After Loussier fired her first shot, all hell broke loose. Lieutenant Yamato fired the Freedom's 90mm gun at the main entrance of the castle completely laying waste to main gate. Afterwards, Loussier's second sniper shot hit its mark on the second sentry, whilst Major Park and the squad all pulled the pins from their grenade and hurled it deep into the castle entrance, screams from the enemy were heard when Major Park and his squad threw their grenades, three guards ran out into the open where Major Park slaughtered them all. Loussier drove the Kubelwagen full of weapons and ammunition down to the castles main entrance. Major Park and his squad stormed the entrance and blasted away at incoming enemies. Loussier salvaged the weapons and ammunition from the dead bodies of the enemy. Seven more weapons were acquired with fourteen grenades.
Moments later, the alarm sounded.
The sound of the explosions and the alarm had alerted General Zala above, "What the hell is going on?" General Zala said in a harsh tone. While General Zala was distracted, Athrun swiftly kicked the gun away from his fathers hand while he cocked back his own gun and pointing it at him. General Zala's face had a mixture of surprise and anger, "So Athrun, do you really have the guts to pull the trigger?" General Zala sternly said. "I'll forgive you for hurting me, but I'll never forgive you for hurting Cagalli." Athrun said in a firm tone. General Zala smiled in reply, "You fool, you don't have the guts to shoot me and you know that, I know you well enough Athrun Zala!" General Zala grinned. As General Zala lifted his hands to take the gun away from Athrun, Athrun pulled the trigger. Athrun was shocked to find that the bullet had missed only by an inch. General Zala gritted his teeth, "Athrun you fool! Now you and that bitch will pay dearly!" General Zala said punching Athrun in the face causing him to fall. General Zala reached for his gun that lay on the ground, but Cagalli kicked General Zala in the face as hard as she could while she was still lying on the ground. "YOU BITCH!" General Zala lunged at Cagalli, he continuously kicked and stomped on Cagalli, she squealed and tried to fend General Zala off, but her efforts were futile. Athrun got up and hit his fathers head with his P-38 in rage. General Zala fell hard on the ground, but quickly recovered a knife from his boot, "I disown you! You are not my son! I have no son!" General Zala screamed as he charged at Athrun. Athrun did naught but stare in terror. Cagalli hastily put her leg out before General Zala could strike, General Zala tripped and fell on his own knife. General Zala let out a scream of agony seeing that his own knife had pierced his chest. Blood poured out as General Zala continued to scream, but eventually, General Zala passed out and died of his wounds. Both Athrun and Cagalli were initially shocked, mostly Cagalli, as they stared in horror as a pool of blood surrounded General Zala's lifeless body.
Only moments later, after the death of General Zala, the cell door swing wide open. Colonel Leopold Steiger was looking at the lifeless body of General Zala whist machinegun rattling and grenade explosions were setting off in the background, also shocked at the sight, he was quick to pull out his gun and load it to point it at Athrun, "You little bastard! General Zala was a great man and you killed him traitor! You killed your own father!" Colonel Steiger hatefully said out loud. Athrun and Cagalli were yet again shocked. "I'm going to help your father finish what he couldn't finish and that is to kill you and that natural trash." Colonel Steiger said angrily cocking his P-38 back and took aim at Athrun. A hail of lead hit Colonel Steiger from behind, in Athrun's opinion an MP40 was used. Colonel Steiger immediately fell dead without a sound. As Athrun picked up Colonel Steiger's weapon, an American airborne trooper entered the cell. He seemed interested in Cagalli, "Miss Athha?" the American paratrooper asked. Cagalli forced herself up, "Y-yes, I'm Miss Athha." Cagalli said nervously unsure of the trooper's intentions.
The airborne trooper smiled. "Jensen! Asuka! Have you freed all the other prisoners?" Major Park asked hastily. "Yes sir, we still haven't found the representative yet sir." Sergeant Asuka said suddenly appearing at the corner. "Don't worry, I found the representative Asuka. Go find the barracks and gather all weapons and ammo with Lieutenant Jensen right now!" Major Park said. Major Park turned to face Athrun and Cagalli, "We must go now Miss Athha." Major Park said quickly. "Captain Bratkov, escort these two back down to the entrance." Major Park ordered. Captain Bratkov swiftly came and hurried Athrun and Cagalli to follow him. Athrun and Cagalli followed Captain Bratkov without question.
