Disclaimer: As in Chapter 1, with one addition: I do not own "Dango Daikazoku".If you have to ask, I probably don't own it. The Odin is the creation of Deathzealot, and used with his kind permission. This is an AU retelling of Solid Shark's Birds of a Feather; all charecters from BoaF belong to him and are used with his permission.


Chapter 2: Tattered Friendships, Stormy Encounters

Archangel, Hanger
Four pilots floated into the hanger, two of them in Earth Forces flightsuits, the third in a gray ZAFT suit (freshly cleansed of bloodstains), the fourth in a gray Orb flightsuit.

They drifted over to the Moebius Zero, and Mu La Flaga clapped a hand on Kira Yamato's shoulder. "Remember the plan, kid. And this, too: think only about defending this ship and yourself. Got it?"

The younger pilot nodded. "I'll try." But it won't be easy...

"All you need to do is to tie up Aegis, doesn't matter if you shoot him or talk to him," said Jack David, smiling encouragingly. "Archangel's victory conditions are simple: we just need to survive long enough for the Hawk to drive off Le Creuset, and to reach Artemis. As long as you can keep Aegis tied up, and so long as I keep Gamow and Duel focused on me, we'll make it. Believe in me who believes in you!"

Kira nodded, feeling a little better, and pushed off for the Strike, while Falcon pulled on his custom helmet. "So," he murmured. "The Falcon of Grimaldi and the Hawk of Endymion flying the same space again; but this time, the Gray Feather and the White Feather fight side by side."

"Birds of a feather, you might say," Mu agreed. "You sure you guys can handle those G-weapons by yourselves?"

"No," Falcon said calmly. "I'm never sure until I've done it; no plan survives contact with the enemy, after all. But I think we have a good chance."

"And you think this plan will actually fool Le Creuset?"

He shrugged. "Stands a better chance than the last one did." He lowered his visor. "Well, Mu, we'd better get going."

The Hawk nodded. "Right. Good hunting, Falcon."

"Same to you."

"Hey, what am I, chopped liver?" called an annoyed voice. In unison, both Mu and Falcon nodded and replied, "Yes."

Jack scowled and waved his fist at the aces, intent on showing his displeasure. "Hey, why don't you guys mention me? I've got the most dangerous job, y'know, playing decoy and drawing fire onto myself! Show a bit more appreciation!"

"Then you shouldn't have volunteered," quipped Mu, waving jauntily as Jack fumed indignantly, while Falcon snorted and pushed off for his own machine, contemplating the plan. His own actions were to be at his own discretion, since he was their only veteran mobile suit pilot (officially, at any rate). Sophia had volunteered to act as gunner, but her brother had coolly pointed out she couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with shipboard weaponry, let alone that of a mobile suit. She'd been less than amused, though Jack had been smiling mysteriously at the exchange. Falcon rather thought, however, that no one on the ship, besides Kira and Jack, realized just what he planned to do.

He'd shoot if he had to... but if it could be avoided, he'd use other tactics, at least against the pilot he felt sure would be out there.

The one-eyed pilot strapped into the pilot's seat, activated main power, and plugged the cable from his suit into the machine's generator. After what had happened earlier, he wasn't taking chances.

Within a few minutes, after the Zero launched -a launch hidden by the blast from one of the ship's positron cannons- the X107 Raptor was loaded into the Archangel's port catapult. "Connected to catapult," a familiar voice said.

Falcon raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Miriallia? What are you doing up there?"

She smiled out of the screen at him. "Hey, you and Kira are already going through a lot; we figured you guys could use some help, y'know?"

He nodded, with the faintest trace of a smile. "The gesture is appreciated." He tapped a few keys on his instrument panel. "Now, shall we get down to business?"

"Right. Attaching Sword Striker module."

The Raptor, being essentially an up-rated version of the Strike, with a few new bells and whistles, was quite capable of using most Striker pack weaponry (except for the Aile package, but that was because one was already hardwired to the machine), including the mighty Agni hyper-impulse cannon. In this case, however, Falcon had opted to use only the Sword Striker's Midas Messer beam boomerang.

Of course, Falcon thought idly, one thing they don't seem to realize -and Sophia seems to have forgotten- is that I also happen to be an engineer. If they did, they might be a little more circumspect in what they let me see... not that I intend to betray them. And that compared to the "outdated" Fiannas and Preybird, the Heliopolis G-Weapons are woefully obsolete.

But he was making careful note of the new mobile suit technologies he'd come across here... and begun brainstorming about their possibilities, in light of what he'd learned from the Section Nine pilots, and how to improve these possibilities…

His musing was soon interrupted. "All systems green, Falcon. You're cleared to launch."

"Roger that." His hands tensed on the control grips, and his foot rested on the vernier control. "Grimaldi Falcon, launching."


Gamow, Hanger
Dearka Elsman settled into the cockpit of the GAT-X103 Buster with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he was looking forward to trying out his new machine in battle, and attacking the 'legged ship'; but on the other, he was quite likely about to face his best friend on the field of battle. And he still didn't understand.

Why, Falcon? he asked himself. How could you betray us? You always said that everything you did was for the safety of the PLANTs, that nothing was more important to you! So why fight us?

Well, at least he wouldn't have to shoot to kill, at least not right away. Commander Le Creuset's instructions had been quite explicit.

"Remember, this is the Grimaldi Falcon we're talking about," he'd said in the final briefing. "It's quite likely he set up the ruse we just penetrated, which he means he hasn't lost his touch. That makes him a dangerous adversary; but he is also one of ZAFT's heroes. I don't think the Supreme Council would appreciate it if we simply shot him down without even talking to him. Is that understood?"

All of the team's G-pilots had agreed; but none of them had been particularly sanguine about the idea. Athrun looked distracted -though Dearka couldn't fathom why- Nicol had looked uncomfortable and just a touch scared, which made sense; like Athrun, he'd received some instruction from Commander DiFalco, and gotten thoroughly trounced in the simulators.

