Chapter 11: Apposing Destiny

Zaft battleship Minerva

"Athrun STOLE the Impulse?"

"And the Onyx Pack. With Meyrin's help."

Talia planted her face on the desk. "If it isn't Colonial ships with anti-MS missiles, it's defecting personnel. What's next, Galactica with a levitator?!" Rey and Shinn shared a glance before Talia shut them up. "That is NOT a question either of you want to answer. We've got a number of ex-Eurasian ships docking here, and all of them want Djibril's head on a pike. We've got ONE more battle ahead of us. We're heading for Iceland and killing that bastard once and for all."

"Hopefully we can take him out before the Colonials do." Rey said, "If we are the ones who take Djibril down, we could have a spike in support for ZAFT. But if the Colonials beat us there..."

"They're too busy beating the shit out of us in space. We need to capture Djibril and fast. Otherwise, we're going to drag this out beyond our ability to fight it. The Colonials can repair and supply their forces outside the combat zone. We can't. So we're heading for Heaven's Base. And cutting the head off the snake."

Battlestar Hel

Ron activated a link with the ship's AI core, allowing them to talk to homura without shutting the 10 kilometer long superdreadnought down. "I was thinking of talking to the President about getting the ban on AI development reciended. We could use the help on ships like Polaris."

"Yeah, having a shipboard A.I has always been something I've been wanting to do with our ships." Jaden said looking through several monitors. "It cuts down on crew requirements, leaving more space for hull plating, armor or even space to hold ground troops… so long as you make sure that A.I's don't find a ridiculous way to go rogue. Seriously, did you guys even BOTHER to have anything resembling Asimov's laws?"

"What?"

"Isaac Asimov's laws of Robotics. Law One: A robot may not injure a human being or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm. Law Two: A robot must obey orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law. And Law Three: A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Law."

"Yeah...Cylon AIs were modeled after human minds: no restrictions. I prefer them that way, as they're sentient beings that deserve the same respect as flesh and blood."

"I agree there," Jaden said, nodding "However, A.I or not, Laws must be put in place to maintain order. If an A.I were to break those laws, they would go through the same punishment as any human would and vice-versa. That's why I always believed in being very cautious with A.I research… last thing we need is a Hal 9000 or Skynet."

"Who?"

"Hal is an A.I from 2001 A Space Odyssey, and Skynet's an A.I from the Terminator movies." He said, "Skynet perceived humanity as a threat to its existence, accessed nukes, nuked Russia, Russia nuked America, then Man vs Machine war shortly after… also a LOT of time travel. And those Terminators were SCARY."

"How scary?" Ron asked, as Jaden pulled out his Pad, and showed a picture of a T-900 fully armed, half of its face looking human, the other half… not so much.

"...What is it with you people? That's more or less what happened to us!"

"What, a humanoid model that WASN'T organic?"

"Two of them, to the best of my knowledge. Long story, don't want to get into it."

The handset buzzed before Ron flicked it on vox. "Pinkerton." "Colonel, ZAFT forces are sending a force to Iceland."

"Heaven's Gate? That's practically OMNI Enforcer GHQ, the second-most defended place in the solar system. What the hell are they planning?"

"Its likely to gain some publicity." Jaden said, "If ZAFT defeats OMNI on their home turf, and manage to nab Djibril, people in the PLANT's and on Earth will have some more support for ZAFT. They probably want to beat the Colonials to the punch, since if you guys axed the bastard, you'd get a shitton of support."

"What would you suggest doing?" Ron asked.

"Hmm… I say let ZAFT at it," Jaden said, "Djibril is a clever bastard, I doubt he'd let himself get cornered at Heaven's Gate. He'll escape and likely go somewhere else, likely somewhere with a mass driver so he could escape into space… that could be when we nab the bastard ourselves."

Ron tapped the comm again. "Launch a pair of Ravens and a stealth Raptor. Tell them to not engage the enemy." "Understood, sir."

"If he runs..." He flicked the comm off. "We'll know where he's going."

Off the coast of Iceland

Heaven's Gate.

OMNI Enforcer's planetary general headquarters, and the second-most heavily defended place on the planet, the first being Ptolemaeus Crater post-Valentine War.

And Talia Gladys was staring it down. Their job was to smash through the defenses and get Djibril while the rest of the fleet held off the rest of the defenders. Thankfully they weren't doing it alone - with some support from defecting Eurasian and EA forces to support their own forces, and having the Destiny and Legend among their MS complement helped in morale quite a bit after Athrun 'abducted' Meyrin.

That did not mean it was going to be easy. Outside the base were a number of surface warships and the one thing Talia didn't want to face: a Charlemagne-Class battleship, IFF IDing her as the EAS Ramses. The Charlemagne was built to kill Galactica, and they forced the Colonial's hands into revealing their forces. The Minerva was a toothpick compared to that.

"Launch the mobile suits and prepare for anti-ship and anti-MS combat! Our primary target is the Ramses!" The coordinator resisted glaring at her leader, who sat behind her on the bridge of the flagship.

"Sir, I think you should transfer your flag. We're going into combat, and risking-" "Nonsense. This is the safest place in the solar system at the moment."

Talia scoffed. "With all due respect, the safest place is on Galactica. That ship just refuses to DIE."

At Heaven's Base itself, Djibril sat down with his counterparts from LOGOS.

"With the way things are going… I believe its time that we implement plan Omega." Djibril informed them. "With the way the war is going, and now that LOGOS has been forced out into the open thanks to Durandal, our only way of survival is to leave the Earth Sphere. You must all get into space by any means necessary, and we shall all regroup at the Arzachel Crater."

"What about you, sir?" One of the LOGOS members asked.

"The Akhenaten is heading to my position now," he informed, "It shall serve as my chariot to Orb… Yuna, have you set the proper preparations in place?"

"Yes, lord Djibril." Yuna informed nodding, "We will be read to recieve you. If ZAFT does follow you to Orb, I shall commit the Orb Military to defend our Mass Driver long enough for us to make our escape on the Akhenaten."

"Oh, that won't be necessary. But have them ready, regardless." The base began to shake as ZAFT began their assault. "I will be leaving the base's defense in the capable hands of the commanders. I have a ship to get to."

A Dagger L exploded at the hands of the Destiny, its' pilot more than willing to continue the killing spree.

"Minerva to Destiny: we're picking up multiple large contacts coming from the base." Shinn looked landward, blanching at the sight. the GFAS-X1 Destroy took the entire main armament of the Galactica to take out. Now there were THREE of them coming from the base!

