Author's notes: Hey, I'm finally back. Another long chapter here, and it's gonna be long ones for the rest of the fic. For those of you who wanted me to reduce the length… just give up, ok? It's not gonna happen; this is just my style, and I'm not changing it.

Action doesn't kick off until the second half, but trust me; it's more than worth the wait.

Song list for the chapter in order of appearance: "La Distancia Para Un Duelo" from the Bleach OST, "Mayhem" from the Ace Combat Zero OST, "Ranbu no Melody", the 13th opening theme for the Bleach anime, and "The Demon of the Round Table" from the Ace Combat Zero OST.

Enjoy!

Episode Twenty-Five: Dogs of War

"Did he say anything else?" asked Heero.

It was nearly an hour after the battle had ended, and the Gundam pilot was with Murrue inside the Archangel's medical bay. The two of them were standing on the right side of Mu La Flaga's bed as the wounded pilot recounted what had happened when he and Kira had gone inside the Mendel colony. The Archangel had formed up with the Eternal and the Kusanagi, and once all three ships had recovered their mobile suits they had swiftly left the L4 debris field, their vector bound for the Debris Belt between Earth, the Moon, and the five Lagrange Points. The Hawk of Endymion's shoulder was bandaged, and an IV was attached to his right forearm.

Mu shook his head. "No, he got the hell out of dodge once his arm seized up. We spoke again during our fight, but it wasn't anything meaningful; just insults and hot air."

"I'm amazed he told you as much as he did," said Murrue, shaking her head, "To think that all this time one of ZAFT's top pilots was an illegal clone… and one of an Atlantic Federation billionaire, at that."

"Among other things," said Heero, his eyes narrowing, "If what he told you is true, then he's been playing both sides like fiddles throughout this war. Azrael, Zala… the extremists in the Alliance and ZAFT have been the perfect pawns in his scheme."

"It's hard to believe," said Murrue, "One man manipulating two major powers, driving them to such fanaticism and hatred…"

Mu nodded. "I know what you mean. I had a hard time absorbing it myself. Still, as crazy as it sounds, I don't think Creuset was lying." The ace pilot closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them Heero could see the grim acceptance in them. "That hatred, the sheer venom and contempt in his voice… he didn't fake that. That was real, his true feelings… and his true goal."

One he's well on the way to achieving, thought Heero grimly, The Earth Alliance and ZAFT have made this conflict a war of extermination, and he's played no small role in fostering that atmosphere.

The skillful manipulations of Creuset reminded the Gundam pilot of the plans carried out by Treize Kushrenada and Zechs Merquise in the final campaigns of his old war. However, while the respective leaders of the World Nation and White Fang had ultimately sought to rid mankind of its will to fight through their final battle, Creuset's true agenda was nothing less than the complete eradication of the human race. It was a very stark contrast, one that served to illustrate to Heero just how different this war was from his last one.

"Do you have any idea how he plans to accomplish his objective?" asked Heero, "Genocide on that scale can't be accomplished through conventional means, especially if the goal is to push both sides towards mutual annihilation."

Murrue nodded. "From what Creuset told you, La Flaga, along with what happened when he was about to shoot you and Kira, it doesn't sound like time is on his side. Given the health problems and deterioration he faces as a clone, a conventional campaign would simply take too long. He wouldn't live to see the end of it, to know that his will had been accomplished."

Mu shook his head. "I know, but he didn't exactly drop any big hints regarding the ultimate means to his end. If I had to hazard a guess though, I'd say the fact that ZAFT has found a way to counteract the effects of the N-Jammers will definitely play a part. Nuclear power would be a very useful tool for the kind of bloodbath he wants to unleash."

"Agreed," said Heero, "that covers one side that he's been manipulating, but if he wants the extermination to be mutual then the Alliance needs more power as well. Right now there's an imbalance to his scheme."

"Yes," said Murrue, looking down in thought, "the Alliance has superior numbers and is now able to field mobile suits, but ZAFT's been upgrading their arsenal and now can utilize nuclear power. Combine that with the secret weapon Bristow suggested that Zala has under construction, and the tables are tipped too far in ZAFT's favor, regardless of the recent strategic gains the Alliance has made on Earth and in outer space."

Mu nodded. "You're right about that. The most readily available tool for the Alliance would be their nuclear arsenal; after all, aside from the missile they launched at Junius Seven at the start of this war, it hasn't been touched. But they're not the ones who made the N-Jammer Canceller breakthrough, so it's still useless. How Creuset plans to bring them back on to par with ZAFT as far as the annihilation game goes, I don't have a clue."

The three of them were quiet for a moment, the shadow of Creuset's dark plan hanging over them. Eventually it was Murrue that broke the silence.

"Do you think it has something to do with Flay?" she asked, "When she was launched from the ZAFT destroyer, she said something about having the 'key' that would end the war. The Alliance managed to recover her; could Creuset have planned that?"

"It's possible," said Mu, "at this point I wouldn't put anything past the guy. Not sure what that 'key' is though. A single-occupant life-pod's pretty cramped; not a lot of storage room in there."

Heero's eyes narrowed, a grim thought coming to mind. "That might not have been an issue for him."

"Heero?" asked Murrue, looking at him with concern, "What do you mean?"

"Information," said Heero, "You know how small data storage devices can be. What if Creuset sent a flash drive, disk, or a file over with Flay? Storage space wouldn't be a problem then; she could just keep it in her pocket."

"Oh, shit," said Mu, his eyes widening, "What if he had access to information on ZAFT's N-Jammer Cancellers? If that's what Flay was carrying…"

"Then we're all in big trouble," Murrue finished for him, her expression grim, "Damn it, I need to inform Waltfeld and the others. We don't know for certain if that's what she was carrying, but it's definitely a possibility."

"One we need to prepare for," said Heero, nodding, "If that technology has been transferred to the Alliance, then this war's about to get a lot uglier."

"Damn," Mu groaned, "and it's bad enough already…"

"How long will you be down?" asked Murrue, "I know it'll take Chief Murdoch and his crews a few days to restore the Tallgeese Kai, and Dr. Clark estimated a similar timeframe for your own recovery, but I want your personal assessment."

"Two days," said Mu, nodding determinedly, "I'm not staying in this bed any longer than that; too much at stake for me to be lying around."

"Take three," advised Heero, "You know how powerful the Tallgeese Kai's engines are; your wound could easily reopen if you're not careful."

Murrue nodded. "Heero's right, La Flaga. I appreciate your enthusiasm and trust your judgment, but don't push things too fast. I'm sure Waltfeld doesn't plan on engaging the enemy any time soon, so take it easy while you can."

"With all due respect, Captain," said Mu, "none of us planned on fighting Natarle today either. We didn't get much of a choice there, and I doubt the enemy will listen if we ask them nicely to come back later."

"I'm aware of that," said Murrue, "and we'll cross that bridge if we come to it. For now though, I'm ordering you to focus on your recovery for the next three days. Is that clear?"

Mu nodded. "Yes, Captain."

"Good," said Murrue, "I need to brief Waltfeld on what you've told me, not to mention the possibility the three of us just discussed. Take care, La Flaga."

She turned to go, and Heero nodded at the Hawk of Endymion before following her. However, before the two of them left the medical bay Mu called out to them. "Hey, Captain? Heero?"

They looked back at Mu, who nodded and smiled. "Thanks for holding back in the fight with Natarle. I know it couldn't have been easy, especially for you, Heero. I owe you both big time."

Murrue smiled. "Don't worry about it, La Flaga. If I can avoid killing a friend, then I will gladly take that opportunity."

Heero nodded, but he didn't share Murrue's smile. "I can make no promises regarding future battles, La Flaga. If Natarle's actions threaten the Archangel again, I'll do what I must."

"I know," Mu replied, "Still, you have my thanks, Heero."

Heero nodded. "You're welcome."

With that he and Murrue left the medical bay. As the door shut behind them he heard Murrue sigh. Turning to her, the Gundam pilot saw the woman he loved looking down at the floor, her expression one of guilt.

"This is all my fault," she said, "I should've gone after Flay's pod, regardless of the risks. I didn't though, and now…"

"Don't," said Heero firmly, grabbing her hand, "I won't let you finish that sentence, Murrue. This was not your fault."

"Heero…" said Murrue softly, her eyes widening.

"You didn't have the resources to go after the pod," said Heero, "Between the Alliance battle group and the ZAFT destroyer everyone under your command was engaged. Even if you had sent someone after Flay, there was the very real chance that she could've been killed in the resulting clash, and I know you were aware of that at the time. You were trying to protect everyone you could and drive off the enemy, and you accomplished that mission. Creuset and his insanity are to blame for this, not you!"

"But Heero," said Murrue, "if what we speculated on earlier is true and Flay was indeed carrying data on the N-Jammer Cancellers, then the Alliance now has access to that technology! They'll begin producing the devices and mobilizing their nuclear arsenal!"

"They'll still have to test the devices, make sure they work," Heero replied, "and then there's the task of building and fitting the N-Jammer Cancellers to their missiles. That will take time, and while we can't stop them from doing that, we can stop them from using them on the PLANTs."

"Murrue," Heero continued, releasing her hand before grabbing her by the shoulders, "you are not to blame for this. You did the best you could in a bad situation, and you acted with the intent of preserving not just the lives under your command, but Flay's as well. If Creuset hadn't drawn Kira and Mu into Mendel, then maybe they would've been in a position to get to the pod before the Alliance could, but that's not how things turned out. He set things up well, manipulated both sides into serving his sick agenda, while we're just trying to survive and protect those we care about. Maybe he did manage to give the Alliance the key to restoring their most powerful weapons, but you had nothing to do with that. So what if we failed to stop them this time? We're still alive, and still in the fight. We'll prepare, we'll come back harder and stronger, and we'll be ready to stop the Alliance, ZAFT, and Creuset when it counts!"

Murrue closed her eyes, and for a moment Heero feared he had taken the wrong approach, but his doubts were eased when she met his gaze again. He could see that familiar warm strength flowing from her eyes, and he knew that she had taken his words to heart.

I hate seeing her burden herself with guilt like that, he thought, especially when she's done nothing wrong. I'll do all I can to ease her burdens… and it looks like I accomplished that now.

"Heero," said Murrue, smiling at him, "thank you."

Before Heero could reply she leaned in to kiss him. Her warm, full lips met his, and the Gundam pilot lost himself in her touch. They embraced each other as the kiss deepened, letting out all the fears they'd had for each other's safety during the battle, taking comfort in the knowledge that they had once again survived and could be with the one they loved.

Eventually their lips parted, and Heero gave Murrue a small smile. "You're welcome, Murrue."

They held each other for a moment before the inevitable parting. "I'm going to write up a report on the battle," said Murrue, "I can give Waltfeld a better perspective of what happened on our end of the fight and fill him in on what we just discussed with La Flaga."

Heero nodded. "I'll head down to Wing Zero and retrieve the combat data for the battle. You can attach it to the report; it'll be another set of eyes for Waltfeld to look at. Maybe he'll see something we missed."

"You don't have to do that, Heero," said Murrue, "You were in the thickest part of the battle. Out of all of us, you fought the hardest today Heero, and I'm sure you're tired. Get some rest."

"I'll rest when you do," Heero replied firmly, "You fought as hard as I did, Murrue, and you're not giving yourself a break. If you're going to keep working, then I'll do all I can to help you."

The Gundam pilot could've sworn he saw a hint of red appear in Murrue's face. "I don't know if I'd go that far," she said, "I'll admit commanding the Archangel in such a fight was difficult, but it's not like I was in the center of things like you."

Heero shook his head. "It doesn't matter. You were leading and protecting those under your command, not to mention trying to find a way to fight Natarle without killing her. I know that wasn't an easy task for you, Murrue."

Murrue shook her head. "No, it wasn't." She sighed. "I hope Natarle will be alright. Her superiors won't be happy that her ship's the sole survivor of her battle group, not to mention the fact that the Dominion's severely damaged; it'll be out of action for months."

Heero nodded. "I know, but there's no point in us worrying about her now. We have to concentrate on ourselves and our friends, Murrue. Natarle can take care of herself and defend her actions, you know that."

Murrue nodded. "You're right." She then smiled, and Heero was pleased to see the confidence and vigor in her eyes. "Ok, I'd better get to work on that report; there's a lot I'll need to include in it before I send it to Waltfeld."

"I'll bring up Wing Zero's data as soon as I can," said Heero, "I also want to supervise the reloading of the shoulder gatlings and run a maintenance check while I'm down in the hangar."

"Good idea," said Murrue, "and once we're done with everything, we can grab dinner together."

"I'll be looking forward to it," said Heero, giving her another small smile.

Murrue leaned forward to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "I'll see you later, my love."

"Count on it," Heero replied.

….

"I'm surprised Pris got the most kills between the three of us back there," said Lan as she, Adaline, and Priscilla floated through the corridors of the Eternal. They'd changed out of their flight suits and were now wearing their old crimson uniforms.

Priscilla looked down sheepishly. "We'll, in the last part of the fight I was covering you two while you hit the capital ships. I got to engage more mobile suits as a result, so I had an unfair advantage really."

Adaline smiled at the soft-spoken member of their trio. "True, but don't sell yourself short, Pris. You got on a roll, and you kept the enemy off our backs in the process. Good job."

The blond girl perked up a bit at the red-head's words. "Thanks, Adaline."

"Anytime," she replied. Her friend's modesty was endearing, but there were times when Adaline wished Priscilla would give herself a little more credit.

Our Commander considered her a good enough pilot to bring her onto the team, she thought, that ought to say enough as it is. Plus there's the fact that she's the best out of the three of us when it comes to marksmanship and computer skills. She's got plenty of talents to brag about, no doubts there.

"Of course," said Lan, "that doesn't change the fact that we were completely beat out by the Commander and Heero."

"Don't tell me you're surprised," said Adaline, smirking, "We're good, but those two are in a league of their own."

"Indeed," said Priscilla, "I hope we'll get the chance to see footage from the Archangel's side of the battlefield; I'm sure Wing Zero was at the center of their fight against the Alliance forces."

"Without a doubt," said Lan, smiling, "and I bet the Alliance is wishing they brought a bigger fleet right about now."

"No argument there," said Adaline as they rounded a corner.

The trio's mood became somber as they saw the telltale red cross symbol over a nearby doorway; the Eternal's medical bay. Their banter faded, and indeed it had only been a way to mask the anxiety they had been feeling as they traveled through the hallways. They had heard that Kira had been wounded when the Freedom had been hit, and their journey had been to see him as soon as the medics had finished their immediate work on the young man. Now that they were in sight of their destination, their worries returned in full force.

Kira, Adaline thought as she approached the door, please, be ok.

The door slid open, and it didn't take long for Adaline to spot the Freedom's pilot. The boy was lying down and unconscious. He was shirtless, and his torso was covered in bandages. Adaline was reminded of the times she and her friends had visited Kira while he was recovering at the Clyne estate, but when she had seen him his wounds had not been this fresh. His face was pale and slick with sweat. Adaline could only hope that the boy had been given some powerful painkillers; looking at him right now, she could not begin to imagine how much his wounds had hurt.

"Poor kid…" she heard Lan murmur.

"I didn't think it'd be this bad…" said Priscilla, and Adaline saw her face become pale. Adaline couldn't blame her; she was sure hers was a little lighter as well.

Beside Kira's bed was Lacus. The beautiful songstress was to the left of the young man, clutching his hand tightly. She was clearly distraught, and seeing her like that only made the situation worse.

She's already lost her father, thought Adaline, now she's seeing the boy she loves like this. It's not the first time, of course, but back when Reverend Malchio brought Kira to the PLANTs I don't think Lacus's feelings for him were as strong as they are now. I'd bet my life she's in love with him, and for her to only be able to stay at his side when he's like this, nothing else she can do… damn, this isn't good for her.

Lacus wasn't alone. On the right side of the bed was Dr. Alexandra Bakulev, the Eternal's chief medical officer. At thirty-three years old, the Russian-born First Generation Coordinator was the kind of woman a patient would want to attend to them. She was a relatively tall woman, with a curvy figure and long, flowing black hair that normally fell almost to her waist, though during surgery she would tie it back in a bun as she had now. Her dark brown eyes had a very gentle and soothing feel to them, matching the motherly aura that the lovely Ruskie exuded. She wore the standard green ZAFT uniform, but on her right breast was a white patch with a red cross in the middle of it, signaling her role as a member of the medical staff.

"Hey, Doc," said Adaline nervously as she approached, "how's he doing?"

Alexandra sighed as she turned towards the trio. "He's stable, and we've removed all the shrapnel, but his recovery will take time. The trauma from his wounds was severe, and I fear that may not have been the end of it."

"What do you mean?" asked Lan in trepidation.

"I can't say for sure," the doctor replied, "It's not physical; it's mental. Before we sedated him, Kira seemed very distraught."

"Given his injuries, wouldn't that be natural?" asked Priscilla.

Alexandra nodded before untying her bun and letting her lustrous raven hair fall. "Yes, Miss Dalca. However, Kira's behavior was different. A young man in his position would normally just be trying to block out the physical pain. Kira kept shaking his head back and forth, muttering the words 'Flay' and 'sorry' over and over again."

"Flay…" said Adaline, looking down, "I think that was the name of the girl that was broadcasting over the open channel."

"The one from the pod the Vesalius launched?" asked Lan.

Adaline nodded. "My sensors showed it was a standard, single-occupant pod. The voice coming from it was definitely female, and I'm pretty sure I heard her say 'Flay' more than once."

"I think it's safe to say that Kira knew her, judging from how he was acting before we sedated him," said Alexandra, "beyond that, I cannot say what the tie between them is, or why he reacted the way he did when she was taken by the Alliance."

"Old flame, maybe?" mused Lan.

"Shush," hissed Priscilla, looking towards Kira and back to Lan, "Not now, Lan, and definitely not in front of Lacus."

"Right," Lan whispered, looking abashed, "sorry."

Adaline glanced back towards the pink-haired songstress. If the girl had heard Lan's comment, she gave no sign of it. Her attention was focused solely on Kira, something Adaline gave silent thanks for.

"Doc," she said, turning back to Alexandra, "is there anything we can do?"

"Well, I can't say for certain how long Kira will be out," the woman replied, "medically speaking, all the major work's already been done." She then gave Adaline and her friends an encouraging smile. "I'm confident he'll pull through, but having friendly faces by his side when he comes too certainly wouldn't hurt."

Alexandra looked back at the boy, her expression becoming concerned as she watched him and Lacus. "What worries me is his mental state, his emotional well-being. There's more at work here than just battlefield wounds. Something happened, though whether it just involved this Flay or another part of the battle I cannot say." She turned back to Adaline and the others. "It will be up to his friends to help him deal with whatever plagues his soul. I hope you're up to the task if Miss Clyne requires assistance, girls."

All three of the Valkyrie's subordinates nodded. "Count on it," said Adaline.

"We'll do everything we can," said Priscilla.

"Kira and Lacus are our friends," said Lan, "If they need our help, we'll come running."

Alexandra smiled again. "I'm glad to hear that. Now, if you ladies will excuse me, I need to update the Field Marshal. You can hang around for as long as you like, but please don't disturb the patient... and be careful with Miss Clyne."

"We understand, doctor," said Adaline, nodding.

As Alexandra went to her office the three girls went over to Kira's bed. "Hey," said Adaline, causing Lacus to look up, "you doing alright?"

The songstress nodded, giving a weak smile. "I'm ok, Adaline." She looked at the Australian Coordinator's two companions. "Lan, Priscilla… I'm glad you're all ok."

The girls nodded, and Lan moved around to Lacus's side of the bed and put her hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Lacus," she said, "Kira will get through this; you know how tough he is."

"Yeah," said Priscilla, smiling, "If he could survive what happened to him in the Marshall Islands, then there's no way this will keep him down."

Lacus nodded. "Yes, you're right." Her gaze returned to the young man, and Adaline saw her smile disappear. "Still, it's hard to be optimistic when I see Kira like this."

"I know," said Adaline, "but you're not going to do him any good by worrying yourself to death, Lacus. Don't get me wrong, I think it's great that you're willing to stay by his side like this, but you shouldn't overdo it. You need rest, Lacus."

The girl shook her head. "I'm grateful for your concern, Adaline, but I'm not leaving his side."

Damn, thought Adaline, for such a gentle girl, she can really be stubborn sometimes.

Adaline had to resist a smile as another thought ran through her mind. Then again, she mused, she does love him, so I guess it's really no surprise.

"Come on," said Lan, "today was rough, Lacus. You should get some food and shuteye."

"I don't see you three doing that," Lacus shot back, "and you were flying in combat; that's far more energy-intensive than anything I did today."

"True," said Adaline, "but day-to-day, your burdens are by far greater than ours. The three of us are just pilots, Lacus. You're one of the leaders of our organization, and while you hide it well we know that that's a lot of pressure on your shoulders. You're carrying out your father's will, keeping his legacy and the dream he died for alive; don't pretend that's not a burden."

Lacus sighed. "What would you have me do? I know that you're right, but I simply can't walk away from Kira right now! He was wounded because I asked him to fight for my father's ideals."

"With all due respect, Lacus," said Priscilla, her expression stern, "that's a load of bullshit."

"What?" said Lacus, her eyes widening. Adaline actually found herself resisting the urge to smirk; the songstress definitely wasn't used to someone talking to her the way Pris had just done, and despite the seriousness of the situation it was actually a bit refreshing.

Plus it's Pris, thought Adaline, She's usually the most polite of the three of us, and Lacus is well aware of that.

"Kira knew what he was getting into," said Priscilla, "and he volunteered to fight for more than just the ideals that you and your father shared and impressed upon him. He's fighting to protect his friends and to give this world a future, just like the rest of us. He's willing to take the same risks the rest of us are, and he would do so whether or not you asked him to."

"She's right," said Lan, smiling, "I know it's rough, seeing him like this, and I'm sure it's easy to find a way to blame yourself given the role you played in getting him the Freedom, but it's not your fault that he wound up like this, Lacus."

"Kira's with us now out of his own choice," Adaline chimed in, "Our fight, your fight, is his fight, and he wants it that way. His injuries can be chalked up to his actions and those of the enemy, but not yours, Lacus… and he wouldn't want you to feel otherwise." The red-head gave the pink-haired girl a smile. "Guys are like that, and Kira's no exception."

Lacus looked down at the young man for a moment, and Adaline feared her words and those of her friends had been in vain. However, a few seconds later she turned back to the girls, a small smile on her face. "Thank you, all of you."

"Anytime," said Adaline, "we're your friends, Lacus; we're not just gonna sit by and watch while you beat yourself up for something that's not your fault."

Lan nodded. "What she said. Now, will you please get a bit of rest?"

"I will later," the songstress replied, "though I will still stay here. I don't think Waltfeld needs any input from me for the immediate future; evading pursuit and plotting our next course is something he has the authority to take care of, and is far more capable of doing so than I would be. If something else comes up, he knows where I'll be; right here. So I will stay by Kira's side for the time being and support his recovery. I can rest on one of the other beds when I need to, and make a trip to the mess hall when necessary."

Adaline sighed, but she wouldn't push the matter. "It's progress…" she muttered.

"So long as you're taking care of yourself," said Lan, "I guess we can't ask more than that."

"Are you sure you'll be alright?" asked Priscilla.

Lacus smiled. "I appreciate your concern, but I'll be fine." She looked back at Kira. "I'm sure Kira could use it more."

Adaline nodded. "True enough. Alright, I'm gonna run by the mess hall and bring us back some food. Lan, Pris; grab a bite and hit the hay."

Her fellow pilots gave her a puzzled look, and they were joined by Lacus.

Adaline sighed and gave them a weary smile. "Lacus, even with what you just said, we can't just leave you like this. So one of us is going to be with you while you're staying here, whether you like it or not. I'll take the first shift; Lan and Pris can work out who gets second and third after they get some sleep.

All three girls nodded, and Lacus bowed her head in appreciation. "Thank you."

"Anytime, Lacus," Adaline replied.

….

Shemei sighed as she entered the quarters she shared with Eric and saw her lover at the small table, his eyes glued to his laptop. "Still at it?" she asked as she brought a tray laden with food and drink over to the table and set it beside the computer, "Come on, Eric, you've been going over combat footage for three hours now, and the battle didn't last nearly that long. You're overdoing it, love."

Eric shook his head, his expression somber. "I screwed up, Shemei. The least I can do is study the data and learn from my mistakes."

"Whoa, back up there!" said Shemei as she sat down next to him, "What are you talking about, Eric? You protected the Archangel in a fierce battle against a superior enemy force. That's not a screw up, that's mission accomplished!"

"I lost two of my pilots," he shot back, and Shemei's heart ached as she saw the guilt in her lover's deep brown eyes, "They died because of my calls, my piloting… my stupid assumptions!"

"No, they didn't," said Shemei softly as she raised a hand to her lover's cheek, "Eric, the Alliance killed them, not you. You knew there was a good chance of casualties going into a battle like this, especially among the Orb pilots; their machines aren't as advanced as ours, and their pilots haven't seen the same amount of combat as we have."

Eric looked down. "I know, Shemei… but I didn't act like that when we went into battle today. Even with the simulation flying I did with them in the days prior to today's fight, on some level I instinctively treated them as I would veteran ZAFT pilots. Subconsciously I applied the same tactics and doctrines, the same theories and maneuvers that you and I trained under, even though I knew intellectually that the Orb pilots had been instructed in a different manner. Such a simple mistake, one so easy to catch… but I didn't, and two of them died because of that."

"Hey," said Shemei, moving her hand to cup his chin and gently but firmly raising his face to meet hers again, "just because you did that doesn't mean that's what killed them, Eric. I can see why what you did might be a mistake, but it's a very understandable one. I mean, think about it; other than the simulation exercises and our run from the PLANTs after Heero saved my parents from Charon Prison, you've been flying with fellow ZAFT pilots since before this war began. It's natural that you'd develop a certain mentality to go along with that, and it's not something you were going to kick in just a few weeks. We develop habits, Eric; it's human nature."

Eric nodded, but Shemei could tell he still wasn't about to forgive himself just yet. "You're right, but still… I should've put more focus into adapting my piloting, adjusting to the skills and doctrines of my new comrades. Instead I assumed they would adapt to me, their flight lead… I didn't do enough to assess their individual strengths and weaknesses."

"It's been awhile since you've had a field command, even a small one," said Shemei, giving him a soft smile, "and even then, you still did remarkably well under the circumstances, Eric. For someone that Zala tried very hard to confine to a desk and keep away from the action, my love, you're piloting abilities and leadership skills remain formidable. I know it's hard to think of it that way given the losses your team took, but it was a pitched battle against a foe with numerical superiority and new mobile suits; there was only so much you could do to protect your subordinates, and even if you had made more of an effort to study them on an individual basis you could not have guaranteed their survival, Eric."

She leaned in and gave him a soft, gentle kiss on the lips. As she pulled back she put her hands on his cheeks and met his gaze. "Stop this, Eric. I know you've always been hard on yourself for the deaths of soldiers serving under you, but you can't drown yourself in guilt like this. If you do that, then our enemies will be stronger for it; you won't be at your best. You and I know that there's no weakness in mourning our dead and trying to do better to protect others in the future, but we have to balance that with our need to move forward in our lives; we cannot be chained to the past. We cannot change it, but we can learn from it, and that's something I know you're well aware of, my love."

"Eric," she continued, raising her right hand to run it through his thick black hair, "please, you have to stop carrying around all this weight by yourself. I know it's not just your two latest casualties that you've been beating yourself up over. The losses your network suffered in the aftermath of the fall of Avalon, the death of Siegel Clyne, the millions killed in the Far East by Zubov and like-minded commanders before you could stop them… they're all upon your shoulders, and they shouldn't be."

So that's what it is, thought Shemei as she looked at Eric, it's not just the lives of the teammates he lost today. They're simply the latest in a long line of deaths, of losses that he's continued to blame himself for… and so unfairly.

Her lover closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them again she could see the agony within them, along with something else, something she'd never seen in him before; a desperate plea for help.

"Shemei…" he said softly, "what would you have me do? I can't just forget all those that have fallen because of me, directly or otherwise. The blood of my lost comrades and others that I could've saved is soaked into my hands just as much as that of the enemies I've killed. I… I cannot simply wash that away…"

Shemei shook her head. "I'm not asking you to do that, my love. I know you could never forget those who have been lost, nor would I want you to; those memories have driven you forward, made you strive to do better, have helped forge you into the man I fell in love with. I would not have you abandon those memories… but I would have you stop carrying the weight of them all by yourself."

She slid out of her chair and into Eric's, straddling his lap as she took him into her embrace. "Share it with me, my love," she whispered into his ear, "lean on me, as I did to you when darkness closed in on my life, when my parents were taken by Zala. Let me bear the weight of your burdens beside you, just as you did for mine."

Shemei pulled back before leaning in to kiss her lover again. "Take the comfort I can give, as I took yours. You sheltered me in my darkest hour, gave me peace and warmth when I desperately needed it; let me do the same for you."

Her lover closed his eyes again. When he opened them this time, Shemei's heart warmed as she saw new emotions within them. There was still pain, but it was a mere shadow of what it had been before. Now it was supplanted by gratitude, by relief, by affection… by love.

He gave her a small smile as he spoke. "Shemei… thank you."

She returned the smile. "You are most welcome, Eric."

The Valkyrie turned towards the laptop and closed it before turning back to her lover. "I think you've gone over that enough for one day," she said, "You'll have plenty of time to study that footage tomorrow."

Eric nodded. "You're right, and I'll have plenty to do besides that. I need to figure out how ZAFT and the Alliance found us, not to mention help Waltfeld figure out a new place for us to hide out at."

"Indeed," said Shemei, "and that can wait until you've had some food and rest, my love. I'm sure you could use both."

She moved to get off his lap but was surprised when her lover took her in his arms and pulled her back in. Meeting his gaze, she saw a familiar gleam in his eyes… one that had only occurred in them since they had become a couple.

"I'll admit I'm hungry," said the Wolf of the Far East, his right hand moving up to the nape of Shemei's neck and slowly pulling her head towards his, "but the food can wait… that's not what I need right now."

They kissed again, but this wasn't the soft and gentle kisses that they had shared earlier. This was deeper, hotter, and Shemei felt her heartbeat increase considerably as she gave herself over to her awakening passion.

When they eventually parted for air they were both smiling, and Shemei slowly extricated herself from Eric's arms and got out of his lap. As she stood up she pulled him to his feet and towards the bed.

Their flight suits hit the floor within seconds… and their bodies the bed a moment later.

….

"Has there been any word from the Eternal?" asked Cagalli, "Is Kira ok?"

She was up on the bridge of the Kusanagi, as she had been since the battle had ended. The blue Orb warship had exited the L4 debris field with the Archangel and the Eternal some time ago, and the three vessels were currently heading towards the Debris Belt. Orb's tomboy princess had changed out of her flight suit a little while ago and was not dressed in the simple red and black shirt and khaki pants used by Morgenroete personnel.

"No update since the last time we heard from them," said the communications officer, "he must still be unconscious, ma'am."

Kira, she thought, her hands clenching the hem of her shirt, damn it, why did you have to get hurt again? Do you have any idea what this does to me, worrying about you like this? Please… please be ok! I can't lose you again!

"Lady Cagalli," said Kisaka from the command chair, "you're not going to do Kira any good staying up here worrying about him like this. I'm sure the Eternal will contact us when there's been a change in his condition. You should get some rest, Lady Cagalli."

She was about to argue when she felt a hand fall upon her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Athrun standing behind her.

The young man she loved nodded. "He's right, Cagalli. You fought hard today; you must be tired. We can take a shuttle over to the Eternal tomorrow to check in on Kira."

"Athrun…" she said, "but… you're his best friend! I know you're worried about him too!"

"I am, Cagalli," he replied, "but keeping myself up here worrying about him won't help. Lacus is with him, Cagalli, and the Eternal has some of the best medics in the Earth Sphere. Kira will recover, I know he will."

His hand left her shoulder and grabbed her hand instead. "Come on," he said, "we should get something to eat, and then rest."

Cagalli was about to argue with him, but when she saw the concern in his eyes she realized she couldn't fight him on this. She may have been worried about Kira, but she also saw that not only was Athrun worried about him as well, but he was also worried about her.

There I go again, she thought, being hotheaded, impatient, not seeing the affects of my actions on others. Of course I'm not the only one who's worried about Kira, and he wouldn't want me to act like this. Look what I'm doing to Athrun…

She nodded. "Ok, Athrun."

The two of them turned to leave, but before they exited the bridge Cagalli looked over her shoulder at Kisaka. "I want to be notified if the Eternal sends us an update on Kira's condition."

The Orb Colonel nodded. "Understood, Lady Cagalli."

With that she left the bridge hand in hand with Athrun, and the two of them made their way towards the ship's mess hall. She turned towards him as they moved through the hallways and gave him a small smile. "Athrun… thank you," she said, "I don't think I would've left the bridge if it was only Kisaka that was trying to persuade me."

Athrun nodded, returning her smile. "You're welcome." He then looked down and sighed. "I'm with you though, worrying about Kira like that. When I saw him over the cockpit monitor… his wounds looked serious, Cagalli."

Cagalli squeezed his hand. "You told me about it… how his flight suit was torn on the right side, how he was bleeding from all those cuts… damn it…"

"I'm sorry," said Athrun, "I shouldn't have brought it up. It's my fault he's in that condition to begin with."

"What?" said Cagalli, her eyes widening as she stopped the young man in his tracks, "Athrun, how could you even say that? There's no way this is your fault!"

Athrun shook his head. "It is, Cagalli. I was fighting the mobile suit that attacked the Freedom. If I'd just fought harder, if I'd been able to take it down sooner, I could've stopped Kira from getting hurt. I'm sorry, Cagalli. My best friend… your brother… was wounded because of me."

Cagalli grabbed him by the shoulders. "Athrun, you did the best you could! I don't blame you for what happened at all. I never could do that! Maybe you couldn't stop that machine from attacking Kira, but you did stop it from killing him! You saved Kira, Athrun!"

Her voice softened as she pulled the former ZAFT pilot in for a kiss. "You saved my brother, Athrun," she said just before their lips met. It wasn't fierce lip locking, but a gentle touch, a delicate caress. As she pulled back she raised her right hand to Athrun's left cheek. "Thank you."

The young man nodded. He was quiet for a moment, and then Cagalli saw a small smile appear on his face. "Anytime. You know, it's still kinda strange, hearing you call him your brother like that."

Cagalli couldn't help but smile as well. "I know what you mean. With all that's happened since we left Orb… I actually hadn't thought about it much until we came to Mendel. It does explain something, though."

"What's that?" asked Athrun.

"How I feel about him," she replied, "When we first met after the attack on Heliopolis I was a bit rude to Kira, but we actually grew closer pretty quickly after that. I liked being around him. I felt warm and safe, and I was glad that he was willing to protect me, but at the same time I could see that he was someone that needed protecting too, though not always from enemies on the battlefield. Fighting, having to kill… I could tell that it really hurt him, and I wanted to help him deal with that pain. I wanted to be close to him so I could give him support, a shoulder to cry on if he needed it. For a while I thought I… well that I might 'like' him, that way… but I eventually realized that it wasn't quite like that. I cared deeply for him, but even before my father's revelation it wasn't romantic."

"That's definitely a good thing," Athrun replied.

"Yeah, tell me about it," said Cagalli, looking down for a moment and shuddering.

They were quiet for a moment before Cagalli spoke again. "I wonder why my father didn't tell me sooner about who Kira really was. Why did he wait? I know I can be impulsive and hotheaded, by I can keep a secret."

"Maybe," said Athrun, "but one like that, and from Kira? You may not have told others… but you probably would've told him, wouldn't you?"

Cagalli nodded. "I would've… and Kira would've had the right to know. Come on, Athrun, it's not fair to keep something that important from him."

"I didn't say it was," Athrun replied, "but we don't know the whole story. Besides, aren't you forgetting something? The other half of that secret was the fact that you're not Lord Uzumi's biological daughter. I bet the thought of telling you that you were adopted made him nervous; he was probably worried about how you would take it."

"I guess you're right," Cagalli sighed, "and so he could only tell me just before the end…"

Athrun put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't blame yourself, Cagalli. What happened to your father… it's not your fault."

She nodded and smiled slightly. "I know, Athrun," she said before kissing him again, "but it means a lot to hear you say that."

"Don't mention it," he replied.

The two of them resumed their journey through the ship's corridors, arriving at the ship's mess a few minutes later. "Athrun," she said as they dished up their food, "how do you think the Alliance and ZAFT managed to find us?"

Athrun shook his head. "I don't know. We'll have to leave that up to Bristow and Waltfeld to figure out. We did stay at Mendel a long time, though; they were bound to search it eventually."

"I know that," she replied as they sat down at a table, "but they sent full battle groups today, not patrols. We never detected any recon units during our patrol flights in the days leading up to the battle. Today they came in full force."

Athrun nodded. "And at the same time. It would've been bad enough if just the Alliance or ZAFT had found us and sent in a fleet, but both learning of our location and attacking simultaneously? Something's not right here."

"Do you think they've teamed up to take us down?" asked Cagalli with trepidation. It was hard enough fighting both superpowers while said foes were also battling each other. If the Alliance and ZAFT had decided to temporarily join forces to defeat the Three Ships Alliance, then their situation was even direr than before.

Athrun shook his head. "I don't think so. They may have attacked us simultaneously, but I don't think there was any coordination between them. If there was, we would've seen signs of it. It wasn't chance that brought them both to L4… but I don't think they're in league with each other either."

