Super Robot Taisen S Zero Reload

by Lily Nadesico

An overhauled version of Super Robot Wars S Zero, and a prequel to "Super Robot Wars S Reload". War is brewing, and a catastrophe the likes of which the world has never seen is slowly but surely coming true, as the main players in this deadly game start making their first steps on the way to clarify all the mysteries and prevent the worst from happening...

8. The Chase is On!

SUPER ROBOT WARS S ZERO RELOAD

Greetings, everybody, and welcome back to this massive crossover story! Again, I hope not too much time has gone by since I last updated, and I realize that I should pay more attention to my Super Robot Wars S Revamped story, but the simple fact of the matter is, I have hit an inspiration high point for this prequel, and I need to do as much as I can before I run out of creative juices! Admittedly, the inclusion of the SEED Astray characters, which caught quite a few people by surprise from what I can gather, was not in my original plans, but I thought about it, and then I decided that no harm could come out of putting them in my story as well! Furthermore, they will interact in significant ways with the SEED cast, which includes Cagalli this time around, and hopefully I can put up an engrossing epic thanks to their inclusion!

But, I digress. Let's make a resume of the situation, before we get to the heart of the matter - that is, my new chapter!

Things aren't exactly going too well on the Archangel and the Idaho. Not only are they under attack from the combined ZAFT and Giganos forces, which have just recently joined up to pursue them... but their best chance for survival is the collaboration of a few civilians who seem eager to get as far away as possible from this war! It doesn't help that Meio Plato, the best pilot in Giganos' regular army, is on the case... nor that Miguel and Shiho just received their trademark GINN Miguel Aiman Custom and CGUE Deep Arms respectively. Even the Duel getting its Assault Shroud Armor from the start would cause problems for the good guys.

But there is an unknown variable as well... the Junk Guild, a non-governmental organization that salvages technologies of all kinds, has been poking around Heliopolis' ruins, and one of their best mechanics, Lowe Guele, has just found a couple of interesting Mobile Suits. Unfortunately for him, he seems to have hit a snag, as someone is determined to destroy the two mobile weapons and to kill all witnesses to said machines, and Lowe will have his work cut out for him getting away from the trouble he ran into.

Of course, provided he gets out of there, he will find out that he got a lot more than he bargained for... but that's a question that will be answered later on. For now, we have to concentrate on how the heroes will survive to fight another day...

What about the Neo Zeon forces, you say? Well, in fact, they didn't really play too great a part in the attack on Heliopolis... but that's because they are doing their thing elsewhere, and they are definitely not sitting idle! We'll know more about that in the next chapter, that much I can tell you. And I will definitely introduce another two series to the mix... I think you can already guess which ones! ^_^

Well, that's about it. I leave you to this new chapter, and I hope it will be enjoyable and leaves you wanting for more! See you soon!

oooooooooo

Chapter 8 - The Chase Is On

As Kira, Flay, Jessie and Misha arrived at the cafeteria, they noticed Sai, Kuzzey, Tolle and Mir talking among themselves over what was going to happen to them now that Heliopolis had been destroyed. It didn't take long for Sai to notice Flay and a smile of relief formed as a result. In response, Flay happily floated over towards Sai and latched onto him with all her might.

"Hold it right there!" another female voice was heard, the tone sounded angry as the students from Heliopolis turned their attention to see that the blonde-haired girl had managed to catch up to them. She made her way specifically towards Kira and looked at him straight in the eyes."So it is you…"

All the students at Heliopolis glanced at her, it seemed to them that she was mad at Kira for some reason and for Kira, Sai, Kuzzey, Tolle and Mir; they felt like they've seen her before unlike Flay, Jessie and Misha as they're wondering how this girl knew him. "Why… what is someone like you doing on this ship?!" she lashed, raising her arm and looking ready to slap him only for it to be stopped by the brown-haired Coordinator's superior strength.

Kira was the first to quickly recognize her as the girl from Heliopolis… the same one he followed and eventually shoved into one of the only two shelters within the factory district during the attack from both ZAFT and the Giganos forces. "That's right; you're that person we met back at Morgenroete… Professor Kato's guest wasn't it?" he asked out of curiosity, making Sai, Kuzzey, Tolle and Mir open their eyes in realization.

"LET GO OF ME, YOU JERK!" she cried, seeing this as her chance to get out of his grip and hit him across the face with back of her tightened fist, causing the others to be shocked at the scene happening before them and especially as she was still angry with him for what happened.

"Hey! What was that about?" wondered Tolle as he went to help Kira up, feeling that he and the others missed something.

"I'm just glad that Kain, Light and Tapp aren't here to see this..."

oooooooooo

Lowe knew he was in a bad situation. He was in a struggle facing a mercenary who wants to destroy the Gundam-like units... all when he was so close to saving the unique and seemingly very valuable Mobile Suits! However, he was not known as one of the Junk Guild's best for nothing... so, he immediately started to think of a possible way out of this very sticky situation.

Then he found himself tossed aside as the mercenary started to float towards the Blue Frame much to his annoyance. "SHIT!" he cursed, needing to stop his opponent and soon before he loses the two MS for good. "FINDERS KEEPERS, ASSHOLE!"

Before he could continue his rant, he saw the mercenary pointing his gun right at him, the other person appeared to be a professional that was not going to be swayed by simple words no matter how harsh they sounded. "My objective is to destroy the Mobile Suit. I can't leave any witnesses either" he stated, causing Lowe to wince in annoyance.

"Damn, there goes my chance..." he muttered to himself. "I'm in the Junk Guild. No way I'm gonna let you do that! THIS IS A FIND OF A LIFE-TIME!"

The mercenary wasn't fazed by the words in the very least and simply took off his helmet, revealing his face to the young man that he was about to terminate. To Lowe's surprise, his opponent was a young man in his mid-twenties, with slightly curly dark brown hair and wearing a pair of orange-tinted glasses that contributed to give him a detached, professional attitude. His pilot suit was rather reminiscent of those worn by Earth Alliance aces such as Morgan Chevalier and Mu La Flaga, though it was clear that this guy was not affiliated with the Earth Alliance in any way."Ah. Such a compelling argument, but what the hell can you do about it, you "Junkie"?!" he asked the younger male as he still had the gun pointed in his direction.

"Damn!"growled Lowe, gritting his teeth as he needed to think of something fast since whoever this mercenary was, he meant business if he was determined to kill him for having discovered two Mobile Suits in the remains of Heliopolis. "I'll come up with something. I'm a lucky bastard. After all, I hit a goldmine with these Mobile Suits."

"One does not survive in combat with luck alone."

And that was when it clicked for Lowe - this man's fame proceeded him wherever he went: he was none other than Gai Murakumo, an highly skilled mercenary and leader of the group Serpent Tail, a group of pilots-for-hire known for their great efficiency! The young Junk Guild mechanic gulped loudly - the man's skills were not exaggerated in any way, and he knew he could count himself lucky to have survived a fight with him - possibly thanks to the fact that Murakumo was simply trying to destroy the Blue Frame and to kill him, and that the Red Frame and Blue Frame themselves were far from your run-of-the-mill Mobile Suit...

Suddenly something appeared on 8's screen - an handsome teenaged young man with short white hair and cold blue eyes, wearing the green uniform of the ZAFT military. "Gai, we have an emergency!" he alerted, getting Gai's attention as he noticed the frantic expression on his fellow Serpent Tail member's face.

"Elijah!"

"Hold on a second..." Lowe murmured. "THey're NOT trasmitting from the HOME, are they?"

"We've been double crossed! Our clients are attacking us!" The white-haired youngster named Elijah informed Gai. "I NEED BACKUP NOW! I NEED YOU HERE!"

Gai didn't say a word, his focused expression not wavering one bit. Lowe, on the other hand, found it very ironic that the Serpent Tail's clients betrayed them just when they were close to completing their assigned task... "Ha! Well ain't that a kick in the pants!" he spoke with a slight grin on his face, knowing this was not part of Gai's mission at all. "Looks like your "clients" also consider you to be a "witness.""

A series of explosion rocked violently what little remained of Heliopolis, it was then that Gai grabbed 8 and tossed it out of the Blue Frame's cockpit. 'Please refrain from tossing me!" it beeped but Gai paid no heed to that, fortunately Lowe was able to catch the AI on time.

With a frustrated grunt, the young brown-haired Junk Tech glared at Gai as he saw the mercenary entering the cockpit of the Blue Frame. "HEY! CAREFUL WITH THAT!" he yelled in anger.

Murakumo smiled slightly as he sealed the hatch before the younger man could try and stop him. "You can keep that outdated computer but I am borrowing this!" he replied before opening the radar, and saw that several Mobile Suits were approaching Heliopolis, targeting the ruins of the colony with beam rifles and other weapons. But what was most surprising was, their heat signatures matched those of Mobile Suits used by the Earth Alliance, and Gai gave a small frown as he identified the enemy units approaching... "They're approaching the colony. I can see several kinds of Mobile Suits among them... Marasai, Hi-Zack, a few Gabthleys... mostly Mobile Suits that have been used by the Titans during the Gryps Wars. Oh, and a few Moebius units as well so if you want to leave, you better leave now."

"WHOA!" Lowe was tossed aside as the Blue Frame was activated right before his very eyes, still having an annoyed look on his face at seeing one of the two newly discovered Mobile Suits being taken away from him. "DON'T MONKEY WITH MY MACHINE!"

But it was too late, the Blue Frame had already left the area and soon something else caught his eye. "Lowe!" came a male voice, belonging to a young man around 20 years of age with long black hair. He was relieved that his fellow Junk Tech was alright though there were still bigger problems to deal with. "Looks like our ship is in trouble. It has been boarded. Are you okay?"

"Yeah, yeah, I'm still in one piece" reassured Lowe as the colony started to shake again from the attack that was taking place from the outside and hoped that the other machine within the remains was still in one piece as he left it. "Liam, can we operate the Red Frame Mobile Suit?"

oooooooooo

Several Mobile Suits and Moebius units were at the moment approaching the remains of Heliopolis, their gun trailed and pointed to whatever opening a Mobile Suit could conceivably come out from. Among them, a group of light red Marasai units with a helmet-like head and carrying beam rifles and shields was at the moment floating towards a rather large breach in the colony's outer hull, hoping to get inside and take the occupants by surprise.

Elijah bit his lower lip, piloting a customized blue ZGMF-1017 GINN with a bladed crest on its head, holding a machine gun in its right hand as it was being outnumbered by the enemy forces attacking him. "THOSE BASTARDS!" he yelled, barely evading a beam rifle shot that grazed his Mobile Suit's left shoulder and retaliating with the machine gun.

"For a mercenary, your combat skills suck." came the voice of the Professor as the face of the beautiful woman with long, curly dark red hair and large looking glasses appeared on his screen and her expression was serious because of the situation they were now in. "If you get me out of this alive, I'll pay you got it?"

"I'M NOT GIVING TWO SHITS ABOUT YOUR MONEY IF I END UP DEAD!"

Hearing this response made the Professor scowl as this was a matter of life or death for all of them. "Listen up pretty boy. Less whining, more fighting. Jeez..." she muttered, not needing to hear this coming from a supposedly skilled mercenary from the Serpent Tail.

"What a bitch... Loretta was a total angel compared to her!" said Elijah. The alarm went off in the cockpit, and he saw a lone Moebius preparing to open fire on him. "Oh... Damn!"

Fortunately a beam came from out of nowhere and destroyed the Moebius. The surprised Elijah turned in the direction to see who had saved him. "What the?!" he asked himself upon seeing the Astray Blue Frame joining his GINN and something immediately hit him. "Gai?! Is that you?"

"Looks like I made it just in time."

Hearing Murakumo's voice hailing the customized blue GINN made Elijah feel a little better. "Where did you get that Mobile Suit? Was that our target? What's going on?" Elijah had a lot of questions running on his mind and hoped his fellow Serpent Tail member would answer them.

"You can grill me later. We have business to take care of." reminded Murakumo, then turned his attention towards the enemy forces. "Those traitors are gonna pay."

Soon a beam shot from a Marasai managed to blast off one of the blue GINN's legs. "DAMMIT!" cursed Elijah, a sign that he wasn't going to last much longer if this kept up.

"Get out of here!" said Murakumo, quick to contact the blue GINN as it seemed the ZAFT MS was going to be canon folder compared to the enemy machines and Elijah would only get himself killed if he remained in the area. "I'll take care of them."

"Thanks, Gai…" As Elijah withdrew from the area, Gai wanted to see what the Blue Frame was truly capable... Especially as he had to quickly rewrite the OS in order to have it function better in combat and wondered how someone like Lowe could operate it despite the original state the systems had before they were rewritten. His attention was then changed towards the enemy forces as he had a score to settle with them right now.

"Ugh... that was Gai Murakumo alright!" another Earth Alliance pilot muttered, even though he had no idea what kind of machine they were dealing with as they thought Gai would be in his Moebius. "So we're now dealing with two Serpent Tail flunkies! That's just great!"

However, there were a huge number of Mobile Suits and Moebius units, more than enough to overpower the Astray now that it was alone and Gai knew it too...

oooooooooo

Onboard the HOME, the Professor saw the battle that was transpiring within the depths of space which made her rather intrigued to see one of the newly discovered Mobile Suits were capable of in an actual battle. "His partner's kicking ass. If Lowe can secure that Red Frame MS, then we really did hit the Jackpot." she said to herself with a stern look on her face. "But this isn't going to be just another ordinary find."

