I own nothing here depicted.

It was a journey of several days from the battle site to Nergal's polar facility. Everyone was tense, not knowing when the Gradosians would decide to drop in on them. With the Gradosians' demonstrated ability to make planet fall and return to space more or less at will, the Nadesico remained on constant alert status, the pilots ready to launch on a moment's notice.

Partly to distract himself, Toya spent much of his time getting to know the latest additions to the crew. David, unsurprisingly given his build, had been a student athlete prior to the fateful Mars trip, though he had none of the typical jock mentality. Roanne, also unsurprisingly, was more bookish, something that bled into his analytical fighting style.

Then there was Eiji. He proved more than willing to share stories of his homeworld; Grados, it seemed, was much like Earth in many ways, with huge stretches of plain, rolling hills, majestic mountain ranges, and deep oceans. Like Earth, and yet not Earth.

Many of his stories involved the enemy commander, Ahmos Gale. He was a longtime friend and mentor of Eiji's, and was in fact engaged to Eiji's sister Julia, which certainly explained the young half-breed's reluctance to fight the man.

Like Toya himself, Eiji also had a female following, albeit of a different nature. Toya had actually heard of Simone's family; Reflann, if he recalled correctly, was a wealthy power-broker in Eurasia. To her credit, though, Simone showed no sign of the all too common rich-girl attitude; she was courteous and friendly to everyone onboard. (Well, except for Gai Daigoji, but he had a knack for pushing people's buttons.)

Anna was quieter, but his own experience with Melua had long since taught Toya not to mistake that for weakness. The younger Eurasian girl (Russian, judging by the accent) had a solid core, and was bearing up surprisingly well for someone who'd just seen her teachers and all too many of her classmates massacred by alien invaders.

With the rest of the Martian population effectively wiped out, all Toya could really hope for was to be able to return to Earth with his new friends safely. And that enough time had passed (combined with the war against the PLANTs) for the UEFA to have lost interest in him and his machine.

Nergal Martian Research facility, 8 March, C.E. 70

Toya found himself on patrol duty, along with Ryoko's Aestivalis squad and the Combattler team, while Prospector and a few Nadesico techs investigated Nergal's installation, or what was left of it; while the Gradosians had not, so far as the Nergal team could tell, gotten anything useful, they'd made quite a mess.

"The Nadesico's birthplace, huh," he murmured, gazing at the wreckage on his monitor. "Kinda hard to believe."

"Whazzat?"

Toya jumped slightly; he'd forgotten about his copilot. "Sorry, Tenia, just talking to myself." He nodded at the crippled facility. "That's where they came up with the Nadesico. All that freaky tech; Professor Fressange said something about ancient ruins."

Something must have showed in his voice, because Tenia gave him a wry smile. "Don't like the Prof, do ya?"

"Not really," Toya admitted. "She gets on my nerves with that 'we're all gonna die anyway' attitude. Might not be so bad if she wasn't so damn smug about it, like she knows everything."

"Can't argue with that," Tenia conceded. "Wonder what she was talking to the Captain about before we launched."

Bellzelute's proximity alert chimed. Toya looked over his shoulder; the Combattler team's Battle Jet, back from a scouting run. "Who knows," he said, keying the comm. "I'm not even surprised anymore. Hey, Hyoma. Find anything?"

"Just a few wrecked Skullgunners," Hyoma said. "Eiji says he passed through here before he ran into the CCC survivors, so no mystery there."

"Roger that." Toya certainly wasn't complaining. Much as he liked his companions, he really didn't want another mystery to deal with. Too much change of it blowing up in their faces. "Any idea when Prospector's gonna wrap up? If there was anybody still alive here, we'd have found them by now."

"Got me," Hyoma said, shrugging. "Probably wants to salvage some gizmo or other; Professor Yotsuya back at the Connection is the same way sometimes."

Toya made a face. "Yeah, I figured something like that. I just wish they'd hurry up; this is boring."

"Sure is," Hyoma agreed. "And it'll keep being boring even when we finish here; Prospector and the Captain want to check out the Crocus, too."

Something that, in Toya's opinion, they should have done right after fighting off Gale's first attack. Ah, well, Yurika was the Captain, Toya was at least getting paid, and it kept him away from the military. He couldn't complain too much.

"Say, Toya," Hyoma said, "any plans for when we get back to the Earth Sphere?"

The question caught Toya off guard; he actually hadn't thought about it very much, focused as he'd been on simple survival. "I dunno," he admitted. "Things have been so intense that I haven't had time to think about it." He shrugged. "Not joining the UEFA, that's for sure; I couldn't stand them even before they tried to blow us out of space, not to mention their little war with the PLANTs."

"Yeah, I gotcha," Hyoma said, smiling wryly. "You've got plenty of time to think about it. Just remember, we've all got your back, whatever happens." The Battle Jet waggled its wings and sped off.

Toya watched the smaller mech go, Hyoma's final words echoing in his mind. Being part of such a close-knit group was still alien to him; aside from Kaname, he'd really never been all that close to anyone, keeping largely to himself out of habit. Even after Bellzelute had dropped in on him, Toya had kept himself closed off.

