"In peace the sons bury their fathers, but in war the fathers bury their sons"
-- Croesus

Hate and Doubt

I.

His head hurt. It was as simple as that and for a few seconds this thought alone filled his mind as he slowly regained consciousness. Senior Senior raised his hand to his forehead wiping at his hair as he sat up groaning. Raising it in front of him all he could see was red. 'That's not a good sign.'

Scanning the command center he could see various blown pieces of equipment and small fires. A few soldiers like him were picking themselves up from the ground while others would never again walk the on the earth or any colony. Looking to his side he saw the young intelligence officer from before. He was impaled onto the wall, opposite of where Senior Senior stood, probably when the station he was on exploded. 'What did the UN use that could do this?'

Shaking his head he stood up and hobbled towards one of the few working machines. He didn't know how it had survived when others didn't, but for now it wasn't really a concern anyway. Sitting down he pulled up the relevant data scanning it quickly. From all signs everything facing the UN fleet had been wiped out while various others places in the fortress had exploded from the sheer shock to the system. The fleet was is shambles and too few distress calls were now passing over the radio. Shaking his head to clear it he continued to scan trying to figure out what the next move should be.

"Admiral Senior, are you alright?" Turning he looked at the young soldier next to him. He noted the man had a bandage around his head and was currently gripping his arm. Shaking his head he signaled the man to go elsewhere.

'When a cause is hopeless...' Pressing the button down in front of him he sent a signal out to the remaining ships under his command. "All forces regroup at position C, I repeat regroup at position C." That done he stood up and regarded the soldiers in front of him. "Alright let's get the wounded out of here and evacuate these facilities."

II.

Ron breathed through his teeth trying to settle his upset stomach. The burning situation had passed by now, thank God, but he still wasn't over the sick feeling that he had felt upon killing those two pilots. For some reason he had felt like throwing up after killing them, why he wasn't sure, but he was sure he had felt those two young men die. 'Wait how do I know they were male? There no evidence of that.' Deep down inside though he knew and something told him he knew them. This did not help him get over his current situation.

"Alright Stoppable, let's think rationally..." He was cut off though when the proximity alarms on his suit started to scream. Whipping his head to the left he saw a bright light approaching him. "Oh great!"

Taking control he spun his suit around realizing as he did that the light approaching was an activated beam saber. Someone had come to play and he was sensing a deep desire to kill from the pilot. He also felt a warm fuzzy feeling which just left him confused so he ignored that one.

His eyes focused on the demonic mobile suit approaching with its red and black armor shinning with the light of the explosions around it. 'Why Despair do you insist on trying to kill me? I though we would be friends by now?' Reactivating his own beam saber Ron pushed his throttle to full military thrust causing him to slam back into the seat. Feeling the G's caused by the sudden acceleration, he counted in his head as he and the other mobile suit quickly closed the distance between each other. '1...2...3' On the count of three he spun his mobile to the side narrowly avoiding the other mobile suit in front of him and unloaded with his vulcans. Like usual it proved to be less then effective.

The other suit apparently annoyed with this action spun back around and again charged him. This time Ron raised his beam saber in a block motion as the other suit took a swipe at him. The blow from both sabers registered in the sensors in the arm of his suit and he starred in fascinated as the blades glowed bright red at their intersection. Despair broke the contact of the blade and took another sweep going in low while also cutting her engines. 'Her?' Hitting his thrusters in reverse Ron pushed his suit out of range and opened up yet again with the vulcans. At the very least the vulcans could distract.

III.

Danny pushed his Aries Custom to its max speed scanning quickly for Major Possible's Gundam in the confusing mix of battle and floating debris. Dodging past a few intercepting GMs he fired two wide beam shots forcing them to think twice about picking on this lone suit. Better to deal with the smaller fries after all.

Cursing his luck in wingmen, Danny cut his speed as he entered a spot where one of the larger colonial ships must have gone down. Navigating around it, he barely spotted the tell tale flash of a beam rifle as he passed. It was pure luck he managed to slam his engines to full in time to avoid the grunt part of the blast. As it was he knew he'd be chewed out by the flight deck crew for the long burn mark on the back of the suit, thankfully lower then the actual vulnerable thrusters, and he intended to make the fellow pilot who shot him first pay for that.

