A Story of Heroes

by bondfan

My version of how the Gundam SEED saga played out. FINISHED AT LAST. Main romance pairings, MxM, AxC, KxL, DxM, NxOC OCxOC. Please Read and Review.

50. The Final Battle: Part III

-ZAFT Space Fortress Jachin Due, November 1, C.E. 71, 1105

With the horrific eyeball that was the GENESIS doomsday weapon lurking behind the rock fortress that was Jachin Due directly in front of them, the quartet of mobile suits pushed through the ZAFT defenses like a knife through butter. In the lead was a red and white M1 Astray, piloted by Major Orel Yakov, famous in the PLANTs as the original test pilot for the GINN when it was introduced years earlier. Behind him were the scarlet red X-09A Justice, piloted by Athrun Zala, son of ZAFT Supreme Council Chairman Patrick Zala, and the red and white Strike Rouge, piloted by Cagalli Yula Athha, daughter of former Orb Chief Representative Uzumi Nara Athha and heiress to the Orb country. Bringing up the rear was another M1 Astray, this one piloted by Ensign Mitchell Howell, a young man of barely twenty who's only attribute was that he was a fighter who was protecting his home, the Earth. Weapons blazing, the four machines pushed through the defensive lines and urged themselves ever closer to Jachin Due.

In the lead, Orel barrel-rolled is M1 several times in order to dodge enemy fire being directed at him and then proceeded to either disarm or decapitate several GINNs with both of the beam sabers clutched in his M1's hands. It had not been long ago that he was fighting in this very spot, but on the side of ZAFT. Now he was fighting against ZAFT to save innocent lives who in a matter of time would be caught in the path of the inhumane hatred brewing between the leaders of ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. He had heard over his radio the Earth Alliance commander order his forces to stand down, but from where Orel was, he could see that several stray units were still pushing towards Jachin Due, still attacking ZAFT forces and ignoring the order to stand down. Those people must have really hated the Coordinators to disobey an order as thorough as that, Orel knew. And their actions would more than likely lead the ZAFT officials to assume that the order to stop had been a feint to catch them off guard and that they would fire GENESIS anyway. Orel was determined to prevent that.

With her rifle destroyed, Cagalli was forced to use both of her Vulcan cannons on the sides of the Strike Rouge's head to fight off the ZAFT forces swirling around her. She managed to take down three GINNs and a GuAIZ with just her Vulcans and all she did was destroy their weapons, but it was still a small victory on their course. But directly in front of them, danger lurked. A group of CGUEs was waiting for the quartet as they came close. The machines opened fire upon them when they were devastatingly close and were more than accurate. Cagalli found herself staring down the enemy machines just as they began to fire, their shots catching the Strike Rouge in the side and in the neck, blowing its head completely off and sending it spiraling away into space. Cagalli held tight to the controls as she lost even more of her machine's weapons, while the CGUEs continued to fire.

Athrun put the Justice in front of Cagalli and intercepted the incoming shots with his double-sided beam saber, twisting it around in a spiraling loop to intercept the shots. Ahead of him, Orel chopped with his beam sabers and took out two CGUEs and Mitch followed with both of his rifles firing, decapitating a third. Athrun scowled inside his cockpit as the stragglers continued to fire at them. His wounds to his chest and shoulder were not hurting any more because Athrun had stopped thinking about them, though every once in a while a small trickle of blood would spill out onto his flight suit and stain it. All he could think of right now was the fools who were continuing to attack them. Couldn't they realize they were just being used in a cause that hardly any of them understood?

With a powerful shove, Athrun activated his radio. "Stop it!" he shouted at the CGUE pilots. "Lay down your weapons! Do it now!" When he got no compliance, Athrun used both of the Justice's backpack's cannons to disable both of the straggling machines. "Is this what you people truly desire?" Athrun asked the pilots. "You'll wipe the Naturals out!"

"They were the ones that fired first!" one CGUE pilot shouted back at him.

"My brother was stationed at Boaz!" another added.

"Are we supposed to just let them destroy us!" the first pilot put in.

Athrun thinned his lips into a straight line and swore. All of this hatred brewing was going to make it almost impossible to stop this fight. As far as it had already gone, nuclear weapons and GENESIS, could they really stop the fighting and bring back peace? What was he thinking? Of course they could! That was the whole point of them entering the conflict in the first place. To preserve peace for the world and the PLANTs.

"Get out of our way!" Cagalli shouted at the machines as she surged ahead of Athrun and the Justice. Athrun gathered his emotions and started off after Cagalli and the others.

Meanwhile, a short distance away from Jachin Due, the Archangel, Kusanagi, and smaller Capricorn were regrouping their forces and turning to head towards Jachin Due. "Where's the Freedom?" Murrue demanded.

"I don't know!" Miriallia told her. "I can't find Kira's signal."

"Keep trying!" Murrue ordered. "Lieutenant Badgiruel what's the Eternal's current position?"

"2200 ahead of us, Captain!" Natarle said.

"It'd probably be best if we met up with them, Captain Ramius," Manchisco said from the damaged Kusanagi, traveling abreast of the Archangel to their right. "We'll stand a better chance of stopping GENESIS if we're all together."

"Yes," Murrue confirmed. "Tell the Zero and the Skygrasper! What about the Buster and Duel?"

"They're coming on board now, ma'am," Pal reported. "Chief Murdoch reports that most of the fires in the hangar are under control."

The starboard hatch of the Archangel had managed to swing open to admit the two mobile suits, while the port hatch was out of commission from the hit it had taken earlier. As Yzak piloted the Duel into the hangar through the open hatch, he took in the scene playing out before him. Deck crews were rushing towards the small fire that still blazed in the opposite side of the massive facility, fire hoses spraying gallons of water onto the embers in an effort to douse them. Other crews were carrying medical supplies and other equipment to help in the effort. Yzak finally understood. This was why the legged ship had proved so indestructible in the past. With a crew as determined as this, how could they ever have hoped to destroy it?

As the Duel backed towards the starboard side wall of the hangar and the steel girders began to position themselves around it, the Buster was already sitting against the wall. Its cockpit shield swung open and a figure floated out, clad in a pink and black pilot suit with a white feather on his helmet. Mwu breathed in gently as he entered the facility, protected by the magnetic field, and took in the sights of the crew working as hard as they could to help the damaged ship. He had returned, just as he said he would. Now the only question was, what should he do now? Should he head back up to the bridge and help out there? Or should he just go the infirmary to get checked out by the medics after being knocked unconscious and floating in space for several minutes. Mwu decided to play it safe and headed towards a waiting medic down below.

Murdoch was up on the gangway before the Buster and Duel, examining the former's damage as best he could determine. "How bad is it?" Dearka asked, swinging his way out of the cockpit.

"Your thrusters are burned jet black, kid," Murdoch told him reluctantly. "Not only that, but if you go back out there you're not gonna have any Vulcan support fire because those things are so gunked up by whatever the hell the Earth Forces shot at you they aren't going to fire anytime soon."

"Wonderful," Dearka said sarcastically. He saw Yzak come out of the Duel's cockpit and come towards them. "Yzak, how's yours?"

"It's fine I think. Just some cosmetic damage when that bastard in the green mobile suit hit me," Yzak told him. "Plus I had to sacrifice my assault shroud to take him down, but otherwise I should be okay."

"Chief, you say you've got power cells for both machines?" Dearka asked.

"Yeah, why kid?" Murdoch answered.

"Give 'em both to Yzak, he stands a better chance out there than I do right now," Dearka said.

"You sure?" Dearka nodded. "Okay then, we'll get on it. Thanks, kid." With that, Murdoch left the two pilots alone.

Both of them slipped their helmets off their heads and looked into the other's facial features. Two friends who had become separated during the war, both almost dying on separate occasions, and then had ended up fighting against each other along the way. "Dearka..." Yzak began.

"I know," Dearka answered quickly. He put his hand on his friend's shoulder and said, "We'll talk later, Yzak, okay? We've still got a job to do."

"Right," Yzak nodded. "Make sure our parents don't destroy the Earth."

Rapidly approaching the three warships from behind them was a small shuttle. One of the escape shuttles from the Dominion which had been destroyed behind them by a mobile suit only minutes before. Among the passengers on board the shuttle was the Dominion's second in command, Lieutenant Yeardley Poprawa, and a frightened young girl named Flay Allster. Both had just lost a dear friend in Captain Hal Omanney, gunned down by that bastard Azrael. Luckily, it appeared as though Azrael too had been killed when the Dominion had gone to its grave, but that provided little compensation for what had happened to them all. Now they were desperately trying to reach safety in a small ship that had no offensive weapons and its armor wasn't even considered armor in the first place. "Any of our ships nearby?" Yeardley asked.

"Nothing, ma'am," the shuttle's pilot answered.

"Get to the Archangel!" Flay maintained. That had been the only phrase she had uttered ever since she had boarded the shuttle.

"The people there will help us..." Kira...Sai...Miriallia... Flay thought of her friends who had known so much more than she did back when she had been aboard the ship. How she had acted so foolishly for her own selfish goals. How she had used Kira to get revenge for her father's death...she had given herself to him so that he would trust her... Flay began to cry. If only she could speak to Kira now. Tell him how sorry she was for what she had down. Just then, the shuttle's alarm system began blaring intensely. Something...no. Somethings, were approaching their position at a fast speed.