Yzak, now... Dearka suspected the white-haired pilot wouldn't hesitate to open fire on Falcon, orders or not. Fortunately for Dearka's peace of mind, though, Yzak wasn't in the Grimaldi Falcon's league.

He jumped when a voice came over his radio, from the Vesalius. "Remember, Dearka, you're not to fire on the Raptor until I give authorization; but if I do, I expect you to follow orders."

Dearka swallowed. "Yes, sir. Understood."

Le Creuset hadn't really needed to remind him. One thing he knew very well about Falcon was that even friendship was subordinated to his mission; he'd proved that the day Victor Tempest died.

Dearka forced himself to relax. Almost time to launch; can't get distracted now.

"Hey, Dearka, are you spacing out? If you are, I'll kick your ass!"

Which was of course when Yzak Joule got on the horn.


Yzak Joule was loudmouthed, brash, spoiled, arrogant, prone to temper tantrums and obviously destined for greater things than being a mere mobile suit pilot. The first impressions he gave to people were of a young man with a severe case of self-interest, totally uncaring to the feelings of others. They would be half right. Yzak was a rather self-centered person, and he didn't care much for what people felt.

With some notable exceptions, that was.

The knowledge that Kenneth DiFalco had defected to the Earth Forces had shaken him, because he'd encountered the man at the Academy, and had been unpleasantly outclassed by the ace pilot. But he knew that if things weren't good for him, the situation was infinitely worse for Dearka, because Dearka had to fight his best friend.

Yzak kept it hidden deep down inside him, but he cared about his friends. True, there were only two people he considered close enough to be his friends (one was in this same hangar, preparing his mobile suit for launch, and the other in the PLANTs, in an R&D unit) but he did care about them. He just wasn't comfortable with showing it.

Oh, hell, I better get it over with, he thought sourly, opening a channel to Dearka Elsman's Buster. "Hey, Dearka, are you spacing out? If you are, I'll kick your ass!" he called.

"Yeah, I'm here," Buster's pilot responded, more subdued than Yzak had ever seen him. "What's up?"

Yzak's intention was to cheer Dearka up, but he hadn't quite thought this far beyond opening a comm channel, and seeing his friend being so subdued made him pause for a moment. But only a moment.

"Are you alright?" he asked slowly, uncharacteristically quiet. "If you want, we can switch targets. You handle the legged ship, while I go after Raptor. My machine's better at close combat, and you have more guns to shoot that ship with." And you won't have to shoot your best friend.

Dearka didn't miss Yzak's true meaning behind the offer, and while on one level he was tempted to accept, he refused to shy away from his duty. Victor Tempest had been Falcon's object lesson to ZAFT and the world that duty surpassed friendship. And I have a better chance of getting Falcon to come back to ZAFT than Yzak does.

"No, I'll go after Falcon," said Dearka. "I'll do better against him than you or those two. But thanks, pal. It means a lot to me."

"Whatever," replied Yzak curtly as he killed the connection, clearly uncomfortable, and Dearka leaned back, a wry smile on his lips. Same old Yzak. Can't admit what he's really feeling...


Archangel, Bridge
"Here they come," Sophia murmured. "I hope this works..."

"As long as Lieutenant La Flaga can keep up his end, it should," Murrue told her. "And remember, Sophia: he's famous for making the impossible possible."

"So's Falcon, or so I hear," her friend muttered, emerald eyes flashing. "I hope it's true; but I still can't believe he joined ZAFT."

"I don't think complaining about it will change anything, Lieutenant," Natarle commented. "And I should point out such idle chatter can be very distracting in the middle of a battle."

"Yeah, I know..." Sophia said sullenly; she hadn't been in a very good mood since that morning, at Heliopolis. "I have been in a battle before, you know. Matter of fact, my brother nearly killed me at Jachin."

"Raptor's approaching the enemy machines!" Tonomura called. "Interpenetrating ZAFT formation now!"

"Time to see if the man can live up to the legend," Natarle mused. "If not, we may be in trouble."

"Friends, comrades: Fear not! The infinite enemies are not a problem! They are unjust, outlaws! Against these foes we cannot lose! With faith and courage, zero percent becomes ONE HUNDRED PERCENT! DUEL! YOU THIEF! COME AND GET ME IF YOU'RE MAN ENOUGH!"

Sophia smacked her forehead in disbelief. "This is how an Orb pilot flies?"

"Uh, Ensign Badgiruel, ma'am?" began Sai, carefully, obvious dread in his voice. "I think we're in trouble now."

"Lieutenant Commander David," said Natarle icily, "What were you thinking?!"


Artermis nearspace
Bringing up the rear, Jack's Fianna was the last of Archangel's mobile weapons to launch, the slate gray mobile armor easily and confidently taking up a position between and behind Kira and Falcon in Strike and Raptor, the point of an inverse triangle. Armed only with the undernose beam gunpod, Jack was the least-armed member of the small mobile wing, and at the greatest disadvantage… but you couldn't tell that from his confident challenge. He was totally secure in himself, even after Natarle had begun berating him, before he cut her off.

"I dunno, I seem to have pissed off Duel enough to come after me," replied Jack, the grin in his voice audible. "Psychological warfare. I am an intelligence officer, afterall. And I'd really appreciate it more if you'd call me "Jack Hearts". That is my callsign, afterall."

He spared a quick glance at his tactical displays. Aegis and Strike were engaged, and Duel was vectoring towards Kira and Athrun. "Well, we can't have that," he murmured. "It's time for you and me to make our acquaintance, Yzak Joule."