"Gai, blow up that Junk Guild jalopy, and then let's get the hell out of here!"alerted Eliajh, knowing they can't stick around much longer and risk being captured or killed. Just then, a lone Moebius came around and it caught Gai's attention.

"Exactly what I was thinking" he replied to his ally and took aim with the beam rifle, wanting to make sure this shot counted. "One more shot should do the trick."

As he was about to pull the trigger on the beam rifle, he saw something coming fast and it was a shield that collided with the Moebius much to his slight surprise. "It can't be..." he said to himself as approaching was the Blue Frame's brother, the MBF-P02 Gundam Astray Red Frame.

"YOU'RE NOT GONNA TOUCH MY SHIP, ASSHOLE!" declared Lowe. "8! WHICH WEAPON?"

'I recommend the Beam Saber!'

Complying with the AI's recommendation, Lowe was quick to store the beam rifle onto the right skirt armor and drew both beam sabers from the Red Frame's back and proceeded to use one of them to slice through the torso of a Marasai, bisecting the Earth Alliance Mobile Suit which exploded one moment later! Scared and surprised by the sudden attack, the remaining Earth Alliance soldiers turned in the direction of the attack and blindly fired at the perceived threat... but the Astray Red Frame was too fast for them to follow, and it was out of the way before they could do anything about it.

"Heh... Earth Alliance forces, huh? Talk about a surprise, they normally don't have business in this place!" Lowe jokingly said. Before the Marasais could mount a counterattack, he backed away, retreating in the inner recesses of the destroyed colony in order to force his pursuers into a wild goose chase. The enemies fired a few shots at him, missing all the time, before he disappeared from their sight, at which point several Marasais and Hi-Zacks detached themselves from the main formation in order to chase after him.

"What's that about? Where the hell did this guy come from?!" one of the Hi-Zach pilots exclaimed almost indignantly. "What's going on around here? We were never told anything about there being other people!"

"Quit your whining, you!" a Marasai pilot shut him up. "You sure didn't expect things to go smoothly all the time, did you? If there's someone else trying to get the jump on us, we'll simply take them out and get the Mobile Suits, simple as that!"

"Alright, alright..." the first Earth Union soldier said in annoyance. "Geez, one can't even say what he..."

He stopped short of saying the whole sentence as a several of their proximities alarm went off, signaling that an unidentified fleet and an unidentified ship were closing in from two different directions! "Huh? What on... damn, they're surrounding us! Everyone, we have several unidentified units closing in on us! If we stay here much longer, we'll get all our escape routes cut from us!"

"Damn... just when we thought we had those guys!" another pilot exclaimed in annoyance. "Guess we have no chance but to retreat now, then..."

As if to underscore how right he was, a barrage of laser beams came from the Earth Alliance group right, blasting several Moebius units before they could even fight back... and when the others turned in that direction, they were greeted with the sight of several Mobile Suits, mostly GINN and other ZAFT models, firing at them for all they were worth! At the head of the attacking force was Elijah's customized blue GINN, using its machine gun to wreak havoc in the attacking force! The figure of a snake was emblazoned on its chest, a dead giveaway to its provenience.

"Damn it! It's the rest of Serpent Tail... they didn't come unprepared after all!" an Earth Alliance pilot swore.

"Spread out and take them from several directions! Try to keep them all in one place!" Elijah instructed his wingmen. The fight seemed to be more even now, with the intervening force taking losses as well thanks to the Marasai's long-distance weapons and the Moebius units' linear cannons and missiles, but it was clear that the Serpent Tail formation was gaining the upper hand, and the Earth forces were getting pushed backwards more and more... and just to make things worse for them, the unknown ship they had intercept a little earlier came into view: a long, rather run-down-looking ship with several iron appendages sticking out of several places in its outer hull, for which it was hurling large pieces of debris at the Earth Alliance force! Caught off guard by this improvised weapon, the Mobile Suits and their pilots went into disarray for a moment... and when the Astray Red Frame and Astray Blue Frame took advantage of the distraction and remerged from its outer hull, the attacking force knew it was in over their heads! Murakumo managed to dodge two Marasai's fire and struck both of them with lethally accurate shots from his beam rifle, before the rest of the Earth Alliance forces broke ranks.

"Ugh... we've lost the advantage! Remaining here would be too risky!" an higher-ranking pilot exclaimed as he maneuvered his Hi-Zack away, taking a few Marasais, Hi-Zacks and Moebiuses with him. "Retreat! We'll have to report the failure of our mission..."

"Tch... the big boss won't be happy about this, you can bet your ass!" another soldier exclaimed.

Of course, the fact that the Earth Alliance attack force was turning tail and running was a great relief for Lowe... as was the sight of the strange garbage-chucking battleship, who had ceased attacking and was now greeting him in a rather informal way.

"Yo, guys! You came just in time; I and my... friend here were beginning to be in hot water!" Lowe exclaimed, as the Professor's face appeared on his screen. "Well, what do you think of this baby I'm riding right now? Let me tell you, this is the best Mobile suit I've ever had the fortune of stumbling upon!"

The woman chuckled gently. "Always the mecha nerd, right, Lowe? And about your friend in the blue Gundam and his companions right there..." she pointed to the Serpent Tail attacking force, who were still firing a few warning shots at the retreating Earth Alliance forces. "Exactly, what's Serpent Tail doing here? Unless there was something really valuable inside of that colony, one wouldn't hire such a well-known... and expensive... group of professionals."

"Well, it's kinda a long story, Professor..." Lowe chuckled. "Let's just say I and Gai Murakumo here... had a bit of a rough start, and we needed to put that aside when those Earth Alliance goons showed up! Er... and by the way, Gai's mission happened to be to destroy these Gundams... but hey, with this baby in our hands, I'd say that it was worth the trouble!"

"You always have a way to make it sound not that big a deal..." a short, tomboyish-looking girl with rather messy red hair, wearing a violet jacket and a black tube top, told Lowe from another comm. screen.

"Well, that's good to know!" Lowe answered with a nod. "Anyway, if you ask me, we should hightail our asses outta here, before someone else comes! Open the hangars, Kisato, I'm getting back!"

The red-haired girl named Kisato winked in acknowledgement. "Of course!" she said, as the HOME retreated its manipulating arms and opened the hatch of its hangar, allowing Lowe to drift inside of it with his newly-caught machine...

oooooooooo

Whoever said that war is long periods of boredom punctuated by moments of sheer terror was probably right... but at the moment, this couldn't be said of the crews of both the Archangel and the Idaho, as the understaffed and underequipped ships were still trying to handle all the issues they were having with the many civilians that had been brought onboard. Supplies were short, not to mention the wounded that needed treatment, and were unable to receive it. Even without having to board the Dragonars and the Strike Gundam to head into battle, Kira, Kain, Tapp and Light were having their hands full...

"Well, looks like those Giganos and ZAFT goons have given up on pestering us for now..." Kain said, taking a short break to catch his breath after carrying several crates worth of supplies, soap, medical equipment and other first-necessity items. "As tiring as ship duty is, I'll take this over duking it out in those damn machines..."

"For once, Kain... we're in complete agreement!" Tapp answered.

Linda, the blonde girl who he had met as soon as he and his friends had officially become part of the Idaho's crew, stopped by the trio to egg them on a little. "Well, it's a very tiring job indeed, but we have no time to stop and complain about it." she said, somewhat severely. "We have so many things to do and so little time in which to do it, that we have to be constantly on the move."

"Yeah, sure..." Kain said, picking up the crate he was carrying once again. "We were just saying that... we're not used to this situation, that's all."

Light sighed. "Well, better get a move on then, because I'm afraid that, at least until these ships reach Earth and deliver what they need to deliver to the Earth Union government, we are stuck here... by the way, Linda, are there any news on our pursuers? Do we expect to be attacked soon?"

The blonde girl shrugged. "We can expect to be attacked anytime, now... I have caught a bit of the onboard officers' discussion, and it appears that the Archangel has sent decoys towards Side 3, in an attempt to throw Rau Le Creuset off... but they don't think it will be more than a temporary distraction at best." she stated in obvious worry. "I'm afraid you'll need to be ready to go out soon, we won't be able to distance them before we get to Artemis."

"Naturally..." Light answered. "Le Creuset is probably ZAFT's most decorated officer, and he's more than earned that Order of the Nebula he got. I'm afraid he will see clearly through such an obvious ploy. And let's not forget, he's probably gotten more backup from his Giganos allies... it won't be easy to stand up to those guys."

To Kain, who was the closest to her, it seemed like Linda had stiffened at the mention of the name Giganos, but she was back to normal so quickly that the young Natural assumed that his eyes were playing a trick on him. Tapp sighed, as he placed another crate together with several others. "Well, there's no helping it, is there? If worse comes to worse, we'll grab the Dragonars and fight our way through. After all, we've seen what those machines can do... it won't be a few measly Metal Armors to stop us!"

"I wish I was as optimistic as you are..." Light murmured, knowing all too well how dire their chances appeared.

"Linda! Guys! Could you come here for a moment, please?" Rose, Linda's brown-haired friend, called to them from the other side of the makeshift infirmary. "I'm afraid we're out of gauze and disinfectants once again..."

"Coming, Rose!" Linda answered, and the quartet began making their way through the crowded room to reach her...

oooooooooo

The mood, if at all possible, was even gloomier onboard the Archangel, as Kira was in disbelief at what Murrue Ramius was asking of him. "I'm not gonna do it!" snapped Kira, hell-bent on refusing to take part in what could be an impending battle that's about to happen no matter how female EA officer tried to get him to do so. "Please don't get us anymore involved in this war than we already have."

The brown-haired female Lieutenant felt that it's saddening to hear him say that. "Look Kira…" she spoke only to be interrupted.

"Yeah, we're well aware that there's a war going on outside our world but we don't want any part of it! We don't want anything to do with your war! That's why we chose to live in neutral territory and yet you still..." he began, being so insistent in refusing to pilot the Strike that he almost didn't notice Lt. Mu La Flaga until the Hawk cleared his throat in hope that he wasn't interrupting anything, and the young Coordinator turned to see that he, his friends from Heliopolis and Murrue were no longer alone. "Lt. La Flaga, sir..."

"Just Mu is alright, kid. I'm not such a stickler for formality." the blond Lieutenant answered. "Anyway, Mr. Murdoch is pretty upset you know. We don't have enough people, so go maintain your machine."

"My machine?" Kira wondered, hoping that it was some kind of joke. "Wait, what do you mean my machine?"

"Let's just say that's what been decided" answered Mu as he needed to try his luck with getting the younger man to understand the gravity of the situation because there wasn't anyone onboard the Archangel or the Idaho capable of using the Strike as they speak. "Fact is, you're the only one capable of piloting it so it can't be helped."

"Sure I used that thing twice but only because I didn't have any choice!" snapped Kira with a rather annoyed look on his face, it was already bad enough that Murrue was trying to get him to use the Strike but now the Hawk wanted to do the same thing as the female Captain. "I don't want people saying it makes me a soldier or anything!"

"So when the fighting starts again and you refuse to use it, is that going to be your last words?" asked Mu as it's clear that Murrue is not having any luck in getting Kira to understand that piloting the Strike was their only means of surviving should they actually come under attack and knew even his attempt's getting them nowhere fast. "At the moment, you, your friends on the Idaho and I are the only ones who can protect these ships…"

"But I don't think it's…"

"Kira, you have the power to make a difference don't you?" the Hawk continued. "Then why not put it to good use? We have precious little time, including time to think it over?"

As he decided to leave, he turned a brief glance towards Murrue. "Oh and you better get to the bridge and assume command" he informed her with a light smile on his face. "You're the captain now."

"Hold it, I am?!" exclaimed Murrue in shock at hearing this news.

"I have seniority but I don't know a thing about this ship" Mu continued, feeling that there was a chance that should their decoy fail, they needed to get ready for anything. "Besides if the Archangel and the Idaho get destroyed, we've lost everything."

"Destroyed?!"

None of the students from Heliopolis could believe what they were hearing, nor could the blonde listening in on the entire thing and Murrue gave a small sigh as it seemed that she had to assume her position as Captain. "Very well, Mu, I understand…" she spoke, somewhat uncertainly. "Let's just hope we can make it to allied territory in one piece."

As Mu and Murrue left for the bridge, Sai decided to speak up. "Sir, excuse me!" he spoke in hope that Mu would be willing to answer his question. "Where is this ship heading right now?"

"To the Eurasian Military Base known as Artemis, we'll be lucky if they let us in without a fuss." he replied before leaving.

"It isn't…" Kira was at a loss of words from shock. Feeling like he couldn't handle this any more, he bolted off before any of the others could stop him much to their dismay.

"Kira!"

Tolle wasn't sure on what to do as he was worried for his friend; however Flay, Jessie and Misha decided that they needed answerers regarding the brown-haired young man in question. "What did he say?" the red-haired girl asked of the others, surprised to hear Kira was currently the only person onboard who could use the GAT-X105 Strike. "Hold on, what was all that about? Then that guy, Kira Yamato… he was in..."

"You heard about how the lifeboat you, Jessica, Misha and that girl were on was carried in by a Mobile Suit didn't you?" Sai asked her. "My friend Kira was the one piloting it."

"What? He's the one?" wondered Flay, not wanting to believe what she was being told since from what she and her friends could tell, he looked too gentle to be a soldier let alone a pilot. "But why? Why would someone like him be in a Mobile Suit."

"Because Kira is actually a Coordinator…" Kuzzey answered.

"Kuzzey!" Tolle frowned at the blue-haired teen for revealing that.

