The Green Flame wrote:I had a feeling Flay was fake but the Borg idea was way funner >.>
The creation of fake Flay and Fiona sounds reaaally familiar though. I can't remember why though ~_~
Yeah, the Borg idea was amusing. The only way for Kira to be more screwed up right now was if he got Borged. XD
Meer Campbell in this fiction is much the same way as fake Flay and Fiona. That's why it's familiar to you. The nanomachines and shapeshifting will play a more prominent role in the final arc of the story.
Thanks for reading. Chapter Forty-Five is below.
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Chapter Forty-Five: Commence Destruction
Alone, alone, all all alone,
Alone on a wide open sea!
And never a saint took pity on
My soul in agony.
-Samuel T. Colenridge,
The Rime of the Ancient Mariner
It had taken Shinn over two hours, but when he had finally given up and returned to his room, he finally found Meyrin. She was sitting on his bed, holding Mayu's slightly burned teddy bear in her hands.
Meyrin looked up at him as Shinn entered the room. "I think you want this. It belongs to your sister, right?"
"Uh, yeah, it does," Shinn replied.
Meyrin smiled. "You should take it with you. I know how much this means to you."
She placed the bear in his hands. Meyrin took a deep breath, and sighed. "I'm okay, Shinn. I'm done with the war. That's not a bad thing, is it?"
Shinn bit his lip. "I'm sure I can still sneak you out."
"I'm sure you could. And I don't think anyone would stop you," Meyrin said. "But Luna's staying now. I was afraid she was going to do that. I can't exactly leave now and force Luna to fight for nothing. She's only here to protect me."
"She really loves you," Shinn said.
Meyrin nodded. "Lunamaria and I aren't that different from you and Mayu in many ways. Except our familial drama was about absent parents, not bigotry and murder. Luna practically raised me."
"How? She's only two years older than you," Shinn replied.
Meyrin shook her head. "I didn't say she knew what she was doing."
Shinn smiled at that, but Meyrin, after a brief grin, just sat back down on the bed. Shinn sat beside her and wrapped his left arm around her.
"I'm scared," Meyrin whispered.
"I can stay too," Shinn said. "Captain Gladys can't force me to obey orders once I'm out there."
"Shinn, don't. There's no guarantee they'll take us prisoner. I want you to live, no matter what," Meyrin replied.
Shinn thought for a second. He knew what the right answer was, but it seemed so awkward to say it. Finally, he decided he would say it. Meyrin had been by his side for so long. She deserved to know how much he appreciated it.
"I don't know what I'm fighting for, Meyrin. These past few weeks, I've been trying to protect this ship. Trying to protect
you. And that's not going to happen anymore."
"I know there's something you can fight for, Shinn," Meyrin said. "There's always something."
"I'm just sick of it. I'm tired. I have gotten too close to being killed too many times," Shinn replied. "I need a break. R&R."
"I think we all need a break," Meyrin said. "But it's okay, Shinn. Luna's always been there for me. She'll never let me be hurt."
"You joined the military to be with her, didn't you?"
Meyrin chuckled softly, sadly. "You figured it out. I did volunteer. I couldn't bear being alone without her. So I volunteered, and I got turned into an officer because apparently I have some kind of operational brilliance."
"Really?" Shinn asked.
Meyrin shook her head. "I don't have anything brilliant about me, Shinn. Luna's the brilliant one. She got near-perfect grades in flight school. She wears the red uniform to show she's an elite pilot. She probably pulled strings to get me in this position, because she knew how badly I wanted to be with her."
"Don't say you're stupid," Shinn said. "You're special, Meyrin."
"I'm not special, Shinn. I'm really not. Let's face it, if Stellar hadn't gone insane on you I wouldn't be with you right now. I wouldn't be in love . . ." Meyrin's voice began to choke up at the end, and Shinn held her closer.
Meyrin didn't wail, but she did whisper tearfully. "I love you, Shinn. I'm so scared. I don't want you to go but I know you have to."
"Meyrin, I told you I'll stay."
"ZAFT still needs you, Shinn. They don't need me."
Damn it, Meyrin, if you're trying to make me leave you're really messing it up.
"Meyrin," Shinn finally said, "I told you I'll stay. Just give me the Sword Silhouette once I launch, okay? That's all you have to do."
Meyrin couldn't even speak anymore. She just continued to cry softly, and Shinn just held her close. So often, it had been her comforting him, and now it was the other way around.
Once again, Shinn had forgotten how young Meyrin really was. She was truly too young to be in the military. It wasn't right for her to be here. She should still be at the PLANTs, being at school, helping the home front. Not here. Not where she could get killed.
But in the end, Shinn knew he was going to have to follow orders. He was going to have to leave. Meyrin was going to be at the Earth Alliance's mercy.
Maybe I should give up on having a girlfriend. Shinn hadn't been able to find anyone remotely close to being 'the one' until Stellar had entered his life. But then she went crazy. But then Meyrin stepped in and forced herself to grow up so he wouldn't feel like he was dating a kid. Now, he was leaving her behind, and he was going to be alone again.