Now, however, it was finally starting to sink in. It wasn't like his school days, or even the immediate aftermath of the Jovian/Mechabeast attack, when he'd felt so resentful. With the Nadesico, he had people he could count on. People who would back him up if things went sour.

I'm not alone. His spirits buoyed considerably by the realization, Toya refocused on the task at hand. Suddenly it didn't seem quite so pointless.

Nadesico, cafeteria

Lunch time. Finally. Toya slumped gratefully into a chair. Prospector had only in the last half hour finished whatever it was he'd been doing in that Nergal facility, and the young pilot was both hungry and exhausted. Patrol duty had proved unexpectedly draining.

At least Akito was working the kitchen. Toya wearily requested a Martian Bowl, and listened with barely-concealed amusement as Tenia ordered what sounded like half the lunch menu. Akito, by now accustomed to the redhead's gargantuan appetite, took it in stride.

"Long day, huh?" Duo set his tray down across from Toya's.

"Gonna be even longer," Toya confirmed. "Captain still wants to check out the Crocus, and there's a damn Tulip in the area on top of that, so who knows when the Gradosians will show up."

Duo made a face at that. "Y'know, I kinda miss fighting OZ. At least then I didn't have to worry about some freaky mech comin' out of nowhere."

"Not to mention the UEFA's machines are no match for the Deathscythe," Toya said with a wry smile. "I've seen news footage of you guys in action, Duo. If ZAFT's anything like you, the UEFA doesn't stand a chance."

"Nice to be famous, I guess." Duo shrugged. "Dunno about ZAFT, though; they've got mobile suits, sure, but I don't think any of 'em are Gundams, and the UEFA is big."

Toya started to reply, paused as the cafeteria's main monitor came on. They making some kind of announcement? he wondered.

"3! 2! 1!" an unseen announcer said. There was a decidedly cartoonish explosion, followed by what looked like a caricature of Inez Fressange drawing some kind of poster across the screen, bearing the legend, "The How and Why of the Nadesico."

Okay, what? He thought he'd seen everything on the Nadesico, but this was a new one. Probably one of the Captain's latest brainstorms-

"Gather 'round, everyone!"

Toya's thoughts ground to a screeching halt. The poster had been replaced by an old-fashioned picket fence. Normal enough, or would have been had they not been on a battleship on freaking Mars, but Ruri Hoshino dressed like a farm girl, overalls and everything, was anything but normal. That was odd enough even by Nadesico standards, but Yurika Misumaru dressed in a rabbit costume was enough to put one in a brain lock.

Nor was Toya the only one feeling a bit off-balance. Izumi appeared unaffected, but she was such an oddball that it hardly mattered; everyone else in the cafeteria (save for Calvina Coulange, who seldom reacted to anything) wore varying expressions of befuddlement.

"Hi, and welcome to "The How and Why of the Nadesico," Yurika said brightly. "I'm Bunny Yurika, and this is Big Sis Ruri. We'll be telling you all about our ship, and what it can do."

Bunny Yurika? Big Sis Ruri? What?

"We've got a special guest on today," Yurika went on. "Our new friend, Eiji Asuka."

Well. Toya had been wondering why Eiji hadn't shown up for lunch. Now he knew why. The half-breed looked decidedly ill at ease, whether from simple stage fright or as a natural reaction to being caught up in one of Yurika Misumaru's schemes was impossible to tell.

"Man, look at Ruri," Duo said, shaking his head. "She sure doesn't look happy."

"When does she ever?" Toya pointed out. "Seriously, though, what the hell is up with this?"

"Got me," Duo said. "I'd heard they were putting something together for the crew, but this came outta nowhere. Looks like one of those 'edutainment' shows for little kids."

As good a description as any, Toya conceded. It certainly explained the rabbit costume.

Eiji was speaking now. Stuttering more like; he was a rather shy sort normally, and "Bunny Yurika" certainly wasn't helping matters. The skit went on for several more minutes, giving a reasonably coherent explanation of their current mission and the Nadesico's Phase Transition Engine, then cut off abruptly, replaced by a generic "technical difficulties" message.

Tenia, of course, found the whole thing hilarious. "That was great!" she said when she managed to stop laughing. "Man, did you see the look on Ruri's face?"

Toya had, in fact, and wondered how Yurika had managed to rope the stoic ops officer into something like that. Come to think of it, I don't want to know. I really don't want to know.

"It did get the point across," Katia noted, though her lips were twitching in an apparent effort to not follow Tenia into a fit of laughter. "And you have to admit, the crew needed something lighthearted, after all that's happened on Mars."

Akito and the CCC members especially, Toya conceded. For that matter, he himself had been more than a little shaken, even without any personal connection to the Red Planet. Something on the comedic side might've been just what the doctor ordered.

Backstage

"This is not what I had in mind," Prospector said.

Inez Fressange shrugged. "The Captain thought we should try to keep morale up, though I admit her methods came as something of a surprise. It did get the message across."

"Be that as it may, it was far too frivolous." Prospector glanced at Yurika, still clad in the rabbit outfit, and shook his head. "I may have to trim the budget."

Yurika started to protest, then seemed to think better of it. As captain, she knew as well as anyone how carefully they had to manage resources, especially in light of what had happened on Mars. Maybe she had gotten a little carried away with her latest idea. Maybe.

Ruri, of course, had only one thing to say on the matter. "Idiot."

