. I want you Yzak, to join with me because I need someone with strength and someone who knows about what it takes to lead a successful military. I am not strong enough alone."
"Stay here," she whispered to the two boys with her. She heard noise round the corner and knew that she could handle a fight alone. She turned the corner holding both her guns up and was shocked to see Jurme Krey standing before her.
"So you're a killer now Meiko," he said with a laugh at the guns she was holding up toward him, "I didn't think you had it in you, guess you were always a ROW agent after all." Something was bothering her mind, a danger sense and she knew that he was not to be trusted in any matter. Liene's real warrior was now before her. Anger was already in her so none of his words could change that but they did stop her to think about the lives she had just taken. She moved her guns back for a second as memories of all the death in her life flashed before her eyes and she shook her head.
"So Liene sent you," she spat angrily trying to stop the war within her mind that his words had caused. She slipped out of seed mode as confusion rose within her, she had vowed that she would not be ROW's agent but she still killed.
"Actually I had to see if for myself," he smiled and she took a step back knowing that Yaro and Trey were listening to ever word that was spoken, "the little girl, the weak little girl whose abilities defied her personality. You could take out an army without firing a shot yet you would stoop to using those weapons on the four guards that actually caught up with you? It's too good to be true, the little girl has grown up." His words made her drop her guns in shock, he was right. She was no better than them again. She shook her head as anger filled her heart at her own actions, she didn't deserve this life.
"So now you see that you are nothing," Jurme yelled raising a gun and pointing it at her, "but of course this sort of fighting only taints the victory." He threw the weapon away and raised his fists, "we've never seen whose better at this." She looked at him in surprise, he didn't want to kill her he wanted to test his own strength again. She didn't have time for this, the two lives she had to save were still there hidden behind her and she knew that if she didn't beat her own weakness here that they would be caught. Resolve filled her once again and she flipped herself over the boy in front of her spinning around and catching his punch with her hand. She quickly twisted his arm and blocked his next few attempted blows. He punched again but she slipped on one of her blocks and his energy send her flying backward she landed on her feet and looked at him with anger evident in her eyes. She flipped back toward him leaping into the air and kicking but be caught her foot and twisted her sending her backward again. She hit the wall and used her momentum to bounce off of it and fly toward him with blinding speed. He was unable to catch a hold of her as her hands grabbed his collar and her feet both slammed into his stomach. She flipped backward off of him and landed with her fists up as he jumped up again looking angrier than before.
"Just give up Jurme," she said, "if you turn back now maybe you'll have at least some dignity." She jumped once again this time grabbing his hands at his wrists before he cold get a hold of her and flipping over him, landing on her feet and trowing him over her head into the wall. She quickly jumped and grabbed a gun off the floor pointing it at him.
"Coward!" Jurme yelled trying to stand back up but he lacked the swiftness of Meiko so he wasn't able to catch himself on the wall causing him to slam into it full force. She was angry with him for even thinking that he could rival her and he was angry with her for beating him once again.
"I have no more time for you!" she yelled throwing the gun, it hit his head knocking him out instantly. He was right about one thing, she had stooped down to ROW's level in killing their guards but she knew that she had no choice now. Her hands were already tainted there was no going back now, she would take much more life this day than that. It was something she had to ignore now, it was the truth. She was raised as a ROW agent and part of her would always be just that, a killer. Trey and Yaro rounded the corner both shocked at the strength of the girl they saw now standing there before them. She walked and picked up her guns then turned to them.
"We have to hurry," she said and they took off toward the hangar once again. If any guards stumbled upon them Meiko showed them no more mercy embracing the darkness of her own life to fight for the light.
"Something is changing," Kayla's words echoed her faraway look and Leyas looked down toward her strange little sister.
"What?" Leyas asked. They both watched the Prejudice together and waited for something but what they saw was it go black and nothing else. Leyas had sang her song waiting for Yaro, hoping beyond hope that he was alright. There was too much darkness around them in this time and Leyas was fighting to hold onto hope. They had already lost Uzumi and loosing Yaro would be too hard for her to handle now. She was angry at ROW for what they were doing to her family and angry at herself for being unable to do anything about it.
"Meiko Virea," Kayla said, "she's changing. She had made up her mind earlier but now it's changed. The darkness is present."
"You mean she isn't going to rescue Yaro!" Leyas questioned shocked at her little sister for saying such a thing but as she saw the seed in Kayla's eyes she knew the little girl saw much more than her. Leyas was having a hard time trusting Meiko Virea, the girl had lied to them on ORB and had been in the mobile suit that had killed Uzumi. She had heard that the mobile suit was rigged but it was still hard for her.
