Sorry this was late; I didn't get access to a computer after class until now, after the FNM. That's two weeks in a row I've been late...

The change last chapter was not caught by anyone; or rather, it was caught by everyone and by no one. The detail was Kira's fight with the GINN, which held its own very well against him. That's the most important difference, the reduction in power disparity between Gundams and non-Gundams, even "outdated" GINNs. Moving on:

Here it is, and about time too. I've been wanting to answer some of the questions readers have had, and this is the chapter that does it. This chapter has a few introductions to it; the OCs have finally started stepping into the story. I don't intend for them to steal the spotlight from Kira and Lacus (though they'll probably do that to Athrun, but we've over my dislike of him, so that's no surprise), but they will recieve some focus like any significant supporting character would, and it will be a bit up and down, with an OC being important for one arc, then drifting out for awhile (think what Waltfeld did in canon, being central to the Desert Arc, but then disappearing until the final 10 episodes or so).

So, now that I've scared off everyone who goes "OC automatically equals Mary Sue/worst fanfics in existence," let's get on with it!

Disclaimer: Standard disclaimers apply. All original characters are either owned by me or by Solid Shark, used with permission.


Phase Eight: The Choice

February 11th, Cosmic Era 71


The Archangel

The vessels of the Earth Forces 8th Orbital Fleet glided forward through space silently, waiting for the Archangel to join their ranks.

"Turn about one-hundred and eighty degrees," ordered Murrue. "Reduce speed another twenty percent, and match velocity with the 8th Fleet."

As Murrue ordered, the Archangel turned a hundred and eighty degrees, now facing the same direction as the 8th Fleet. The engines fired, countering the powerful warship's previous momentum, and beginning to move it forward, matching the velocity with the fleet as the flagship, the Agamemnon-class carrier Menelaos, sidled up alongside it.

"Is this really a good idea?" asked Arnold, turning the pilot's chair slightly to look back at Murrue. "For us to cruise alongside the Menelaos?"

"Admiral Halberton most likely wants to get a better look at the ship," said Murrue with a slight smile. "He has informed us that, later on, he will be paying us a personal visit. As you may know, he was the biggest supporter of the development project that produced this ship and the G-weapons."


"Civilians are going to be transferred to the Menelaos," Mir informed her friends. "There'll be a shuttle waiting for them to transport them to Orb." Since she'd manned communications, it was only natural that she knew that information.

"You said 'them'," commented Kuzzey. "What about us?"

"We'll be disembarking too, of course," said Mir, looking down at herself briefly.

"Yeah," said Tolle, "we may be wearing these uniforms, but we're still civilians, after all."

"What about the Sakura?" asked Sai curiously.

"They didn't say," replied Mir. "It'll probably be retained by the Earth Forces, but they may actually send it down to Orb with us."

Flay looked away, her thoughts whirling.

She'd seen all of this now… she'd gotten a mere glimpse of war, and it was terrifying; it actually left her wondering what might happen to the Earth Forces crew. She was worried about what might happen to them without the volunteers around to help anymore.


The Gamow

"How?" muttered Athrun, examining the footage from their last battle with the Archangel, the records taken from every source available—the Gamow, the Duel, the Buster, the Blitz and the Aegis. He had reexamined it from every angle, stilled and further examined specific images, studied it for hours on end… and still, he couldn't figure out what had happened.

The battle had been going in their favor. Sure, they were having trouble, but when Nicol reached the Archangel, it should've been over.

As it turned out, it was. Only not the way they'd expected.

The sudden shifts in the two enemy mobile suits were frightening. The pilots moved like they had eyes in the backs of their heads, sped about as if G-forces had no affect on them—even for a Coordinator, those maneuvers when the white one had dodged the Duel's shots from behind were tight and sudden enough to have caused trouble.

They'd danced almost literal circles around the four elite ZAFT Reds, each taking on two of them and completely trouncing them, inflicting heavy damage along the way.

Yzak was still recovering in the infirmary—the bullets fired into the damaged section of armor detonated, the explosions reaching the cockpit and blasting shrapnel into his face, shattering his visor as it did so; only an extra security block designed to slam shut when the cockpit was threatened with exposure had saved Yzak from the vacuum of space.

That was the only pilot injury other than pride, but there had been heavy mobile suit damage as well; in some regards, the Aegis's lost legs and head were pretty light compared to the others.

ZAFT had been working on mobile suit-scale beam weaponry for some time, so they'd been pretty quick in reverse-engineering the basics, though it was unlikely they could mass deploy them without a new model—if Athrun recalled right, they were powered via manipulator plug-ins, so ZAFT would need to either devise a new model with the plug-ins or start modifying pre-existing models with the plug-ins, as was the case with the CGUE DEEP Arms.

What this meant for the Le Creuset Team was that they could easily replace beam rifles and beam sabers… but the weaponry for the Blitz and the Buster were a little different.

Both of the Buster's rifles had been lost, and while they could easily enough replace the basic rifle and gun-launcher, they hadn't managed to replicate the combo weapon technology, meaning Dearka would be unable to use the sniper rifle or shotgun configurations.

The Blitz was possibly even more severe—its shield had been its main weapon, and they hadn't gotten everything together to reproduce it, so it would have to go into combat armed with conventional rifles and sabers. Since Nicol was right-handed though, he wouldn't be able to use a conventional shield and weapon simultaneously, so he'd have to forgo using a shield at all for the time being.

The Duel had also suffered some pretty severe internal damage—Athrun had no idea how long it would take to repair, but ZAFT mechanics worked fast, so hopefully not too long.

"Hey Athrun, what's up?" asked Dearka as he walked into the lounge and spotted Athrun working on his laptop.

"I'm still examining footage from the last battle," said Athrun distractedly, "and I still don't get it. Those pilots have been improving by leaps and bounds. When all this started out, we were better than them, but now they seem to be at least our equals… until something really provokes them. We all saw what happened. Those pilots… they just snapped, and suddenly had us completely outmatched. Four machines, piloted by ZAFT Reds, completely trounced by only two others, and these machines are supposed to be of comparable power."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," said Nicol as he entered the lounge behind Dearka. "I can't really recall ever seeing anything like it; the precise movements, agility and battlefield awareness… I think the General and Falcon will be interested in this."

Dearka snorted.

"Oh yeah, Falcon's gonna be really interested if he hears about this," said Dearka. "He'll probably fly out here personally to check it out."

"Well, you know him best," said Nicol. He shook his head. "If we're to be perfectly honest with ourselves, we're lucky that we only took as much damage as we did. If they'd pursued, we would've been done for. As it was, we probably could've been beaten by Moebiuses."

