Chapter: 33 Its soon time for the end

In the two months since capturing the Dominion and Shiho along with the Red Queen, and four weeks since gaining the assistance of Yzak Joule and his Duel Gundam, Kevin Walker had watched the news reports coming in from Earth with increasing unease. The Earth Forces Ayers Rock Landing Operation and Operation 8.8, which had taken the Gibraltar Base and assaulted other bastions of ZAFT influence on the Earth, had concerned him greatly... particularly once ZAFT was forced even out of Carpentaria Base, leaving them with no presence on Earth at all.

That meant that the Earth Forces could now concentrate on the PLANTs themselves. Once, before the advent of Neutron-jammer cancellers, Kevin would have believed it just short of impossible for the Earth Alliance to force its way past Boaz, let alone Jachin Due; but Rau Le Creuset had gotten the technical schematics of the Freedom and Justice Gundams to Muruta Azrael, thus also giving him the N-jammer canceler data. And since Azrael had escaped the assault on the Dominion, nuclear weapons would doubtless soon become a threat once again.

Sitting on his Bridge (and Kevin still felt weirdbeing the captain of a warship), the one some called the Snake pondered the war. He'd been drawn into the conflict between Earth and the PLANTs long before the actual shooting started, with the madman Oracle's Project ABADON, and he had a somewhat different view of things from his friend -in fact, surrogate brother- Kira Yamato, or, for that matter, his own sister, Lacus Clyne. To be sure, he was in complete agreement with their desire to bring the war to a swift, peaceful conclusion, but Kevin found himself in fundamental disagreement with their methods. He certainly had nothing against keeping enemy casualties to a minimum, of course... but only when doing so did not jeopardize his own people. It was all well and good to show mercy, but Kevin Walker was a firm believer in the Law of the Jungle: kill or be killed. To his way of thinking, the enemy was the enemy; if they did not surrender, you did what you had to do. He knew Aelan thought much of the same way, but thanks to her fighting her own people he knew she be fighting the same way Kira would be.

Luckily for him, despite their disagreement, neither Aelan, Kira nor Lacus tried to change Kevin's mind any longer. It would be pointless... and Kira, at least, understood that there was at least one person the super-soldier hadto... deal with, if he was to ever put the specter of ABADON behind him: Patrick Zala. Interestingly, from Kevin's point of view, Athrun raised no objection to the idea, and had even wished him "good hunting". He believed his father had died long before, with his mother, in the Bloody Valentine. Killing Zala now would merely be putting to rest an automaton, no longer fully human.

And, of course, the Dominion's wing commander had no problems at all with her captain's point of view. Cagalli Yula Athha had, after all, known him all his (and her) life... Athrun had be coming to visit her more often as well these days. Besides she knew if it was something that he needed to do, she accepted that; and, if she could, would help him achieve it.

Kevin smiled at the thought, then looked up quickly as Flay Allster, former Archangel crewman and current Dominioncommunications officer, cleared her throat behind him. "Message coming in, Captain, from one of Reverend Malchio's Junk Guild contacts. It looks like an intelligence report."

"Solkin syn. More bad news, I'm sure." He shrugged. "Put it on my monitor, Flay; might as well see what else can go wrong."

"Yes, sir." Flay tapped a few commands into her station, and the report appeared on the captain's chair's right armrest screen.

Cagalli, sitting in Muruta Azrael's former seat, glanced curiously at Kevin as he scrolled through the data. When he quietly cursed, in English, she raised an eyebrow. "Bad, Kevin?"

He turned. "Yeah, tovarisch. Bad. According to some of the Reverend's sources, the Earth Alliance's Sixth and Seventh Fleets have departed from Ptolemaeus, after receiving a number of supplies from Earth. Which means..."

"Nukes," she finished grimly. "You think they've built enough, in the last two months?"

"Bet on it," Kevin said bleakly. "I'm sure they still had a number of nuclear warheads left over from before the N-jammers were deployed, which means all they likely needed to build was a lot of N-jammer cancellers; and remember, it takes a lot more time to get enough weapons-grade fissionables than it does to build those."

"So I guess it's about time," Cagalli murmured.

He nodded, and touched an intercom button. "Yzak, please come to the Bridge. We have a little situation here." Without waiting for a response, Snake looked over his shoulder at Flay. "Flay, patch me through to the other ships, please."

"Right."

The Dominion's main display was quickly portioned off into three screens, with Kisaka, Waltfeld, and Murrue looking out of them. "You've got the word, I presume?" Kevin said without preamble.

"Yes," Murrue answered. "It looks like you were right, Kevin. Azrael is going to use nuclear weapons on the PLANTs."

"Which means, of course," Waltfeld said, "that ZAFT will probably be bringing GENESIS online soon."

"But are you certain of the intel?" Kisaka questioned. "It has been three years since your data was compiled, after all..."

Kevin shrugged. "Sure as I can be, Captain Kisaka. I know for a fact that GENESIS' design had been finalized, and if they ran according to schedule, construction would have begun shortly before the April Fool Crisis last year. And if GENESIS is complete, I am morally certain Patrick Zala will not hesitate to use it. First on the fleet, then probably Ptolemaeus, and then..."

