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

Battlefield, Beyond Orb Border, April 15th, C.E. 71

Athrun stared, horrified, at the collection of scrap metal that moments before had been Nicol Amalfi's GAT-X207 Blitz. N-Nicol...? No... it... it can't be... "Nicol!"

Duel and Buster burst out of the water, before stopping in shock. "Is that...?" Dearka whispered, stunned by the unexpected sight.

"Nicol..." Yzak breathed. "He's... he's..." His face twisted in fury, and he whipped his machine around toward the Strike. "You did this..." he hissed. "You'll die for this, Strike!"

Kira, for his part, was nearly as stunned as the Zala team. "I... I didn't mean to..." He'd reacted on instinct; before he had a chance to think it through, his beam saber had plunged into Blitz's cockpit. There'd been a few moments of watching the ZAFT machine spark... and then it had detonated, hurling pieces of itself everywhere; the remains of the upper torso weren't even in sight.

Rage filled Dearka. "Is this what your 'plan' has led to, Falcon?" he shouted at the slate-gray machine perched high atop Archangel's deck. "Where you kill your own comrades; some of the very people you helped train?"

Ken clenched his hands on his controls. "It wasn't supposed to be this way," he whispered. "I'm sorry, Leanne..." His subordinate would be devastated, he knew; and the fact that his own protégé had done it wouldn't make it any easier on her. "This wasn't meant to be..."

"Ensign Yamato!" Natarle snapped over the radio. "What are you waiting for? Return to the ship at once! There's no need to remain here any longer."

Kira jerked his head up, startled to his senses, and looked around; only then did he realize that he was surrounded by three mobile suits, piloted by three very, very irate pilots. I have to get out of here, he thought, and triggered Strike's verniers.

Yzak snarled in impotent rage, and Dearka fired off a few useless shots at the fleeing mobile suit. "We won't let this stand, Falcon!" Buster's pilot yelled. "You and your friend have gone too far now! I won't hold back anymore!"

The ex-ZAFT ace closed his eye. Dearka, no... Watching Kira approach, he felt his stomach clench. Their problems with the ZAFT G-weapons weren't over; and next time, he knew they'd be out for blood. Even Dearka wouldn't hesitate now, after losing a teammate.

It's just like after the Bloody Valentine, Ken thought bleakly. Only this time... I'm the target...

Unconcerned by the trio of nearly-helpless mobile suits beneath her, Archangel soared onward, oblivious to the destruction that had just filled the tiny, nameless island below.

Archangel, Hangar

Strike powered down at last, and the cockpit opened, permitting a bone-weary Kira Yamato to exit, descending the zip line to the deck. Right now, what he wanted most was rest... and he feared his sleep would be filled with images of the Blitz exploding, and Athrun's anguished cry.

Waiting for him at the deck was a cluster of mechanics, all cheering; among them was Chief Kojiro Murdoch, with a broad grin on his face. "All right, kid!" he said happily. "You got one of them this time! Congratulations!"

Kira gave him a haunted, almost dead look. Congratulations...? Do you even know what I just did out there? Why... what about that is so good?

Finally, surrounded by the almost-ecstatic mechanics, he couldn't take it anymore. "Will you stop it?" he snarled. "I just killed someone! What's so good about that?"

Nearby, Ken slid noiselessly to the deck, and he exchanged glances with his older brother Mu, also walking up. We need to get him out of here, he thought to himself.

A puzzled mechanic tilted his head. "Hey, you've been doing this for months; thought you'd be used to it by now..."

Mu suddenly forced a gap in the group. "Leave him alone, you guys!" he snapped angrily. "Can't you see the kid's exhausted? Just let him go; he needs some sleep." He glared at each in turn. "And get back to work; I don't think that'll be our last battle before we reach Alaska." He turned to the younger pilot. "C'mon, Kira; let's get out of here."

Kira didn't even look at him; just nodded slightly, and stalked away, toward the hatch leading to the rest of the ship.

Ken watched him through narrowed eyes. I should've known. That furlough in Orb wasn't good enough; he just can't take the stress. He needs to go someplace else for awhile, someplace where he isn't flying or even working on mobile suits...

He didn't attempt to follow his protégé; this was one of those times when he honestly wasn't sure what to tell him. He could see what the problem was... but Ken himself had never had any difficulties killing enemy -as opposed to ZAFT- forces. Not since the Bloody Valentine, anyway. "We do the jobs we wish no one had to do," he'd once told Nicol Amalfi, the pilot Kira had just killed. "But we do it anyway... and I have no regrets. I wish the Earth Forces wouldn't send people out to die, but regrets are for those who've been fighting for something they don't believe in; who've done something they truly believe to be wrong." Admittedly, he hadn't anticipated the problem of having to kill his own comrades... but that was a whole different issue.

Shaking his head sadly, the ace walked off into another area of the ship.

Archangel, Corridor

It didn't take long for Mu to catch up with the young pilot; for all that his strides were angry, they weren't particularly fast. "Kira!" he called.

Kira didn't answer; just kept on walking, and the Hawk sighed to himself. I guess it isn't a surprise... the kid's been a little too close to falling apart for weeks. But this... this is really bad timing, and I need to get his head straightened out.

"Kira," he said more forcefully, gripping the youth's shoulder. "They didn't mean to upset you," he went on, more gently. "And you know... we all consider you one of us."

Kira didn't looked at him. "Yeah, I know that."

Mu hissed to himself. "We are not murderers, Kira," he told him firmly. "But we are soldiers... and we're in the middle of a war!" He stared hard into Kira's eyes. "If you don't get them, they'll get you," he said harshly. "That goes for you, for me, for all of us!"

Kira's face twisted in fury. "I know that!"

