Finally an update!
Yeah I'm sorry for the long wait. I started college and the classes have been.. interesting. There are some which I am in love with and some I could live without. Anyway, I worked up this chapter in a span of maybe five hours.
I kinda think this chapter is probably one of the most depressing chapters due to the fact its based on the episode with the Katharon massacre... I seriously don't see how people can do something so brutal even if this is an anime.
Anyway, I hope you enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do NOT own Gundam 00.
Ribbons Almark remained silent as he listened to the news broadcast from the Federation before he opened his eyes revealing his glowing pupils.
"I see," he whispered before his eyes returned to their normal shade of ameyst. "Leif has met the two other potential Innovators," and he smiled as he look up at the ceiling. " Soon, our plan will be set into motion," and as he looked around, a pair of red eyes watched him from the shadows.
Regene's eyes narrowed at Ribbons before he walked out of the shadows and placed a fake smile on his face.
"Foreseeing the revival of Celestial Being, and plotting to use as an excuse to bolster the A-laws," stated the purple-haired Innovator before he looked at Ribbons. "Was this your idea? Or was it Veda's?" he questioned and Ribbons closed his eyes.
"I wonder," stated the green-haired Innovator when the sound of footsteps descending the stair hit both Ribbons and Regene's ears.
"In any case, it seems as if it will be our turn very soon," and a lilac haired man with red eyes descended from top of the staircase. Like Regene and Ribbons, he wore the white/light blue clothes and his gaze remained on Ribbons as he walked towards the couch. Regene's eyes narrowed at the new incomer.
"Revive Revival," he whispered as Revive walked towards Ribbons with a stoic face.
"The Gaddessa is ready to roll out. It will sortie once you give the command to," and Ribbons looked away from the Innovator before him.
"That won't be necessary Revive, I've asked another person to complete this mission," and both Regene and Revive looked at Ribbons with surprise on their faces.
"Someone else?" questioned Regene while Revive took a step forward.
"Do you mean Divine? Or did you call Bring?" and Ribbons shook his head before he opened his eyes and a smile formed on his face.
"He's a human. Though, he's passed beyond the limits of that certain restriction,"
...
Walking into a brightly lit hangar, a man dressed in a red pilot suit grinned at the sight of his newest gundam machine.
...
Fon stared at Klaus' face before his red eyes narrowed.
"Celestial Being's agreed to meet with Katharon?" he questioned, his voice dropping significantly. A smile formed on Klaus' face before the man nodded.
"We'll rendezvous at the base in 0300," and after the connection was cut, Fon looked over to the machine besides his. His eyes narrowed as he looked at the tears falling down Rina's unconscious face. Turning back to the screen, he let out a frustrated groan before he looked at Rina again.
He had first met her a year ago when she had appeared at the Katharon base with a multiple injuries. Immediately, he knew who she was. She was a gundam meister of Celestial Being. When he was a member of Fereshete, they had often worked together with the gundam meisters of the main Celestial Being branch. She was the coordinator who the meisters had rescued and she was the meister of Freedom.
Three years after the destruction of Celestial Being, the members of Katharon found her in the middle of the desert, injured to the point of death along with a three year old boy was shocking to say the least.
Where did the boy even come from?
Then he realized. The boy had black hair and the same face as Setsuna . The boy was a carbon copy of the raven-haired meister of Exia except for his eyes. Blue. Similar to his mother's blue-violet eyes.
The boy even acted like his father. Stoic and aloof, he only showed other emotions around his mother. He was also annoyingly smart. Never in his life did Fon think that he would have arguments with a freaking toddler but the little boy sometimes would not shut up. The most annoying part was that the boy would keep a stoic or blank look on his face whenever they argued which for some reason, increased Fon's annoyance.
He knew that there was a reason why Rina chose to remain with Katharon instead of returning back to Celestial Being. Maybe it was due to her deteriorating health. He knew she tried to hide the spasms she got by taking the pills and acting as if she had small headaches when in fact she would vomit blood and could not stop screaming for multiple minutes. Although she never voiced her pain, he knew that she was dying, and there was nothing he or anyone could do about it.
Snapping out of his daydream, Fon looked at the communicator in his hand before he gripped it tightly. Innovators. So apparently he was one of them, along with Rina. Taking a deep breath, he stuffed the device into his pocket before he started up his machine and he noticed Rina slowly waking up before she blinked a couple of times before she jolted up and looked around with wide eyes.
"They're gone," he stated and Rina looked at the screen at Fon's face with wide eyes.
"What?" and Fon sighed before he leaned back into his seat.