Feeding power to his thrusters, Jack accelerated, bringing up his targeting systems and locking onto Duel. The targeting computer locked on and obligingly formed a pipper on the HUD, but Jack ignored the projected impact point display. Heliopolis had grimly shown him that his targeting algorithms had been corrupted, and he couldn't trust his computer to target for him. Ideally his Fianna's fire control computer would be working at full capacity, projecting a pipper predicting the impact points of his gunpod's shots. Ideally, it would fire only when he had a solid lock. It didn't have anything like that. Instead, it had Jack and the finest fire control computer in the known galaxy, the human brain.

The problem with using the brain as one's fire control computer, however, is that it is an absolute bitch to program.

A fact proven most unpleasantly to him as his burst of green fire missed Duel completely.

Alright, need to adjust some more for deflection and lead, thought Jack, frowning in concentration. He banked "up" above Yzak, twisted the Fianna, and came "down", gunpod firing again. This time Duel reacted by raising its shield, letting the green beams splash harmlessly into the anti beam coating, returning fire with the beam rifle. Jack's response was to corkscrew and barrel roll, still coming in towards Duel at full throttle.

"Come on, Duel! Is that the best you can do?" he called mockingly. "I best test pilots fly better than you!"

"Don't underestimate me, Natural!" snarled Yzak, boosting to the side and firing away. It was mostly even; the Fianna in mobile armor mode wasn't that much better than a standard mobile armor (in space, at any rate: atmosphere was a different story), and mobile suits outclassed mobile armors. But Yzak had only a few hours of stick time in his mobile suit, while Jack had been flying a Fianna for years. The Fianna flew through the barrage of fire, with nary a scratch, and Yzak fired his beam rifle's grenade launcher at Jack: the grenade flew forward and hit the Fianna's nose, detonating in a fireball.

And then the Fianna blithely flew on through the fireball, unaffected thanks to the active Variable Phase Shift armor, gunpod blazing at point blank range, scoring hits on Duel's shoulders and left arm, coming close on a collision course, as Yzak frantically fed power to his thrusters and boosted back and above…

The Fianna came close, almost recklessly, rotating ninety degrees, left wing poised to slice into Duel's body, as the pilot applied rudder and the fighter began to yaw to its right. That movement, combined with Yzak's climb, caused the wingtip to miss its intended target – the hips, "groin" and leg joints of the X102 – and instead gouged a ragged tear out of Duel's leg. Sweat dripped down Yzak's brow as Duel shuddered with the collision…

Then Jack flashed past him, cackling madly, laughing away. "How was that, eh?" he cackled, laughing. "Duel! You can never match me!"


Archangel, Bridge
"He's crazy," said Sophia flatly, as Jack's mad laughter echoed through the comms. "Completely crazy."

What no one on the Archangel knew, however, was that inside his cockpit, radio set to receive-only, Jack's face was pale, he was hyperventilating and tears were running down his face.

"Oh, god," he laughed-cried. "What the hell was I thinking?! Trying to cut a piece outta Duel's leg? Trying to fly through the legs? Who did I think I was, Edward Harrelson?!"

Silence answered him: everybody was busy with their own problems. (And his radio was off.)

"Oh, well," muttered Jack, getting his breathing under control, briefly pushing his visor up to wipe his eyes. "Time for Jack versus Yzak, Round Two."


Artemis Nearspace
It had taken Falcon little time to determine who was flying what: while he had Jack's intel, he was also mindful of his own Lesson Eleven: '"Military Intelligence" is usually a contradiction in terms.' He didn't mind having an intelligence windfall, but he also wanted to confirm that intelligence. The X102 Duel was charging recklessly ahead, which indicated Yzak Joule was the pilot, and the Blitz was moving along cautiously, but with a degree of confidence: Nicol Amalfi. Buster, on the other hand... Buster was clearly hesitating.

Okay, then. It's time. The intel looks good so far.

Falcon carefully adjusted his radio settings, cutting the Archangel completely out of the circuit, and switched to a ZAFT frequency he knew the Buster would likely be using; then he keyed his mike. "Hello, Dearka," he said calmly. "Long time no see, amigo."

Dearka's face tightened, hearing that voice for the first time in months. "Hello, Falcon." He aimed his gun launcher and beam rifle at the Raptor, but didn't arm either. "I wish I could say I was happy to see you."

"Same here, amigo." Raptor held a beam saber in its right hand, but like Buster's guns, the weapon was deactivated. "I imagine you've got a few questions for me."

"A few?" Dearka barked a harsh laugh. "I guess you could say that, Falcon. Starting with why you betrayed us!"

Falcon winced. "You don't understand, Dearka..."

"What I understand is that you disappeared four months ago, and then you turned up on Heliopolis, where you killed your own comrades!" The confusion that filled the ZAFT pilot was coming out in a rush of anger. "What I don't understand is how you could have done it in the first place!"

"Hear me out, Dearka!" Falcon snapped, in a voice he would never have let the Archangel's crew hear. "There's a lot more to this story than you know; more than anybody knows!" He paused. "But first I have to ask you one question, amigo," he said, very softly.

Dearka's diatribe paused. "What?"

The words came almost in a whisper. "Have they completed GENESIS?"

Now he wasreally confused. "'Genesis'? Just what are you talking about, Falcon?"

Falcon sighed in relief. "Good... If you've never heard of it, it probably hasn't been completed; which means they still haven't cracked the N-jammer canceller problem." Which means that the timeline in the intel download Jack put together is still valid. But they'll crack the N-jammer canceller problem soon enough, with or without the Fiannas.

Dearka shook his head. "Just what in the world are you talking about, Falcon?"

"You don't need to know, amigo," his friend said softly. Not yet, not now.

Meanwhile, the Strike and the Aegis had come face-to-face, and Athrun keyed his radio. "Is that you, Kira?"

Kira flinched. "Athrun..."

"What are you doing here?" the ZAFT pilot demanded. "How could you join the Earth Forces? Why are you with the Naturals? Tell me!"