"And that, is a scary thought," said Dearka.

"Yes, but it's true nonetheless," said Athrun. "The Buster's missile supply was all used up and its rifles were gone, the Aegis had lost both legs and the main camera, the Blitz was reduced to the Gleipnir, and the Duel was as good as pilotless." Athrun snorted slightly, shaking his head.

"The machines are impressive," he continued. "They definitely retained the most powerful of them. But looking at this, it's the pilots that I'm really interested in. Those pilots are anything but ordinary. No normal pilot could possibly do what they did. Not even a Coordinator."

"Yeah, I agree," said Dearka. "That's what really worries me. Wonder what Commander Le Creuset will think of all this…"


The Archangel

In the hangar, Mu was floating about lazily next to the hatch of the Zero, where he'd set Kira to work fixing it up after the last skirmish, when…

"We've already hooked up with the fleet!" said Kira, popping out of the Zero and startling Mu. "So would someone tell me why we're in a rush?"

Though she didn't say anything, Lacus was wondering the same thing.

"I don't feel secure while it's still damaged," said Mu, shrugging slightly.

"The pilots joining us from the 8th Fleet are all wet behind the ears," added Murdoch. "If anything happens to them, we'll need the lieutenant here to sortie."

"Wet behind the ears" was a bit of an understatement; the 8th Fleet was large, and it was led by one of the most brilliant tacticians and strategists in the entire Atlantic Federation, but the pilots might have been even greener than Kira and Lacus, and in mere mobile armors, that was more than simply fatal against ZAFT's mobile suits. Though no one had ever voiced it, they suspected it had something to do with the fact that there were very few Coordinator-haters in the 8th Fleet; the soldiers of the fleet were loyal, and great believers in their duty to the Earth Alliance, but almost none of them felt the sort of resentment for Coordinators that was so common in Naturals, particularly those of the Atlantic Federation.

Kira glanced over at the two mobile suits in the hangar, his eyes eventually settling on the Strike.

"Yeah, but what do we do about the Strike?" asked Kira. "Is it really okay if we leave it as is?"

That drew everyone's attention, and they all looked over at the mobile suit Lacus had piloted since fleeing Heliopolis. They had all but forgotten that it was impossible for any Natural to pilot it, the OS had been so heavily tailored to Lacus's specifications at this point that even many Coordinators would have difficulty with the machine. Though the same could be said for the Sakura, it was an Orb Union mobile suit that could very likely be discreetly delivered to Orb in an attempt to soothe relations with the neutral nation whose colony they'd helped destroy.

"Uh, good point," said Mu, "never thought of that. But I'm not so sure we should return it to its original state, since that would reduce its performance."

"Well then, let's hope we can get someone who can pilot it as is," came Murrue's voice suddenly. Kira, Lacus, Mu and Murdoch, who had all gathered around the Zero, looked up to catch sight of the captain floating towards them, a smile on her face.

"Uh, captain?" asked Kira.

"What's this? To what do we owe the honor?" asked Mu.

"Sorry to interrupt," said Murrue, landing on the Zero next to Kira. "I just wanted to have a chat with Kira and Lacus."

"Huh?" murmured Kira. Murrue chuckled slightly.

"Oh don't give me that suspicious look of yours," she said, "although, I can't really say that I blame you."

With a slight smile, Murrue pushed herself up from the Zero towards the catwalk in front of the Strike, the center of the trio of mobile weapons they had. Pushing off from the Zero themselves, Kira and Lacus followed her, landing on the catwalk a moment later.

"I've hardly had a free moment," said Murrue, "so I could never find the time to really talk to the two of you and, well, I just wanted to thank you two properly this time."

Kira looked at her curiously.

"I'm well aware that I've put you two through a great deal of hardship," continued Murrue, "and I'm truly grateful for what you've done for us." Murrue bowed in thanks, surprising Kira and Lacus. "I put a lot on your shoulders, and made you give us your all. I can't thank you enough."

"Uh, it's alright," said Kira quickly, uncomfortable with this show of gratitude. "Really, captain."

Murrue stood up and smiled at them. "The others may not actually say it to your face," she said, "but each of us is deeply grateful."

"The way things are going right now," she continued, suddenly changing the subject, "I imagine it will be hectic even on Earth. But best of luck." Murrue held out a hand to Kira, who tended to be the voice between the two of them when interacting with the actual crew. The two had always supported one another, and Lacus was possibly a better pilot, but Kira tended to stand out more, especially with the way he would always be the first to speak up if he disagreed with them.

For a moment, Kira just stared at Murrue's offered hand before reaching out and shaking it.


The Gamow

It had been over twelve hours since their trouncing by the legged ship, and they'd rendezvoused not only with the Vesalius, Ziegler and Galvani, but also with the destroyers Fallen Hope and Fairchild.

"I can't believe it," muttered Athrun as he stared at the two destroyers.

"They deployed her," said Nicol. "They actually deployed her for this."

"I smell Falcon's hand in this," added Dearka. "It would be just like him; he can't get away himself, so he sends the Blood Princess out to get them instead."

"The Fallen Hope is ordering full six-way communication sir," said the comm. officer. Zelman nodded.

"Put them on screen," he said. Everyone turned their attention to the screen as the faces of the four ZAFT Commanders appeared, along with the face of the Fairchild's captain, Clyde Harlaown.

"General, how good to see you again," said Rau.

"The feeling isn't mutual Crucible," replied the General, her tone almost completely void of any emotion. "I always thought you enjoyed being needlessly destructive, and I'll take the fate of Heliopolis as proof—I don't believe your claims about what happened for a second. But Ken asked me to take over, and to my misfortune you appear to be permanently attached to this mission."

"You wound me General; and after all the time we worked together…"

"You're a hell of a pilot Le Creuset, but that doesn't mean I have to like the situation," said the General bluntly, a bit of emotion in her tone this time. "But, personal matters aside, we have a mission to attend to; as of this moment, I will be taking command of the pursuit of the Earth Forces prototype warship and the mobile weapons aboard it. I'll be counting on all of you, Commander Le Creuset, Commander Porto, Commander Laconi."

"Ma'am!" said all three commanders, saluting the General even though she was formally the same rank as them, and at least four years younger than any of them on top of that—her authority was highly respected.

Athrun shifted uncomfortably though—he'd wanted to talk to her back at the PLANTs, but that was in circumstances where he'd felt secure in his ability to bolt; he'd known her for years, but since the war began, the rosette ZAFT Commander had begun to scare him more than a little.

After all, Lily Clyne, the Knight-General and Blood Princess of ZAFT, had never really cared much for her baby sister's fiancé.