"No," Kayla shook her head, "she is going to save Yaro but she is not going to save herself." Leyas looked out into space once again this time singing a few lines of hope for the people that now fought out there. For the people she loved
Once they arrived at the hanger they crept slowly along the dark walls and Meiko motioned Trey to the Hatred, it had been repaired for Jumre since Uzumi wrecked it. Meiko had secretly rewritten the OS because of her paranoia about what Liene might have done to it. In the case of an override Trey and Yaro would be defenseless. She backed Trey up as they rushed toward the suit when the guards had passed.
"You take Yaro," Meiko whispered, "get him to the Eternal, I'm going to be fighting quite a bit out there."
"Okay," Trey responded when Yaro spoke up.
"Meiko I am so sorry," Yaro said to her. He had been wanting to apologize to her through the entire escape mission but they had kept moving. Since she was going into battle now he wanted her to know.
"There will be time for that later," Trey replied but Meiko gave him a sharp look because she knew in her hear that there wouldn't be time. She walked toward Yaro and their eyes met locked in pain together they saw what the other was feeling. Meiko saw Yaro's guilt and he saw her darkness. There was something there between them as they gazed at each other, all the pain they had endured since parting ways in ORB and all the doubts that they had replaying in their minds over and over. Meiko's breathing increased it's rhythm as she found herself finding it hard to do anything. The images playing over and over. The pain, guilt, hatred, suffering, accusing, brokenness and finally regret. They both felt that they didn't deserve the other and in everything they were the same. She held up her hand with something in it and he held up his hand to receive what she was giving him.
"This represents everything that I ever could have been," she whispered softly, "everything that I remember about the past that would have been mine had my mother chosen to stay with me that day. I've always had it and now I want you to take care of it. You will not be fighting this time Yaro, I just want you to know I don't blame you for anything." He looked in his hand and saw the heart necklace that Meiko had always worn, he had never seen her without it and today she placed it in his hands.
"You must know that I now understand that you didn't do it," Yaro said, "that Uzumi did not die by your hand. Meiko I lost myself out there, and I don't even know why but I saw the darkest side of myself and I didn't mean any of it." He was so filled with regret for everything that he had done, all the hatred that he had shown toward her when she needed him most. She had been very very broken in the event of Uzumi's death but he was just too blinded by his own dark heart to see past everything that he felt. He had lashed out and still she had not given up hope that she still had a chance for redemption, he wanted her to see everything he felt now. All the regret an all the apologies that he had for her.
"It's alright," she said slowly looking down and away from him, "I deserve your hatred and that you would find the strength to forgive me is enough. Just promise me that you'll live through all this Yaro. Promise me." He looked at her confused wondering why she didn't say that she would live through it as well.
"I promise," he replied, "just you promise me as well."
"I don't know what the future holds," she turned to Trey and pressed a piece of paper in his hands then turned back to Yaro, "but I know in my heart that somehow everything will turn out right." She stepped back as Trey nodded to her and she nodded back. He took a hold of Yaro and they both floated up toward the cockpit of the two boys quickly raised themselves up to the mobile suit and once they were almost inside a shot rang out through the hangar and Meiko felt a sharp pain in the back of her right shoulder and she let out a cry of pain reaching toward the area that hurt as suddenly something flashed before her eyes.
"You were always meant for greater things." Words whispered by a female voice she recognized for some reason, "don't let it beat you! FIGHT Meiko!"
"MEIKO!" Yaro yelled out as she suddenly came out of her trance and summoned the strength to flip out of the person's line of fire just as another bullet shot flew by her. She landed hard on her side and quickly got up. Her orientation was off from the pain that was flooding her but she knew what was important now and nothing would stop her.
"Trey go!" she yelled and Trey pushed Yaro into the mobile suit and jumped in after him knowing that Meiko could handle herslef and he needed to get Yaro to the Eternal so that the Clyne faction would know that now it was safe to attack. The Hatred shot out of the hangar leaving Meiko there to see that the person who had attacked was none other than John Liene.
"So this was your plan Meiko, did you really think that ORB would welcome you with open arms after what you did to Uzumi Zala?" his words expressed his hatred toward her now and she crouched behind cover hiding from anymore shots. She felt her warm blood seeping out of the wound in her right shoulder and knew that there was no time to bandage it up before she left. She had to get out of there, the Pain was behind her, she would just have to make a quick break for it. She heard a few more shots, bouncing off the cover she was behind. She grabbed her Gun and fired a few shots at a wide angle hoping the noise would make her aim seem more accurate that it was. She didn't dare peak out from her cover knowing that there were not enough shadows to do so and Liene was just waiting to shoot a killing shot this time.
"Liene we have to get out of here now!" she heard Mike's voice, "Yaro escaped which means the Eternal will be back in the battle soon."
