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

25. Chapter 25

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.

Ha ha I'm back! Took a little longer than I thought… but I kinda got blindsided by midterms *Sideways glare* anyway, as always please read and review.

"That was your own fault that you lost track of where you were in the term…" Louise mumbled.

"Agreed…" All of the other pilots chimed in.

HEY! THE PREVENTERS ARE SUPPOSED TO BE ON MY SIDE!

"Yeah, sure… just keep telling yourself that…" Fon grinned.

That's it… we're starting this… right…

*THWACK*

"NOW!" Katrina grinned as she used the Selatiel's finger to flick Ald into the asteroid field, where he started flying around like a pinball bouncing off of the rocks.

xxxxxx

Ch. 25

The Indelible Past

(Part 2)

"Well, they separated after the death of Heero…" Katrina's voice permeated around them. "spreading across the Earth and the colonies."

"That's so sad…" Louise mumbled.

"What's going on, how does this relate to the Preventers and the Gundams?" Andrei asked.

"Be patient... we've covered little over half of what has occurred that resulted in the Gundams coming into existence. Around thirty years of the fifty five leading to the present." Katrina noted as the scene began shifting around them.

"Congradulations Mrs. Lowe… it's a boy." The doctor smiled at her.

Aoi smiled at her husband, as the doctor held out the baby that was crying to its mother.

"Awww…" All of the pilots from the Preventers cooed at the same time.

"Shut up!" Heero snapped.

"But you were so damn cute Heero…" James laughed.

"So I was thinking…" Aoi looked at Odin "Why don't we name him Heero…"

Odin looked at his son as he opened his eyes for the first time, and their cold Prussian blue gazed into Odin's for a split second before Odin averted his gaze "It would attract attention…"
"I think its fine…" Aoi smiled as the doctor walked over.

"I was surprised when you contacted me Odin… but I happen to agree, after what happened to your father." The doctor looked at him.

"Fine… but register the surname as Lowe. The Alliance is still after us… Yuy would draw too much attention." Odin looked at him.

The scene shifted again quickly to another "Awww… he has your eyes." Linda smiled at Ian as she held her son.

"I still don't know how he wound up with brown hair…" Ian scratched his head.

"It's quite simple, my mother had brown hair, and your father had brown hair… we both carried the trait, so it was a possibility." Linda looked at him before beaming at her son again.

The little hand reached up from the blankets and grabbed her glasses pulling them off "Awww…" the pilots went again.

"CAN IT!" James roared.

"Fair's fair James…" Katrina gave a Cheshire smile. "The year is After Colony 180… fifteen years before the Gundams would begin their dismantling of the Alliance and OZ. The ten boys who would eventually participate in what would become Operation Meteor, have just been born."

xxx

The scene shifted around them again, as the scientists appeared together standing in a warehouse lab "It's been some time Odin…" Ian smiled as he clapped him on the back "How've ya been?"

"Lacking sleep… kids…" Odin looked at him with bags under his eyes.

Ian laughed as the other scientists did the same "I know the feeling… anyway let's get down to business."

"The Alliance has been increasing their presence in space." Dr. J looked at them "As I'm sure you've all realized its becoming much harder to have meetings like this one, or traveling between the colonies."

"They're turning the colonies into a literal ghetto." Tem looked across the table at them "We need to fight back!"

"I couldn't agree more, but with the Alliance bastardizing the Tallgeese's design into that mass produced unit they have numbers on their side." Abel looked at them. "We'd need something that can take on those numbers, and overwhelm them."

"I think I have a solution…" Tem laid a blueprint on the table and unrolled it. "I've been tinkering with the basic design of the Tallgeese, adding minor improvements, and at the same time bringing it down into a more compact package. I've been keeping up with the developments in advanced materials… I've found an armor composite that would be ideal for both powering the suit in its reactor, as well as armoring it."

"You're talking about Gundanium…" Ian looked across the table at him, and smiled "I've been working on a prototype engine design myself powered by Gundanium…"

"It's nothing but a crackpot theory… a conventional reactor would be more than enough!" Professor G snapped "I agree with the frame's design, however it needs improvements a beam rifle would lose power to quickly, and it would be overwhelmed before it could do its job."

"Use hit and run tactics then…" Odin suggested.

"The rifle could be upgraded into a near cannon, and still maintain mobility with the same amount of shots…" Dr. J suggested. "With the proper adjustments it would be able to take them out on mass."

"I agree, though if you based it with an external power source you could increase the output further." Abel nodded "As a result freeing up the strain on the reactor and lessening the load the suit would need to carry, thus allowing for further weapons integration."

Doktor S nodded "It needs more substantial secondary armaments. Conventional firepower, or linear gun technology could be incorporated."

Tem nodded "Then lets improve upon this design, and produce the most powerful mobile suit we can with our combined knowledge."

xxx

The scene shifted around them again the lights over the table were on as the scientists worked "What if we incorporate the Z.E.R.O. system into it?" Odin looked at Aoi.

Aoi blinked, before looking over at the other scientists. "We said we wanted to produce a suit that could single handedly take on the Alliance… I thought it went without saying we would be incorporating it." Linda looked at them.

"We're basing development data for this suit on two prior machines to it… and incorporating characteristics of both of them." Dr. J walked over "Also we'll be using a new classification code for the unit."

"Oh?" Abel looked over as the other scientists ears perked up.

"Classification of unit's development code will be XXXG. From start to finish this design should take one month, a total of thirty days to construct. And its armor type is Gundanium Alloy, which will send a clear message as to where the suit came from." Howard looked over at the other scientists from his chair at the drafting table.

"Is this how the Gundams came into existence?" Amy asked.

"Not precisely, but this is the starting point… the one from which the scientists based their designs on. Because of their opinions after seeing the result." Katrina smiled as the scene shifted.

Xxx

"It's too powerful!" Odin looked at them "With this kind of firepower it could annihilate a colony with little effort!"

"I agree… the amount of power and the chance that the suit could act on its own or take control of the pilot… it's not worth the risk." Doktor S looked at them.

"Well then, after using the data to develop our own designs, we'll destroy the plans so that this monster may never be built." Aoi looked at them, and they nodded agreeing with her.

"That looks like…" Milou started.

"Precisely… this was the initial development of the Gundams, and the laying down of the design from which they all would eventually be built. Starting with a prototype design that Tem presented, before taking it to the extreme, then finally the full development of the Gundams by each of the scientists that remained."

"Remained…" Kati blinked "What happened to them?"

"They separated again…" Katrina looked at them "For various reasons, some got into arguments with each other. Some didn't agree with the plan of Operation Meteor… Some were sent away to be protected by their loved ones."

"Hold it, would someone please explain to me this whole After Colony crap, are you saying the Gundams are from the future or something? Because the colonies have only just begun being built." Debora asked.

"That may be explained fairly easily…" Katrina looked at them "There was a side project to the Gundam's development. The development of something that was dealing with advanced theoretical physics, and quantum mechanics at the time. A warp drive."

xxx

"Wha…" Andrei started, as the scene shifted around them to the group of the younger scientists.

"In theory, if my calculations are correct… because of the composition of the galaxy, and the magnetic field it resides within, there is a possibility that multiple earthlike planets have been created at a uniform point across the galaxy." Tem noted as he gestured to the equations.

"Are you suggesting that multiple "Earth's" exist at across the galaxy? How can you be so sure?" Abel asked.

"I can't say for certain, however through minor orbital telescope observations, and light wave tests in the locations the equations have calculated suggests that planets with earthlike qualities exist around similar stars." Tem looked at them.

"If you could prove it, it would be the greatest scientific discovery of mankind…" Aoi looked at him "Think if similar paths of evolution have occurred because of the…"
"I wouldn't go that far… but it is a slim possibility." Linda looked at her "Though, the prospect of finding alien life is quite interesting."

"It all hinges on going, and checking it out though… that is why a means to travel the thousands of light-years between these planets would be required to investigate them." Howard walked over "I'm onboard… I'd like to chill on another planet if you can find a way to get there."

"Then can you help solve the issue of burning up due to the increased heat, and radiation that the warp drive would theoretically produce?" Abel looked at him as he held out a sheet full of calculations.

"You're talking about an Alcubierre metric…" Howard flipped the page reading through the calculations "Well… you do have a few minor issues. However, they can be overcome with a little work."

"How about stopping it? That's a major issue." Tem looked at him.

"The amount of power you're putting into it… you're using a thermonuclear reactor correct?" Howard looked at them.

"Yeah, that's all we could think of that would produce the required amount of power…" Abel looked at him.

"Ever think of using anti-matter to flip the bubble inside out?" Howard jotted down a few notes before holding it out to them.

"That… just might work… one problem, how would you avoid being flipped inside out with the bubble?" Ian asked.

"Motion, so long as the object is in motion either forward or backward it will be forced out with momentum. I guess a bubble wouldn't be the most accurate description, more like a bottle, a long trail behind it would be empty. As a result the object has quite a lot of time to get out of the wave."

"Alright, then how do you protect the people within it from the radiation and heat? It'll be producing heat nearly the temperature of the sun's surface." Tem looked at Howard.

"Heat moves in waves too…" Howard looked at him "Which do you get first, the heat of a fire, or the light from it?"
Erica's jaw dropped "The light…"

"Bingo." Howard pointed at her "Light travels many times faster, you'll enter it with one hell of a bang the size of a nuclear explosion, the amount of power required will drain most of the engine's immediate energy… but, the heat will trail behind the wave of light. When the ship emerges, a flash will accompany it as the explosion helps push it out of the bubble."

"What about radiation?" Abel looked at him "Wouldn't it be a problem?"

"The heat would be caused by the radiation, so it would be also trailing the ship." Tem looked at him.

"Wait… so… oh shit we're fighting aliens!" Patrick gaped.

"Not exactly… genetically we're all human, how this occurred is unknown, the same when it comes to being able to communicate. It is a highly unknown entity." Katrina noted "However, yes you could define us as an "alien" entity. Being that the Preventers originated within the After Colony, and the Cosmic Era. Which are the timeline basis for two of the three earth's. The third being this one."

"That still hasn't answered my question though…" Kati looked at her "What happened to the scientists?"

Xxx

The scene shifted around them "Some stayed, some left, some were forced to leave to be protected by the others. Little under a year passed since the scientists last met early in A.C. 180."

They looked around, the lab now looked like it had been deserted, the equipment and tables had a thin layer of dust covering them. The sounds of footsteps caught their attention. "Looks like the Alliance hasn't found this place yet…" Ian made his way over to the table.

"It's a good thing from the looks of it." Linda smiled "And from the looks of it, the others have left little notes too."

"So Tem, and Able have both already left from the looks of it. They sure as hell didn't stick around, don't blame them for it though…" Ian smirked.

"Alright, let's do this." Linda set up a camera, and pressed the record button. "Hi Aoi, it's me. We noticed the notes left by the others… looks like they left already, and we're the last to go." She smiled "We had a little falling out with G so we're giving it a shot… say hi to James for us please, and if we make it we'll be sure to get in touch after we find you…"

"What do you mean "get in touch" I'm never coming back here again!" Ian yelled over "That old big headed crackpot can kiss my ass goodbye!"

Linda rolled her eyes and smiled "Well, we're going to the coordinates calculated on the disc… we found something very interesting when we did a test with an unmanned probe… take a look!" she turned the camera towards a computer Ian had turned on.

"Its… our…" Debora blinked.

"I was shocked when we found out the people call it "Earth" too… it seems Tem's findings might have been right. When you see this get in touch with you him if you haven't already… by for now, and hope to see you again…"

"Come on, let's go!" Ian yelled as he started back out of the building.

Linda turned the camera towards herself again "P.S. if you see G, tell him we left James with my sister…"

Xxx

The scene shifted around them again "As you can see, there were a number of reasons that led to the Gundams coming into existence, and the scientists reasons for leaving." Katrina looked at them "However, that was only the start. The Alliance had been chomping at the bit for a reason to attack the Sanc Kingdom in A.C. 180… they would soon get their chance."

A young boy was fencing with a grown man keeping the older man on the defensive as he thrust. Finally in a single movement the older man's sword snapped from the repeated attacks, and clattered to the floor. The man stood there stunned for a moment, before the boy ran over, retrieved another fencing saber and held it out for him. A few tense moments passed before the boy removed his helmet "I will not fight someone with a disadvantage Pagan!"

"Your highness…" Pagan started.

The boy took a step forward, and held out the sword for him to take "We're not finished…"
A person walked over and grasped the handle of the sword "Very well then…" The older female voice spoke startling the two. "I shall be your opponent."
"Your majesty…" Pagan blinked before bowing "Please forgive me…"

"Pagan, get out of the way…" she gestured for him to leave the floor.

"But grandmother…" The boy looked at the woman.

"You need to be taught a lesson Milliardo, only one that I may teach you…" Katrina now appearing in her early fifties pried the blade from Milliardo's hand.

"But grandmother… you're in…" Milliardo started.

"Helmet…" Katrina gestured with the point of the sword.

Milliardo hesitated for a moment before reluctantly complying "Grandmother I don't want to… AHH!" he jumped back as Katrina went on the attack.

Milliardo dodged narrowly avoiding the point of the blade, before ducking under it as Katrina brought it across in a slash.

"She's fast…" Milliardo's eyes were wide as Katrina brought the flat of the blade sharply down on his hand. He lost his grip, and before he could regain it she used the blade of her sword to flip it from his hand sending it sailing through the air before imbedding itself in the floor.

Milliardo fell backwards landing on his butt, his eyes wide with fear. She brought the point of the sword to his neck "On a battlefield, your enemies won't be so kind, as to show you mercy Milliardo. Pagan was being nice… You're not as special as you think. So do not allow it to go to your head."

"Grandmother, where did you learn how to..." Milliardo blinked in shock.

"Long ago." Katrina looked at him "Now, do you understand why…" she gestured towards the imbedded sword. "I only disarmed you?"

"Uhh…" Milliardo stuttered.

Katrina sighed, "Because you do not need to kill an opponent to make them listen to reason. If you take the weapons away they will be forced to talk, and resolve their differences through a more peaceful manner. So, what's bothering you Milliardo?"
"Its…" Milliardo stopped and cast his gaze downward.

"Only natural that you're upset…" Katrina walked over to him "None of us expected it. But, it's all the more of a reason that you must be strong Milliardo. If not for yourself, for Relena."

"But mother… it's not fair… why did…" Milliardo looked at his grandmother.

"It was a sudden complication. We nearly lost them both… we're lucky that Relena made it." Katrina held out her hand for him.

Milliardo hesitated for a moment before taking it, and being helped to his feet.

xxx

The scene shifted around them and they were posing for a photograph, Milliardo holding a small baby girl. She opened her eyes and smiled at him. Milliardo smiled back, before her hand grasped his shoulder length hair and tugged it. "Relena… that hurts!"
Katrina let out a light laugh, and couldn't resist smiling at her grandchildren.

"What does this have to do with the Gundams?" Andrei asked.

"You may not recognize him yet… however in two short years, Milliardo would have his life be turned on its head. April seventh, After Colony 182."

The scene shifted around them and suddenly they fell back in fear as flames roared around them in the palace. "YOUR HIGHNESS!" A man's voice shouted from a short distance away.

"WE MUST GO NOW!" Pagan shouted to the man, as he tried to pull him away. "MINISTER DARLIAN WE MUST LEAVE NOW!"

"Not without Marticus!" Mr. Darlian shouted back at him.

"Darlian!" A voice yelled from the stairs.

They all turned and saw him "Your Highness please come with us!" Mr. Darlian shouted to Marticus who stood in his old crimson red uniform, on the stairs as flames roared around him holding a hand and a half long sword.

"Get Relena out alive! GO!" Marticus shouted before he turned and charged up the stairs.

"Your highness!" Mr. Darlian shouted.

"We must leave now!" Pagan pulled Darlian away.

They followed Marticus, as he charged through the burning palace.

"Father!" A voice called out causing him to stop.

"Milliardo…" Marticus turned to see his six year old son holding a sword. He grabbed him "What are you still doing here, why didn't you go with Darlian and Pagan?" he pulled him along "You must get out of here before the Alliance arrives…"

"He was looking for me…" A voice called as Katrina emerged from a room, and let out a light cough. "I was looking for Relena."