"Earth," Natarle finished from CIC.

"But only as a last resort," Lacus broke in from theEternal. "Even Chairman Zala must realize the consequences of destroying Earth. There is a chance the PLANTs could remain self-sufficient enough to continue to sustain the human race, perhaps even for centuries, but eventually they would have to seek out new worlds or die. He can't want that."

"I agree with your conclusions, but not your reasoning," her brother told her. "Even Zala isn't crazy enough to wantto destroy Earth; but he won't hesitate if Azrael is crazy enough to continue fighting after losing Lunar Headquarters. And as for seeking out new worlds, I remind you what GENESIS was intended for."

"True enough," Murrue agreed. "In any case, one way or the other, this war will be over soon."

"Let's just hope it doesn't cost us Earth or the PLANTs," Waltfeld said quietly. "Captain Walker" Kevin supposed he used the title just to irritate him "you and Aelan are more familiar with the specs for that thing; if worse comes to worst, how do we destroy it?"

Kevin thought hard. "Assuming the worst case -that they've installed Phase-Shift armor...A concerted attack from the Archangel and Dominionshould do it, given an hour or two. Failing that... a three-kiloton nuclear warhead would probably be enough to fatally damage it."

"Well, we don't have a three-kiloton nuke," Waltfeld murmured grimly, "so we'll just have to hope we either have enough time to blast it the old-fashioned way, or take out its control facility."

Snake forbore to mention the fact that they did, in fact, have a three-kiloton nuclear bomb. It was, at that moment, aboard the Dominion... sealed inside MBF-M1000 Sturm Falke's fuselage. If worse really did come to worst...

"Either way," Murrue was saying, "we should get underway for the PLANTs immediately."

"Agreed," Lacus concurred. "Let us hope we may still reach it in time."

"Yeah," Kevin said softly. "All right, then. Dominion, clear." With the link closed, he looked forward at his helmsman. "Lieutenant Steiglitz, set our course for least-time orbit to Lagrange point Five, maximum thrust."

"Aye aye," his former fencing rival replied. "Moving out, Captain."

"Here we go," Cagalli whispered.

Boaz, Lacus thought idly on the Eternal's Bridge. Will we get there in time? Or will the Earth Forces really use nuclear weapons again? And is Kevin right, about GENESIS? She shook her head. How can people do these things to each other?

Of course, such thoughts brought to mind Patrick Zala's firsttrue atrocity, before the war even began. Unlike her late father, Lacus had not even been aware of the ABADON project until Kevin arrived in Aprilius, following the Aegis Incident, in the Marshall Islands. When the horrific details had finally been explained to her, she'd been... well, "horrified" didn't begin to describe it. Bad enough that it had happened at all, but to her favored cousin...? And even a very close friend of hers. She thought looking at the woman that stood in the corner of the bridge.

And then, months later, the full truth of Kevin Walker's origins had been revealed, and after taking command of the Dominion, he'd finally taken the time to tell his "cousin" the reality of their connection. Lacus had been astounded by the revelation, and appalled by the cold calculation with which he had been created, but in some way, she was actually pleased by it. One could have worse siblings, for sure.

Be careful out there, Kevin, Lacus thought. I know you won't be content to lead from the Bridge when the battles begin, so at least try not to get yourself killed, okay?

"Worried about your brother?" Kira broke into her thoughts. He had arrived on the Bridge sometime during her introspection, and stood beside her chair, a slight smile on his face.

Lacus smiled back. "A little," she admitted. "We're heading for another battle, and Kevin does have a habit of getting right into the line of fire."

He waved a hand. "Don't worry too much, Lacus. Sure, Kevin managed to get shot down a bunch when he was flying a GINN, but Stormhawk is one of the most sophisticated mobile suits out there. He'll be fine."

"I hope you're right." She tilted her head. "No doubt you're worried about your sister, too."

Kira shrugged. "It'll be dangerous," he conceded. "But the Strike Rouge is a lot better than that Skygrasper she flew back on Earth. Besides, Kevin wouldn't let anything happen to her, now would he?"

"Oh he better not, even though I am not a destroyer like he is, I am pretty sure Aelan over there wouldn't mind helping me out." Jason said as Aelan seemed to awake from the sleep she had went into.

They exchanged grins. Both of them had seen the relationship between their respective siblings coming long before, as had most other members of the Three -except these days it was Four- Ships Alliance... though some of the mechanics -and not just on the Archangel- had been heard to complain that the betting had gone bust a dozen times before of whoever finally got together.

On the Archangel, Dearka Elsman lounged near an intercom panel in the cafeteria, idly munching on his lunch. "I guess the waiting's just about over, huh?"

"Yeah," the battle computer known as Max agreed; in the months since Dearka had joined forces with them at Orb and Max had been activated, the two had become fast friends. "I really hope Captain Walker's wrong about GENESIS, though. That scares even me."

"Yeah, I know." Dearka looked down at the deck. "Unfortunately, Snake's not wrong very often; not with all the data Oracle stuffed in his head. If he says GENESIS exists, then he's probably right, and Chairman Zala, from what Athrun says, really is crazy enough to use it."

