I don't own anything except Ken DiFalco, his team, and Sophia DiFalco

Archangel, Hanger

Falcon and Kira entered the hanger together, mere minutes after Murrue talked to them and they learned of the impending ZAFT attack.

Falcon looked as if he wasn't even the slightest bit tense, and Kira looked at him enviously. He's got a lot of battle experience already, he thought. He probably isn't worried... lucky him.

The one-eyed pilot glanced at him. "Nervous, Kira?"

"Yeah," Kira said frankly.

"Good." When the younger Coordinator looked at him in surprise, Falcon lifted an eyebrow. "Kira, if you weren't scared, I'd refuse to fly with you. Fearless pilots are also generally soon-to-be-dead pilots; they take chances they shouldn't and end up in a coffin... if there's enough left to bury. They also tend to put their comrades in danger, as I should know."

Kira blinked. "But aren't you fearless?"

Falcon snorted. "People say I don't have any warm feelings, Kira; nobody ever said I don't get scared."

Kira found that somehow reassuring. If even this top ZAFT ace felt fear before battle, despite having come out on top in every major space battle of the war, maybe this wasn't such a big thing to worry about after all.

"Well, Kira," the pilot said, clapping him on the shoulder, "we'd better mount up. See you on the battlefield... and be careful."

"You too, Falcon."

The two went to their respective mobile suits, and Falcon pulled on his helmet. His first order of business, upon entering the cockpit and activating main power, was, of course, to connect the cable from his flight suit to the machine's power supply. The consequences of forgetting that particular detail would be... unpleasant.

Then he activated the radio. "Bridge, this is DiFalco," he called. "All systems green." He glanced at his displays. "Looks like the Strike is ready, too."

"Roger that," Natarle replied. "Commander DiFalco, we will now begin moving your mobile suit to the port catapult; stand by."

"Affirmative." Falcon didn't bother to correct her form of address; he knew by now that Natarle was a professional soldier, from a family of professional soldiers, and found it much more comfortable to refer to him by his old military rank. "Standing by."

Another voice soon came over the radio. "Falcon, this is Sophia, do you read me?"

He frowned. Another complication. What does she want? "What do you want, Sophia?" If she wants to rant at me, now really isn't the time... and she of all people should know what the destruction of Junius Seven meant to me.

"Listen, Falcon, you've got to be careful with those wired gunbarrels, okay? They soak up a lot of power if you use them too much-"

"Don't tell me how to fly mobile suits, and I won't tell you how to design them," he said calmly. "Deal?"

"I'm not trying to tell you how to fly," Sophia said, exasperated. "I'm just telling you a few things you need to know about that machine if you want to live, okay?"

"Whatever." Now Falcon was just impatient to launch. "Any other surprises I should know about?"

He could hear the shrug in her voice when she next spoke. "Not really; though you might be interested to know the Raptor can use some of the Strike's weapons too, like the Schwerht Gewerh and the Agni." She hesitated. "Falcon, there's a lot we need to talk about-"

"I've got nothing to say to you," he cut in coldly. "Put Ensign Badgiruel back on."

As they were arguing, the Raptor had been moved into the catapult; now Natarle's voice came back on. "Connected to catapult, Commander," she reported; her tone was that of someone who'd just had the misfortune to overhear a family dispute. "Ready when you are."

"Roger that. One moment." Falcon switched frequencies. "You ready, Kira?"

He heard a sigh. "Ready as I'll ever be, Falcon."

"Good." Falcon flipped back. "We're ready to launch, Ensign. Sitrep?"

"Checking now, Commander." There was a muffled discussion. Then, "We have incoming ZAFT machines, Commander DiFalco. Three GINNs, two armed with missiles and one with a particle cannon... and the Aegis." Natarle's voice was grim. "Guess you were right. Either Le Creuset is determined to blow up this ship, or he wants your head on a platter."

"Probably both," Falcon muttered. "All right, Ensign. We're good to go." He gripped the controls a little tighter. "Grimaldi Falcon, launching."

Archangel, Bridge

Mu watched the two machines go with a slightly wistful feeling. I should be going out there, too, he thought. But my mobile armor needs work... thanks to Falcon and Le Creuset.

"There they go," Murrue murmured from the captain's chair. "Well, I suppose we'd better get ready ourselves, shouldn't we?"

"Right." Mu, in CIC, glanced at Natarle. "Okay, Ensign. Activate CIWS... though I doubt we'll need it."

"You're that confident?" Natarle said dubiously.

"If you'd been at Endymion, you would be, too."

Next to the Ensign sat Sophia, who was -as usual- muttering to herself. "Falcon must have been up to his eyebrows in something big, if they're this determined to kill him..."

Murrue settled for watching the two machines go out. Kira, for reasons known only to himself, was making a beeline for the Aegis; Falcon, on the other hand, was going straight for the pair of missile-armed GINNs.

"GINNs incoming," Mu commented. "Prepare to fire."

A crackle of static from the radio, and Falcon's voice came on. "Negative, Archangel. Weapons tight; I'll handle it."

"Whatever you say, Falcon." The Hawk turned to Natarle. "Belay that last order, Ensign."

She shook her head in bemusement. "He intends to take on both of them by himself? Is he brave, crazy, or both? Or just suicidal?"

"Just watch," Mu advised. "If Falcon says he can handle it, he can handle it." I think.

Heliopolis, Colony Interior
While Kira headed off for the Aegis, and got sidetracked by Miguel Aiman along the way, Falcon went straight for the other two GINNs.

He thought for a moment about how to introduce himself -beam rifle, saber, or actual words- and finally shrugged. He tuned the radio to standard ZAFT frequencies, and opened his mouth.

The two pilots obviously heard the inhuman wail. "So it is you, Grimaldi Falcon!" one of them hissed.

"You traitor!" the other accused.

Falcon's eye narrowed. "That would be Olor and Matthew, am I right?" Raptor's beam rifle came up. "Don't make me do this. Please, just back off, and nobody'll get hurt, understand?"

"You think we're just going to let you go?" Matthew scoffed at the notion. "I don't know what could have made you turn traitor, Commander, but our orders are clear."

Falcon sighed, not realizing Le Creuset had given his people very different orders from what he thought. "So be it." He uttered the falcon's hunting call again, and went for a beam saber.

Meanwhile, Kira and the "Magic Bullet of Dusk" were facing off. "You're out of your league, Natural," Miguel Aiman muttered, unaware of the true identity of the Strike pilot. "You'll never be good enough to beat me in a fair fight."

Probably not true; and also irrelevant. A G-weapon against a GINN was a pure slaughter.

Darting sideways to dodge an opening missile attack, Falcon spared a moment's attention for the brewing conflict between Kira and Miguel. "Just stay cool," he advised his fellow pilot. "You can take him, Kira." He flipped back to a ZAFT frequency. "Miguel, I strongly suggest you retreat before we're forced to destroy you."

"Shut up, traitor!" Those were the only words Miguel was willing to spend on his former teammate, before he opened fire with his particle cannon, forcing Kira to dodge.

Falcon refocused his attention on his own pair of opponents, mind already going through tactical choices. Probability of success of disabling attack... forty percent. Probability of success of mere disarming attack... fifty-five percent. Better than even odds, but not good enough to bet my life on them.

That eliminated several variables, and presented several more. Olor in front, Matthew behind... if I attack one, the other will return fire... I need to neutralize both threats at once... therefore... Yes. That will work.