"When you went bat hit crazy, I knocked you out, then the green-haired guy gave me this," and he waved the communicator around before he placed it back in his pocket before he saw Rina's eyes falling before he sighed again.
"We should head back to base," and Rina looked up and nodded before she looked down at the bottle of pills that Telicyra had given her.
"An Innovator," she whispered and Fon looked over to see the hesitation in her eyes before he looked ahead.
"Let's go," and after a few moments, Rina nodded before she turned on her machine. When their mobile suits were fully powered on, the two GnXs flew towards the Middle Easter Katharon Base.
...
As Cherudim, Arios, and the Celestial Being transport ship flew over the Rub' al Khali Desert, Tieria looked over at the barren land before him.
"In a place like this, I'm surprised that the Federation hasn't found it by now," and a link with appeared on the screen as Lockon's face appeared.
"The Federation scatters GN- particles across the many non-member nations in the Middle East. Their official statement was to isolate the terror networks communications, but in reality, their goal is to paralyze the economic growth of the Middle Eastern nations. It just goes to show what painful measure nations that don't abide by the Federation's policies are subjected to. However, thanks to the GN particles, the Katharon base hasn't been discovered,"
"You're well informed," stated Tiereia who which Lockon smirked.
"Really? Its just some common sense," when a voice cut through the connection.
"Do you hear me? We've confirmed your mobile suits. Opening the hatch," and up ahead, the meisters noticed a hatch opening in the middle of the desert where they saw a building the same color as the same forming a good camouflage.
"Roger that," responded Setsuna as the transport ship along with Arios and Cherudim landed infront of the opening hatch.
Once they were inside the base, numerous men surrounded the meisters with admiration in their eyes at them and the gundams.
"So that's a gundam!" yelled one of the men.
"That's the machine that saved Azadistan!" yelled another as all the men gathered around with excitement and they crowded around the meisters.
"You've done well coming here, Celestial Being! You're more than welcome here!" and another man stepped forward with a smile on his face.
"Can you show us your faces?" he questioned to which Lockon smiled.
"Ah, my bad," and as he removed his helmet, Tieria grabbed his shoulder.
"We're under a code of secrecy," he hissed but Lockon ignored him as he removed his helmet.
"Don't be such a stick in the mud," and he turned to Tiereia. "They helped us didn't they?" and Tiereia paused at Lockon's words as Allejiuah pressed the side of his helmet, removing the tint. His gaze fell at the sight of all the men before him.
"The anti-Federation organization, Katharon,"
Inside one of the many meeting rooms, Klaus, Shirin and two other men stood at one side of the table while Setsuna, Sumeragi, Marina, and Saji stood at the other side. A smile formed on Klaus' face as he looked at the members of Celestial Being before him.
"We're really grateful that you agreed to meet with us. My name is Klaus Grad of the Middle Easter Katharon Branch," and Sumeragi nodded her head.
"And we' re Celestial Being, an introduction isn't really-," she started when Klaus nodded.
"We acknowledge your situation," he stated before Shirin bowed her head.
"I'm grateful that you came to Princess Marina's aid, from now on, we'll take proper care of her,"
Marina's gaze fell as she looked at her friend. "Shirin," and the brown haired woman turned to her friend with a small smile.
"Being with Celestial Being must be hard for you, right?" she questioned when Marina stepped forward.
"It's the same with you, your anti-government organization-"
"Is that a bad thing?" questioned Shirin and Marina's eyes widened before she looked down and remained silent. Setsuna looked over at her before he turned back to face Klaus.
"There's one more person we'd like to place in your care," and he gestured to Saji standing beside him. "This is Saji Crossroad, a civilian. The A-Laws labeled him as a suspected member of Katharon," and Saji's eyes widened at Setsuna's words as Klaus turned his head towards Saji.
"I'm sorry about that, we'll take it as out responsibility to take good care you," and Saji's eyes narrowed before he turned to Setsuna.
"Hold on a second! Don't I get a say in thi-!" he started when Sumeragi glanced over at him.
"That's the best thing to do," she stated and Saji remained silent when the door opened and two children ran in laughing.
"Hey! Whatcha doing?" they questioned running in as the little girl ran towards one of the men while the boy stopped at the table.
"Hey, you guys can't barge in whenever you please!" stated one of Katharon's members as he picked the little girl up who in return smiled up at him.
"Children," whispered Setsuna when images of his childhood and his time in the KPSA flashed in his head. Immediatly, his eyes narrowed before he clenched his fists tightly
"Don't tell me," and he paused before he looked up at Shirin and Klaus. "Are you raising them to become members of Katharon?" to which Shirin's eyes narrowed at his words.
