00 Frozen Teardrops

by Aldaeus

A cold war is about to heat up at the hands of Celestial Being, the Preventers find themselves heading to a new battlefield to face a new enemy. Will hell freeze over as frozen teardrops drift through space? Sequel to: Waltzing with Destiny

21. Chapter 21

Hey guys, here's the disclaimer: I do not own any part of Gundam Seed, Wing, or 00, all credit goes to their respective creators.

So because of things this chapter was delayed a bit… BUT NO LONGER! As always please read and review, and now…

"I'M NOT THIS MARIE PERSON!" Soma shouted at Allelujah.

"But Marie…"Allelujah blinked before being decked in the face.

"GET YOUR HANDS OFF OF SOMA ALLELUJAH!" Stella roared as she tackled Allelujah.

Well I'd better go break them up… enjoy.

*TWHACK*

"Damn… that looks like it hurt…" Duo grimaced as he ducked behind the couch, watching as Ald twitched on the floor after being struck by Allelujah's helmet which had nailed him in the head.

xxxxxx

Ch. 21

"Alright… I want answers." Stella looked at Allelujah from the monitor.

"What…" Allelujah blinked.

"What did you do to Soma, and why were you calling her Marie?" Stella kept her gaze fixed on him.

"Well I… it's like this…" Allelujah looked at her as he started with the story.

"This concludes Subject E-57's quantum brainwave surgery… now beginning post operative observation." a voice spoke in the boy's mind, as he laid there with his eyes closed.

"Anyone… is there anybody?" A little girl's voice echoed in his mind.

The boy opened his eyes and looked up into the mirror like lights of the operating room, his forehead wrapped tightly with a layer of white gauze bandages.

"Can anyone hear me?" The girl's voice echoed again.

The boy pushed himself up and looked around, he was the only person in the room, he reached up and felt the bandages on his head "I can hear someone…" He mumbled to himself "There's a voice in my head…"

He slid off of the hard medical table and made his way to the door, before leaving the room "I'm over here!" The girl's voice called to him "I'm just over here!"

The boy wandered through the halls, heading towards where the voice seemed to be coming from, he stopped before the doubled steel doors of another medical room "In here…" the door hissed open.

The room's bright light caught him by surprise blinding him for a second, as his vision cleared he saw a medical bed similar to the one he had been in, though with a glass housing around it. A small girl laying on it with snow white hair. Medical equipment with various data being displayed sat around the room as they monitored her.

The boy made his way into the room stopping next to the bed on the girl's right side "Can anybody hear me?" The girl asked using her quantum brainwaves, laying there motionless in bed.

"Are you the one who's been talking to me?" The boy asked looking at her.

"Oh…" The girl's voice spoke in his head almost in a sigh of relief "You can hear me, Wh… where are you?" she asked.

"Huh…" The boy blinked "I'm standing right here beside you."

"I'm sorry…" the girl's voice echoed "but I can't tell…"

"Huh?" The boy blinked seeing her amber golden eyes wide open, looking straight up at the ceiling.

"But I'm really happy that I can talk with you! Because until now, I've been all alone. Thanks for coming to see me." The girl's voice sounded happy as she communicated with him.

"Who are you?" The boy asked.

"Marie." The girls voice sounded cheerful as her voice echoed in his head.

"Marie…" The boy smiled looking at her.

"What's your name?" Marie asked.

The boy shifted a little "I'm not too sure… I can't seem to remember it. I don't know who I am, or what I'm doing here… I don't even know my own name." the boy spoke as he rested his hands on the top of the glass covering the bed.

"If that's the case…" Marie's voice echoed in his mind "then I'll give you a name."

"Huh?" The boy blinked looking at her.

"Let's see… a good name for you would be… ah! Allelujah!" Marie's voice was cheerful as it echoed in the boys mind.

"Allelujah?" The boy asked, as he sounded it out.

"It's the word you use when you give thanks to god." Marie noted to him.

"Huh?" Allelujah blinked "Give thanks, what would we give thanks for?"

"Why that's obvious…" Marie's voice echoed in his head "for being alive."

Allelujah's eyes widened as he realized what she meant.
"That was the moment when she baptized me… in the truest sense of the word." Allelujah looked at Stella who sat there, blinking at him.

"But if what you're saying is true… then there's no way she could be Soma. If she was a quadriplegic, and blind then how could she pilot a mobile suit?" Stella asked.

"It is her… she's the only one that could have possibly disrupted my quantum brainwaves." Allelujah looked at her.

"How can you be so sure she…" Stella started.

"Marie is the only one I can think of who could… and… I'd know her eyes anywhere." Allelujah turned a little red.

Stella pursed her lips as she glared at him.

Xxx

"For coming to my rescue, and for bringing an end to the terrible civil war in Azadistan two years ago, you all have my undying gratitude." Marina looked at Setsuna, Tieria, Ian and Ruido. "You stopped the conflict without resorting to violence. I want you to know, that I think the course of action you did choose was magnificent."

"That's all well and good… but what are your plans now?" Setsuna asked.

"I shall return to Azadistan." Marina looked at them.

"That's ridiculous…" Ruido looked at her.

Setsuna nodded "The security forces will come."
"It's possible the federation could intervene… using you as an excuse." Tieria noted.

Marina tightened her grip on the cup of water on the table "Since Azadistan hasn't joined the Federation, the rest of the world has abandoned us. Our economy has failed… and now that Rasa, the conservative leader has passed away. Their dispute with the reformists has reached a stalemate… But, that is why I'm needed." She looked at Setsuna.

"I understand… I'll have Ptolemy set a course for Azadistan." Setsuna looked at her.

Tieria blinked and looked at him "Setsuna…"

"Roger that Setsuna." Ian smiled as Ruido nodded.

"I'll go inform the other ships that we're going to return the princess to Azadistan." Ruido turned to leave.

The door hissed open and Mileina peaked her head in "Excuse me for asking but… by any chance are you two like, lovers?" she asked with a smile.

"That is not so." Marina replied.

"We're not." Setsuna replied flatly.

"Oh…" Mileina's expression crumbled "Hmm… then my female intuition was wrong…"

"You're too young to have a female intuition… I won't permit it." Ian nudged his daughter back out the door with him.

As Ruido made his way down the hall, with his hands interlaced behind his head, he stopped and looked at the door to Miss. Sumeragi's room. "What about Miss. Sumeragi?" he looked back at Ian.

"I guess she's still not ready to put on that Uniform…" Ian shrugged in reply.

Xxx

Lyle followed three GN-X III's in the scope as they flew past at high speed homing in one of the suits he opened fire narrowly missing, before his second shot hit it. He turned to a new target following it as it disappeared to the edge of the scope before firing on it another set of three suits flew in the opposite direction following them before bringing down another two of the suits.

He sighed as he raised the scope into its stored position again "Haro, what's my hit rate?"
"Seventy eight percent! Seventy eight percent!" The blue Haro chirped happily in the dock.

Lyle smiled and picked up the little blue robot before leaving the cockpit of the Sadalsuud, as the lift lowered him down to the main catwalks again he removed his helmet "I can't seem to reach my brothers level…" he ran his hand through his hair as he walked, before blinking seeing Feldt on the catwalk, watching him.

As he approached she spun turning away from him, realizing he saw her watching.

"Hi, is something the matter?" Lyle asked as he stopped behind her.

Feldt shook her head "N… Nothing's wrong…"

"I think your name is Feldt right?" Lyle leaned slightly "I keep feeling like you're looking at me. Why is that?"

"Ehh… I'm just… you know…" Feldt stuttered blushing a little.

"Feldt liked Lockon, Feldt liked Lockon!" The orange Haro that was with her bounced up and down.

Feldt spun on the spot, glaring at the little robot "HARO!"

Lyle let out a light laugh "You know I'm not my brother…" he looked at Feldt who was now a light shade of red.

"I didn't mean to…" Feldt sighed "Yes… I know."

Lyle took two steps forward and cupped her cheek with his hand, causing her eyes to shoot wide as he turned her to face him "But if you're alright with that, we could spend some time together." He smiled at her. He pulled her close before kissing her.

Feldt's eyes were wide as Lyle pulled back from her "If you're up for it swing by my roo…" he stopped as Feldt slapped him across the face, with tears in her eyes before she turned and sprinted down the catwalk back towards the interior of the ship.

"You struck out! You struck out!" the orange Haro bounced up and down.

"I just opened her eyes." Lyle turned and walked in the opposite direction towards the other container "I couldn't stand being compared to him."

Xxx

Feldt sprinted out into the hallway before being grabbed, and pulled almost off of her feet "AHHH!"

"You're an idiot…" Marlene pulled her stunned daughter along.

"M…Mom…" Feldt blinked as she was led into her room.

Marlene sighed as she pressed the door closed button, before turning to her daughter "You're a real idiot you realize that."

"You…" Feldt sat there a little stunned.

"You'd really go so far, as to go after him to make Setsuna jealous… honestly what did Chall teach you about men?" Marlene ran her hand down her face as she shook her head.

"Nothing…" Feldt mumbled.

"One, Setsuna isn't interested in that girl Marina. Two she's like ten years older than him, hell she's almost my age. Three, that's not how you make a man jealous in the right way." Marlene looked at her daughter who sat there stunned.

"I guess I was pretty stupid…" Feldt sighed as she hung her head.

"No… you just don't know anything about men…" Marlene sighed "first of all, what would that have accomplished?"

"It would have…" Feldt stopped and looked at her mother.