Beam saber in hand, Falcon rushed Olor's GINN, arm sweeping in a backhand slash to cut it in half... while the Death Blossom's deployed, pointed backwards, and opened fire.

Both attacks were directed at the cockpits.

Archangel, Bridge

Mu whistled, watching the two machines detonate nearly simultaneously. "Looks like the Grimaldi Falcon hasn't lost his touch," he murmured approvingly. He glanced over at the other two officers in CIC. "Still got any doubts about him?"

Natarle shook her head. "No, Lieutenant. Attacking the CGUE might have been an act, but not killing those two pilots."

"That's what you think," Sophia muttered; but quietly.

"That just leaves the last GINN and the Aegis," Murrue said to herself. "Falcon, can you assist the Strike?"

"Affirmative," Falcon replied. "But I won't." Before anyone could utter a protest, he went on calmly, "That GINN is no match for the Strike; and if I'm right the Aegis won't be eager to attack him. Kira needs the practice, Murrue, if he's going to survive. This should give it to him without being too life-threatening."

Murrue frowned. "I don't like it... but I guess you're the expert."

That's true enough, she thought. I've never seen GINNs go down that fast, even with Kira at the controls...

No one noticed that the pair of GINNs still had intact arms... and missile launchers.

Heliopolis, Colony Interior
This is bad, Kira thought, dodging another shot from Miguel. If he keeps that up, he'll destroy the colony... What am I gonna do?

Fortunately he hadn't been listening to Falcon's radio chatter; else he might have been annoyed.

"It's only a matter of time, Natural," Miguel taunted. "Why not just give up, and die easy?" He fired yet another shot.

This time, Kira didn't dodge. This time, he took it on his rocket anchor, identical to the one mounted on the Raptor, and disappeared in a flash of light.

Miguel grinned. "So long, loser!" He turned and began to boost away, intent on carrying out his other objectives: destroying the Archangel, and taking in Falcon... dead or alive.

Then something came out of the blast behind him, yelling incoherently. Before the GINN could turn around, Kira brought the Strike's Schwerht Gewerh antiship blade down in a diagonal cut, opening the ZAFT machine from right shoulder to left hip... going right through the cockpit in the process.

Miguel "Magic Bullet of Dusk" Aiman screamed as the blade cut into his body, then died as his machine exploded, like a moth in a flame.

Two people, besides Kira, observed the mobile suit's destruction, one of them with outright horror. "Miguel!" Athrun Zala shouted, eyes wide with shock and disbelief.

The other watched his former teammate die with no expression whatsoever. "As summer bugs fly into fire," he whispered. Tiger, tiger, burning bright, in the forest of the night... Goodbye, Miguel, Olor, Matthew... You are the first I have slain, or helped to slay, but I fear you will not be the last.

A face drifted before Falcon's mind's eye, one with blond hair and an easy, if often sarcastic, smile. Someone with whom he'd endured fire and death, battle... and friendship.

He closed his eye. Dearka... I hope you don't have a mobile suit right now, because if you do, and if you're ordered into battle with the Archangel... I may have no choice but to kill you, too.

Falcon opened his eye and keyed his radio. "Kira, you okay? Kira?"

There was no response, because Kira was now fixated on the Aegis... whose pilot heard Falcon's transmission. "Kira..." Athrun whispered. "Kira Yamato! It is you, isn't it!"

Kira went pale. No... please, no... "Athrun...?" He swallowed hard. "Is that you, Athrun Zala?"

The two were understandably horrified to find each other on opposite sides. Up until three years ago, they'd been the best of friends...

"The PLANTs and Earth will see eye to eye," a young Athrun said reassuringly. "There won't be a war." He paused, handing Kira a green-feathered mechanical bird, known as Birdy. "You'll join me later in the PLANTs, right, Kira?"

Athrun stared at the Strike, his worst fears confirmed. No... First the news that the Grimaldi Falcon betrayed us... and now you, Kira?

This can't be happening, Kira told himself. It can't be!

The Aegis' pilot finally found his voice. "Just what are you doing here, Kira?" he demanded.

"I should ask you the same thing!" Kira retorted. "What are you doing with ZAFT?"

It was Falcon who first noticed the incipient danger, as he glanced idly at the remains of the GINNs he'd whacked. Then he did a double take. "Kira, get out of there!" he called, urgency actually causing him to raise his voice. "Those GINNs are still-"

Too late.

The limited computer systems in the GINNs' missiles finally toke note of the fact that the machines carrying them were completely out of action. This, as Falcon correctly anticipated, triggered their activation circuits.

They launched; and, deprived of their primary target -Archangel being outside their targeting view- sped off for the colony's central shaft.

Falcon bit off a curse, realizing he could do nothing for Kira. He instead turned directly toward the Archangel, and fired his Panzer Eisen rocket anchor. It caught hold of one of the ship's Igelstellungs, just as the missiles struck the shaft.

Archangel, Bridge

"The colony is starting to come apart!" Sophia called to Murrue. "Those last hits busted something that really shouldn't have been busted!"

"Recall our mobile suits!" Murrue ordered. "Hurry!"

Cracks were beginning to appear in the colony's outer wall, while the central shaft collapsed. "Raptor has already latched onto the ship," Natarle reported. "There's no time to bring him into the hanger, but he can ride it out from there."

"What about the Strike?" Mu demanded. "Is the kid okay?"

"He's being sucked out one of the breaches," Sophia responded. "And- oh, my word..."

The Bridge crew watched in stunned silence as the neutral resource satellite Heliopolis simply came apart around them.

Gamow, Pilot's Ready Room

Dearka watched Heliopolis split apart, and felt an empty hole in his stomach. Falcon... tell me you made it... please...

He wasn't alone in staring at the cataclysm. "The colony..." Nicol whispered. "It's... it's gone... How...? How could it have come to this...?"

Yzak shifted uncomfortably. "The root of it all is the Earth Forces, of course," he pointed out. "They were the ones who chose to violate Heliopolis' neutrality. But... judging from telemetry from Olor and Matthew's GINNs, after they died but before the collapse, it looks like the Grimaldi Falcon accidently did it himself."

Dearka rounded on his teammate. "Wait a minute, Yzak! Falcon may have betrayed us, but he'd never-!"

The white-haired pilot raised his hands. "Whoa, there, Dearka. I said 'accidently', didn't I? Look, I'm not as inclined to give Commander DiFalco the benefit of the doubt as you are, but I'll agree he wouldn't have done this intentionally." He nodded at a wall screen, which had moments before shown the data from the GINNs' still-intact head cameras. "It looks like, when he failed to destroy them completely, the GINNs' missile racks were still intact, and they activated by themselves. If he'd either taken them out completely or left them alone, this probably wouldn't have happened." His voice hardened. "But the fact that he killed two of our pilots in the first place confirms that he has turned traitor, doesn't it?"

"Yzak-!" Dearka broke off, sighed, and turned back to the viewport. "I just don't get it... I've known the guy for ten years... How could you do this, Falcon?"

Archangel, Bridge

Falcon stepped onto the Bridge, still in his flight suit, and looked immediately at the main screen. "You've gone too far, Rau," he whispered, eye narrow. "Too far..." Morgenroete was a legitimate military target. Archangel is a legitimate military target. The commando raid was fine, the bombing of the Archangel was fine... even the mobile suit attack may be justifiable. But you do not use bunker-busters in a civilian colony!