Cagalli recalled something she'd heard her father say in the past, one of his pearls of wisdom that she had paid little heed to at the time. "To be united by hatred is a fragile alliance at best."

"You're right," she replied, "as much as they might hate us… well, I'm pretty sure they hate each other more. Hard to cooperate when you want to wipe each other out."

It was a stark reminder of just what was at stake in their struggle, and the conversation died on that line as Cagalli and Athrun ate their meal, pondering just what it would take to ultimately bring this insane war to an end.

No matter what happens, she thought determinedly, we can't give up. It doesn't matter what the odds against us are; we have to fight both sides and stop them from wiping out countless innocent lives with their hatred. My father entrusted this task to me, and I won't let him down!

….

Things were quiet when Murrue and Heero arrived on the bridge the following day. As Murrue floated over to her command chair she could feel the somber atmosphere resonating from her crew.

It was hard to blame them for their attitude. Though tactically speaking the battle at L4 the day before had been a resounding victory, it had not come without cost. Murrue's heart was heavy with the loss of two of the Orb pilots that had been brought over to strengthen the Archangel, along with the injuries of Kira and Mu and the capture of Flay by the Alliance. However, the words of her boyfriend and his later actions had done much to ease the burden that was upon her.

Her face warmed a bit as images of the passionate night her and Heero had shared passed through her mind, their private celebration that they had both survived the fierce battle. She looked to her right as the young man she loved settled in at his usual place by her side, and the two of them shared a small nod and a smile.

However, Murrue was mindful that the rest of her crew did not have the same kind of comfort that she could find within the arms of her boyfriend. There were only a few that she knew of or suspected that were in romantic relationships and could find some similar level of solace. The rest had only their comradery and friendship to count on, along with her leadership. Murrue was determined to be their pillar of strength through this struggle.

"Did I miss anything?" she asked Lieutenant Tsukino as the Orb Lieutenant headed towards her.

Her Executive Officer shook her head. "No action to speak of; not a hint of enemy patrols. The Eternal sent us a status report on Kira's condition. He's still out cold, but he's stable. It looks like he'll be able to make a full recovery."

Murrue nodded. "That's good to hear. I hope he wakes up soon. In the meanwhile, I think you've earned some rest, Lieutenant."

The officer gave a weary smile. "No argument there, Captain."

As Lieutenant Tsukino left the bridge Murrue turned to Heero. "Do you think we should organize new patrol flights? Since we're out of the L4 debris field they won't necessarily be the same style, but we could still used advanced recon."

Heero nodded. "It definitely came in handy yesterday. We should contact the Eternal and the Kusanagi to coordinate with them."

Before Murrue could reply the communications officer spoke up. "Captain, the Eternal's on the line."

"Speak of the devil," she murmured before responding to her subordinate, "Put them on screen."

The Desert Tiger appeared on the main monitor. "Captain Ramius. I figured your watch would be starting right now. Good to see you too, Heero"

The Gundam pilot nodded. "Waltfeld."

"What do you need, Field Marshal?" Murrue asked.

"I read your report earlier," said Waltfeld, "It was very well done, and I appreciate your attaching Wing Zero's combat data to it." He smiled. "The Archangel and Wing Zero really gave the Alliance a thrashing. Excellent work, both of you."

Murrue and Heero both nodded, and the Archangel's Captain smiled. "Thank you, Field Marshal."

The Desert Tiger's expression became more serious. "I went through your debriefing regarding the Hawk. If what the three of you theorized actually took place… well, it's not pleasant to think about, that's for sure."

"We have no proof," said Murrue, "As I noted in the report, it's just a hypothesis."

"Perhaps," said Waltfeld, "but given what La Flaga said to you regarding his and Kira's encounter with Creuset inside the colony, it's more likely than I'd otherwise give it credit for."

"It fits the evidence we have," said Heero, causing Murrue and the Desert Tiger to look at him, "According to La Flaga, Creuset confessed to leaking the true target of Operation Spitbreak to the Atlantic Federation High Command. If I had to guess, I'd say ZAFT found our location first, and then Creuset passed along that data to the Alliance. The entire battle was a setup so he could transfer Flay and whatever she was carrying to the Alliance."

"The 'key' to ending the war," Waltfeld said, looking down for a moment in thought, "The schematics on the N-Jammer Cancellers would fit the bill, if that was indeed what Creuset gave the Alliance. They'd still need time to build and test a prototype, not to mention consolidate and outfit their nuclear arsenal with the devices… but they could easily amass enough warheads to wipe out all the PLANTs in one salvo."

"And we weren't able to stop the Alliance from capturing Flay," said Murrue, "Field Marshal, I apologize for failing to recover her pod."

Waltfeld shook his head. "Your duty was to fend off the Alliance and look after your people, Captain Ramius. You did that, and you were outnumbered by no small margin. Besides, there's no way you could've recovered the pod under those circumstances… and I'm sure you weren't about to kill the poor girl to prevent her from falling into enemy hands."

Murrue nodded. "No," she said, "I could never do that… even if I knew what she was carrying and what use it would be put to. I'm not my former superiors; I don't sacrifice lives, and I don't try to murder my subordinates or former ones. Flay came aboard my ship as a refugee, and she became part of my crew. She was under my protection, and if I have anything to say about it, she still is."

She felt Heero put his hand on her shoulder, and she gave him a small smile and nod before turning back to the main monitor.

"I understand, Captain Ramius," said Waltfeld, "and I wasn't criticizing your decision. You acted according to your principles and did what you thought was right. I respect that, and I won't take away from it. However, that does not change the fact that Flay is now in Alliance custody. If we encounter the Dominion again there is a chance she may be aboard it. If that happens…"

"I'll do what I must," Murrue replied firmly, "I would prefer to send the ship packing as we did yesterday, but if it comes down to it I will destroy it to protect my friends and comrades."

Waltfeld nodded. "Very well, Captain. I'll trust your judgment when the time comes. Returning to our earlier topic, has La Flaga mentioned anything else regarding his and Kira's encounter with Creuset inside Mendel?"

Murrue shook her head. "He's said nothing since Heero and I debriefed him. If he recalled something of importance since then, I'm sure he would've told us."

"Alright," said Waltfeld, "I guess I'll just have to wait until Kira comes to, then. He's the only other witness in the matter, after all. I just hope his injuries and the sedatives he was given didn't damage his recollection."

"I just hope he recovers," said Murrue.

Waltfeld nodded. "Of course, Captain; that matters more than anything else right now."

"What's the status of the Freedom?" asked Heero.

"Repairs are currently at 75% complete," said Waltfeld.

"Impressive," said Murrue, "considering the damage it took, I'm surprised your crews were able to accomplish so much so quickly."

"Well, we are all ex-ZAFT personnel, and the Freedom was our machine," Waltfeld replied, "Besides, I've had my technical crews work around the clock on it. It's one of our main offensive weapons; we need it back to full operational status ASAP. I just hope its pilot isn't out much longer than the machine has been. The Freedom can be operated by any Coordinator with flight training, but I'd rather it be flown by the pilot that knows it best."

Murrue nodded. "Agreed. Was there anything else you needed to discuss, Field Marshal?"

"Actually, we haven't even gotten to the reason I called, Captain Ramius," said Waltfeld, his expression becoming one of amusement, "It's a good thing Heero's already up there with you; that will make it more convenient."

"What do you need?" asked Heero.

"One of the highlights of Captain Ramius's report," said Waltfeld, "was just how much of an improvement yours and Shemei's new targeting program made in the accuracy and efficiency of the Archangel's weaponry. Can you apply that system to the Eternal and the Kusanagi?"

Murrue looked at Heero, who nodded. "Yes, though it can't be the exact same system. I have to modify it for each ship to best suit its specific armaments."

"I understand," said Waltfeld, "Can you make the modifications and send the revised programs out to the Eternal and the Kusanagi?"

"It'd be better if I performed them in person," said Heero, "Directly interfacing with each ship's weapons systems will make it easier for me to fine tune the software and make it more effective."

"I see," said Waltfeld, "Captain Ramius, can you send Heero over to my ship? I'd like him to install the program here immediately, and then do the same on the Kusanagi."

Murrue nodded. "I'll have a shuttle prepped for him, Field Marshal."

"Thanks," the Desert Tiger replied, "the sooner Heero and Shemei's system is up and running, the better. We need every edge we can get over the Alliance and ZAFT."

"Of course," said Murrue, "By the way, I think we should organize new patrol flights for our mobile suits. It was thanks to those that we were able to counter the Alliance and ZAFT battle groups as well as we did yesterday. Our situation may be different now that we're not hiding out at L4, but having recon would still be an asset to us."

Waltfeld nodded. "Agreed, Captain Ramius. Work up a new rotation for your pilots. I'll do the same for mine and have Colonel Kisaka do that for the Kusanagi's units. We'll coordinate timing and coverage between the three ships. Is there anything else, Captain?"

Murrue shook her head. "No, that was all I wanted to bring to your attention."

"Ok," said Waltfeld, "I'll be looking forward to Heero's arrival. Eternal out."

As the Desert Tiger disappeared from the main monitor, Murrue turned to Heero and smiled. "Looks like we both have work to do."

The Gundam pilot nodded and gave a small smile of his own. He reached over and placed his hand over hers, intertwining their fingers. "I'll be back later."

Murrue nodded before removing her hand from his only to gently grab him by the chin and pull him in for a kiss. She could feel the heat rushing to her face, fully aware that her bridge crew was watching them, but she didn't care.

As she pulled back she had the satisfaction of seeing Heero's face flush ever so slightly. "I'll be waiting for you," she said, smiling, "I love you."

"I love you too," Heero replied, that small smile of his growing just a little bit bigger.

….

"He's hard at work," said a familiar female voice from behind him.

Waltfeld looked over his shoulder and smiled as Aisha came up next to his seat on the bridge. He followed her gaze down towards the main weapons station where Heero Yuy was indeed quite busy, typing away as he adjusted his and Shemei's targeting program to suit the Eternal's arsenal. He was wearing his casual clothes, but his demeanor was all business.

"He's been at it for about twenty minutes," said Waltfeld before turning to his lover and giving her a quick kiss, "I can't wait until he's finished; I really want to run some simulations and see what results we get."

Aisha nodded. "I remember what you showed me in Murrue's report. The effectiveness of the Archangel's weapons was dramatically improved thanks to that new program Heero and Shemei came up with. It'll be nice to have our guns and missiles operating at that same level of efficiency during our next battle."

"Especially since you work so closely with them," said Waltfeld, slipping his hand into hers, "you rely on our CIWS and missiles for support since you're our primary escort, and I want you to have the best backup possible."

"You're sweet, dear," Aisha replied, smiling and winking, "but I'm not some fragile little princess; I can handle myself."

Waltfeld chuckled. "Oh, I know."

His expression then became more serious. "You were down in the med bay, right? How's the kid?"

"Same as he was the last time Dr. Bakulev updated us," she replied, "off in dream land."

"And Lacus remains by his side?" asked Waltfeld.

Aisha nodded. "Of course, dear." She smiled. "Fortunately Adaline and the girls have been taking turns keeping an eye on her, making sure she gets at least some food and rest. It's not ideal, but under the circumstances we should take what we can get."

"Who's down there with her now?" asked Waltfeld.

"Priscilla," Aisha replied, "along with Athrun and Cagalli."

The son of Patrick Zala and the daughter of the late Uzumi Nara Athha had arrived on a shuttle from the Kusanagi roughly two hours ago to visit Kira. Both were naturally very worried about their friend, with Cagalli in particular adamant in her desire to see him.

As feisty now as she was back in North Africa, he mused, some things never change…

"Well," said Waltfeld, "if the kid wakes up today, at least he'll be surrounded by friendly faces. I know that did him a lot of good back when he was recovering at the Clyne estate."

"He'll need the support when the time comes for him to recall the events that took place in Mendel," said Heero, taking Waltfeld and Aisha off guard; neither had thought that the young man would be listening in on their conversation, though they weren't exactly being discreet about it either.

Sharp ears and a sharp mind, thought Waltfeld, if he was following that while he was working down there, then he's a really good multi-tasker.

"From what La Flaga told Murrue and I during the debriefing," Heero continued, "a lot went down inside Mendel, and Kira took a big psychological hit from what Creuset said. He's grown a lot since I first met him, but he's still soft when compared to seasoned combat veterans; given all he's been through and what was revealed to him inside the colony, his mental state may well be as battered as his physical condition."

"Which is a reason why one more friendly face couldn't hurt," Aisha said to the Gundam pilot, "When you're done up here, why don't you go down to the med bay for a little while? Even if Kira doesn't come to while you're there, I think the others at least would like to see you."

"I have to get to the Kusanagi and modify the program for their weapons after this," said Heero, typing away as he spoke.

"I know," Waltfeld chimed in, smiling, "but there's no need to rush it, Heero. Take a little time to visit your friends. I think it'd do both you and them some good."

He saw Wing Zero's pilot pause in his typing for a moment. After a couple seconds he nodded before resuming his work. "Alright."

"Speaking of friends," said Aisha, "you told us that there were four other Gundam pilots besides yourself in your last war. Were you all friends as well, or simply comrades?"

Heero was quiet for a moment, the only sound that of his typing, before he responded. "I suppose eventually we became friends. It took some time for us to come to trust each other; we were each unaware of the others' existence when we launched our offensive against the United Earth Sphere Alliance and OZ."

Waltfeld's good eye widened in shock as the full implications of that statement sunk in. A glance at Aisha revealed the words having the same effect on her; the Desert Tiger could hardly blame her.

"Hold on," said Waltfeld, "you mean…"

"You challenged the entire world to battle by yourself?" Aisha finished for him.

Heero nodded as he continued his work. "I'm sure the five scientists that built the Gundams were aware of each other, but they did not pass that knowledge on to us pilots. As far as we knew, we would each be fighting the Alliance and OZ alone, and we trained accordingly. It was only once we all began our attacks that we became aware of each others' presence. Even then, trust in the beginning was difficult to establish."

Waltfeld shook his head, smirking. "God damn… and here I was impressed by the fact that five young men challenged the world. Now I find out you guys originally started out as solo operations… you're just full of surprises, Heero."

"A pity we couldn't get one or two more of you to come to our world," said Aisha, smiling, "You've rocked the Cosmic Era to its core with your actions since your arrival, Heero. If we had another one of your world's Gundam pilots, let alone all five…"

"Our situation would still be what it is today," Heero finished for her, "We're good, but we're not invincible."

"Perhaps," said Waltfeld, chuckling, "but you're a hell of a lot better than just 'good', Heero. If those other four pilots were of your caliber of skill, I can only imagine what the five of you were capable of in battle once you finally started working together, let alone what you could do if your friends were with us today."

"That kind of speculation may be a good thought exercise," said Heero, "but it does us little good with regards to our practical situation."

Waltfeld shook his head. "Fine, ruin my fun."

The Desert Tiger and his lover let Heero continue his work in peace. Waltfeld couldn't help but think about the four other pilots the young man had mentioned. What kind of young men were they? What were their Gundams like? How had they developed their skills to the point that they had each become a one-man-army?

His mind flashed back to an exchange between Adaline and Captain Ramius during the conference they'd held shortly after the Archangel, the Kusanagi, and their mobile suits had saved the Eternal from the ZAFT task force that had hounded the ship since its run from the PLANTs.

"Hold on a second," said Adaline, her eyes widening in shock, "you mean Heero and four other pilots took on the entire planet?"

Murrue nodded solemnly. "Yes… and they were only fifteen at the time."

Fifteen, he thought as he watched Heero type, only a year younger than he is now, and he took on the might of the world… they all did. You don't just sent any five pilots into a fight like that, regardless of the training they've had or the mobile suits you've given them. There was something about those five young men that set them apart from all others, something those that recruited them for their war realized would enable them to challenge impossible odds. They weren't picked at random, not thrown into the conflagration by chance; they were born for battle.

Just one of those gods of war had found his way to the Cosmic Era, and over the course of a few months he'd gone from a powerful enigma to one of the greatest threats faced by the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. He had carved a swath of carnage and death through the ranks of both superpowers; tens of thousands of bodies from both sides of this war were strewn in his wake. His very name and that of his machine had become words whispered with awe and dread, held with the reverence and terror one would reserve for the likes of the Grim Reaper.

Waltfeld mused that it was perhaps a good thing that Heero had been the only one of his world's Gundam pilots to come over to the Cosmic Era.

He wasn't sure this world could handle four more like him.

….

"Kira…" said Lacus softly as she wiped a wet washcloth over his sweaty forehead.

The young man she had fallen in love with was still unconscious, and the pink-haired songstress had never felt so helpless and useless in her life. She may have known intellectually that there was very little she could do for him in his current state, but that knowledge was far outweighed by the desire in her heart to help Kira in any way she could and her despair that he had wound up here in service to her cause.

A hand fell on her left shoulder, and as she looked over she saw Cagalli give her a small smile. "Don't worry," she said, "he'll make it. And when he wakes up, the first thing he'll see is your face. That'll help him more than anything else."

Lacus nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Cagalli."

Orb's young leader was not the only person with Lacus right now. At Cagalli's side was Athrun, and across the bed from them was Priscilla. The three of them had been with Lacus for about two hours now, but in all that time they had spoken only a little. The situation of the young man on the bed did not lend itself well to idle chit-chat.

"Why did he go?" asked Athrun, causing the others to look at him, "Why did he go inside the colony?"

That was a very good question, one that Lacus knew very little about. She was aware that Kira had been pursuing an enemy unit, and that Mu La Flaga of the Archangel had joined him in that effort, but she did not know why that particular enemy had warranted that level of attention or what had happened inside the colony. Lacus was sure that something serious had happened during the time they were all in the colony though, if only because of some of the unconscious murmurs of the young man she was watching over.

The two main words he had mumbled were 'Flay' and 'sorry', but there had been a few instances where he'd said something different. The one that had really stood out to Lacus was when the boy had called out to his mother and father, asking them 'why?"

'Why' what?, she thought, What do his parents have to do with this?

"He'll tell us when he wakes up," said Priscilla, and for a moment Lacus had the absurd thought that she was reading her mind until she realized that the Italian/Romanian Coordinator was answering Athrun's query, "until then, we can't really know what happened, so there's no use in worrying about it."

Athrun nodded. "I guess you're right."

He looked down in thought, and Cagalli laid her head down on his shoulder. Given that Athrun was Lacus's former fiancé, one might expect such behavior to make the songstress uncomfortable in some way, but that was not the case. Lacus had known from the moment she had given Kira the Freedom that her engagement with Athrun was off, as did he… and it was something she knew that they were both grateful for.

With Kira, she thought, I actually fell in love. It just wasn't the same with Athrun. I care about him, of course; he's a dear friend, always has been and always will be. However, I just didn't feel the same way about Athrun as I do with Kira now.

She hadn't known for sure until Athrun and Cagalli had walked into the medical bay to visit today that they were a couple, but the signs of their growing closeness had been apparent for some time now. Lacus was happy for them; she felt that they would be a good match.

They balance each other well, she thought, and they both deeply care for each other. Surprising, given the circumstances under which they met…

Lacus had heard from both Cagalli and Athrun about their first meeting on the island where they had landed, or in the former's case crashed, in the Indian Ocean after the Archangel and her pilots had beaten the Morassim Team and the Everest Flying Fortress. Had their situation at the time not been life-and-death it would almost strike Lacus as comical and romantic. Their second meeting, from what she understood, had been far more tragic and tense as it had come after the apparent death of Kira in the Marshall Islands, but the two of them had somehow managed to work past their pain… and fall in love. They'd come to an understanding despite their tragic circumstances, despite the fact that Athrun had apparently killed a young man that Cagalli had clearly cared deeply for, and had forged a new bond between them, one that was compassionate and strong. To Lacus, it was a very beautiful thing that they had done.

If only those that hold power in the Alliance and ZAFT, she thought bitterly, could show such compassion and understanding towards each other. Alas, it is not to be…

The four of them turned towards the door as it hissed open. Lacus had expected to see one of Priscilla's teammates or perhaps Dr. Bakulev, but her eyes widened as she saw none other than Wing Zero's pilot walk through the door.

"Heero!" she said.

"Hey," said Cagalli, "What brings you over here?"

"Upgrading the Eternal's targeting systems," he said as the door closed behind him, "I actually got here about an hour ago."

"We hadn't heard," said Priscilla, nodding and smiling at the Gundam pilot, "It's good to see you again, Heero."

"Same here," said Athrun.

As Heero came over to join them, Lacus saw his gaze fall upon Kira. The young man paused for a moment before the songstress saw him shake his head. "Again…" he said quietly.

Lacus arched an eyebrow at that statement. "What do you mean, 'again', Heero?"

"This is the third time he's been laid up like this," Heero replied as he pulled up a chair next to Priscilla on the opposite side of the bed, "First there was North Africa after his partial atmospheric reentry in the Strike, then his recovery at your residence, Lacus, and now here. Kira has a habit of getting himself into trouble, more so than most of the pilots in our group."

"Hey," said Cagalli, "it's not his fault! Quit picking on him!"

"I'm not," Heero replied calmly, "just making an observation. With the level of danger he puts himself in, it's really not surprising. Just like a Gundam pilot…"

Lacus was surprised to hear Heero say something like that. "So you and your comrades in your old world often wound up like this, Heero?"

"Not as frequently as Kira," Heero responded, "but we all took our hits one way or another. From what La Flaga told Murrue and I, Kira got hit hard psychologically inside Mendel. It's really no surprise that he got hit physically when he reentered the battle; he was off his game."

"Hold on," said Athrun, his eyes narrowing, "you mean you know what happened inside the colony, why Kira went in there?"

"I know only what La Flaga told Murrue and me during the debriefing," said Heero, "I don't have Kira's perspective on the events that unfolded."

"Still," said Cagalli, "I think we'd like to hear it all the same."

"Yeah," said Priscilla, "It'd be nice to know what happened in there."

Lacus met Heero's gaze. "Please, Heero," she said, "Tell me what happened inside the Mendel colony. I need to know what Kira experienced there… what shook him so badly."

Heero nodded. "Alright. I'll tell you everything I know."

And he did precisely that. Lacus and the others listened with rapt attention as the Demon Lord of Avalon recounted what he and his lover had learned from the Hawk of Endymion over the course of his debriefing. The Gundam pilot held nothing back, and even included the speculation that had followed the debriefing regarding the transfer of Flay Allster's pod from ZAFT to the Alliance.

When Heero finished there was silence for a moment before Cagalli broke it. "I… I can't understand it," she said softly, fear clear in her voice, "How… how could one man cause all this?"

"It's Creuset," said Athrun grimly, putting his hand on her shoulder, "he's more than capable of it."

"You mean you're not surprised, Athrun?" asked Priscilla.

"I never said that," Athrun replied, "He was always something of a mystery to me and the others… but he's definitely smart enough to pull off the kind of manipulation Heero just described."

"Perhaps," said Lacus, unconsciously gripping Kira's hand tightly as she spoke, "but to have so much hatred inside him… to actually desire the annihilation of the entire human race… it's horrifying!"

Heero nodded. "When placed into the context of the actions taken by the Alliance and ZAFT over the past few months, the idea of one hand manipulating both sides and fanning the flames of fanaticism and hatred that they've so readily embraced actually doesn't sound too far-fetched. Creuset actually didn't have to assert much influence in order to get the Alliance and ZAFT to march down the path he wanted them to take. His actions regarding Operation Spitbreak were probably the boldest and riskiest moves he's made over the course of the war, and even with the wrench I threw in his plans by destroying JOSH-A before the Cyclops bomb could detonate he still managed to salvage the situation to play to his ultimate end-game. He's a cunning strategist… and his personal motivations make him all the more dangerous."

"How did I not pick up on that sooner?" said Athrun, "I worked with him, fought alongside him, for months… how could I have never noticed what was going on with him?"

Lacus shook her head. "You can't blame yourself, Athrun. You had your own worries at the time… especially after what happened at Heliopolis."

She'd known just how heavily the fact that he'd had to fight Kira weighed on Athrun's mind; he had told her himself while they were both still in the PLANTs. Given the inherent tragedy of such a situation, of two best friends now forced to do battle against each other, it was only natural that Athrun had not been paying closer attention to then-Commander Creuset.

"La Flaga said Creuset wears a mask," Heero chimed in, causing the others to look at him, "and that he's a very cool, confident, and cunning individual. He's very skilled at concealing his true motives from people, and obscuring his face with the mask probably has as much to do with enhancing that effect as it does with hiding the fact that he's a clone of a prominent and deceased multi-billionaire."

"Heero's right," said Priscilla, "Taking all those factors into consideration, it's really no surprise no one's been able to discern what he's truly been after in this war."

"And I'm sure he's been careful to cover his tracks," said Lacus, "Finding proof of his actions may be impossible."

"Hold on a minute," said Cagalli, "We do have proof of what he's done! La Flaga said he encountered Creuset at Alaska during the battle there, and when they met again inside Mendel yesterday the guy confessed to having leaked the information about Operation Spitbreak to the Alliance, knowing that they'd set a trap for ZAFT. He also said he'd manipulated both sides since then regarding the slaughters at the Second Battle of Alaska and the Battle of Panama!"

"That may be proof enough for us," said Athrun grimly, "but I doubt La Flaga's testimony, or Kira's for that matter when he comes to, will do us much good if we release it to the general public."

"What?" cried Cagalli, her eyes widening, "Why?"

"Credibility," said Heero.

Before Wing Zero's pilot could elaborate, Priscilla took over. "Mu La Flaga and Kira Yamato are both members of an organization that is an avowed enemy of both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. Their testimony can easily be seen as biased or manipulative by outsiders, especially without corroborating evidence… and as Lacus noted, Creuset will be very careful to remove anything that directly links him to what we're accusing him of. Anything we have against him is circumstantial at best, and going at him with that in a public campaign would tarnish our credibility in the eyes of the people whose trust we need if we're to remove the extremists on both sides from power and bring this war to an end."

Lacus nodded. "You're right. Without solid proof such as communications records, data transfers, video surveillance, or anything of that nature, the only evidence we can give regarding Creuset's activities is whatever statements Kira and La Flaga might provide. We might believe them, and those allied with us may see it as good enough evidence, but to the majority of the people and any court that might try Creuset it would be flimsy at best. Going public with this would do us more harm than good."

"How?" asked Cagalli, "Even if no one believes us, wouldn't there be at least some suspicion cast on this Creuset guy? That'd have to help us at least a little!"

Athrun shook his head. "No, it wouldn't. Creuset would be able to deflect it and claim that we were simply making such statements in a desperate attempt to gain public support and tarnish the reputation of ZAFT. A little manipulation on his part and we come across as weak and petty at best, crazy and delusional at worst."

"Exactly," said Heero, "As much as we might not like it, we have to keep this information to ourselves for now. Maybe when the war's over and we've restored some semblance of moderate governance to the Earth Sphere we can come forward with this information, but at present it does us little good in the political arena."

They were all quiet for a moment before Lacus spoke again, determined to at least put some sort of silver lining on the matter. "Regardless of its use as a public relations tool, it's still valuable information to have. Thanks to Mu La Flaga we now have a better understanding of how and why the conflict between the Alliance and ZAFT has escalated so dramatically over the past few months. I'm sure Waltfeld and Bristow will be able to find a way to use this knowledge to our advantage, and perhaps Kira can offer them another perspective when he wakes up."

She looked down at the young man and wiped his head again with the washcloth. "As for what else Creuset said… about Kira's birth… that's a more personal matter."

"One Kira will have to come to terms with," said Heero firmly, "If he lets this new revelation cast new doubts in his mind of any kind, then his effectiveness on the battlefield will be considerably reduced. He has to deal with this and put it behind him."

"It's not going to be that easy," said Cagalli, glaring at him, "He's had a hard enough time coping with being a Coordinator fighting against his own kind, not to mention wondering why he was made one to begin with. Now he gets all this stuff about him being the product of a mad scientist's dream, about the parents he's known not being his real mother and father, the reason he was created… it's not something he can just deal with all at once, Heero! Besides, it affects more than just how he flies; it affects who he thinks he is! Come on, Heero, you can't be so cold about it! You're his friend, aren't you?"

Lacus saw the Gundam pilot close his eyes for a moment. When he opened them he looked at Kira for a couple seconds, and Lacus thought she saw a hint of regret in his eyes. He then turned to Cagalli and gave her a small nod.

"You're right," he said, "I was callous about it. I do consider Kira a friend, and it's not just the state of his piloting abilities that concern me. I'm sorry, Cagalli."

Cagalli's eyes widened for a moment; clearly she had not been expecting an apology from Wing Zero's pilot. Her surprise was short-lived though, and she quickly gave him a smile and a nod. "It's ok, Heero. I know you care about him, and the rest of us. You're not a cold person, even if it might look that way sometimes."

Lacus smiled as well as she remembered the conversation she'd had with Heero after that first conference aboard the Eternal, when the young man had lowered his defenses and confessed his feelings for Murrue Ramius, along with the guilt over his past actions that so deeply haunted him.

No, she thought as she looked at the soldier from another world, he's not cold at all. He's actually quite warm once you get to know him.

Suddenly she heard Kira groan, and as Lacus turned to him she saw the boy's eyes flutter. He was waking up.

"Kira!" she cried, gripping his hand tightly.

….

Slowly but surely the darkness that had enveloped Kira began to recede. Blurry light took its place, bit by bit becoming clearer as the young Coordinator struggled out of unconsciousness.

"Kira!" he heard a voice cry. It was definitely female, but the boy could not quite place who it belonged to; his hearing was as muddled as his vision. For some reason the face of the girl he had tried to save flashed before his eyes… the face of the girl he'd once loved.

"Flay…" he groaned.

"Kira!" the voice said again, only this time it was a little clearer, and Kira realized that it wasn't Flay. His vision cleared up as well, and he beheld the familiar face of a pink-haired songstress, once again his bedside angel.

"Lacus…" he said softly.

Without further adieu the girl flung herself forward, taking the young man into a tight embrace. "Kira!" she said as she held him, "You're finally awake! I was so worried…"

Kira raised his left arm to return the hug; his right was heavily bandaged and he could not quite move it yet. He smiled as he felt her soft, flowing hair brush against his face. "I'm sorry," he said, "but I'm up now. I'm ok."

The girl pulled back, but only so she could plant a kiss on his left cheek. Kira could feel himself blushing as her lips pressed against his skin, and when Lacus looked at him again the young man could swear that her face was a little flushed as well.

She was by my side again, he thought, recalling his recovery at the Clyne estate, just like last time. She… she really does care about me…

"Kira!" cried another familiar female voice, and the boy had no time to react as Cagalli mirrored Lacus's earlier move and threw her arms around him.

"Cagalli," he said, returning the hug as best he could.

After a few seconds his sister pulled back, and he could see her shake her head as she wiped tears from the corners of her eyes. "You… you idiot!" she yelled, "You have to stop ending up like this! What the hell were you thinking?"

Kira smiled sheepishly. "Yeah… sorry about that."

Cagalli returned the smile. "Well, you're back. That's all that matters."

"I'm glad you're alright," said another voice, this one male. Kira turned and saw Athrun next to Cagalli.

He nodded at his best friend. "Thanks for saving me."

"Anytime," Athrun replied.

Looking around, Kira saw that those three were not his only guests. Sitting on the opposite side of the bed were none other than Heero and Priscilla.

The blond haired, green eyed girl gave him a friendly smile. "It's good to see you up," she said, "you've been unconscious for almost a day now."

"That long?" he said, his eyes widening.

"Lacus has been worried sick," Priscilla replied, nodding at the songstress, "She never left your side in all that time."

Kira looked at Lacus again with renewed wonder at her selfless devotion to him. On closer inspection he could detect the weariness in her face, and he realized that she had hardly slept at all, and certainly not in the comfort of her own quarters.

"I'm sorry," he said, "I didn't mean to…"

Lacus shook her head before he could finish and smiled. "Don't worry about it, Kira. I'm just glad you've woken up. I did not mind staying by your side in the least."

"Thanks," said Kira.

He then turned to the one person he'd yet to speak to. Heero seemed as calm and collected as ever, but Kira thought he detected something else in the Gundam pilot's demeanor. He seemed to be more relaxed… and relieved.

The pilot from another world gave him a nod. "Welcome back. Good to see you up, Kira."

Kira returned the nod. "What are you doing over here, Heero?"

"I came to help improve the Eternal's targeting systems," he replied, "Waltfeld said I should stop in for a visit before moving on to the Kusanagi. I wasn't expecting you to wake up while I was here."

Kira smiled. "Lucky me, huh?"

To his surprise the Gundam pilot actually smirked and chuckled at his words. "No doubt. To have survived everything you have since Heliopolis… you don't just have the skills of a Gundam pilot; you have our luck and our tenacity. You just won't stay down."

"I'll take that as a compliment," said Kira.

Heero nodded, and they all shared a moment of quiet contentedness, just relieved that their friend was at last conscious again.

Unfortunately, it didn't last long. Kira leaned forward and put his hand to his head as memories of yesterday's battle flashed through his head… along with what he had failed to do.

"Kira!" cried Lacus, and he could feel her grab him by the shoulders, "What's wrong?"

"Flay…" he said softly before looking up at the others, "What… what happened to Flay? Did she…"

Heero shook his head. "We couldn't get to her, Kira. As far as we know she's alive, but in Alliance custody. I'm sorry."

Kira looked down, guilt weighing heavily upon his heart. "No… I told her I'd protect her… that I'd save her!"

"You did everything you could," said Cagalli, "this wasn't your fault."

"She's right, Kira," said Lacus, moving her hands to his cheeks and gently raising his face up to meet hers, "you tried your best to save your friend, Kira. I'm sure she'd understand."

"For what it's worth," said Heero, causing them to look at him, "the ship she was taken to was commanded by Natarle Badgiruel, and it survived the battle. So long as Flay's with Natarle she'll be looked after. It's not an ideal situation, but things could be worst. Under the circumstances I'd say she's relatively safe, Kira."

Kira nodded, though his friend's words did little to ease his guilt. "Ok…"

"You need to focus on your recovery for right now, Kira," said Athrun, "worrying like this won't help you."

Kira closed his eyes for a moment. Flay, he thought, I'm sorry. Please, stay safe… For now, those silent prayers were all he could do for his friend and ex-lover.

Suddenly other images from the battle the day before began flashing through his mind… and the confrontation inside the Mendel colony was foremost among them. "Oh no," he said, his eyes widening, "Mu! Is he…"

"He's recovering in the Archangel's medical bay," Heero answered, nodding, "He'll be down for a couple more days, but he's ok. Chief Murdoch and his crews almost have the Tallgeese Kai ready to go, and by the time La Flaga's out of the infirmary it'll be all set for him to fly."

As Kira looked at the Gundam pilot he saw his eyes narrow. "Kira… what happened inside the colony? La Flaga gave Murrue and me his account, but your perspective would be just as valuable."

"Hold on," said Priscilla, looking over at Heero, "isn't it a little early to be interrogating him? He just woke up!"

"Yeah," said Cagalli, "Heero, what the hell's wrong with you?"

"Weren't you paying attention earlier when I gave you La Flaga's account?" Wing Zero's pilot asked the tomboyish princess, "You know now that this war is not quite what we thought it is. We need every possible perspective on what Creuset revealed to Kira and La Flaga inside the colony. La Flaga already gave us his, and I doubt we'll be able to interview Creuset any time soon, so Kira's the only other witness we have."

The mention of the masked ZAFT pilot sent another burst of memories rushing through Kira's mind, and none of them were pleasant. He put his hand to his forehead, all the doubts and fears about the man's revelations that he had been able to push aside briefly during the battle now surging to the forefront. "No…" he said, "I…I can't…"

"Kira?" said Lacus worriedly, putting her hand on his shoulder, "What is it? What's wrong?"

"Everyone, back up," said another female voice, this one new and with a distinct Eastern European accent, "Give him some space!"

Looking up, Kira saw a lovely woman with long, flowing black hair and deep brown eyes. Her expression was one of concern, and as she rushed forward Kira saw a red cross patch on the right breast of her green uniform.

"Doctor…" said Lacus.

"Miss Clyne," the woman said as she approached, "please, move aside."

The girl did so, and her hand on Kira's shoulder was swiftly replaced by that of this new woman. "Kira," said the doctor as she put her other hand on cheek, "it's ok. You don't have to go back there, not now. Take a deep breath and look at me, Kira."

The young man did so, and as his gaze met the woman's he was struck by how gentle and warm her eyes seemed. It reminded him of Captain Ramius, and that sense of familiarity combined with this woman's motherly feel helped him calm down a little.

"You're safe here," she said, smiling at him, "You don't have to worry about what happened before. You can come to that later, and when you do I'll be here to help you, as will your friends."

"Miss…" said Kira, almost overwhelmed by her kindness and understanding.

"Bakulev," she said, "Doctor Alexandra Bakulev, Chief Medical Officer of the Eternal. You don't need to be formal with me though, Kira; Alexandra will do, if you wish."

He saw her look at the others. "I know you all care for him, but right now Kira needs some space to recover and get his thoughts in order. Right now there's just too many of you here, and while I know you mean well I fear that this may all be a bit overwhelming and too soon."

She then turned her gaze towards Heero, and Kira saw her eyes sharpen a little. "Heero Yuy, while I know your intentions are good, Kira's in no condition for a debriefing of any kind right now. What happened yesterday was clearly very traumatic for him, and I'm not just referring to his physical wounds. When the time comes that I believe he's ready for an interview I will inform Field Marshal Waltfeld, and I'm sure he will pass on whatever Kira says to you and the others. Until then I must ask you to desist in your interrogation."

