More Than Comrades

The repairs on the Aegis and Stealth were done in record time. Surprisingly, Eclipse was never involved. As soon as she had left the locker room—deciding not to change right away—she went straight for the infirmary, looking for some sort of bandage to put on her arm. The cut wasn't deep—in fact, it was a little thing that probably wouldn't even bleed—but was at a high enough annoyance level to receive a bandage. Once that was done, she had walked back to her room and crashed on her bed, refusing to get up for anything other than to use the bathroom.

And she did that often.

Nicol's death had done more to her psychologically and physically than she had thought possible. The Berserker subsided as soon as she got back to her room, leaving the redhead with bruises she didn't remember getting and an ache in her chest she thought would go away after a nap. Optimistic thinking was never her forte and after lying down for only a couple of minutes, she was sitting at the rim of the toilet vomiting what little food she had in her stomach.

Her head pounded with the effort and only when round two was over did she completely give up and collapse onto the floor, tears streaming down sweaty cheeks out of grief more than pain.

Nicol was gone.

Stray was gone.

A part of her wanted to call Namarra a liar, saying there was no way FS could do such a thing, but after all of her training—and her friends' as well—the probability was still rather high. FS was good at masking his feelings, or lack thereof in that instance. Putting a gun to Stray's head was probably fun to him by now and thinking about that made the nausea return. Curling up into a ball, she hugged her stomach as it threatened to come up through her esophagus. There was nothing left to throw up, yet it was masochistically convincing. Rolling onto her knees, she heaved into the toilet once more.

Out of all the team members, why did it have to be Nicol? Not like she wanted one person to die over another, but what had Nicol done to deserve that? Who was he? Just a loyal friend and because of that he was killed. The damn Strike destroyed him and after all the times they had lost to him, wasn't about time they won? Wasn't it about time they humiliated the Earth Forces? Were they not strong enough? Not skilled enough? What?

Done, Eclipse fell back onto the floor, curling into the fetal position as she cried onto the tiles. I'm supposed to be some powerful, all-important being and all I'm doing is losing. She had been the "top" of the trainees on Januarias 4 but she had yet to prove anything other than her ability to destroy some renegade ZAFT soldiers. But what good was that? SIN-ED had little involvement in the overall war and yet she could kill them and not the people threatening her team? Why couldn't she destroy the Archangel? What cruel demon would be sadistic enough to stop her from killing her enemies, but give her the power to destroy the people in an organization set up by her only friends?

She had no answers and her grief-filled mind wasn't going to tell her anything logical. The only thing she could do was blame herself and hope guilt was a big enough barrel of fuel to help her in the next battle. If it wasn't, she was sure the guilt would grow and lead her—most likely—back to a state of mind she was finally drifting away from. Her cold mindset from before may have saved her a couple toilet visits and tears, but was it worth going back to? After all of this, could she even regress that far?

I dunno, she admitted, rolling onto her back when she figured her vomiting escapade had subsided. But these attachments might be making me soft. If I want to do anything productive, I have to stop this pity fest and do what I was trained to do. Sighing, she wiped her hands across her face, smearing the tears. So, it's about time I took things seriously.

Pulling her hands away, the Berserker flickered anxiously behind her eyes.

"Maintain trim. Twenty to ocean's surface," the intercom blared, causing Eclipse to tap the levers impatiently. She hadn't been in the control room when the Archangel had been spotted, but she didn't need the visual contact to get a rush of adrenaline. In her mind, the Stealth was more important than sitting around staring at radars. Besides, finding a suitable back-up arm was more of a pain than she anticipated. All the ship had in storage were spare GINN parts and given the short amount of time—plus lack of equipment—they weren't able to wire any sort of cannon into the palm. Understandable but a bit unnerving as well. She had come to rely on that weapon as of late.

"Anti-air defense, stand by."

"Bring fire control online!"

The rest of the Stealth was relatively easy to manage. The HiMat system and battery damage were repaired quickly thanks to Eclipse's help, and—because of the extra person—the other suits were done in time as well. The only downside was, none of them had gotten a proper rest.

"Sound alarm!"

"Surfacing!"

No sense in worrying about that now, Eclipse thought, having way too much adrenaline pumping to even think about sleep. Besides, the Berserker was way too excited. She had let her other half take over as soon as she climbed into the cockpit. At first, she was weary about the decision, but the Berserker's enthusiasm calmed her a bit.

Yes, it was time to get serious.

The sun was rising when the four of them launched, but no one seemed to be bothered by the sudden brightness. If anything, it might help. Perhaps they would catch their enemies off guard and use the sunlight as some kind of distraction. Or, maybe, the crew would be too sluggish to respond right away.