"At any rate, we have what we came for on Mars," Prospector said, all business again. "It's time to leave before the Gradosians attack us again."

"There is one other thing," Admiral Fukube put in. "Call the crew together -once you've finished here, that is," he amended, seeing Yurika and Ruri still in costume. "We'll discuss it on the bridge."

Bridge

"All right," Prospector said. "We have basically everything we came for; with the Martian populace gone," here he cast a genuinely sorrowful look at Akito and the CCC survivors, "there is no reason to linger, and at least one very good reason to depart ASAP. Before that, however, there is one last issue." He nodded to Fukube. "Admiral?"

The old man stepped forward and activated the main monitor, bringing up the image of a derelict UEFA escort ship. "This is the Crocus," he said. "As you may recall, she was swallowed by a Tulip during our battle to escape the Earth Sphere, and ended up here."

"Yeah, I remember," Noal said, frowning. "And it's been bugging me. From the Earth Sphere clear to Mars?"

"Allow me to explain," Inez Fressange put in. She seemed to like saying that. "Our theory is the Tulips twist time and space in some fashion, thus allowing the Jovians -or is it Gradosians- to deploy their forces wherever and whenever they wish."

"Must be a fairly recent development," Kosuke said. The youngest member of the Combattler team adjusted his glasses. "Everything that's come out of a Tulip since the attacks on Earth began has been unmanned; we didn't see any SPTs until we met Eiji here."

Fressange nodded. "Though only a theory, it does suggest there is something about the process that is harmful to living tissue."

"Explains why she's a derelict," Duo said, shivering. "The whole crew must've. . . ." He trailed off, visibly trying not to imagine what it had been like on that ship.

"Precisely," Fressange agreed. "Likely something new, as Kosuke said, and thus far unfit for manned use, unless Eiji knows differently." She looked at him inquiringly.

Eiji shook his head. "As I said before, I don't know anything about the Tulips," he told her. "If they were indeed developed on Grados, it was with the utmost secrecy. Gale certainly never let anything slip about them."

"Even if he knew, he wouldn't have said anything," Jun said. "I know he's your friend, Eiji, but he's also a professional, at least from what we've seen." Eiji grimaced slightly, but nodded.

Fukube cleared his throat. "In any case, before we leave Mars we need to determine just what happened to the Crocus," he said. "I will personally lead a boarding party to determine the ship's status, and see if we can find out what exactly happened in her final moments."

Toya frowned slightly at that. He wasn't exactly military, but he still thought it a bit strange that the expedition's commander would take such a direct personal risk. Granted Fukube was retired, else he wouldn't have been with Nergal in the first place, but it was still very strange.

"The Blue Earth will carry the Admiral and his party to the Crocus," Calvina said briskly. "As our most effective transatmospheric units, Layzner, Buldy, and Baybull will provide escort. All other units will remain on alert until departure."

That makes sense. With the Gradosians capable of appearing virtually anywhere, keeping their machines ready to launch on a moment's notice was an obvious precaution even to an amateur like Toya.

"Once our investigation is complete, we'll return to the Nadesico, at which point we leave Mars," Fukube finished. "Any questions?"

"I have one, but it's not about the mission. At least, not directly," Akito said quietly.

Toya looked at him sidelong. He'd gotten to know Akito fairly well during the journey, and the young Martian's tone seemed a little bit odd. Normal enough on the surface, but there was something beneath that made Toya uneasy.

If Fukube noticed, he gave no sign. "What is it?"

"I want to know who was in command of the UEFA force during the battle," Akito said, and there was definitely a swirl of emotion beneath his seemingly even tone. "The battle that destroyed the Utopia Colony."

Yurika gave him a look of confusion. "Why, it was the Admiral here," she said, clearly not sure what her friend was getting at. "Everyone knows that."

"That's what I thought." Without warning, Akito's fist lashed out, catching Fukube in the jaw and sending him reeling back. "Because of this bastard, my home, my family, all of it gone!" He lunged forward, lurched to a halt when Duo and Daisaku grabbed his arms. "Because of him, I lost everything!"

Even Calvina Coulange was visibly taken aback by the outburst. Akito Tenkawa complained a lot, but he wasn't given to fits; now he was practically foaming at the mouth, screaming with rage. He managed to jerk one arm free, only for Noal to grab it and yank him back.

"Well," Prospector said, "that was certainly unexpected. Are you all right, Admiral?"

Fukube rubbed his jaw, wincing slightly. "It's minor," he said, gazing hard at Akito. "What matters is how we deal with the situation."

Toya looked at the girls. Melua was visibly concerned, Katia was frowning, and Tenia just looked perplexed. They all knew one thing, though: this was not going to end well.

Derelict UEFA escort ship Crocus

Despite Noal's inevitable complaints, he and Aki ended up accompanying Fukube's party onto the derelict UEFA warship, the Admiral citing a need for experienced space personnel (and Noal's military background, to his extreme annoyance). As jobs like that were one of the main reasons the OSDG existed, not to mention their contract with Nergal, there was really nothing to be done about it.

Noal's attitude was downright cheerful compared to Akito's, though. The cook/Aestivalis pilot was all but literally dragging his feet as they cautiously made their way down the icy corridors, searching for clues to what had happened during the ship's final moments. Part of him supposed he was lucky not to be in the Nadesico's brig; the rest of him honestly didn't care. This wasn't what he'd signed up for.

