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

Archangel, Hangar, May 16th, C.E. 71
A day after the Archangel had reached safe haven in Orb at last, Ken and Dearka stood in the hangar, discussing the status of the ship's various mobile suits. Now that they finally had time to relax, they needed to be ready.

"...So what exactly is it that Morgenroete plans to do with my mobile suit?" Dearka was asking, gazing at the space where the Buster was usually parked. "This morning they just carted the thing away, saying something about making 'improvements'; what on earth are they talking about?"

Ken shrugged. "How should I know? I do know that Shiho and the Hades crew gave Morgenroete the specs for the N-jammer canceller, though."

His friend gazed at him oddly. "I thought I heard something about a promise to Miss Lacus about how that data would be used...?"

The ace smiled slightly. "Kira promised; I didn't. Look, Dearka, the Shiva Option isn't just the Preybird; it's theoretically capable of fighting its way to GENESIS all by itself... but I would rather not have to try. Besides, we need all the firepower we can get just to protect the Archangel; you guys proved that when you blew us out of the sky on our way here the first time."

Dearka shook his head. "As I remember it, our team came off even worse than the Archangel did. When Leanne swooped in with Preybird... Hey, that reminds me: just how do Leanne and Mu know each other? They greeted each other like old friends or something..."

Ken shook his head. "Beats me, Dearka; that's something that I intend to pry out of them, next time I see them. I'm getting tired of not being in the know. I always thought I was supposed to be the one with all the secrets..."

"Hey, Ken!" a new voice called. "I thought I might find you here."

They both turned, to see Cagalli coming toward them. Dearka tilted his head at the sight; there was something about her, something he'd noticed before, but couldn't quite pin down... Wait a minute, he thought in shock. She looks like...

Ken nodded. "I know, Dearka," he said quietly. "She looks a lot like her, doesn't she." It wasn't a question.

Cagalli looked at both of them strangely, but shrugged it off. "We haven't had a chance to talk since you got back," she said, smiling. "Besides, I thought you might still be in a funk." She gripped Ken's shoulder affectionately. "It really isn't your fault, you know."

The ace grimaced. "So people keep telling me."

She shook her head, and turned her attention to her friend's companion. "We haven't been properly introduced," she noted. "You're Ken's best friend, right? The guy he kept trying not to shoot down?"

Dearka nodded, sticking out a hand. "That's right. I'm Dearka, Dearka Elsman." He raised an eyebrow. "So you were Falcon's gunner, huh? Back before Raptor fell apart?"

Cagalli smiled. "That's me. Cagalli Yula Athha, heir of Orb... though if you call me a princess, I'll shoot you. Fair warning."

He turned to the ace. "Is she bluffing?"

Ken shook his head. "Nope. And if she couldn't shoot you for some reason, she could just tear you apart. She beat me once, you know."

Dearka looked at him in disbelief. "You're kidding."

"Uh-uh. Cagalli here was still a little suspicious of me... no, a lot suspicious. Thought I was Rau's intelligence source at Heliopolis, among other things. So, we had a little set-to... and she won."

Cagalli shook her head. "I didn't win; if I hadn't knocked your eyepatch off, you'd have taken me apart in the end. I may be good, but I don't think I'm quite in your league."

Dearka winced. "Knocked off the eyepatch? Ouch; you'd have been in Africa about then... so the thermal effect must've been..."

Ken nodded. "It hurt. A lot. On the other hand, the end result was that she decided I wasn't really a ZAFT agent after all. That came in handy, a time or two; having a gunner made dealing with Victor a little easier once or twice." He rubbed his eyepatch. "I daresay, though, that she gets along even better with Kira than with me... which is ironic, since one of the first things she ever said to him was 'Let go of me, you jerk'."

Cagalli glared at him. "And just what, exactly, is that supposed to mean? Are you trying to imply something, Ken?"

"Perish the thought," he murmured in response. "Just stating facts, that's all."