Major Park looked at a map on the wall to find the communications room. As soon as Major Park found the communications room, Major Park used the radio and changed the frequency on the radio, Major Park then spoke on the microphone, "Charlie two Delta, Charlie two Delta do you read?" Major Park shouted. The radio started buzzing, "Flash?" Major Park changed the frequency to get a clearer reading. "Thunder," Major Park replied. "Leister?" the radioman asked. "Square." Major Park answered. "Confirmed, what is your status?" the radioman asked, "This is Major J. Park, 101st airborne paratrooper of E. Company, transfer me to General Patton now!" Major Park ordered. "Yes sir, one moment." the radioman said. Moments later, "Major Park, this is General Patton, what's going on there trooper?" General Patton asked. Major Park smiled and explained the entire situation to General Patton for seven minutes. Major Park continued, "We need you to make an offensive and from the front lines to Dortmund sir." a long silence was evident, but only several seconds later, "Major Park you hold on tight, I'll break through and we'll have the ZAFT kissing their own asses goodbye!" General Patton said in a 'son-of-a-bitch' way. "Thank you sir, out." Major Park hung up. Major Park then sprinted down to the main entrance.
Meanwhile Kira had fended off two entire companies of riflemen of the ZAFT army coming from Dortmund to reinforce Colditz. Kira kept pinning them down with 50cal machinegun fire from his tank while using HE (High Explosive) shells to wreak havoc amongst the ZAFT lines. The ZAFT riflemen tried to maneuver around Kira's position, but were once again pinned down by machinegun fire from the 50cal browning machinegun. The ZAFT took hundreds of casualties and the remaining survivors sprinted in full retreat back to Dortmund. Within a few minutes, four outdated Panzer III's were sent, Kira fired his 90mm gun at them and destroyed them with ease, while the Panzer III's 50mm projectiles bounced off harmlessly off Kira's tank. Kira destroyed them with all with ease. As the four tanks were destroyed, no more reinforcements dared to come to the aid of Colditz. Kira was still uneasy about the rescue operation. He wondered if Cagalli was still alive, Kira wanted to be a part of the rescue operation, but he knew that Major Park would take care of everything so therefore had kept discrete.
Lines and lines of Allied prisoners were seen crowding the entrance, desperate to escape Colditz and its cruelty. Major Park was pleased to see that everything was going as planned. His squad has taken no casualties in the entire rescue operation. Shinn, Stellar, Christian and Captain Bratkov were seen distributing weapons and ammo amongst the Allied prisoners into four man squads.
Major Park ran over to the squad, "Well done squad, well done. Keep it up." Major Park praised his squad patting Shinn on the back. Captain Bratkov suddenly interrupted, "Major Park, we don't have enough weapons. We have plenty of ammunition, but short on weapons." Captain Bratkov said desperately. Major Park was quick to act, "Jensen, Asuka, blue hair dude (Athrun) and Miss Athha, come with me." Major Park sprinted to Kira's tank that rested on a hill. The fact finally came to Major Park's head as they reached the tank, "Oh and Miss Athha… that's your brother Kira Yamato in that tank." Major Park said in a polite tone. Cagalli stopped in surprise, Athrun was equally surprised himself. Cagalli jumped onto Kira's tank, Athrun followed in close pursuit. "Kira! Kira!" Cagalli shouted. Kira heard Cagalli and quickly jumped out of his tank to meet her. "Cagalli!" Kira cried as he hugged her. The hug was broken when Athrun's eyes met Kira's. Both had stared at each other blankly. They both had dreamt of meeting each other, now it was reality. "It's been a long time Athrun." Kira smiled. "Yes it has Kira." Athrun smiled back. Major Park interrupted breaking the reunion, "Alright save that for later." Major Park said, he turned to face Kira.
