None of this is mine.

Banadiya, Andrew Waltfeld's headquarters

Yzak Joule was in a foul mood. Not exactly unusual for him, to be sure, but this was worse than usual. Despite repeated attempts, they'd still failed to take down the "Legged Ship" and its Nergal counterpart. The Strike had more than once humiliated their entire team. And to top it off, he, Dearka, Nicol, and Miguel had been forced to descend to Earth and work with the occupation forces.

Pretty much his definition of a bad day.

"No help for it," Nicol said in response to his complaining. "We still have to take those ships down. Commander Le Creuset is reporting to the Council about Heliopolis, and Athrun's–"

"Don't even say it," Yzak grumbled. "We're here to take out the legged ship, and that's what we're going to do."

Dearka sneezed. "Yeah, if we can find 'em. Dammit, there's sand in my mouth."

"That's the desert's way of saying 'hi'," their temporary CO interjected. "Welcome to Banadiya. I'm Andrew Waltfeld."

The famous Desert Tiger. They'd all heard stories about him, about how he'd repeatedly thrashed the UEFA in direct combat, and done well even against the Jovian Lizards and those alien monsters. Surprisingly laid-back, certainly not like the warrior Yzak had been expecting.

"You'd be the guys from the Le Creuset team, eh?" Waltfeld went on, eying the three Gundams. "Impressive machines, I admit. They're a lot like his unit."

Yzak gritted his teeth, the reminder of the Strike hitting a nerve. "How does it perform under gravity?"

Waltfeld smiled. "Better than you'd expect, really. It's a solid machine, and the pilot's something else." His smile thinned at Yzak's expression. "Don't underestimate him, Joule. And don't forget that he isn't alone. Those two ships may have split up, but that doesn't make the legged ship helpless."

Yeah, whatever. "As long as we get a chance at them, I don't care."

"That much I can promise you," Waltfeld assured him. "Follow me. I'll brief you guys on the situation."

Archangel, cafeteria

One upside to their ill-fated supply run was better food aboard ship. While still not up to Akito's standards, the local cuisine was a huge step up from the bland military rations they'd been forced to subsist on. Even Ensign Badgiruel had admitted that much.

Toya's mind wasn't on the food, however. He kept replaying the visit to Waltfeld's HQ in his mind; though not a Coordinator himself, the Tiger's words struck closer to home than he would have liked. Like Kira, he'd wanted nothing to do with the war, and now he was stuck with it.

Nicol, does this mean I'll have to fight you someday?

A few seats away, Kira was similarly picking at his food. No mystery there; the Strike pilot had been visibly unnerved by what Waltfeld had said. Doubtless the matter of Athrun Zala was also weighing heavily on his mind, and their vow to show no mercy should they meet again in battle.

"You guys really should eat up," Mu said, pulling up a chair. "Never a good idea to go into combat on an empty stomach."

"The man has it right," Tenia agreed. She, of course, was on her third helping. "Hey, he was right," she added, ignoring the scathing look Cagalli shot her. "This stuff really is good with yogurt sauce!"

Mu raised an eyebrow. "Who was right?"

"Andrew Waltfeld," Kira said, speaking for the first time. "He and Cagalli got into an argument about sauces just before the Blue Cosmos attack."

"That so?" Mu took a sip of his drink. "My advice, kid, forget about him. When you're fighting against someone you know personally, it's an awful lot harder."

Kira had no reply, but the look on his face spoke volumes. He was thinking, Toya knew, not of Waltfeld but Athrun. Not something he could just forget.

"It's not that easy, Lieutenant," Simone put in. "Kira has a friend in ZAFT, just like Eiji knows Gale."

Mu shrugged. "There's no easy answer, I admit, but the fact is we're in a fight for our lives here. And not just ours; there's the civilians we took off the Nadesico, too."

Something that had been weighing on Toya's mind ever since he transferred; it was one of the reasons he'd gone along with Prospector's scheme in the first place. The desire to protect, he was finding, could be a very powerful motivator indeed.

"Where's Eiji?" he asked, hoped to change the subject.

No such luck. "He's been keeping to himself," Simone told him. "I think what Waltfeld said hit him hard."

Nice. "Guess I can't blame him," Toya conceded, remembering Mars and Gale. He looked at the Colony Gundam pilots. "What about you guys? You're all from space."

Heero, unsurprisingly, didn't answer. "It's like I told you when we left for Mars, none of us really trust ZAFT," Duo said. "Well, maybe Wufei does, but who knows what he's thinking."

Toya started to reply, paused at the sound of coughing. With a sense of weary resignation, he looked to his right. Sure enough, Tenia had been eating too fast, and was paying the price for it. Several gulps of water and a few smacks on the back from Katia later, her airway was clear.