"It's still in relatively good shape," Aki commented, running a gloved hand along one bulkhead. "There's some battle damage, but nowhere near enough to really disable the ship."

"Must've been whatever that Tulip thing does," Noal said sourly; he was just glad they hadn't yet found any bodies. "Couldn't have been good for the crew."

Akito, heretofore silent, let out a brief grunt. "Maybe they all got teleported out or something," he muttered, glancing about uneasily. "I don't even know what I'm doing here."

"I believe this is to make up for attempting to assault me, Mister Tenkawa," Fukube said; apparently the old man still had good ears. "Your behavior, while to a degree understandable, will not be tolerated here. You're fortunate not to be in the brig."

"I know, I know," Akito grumbled.

They reached the bridge shortly after; as with the rest of the ship, it appeared completely deserted. Noal muttered something about the Marie Celeste, which did little to improve Akito's mood; he was twitchy enough without listening to stories of ghost ships.

"Systems are mostly operable, but the last few minutes in the records are scrambled," Aki said, frowning. "I don't think we're going to learn much here, Admiral."

"I'm not surprised," Fukube admitted. "If Ms Fressange is correct about the nature of a Tulip, and the Crocus's very presence suggests she is, then it's to be expected the effect would wreak havoc on recording equipment." He tugged on his mustache. "Still, there may be something of use. . . ."

Before any of the party could reply, the ship abruptly seemed to heave. The cause was anything but a mystery; even Akito was experienced enough to know what such a jolt had to mean.

"Gradosians incoming," Aki said tensely; she'd managed to bring up a radar monitor. "Unmanned weapons and several SPTs. We need to get back to the Blue Earth!"

"Don't need to tell me twice," Noal said, sprinting for the hatch with Akito on his heels. "C'mon, Admiral!"

"You go on ahead," Fukube said. "I'm staying here."

Aki paused at the hatch. "Admiral-"

"I've made up my mind," Fukube told her. "Now go!"

Martian surface

Toya was on patrol with Tenia in the second seat when he saw them. A bunch of Battas and Skullgunners, along with at least two Katonbos and what had to be SPTs, dropping out of the sky not far from his position.

"Nadesico, this is Toya," he said, peripherally aware of Tenia raising the Orgone Extractor output to combat levels. "We've got Gradosians incoming, unmanned weapons and SPTs both."

"We have them on scanners," Ruri said calmly. "Deploying our remaining units now; the Blue Earth will be back within five minutes. Return to defensive position."

"Roger that." Toya was already moving; for all Bellzelute's power, he really didn't feel like taking on that many enemies all by himself.

He arrived just in time to see the Blue Earth swoop in, its cargo hatch opening to disgorge Akito's red Aestivalis. The other Aestis had assumed a loose screening formation, with Combattler combining behind them and their own SPTs to one side. Mazinger Z stood near the front, the more fragile Aphrodite A close to Combattler; while there was no sign of the Gundam Deathscythe, that meant little.

The Gradosians had stopped a short distance away; catching sight of the Greimkaiser just behind the screening formation, Toya suspected it had something to do with Eiji and that Gradosian officer, Gale.

His suspicion was confirmed a moment later. "Eiji, can you hear me?"

"I hear you, Gale," the younger pilot said. There was a hint of sadness in his voice, Toya noted, but his tone was nonetheless firm and unyielding.

"It doesn't have to come to this," Gale said. Alien though he was, the pain was clearly audible. "You still have a chance to redeem yourself, Eiji. Please, surrender."

There was a brief pause. "I accept," Eiji said at last, "as long as the invasion of Earth is called off."

A noble move, certainly. Giving himself up in exchange for his friends' lives and the safety of his father's home planet; even if he didn't necessarily face execution (something Toya frankly doubted, despite this Gale's assurances), he was at the very least giving up his freedom and his chance to see Earth.

Too bad it was unlikely to work.

"What does he think he's playing at?" a harsh female voice said, to no one's surprise. "The invasion has already been decided on by the homeworld; there's no need to attempt to reason with a traitor."

"Enough," Gale said. "Eiji, you still have a chance, but it will go hard with you."

Eiji sighed. "I've made my choice, Gale. I'll get my friends to Earth, and put a stop to this insane war." Layzner's rifle slowly came up. "Even if I have to fight you to do it."

"So be it," Gale said quietly. "All units advance. Capture Layzner and destroy the rest. Do," he added warningly, "accept surrenders."

Ryoko made a disgusted sound. "Who didn't see this one coming?" she demanded rhetorically. "Formation Fragrant Olive! We're going in hot!"

Toya already had Bellzelute in motion. Disinclined to waste energy on small fry, his brought the Shot Launchers up, spitting destruction at a pair of Battas that got in his way. Then he was past, neatly evading heavy beam fire from a Katonbo and reducing a Skullgunner to debris.

If we can just beat them back here, we can get off Mars, he thought distantly. Eiji said they're just an advance force.

Which, unfortunately, did not make them helpless. An SPT -a Braver, he thought- managed to slip past Toya's defenses; even as he cursed Bellzelute's lack of melee weaponry, however, the Gradosian machine was struck dead center by a yo-yo of all things and exploded.