The sound of a boot hitting the marble floor caught their attention, Marticus whirled on the spot and brought the tip of the sword to the neck of the man.

"It's been some time, your majesty…" Odin looked at Katrina.

Marticus lowered the blade "Get my foolish son out of here Odin!" he pushed Milliardo over to Odin.

"Well I'm here to get you all out…" Odin pushed past him "Come on, we're late for a rendezvous…"

"With who?" Katrina followed him.

"Who else could have tipped you off so quickly to the Alliance's movements towards your borders?" Odin looked back at her.

"Jack…" Katrina nodded as they picked up their pace.

"Who are you… and why are…" Milliardo started.

"We must move faster!" Odin bent down slightly and grabbed him around the waist picking him up and carrying him. The group now at a near dead run burst through a door out into the garden's of the palace grounds.

"Put me…" Milliardo started.

"Shi…" Odin clapped his hand over his mouth. The sounds of shouts came from ahead of them.

"Go Odin now!" Marticus shouted.

Before he could run three steps he leapt over a railing and into the bushes. "Oww…" Milliardo groaned before having a hand clapped over his mouth again.

"Quiet boy…" Odin hushed him.

Marticus and Katrina made their way into the garden only to have spotlights hit them "Your majesty Katrina Peacecraft… It's been quite some time!" A male voice caught their ears.

"General Onegall…" Marticus raised his sword, as the man stepped out with the alliance soldiers in an arch shape around them.

"Ah, the rebel captain Marticus…" Onegall smiled at him "Because of you my name was drug through the dirt, and I was exiled by my own homeland!" he glared "And you still stand defiantly ready to fight… how ironic."

"I refuse…" Marticus flipped the sword in his hand, and drove it into the dirt.

"Do you think we will accept your surrender?" Onegall laughed.

"No." Katrina looked at him "You were never that kind Onegall, that is why my father chose you to lead the army, and why when you would not listen to reason and lay down your arms, you were exiled."

"Very admirable your majesty… however this proves the point, that pacifism is nothing but a child's dream." General Onegall drew his saber "Any last words?"

"None that I would care to say in front of a woman." Marticus nodded to Onegall.

"How noble, and appropriate for a soldier." Onegall smiled. "Present arms!"

The soldiers raised their rifles to their shoulder "Take aim!" Onegall ordered again. "Goodbye, your majesty. FIRE!"

The soldiers obediently opened fire in a volley, Marticus and Katrina fell before their eyes.

"Spread out and search the grounds!" Onegall ordered "See to it, that there are no survivors." The soldiers dispersed quickly, as they ran to search for anyone still in the palace.

Odin waited a few minutes "Alright, don't make a sound we're leaving now." He quickly made his way from the bushes as they hurried off into the night. The sounds of gunshots, and the roar of the flames echoed behind them as they fled.

xxx

The scene shifted to Milliardo following Odin in the dark woods near the capital "Why didn't you do anything?" Milliardo shouted at him.

"Quiet boy… there could be soldiers around." Odin cautioned as they walked.

"Answer me, you just let my family die, you said you were here to save them!" Milliardo shouted at him.

Odin spun on the spot, and slapped Milliardo knocking him to the ground "Do you not understand the position you are in boy? If I could have saved them I would have! It is because of them that they did not find us."

"But…" Milliardo started "How can you just do nothing?" He shouted at him.

"Because, I can see your anger… You want revenge." Odin looked at him.

Milliardo glared before pushing himself up and starting to walk away "Where are you going boy?" Odin yelled.

"To do what you have not!" Milliardo turned and glared at him.

"And what is that, take on the might of the Alliance military head on?" Odin looked at him "Only a fool would do that in your position."

"What would you have me do then? Flee into hiding, as a coward?" Milliardo glared at him "Let that man walk away after murdering the only family I have left besides my sister?"

"No, I would have you lay in waiting to take your revenge. Gaining the skills you would need to do so." Odin looked at him.

"You mean hide? Where at, the colonies?" Milliardo laughed "I'd be further ahead walking back with a gun in hand now."

"No, you must think like an assassin if you want revenge." Odin looked at him "To hide in the last place your enemy would expect you."

"And where would that be?" Milliardo looked at him.

"From within… The Alliance is becoming overblown. It would be easy to lay in wait to get close, and slip away, as unseen as you arrived. All while gaining the skills necessary." Odin looked at him.

"You mean for me to join the Alliance military?" Milliardo gaped at him "Why would I take orders from those who have just murdered my family?"

"To gain their trust." Odin looked at him. The crack of a twig caught their attention and Odin spun quickly throwing a knife in the process imbedding it in a tree a short distance away. "Show yourself!" he leveled his gun in the same direction that he had thrown the knife.

"You called me all the way out here, and the first thing you do is throw a knife at me…" A man stepped out.

"Oh… it's you Marquis Wayridge…" Odin smiled as the man in his fifties walked over to them. "I'm sure you know why I called you…"

"Yes, what of the others?" Wayridge asked.

"Relena was taken by Darlian, Katrina and Marticus didn't make it." Odin looked at him.

"I see… and Milliardo?" Wayridge looked directly at him.

"Couldn't be found…" Odin looked at him "I did however find this boy, he goes by the name of Zechs Merquise. He wishes to take revenge for Katrina, and Marticus's deaths. Do you think you could arrange for him to attend the Lake Victoria Military Academy?"

Wayridge looked at the boy "Well, master Zechs… do you wish to attend the military academy?"

"Yes, Marquis… I would happily accept your recommendation." Zechs nodded.

"The Major General…" Louise gaped seeing Zechs at such a young age.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them again "You could say he is…" Katrina spoke "However, is he the real Zechs?" she asked.

"What do you mean the "real" Zechs?" Milou asked "Are you insinuating my father is a fake?"
"Hardly…" Katrina smiled at him "I am insinuating that one is a fake, you obviously have had to have come from the real one. Though this is your father in A.C. 184."

They found themselves standing in a mess hall that was nearly disserted, save for two young cadets sitting across from each other in black uniforms. "So tell me Zechs, what are your views on war?" the person sitting across from Zechs asked in a sweet girlish tone.

"It is a necessary evil, if mankind is to continue existing." Zechs took a sip of his tea.

"I see, well I absolutely hate it. I wish that it had never come into existence in the first place." The girl looked at him before taking a sip of the ice-tea she had.

"Would you quit pestering me, it's getting on my nerves…" Zechs looked away out the window into the night sky.

"As you wish, mon petit prince." The girl started to stand as Zechs's eyes shot to her.

"What did you call me?" Zechs glared at her as she stood there.

The girl smiled "I said, my little prince…" she watched as Zechs's eyes widened "You really don't recognize me, do you Millia…" she stopped as Zechs nearly lunged over the table, and clapped his hand over her mouth.

"Would you kindly…" Zechs trailed off "Lucrezia…"

She moved his hand from her mouth "Took you long enough. You and I met several years ago, when my family visited the Sanc Kingdom." Lucrezia smiled at him.

Zechs glared at her "Why are you here…"

"Because I refuse to agree with my father's and brother's wishes." Lucrezia looked at him "So I ran away, and joined the military."

"Girls shouldn't be in the military." Zechs glared at her.

Lucrezia glared, and twisted his wrist "I'm just as good as you Zechs, if not better."

"Prove it then." Zechs glared at her "Tonight in the training hall… two hours after lights out."

"Done." Lucrezia smiled as she released his hand and left.

Xxx

The scene shifted again and they were in a darkened training hall, the only light coming from the high windows letting in the moonlight.

"The terms?" Zechs asked as he slid the fencing saber from the rack.

"The one to admit defeat loses." Lucrezia drew her saber. "And that shall be you, Milliardo Peacecraft."

"Very well then, Lucrezia Noinheim…" the little light glinted off blade, as Zechs raised it into a ready position.

"AHH!" Lucrezia commenced her attack, thrusting directly for Zechs's head.

Zechs ducked the attack as she brought it across in a slash, he brought the blade up and parried it forcing it away again. "Girls should leave fighting to the boys!"

"Arrogant self centered boys should learn to listen to the girls!" Lucrezia countered, and kicked him back.

"That's cheating." Zechs glared at her.

"All's fair in love and war, my little prince." Lucrezia charged forcing him to parry her again, as she got close to him.

"Lavender…" Zechs blinked.

"Wha…" Lucrezia's eyes widened before Zechs pushed her back "What was that…"

"Nothing…" Zechs looked at her before thrusting his attack was wide, missing her completely.

Lucrezia brought the flat of her blade down on his hand, and flipped the blade free as his grip loosened. The blade flipped once, as it flew through the air and Lucrezia caught it.

Zechs fell to his knees as Lucrezia brought the blades to his neck "What did you say before…" She glared at him.

"It was nothing…" Zechs replied again.

"Liar…" Lucrezia glared at him. "You lost your focus because of it."
"Fine then, I'll prove it to you." Zechs glared as he pushed his way up.

Lucrezia flipped the blade over in her hand and held it out to him. "Don't hold back because I'm a girl! There are no genders on a battlefield!"

Zechs took the saber "Very well then."

The two separated and took their stances again, and before Lucrezia could react Zechs lunged. She rolled to his left seemingly catching him off guard at the same time.

"Wh…" Zechs started before the sharp whack of the blade landed on his arm. "Ahh…"

"I told you not to go easy on me…" Lucrezia glared at him.

"I'm not!" Zechs spun with a slash narrowly avoiding her neck.

"Then prove it!" Lucrezia lunged at the same moment as Zechs.

Zechs's eyes shot wide as they both moved to parry first their shoulders connected before their faces also collided.

Lucrezia's eyes shot wide realizing what had just happened. Zechs broke away quickly "I… I'm sorry I…"

Lucrezia stood there speechless. "I'm sorry I didn't mean to…" Zechs apologized again blushing profusely in the dim light.

The slow light clapping snapped both of their attentions to the shadows "Who's…" Lucrezia started.

"A rather interesting duel…" The tone of a young man broke the tense air.

"That voice…" Zechs started, his eyes wide as the young man walked forward.

"Cadet Merquise Cadet Noinheim, would you kindly explain why you are out of bed after hours?" Treize stepped into the dim moonlight before them.

"We were…" Zechs started.

"It's my fault Instructor Treize, I was settling an argument with Zechs…" Lucrezia apologized causing Zechs to look at her.

"No, you started an argument with a friend of yours… Milliardo Peacecraft." Treize looked at Zechs who's eyes shot wide.

Zechs tightened his grip on the saber "How did you…"

"Zechs, when engaging an opponent you seem to be leaving your left side open." Treize looked at him. "You need to work on that."

"How do you know who I am Instructor?" Zechs glared at him, as he readied his saber.

"Who do you think it was that accepted a complete unknown into the academy, only with the request from Marquis Wayridge, and a recommendation of a former assassin." Treize cracked a faint smile.

"You're a Kushrenada… Your father is Hundeldt Catalonia, the man who ordered the destruction of my homeland." Zechs glared at him.

"Stepfather…" Treize corrected.

"What?" Lucrezia blinked.

"My true father died at the hands of the Alliance… at least that's what my mother told me." Treize looked at them. "Now, both of you get back to bed. I will not go easy on you tomorrow."

"Sir!" Both of them replied before leaving in separate directions.

Xxx

The scene shifted again "Two years passed with minor rebellions here and there as the Alliance began to solidify its power. Until a full scale two pronged revolution occurred in A.C. 186. The Marius revolution."

"The Gundams began their attacks that long ago?" Louise blinked "When the Major General was that young…"

"No…" Katrina smiled "The Gundams would not begin their Operation Meteor for nine more years."

They found themselves in a lavishly decorated study, with antiquated armaments lining the walls near the mantle, the high ceiling towering above them with a roaring fire keeping it warm. "If you know the enemy, and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle." The man spoke next to the mantle near a map table.

"Sun Tzu…" Dix replied.

"Very good… sharp as always Dix." The blond haired man turned to them. "The reason I have called you here, is because you're my finest students. I have a problem that I need solved, as I am sure you have heard about by now."

"The rebellion in Mogadishu, and at the revolt at lunar production base Marius." Treize looked at him.

"That is correct." The man nodded "As I am sure you know what value both of those locations hold for the Alliance."

"They're two of our primary production points for mobile suits." Dix nodded.

"That is correct, and as both of you know we do not have many forces to spare currently with the push to solidify Asia." The man walked over to an armchair. "That is why I want you to solve this problem… explain to me how you would go about dealing with these. With as little material as possible. Dix, being my senior most student you are permitted to go first."

"Very well General." Dix made his way over to the map table "The twelfth armored battalion available at the Siberian base. Within a week they can be in the Middle East. The second air squadron from the northern European region may also be called in and be within striking distance within half a day. There are available troops in the South American region that may be directed from their bases to aid in the operation. Time for assembly one week. Mogadishu is a fortress that is very well armed. However when encircled it will be vulnerable from above." He gestured to the map as he deployed with small wooden blocks representing the force deployments. "After a bombardment of twelve hours, the twelfth armored will make a direct assault with the infantry. Capturing the city, base, and factory in one stroke."

"Very good…" The General nodded "Treize, can you do better?" he looked at the fifteen year old.

"Without a doubt General Catalonia." Treize looked at him. "The Siberian tank divisions are slated for being sent to the Asian theater within the week." He walked forward to the table. "I would need three days."

"How so?" Catalonia asked.

"There is one fully armed force, that is not slated to move anywhere. All are highly trained, and available for the operation." Treize looked at him "The Lake Victoria military academy mobile suit corps. The Specials."

Dix laughed "An unsupported mobile suit assault on a fortress like Mogadishu, that's insane."

"How would you pull it off Treize?" General Catalonia looked at the boy "You've intrigued me…"

"General…" Dix looked at him before being silenced as he held up his hand.

"The mobile suit corps at Victoria is of a battalion's strength. Consisting of thirty Leo's, ten Leo Mk. II Chimera's, and twenty Tragos II's with accompanying transports. They can be moved from the academy within twelve hours and be on target." Treize looked at him, before placing several blocks representing the suit divisions. "Twenty Leo's equipped with flight units may commence an aerial drop operation, as the Tragos II's bombard the facilities keeping them suppressed. The Chimera's equipped with Dober Rifles accompanied by ten Leo's with their 130mm machine guns in a pincer on the facilities."

"What are you basing the tactics on?" Catalonia asked.

"Mobile suits may fill the same role as both artillery, and cavalry. The tactics are based around the tactics of the late nineteenth century, and early twentieth." Treize looked at him.

"Filling the same capacity as the Dragoon cavalry units..." Catalonia mumbled as he looked over the plans. "Soldiers are normally unwilling to try untested methods of combat… how can you be certain that green troops will follow you into battle?"

"It was Sun Tzu that said, "Regard your soldiers as your children, and they will follow you into the deepest valleys. Look upon them as your own beloved sons, and they will stand by you even unto death." I have personally trained each, and every student at the Lake Victoria military academy sir. I will personally select them, and lead them into battle for this operation."

Catalonia paused for a moment, and the door clicked open. A young girl with blond hair wearing a purple dress walked over to him "Father…"

"I've made my decision…" Catalonia looked at them "Dix, you have chosen a highly conventional method. The tactics are sound, and the forces are available."

Dix smiled "Thank you sir."

"However, Treize was correct that the twelfth armored division would have a longer distance to travel. If not have to be diverted entirely from the planned operations in the Asian theater." Catalonia looked at Treize "The weaponry and troops for Treize's plan are completely available. Have known their commanding officer for many years, and though inexperienced. The tactics suggested are sound enough that they have been altered slightly throughout the ages in excess of seven hundred years. I also believe that the Mobile Suits are capable of more than what we currently deploy them for. I would love to see them find a new purpose other than sitting at bases collecting dust, and guarding positions of high value while looking imposing..."

Dix's eyes widened as Catalonia smiled "Treize, you shall have the honor of leading your troops in combat. Dix, learn to think outside of the box a little more."

The little girl smiled at Treize "Yay! Treize will become a war hero!" she cheered.

"That he will Dorothy…" General Catalonia patted his daughter on the head. He looked at Treize "I expect the operation to be carried out within the week Commander Treize."

Treize saluted him "Yes sir, General."

"Dismissed." Chilias nodded to the two.

Dix made his way from the room first, Chilias nodded to Treize who waved to Dorothy before leaving. "So how'd it go?" Zechs stood and looked at Treize.