"The food isn't going anywhere, Tenia," Katia said, exasperated.

Almost the entire room erupted in laughter, and even Heero cracked a faint smile. Though still uneasy, Toya had to admit the release made him feel a bit better. Tenia's expression of downright comical outrage helped; she was glaring at everyone more or less equally.

"Oh, shut up," she grumbled.

Archangel, bridge

It was almost time to move. Repair and resupply (insofar as the latter had been possible) was complete, and aside from Kira and Eiji the crew was more relaxed than they'd been since Heliopolis. Murrue was starting to feel as though they might pull it off after all.

Naturally, a new complication had to arise right then. "Captain, we're picking up a comm signal," Kuzzey said. He frowned, listening intently to his earpiece. "I think it's a distress signal, ma'am."

Murrue looked up. "A distress signal? From where?"

"Checking." Kuzzey's frown deepened as he tried to pin down the signal. "A city four kilometers to the east," he said.

The bridge hatch slid open. "I know that city," Cagalli said, having arrived just in time to overhear. She moved to the comm station, peering over Kuzzey's shoulder. "Yeah, practically covered with Radam trees. It was abandoned weeks ago. Quatre?"

"She's right," Sandrock's pilot confirmed. "I've fought Radam beasts there a few times."

"Yet we're receiving a distress call," Natarle murmured. "Captain, in my opinion this is likely a trap."

"It could be someone on the run from ZAFT or the Radam," Quatre offered. "Someone with nowhere else to go."

Murrue pursed her lips. Both had a point, she realized. On the one hand, Natarle was certainly correct that a distress call from a Radam forest of all places was likely to be a ruse. On the other, it was possible someone had indeed sought refuge there, and gotten in over his head.

"We'll send a scouting party," she said after a moment. "Since the Radam are involved one way or another, D-Boy and the Blue Earth will go, along with the SPT squad, Toya, and Gundam Sandrock. Kira, Lieutenant La Flaga, and Lieutenant Merquise will remain to guard the ship, along with Heero and Duo."

Quatre gave her a brief nod. "I can handle things; this is what Sandrock was designed for."

"Be careful," Murrue cautioned him. "Under the circumstances, I will be very much surprised if you don't encounter the Radam, and we're still closer to Waltfeld's base than I would like."

"I understand."

Murrue looked back into CIC. "In the meantime, set level two battlestations. With both ZAFT and the Radam so close, we'll be luckier than we have any right to expect if we get through without a fight."

"Understood, ma'am," Natarle confirmed.

More uneasy than she cared to admit, Murrue turned to begin preparations. As she listened to the status reports coming in, part of her mind wandered. With the unusually intense N-jammer interference, there was no way to know the Nadesico's status, and she was more than a little worried about their civilian allies.

Well. Yurika Misumaru had taken the Nadesico to mars and back with a mere two casualties, so she could undoubtedly handle herself. It was up to Murrue to do the same.

Radam-infested city

It was hard to believe they were in a desert, D-Boy reflected grimly. The damned Radam trees had choked off everything, rendering the city uninhabitable. An odd choice for someone to take refuge, granted, but sometimes there weren't any good options. Not that he believed it for an instant; the touch on his mind was proof enough that Ensign Badgiruel was right. It was a trap.

"Hard to believe anyone would be hiding here," Katia remarked, shivering. D-Boy didn't blame her; it gave him the creeps, too.

"Sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do," Noal said. "Pretty crazy, though."

That was an understatement. Anyone who would seek refuge in a Radam forest was either foolish or suicidal. Or, in this case, not what he seemed to be.

"I'll go in alone," D-Boy said. Yes, alone was best.

Noal lifted an eyebrow. "What, you think it's all good?"

D-Boy shook his head. "It'll be easier if I'm on my own." No one else to be concerned about.

"Well, fine," Noal said, shrugging. "It's not like I'm worried about you or anything."

"Turn your locator beacon on," Aki said, giving Noal a look of strained patience. "Make sure to keep in contact."

Probably didn't matter, but part of him appreciated the concern. "Roger that."

"Hey, if you do find the guy, don't turn into a Tekkaman right in front of him," Noal added. "You'd probably scare him off. What?" he said when Aki gave him a scathing look. "It's true!"

"You, he'd probably think you're some kind of monster," Roanne agreed. "Best to avoid that if you can."

He'd be right, D-Boy thought, hiking into the twisted forest. I'm a monster. A monster with a purpose, though. A purpose that, whatever else happened, he needed to fulfill.

Navigating the Radam forest was easier than he expected. He encountered no hostility, and the path was remarkably clear. Given whose presence he sensed ahead, he had the distinct feeling the supposed refugee was in fact herding him along.

