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Seedfreedom 4
Seedfreedom 4
In the thick of this tumult, a system called the Destiny Plan was
proposed. This scheme envisions a world devoid of competition, where roles
are unilaterally assigned to individuals. Yet, to safeguard the aspirations of a
free future for humanity, the Destiny Plan meets resistance and is ultimately
rejected amidst the chaos of war.
Although the war reached its end after exacting a heavy toll, the schism
and animosity between the two factions continue to smolder in various
corners of the world to this day.
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Chapter.04 ··························································································006
Chapter.05 ·································································································
Chapter.06 ·································································································
Epilogue ·································································································
Afterword ·································································································
Chapter.04
Just days after the tragedies at Ishtaria and Eldora, the COMPS
member state representatives held an emergency meeting.
"We've confirmed what appears to be the wreckage of the
Archangel 1.5 kilometers east of the second blast site," Toyah
delivered his report with a steady voice, betraying no emotion despite
the gravity of his words.
"The Freedom, Justice, and our other mobile suit contingents from
the operation remain unaccounted for. They're not responding to our
hails either. We... presume they were all caught in the explosion."
On the monitor, the weary faces of Atlantic Federation President
Foster and PLANT Supreme Council Chairman Lament materialized,
their heavy exhales bridging the distance, a shared gesture of despair
and exhaustion palpable even through the digital divide.
It was a scene of utter devastation. That's what it amounted to.
While the Millennium forces docked at the Foundation capital,
Ishtaria, they somehow emerged unscathed, and all other forces
involved in the operation were consumed by the hungry flames of
the nuke that rained down on Eldora.
Chairman Lament, his voice a careful blend of diplomacy and
underlying tension, broke the charged silence.
"So, President Clyne safe, I gather?"
Cagalli's nod was subtle, the motion feeling stiff and unnatural.
"Yes. According to the Millennium's report, she escaped along with
other Foundation officials. And what of the PLANTs? Any news?"
Lament's response, a simple shake of his head, deepened the
gloom. "No," he stated, his face a mask of stoic concern.
Cagalli's brow furrowed, her gaze drifting off as the unspoken
implication hung in the air - Lacus was missing, a silent alarm rang
clear in her mind. Surely, if she were safe, the PLANTs or Orb would
have been contacted by now.
It didn't add up.
"In any case, regarding COMPS' response to this incident--"
Cagalli tried to steer the discussion but was cut off by Foster's
sharp tone.
"Response?" she spat, eyes blazing with barely contained fury.
"Can we afford to be so tepid at a time like this? Eurasia has lodged
severe protests, claiming this is all because Commander Yamato
violated the treaty and crossed the military demarcation line!"
A small crack appeared in Cagalli's composure. Why should
Eurasia's accusations dictate their actions? They were just trying to
heap all the blame on Kira to dodge the world's condemnation.
Lament's voice rose in response, the fury in his tone palpable.
"That still doesn't justify firing nukes! It's a betrayal of all
humanity!"
Cagalli wholeheartedly agreed. The nuclear strike had shocked
every nation on Earth, dominating the news in a hysterical frenzy.
Because this time, the planet's surface had been targeted.
But what about when the Earth Alliance turned nukes on the
PLANTs?
The thought left a bitter taste. Still, Cagalli sensed more to this
calamity than met the eye.
She leaned forward, imploring, "I'm not convinced about
Commander Yamato either. The reports raise too many questions!
None of it makes any damn sense!"
"The truth remains cloaked in darkness," Lament sighed in
resignation. "Unless Yamato or Michael survive to speak..."
Foster interjected with a sardonic edge, "How convenient. No one
to hold accountable."
Lament's eyes flashed with anger.
"What are you implying?"
But Foster ignored it, pressing on accusingly, "Whether Yamato
truly acted on his own. This incident provides the perfect chance for
the PLANTs to interfere in Eurasian territory-"
Lament's fury was palpable. "I will not tolerate such baseless
accusations! Our soldiers were the ones sacrificed!"
"It was Earth's citizens who were sacrificed!" Foster shot back, her
voice rising to match Lament's.
"By Naturals firing on Naturals!"