The Strike's pilot felt like wilting under his old friend's questioning. Athrun, I... Then he rallied, remembering Falcon's words to him. "I'm doing what I have to do, Athrun! And I'm not with the Earth Forces!"

Athrun paused. "What?"

"I'm fighting to protect my friends, Athrun!" Kira's hands tightened on the controls. "And wasn't it ZAFT that started this? You attacked Heliopolis!"

"That's because the Naturals turned it into a target," the blue-haired pilot whispered harshly. "They built those weapons there;they violated their neutrality."

Elsewhere, Raptor and Buster circled each other. "Have you forgotten your own words, Falcon?" Dearka demanded. "What about Lesson Eight? 'Keep the faith'?"

"That'sexactly what I'm doing," Falcon replied. "Remember Lesson Twenty-Five? 'Once you have set yourself a task, do not abandon it. Even when continuing requires an action that makes your comrades call you traitor, persevere; for sometimes, the cost of failure can have consequences far beyond your worst nightmares.'"

"What 'task'?" Dearka demanded. "What 'consequences'? You're not making any sense!"

"That's because there are darker secrets in ZAFT than you know." The Falcon sighed helplessly. "Dearka, someday maybe you'll understand Lesson Twenty-Seven: Sometimes the right thing to do is not the right thing to do."


Artemis near space
Yzak Joule was prepared to admit that whoever this Natural mobile armor pilot was, he was good. Good enough that he wanted to know the pilot's name, or at least his callsign. In his own way, Yzak was coming to respect Jack; the other pilot had easily evaded each and every one of Yzak's shots, while scoring several hits on Duel; non-threatening hits, but hits nonetheless.

Then Jack began singing. It wasn't terrible singing per se; he was at least able to hold a tune in a bucket. No, it was the song he was singing.

"Dango, dango, dango, dango, the great big dango family! The mischevious roast dango (Duel, this is you!), the kind red bean dango (Hana-chaaaaaaaaaan, when are you gonna marry hiiiiiim)! Joining their hearts as one! The mother dango, the father dango! The Baby dango surrounded in love! The old geezer dango – Rau, that's you! – squinting and glaring at everyone!"

Yzak was actually aware of this song. In its original form, it was a song about dango, the sweet Japanese dumplings, and a metaphor for family; he'd heard her humming and singing this song when she thought he wasn't looking, and had paused, listening to her singing voice. That was the first time he'd felt strange aroundher, when before he could talk to her normally and comfortably. He'd never admit it to anyone, but he felt that hervoice was what had made the song so memorable.

And so, he was incensed to hear Jack's version of this song, which took it and made a mockery of it, transforming what was a song about dango and family into a demented cross between a folk song and a martial march in rhythm and tempo, sung lustily like a bawdy drinking song.

"Shut the hell up!" snarled Yzak, squeezing the trigger and sending another pair of beams at the slate gray Fianna. "I'm beginning to regret wondering who you were!"

"The name's Jack Hearts," replied the Orb pilot, cackling madly and cheerfully. "I'm the Black Jack of Hearts, the gentleman pilot! Life taker and heart breaker: That's me, Jack Hearts! Life is a game and I'm the player! Dan-GO! Dan-GO! Dan-GO! Dan-GO!"

"Stop mutilating that song!" screamed Yzak, not quite sure why it was pissing him off, but very angry at Jack. If he was better emotionally adjusted, he would realize that his mind associated this song with her, and that he held a strong attraction to her. Yzak, however, was quite stunted in his emotional maturity, suppressing his emotions and feelings, which inevitably resulted in an emotional pressure cooker, with fits of temper being the only way his emotions could find release. As a result, all he understood was that Jack's singing was pissing him off, and the best way to stop it was to shoot him up.

Which was easier said than done, especially with Jack's ridiculous declarations.

"I know what you're thinking! 'To be happy, I'll shoot him down and shut him up!' It doesn't work that way, Joule! You want victory, you have to work for it! Men have eyes to look forward to the horizon, to the backs of those of go before them-"

"That makes no sense at all," scowled Yzak.

"-and powered by the true spirit of men, we carry on! Until this spirit burns in your heart, you shall never beat me! Who do you think I am!"

"A nuisance, that's what!"

"…now you're just being mean."


Archangel, Bridge
"Well, this battle is certainly... perplexing," Sophia commented to the air.

"I'll agree with you there," Murrue murmured. "Just what is going on out there, anyway?"

In the few minutes since the two mobile suit forces had merged, virtually nothing had happened, as far as the Archangel could tell. Aegis and Strike were circling, as were Raptor and Buster, while Duel was recklessly chasing Jack's Fianna (which was itself recklessly flying all over the place), taunts, screams and ridiculous declarations abounding, and Blitz alone went after the ship.

"Scrambled transmissions between Buster and Raptor," Kuzzey reported, from Communications. "I can't tell what they are, though."

Natarle frowned. "What could that be about? Unless Commander DiFalco isn't trustworthy after all..."

"There's another possibility," Sophia said quietly. "Remember: Falcon was a top ZAFT ace. I'll bet there are quite a few people still in ZAFT that he knows, and some might even be willing to give him information; especially if he were to run into a former teammate. Or, more likely, the Buster's pilot isn't willing to shoot just yet, and they're arguing."

"But why scramble the transmissions?" Sai wondered.

"Mr. Argyle," Natarle said dryly, "if you were a ZAFT pilot trying to convince an 'enemy' pilot to join you, would you want said enemy's mothership listening in?"

"Oh. Right."

Sophia scratched her head. "But that still doesn't explain why Falcon isn't firing."


Vesalius, Bridge
"We've confirmed the number of enemy units," a crewman reported. "Enemy force consists of two mobile suits and one mobile armor of unknown type."

"And no Zero." Le Creuset nodded to himself. "The Hawk of Endymion's Zero must not be ready for sortie yet." He smiled. "I suppose my destroying his wired gunbarrels and causing the Grimaldi Falcon to finish off his linear cannon gave them some major problems."

