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Earth, The Waters Off the Northern Coast of the ORB Nation, Athran Zala's POV

"We're taking off! Today's the day we finally sink the legged ship!" he declared as he prepared the Aegis for launch.

"All tanks empty! Opening hatches!" announced the operations officer from the bridge. "Launch path clear! Commence takeoff!"

One after another they shot out of the top of the ship and with only a little adjustment on the way down landed on his transport platform. Once the links to it were confirmed he set course for the legged ship at top speed. As a result it didn't take long for him and the other three members of his team to visually acquire their target with their Gundam's cameras at maximum magnification. Being careful he kept his eyes open for any sign of their weapons being directed his way while also paying attention to the anti-lock sensors that would warn him that he was in danger. When they reached a distance where magnification was barely needed the Legged Ship fired a salvo of missiles, causing him to swerving strongly to the side to evade them but it proved unnecessary. The missiles exploded before getting very far from the Earth Alliance ship, quickly blanketing the air with a thick cloud of smoke that could not be pierced by eyes or electronics.

"A smokescreen?" Dearka exclaimed in mild surprise.

"Trying to be cute with us?" Yzak asked angrily at the move.

The two of them soon had other things to worry about when two Skygrasper support jets emerged from the smoke, causing Yzak to fire a few shots off at them. He could tell that his subordinate did not consider the Earth Alliance aircraft to be a threat and, indeed, the war had shown that at most such opponents were annoyances to a properly trained ZAFT mobile suit pilot. However the pilots of the Legged Ship had proven to be better than your average Earth Alliance soldier, so he was not surprised when they managed to evade such lazy shots.

Nevertheless he felt uneasy at the absence of the Strike Gundam and Kira, unwilling to believe that the captain of the Legged Ship would be so foolish as to only send support craft to oppose them. However it was when a crimson blast of energy pierced through the smoke and missed his team by only a dozen or more feet that he knew where the Strike was.

"Scatter!" he ordered even as he flew his platform away from the rest of his team.

More shots from the smoke came their way but it was clear from the way they continued to miss that Kira could no more target them through the smoke than they could fire accurately at the Legged Ship. His mind was quick to figure out that the Skygraspers must be feeding his old friend targeting data, aiding in a surprise attack from the safety of the smokescreen. It was a good plan but not good enough to shoot down him or any of his subordinates. Kira apparently realized this too as he soon emerged from the smoke with his Launcher Striker Pack, as it'd been called in the files they'd acquired during the attack on Heliopolis.

"Strike!" Yzak cried as he fired a salvo of missiles from his platform even as Dearka supported with shots from the Buster Gundam's high-energy rifle.

However this proved to be in vain as Kira managed to nimbly pilot the Strike to evade even as he fired a shot from his Super-High Impulse Cannon, damaging Dearka's platform. Followed up by dropkick and the Buster Gundam was knocked off its platform to the waters below. Knowing the strength of the Gundams, he knew his friend wasn't in danger of drowning since the cockpits were airtight, but it'd be awhile before Dearka could resurface and rejoin the fight.

Yzak only grew angrier with this small victory and came at the Strike with the head mounted multi-barrel CIWS guns. Mentally he cursed his friend for letting his anger get the better of him because, with that emotion as a distraction, Kira was able to disable the platform the Duel was riding on, causing it to fall towards the ocean with no sign that it'd be able to stop.

Unwilling to accept that the battle was going so poorly this early on, he joined with Nicol as they began to fire on the Strike even as he began its descent back into the smokescreen where the Legged Ship was no doubt waiting.

And waiting they were… for him and Nicol to get too close!

Out of nowhere one of the front legs of the enemy ship cleared the smokescreen and not a second later a shot was fired from that same point, one that he barely managed to evade. Backing away as swiftly as the platform would allow he checked his side cameras and was glad to see that Nicol was unharmed and staying by his side.

He was going to need the help.

As the Legged Ship fully emerged from the smokescreen they unleashed a barrage of missiles and positron blasts, forcing him to retreat even further as he used his weapons to shoot the missiles before they could reach him. He managed to get most of them but a few still made it through, making him privately compliment the Aegis' designer for the armor being as strong as it was. When the lightshow from the explosions cleared he immediately reacquired the Strike and was confused to see that it'd lost its phase shift armor and its weapons but was using its back propulsion to rise into the air. Tactically it made no sense since it'd leave his old friend a sitting duck but, when the Aegis' systems tagged a nearby Skygrasper, a glimmer of understanding manifested in his mind.

Full understanding came a moment later when components detached from the Skygrasper and their drop path put them right on course for the Strike. One by one the pieces came into contact with Kira's Gundam, locking into place at specific points of contact, until right before his eyes the phase shift armor colors returned and a Strike he'd seen before flew through the air.

"That guy just changed his armor in midair!" Nicol exclaimed in surprise at the feat.

Indeed it was no small feat since keeping track of so many pieces and successfully getting them to slide into place midair was not something just anyone could do.

When the Strike charged them with its beam saber in hand, Nicol was the one to charge forth this time, firing his Gleipnir only for it to be destroyed with a backhand slash by Kira. Again and again Nicol and Kira clashed with their beam blades but neither was able to gain the edge they needed in order to push forward. He tried to move in to provide support but fire from the Skygraspers were forcing him to focus more on keeping himself airborne. Nicol soon had trouble as well as the second Natural support plane fired a barrage of missiles that impacted the upper right shoulder of the Blitz. This plus the Skygrasper flying by in front of Nicol's field of vision gave Kira all the opportunity he needed to slice off the Blitz's right arm. One sidekick later and the Strike commandeered the platform while Nicol fell to the water below, his Blitz Gundam now at a tactical disadvantage.

"Damn it!" he cursed even as he began to fire his beam rifle at the Strike.

He couldn't afford to lose! If all four of them were defeated by the ship and Gundam they'd been pursuing for so long, they'd be the laughing stock of ZAFT! He owed it to his teammates and his father to win! Besides, both he and Kira knew that only one of them would be walking away from this fight anyway because neither of them could afford to lose, given what the consequences would be.

Harder and harder he fought until a thought came to him that felt tactically sound on an instinctive level. Angling his platform so that it was on a collision course for the Strike's platform, he waited until just before Kira's beam rifle settled into a lock before leaping away. Just as he'd planned, while the green energy did do severe damage to his platform, the momentum was enough to carry it into Kira's, depriving both of them of the advantage the platform provided.

Quickly transforming the Aegis into its attack mode, he fired shots from his multi-phase energy cannon, intent on taking out the Strike as it recovered from the force of the two platforms' explosion. However the Legged Ship fired its own cannons, forcing him to shift back to humanoid form in order to evade them in a descending manner to a rocky landmass below. Bringing up the anti-beam shield to protect himself from the Legged Ship's onslaught he landed, his mind trying to think of a tactic or strategy he could use to turn things around.

However it was when a worrying beeping reached his ears that he realized that he had another problem: he was running low on power. The Aegis was on its last bar of white and would soon be in the red. The correct course of action at this point would be to order a retreat because, even if he managed to destroy the Strike with his remaining power, he would be helpless soon after. The Earth Alliance forces would capture him, reclaim the Aegis and no doubt use both to the fullest amoral advantage they could.