"You okay, Toya?" Hyoma called, already engaging a trio of Skullgunners.

"I am now. Thanks, Hyoma, I owe you one." Not waiting for a reply, Toya eyed the nearest of four Katonbos. "Tenia, O Rifle A mode!"

"Comin' right up!" the redhead acknowledged.

The unmanned unit's Distortion Field may well have stopped the crystalline arrow, had Akito and Gai not come from almost directly above and struck with their "Double Gekigan Flare" trick in the instant before Toya's attack hit home. One messy explosion later, and they were past.

Come on, come on.

"Gale, please," Eiji pleaded, dodging the Greimkaiser's beam attacks. Like his own, they were targeted to disable . . . for now. "Why are you doing this? The people of Earth have done nothing to us, yet you're trying to exterminate them!"

His old friend sighed. "We have no desire to exterminate the Earthlings, but look at them!" He gestured at the Nadesico and its attendant mobile weapons. "Those weren't made to defend against us, Eiji. They were built for wars in this system, wars the Earthlings fight among themselves! Your friends must have told you about the war that just broke out in the Earth Sphere!"

"They did," Eiji conceded. "That has to stop, too. This is no time for Earthlings to be fighting each other."

"And that's why we're doing this," Gale said. He let off a shot, missed. "If the Earthlings aren't restrained, either they'll destroy themselves or eventually they will become a direct threat to Grados. They have to be controlled, if only to save them from themselves."

Eiji gritted his teeth. He could well imagine how his new friends, especially David, Toya, and Ryoko, would have reacted to that line. Probably blast the Greimkaiser to bits, and much as it pained him, Eiji wouldn't have blamed them.

"You're wrong," he ground out, managing to graze the Greimkaiser's right leg with a beam shot. "And is this really any different? The people of Mars wiped out, just because they can't stop fighting among themselves and might someday threaten Grados? How are we any different, then!?"

The question seemed to catch Gale off guard, judging by the sudden, brief hesitation. "You'll understand in time," was the reply. "You can't win, Eiji, not like this."

"Don't be so sure," Eiji countered. He took aim at the Greimkaiser's right shoulder, started to squeeze the trigger, missed as something impacted Layzner just as he fired. "What-"

A Dimage, far too close. "Commander, are you all right!?"

"Karla!" Gale said. "Wait, you're too-"

Too late. An ominous black form had appeared seemingly out of thin air. The scythe it bore hacked down, severing one of the Dimage's arms, then swept sideways, removing both legs in one smooth move.

"Damn!" Karla snarled. "Commander, please forgive me." Her machine pulled away, shaking and sparking.

"And don't come back!" Duo yelled at the retreating SPT.

With the Dimage out of the fight, Eiji was free to focus on Gale. He snapped off three quick shots, grazing the Greimkaiser but doing little real damage. Gale's return fire missed, albeit barely; Eiji may have been inexperienced, but Layzner had greater overall performance than even a Greimkaiser. His next attack struck home, blasting cleanly through the Greimkaiser's right wrist.

Gale fell back slightly, cursing. "This isn't over yet. Order the second wave to attack!" Greimkaiser began to rise, but was struck by a beam from behind. "What the!?"

The second wave had arrived, all right, led by a very familiar SPT. "Gotcha!" the pilot shouted.

"Gosterro!?" Gale said, incredulous. "What are you doing here!? You should still be under arrest for violating orders in the last engagement!"

"You think I care?" Gosterro sneered. "I'm just here to bag my trophy. Oh, I just can't wait to see the look on Julia's face when you finds out you both bought it here!" Laughing harshly, he fired again, striking the Greimkaiser three more times. None of the hits were catastrophic (probably Gosterro playing), but it was enough to immobilize Gale's machine.

"Gale!" Eiji shouted.

There was a faint groan. "Wha . . . where am I?"

"Bastard!" Ryoko paused where she'd just scrapped a Braver. "Shooting up your own ally like that!? And you call us barbarians!?"

Gosterro snorted derisively. "There are no allies or enemies to me, little girl. You're all just prey."

"Why, you-!" Apparently the "little girl" line had struck a nerve. "You'll pay for that!"

Eiji, meanwhile, was still anxiously watching the Greimkaiser. He breathed a sigh of relief when he saw movement in the cockpit. Gale's still alive, thank goodness. He keyed his comm. "Everyone, please! We have to protect Gale!"

"Are you crazy!?" Akito demanded. "He's the one who attacked Mars in the first place!"

"He's also been disabled by one of his own people," Aki pointed out. "If we help him now, maybe he'll see that Earthlings aren't as barbaric as he thought."

Prospector made a contemplative sound. "A valid argument, I suppose. What say you, Captain?"

"Well, he is Eiji's friend, and it's not like he's a threat right now, with his machine in that kind of shape," Yurika said. "Help him now, and he'll owe us one. Dunno about you, but I can't see Eiji making friends with a homicidal psychopath."

"I agree," Toya put in. "We're not the murderers the Gradosians are."

"All right," Yurika said. "Everyone, protect Mister Gale's machine, and feel free to blast that Gosterro guy to bits!"

The tightness in Eiji's chest eased. "Thank you."