"It's safe to make that assumption," Ades agreed. "Of course, we still haven't managed to hit the legged ship yet, either."

The commander shrugged. "Hardly unexpected, Captain. Athrun has a... personal matter to deal with, and we all know why Dearka has not yet opened fire." He steepled his fingers. "But if something doesn't happen soon, I'll have no choice but to order them to engage the Raptor. Dearka can disable it if he wishes, but we cannot afford to have it remain a part of the tactical equation."

"Understood."

But I wonder... Le Creuset thought. Just where are you, Mu? Are you, perhaps, in the gunner's seat of that machine? Or are you up to something?

Any thoughts of Mwu being in the cockpit of the unknown mobile armor had been swiftly corrected by that most ridiculous peptalk/challenge; Rau made a mental note to have Intelligence try and ferret out who this Natural calling himself "Jack Hearts" was. If nothing else, he was amusing, in a sad way.


Artemis Nearspace
"You're nothing but a pawn, Dearka," Falcon said, clenching his hands on his controls. "Don't you understand that Zala wants more than mere victory?"

"How can you have 'more than victory'?" Dearka demanded. "The mission is the same as it was when you left: defeat the Naturals, and secure independence for the PLANTs!"

"No, amigo, that's not the objective." Falcon's eye blazed. "The mission was originally to secure independence for the PLANTs by defeating the sponsor nations; not the Naturals. You're generalizing, and not all Naturals are like my sister." He hissed. "But now, ZAFT's mission has become genocide, and that is something I will not support!"

Not far away, Athrun and Kira were still arguing. "I don't care who violated the neutrality," Kira shouted. "Heliopolis was neutral, and so am I!" He took a deep breath, trying to calm himself. "You used to tell me you hated the whole idea of war, so why did you join ZAFT?"

"Because we're fighting for our lives," Athrun replied. "Earth started this, not us!"

A bright green beam suddenly flashed by, narrowly missing the Strike. "You aren't fighting, Athrun!" Yzak called. "Why not?"

Athrun blinked. "Y-Yzak?"

Kira paled, seeing his displays. "The Duel? Oh, no..."

The true battle had finally begun.


Vesalius, Bridge
Le Creuset sighed, seeing the impasse between Dearka and the Grimaldi Falcon. "We've no choice," he said regretfully to Ades. "Captain, order our pilots to begin offensive operations against the X107 Raptor."It appears Falcon is committed to this course; pity.

"Yes, sir," the captain acknowledged. After passing on the orders, he added, "Should we request assistance from Nacht Jaeger, Commander?"

The masked man considered that, and finally shook his head. "No, Captain; at least not yet. I believe Commander Huckebein is currently engaged in search and rescue operations at Heliopolis; important though it may be to stop the legged ship, we also can't afford to lose any more face by refusing to search for survivors in the rubble."

"Understood, sir."


Artemis Nearspace
This is fucking annoying, thought Jack, snarling as another burst of beams went wide as Duel fired at Strike; the beam intended for Kira's cockpit narrowly missed him, a testament to his innate skill that allowed him to defeat Yzak's targeting computer. The same couldn't be said of the Fianna: Yzak was oblivious to the beams that missed due to the faulty targeting computer.

Jack's plan had been to fire manually, ignoring his computer, but that was easier said than done: he wasn't the Grimaldi Falcon or Mwu la Flaga, with enhanced extra spatial awareness. And although he'd been a mobile armor pilot before (as much as a Heli could be considered a mobile armor), he'd also been used to having guns that tracked his target for him, needing just a lock; he'd scored kills in fighter mode during the Second Bloody Valentine War, but most of those had been missiles or mobile suits at a standstill, will a fully-operational targeting computer, not against madly dodging opponents. He'd scored a few hits on Duel… and plenty of misses.

Well, screw this: if it wasn't hard, they wouldn't have sent us, he thought fiercely, angling his invisible mental gunsight over and to the left of Duel, squeezing the trigger, scowling as Yzak caught the beams on his shield. He hadn't met Yzak Joule until the Second War occurred, but he could see Yzak's raw skill, a harbinger of the elite ace he would become later in life.

"So much for the great plan," he muttered sourly. "Goddamnit Saito, where in the nine hells are you?"

If the Odin doesn't get here soon, I'm gonna seriously start making holes in Duel and Vesalius. And Aegis, Blitz, and Buster, on general principles. There is only so much a man can take before he shoots back. If I don't get shot first, he amended, sending his Fianna into a series of wild evasive maneuvers that took him away from Duel, Strike, and Aegis.

"Seriously! Would it kill you people to not be so goddamned trigger happy?!" he yelled at the stolen machines.

The response he received was a hail of beams.

"Guess not."


Dearka received the new orders, and winced. It shouldn't have come to this... How could it have?

"You still there, amigo?" Falcon said softly.

The ZAFT pilot swallowed. "Falcon, there's no more time for chatting. I have my orders; and you have two choices: surrender, or be shot down."

Falcon, not realizing that by "shot down", his friend meant disabled and captured, simply shook his head. "Sorry, Dearka. But I can't do that."

"Then you know what I have to do."

Unexpectedly, the one-eyed pilot grinned ferally. "I'd be disappointed if you didn't, amigo. Do your best!"

But it wasn't Dearka that fired the first shot. Instead, Nicol's Blitz lined up for a shot with its beam rifle... and something happened in Falcon's head. His formidable spatial awareness told him something was about to happen; his Death Blossoms deployed, while he began to spin, beam saber igniting...

And the energy blade batted the beam aside.


Archangel, Bridge
Sophia stared at her displays in disbelief. "That's not possible!"

Murrue sat there in matching shock. Raptor's beam saber had just deflected a beam rifle shot... this while Falcon was still manipulating the Death Blossom system, using it to keep Buster under guard. "How did he...?"