"We need weapons fast, I bet you killed and wounded a lot of the ZAFT reinforcements while we were in the castle blasting and shooting away." Major Park said aggressively. "Down there, just below this hill, I eliminated at least a hundred." Kira pointed.
"Good work Lieutenant Yamato." Major Park patted him on the back, "Let's go squad, gather as much as you can carry." Major Park said running with the rest of his squad. Major Park then shouted: "Yamato! Get back to your post now!" Kira suddenly snapped back to his senses and turned around to man his post.
Major Park and his squad were covered with guns, their sprint was halted to a pace as they were buried under the weight of weapons. "This ought to provide the prisoners with enough guns." Major Park smirked reaching the castle. "Alright, everyone help Loussier and Captain Bratkov distribute the weapons and ammo now!" Major Park ordered, "And tell them all what to do." Major Park added. The last of the Allied prisoners were sent away after ten agonizing minutes of non-stop distributing. "Holy damn!" Major Park sighed in relief, "That was harder than I expected." Major Park continued. Everyone else agreed. There were seven weapons left; all of them being the Mauser rifles with almost a crate load of ammunition. The Kubelwagen that the high ranking officer had left would benefit the squad even more. "Let's get outta here and meet up with Yamato." Major Park said, "Captain Bratkov, take that Kubelwagen and follow me, Jensen go with Captain Bratkov." Major Park ordered. Everyone regrouped at the hill where Kira, Athrun and Cagalli were positioned. Major Park tossed the Mauser rifle with a clip bag full of ammunition to Athrun, "You better be an accurate shooter sonny boy." Major Park said to Athrun; Kira and Cagalli laughed in response while Athrun was stood scratching his head. "We have two Kubelwagen's and a tank, Jensen, you will take Mr. Blue hair boy and Miss Athha with you a Kubelwagen and you'll be following me." Major Park said, "I will be driving the other Kubelwagen and will take Asuka, Loussier and Captain Bratkov with me. I will be following Lieutenant Yamato." Major Park said pulling his Colt 45 handgun out with five magazines of ammunition, "Miss Athha, please take this just in case." Major Park said politely. Cagalli took the gun and loaded it. Athrun whispered to Cagalli, "I think you should get thicker clothes because you're almost fully exposed." Cagalli blushed, forgetting that she wasn't fully covered. No one else in the squad realized or took any notice except: Kira and Athrun. Kira was quick to produce a large greatcoat from his tank and gave wrapped it around Cagalli. Major Park continued,
"General Patton is going to make a chase to this area, so let's find a nice and secure forest to hide ourselves in until we encounter his forces." Major Park planned. Kira was quick to question Major Park's predictions. "What makes you so sure that General Patton will get through to us Major Park?" Kira asked. Major Park smirked, "Remember Yamato, we sent those prisoners away with weapons, they're gonna spread out and start wreaking havoc on the ZAFT defenses, like I said before, these prisoners that we released are mostly officers, they'll be both tactical and aggressive. If the ZAFT defenses are being pummeled by small bands of guerilla fighters, General Patton should slice through the lines like hot knife through butter." Major Park explained putting on his nerdy act. Everyone in the squad smiled and agreed with what Major Park had said, his tactics seemed flawless and the executions of his objectives were perfect in every way. The squad knew that if there was a man who would bring them home in one piece, it would unarguably be Major Park. "Let's move out!" Major Park ordered.