"Captain, it's the Freedom!" Miriallia told Murrue. Murrue and the crew breathed a sigh of relief that Kira was alright. But then, Miriallia detected something else. "Oh no...it's that other machine too...!" It was an unidentified machine, but they had all seen it before. The machine that had decimated their M1s and almost taken down the Justice. The ghostly mobile suit with the white eyes and gray color.

Freedom came in fast and hard, shots from the Providence's funnels hot on its tail. Kira saw the Archangel and the others near him and realized what le Creuset was doing. He was forcing him further and further away from Jachin Due and GENESIS, so he wouldn't be able to do anything to stop either of them. "Kira!" Miriallia's voice rang out to him through the radio.

"Get out of here!" Kira yelled back. He turned back towards the Providence and unleashed a barrage of missiles from the slim number of canisters he still had left. Rau had already taken out many of them which left the METEOR without beam sabers, without cannons, and now with hardly any missile launchers left. "Get to Jachin Due and stop that thing!" Kira shouted. He swung the Freedom upwards above the Archangel and added, "Don't worry about me, I'll handle this guy!"

Rau deployed his funnels in low, sweeping arcs and managed to destroy the limited number of missiles coming at him. "Only a matter of time now..." Rau told himself quietly.

"Kira!" Miriallia shouted again.

"Can we back him up?" Murrue asked.

"It's impossible in this shape, ma'am," Natarle said. "Half of our weapons don't work and our maneuverability has been greatly decreased."

"She's right, Captain," Josef put in. "Our best bet right now is to do what Kira said and head for Jachin Due. Try and stop the weapon if they're going to really fire it again." Murrue sighed uneasily. She really had no choice now. The others were correct in their analysis. If they stayed behind now, GENESIS would more than likely fire again. They had to stop it! Take care, Kira, Murrue told him silently, wishing him the best of luck as the Archangel and the others trekked the course towards Jachin Due.

Rau fired his cannon at the Freedom, forcing Kira to dodge. "If people learned of your existence and abilities, Kira," Rau shouted at him, "they would want to be just as you are! Have the same abilities you possess! They would want to become like you!"

Kira scowled. He used all of the Freedom's own guns against the Providence, whose funnels continued to fire mercilessly at him. Rau evaded the shots however, swinging downwards in a port loop. "With your abilities would come your mind-set!" Rau added. "You're thirst for vengeance and bloodshed that you've desired to quench ever since you first set foot on the battlefield!"

"Shut up!" Kira shouted back. The funnels continued to attack him and Kira used both of the Freedom's beam sabers to deflect the shots. Rau used his own guns on the Providence to damage the METEOR further anyway. Archangel and Kusanagi were now traveling at high speed in the opposite direction from the two of them, which made Kira feel slightly better about the situation. At least he was the only one being assaulted by this lunatic.

But Kira was not alone in the area. The shuttle from the Dominion was perilously close to the fighting. From her seat at the front part of the craft, Flay could see the two machines dueling fiercely just an eye blink away. She recognized one of the machines. The blue and white one. Kira's mobile suit! He was here! Kira was here! "Kira!" Flay shouted out.

Inside his cockpit, Kira thought he heard someone call his voice, but it was so quiet that he shrugged it off as Rau charged at him once again. "Your abilities would create more fighting! And more bloodshed! And more death!" Rau used his funnels to put up a protective barrier around his mobile suit as Kira attempted to charge at him with both beam sabers drawn. Kira had to pull back as the beams singed the Freedom from several near misses. "And that's the reason why...you're existence cannot be allowed!" Rau shouted.

Kira groaned painfully as another shot struck the METEOR's back, blowing one of his engines to pieces. Kira was now virtually immobile and defenseless with many of the METEOR's weapons gone. His breaths were coming in shallow heaves as he tried to maintain control of the Freedom, trying to stay alive nonetheless. The funnels were coming at him from all directions and he couldn't stop them all. The METEOR was further damaged by their constant attacks before Kira could finally break free. His breath was now coming in heaves as he tried to keep going. "I'm...I'm not..." Kira gasped, his voice rasping as he did so. He thought of his parents...the parents who he thought had been his parents. The photo of the woman and the babies that Cagalli had given him. The tales that Rau had told him in the debris belt. What Kira had realized was really how he came to be in this world. He was the product of experimentation that took the lives of many unborn children. And he had lived his life for many months by the battles he was fighting in, taking more and more lives as the battles progressed. But now Kira realized what war really was and how to fight it. You had to stop the fighting. "Even if all of what you told me is true..." Kira continued, his voice rising. He raised his head to glare at the Providence. "I'm not defined by my abilities alone!"

Freedom fired all of its guns at the Providence, but yet again didn't do a speck of damage to the gray machine. "Who's going to believe that line?" Rau demanded. "Will they understand such a saying?" He used all eight of his remaining funnels on the Freedom and kept Kira on the defensive for a short period of time. "Of course they won't!" Rau shouted. He pulled out his beam saber and charged through the mass of funnels right at the Freedom. "Nobody will!" Kira saw him coming just in the nick of time and pushed the Freedom to the left, causing Rau to carve off a piece of the METEOR, which exploded in a ball of fire directly next to Kira, causing his second engine to explode. The impacts shook the Freedom as Kira held tightly to the controls. The shaking ceased and quiet came over the scene. Suddenly, an instrument on Kira's diagnostic board began beeping quietly. It was detecting something else nearby.

Kira glanced out his view port and saw what appeared to be a small shuttle approaching. Its warning lights were flashing red as it hovered there in space. Kira squinted at it and saw a figure staring back at his machine from the window of the shuttle. It was a girl. She had bright red hair and a fair face. She was his age. Hell, he knew her! "Kira!" Flay's voice cried out to him again.

This time, Kira heard her cry loud and clear. "Flay!" Kira gasped, hearing the girl's voice again. It brought back so many memories. The night alone in his quarters on the Archangel...the kisses they'd shared...the good times they'd had in the past. It was then that Kira saw the Providence again. Rau too had noticed the shuttle and seeing the reaction Kira had had to it, he was interested to see what would happen if he attacked the craft. He brought the Providence's cannon to bear and centered its aim upon the small shuttle. Kira saw the weapon come to bear upon the shuttle and he gasped deeply. Without even thinking, he dislodged the Freedom from the METEOR just as Rau's funnels blew its remnants to pieces behind him.

A green burst of energy surged from the Providence's cannon, heading directly towards the defenseless shuttle. Freedom was racing towards the craft, its left hand outstretched towards the shuttle as Kira desperately tried to get to it. The beam came closer. Kira's voice was crying out as he surged forward, his shield extended in the Freedom's right arm. Just before the shot could connect, Kira stuck his shield in front of the shuttle and the beam dissolved against it. Kira moved the shield upwards and saw her face staring back at him. Flay's eyes were filled with tears as she saw Kira's machine save her. "Kira!" Flay cried quietly. Inside his cockpit, Kira saw her face and a small smile came across his face. It didn't last.

An instant later one of Rau's funnels tore into the top of the shuttle with one of its beams and pierced a hole into it. Before his eyes, Kira watched the shuttle explode as his smile evaporated in an instant. Fires consumed the inside of the shuttle, taking the Yeardley and the entire group of passengers with it. Flay's body was consumed by fire right before Kira's now tear streaming eyes. "Flay!" Kira cried, as the explosion expanded, consuming the Freedom within its deadly light as well. Rau watched from a distance and smiled. That was that. He quickly reattached all of his remaining funnels and left the scene. Kira Yamato was no more.

Inside the fiery light, Kira shut his eyes and cried out Flay's name in anguish. When he opened them again, he was staring into a haze of purple and white gas, that seemed to be swirling around him. The Freedom was gone. It was just he sitting in the cockpit, his own tears spilling onto his helmet visor. Just in front of him, a series of small white dots began to come together. In one small flash, they joined forces to produce an image. Flay's image. Her red hair and slim body were completely unharmed as she whispered Kira's name to him. Kira saw her image and more tears cascaded from his eyes. "Oh Flay..." he cried. He shook his head. "Oh Flay, why!"

"Thank you and...I'm sorry," Flay's quiet voice whispered to him.

Kira's tear streaked face looked into her blue eyes. "Why'd...this happen...?" he asked.

Flay smiled. "I've wanted to apologize to you for so long..." she whispered.

Kira shook his head. "Why...did you die...? Why you Flay!"

"I was in such pain...I was only...frightened..." Flay said. "Because I didn't know what was happening...I didn't know about anything really..."

"I...I couldn't save you, Flay," Kira cried, his voice a whisper. "I let another one of my friends...die. Oh dammit, Flay!"

"But now I'm finally free..." her voice spoke kindly to him. "I can see you...so clearly now. So please...don't cry anymore."

Kira sobbed. "I couldn't...I couldn't save you..." He averted his gaze and cried some more.

Flay's form came towards him and touched his shoulders gently. "You don't have to cry anymore, Kira..." her voice told him. "I'll protect you now...my true feelings will protect you..." She kissed him gently on the cheek and her image dissolved in a series of bright lights before him.