"Done nothing but make Setsuna angry." Marlene finished for her "He would have been jealous alright, but he would be more angry with you. Give him some credit, that boy's smart, he would have seen right through you."

"So then how do I do this?" Feldt looked at her.

"Have you ever heard the saying there's "one way to a man's heart, and that's through his stomach." Well, that's a lie… at least when it comes to ones like Setsuna and your father. Yes I said your father, he's exactly like him, well a little quieter but..." Marlene looked at her daughter, who was a little shocked.

"So what did you do?" Feldt blinked.

"Nothing, your father came after me. But in your case… you don't know enough about him yet." Marlene sighed "Take your time, and find out more before… well doing anything like that again."

Xxx

Sumeragi answered the door and looked up to see Allelujah standing there, and blinked.

"So do you feel like having a little drink with me?" Allelujah asked as he held up two wine glasses, and a bottle of red wine.

Sumeragi smiled and let him in.

Xxx

"I see…" Mu sighed, as he sat down behind the small desk in his room.

"Do you think we could check… If there's a chance then…" Stella looked at him.

"I'm not a hacker dear… and we'd need access to their networks." Mu looked at her "I was floored when we learnt about the HRL's super soldier program. And if the report was true that "Neo" is back… that's just making it even more likely."

"But dad…" Stella stopped as he held up his hand.

"I'll see what I can do, but no promises. If we can prove that she is this Marie that Allelujah is talking about, then we'll do everything we can to get her out. But until then, she's with the enemy forces and we can do nothing without a plan." Mu looked at Stella who sighed.

"Okay…" Stella turned to leave.

"Hey…" Mu looked at her causing her to stop and look back at him when she reached the door. He got up and walked over "Is that anyway to say goodbye?"

"Sorry… I'm still getting used to having parents…" Stella smiled as she was pulled into a hug.

Xxx

"So you lost the Gundam pilot we were holding captive, and on top of that you were outmaneuvered by Katharon…" Arthur looked at Kati sitting across from him "It's a disgrace colonel."

"I underestimated the combat capabilities of Celestial Being…" Kati stated calmly.

"Save your excuses, the A-laws have no use for incompetence." Arthur looked at her before shifting and looking over his shoulder at the man behind him, he smiled "Well, Major Rindt you will be in charge of the next operation."

Aber Rindt smiled as he saluted "Thank you for the honor sir." He turned his attention to Kati "I'd be more than happy to teach you how we do things here in the A-laws, colonel."

"And I'll do my best to learn." Kati spoke in a frigid tone with obvious irritation in it.

"That's enough." Arthur looked at her "You may go."

Kati rose from her seat and saluted "Yes sir." She turned and left the room.

Kati sighed as she made her way down the hallway "Major Aber Rindt… a specialist in mopping up operations. For them to bring such a notorious man here…"

Xxx

"I understand that according to testimony from security agency members, the Gundams took the Azadistan princess we were detaining." Aber spoke as Arthur relaxed on the couch in his office.

"So what do you make of that?" Arthur asked.

"Well sir, I hear that one of the Gundam pilots is from a middle eastern country." Aber smiled.

Goodman let out a light laugh "He came to the princesses rescue…" he looked over his shoulder and smirked "He thinks he's some kind of knight riding a white horse."

"These days it seems that Celestial Being, and the Preventers are driven mainly by their members personal feelings." Rindt smirked "The fact that they saved their fellow pilot is just proof of this." He turned and activated the light screen on the table "If so, I'd say our best bet would be to spread our net right here." The map showed a topical overlay of the Persian gulf region's Strait of Hormuz.

Arthur looked back at him "Very well then, I herby authorize use of the Trilobite."

Aber smiled "Thank you very much sir." He shifted his attention to the door where a man stepped inside "One other thing, I feel it would be beneficial if he were to join the operation."

Arthur shifted his attention and his eyes landed on the man "Mr. Bushido…"

Xxx

Kati sighed as she sat down with her cup of coffee at the small desk in her room "A blitzkrieg operation that lasted less than five minutes… they plunged their ship into the sea to create a tidal wave, that throws our forces into confusion, as well as raising the humidity to the level where the power of our beam weapons is halved… Then the Gundams work together as a team. A strategy that combines boldness finesse. I've seen this before…"

"Trilobite prepare for launch, Trilobite prepare for launch!" The combat controllers voice snapped her out of her thoughts as it announced the new models launching.

Kati blinked "Launching the Trilobite? That's the new model I read about…"

Xxx

Soma watched as the dark shape streaked away from the carrier before it disappeared into the depths of the Strait "They've even developed mobile armors that have been equipped with GN drives…"

"Rumor has it, that some woman has been providing us with generous donations." Andrei looked at her.

"Some people have strange hobbies…" Soma sighed before making her way back towards the ship's interior.

As she made her way down the hall she slipped her hand into her pocket, feeling the data stick she tightened her grip around it "This is going to take a lot of explaining…" she stopped outside of Kati's room and pressed the intercom button "Colonel Mannequin, do you have a minute?"

Xxx

Louise sighed as she sat on her bunk when a line opened on the light screen monitor "Huh…"

"Team four has been ordered to make its way to the Earth's surface. Warrant Officer Halevy, please make your way to the bridge immediately." The officer announced.

Louise nodded and got up "Roger that!"

Xxx

"Mobile suit teams, prepare for launch!" The order came over the system in the Katharon desert base.

"We've received information from Jean one, apparently they're going to Azadistan." A Katharon officer looked at Klaus.

"Klaus, are we really going through with this?" Another officer looked at him.

"Celestial Being and the Preventers are a necessary element for the achievement of our goals." Klaus looked at them "Besides, if we help them get what they want, we can then bring Princess Marina with us." Klaus looked at Shirin who shifted a little.

"But Klaus I…" Shirin started.

"We'll do everything we can to save her." Klaus looked at her "She's an important friend of yours."

Shirin smiled "Marina…" she let her thoughts drift back to when she left.

"You're leaving the royal palace?" Marina asked a little shocked as Shirin looked back from the door.

"Yes Princess, with the current Federation government policies, even if our country could join the Federation, there would still be no future for us." Shirin looked at her "And for that reason, I've decided to try to make a future for this country in my own way."

Marina looked at her, her worried expression clear as she spoke "Can't you do things your own way while staying here in Azadistan?"

Shirin's gaze hardened "Rebuilding just this one country won't do any good."

Shirin looked up at Klaus "Klaus, let me accompany the team on this mission."

The other officers blinked a little surprised "It's too dangerous." Klaus stated flatly.

"I won't get in your way, please I'm begging you Klaus." Shirin looked at him.

Xxx

"Soma… why do you even have this on this ship, if anyone else got their hands on it…" Kati looked at her.

"I thought you should know Colonel..." Soma looked at her.

"So two years ago, these "Preventers" infiltrated all of our nations, and now they're fighting against us with Celestial Being…" Kati sighed "On top of that I had them under my command." She looked at the image of the former AEU unit members.

"So that explains why we know what their machines, and ships are called, the A-laws has someone behind the scenes pulling the strings… And these "Licensed" officers are the direct links to them." Kati looked at her "If they're half as good as they were in the older models as their Gundams, with a force that size…"

"Colonel Mannequin to the bridge please." The request came over the announcement system before she could finish.

Kati sighed "After I finish reviewing this data, I'm destroying it. If you're caught with it you could be labeled a traitor."

Xxx

Marina stood in the observation deck looking out into the dark waters of the Strait of Hormuz "There has to be something I can do to make things better at home…"

The door hissed open "There you are…"

Marina turned to see Setsuna in the doorway "Setsuna…"

He made his way into the room and stopped a few steps from her. Marina sighed before looking at him "Setsuna, I want you to come back with me. To Azadistan…"

Setsuna blinked a little surprised as she continued "I want to rebuild my country, to make it a place where people can have normal lives free of conflict, and I want you to help me."

"I can't do that." Setsuna shook his head.

"Why not?" Marina asked.

"I'm good at one thing… all I know is fighting." Setsuna looked at her.

"That's so sad, don't say that!" Marina shook her head "Setsuna there is nothing good that can come from fighting! All it does is destroy…"

"I used to think the same way before I joined Celestial Being… but there are some things that can be born from destruction." Setsuna made his way over to the railing, and he looked out into the dark waters of the strait. "Gundam can cut out the twistedness of the world. For the sake of the future, and that's why…" he looked at her "Gundam and I will keep fighting."

Marina sighed "I see…"

"Also I would be deserting my post…" Setsuna gestured to the rank insignia on his collar.

"Oh…" Marina looked at him.

"And there's someone who would be very angry with me, if I left." Setsuna looked at her.

"Who?" Marina asked.

"Feldt, she was the girl that saw us in the hangar… she's been avoiding me ever since, I think she's angry with me." Setsuna sighed.

Xxx

"Holding steady at depth of thirty two hundred." Feldt announced.

Marlene made her way to the front of the bridge "Why aren't you helping Ian again?"

"Because someone needs to pilot the ship…" Ruido looked up at her from the helm.

"Yeah… sure, you just wanted to get out of the engine room maintenance…" Marlene smiled at him as Ruido grimaced.

"Tell me, how is it that you can see right through me?" Ruido looked up at her.

"The fact that you're my husband, and I know you so well…" Marlene smiled as she and Chall laughed.

Xxx

"Umm…" Saji looked over at Ian as he sat down the toolbox "Is this alright… you know, showing me all this secret stuff of yours?"