"Zechs, Lucrezia, Valder, Elve come along we have a lot of work ahead of us." Treize walked past them at a brisk pace.

"What's going on?" Lucrezia asked as the four cadet's that had come with him at his request followed him.

"We're conducting the attack on Mogadishu within the week." Treize smiled back at them.

"Excellent…" Elve smiled "So where else are the forces coming from commander?"

"Lake Victoria…" Treize kept walking as the four froze.

"Wait… we assumed that, but where else?" Lucrezia asked.

"That's the entire force. We are deploying the entirety of our mobile suit battalion." Treize looked at them "I know what we are capable of, and what our machines are capable of. I have trained each and every one of you."

"I'm with Treize…" Zechs walked forward "I'm tired of the rest of the Alliance looking down at us, and saying we're nobles "playing" soldier."

"I agree with Zechs." Lucrezia followed as Elve, and Valder also joined them.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them again "At this time also, the last scientist to leave was sent away by her family during the confusion of the rebellions." Katrina looked around at them as they found themselves standing around a hangar.

"Now… whatever you do Heero, listen to your father." Aoi adjusted the light blue jacket he was wearing. "I know your father wants to keep training you… and it's what you want as well." Aoi looked at the six year old boy.

"Mommy…" Heero looked at her "You'll be back soon right…"

"Of course…" Aoi smiled at her son "I'll come back as soon as I can pumpkin." She pulled him into a hug and kissed him on the forehead.

"Quit calling me that already mommy… it's embarrassing…" Heero pouted at her.

"Okay then Heero…" Aoi smiled at him before standing. "be safe dear… if it gets too dangerous…"

"I'll send Heero to you." Odin smiled at her. "Just be careful of things over there… If half of the data I was looking through was true tensions are on the rise there."

"I will be, just try to stay out of trouble while I'm away." Aoi smiled as she leaned in and kissed her husband with Heero trapped between them, barely coming to waste height.

They watched as she boarded the shuttle, and it launched. Just after lifting off it disappeared in a bluish white flash.

"Come along boy…" Odin nudged Heero who's gaze had fallen. "It's time I teach you some things your mother wouldn't allow me to…" he smile.

Heero's eyes perked up and he ran to catch up with his father. "What are you going to let me shoot?"

"I think we'll start off with a fifty caliber sniper rifle." Odin smiled as he walked.

Heero's went slack "That gun's bigger than me…"

"So… so is a Leo… and a rifle of that caliber if aimed right, can punch through its cockpit, or take out its main camera." Odin smiled at his son.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them again, and they found themselves in the hangar of a transport plane with three tan OZ-06 MS Leo's "Soldiers, this is your commander." Treize's voice echoed around them "Today, you put into practice what I have taught you all these years. This day, you prove your skill to not only your peers… but to the superiors who look down upon you. Today, the Special Mobile Suit Corps shall not only mark its first victory in combat, but shall write history itself today! Operation Chimera commences now!" they flew out of the transport with the flight equipped Leo's.

"Those suits…" Patrick blinked "They look like…"

"They look a lot like the GN-X's frame…" Andrei blinked as they streaked towards the ground, as they broke the cloud cover they came under fire.

"Form up!" Treize ordered "Strafe their anti-air emplacements!"

The four machines with Treize's Leo opened fire with their 130mm machine guns. A barrage ripped through the missile, and gun emplacements as tanks rolled in to support the anti-air sites.

"Sir, allow me to deal with those tanks!" Valder charged and opened fire again the 130mm shells ripping through the thin top armor of the tank's engine hatch and turret.

"I'll back him up!" Elve shouted as he charged after Valder "For OZ!" his Leo dropped low, as some soldiers carrying anti armor weapons readied to fire he opened up with his suit's machine gun. The large shells ripped through them, and in an instant were nothing more than a smear of blood on the dirt.

Zechs, Treize, and Lucrezia touched down a short distance away and began opening fire on the entrenched artillery positions.

An alarm went off in Zechs's cockpit "More tanks…" he turned and fired directly into the front of the rebel tank. The shells ricocheted off of the sloped armor, and it returned fire on him. The tank shell slammed into the shield mounted on the shoulder of the Leo "Fine then…" he drew his beam saber and charged the enemy tank.

"Zechs, be careful!" Lucrezia yelled as she fired on another one with her machine gun.

Zechs pulled skyward out of its angle of fire before dropping directly on the barrel of its gun, and plunging the saber into the turret before pulling it out as he launched towards the next tank.

"Elve look out!" Treize yelled as he engaged an anti armor aircraft that was closing to engage them.

Zechs spun and threw the saber towards the plane before it could open with its anti armor machine cannon. "Elve your six!"

Elve turned just in time to see the saber spear the plane causing it to burst into a massive fireball, as it crashed into the command tower.

A few tense moments passed as the gunfire subsided, finally a loan young man stepped out from the command center carrying a white rag tied to a broom handle.

"All forces, take up defensive positions, Mogadishu is ours!" Treize smiled and looked over at the timer for the operation.

"In just five minutes…" Elve smiled.

Cheer's echoed over the frequency, as the blood red pennant banner with a blue globe above a falcon clutching a scroll that read "Speciali", which was Specials in Italian raised over the fortress.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them, and they found themselves standing among the ruins of the destroyed military base. The sounds of a girl crying caught their attention and Lucrezia was on her knees crying "This… This is just terrible… I hate war!"

"Girls don't belong on a battlefield, go home." A boy smirked at her "Go home and play with your dolls or something…" he was spun on the spot and belted by Zechs.

"Leave Lucrezia alone, and look around yourself for once damn it!" Zechs glared at him as he gestured to the destroyed tanks, the mangled remains that were being assembled by the survivors while under the supervision of the Specials.

The boy pushed himself up and made his way off to return to his duties as Zechs gestured for him to do so, being one of the highest ranking cadets in the academy. He turned to Lucrezia "Lucrezia… calm down… everything's all right." He lightly stroked her back as she sobbed into her arm.

"Go and get some rest Lucrezia… you'll feel better after you get some sleep." Zechs urged her as he helped her stand she looked at his face. He gave her a somewhat warm smile, which caused her to blush.

"Wha…" Zechs blinked "What is it, do I have something on my face?"

"Nothing…" Lucrezia turned "Thanks…" she quickly made her way away from him.

Treize made his way over "You handled that very well Zechs…" he smiled.

"Thank you sir." Zechs nodded, and looked away from Lucrezia's retreating back. "Tell me, did we really have to go this far?"

"History is much like an endless waltz;" Treize smiled "the three beats of war, peace, and revolution continue on forever."

"How do you stop this "endless waltz"?" Zechs looked at him.

"It is simple, you must stop the maestro from conducting." Treize smiled at him.

"And who is the maestro of a war?" Zechs asked in return.

"Those that would benefit from it." Treize looked out towards the mountains in the west "However, I believe that war shall never end nor should it ever cease to exist. When properly conducted, it brings out the very best in humanity."

"How can you say that?" Zechs glared at him.

"Look around Milliardo… what do you see?" Treize gestured to the soldiers, and the cadets burying the dead. "Do any of them not respect the honorable men who stood their ground, and fought against such overwhelming odds?"

Zechs looked around at the soldiers, not only were they mourning the death of their comrades, but the cadets were also being respectful and helping in any way they could. "It is a sad sight… But you're right Treize… however, I wish a sight like this never had to be seen again."

Xxx

"After that day, the Alliance took notice of the Specials talents, and began deploying them frequently to help stabilize their holdings. First and most notably they were deployed to quash the rebellion at the Lunar plant Marius." Katrina spoke calmly as they found themselves standing on the moon in the middle of a battle raging around two massive land battleships.

"Damn it… just how many of these colonists are there?" Elve shouted as he fired at some light cream white colored Leo's.

"It doesn't matter, we have to get back to the main group at all costs!" Zechs yelled as he fired the Dober rifle into one enemy machine.

"Heh… it's kinda funny when I think about it now..." Elve let out a light laugh as he smirked "I'm surprised you haven't shot me in the back yet…"

"What?" Zechs asked.

"I know who you are Zechs…" Elve spoke coldly over the frequency. "or rather Milliardo Peacecraft."

"How did you…" Zechs glared at Elve on the small monitor in the cockpit.

"You think I didn't recognize the crown prince of my father's homeland…" Elve glared at him "Don't worry… I'm not about to rat out a war buddy… especially one that saved my ass. After this battle, I won't be around anymore. I don't agree with where the Alliance is going, nor do I agree with how OZ is handling things."

"How do I know you won't shoot me, like your father did to mine?" Zechs glared at him.

"I will admit I do hate the Peacecraft family, I hate them for what they did to my family, what they did to our homeland starting with your grandmother… However, I am not about to take revenge against someone who saved my life, and at the same time, I will not be used as a tool to allow that same person to get close to my father." Elve looked at him "Goodbye Zechs…" he charged into the enemy lines drawing his beam saber, and plunging it into the cockpit of one of the Leo's. Before disappearing in the explosion's light allowing his escape.

Xxx

"The rebellion at the Lunar plant Marius was crushed at Treize's hand." Katrina spoke as the scene around them shifted again "So, before his unit's next assignment he was rewarded with some time for rest and relaxation."

They found themselves standing in a study "So the rumors were true, welcome back brother." A young boy with blond hair and blue eyes looked at Treize.

"Only for a short time, I don't wish to anger grandfather with my presence for too long." Treize looked at him.

"Don't say that, I almost never get to see you anymore Treize." The boy walked over "So I decided, after I succeed grandfather as the head of Romefeller, I will choose you to succeed Catalonia as the head of OZ." The boy smiled.

"Vingt…" Treize looked at his half brother. "You know grandfather would never permit it."
"Exactly, that is why I intend to do it after he dies." Vingt smiled "I also do not agree with how father is treating mother. She is not insane, she never has been. You and I both know she's not." He clenched his fists.

"Vingt, calm down don't let your anger get the better of you. It's never good for a leader to rush when making decisions." Treize smiled "I heard you punched another aid…"

Vingt grimaced before turning a light shade of red "How did you…"

"Mother called… you know she doesn't like it when you lash out at others when your anger gets the better of you." Treize looked at him.

"I see, well anyway I'm happy you're home Treize. I hope you'll attend the announcement to the foundation…" Vingt looked at him.

"I wouldn't miss it, even if my life depended on it." Treize smiled in return, as he continued unpacking his uniforms.

Xxx

"I regret those words to this day…" Treize's tone was cold as they found themselves in a darkened room.

"You bastard, give me the vaccine…" Odin glared at Dix who was on the monitor.

"Why should I?" Dix smiled "I hold all of the cards, you have two choices Odin… either take the mission, or don't and watch your father in-law die a slow agonizing death from the colony disease… It's your choice."

The line closed and Odin looked over at Dr. J who was laying in bed, struggling to breath "That son of a bitch…"

"Dad… is Dr. J gonna be okay?" Heero looked at him.

"He'll be fine, but we need to help him… we have a mission to complete, and you're coming along ." Odin made his way over to a case, and unlocked it drawing a rifle with a high powered sniping scope from it.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them again "This is…" Heero glared as they found themselves amongst members of the Romefeller Foundation's parliamentary building. Mingling at a party he had been to many years ago.

"It's a pleasure to meet you…" Vingt smiled as he shook the seven year old Heero's hand.

"What the hell does this have to do with the Gundams?" Amy asked as he glared at Katrina.

"It's nice to meet you too…" the Heero replied, before Vingt turned to the next guest.

Heero's gaze fell on Treize "Target confirmed…" he continued towards the back of the hall up a set of stairs to where Odin was.

"Good… understand this boy, no matter what happens, you must escape alive. Even if it means betraying me. We're two sheep in a den of wolves here." Odin chambered a round into the sniper.

The chamber fell silent as a man took the podium "It is with great pride and honor today, that we officially announce the successor to Chief Representative Cinqante Kushrenada to become the Romefeller Foundation's next head." The blond haired man smiled as Cinqante stood and made his way over to him.

"I have decided that in the best interest of the foundations ultimate goal, to select my grandson, Vingt Kushrenada to succeed me." Cinqante held out his hand to Vingt who ascended the stairs to the stage. "And after a large amount of discussion, his elder brother Treize has shown his support, and shall continue leading OZ to many victories and ultimately the unification of the world."

Treize smiled as he stood and followed Vingt onto the stage where their family waited for them. General Catalonia applauded along with everyone else in the hall.

Odin leveled the rifle taking aim at Treize from the balcony overlooking the stage, being sure to take as careful aim as possible at the young man.

"I thank my grandfather, and father for their approval of my appointment… And furthermore I thank my fellow members of the Romefeller Foundation for supporting their choice as well." Vingt spoke at the podium, as Treize made his way across the stage slowly to take his place next to his younger brother.

Odin's breathing slowed as he fired, within the blink of an eye a figure fell. Screams echoed from the chamber as his eyes fell on who he had shot.

"MOTHER!" Treize screamed as he knelt over her.

Angelina smiled weakly at Treize and looked to Vingt, who's gaze rose towards the balcony.

"Don't look… don't look damn it… don't look… fuck!" Odin chambered a second round as Vingt saw him, his arm began to raise to point towards the balcony when the second shot rang out.

The shot tore through Vingt as the 7.62 caliber round exited his thin frame, he collapsed to his knees before falling backwards.

"VINGT!" Treize tore away from his lifeless mother towards his younger brother as the other family members began attempting to evacuate the hall as shouts for guards rang out.

"Hold on Vingt, please…" Treize looked at him as he began to go into shock.

Vingt gestured for him to come closer "It… was…"

"What you saw him…" Treize's eyes widened "Who?"

"Odin… Lowe…" Vingt shook as he continued to bleed out from the gaping wound in his back.

Treize froze as he heard the name, the name of the assassin that his mother had said had taken his father's life, the assassin Chilias had praised as his most effective agent.

Vingt smiled weakly as he held up an antiquated gilded revolver with an ivory handle for Treize "Go… for mother…" he coughed up some blood before finally collapsing.

Treize took the revolver from Vingt's delicate grasp, and held it in his hand. He turned and charged off of the stage running towards the door to the entrance of the parliament building. He cocked the hammer of the revolver and erupted out onto the front lawns of the building. "There…" he glared as he saw the man climbing into a car with the young boy. "LOWE!" he leveled the revolver and fired.

Odin looked up as the shot narrowly missed his head, and shattered the rearview mirror. The engine roared to life as he pulled out, Treize ran down the steps and leveled the gun again. Taking careful aim at the back of the driver's seat. A shot rang out and the gun was wrenched out of his hand so hard he thought his fingers had broken. He blinked seeing the young boy aiming from the back of the car as it sped away, holding the rifle that had taken his family's life, and had spared his.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them again "After the funeral Treize immediately returned to duty." Katrina looked at him. "Both to help legitimize himself as heir, and to lay his plans for revenge against Odin."

Odin and Heero made their way through a spaceport to an alliance security check "Odin Lowe… you're a musician?"

"Used to be. Now I just carry it around as a hobby. I'm traveling with my son." Odin smiled at the soldier.

"Your destination is X-18999. I thought that colony wasn't completed yet…?" The officer blinked at the information on the travel papers.

"Like it says, we're not going there for a vacation…" Odin pointed at the monitor smiling lightly.

The soldier turned back to him with the papers "A former musician doing hard labor like colony construction?" he asked.

"I've been told I'm an odd one." Odin smiled as he took them. And looked at Heero "Let's go." They started walking down the hall towards the shuttle.

Odin leaned down to him "Hey, try to act a bit more like family, eh?" he prodded him "That's our contract."

"hm…" Heero smiled "Okay, dad."

The scene shifted again as they found themselves in a room on exterior of the colony. Heero looking out into the black of space "What'cha looking at?" Odin looked over at his son "The void of space… which took everything away from you? Or your own image, a face without a name…"

"Why did you come to this colony?" Heero asked looking at Odin as he sat the case down, and began unpacking it retrieving a rifle.

"To abandon you. Soon, there'll be a coup d'état here. You'll take advantage of the confusion to settle down at this colony with your grandfather, you know how… I've taught you everything you need to survive…"

Heero reached into the jacket he was wearing and drew a handgun "And… who are you going to kill this time?" he took aim at his father's back.