The Hawk didn't back down. "Get a grip, kid, or it'll cost you your life."

The youth glared back at him. "I won't die, sir," he bit out. "I can't afford to." With that, he pulled himself out of Mu's grip, and stalked away.

The pilot sighed, feeling years older. "Well, that went well," he muttered under his breath. "If looks could kill, I'd be..."

"Cooked," Ken agreed, stepping out of a side corridor; he was back in regular uniform, with his usual trench coat over it. "I don't remember ever seeing him that angry."

Mu nodded wearily. "Be nice if I had any idea why he's acting like that. I mean, it's not like it's his first kill; he took out Miguel Aiman at Heliopolis, and that was only the beginning. We've been in enough battles since then -especially in the desert..."

The Grimaldi Falcon hesitated. If he only knew... well, maybe now is the time... "I'll tell you what's different about this time," he said finally. "The pilot of the Blitz was a fellow by the name of Nicol Amalfi, a lad I helped train. More importantly... the commander of that team is one Athrun Zala." He paused. "Athrun Zala went to a certain lunar prep school, in Copernicus... and happens to be Kira's best friend."

Mu blinked. "You're serious?"

"Mm-hmm. That's why the Aegis tried to capture him, outside Artemis; and why they've been a bit half-hearted in their attempts to shoot each other down." The ace smiled thinly (and humorlessly). "He's in the same boat Dearka and I are. Can you blame him for feeling a bit out of sorts?"

The hawk slowly shook his head. "No, I guess not... I never suspected..."

"You weren't supposed to." Ken rubbed his eyepatch. "His classmates knew, though; overheard him talking with Lacus Clyne, or so I gather." He shrugged. "I suppose it doesn't help that he had a fairly explosive breakup with Flay a few days ago."

Mu looked at him sharply. "What? I hadn't heard about that."

"I'm not surprised; as far as I know, besides those two, Cagalli and I are the only people who know." Ken's expression hardened. "I won't lie to you, Mu; I was sorely tempted to test my blade on Flay's flesh that day... after everything she'd done to him."

The Hawk's eyes narrowed. "What do you mean, 'everything she'd done to him'? I thought she was more supportive than anybody else aboard..."

The ace snorted. "Supportive? Sure... because he was a handy tool to use to avenge her father. She was using him, Mu, as a weapon; and from what I can tell, I think she hoped he'd get himself killed in the process." He unconsciously rubbed his metal chestplate. "I know for a fact that she wants me dead."

Mu winced. "The Captain and I suspected something was going on, but nothing like this... Has that girl actually tried to do anything?"

Ken shook his head. "Beyond manipulating Kira? No. She doesn't have the skills or strength to try anything on her own; my guess is that she hoped we'd buy it in battle. She's clever, I'll give her that... but she doesn't quite have the brains to realize that Miriallia and I have been onto her since the desert. Earlier, actually; we knew something was wrong not long after that idiot father of hers managed to get herself blown up."

The older pilot frowned. "Are either of you in real danger? If you are, we should probably do something about it."

"No, I don't think that's an issue any longer. Kira finally came to his senses, so I don't think that will be a problem any more; and if she comes after me..." The faintest trace of a very cold smile appeared on the youth's face. "I would like to see her try something in the face of a blade crafted by Tom Delaney."

Hades, Bridge, April 16th, C.E. 71

"Well, a right fine mess that was," Tom Delaney remarked, going over the records of the recent battle yet again. "Looks like Archangel and company cleaned the Zala team's clocks; of course, it also seems to have stressed Raptor again." He looked up, face grim. "I give it one more sortie, Leanne, before the whole thing comes apart at the seams. Probably during the next sortie."

"Then it's a good thing Preybird is nearly ready," Leanne Eldridge replied, face drawn; the previous day's events had left her very, very tired, and not from physical exertion. Still, she was doing much better than she had been during those first, tense minutes after Blitz's destruction. "Startup testing can begin tomorrow, right?"

Tom shook his head. "I don't think we've got time for startup tests, Leanne. Zala and his cohorts have the wrong idea about what happened yesterday; I think they'll be out for blood. I give it no later than tomorrow before they make another attack on the Archangel. Preybird has to be ready to intervene."

"That's your department," she pointed out. "All I do is fly it; you're the one who has to make sure it's possible to take it up in the first place."

"I know, I know..." He ran a hand through his iron-gray hair. "The NJC is complete, and we've got the fission pile together; it's got main power now. The Nataraja's installation was completed this morning, along with the satellite power-receptor surfaces on the wings and wing-DRAGOONs, so we can use it now. Wouldn't recommend using it, though, unless you want to blow up everything in the area... including the Buster, which really wouldn't make the Boss happy."

Leanne nodded. "And the Gerbera Straight?"

"Put the finishing touches on it this morning; if you absolutely positively have to cut something in half or deflect a beam -without the Boss's reflexes, anyway- that's what you want to use." He glanced at a display. "We're installing the beam boomerangs this afternoon, along with the Mirage Colloid... and that'll be that, except for initializing the fission plant."

"That's great." She looked over at another display, showing a feed from Hades' Infirmary. "At least we did something right," she murmured to herself.

Tom followed her gaze, then chuckled, glancing down into the hangar... where, next to the nearly-complete Preybird, lay the battered torso of another mobile suit. "So, how is he, Leanne?"

"Better than I'd feared, especially considering what he just lived through." Leanne smiled. "He's not conscious yet, but the docs tell me he'll be fine."

He nodded. "And then we tell him about the Shiva Option... and GENESIS."

And with that young pilot on their side, they had a chance of gaining more support from the Supreme Council itself.

