A Better Way [Chapter VI]

[Kira Yamato]

Kira took a look around. He had made sure this place was deserted before staringing. It had taken most of the day to set the equipment. Now the finishing touches to the whole thing. He pulled out a cord and connected it with his computer. Bypass the security, re-route the security, deactivate the alarms and done. he said sighing as it was all done in less than a few minutes. With all of the security taken care of he focused on setting up the broadcast.

He redirected the source to a video he had pre-recorded. This wasn’t the first one he had done since he had arrived. It was his third in three weeks here. He would have done more if the security wasn’t so tight. He took a moment starting it. He quickly switched to their feed to see if it had worked making it self sustaining. They would have to come here to cut it off.

The message played as this: ‘People of Isafaro, this is Kira Yamato. Member of the Orb Union. I know most of you don’t know me, but your government is using you. People shouldn’t have to live in this sort of condition. Fear of being on the streets, fear of being arrested for something you didn’t do. This isn’t living, theres a better way. You shouldn’t have to live in that sort of fear. You all have the power to make a difference. Make a change for the better of everyone.’ He paused as it looped over again.

He gave a small nod and unhooked his laptop and the cord and pack them up. Everything else would need to stay here. If he could at least get the people to consider it his aim was accomplished. Now he needed to get out of here, before the source was tracked here. He turned around to leave.

---

Key: Imai
Song: Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka
Notes: Thoughts; Dialouge

[Ayen]

“You sure do make a lot of noise.”

Imai was standing at the doorway to the room he was in, leaning against the door frame with her arms folded as she looked the man over. Nobody she recognized, either he wasn’t from around here or she has just never noticed him before. Isafaro was a big place after all. You could live here for years and still miss out on quite a few people until they did something to stand out. Something like this. But with all the strange things happening since the emergence of that tower, Imai wasn’t ready to rule out him and his faction being foreign to all of Genesis.

Imai had been following him. She was an expert in stealth, one had to be when everyone from the Isafaro government, to people perfectly happy with living beneath its thumb and not wanting to upset their status quo, trying to kill you. How long she has been following would remain with her; Imai has been tracking him down since the first broadcast. She stepped away from the door frame and unfolded her arms.

“It may interest you to know that there is already a small uprising bubbling underneath Isafaro.”

[Kira Yamato]

Kira studied her for a moment. He was already well aware that there was something working against the government and the fact that he hadn’t been shot yet pointed to the fact that she was with them. He doubted the civilians would still want to come out. Not yet anyway. Perhaps one day. ”Yes, know that. However here may not be the best place to discuss it. he said.

It would only be a matter of time before they traced the source and then they would have to come here to shut it off, although he did not intend to be here when that time came. ”We should leave. Though I’m afraid you have me at a disadvantage Miss….” he trailed off not knowing her name.

---

Key: Imai
Song: Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka
Key: Thoughts; Dialogue
Notes: Kira is very respectful when he first meets a person. So when he says Miss [Insert First Name Here] that’s more or less his way of showing it. Something similar to the Japanese titles.

[Ayen]

“Naturally.”

Imai never planned to discuss things here in the open like this. She clicked on something in her right ear and turned around to face away from Kira as she whispered.

“Send a carrier, we’re on our way out.”

Imai turned around to face Kira once more.

“I have someone coming to pick us up.”

He asked for a name.

“Imai.”

She turned around again but this time motion for Kira to follow her as she headed out of the room.

“If you’d kindly follow me I can get you out of here unseen.”

[Kira Yamato]

Kira watched as she pressed something in her ear. It was most likely a speaker system of some kind. He tilted his head as the sound of light metal could be heard as down from the rafters flew a green mechanical bird. He landed on Kira’s shoulder and tilted it’s head to both sides “Birdy.” It said. The only thing it could say, still it was important to him.

Kira gave a nod at her next statement. True he had his own ways out, but part of the reason for this had been to get in touch with the resistant, something he had done now. Dening it would be pointless. His thought briefly strayed to where he had hidden his Gundam. It should be safe there. And even if it was found he had put both a lock on the system and the system itself would take a good while to sort through. All in all almost no one was going to steal it.