For a moment Kira thought Heero would press the matter, but he was surprised to see the Gundam pilot nod. "I understand. Forgive me, Dr. Bakulev." He stood up and looked at Kira before heading towards the door. "I need to get to the Kusanagi. Take care, Kira."

Kira nodded and watched him leave the room before he saw Athrun, Cagalli, and Priscilla stand up. Lacus was about to join them before Alexandra stopped her and smiled. "Miss Clyne, you can stay, if you wish." She then turned to the other three. "You all can come back later if you wish to visit, but for right now… well, I feel that Miss Clyne's presence will have the soothing affect Kira needs."

Both Kira and Lacus actually blushed a little at her words, and Kira was struck by just how true they were. From the moment he had woken up, it had been Lacus that he had gravitated towards, her gentle touch that had helped him keep it together before Alexandra had come in. There was a real connection between them, and Kira realized that it was much stronger now than it had been before... and definitely stronger than the one he'd had with Flay.

Athrun, Cagalli, and Priscilla looked at Kira and Lacus before nodding and smiling in understanding. "Of course," said Cagalli, "Can we come by tomorrow?"

"I think that'll be fine," Alexandra replied, nodding, "and please pass that along to Heero as well. I did not mean to simply push him out like that, but…"

"Don't worry about it," said Athrun, "I'm sure Heero understood that you weren't trying to be rude."

"Yeah," said Cagalli, smiling, "I mean, he can be a bit blunt at times, but I know he just wants to do everything he can to help us. You made him realize that he was rushing that, moving too fast for Kira given his current condition, and he backed off. He wants Kira to get better too, just like the rest of us."

"We'd best be going, then," said Priscilla, smiling at Kira and Lacus, "We'll see you two tomorrow."

"Farewell," said Lacus.

Kira nodded at his friends, and all three of them left the medical bay.

"Ah, to be young," said Alexandra, causing Kira and Lacus to look at her, "So full of energy, so straightforward and earnest, and yet they can also be caring and understanding when appropriate. You have some remarkable friends, Kira Yamato."

Kira smiled as he felt Lacus take his hand in hers. "Yeah…"

She turned to Lacus. "Miss Clyne, while I'm letting you stay for now, you will not be sleeping in my med bay as you did last night. Tonight I want you to sleep in your own bed; you need real rest, and now that you know Kira's conscious I'm sure that will be much easier for you to come by. You can always come to visit Kira again after you've had a good night's sleep."

Lacus nodded. "Alright, Dr. Bakulev."

The doctor went to a nearby desk and grabbed a stethoscope before returning to the young man's bedside. "I hope you don't mind me running them out like that, Kira," she said, "but as your doctor your well-being is my top-priority. It's good for you to have friends by you at a time like this, but I also need to perform my duties."

"It's ok," said Kira, "I think they all got that."

"Good," she said, and Kira couldn't suppress a small gasp as he felt the cold metal of the stethoscope press against his chest, "because now that you're conscious, I have some tests I need to perform on you. Now, take a deep breath and let it out slowly."

He glanced over at Lacus, and the two of them shared a small smile. The whole situation had, to Kira at least, taken a slightly amusing turn. Here he was, recovering from serious wounds he had taken in battle, and one of the first things his attending doctor wanted to perform on him was a test that had been routine during his checkups back when he was a civilian. Of course, he'd never dreamed he'd be getting a 'checkup' on board in the medical bay of a highly advanced warship.

It was just another sign of how strange his life had become.

….

"Well," said Murrue, smiling at him from across the table, "I'm glad you were able to be there when Kira woke up. I'm sure having you and so many of his other friends by his side at that moment must've helped him immeasurably."

Heero nodded, thinking back on what had occurred in the Eternal's medical bay before taking a sip from his cup of coffee. It was early 'evening' now on board the Archangel, and Heero was enjoying his off-hours with the woman he loved in the ship's officers' lounge.

"At first, perhaps," he replied as he set his cup down and met Murrue's gaze, "but later on… I think I might've done more harm than good. I shouldn't have pressed so quickly for answers from Kira about what happened inside Mendel… I screwed up."

He saw her shake her head and smile as she reached across the table to take his hand in hers. "Heero, it's alright. I know why you were so eager to get Kira's side of the story. After what La Flaga told us yesterday and what we speculated on afterwards, I can hardly blame you for wanting every possible bit of information on their encounter with Creuset."

Heero sighed. "That doesn't change the fact that I acted without considering the possible repercussions. From what La Flaga told us I should've realized that the events inside Mendel would've had a major psychological impact on Kira given what he'd learned, that he'd be shaken up by far more than just his physical injuries. I assumed that just because we were able to debrief La Flaga right after his injuries had been treated I could do the same for Kira; I never considered the emotional differences between them, their level of maturity. Some friend I am…"

"Heero, stop this," Murrue pleaded, gently caressing his right cheek with her left hand, "Maybe you made a mistake, acted on a bad judgment, but that's ok. You're human, Heero; it's ok for you to make mistakes. You were acting in the way you thought was best for all of us, and I'm sure Kira and the others understand that. None of them would hold it against you, you know that. Surely they forgave you for your mistake."

Heero nodded, recalling the reactions of Dr. Bakulev and Kira before he'd left the medical bay. "Yeah… they did."

He saw Murrue smile again before she leaned across the table to kiss him. "Then stop worrying about it, my love," she said as she pulled back, "None of them would want you to beat yourself up over something like this, least of all Kira. You know him better than that, Heero; he is your friend, after all."

Heero couldn't help but give her a small smile in return. "You're right, Murrue. Thank you."

"You're very welcome, Heero," she replied.

The two of them were quiet for a few seconds as they drank more of their coffee. When they set their cups down Murrue smiled again. "I'm glad Waltfeld sent some of his personal blends back with you. This is so much better than that crap coffee this ship was stocked with before."

Heero nodded. "I know what you mean. In fact, I think this is the same blend he gave Kira, Cagalli, and I when he took us to his headquarters in Banadiya."

"Is that so?" said Murrue as she took another sip, "That seems like such a long time ago… but it was only a few months. Who would've imagined that we'd end up fighting alongside the Desert Tiger, along with so many of our other adversaries from North Africa?"

"I guess we wound up being more alike than we'd originally thought we were," said Heero.

"True enough," said Murrue, smirking, "I'm sure both our superiors being complete assholes had something to do with it as well."

Heero gave a small chuckle. "You have a point there, Murrue."

The two of them smiled at each other as they shared a small laugh and drank their coffee. A silence fell between them after a little while, but it wasn't an awkward one. Rather, it was one of contentment, of simply enjoying some precious time with the one they loved.

Back in my old world, he thought as he looked at Murrue, I never dreamed I'd ever feel like this, doing such a simple act. All we're doing is drinking coffee, but the fact that I'm doing it with her just gives it so much more meaning. Murrue, you've changed me, changed so much about how I live, how I experience the world around me… your world, our world… it's incredible.

The Gundam pilot found his small smile growing almost without his bidding, and from the look in Murrue's eyes he knew she had noticed. "What is it, Heero?" she asked.

Heero surprised her, and himself, by putting down his coffee and leaning across the table. Taking Murrue's chin in his hand, he brought her face up to his and took her into a warm, deep kiss. Murrue swiftly returned it, and the two lovers lost themselves in each other for a few beautiful moments.

Eventually of course they were forced to part, but their smiles did not fade from their faces as they settled back into their seats. A warm feeling had enveloped both of them, and Heero wanted it to last forever.

"I love you, Murrue," he said.

"I love you too, Heero," she replied.

….

"Well, doctor?" asked Waltfeld.

It was two days since the battle at L4. Kira had finally awoken the day before, and Waltfeld and Aisha had paid the young man a visit once the Desert Tiger's watch had ended. While Waltfeld had been eager to debrief the young man and corroborate the account given by the Hawk of Endymion to Captain Ramius and Heero, his chief medical officer had told him in no uncertain terms that it was far too soon for an interview of that nature, and he had let the matter slide for that visit and focused on simply wishing Kira well and chatting for a bit before leaving. Now that more time had passed though, Waltfeld was eager to get Kira's version of the events that had occurred inside Mendel. While he was conscious of the boy's current state, he simply could not wait for much longer to get that valuable information; there was too much at stake.

He watched on his personal monitor as Alexandra looked down for a moment before meeting his gaze again. "His condition's improved, and talking to Miss Clyne since he woke up seems to have helped him considerably, but… I still have my reservations, sir."

Waltfeld sighed. "Dr. Bakulev, I understand the need for care regarding Kira's emotional processing of what happened on Mendel and in the rest of the battle, but time is not our ally here. I need to debrief Kira before I can plan our next move, and that has to happen sooner rather than later."

Alexandra nodded. "I would prefer to wait at least another day, but… I'll relent, sir. Please, just take care regarding your questioning. I still have my concerns about the boy."

"Noted," said Waltfeld, "I'll be down in a few minutes. Is Miss Clyne still with him?"

"Yes," she replied, "and I would prefer it if she stayed with him throughout your debriefing. I know you won't be hostile towards him, sir, but I would still like Kira to have some moral support here, and Miss Clyne has proven to be a wonderful source of that for him."

Waltfeld smiled. "She does have a knack for that, our songstress."

"Especially as far as Kira is concerned," said Alexandra, "I'm quite certain her feelings for him are far beyond that of friendly affection."

Waltfeld chuckled. "You're not wrong there, doctor."

"I know I'm not," she replied, "I'll see you shortly, sir."

….

"Come on," said Lacus, holding the spoon full of jello before his mouth, "open up, Kira."

Kira gave her an embarrassed smile. "Lacus, I can do it myself."

She shook her head. "Your right arm is still bandaged up, and it's not good for you to put any undue stress on it. You've only got your left arm to use right now, and from what I saw earlier that's clearly not your dominant one, Kira."

The boy sighed. She had a point there. Besides, she seemed to enjoy caring for him, so Kira felt it would be best if he went along with her for the time being.

"Alright," he said, opening wide.

It was a good thing she was here to help him eat. Since he had regained consciousness the day before he had developed quite the appetite and the nutrients given to him by the IV in his arm had not been enough for him. Now the IV was out entirely, and he was once again completely reliant on eating normally for sustenance.

Lacus had followed the doctor's orders to leave and sleep in her own room eventually, but to Kira it had seemed that no sooner had he fallen asleep and woken up that she was right by his side, and he had to wonder if she had really gotten a full night's rest before coming back to the med bay. She hadn't seemed as tired as she did the day before though, so he took that as a good sign. He was glad she was here with him; simply having her company was helping him immeasurably, especially when it came to sorting through everything that had happened inside the Mendel colony two days ago.

Creuset's revelations, along with his failure to save Flay, had haunted Kira's mind ever since the battle. When he was unconscious those thoughts had manifested in little more than brief, jumbled images, quick flashes coming and going at random amidst the darkness. Now that he was awake he could try to make more sense of it, but the ramifications of all that he had learned about his origins were a lot to swallow.

He hadn't told Lacus much about what had happened during that fateful encounter inside the abandoned colony. Kira could tell that she was worried about what he had experienced, but she'd apparently decided not to press him on the issue. Lacus had simply held him close and told him to take his time, that he could talk about whatever he felt comfortable with, and that she would be here to give him all the support he needed. That had meant a lot to Kira, and he once again found himself amazed at the girl's ability to understand his feelings.

He heard the door hiss open. Turning towards it, Kira expected to see Dr. Bakulev approaching, and indeed she was, but Kira was surprised to see that she was accompanied by none other than Waltfeld and Aisha. The Desert Tiger and his lover smiled as they came up to him, with the lovely black-haired woman moving to grab chairs for the both of them.

"Hey, kid," said Waltfeld, "You're looking better already. How you feeling?"

"Alright," Kira replied, smiling, "just a little sore."

"We've got to stop meeting like this," said Aisha, winking at him as she and Waltfeld sat down beside the bed, "This reminds me of that time back at the Clyne estate. Fortunately your wounds are not as serious now as they were back then."

"Dr. Bakulev has provided exceptional care for Kira," said Lacus, nodding at the chief medical officer, who was leaning against the wall not too far from the bed, "I'm glad Bristow was able to get her assigned to the Eternal."

"As are the rest of us," said Waltfeld, looking over at Alexandra, "Dr. Bakulev's one of the best medics in the ZAFT Fleet. Snagging her was a real coup."

"And I'm very happy to have the opportunity to join you all in this endeavor," said Alexandra, smiling at them, "I may not be able to aid you in battle, but I will do everything in my power to make sure you can fight at full health to help bring this foolish war to an end."

"We all contribute in our own way," said Lacus, "Just because a person cannot fight on the front lines does not mean they cannot help our cause in some way, nor does it diminish their aid."

Aisha nodded. "Well said, Miss Clyne."

Waltfeld looked at Kira again and smiled. "Well, you'll be happy to know that we've already finished up the repairs for the Freedom, Kira; your machine's ready for action the moment you are."

"That's good," said Kira.

He then saw the Desert Tiger turn to Alexandra again, his expression becoming more serious. The doctor sighed and gave him a reluctant nod. Before Kira could ask what was going on Waltfeld turned back to him, his good eye focusing in on the young man with razor sharpness.

"Kira," he said, "While our ships and mobile suits may be ready for battle again, the same can't be said for our group as a whole, at least not in a way that advances our cause. Our fights have to be directed towards finding a way to bring this war to an end, and to do that we need every bit of information we can get regarding the Alliance and ZAFT."

He looked down for a moment before meeting Kira's gaze again, and the boy could feel a sense of reluctance coming from Waltfeld. "When Aisha and I visited you yesterday," he continued, "Dr. Bakulev asked that I hold off on your debriefing out of concern for your well-being, and I heeded her wishes. I don't want to put any undue stress on you, impede your recovery in any way; you went through a lot in the fight at L4, both physically and emotionally, and I want you to be able to recuperate from that. I'll give you all the time I can for the former, but… I'm afraid I can't give you the same luxury with regards to the latter. Kira, I wish I could put this off, I really do… but I need to get your account of what happened inside Mendel. La Flaga's debriefing was very valuable, and information-wise I doubt you could tell me more than he already revealed, but I still need your perspective, Kira. If what Creuset told you when you and La Flaga encountered him inside that colony is true, then our struggle just became more urgent than ever."

Kira looked down. He'd been afraid that Waltfeld had come here today to ask him about his fateful meeting with Creuset. There was still so much doubt and uncertainty whirling about inside his mind from that encounter… even two days after it had occurred, the boy still felt as though he were reeling from it on some level.

He then felt a familiar hand gently grab his. Looking up, his eyes met those of Lacus, her lovely cerulean gems emanating serenity, compassion, and encouragement. She gave him a small nod and a smile. "It's ok, Kira. I'll be here, with you, while you tell them what happened. If you need strength, you can take it from me."

Kira nodded slowly before turning back to Waltfeld and Aisha. He took a deep breath and let it out before speaking. "Ok… I'll tell you everything."

It wasn't easy, but the boy managed to describe that fateful encounter he and La Flaga had experienced with Creuset inside the Mendel colony, along with what had happened afterwards when he had returned to the battlefield. Through it all Lacus held his hand, and she wasn't his only source of strength; more than once Alexandra had come over to put her hand on his shoulder, or had simply given him a warm smile and a nod of encouragement. Waltfeld listened patiently, only interrupting a few times for clarification, and he let Kira set the pace of the debriefing.

Eventually Kira came to the end of his tale, and silence fell over the room as the others processed everything that he had told him. The young man was nervous about how they might react to some of the things he had told him… especially with regards to what Creuset had revealed about his origins.

Waltfeld closed his eye for a moment before looking at Kira again. "He didn't say anything else?" he asked.

Kira shook his head.

Waltfeld nodded. "I see. What about Flay Allster? Did she mention him at all when you spoke over the radio?"

"No," Kira replied, "she said she had to tell me something, but she never got the chance because of the battle."

"She never mentioned the 'key' to ending the war?" asked Aisha.

He was surprised at the term Aisha had used. "No, I never heard her say anything like that. Why?"

"When ZAFT released the pod," said Waltfeld, "Flay broadcasted over an open channel. She said she had the 'key' that would bring this war to an end."

Kira shook his head. "I never caught that transmission. It must've been after I went inside the colony."

"I see," said Waltfeld. He looked over at Lacus. "Miss Clyne, you didn't…"

The songstress shook her head. "No. Heero told me about his and Captain Ramius's speculation with Mu La Flaga while Kira was unconscious… but I haven't told Kira yet." She turned to the young man and bowed her head. "I'm sorry, but I wanted you to focus on your recovery. I didn't want to worry you, Kira."

"It's ok," said Kira, smiling, "I'm not mad at you, Lacus."

She returned the smile and squeezed his hand. "Oh… thank you, Kira."

Kira nodded before turning back to Waltfeld. "I want to hear it now, though. What did Captain Ramius and Heero tell you guys?"

"It's just a theory right now," said Waltfeld, his tone grim, "but… we have reason to believe that Flay's transfer to the Alliance forces was orchestrated by Creuset and that it fits into his larger plan."

"I don't understand," said Kira, "How?"

"Our hypothesis," said Aisha, her usually playful emerald eyes now hard as stone, "is that Flay was sent over to the Alliance carrying the technical specifications for the N-Jammer Cancellers."

Kira's eyes widened in horror as the gravity of what was implied in that statement sunk in. "No way… you mean…"

"It will take time," Waltfeld cut in, "Even with access to the specs they will still need to build a prototype and conduct tests before they shift into mass production… but the fact remains that the Alliance now has the capability to bring their nuclear arsenal back into this war."

"We've shared this hypothesis with Bristow," said Aisha, "He believes that once the Alliance has produced the N-Jammer Cancellers in sufficient quantities and fitted the devices to their missiles they will mass every fleet they have and launch an all-out assault on the PLANTs. With the amount of warheads in their arsenal, they could easily take out every colony in a single volley, and you can bet that they'll have multiple waves of missiles ready to go just in case the first one fails."

Kira looked down, the sheer barbarity of what the Desert Tiger and the Tigress was telling him weighing heavily on his shoulders. "How… how can we stop that?"

"We'll come to that in due time," said Waltfeld, "Don't worry, Kira; we haven't thrown in the towel yet."

"Bristow will monitor Alliance fleet movements through his surviving contacts in ZAFT's intelligence circles," said Aisha, "We'll know when they begin massing for their attack. There's no way they'll be able to hide a fleet muster of that scale."

Kira nodded. It was good to know that his friends had at least some idea of how to prepare for the enemy's inevitable action, but there were still a lot of unanswered questions.

Their fleet will be massive, he thought, and there's no way to tell how many nukes they'll have. How are we supposed to stop them from firing those weapons at the PLANTs?

"Kira," said Waltfeld, bringing the boy's attention back to the here-and-now, "there's something else I need to talk to you about."

"Dear," said Aisha, putting her hand on the Desert Tiger's shoulder, a concerned look in her eyes "perhaps you should save that..."

Waltfeld shook his head. "No. Sorry, my love, but I can't put it off."

"Put what off?" asked Lacus.

Rather than answer Lacus, Waltfeld focused his gaze on Kira. "The crews that worked on the Freedom sent me your combat data. I saw your fight with Creuset, both before you entered the colony and when you got out."

"Kira," he said, and the boy was struck by just how piercing the Desert Tiger could make his gaze with just one eye, "When you fought Creuset after you left the colony, you had him dead to rights. You knew what he had planned, the threat he posed. I know you neutralized his GuAIZ to the point that it no longer posed a danger in the battle… but why didn't you finish him off?"

"What?" said Kira, his eyes widening. This was not a line of inquiry he had expected from the former ZAFT Field Marshal.

"You heard me," said Waltfeld, his voice firm, "Why didn't you kill him?"

"You said it yourself," Kira replied, "I disabled his mobile suit; he was no longer able to fight. He couldn't hurt me or anyone else."

"In that battle, yes," said Waltfeld, "but Kira, you were there with La Flaga inside Mendel. You were there when he talked about how he intended to wipe out not just the Earth Alliance, but all of mankind, and that he had been manipulating both sides in this war towards that exact purpose. You knew that he was a threat not just to us but to all life in the Earth Sphere, but you let him go. Why?"

"There was no need to kill him," said Kira, "He couldn't fight anymore."

He saw Aisha sigh and shake her head. "So naïve…"

Waltfeld nodded before looking at Kira again. "Aisha's right, Kira. I was willing to turn a blind eye to it before… but I can't anymore. Truth be told, this is a conversation I've been wanting to have with you for a while now, but I wasn't sure how to approach it… and a part of me didn't want to. You're a good kid, I've known that since North Africa, and I didn't want to attack you like this, but I can't sit back any longer and ignore this problem."

"What problem are you talking about, Mister Waltfeld?" asked Lacus.

Waltfeld sighed. "I know you'll take Kira's side in this, Miss Clyne. After all, what Kira's been doing fits in very well with your ideals. I'm sorry, but I will have to oppose you and Kira here… try to make you both see what the rest of us already do."

"Just what d you think I'm blind to?" asked Kira, his eyes narrowing.

"Kira," said Waltfeld, "when was the last time you killed an enemy on the battlefield?"

Kira was taken aback by the question, and it took him a moment to respond. "It… it was in the Marshall Islands. I destroyed the Blitz… and killed Athrun's friend Nicol."

Waltfeld nodded. "I thought as much. You haven't been willing to kill since you were given the Freedom. All your battles you've fought since you left the PLANTs have been with your new, non-lethal style."

"Yes," said Kira, "and that's the way I want to fight. The Freedom gives me the power to defeat my enemies without killing them! Why shouldn't I take advantage of that? Why should I kill if I don't have to?"

Waltfeld sighed. "If it were that simple, Kira, I would not be here arguing with you today."

"Forgive me, Mister Waltfeld," said Lacus firmly, "but it does seem very simple to me, and that this is an argument that need not happen."

"Just as you called, Andy," said Aisha, glancing over at her lover, "She's on his side in this."

"Did you expect any less, dear?" Waltfeld replied.

Aisha shook her head. "No, I suppose not."

"Waltfeld," said Kira, "when I returned to the Archangel after we escaped from Alaska, Heero confronted me on the same thing you are now. He disagreed with me just like you are now, but he respected my decision to keep fighting that way, and he hasn't brought it up since then."

Waltfeld nodded. "I can see why, given your circumstances at the time. After all, following the First Battle of Alaska the Archangel and her pilots were at war with both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. Unit cohesion is vital in order to survive in times like that, and I'm willing to bet Heero considered maintaining teamwork between pilots to be of greater priority than pressing you to change your ways, or at least reconsider how you fight. Unfortunately your situation is different now Kira… and I can't be as willing to let it go as Heero was. Too many lives are riding on my shoulders, on all of our shoulders."

"I know," said Kira, "but it's not right for me to just kill the pilots of the Alliance and ZAFT if I have the power to do otherwise! They're just being used by their superiors; I bet most of them would oppose what the true goals of Azrael and Zala are! When I fought in the past, before Alaska… when I killed people, it wasn't just their lives I was destroying. I was devastating their families and friends! They all felt the same pain I did when Athrun killed Tolle and when I killed Nicol, and I don't want to inflict that kind of suffering on anyone else!"

"And how do you think the rest of us feel?" growled Waltfeld, now glaring at Kira, the dagger of his gaze sharper than the boy had ever seen it before, "Do you think the rest of us enjoy killing people, Kira? Do you think we like living with the knowledge that we not only take lives but rip apart families and plunge friends into sorrow? Do you think we want to take lives in the name of protecting the people we care about? None of us ever wanted to kill, Kira!"

"Waltfeld…" said Kira softly, struggling to come up with a reply.

"Tell me something, Kira," said Aisha, "Why did you choose to stay with the Archangel, to keep being a mobile suit pilot even though it was the last thing you wanted?"

"Because I wanted to protect my friends," said Kira, "I had the power to save them and make a difference in this war; that's why I choose to fight!"

"That's how the rest of us felt," said Waltfeld, his voice calmer now that it had been before, "and to do that, we understood that we would have to soak our hands in blood. Aisha, Shemei, the girls, Athrun and his friends, myself... we all knew that our decisions would mean that we would have to kill, Kira. The same goes for Captain Ramius and her crew, along with Heero; they were well aware that their choices meant that they would have to take lives. More than that, we all knew that those we killed would have loved ones that they would leave behind, who would suffer from grief, anger, and pain. We may have chosen not to think about it every second of our lives, but make no mistake; we all knew that our actions would inflict casualties beyond the battlefield, even if we would never aim our weapons at civilians."

"After all," said Aisha solemnly, "we've all lost friends, family, or both to this war. I'd wager there's not a soul in the Earth Sphere that hasn't been touched by this conflict in one form or another, and would count those who haven't lost loved ones to be both lucky and rare. Kira, we know the pain we're inflicting those left behind the people we kill; we've all felt it ourselves in one form or another."

"Then how can you just accept it and expect me to do the same?" asked Kira, "I mean, I understand that not all our mobile suits can target as precisely as I can with the Freedom, and that our warships cannot accomplish the same thing either, but that doesn't change the fact that I do have the power to fight and defeat those that threaten the people I care about without having to kill them and inflict suffering upon those that know and love them! You don't see me trying to get Heero, Shemei, her pilots, or Athrun to follow my path, so why are you trying to push me onto yours?"

"You should at least remove Heero from that list," said Aisha, "After all, Wing Zero is more of a weapon of mass destruction than a precision instrument, regardless of the skill and discipline with which Heero wields it."

Kira nodded, recalling that Heero himself had said as much; even with all of the restraint he could give the machine or the lowest power setting of the Twin Buster Rifle, the Wing Gundam Zero was just not designed for the pinpoint precision shooting that the Freedom could achieve.

"Alright, fine," he said, "but that still leaves five other mobile suits that use the exact same targeting system that the Freedom has, and their pilots have the ability to use it in the manner that I have. I still haven't tried to get them to fight my way, so why are you trying to get me to follow their path? That's not fair!"

"Kira's right," said Lacus, "Doesn't he have the right to pursue his own path on the battlefield?"

Waltfeld shook his head. "Miss Clyne, Kira… it's not that simple."

"Why?" asked Kira pointedly, "It seems pretty simple to me."

Waltfeld closed his eye for a moment before looking at the young man again. "Kira, do you remember the first battle you took part in after the Archangel returned to outer space?"

Kira nodded. "Yeah, we saved you guys from ZAFT."

"And I'm very grateful for that," said Waltfeld, "You played a vital role in that rescue… but you also put us at risk in a key moment in the battle."

Kira shook his head. "No I didn't! What the hell are you talking about, Waltfeld?"

"When you fought the Schnee Team," said Waltfeld, "you managed to deal severe damage to their mobile suits as you did against the regular ZAFT troops that were attacking us earlier. However, unlike those soldiers, the pilots of the Schnee Team possessed far greater levels of skill. The damage you inflicted upon their GuAIZs was not enough to get them to leave the field. They kept fighting you, and because you refused to kill them your battle with them dragged on… and left the Eternal vulnerable."

"How?" asked Kira, "I was keeping the Schnee Team away from the Eternal. I was helping you!"

Aisha shook her head. "While it's true that you kept the Schnee Team occupied, the fact that you weren't able to defeat them quickly and decisively was a major problem. Even with their skill, Kira, they should've been no match for a pilot of your caliber wielding a mobile suit like the Freedom."

"But because you did not fight to kill," said Waltfeld, "you weren't truly unleashing all the skill and power at your disposal. You could've wiped the floor with them, Kira, and you know that. Instead you dithered, and because of that Lan had to divert from her team to come help you. Since she wasn't helping Adaline and Priscilla they couldn't take down the enemy's capital ships as quickly as before… and a frigate almost got the chance to nail us with a volley, one that could've hit the bridge."

Kira's mind flashed back to that battle, and he recalled the event Waltfeld had mentioned. His blood chilled as he realized that it had only been the timely arrival of the Kusanagi that had prevented the frigate from hitting the Eternal… and possibly killing Lacus.

Kira shook his head. "No…" he said softly, "I didn't… I didn't mean to…"

"Kira," said Lacus, giving his hand a squeeze, "it's ok. Everything turned out alright in the end, remember?"

"Field Marshal," Alexandra chimed in, "I fear you're going too far. If you keep this up, I'll have to ask you to leave."

"I'm sorry, Dr. Bakulev," Waltfeld replied, "but I'm almost done, and this is something Kira needs to hear."

Kira looked at the Field Marshall. "Waltfeld… what do you want me to do? I… I can't just go back to the way it used to be…"

"Nor can I make you," Waltfeld finished for him, "and I won't. Kira, believe it or not I do understand just how important your way of fighting is to you. While it's true that I may disagree with it, that does not change the fact that I also respect your decision to follow it. You're standing by your beliefs, and that's something to be admired. However… you can't just dogmatically follow this path without considering the possible repercussions. Your actions have consequences, Kira... and those consequences could very well get you or your friends killed someday."

"So what are you asking, Mister Waltfeld?" asked Lacus, "While you said that you cannot make Kira abandon his chosen method of fighting our enemy, it sounds to me like you plan on attempting to do precisely that."

Waltfeld shook his head. "No, I do not, Miss Clyne… but I do want Kira to be more flexible and thoughtful in how he handles himself in future battles."

"What do you mean, Waltfeld?" asked Kira.

Waltfeld met the young man's gaze, the look in his eye hard and grim. "Kira, you have to learn to draw the line between those you can disable and those you have to take out for good. Against regular pilots, the standard rank-and-file troops, your disabling techniques have proven to be very effective, and it takes you no longer to do that than it does for any of us to kill them. I've got no problem with you continuing to fight the common soldiers fielded by the Alliance and ZAFT in the manner that you have been since you started flying the Freedom. However, when it comes to elite pilots, or nutcases like Creuset… Kira, you can't hold back against people like that."

"The longer you spend fighting against high-caliber foes," said Aisha, "that's more time you're not spending neutralizing other enemies and helping us win the battle. If you're truly willing to go all-out, then none of Zala's elites should be able to stand against you, and I imagine the same would go for the Alliance's hotshots."

"So I should kill them just because it's more expedient?" said Kira, incredulous at what he was hearing.

"Partially," said Waltfeld bluntly, "but also because it will ultimately save lives. Not theirs, perhaps, but those of your friends, your comrades, and ultimately the innocent people we're trying to defend from madmen like Azrael and Zala. Kira, while you're right in that most of the pilots we fight against probably don't truly believe in the vile rhetoric espoused by their superiors, some of them do. I know you can't tell one's political affiliations or ideals apart from another when they're inside a mobile suit, but there's another thing you have to take into consideration."

"What's that?" asked Kira.

"In the case of Patrick Zala," said Waltfeld, "he's proven himself willing to promote people as much or more on the basis of their ideology as opposed to their actual level of competence. The higher up in ZAFT's chain you go, the more likely you are to find people that genuinely want to kill all the Naturals. I can't say for certain, but based on what Captain Ramius has told us I'm willing to bet that's more or less true for the Earth Alliance as well, especially with Blue Cosmos now holding it by the balls."

"Many of those high ranking individuals," said Aisha, "are naturally away from the front lines; we likely won't be in a position to confront them directly until their militaries are defeated and we can bring them to stand trial for their crimes. However, there are those that do take part in field operations, whether from the bridges of capital ships or the cockpits of mobile suits… and the latter will likely be given control over more prestigious or elite units."

Waltfeld nodded. "Kira, this isn't a guarantee, but there is the strong possibility that the more powerful enemy pilots you face in the future will also be the more fanatical ones, more bound to the hatred embraced by those above them. That won't always be the case, of course; look no further than Heero's fights with Shemei if you need an example of otherwise. However, that does not change the fact that those more powerful fighters pose a grave threat, regardless of their individual leanings. When you fight them, Kira, you need to be able to push yourself to the same level they are… the same commitment to do what is necessary to win."

He looked over at Dr. Bakulev and nodded before standing up. Aisha joined him, and the Desert Tiger turned to Kira one more time. "There's a difference between noble idealism and arrogant self-righteousness," he said, "Learn to distinguish between the two, Kira. If you only follow one mindset and ignore the circumstances around you, then you run the risk of falling into the latter. If that happens, then you could get yourself or someone you care about killed. Don't abandon your ideals, Kira… but learn how to bend them."

Waltfeld sighed before giving the young man a weary smile. "Hate to go rough on you like that, kid, but it had to be done. Chew on that food-for-thought for awhile; you've got nothing better to do while you're laid up like this. Take care, Kira."

He nodded at Kira and Lacus before he and Aisha left the medical bay. Kira watched the door close behind him before looking down, mulling over what Waltfeld had said.

"Kira," said Lacus, her tone one of worry, "are you alright?"

He heard Dr. Bakulev sigh. "If that was Waltfeld's idea of going easy on the boy, then I'm going to have to talk to that man later."

Kira shook his head. "No, it's ok."

He looked up at Lacus and Alexandra. "He was doing what he felt was best for the group; he thought I needed to hear what he had to say."

"I'm not arguing that," said the doctor, "but I still think he could've waited a little longer before saying it. With the state you're in, you need to be focusing on your recovery. It's not right for him to put you on the spot like that, stressing you out at a time like this."

"It's ok," said Kira, "I can deal with it."

"Are you sure?" asked Lacus, still clearly concerned, "Kira, I know why you've been fighting the way you have, why it's so important to you. You don't have to change it just because it's convenient for the others; that's not right!"

Kira nodded. "I know, and I'm not going to change what I do just because of expediency. But… Waltfeld was right about one thing; my actions do have consequences. I have to consider my situation when I fight… especially when it comes to who I'm fighting."

He met her gaze. "Lacus, I don't want my actions to put you in danger, or anyone else for that matter. I want to protect you, not put you at risk."

She nodded before surprising the young man with a quick kiss on the cheek. "I know, Kira," she said, "and no matter how you choose to do that, know that you have my support, and my gratitude."

Kira smiled. "Thank you, Lacus."

She smiled in return, and the two of them looked at each other for a few moments… before remembering that they were not the only ones in the room.

Kira felt his face flush as he turned towards Alexandra Bakulev. The Eternal's chief medical officer had an amused smile on her face as she looked at him and the pink-haired songstress. "Well, it seems I won't have to chew Waltfeld out after all," she said, "I think you'll be just fine, Kira."

"Uhm… thanks," he replied.

The doctor chuckled. "Well, I've got some paperwork to take care of in my office, so I'll leave you two be for the moment. Call if you need me."

She gave them a nod and another smile before she left, and Kira could've sworn there was a strange, knowing look in her deep brown eyes. The young man was confused, but as he turned to Lacus again and saw her still smiling he brushed the matter aside.

The conversation he'd just had with Waltfeld, though, was still very much on his mind. The former ZAFT Field Marshal had certainly given young Coordinator a great deal to think about, and had opened his eyes to potential flaws and dangers that he had not seen before now.

The difference between noble idealism and self-righteous arrogance, he mused, reflecting on the Desert Tiger's words, maybe… he might be right. I thought that because my way of fighting didn't kill anyone that it was better by default… and part of me might've assumed that gave me moral high ground over the others as well. I never considered possible limitations or repercussions inherent in how I fight… or the experience and feelings of the others. How… how do I move forward from here?

It was a question the boy knew he had to find an answer for, and soon. There was too much at stake in this conflict, especially after what had happened at Mendel. Kira could not let himself be weighed down by doubt and uncertainty, nor could he allow himself to hold back his friends in any way.

Can I… can I kill again?, he thought, shuddering at the notion, I don't want to, I really don't want to… but then again, neither do the others, but they still do it. I… I don't know if I can go back there again, but… what if I have to?

Again, he had no answer.

….

"Homework?" asked Heero, surprised by the term Murrue had used.

It had been three days since he had gone over to the Eternal and the Kusanagi to install his and Shemei's upgraded targeting software. In that time the Archangel and her companion ships had entered the orbital Debris Belt and were cruising through it in an effort to avoid engagement with the enemy. Heero didn't know how long Waltfeld planned to keep this up or where they would ultimately go next for a temporary base of operations, but in the end he knew he had to trust that the man knew what he was doing. Now he was down in Wing Zero's cockpit, running some routine maintenance checks. No matter what happened, he wanted to be sure that his mobile suit was ready to sortie the instant trouble reared its ugly head.

Murrue gave a small laugh and a smile on the screen. "Engineer Simmons' word for it, not mine. She just sent over schematics for a new augmentation pack for the Strike Rouge; she wanted you to have a look at it and add any improvements you could think of."

"She does know I'm just a pilot, right?" he asked, now a little amused, "I may have given her the designs for mobile suits and weapons from my world, and I handle the maintenance of Wing Zero, but I'm not an engineer like her."

"I'm sure she's aware of that," Murrue replied, "That being said, you did act as a technical advisor for her during our first stay in Orb. I imagine that left an impression on her, and I certainly can't blame her; your talents involve more than just the battlefield, Heero."

Heero nodded. "I appreciate that, Murrue."

"Anytime, Heero," she said, "If you're not too busy, I'll send you the schematics and you can go over them. Is that ok?"

"Yeah," he said, "I'm close to wrapping up here. Send them over; I can examine them and make my own adjustments before we grab our meal together."

"That fast, huh?" asked Murrue, smiling, "I thought you said you weren't an engineer, Heero."

"I'm not," said Heero, giving her a small smile in return, "I trust the quality of work that Engineer Simmons does; I'm sure I won't have too many tweaks to make to whatever she's come up with."

"You'll know soon enough," Murrue replied, "I'm sending it down now. Have fun."

Heero watched as her face disappeared from the screen and was replaced by Erica Simmons' schematics. The Gundam pilot studied the designs, a few ideas already running through his head. After a couple minutes he began to type and make alterations to what the Orb engineer had sent over.

….

"Well," said Erica Simmons, leaning back in her chair, "I can't say I'm not intrigued by your choices, Heero."