She snorted. "Your habit of 'stating facts', as you put it, is what got you into this mess in the first place" Then, seeing his face tighten, she realized what she'd just said. "I didn't mean it that way, Ken," she said hastily. "It's not your fault what Zala's doing with your work. You couldn't have known..."

"So people keep telling me," Ken said again. "But I'm none too sure I believe it. Blast it, Cagalli, I invented the cursed thing; I should've been able to see what somebody like Patrick could do with it. I knew it could be used to destroy entire fleets -that was what I intended to do with it myself- so it should've occurred to me that it could also be used to wipe out the entire planetary population."

Cagalli sighed. "Ken, for as long as we've been partners you've insisted on taking too much responsibility for these things. Look, while it's true you came up with the design, saying that it's your fault what someone else might do with it is like saying that the men of the Manhattan Project were responsible for the Bloody Valentine. The maker is not responsible for everything other people do with his creations."

He closed his eye. "Maybe that's true... but I'm still responsible for ending it. No matter what the cost... GENESIS will be stopped. Even if..." He shook himself. "Never mind; I'm just rambling. Bad habit, but an inevitable consequence of my anxiousness." The ace smiled wryly. "I'm lucky I haven't gone mad yet."

"Yet," Dearka said laconically.

"Shut up," Ken told him, rolling his eye. He turned to Cagalli. "Now, there's something Dearka and I were discussing when you came in; maybe you've got some idea. Just what is Morgenroete doing with the Duel and the Buster?"

She shrugged. "Beats me. All I know is, that ship of yours, the Hades, seems to be busy building N-jammer cancellers; at least two, though I think I heard Leanne say something about building a couple extras... beats me what they'd do with them, though."

"Mm; I figured." He rubbed his eyepatch. "You know, it's usually me keeping secrets; I find this kind of unnerving, almost..."

Cagalli laughed. "About time you had a taste of your own medicine, Ken; now you know how we felt, every time you pulled another rabbit out of your hat." She sobered for a moment. "So, you really do have forces gathering, up in space, huh?"

Ken nodded. "Yeah. Like I said, the Shiva Option is almost ready... but there are things we need to do here, first. For one thing, I highly doubt either ship is ready, and for another... I suspect Orb won't be left alone by the Earth Forces forever. We may have to stick around a little while, and help fight them off."

"You really think it'll come to that?"

He sighed. "I honestly don't know, partner. It's not something I thought about much, when I was still with ZAFT; back then, I was mostly concerned with what the Alliance would do to us. Orb... wasn't something I paid much attention to, aside from noting that you guys seemed intent on staying out of the war. Something for which I was grateful, I can assure you."

"Yeah," Dearka agreed, "you people sure have a lot of neat stuff; you perfected mobile suit energy weapons a lot faster than we did, for one thing. We had to steal it from the Earth Forces."

Cagalli frowned; this discussion was getting a little closer to serious topics than she'd intended it to. Time to change the subject, she decided. And I know just what to talk about...

"So, Dearka," she began innocently, "I hear you've had an... interesting time on the Archangel, since you were captured."

"Yeah, you could say that," Dearka agreed, puzzled. "Anything particular you're thinking of, though? It's all been pretty strange."

"Well, I seem to have heard something about Miriallia trying to kill you a few weeks back, before saving your life... and Ken says you've seen a lot of each other since then."

Buster's pilot turned to glare briefly at his friend, who merely shrugged. "It's not what you're thinking," he said irritably to Cagalli. "Okay, so we have lunch sometimes; but it's not like that!" A new thought occurred to him. Time to turn the tables... "So, what's this I hear about you and Kira? Just about inseparable, or so Mu says."

Cagalli flushed, and glared at him. "We're just good friends, that's all!" she snapped. "Okay, so we get along real well. So what?" She jerked her head at the ace. "Seems to me that there's been more talk about him and Captain Ramius lately than about me and Kira!"