Bellzelute and Ryoko's Aestivalis led the charge. The Gradosian unmanned weapons were caught flat-footed; apparently whatever AI they used took a moment to adapt to abrupt changes in enemy behavior patterns. Whatever the reason, brief though the window was, it was enough for the pair to create an opening.

One their comrades were quick to exploit. "I'm sick of you bastards!" Koji snarled. "Die! IRON CUTTER!"

The massive form of Combattler V was right on his heels, what looked like a pair of spikes in hand as it took aim at a Katonbo. "Let's go, everyone!" Hyoma said crisply. "Super Electromagnetic Spin!" Effectively transformed into a giant drill, the combined mech split the Katonbo in half amidships, leaving the remains to fall to the bleak Martian surface.

We can do this! Toya thought. Just a little bit farther!

A trio of Bravers cut in front of him, but apparently David Rutherford had other ideas; before the Gradosians or Toya himself could react, Baybull's laser rifle spat hard light, scrapping the SPTs. "We're not going down that easily!" the CCC survivor shouted.

"Thanks, David," Toya said, even as he threw the Bellzelute into an evasive loop. "Tenia, O Rifle N mode!"

"Right-o!" Bellzelute's primary shell weapon came up, blowing apart a Skullgunner that had managed to close with them.

For some reason, it was apparently enough to send Gosterro into a rage. His Bullgren abruptly surged forward, spitting laser fire with wild abandon. Even his own subordinates scattered; a lone Batta, slow to react, was caught in the fusillade and exploded.

"Damn, what a nutcase!" Tenia said; even she was taken aback by the sudden carnage. "Seriously, Toya, if we don't take him down he's gonna wipe out his own people!"

"You got that right," Toya agreed. Angry though he was, that didn't mean he wanted every last one of them dead. Eiji was half Gradosian, after all, and Toya Shiun was no Gosterro. "Eiji, let's take this creep."

"I'm with you," the half-breed said, Layzner appearing on Bellzelute's right flank. "For Earth and Grados alike, Gosterro can't be allowed to live."

Gosterro was good, of course; even if Toya hadn't known from the last battle, the fact that he was assigned an obviously higher-performance unit than standard would have been a giveaway. Good enough to give Eiji alone trouble, despite Layzner also being a high-performance SPT.

Against Layzner and Toya's unique machine, it was a much different contest. Bellzelute was larger, but it was also relatively lightweight, and easily as fast as most SPTs. Perhaps more importantly, Gosterro was easily angered, to the extent that a minor setback was enough to send him out of control, further degrading his performance.

"You're pathetic, Gosterro," Toya said, deliberately goading the Gradosian. "Slaughtering helpless innocents and then shooting one of your own people in the back, and you call us barbarians?" His lip curled. "You're what we Earthlings call a jackal. You're a scavenger, not a hunter."

"Say that again when your head's a trophy on my wall, monkey!" Gosterro retorted, already visibly losing his cool. "Yours and Eiji's both!"

Keep going, Toya thought. Keep prodding him, get him to make a mistake, and you've got him! "You don't have what it takes to bring us down, pal," he said harshly, focusing on dodging the other's shots, knowing he didn't dare allow that Bullgren into melee range. "Gale couldn't, and he's a better man than you'll ever be."

That did it. Gosterro let out an incoherent roar, and his movements grew erratic. Layzner and Bellzelute pounced, splitting apart and catching the Bullgren in a pincer. A hail of beam and missile fire erupted from both machines; while far from all of it connected, Gosterro still having just enough presence of mind to dodge, enough got through to cripple his SPT.

"Bastards!" he screamed, coming to his senses (such as they were) and pulling back. "You'll pay for this!"

Talk about your cliché threats, Toya thought, slumping in his seat. He was drenched in sweat. "We . . . we won another one," he gasped out.

"That's right!" Tenia said, exhausted herself but still able to give him her trademark grin. "See, Toya? As long as we stick together, we can do it."

Toya took several deep breaths before replying. "Yeah, I'm actually starting to believe it."

"Gradosian units retreating," Ruri said calmly. "Only Mister Gale's command unit remains."

One last issue. The Greimkaiser was disabled, but there was no telling how Gale would react, assuming he was still alive. Eiji's friend or not, he was still a ranking officer in the Gradosian invasion force.

A faint groan came over the comm system. "Where . . . am I?"

"Gale! You're alive!" Eiji said, immensely relieved.

The Gradosian sounded a bit groggy, but otherwise unharmed. "Yes, I must have fainted. So," his voice took on a thoughtful tone, "you and your friends held Gosterro off."

"That's right, Gale," Eiji said. "They protected you, even though you're their enemy, just because I asked them to. That's the kind of people they are."

"For your sake. . . ." Gale trailed off, seeming to consider the possibilities.

"More SPTs approaching," Ruri interrupted. "Four of them."

Toya swore under his breath, hands tightening on the controls, then frowned, seeing the new arrivals taking up position around the crippled Greimkaiser. Only four? No way could they beat us like that. And that's no attack formation.

"Hold your fire," Gale said. "Earth forces commander, I am Commander Ahmos Gale. In light of the fact that you protected me against my own treacherous subordinate, I am giving you this opportunity to surrender. You will not be mistreated."