Out of the explosion, the Freedom fell downwards through the black space. Kira's tears spilled onto his visor as he held onto the controls. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity to him, Kira cried out one last time and pulled back on the controls. A seed exploded before his eyes. The Freedom righted itself and its entire form turned towards Jachin Due. Kira opened his eyes and his violet orbs had become hollow. His closed his mouth and nodded his head in a determined expression. I won't let him kill anyone else I care about...and anyone else for that matter...! I'm coming for you, le Creuset! Kira vowed silently. With his heart full, Flay's feelings coursing through his veins, Kira soared towards battle once again.

-1110

With enemy fire blazing all around them, the quartet of mobile suits finally reached Jachin Due's massive main dock, the giant hole sticking out of the asteroid like a giant navel. Athrun took the lead as they crossed into the dock, the black space being replaced by metallic gray with the inside of the dock. Once inside the dock, no mobile suits made any attempts to stop them, mainly because there were hardly any mobile suits or anything else for that matter left inside Jachin Due. Athrun's gaze swept across the facility and he assumed that everything Jachin Due had was already out on the battlefield, leaving the facility defenseless on the inside. This would play well in their favor. Less machinery and weapons meant less people to deal with. "We'll have to follow the passageway until it reaches its end," Athrun told everyone behind him. "Once that's done we'll have to walk to command center. It'll probably be a hell of a fight still, but it's not that great a distance."

"What are you going to do when you get there, Athrun?" Cagalli asked him. Athrun was confused. "There's little doubt that your father will be there as well, so..."

Athrun sighed uneasily. "I don't know, Cagalli. I don't know..." The mobile suits pushed onwards.

Ahead of them, inside Jachin's command center, the talk of the crowd was over the words of the Earth Alliance Commander. He had told his forces to stand down! "Did he really say that?" was one of the questions being tossed around among the soldiers below. "Does that mean the war's over?" was another. Above them however, the discussion was much more impervious.

"I don't know about this," Yuri said skeptically, almost to himself. "Why would the Earth Alliance all of a sudden just give up the fight?"

"Possibly because they don't want to risk having us fire GENESIS at the Earth," Ezalia answered. "In any event it's a wise maneuver in my opinion. They can't hope to defeat us now that they've lost so many of their forces and their Lunar Base."

"What do you think Gilbert?" Yuri asked Jachin's commander. Gilbert didn't turn his head, but he listened intently. "You think the guy's sincere?"

Gilbert paused. "It depends," he finally said. "What it all depends is what we believe, really. If we trust them, then we open ourselves to further attack if they don't mean it. But if they do mean it and we continue to attack them...we'll end up taking more innocent lives of people who don't wish to fight anymore. Either way...it's a tough call, I must admit."

Before them, Patrick stirred in his chair, his hands folded under his chin. His eyes burning with deadly passion as he watched the monitors in front of him. A small series of Natural forces were still fighting, attacking them with deadly force, killing more of their people without remorse. Even after the commander had called for them to stand down, they still fought on. In Patrick's mind, this was only the beginning. If he stood down now, the Earth Alliance would hit them blind-sided while their weapons were down. They'd push on towards the PLANTs and destroy them with their remaining nuclear weapons. Yes! That was it! It was all a feint. And Patrick Zala was damned if he was going to fall for it again. "Yuri have the Earth Forces stopped fighting completely?" he asked out of the blue.

Yuri hesitated for a moment, then looking up at the monitors and seeing the action still taking place outside, he reluctantly answered, "Not all of them, Your Excellency. Scattered...pockets of them are still putting up a fight, but otherwise the majority of the enemies have stopped and put down their weapons."

"But there are still Naturals attacking us, yes?" Patrick demanded harshly.

"Yes," Yuri replied again. "But not all of them-."

"Dullindal has the mirror block been replaced?" Patrick asked.

Gilbert's eyes widened and he said uneasily, "Yes, sir."

"Commence GENESIS target input, Dullindal," Patrick ordered. "North American continent, east coast, Washington D.C.!" Yuri gasped sharply. His eyes widened and he turned his head quickly to the others beside him. Gilbert had the same expression on his face. Ezalia's was of complete and utter shock.

Athrun gently set the Justice down on the deck below him and shut its systems down. He glanced at his diagnostic board and it gave him the grim news. The damage from Rau's attacks had severely damaged the N-Jammer Canceller's systems and his engines. There was a good chance that the Justice wouldn't operate properly, or even at all, when he returned. Athrun heard something over Jachin's intercom. Something about GENESIS's next target. Athrun made his decision there. He would have to chance it. He reached behind his seat and pulled out the small rifle that he kept behind him in the case that he was ever shot down and needed to defend himself on foot. He grabbed a single flash grenade as well and opened the cockpit shield. Cagalli was waiting for him outside, her own rifle grasped in her hands. Mitch and Orel climbed out of their respective machines and Orel called out, "Mitch go with them! I'll stay here with the mobile suits!"

"Let's go!" Athrun called to his comrades. Without another word, the trio set out into the adjacent corridor and headed for the command center just a short distance away. As they made their way, they heard a message over the intercom. "Aiming GENESIS. Target Earth, Atlantic Federation capital, Washington!" Damn! Athrun swore to himself. We've got to hurry! We're running out of time!

Eternal blazed past a burning Nazca, all of her missile tubes active, desperately trying to protect the pink warship from the ZAFT forces still attacking it. "GENESIS is entering firing range!" DaCosta reported urgently on the bridge.

Both Lacus and Andy saw the eyeball begin to turn and point straight at Earth. The alignment mirror block had been replaced already, which meant that it could fire at any moment. "General Waltfeld!" Lacus yelled.

"Even phase shift isn't invincible!" Andy answered sternly. "Captain Steele!"

"Main cannon!" Captain Steele commanded. "Fire!" Eternal's main cannon unleashed several shots upon the cone-shaped weapon, yellow lights blazing across the black space. They scored direct hits, but the phase shift armor which made GENESIS to appear a sky blue color absorbed all of them. The attack didn't even make a dent.

Both Lacus and Steele sighed in shock at the sight. Andy hissed angrily. "Damn it. We're in real trouble now!" he whispered.

GENESIS was almost getting ready to complete its turn when it began to slow down. Granted it was still turning, but its path was growing more and more difficult the closer it got. It was as if the weapon itself was reluctant to fire at the blue and green world just beyond its reach. Patrick noticed this problem as well and he demanded the soldier who was controlling GENESIS's movements to give him an answer. The young soldier beside him hesitated and Patrick shouted at him again. "What's the delay!" he thundered. "It will all be over when we fire it! Why are you slowing it down!"

"Your Excellency, please!" Yuri interrupted, coming up right behind Patrick's chair. Ezalia and Gilbert looked on in wonder at the sight. Below them, the soldiers at Jachin's main stations were seemingly tired and weary at their posts, having fought a hard battle all day and witnessing many of their comrades meet their early deaths. They too were a bit hesitant about firing GENESIS now that the Earth Forces had stood down. "It is not necessary to fire it again!" Yuri maintained. "We've already won the battle, Patrick!"

Patrick sighed uneasily in his chair and reached into his coat for something. "The Earth Alliance has already told us they wish to stand down and end the fighting! Sir, if we fire it we'll wipe out half the life on Earth! And that includes all of our own forces who are stationed planet side!" Yuri took a deep breath and then pleaded, "Patrick, please! There have already been enough sacrifices!"

"Traitor...!" Patrick hissed, turning his chair around to face Yuri. The pistol was clutched firmly in his right hand, pointed straight at Yuri. Yuri gasped in shock and in a matter of seconds the gun's trigger was pressed. Yuri turned away slightly and shut his eyes tightly as he heard the crack of the gun firing. He braced himself for the pain and shock that was soon to come from the bullet that would enter his body...but...it never came! Yuri heard a soft noise of what sounded like something crashing onto the deck next to him. Yuri snapped his eyes opened and was horrified by what he saw. Lying eyes closed on the deck below him...was Ezalia...a bullet wound to her neck. Blood seeped out of the open wound and Ezalia made no movement and her chest did not rise or fall with the indication of taking a breath. Yuri's lip trembled at the realization of what had happened. Ezalia had taken the bullet intended for him. She had given her life to save his... But why? Why? In her mind, the last signs of life escaping her body, Ezalia silently told Yuri to stop Patrick. She knew that he stood a better chance of saving the innocent people of the PLANTs that were stationed on the Earth than she did. So she had taken the bullet intended for him and now was prepared to die for her homeland. The last thought to escape her mind before the darkness took her was of her son. Yzak... she thought, her mind calling out to him for the last time. I...I love you...Yzak... A second later, Ezalia was dead.

-Archengel, 1120

White streaks of energy blazing from her engines, Archangel crashed through the debris from the devastation that had been wrought in only the past few hours of bloody fighting. It was a devastating sight to behold for Murrue and the crew. Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, the pink mass that was the Eternal was right in front of them. Andy glanced to his right and saw the three ships approaching them fast. "The Archangel!" he cried out in surprise.