It was two hours after she had sent the designs for the new Striker pack over to the Archangel. She'd been in her office enjoying a cup of coffee while reviewing the maintenance records for the ZGMF-X09A Justice when she received Heero's response. It had certainly been faster than what she had expected, and his alterations to her designs had caught her off guard.

"It's a good fit for Cagalli," the young man replied from her computer screen.

"Are you sure?" said Erica, "You seem to have reduced the armaments from my original design. Why did you do that, Heero?"

"Your initial design was solid," said the Gundam pilot, "but for a pilot like Cagalli, it was too complex. Had Kira or Athrun been the ones wielding it I would've agreed with your original selection, but Cagalli's not on their level. With a simpler layout like this she'll be much more effective with it."

Erica sighed. "I guess I did go a bit overboard there. I get so caught up in the possibilities, the technology and the designs, that I tend to forget about the pilots that will be using them." She smiled. "This is why I like working with you, Heero. You've got a good technical eye, and you add a pilot's perspective to things."

"So the altered design's good?" asked Heero.

Erica nodded. "Yes, and it will be easier for my teams to put together with the parts we have on hand. Combine that with our next shipment of supplies and mobile suits from L3 and I'll be able to keep it running as well as the Aile pack. Thank you for your help, Heero."

"You're welcome," he replied before ending the transmission.

Erica smiled as she took a sip from her coffee. Then she began sending the design Heero had sent back to her to the rest of her development team.

Time to get to work, she thought, I can't wait to see what Lady Cagalli can do with this once we're done.

….

July 17th, C.E. 71

Cruising along her assigned patrol route, the Nelson-class battleship Sherman was hardly a vital element of the Earth Alliance's war effort. Her current mission, along with that of her three accompanying Drake-class escort ships, was simply to monitor the boundary of one of the supply routes used by convoys heading from Earth to Luna, the L1 Forward Operating Base Los Alamos, and the L2 shipyards. In the case of the Sherman and her escorts, their area of patrol was between Earth and the orbital Debris Belt, a region that had not seen action in quite some time.

It was that lack of combat that the Sherman's commanding officer, Captain Conrad Fessler, hated to no end. A petty and ambitious man, the short, corpulent soldier had long hoped to make a name for himself on the front lines of this war, but his dreams had been constantly stymied by lackluster assignments such as the one he had now. Fancying himself a master of space naval tactics, Fessler was in reality nothing of the sort, a rank amateur who had only advanced as far as he had thanks to the fact that he had family members in both the armed forces and the Senate of the Atlantic Federation... along with the fact that said family members were sympathetic to Blue Cosmos.

The venal and arrogant Captain could at least draw some consolation for his current assignment from the fact that the complements of his ship and its escorts had been upgraded a week ago. The battleship now carried six Strike-Daggers and four beam-cannon-equipped Moebius mobile armors, a load-out that was becoming increasingly standard across the Alliance Navy. The three Drake-class ships had likewise undergone an upgrade of sorts, swapping out two of their four mobile armors for mobile suits. Now the patrol group was much more formidable than it had been in the past, a fact that had quickly gone to Fessler's head.

Suddenly the Captain's dour mood was improved by an announcement from his sensor officer. "Sir, contact spotted on long-range scopes!" he said, "Profile is that of a Nazca-class destroyer!"

At last, he thought excitedly, some action! It's only one ship, too; we'll crush them in no time at all!

"All hands, level one battle stations!" he ordered, unable to suppress a grin, "Launch all mobile suits and mobile armors! Let's make those genetic freaks rue the day they chose to fight against us!"

….

"Another patrol," said Pixy as he entered the hangar of the Nazca-class destroyer Kerimov wearing an olive drab flight suit, gray helmet cradled under his left arm, "fourth one this week, I think."

"Fifth," said Cipher, just a little ahead and to the right of Pixy, having forgone his casual garb in favor of a white flight suit with black trim and a helmet with the same color scheme, "you forgot that Drake-class ship we dusted six days ago."

"Come on, that hardly counts," said Pixy as he put on his helmet, "That fight lasted less than a minute, and it only had four mobile armors with it; hardly a workout there. More to the point, their pilots sucked."

Cipher nodded as he donned his helmet. "True enough. This group's bigger though, and if it's like the ones we fought two days ago it probably has mobile suits with it. Don't get cocky."

Pixy gave his flight lead a two-fingered salute. "Roger that, buddy. See you out there."

With that the two pilots went their separate ways, floating off towards their mobile suits. Like any other ship of its class, the Kerimov carried six machines. Four of them were GuAIZs painted in the standard mixed greens used by those machines piloted by the regular forces. The other two machines, though, stood out from the crowd both in appearance and in capabilities.

Pixy smiled as he approached his machine. "Time to fly again, Archer."

Built on the same frame as the machines used by the regular forces, the ZGMF-600AAM GuAIZ Archer was a machine tailored to Pixy's specific style. The AAM in its designation stood for Artillery Assault Model, and it had the firepower to go with that classification. Its paintjob consisted primarily of a mix of light grays, though the right arm was painted red in homage to the right wing that had been torn of his old space fighter back when Pixy had been flying as a member of ZAFT. The machine's primary weapon, held in its right hand, was the M101 Balaena Zwei plasma rifle. It was stronger than the plasma cannons used on the stolen ZGMF-X10A Freedom but did not pack quite the punch of the fearsome Tartarus rifle used on the now-renegade ZGMF-X14A Judgment. Nevertheless, a few shots from the gun would rip apart any capital ship.

The GuAIZ Archer also had a fearsome assortment of secondary weapons to supplement its main gun. In its left hand it held an MX-35 beam pistol, a light gun that was meant to be reserved for close engagements and missile interception, a role it shared with the machine's head-mounted Picus 76mm CIWS. The hip-mounted grappler claws had been replaced with two Pollux railguns, weaker versions of the Xiphias-type weapons used on the Freedom. Last but certainly not least, mounted on the unit's back and slung over the shoulders were a pair of AGM138 Firebee missile launchers, each launcher carrying fourteen small missiles. In addition to its formidable arsenal, the GuAIZ Archer also sported more powerful thrusters than the mainline units, making it faster but also more difficult to control, and only a skilled pilot could bring out the mobile suit's full potential.

You're quite the beast, Archer, Pixy thought as he opened the hatch of his mobile suit before sparing a glance to the right, and you're not the only one like that in this hangar…

Next to Galm Two's machine was that of his flight lead, the ZGMF-600CAM GuAIZ Lancer. Like Pixy's unit, Cipher's mobile suit sported light gray as the base for its color scheme, but in this case it was augmented with black trim. The CAM in its designation stood for Close Assault Model, and like the stolen ZGMF-600CCM GuAIZ Werewolf it was geared towards short-range fighting. Its primary weapon was the MA-MR Falx G7 Beam Axe, a pole-arm with two large metal blades on the end, one larger than the other. Both blades were lined with beam emitters, and when activated they could rip through armor or block strikes from other beam-melee weapons such as sabers. At the opposite end of the pole was a smaller scythe-like blade, normally kept folded against the handle and reserved for surprise attacks or when the upper section of the weapon got damaged.

As formidable as it was, the beam axe was not the GuAIZ Lancer's only weapon. Like the similarly designed GuAIZ Werewolf the machine also utilized two MMI-M826 Hydra Gatling Beam Cannons, along with the head-mounted Picus 76mm CIWS featured across the GuAIZ line. Rather than wield the arrestor cables used by the Werewolf and the mainline GuAIZ, though, the Lancer had a different weapon mounted at its hips; two DRAGOON gun-drones. When combined with the Hydra Beam Gatlings these precise and deadly weapons gave the mobile suit considerable mid-range ability to complement its focus on close-quarters combat. Like the Archer, the GuAIZ Lancer also had more advanced thrusters than the regular GuAIZ did, and that advantage could be used to deadly effect in the hands of an ace like Galm One. Those thrusters also gave both the Archer and the Lancer atmospheric flight capabilities, though they'd yet to be fielded on Earth in this war… and with the Alliance now reasserting its dominance over the planet, it was unlikely that they would get that chance.

Settling into the cockpit of his machine and closing the hatch, Pixy reflected as he powered up his mobile suit that both the Archer and the Lancer shared a glaring weakness regardless of their differing specialties; non-existent defensive coverage. The mainline GuAIZ had the Composite Shield mounted on its left arm, and the GuAIZ Werewolf had them installed on both arms, but the Archer and Lancer did not have it at all. Galm Two and his flight lead were completely reliant on their unit's armor and mobility to survive their battles… and with the increasing prevalence of beam weaponry on the battlefield, the conventional titanium hull of the GuAIZ series offered less protection than it would've earlier in the war.

Pixy actually wasn't too worried about this disadvantage though, and he suspected that his flight lead was not either. After all, the two of them had distinguished themselves in this war as offensive players; defense just wasn't their style. They hit hard and fast, their attacks coordinated and precise… and often quite bold.

We're reckless, he thought as he watched Cipher's machine move to the linear catapult, but we've got the moves to back it up.

Then he smirked as he caught sight of the insignia emblazoned on the GuAIZ Lancer's left shoulder. It was the same one that was on his machine, that of a crimson dog with a spiked collar around its neck, biting at the chain attached to said collar in eagerness to be set loose, against a black circle with a gold outline. The symbol represented what the Galm Team was quite well, at least in Pixy's opinion; beasts chomping at the bit to start the hunt.

"Fitting for us," he muttered under his breath as he felt that familiar rush of adrenaline begin to course through his veins, the mixed fear and excitement that came with the prospect of imminent battle, "We're not just pilots; we're hellhounds on the payroll."

"We're ZAFT's dogs of war."

….

"Galm One," said the Kerimov's flight controller, "you are cleared for launch."

Cipher nodded, his steely blue eyes focused dead ahead. "Cipher, launching."

The GuAIZ Lancer rocketed out of the hangar. The instant the mobile suit cleared the ship Cipher powered up his weapons, bringing the machine's fearsome beam axe to bear while arming all the guns. The axe's two blades became bathed in violet light, ready to hack into any foe with the misfortune to come into striking range. It only took a quick glance at his sensors to find the enemy patrol, ahead and slightly to port of the Kerimov. The Alliance forces were arrayed in a standard formation, with the Nelson-class battleship at the center while flanked on both sides by a Drake-class ship while the third one was out in front of and a little below the larger vessel. Counting up the smaller contacts, Cipher noted that the enemy had deployed ten Strike-Daggers and eight Moebius units armed with beam cannons.

"Yo, buddy," said Pixy as he launched from the Kerimov and swiftly moved to form up with his flight lead, "how do you want to play this?"

"Our usual approach," he replied, "We'll thin out the mobile suits and armors, and then you hit the capital ships when you get an opening while I mop up the small-fry."

"Roger," said Pixy.

"Arthur Team," said Pixy, switching over to the tactical channel to address the four GuAIZs that made up the rest of the Kerimov's mobile suit complement, "you're our reserve. Hang back and cover the ship until I say otherwise."

"Understood, sir," the unit's leader replied.

"Captain Moran," he said, "avoid direct engagement if you can."

"Yes, sir," said the commanding officer of the Kerimov.

He switched back over to the personal frequency he and Pixy used. "Ready?"

"Yeah," said Galm Two, moving his mobile suit behind and to the right of his flight lead, bringing the Balaena Zwei plasma rifle up to bear on the incoming enemy units.

"Ok then," said Cipher, "let's go introduce ourselves."

(Start "La Distancia Para Un Duelo")

Rather than reply verbally, Galm Two's response was to open fire with his rifle. A crimson lance of plasma flew across space and pierced the torso of a Strike-Dagger before the pilot even had a chance to raise his shield. The mobile suit was blown to pieces, and the rest of the enemy units scattered.

Pixy didn't let up there. The Pollux railguns mounted on the Archer's legs came up and opened fire. Two golden-yellow projectiles ripped forth, one taking out a mobile suit and the other a Moebius unit.

Now, thought Cipher, and he gunned his engines. In order to accommodate the unit's role as a primarily close-quarters combatant, the engineers at the Asimov Design Bureau had given the GuAIZ Lancer more powerful thrusters than its mainline cousins, and Cipher planned on taking full advantage of it in this fight. Weaving left-right and up-down to evade beam fire from the enemy mobile suits and armors, Cipher swiftly closed the gap between him and his nearest foes. He then gave a wide horizontal swing with his beam axe and cut a Strike-Dagger in half.

As the machine exploded Cipher dived to avoid fire from units attempting to flank him. He then flipped the Lancer up and opened fire with its Hydra Beam Gatling Cannons, ripping apart another Strike-Dagger with a torrent of small emerald beams. At the same time the two DRAGOONs flew from the Lancer's hips. A green energy beam flew from each gun-drone, and two Moebius units burst like piñatas.

On his sensors he saw a Strike-Dagger and a Moebius mobile armor setting up to attack him from behind. Rather than move to counter though, Cipher pressed forward; he knew his back was covered.

Indeed, as Galm One cut down another Strike-Dagger with his beam axe the two units attempting to strike him from the rear were blown apart, the mobile suit by a plasma beam and the mobile armor by a pair of railgun rounds.

"I've got an opening," said Pixy, "Can I take it?"

"Go," said Cipher as he shot down a Moebius mobile armor with his Hydra Beam Gatlings, "I've got these guys."

There wasn't much left to deal with. The original enemy force of ten mobile suits and eight mobile armors had already been reduced to four and three respectively.

So weak, he thought as he lazily blocked a yellow beam saber strike from one of the surviving Strike-Daggers while using his gun-drones to pick off a mobile armor that had been attempting to get on Pixy's tail as Galm Two rushed towards the enemy capital ships, These guys don't even deserve to be called pilots. I could've taken them all by myself.

He sighed as he opened fire with his beam gatlings, ripping apart the mobile suit he had just engaged with his axe. There was no challenge in a fight like this; it barely qualified as a warm up.

He got on an open channel. "Alliance forces," he said as he dodged beam fire from the remaining three Strike-Daggers and two Moebius units, "go home. You're no match for us."

The enemy paid no attention to his words, responding only with more attacks. Cipher shook his head in resignation as he evaded their fire. "Fine, have it your way."

The battle would not last much longer in any case. Cipher could already see Pixy attacking the lead Drake-class escort ship. The vessel let fly with gunfire and missiles, but to no avail. Glam Two simply evaded the former and much of the latter, bothering only to shoot down a few missiles that came close to the GuAIZ Archer with his beam pistol and CIWS. As soon as he got an opening he returned fire with the Balaena Zwei plasma rifle and the Pollux railguns. The initial barrage turned the ship's bridge into a crater, and Pixy followed it up with two more volleys, tearing the vessel apart.

Mindful of his own fight, Cipher wasted no time in sending the rest of his foes to meet their maker. He blocked a yellow beam saber strike from a mobile suit, only to hit it with a pincer attack from his DRAGOONs, obliterating the machine with a pair of emerald beams. Cipher then threw the Lancer into reverse to avoid fire from the last two mobile armors as they tried to flank him. With a lazy backhand slash he cut down one of the Moebius units with his beam axe before destroying the other with a flurry of small beams from the Hydra gatlings.

The last pair of Strike-Daggers attempted to take him out with a pincer attack, but Cipher was already way ahead of them. His DRAGOONs were aimed to intercept them, and the two gun-drones fired simultaneously. Both Strike-Daggers went down from synchronized hits to their cockpits, shots that to most other pilots would've been a beautiful display of precision firing but to Cipher were simply reflexive, little more than afterthoughts.

"That takes care of that," he muttered as he turned back towards the Alliance capital ships, "Guess I'd better help Pixy wrap things up over there."

He gunned his engines as he moved in on the capital ships. Adjusting his vector when he saw Pixy hammering the Drake-class ship that was to port of the center Nelson-class vessel, Cipher zeroed in on the other purple escort vessel. Pixy's target was not long for the world; its bow armor was sporting a huge crater in it and half of the engines were out of commission. No sooner had Cipher gotten on his approach when he had to go evasive as both his target and the larger battleship opened fire on him with every gun they could bring to bear on him. The battleship's fire may have been split between Cipher and Pixy, but there was still plenty of artillery taking aim at Galm One.

Beams, missiles, and bullets ripped through space all around him, but Cipher weaved through the barrage with practiced ease, a bored look on his face. He'd fought Alliance formations like this so many times now that he could evade and penetrate their anti-air umbrellas practically by reflex alone, and a small part of his mind wondered if he could do it in his sleep by this point. It wasn't something he was keen on testing though; he had no intention of getting careless and letting some nameless gunner be the one to take him down.

Diving in like a falcon, Cipher set loose his DRAGOONs, and a pair of emerald beams destroyed the topside 75mm Vulcan cannon. The ship began to roll in order to bring its lower turret to bear on him, but Cipher simply repeated his earlier process and that gun was taken down as well. He then flew around the ship until he was over its dorsal surface again before charging the bridge and cutting it right down the middle with his beam axe.

"No more than a tin can with guns," he muttered disdainfully as he pulled back from his target, firing a couple more shots with his DRAGOONs to finish it off, "No wonder those ships die in droves."

Then again, the doomed escort ship's more heavily armored companion wasn't faring much better. Pixy had already taken down his earlier target and was now pounding the Nelson-class battleship with the full might of the GuAIZ Archer. Galm Two had opened his assault with his missile launchers, emptying all his Firebee warheads into the vessel. The twenty-eight missiles may not have been heavy anti-ship warheads, but the sheer quantity that Pixy had unleashed upon the enemy flagship more than made up for their individual lack of firepower. A few of the missiles were shot down by CIWS fire, but the overwhelming majority of them hit their target, detonating along the length of the battleship. Guns were destroyed, sensors knocked out, and gouges torn into the vessel's armor.

Pixy quickly followed up the missile barrage with his heavy artillery. The Balaena Zwei plasma rifle and Pollux railguns opened up, and crimson energy and yellow slugs hammered the battleship. The first salve alone was enough to take out the bridge, but Pixy didn't stop there. Shifting his aim towards the center of the vessel, Galm Two pounded it with multiple volleys until an orange blast ripped the warship in half.

(End "La Distancia Para Un Duelo")

"Well," said Pixy as the explosion faded and the remains of the warship began to drift off into space, "that wasn't very hard."

Cipher nodded. "We didn't even need the Kerimov or Arthur Team. Come on, let's head back to the ship."

"Got it," Pixy replied.

Cipher sighed as he and his wingman flew towards the Kerimov. The whole battle had lasted only a few minutes, and the quality of the opposition had been sorely lacking. Sure, it made for an easy paycheck, but that was only a secondary concern to Galm One.

What was the point of that?, he thought as he set up for his approach, Patrols like that are a dime a dozen. Hell, I wouldn't be surprised if we ran into another one before today's over and dispatch it just as quickly. It doesn't matter how many of those little groups we take out, not with the vast amount of resources the Earth Alliance has in play; our impact is minimal, if not non-existent. That fight was just a waste of lives; they should've withdrawn when I gave them the chance. Damn idiots…

As much as he liked to fly, as much as he fed off the adrenaline rush of a fight, taking on opponents weaker than him wasn't something Cipher enjoyed. When the skill level scales were tipped so far in his and Pixy's favor it just felt like bullying, regardless of how badly the enemy forces might outnumber them.

"Is there anyone out there," he said softly, his tone almost longing as he entered the Kerimov's hangar, "that's actually worth fighting?"

He could only wait and see what the next battle might bring.

….

July 19th, C.E. 71

Removing her headset, Flay turned to the woman standing behind her. "How was that?" she asked nervously.

Natarle Badgiruel nodded, and Flay was surprised to see the Dominion's Captain give her a small but encouraging smile. "You're getting better at it," she said, "but that's enough for today. Come on, let's get off this ship and grab a bite to eat; the base cafeteria has much better selection that the Dominion's mess."

Flay nodded and got up from her seat to follow Natarle, and the two of them left the bridge. As they made their way through the ship's corridors towards the nearest hatch the girl found herself reflecting on all that had transpired since she'd been brought aboard the Dominion a week ago.

Once the black warship was safely away from the battlefield Natarle had taken Flay to her office for a debriefing. The girl had been nervous at first, but the former Executive Officer of the Archangel had been surprisingly gentle throughout the affair. She'd let Flay set the pace and take her time, and had only pressed her on a few points. Flay was thankful that it was someone who'd known her that had conducted that interview rather than a random Alliance officer… or worse, Azrael.

After that Natarle had given Flay a choice; stay with her on board the Dominion or get transferred back to the Atlantic Federation. Flay had thought about it for awhile before deciding to stay with the ship. Her choice was fuelled by her newfound, genuine desire to actually do something to help bring the war to an end. She knew that Natarle had been surprised by her decision, but the older woman had nonetheless supported her, and much to Flay's surprise had actually promoted her to Petty Officer First Class. She'd been issued a new Alliance uniform, this one white rather than the pink one reserved for lower ranking female crew members that she had worn during her time on board the Archangel. Over the course of the five day trip from L4 to the Moon Natarle had gone out of her way to begin training Flay for duty on the bridge as a communications officer.

It wasn't long before Flay had come to realize why Natarle had insisted on teaching her how to perform a bridge assignment rather than some less important and out of the way post; she wanted to keep an eye on her. At first Flay had thought that it was because of the long period of time she had spent among the Coordinators and that she had possibly been some way turned into a double agent. However, after a little while Flay determined that Natarle's desire to watch her wasn't motivated by suspicion, but genuine concern for her well-being.

She was grateful for Natarle's attention. While the Dominion may have been an Alliance ship, Flay actually could not quite equate that to it being friendly territory. At least when she had been on board the Archangel she'd had several of her friends with her, and even in ZAFT custody she'd had Yzak acting as her unofficial guardian. Now she was once again thrust into a new environment and had quickly latched on to the one bit of familiarity she could find; Natarle.

The fact that the Dominion had turned out to be the flagship of none other than the head of the Blue Cosmos had been a significant factor in Flay's discomfort. She was well aware that back in the earlier days of the war or even the beginning of her stay on the Archangel she would not have been troubled by the fact and might actually have welcomed the presence of people from the anti-Coordinator organization, but things were very different now. Her relationship with Kira and the time that she had spent with ZAFT had shown her just how much like her, just how human Coordinators really were. They weren't abominations worthy only of extermination; they were people with hopes and dreams, family and friends, and a home they wanted to protect.

Now she was back with her own people, but Flay could not help but wonder if they really were her people any more. It had not taken long for her to notice the influence Azrael had over the Dominion, and long ago her father had told her about the man's wealth and power. If he was able to command an Alliance battle group and an advanced warship, just how much more influence did he have in the military and government? How much of her nation's actions in this war had been of Azrael's will? How much power did Blue Cosmos really command?

Based on what little she had seen so far, along with Natarle's clear discomfort around Azrael and her dislike of him, Flay feared that the answer was much more sinister than she had once thought.

"Hey," said Natarle, causing Flay to jump, "are you ok?"

Flay nodded and forced a smile. "I'm alright, Captain."

Natarle looked doubtful, but in the end she simply turned around and continued on her way. Flay continued to follow in her wake, this time trying to be more mindful of the world around her and not get wrapped up in her thoughts.

They went out the portside hatch and down the gangway. Though she had now gone outside the ship a couple times now since it had arrived at the Ptolemaeus Lunar Base, Flay still could not help but be impressed by the sheer size of the bay the Dominion was docked in. It was massive, a humongous cavern that housed not just the Dominion's berth but that of so many other ships. There were escort ships, battleships, supply freighters, and even a few carriers in for maintenance. As stunning as the docking area was, Flay knew that it was only one of several such facilities spread out across the gargantuan base. It such a titanic installation, a symbol of power that she felt surpassed even the massive Alaska base prior to its destruction.

Destroyed at the hands of Heero Yuy and Wing Zero, Flay thought as her gaze turned towards the mauled warship that had brought her here, and the Dominion was hit by that same foe. Why didn't Heero destroy it?

It was a question to which she had no answer for. As it was, the fearsome pilot that Flay had only known in passing had ravaged the Dominion in a ferocious assault, the likes of which the girl did not think was possible for a ship to survive. Natarle had told her that repairs would take weeks if not months, and from what Flay could see it was definitely looking like the latter estimate would be the more accurate one.

"Hard to see a good ship in such a state," said Natarle, causing Flay to look at her. She was then surprised to see the black-haired woman give her a small smile. "Still, it could've been a lot worse. I guess I should thank Heero if I ever get the chance."

"Why?" asked Flay.

"Because he could've destroyed the Dominion in a single shot, but he didn't," Natarle replied, "I don't know why, but he let us live. If I ever meet him again under different circumstances, I at least owe him my gratitude. Maybe he'll tell me then why he let us off easy."

It was very strange to hear Natarle talk that way about the Gundam pilot that had brutalized her ship, not to mention played a major role in the destruction of the battle group that had accompanied the Dominion. Heero had proven to be not just a threat to ZAFT but Alliance forces as well, and yet Natarle didn't hate him for it… and Flay realized that she didn't either.

He's fighting to protect the Archangel, she thought, There are people on that ship he wants to defend… just like Kira.

The two of them were quiet as they made their way through the winding corridors towards the nearest cafeteria. Looking around as they traveled, Flay saw many fellow servicemen and women going about their business, and she was struck by just how similar they seemed to the ZAFT soldiers she had been with not too long ago. The only difference here was the uniforms, and that was strictly cosmetic. Flay was surprised to realize that she hadn't immediately also noted the fact that the Alliance soldiers were all Naturals as opposed to the Coordinators she had spent the past few months with.

I guess I've really changed, she thought as she followed Natarle into the cafeteria, Daddy, what would you think of me now? What I'm doing, what I feel… would you support it?

She hadn't really paid much attention to her father's political views. Beyond his post as Vice-Foreign Minister of the Atlantic Federation, Flay didn't really know about her father's life in politics. Sure, he'd taken her to some functions and high-society parties, but she'd been more concerned with the trivial bits of such events; the fashion of the attendees, their wealth, their status, etc. She hadn't really bothered to learn about who her father rubbed shoulders with, what factions and interests that he was aligned with. Now that she actually gave it careful consideration, Flay realized that she didn't really know if her father believed in the ideals espoused by Blue Cosmos and their affiliates or if he was more in line with moderate factions.

An image of the young ZAFT pilot that had been her unofficial guardian flashed through her mind, and Flay found herself wondering if her father would've approved of Yzak… if he thought that the Coordinator who had been willing to put his life on the line to defend her even deserved to live.

I shouldn't be doubting Daddy like this, she thought as she dished up her meal, but… I can't help it. So much has happened to me since Heliopolis… and so much more happened before then that I never bothered to pay attention to. Politics, the war… I didn't care about any of it before now, before it directly affected me. I was scared of Coordinators because we were fighting against them, but I never looked beyond that, beyond what I was told by the news and Daddy. Hell, one of their colonies was nuked at the start of this war, and I never even considered that! They never did anything like that to us; they had more of a right to fight than we did!

They sat down and spent a few minutes eating quietly before Flay decided she needed to give voice to her misgivings.

"Captain," she said nervously, "can I ask you something?"

"Of course, Flay," Natarle replied, looking at her with concern, "What is it?"

She looked down for a moment before facing the Captain again. "Why… why did we attack Junius Seven?"

Natarle's eyes widened; clearly she hadn't been expecting a question like that. "I… that's… hard to say, Flay."

"Why?" said Flay, "Captain, I don't know much about the attack, but it was major event in this conflict; it's why so many Coordinators chose to fight us. Please, can't you tell me anything about it?"

Natarle sighed. "I'll try, Flay, but I don't know too much about it myself… and honestly, I've been wondering the same thing you are for a while now."

Flay waited while Natarle gathered her thoughts, listening with rapt attentions when she finally spoke. "From what I heard through official reports, the Alliance sent a fleet towards the Junius City colonies as a show of force. The war was only three days old at that point; I think they might have been trying to show ZAFT that they were in an impossible position, that there was no way they could win against the superior numbers that the Alliance could bring to the field."

"Was nuking the colony supposed to be part of that?" Flay asked, a chill running down her spine. If her government had been willing to kill hundreds of thousands of innocent people just in an attempt to frighten the Coordinators, she didn't want to know what else they were capable of doing.

"I'm not sure," said Natarle, "What I do know is that ZAFT didn't back down. Despite being significantly outnumbered ZAFT mustered a fleet to counter the force the Alliance had sent. The two sides engaged, and during the battle the carrier Roosevelt launched a mobile armor equipped with a Ragnarok Missile… the most powerful type of nuclear ordinance in our arsenal. It launched the missile… and you know the rest, Flay."

"How many died?" she asked, "I don't know the exact number…"

"I do," said Natarle grimly, "243,721 people were killed in that attack… and they were almost all civilians. The Junius City colonies have no major military presence beyond their internal security forces, Flay. Their primary purpose… is agriculture."

Flay's eyes widened in horror. "Wait… we nuked one of the places where they grow food?"

Natarle nodded. "Yes. Junius Seven had no value as a military target, just like the rest of the colonies in the Junius City." She sighed. "At least, if you only look at it with your sense of humanity intact."

"What do you mean?" asked Flay.

"The Junius colonies," said Natarle, "are the only places the Coordinators have for food cultivation. Before those facilities were brought online they were dependent on shipments from Earth. Just destroying one of those colonies would've been a significant hit to food production, but if they were all destroyed…"

"The Coordinators would starve," said Flay, terrified at the direction this already grim conversation was taking, "If they hadn't deployed the N-Jammer Cancellers after Junius Seven, then…"

Natarle nodded solemnly. "If we were willing to take out Junius Seven, then I imagine the Alliance would be perfectly capable of destroying the rest of the Junius colonies. If that had happened, the Coordinators would've had two choices; surrender or be exterminated through starvation… if the Alliance didn't nuke the rest of the PLANTs before then."

"You say that like it's a bad thing, Miss Captain," said a familiar and very unwelcome voice.

Flay and Natarle both looked up startled as they saw none other than Muruta Azrael approaching their table. Flay felt her blood chill as the man's eyes lingered on her; she did not like this man.

"Lord Azrael," said Natarle, seemingly effortlessly switching over to formality, though Flay thought she detected an undercurrent hostility in her tone, "What brings you here?"

"It's lunchtime, Captain," he replied, smiling, "Are I not allowed to enjoy this base's meal facilities?"

Natarle shook her head. "Of course not, Lord Azrael."

He then turned towards Flay again and smiled, unnerving the girl even more. "Miss Allster," he said, "I can't thank you enough for what you brought us a week ago. You really were right when you said that it was the key to ending this war."

Flay gulped. "I… I was? What was it?"

"Oh, you'll see in due time," he said, "You should be very proud of yourself, Miss Allster. I know your father would be."

Just hearing him say those things was enough to make Flay realize that she had done something very wrong by handing over the disk Creuset had given her. If Azrael was pleased with her, then Flay knew that the last thing she should feel right now was pride. Of course, she could not speak for what her father might have felt were he here and knew what she had given Azrael, especially when even she didn't know what she had really been carrying.

"Now, Miss Captain," said Azrael, turning towards Natarle, "I believe I overheard you questioning our decision to attack the PLANTs early in this war. You do know that the Coordinators are our enemy in this war, don't you Captain? Why shouldn't we attack their homeland?"

"With all due respect, Lord Azrael," said Natarle, her voice firm and her gaze as hard as steel, "I don't recall the conventions of war condoning the deliberate targeting of civilians."

"You are mistaken if you believe that any of the Coordinators qualify as civilians in this war, Miss Captain," Azrael replied, his tone souring, "Each and every one of them is a threat to the natural order of this world and to the survival of all Naturals. They are our enemies in every sense of the word, Miss Captain, and isn't war about destroying your enemy?"

"It's one thing to destroy their ability to fight," Natarle growled back, "We wage war by targeting our enemy's military and its supporting infrastructure, not by murdering their civilians."

"The Junius colonies are a vital part of the Coordinators supporting infrastructure," said Azrael, smirking, "So by your logic would it not be entirely appropriate to target them?"

"The food grown in those colonies is meant not just for their troops, but for their people as a whole," said Natarle, "Just as the food we grow back home is meant for our civilians as much as it is for those serving in the armed forces."

"But our people are true human beings," said Azrael, a cruel grin on his face, "You can hardly say the same for our enemy, Miss Captain."

"With all due respect, I do," said Natarle. Flay could not help but think that the way Natarle spoke the phrase 'With all due respect' sounded less like that and more like 'kiss my ass.'

Azrael shook his head. "And here I was told that you would be such a good officer for our cause… I'm disappointed in you, Miss Captain."

"Then discharge me," Natarle shot back, undaunted and defiant, "but you won't find a better Captain in the fleet for the Dominion than me, and you know that."

Azrael glared at her, and Natarle met his stare with her own. Flay was growing increasingly nervous at this confrontation, and feared for what might happen to Natarle if it continued.

"Uhm, excuse me," she said, causing the two of them to look at her, "We're all on the same side here, aren't we? We shouldn't be fighting like this."

Truth be told, Flay did not really consider Azrael to be on 'her' side, but she was desperate to find some way to cut this confrontation off.

Azrael smiled at her, but Flay did like the way he did so. The contempt in it was obvious, but there was something else in it as well, reflected in the way his eyes went up and down her body, examining her like he might a potential prize. To say it was creepy would be a considerable understatement.

"Of course, Miss Allster," he replied, "So nice to see that you're such a level-headed young woman. Why don't you come join me for my meal? I'm sure there's much we could discuss."

The last thing Flay wanted was to spend any amount of time with Azrael, especially with the way he was looking at her now. She turned towards Natarle, praying that the older woman could see the fear and desperation in her eyes.

Please, she silently begged her new commanding officer, help me!

"Lord Azrael," said Natarle, "I apologize, but I'm afraid Flay won't have time for socializing. We're almost done with our meal here, and I need to continue her training. She still has a lot to learn before she can truly begin serving the Alliance military."

Azrael's expression soured for a moment, but much to Flay's surprise and relief he actually backed down. "Well," he said, forcing a smile, "I'd hate to get in the way of Miss Allster becoming a proper soldier. Perhaps another time?"

Flay nodded nervously, though what she really wanted to do was shake her head and say 'no' with as much emphasis as possible. "Perhaps," she said.

Azrael nodded. "I'll see you around, Miss Allster, Captain Badgiruel."

Flay waited until the man was out of sight and earshot before breathing a sigh of relief and turning towards Natarle. "Thank you," she whispered.

Natarle nodded. "Don't mention it. I saw the way he was looking at you, Flay. I can't say I blame you for feeling the way you do right about now."

Flay shuddered before returning to her meal with renewed urgency; she wanted to be done and out of here ASAP. Natarle quickly finished up as well, and the two of them stood up, put away their trays, and left the cafeteria. However, rather than lead her back towards the Dominion, Natarle took Flay off in a different direction.

"Where are we going?" asked Flay, "The ship's back that way."

"I know," said Natarle, "We're going to the armory to check you out a sidearm, and then we're hitting the range."

Flay's eyes widened at that announcement. "A gun? But I've…"

"I know you don't have a lot of experience with firearms aside from that incident in the med bay," Natarle replied, "If you're going to be part of this military, it's about time you learned how to properly handle a gun."

Flay nodded. "Ok."

Natarle stopped and looked around to make sure they were alone before turning to Flay. "Flay," she said quietly, "A girl like you shouldn't be without some form of protection in this kind of environment. I'll do what I can, but I can't watch out for you all the time; I've got other responsibilities to attend to. You need to able to defend yourself if I'm not around… especially if some creep like Azrael tries to make a move on you."

Flay gulped, recalling the way Azrael had looked at her earlier. The thought had crossed her mind, and the last thing she wanted was someone like him getting his hands on her.

"Right," she said, "I… thanks."

"No problem," said Natarle, "Come on, let's go."

Flay nodded before the two of them set off again.

….

July 20th, C.E. 71

Murrue walked into the Archangel's briefing room, Heero just behind her and to the right. She turned towards Bristow, who had already taken a seat along with Shemei. The Wolf of the Far East had his laptop out and open, a cable running from it to an outlet near the screen on the far wall.

He looked up and nodded as Murrue and Heero went over to take their seats next to the other couple. "Captain Ramius, Heero," he said, "I've almost got the connection established."

Murrue nodded. "Begin whenever you're ready."

As Bristow made final adjustments Murrue turned to Heero and smiled. The Gundam pilot gave her a small one of his own, and Murrue reached over to hold his hand while they waited for the meeting to get underway.

After a minute or so two images appeared on the screen. On the left side Murrue saw Lacus, Waltfeld, and Aisha, while on the right she saw Cagalli and Kisaka.

"Hello, everyone," said Murrue, "Eternal, Kusanagi, are you hearing me?"

The Eternal's delegation nodded. "Hello, Captain Ramius," said Lacus, smiling, "We read you loud and clear."

"Everything's good on our end," said Cagalli, smiling as well.

"Bristow called this meeting, so I'll let him lead," said Waltfeld, nodding at his friend, "What've you got, buddy?"

"A lucky break for us, if we can capitalize on it," said Bristow.

He typed furiously on his laptop, and once again the images on the screen shifted. The people from the Eternal and the Kusanagi were moved to the upper half of the screen, while the whole lower portion became a map of the Earth Sphere. A white dot was blinking at the outer rim of the Debris Belt close to the halfway point between the L5 and L3 Lagrange Points.

"That's us," said Bristow, typing again for a few seconds until a blue dot also appeared on the map, this time at the edge of L5, "and this is possibly a batch of reinforcements."

Murrue's eyes narrowed as she looked at the screen. "Reinforcements from the heart of ZAFT space?" she said skeptically, "You're going to have to elaborate on this one, Bristow."