"Septem, of the Alliance Space Force. This'll be my last job. So you should go to school, and lead a normal life…"

"I'll decide what I'm going to do…" Heero spoke calmly as he looked at his father.

"Your mother wouldn't like it if I kept taking you on missions all over creation…" Odin looked over his shoulder at his son.

"You and grandfather were the ones that sent her away… and you were the one that took me with you." Heero looked at his father.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them and they found themselves on a rooftop as the echoes of a battle raged around them "There seems to be a rather clever man in command." Odin smiled as he held his arms behind his back. Heero sat a short distance away looking at him.

"The rebels are just armatures. They need to take out the frontline command center, or they'll be individually targeted." Heero leaned the rocket launcher against his shoulder as he sat there.

"That's right." Odin smiled "That's why they need men like me."

"That's a nice train of thought." Heero smiled.

"Yeah…" Odin sighed as he looked at his son "here's one last bit of good advice, no matter what happens, the only good way to lead your life is to act on your emotions."

Heero looked at him as he continued "Once… some idiot fired a single shot… and changed the course of history. I was the one who fired that shot, the one that killed Heero Yuy… the man responsible for the order to kill him was Septum, I was a member of the OZ Special Forces back then… after that I left the organization and just lived from day to day…"

The clang of the rooftops door opening caught Odin's attention "Hey! What are you doing over there?" A pair of alliance guards emerged, and began to make their way over to them.

Odin slipped his hand into his jacket, and quickly spun throwing a knife directly into one of the soldier's hearts. Heero used the bazooka as a brace, and spun kicking the second guard's feet out from under him.

Odin walked over and smiled "However carefully you plan, you never know if some fool is going to change the future…" he knelt down and stripped the solider before changing into the uniform. "So, you may as well do what your heart tells you, so you won't regret it later. That's the right path… for people who live life in the present…" he turned to look at Heero "Okay, this is goodbye."

"Don't overdo it, you're old now." Heero smiled.

Odin smirked at the comment "Not something I want to hear from a kid…" he ruffled Heero's hair and turned to leave "Don't get killed… your mother would kill me."

"Same to you…" Heero looked over at him before turning towards the fire escape.

They found themselves following Odin "If the intelligence was right, I can kill two birds with one stone…" a door hissed open down the hall "This is payback for Ein… you son of a bitch… SEPTEM!"

"O…Odin Lowe?" Septem's eyes widened as the small group of Alliance soldiers looked.

"You bastard!" Odin glared as a man slipped back into the room. He opened fire, firing twice the shots hit one of the guards who dropped dead.

"OPEN FIRE! Don't let him get away!" Septem bellowed the order.

The other soldiers opened fire with their handguns as Odin ran, a shot hit him in his leg "Damn…" he slipped away from them as quickly as he appeared.

Xxx

The scene shifted again and they found themselves in the middle of the battle "Instructor Treize! The enemy command vehicle is escaping!" Noin's voice echoed over the channel.

"No matter, leave it." Treize ordered, before a Tragos rammed one of his subordinate's Leo's.

"They've broken through…" Treize glared as a figure appeared in the smoke of the battlefield "Its him… no… it's that boy…"
"He's aiming…" Noin's voice echoed over the channel "AT US?" she screamed, as Heero opened fire on the command center with the rocket launcher.

Treize punched his Leo's thrusters to their full power and dove in front of the shot, the rocket struck the armor of the cockpit.

"Hold it!" Another OZ pilot yelled over an outside frequency as Heero ran away.

"D…Don't…" Treize choked out over the channel.

"Instructor…" The other pilot blinked.

"The battle is… already over…" Treize struggled to breath "Noin… are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes… Thank you." Noin replied softly over the channel.

"Good… everyone's alright…" Treize smiled. "You spared my life once… it's the least I can do in return…" he watched as Heero's back disappeared into the smoke.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them again and they were following Heero as he entered the hangar that was to be their meet up point he saw Odin tying a bandage around his leg.

"Are you alright?" a man asked as he walked over.

Odin looked up "Oh, it's you…" he fished out a detonation trigger "Don't worry, this place will blow with one press of this button…" he smirked.

The man in the grey suit that Heero could now get a good view of was Dekim Barton he pulled out a gun and took aim at Odin who noticed Heero making a slight hand gesture for him to stay back.

"You want me silenced?" Odin asked looking at Barton "No need for that…"

Barton looked at him "No… this is revenge." He fired shooting Odin in the chest through his lung's Odin collapsed to the floor propping himself up as Barton walked away."D… Did you m…mean to do this… ever since you hired me?" Odin glared at Barton's retreating back "How ironic…." He collapsed to his side.

"ODIN!" Heero ran over kneeling next to his father.

Odin smiled at Heero "Hey… I shoulda listened to your advice… I've… gotten old…"

Heero looked at him "Wait here, I'll secure us an escape route…" He started to get up.

Odin shook his head and laid down "Too late… listen… don't forget what I told you before… it's the last lesson… this old fool can give you…" he smiled weakly "The… last few years we spent together… weren't so bad…"

Tears started to slip down Heero's face as his father passed away Odin let a small trigger fall from his hand Heero knelt down and picked it up "So this… is the job you left unfinished…" Heero glared and he looked towards the area Dekim had left towards, and pressed the button hoping he'd killed him.

Heero gave one last look towards his father before turning and running out of the hangar. Odin rolled his head to the side and cracked his eye open "I thought I trained him better than that… He didn't even bother to check my vitals…" he pushed himself up "Alright… oww… need to remember to pad the vest a little more next time, damn kid was right I am getting old…"

He pulled out a handgun, and began running in the opposite direction "Well I can still get him…" he rounded a corner, and winced as he was forced to put more pressure on his injured leg "Damn fucking leg…"

Odin entered a secluded hangar away from the main spaceport "Time to make you pay for what you've done to my family…" he glared as he took aim "Dix Neuf-Noinheim!" he fired. The bullet narrowly missed ricocheting off of the side of the shuttle.

"Well, it's you! I thought I'd see you here Odin, I'm impressed… you survived getting shot near point blank!" Dix smirked as he drew his revolver and returned fire.

"It's because you gave Dekim that information!" Odin ducked behind a large shipping crate "You're trying to get me to kill Treize, the same way you forced my hand last time! It won't work!" Odin threw a wrench away causing Dix to fire at it, as Odin returned fire on him. "You're as twisted as your father Dix! It's a pity that I won't get to see the joy on your little sister's face when you die! I heard she cried when she met you for the first time! I don't blame her one bit, your face is as ugly as a pile of dog shit!"

"Sticks and stones Odin!" Dix laughed as he fired "What good is a rebellious brat who doesn't know how to act like a girl?"
"All you want is power Dix, you're no different than Dekim, Quinze, Romefeller, or the Alliance!" Odin jumped out from behind the crates and fired as he rolled behind another crate. Dix returned fire on him before kicking off heading for the shuttle.

"Power is all that matters!" Dix laughed "You have no idea how powerful I truly am? Romefeller is nothing more than a mere fly on the wall waiting to be crushed! The Kushrenada's, Peacecraft's, Catalonia's… it doesn't matter which, in the end Odin they'll all be crushed by the power I possess, the same power your father in law, has been developing for the Barton family!"

Odin glared "He knows about the Wing…" "Oh yeah, and what's that?"

Dix laughed as he looked out from the door of the shuttle "Your friend doesn't know… but he's been helping me all along! And with my family's resources on Mars, we can develop an army of Gundams!"

"So that's where he's been hiding… why didn't I think of it before, the Noinheim family virtually owns the raw materials industry with their Mars terraformation project…" Odin glared as he leapt out and fired, only to watch the shot strike the shuttle's door. "Fuck…" he kicked off and ran for the airlock.

"Enjoy the vacuum of space Odin Yuy!" Dix laughed as the shuttle's engines roared to life, the hangar's door's began to open.

As Odin closed the door the air escaping alarm sounded. He quickly bolted the door into place as it sealed he slumped down against it "Son of a bitch…" he punched the metal door "that fucker has one of the others in his pocket, but which one?" he sighed "The only one I've had contact with, was Ian… shit..." he closed his eyes.

Xxx

"Unbeknownst to the scientist Ian Vashti, and his wife Linda Vashti… they had been helping their enemy nearly the whole time." Katrina looked around at them "When they arrived… they attempted to find work as mobile suit engineers, applying their knowledge in hope of further developing their projects."

They found themselves standing in a lecture hall "We're sorry Mr. Vashti was it… but your proposal is foolish. Perhaps you should look into materials engineering instead of mobile suit development." A man smiled at him as the other group of scientists nodded in agreement. "Your engine design isn't feasible for mass production, let alone cost effective to even take the chance at developing it."

"Professor Eifman…" Sumeragi blinked seeing him sitting off to the side of the panel.

"But…" Ian started.

"That will be all, Mr. Vashti. Your proposal for this "GN-Drive" as you call it is rejected. Please see yourself out." The older scientists stood and made their way from the hall.

"What about the…" Ian started.

"The material development cost for the Gundanium Alloy you suggest, and the requirements to produce it are ridiculous, you could build an entire colony for the cost of one suit!" One of the scientists waved over his shoulder, as the door closed with a loud bang.

Ian's shoulders slumped "Maybe the old man was right…"

"A rather interesting discussion…" A voice caused Ian to jump out of his skin. He turned to see a young man with red hair smiling at him."Mind if I ask you a question?"

"What… if you've got a job for me as a mobile suit engineer, I'm all ears." Ian looked at him.

"And what would you do if I said I was from a private armed organization willing to develop that engine and armor type you suggested?" The man asked.

"I'm listening…" Ian looked at him "At this point, I almost don't give a damn for who I work for… The Union just shot me down, the HRL laughed me out of the country, and the AEU wasn't nice enough to let me walk out, rather than kicking me out."

"And what if I was to tell you we were planning on taking on all three to eradicate war itself?" The red haired man looked at him.

"I'd say you'd be crazy, and probably need the power of the suits I could develop for you to pull it off." Ian looked at him as the man cracked a smile. "Look, if you're from the AEU or the HRL just tell me…"

The man held out his hand "My name is Ruido Resonance, I'm a mobile suit engineer, and pilot for the organization known as Krung Thep."
"Krung Thep… never heard of them…" Ian looked at him.

"That's the point…" Ruido smiled "If I remember correctly you have a wife, who is also an engineer…"

"How do you…" Ian glared.

"The offer's on the table, it's up for you and your wife to decide." Ruido held out a data stick to Ian. "You can contact me after you think about it…"

"We're in…" Ian looked at him causing him to blink.

"Well that didn't…" Ruido stopped as Ian held up his hand.

"I'm tired of getting the runaround, I can barely put food on the table for my wife right now… You're offering me a chance, and those guys aren't… you want mobile suits that can bring the bloc's to their knees… you've got them." Ian smiled "They're not Gundams for nothing after all…"

"Gundam?" Ruido blinked "What's a Gundam?"

"The type of suit that my old development team worked on, and I was going to suggest after I was picked up, if that ever happened. I'll put it this way, a Gundam is more than capable for the job of eradicating war from the world, in fact that's exactly what the intention behind their design was." Ian smiled as he made his way out with Ruido. "So where's the development taking place?"

"The colonies." Ruido looked over his shoulder at him.

"Hey, honey how'd it go?" Linda looked out of the car at him.

"We've got work…" Ian smiled at her.

"With the Union?" Linda's eyes widened.

"Nope, with Krung Thep." Ian smiled as he walked over with Ruido "We've been picked up by an organization in the colonies."

Xxx

"Fuck… so let me get this straight… the only reason we're fighting Gundams right now… is because the blocs turned those scientists away, and pissed him off…" Amy groaned "This is getting too complicated…"

"No, not just that…" Katrina smiled "You see, Aeolia Schenberg had already designed a similar engine… however, it was missing one very important part. His design had a limited operating time… because it was missing this part. Ian's according to the calculations, and the addition of the part he had developed a TD Blanket made of Gundanium, virtually removed the operating time limit of the drives, and overall increasing the power output. Aeolia's original design was viewed as obsolete, and thus the classified designation was lessened. Allowing the traitor to get his hands on the plans for it, the plans for the warp drive, and to pass them along to Dix. Who in turn provided the UN forces with the Pseudo GN drives."

"Wait… so we're on the side with the crazy Noinheim guy?" Andrei blinked.

"Indirectly yes…" Katrina smiled at him "Some of you, have even met him personally…" she looked over at Louise. "Now, during this time Milliardo had withdrawn to the shadows, and had distanced himself from his old unit. Until one event in A.C. 191… a terrorist attack on the J.A.P. point of operations for the United Earth Sphere Alliance."

Xxx

The scene around them, and they found themselves looking in on an OZ MS transport plane. "We're now over the J.A.P. point. We'll enter the combat zone in 300 seconds." A soldier relayed back to the two young officers behind them.

"But… why are they sending the Specials to suppress some tiny rebel faction?" Zechs asked as he sat wearing his crimson red uniform.

"The commander of OZ, General Catalonia, wants to assess the capabilities of our mobile suits." Treize smiled at Zechs "And your capabilities as well, officer Zechs Merquise."

"I hope I'll be able to live up to expectations…" Zechs allowed a faint smile to creep onto this face.

"Well then, let's go and greet the unwelcome rebels." Treize stood, and led the way back to the hangar where two suits were.

"What in the…" Andrei blinked at the strange looking suits.

"Finally, a chance to see how the Aries performs in combat…" Zechs smiled as he walked towards the deep bluish black machine.

The two suits launched and streaked towards the base at high speed "Officer Zechs. Let's finish this within three minutes." Treize smiled.

"One minute's all I need, commander." Zechs smiled "This battle will end the moment I land." He charged ahead of Treize, and opened fire with the rifle tearing through the rebel soldiers that were attacking the base.

Before a captured Leo could fire on Zechs he rolled over it, and activated the legs firing directly through the back of the Leo.

Treize smiled as Zechs single handedly tore through the rebels "I see. It's not just talk… he fights like lightning…"

A pilot of a captured Aries turned and streaked skyward.

"Trying to escape?" Zechs glared as he charged after it.

"Zechs!" Treize yelled.

"I'll leave the rest to you, commander!" Zechs streaked after it firing at its engine ports.

Treize sighed "He still rushes things…"

Xxx

Zechs rolled and fired shooting the main engines out sending the Aries spiraling down towards a forest on an estate's grounds "Damn it… it's going to be impossible to track the rebel in this…" he glared as he pulled skyward and began circling.

Xxx

The scene shifted again and they were standing on a highway next to the forest. "NOO!" a little girl screamed.

"Shut up!" a man in fatigues glared at her as he pulled her along with his arm around her neck "I know you're Darlian's brat! Never thought, I'd find you so easily!" he tightened his grip on her.

The girl winced as she was pulled along "Am I going to die? Right here?" her thoughts echoed around them as she opened her eyes and looked up "A… a shooting star…" she blinked.

The man looked up and glared "Damn! They've come after me already."

"No! Please let me go!" The girl pleaded as she was pulled out onto the highway.

"Come on!" The man glared at her and put the gun to her temple.

"Why don't you just give up?" Zechs's voice yelled over them, as the Aries touched down.

The man glared "Damn it…" he pressed the gun to the girl's head "D…Don't move! You move one inch… I'll kill the Darlian girl!" the man yelled.

Zechs blinked "Darlian? Could it be Relena…?" he glared.

"Now get outta that mobile suit!" The rebel ordered.

Zechs glared as he complied, coming down the lift rope and stopping in front of the suit, the dark sunglasses he was wearing glinting in the streetlights.

"Heh…" The rebel smirked "The latest model Aries… what a great souvenir." The rebel smirked.

Zechs moved quickly and fired once with his handgun hitting the man in the forearm. "Ahh…" the man collapsed as Relena ran away from him over to the side.

Zechs took aim at the man directly "I don't want to kill in front of this girl… leave us!" he ordered.

"D…Damn it!" The rebel stood and ran making his way across the road towards the coast.

Zechs lowered his gun and glanced at Relena who was looking at him "You've grown so much, Relena…" "Heh…" he smiled, before noticing Relena was glaring at him "Hmm… oh…" he realized he still was holding his handgun. "That's right… Milliardo, you have no right even to touch her anymore. You've abandoned the Peacecraft name… taken up weapons… and chosen the bloody path of revenge…" he holstered the pistol. "Are you alright, Princess?"

