AN: Next chapter ahoy. I apologize for the delay, but as I said in my ongoing crossover...I've started working, and that has taken up the usual summer freetime. We'll see how often I can update...currently, I'm trying to finish this as soon as possible since Angel is the fic of mine closest to its end...only 5 or so chaps left.

Let's go!

Near the Moon, Archangel

Floating through space, the majestic Archangel was once more in her proper habitat. The center of a small, mobile taskforce, hunting enemy ships and mobile suits. Of course, it wasn't necessarily ZAFT she was hunting...the Earth Alliance was an even more valid target, something the vessel's designers had most certainly never intended of her. But the betrayal by the Alliance at Alaska had made them their worst enemy, and the crew of the Archangel was prepared to prove that. The fact that Alliance supplies were needed more for their little fleet than ZAFT ones just made targeting the Earth Forces even more valid than it might otherwise have been. After all, these raids were meant to keep both sides off balance while also keeping the third faction- the Coalition, for lack of a better name -supplied. Hence the reason the Archangel and her little group were hovering in the area around the moon, where they were likely to encounter transports running in that direction.

Ever since giving ZAFT the boot from the surface of Earth- Oceania had fallen mere days ago -the Earth Forces had been ferrying supplies after supplies to the Moon. A disturbing amount of supplies in fact...Nicol's scouting missions, many by virtue of Blitz being the only Mirage Colloid equipped machine, had identified as much. There was a scary amount of the new models Kira was unfamiliar with mixed in...including multiple varieties of the new G-Weapons, and even a pair of heavily modified Strikes. It was clear that the Alliance was building up for a massive push soon, and there were only two targets they could have. The PLANTs, and the Coalition. It was likely the former with the many security measures taken to hide Artemis...but there was no way to be sure.

So it was important to take supplies for more than just practical reasons.

"Do we have anything on sensors?" Murrue Ramius asked, looking over her shoulder.

"Nothing yet ma'am," Sai Argyle relayed. The young man had taken multiple duties upon himself after Natarle had been forced off the ship...this was just one of those.

"Flay?" the Captain turned to someone she never expected to fit in her bridge crew so well.

"Nicol hasn't seen anything," Flay Allster replied, having taken over Kuzzey's role as comm officer.

Murrue bit her lip in thought, "Hmm...they've gotten smarter."

"That they have," Mu La Flaga chimed in, his face on the viewscreen from where he sat ready to launch in MBF-01 Rapier.

"Eh, kinda expected it to happen eventually. We've been wiping out the stupid guys for how long now?" Dearka Elsman countered.

"Point."

"If we're done goofing around," Murrue couldn't help the smile tugging at her lips, "we'll have to expand the search radius. Flay, please contact Nicol and Daniel."

"Roger."

There was a slight delay as the message traveled through to the forward scouting elements. MBF-207 Blitz Wraith was alone in the direction of the moon herself, safely hidden under it's unique cloak. GAT-X303 Aegis was at the head of a formation of Orb M1Rs in the opposite direction, with regular Astrays and Daggers spread between the two. The formation had been Murrue's brainchild, and had worked marvelously up to this point. If Nicol saw enemies first, they would be caught totally unaware when the Archangel attacked. If Daniel was first, then Nicol could use the distraction to hit from his cloak.

This was all hypothetical this time however, if they could not find a target of some variety.

"Yes?" Nicol was the first to reply, purposely keeping communication short to avoid being detected.

"Move further towards the Moon," Murrue kept it short as well, "I believe they are holding close to that path."

"Will do."

As Nicol finished, Daniel chimed in as well, "I assume you want me to do the same?"

"Yes, be careful though."

"Always am."

Sighing softly, Murrue watched as the indicator for Aegis moved in the direction of the moon. It was a risk, because she knew what she was doing...essentially using Daniel as bait to lure out any hidden transports or escorts. But it had to be done, since they weren't going to find them by not looking with any more than just Blitz. And in any case, she had confidence Daniel could handle himself. He wasn't on Mu's level of piloting skill...but he was hardly a slouch by any definition either. And after Erica had practically rebuilt it from the ground up, Aegis was more than a match for anything the Alliance had outside of the new G-Weapons. And if they encountered those...they had more of a problem than she would like to admit.

Natarle...would you still be in command of Dominion? Still have those 'pilots' flying off your ship? I hope not...I truly don't want to fight you. Not if I can avoid it.