Out of the Archangel's sole remaining hatch came the Duel, newly resupplied and full of energy. Yzak was at the controls, now protecting a ship that he had been sent out to destroy and had wanted to destroy for many months. What a path I've trekked in this war, Yzak said silently to himself as he trudged on. Just then, Yzak felt something inside of him ache out in pain. It was something that made his systems stop for just an instant. He couldn't identify what it was. It was as if something inside of him had just disappeared. Vanished completely. As quickly as it had come, the ache was gone. Yzak was startled by the pain. What was it? What did it mean?

"Skygraser and Zero are returning, ma'am," Miriallia reported to Murrue. In the CIC, Natarle let out a quiet sigh of relief, quiet enough so that the crew couldn't hear her, that Frank was still okay.

Inside his cockpit, Frank's body was aching in pain from all the quick turns and jukes he'd put the Zero through during the course of the battle. He was tired and he knew it. Sweat had almost completely covered his helmet visor and when he opened it to clear out his vision, it spilled onto his board as if a bucket had been dumped onto it. As he approached the three ships, he saw the eyeball that was GENESIS pointed directly at the Earth.

"They're preparing to fire GENESIS again," Lacus told everyone. On the secondary bridge of the Kusanagi, Manchisco hissed in dismay. He only had half of the bridge crew remaining with him. All the others were either dead or severely hurt. Manchisco himself was suffering from a massive burn on the side of his head from when the mobile armor had struck the ship's primary bridge earlier in the battle.

"We have to find a way to stop that thing!" Murrue said.

"Where are the kids?" Frank asked into the radio. "Athrun and Cagalli. Any word from them yet?"

"Nothing, we haven't heard a peep," Andy answered. "Not since they got into Jachin Due, so at least we know that they're inside of it."

"But GENESIS is still active it looks like," Frank pointed out. "If we don't do something now that thing's gonna fire!"

"What can we do? All the weapons we got can't do shit against that phase shift," Manchisco pointed out. Suddenly, Yzak thought of something. He cursed himself! Why didn't think of it before! "Zala and the others are our only shot now-."

"You can't destroy it from the outside..." Yzak broke in from the Duel's cockpit. "But that doesn't mean you can't destroy it from the inside!"

Everyone was silent. Finally, Andy broke the silence. "What do you mean, kid?"

"I don't know much about GENESIS, just that it's a giant weapon that can fry the Earth from this distance and that ZAFT won't hesitate to fire it again," Yzak began. "But I do know something about its design." No one spoke. They were all basically perplexed at where Yzak was going with this. "You see when ZAFT first started building it my mother was one of the few people that knew about it. I overheard her talking about it earlier this month when I spoke with her..." Yzak remembered that day. The day before the Orb Forces had annihilated the ZAFT invasion force in this very same spot. "I didn't get much...but I do know that in order for GENESIS to be completed at as quick a pace as it was, they had to get mechanics inside of it. And to do that they built a series of tunnels into its structure." Yzak zoomed in on the cone shape and centered it on one specific location. A small oblong shape that appeared as if it had been cut into the side of GENESIS, but not taken out. "One of them leads directly to the main reactor. It's too small for a mobile suit, but it may just be big enough to fit-."

"A mobile armor," Frank finished for him. "What shape is that tunnel in kid?" he asked quickly.

"Commander, you can't think-," Lacus told him, but Frank interrupted her.

"We've got no choice, Miss Lacus," he quieted her.

"It's a straight shot right to the reactor," Yzak told him frantically. "Its closed right now but the doors are still open to the outside of it. The armor's weak in that one spot so you should be able to get into the tunnel. They may have sealed off the reactor with the same kind of material, but you shouldn't have any trouble with it. The only thing is, is I don't know how small that tunnel gets the further it goes into GENESIS. It could be a big squeeze in there, even for you, but it's the only thing I can think of that would stand a chance to take that thing out."

Frank opened his mouth to speak, but another voice cut him off. "I'm going with you, Commander," Kisaka's deep voice cut in. "I'm still able to fly and I'm going to help you take that horrible weapon out."

Frank smiled. "Let's go then, Kisaka!"

"Commander!" Natarle's voice rang out. She cursed herself. Why did she do that!

Frank heard Natarle's voice over the radio. The voice that he had fallen in love with. He hated to leave her in this position and time, but he knew he had no choice in the matter. "I've got no choice remember, Lieutenant," he told her. "It's either that or Earth becomes a giant barbecue pit. Don't worry though, I'll be fine." Natarle sighed quietly again, wishing that Frank didn't have to put his life on the line like this. Above her, Murrue was thinking the same thoughts. She didn't want her brother to do this, but once again, they had no choice.

"Let's go, Commander!" Kisaka's voice called. The Skygrasper turned straight towards GENESIS and blazed a path directly at it. Frank waved goodbye to the warships behind him and set off behind Kisaka, directly towards his destiny. It would be up to a modified fighter plane and a mobile armor to stop GENESIS, the most destructive weapon mankind had ever seen. Talk about a longshot, Frank told himself lightly as he pushed towards GENESIS.

-Jachin Due, 1120

Two ZAFT soldiers blocked the trio's path to the command center inside Jachin Due. At the front, Mitch and Cagalli both fired their guns at the two soldiers while Athrun pulled the pin on his flash grenade and hurled it at them. The trio rounded a corner just as the grenade exploded, throwing the soldiers back and jarring their senses. They were almost there now.

"Mr. Chairman..." one of the soldiers beside Patrick stammered at his actions. Yuri cradled Ezalia's limp body as best he could in his arms, blood running out of the open wound in her neck onto his violet jacket.

Patrick ignored them all and instead was lost in his own mind. "Damn...they're right there! Our enemies are still out there!" Behind him, Gilbert's facial expression hadn't changed, but inside his body was filling with an unbridled aggression. "Why would you even suggest we not fire it! We must fire it again! Before they have a chance to retaliate! The enemy must be annihilated! Why won't you all understand that!" Patrick bolted from his chair and moved over to the console on his left. The console that had the power to fire GENESIS.

"Chairman, sir!" the soldier at the console pleaded. "Our own forces are still in the line of fire!" Patrick didn't seem to care and went on pressing keys and typing commands into the console. No doubt he was going to try and fire GENESIS himself if it came down to that. Gilbert scowled behind Patrick and finally, his face displayed emotion for the first time that day. His lips opened just slightly, barring his teeth. Slowly, his right hand made for the metallic object on his hip.

"All of our soldiers are fighting for one thing, victory!" Patrick shouted at the young man. "I'm sure they're prepared to pay the cost with their lives!" Again the soldier pleaded with Patrick, but he didn't listen. The code that would fire GENESIS was entered into the console.

"You bastard!" a deep voice rang out from behind Patrick. He snapped his head towards the voice and saw the gun staring him down. "I will not allow you to harm my soldiers!" Gilbert hissed as his finger pressed the trigger. Three bullets raced out and ripped holes into Patrick's chest and abdomen, blood spurting out in rapid bursts. Smoke billowed from Gilbert's pistol as Patrick's body began to slump backwards into the weightless state. Below them in the command center, soldiers cried out in horror as their Chairman's body floated limply in the air, blood spilling out of his body through the bullet holes.

The door to the balcony slid open behind them. Both Athrun and Cagalli peered around the corner and then as Athrun bolted around it and into the command center, he froze in his tracks. Just ahead of him...he could see...his father's body...blood pouring out of it... Athrun's eyes widened and his breath began to leave him. No! It couldn't be! Not his father too! Gilbert and Yuri made no movements in front of them, they just stood where they were. But all around them, the soldiers inside Jachin Due's command center began to file out of the facility in a mad rush for safety. They abandoned their consoles quickly and sprinted towards the exits, desperately trying to get out of the fortress and away from this fighting as quickly as they could. Athrun and Cagalli slowly made their way towards the end of the balcony. They walked between Yuri and Gilbert's forms and Yuri was shocked to see Athrun. Athrun jumped up into the air and caught his father's body in his arms, gently laying him down on the cold balcony floor. Patrick's eyes were still open, but the light in them was fading fast. Patrick's eyes centered on Athrun's face for an instant. It was then that Patrick laid his hand on his son's shoulder and said, "Fire...GENESIS, Athrun..." his voice hoarse from the blood that he was losing fast. "We must...make this world...ours...please..." In his mind, Patrick could see Junius Seven exploding before his eyes once again, his dear wife Lenore leaving this world in the act of aggression by the Naturals. Before the darkness took him, Patrick's last thought was...Damn you...Naturals... A trickle of blood escaped from his open mouth and then his body went limp in Athrun's arms.

Athrun's body trembled as he felt his father's body grow limp in his arms. He shook it several times, trying desperately to revive his father. Tears spilled onto his helmet visor. "Father...!" Athrun cried out, knowing now that he had lost both of his parents. He cried bitter tears of anguish. Cagalli saw him doing this and laid her hand on his shoulder, trying to calm him down, but it was no use.

Only the crash of the door behind them being smashed open was enough to jar Athrun out of his tears. Everyone including Gilbert and Yuri turned quickly behind them to see about six ZAFT soldiers file into the facility, their weapons trained on each of them. And in between the soldiers marched a woman. Eileen Canaver, former Supreme Council Representative, who Patrick had jailed on the basis of aiding the Clyne Faction. "Eileen..." Yuri's voice said in a whisper. How did she get here!