"And the thing of it is," she said thoughtfully, "I'm not even sure I can really blame him. Oh, I'm certainly not saying he'd be justified in using that infernal machine on Earth, or even the Moon, but if the Earth Forces are coming in such great numbers, what choice does he have? I think we're all agreed it would be just as bad for the PLANTs to be destroyed as for Earth to get crispy-fried."

He nodded (Max, while she had no face of her own, coulduse intercom cameras to "see" people). "I know. And I can't really disagree, either; my father is on the Supreme Council, and if the PLANTs get nuked..." He trailed off. "I just don't know what we're gonna do, Max. I remember when the war was nice and clear-cut; all we wanted was for the PLANTs to have the autonomy the sponsor nations denied us. If we could just get them to leave us alone, we'd leave them alone, too. There was no need for all this."

"Blame Muruta Azrael and Rau Le Creuset, though I don't think Azrael will be around much longer," Max said dryly. "Remind me not to tick off Captain Walker; Mir tells me he once took out an entire house just to kill one Blue Cosmos termite and his Destroyer-brother-clone-whatever flunky. And then there's what he did on the way out of Orb. He probably doubled the Earth Forces losses in that one blitzkrieg attack."

"I heard about the one in Banadiya." Dearka chuckled. "Then there's when I first met him. I tried out a phrase in Russian, and he instantly tossed me through a wall. I don't remember what I was trying to say, but it seems I insulted his recently-deceased mother. Ouch."

"And that's why you've been taking Russian lessons from Garret recently, right?"

"Right." He smiled, gazing about the compartment. "You know, I'm really glad we never managed to take out this ship. Now that I've gotten to know them, I actually like these misfits."

"You're not the only one," Max said, chuckling. "Cap'n Walker's old fencing buddy tells me your friend Yzak's been seeing a lot of Shiho,"

Dearka blinked. "Yzak Joule and Shiho Hahenfuss?" He then smirked. "All I can say is that its about time. She always had a crush on him since she joined the academy. Just never showed it very well." He said with a laugh.

Back on the Dominion, the assassin called Invictus by some and John Tyler by others floated near a viewport looking out to the stern of the ship (had he but known it, it was a favored haunt of his "brother", as well, when he still resided aboard the Archangel).

In some ways, Invictus had perhaps the most depressing lot of all the Four Ships' people. Alone among them, he was a clone, a mere copy of another, Kevin Walker's shadow. For all the time he had worked for Rau Le Creuset as a special agent, he'd embraced the idea, remaining a shadow warrior, feared by those who knew his name.

But since leaving the masked man's employ, and especially since meeting the original Kevin Walker for the first time, Invictus had felt... unreal, as if he were merely a photograph, a picture of something else. It was an unsettling feeling, one which he was sure Cagalli would berate him for if she knew of it... but he had no intention of mentioning it. Among other things, whatever his memories might contain, he was not, in truth, her old friend. They might get along very well, but the fact remained that it was Kevin Walker, not John Tyler, whom she has known all her life.

Then he sensed something approaching and then a voice came from the corridor. "So you're Le Creuset's personal hatchetman, eh?"

He turned. "Lieutenant Meryl Steiglitz. To what do I owe the honor?"

Meryl waved a hand. "Please; we're both off-duty. Call me Meryl." She looked wry. "The Captain does, so you might as well, too."

"Since I'm his copy?" Invictus said, sounding surprisingly bitter. "Just another clone of the Boss?"

The female fencer blinked, surprised by his reaction. "No, I didn't mean..."

He shook his head. "Sorry. I've just been indulging in a bad habit." When she raised an eyebrow, he explained, "Self-pity."

Meryl nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I heard Kevin used to do that a lot, too; I hear it took a talking-to from a blind monk to straighten him out." She drifted over to the viewport. "Anyway, to answer your original question, I happened to be passing by, and it occurred me I don't actually know that much about you." She shrugged. "Besides the Fencing Prince past, and I don't have anything better to do."

Invictus chuckled. "I sometimes wonder how much information gets distributed because people get bored. Well, Meryl, there really isn't much to tell about me; up until three and a half years ago, my past -such as it is- was identical to Snake's. I've only even existed since 68, so I haven't had much time to establish my own identity."

"Though you definitely have one," she mused. "The Captain -Snake- doesn't have an Australian accent, and for all his intellectual pursuits, he's not a philosopher."

"Neither am I," he retorted. "I'm an assassin, not a psychobabbler. Philosophy is for people who aren't always on the sharp end of the stick; I figure I can worry about that after this bloody war is over."

"That's not what Snake says." Meryl's eyebrows went up in an expression of polite disbelief. "Kevin says you were one of the ones badgering him about Cagalli, and that the only one who was worse was that battle computer, Max."

"Maybe." John shrugged uneasily. "I just said what needed to be said, that's all. At least Snake's got something waiting for him, if he survives this war. Me, I'm not sure if it really matters whether I live or die; I'm betting my skills aren't going to be in high demand when the war is over. Even if they are, Snake will corner the market."