Well, it was a hopeful proposition, but not entirely realistic.

The three others landed on their Guuls, taking a second to adjust before heading off towards the coming shadow in the distance. The Stealth followed closely behind, Eclipse having to make some last second adjustments to the HiMat system before it was able to fly smoothly. Athrun made some worried comment about it, but the Berserker cut him off, telling him—in not so many words—to butt out and concentrate on destroying the enemy. He didn't say much after that.

The two armies immediately began their shooting fest as soon as they came in range of each other. The Strike was positioned on the rear deck, firing at the Guuls as they flew by. So far, the Zala team's large amount of luck was holding fast, nothing hitting anything vital on either the mobile suits or their transportation. Actually, that was a good thing on many levels. It meant they had a chance in taking down the ship if the Strike wasn't at his full potential and the ZAFT redcoats were taking the fight seriously enough to evade anything coming at either direction.

Perhaps there was hope after all.

Dearka let loose a barrage from his rifle, showering the outside of the Archangel just below the bridge. The armor, unfortunately, sustained little damage, causing a scowl to appear on the blonde's face. After all the hard work they had been doing, he figured one of them would be able to penetrate the ship's superb defenses, but so far the battle was turning out like any other one. And, much like the other fights, the annoying Skygrasper came to fire at him first.

Eclipse was thinking about their losing predicament as well when she was forced to the left to avoid the Archangel's Gottfrieds. No matter how serious her team had gotten, their enemies were still very good. The beams shot harmlessly by, dissipating in the air as the Stealth made a straight path towards the giant cannon. Those things were dangerous and while disabling them may not turn the battle directly in their favor, it would help. Well, by this point anything would help.

The Igelstellungs aimed and fired at the Berserker as she neared, forcing her suit to veer to the left in order to avoid the attack. The movement took her a little off course, but stopping and spinning in the air put her right next to the port side Gottfried. Already aimed in her direction, the cannon glowed green as it prepared to fire. Eclipse smirked and reached around her back for a beam rifle, sending two shots down into the barrels. Cutting her thrusters, she dropped towards the water before the Igelstellungs could start another deadly barrage. Smiling to herself, she saw the cannon explode and sped off to a safe distance when her sensors picked up the port side Valiant locking onto her position.

Looking for the others, the Berserker let out a quick laugh when she saw them adding similar damage to the ship. Perhaps her worrying had been foolish after all.

Taking another second to assess the situation, Eclipse saw the Duel attacking the Strike near the rear deck. It looked like a fairly even match and, laughing again, she saw Yzak gain the upper hand and force the Strike out of the air and back onto the ship. As much as she wanted to join in on that fight, she figured it was Yzak's time to have his go. After all, the Berserker had had her fun a few times before and no matter how bruised her ego was, taking down the Archangel was a perfectly good consolation prize.

Dearka had the Skygrasper occupied and since the Strike was battling the Duel, it was a perfect opportunity for Athrun and Eclipse to sink the ship. "Stealth, I'm gonna take out the levitator and perhaps a rear engine. Mind keeping them distracted?"

"Roger that," the Berserker responded, speeding back towards the ship. She rounded over to the defenseless port side once more, managing to damage two of the Igellstellungs on the deck before the Archangel launched its side missiles. Pulling backwards on the controls, the Stealth did a flip to avoid the first two missiles aiming for her legs. They scooted harmlessly under the suit, crashing against the water and skipping wildly to hit some rocks on a nearby island. Three more she shot from the sky and the others she evaded easily enough. Done with that waltz, she sped back towards the ship just as Athrun's attacks damaged its levitator and sent it plummeting to the water's surface.

Smiling again, Eclipse landed on the small island nearby, catching her breath and evaluating the situation. The Archangel was down for now, meaning limited use of its weaponry and an easy target for the ZAFT redcoats. Dearka was still preoccupied with the Skygrasper, managing a few hits here and there on the damaged ship, but nothing serious. Athrun was assessing the battle like she was, hovering a safe distance from the Archangel as he tried to come up with a new plan of action. The Berserker smirked at that, wondering what he was going to order her to do. Destroy an engine? Attempt to break into the ship's hanger—since most of the front weaponry was damaged—and have some fun? Or maybe he'd send her directly to the bridge and just finish it quickly.

Each plan was better than the last.