Sai took a glance towards Flay in case she, Jessie and Misha got the wrong idea about the young Coordinator. "Kira may be a Coordinator but he isn't with ZAFT" he said to the red-haired girl next to him.

Mir silently nodded her head, having known Flay longer than the rest of the group aside from Sai. "He's still one of us… A cherished friend." she spoke in a somewhat soft tone.

"I see…" Flay lowered her head, not knowing what else to say. Jessie and Misha stayed silent completely as they needed time to take in everything they've just found out regarding Kira and how they thought he was just a normal person like the others...

oooooooooo

"I know how to operate a Mobile Suit, but that doesn't mean I can fight in battle" Kira said to himself, staring in confusion and fear at the Strike in the Archangel's hangar. As he was lost in his thought, he was able to sense someone approaching, and he turned in that direction. "Huh?"

Coming to check up on him was none other than the blonde-haired female whom hit him across the face earlier in the cafeteria. "I apologize for earlier, okay? I was wrong to hit you…" she spoke. "It was... a spur of the moment thing. Forgive me."

After a moment of surprise, Kira found himself chuckling... to her annoyance. "What are you laughing at?" she demanded.

"Well, I'll think about it…" he replied, starting to somewhat feel better.

"You've been on my mind since I ended up in that shelter, I was worried I guess… asking myself what might have happened to you." she said, relieved he did survive. "And then I hear from Lieutenant La Flaga and Lieutenant Ramius… I mean Captain Ramius, that you're the only one capable of piloting one of those things."

Her eyes turned towards the Strike, her face hard. "To think that the only reason you're the pilot is because you're a Coordinator... Not that I have anything against Coordinators…" she continued, seeing Kira lower his head a bit at being reminded of that notion. "What exactly happened that led to you ending up operating it?"

"A lot of things happened, leading up to Heliopolis' destruction… this included the fact the shot from the Giganos Mass Driver was what finished the colony off" he spoke, getting the girl's attention and it made her a bit more concerned than ever. "By the way, I never actually got your name."

"You can call me Cagalli." the blonde girl answered. "What's your name?"

Kira blinked for a moment, knowing he had heard that name before... but he thought it could only be a coincidence. "My name is Kira. Kira Yamato." he said. "Look... I know we started on the wrong foot, but can we just let bygones be bygones?"

"Works for me." Cagalli answered as she extended her hand to Kira. The young Coordinator nodded and shook on it, feeling a little better now...

oooooooooo

Back with the HOME, Lowe, Gai, Elijah, the Professor, Kisato Yamabuki and fellow Junk Tech Liam Garfield gather together in the bridge to discuss what transpired earlier.

"Looks like we're in the same boat" said Lowe. "They'll be looking for you, too."

"I don't doubt that."

Liam, Kisato and the Professor weren't sure what to say at the moment, yet Murakumo seemed to be impressed with how Lowe performed with the Red Frame. "As for the Blue Frame Suit…" began Lowe, knowing as much as he would like it back, it felt better if it remained with Gai. "Take it."

"Are you sure?" Gai asked, hoping that Lowe was wise in allowing him to remain in possession of the Blue Frame.

"Yeah, after all you swindled it from me fair and square" Lowe replied with a small shrug. "And if it wasn't for you, your 'clients' would have turned this ship to scrap metal long before you had your chance."

This caused Kisato to turn her attention towards her friend. "You're certain about this?" she asked him with a somewhat confused expression forming on her face.

"Yeah, a man's gotta pay his dues" responded Lowe. "My grandpa used to say that."

Gai found himself smiling at the offer, besides it could serve as a replacement to both his ill-fated GINN and Moebius after seeing what both Astrays were capable of in combat. "Very gracious." he said after taking the time to think it over. "I accept your offer."

"Gai, we have to link up with the rest of the Serpent Tail crew" informed Elijah, feeling it would be best for the two to take their leave while they still had some breathing room for the time being.

"Fine, let's go." Gai gave a slight nod to Elijah, and the two mercenaries were making their leave in order to rejoin their Serpent Tail companions, with Murakumo issuing one final warning to Lowe. "Our ways split here, it seems. Still, I'd advise you to watch your backs. I know you of the Junk Guild don't get involved in wars or politics, but you can bet that those who wanted that suit will try to take it back from you." he stated. "Best of luck to you."

Lowe gave Murakumo a thumbs-up, in his usual jolly, unconcerned way. "Well, same to you! Don't worry, we might not want to get involved in disputes, but we know how to defend ourselves!" he said, having hopes that they could meet again in the near future. "Good luck, I'm sure I'll see you again."

"Perhaps…" said Gai. "But it might be possible we'll once again meet as enemies."

"Hey, that's life." Lowe replied back as he watched Gai and Elijah departing from the bridge...

oooooooooo

The mood was likewise tense in the quarters that had been assigned to Flay Allster and her friends Misha and Jessica... and the three girls were at the moment reunited in Flay's quarters, trying to chase each other's anxiety away as time seemed to slow to a crawl. They still had trouble coming to terms with what had happened... only one day ago, they were normal teenagers going about their everyday lives... and next thing they know, they are forcibly stuffed upon a lifeboat, together with several other Heliopolis citizens, and thrust head-first into a war they wanted nothing to do with. And now, just to make things worse, they were being hounded by those "space monsters", and were risking their lives every moment. How could that happen to them, and in such a way...

However, Jessica soon understood that moping about what was happening would have done no good, and the best thing to do would be try to at least make themselves useful during the ship's journey. "Well, girls, I dunno about you... but I'm not sitting here doing nothing! And here I though it wasn't possible to actually die of boredom... I'm going to the bridge and ask whether there is something I can do!"

"I don't know, Jessica... I'm not sure if we can really..." Misha tried to say, before someone knocked at their room's door. Wondering who could that be, Flay stood up from her bed and went to answer the door, remaining a little startled when she saw Kira appearing from behind it.

"Oh... Kira, is that you?" the redhead asked, with Misha and Jessica peeking out from behind her and looking at the brown-haired boy with curiosity, "What... what's the matter?"

Kira sensed that Flay was trying to put some distance between him and herself… and he guessed that the fact that he was a Coordinator was already known to the girl. "I and my friends were going to take a break... I just wanted to see if you and your friends were okay, Flay... and if you wanted to come with us as well." he answered. "I... I understand that it must be really hard for you to stay here, in this situation..."

Flay sighed in slight annoyance, using a dainty hand to smoothen her red hair. "You could say that... I haven't had a chance of taking a shower ever since we got here... so, now where are we going? Hopefully, somewhere we can get a break..." he murmured, clearly in a rather sour mood.

"C'mon, Flay, you don't need to be stingy..." Misha murmured to herself, though Kira did not seem to be offended by the girl's somewhat caustic tone, and merely answered as best as he could.

"As of now, we're heading to the space station of Artemis, where we can hopefully resupply and get some help but you already know that since Lieutenant La Flaga mentioned it before." he answered, feeling better ever since his talk with Cagalli in the hanger. "We... expect to meet with some opposition along the way... but don't worry, I and my friends onboard the Idaho make sure nothing happens to you or the other civilians. Trust me, nothing will happen to you."

Flay blinked, somewhat surprised to see a Coordinator trying to comfort her... but before she could think of the right words to say to that, Kira cleared his throat and reiterated his earlier invitation. "Well, as I was saying... would you like to join me and my friends for a small break? We're going to the ship's cafeteria, and spend some time together."

"When you put this way... I guess it won't hurt to get out of this stuffy room for a while..." Flay accepted graciously, much to Misha and Jessica's relief. "Alright, then... Misha, Jessica... let's go, we could really use some time with the others..."

Jessica turned to Misha and grinned giving a thumbs-up. "Well... that's just what we needed! I was getting sick of staying here!"

"Here's hoping nothing happens while we are out of here..." Misha answered, unknowingly mirroring Kira's same thoughts. However, the young Coordinator was thankful that Flay had accepted his offer. At least, there was some silver lining in all that mess...

oooooooooo

A few hours later, on the Archangel's main bridge...

"Captain Ramius! We're detecting hostiles on the radar!" the voice of an operator caught Murrue's attention, and she quickly turned to the one who had spoken. "The Nazca-class and a Copernico-class cruiser are approaching us at high speed... only a few minutes before we're in range of its cannons! And we're detecting Mobile Suit coming out of the Nazca-class... their heat signatures match those of the stolen G-Weapons, and one of the Metal Armors surrounding the Copernico has been identified as the Falguen!"

"The Falguen? As if we didn't have enough problems already..." Murrue exclaimed, recognizing the name of the Metal Armor belonging to the Giganos ace Meio Plato, one of the best pilots and field commanders Giganos Empire could count on. "Alright, how are our pilots? And is the Idaho sending out the Dragonars?"

"Where's their Laurasia-class?" Natarle asked of Romero Pal, who was quick to examine the area and pinpoint the location of the other ZAFT vessel.

"There's not one but two heat sources following us, 300 to stern, both identified as Laurasia-classes." he replied. "When did they appear?"

"We know that the Laurasia-classes will eventually overtake us but if we use our engines to outrun them, the Nazca and Copernico-classes will double back and come right at us!" frowned Mu as there seemed to be no end to their troubles even when they thought that they were in the clear. "Hey, bring me a space map and the data on the four vessels."

Hearing this made everyone in the bridge surprised to hear the Hawk ask of this. "Do you have a plan?" asked Natarle, rather curious to hear what Mu La Flaga had in mind and the male ace's grin grew since he knew that if they played their cards right then they'll be able to make it out alive.

"I'm getting ready to think about it."

"Well in any case, the Strike and the Moebius Zero are fully operational." Natarle answered. "The Idaho is slowing down as we speak and is getting ready to meet the enemy cruisers. The Dragonars will be sent out shortly."

"Alright." Murrue stated. "All hands, level 1 battle stations!"

oooooooooo

In the meantime, Kira's friends were in the cafeteria as the announcement for everyone onboard the Archangel to assume level one battle stations came up… even more so as there was another announcement, this one specifically for Kira. "Kira Yamato to the bridge, Kira Yamato to the bridge!" came a male voice that rang throughout the entire ship.

"Kira…" Mir whispered. "I wonder what he decided."

"If Kira decides not to fight, our future won't be looking too good…" added Sai as he had a bad feeling that Kira would want nothing to do with the Strike after having used it to protect them from the ensuring combat earlier.

Mir turned her attention towards Tolle and said. "Listen, Tolle. We're always sitting on the bench, waiting for Kira to get in the game and protect us."

"If we had the ability to make a difference, why not put it to good use… right?" Tolle spoke up. He saw the nods from the others, and made his decision.

oooooooooo

"Captain, I have civilians here request to speak with you" Dalida Lolaha Chandra II spoke, getting the attention of the three senior officers in the bridge as they were discussion the plan that Mu had in mind against the four enemy ships preparing to attack them.

"We have no time for that!" Natarle responded to the communications officer, they were already having their hands full with getting ready to face the enemy forces that were headed their way. "I'll deal with their complaints later… Just instruct them to remain quiet."

"Well, uh… the students that were previously brought onboard have asked me if we need help with the operation of the ship" Chandra said to the raven-haired female. "They would like to volunteer."

This news surprised everyone, including Natarle of all people...

oooooooooo

Kira was floating through the halls of the Archangel, still in deep thought about the fact he had to pilot the Strike again if only to protect the civilians that were onboard along with his talk with Cagalli in the hanger and Flay in her quarters.

"Kira!" he heard Tolle's voice as he soon saw that his friends were all donning Earth Alliance uniforms. They were different than the ones most of the crew members wore as Sai, Kuzzey and Tolle were all wearing matching blue uniform jackets with white pants and dark blue shoes. Flay, Jessie, Misha and Mir wore matching pink uniform jackets and shoes but Flay wore a black mini skirt and light green knee high socks, Jessie wore a dark green mini skirt with black knee high socks, Misha wore a purple mini skirt and white knee high socks, and Mir wore a yellow mini skirt and white knee socks.

"Huh? What's the deal with those Earth Forces outfits?" Kira asked in surprise.

"We decided we should help out around the ship" answered Sai. "They're undermanned, right?"

"Yeah, they wouldn't let us on the bridge without these uniforms" commented Kuzzey.

"But don't you think the ZAFT uniforms are cooler looking?" Tolle decided to ask. "We don't even get a rank badge so these seem kinda lame."

This caused Chandra to glare at Tolle for the comment. "Alright, wise guy!" he said as this wasn't the time for making jokes when there's a battle about to take place.

"You always do the fighting, so we thought you, Kain and the others could use a little company." began Tolle in hope that Kira would see that he won't be fighting this war alone.

"Since we're all in this thing together" added Mir. "We plan to help out too, any way we can."

"Alright kids, let's move it" said Chandra, leading the students to the bridge and soon the male officer turned his attention towards Kira. "Oh, and if you're gonna be launching again, make sure you wear a pilot suit this time."

"Yes sir, Mr. Chandra" Kira replied, then left to head back out though he hoped that he wouldn't be facing his best friend anytime soon...

oooooooooo

Meanwhile, the Vesalius had managed to beat the Archangel and the Idaho to their destination, well aware that Artemis was aware of the approaching ZAFT and Giganos ships in the area and activated its defense barrier to protect itself from all attacks. "So that's it" began Ades as the two vessels stayed far enough from the base and prepared for when the Archangel and the Idaho were in range.

"The Umbrella of Artemis."