"I got a message from a contact of mine in the Ninth Fleet," said the Wolf of the Far East, smiling, "Task Force 9.3, one of the Ninth Fleet's battle groups, made a break for it about eight hours ago. The entire task force has abandoned the PLANTs, and their vector takes them towards L3."

"They're defecting?" said Heero.

"Yes," said Bristow, "but not necessarily to fight against Zala. It'd be more accurate to say that they want to get the hell out of dodge. My intel has it that Commander Andriy Bohuslav, head of that group, and his lieutenants want to seek asylum at the surviving Orb colonies."

"What?" said Cagalli, her eyes widening, "Why now, and how'd they get an entire battle group to go along with it?"

"It does seem like a very difficult thing to do," said Lacus, "The Commander and his co-conspirators would have to be sure that the soldiers serving under them in the battle group would be willing to go along with their plan, and there's no way they could be one hundred percent certain that there were not Zala loyalists in the midst."

Bristow nodded. "True enough. From what I understand, Commander Bohuslav was careful in how he went about this. This defection was, at the very least, weeks in the making. The Ninth Fleet was rotated back to L5 not too long after our raid on Aprilius One. My guess is Bohuslav took the time to vet as many of his subordinates as he could and make sure that those he knew were loyal to the regime were on shore leave when Task Force 9.3 made a break for it. Even then the move would still be a gamble. I imagine a few radicals might've slipped through the cracks and had to be put in the brig… or if they reacted violently, dealt with accordingly."

"How big is Task Force 9.3?" asked Shemei.

"Fourteen capital ships," said Bristow, "It's composed of ten Laurasia-class frigates and four Nazca-class destroyers."

"What's the mobile suit composition?" asked Waltfeld.

"Mixed," Bristow replied, "The Ninth Fleet as a whole was out on the front lines for quite some time, so most of their mobile suits would be GINNs, with maybe a few CGUEs thrown into the mix. Since their rotation back to the PLANTs I'm sure there was an effort to begin transferring the new GuAIZs to the fleet and upgrade the older mobile suits with beam weaponry, but they haven't been at L5 for very long; the process was probably still ongoing when they left. They've got a few GuAIZs, but most of their mobile suits seem to be older models, some modified and some not."

"Even if their equipment isn't on the cutting edge, a force like that is still nothing to sneeze at," said Aisha, smiling, "If we could get Task Force 9.3 to ally with us it would be a real boon to our cause."

"Yes," said Murrue, her attitude less optimistic than Aisha's as she recalled something Bristow had told them earlier, "but that might be a case of easier said than done. Bristow, you said that they weren't necessarily looking to join us and fight against ZAFT and the Alliance, correct?"

The Wolf of the Far East nodded. "That's right, Captain Ramius. Apparently Commander Bohuslav and his co-conspirators are looking to get as many of their subordinates to the Eden and Elysium colonies as they can and then sit out the rest of this war in peace."

"War-weariness?" asked Waltfeld, "Or is there more to it?"

"I think that's a big part of it," Bristow replied, "The Ninth Fleet as a whole has seen heavy action throughout the war; Zala's thrown more offensive assignments at them than defensive ones. Yggdrasil, Nova, the Lunar perimeter… they've gotten in more than their share of fights with the Alliance space forces, and some pretty big ones to boot. Task Force 9.3 in particular has been considerably ground down since the war started. All the action's really been taking its toll, and they don't get much shore leave. Still, I don't think that's the only reason the group's leaders have decided to do this."

"What are their political leanings?" asked Heero, "Since they've decided to leave ZAFT we can safely assume the Commander and his allies have little love lost for the radicals, but from what you've been saying it doesn't necessarily seem like they're in line with Clyne's ideals either."

"Not quite," said Bristow, "From what I know about the man, Commander Bohuslav doesn't prescribe to the extreme ideology favored by Zala and his followers. However, he's also a man that takes military honor and the well-being of his subordinates seriously, which I think explains both why he's pulling out of ZAFT and why he doesn't want to join us in fighting them."

"You're going to have to elaborate on that," said Kisaka.

Bristow nodded. "By now, word of the massacre committed by our forces at Panama has spread throughout ZAFT. Bohuslav's a man that could never abide by such an atrocity; upholding the laws and conventions of war is big with him. At the same time, Zala's been ordering all our remaining surface forces to hold their ground and fight to the last man rather than retreat and live to fight another day. Having them engage in such last-stands is futile and wasteful, and for a Commander like Bohuslav who values the lives of his subordinates so much that's an unforgiveable offense."

That was an attitude that Murrue could certainly sympathize with. She recalled with perfect clarity the shock, horror, and disgust she had felt at Alaska when she had learned of her High Command's intent to sacrifice the Archangel, Heero, and the Eurasian forces just to kill a large number of Coordinators in the battle. It had been one of the major driving factors behind her abandonment of the nation she had previously sworn to serve, and to hear that this ZAFT officer had similar feelings regarding how his superiors felt about the lives of common soldiers made it much easier for Murrue to understand his motives.

"So he despises what Zala and the radicals have done to ZAFT," she said, "but he does not want to fight against them when he knows that the soldiers he and his subordinates would likely go up against would probably just be doing what they saw as their duty. He knows that Zala would use them against him like pawns, so he'd rather avoid killing them and risking the lives of his own soldiers in such a confrontation."

"I think that's a good way to sum it up, Captain Ramius," said Bristow. He then sighed before he spoke again. "If we could afford it, I'd be content to let him bring his people to L3 and take shelter there until the end of the war, but we need all the help we can get. You all know what the true stakes are in this conflict. We have to make contact with him and get him to join us."

"And we have to do it before he gets to L3," said Cagalli, "I don't want to refuse someone asylum, but if the Alliance sees ZAFT ships converging on the Eden and Elysium colonies they could use that as an excuse to invade. The Alliance has patrols around L3, and a force of fourteen capital ships would not be able to slip through their net undetected. I can grant them asylum if they wish, but I want to do so in a manner that avoids bringing the Alliance to bear on our colonies."

"If they haven't decided to target L3 already," said Heero, "The Alliance may have left it alone for now, but it's open knowledge that most of Orb's Coordinator population fled to its two surviving colonies before and during the invasion of the homeland. It may not be strategically significant, but I doubt Blue Cosmos will ignore such a gathering of Coordinators forever, especially considering that L3 doesn't have anywhere near the same level of defenses that L5 does; it's an easy target."

Waltfeld nodded. "Eric, any word from your contacts in intelligence circles about possible Alliance moves on L3?"

"No," said Bristow, "but that doesn't mean they're not preparing for one. Since Zala pulled back the fleets the Alliance forces have greatly expanded their area of operations in outer space. They could easily have a staging area or two that the Patrol Fleet isn't looking at right now… or one that ZAFT is aware of, but I'm not. With the casualties taken by my network in the wake of Operation Knight Lance, my ability to monitor fleet intelligence briefs and reconnaissance reports has been reduced. To my knowledge the Alliance fleets' have made no preparation for an assault on L3, but I have no way to be certain. I'm sorry."

Shemei shook her head. "Don't be, Eric. You can't keep track of everything going on in the Earth Sphere, especially in the middle of a crazy war like this."

Eric nodded. "Thanks. Still, I wish I had a more complete picture of both sides' movements. An Alliance strike on the Orb colonies would be a big blow to our efforts."

"That's a bridge we'll have to cross if we come to it," said Murrue, not wanting to make light of the potential risk to the L3 habitats but intent on getting the briefing back on track, "In the meanwhile, how do we deal with Task Force 9.3?"

"Very carefully," said Bristow. He typed again on his laptop for a few seconds before another blinking dot appeared on the map of the Earth Sphere, this one yellow. It was a little ways outside the Debris Belt but not too far from the Archangel's current position.

"Two days from now at these coordinates," said Bristow, "is when we're scheduled to rendezvous with the tender Sakuya to replenish the M1s we lost at L4, as well as top off our supplies. It's not too far from Task Force 9.3's projected flight path. After we finish the transfer we can move to intercept the task force and make contact with Commander Bohuslav."

"Who's going to do the talking?" asked Shemei.

"Miss Clyne and me will open the dialogue," said Waltfeld, "Between the two of us we should be able to at least convince Bohuslav to have a meeting with us. After that… well, we'll play it by ear."

Lacus nodded. "I'll do all I can to persuade the Commander and his followers to join our cause."

Murrue smiled. "Between you and Waltfeld, Miss Clyne, we could not ask for a better diplomatic team."

Lacus bowed her head. "Thank you, Captain Ramius."

"I think that covers everything," said Bristow, "Any questions?"

"What about pursuit?" asked Heero, and Murrue saw his eyes narrow, "There's no way Zala will just let one of his battle groups defect without a fight. When we intercept them they could have a fleet bearing down on them, if they haven't already been wiped out before we meet them."

Bristow nodded, his expression grim. "A possibility I'm well aware of, Heero. From what I know it seems Commander Bohuslav's departure took ZAFT by surprise, but Zala won't sit back stunned for long. I'm sure he's mobilized a response force, and has probably notified outlying patrols to be on the lookout for Task Force 9.3. We can send out forward recon to make sure the enemy isn't moving in to attack them before we bring in our ships for formal contact."

"If the battle group survives that long," said Heero, "They still have to stay ahead of the ZAFT fleet for two days before we can intercept them."

Bristow sighed. "I know. Unfortunately, there's nothing we can do about those two days; Task Force 9.3's survival over that period of time is in the hands of its Commander and soldiers, not to mention those of fate. I can't deny that this plan is more than a little reliant on chance, but this is an opportunity we can't ignore."

"Agreed," said Waltfeld, "and while I'd prefer to avoid engagement while we hunt for a new base of operations, we may have no other choice but to fight ZAFT in order to get our meeting with Commander Bohuslav. We'll just have to hope for the best… and prepare for the worst."

"You can count on us," said Murrue, determination coursing through her veins, "The Archangel and her crew will do all they can to make this mission a success."

"As will we," said Cagalli.

Waltfeld smiled. "Glad to hear it. Lady Cagalli, I'll leave any final adjustments regarding the rendezvous with the Sakuya in your hands."

Cagalli nodded. "Got it."

"We'll have everything ready on our end," said Kisaka.

Waltfeld nodded. "Ok then. Eternal will take point when we head for the rendezvous. Everyone, dismissed."

With the press of a button the screen shut off, and Bristow began putting away his equipment. Murrue saw Shemei turn to her and Heero and smile.

"Well, looks like we'll be getting some help," said the Valkyrie, "I can't wait to meet up with the task force."

Murrue nodded, more cautious in her optimism than her newfound friend. "Yes, though we're still going to have to convince them to ally with us."

"Waltfeld and Lacus should be able to handle that," said Heero, causing the two women to look at him, "Between his military expertise and her charisma I think they'll be able to talk the Commander and his lieutenants into throwing in their lot with us. The real obstacle isn't the diplomatic front; it's the ZAFT fleet."

"No argument there," said Bristow, standing up as he shouldered the black bag that carried his laptop and cords, "It won't be easy for Bohuslav's group to stay ahead of the hounds."

"Yes," said Murrue as she, Heero, and Shemei stood up as well, "Any group of ships is only as fast as the slowest vessel in it. Nazca-class destroyers are the fastest warships in the Earth Sphere, but Task Force 9.3 isn't solely composed of those craft; it also has Laurasia-class frigates in the mix."

"I doubt they'll be able to avoid engagement entirely over the next two days," said Shemei, "It'll be a running battle, and we may have to join in once we detect them."

"That's where forward recon will come in handy," said Heero, "and that's the role I want Wing Zero to take when the time comes."

"Heero," said Murrue, grabbing his hand, "you don't have to do it alone."

"But I might have to," Heero replied, "Wing Zero's not just the most powerful mobile suit in our group; it's also the fastest. If we detect Task Force 9.3 on our long-range sensors and can't ascertain whether or not it's alone, I'm the best option we have for quickly assessing the situation and providing immediate support to the battle group. I can relay information to the rest of you so that you'll be prepared for whatever's on the field when you join the fight."

"Heero's right," said Bristow, "Our nuclear-powered mobile suits are all incredible machines, but Wing Zero's still the best of the lot. We couldn't ask for a better vanguard in a situation like this."

Murrue knew Heero and Bristow were right, but she still didn't like the idea of Heero fighting alone, even if it was only at the beginning of the battle. It reminded her all too much of how she had used him at the beginning of the final battle against Waltfeld's forces in North Africa, having him launch a one-man offensive against the army of the Desert Tiger and using him as bait while the Archangel and Desert Dawn raced towards the engagement to hit ZAFT from outside their encirclement of Wing Zero. The strategy may have been Heero's idea, but that had not changed Murrue's reluctance to go along with it or her continued private disappointment in herself for having used him that way. Now Heero was once again proposing taking on a potentially very deadly role without backup, and Murrue did not much care for it.

"Perhaps," said Murrue, looking her boyfriend in the eye, "but that doesn't mean you have to go it alone, Heero. We can still send someone with you, just like when Kira and Athrun flew with you to save the Eternal."

Heero nodded. "Alright."

"I can always back him up," said Shemei, smiling, "Normally I'm not up for playing wingman, but I can make an exception for the only pilot that's ever beaten me in a fight."

"What about the girls?" asked Bristow, "You're their leader, Shemei; they expect to fly with you."

"I know," the Valkyrie replied, "but they also know how to handle themselves without me if the situation calls for it. Adaline's grown into a good flight lead in her own right. Not saying I'd ever think about permanently leaving my team, but I don't mind forming a temporary wing pair with the Guardian of the Archangel."

Murrue smiled; that was the one nickname ZAFT had given Heero prior to Shemei and Bristow's defection that she didn't mind them using. More to the point, Shemei was offering to partner with the Gundam pilot, giving him the best reinforcement that Murrue could hope for in such a situation.

"I think it's a great idea," she said, turning to her boyfriend, "Heero, what do you say?"

The Perfect Soldier nodded. "I couldn't ask for better backup." He then surprised her by giving the Valkyrie a smirk. "Well, except maybe Zechs Merquise and the Epyon."

Shemei chuckled, taking the comment in stride. "Yeah, I know, I'm still only the second best you've ever fought. Guess you're gonna have to make do, Heero."

"I think I can manage," Heero replied.

Murrue shook her head. "Pilots… you just love your banter and taunts."

"Hey," said Shemei, smirking, "it's our nature. Not even a cool customer like Heero's entirely immune to it."

Murrue looked at Heero, who shrugged and gave her a small smile. "She does have a point there. Sorry, Murrue."

Murrue returned the smile before leaning in to give him a quick kiss on the lips. "I think I can live with it, my love."

"By the way," Bristow chimed in, "What's the Epyon?"

"The Gundam Zechs flew during the final campaigns of our war," said Heero, his expression becoming serious, "and the only mobile suit ever considered to be Wing Zero's equal."

Murrue had the satisfaction of seeing the jaws of the Wolf and the Valkyrie metaphorically hit the floor, so stunned were they at the revelation.

"Holy shit…" said Bristow softly.

Shemei whistled. "God damn… one mobile suit with a colony-killing gun wasn't enough for your world, huh?"

"You're mistaken," said Heero, "Epyon was designed differently from Wing Zero; it focused on close-quarters combat. However, despite that distinction Epyon was still deadly both to mobile suits and larger targets."

Like the Space Fortress Barge, Murrue thought, recalling the conversation she'd had with Heero all those months ago that night in North Africa, I suppose I owe Zechs my thanks for that. If he hadn't destroyed Barge, Heero would never have had to take out the surviving reactor as it fell towards Earth… and we would never have met.

"Must've been quite the beast if you're saying it was Wing Zero's equal even without something like the Twin Buster Rifle," said Shemei, smiling, "I don't suppose there's any chance of you showing me the designs for that thing, is there?"

Murrue saw Heero look down in thought for a moment before looking back at the Valkyrie. "Perhaps someday."

"Well, that's a start," said Shemei, "I'll take what I can get."

"I wouldn't mind getting a look at the designs myself," said Bristow, "but I'll save that for another time."

Murrue and Heero nodded. "Well," said Murrue, "I need to get to the bridge."

"I'll head down to the hangar and make sure Wing Zero's in fighting shape," said Heero, turning to her, "I'll come join you later; it shouldn't take too long."

Murrue smiled. "I'll be looking forward to it, Heero."

"I guess we better head down to the hangar too," said Shemei, looping her arm through Bristow's, "Gotta make sure our units are ready to go too."

"Yes," said Bristow, nodding, "Things could get hairy when the time comes to meet the task force. We need to be prepared for anything."

"See you later," said Shemei, and the Valkyrie and the Wolf headed off towards the hangar.

As they left Murrue turned to Heero, who despite having said that he was going the same place they were had not yet departed. She saw him staring off into space, and wondered what was on his mind. "Heero," she said, putting her hand on his shoulder, "Everything ok?"

He nodded as he turned to her. "I'm fine Murrue. Talking about the Epyon and Zechs with Bristow and Shemei just made me wonder what Zechs might do in our situation."

"You mean regarding the rendezvous with the task force?" asked Murrue, "Or the war itself?"

"The latter," Heero replied, "The methods Zechs and White Fang attempted to employ during the final campaign of our war may have been extreme, but I think he would be disgusted with the depths to which the Earth Alliance and ZAFT have proven themselves willing to stoop to. The same goes for Treize. He could be ruthless when required, but even he had limits."

Murrue nodded. "Given what you told me about Zechs and Treize's ultimate goals in the final battle, I think they would both be appalled at what our enemies want to do. Zechs and Treize wanted to purge mankind of its will to fight through that last campaign; Azrael and Zala just want to butcher the other side for how they were born."

"I never thought I'd hear myself say this," said Heero, "but I wish Wufei hadn't killed Treize, and that he and Zechs were here right now. I didn't completely understand either of them, but I did respect their skills, intelligence, and charisma. We could use both of them on our side; their insights and abilities would be very useful."

"Perhaps," said Murrue, smiling, "but we don't have them; we have you, Heero. You came to our world, not them, and your skills, intelligence, and insight have been invaluable to us, Heero. They're the reason my crew and I are still alive, and it's because of you, not Treize and Zechs, that we've come this far. Use what you learned fighting against them, the insight you gained into how they thought and fought, but do not discount your own, Heero. I understand the respect you have for their abilities, but from what you told me I also know that they respected you, Heero, and for a damn good reason if I do say so myself."

Heero was quiet for a moment, his expression thoughtful. Then he met Murrue's gaze and gave her a small nod and smile. "Thank you, Murrue."

Her smile still on her face, Murrue leaned in and gave him a kiss. "You are most welcome, my love."

Heero nodded. "I should get down to the hangar. I'll see you later, Murrue."

"I'll be looking forward to it," Murrue replied.

….

July 22nd, C.E. 71

So far so good, thought Heero as he continued his counter-clockwise flight path around the Archangel, Eternal, Kusanagi, and Sakuya.

The last ship, like the Himiko that had brought them their first supply shipment at L4, was a Cornelius-class tender operated by the Orb Union. Currently it was holding position in the middle of the three warships as it dispatched shuttles to each vessel bearing munitions, rations, spare parts, and other materials. The M1 Astrays that the ship had brought to replace those lost by the Archangel and the Kusanagi at L4 had not yet been delivered to their respective vessels, and were slated to be transferred as the final part of the process.

Having shifted Wing Zero into its fighter form as soon as he had launched, Heero was maintaining a patrol flight around the three warships and the tender as the transfer took place. He wasn't alone; flying along different paths were the Judgment, Aisha's GuAIZ, and Erica Simmons' three test pilots from Morgenroete. All other pilots were on standby, ready to launch at a moment's notice should trouble rear its ugly head.

The Sakuya had come bearing more than just supplies for the Three Ships Alliance. Heero had listened in as the ship's commanding officer had relayed the latest news from the Orb colonies, and had been surprised to hear that since the battle at L4 ten days ago a small number of Earth Alliance ships had actually come to L3 expressing their desire to defect. It was certainly an encouraging development, and from what the Sakuya's Captain had said it seemed that more soldiers in the Alliance were ill at ease or outright disgusted with the actions their nation had taken over the recent days of the war.

It's good to see that Murrue's not the only Alliance officer with a conscience, he thought, but this could have dire consequences for the Eden and Elysium colonies. The Earth Alliance proved that they're willing to expend considerable resources in going after traitors when they sent a battle group to fight us at L4, and led by the second Archangel-class warship no less. What if this proves to be the last straw for them and they use this as a pretext for attacking the L3 colonies? I know Engineer Simmons said that a number of M1s had been transferred from the surface to the colonies, and that Morgenroete had been building up a force of Taurus mobile suits at their smaller resource satellites to defend Eden and Elysium, but against the overwhelming might of the Earth Alliance that won't be enough. A few defecting ships certainly won't turn the tide if it comes down to a fight…

Heero shook his head, banishing those thoughts to the back of his mind. It was an important thing to consider, but right now the mission at hand came first.

His comm system chimed, and a moment later the face of Morgenroete's most brilliant scientist appeared on his monitor.

"Engineer Simmons," he said, "What is it?"

She smiled. "I just thought you should know that we've finished putting together the new augmentation pack for the Strike-Rouge. It was actually earlier this morning, and we've had Lady Cagalli run a few simulations on it since then. She's still getting the hang of it, but the initial results have been quite promising. I think the next time she takes the field we'll install that pack on the Strike-Rouge; nothing like a combat trial to really put the new equipment through its paces."

Heero nodded. "Alright. Anything else?"

"No," said Erica, "Aside from the fact that the new targeting system you installed on the Kusanagi over a week ago has been functioning very well in all the simulations we've run since then. You and Shemei really make a good programming team."

"Thanks," said Heero, "If that's all then I need to get back to my patrol."

Erica sighed before giving him a smirk. "You're just not a conversationalist if it's not with Murrue, eh Heero? Fine, I'll let you go. Take care of yourself. Simmons out."

Heero hadn't meant to be rude to her, but given the situation it was important to avoid flooding the comm waves with idle chatter. Despite his curt ending to the conversation, Heero actually did enjoy the rapport he had developed with the engineer since his first stay in the Orb Union. She was a brilliant technical mind; he hadn't worked with someone who had such an intuitive understanding of the functioning of mobile suits since the Gundam scientists and Howard. Like Kira, Cagalli, Shemei, and some of the others in the Three Ships Alliance, Erica had become someone that Heero considered to be a friend.

I've made more friends in the few months I've been in the Cosmic Era, he thought as Simmons' face disappeared from the screen, than I did in the sixteen years I lived in my old world. It's all thanks to Murrue. She helped me open up. First to her, and then to others. It's happened so much easier in this world than it did in my last war, my old world, and I know it's because of Murrue. Just one more thing I owe her for.

One more reason why I love her.

It was a pleasant thought, but like the one before he had to set it aside for the moment; he had a job to do.

A few more minutes passed by without incident, but the calm and watchful flight was eventually interrupted by another chorus of beeping coming from Wing Zero's communications system. However, unlike last time, this was not a case of someone trying to directly contact him. Heero's eyes narrowed as he studied the display, watching as fragments of weak transmission frequencies went across it. There was heavy interference, and the Gundam pilot could also see that the frequencies were heavily encrypted, which instantly set off alarm bells in his head; that meant the source was military. Attempting to track the source of the signals, Heero could only get a rough approximation thanks to all the interference, but what he saw did not make him feel any better. Though the distance was extreme, the signals seemed to be originating roughly along the projected flight path of Task Force 9.3.

Heero got on the tactical channel. "This is Wing Zero. I'm getting some weak transmissions over hear with military grade encryption. Archangel, Eternal, Kusanagi; I'm sending them to you now."

After a moment Murrue's face appeared on the screen, her expression serious. "We're getting it, Heero. It doesn't look like any Alliance ciphers we've seen before, but they could always be running something new."

Waltfeld's face joined hers on the monitor. "Eternal here. Heero, we've got nothing that exactly matches it in our databases, but it does bear some similarities to older ZAFT frequencies."

"It also looks like there's more than one set of transmissions going," said Murrue, "Could be multiple groups; a skirmish, perhaps."

"Captain Ramius," said Waltfeld, "Send that down to Bristow. His contacts have been trying to keep him as up to date as possible on ZAFT communication protocols; he might have something that can help us narrow it down."

Murrue nodded. "Understood. Sending it to the Werewolf now."

"I'll see if I can clean it up on my end," said Heero, and immediately set to work doing just that. Unfortunately the N-Jammer interference was not making his job easy, and the problem was only compounded by the extreme range that the transmissions were coming from.

Fortunately the Wolf of the Far East got on the line a few seconds later with some much needed answers. "Bristow here," he said, "I've got two matching frequencies; one's used by the Ninth Fleet, the other by the Tenth. Can't make out content due to the interference, but given the fleet Task Force 9.3 was once part of I think it's safe to say the first one's them. I don't have any intel on defections from the Tenth, so we should assume hostiles."

"So ZAFT's caught up with them," said Murrue, "Damn it, their timing couldn't be worse."

It was a sentiment Heero wholeheartedly agreed with. With the Archangel, Eternal, and Kusanagi still in the middle of receiving supplies from the Sakuya, they could not move to engage. Their options were limited, and Heero's mind immediately settled on the one he knew would pose the least risk to the capital ships… and the most to himself.

"Shemei," said Heero, turning towards the direction that the transmissions were originating from, "on me."

The Valkyrie's face appeared on his screen, and he knew that she had already comprehended what he had in mind. "Got it," she said, "I'm your wing, Heero."

"Heero!" cried Murrue, "What do you think you're doing?"

"Our warships can't fight right now," Heero replied, "and you need to hold most of our mobile suits back to cover you while you finish up the supply transfer. We don't know how large of a force the defectors are fighting against; they could be wiped out before the Archangel and the other ships can get underway. Shemei and I will do forward recon and assist Task Force 9.3 to the best of our abilities; we should be able to keep them alive until you can reinforce us."

Waltfeld nodded. "It's the best option, though certainly not without its challenges."

"We can do it, Waltfeld," said Shemei, "You know we can."

Heero nodded as well, though his gaze was fixed on Murrue. "We have to do this, Murrue."

Murrue sighed. "Alright, Heero." Her eyes met his again, and he could see the concern within them. "Just please… be careful, ok?"

Heero nodded. "Roger that."

"The instant the transfer is complete," said Waltfeld, "we'll get underway and dispatch the rest of our nuclear powered mobile suits ahead of us as a vanguard. Until then though, you two will be stuck with whatever resources Task Force 9.3 has left on the field, understood?"

"Yes," said Shemei.

"Copy that," said Heero.

"Shemei," said Eric, "Watch yourself, alright?"

"I will," the Valkyrie replied, "Don't take too long catching up to us."

"Roger that," said Eric.

"We're outbound," said Heero, "Wing Zero out."

He gunned the engines as he ended the transmission and saw Shemei do the same with the Judgment. The ZAFT prototype was not quite as fast as Wing Zero was in its fighter mode, but the gap in top speed was not too great; Heero only had to reduce his pace a little for the Valkyrie to keep formation.

"So," said Shemei, and Heero saw that she was on a new transmission frequency, one he knew they would be using as their tactical channel for the coming fight, "any bets on what we'll find when we get there?"

"If I had to guess, I'd say a Charlie Foxtrot," Heero replied, glancing at his sensors as he spoke, "I've got faint contacts at the edge of my scopes, but I can't make out distinct signatures or get any sense of real numbers yet."

"Same here," said the Valkyrie, "I just hope the task force hasn't been hit too hard yet. I'd hate for this all to be for nothing."

"We'll find out when we get there," said Heero, "Stay sharp and be ready to engage on my order."

"Understood," Shemei replied.

….

Clutching the arms of her command chair tightly as the Natta shook around her, Captain Talia Gladys bit back a swear before turning to one of her subordinates. "Tell Murphy Team to get that thing off us!" she ordered.

Her mobile suit combat controller, a young lady in her early twenties with mid-length blonde hair and dark gray eyes, nodded. "Aye, Captain!" she replied.

She watched on the main monitor as three of her ship's six GINNs moved in on the GuAIZ that had just taken a potshot at the frigate. Her ship's mobile suits had been upgraded since the Fall of Avalon, their machine guns and metal swords replaced with beam weapons. However, their specs were still inferior to the much newer GuAIZ, and Talia could only hope that the skills of their pilots would make up for the technological deficiency.

All the while this was going on, the Natta's Captain could not deny the pit in her stomach, the feeling of wrongness that had stuck with her since this battle had begun, since the Natta had been rotated to the Tenth Fleet and dispatched with its pursuit forces two days ago to hunt down the renegade Task Force 9.3.

I enlisted in ZAFT to protect my people, she thought, not to hunt down former comrades. How… how did this happen?

On the main bridge monitor she saw the renegade GuAIZ shoot down one of her GINNs with its beam rifle. The enemy unit then whirled around just in time to slash another GINN in half with its beam claws before the Natta's machine could impale it with its violet blade. However, the GuAIZ had left itself vulnerable to an attack from the last GINN of the trio, which shot it from below with its beam rifle, destroying the mobile suit.

Talia grimaced, sick with the knowledge that she had just sacrificed two of her pilots in order to kill a fellow Coordinator. However, she could not let her discomfort interfere with her duties, especially since the battle was clearly a long ways from over yet.

The pursuit force the Natta was working with consisted of another fourteen frigates like herself, along with nine Nazca-class destroyers. Its mobile suit complement was, like that of its target, mixed, though in this case the loyalist group had a greater edge in terms of technology. Some of the ships like Talia's were carrying modified GINNs and CGUEs, while others were fully outfitted with the new GuAIZ mobile suits. This was only one such group involved in the hunt, but it was the first to catch up with Task Force 9.3.

The Natta was out on the right wing of the pursuit force, working with another two frigates and a destroyer. The pursuit force was arrayed in a broad crescent, with the outer tips moving in an attempt to flank Task Force 9.3 and pin it while the center bore down on the enemy to hit them with a concentrated bombardment. It was a classic tactic, though the three dimensional nature of outer space made it difficult to pull off. To help compensate for this to as much an extent as was possible, the crescent was split into two levels, an upper and a lower one, with thirteen ships in each one. Talia's ship was in the upper half along with one of the frigates she was working with, while the other frigate and the destroyer were in the lower section. This allowed for overlapping fields of fire across all three dimensions, though of course the coverage was not seamless. Also, to disorganize the enemy and make it harder for them to launch a coordinated assault against one section of the crescent to punch through or flee in the opposite direction, the bulk of the pursuit force's mobile suits had been launched well in advance of the capital ships coming into firing range of each other and were now mixing it up in the midst of Task Force 9.3. Only the few ships at the ends of the crescent, like the Natta, had held back a portion of their mobile suits in order to reinforce the wings of the fleet.

Talia had fervently hoped that Commander Bohuslav would accept the surrender offer that had been given to him by the leader of her pursuit force, Commander Edgar du Bourg, but it was not to be. Part of her mind had known that would be the case. Even if Task Force 9.3 had no intention of fighting against ZAFT and only sought asylum at the surviving Orb colonies at L3, they were still abandoning their post, their military, and their nation during wartime. This was a capital offense, and given the hard line stance of the ruling party there could be little doubt that the harshest sentence possible would be utilized, with no chance for leniency. There was no point in surrender when only death awaited Commander Bohuslav and his subordinates at the hands of ZAFT and the Zala regime, something that Talia was well aware of. Still, just because the effort to convince them to stand down may have been ultimately futile did not mean that she thought it should not be made. In her mind, fighting should be the last resort whenever possible; if there was the chance, however small it might be, that the enemy might accept an offer of surrender then Talia felt that it was the right thing to offer it.

A pity it was not to be, she thought ruefully, and so, here we are, fighting each other while the Alliance gathers strength. Damn it all…

The battle was young, but already bloody. In addition to the main pursuit force, several outlying patrols had converged on Task Force 9.3 from the opposite direction that the crescent was moving in on the renegades. It had only been a handful of ships though; three frigates and two destroyers, all carrying unmodified GINNs. In order to stall the rogues and give the pursuit force time to close with the enemy they had engaged Task Force 9.3 head on. The results had been predictable; Task Force 9.3 had brought everything it had to bear on them. Both groups had traded fire, and while the five loyalist ships had managed to land hits they had not struck any decisive blows. The renegades, on the other hand, had wiped the floor with them, downing the small group in two salvoes. As for the loyalist mobile suits, they had lasted a little longer and managed to mix it up with the rogue units, but in the end all had fallen to the enemy while inflicting only a few losses on their foe. To Talia it was a reckless and stupid move, an appalling waste of life… but it had also worked. Though the time Task Force 9.3 had lost in dealing with the smaller ZAFT group had been minimal, it was just enough to slow them down to the point that the mobile suits from the main pursuit force could close with the enemy and begin disrupting their formation.

Task Force 9.3's reaction had been unusual in Talia's experienced eye. The renegades had held back all of their GINNs, modified and otherwise, to deal with the attacking loyalist machines, but had dispatched all of the GuAIZs at their disposal to strike the ZAFT capital ships. This move had actually caught the loyalists by surprise, as the bulk of their mobile suits had already moved in to engage the enemy and only a few had been held back for defense. At the same time the enemy capital ships had turned to port until they were angled towards the left wing of the pursuit force, though their movements were hampered by the mobile suits fighting in their midst and taking shots at them.

It had soon dawned on Talia just what the enemy was trying to accomplish. By using their few GuAIZs to cause whatever havoc they could among the loyalist force, the renegades had actually managed to buy themselves room to set up for an attack on the left wing of the ZAFT group while attempting to fend off the mobile suits attacking them. Now Task Force 9.3's next move was clear; they would drive hard into the left wing, potentially rolling it up and then hitting the center of the task force from the flank.

They can't get away, thought Talia grimly, so they'll try to turn the tables by hitting us like that, maybe inflict enough casualties on us to force a withdrawal. A gamble, but it's really the only move they have.

Unfortunately for the enemy, it was a move that was easy to counter, and the pursuit force was in the midst of doing that right now. As Task Force 9.3 drove towards the left wing of the ZAFT fleet the right wing had begun to fold in behind them. The process was hampered to some degree by the remaining enemy GuAIZs that were harassing the loyalist ships and the few mobile suits that had been held back as escorts, but Talia and her comrades were gaining momentum. Some of the attacking mobile suits had also been recalled to deal with the renegade GuAIZs, and when combined with the escort mobile suits and the warships' anti-air weaponry it would be enough to deal with the more advanced of the rogues' machines. The left wing of the loyalist force was still holding despite the mobile suits that were harassing them and the fact that the entirety of Task Force 9.3's warships were bearing down on them, and all they had to do was survive long enough for the center and the right wing to converge on the renegades. At the same time, some of the ships in the center of the formation that were closes to the left wing had moved to reinforce their brethren out on the flank in order to make sure they held long enough for the rest of the center and the right wing to set up for their volleys.

Thanks to the layered structure of our formation, Talia thought, they'll be screwed no matter which way they go. If they go up, the top row of warships will confront them head on while the lower flanks them, and vice versa if they go down. If they try to move through the gap they'll be taking fire from all directions; it'll be a turkey shoot for us.

"Ma'am," said the communications officer, "We're receiving our firing assignment from the flagship."

Talia nodded. "Pass the data on to weapons. Be ready to fire when ordered."

On the main monitor Talia could see the forward ranks of Task Force 9.3 begin to trade shots with the left wing of the loyalist fleet. A veritable storm of emerald beams, yellow rail cannon rounds, and the blue fire of missile trails crisscrossed the space between the opposing forces. Warships on both sides took hits, though the loyalists took the worst of it. Several ships from the loyalist forces took moderate or severe damage, while three Laurasia-class frigates were destroyed. For their part, the rogues lost one frigate and several others were wounded to varying degrees. Smaller explosions lit up the space in between the warships of both factions as mobile suits took hits and were destroyed. Still, despite the forward momentum and greater strength of the renegade force bearing down on them, the left wing was holding, and the time for ZAFT's counterattack was fast approaching.

The Nazca-class destroyer Acolyte, the lead vessel in the top half of the right wing and one of the four vessels the Natta was assigned to work with, began to pull out ahead. Talia knew that this meant their barrage would commence momentarily, and prepared her vessel accordingly.

"Synch timers with those of the Acolyte," she said, "Weapons, have everything ready to go on my mark."

"Aye, Captain," replied the chief gunnery officer.

Talia could feel her grip on the arms of the command chair intensify unconsciously as her ship prepared to strike. This is it, she thought, time to roll the dice…

The timer on her personal monitor entered its final ten seconds before a cry rang out from her sensor officer. "Energy spike, twelve o'clock high!"

"What?" said Talia, her blood chilling. She was just about to give the order to identify the source…

…and then the Acolyte was consumed from above by a tsunami of golden-yellow hellfire.

Time seemed to freeze for Talia in the instant the Nazca-class destroyer was obliterated by that oh so familiar blast of monstrously destructive power. Her mind instinctively flashed back to the last time she had witnessed a shot with that distinct hue, though it had been far more powerful than what she was seeing now.

The Fall of Avalon.

Her eyes widened in horror, her face became deathly pale, her hold on the arms of her chair became a death grip, and the normally calm and professional woman could only muster a soft reply at what she had just seen, scarcely more than a whisper.

"No… not him…"

Before she could recover she saw another blast of energy, this one crimson, pierce the frigate that had been on the wing of the Acolyte, the Hoplite, detonating the vessel like a mortar round. Talia was stunned at the precision of the strikes, along with the timing; they'd been mere seconds apart.

"Two contacts!" cried the sensor officer, not even trying to hide the shock and dread in her voice, "It's Wing Zero and the Judgment!"