"Not until Meiko Virea dies!" he yelled but she knew that he was distracted enough. She flipped out from her cover and made a break for the Pain dodging the shots of the guards and Liene and floating toward the cockpit at alarming speed.
"Not this time Liene," she yelled, "I choose my own path now, and I will decide when I die!" She closed the cockpit quickly and shot from the ship. She gripped her shoulder grunting in the pain that was flooding through her, she had been shot before but it had been along time since she had felt pain like this. No matter she would fight on this day her battle was leading her to her redemption.
"Thats her!" Kira declared as they watched the Pain finally exit the Prejudice, they had seen the Hatred and had no known what to think. Now Kira felt a slight relief at seeing that the Pain had gotten out but he knew it was not over yet.
"Level one battle stations!" Lacus declared, "but do not attack until we get confirmation that Yaro is with those two mobile suits. Kira was about to rush to the Freedom when he saw it suddenly, twelve mobile suits and three robotics launched from the Prejudice along with a large group of shuttles which headed toward the other ROW ships in the area. The ship had indeed gone down and they were evacuating it but instead of heading toward the STING the shuttles headed for a smaller ship. He then jumped off the bridge and toward the Freedom, he knew Meiko could handle those enemies but the battle was about to begin and this time ROW was running out of options.
Meiko tried to move her right arm but it was very hard, she winced in pain as she grasped the controls with her right hand, this was not good. She had to resist, to endure this pain and keep fighting. She saw enemies coming toward her and moved to fight them but Trey got their first destroying the first mobile suit.
"Formation E12," Trey said and Meiko smiled, she had missed fighting alongside him. They moved together with swiftness using their tactics to fight off the three ROW suits that attacked him, disarming one and destroying the other two. Amidst it all Trey realized that Meiko was more sluggish than usual and he attributed it to her hurt right shoulder. Anger filled him when he had realized that Liene had shot Meiko while her back was turned and he hadn't even seen it coming. He was just glad that Liene's aim was off and he didn't succeed in killing her. Yaro was behind his seat in a cramped position and he knew that all the jolting around didn't help Yaro's recovery from the electric batons.
"Trey get Yaro to the Eternal," he heard Meiko say through his radio and he realized her breathing had increased, she was in more pain than she was letting on. He wasn't sure he could just leave her out here.
"You're hurt Meiko," Trey replied, "I can't leave you to fight alone."
"Meiko you come with us!" Yaro said quickly and Trey looked at him with reassurance.
"No," Meiko responded stubbornly, she had something she had to do first and she couldn't allow them to be caught in the crossfire of it all. She knew that Trey would understand now but Yaro wouldn't because Trey had been a ROW solider he knew what measures they needed to go to now and he wouldn't stop her, "get back to the Eternal and tell them to flee, get them all out of here Trey! All of them!" In that moment Trey realized what was going on, it was her plan all along to end it all.
"Meiko are you sure?" he knew better than to argue with her, especially now. Her mind was very clear and she had one focus, nothing he said would sway her, it was too late to change her mind. It was too late to save her. The girl he knew had changed so much since the battlefield and even in the past few hours, her goals were singular and her heart was clear.
"Just get them out of here Trey," she yelled, "this is your time now, for the sake of the world we love!"
"What is she doing?" Yaro asked frantically. He knew something was up by the expressions on the two ex-ROW pilot's faces but he didn't know what. They were both acting strange and something told him that he would not agree with what was happening now.
"Rodger," Trey said accepting that Meiko's fate was in her own hands, he turned the Hatred around and shot toward the Eternal.
"What is she doing!" Yaro yelled this time as the Eternal was closer and closer but Trey didn't respond. He had been chose to carry out a mission by Meiko Virea and he would complete it. He nodded his head at her image as it faded away knowing very well that he would have chosen a different path for her than the one that she chose for herself.
"Eternal this is Trey Likra Day," he spoke quickly, "I am on your side, I have Yaro Yamato with me as you can see he is right behind me, we are requesting entrance into your ship. I repeat I have Yaro Yamato with me and I am requesting permission to board your vessel." Yaro still looked horrified behind him as the possibilities of what Meiko was planning started going through his head and Trey rolled his eyes at the idea that he hadn't yet picked up on what was going on with Meiko. She had been told her whole life that she was nothing and today she wanted to be remembered for being something more, of course she would go out with a bigger bang than anyone else in the past for she would have it no other way.
"You are granted permission to enter," he saw Lacus Clyne's face on his screen, "thank you for bringing Yaro back to us."