Aprilius One

Kenneth "Grimaldi Falcon" DiFalco absolutely loathed his job. Once one of the two most formidable aces in ZAFT, possibly actually better than his friend Lily, he was now stuck doing deskwork.

Okay, so it was actually a fair bit more than just deskwork, but that was the bulk of what he handled now. Realistically, it was a task that Lily was better suited for, but hell, Ken would've had to fight tooth and nail to pull her from the frontlines, and then he'd have to worry about her love of combat taking over and bringing her down on him for more "spars." Oh, they were harmless, and he figured he could win most of them, but dealing with them would've been more trouble than it was worth.

Besides, this let him run his "network" better, and he honestly believed that he could do a lot more good with that than he could just by fighting on the frontlines to bring the war to the sort of close he desired. Lily could more than pick up the slack there, but only Ken could do the job he was currently working at.

Surprisingly for one of ZAFT's foremost aces, Ken was only seventeen, the youngest of the infamous Griffon Team comprised of the top six ZAFT aces at the start of the war. He stood a hundred and seventy-six centimeters tall, had a somewhat slight frame, brown hair and a single blue right eye—his left eye was lost more than half a year ago to the same wound that left him with a nasty scar running diagonally across the left socket, which was covered by a black eye patch.

"Boss?"

Ken looked up from the reports on his desk, grateful for the interruption (not that he'd show it), and found his eye focused on the man who had just given him a temporary reprieve from this horrible, horrible job.

Lance "Sparky" Cooper was Ken's favored lieutenant, though he was three years older than his former commander. He was also far larger, over a hundred and eighty centimeters tall, with wide shoulders and powerful muscles, and a pronounced, continuous facial tic from an electrical incident in his past, hence the nickname. He was wearing a ZAFT Red uniform with a gray feather emblem on the collar and carried a katana sheathed through his belt, one of the symbols of the Gray Demons—Ken had his own, hanging on the wall of his office behind him.

"Hello Sparky," said Ken calmly. "Is something the matter? I wasn't expecting to see you again so soon."

"We got back early Boss," said Sparky with a slight frown. "That convoy from Murakumo Industries only had a low-grade USV escort and no personnel onboard."

Ken frowned at that, just about the only expression he regularly showed.

"That… doesn't make any sense," he said. "Murakumo Industries isn't a major player, sure, but an unmanned convoy guarded only by USVs… I don't like that. It's a bit too convenient."

"Yeah, that's what we thought too," said Sparky. "Do you still want it brought in or should we just… walk away?"

Ken shook his head.

"Too convenient or not, our present circumstances mean we can't just pass it up," he said. "With that G-weapon technology Patrick recently got ahold of… and my hacking has turned up some disturbing information that seems to indicate he might be planning to restore ZAFT's nuclear capability." Sparky gasped at that.

"But that would mean… do you think the General was right?"

"Lily's opinion is part of why we're doing this," said Ken neutrally. "She was the first to say that we'd gone too far, even having that huge falling out with her father. The rest of us were just too angry to see what she did at the time." Ken snorted. "What I'm still wondering is why she was the only one not too angry to see it. We all know why I didn't at first, but a lot of you don't have that excuse."

"Well, she is the General…"

Silence followed that for a moment before Ken shook his head just slightly.

"Is there anything else?" he asked. "I'm grateful for the reprieve, but I do need to get this stuff done."

"Just one Boss," said Sparky. "Why did you send the General out there?"

"A safety measure," said Ken. "This may also be a bit more personal for her then we first realized, so she's investigating that. We want that ship and its data to get to Alaska… but only on our timetable. We don't want them to be deploying mobile suits until after we've captured all of their mass drivers; if that doesn't bring an end to the war, then they'll need those to stop an overwhelming ZAFT victory and restore the balance so that maybe… just maybe… we can have a peaceful resolution to this war."


The Archangel

The next day

The senior officers, civilian volunteers, and George and Flay Allster were gathered in the hangar as a ship-to-ship shuttle from the Menelaos settled down on the floor of the hangar, though the hangar itself was without gravity, forcing Murdoch and his mechanics to secure the shuttle.

Once secured, the shuttle hatch opened, and a well-built blond man with a mustache stepped out, wearing the white uniform of the Atlantic Federation, the rank insignia of a rear admiral on the collar of the uniform.

Lewis Halberton, commander of the 8th Fleet and primary backer of the G-Project.

All of the actual soldiers immediately snapped to attention and saluted.

"You know," said Halberton as he floated down to the desk, "when I first heard of the collapse of Heliopolis, I was convinced that that was the end." Halberton grabbed Murrue's arms gently to stop his forward momentum and push them down slightly, indicating to Murrue that she should stand at east. "What a joy it is to see you people here."

"You do us a tremendous honor," said Murrue. She saluted again. "It's a pleasure to see you again sir."

Resigned now, Halberton returned the salute, and he and Murrue stood at ease.

"I was a bit worried when informed that you were engaged in a battle right before the rendezvous," he said, looking around. "But given the reports, I'm quite delighted to hear that everyone is alright."

"Yes," said Murrue. "Although our crew is inexperienced, they have managed to pull us through a great deal."

"So it would seem," said Halberton, looking at the others. Natarle stepped forward.

"Ensign Natarle Badgiruel," she introduced.

"I'm Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, of the 7th Orbital Fleet," said Mu, introducing himself and saluting.

"Ah," said Halberton, moving over to stand before Mu as the two officers both stood at ease again. "We were fortunate indeed to have you with us." Halberton held out his hand and Mu shook it.

"Well, I wish I could've been of more service," he said, glancing briefly at the volunteers. "Those kids did a lot more than I did, that's for sure, and I don't just mean the ones who were piloting."

"Hm, yes, as I said, I read the report," said Halberton before looking over at the volunteers. "So, who do we have over here?" Of course, he knew perfectly well who they were, but felt it was best to maintain a certain air of formality.

"Sir, these are the students from Heliopolis," said Murrue. "They've been helping with the operation of the ship."

The instant Murrue finished, Halberton began moving forward, right past Natarle and Mu, heading over to the civilian group. He landed in front of them and smiled as he looked them over.

"We've done some checking on the families of each one of you," he said, "and everyone seems to be safe." As he turned his eyes to Lacus, however, he frowned, deciding not to continue. He was going to ask her about the distinct lack of anyone named "Hirano" on Heliopolis, but now having a close look at her, a new possibility occurred to him. He'd ask her about it later.

"We'd like to extend our gratitude for your assistance during this crisis," continued Halberton, smiling as the volunteers shared murmurs and looks of relief, "and I'd like to add my thanks as well."