"We're shorthanded… and you've got your class two space engineers license right?" Ian reached out from the hatch and gestured for the wrench.

"Well yeah…" Saji noted as he got the tool for him.

"The saying goes, "If a man's not willing to work, then he's not gonna be eating…"" Ian took the wrench and continued with the drive maintenance.

Saji smiled "Yeah… okay, I get it… Uhh, Mister…"

"Call me Ian…" Ian held out his hand and took another component he needed "It's Ian Vashti."

"Mr. Ian… So what's a guy like you doing here anyway?" Saji asked.

"I've seen my fair share of battlefields. I'm sick of them, so I wanted to get rid of war…" Ian spoke as he worked "Everyone here feels the same, some served on the front lines of a battlefield, some had their bodies rebuilt by the military, some lost their families to terrorism… some were made into guerilla fighters. We've all lost something precious because of war, that's the reality of the world we live in now."

"But you're…" Saji started as Ian pulled himself out and pushed himself into a sitting position.

"I know… that still makes us criminals. At least the former members of Celestial Being… we'll take our punishment, but only after we've stamped out war." Ian looked at him.

Xxx

"You want me to what?" James gaped at Stella from the monitor.

"You heard me… I want you to hack into the Federations files on the former HRL super human institute." Stella looked at him.

"That's a really steep request Stella…" James looked at her "And I'd be doing it remotely, if they traced it, it would give our position away."

"I want answers…" Stella looked at him.

"So do all of us, but it's too risky right now." James countered.

Xxx

"Soma Peries…" Sumeragi filled her glass with the red wine as she looked at Allelujah sitting on her bunk "I seem to recall she was an HRL super soldier right?" she leaned against the desk.

"Why didn't I make the connection sooner?" Allelujah shook his head "Marie is the only person who could possibly disrupt my quantum brainwaves like that… When I was captured by the Lanigreen forces… I felt that the time had finally come when I was going to pay for my sins. I even thought it would be okay to just rot away in there… but everything is different now. I wanna go and get Marie back."

Sumeragi looked at him "But she's your enemy."

"I'm aware of that…" Allelujah sighed.

"And on top of that, you destroyed the Super Human Institute labs." Sumeragi noted.

"I know…" Allelujah hung his head "I killed our brothers and sisters. If Marie found out about that, she'd be sure to hate me. And I've done enough things to deserve it too… but even if she does despise me…"

"I envy you…" Sumeragi smiled softly.

Allelujah looked at her "What?" he blinked.

"You have a reason to fight now… I wonder if I've had a reason for any of my battles…" Sumeragi sighed.

"But didn't you support Aeolia's ideals when you decided to join?" Allelujah asked.

"Yes of course I did… and I really wanted to do away with fighting… but you know, another reason I did all this was because I wanted to erase the loathsome things I did in my past." Sumeragi shifted a little and hid her face from his sight.

"Loathsome things in your past?" Allelujah looked at her a little puzzled.

"And I was always fighting with that in my mind… that's right… I've sacrificed all these lives for the sake of my own ego." Sumeragi's tone made it clear, she was disgusted with herself.

" Miss. Sumeragi…" Allelujah looked at her.

Sumeragi shook her head "But whatever I did… I couldn't erase my past. The way things are now, I've no reason to fight. Or any reason to be here."

"I know how you feel, but I believe there's a reason for you to be here…" Allelujah looked at her.

"No I doubt it…" Sumeragi shook her head.

"If that's true, then why did you come to save me?" Allelujah asked.

Sumeragi looked at him as he continued "I know you'll find a reason to keep fighting… you can do it." He smiled as he stood and made his way out of the room.

Xxx

"Hey…" Auel looked over at the mechanics "Leave mine for last!"

"Why?" Yolant asked.

"Mine's designed for underwater combat, worst case if we come under attack and have to launch, mine has an advantage while we're underwater." Auel looked at them "Focus on getting the Epyon back online…"

Xxx

"Ouch…" Shinn groaned.

"Would you quit being a big baby…" Lunamaria glared at him as she redid the bandage around his head.

"It's not my fault you know… I forgot about the Destiny having the Fiocina cannons…" Shinn grumbled.

"Sure… and it was your fault that you decided to crack your head open on the controls when you crash landed…" Lunamaria sighed "You're lucky Shinn… if your head wasn't that thick you could have died…"

"Hey…" Shinn started before he saw Lunamaria's face, "I'll be more careful next time…"
"You'd better be. I thought you were…" Lunamaria stopped as he pulled her into a hug, as she remembered the aftermath.

"MOVE IT!" The work crews were frantically trying to get the damaged hatch of the Epyon open as Lunamaria watched.

"Oh god… Shinn…" Luna collapsed to her knees.

"It's alright Luna…" Mayu tried to calm her down.

"He wasn't responding… he could…" Luna shook her head as tears started to drip down her face.

Mayu pulled her up and slapped her "DON'T SAY THAT!"

Lunamaria blinked realizing Mayu was crying as well.

"GET A MEDIC QUICK!" One of the mechanics called.

"I'll be alright Luna…" Shinn squeezed her a little.

Xxx

Allelujah looked up at the orange, white, and gold Gundam "Arios Gundam… successor to Kyrios. With this machine's help, with this Gundam, I'm gonna bring Marie back. Even though Hallelujah's gone… and I can't use my Quantum brainwaves… I will."

Xxx

Tieria listened from the hatch leading into the hangar "A reason to fight… In the past I would have dismissed it..." he smiled before feeling a hand on his head.

"You've still got a long way to go Tieria…" Lockon ran the hand over his head for a bit before having it slapped off of Tieria's head, which was now disheveled, and uneven.

Xxx

Sumeragi touched the image on the monitor of the old Ptolemaios crewmembers "Chris… Lichty…Dr. Moreno… I wonder if I can go through this again?" she sighed "Make myself face the real world… and do my best to protect the people who are important to me." She closed her eyes "Emilio…"

"Ptolemy is preparing to exit the Strait of Hormuz." Mileina's voice echoed over the announcement system.

Sumeragi looked up and blinked seeing a screen she had opened showing the waters of the strait "The waters too calm out there… there's no sign of any fish… and at this depth…" her eyes widened.

Xxx

"E-sonar reading, we've six enemies closing fast!" Mileina announced.

"Those aren't enemies! Those are torpedoes!" Chall yelled "Feldt!"

"GN Field maximum output!" Feldt relayed as she deployed the ships GN field.

Xxx

"Huh… What the AHH!" Saji yelled as he was knocked off of his feet as the klaxon blared.

"Enemy attack!" Ian pushed himself up.

Xxx

"The torpedoes were carrying a heavy chemical compound!" Feldt's voice echoed in Sumeragi's room as she steadied herself with her chair.

"The sonar's being jammed!" Mileina's voice was frantic.

"An enemy that can maneuver at this depth…" Lasse's voice broke over the frequency.

"They have a new model!" Sumeragi turned and started to make her way out of the room.

Xxx

"All hands level one battle stations!" The alarm blared as Auel ran towards the Abyss.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN MY SUIT ISN'T READY TO LAUNCH?" Lunamaria screamed bearing down on Vino and Yolant.

"We're sorry… please don't…" Vino pleaded.

"It doesn't matter!" Auel yelled over as he started up the lift "The Impulse isn't able to take the pressures at these depths!"

"Abyss prepare for launch, I repeat Abyss prepare for launch!" Meyrin's voice echoed in the hangar "All other pilots please standby in your machines!"

Xxx

"Hold the enemy ship at the designated point!" The one Trilobite pilot announced over the frequency back to the carrier "We're launching something special!"

"We're deploying the Superbia's to join the battle!" The combat controller's voice came over the frequency.

"Roger!" The second Trilobite pilot yelled as he opened fire with the anti-GN field torpedoes.

Xxx

"Move to the center of the ship!" Setsuna yelled as Marina followed him.

"Setsuna!" Marina stopped as he continued towards the hangars.

"Second wave approaching!" Feldt's voice came over the klaxon "Two large torpedoes have been launched!"

Xxx

"Flooding catapult! Commencing assent to launch depth!" Meyrin announced as the bridge was lowered.

"Auel, your target is the enemy mobile armor that is attacking the Ptolemaios, bring it down!" Talia ordered "Arthur, load all tubes with torpedoes, find their ships!"

Xxx

"All hands we're climbing to a depth where we can launch the Gundams! All pilots please wait on standby in your machines!" Miriallia's voice came over the channel as the pilots scrambled for their machines.

"We just can't win can we… we try to remain at a depth where we're hard to detect…" Dearka grumbled as he started up the lift to the Buster.

"Yeah we know Dearka…" Yzak snapped.

"Easy guys, save it for them…" Shiho cautioned.

Xxx

"They've broken through the GN field!" Mileina yelled.

"It's a new weapon!" Lasse glared as he pulled up trying to avoid the torpedoes.

The ship shuddered from the blasts as they ripped two holes in the lower container.

xxx

"The lower container's flooding!" Feldt yelled over the frequency as Lyle, Tieria, and Lockon ran for their machines.

"We have to launch the Gundams, but we're still too deep!" Tieria glared as he jumped into the cockpit.

Xxx

"I'm bringing Ptolemy up!" Ruido yelled as he pulled back on the controls.

"We've gotta reach a depth where we can launch!" Lasse glared.

The ship shuddered from several impacts "AHH!" Marlene screamed as the blasts hit the ship.