The reaction that remark elicited surprised her. Ken stiffened, his face taking on the mask-like expression of old; an air of coldness seemed to form around him, and he stalked out of the hangar without a word.

Cagalli watched him go, confused. "What did I say?"

Dearka sighed. "Ken doesn't like to talk about it," he said quietly. "And I probably shouldn't tell you the full story; that's his place, not mine. But... let's just say that he lost someone close to him once... and he's not been too interested in forming another relationship since. When somebody brings it up, he either gets angry and snaps at you... or he does that basilisk act you just saw, and leaves." He leaned against a bulkhead. "Frankly, though... I wish the rumors about him and the Captain were true. The Bloody Valentine... it's still an open wound for him. He needs to heal, and I don't think he can do it on his own..."

Morgenroete, Hangar
"These Astrays sure are impressive machines," Sophia murmured, looking up at the rows of MBF-M1s lining the hangar. "Better than just about anything ZAFT has, for sure."

"Except for the new GuAIZ model," Mu agreed. "Which I still don't know much about, aside from that nuclear-powered variant of Huckebein's we ran into at Alaska. Yeah, the M1 should eat a GINN or a DINN for breakfast... or so I judge from the fact that Hades traded her DINNs for Astrays this morning."

Her eyebrows went up. "Did they, now? What about Shiho's CGUE DEEP Arms?"

The Hawk snorted. "From what Falcon's told me, there's no way she'd give up that machine. Apparently, it was in competition with the GuAIZ for ZAFT's next-generation mass-produced model, and lost; but she was test pilot for the prototype, and stuck with it anyway."

"Her choice, I guess; ZAFT seems to give their pilots a lot more leeway than the Alliance ever did." Sophia smiled up at an Astray. "I managed to talk Cagalli into transferring one of these babies to the Archangel, by the way; I'm not gonna be stuck in a mobile armor any more."

Mu nodded. "Not a bad idea; I may have to pull a few strings myself. I have the feeling mobile armors are pretty obsolete now, and I'd rather not have to face the next-generation machines in a Skygrasper if I can help it. It's amazing we survived as long as we did, flying those things."

"That's the truth. Had a few close calls along the way, as it was." She ran a hand through her shoulder-length black hair. "I'm not sure we'd have made it, at Alaska, if Kira hadn't turned up again when he did. Even Preybird isn't invincible... and neither is its pilot," she added wryly.

"Yeah," he agreed, remembering when his brother's heart had given out at a most inopportune moment. "Say," he added, "speaking of Kira... did you notice how much alike he and the princess look? They might almost be siblings..."

"No," Sophia said firmly. "Any resemblance between those two is coincidence; there's no relation between them in any way."

Mu looked at her strangely. "You sound pretty definite there, Sophia. Do you know something...?"

She nodded unwillingly. "Yeah, I do... but I'd really prefer not to go into it. I don't have all the details myself, and I see no reason to discuss it -especially with Kira- until I know more."

His eyes narrowed. "Metzinger's files?" he said slowly. "What could those have to do with...?"

Sophia sighed. "Look, Mu, it's a long story, and, like I said, I don't know everything myself. But take my word for it: Kira and Cagalli are not related."

If they were, she thought to herself, I'd know. I've decoded enough of Metzinger's files regarding his work with Hibiki to know that much... and correlating the genetic information I got on Cagalli with Kira's data, there's no way they're related. Or if they are, the connection's as distant as any between Falcon and Murrue...

Mu, having decided it wasn't worth it to pursue the subject, now chuckled to himself, thinking of something else. "You know, Sophia, there's something I've been meaning to ask: just how well did Murrue and Falcon know each other, before Heliopolis?"

Sophia frowned, thinking. "Hard to say," she said at last. "Murrue visited home with me quite a few times, while we were at the academy; Falcon would've been... let's see... nine through thirteen, I think, when we were at the academy. By the time we graduated, given his... unusual genetics... he was much like a Natural sixteen-year-old. I wasn't sure at the time, but since he joined ZAFT at fifteen and designed GENESIS -quite the feat of engineering- that same year... yeah, he'd have been old enough they might've known each other pretty well."