Maybe I'm never going to be happy. Not with Stellar, not with Meyrin, not with anyone.
That seemed to be the only thing fate had in store for him, at any rate.
***
The angel stared.
His plan had been ruined.
His strategy had gone against him and had completely backfired. The pilot had broken far earlier than he was supposed to. The pilot, if he was to break, wasn't due for that until fighting the PLANTs. That way, if he did go crazy, at least he'd do it on the Coordinators.
But now, the angel was staring complete, utter failure in the face.
Athens was ruined.
And everything had been set back. Perhaps permanently.
No amount of damage control could fix this.
The Eurasians had always been friendlier towards the ZAFT than the Atlantic Federation or East Asia. This was not going to help those in Europe who were sympathetic to the EA. Not one bit. No one could justify such destruction to natural, pure human beings.
It was supposed to be the Coordinators who died. Not Naturals. Not normal people.
His phone lit up. The angel knew who it was. He picked it up anyway. "Yes?"
"Care to tell me
what in God's name is happening to Athens, Lord Djibril?" asked a familiar female voice sharply.
The angel clenched his teeth. He knew the woman, in all of her duplicity, would try to pin this all on him. The woman played every side in the political game, always going to where the winds were shifting next. And she did a good job of it. Good enough to lead the Earth Alliance's fractured populace.
And the woman was likely preparing to go moderate and abandon Blue Cosmos. The angel could not have it.
"A Coordinator," the angel said. "A Coordinator is piloting the Mobile Suit. He's clearly massacring anyone who gets in his way."
"That Mobile Suit looks like a Adukav design, Lord Djibril," the woman responded.
"Oh, fine," the angel replied. He was going to lie through his teeth here, not like he had a choice. "A ZAFT pilot hijacked a machine called the Destroy. Clearly he's gone mad."
"Want to tell me why you didn't tell me about any of this?" the woman asked.
The woman was going to need to die soon. She could not be trusted. He needed someone who was more willing to be manipulated than the woman.
"Plausible deniability," the angel said, saying the answer the moment it occurred to him. It wasn't true, the real reason was that the angel wanted to marginalize the woman in a power play to begin taking on real power in the Earth Alliance. For obvious reasons, she could not know that. "I'll find someone to take the fall for this, Secretary-General Mitsuda. I promise."
"I am severely tempted to make it
you," the woman growled.
The angel simply smiled. "Go ahead and try. You think you can stop me? I
own the Earth Alliance."
That deflated the woman enough that she paused. Finally, she said "We'll see."
She killed the connection, leaving the angel just to stare at a hundred screens all depicting the obliteration of Athens.
Such glorious power. If only it were directed at the PLANTs.
It would soon enough. The Destroy may be lost, but he could always build a
better Destroy. Adukav had been more than willing to give up the designs they had made in cooperation with Morgenroete in exchange for
not being bought out by the angel.
And what would be borne out of this failure would be the angel's ultimate success.
The success he had always wanted . . .
***
It was right after the afternoon meal when Athrun had gotten the word. He had taken off as fast as he can to find a private area where he could view the scene that had suddenly dominated the conversations all over the base.
Athens was
gone.
Athrun found a newsfeed, and stared. No building was completely intact. Most had crumbled. Thousands, possibly millions of people had to be dead or dying. And cameras were dying left and right as the cameramen were getting slaughtered just as readily as ordinary citizens.
He could only take it for thirty seconds, before he turned off the chaos. He folded his trembling hands and forced himself not to think the worst.
But it was obvious.
They broke Kira. And this is the result.
He had never thought Kira was capable of so much destruction, but put him in the right Mobile Suit, and drench him in despair . . .
If he didn't kill himself first, he could be an unstoppable, rampaging murderer.
He thought about that day when Kira, just on a whim, had been tempted to commit suicide. Despair had just overtaken so fast and so completely that without much of a trigger Kira had wanted to die.
This had to be just on a whim too. Instead of dying, though, this time Kira was out to slaughter
everybody.
I have to stop him. No matter what. We have to launch immediately and take that thing down.
Lacus burst into the room then, and the alarm on her face told the obvious. "Athrun! Is it true? Tell me it's not true."
"It is," Athrun said softly.
Lacus' voice became eerily soft. "No. No. He can't. He isn't that kind of person, Athrun. I told him for so long he wouldn't be . . ."
Lacus hugged herself. "He's becoming a monster. Athrun, he's going to become his nightmare. He's letting his nightmares take him over."
Athrun embraced her. "Lacus, we'll stop him. I promise you we'll stop him."
"I don't think we can," Lacus whispered, as she started to cry. "We can't. He's so far gone he won't recognize us."
"Don't say that, Lacus. We can't give up hope."
"We're going to have to kill him, Athrun," Lacus sobbed. "I can't . . . I love him but he's not there anymore. The Kira I know would never do this."
Everyone's crying except me. Murrue had practically shut down after hearing of Justice's obliteration just an hour ago. Cagalli and Lacus both had symptoms of depression. Kira . . . Kira was something Athrun could no longer describe.