Mu pulled himself out of CIC and floated by the pilot's side. "It's gone..." he whispered, stunned. "It was... so fragile..." He looked at the one-eyed pilot. "I guess you were right about what lengths Le Creuset would go to to destroy this ship... and you."

Falcon nodded grimly. "Another crime for which Rau must pay." He closed his eye. "And proof my decision four months ago was justified."

"I never thought they'd actually do it..." Murrue murmured, horrified. "Ensign Badgiruel, what's the status on the shelters? Did they make it out?"

Natarle broke out of her own daze and checked her instruments. "Looks that way, Ma'am; hard to say, though, with all this debris."

She nodded. "Understood. Falcon..." she began, turning to the pilot; and stopped abruptly. "You're wounded!"

Falcon glanced down, noting the blood that had begun to stain his flight suit, just above his right hip; at the same moment, the pain hit him, and he grunted. "Got shot during the attack on Morgenroete," he said through suddenly gritted teeth. "Forgot about it in all the excitement."

"The doctor may have made it," Sophia said, concerned. "You'd better-"

"No," her brother cut her off sharply. "I'll deal with it myself; still have my old ZAFT medical kit..." He turned, heading for the Bridge elevator. "If you'll excuse me..."

She tried to stop him. "Wait, Falcon, you should really get a doctor to-"

Even injured, Falcon was no weakling. He easily pushed her away, and opened the elevator hatch. "I told you I'll deal with it myself," he said coldly, and left.

Sophia and Murrue exchanged confused looks. "What was that about?" the acting-captain wondered.

ZAFT Nazca-class destroyer Vesalius, Bridge
"Commander..." Captain Fredrik Ades whispered.

Le Creuset nodded grimly. "I didn't expect it to come to this," he admitted. "But now that it has... we need to continue our mission."

Ades looked at him, eyebrows raised. "You really think they survived that, sir?"

"The legged ship might be gone," the masked man conceded, "but probably not; and the Grimaldi Falcon certainly isn't. He survived Endymion; the mere destruction of a colony around him won't stop him." He stroked his chin. "Are there any other ships in the area?"

A crewman consulted his instruments. "One, Commander; the Nacht Jaeger. Presently on a patrol mission, keeping an eye on the Artemis Base."

"Nacht Jaeger..." Le Creuset mused. "Commander Huckebein's ship; somehow apt, under the circumstances." He turned to his radio operator. "Prepare a message for Commander Huckebein," he ordered.

ZAFT Nazca-class destroyer Nacht Jaeger ("Night Fighter"), Bridge
"Message coming through, Commander," Nacht Jaeger's radio operator reported. "It's from Commander Le Creuset."

His commander moved closer. "Oh?"

The man known only as "Commander Huckebein" looked similar to Le Creuset, in that he wore the white uniform of a ZAFT commander. He also wore a mask, but his covered all but his mouth and chin, hiding even his hair; the end of a scar was visible, apparently beginning in the vicinity of his right eye socket, though it was hard to be sure.

He also wore a katana at his side.

"So what do we have?" Huckebein asked; from his voice, he was in his mid-teens, but then so was the Grimaldi Falcon.

The radio man looked at the text in disbelief. "Sir... the Grimaldi Falcon has resurfaced! He fought against the Le Creuset team at Heliopolis!"

Huckebein took the hardcopy message and returned to his seat. "That's interesting..." he murmured, taking little notice of the reference to Heliopolis' destruction. "So he's alive... as I expected."

In fact, he'd have expected no less.

It reminded the young commander of his final training, before he joined a team; though he'd gone through the ZAFT academy early in its existence, in C.E. 68, he hadn't completed mobile suit training yet. And his commander had exacting standards.

"This isn't a game, Mister," the idiosyncratic commander said sharply, after a simulator run. "You keep flying like that, and you'll end up dead."

"But sir," Huckebein protested, "it's only training-"

"Train like you fight, fight like you train. That's a basic precept of war, Mister. If you don't learn that, you won't survive."

The commander was individualistic, as were many soldiers in the largely-informal Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty. His personal additions to the uniform -unlike most commanders, he wore red, not white- were a gray trench coat, with gray feathers on the collar, and a katana thrust through his belt.

"Once you understand the difference between reality and a video game," he went on, "you'll have begun to understand how you can survive on the battlefield. But if you don't get that understanding, you won't survive a second of the real deal."

Huckebein had learned a lot from the commander, and took it to heart. Mobile suit training was only part of it; the man also taught tactics, strategy, and the martial arts.

The pupil had also paid careful attention to those lessons.

"How do you determine what kinds of fighting are honorable?" Huckebein asked, facing his commander with a sword in his hand. "Is it how dangerous a weapon is, or how many people it can kill?"

The commander shook his head, circling his pupil. "First of all, Huckebein, there aren't any dangerous weapons; only dangerous people. Second..." He finally moved his blade, parrying Huckebein's strike. "Honor's not in the weapon," he finished, sending his student's blade flying with a rapid parry. "It's in the man."

Huckebein nodded, not yet fully understanding, and went to retrieve his blade. As he did so, he realized he was bleeding. "Wha-?"

"Get used to it," the commander advised him. "That blade is one of the symbols of this team; and we always train with live blades, so the occasional cut or gash is to be expected. Don't worry, we've got fine medical personnel here."

Yes, Huckebein still bore the scars from his tenure with the team, but he regretted none of them; and, like all the team's survivors, he still carried the katana that was their trademark.

All of which would have been completely irrelevant, had Le Creuset's message been about anyone else.

"Orders, sir?"

Huckebein looked up, startled from his reverie by his flag captain, Kyle Kreitzman's, question; a question that required a few moments of deliberation. "Umm..." he said thoughtfully. "We wait, for now," the commander decided. "If this 'legged ship' should happen to escape Commander Le Creuset, we'll go after her ourselves... carefully. For now, though, shut down all active emissions; the Earth Forces' detection equipment is very good, and I'd imagine this new vessel has the best. Besides which, Commander DiFalco is a very shrewd man."

"Yes sir," Kreitzman acknowledged, and turned to give the appropriate orders.

We'll meet again soon, Grimaldi Falcon, Huckebein thought. And then we'll see how well you taught your people... Sir.

Archangel, Falcon's quarters

Falcon was relieved he'd managed to avoid running into anyone on the way to his quarters. Now that he was here, it was more than his gunshot wound bothering him.

Idiot! he berated himself. Birdbrain! With the blood leaking out, your heart has to pump faster, and you know what that does to you!

Feeling the onset of the symptoms rapidly approaching, Falcon fumbled at his belt, hurriedly pulling a rectangular box from a pouch; he then yanked a cable from it, almost breaking it in his haste. By the time he tore open the chest of his flightsuit, he was feeling the pain, and he was gasping for breath as his heart faltered. Moving very quickly now, he connected the device's cable to the strange metal socket protruding from his chest.

Within seconds, as the power began to flow, Falcon's heart rate picked up again, recovering from the incipient heart attack; for which he was very grateful. The last time this occurred, he hadn't gotten the auxiliary power unit connected in time... an error that had landed him in the infirmary for a few hours, following a near-fatal heart attack.

With that taken care of, he was able to turn his attention to the gunshot wound. Fortunately, it hadn't hit anything vital, but it still hurt like blazes, bled a lot, and had a bullet in it. That had to change immediately.