Xxx

Sumeragi braced herself against the wall of the hallway as the explosions rocked the ship "Dropping depth charges from above, and more than likely they're using… chemical bombs." She glared as she gripped the guide way hand hold, normally used in space, to brace herself while she continued towards the bridge.

Xxx

Major Rindt smiled as the trails of smoke streaked over the bow of the carrier "After two minutes of bombardment, the Trilobite will engage at close quarters." He held out his hand as if he was presenting a masterpiece "It's a pity I won't be able to watch the ship being crushed by the pressure."

"Major Rindt… he's handled the search and the first stage of the operation well… but what will the enemy commanders do in response?" Kati looked at him from the corner of her eye "And then there's the fact that only one ship is appearing on our radar… could this be those hyper jammers the other larger ships are equipped with, masking their locations? If that's the case, then what would they do?"

Xxx

"A resin on the hull is keeping the gun ports from opening!" Feldt yelled over.

"I've lost steering too!" Lasse glared "Damn it where's the enemy?"

"The E-sonar's still not working!" Mileina yelled over.

Chall bit her lip as she watched the explosions outside "What do I…"

"WHAT THE HELL ARE WE SUPPOSED TO DO?" Ruido snapped.

"CALM DOWN!" A voice yelled from the back of the bridge causing Marlene to look up just as Sumeragi passed her "There's a way out."

"Miss. Sumeragi!" Feldt looked at her as she leaned on the back of the captain's chair over Chall.

"The bombardment will stop soon." Sumeragi noted "Once it does, the underwater enemy will approach us, then they'll launch a direct attack!"

"Wait… are you saying…" Chall looked at her.

"AHH!" Mileina screamed as the ship took a direct hit on the port side.

"The enemy has impacted the hull on the port side!" Feldt yelled "Sever damage!"

"Anymore of this and the hull could fail!" Marlene yelled.

"Ahh… Are we ever lucky!" Sumeragi sighed and smiled.

"Wha…" Ruido blinked "Lucky?"

"Have you gone crazy?" Chall gaped at her.

"Now the enemy we couldn't locate is right here." Sumeragi smiled "And the fleet has climbed to a depth where we can launch the Gundams, and what's more the enemy has actually helped speed up the flooding of the lower container."

"The Minerva is announcing that it's launching the Abyss now!" Mileina looked over.

"Took them long enough…" Ruido grumbled "I knew those modifications were too small for launch bays that size."

Xxx

The Seravee flew out before coming up from under the ship right next to the Trilobite and seizing the forward section of it, Tieria punched its thrusters to their full power to try to pry the mobile armor away from the ship.

"Trying to fight off my Trilobite, with just the thrust of a mobile suit!" the mobile armor's pilot yelled.

"I have an ace in the hole!" Tieria glared "TRANS AM!" he activated the system and the particle output increased as the Seravee's thrust increased prying the mobile armor free from the ship, and pushing it back.

"We've got things covered with the mobile armor! Take the enemy ships!" Lockon yelled as the Abyss closed at high speed.

Auel smirked "Roger that!" the amphibious Gundam rolled before streaking upward towards the A-laws fleet.

xxx

"Enemy suit closing fast!" The sonar operator yelled.

"What, one of them got away?" Major Rindt looked at them.

"Classification number… XXXG-01AB Abyss!" The operator yelled "It's heading towards the Rhine!"

Major Rindt looked out the port side towards the destroyer escort "Send the Superbia's to defend the escorts!"

"It's too late, it's already on it!" The sonar operator yelled as the suit erupted out of the water just ahead of the ship spinning in the air as its shroud opened, it fired its six beam cannons down directly into the ships' bridge. Before diving back into the sea.

Xxx

"Wha… what is this?" one of the Trilobite's pilots screamed, he grasped the controls and used the arms of the mobile armor to try to impale the Seravee.

Several shots streaked up from below as the Cherudim and Sadalsuud opened fire on the Trilobite forcing it back.

"I'm under water, but at this range." Lockon smiled as he fired on the Trilobite.

"Incoming enemy suits!" Lyle spun and opened fire with the GN Revolve Bazooka.

"AHH!" The second pilot of the Trilobite screamed "Let's fire torpedoes!" the mobile armor backed away "Back away!" The pilot of the suit yelled as he rolled through the shots from the Cherudim.

xxx

"Setsuna!" Feldt spoke over the frequency "Miss. Sumeragi wants you to take out the enemy mobile armor, and then the Arios and 00 will head to the surface to join the battle against the A-laws fleet while the fleet retreats.

Xxx

"Roger!" Setsuna drew the GN sword II's and charged the Trilobite "00 eliminating…" "I want you to come back with me… to Azadistan!" Marina's voice echoed in his head causing him to hesitate.

Setsuna glared shaking the thought out of his mind "Eliminating target!"

One of the claws streaked in from the right side before Setsuna carved the end of it off forcing it away, he drove the second blade into the main camera of the mobile armor before pulling it up vertically in the cameras before spinning drawing the second blade across the top of the suit.

The Trilobite deployed it's rearward grappling arms as the 00 carved through them before they could be fully deployed.

"THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!" The one pilot screamed.

"THE TRILOBITE IS GONNA AHHHH!" The forward pilot screamed as the cockpit blew up.

Setsuna streaked away from the mobile armor as it blew up.

The Arios flew out of the hangar at high speed before it rolled back towards the other Gundams, "Get ready Setsuna! We're going up top!"

Setsuna stored the GN Sword on the left hip and reached out with the right arm grasping the Arios as it streaked past being pulled along.

"Trans AM!" Allelujah yelled as he pulled vertical streaking towards the surface.

"Heero I'm with you!" Kira yelled as the Freedom grasped the wing of the Selatiel being pulled upward at high speed.

Xxx

Two plumes of water erupted skyward directly ahead of the carrier in the center of the fleet "What is that?" Major Rindt's eyes widened.

"It… IT'S A GUNDAM!" the combat controller screamed.

"But… What about the Trilobite?" Major Rindt yelled frantically, his eyes wide.

"The ship has to withdraw NOW!" Kati ordered.

"Launch the mobile suits!" Major Rindt ordered.

"It's too late!" Kati snapped at him.

The 00 Streaked downward near point blank with the Bering-Class carrier's bridge and raised its GN Sword II to strike before being rammed out of the way by a crimson red and black Ahead.

"Who the hell is that?" Kati stood up looking at the machine that had rammed the 00.

"Mister Bushido!" Major Rindt smiled as he breathed heavily.

xxx

The Ahead Sakigake leveled its' beam saber at the 00 before charging it head long raising its beam saber.

"It's that new A-laws suit!" Setsuna parried the strikes as they came in before flying backward "Those moves! I've fought him before!"

"His swordplay…" Mr. Bushido leveled his beam saber at the 00 "There's no doubt about it, that's the young man I met! I thank my stars for giving me a chance to make up for these years when I lived in disgrace!" he clashed with the 00.

Xxx

"No way… those moves… Graham made it!" Kira's eyes were wide seeing the Ahead Sakigake clashing with the 00.

"Kira, we've got company!" Beams streaked skyward as the two Gundams were forced apart.

"That signature…" Kira glared as the Destiny flew skyward, followed by the Testament.

"The Testament…" Heero glared as he opened fire "it would figure someone like Leons Graves was in the A-laws!" he opened fire with the buster magnum.

"Come now… is that all you've got!" Leons returned fire on the Selatiel with his beam rifle, as the Destiny opened fire on the Freedom.

Allelujah streaked low as the Ahead Smultron launched from the carrier, he opened fire on it with the GN twin beam rifle striking it on its shield.

"That machine! It's subject E-57!" Soma rolled and dodged the shots from the Arios before returning fire on it.

Allelujah closed before taking a direct hit to the shoulder "Ahh! It's not the suits fault… it's my ability! She's coming!"

The Smultron charged at high speed towards the Arios as it drew its beam saber "FALL GUNDAM!"

Linear rifle shots streaked in and slammed into the Smultron "Who are they?"

The Arios turned to see the squadrons closing on their location, three formations of three machines each, all painted a blue color.

"Are they Katharon?" Soma blinked as the suits closed at high speed, opening fire on the A-laws suits.

The three formations of Katharon suits streaked past them at high speed opening fire on Mr. Bushido causing him to streak after them "These are..." Setsuna looked at the machines.

"They're the Katharon forces!" Kira yelled over their frequency as he dueled the Destiny.

"ANTI GOVERNMENT SCUM! GET OUT OF MY WAY FOOLS!" Mr. Bushido roared.

"We're falling back and regrouping!" Kati's voice came over the A-laws frequency.

"We're what…" Mr. Bushido glared "Huh…" he zoomed in on the image of the 00, Selatiel, Freedom, and Arios falling back with the Katharon forces.

Mr. Bushido tightened his grip on the controls "You refuse to fight me…" the A-laws fleet turned slowly as the wreckage of the destroyer escort Rhine continued to list to its port side, it's bridge a mangled blackened ruin, as smoke billowed from its superstructure, and forward turrets, which had taken the Abyss's attacks.

Xxx

"Well… that was quite the lesson Major." Kati spoke calmly and curtly as Major Rindt sat in shock, before looking at her realizing he had just lost, he grit his teeth in frustration.

"Very interesting… the Preventers decided not to engage when judging by the number of suits, they had the firepower to finish off the fleet." Kati watched as the suits began to return "Even more so that we have Gundams…"

Xxx

The two Katharon machines towered over the small transport from the Ptolemaios as Setsuna made his way out followed by some of the other pilots, and finally Marina who stopped next to him "The anti-government group Katharon…" Setsuna mumbled into their frequency.