"Uh, sir?" said Hoffman, Halberton's executive officer and the captain of the Menelaos. "We don't have much time."

"Right," said Halberton, turning his eyes back to the students. "I'd be delighted if later we have an opportunity to sit down together and have a talk," he said to them. He then turned away and left the hangar with Hoffman, Murrue, Natarle, Mu, and Allster. Flay wandered over to her friends, staring at her father's back uncertainly.


The Fallen Hope

Despite being only nineteen years old, Lily Clyne was one of ZAFT's best aces and strategists. She was a hundred and seventy-eight centimeters tall, with a slight frame and prominent bust, long pink hair and cold blue eyes, and was wearing the white ZAFT Commander uniform. Sheathed at her left hip was a straight, single-edged sword, a weapon she hadn't been seen without since the war began, though no one had ever seen it drawn either, despite her status as a notorious blood knight and ice queen, a sharp contrast to her father and sister, both considerably warmer people in terms of personality and presence.

"So, they've rendezvoused with the 8th Fleet," muttered Lily, staring down at the tactical board. She'd gathered all of the commanders, as well as Nicol, Athrun and Dearka—Yzak was still in the infirmary—aboard her flagship for this briefing.

"Our assumption is that Lewis Halberton was the major backer for this project," said Rau. "It makes sense that they would want to meet with him."

"Yes… that does sound like Lewis," said Lily lowly, idly holding her chin as she looked at the numbers. "He's an excellent strategist and leader. He doesn't have the favor of those morons in Atlantic Federation High Command, but the 8th Fleet is still quite formidable, so making an attack on them won't be easy."

Lily reached forward slightly and tapped the 8th Fleet markers on the board.

"They seem to have set course for Earth instead of the moon," she said. "My guess is that they'll descend to lower orbit and take the legged ship straight to Alaska. Get them out of our backyard—they know that taking it to their Lunar Headquarters at this point would just be provoking ZAFT's full might."

"They fear the Falcon," remarked Laconi, looking up at her. "They know Commodore Falcon won't be nearly as effective on Earth, but if they remain in space, then they'll be dealing with all the remaining Champions of ZAFT."

"Champions huh? That's a title I haven't heard in a long time," said Lily. "How many mobile suits can you field?"

"The Ziegler has a full complement of six GINNs," said Laconi.

"The Galvani has four GINNs and my CGUE," said Porto.

"The Vesalius can sortie my CGUE," said Rau, "and the Gamow can sortie the Buster, the Blitz and the Aegis; we also have a spare GINN and the Duel, but with Yzak's condition, he cannot pilot, and we've lost all our other pilots to the legged ship."

"Yes, so I heard," said Lily. "The Fallen Hope can sortie two CGUEs, a GINN High-Maneuver Type and two standard GINNs. The Fairchild can sortie two GINN Assault Types and two standard GINNs."

"So that gives us seventeen GINNs, four CGUEs and the three prototypes," said Nicol, looking from the tactical board to Lily. "If I remember right, the 8th Fleet consists of around three dozen ships, and about a hundred and ten mobile armors. The enemy has us severely outnumbered, but not outmatched."

"Yes, but victory is not assured just by that," said Lily coolly. "One moment of overconfidence, one mistake at the wrong instant and everything goes down the drain." She pressed a switch, displaying footage of the Le Creuset Team's various battles with the legged ship and its mobile suits across several windows. "Take these battles for instance. I must say, I'm quite disappointed; I expected this sort of idiocy from Yzak Joule, but not from you two, Nicol, Athrun."

"Now hold on just a minute!" said Dearka, but Lily shot him a glare that immediately snapped his jaw shut.

"You made a mistake going after the legged ship," she said coldly. "Instead of that, you should've taken full advantage of your armor systems to ignore the ship and the Zero, and taken the enemy mobile suits two-on-one. Forget personal glory, you had an objective and you screwed it up. The closest I've seen to reasonable tactics in your battles were when you surrounded the fifth prototype and when you assaulted Artemis. If it weren't for Commander Le Creuset, you'd all be flailing around like children lost in the dark, but seeing as Defense Committee Chairman Zala has left the stolen prototypes in the hands of Le Creuset and you are his only pilots, I am forced to allow this to continue."

The General swept her ice cold eyes over the entire gathering, causing everyone to shiver slightly; perhaps it was fear of her that kept anyone from mentioning that it was Rau himself who'd suggested the basic tactics they'd used in the last battle.

"However, unless Commander Le Creuset has any objections, you will each be flying with a wingman from my unit in the next battle," said Lily, pressing a button on the tactical board that would call her pilots in. "That goes for everyone: no one flies solo, everyone keeps at least one ally on their wing. Anyone who fails to obey these orders should withdraw before their recklessness can threaten the entire mission."

"Understood General," said Rau. "I have no objections to your plans."

"Good."

The door to the bridge opened and four pilots stepped inside, a young man in ZAFT Green and three teenagers, one boy and two girls, in ZAFT Red. Their arrival drew everyone's attention, and Lily gave a slight nod.

"The girls are Shiho Hahnenfuss and Rebecca Fairchild; the boys are Chrono Serizawa and Yūno Bayles." As Lily introduced each of them, they gave a slight nod—Shiho was a violet-eyed brunette, Rebecca was a young girl with blue eyes and light-blue hair, Chrono was the male ZAFT Red, with blue eyes and blue hair, and Yūno was a man with blond hair and blue eyes. "Nicol, you will be flying with Shiho on your wing. Athrun, you will have Yūno on your wing. Elsman, you'll have Chrono on your wing."

"Yes ma'am," said the three, saluting her.

"As for our plan of attack, we'll need to take advantage of Halberton's main objective," said Lily. "We'll divide our forces; not such a good tactic normally when we're this heavily outnumbered, but for the time being, our advantage in power is enough to make up for it. Commanders Laconi and Porto, the two of you will break off from our main fleet and flank the enemy from the planar north, silent running. You are not to engage until the enemy mobile armors have all moved to the front of the fleet, where we'll be attacking them. If we do this right, your pilots will have a minute or two unharassed by mobile armors in which you can take the enemy warships. However, you are not to engage the legged ship directly; we want to break the 8th Fleet, and we'll be making use of our stolen mobile weapons to help facilitate that, but only myself, Le Creuset, and the wing-pairs of our subordinates should engage the legged ship itself. Is that clear?"

"Yes General!" said all of the pilots, saluting her. Lily gave a slight nod.

"General, are you sure this will fool Halberton?" asked Rau. Lily gave him an icy smile.