Feeling a fit of laughter build up in her stomach, she gripped the controls tighter, trying to calm herself back down. She couldn't go insane from relief just yet because neither the Strike nor the Archangel were destroyed. No one was avenged just yet. Speaking of the Strike, Eclipse thought, scanning the air for the fight between the Duel and that dreaded suit. She didn't think she could've lost sight of them so easily, but seeing nothing show up on her screen and hearing no victory call form Yzak made her a bit nervous about the situation. The Duel wasn't destroyed—she wouldn't have missed something like that—so, where were they? "Athrun, do you have a visual of—" The Berserker stopped, seeing the Strike out of the corner of her eye as it jumped at her from the right.

Pulling the beam rifle—still in her hand—up to block, she jumped backwards just as the Strike cut through the weapon and landed. Panicking for a moment, she wondered what had happened to the Duel. It wasn't in the air, there was a lot of debris in the water—"No," she spat, shaking the thought out of her head.

The Strike had started his attack while she was arguing with herself, running at her with his beam saber in his right hand. Flicking a switch on the console, the Stealth's red beam saber dropped into her right hand, allowing her to bring it up in time to parry the attack. Pushing the blades out wide, she let loose a barrage of CIWS bullets, spitting the little annoyances at her enemy's cameras, hoping to blind him. Some of the bullets hit around the area, but the Strike had brought his shield up to block the rest of the attack before it could do any more damage. Cursing, Eclipse tried to bring her blade back around, but her enemy blocked that one too, forcing her suit off balance and tumbling to the ground. She ignited her boosters at the last second to try and avoid serious damage, but the Strike was falling with her, slamming its left leg down onto the Berserker's right arm and pinning her to the ground.

Throwing the shield to the side, the Strike grabbed his saber in both hands, brought the blade over his head, and then pulled it down towards the Stealth. Eclipse reached across her body to pull out the blue beam saber, blocking the Strike's downward chop before it could do any serious damage to the Stealth. If the weapon had been spring-loaded like the one in her other arm—and if the Strike hadn't have been standing on her right hand—she may have been quick enough to block and counterattack. But since the only spare left arm that could be quickly connected to her machine had been found in a pile of GINN parts, the saber was placed at the Stealth's hip. Perhaps the Strike's lunge at her right side had been planned after all.

Her suit whined as the pressure built, making the Berserker inside sweat as her enemy's blade came dangerously close to the cockpit. If she could push the blade up and away, she'd be free, but given the circumstance, it was going to be a tricky move. The Strike had all of its weight on her right arm and shoulder, leaving her with no leverage and practically no mobility. However, his positioning had also thrown him a little off balance. While that was hard to tell from the power in his attack, Eclipse spared a glance at his right leg. Bent awkwardly to the side, it was stabilized in between the Stealth's legs and one quick swipe could send him toppling over. The only problem was, what about the blade? Knowing it was a risk she had to take, the Berserker curled her right foot up, unsheathed the knife in the toes and kicked inward. The attacked hit the Strike right behind the kneecap, grazing the metal.

The kick didn't do much damage—it was too hard of an angle to get a perfect shot—but it caused enough of a distraction to shove her enemy's attack out and to the left. Despite all of that, however, she was still in a very defensive position. If the Strike pilot was smart, he wouldn't panic and jump back. All he had to do was bring his saber back up and attack again.

But the Berserker understood humanity too well.

The Strike pilot did panic and jumped into the air, firing an array of bullets at her as he ascended. Bringing up her buckler, she deflected most of the attack and let her suit handle the rest as she rolled out of the way. Knowing her armor wasn't as powerful as the Phase Shift kind her comrades had, she guessed another attack like that would get her killed.

Such a pleasant thought.

"Right arm 78 percent functional. Outer armor still in tact, but you're lucky to be alive, dumbass."

The last comment the Stealth made caused Eclipse to hesitate for moment. When the hell did that thing get so sassy? Deciding to contemplate her machines obnoxious personality another time, she watched the Strike land about fifty meters from her current position. As soon as its feet touched the ground, it leapt towards her, apparently ready for more sword play. "78 percent is still a good number," the Berserker muttered. Blocking his forward thrust upward with her left hand, she ducked low and pulled the red blade upward. The attack should have been fool proof, but the Strike's reflexes were quicker than she anticipated. At the last second, her enemy ignited his boosters and sped off to her left. The red blade seared through some straggling fingers, but seeing as the rest of the suit was in good shape, the Strike wasn't about to miss the tip of his left middle finger. Cursing, she spun around to face him. He stopped quite a ways away, almost collapsing on his damaged leg when he set back down.

Perfect.