"The Demon and the Valkyrie?" yelled the chief gunnery officer, all pretenses of professionalism gone, replaced by utter terror.

"Get me a visual!" shouted Talia, fighting desperately to keep her fear from showing in her voice.

The image on the main monitor shifted, and the two newcomers were put on screen for all to see. Wing Zero was out in front, while behind and to the left of the fearsome machine was the stolen ZAFT prototype. They were bearing down hard and fast on the loyalist fleet… more specifically, the right wing.

"Take evasive action!" she ordered, "Recall all our surviving mobile suits, and open fire on Wing Zero or the Judgment as soon as you get a solution."

Privately, Talia knew those orders were in vain. A lumbering capital ship like the Natta would stand little chance at evading fire from either mobile suit, and aside from the sole surviving member of Murphy Team the only remaining units Talia had at her disposal were the three modified GINNs of Kyle Team, and they were all engaged with Task Force 9.3. There was no way they could get back to the Natta in time to stop either the Demon Lord of Avalon or the Valkyrie from completely annihilating her.

"Multiple weapons locks on us!" cried the sensor operator.

"Hard to port!" Talia yelled, all the while watching the main monitor, just waiting for one of her foes to launch the killing strike.

She saw the twin barrels of Wing Zero's hellish rifle once again glow with that familiar golden-yellow energy and braced herself for the worst. The Gundam opened fire, but the shot was not meant for the Natta. Talia saw the blast flash past her ship and slam into the frigate Salamis, destroying the ship. She then turned her attention to the Judgment, realizing the attack on her ship would come from the renegade Valkyrie.

Indeed, the Judgment did open fire on the Natta, but it wasn't with her heavy plasma rifle. The two beam cannons on the mobile suit's shoulders cut loose with emerald beams, as did the two gun-drones that had detached from the unit's back and set their sights on the frigate. At the same time Talia saw a swarm of micro-missiles cut loose from the launchers mounted on the mobile suit's legs.

Talia didn't even have time to tell her crew to brace before the four emerald beams slammed into the Natta. The ship rocked under the blows, and they were swiftly followed up by a hammering of smaller impacts as the horde of missiles following the particle beams pounded the vessel in a brutal hailstorm.

"Damage report!" she yelled.

"Main and secondary guns have been knocked out!" replied one of her subordinates, "All VLS are inoperable, along with four of our CIWS! We have multiple hull breaches on the upper decks!"

But we're still alive, thought Talia, Why, I don't know… but we are.

"Seal off the areas that have been breached," she ordered, "I want damage control teams ready to patch up what they can ASAP!"

"Aye, Captain," replied one of her officers.

"Where are Wing Zero and the Judgment?" she asked.

"They went past us!" replied the sensor operator, "They're moving onto the lower line!"

So they mean to completely neutralize the right wing, she thought, and then move onto the center.

There was nothing Talia and her crew could do about that though; with the damage they had taken, she knew that they were out of the fight. All she could do was pull her ship away from the engagement… and thank her lucky stars that the Valkyrie had decided to use her secondary weapons on them rather than her powerful rifle.

"Signal the Sophocles," she ordered, referring to the pursuit force's flagship, "We can't keep fighting in our condition; we're withdrawing."

"Yes, ma'am," said the communications officer.

"Captain," said the mobile suit combat flight controller, "Kyle Team is inbound."

"Casualties?" she asked with trepidation.

"Yes, ma'am," her subordinate replied grimly, "Daniel's confirmed K.I.A. One of the renegade mobile suits shot him down."

Damn, she thought, half my pilots killed in a single battle… I just hope I can save the rest of them.

"Tell them not to engage Wing Zero and the Judgment," said Talia, "They're to stick with us while we pull out." She refused to send her surviving pilots on a suicide mission.

"Understood, Captain," said the flight controller.

As the Natta began to break off from the fight Talia looked one last time at Wing Zero and the Judgment as they prepared to attack the lower section of the right wing. She felt horrible for leaving her comrades to face such powerful adversaries, but she had no choice. Her ship had been heavily damaged and was no longer capable of providing any meaningful contribution to the battle. Talia felt that her duty now was to save who she could; the rest of the pursuit force and the ZAFT reinforcements that were inbound would have to deal with the newcomers.

If they could deal with the newcomers…

….

(Start "Mayhem")

Weaving through the storm of anti-air fire that the enemy warships were sending his way, Heero cut down a GINN with his beam saber as he set up for his next shot with the Twin Buster Rifle. The moment he got an opening he took aim and fired, obliterating his second Nazca-class destroyer of the day.

Heero wasn't the only one on the offensive. To his right he saw Shemei spear a GINN with her violet blade before cutting loose with her heavy plasma rifle. The crimson blast of energy unleashed by the weapon pierced the Laurasia-class frigate next to Heero's target, turning the ship into a fragmentation grenade.

"I think we've got their attention," said the Valkyrie.

Heero certainly couldn't argue with that. Despite the speed and ferocity of his and Shemei's surprise attack the ZAFT fleet was already reacting. Several warships were reorienting themselves, turning their guns from Task Force 9.3 and bringing them to bear on Wing Zero and the Judgment. At the same time several teams of loyalist mobile suits had broken off their attacks on the renegade units and were already inbound on Heero and his wingman.

"We'll keep pushing along their formation," he said as he shot down a volley of missiles with his shoulder gatlings before turning the Twin Buster Rifle on the frigate that had fired them, disintegrating his target with a powerful blast, "If we can pin them between us and Task Force 9.3, we can end this quickly."

"Hammer and anvil approach, eh?" said Shemei as she unloaded the rest of her missiles on another frigate, along with a volley from her shoulder beam cannons and DRAGOONs, "Works for me. I just hope we can avoid hitting any of the rogues' mobile suits by mistake."

"I've got a solid read on their IFFs," said Heero as he saw Shemei's target, severely damaged by the pounding she had unleashed upon it, begin to pull back, "I'm tracking them with the Zero System. Sending you the data now."

After a moment he saw the Valkyrie nod on his screen. "Got it," she said, "By the way, we've got a few teams of bad guys closing fast."

"I see them," said Heero, swinging Wing Zero around to bring its fearsome rifle to bear on the incoming mobile suits, "Let's deal with them and get back to hitting the capital ships."

"Copy that," Shemei replied, just before Wing Zero and the Judgment opened fire simultaneously with their powerful rifles.

Two rivers of destruction, one gold and one crimson, ripped across space. The rushing torrents of energy blew through the heart of the enemy formation, detonating mobile suits like strings of firecrackers. Wing Zero's shot took down eight GINNs and a GuAIZ, while the Judgment's destroyed five GINNs and two CGUEs. However, there were still plenty of survivors left for the taking. The remaining enemy machines split up into smaller groups, spreading out in an effort to envelope their adversaries.

"Slow learners," said Heero as he pushed forward, intent on taking the fight to the enemy at close range, "They should've done that from the start."

"Please don't give tactical advice to the enemy," Shemei quipped as she followed his lead, "They might actually start using their brains."

"If they did that, would they keep fighting for Zala?" Heero deadpanned as he sliced a GINN in half with his beam saber before ripping apart another with his shoulder gatlings.

Shemei chuckled. "Good point," the Valkyrie replied as she tore into her foes, impaling a GINN with her beam saber and downing another with two beams from her DRAGOONs.

"Keep it close," said Heero as he slipped to the right to dodge a beam claw slash from a GuAIZ before cutting the attacking machine down with his verdant blade, "We need to thin these guys out before we get back to the warships."

"Roger that," said Shemei as she downed a GuAIZ with her shoulder cannons, "I've got your back, Heero!"

And he had hers. As the enemy swarmed around them, Wing Zero and the Judgment went back-to-back while at the same time twisting and weaving through the hail of energy beams their foes were sending their way. It was a delicate piece of flying, but all their fights against each other had given Heero and Shemei an understanding of how their wingman flew that bordered on clairvoyance.

Cutting loose with the Twin Buster Rifle again, Heero blew away four GINNs and two GuAIZs with a high power blast before raising his shield to block beams from another incoming group of foes. More enemies attempted to flank him, but they were forced to contend with the Valkyrie, and she had no intention of letting them take down her onetime rival. The Judgment opened fire with the Tartarus rifle, and three GINNs were destroyed in a stream of crimson energy. At the same time, the Valkyrie once again let fly with her twin gun-drones, downing a GuAIZ as it tried to line up a shot at Heero's back.

A GINN tried to attack the Valkyrie from below with its beam rifle, but before it could take the shot it was torn apart by gatling fire from Wing Zero. The units accompanying the machine scattered, and Heero capitalized on their disarray by diving right into their midst. He sliced another GINN in half with his beam saber before raising his shield to block a beam claw strike from a GuAIZ. Hitting his thrusters, Heero pushed forward, knocking his foe back before stabbing it through the cockpit with his emerald blade. He then whirled around and opened fire with the Twin Buster Rifle, downing another GuAIZ, a CGUE, and two GINNs.

Taking a quick glance at his sensors, Heero saw that Task Force 9.3 had begun driving into the enemy fleet. Its capital ships traded salvos with those of the ZAFT loyalists, with both sides scoring hits. Two of Task Force 9.3's frigates were lost, while the ZAFT fleet lost a frigate and a destroyer. Other ships were sporting varying degrees of damage, and while the momentum continued to lie with the renegades Heero knew that it wouldn't last long. Even with the ZAFT loyalists divided between engaging Task Force 9.3 and Wing Zero and the Judgment they still had more than enough units on the field to bog down the defectors. From the multitude of smaller explosions taking place amid the warships, the Gundam pilot knew that the fight between the two sides' mobile suit teams was raging just as fiercely as that of the destroyers and frigates. Heero knew that the longer the battle went on the more time ZAFT would have to bring reinforcements into the fight… and indeed, he could already see several capital ships at the edge of his sensors, closing in fast.

"We've got more company inbound," he said as he sliced a GuAIZ in half with his beam saber before blocking a beam saber strike from a GINN on his shield and then cutting down the attacking unit with his emerald blade.

"I see them," Shemei replied, destroying a GINN with her shoulder-mounted beam cannons before impaling another on her violet blade, "We need to pick up the pace."

Heero nodded as he dodged a flurry of particle beams. "Agreed. Hit your thrusters and go high. We'll get above them and hit them hard, then turn back to the capital ships."

"Got it," said the Valkyrie as she blocked a few shots on her shield, "just say when."

A few seconds of evading enemy fire and one cut down GuAIZ later, Heero made his move. "Now."

Wing Zero and the Judgment shot upward like a pair of rockets, the two mobile suits rapidly outpacing their ZAFT foes. As he made his ascent Heero put away his beam saber and split the Twin Buster Rifle into two guns, already acquiring targets as he made his climb.

After a few seconds Heero signaled Shemei again. "Fire at will."

"Roger," the Valkyrie replied, and she cut loose with the Tartarus, her shoulder cannons, and her DRAGOONs. The crimson blast of plasma blew apart two GINNs and a GuAIZ, while the pair of beams from the shoulder cannons took down another GINN and the fire from the gun-drones destroyed a CGUE.

A split second later Heero unleashed his barrage. Twin torrents of golden-yellow energy ripped forth like lightning cast by a god of destruction, and tore into the incoming ZAFT mobile suits. One blast annihilated four GINNs and a GuAIZ while the other destroyed two GuAIZs and a CGUE.

"Well," said Shemei, "that thinned them out."

Heero nodded. The surviving ZAFT mobile suits that had moved to engage them before were now in complete disarray; it was as good a time as any to get back to hitting the big fish.

"Come on," said Heero as he reconnected the two guns into a single weapon and reignited his beam saber, "We've got to take down more of this battle group's capital ships before the reinforcements start launching mobile suits."

"Copy that," said Shemei, "I'm your wing, Heero."

"Acknowledged," said Heero before signing out.

Gunning his engines, Heero dived back towards the ZAFT fleet, cutting down a stray GINN with his beam saber as he did so. With the losses they had suffered at the hands of Task Force 9.3, Wing Zero, and the Judgment, the enemy was much less formidable than they had been merely minutes ago, but that didn't mean that they were down for the count yet. The pursuit force still had five frigates on the field, along with six destroyers. Three of the frigates and one of the destroyers had turned and were now bearing down on Heero and Shemei. As for the renegades that the rest of the ZAFT pursuit force was fighting, they still had seven frigates and all four of their destroyers left in play. However, the greater number of loyalist mobile suits in the fight meant that ZAFT had been able to attack the rogues' warships with more than just their own outnumbered vessels, and all of Task Force 9.3's ships were either moderately or severely damaged. From the IFFs he saw on his sensors Heero could also tell that the renegades had lost a significant amount of their mobile suits as well. They would still be able to triumph against the much-reduced pursuit force in front of them, but the Gundam pilot had no doubt that they would take more casualties in the process, and with more ZAFT ships and mobile suits inbound even now Heero knew that they were not out of the woods yet.

"Split up," said Heero, "I'll go high, you go low. Designating targets now."

A split second later Shemei appeared on the screen again and nodded. "Got it. Let's get them."

As the Valkyrie disappeared from the monitor Heero adjusted his trajectory so he'd come in over the lead destroyer and the frigate flanking it to the right. At the same time he saw the Judgment go into a wide arc that would take it underneath the enemy's ships, where she would set up for her attacks against the other two frigates. All four warships opened fire on Wing Zero with their heavy weapons, and Heero was pleased to see that he was the center of their attention; it would make Shemei's attack from below all the more effective.

Weaving through the beams, rail cannon rounds, and missiles, Heero patiently waited for an opening to strike. A few moments later a mental nudge from the Zero System told him that now was the time, and he cut loose with the Twin Buster Rifle. The lead destroyer took the blast head on and was blown to pieces.

A second later he saw a crimson lance of plasma pierce one of the Laurasia-class frigates from below, turning the vessel into a short-lived fireball; the Valkyrie had made her move. The two remaining frigates split up, desperate to avoid the same fate as their brethren. One ship began charging Heero head on, all its weapons firing away in a frantic attempt to take Wing Zero down before it could get off another shot. The second frigate did the same thing but in the opposite direction, diving and unloading on the Judgment with everything it had.

Unfortunately for the ZAFT ships, their heavy guns just weren't meant for targeting mobile suits, especially machines with the kind of maneuverability that Wing Zero and the Judgment had at their disposal. Their CIWS would've had a much better chance at hitting their targets, but they were out of range. More importantly, Wing Zero's Gundanium alloy hull and the Judgment's Phase Shift Armor meant that their bullets were useless.

Heero broke right, dodging a salvo of green particle beams while destroying a wave of incoming missiles with his shoulder gatlings, blocking the one warhead he could not shoot down on his shield. As soon as he was out of the frigate's line of fire he brought the Twin Buster Rifle to bear on his foe and opened up. Another blast of golden-yellow hellfire tore across space and disintegrated the target.

Glancing at one of his side monitors as he whirled around to cut down a GINN that had been moving to attack him from behind, Heero saw that the Judgment had gotten behind its target. The black and red machine raised its Tartarus rifle and fired, sending forth a torrent of plasma that speared the frigate right down the middle, entering via the engines and exiting almost through the bridge. An instant later the green warship was torn in half by the blast.

"Come on," said Heero, "We need to take out the remaining mobile suits before the first wave of reinforcements gets here."

"Agreed," said Shemei as the Judgment moved to join Heero, "I just hope Bohuslav doesn't try to shoot us in the back while we're helping him."

"If Bristow was right about the Commander's sense of honor, we should be ok," said Heero, "Still, we should be cautious. I'll try to contact him when we make our approach."

"Got it," said Shemei, "I'll cover you."

Together, Wing Zero and the Judgment moved towards Task Force 9.3. Though Heero and Shemei had only taken a few seconds to destroy the four enemy capital ships that had tried to attack them, in that time the clash between the renegades and loyalists had only intensified. The two sides were firing on each other from practically point-blank range, and both sides' mobile suits were mixing it up with furious desperation. Heero saw that the loyalists had lost another destroyer, leaving them just four of those vessels in play. ZAFT had also lost one more frigate to the renegades, and now had only one Laurasia-class ship remaining in the fight. However, Task Force 9.3 had paid for the losses they had inflicted on the loyalists with the destruction of two more of their frigates. The surviving ships on both sides had accumulated even more battle scars since Heero had last checked, and their mobile suit forces had been reduced still further.

Cutting down a GINN with his beam saber before shooting down a GuAIZ with the Twin Buster Rifle, Heero tuned his radio to Task Force 9.3's tactical channel. "This is Wing Zero to defecting forces. Commander Bohuslav, if you're receiving this, respond immediately."

A few seconds later a man who looked to be in his early thirties with short-cut black hair, brown eyes and a well trimmed beard, wearing a white Commander's uniform, appeared on the monitor. "Heero Yuy," he said, a hint of a Ukrainian accent in his voice, "I never thought I would wind up fighting alongside you, of all people."

"What's your status?" said Heero as he evaded fire from several mobile suits while Shemei took down two GINNs with her DRAGOONs and a GuAIZ with her shoulder cannons. Tracing the Commander's signal, he saw that it was coming from a battered Nazca-class destroyer identifying itself as the Archimedes.

"About as bad as it looks," Bohuslav replied, "My flagship's suffered multiple hits, including serious damage to her engines, and the rest of my group's fairing little better. Our mobile suit teams are below half-strength, and we have enemy reinforcements inbound! I do not know what's brought you and the Valkyrie out here, Demon Lord of Avalon, but right now I will not look a heavily-armed horse in the mouth."

"Do what you can to keep your group together," said Heero as he ripped apart a GINN with a quick burst from his shoulder gatlings, "In your condition there's no way you'll be able to run from the reinforcements, so we'll have to weather the storm. Shemei and I will do all we can to keep the enemy focused on us. All we need from you is to provide supporting fire…and not shoot us in the back."

The Commander gave Heero an icy glare, and the Gundam pilot could not help but be impressed at the resolve clearly visible in the man's eyes. "I do not betray those that have saved my live or those of my subordinates, Heero Yuy. Task Force 9.3 will fight alongside you with everything she has left."

Heero nodded as he cut down another GINN with his beam saber while Shemei blew away a GuAIZ with her heavy plasma rifle. "Understood. Hang on, Commander; we'll help you eliminate the rest of the current enemies, and then we'll take on the reinforcements."

He saw the Commander brace himself against the arms of his chair as the Archimedes took a hit. "Make it quick. We've got their warships on the ropes, but their mobile suits aren't making life easy on us."

"Hold tight," said Heero as he destroyed a GuAIZ with the Twin Buster Rifle, "Wing Zero out."

The Commander disappeared from the screen only to be instantly replaced by Shemei. "How you want to play this?" she asked as she shot down a GINN with her shoulder cannons.

Glancing at his sensors, Heero saw the remaining five frigates and four destroyers of Task Force 9.3 continue to hammer the few surviving loyalist ships still facing them. The ZAFT force lost its last frigate and one of its destroyers, leaving just three of its Nazca-class vessels in the fight. However, despite their losses and the damaged they had suffered, the surviving warships of the initial pursuit force were not backing down. They kept firing back at the renegades, and a coordinated salvo destroyed one of Task Force 9.3's Nazca-class warships.

"Let's help out their surviving mobile suit teams," said Heero as he blocked a beam saber strike from a GINN on his shield before slicing the attacker in half, "Bohuslav can deal with the capital ships."

"Got it," said Shemei as she destroyed a GuAIZ with a pincer attack from her DRAGOONs, "but it looks like most of ZAFT's units are now mixed up in between the defectors' ships. We'll have to be really careful with the heavy artillery."

"I know," Heero replied as he cut down another GINN with a diagonal slash, "We'll just have to make do with what we've got. Watch your shots and your back."

"Acknowledged," said Shemei, "Let's do this!"

Heero nodded, and as the Valkyrie's face disappeared from his monitor he gunned Wing Zero's engines, charging head long into the furball that the task force's surviving warships and mobile suits were tangled up in. The Judgment came in to the right and just behind his Gundam, ready to back him up the moment he needed help.

"Come on, Zero," he said softly but firmly, "We need to be precise here."

He felt the Gundam's powerful, prescient operating system acknowledge his will. Targeting data and predicted flight trajectories poured through his mind, and Heero asserted his authority over the Zero System, forcing it to recognize and distinguish between the mobile suits fighting for the renegades and those still loyal to ZAFT.

Heero dived right into the heart of the action, cutting down a GINN and a GuAIZ with his beam saber on his first pass. The Valkyrie followed right behind him, shooting down a GINN with her shoulder cannons before taking down another with her violet energy blade. Energy beams, bullets, and missiles filled the space around them as both sides' mobile suits clashed and the surviving capital ships leant their lighter weapons to the fray. As he impaled another GINN with his beam saber Heero saw Task Force 9.3 unleash a final barrage on the remaining loyalist vessels, taking down the last three Nazca-class destroyers in a hail of emerald beams and yellow rail cannon rounds.

That's the last of the initial force, Heero thought as he blocked a beam claw strike from a GuAIZ on his shield before taking down his attacker with his emerald blade, aside from those two frigates Shemei forced to withdraw earlier, all their capital ships have been destroyed. We'll have a little bit of breathing room before the next group comes into range.

Three GINNs came at him, beam rifles blazing. Weaving through their fire, Heero took careful aim before unleashing a low-power shot with the Twin Buster Rifle. The lead GINN went down, and Heero swiftly followed up his shot by charging the other two machines. He stabbed one through the cockpit before whirling around and slashing the other one in two as it tried to attack him with its violet blade.

Another trio of mobile suits, this time two GINNs and a GuAIZ, attempted to attack him from behind, but they were intercepted by Shemei. The Valkyrie wasted no time in taking them down, destroying the GINNs with her DRAGOONs before slicing the GuAIZ with her beam saber.

A female voice came over an open channel. "This is Captain Kycilia Zabi of the frigate Chimera. Wing Zero and Judgment, if you can here this, I need your help; my ship's getting swarmed by mobile suits!"

"Acknowledged," Heero replied as he dodged the arrestor cables fired by a GuAIZ before destroying the mobile suit with a low-power shot from his rifle, "We're on our way."

"Zabi…" said Shemei over the tactical channel, "That name sounds familiar for some reason…"

"You can ask Bristow about it later," said Heero as he charged towards the frigate, "We've got work to do."

"You're right," said Shemei as the Judgment fell in behind him, "I've got you covered, Heero."

Zeroing in on the ship in question, Heero saw that it had no less than six GINNs and two GuAIZs attempting to take it down. The Gundam pilot was impressed to see that they were being held at bay by only two GuAIZs and a modified CGUE along with the vessel's CIWS, but he knew that the situation could not last long. He could see ruptures and scorch marks along the Chimera's armor in several places, and the mobile suits defending the ship were outnumbered almost three to one. While those weren't bad odds for a Gundam pilot, Heero was keenly aware that very few people could fly at his level. More to the point, additional enemy units could join the attack on the Chimera at any time.

His eyes narrowed as he brought the Twin Buster Rifle to bear, trusting in the Zero System to give him the best possible shot. A moment later he took it, and two GINNs were destroyed by a low power shot from Wing Zero's main weapon. Before the fireballs had begun to fade four emerald beams flew forth from the Judgment, two from its shoulder cannons and two from its DRAGOONs. One pair of beams destroyed a GINN, while the other took down a GuAIZ.

The attacks had caught the ZAFT mobile suits off guard, and their foes made the most of it. One of the renegade GuAIZs shot down a GINN with its beam rifle, while the other speared another GINN with its violet energy claws. The modified CGUE had charged the remaining ZAFT GuAIZ in an effort to impale the mobile suit on its beam saber, but at the last moment the enemy turned around and lashed out with its beam claws as well. Both machines went down in a mutual kill. The last enemy GINN, thrown into disarray by the sudden loss of all its comrades, was dispatched by CIWS fire from the Chimera.

"Thank you for your help," said Captain Zabi over the radio, "Things were looking grim there."

"Stay sharp," Heero replied curtly, "We're not done yet."

Hitting his thrusters again, Heero moved away from the Chimera and towards one of the task force's destroyers. Together with Shemei, the Gundam pilot dived right into the group of enemy mobile suits attacking the destroyer, cutting down a GuAIZ with his beam saber and ripping apart a GINN with his shoulder gatlings. The Valkyrie wasted no time in adding the Judgment's might to the clash, destroying a GINN with her shoulder cannons before impaling another on her beam saber.

(End "Mayhem")

The rest of the surviving mobile suits from the initial pursuit force began to disengage and pull back. "About time," said Shemei, "Guess they couldn't stomach their losses anymore."

Heero shook his head, his gaze on his sensors and the incoming enemy reinforcements. "That was just round one. Come on, we need to get out in front of the Task Force so we can blunt the second wave."

"You're right," said Shemei, "Damn, they're pulling out all the stops here. Zala must really want to make an example out of these guys."

Heero nodded. "It's been bad enough for him to have high-profile defections like you, Bristow, and Waltfeld, not to mention his own son. To have an entire battle group bail out on him only compounds the embarrassment. Zala's pissed, he wants blood, and he wants others to know the price of treason."

And the military dictator of the PLANTs had gone to considerable lengths to make the defectors pay for their decision in blood. The initial force that Heero and Shemei had stopped from wiping out Task Force 9.3 had consisted of twenty-six vessels, of which only two badly-damaged frigates had survived. The reinforcements closing in on them now were smaller in number, with twelve frigates and six destroyers divided into six formations of one destroyer and two frigates apiece coming in from different angles, but Heero was sure that even more warships were inbound.

"They're launching mobile suits," he said, "and it looks like the survivors from round one are regrouping with them."

"This is gonna get ugly," said Shemei, her voice grim, "We can take them, but there's no way we can keep all of them away from the task force survivors. In their current condition they won't last long if ZAFT can hit them with a concentrated bombardment."

Heero nodded before contacting the Archimedes. "Commander, have your surviving mobile suits stick with the capital ships. We'll hit the enemy head on and try to keep them occupied, but some will get through to engage you, so be ready to fight."

"Understood," Bohuslav replied, "good luck."

"You too," said Heero before signing out.

Checking his sensors, he saw that the horde of mobile suits launched by the new ZAFT warships was a mix of GINNs and GuAIZs, with the former naturally being the most numerous. They had already fanned out, and Heero could tell that this batch had actually learned from what had happened to ZAFT forces in prior engagements with Wing Zero.

"We'll punch through their ranks and hit the capital ships," said Heero as he put away his beam saber before splitting the Twin Buster Rifle and charging up the two smaller guns, "That should keep most of the heat on us."

The Valkyrie appeared on his screen, a smirk on her face. "The two of us versus over a hundred mobile suits and multiple capital ships? My, my, Heero, you really do know how to show a girl a good time. No wonder Murrue fell for you."

"I don't think Murrue would call a fight like this a 'good time'," Heero deadpanned as he took aim with his twin guns, "and nor would I, Shemei."

The Valkyrie sighed. "Killjoy. Alright then; let's get to work."

Without further adieu Heero opened fire with his twin guns. Two blasts of golden-yellow energy flew through space, one destroying three GINNs and the other taking down two GINNs and a GuAIZ. The mobile suits were not Heero's main targets though, and the twin pillars of energy slammed into the Nazca-class destroyers at the head of two separate formations, obliterating the warships.

Not wanting to be left out, the Valkyrie cut loose as well with the Tartarus rifle, her shoulder cannons, and DRAGOONs. The crimson lance of plasma from the former turned a formation of two GINNs and a GuAIZ into a trio of firecrackers, while the four emerald beams from the lighter weapons took down two more GINNs with precise shots.

Rejoining his twin guns into the much larger rifle before reigniting his beam saber, Heero gunned his engines as he aimed for one of the capital ship formations that he'd weakened mere moments ago. Shemei was hot on his tail, but the two ace pilots knew that the swarm of mobile suits before them would not make it easy to break through their ranks. A rain of emerald beams and machinegun rounds issued from the horde, and Heero weaved Wing Zero through the deadly hail, using its shield to block those shots he could not dodge. It was an intense barrage, and no small feat for the Gundam pilot to work his way through. Matters were only made worse as the capital ships behind the mobile suits opened fire with their heavy weapons.

Relying on the Zero System and his considerable piloting skills to stay one step ahead of the enemy's aim, Heero charged the nearest formation of mobile suits, striking first with a low power shot from the Twin Buster Rifle that took out the lead GuAIZ before diving in with his beam saber and cutting down the two GINNs that had been supporting it. Rather than stopping to dogfight with the units that were closing in on the flanks though, Heero continued to dive into the heart of the swarm, driving towards the capital ships. Just like at Avalon, Heero knew that if he allowed himself to get bogged down and loss his forward momentum he would be overwhelmed. Sticking with him, Shemei augmented Wing Zero's deadly attacks with her own, striking down a GINN with her beam saber, destroying another with her shoulder cannons, and detonating a GuAIZ with a pincer attack from her DRAGOONs.

The Perfect Soldier and the Valkyrie were not the only ones inflicting losses on the ZAFT mobile suits. Heero was disgusted to see a few machines fall to fire from the ZAFT capital ships that had clearly been meant for Wing Zero and the Judgment. The new enemy commanding officer was obviously intent on taking down Heero and Shemei, regardless of the cost to his or her forces.

The Gundam pilot was not the only one to take note of ZAFT's disregard for the lives of its pilots. "Bastards," said Shemei as the Judgment cut down another GINN with its beam saber before destroying a GuAIZ with its plasma rifle, "they're killing their own pilots. Even Avalon and the Home Fleet didn't resort to this just to kill you!"

"No," said Heero as he shot down a GuAIZ with the Twin Buster Rifle before slicing a GINN in half, "but the Operation Spitbreak forces did at Alaska. ZAFT's commanders seem dividend on caring for the well-being of their soldiers, just like those of the Alliance."

"Radical influence no doubt playing a role in both cases," Shemei replied as she shot down two GINNs with her DRAGOONs before blocking a beam claw strike from a GuAIZ on her shield and then stabbing the attacker through the cockpit.

"A reasonable assumption," said Heero while he slashed a GuAIZ in half with his emerald blade before destroying a pair of GINNs with the Twin Buster Rifle, "Keep up the pace and the pressure; we're getting closer to their warships."

"I'm right with you, Heero," said Shemei as she took down another GuAIZ with her Tartarus rifle.

Tearing apart a GINN with a burst of his shoulder gatlings, Heero then swiftly jinked to the left, dodging a swipe from a GuAIZ's beam claws before slicing the machine through the cockpit with his emerald blade. Zigzagging all over space to get through the thick barrage, Heero once again brought up the Twin Buster Rifle and cut loose. The blast of golden-yellow hellfire took down two GINNs and a GuAIZ, but they weren't his intended targets, and the large beam continued on through space until it washed over a Laurasia-class frigate, turning the vessel into little more than superheated atoms.

Adjusting his aim, Heero sighted in on the sole surviving frigate of that formation. GINNs and GuAIZs tried to stop him, but they were forced to contend with the Gundam pilot's deadly partner. Letting fly with everything she had, Shemei obliterated four GINNs and a GuAIZ with the combined might of her heavy plasma rifle and beam weapons. Taking advantage of the opening the Valkyrie had given him, Heero took his shot, destroying the frigate and a GuAIZ unfortunate enough to have gotten in the way of the lethal energy blast.

"Well, we're through that swarm," said Shemei, and as Heero checked his sensors he saw that they had indeed just come out of the other side of the ZAFT mobile suit horde, with nothing standing between them and the capital ships, "Looks like we got an all-you-can-eat buffet here!"

Heero nodded. With the enemy mobile suits struggling to regroup after having a massive hole punched through their ranks, Wing Zero and the Judgment would have a few precious seconds to maul ZAFT's capital ships, and the Perfect Soldier was not about to let such an opportunity go to waste.

Breaking right, Heero set himself up to hit the next trio of capital ships… or duo, in this case; like the formation before, this one had also had its lead destroyer taken out by Wing Zero's split Twin Buster Rifle earlier. The two frigates began turning towards him in order to bring their heavy weapons to bear, and at the same time Heero could see a few of the closest mobile suit teams closing in on him and Shemei.

"Watch my back," said Heero, "I'll take the frigate pair."

"You got it," the Valkyrie replied, opening fire with the Judgment's Tartarus rifle as she spoke and taking down a GINN and a GuAIZ in the process, "I've got you covered."

As the Judgment cut loose with its lesser weapons to keep the incoming mobile suits at bay, Heero took aim and opened fire. The blast from the Twin Buster Rifle nailed one of the frigates on the portside and ripped the ship apart. However, the second frigate was able to get Heero in its firing arc and immediately began opening up with its beam cannons, railguns, and missiles.

Weaving through space, Heero took care in setting up for his next shot. After destroying a group of missiles with his shoulder gatlings he dived until he was below the frigate's field of fire and made his counterattack. The golden-yellow beam hit the frigate from below, and the vessel turned into a fireball.

"Heero," said Shemei, "We've got a problem."

Checking his sensors, Heero immediately saw what the Valkyrie was referring to. ZAFT had divided their forces, with roughly half of the remaining mobile suits and capital ships moving towards Task Force 9.3 while the rest remained behind to fight Wing Zero and the Judgment.

Damn it, thought Heero as he evaded fire from both capital ships and mobile suits, I thought we'd hold their attention for longer than this. With the condition the task force is in now, they might not be able to survive what's coming their way. They only have five frigates and three destroyers left, and all of them have been damaged to one degree or another. There's also the losses their mobile suits have taken, and Shemei and I didn't destroy nearly enough of the reinforcing ZAFT units to even the odds.

As for the ZAFT force, they still had four Nazca-class destroyers and eight frigates left on the battle field. With their forces now dividing, that meant that the group moving to engage Task Force 9.3 was actually smaller in terms of warships than their foe, but said vessels were fresh to the field, unscarred and ready to fight. When combined with their mobile suit teams, it would be a sufficient force to bring down the renegades, though it would not be a bloodless victory.

Unfortunately, Heero had little doubt that it ultimately would be a victory for ZAFT, and there was nothing he could do to stop them. While the four frigates and two destroyers that were setting up for attacks on him and Shemei could be dealt with easily enough, the big problem was the mobile suit teams closing in on them. Even with their numbers much reduced by casualties and the enemy dividing their forces, they'd still be able to bog down Wing Zero and the Judgment long enough for the rest of the ZAFT fleet to accomplish its mission.

So our gamble will all be for nothing, he thought grimly as he vaporized a GINN and a GuAIZ with the Twin Buster Rifle before cutting down another GINN with his beam saber, I know that's the way it goes sometimes in war, but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Shemei contacted him as she continued to pump emerald beams and the occasional crimson blast of plasma into the oncoming swarm of ZAFT mobile suits. "Heero, you know we can't save them from what's coming," she said grimly, "We need to retreat."

Heero nodded even as he turned the Twin Buster Rifle on the closest destroyer and opened up, obliterating the ship. "Agreed, but let's not withdraw yet; we can at least make them pay for it."

"Roger that," replied the Valkyrie as she took down two GINNs with her DRAGOONs and a GuAIZ with her shoulder cannons as it tried to attack Heero from behind, "When do we pull out?"

"When the last ship of Task Force 9.3 has fallen," said Heero, his tone firm and leaving no room for argument.

Shemei nodded. "Understood."

As he sliced a GINN in half with his beam saber before taking aim at one of the enemy frigates, Heero knew that it would not be long before the renegades would once again be under the guns of the Zala regime. The lead ZAFT mobile suit teams were almost at their maximum firing range, and their supporting capital ships moved in slowly but confidently behind them, waiting for their units to break up the rogues' formation before commencing their opening barrage. The renegades' mobile suits moved to intercept, but even a blind man could see that they were hopelessly outmatched.

Heero saw the foremost ZAFT mobile suits raise their weapons and expected to see them open fire at any second…

(Start "Ranbu no Melody")

…only for a rain of emerald beams, crimson lances of plasma, and yellow railgun rounds to cut through their ranks.

Six machines lost their rifles to particle beams, plasma, and projectiles. At the same time three more were destroyed by emerald beams while another two were sliced in half by the pink energy of a beam boomerang. While all this was happening, Heero's sensor display was beeping, informing him of new contacts, but he didn't need to check it; he already knew who had just shown up to turn the tide of the fight.

He said nothing as he took out the frigate he'd been aiming at with a well-placed shot from the Twin Buster Rifle, but the Valkyrie did not share his silence.

"They made it!" she said, "About damn time!"

Kira's face appeared on Heero's monitor. "Are you guys ok?"

"We're fine," said Heero as he evaded fire from warships and mobile suits, "What's the status of the Archangel and the other ships?"

"The transfer's done and the Sakuya is heading back to L3," said Kira, "The Archangel, Eternal, and Kusanagi on their way here!"

Heero nodded. "Ok then. Focus on defending the task force until they get here."

"Got it," said Kira. As his friend signed off Heero saw the Freedom and the Justice move in between the rogues' mobile suits and those of the loyalists, swiftly taking the fight to ZAFT.

As Heero cut down a GuAIZ with his beam saber he realized that the three Wraiths were not with the Freedom and the Justice… at least, not visibly. The Gundam pilot was certain that Waltfeld would not have sent just two of the remaining nuclear powered mobile suits; the Valkyrie's subordinates had to be nearby.

His mind flashed back to the battle at L4 and the role the three Wraiths had played against the ZAFT battle group sent to destroy the Eternal.

The capital ships, he thought, glancing at the ZAFT vessels that were preparing to bombard the renegades, they'll strike there…

Sure enough, mere seconds later one of the group's Laurasia-class frigates suddenly found itself engulfed in a swarm of eighteen Lancer Dart missiles that had seemed to appear out of nowhere. The green warship was ripped apart by the barrage, and the remaining vessels began firing wildly with their CIWS in an attempt to take down their invisible attackers. This forced the Wraiths to decloak in order to utilize their Phase Shift Armor, but their surprise attack had still been a success.