"Don't worry, Shinn." Rey said as the Legend flew forward. "We take them down, one by one together. Reinforcements from orbit will be here soon."

"Unless those reinforcements have nukes, we're going to need backup." The Destroys fired on the two Gundam-class Mobile suits, forcing them to use their beam shields for cover. THAT gave Shinn an idea.

"Minerva, send out the Impulse's Sword Flyer! I have a plan!"

Destroy Unit 2 crushed a BABI in its' oversized hands before firing at the Minerva-Class battleship Ceres, missing the bridge. Then the arm fell off, exploding. The CPU barely understood how that happened. Until the Destiny came in and hacked through the head and torso, destroying the massive mobile weapon. Rey's MS, holding the Excalibur AS-sword from the Sword Flyer, had similar results.

Then they saw the Rameses fire her main engines and take off, heading for orbit.

"Well, gotta respect OMNI Enforcer for one thing: those ships can come and go as they please." "SHOOT THAT THING DOWN!"

Shinn scoffed. "Shoot down the fifth most heavily armed warship in the solar system. RIGHT. My name isn't Suicidal Shinn Asuka."

Rey then fired everything he had at the Rameses before closing in to attempt to finish it at point-blank range.

That was a mistake, as the ship's aft weapons array fired back, forcing Rey to fall back.

Much to Shinn's infinite amusement.

At the same time, the Akhenaten began its own move, as it blasted through the ZAFT forces with the support of the last two Destroy units, covering its escape from Heaven's Base. "Damnit! They're getting away!" A ZAFT pilot shouted.

"Track them! TRACK THEM!" ZAFT recon units in space tracked the massive ships and their respective courses, but there was nothing they could do to stop them.

Battlestar Galactica

The flagship of the fleet looked like it had taken a hammer and a blowtorch taken to it, but was intact, and had been repaired...to a degree. And now Tyrol was busy pulling off the armored cover for the Destroy's cockpit with help from Amy, a CCE Major named Yuna Farron and a lot of crowbars.

"Come on! Put your backs into it! Commander Takeo wants that OS, and so does colonel Pinkerton!"

"Shame we weren't able to get the pilot out." Amy said, grunting as she used a Crowbar to try to yank a melted slab of metal out of the way. "...assuming he or she somehow survived Galactica's barrage to begin with."

"Might've been an Extended. Probably more merciful that the poor bastard's de-" The armored cover failed, sending Tyrol to the deck with three and a half tons of melted titanium landing just beside his head. "Whoa."

The pink-haired Major (no relation to Lacus, and no one knew it the hair was natural or not) peered into the cockpit, looking annoyed before looking at Amy. "Are you people fraking with us?"

Amy blinked "What are you talking about?" She asked in confusion as she helped Tyrol back to his feet.

She grabbed Amy and forced her to look into the cockpit. There was no seat, only a large, damaged computer. yuna reached in and pried off a piece of metal covering before removing a large computer chip. "THIS is a metacognitive processor. Only three groups know how to make one of these: the CCE, the Cylons and after we gave you access to our files, the Junk Guild!"

"Whoa whoa whoa!" Amy shouted as she raised her hands in defense. "JG never gave anything to the Alliance! Jaden memorized the specs to the processors, and only me and him know how to make them! No one else in the Junk Guild could've possibly had access to those specs unless they were freaking psychic."

Yuna glowered at her before Tyrol climbed into the cockpit, pulling out another part. "Hey, Amy, do you guys use parts made by someone called 'Dassault-Dornier'?"

"No, we make everything in-house now." She said, "Why?"

Tyrol handed her a chunk of cooling material, which had the logo for the French corporation etched into it, as well as the words 'property of OMNI Enforcer'. "The Guild didn't make this MCP, Major."

"Then how the frak did they get their hands on it?!" Yuna shouted.

"Isn't it possible that they, like… captured something Colonial?" Amy asked, "Something not belonging to either the CCE or Junk Guild? I mean… there's no way it could've been Cylons, right? The only Cylons we've seen are from that Guardian Basestar, and there's no way The EA could've gotten anything from the Cyrannus System without their own FTL drives."

"Well, one of our store rooms was broken into a year ago, and the Centurions inside went missing. We thought they were destroyed, but...maybe not."

"Frak! Chief, get Hel on the horn: I want Jaden and our boss over here to look at this thing!"

Adama looked at the damage reports and stress tests for his ship. The luna titanium alloy had extended Galactica's life, and were practically the only thing keeping the battlestar from shutting like a book.

The Junk guild had also installed six levitator units into the battlestar for some reason. THe junkers liked to screw around, mostly that Lowe gear idiot.

"Well, the new bones are the only thing keeping the old girl from shuttin' like a book. Armor plating looks like it went through a frakin' warzone."

Adama fixed tigh with a look. "It did. How long until the hull begins to fail?"

"Could be months. Could be years. Bill, the old girl wasn't designed to tackle ships like the Charlemagne. We're going to need new ships, and soon."

"Sir, I have Raven 092 on the wireless," Gaeta reported, "They have a report on the location of the Akhenaten."

"Isn't that one of the Charlemagne's sisters?"

"Her sixth. That thing should be at Heaven's Gate."

"Not anymore, sir: the ship's en route to Orb." The old men looked at one another before the Admiral gave a simple order.

"Get me the President."

Laura Roslin wasn't happy. And an unhappy Roslin was not something the Earth Sphere wanted to have.

"Admiral, what do you think would happen if the PLANTs discovered Djibril was in Orb?"

"Undoubtedly an all-out assault." Adama said, "It won't be like the Archangel during the first war here, there would be ample proof he's there… only now, Orb still hasn't recovered fully from the EA's invasion. If ZAFT were to attack now with the support they've managed to gain, Orb won't stand a chance without a few trump cards up their sleeves."

"We have a trump card." She said, "The Amaterasu and her sisters can jump down there. To hell with the Alliance: Orb's a Colonial ally."

"The Amaterasu is a powerful ship, but she isn't as intimidating as a battlestar. Something the Junk guild seemed to predict."

Roslin resisted the urge to smile. "How?"

"They installed levitator units. I'll have Colonel Pinkerton add them to Polaris' design later if he hasn't already."

"Remind me to think of a proper way to thank the Junk Guild for that then." Roslin said, "Make whatever preparations you need to Admiral, when ZAFT attacks Orb, the Union WILL have our support."

"I'll have Colonel Pinkerton sent over: he's flown a battlestar in the atmosphere during the war." He didn't mention the fact that it was a Sobek-Class ship, nor that it was a thin atmosphere on a moon.