"Keep it calm… we're here to talk, no sudden movements, Marina isn't in a suit like us." Athrun noted.

"You have quite the force here." Setsuna spoke up to the assembled Katharon members.

"So who's this person… the one you said wanted to see me?" Marina asked looking at the Katharon members.

"It's been quite a while… hasn't it Marina Ismail…" Shirin and Klaus stopped as they reached the head of the group of soldiers.

"It… it's Shirin… That's Shirin Bakhtiar…" Marina blinked shocked to see her friend, and former aid "But what are you doing here?"

"I'm a member of the organization Katharon. I'm a woman who shouts her defiance, at the Earth Sphere Federation." Shirin stated defiantly.

"And you must be the Preventers…" Klaus looked at the pilots.

Heero stepped forward and removed his helmet "Yes… I am Major Heero Yuy, of the Preventers Taskforce."

Klaus blinked "Sorry you just looked like someone I knew… but that's impossible…"

"Klaus, it's good to see you're alive still." A voice caught his attention causing him to look up to see Odin making his way down the ramp of the transport.

"Odin… you're alive!" Klaus's eyes were wide.

"Yeah… I'm pretty hard to kill… though ask my son, he came pretty close…" Odin gestured to Heero.

"If you're alive… then that means we can…" Klaus stopped finally getting a good look at Odin, who was leaning unsteadily on a cane, driven a few inches into the sand, wearing the black Preventers uniform, its collar undone, the Colonel's insignia glinting in the setting sun.

"You're pretty good at setting up resistance forces aren't you…" Heero looked at his father out of the corner of his eye.

"Klaus, do you have a more convenient base in the area, where we can be a little less out in the open?" Odin asked.

"There's the desert base in the desert region of the peninsula… we'll meet there, and you can explain what happened to you when you up and disappeared." Klaus smiled.

Xxx

"So you've finally made up your mind Billy." Homer Katagiri smiled at his nephew, now standing in front of him, wearing the dark emerald green A-laws uniform.

"I look forward to working with you, uncle." Billy spoke coldly as he stood there.

"Address me as commander when you're here." Homer looked at him as he stood, "You'll be following in the footsteps of the late Professor Eifman…" he turned and faced the window "which means you'll be in charge of the development team, responsible for new mobile suits."

"Roger that sir…" Billy spoke coldly as he saluted his uncle.

Xxx

The door to the bridge hissed open and Sumeragi made her way inside slowly, "Miss. Sumeragi…" Allelujah blinked and blushed a little.

"I don't think it's really my size… it's a little too tight…" Sumeragi shifted a little uncomfortably , her midriff showing and the top shirt nearly coming undone.

"I'll get you another one right away!" Feldt lowered herself from the consol and darted from the room.

"I think it looks just fine on yea…" Ian smirked.

"That's sexual harassment Dad!" Mileina pouted.

Marlene blinked as she saw some movement out of the corner of her eye "RUIDO!" she snapped seeing him pinching his nose, as some blood trickled down his chin.

Setsuna smiled "Sumeragi Lee Noriega…"

Sumeragi smiled in return as Chall made her way over "I guess this means you're accepting your post then… Captain."

Sumeragi nodded.

Xxx

"Kujō… All that time you were simply using me…" Billy marched down the hall, his footsteps echoing on the marble floor "and then you took my feelings for you, and crushed them. Like they were nothing…"

Xxx

The press conference was packed as the Federation representative spoke "There is no doubt, it was Gundams that attacked the detention center for anti-government elements."

A reporter raised his hand "Are they still affiliated with Celestial Being?"

A second reporter raised his hand "What about the rumor that these particular Gundams were developed by a dissident group?"

"While those are still unsubstantiated rumors, either way it is clear that they're engaging in terrorist acts that threaten our current political system." The representative spoke "In order to exterminate these terrorists, the government is dispatching its autonomous peacekeeping force."

Xxx

"Predicting the revival of Celestial Being, or rather the Preventers return… and using it to expand the power of A-laws." Regene smiled as she shut off the report before looking at Ribbons "Was this something you thought up, or was it Veda's idea?" she asked.

"Ah yes… whose was it?" Ribbons smiled as he kept his eyes closed.

"In any case it's about time for us to make our own moves." Another female voice spoke as she made her way down the steps.

Regene looked up "Revive Revival…" she spoke the name with a minor tone of irritation in her voice.

"I thought you should know, the Gadessa's been rolled out. It's ready to sortie right now, just say the word." Revive spoke calmly as she stopped in front of Ribbons.

"Thank you, but that won't be necessary Revive, I've asked someone else to take care of this particular operation…" Ribbons smiled.

"Someone else?" Regene asked.

"Did you mean Divine, or did you call in Bring?" Revive asked.

Ribbons smiled as he looked at them "Actually, he's human… though in a way, he seems to have transcended those limitations."

Xxx

Mileina yawned as she stretched in her seat "Staying here to watch the ship is boring…" she groaned.

Feldt smiled as she looked over her shoulder at her "What are you talking about… we're overseeing repairs to Ptolemaios, analyzing the new A-laws mobile suit, tuning 00's twin drive system… there's more than enough to do right now."

"Yeah… but none of that stuff is any fun…" Mileina pouted.

"You could always join Mariemaia in her tutoring lessons…" Feldt noted, causing Mileina to pause, remembering that the job of tutoring her, had been passed off to her mother, Linda.

Xxx

The Cherudim, Selatiel, Arios, and Warlock flew escorting the two transports towards the Katharon base.

"A place like this, I'm surprised the Federation hasn't found it by now…" Tieria looked at the radar, when Lyle made his way up to their seats.

"The Federation scatters GN particles in the middle east, which has a lot of non-member nations. Officially, it's using the particle effects to disrupt the communications of terror networks. But it's real goal is to paralyze the economic growth of middle eastern countries." Lyle noted as the other pilots appeared on their monitor "Simply put, do what the Federation says, or you're in for a rough time. But on the other hand, thanks to the GN particles the Katharon base hasn't been discovered yet."

Tieria looked up at Lyle who was standing next to him "Hmm… oh you think so…" he shrugged "Well it's just common sense really…"

"Are you reading me?" A voice broke in over their frequency "We've confirmed your mobile suits, we're opening the hatch."

The camouflaged base's hatch opened as the suits approached "Roger…" Setsuna replied as he started to descend towards the opening.

Xxx

"So… these are Gundams…" A Katharon pilot looked up at the Cherudim.

"Yeah, the heroic machines that saved Azadistan!" Another Katharon pilot smiled "It's a real honor to have you with us Celestial Being…"

"Yeah, welcome." The first pilot smiled.

"Wont you show us your faces?" A mechanic asked that was standing behind them.

"Oh right… my fault…" Lyle reached up to remove his helmet.

"Our identities are secret…" Tieria started.

"Don't be such a stickler for rules…" Lyle smiled as James removed his helmet next.

"They helped us out didn't they?" James nudged Heero.

Heero removed his helmet followed shortly by the others.

"The Anti-government organization, Katharon…" Allelujah looked around at the Katharon mobile suits, Tieren's, Enact's, and Realdo's.

Xxx

"We're grateful you agreed to meet with us. I'm Klaus Grad of the Katharon middle eastern branch." Klaus bowed politely to the assembled Preventers officers.

"We represent the Preventers Taskforce, that's all we can say." Sumeragi smiled at him.

"That's fine, I understand your situation." Klaus nodded to her.

"I'm very grateful you rescued Princess Marina from that center." Shirin looked at the pilots in the room "From now on, we'll assume responsibility for her safety."

"Shirin…" Marina spoke softly as she looked at her.

"Would you rather we left you with the Preventers?" Shirin asked looking at her.

"But… what are you doing with a group of dissidents?" Marina asked looking at her.

"Something wrong with that?" Shirin countered.

"There's someone else we'd like to leave with you." Setsuna gestured to Saji "This is Saji Crossroad, he's a civilian. He was accused of being a member of Katharon, even though he was completely innocent."

Klaus looked at Saji "Well I'm really sorry to hear about that… you can rest assured that we'll take good care of him too."

"Hold on, don't I have a say…" Saji started.

"It's the best option for all of us…" Sumeragi looked at him.

The door hissed open and a little boy and girl charged into the room laughing "Hey whacha doing?" the little girl asked.

"Hold on…" one of the Katharon officers made his way around the table "you cant just barge in here like that…" he picked the little girl up.

Setsuna looked at the children "They've kids here…" his thoughts drifted back remembering his childhood, how he had become a guerilla, his glare landed on Klaus "Don't tell me… are you actually raising these children to be members of Katharon?" he balled his hand up into a fist.

"Don't misunderstand us, all we're doing here is taking care of children who've been orphaned." Shirin looked at him "The Federation's one sided policies here in the Middle East…" she looked at the little girl "Cause real damage… and they are the living proof." her expression softened as to not frighten the child.

"Though because we have limited access to funds, we can't take in every child we'd like to…" Klaus looked at the pilots.

The little boy stopped next to Marina and looked up at her, his eyes widened "Ahh… Princess Marina!"

Marina turned and looked at the little boy, a little surprised she was recognized in her prison outfit. "You are Princess Marina Ismail right?" the boy asked.

"Uhh… yes I am…" Marina smiled at him.

