I'M SO SORRY! Please don't kill me…no really please. Ack! Put that pitchfork down, back! Back I say! No really, I'm sorry I'm so late with this freaking update. I really don't have much of an excuse other than writer's block and the end of my highschool life.

Anyhow, I promise I'll try to do better in keeping my updates…up to date…

Scientist Hikari Takayama: She is known as Kari by her twin brother. She is 24 with black hair, dark blue eyes and a fair complexion. She and her brother once worked under Gilbert Dullandal, however they decided soon after the second war began to spy on him for the Clyne Faction. Hikari was caught but Gilbert was too busy dealing with the Archangel and crew, which allowed her and her brother to escape. She and her brother were well known because their family was one of the largest in the Plants, also that she and her brother were one of the rare births of twins. She is also known as a genius when it comes to Mobile Suits, however many agree that she needs to find something outside of work that interests her.

Mechanic Yoshiky Takayama: He is known as Yoshi by his sister. He also holds black hair, dark blue eyes and a fair complexion; yet he is the youngest of the two by 5 seconds. However, he also holds a mechanical right arm. He lost his real one fighting in Messiah, however he continued to help his sister and works on building machines. He worries over his sister and her constant workings with machines. He also states that she does this in order to forget that both their parents and their elder brother died because of someone whom they believed for some time was in the right.

Rachel Hayes: A 19 year old natural with red hair and blue eyes. She is Karus' personal mechanic, and is also considered an excellent mind at upgrading armors and suits. However, Karus has proven to her that there are some people who cannot be pleased. She constantly yells at Karus for his carelessness towards his own life and his own mobile suit. She is also known to have a temper and gives Karus a thrashing every time he acts indifferent towards her yells. Despite that, she tries her best to keep Karus' mobile suit ready to fight with; she is not interested in seeing him die.

Lieutenant Colonel Hakros Surren: The eldest member of the original surviving "Last Hope" squadron. A 40 year old man with blonde hair and green eyes, and small strands of grey hair. He is also the only one who is married. He was a good friend of Wes' father and all other people who knew him, even some coordinators. His wife lives in Houston Texas, and is well known to all people for being a great cook. Hakros takes care of all the pilots in "Last Hope" since he is of the highest rank, however he passed the title of captain of the squadron and gave it to Wes knowing that his father would have wanted it that way.

Sergeant Meryl Skye-The 20 year old girl from London England, along with her brother. Black haired with brown eyes, she is known as the defender of all "Last Hope." Her Windam is equipped with an enhanced shield on each arm. Thick, heavy and equipped with a light shielding device, she defends herself and all members of her squadron. She also has two spares on her back and uses special short beam daggers in order to cut down her enemies. Her personality is upbeat normally, but beats down her brother whenever she can.

Sergeant Vash Skye-Good friend to Wes Baxter yet blonde haired and green eyed unlike Meryl. Although they say they are siblings, they never act that way and the two don't try to stop the rumors that they are not siblings from appearing. His mobile suit is enhanced with high quality pistols and he uses them with great skill. His Windam is also only lightly shielded, so he depends greatly on Meryl's support in order to survive. He is considered a wimp by many for his weakness against pain and blood, and his normally not serious manner, however his skill as a gunman and in a mobile suit is never questioned.

Mechanic/Pilot Sergeant Kuzzy Buzzkirk: The newest pilot of the original "Last Hope." Kuzzy was once a part of the first Archangel team that flew from Heliopolis, down to Earth and across the pacific ocean twice. After leaving the Archangel, only days before the Jachin Due battle. This blue haired 21 year old lost contact with his close friends from the archangel and felt worthless until the beginning of the second war. He rejoined the Earth Forces, unaware of what sides his friends were fighting in. After witnessing the first real battle that the Freedom participated in during the second war, Kuzzy requested and was transferred to "Last Hope" where his position as sniper support for Jessica gives him a feeling of usefulness.

The crash landing of Wes Baxter at Onogoro had caused quite a stir. The black Savior was damaged and would need an immense number of replacement parts in order to ensure that it could fight again.