"It won't," she said. "We've never met personally, but Lewis and I have matched wits numerous times. He'll see through this… but if the pattern holds, he'll see through it just a bit too late, and he knows it. Even if he catches on sooner, though, it won't make much of a difference. Remember Crucible: I prefer scenarios that don't have a losing outcome."

"Yes… I remember," said Rau. Lily nodded and swept her eyes over the gathering once more.

"You're all dismissed," she said. "We'll be attacking tomorrow since it will take some time for the Zeigler and Galvani to setup the flanking maneuver. For now, everyone get some rest, I want all of you fresh for the battle tomorrow."


The Archangel

The senior officer meeting (with Vice Minister Allster present) was being held in the captain's room, Halberton sitting at the desk.

"How could they resort to such extreme measures as destroying Heliopolis and Artemis?" asked Hoffman bitterly. "All for the sake of this lone ship and a single G-machine…"

Murrue looked down.

"You're forgetting that they think this 'White Frame' of Orb's belongs to us as well—which, for all intent and purpose, it did at the time," said Halberton. "Nevertheless, the fact that the crew was able to protect this ship and the Strike can be counted as a significant victory."

"It would seem that Alaska does not share that view," replied Hoffman calmly. Hoffman's words came as a surprise to Mu and Natarle.

"Bah," scoffed Halberton. "What do they know about the realities of space combat? Lieutenant Ramius has understood all along what I've been trying to achieve." Murrue looked up, shocked at the praise. "Nothing in this matter warrants any concern."

"Yes admiral," said Murrue.

Hoffman pulled out two pieces of paper, looking them over. "Moving on to the topic of the young Coordinators," he said, "are we gonna forget all about them?" He put the papers on the desk, revealing them to be the reports on Kira and Lacus. Allster shifted, his eyes narrowing at the reports.

"Kira Yamato and Lacus Hirano only wanted to protect their friends," said Murrue. "That was the only reason they boarded those mobile suits for us."

"Hmm," murmured Halberton, thoughts straying once again to the mystery presented by Lacus Hirano.

"In all likelihood," continued Murrue, "we would not have made it this far if it weren't for the abilities of those kids. However, their decision was dictated by events beyond their control; and they did suffer greatly from having to fight against their own people. They are kind, sincere, individuals, and I believe we should repay them for their selfless efforts with our complete trust."

"And yet, if we allow them to go now…" said Hoffman uncertainly.

"What? They'll carry the secrets of the Strike to Orb?" said Halberton, snorting slightly. "ZAFT already has four of the G-weapons, in case you've forgotten, and Orb already has the technology themselves—the White Frame is proof of that. Besides, ever since I read the report on it, I've been looking into some things, and that machine is going to be remaining with Kira Yamato until he says otherwise." Everyone else shared a confused look at this. "So, as you can see, the G-weapons are hardly a secret anymore; there's no reason not to let them go."

"Besides, we can't have Coordinators fighting for the Earth Forces," said Allster, trying to keep his voice even. It was difficult, fighting against his disgust with the space monsters, but he knew he'd accomplish nothing as things stood.

"Lieutenant Ramius," said Halberton, ignoring Allster entirely. "The Archangel will be descending with the Strike to deliver the machine to Alaska. We lost your relief crew with the advance fleet and don't have many to spare ourselves, so you'll have to go with your current crew compliment and the two or three we can spare."

"Understood," said Murrue, thoughts grim—she hoped the new arrivals would be able to handle bridge duties, because without those kids, they didn't even have a skeleton crew.

"I'll contact you later with the details for what personnel and supplies will be transferred over, as well as the matter of the civilian volunteers," said Hoffman.


That night, Halberton had returned to the Menelaos to arrange things, but Murrue suspected he would return tomorrow, if only because he hadn't gotten the chance to talk to the volunteers.

She was looking over the list of supplies currently being loaded from 8th Fleet tender ships into the Archangel's cargo hold; missiles and ammo, fuel, water and food were all given. There was a brief note about a lack of ninety millimeter ammo for the White Frame, but the only reason for resupplying the White Frame was in case of emergency before the refugees could be off-loaded. They were also being given a pair of Skygraspers, support fighter craft for the Strike, though Mu would soon be their only pilot, and the other pilots they'd had had been piloting the mobile suits anyway.

In addition, there was also a variety of new potential equipment for the Strike—bazookas, unpowered physical swords sharper than the GINN and CGUE ones they'd salvaged, flamethrowers that could be mounted on the arms, even torpedo launchers in the event of undersea combat.

There were also the CSVs for the three new crewmembers she'd be getting, all that the 8th Fleet could actually spare. One was a new doctor, Caleb Graham, one was a mechanic, Petty Officer 2nd Class Jerry Arthur, and the last was an engineer: Lieutenant Sophia DiFalco, an old friend of Murrue's from the academy.

It would be good to see her friend again, but she'd have to disappoint Sophia by forcing her to help out on the bridge, as she was the only new crewmember they were getting qualified for bridge duty.

Included was Hoffman's idea for the best way to address the matter of their volunteer crew—since there were treaties in place that forbade civilian combatants, they would simply be retroactively commissioned as crewmen of the Archangel, and Hoffman would be bringing discharge papers when he and Halberton returned tomorrow.

Finally, the exact fate of the White Frame—Murrue now understood what Halberton had been saying about the machine sticking with Kira until he said otherwise.

Due to certain technicalities—namely, that the machine didn't officially exist and was thus unowned by any nations, and the nature of salvage laws—Kira had become the owner of the White Frame. He could do whatever he wanted with it—keep it for personal reasons, take it apart, even sell it and live the rest of his life in luxury since the thing was probably worth at least a couple hundred (probably a few thousand) times what Murrue could ever hope to make in her entire lifetime.

She hoped she could be there to see the look on his face when he found out.


The next day

"Discharge papers?" questioned Tolle, looking at the papers he and the other volunteers had been given.

"So… we were soldiers all along?" asked Mir, somewhat incredulous.

"Assigned to the Archangel of the 8th Fleet," read Kuzzey.

"Where are Kira Yamato and Lacus Hirano?" asked Natarle. The others looked up at her, then at each other. She shook her head. "Never mind, just give these to them later." Natarle handed two additional sets of discharge papers to Sai.

"It may have been an emergency situation that forced it," said Hoffman, deciding to explain things, "but the fact is, it's illegal for civilians to take part in combat. We want to avoid any potential problems, for yourselves and for us as well, so this is our solution. You will all be recognized as volunteer soldiers who entered the military when you came aboard; don't lose those discharge papers, or it could lead to a lot of trouble for you in the future. Furthermore, any information you learned while on board should be treated as confidential, even after you return to Orb."