"Well, we finally arrived here, but we failed to catch the two EA ships" said Ades, though Rau's expression changed as he was confident that they had the element of surprise on their side.

"We cut them off, the time is now…" began the masked commander with a confident look on his masked face and turned his attention towards the captain in charge of his flagship. "I'm leaving you in charge of the ship. Have my CGUE ready for launch at once."

"Understood" Ades saluted to Rau as he watched his superior officer leave the bridge for the MS Hanger and turned his attention towards the rest of the crew. "Rotate 180 degrees! Match velocity to Artemis, then proceed to stern at low speed!"

oooooooooo

Kira, now suiting up in a pilot suit, sighed as once again he'll be piloting the Strike but this time he needed to be ready to keep his friends safe no matter what the costs were. "Well, if that outfit is any indication, I'd say you've decided to do it" Mu approached the younger man, already in his pilot suit.

"My friends decided to volunteer and I couldn't just let them risk their lives just to help me out." said Kira as his glance was towards the Hawk with a stern look in his eyes. "It's not that I wanna fight, all I want to do is protect because of the people onboard."

"It's the same for everybody" Mu replied back, understanding where Kira was getting at right now that he was going to operate the Strike again. "You won't find many people who'd wanna fight for now reason at all, we fight because it's the only way we can protect ourselves."

"Yeah..." Kira agreed. "By the way... Lieutenant La Flaga, do we have news on ZAFT's position? Have we got a chance to lose them?"

Mu seemed to think about that for a short while, and then decided to be clear about it. "I'll be honest with you, kiddo... I'm afraid we have no chance to outrun them now that they're already on to us." he admitted. "Our ships are too slow for us to go anywhere without them being on our trails. We've sent decoys to Side 3 in hopes of distracting the ZAFT and Giganos forces... but I'm afraid Le Creuset, the enemy commander, wasn't fooled by such a simple trick. He's got too much experience for that."

"I see..." Kira said. "I guess it can't be helped then... if they come, I'll go out in the Strike and face them. And I guess Kain, Tapp and Light will have to do the same anyway..."

"Yeah..." Mu answered. "But, if that can be a scant consolation to you, kid, you won't be the only one on this ship to go out and fight. My Moebius Zero has just been repaired and can now be used to fight. So, I will definitely give you support... that will at least make things a little bit easier on us! After all, I am known as "the Hawk of Endymion" and "the man who can make the impossible possible" for a reason! Don't worry; you can count on my help. And I'll definitely show Le Creuset one thing or two while I'm at it."

Kira couldn't help but notice the Hawk's mood seemed to darken somewhat as soon as Le Creuset's name was spoken, and guessed that there was some kind of personal grudge between the two men, but decided not to inquire further, for fear of being disrespectful. "Thank, Lt. La Flaga, we appreciate it a lot. By the way... think it would be possible for me to go see how Flay and the others are doing? I've been... kinda worried about them ever since they ended up on this ship, and I don't know how well they might be coping with the current situation..."

The older man smiled astutely, his sixth sense telling him something more than what Kira was actually telling him. "Hmm, I see... well, no problem with that. I can take over from here, and it's only right that you get some respite from all the fighting!"

"Well... thank you very much, Lt. La Flaga!" Kira said, allowing himself a small smile for probably the first time since that absurd war had started. Mu nodded his head to the brown-haired Coordinator, secretly glad that they could use this time to prepare a plan he had in mind before war reared its ugly head again.

oooooooooo

"Dammit! Those Giganos bastards got to us faster than we thought!" Kain cursed, as he and his friends, already in their piloting suits, rushed to the hangars to get inside the Dragonars. As they turned around, though, they found themselves face to face with an unexpected surprise: Linda and Rose were waiting for them in front of the hangar entrance, looking quite anxious. "Oh... Linda, Rose, you here! We... thought you were with the rest of the crew..."

"In fact, we have to return to our duties soon... but before we do, we had something to give to you..." Linda stated, taking a golden pendant off her neck, and handing it to a surprised Kain. "Here... please, take it. Consider it... a good luck charm of sorts!"

"And I've got something to give you myself..." Rose shyly stepped forward and handed Tapp what looked like a spherical red jewel, certainly not an expensive one, but something that surely must have had some value for the girl. "Here, Tapp... this is my gift to you, to think you for your kindness! Please, come back safely!"

After a moment of surprised silence, the Heliopolis teens looked at each other and smiled victoriously, suddenly feeling like they had the strength to take on the whole Giganos army! "Heh... heheheheee... don't you worry your pretty little heads, girls! You'll see, we'll kick those Giganos goons' asses and be back in a snap!" Kain thanked.

"Hey, Kain, you seem awfully confident all of a sudden!" Light joked. "What's that, you looked inside of yourself and found a new reason to fight? Hehehee..."

"Hmph! I'm not bothered by your envious words!" Kain answered with a confident grin, before holding tightly Linda's pendant and smiling kindly to the blonde. "Anyway... thanks a lot, girls! We really appreciated that!"

"You'll see, we'll be back safe and sound before you even know it!" Tapp concluded. "You can bet on that! It won't be a few measly Mobile Armors to stop us, especially if Kira is fighting at our side!"

"Still... take care out there, guys, and good luck!" Linda concluded, before bowing respectfully to the boys. She and Rose walked away, turning around to wave at Kain and his friends, and the trio of boys stood there looking at them until they were out of sight.

"Heh... what do you know, we both got a good luck charm from the pretty ladies! What can I say, things seem to be looking up at last!" Kain said, carefully putting Linda's gift in a pocket of his flight suit as Tapp was doing the same with Rose's jewel.

Light, the only one of the trio who hadn't gotten anything, chuckled in good humor. "Heh... yay for you, lucky dogs!" he joked. "Me, I'm stuck with trusting my D-3's sensors to get out of this mess in one piece! Some people have all the luck, it seems!"

"What can we say, Light? Better luck next time!" Tapp answered, and the three of them shared good-natured laugh, before the massive figure of Sergeant Ben Rooney appeared near the hangar, regarding the trio with confidence.

"Heh... you brats sure seem to be pumped up for this!" the huge military man said, getting to the boys and giving Kain a friendly slap on the back that still managed to knock the wind out of the young boy. "Good for ya, but you'd better make good on your bold words! You don't wanna leave the pretty ladies crying, now do ya? So, get out there, and kick some ass!"

"Owww..." Kain murmured. "Man, that hurt... don't worry, big man, we're definitely not gonna kick the bucket before you do!"

oooooooooo

Kira Yamato strapped himself to his seat in the Strike Gundam's cockpit and, after securing his helmet, he took a deep breath and got ready to fight, hoping against hope that he would not be facing Athrun in battle. There were only a few seconds before launching, and he checked to see the Strike had been outfitted with what looked like new equipment - the AQM/E-X03 Launcher Striker Pack, he was sure he had heard - that would allow for heavy artillery and grant the Gundam some firepower using a 320mm Hyper Impulse Beam Cannon called the "Agni" along with a Combo Weapon Pod that housed a multi-barrel 120mm Anti-Ship Vulcan Gun and a pair of 350mm Gun Launchers, instead of simply relying on the CIWS and the Armor Schneiders. It seemed that the Archangel had managed to salvage a few more Striker Packs, namely the AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker Pack and the AQM/E-X02 Sword Striker Pack, but he had not had the chance to see them. "A Beam weapon?" he asked in awe, examining the "Agni" specifically out of the Launcher Striker's weapons.

"How about it, kid? Figure it out yet?" Kojiro Murdoch, the Archangel's chief mechanic, quickly made contact with the Strike, hoping that the younger man realized the Strikes have different packs to choose from before launching into battle.

"Y-Yeah… I guess so…" Kira replied with a nod, starting to see the different uses each Striker Pack gives to the Strike for every battle that takes place.

"Good… I don't know what the other guys are saying, but I respect your courage" explained Murdoch, giving a confident smile to Kira. "Whether you're a Coordinator or Natural makes no difference to me. Go get em!"

"Kira! Kira, can you hear me?" Mir asked. "Order to launch will be given shortly, are you ready?"

"Oh, Miriallia... yes, as ready as I'll ever be, all things considered..." he answered. "I didn't expect you to be at the communication console, though..."

"Well, that was something I and the others decided just a little before..." she answered. "Ensign Badgiruel was a little reluctant, but in the end both she and Captain Ramius allowed us to so from this point on I will act as the combat operator for the mechas from the Archangel and the Idaho. Anyway, the Moebius Zero is on the catapult, Lt. La Flaga and the Dragonar units form the Idaho will support you! Good luck, Kira!"

"Thanks, Mir... I guess I'll need it!" Kira thanked, as another screen lit up, showing Mu's face. "Lt. La Flaga... I'm ready!"

"Good to know, kid!" the Hawk of Endymion answered. "Alright, then... first off, before we head out into battle, I'd like you to answer my question. Are you afraid, right now?"

Kira hesitated for a small while before giving his answer. "To be honest, Lt. La Flaga... yes. Very afraid." he said. He was slightly taken off guard when Mu nodded, as if in approval.

"That's good. Every sane person would be afraid when going out in a war zone." he explained. "Remember that this fear can be used to help you survive. Focus on making it out of this alive, and whatever happens, don't get too far from the Archangel. The ship will fire the Lohengrin cannons to provide a distraction while I sneak up from behind and take out the Nazca-class. You and the D-Boys, along with our Mobile Suit troops, will intercept the G-Weapons, the GINNs from the two Laurasia-classes and the Giganos soldiers. Good luck, and try not to get shot down, okay?"

"D-Boys?" Kira blinked in confusion at the nickname Mu had given to Kain, Tapp and Light, but shrugged that off and smiled gratefully. "Of course, sir. Thanks a lot."

"No problem!" he answered with a smart grin, before the roar of the Archangel's Lohengrin positron cannons signaled that it was time for him to go. "Alright, this is it... Mu La Flaga, Moebius Zero, launching!"

"Kira Yamato, Strike Gundam... I'm heading out!"

oooooooooo

The enemy forces had just sent out their attack units from both sides... and standing in front of the formation was a majestic cobalt-blue Metal Armor with wing-like extensions on its back, looking more like a state-of-the-art Mobile Suit than the primitive-looking modified Metal Workers that composed the bulk of the Giganos army. Its golden highlights seemed to glow on their own, and it was holding a large assault rifle in its hands. That was the Falguen, an advanced one-of-a-kind Metal Armor that had been assigned to the Giganos ace, Meio Plato... and that, combined with his ruthlessness and piloting skill, had earned him the nickname of "Blue Hawk of Giganos". Following the Falguen were three more Metal Armors, their hulls a lighter shade of azure but similarly armed, each of them piloted by a member of the Imperial Guard's Practice Team, composed of Ensigns Karl, Werner and Dan. While they obviously weren't as tough as the Falguen was, they still looked a lot more dangerous than your average Metal Armor.

"Alright, Gelf squadron... we're approaching both the cargo ship and the legged ship. We'll concentrate on the D-Units and try to take them back in the best condition possible while the Vesalius, the Gamow and the Galvani will focus their efforts on the Strike." Meio instructed the trio of ensigns. "Take extreme care. While the pilots might be inexperienced, the Dragonars' power more than makes up for it."

"Roger that, Captain Plato!" Werner answered. "But I'm sure we'll have no problems! These Terran worms are no match for the Giganos Imperial Guard!"

"Here they come! I was itching to get my hands on them!" Dan exclaimed, finally seeing the Dragonar units on his radar. "Let's go, guys! I want to put those Terrans in their place!"

"They'll regret crossing us!" Karl concluded, as the joint force from both Archangel and Idaho approached. However, the three Imperial Guard rookies were taken off guard when a large beam of fiery red antimatter erupted from the Archangel's "legs" and tore through the Giganos / ZAFT ranks, forcing them to hastily disperse in order not to get blown to smithereens! "Aaargh! Damn Terrans... so they do have a few tricks up their sleeves, after all!"

A little farther away, Rau's CGUE was leading the four stolen Gundams, along with a GINN painted orange to differentiate it from the regular colored GINNs and on the right shoulder was a human skull above two long bones, the personal crest of Miguel Aiman himself. The ZGMF-1017 GINN Miguel Aiman custom was finally repaired and had joined with its allies, including Shiho's new machine the YFX-200 CGUE DEEP Arms, away from the firing range of the Archangel and towards the approaching enemy. Several Earth Alliance Mobile Suits, mostly GMs and Methuss units, fired at the G-Weapons, but their attacks bounced off the new-generation Gundams' Phase Shift Armor, leaving them unharmed.

To make matters worse, the GAT-X102 Duel now had what appeared to be a newly developed equipment - the Assault Shroud armor system rarely used by the GINN and the CGUE, in order to increase the otherwise plain Gundam's battle effectiveness. The armor that was mounted on the Duel was mainly blue with minor bits of orange on it, the weaponry differed from that found on the Assault Shroud for the GINN and the CGUE… mounted on the right shoulder of the newly developed armor was a 115mm Railgun codenamed "Shiva" and on the left shoulder was a 220mm 5-barrel Missile Pod, both of which increased the captured Mobile Suit's firepower and range greatly. This add-on armor also contained additional vernier thrusters to enhance its mobility in space and offset some of the added weight.

Matthew's GINN on the other hand, was outfitted with the M66 "Canus" Short-range Guided Missile Launchers carried in each hand and the M68 "Pardus" Short-range Guided 3-barrel Missile Launchers mounted on the GINN's legs - it seemed he and his fellow wingman Olor had been instructed to use D-Type Equipment to take down the Archangel and the Idaho.