"Don't misunderstand us. We're merely taking care of the children who have been left without families," and her gaze sharpened as she continued to speak. "The real damage the Federation's one-sided policies towards the Middle East have wrought appears in the figure of these children," and she looked over at the little girl before she smiled at her. Klaus also looked at the little girl before he closed his eyes.
"Though, if our funds continue to be restricted as they are now, we won't be able to take in every child," and as he spoke, the little boy standing beside the table walked towards Marina before his eyes widened.
"Ah! Its Princess Marina!" he yelled causing the Azadistani princess to look down at the young boy before her. "Hey, you're princess Marina Ismail, right?" he questioned to which Marina smiled before she nodded.
"I know her too!" piped up the little girl and the boy stared up at Marina in awe as he grabbed her hands.
"Wow! its really princess Marina!" he cheered.
"Princess Marina," and Marina looked over to see Shirin looking at her, "Why don't you accompany the children for a little bit,"
"Alright,"
"Really! This way! This way!" yelled the boy and girl as they led Marina out of the room into the hallways.
Once Marina and the children were out of the room, Shirin sighed before she closed her eyes for a few seconds.
"That's what you get from someone who was a symbol like her," she whispered before Klaus began to speak.
"Now, I would like to get to the main issue. In order to help us, Katharon to topple the current Earth Federation governmen-" but Sumeragi cut him off.
"I'm terribly sorry, but we have no intention of cooperating with you political ideologies,"
"But like us, you stand in opposition of the Federation," to which Setsuna responded.
"Our enemy is not the Federation, but the A-Laws,"
"Doesn't your goal of fighting the directly-controlled independent government force coincide with our goals as well?" questioned Shirin and Klaus stepped forward.
"That's right, in order to confront the evil deeds of the A-Laws as well as the Federation, we should join hands!"
"I'm sorry, but the mobile suits you have here aren't even equipped with GN drives," and a small smile appeared on Klaus' face.
"Then that won't be an issue, we have arranged to have some mobile suits equipped with GN drives to get into our hands," and both Sumeragi and Setsuna's eyes widened.
"How?" questioned the tactical forecaster and Shirin smiled.
"Two of our members have gone and infiltrated a Federation base and have stolen to machines equipped with GN drives, according to their report, they should be heading back now," and Setsuna's eyes narrowed.
"And you are sure that this plan will work?" to which Klaus nodded.
"Our tactical forecaster predicted and planned this entire thing out. In all honesty, if it wasn't for her help, we wouldn't have been able to survive till this long," and Sumeragi remained silent.
"I would like to meet this tactical forecaster of yours," and Klaus closed his eyes and shook his head.
"I'm afraid that is impossible, she was one of the members who has gone on this mission," and Sumeragi nodded.
"But, even if you have two mobile suits equipped with GN drives, that is nothing in comparison to the amount the A-Laws and the Federation has," and Klaus nodded before he locked his eyes with Sumeragi.
"Even so, we would like to cooperate with you. Even if we're only able to provide supplies or maintenance, we wish to be of some help,"
...
As the children brought toys to play with , Marina smiled at them when she saw a little boy sitting in the corner of the room, isolated from the others.
"Why don't you come and play with us?" she asked and the boy looked over before he went back to messing with his blocks when Marina walked over and knelt down before him with a smile on her face. Holding out her hand, her blue eyes softened at the boy.
"Come play with us," she smiled and the boy paused before he reached out and placed his hand on hers before he stood up and ran into her arms. Marina closed her eyes as she gently started to rub the boys back as he started to cry quietly in her arms.
Watching the scene from outside the room, Setsuna looked at the two with longing look before images of his own mother flashed in his head. Her arms were outstretched to welcome him with a warm smile on her face. Then, an image of Rina flashed by. She was smiled as she held onto Sora who was smiling as well before the two turned around and smiled at him. Then, the memories of his mother's death, the image of how he had emotionlessly killed her in cold blood and the image of the house Rina and he lived in with Sora, how it was burned down completely flashed in his head.
Setsuna cringed at the memories before he turned around and started to walk away. But he stopped when he saw Saji standing close by with narrowed eyes.
"Those children are victims of yours as well. Victims of what you changed the world into," and Setsuna closed his eyes.
"Yeah, I know," and he started to walk past Saji.
"Don't you feel anything?!" yelled Saji
"I do feel something. That's why I can never enter that room again,"
"Then why the hell are you fighting!" and Setsuna paused.