Roslin didn't need to know. All that she needed to know was that ZAFT was about to get a VERY rude awakening.

Battlestar Hel

"I'm going to head over to Galactica: there's an operation going on, and I need to fly her. YOU, Jaden, have a different mission."

"Hell, it's about time" Jaden said, as he put the helmet on for the Warsuit. "I'll do a little Zero-G walk over to Aprilius, get inside and find her in the apartment. While I'm here though I'm gonna call some of my old contacts… if we're gonna oust Durandal from office, this'll be the best way to do it. I'll probably have to get a message out to Lacus too."

"Speaking of which, don't they have an upgraded version of the Freedom to hand him?" Ron asked.

"X20A Strike Freedom." Jaden replied with a shrug, "Not much of an upgrade: they removed the shoulder cannons and added DRAGOONs in their place, along with a "Calidus" Multi-phase Beam Cannon and beam shields. I find it rather idiotic, one could've easily modded the original wings with DRAGOON deployment binders. All you'd really need to do is update the reactor."

Ron scoffed. "Damn right. At least WE came up with a good upgrade."

Jaden raised an eyebrow. "To what?"

"Well, we had to replace the cockpit."

"Wait… the Providence?" Jaden asked, "Shit, I almost forgot you guys took that thing. I heard ZAFT made a replacement to that though… the X666 Legend… I also heard they made a mass produced ZAKU variant, the Providence Zaku…good machines, but they likely lack the JG or CCE touch."

"Yeah. Lightened the MS, added new weapons, removed that idiotic composite weapons thing on the left arm... beam shields, new reactor. Fear the CCE, for we are NASTY."

Ron walked towards a Raptor, then gave Jaden a thumbs up. "Get her home, kid."

"I intend to."

ZAFT battleship Minerva

Orb.

Shinn wanted to hate Orb. He did. But Orb didn't kill his family. Sure, it failed to protect them, but it did not kill them.

Nor did the Freedom. He tried to defend the refugees escaping the country.

He couldn't blame the Forbidden, either: the pilot was an Extended, and thus under the control of Muruta Azrael.

No, the ones to blame were Blue Cosmos. How could such idiots be born in the modern era?

But back to Orb. He couldn't hate the country because of the Colonies.

Every time he saw a Murasame, he saw a Dart in its' place.

'One more battle. One more, and it's all over.'

Battlestar Galactica

Operation: Hailmary. It would be the counterattack against ZAFT, starting with a 100,000 foot drop onto the ZAFT fleet.

And Adama was planning on launching all of his Vipers to make ZAFT bleed and run.

"Fucking A Levitators." Ron said with a chuckle, "So that was what Jaden wanted to suprise me with."

"With those installed, Galactica will jump into a massive thunderstorm cloud bank nearby." Adama said, "It will mask our jump, and keep us hidden long enough to launch our attack. ZAFT may expect the Amaterasu, but there is no way they could be prepared for a battlestar in-atmosphere."

"And the weather report for Orb is as follows." ron mock-coughed into his hand. "On November 13th, there will be an 87% chance of thunderstorms...And a 100% chance of battlestar ruining your day." The two colonels began to laugh at the joke. Adama didn't. But he liked the idea. "Our first jump will be in the atmosphere. THose things will take time to fully power up." "Enough time to launch our Vipers before we jump into the clouds." "And then we rain cannon fire on them. Bill, this plan is Starbuck-worthy." "That's why it's going to work, Saul. Colonel Pinkerton, take the helm. And sound action stations."

November 13th, CE 73

The war had turned against him. No matter. Earth had turned against him, against the natural order of things.

So he would leave. The Centurions prepared the Heavy Raider from the basestar for takeoff as Djibril watched. He had thought that he could reforge Earth, though mostly because he thought he had no other choice… Earth was all they had. But then the Colonials arrived, and revealed that the galaxy was much larger than they could've imagined, and now the chance to find new worlds, ones to colonize and embark upon a new chapter of true human history could begin.

"Lord Djibril, you...wanted...to-" The younger Seiran froze at the sight of the Centurions.

"Ah, Lord Seiran." Djibril said, as "Good. I wanted to speak with you."

"L-Lord Djibril..." Yuna said, eyeing the Centurions. "T-Those… those are-"

"Centurions, yes… but not from the Colonials." Djibril said in a calming tone, "LOGOS has managed to capture multiple examples of Cylon technology both from an infiltration of the Galactica, and a single Cylon Basestar which arrived in our star system several months ago. We have been going to extreme lengths to ensure these… innovations are kept top secret from anyone who doesn't need to know… most notably the Colonials."

The lavender-haired noble sweat bullets as the Centurions thudded past. He had seen images of those things on Galactica, killing or wounding dozens of people. "They have something called a telencephalic inhibitor. gives them the abilty to think creatively, but not the gift of sentience. And the inhibitors are built into the chips, and will fry the Centurions should they malfunction. The perfect way to ensure obedience."

"I...see." "We will be leaving Earth soon, Yuna. The coordinators have fooled the world into thinking that we are the threat, not they, and the Colonials are too trusting of them. And I want you to join me."

"M-Me sir?!" Yuna asked in surprise.

"You are one of the most loyal members to LOGOS," Djibril said, "And if I plan to rebuild what we lost here at Earth from scratch, I cannot hope to accomplish it all by myself, even with the aid of our own Centurions. I have my agents keep us updated on current events here… but if the true ideals of LOGOS or Blue Cosmos are to survive, we must leave."

"But the shuttle you asked me to prepare-" "Is nothing more then a target. The Colonials are hunting for my head, remember? Let them shoot it down and think they killed me. The Akhenaten is little more then a distraction, as well."

Seiran smiled in delight. "You're going to mock them. Oh, the thought of the look on Durandal's face will be entertaining!" Djibril gestured to the Heavy, and allowed the leader of Orb to board. "Oh, I need to get something! I can't believe I forgot!" "What's so important, Lord Seiran?" "A pet project of mine! I'll tell you on the way up!"

A few minutes later, and the Orb noble came back with a suitcase. "Sorry." Yuna ran into the Cylon-built shuttle, and Djibril followed as the hatch began to close. He would be the last Blue Cosmos member to step foot on earth.

ZAFT battleship Minerva

"Orb has sent their reply: they continue to deny the fact that Djibril is within their borders." Arthur reported, as Talia sighed.

"Idiots..." she muttered, "They can't just shoo us away like they did when they hid the Archangel… I hate to attack the nation that helped us just a few months ago, but… orders are orders..."

