(AN): Thank you to all who reviewed

Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Seed or Destiny.

Chapter Forty

Into ORB

ORB ZAFT Border

The commander and Sai did as they were instructed by the Emperor's orders. They made it to a camp and collected the three battalions he had previously prepared for them, wasting no time they quickly set out to where Dearka was camped. It only took them to morning to arrive at the camp.

"My lord, they are here," a guard told Dearka.

Dearka looked at them, "Show them in."

The man bowed and quickly went to retrieve the commander, after the commander got settled he and Sai followed the man to Dearka's command tent.

The commander and Sai walked in.

Dearka looked at them, "I take it, that it's time to begin."

The commander nodded to him, "The Emperor was given the order, he wants us to commence the attack immediately."

Dearka looked at him, "We finished our preparations last night, we can begin as soon as he go over the strategy," Dearka said as all eyes fell on Sai.

Sai looked at them, "The first and foremost is we have to defeat their border guards, without to many losses."

The commander nodded, "I believe we should hit them hard with our archers and rush them into a quick defeat."

Dearka looked at him, "No, we need the equipment for the fort at Boaz; you will have to do something else."

Sai looked at him, "Tell me, what your scouts have observed from the border?"

Dearka looked at him, "It is very strange; we have not seen many patrols almost as if there weren't any knight at all."

Sai took that to note.

"I thought there was a small camp set up past the border?" the commander asked.

"Your right there is one, and that is what makes this very strange," Dearka replied.

Sai looked at them, "I believe we should not even make the Busters presence known in the attack."

All looked at him.

"What are you talking about?" The commander asked.

"I have a hunch that they may not have many knights at that base." Sai told them seriously.

The commander looked at him, "Even if it's true, we could still suffer heavy losses."

Sai looked at him, "Not necessary, we should use the three brigades to crush right through them, and have the most skilled archers stay secluded and provide a little distraction, which should give us the advantage."

Dearka looked at him, "I still don't see why my unit has to stay hidden."

Sai looked at him, "Simple, they will without a doubt send for reinforcements, and if someone gets through and speaks words about a main squad, they would send for reinforcements from Onogoro, which would put us at a big disadvantage, if they are able to get help it would be preferred to be ordinary knights, instead of there elite group from Onogoro."

"Won't they head straight for Onogoro?" the commander asked.

Sai smiled, "That is why we will have the buster squad shift around to block the main path to Onogoro, and we will use half of another squad to decoy that they are apart of the Buster squad."

Dearka smiled, "You're playing it safe."

Sai looked at him, "I am just an advisor, the main decision is yours, this is just my opinion."

Dearka looked at all of them, "We will go with that plan, if we start the attack immediately we should have it finished and be near Boaz by night."

"By using half of a squad to disguise the Buster squad, we will have even less knights to accomplish this." The commander said.

Sai looked at him, "It should be a problem, you will see."

"What about the equipment sire, if we are to reach Boaz by night, we will have to take it with us." The commander said.

Dearka smiled, "Why do you think we brought the slaves, let them hall it around, we will reach Boaz by night."

The commander didn't like this but he was not in command.

Dearka looked at all of them, "Well let's begin."

Dearka gave the final order and summoned all squad leaders; they heard the order and started moving out. They were already prepared to head into battle, so it did not take long. They instantly headed straight to the border and set up there positions, attacking in daylight would not let them hide themselves, but that didn't matter. The two in a half brigades would charge while the skilled archers from the buster squad would fire at them, as they shifted into ORB blocking the main roads. Dearka saw everyone in there positions and then he gave the order.

Elsewhere around the border

Kira and Lacus made the long journey to the border leaving after the duel, and arriving in the morning. It was to risky for them to cross the border back into ORB in daylight with ZAFT patrol's riding back and forth so they decided to take refuge inside a forest until night had returned, that would be when they would cross back over into ORB.