"Pity lead isn't ferrous," he muttered. "Then I could just use a magnet on the thing. Instead, I get to do it the old fashioned way..."

Falcon went to his backpack and pulled out the ZAFT medical kit it still contained. It, unlike anything the Archangel would have, was meant for treating Coordinators, and also had a packet of the appropriate blood type. It also contained a crude bullet-extractor, something he'd personally added to the kit. Before Heliopolis, he'd gotten shot twice before, in quick succession, and hadn't liked it.

Wincing, he moved the flightsuit material from the wound, stuck the extractor in, and pulled. "Ahh... oh, I forgot how much that hurts..." Falcon stared at the projectile for a moment, reflecting on how close it came to killing him, and the cast it away. He had to patch up the hole now; with the bullet gone, the blood would flow more freely. "Ugh, I hate those things."

After bandaging the wound, Falcon considered the flightsuit, and finally tossed it aside. It was undamaged -he'd taken the hit before putting the thing on- but it was just a tad blood-soaked; not the sort of thing one preferred to appear in public in, especially when one was trying to maintain a certain image.

So, distasteful as the notion was, he went back to the Earth Forces blue he'd worn before the battle.

Soon, it would be time to return to the Bridge; both to see if they'd found Kira yet, and to provide input on Le Creuset's tactics while they planned their next move.

Archangel, Bridge

"Murrue, we're finally getting a signal through to the Strike," Sophia reported, relieved. "He hasn't acknowledged yet, but he's out there."

Murrue sighed. "Thank goodness. Ensign Badgiruel, continue hailing the Strike; Sophia, I'd like you to check over your brother's battle data. Especially his use of the Death Blossom system. It was my understanding that only a very small percentage of humanity, Natural or Coordinator, was even capable of using it."

"So was I," Sophia admitted, while Natarle began transmitting. "On the other hand, Falcon's never been what you'd call average; and his kinesthesia scores are among the highest I've ever seen."

Mu nodded thoughtfully. "I'm not surprised. Seeing him in battle before, well... It was something, believe me."

"Oh, I believe you," she said darkly. "I remember when he about blew the stuffing out of my ship..."

Heliopolis Ruins, Strike
Kira stared at the wreckage that had once been Heliopolis with something deeper than shock. He was paralyzed, barely breathing, by what he'd just seen. How... how could they...?

It took several minutes before he realized the radio was talking to him. "Kira Yamato! Are you out there? Please respond! Strike!"

He shook himself, and keyed the mike. "Uh, X105 Strike here... barely."

On the other end, Natarle sighed in relief. "Glad to hear you. Are you okay?"

"Yes," Kira managed, staring around again.

"If you can move, return to the ship," she said. "Do you have our beacon?"

He checked his displays. "Yes."

"Then come on in."

"Right." Kira paused. "Uh, did Falcon make it?"

Natarle snorted. "Make it? We're beginning to think the guy's invincible." She cut the transmission.

He sagged. Good... Maybe now I won't have to fight anymore... and even if I do, at least I'll have some backup besides Lieutenant La Flaga...

The Strike's instruments suddenly began to beep, and Kira frowned. Tapping controls, he enhanced the section on his display from which the signal was coming. "A lifeboat? It must be from Heliopolis..."

Changing course, he charged after it. Mom, Dad... he thought as he went. You're safe, right?

Archangel, Bridge

"The Strike should be on its way back, Captain," Natarle reported. "I still can't see him in the debris, but I was finally able to contact him."

"Good," Murrue acknowledged, smiling in relief. "Keep me posted."

"Well, that's one detail taken care of," Mu commented. "Now we just have to figure out what to do next." He raised an eyebrow. "You... think they'll come after us?"

"They will," Falcon said, exiting the lift. "Rau will not give up now, not after all the trouble he's gone to so far... not after what he's learned."

"I agree," Murrue said.

"Which eliminates several options, and provides us with another set," Sophia mused. "We could just blast right through them..."

"Obviously you're not used to this line of work," the one-eyed pilot said with a snort. "We have two G-weapons and the Zero; Rau has four G-weapons, with a demonstrated willingness to use them."

"Maybe we could outrun them," Mu suggested. "The Archangel-class mobile assault ships are pretty fast, or so I hear."

Murrue shook her head. "The enemy's Nazca-class is a swift vessel as well; there's no guarantee of us losing them, even with a decent head-start."

"Correct," Falcon agreed. "In fact, our failure to escape would be virtually guaranteed."

"We could always surrender..." the Hawk said slowly. "Much as we may dislike it, it is an option, you know; though of course I'd rather not..."

"If you were to choose that course of action," the ex-ZAFT ace said softly, "I would be obliged to first step out an airlock without a suit."

Sophia gasped. "You don't mean that!"

"I certainly do." His one-eyed gaze swept over all of them. "Understand something: I will die before I allow my former comrades to get their hands on me. I know they would do that to me for my treason... but only after they interrogated me. I know too much, and I won't allow ZAFT to get hold of any information I may carry."

She stared at him, and started to speak, but Mu raised a hand, forestalling her protest. "I see," he said. "Well, I wasn't seriously considering it anyway..."

But, he thought, I wonder why you reacted so strongly? Your sister may say you have all the warm feelings of a brick, but it's obvious you can feel fear... and that kind of hate I'm getting from you isn't exactly cold. Mu distinctly recalled Falcon's cryptic explanation of his motives for leaving ZAFT. What is it you know, or did? What could make you, of all people, betray ZAFT?

He knew he wasn't going to get an answer to that question, at least not yet.

"So what do we do?" Murrue asked, after a few moments of uncomfortable silence. "We can't give up, we can't run away, and I don't think we can just hide here till they go away. We could fight... but they have four G-weapons, to our two G-weapons and a mobile armor."

Falcon stepped forward. "In difficult ground, press on. In encircled ground, devise stratagems. In death ground... fight."

Murrue frowned. "Sun Tzu?"

"The Art of War," he confirmed. He looked Mu right in the eye. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking, Mu?"

The other pilot slowly smiled. "We're in encircled ground, aren't we? So, what do you recommend, Grimaldi Falcon?"

"A deception, Hawk of Endymion." Falcon stroked his chin. "Archangel has decoys, correct?"

"Right," Sophia acknowledged. "So?"

He gazed at the main display. "Here's what we do: first, we-"

Natarle's voice interrupted him. "What did you say? On whose authority?"

Murrue turned to look into CIC. "What is it, Ensign?"

"The Strike has returned, Captain," Natarle replied. "But he's carrying what appears to be a Heliopolis lifeboat, and wants to bring it aboard!"

Falcon's eye turned to her. "And the problem is?" he said in a dangerously quite voice.

She returned his non-expression with a glare. "In case it slipped your notice, Commander DiFalco, the Archangel is top-secret military technology. We can't just let civilians come aboard-"

"A little late," he retorted. "Kira and the others are already here; and in case it slipped your notice, I'm a former ZAFT pilot."

"But-"

"Very well," Murrue interrupted with a sigh. "Give him permission. We don't have time to argue over such petty matters," she added sharply, when it looked like the ensign would protest. "Just give him permission, so that he'll land and we can get underway."

Natarle looked sullen, but obeyed nonetheless. "As you command, Captain."

Mu shook his head, but refrained from commenting. "Well, then," he said after a moment. "You were saying, Falcon?"