"Excuse me," said Flay from behind the volunteers, stepping forward a bit.

"You were not involved in combat," said Natarle sharply, "therefore, you're not required to go through these procedures."

"No, that's not it," said Flay. She took a deep breath. "I… I would like to join the Earth Alliances Forces as a crewman of the Archangel."

Flay's words drew gasps of shock from her friends.

"But, Flay…" said Sai.


Down in the hangar, Kira and Lacus stood on the catwalk facing the Sakura; this machine was, in many ways, at the center of everything for them. It had carried them out of the burning factory, and its power had allowed them to survive the ZAFT assault.

But that power had also brought them into battle several times; even still, it was hard to see it in a dark light—there was simply something majestic about the machine.

"Suddenly getting nostalgic, now that you're disembarking?" came Halberton's voice suddenly, drawing the teenagers' attention. He was walking down the catwalk towards them, one hand on the rail to keep from accidentally pushing off. He came to a stop next to them as they straightened up.

"Kira and Lacus, right? I've read a great deal about your actions in the reports."

"Uh, yes," said Kira.

"Hmm… considering the circumstances, you both proved yourselves quite remarkable," said Halberton softly. He swept his eyes over the entire hangar, including behind him, focusing briefly on the Sakura before looking back to them. "Although you have fought for the Earth Forces, I imagine your sister will be quite proud of your accomplishments, Miss Clyne." The two stiffened slightly, and Halberton chuckled.

"Oh, don't you worry," he said, "I understand your circumstances, to an extent. I might not have realized myself, but as it happens, I've met the Blood Princess a few times, after a fashion."

"Please do not call her that," said Lacus softly. "Sis hates war… it's taken away almost everything she cared about… including someone who was very dear to her."

"I see; I apologize," said Halberton, turning to look at the Sakura. "Still, it's a surprise that you would be here. Even more surprising is what the two of you have done with these machines; they were only meant to be an adequate counter to ZAFT's mobile suits, but with you inside, piloting them, they suddenly become near-superweapons. I can't help but find myself once again amazed at the abilities of you Coordinators."

"That's not true!" said Lacus quickly, before Kira could speak up. "Us being Coordinators… yes, that has some affect on how quickly we learn and adapt, but… but it's not everything."

"Could you explain that viewpoint?" asked Halberton. "And I in no way mean to offend; I am merely fascinated by your abilities. No Natural can pilot a mobile suit."

"One can," said Lacus. Kira and Halberton's eyes widened in shock. "I only know this because he was a family friend, but… ZAFT's Ace of Aces… the Number One of the Champions… he was actually a Natural."

"But how can that be?" questioned Halberton, incredulous.

"He was naturally talented, and took himself to the limits constantly," said Lacus. "He only left because his superiors found out he wasn't a Coordinator, and were going to report him to Patrick Zala."

"I see," said Halberton. He smiled, shaking his head. "Well, then perhaps we do stand a chance in this war. But it is our war, not yours." He looked up at the Sakura. "And it is not the war of this machine either. It will be remaining with you, Kira Yamato."

"Huh? Seriously?" questioned Kira.

"Yes; due to a… technicality… this fascinating and valuable piece of military hardware belongs to you," said Halberton. The two Coordinators stared at him in complete and utter shock, and Halberton nearly laughed. "Officially, it doesn't exist, so it can't belong to a nation, and thus, it is only an object that you salvaged. You can do what you wish with it—use it for some kind of work, join a military with it, just hold it for nostalgic reasons… you might even sell it as a sort of fundraiser for the Heliopolis refugees; its worth quite a bit of money, so I advise you not to callously discard it."

"Ah… yes sir," said Kira uncertainly.

"Well… this has been an interesting discussion," said Halberton. "I won't pry into any personal matters for you two; but I would like to thank you, regardless, for the assistance you have rendered to this ship. It is my hope that, with this, we may be able to bring a quick end to this war. Perhaps when it does end, we can all meet again. Until that time, I wish you the best of luck, and hope that being Coordinators will be able to improve your futures; few others seem to be so fortunate." He smiled at them. "And Kira? I don't want to sound critical of your parents, but I think you might want to ask them why it is they made you a Coordinator; if it was for some dream they had for your future, then I for one would want to try and make their dream come true. Wouldn't you agree?"

"Yes Admiral," said Kira with a small smile.

"Sir!" called a Menelaos officer who'd come aboard with Halberton earlier. The officer saluted. "The Menelaos would like you back on board at once; there are suspicions of ZAFT activity in the area."

"I see; I guess it was too much to hope they'd leave us alone," said Halberton with a resigned sigh. He looked back to the Coordinator pilots. "Well, at least we were fortunate enough to have a decent chat! May the two of you live to see the dawn of a better era." Halberton gave them a quick salute as a show of thanks and began to walk away.

"Uh, sir!" called Kira, surprising Lacus and Halberton.

"Hmm?" mumbled Halberton, turning back to face Kira.

"Uh, so what happens now to the Archangel?" asked Kira. "And to Lieutenant Ramius and the others?"

"The Archangel will be heading to Earth, just the way it is," said Halberton, "so they'll be returning to the battlefield."

Kira looked down uncertainly. Truthfully, he'd become rather attached to the ship and its crew.

"Well, I thought I…" started Kira before falling silent. Attached he may be, but at the same time, he wanted, no needed to get Lacus safely back home…

"I know exactly what you're concerned about," said Halberton, turning more fully to face the two of them, Lacus still staring at Kira with a measure of surprise. "You possess certain abilities that are very attractive to the military. However, it's not as if we're assured of victory if we have you. War's not that simple. Don't flatter yourself."

"But…" said Kira before trailing off once again; he continued after a moment's pause, somewhat more confidently. "If I have the power to make a difference, I should put it to good use, right?"

"Sir, please…" started the Menelaos officer, but Halberton held up a hand for silence.

"Only if you have the will to do it!" said Halberton. He turned to leave, but continued to look at the two of them. "Anyone who lacks the will never does see it through to the end."

With that, Halberton left.

"Kira," said Lacus softly.

"I know…" he said, "I know that we need to get you home… and that sooner or later, she'll be coming after us if we stay… but at the same time…"

"You know… I think she'd lose respect for you if you left just because of that," said Lacus. "But… since when has Lily's approval really mattered to you?"

"I guess… her approval means a lot to me… it means I don't have to worry about her coming after me for being close to you…"

Lacus giggled. "She's not that overprotective; she just doesn't like Athrun because the engagement was forced. Really, I think she's pretty stupid to dislike him for that; Athrun did nothing to deserve it, and she really should be angry at daddy and Athrun's father, instead of Athrun himself."