"Because I have my own reasons. I don't think that you'll be able to understand them. I don't care if you hate me," with that, he walked away.
"Setsuna," stated Saji before he looked down and gritted his teeth.
As he walked towards the transport ship, Setsuna paused as he head Marina calling out his name. Turning around, he faced the Azadistani princess.
"Are you leaving?" asked Marina and Setsuna nodded before Marina continued. "Before you do, I have one last request to ask of you,"
...
Staring up at the machines before him. Sora tilted his head back at the sight of the gundams.
"Gundam," he whispered before he walked forward until he was standing at the foot of the green gundam. "The machines mama and papa piloted," and his gaze lingered on the gundam before he looked around. Noticing that everybody in the hangar was busy getting back to work and with none of the gundam meisters in sight, Sora turned back the machine before he started to climb the gundam's legs. After a few minutes of struggling, Sora managed to get up the cockpit and he stared at the opening before he jumped inside. Once he was inside the cockpit, Sora looked around at the inside of the cockpit when he heard voices approaching. Sora's blue eyes widened before he looked around and his eyes caught a small compartment in the back. Opening it, he shoved aside some of the clothing inside before he squeezed in and closed the door just as someone jumped into the cockpit. The sound of voices filled Sora's ears and before he could do anything, he felt the machine start moving before Sora's eyes widened.
The gundam was leaving the Katharon Base.
Mama was going to kill him.
...
Walking through the corridors of the base, Saji felt his anger growing more and more inside.
'Celestial Being and Katharon, both are the causes of the fighting, aren't they? Why put me in that place?!' he cursed as he found an exit at the side of the base. Openin the heavy metal door, Saji looked around before he quietly tried to walk out when a gruff voice filled his ears.
"What are you doing?!" and Saji froze as he felt his blood run cold before he turned around to see a man standing by with a gun in his arms. But when the man saw Saji, his gaze softened as he lowered his gun.
"Oh, you're the Celestial Being kid," Saji paused before he offered a small smile.
"I'm going to make contact with some friends in town," and the man fished around in his pocket.
"The nearest town's a long way from here, use our jeep," and he tossed a pair keys towards Saji who caught it and thanked the man with a nervous smile.
...
As the two GnX machines flew over the desert, Fon looked at the screen before him before he let out a big yawn. A screen popped on his right to which he looked to see Rina's eyes on him before he leaned back into the seat.
"I'm bored as hell!" he yelled and Rina sighed before she looked at the screen.
"We'll reach the base in soon, once we get back, its going to become hectic, you might as well enjoy the peace now," and Fon rolled his eyes.
"Yeah, yeah," he stated when he saw that Rina was looking at the bottle of pills in her hand. His red eyes narrowed when he saw that she was hesitating as she opened the bottle and pulled one of the pills into her hand.
"That doctor didn't seem like he was lying," and Rina snapped up at Fon's words.
"What?" and Fon kept his eyes forward.
"He didn't seem like a liar, I think you can trust that he's trying to help you," and Rina looked back at the pill in her hand before she raised it up her mouth and swallowed. After coughing a few times as the bitter taste of the medicine hit her taste buds, Rina looked back at Fon with a small smile.
"Thanks, Fon," and the red-eyes man gave her a curt nod when something popped up on his screen. Opening it, Fon's eyes widend when he read the information.
"What! A-Laws is lauching an attack at the Katharon base!" he yelled and all the color drained from Rina's face.
"Sora!"
...
As the news of the A-Laws attack reached Celestial Being's ears, the gundam meisters all ran towards thei gundams. Inside the cockpits of their gundams, all of the meister's eyes narrowed as the gravity of the situation sunk in.
"How did A-Laws manage to find the base?" questioned Tieria and Allejiuah looked at the screen ahead of him.
"They have innocent children there,"
Tightening his grip on the controls, Lockon's eyes narrowed before he gritted his teeth.
"Hurry up, we don't have time!" he hissed.
...
Inside the cockpit of the green gundam, Sora remained silent as he quietly listened to what was going on. When he heard that the Katharon base was being attacked, his eyes widened before he bursted out of the compartment. When he did, he heard someone yell before he looked up and found a pair of green eyes staring at him.
"What the he-!" started Lockon but he refrained from finishing the sentence at the sight of the little boy of around 4 years old staring up at him with wide eyes.
"What's going on Lockon!" questioned Tieria when he, Allejiah, and Sumeragi all saw the little boy behind the green-eyed meister. All of their eyes widened at the sight of him.
"What the hell?!" yelled Tieria
"He must be from the Katharon base, but how did he get in here?" questioned Allejiuah when Sumeragi cut him off.