Seemingly unperturbed, Falcon went on calmly. "I was saying that we first need to choose a destination, before we can make any detailed plans. Given where we are... I would think Artemis would be the best choice -and perhaps only- choice."

"Artemis..." Murrue murmured thoughtfully.

"The Eurasian base with the light-wave barrier, right?" Mu scratched his head. "You're probably right about it being the only place in range, especially since we seem to have a small supply problem. But we may have another problem: Archangel doesn't have recognition codes to identify her to any of our allies."

"At this point, a relatively minor concern, I think." Falcon frowned. "What concerns me is that intelligence reports I read before my desertion indicated that an unmitigated jackass named Garcia is in charge there, and he likely would try something... untoward, if only to strengthen Eurasia's -and his own- position."

The Hawk disguised an aborted laugh as a coughing fit, but it was hard. That description of Garcia -whom Mu had heard things about, none of them good- would probably have been amusing under any circumstances, but coming from someone who spoke so tonelessly... I could swear that guy has a sense of humor...

"I suppose it'll have to do," Murrue decided. "Though we should probably be cautious. Now, what was the rest of your plan?"

The one-eyed pilot took another look at the display. "First of all, Artemis is just about the last place ZAFT forces would expect us to go. They'll expect us to head for the Ptolemaeus Base, on the Moon... not realizing we haven't the supplies to make it that far." He began to pace -or attempt its zero-gravity equivalent, at any rate- still thinking. "Bearing that in mind, we launch a decoy -with my knowledge of Nazca-class detection systems, I can make it all the more believable- on a logical course to the Moon. Then, while Vesalius hopefully heads off after our decoy, we point ourselves in the direction of Artemis, run the engines long enough to gain some decent speed, and then cut them off, using inertia to cross the remaining distance."

"A silent run, in other words," Natarle remarked, coming up out of CIC. "I like it, Captain."

"One thing, though," Falcon cautioned. "Rau isn't stupid; I highly doubt this will fool him. But it might buy us some time; and remember, he doesn't operate in a vacuum. He has to give the opinions of his subordinates some weight, and he also has to consider what'll happen if he's wrong."

"Then we'll go with it," Murrue decided. "Falcon, Sophia, you two get to work on modifying the decoys; but first, I want you to take a detour down to the hanger, see how things are going with Kira and that lifeboat."

"Got it, Murrue," Sophia acknowledged, casting a glance at her brother; who, for his part, merely nodded, not revealing the distaste he felt at the notion of having to work with his sister.

After the pair had left, Murrue rubbed her temples. "You know, I think having both of them on the same ship is going to be a real headache."

Mu nodded, smiling slightly. "I'll grant it'll be interesting." He raised an eyebrow. "So, you go way back with those two, huh?"

"Yeah." She settled back into the command chair. "Sophia was a classmate of mine at the Academy -this was, of course, before the Alliance was formed- my roommate, and my best friend. I had occasion, during those years, to meet Falcon. He was just a kid back then, but smart; and not somebody you wanted to irritate." She smiled in memory. "He was about nine at the time, I think, but already into the martial arts; not quite at the brick-breaking level quite yet, but good enough to make potential attackers lose interest."

"Hm." The Hawk scratched his head. "Was he much like the Falcon you met earlier today?"

"Not in the least," Murrue said emphatically. "A bit quiet, but in the manner of a budding intellectual, not a cold-blooded warrior; and-" She broke off, frowning. "That's odd."

Mu tilted his head. "What is?"

The frown deepened. "I don't remember him having brown hair..."

Archangel, Hanger

"Falcon," Sophia said, as they entered, "we need to talk."

"Later," Falcon said coolly. "Not now."

She sighed. I knew it. Either puberty hit with a vengeance, or Doctor Metzinger's work was as far along as I feared; and this looks to be more than mere hormones.

Ahead of them, the lifeboat's hatch was opening, with Kira hovering a couple of meters away, Birdie circling his head. A face appeared... one which apparently surprised Kira.

The girl seemed equally surprised. "Hey! I know you! You're Kira, right?" She pushed off, slamming into Kira and sending them both drifting across the hanger.

"Flay Allster?" Falcon and Kira said simultaneously, in varying degrees of surprise and volume.

"I can't believe we're safe," Flay was saying. "I lost my friends in a store, and the alarms were going, and.. When I finally made it to a shelter, everything just went crazy!"

"You're safe now, Flay," Kira said reassuringly. "Everything's going to be okay."

"But isn't this a ZAFT ship?" she protested. "And what are you doing here, anyway?"

"It's not ZAFT," he told her. "This ship belongs to the Earth Forces."

"That's a lie," Flay accused. "There are mobile suits here!"

"As a matter of fact," Falcon informed her, coming close, "they were designed by the Earth Forces and built by Morgenroete; else ZAFT wouldn't have been attacking in the first place." His eye narrowed. "And I can assure you this isn't a ZAFT ship; if it were, they would probably have killed me by now."

She peered at him, confused. "Uh... Falcon, isn't it?" She remembered his nickname, at least; there weren't too many people in Heliopolis who wore eyepatches. "Why would they?"

Sophia smiled crookedly. "Kira, please explain certain facts about my brother, will you?"

"Uh, right." Kira cleared his throat. "Uh, Flay, Falcon is..."

"Ken DiFalco," the one-eyed pilot introduced. "Known to some as the Falcon of Grimaldi... and now also known as a traitor to ZAFT." His eye closed. "So no, this is not a ZAFT ship. If it were, I would not be here... and they will never let me go back."

"I see..." Flay murmured, still confused but now a little mollified.

"Kira, please get her squared away," Sophia requested. "Falcon and I have business elsewhere."

"Right, Lieutenant." Kira smiled at Flay. "Hey, guess what? Sai and Miriallia are here, too. Don't worry, everything's going to be just fine."

They headed off, and Sophia turned to Falcon. "Flay Allster? Did you say that was Flay Allster?"

He nodded. "Yes, it is; we were classmates at the Heliopolis college. Your point?"

"Don't you get it? That was the daughter of Vice Foreign Minister George Allster, Falcon! Do you have any idea how important-"

"Don't care," he said shortly. "I know exactly who she is, and who her father is, and frankly, I don't like Minister Allster. He and his ilk tried to impose that blockade on the PLANTs in 69, among other things."

"The PLANTs had provoked-" she began hotly.

"Don't talk to me about how the PLANTs started it, sister," Falcon said coldly. "The restrictions -and quotas- placed upon us by the sponsor nations were simply intolerable; we have our own free will."

"Revolution isn't the answer-"

"Revolution was the only answer." His icy blue gaze bore into hers. "We tried negotiation, sister. We tried 'economic sanctions', the 'solution' those idiots in the old United Nations were so enamored of. And, just like with Cuba and a half dozen other places back in the twentieth A.D., it didn't work. They wouldn't listen to us, they made demands of us; they even tried to blockade us." He snorted. "Not their brightest move. My comrades and I broke their blockade with absurd ease. No, sister, the Revolution was the only option left to us, especially after we were framed for the Copernicus bombing. Though of course," he added, "some good did come of it. Those deadweight imbeciles in the U.N. council were removed from the equation."

"The PLANTs weren't 'framed', Falcon," Sophia said, glaring at her brother. "Headquarters said-"

"Headquarters? You actually believe those bigoted bastards?" Falcon shook his head. "It's a proven fact that Blue Cosmos orchestrated the bombing in order to bring about war. But I will grant you this: war was probably inevitable. One day soon, we would have attacked, in order to preserve ourselves, our freedom... the security of our future generations."