Archangel, Hangar

Another day, another round of trying to make bricks without straw, Ken thought to himself. He was buried in the guts of the Raptor, attempting to make repairs. He hadn't taken any hits in the last battle, but his maneuvers had once again over-stressed the frame. Keep this up, and you'll be down another mobile suit. Oh well; could be worse. At least I should be able to pick up Preybird soon...

And if Raptor failed in the interim, he still had his old CGUE. It wasn't equipped with Phase-shift, and it couldn't fly in atmosphere, but it still had its heavy particle cannon, and Murdoch had finally gotten the purloined antiship laser sword adapted to it.

Thinking of mobile suits reminded him of his team, and Ken wondered idly how Leanne was doing. The Blitz was destroyed out there, after all; I can't imagine she's feeling very good about it. She and Nicol were always close... at least until the Plan began. He winced. This could be bad for the Plan, too; Representative Amalfi will be out for blood. He's not normally the vengeful sort... but losing his only son might just push him into Patrick's camp. And now that Patrick's Supreme Council Chairman...

The ace shuddered, almost imperceptibly. The results of the recent election in the PLANTs hadn't surprised him, unfortunately; but they had frightened him. Now Zala could allocate even more resources to his twisted version of the Shiva Option.

Which is, of course, why we need Preybird... and Asmodeus. That brought a slight, sad smile to Ken's face. Ah, Asmodeus... I wish she were still with us today. But an Archangel-class mobile assault ship is a fitting way to honor Alicia Sharpe, I think.

He heard a sound below him, and stuck his head out of the Raptor's cockpit to see Kira Yamato entering the hangar, looking pensive. The look of fury from the previous day was gone, but he still looked... off-center. Something was clearly still bothering him.

Kira looked up when he heard Raptor's zip line. "Ken?" he said, surprised. "What are you doing here?"

A reasonable question; it was twenty-one hundred hours. "Working on Raptor," the ace answered. "Those stress fractures are getting worse; no surprise, I guess."

The younger pilot nodded absently, staring at nothing. "Ken..." he said at last, looking up at Strike. "Who was it... that I killed yesterday?"

Ken rubbed his eyepatch. "His name was Nicol Amalfi," he said slowly. "Son of Representative Yuri Amalfi, cousin of one of my pilots... and, from what I've heard, a good friend of your buddy Athrun." He frowned, thinking. "He was also a pianist, and a good one at that. I don't think he belonged on the battlefield, frankly... but he made his choice."

"And because he did, I killed him," Kira said bitterly. "Another guy has died because of me."

"Don't start thinking like that," the ace said sharply. "This is war, Kira; you don't blame yourself or the enemy for the lives you take. No, you blame the idiot politicians who sent them out to die in the first place; the bastards like Patrick."

Kira looked at him sharply. "But I thought you approved of this war."

"Sure I do; the Revolution was necessary. But that doesn't mean I don't blame the Earth Forces leaders for forcing our hand, or Patrick for escalating the war beyond all sanity." Ken snorted bitterly. "That man is destroying everything I worked for, fought for... and he doesn't even understand that he's doing it." He shook his head. "No, Kira. Don't blame Nicol, and don't blame yourself for killing him."

His protégé sighed. "But still... I don't think Athrun will understand that."

"I know." The ace gripped his shoulder. "I don't think Dearka will, either; he was never quite as adept as I at putting things in proper perspective. Possibly," he conceded, "because he's more human than I. I see this war as one thing; he sees it as something subtly different. And because of that... I think he's going to go all out when next we meet."

"So will Athrun." Kira swallowed. "I don't think you heard him, when I destroyed the Blitz; but I did. I've never heard anyone sound that angry..."

"I know," Ken said again. "And I think we both know what we'll have to do, when next we fight that team. We both know what will happen."

"Yeah. They'll forget about trying to persuade us... and they'll kill us." The younger pilot turned to look his mentor in the eye. "Unless we get them first?"

The ace nodded unwillingly. "I don't think we'll have much of a choice," he admitted. "It's kill or be killed, Kira; I'm beginning to understand that I can't keep fighting the way I have, if I want to survive -and I have to, no mistake; I'm the only one who can stop what Patrick's planning- and if we're to protect this ship, neither one of us has any choice in the matter."

Kira looked up at the Strike. "Athrun... do I have to... destroy him...?" His fist clenched. "So be it."

Ken nodded. "So be it."

Archangel, Bridge

"I can relieve you, Captain," Natarle offered.

"Thank you, Natarle," Murrue said gratefully, getting out of the captain's seat. "It's been a long couple of days for all of us."

"Yeah," the Lieutenant agreed, taking the vacated chair. "But we should be crossing the Tropic of Cancer sometime tomorrow; even I'll admit we should be able to relax then. I doubt ZAFT will attempt to chase us into Alaska's air-defense zone, and even if they do, I think our forces can deal with them."

"Mm." Murrue frowned. "We keep meeting that team..." she murmured. "They certainly are persistent, aren't they."

"Agreed." Natarle tilted her head. "But... I believe Commander La Flaga said something about this not being the Le Creuset team."

The Captain blinked. "How can that be?"

Natarle shrugged. "I don't know if it's true... I just overheard him muttering something about it. Commander DiFalco seems to agree, though."

"I assume you mean Falcon," Murrue stated, "not Sophia." She thought about it. "Well, he does have a better insight into Le Creuset than we do; and he always seems to know when he's around. I don't know how or why, but I'm inclined to take his word for it."

"We seem to do that a lot," the Lieutenant remarked.

Her superior shrugged. "Maybe because he's usually right?" Now, the only thing needed to make my satisfaction with his presence complete would be for him to show a little emotion now and then...

Yeah. Right. That'd happen about the time Sol went nova.