Kira couldn't help but smile slightly.


"You realize what you're saying?" asked Natarle, as thoroughly shocked by Flay's words as Hoffman and the volunteers were.

"Look, I'm not saying this just for the fun of it," said Flay. "I've thought about it ever since my father came aboard, when Kira and Lacus saved him from ZAFT."

"That means you must be the daughter of Vice Minister Allster," said Hoffman in surprise, unaware of the tension between the two.

"Yes," said Flay. "My name is Flay Allster. I… ever since I first talked to him when he came aboard, I've been thinking about everything. Everyone counts for something… right? The ship is understaffed, and everyone is certain that it can make a difference. I want to help with that, in whatever way I can, even if it's only cleaning the corridors or something to make things easier for the rest of the crew. After everything that's happened… I can't just walk away." Flay left unspoken her hopes that, somehow, if the Archangel made the difference it was supposed to, maybe, just maybe, both sides would be more willing to negotiate a ceasefire and peace treaty. She was becoming increasingly sympathetic to the PLANTs because of her Coordinator friends, but also realized that, after the Bloody Valentine, they'd never accept a ceasefire unless the Earth Forces could manage to equal them. Even she knew that ZAFT was slowly, but surely, winning the war.

"Throughout all of this, everyone's been doing their best for this ship and everyone aboard… except me," continued Flay. "So… please, allow me to join the crew."

Hoffman and Natarle nodded slightly.

"Very well then," said Hoffman. "Come with us. We should probably discuss this with your father."

"I'd, uh, rather do that privately," said Flay. She wasn't certain what Hoffman and Natarle would think of her present conflict with her father, though she figured Natarle might already know.

Hoffman nodded. "Very well," he said. "Come with us. I believe he's preparing for departure with the Orb refugees even now."

With that, the two officers left, Flay in tow.

Sai turned back to the others. They all looked at each other.

"Like she said, the ship is still understaffed," he said, "and a war's still being fought, on Earth and in space." Everyone looked at their discharge papers.

Suddenly, Sai tore his discharge papers in two.

"Sai!" exclaimed Tolle. Mir gasped in shock as she stood up with Tolle and Kuzzey.

"What Flay expressed is pretty much exactly my sentiments as well," explained Sai. Then, he gave a slight smile. "Besides, it wouldn't be right for me to leave her alone, now would it?"

"Hmm," murmured Tolle, before ripping his own papers in two.

"Tolle!" said Mir in shock.

"The Archangel is still short-handed," said Tolle. "I'd feel partly responsible if sometime down the road, it got shot down."

Miriallia didn't hesitate after that, and tore her papers in two as well.

"You too Mir?" asked Tolle.

"If you're planning to stay Tolle, then so am I," she said. They then turned as they heard the sound of more paper ripping, and saw Kuzzey holding his torn discharge papers.

"You're all staying, can't expect me to leave," he said.

"You're a fool," said Tolle. At that moment, things between the three boys effectively degenerated into some playful name-calling.

"Huh… ah," muttered Tolle, looking back at the bed where the remaining discharge papers sat. "But they'll be leaving, won't they? Suppose so…"


"Welcome to the Archangel," said Murrue to the three new crewmembers that had arrived with Halberton. "I apologize for not being able to greet you properly earlier."

The highest ranked of the group, a woman about Murrue's age with black hair and emerald eyes, shifted forward slightly.

"It was no trouble; you've been busy," said Sophia DiFalco. She smiled slightly. "It's been awhile, Murrue."

"It has Sophia," said the captain, returning the smile. The other two new arrivals shifted uncomfortably. "How has your brother been?"

"You mean Ken? I don't know, I haven't heard from him in years," said Sophia. Murrue glanced at the other two.

"You should get to your stations," she said. "I've been told that there are suspicions of a ZAFT presence in the area."

"Yes ma'am," said Petty Officer Arthur and Doctor Graham, giving her quick salutes. They were more than happy to escape the situation.

"Sophia, I'm afraid I'll have to ask you to man one of our electronic warfare stations," said Murrue. "You'll be running the job solo; Ensign Badgiruel will be handling communications, mobile weapon control and enemy search & detection."

"That's a tall order," said Sophia. "Were those civilians really contributing that much?"

"Yes," said Murrue with a small sigh. "Without them, things are going to get a lot tougher."


A short while after Halberton left, Kira and Lacus, once more in civilian clothes, headed to where the Menelaos shuttle that would be ferrying them to the flagship waited. Once aboard the Menelaos, they'd be transferred to a shuttle bound for Orb; Kira didn't know the details of how they were going to get the Sakura down with them, but had confirmed that he would be taking the machine with him. When they arrived, they found the secondary hangar bay already was filled with refugees. From what Kira had heard, Flay's father had already boarded the shuttle.

The two glanced around, confused by the absence of their other friends, but something else soon drew their attention.

"Oh…" said a little brown haired girl as she spotted the two ex-pilots. She pushed away from her mother towards them.

"C-come back, El!" called the mother. The girl laughed slightly as her momentum was stopped by Kira, and she landed on the deck. She reached into her bag, and pulled out a pair of paper flowers.

"Thank you for protecting the rest of us till now," she said, surprising the two. "That nice lady with red hair told me all about how you were protecting everyone." That surprised the two—Flay had told the girl about them?

The two hadn't realized, but when the last battle began, they'd been in such a rush that they'd failed to notice when El had fallen, trying to avoid crashing into them. Flay had comforted the frightened girl, and reassured her that they'd be safe, since Kira and Lacus would be fighting to protect them.

Leaning down, the two smiled at El and took the flowers.

"Thank you for this," said Kira. The girl smiled and turned around, pushing off back towards her mother. As soon as she was grounded next to the woman once more, she looked back at the Coordinators and waved to them.


The Gamow

"Mobile suits to launch in three minutes," announced the mobile suit controller over the PA. "All units check systems."

As the Gamow's hangar opened in preparation to launch the Buster (the Aegis and Blitz having been transferred over to the Vesalius), Yzak rushed out of the infirmary, ignoring the protests of the doctors, one hand clenched on his bandaged face.

He'd been humiliated. Those enemy mobile suits had taken on all four of their machines and nearly destroyed all of them. Yzak's reputation as an ace was shattered, having lost to some clearly overmatched, weak Naturals…

Well, he'd change that. With the extra armor, thrusters, missile pod and railgun of the Duel's newly added Assault Shroud, he'd tear one or even both machines to pieces. He was sure of it.