Meryl snorted. "Not likely. Captain Kisaka tells me Orb was about ready to drag him into public service as Director of Central Intelligence when the Earth Forces attacked; if Orb gets liberated when this is over, he might find himself shanghaied into the Chief Representative's office. And besides that, I doubt Cagalli will let him stay in the military. He's had way too many close calls in this war."

He laughed outright. "Kevin Walker, Chief Representative? He'd blow his own brains out before letting them do thatto him. DCI, though, that I can see; and Cagalli, being an Athha, could well be the next Chief Representative herself. But can you imagine the outcry from the international community? I mean, anybody with two brain cells to rub together can see where if he and Cagalli are going; think how people would react to the idea of the head of state marrying the country's chief spook!"

"Not to mention that they'd need a weapons check at the wedding," Meryl agreed with a laugh. "Snake's a super-soldier, and too many of his friends are steely-eyed killers themselves."

"That's the truth." Invictus glanced at her curiously. "So what are you going to do at the end of the war?" Invictus asked her.

"If I survive, I am thinking on joinin the Orb military, and in the way I already am. Besides, I don't think this be the last war ZAFT and the Earth Forces have. Even if Azrael is killed. Blue Cosmos still lurks. I don't want that to happen."

"That makes two of us," Invictus agreed quietly. "But for me, a small vacation would do me good." He said putting his hands behind his head.

"For sure." She stared out into space for a time. "By the way..." she said finally. "There are some things I've been wondering about; like why you're helping us, and why you don't have the aging problems Le Creuset does."

John shrugged. "The answer to your first question should be self-evident, Meryl: unlike all the others, I'm a direct clone of Kevin Walker. That means I have all his memories up the point when he was kidnapped... and I started out with his original ethical system. Though it's been altered over the years, it has, like Kevin's, retained the basics... and remember that I remember his friends. I remember everything... so I couldn't possibly fight against them. Like Kevin, I believe world peace is a fantasy, but, also like Kevin, I believe evil can, and must, be fought." He glanced at her. "So when you think about it, it's not so hard to understand after all."

"I guess you're right," Meryl acknowledged. "I should have realized that myself."

"Ahh, we Kevin Walkers -or is that Kevins Walker?- are always hard to figure out. As to your other question..." he went on, "well, I'll try to put it in layman's terms. Besides, I can't understand the exact science of it, either. Anyway, our best guess is that Le Creuset's genes were deliberately sabotaged by Doctor Hibiki, out of revulsion for what Al Da Flaga was having him do. Perhaps a little hypocritical, given what he later did to Kira, and helped do to Kevin, but every man has his peculiarities. As for me..." He scratched his head. "Carter and I were made differently, as were the other accelerated-growth clones. The other Serpent Heads aged at varying rates -for example, one that I took out in Venice was only alive because of his augmentation- but Carter and I were intended to be a little different. We were created from 'Hydra's' cells, rapidly grown to the original's biological age, and then augmented, all before we were truly 'awake'. Once we were at the appropriate age, our genes were carefully modified again, to cancel out the rapid-aging effect."

Meryl frowned. "That makes sense... but Le Creuset had access to Oracle's technology too, right? Why didn't he use the gene therapy on himself?"

"I'm not sure," John replied. "But I can make a few educated guesses. First, there's the secrecy factor: he wouldn't have wanted anyone else, even Oracle, to learn his secret, so he would have been reluctant to have the treatment used on him; and he could hardly have done it to himself, now could he? Then there's the fact that he's an older-generation clone. While Oracle didn't have the chance to advance the field very far -given the ban on cloning, which he didn't violate until 68- he did take it past the point Le Creuset is at. Carter and I are a later iteration of clones, and the gene therapy was tailored to us. And finally, I think his body was physically too old; unlike us, he was fully mature by the time the techniques were developed, and everything I've learned indicates a fully-mature body won't accept the treatments."

She winced. "No wonder the guy went crazy; knowing there was a way to reverse his condition, but being unable to make use of it..."

"Yeah." John nodded in agreement. "But you know, I just don't want to think about the war just now..."

No argument there, Meryl thought; and they both turned back to stargazing, enjoying the illusion of peace, if only for a little while.

The four ships, with their varied commanders, moved swiftly across space to Lagrange point 5, hoping to stop the holocaust that was surely coming. Nothing would stand in the way of four of the most powerful ships ever built... even if anything had been inclined to try.

Kevin wasn't terribly surprised by the lack of traffic. The war was clearly entering its final stage; any remaining fighting would doubtless be done around the PLANTs themselves. And he wasn't very happy about that.

He was even less happy when he received another report -from the news services, this time. "Solkin syn," he whispered, looking back at Flay. "You're sure?"

She nodded unhappily. "Yes, sir. It's all over the news."

"Solkin syn," he said again. "Patch me through to the Eternal."

Cagalli turned to him, concerned. "What is it, Kevin?"

"The worst," Snake said grimly, just as the Eternal's Bridge appeared on the main screen. "Hello, Sis. I assume you heard?"