As for the rest of the mobile suits, only Tyler Jeris and a few other pilots of the Orb Squadron received heavy damages that would require either wiring or actual metallic replacement parts. Trent and Ikros had done well to survive the entire conflict with only burn marks or a lost shield, but their greatest achievement was to be able to go SEED.

They were under questioning by a few of the other SEED pilots that were known, mainly Kira and Athrun. "After Wes got shot, I suddenly blanked out a bit and found myself with two beam cannons. I think I fried my power-generator and refiner with that stunt but it turned out all right in the end."

True to his word, Ikros' Zaku type III was fried on the waist, where his power cells had exploded from excessive strain. Trent was the luckiest, "I only picked up an Emeras sword from a Ginn, it required no extra power whatsoever."

Other than the sudden advancement in weaponry, the two pilots also showed extreme changes in their movements during battle.

They were also able to make quick predictions and caught much of the more advanced enemies off-guard. After that part of the questioning, the rest of the debriefing was simple until Yzak and Dearka came up.

They'd all been speaking about the battle and understood that they had several powerful enemies. Especially, with the Destiny, and the two new mobile suits, unknown to the other people. Only Yzak and Dearka knew the whole story, "Those two mobile suits...the blue one and the white one..." Dearka started and paused, not knowing how to continue.

"Their part of a legend from much too long ago, we can't be sure. In fact, we don't know how long ago it was." Yzak continued, "There were five powerful mobile suits, known as Gundams, which changed the course of the war and saved the Earth. They were then supposedly self-destructed, and their blueprints lost forever..."

"But?" asked Kira with a curious look, to which Dearka answered, "I guess someone found some blueprints..."

Everyone sighed at Dearka's comment; it meant that there was completely no way of them knowing how or where the blueprints could have been found.

The meeting ended quickly, yet Dearka stayed behind to lead his parents to his ship, the Voltaire, where Miriallia was still in charge.

"Neire, what's the status of the de-briefing? They should be done by now." Miriallia asked while looking over several reports on the situation of the all mobile suits, before sighing in despair.

"They're on their way ma'am, close by..." "They?" Mir stood up and walked over to the camera that Neire was looking through, and there she saw three dark skinned, light haired people walking towards the Voltaire.

Miriallia immediately took in a sharp breath, "Are those...his parents?" Neire couldn't help but smile as she nodded in response.

Over at Dearka's spot, he continually thought about how he was going to introduce his parents to Miriallia. It would certainly be awkward, what was she to him anyhow? His girlfriend? His subordinate? Nothing actually sounded right at that moment...

"Dearka dear!" Dearka was brought out of his reverie by his mother, "I've heard that you actually requested that a natural be brought aboard your ship." 'Well at least I won't have to explain that to them...' "I remember that Yzak told us during our last call, he seemed happy about it."

'Yzak?' Dearka's minds eye showed him his white haired friend smirking in front of a vid-screen.

He grit his teeth at the thought and then waited for a smart response, yet there was none. He looked back to see that there was one person missing from his family, "Where is Tiana?"

Tad, Dearka's father, smiled before answering, "She's up in the plants, she didn't feel like coming down here." Dearka sighed, knowing that this was the reason most people were surprised that he had a younger sister.

"Dearka, you still haven't answered my question..." Dearka looked back at his mother before scratching the back of his head and nodding. His mother's face changed immediately to suspicious, "Now why would you do such a thing for a Natural?"

"Well, she's not just any natural-"

"She?"

'Damn!' Dearka thought to himself as they approached the Voltaire, thinking of a way to escape the coming conversation.

Over in the Onogoro hospital, Wes Baxter was recuperating steadily on a hospital bed. The white walls and the steady beeping of the machine next to his body being the brightest parts of that room. Everyone else was not in high spirits.

James Badguirel and the rest of "Last Hope" were waiting impatiently for Wes' awakening. Jessica was sleeping on James lap.

Hakros Surren was outside standing guard for the hospital room. The only man who was a bit more suspicious of other people than normal. The other two people in the room were Meryl and Vash Skye, the twin pilots of that squadron. Finally, Kuzzy looked out the window, taking in the old sights that he hadn't actually seen for some time.