"We don't have time for this, all gundam sortie now!" she yelled before the meisters nodded and Lockon stared at the little boy.
"What's your name?" and Sora's eyes narrowed at the man before him.
"Sora," and Lockon nodded before he turned and faced forward, his eyes narrowing and he gritted his teeth.
"You're from the Katharon base aren't you," and Sora nodded before he looked out at the screen before him.
"A-Laws is attacking, they're going to wipe the entire place out," he whispered and Lockon's eyes widened at Sora's words. There was something familiar about the boy. It felt as if he's met the boy before somewhere. Turning around to face the screen, Lockon's eyes narrowed as he saw the red GN particles coming from the A-Laws machines ahead of them.
"Yeah, that's why we're going there to help them,"
...
Saji's eyes widened in horror when he saw the A-Laws approaching the Katharon base from his jeep.
"No, it can't be!"
...
Panic began to fill the base as the news of A-Laws approaching filled their ears. As the men scrambled to get into their mobile suits, everyone else scurried around trying to calm down some of the other people. Running towards the play room, Shirin's eyes widened when she saw all the children still there with a woman trying to gather them.
"Hurry and get the children to the shelter!" she yelled and the woman nodded her head before she grabbed all of the children and ran towards the shelter.
"Klaus! We need to fight!" but Klaus shook his head at his comrade.
"No, we're greatly outmatched, we'll strengthen our defenses and wait for Celestial Being to come," and the other men in the room snapped up.
"But Klaus! How do you know that they'll come!" and Klaus looked at them straight in the eye.
"I believe in them,"
"Hey old man!" yelled a voice and Klaus' eyes widened before he turned to look at the computer screen to see Fon's red eyes locked with his.
"What the hell is going on over there!" he yelled and Klaus looked around him.
"A-Laws found our base, how long until you two reach the base?!" he started when the lights suddenly went out and the base started to shake.
"They're bombing us!?" he questioned as the facility began to shake even more while the lights went on and off erratically before a loud sound echoed.
"Klaus! They shot the hangar!" and Klaus's eyes narrowed. Turning back to the screen, Klaus cursed when he saw that the connection was cut and the power was out.
"Dammit!"
...
"Hey Old Man! Respond dammit!" cursed Fon and Rina's grip on the controls tightened as her eyes began to glow a dark gold hue.
"They've begun their attack," she stated, her voice dripping with venom and Fon looked over to see that her eyes were narrowed and they were glowing again. Looking ahead, his own eyes narrowed at the sight of the smoke in the distance.
"Dam them. Dammit it to hell!"
...
As she watched the Katharon mobile suits trying to defend their base, Soma's gaze fell at the sight of all the outdated mobile suits before her.
"They're fighting with those machines against Aheads and GnXs," she whispered and she cringed as she saw all of the mobile suits being destroyed one by one.
"Commence mob of wipe out operation! Releasing automatons!" yelled one of the soldiers and Soma's eyes widened as she looked over to her side to see one of the Aheads heading towards the base with a black box attached to its back.
"They wouldn't!" she gasped when she saw the hatch the box opening before the automatons were dropped into the base.
"No!" she tried to scream but her eyes only widened when her quantum brainwaves let her hear the screams coming from the people below in the base.
'No!'
...
Screams and panic filled the Katharon base as the automatons ran around shooting anything in sight. Klaus' eyes widened when he saw so many bodies covered in blood around the base and more screams filling his ears as the automatons approached.
"Everybody! FALL BACK!" he yelled to no avail as the men ignored him and ran around trying to evade the incoming machines.
...
Staring down at the automatons as they did their work with the mission, Soma's eyes widened when one of the machines next to her was shot down by an incoming particle beam. All of the A-Laws pilots looked over to see three gundams heading their way while the green one started firing GN particles.
"Were we too late?" questioned Tieria as he saw the smoke rising from base.
"What about the Katharon members?!" yelled Allejiuah when Lockon's voice cut him off.
"I'm going to leave this to you guys!" yelled the green-eyed meister as he piloted Cherudim closer to the base. Glancing back at Sora, Lockon noticed the boy's wide eyes as he saw the smoke rising from the base. Gritting his teeth, Lockon turned back to the screen.
"Hurry up, Gundam," he hissed as his grip of the controls tightened.
"Peries! Go intercept that green gundam!" yelled one of the leading A-Laws members as the rest started to intercept with the other gundams.