Kira had told her about Dominion. Murrue was aware that it was only a matter of time until the Earth Forces brought out the second of the Archangel class...if not a third, considering he was very open about how things were changing. In all honesty though, Murrue would be more happy if they did bring out a third...Natarle would always be the most qualified to get Dominion. A hypothetical third Archangel would be a tough fight, but at least she wouldn't have to fight someone so close to her.

"I've found something."

Nicol's voice served to break the young woman from her depressing thoughts, as the younger pilot's face appeared on her monitor. There was a frown creasing his forehead, as he seemed to be spooked by what he found. Nicol may be the one who wore his emotions on his sleeve the most, but it was still worrying.

"What is it?"

"According to the IFF you installed, I found Task Force 3.2," the pilot relayed.

Murrue nodded slightly. The Blitz had its IFF removed by ZAFT, but it had been simple enough to reinstall one with more up-to-date intel on the Alliance forces. In this case, the second task force of the Third Orbital Fleet. Not as famous as the Eighth or Seventh, but not a weak force either.

"Composition of the task force?" she asked quickly.

There was silence, as the former ZAFT pilot examined the fleet in front of him. Nicol's face went through a range of emotions, as he silently counted and IDed ships in front of him.

This is...bad, the young pilot thought, as he came upon the center of the formation again, after the second count, "Five Nelson-class battleships, twelve Drake's, one Agamemnon...and a new warship."

"A...new warship?" Murrue felt a chill run down her spine. If it had been a new escort, Nicol wouldn't have commented like that. Nor would he have done so if it were Dominion or another ship of her class. That could only mean...

The timeline is changing more from what Kira remembered.

"Yes. Relaying the data now."

Sai was the first to receive the data, and if the gasp was any indication, it was not good by any means. Considering the situation, that was understandable. They weren't equipped to take on a new warship, if she was anything like an Archangel in size and capability. Not one of the nuclear G-Weapons was with Archangel at the moment. The strongest suit and pilot combination Murrue had at hand was Mu La Flaga and the Rapier, and for all his skill, the machine he flew was fundamentally an updated Strike. If this ship was strong enough...

"Sending you the data Captain," Sai's voice was unusually subdued, as he did what he said.

Looking down at her viewscreen, Murrue's eyes narrowed as she examined the design in front of her. As an engineer first- well, a teacher first, engineer second -she was the best equipped to examine any new design on her flagship. And the design she saw was enough to make her frown, as she examined it more closely.

Clearly based on the Agamemnon, the warship was an elongated dagger shape, only slightly smaller than her own Archangel. Dark red paint set it out from the dull greys and blues of the majority of the Alliance fleet, as if the size wasn't enough. Her dagger shape allowed for a focusing of firepower down the bow, which was likely the point...considering the ship had two Gottfrieds where the smaller cannons of her carrier counterpart would have been. It was entirely possible there might be two more on the underside as well. Though what was truly worrying was the clear shape of a Lohengrin set in the tip of the bow...smaller than Archangel's, but when the weapon in question shot antimatter...it hardly mattered what size it was.

It would appear the Atlantic Federation had decided to make a cheap equivalent to the Archangel.

"IFF designates her as Stalwart, Captain."

Nodding slightly, Murrue couldn't help the frown, "A nice name, if it weren't built by the Federation."

What loyalty she had to her homeland was almost completely gone now.

"How are we going to engage that monster?" Mu broke in again, having received the data as well.

"It depends entirely on the armor," the Captain mused, rubbing her forehead slightly, "If she has laminated armor, you and Dearka will need to focus fire while the rest of the battlegroup handles the Task Force. If she doesn't..."

"Probably not," Daniel added, "The main expense in the Archangel is the armor."

"...leaving aside how you know that," she couldn't help smiling, "you are correct. If Stalwart has the same armor as standard, I want Blitz to target her Lohengrin and Gottfrieds. Without teeth, she can't fight back and it might be possible to capture her. Otherwise, we will have to destroy her."

Turning back to Mu, the Captain sent him a serious look. She had more than just comradely feelings when it came to Mu La Flaga...and the last thing she wanted was him to get hurt.

"Be careful when engaging her. I doubt the Alliance would send a new ship out here without a proper escort. That carrier probably has the cheaper G-Weapons at the least."

Mu tossed a salute, "Hey, don't worry. I've fought one of the Druggies in person, nothing else they have can touch me."

"Always cocky you pilots," the fond tone in her voice took away some of the bite, "Go ahead and launch, both of you."

"Roger that Miss Captain. Mu La Flaga, Rapier heading out!"

"Dearka Elsman, Buster ready to rock and roll!"

"Mary Kirkpatrick, Astray R launching!"