Outside of the room, Hakros continued to stand guard as Athrun Zala paced oustide of the room where his wife had been taken into and had stayed during the entire battle.

Hakros looked over to that side from time to time but did his best to stay where he was, although he was reminded of an old friend.

A man with black hair and pale skin, and still paling walked from one side of the room to another. The man wore a decorated Earth Forces uniform.

"Would you calm down already? It's going to be fine." A younger and beardless Hakro said from his place in a chair. "To think, when you're in battle, your so calm, but you're going crazy over your first kid."

"Well how are you not?" The man finally said, stopping for only a few seconds before tapping his foot on the floor.

It wasn't long after that that a black-haired young woman was pushed into the room carrying a crying bundle in her arms. "Hakro..." "I know Robert, I'll take care of him if anything happens..."

"Robert...what are you going to call him?" "Wes...Wes Baxter, leave the middle name blank for the name that he'll earn himself one day..."

Robert was known as Robert "Flight" Baxter, and his wife was known as Hayane "Sakura" Yonshe. Hakros himself as known as Hakros "Big Brother" Surren.

It had been years since that day, and a simple look at a young man worrying over the same exact thing, replayed that memory in his mind. He took a quick look back at the room where Wes was still asleep, "I kept my promise Flight, you'd be proud of him..." He turned around and then resumed his guard.

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It was dark, Wes Baxter felt somewhat conscious as he looked through the darkness.

'Where...' He thought as he looked around. Then He noticed a station, a space station far away.

There was battle, explosions all round the station. The station so close to the moon, Wes felt pure surprise.

A beam suddenly appeared and flew though a space station, completely destroying several at the same time.

'The final days of Gil Dullandal...' The scene changed as he moved to a different area. Somewhere inside of a base, where now different explosions went on.

Windams flying against Windams. But there was no hesitation during the battle, none whatsoever.

Although he was not in a mobile suit, he could hear all the voices of the battle. Even one that he thought he would never hear ever again.

'dad...'

It wasn't long before two Windams finally came across each other. Two red beam sabers stayed on each other, and Wes heard their voices clearly.

"You betrayed us!"

"I will not be ruled over by a bunch of Coordinators!"

The two Windams pushed each other away with a strong kick. Before one shot the other while second blocked and charged again with its beam saber.

"Why? Why would you follow these teachings?"

"They are the way of the world!"

"You're wrong!"

The Windam suddenly charged again, its beam saber pointed straight ahead. The other Windam did likewise screaming out the name "WES!"

Wes' beamsaber was knocked away and Wes gasped as his enemy came towards him for a killing blow...

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Wes woke up suddenly from the shock of his dream.

He looked around with his eyes, seeing only the white walls that painted the room with some people sitting and also sleeping deeply.

He recognized them immediately as the rest of the "Last Hope" squadron. He didn't see Hakros, but he saw everyone else.

"So, you're awake finally?" He looked over to the voice who spoke. He saw that it was Kuzzy, looking away from the window with a smile.

"What are you still doing here?" Wes said with a smirk on his face, "Didn't you promise us that you'd go straight back to your friends when we got here?"

Kuzzy didn't answer, he only blushed in embarrassment. James however decided to speak again, "It's about time you woke up...all kinds of crazy stuff is happening here..."

James face seemed as if he was not having fun, and Wes could only wonder why this was happening. Before he could ask however, Kuzzy spoke, "Cagalli's still in the hospital room, and Athrun is outside waiting to know what's happening. Lacus and Kira are perparing the wedding. And I just heard that Miriallia has become a part of the Zaft military, a first mate..."

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"It's nice to meet you..." Dearka's mother, Rena, said as she greeted Miriallia. Tad did likewise as Miriallia saluted Dearka who answered likewise.

The four then moved to the bridge but Rena stopped and spoke, "I feel a bit tired Dearka...you and your father should go see the bridge, I'd very much like to speak with your second-in-command."

Dearka was about to speak against that idea, but Tad quickly grabbed his arm and took him to he elevator.

Dearka and Miriallia gave each other a look of desperate request for help, but it was cut when the elevator door closed.

Miriallia felt in danger, that feeling was stronger when Dearka's mother spoke again, "Shall we go?" Miriallia smiled in response before nodding and moving forward. She was wringing her hands the whole time.