"R-roger," reported Soma before she flew her Ahead towards the green gundam and fired but the gundam dodged before it turned around and started to fire at her. Gritting her teeth, she skillfully evaded each shot. "That movement,"
Flying Cherudim close to the ground, Lockon's eyes widened at the sight before him. Bodies lingered the ground while automatons moved around shooting at anything in sight. Hearing a gasp, Lockon looked over his shoulder to see Sora's blue eyes wide in horror at the sight before him. Pulling the boy into his lap, he covered the boy's eyes before he grabbed the controls again.
"Is this?" started Lockon before he gritted his teeth. " Is this something anyone human being would do!" he screamed before he started to fire at the automatons destroying them.
Soma's eyes widened at the bodies and destruction before her. The screams of the men increased in her head along with the cries of the gundam meister in the green machine who screamed before he started to shoot at the automatons before him. Paralyzed, she only stared horror-stricken at the sight.
'What is this?'
Alljiuah felt his blood boil as he piloted Arios in flight mode.
"Mass murdering with antipersonnel weapons," and his eyes narrowed before Arios tackled one of the A-Laws mobile suits with its pincers. "If you're not the ones pulling the trigger, do you think that means you incur no sin yourself?!" he yelled before Arios cut through the mobile suit, destroying it.
"Doble Bazooka," reported Tieria, his eyes narrowing at the A-Laws mobile suits before him. "Burst mode!" he yelled before he fired, and the particle beam hit one of the GnXs disitergrating it to pieces and ash.
"We've acheived out mission. Retreat!" ordered the leading mobile suit pilot as the A-Laws machines pulled out of formation and flew away to their base.
As she watched the green gundam destroy each of the automatons, Soma remained paralyzed before she snapped up as she saw the green gundam turn around and fire before she pulled back and started to fly her machine back to base.
"I'll never forgive you. Don't run away you dam cowards!" cursed Lockon as he kept firing multiple times at the retreating A-Laws machines. Sora's eyes widened against Lockon's chest as he heard the meister's anger and despair before his eyes narrowed.
'A-Laws,'
...
Once all the commotion died down, all of the members of Celestial Being stared horror-stricken at the sight before them.
"This is," stuttered Sumeragi, her eyes wide as she stared at the screen before her. Feldt's eyes widened at the sight of all the blood before she cringed and looked away. Miliena covered her mouth to stop from screaming and Lasse's eyes narrowed before he punched the screen.
Looking at the destruction before him, Allejiuah's eyes feel at the sight of all the bodies littering the ground.
"This.. is.. the.. A-Laws," stated the olive-green haired meister, his voice shaking as much as his body was at the sight before him.
"This is the work of our enemy," whispered Tieria as his gaze fell at the destruction before him.
...
Both Fon and Rina's eyes widened at the sight of the destroyed base before them.
"Dammit!" yelled Fon before he punched the inside of the cockpit as he looked at the base before him. "We weren't ablt to make it in time!" he cursed again. Rina's eyes were horror-filled as she saw all the bodies on the ground with blood pouring out of men's bodies. Her eyes widened even more as images of bloodied bodies from war and the bodies of her comrades at the facilities flashed in her head. Gripping her head, she knelt down as tears started to trickle down her cheeks before she threw her head back and screamed.
...
Saji's eyes widened before he collasped onto his knees in the middle of the desert.
"I was... I was the one responsible for this," he stammered, before he collasped into the sand as the memories of the children playing in the play room along with the image of the man who had kindly given him the keys to the jeep flashed in his head.
"No," he whispered as his hands clenched tightly before he pounded his fists into the sand.
"THIS CAN"T BE HAPPENING!"
...
"We're almost to Azadistan," assured Setsuna as he and Marina looked out at the vast desert before them.
"I can finally return to my country," whispered Marina, and a small smile formed on her face. Setsuna glanced at her before he turned back the screen. But as they approached, the color red started to replace the dark blue of the night sky until the transport was flying over Azadistan. Both Setsuna and Marina's eyes widened at the sight before them.
Everything was ablaze. The red hue of fire and destruction from the flames covered the entire land as smoke rose up into the sky.
"Azadistans-!" gasped Marina, her eyes wide as she looked down at her burning homeland.
"Burning, " finished Setsuna as he saw that everything was in flames.
"But why? Why is Azadistan?" whispered Marina and Setsuna looked at the burning land before him.
"Damage on this scale can't be achieved by mere terrorists," he whispered when something in the distance caught his eye. In the midst of all the destruction, a single machine was hovering over the burning land. Red GN- particles were being admitted from the machine and the shape of the machine was in nothing like any of the A-Laws mobile suits.