He raised an eyebrow. "You mean you're not sure?"

She shrugged. "Remember, Mu, that was around the time Falcon and I started to drift apart. To be honest, I tried to stay out of his way when I could, 'cause he was starting to scare me. Metzinger's influence, of course," she explained. "But Murrue didn't know about any of that, so she wouldn't have had those problems. I do know she knew him well enough to be surprised by the change in his personality when he arrived aboard Archangel, though." She shrugged again. "Any particular reason you're suddenly curious about this?"

It was Mu's turn to shrug. "I dunno... it's just that they seem to be getting along pretty well these days. I mean, there's, what, eight years between them, but still..."

Sophia chuckled. "Eight years doesn't mean as much as you might think, Mu; not when Falcon's a Coordinator. Remember, he was making long-range strategic plans when he was sixteen, and fighting battles well enough to give you trouble. Mentally, he's easily in his twenties; intellectually and emotionally as stable and mature as a Natural adult. In fact, as of next month he'll be an adult... by Natural standards. By Coordinator standards -which are really the only ones that should be applied to him- he already is."

He scratched his head. "So, something happening between them isn't totally inconceivable, then."

The Kestrel hesitated. "Well, a month ago I'd have said it was; back then, Falcon had all the apparent warm feelings of a brick. But now... Ever since Alaska, he's been a little more willing to show that there really is a human being under there, however deeply he may be buried beneath the cold strategist. I'm beginning to think that... something happened to him, probably at the Bloody Valentine, that did this to him... and now he's finally starting to come out of his shell." She nodded slowly. "So, no... I don't think it's inconceivable at all."

Onogoro Island, Aboveground Dock
It was sunset when Murrue Ramius emerged out into the open air, not far from Orb's official naval base at Onogoro. She'd come out here in search of Ken... who had mysteriously disappeared earlier in the day. She'd checked with Dearka and Cagalli, only to learn that the last they'd seen of the ace, he was stalking out of the Archangel's hangar, apparently brooding.

Cagalli had been puzzled, but Dearka simply had a knowing look; and Murrue knew why. Unlike Cagalli, she knew exactly what Dearka had been talking about... though the blonde pilot hadn't told her exactly what had led to the topic being raised, and she suspected she didn't want to know.

What I don't know won't embarrass me or make me want to make them walk the plank, she thought to herself. But the question remains... where is he?

To her surprise, Kira was also out there, watching the sunset. Sitting on a small hill overlooking the docks, he was in civilian clothing -khaki pants, blue shirt, and light, white jacket. It was the first time in awhile Murrue had seen him in a civilian outfit, but she supposed it made sense. The Archangel might've joined Ken's shadowy organization, and allied with Orb, but it still wouldn't do to advertise the uniforms just yet.

"Hi, Murrue," Kira greeted, noticing her approach (like the rest of the crew, he'd mostly abandoned ranks). "What are you doing out here so late?"

"I wouldn't exactly call it late," she replied, "though I'll admit there are probably several other things I ought to be doing right now; but on the other hand, there's not much to do until the ship's fully repaired." Murrue sighed. "Actually, I was looking for Ken; he hasn't been seen since a little after lunch, as near as I can find out."

He nodded. "He's out there," he told her, pointing toward the sunset; in the deep red sky.

She frowned, puzzled. "Out there...?" Murrue almost asked what the pilot meant, until she caught sight of a long, narrow wing-shape in the sky, and the eerie call of a peregrine falcon drifted toward her. "He's..."

"Yeah," Kira agreed. "Hang gliding." He nodded at the glider, out in the distance. "I think it's the gravity," he mused, almost to himself. "Or maybe just being on-planet; either way, he doesn't like being on the ground. I think... I think this is his way of getting closer to the sky, to space, where he's always lived; gravity keeps pulling him back, but he longs for the freedom of space..."