As an indicator popped up on his screen, indicating an approaching item from above, he looked up to see that Kira had switched the Strike's weaponry again for a very large anti-ship laser sword. He tried to bring up his beam rifle to counter but it was too late and only wound up getting sliced in half before detonating in his face, forcing him to leap backwards to get clear.

"Retreat, already! You guys have lost!" Kira yelled over the open comm-channel.

Whether it was the way Kira said it or that his friend was saying it at all, he felt angered at the idea of someone with no military training telling him to run away. He'd worked hard to achieve his rank, to get picked for the assignment to raid Heliopolis, and to become the pilot of the Aegis! He was proud of what he'd accomplished and Kira now wanted him to intentionally stain those accomplishments!? Never! Where moments ago he'd been considering retreating, he now refused to even contemplate it!

"How dare you?!" he yelled at his 'friend' even as he extended his own beam saber before charging forward to fight.

"Stop it, Athrun! I don't want to fight you anymore!" Kira pleaded even as the Strike leapt up to evade his swing and bring the laser sword down from above.

"It's too late for that! Shoot me!" he yelled back even as he blocked the laser sword and parried it off to the side. "You said that's what you'd do next time we fought!"

Indeed, the last time the two of them had spoken from the cockpits of their Gundams, it'd been made clear that either he would shoot Kira or Kira would shoot him.

Going on the offensive he did his best to increase the pressure on the Strike with his attacks, as if to force Kira to follow through on his earlier statement.

"You said before that you'd destroy me the next time we met," he said even as he continued to aggressively fight, detaching the shield from the other arm in order to deploy its beam saber and attack.

Kira blocked the attack with his forearm before using the same arm to deliver a punch to the Aegis' face that sent him crashing to the ground. This, sadly, proved to be the last straw as indicators began to flash, telling him that his Gundam's phase shift armor was deactivating along with the forearm mounted beam sabers, essentially rendering him defenseless. Seeing Kira raise his sword for the final blow, he found that a part of him was oddly at peace with this and in favor of not having to endure the pain of fighting someone he once was so close to as a friend.

"Athrun! Stay back!" Nicol yelled causing him to look towards where the side cameras even as the Blitz decloaked, a lancer dart in position to thrust being held by the mobile suits sole remaining arm.

Stop!

That's what he wanted to say to his friend because, even while he appreciated the rescue attempt, he knew that Nicol would not be able to damage the Strike this way. The Blitz was damaged and, judging from his friend's voice, this attack was more impulsive than well thought out, meaning it'd be sloppy. Even as he saw the two Gundam getting closer, he could see Kira preparing to duck under the thrust and this act would almost certainly be followed up by a swing of the sword. As he watched his prediction come to pass, he cursed the fates for making him watch this… and apparently they heard him because without warning something changed.

With speed he'd never seen before another mobile suit, of a design that bore only the loosest resemblance to the Gundam's, got between the Strike and the Blitz. With a single kick Kira was sent flying backward with empty hands but this caused his mind to immediately ask a question 'where was the laser sword'? Looking back to the last place it'd been, his jaw dropped as he saw that the weapon was already partially embedded in the Blitz, clearly doing severe damage.

"YYEEAARRRGGHH!" Nicol cried out as the laser energy no doubt tore into his flesh. "Athrun, escape-"

The message cut off suddenly, no doubt as the communications gear in the Blitz went offline due to damage, and a moment later he was forced to watch as the Blitz Gundam exploded as the disruption to its systems finally caused its power core to detonate.

"NICOL!" he yelled even as the light from the explosion faded away.

All he could do was stare in disbelief at the charred and broken remains of the Blitz, actually hoping that Nicol's body had been completely vaporized in the blast.

He didn't know if he could take seeing a charred or dismembered body at the moment.

It was only when he heard the voices of Deaker and Yzak that his emotions shifted to rage, watching as his two allies began to lay down fire on the Strike in an effort to avenge their murdered teammate. With what was more than likely instinct at this point Kira clumsily evade the incoming fire and, when the Legged Ship cast its shadow on the ground from above, the Strike soon flew upwards to return to it. Yzak tried to continue fire but support fire from the Legged Ship made retreat the only acceptable option, as much as it infuriated him to do so. With what emergency power the Aegis had left he began to run away on the ground, as flight was no longer a possibility.

Hearing the sound of unfamiliar engines he looked up to the sky to see the unknown mobile suit reconfigure itself into some sort of aircraft before flying away faster than anything he'd seen. Others might've allowed themselves to ask questions or speculate but his mind was too full of emotion to do either.

Nicol was dead.

Kira had killed him.

And he was partially to blame both for not killing Kira sooner as well as for allowing himself to fall into such a position that would compel Nicol to come to his rescue.

I'll never forgive you for this Kira! NEVER! he thought as the fires of revenge hungrily grew inside of him. The next time we meet I WILL KILL YOU!

Inside a Seaside Cave More Than a Hundred Kilometers away, Four Hours Later

Nicol's POV

Consciousness didn't return gently for him since almost the second his mind became partially capable of comprehending the input from his various senses, pain fired him up into the waking world.

Opening his eyes, he beheld a barely lit area that to him looked like a cave of some sort but his eyes couldn't pierce the darkness to get a complete picture. Intent on getting more information he tried to sit up but found that his body responded only a little to his commands, doing little more than tensing his muscles a bit. This frightened him and caused him to search his memory for any information that might explain his current inability to move.

He recalled fighting with the others to shoot down the Strike Gundam and the Legged Ship.

He remembered one of the Blitz's arms being cut off before he was kicked off his platform into the ocean below.

He remembered managing to get to the surface only to find Athuran fighting the Strike and losing ground swiftly.

He remembered activating the Blitz's mirage colloid system even as he hefted the only lancer dart he'd grabbed underwater before returning to the surface.

Then… then… he tried to save Athrun only to…

"Aaahhhh!" he exclaimed as he remembered the Strike ducking under his thrust and the pink energy of the beam sword cutting through the front of his cockpit.

"Easy. I managed to get you out before the beam sword's edge could kill you but you still took quite a bit of damage to your mid-torso," a familiar voice said to his right, causing him to force his head to turn towards it.

"He-ero?" he managed to get out despite the difficulty.

"Yeah. It's me," Heero replied when his eyes fell upon the somewhat shadowed face of his friend. "Sorry if it's hard to move. Had to give you a paralytic injection to keep you from moving too much and making your wounds worse. Even then it was touch and go. I'm no doctor, after all."

He was a little assured by the fact that he was in the presence of a friend rather than Earth Alliance soldiers aboard the Legged Ship but he was also worried that his wounds might indeed be severe. Now that he consciously thought about it, he could feel the effects of the paralytic and make a more detailed examination of the pain he was feeling. It was significant but he didn't think that it was impossible to overcome.

"How bad?" he asked, determined to learn how far he had to go for a fully recovery.

"The energy from the beam sword didn't come into direct contact with your body but its close proximity induced significant burning both to your flight suit as well as your skin. If I hadn't pulled you out when I did there was a good chance that your blood would've started boiling and might've popped out of your body somehow," Heero replied as he approached with some sort of device in his right hand. "I'm going to give you a mild counteragent to the paralytic as well as something for the pain. Don't try to move too much. Even my best recovery prediction has you unable to sit up without great pain sooner than seventy-two hours. Standing no sooner than ninety-four hours."