"Heard what?" Kira asked from behind Lacus' chair. "Is Boaz already under attack? Are we too late?" Then Aelan for some reason being on the dominion nobody knew grabbed the report paper.

"'Too late' is putting it mildly, tovarisch." His eyes were jade ice as he spoke. "The Earth Forces hit Boaz approximately three hours ago... and destroyed it. They used nuclear weapons."

Kira looked sickened; and so did Athrun, hovering next to him. "So Azrael went and did it? That bastard!"

"Couldn't agree more." Kevin sighed. "If we don't get there fast, the war may be over before we can do anything to stop it."

"But stop what?" Waltfeld wondered bleakly. "The destruction of the PLANTs... or Earth?"

"Either way," Lacus said firmly,"we have to hurry. We haven't come all this way, fought this hard, lost this much, just to see the tragedy occur before our very eyes."

"Agreed." Snake looked over at Steiglitz. "Meryl, what's our ETA?"

She tapped a few keys. "About seventy-two hours, Captain. By my calculations, that's about when the Sixth Fleet will be ready for its next attack."

"That's what I thought. Captain Waltfeld, I suggest you begin preparations; we won't have much time once we're in range." Aelan's eyes widened with shock when she read what the ship was that lead the attack.

"What is it Aelan?" Andy asked seeing her look of shock on her face.

"It can't be, another legged ship!" Aelan said as Kevin looked at her.

"What are you talking about?" Kevin asked her as she looked at him.

"It means, that there is another Archangel class ship, and it also has the name of it on this report." She said as she looked at the word and knew what its meaning is. "Apollyon." She said as Kevin was the only one who knew what it meant.

"So Azrael decided to use the other word for Abaddon as his new flag ship." Kevin said as Andy nodded.

"Captain Walker, we'll do our part." Waltfeld smiled fiercely. "And I think it's about time we tried out the METEOR Units, don't you?" Without waiting for a reply, he signed off.

"Well, he's a man of action," Kevin commented to no one. Then he hit an intercom button. "Yzak, this is the Captain. Boaz just got nuked."

"I heard," Yzak replied, fury in his voice. "Which means GENESIS, right? How long till we reach the PLANTs?"

"About seventy-two hours."

"I'll start getting my team ready, then." He hesitated. "Captain Walker, you should probably get ready, too; Stormhawk-"

"My place is on the Bridge," Kevin said firmly. "I don't have any business-"

"Your place is out there, fighting with your own machine," Yzak countered."Stormhawk, the Zero System, and your augmented reflexes are too important to leave in the rear, Captain. I never thought I'd say this, but we'll have a greater chance of success with all our machines, including yours, participating. Besides, Commander Badgiruel is well able to command in your absence, right?"

"He's right, Captain," Natarle said. "You make a fine ship commander, but you're a pilot; and nobody else can fly that machine of yours, remember?"

Kevin took a deep breath, and looked over at Cagalli. "Are you okay with this?"

She rolled her eyes. "Kevin, since when have I ever tried to keep you out of a fight? Besides, maybe you'll even have time for a quick stop at Aprilius."

He knew precisely what she meant, and he smiled. "More likely Jachin Due, by the time things heat up again, but I take your point; it might be worth it to pay a visit to Chairman Zala while I'm in the area. Just to... pay my respects." Snake looked at his clone. "John, make sure our weapons are in top form; Dominion will probably have its own part to play. And..." His voice became a hungry whisper. "If you see Azrael's new Archangel class ship, take the shot."

Seventy-two hours to Jachin Due. Just three days... and they seemed even shorter, as the four lonely ships raced onward, trying to prevent disaster. They were more alone than even the Archangel had ever been, during her trek from Heliopolis to Earth, the Libyan desert to Alaska; for even at the worst of times they'd had the Earth Alliance out there somewhere, and later Orb. Now, they had naught but each other, and if they failed, there would be no others to try again. The fate of the entire world was riding on their shoulders.

Historians would say that only the most unlikely chain of events imaginable, a string of "lucky breaks" that could have failed them at any time, allowed them to succeed; if at any time, any of the surviving members of the small band had fallen, the entire course of history might have gone very differently, horribly differently.

Some would later try to pin the conclusion of the war on Captain Kevin Walker himself, for his actions in that final, fateful battle. But the Snake himself would always dispute this, saying that it was the courage of his comrades, and of fallen warriors such as Rear Admiral Lewis Halberton, that truly stopped the war. They were the true heroes, and he would always deny that he himself was a hero.

For once, it was not really for history to decide. It was those who were there at the Second Battle of Jachin Due, who truly knew who the heroes were. They knew what happened... and no one who was not there on September 26 and 27, C.E. 71, could ever truly understand the deeds done those two days.

Captain Walker himself, however, had a different, simpler view. "A lot of people who should have lived, died; and a lot more people who had to die, did. That's all there is to understand."

"So," Kevin Walker said, more to himself than anyone else, three days after Boaz's destruction. "Here we are. And it looks like the Earth Forces haven't even had time to nuke Jachin; that's a pleasant surprise."

"Time to get moving, Captain Walker," Waltfeld said from the comm screen. "Their so-called 'Peacemaker Force' hasn't been deployed yet, but doubtless it will be soon."