Eileen glanced around the facility for a few seconds, saw Patrick's and Ezalia's limp bodies and shook her head. She glanced at Yuri, folded her arms and said, "General. I think it's time we were finished with this war."

Yuri closed his eyes and nodded slowly, Ezalia's body still in his arms. "We may not got that chance, Miss Canaver," another voice broke in. Gilbert had moved over to the console that Patrick had just typed commands into before Gilbert had shot him down. His fingers were flying on the keys as he searched through the systems to find what he was looking for. The console gave him the grim news. "Zala activated Jachin's self-destruct sequence..." he told them reluctantly. Everyone let out a quiet gasp. "What's worse...when Jachin blows up...it'll trigger GENESIS...!"

Athrun and Cagalli both froze, their bodies trembling. "Can you override it?" Eileen asked urgently.

Gilbert typed in several more commands as quickly as he could and then banged his fist against the keyboard. "No, I can't stop it, it's too far gone. And if I can't stop it, no one can."

Nobody spoke for an instant. Then Eileen reluctantly said, "There doesn't appear to be anything any of us can do...I'm sorry to say that. Our only goal right now would be to escape from here before Jachin blows up. Come General, my ship awaits." Yuri paused for a moment and then nodded his head. Eileen and her escorting soldiers filed out of the command center with Yuri and Gilbert right behind them. Athrun and Cagalli lingered there for a short time, staring down at the lifeless body of Patrick Zala.

"Guys, we gotta go!" Mitch's voice rang out behind them. Cagalli turned to Athrun and tried to get him to acknowledge her presence. Finally, Athrun slowly nodded and they sprinted for the exit.

Outside, the ghostly gray mobile suit that was the Providence flew into the heart of the dwindling battle and straight at his new targets. The Orb vessels. "It's a shame really, I did enjoy her songs," Rau said, thinking of Miss Lacus Clyne on the ship below him.

Alarms began blaring on all the vessels centered there. "Incoming mobile suit! Blue fifty-two, charlie!" DaCosta reported to Andy.

"However, the real world isn't as kind as the one in pop songs!" Rau shouted. He unleashed his funnels in an all out attack on the ships and waited to see what would happen.

"Evade! Hard to port!" Andy shouted, but it was too late. The funnels were already firing at them rapidly, unleashing their green devastation upon the pink warship, ripping holes into the hull and starting fires. "Damn," Andy swore.

Rau smiled inside his cockpit. Only a matter of time...! Something hit him in his mind. A pained sensation. From above him came a cry of anger. The Freedom soared downwards at the Providence, its fins extended to give it maximum speed. Kira fired his rifle at the Providence, unleashing all his energy at the mobile suit. Rau evaded the shots and soared to his right. "It's all your fault! You're the one to blame for all of this!" Kira shouted at him. Rau just smiled.

Providence sent its funnels after the Freedom once again. This time however, Kira was ready. Using a quick series of accelerations and decelerations to adjust his speed, Kira was able to get into position so that he could destroy three of the funnels before they could even fire a shot at him. That didn't stop Rau from using the Providence's own guns on the Freedom while Kira dodged the funnels. "Shout all you want, but it's too late now boy!"

Kira evaded Rau's shouts and blew apart another funnel. "Die!" he shouted.

Rau pulled out the Providence's beam saber and charged at Kira. Kira managed to bring the Freedom's own beam saber to bear and intercepted the attack in a shower of sparks. "This is our destiny! People knew where they were heading when they chose to walk this path!"

"Shut up!" Kira shouted back at him.

"Justice and faith! Ignorance and escapism! People never learn! They never listen!" Rau yelled. Their weapons disconnected and they soared in opposite directions. "We have reached the end of that path...there's no way to stop it now! Mankind vanquished...at last...just as they deserve!" Rau brought his remaining four funnels back in front of the Providence and fired them all at the Freedom. Kira was forced into evasive maneuvers to dodge the shots being directed at him. Sweat was beading down his forehead and onto his helmet visor as he continued to fight.

"I won't allow it!" Kira shouted. He back flipped the Freedom onto its back and blew apart another funnel that tried to attack him from above. "You're crazy, le Creuset! And so's your logic!"

Rau smiled inside his cockpit. "That's how people think...you know it!"

"No way!" Kira shouted back. He fired all of the Freedom's guns at the Providence, but Rau dodged them all. "You're wrong..." Kira maintained. "People aren't like that at all!"

The Skygrasper and the Zero blew past the ZAFT forces in front of GENESIS as they desperately tried to stop them. Kisaka was in the lead, his Skygrasper barrel rolling over and over again trying to remain undamaged. Frank followed him, using the Zero's barrels to drive away the enemy GINNs that were attacking them. GENESIS was just in front of them, the eyeball and the cone behind it hanging menacingly in space. "Here we go!" Kisaka shouted. He fired the green Agni cannon in the Skygrasper's wings at GENESIS, striking it directly on the area where the phase shift armor was the weakest, blowing apart the covering that hid the maintenance shaft that led directly to the main reactor. In a great whoosh, the Skygrasper and Zero soared inside the weapon, into the dimly lit corridor that was just barely wide enough for them to navigate. Frank held tight to the Zero's controls as they pushed further and further into the weapon's insides. He hoped they still had enough time!

Rau put the Providence into a wide arc to its right and fired his cannon at the Freedom. "Ha! How are they not like that, Kira? What's your proof!" Kira scowled inside the Freedom. "This is a world where people's hearts are filled with hatred...where fingers have no other purpose other than to pull triggers!" A shot from Rau's cannon struck the Freedom's right leg in a great flash. Kira groaned heavily as he pushed the Freedom upwards, disengaging the right leg before it exploded below him. "What do you believe in?" Rau asked him. "And why do you?" Another shot from his cannon blew apart the Freedom's shield.

Kira gunned the Freedom's engines and soared at top speed straight at the Providence. "You don't understand anything else!" Kira shouted, whipping out the Freedom's beam saber and slashing it at Rau.

His attack struck the Providence in the left shoulder, the blade starting to burn through the metallic armor. "Of course!" Rau called to him. "After all people can only understand what they've experienced!" He broke away from the Freedom's attack and used his three remaining funnels in another attack, forcing Kira to go back on the defensive in order to dodge the attacks. Inside his mind, Kira could hear voices he had heard in the past calling out to him. Mwu...Athrun...that guy from Artemis...Flay...Sai... They had all made him question his purpose...what he should be doing. Now he knew what his destiny was...and he was damned if this maniac was going to steer him away from it. "Why torment yourself?" Rau asked, "saying, 'Eventually, someday...?' How long have you been fighting...with your thoughts clouded by that brand of sweet poison...?"

Kira managed to blow away another one of Rau's funnels, but he was losing strength and energy fast. Inside his cockpit, Rau sensed Kira's growing tension and fatigue. He smiled. He glanced behind him at the eyeball and saw that it was pointed directly at Earth. He could also see ships beginning to spring out of Jachin's main dock. That meant only one thing...evacuation. Rau chuckled. "It's pointless to fight on anyway, Kira! No matter what happens, I've already won!" Kira gasped in confusion. "Take a look behind you, Kira!"

Kira glanced behind him and saw GENESIS pointed right at the Earth, its alignment mirror already replaced, which meant that it could fire at any moment. He also saw the ships leaving Jachin Due. Was ZAFT giving up? No, that didn't make any sense. Why would they be abandoning Jachin Due then? That would only happen if... "Oh no, GENESIS!" Kira cried.

"Exactly, Kira!" Rau shouted at him. "When Jachin Due self-destructs...GENESIS will fire!"

"It can't..." Kira gasped. He was running out of time! And there was nothing he could do to stop it anymore!

Inside Jachin's main dock, time slipping away from them, the small ship carrying Eileen, her soldiers, and the reluctant figures of Yuri and Gilbert, soared out of the dock and into space. Behind them, the four mobile suits sat on the deck, waiting for their pilots. Athrun, Cagalli, and Mitch filed out of the corridor and floated up towards their machines. Orel was still waiting for them and they all clambered into their cockpits. Athrun swung himself into the damaged Justice and sat down in the chair. He activated the mobile suit's systems, but for some reason they didn't start. Athrun tried it again, but he still got no response. Beside him, the Strike Rouge and the two M1s were already in the air, waiting for him. Athrun glanced frantically around the cockpit and was met with a demoralizing sight. The N-Jammer Canceller had been completely drained and shattered. No N-Jammer Canceller meant no power for the Justice. No power...meant no escape.

"Athrun!" Cagalli's voice cried out to him.

"Get out of here you guys!" Athrun called out to them. "Don't worry about me, get your own asses out of here!" Athrun tried the Justice again, but it still wouldn't operate. He saw the two M1s head towards the exit, but the Strike Rouge stayed. "Cagalli, don't wait for me!" Athrun ordered her. "Get out of here while you still can!"

The Strike Rouge came up directly in front of the Justice and Cagalli bolted out of the cockpit. "Athrun!" she shouted at the top of her lungs. If she could have she would have ripped the cockpit open, but Athrun opened it himself. "You idiot, come on! Come with me!"