Murrue raised an eyebrow. "You're quite the poet tonight, Kira."

He shrugged. "It's the way he thinks," the pilot said quietly. "No, more like the way he is... He's not so different from the bird he mimics, you know. There's a killer inside him, for sure... but it's not personal. He doesn't kill because he likes to, he does it because he has to; at least, in his mind. His mission became his life, and killing became an unavoidable part of it." Kira looked out at the sky, watching the glider soar over the sea. "And like the falcon, he belongs up there, in the sky; as long as his feet are on the ground, he's not happy, because... because he isn't himself, down here."

She nodded slowly. "'The snake, knowing itself, strikes swiftly,'" she quoted softly. "I didn't realize how much he truly hated planets... but I guess I should've, especially after he got lost in the ocean."

Kira lay back on the grass. "You know, people used to think that the world was governed by four elements: wind, water, earth, and fire; sometimes I almost think that's true. If it is... then Ken's the wind, and he doesn't like the Earth much. He doesn't belong here, you know."

"Yes," Murrue agreed. "I know. But he doesn't, does he? He thinks he's responsible for how the war has gone, and he just won't listen to anyone else..."

"Right; so he tries to forget it, bury it within him. Just like whatever happened at the Bloody Valentine, he's tried to forget about GENESIS, and just concentrate on the practical aspects of his mission." Kira frowned contemplatively. "I think... that's why he doesn't get much sleep. He never talks about it, but I think he has nightmares, nightmares caused by trying to keep it all in. He thinks he has to do everything himself..."

"Well," she said quietly, "it may be true that only he can stop GENESIS -he's the only one who can fly Preybird to its fullest, and the only one who knows the exact spot to fire at- but that doesn't mean the rest of us can't help him. Even he should realize it; otherwise, why would he have gathered so many forces, in this 'Shiva Option' of his?"

He shrugged. "I'm not sure he thinks of it that way... but you're right." The young pilot looked up again, and titled his head. "He's coming back," he informed Murrue. "Heading this way."

The call of the peregrine falcon drifted toward them again, and then she saw it: the glider turning toward land, soaring lazily back. He must've seen us, Murrue realized. Not a surprise, really; despite his eyepatch, Ken's eyesight was very nearly as keen as that of the bird he mimicked. And now, having noticed people watching him -and, more than likely, who had been watching him- the ace had apparently decided to come in for a landing.

Somewhere in the interval, Kira had made a discrete departure; and now the glider slid smoothly through the air toward the hill. When it was within a few meters of the ground, it flared up, and Ken's feet touched the ground as easily as though stepping off a staircase.

"I'd forgotten you were into hang gliding," Murrue remarked, when the ace had extricated himself from the fragile wing. "I see you've kept in practice."

Ken shrugged. "When I started, back when I was thirteen, it was just a hobby; but I don't like full gravity, so it's something of a relief, here on Earth. A way to get away from it for awhile." He raised an eyebrow. "So, what brings you out here?"

It was her turn to shrug. "I was looking for you, actually. I'd been told no one had seen you since around lunch, so... Besides, I was afraid you might be brooding again."

He glanced out to sea. "There's a certain truth to that," he admitted. "GENESIS is something I've tried to forget, these last few months. But I guess... I guess it's something I can't just walk away from. It's my responsibility, my sin against the world... something for which I must atone."

Murrue shook her head. "Are you ever going to accept that what Patrick Zala is doing isn't your fault?"

"No," Ken said flatly. "I came up with the plan, I was in charge of construction... and I was the one who came up with the concept in the first place."

She tilted her head. "Just how did the GENESIS project come about, anyway?" she asked, partly to redirect the conversation and partly because she was genuinely curious. "I remember you said something about solar sails, but you didn't really explain it."