"And so you decided to cause an energy crisis on Earth," she said in disgust. "Causing who knows how many people to die of starvation, thanks to your cursed N-jammers."

"'Those cursed N-jammers', Sister," he said, a curious look in his eye, "are the only reason humanity still exists." Before she could question that bizarre statement, he went on, "And don't forget that Operation Uroboros and the April Fool Crisis were launched only after the Earth Alliance used nuclear weapons on Junius Seven, killing 243,721 people." He turned away. "Can you really justify the attack that destroyed the place where I was born?"

Sophia didn't reply... because she couldn't. Because Falcon was right: The Blood Valentine Tragedy was utterly indefensible... And also because Falcon himself was from that colony.

No, Falcon, she thought sadly. I can't justify Junius Seven. Despite her outrage at Falcon having joined ZAFT, deep down, Sophia had her doubts. Can we really claim to have the moral high ground after something like that? Can we?

Sophia didn't have the answer to that question. And she wouldn't until four months later...

Archangel, Crew Quarters

"I wonder where the ship is headed," Kuzzey said, sighing. "Be nice if they'd tell us something."

"The ZAFT forces are still out there," Sai pointed out. "I doubt they'll just let us go without a fight; not after all they've already done."

"They're intent on gettin' their hands on this ship, and those mobile suits," Tolle said pensively. "They wanted to do that even before Falcon turned up; and now that he's here, I bet they're really mad."

Flay's eyes widened. "What? You mean we're in even greater danger than we would be on that lifeboat? Please tell me it's not true!"

"Would you rather be stuck on that damaged lifeboat?" Mir asked pointedly. "Besides, we've got a fighting chance. We all saw what the Strike can do, and Falcon's a ZAFT ace..."

The red-head turned to her. "But can we trust him?"

"We've all been asking ourselves that," Tolle informed her. "But you know... he shot down two GINNs out there today. He may not be happy with the Earth Forces, but you can bet he's not going back to ZAFT, either. He can't."

"And," his girlfriend added, "he's a good person. All along, I've felt he can be trusted; and everything he's done today has supported that."

"Hmm..."

"Would Kira Yamato be here, by any chance?"

The heretofore silent Kira looked up as Mu spoke. "Lieutenant?"

"Mr. Murdoch's got a little problem," the pilot informed him. "We don't have enough people to maintain both mobile suits and the Zero... so you'll have to take care of your machine."

Kira blanched. "My machine? Wait a minute! Since when is the Strike my machine?"

Mu smiled slightly. "Let's just say that's how things worked out. After all, we only have three pilots; and I thought you said you'd protect this ship?"

"That was for the battle in Heliopolis!" the Coordinator protested. "I never said anything about-"

"Maybe not, but the situation hasn't really changed, has it?" The Hawk sighed. "Kira, you have the power to make a difference, don't you? So why not put it to good use?" He paused, tilting his head. "And think about this: Falcon's arguments make as much sense now as they did a few hours ago."

With that, Mu left; and Kira was left with his own thoughts. "But..."

Shaking his head, he suddenly ran off. "Kira, wait!" Mir called after him.

Flay glanced around. "Hey, wait a second! So, Kira was the one piloting that mobile suit? But... why? Is he like Falcon...?"

"No," Mir said emphatically. "He is a Coordinator," she admitted, "but he was never with ZAFT to begin with. He's one of us, a cherished friend."

"Oh..."

Archangel, Hanger

Kira Yamato stood on the walkway before the Strike, Birdie on his shoulder, his thoughts in turmoil. I know how to pilot it... but that doesn't mean I can use it in battle... Why me? he demanded of the world in general.

"Tough choice, isn't it?"

He spun around, to find Falcon floating in the air behind him with the ease of one long at home in space. "Falcon?"

The one-eyed pilot nodded at the Strike. "You know how to use it, but you doubt your combat skills... and you don't know if you want to use them if you have them. That's how it is, right?"

"Yeah," Kira admitted. "I know I flew it before, but... I'm not a soldier, and I don't want to be one. I hate war, Falcon."

"So does any sane soldier," Falcon pointed out. "Me included."

The younger man's eyes narrowed. "So why'd you join ZAFT?"

The ace thought back. "It was the summer of 68," he recalled. "Not long after the Mandelbrot Incident, and ZAFT was first reorganized into a kind of militia."

Kira was familiar with the incident, of course: when space forces from the sponsor nations attacked a convoy carrying, among other things, food supplies for the PLANTs; a convoy including the Mandelbrot herself, the ship after which the incident was named.

"I was young, idealistic, and maybe just a little stupid," Falcon went on. "Sophia had left years before to join the Atlantic Federation military -though I didn't know that till today- so my only remaining loyalty was to the PLANTs. So I signed up, wound up as a mobile suit pilot, and saw combat during the attempted blockade in 69." His voice hardened. "And I was there, at Junius Seven, and... Endymion."

"So you fought for your homeland," Kira said, nodding. "But what does that have to do with me, and why I should be fighting?"

"It has everything to do with it, Kira." Falcon looked him in the eye. "You said I 'fought' for my homeland. Truth is, I still am. What I'm telling you is this: to protect the PLANTs I had to do something I didn't want to do. To protect that which you wish to protect, you may have to do something you don't want to."

"I know..." He sighed. "But there's something else..."

"Ah, of course." The pilot nodded. "You don't want to fight Athrun Zala."

Kira jerked violently. "How did you know that?"

If he didn't know better, he'd have sworn Falcon was suppressing a chuckle. "How did you think I knew who you were, when I first came to Heliopolis? Kira, when I was on medical leave following Endymion -never mind what the injuries were- I taught a couple of classes at the ZAFT academy. While there, I met Athrun, and he mentioned you." The blue gaze sharpened. "And that, Kira, brings me to the other reason you're needed to fight: you don't want to fight the Aegis' pilot... and I don't want to fight another of Rau's men."

Kira blinked. "Huh? Why not?"

Falcon rubbed his eyepatch. "The day before I deserted, a fellow by the name of Dearka Elsman was transferred to the Le Creuset team." He met Kira's eyes. "I have a strong suspicion he flies one of the stolen G-weapons... and Dearka happens to be my best friend."

The younger Coordinator nodded in sudden comprehension. No wonder he's so cold, he thought. I may have to fight Athrun, but Falcon has to fight his entire military... and his best friend. I can't imagine what that must be like...

Kira looked up. "So you're saying we need each other," he said. "I may have to fight your friend, and you... might have to fight mine..."

Falcon read the look in Kira's eyes. "I know, Kira. You don't want Athrun hurt, even if you don't have to do it yourself. Well, you can relax; I have no intention of shooting to kill if I can possibly avoid it. Except, of course, with Rau, and possibly Yzak Joule, if he's still with the team."

Kira sighed, relieved. "I see. But..." He hesitated. "What if... what if I...?"

"What if you have to kill Dearka?" The ace shrugged. "I don't think that'll happen in this battle, if it occurs. We'll be up against four G-weapons, so I daresay we'll have our hands full just trying to hold them off."

"I guess you're probably right." Amethyst eyes turned to the Strike, while the mind behind them thought furiously.

Falcon simply waited patiently. As a longtime student of the martial arts, patience was something he had in abundance... and he had his own thinking to do.