"Get out of here now, Cagalli!" Athrun told her again.

"You idiot!" Cagalli reached forward and grabbed Athrun by the neck of his flight suit and pulled her to him. She glared at him. "The hardest battle is to keep living you idiot...!" Athrun could hear the emotion in her voice...the pain that she was feeling right now. It made him ache inside. Athrun averted his gaze and couldn't bear to look into her face.

The tunnel was getting narrower and narrower the further the Skygrasper and Zero soared through it. Frank kept the mobile armor as steady as he could, so that it would not strike the walls of the tunnel which would certainly kill him instantly. Ahead of him, Kisaka was having to use the Agni cannon again and again to blow larger holes into the tunnel when certain steel points jutted out into the passage. Suddenly, the tunnel narrowed on the top and bottom ahead of them. The Skygrasper was narrow enough to fit through, but Kisaka knew that the Zero wouldn't fit. "Commander watch out!" Kisaka warned Frank. Frank saw the narrow portion directly in front of him and realized that he wasn't going to fit. His hands tightened on the controls and he closed his eyes. "Come back please...come back to me." He heard Natarle's voice in his head. Deftly, Frank reached forward to the controls and threw a switch just before he reached the narrow passage. In a great explosion, the top and bottom barrels smashed into the ceiling and floor of the tunnel. The Zero zipped through the passage with only its left and right barrels still attached. It had greatly reduced his firepower, but Frank had made it.

Just ahead of them, the giant main reactor of GENESIS loomed large in their front view ports. They zipped into the reactor's hold and were awed by its size and power. A blue energy field surrounded the reactor which appeared as two giant pyramids pointing towards one another and meeting in a great ball of energy. "Kisaka, take out the energy field! I'll hit the main thing!" Frank ordered. Kisaka raced at top speed towards the reactor, his Agni cannon blazing red energy straight at it. His shots struck the top pyramid dead on and caused a small explosion. The energy field disappeared, leaving the reactor vulnerable. As Kisaka doubled back around the reactor, Frank dislodged his two remaining barrels and used them and the cannon beneath the cockpit on the reactor. In a great explosion, the shots reduced the reactor to little pieces of debris. Frank soared around the destroyed reactor which didn't explode for some reason. "Let's get the hell out of here, Kisaka!" Frank shouted. The two craft zipped past the reactor again and headed towards the tunnel and desperately made their way out, the destroyed reactor in their wake.

Outside, explosions and fire began to expand outwards from Jachin Due, signaling that it's self-destruction was imminent. Freedom dodged the Providence's attacks with barely enough room to spare. Kira frantically tried to find a way to stop GENESIS, but he couldn't do anything with Rau all over him. "This will be a day of reckoning!" Rau shouted.

Behind them, GENESIS suddenly began to vibrate as the nuclear energy began to course through its systems. Kira shouted, "I won't allow it!" He fired his rifle at the Providence and struck it in the left shoulder, the one he had damaged earlier.

As his left arm fell away, Rau shouted, "This is their destiny! They led us to the inevitable end!" Rau saw his two remaining funnels get blown apart by the Freedom's rifle. While he was distracted, Rau used the Providence's guns on the Freedom and destroyed its right arm, causing Kira to lose his rifle in the process. "You even helped bring this about, Kira! And yet you still fight by their side!"

"So what!" Kira thundered. Reaching behind him, Kira pulled out his special double-sided beam saber and activated it.

Jachin Due's self-destruction sequence counted down and in one great explosion the asteroid fortress vanished. Behind it, GENESIS's insides began to glow red, signaling its imminent firing. Out of the maintenance tunnel roared Kisaka and Frank, their crafts soaring into the black space beyond. Directly in front of GENESIS, Kira gunned the Freedom's engines for all they were worth and charged straight at the Providence, straight at the bastard who had caused all of this. "This world is still worth protecting!" Kira shouted. Rau leaned back in his chair and fired his guns at the Freedom. His shots struck home, blowing apart the Freedom's head, but it kept coming. Rau's body went rigid. The Freedom was coming too fast. He couldn't stop it! In one great swoop, Kira sliced apart Rau's cannon and right arm. Kira shouted out at the top of his lungs and charged one last time! He brought the beam saber beside his cockpit and then plunged it into the Providence's cockpit, the blade going straight through the shield and into Rau's body. As his life essence left him, Rau smiled.

In that instant, the tiny, needle like white streak struck the alignment mirror in front of GENESIS. It was reflected back onto the eyeball and turned red. However, because of the reactor having been destroyed, when the nuclear blast was thrown back into the cone shape, the energy proved too much for the reactor and it detonated in a great flash of white. As the GENESIS fired its great red light, Kira jumped up into space just before the light annihilated the Providence. The red lights consumed the Freedom and destroyed its limbs. Kira shut his eyes and held on with all his might. Then suddenly, the reactor exploded in all of its fury and took the eyeball down with it. In one great flash, GENESIS disappeared in a veil of white light, the brightest white light the world has ever seen.

Everyone in the area was awestruck by what they saw. Yzak, Frank, and Kisaka froze inside their cockpits. Bradford and the crew of the Valiant watched in wonder. Yuri, Eileen, and Gilbert watched with heavy hearts. On their respective bridges, Murrue, Natarle, Manchisco, and Andy watched the lights and held their breath. Lacus cried out Kira's name as she saw the Freedom vanish into the light. All five surviving vessels in the Orb fleet sat in front of the light, watching it expand and shoot debris out towards them. Archangel, Kusanagi, Eternal, Capricorn, Vasconi. They all watched in awe. The slowly, the light began to dissolve. It was replaced by the traditional black space. Jachin Due and GENESIS were gone, leaving only the PLANTs standing in the area. Then, over the radio, came the message that nobody thought they would ever in their wildest dreams hear.

"Attention! I have an announcement for all members of ZAFT and the Earth Forces in this region." The voice belonged to Eileen Canaver, ZAFT Supreme Council Representative. "At this moment, the PLANTs are preparing to conduct negotiations with the Earth Forces and the PLANT sponsored nations. Immediately following the commencement of these discussions, the PLANT Provisional Supreme Council will present a request for the Earth Forces to cease all combat activities in restricted regions. In other words, to all ZAFT soldiers currently on the battlefield, you are hereby ordered to cease fighting."

They couldn't believe it. Had they...done it? The answer came with a breath of fresh air from the lungs of Frank Brakhesh inside the cockpit of the Moebieus Zero, as he exhaled in great fatigue and relief. Andrew Waltfeld sighed peacefully on the bridge of the Eternal. Murrue Ramius felt a tear streak down her cheek. Natarle Badgiruel hung her head in relief and also gratitude. Joshua Manchisco shut his eyes and for the first time could breath easily. Yzak Joule relaxed back into the chair inside his cockpit. Miriallia Haw felt as if a two ton boulder had been lifted off her shoulders. Dearka Elsman shut his eyes and thanked whoever it was that had allowed him to survive. Stevy Barrington shut his eyes tightly and prayed for his twin brother Niada Barrington. Mwu la Flaga, lying on his back in his quarters, medics all around him, breathed a simple sigh of relief.

All across the region, ZAFT and Earth Alliance forces dropped their weapons and stood in space, staring at one another like two long lost friends. GENESIS and Jachin Due were in ruins, mere splinters of their former selves. Spiraling debris that floated dead in space, the final casualties of the long and terrible war. Among the debris, separated from the rest of her forces, floated a red and white mobile suit, its head gone, its right arm cut off below the elbow. Slowly, the cockpit shield swung open and a figure clad in a red and white flight suit stepped out onto the open platform. Athrun Zala glanced out towards the PLANTs, his home, still standing proudly in space, behind the debris and destruction that had been wrought in their very presence. GENESIS was gone. He too had heard the plea for peace by the ZAFT forces and he too couldn't believe it. Athrun thought of his parents, his mother and father, both having been taken by the war. What would they think of him now...after all he'd done? Silently, Athrun hung his head and sighed in great relief. Behind him, another figure emerged from the cockpit. Cagalli Yula Athha had tears in her eyes as she came to Athrun and threw her arms around him in relief. Athrun wrapped the girl up in his arms and cried bitter tears of joy, the droplets splattering onto his helmet. They'd both survived. How in the world they had done so...neither of them could comprehend. It had been a miracle. They'd done it. Peace had appeared to have finally been brought to the universe. Behind them, a small pinging from the Strike Rouge's diagnostic board called out to them. Athrun glanced at it from where he stood and saw what it had picked up. "Kira!" Athrun whispered.

"Where is he...?" Cagalli asked him. Quickly, both of them were back in the cockpit, racing to get to their friend.