Natarle blinked rapidly, as if it would make the impossible sight disappear. "No pilot is that good..."

He obviously wasn't done doing the impossible. Even as he swatted another beam from the Blitz, the Buster finally got ready to attack... just in time for a series of Death Blossom shots to keep him busy.

Now Raptor and Blitz engaged each other with beam sabers, and Sophia shook her head in bemusement. I had no idea even Der Schreckick Eins was capable of this... How is he doing that?

"What's the Strike's status?" Murrue asked, satisfied that, through whatever means, Falcon could take care of himself for the moment.

"Not good, Ma'am," Natarle reported after a moment. "He's got the Aegis and Duel after him right now, though the Aegis doesn't seem to be attacking. The Duel seems to be making up for any deficiencies in Aegis' offense, though. Commander David's Fianna is being repeatedly driven off by both Duel and Aegis; Aegis may not want to attack Strike, but it has no problems attacking the Fianna."

"Can we give either of them support?"

She shook her head. "No, Ma'am, not in that melee."

Murrue closed her eyes. "What about Lieutenant La Flaga?"

"Assuming all goes according to plan, he should be approaching Vesalius now."


Artemis Nearspace, near Vesalius
"Now I've got you," Mu whispered. "Try this on for size, Le Creuset!"

On Vesalius' Bridge, Le Creuset jerked upright, noting the familiar sensation. "Maximum thrust! Lower bow, pitch angle sixty!"

Ades glanced at his commander, not understanding for a few crucial seconds, until a crewman piped up. "Enemy below! It's a mobile armor!"

"Maximum thrust!" Ades barked. "Activate CIWS! Lower bow pitch angle sixty!"

Too late, Le Creuset thought.

And it was. Grinning savagely, Mu increased power to his Zero's engines, slashing across space to the Vesalius' underbelly at his own maximum thrust. The wired gunbarrels deployed, and they opened fire, together with his ventral-mounted linear cannon. "Take this!"

Damage alarms blared throughout the Nazca, and reports rang out, cataloguing the ship's wounds. "Damage to ventral hull! Main cannon output down fifty percent!"

Le Creuset snarled silently. You'll die for this, Mu.

Mu La Flaga's Moebius Zero triumphantly pulled around and away, leaving his nemesis to lick his wounds.


Archangel, Bridge
"Lieutenant La Flaga reports successful attack!" Tonomura called, unable to keep the triumph out of his voice. "He's now returning."

Murrue smiled. "Then let's get them. Warn Lieutenant La Flaga to stay out of our line of fire... and arm the Lohengrin."

Natarle nodded, as pleased as anyone by their success. "Yes, Ma'am! Mr. Pal, charge assault cannons."

"Affirmative." Pal typed commands, and waited a few moments. "Positron banks charged, Ma'am. Ready to fire on your command."

"Lieutenant La Flaga has cleared the line of fire," Tonomura reported.

Murrue nodded. "Fire!"


Vesalius, Bridge
"Heat source detected! Antimatter stream, direction 000; impact in three seconds!"

Le Creuset lunged out of his chair. "Hard to starboard! Evade it!"

The Vesalius' evasion attempt was partly successful; one positron blast missed completely, while the other managed only a grazing hit. But a graze from an antimatter stream was still not something you wanted to have happen to your ship.

"Damage to number three sodium wall; reactor output down, engine thrust down fifty percent."

Ades turned his superior. "Orders, Commander?"

Le Creuset cursed to himself. "Send out orders to retreat," he said through gritted teeth. "We've lost this round, Captain. Order our mobile suits to return at once."

"Yes, sir."

"Captain! Second heat source detected behind Gamow!"

"What?"


The new ship came out of the inky blackness of space, a ship looking like a one-legged Archangel, swooping down on Gamow, firing Sledgehammer missiles and Valiant linear cannons with gleeful enthusiasm, engines burning at flank speed. The surprise attack caught both of Le Creuset's ships off-guard: Gamow's crew desperately tried to evade, and succeeded for the most part, but grazing hits from railgun cannons were still things you didn't want to have on your ship; Gamow ended up sporting a number of holes in her hull. Vesalius, already damaged from Archangel's positron blast, bore the brunt of the Sledgehammer barrage: though her CIWS guns intercepted many of the incoming missiles, some still made it through.

Gamow would live to fight another day; the grazing hits she'd received weren't too bad. Vesalius, on the other hand…

Oh, yes, Mu, promised Le Creusetdarkly, as the damage reports began increasing swiftly. You're going to die for this. After I destroy that legged ship. I will grind your face in the knowledge that you have failed, yet again. Attack MY ships, will you? Damage MY flagship, will you? You. Will. Pay.

All he said, however, was a quiet, "It appears the legged ship is not as helpless as we thought." Both he and Ades knew how to read the battlefield: mobile suits were deadly against ships, but they were incapable of independent operation; without nuclear reactors, battery-powered mobile suits had to return to their motherships to rearm and recharge. Even if their ships were lost, the Le Creuset Team's pilots could destroy the Archangel and the new arrival, but it would be a pyrrhic victory: without Vesalius and Gamow to resupply them, the four mobile suits would drift helplessly in space, powerless…

And then Le Creuset had more things to worry about, as out of the shadow of the new arrival came a slate gray fighter, plasmaburners roaring, beam gunpod firing with greater accuracy than Jack's attempts, beams striking into railgun turrets and VLS tubes, explosions breaking out all over the Nazca.

Saito had arrived, and he had brought Odin with him.


Kira, unaware of Mu's success or the new arrival, was still dodging around, trying to avoid Yzak's fire. The only good news was that Athrun still wasn't attacking (being focused on Jack), and Buster and Blitz both still seemed focused on Falcon, who was well able to take care of himself.

Not that it helps me any, he thought. This is ridiculous!