Boaz

Athrun was in his estate going over some deployment changes for the knights surrounding the border bases, normally Kira would do all of this, but he wasn't himself for days and now he was in Messiah hopefully returning to ORB. Athrun was going through these documents when Cagalli entered his study. Cagalli really enjoyed staying in Boaz; ever since they arrived the two have practically been inseparable.

"What are you doing?" Cagalli asked as she wrapped her arms around him.

Athrun smiled, "Two things actually."

Cagalli looked at him, "And you will tell me right?"

Athrun chuckled a little, "If you insist, first I am waiting for a messenger to arrive so I can send him to one of our border camps, and second trying to handle the deployment transfers to all these camps, it hasn't been done in days, and that could be disastrous."

Cagalli knew it was because Kira went crazy, and that he was gone without practically anyone knowing.

Cagalli looked at the papers, "You seem to be doing a good job though."

Athrun looked at her, "Are you kidding me, I don't know how Kira can put up with all these documents all the time, it would drive a person insane."

They both were a little silent after that comment as the remembrance of what happened a few days ago came back into mind.

Athrun looked at her, "He will pull out of it you know that."

Cagalli smiled, "I know he will, I just hope it happens soon."

Athrun was about to say something when the person he sent for arrived.

"I am here My Lord," The man said as he entered the study.

Athrun looked at him, "Very good, I want you to head to the base north of here and deliver these documents to the captain there."

The man nodded and took the documents, "I will see to it sir." the man said as he took the documents and left.

Athrun watched him leave as Cagalli embraced him again.

"You know, I think things will get better," Cagalli said.

Athrun looked at her, "Your right, but things have a tendency to get worse before better."

Athrun told her as they shared a small kiss.

The messenger got on his horse and headed straight to the base camp Athrun told him to.

ORB Base camp near the border

The situation was a little more grave at the base camp than even Athrun knew about, about half of there knights were still deployed at other camps, waiting for there orders that never came.

Inside the camp the captain was do things the best he could with the low numbers he had.

"Captain, still no word from Onogoro," a lower ranked knight said.

The captain was waiting for the documents that did not arrive in days.

"I see, keep a watch for them though." the captain said.

"Well do sir," the man said as he left the captain.

That lower knight's job was to head towards the Onogoro road to wait for the documents, and he headed back that way.

Dearka and the others had the camp in sights and they immediately noticed the small numbers.

"This will most likely be easier than I thought," Dearka said.

Sai smiled, "I told you my hunch was right."

Dearka looked over to the commander, "Alright lets begin, take your unit and head straight in, I will have the Buster squad shift to the south road leading to Onogoro."

The commander agreed and went back to his unit, he gave the order and they immediately started charging. As soon as they did, he and the Buster squad moved to there positions and fired the first wave of arrows.

Back at the base, the watch guards immediately saw the charge coming from the hills and alerted the camp. The captain came running out wandering what was going on.

"What is the meaning of this?" He asked.

The guards shouted over to him, "Sir enemy attack."

The captain got a little higher and his face dropped when he saw the knights charging in.

"Get everybody over here, get them in to position to defend this attack, someone get to Onogoro." the captain shouted and a few riders got on there horses but that was when the Buster squads first wave of arrows hit, knocking about twenty percent of the camp to there deaths.

The captain knew he was in trouble.

Dearka and the Buster squad easily got to there positions while still firing they were blocking the road, and it was all up to the commander from here on.

The knight that was heading to the main road to wait for the documents saw the entire squad froze when he saw the number he immediately turned around, when he got there, both sides were engaged in a brutal battle with his side losing. The knight got back into camp and saw the captain trying his best to defend them off.

"Captain they have the main road blocked," the knight told him.

The captain turned around, "You mean there are more of them?"

The knight nodded, "Yes Sir, what should we do?

The captain looked at him, "If they are blocking the main road it means there target must be Boaz, head there and inform Lord Athrun of this, we will hold them as long as we can."

The man didn't want to go but he had to, "Yes sir, I will not fail."