Kira launched the freedom quickly as the ROW forces began to gather themselves. It was as if they had not realized what was going on and Kira guessed it was because of the situation of the Prejudice was in without power and a way to contact the fleet. He jumped into the battle surprised that there were only a few enemies and relieved that Lacus had told him Yaro was safe aboard the Eternal. Trusting Meiko had paid off after all and she had brought their son back to them. Now he saw her fighting differently than before, as if something was holding her back as she moved much more forcefully than ever before. He flew into the battle jumping in behind her blocking a shot that would have damaged her suit.
"Seems I am in your debt now," Kira said to her as their enemies were momentarily defeated. He heard her take a sharp breath over the radio.
"Just get me to the STING!" she said desperately, "we have to destroy it!"
"Your hurt!" he declared as he realized why she sounded so pained and why her fighting was not as effortless as usual, something had happened while she was still in the prejudice.
"Liene shot my right shoulder," she said with a grunt of pain, "but it's alright, I just have to get to the core reactor of the STING, just trust me and help me, please Kira I need you to do this for the sake of the world now." He knew that she was resolved by the sound of her voice but he did not understand what she was planning on doing. His own emotions were very mixed at the moment as he felt relief that Yaro was okay, strength now that their forces were once again fighting and confusion based on what this girl was telling him. He felt as though something was about to happen beyond his control of for some reason it was like his inner being was telling him to stop it. Something about Meiko Virea made him wonder who she really was and what she was planning, she wanted to get to the core reactor of the STING but he had no idea what she could do once she got there. He would have no choice but to trust her at this moment, she had been a part of ROW so she probably knew their machine better than anyone else that was on his side.
"I trust you Meiko," he replied he then followed the Pain through the battlefield joining the fight for Meiko's redemption.
"So Meiko pulled through after all?" Meyrin said in surprise over what was taking place around them, "I guess that we doubted for nothing."
"Don't back down now," Kiran said, "Yaro may be safe but we still have to deal with the STING, so in a way none of us are really safe." As he spoke suddenly a blast came from the STING and missed them by a long shot but it hit right into the ORB forces.
"I really wish you weren't right this time," Alicesia said to him with a worried look on her face.
"Destiny Launching!"
"Impulse Launching!"
The two mobile suits launched into space from the Minerva together and looked in awe as the ROW forces sluggishly entered the battlefield. Something was up and there appeared to be a lot of confusion in the ranks of their enemies. Lunamaria smiled at this knowing that today they finally had the upper hand on the battlefield.
"I guess now we should apologize to Kira," Luna said to Shinn as they entered the battlefield, "we got him all riled up for nothing!" They turned to see then something very astonishing to them both; the fluidity of a team working together. Kira and Meiko's mobile suits were perfectly playing off each others moves, their strengths and weaknesses fighting as a true team as if they were connected by something more than a drive to win. It was teamwork that rivaled the teamwork Shinn had seen between Kira and Athrun who when paired together were unstopable. This was slightly different, Kira and Meiko were riveting to watch. Enemies just fell to their power as they made their way toward the STING.
"Did you see that coming?" Shinn heard Luna's voice and he knew that she saw it as well. For two people who had no background and who had never fought together before it was more than impressive. "Do you think we should help them?"
"I don't think they need our help," Shinn replied, "let's pick off some ROW ships!" Luna seemed to respond well to this as they quickly fought their way through the battlefield.
"Get all our main forces out there!" Liene ordered as soon as he made it to the bridge of one of his Mirage ships, they were built for speed and but this time they would have to rule the battlefield. With Meiko's escape and the trouble on the Prejudice the ROW ships weren't sure what was going on so some of them had not responded to the battle emerging, now that Liene was taking command once again things had begun to heat up. "Fire the STING the way you see fit!" he ordered the general that was stationed inside the large super ship.
"Rodger," the man said with a slick smile. Liene was on edge and everyone saw it, today he had lost Meiko and he wanted her dead more than anything but he also knew what might happen on this battlefield and he dreaded it. He watched in anger as the Freedom and the Pain fought side by side but he noticed that the Freedom was a few steps ahead of the Pain, not as closely matched as usual and a bit of hope that his plans weren't at a loss rose within him. He had succeeded in hurting Meiko enough to weaken her fighting and now he wondered if she was getting weaker by the minute. He had poisoned the bullet that hit her and he knew that as time went on she would slip deeper and deeper into darkness, it wasn't a fatal poison but he doubted that she could fight off it's weakening effects. A small smile crept to his lips at this when Gilligan came to stand next to him.
"You see her trajectory?" Gilligan asked pointing toward the Pain then toward the main reactor of the STING, "and you know what will happen if she gets there don't you? She blames herself and no longer cares for life, you know what she will do." Liene stopped for a moment thinking about it, if Meiko were to destroy his weapon then he would be set back but at this point his plans had already changed entirely.
"If she makes it and I stress the If Gilligan," Liene began, "then we will flee. But for now send the three right mirages, we need to take out the Eternal!"