Fine, he thought. If that's how you want it.

Sure enough, as he emerged onto a desolate street, he saw a human figure leaning against a wrecked car. The other man was slightly shorter than he, with a square build and short, light green hair. His most notable features, however, were his eyes, gleaming an unnatural red.

The man showed no surprise at D-Boy's appearance. "Hmm, so you're alone?"

"Fritz," D-Boy said.

Fritz had been his friend once, before the Radam came. Not as close as Goddard, but they'd had some fun together. Thinking of those days gave D-Boy a sharp pang deep inside, which he quickly shook off. The past was the past, this was the present, and Fritz. . . .

Fritz was the enemy.

"Heh, my old name!" the other said, smiling. "Something else better left in the past, right, Blade?"

D-Boy's eyes narrowed. "The signal was yours?"

"That's right," Fritz said with a smirk. "I knew you were onboard the human ship, and that you would come running at any distress call." His hand came up, holding a red crystal. "This place will be your grave, traitor! TEK SETTER!"

Green armor. Eyes that glowed red. A bow and arrow the could be split into a pair of wicked-looking knives. The stuff of nightmares.

"Tekkaman Dagger!" Dagger's voice had a definite sneer in it. "You won't escape this time, Blade! Interference Spectrum, activate!"

D-Boy was undeterred. "That's my line, Dagger! TEK SETTER!" He set himself, but instead of the rush of power, a wave of searing pain ripped through his body. "Arrrgh!"

Dagger laughed. "Surprised, Blade? Thanks to the Interference Spectrum devices scattered throughout this city, attempting to Tek Set will only disperse the energy, causing you great pain in the process." His bow slowly rose. "Don't think your death will be easy, traitor!"

Damn! With no other options, D-Boy ran, dodging energy arrows. He clicked his comm unit on. "Everyone, listen to me! This was a trap; Tekkaman Dagger is here! He has some kind of interference device that is preventing me from Tek Setting, but if I get out of the city I should be beyond the effect."

Something exploded mere meters away, sending him tumbling, the comm flying out of his hand.

"D-Boy!" Aki called frantically. "D-BOY!"

"No time, Aki," Noal said, his voice tight. "Look ahead."

The sands had shifted, revealing familiar, monstrous shapes beneath the dunes. Hissing angrily, the alien creatures leaped into the air, already spitting corrosive venom.

Radam beasts, just what we don't need, Toya thought, whipping the Bellzelute around. "Katia, contact the Archangel. I've got things covered for now."

"Right," she said, already bringing up the comm. "Archangel, this is the Bellzelute, do you read?"

"Loud and clear, Katia," Miriallia said. "What's going on?"

Katia nearly bit her tongue when Toya dodged again, then blasted one of the Radam into gory chunks. "It was a trap; the distress signal was coming from Tekkaman Dagger. He's deployed some kind of devices that are preventing D-Boy from transforming; we're doing what we can to disable them, but we're also under attack by the Radam."

"Dammit." That was Ensign Badgiruel, and for once Toya couldn't disagree with her. "What's D-Boy's status?"

Toya threw the machine into a loop. "He's lost his comm, but judging by the explosions he's still alive," Katia said. "I get the impression Dagger is playing with him."

"Understood," Murrue put in. "Heero, Kira, and Lieutenant La Flaga are launching as we speak; they should be there in a few minutes. The Archangel won't be far behind them, so hold out as long as you can."

"Roger that," Toya said. Come on, D-Boy, hold on just a little longer.

They were already down one interference generator, he saw; Roanne had slagged one with his shoulder cannon, in the process vaporizing a pair of Radam unfortunate enough to be in his line of fire. Spotting another of the infernal gadgets, Toya brought up the O Rifle and selected B mode, blowing it apart.

"Two down– make that three," Noal corrected himself. Heero Yuy had arrived, and his Buster Rifle was more than enough to do the job. "How many more?"

Far too many, in Toya's opinion. If his computer's estimate was accurate, the devices covered several square kilometers. D-Boy was unlikely to get out of range before Dagger got him.

The Cytron sparked in his mind; whirling, he drilled a Radam before it could get the drop on him. Another spark, and he boosted upward, allowing Layzner to pass beneath, rifle flashing. Toya added to Eiji's fire, reducing another Interference Spectrum device to debris.

"Dammit, this is not what I signed on for," David complained. "Can anyone see D-Boy?"

Toya doubted it. There was too much alien foliage, and D-Boy was undoubtedly staying under as much cover as he could. How well that strategy would work depended on how much collateral damage Dagger was willing to accept.

"Just concentrate on taking out those interference devices," Heero said. "D-Boy can take care of himself then."