The captain smiled at him and watched him leave, he then turned back around to engage a very fierce knight that brought him to his death, it was the ZAFT commander. The captain's last thought was that the man would make it to Boaz.

The rider quickly left, but he was spotted by one of Dearka's guards a ways away.

"My Lord, over there," the guard pointed to him.

Dearka looked in the direction and saw a man riding out.

Dearka raised his bow, "We can't have that."

Dearka was the best archer in the squad; he quickly aimed and shot the man from an incredible distance, the arrow struck through his back.

The man knew he was hit, but that didn't stop him as he continued riding towards Boaz.

"My Lord, he is still going," his underling said.

Dearka looked at him, "Let him go, he won't get far."

The man nodded his head, "As you wish My Lord."

After the captain perished the rest of the base, fell not to long after that. Dearka and the rest of them regrouped in the camp, which was mostly covered with ORB knights. They didn't lose even ten percent of their force, and they believed it was good enough to take Boaz. Dearka walked into the main building along with Sai and the commander.

"Congratulations My Lord," the commander said.

Dearka smiled, "It fell a lot sooner than I expected, we should march straight to Boaz."

"Shouldn't we rest the men first?" the commander asked.

Dearka looked at him, "We have no time, they can rest tonight after we reach Boaz."

The commander nodded, "What about the slaves?"

Dearka looked at him, "Who cares about them, they have their role, and if we lose some to exhaustion so be it."

Sai nodded, "Yeah, all they do is lug the equipment around."

"Whatever you say My Lord," the commander replied.

Dearka smiled, "Good, now lets head to Boaz, prepare the knights."

Both Sai and Dearka agreed and got the knights ready to make the journey to Boaz, which should be around night. They were prepared and started heading straight for Boaz, Dearka led the modestly large army through the mountains and they would soon reach Boaz.

Near Boaz

The knight that was sent by the captain could barely remain conscious as he tired with all his might to make it to Boaz, however his wounds were great and he would not make it. He rode as far as he could, but collapsed on the ground.

The messenger that Athrun had sent was making his way to the base that was destroyed when he came upon the man on the ground.

The messenger instantly got off his horse and checked the man.

"Are you alright, what happened?" The man said as he saw the arrow in his back.

The man looked at him, "I must…our camp…ZAFT knights…must get to Boaz," the man was struggling to say.

The messenger looked at him, "Listen I am from Boaz, are what are you saying?"

The man looked at him, "Than it…will not be…in vain, ZAFT is headed for Boaz…there numbers…are too large."

The messenger had a worried look on his face, "ZAFT is headed for Boaz, we have to get help from Onogoro."

The man quickly grabbed his arm, "They…blocked the road…to Onogoro…there force is to large…defend Boaz."

The messenger knew that this man would not make it.

"How far are they, how much time do we have?" the messenger asked frantically.

The man looked at him, "They destroyed… the base by now, they should… reach Boaz by night, you have…to stop them……" the man said as he died.

The messenger gently picked him up and put him on his horse, he couldn't leave someone who used all there strength to try and save his city. He got him on the horse and instantly returned to Boaz, they would not be that far behind him, but he knew the land better than they did, and there great numbers would take longer to get through the rough terrine.

Messiah Castle

It was not an easy day for Yzac as he woke up and remembered everything that had happened. He was furious with what took place and then he saw his scar. He hated the ORB King with all his being and swore his revenge. He knocked out the medical staff trying to help him and went right to the throne room.

He instantly walked in and saw Gil.

"My Lord, I must go to Boaz," Yzac insisted to him.

Gil looked at him, "You will not."

Yzac got flustered, "Look at my face sire; I must get him back for this."

Gil smiled, "In due time, I need you here at the moment."

"I would be better fighting him again," Yzac said almost in a shout.

Gil got flustered, "He won't even be in Boaz, besides you lost what makes you think you can win without more training."

Yzac was mad, but the point the Emperor made was true. Yzac said nothing as he walked out of the throne room, Gil watched him leave with smile on his face.