Both their seeds had exploded and both were moving at an incredible pace. Even with her wound Meiko was a strong force as ROW tried to send more and more units and tried to fire missiles and blasts from their ships the Freedom and the Pain kept going. It was as if there was some invisible force driving them on, willing them to win against all the odds. Nothing could take them on as they fought together for the same goal, for the destruction of the STING and the win of the battlefield.
Meiko had never felt so much resolve inside of her, so much life, it seemed to fight off the wound that was trying to oppress her and she knew that today her sacrifice would change the world for she was giving of herself for the lives of others. Today she was not only fighting for her own freedom but for the freedom and safety of the whole world. Her mobile suit was made to inflict pain but today she turned it around to bring life. Today things were different. Today she would win. Kira felt the life in her words when they spoke and he knew that this Meiko was different than the Meiko he had met on the cliffs in ORB. She was no longer afraid, no longer blaming herself she was taking over everything.
"There are three ROW Mirage class ships breaking off from the rest!" Leyas declared looking at her screen, "They are heading toward us!" Lacus gasped in surprise, they had held back their ships last time because of the STING, could this mean they were not firing it or that they didn't care about their ships!"
"Two were intercepted by the Tranquility and another ORB class ship," another bridge member declared, "but one is firing long range missiles!"
"Intercept them!" Lacus yelled as a blast rocked the ship back and fort and she gripped her chair.
"Too late!" Andrew Waltfeld declared, "evasive maneuvers fire back, aim for the engines! Send out anti beam flares, fire a barrage of bullets! Don't let anything else get through!" The crew on the bridge scrambled fighting off the ships attack and fighting the different mobile suits it was sending toward them but they knew that this ship was not giving up! It was also a very fast ship which they were not used to.
"They are locking on to us with their main cannons!" Leyas declared, "and ours have been weakened by the power we've been using!" Everyone gasped as the ship moved closer and closer toward them. They all held their breath as the cannons charged up and Leyas cried out and Yaro who had just come to the bridge looked horrified at what was happening. This couldn't happen, the Eternal could not be destroyed so easily! Where were the other Clyne faction and ORB ships? This couldn't happen.
Everyone was braced for a blast that never did happen instead they were amazed as they watched a beam tear right through the large mirage ship and they all looked to see who had come to their rescue when a transmission came to them and they saw the face of someone they didn't expect.
"Looks like we made it just in time Eternal," Murrue Ramius said, "are you all alright?"
"Captain Ramius!" Lacus Clyne declared as they saw the Archangel on their monitors in all it's glory.
"This is Athrun Zala, Justice launching!" Athrun yelled as the Infinite Justice soared onto the battlefield. After Jeffery's speech in ORB Athrun had realized that it was time to follow his son's example and get back up off his feet. Uzumi had died fighting ROW and Athrun knew he wanted Justice and that he would never get it if he just stayed in ORB. It was a path to a different kind of revenge than he had ever seen before for he was not mindless but very focused on his goals. This day he would fight once again, not for his sake but for the sake of the nation of ORB and for the memory of his oldest son who lived the life of a champion and died the death of a hero.
Along with Athrun and the Archangel there was a new ORB mobile suit with two pilots in it. Jacob Gladys and Mu La Flaga fought together in the Vision, a versatile ORB unit that looked kinda bulky but was very effective.
"Let's take them out!" Athrun heard Jacob Gladys say and he smiled as the two units attacked the ROW force that was trying to take down the Eternal and Clyne faction ships. They had arrived on time for that. Now the battle was in full swing but the end was in sight and Athrun saw the same thing everyone else did, the two mobile suits working together perfectly toward the reactor of the STING. Athrun did not understand what they were planning but he could feel that this battle was near and end and he knew that those two would make it happen.
"The Freedom and the Pain have broken past our main defenses and are taking down the weapons and towers defending the STING's main reactor!" A bridge member declared and Liene felt it in his stomach that the end was near. Kira and Meiko should never have met in the first place and he knew that he should have prevented this more thoroughly, he would not be able to stop them now yet he knew that if the STING went down so would he and if he didn't escape ROW would end.
"Tell this ship and a few others to break away from the main ranks and station themselves in the back," Liene ordered calmly, "if the others question tell them to keep fighting on and that we are going to go for re-enforcements." Mike caught exactly what Liene was doing, everything would be blamed on Meiko, nothing more and nothing less. Liene would step out like the coward he was and retreat to the safety of a stronger force that waited for him. His plans were not stopped like this but rather stalled for just a short while. Mike knew that Liene was not happy with the way things played out but he didn't have any way of changing that and he was not stupid, in fact it was his brilliance that engineered this plan that was just reaching it's height. ROW was failing this stage but it was minor when all their victories were considered.