Cousteau, Crew Quarters

Dearka lay on his bunk, glowering at the ceiling; he fully as furious -and stunned- as he'd been the day before. Nicol's death had hit them all hard, and now even Yzak was regretting calling the young pilot a coward so much. No, he wasn't a coward... he proved that by saving Athrun yesterday. If only he hadn't gotten killed doing it... those Earth Forces bastards!

He wasn't sure whom he was angrier at: the Strike pilot... or his own best friend, Ken DiFalco. The Strike had done the deed, but there was no doubt in Dearka's mind that Falcon had been the one to train the pilot. That was how he operated... and he couldn't think of any other way the Strike pilot could've gotten that good, that fast; only the Grimaldi Falcon's training regimen could have done it.

"You've gone too far, Falcon," he whispered angrily. "Bad enough when you killed Olor and Matthew, and those guys in the desert and the ocean; that I could understand. But I expected better of you than this. I thought you'd make sure any student of yours knew better than to kill Nicol like that..."

Dearka had been stunned when he first learned of Falcon's defection to the Earth Forces; but even then he'd thought he understood him, at least a little. He was fighting for what he believed in, however little sense that seemed to make, and he was obviously going out of his way not to kill his comrades. He could understand about Olor, Matthew, and the BuCUE and GOOhN pilots; under the circumstances, Falcon had had little choice. Heliopolis was a dire situation indeed, and his battles in the desert and the Indian Ocean had placed him in environments he'd never fought in before, pitted against pilots who knew exactly what they were doing. However much Dearka detested the loss of those pilots, he could understand it.

But Nicol... he'd just been a kid, giving his life to save his friend's. He'd attacked with a weapon the Strike pilot had to know couldn't hurt his Phase-shift... and he'd killed him anyway. Struck him down in cold blood, thrusting a saber right into Blitz's torso...

No; if Falcon trained someone to do that, he wasn't the pilot -and friend- Dearka had once known. He had changed, become less a man than an elemental force of nature. His mission had utterly consumed him, making him a menace to everything he once held dear; he'd lost sight of his humanity when he committed himself to this course... so there was no longer an option. The orders from Command regarding the Grimaldi Falcon were clear, and now so was Dearka's mind.

"When next we meet, Falcon... I won't hesitate to blow you away. For Nicol."

Archangel, Bridge, April 17th, C.E. 71

Archangel was now in the midst of the Marshall Islands, and the home stretch. If all went as planned, they'd be across the Tropic of Cancer -and into the JOSH-A Base's air-defense perimeter- within hours.

All did not go as planned.

Tonomura was almost dozing at his station, not expecting any further trouble, when his detection systems beeped at him. Jerking upright, he bent over his console, examining the readings. "Enemy activity!" he called out. "Detecting one Vosgulov-class submarine carrier, and three mobile suits!"

Natarle jerked upright in her chair. "All hands to Level One Battlestations!" she ordered, hitting the intercom switch on her armrest. "Repeat, all hands to Level One Battlestations! Captain Ramius to the Bridge! Mr. Tonomura, identify those mobile suits!" She had a pretty good idea, of course -after the events of two days prior- but she wanted confirmation before they started shooting at anything.

"Checking... they're X numbers, Ma'am," he said grimly, unsurprised. "Aegis... Buster... Duel. All three surviving ZAFT G-machines."

She closed her eyes. So close... and here they are again. Well, we won last time, and now they're down to just three units... But somehow, she knew it wouldn't be that easy. Anger could betray their skill; but vengeance could also lend dangerous cunning to these foes.

Murrue came onto the Bridge at a dead run. "What's going on?" she demanded, sliding into the chair her XO hastily vacated.

"One Vosgulov submarine, and the three enemy G-weapons," Natarle reported, moving to CIC. "Approaching fast Probably retaliation for our last engagement."

The Captain nodded grimly. "Vengeance, yes; and they may have the upper hand today." She scowled at the display. "I cannot in good conscience send Falcon out there today."

Natarle looked up at her, startled. "Captain? But why? We need all our machines out there-"

"And Raptor, I'm informed, is about ready to tear itself to pieces!" Murrue retorted. "We can't-"

Her right-hand intercom screen lit up. "With all due respect, Murrue," Ken said calmly, "we don't have a choice."

She looked down at him. "But, Falcon..."

"This is the last stand, Murrue," he told her firmly. "Those three pilots will do whatever it takes to shoot us all down; they'll take risks they never would normally. That makes them very dangerous... and makes it imperative I launch. Even if Raptor falls apart beneath me, it'll have been worth it if Archangel survives."

"But..."

Ken smiled faintly. "Don't worry; I don't intend to die here today. Mobile suits do have ejection systems, remember?" His image winked out.

Natarle looked up. "Captain...?"

Murrue sighed. "Very well; it's his decision." Be careful out there, Falcon...

Archangel, Corridor

Kira was running to the locker room, to change into his flightsuit, when he heard a voice call out from behind him. "Kira!"

He turned, and his eyes narrowed at the sight of a certain redhead. "What is it, Flay?" he asked, controlling his voice as best he could.

Flay looked away, apparently unaware of the pilot's inner conflict. "Kira, I..."

Memories of their last, stormy encounter went through Kira's mind. He remembered her biting, sarcastic words, her fury when she mistook his friendliness -and desire to avoid seeing his parents- for pity... his own decision to break off their relationship... and his realization, far too late, that Ken had been right to warn him about the girl.

He felt sick inside, a mixture of conflicting emotions, as he thought about how she'd manipulated him from the very start, preying on his feelings, using him simply as a tool to avenge her father. She didn't even care what she was doing to me... all that mattered was getting revenge for her father's death... and making me pay for failing to save him. She used me... and now she actually dares...?

"No, Flay," Kira said at last, avoiding her gaze.