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Back at the hospital, Athrun continued to pace outside of the room. After saving Wes' Savior he landed and ran straight back to the hospital.

He was told that by then there would be no problems and that the baby would be born. However he was still unable to get inside of the room to be able to see Cagalli.

"She probably did this to me...just to see me squirm..." Athrun stopped and thought about what he'd say, "Or maybe she wants to make sure that I don't name the kids..."

Athrun then shook his head, "That's crazy..." He then resumed his pacing and wondering about what had happened.

Then the door opened, and Athrun could hear Cagalli's voice, "I said don't let him in, I have to think of a name for her!"

Athrun's jaw fell, and the nurse that had opened the door looked surprise to see Athrun standing there. Athrun then shook his head and pushed his way inside.

"Cagalli! I swear..." His anger died down as he noticed the bundle in Cagalli's arm. It went even lower when he noticed two bundles.

"T-t-t-twins?" Athrun said in surprise to which Cagalli smiled and nodded. Athrun then remembered why he was there.

"You-" "I was going to name the girl because you didn't have a very good name anyhow..."

"But-"

"No buts, I'm still going to name her just like I named Ahmed...Now then what would be a good name?" She began to think deeply as she looked down on the bundle in her left arm.

"Leonore..." Athrun said, and Cagalli's face scrunched up, "What an awful name..."

"Too bad, put her name down as Leonore." Athrun left no room for discussion and Cagalli decided that it was better not saying anything.

"Leonore and Ahmed Zala Athna" The nurse said as she wrote down the names in a pad.

The discussion was over, and the names were decided on quickly. Athrun then sat down beside Cagalli and made no move to pick up the children.

Cagalli noticed the look on Athrun's face and spoke, "Your daughter's heavy..." Athrun looked surprised at Cagalli's comment.

"But she doesn't look-"

"Just pick her up." She was tired but Athrun knew that she could carry them both.

Athrun still decided to pick up his daughter while he could keep Cagalli in a good mood. He was still reluctant though.

The baby was in a deep sleep, her tiny hand grabbing onto the other. And her tiny lips smacking against each other as she slept.

Athrun could not help but smile at the small light blue-haired baby. Ahmed also had blue hair, but a darker shade.

Athrun looked ready to say something to Cagalli, stopping when he noticed her sleeping face. Her chest rose up and down slowly, as the baby stayed on her chest with the same peaceful expession.

"Twins..." He whispered to himself, "I should have known that would happen."

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Kira and Lacus were both elated to here that Athrun and Cagalli were now parents. Lacus teased Kira about the idea of him having a nephew and a niece.

"Unkle Kia, they'll call you!" Lacus said with a giggle. Kira sighed as he thought of some kind of comeback, but nothing came to mind.

It was then that the two came across the door to Wes Baxter's hospital room. Hakros was no longer on guard, so Kira decided to enter and pay a visit to the injured pilot.

"Kira?" He heard as he entered the room. He looked over to see an old friend in the same room, along with several other pilots and the injured pilot himself.

"Kuzzy?" Kira asked likewise, and Lacus then entered. All the pilots knew the two well and understood their importance. They were quick to salute, catching Kira by surprise, but Lacus saluted back quickly.

"So then, how are you feeling?" Kira then asked, looking over to Wes with a smile.

Wes smiled in return, "Oh you know, nothing better than coming back through the atmosphere with a damaged mobile suit..."

Kira laughed in response to the light joke. At this point, Meryl and Vash were waking up from their little nap. "Ah! Our fearless leader has returned to the land of the living!" Vash said loudly with a smile. It quickly turned into a frown when Meryl bashed him on the back of the head with her fist, "Don't be loud! He just woke up!"

Vash grimaced in pain as Meryl continued to beat him, Wes could only shake his head in silence.

It was then that one of the nurses entered and began to take Wes' temperature. The others could only look as Wes did his best to not blush at being treated like that in front of his subordinates.

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Elsewhere a similar beating was occurring inside one of the Orb pilot's hangars. Karus was under direct assault from his personal mechanic, Rachel Hayes.