The Berserker smirked, dropped her left blade to the ground and drew out an EARP Dagger at her hip. Going more for the effect then for the damage, she threw it in the Strike's direction. As planned, her enemy threw up his shield, stumbling backwards when the dagger exploded and sent the pathetic defense falling to the ground in a mangled heap. Eclipse had lunged at the Strike as soon as she let loose the dagger, swerving to the right to fly in at the defenseless side. Being so preoccupied with the shield, the Strike didn't have time to evade the attack like he had all the others. Bringing his right arm up in defense, he attempted to block the Berserk's slash, but could only watch helplessly as the beam cut through the armor and graze past the cockpit during its decent.

She had him.

Eclipse was going to pull the blade back across her body and cut the Strike in two when she realized he wasn't as helplessly watching the show as she had first thought. The Strike pivoted with the blow, having pulled a combat dagger from its left leg and aimed the blade directly at the Stealth's head. Cursing, the Berserker tried ducking under the attack, but she had seen it too late. The blade cut into the Stealth's temple, but didn't go as far as Eclipse thought it would. Sure, the blow would have crippled her suit, but she still had the upper hand so she was willing to give him that one attack. Besides, she had a good counter, but the Aegis decided to step in. Or at least that's what she deduced from the red hand stopping the attack.

The Stealth's cameras flickered sporadically as Athrun pulled out the dagger and shoved the Strike aside. However, her radio was working just fine. "You've done enough, Eclipse. It's my turn."

"Your turn?" the Berserker asked, sounding quite amused with the order. "What, we have a time limit now or something?"

"My friend, my kill. It's only fair, right? After all, I'm not about to go and kill off the friend who betrayed you now am I?"

Eclipse hated it when he was trying to be reasonable.

The Strike stood motionless across from them, most likely trying to deduce what their plan was as well as figure out how much damage his suit had sustained. Knowing the Aegis was practically unscathed, the Strike pilot couldn't have felt too optimistic.

The Berserker watched her enemy carefully going back and forth from him to Athrun as if deciding between duty and revenge. It was a very tough decision, but seeing as the flickering cameras were already making her sick, she didn't think she could hold out much longer anyway. As long as the Strike was destroyed, it didn't really matter who did it, right? "Fine, but I'm stepping back in if you're screwing things up."

Eclipse could hear the smile on his lips when he responded, "Yes, ma'am." Shaking out of his grip, she retreated to different—but still close—island to get a damage report before going to help out Dearka with the Archangel. As soon as she landed in a relatively safe position she shut off the cameras and—no matter how risky it was—opened the cockpit in order to watch the battle. "Coffee Addict, damage report."

"Right arm still 78 percent functional, thruster output at 54 percent, and battery at 25 percent. Cameras at 30 percent visibility," it responded obediently, almost making the Berserker forget about the attitude problem it was having earlier. That was definitely something she would have to check up on later. A lightning bolt streaked across the sky as the evaluations continued, causing Eclipse to glance away from the swordplay and upwards to the clouds. She couldn't believe she had missed such and obvious display of an angry Mother Nature. This storm might hurt their team more than anything. And if they were forced to retreat…. "Stealth, what's your position?" Dearka asked, bringing the Berserker back to the battle.

"I'm right next to the Aegis and Strike battle. Currently my cameras are damaged, but might be of some help to you. There's just a few adjustments needed to be made to my OS and then I'm headed your way. How're you faring?"

"I'm doing all right, but don't know how much assistance you're gonna be without good visual."

A curse followed the statement and Eclipse wished she could see his battle. As it was, she was afraid to try the cameras again until she could finish her adjustments. "The Duel?"

"Fell into the ocean and picked up. The ship's helping me as much as it can, but…" He trailed off and the Berserker nodded to herself.

"I'll be there as quickly as I can." Even damaged she knew how formidable the Archangel crew was. She had to get over there fast.

Glancing up from her work, she watched the battle between Athrun and the Strike. They were exchanging blow for blow and neither of them looked to be gaining the upper hand. That could be both a good thing and a bad one. She knew the Aegis's battery had to be running low—from using his beam rifle so much—and if the fight went on any longer, he may not last. That thought made her freeze. Should she stay and keep an eye on Athrun then? Didn't she say she'd jump in if anything happened? After all, one flick of a switch and her battery would be fully charged again. But what about Dearka and the rest of her team? She couldn't just leave them either, no matter how little of help she would be with her remaining beam rifle. Damn it, she cursed, glancing quickly through the OS and making some changes.

"Cameras only functioning at 52 percent," the mechanical voice said. "You would still be of little help to anyone."