Flay jerked in shock. "What...?"

He looked up, anger in his eyes. "You used me, Flay," he said coldly, feeling as dead inside as Ken had long been. "All this time, you didn't care about me; just how I could be used as a tool. You think I don't understand -now- what you were doing?"

She was rigid with astonishment. How... how could he know...? DiFalco... was it him...? "Kira, I don't know what you're-"

"Yes, you do," Kira interrupted, fists clenched. "You know exactly what I'm talking about... and that's all I have to say." He turned away. "It's over, Flay. I won't be your weapon anymore."

He ran off, leaving Flay to stare after him in shock, horror... and an indefinable sense of loss.

Archangel, Catapults

As usual, the four machines were split according to type; mobile suits to starboard, Skygraspers to port, and this time, Sophia was back in action, and glad of it.

"Strike here," Kira called. "Prepared for launch."

"Roger that, Strike," Mir responded. "Once you're airborne, head for the aft deck and provide support from there."

"Roger."

"Need anything special today, Commander?" Murdoch called. "This is gonna be a hairy one..."

"I know," Ken replied. "But no, nothing special. It'd just use extra power... and there's no point wasting equipment when this thing's likely to just come apart on me anyway."

"Got it; be careful out there, Commander."

"You don't need to remind me; I haven't lived this long by being careless." Especially when I know my very competent best friend is quite likely going to try his best to blow me into very tiny pieces today. Add that to the shape my machine's in...

Ahead of him, Kira shot out into the sky, and Raptor moved into position. "Connected to catapult," Mir reported. "APU online. You're go for launch, Falcon."

"Affirmative." His hands tightened on the controls. "Grimaldi Falcon; Raptor Gundam launching."

Following after its more brightly-colored twin, Raptor blazed into the evening sky, ready for one last dogfight... with a pilot considerably less sanguine about the whole idea.

Marshall Islands

Dearka's mouth tightened, watching the four machines launch from the Archangel. "There you are, Falcon," he muttered, watching Raptor lance into the sky. "It's time, 'amigo'; I can't let you live any longer. Not after what you've done."

Athrun was having similar thoughts, catching sight of the Strike. I see you, Kira. You're going to pay for murdering Nicol... with your life. His fury had burned away any lingering trace of their old friendship; now all that remained was rage.

Raptor streaked through the air, beam saber in hand, seeking out the Buster. "Come on, Dearka," Ken murmured, gazing into his displays. "Let's finish this." His eye narrowed, and his fingers tightened on the control bars. "You endanger everything, amigo..." He opened a radio channel, and uttered the high, ascending wail of the peregrine falcon.

Once, Dearka would've reacted to that call. But today, neither of them wasted on any time on words. The Buster simply opened fire, spitting emerald darts and orange tracers, and the fight was on.

With a quick tap of the vernier control, Ken threw himself sideways, dodging the gun launcher shot completely, while his crimson blade connected with the energy beam. Emerald fire met crimson, and emerald lost; it bounced back at Buster, forcing him to dodge to one side.

Meanwhile, Kira exchanged shots with both Aegis and Duel simultaneously. Green bolts splattered uselessly on his shield, foiled by the anti-beam coating, and he returned fire at Athrun's machine.

The emerald dart passed within a millimeter of Aegis' shoulder, close enough to scorch, but Athrun didn't even flinch. He fired off another bolt, and had the satisfaction of watching it graze the Strike, burning a tiny furrow across its head. You're getting better, Kira... but today it won't be enough. It won't!

"Die, Strike!" Yzak shouted, and fired off his railgun; the electromagnetically-propelled projectile caught Kira solidly in the chest, but the Strike's Phase-shift rendered it ineffective. With a snarl of anger, Duel's pilot triggered his rifle.

Kira raised his shield again, contemptuous of the beam, and completely ignored the spattering energy. His return fire briefly connected the two machines with a stream of green energy, and the bolt ripped a tear through Duel's left arm. I won't let you shoot down the Archangel...

Ken batted aside another blast, and returned fire with his own beam rifle. The bolt caught Buster in the right shoulder, tearing through the missile pod located there. Not good enough, Dearka; not nearly good enough.

Dearka was barely even fazed by the blow. His missiles would've been useless against Raptor anyway, unless he was lucky enough to knock down its Phase-shift somehow; something he didn't think was going to happen. No, this battle would be decided by energy weapons alone... and so he took aim at Raptor's cockpit with his rifle.

The ace cursed to himself, raising his small shield barely in time to avoid having his cockpit skewered; but he wasn't quite quick enough. Rather than taking the blow on the Panzer Eisen's anti-beam-coated base, it struck the rocket anchor directly, slagging it and damaging the arm beneath.

Bad, he thought. Dearka's better than I thought; should've realized he was holding back before. He fired off another beam, ripping into Buster's Guul, but not fatally.

Within Raptor, fissures began to widen...

Hades, Hangar

"Leanne!" Tom called over the intercom. "There's trouble on the surface; the Zala team is at it again. We need to get Preybird out there, now!"

"I'm beginning activation of the fission plant," Leanne replied from Preybird's cockpit. "Give me a few minutes, okay? Reactors don't activate instantly, you know; not the first time."

"The one disadvantage to fission power," he muttered. "Well, it's not like we had a choice... Anyway, Leanne, expedite. I don't think the Boss' machine is going to survive this battle as it is; without our intervention, Archangel might not, either."

"I'm working on it," she promised. "Just give me a little more time..."

Marshall Islands

"Your precious student murdered Nicol, Falcon!" Dearka shouted, speaking for the first time. "Do you still think yourself justified?" He fired off a salvo from his remaining missile pod. "Do you still think you're acting the best interests of the PLANTs? Answer me, Falcon!"