Well, that didn't sound too bad.

He wasn't a doctor either but there was no way he could be wounded all that badly if he stood a chance of being able to stand after only four days of treatment with what probably amounted to a field med-kit. This took some of the pressure off of him and allowed him to relax a bit, knowing that he wasn't in any danger of dying or being permanently injured. He felt something pressed against his throat and, after hearing a hiss, he could feel the numbness of his body recede along with some of the pain from his wounds. Testing how hard it was to move his jaw, he made a few practice sounds before being satisfied that he would now be able to talk easier. Honestly he found himself a little amazed at how quickly the drugs he'd been given were taking effect but he wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth.

"Better?" Heero asked as he took a few steps back before sitting down on the ground.

"Yeah," he replied with a voice that minimally reflected the damage done to his body. "How did you get here from PLANT Maius?"

It was the second most important question to come to mind but he felt that it was one that needed to be asked nonetheless.

"I came in that," Heero replied, pointing to his left.

Turning his head, he was shocked to find a huge mobile suit, easily twice the size of his Blitz Gundam, and bearing structural similarities to his mobile suit as well. Immediately his knowledge of engineering and mobile suits came to the forefront as he began analyzing what he saw but, for every component he was able to identify the purpose of, there were three that mystified him.

"A Gundam? How?" he asked, unable to fathom how a mobile suit that had only been discovered months ago could be improved upon to such a degree.

"Let's just say that I've got some interesting friends that decided to let me have it," Heero replied, not giving a clear answer. "It's called the Wing Zero. Not very imaginative, eh? Still, I have to admit it's one of a kind."

Friends gave it to him?

Only a member of the PLANT Supreme Council or a high ranking member of ZAFT would have the resources to build a new Gundam and have the authority to place Heero in the cockpit. His thoughts skimmed through the possibilities and he soon concluded that it couldn't have been Athrun's father or one of his supporters. If it had been, they would've been told something or heard of it somehow, even if it was just a report about an Earth Alliance fleet being wiped out mysteriously. Indeed, if it was as impressive as it looked, then he could see Mister Zala using it to inspire the troops and convince people that their victory over the Naturals was on its way.

That meant that it had to be a member of the moderate faction who had backed the construction of the large Gundam and somehow managed to keep it a secret from the more radical elements of the Supreme Council. Few could manage this and succeed in keeping the details a secret from Athrun's father. He was certain that if Patrick Zala knew of the new Gundam, he would've insisted that it be turned over to the National Defense Committee for use in the war against the Naturals. He couldn't recall his father ever mentioning anything that implied that Mister Zala knew about the Gundam in the slightest but, then again, his father didn't often bring his work home with him.

Nevertheless, there was only one person he could think of with the authority and skill to keep the National Defense Committee chairman in the dark: Supreme Council Chairman Siegel Clyne.

He'd heard enough from his father to know that the two men were often at odds with one another, with Clyne firmly supporting peaceful resolutions to the war while Zala argued that only with the complete defeat of the Naturals would Coordinators be safe. With the Council majority on Clyne's side most of the time, Zala often had to work hard to get his more aggressive proposals passed and almost never without restraining provisos that irritated Athrun's father.

If anyone could build a new Gundam and keep it a secret, it was Clyne.

"Supreme Chairman Clyne gave the Gundam to you?" he asked, looking for confirmation of his theory.

"I never met the man but I guess you could say that," Heero replied, maintaining his thread-thin responses.

Chairman Clyne must have used a go between for the project in order to keep his movements from being tracked to wherever the Gundam was being constructed, he thought as his mind went through the possibilities. However Heero must've overheard someone mention Chairman Clyne's name if he thinks that Siegel was behind the Gundam's construction.

This, however, caused another question to pop up into his mind: how long had Heero been involved with Clyne's operation?

"You're probably asking yourself: how did this idiot get picked for such an important position?" Heero asked, predicting his question accurately. "To be honest I don't know, really. Some drunk idiots decided to pick a fight with one of the project members and I decided to even the odds. I… might've mouthed off to the morons about how stupid I thought the war was and how we'd be better off thinking up purely defensive options. Apparently this impressed the guy I saved so much he invited me to join the operation. It was tough early on, especially with this one officious hardass getting on my case over and over again, but eventually I made the short list to be the Wing Zero's pilot."

Recruiting someone from outside ZAFTs ranks would've been a good way to keep things from Mister Zala, he thought as he assimilated and organized this new information.

"Just before I met you they told me to get my affairs in order and told me they'd let me know when it was time to make my big debut," Heero explained to him in the darkness of the cave. "Instead of getting everything set for my new job, though, I became your friend and met Meer. When the orders to depart from PLANT Maius came in the mail, I had to rush to come up with some sort of explanation to cover for me being away."

"What orders?" he asked, hoping his inquiry would be answered.

"All I was told was that I go to Earth and monitor the situation here, reporting back anything of relevance through provided channels," Heero replied, mildly lost in recollection. "But when my flight path into Earth's atmosphere took me close enough to detect your fight with the Earth Alliance Gundam, I… I decided to revise my orders a bit. Bet I'm gonna catch hell when the boss gets ahold of me later."

Heero went against orders to save him.

He couldn't help but be touched by this show of friendship and it made him value the bond the two of them shared even more.

Still, the original orders to monitor the situation and the timing of Heero's deployment couldn't possibly be coincidence. There was only one thing that made any sense.

Operation Spitbreak.

The operation that was coming together to attack the Alliance's Panama installation in order to deal a serious blow to the Natural forces, if not force their surrender outright. He didn't know more than the fact that it was scheduled to happen soon and that his team was expected to participate, though. If Clyne or whoever was in charge of the Wing Zero's development had concerns about this operation, it'd make sense that they'd send Heero to keep a closer eye on things.

But what could be so concerning to Clyne that he'd send a secret operative to look into things?

"So… what now?" he asked, hoping that the answer would help him come up with one of his own.

"Right now my priority is to get you healed up as much as I can before I have to go," Heero replied with a bit of reluctance. "I'll drop you off close to a ZAFT base if you want. You'll still have to walk a bit to get there but it shouldn't be too much trouble."

"And then?" he asked, wanting to get more information.

"Then I'm off to keep an eye on what I was ordered to," Heero replied in a matter-of-fact manner. "Hopefully everything will go off without a problem and in a couple of months we can make some music together back on Maius."

"You think there's a chance that it won't?" he asked with some concern for his friend.

"No one knows the future, Nicol, and there's a war going on," Heero replied honestly, with measured optimism. "Still, I'll do everything I can to survive so long as I can live with myself afterwards. After all, there's no point in surviving if you feel like crap afterwards, is there?"

"No, I guess there isn't," he replied before fatigue caused him to yawn.

"Get some rest. You need to focus your body's strength on healing, not talking," Heero said as he got to his feet. "I'll take a look at your wounds next time you wake up and continue with your treatment. Everything'll be okay. Trust me."

"I do," he stated with complete honesty.

With that he closed his eyes and did his best to take as little strength away from his body healing itself as possible even as he contemplated what he should do next.

Returning to ZAFT was one option.

Were there others though? Better ones?