Good advice. And, wonder of wonders, there were only two left. Picking the nearer one, Toya switched to A mode. Grinning tightly, he squeezed the trigger, launching a crystalline arrow into the Radam structure. Its path was true, striking dead center and erupting in a massive explosion.

There was no need to change targets afterward. Mu La Flaga had come seemingly out of nowhere, destroying the last one with a single well-placed Agni shot.

"D-Boy!" Aki called; he'd lost his comm, but there was a good chance the Blue Earth's external speakers would reach. "That's the last one!"

For the first time since the madness started, D-Boy felt a surge of elation. He gripped the Crystal tightly, holding it up once more. "TEK SETTER!"

This time there was no wave of pain, only the surge of power he'd grown accustomed to. Dagger, he thought viciously, was in for a rude awakening.

"Tekkaman Blaaaaaade!" He spun his Tek Lance. "You won't escape this time, Dagger!"

"Damn." The other Tekkaman sounded more annoyed than anything else. "Who'd have thought those human friends of yours would be able to neutralize the field? Not that it matters." His bow straightened. "You're still dying here!"

Not happening. For perhaps the first time, Blade was grateful for some real backup. With the exception of Zechs's Leo, the UEFA mechs were quite capable of slaughtering Radam beasts, and from what he'd seen it was entirely possible Toya's enigma of a machine could fight a Tekkaman on even terms.

A Radam beast suddenly filled his vision; with a snarl, Blade sliced it in half, before hacking down at Dagger. Lance and lance/bow hybrid locked, each combatant's thrusters alight, enhanced muscles straining. They broke apart, then clashed again, then again.

"It's useless, Blade!" Dagger growled. "You're just prolonging your own death!"

"Shut up!" Blade's right foot came up in a snap kick; when Dagger evaded the attack, Blade swept his lance up and across, scoring a light hit on the other's torso. Before Dagger could recover, there was a blue flash from the right, knocking him further off-balance.

Dagger hissed in fury. "Damn you, how dare you interfere!" He got off several energy bolts, but Layzner was much too fast, and then Blade was on him again. "Bastard!"

Blade drove a fist into Dagger's armored chest, parried a stab, and shoulder-checked him into a building. Enraged, the Radam Tekkaman brought up his bow again. None of his shots were more than a graze, but it was enough to force Blade back a few meters.

"After all that, you still couldn't kill me, Blade," he said, laughing. "Now I'll— gwaah!"

A piercing beam of yellow light had struck Dagger from above and to the left; it wasn't quite enough to penetrate his armor, but it did visibly stagger him.

"You talk too much, Tekkaman Dagger," Heero said. He lowered the Buster Rifle and drew a beam saber. "I'll kill you."

Unfortunately, Dagger was too fast even for Wing Gundam. Swiftly boosting away, he gave Blade a scornful look. "Hmph, so you escape this time. It doesn't matter; you don't know it yet, but you can't fight us anymore. Killing you will be easy."

Even if he wasn't too winded to pursue, Blade would have let Dagger go. For all his focus on the Radam, he knew perfectly well that they weren't the only threat in the desert. Contrary to Noal's scoffing, he wasn't going to just abandon his new allies.

A large white shape was visible now above the twisted Radam trees; the Archangel had finally arrived. Zechs's Leo was standing on the forward deck, and the Strike just launching. There was no sign of Gundam Deathscythe, but that meant little.

"Incoming ZAFT units," Miriallia said. "Lesseps and numerous BuCUEs, GINNs, and DINNs confirmed."

Mentally cursing his people's fractious nature, Blade braced himself for the next wave.

Kira did not want to be fighting right then. Granted he'd never wanted to fight to begin with, but the fact that he'd met Andrew Waltfeld in person made things that much worse. If things had happened just bit differently, they could have been friends.

At least D-Boy was all right; with Dagger driven off, he'd moved to assist the Blue Earth. The rest of the scouting party looked all right as well; Kira was especially relieved to see Layzner and Bellzelute intact. At least something had gone right.

The staccato thud of gunfire against his armor snapped him back to the moment. Gritting his teeth, Kira squeezed the trigger, sending a dart of green energy through a DINN's torso.

No sign of Waltfeld himself yet, nor any of the stolen Gundams. There were in any case more than enough targets to go around; he had a brief glimpse of Gundam Deathscythe hacking a BuCUE in two before vanishing again. Sandrock bisected another, then jumped to clear Toya's line of fire.

Where are they? That he would be facing both Waltfeld and the Gundams (he winced at the thought of Athrun), Kira had no doubt.

The BuCUEs were bad enough. One of them lunged at the Strike, back-mounted missile launcher spitting fire. With a grunt of irritation, Kira downed a few of the missiles with his CIWS and dodged the rest, before putting a beam shot through the other mobile suit's torso at close range. It crashed to the ground behind him and exploded.