The Fallen Hope

"So, Joule wants to launch despite his injury?" questioned Lily neutrally, staring at Rau on the display screen.

"Yes," said Rau. "I believe it best that we allow him to launch; I'd rather not detain him, which is no doubt what it would take to stop him, and if he launches with approval, then he's more likely to stay under control."

"Very well," said Lily. "It's your choice anyways, Le Creuset." She glanced over her shoulder at her pilots, who gave her slight nods, before she looked forward again. "We'll adjust our assignments accordingly; Rebecca will fly on Nicol's wing instead of Shiho. Shiho will instead fly on Joule's wing, and she will have authority over him."

"Agreed," said Rau. "Will you be launching yourself?"

"Yes," said Lily. "Care to join me, Crucible?"

"I think I would," said Rau sinisterly. "It will be just like old times, General."


The Archangel

Kira was becoming increasingly less certain as more and more people boarded the shuttle and his friends still failed to show up.

"Kira!" came Sai's voice from behind, and Kira turned with Lacus to see all of his friends, still in uniform, floating towards them.

"Finally, we couldn't find any of you guys and…" started Kira, but Sai grabbed Kira's hand and put two sets of paper in it.

"This is meant for the two of you," he said. "They're your discharge papers."

"You guys are going alone," said Mir. "We've all decided to remain here."

"Yeah, with the Archangel," said Tolle.

"Huh?" gasped Kira and Lacus.


The Menelaos

"Three Nazca-class, one Laurasia-class," announced the enemy search & detection officer as alarms began going off in the carrier's bridge. "Green eighteen, distance five hundred. Enemy engagement in about fifteen minutes."

"They've set a course straight for the fleet?" asked Hoffman incredulously. Even with their mobile weapon superiority, four ships and twenty-four mobile suits couldn't take on the entire 8th Fleet.

"Damn it, at a time like this," muttered Halberton, clenching his teeth. The radar officer suddenly gasped.

"No… but this is…!"

"What's the matter?" demanded Hoffman.

"We've identified the lead Nazca-class!" said the operator. "Admiral, it's the Fallen Hope!"

"What?! You mean they deployed her?!" demanded Halberton in shock. Hoffman was too shocked to say anything at all.


The Archangel

"I can't believe it," muttered Murrue, staring in horror at the magnified image of the ZAFT fleet in the distance. "Le Creuset was bad enough, but for them to have sent another Champion… and the Blood Princess at that…"

"They must really want this ship dead," said Sophia. "The two battles the General took part in on Earth, she tore our forces apart; she led the attack on Kaohsiung during the final days."

"Cease loading and seal off the bay at once," ordered Murrue. She turned to Pal. "Is the Menelaos launch gone?"

"Not yet, captain," said Pal.

"Tell them to hurry," said Murrue. "All hands, level one battlestations!"


Kira and Lacus looked from one of their four friends to the next.

"You're staying?" asked Kira. "What do you mean?"

"Flay decided to volunteer," said Kuzzey.

"Huh?!" exclaimed Kira slightly, shocked at the news.

"So we thought we'd do the same," finished Kuzzey.

Suddenly, the alert sounded. "All hands, level one battlestations!" announced Natarle over the PA. "I repeat, all hands, level one battlestations!"

"You over there, we're leaving!" called one of the Menelaos shuttle operators.

"Uh, please wait a moment, they're coming!" called Tolle, surprising the former pilots. "Think of this as destiny," he continued, putting his hands on Kira's shoulders. "So long; help us by making sure you get to Earth safely." With that, Tolle pushed off from Kira, Mir and Kuzzey following him immediately.

"Make sure you stay safe!" called Mir.

"Yeah, and don't go joining ZAFT either!" added Tolle jokingly, though for Lacus, the possibility was actually very real.

"Hey, good luck you two," said Sai, putting his hands on their shoulders, "Kira, make sure Lacus gets back home; and Lacus? When all of this is over, I'd like it if I could hear you at a concert sometime." He smiled and pushed off. "Just remember, you two will always be heroes in my book."

"Listen, if you're getting on, make it quick," said the shuttle operator as Kira and Lacus hesitated.

"Lieutenant La Flaga will be launching in the Zero," said one of the mechanics in the hangar.

"Its fine," said the other mechanic, "we've finished the repairs. How we're supposed to get the White Frame moved in this situation though is beyond me."

Kira looked between the discharge papers and the flower in his hand, thinking back on everything that had happened. Lacus looked at him in concern as she almost absentmindedly took one set of discharge paper.

Kira closed his eyes… then opened them, a familiar resolve in his expression. Lacus knew what he was going to do as he crushed the discharge papers and looked back at the shuttle operator.

"Please, go without me," he said before pushing off towards the exit. Lacus smiled softly at Kira, and crushed her own discharge papers, releasing it as Kira did, and following after him.

"We'll be staying with the Archangel," she said to the shocked shuttle operator. "Go ahead and launch."

As the two exited the hangar, they shared a look and, with small smiles, nodded to each other.

"Let's go make a difference," said Kira.


Author's Notes: Well, there you have it. The identity of "Lily" whom Lacus has been referring to since chapter 1 is finally revealed. I think the most surprising thing was that no one connected the dots and realized sooner that Lily, the General and the Blood Princess were all one and the same, or at least that no one mentioned it if they did.

Other than that, Falcon is also introduced here; redoing his character was one of the reasons I wanted to reboot this story, because I felt I hadn't done proper justice to the character. I also establish a major disconnect between this story and canon, with a Natural being the ultimate ace pilot ZAFT ever had.

There's also quite a bit different about Flay's characterization; I've been setting this up for awhile, but I still want to smooth it out some when I cleanup the earlier chapters. Halberton knows who Lacus is, Hoffman certainly comes across as nicer than he did in canon (to me at least), and the Archangel finally picks up some new crew; too bad it's not enough to keep them from being a "not even quite a skeleton" crew.

Two things to note, which there was no genuinely good place to mention in the chapter: the Agamemnon-class carriers can carry four dozen mobile armors instead of just twelve. The other thing is that Lily's sword is purely symbolic and sentimental, and the whole point of it is that it's never supposed to be used. Details about that will come, eventually, but I wanted to get this out of the way. (it's also a nod to the Gray Demons habit of carrying swords; the earliest concepts actually had her as a former Gray Demon instead of full-on peer to Falcon).

Alright, A/Ns finished, I'm off now! I'll see you all next week, but I'm warning you in advance that I may be absent the Friday before and after Thanksgiving due to a family trip. I might still post, but I make no promises.

Please review! Ja ne!