Following after the three veterans were a quartet of M1Rs piloted by more green pilots...but they would still be the spearhead of this attack, with the scout force. The remaining Dagger Kai's, as Kira had coined the heavily modified Strike Daggers that Erica had practically rebuilt from scratch, would of course be held back to protect the motherships. Murrue's little group only had the Kiev on-loan from Commander Lacross, two Eurasian Nelsons, and three Drakes. Not a match in a straight up fight, even with Archangel.

It would be up to the mobile weapons, as it always was in this war.

"Archangel," Murrue took a breath, "Move out!"

And as her crew set to work, she let a proud smile cross her face. Heliopolis civilians, original Archangel crew, Montgomery survivors, Orb replacements...they all worked well and in unison, to get the ship moving towards her target.

"They know we're here," Mu commented, as he pushed Rapier's modified Hirameki thrusters to their limit.

"Of course they do old man," Dearka snorted, "We're a big target these days!"

"I am not old!" the blonde complained, before smiling slightly even if it couldn't be seen behind his custom faceplate, "and we've always been a big target to you guys. You're just joining the party!"

"Hmm...point," his younger counterpart nodded, "Old man."

"Why I oughta..."

Ignoring the snort from Dearka, Mu focused on the battle developing in front of him. Daniel and his forces had hit the Alliance from the side, before they could launch their own Daggers quickly enough. But the machines were launching now. And as befitting a task force with a brand spanking new warship, they all were of the 105 variety, aside from a couple of even rarer Duel and Buster Daggers. This wasn't going to be easy, even if the pilots were probably green. 105s were a pain to fight if you didn't have Kira or Athrun handy to deal with dozens at a time.

And of course, they noticed him quickly enough. Rapier was a distinctive machine, and it was probably well-known by now that he piloted it. Five of the Daggers, all equipped with Aile packs, quickly zoomed in his direction. Mu smirked, oddly honored by the attention. Not that it would help them...he was well-used to flying a Mobile Suit now. And even if he didn't have gunbarrels any longer, he more than made up for that in pure skill. Especially since the lack of the barrels meant he could focus all of his awareness on tracking enemy movements.

Bring it on!

"I've got these guys!" Mu shouted at his partner, "You handle the big boy!"

"Got it."

Buster split off, one of the Daggers moving to pursue it.

Oh you ain't doing that...

Mu fired his hyper-impulse cannon, coring clean through the back of the Dagger. That was the most he could do to help Dearka however, as the veteran was forced to send Rapier through a dizzying array of evasive maneuvers, green beams flying all around his Gundam. The Alliance grunts were clearly quite determined to blow him away.

"They're pretty good!"

Not that he would ever let that happen. Mu narrowed his eyes, holstering his hyper-impulse cannon before a stray beam cut into it. Instead, he drew the secondary beam rifle his 'Perfect' pack had. Snapping the rifle up quickly, he dived under a brace of beams and fired two bolts in quick succession. His aim was true, as first one and then the second beam plowed into one of the Daggers. The 105's tough laminated armor diffused some of the energy of the first beam, but not enough to prevent it from punching into the cockpit. The second flew through that hole, high-energy particles colliding with the equally high-powered battery that supplied power to the Mobile Suit. Short-lived flames blossomed in space, as the only reaction that could happen occurred...the complete destruction of the 105.

Mu didn't care to watch that. Even as the first Dagger blew apart, he was already targeting a second one. The tight formation had split, perhaps thinking that the Hawk of Endymion would be less of a threat without his Gunbarrels. After all, he couldn't possibly target a wide-formation with only one weapon. Unfortunately for the Alliance pilots, that was the furthest thing from the truth. Yes, Mu couldn't target multiple enemies at once now...but that just made him all the deadlier against singular foes.

"Surround him!" one of the pilots was careless enough to broadcast on a channel that the Hawk still had access to.

"Oh no you don't!"

Rapier pushed more power into its thrusters, zooming at the loud-mouthed Dagger. Even if the pilot didn't realize why he was being attacked, he was quick enough on the draw to realize that he had made a mistake somehow. He fired his beam rifle and CIWS, perhaps not realizing that Rapier had PSA. Mu just ignored the physical projectiles- they couldn't do enough damage quickly enough to drain his armor -and dodged around the beams. His Gundam's spare hand reached to its hip, and came away with a pink beam saber.

The Hawk grinned, as the blade cut underneath the Dagger's shield before it could block him, "Gotcha!"

With no sound in space, there was no screech of metal as the hot blade of energy cut through the Dagger's armor. There was only a chopped off scream from the pilot, before the 105 split in two. The exploding pieces of the machine illuminated Rapier, as Mu turned around to face the remaining Daggers. Who were circling him much more warily now, realizing just how deadly he still was.