A tempting offer, but one Toya knew Yurika would never accept. Not even her own father had managed that, so he was unsurprised at her reply. "This is the captain of the High-Mobile Battleship Nadesico, Yurika Misumaru," she said. "I'm sorry, Commander Gale, but I have to refuse. We're going back to Earth, and we'll be taking Eiji and the others with us."

"Understood," Gale said. He sounded disappointed, but not at all surprised. "Just as I would expect from a proud young soldier. Very well. In ten minutes we will launch another attack, one you have no chance of surviving. Should you change your mind within that time, ask Eiji to contact me. That is all."

Toya closed his eyes, seriously wondering what would hit them next.

Gradosian assault ship/SPT carrier, Gale's quarters

"Commander, with all due respect, what is the meaning of this?" Karla said. "Our orders were to destroy the traitor and the Earthlings! There was nothing about the possibility of taking them prisoner."

Gale stood facing the room's window, hands clasped behind his back. "They didn't have to do what they did at the end, Karla. Yet they did it anyway. They risked themselves to protect me, the enemy commander, just because Eiji asked them to. Should I ignore the fact that they saved my life, when my own subordinate would have taken it?"

"Sir, why. . . ." Karla had difficulty answering that. She had no love for the Earthlings, but she was no fonder of Gosterro, and was very loyal to her commander on a personal basis.

Gale turned to face her. "Karla, what do you think of them?"

"What do I think?" The question was unexpected. "They're a traitor and a bunch of Earthlings, sir. Nothing more."

"Is that so?" There was no condemnation in Gale's voice, only a hint of contemplation. "I think they're people, just like us."

"Sir?" Karla couldn't believe her ears. Eiji was one thing, but for Ahmos Gale to speak at all favorably of Earthlings was difficult to believe.

Gale squared his shoulders. "No matter. We recommence operations in ten minutes. Make certain all units are prepared, and," his voice hardened, "Gosterro is not to participate in this attack. If he launches anyway, shoot him down."

"Sir!" Karla saluted; this was the Gale she knew. "As ordered, Commander!" she said crisply.

Nadesico, bridge

The mood was decidedly more somber than before. At least in their last battle they'd completely driven the Gradosians away, bought themselves some genuine breathing space. This time it had gotten them nothing but a brief reprieve.

Ten minutes.

"Yurika, what the hell were you thinking!?" Akito demanded. "If we'd taken out their command unit, we could have gotten away!"

Yurika shook her head, sighing. "I'm sorry, Akito, but I can't fight like that. Mister Gale -Eiji's friend, remember- was helpless, almost killed by his own people. I couldn't just leave someone like that, not even an enemy."

"Besides, even if we'd killed him -or just let him die, if there's a difference- there's no guarantee they wouldn't have attacked again anyway, possibly without giving us time to catch our breath," Prospector pointed out. "At least Commander Gale gave us a reprieve."

"Some reprieve!" Koji grumbled. "Ten damn minutes, what good does that do us?"

"It gives us a chance to figure out what to do next," Yurika said, and turned to Ruri. "What's the status of the Gradosian force, Ruri?"

The pale-haired ops officer looked blank for a moment, apparently consulting with Omoikane. "They're on the move," she said. "Far more than we've faced before. Orders, Captain?"

Yurika sighed. "We don't have a choice, do we?"

"We could always surrender," Simone put in.

Everyone not otherwise occupied spun to face her. "Simone!?" David said incredulously.

"There are more of them than we could possibly fight off, even with the Nadesico's power and all our mobile weapons," she pointed out. "And Commander Gale did say we wouldn't be mistreated."

Akito, unsurprisingly, wasn't buying it. "And why the hell should we believe that, after what they did to Mars!?" he retorted.

"I have to agree with Akito," Inez Fressange said. "I do believe Commander Gale's word to be trustworthy, but meaning no offense to Eiji, there is no guarantee he will be able to fulfill it. It's entirely possible he would be overruled by higher authority."

Eiji grimaced. "Ms Fressange is right," he said. "Gale would never lie to me, but Admiral Gresco is in command of the main invasion force, and he's a major hard-liner. He'd probably spare me if Gale asked him to, but the rest of you would be executed."

Silence greeted his pronouncement. None of them were really surprised after what had been done to Mars, but it was still unwelcome news. To come so far, overcome so much, only to die whether they fought or surrendered, was more than they could take.

Toya clenched his fists, glaring at the main monitor. Damn them! he thought viciously. Gosterro, Gresco, the Jovian Lizards, damn them all!

"We're not giving up," Yurika said, raising her head. "Ruri, deploy the Field and charge the Gravity Blast." There was no trace of her usual ebullience. "Let's show them what Earthlings can do when we're backed into a corner!"

Noal whistled softly. "I take back what I said about her," he said quietly to Aki. "She's really impressive in a crunch."

"Activating Distortion Field," Ruri said. "Charging Gravity Blast." She paused. "Captain, the Crocus is moving."

Yurika grinned. "The Admiral must've gotten it working! Should be-" The ship bucked violently, cutting her off.

"What the hell was that!?" Duo yelped. "They already in range?"

"Negative," Ruri said, a hint of surprise leaking through. "That was . . . a shell from the Crocus."