The Seaside Cave, Cockpit of the Wing Zero, Two Days Later, Xander's POV

Nicol should be healed enough to travel soon, he thought as he continued to tap into as many intelligence sources as possible. I'll have to find out what he really wants by then before I go onto my next move.

Using the vascular regenerator, the autosuture and numerous other Federation medical devices, some of which didn't belong in a standard Starfleet med-kit, he'd done all he could for his friend. He personally thanked the fake history he'd dreamed up for his Halloween costume since now it meant that any skill or tool Heero had thought useful enough, he'd worked to master. The costume memories weren't complete, likely a result of the costume spell not being there to reinforce things, but what he could recall he put to use as best he could to heal Nicol. The edge of the energy sword came close to his friend and, if he'd even been a second or two slower in beaming Nicol out of his cockpit, he would've lost something valuable to him. As soon as he'd gotten Nicol he'd shifted the Wing Zero back into flight mode and did his best to put as much distance himself from the soldiers from both sides.

As soon as he'd figured he'd gotten far enough, he'd looked for a spot where he could land and hide his Gundam so he could begin treating Nicol's wounds.

It'd been horrible to look at and, even with Heero's memories of being used to such things, he'd nearly lost it mentally, but he'd locked down the unnecessary thoughts and gotten back to work. Going through the steps in his mind like a machine he'd treated the grisly wound, fighting against time to repair the damage, or at least keep things from getting any worse. Once he'd done all he could with what he had he administered the mild paralytic to keep Nicol from reopening the wound once he woke up.

Now, almost three days later, he was pleased to find that his initial predictions for his friend's recovery were proving to be a lot closer to the truth then he'd expected. Repeated treatments and plenty of rest helped the wound heal, with it likely that his friend would be ready to leave the cave for whatever path he chose.

To kill time he was utilizing the superior computer tech in the Wing Zero to get a grasp of the situation here on Earth to decide if his time was best spent there or if he should try to sneak back into the PLANTs. Fortunately for him wireless connections were a common thing in this universe and, even though he couldn't just hack carelessly, he was managing to acquire quite a bit of information.

On the one side of things there were signs that ZAFT was planning for a major attack on the Earth Alliance's Panama base, where their mass driver was located. If the base was destroyed then the Alliance wouldn't be able to send any more supplies, troops or ships into space to oppose the ZAFT military there. He was seeing plenty of digital paperwork to support this from the ZAFT bases within range of the Wing Zero's systems. At the same time, though, he'd read reports that the unusually designed ship he'd seen when rescuing Nicol as well as his friend's allies were all headed for Alaska and that struck him as wrong. Panama was an important target and, as a valuable Alliance asset, it'd be well defended. If Nicol's three teammates were really piloting this universe's equivalent of Gundams, then it would make more sense to send them to Panama than allow them to continue pursuing their current prey.

As for the Earth Alliance, they were aware of the likelihood of an attack on Panama and were moving their navy and army accordingly. However, given that the weird ship was heading to Alaska as well, he believed it was heading for the main Alliance HQ there. Preliminary reports indicated that the odd ship no longer had a Gundam to defend it so it was true that its combat potential was lowered, but it was still a cutting edge ship.

He couldn't help but feel as though something was amiss.

All war is deception.

That was something that he'd heard Giles say once and, in this situation, he couldn't help but wonder if there was more significance than he realized. On the surface it looked like the battle would be taking place in Panama but, if war was deception, then there was a chance that the true target of the ZAFT operation was somewhere else.

To that end he began to comb through the database he had on both sides for potential targets that would warrant a trick like this, to catch the defending forces off guard. The Iceland base was too strongly defended even for the element of surprise to be effective enough to earn ZAFTa victory without prohibitive losses. The Suez Canal base was important for supplying forces fighting in the Mediterranean as well as in Africa, so if it was taken out it compromise Natural forces' ability to fight in that region. None of the others on file were important enough or, if they were, their true secrets were kept off the computers, either on paper he didn't have access to or in the minds of the people with the right authorization.

Panama and the Canal bases were too far away from one another for one to be the lie and the other to be the truth, he thought as he removed the latter from his list of possibilities. So where could ZAFT be planning on…

A thought occurred to him but, even as part of him rejected it as too ambitious, he had to admit that it'd fit with the superior attitude that a lot of Coordinators seemed to have especially if they were military. If ZAFT managed to pull it off, they would effectively succeed in cutting the head off their enemy and demoralizing any survivors, making it that much easier for them to ride their momentum even further. Misinformation was also a part of war, so it made sense that some would be sent to the Alliance to make them think that Panama was the target of the next offensive.

Still… backing the Alliance stationed troops into a corner will probably make'em do something stupid, he thought with some concern. If their HQ is seconds away from being taken over or destroyed, they'll try to take as many ZAFT soldiers as possible.

With the neutron jammers that were shot into the Earth's crust at the beginning of the war, it wouldn't be nuclear in nature but it'd likely be on the same scale. He wouldn't mind as much if the base was positioned in the middle of nowhere but, according to the data he was pulling up, the Alaska base it was right next to a major city full of civilians. If a large explosion went off there, it wouldn't just be soldiers who'd die but countless innocent people whose only crime was being close by.

I have to force ZAFT to retreat, he thought as his chosen course became clearer. And do it early on so the Earth Alliance big wigs don't get pushed into doing something drastic.

The only question was whether he could do so without throwing more fuel on the fire.

It was a safe bet that the second he began firing on the ZAFT forces they'd fire back, forcing him to defend himself. However, if he wound up killing anyone, that would only result in piling more hate and vengeance on a pile that was already way to big as it was. The only way around that would be to strike surgically at points that would disable the ZAFT mobile suits and attack craft without endangering the people on board. Bringing up a random ZAFT mobile suit model, he examined the data on it focusing on parts that would render it incapable of fighting. Highlighting them in green, he then went on to look for spots that stood a better than fifty percent chance of hurting or killing the pilot if struck. With those he labeled them red and locked them out of the targeting system so that the weapons would refuse to fire if he tried to shoot a red location.

Once he had those restrictions in place, he put together a combat simulation where he'd fight fifty of his chosen mobile suit model. Attaching to them the standard mobile suit tactics and piloting skills, he initiated the simulation, operating the controls of the Wing Zero to see how far he could get with such odds. Falling far into his 'Perfect Soldier' mindset, he did his best to eliminate all fifty in as short a time as possible. It proved to be difficult, disabling the mobile suits without killing the pilot, but after a few blocked shots by the system he adapted and began to make steady progress. This was helped by the fact that he couldn't use his buster rifle, given that it was a sledgehammer rather than a scalpel and since it meant he wouldn't use up his energy reserves as quickly.

A short while later the last of the ZAFT mobile suits was rendered battle incapable and he looked at the timer to see how long it'd taken.

Thirty-two minutes.

About thirteen minutes shy of his previous operational time limit, wherein the Wing Zero would drop to the ground unable to move. Without the use of the buster rifle he could probably get another five out of it before his power ran out.

Taking this data he began factoring in other models of mobile suits as well as war craft before running the simulation again but inserting his own combat data in to see how things would turn out. He watched make believe images dance across his screens as both the simulated him and the simulated enemies fought one another. This went on for a while but eventually the simulation stopped but it wasn't as a result of his fake self-managing to eliminate all opposition but rather because the simulated Wing Zero ran out of power. Looking at the remaining enemies still able to fight, he found that a little under forty percent had successfully been neutralized, but that still left sixty percent capable of fighting, making his destruction all but certain.