"Princess?" Relena blinked looking at him "If I'm… a princess, then who are you? A knight on a terrible dragon?"

"Heh…" Zechs let out a light laugh "I'm a prince of the stars…"

"Miss! Miss Relena!" Pagan's voice yelled out causing them to look towards the woods.

"If you'll… excuse me." Zechs turned and started back towards his Aries.

"Oh…" Relena blinked at him as he walked over to the lift and left without another word. "A prince… of the stars…"

Xxx

"Father…" Milou blinked as the scene dispersed around them. He looked across at the Preventers and blinked seeing someone with blond hair, wearing similar sunglasses, who disappeared further into the back.

"Milou…" Katrina looked at him "Can you be so certain that the man you know as Zechs Merquise, truly is the real Zechs?"

"I… Of course!" Milou glared at her.

"You're a real idiot Milou…" Naina looked at him "You really must have had your head messed with…"

"At least I have better taste in who I choose to associate with Naina…" Milou trailed off "Wha…"

Katrina smiled "Well then… before your sister does what she's thinking..."

"Stay out of my head you twisted collection of memories from my great grandmother…" Naina glared at Katrina.

"I'll be sure to try to not tell Duo…" Katrina gave her a smirk causing her to turn scarlet.

"I have one final question for you… why are the Gundam pilots so innocent in your eyes… What did our families do to deserve to die at the hands of their "Armed Interventions" if it was this Alliance and OZ?" Louise snapped at Katrina.

"Innocent…" Katrina looked at her "Hardly, the Gundam Pilots each have seen the horrors of war at their darkest, most terrible moments. Many of them have done things they can never forgive themselves for… nor would they want to be forgiven for them…"
"Like callously murdering my entire family?" Louise glared at her.

"No… and before you point the finger you should realize who is responsible." Katrina looked at her "The attack in Spain two years ago… was carried out by a unit deployed by the traitor. Their Gundams equipped with pseudo GN drives… the Gundam Thrones." The scene shifted around them, and they found themselves in a courtyard.

Louise's eyes widened as she looked around "No this is…"

Louise clicked her cell phone repeatedly getting more frustrated with every click trying to call Saji back "Saji… Saji! Oh… what is this?" she groaned and looked skyward in frustration then blinked "Huh…" she looked upward at the three crimson red trails in the sky "Wonder if those lights up there are…" her eyes widened as she focused in on them "Gundams! Oh wow… I've never seen them for real…" she blinked.

"Please… don't…" Louise looked at Katrina. "Stop it please…"

The Drei approached them and raised its GN handgun.

"Katrina!" Heero, and Saji snapped at the same time.

The image around them faded "Merely proving a point…" Katrina smiled.

xxx

"End this Katrina… now." Heero glared at her.

"They asked, you refuse to forget what you've done." Katrina looked at Heero "What makes your actions just over three years prior any different?" the scene shifted around them again.

"Fine… show them all." Heero glared at her "Show them what I did… the mission that I botched on December 23, A.C. 194."

They found themselves standing in the grass next to a tall fence separating a military base from the rest of the colony. "Ha!" a voice yelled before a younger version of Heero leapt over the fence and ran a few steps before tumbling into the grass laughing.

"Fuck… did you just pole-vault that without a pole?" Amy gaped at Heero, before looking at the fence "That's friggin impossible…"

"I am the result of the Colony Liberation Organization's Perfect Soldier Project… they genetically enhanced my body's performance. In short… I'm what you'd call a super soldier." Heero looked to Amy briefly before looking at himself again.

A light giggle caught their attention causing them to look to Heero seeing a little girl in a white sundress with a wide brimmed sun hat "Hi there, are you lost?" she asked in a sweet tone.

Heero pushed himself up "Huh…?"

"I said, are you lost?" She asked again.

Heero smiled then looked away "I've been lost ever since the day I was born…"

The girl knelt down as the puppy put its paws up on Heero's legs and parked "Oh, that's so sad… well, I'm not lost at all… I'm taking Mary out for a walk…" she smiled as the little puppy licked her face, and she laughed.

Heero smiled, and blinked as she held out a flower for him "Here, I'll give you this flower." She smiled.

Heero took the flower, as the puppy started off again pulling the little girl along with it "Wait for me Mary!" she laughed as she ran with the puppy.

Heero looked at the flower, and smiled before getting up and looking at his watch.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them, it had become night and a loud click broke the silence before explosions ripped through the Alliance base illuminating them again "Mission, complete." Heero spoke with a calm cold tone, as he turned away and started back a loud explosion caused him to turn around to see what it was. A Leo fell backwards through the fence towards a civilian housing building.

Heero took off at a run for the Leo only to stop as it crashed into the building, and blew up. He tumbled backwards to a stop next to his own feet.

As he pushed himself to his feet his breath was shaky, as he grasped the yellow flower the girl had given him.

Xxx

The scene shifted again and they found themselves walking through the smoking ruins of the destroyed as a light snow started to fall like ash around them. Heero looked around seeing a small brown teddy bear with a blue ribbon around its neck, sitting on a charred piece of rubble. He turned his attention again, and a short distance away they saw it. The little puppy the girl had with her the day before, laying there motionless and dead.

Heero walked forward, and picked the small puppy up, cradling its lifeless form in his arms, as he started to walk towards a hill carrying it to give it a proper grave.

"Two hundred and forty eight civilians…" Heero looked at them "That's how many died. I hadn't taken in the possibility that they could have moved one of the Leo's… as a result this happened. I killed that little girl, her dog, and her family… her neighbors…"

The scene shifted around them and Heero was walking with the dead dog in his arms "That's ludicrous, you're suggesting the use of a Gundam as a tool for massacre!" Dr. J's voice echoed around them as he yelled.

"THIS IS WAR! It is no big deal sacrificing the general public! Got it, now retrain him at once!" Dekim's voice shouted around them "The humane feeling of kindness is unnecessary for a weapon!"

"You're right there, but do you really think Heero Yuy would like it if we'd buried his humanity!" Dr. J yelled back.

"I don't care, do it anyway!" Dekim burst out of a door as they appeared in the hallway and marched past Heero and out of the building.

Heero walked around the corner of the door "Dr. J… why…"

Dr. J looked over at Heero "Odin… I…"

"Why are you working with him, Grandfather… the man that killed dad?" Heero glared at him as tears slipped down his face.

Dr. J sighed "Because… it was the only way to gain the funding to produce the suit…"

"You mean dad's suit, the suit he was going to…" Heero stopped and fell silent as Dr. J stood.

"Heero… he wants me to alter your memories… I'm not going to, the reason is he's gone completely insane… suggesting that we use the Gundam, as a tool for massacre after doing something unthinkable…. Heero Yuy would have never wanted it, and your father would have never wanted it…"

"Is that all I am to people! A weapon! I guess that's to be expected, he said it after all, life is cheap!" Heero snapped at Dr. J.

"If you really think that, then go…" Dr. J sighed as he took his seat again.

Dr. J sighed "What am I going to do with that boy… he's too much like his father. No that's why he's the right one, but he's too conflicted right now… he needs…" he looked over at a monitor at the five machines on it "friends… it should work…" he shrugged as he got up "Now to go stop him from being, as foolish as myself…" he grinned as he chuckled.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them as they followed Dr. J walking through the snow to the foot of the hill, they looked up to see Heero releasing the slide on a handgun, and raising it to his head "I have a new job for you!" J yelled up to him.
Heero turned and lowered the gun glaring at his grandfather as he continued "I've decided to launch Operation Meteor, you have three choices. One is to pilot the Gundam, and massacre the people of the Earth. Another is to kill me, and run away someplace… And the third…"

"The third?" Heero glared at him.

Dr. J turned away "You should… already know…" he spoke softly with a hint of sadness in his tone.

Heero lowered the gun "Okay then…" he walked down the hill after Dr. J and leveled it at the back of his head "You plan to go through with his plan!" he glared.

"Of course not… your father would haunt me till the day I die… I've decided to deploy you on an altered version of Operation Meteor, targeting only those responsible… OZ and the Alliance."

"I accept on the grounds of a suicide mission." Heero marched past him back towards the hangar.

Xxx

The scene shifted again "Doctor, look at this." A man walked over to Dr. J with a spacesuit.

"A self destruct device…" Dr. J looked at the box over the heart of the flight suit.

"It seems to be linked to the Wing Gundam's self destruct system…" The mechanic looked at him.

"What's that boy thinking?" Dr. J sighed.

"What should we do?" The mechanic asked.

"Change the Gundam's detonation frequency. Then the spacesuit will misfire too." Dr. J walked past him.

Xxx

They found themselves in a hangar, as the scene appeared around them Dr. J standing there leaning on his cane "After the failed attempt on minister Darlian, we can assume the Alliance knows of the operation."

"But this is different from the true operation…" Heero sat strapped in the pilot's seat.

Dr. J nodded "Right, this is the mission you choose, however you risk your life with this launch."

Heero stared blankly at him "Don't worry. Life is cheap, especially mine."

"Contact may come at any time regarding targets." Dr. J looked at him.

Heero nodded "Roger."

"Engage in the mission as quickly as possible." Dr. J continued.

"Roger." Heero nodded again.

"Let's decide on a codename, I've decided on the name of the pacifist space leader…" Dr. J looked at him "You got that, Heero Yuy?"

"Roger that." Heero replied, as he closed the cockpit hatch, and began preparations for launch. "Well, knowing the Alliance's information control at least it shouldn't stand out…"

Xxx

The scene dissolved around them as Heero looked at them "I can never forget that little girl… the reason we carried out Operation Meteor, was to liberate the colonies from the Alliance and OZ. We fought to give them what had been taken from them with Heero Yuy's death. Even if my actions go against every teaching my grandfather believed in, and espoused. Even if in the end we had achieved peace, until finding out about Celestial Being from that disc Ian and Linda left… nothing I have done will ever give that little girl, her family, all of those civilians their lives back. That is the sin that I carry, that I will never allow myself to be forgiven for… I will continue to fight until the day I die, to make sure that an action like that never happens ever again."

"Heero…" A soft voice echoed around them causing them to look around.

"What in the… where's that coming from?" Heero blinked "I…"

Mariemaia appeared next to Katrina "Heero, it's me…"

"Who's the kid… and why is she here?" Debora looked at Mariemaia.

"I am not a kid, I'm an officer cadet with the Preventers, my name is Mariemaia Kushrenada!" Mariemaia snapped at her before looking back at Heero.

"What is it… I'd like to end this and finish this battle…" Heero looked at her.

"I want you to stop beating yourself up over it… quit brooding over the past. Honestly, do I really look that different with short hair?" Mariemaia asked causing Heero to blink at her.

"What are you saying…" Heero looked at her.

"I thought you recognized me… back in the bunker… maybe you'd forgotten, you were pretty injured." Mariemaia looked at him.

"Quit playing games Mariemaia…" Heero glared at her.

"Mother was alive until that day…" Mariemaia looked at him.

"What?" Treize blinked. "The records said she'd died in A.C. 191." He looked at his daughter.

"Well they're wrong… she was alive in A.C. 194, she came and got me when the explosions started, she protected me… Mom…"

The scene shifted around them and they were in a dark room, explosions erupted outside shattering the glass of the window "Ahh!" Mariemaia screamed as she fell out of bed.

The door burst open "Mariemaia!" Leia ran over to her grabbing her and running back out of the room before running into an interior hallway.

"Mommy what's going on?" Mariemaia asked.

"It's going to be alright…" Leia kissed her daughter on her head, as she ran out into the building's interior hallway.

A massive explosion rocked the building causing the floor to fall out from under her, Leia held Mariemaia tight to her as they fell.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them and they were looking down on a hospital room "Why did… Mom…" tears slipped down Mariemaia's face. Her hair now short looking as if it had been roughly trimmed to being off the ears.

"Mariemaia…" A voice called softly to her.

Mariemaia looked up and blinked "Grandfather…"

Dekim smiled "Thank god you're alive…" he walked over and gently hugged his granddaughter.

"Why did mom…" Mariemaia started.

"Don't talk about it dear…" Dekim looked at her "All that matters is that you're alive… I couldn't bear loosing another family member…"

"What a load…" Duo yelled from the back "All of us could see Barton was using her as a puppet. Good riddance, especially after all that shit he put us through."

"It still doesn't change the fact that I took the lives of those people… because of my own carelessness." Heero looked at Mariemaia.

Mariemaia's gaze fell from Heero "Fine… then if you're going to fight, then don't die… my mother protected me with her life, the life you took from her. An eye for an eye will make the whole world blind… your life is no more valuable, or less than my mother's. And you're one of the few family members I have left."

"And what of the other Preventers?" Kati looked over at them.

xxx

"February 12, C.E. 71…" Yzak looked at her.

"Captain wait you too…" Patrick gaped at him.

"It's Major damn it, dumbass get it right!" Yzak snapped.

"We both failed that day Yzak… part of the blame rests on my shoulders as well…" Kira looked at him as they appeared in the hangar of the Archangel. A long line of people in civilian clothes were boarding a transport when they saw Kira standing there looking around. "Ah… come back Ali…" a woman called out as a little girl touched down next to Kira.

Kira blinked as the girl opened her small pink purse and held out a yellow paper flower for him "Thank you for protecting the rest of us till now…" the girl smiled at him.

Kira knelt down and smiled at her "Thank you for this…"

The girl turned and kicked off back over towards her mother.

Xxx

The scene shifted as a door opened an officer tried to restrain Yzak "Wait, you're…"

"SHUT UP AND LET GO!" Yzak snapped pushing him away, he kicked off down the hall wearing his red ZAFT uniform. His hand holding his head which had bandages wrapped around his forehead, and down the right side of his face. "I'm gonna take the strike down for giving me this injury…" he growled.

Xxx

"Kira!" A voice called out causing him to turn back to look, and saw Miriallia, Sai, Tolle, and Kuzzy floating towards him.

"Tolle…" Miriallia gasped seeing him.

"Finally, I couldn't find any of you guys so I…" Kira stopped as Tolle grabbed his hand and slapped a roll of paper into it.

"This is meant for you, it's your discharge papers." Tolle smiled at him.

Kira blinked and looked at them "You're going alone… we've all decided to remain here." Sai smiled.

"Yeah, with the Archangel, the military." Tolle smiled at him.

"Who are those two guys?" Eco blinked.

"Sai Argyle… and Tolle Koenig." Miriallia looked at them "Sai left the ship after the first war… he's working as a civilian engineer and Preventers Agent. Tolle…"

"Died, protecting the Archangel during the final battle of the Eve War, he was the second helmsman." Dearka looked at him "He protected the ship with his life by going out in a mobile suit, and because of him, the ship survived."

"You're staying, what do you mean?" Kira blinked at them.

"Flay decided to volunteer…" Kuzzy shrugged.

"Wha…" Kira gaped.

"So, we thought we'd do the same." Kuzzy finished as the others smiled at him.

The klaxon went off causing them to jump "All hands, level one battle stations! I repeat, all hands level one battle stations!" an officer's voice echoed over the communications system.

"You over there, we're leaving!" An officer next to the launch's door yelled.

Kira turned and looked up at him. "Please wait a moment, he's coming!" Tolle yelled.

Kira looked at him "Think of this as destiny, so long… help us by making sure you get to earth safely." Tolle smiled at him, before pushing off of him.

"Keep yourself alive!" Kuzzy called back to him. "No matter what happens, please don't be tempted to join ZAFT!"

Xxx

"Don't do it Yzak, you're not ready!" A voice echoed over the communications system as Yzak landed in the Duel equipped with the assault shroud.

"Shut up, hurry up and guide me out!" Yzak glared as he closed the line.

"This assault shroud will teach him a lesson for humiliating me…" Yzak's thoughts echoed around them as the Duel launched.

Xxx

"Listen if you're getting on, make it quick!" The officer shouted at Kira.

"Will Lieutenant La Flaga will be launching in the Zero…" A mechanic floated past.

"It's fine, we've finished the repairs." Another mechanic shouted over.

Kira looked down at the two things in his hands, the discharge papers in his left, the small yellow paper flower in his right. He closed his eyes for a moment before crumpling up the discharge papers "Please, go without me!" he kicked off of the launch towards the interior of the ship. And threw the discharge papers away.