Alarms blared as the bridge descended under armored titanium. "Launch all Mobile suits! Prepare for anti-ship, anti-Mobile suit and anti-strike craft combat!" "Ma'am?" "The Colonial government has always denied Yuna Roma Seiran's government as legitimate, promoting Representative Athha's instead. I expect to see the Amaterasu and her sisters."

With five Minerva-Class ships en route to Orb, along with the Gonawana, even the mighty goddesses would be hard-pressed to defend their ally.

"Ma'am, I'm picking up multiple Orb Murasames and one unknown Mobile Suit en route from our flank."

"On screen." Talia said, as the front screen displayed several Orb Murasame's, however leading the formation was a more humanoid mobile suit, colored entirely gold. "What the hell is that?"

"Unknown, it doesn't match anything in the database." Arthur reported, "It may be some sort of Experimental… "

"Another Colonial unit?" "Negative, ma'am: those are standard Murasames, not Darts. Colonial Mobile suits always mount FTL drives. Those are at the edge of our sensor range." And that gold one looked a LOT like the Strike. "Intercepting transmission on unencoded frequency, ma'am."

Talia gestured to put it through. "Attention Orb forces! This is Cagalli Yula Athha! As of this moment, I am taking command of the defense forces! Stand fast: help is on the way!"

"Send Shinn and Rey to take that golden Mobile suit out! NOW!"

"We have confirmation that Cagalli has entered the battle." Gaeta informed. "ZAFT forces are beginning the assault."

"And Djibril?" Adama asked.

"Intel says Serian has already prepared a shuttle for him," He informed, "Its going to launch from the Mass Driver once its fueled."

"If we're gonna do this, best do it now, Bill." Tigh said.

Adama grabbed the handset. "All hands...Brace for turbulence."

And with that, Galactica's flight pods retracted...and the mighty ship jumped into the atmosphere.

"Report!" "We're in freefall, sir! 99000 and falling like a rock! Levitators are online!" "Standby FTL!" Several BaBIs at high altitude were crushed by the multi-million metric ton battlestar, before the ship jumped.

"Six Murasames and one golden gundam-class MS. Should be easy enough." Shinn fired his GX2000 multiphase cannon at the golden machine, which made no attempt to dodge.

For reasons made VERY clear seconds later, as the beam was sent BACK AT HIM. "YOU'VE GOTTA BE SHITTING ME!" he blocked the beam with his beam shield, but it wasn't exactly comforting to know that more of his weapons could be turned against him.

Beeping caught his attention before he looked at the radar, seeing a massive contact.

One that he shouldn't be seeing in the atmosphere.

'BS-75 GALACTICA'. "Rey...are your sensors picking up Galactica?"

"I am… sensor must be malfunctioning." Rey said, "Even IF Galactica had the same engines as the Gondwana, we would be able to-" Anything he was about to say was cut off, as from out of the nearby storm, like a shark emerging from the ocean, flew forth the ever-so infamous Battlestar, its shadow covering up much of the battlefield below as everyone - Orb, ZAFT and EA, looked up in shock, awe and horror.

"Attention Assholes!" A voice shouted, belonging to none other than Ronald Pinkerton. "For your upcoming ass-rape, my friend Jaden had a song request! Hit it!"

BGM: All Along the Watchtower - Jimi Hendrix

The flight pods began to extend, launching out the aging battlestar's Viper squadrons before the 30 Mobile Suits of the 1st Tactical MS Squadron launched out of the pods, allong with Raptors and Rhinos.

That was before she opened fire with her guns.

"And THIS is why I LOVE these guys!"

BaBIs and ZAKUs were shot down by the Rhinos, led by a familiar-looking MS.

The Impulse.

"YEEEEEHHHHHAAAAAAWWWWW!" Luna shouted as she charged into battle, "I'm BACK where I BELONG!"

"Traitor." Rey growled, as he charged the Legend forward to attack the Impulse.

"Rey, hold on!" Rey ignored Shinn's warnings. And barely realized why. The missile racks on the Onyx weren't carrying ZAFT AGM141s anymore. They were packing ASM-14H Titanomachia. 16 of them. "Fox 4-2!" Four missiles left the pods, and Rey was forced to activate the beam shields to repell the overpowered warheads.

"Rey, get out of there!" Shinn drew the Arondight to block a strike from the Akatsuki before falling back himself. There were hundreds of Colonial birds in the air, all armed with anti-MS missiles that were imposible to dodge.

Then there was Galactica, which was firing on the Ceres, turning it into a smoking wreck with 8-ton shells. "Captain, I humbly request that we get the fuck out of here! Galactica's going to tear us apart!"

"Worked like a charm!" Starbuck shouted with a mad grin as she flew her Mk-VII Viper forward along with four others as they intercepted any airborn threats from BABI's to DINN's. "They never saw it coming!"

"Ma'am, I've got a shuttle on the Mass Driver," One of her wingmen said, "Its gotta be Djibril's shuttle!"

"rolling in!" The Viper rolled over, arming all three of the 30mm cannons. "We've got one shot! One pass, unload what you can into it!"

Starbuck fired on the shuttle as she dived on it, unloading hundreds of rounds into the craft before pulling out of the dive and heading off. All four other Vipers made similar passes on it, and it exploded before it reached the end of the driver. "Woohoo! Alright, boys and girls, let's finish the job! Head for the Minerva: time to make some pain!"

Her Viper VII banked left, but that was when she noticed the DiNN trailing behind them, firing off its missiles "SHIT! BREAK!" She shouted as she reversed her turn, avoiding a direct missile hit, but one missile hit her engines, causing her Viper to spew out smoke.

"FRAK! KRYPTER KRYPTER KRYPTER! This is Starbuck: I've got a broken bird and need to punch out!" 40mm shells hit the bird as she pulled the ejection handles, and the flaming viper rammed into one of the Minerva's CIWS mounts, destroying it as she landed on the Minerva's isode 460mm cannon turret. Seconds later, a ZGMF-2000 GOUF Ignited landed near the turret, its' Cylon-like monoeye boring down on Thrace. "Frak!" She raised her hands into the air, not intent on dying.

But she would fight back when given the chance.

"Fuck this! Fall back! All ships, FALL BACK!" "Minerva, this is St. Hellens: I haven't given the order to retreat!" Talia glared into the monitor before the commander of the sub command ship flinched. "We are up against the Battlestar Galactica! The Nightmare of ZAFT! She didn't get that title from being FRIENDLY!"