"You're ramping it up today, kid," Mu observed, his Skygrasper streaking past in pursuit of a DINN. The Agni fired once, and the DINN erupted in a fireball. A second tried to get a shot in, but Mu dodged with some kind of swoop that by rights should have been impossible with the Launcher equipped.

Kira took a double railgun blast on his shield, unwilling to waste the battery power. "No choice," he got out, his return fire blasting the ZAFT machine in half.

"Kira, juke left!" He complied without question, giving Roanne a clear shot at another missile-armed BuCUE. The SPT's shot struck the missile pod, setting the entire unit off at once.

And there it was, the land battleship Lesseps, Andrew Waltfeld's ship. Still no sign of his LaGOWE, but that meant little. Waltfeld had earned the "Desert Tiger" moniker for a reason; in all likelihood he was simply waiting for the right moment.

"Naturally, things had to get worse right then. "Additional units incoming!" Sai called. "Several more BuCUEs and DINNs, one extra GINN, Duel, Buster, and Blitz."

Dammit! Kira took some comfort that there was no sign of the Aegis, but that didn't make the battle any easier. The other Gundams were just as dangerous, even with their mobility somewhat hampered in terrestrial operations. If the pilots had earned the red uniform, they were more than capable of compensating.

Archangel, hangar/open skies

Cagalli was tired of sitting around. Contrary to what even some of those who knew the truth thought, she was a trained combat pilot, even if she lacked experience. It wasn't in her to sit back while others took the major risks; there had to be something left that she could use.

There it was, the extra Skygrasper. By some miracle (more likely simple convenience) it was already spotted for action, fully fueled and equipped with the Sword Striker pack. Perfect.

She broke into a run, nearly trampling a startled Murdoch before she reached the fighter's ladder. She scrambled up and vaulted into the cockpit, strapping herself in and beginning a hurried preflight checklist. Everything looked green.

"Hey, what do you think you're doing!?" Murdoch called from below.

"What good is this thing if it's just sitting in the hangar collecting dust?" Cagalli shot back. "Now back off if you don't want to get fried." She slapped the canopy switch, sealing herself in.

No one attempted to interfere with her launch, whether because of confusion or relief that they were getting another machine in the air, she neither knew nor particularly cared. What mattered was she was finally doing something to help.

A DINN greeted her the moment she was airborne; evidently caught off guard, the ZAFT pilot let off a couple of shotgun blasts. Smirking, Cagalli twitched her fighter left and right, easily slipping past the attack, and triggered a double burst from the Skygrasper's beam turret. The first shot melted some armor on the DINN's left leg, the second vaporized three wings, sending it plummeting to the ground.

One down.

Time to try for the big cat. A tight grin on her face, Cagalli pushed the throttle forward. Blasting apart a DINN that tried to get in the way, she dove in on the Lesseps. When she was just a few meters up, she launched the Sword pack's grappler, snagging a protrusion on the land battleship's hull. Thus secured, she dropped the anti-ship sword into position and activated the beam edge, slicing neatly through a couple of turrets before releasing the grappler.

"Nice trick, little lady," Mu said approvingly, pulling up ahead and to her left. "Let's take 'em."

A compliment from the Hawk of Endymion was certainly a confidence-builder. Cagalli slid into the wing slot without complaint; she was sufficiently well-trained to know two was better than one.

"Two DINNs incoming," Mu said. "I've got the lead, you take his buddy."

"Roger that."

Mu lit his afterburners, climbed, and dove, aiming for a classic dive-and-slash attack on the lead DINN. The Agni flashed once, splitting the machine in half before it exploded.

As the Schwert Gewehr was impractical in a maneuvering fight, Cagalli opted for more conventional weapons. Air to air missiles lit off and machine guns chattered, perforating the ZAFT machine's relatively light armor. Her beam turret fired twice, narrowly missing the battery and immolating the pilot. Reduced to a mass of unrecognizable, charred metal, the DINN plummeted to the sands below.

"Keep it up," Mu encouraged her. "Damn, there's that orange GINN again. Nobody else is in range, so it looks like he's ours."

Fine with me. She followed him in a long loop, taking them back to the main battlezone. Coming out of the turn, she saw something glinting in the near distance. "What's– the Archangel!"

The latest in a seemingly endless wave of ZAFT mobile suits fell to his rifle. A BuCUE lunged for him, only to fall in two pieces from a saber stroke. He kicked a third end over end, finishing it with a beam shot.