Kira did as told leaving the message to continue playing. ”Miss Imai, how long do we have until they get here?” he asked. Not that he was inpatient, but time was a factor, if it took too long they might have to meet where he had hid his Gundam.

---

Key: Imai
Song: Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka
Notes: Thoughts; Dialouge

[Ayen]

“Not long.”

The two entered into a hallway that split into two corridors with a wall possessing windows separating them. Imai hand went over Kira to duck him down alongside her as soldiers could be seen running from the other side of the corridor, unable to see them as they were ducked down to the opposite side beneath the windows. By the time any of the soldiers made it to the room they were at the end of the corridor where Imai led him down some flight of stairs.

“Not to worry I know the place like the back of my hand.”

They came up to a roof which was a couple stories below the top roof where a rope was waiting for them. Imai grabbed the rope and cast it down to the bottom for the two to scale down. It wasn’t anything fancy but some times the more simple routes were the most effective.

The bottom of the rope led to an alley and at the end of the alley was a black as night vehicle waiting for the two. It was just dark enough to blend in with the dark environments of Isafaro and quiet enough to avoid detection, for the most part. Once they reached the ground the vehicle doors opened up automatically giving the two easy access.

[Kira Yamato]

Kira took her words at face value. Time was valuable here. He was sure she knew that probably more then most. He quickly ducked down already used to combat situation his hand wavering over where his weapon was. Hopefully it didn’t come to a fight. They had found him this time much more quickly then before. As they passed by he relaxed only a tad. It meant there would be no fighting for now.

”Good to know Miss Imai.” he said following her. When they came to the rope he left Birdy up there to see if anyone was following them. So far no one. At least no one that they should be worried about. Kira stared at the truck a moment before moving to enter it. ”This is it right Miss Imai?” he said taking a set. He wondered how high of a rank she was. He assumed he would find out soon enough. Birdy flapped back to his shoulder.

Now all he had to do was go and retrieve his Gundam at some point in time, but that was easier said then done being wanted and all. Fortunately it wasn’t in the city at all. It was someplace else entirely.

---

Key: Imai
Song: Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka
Key: Thoughts; Dialogue

[Ayen]

“Please just call me Imai.”

Imai stepped into the vehicle and ordered the driver to get a move on as they started moving down the road being careful to avoid detection from Isafaro’s security. Fastening her seat belt Imai sat next to Kira now, taking a quick glance out the window for a moment before looking back to the male.

“I take it you’re not from around here, are you Kira?”

[Kira Yamato]

”Right….Imai.” he said. It was a bit unusual for him to stop saying “Miss” or “Mister” so soon after meeting them, but it was what she wanted so he wouldn’t object to it. Kira watched as she fastened herself in. In this it wasn’t necessary, if anything it would slow him down if it came to a real fight, but he hoped it wouldn’t. There wasn’t anything to stare at. He guessed now would come the questions. He was right.

”No. You’re right. I come from Orb, but that’s also not this world at all.” he said. He wondered if she knew of them. If not this might became harder to explain. He was taking it quite well. He wondered if she would do the same or not.

---

Key: MISS Imai (Hehe)
Song: Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka
Key: Thoughts; Dialogue

[Ayen]

Imai lost count of how many people from different worlds had came through here. A lot of the people currently opposing General Vulture and his army wasn’t even natives to Genesis let alone Isafaro. Kragen and Garrus has both proven themselves as valuable allies in the war effort against oppression that it actually inspired citizens of Isafaro to join their cause. Imai couldn’t help but wonder if she was angering some higher power for using people from other realities to benefit her own but right now she couldn’t dwell on that thought. She had a war to win.

“We had a lot of people from different realities arrive in Isafaro. You’re the third person in a row to involve yourself in our situation with General Vulture.”

Outside it would look like they were about to crash into a wall but the wall was incorporeal and the vehicle drove right on through it and down a tunnel where the underground rebel base was located. It took a long time to set all of this up, and even longer to ensure that they wouldn’t be found out by Vulture. In short, they were hiding in plain sight.