Snake grimaced, but didn't disagree. The Earth Forces' Sixth and Seventh Fleets were already there, and they had begun deploying mobile suits. That meant the nukes weren't about to used quite yet, since the Peacemaker Force was made up of mobile armors, but the Strike Daggers were no doubt intended to clear the path for them.

"I guess it's time," he said quietly. "Murrue? Kisaka? Are you ready?"

"Mu, Dearka, and Tolle are already aboard their machines," Murrue replied. "Admittedly, Mir isn't very happy, but we don't have much choice. So we'll begin launching at once."

"We're ready, too," Kisaka reported."Kusanagi's M1s are ready for lift off."

"And the Freedom, Red Queen, Irownwall and Justice are preparing to head out," Waltfeld completed."This time, they'll be using METEOR Units. Sorry we don't have one for Stormhawk, but they hadn't quite completed the modifications to the design when you took it back."

Kevin shrugged. "We'll make do, Andy." He touched an intercom button. "Hanger, this is the Captain. It's show time. Joule team, to the port catapult; Athha team to starboard, and wait for your commander." He looked over at Cagalli. "You sure you're ready for this, tovarisch?"

Her eyes narrowed. "Do you want me to knock your teeth down your throat?"

"That's what I thought." He sighed. "Okay then," he said quietly, looking down into CIC. "Commander Badgiruel, the Bridge is yours."

"I have the Conn," Natarle acknowledged. "Shoot straight, Captain."

"I always do." Kevin extended a hand to Cagalli. "Let's go, tovarisch; we don't want to be late to this party."

Soon enough, the Dominion's mobile suit teams, consisting of eight GAT-01 Strike Daggers, the MBF-M2 Strike Rouge, the MBF-M1000 Sturm and, of all things, the GAT-X102 Duel, and the YFX-200 CGUE DEEP Arms were ready for launch.

First up was Yzak, at the port catapult. And Shiho on the Starboard "This is Yzak Joule. Duel launching!"

Shiho flipped her last switch reading her CGUE. "Shiho Hahenfuss, I will not let the PLANTs fall to the Earth Forces!" Shiho called as she launched to space.

While Yzak's team of six Daggers followed Shiho out, Cagalli's machine entered the starboard catapult. "Strike Rouge, heading out!"

As they launched, their captain sat in his own cockpit, wearing his distinctive black flight suit and idly flexing the metal fingers of his right hand. So this is it, he thought. The final battle. Will Fate spare me today, as well? Or will it finally be my turn to perish, swallowed by the darkness that consumed Rachel?

Another's thoughts broke into his. (Stop it, Kevin,) Kira told him firmly over their link. (You'll make it. We can't afford to lose, remember?)

(Doesn't mean we'll win,) Kevin pointed out. (And even if we do, that's no guarantee I'll survive. But you're right; this isn't the time for brooding. See you out there, Kira.)

Finally, it was Stormhawk's turn to launch. "This is Kevin Walker," he told the Bridge. "Stormhawk launching!"

Each and every other machine launched as well, but The Red Queen, Ironwall, Freedom and Justice had one more element of preparation to take care of; and the Eternal's 4 METEOR Units detached from the ship, moving under their own power, to rendezvous with the four nuclear powered mobile suits.

Here goes nothing, Athrun thought as he maneuvered his machine into docking with the massive weapons platform. I hope this works as advertised, or we could be in trouble.

The METEOR Unit, normally used as a turret-mounted energy cannon by the Eternal, was also a huge, external weapons pack intended for use with ZAFT's prototype Gundams. Once docked with the mobile suits, they served to increase the speed of the machines, and their formidable weapons came into play: four beam cannons, of two sizes, two beam blades, and many 60 centimeter missile launchers. Combined with the Gundams' own weapons, they were the most powerful "mobile" weapons ever created by Man.

"Athrun, Jason, Aelan are you all ready?" Kira called, having completed his own linkup.

"Ready as I'll ever be," his friend responded.

"Ready, to blow some Nukes sky high." Aelan responded cracking her knuckles as she got the weapon upgrade on her screens. "Very nice amount of weaponry." She said as Jason docked with his.

"I am ready defend my home, if that is what your asking Kira." Jason said as his machine had its two arms dock on top of the Unit's arms. "Ok weapon status I can still use my Rapid Arms shields." He said preping for blast off.

"We'd better hurry; or else Snake'll have blown up everything before we even get there." Athrun radioed.

"Can't have that." Kira was of the opinion that his adopted brother was a little too free with his fire; after all, you couldn't exactly negotiate with someone when you've annihilated everyone who has the authorityto negotiate. Nor could an enemy surrender if his communications systems had all been blown to slag. This, of course, did not deter Kevin, who was a firm believer in, among other things, the saying that soldier's job was not to die for his country, but rather to make the other guy die for his.

"Of course, I won't exactly object if he reaches Jachin," Athrun went on. "If he gets the Chairman, maybe the GENESIS threat will be gone."

Kira snorted. "With Le Creuset out there? Not likely, Athrun. One way or another, he's going to do his best to end the world, and we're the only ones who can stop him."