"Dammit, they just don't quit!" Kira grunted from exertion as the Strike was bounced around by a missile salvo. His head snapped around, looking for the source, to find that it had already been taken care of. Another BuCUE lay in quarters at the feet of Gundam Sandrock.

"Are you all right, Kira?" Quatre called anxiously.

Kira let out a shaky breath. "I am now, thanks."

It might have been his imagination, but he thought the ZAFT force was beginning to thin a little. He could see Toya holding off a trio of DINNs with minimal effort; even as he watched, one of them blew apart. Wing Gundam and the Blue Earth soared high overhead, picking off targets of opportunity. Mu and Cagalli (Kira grimaced at the thought of Cagalli's recklessness) had the orange GINN pinned down.

"Kira, come back!" Mir's voice was thick with fear. "The Duel is getting too close!"

His eyes went wide, seeing the stolen Gundam lining up on the Archangel's superstructure. "No, Flay, the civilians! I can't–!"

In the back of his mind, a spectral, violet seed gently bounced, and burst into light.

Lining up for what he thought a perfect shot, Yzak grinned tightly. "This is it, legged ship," he said. "I'm not a softy like Nicol; you're going down, and going down hard!" He began to squeeze the trigger.

Just as a blue-and-white blur slammed into him from the side.

"What the hell!?" Snarling in barely-coherent rage, Yzak struggled to regain control. "Damn you, Strike!" he bit out, bringing his rifle to bear. "You'll pay for that!"

Kira wasn't feeling charitable; no one would try to hurt his friends and get away with it. He lashed out with the Strike's right foot, catching the Duel in the chest and knocking it back. Stowing his rifle for the moment, he drew a beam saber. One slash carved a deep gouge into the Duel's midsection, a second took its right arm off just below the elbow, and a third nearly decapitated it. Pulling an Armor Schneider with the other hand, he drove it into the gap in the Duel's armor.

The ZAFT machine staggered back, Yzak letting out a shriek of pain and rage. "Bastard!" he screamed.

"Yzak!" The Blitz caught the other machine before it could fall. "Are you okay in there!?"

Nicol's teammate clutched at his face, the faceplate on his helmet in pieces. "It burns, it burns, it burns!"

Breathing hard, Kira made no attempt to pursue as the Blitz carried the Duel away. There were still a number of ZAFT units left, including the Buster (still no sign of the Aegis, much to his relief). On the other hand, the Archangel was still flying, and his teammates were holding their own.

He heard a whistle over the comm. "Well, how about that. Really impressive there, kid."

Kira spun the Strike around, his heart sinking. There it was, just launching from the Lesseps, the yellow-orange form of Andrew Waltfeld's personal LaGOWE. It's him.

"But now I'll be your opponent," Waltfeld went on.

That was exactly what Kira didn't want. "Mister Waltfeld, please, stop this! I don't want to fight you!"

The LaGOWE was already in motion. "Sorry, kid, but there's no way around it," Waltfeld said, an odd mixture of grim anticipation and genuine regret in his voice. "As long as you're piloting that machine, we're enemies, and I somehow doubt you're ready to just climb out of it."

Kira took a double beam shot on his shield. Damn, he's too fast! He returned fire, but struck only sand as the LaGOWE jumped away. A second shot also missed, but still did some good, vaporizing a nearby Radam tree.

"Not bad, kid," Waltfeld conceded. "But not good enough!" Thrusters ignited, and the BuCUE charged, a head-mounted double beam saber coming to life.

Too fast! Kira had his shield up, but Waltfeld changed direction at the last instant, destroying the Strike's beam rifle and clipping the Aile backpack, rendering the machine groundbound.

"That'll even the odds a little," Waltfeld said, a grin spreading across his face.

This is bad. From what Kira could see, no one was in range to help. Mu and Cagalli had driven the orange GINN off, but were now playing tag with the Buster, which made up for its lack of mobility with overwhelming firepower. It didn't look like the Buster was winning, but it wasn't going down, either.

"Kira!" That was Eiji, his Layzner streaking in to Kira's aid.

Waltfeld, unfortunately, was too canny to be so easily hit. "Now, now, that's not very nice," he said, firing his beam cannon and forcing Layzner back. "Like I said before, you can't take me down with those kinds of moves."

Ignoring Eiji's frustrated-sounding curse, Kira tried to use the opening the half-breed had given him. Waltfeld, unfortunately, was again too fast; a rapid series of double blasts forced the Strike's shield up again. Boosting forward, a quick saber slash finally allowed him to get a hit in, but he merely nicked the LaGOWE's right wing. He needed to do more than that if he wanted to survive, and fast.

"Hmm, I'll bet someone's about to run out of power," Waltfeld said. He sent his LaGOWE into a long arc, circling the Strike. "And now nobody else is in range. Just you and me, kid."