Finally, Olor's GINN had different equipment than the one used by Matthew's as there was a set of armor that contained built-in weapons such as a pair of Gatling Guns mounted on the shoulders, a pair of 2-tune Grenade Launchers mounted on the wrists, a pair of Chest Grenades hidden within the additional chest armor, one located on each side of the chest, the MA-M3 Heavy Sword mounted on the left side of the GINN's waist, two JDP2-MMX22 Experimental 27mm Armor-Piercing Assault Rifles, one in each hand and the same "Parudus" Short-range Guided 3-barrel Missile Launchers mounted on the legs, the machine's armor also included additional thrusters to improve offensive, defensive, propulsion capabilities as well as mobility. Additional batteries were installed in the backpack armor to meet the additional energy needs and to improve operation time.

"Annoying Naturals!" Yzak exclaimed. "Get out of the way!"

The Duel Gundam Assault Shroud, turned to the swarm of opponents and fired a single shot of the "Shiva" followed by a few missiles from the 5-barrel Missile Pod aimed in the enemy's direction, determined to make use of his Gundam's new Assault Shroud Armor against his opponents. An explosion rocked the ranks of the Earth Alliance forces a split second later, destroying several units and forcing the others to scatter in all directions. A group of GMs tried to get closer and engage the ZAFT redcoats in hand-to-hand combat, but none of them managed to make much progress. Dearka's GAT-X103 Buster Gundam cut down a lot of them with well-aimed blasts from its gun launcher, while Nicol's GAT-X207 Blitz Gundam picked off all remaining stragglers with the Trikeros lancer darts mounted on its forearm. Another group was trying to approach from the side, but they had no better luck: Miguel's customized GINN, Rau's CGUE and Shiho's CGUE Deep Arms were already intercepting them... and the female redcoat, in particular, was showing that she hadn't gotten that far just because of her good looks: her new Mobile Suit, an heavy-looking model with a blue chassis and a pair of thermal energy cannons mounted on its shoulders, was spreading lasers in all direction, like a beautiful but deadly flower, destroying any Earth Alliance robot it caught. Even Yzak, who seemed to be dismissive of Shiho's skills after her botched attempt to take over the Strike and being somewhat responsible for Rusty being killed at Heliopolis, was reconsidering his position.

"Well, I have to give her that much... that girl is no pushover." he stated to himself.

Athrun, in the meanwhile, was easily making his way through the Earth Alliance forces, only to be stopped when coming face to face with the GAT-X105+AQM/E-X03 Launcher Strike Gundam. The blue-haired ace swallowed hard, steeling himself for what he had to do, and opened a comm. channel with the white Gundam. His last few hopes that Kira was not going to be his opponent were dashed when he saw his friend's face pop up on his comm screen, a somber and serious look in his amethyst eyes.

"Athrun..." Kira murmured.

The Strike and the Aegis faced each other, the former having the "Agni" pointed at the latter the moment it saw the beam saber being activated. "Kira... is that really you?" Athrun asked, as if to confirm his worst suspicions. "Please, Kira, listen to me... we do not have to fight! Come with me... you are a Coordinator as well, aren't you?"

Meanwhile, the Duel saw that the Aegis was busy confronting the Strike and Yzak knew that something wasn't right as Athrun wasn't even trying to take down the last machine. "I'm gonna back up Athrun, Dearka and Nicol, you two go after the ship!" he told the two redcoats and while Nicol complied with the suggestion as he and Yzak each shot down one of the Archangel's Sledgehammer Missiles, Dearka was somewhat surprised to hear this coming from his friend after countering with the Buster's main weapons.

"What?"

"Knock off the whining, Dearka and bag that trophy!" Yzak told him and the Duel headed off to assist the Aegis while the Buster and the Blitz continued to assist the Giganos Metal Armors and ZAFT Mobile Suits, for the most part GINNs, in shooting down the Archangel and the Idaho... but luckily, the enemies in the first lines were mowed down by a burst of machine gun fire from the advancing Dragonars, whose pilots proceeded in moving to cover the two ships from further attacks.

The Archangel fired its Portside Valiant at the two attacking Gundams but Dearka and Nicol easily evaded. It didn't go unnoticed from Kira, and he saw that while the Dragonars were doing their best to keep the ship safe, they could have their hands full with the Metal Armors from the Giganos forces. "Archangel..." he muttered, attempting to come to his friends' aid only for the Aegis to cut him off.

"Kira, enough!" yelled Athrun. "What are you doing with the Earth Forces? Why are you siding with the Naturals, tell me!"

"I'm not part of the Earth Forces, but people I know are on the Archangel, they're all good friends of mine!" Kira exclaimed. "Besides, what are you doing with ZAFT? Why did you decide to get involved in the war?"

The question made Athrun's eyes widen and Kira's expression hardened because he knew the blue-haired male teen since childhood yet never would have thought he'd join the forces that started their assault on his home. "You used to tell me that you hated the whole idea of war… so why are you attacking Heliopolis?" he continued to demand, memories of when the two friends were children and Kira receiving Birdy from Athrun flashed before their very eyes.

"Because that's where the Naturals built these things, they've turned it into a target…" answered Athrun, his own face started to darken the moment he reflected on how the war began and that one of the PLANTs was destroyed by nuclear missiles on Febuary 14th of last year.

"But Heliopolis is neutral and so am I, yet you…" said Kira, the two Gundam still stood on guard, ready to fight but unwilling to make the first move, while the other Gundams, Miguel's orange-colored GINN , Rau's CGUE and Shiho's CGUE Deep Arms were making their way through the enemy forces..

Needless to say, one Mobile Suit decided to join the fray…

"You're not fighting, Athrun!" yelled Yzak, immediately contacting the Aegis as the Duel was firing its beam rifle at the Launcher Strike much to Athrun's disbelief at seeing one of his comrades deciding to get himself involved in the confrontation. "Why not?"

"Yzak…"

Kira was just as shocked as Athrun as he saw the Duel attacking him and what shocked him even more was the armor that it was outfitted with. "X-102 Duel… and it's been upgraded?" he muttered, seeing the Duel's pilot would not hesitate to shoot him down.

oooooooooo

"Don't let them get close to the Idaho, guys!" Kain exclaimed at the top of his lungs, as the Dragonars began attacking the Giganos and ZAFT troops. "Shoot them all down!". The D-1's machine gun spewed a torrent of bullets at the enemy, destroying a couple of Draus that had gotten too cllose. The frail Metal-Workers-turned-weapons were no match for the Dragonar's advanced technology, and were quickly blown away.

"You'll get no argument from me... but we need to get close to their flagship if we are to defeat these guys!" Tapp retorted. His D-2's shoulder cannons fired a lethally precise shot, hitting a GINN that had gotten in the way. The Mobile Suit exploded, but several others made their way towards the Dragonars... among which the three Gelf units piloted by Giganos' Practice squad! This time, Kain and his friends were dealing with much more formidable opponents...

"Here they are, guys! I can already feel their fear!" Karl exclaimed as he led the charge against the Dragonars. With bloodthirsty enthusiasm, the three young ensigns swept down upon Kain and his friends... and Kain was barely able to lift his D-1's shield and block a vicious punch! Gritting his teeth, the young Natural was thrown back by the sheer force of the blow, and raised one of his beam swords, getting back in a guard pose.

"Careful, guys! These three aren't your cookie-cutter grunts!" Light warned from the D-3's cockpit, as the three Gelfs got in front of the Dragonars, boldly challenging them.

Dan chuckled arrogantly. "Hehehee... at least you Terrans are smart enough to understand that you're out of your league here!" he stated. "That's quite correct; in fact we're three elite pilots from the Giganos Imperial Guard, the best of the best our country ever produced! Now, we will take you apart, and bring the Dragonars back home! They'll surely reward us with a Selenium Cross!"

"Is that so?" Kain exclaimed. "Not so fast, pal! You'll have to defeat us first!"

Werner smirked. "It shall be easy, fools!" he said, before unleashing a hail of bullets from his Gelf's machine gun, aiming at the D-3. Luckily, Light was not caught off guard, and he managed to dodge sideways, much to the Giganos soldier's frustration. Then, the D-3 answered with a barrage of micro-missiles, barely missing his mark and hitting some of the debris floating around.

Dan charged Tapp head-on, beginning a grapple with the dark-colored Dragonar unit, which left Kain to handle Karl and his customized Gelf in a tense swordfight. Thinking he had the upper hand already, Karl stepped forward and tried an overhead slash, but he was disappointed when Kain lifted his bean sword and blocked his attack, before slamming his Gelf in the chest with the D-1's shield.

"Don't think you've got me beat just because you can throw a fancy title at me, blowhard!" Kain warned the arrogant Giganos elite, before shoving him away with a mighty push. Karl stumbled and swore under his breath, but the annoyance quickly overrode his shock, and he attacked again, his blade drawing a jagged line on Kain's shield. Dan's Gelf had managed to score a strong punch upon Tapp's D-2, while the D-3 and Werner's unit seemed to be playing a dangerous game of hide-and-shoot among the debris. The battle had gotten a lot more heated, and the Dragonar pilots were already being pushed to their limits...

"That's... ugh... you were right, Light, these guys are really tough!" Tapp exclaimed, trying to shake off the Gelf bearing down on him. "If only we could get some help..."

"We'll have to do it ourselves, pal!" Light shouted back, finally getting a hit in as his D-3 dashed in and kicked Werner's Gelf away. "Kira is locked in battle with the Duel and Aegis Gundams, and Lt. La Flaga is trying to get the enemy flagship! Until he strikes, we'll have to rely on ourselves!"

"Heh... you're not bad at all... for you Terrans' low standards, that is!" Werner grunted. "But don't get cocky! It's just a matter of time before we get you!"

"Wanna bet? I should remind you that you haven't hit me yet!" Light challenged back, which caused the impulsive Giganos soldier to charge head-on, the D-3 getting ready to dodge at the last moment...

oooooooooo

"What's going on there?" Shiho asked, as she put down a Methuss with her beam saber. "Athrun and Yzak are taking far too long dealing with the Strike... I thought they'd be done with it sooner!"

"That only means the pilot is better than we thought..." Nicol said, as he and Dearka's Buster Gundam reunited near the girl's CGUE Deep Arms as they saw that the Strike was so far evading the Duel's beam rifle shots. "And we still haven't been able to get a good shot on the new warship..."

"I can try shooting from here!" Dearka said, getting his gun launcher ready. "I just need a little more room to aim... and I can get the legged ship with a shot! It might be protected by a Laminate Armor, but even it will take serious damage if I can land a hit!"

"Alright, Dearka!" Rau exclaimed, his CGUE cutting down a Nemo. "Shiho, Nicol, cover him! We need to hold off the enemy until Dearka can get a good shot!"

"Roger that!" Nicol and Shiho answered, getting close enough to the Buster so that Dearka would be covered while he aimed, and at the same time not be hindered. The dark-skinned young man thanked his teammates and their commander with a slight grin and raised his gun launcher, taking a few moments to aim at the Archangel's Lohengrin cannons... and then, he unleashed a beam of solid yellow light that crossed the whole battlefield, violently impacting upon the Archangel's left side, and shaking the whole battleship, its Laminate Armor only partially managing to absorb the hit!

"Great! I got it!" Dearka said, grinning and clenching a fist in front of him. "That will light some fire under their asses!"

oooooooooo

Murrue let out an alarmed cry as she was almost tossed out of her chair, only barely managing to get a handhold in time. "Agh... Archangel has taken a hit! Damage report!"

"One of the Lohengrin is offline, Captain!" Neumann answered. "Blocks 3 and 4 have taken severe damage! We won't be able to hold out much longer, if this keeps up!"

"Okay... retreat a little and try to support our units with Sledgehammer fire!" Natarle ordered, straightening her uniform a little. "Call for friendlies to retreat back to the Archangel for support!"

"We'll do what we can..." Neumann answered, as the bridge crew frantically tried to assess damage and respond to attack...

oooooooooo

As the Strike was still confronting the Duel, he needed a clear shot in order to deal some meaningful damage to the enemy. "That coward, all he can do is dodge!" yelled Yzak.

Unfortunately, Kira had seen saw that the Archangel had taken a hit from the enemy and knew that he needed to end this scuffle with the Duel fast. He took aim with the "Agni" in hopes that he would get lucky, but each time he fired, the Duel would evade with ease. "Dammit, dammit, dammit!" he cursed.

"Not the way, you fight!" grinned Yzak, having the Duel's Beam Rifle stored onto the right skirt armor and used its free hand to draw one of the Beam Sabers mounted on the back while at the same time fired the "Shiva" several times as he charged at the Strike. Luckily, Kira's Coordinator reflexes allowed him to barely evade being cleaved in two and continued to fire the "Agni" at the Duel. All while Athrun watched silently as his friend faced one of his comrades.

oooooooooo

"The Archangel was hit?" Kain exclaimed, turning around a little to see what had happened and even more so as Matthew fired four of the larger missiles which forced the Archangel to take evasive action though it left the ship vulnerable as three smaller missiles were shot and one of them scored a direct hit as a result. Thinking his opponent distracted, Karl grinned and raised his Gelf's sword, intending to bury it in the D-1's cockpit.

"Where are you looking, brain-dead Terran? You shouldn't get distracted when fighting me!" he exclaimed, bringing his sword down... only to find the D-1 rushing furiously at him, and interrupting him mid-swing with a devastating shoulder ram! Karl screamed in surprise and anger, and his Gelf relinquished its hold on its weapon, before the D-1 began pummeling the living daylights out of it with its bare hands!