"Shut the hell up!" Eclipse yelled, not even grasping the concept that she was arguing with a computer. "I can see more than I could before, can't I?" Suddenly, an explosion outside sent a strong wind, some small debris, and heavy raindrops racing through the cockpit's open doorway. The Berserker cowered away from the blast and ran out onto the cockpit door as soon as it subsided. The Aegis and Strike were still battling, so where had the explosion come from? Cursing, Eclipse wished she hadn't been arguing with her machine and not being able to hear the transmission between the two pilots only made things worse. The mobile suits stood on the ground motionless for a few seconds until, suddenly, they started attacking each other recklessly. The Strike had gained the upper hand right away and looking at his movements, the Berserker whistled quietly. They were different; very different. She had seen these moves before in the desert when Commander Waltfeld had thought him a Berserker. Eclipse had decided then the boy wasn't but judging by the frantic—but still deliberate—movements, she knew he was pretty damn close.

And then the Aegis started doing the same thing.

"What the hell—" she started, but never finished, hearing another call from Dearka.

"Stealth, where—" The transmission cut off and before Eclipse could step inside to respond, a more powerful explosion rattled her suit and sent her flying back into her seat.

Eclipse wasn't entirely sure what had happened. One minute she was admiring the battle between the Aegis and the Strike and the next minute she had a huge bump on the back of her head; a throbbing, migraine-making bump that caused her to let out a string of curses in frustration. The Stealth hadn't moved from its position, still kneeling across from the island where the two mobile suits had been fighting. Rubbing the back of her head once more, she shifted into a sitting position and closed the cockpit. How long had she been out? Should she retreat? But where could she go? Back to a ship she wasn't sure was still there? Should she just run away? When had the battle ended?

Did it end?

The HiMat wings were out of commission again, frustrating the Berserker more than anything when she realized the explosion may have forced the suit back against the rocks. Yes, it was a new program, but shouldn't the kinks be out of it by now? There went optimism down the hole again. The battery was dead, but the simple flick of a switch activated the HFC-EPR, restoring the power with a moaning noise edging on a scream.

"St..th, do…copy?"

The transmission barely came through, almost causing Eclipse to miss it entirely. However, she caught the end and responded. "Stealth here, what's the situation?"

"You sh…ow more…us," it responded.

Frustrated, the Berserker made a few adjustments. "The Stealth's all right, just can't fly. Give me your coordinates and I can meet you under water." They muttered off the sequence as Eclipse relayed them to her earpiece.

"We have the Duel, but lost contact with the Buster and the Aegis. Do you have a visual?"

Hearing the Buster was gone made her curse and the bit about the Aegis didn't help either. She had just been watching that fight and Athrun had had the upper—

Hand.

Not a human one, thankfully, but definitely one from a mobile suit. It sat roughly one kilometer from her position, looking like a decomposed skeleton as it lay there stripped of its metal and half of it dangling in the water. Scrambling over to the island where the fight had taken place, she cringed when her screen hissed as it moved to get a better picture. Apparently, her adjustments hadn't done much good. As she moved the cameras, she saw more debris, but too much to be from a single unit. Had both suits gone down? Panicking, she zoomed in on one piece in particular and felt herself go faint.

The Aegis's head.

There was no mistaking it—Eclipse had seen that mobile suit enough to recognize any deformed part of it—but how she wanted it to be something different. A large hunk of metal lay reclining on the beach, looking to be the torso and legs of a mobile suit. Unlike the head, this part could've been from either prototype, making the redhead sweat with the idea. The paint and outer frame was burning from the skeleton, making it a melting prison to anyone trapped inside; if someone was still inside. Moving to a better position, she peered down into the open cockpit.

She couldn't even scream.

The seat was melted away, the fabric looking like skin residue stretching across the jagged pieces of metal. Or was it skin? The color made her sick—although, the lack of blood helped her keep a positive outlook on the situation—and the smell emitted from the hole made her go pale. There was no confirmation it was the Aegis, but the parts littering the scene proved that suit was involved.

And probably destroyed.

"Stealth, we're getting reports of movement detected in Orb. They seem to be heading in your direction. Return to the ship." There was a pause on the other end when she didn't respond. "Stealth!"

Eclipse just stared at the open cockpit, her panicking mind imagining Athrun's form sizzling there like some abandoned piece of meat. This can't be happening. Had her rampage and anger led to this? Had she pushed him so hard he'd even risk his life to destroy the Strike?

"Stealth!"

Now, she screamed.