By its lonesome, floating a good distance from anything in particular, the wreck of the Freedom GUNDAM floated silently in space. Its pilot, Kira Yamato, floated on his back, outside the cockpit. The shockwaves from the explosion of GENESIS had broken away the cockpit shield and had thrown Kira into space. But because of GENESIS's misfire, by the time Kira was ejected from the damaged mobile suit, he was at a good enough distance so that he was able to survive. Now, silent as he floated among the stars, Kira began to cry. It had been done. The war had been stopped. "Where are we...?" he asked himself quietly. He thought of his friends...the ones who he wasn't able to protect through all these long months. "What'll happen...now that we've...come through to this time and space...?" Just beyond his reach, Kira saw a light. A bright white light. As the light grew brighter, Kira could see an object emerge from it. A headless red and white mobile suit. He recognized it! Tears began to spill onto his helmet visor as he saw Cagalli at the controls of the Strike Rouge, Athrun sitting on the open cockpit shield. Tears were also in their eyes as they raced towards him to take him home. Kira managed a somber little smile as his friends drew near. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief. "It's our world..." he said quietly.

-Archangel, 1300

The corridor below the bridge was quiet. Not a soul could be found here as Murrue floated along the wall towards her destination. She reached his quarters and opened the door. Inside, she could hear conversations going on as she quietly stepped inside. The ship's doctor was speaking to two of his subordinates as she entered. They all saluted Murrue as she entered and she quietly returned it. "Are you feeling alright, Captain?" the doctor asked.

"Yes, thank you," Murrue answered quickly. Her gaze fell upon his form, laying peacefully on his back on the mattress directly in front of her. His eyes were closed and at peace. He was uninjured from where she stood. How he was...she couldn't fathom. "How is he...?" she asked gingerly.

"He'll be fine. Other than a slight headache he's not showing any signs of injury," the doctor told her enthusiastically. "But I must admit he did come very close to losing his life out there, Captain."

Murrue's eyes widened. "How so...?"

The doctor produced an object that had been clutched under his arm. Mwu's helmet. Murrue saw the giant crack in the helmet's visor and gasped quietly. "You're correct in your shock, Captain," the doctor said. "We believe that the shockwaves from when his machine exploded caused the crack to form in the Commander's visor. Luckily for him it held together so that his oxygen didn't escape from his life support systems. If that crack had been any deeper however, the visor would have shattered and Commander la Flaga wouldn't be here now, I'm afraid."

Murrue sighed uneasily as her gaze slowly moved back towards Mwu's form. He was breathing normally, his chest rising and falling at a normal pace. His face was serene beneath the dabble of blonde hair. The doctor's had removed his jacket so he lay in just his standard issue t-shirt, that gave Murrue a perfect view of the mighty muscles he supported on his arms. Murrue couldn't believe...that Mwu had been that close to leaving her forever. "He's asleep right now, ma'am," the doctor said to her kindly. "But before he dozed off the Commander asked that we leave him alone for the rest of the day. I assume he wants to just relax for the rest of today. It's been a rough day for him."

"I understand," Murrue nodded. "Just let me spend another minute with him, okay?" The doctor nodded and he and the others quickly filed quietly out of the room, shutting the door behind them. Murrue quietly stepped beside his form and got down on her knees beside his bed. She gently laid her hand upon his as his breath came easily through his nose. His touch was the same as she remembered it. He was alive! Murrue felt her eyes begin to water up. He had kept his promise. He had come back to her with victory in hand. But now, since he was obviously tired, Murrue decided to allow him his peace and stood up to leave.

However, as she turned and tried to pull away, she suddenly found that she couldn't. Murrue turned back around and saw his blue eyes open to her. His hand had not released hers. Slowly, Mwu smiled. The next thing she knew, Murrue found herself being pulled on top of Mwu's body, his arm slinking around her waist, his other hand brushing a strand of autumn colored hair out of her face. "Who said I wanted you to leave?" He kissed her. Murrue felt her body melt into his as she closed her eyes and was lost in his tender kiss. Oh how she missed him now. How could she ever have survived without him? The kiss lingered on for what seemed like an eternity, neither willing to let the other go. Finally, the need for air caused Mwu to break the kiss. When he did, Murrue was smiling back down at him, her eyes sparkling. "God, I missed you."

"I missed you," she whispered back. "Are you okay?"

"Now I am," Mwu answered. "What about you?"

"Wonderful now that you're back," Murrue said, planting a small kiss on the tip of his nose. "You had me worried, you know."

"I'm sorry if I frightened you, Murrue," Mwu apologized in a hushed voice. He paused. "It was something I needed to do though...I couldn't bear to have you die right in front of me and not be able to save you. I wouldn't want to come back alive if you weren't there waiting for me. That's why I did it...and I don't think I'll ever regret it..."

"Oh really?" Murrue leaned back on her knees, straddling his form. Her hands gently touched his face and slowly began to move down to his neck. Abruptly, Murrue dug her hands into the fabric of his shirt and hauled him up off his back. Mwu cried out in surprise as he suddenly found himself dragged up until his face was just a few inches from hers. She was glaring back at him, her brown eyes burning. "Well I unfortunately will have to make you regret it, Commander," Murrue said harshly. "You've made me very angry you know. You disobeyed several of my discreet orders that I gave to you. I ordered you to come back alive and you almost didn't!" Mwu's mouth opened to answer, but Murrue cut him off sternly. "You also destroyed a powerful machine that will have to be replaced. Not to mention that I also ordered you to be careful out there and as far as I could see you disregarded all common sense and almost got yourself killed by letting your machine be destroyed." Murrue pulled his face to hers until their foreheads were touching gently. Mwu could feel her breath coming in sharp hissed through her nose. Had he really made her angry? Mwu was suddenly feeling afraid. "That's a lot of violations you committed out there, Commander. Since I am your senior officer on board this ship that leaves me with the process of deciding your punishment." Murrue narrowed her eyes. "Therefore Commander...you've given me no choice but to...discipline you." She kissed him fiercely, passionately. Mwu's eyes shot wide open and he moaned sharply as he fell back onto the bed, taking Murrue with him.

-Eternal, 1320

With the cease fire officially having been announced, the activity in the L5 Cluster had dwindled enough that the Orb vessels had deemed it a worthy time to take their leave. One by one the five surviving ships slowly made their way out of L5. All of them sported damage from their ordeal, Archangel and Kusanagi's hangars were both heavily damaged, Eternal had lost over three quarters of her weapons, Vasconi had no weapons left operational, and Capricorn had barely two engines left running. The mobile suits had fared much worse. Only the two M1s, piloted by Mitch and Orel, returned. They along with the Zero, Skygrasper, two K-bombers, Buster, heavily damaged Strike Rouge, and a last minute add on to the Eternal's hold, the wrecked Freedom, were the only machines to return. After returning just to say his goodbyes, Yzak had taken the Duel back to the PLANTs to assist with the cleanup effort.

Inside the hangar of the pink warship, Kira and Athrun stumbled from the cockpit of the headless Strike Rouge amid the congratulatory back-slaps and cheers from the deck crew. Both of them tried their best to look enthusiastic, but after all that had happened on that day, neither of them was in much mood for celebration. Cagalli joined them a moment later and embraced them both warmly. Together, they managed to venture away from the crowd and made their way into an adjacent corridor. It was then that Cagalli noticed the lacerations on Athrun's chest and shoulder. "Athrun, you're hurt!" she exclaimed.

Athrun sighed. "It's nothing, okay. Don't worry."

"Oh yeah right, like I'm going to believe that again," Cagalli said sarcastically. "Do you honestly think you can fool me with that lie again?"

Athrun looked to Kira for support, but his friend shrugged his shoulders. "Better do what she says Athrun. If you ask me she's more likely to hurt you even more if you don't get it looked at." Athrun tilted his head in confusion, but then shut his eyes and shook his head. "Take care of him, Cagalli. There's something else I've gotta do."

"See you later Kira!" Cagalli called after him as he turned to take his leave. The blonde haired girl turned back to Athrun and said, "Come on, Athrun. Let's get you patched up."

"Yes, ma'am," Athrun said drearily.

Just a short time later, Kira had removed his pilot suit and had donned his blue jacket and white uniform slacks and was quickly working his way through the damaged warship. As he came to the end of one corridor, he heard a sound. "BIRDY! BIRDY!" The small green mechanical bird came soaring around the corner ahead of him and flew right over his head. Kira called out Birdy's name and the small robot landed softly on Kira's shoulder and pecked at his ear gently. Kira chuckled at the sight. "HARO, HARO! KIRA! HARO!" The small pink ball came roaring around the corner an instant later, Kira just barely managing to get his hand up in time to catch it before it smashed right into his nose. He held the ball in his hand and saw its red eyes flash up back at him. "LACUS! HARO, HARO!"

"Kira!" He saw Lacus' form scamper around the corner and float towards him.

"Lacus!" Kira shouted, just before the pink haired princess bounded into his open arms. Lacus buried her head in his shoulder as Kira's arms encircled her slim waist. Haro clanked to the deck as Kira dropped it so he could catch Lacus. "DAMN IT!" the pink ball shouted at Kira, but it was ignored. Lacus finally brought her face up to Kira's and their eyes met, mist beginning to settle in both sets. As if on cue, Birdy catapulted off of Kira's shoulder and zoomed down the corridor. Kira chuckled. "How does it know when to do that?"

Lacus laughed. "Oh, Kira are you okay?" she asked kindly. "You had me so worried."