"Hey, I know who she is too!" The little girl nearly shrieked with joy.

"Wow, I can't believe I'm really talking to the princess!" The little boy smiled at her as she stooped down a little to hold his hand.

"Princess Marina, would it be alright if you spent some time with the children?" Shirin asked.

"Of course." Marina smiled.

"Wow really?" The little boy started to lead her out of the room as the little girl followed at a run.

James laughed lightly "It's amazing how kids can find the best outlook on things, even when things are this bad…"

"She's not a living symbol of our nation for nothing…" Shirin sighed.

"Now, I'd like to get to the main issue at hand…" Klaus looked at the officers, as the door hissed open.

"Sorry I'm late…" Odin hobbled his way into the room.

"In order for our group Katharon to overthrow the current Federation Government…" Klaus started.

"Look… I'm sorry but unlike your group, our actions aren't based on any political ideology…" Sumeragi started.

"But I thought you were taking a position against the Federation…" Klaus looked at Odin.

"That's not so…" Heero looked at him "Our enemy is not the Federation Government but the A-laws and the people backing them."

"That's what you say, but doesn't your goal of fighting the governments autonomous force, directly coincide with our goals?" Shirin asked.

"Yes that's right, in order to halt the evil deeds of the A-laws, both our groups should join forces." Klaus looked at them.

"Unfortunately the mobile suits you have here can't compete against those equipped with GN drives…" Sumeragi looked at him.

"And that's why we're here…" Odin made his way over to the table and sat a portable terminal down "Klaus, what's the current fighting strength of Katharon?"

"The middle eastern branch has about a hundred and fifty mobile suits at our disposal…" Klaus looked at him.

"All of the old types right?" Athrun asked from his spot on the wall.

"That's correct…" Klaus nodded.

"Well, allow me to present our orders…" Odin activated the light screen and the orders were displayed.

"The Preventers Taskforce is hereby authorized to use full military force to bring an end to the Autonomous Peacekeeping Taskforce A-laws, and their supporters. By any means necessary." Klaus read through the orders.

"One of the options open to us was to aid the anti-government movement, to help in bringing A-laws down. If you accept, we'll supply Katharon with the mobile suits available from the Preventers member nations. Military support, and supplies." Kira looked at Klaus who's mouth hung open, completely slack jawed.

"You mean if we change our objectives to taking on A-laws… we'll have the full backing of the Preventers..." Shirin looked at Odin.

"Not just the taskforce… it's member nations… this is going to take a while to explain, mind if I borrow a chair?" Odin smiled.

Xxx

"Losing the Trilobite like that was quite the blunder Major…" Arthur looked at him from the monitor as he and Kati stood in the officers briefing room.

"I'm ashamed of my failure sir." Major Rindt hung his head.

"Colonel Mannequin, you and the Major will share command." Arthur looked at her.

"Sir!" Kati saluted.

"Remember that we A-laws have to be the shield and spear of the Federation itself." Arthur looked at them "Failure is unforgivable!" he closed the line leaving the crimson and gold banner of the A-laws on the screen.

Kati looked back at the licensed officers "So there you have it… from this point on you will be following my orders as well. Is that understood…"

"I categorically refuse." Mr. Bushido spoke coldly as he leaned against the wall with his arms crossed.

"What?" Kati's glare landed on him.

"Headquarters has given us permission to act as we see fit. Think of each of us as one man armies…" Leons smirked, as the faint red glow of his prosthetic eye glowed beneath his sunglasses.

"An armed force made up of a single soldier…" Mr. Bushido spoke calmly.

"Such selfishness…" Kati started.

"I told you I have permission." Mr. Bushido cut her off as he glared at her.

Xxx

Soma blinked "Oh… so you've been mobilized Colonel?"

Sergei looked at her from the portable terminal monitor "I've been entrusted with a force that's looking for Gundams… to think that the regular forces are now serving as some kind of errand boy for the A-laws…" his tone was filled with irritation.

"Oh, is that so…" Soma sighed.

Sergei smiled "By the way… how's he holding up out there?"

Soma blinked "Uhh…" she looked upward seeing Andrei talking with some other A-laws officers, "You mean Lieutenant Andrei? He's always very devoted to his duties…"

"I guess he's sending me a message…" Sergei smiled "As you can probably tell, he hates me."

Soma looked at him "Sir?"

"I was a diligent soldier, but I was never what you'd really call a good parent to him…" Sergei looked at her.

"Colonel I…" Soma stopped for a moment "Colonel… I'm thinking of taking you up on that offer we discussed." She sighed.

"Offer?" Sergei blinked.

"When we talked about you adopting me… as your daughter." Soma looked at him and smiled.

"Do you really mean that?" Sergei looked at her.

"We can go over the details next time we meet…" Soma smiled "Later…" she closed the line and looked up into the blue sky "I am a fortunate girl…"

Xxx

"Princess Marina!" The little boy ran over carrying some multi colored blocks in his arms "Look at these too!" he smiled as he stopped next to her.

"Yes well… before we get started."Marina smiled as she looked up "Did you want to come over here too?" she asked looking a little boy with short dark brown hair sitting in a corner of the room playing by himself with some blocks. He looked in her direction sadly before continuing to play by himself.

Marina got up and made her way over to him folding her skirt beneath herself, she knelt down in front of him and held out her hand "There… come and play with us little one." She smiled at him.

The boy hesitated before taking her hand gently.

Setsuna looked in from the door, as the little boy started to stand tears welled up in his eyes, and he started crying as Marina pulled him into a hug.

Setsuna's memories drifted back remembering his smiling mother's face, and then the final memory he had of her, when he killed her. He turned to leave.

"Those children are your victims too you know…" Saji glared at him "Victims of a world that you guys changed…"

Setsuna closed his eyes and sighed "It's true… I know it."

"Doesn't that make you feel anything?" Saji looked at Setsuna as he started passed him, his eyes closed very calmly.

"Sure I feel something…" Setsuna continued walking as he spoke "That's why I'd never be able to join them and play like that."

"So if you know what you're doing, then why do you keep fighting?" Saji looked at him.

Setsuna stopped "I have my reasons… I doubt you'd understand. Hate me if you want…" he continued walking away.

"Setsuna…" Saji glared at his back as it disappeared around a corner.

"Hey…" A voice spoke catching him off guard, he turned to see James.

"What do you…" Saji blinked.

James leaned against the wall "Setsuna's got his reasons with his past, he probably sees himself in them… he grew up as a child soldier, during the solar power wars."

"A child soldier?" Saji blinked.

"Yeah… and he hates that fact from what I've seen. He's done some things that he can never take back, that he wishes he could. They're war orphans, just like some of us… Hell I grew up on the streets in the colonies, watched my friends and the only family I had get killed by the Alliance and OZ. It's a real shitty life to not grow up with parents." James pushed himself off of the wall as Marina appeared at the doorway.

"Where's Setsuna, I thought I saw him a moment ago?" Marina looked at James.

"I think he's headed for the hangar. We're getting ready to leave…" James nodded down the hall.

Marina turned and started at a quick walk down the hall.

Xxx

"Setsuna!" Marina called out as she caught him just entering the hangar.

Setsuna turned to face her "Are you leaving?" she asked.

"That's right…" Setsuna looked at her.

"Before you go I have one last important request to ask of you…" Marina sighed.

"Huh…" Setsuna blinked.

Xxx

"Well… It's certainly an interesting proposal… our target would be A-laws, and the Preventers nations would work to reform the Federation after they've brought them down…" Shirin sighed.

"I guess so…" Klaus spun and leant against the table, as he sat in the computer chair he was in "But their response was enough… the fight against A-laws is going to be extremely brutal, even with the new suits from the Preventers… Isn't that right, Jean one…" he smiled at Lyle.

Lyle looked at him "I guess, hard to say really… it all depends if what they're saying is true… I haven't seen anything beyond the small fleet of warships they have currently at their disposal. But if they have what they say they do, the A-laws are in for one hell of a fight…"

Xxx

"Is our meeting over?" Allelujah looked at the other pilots that had been called to the small transport to talk.

"Yeah, but there's something else I have to do…" Setsuna looked at them.

"Something else?" Tieria looked at him.

Setsuna nodded "I'll be escorting Marina Ismail back to the country of Azadistan."

"So you're saying…" Heero started.

"Are you sure this is what you want?" Sumeragi looked at Marina.

Marina nodded "I'm truly sorry for all the trouble I'm causing…"

"Well you can't go back in a Gundam…" Odin looked at her "on the off chance you're discovered, you could bring further harm down upon Azadistan."

"Then let me have the use of this craft…" Setsuna looked at him "You can use the Gundams and the other transport to return…"

"That'll work." Sumeragi stood as the other pilots readied to disembark the shuttle.

Tieria cracked a faint smile "And don't feel like you have to come back either…" he smiled as he made his way past following the pilots down the steps.

"That's absurd…" Setsuna narrowed his gaze at Tieria.

Allelujah blinked as he followed Tieria down the steps to find the other pilots blinking at him "What happened to you over these past two years… for you to actually tell a joke is…" Allelujah looked at him.

"I was serious back there…" Tieria spoke in a calm even tone causing the other pilots to gape at him.

Tieria turned and smiled "Now that was a joke…"

Sumeragi shrugged as Allelujah looked up at her on the stairs.

"Leave the jokes to Dearka and Duo, Tieria… you're not very funny." Athrun chuckled as he made his way past.