"People die in war, Dearka," Ken snapped back, ripping into the missiles with his CIWS. "I'm sorry about Nicol, but vengeance has no place on the battlefield!"

"You're one to talk," the other muttered, and spat another emerald dart from his rifle; a chunk went flying from Raptor's right shoulder.

"I'm not going down today, Dearka. I won't allow it." Raptor's rifle erupted at the same moment as Buster's and the two beams met in flare of even brighter green, before fading out. "There's still too much left for me to do."

"You've done more than enough, Falcon," Dearka hissed. "Now get out of my way!"

"You want the Strike, you'll have to get through me first."

"That's exactly what I had in mind." Buster swooped in on its Guul, physically ramming the gray machine, and sending it out of control. "The Strike's crimes are yours, too!"

"I have enough crimes without taking credit for anyone else's," Ken muttered, trying to bring his machine back under control, before it could hit the water.

High above, Sophia DiFalco, alias the Victorian Kestrel, circled in her Skygrasper, feeling helpless. Her brother was down there, fighting for his life... and she could do nothing. She was a hot hand in a fighter, but she knew as well as anyone that her fragile craft had no place in a duel between machines like that. Dearka Elsman would swat her from the sky with absurd ease, if he managed to get a shot; and she wasn't so arrogant as to think she could dodge beams the way her brother could.

Which makes me... useless... she thought bitterly. One of these days, I've got to get myself a mobile suit, even if it's just one of Orb's mass-produced Astrays...

Meanwhile, Kira was finally beginning to tire of Yzak's interference. Unlike Athrun, his rage wasn't lending anything to his skill; it was just betraying his aim. That meant he was more a nuisance than a threat... but still a distraction, when a distraction could easily cost him his life... and take down the Archangel while he was busy.

Setting aside its rifle, Strike leapt into the air, powerful verniers propelling it at the ZAFT machine. I won't let you stop us, Kira thought. I can't afford to lose!

Yzak grinned savagely. "Big mistake, Strike. Now I've got you right where I want you." He angled his Guul in, rushing to meet the Strike, and his rifle spat darts of coherent light at the machine. "Let's finish this, once and for all!"

Strike twisted around, dodging beneath the first, to the right of the second, and allowing the third to pass between its legs, but the fourth caught it in the right hand. It left it mostly intact... but the plugs that would've powered his rifle were gone, leaving him only with melee weapons.

Still, Kira was not deterred. Getting in close, his fiery blade reached out, burning through Duel's rifle, before ripping up and through the railgun, leaving only a sparking stump. As pieces of weaponry fell from the sky, he flipped Strike on its side, and planted a vicious kick on Duel's left shoulder.

Ordinarily, it would have done nothing; but with its Assault Shroud equipped, Duel kept a set of missile launchers there, and they were not covered by PSA. The hard blow shattered them, setting off the missiles inside, with disastrous results.

Yzak screamed his rage, feeling the shockwave from the exploding assault shroud. Knowing that the alternative was to become even more of a sitting duck than he already was, he ejected the extra equipment; it fell away, tearing itself apart in powerful explosions. "You'll pay for that, Strike!"

I don't think so.

The Duel was now reduced to its beam sabers, and Kira had no intention of letting him use them. His saber flicked out again, this time biting deep into the machine's right leg, and ripping out the side, leaving it with a mere stump. Not content with that, he stabbed lower, into the Guul's power systems... which promptly exploded.

Yzak screamed a curse as he fell from the sky, reduced to helplessness by this... this... When next we meet, Strike, I'll pay you back for all of this!

He plunged into the water, and the Zala team's strength was suddenly reduced to two thirds.

Hades, Bridge

"The Duel's signal just vanished, sir," a crewman reported.

Tom looked at him sharply. "Destroyed, or just dropped into the water?"

The crewman shook his head. "Can't tell, sir; but CIC's best guess is disabled, not destroyed. Can't tell more without surfacing."

"Which we can't do just yet," the ZAFT redcoat mused. "Still..." He activated the intercom. "Leanne, this battle is getting vicious. Joule's out of the fight now, and the Boss is getting ripped up by the Buster. How long?"

"I don't know," Leanne replied; he could hear keys being pressed in the background. "Minutes, maybe; I just don't know. This thing has never been flown in its complete form, Tom, so I really can't tell you how long this is going to take."

Tom sighed. "Understood."

Archangel, Bridge/Marshall Islands

"Duel is no longer within the battle area, Ma'am," Sai reported.

Murrue nodded tightly. "Good; keep me informed."

"Target the Gottfrieds," Natarle ordered. "Lock onto the Aegis and fire!"

"Yes, Ma'am," Pal acknowledged, and rapidly keyed the orders into the computer. With a final keystroke, the massive energy weapons erupted, with just a single, small target in mind.

But this time, Athrun wasn't so keen to be a target; and fury had lent him a dangerous cunning. He leapt off his Guul, into open air, and allowed the massive emerald beams to pass between him and his flight unit, before boosting toward the Archangel. His thrusters weren't powerful enough for true flight, but they could slow his descent tremendously; he used that advantage now.

"The Aegis is above us, Ma'am!" Sai called. "He's switching to mobile armor-"

Athrun bared his teeth in a snarl, and pulled the trigger.

A massive, concentrated stream of phased energy powered out of the muzzle of the multiphase energy cannon known as Scylla, and every erg of power from it was directed against Archangel's port Valiant.

The energy was too much for the linear cannon; it ripped through the mount, shearing computer links, power systems, and physical linkages to the ship like a hot knife through butter. With a mighty explosion, it tore itself apart, throwing debris everywhere.

"We've lost Valiant Two!" Sai reported, as Aegis landed back on its Guul. "Debris has damaged primary levitators!"