How could he keep going while everyone else was breaking down? What made him strong enough to soldier on despite everything?
"The Kira you know is still in him. I know that," Athrun said, and hoped his words weren't as hollow as he thought they sounded.
Lacus didn't answer, and Athrun didn't let go.
***
The Sword Silhouette was too heavy. That meant Shinn Asuka was not flying the Impulse GUNDAM. All he was flying was the Core Splendor.
Supposedly, it didn't matter. Silhouettes were cheaper than GUNDAMs. Shinn would have replacements given to him once he escaped. But Shinn still felt oddly vulnerable flying a glorified fighter jet, in an age dominated by gigantic masses of metal with more firepower than everything short of a nuclear weapon.
There was a reason why the Skygrasper had become obsolete. They were fast, they were manueverable, but they could not take a lick of punishment. Same with the Core Splendor. One hit and Shinn was done.
Dearka's voice came on. "Just keep a steady pace. Conserve battery however you can, all of you. The moment we land in Tel Aviv we're getting blasted out of here. We'll be back at the PLANTs before long. Just stay calm."
There were about one hundred Mobile Suits in all. That was all that was left of the convoy. A few of the MS units had stayed behind to protect the ships just like Luna and Rey had, but they were a tiny minority. But considering there had been thousands of Mobile Suits to start with . . .
How lucky had Shinn been to survive all of those battles against such overwhelming force?
But now, only the sea lay between him and rescue. A safe way out. He'd be back at the PLANTs again, where there was relative peace and stability. He'd get rest and relaxation. Likely would be recognized as a hero. A medal would likely be made for the survivors of the convoy and he'd be one of the few who would receive it.
But none of it seemed worth it.
It was clear he was fighting just to fight now. It surprised him how little loyalty to a country meant for him. He had been born in Orb, but had ran to the ZAFT to get revenge, only to find that revenge was hollow and pointless. Heck, he even fell in love with a girl from Earth. And now, a different girl who loved him was being left behind while he got to escape.
It just didn't seem right. Shinn almost wanted an excuse to turn around and fight to defend the
Minerva, as pointless as that would be. All he could do was delay the inevitable.
And he'd wind up in captivity too.
But at least he would be with Meyrin, wouldn't he?
And he'd also have to deal with Luna and Captain Gladys calling him an idiot every day until the war was over. Likely beyond that, for that matter.
But there was no reason to go back, either. The Earth Alliance had some truly barbaric people in high places. Who's to say he wouldn't wind up dying in a camp?
Who's to say Stellar wouldn't kill him first chance she got?
Fear of the death sentence was probably his only motivation to keep flying on and not turn around. Shinn was sure of it. And that meant cowardice on his part.
Shiho came on the line. "I've got a report saying the Destory is advancing into the Aegean. It's tearing apart the Earth Alliance fleet there, as well as what's left of our ships."
"Doesn't matter, Shiho. I want to stay and fight too, but there's no choice," Dearka replied.
"Which direction is it heading to?" Shinn asked.
"Uh . . .looks southeast from Athens. Seems to be heading just northeast of Crete."
That's where the Minerva
is.
As if reading Shinn's mind, Dearka spoke. "Shinn, there's nothing we can do. We have our orders."
Shinn placed his hand on the joystick and prepared to override the autopilot.
Orders don't matter. Luna and Rey can't stop that monster. Not like I can do much better, but at least I have a chance.
"Don't bother, Dearka," Shiho said. "Our village idiot here's already made up his mind."
Shinn just laughed. "Yeah, I am an idiot. That's why I'm expendable."
"Shinn, don't say that," Dearka replied.
"I
am expendable. I'm just a second-class citizen in something that was given to me for good politics. I'm not even a Coordinator. I'm fifty-fifty. A Slant. Someone not quite as good as the rest of you. But I'm piloting something that at least can stop that Destroy thing."
"I tried to stop the Destroy, Shinn," Dearka said. "It didn't work out too well. The pilot's lost it."
"Then maybe I can slow it down. It'll give the
Minerva crew time to evacuate before it get blown up. You're not stopping me, Dearka."
Shinn immediately pulled the joystick to the left and banked in a U-turn. The G forces pressed Shinn against his seat, but in a few seconds they subsided and Shinn was able to breathe again.
"Dammit, Shinn," Dearka growled. He knew he couldn't stop Shinn, not without wasting valuable fuel.
No one else followed Shinn. No one had the guts, or the suicidal tendencies, to want to face the Destroy. They all wanted to live.
As did Shinn, but . ..
He pictured Meyrin. He wasn't sure if he loved her yet, but he did care for her. And she loved him so dearly. He could not hurt htat sweet, innocent face. He never wanted to see her cry.
And he was not going to let that girl die. Not without trying to protect her.
Shinn stared out ahead at the open sea. He was doing this alone. His heart pounded as he poured on the acceleration.
I have to try. That's all I can do.
He blasted down the sea, back towards the war.
MURRUE: Infallible accuracy?? I thought you just usually shot all your weapons at random and they just happened to hit stuff.
KIRA: What do you think this is; a cartoon?