Kira sidestepped another charge, whipping his saber in a flat arc. This time he struck home; though the blow wasn't fatal, the LaGOWE's beam cannon was cleanly removed, halving its offense. "It's already over, Waltfeld!" As if to punctuate his words, a double attack from Mu and Cagalli forced the Buster into retreat. "Just surrender!"

"It's not over yet!" Waltfeld lunged forward, knocking the Strike off-balance.

"Dammit!" As he fought to regain his footing, Kira's eyes strayed to the instrument panel. Power levels critical. I have to end this now!

The LaGOWE was coming around for another pass, even as the Lesseps took a direct hit from the Archangel's Gottfrieds and began a limping retreat. Kira slashed again, slicing off its right foreleg and triggering a small secondary explosion.

"There's no other way," Waltfeld said, his machine visibly sparking. "I'm not giving up . . . until one of us is destroyed!" The LaGOWE charged forward one last time.

Breathing rapidly, Kira knew he only had one chance. Beam rifle destroyed, flight impossible, power failing. The inexplicable clarity and speed of thought he'd suddenly received allowed him to process the data in milliseconds. PSA failing, which means no more beam saber. Only one thing left.

Just before Waltfeld reached him, Kira acted. Ejecting the Aile backpack and hurling the shield away, he drew one of the Armor Schneider folding knives and jumped. He felt an impact, even as he drove the knife deep into the beam cannon mounting. The two machines then fell back, the LaGOWE sparking even more.

"Andy!" Aisha's voice, that was, calling out one last time.

With a roar, the LaGOWE exploded.

Kira stared with wide, disbelieving eyes at the conflagration. No, Mister Waltfeld. . . . Why . . . why didn't you just surrender!? It didn't . . . it didn't. . . .

His voice rose in an anguished scream. "It didn't have to end like this!"

Archangel, hangar

He at least had regained his composure by the time the Strike was powered down and slotted in for repairs. Passing his helmet off to Murdoch, he leaned heavily against the Strike's leg. The day's battle had left him even more drained than usual, both physically and mentally.

First the Radam, then . . . Mister Waltfeld. He closed his eyes, trying to force the images back. At least, he reflected, he'd been able to stop the Duel. That was something he could be proud of, even if he wasn't quite sure how he'd managed it.

"Guess I was wrong about you, little lady," Mu's voice said. "I was a bit concerned, but you handled yourself pretty well out there."

"Don't call me a 'little lady.' My name is Cagalli, thank you very much," the resistance fighter said. ". . .Anyway, thanks. I've had training, but that was my first real sortie."

Some of his energy returning, Kira moved over to join them. "Did you really think about what you were doing, Cagalli?" he asked.

She fixed him with a challenging stare. "Of course I did. We needed all the firepower we could get."

"And if you'd been shot down?" Kira demanded. "You almost were more than once. If you're killed, it's over. There's nothing after that, Cagalli!"

"Well, I wasn't shot down," she countered. "I'm still here."

Wearily, Kira turned away. "You can't protect people with just feelings," he said quietly.

His spirits lifted just a little when he saw a pink-clad redhead walking rapidly toward him. For all that she'd offered him comfort before the battle, he wasn't entirely sure what his relationship with Flay was. All he could say for sure was that it was an improvement over her earlier attitude.

"Kira, you're safe," Flay said, visibly relieved. "I was so scared." She stepped forward and trapped him in a tight hug. "So scared. . . ." she repeated.

Mu watched the pair as they conversed in quiet tones, before leaving the hangar. "Well, that's out of the blue. Wasn't she with Sai or something?"

"That's what I heard," David agreed, helping the mechanics clean sand off his Baybull. "Something their parents arranged, I think. Never thought I'd see her with Kira, especially after what she's said about Coordinators."

A grunt sounded from the direction of Zechs's Leo. "Best not to get too deeply involved," the masked man said, a faint half-smile on his face. "It rarely ends well."

Mu lifted an eyebrow. "That so? I take it you've been there?"

"In a manner of speaking." Zechs didn't elaborate. "At the moment what matters is the Waltfeld team is finished. Our path to the ocean is not clear." He looked back up at his machine. "I only wish I could have done more."

"I know what you mean," Mu admitted. "My Zero wasn't much good against the stolen machines, and I'm guessing a Leo ain't worth much here."

"Not against BuCUEs on their own ground," Zechs said. "Once we reach friendly territory I'm going to see about getting a new machine. The days of the Leo are over."

Actually, the days of the Leo had been over since the GINN was first rolled out, to say nothing of the colony Gundams. It wasn't suited for fighting other mobile suits, despite the beam saber; Mu was quite frankly amazed even Zechs Merquise had done so well with it thus far.