Murrue gritted her teeth. "Can we still fly?"

Neumann struggled with his controls. "For now," he grunted. "But I can't guarantee we'll be able to stay airborne much longer..."

Beside him, Tolle jumped to his feet. "I'm going out there!" he announced, heading for the elevator.

Murrue whipped her head around. "You're what? Crewman Koenig, both Skygraspers are already deployed; there's nothing-"

"There's still Falcon's CGUE," he shot back, and before anyone could try and stop him, the elevator hatch closed, and he descended.

Mir paled. "Tolle, no... you don't know how..."

Sai reached over and gripped her arm. "I'm sure he'll be fine, Mir..." Yet he, too, could not dispel the fear he felt in his gut.

"You're tougher than I thought," Ken grunted, as a beam tore through his machine's left elbow, ripping off the forearm. "But I'm won't let myself be shot down today, Dearka."

Buster fired again, this time with its gun launcher; the projectile smashed the already-ruined arm, ripping through the inside -which, of course, was not protected by Phase-shift- and taking it off at the shoulder. "Your luck's run out, Falcon," Dearka hissed. "It's over!" He lined up for another shot; and without his shield, Ken's only recourse would be to attempt a saber deflection, a tricky maneuver at the best of times...

"I don't think so!" Mu La Flaga called, and fired his Skygrasper's hyper-impulse cannon at Buster's Guul. The powerful beam ripped straight through, from front to back, destroying it utterly.

Dearka cursed in surprise and frustration. "No!"

"You lose, Dearka," Ken murmured. "I'm sorry." He deployed his Death Blossoms, aiming for the final blow... and suddenly his machine's left leg tore away, dropping toward the ground far below. "What the-!"

His shots went wide -merely pulverizing Buster's guns and right arm- and Dearka watched in surprise as Raptor began to come apart at the seems. What's going on with that?

Now his remaining arm fell away, and Ken realized he was in trouble. "Stress fractures," he muttered. "Too late... Well, ZAFT isn't getting this machine, intact or otherwise." He pulled forward on his right control bar, exposing the keypad for the self-destruct system, and hurriedly typed two-one-four-seven-zero. A countdown appeared on the display, he snatched his sword and the photograph, and leapt out into the air, trusting his flightsuit's jetpack to at least soften his landing.

Murrue felt her blood run cold as GAT-X107 Raptor erupted in an eye-searing flash of light, tearing itself apart even more thoroughly than the fissures in its frame. "Crewman Haw, is he-"

Mir typed frantically at her console. "I can't tell, Captain, the explosion- wait a second." She heaved a sigh of relief. "Receiving a signal from his emergency transponder, Ma'am; he's alive, and appears to be heading for the Buster's crash site."

Murrue closed her eyes. "Leave it to him, then; Buster's in no condition to move, and I don't think Falcon would appreciate it if we did anything precipitous."

Any relief she might have felt vanished an instant later, however, when the Archangel suddenly lurched, and began to fall out of the sky. "Primary levitator failure!" Neumann called out. "No time to initialize backup levitator; prepare for crash landing!"

She hit her intercom. "All hands, brace for impact!"

Archangel dropped liked the proverbial rock. She had wings, but they were intended more to improve flight performance; they weren't enough to keep her flying on their own. Sheer momentum kept her going long enough to hit hard on land, instead of sinking like a stone into the deep ocean.

And now she was helpless.

Hades, Hangar

"Raptor's signal just disappeared from our screens," Tom barked from the Bridge. "Leanne, there's no time! Launch now!"

"Roger that," Leanne replied. "All systems go for launch. I hope," she added under her breath; this would be Preybird's first flight since being equipped with a Neutron-jammer Canceler. If anything went wrong...

"Bring us up to launch depth," she heard Tom order. "Open topside hatches and activate the linear catapults. Preybird, launch at will."

Above the lethal machine hatches split open, revealing the evening sky, and Leanne took a deep breath. "Leanne Eldridge," she said into the radio. "Preybird, launching."

ZGMF-X00A Preybird blazed into the sky under its own power... and it was looking for blood.

Marshall Islands

Dearka cursed, trying to get his machine to move. "Engine performance down, hydros knocked out... No!" he slammed his fist into the display, frustrated and angry.

And then something triggered his exterior hatch controls, opening it from the outside; he had a feeling whoever it was wasn't friendly... and he was right.

"Hello, Dearka," Ken said coldly. Katana in hand, he stepped just inside the cockpit. "You seem to be in dire straights."

Dearka swallowed. "So that's it, then?" he said quietly. "It ends here?"

"You endanger everything," the ace said once again. "I can no longer tolerate your interference, Dearka; you have no idea how high the stakes are." He pointed the blade right at his friend's heart. "You have one last chance: surrender... or die."

This choice wasn't really a choice at all, but he stalled for time nonetheless. "You've lost your machine," Dearka said, as levelly as he could. "Now what do you intend to do?"

Ken smiled slowly, and that scared him. "Lost my machine, have I? Which one?" And behind him, a machine of crimson and gray flowed into existence, beam rifles in hand, pointed directly at Buster's cockpit. "As I was saying..."

Dearka swallowed. "I see." He recognized the machine, all right; there was no mistaking the colors of the unit that had decimated them just outside Orb, a month ago. "So you were behind it all."

"Yes." Ken turned to face the machine, and spoke into his helmet mic. "Good timing, Leanne."

"No problem, Boss," Leanne replied cheerfully. "I'm just glad to see you in one piece."

"It'll take more than the destruction of my machine to stop me." He paused. "And, Leanne... I'm sorry about Nicol."

He could almost hear the smile in her voice. "Nothing to be sorry about, Boss; he's in Hades' Infirmary right now. The docs say he'll be just fine."