At that moment, Galactica's ventral guns began to turn down towards the ZAFT fleet. That was all Talia needed to see to know the mission was officially FUBAR. "Minerva to all ZAFT forces! Fall back! I repeat: Fall Back!" She shouted, "We don't have the firepower to take something like Galactica down!"

The guns opened fire, missing some of the Minerva's sisters, but there were multiple explosions in the water as the St. Hellens disappeared from the commlink. 'Oh, God, he's gunning for the subs. THen he's going to hit US!' "This is Minerva Actual: GET THE FUCK OUT OF HERE!"

The fleet turned tail and ran as fast as they could before more Colonial units jumped in, followed by the Archangel's arrival, with a new and improved Strike Freedom.

Talia was not in the mood to get shot at. "Fire retreat flares! And tell security to get that POW in the brig!"

"ZAFT forces are in retreat! We've done it, sir!"

There were a series of cheers on the bridge, though Adama remained silent as he looked at the tactical display showing the ZAFT forces in full retreat.

"Get me a headcount," Adama ordered, "I want to know who's alive and who's MIA now."

"Two Suits destroyed, nine of our Vipers were shot down...eight recovered pilots." Adama spun to face Dualla. "Who?" "...Starbuck, sir. She was shot down. She punched out, but was captured by the Minerva."

Groaning was heard from the ship itself, making Ron jump to the FTL console. "Sir, the hull can't take this much longer. We need to recover our birds and jump back into orbit. Otherwise the hull's just going to-" The ship shook, and more metallic groaning was heard. "SIR!"

"Frak..." Adama growled, "Get them back and Jump us out… "

Carpintaria base

"Kara Thrace." Talia stood in front of the Colonial Viper pilot, who was heavily restrained. "Viper pilot in the Colonial Naval Defense Force, service number 462753. You do realize that you will not get out of here, correct?"

"Yeah, well, talk to me about escaping impossible situations, boss lady."

"So I've heard." Talia said as she sighed. "I really don't want to do this Starbuck… if it were my call, I'd just lock you in the brig till this whole thing was over with… but Durandal, as you can probably guess, is getting desperate."

"Yeah, I figured. Big fraking Colonial fleet." "You're being sent to a facility called MESSIAH. I don't even know what it is, and I pray that your people rescue you before then." Starbuck's mocking grin never left her face before Talia left. The war was basically over. the Colonials had killed Djibril.

"Captain, please report to the bridge. We're getting ready to head into space."

Aprilius One - Clyne Penthouse Apartment

Meer gulped a bit as she read through the script that Durandal had sent her, outlining what he wanted her to say in his next statement. It did sound like something Lacus would say after all… all that mattered was that she gave her best performance as Lacus Clyne herself. She started this whole thing to be Lacus after all, since Durandal claimed he needed someone to fill in her shoes since she was MIA.

Though recently… she has been having a few doubts. With all of the insanity Durandal has been committing to, and how it seems as if he wants to keep fighting the EA and the Colonials despite claiming he wants nothing but peace… it hasn't exactly filled her with confidence.

She heard a knock at her door, as she sighed, assuming it was her bodyguard/assistant. "Mana, I've got this." She said, as she rubbed her forehead. "Tell Durandal I'll have the thing down in time."

"Ah, but is that what you want to do, Meer?" a voice asked, causing Meer to freeze and blink.

'Wait… no way, that can't...' she thought before she ran over to the door, undid the locks and flung it open, and was greeted by the sight of a figure clad in a type of armor, but his helmet was removed, revealing the face of none other than Jaden Takeo.

"Hey Meer." Jaden said with a smile, "Long time no see, eh?"

"Jaden?" Meer asked in suprise, looking at the man. "But...Where were you? It's been a couple of months-"

"Months?!" Jaden asked incrediously, "Meer, you've been missing for almost three years! We've been looking for you! I was starting to think you were dead!"

Meer's face paled and she stepped back. "W-wait… T-three YEARS?" She asked, "That… that can't..."

Jaden rose an eyebrow at her confused face. She obviously had no idea what was going on. Sighing, he began the command which opened his Warsuit up, allowing him to step out as his power armor went onto standby mode. "Meer… its C.E 74 now." He said, "Almost 75… how could you not know that? And why do you look almost identical to Lacus now?"

Meer bit her lip a bit, before she sat down on the bed. "It… it was after my last rehersal..." she said, "Like I told you on the phone they… didn't take me cause… I sounded like Lacus again. Then some lady from the Council approached me, said the Chairman wanted to meet with me. He told me he needed me to… to be Lacus."

"Did he ask why?" Jaden asked, as he sat next to Meer.

"He said it was because since the real Lacus was missing… he needed someone to keep the people of the PLANT's calm." She said, "From… going crazy on the radical side like in the last war… because I sounded just like Lacus, I was perfect for the role... I could finally use the thing that prevented me from doing anything… to help everyone, to be my Idol! So the Chairman had me go through a lot of surgeries… it was all a bit hazy what they used but… when I woke up, I looked just like Lacus! And then I heard about all the things about the Colonials and the EA… and Durandal had me do my job, in Lacus's place I do my best to keep the people calm..."

"Meer, the Chairman knows were Lacus was - he tried to have her killed." Jaden said, causing Meer's eyes to widen as she spun to face him.

"W-what?" She asked, "W-hat are you talking about?"

"So you didn't know..." Jaden said, sighing a bit in relief. "Yeah… Kira Yamato - the pilot of the Freedom? He was living with Lacus, and ZAFT Spec Ops attacked their home."

"Wait, why would he do that?" Meer asked, "The Chairman… he needed me to do this because Lacus was missing!"

"Because he wanted to keep you, and get rid of the real Lacus." Jaden said, "He knows the real Lacus would never support his ideals, that she would stand against ZAFT fighting the Colonials… he wanted a Lacus Clyne that he could control - that being you. And if the real Lacus showed up, it would reveal the fact that you're not real, and would make Durandal look even more like a lying, silver-tongued bastard… which he is, by the way."

"But he..." Meer said, shaking her head. "Everything he said… everything he showed me… it all said it was still... "

"Meer..." Jaden said, putting a hand on her shoulder. "Come on… let's get out of here."

"I-I can't just leave!" Meer said, "People… People are actually looking up to me now! I'm being someone important!"

"Meer, you're pretending to be Lacus Clyne!" Jaden said, "Your not Lacus, you're Meer!"

"So what if I'm Lacus! No one ever wants me!" She shouted, "My 'career' has just been one failure to another! My voice has always gotten people to just… just compare me to Lacus! How she's so perfect, and just because I sound like her practically bars me from doing anything! No one wants Meer Campbell!"