"That's a... gundam," stated Setsuna before his eyes widened. "And.. that ...color,"
"It can't be!" yelled Setsuna when the red gundam turned around and the pilot inside smiled with wide eyes.
"Yes it is! Its exactly what you're thinkin!" yelled Ali Al Sachez, his eyes full of joy at the destruction before him before he threw his head back and laughed.
...
Inside the Katharon Middle Eastern Base, the surviving members gathered as they moved the injured towards the infirmary while the others started cover up the dead in bags for burials.
Shirin's eyes widened as she stared at the destruction before her.
"This is horrible," she whispered when she head the sounds of the children's voice approaching. Turning around, she saw the children laughing as they head towards her and the destroyed hangar.
"Wait! Don't let the children come back here! Take them back to the shelter!" ordered Shirin and the woman who was with the children quickly nodded before she led the children back to the shelter. As she watched the children being led away, Shirin's gaze fell when she head someone calling her name. Turning around, her eyes widened when she saw Klaus running towards her before she ran up to him.
"Klaus! Thank goodness that you're safe," and Klaus nodded before he looked around.
"Somehow, but as you can see, the base is in ruins," and Shirin looked around as well. "The base we spent over the past three years constructing," and the woman's gaze fell.
...
"Did you bastards leak the information about this place?!" yelled one of the Katharon members as a few crowded around the meisters.
"We did no such thing," responded Tieria when one of the other men stepped forward.
"Its all your fault! You bastards got our comrades killed!" yelled the man before he pulled out a gun from his pocket and aimed it at Tieria. But before he could fire, Sora jumped down and stood in front of Tieria.
"These people didn't do anything wrong!" he stated, his blue eyes blank and hard. Everyone's eyes widened before the man glared at the meisters.
"Now you've even got this little kid defending you!" and he aimed his gun when Lockon reached over and grabbed the man's wrist and stopped him.
"Stop it! These guys didn't do anything!" and the man pulled away.
"We don't know that!" he yelled and Lockon stepped forward.
"Beileve them! They didn't tell Katharon's locations to A-Laws!" he yelled and the man's eyes narrowed before he looked down despair.
"But... our comrades," and tears began to fall down his face. " Just a moment ago, our comrades were laughing," and Lockon looked at the man with sympathy.
"I know. We will avenge them," and Sora looked around at the destruction before him.
"Mama," he whispered and Tieria looked down at the little boy before he looked around the base.
"Who in the world informed the A-Laws?" whispered the purple-haired meister when he saw Saji standing off to the side, with his eyes wide in horror as the brown-haired boy stared at the body of a dead Katharon member sprawled out on the ground. But before he could run, someone grabbed his shoulder and Saji turned to see a pair of red eyes staring at him suspiciously.
...
Allejiuah looked around before he noticed that the little boy was also looking around as well. There was something about the little boy that was familiar, but like Lockon, Allejiuah couldn't name it. The boy's blue eyes scanned the area before he fell silent.
"Is something wrong?" questioned Alljiuah towards the little boy who shook his head when his blue eyes widened as he snapped up.
"Mama," whispered Sora and before Allejiuah could do or say anything, he ran off into the destruction.
...
Standing in one of the many corridors of the Katharon Base, Tieria's eyes narrowed at Saji.
"What did you do?" he qustioned and Saji flinched.
"I-I-," he stuttered.
"It was you wasn't it. Who are you? Are you a spy for the A-Laws?" and Saji snapped up before he violently shook his head,
"N-No! I'm," but Saji's eyes widned before he fell silent. Tieria's gaze narrowed at him.
"I'm going to have to ask for an explination, Saji Crossroad," and Saji paused for a few seconds before he confessed about his attempt to run away and how he was caught by the Federation forces and how he revealed Katharon's base. When he was done, Tieria's eyes narrowed before he raised his hand and slapped Saji across his face.
"How foolish can someone be," he stated and Saji flinched as he refused to meet Tieria's gaze.
"I had no idea it would turn out this way," whispered Saji as his body began to shake. "All I wanted was to get away from all the fighting! I didn't think that something like this would happen. I never meant to-" and Tieria looked at him.
"You're the one who took those people's lives!" and Saji's eyes widened at the Tieria's words before he snapped up and looked at the purple-haired meister. "It was becuase of your foolish behavior!"
"You keep saying that 'I'm different'. 'This has nothing to do with me' , 'It could only happen in a different world'. A delusional attitude like that results in ill will you're unaware of, and brings on consequences like these!" and Saji's resolve crumbled before he fell onto his knees on the ground.