Dearka... you'll be out there, won't you? Will you be the first to try to execute me, amigo? I expect you to do your duty, as I would in your place... but I hope you'll at least hear me out first. We have much to discuss, you and I; and with my usual channels cut, I need information about the situation in the PLANTs. I need to know how much I need do with the Earth Forces... and I need to know if it has been completed.

At last, Kira turned to face his fellow pilot again. "Okay," he said wearily. "I'll do it. We're the only ones who can protect this ship... and if you're willing to fight your own comrades, can I really do less?"

Falcon clapped him on the shoulder. "Kira, you have every right to sit this out; but it sounds like you're one of those guys who couldn't look themselves in the mirror if they had a chance to make a difference, and didn't." His cool voice took on a subtle, peculiar edge. "One piece of advice: don't think of this as fighting your own people. No matter what anyone else may say, those in the PLANTs are not 'your' people simply because they're Coordinators; what your genes look like is irrelevant. 'Your people' are those like Tolle, Mir, and the others: your friends. Remember that."

"I'll try," Kira promised. He tilted his head. "By the way, Falcon... why did you desert?"

The single eye closed. "Let's just say that there are those in the PLANTs who desire more than simple independence... and I played a critical role in one of the projects meant to make their goals happen." His hand unconsciously stroked the hilt of his wakizashi. "With my absence, the plan will be having difficulties, but it is not enough; and so I strive for a balance, a stalemate. A way to bring the war to an end in a manner that grants independence to the PLANTs, but without the victory being so overwhelming that... Well, it doesn't really matter now." Falcon shook himself. "Well, I'd better get to the Bridge; I have the distinct feeling things are about to go wrong."

Archangel, Bridge

"I don't like this..." Mu murmured. "It's too easy."

They'd been running silent for over two hours now, on course to Artemis, but something didn't feel right to the Hawk of Endymion. Something was about to happen... and he had the distinct feeling that it wouldn't be good.

"It is that," Falcon agreed, having arrived back on the Bridge. "Of course, it could simply be because of the sheer ludicrousness of Artemis."

Natarle glanced up in CIC. "What do you mean, Commander?"

"The Umbrella Shield," he replied. "The light-wave barrier. Certainly it's nice to have an impenetrable defense... but recall Sun Tzu's words: 'To unfailingly take what you attack, attack where there is no defense. For unfailingly secure defense, defend where there is no attack.'"

Murrue nodded. "In other words, Artemis is defending where there is no attack. After all, who cares about a military satellite at L3, of all places?"

"Exactly." Falcon shook his head. "We considered attacking Artemis, just after Endymion, but in the end we decided against it. Why bother?"

"Heat source detected!" Pal interrupted. "From nine o'clock!"

The pilot was at his side in an instant, examining the readings. "Nazca-class," he reported. "That'll be Vesalius, for sure."

Murrue closed her eyes. "They saw through our deception; but where's their Laurasia?"

"They probably split up, to cover us and the decoy," Mu mused. "They couldn't take the risk of letting us slip past."

Falcon frowned. "That sounds logical... but it's not right, I can feel it. Which means... not good." He straightened. "'So if you know the place and time of battle, you can join the fight from a thousand miles away.'"

The Hawk hissed. "It's a trap!"

"Yes." His former nemesis punched buttons on Pal's console. "Got it. The Laurasia-class -looks to be the Gamow- is directly astern of us." His face tightened imperceptibly. "I knew Rau wouldn't be fooled, but I thought we'd have a little more time. Well, no help for it." He looked over at Mu. "Time to start planning how we're going to get out of this one alive, Mu."

"Right." Mu cocked his head. "The Strike?"

"We have a pilot," Falcon informed him. "Kira has agreed to keep flying it."

A relieved sigh. "Good. That takes care of one problem." The Hawk glanced at Natarle. "Bring me a map of this area, will you? And Falcon: I need to know exactly what a Nazca's performance is."

"Right." Out came the ubiquitous pocket computer, and Falcon started tapping keys.

Sophia looked at it curiously. "Just how much data is in that thing, Falcon?"

"Plenty."

After several minutes of discussion, the rudiments of a plan had been hammered out.

Archangel, Cafeteria

The other four students from Heliopolis were sitting at a table when the pace began to pick up again. "Man..." Tolle sighed. "To think I thought this was going to be a normal day when I got up this morning. I never dreamed anything like this would happen."

"I know," Mir agreed. "It's... it's like this is all a dream."

"Yeah." Sai idly cleaned his glasses. "I keep expecting to wake up and find this was all a dream. But I won't, will I?"

"Doesn't look like it," Kuzzey said gloomily. "Earth Forces mobile suits, ZAFT mobile suits, a new warship, a ZAFT deserter... I just can't keep up with all that's happening."

"And now it looks like the ship's about to be in a battle again," Mir whispered. "What's going to happen to us now?"

"All hands to Level One Battlestations! All hands to Level One Battlestations!" The voice on the intercom paused. "Kira Yamato to the Bridge! Kira Yamato to the Bridge!"

"Yep, looks like another battle," Tolle said sardonically. "But... you think Kira's really going out there?"

"I hate to say it, but I hope so." Sai sighed. "Without him out there, our chances wouldn't look very good."

"But Falcon could handle it!" Kuzzey insisted. "He's a Coordinator too, and a ZAFT ace! Why does Kira need to fight?"

Mir looked at him reprovingly. "Kuzzey, Falcon isn't some kind of super-soldier; he may be a Coordinator, but he's still human. Besides, have you forgotten that he's going to have to fight his own comrades out there? It can't be easy for him."

"Right," Tolle agreed. He looked at his classmates. "You know... maybe we should do our part. We were at a technical college; we know how things work. Maybe it's time we gave them some support, you know?"

There was no argument.

Gamow, Hanger

Dearka Elsman settled into the cockpit of the GAT-X103 Buster with mixed feelings. On the one hand, he was looking forward to trying out his new machine in battle, and attacking the 'legged ship'; but on the other, he was quite likely about to face his best friend on the field of battle. And he still didn't understand.

Why, Falcon? he asked himself. How could you betray us? You always said that everything you did was for the safety of the PLANTs, that nothing was more important to you! So why fight us?

Well, at least he wouldn't have to shoot to kill, at least not right away. Commander Le Creuset's instructions had been quite explicit.

"Remember, this is the Grimaldi Falcon we're talking about," he'd said in the final briefing. "It's quite likely he set up the ruse we just penetrated, which he means he hasn't lost his touch. That makes him a dangerous adversary; but he is also one of ZAFT's heroes. I don't think the Supreme Council would appreciate it if we simply shot him down without even talking to him. Is that understood?"

All of the team's G-pilots had agreed; but none of them had been particularly sanguine about the idea. Athrun looked distracted -though Dearka couldn't fathom why- Nicol had looked uncomfortable and just a touch scared, which made sense; like Athrun, he'd received some instruction from Commander DiFalco, and gotten thoroughly trounced in the simulators.

Yzak, now... Dearka suspected the white-haired pilot wouldn't hesitate to open fire on Falcon, orders or not. Fortunately for Dearka's peace of mind, though, Yzak wasn't in the Grimaldi Falcon's league.

He jumped when a voice came over his radio, from the Vesalius. "Remember, Dearka, you're not to fire on the Raptor until I give authorization; but if I do, I expect you to follow orders."