Yzak was waiting for her in the hangar when the Stealth docked. He had a bandage wrapped around his forehead, but other than that, looked to be okay physically. The same could be said about Eclipse. For the most part, there was nothing wrong with her. She could walk, move her arms, and even play a concerto if she knew how to, but there was a dead look in her eyes. The same kind of look that was mirrored in Yzak's. "What did you see?" he asked.

"The Aegis is destroyed and possibly the Strike," she replied immediately, stepping down from the lift and holding her helmet under her arm.

"And Athrun?" The redhead shook her head and Yzak cursed softly. The tone surprised Eclipse at first, but remembering the Buster's predicament, she just felt miserable. No doubt, he had no more energy to be either angry or sad. There was just too much going on for them to even wrap their minds around let alone attempt to explain.

"Any news about Dearka?"

Yzak didn't respond, answering the question with silence and this time allowing the redhead a moment for cursing. Although, hers was a bit more frantic. "Damn it all! Are you fucking kidding me? All of them? All of them gone?" Yelling, she punched her helmet on the hangar floor, collapsing to a sitting position as she focused all of her energy on that act alone. "What had gone wrong? We finally destroy the Strike just to lose everyone? Is this supposed to be some damn victory?"

"To some people it may seem that way," Yzak muttered, sitting down beside the redhead. Despite the dangerous pounding of the helmet, he sat close to her, almost as if he was going to comfort his comrade, but just not knowing how to. Then again, perhaps he was the one who needed comforting. Either way, it was a sad sight. Not even the mechanics knew what to do, so they just left them alone. Commander Le Creuset had ordered them back to Carpentaria and they'd have plenty of time to work on the mobile suits then.

The two sat in silence, neither wanting to bring up any kind of painful memory. Actually, Eclipse was surprised she wasn't crying. Pounding her helmet into the floor hadn't made her feel any better, but—she realized—there wasn't anything there to feel better about. Out of all the pilots, she was sure Athrun's death was going to cause her the most pain. Adding Dearka's disappearance to the mix didn't help matters, but she felt nothing. She couldn't even be sad about feeling nothing. Perhaps it was just another twist of her psyche. All these deaths at once had just been too much for her. That had to be it. Or had her mind simply gotten used to it? Back at the facility, she had cried at her first kill; she had been hysterical actually. But after a while, she had gotten used to it. No longer had it churned her stomach and she could even do horrific things without feeling any kind of remorse. Was this the same? Had her mind gotten used to the idea of not only killing people, but of those she loved getting killed? Could someone evolve like that?

Was it even fair for that to happen?

In mere hours, mostly everyone she had relied on had left in some shape or form. Was that enough of a shock to push her psyche towards stoic remission? Had she really stopped believing or caring?

"I have a feeling we're going to be in the way here pretty quick," Yzak remarked, leaning back against the foot of the Stealth.

"Yeah," Eclipse replied softly.

"I really don't want to move though."

"Me neither," she admitted, leaning back next to him and watching the various mechanics running around. Even with so many people, they both felt strangely lonely.

They had yet to make it to Carpentaria. In fact, there was at least another twenty-four hours until they even came in sight of the base. The mechanics often stared at the two sitting at the Stealth's feet, debating whether or not to force them to move or just leave them be. It must have been quite the sight though, two high-ranking pilots sitting down in a hangar against a damaged machine, seeming to ignore the various remarks from the soldiers walking by. Yzak had changed out of his pilot's suit a while ago, but Eclipse was still wearing hers, the broken helmet lying some yards away from her sitting position. She had a good softball arm.

"Uh, excuse me sir and ma'am, but we need—"

"Perhaps we've wasted enough time," the Duel pilot remarked, not even paying attention to the young mechanic addressing them.

"I think you have a point," she sighed. "Besides, there might be some news about Dearka and/or Athrun." Nodding, they helped each other up and left the hangar, Eclipse heading towards the locker room to change and Yzak going to the infirmary for fresh bandages.

They met each other a half hour later in the same spot. Both the Stealth and the Duel were being worked on as soon as the two left, the workers moving rather furiously as if expecting the redcoats to come back and keep them from making the repairs. A few groaned as Eclipse approached, debating whether or not to put down the tools in their hands. To their relief, the two pilots just ignored them.

"Ready?" Yzak asked.

"Sure; let's get some answers, shall we?"

The Duel pilot had just taken a step out of the hangar when a message from the Stealth buzzed in the redhead's ear. Involuntarily cringing—perhaps she could change the alert noise to something a little less like an ice pick to the ear drum—she reached up and pressed the button on the devise. "Coffee Addict, report."