Whipping around he scanned the debris and spotted a GM custom break through heading his way. Opening up he place a series of shots around the suit only to see it break to the side and fire with dead on accuracy in his direction. A hasty thrust to the side saved his life but he could already tell this wasn't going to be an easy win. "Great with my luck it makes sense that I'd get killed my first day on a new ship."

IV.

Kim screamed her rage as she slammed her beam saber down again on the suit in front of her. Both of her brothers killed by this one monster in one day. He'd pay!

Her blade again slammed on his ever present block just as her did when he countered. The deadlock they had been engaged in for the last few minutes continued as they both broke off opening up with their vulcans on each other. The shots that hit harmlessly exploded against the tough Gundamine armor with only the annoyance of a banging sound heard by the pilot. Though Kim imagined that any flight crew wouldn't be too happy about the state of either suit's paint job.

Deciding close range combat wasn't paying off enough she set her braking thrusters to full causing her suit to shoot back away from her opponent. Switching her beam saber for her beam rifle she began opening fire again on the suit tracking it's motion as best she could. She watched as the pilot darted away from the shots only to hide behind some large sections of a dead battleship. Cursing she moved her suit forward and had to suddenly dart to the side when beam fire emerged from a weakened section of the former ship's hull.

Twisting through the incoming beam fire she shot directly towards the weakened section unloading with her vulcans as she went. With satisfaction she watched as the area was shredded in front of her to the point where when she shoot through it she really didn't even feel it. Clearing the area, she could see Nemesis turning, lining her up in a shot but with a smile on her face she fired first. Watching, she saw the shot move slowly; in her mind at least, approach the mobile suit as it hastily raised its shield knowing it couldn't dodge it. Firing a few more times to insure penetration she set her suit to bank to the side when to her shock the beam fire dissipated against the shield. 'He's got a beam barrier installed in there.' Her shock faded quickly as she adapted to this new event by once again pulling her sword. Better to get in close then deal with trying to get around a barrier.

Igniting the beam saber she shot forward aiming for the Gundam in front of her which was still recovering from the shock she had given it. Dodging expertly two quickly fired salvos she slashed towards its chest section only to have her beam saber stopped yet again but Nemesis own beam saber. Cursing the fact that this pilot always seemed able to read her moves she attacked in a vicious series of blows intent on putting him off balance. Instead he blocked each one successful and even started to counter her.

While in the heat of battle her screen suddenly focused in on an area of space and sent a signal to alert her. Glancing at it briefly she noted to her shock and annoyance that signal flares for retreat which belonged her side. 'No I haven't gotten him back yet for the tweebs. Just a little longer and I'll have him.' Ignoring the message she attacked again only to receive a more personal one half a minute later.

"Blue Fox this is Loki, over."

Cursing she hit her own com button in order to respond. "This is Blue Fox, what do you want kid?"

"Blue Fox I've got an enemy GM custom on my tail and am currently moving towards your position. How do you want to get out of here, Ma'am?"

Great now the kid was in trouble and she was sure he'd bug her till she retreated. She couldn't win with him hanging around. Cursing again she pulled off and shot off in the direction of where she thought the kid was. She could see the Gundam behind her not give chase at all. When she finally spotted the kid's slightly damaged Aries the GM that had been bugging him had departed by then. Smart pilot there. "Alright kid let's meet up with the fleet and get out of here."

"Yes Ma'am."

V.

James Timothy Possible had never felt his age before always being an energetic fellow. He'd have to be to raise a daughter, two twin sons, and run a country all at once. This war though had drained him and now he was staring down at a report he had dreaded to see ever since his own kids had joined up. 'Dear God both of them at once.'

He had received the report along with the information that the one fortress no one thought would fall was now in enemy control. By now the UN forces would be finishing off whatever defenders had been unable to flee with what was left of the fleet and the Earthers were probably already setting up to use the Colonies own facility against them. The way into the heartland of the Colonies was now open and, for the life of him, James couldn't see a way to win. Not when they could take out his forces with whatever miracle weapon they had used. He would talk to his military advisors in a bit about this problem but for now he needed time to gather himself. It would not do to see the leader of one's nation playing the grieving father in a middle of a crisis. He had to keep up his hard image if he expected these men to do what he wanted.