"I do, dammit!" Jaden shouted, causing Meer to jump a bit in surprise. "I mean… Meer… I… I want you… I don't care what anyone else thinks or says… they can compare you to Lacus as much as they want… but I know you - the real Meer Campbell… a strong, smart and determined woman who won't just roll over and take no for an answer… and wanted people to remember her for her accomplishments… not Lacus. It may've been three years… but I know that part of you hasn't changed… I can see it in your eyes."

Meer bit her lip. Jaden DID consider her a friend, and important for being herself, and not for being Lacus. "I...I'm sorry. I just...feel so...worthless."

Jaden put an arm around her shoulder, rocking her as she started crying. "Come on, Meer. Let's go. Amy misses you." Meer said nothing as Jaden lifted her to her feet. "How...how are we going to get out of here?"

"I appropriated a ZAFT shuttle thanks to some friends." He said, "We can get back to the battlestar Hel. You'll be safe there."

"But...the Colonials-"

"They're human." He said, "They're good, they're bad and they're ugly at times. But Colonel Pinkerton and Admiral Adama won't let you get hurt. You stay here...Durandal won't see a point in keeping you alive if the real Lacus shows up."

Meer paled, reason reaching her mind. Jaden was right. If Lacus popped her head up to reason with the world...the deception would be revealed.

And what reason would they have to keep her alive?

"Uh...where is that Shuttle of yours?"

Jaden smiled as he stood up, helping Meer back to her feet. "Hope you don't mind taking a short space walk." He said, "You remember what I taught you, right?" She nodded. "Alright." He opened up his power armor again, as he allowed himself to step inside as it closed in around him. "Come on, Meer… let's go home."

Daedalus Crater

Djibril stood in the command center of Daedalus Crater, smiling as cameras were pointed at him and Yuna. That Heavy Raider had saved their lives and now it was all going to end.

He had lost the war. He knew that: any idiot would figure THAT out. As such, this action could only be called the ultimate act of spite.

Djibril didn't care: he was leaving Sol. And ZAFT hadn't discovered the relays, either. Morgenstern's actions were key in that.

'Shame that Pegasus killed her.'

"You're live in three." The cameraman mimed two and one before the red light turned on.

'Showtime.'

Talia blinked as the image of Lord Djibril, leader of LOGOS and Blue Cosmos, appeared on the screens. "What?! I thought-"

"You and the entire Earth Sphere, Arthur."

"People of the Earth sphere and refugees of the Cyrannus System, I am Lord Djibril. I am hear to say a select few words. To the Colonial Fleet...I apologize. Your people were fooled by the gulles of the Coordinators. You fought and bled for unnatural monsters before you could be informed of their danger."

"It is a shame, really." He continued, "If you only saw the world as we did, perhaps the Earth Alliance and LOGOS could've helped you regain your worlds, and crushed the Cylons… but perhaps I can now show you how futile any efforts to 'save' the Coordinators are." He then smirked as he pulled out what looked like a type of detonator. "And for the space monsters in the PLANT's… and to your beloved Chairman… I have a gift for you, Durandal… a Requiem to you, and all of your kind!" And with that, he hit the switch.

Talia watched as a green light fired from the moon. It was a massive beam cannon of some kind. "What the fuck? He can't hit ANYTHING from that-" The beam reached a point, then BENT.

"Oh, SHIT. Geschmeidig Panzer! TRACE THE COURSE OF THAT BEAM!"

On Galactica, orders and reports were chaotically exchanged. "The beam is on course for another relay point, Admiral!"

Adama glared at the map of the Earth Sphere on the DRADIS screen. "Djibril's targeting the PLANTs." He said, "He can't nuke them, so he has to do this."

"By the Gods, how could we've missed something like this?" Tigh asked, "Isn't there anything we can do to stop this?!"

"We can't do anything. Inform the President, and find me the location of that beam cannon!"

"Yes, Admiral!"

Near the PLANTs

The shuttle was no Raptor, so getting to Hel was going to be long. Thankfully, BSG-62 was in the area: Lee preferred to keep Pegasus close to the PLANTs.

"I, uh, I've never been on a Colonial ship before." Meer said, sitting next to Jaden in the cockpit "Durandal never let me out of his sight."

"They're odd, both advance and primitive at the same time." Jaden said, "They've got all sorts of technical systems, and yet the overall design reminds someone of more 21st century naval ships in a way… not surprising considering they looked backwards in technology to fight the Cylons. If they can get over their paranoia of computers, they can make some very scary things."

"I… see… " Meer said, "So have you ever… seen one of those Cylons?"

"Uhhh… y-yeah..." Jaden said, a bit nervously. "Both the mechanical and… organic models."

"Those humanoid ones?" Meer asked, "What are they like?"

"Well… uhh..." Jaden began, as he silently cursed Ron and his ambrosa. However they were interrupted when he saw some kind of flash of light in the distance. "What the fuck is that?"

Meer's gaze turned towards a green line.

Heading straight towards the PLANTs.

"Uh..." "I can see it, Meer!" The line was a beam. A beam that was going to hit dozens of PLANTs.

And there was nothing anyone could do to stop it. The beam hit through the stabilizers of eight colonies before the angle cut through the inhabited sections of the PLANTs.

Over 4 million people were going to die.

"Holy shit..." Jaden muttered, as Meer's eyes widened in shock. "What the fuck… WHAT THE FUCK JUST HAPPENED?!"

Jaden didn't get an answer of course, though the Comm's did snap online. "Unidentified shuttle, this is Viper 148, callsign Showcase from the Battlestar Pegasus. Care to explain what the frak just happened to the PLANTs?!"

"Showcase, this is Jaden Takeo." He said, "I have no fucking clue what just happened. But I'm going to find out."

Daedalus Crater

"HAHAHAHAHAHA! IT's done! Azrael failed thanks to the Colonial Fleet, but now millions of monsters are dead!"

Djibril smiled. "Prepare the fleet." He said, as he walked out of the control room. "We're leaving. But we will return. The Earth will be cleansed. We must leave quickly - it will only be a matter of time before the Colonials bear down upon us, as will ZAFT."

"Yes, Lord Djibril." Yuna said nodding as he followed him. "This will be only a taste of what is to come when we return."

Durandal was PISSED.

Even the capture of Kara Thrace wasn't enough to make up for this. "I want every ship we have organized and sent to that base!" "Sir, that will take time: we've got over 600 ships scattered throughout the Earth Sphere-" "Then deploy the new fleet we have back at Armory One! I want that weapon taken out!"