"Repairs commencing smoothly. Personal appearance required post repairs for internal adjustments," the mechanical voice responded.

"Figured as much. Anything else?"

"One message received."

"Message?" Eclipse muttered aloud, causing Yzak to pause.

"Anything on Dearka or Athrun?" he asked.

"Give me a second," the redhead responded, returning to her conversation with the Stealth. "Coffee Addict, who sent the message?"

"A Revelin. Message sent roughly five seconds ago."

Eclipse really didn't care about when it was processed—leave it to a computer to be too literal—but who it was from was definitely interesting. Getting a message from FS made her a bit nervous, but still angry at the same time. He had the nerve to want to talk to her? Did he want to explain? Would she even listen if he did? Either way, something had to be happening. "Roger that. For now, ban access from anyone but me. I'll read it later."

"Yes, ma'am."

"Anything?" Yzak asked again.

Eclipse shook her head. "A personal message, unfortunately."

The boy sighed and started walking once more. "I still can't believe you talk to your machine," he muttered. "Maybe if we didn't only hear your side of the conversation you wouldn't look like a complete idiot."

"Where's the sense of secrecy in that? Besides, as long as you know I'm not an idiot, that works for me."

"Just me?"

"Well, I was going to say my team, but that's down to us two. Only seemed appropriate to specify."

Yzak sighed again, walking a bit fast than he had a moment ago. "Let's hope that's not the case."

"Agreed."

They found out nothing.

Both asked any and every kind of question they could think of, but received only bits and pieces of information since intelligence was still gathering it. ZAFT was attempting to do aerial surveillance of the area, waiting for Orb to leave before diving into a full investigation. Orb, staying true to its neutral state, was offering bits and pieces of information, but basically everything they were confirming, Eclipse had verified before leaving the scene. The Bozman team had been sent out with three DINNs to track down the Archangel, but was forced to turn back when they had come too close to Alaska's territory. There was no way they were going to try anything reckless in that airspace no matter how damaged their enemy was.

It was all so damn frustrating.

"I'm heading over to check on the Duel. I can't stand just sitting around doing nothing," Yzak said, ducking through another doorway. He tossed a growl and a glare at two, younger soldiers coming through the other way. The walkways were a bit cramped on that side of the ship and one had accidentally bumped into the hotheaded redcoat. Apologies were exchanged, but nothing could change his foul mood.

Eclipse just sighed as they passed by her, debating whether or not to save their hurt feelings, but ended up not caring. She was starting to approve of Yzak's methods in preserving his mental stability. Just take it out on everyone else. "I'll join you. They may need my help on the Stealth."

"Most likely," Yzak agreed, slowing when they passed another hallway. Some crewmen were laughing as they walked by, one stuffing a roll into his mouth as they all saluted each other. "Hm, I wonder if we should grab some food first," he added when they disappeared again. "We haven't eaten in a while and we should really keep—."

"Aw, worried about me?" Eclipse asked, laughing lightly when a small scowl crossed his face.

"Not worried, just thinking ahead. Jeez, do you always—"

"Calm down. I should be asking you why you always—"

"Oh just shut up. Food or no food?"

It was quite the interesting conversation and seeing as they were cutting each other off so easily, one might think they were comfortable together. Even if the words sounded rather harsh, they really weren't angry, just annoyed at the situation. Mutual irritation usually called for some harmless bickering. "No food," the redhead responded. "Not really in the mood."

"Alright then, I'll meet you in the hangar. For some reason, I'm starved. Can't really understand it though because my stomach is churning like none other."

"Mind over matter. Your survival outweighs your nausea, apparently." Yzak shrugged and turned the corner as Eclipse continued forward.

The Stealth was standing idle next to the Duel as anticipated, a couple mechanics fiddling around with some equipment at its feet. Taking a quick glance at her suit, she half expected more people to be standing around trying to fix it, but she found that wasn't the case. Most of the mechanics weren't even present and there were only two others working on the Duel. Apparently, they were going to save most of the repairs for when they got back to Carpentaria. Deciding it was a good decision, she walked over to her machine, hopped onto a lift and rode it to the open cockpit. "Coffee Addict, message unlocked," she commanded, sitting down in the seat. "Open folder."

"Affirmative."

Pulling the keyboard onto her lap, she stared calmly at the screen. Ironically, she didn't feel the least bit nervous about opening the message. Perhaps, she didn't expect there to be of any good news, so there was no use to get worked up over nothing. Sighing, she read the address and caught her breath. "Lexi." Usually, her real name never bothered her—why should it?—but staring at it so blatantly on the page made her cringe. Maybe she would never get used to seeing it. Taking an extra moment to check on the mechanics below, she looked back at the screen and began reading.