Dearka sagged. "Nicol's... alive?" He slowly raised his hands. "Okay, Falcon... I surrender."

Ken smiled. "Good." he switched radio frequencies. "Archangel, this is Falcon. Suggest you send someone to retrieve Buster and its pilot; he's surrendered."

Natarle's startled voice came back. "Roger that, Commander; we're sending what mechanics we can spare." She hesitated. "And, that machine...?"

"Don't worry about it; I'll be bringing it aboard personally soon enough." He switched back to his link with Preybird. "Leanne, if you'll open the cockpit...?"

The hatch -so similar to the Strike's- split open, followed closely by the pilot's module inside. Leanne dropped down to the ground, and made her way over. "All yours, Boss," she told her commander. "Keys are in the ignition, as you can see."

"Right." Ken looked back at Dearka. "I'll be seeing you soon, amigo," he said. "Now, what about you, Leanne?"

She shook her head. "Don't worry about me, Commander; Hades will pick me up soon enough. Just make sure you kick some tail out there. We worked hard getting that machine ready for you."

"Roger that." He jumped into the cockpit, while Leanne Eldridge ran off... and Dearka was left alone, waiting to be taken into custody.

One battle may have been over, but another wasn't. All the time Archangel had been falling out of the sky and Ken and Dearka had been finishing their duel, Kira and Athrun had still been fighting. By now, Aegis' Guul was gone, and they'd both hit the dirt on an island not far from Archangel's crash site.

And neither one of them had heard Leanne Eldridge's transmission.

"For Nicol!" Athrun yelled, coming out of the air at the Strike, beam saber flashing out.

Kira grunted, and threw himself backwards. His own saber was out -he'd left his rifle behind on the Archangel's deck; without the ability to power it, it was useless- and he parried Aegis' next savage blow. I guess this is it, Athrun, he thought, and essayed a diagonal, right-to-left slash. It all ends here...

His blow ripped a gash in the red machine's skirt armor, and Athrun retaliated with a vicious backhand, which cut a wedge out of Strike's left shoulder. "Kira!"

"I won't let you take me down, Athrun!" Kira used Strike's mobility advantage to try to leap over Aegis; but all it got him an upward slice that tore off his right Armor Schneider sheath. No... I won't let him do this...

"Kira!"

He looked up, stunned, when he heard that voice. "No, Tolle!" he shouted frantically, seeing the slate-gray CGUE land awkwardly on the ground. "Stay away!"

Tolle awkwardly manipulated the machine's controls, drawing the huge laser sword. "I'm not letting him take you out, Kira!" he called, and charged the Aegis.

To Athrun, the CGUE was no more than a noisy fly; even with the energy blade, it was clearly far too clumsy to hurt him. He jumped to the right, dodging the inexpert blow, and lashed out with his own golden blade, ripping into the CGUE's torso.

Tolle didn't even have time to scream as that blade of golden energy tore through his cockpit...and his body. In less than a second, his machine had been bisected, and it blew itself apart a moment later.

On Archangel's Bridge, Mir stared in horrified disbelief as the words "Signal Lost" appeared on her display.

"Tooollleee!"

Behind Kira's eyes, an amethyst seed burst... and when those eyes opened, they were tear-filled, with the wide, clear look of the Berserker.

"Die!" he screamed, a Berserker in truth this day. He clashed blades with the Aegis, before forcing the red machine's blade arm up and out of his way; this cleared the path for his saber to arc up, ripping into and through the joint of Aegis' left shoulder, causing it to fall away.

Athrun blinked, startled, when those blows landed, and were followed up by a vicious kick to Aegis' head. Kira... he's... what's happening?

He didn't know; but his mind and body knew how to react when the Strike soared at him again, crimson energy blade raised to bisect Aegis, much as Aegis had just killed Kira's friend. "I'm gonna..."

Behind Athrun Zala's eyes, an emerald seed shattered to pieces.

"Kill you!"

Aegis leapt backward, out of the way, and rebounded into the air. All three remaining sabers activated, and they clashed with Strike. A vicious cut rent Strike's left arm asunder, leaving it with no shield; a retaliatory stab plunged into Aegis' right eye, shattering optics, melting circuits, and tearing the entire head off.

Athrun took advantage of the momentary opening, left leg saber tearing a gash in Strike's hatch, opening the cockpit to air... and the perfect way to end the battle came into Athrun's hyper-sensitive mind.

Before Kira realized what was happening, Aegis converted to mobile armor mode, and its three remaining limbs closed around the Strike like some kind of giant crustacean. At the same moment, the Scylla multiphase energy cannon began to glow, and he understood that he was about to die.

Athrun's teeth were bared in a smile of savage satisfaction... but the smile vanished when the Scylla died without firing a shot. His eyes snapped down to his displays, and his fists clenched in the realization that he was completely out of power.

But he still had one more trump card.

Just as Ken DiFalco had done minutes earlier, in Raptor's cockpit, Athrun pulled out the crucial keypad, and typed two-eight-eight-seven. A ten-second count appeared, and he abandoned the Aegis to its fate.

Kira stared at the rising form of the Aegis' pilot, and understood too late what was happening. I'm sorry, Cagalli- he thought; the pendant he wore started to glow... and Aegis erupted.

A vast explosion roiled across the island...

Author's note: Aegis has self-destructed, taking the Strike with it… and possibly, Kira, as well… Meanwhile, Raptor has finally torn itself apart, but the Grimaldi Falcon clearly will not be out of action long…

Yeah, I know; really fast update. Frankly, I wasn't expecting to update this soon, either; it just kind of happened that way. Next chapter will probably take the usual five-six days to appear.

In the meantime, let me know how you like this one. -Solid Shark