He wondered, though, what Zechs was getting at. As far as Mu was aware, there weren't any new mobile suits in the pipeline for quite some time yet. Unless, of course, the Specials were working on something on the sly, which wasn't exactly unheard of.

A commotion at the other end of the hangar drew his attention. D-Boy had reverted to human form, and as usual nearly collapsed on the deck. Something about it was different, though. What's up with that? Mu frowned. Wait a second. . . .

By the time his feet touched the deck, the only things on Toya's mind were a shower, food, and sleep. He'd been sweating profusely, he was as hungry as Tenia usually was, and his feet felt like they were made of lead. Typical reaction to combat, from what Mu had said.

Then he saw D-Boy fall to his knees, and his Crystal bounce on the deck in two pieces.

What the hell!? Toya dashed over, the girls close on his heels. "D-Boy!"

Silence reigned, while the Tekkaman –no more than two years his senior, Toya suddenly realized– stared in seeming incomprehension. He reached out a hand, lifting the crystalline fragments and gazing at them without expression.

"D-boy, your Crystal. . . ." Aki breathed.

D-Boy's face tightened in evident pain. "Is this . . . is this what Dagger was talking about? I can't transform anymore?" His free hand clenched into a fist, nails digging into his palm. "I can't fight the Radam like this!"

Toya looked at his companions, saw the same thought reflected in their eyes. Sympathy for D-Boy, and worry about what was coming next. This is bad. If D-Boy can't transform, then we've lost a big part of our edge, especially with the Nadesico playing decoy.

"Dammit!" D-Boy slammed a fist into the deck. "Damn you, Dagger!"

"D-Boy," Aki whispered, kneeling beside him.

Noal shook his head. "Well, this sure throws a wrench into things," he muttered to Toya, softly enough that Aki and D-boy couldn't hear. "What's he gonna do now, go after the Radam with his bare hands?"

"Wouldn't put it past him." Sarcasm aside, Toya was also wondering. Fighting the Radam seemed to be D-Boy's reason for existing. Would he be able to go on?

Tenia, of course, had a different take on things. "Let's save the psychobabble for later, 'kay? Dunno about you guys, but I'm starved!"

Katia rolled her eyes. "When are you not?" she demanded rhetorically. "Not that I really disagree this time. Noal and Aki can take care of D-Boy for now."

Knowing that Tenia would drag him –literally– to the cafeteria, Toya bowed to the inevitable. "All right, all right, let's grab some dinner. After that I'm hitting the showers and the sack, in that order."

As the quartet made their exit, Toya paused at the hatch, looking back over his shoulder. D-Boy was still crouched on the deck, Aki next to him. His look of uncomprehending despair made Toya's heart ache.

"We're behind you, D-Boy," he whispered.

Archangel, bridge

The last of the damage reports came in (moderate, thankfully), everyone was confirmed back aboard, and Murrue sank back in her chair, as exhausted as any of the pilots. "At least we have a clear path now," she said. "ZAFT won't be interested in chasing us for a few days at least, and there aren't any Tulips in our way."

"The Radam could well surprise us, but with Tekkaman Dagger driven off for the moment I think it unlikely," Natarle agreed.

Murrue sighed. "Which, unfortunately, brings up another issue. How are things with D-Boy?"

Grimacing, Natarle shook her head. "According to Aki, he won't leave his quarters; he barely even speaks." She tapped the arm of her chair, frowning. "With his Crystal destroyed, we'll have to find some other duty for him."

"Natarle–"

"This is a military vessel," Natarle reminded her. "If he is unable or unwilling to help out, he cannot remain with us."

The XO had a point, Murrue knew. "You're right, of course. Still, we should at least give him some time to collect himself. Besides which, there isn't exactly a convenient place to drop him off, and it's not like we can just drop him in the middle of the desert."

Natarle had no argument for that. "In any case, the important thing is to reach Alaska. I suppose we'll have to thank Captain Misumaru." She obviously didn't like making the admission, but it was unflinching.

"We'll deal with the matter of D-Boy once we've had a chance to rest," Murrue said. "For now, we proceed to the Red Sea."

Residential block, Toya's quarters

Though his sleep was deep, it was not dreamless. As before, images of people and places he'd never encountered flashed through his mind seemingly at random.

"Iiko! Stop this, Sis!"

"Haven't you ever considered working for the Gradosians yourself?"

"This is the end, Ritsu. Die."

And at the end, again that girl with nearly translucent light blue hair. "I'm sorry."

Author's note: I guess this chapter, such as it is, came out a little bit faster. D-Boy has lost his powers, and Waltfeld is out of commission. Next they had for the ocean, and I finally get to introduce another series. Till then.