"What!?" Yurika said. "Megumi, get me the Crocus!" She glared at the image on the screen. "Admiral, what's going on!?"

Fukube was unfazed. "This is a threat, Captain. Enter the Tulip, or the next shot will be a direct hit."

Time seemed to stop, everyone staring at the former UEFA officer in disbelief. He was the expedition commander, yet he'd just attacked them, demanding they do something that was, as far as they knew, completely insane.

"Admiral, you can't be serious," Yurika said. "We'd never survive that! And what about you?" Her voice faltered. "You can't just stay behind! We- I still need you!"

"You've already learned everything I can teach you." Fukube sounded more resigned than anything else. Resigned, and very tired. "The rest is up to you."

Akito snorted derisively. "Yeah, right," he said, rolling his eyes. "He's just evading his responsibility, just like he did back then."

"Think what you want, Mister Tenkawa, I don't blame you." Fukube closed his eyes. "What remains is now yours, Captain. The Nadesico, and your own potential. Use it wisely, all of you. Seize the-" His image vanished, replaced by static, and the ship heaved again.

"Crocus destroyed," Ruri said, seemingly unaffected. Toya was starting to suspect otherwise. "Gradosians incoming."

Yurika looked stricken. "No, Admiral!" She swallowed, and seemed to banish the grief, at least for now. "Minato, ahead full speed! We're going in!"

"Roger," Minato said crisply. "Ahead full speed!"

"Battas, SPTs, and at least one Katonbo closing," Ruri said. "Time to intercept is less than our ETA for the Tulip."

A race. Toya closed his eyes, the bitter taste of helplessness in his mouth. Previously he'd at least been able to fight back; for all his fear, Bellzelute's power, the girls' help, and his own natural talent had gotten him though alive. Now, all he could do was wait and watch; even if he launched, he'd only be left behind.

Dammit.

"I'll head out in Layzner," Eiji said, visibly steeling himself. "If I act as a decoy, it should buy enough time to get through."

"No way, Eiji!" David said instantly. "We've gone through all this together; no way are we just leaving you behind!"

Eiji shook his head. "What choice do we have? There are too many to just blast our way through-"

"Aestivalis launching," Ruri interrupted. "It's Mister Yamada's unit."

Akito's head snapped around. "Gai!?"

Laughter came over the bridge speakers. "Looks like it's time for Gai Daigoji to bail you out again!" he said, sounding like he was having the time of his life.

"Gai, what are you doing!?" Akito said, eyes wide with surprise and more than a little fear.

"Saving the ship, and you with it," Gai said, laughing again. "Just like in Gekiganger! I'll detonate this Artillery Frame; that should slow 'em down enough." A brief pause. "All right, Gradosian bastards! Time for Gai Daigoji's ultimate attack!"

Yet another explosion rocked the ship. "He did it," Ruri said, sounding faintly impressed. "Gradosian forces are slowing."

"That'll teach ya!" Gai said triumphantly. "Mission accomplished! Just need to send out the 0G Frame, and I'm free with a Cross Attack!"

"Say what?" Uribatake gave him a perplexed look. "I dunno what a Cross Attack is, but we can't just send a new frame out like that, not under these conditions!"

"Huh?"

Something exploded behind the trapped Aestivalis, and the comm image vanished, replaced by a distant view of the ship Gai had disabled. His Aestivalis was nowhere in sight.

"Gai!" Akito cried, anguished. "No, Gaaaaaaaaiiiiiiiiii!"

Dammit! Toya's gut twisted as though someone had twisted a knife in it. After all we've been through, he's gone just like that! Damn!

"Gradosian force falling behind," Ruri said. "Approaching Tulip; ETA thirty seconds."

Toya looked up as the monitor shifted to a forward view. He saw the Tulip, was but more concerned about the girls huddled around him. It gave him an odd sense of calm, really, as though nothing could truly touch them.

"I know I haven't been the nicest," he said, softly enough that only they could hear, "but I'm really glad I met you."

"So are we," Katia assured him, smiling. "You've stuck with us this whole time, Toya; that means more than I can say."

Melua, still a bit on the shy side, touched his arm. "It's thanks to you that we were able to come this far."

"And it's not over yet," Tenia said. "Those Gradosian bastards haven't seen the last of us."

The crazy thing was, Toya actually agreed with Tenia. Even here, staring into the kaleidoscopic maw of a Tulip, he was oddly convinced she was right. Somehow, he knew they would survive, that the Tulip wouldn't kill them. They were going to make it back.

It's not over yet, he thought, a corner of his mind praying for the soul of Gai Daigoji. This is just the beginning.

The world went white.

Author's note: Still not as fast as I'd like, nor as good as I had hoped, but it's done. With the Mars arc out of the way, perhaps I can speed things up a little.

Just a couple of things to make note of. I am in fact taking complaints of excessive references to weirdness to heart, but it was pretty much impossible to avoid in the case of the "How and Why of the Nadesico" skits, as they're considered decidedly bizarre even in-universe. Also related to that, I did not gloss over the skit out of malice -I rather enjoy Martian Successor Nadesico- but because I found writing it somewhat awkward; comedy of that sort is not my strong suit.

Anyway. Next, they finally return to the Earth Sphere, and get a sneak peak at one of my all-time favorite anime protagonists. Until then.