Xxx

"We had the Earth Alliance's eighth lunar fleet with their backs against the wall." Dearka looked at them as the scene changed around them showing the battle, as it raged just above the Earth's atmosphere. The Buster fired directly down the length of a Nelson-class battleship.

A short distance away the Blitz appeared in front of a Drake-class's bridge and fired its rocket anchor into it destroying the ship.

GINN's circled back and forth dueling with Moebius mobile armors destroying them with ease, and taking out ships one after another.

"This is a slaughter…" Kati looked around at them "Why don't they send out their mobile suits?"

"Because…" Nicol looked at them "At that time, they had none. All they had were these mass produced mobile armors, and we had stolen four of their five prototype GAT-X series mobile suits, which later on would be reclassified as the XXXG series… or Gundam's."

"Where is he?" Yzak glared as he fired into a Drake-class "Just where could that Strike be hiding...?"

"Great isn't it, all they can boast of is quantity!" Dearka spun, and fired through a Nelson-Class.

"Come out and show yourself Strike, or else…" Yzak glared "OR ELSE THIS PAIN I FEEL WILL NEVER GO AWAY!" he rolled over two Moebius mobile armors, and fired down on them with the Shiva rail gun.

Xxx

The scene shifted around them as the battle continued "Whoa… you were pretty good captain!"

"Someone please, when you get back deck Colasour in the face for me!" Yzak snapped as he glared at Patrick. "I'm not proud of anything I did this day…"

"Damn it, we're running out of time, hurry up and die already!" Dearka's voice shouted around them, as the Buster fired its anti armor shotgun through a Drake-class.

"There you are Strike…" Yzak glared as his targeting computer locked onto the suit. "You finally showed…" he drew his beam saber "This is for the nasty wound!" he dove on it.

"The… the Duel, it's been upgraded!" Kira's eyes widened, as he flew back from the Duel as it closed firing its rail gun.

"NOW TAKE THIS!" Yzak slashed down cutting into the Strike's shield.

Kira rolled to the left firing his beam rifle at the Duel before rocketing off again as the Duel gave chase.

"What the hell is that thing?" Patrick watched as a orange and white mobile armor engaged the Buster.

"The Moebius Zero…" Mu smiled "Been a while since I saw the old girl…" its wire guided gun-pods broke away and fired on the Buster as it circled.

"Ha, yeah this is definitely becoming dangerous!" Dearka smirked, as he returned fire with the beam launcher.

The duel's raged around them as they got closer and closer to the atmosphere. Two battleships were torn apart above them as the Duel and the Strike clashed.

"The Menelaos…" Murrue looked up as it was torn apart.

"YOU'RE FINISHED!" Yzak roared as he blocked the Strike's beam saber with his shield, as Kira did the same.

"You won't defeat me!" Kira snapped back as they broke apart, Yzak fired the rail gun, and Kira returned fire with the head mounted CIWS. He glared before charging using his shield a battering ram, slamming it into the Duel's chest knocking it back.

Yzak glared as he was knocked further into the atmosphere, the Strike flipped and kicked the Duel's head to use it as a means to get back towards the Archangel. "DAMN YOU!" Yzak glared, as he leveled his beam rifle.

It appeared flying down between them "Oh no, the shuttle from the Menelaos!" Kira's eyes widened as it passed between the two suits. Yzak's shots flew around it as it descended.

"What is this…" Yzak glared as it threw off his targeting system "How dare you get in my way?" he looked at the shuttle with OMNI markings, he shifted his attention to it and took aim.

Kira's eyes widened "Huh…" he charged after the shuttle "DON'T DO IT, THEY'RE ONLY CIVILIANS!"

"YOU SOLDIER WANNA BE COWARDS, WANT TO RUN AWAY DO YA?" Yzak roared as he fired a single shot towards the shuttle.

The Strike and the shot raced towards the shuttle, and they could only watch as the shot tore through the shuttle "NO!" Kira screamed as it blew up as he got there, knocking him away towards the Archangel.

"I'm no better than the Earth Alliance bastards who used nuclear warheads on my homeland…" Yzak glared at them.

"I failed them… because I chose to fight, and protect the ship… Yzak shot it down." Kira looked at them "If I hadn't…"

xxx

"If that's the case then…" Andrei looked at Katrina "What are the crimes that pushed the pilots of Celestial Being's Gundams to do what they did?"

Katrina looked over at them "Anyone…"

Setsuna closed his eyes and sighed "A.D. 2299… Krugis."

"Setsuna…" Heero looked at him, as the scene shifted around them.

They found themselves in the darkened streets of the small Arab town in Krugis "This is my sin…" Setsuna looked at them. "This is what I wish I could take back…"

"I give this body to god…" A young boy carrying a handgun ran towards the house they were standing next to. "I join in his holy war… I'll be accepted by god, as one of his warriors!" the boy opened the door, and ran inside.

"Soran!" A female voice echoed from inside.

"Where have you been all this time?" A male voice echoed. Setsuna without thinking turned, and ran for the house.

"What are you doing?" The male voice echoed again as Setsuna charged up behind himself, and grabbed the gun.

"Stop it!" Setsuna glared at himself.

"What did you do that for?" The younger version of himself yelled back at him. "I'm doing this to uphold the teachings of god!"

"There is no god in this world!" Setsuna argued with the younger version of himself. "No god… what you're doing is a despicable ritual that will only bring about more violence!" he shoved himself over towards his parents. "Don't let him out of the house!" Setsuna yelled as he turned and ran outside.

"Setsuna!" Lockon yelled causing him to stop as he stepped in front of him.

"Lockon…" Setsuna blinked.

"Setsuna…" Katrina walked over to him, and placed her hand on the gun "The ZERO system, is showing you what you would have wanted… someone to have stopped you, it wasn't out of the realm of possibilities, though very slim…" it vanished from his grasp.

"No…" Setsuna turned with his eyes wide, a shot rang out.

"Why… why are you doing this Soran?" his mother's voice echoed as a second shot rang out, and slowly the young Soran stepped out of the house. Other shots echoed around them, as they watched him make his way over towards a truck.

"Congradulations… you're now warriors in this holy war in the name of god…" A young man smirked, as the young boys grouped up around him.

Setsuna collapsed to his knees "Why… why was I blind…" a droplet fell from his nose. "Why did I…"

The scene disappeared from around them "Setsuna…" Saji looked at him.

The scene shifted again and they found themselves in the middle of a battlefield as the child soldiers desperately fought against a squadron of MSER-04 Anf's.

They watched as Soran backed into a corner as an Anf took aim at him. A beam erupted down from above, taking out the Anf instantly. They looked around as more fell one after another, the entire squadron destroyed in an instant.

Soran looked skyward and they followed his gaze, their eyes landed on the Gundam emitting green GN particles behind it as if it had angelic wings it floated there.

"I lost my faith… I do not believe there is a god in this world… but… as mysteriously as it had appeared, it left… and spared my life. The 0 Gundam. I am the only survivor of this battle, all of my comrades, my friends died." Setsuna looked at them.

"No wonder you're a hopeless Gundam nut…" Lockon cracked a smile causing Setsuna to glare at him.

"I wanted to change the world… so that no one ever had to experience what I did... that is why I accepted the offer to become a Gundam Meister of Celestial Being… and the position as a pilot in the Preventers Taskforce, to rid our world of the twistedness the traitor from Celestial Being has caused with the A-laws…" Setsuna looked at them.

"You're the ones that have committed the heresy in Aeolia Schenberg's plan…" Revive's voice echoed across the battlefield.

"Well, my second is up…" Katrina smiled.

Xxx

The 00 Raiser roared forward as Setsuna regained control "How long…" he looked at the Trans AM's time limit, and just a second had passed.

Xxx

The Cherudim fired on a GN-X III and an Ahead as they fell back "What in the…" Lockon blinked as he regained control, he fired the GN Sniper II, the Ahead blocked one shot before having its other arm with its beam rifle taken off, before a third shot penetrate its cockpit destroying it. "Damn it…" he fell back as a GN-X III fired its GN lance at him.

"I don't know which one of those pilots you are… and frankly I don't give a damn!" Lyle yelled over the frequency as he fired at Amy. "The A-laws slaughtered my comrades in Katharon, you're nothing more than a bunch of murderers!"

Amy fell back to within the shield of the Vayeate Shuivan "Hey, hang on…" Debora yelled, as she returned fire on the SAGA "You have no right to judge us when Katharon indiscriminately attacked the Federation!"

The Seravee fired on them forcing them back further "You have a lot of nerve, you're working with them! The ones who started this all in the first place!" Tieria shouted over the channel as the GN cannons fire slammed into the Shuivan's shield. Before he turned and fired on a GN-X III that was going after the Ptolemaios.

Xxx

Setsuna tightened his grip on the controls, as Andrei's GN-X III fired on him with its GN Lance, he fired once striking it in the leg before passing at high speed.

Louise turned watching as the 00 Raiser passed at high speed "Saji!" She screamed.

"LOUISE!" Saji yelled back.

"Go back to your ship Louise and stay out of our way!" Heero's voice yelled over the frequency, as he rolled over her Ahead Smultron, and used the Selatiel's beam saber to slice its right arm off taking the rifle with it.

The two Gundams roared back towards the main battle as the Garazzo opened fire on the 00-Raiser with its wrist mounted GN Vulcan's. It activated the claws and closed the fingers forming a solid blade before closing on the 00 Raiser "You will not pass me!" Bring yelled.

"GET OUTTA MY WAY!" Setsuna roared back as he struck with the GN Sword II forcing the Garazzo to parry. He punched the thrusters to their full power forcing Bring back.

Bring glared and activated the other arm's claws forming a second blade slashing at the torso. Forcing the 00 Raiser to break off before continuing his attack. He rolled beneath the 00 Raiser and fired upward with the GN Vulcan on the left arm.

Setsuna flew higher and rolled back ducking behind an asteroid to get out of the line of fire. He streaked out and fired downward with the GN Sword II's rifle mode with its rapid fire raining down on the Garazzo shattering its camera's. "Damn it!" Bring glared as his cameras went to static for a moment before they switched to the backups.

The 00 Raiser dove on him "What?" Bring glared as he rolled and parried the attack. Before being forced back and kicked away by Setsuna, who then again opened fire with the rapid fire of the GN Sword II's rifle destroying the left arm and right leg.

Alarms blared around Bring as he glared pulling the eject switch ejecting the core fighter. It roared upward as the Garazzo blew up.

The 00 Raiser and Selatiel continued back towards the battle. "Setsuna, see if you can find that thing that shot the Ptolemaios… I'll help the others by going after the cruisers!"

"Roger that!" Setsuna rolled and broke off from Heero.

Xxx

Ribbons eyes snapped open "Huh… what's this?" he watched the battle through Revive's eyes, as the 00 Raiser destroyed the Garazzo.

Xxx

The A-laws suits continued their assault on the Preventers fleet. A GN-X III charged the Eternal before being forced back by the Buster "I won't let you take us down!" Dearka yelled, as he fired a barrage of missiles at the machine.

A second GN-X III fired on him from behind, Dearka turned "That's not very nice…" He smiled as he fired the high energy rifle at the suit. Firing twice he destroyed the attacking GN-X III with ease. Five more closed in rapidly on his position "Just how many mobile suits do these damn cruisers carry?"

Tieria fired on some of them drawing them towards his location "More reinforcements… I can't risk using Trans-AM in this situation!" he glared.

Xxx

"They just keep coming…" Lunamaria glared as she blocked another shot from an Ahead "We need to take out their ships…"

"Just keep them off of the ships, remember their time is limited we can force them to retreat by waiting them out!" Yzak yelled as he fired the Duel's rail gun mounted along the inside of the shield. The shots tore through a GN-X III with ease before an alarm blared in his headset. "Behind me?" he spun and drew his beam saber.

"FOR MY COLONEL AND HER VICTORY!" Patrick yelled over the frequency, as he clashed with the Duel.

"P…PATRICK!" Yzak yelled as he parried the attack "You've got some balls dumbass!"

Patrick smirked "Heh, now's the time!"

"Wha…" alarms blared in Yzak's headset as two GN-X III's emerged from behind some asteroids taking dead aim at him "Son of a bitch…"

Xxx

"The Duel is…" Meyrin's eyes widened as she saw it on her monitor.

Xxx

A blade like shot ripped through the GN-X III to their right, as a shot tore through the other one from above, the sheer force of it causing it to be ripped in half before it exploded.

"What the…?" Patrick blinked "AHHH!" he screamed as the Duel slugged the GN-X III's head off.

"Go back to your ship dumbass!" Yzak yelled over the channel before kicking Patrick's suit away.

"What was that?" Shiho asked as more shots ripped through the attacking A-laws suits. All of them immediately shifted their attention to the new arrivals.

"The Selatiel, and the 00…" Nicol smiled "Too bad, they don't have their eyes on the other threats…" he took aim, and fired the lancer darts. The kinetic energy armor penetrating spikes ripped through the E-Carbon armor of the A-laws suits with almost no resistance.

Xxx

Tieria vaporized an Ahead with the GN Cannons "Is that…"

"Looks like it..." Duo blinked as he rolled and cleaved two GN-X III's in half "Bout god damned time they showed up…"

xxx

"So they did dock…" Sumeragi watched as the 00-Raiser closed on the main battlefield with the Selatiel. "The 00-Raiser…"

Xxx

"Setsuna, I'll go after the cruisers find that machine that scored that hit on the Ptolemy!"

"Roger!" Setsuna replied as Heero rolled away towards one of the Baikal-Class cruisers.

"Compressed particle recharge complete…" A voice echoed around him.

"A voice…" Setsuna glared as he pulled upward towards its direction.

Xxx

Revive smiled "Heh, this will finish it…"

"A new model…" Setsuna's voice echoed in Revive's head.

"A voice?" Revive turned to see a large beam carving through the asteroid he was anchored to. He launched just as the two blades crossed and carved through the asteroid. He turned as the rock exploded and the 00-Raiser roared through the remains "THERE IT IS!" he leveled the GN-Mega Launcher and fired.

Setsuna glared and he pulled hard to the left, as the massive beam passed.

Revive pulled the cannon along in a massive arch attempting to destroy the 00-Raiser "NOT YET!"

Setsuna punched the thrusters to their full power and roared up the length of the beam towards the Gadessa.

"Madness! Never the less I am… AN INNOVATOR!" Revive drew his beam saber as the GN-Mega Launcher finished, the 00-Raiser nearly point blank as he thrust .

Setsuna's eyes shot wide as he saw it, and a split second later the Gadessa impaled the 00-Raiser.

"Wha…" Revive blinked as the suit atomized in front of his eyes.

Xxx

Ribbons's eyes shot wide and he stood "Tha… that can't be…"

Xxx

"What the…?" Revive gaped, before an alert appeared on his screen "Huh, RIGHT THERE!" he spun and blocked the slash from the 00-Raiser's GN Sword II with the GN Mega Launcher only to watch, as it was carved in half.

Revive spun and struck downward through the explosion "DON'T MOCK ME!" he roared, only to realize he had cut through nothing but smoke.

The 00-Raiser appeared again above and behind the Gadessa "AHHHHHHH!" Setsuna roared as he dove on it, carving downward through the suit from the right shoulder to the left hip.

Revive ejected the core fighter and streaked away at high speed. "Defeated…" he looked at his right hand that was trembling on the controls "I'm an Innovator, and I was defeated…"

Setsuna flew back towards the fleet when an alarm sounded in his headset "The time limit's up… what just happened back there?" he shook his head. The suit shuddered as the 0-Raiser disengaged from the suit.

"What are you doing? Ptolemy is still…" Setsuna looked back at the 0-Raiser.

"I have to go…" Saji's voice cut him off.

Setsuna blinked as Saji continued "I have to go, to Louise… wherever she is… to Louise…"

Xxx

Ribbons clenched his fists, as he stood there in the center of the chamber "The suit quantized…" he glared "A Gundam power that even I wasn't aware of…" he shook with rage.

Wang Liu-Mei blinked "Huh, is something the matter?" she started towards Ribbons. "You seem rather unsettled by what happened…" she trailed off as Ribbons spun, and backhanded her.

Wang Liu-Mei looked up at him from the floor, his eyes glowing in the shadow he cast over her "Shut up, you greedy bitch!" he balled his hand up into a fist as he glared at her.

Wang Liu-Mei sat there on the floor stunned that he had actually struck her.