As the debate spiraled into a melange of blame and speculation,
Cagalli felt her restraint snap, her hand slamming against the table
with enough force to rattle the monitor.
"Is this really the time for that? Besides, as if Kira would ever do
such a thing!"
Her aide beside her held his head in despair. Foster regarded her
with utter coldness.
"I see. Reluctant to implicate your own, are you? In that case, our
nation no longer intends to be involved with COMPS."
"We, too, will step back," Lament said, his voice equally terse. "We
won't stand to have salt rubbed in our wounds like this."
The leaders' faces vanished from Cagalli's monitor, signaling the
breakdown of negotiations. Slumping forward, she buried her head in
her arms, haunted by a single thought.
What had she done?
Aura's voice was laced with triumph, her eyes gleaming with the
certainty of their envisioned future.
"The Destiny Plan that Durandal began—you two are meant to
stand at the pinnacle of all humanity, the final pair of pieces that fit
together."
Orphee approached Lacus slowly, his steps measured and
deliberate.
"You and I shall govern this world together."
He took her hand, his touch sending a jolt through her stunned
body.
"You feel it, don't you?"
Once again, that overwhelming sensation engulfed her, an intense
feeling of destined connection transcending mere words. It was a
soft, pleasantly warm light wrapping around her like a cocoon.
"Together... with you...?" she repeated, her voice distant, as if in a
trance.
Orphee leaned in, his whisper sweet and seductive.
"We are destined to be drawn to each other, bound together..."
That's right. This was resonance.
A resonance was felt because they had been fated partners since
before birth.
The temptation was irresistibly sweet.
Every cell within Lacus, each one meticulously crafted by her
genes, trembled with an intrinsic yearning for its counterpart.
But...
Suddenly, she thought she heard Kira's voice.
──Lacus.
It was her heart. Her will.
Lacus tore herself away from Orphee.
He stared at her, dumbfounded, as if he couldn't comprehend her
rejection.
Having regained her own heart, Lacus shuddered, the memory of
that invasive sensation still fresh on her skin.
These people were trying to steal 'me' from myself. Could there be
any greater violation?
With a voice fortified by her unwavering resolve, she declared,
"The one I love is not you!"
Orphee's expression twisted in shock and indignation, as if the
rejection had struck him physically. He probably never imagined being
rejected.
After a moment, he composed himself, his voice turning cold.
"So, you're worried about Kira Yamato? Unfortunately, he is no
longer of this world."
Orphee's words struck like a hammer, crushing Lacus's spirit as she
grappled with the unbearable thought.
Orphee's mocking laughter echoed in her ears.
"Did you not say it was fine to shoot him?"
"Oh... Kira!"
Lacus's knees buckled, and she collapsed, overwhelmed by the
crushing weight of Orphee's words.
Her own words had taken the life of her beloved. That fact could
never be changed.
I betrayed Kira!
The fireball that had engulfed the earth flashed through her mind,
swelling and consuming everything in its path.
Had Kira been in those flames?
Orphee's cruel voice cut through her despair.
"In any case, he is no longer necessary. Not for the world to
come."
Yet, within Lacus burned an unquenchable flame of defiance.
"It's not because..."
She raised her head, meeting Orphee's gaze with fierce
determination.
"It's not because he's necessary that I love him. It's because I love
him that he's necessary."
Even if she had lost Kira forever.
Even if she herself were to be scorched by the flames.
This feeling alone would never change.
Lacus held that love close to her heart, and she met Orphee's gaze
head-on.
She saw Ingrid, who had been expressionless the whole time,
suddenly change her demeanor with a start.
Orphee's face visibly darkened, and for the first time he raised his
voice.
"Enough! Such deluded talk, like a Natural!"
But it wasn't just him. Aura and Shura also seemed shaken by
Lacus's defiance, their perfect plan showing its first signs of strain.
Lacus sensed it.
The Destiny Plan that determined everything by genetics - if she
followed it, Lacus should naturally accept Orphee.
Because that's how her genes were arranged.
But no matter one's birth, the days that followed nurtured and
changed a person.
Even if she was a life created by Aura, even if her mother had
entrusted her with some wish, who she was now wouldn't change.
This life was something she had built together with those around
her. Something she had chosen to walk.