'It's only human to be upset when one's own children die.' Shaking his head James stared at the picture of his two sons in front of him. His eyes drifted to the image of his daughter whose life he could still throw away. Was it wrong for him to reconsider his course of action now that he had paid a personal price? Should he not bare their loss as he had expected countless parents of slain soldiers before this?

"A leader isn't allowed to be just a man after all." Sitting there staring at the images his mind drifted to memories of pushing his sons on that swing set he had bought them. Of spending hours talking about their latest super hero idol or reading them bed time stories when they were still young enough to tuck in. As a leader he couldn't grieve and soon he would leave his pain behind him. For now though he allowed this one moment of weakness before he had to decide whether his own children had died in vain like so many. Whether it was hopeless for the colonies to win their freedom, or not, they had died. Sometimes he hated his position.

VI.

Ron guided his mobile suit easily into the hangar of the destroyer in front of him. The ship that had become his second home and a place of comfort outside the battlefield. He would need that comfort now as he felt the aches not only in his body, but in his heart also. His mind was troubled and he knew he'd have nightmares. Something wasn't right about the battle today and that fact would bother him for a while.

"This is Nemesis requesting permission to land." The affirmative from the other end came as he made the final adjustments to his path. Feeling the slight thud of his suit touching down he started to go through the post flight checklist powering down the systems one at a time. Finally he allowed his suit to power down completely all except for the basic power needed to open the cockpit.

Popping it open he floated out of the suit and gave a thumbs up to a flight deck personal that was there to check up on him. It was a good thing he turned around at that point or he'd probably have a heart attack when a pair of arms suddenly reached out and grabbed him. It took him a moment to realize who it was in the bulky space suit that the crew wore during combat. "Ron I'm so glad you're alright."

"You know me Bon-Bon it'd take more then that to finish me off."

"I'm sure, you big goof, now I was a promised a dinner wasn't I." She had drawn back at this point and Ron smiled as he looked into those eyes. Something though didn't feel right.

He turned as he saw another suited figure approaching him and identified it as the Major. He frowned though at the pilot who was coming up besides him and scanning Ron noticed one green GM custom that was definitely out of place on the ship. Smiling at the Major he waved in his direction as he wrapped his arm around Bonnie. Sure it wasn't exactly good military behavior but as he had learned the military gave certain lee way to high killing Gundam pilots.

The Major and the new pilot made their way to them and he noticed the other pilot features right away. He noticed two things one it was definitely a she and two her skin was tinted green. Frowning he stuck his hand out anyway. "Hi I'm Lt. Ron Stoppable nice to meet you."

Taking his hand the other pilot smiled at him. "Major Shelia Lipsky nice to meet you as well. I'm sure we'll see a lot of each other now that I've transferred aboard this ship." Ron nodded at that wondering how long before he said something embarrassing about her skin color.

VII.

Anne was making meatloaf again. It was an easy recipe after all and James did seem to enjoy it when she made it. Personally she preferred a light pasta but James wanted his meat. She found most men did at that.

Looking over at the fridge she smiled at the calendar in front of her. It had taken some time of 'gentle' persuasion but she had gotten her husband to agree to pull a few strings to get Kim and the twins some time off together around the twins' birthday. James had complained of course saying it was an abuse of his office but Anne personally felt that it was just one of the perks of the job that he was expected to use. After all, what was the point of being in charge if you didn't use it on occasion?

Humming to herself she ran through her head the plans for the party she'd throw the kids. She knew the boys got embarrassed about it, as did Kimmie, but deep down inside she was sure they enjoyed it too. It was nice to celebrate a bit after all. Now the real question was what to get them for their birthday.

She heard the door bell ring and made her way towards the door. Humming she realized once she got there that she had actually carried the meatloaf with her still in its bowl. Well some things just couldn't be helped. Opening the door the smile on her face froze when she saw two men in uniform standing in front of her their faces very sober. The lead one inclined his face slightly not meeting her eyes as he spoke. "Ma'am, can we come in?"