"Meiko won't let go Liene," Mike spoke softly now thinking of the girl that he had taken care of and the path she had chosen, "she'll hunt you down."
"Not when she realizes that she won't be able to go through with her plans," Liene replied more calmly than Mike expected, "for she will have to choose between her new friends and herself and with Jumre Krey's interference I think we all know which path she will take." Mike looked out to the battlefield in horror realizing what Liene had done. Realizing that he had failed.
Trey floated onto the bridge of the Eternal in distress, he had read Meiko's note explaining her plan in full and he knew that it was a dangerous one. She wanted to destroy the STING reactor with the Pain's main guns because she believed that the Pain was fast enough to escape the explosion, he had expected something like this and now that he knew he was correct he knew what it was she really wanted him to do. The Eternal crew looked at him with strange expressions still not understanding who he was and why he had helped them but he knew there would be time for that later, now he had to concentrate on explaining everything.
"Lacus Clyne," he said her name and she stood up to face him.
"We are in combat right now!" she said sternly, "until this battle is over I suggest you hold off anything you need to say."
"This can't wait!" He protested holding up his hands in mock surrender, "this is life and death! You have to get all of your forces to pull back away from the STING!"
"We're so close to beating them," Waltfeld commented, "why would we want to pull back now and how do we know that we can trust you?" Yaro suddenly floated to his side giving Trey an assuring look and turning to his mother and his family friend.
"He was a captive aboard the ROW ships," Yaro spoke with authority, "he helped Meiko save my life, we wouldn't have gotten far without him! You have to trust him, he knows more about this than any of us." Lacus listened to Yaro speak in suprise, she hadn't heard him talk with assurance in so long. He had been filled with so much doubt in the past week that her heart hurt for him but Kira had told her that so many had already talked to him but he wasn't listening to them. Now his mind seemed to still bear confusion but he wasn't letting it win.
"Speak then Trey and hurry!" She said loudly.
"You need to pull the ships back because Meiko is going to destroy the STING's main reactor!" Trey blurted out and everyone on the bridge gasped in shock. They all knew exactly what that meant as Lacus had explained to them why her forces were not taking that course of action. The whole battlefield would be ablaze and everyone near the explosion would be incinerated.
"She'd never get out in time!" Waltfeld declared.
"The Pain is built for speed," Trey announced, "she believes that she will. She told me to get you all out of here, there is no other way to stop them!"
"Then order our forces to start pulling back!" Lacus declared urgently, if this was the course Meiko was taking she knew that she would have to act quickly, "warn the Archangel, a decent to earth is our best bet! We have to get out of here!"
Athrun looked up in surprise as the broadcast from Lacus reached him and everyone else. He had barely participated in this battle and it now seemed like it was ending, something he would have never predicted as he watched many of the ORB and Clyne faction mobile suits moving close to their ships. Everyone was preparing to descend to earth and it was quite a shocking scene, it was then that he noticed a group of ROW ships fleeing the battlefield as well and wondered if they knew what was happening as well.
He saw Kira and Meiko fighting side by side and he couldn't help but still feel a bit of resentment toward the girl. It would be hard for him to forgive her because he believed she could have saved Uzumi but there was no time for regrets now. He moved fast and quickly targeted a large group of ROW robotics with his targeting computer and blasted them with his weapons. This battle would be over very soon now, very soon.
Meiko nodded her head in assurance as she saw the ORB and Clyne faction forces gathering to leave the battlefield as she had requested Trey to ask them to. It was getting close to the end and she knew she would need all the strength left within her but she wasn't sure what she would be able to do now. The poison Liene had shot into her was eating through her and this next move would be very risky. She quickly blasted a robotic unit with her main cannon as she saw Kira's dragoons swirling around the rest of the units, they were so very close now.
"I'll handle the rest Meiko go for it!" Kira yelled and Meiko quickly weaved her mobile suit through the units with unmatched speed reaching the reactor and moving her mobile suit behind it. She had made it and here no one would fire on her because they wouldn't want that reactor to explode.
"Get out of here now Yamato," she said quickly.
"I thought we were destroying this thing together?" Kira declared in a questioning voice and she saw that the Freedom had destroyed all the units and was now beside her.
"You know that the explosion would engulf the battlefield," Meiko said desperately, "you won't make it in time unless you leave now!"
"What about you?" he asked wondering how she planned on getting out.
"The pain was built for speed," she began, "i have more of a chance of making it than you! You have to keep trusting me, I know what I am doing!" She shut off her radio for a second as she gasped at the pain that had somehow begun to flood her entire body. For some reason the poison within her was moving quickly and she had no way of knowing whether or not it was fatal but she knew that as long as she breathed she still had a chance to fight it off.