The 'new fleet', built in secret during the two year lull, was made up of new ships based more on the Eternal: the Lycoris and Cooke-Classes.

The Lycoris was closer in form to the Eternal, but lighter armed then the Cooke, as it was a light cruiser. ZAFT's first, in fact.

The Cooke, on the other hand, was a heavy cruiser, but more accurately labelled a battlecruiser due to her light armor and heavy armament.

And they would be joining 300 more ships to assault that base.

"Over 20,000,000 people dead..." Jaden said, as he stood on the bridge of the Battlestar Pegasus after having regrouped with him. "How. the HELL did we MISS THIS THNG?! WHERE DID IT COME FROM?!"

Shaw pulled out a map of an area on Luna. "The beam came from Daedalus Crater, and we sent two Ravens to make a recon sweep." She pointed at a large 'hatch'. "That appears to be the beam cannon. CSS thought it was a warship hangar. The Charlemagne made them think their theory was correct."

Lee glowered at her, but she DID have a point. "We didn't know anything about this until now. My father's waiting for President Roslin to draft a response to the attack before we do anything."

"Don't bother, sir." The doors to CIC opened before Ron walked in, looking absolutely livid. "President Roslin and Admiral Adama are, in a word, PISSED. Battlestar Groups 18, 41, 48, 62 and 75 are to attack Daedalus Crater at 0500 hours Lunar Standard Time."

"And they're not alone." Jaden announced, catching their attention. "I'm calling all hands on deck with the Junk Guild… I'm getting every ship and soldier we have in space to take that thing out… and I'm also deploying the Avenger II."

"Orb will be joining us as well. Most of the Space Defense Force is being outfit with FTL drives as I speak. This will be the first fleet operation we've had since the fall. Admiral Adama will be in command, and we're being given a blank cheque. ALL weapons are authorized for use."

Everything. Nukes, heavy weapons.

Adama wanted revenge.

He would get it. "Head back to Hel, Colonel. we're going to need her firepower."

"Homura's been looking forward to it, sir. Djibril's going to pay for this."

ron left CIC, his footfalls being uncharacteristically heavy. "He's pissed."

"Not only was this the biggest loss of life since the Fall, those people are the closest thing he's got to family: he's genetically engineered himself."

Shaw flinched. "Not something I want to think about."

"He's not the only one." Jaden growled, as he turned around. "Those were people of ZAFT… people I use to protect, people I should've protect… that bastard is going to burn for what he did today. All games end today."

The grief-stricken crew of the Minerva were now filled with vengeance as their battleship was positioned on the Mass Driver in Victoria to be sent back up into space to join the fleet in attacking Requiem. They were not alone, for ZAFT was calling forth all of its assets to attack the moon from across the sphere. They didn't care if the Colonials were present either - for the time being, they all had one common enemy: LOGOS and Djibril must DIE.

The new fleet in orbit would be the key to the victory.

Although Talia was rather annoyed that the only people that bothered to TRY and follow that damn treaty were the Orb Union.

"Well, it seems everyone's been ignoring the Treaty of Junius. OMNI Enforcer pissed in the wind, we didn't bother! Hell, the Colonials didn't even sign it!" Talia's crew ignored their captain as the ship was sent down the launch ramp. This was the end of the war.

The attack would begin at 0500 hours as soon as they were all in formation.

And then the Colonials and ZAFT would be allies, hopefully.

Daedalus Crater

Djibril sat in the newly refit command center of the baseship, which was fit with new displays so they could watch the battle that was to come.

The Girty Lue, 4 Nelson-Class battleships, two Elizabeth-Class battleships, three Avenger-class light cruisers, twenty or so Cornelius-class supply ships, the Charlemagne-class Battleships Akhenaten and Ramses and the two Archangel-Class carriers Seraphim and Cherubim were refit with FTL drives. They would join the baseship when they escape the Earth Sphere.

They could leave whenever they wished. The ships were all hiding under a specially designed hangar which housed the Baseship, which hid the Baseship and its escorts from the prying eyes of the Colonials or ZAFT. The much larger fleet outside that protected Requiem was nothing more than a smoke screen, to make ZAFT and the Colonials believe that was all LOGOS had to offer, as they commit all of their forces into that spot in the Crater.

But just when they think they've won, they shall emerge from the hangar, strike a blow at the enemy fleet, and then escape from the solar system, they and their most loyal followers within these vessels.

"It's starting. 654 ZAFT ships are approaching the base." "Seems the only people who bothered to follow the treaty were the Colonials. Ironic, seeing as they never signed it!"

Yuna chuckled at Djibril's poor joke. It WAS true, though. "So, when shall we...reveal ourselves?"

"The moment the Victoria is destroyed, they will release a thermal and radar-jamming cloud." Djibril said, "And once that happens..." Djibril smiled. "Well, we have 150 Raiders and enough nukes to destroy half the ZAFT fleet. I plan to use some of them on kamikaze runs on ZAFT warships. No point in using them on the Colonials: those Vipers are too good at shooting them down. But a fair flurry of nukes and beam cannons will give them a bloody nose before we escape. It's all just a matter of time now."

He looked at one of the bridge officers "Have the marked Raiders loaded with the explosives, and nuclear weapons." He informed, "Once the doors open, we must move quickly."

"Aye, sir."

ZAFT battleship Minerva

"HOW MANY OF THOSE DAMN SHIPS DID THEY BUILD?!"

The Minerva and the Fortuna had to dodge fire from no fewer than FOUR Charlemagne-Class battleships while the Ur and the Patagonia had to deal with two MORE.

That didn't include the Charlemagne herself, nor the Mentuhotep and the Henry.

"Reduce pitch 23 degrees! Tell the Fortuna to break off!"

Massive shells slammed into the Sneferu, forcing her back to break as she broke in half. Talia's eyes widened as she looked for the source. "Minerva, this is the Battlestar Hel. Need a hand?"

While officially ZAFT and the Colonials were still enemies… but at the moment, Talia - and the rest of the fleet - shouldn't be picky who their allies should be in this fight. "We welcome it, Hel." She informed, "Synchronizing IFF codes, mark all Colonial contacts as Friendly for the duration of the battle."

"Yes, ma'am. IFF codes for Battlestar Groups 18, 42, 48, 62 and 75 have been marked as friendly." Talia paled. "FIVE battlestar groups?" And Seventy Five's flagship was Galactica.

'Ignore that: focus on the battle!' The Minerva's guns fired on a Avenger-Class cruiser, impacting the engines and sending it drifting into the line of fire from the Dominion's Gottfrieds.