"Sorry we're late," said Adaline over the tactical channel as she lead Lan and Pris in an attack against another frigate, pulverizing the vessel with another barrage of warheads as the three young ladies emptied their remaining missiles into their target.

Shemei chuckled as she shot down a GINN with her shoulder cannons and a GuAIZ with her DRAGOONs. "Better late than never. I'm just glad you three made it."

"Same here," said Lan as she and her friends put some distance between themselves and the remaining two frigates and two destroyers in the group they had just attacked, "Where do you want us, Commander?"

"Keep hitting those warships," the Valkyrie replied as she obliterated a GuAIZ with her heavy plasma rifle and a GINN with her shoulder cannons, "Once you've finished them off or sent them packing, help Kira and Athrun with the mobile suits."

"What about you guys?" asked Priscilla as the three of them immediately began to set up for an attack on the lead destroyer of their target formation.

"We can take care of things over here," Heero chimed in as he fired the Twin Buster Rifle, blowing away the second frigate in the formation he and Shemei were engaged with.

"Come on, Pris," said Lan, "It's Heero and the Commander you're talking to, remember? They can handle themselves."

"She's right, Pris," said Shemei as she parried a beam saber strike from a GINN with her violet blade before stabbing the unit through the cockpit, "and so is Heero. Don't worry about us, we'll be fine."

"Understood," said Priscilla as she and her two comrades began pounding the lead destroyer with beam rifle and railgun fire.

Slashing a GINN in half with his beam saber before blocking a beam claw strike from a GuAIZ on his shield, Heero saw Kira and Athrun drive into the heart of the ZAFT mobile suit swarm that they had just intercepted. At the same time, the units belonging to the renegades actually moved to support them, fighting with renewed intensity.

Their morale's been boosted, thought Heero as he dived to avoid the arrestor cables launched by the GuAIZ that was attacking him before rushing forward to impale his foe on his verdant blade, They know that they're now fighting alongside not just Shemei and I, but the entire Avalon strike team. If anyone can save them, it's us. We can't let them down.

Evading energy beams and railgun fire, Heero set up to attack the second Nazca-class destroyer in the formation. Climbing above the firing arc of its main guns, Heero cut loose with Wing Zero's lethal main gun, annihilating his target with a blast of brilliant golden light.

"Nice!" said Shemei, and Heero saw her take down two GINNs with her DRAGOONs as they attempted to strike Wing Zero from the rear, "We'll have these guys wrapped up in no time at this rate!"

"These guys, yes," said Heero darkly as he cut down a GINN with his emerald blade, "but there may be additional ZAFT forces inbound. We don't know how many ships Zala committed to this operation, and by now his fleet knows that we've joined the battle. It's highly likely that reinforcements are on the way, and prepared to fight us."

"Good point," Shemei replied as she ripped apart a GINN with her shoulder cannons, "especially since Zala's designated you a Priority One Target. He'll throw everything in the region at you and by extension the rest of us."

"Exactly," said Heero as he flanked the third frigate from the right before unleashing a blast with the Twin Buster Rifle, ripping the ship in half, "so stay sharp and watch your long-range sensors."

"You got it, Heero," said Shemei before signing off.

Confident in the Valkyrie's ability to keep the remaining ZAFT mobile suits off his back for at least a few seconds, Heero set up for his attack on the final frigate in the formation he and Shemei were battling. As he dived under the ship he saw that the three Wraiths had finished off the lead destroyer of the formation they were engaged with, leaving one Nazca-class vessel and two Laurasia-class frigates left for them to contend with. The three stolen black and red machines were already moving in on the sole surviving destroyer, and the enemy could not recall mobile suits to ward off the Wraiths due to the Freedom and Justice pressing into their ranks with the surviving renegade units right behind them. At the same time the remaining capital ships of Task Force 9.3 were firing on the flanks of the ZAFT mobile suit squadrons, keeping them from fanning out too much and making them easy targets for Athrun and Kira. The Freedom's guns were cutting loose in a seemingly endless barrage, destroying rifles and knocking off head-cameras left and right, while the Justice had put away its beam rifle in favor of dual wielding its violet beam sabers and was cutting into GINNs and GuAIZs with vicious speed and lethal precision, occasionally opening fire with the two beam cannons attached to its backpack to supplement its close-quarters assault with ranged attacks.

Taking aim at the bottom of the frigate, Heero saw a series of blurred dots appear at the edge of his sensors, and he knew that his warnings about possible enemy reinforcements had just become reality. He could not make out composition or exact numbers yet, but he knew that would change shortly.

We need to wrap this wave up quickly, he thought as he opened fire, spearing the frigate through the belly with a lance of golden-yellow energy, The reinforcements will be on us soon enough.

"Shemei," he said as he quickly climbed to join the Valkyrie in her battle against the remaining enemy mobile suits, "We've got incoming."

"I see them," she replied as she disintegrated one of the few surviving GuAIZs with her plasma rifle, "You ready for round three?"

"Yeah," said Heero as he slashed a GINN in half with his beam saber before destroying two more with a low power shot from the Twin Buster Rifle, "but let's try to clear the field before it starts."

"Roger that," said Shemei before she addressed her subordinates, "Girls, pick up the pace over there! We've got another wave inbound!"

"Understood," came Adaline's reply as she, Priscilla, and Lan took down the last Nazca-class destroyer, "Pris, on me; we'll hit the frigate on the left! Lan, the one on the right's all yours!"

"Copy that," said Priscilla as she fell in on Adaline's left.

"Making my run now!" said Lan as she streaked towards her target.

As the three Wraiths moved in to neutralize the last two frigates, Heero took up position behind the Judgment. Back to back, the Perfect Soldier and the Valkyrie began tearing into the surviving ZAFT mobile suits facing them in earnest. Both Gundams opened up with their heavy guns, and pillars of crimson and golden light swept across the starscape, turning six GINNs and two GuAIZs into firecrackers.

The two powerful shots had thrown an already desperate enemy force into even greater disarray and dismay, but the ZAFT pilots still did not withdraw. They pressed their assault on Wing Zero and the Judgment, and Heero could only shake his head at the futility of it all as he blocked shots on his shield and cut down GINNs with his beam saber.

"They should at least pull back to regroup with the next wave like the survivors of the last group did," he said, "Taking them down like this just feels like butchery."

"Agreed," Shemei replied, and Heero could detect a mix of pity and disgust in her voice, "Either these guys are fanatics, or their fearful of Zala's retribution if they make the slightest withdrawal, regardless of tactical necessity."

"Does it really matter what they are at this point?" said Heero grimly as he stabbed a GuAIZ through the cockpit.

Shemei sighed as she shot down a GINN with her shoulder cannons. "No, I guess not."

Taking another brief glance at his sensors, Heero saw that the mobile suits facing Athrun and Kira were fairing a little better, though the Gundam pilot knew that was only because of the latter's decision to disable his enemies rather than kill them. It wasn't slowing the Freedom and Justice down; it just meant that there were actually ZAFT machines that had been forced to leave the engagement due to losing their weapons and head-cameras rather than continuing to fight a futile battle. As long as the enemy was beaten back, Heero could deal with whatever method of combat Kira chose to utilize.

Meanwhile, Shemei's subordinates were pounding the last two ZAFT frigates from the second wave. Adaline and Priscilla had split their assault, with the red-head attacking from above and the blonde striking from beneath. Caught between two withering barrages of particle beams and railgun slugs, the Laurasia-class vessel was ripped in half by a vicious explosion. The final frigate was being bombarded from the rear by Lan, who had already mauled the vessel's primary engines and was continuing to blast into the ship, puncturing bulkheads and rupturing power couplings. Suddenly a large blast tore the ship apart; the Chinese Coordinator's shots had pierced the main reactor.

(End "Ranbu no Melody")

The loss of the last capital ships of the second wave seemed to finally drive home the message to the formation's surviving mobile suits that they were not going to win this fight without backup. The badly ravaged teams, now at less than a quarter of what their strength had been before, at last began to pull back. Kira, Athrun, and the remaining mobile suit squadrons of Task Force 9.3 were content to let them go, but Heero and Shemei continued to hound them, blasting the retreating units with their heavy artillery. The three Wraiths joined the effort, picking off individual mobile suits from the force that the Freedom and Justice had been fighting before.

"What are you guys doing?" yelled Kira, "They're done fighting!"

"No, they're not," said Heero as he blew away two GINNs and a GuAIZ with the Twin Buster Rifle, "Check your sensors, Kira; there's a third wave inbound, and these guys are going to regroup with them to strike us again."

Indeed, the contacts the Gundam pilot had seen earlier at the edge of his long-range scopes had gotten closer and were now clearly visible. Like the second wave, they were organized into multiple formations of three ships apiece, each with two frigates led by a destroyer. The formations were loose to keep all three ships from being wiped out in a single attack, and they were spread out in a broad crescent much like the first pursuit force had been, although it was on a smaller scale and only a single line rather than two layered groups. Heero saw that there were twelve ships total, making this group the smallest yet to take part in the fight against Task Force 9.3, though the renegades were still outnumbered as they still only had five frigates and three destroyers in play, all damaged. Their mobile suit teams had taken further losses as well, though thanks to the presence of Athrun and Kira their casualties this time had been much less than before.

They must be the only vessels left in the immediate area, he thought as he watched the enemy ships launch their mobile suits, It looks like we're in the last part of this storm. If we can keep the task force intact through this last wave, we should be ok.

"Everyone," he said, "form up in front of the task force. Commander Bohuslav, try to pull your ships back as fast as you can; we'll keep the enemy focused on us."

"Understood," said the task force's leader.

"Got it," said Shemei.

"We're on our way," said Adaline.

"Acknowledged," said Athrun.

As Heero moved to take up position between Task Force 9.3 and the third ZAFT wave he heard another series of beeps come from his sensors. Checking his scopes, he was surprised to see a lone Nazca-class destroyer approaching from behind the defectors, its IFF identifying it as a loyalist craft called the Kerimov.

No accompanying warships with it, he thought as he watched the ship, Is it just a straggler late to the fight? A solo scout called in to help, maybe?

The destroyer began launching mobile suits. Heero saw that the first four craft to leave the blue warship were standard GuAIZs, but rather than advance they broke into pairs and took up flanking positions on either side of their mothership. The next two machines to launch had GuAIZ frames, but Heero quickly realized that there was something different about these last two mobile suits.

Scanning them with Wing Zero's most powerful sensor, the Search Eye, as they rushed ahead of the lone destroyer and four regular GuAIZs, Heero saw that they were each unique units. He speculated that they were custom prototypes like Bristow's Werewolf was, though these two machines had very different layouts. The lead unit, like the Werewolf, appeared to be oriented towards close-quarters-combat, though it also had mid-ranged weapons. By contrast, the mobile suit flying on its wing was clearly a long-range model. On the left shoulder of each unit was a unique insignia; a crimson hound, its fangs bared and gnawing on a chain attached to its spiked collar.

He sent the image to the Valkyrie. "Shemei, do you recognize this insignia?"

The former ZAFT Commander's response was immediate and grim. "Shit. That's the Galm Team's logo, Heero!"

"Who are they?" he asked.

"Eric told me about them," she said, "They're a pair of mercenaries. I actually knew the number two guy back in my early days at ZAFT; name's Larry Foulke, AKA 'Solo Wing Pixy'. He's a damn good pilot, one of the best I've ever seen, and if he's flying wingman then it means Galm's flight lead is even better."

"Who's the lead?" asked Heero, a grim feeling growing in his gut as the pair of unique mobile suits approached.

"Name's Cipher," said Shemei, "but I don't know if that's his real name. Hell, I don't know much of anything about him personally, but his service in this war's another matter. He's been in some of the thickest fighting along with Pixy, and he's got a knack for bold tactics. Galm Team's seen heavy action, Heero, and they've got the skills to survive the worst the Alliance could throw at them. Eric said that Zala might be considering them as potential replacements for some of the losses you've inflicted on his Special Operations Squadrons, and I don't think he would do that purely as a political appointment. They've got the moves, and Zala can't afford to be picky when it comes to fighting you."

"I see," he said, already coming to the conclusion on what he would have to do next, "Anything else?"

"Yeah," said Shemei grimly, "I told you they were good… but not how good. Heero, back when I knew Pixy he was already a stellar pilot, and I'm sure he's only gotten better since then. By now… I think he and Cipher might be as good as me and the girls."

Heero nodded, his mind made up on how to proceed. "Alright, then. Shemei, I want you to lead the others in protecting the task force. I'll intercept the Galm Team."

"Heero, wait!" chimed in Kira, "Let one of us go with you!"

Heero shook his head. "The defectors will need all the help they can get against the next wave, Kira. It'll be better if I solo these guys while you fight the main ZAFT force."

Kira sighed. "Ok, fine. Good luck."

"Roger that," Heero replied, already putting Wing Zero on an intercept trajectory.

"Watch yourself, Heero," said Shemei.

"I'll be fine," the Gundam pilot replied as he gunned his engines, "You focus on your fight, and I'll focus on mine."

"Understood," the Valkyrie replied, "Judgment out."

As she disappeared from Heero's screen he moved to place himself between the Galm Team and Task Force 9.3. The Perfect Soldier was surprised to see that the destroyer the mercenary duo had launched from was now holding position well out of firing range of the defectors, and the four GuAIZs accompanying it were likewise staying back.

Do they want to fight me without interference?, he thought, Or are they just trying to protect their carrier?

Either way, it didn't matter. Heero would stay mindful of the Kerimov and the rest of the units, both friend and foe, on the battlefield, but for now it seemed the Galm Team was intent on taking him on without backup.

And Heero was more than willing to oblige them.

….

"Well, now," said Cipher as he and his wingman flew towards the battle, "This is unexpected."

His number two appeared on the side of the monitor. "Got that right. Intel only said we were going to intercept defectors; Wing Zero wasn't on the menu."

The destroyer Kerimov had been contacted by Military Intelligence nearly three days ago. Cipher and Pixy had been ordered to halt their campaign against the Earth Alliance patrols and to make with all possible speed to the space between L3 and L5 to help deal with the renegade Task Force 9.3. It had hardly been Cipher's first choice of assignments; hunting down deserters struck him as demeaning, a task better suited to dredges like the fallen Schwarze Team. However, despite his personal distaste for the mission, he had accepted it; the ZAFT Defense Council was the body signing his paycheck, and if nothing else Cipher was a man who honored his contracts.

The vast majority of their trip had been uneventful with the exception of a brief encounter with an Alliance battleship and two escort craft the day before. Galm Team had swiftly dispatched their enemies before returning to the Kerimov, and the blue destroyer had continued along its way like nothing had happened.

However, as they had begun their final approach to the point Military Intelligence had claimed they would be able to intercept their targets, the Kerimov's Captain had reported to Cipher and Pixy a series of garbled transmissions. They had only been able to make out fragments due to interference, but the gist of the message was clear; the battle wasn't going as planned. The Captain had been understandably nervous at this, especially since there was no indication of what the ZAFT forces were facing beyond the single renegade group, but Cipher was intrigued. Either Task Force 9.3 was putting up one hell of a fight, or they had gotten help… and his money was on the latter.

It was only when the Kerimov had gotten into optimal sensor range and launched its mobile suits that Cipher realized just how right he was.

Not only was Wing Zero on the field, but so was the entire Avalon strike team along with the traitorous Valkyrie. A quick scan of the area revealed the debris of multiple warships and scores of mobile suits, and it didn't take an idiot to figure out what had happened. Cipher could see the surviving five frigates and three destroyers of the rogue task force, bruised and battered but still intact. It was clear now though that the reason those ships were still in one piece was due to the efforts of the Demon Lord of Avalon and his fellow pilots.

Taking in the situation quickly and efficiently, Cipher had wasted no time in ordering the Kerimov and Arthur Team to hold back. Though the ZAFT forces on the field outnumbered the renegades and their allies both in terms of mobile suits and warships, Galm One knew from experience that numbers alone were no guarantee of success. Against the seven deadliest units in the Earth Sphere, the surviving loyalists would have at best an uphill battle… and Cipher's gut was telling him that things would lean more towards the bad end of the scale for ZAFT in this battle. Where Wing Zero, the Freedom, and the other stolen nuclear powered mobile suits were, their home capital ships and supporting forces were not far behind. Galm One was sure that it would only be a matter of time before the Archangel, the Eternal, and the Orb ship, along with their conventional mobile suits, would join in the battle, and when that happened it would be the final nail in the coffin for ZAFT in this engagement.

We can't beat all of them, he thought, but if we can take down Wing Zero…

While destroying one machine, regardless of how powerful it was, would not alter the course of this battle, Cipher was sure that it would be a severe blow to the rebels, perhaps a critical one. However, he did not trust the regular ZAFT forces to accomplish a goal that they had proven time and time again to be so incapable of doing.

If you want a job done right, he thought, do it yourself.

Galm Team would fight Wing Zero themselves. For Cipher though, that fight would not just be for his employers, for the sake of their war and the paychecks they gave him. For too long now he had fought enemies that had not come anywhere close to giving him a challenge unless they were in significant numbers. He was tired of fighting the endless hordes of the Earth Alliance, whether they be mobile suits or armors; the pilots of the former were nothing more to speak of than those of the latter. Against such foes his victory had been assured, and Cipher had hated that. There was no thrill, no true test of his abilities, in fighting enemies like that.

In Wing Zero though… perhaps he could finally find an enemy that would force him to go all out. A foe that could make him feel truly alive on the field of battle, as he had when he had first started fighting oh so long ago, before he had ascended atop a mountain of corpses to the heights of skill that he stood at now.

He could only hope.

"Are you ready?" he asked his wingman.

Galm Two chuckled and gave his flight lead that familiar smirk of his. "Come on, buddy. You have to ask? I know how psyched you are for this, and you're not the only one itching for a scrap with this guy."

Cipher smiled slightly. Though he and his partner were from different backgrounds, they both shared that same love of the thrill they got from flying, and all the more so when it was in combat against an adversary that could truly push them to their limits.

"Alright, then," he said, his expression hardening as he steeled himself for the imminent clash, "Let's get him."

"Right behind you, buddy," Pixy replied.

….

(Start "The Demon of the Round Table")

His eyes narrowed in concentration, Heero brought the Twin Buster Rifle up to bear and opened fire. The two unique mobile suits he was targeting split up with incredible speed and coordination, Wing Zero's shot flying harmlessly through the space between them. As the three combatants moved towards each other Heero saw the heavy artillery unit bring its own rifle to bear on him, and he dived to avoid a crimson blast of plasma.

Not as powerful as Shemei's gun, he thought, noting the smaller size of the rifle and the blast itself as it flew over Wing Zero, but it still packs a punch.

The rifle wasn't the only weapon the long range unit had brought to bear on Heero. No sooner had he dived then he was forced to bring his shield up to block a pair of shots from the railguns mounted on the unit's hips. The impacts were strong, but the Gundam pilot noted that the guns firing the slugs did not seem to be as powerful as the Xiphias weapons used by the Freedom and the Wraiths.

Heero didn't have time to further analyze the artillery unit; the other mobile suit was closing in on him fast. Gunning his engines to meet his foe head on and disrupt the obvious pincer attack the Galm Team was setting up on him, the Perfect Soldier zigzagged through a hail of small emerald beams as the second machine opened fire with the gatlings on its back. Heero saw that they were the same type of weapons as used by the GuAIZ Werewolf, but those were not nearly as threatening to him as what he saw with the Search Eye was mounted at the unit's hips; gun-drones, just like those wielded by the Judgment.

The unit's DRAGOONs flew forth from their hard points, firing away at Wing Zero. Raising his shield to block their shots while he continued to weave through the rain of smaller beams from the gatlings, the Gundam pilot closed the rest of the gap with his foe and lashed out with his emerald blade in a horizontal slash.

His enemy blocked the strike with his blazing violet beam axe. He then countered by swinging the other end of the axe towards Heero, and the Gundam pilot was barely able to move back to keep the smaller metal blade that was attached to the other end from slicing through the Search Eye. Before he could launch a new attack he was forced to dive to avoid another series of railgun shots from the artillery unit.

Shemei was right, he thought, evading the slugs before returning fire with the Twin Buster Rifle, These guys are good.

The artillery unit climbed to avoid the blast of golden-yellow energy, but while that foe went evasive the close-quarters mech was charging in for an assault of its own. It cut loose again with its beam gatlings, and as Heero dived to evade the stream of small, green energy shots the mobile suit immediately released its DRAGOONs. A pair of beams arced down at Heero, forcing the Gundam pilot to sideslip to the right to dodge the shots. As he did that his foe closed the rest of the gap and made a lunge with its beam axe. This time moving to the left, Heero was able to catch the larger energy blade of the axe on his beam saber and redirect the mobile suit past him.

Before he could take advantage of the opening to counterattack though, Heero was forced to gun his engines and climb to evade another blast from the artillery unit's plasma rifle along with another pair of slugs from the railguns. Then the two grey pylons on the mobile suit's back swung forward over its shoulders, and the Gundam pilot saw panels open up along the tops of them before a swarm of small missiles flew forth. Opening fire with his shoulder gatlings, Heero ripped apart the incoming warheads before following up with another blast from the Twin Buster Rifle, once again forcing the artillery unit to go evasive.

Heero didn't have time to press his advantage. The instant after he had taken his shot he was forced to go hard to the right to evade more beam gatling fire from the close-quarters unit. As he dodged the smaller beams he was forced to bring his shield up to block larger ones from the unit's DRAGOONs, which were swiftly followed up by another lunging strike from the mobile suit's beam axe. Heero caught the blow on his emerald blade and forced his foe downward. Whirling Wing Zero around, Heero tried to take advantage of his momentum to slash his foe across the back, but the mercenary had simply increased his speed, and the Gundam pilot's attack barely missed the modified GuAIZ.

Rather than pursue the unit, Heero instead oriented himself towards the artillery unit and gunned his engines. Jinking to the left to avoid a blast from its plasma rifle before raising his shield to block two railgun shots, the Perfect Soldier closed the gap between him and his foe at lightning speed, preparing to impale the mobile suit on his emerald blade.

Heero was suddenly forced to break off his attack as his target leveled a pistol at him and opened fire. Dodging to the right to avoid the volley of small green beams, the Gundam pilot attempted to attack again with his beam saber. His foe managed to duck under his slash, and Heero only succeeded in cutting off the front section of the left empty missile launcher.

Whirling around, Heero brought his shield up to block a swing from the close-quarters unit's beam axe. He then slammed Wing Zero's engines into reverse, and not a moment too soon; his foe had unleashed his DRAGOONs and had attempted to hit Heero in a pincer attack, and only the Perfect Soldier's quick reflexes and his experience fighting the Judgment had saved him from taking two particle beams to his mobile suit's torso.

As he pulled back, Heero cut loose with a quick burst from Wing Zero's shoulder gatlings. His target managed to evade most of the bullets, but a few rounds impacted the beam gatling cannon over the right shoulder, rupturing that part of the weapon and rendering it inoperable.

Progress, he thought as he climbed to avoid a crimson lance of plasma from the artillery unit's rifle, but not as much as I'd like. These guys are top notch pilots.

His protracted battle with the Galm Team had given him a much better idea about who he was up against. As he turned the Twin Buster Rifle on the artillery unit and opened fire, he guessed that his target was the number two in the duo, the 'Pixy' that Shemei had mentioned. The pilot was very good, as evidenced by how it once again dodged Heero's shot before returning fire with its railguns, but there was a slight difference between him and the pilot of the close-quarters unit.

Blocking the shots on his shield, Heero then dodged to the right as the mobile suit he felt was piloted by the Galm Team's flight lead tried to shoot him in the back with its left beam gatling and two DRAGOONs. As he rushed in to counterattack with his beam saber, the Gundam pilot noted how his foe met him head-on, as aggressive in defense as it was on offense, blocking Wing Zero's strike with its beam axe before swinging the lower part of the weapon up again in an attempt to slash Heero's machine with the smaller, metal blade on the other end.

So this is Cipher, he thought as he pulled back and raised his shield to deflect the strike, I can see why he's the flight lead. He's got the skills to hold that position, and his coordination with Pixy is very good. This won't be easy…

After blocking Cipher's attack Heero lunged forward in an attempt to impale Galm One while he was overextended. The move almost worked, but the mercenary's reflexes were incredibly quick, and the enemy gunned his thrusters and climbed to avoid taking a fatal hit. Heero's attack was not completely dodged though; Wing Zero's beam saber sliced off the mobile suit's right leg at the knee.

Heero had no time to make a follow-up attack; a blast from Galm Two's plasma rifle prevented him from pursuing Galm One and forced him to dive instead. Taking aim with the Twin Buster Rifle, he returned fire, only for Pixy to climb and evade the shot.

As he brought his shield up to block fire from Galm Two's railguns, Heero took a quick glance at his sensors to check on how the others were doing. His friends were arrayed in front of the survivors of Task Force 9.3, with Shemei leading them in their battle against ZAFT's mobile suit squadrons. Acting as the tip of the spear, the Judgment was thrusting into the heart of the enemy force, blowing away units with her artillery and cutting down those that managed to get in close with her violet blade. Supporting her on the flanks were the Freedom, Justice, and the Wraiths, their incredibly skilled pilots hammering the ZAFT teams with their guns or slicing up mobile suits with their beam sabers as the situation called for it. Backing them up were Task Force 9.3's remaining mobile suits, the battered machines and their tired pilots adding what fire and support they could to the fray. The task force's warships likewise gave what they had left, though with friendly units in the mix their fire was restricted.

The mobile suit battle may have been going well, but Heero could already see a problem brewing, and it was in the form of ZAFT's capital ships. Already the twelve warships were splitting up, with half of them climbing and the others diving. Their intent was clear; they would bypass the clashing mobile suits and hit the task force's surviving five frigates and three destroyers in simultaneous attacks from above and below.

There's nothing I can do about that, Heero thought as he fired a quick burst with his shoulder gatlings at Galm Two, the bullets chewing up the machine's legs but doing no serious damage to its combat abilities, I just have to trust that Shemei is aware of what the enemy's doing and will be able to deal with it.

Whirling around to parry a strike from Galm One's beam axe on his verdant blade, Heero was surprised to hear a male voice come over the radio. It was calm and cool, much like that of the Gundam pilot's, though there was also a hint of excitement in it as well.

"You live up to your reputation, Demon Lord of Avalon."

Hitting his thrusters and pushing forward, Heero struck back with his beam saber. His foe blocked the attack and responded by unleashing his DRAGOONs, forcing Heero to dive in order to avoid getting caught in a pincer attack.

"Are you Cipher?" he asked as he adjusted his angle and rushed back in for another attack, dodging beam gatling rounds and DRAGOON fire as he closed the gap between them.

He lashed out with a horizontal slash, with his foe blocking the strike as they replied. "So you know who I am. Do I have the Valkyrie or the Wolf to thank for that?"

"Both," said the Perfect Soldier as he thrust out with his shield and accelerated, pushing the mercenary back, "and you're just as good as they said you were."

Wing Zero's lunge took the enemy off balance, and Heero capitalized on that with another slash from his beam saber. This time Cipher had to pull back, and his attempt to block was crude. Rather than impact on the beam blades, Heero's slash actually cut into the lower section of the long staff and removed the smaller metal blade on the opposite end. It wasn't a critical blow by any means, but it did remove one more weapon from the enemy's arsenal.

"High praise from soldiers of their caliber, and one such as yourself," Cipher replied, once again unleashing his gun-drones and forcing Heero to pull back and raise his shield to block the shots they fired, "You're certainly making me work for my paycheck, and that's far better than I can say of the Earth Alliance forces I fought before."

"So that's it?" said Heero as he veered to the right to dodge a fresh salvo of railgun slugs and a blast of plasma from Galm Two, "This war really is just about the money to you guys?"

"Hardly," said a new voice, and Heero knew it was Pixy, "It's just a means to an end."

"And what's that end?" asked Heero as he took another low-powered shot, this time at Galm Two.

His enemy slipped to the right, narrowly avoiding the shot. Heero was about to follow up with a burst from his gatling cannons but was forced to dive in order to avoid a stream of small emerald beams from Galm One's left beam gatling. Whirling around to counter Cipher, Heero let loose the burst he'd been intending to use on Pixy. Galm One dived to avoid the bullets, but a few rounds hit the left beam gatling and ripped it apart. The Gundam pilot had to cut short his fire sooner than he'd liked; he was running low on ammo, and he wanted to save his last rounds for critical strikes.

As he charged Galm One to strike with his beam saber the lead mercenary responded to his question. "To fly and fight as we chose, without the red tape, regulations, and political appointees that plague all conventional militaries to hold us back."

"What about both sides' intentions?" asked Heero as he unleashed a vertical strike with his emerald blade, "Don't you care about the bloodbath they're perpetuating?"

"All wars are bloodbaths," Cipher replied as he blocked Heero's attack, "The only difference between past conflicts and now is the scale of the fight."

"That's not what I meant," growled Heero as he climbed to avoid getting caught between the two mercenaries, "You know damn well the atrocities the Alliance and ZAFT are responsible for. They're planning to wipe each other out, civilians included! Don't tell me you haven't realized that by now!"

"What we've 'realized' or not is irrelevant," said Pixy as he unleashed another barrage against Wing Zero, keeping Heero on the defensive as he evaded the railgun rounds and plasma blast, "We signed a contract with ZAFT, and are bound to honor the terms of it."

"Precisely," said Cipher as he moved in on Heero, opening fire with his DRAGOONs while preparing to strike with his beam axe, "The Galm Team does not betray its clients. When we take a job, we see it through to the end."

"So you won't stand up to genocide because of your sense of professionalism?" said Heero, disgusted with what he was hearing as he blocked the beams from the gun-drones on his shield before bringing his beam saber up to deflect the slash from Galm One's axe.

"Our enemy has already declared total war against us," said Cipher as Heero countered with a diagonal slash from his beam saber, forcing Galm One onto the defensive, "We're fighting for our very survival. Under those circumstances, we must do whatever it takes to win."

Heero grimaced as he broke off his attack and veered to the right in order to avoid getting flanked by Galm Two. Cipher's words reeked of the classic 'ends justify the means' argument, and reminded the Gundam pilot all too well of the attitudes that had given birth to the original concept of Operation Meteor.

"So you care nothing for the innocents that will be slaughtered if both sides continue to fight like this?" Heero snarled in disgust as he opened fire on Pixy with the Twin Buster Rifle.

"It's not like that," Galm Two replied as he dodged the shot, "We don't want civilians to be a part of this war, but the way this conflict has played out makes it an unfortunate reality. The Alliance certainly didn't care about civilian casualties when they nuked Junius Seven. You want someone to blame for setting the tone of this war? There you go."

"It's irrelevant in any case," said Cipher as he charged Heero, "The ultimate aims of our client do not in this fight. What matters here and now is who lives and who dies. That's all there is to it."

Heero nodded grimly as he parried Cipher's beam axe on his emerald blade. "Fine then. I won't waste my breath on you."

"Good," Galm One replied as Heero pushed back and counterattacked with a vertical strike, "In a battle between aces, words are meaningless. Only our actions matter."

With that the dialogue ceased, and the combatants gave themselves over fully to the battle. After hearing what they'd had to say, Heero was more determined than ever to end this fight quickly, but he knew it would be an uphill battle. Despite the damage his foes had taken so far they showed no signs of retreating, and their remaining weapons were still a serious threat to Wing Zero given the skill the two mercenaries wielded them with.

I have to take them down, Heero thought as he lashed out again with his beam saber, only for his foe to block the attack, They may not embrace Zala's ideology, but they've taken on a contract with him knowing full well his end-game, and they show no signs of being willing to break it. Their skills make them a deadly weapon in the radicals' arsenal, and they'll only become more of a threat as this war goes on!

Climbing to avoid getting hit by Cipher's DRAGOONs, he turned towards Galm Two and cut loose with the Twin Buster Rifle. The enemy moved to the right to dodge the shot, but it wasn't quite fast enough, and the edge of the blast caught the unit's left arm and disintegrated it along with the beam pistol it held. However, Pixy still had his plasma rifle, railguns, and CIWS, and he seemed fully intent on using them. The fact that the Gundam pilot had yet to land a killing blow on either mercenary spoke volumes of their skill, but Heero knew that he was slowly grinding them down. It wasn't his preferred way to deal with his foes, but it was progress nonetheless.

Whirling around to block a slash from Galm One's beam axe on his shield, Heero then pressed forward and counterattacked with a stab from his emerald blade. His foe managed to pull back far enough to avoid a direct hit, but the tip of Wing Zero's beam saber did graze the target's chest, leaving a small burn mark on the enemy.

You live for now, Heero thought as he dived to avoid another pincer attack from the DRAGOONs, but not for much longer!

(End "The Demon of the Round Table")

….

Cutting loose with the Freedom's artillery, Kira watched with satisfaction as another three GINNs and a GuAIZ lost their rifles, head-cams, or both in a pinpoint barrage of particle beams, railgun slugs, and plasma shots. His four targets turned and ran for home, but the young man did not have time to admire his handiwork; there were still plenty more foes to deal with before this battle would be over.

"Nice one," said Athrun, and Kira saw the Justice spear a GINN with his beam saber before slicing a GuAIZ in half with a precise throw of his beam boomerang.

Kira nodded as he blocked a volley of beams on his shield. "Thanks."

"Cut the chatter," said Shemei, her voice curt and serious, "We're not done here yet."

As if to underscore her point, Kira saw the Judgment obliterate a GuAIZ with its Tartarus rifle and shoot down two GINNs with its DRAGOONs. The Valkyrie wasn't the only one racking up the kills; Kira could see the three Wraiths backing up their leader, picking off mobile suits one after another with their beam rifles and railguns, occasionally spearing the few that managed to get in close with the violet beam sabers. The six nuclear powered mobile suits weren't the only ones dishing out punishment to the ZAFT squadrons; the remaining units of Task Force 9.3 leant what arms they could to the fray, attacking from the flanks as the loyalist teams tried to surround Kira and his friends. Their efforts were helpful, but the young Coordinator could see that they were not without cost, with a few more of the rogues' mobile suits falling to enemy fire.

While the clash of mobile suits was going well, Kira was well aware that matters were looking grim for the capital ships. He could see the twin formations ZAFT's force had broken into, angling in to strike the eight remaining warships of Task Force 9.3 from above and below. In their battered condition, there was no way the renegades would survive the coming barrages.

"Commander," said Kira as he sliced off a GINN's rifle arm with his beam saber, calling Shemei by her former ZAFT rank simply because he did not know how else to address her, "the task force is about to get hit!"

"I know," the Valkyrie replied as she blew away a GINN with her shoulder cannons, "Girls, break off and hit the warships coming in from above! I'll attack the lower formation and try to slow them down. Kira, Athrun, can you two keep these guys busy?"

"We've got this," said Athrun.

Kira nodded. "Go, we'll cover you!"

"Roger that," said Shemei, and Kira could see the Judgment already gunning its thrusters and making a beeline towards its target, cutting down a GuAIZ that got in her way with her beam saber, "Commander Bohuslav, target the lower enemy formation; my girls will strike the one coming in from on high. Have you mobile suits support the Freedom and Justice."

"Understood," Kira heard the task force Commander reply, "We're altering our trajectory now."

Kira once again let it rip with the Freedom's guns, neutralizing a GINN and a GuAIZ as they tried to strike the Valkyrie from the flanks. At the same time, Athrun had thrown another beam boomerang, slicing two GINNs in half while destroying a third with the beam cannons on the Justice's backpack. His efforts gave Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla the room they needed to pull out of the main mobile suit fight and set their sights on the upper ZAFT formation.

While Kira was sure that the Judgment and the Wraiths would be able to at least weaken the ZAFT formations, he knew that they would be unable to completely stop them from opening fire on the surviving warships of Task Force 9.3. Were he and Athrun able to join them, the young man was sure that they could completely blunt the coming attack, but that would leave the defectors vulnerable to the loyalist mobile suits, especially since their own units had been so depleted over the course of the battle.

If only Heero weren't busy, Kira thought as he shot a GINN's head off with his beam rifle, He'd be able to help the Commander and her subordinates stop the warships much faster.

Unfortunately, that was not to be. Even in the midst of his clash with ZAFT's mobile suits Kira had still been able to take the occasional quick glance at the ongoing two-on-one battle between Wing Zero and the Galm Team. The fact that Heero's adversaries had been able to survive this long in a fight against him alone was a testament to their skills, but what amazed Kira even more was the fact that they were still going at it despite the damage their mobile suits had taken. While the boy was confident that his friend would eventually triumph in his personal battle, it was still more than a little unsettling to know that the PLANT radicals still had such formidable pilots at their disposal even after the losses the Special Operations squadrons had taken along with the recent defections of the likes of the Valkyrie Team and Athrun.

"Kira," said Athrun, bringing the young Coordinator's full attention back to the fight, "back me up!"

Kira nodded. "Right."

With that the Justice charged forward, igniting its second beam saber as it did so, joining it to the first one to create that familiar double-bladed weapon. Combined violet blades spinning, the Justice carved into a mobile suit squad, slicing two GINNs in half before destroying a GuAIZ with a salvo from the beam cannons on its backpack.

The enemy tried to move in on Athrun's flanks, but Kira wouldn't let them. Opening up with the Freedom's fearsome array of guns, the young man from Heliopolis swiftly disabled three GINNs and a GuAIZ in a brilliant display of precision targeting.