"I understand," Kira said reluctantly, he did now know why but part of him felt a danger coming on for the girl in the green and black mobile suit. He didn't know why but he felt as if he had to protect her from this but he wasn't sure what he could do now. She was going to destroy the STING and hopefully they would all make it out alive, he turned and saw that the ORB and Clyne faction forces were fleeing and he was sure that she had made sure that they knew what she was planning. Luckily the STING was a very sluggish machine and getting it out of the battlefield would be hard leaving them with the perfecto opportunity to destroy a large mass of the ROW forces that were still trying to protect it.
"Now go!" Meiko pushed, "GO!" He quickly turned the freedom from the area and blasted toward the Clyne faction and ORB ships. Meiko sighed with relief as she saw that now her life was the only one in the balance. She quickly whirled her mobile suit about the large reactor structure and targeted all her main weapons firing three times and draining a lot of the power in her mobile suit. The blasts cleared and she felt shock at the sight of the reactor still in tact. She fired again twice more and saw that her mobile suit performance was getting low because of the repeated blasts and still the reactor only showed slight signs of damage. She would need a much larger explosion, like a nuclear bomb to destroy this thing.
"DAMN IT!" she yelled firing once again and turning to see the ships fleeing. Pain wracked through her as sweat formed on her brow and she began to feel the pain trying to pull her under. She shook her head as she thought about what was important now. She had spent her entire life in pain and inflicting pain upon others. Her time in ORB had taught her about life and the light that she could have, Uzumi had saved her from everything by offering her a second chance and here she had taken it. She couldn't give up now. There was still a chance for her to prove herself to the world.
To prove that she deserved redemption. She gripped the controls of the Pain and flew it as close to the reactor as possible as images of her life washed through her and her eyes opened with absolute resolve. She saw the slight violet glow issuing forth from her eyes and filling the cockpit of her mobile suit. It was around everything she saw now, a glow, her light. Now was her time, her chance to show the world who she really was. She did not deserve life so she would not have it now as she started typing codes into her mobile suit OS she became more and more assured that this was the right path for her to take. A slight fear tried to enter her but she fought it back only allowing resolve and guilt to plague her now. She only had this chance left, this one chance to save the world and to gain her redemption. Her death would be nothing compared to the life that she would save with this act. Her life was worth nothing and had never been for she never knew herself until this day.
"I'm not real," she whispered to herself, "and if that's who I was born to be then so be it."
"Meiko's attempts to destroy the STING aren't working!" Leyas declared as they saw that the Pain had stopped firing on machine.
"What is she doing?" Lacus asked frantically as they watched the Pain float close to the reactor and stop for some reason. Athrun who had just boarded the Eternal watched as the machine did not move and Trey's eyes widened as he realized what was happening.
"NO!" he yelled clenching his fists and everyone turned to him.
"What is she doing?" Lacus asked once again and all eyes were on Trey who had tears in his own eyes as he felt a dread wash over him. Just looking at Trey made Yaro see everything that was happening. He turned to the screen once again completely shocked by what he felt inside and what he knew was about to take place. This couldn't be happening, it shouldn't be happening! He jumped up toward Leyas grabbing her headset for radio communication.
"She's going to self destruct the Pain!" Trey blurted out completely shocking everyone on the bridge. Terror was ignited in Yaro's heart at the thought. He had just gotten himself back and he had just seen a chance for everything to get better but Meiko was just going to give up her life and everything that they could have. He couldn't allow this to happen, not after he had done so many things wrong in the past few days. Meiko was everything to him now because of all that they had gone through, all the darkness, all the pain and all the doubt. Everything had led to this moment and he had been blind to it all until now.
"But she'll never make it!" Leyas declared, "she's condemning herself to death!"
"MEIKO STOP!" Yaro yelled into the communications.
"MEIKO!" It was a voice she never expected to hear again as she started entering the final code sequence into her mobile suit main frame. Tears filled her eyes at the sound of his voice and her heart felt the pain of knowing that there was so much she would never see. But this was her path now, her choice, her sacrifice. She counted her life as worthless next to the lives of those she wanted to protect and that was the reason why she had risked everything for them, the reason why she had abandoned ROW and broken free from her fear. Now she had a chance to make up for all the wrongs and she would take it, no one could decide this for her. She opened up her radio channel to the Eternal speaking what she felt would be her final words.
"I have no other choice," she said with a blank expression as she saw on the bridge the faces of those she would protect, "this is my moment. My bid for redemption because I have lived a life of darkness; today I will embrace it and find my light." They saw her eyes filled with Seed mode and the felt the strength issuing forth from her words.
"But Meiko we'll find some other way!" Yaro yelled desperately, "you don't have to do this!" She bowed her head as tears filled her eyes and she looked up yelling.