"T-that.. wasn't what I intended," he whispered, his voice shaking as tears fell down his face and Saji crumbled onto the ground and let out sobs.
"Tieria," called Setsuna as he walked towards the purple-haired meister but he paused at the sight Saji sobbing on the ground. Tieria turned nonchalantly towards the raven-haired meister.
"Setsuna," he acknowledged and Setsuna looked back at him.
"What happed out here," and he gestured towards teh destroyed base.
"It was the A-Laws' work," and Tieria looked down at Saji with disdain, "And the cause lies with him," and Setsuna looked over to see Saji sobbing on the ground as he clenched his fists tightly.
"Saji Crossroad,"
...
Standing in the middle of all the havoc, Marina remained silent as other members of Katharon moved around trying to clean the area.
"You didn't return to Azadistan?" asked Shirin as she walked up towards Marina who snapped up and ran towards her friend.
"Shirin!" cried Marina as she ran into Shirn's arms as tears streamed down her face. "Azadistain is.. Our homeland is," cried Marina before she choked on her words and just sobbed into her companions arms. Shirin's eyes widened at Marina's words.
"Azadistan is?"
...
The minute her GnX landed, Rina stripped out of the pilot suit until she was in her standard black turtleneck and shorts, jumped down from the cockpit and landed on the ground despite the great distance with ease. Turning her head, she saw Fon exiting his cockpit.
"Take care of things here!" she yelled and Fon nodded before she turned around and ran towards the shelter.
'Sora!'
Once she was at the shelter, she saw the women and children all look up at her as she burst into through the doors. All of the children smiled at her before they ran up to her.
"What happned out there Sissy?" they questioned and Rina scanned the room before her blood ran cold.
"Where's Sora?" she questioned and all the children and the women searched the area for him before they looked back at her.
"He's not here!" yelled one of the women and their eyes widened at the implications. Rina's eyes widened before she looked at everyone in the shelter.
"Please remain here for a little bit longer, we don't know when the A-Laws might hit again," and with that, she ran out of the shelter. As she ran, terror began to seize her and Rina closed her eyes as she started to pray.
'Please let him be alright!' she mentally cried before she burst into her quarters, When she was inside, all she saw was the empty room with her communicator on the bed. There was no sign of Sora.
"It can't be!" gasped Rina before she ran towards the destroyed hangar.
"Sora!" she yelled once she was inside the destroyed base and her eyes began to desperately scan the area for any glimspe of her son.
"Sora!" she yelled again as fear and desperation began to fill her voice. Pushing aside the worst possiblity, she ran around with frantic motions as she looked around for her son.
"Sora!" she screamed before tears started to trickle down her cheeks as she found no trace of her son anywhere.
"Please," she whispered as she prayed and prayed when a voice hit her ears. Snapping up, Rina looked over to see Sora staring up at her before a smile broke out on his face.
"Mama!" he yelled and Rina's eyes widened before she ran over and enveloped the little boy into her arms.
"Sora!" she yelled as she held her son close to her while mentally thanking every God ever known to mankind. Pulling back, she looked at him from head to toe. "Are you alright? Are you hurt?" she questioned and Sora shook his head. A cry of relief came from Rina as she held him close and tightened her grip around him.
"Thank goodness," she repeated over and over as her tears flew down her face. Sora's eyes widened before he also pulled his arms up and hugged his mother back. The two remained that way until Rina's tears stopped and she pulled away and wiped her face.
"Mama! I was in one of the gundams!" stated Sora and Rina paused for a second before she looked at her son with wide eyes.
"What?" she questioned and Sora nodded before he pointed behind him.
"Gundam! Just like the machines you and papa piloted!" and Rina looked up and saw the three gundams before her for the first time.
"But, how," she started when Sora took her hand and led her towards the corridor,"
"I got to meet the meisters as well!" and Rina's eyes widened.
"The meisters?" she whispered and Sora nodded when he suddenly stopped in the middle of the hallway with wide eyes.
"Sora?" questioned Rina as she bent down and touched her son's face which had gone abnormally pale.
"Papa," whispered Sora and Rina looked at him with a questioning look on her face.
"Sora, are you alright? Do you feel sick?" she questioned when she heard the voice of someone who she never thought she would hear again.
"Sora? Rina?" and Rina's eyes widened before she slowly turned around to see a pair of wide crimson eyes staring down at her and Sora. Standing up, she gazed into the crimson eyes before she whispered the said person's name.
"Setsuna,"
Whew, this is a really long chapter...well in my opinion it is. Well I hope you enjoyed and I hope to hear from you guys soon as I go and work on chapter 6!