The simulated force isn't on the same scale as what it looks like ZAFT is sending, but the conclusion would be the same, he thought, adding some variables to the simulation then set it to run a thousand times to see how much leeway existed. I'd lose and likely die in the process.

With sixty percent of their forces intact, ZAFT would likely still press their attack and, depending on how the Alliance forces faired defending their base, it could still be enough to make them push the big red button. Nothing good would happen if he tried to fight in concert with the Earth Alliance forces since they wouldn't show the same restraint as him, assuming they'd even agree to let him help in their base's defense in the first place. They wouldn't have any record of him as an ally and wouldn't take his refusal to kill ZAFT soldiers as a good sign. At best he'd be accused of being a Coordinator himself and at worse they accuse him of being a sympathizer to the citizens of the PLANTs. Both possibilities would wind up with him being shot at.

If the Wing Zero was at full strength it'd be child's play to beat both sides into retreating, he thought wistfully, knowing Q wouldn't help in that regard. But since that isn't the case, I'll just have to keep on working on a plan.

Hopefully he'd have one by the time he dropped off Nicol.

ZAFT Vosgulov-class Submarine, Rau Le Creuset's POV

I don't like it, he thought as he looked at the visual and sensor data taken from the Buster, Duel and Aegis Gundams.

He considered himself a very well informed man. He had to be if he wished to make his desired future a reality. It was no small job manipulating both sides of the war to make them hate each other more with every engagement while also making sure that neither side gained a decisive advantage. Information needed to be passed back and forth and potential obstacles eliminated before they could interfere with the path he desired. It was especially hard to do without letting anyone even suspect that he had a different agenda than one that they assumed mirrored their own. Nevertheless, things had been proceeding well especially since Athrun had finally strangled his feelings for his friend Kira Yamato and killed the treacherous Coordinator.

However, no matter how many times he tried to soak up the satisfaction of seeing things unfold like he desired, his mind kept drifting back to this unknown mobile suit.

From what he could see it bore the strongest resemblance to the Strike in terms of color scheme and appearance but was easily twice the size of a conventional mobile suit. It had a shield and some sort of beam weapon holstered in it that looked to be similar in purpose to the Buster's most powerful rifle. The wings were a little obnoxious since they made the mobile suit look like some sort of angel but, from what he could see, they did serve a purpose. Engines of an unknown design were incorporated into the design, leading him to believe that they allowed for increased maneuverability as well as speed. It was also possible that the 'feathers' were akin to the funnel weapon system being experimented with by ZAFT weapon research and development. The more he thought about it, though, the more he felt that there were too many unknowns about this new Gundam and unknowns were a threat to his plan.

Why did it choose that moment to appear?

Why did it withdraw after only kicking the Strike away from poor Nicol?

Where was it now?

What was the ultimate objective of the pilot?

In his role as a loyal ZAFT officer, he'd naturally issued orders to the intelligence division to begin looking into the matter and he knew just where to look.

While details were still being gathered, a report from the PLANT patrol division of an unknown mobile suit flying away faster than anything they'd seen ever seen before. The timing was too close for it to be a coincidence and it did imply that the new Gundam was capable of great speed indeed if it could cross the distance between the PLANTs and Earth so quickly. The direction it came from also implied that the mobile suit been made by someone within the PLANTs rather than someone from Earth since he didn't believe the system that'd made the Blitz so special could've been copied so swiftly.

Not without Patrick Zala knowing about it and he had done much to become the man's most trusted officer, so he would've been informed long before this auspicious debut.

Had one of the other Council members backed its construction? Unlikely.

Most of the Council members who had power over the necessary departments were firmly on Patrick Zala's side and wouldn't do anything like this without his approval. Siegel and his bunch of weaklings were still hung up on finding a 'peaceful' solution to the war and would never betray their principles by funding the creation of a weapon. Even if they did find the resolve to cross those lines they made themselves, acquiring the necessary resources would still raise flags with Zala's supporters, leading to a covert investigation.

Could the reason why the new Gundam appeared be because the ones behind it had detected Zala's agents and sought to keep the mobile suit from their hands?

Possible.

Still, it would be pointless to plan anything until he learned more, or at least gained sufficient grasp of the pilot's mind to make an accurate prediction of what they'd do next.

For now he would focus on the upcoming attack on JOSH-A, where he would set up a scenario where ZAFT would lose up to eighty percent of their attack force. It would be a simple matter to slip off ship under the pretense of scouting ahead and, once he was sure he was not being watched, he would go to make contact with his Atlantic Federation contact. The idiot thought he was actually one of his side's deep cover operatives spying on the 'evil space monsters'! It would be easy to slip a disk to him containing the details of Operation Spitbreak and, once the Blue Cosmos loyal command officers saw it, they would certainly choose to take full advantage of the information. Granted, he was not entirely certain how they would do so but he was certain the main goal of whatever they did would be to eliminate as much of the attacking ZAFT force as possible.

The loss of so many 'brave' men and women would be all Patrick would need in order to escalate ZAFT offensive efforts even more. Lines that other members of the Council refused to cross would not seem less obstructing than before and, with Yuri Amalfi now leaning more towards supporting the radical faction due to the murder of his son, it sped up his plan nicely. Of course he would have to then come up with some way for the Earth Alliance, or more specifically the Atlantic Federation, to remain in the war but he was sure that Zala would help with that.

Both Patrick and Murata were ever so helpful in providing him with the tools to destroy them with!

Seaside Cave, Three Days Later, Xander's POV

"Well, it isn't pretty and I couldn't do anything about the scarring but the chicks go wild for guys with impressive scars," he said, finishing his examination of Nicol.

"Heero!" Nicol exclaimed with a bit embarrassed at the last bit as he zipped up a spare flight suit from the Wing Zero.

For all the skill and ability that Nicol had as a soldier and as a pianist, he was still a bit shy and insecure when it came to the idea of dating or girls. In his mind this proved more than anything else that Coordinators and Naturals were more alike than either side cared to admit. The former might have enhanced bodies, allowing them to do more than the latter were capable of, but in terms of thoughts, hopes, dreams and feelings the two were identical. That was why he felt the whole 'new species unto itself' riff that Patrick Zala was trying to push on the people was a bunch of bullshit and why he saw Blue Cosmos as nothing more than a bunch of hate propagating fanatics. If either side took the time to set their emotions aside and objectively tally up both the differences and similarities between Naturals and Coordinators, he was sure they'd find more of the latter than the former.

Unfortunately asking a human to do anything without their emotions getting in the way was like asking water not to be wet: impossible.

"Still, you look fit for travel so it's time to go. Wing Zero's power reserves are back to full capacity so I should be able to get you to ZAFT controlled territory easily enough," he said as he tapped the com-badge access code to open up the Wing Zero.

"Where will you go be going?" Nicol asked with polite curiosity.

"Alaska. That's where I'm supposed to keep an eye on," he replied, deciding that the story his friend had likely come up with was as good a one as any to run with.

It was better than the truth and would keep anyone who heard it looking in the wrong direction, making him harder to predict or find.