Regene cracked a faint smile as he looked at Wang.

Xxx

"Damn, how are we gonna win without the Gadessa?" Amy flew back as the Preventers warships, and Gundams began to press their attack towards the Cruiser that the Pavonis was engaging.

A message appeared on the monitor "Huh, Withdrawal orders…"

"Time to go then." Debora nodded as the suits rolled, and flew towards the command cruiser.

Xxx

"Just give up Milou!" Trowa shouted as he rolled through the chain gun fire from the Wing Zero.

"I refuse to surrender!" Milou glared as he flew higher over the Scheherazade, and the two Geminiass units. He fired the twin buster rifle again forcing them to scatter. "At this rate if they keep driving me away from the cruiser, it'll become vulnerable…" he rolled and flew back towards the cruiser at high speed.

"I won't let you!" The Prometheus fired on the Wing Zero keeping it from retreating.

"I don't want to fight you Katherine…" Milou glared at it "why do I…" he shook his head "OUT OF MY WAY!" he stored the rifles in the two small wings as he drew a beam saber and charged the Prometheus.

Katherine's eyes widened as the Wing Zero prepared to strike "Milou…"

"AHHH!" Milou screamed as the cockpit began to shine gold around him "Wha… what is…" he rolled over the Prometheus, and rocketed towards the cruiser.

Xxx

"Colonel, Captain Marquise's vital signs show a sudden spike in brain activity, heart rate and…" The control officer trailed off. "He's passed out…"

"What?" Kati looked over at the Wing Zero, as it flew towards the ship.

"The Wing Zero is flying itself… it's commenced the automatic docking protocol…" The combat controller looked at her.

"Have the medics on standby!" Kati ordered "Commence withdrawal after we've retrieved our suits."

Xxx

"Enemy mobile suits have begun falling back!" Miriallia looked down at Murrue.

"Cease firing, order all suits to assume defensive positions!" Murrue looked back at her. "Open a line with the other ships."

Xxx

"How many machines did Setsuna take out?" Lasse looked over at Anew.

"I think it was almost ten…" Anew looked back at him.

"Don't relax just yet… our main objective is still the destruction of the satellite weapon." Sumeragi noted before looking up at Mileina "Mileina, I realize you must be worried about your parents, but I need you to use the Karels to repair Ptolemy, and the Gundams."

"Roger that, Ma'am!" Mileina nodded before lowering her consol to leave the bridge.

"This is Arios, we've escorted all the transports to a safe distance!" Allelujah's voice echoed over the frequency "Oh, and Mileina, your mom's okay too."

Mileina spun on the spot and smiled as the bridge sighed "Isn't that great news Mileina?" Feldt looked over at her.

"It sure is!" Mileina beamed back at her "I'll go take care of the repairs now!" the door hissed open as she nearly ran headlong into Marie and Holly.

"Sorry…" Mileina slipped past them, as they entered the bridge.

Chall blinked "And you are…"

"Captain Holly Smirnov, I'm with the Preventers research and development team as one of their test pilots…" Holly blinked as she caught a glimpse of Marie's face "What…"

"Di…Did you say Smirnov?" Marie's eyes were wide.

"Yes… though I haven't really needed to use it in a long time…" Holly blinked "Twelve years since I was recruited…"

"Wait…" Marie blinked as she looked at her. "So you're…" she let out a light laugh.

"Out with it already… I'm what?" Holly prodded Marie.

"You're the Colonel's wife…" Marie giggled.

"Colonel?" Holly blinked "No I think you've got the wrong Smirnov… my husband was a captain the last I checked…"

Marie gaped "I guess I could be wrong then… but everything fits though… twelve years have passed and… were you with the HRL's Fourth MS platoon?"

Holly blinked "Yeah… wait…" she narrowed her gaze at Marie "Don't tell me my husband went off and hooked up with some bimbo…" she gained an irritated twitch.

"No, not at all!" Marie flushed red "The Colonel never…" she blinked as Holly's rage vanished.

"So you know Sergei then… I heard some of the pilots were under his command during their infiltration, though I hadn't heard all the details…" Holly looked at her "How's he doing?"

"Fine, umm…" Marie blinked and looked at the other bridge crew "We need to talk for a bit… in private…"

Holly beamed and hugged Marie "You're Andrei's girlfriend or something, I hit the nail on the head didn't I?"

Marie flushed crimson "I AM NOT LIEUTENANT ANDREI'S GIRLFRIEND!"

"Lieutenant…" Holly blinked "He's in the Federation Forces?" she somewhat released Marie.

"No… he's with…" Marie shifted a little.

"Oh god… oh my god…" Holly paled visibly.

"Follow me…" Marie turned and pulled her out of the bridge.

Sumeragi shifted her attention back to the front of the bridge "00-Raiser… Who would have imagined such incredible abilities?"

Xxx

Setsuna sat in his cockpit listening to Saji struggling against the controls trying to get the 0-Raiser to respond. Even though its GN particle condensers were depleted from Trans-AM he still continued trying the controls. "MOVE! COME ON, MOVE!" Saji shouted.

"Saji Crossroad…" Setsuna sighed.

"COME ON! MOVE DAMN IT!" Saji screamed as he pushed the controls forward, his grip so tight on them that his arms were shaking. His breathing slowed "I have to go to where Louise is… to where Louise is…" tears started to slip free from his eyes and drifted freely in his helmet.

"Setsuna, retrieve the 0-Raiser and lets go, we're still in the middle of an operation." Heero's voice came over the frequency as the fleet began to move out.

"Roger that…" Setsuna turned and retrieved the 0-Raiser before flying back towards the Ptolemaios.

Xxx

"I saw Saji…" Louise shook as she slumped over the controls of her Ahead Smultron "Saji was there… he was with the Preventers… working together with the bastards who killed mom and dad…" her eyes widened as she remembered "Setsuna… Heero… they were there too… they're members of the Preventers as well… they lived next door to Saji…" she looked up from the controls "That means, they were connected all along…" she gained an irritated twitch. She winced as a sharp pain sliced through her mind "Ahh…" she reached behind her and retrieved her medication, shaking some into her hand before swallowing the small tablets.

No… and before you point the finger you should realize who is responsible." Katrina's words echoed in her head "The attack in Spain two years ago… was carried out by a unit deployed by the traitor. Their Gundams equipped with pseudo GN drives… the Gundam Thrones."

"Gundam Thrones..." Louise blinked remembering the red particles from the Drei, and her gaze fell on Andrei's GN-X III, its red particles the very same. "Are we… no but…"

"Warrant Officer, are you alright?" Andrei asked over the frequency as they prepared to dock with the cruiser.

Xxx

Kati sighed as she sat in the bridge "The double powered Gundam's performance was so exceptional… Just what is that machine?"

"Colonel, all machines are onboard." The combat controller announced. "Shall we commence pursuit of the Preventers Fleet?"

"No, set course to return to the orbital elevator… we need to repair and resupply before we can take the Preventers on again." Kati sighed as she slid out of her chair. "I'll be in my quarters if anything comes up inform me."

"Yes, Ma'am!" The communications officer relayed as Kati left.

Xxx

"Permission to enter?" Heero's voice echoed from the intercom.

"Granted…" Odin looked up as the door opened to his quarters. "I figured I'd be seeing you soon…"

"I…" Heero sighed as he stood there.

"Sit…" Odin nodded to a chair across from him. "I'm guessing you have some questions…"

"Yes, and no at the same time…" Heero walked over and sat down as his father retrieved a book from the small shelf behind him.

"Well, you can't have both…" Odin held out the book to him.

"What is…" Heero blinked as he cracked the cover open "This is…"

"It was your grandfathers… it was the journal he kept." Odin sighed "I guess it's somewhat fitting. He and I didn't see eye to eye most of the time…" he looked at Heero "and you're the same with me…"

"This is…" Heero blinked as he unfolded a few pieces of paper.

"He didn't read from it… but he had it memorized…" Odin looked at it, as Heero read the handwritten speech.

"He changed the last few words a few times…" Heero smiled "Grandfather was…"

"A lot like you… stubborn, kind, focused, quick witted, highly articulate… he got along with pretty much everyone he met… though he could see through them as well." Odin smiled as he looked at him "I'm actually surprised exactly how much you are like him…"

"I'm sorry…" Heero spoke softly.

"What?" Odin blinked "What for?"

"I jumped to conclusions when you came back… and beat you up when I didn't have all of the information…" Heero looked at him "I…" he stopped as Odin held up a hand.

"Quit beating yourself up over it… that's another thing you get from my side of the family, and him in particular… you brood over every little thing you've done wrong. If you read through that you'll find the day I left to join OZ… he blamed it on himself. When Ein was shot, he also blamed that on himself…" Odin looked at him "Just like you blamed yourself wholly for what had happened on X18999…"

"You taught me to be more careful with where I placed my explosives… I was careless." Heero looked up from the journal.

"True, but it could have just as easily not moved especially if it was down for repairs… remember that was a maintenance facility for the Alliance's space force. The chances were equally good that it was being disassembled, or overhauled." Odin looked at him. "I was hoping that you would have followed my directions, and not followed in my footsteps…"

"Did you ever listen to grandfather in that respect?" Heero smiled.

"Alright, you have me there." Odin smiled in return "One question though, were you aiming at the gun, or Treize?"

"Huh…" Heero blinked "You always taught me to aim for the largest possible target that would neutralize the threat."

"Then you were aiming at Treize?" Odin looked at him with a cold gaze.

"No, I was aiming for the threat… Treize wasn't aiming properly. The shot he was intending on taking wouldn't have hit its mark." Heero smiled.

"How so?" Odin asked.

"First, he was holding the revolver with one hand… second, it was a double action type so it required more force to pull the trigger, his aim would be thrown off by his wrist moving. His first shot hit the mirror when he was aiming at your head, high and to the right." Heero noted "So even if he had fired, his shot would have probably missed because he wasn't bracing his wrist. Disarming him was the best option."

"It was a risky shot…" Odin looked at him "If you'd missed a little in either direction, you would have hit him, or missed completely."

"Are you saying you would have preferred me to shoot Treize?" Heero asked as he looked at Odin.

"No, I would have preferred you to have not taken the shot at all…" Odin replied.

"It's not the one that you kill that haunts you, it's the one that gets away…" Heero looked at him. "Treize went on to nearly found an autocracy, costing tens of thousands of lives in the process."

"Which he never forgets." Odin countered "Are the suits ready for the operation?"
Heero nodded "The maintenance crews are in the process of reloading ammunition, and minor damage repairs currently."

"Do me a favor, tell Katrina to keep our secrets private… if the A-laws find out too much, it could be a serious detriment to our operations." Odin looked at the light screen monitor on his desk.

"Is that what the senior officer meeting was about?" Heero asked.

"Partially… the other parts were on the lack of information on the satellite weapon, and the people that were identifiable amongst the A-laws forces." Odin turned to him "We've determined who the enemy commander was… Colonel Kati Mannequin, the woman who was in charge of the AEU's unit during your infiltration. If what Sumeragi said was true, she's on par with herself at least tactically, though hopefully she's on our side."

Xxx

Anew sat in the medical bay looking over the data from the test results being run on Ian as a line from the bridge opened on the monitor "Anew, what's Ian's condition?" Sumeragi asked.

"His injuries aren't life threatening. He should be fully recovered within ten days." Anew smiled.

Xxx

"I see…" Holly sighed "So Andrei hates Sergei because he thinks he abandoned me, and left me to die. I don't blame him. Sergei never was very good with kids, so they probably grew apart after I was picked up by Celestial Being…"

"But, you're alive you could…" Marie started.

"Do a lot of things, but how accepting do you think Andrei would be of a mother who turned her back on her family, even though she was alive? One thing he was very good at was when he set his mind on something, he almost never changes it." Holly smiled "And by the sounds of things, he hasn't changed one bit." She looked at Marie "Don't try to hide it… you've been keeping something out of the conversation."
Marie's eyes widened "I… guess you can already tell huh…" she sighed.

"I wasn't using quantum brainwaves…" Holly smiled "it's simple observation, you've been shifting in your seat fidgeting, biting your tongue and your lip from time to time. Though I can sense that you're conflicted about something…"

"Well, umm where do I start with this…" Marie looked over at a photograph of her, and Sergei she had.

The door hissed open "Hey Marie, I heard…" Allelujah blinked seeing Holly "Oh hello I…"

"Yes…" Holly nodded gesturing for him to continue "who are you?"

Allelujah shifted and saluted her "Lieutenant Allelujah Haptism, Ma'am."

"And I am Captain Holly Smirnov, it's a pleasure to meet you Lieutenant…" Holly blinked as Allelujah looked at Marie, then back to her a few times in a row.

"So, I'm guessing that makes her your… umm…" Allelujah blinked "Mo…" before he could finish he found his pillow in his face.

Holly blinked "Wait…" she turned and looked at Marie who looked on the verge of panicking. "Explain it to me one step at a time, and breath…"

"Marie was a designer baby created by the Super Human Institute labs…" Allelujah pulled his pillow free from his face, and sighed.

Holly cracked a faint smile "I think I get where this is going…" she looked at Marie before quickly pulling her into a hug.

"Ahh!" Marie yelped as she was pulled into the tight hug "Holly… I… Uhh…"

"I always wanted a daughter!" Holly beamed as she hugged Marie, before releasing her. "It seems Sergei did at least one thing right… or he learnt how to be more of a father with you."

"About that… umm…" Marie looked at Allelujah, then back to Holly "How do I put this…"

Holly blinked and looked between the two "It's one of three things…"

"Huh?" Allelujah blinked.

"Boyfriend, fiancée, or husband…" Holly pointed at him causing Marie to turn scarlet once again.

"It's the first one…" Allelujah looked at her.

Marie sighed "More like in between one, and two… we're pretty much living together…"

"Does Sergei know this?" Holly looked at her, Marie nodded in reply. "I see…" Holly pursed her lips "Lieutenant Haptism…"

"Yes, Ma'am?" Allelujah looked at her, as her cold glare landed on him.

"I entrust you're using…" Holly trailed off.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT YET!" Marie and Allelujah screamed at the same time, before they looked at each other turning scarlet.

"Just be sure that you do, when you do… oh and if a happy accident does happen…" Holly looked at Marie causing her to blush an even deeper shade of red.

Xxx

"Huh…" Setsuna blinked as the door hissed open to the ready room seeing Saji sitting there with his head hung. He made his way into the room "Saji Crossroad…"

"I saw Louise… she was piloting a mobile suit…" Saji's voice was soft as he spoke. He slumped further "She called out… my name…"
"But, why was she with the A-laws?" Setsuna asked.

Saji's eyes widened as he looked up "Isn't it obvious…" he glared at Setsuna "SHE DESPISES THE GUNDAMS! LOUISE'S PARENTS WERE KILLED BY GUNDAMS, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER!" he snapped in his face as he stood, before slumping back down onto the bench. "It's all because of you guys… It's your fault Louise joined the A-laws, and then she… why… why did this happen… why did it have to be like this?" he shut his eyes and shook as he spoke.

Setsuna blinked and looked at him "Why did it have to be like this? Yeah, I always wondered the same thing… to resist fate, you have to…" "Fight." he looked at Saji.

Saji looked up at him "Huh…"

"If you really wanna get Louise Halevy back from the A-laws, you're gonna have to fight." Setsuna looked at him.

Saji straightened up somewhat "I should… fight them?"

"If she's that important to you, then you should be able to." Setsuna looked at him.

Saji glared as he shot out of his seat clenching his fists "You're saying you want me to kill people?"

"No, I'm not. You'll just be fighting to bring her back…" Setsuna started.

"Just mixing words! When you fight people get hurt, like Louise…" Saji trailed off as he turned away from him.

"When you fight, do it for your own sake..." Setsuna spoke calmly.

Saji spun and decked Setsuna with a left hook sending him to the floor with one punch "Ahh…" Setsuna blinked as he regained his senses.

Saji stood over him fuming "You can't be serious! Listen, I'm not like the rest of you, don't think that I am!" he turned and left the small ready room.

Setsuna pushed himself up as the door hissed open "When did he learn how to throw a punch?" he looked up to see Lockon leaning on the doorframe. "Huh, eavesdropping again?"

Lockon smiled "It wasn't my fault I overheard…" he slipped inside "But you know, you really messed that up."