"Who's next?"

Far from Mu, the Blitz Wraith continued to creep under its cloak towards the Stalwart. The warship hadn't launched any machines of its own, the task of covering it assigned to a group of Launcher-armed 105s and what appeared to be a heavily modified Strike. It looked like the crimson warship was just a gunboat after all...if it had machines, they would have been launched by now.

Not that Nicol was complaining.

"Ten minutes left," he muttered, hands dancing across Blitz's keyboard, "I'll have to drop the cloak soon or I won't have power to fight. Just a little bit more..."

The green-haired Coordinator wanted to take up a position where he could target the Strike before anything else. If he didn't take it down quickly, that machine could become a real problem. He knew that the original had only been so effective because it had been Kira piloting it. But that didn't change how the Strike was still a superior combatant than Blitz...even in its new, Wraith form.

"Dearka, are you ready?" Nicol keyed his comm system.

"Ready as ever," his friend replied, Buster zooming into view with a pair of Astray Rs tagging along.

Nicol smiled slightly, "Good. Distract them for me, okay?"

"Got it. Come on you two, let's raise some hell!"

There wasn't a reply that Nicol heard from the Orb pilots, as he had cut off his comms to allow for more stealth. Mirage Colloid was almost perfect, but if anything would get him caught, it would be radio transmissions. And right now, Dearka was doing a stellar job of getting the attention of the enemy machines. The Strike knockoff was charging right at the Buster, while the Daggers had started a long-range duel with the Astrays. Not one of the enemy noticed the Blitz slowly coasting in their direction, even as Nicol raised his beam rifle and Trikeros Kai both. Each rifle was directed at one of the large Gottfrieds on the top of the Stalwart, ready to fire as soon as he was ready.

Just a little closer...just a little...

His eyes narrowed slightly, as Blitz Wraith's computer blared a target lock-tone at him.

"There!"

Two green beams flew from the stealth Gundam, as the dark-black machine decloaked to save power. The Stalwart's crew was smart, and attempted to roll their warship the moment the beams flew at it. But the warship was, however agile for her size she may have been, not as quick as the Archangel. Nicol's second beam gouged a hole to the right of his targeted Gottfried, burning through what was clearly not laminated armor. The first beam however...that one cored through the center of its target. A massive explosion shook the Stalwart, as flames and debris spewed from secondary detonations. When the smoke cleared, it revealed a gaping hole where the Gottfried had previously been placed.

But Nicol had shot his bolt, so to speak. The remaining Gottfried turned to the Blitz, and fired twin cones of death. Forcing his machine to the side to dodge the beams, the Coordinator winced. Because the other escorts turned their fire on him, while the Strike knockoff continued to keep Dearka busy. A hailstorm of bullets and beams flew around Blitz Wraith, forcing Nicol into a serious of maneuvers that would have been impossible for the original Blitz. The world spun outside his cockpit, as the young pilot grunted with the effort of twisting and turning around the attack.

"I need backup!" he keyed his radio once more.

"Roger that!" a female voice replied.

Nicol blinked, as an Astray R shot into view, forcing the escorts to let up their fire on the Blitz to the point where he could use his makeshift copy of the Geschmeidig Panzer system to block the remaining beams.

"Thanks," Nicol contacted the other machine, as it zoomed back to join him in bombarding the Stalwart's escorts.

"No problem," the other pilot replied, her helmet only showing a grinning face with strands of dark hair covering green eyes, "Nicol right?"

"Yes," he nodded, "you're...Mary?"

Mary's grin widened slightly, "That's me. Shall we?"

As she said that, the former Alliance pilot gestured at the escorts. Nicol nodded, a fierce look crossing his face.

"Let's do this."

Both machines flared their thrusters, going on the offensive, instead of letting the enemy come to them. Blitz weaved through a barrage of beam fire, igniting the beam saber in the Trikeros Kai even as Nicol fired his beam rifle with the Gundam's other hand. Molten metal slagged off the side of a Nelson, joined by flares of fire as turrets melted and detonated from the beam fire. Using that distraction for cover, he pulled up beside the battleship, and stabbed his saber forward sharply. The emerald blade dug into the flank of the Nelson, as Nicol flared his thrusters and flew 'up' relative to the warship. His beam blade cut throug the otherwise tough armor of the warship like a hot knife through butter, before he reached the 'top' of the warship and pulled it right out.

Secondary explosions blossomed behind Blitz Wraith, as the Nelson fell apart in two pieces.