Nodding her head silently Anne made way for them as they entered. As soon as they were inside the one man turned to her and held out a letter in her direction. "I'm sorry ma'am." She distantly heard the shattering of a bowel as she looked at that envelope in front of her. If she didn't open it then it couldn't be true.

In the end she opened it and then she wept. In regards to this there is nothing more to say.

VIII.

"Oh, rabbit on the moon," Yori sung softly as her mobile suit sat quietly by the asteroid watching the convoy in front of her slink by. The first line sung she deployed her funnels and sent them out to kill.

"What are you leaping for?" The funnels streaked forward giving the enemy a brief amount of time to notice them. Opening fire the mobile suits protecting the transports tried to desperately shoot down the incoming objects. In the end though they were just too nimble and small for them to hit.

"I shall leap, I shall leap soon" The funnels opened fire on the mobile suits cleanly killing each one protecting the convoy. The two destroyer opened up trying to knock the funnels down as they circled the ships shooting holes into them. They joined their comrades in death.

"At the large full moon!" The funnels circled the passenger ships in front of her as Yori suit finally left the cover of the asteroid her escort joining up. Scanning the ships she noticed they were filled with women and children fearfully watching her. People fleeing to the side that promised peace and an end to war. Their sweet lies, drawing these people to them, like flies to honey. Yori giggled at their foolish actions. "Soon you too shall dance at the end of the strings."

Her eyes flitted over the screens and paused when she saw a young girl staring bravely at one of the funnels just sitting there. Her eyes did not waver and Yori found herself identifying with the girl. Without conscious thought or will images flowed into Yori mind of that girl being strapped to a table being experimented on. Then, she also, turned into a puppet. Made to dance on the strings they held.

Screaming she sent the order to the funnels who opened up on the transport. It was only one salvo but it was enough as the transport disappeared into a bright ball of light. The voice on the radio snapped her back to herself as an angry voice addressed her. "Yori what do you think you're doing! We were to take them alive!"

"I didn't want to see her with strings." Her simple reply received only silence for the longest time. Yori turned to the where the ship had been still hearing the screams of the dieing. At least now they were protected within her. She wouldn't let them hurt them. The little girl wouldn't have to dance on the strings. She wouldn't have to dance again. Not yet.

"Kaeri." Smiling Yori spun her mobile suit around heading back towards the base. She was a good dancer.

To be continued...

A/N: Well conclusion of the one battle and Kim/Ron are still alive. Which means we still have a story! Things are approaching their end soon and Ron will meet back up with Yori. What will happen then no one knows.

Well thanks again for our kind beta, Sailing king and Roaming Gnome, and as always hoped you enjoyed this story as much as the beta did (YA the beta entered that happy St. Patrick's day). Don't ask me his comment anyway I'm going to start working on updating the other ones and then writing up the next chapter for this one. Things are moving along towards the end after all. Though I must apologize about the amount of time this took to get out just been tired lately and busy with work. You all know how it is. Anyway I'll try to get the other stuff out soon.

On other fronts I've been watching a bit of Zeta for 'research' and the idea struck me on how this would look like if this was a direct fusion with Zeta. Decided that wondering wasn't enough so here it is.

Zeta (Fusion)

Ron dropped from his suit smiling at the major. "How was my piloting sir?"

He felt the major fist slam into his face and hit hard into the wall next to him. Blinking he saw the major standing there. "You should know how well you did." Relaxing the Major smiled as Ron got back up. "You did good kid."

Letting out a roar of rage Ron slammed his fist into the Major face causing him to fly into the mobile suit behind them. "Sir you shouldn't fill my head with pointless praise."

The Major smiled as he wiped the blood from his mouth. "Ah the passion of youth." It was at this moment Bonnie appeared and moved towards Ron. Before she made it to him though the Major got in her way and back handed her. "You shame us both by not saluting to your ranking officer Lt!"

"Sorry sir." Bonnie rubbed her jaw and saluted before continuing on to Ron who hugged her.

"So you're making diner tonight right?" Ron's simple question was meet with a hard right to the face.

"You should know it's your turn!" Ron nodded realizing his mistake.

End crazy example

Yep that pretty much sums up some of the parts of Zeta. Apparently they like to hit people in that world. Anyway just be glad this story isn't like that. Well as always read and review.

Disclaimer: I don't own KP or Gundam.