"What?" Setsuna pushed himself up, as Lockon sat down.

"It probably would have been best if you'd been a little clearer with the kid." Lockon leaned against the lockers "You shoulda said, I'll do the fighting, you just focus on changing her mind, or whatever you gotta do to get her to leave the A-laws."

Setsuna looked away "There's no guarantee that she'll come back…"

"Seems like you're pretty eager to help…" Lockon smiled "making up for mistakes in the past?" he asked calmly.

"Not in the past, this is for the future." Setsuna looked at him.

"I see…" Lockon smiled. "The guy near the truck… it was Saachez wasn't it…"

Setsuna looked at him "Yeah… it's because of what he said… no its because I listened to him that…" he sighed.

"We'll get him…" Lockon looked at him "A monster like that needs to be dealt with… he's worse than the Trinities."

Setsuna winced at the name "I know what they did was uncalled for… but…" he looked at Lockon.

"If it's about the takedown mission, remember most of us weren't there…" Lockon looked at him "But I can take a wild guess that it didn't end all that well for those Trinity bastards…"

"Two of them at least…" Setsuna looked at him "The two brothers, one was killed by Saachez, the other at our hands…"

Lockon's eyes widened "Wait, Saachez was there?"

"Yeah, he killed Michael Trinity, shot once through the heart. Shot down the Eins, where we then…" Setsuna slumped back against the railing. "I hadn't seen anything that cruel in a very long time…"

"Remember, they deliberately targeted civilians without a second thought. With no warnings, they attacked people who hadn't even committed a crime, or could even defend themselves." Lockon looked at him "I don't know what happened there, but after seeing what they did..."

Xxx

The door hissed open to Saji's room and he stepped inside, he allowed the door to shut enveloping him in the dimly lit room. He reached behind his back and pulled out his phone, activating his old messages he read it again "Wait for me in space, I'll catch up to you soon." Saji broke down, slumping against the door before sliding to the floor.

Xxx

Louise sat in the ready room as two A-laws officers cleaned out the lockers of the dead pilots, finally reaching Captain Zinin's locker. She looked up as they packed his uniforms, and finally took down the picture of him and his late wife. Carefully packing them into boxes before closing the locker and leaving.

"That photo sir, is she your wife?" Louise asked.

"Until two months ago that is… she was killed in one of Katharon's acts of anti-Federation terrorism." Zinin replied.

The memories drifted back of the wedding again. Watching Zinin's Ahead being sliced in half by the 00-Raiser.

"I thought I'd find you here Warrant Officer…" A male voice snapped her out of her thoughts. She looked up to see Andrei. He stopped in front of her as she stood "I heard Captain Zinin was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel…"

"Oh, is that so…" Louise sighed as she averted her gaze.

"When we were fighting, and during whatever that was, that young man..." Andrei looked at her "Tell me, what was that about?"

"I don't know…" Louise spoke softly.

"You communicated with the enemy didn't you?" Andrei looked at her "You called out to him…"

"No I don't…" Louise's gaze became cold.

"But warrant officer, you do know one of the enemy!" Andrei looked at her. "He seemed like a close friend of yours…"

"HE'S NOT, THOSE PEOPLE KILLED MY FAMILY!" Louise snapped as she glared at him causing Andrei to take a step back. "THEY'LL BRING NOTHING BUT CHAOS TO OUR WORLD, AND THAT'S WHY I…" she trailed off, as Andrei caught her wrist. "Wha… what are you doing?" she blinked as she looked at him.

"Such a slender arm, you wouldn't think it belonged to a pilot…" Andrei looked at her "Someone like you shouldn't be in the A-laws…" he winced as she grabbed his wrist, and pressed hard on his pressure point forcing him to release her. "Ahh…" he winced as he held his wrist in pain.

"Excuse me…" Louise stepped around him, and out through the other ready room.

Andrei sighed as he rubbed his wrist and flexed his fingers back and forth to regain the feeling in his hand.

The door hissed open again and Milou walked in slowly "The hell was that…" he shook his head as he walked to his locker, not even noticing Andrei.

Andrei blinked as he looked over at Milou talking to himself "The captain… but…"

"Was the Colonel right? Did someone screw with my memories…?"Milou mumbled, as he unzipped his flight suit.

Andrei blinked "That's right… if the Captain is the Major General's son… then that makes him Milou Peacecraft, but why would he…"

"Huh…" Milou blinked as he saw Andrei in the mirror of his locker "How long have you been there Lieutenant?"

"The whole time Captain…" Andrei looked at him.

"I see… tell me, what did you think about what we saw?" Milou looked over at him as he pulled his uniform on.

"To be honest, it's a little hard to believe…" Andrei looked at him "Though, given what we've seen from the Gundams and what little data we have on them…"

"I meant about my father…" Milou looked at him "and his squadron… Colonel Farkill, Commander Le Creuset."

Andrei blinked "Well I'm not sure…"

"All three of them were there… in those memories. Along with my mother…" Milou trailed off as he winced in pain before nearly collapsing into the locker.

"Captain!" Andrei started forward.

"I… Wha…" Milou steadied himself, as his eyes widened "She was there…"

"Who was?" Andrei looked at him.

"She was with the Preventers… my mother was with them." Milou shook his head.

"How can you be sure?" Andrei blinked as he helped Milou to a seat.

"I saw her…" Milou's breathing was heavy as he cupped his head in his hands.

Xxx

Revive slammed his fist against the wall "I can't believe we were bested in battle by mere humans!" he glared, as Bring leaned against the wall next to him. "If only Ribbons had told us what the twin drive was really capable of doing…" he trailed off as they sensed it.

"Ah…" Bring straightened up as they sensed the quantum brainwaves.

"Ribbons Almark…" Revive blinked. "Bring did you hear that?" he looked at him.

"We are to capture the 00." Bring looked at Revive.

Revive nodded "And he's getting Hilling and Divine involved in this as well." He looked at Bring "Is it… Is it possible that not even Ribbons knew about the twin drive's capabilities?"

Xxx

"The satellite weapon was fired again?" A Katharon officer looked at Ikeda.

"Yeah, at Richiela's Military base…" Ikeda looked at him.

"Are all the Middle Eastern armies being wiped out?" The officer turned to another Katharon agent.

"Hold on a minute, wasn't there a refugee camp with over a million people next to Richiela's base?" Shirin asked as she looked around at them.

"They…" Ikeda looked at her "Might have been wiped out too…"

Klaus clenched his fist as he braced himself against the table "Just killing innocent people like that…" he snarled as they looked at him "TO HELL WITH THEIR SO CALLED UNITED WORLD!" he slammed his fist against the table causing several coffee cups to tip over.

Xxx

Marina listened to Klaus's shouts from outside the command center "Does the Federation government, really think these kinds of methods will bring about a lasting peace?"

She pushed herself off of the wall and walked down towards the children's room where they were sleeping calmly. She sighed as she knelt down and adjusted Abed's blanket so that it was covering him again. "It seems as if all our lands, our people, our countries are disappearing…"

Xxx

"Under a gag order?" Sergei gaped at Kim on the monitor in his office. "Just what are you saying commander? It's obvious that the A-laws used the solar power generation system, to perform a high output laser attack from orbit. A weapon of mass destruction like that is…"

"This is an order from the Federation President." Kim glared at him. "We can't ignore it."

Sergei's eyes widened "So, Wufei was right, it really does go all the way to the top…" "All of the soldiers out here witnessed the destruction first hand! Rumors are going to spread quickly! Many of them are starting to question the methods of the A-laws."

"That's why I want you, to act as a monitor." Kim looked at him from the monitor "To make sure the gag order is strictly enforced."

"Is that a direct order?" Sergei asked flatly "Commander?"

"Of course it is." Kim looked at him "And there will be no change in military policy." He closed the line.

Sergei sighed as he returned to his seat "A soldier always follows orders…" he looked at the photograph of himself, Holly, and their friend Pang Hercury. "Then there's the Preventers, there's no doubt that they're going to target it… and then there's that report that the main A-laws base in the region was leveled by a surprise attack from the Preventers with no survivors yet found... Everything is pointing towards it being a retaliatory strike against the A-laws use of the satellite weapon."

Xxx

"Feldt, has there been any response at all from Wang Liu Mei?" Sumeragi asked as she looked back at her.

"No, she hasn't replied yet." Feldt shook her head.

Sumeragi sighed, "We need reliable information on the satellite weapon…"

Feldt blinked as a message opened on her monitor causing her to look back at the screen "Huh, I'm getting a report the satellite weapon fired a second shot at Earth!"

"What did you say?" Ruido looked back at his daughter.

"We can't waste anymore time…" Sumeragi turned and brought up a light screen in front of her "Attention all hands, this is Sumeragi. As soon as the repairs to Ptolemy's hull are complete, we'll use Trans-AM to move out at full acceleration! We'll begin our assault on the enemy's satellite weapon on the orbital ring."

Xxx

Saji looked up as the announcement continued "Repairs on the Gundams will continue as we accelerate. Everyone, let's give it our best." The message ended.

"But Louise is in this sector…" Saji stood "I'll be leaving her… " he looked over at the red Haro "I'll need a favor, Haro."

"What is it? what is it?"red Haro chirped happily.

Xxx

Mileina stood in front of the Seravee as she continued the diagnostic tests, while the Karel's worked on its external structure.

"Mileina…" Tieria touched down next to her.

"Mr. Erde, it'll definitely be fixed for the mission." Mileina smiled as she looked at the Seravee.

Tieria nodded "Make sure…"

Xxx

"So the Ptolemy's going ahead to being the operation, without any data on the weapon yet…" Athrun blinked as he looked at Miriallia on the monitor.

"Yeah, though its with good reason, it fired a second shot, the surface forces are already moving out in response, they're going to hit the A-laws southern most base near the African orbital elevator." Miriallia brought up the data.

"Any change on the status of the operation plans?" Athrun continued typing bringing up data as he sat in the cockpit.

"No…" Miriallia shook her head "The regular forces haven't been fully organized yet to deploy."

"Haven't been organized, or are the bureaucrats arguing again on how large of a force they should organize?" Athrun up from his work.

"A bit of both… there's a movement in the ESUN's parliament to make an attempt at trying to wage an information war instead of one with troop deployment, relying almost solely on us." Kira appeared on the screen in a window next to Miriallia's.

"What are Cagalli, Lacus, and Relena doing about it?" Athrun asked.

"Last I heard from Lacus and Cagalli, they're trying to get us more troops, but there's resistance within the ESUN's parliament, and from within the smaller Earth Alliance nations. Orb is doing its best, but you know its still trying to recover from the wars… The PLANTS are just like the ESUN, divided on just how to go about conducting this one."

Athrun sighed as he let his head fall back against the headrest of his seat "It sounds like they're agreeing on disagreeing…"

"Yeah, that about sums it up." Miriallia nodded "Though, I remember hearing from Cagalli that if the Federation's regular forces were to crack, and resist the A-laws they would really gain ground on getting us more troops."

"What's the chances of a Coup D'état happening?" Athrun asked as another monitor opened with the data calculated by the Z.E.R.O. system. "Huh… its really that high…" he leaned forward.

"What's the chance?" Kira asked.

"Mid forties… between forty five and six percent." Athrun looked at him "A lot higher than I thought… think we could bump it a little higher?"

"Not sure, but we can pass the data onto Treize..." Kira shrugged.

"Do it, I'd rather have a little backup than having fifty to one odds in every battle." Athrun smiled.

Xxx

Lyle sighed as he took his seat in the cockpit of the Cherudim SAGA "I wonder if Klaus, and my friends are safe?"

"Don't worry… remember, the surface fleet is keeping in close contact with Katharon." Lockon smiled at him on the monitor.

Allelujah floated up towards the Arios on their monitors as they waited on standby.

Xxx

The door to the crew's quarters hissed open and Marie started in with the boxes of folded uniforms "Huh…" she blinked to see Saji leaving his room with the red Haro wearing a normal suit. "Mr. Crossroad, where are you going?"

Saji caught the hand hold at the junction in the hall "Huh oh…" he looked back at her "Umm, just a little something they asked me to do. Bye." He kicked off again.

Marie blinked "He seems kind of…"

"Off…" Holly finished causing her to jump.

"When did you…" Marie blinked and gaped at her.

Holly smiled "It's one of those things you learn when you become a mother…"

Marie turned scarlet "I am not going to… well…" she pursed her lips.

"Boink your boyfriend's brains out…" Holly giggled causing Marie to turn an even brighter shade of red.

"IT'S NOT LIKE THAT YET!" Marie screamed, nearly throwing the laundry all over the hall.

Xxx

Saji floated into the hangar where the 0-Raiser sat "I have to see Louise… she shouldn't be with the A-laws." He touched down on the cockpit of the machine and dropped inside, setting red Haro into the dock while taking his seat. "This has nothing to do with us… we shouldn't even be here in the first place. Just leave war to the guys who actually wanna fight." He began the boot sequence for the machines operating system. He glared "We're gonna get back everything we had… those times, those days…"

"Ignoring reality like that is just a kind of inadvertent malice! Then things like this happen!" Tieria's words echoed in his head once again as he remembered seeing the Katharon base massacre. "You're the one who took their lives you know! Through your own foolish actions!"

Saji released the controls as he shook sitting there, he looked at his hands "I… was about to do the same thing… But what should I do? What am I supposed to do…? Oh Louise…"

Xxx

Setsuna sighed and turned to head for his machine "It's his decision whether or not he wants to fight…"

Xxx

"The solar reactors of Cherudim, Seravee, Arios, and the SAGA are now directly linked up to Ptolemy's power system." Feldt relayed from her station.

Sumeragi nodded as she opened a line with the other captains, and Treize "We're going to commence Trans-AM, and commence the operation."

"Very well Captain, we'll be right behind you… but remember you're on your own for five minutes… we can't quite match the Trans-AM's output with the PX system yet..." Treize looked at her "Be careful."

"Roger that sir." Sumeragi nodded, as the line closed she opened another channel with the Gundam pilots. "Initiate Trans-AM!" she ordered.

Xxx

"Trans-AM!" Allelujah nodded as the Arios started up first. Followed shortly by Cherudim, Seravee, and the SAGA.

Xxx

"Ptolemy, maximum output!" Sumeragi ordered as the ship turned towards the orbital rings.

"Roger!" Ruido replied as he pushed the ships throttle to its full output, gradually accelerating, and quickly outpacing the other warships of the Preventers fleet.

Xxx

Saji wept in the cockpit of the 0-Raiser as the announcements came over the machine's communications system "I'm sorry Louise…"

Xxx

Louise stood in the darkness of her room looking at a photograph of herself, and Saji on her phone. "Why… why are you with the Preventers, Saji?" she exited the photo and saw the whole file full of pictures of the two of them. An option came up to delete the entirety of the photos. She hesitated for a moment, before she scrolled up to the other options and closed the file.

Xxxxxx

Now for a line of RIP's Marticus, Katrina (Non-AI), Vingt, Angelina, Leia Barton, unfortunately blindsided pilots A and B who were taken out by 00-Raiser and Selatiel. And a belated RIP for Captain Barrack Zinin.

Not gonna lie, Dix is a twisted SOB… good thing he's dead… oh wait… his good buddy Ribbons is still alive…

"Hey now…" Ali grinned as he walked over. "The boss said he'd like a word with ya…"

HELP ME!

"DROP DEAD!" Saji yelled over.

"Yeah, you can kiss my ass making us relive those memories…" Dearka waved at Ali "Take him away…"

I'll buy you a keg Dearka! IF YOU SAVE ME!

"DONE!" Dearka leapt over the couch and charged Ali.

"Elsman, you sellout!" Yzak gaped at him.

"The almighty hierarchy takes precedence Yzak, girls, booze, buds… so on and so forth" Dearka shrugged "I've already got a girl, so booze takes the cake, and he's offering a lot…"

"DON'T WORRY I'LL SAVE YOU ALD, BECAUSE I'M COLASOUR THE INDESTRUCTIBLE!" Patrick charged past both Ali and Dearka "HA HA, NOW HE'S OURS, WE'LL WIN FOR SURE!"

"Come back with my paycheck!" Ali charged after him.

"COME BACK WITH MY BOOZE!" Dearka charged after Ali.

"Ugh…" Yzak walked over to the computer "See you next chapter… if we can get the writer back… if not… we'll just wing it…"