He folded himself into a cross-legged position on the ground. "It was back when I was at the academy," he said slowly, thinking back. "There was talk back then of making an expedition to another star; and we needed a new kind of propulsion to do it. So, I started thinking about the problem, and came up with what would later be known as the Gamma Emission by Nuclear Explosion Stimulus Induction System. What it consisted of, originally, was simply a long, well-armored firing chamber, in which a nuclear cartridge would be detonated. This would be mounted on the bow of the ship in question, positioned just behind a solar sail."

Murrue raised an eyebrow. "In some ways, that reminds me of the old Orion drive concept."

Ken nodded. "Right, where you have a heavily-armored backplate on your ship, you kick out a nuclear bomb, and let the explosion propel you; except GENESIS used the resulting gamma radiation, not the explosion itself, to put 'wind' in the solar sail, allowing the ship to accelerate much more quickly than with a more conventional reaction drive." He closed his eye. "Unfortunately... I also figured out how to make it into a weapon. You see, when Patrick transferred me to the Special Forces, he wanted me to find a way to protect the PLANTs more effectively; and I turned my engineering talents to finding, for want of a better term, a superweapon. It was then that I realized that GENESIS could, with a few modifications, be just the 'Fleet Action Counter-Measure' I was looking for."

"How does it work?" she asked, fascinated now. "It seems to me that there's a lot of difference between powering solar sails and blowing entire planets to rubble."

"There is," he agreed. "But the basic principle is the same. What you do is add a disposable alignment mirror to the rig, floating in front of the firing chamber. When the initial stream of gamma rays are fired, they bounce off the alignment mirror, and hit a second mirror, affixed around the firing chamber. That mirror then bounces the gamma radiation back into space, in a concentrated 'beam' with far more power than the original blast." He shook his head. "One shot from that would burn ninety-percent of Earth's surface; a second shot would finish any survivors, and a third would probably blow it to pieces."

Murrue winced. "I can see now why you thought you could stop entire fleets with it. So how do you stop it, if Zala manages to fire it in the first place?"

Ken rubbed his eyepatch. "The primary weakness of the GENESIS apparatus is the inability to fire consecutive shots. The power of the gamma ray beam ruins the alignment mirror, so it has to be replaced after every shot. That process is estimated to take several hours at the least; probably longer the first time, since nobody's ever done it before." He sighed. "The Shiva Option, unfortunately, has a timetable that will almost guarantee that Zala has the chance to fire at least one shot. We need to make sure that both sides are weakened to the extent that each will see the other as vulnerable to a final attack... the only problem being that if Patrick sees his position as that vulnerable, he will almost certainly fire GENESIS."

She nodded slowly. "And when that happens, we have only a few hours to bring it all to an end."

"Exactly. That's where Preybird comes in; it's the only machine that can get there fast enough to do the job before it all goes down... not to mention being the only machine with sufficient firepower to attack the weak point." The ace lay back, eye falling closed. "And then..."

Murrue glanced at him. "And then... what?"

He shrugged. "I have not the faintest idea. No simulation we've run has been able to determine exactly what will happen when the Nataraja twin satellite cannon -a positron weapon, remember- is fired at the core of GENESIS. With all the nuclear weapons there, and a matter/antimatter chain reaction... Come to think of it, we're not sure what will happen when I charge the thing up. If nothing else, by then Preybird will undoubtedly have sustained damage, and if any of the wings are gone, the power spike..." Ken shook his head. "We just don't know, Murrue. All I can say is this: one way or another, it will all be over when the Shiva Option reaches the final stage."

She frowned, not liking the direction this conversation was taking. "Speaking of the Shiva Option," she began slowly, changing the subject, "it began even before Alaska, didn't it? There were a few too many coincidences during the Archangel's journey..."