"Maybe we can give Tieria to Trowa's circus, they like clowns that don't laugh…" Kira suggested with a grin as the other pilots erupted in laughter.

Xxx

Saji made his way up a passageway towards the surface "The Preventers, Celestial Being and Katharon… all of them are groups that cause fighting. I can't stay in a place like this… even if Kinue wants me to…"

He reached the outside hatch, and opened the door looking around a little, as he stepped out trying not to be noticed.

"Hey! What do you think you're doing there?" A Katharon guard called out catching Saji's attention.

Saji raised his hands as he saw the man holding an SMG "Nothing… I was just…"

"Oh you're with the Preventers aren't you…" The guard smiled at him causing Saji to blink.

"I've got comrades in town I need to talk to…" Saji smiled faintly "God I really hope this…"

"Nearest town is a long way from here, take a vehicle!" The guard reached into his pocket and tossed Saji a key.

Saji caught it a little surprised, he smiled "Thank you…" "That worked…"

Xxx

Shirin looked around the hangar before stopping a mechanic "Have you seen Princess Marina wandering around?"

The mechanic blinked "I just saw her with some of those Preventers a few moments ago…"

"She was with them…" Shirin blinked.

"The Gundams are returning to their mother ships, open the hatch!" A voice came over the announcement system catching Shirin's attention.

Shirin looked to see the suits lifting off with the two transports, and starting up the ramp towards the surface.

"Could… could she be…" Shirin looked at the mechanic "We have to stop them from taking off!"

"That's impossible now…" The mechanic shrugged.

Shirin watched as the suits disappeared up the ramp towards the surface "Marina…"

Xxx

Setsuna banked off in the direction of Azadistan as the other suits continued flying towards the sea.

Saji drove over the dunes in the beat up old jeep he was given "I wonder if I can make it across the whole desert in this… huh…" he slammed on the breaks as a Federation Guyana-class rose over the dunes.

"The… the Federation…" Saji's eyes were wide as he saw the massive carrier.

Xxx

The Federation officer slammed his fist onto the table "WHY ARE YOU CROSSING THE DESERT WITH SO LITTLE EQUIPMENT?" he shouted glaring at Saji, who shrunk back into his seat, his eyes wide with fear.

"We got a hit on his biometrics!" Another solider opened the door "Our friend here is a member of Katharon!" he pointed at Saji.

"I'm not!" Saji yelled looking at the man clearly frightened "I've never been a member of that group!"

"Enough of your lies!" The interrogating officer walked around the table seized Saji's shirt, and decked him across the face.

"Stop!" Sergei yelled as he made his way into the room "There's no need to rough him up!" the two soldiers snapped to attention and saluted their commanding officer.

"Colonel…" The interrogation officer looked at him.

"Get out… I want to hear his story." Sergei nodded to the officer who quickly made his way out of the room.

Saji rubbed his face with the back of his hand, Sergei sat down across from him "You're not really a soldier, are you boy?"

Saji blinked looking at Sergei as he continued "I'm an old soldier, I can tell these things, you don't have the eyes of someone whose seen combat. In other words, you're clearly not a member of Katharon. So what in the world have you been up to?" Saji blinked looking at Sergei, before he looked away.

"You've been traveling with Celestial Being… or rather the Preventers, haven't you…" Sergei looked at him as Saji's attention was drawn back to Sergei "It's plausible… according to the data, until a few weeks ago you were working on colony development at Proud, where the Gundams first reappeared. And now you're in the same region where there was a battle yesterday with the Gundams. It's nothing, it's just simple reasoning."

Saji clenched his fists as he looked at his knees averting his eyes from Sergei "I'm… not with Katharon or the Preventers…"

"I believe you…" Sergei looked at him "I just wanna hear your side of the story boy. I won't use it against you."

Saji looked up seeing Sergei "Can you get me cleared of all suspicions…" he asked.

"I'll do what I can…" Sergei looked at him.

Xxx

"Captain Barack Zinin sir! With all five members of space team four, present and reporting for duty!" Captain Zinin and the other members of his unit saluted.

Commander Katagiri saluted them "Good work team…"

"What, is this true?" Arthur shouted as he looked at the message that had come in "I'll issue the orders immediately, if we left it to that naive woman she'd be sure to mess this up!" he turned and smiled at Homer "Excellent news commander… we've discovered Katharon's military base. And there's a very good chance the Gundams are there too…"

"Excellent work General Goodman…" A cold voice spoke as Katagiri looked to see Major General Zechs making his way into the room "We need to attend to this immediately."

"Commander, permission for our team to sortie as well!" Barack stepped forward.

"No need to push yourselves, take it easy for now." Zechs smiled as he looked at Captain Zinin.

Louise glared "The Gundams are out there and yet…"

"Take your time Warrant Officer Halevy…" Zechs smirked "The Gundam pilots aren't so weak, as to be taken down by a few Automatons…"

Xxx

"What kind of an order is this?" Kati's eyes were wide "We're expected to make use of Automatons in kill mode? This is crazy, this operation is barbaric!"

Major Rindt let out a light laugh "Colonel, an order from that high up has to be strictly followed…"

"You're telling me, you don't think there's something wrong about the details of this operation?" Kati snapped at him.

Major Rindt smirked "Now why would I think such a thing? We're fighting the anti-government forces…" Major Rindt looked at her "there's no need to show them any mercy, now is there?"

Kati sat back in her seat and bit her lip "Damn it, if the Preventers are there… then that means that they could be…"

Xxx

Soma watched as the automatons containers were loaded onto the back of the Ahead's "An operation like this one… Now I finally understand why the Colonel was so firmly opposed to my reassignment…"

"You've got him wrong Lieutenant." Andrei spoke catching her attention as he looked at the containers. "Colonel Smirnov is the kind of man who would abandon his own flesh and blood, to make sure he fulfilled his duty." Andrei looked at her.

"His own flesh and blood?" Soma looked at him.

Andrei clenched his fist as he looked out at his machine "Yes, that man allowed my mother to die."

Soma blinked and remained silent as Andrei stood there, she could feel his anger towards his father, a deep rooted loathing, like she had never felt before.

Xxx

"So… the A-laws know where the dissidents are…" Wang Liu-Mei looked at Nena on the portable terminal as she descended the stairs.

"I understand, I'll let Tieria and the others know…" Wang closed the line before beginning to dial the code to contact the Preventers.

Xxx

"YOU IDIOT!" Sergei roared as he belted the officer across the face "WHO TOLD YOU TO REPORT THIS INFO TO A-LAWS?" he roared as he towered over the young officer.

"But sir… It's our duty to report these things…" The officer groaned.

"THAT IS MY DECISION TO MAKE SOLDIER!" Sergei roared before turning and marching back towards the interrogation room.

"Damn it!" Sergei punched in the code "Mr. Crossroad, come with me, you have to get out of here right now!"

Saji started to get up "Wha… what are you talking about?"

"I'm afraid your presence here was leaked to the A-laws. They're a group that operates above the law… and I don't have enough authority to protect you when they show up."

Saji bolted up "But that's…"

"YOU HAVE TO HURRY!" Sergei snapped, causing Saji to jump.

Saji grabbed the jacket he had and pulled it along with him as Sergei escorted him to the hangar.

"Do me a favor if you see them… give Wufei my thanks..." Sergei looked at him.

"Wha…" Saji blinked.

"The Preventers infiltrated the bloc nations during the conflicts two years ago… his unit was under my command. And inform him, that Colonel Mannequin knows… he'll understand." Sergei nodded as Saji climbed into the jeep and started its engine.

"Ri…right…" Saji shifted into first and pulled out heading out of the hangar at high speed.

Saji drove out into the desert again "Somebody leaked the fact that I was there… so does that mean that… huh?" he looked up seeing a formation of mobile suits emitting red GN particles. "That color…"

Xxx

"Emergency coded message from Wang Liu-Mei!" Feldt shouted as Sumeragi made her way to her seat "Apparently an A-laws mobile suit team is headed directly for the Katharon base! What should we do now?"

"We're gonna go help them." Sumeragi ordered "Relay the message to the rest of the fleet, anti-satellite optical camouflage, emergency assent! Tell the Gundams to get ready to launch!"

"That's a roger!" Mileina relayed as she typed.

Xxx

"Ptolemy beginning emergency assent!" Feldt's voice came in over the frequency "Zero zero forty three until surfacing!"

"The A-laws found their base?" Tieria asked as he read over the message.

"But there are a lot of innocent children with them as well…" Allelujah spoke.

"Hurry it up… damn it we're running out of time, hurry it up!" Lyle snapped as he tapped his fingers against the controls.

"Easy… we'll rush there as soon as we break the surface." Lockon cautioned "Getting bent out of shape before we get there won't help anything."

"Doesn't matter… we have to hurry!" Yzak's voice came over the frequency "We cannot afford to let them down after the negotiations you guys held."

"Yzak's right…" Duo came in over the frequency "And if what Allelujah said is true, there's no way in hell we can allow A-laws to get away with this!"

Xxx

A guard threw his binoculars down and ran into his guard post to the radio "A-laws is here!"

Xxx

"It's an A-laws mobile suit team!" The guards voice echoed through the base as the alarms blared the pilots scrambled for their suits.

"Wait are they gonna attack this place?" A pilot shouted down from his Tieren.

"How many of them are coming?" Another man shouted.

"How did they find out about our base?" A mechanic asked another man.

"It couldn't have been from the Preventers could it?" the man asked in return as the hangar scrambled to launch.