These people couldn't understand that.
They who yearned for a world where only unchanging, stable,
predetermined behavior was permitted.
News reached the Orb administration with dire clarity: the Earth
Alliance's space fleet, dispatched from the lunar base, had been
decimated by a singular, devastating strike from Requiem.
"Have the Orb space fleet depart separately, starting with the
ships that are ready."
Aware of the strategic folly in amassing their fleet, Cagalli opted
for a dispersed deployment, minimizing the risk of a singular,
catastrophic blow.
But even as the orders were given, the situation continued to
unravel, each new development more dire than the last. The forces
capable of neutralizing Requiem had been drastically reduced.
Control of the PLANTs had fallen into the hands of a pro-Foundation
faction, gripping both the civilian administration and the military in its
influential clutches. No help could be expected from that quarter. If
anything, hostility seemed all but certain.
With a countenance shadowed by concern, a cabinet member
addressed Cagalli, "Representative, perhaps we should comply with
Foundation's demands after all... To protect our citizens, it may be
unavoidable."
Cagalli shook her head.
"It goes against Orb's principles."
"Yet we must weigh our principles against the stark reality of our
citizens' immediate safety. Isn't their survival our utmost priority?"
"That may be true. But have you forgotten what happened last
time, when we abandoned our principles and followed the Atlantic
Federation?"
At Cagalli's words, the cabinet members flinched as if a sore spot
had been touched.
To not invade other nations, to not allow other nations to invade,
to not intervene in the conflicts of other nations. Those were Orb's
principles.
By discarding them and yielding to the Atlantic Federation's
power, Orb had been drawn into an unwanted war and suffered
numerous casualties.
"If Orb abandons its principles and complies with the whims of
other nations, in the end, it's the citizens who will be sacrificed. This
is even worse than mere invasion. We cannot, under any guise or
threat, justify the betrayal of our citizens' freedoms."
In Foundation's vision, the citizens of Orb—indeed, the citizens of
any nation under the Destiny Plan—were not individuals with rights
and dreams but mere cogs in a vast, soulless machine. They were
living components to be slotted into place, their worth measured only
by their utility to the whole. Could they, in good conscience,
participate in such a plan?
But even as the moral quandary loomed, the immediate crisis
demanded action. The evacuation of the citizens had to be prioritized,
and every second was bought with sweat and determination.
Cagalli's gaze met each of her cabinet members in turn, her voice
resolute as she imparted her directive, "There is still time until the
deadline. I want each of you to do what you can."
"Let's rescue Lacus," Athrun said, his voice cutting through the
gloom that had settled over the room.
"It's our only option. To break this situation and stop PLANT, we
need her words."
Murrue's gaze swept the room, taking in the determined nods of
the others. But Kira's voice, bleak and defeated, shattered the fragile
consensus.
"It's pointless."
"Kira?" Murrue looked at him, puzzled.
"It'll be the same either way. No matter what we do..."
Kira was fed up.
"In the end, it just repeats. Suffering so much, being lost...
Fighting... Fighting and fighting!"
The bitter truth of it all crashed over him like a tidal wave.
Everything they had done, every sacrifice made, every drop of blood
spilled - it had all been in vain. Because fighting was the only thing he
could do. But fighting to stop the fighting was a contradiction to
begin with.
Ultimately, all he had brought about was new death and
destruction.
"But nothing changes..." Kira's voice broke, raw with anguish. "Is it
because I'm wrong?"
What I'm saying is the truth, Durandal had said.
I can do it, Orphee had said.
They had been right. He couldn't change people.
"Kira..." Athrun's expression darkened, a storm brewing in his eyes.
Kira's fists clenched, knuckles white with the strain.
"That's why Lacus abandoned me and chose him."
The memory of Lacus's smile, directed not at him but at Orphee,
tore through his heart like a jagged blade. The pain was as fresh now
as it had been then, a wound that refused to heal.
"I'm not good enough!" The words burst from him, a dam finally
shattering under the pressure. "I can't give Lacus anything she wants.
Forget peace. I can't even make her smile! I can't make her happy!
That's why she betrayed me!"
Mid-rant, Kira was abruptly silenced as Athrun's fist connected
with his jaw, a physical jolt mirroring the shock of the interruption.