“I appreciate that but it’s a sad reality when people from other worlds are more concerned about your home than some of your fellow citizens.”

[Kira Yamato]

So she did know about them. That made things a lot easier to be sure. So two others were involved? He wondered which side they were involved with. If they had any sense of morals they were probably working for a change like he was. If not that might make things more difficult. There wasn’t much to look at around here. He took note of the fact that she said “our” situation. That meant they had joined to help stand against him.

The size of the force wasn’t the only thing that matter. Far from it. Sometimes it was the motivation behind it and the strategy that came with it. He frowned at her next words. He turned to look at her before speaking. ”You may be right. Then again you may be wrong. The government runs on fear. People have a fear of what they can’t control. And they want to live, but I’m sure most of them don’t like the way the government runs things.” he said pausing before he continued.

”But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t do anything about it. If you did that you would end up doing less than nothing because nothing would change and nothing would end.” he said. People had a right to be afraid, but that shouldn’t stop them from trying to bring it about. That would be the same as saying it was okay. Something he was sure most of them would say wasn’t. ”I know it really isn’t my place to involve myself in all this, but it would be wrong to just stand by and let innocents suffer.” he said. At its core it was an apology, but it was also an explanation.

---

Key: Imai
Song: Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka
Key: Thoughts; Dialogue

[Ayen]

“We’re here.”

The vehicle came to a stop at the end of the tunnel, to the entrance of a high-tech science laboratory ran by members of the resistance, and opened up its doors so the two could get out.

“During Vulture hostile take over of Isafaro he left a lot of the territory labeling them as useless and not befitting of his image. Irony, a man who represents corruption and the ugliness of his dictatorship, concerned with being neat and clean.”

When they reached the doors which led into the labs they opened up automatically upon their arrival, Kira would see a dozen of computers stationed all over the place and a user for each typing at high speeds and doing several things at once as the mild smell of burning oils and chemicals filled the air.

“Welcome to HQ.”

[Kira Yamato]

Kira wondered. It couldn’t have been too long ago they had left. Maybe an hour possible two if they were lucky. He took his first few steps out of the area to quickly survey the area taking everything in. As much as it pained him to admit it he was to taking it all in. On the battlefield even missing one thing could be disastrous. Of course he was listening to her as she talked as well.

”Yeah. It’s unavoidable with people like that. They cause all the destruction they want and leave the survivors to deal with it. And then they only play what makes them look good.” he said. Mostly it was with Blue Cosmos or Logos. Those who encouraged war. However those were just people in the end, but they all had their own reasons, no matter how twisted they might be. They were still something that needed to be stopped. Like their purpose back then, he was sure this was theirs as well.

All this computers raised a serious question about security measures on them. How good were they? Even the main computers had a pretty good system on them, but it wasn’t impassable. It would go as an unspoken question for now. ”I don’t want to kill anyone if it can be avoided.” he said. This should let her know where he stood.

---

Key: Imai
Song: Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka
Key: Thoughts; Dialogue

[Ayen]

Imai looked towards Kira when he made his stance on killing people clear. It was noble although at the same time she couldn’t help but think he hasn’t been around Isafaro for very long. The Crimson Vulture was vicious and they would take advantage of any sign of weakness by their enemy. But if that was the way it would be so be it. There were already plenty of people under her now that could take lives instead of him and not everyone who side with the resistance had to fight but they were told to expect it.

“I won’t ask you to take a life needlessly but you do understand that the enemy won’t share your view, don’t you?”

[Kira Yamato]

Kira only nodded at her words before speaking. ”Believe me. I know what I’m saying, might be the hardest way in battle, but otherwise we’d just get caught in an endless cycle of hate.” he said pausing to hear something he had been told once. ”Killing for killing someone. And then killed for killing another. What kind of thinking does that solve.” he said. Yes he had been in battles and had even killed, but in the end it was nothing, but fueling the cycles.

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Key: Imai
Song: Fields of Hope by Rie Tanaka
Key: Thoughts; Dialogue