Lexi,

I want to speak to you, alone, one last time. You're stationed at Carpentaria so I'll set up a meeting spot near there. There's a movie theater about a half hour from the base called the Peacemillion Cinemas. Meet me there at sundown on the 18th.

Revelin

A cinema near base was rather convenient for her, seeing as that was where they were headed. Only problem was, the ship would be arriving after the scheduled rendezvous and she planned on doing some surveillance work before she and FS talked. There was no reason she was going to go there without knowing the terrain just in case she had to make some kind of getaway. Being in a public place meant there would be an assortment of cars she could easily steal if she needed to get away fast and with so many witnesses hanging around, her old friend may not try to kill her. Well, maybe. She had no idea what to think when it came to that guy anymore.

Reading the note again, she glanced around the hangar and nodded when she saw a personal chopper she could take. She had to get back to base quicker than the ship, but couldn't just cruise around the continent in a military aircraft. It would just cause some unwanted attention to herself and how would she explain she just happened to leave it behind if she had to make a quick getaway? No, she'd drop it off at the base and then take a taxi from there.

Eclipse read the note one last time before having the Stealth pull up Namarra's IP address. He wanted her alone? Well, only to a certain extent.

A/N: Alright everyone, this is one half of the chapter. Just what you wanted to here, huh? See, I took the "epic' thing seriously and just kept writing. I'll be posting the second half here pretty quick—in maybe about a week—and give people time to read and respond. So, yes, it ends on a semi-cliffhanger, sorry.

Oh, and I was surprised to see how long I made the battle. Yes, yes, not as long as most of my awesome friends reading this, but—hey—I tried. I think it's…3,500… O.o Alright, so it's not that much, but I had fun beating up the Strike. If Athrun hadn't have stepped in, Kira Yamato would be dead, hands down. But because he had to pull a moral decision, Athrun ended up self-destructing and sending everyone else into emotional turmoil. Way to go; plus one for stupidity.

*Types away* *Backspace* *Types* *Backspace* Gah! There's so much I want to talk about, but a lot of it's in the second half! I can't spoil it for you guys!

Yes, I promised some Yzak and Eclipse cuteness. There's some semi-cute stuff here, but there's a little bit more in the second half. Like I mentioned in my last note, I'm not very good at it. Sorry. I'll try harder next time alright?

I also promised some epic-ness with Namarra and the Lust girls. That's in the second half as well. Woot!

Name that Gundam Reference! Peacemillion Theaters is from:

a) Gundam 00

b) Zeta Gundam

c) G-Gundam

d) Gundam Wing

e) Gundam 8th MS Team

Heh, Betas don't count because I know you all know! :P

Oh! Death-Scimitar and I started a forum. I'm not sure how many of you have checked out my user profile, but there are a bunch of "Anime Awards." We name voice actors, characters, Anime and Manga as well, but we're running out of ideas. Feel free to join in and vote for a favorite—well—anything Anime-related. We'd love anyone's input and even though we've seen/read a lot, we haven't seen/read everything. Check it out!

And I can't forget the shout out to my Betas, Death-Scimitar, CSSStravag, and Maderfole. They're some of the few people who have put up with my insanity and actually encouraged it. I'm not sure if it's a wise thing to do, but so far none of them have been severely injured in the process of writing this story.

Questions/Gripes:

Asmus: I was a bit on the edge how I wanted to start the chapter. I did want a huge squabble in Orb, but there would have been so many other complications. Cagalli would've recognized Eclipse, their cover would've been blown, getting out of orb may've been a pain—there were just way too many things that could've gone wrong. I probably should've made the transition a bit clearer. And, yes, I realized I messed up on that one part with the Skygrasper and thank you for pointing it out. I can always count on you for stuff like that, so thank you so much!

OrangeP47: What I meant by the "finding" of Namarra was he gave her the false information. Seeing as SIN-ED has close ties with the Earth Forces, he could get her the info easily.

Rickrolled: I can always count on you to see the grammatical errors. I try to get as many as I can and my Betas do an awesome job, but sometimes the mind fills in the blank spots in sentences. I'm getting away from using the word "that" because it is the number one clutter word in the English language, but—after reading the chapter again—I noticed I did miss some. Thanks again!

A huge thank you to all who read and reviewed! You guys keep me opening this document and typing words in it every day. Without you guys, I'd still be on chapter one and debating whether or not to make this a story.

Strata