Checking his sensors, Kira realized that the three Wraiths had completely disappeared; they'd activated their Mirrage Colloid systems in preparation to hit their targets. Meanwhile, the Judgment was approaching the lower formation of ZAFT capital ships from head on, weaving through particle beams, railgun rounds, and missiles as she prepared to make her attack. Behind her, the warships of Task Force 9.3 were in the process of bringing their guns to bear on the loyalist vessels in the lower formation.

Suddenly a hail of emerald beams and yellow railgun rounds engulfed the lead destroyer of the upper formation; the Valkyrie's subordinates had made their move. Under the combined barrage of the three Wraiths the Nazca-class vessel was ripped apart. Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla decloaked almost immediately after they had taken their shots, reactivating their Phase Shift Armor as the remaining destroyer and four frigates in their target formation opened up with wild fire from their CIWS in a desperate attempt to shoot down their attackers.

At the same time as her subordinates were attacking, Kira saw Shemei open fire with the Judgment's Tartarus rifle. Like her girls, her target was the lead destroyer in the formation she was striking, and her shot was dead on the mark. The crimson lance of plasma speared the blue vessel from bow to stern, and the ship was eviscerated by the subsequent explosion.

The Valkyrie and her subordinates were already moving to strike their next targets, but even as he continued to fight the ZAFT mobile suits around him and Athrun Kira could see that the loyalist ships were ready to strike the vessels of the renegade Task Force 9.3. It would be a matter of seconds before they opened fire, and Kira could only hope that some of the defectors would be able to survive the coming barrage.

Suddenly, just as the three Wraiths were beginning their attack on the second destroyer in the upper formation, twin torrents of crimson energy slammed into one of that group's frigates, turning the ship into a fireball. The massive blasts were followed up a split second later by a quartet of large emerald beams and a single heavy linear cannon slug, all of which pounded another frigate, mauling its main guns and upper armor plating. As if that weren't enough, a volley of eight large missiles plowed into that same frigate, turning an already wounded vessel into a fragmentation grenade. The remaining ZAFT ships in that group immediately began to implement evasive maneuvers, desperate to avoid the fate of their sister ships and breaking off their attack on the renegades in the process.

Kira had seen strikes like that often enough now in this war to know where that attack had come from. "The Archangel!" he cried, smiling as he swiftly located the massive white battleship on his sensors. Captain Ramius was bringing her ship in hard and fast, and Kira could see that she had already launched the rest of her mobile suits. The Tallgeese Kai and the Buster were moving in swiftly towards the clash of mobile suits, while the GuAIZ Werewolf and three M1 Astrays flanked the warship, ready to instantly react to incoming enemy units.

The boy was momentarily concerned when he saw that the Archangel was not in formation with the Eternal and the Kusanagi, but it did not take him long to find the other two warships just before they announced their presence to all the combatant through their opening attacks.

While the Archangel had come from a high plane and struck ZAFT's upper formation, the Eternal and the Kusanagi were moving in below to strike the lower group. The Orb warship opened up with her Lohengrin Positron Blaster Cannons, blowing away one of the lower group's frigates. At the same time the ship also opened up with its Gottfried High Energy Beam Cannons, targeting another frigate with those powerful guns. They were joined by coordinated fire from the Eternal's heavy beam turret and METEOR batteries, and the combined barrage tore a second frigate apart.

Like the Archangel, the Eternal and Kusanagi already had their mobile suits launched. Kira could see Aisha's GuAIZ flying above the Eternal, ready to fend off any hostile units that tried to approach the ship. The Kusanagi was flanked by four M1 Astrays, one pair on each side of the ship, and the Freedom's pilot could see four more mobile suits rushing towards the fight. Three were standard M1 Astrays, but it was the lead unit that caught Kira's attention. Unsurprisingly, it was the Strike Rouge, but what did make it stand out was the new Striker pack it had been fitted with for the battle.

Like the Aile pack, Kira saw that the Strike Rouge's new augmentation pack had wings, but these had a wider wingspan than those used on the older pack and were painted black and white. Mounted on top of them, flanking the mobile suit's head, were two large railguns. The unit still had its Armor Schneider knives and head-mounted Igelstellung CIWS, but mounted above the metal blades on the hips were the carrying sheaths for two beam sabers, one of which was drawn and held in the mobile suit's right hand. Just as the Aile pack had, this new pack also came with a shield mounted on its left arm, but this one had a large gatling gun integrated into it. Kira could see that the mobile suit was moving faster than the older Aile Strike had been capable of, and wondered if the new pack had atmospheric flight capabilities in addition to its apparent boost in speed.

Kira then got to see Cagalli's new weapons in action as his sister opened fire with her mobile suit's railguns. The twin rounds blew apart a GINN, and Cagalli wasted no time in following up her attack with a burst from her shield-gatling gun, tearing apart another GINN with the bullets.

"Hey," she said, "You guys ok?"

Kira nodded as he blocked a particle beam on the Freedom's shield. "We're alright. What's that new pack?"

"Oh, this?" Cagalli replied as she and her three accompanying M1s joined up with Kira and Athrun, "It's a design Engineer Simmons and Heero came up with. It's called the IWSP-X. Pretty neat, huh?"

"Heero helped with that?" Athrun asked as he slashed a GINN in half with his beam saber.

"I know; weird, right?" said Cagalli as she fired a burst from her gatling gun at a GuAIZ. Her foe blocked the shots on its shield, but left itself vulnerable to a flanking attack from one of the M1s, and was taken down by a beam rifle shot.

"I know the guy's a good pilot," she continued, "but I didn't think he had the engineering skills to help Simmons out on a project like this."

"Well," said Kira as he disabled a GINN with his plasma cannons, "he did provide Morgenroete with mobile suit schematics during our first stop in Orb, remember? And he helped out as a technical advisor for a little while."

"Oh yeah, I forgot about that," Cagalli replied as she opened up with her railguns, destroying a GINN, "Speaking of Heero, where's he at? I thought you guys were supposed to be fighting alongside him?"

"Behind the task force," said Kira as he blocked a beam on his shield, "He's fighting one of ZAFT's teams… and they're really good."

Cagalli must have found Wing Zero on her sensors, because she replied a moment later. "Whoa… those two machines have been able to keep Heero busy? They must be good! We need to help Heero!"

"No," said Athrun as he impaled a GuAIZ with his beam saber, "We need to keep fighting these guys and make sure they can't strike the task force; they've taken enough damage as it is. Heero can take care of himself, Cagalli; you know that."

"Athrun's right," said La Flaga as the Tallgeese Kai swooped in, picking off a GINN with its beam rifle, "Besides, you won't do him any good wandering into a fight like that. If those two pilots can keep pace with him, then you can be damn sure we'd be outclassed in that clash."

"Yeah," said Dearka, taking down a GINN with the Buster's Gun Launcher, "If he needs our help, he'll ask for it. I think he's got this, though; those two units he's fighting have taken damage."

Cagalli sighed as she fired a burst with her gatling gun, sending the targeted GINN dodging to the right and straight into the line of fire of one of the M1s backing her up, which took down the ZAFT mobile suit with a single shot from its beam rifle. "Alright, fine. I just don't like leaving a friend to fight by themselves, and Heero has a bad habit of going it alone."

"It's what he knows best, little lady," said La Flaga as he blocked a series of beams on the Tallgeese Kai's Planet Defensors before shooting down the GuAIZ that had taken the shots, "He knows what he can handle, and we have to believe that he's not overestimating his abilities."

Kira nodded as he disabled another GINN with his railguns. He had to trust that his friend knew what he was doing and focus on performing his role in the battle.

We're almost there, he thought, We can win this battle and all get out of here alive! We'll do our part, Heero, and you do yours!

….

"Captain," said Lieutenant Tsukino, "I have targeting solutions for the Gottfrieds and Valiants ready to go."

Murrue nodded, her gaze intent on the forward viewport and the clash her ship was charging into. "Open fire!"

The Archangel cut loose with a deadly volley, and four large emerald beams and two heavy linear cannon slugs raced across the void. Murrue watched as the salvo slammed into one of the two surviving Laurasia-class frigates of the upper formation, ripping through armor plating and bulkheads. The vessel was mauled, but not out of action yet.

"Launch Sledgehammer missiles," she ordered.

"Missiles away," replied her XO a moment later.

Eight of the large anti-ship missiles arced over the white battleship, and Murrue watched the blue fire of their thruster wash as the warheads flew towards their target. With the damage she had taken before, the frigate was in no position to even try to evade the incoming volley or shoot it down with its CIWS. All eight missiles hammered the warship, tearing it apart in a series of vicious blasts.

It looks like we made it just in time, she thought as she watched Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla finish off the second destroyer and move on to the final surviving frigate in the upper formation, Things were about to get ugly for the task force. I'm glad we could save them… I just hope Miss Clyne and Waltfeld can convince them to help us.

Shifting her gaze from the viewport to the main monitor, Murrue saw the Eternal and the Kusanagi open fire again from below. Thanks to the data that had been constantly streaming from Wing Zero and the Judgment Murrue and her fellow warship commanders had been able to set up their vessels to target the separate ZAFT formations well before actually entering firing range, and that advanced information was coming in handy now. The Eternal and the Kusanagi cut loose with their beam cannons, and their coordinated volleys slammed into one of the two remaining frigates in the lower formation, ripping the vessel apart. Shemei had already eliminated the lead destroyer with her heavy plasma rifle, and Murrue saw another crimson blast from that powerful gun take down the second Nazca-class ship in the lower formation. Before the final frigate in the formation could react it too came under attack, this time from the incoming warships of Task Force 9.3. The vessels may have been damaged, but they still packed a punch, and the lone loyalist frigate was pulverized by the sheer weight of their barrage.

We're almost through this, she thought, turning her attention to her personal monitor, There's just one more clash that needs to be finished…

That clash, of course, was Heero's. Murrue had known, thanks to the data her boyfriend had been constantly sending the Archangel, that he had been engaged by two highly skilled pilots, but it was still shocking to see the two-on-one battle unfold. Wing Zero and the two modified GuAIZs fought with incredible speed and precision. The two ZAFT machines exhibited amazing teamwork, supporting each other and making sure that Heero could not land a killing blow against either mobile suit.

It's just like North Africa all over again, Murrue thought, her hands gripping the arms of her chair tightly, Heero's fighting against a very skilled team, and I can't help him! If I fired into that fight there's a good chance I could hit Heero, even with the upgrades to our targeting system. I don't know if I can send any of our pilots in to help; for all I know, they could get in Heero's way or get killed. Damn it, I hate this! Heero!

"Captain," said the sensor operator, "the remaining ZAFT mobile suits have begun to retreat."

Taking a quick glance at the main monitor, Murrue saw that the surviving loyalist units were indeed pulling back. With the last frigate going down to fire from Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla, the ZAFT pilots had no carriers in the immediate area. Murrue knew that they would fly towards ZAFT space, radioing for help as they went… and the vessels that answered their calls could very well form up into a new task force and head towards the battlefield.

"Ma'am," said Lieutenant Tsukino, "What should we do?"

What Murrue wanted to do was tear into Heero's adversaries with everything she had, but the incredibly fast-paced nature of the fight between Wing Zero and the two modified GuAIZs would not allow for it. Clenching her teeth in frustration, Murrue reluctantly began issuing new orders.

"Helm," she said, "move us between Task Force 9.3 and the retreating ZAFT forces."

"Aye, Captain," Ensign Neumann replied.

"Comm," said Murrue, "contact Task Force 9.3 and tell them that we are here to help them and do not desire a confrontation; I'd rather we not have to get into a fight if we can avoid it."

"Understood, ma'am," said the communications officer.

"Lieutenant Tsukino," said Murrue, "Keep all our weapons ready to go in case ZAFT brings in reinforcements… or someone in the task force does something stupid."

"Yes ma'am," replied the XO.

"Sensors," said Murrue, "What's the status of that last destroyer and her mobile suits?"

"Still holding position away from the fight," replied the radar officer, "No, wait; the mobile suits are advancing! They're heading for Wing Zero!"

Reacting instantly, Murrue contacted her boyfriend. "Heero, you've got more enemies incoming!"

….

"Magnificent," Cipher whispered to himself as he blocked a vertical strike from Wing Zero's beam saber on the violet blade of his axe, a very small smile on his face.

The Demon Lord of Avalon had done far more than just live up to his reputation in this fight; he had surpassed even Cipher's wildest expectations. This was far more than just a foe that could push him, force him to go all out; this was an adversary that was actually capable of beating him.

For the first time in a long career filled with fierce battles, Cipher found himself losing. His adversary had slowly but surely worn down him and his wingman, and Cipher knew that it was only thanks to skill and no small amount of luck that he and Pixy had managed to avoid suffering fatal blows up to this point. Both of the Lancer's beam gatlings were out of commission, the lower section of the beam axe had been cut off, and the unit had lost its right leg at the knee. Pixy had likewise suffered damage, though the only weapon he had lost was the Archer's beam pistol. Still, it was a clear indication that their foe was indeed better than they were… and Cipher was thrilled because of it.

He unleashed his DRAGOONs again, but the Demon Lord dived as the fired, and their shots passed through empty space. Wing Zero then broke to the right to dodge a blast of plasma fired from Pixy before bringing its own heavy rifle to bear and opening fire. Pixy was able to dodge the shot, and Cipher saw his opening to get in another attack against Heero.

Cipher gunned his engines, coming in at Heero from above, swinging his beam axe in a vicious vertical chop. However, his enemy was able to bring his shield up to block the strike. Galm One was forced to brace himself as his foe pressed forward, the incredible power of Wing Zero's engines far outclassing the force the GuAIZ Lancer's thrusters could bring to the fight. The Demon Lord thrust forward with his emerald blade, and Cipher was forced to move to the left to avoid getting impaled.

Unfortunately for Galm One, it was not a clean dodge. Cipher's machine rocked around him as Heero's beam saber cut into the unit's left hip, destroying the DRAGOON that was mounted there. The exploding gun-drone also ruptured several secondary systems, and the monitor on the left side of the cockpit blew apart, showering Cipher with shrapnel.

"Augh!" he growled as the faceplate of his helmet was pierced by a piece of metal and a searing pain went through the left side of his face, "Damn it!"

"You alright, buddy?" asked Pixy as he forced Wing Zero to back off with another blast from his plasma rifle.

The left side of his vision was black, and Cipher knew what that meant. "Could be worse," he said dryly, "The left eye bought it."

"Shit," he heard Pixy replied, and he saw Galm Two climb to avoid a shot from Wing Zero's powerful rifle, "this guy doesn't mess around."

No, thought Cipher as he struggled to reorient himself, he really doesn't. This might just be where our luck runs out…

He saw Wing Zero charge Pixy, ready to impale Galm Two on his beam saber. With a pair of shots from his railguns and another blast from his plasma rifle Pixy forced Heero to dodge to the right, but the incredible pilot transitioned from going evasive into a new attack. Blue fire blazing from its powerful engines, Wing Zero got on the GuAIZ Archer's left flanks and unleashed a quick burst from its shoulder gatlings. Pixy climbed to avoid taking rounds to the cockpit, but he was unable to completely keep from taking damage, and his left railgun was punctured by two bullets.

"Fuck," snarled Cipher's subordinate, "Is this guy just toying with us now?"

"No," said Galm One as he rushed in, lashing out with his beam axe in a horizontal swing that Wing Zero blocked on its shield, "he's playing for keeps just like we are."

Cipher unleashed his remaining gun-drone, but Heero had already slipped towards the Lancer's left side, which thanks to the destruction of the other DRAGOON had now become a blind spot. Galm One barely managed to reposition himself to block the diagonal slash from Wing Zero's beam saber. "We've just been able to avoid taking fatal hits," he said, "but I don't know how much longer we can keep this up."

"Talk like that's not like you, buddy," said Pixy, "Come on, we're not dead yet, and while we're still up we don't throw in the towel."

Cipher chuckled as he opened fire with his CIWS. His shots were aimed at Wing Zero's sensors, the only part of the mobile suit vulnerable to bullets, but his foe was moving too much for Galm One to make such a precise shot, and Heero Yuy was apparently well aware of that weak spot. The Demon Lord was constantly adjusting his position, and the Lancer's bullets only succeeded in glancing off Wing Zero's armor, hardly even scratching the paint.

"Don't worry," Cipher replied as he saw Wing Zero climb to avoid shots from Pixy's plasma rifle and remaining railgun, "Giving up's the last thing on my mind. I'm having too much fun, even if the tide's turned against us."

"Now that's more like it," said Pixy as he dodged a golden-yellow beam from Wing Zero's rifle, "Come on, let's show this guy that we're not down yet!"

Cipher nodded as he charged towards Wing Zero. "Agreed."

He took a swipe with his beam axe while simultaneously unleashing his remaining DRAGOON. His eyes widened as he saw Wing Zero successfully block both attacks, parrying the axe with his beam saber while taking the shot from the gun-drone on his shield.

He timed that perfectly, he thought as he was forced back on the defensive as Heero retaliated with a horizontal slash, one that he was hard pressed to block, Damn, this guy's really something else!

Taking aim with his gun-drone again, Cipher took another shot with it along with his CIWS. This time Heero climbed to avoid the beam and bullets before returning fire with a quick burst from his gatling cannons. Cipher shifted to the right to dodge the bullets, but a round managed to pierce his unit's head, knocking the main high-resolution camera out.

Shit, he thought as the screen shifted over to the backup cameras, I hate these low-res reserves!

Even with his visual sensors reduced and his natural vision quite recently impaired, Cipher was still able to watch as Pixy launched another one-two punch at Wing Zero with his plasma cannon and railgun. Heero continued to climb to dodge the shots, a move that puzzled Cipher for a moment; he'd expected Heero to break to one of his sides and counterattack. He was only confused for a split-second though, and when he saw Wing Zero put away its beam saber he knew what was coming.

"Oh no, you don't!" he growled as he charged the Demon Lord.

But he was too late; Wing Zero had split its large rifle into a pair of smaller but still extremely dangerous guns. A fraction of a second later Cipher was biting back a curse as he broke to the right to dodge a blast from the right gun, while Pixy likewise was going evasive as Heero shot at him with the left rifle.

Then Wing Zero turned both guns on the GuAIZ Lancer. Cipher dodged to the right to evade the first blast, but he swiftly realized that that shot was not meant to hit him. In the process of evading the first shot he had unknowingly set himself up for the second, and he had to throw the Lancer into a hard left to avoid the blast from the other gun. Unfortunately for him, he was only partially successful. While he managed to keep his machine in one piece, his unit's right arm caught the very edge of the golden-yellow blast and was disintegrated, along with the beam axe it had held.

"Shit!" he hissed, "How am I supposed to take him down with just CIWS and a DRAGOON?"

Matters only got worse as he saw Heero then turn both his guns on Pixy. Evading a blast from Galm Two's plasma rifle, Wing Zero's pilot swiftly returned fire in a one-two punch from his twin guns. Much like what he had done to Cipher, the first blast was meant only to make the target dodge right into the second shot, and Pixy nearly did so. The mercenary was barely able to avoid taking the full brunt of the second shot, but like Cipher his last-minute dodge had not been without cost; the right arm of the Archer was vaporized by the edge of the blast, along with the unit's plasma rifle.

Wing Zero then rejoined its two guns into the much larger main rifle and reignited its green beam saber. Gunning its engines, it came charging at Galm One. Cipher quickly released his sole DRAGOON, opening fire with it and his CIWS, but Wing Zero was able to work its way through the barrage with uncanny maneuverability, almost as if the pilot could predict where Galm One's shots would go. As the mobile suit closed in, Cipher knew in his gut that Heero Yuy had him dead to rights.

So this is where it ends, he thought, strangely at peace with his imminent demise, Well, if it's against a pilot like this, I'm good with that…

However, before Wing Zero could strike the final blow it suddenly broke off its attack, diving. Cipher only had a split-second to wonder what was going on when he saw a volley of emerald beams fly through the space the Demon Lord had just been about to fly through. Checking his sensors, he found the source of the shots.

"Arthur Team!" he yelled as he saw the four GuAIZs of the Kerimov rushing in, "I told you to guard the destroyer!"

"So you did," replied the flight lead, Arthur Reynolds, "but our Captain has ordered us to cover your retreat. You've proven that you can stand against Wing Zero; you're now officially too valuable to allow to die."

"We're not done here!" yelled Pixy, "You don't get to tell us when to back off!"

"I can't force you to leave," said Arthur as his team unleashed another volley to keep Wing Zero on the defensive, "but you know as well as I do that we can't win this fight, especially with the condition you're in now. Our deaths will be for nothing if you don't pull out now. You're our only hope for taking down that monster in the future; you have to retreat!"

So casual about the fact that he's been sent to die, thought Cipher, along with his entire team. Arthur, you never struck me as a true believer… I guess I was wrong. Oh well, nothing else for it now.

Cipher shook his head at the absurdity of it all. "Fine then. Pixy, we're pulling out."

"But what about them?" asked Galm Two, "If we leave them, they're dead!"

"And if we stay we simply die with them," Galm One shot back, "If they're content to follow orders that they know will result in their deaths, then the least we can do is not make those deaths pointless. We're retreating, Pixy; that's an order."

Galm Two sighed. "Acknowledged. Right behind you, buddy."

And not a moment too soon, thought Cipher as he pushed his engines as hard as he dared given the damage suffered by both machine and pilot. Even through the backup cameras and his own hampered vision he could see Wing Zero already counterattacking against Arthur Team. The fearsome mobile suit cut loose with its rifle, disintegrating one of the GuAIZs. Then Heero charged forward, dodging beam rifle fire as he moved in to attack another GuAIZ with his beam saber.

"So we live to die another day," he said to himself as he and Pixy flew towards the Kerimov, "Will that death be in our next clash with you, Heero Yuy, on a different battlefield? Or another adversary perhaps? Who can say… but I'll tell you this much now; you haven't seen the last of the Galm Team."

….

Damn it, thought Heero as he dived beneath a GuAIZ's arrestor cables before swinging his beam saber up to slice the attacker in half, this is the last thing I need.

Thanks to Murrue's warning Heero had been able to set himself up to counter the four new ZAFT mobile suits, and he had already reduced them to two machines. However, every second he spent fighting them was a second the Galm Team had to withdraw, and the Gundam pilot had been determined to take them down here and now.

He broke to the left as one of his two remaining foes opened fire from behind him, dodging the beams as he attempted to get the fleeing modified GuAIZs back in his sights. However, he was forced to contend with the other GuAIZ closing in on him fast, its beam claws ready to rip him apart. Heero brought up his shield to block the attack before climbing to evade another round of beams as the other unit attempted to hit him from the right.

Whirling around to face the shooter, the Perfect Soldier opened up with his shoulder gatlings, sending his last bullets at the machine. The GuAIZ brought its Composite Shield up to block the rounds, but that just gave Heero time to follow up that attack with a shot from the Twin Buster Rifle, and the blast of golden-yellow energy turned the ZAFT machine into free floating atoms.

Breaking to the left to dodge the arrestor cables fired by the last GuAIZ, Heero swiftly closed in on his final foe. He made a vertical strike with his beam saber, but his adversary was able to block it on its violet energy claws. The Perfect Soldier then thrust out with his shield and hit his thrusters, ramming the GuAIZ and throwing its pilot off balance.

That gave Heero the opening he needed to finish the job. Thrusting his emerald blade forward, he impaled the ZAFT mobile suit right through the cockpit.

"Now," he said as he searched his scanners for the Galm Team, "where are you?"

It didn't take him long to find the two mercenaries; their damaged machines were closing with the Nazca-class destroyer hovering at the edge of the battlefield. They'd be able to dodge any shots he took from this range, but it would not take much for him to close the gap and hack into them with his beam saber.

However, just before he could begin pursuit he was contacted by none other than the Captain of the Archangel. "Heero," said Murrue, her lovely face made all the more beautiful by the smile she was giving him, "Excellent work! You saved the task force!"

"I had help," he replied, "and I'm not done yet. I need to wrap things up with the Galm Team."

"Heero, they're retreating!" cried Murrue, "The battle is over; there's no need to finish them off!"

"They're dangerous, Murrue," said Heero, "They're the best pilots I've fought since Zechs and Shemei, and they're loyal to their contract with ZAFT; they're the deadliest weapons in Zala's arsenal!"

Murrue nodded. "I know that; Waltfeld and Bristow filled me in when I sent them the data on who you were fighting. I'm aware of the danger they could pose in future battles, but cutting them down like this would be wrong! They're fleeing the field, and killing them now would be no better than murder, and if there's one thing I know you're not, Heero, it's a murderer. Please, you cannot do this!"

Her pleas for mercy on behalf of the retreating mercenaries made Heero freeze. Murrue's words pierced him like a dagger, and he realized that he'd been thinking purely in terms of tactics and strategy; the cold, ruthless calculus of war.

He saw Murrue close her eyes for a moment, and when she opened them again he could see the desperation in them. "Heero," she said, "I'm begging you, don't do this. You're better than this Heero; I know you are! Don't go back down that dark path you took in Orb."

That rocked him to his core. While the situation in the Battle of Orb had been quite different due to his loosing himself to the Zero System, Heero could still instantly see where she had drawn the comparison, and he knew it was appropriate. He had cut down fleeing enemies during his rampage, and it would be worse if he allowed himself to do it now, while he had full control of himself.

The Galm Team was not like the units he had destroyed earlier in the fight. True, the mercenaries were far stronger, much more dangerous, but unlike the other ZAFT units they were not pulling back simply to hook up with another wave and charge back into the fight. They were genuinely retreating, and Heero knew that the real him, the man Murrue loved, would not cut them down like this.

Heero took a deep breath and slowly let it out, calming himself as he remembered who he really was, pulling himself back from the cold logic of the battlefield. He met Murrue's gaze and nodded. "You're right, Murrue. Thank you… and I'm sorry for putting you through that. Forgive me."

The woman he loved smiled, the worry in her eyes replaced by that familiar, warm compassion. "You are most welcome, Heero, and I do forgive you. Just, please, don't let it happen again; don't let the battlefield take away who you really are."

Heero gave her a small smile. "I won't, Murrue. I promise."

"Glad to hear it," she replied, "Now, form up with us, Heero; we need to escort the defectors out of here. With the shape they're in now there's no way they'll be able to survive a fourth wave, even with us defending them."

"Roger that," said Heero, immediately adjusting his course and heading for the Archangel, "but what about the task force Commander? Has he agreed to go along with this?"

"Waltfeld and Miss Clyne contacted Commander Bohuslav," said Murrue, "He's agreed to travel under our protection until we're out of ZAFT's operational range, but whether or not Task Force 9.3 will join our cause is still up in the air. The Commander's agreed to meet with Waltfeld and Miss Clyne aboard the Eternal for talks; his shuttle will be departing the flagship shortly."

Heero nodded. "Let's hope they can get him to come around; there's too much at stake here for a group like his to be sitting on the sidelines."

"Agreed," said Murrue, "We need their help, and if anyone can sway them to join us, it's Waltfeld and Miss Clyne."

"I guess we'll know soon enough, one way or the other," said Heero.

Murrue nodded. "Yes, there's nothing you or I can do about it now; it's out of our hands." She smiled at him before continuing. "No matter what happens, I'm just glad you made it through the fight, Heero… and that you can come back to me."

"I told you I wouldn't abandon you, Murrue," Heero replied as he approached the Archangel, "After all we've been through, there's no way I'm going to let ZAFT or their mercenaries stop us now."

"I'm with you there," said Murrue, "and the same goes for the Alliance. No matter what the two superpowers throw at us, we will overcome it."

Heero nodded. "Roger that, Murrue."

….

Standing by the entrance to the hangar, Waltfeld turned to the pink-haired songstress to his right. "Are you ready for this, Miss Clyne?"

Lacus nodded, and the Desert Tiger was pleased to see the determination in her cerulean eyes. "Yes, Mister Waltfeld. I'll do all I can to bring Commander Bohuslav around to our side."

Waltfeld chuckled. "You know, I always liked your sincerity, Miss Clyne… and I think the Commander will appreciate it. Bohuslav's a little rough around the edges, but believe it or not he does have a sentimental side. I can appeal to his sense of honor and dignity, but if anyone can persuade him that throwing in his lot with us is the right thing to do on an emotional level, it's you, Miss Clyne."

Lacus nodded and smiled. "Thank you, Mister Waltfeld. When you speak of the Commander, is it from personal experience?"

"I'm not too close to the man," Waltfeld replied, "but I have worked with him before. The Ninth Fleet was our main supporting force when we made the orbital drop into North Africa, and I dealt with several of its group commanders. Bohuslav was one of them. I didn't speak to him too often, but I got a decent feel for the kind of person he is. Brushing up on his personnel file courtesy of Bristow over the past two days helped back up my memory. He's tough, and can be a bit hard-headed at times, but overall he's a reasonable, decent guy. More than anything else, direct honesty is the way to go with him. He hates being lied to, directly or otherwise."

"I understand," said Lacus, "and I never once considered any form of deception to get him to join us, nor will I now."

Waltfeld chuckled. "Good girl. Your father would be proud."

The Desert Tiger could've sworn he saw the songstress's pale face flush at his remarks. "Thank you… but I don't think I'm the diplomat he was."

Waltfeld shook his head and smiled. "Nonsense, Miss Clyne. You've already become an astounding diplomat, and it's all the more amazing considering just how young you are. You've done so much in such a short period of time; your leadership is one of the biggest reasons that all of us were able to unite against both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT."

Lacus shook her head. "No… it's only because of the help I've gotten from all of you that I've been able to come so far. I don't know where I'd be without you, or Miss Aisha, or the others that have joined our cause. I couldn't do this on my own, Mister Waltfeld."

"No," Waltfeld replied, "but we couldn't do this without you either, Miss Clyne. Our roles are intertwined, integral to each other; one cannot stand without the other."

Lacus nodded. "You're right. We're as strong as we are only because we act together, supporting each other where one may be weak. We must continue to show that same strength of cooperation; it may well be the decisive factor to ending this war without the largest act of mass murder in human history."

"Yes," said Waltfeld, "and displaying that strength here will go a long ways towards convincing Commander Bohuslav to throw his lot in with us."

Waltfeld could not help but smile again as he saw the songstress's expression become one of focus and resolve. "If he needs further proof of our strength beyond what we have shown him today on the battlefield, then I will do all I can to provide it."

The Desert Tiger saw a green light turn on next to the door; the shuttle had landed, and atmosphere had been vented back into the hangar. "Well," he said, "let's not keep our guests waiting."

Lacus nodded, and the two of then entered the hangar. As they floated inside they saw the starboard hatch of the shuttle parked in the center of the area open up, and out came a man Waltfeld instantly identified as the Commander of Task Force 9.3. Following him was a woman who appeared to be in her early twenties, with short-cropped orange-red hair and light blue eyes, and wearing a green uniform.

Waltfeld looked over at Lacus and nodded. "You take the lead."

"Alright," she replied.

The Desert Tiger allowed the girl to move out in front of him as they approached the former ZAFT officer and the woman with him.

"Commander Bohuslav," said Lacus, smiling and bowing her head as she came to a stop in front of him before holding out her hand, "I'm pleased to see that you are unharmed. Welcome aboard the Eternal."

The Commander gave her a nod as he shook her hand. "Thank you, Miss Clyne." He gestured to the woman at his side. "This is my administrative assistant, Alexis Morell."

The red-head bowed her head. "It's an honor to meet you, Miss Clyne."

"And I'm pleased to meet you, Miss Morell," Lacus replied.

Waltfeld saw her look over at him and nod, and he took that as his cue to step in. "Commander," he said, holding out his right arm, "I'm not sure if you remember, but we've met before. I'm Andrew Waltfeld."

Commander Bohuslav shook his hand and nodded. "I do remember. It's been a long time since your conquest of North Africa, Desert Tiger."

"Indeed," said Waltfeld, nodding, "A lot has happened since then."

"Yes," said Bohuslav, "back then ZAFT could at least make an honest claim to being an honorable organization. However, now that the radicals have taken complete control over both the military and civilian government, I'm ashamed to say that's no longer the case. That slaughter at Panama…"

"Was an unspeakable war crime," Lacus finished for him, her expression grim, "and you know as well as I do that it will not be the last under the Zala regime, Commander. The radicals will not stop fighting this war until every last Natural is dead."

"Yes, and that is a sentiment the Earth Alliance holds as well with regards to our own kind," Bohuslav replied bitterly, "This has become a war of mutual annihilation. Neither side respects the conventions of war or the status of non-combatants; target criteria has come down to genes, and that alone. Zala and his band of sycophants and sociopaths are no better than the Blue Cosmos and their sympathizers who so fervently wish for our destruction."

Well, now, thought Waltfeld, If he's already willing to admit that much publicly, then this might be easier than I anticipated.

The Desert Tiger studied the Commander intently as he continued. "I can no longer serve ZAFT and the PLANTs, not when it means placing myself and my subordinates under the command of those who care not for our lives so long as they're able to fulfill their blood soaked dreams of revenge. I know that 'Remember Junius Seven' has been a rallying cry for our forces, and understandably so, but Zala has taken it too far; to repay one atrocity with another is not what we signed up for."

"A belief that all of us in our organization share, Commander," said Lacus, "I admire the courage it took for you and your followers to take the stand that you have; I know it was not easy for us to leave our homeland, even when our own government was hunting us."

Bohuslav sighed. "Thank you, Miss Clyne. I just wish it hadn't come at such a cost. Six ships destroyed , our mobile suit complement less than a quarter of what it was… we lost many good men and women today. Not to mention the casualties suffered by ZAFT; we may have abandoned our former military, but we had no desire to kill those still serving it."

"You didn't have much of a choice in the matter," said Waltfeld, "Surrender in this case would be a death sentence, and it'd probably be carried out in place rather than you all being taken back to the PLANTs and shot there."

"True enough," Bohuslav replied, "and we cannot afford to die now. Our losses may have been heavy, but we can still continue with our mission. We have to; there's too much at stake!"

Waltfeld and Lacus shared a glance; the Commander's words were troubling.

"I beg your pardon," said Lacus cautiously, "but did you say 'mission'? I thought it was your intent to defect to the Orb colonies and sit out the rest of this war."

"You have good intelligence sources, Miss Clyne," said the Commander, "but your information is outdated. I have a friend in the Patrol Fleet, and news I received from him forced us to accelerate our plans; I actually had not been planning on leaving the PLANTs for at least another week."

I've got a bad feeling about this, thought Waltfeld, Eric's network of contacts is extensive, but the Patrol Fleet's an area where he had only a few sources, and the most valuable of them was killed by Zala after the raid on Aprilius One; we have much less an idea of what they're up to than other parts of ZAFT. Shit, I think we missed something big…

Waltfeld's eye narrowed. "What happened, Commander? What pushed you to move ahead of schedule?"

"Three days ago," said the Commander, "the Patrol Fleet frigate Raven reported that Alliance warships were massing at the outer rim of the Debris Belt between Earth and L3; they're preparing to invade the Orb colonies."

Lacus and Waltfeld gasped. "No…" said the songstress, her voice almost whisper, "Why…"

"I thought the Earth Alliance forces were preparing for their final offensive against the PLANTs," said Waltfeld, "Going after L3 only diverts from that effort at this point."

Bohuslav nodded. "Tactically and strategically, it's a stupid move; the agricultural and industrial facilities they would gain are but a speck before the vast resources the Alliance already has at its disposal. It's simply a waste of soldiers and ships… if looked at only through the reasoning of conventional warfare."

"Oh shit…" Waltfeld hissed, realizing what the real purpose of the Alliance's impending operation was.

"Yes," said Bohuslav grimly, "Azrael plans to conquer the Eden and Elysium colonies… and kill every Coordinator he finds inside them."

Preview for next time!

After saving Task Force 9.3 from the pursuit of the Zala regime, Heero, Murrue, and the others learn of Commander Bohuslav's personal mission; to defend the Eden and Elysium colonies from an Alliance invasion that ZAFT has no intention of stopping. The Three Ships Alliance rushes to the aid of the Orb colonies, but will their power be enough to turn the tide of the fight? Next time, on "Journey to a New Battlefield", Episode Twenty-Six: The Battle of Elysium.

"When bad men combine, the good must associate; else they will fall one by one, an unpitied sacrifice in a contemptible struggle." Edmund Burke, "Thoughts on the Cause of Present Discontents" (1770).

Source of this more well known phrase, commonly attributed to but not actually confirmed to have been said by Burke as such: "All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing."

Author's notes: Phew, glad this is done! It was fun to write, but a lot of work, not helped by the fact that things have been busy on my end.

The reason Task Force 9.3 is referred to as such is because it is the Third Task Force of the Ninth Fleet. Other Task Forces in this fic would follow similar designations; for example, the Fifth Task Force of the Sixth Fleet would be called Task Force 6.5 for short.

The Strike Rouge IWSP-X is a modification of the Strike Rouge IWSP from the Seed-MSV design series (see the Gundam wiki for details). The original design was too complex for Cagalli to use, so as you saw in the chapter I had Heero help Erica by making some alterations, actually removing some weapons (took out the beam boomerang and 105mm cannons) and changing others (the anti-ship swords to beam sabers, for example) to make a more streamlined setup.

Kycilia Zabi's appearance was just a little cameo, a shout out to the original Mobile Suit Gundam. I also named her frigate after the ship she commanded during her final battle in that series.

If some of the weapons used by the GuAIZ Archer and the GuAIZ Lancer sounded familiar, that was entirely intentional; in addition to being custom units, they're also serving as testing platforms for armaments that will become more widespread with the advent of ZAFT's new mobile suits in SEED Destiny. Check out the Slash ZAKU, Blaze ZAKU, and GuAIZ R, I'm sure you'll be able to pick out the weapons I took from those units.

Thanks for your patience, I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Please review! Until next time!