"Yeah. I can't let my father get away with that." Aelan said as she charged her boosters.

"For Peace" The four called as they boosted out toward the battlefield L5 had become.

"Hmm..." Muruta Azrael murmured, on the Bridge of his Archangel-class flagship Apollyon. The Dark Red and black Version of the Archangel "They seem to be putting up quite the defense."

Indeed, Jachin Due had launched dozens, scores of GuAIZ's, hundreds of older machines, and numerous Nazca- and Laurasia-class warships. Had this been like the First Battle of Jachin Due, the Earth Forces would have been slaughtered.

Unfortunately for the PLANTs, things had changed. The Earth Forces now had mobile suits of their own, in the form of the GAT-01 Strike Daggers and Azrael's three new Gundams with their insane pilots. And, of course, the Peacemaker Force, the mobile armor squadrons armed with nuclear weapons; weapons which they had proven were capable of blowing away entire asteroids, if fired in sufficient numbers.

"In the end, it will do them no good," his flag captain, William Sutherland, opined. "We have nuclear weapons; they have nothing but mobile suits and warships."

"But the so-called 'Three Ships Alliance' now has the Dominion," Azrael reminded him. "If they choose to intervene, it could be ugly... especially if the rumors are true about who's in command these days." That was a source of considerable annoyance to him; three and a half years ago, he'd gone to some lengths to take out the fencing prodigy Kevin Onishi, only to discover later that the little space monster had taken a different flight from his parents. It had, to be sure, been a delicious irony when he used that same Coordinator to engineer the Mendel Incident, but Azrael had not counted on "Cain" surviving long enough to actually endanger his operations. If he was out there, he would be coming for Azrael's head. "Of course," he went on with an ugly smile, "if they do come calling, we call always nuke them too..."

"Sir!" a crewman reported. "Our mobile suits have cleared a path. Shall we...?"

Sutherland nodded. "Yes, send out the Peacemaker Force. It's time to put an end to this, once and for all. Those abominations have plagued us for far too long."

Azrael watched gleefully as the nuclear-laden Moebius units began to launch...

"Solkin syn," Kevin muttered in Stormhawk's cockpit, seeing the mobile armors emerge. He knew that, with the advent of the Strike Daggers, there was only one thing the Earth Alliance kept mobile armors around for. And that meant they had arrived not a moment too soon. "Snake to group," he radioed. "Peacemaker Force is launching. Prepare to intercept." At long last, though he didn't notice it, he was slipping back into the habits of command drilled into him as commander of the Destroyers. The skills from those horrific days would serve him one again, on a battlefield he had never expected.

"Here they come, Kevin," Cagalli called, arming her weapons. "Let's get them!"

"Roger that. Break formation and open fire!"

The ZAFT defenders seemed bemused by the sudden appearance of the Three Ships Alliance craft, but they didn't look a gift snake in the mouth. As long as they were shooting at the missiles, the ZAFT pilots had better things to do than shoot them.

"Let's dance," Kevin whispered, and opened fire with both buster rifles, trusting the Zero System to show him the way.

Commanders on both sides were stunned as nuclear missiles began detonating well short of their targets, creating a blinding fireworks display across the entire region of space. "Bastards!" Azrael muttered through gritted teeth.

"Shoot down all those missiles!" Yzak shouted. "Don't let them hit the PLANTs!" Leading his half-squadron of Daggers, he plunged into the battle.

"Not a chance," Shani Andras whispered. "I wanna see all the pretty lights."

"Oh, shut up!"Kevin said in annoyance, and spared a moment of attention to kick the Forbidden in the back. "Leave us alone, or I will blow you to your constituent atoms!"

By this time, beams were going all over the place. Cagalli and Mu firing single shots at any missile in range, Dearka opening up with his anti-armor shotgun, Aelan and Jason were using their Meteors firing every piece of weaponry they had on the Missiles, and Tolle's Wraith (nearly useless at long range) providing support by cutting apart any Dagger unlucky enough to enter range of his cloaked machine. "Slash, slash, slash!"

One of Yzak's team raced toward the terrible warheads, beam rifle blazing; he'd been highly impressed by his new Captain's speech the day he captured the Dominion, and he was determined to do his part... and so he did.

Yzak cursed as the overzealous, but heroic, pilot vanished in a nuclear explosion caused by his own fire. "Idiot! Don't get too close!"

Shiho showed what he meant as she let loose a volley of thermal energy blasts from her shoulder cannons destroying a line of missiles. Just then Raider came at her as she dodged it. "Hahahaha, Finish him!" He yelled firing a Zorn energy blast.

"Don't Underestimate me because I am a girl!" She yelled firing at him as he dodged it.

"A Girl, ha then its game over!" He called but was blocked by a shield, the lightwave shield of the Meteored Red Queen.

"Come on we need dead nukes, not dead people." He swore then, viciously, as another of his men was wiped away by an opposing Dagger. "That does it," he hissed. "You're all mine!"

"Snake, no!" Dearka shouted. "Are you out of your mind?"