He tried firing at the enemy machine, but he was still too inexperienced, and hadn't gotten in any clean hits. Now he was beginning to run low on energy, which was very bad news. After all, with no energy, he had no Phase-shift.

Yzak, meanwhile, was having fun... until he saw a text message on his display.VESALIUS ATTACKED, it read. RETURN TO SHIP IMMEDIATELY.

"TheVesalius was hit? They're ordering us to retreat?" Now he was angry. "But we can still win this!"

And so, predictably, he defied orders.

Dearka, on the other hand, received the new orders with something approaching delight. "Sorry, Falcon," he radioed, not sounding very sorry. "We'll have to finish this another day." Buster wheeled around, heading back for the Gamow. "I hope we don't meet again for awhile, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, amigo," Falcon whispered. "I know what you mean." If they didn't meet, Dearka wouldn't be able to carry out his orders... orders they both knew he would carry out if he could, because neither of them could have it any other way. Dearka had his duty, and Falcon would be very disappointed in him if he didn't do it.

Blitz likewise broke off, but Yzak wasn't so ready to stop his attack on the Strike. "Stop it, Yzak!" Athrun said sharply. "We've been ordered to retreat!"

"Shut your mouth, you coward!" You might not have the guts to fight, but I do, Yzak thought, mentally sneering at his teammate.

Kira was getting more than a little frantic now... especially when his rifle sputtered. "Oh, no!" It sputtered once more, and then died... along with his Phase-shift armor.

Yzak couldn't have been more delighted. "Now I've got you!" He drew both of Duel's beam sabers, and charged right at the Strike... and so did the Aegis.

Athrun, eyes wide with fear for his friend, converted the Aegis to mobile armor mode and rushed forward, trying to beat the Duel to its prize.

Falcon looked up sharply when his radio link to the Strike transmitted the telltale vibration sounds. "That's not good," the one-eyed pilot murmured.

Aegis' claws had grasped the Strike.


Archangel, Bridge
"The Strike has been taken!" Tonomura called out. "Phase-shift, down!"

Murrue closed her eyes. No... just on the brink of victory... "Now what do we do?" she whispered.

"We've got another message from the Lieutenant," Mir reported. "He says..." She frowned. "He says to load the Launcher Striker pack into the catapult."

Sophia's head jerked up. "Of course! Get a replacement energy battery out to the Strike, along with some heavier firepower... It just might work!"

"Do it," Murrue ordered.

"Wait."

She looked at the screen on her right armrest. "Falcon?"

"One request," the pilot said calmly. "Send me a Schwert Gewehr, will you?"

Murrue had no idea what he had in mind, but he was the expert; he presumably knew what he was doing. "Very well. Ensign Badgiruel, have Mr. Murdoch load the Launcher Striker into the starboard catapult, and a Schwert Gewehr antiship blade into the port."

Natarle shrugged. "Yes, Ma'am." I don't know if this crazy plan will work, but we don't have any other option, do we?

Artemis Nearspace

The two G-pilots who had actually obeyed orders were now arrayed around the Aegis and Strike, along with the Duel; and none of them were happy.

"What are you doing, Athrun?" Yzak demanded.

"We were told to destroy it!" Dearka added, obscurely pleased to have a legitimate target for his frustration. "You're disobeying orders!"

"If we can capture it, we're better off!" Athrun retorted. "I think the Commander would agree with me!"

"Athrun!"

Kira listened to the radio traffic with increasing confusion. "Just what are you up to, Athrun?" he asked, searching for some way out of the situation at the same time.

"I'm taking you to the Gamow," his old friend replied. "If you know what's good for you, you'll shut up till we get there."

"Get real!" Kira retorted. "I'm not going on any ZAFT ship!"

"You don't have a choice," Athrun replied. "Unless... unless you want me to shoot you."

The Strike pilot froze. Athrun... It sounds like he means it... How did it come to this? How could it? Why are you doing this, Athrun?

As if hearing his thoughts, Athrun said softly, "I already lost my mom in the Bloody Valentine. So I-"

A hurricane of projectiles and beams flashed past, as Raptor and the Zero dove in on them, both firing their wired gunbarrels, with Jack's Fianna supporting them, beam gunpod blazing away. "Mind if we join the party?" Falcon said quietly, directing his fire against Duel.

"Falcon? Lieutenant? Jack?" Kira couldn't believe it... not that he was complaining.

"Get clear, kid!" Mu shouted, pummeling Aegis while Duel sheltered behind its shield; under the pounding, Athrun soon had to release his grip. "The ship's sending out the Launcher Striker pack; don't miss it!"

"Right!" Without further questions, Kira turned the Strike around headed back toward the Archangel at his best speed.

Mu and Jack trailed him, but Falcon played rear guard. He'd already received the Schwerht Gewerh, and now he raised it in both of Raptor's massive hands. "Sorry, Dearka," he called, "but I really don't need you complicating things right now."

"Falcon, what are you-" Dearka began.

He broke off when the answer became obvious. Raptor darted the one side, and the fifteen-meter blade sliced down through both Buster's gun launcher and its beam rifle, while the Death Blossoms precisely targeted his missile launchers and blew them to slag.

"I suggest you go home now," Falcon said calmly, and rushed off to follow his comrades, leaving Dearka to stare after him in shock and sadness.


Archangel, Bridge
"The Strike is nearing the proper vector," Natarle reported.

Murrue nodded. "Good. Things are finally starting to look up a bit."

That was putting it mildly; and Sophia, for one, suspected that without the teamwork displayed by their three pilots, they could never have pulled it off to begin with. Der Schreckick Eins appears to be a success... and right now, I think I'm glad of it.

"Transfer control of the catapult to the Launcher Striker's computer," Natarle ordered.

"Yes, Ma'am."