The squad had rolled slowly through the enemy countryside under the cover of darkness and thick hedgerows for five hours. Minor skirmishes were heard from a distance, undoubtedly the Allied officers released from Colditz. "Do you mind taking the wheel for a moment Captain Bratkov?" Major Park asked sincerely. "No problem." Captain Bratkov replied. Major Park halted his Kubelwagen while Captain Bratkov switched sides and drove, Major Park ran up to Kira's tank and whispered to him through the hatch opening, "Lieutenant Yamato, do you mind if I be your navigator?" Major Park whispered. "Yeah, sure thing that would be great." Kira replied vaguely. Major Park saw dark circles around Kira's eyes implying that Kira was absolutely exhausted. "Hang in there Lieutenant Yamato, I'll make some coffee for you." Major Park said, pouring coffee mixture in his metal canteen and then placing it on top of the engine canister where a lot of heat is produced. "No thank you Major, if I drink coffee I'll be on a cytosine high." Kira yawned. "What the hell is a cytosine high?" Major Park said looking puzzled, "It's sort of like when people get drunk on coffee." Kira said briefly. It suddenly snapped in Kira's mind, "Sir, how old are you?" Kira asked curiously, "I heard from some that you were seventy and I heard from another group that you were around seventeen." Kira explained scratching his head not caring whether Major Park would smack him or not.
"I'm actually twenty five this year." Major Park said with pride. Kira looked amazed and surprised, "You're a legend, a tactical genius at such a young age." Kira stated with full admiration. Major Park passed took a small sip from the canteen of coffee, "I'm not a hero, the real heroes are the ones that have their names inscribed on crosses and gravestones." Major Park said remembering the pure carnage and bloodshed of previous battles. Major Park remembers everyone that had died under his command. "The real heroes are the ones that jump on grenades to save their comrades, the ones that charge unknowingly at the enemy, the ones who had their names on that unlucky bullet, even the ones who tried getting a sack of potatoes from one place to another." Major Park said reflecting the horrors of his experiences. Kira could say nothing, unlike Major Park and the infantry, Kira was behind a steel tank, he never really experienced the full horrors of seeing someone die or suffer up close. Major Park saw the effects that his personal experiences had on Kira, "Don't worry about it, history has a way of honouring the heroes of all wars. Like my father said, the storm may wash down the flowers, but the flowers will always be there again in time." Major Park smiled.
Meanwhile, Athrun's mind was morbid. The images of his father's death were horrific, even though his father never cared about him as much as Athrun had hoped to. Cagalli saw Athrun's blank eyes that had reflected emptiness. Cagalli immediately knew that it had something to do with his father's death. "I'm sorry Athrun." Cagalli said quietly while Athrun very slowly turned his head to meet Cagalli's sparkling amber eyes. Athrun smiled blankly and closed his eyes, "He never told me of how proud he was of me and he never hugged me, or loved me like any other ordinary father would." Athrun said sadly, "Nothing that I ever did pleased him, nor was it enough to satisfy him." Athrun continued with a quiet rage clenching his fists which were now shaking. Athrun managed to contain his anger and continued, "Ever since my mother died, my father became more radical and more revolutionary. He resorted to torturing prisoners and he made me watch as part of his initiative of becoming a man." Athrun said emotionally while Cagalli listened in horror and shock. "Is that why you moved to Berlin? To heed the call of PLANT'S Chancellor Durandal?" Cagalli asked nervously.
Athrun nodded still having his eyes closed. "I wanted to live a normal life like Kira and his friends: Miriallia, Dearka and Lacus." Athrun listed, "During my time in university, I had a great life, everything was perfect and nothing went wrong, just the occasional arguments between Yzak and Shiho." Athrun smiled gracefully refreshing his memories. Cagalli hung her head recapping her own sad memories, "You know Athrun, my father too died in front of my eyes. He was assassinated almost two years ago. At first we thought it was a communist spy, but we found out that it was ZAFT." Cagalli said in a sad tone, "Even though he died, he was good to me. He loved me enough to tell me even though my mother died when I was four years old." Cagalli continued, "That's still no excuse for a father like yours to dictate your life, he had no right at all. It's not your fault Athrun." Cagalli said sternly, Athrun turned and hugged Cagalli in a light embrace, "Thank you Cagalli." Athrun smiled. Cagalli did nothing but blush. When Athrun pulled off the short hug, he noticed that Cagalli was blushing, "You look cute when you blush. How about a date?" Athrun smirked. Cagalli snorted and give Athrun a glare, "In your dreams Zala!" Cagalli turned her head away from Athrun. "You truly are an interesting girl Cagalli." Athrun thought glancing at her with an innocent smile.