"Don't worry Lacus," Kira answered quietly. "I'm okay. Now that I'm back here that is." Lacus' eyes flashed wide open a second later when Kira pressed his warm lips to hers. Lacus was shocked out of her skin, but it was gone an instant later as she returned his kiss and leaned into his form, her pink hair dancing in the weightless state behind her. When the kiss ended, Lacus stared at Kira's grinning face with wide eyes. "I figured I owed you that for worrying you so much," Kira said lightly.

Lacus sighed happily. "Kira!" She hugged him fiercely, practically choking Kira's lungs off from air as she did so. Kira relaxed in her grip, though he was finding it difficult to get a breath, Lacus was squeezing him so tight. Who cares if he couldn't breath. As long as it was in Lacus' arms, that was okay with him.

Meanwhile on the Archangel, Dearka watched from afar as the deck crew began to take on the remaining two K-bombers that had just landed on the ship. Before that the ship had taken on the Zero, while Kisaka had taken the Skygrasper over to the Kusanagi. For the last part of the battle, Dearka had remained aboard the ship because the Buster had no power cells left. But now that it was over, Dearka wasn't troubled by his decision at all. Hey, it had kept him alive after all. "Dearka?" Dearka turned his head to his right and saw a figure approaching.

"Hey!" Dearka called out to Miriallia as the girl came towards him, her hands folded in front of her as she walked towards him. "What's going on?"

"Are you okay?" Miriallia asked gingerly, trying not to sound too concerned. "Was it bad out there?"

"Not really," Dearka said sarcastically. Miriallia narrowed her eyes at him and he sighed. "Okay it was hell. I'm surprised I'm still standing here right now. Probably thanks to luck more than skill, I'm guessing."

"Same here," Miriallia answered quietly. Dearka hummed in confusion and she added, "We're both lucky that we've survived this. So is everyone else...that we've made it this far..." Her head dropped towards the floor and her voice trailed off. Dearka stared at her for an instant and then cursed himself. Dumb-ass! You reminded her about her dead boyfriend again, shit-head! Dearka swore to himself.

Dearka didn't wish to see Miriallia upset at this time and even he was surprised when he took her gently by the shoulders. Miriallia raised her head to stare into his face and he said, "I'm sorry, Mir."

"For what...?" Miriallia breathed.

"I'm sorry because I never said I'm sorry before now," Dearka answered. "About all the things I did to you earlier this year...after he...I'm just sorry okay. I just wanted you to know that...that I do feel really bad about what I did...what I've done. I can't ask for your forgiveness because I know I don't deserve it...I just...wanted you to know...that I am deeply sorry." He stopped and averted his gaze. Miriallia could feel small streaks of mist begin to develop in her eyes, but she couldn't decipher why. Why had he just apologized? He knew he didn't have to...and yet he still. Before she knew what she was doing, Miriallia had thrown her arms around Dearka and embraced him. Dearka was just as surprised and his hands instantly left her shoulders as his eyes widened. "D'uh...Mir...?"

"Apology accepted," was all Miriallia said to him. Dearka sighed in relief and let his arms wrap her up in his embrace as they stood there, holding onto one another for dear life, though neither of them wanted the other to know that.

Across the hangar, Sai climbed gingerly down from his plane and set his feet down on the deck amidst a see of back-slaps and high-fives from the deck crew. Sai managed to break away from the mob as Kurk and Mike took most of the action in as he slipped away. Sai eventually met up with Coop on the other side of the hangar. "Sai, can you tell Captain Ramius that I'm going to be leaving?" Coop asked him.

"Why?" Sai asked.

"I have to go see my father..." Coop said quietly. "I'm the reason why he stood down, I think. I need to prove to him that I'm actually alive and well. Dearka's offered to fly me over there as soon as they fix the Buster, so..."

"Well...I guess this is...goodbye then Coop..." Sai said reluctantly.

"Yeah..." Coop said quietly. "Thanks Sai...thanks for everything man." Coop extended his hand towards Sai who shook it firmly with a smile. "To the day we meet again, friend."

"To the day we meet again," Sai responded.

The door to his quarters slid open as Stevy slowly walked in. The bunks seemed empty and quiet as he entered, void of the bodies that used them as beds. Stevy flopped himself down on the bottom bunk and shut his eyes. He thought of his brother and friend...all those times they had shared together since their days at the academy...even during the war they'd never been apart...always coincidently assigned to the same units...never apart. Now they were gone...he was the only one left. Stevy felt his hand brush against something underneath his bunk. His guitar. Slowly, Stevy pulled the black instrument with white strings out from under the bunk and held in his hands. He thought of the times he, Niada, and Jay had spent together, just writing whatever crap came into their heads and turning it into music. That was how White Wedding had come about. Now...it just seemed fitting. Stevy leaned back against the wall behind his bunk and looked up above him to the heavens. Rock your hearts out guys...this one's for you. His fingers dabbling over the white strings, Stevy strung up the opening strands of White Wedding, his own voice providing the words that his brother Niada had written as a dedication to those friends he had lost to the war. It may not have been much, but it was the best Stevy could do at this time. And to him...that was all that mattered.

Above him, in the corridor of the officer's quarters, Frank walked slowly with his hands raised casually behind his head. He was whistling a tune of some sort, but he didn't know what it was. After landing on board the ship, he'd searched frantically for his sister, but he couldn't find her for some odd reason. She was probably busy anyway right now, so Frank instead had begun to search for the other woman he cared for. Just then, he saw her at the other end of the corridor. Natarle was floating slowly in his direction, her face neutral as the two approached one another. "Natarle!" Frank shouted out to her as she came close.

"Commander," Natarle acknowledged officially, skirting past Frank as she continued on down the corridor.

Frank was confused at first and then he smacked himself in the side of the head. "Sorry, Lieutenant. Forgot you're on duty," he said sheepishly, "I apologize." Ahead of him, Natarle slowly came to a stop. She didn't look at him as he continued with his apology. Instead, she quickly glanced ahead of her, to her right, left, and finally behind her. She was no one but herself and Frank. Perfect. "Since you're on duty now, Lieutenant, I'll see myself out of your way-!" Natarle spun on her heal and charged at him. Her tackle caught him completely off guard and the next thing that left Frank's mouth was an OOF! as Natarle's tackle smashed him into the door of his quarters. "Wha-!" She kissed him fiercely, her dark red lips pressed hard against his. Frank's eyes closed and he wrapped her up in his arms as their feet gently touched the deck beneath them. The kiss intensified as the seconds dragged on, each trying to outdo the other in how fiercely they could kiss the other. God how they missed each other! Finally, the need for oxygen caused them to break the kiss and when they did, Natarle's smile filled Frank with joy. "Now I remember why I came back," he said lightly.

Natarle's smile grew as she ran her fingers through his autumn-colored hair and looked into his brown eyes. "You big oaf," she whispered to him. "You had me scared back there, Frank...and I usually don't get scared, you know."

"I apologize," Frank whispered back. He kissed her lightly. "I didn't mean to scare you, Natarle...but as you know...duty comes before pleasure."

"Perfectly sound decision," Natarle answered. "Like the ones you always make."

"Why thank you," Frank answered, drawing her closer still until her body was pressed firmly to his. They both cautiously glanced around them and surprisingly found that they were still alone in the corridor. "So I take it you're not on duty right now, correct?" Frank asked.

"No," Natarle answered quickly, planting a light kiss on his lips. "In fact..." she kissed him again. "I don't think I'll be on duty any time soon as a matter of fact."

"Really?" Frank said softly. "Well as it turns out...I'm off duty for the time being as well."

Natarle smiled. "So...we're both off duty now..."

"Nothing that demands our constant attention," Frank said. Natarle kissed him yet again. "Well...almost nothing..." he said lightly.
"I take it...you have some ideas...that may take up some of our time, Lieutenant?" Frank asked, running his strong hands up the smooth curves of Natarle's back.

"Maybe..." Natarle answered quietly. "It depends on what you wish to do, Commander. You are the senior officer present..."

"Technically...you're the higher ranking official when it comes to the Archangel," Frank pointed out. His mouth found its way to her cheek and Natarle gasped quietly as his lips kissed her cool skin. "But if you insist...I think I may know a way to...keep us occupied for a few hours..."

Natarle smiled and traced a small circle around his neck. "I know what you mean," she whispered. "If that's what you wish, Commander...I will willingly assist you in the action."

Frank gently bit her earlobe and Natarle gasped in pleasure. He brought his face directly before hers again and said, "Are you sure, though? Are you positively...?"

Natarle pressed two fingers to his lips and effectively silenced him, like she had so many others. "Frank...when I make a decision regarding my course of action...have you ever...seen me go back on it? I follow it through to the end...that's my personal policy." She smiled. Her lips found his again. "But...I will only accompany you if you ask me in the correct manner..."

Frank hissed silently through his teeth as her fingers made their way across his chest. Frank smiled. "In that case..." He kissed her. "Requesting permission to take the Lieutenant to bed."

"Permission granted," Natarle whispered. "In fact..." She held him tightly. "I'm ordering you, Commander...to take me to bed!" Their lips met in a fierce kiss as Frank reached behind him and pressed the door release for his quarters. The door sighed open behind them and Frank leaned backwards into the room, taking Natarle's body willingly with him. Just as her legs disappeared into the dark room, Natarle pressed the door released again and sealed the door behind them. These duties she had taken on would not be disturbed.