Snake paid him no heed, charging directly into the thick of the Alliance's mobile suit formation. "I will crush you into dust," he whispered savagely. The Stormhawk threw its shield into one Dagger, whipped out both beam sabers, and went to town.

On Dominion's Bridge, Natarle smiled to herself, seeing the carnage her captain was wreaking upon the Earth Forces. It was impossible to see details in that melee, but pieces of mobile suit were flying everywhere... and then he was through.

Eyes jade ice, Kevin snapped his buster rifles together. "I'll kill you." He fired directly into the waves of nuclear missiles, taking out over two dozen.

That was when Cagalli saw it; a flicker of motion diverting her attention from her own targets. "Kevin, look out! There's a-"

His head whipped around in time to see a nuclear missile heading directly for him. "Uh oh." There was no time to dodge, barely time to raise his weapons as the atomic weapon rushed for him-

-and exploded as the Freedom and Justice arrived, using their advanced targeting computers to fire on dozens of bogies, mobile weapon and nuke alike, within fractions of a second. "You still out there, Kevin?" Athrun called.

"I'm a little cooked, but I'm okay," the super-soldier responded. He glanced around, and grimaced. "But around half my Daggers are gone; curse those nukes!"

"Curse those machines," Azrael said savagely on the Apollyon As it just blasted a Nazca to dust. "They're always turning up at the most inconvenient times." He looked over at Sutherland. "Captain, order a few of our mobile armors to re-prioritize their fire; nuke those five. I want those machines dead!"

"Oh, not good," Kevin muttered, seeing half a dozen Moebiuses alter course. "Kira, Athrun, Aelan, Jason we've got company. Watch out for nuclear weapons."

"Damn, my shield wont work on a nulcear strike." Aelan called as she used one of her massive beam sabres slash two enemy daggers in half.

"Roger that." Freedom and Justice executed rapid vector changes of their own, leaving the mobile armors in the dust while they opened fire on the nukes again... leaving Stormhawk right in their path once again.

"You know, I could really get to hate this war," Kevin murmured dryly. "Oh, wait; I already do." He raised his buster rifles, preparatory to blowing his enemies into space dust.

Aboard, Dominion, Meryl Steiglitz watched anxiously as her captain stood alone against nuclear weapons. "Commander Badgiruel...?"

Natarle nodded. "Right. Mr. Tyler, provide fire support for the Stormhawk."

"You got it," the clone said easily. Tapping in the commands, he told the Gottfrieds to pulverize the threat.

They complied, as Did Aelan firing her Meteors and her own weapons at the incoming Nukes, and Kevin winced at the energy seething outside his cockpit. "Thanks for the assist, Dominion you to Aelan,"

"Hell, I'm not letting them Kill you, thats my job." Aelan told him.

"Thanks but next time if this happens again, try something a little smaller, will ya?" Kevin yelled at her.

"No, I will go with bigger next time." She said and winked behind her mask.

"And you to Dominion, try something smaller next time." He told them.

"Sorry, Captain," Natarle replied, not sounding very apologetic, "but the Valiants couldn't get a shot and the Igelstellungs don't have the range."

"Yeah, yeah..." He switched frequencies. "Cagalli, you still okay?"

"As if I'd get hurt," his girlfriend said with a snort, blowing apart another missile. "I think we've about got them."

"Good. I-"

Things suddenly began to happen.

On Jachin Due, Supreme Council Chairman Patrick Zala watched the battle with increasing anger. "Enough!" he said finally. "It's time. Drop the Mirage Colloid, and signal our units to get out of the way. We're going to use it!"

"Yes, sir!"

Most of the Three Ships Alliance's personnel swore simultaneously as the huge object flowed into view beyond Jachin. "Solkin syn!" Kevin breathed. Switching to a general frequency, he shouted, "Everybody, get out, now! They're gonna fire GENESIS!"

Mobile suits began to scatter, and the Archangel, Kusanagi, Eternal, and Dominion hurriedly broke off, frantically trying to get out of the path of the gigantic weapon.

"Not good, not good, not good," Kevin said to himself, trying to withdraw himself (he'd known GENESIS was there, but he had not expected to find himself directly in its line of fire). "I'm not gonna make it..."

"Grab on Kevin, I wont let anything Kill you besides me!" Aelan said flying beside him as Kevin grabbed a hold of her Meteor unit.

"Thanks, Aelan."

Zala watched in satisfaction and grim pleasure as the weapon coalesced. "Activate Phase-shift," he ordered. "Set output to 60 and prepare to detonate nuclear cartridge."

"Understood, sir."

"This is bad," Kevin whispered. Stormhawk could detect no change in the status of GENESIS, but his augmentation, boosted through the mobile suit, could; and he easily sensed the radiation surge of an armed nuclear warhead building up to detonation. He keyed his radio again. "Break, break, break!" he shouted. "Everybody out!"

"GENESIS confirmed ready, sir," Jachin's fire-control officer reported. "At your command, sir."

Zala nodded. "Fire!"

Across that area of space, horrified eyes were riveted to the sight of the enormous gamma-ray weapon firing. The gigantic beam reached out for the Earth Forces fleet...