"Nice one!" Mary complimented the Coordinator, as she attacked a Drake.

Her Astray R was not a Gundam, but against the obsolete Drake, that fact hardly mattered. Green beams flew from her beam rifle, as the pink-lined machine easily dodged around any retaliatory fire. It wasn't long before the enemy ship went up in a blaze of fire, and the two Gundams turned their attention to fighting off the remaining Daggers...

"They're surrendering?" Nicol breathed.

Only for flares to shoot up from Stalwart. The conflict ground to a halt, as the remaining enemy mobile suits dropped their weapons and boosted to a holding position by their flagship. Dearka- his escorts killed by the Strike knockoff, though one managed a mutual kill -floated up by Mary and Nicol, a suspicious look on his face.

"Why'd they surrender like that?"

"I'm not sure," the one woman of the group replied.

"It is odd..." Nicol added.

They had good reason to be confused. Alliance forces typically fought to the end...they never surrendered, not after Panama. When it became clear that more and more of ZAFT wasn't taking prisoners, one couldn't blame them. Surrendering just to get killed afterwords was not exactly a good idea...better to go down fighting. That being said, they would surrender to Coalition forces, as they were perfectly willing to take prisoners and transfer them to Orb's remaining colonies.

But for a full taskgroup- or what remained of one -to surrender with their flagship still intact was exceedingly odd, to say the least.

"We are sending over a group of marines to secure the Stalwart. I want at least one of you to join them."

As Murrue's voice broke into the conversation, the three pilots shared a look. In the end, it was Dearka who pulled the 'lucky' straw. He was the best with a pistol of the three, and if a firefight broke out...that was what they needed.

Upon boarding the Stalwart, Dearka was surprised to see a group of white-uniformed officers waiting for him and the marines. There wasn't a weapon in sight on the Alliance officers, despite the assault rifles pointed in their direction. At the front of the group was a grey-bearded man, his sharp grey eyes observing the boarders with a calculating gaze. It reminded him somewhat of Commander Le Creuset...but where that man had an imposing presence, this man just gave off the air of a veteran. A veteran who knew exactly what he was doing, and exactly who he was dealing with. It was an odd feeling, to say the least. At least it wasn't a green crew that had surrendered...

Though it did raise a question as to why such a veteran commander would be willing to surrender like that.

"Welcome aboard Stalwart," the man finally spoke, his voice low and slightly wizened, "I'm Commodore Hank Lawrence. And I am formally surrendering this vessel and Task Force 3.2 to the Coalition forces."

As the ranking officer- and wasn't that scary -Dearka stepped forward. He knew his red ZAFT uniform was probably sending up every red flag the others had, but surprisingly enough...Lawrence just smiled slightly.

"I accept your surrender on behalf of the Coalition warship Archangel," Dearka replied, feeling slightly stuffy talking like that. He wasn't cut out for the command role.

"Thank you son," the old man nodded.

"You're...welcome?" Dearka blinked, "Wait, you're happy about surrendering?"

Lawrence shared a look with his crew, before turning to Dearka once more, "I'm an old man, who has been fighting far longer than I should. I've served the Atlantic Federation most of my life, and have no intention of changing that...so don't try recruiting me for your Coalition."

"Wasn't going to try."

"Good. Now, while I refuse to fight my nation and just want to live my life in peace...I have something to show you, now that your men have done me the favor of eliminating those troublesome jumped-up terrorists."

With that said, Lawrence waved towards the other side of the hangar, where a bunch of rather large crates were stacked. Dearka felt a sudden weight sink to the bottom of his chest at seeing those. There was one thing likely to be in those crates if Lawrence was this serious about it. And even knowing what Kira had told him about it being inevitable that it would happen, it still wasn't a pleasant thought by any definition. He didn't even want to think about the PLANTs in danger...not while his family was still back there.

"I was hoping you would attack my group, ever since I was designated to pick these up," the old Commodore didn't show any signs of noticing the Coordinator's inner turmoil, "while I did not want my men and women to die pointless deaths for a war that has gone on long enough, I could not allow these to reach the Moon. I know these few are no more than a pinprick of what is already stockpiled there...but perhaps, at least some good will come of this."

Because as a pair of mechanics removed the lid on a crate, it revealed the feared nuclear symbol on the side of a missile tube...

AN: And there we go. No Kira this time, but that's because next chapter is going to be a bit of fluff bonding with the main relationship pairs (namely, Kira/Cagalli and Athrun/Lacus). In addition to a segment detailing how ole Metal Mask got the NJC to the Alliance this time.

Hope everyone enjoyed the chapter!