"Quit your pathetic whining!"
Kira's body was hurled backward, crashing to the floor with a
jarring thud.
"It's all 'me, me, me' with you, not considering her feelings at all!"
Athrun spat out vehemently.
"Enough! If you hate fighting so much, stay here and rot in self-
pity!"
Dazed by the blow, Kira's confusion morphed into a surge of
anger.
"What do you know? I don't want to hear that from you!"
He stood up to punch back, but Athrun nimbly dodged, grabbed
Kira's fist, and drove an uppercut into his chin.
"You think you're the only one fighting?!"
"What choice do I have? You guys are weak!"
"Screw you!" Athrun's roar shook the room.
"So you feel like you're shouldering the world alone, and you just
drop it when things don't go your way?! Some hero you are!"
Those words pierced Kira's heart.
"That's not it!"
He went at Athrun again. His fists cleaved through nothing but air
as Athrun, with practiced ease, dodged and countered, landing
precise blows that further undermined his composure.
The rest of the group looked on with a mix of concern and unease,
the tension palpable in their silent observation. Shinn, unable to
contain himself, leaped into the fray with an angry shout.
"Stop it, Athrun! The commander is--"
But his words were cut short as a stray punch from Athrun sent
him flying. As Shinn tried to rejoin the brawl in a frenzy, Hilda
wrapped an arm around his neck to stop him.
"Let 'em go at it," she whispered, exasperated but smiling.
"It's what friends do, knocking sense into a pathetic guy."
Murrue seemed to agree, nodding vigorously.
Kira, his breath coming in ragged gasps, hurled himself at Athrun
once more.
"I have to-- I have to do it! I don't want to... but I'm desperate!"
"Why don't you say it? Ask for help? Anyone! What can you do
alone?!"
Athrun's fist connected squarely with Kira's face. Kira's back
slammed against the wall, and he slid to the ground, drained of both
physical and emotional strength.
Each word Athrun hurled at him resonated with an uncomfortable
truth, frustrating Kira not because they were unjust, but because they
unmasked his own failings.
Hot tears broke free, cascading down to his tightly clenched fists.
"I want... to see Lacus..."
The admission was a broken whisper, torn from the depths of his
soul.
"Lacus... I just want her to be there, smiling beside me... I don't
know what to do anymore...!"
He had thought he had to bear everything alone. He had
desperately struggled to somehow regain the peace he had taken
from the world by defeating Durandal.
All the while, unable to consider how Lacus felt, how the others
felt.
His own selfish desires had blinded him to the truth.
Lacus must have been suffering just as much...
Athrun said sarcastically, "Lacus sure has changed a lot since we
last saw her."
"Huh?" Kira looked up, startled.
"Saying she can't be happy or it's no good unless you do this or
that."
Athrun shrugged in exasperation.
"The Lacus I know wouldn't have said that."
Kira's gaze fell, his voice barely above a whisper, "Lacus... wanted
the world to be at peace..."
"But she didn't expect someone to just hand her 'peace' on a silver
platter, right?" Murrue's words were a gentle admonishment.
Athrun added, "Didn't she want a partner to walk with her toward
that goal? Step by step, even if small ones?"
They were right.
If he had been wrong, that's where it was.
He had been self-centered, ignoring Lacus's feelings. Ignoring her
true wishes. Treating a loved one like that was a betrayal in itself.
If only he had talked it out properly sooner... with Lacus, and with
the others...
Kira muttered, crestfallen, "Does Lacus... still feel that way... now?"
Athrun laughed.
"If doubt clouds your mind, Kira, then seek her out. Ask her, hear it
from her own lips."
"Huh?"
Kira blinked, looking up to see the faces of his friends, each one
etched with concern and determination.
"Let's go, Kira. Let's save Lacus, together."
Athrun extended his hand, a gesture of reconciliation and
solidarity.
"Words have power. Some truths can only be shared through
them."
With a newfound resolve, Kira reached out, clasping Athrun's
hand. Together, they rose, a silent pact of solidarity forming between
them.
Surrounded by allies, Kira realized he wasn't isolated in his
struggle; here were people who shared his aspirations, ready to
support and be supported.