Boaz

The messenger quickly returned to the castle as it was almost dark, he quickly rode in and the guards were a little surprised to see him with a body of an ORB knight. The man handed his body down to a guard and quickly rushed into the estate to inform Athrun.

Inside a room in the estate Athrun and Cagalli were just sitting their talking when the man rushed into the room, the doors flew open and they both looked at him.

"My Lord, terrible news sir," the messenger said as he tried to catch his breath.

Athrun looked at him, "Calm down, and tell me." Athrun said as he saw the man's face.

The man looked at him, "On my way to the base I saw a fatally injured knight from the base."

Athrun and Cagalli looked at him seriously.

"The man's dying words told me they were under attack from a massive ZAFT army," he told him.

Athrun stood straight up, "Are you sure about that!" he almost shouted.

The man nodded his head, "They are headed straight for us Sir, and the arrow in his back was a ZAFT arrow so he was not lying."

Athrun looked at Cagalli who had a worried face and than back at the man.

"How much time do we have?" Athrun asked.

"He said by nightfall." the messenger replied.

Athrun looked at him seriously, "I need you to head to Onogoro."

The man looked at him, "I thought that to sir, but they are headed here on the road that blocks our path to Onogoro."

Athrun walked over to him, "Than head to another base, try the western base near the border, and tell them about this situation."

The man bowed, "I will sir." with that said he instantly left the room and the city, on his way out he heard the trembling of the ground and looked over to see a massive army, at first glance he knew it was trouble, the man was headed in the opposite direction so he would be fine, but he knew he had to hurry.

"Are you sure this is right?" Cagalli asked.

Athrun looked at her, "I knew something like this would happen, especially with our borders disorganized, in fact the ZAFT Emperor had probably planned it like this."

Cagalli was about to say something when a man rushed in the room.

"My Lord, we have trouble," the guard said.

Athrun and Cagalli instantly followed him outside to one of the balconies.

Outside the Fortress

Dearka and the others had finally arrived, at first glance they could tell that this fort was not going to be easy, but they could make due.

"This will not be easy Sir," the commander said.

Dearka looked at him, "Set everybody in there positions, have all squad leaders meet with me after."

"As you wish My Lord," the man replied.

Dearka looked over at Sai, "Well, will your famous strategies work here?"

Sai looked at him, "I believe it will."

Dearka looked at the fort, "It should be to hard."

Sai smiled, "You're planning on starting the attack tonight?"

Dearka looked at him, "No way, the knights and myself need rest for that; we will discuss the matter tomorrow, besides they aren't going anywhere."

Sai smiled and they both returned to looking at the fort.

Athrun's Estate

Athrun and Cagalli instantly followed the man to the balcony and didn't like what they saw. The sun was setting but they could still see the massive army circling around the fort.

Cagalli held Athrun's arm.

Athrun looked at her, "We will get through this, right know stay inside the estate," he told her sternly, Cagalli would normally never listen, but she knew if he was worried about her they would not be able to defend this fort, and he would not command well.

Cagalli went back inside and Athrun looked at his guard.

"Inform the commanders, get all knights ready," Athrun said to the man as he knew he himself had to prepare for the defense of his city.

The guard instantly went to carry out his orders. Athrun took one last look at the massive army and he knew that he had his work cut out for him.

ORB ZAFT Border

Night came and Kira and Lacus had to cross the border, it wasn't too difficult as the darkness shielded them from any nearby patrols, they were heading to a base to the west of Boaz, where they would be able to make safe passage to Onogoro. They crossed the border and Kira instantly stopped.

"Kira what's wrong?" Lacus asked.

Kira looked at her, "I don't know, but I can feel something's wrong."

Lacus looked at him confused.

Kira smiled at her, "Anyway let's continue it won't take us long."

Lacus smiled and agreed and the both rode towards the base.

To be continued…

(AN): I hope you liked this chapter; the next one will be up bythe weekend.See you later.