Mir carefully watched as Strike's signal pulled ahead of the ship, carefully altering its course... until the vectors matched. "Strike is on profile, Ma'am!"

Natarle didn't bother to issue any orders. The catapult activated automatically, spitting the replacement Striker pack out into space.


Artemis Nearspace
Unfortunately, Yzak was not so ready to give up his prey. "You're not getting away from me," he whispered, watching as the Strike jettisoned the Aile Striker, preparing itself for the approaching Launcher, and raised his beam rifle.

A threat warning went off in Kira's cockpit, causing him to look over his shoulder. "Locked onto me?" The Striker pack was approaching, but too slow...

Yzak smiled, and pulled the trigger, firing a salvo of beams at Strike. He was now regretting that he'd wasted his grenade in an ineffectual attack on Jack's Fianna, but those beams should be enough to destroy Strike, lacking Phase Shift...

However, at that very moment Falcon's Death Blossoms opened fire, catching the Duel in the leg and throwing off his aim at a crucial instant. The beams could still damage the Strike, but it would have to be a direct hit.

"No!" Yzak snarled. He was furious at the damage to his machine... and the fact that the attack had bought Kira just enough time to join up with the Striker pack and activate Phase-shift, hitting his thrusters and boosting out of the way of Yzak's beams with almost contemptuous ease.

And Kira wasn't through yet. Now the tables were turned; he had a hyper-impulse cannon, and he knew how to use it. Yelling wordlessly, he reversed course and flew straight at the Duel, firing the Agni all the way.

The first shot literally melted the machine's right arm off, while the second grazed Dearka's Buster when he came in to rescue Yzak from the powerful weapon's path; then a third blasted the Blitz's Trikeros into debris.

"Time to fall back," Athrun called, as surprised as his comrades by this turn of events. "It's too dangerous to pursue them any farther."

"Agreed," Nicol said quietly. "If we stay here, we'll run out of power... if that hyper-impulse cannon doesn't get us first."

Yzak snarled in pure hate. "No! No!" How could that bastard? It's all because of that traitor! Grimaldi Falcon, you will die, along with the Strike!

The four machines withdrew, leaving a victorious, and exhausted, quartet of pilots hanging in front of the Archangel, their message clear: Attack again, and we will destroy you.

Vesalius and Gamow limped away, surprised and stunned by the turn of events, their damaged mobile suits returning to their motherships, as the new arrival broke its silence.

"Archangel, this is Lieutenant Jason Chance, acting captain of the Earth Forces escort ship Odin. It's good to see you."


Le Creuset Team Ships, Artermis nearspace, 1 hour after the battle
"Well, things certainly didn't turn out the way we expected," said Rau Le Creuset, shaking his head. In the monitor in front of him, Yzak, Dearka and Nicol looked abashed; behind him, Athrun wasn't feeling so happy either, if his subdued expression was anything to go by. "Still, we'll get the legged ship sooner or later. Vesalius will be heading back to the homeland to undergo repairs. Captain Zelman has informed me that Gamow's damage is not as severe as Vesalius, so you three with be tasked with pursuing the legged ship and her escort. They'll probably continue on to Artemis, but do not engage just yet." Le Creuset's lips curved slightly, as he added, "Under orders from High Command, the Nacht Jaeger will be dispatched to assist you. Yzak, you'll be the senior pilot of the team in my absence. Understand that you are not under Commander Huckbein's command, but neither is he under yours. Just work together with the man." Left unsaid was the reminder that Huckbeing enjoyed more political backing than three of them combined.

Le Creuset held the gazes of his pilots, as if searching for something, and then nodded, evidently finding what he was looking for. "Very well, that will be all. Vesalius will depart within the hour, once we've offloaded supplies and equipment to the Gamow. If everything goes well, we'll have a little reunion in a few weeks' time. Good luck."

Le Creuset killed the transmission and Yzak leant back, oddly thoughtful. Nicol was glad that the silver-haired pilot was quiet. Dearka… he was pretty sure that something bad was going to happen. A quiet, thoughtful Yzak was abnormal.

He was right.

"Alright, you heard the Commander," said Yzak, getting up in a burst of activity. "Nicol, Dearka: we're going to come up with a plan to assault Artemis. I don't care that it can't be done. I don't care that everyone says it's impossible. The legged ship is going there, we're going to get there before Huckbein, and we will have an assault plan ready by the time he arrives. I'm not going to let him show us up. We're the Le Creuset Team. We're elite.The Best. It's time to prove to everyone that we didn't get our red coats because of our parents, but because we deserve our coats!"

Oh yes, thought Dearka unhappily. This was so going to blow up in their faces.

On the other hand, if it worked, they'd be famous... and one step closer to the Grimaldi Falcon.


To be continued...
Notes: Rau Le Creuset may have been driven off by Archangel and Odin, but Gamow is still in the fight, and Huckbein the Raven approaches...as the Snow Team creates one helluva divergence from their original timeline...

Whew, it's done.Man, took me almost three months to finish this chapter. No excuses, though life has been throwing me several curveballs lately; I've ended up dropping out from college, and am now working, saving up to go back to college once I've regained my fire. Hopefully now that life has settled down a bit, I can get back to a proper writing schedule. Many thanks to the members of the Jade Series forums, who listened to my brainstorming and gave suggestions: this one's for you, guys.

The song that Jack was mutilating, for the interested, is Dango Daikazoku, the ending theme for Clannad. I highly recommend it; it's a heartwarming show about friendship and family. Gainax fans may recognise some quotes in here... I just couldn't resist putting them in. (XD) With regards to the Fiannas... their performance here does appear to be something of a letdown, after Morgan Chevalier's spectacular entry in Cry of the Falcon. Rest assured that all will be revealed soon, and that they'll performing like the advanced variable fighters they are.

As to time paradoxes and whether Snow, Jack and Saito'll get back to the future... we'll just have to see. Till next time! - Wild Goose