"I've had quite enough of you Giganos jerks!" Kain exclaimed, as he forced the Gelf to step backwards, each blow more powerful than the previous one. Furious, surprised and ashamed at being held back by an opponent he thought inferior, Karl tried to call for backup... but his companions were locked in combat with the other two Dragonars, and they weren't exactly dominating the fight. Tapp had finally managed to get some distance from Dan's Gelf, hitting its right arm and leg with the D-2's machine guns... and Light's D-3 was wearing down Werner with hit-and-run attacks.

"You bunch of cowards!" Werner exclaimed as another of his attacks was foiled by the D-3's agility. "Just stand still and fight fairly, will you?"

Light did not resist the temptation to taunt his opponent a little more. "Well, what's the matter, Mr. Elite? Is a bunch of "dirty Terrans" too much for you?" he mocked, making the Giganos' racial slur for Earthlings backfire on his opponent. "War is war, my friend... whatever it takes to survive!"

"Sorry about not meeting your standards, pal, but you now how us "Terrans" are!" Tapp joined his friend. The three Gelfs were forced to retreat slightly, and as the Dragonars got in a fight pose in front o them, the Giganos soldiers tried to reorganize themselves... only to be interrupted by a well-known voice coming from behind them!

"That will do. Leave these ones to me." Captain Meio Plato's confident voice blared from the Gelfs' speakers, startling the three ensigns to no end! As the Dragonar pilots looked on in confusion, the Gelfs parted slightly, offering their opponent the awesome sight of Meio's glorious Metal Armor! Inside the cockpit, Meio was staring down the Dragonars with an unreadable, but definitely not pleased, expresion on his face.

"Huh? And now... who's this buffoon?" Kain asked to no-one in particular.

"Cap... Captain Meio Plato!" Karl stammered, his bravado quickly turning to meekness. "We... we were about to get the upper hand on these Terrans! We... don't know how they could suddenly get the jump on us, and..."

"I said, that will do." Meio repeated. "We'll talk about this later. You rejoin the battle and try to support our allies."

The three Imperial Guard members quickly swallowed any objection they might have had. "Er... yes! Yes, Captain Plato, sir!" Karl answered for everyone, before the Gelfs drifted away, back towards the Copernico-class cruiser. Meio nodded, and turned his attention to the Dragonars, a beam sword already in his Falguen's hands.

"How interesting. Three of the best Metal Armors Giganos ever produced, handled by a bunch of schoolboys. And yet, you managed to hold your own until now." Meio commented. "Worthy of praise... but I'm afraid your luck ends here."

"Hmph... so, you're the Giganos boss, aren't you?" Kain challenged him, drawing his beam sword as well. "Tapp, Light! Leave this sucker to me... you go take down the Giganos flagship!"

"Alright... you be careful okay?" Tapp said, as he and Light began speeding towards the Copernico. Meio, however, seemed to have other plans in mind.

"I don't think I ever said you could get away." he stated, as he began aiming a bunch of missiles from the Falguen's wings. Before he could fire, though, the D-1 tackled his Falguen, spoiling his chance and dragging him away for a moment, before the Giganos ace was able to shrug him away and kick the D-1 in the chest, staggering it.

"Ugh... and I don't think I ever said I would let you mess with my friends, Giganos scum!" Kain exclaimed, as he once again approached the Falguen in order to keep Meio busy in hand-to-hand combat. Understanding his opponent's plan, Meio frowned slightly and called to the Practice Team on his comm. channels.

"Karl, Werner, Dan... the orders have changed! Move to intercept the D-2 and the D-3, while I deal with this one. Quick, before they get too close to the Copernico!" he ordered, then quickly deactivated the channel and faced down Kain. "So you want to do this the hard way, huh? Fine by me. Let me show you what it means to face a true Giganos soldier."

With a warlike yell, Kain charged towards the Falguen... but the Giganos ace saw through such a straightforward and thoughtless attempt, and sidestepped the slash with almost contemptuous ease, before countering with a devastating punch that knocked the Dragonar-1 off balance and threw it a good distance away. Kain swore through grit teeth and tried to regain his robot's footing, but Meio was not about to let him recover, and let loose with a barrage of missiles from the Falguen's wings. The younger pilot widened his eyes in horrified surprise and raised his shield in order to block the worst of the attack, but there was not much he could do, and the volley struck with the strength of a battering ram, further damaging the Dragonar-1 and short-circuiting some systems in the left arm.

"Aaaargh!" Kain yelled. "D-damn you... I'm not done it! Take this!"

Discarding the almost-wrecked shield, Kain grabbed his D-1's machine gun and tried to shoot... but, once again, the difference in skill between him and Meio was more than evident. The Falguen dodged the attack, and while Kain was busy trying to adjust his aiming, he closed in and kicked the Dragonar-1 in the chest, before letting loose with a vicious overhead slash with his beam sword. The laser blade tore a nasty-looking gash in the Dragonar-1's chest armor, and Kain was once again thrown around in his cockpit, his screens lighting it up in dangerous red colours! The boy grunted in pain and the g-forces pressed his body against the seat... and while his vision was beginning to get clouded, he was able to see the Falguen raise its sword, ready to put an end to the battle.

"Your courage is commendable." Meio stated. "Unfortunately, it's also all you have. Relinquish that Dragonar, and I will spare your life."

"Ugh... you can kiss my ass!" Kain grunted through the pain, desperately trying to find the strength to go on fighting. His hand clenched around Linda's pendant, and he furrowed his brow, getting ready for another attack.

Inside the Falguen's cockpit, Meio frowned as well. "Such spirit and such stupidity. Fine then. I gave you one last chance, but you threw it away." The Falguen's beam sword began descending in a powerful arc, ready to separate the Dragonar-1's head from the body...

And Kain, with a furious surge of adrenaline, acted with blinding swiftness, pulling out one of his beam sabers and closing in on the Falguen while the latter's sword was already descending! Caught off guard, Meio did not have time to dodge, and Kain's beam sword caught the blue Metal Armor in the side, blowing off a chunk of armor and causing a shower of electrical sparks!

Meio widened his eyes and grunted as he stopped the attack and backed away, while the D-1 quickly recovered and stood on guard once again! The Giganos captain could scarcely believe it... he could barely remember the last time his Falguen had taken damage, and now this had to happen...

"Heh... hehehee... so you're not invincible after all, blue boy!" Kain mocked him as he tried to regain his breath.

However, Meio quickly recovered from his surprise and smiled slightly. "That's what I get for being overconfident." he calmly stated. "That Dragonar unit of yours is really something else. I knew the D-Units were superior to pretty much any other Metal Armor Giganos Empire ever fielded, but this truly caught me off guard."

"And there's more where that came from!" Kain exclaimed as he charged again, joining his two beam swords in a pole-like weapon. "Bring it on!"

Meio brought up his sword again, easily blocking the attack. "Don't get too cocky, Terran. I admit I underestimated you, but I won't be so foolish as to make that mistake again." he stated, as the two blades met in a flash of electrical sparks...

oooooooooo

"Hey Yzak!" yelled Dearka as he, Nicol and Shiho decided to help both Athrun and Yzak in taking the Strike down if they couldn't destroy the EA's new warship. Kira muttered a curse before being forced to fend off five enemy Mobile Suits now instead of just two.

To make matters worse, the Vesalius was now targeting the Archangel and the Gamow and the Galvani were still approaching the battleship from behind. "Athrun, Yzak, what are you guys doing? Let's surround him!" recommended Dearka, knowing that they have the advantage in numbers against the lone EA Mobile Suit and how even it alone wouldn't survive against their combined might.

oooooooooo

Mu La Flaga's Moebius Zero was deftly weaving its way among a group of Giganos and ZAFT units, using its linear guns to shoot down any enemy approaching him. Several units were trying to stop him, none of them successful, as the Mobile Armor tried to approach the Vesalius, hiding behind shrapnel and debris, and hoping that he had managed to slip through the enemy's radars. He knew that Le Creuset's special awareness would not allow him to go unnoticed for long as soon as he got any closer to the enemy flagship even if the masked commander was taking personal charge within the battlefield in his CGUE, but at least he was hoping that the element of surprise would be on his side. Luckily, none of the enemy's G-Weapons seemed to be trailing him...

The same, sadly, couldn't be said of an orange GINN, belonging to ZAFT ace Miguel "The Magic Bullet of Dusk" Aiman, who was not targeting him with several blasts from his Heavy Ion Cannon. Mu bit back a curse and deftly dodged the incoming destructive beam, before sending out his gunbarrels to hold off his pursuer.

"Afraid I can't be keeping you company here, pal!" Mu exclaimed, noting with dismay that this would man he had lost his cover. "But I have a bone to pick with your commander, and I can't exactly stay here long!". He cast a quick glance at his radar, and at the Vesalius. It was far enough, but if he was quick enough, he could still reach it...

Miguel barely dodged a gunbarrel shot, before trying to shoot the Moebius Zero with his machine gun. "I'm not letting you through here, Hawk of Endymion!" he exclaimed, trying to keep up with the agile fighter.

"Oh, well... in that case, too bad! I guess I'm already through..." Mu retorted. He had just gotten close enough to the Vesalius to attempt an attack... and if luck was on his side, he could attack before Rau and the Vesalius crew could react. Concentrating as hard as he could, Mu sent his gunbarrels flying towards the enemy flagship...

And at the same time, a familiar jolt shook Rau Le Creuset for a split second, and the masked commander quickly contacted the Vesalius. "It's him..." he thought to himself, before giving an hasty order in an attempt to avoid the incoming attack. "Le Creuset to Vesalius! Boost engines! Lower bow, pitch angle 60, quick!"

For a second, the other crew members were caught off guard... until one of them noted that the Moebius Zero had gotten close enough to attack, faster than they had expected! "We're under attack!" an operator exclaimed. "Take evasive maneuvers!"

But it was too late, as Mu fired his linear gun and all his gunbarrels at the same time, scoring a solid hit on the Vesalius and blasting several sections of its hull before turning around and speeding back to the Archangel, leaving the ZAFT commanders - especially Le Creuset - to fume impotently.

"Ugh... damage report!" Ades exclaimed, standing up from where he had fallen.

The techs quickly did an assessment of the damage. "We've taken severe damage from that attack, sir..." one of them spoke up. "The hangars are damaged, and several engines are powering down."

"I see..." Ades bitterly murmured as he looked to Le Creuset's image on the screen. "Sir?"

"We'll retreat. Issue the order to our units and our allies." Rau simply said from within the cockpit of his CGUE. Annoyed as he was at this unexpected reversal of fortune, one of the reasons why Rau had come as far as he had was the fact that he knew when to cut his losses. However, he cast one last, dark thought at Mu La Flaga.

"You have defeated me, Mu... for now. But rest assured you haven't seen the last of me."

oooooooooo

Meanwhile, Tapp and Light weren't happy campers themselves... as they were busy trying to approach the Copernico without getting shot down by the many Giganos and ZAFT units around them, and the Practice Team hot on their trail! Light almost swore when a machine gun volley passed dangerously close to his D-3, and he turned in the direction of the shots just in time to see that the enemies had gotten closer already!

"Cowards! Too afraid to face us directly?" Dan exclaimed.

"Stay here and fight, if you've got the balls, Terrans!" Werner retorted... and, much to his chagrin, Tapp and Light ignored them and kept speeding towards the Copernico.

Karl snorted. "Hmph... just as expected from those lower lifeforms..." he muttered. "Let's chase them down, guys! They must not escape!"

"Those guys are harder to shake than door-to-door salesmen!" Light commented, as the bullets from the Practice Team came closer and closer. Frantically trying to keep up the pace, he punched a few commands into his onboard computer, bringing up a representation of the Copernico-class cruisers, and sent it to Tapp's own computer. "Tapp, I'm going to try hold off these guys! It's up to you to take out the Copernico! I'm now sending you the ship's scheme, along with a notification of its main weak point! Make good use of it, and strike true, or we're done for!"

"No worries, Light, I won't fail!" Tapp answered, gritting his teeth in determination. "You, try not to get shot down! We need to make it back to the Idaho together, and with Kira along!"

"Got it!" Light answered, stopping in mid-flight in order to send some missiles at the Practice Team, successfully throwing them off long enough for Tapp to approach the cylinder-shaped Giganos cruiser, still sending out a few Draus and Gebayes. Taking a quick look at the image Light had sent to him, the boy of color took aim, charging his D-2's shoulder cannons, and hoping his aim was true...

...and let loose with two massive beams of energy!

"C'mon, hit, hit, hit!" he murmured to himself, cold sweat pouring down his temples...

...

The D-2's beams hit the Copernico-class battleship straight in the weak point Light had pointed out, causing a huge explosion near the main engine... which subsequently set off a chain reaction that resulted in the massive ship blowing up like some sort of gigantic fireworks, the debris from its hull striking the closest Metal Armors and fratriciding them! Tapp let out a victorious yell as the Giganos and ZAFT forces were thrown in disarray... and the Practice Team stopped cold, looking in shock at the massive explosion!

"What?" Karl exclaimed. "I can't believe it... that guy blew up the Copernico!"

Werner slammed his fist on the console. "Damn Terrans! It's all luck! Luck of the draw, I say!" he roared, before his screen brought up the retreat order coming from the Vesalius. "Damn... just great! Commander Rau Le Creuset has issued the retreat order... we need to scram as fast as we can!"