"I have to do this, not just for all of you but for myself. I have to believe that even I can do something that will matter in eternity." She was almost done with the code sequence, it would all be over soon.
"MEIKO DON'T!" Yaro yelled.
"Promise me you won't let this defeat you Yaro," she spoke back with a desperate plea, "promise me you'll embrace your own light!"
"How can I promise you that?" He questions, "how do I go on?"
"You'll find a way," she whispered the last words she would ever speak, "for as Uzumi said he would never really leave me I will never really leave you. I will always be here alongside you. It's all going to be alright, just like he said. Just like Uzumi promised me. Goodbye Yaro, goodbye." She shut off her radio now but she felt in her mind that he was crying out for her as she typed in the final sequence and leaned her head back. It would not be long now. Not long. She felt a presence next to her and heard a voice inside her head, calling her name.
"Meiko, Meiko, I'll always be here," Uzumi's voice, "Your destiny is not complete!"
"I know," she whispered as a bright violet glow engulfed her and darkness took her.
"MEIKO!" Yaro yelled as the whole fleet and the whole world saw it. The explosion of the Pain's nuclear reactor had succeeded, the explosion of the STING warship had begun as the light of flames echoed through the sky.
"DOWN DOWN DOWN!" Lacus yelled as all the ORB ships were hurrying down toward earth, "Where is Kira!" She cried out desperately as a crew member put it up on the monitor, the freedom flying fast toward them.
"Lacus I am going to re-enter on my own!" Kira declared as his face appeared on the screen, "I'll make it, don't worry about me just focus on getting yourself out of here! Stay safe Lacus! She saw the Freedom making a trajectory toward ORB and knew she had to trust him now, the machine was built to be able to re-enter but with the STING exploding behind them everything was more dangerous. On top of that the crew was shocked by the sacrifice they had just witnessed and as tears filled Lacus's own eyes by what she had seen she stood up with courage and saluted the girl. The ex-ROW agent who only ever wanted peace. Leyas held onto her older brother as he cried tears of sorrow.
It was an emptiness that had filled him in that moment and Leyas knew it would be slow to heal. Yaro Yamato had never felt so much pain, Uzumi was gone forever and now Meiko had sacrificed herself. He was alone, he was broken and he felt that he would never recover. Darkness filled his heart as he held on tightly to the heart necklace Meiko had given him, his last memory of her.
It was not the end. It could not be the end. A slight smile crept to her face as she felt a presence in her mind. A new power had awoken and soon, very soon her plans would reach their height. What fear she had was erased by the pain she heard in her mind and heart. Every fiber in her being reached out to what she felt and she knew that though things appeared one way on the outside they were really the way she wanted them to be. Everything that was happening were things that she had predicted and though she had wished them preventable they were not. She fastened her white mask on once again as she walked onto the bridge and took her seat. Her crew members all watched her grimly knowing that this next mission had no chance of success yet their leader believed in it so they would follow her.
"Launch all SR units once the fire has cleared and get the Honor out there," she spoke word with authority, "I feel her, and I know that we must succeed."
The presence brushed her mind once again and she knew exactly what was taking place, the presence was crying out for help, help from her. Their connection was deeper than anything that Milady had ever felt and longed to feel it more for she had missed way too much. Time had not been on her side, life had not been on her side and she had been forced to make terrible choices but now nothing else mattered but this. This redemption, this last chance that she had to set the world right once again, the chance she would take.
She turned away as the units launched picturing the events that had led to now, "Meiko please forgive me." She whispered those words into the air knowing that time was of the essence and with each minute that passed the risk increased.
I find it really funny that a lot of you have predicted that Trey would die within the past few chapters. No Trey still has a role to play in the story and in the life of another character so he lives on. Now to Meiko the war between darkness and light has led to something unimaginable don't worry about the story's continuation there is plenty more.
The next chapter will be more emotional: Phase 12: Meiko Virea
Next in the story I am entering the third arch so Yaro's character is going to be explored more and that will lead us into the fourth and final arch of Gundam Seed Redemption wich will be followed up by Gundam Seed Immortal. I'm very excited about what is coming next, the fourth arch contains a chapter that I really can't wait to write that will reveal a lot about our main characters. Meiko Virea is still a main character and that is all I am going to say. I would love to tell you what is going to happen next but you'll have to read on because that's the way it works! Thanks for sticking with me this far and I hope you enjoy the coming ride.
Thanks to ShyRose (), Fenikkusumaru, Capt Freedom, Byron Lancaster, SamuraiGundam (), survivor18 (), and Joker Oak for the reviews. To everyone who hasn't been reviewing I think you should start! JUST REVIEW! You can do it! REVIEW!
-WinterChill