"JOSH-A? But everything I've been told says ZAFT is going to attack Panama." Nicol said before an expression came over him that implied that he hadn't meant to blurt that last bit out.

"All war is deception, Nicol. My backers believe that Panama is just a feint, a way to draw off Alliance forces, so that the real attack force can go straight for the head," he explained, phrasing his predictions to sound just right. "Zala's been making promises to end the war sooner rather than later and wiping out JOSH-A would certainly do that, especially if enough Alliance VIPs were present. But it also has the possibility of doing the opposite."

"What do you mean?" Nicol asked, clearly interested in more information.

"Much like how a cornered animal is more dangerous than any other, if ZAFT lops the heads off of that many Alliance brass members, it's going to affect everyone on Earth. Instead of demoralizing them and getting them to throw up a white flag of surrender, it might make them go kamikaze on the PLANTs," he replied, picturing just how bad things could go.

"Kamikaze?" Nicol asked, obviously unfamiliar with the term or how it was used.

"An old Earth term. Back when atmosphere fighter craft were being used there were some pilots that would ram their craft into enemy battleships when they ran out of ammunition," he explained as the stirrup cord descended from the cockpit hatch. "It was a term first applied to pilots from Japan but they weren't the only ones who used it. It's a suicide move meant to do as much damage as possible by sacrificing your own life. If ZAFT winds up doing too much damage at JOSH-A, the Naturals might feel like they've got no choice but to cross lines they didn't want to previously."

"Then your orders leave the option open for more than just observation?" Nicol asked, catching on to a little known detail most would have overlooked.

"Observation is the primary order but I've been granted a bit of leeway should the situation call for direct action," he replied, trying not to chain himself to specifics. "The only order they were adamant about is that if it looked like the Wing Zero might fall into either Alliance or ZAFT hands I was to take all steps necessary to prevent that, including the suit's self-destruct."

He could tell that Nicol didn't like the idea of him committing suicide to keep the Gundam out of the wrong hands and to him this spoke well of his friend's character. Still, he was confident that as long as he could keep enough power squirreled away to make an escape, he wouldn't be backed into that sort of corner. Plus Q had promised to make sure that no advanced tech fell into the hands of the sides fighting the war. Sure, the omnipotent being didn't strike anyone as being particularly trustworthy given how he tended to view the mortal races but he had a good feeling about the promise.

He genuinely believed that Q intended to keep it.

"Then I'm coming with you," Nicol said in a manner that implied that he was quite serious.

"What?! Why!?" he asked in surprise at the statement.

He'd assumed from the beginning that his friend's top priority would be to return to his ZAFT unit and likely report everything that'd been learned about him and the Wing Zero.

"Because you're my friend and you're going into a fight that's going to be dangerous," Nicol replied as though it was the most natural thing in the world. "Besides, you saved my life. It's only right that I do what I can to make sure that you don't die during the attack on JOSH-A."

For a moment he wanted to insist that he'd need a better reason than that but before he could even think of what to say, he realized that Nicol's reasons for coming with him were much like the ones that'd motivated him to fight by Buffy's side. The blonde Slayer had often baffled as to why he would willingly choose to fight by her side against the nightlife of Sunnydale but his reasons were much the same: she'd saved his life time and again plus he considered her a friend. For him and apparently for Nicol, that was all that was needed to step into danger.

Still, it took half a minute of rational thinking before he decided to accept his friend's offer of aid.

"Fine. The Wing Zero is meant to carry two people anyways," he said as he put his foot in the cable stirrup, triggering the retraction process. "Just keep in mind that I'm the primary user of the Gundam and it follows my orders above all others. I'm not saying you can't suggest things but what I say goes. If you have a problem with my choices wait until after the fighting is done before tearing into me about it. On the battlefield dissension in the ranks and arguing will get both of us killed. Fair enough?"

He knew he was being a tad harsh but he couldn't have Nicol getting in the way if he did something that hurt ZAFT or clashed with his friend's sense of duty. He wasn't a soldier but he wasn't a civilian either. He was a free blade going where his sense of right and wrong guided him in the hopes of aiding the good while sending the evil screaming into the abyss of death. If he judged ZAFTs actions to be evil, he would stand in their path to oppose them. If the Earth Alliance's actions were judged to be evil, he would oppose them. If neither side could be termed good, he would fight for the people caught in the middle getting swept up in the mess and do whatever he could to keep them safe.

"Fair enough," Nicol replied with a nod and an expression that implied he meant it.

Getting into the primary pilot cockpit, he sat down in the chair and waited for the Gundam to finish confirming his identity. There were fewer checks this time since when he'd originally left the resource asteroid he'd put the Wing Zero in the highest security lockdown he could to ensure that no one stole it while he was away. Given that he hadn't let it out of his sight since arriving in the cave and Nicol hadn't been in any position to steal it from him, he'd only employed basic security precautions. When he felt the confirming tingle he began to bring the secondary pilot cockpit online since he'd left it dormant in order to conserve power.

"Computer: begin authorization scan for secondary pilot," he said even as he targeted Nicol with the sensors. "Secondary pilot to be given tertiary clearance for unit Wing Zero. Command authorization Beta Sigma Zero Four Zero Four Alpha."

"Authorization code accepted. Initiating authorization scan," the Wing Zero's computer said before the screen to his right showed the scan progressing.

"Your suit is capable of receiving and understanding voice commands?" Nicol asked, dumbfounded at the development.

"Yeah, but it's not sentient or anything," he replied as he watched the estimated time to completion. "It's basically just a way to enter instructions verbally rather than typing them in manually. During a fight you can't always take your hands off the controls, so this makes things easier."

"I'll bet," Nicol said as the scan reached completion.

"Authorization scan complete. Requesting voice sample for secondary pilot security file," the computer asked in its emotionless yet female voice.

"Just say a single sentence. It just needs to map out your inflections, speech pattern and other stuff to make a sort of audio fingerprint," he said, looking at his friend through the open cockpit hatch.

"Trial and error of an untested system is the only way to prove its validity," Nicol said in an almost rehearsed manner.

"Voice sample recorded and placed in secondary pilot security file," the computer stated, showing him on a screen the contents of the new file. "Opening secondary cockpit hatch."

While some might think that it'd make more sense for the cockpits to be all in one compartment, that it would make for easier communication, they'd be forgetting one detail: Gundams often fought in space. By making each cockpit a self-contained chamber, if one was breached the other stood a good chance of being safe from the vacuum of space. There were two methods of communication between the two cockpits, one being the com-badge he'd give Nicol and the other would be through the Wing Zero's own internal com-system. While it was not impossible that both could be taken out in a fight, he'd like to think that if it did get that bad that they'd both be of the same mind on what to do.

Retreat.

A few moments later Nicol was in his new chair and the systems were coming on all around him.

"Amazing! This isn't anything like the systems in the other ZAFT mobile suits," Nicol said, sounding both excited and a little confused.

"The scientist in charge of the construction was insistent on making the Wing Zero one of a kind in every way. I think his exact words were that the standard mobile suit controls were too brutish and unsophisticated for his liking," he said, coming up with an explanation for the new cockpit design. "Gave the workers headaches every time he came up with a 'better' design and had them pull everything out to start again!"