"For this once, we're letting you go, Terrans... but rest assured that this humiliation will be washed away in your blood!" Dan grunted, as the Practice Team quickly fled, leaving Tapp and Light to breathe a sigh of relief.

"Well... that's what I call a narrow escape, Tapp!" Light said with a relieved smile. "And you did a great job taking down that ship! Lieutenant La Flaga's plan worked like a charm!"

"Yeah... and speaking of charms..." Tapp answered, holding Rose's jewel in his hand as he smiled. "I guess we really have to thank Rose and Linda for their gifts! They really helped us in this battle!"

Light laughed heartily. "Well, you and Kain will have all the time in the world when we get back! Now, the enemy's retreating! Let's get our butts back on the Idaho!"

oooooooooo

The D-1's beam sword and the Falguen's laser blade clashed again, the two mighty Metal Armors pushing against each other for a while before separating... but not before the D-1 took a crushing kick from the blue robot, causing it to lose its balance for a second. Kain quickly regained his bearings and stood on guard, ready to handle another attack... but this time, the fight was interrupted as the Falguen put its sword away and began backing down.

"What?" Kain asked. "Hey, you! Where are you going? Our fight isn't over yet!"

"I think it is. I've been given the order to retreat." Meio answered dispassionately. "But make no mistake, this is just a temporary respite for you. I have to admit, you handled yourself well for a beginner. Given enough time, you will become a serious threat to us."

"Hold on a second there!" Kain demanded. "At least give me your name! I don't like speaking with a faceless guy!"

For a moment, the Giganos ace seemed to hesitate. Then, he nodded to himself and, out of respect for Kain's unexpected skill, he decided he might as well answer. "You want my name? Fine... I am Captain Meio Plato of the Giganos Imperial Guard. They also call me "The Blue Hawk of Giganos". Savor your moment of glory while you can. For it shall be short-lived indeed."

"Meio Plato, huh?" Kain answered. "My name is Kain Wakaba, 16 years old, your average academy student from Heliopolis! And don't forget it!"

The young boy narrowed his eyes as the Falguen sped away, joining the remaining ZAFT and Giganos units around the retreating Vesalius. Then, he sighed and, much to his relief, he saw the other Dragonar units flying back towards him. The battle had been hard... but at least, they seemed to be alright!

"Hey, Tapp! Light! I see you're still in one piece, you scoundrels!" he greeted them jokingly. "Nice job out there... now, let's go back to the Idaho!"

oooooooooo

"Message from Lieutenant La Flaga and the Dragonar pilots, mission accomplished!" informed Jackie Tonomura from the CIC, revealing the good news concerning the outcome of the Hawk's plan. "Now returning to ship."

"Alright, then let's get them" said Murrue as it was now time for them to make their move while they had good luck on their side. "Target the enemy Nazca-class dead ahead."

"Lohengrin 1 and Lohengrin 2, standby!" added Natarle, determined not to let the ZAFT and Giganos forces off that easily despite their initial advantage.

"Signal our pilots to clear out! Also caution the Strike to avoid our ship's line of fire!"

"Positron bank breath chamber at maximum" Chandra informed, the crew preparing to fire the Positron Cannons once they were certain that allied forces were clear enough to avoid being struck by the blast that was targeted towards the Le Creuset Team's flagship. "Muzzle choke, potential stabilized! Opening barrels!"

oooooooooo

Kira was having a difficult time trying to keep up with the enemy forces that were targeting him specifically and yet he failed to notice that the Strike's power was being drained from firing the "Agni" constantly throughout the entire thing. "Huh?" he saw that the Archangel was prepared to fire its Lohengrin Cannons and he needed to get out of the way fast.

He wasn't the only one to receive a message as Rau and Ades alerted the five redcoat pilots about the situation concerning the Vesalius and the Copernico's fate. 'The Vesalius was damaged by surprise attack and Copernico has been destroyed. Withdraw all units immediately.'

Yzak's eyes widened in shock and was currently at a loss of words. "The Vesalius was hit and the Copernico was destroyed?!" he asked, being the first to speak out of the redcoat pilots. "But how?"

"Damn... we have to retreat right now?" Dearka asked incredulously. "And here I had even managed to score some good hits on the legged ship and we're close to taking out its only Mobile Suit..."

The ZAFT pilots were so distracted that they failed to notice the Strike using it as the chance to clear out of the area. "Oh shit!" cursed Yzak just moments before the Archangel fired its Lohengrins and the blast was approaching the Vesalius, narrowly missing Rau's CGUE by an inch due to maneuvering out of the line of fire at the last minute.

oooooooooo

Everyone onboard the Vesalius picked up a large heat source approaching at top speed, causing the crew to realize what it was. "Heat source approaching, direction zero, zero, zero!" alerted the communications officer as it seemed the new warship wasn't going to let them go that easily. "Impact in three seconds!"

"Starboard maximum thrust, evade it!" commanded Ades with the Vesalius barely saving itself due to its superior speed but the blast still managed to rock the entire ship and deal its damage, resulting in an explosion on the left side. "Fire Signal Flares!"

Not needing to remain in the battlefield much longer, the Vesalius fired its signal flares to signify that it wanted all pilots to head back before any further damage could be done. "What?! Dammit!" cursed Miguel, knowing that he could at least take out the Mobile Armor before it rejoined with the enemy vessel. "You, you're going down!"

"Damn!" cursed Mu, noticing the orange GINN firing its Ion Cannon in his direction and was going to be in for one hell of a fight before this was all over though his main concern was the Archangel and the Strike, more so the latter since it had more than one opponent to fight.

oooooooooo

"Damn it!" yelled Yzak as he and the others saw the signal flares fired from the Vesalius, refusing to let the Earth Alliance's warship get the better of them and decided to continue attacking the Strike... much to Athrun's dismay.

"Hey, Yzak! What are you doing?!" demanded the Aegis' pilot in disbelief. "We've been ordered to retreat!"

"Keep your mouth shut, you coward!" Yzak snapped back, his anger starting to get the better of him at this very moment. "I'm gonna at least take him out."

oooooooooo

"Nazca-class, veering away from our ship's course!" Chandra reported, though he frowned as it seemed that one of the ZAFT Mobile Suits was targeting the Moebius Zero and the stolen Machines were still attacking the Strike. "The Lieutenant's Zero is engaging an enemy GINN, just the one!"

This caused everyone in the bridge to be shocked especially as normally GINNs wouldn't last even two seconds against the Moebius Zero but had a feeling they knew who's operating the one that Mu was currently engaging. "To make matters worse, the Strike is surrounded" added Tonomura with his own share of concern.

"Give the Strike back up now!" ordered Murrue. "We can't afford to lose our last machine!"

"It's impossible in that melee!" protested Natarle, with the Moebius Zero prevented from assisting, their only chance of saving Kira is with the aid of the Dragonar pilots, provided Kain and the others hadn't already returned to the Idaho by now. "I'm concerned about the Strike's remaining power supply."

"I know, Ensign" responded Murrue because the moment the Strike's power was completely drained, the Mobile Suit's PS Armor will go down and it'll become vulnerable to any weapon used by the enemy forces. "Where are the Dragonars?"

oooooooooo

Kira bit his lower lip as he barely evaded the Buster's shots, however he himself was starting to drift away from the Archangel and he saw the Duel charging at him, still armed with its beam saber and firing the "Shiva". He tried to target the Gundam but saw that nothing was coming out of the "Agni" as it charged up only for it to fire nothing then he realized why his only beam weapon stopped working. "Out of power?" he muttered as he saw the emergency warning appearing on his console. "Argh, no way, my armor!"

The Strike's colors slowly began changing back to the original color scheme, yet the Launcher Striker remained the green it always had been and Yzak saw this as his opportunity to finish the opposing Gundam off. "Now I have you!" he declared, with Kira attempting to try and escape from the Duel's path though realized he wouldn't make it out in time.

He closed his eyes and felt the cockpit shaking violently for a brief second then opened them to see that he was still alive then saw the reason… The Aegis had transformed itself into its 'Mobile Armor' Attack Mode and grabbed the Strike when Yzak and Kira least expected it. "What are you doing, Athrun?!" asked Yzak in shock and anger.

"I'm capturing this machine!"

"What was that?!"

"We've been told to destroy it!" added Dearka, agreeing with Yzak that Athrun was out of his mind by doing what he just did and knew Commander Le Creuset would want a few words with him. "You're disobeying orders!"

"If we have the chance to capture it, all the better!" Athrun replied. "Besides, Commander Le Creuset would agree with me on this course of action, now let's go!"

The other three stolen G-Project Machines followed the Aegis with Rau's CGUE and Shiho's CGUE DEEP Arms following close behind. "Damn… that bastard!" Yzak cursed, wanting to give Athrun a piece of his mind once they were back onboard the Vesalius.

oooooooooo

"He's been overpowered! The Strike has been captured by the Aegis!"

"Phase Shift Down!" added Arnold as he and everyone else in the bridge were shocked at the ultimate outcome, the Idaho and its pilots would feel the same way upon witnessing this turn of events. "Hold on, a message from Lieutenant La Flaga!"

Having informed Mu of the situation, the Hawk responded to the ship's crew with another idea which would save the Strike and Kira if they were successful. 'STANDBY FOR "AILE STRIKER" ONCE STRIKE IS IN POSITION TO RECEIVE IT.'

"He says to deploy the Aile Striker with the… catapult?" asked Tonomura, while he was glad that Mu and the Dragonar pilots got their message, everyone present could only hope that Kain and the others would be able to get Kira out of this mess in order to replenish the Strike's power. "Dragonar pilots heading to intercept enemy Mobile Suits."

oooooooooo

As the six ZAFT Mobile Suits made their retreat with their newest prize, the Aegis kept its grip on the powerless Strike Gundam and Kira tried to get himself out but to no avail. "Athrun, what are you up to?" he asked, surprised that Athrun chose to save him from being finished off by the Duel despite the fact the two of them were on opposite sides.

"I'm taking you to the Vesalius."

"Get serious!" responded Kira with a frown, feeling as if he would rather die than go onboard the Le Creuset Team's Nazca-class mothership and abandon his friends onboard the Archangel. "I'm not gonna set foot on any ZAFT ship!"

Athrun wasn't exactly thrilled with Kira's response and said. "You are a Coordinator!" he reminded, knowing that this needed to be done in order to keep his best friend from being killed by one of his comrades had he not intervened when he did. "You're one of us, Kira!"

"No, I won't join ZAFT!"

"That's enough Kira, quiet! Just let me take you… Otherwise... I will have no choice but to shoot you..." Athrun answered sadly, all while Kira could feel his friend's pain through his trembling voice, and felt a pang of sadness tear at his heart... "I already lost my mom in the Bloody Valentine... So I…"

His words were interrupted by the alarm going off in his Gundam's cockpit as the Dragonar-1 arrived at the scene firing the dual 25mm machine guns at the red MS in hope that the projectile attacks would be enough to force it to let go of the Strike. Eventually after two shots, it did happen and the Aegis transformed back into MS Mode in order to fight the enemy.

"Damn… this wasn't part of the plan." growled Rau, even as he wondered where the other two Dragonars were...

"Hey, Kira! Looks like I came just in time to pull your ass out of the fire, huh?" Kain greeted him, especially as Light and Tapp were providing some much needed assistance to Mu in an effort to keep the orange GINN off his back. "Try not to get captured again, okay? You hurry back to the Archangel and switch packs; we'll make sure those goons don't get to you!"

"Thanks, guys..." Kira thanked the Dragonar pilots before turning his attention back to Athrun for a brief moment. "Did you see them, Athrun? The ones piloting the Dragonars right now were friends of mine, and they were all Naturals. I... I cannot abandon them right now... Please, Athrun, don't force me to choose between you or them!"

With that, the powerless Strike jetted off back to the Archangel while Kain prevented the Aegis from getting past him. "Kira…" muttered the blue-haired redcoat, mentally cursing at this turn of events while the others weren't exactly pleased at what transpired themselves. "He's escaped!" muttered Yzak as he; Dearka and Shiho gave pursuit only to be met by missile and linear fire from the Archangel.

Rau was about to assist them when his heightened sense of spatial awareness kicked in, a sign that Miguel lost Mu and was being possibly being held back by the other two Dragonars, forcing the masked commander to confront his long nemesis by himself as the Moebius Zero fired its Gunbarrels at the CGUE and forcing it to evade before counting back with its machine gun, managing to destroy one of the Gunbarrels in the process as it attempted to shoot him from behind.

"Commander!" Nicol decided to provide assistance by firing the Trikeros' 50mm High-energy Beam Rifle at the Moebius Zero in order to keep the orange Mobile Armor at bay as it seemed the others were already having their hands full with trying to stop the Strike and defeat the Dragonars as it is.

oooooooooo

"Keep them away from the Strike!" ordered Natarle, this was their only chance and they couldn't afford to mess it up as if the Strike or the Aile Striker were to be destroyed then it'll all be for nothing.

"Well, Mr. Murdoch?" began Murrue as she immediately made quick contact with the MS hanger, which was already making the preparations in deploying the AQM/E-X01 Aile Striker Pack, which was designed to allow greater mobility in battle and also granted the Strike some firepower using the same beam rifle and shield that could be equipped onto the basic Strike. "Ready?"

"Anytime but this is absolutely ridiculous!" Murdoch replied from within the MS docks, feeling that they'd have to be insane to send the Strike a Striker Pack during a battle rather than it coming onboard to switch packs. "What if it gets shot down?!"