Xxx

Shirin looked into the kids room "Quickly! Get the children to the shelter!"

One of their caretakers looked at her "Oh… okay…" she was panicking.

Xxx

"Klaus, let's go out and fight!" One of the Katharon officers looked at him.

"No… we're still too badly outmatched." Klaus looked at him, before turning to the other officers "We'll strengthen our defenses and wait for the Preventers to come to our aid!"

"Are they even gonna show up?" another officer looked at him.

"I believe in them…" Klaus braced himself as the base shuddered from an impact "THEY'RE BOMBING US?"

Xxx

An explosion ripped through the roof of the hangar sending a wave of sand crashing through to the floor, as men scrambled to get away from the falling debris and sand.

Xxx

"I have visual confirmation of a structure that looks like an enemy base." Andrei announced as he flew there in his GN-X III "Huh…" he watched as three Katharon mobile suits flew out of the hangar.

The Tieren high mobility type hovered just above the ground as it opened fire on the A-laws forces with its 25-MM smoothbore cannon.

"Enemy mobile suits!" Andrei returned fire rapid firing his GN lance in an arch ripping through the Tieren.

Soma watched as the machines flew and fired on them "They're still using outdated mobile suits…" she fired downward on a Realdo striking it directly in the cockpit, she winced as it blew up, deliberately placing her next shot through the head of a Flag, disabling it as a Tieren returned fire, covering the crippled suit.

Andrei opened fire ripping through the Tieren destroying it.

"Commence mopping up operation of enemy base." Leons ordered over the frequency "Release automatons."

"Roger!" another pilot relayed as an Ahead flew down towards the base as the Testament, and Destiny flew over the base observing.

Soma turned and looked "They wouldn't…"

"Releasing automatons." The pilot relayed as the container opened, the rectangular shaped robots dropped out, freefalling into the destroyed hangar.

"No wait a minute!" Soma called out as the automatons kicked up the sand as they crashed into the base.

Xxx

Klaus and the other officers ran into the hangar shielding themselves from the dust as it cleared to see if they could help recover any survivors "Wait… those are…" his eyes widened as he saw them. One by one they used their rocket boosters and deployed their four legs.

"They're military automatons!" An officer shouted.

"EVERYONE FALL BACK NOW! FALL BACK!" Klaus screamed as the Automatons fifty caliber machine guns opened up, their chatter drowning out his voice as the officers dragged him back into the base. The other Katharon personnel's screams now filling the air.

Xxx

A beam streaked in and forced the A-laws formation apart as the Gundams closed at high speed "Damn we're too late!" Athrun snapped as he rolled and activated his beam saber, charging towards the unit.

"What about the Katharon people?" Allelujah asked.

"I'll leave this to you guys!" Lyle rolled breaking away from the formation heading for the base.

"Lyle…" Lockon pulled away and followed him.

"Get a move on Gundam!" Lyle pushed his thrusters to their full power as he streaked low.

Xxx

"Peries! Intercept those Gundams!" Leons ordered as he drew his pistol.

"Ah… Roger!" Soma rolled and flew after the Cherudim, and Sadalsuud, she opened fire on the Cherudim her shots missing by a narrow margin as Lockon spun and returned fire. Narrowly missing her.

"He's got some moves!"

"Mobile Dolls, engage enemy forces at will!" Neo commanded and the Virgo IV's streaked forward engaging the Gundams.

"All machines, after the other Gundams!" Leons ordered.

"I'll be sitting this one out…" Mr. Bushido climbed skyward.

"Alright then…" Leons smirked as he charged the Duel "It's been a while Joule!" he roared as he lashed out with the Trikeros Kai shield's blade as Yzak narrowly dodged g the attack.

"So they weren't lying… you're still alive you monster!" Dearka fired down on the Testament with the Buster's anti-armor shotgun.

"Business is too good, for me to quietly sleep in my grave!" Leons smirked as he returned fire with the beam revolver.

Heero rolled and took aim at the Testament only to be forced back by a barrage from the Virgo IV's.

Andrei charged between the Virgo's towards the Warlock "Die Gundam!"

"You need more skill to be my enemy punk!" Duo yelled as he activated the beam scythes and slashed out at Andrei narrowly missing cutting his suit in half, as the White Epyon dove on his GN-X III.

"Duo leave this guy to me!" Wufei snapped over the frequency as he lashed out with the dragon like arm of the Epyon II, narrowly missing Andrei.

Xxx

Soma leveled off behind the Cherudim and Sadalsuud "Ahh… This is…" her eyes shot wide as she looked at the carnage of the massacre that was occurring in the hangar.

"Is this… IS THIS SOMETHING HUMAN BEINGS WOULD DO?" Lyle roared over an open frequency as he drew the Sadalsuud's GN Revolve Bazooka and opened fire with it on its lower output setting.

Lockon threw away the GN Sniper II and drew the Cherudim's pistols opening fire on the Automatons ripping through them as fast as he could shoot.

Xxx

"Mass murder with automated weapons…" Allelujah glared as he charged past the Virgo IV's seizing a GN-X III in the pincer "You think just because you avoid pulling the trigger yourself, YOU WONT FEEL ANY OF THE GUILT OF COMMITTING THE CRIME?" he severed the suit at the cockpit streaking through its wreckage before it finally blew up.

Tieria took aim at the formation of Virgo IV's "Ready double bazooka! Burst mode!" he took aim at the center of the Virgo IV formation and opened fire, the massive swirling ball of GN particles rammed into it and ripped the machine apart in a massive explosion.

Leons rolled back from the attacks from the Duel and the Buster "We've achieved our initial objective, time to withdraw!" the A-laws forces started to withdraw at high speed.

Xxx

Soma watched in horror as the Cherudim and Sadalsuud finished off the automatons "Ahh…" she fell back as the two suits spun and opened fire on her. The Cherudim's shots striking her shield forcing her back. Only to pass the white and blue Gaia "Stella…"

"I'll never forgive you…" Lyle fired on Soma as she rolled and dodged as she fell back "I'LL NEVER FORGIVE YOU FOR THIS A-LAWS! Don't you dare run… DON'T YOU DARE RUN AWAY FROM ME A-LAWS!" he roared as the Gundams fired a hellish barrage after the retreating A-laws forces, most of the shots aimed at Soma's machine which was the closest.

Xxx

"It's horrible…" Feldt's eyes were wide as they looked at the image on the screen.

"Mileina… don't look." Chall climbed up and covered her eyes.

Xxx

"DAMN IT!" Lyle slammed his fist onto the controls.

"This is no different… than Mars…" James shook with rage.

"That's right… this is the enemy we are sworn to defeat." Tieria spoke calmly over the frequency, though you could hear the anger in his tone.

"I want to know how this happened…" Yzak's voice was as cold as ice as he spoke "I want some answers damn it!"

"Easy Yzak… we'll find out how…" Heero glared as he tightened his grip on the controls.

"I'll lead a team inside the base to search for survivors." Athrun spoke over the frequency "Nicol, Kira, Duo, Trowa, come with me."

Xxx

Soma's hand shook as she released the controls of the Ahead which flew on autopilot back towards the ship in formation "I'm a super soldier…" her voice shook "I only exist to fight… and yet I tried to find the happiness, that normal people take for granted…" she remembered the images of the massacre in the hangar, the terror she felt from the people that were being mowed down by the automatons machine gun fire. "Colonel… could this be my punishment, for wanting that?" she let tears slip from her eyes as she sat there.

Xxx

Saji stood in front of the jeep in shock, the smoke rising above the base, the Preventers warships beginning to touch down, the Gundams standing there as the pilots began to lower themselves from their suits, he collapsed to his knees "Ah… ahh… All because…" he tightened his grip on his pants before he fell forward "All this because I talked to them…" he remembered the little kids in the base, the man that had given him the keys to leave "This can't be… This can't be…" he shook his head as tears slipped down his face "THIS CANT BE HAPPENING!" he shouted.

Xxx

Setsuna flew down through the clouds towards the capital of Azadistan "We'll be in Azadistan shortly…"

Marina smiled as she sat next to him "I'm returning after all…"

"That's right… back to your country." Setsuna nodded, the clouds started to glow an angry reddish glow before he dropped through them, to reveal the capital burning.

"Azadistan is…" Marina's eyes were wide.

"Everything's burning…" Setsuna looked around.

"But why is Azadistan?" Marina asked panicked "Why?"

"The scale… not terrorists…" Setsuna's eyes widened as he saw it flying there above the flames, emitting red GN particles "Its… a... a Gundam! And that Color! Is it him?" Setsuna glared as he saw the machine turn towards the aircraft.

Xxx

"That's right… You guessed right punk!" Ali Al-Saachez grinned as he heard the voice over the frequency.

Xxx

Setsuna's eyes shot wide "We're leaving!" He pulled hard on the controls in a hard banking U-turn and punched the thrusters flying back towards the Katharon base.

Xxxxxx

"AGYAGYAGYAGYAGYAGYA!" Fon laughed maniacally "I knew Saachez couldn't be dead!"

Yeah you got me… no way in hell I can kill off someone THAT fun that easily…

*THWACK*

"You son of a… I nearly died trying to take that bastard out and you just write him back!" Lockon glared as he bore down on Ald to deck him again.

"Yeesh…" Dearka grimaced as Ald's beating continued "Well we'll see you next chapter… if Ald's alive… if not we'll just wing it… Till then… HEY GET OFF MY BOOZE!"