"We're approaching the cannon array, ma'am!" The Minerva rocked from multiple near-misses, forcing Malik to stop the entire ship. "Report!" "Uh...you're not going to like it!" "REPORT!"

"Five Destroy mobile weapons Ma'am!" the officer reported.

"SHIT!" She shouted as she hit the comm, "Shinn, Rey! Focus your attack on the Destroys! They'll rip the fleet apart if we don't take them out ASAP!"

Shinn was at home again. Vipers and Raptors were fighting enemy Mobile Suits, and he was flying alongside them.

A 600cm shell impacted the head of the lead destroy unit, but it continued to function. "Minerva! These things aren't manned!"

"What? HOW?!" He stabbed the machine with the antiship sword before cleaving through it and causing the reactor to breach.

"That looked like the brain of a Cylon centurion! Where the hell did they get the specs for a Cylon's brain?!"

Galactica's guns vanquished another Destroy before Shinn began to notice something.

The Vipers were being drawn away from the capital ship fight.

"Galactica, this is Orphan." Shinn said, transmitting on the COlonial channel he knew. "It looks like the EA are trying to draw your Vipers away."

"We've noticed, Orphan, question is why-"

At that moment however, a large portion of the lunar surface suddenly erupted with dust shooting into the air. Shinn looked, and watched as several EA vessels began to rise up from the large opening, including more Archangel and Charlemagne-Class ships… but also emerging, much to his and the Colonials horror… was a Cylon modern Baseship, flying EA colors, launching waves of Raiders and missiles.

"WHAT THE HELL?! Where the frak did that baseship come from?!"

'Well, that explains where the Cylon computers came from.' The Raiders were heading straight for the Athena and the Psyche, two of the Minerva's sisters.

And while they were not Mobile Suits, Raiders were too small and agile for accurate MS weapons fire. After all, the nukes fired at the PLANTs were the size of ICBMs, and those took three shots to hit.

Vipers were a fifth that size. Raiders, a tenth.

40mm fire hit two Raiders, but they were too close to not avoid hitting the Athena, as they impacted against the hull, sparking two nuclear detonations which took out both vessels, along with anyone else who was nearby.

"THE RAIDERS ARE LOADED WITH NUKES TO KAMIKAZE RUNS!" Shinn shouted in realization, "Focus on the damn Raiders! NOW!"

Bullets - no one was risking a nuclear fireball with beam weapons - flew in EVERY direction, from Colonial Darts to ZAFT GINNs that had been pressed into action and their carriers themselves. The Colonials, meanwhile, had OTHER problems.

With their Vipers out of position, the baseship was clear to fire every missile it had on them.

And most of them were nuclear, so anti-ship cannon fire was out of the question. Flak exploded around the battlestars, added to more accurate CIWS fire from their support ships.

But that wasn't the worst part, as Shinn was about to witness.

The LOGOS vessels rose up from out of the crater, before an audio message was sent on all frequencies. "With this, I say adieu Colonial scum, and you pathetic space monsters!" Djibril shouted tauntingly, "One day we will return, and we will cleanse the Earth from your scourge once and for all!" and with that, each one of the LOGOS vessels winked out of existence… in FTL jumps.

Shinn was in shock. Blue Cosmos. Had FTL DRIVES.

They had a CYLON BASESHIP.

"YOU BASTARDS! YOU LYING BASTARDS!" Shinn wasn't sure who yelled over the wireless, but he wasn't the one.

"YOU'RE JUST THE ALLIANCE IN ANOTHER SKIN!"

"Come on, let's get these bastards! All surviving mobile suits, ATTACK!"

The Vipers ran on full afterburner to get to their carriers as Shinn shook his head at how STUPID his fellows could be.

"Stop! They're not OMNI Enforcer!" His pleas were ignored in favor of irrational anger, but the Colonials would not bear the brunt of their attack.

The smaller ships began to jump away, followed by Junk Guild and Orb vessels before Hel disappeared in a flash of light.

Shinn's heart nearly broke when Galactica retracted her pods and jumped away.

Meer Campbell was PERFECT for doing Lacus' job of soothing the people's anger.

Too bad she disappeared shortly before that beam killed 20 million people. 'Lacus Clyne' was among the assumed dead.

Durandal was going to have a hard time doing damage control on THIS one.

But the council didn't care about that. They were busy trying to find a way OUT of this debacle without getting themselves killed.

The only way they saw THAT happening was, frankly, a vote of no confidence and impeachment.

Thankfully though, Durandal had a secret weapon up his sleeves. One that would hopefully solidify his power, and unit the PLANT's after his debacle. It was actually rather fortunate that Djibril escaped alive, many were coming to the rather… illogical conclusion that the Colonials gave them the Jump tech, which he fully planned to use.

While he believed it was a bit rushed… it was either now or never to announce the Destiny Plan.

"Where the hell did that baseship come from, Admiral?"

Adama took off his glasses before setting them on the plotting table. "Madam President, the baseship was repaired and modified, but our Cylon allies have informed us that that baseship was Cavil's command vessel during the Cylon Civil War." He said, "It's likely that their FTL drives malfunctioned and sent them here."

The handset in his aged hands did little to reduce the President's rage. "What I want to know, Bill, is how the frak we missed it! That thing was the size of Galactica: you can't just HIDE something like that!"

"Coming from the same people who were hiding an entire fleet of Battlestars, dreadnoughts and support ships a few months ago?" Jaden asked, "ZAFT was able to hide GENESIS for nearly two years, the EA managed to hide the Archangel and the G-Weapons at Heliopolis for almost just as long… obviously it is possible… LOGOS obviously had to go through some extreme lengths to keep something like that secret from the rest of the Earth Sphere."

"It doesn't matter. What does matter is that the war is over. Durandal should be standing down his forces soon. He can't be suicidal enough to attack our forces here at Sol."

"considering he tried to vaporize my ship and BSG, I think he's a special kind of crazy, Admiral." Same shit, different man.

Gilbert Durandal was just another freaking Patrick Zala, sans genocidal bullshit ranting.

"Maintain Condition One for all Colonial units. And prep all of our forces to jump to Earth. We're going to need them."

"I'm going to contact Terminal." Jaden said, "When Durandal does make a statement, I believe we now have the perfect way to show the world how much of a lying silver-tongued bastard he is."

Ron the True Fan: Ah, Destiny. Such promise, only to be betrayed by budget cuts.

117Jorn: Then its a good thing we have Fanfiction :D

Ron the True Fan: The next chapter is the end! The Battle of Requiem! The Battle of MESSIAH! MAY THE DEATH BEGIN!

Ja Ne!