"Yes, it's crazy but it's our only chance!" Murrue countered because the Strike couldn't rely on the CIWS, the Combo Weapon Pod or the Armor Schneiders because PS Armor withstood projectile weapons and impact weapons, she turned her attention towards Natarle. "Ensign Badgiruel, I'll leave the timing up to you!"

"Roger that!" Natarle replied with a nod, and then informed the ship's bridge crew to be ready to activate the catapult as soon as the Strike was in position to receive the Aile Striker. "Transfer the ship's controls! Laser designator online! Match velocity to the Strike and transfer control of catapult's launch timing to the Aile Striker's computer!"

They had one chance, they couldn't blow it… unfortunately, the Duel AS and the two GINNs belonging to Olor and Matthew weren't going to give them the chance to help the Strike. "Duel and two GINNs approaching!" came Tonomura's voice, getting the rest of the crew's attention.

However, it was at this point that the Launcher Strike was now in position to receive its replacement Striker Pack. "The Strike is now aligned for launch!" he then reported, now's the time to act before it's too late.

"Activate the catapult!"

oooooooooo

As Kira saw the Aile Striker and the optional equipment being deployed from the Archangel, he knew what he needed to do. "It's coming…" he said to himself as he ejected the entire Launcher Striker and got ready to attach the approaching Aile Striker onto his Gundam. Though as this was happening, the Duel got ready the grenade launcher attached to its beam rifle as it would be too easy to destroy the Strike with its new Assault Shroud Armor so Yzak felt it'll be more enjoyable to take his opponent down the old fashioned way. "Locked onto me?"

Trying his best to hurry, he was aware that the Strike was vulnerable when switching packs during a battle and in a situation like this. Soon enough, Yzak fired the grenade launcher and Kira's friends watched in horror as an explosion took place from where the Strike was… Something that hadn't gone unnoticed from the rest of Le Creuset Team nor from Mu and the Dragonar pilots as they saw what had occurred.

"Did I get it?" asked Yzak as he thought that he managed to successfully take the Strike down, only for a beam rifle shot to come through the smoke and went through the cockpit of Olor's ZGMF-1017AS GINN Assault Type.

All Olor could do was scream as his machine exploded, claiming his life much to the shock of his two comrades. "Olor!" exclaimed Matthew before noticing the GAT-X105 + AQM/E-X01 Aile Strike completely unharmed and its PS Armor reactivated. "Damn you, die!"

The GINN fired its missiles at the Strike but they were all shot down by the Gundam's bullet fire, Yzak provided assistance by firing the beam rifle, the "Shiva" and the 5-barrel missile launcher all at Kira only to see that they weren't doing any good due to the increased mobility given from the Aile Striker. "Yzak, Matthew!" yelled Dearka, combining the Buster's main weapons into a Hyper Impulse Sniper Rifle and unleashed a single shot that Kira barely managed to avoid on time. "Damn, how can he be so agile all of a sudden?!"

It was then that Shiho tried her luck against the Strike, targeting the Gundam with one of the CGUE DEEP Arms' JDP8-MSY0270 Directed Thermal Energy Cannon and pulled the trigger, resulting in the Strike raising its shield to block the shot. There was silence for a few seconds, and then the Strike, having ditched its shield not long after protecting itself from Shiho's shot, drew a beam saber and impaled the cockpit of Matthew's GINN. "Matthew!" she screamed upon seeing another one of the senior Le Creuset Team GINN pilots being killed at the hands of the Strike.

Rau's CGUE then came at Kira, not wanting to let it remain with the Earth Alliance any longer. "I'll take you down now while I have the chance!" he declared, only to be met by a single blast from the Archangel's Gottfrieds and while he dodged with the CGUE's shoulder being grazed in the process… this gave Kira the chance he needed to strike back while the command unit was preoccupied. With one shot of the beam rifle, he managed to pierce through the elbow of the CGUE's right arm, causing both the part of the limb and the machine gun with it to explode.

"Kira!" Athrun immediately came to Rau's aid, activating the Aegis' beam saber and clashed with the Strike while the masked commander frowned at the damage done to his MS.

"I didn't expect the pilot to be this skilled…" he mused to himself, suspecting there might be more to Kira than he originally realized though he saw that the battle had gone on long enough and made contact with his troops. "We're withdrawing now; all remaining forces are to regroup with our allied forces from the Giganos Empire. We've nothing to gain by fighting the Earth Forces now."

The Strike and the Aegis lunged towards each other, their beam sabers meeting each other in mid-swing, causing a spectacular display of light... Athrun gritted his teeth and even more so after hearing Rau's order. "Damn…" he muttered a curse just when he was close to bringing Kira with them. "You heard Commander Le Creuset, we have to retreat, we can't risk pursuing them any farther!" he told his remaining allies.

"What?!"

"I have to agree with Athrun…" Nicol shook his head before Yzak could protest. "If we continue it'll be our turn to run out of power…"

Yzak's eyes showed anger as he punched the screen and helped Dearka in escorting Rau's damaged CGUE out of the battlefield.

"Athrun!" Kira called out to his friend.

Upon seeing his comrades withdrawing from the area, and hearing Miguel calling for him, it was time for him to join with them in their escape but not without one last thing to tell Kira. "Kira... I hope you'll reconsider your decision, next time we meet." he told the pilot of the Strike hoping that they wouldn't have to face one another in battle again.

"I could say the same about you, Athrun..." Kira murmured sadly, as he watched his best friend speed off into the distance alongside Miguel's orange GINN. He sighed dejectedly and slumped in his seat, feeling suddenly exhausted... he had survived the battle, and that was a good thing... but how many times would he have to climb in that cockpit again, and how many times would he have to face Athrun? Until one of them perished? The thought was so horrifying to him that Kira tried to chase it away from his mind, despite knowing that it was a very real possibility...

"Kira! Hey, Kira, you hear us?" Kain's crisp voice blared from the speakers, and Kira was jolted out of his funk. "Thank heavens you're still in one piece, pal! We did it! We sent those guys packing! Are you alright?"

"Kain... Tapp, Light!" Kira perked up a little, glad that his friends were still all safe. "Yes... yes, I'm okay! I... I'm going back to the Archangel soon, but first... I want to know if you guys are still alright!"

"Hahahaaa! Don't worry, we don't die so easily!" Tapp laughed. "We showed those pinkboys what we're made of! And I personally shot down that big ship of theirs... thanks to Light's help, of course!"

"It was a team effort, and we did it!" Light concluded. "And you did a good job as well, Kira! We couldn't have done it without your help!"

Kira smiled slightly to himself. At least, the fact that he had helped his other friends survive was of consolation to him...

oooooooooo

Some time later, in the Idaho's hangars...

"Tapp! Everyone, you're safe!" Rose Patterson exclaimed, glomping Tapp as the boy of color stepped down from his D-2's cockpit. She, Linda and Sgt. Rooney had personally come to the hangars to greet the heroes who had saved the day, and celebrations were in order!

"Hey, Rose! Glad to see you're in high spirits!" Tapp exclaimed, hugging her back. "Hehehee... yeah, modesty aside, we did a nice job out there! Thanks for your good luck charms, girls! They really worked... like a charm, I guess you could say!"

"Lame puns aside... yeah, they were really helpful! Thanks a lot, Linda!" Kain thanked the blonde nurse as he showed her the pendant she had given to him earlier. "I'm not sure I could have pulled it off otherwise, that guy I faced was really tough!"

"I'm glad to have been of help, Kain..." Linda said, smiling gently to him.

"Heh... I'll say you were in hot water, kids... the one you were facing off against was Meio Plato himself, one of the best pilots and commanders Giganos can count on!" Sgt. Ben Rooney explained. "That guy is no joke, and when he works together with Rau Le Creuset... well, let me just say that's almost a death sentence!"

"We did come too close for comfort, but... huh?" Light started to say, before noticing that Linda's expression, at the mention of Captain Meio Plato, had gone from serene to suddenly shocked and fearful... which lasted for just a second, before she was back to her normal self. "Hey, Linda, are you alright?"

"Of... of course I am!" she hastily answered... too hastily for Light to actually believe it was nothing. "It's just that... well... I was kinda surprised that you faced a Giganos ace right now, that's all... I'm... I'm alright, really!"

"If you say so..." Rose answered naively, before clapping her hands together. "In any case, guys... let's get a small break, shall we? We need to celebrate the heroes who saved us!"

"With pleasure!" Kain answered... though, in a small corner of his mind, he was wondering about Linda's sudden shocked reaction as well...

oooooooooo

The Gamow had allowed the four G-Weapons to come onboard alongside Miguel's orange GINN and Shiho's CGUE DEEP Arms while Rau's CGUE was the last to land onboard the Laurasia-class warship with the technicians all shocked to see the damage that had been inflicted. "Commander Le Creuset is arriving, damage sustained from a direct hit!" came the announcement as the technicians were all shocked to see that their commander's MS was missing an arm upon the emergency landing net slowing down the white machine's movement. "Commence cooling of armor!"

Things weren't any better in the Gamow's locker room as Yzak had grabbed Athrun by the collar and slammed him against the lockers. "Stupid bastard!" he lashed out, letting out some of his pent up anger on his fellow redcoat over the events that occurred. "Are you out of your mind?!If it hadn't been for you interfering for no reason… "

"Quite the little disaster…" added Dearka, just as angry as Yzak was over their failed mission to destroy the Strike when they were just about ready to finish it off. "And all because you had to disobey orders."

Nicol decided to stop his comrades from coming to blows. "What are you doing? This is not the place!" he informed the silver-haired male. "Stop it!"

"We went out with four G-Weapons plus Commander Le Creuset's CGUE, Miguel's customized GINN and Shiho's new Mobile Suit and we still couldn't get him!" Yzak retorted with a glare briefly towards Nicol and then back at Athrun, who looked away with shame on his face. "It's too humiliating for words and plus to make matters worse, not only was the Copernico destroyed and the Commander's Mobile Suit missing an arm but Olor and Matthew are dead! Just like Rusty before them!"

"You can take it out on Athrun all you want, but it won't change anything, will it?" Nicol asked in response, earning him another glare from Yzak, and all the green-haired young man did was stare back until eventually the Duel's pilot scoffed and left the lock room accompanied by Dearka, Miguel and Shiho. Leaving Athrun and Nicol alone as it made the younger man a bit concerned. "Athrun… I can't help but think that this isn't like you. So if you…"

"Could you just let me be alone for a while, okay?" Athrun interrupted, not being in the mood to talk right now after the confrontation he had with Kira and the possibility of facing him again in battle made him even more uneasy as he left the room which made the Blitz pilot even more worried than ever for his friend.

Outside, Athrun slammed his fist against the wall in anger and felt that this wouldn't be the last time he'll face off against the Strike. "Kira…" he silently said to himself, secretly hoping that he won't be forced to kill the one person who he considered a brother when next they meet during the war. Unfortunately, with Olor and Matthew dead, his fellow pilots would be out for revenge at any cost… even more so Miguel due to knowing the two wingmen the most out of the rest of the Le Creuset Team.

He could just imagine how Rau was feeling right now…

oooooooooo

Kira felt exhausted as he got out of the Strike Gundam's cockpit, his confrontation with Athrun still fresh in his mind, along with the eerie knowledge that another fight with his best friend was not long in coming. So long had gone by since he had last seen Athrun, when the war between Earth and the colonies was already brewing... and now that they were face to face again, it was in the worst possible way Kira could imagine. He couldn't stand it...

So immersed Kira was in his gloomy reverie that he was surprised when he saw his friends from Heliopolis gathered in the hangar to greet him and Lt. La Flaga as they came down from their respective machines, thanking them profusely for having saved the Archangel once again!

"Kira! You were great out there!" Tolle exclaimed, giving his friend a thumbs-up.

"Thank you, Kira... Lt. La Flaga... you saved us all!" Miriallia said.

"You were impressive, Kira... you really proved yourself out there." Cagalli said, smiling an nodding to the purple-haired young man.

Similarly, Sai, Kuzzey, Misha and Jessica thanked Kira and Mu for their efforts... and Mu himself, clearly impressed with Kira's showing, reached the young boy and gave him a friendly pat on his shoulder. "Hey, kid... you did a great job out there! I couldn't have taken down their flagship if you hadn't given them a distraction... so; I have to thank you as well! Be proud of your efforts!"

"Ah... er... thanks, Lt. La Flaga... I guess..." Kira said, looking around to see if Flay was present as well. He was relieved when he saw the red-haired girl standing in the crowd of his friends, looking somewhat sullen... and he was even more surprised when she walked up to him and quietly bowed her head as a sign of gratitude.

"I... I have to thank you as well, Kira..." she said, still keeping some distance from the Coordinator but seemingly allowing for more cordiality. "If it wasn't for you, well... I and my friends here could have died... so..."

Hearing the redhead speak with him that way lifted Kira's spirits somewhat, and he smiled to her. "You... you're welcome, Flay... I... I just hope I can keep doing that for as long as we all need..." he said, feeling a little more confident that he could get through to Athrun as well...

oooooooooo

TO BE CONTINUED...

Well, that's about it! This chapter was longer than expected, even more so than the original version of the chapter, because I threw in so many battles and the early interaction between Kira and Cagalli... but I think it's still good enough! So, Kira and the Dragonar boys got a taste of the enemy aces, even managing to kill two of them in this difficult struggle, though this time they get away without too much damage. Here's hoping it actually lasts...

I was also hoping to have this chapter published earlier, but personal problems kept me from finishing it. I hope you'll understand... and I wish you good luck until next time, where we'll see a few more series making their entrance in this story!

See you soon!