"Sounds like an interesting guy," Nicol said with a laugh as the cockpit hatches began to close.

"He is, though calling him eccentric would be a bit of an understatement," he said as he heard the hiss of his cockpit being pressurized. "We're going to take a bit more of a roundabout route to JOSH-A in order to keep from being seen, so take that time to get familiar with the systems. I'm navigation and weapons. You are engineering, sensors and communications."

"What do you mean engineering? You make it sound like this is a ship not a mobile suit," Nicol said through the internal com-system.

"The Wing Zero has limited self-repair systems and it's complex enough that having a second pilot is needed to run everything perfectly," he explained as he began to move the Wing Zero towards the cave entrance. "My assigned co-pilot couldn't make it before launch time so most of her work was being done by automatic programs set to maintain system stability and obey my verbal commands. With you there now it'll be your job to keep things running right, let me know more than what eyes can see and talk to people while I try to keep us in one piece."

"Got it," Nicol said the sounds of the various keys on the controls in the secondary cockpit could be heard being used.

Once he reached the outside of the cave he activated the multi-vector impulse drive, propelling Wing Zero into the air before transforming it into fighter mode. Once altitude stability was achieved he plotted his roundabout course to JOSH-A before accelerating to a speed that'd get him there in time for the fireworks. He'd spent some time in between talking with Nicol trying to figure out when the attack on the Alaska base would happen since he definitely didn't want to be late. He had it narrowed down to today in the next three hours but that was the best he could do with the Wing Zero's simulations and his own deductive reasoning. He'd keep the Wing Zero beneath the altitude used by most systems of aircraft detection while also steering clear of populated areas where a witness might spot him and report it in to the authorities.

By the time he arrived at his destination, he calculated that he should still have around thirty-seven minutes of combat time before running dry of power.

As he watched the screens showing the ground passing by quickly below them, he began to wonder what the reactions would be from both the Alliance and ZAFT at the Wing Zero's big debut. Sure, ZAFT forces had seen him twice now but this would be the first time that they'd see the Gundam's combat abilities used on this scale, so it'd definitely give them more to think about. On the whole he knew that both sides would try to put him either in the box of 'ally' or 'enemy' but he knew that they'd also start dreaming of the possibilities of incorporating Wing Zero's tech into their own forces. The speed that the multi-vector impulse engines gave him would be enough to make them drool but, when he started using the other tech gained from Starfleet, he'd likely become their number one target for acquisition or destruction.

Even with the echo of the great Gundam Pilot Heero Yuy in his head and the advanced technology of the Wing Zero at his disposal, he wouldn't last long being pursued by two armies. He would need to find allies and it made him wish he'd asked McGillis for a list of Junk Guild locations on Earth. He might not be on the same sort of terms with them but at least they were a neutral party that he could hopefully bargain a simple sanctuary out of them. If they turned him down, the only other option left to him would be to sneak into the ORB union and find someplace to lay low. They might deny him sanctuary since it'd only bring more trouble down on their heads but, with the way the Atlantic Federation and the other groups like them were acting, it might be a moot point. The Federation was essentially spouting 'if you are not with us, you are against us' and was putting increasing levels of pressure on the nations trying to remain neutral in the war.

It was only a matter of time before ORB was forced to fall into line with the other nations or be crushed.

If perhaps he offered to aid in their Union's defense when the Atlantic Federation stopped 'asking nicely' to join in on the war, then at least he might get a decent cave to work out of. Would he prefer something manmade? Yeah. Was he gonna complain if all he got was a cave on the outskirts of the city? No. The costume personae in his head had more than enough experience putting up with just about any location so long as it didn't hinder the carrying out of his mission. As for him, Xander Harris, while he'd definitely prefer a roof under his head, he understood that you sometimes had to sacrifice such things in order to serve the greater good.

After all, innocent lives took priority over things like a comfy bed.

Approaching JOSH-A, Alaska One Hour Later, Nicol's POV

As amazing as this technology is, I have a hard time believing that it's something ex-Chairman Clyne could bring into being on his own, he thought as he continued to familiarize himself with the Wing Zero's secondary cockpit. It's too advanced and original. Almost all Coordinator tech has certain similar characteristics and can find their roots in devices that were made before them. This technology has no similarities to anything I've seen developed either by the PLANTs or by the Alliance.

While he supposed it wasn't entirely beyond the realm of possibility that the person who was in charge of its creation could've imagined something completely original, he was skeptical. Even if people don't realize it, their thoughts and their imaginings were influenced by they learned living their lives both in official classes as well as accidently just walking down the street. Either the main creator had seen and been taught some very weird things or the technology involved in its creation had not been created by human beings.

But what did that leave him with?

Human beings were the only life forms capable of creating anything in this solar system.

Did that mean that the technology had somehow come from outside the solar system?

It had always been a scientific possibility that there existed intelligent life outside of the solar system but there had never been any reliable evidence to prove it. No metals incapable of existing in the solar system, no spacecraft of non-human origin and definitely no life forms dead or alive that would qualify as aliens. If, however, Clyne and his people had somehow discovered such proof and studied it enough to employ it in the construction of a Gundam, then he could be sitting in the most powerful mobile suit in existence.

If that was indeed the case, then that was all the more reason why he had to stay close to Heero. That much power in any person's hands was dangerous and they often needed a guiding hand to keep them from letting that power corrupt them. The person he had come to know over the past months, his friend, was something he would not want to see become twisted by the power of one mobile suit.

"Coming up on JOSH-A as we speak," Heero said, causing him to focus on the images being provided by the mobile suit's exterior cameras. "With a little luck we haven't missed the entire thing."

Coming over the rise that'd been previously blocking the view due to their low flying altitude, he was suddenly able to see a battle larger than most that he'd been a part of thus far in his military career. Typing a few commands into the sensor system, he quickly tallied the number of ZAFT forces as well as the number of Alliance forces present. To his surprise the sensors didn't just tally the ones that were visible to the cameras but also the ones beneath the surface of the water as well as inside JOSH-A itself. When it was all tallied there was one conclusion that he knew that Heero was coming to as well.

"This is wrong. This is one of the Alliance's top bases on the planet but I'm only seeing ships from the Eurasian fleet plus one or two Atlantic fleet ships," Heero said through the internal com-system. "If anything the number of Atlantic Federation ships should equal, if not be more than, the Eurasian ships here."

"Could they just be mostly deployed to Panama? That's where the attack was supposed to happen. Maybe they were just fooled like ZAFT planned," Nicol proposed since he figured that just because Heero figured out the deception that didn't mean others had.

"No. Even if they were planning on defending Panama, they'd never leave their Alaska base this under protected. Start scanning communications frequencies for Alliance transmissions," Heero ordered as he put the Wing Zero into hover mode. "Look for anything strange."

"Strange how?" he asked even as he began to comb through the various possibilities.

"You'll know it when you hear it," Heero said, sounding quite confident.

It didn't take long for the Gundam's systems to find the relevant frequencies and so one by one he listened to them, seeking anything abnormal or unusual. For the first few times all he found were standard exchanges between the various Alliance naval vessels, ground forces and aircraft with the general consensus being that the Naturals knew that they were overmatched. It wasn't until he chose to seek out the frequency he knew from experience was often used by Alliance officers of a command level to issue out priority orders that he believed that he'd found something 'strange'.