"For God's sake! I already told you too many times that you can't keep doing this to your mobile suit!" Karus shook his head in response to Rachel's yelling.

He tried to walk away, but Rachel grabbed him by the back of his jumpsuit. "You're not going anywhere until I'm finished!" She yelled again.

The energetic and easily angered woman was not the best person to deal with. And Karus learned that no matter what he did, he would both lose and win in the end. He would have to agree to help out the repairing of the mobile suit while he would still do the same thing every time he went out because he brought back more people.

Karus sighed as Rachel continued to berate him for the stupid decisions he has taken in the name of allowing others to survive. Karus did nothing to fight it, and simply began to tune out everything she said. 'It's the same thing she says all the time anyhow…' He thought to himself.

Rachel finally ceased and noticed that Karus had missed most of what she had said to him. With a fake smile she picked up a wrench that was lying on the ground and came closer to Karus.

After noticing a glint from the light reflecting off of the wrench, Karus woke up and noticed her menacing glare. Karus groaned as he backed away slowly, "I'm warning you Karus…" Rachel said suddenly as she got closer and closer.

"Do this again and I'll do much worse than what I'm about to do…" Rachel said once more as she came closer again. Even though Karus was moving away, her presence was getting closer to him by the second. 'Maybe I went too far with the last few stunts…' He said to himself as he turned and decided to make a run for it.

He didn't get very far before feeling some pain from the back of his head and blacking out completely. The last thing he heard was an evil laugh and the clatter of a wrench on the hard cold steel floor.

-------

"So have you met any new pilots from the other side?" Tad asked when they arrived to the bridge of the Voltaire. Dearka nodded slightly with a nervous grin as he answered, "I've met two; a coordinator from Orb and a pilot from the Earth Forces."

"Natural?"

"Yes, but he's quite the pilot and quite the looker." Dearka answered with a laugh, to which Tad looked at him strangely. Dearka then continued, oblivious to the queer comment he'd just made, "His name is Wes Baxter-"

"Baxter?"

Dearka looked over to his father, seeing the surprised look on his face. "Are you alright dad? Do you know him?" Dearka quickly rushed to his father's side, wondering if something was the matter. Tad pushed him away with a smile, "I don't know…Wes…but I did know his father…Robert…it would certainly be interesting to meet him if I had the chance."

"I can arrange that," Dearka said smiling, "We're getting along pretty well, people say we look almost like brothers, maybe even twins!"

Tad smiled and laughed nervously, "Brothers huh?..." He was fairly silent after that but said very little about the matter.

"Anyhow, he's a fairly interesting person. He was also piloting the Savior during the battle beside your ship." Dearka stated while he remembered the recent battle. His father too was remembering the battle, and he recalled the image of the black and red mobile suit that was severely damaged in the battle.

"Is he all right?" Tad asked his son, to which Dearka answered, "I heard he just woke up, and that he'll be walking in a day or two."

"I see, the wedding is tomorrow isn't it?" Dearka nodded at his father's question. It was surprising but the couple to be married thought it would be best to get married sooner than later once they reached Orb.

It seemed sudden, but no one went against the decision. It was understood, that the times were becoming more and more desperate; there was very little time for happy moments between all the leaders of any nation.

At the same time, this discussion had reached the conversation going on between Miriallia and Rena. The two had begun with the normal tour of the entire ship.

Lacus and Kira were well known to both people, Rena was speaking of the experience she went through when she met Kira. "It was interesting to say the least…"

Rena continued as Miriallia imagined what Kira must have gone through, "Kira needed to be suited up in some form of uniform since he was next to Lacus Clyne who had just become the leading Chairman. Yet it only served to confuse people more, since they didn't really know who exactly Kira Yamato was."

Miriallia giggled at what she thought would happen next. "So there goes my husband up to poor Kira, and gives him a salute. And there Kira was looking around him, wondering who he was saluting to!" Rena continued smiling the whole time. "It was at that point that he finally saluted, a bit sloppily, and Dearka came to start a conversation with him."

"Tad was already a bit confused when it came to Kira Yamato, and finally asked Dearka who he was. When he answered that Kira was the pilot from the Archangel, Tad nearly had a heart attack right then and there, and even Dearka thought he was having a real heart attack!" Miriallia laughed louder after that, along with Rena.