Dearka swallowed. "Yes, sir. Understood."

Le Creuset hadn't really needed to remind him. One thing he knew very well about Falcon was that even friendship was subordinated to his mission; he'd proved that the day Victor Tempest died.

Dearka forced himself to relax. Almost time to launch; can't get distracted now.

Archangel, Hanger

Three pilots floated into the hanger, two of them in Earth Forces flightsuits, the third in a gray ZAFT suit (freshly cleansed of bloodstains).

They drifted over to the Moebius Zero, and Mu La Flaga clapped a hand on Kira Yamato's shoulder. "Remember the plan, kid. And this, too: think only about defending this ship and yourself. Got it?"

The younger pilot nodded. "I'll try." But it won't be easy...

Kira pushed off for the Strike, while Falcon pulled on his custom helmet. "So," he murmured. "The Falcon of Grimaldi and the Hawk of Endymion flying the same space again; but this time, the Gray Feather and the White Feather fight side by side."

"Birds of a feather, you might say," Mu agreed. "You sure you and Kira can handle those G-weapons by yourselves?"

"No," Falcon said calmly. "I'm never sure until I've done it; no plan survives contact with the enemy, after all. But I think we have a good chance."

"And you think this plan will actually fool Le Creuset?"

He shrugged. "Stands a better chance than the last one did." He lowered his visor. "Well, Mu, we'd better get going."

The Hawk nodded. "Right. Good hunting, Falcon."

"Same to you."

Falcon pushed off for his own machine, contemplating the plan. His own actions were to be at his own discretion, since he was their only veteran mobile suit pilot (Sophia had volunteered to act as gunner, but her brother had coolly pointed out she couldn't hit the broadside of a barn with shipboard weaponry, let alone that of a mobile suit). He rather thought, though, that no one on the ship, besides Kira, realized just what he planned to do.

He'd shoot if he had to... but if it could be avoided, he'd use other tactics, at least against the pilot he felt sure would be out there.

The one-eyed pilot strapped into the pilot's seat, activated main power, and plugged the cable from his suit into the machine's generator. After what had happened earlier, he wasn't taking chances.

Within a few minutes, after the Zero launched -a launch hidden by the blast from one of the ship's positron cannons- the X107 Raptor was loaded into the Archangel's port catapult. "Connected to catapult," a familiar voice said.

Falcon raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Miriallia? What are you doing up there?"

She smiled out of the screen at him. "Hey, you and Kira are already going through a lot; we figured you guys could use some help, y'know?"

He nodded, with the faintest trace of a smile. "The gesture is appreciated." He tapped a few keys on his instrument panel. "Now, shall we get down to business?"

"Right. Attaching Sword Striker module."

The Raptor, being essentially an up-rated version of the Strike, with a few new bells and whistles, was quite capable of using most Striker pack weaponry (except for the Aile package, but that was because one was already hardwired to the machine), including the mighty Agni hyper-impulse cannon. In this case, however, Falcon had opted to use only the Sword Striker's Midas Messer beam boomerang.

Of course, Falcon thought idly, one thing they don't seem to realize -and Sophia seems to have forgotten- is that I also happen to be an engineer. If they did, they might be a little more circumspect in what they let me see... not that I intend to betray them.

But he was making careful note of the new mobile suit technologies he'd come across here... and begun brainstorming about their possibilities.

His musing was soon interrupted. "All systems green, Falcon. You're cleared to launch."

"Roger that." His hands tensed on the control grips, and his foot rested on the vernier control. "Grimaldi Falcon, launching."

Author's note: Heliopolis is gone, and soon Falcon will have to face his best friend… in battle.

Ominae, I'm not quite sure what you'd be thanking me for, but I'll take your word for it. As to your writing SEED stories, I will, of course, be on the lookout for it.

ZGMF X-19A Infinite Justice, thanks for reviewing. My apologies if this update wasn't quite as soon as you would have preferred, but I will attempt to get the next chapter up a little faster.

Daniel Lynx, not only has the entire Le Creuset team heard of Falcon, but, as you can see, they've all met him at one time or another. Later on, those meetings will be expounded upon.

As for Olor and Matthew, as you saw earlier in the chapter, they were the two GINN pilots who accompanied Athrun and Miguel into Heliopolis. In the anime, they were killed by Mu, via the Archangel's Gottfrieds; it was Olor's missiles, triggered by the destruction of the lower half of his mobile suit, that destroyed the colony's shaft and led to the collapse of Heliopolis.

The General, I may as well reply to your review of Brothers in Arms: Moments and Memories here as well.

First of all, yes, I have the Mu/Neo thing all figured out. Second, no, NukeDawg's characters will not appear in the sequel to Brothers in Arms. You may not have realized, but Gundam Seed Destiny: A New Saga is not canonical from the perspective of Brothers in Arms. It can't be; it's already diverged from my version of events, especially in regard to Kevin and Cagalli.

That leads into my next point: to start off, I said in Chapter 1 that this story wouldn't be continued into Destiny. Also, there's a small problem with the notion of crossing this over with Brothers in Arms: the two storylines feature wildly different takes on the events of Gundam SEED; and I'm really not in the habit of writing AU versions of my own work, which that would require. I can't begin to imagine how the two versions could be reconciled.

Anyway, thanks for reviewing, and I hope that clears things up.

Arekuruu-inabikari-no-She, the very next chapter will feature the first inimical encounter between Falcon and Dearka; as well as an illuminating conversation.

As for Falcon and Sophia, well… let's just say that Falcon's actual blood relation on the Archangel will be revealed soon enough.

Centurious, I'm glad you liked The Will to Power; though as it happens, I wasn't quite satisfied with it myself. However, the sequel is still on track; and, in fact, I should have the first chapter up in a week or so.

Red Eyed Divine Dragoon77415, good to hear. I'm probably starting to sound like a broken record, but the next chapter is in the works; it's just going a little slow, so I'm glad you like this.

Char's Counterattack… I've heard of it, but I'm not really a fan of the UC universe, and from what I know of it, it doesn't exactly have a happy ending.

RVD, I will say this: if you note the dates and ages, you will see that Falcon is a year too old to be an Ultimate Coordinator. A fact which, naturally, leads in other directions…

Ninofchaos, thanks for reviewing. I trust later chapters will not disappoint.

Infinite Freedom, the Raptor is my idea. However, you'll notice that it's basically just an up-rated version of the Aile Strike, as opposed to something more original, like what I have planned for Falcon's later mobile suit.

I might as well respond to the points you made in reviews of Brothers in Arms. First of all, as for Kevin using French words, you'll notice -particularly in Chapters 24 and 33- that he's multilingual. Russian may be his preferred "second language", but it's hardly his only one.

About bringing Altron and Heavyarms into the sequel to Brothers in Arms… Well, I am planning to bring in one more MS from Gundam Wing, but the Heavyarms doesn't really seem to fit -I mean, its weapons would be fairly useless against Phase-shift- and I confess to not being terribly fond of the Altron. But, as I said, I will be bringing in one more machine; suitably modified, of course.

Victor227, I'm pleased you approve; and no, I don't think you should worry about my updating too fast.

NukeDawg, thanks for the offer, but I think I've got Falcon's machine about figured out (finally). It's gone through several revisions since I first came up with it, but I think I've got it down. Thanks again, though.

Guess that about covers things (at last). Let me know how it was. -Solid Shark