"All units, continue protecting the line of defense and return fire according to circumstances."

The same automated message kept repeating itself over and over again on the command channel so he tried some of the other ones that ZAFT knew about both higher up as well as just below.

Same thing.

"I think I found what you're looking for, Heero. I'm getting a simple message over and over again on all the command channels. It's telling the defense forces to stay where they are and shoot back as needed," he said through the internal com-system. "It's completely automated. I'm not getting anything from anyone above the rank captain or colonel."

"But that could only mean…" Heero said with disbelief before ending in dread. "No… they couldn't… they wouldn't! Nicol! Scan JOSH-A! Look for any unusual energy readings and more specifically a steady energy build up! Hurry!"

Now beginning to worry himself, he went to work utilizing the Wing Zero's sensors to scan the Alaska base in search of what Heero had requested. Nothing showed up on the base's above ground level areas so he began to scan deep beneath the surface and it was there that he picked up on something that scared him. Sensors were picking up a steady rise in energy beneath the base's surface that couldn't possibly be the power generators for the base. Focusing the sensor's gaze on the source of the energy to determine what was producing it, he found that the power apparently was being channeled to a massive chamber but it was only once sensors penetrated that he saw the truth.

A large array of dish shaped microwave emitters arranged in multiple hexagonal patterns numbering enough to create an even larger hexagon that was even larger than the bases on the upper levels. Immediately using the computer of the Wing Zero he began to run a simulation focused on what would happen if all the dishes were brought up to maximum output at the same time. Accelerating the passage of time so that he'd get his answer sooner rather than later, he couldn't help but gasp at the level of devastation that would occur.

This was the Naturals' answer to WMDs when nuclear weapons were taken out of their hands.

"Heero! A massive amount of energy is being channeled to a large array of microwave dish emitters several levels below the surface! Computer predictions put everything within a ten kilometer radius of ground zero being utterly destroyed!" Nicol exclaimed, frightened by the sheer implications of that much destructive force and the lives that'd be lost.

"The Cyclops System! They planned all this from the beginning! Federation bastards!" Heero growled in barely contained rage. "Save their own forces, sacrifice the Eurasian forces and wipe out as much of the ZAFT invasion forces as possible! Victory at any cost and to hell with the civilian body count! Fuckers!"

Cyclops system? He'd read about the term in several of the reports he'd read but he hadn't had a high enough clearance level to be told everything. All he'd learned was that it was a project backed by the Naturals to overcome the limitations of the neutron jammers that'd been planted all over Earth at the beginning of the war. If what the sensors were telling him was the complete version, then every Alliance base on the planet was a potential death trap for any ZAFT invasion force.

"What're we going to do?" he asked, unable to come up with an answer himself.

Silence was his response for several minutes but before he could follow his gut Heero spoke with strength in his tone.

"Nicol! I have a number of messages in the Wing Zero's database both from the Alliance and ZAFT. I need you to piece together two text messages: one for the Eurasian forces and the other for the invading ZAFT forces. Try to make them look as authentic as you can. Use the command authorizations I have but make sure they match the person you're having send the orders," Heero said in a manner that made it clear this was an order not a request. "Order both forces to withdraw from JOSH-A and to make every effort to get outside the ten kilometer blast radius. Also order them not to fire on the enemy forces but to prioritize escaping the range of the Cyclops system. Keep both messages short and to the point. Making them too wordy will increase the chances of a mistake making someone suspicious."

"Understood," he said as he went to work accessing the Gundam's database for the recorded communiqués.

What he saw astounded him as he recognized several of the messages as being important enough to require high level encryption in order to keep the contents from falling into the hands of the enemy. Yet here they were completely decrypted. Shaking off his surprise, he began to look for someone of sufficient rank for both sides that wouldn't be present in Alaska who he could have give the 'orders'. Once he had their names, ranks and authorization codes he followed Heero's recommendation to keep his orders short. In fact he worded them the same way with only minor differences to be in keeping with the format of the respective militaries' documents.

Basically it amounted to these being emergency orders, new information from the intelligence agencies and that they were to immediately withdraw to a distance of no closer than ten kilometers. All priority was to be given towards achieving this distance, with a temporary ceasefire to be in place until it was achieved.

Working as fast as his fingers could operate the controls of his cockpit, he went over each set of orders from top to bottom to make it as authentic looking as possible. He even programmed the communications system so that the orders would be transmitted on the right frequencies at the right strength level to further support the masquerade.

"Orders ready to send."

"Do it. If it works we should see results quickly," Heero said even as the Legged ship emerged from the waterfall entrance to JOSH-A.

Tapping the necessary commands, he watched as 'sent' icons popped up with both orders and then, like Heero, he looked at the view screens that displayed the mix of ZAFT and Alliance forces in conflict. For a minute it looked like even though he did his best in creating the false orders neither side could believe them since it required that they stop fighting their sworn enemies. However, just as he considered sending a set of follow up orders to force their obedience, he saw the ZAFT forces beginning to pull away from JOSH-A. Some were quicker to do this than others but before the second minute ticked by all ZAFT forces were in full retreat, with the land based assets opting to flee on their own rather than wait for pick up by airborne or sea based units. With their limited land speed, the odds of them getting more than ten kilometers away in time were terribly small. As for the Eurasian forces, they too began to move as swiftly as they could away from JOSH-A, with their land forces making use of whatever roads or routes they could to escape the blast radius.

The problem, however, came when some of the ZAFT forces began to open fire on the retreating Eurasian forces in clear defiance of the ceasefire part of his orders. Whether it was a result of the irrational hatred those individual soldiers had for Naturals or orders from the commanding officers, it didn't matter.

"Hate. They're infected with so much hate that they'll even defy orders to get their pound of flesh," Heero muttered with disappointed disgust. "Keep an eye on the Wing Zero's systems, Nicol. We're going in!"

With that the view from screens changed from one of hovering to one of accelerated advancement and, as they fully entered the battlefield, he sensed the Wing Zero reconfiguring itself into its more humanoid configuration.

Moments after the reconfiguration was complete Heero opened fire on the ZAFT forces but, even though he felt a moment of rejection at this act, magnification of the weapons fire's point of impact erased this feeling. His friend was not targeting vital areas that would result in the destruction of the mobile suits or navy vessels, but instead destroyed their weapons. Again and again the Wing Zero fired but never did its aim falter or fail in its goal of merely disarming those who chose to defy the ceasefire order. He hoped that this would be enough to reign in the remainder of the ZAFT forces and stop any more harm from being delivered to the betrayed Eurasian forces.

From an objective point of view, it did indeed do that.

Thanks to Heero's intervention with the Wing Zero, the ZAFT force were no longer concentrating the bulk of their firepower on the Eurasian.

Instead it was being directed at the Wing Zero itself.

"I think they're mad at us," Heero said with a bit of deadpan humor.

"No, really?" he asked rhetorically even as he smirked a bit at Heero's words.

Overall this situation was more positive than negative but it made him wonder if it would hinder their desire to see all those trapped in the Atlantic Federation's trap escape with their lives. If the ZAFT forces slowed their escape or diverted from the shortest course to escape the blast radius in order to destroy the Wing Zero, it could all be for nothing.

That could not be allowed.