After the two finally calmed down from their laughing, Rena then spoke, "Speaking of Dearka, how do you two know each other?" Miriallia froze at the question. It was quite a meeting, and one that would most likely bring a shock from Dearka's own mother.

Miriallia was very hesitant to speak of the event, and scratched the back of her head with a nervous smile on her face. "Oh come now, it couldn't have been that bad!" Rena said in response to Miriallia's reaction. Miriallia could only choke as she began the story.

-------

"It's been a long time hasn't it Trent?" Chris said as he and his old friend sat by each other at the base's cafeteria. Trent smiled at his friends question before nodding. "Too long, I haven't heard from you since the Clyne faction decided to disband their major groups."

"Yeah well, not everyone could disband, I've been working on the important stuff…haven't had time to talk to anyone Earth-side you know?"

Trent chuckled before nodding, and then Chris continued, "It sure is nice to be back though…I've missed this place…"

Trent smiled again, "You should have come back sooner then…" "I couldn't bear it…too many lost friends…"

Trent knew the burden that Chris had put on his shoulders. And it was one that he put on by himself, even though others tried to help him with it. "You really should let it go, there was nothing you could have done…"

"I've heard that before," Chris said as he drank from his cup. Trent shook his head in despair, he too was friends with the test pilots for the Astray's and he was also distraught when he was informed of their deaths.

"Don't worry about me though…I've come back now, I decided it's time to let it all go…" Chris said, trying to cheer Trent back up.

"Trent, after the wedding, what are you going to do?" Chris said suddenly, surprising Trent. "Where will you go? What mission will you be given?" Trent could not answer very quickly.

"I'm not too sure…we'll probably get back to looking for those mobile suits that attacked Carpenteria Base in the Atlantic." Trent said waving his hand in front of his face, and Chris smirked in response.

Their conversation was interrupted as another voice spoke out, "You boys would cause too much trouble if we just let you back out onto the field!"

"Captain La Fllaga!" Trent half-yelled as he stood up and saluted. Once he was finished, the blonde haired hero pushed Trent back down onto his seat. "We're off duty for god's sake…let's just take a break…"

"After the rescue you pulled back up in space, you came back sooner than I imagined." Chris said as the captain sat down. "After the shuttle went through the atmosphere, the group of Mobile Suit stated themselves finally before turning away and flying off."

Mwu placed his hand on his forehead as he sighed, "It was as most of us believed…they called themselves the Zala Foundation." Chris sighed at the information, but Trent had a look of confusion on his face. "I've never heard of the Zala Foundation…" Trent said, and Mwu nodded before speaking. "It's a fairly new and quiet group…it runs and is rumored to be the followers of all of Patrick Zala's policies and beliefs. Basically, they want to wipe out Naturals from the face of the Earth and consider coordinators to be the next stage in mankind's evolution."

"The same policies that brought the war between Zaft and the Earth Federation…" Chris said, giving Trent a different thought, "It's like an answer to the Natural's Blue Cosmos group!"

"Very true; it brings back bad memories from both wars…" La Fllaga stated, to which Chris answered, "The second war…" His face lit up with realization, "Wait did the fall of the Junius Seven!...Did they cause that?" Mwu looked over to Chris with a stern look, before nodding slowly.

"That disaster……caused by a bunch of-" Trent couldn't finish his own words. His teeth were clearly gritted together and his eyes contained a fire fueled by rage. A rage that no one had ever seen come from the normally calm and peaceful young man.

"Trent?" Mwu asked suddenly, noticing the sudden change in his former subordinates demeanor. Chris however, quickly realized that Trent was remembering a horrible incident. One caused by the fall of the space station. One that affected him terribly and caused him to decide to join the Orb forces, against the will and advisement of all of his friends.

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Once again, I am very sorry. In truth, I still have some writers block, so I don't like how this chapter turned out really. However, there isn't much to do about that. I haven't done one on paper in a long time, however the next chapter will be the awaited wedding of Kira Yamato and Lacus Clyne. See you then!

Hawk Strife