Ken smiled a little at that. "No coincidence; as you obviously suspect. As a matter of fact, Lacus Clyne wasn't just carrying the blueprints for Preybird and the Archangel-class when she returned to the PLANTs. She was also delivering orders to my people. Archangel was now a priority for the Gray Demons; as soon as Sparky and the others could get forces into position, the ship was to be protected at all costs. Admittedly, it took awhile; but from the time the Archangel left Africa to when we reached Alaska, we were in true danger exactly twice: when we were just leaving Orb, and the immediate aftermath of the loss of the Strike. At other times... Well, Hades trailed us much of the way. They were responsible for destroying Marco Morassim's ship, and you of course remember when Preybird saved our hides on the way into Orb."

Murrue nodded. "So you had people watching us virtually every step of the way," she murmured. "But... there's one thing I don't understand."

He raised an eyebrow. "What's that?"

She turned to face him. "You told us, just last night, that you have another Archangel-class under construction, as well as something completely new; not to mention your obvious mobile suit construction capacity. So... why did you return to the Archangel, at Alaska? You didn't need us; once you were safely off, with your mobile suit at your beck and call, you could just rendezvous with your people, and continue the fight yourself. So why come back?"

Ken was silent for a long moment. When he finally spoke, it was in a quiet, contemplative voice. "When I came aboard the Archangel," he began, "at Heliopolis, I was absolutely committed to my mission. To me, the world consisted of tactical and strategic problems, and people, by and large, were merely chess pieces, the pieces that would decide the fate of the greater game. To put it in a simpler way, I only allowed myself to think in terms of numbers and battle strategies; individuals were far less important than the overall goal of protecting the PLANTs. But... being with the ship changed that. People like you, who tempered duty with humanity; people like Kira, seemingly naive but with, in some ways, a better understanding of the world than I had." He rubbed his eyepatch again. "Make no mistake, Murrue: I am, to an extent, an arrogant man. I admit that; just as I hold that, on the field of battle or in the war room, that arrogance is at least partly justified. But when I first joined the crew, I knew nothing about people. All that was locked away, forbidden to interfere with the plan."

Murrue narrowed her eyes thoughtfully. "And now?"

"Now I've decided that I still know what friendship is," he said quietly. "And that there are certain people I'd like to get to know a little better." There was a peculiar glint in his eye when he turned to her. "Understand something, Murrue: I'm still the most ruthless bastard you're likely to meet; even now, protecting the PLANTs is still my top priority. But... there are some things that I want to learn again, from you, from Mu, from Kira... even Cagalli, sharp-tongued though she may be. I... don't quite understand why you fight, any of you; except maybe Cagalli. She's in this for Orb. But the rest of you? I just don't understand; none of you have any kind of personal stake in this. Kira confuses me most, to be honest. He's made up his mind to stop this war, with a minimum of bloodshed... and I just don't see what there is in this for him."

She considered that for a time in silence. It was something she'd never really thought of... but now that she did, it seemed obvious that Ken had little experience with genuine idealists. He himself was motivated by a fanatical devotion to the PLANTs -and probably, though he would never admit it, a desire for vengeance for the Bloody Valentine- as were most of his fellows in ZAFT. Patrick Zala himself was motivated by the same thing, to a lesser extent... as well as vengeance for his wife's death, a desire to destroy all Naturals... and, just perhaps, a desire for power.

So in the Grimaldi Falcon's experience, idealists were probably extremely rare; and so he couldn't understand them. Enlightened self-interest, a desire to protect, or just plain vengeance were concepts he could comprehend, but someone who fought as Kira did, for an ideal, when he could've stayed out of the war without risking the lives of anyone important to him...

"I don't know if anyone can explain it to you in words," Murrue said slowly. "I understand your problem, but I think this is something you have to experience for yourself. I guess you'll just have to stick around for awhile." She frowned suddenly. "But you know, don't you, that Kira will oppose you, in some of the actions you propose."

Ken nodded soberly. "Yeah, Murrue; I know. In this, I'm afraid the problem is partly that, unlike me, he's not a student of military history. I may not understand why he has his ideals, but I understand the ideals themselves; and I also know that they can't be achieved the way he'd prefer. I don't like the bloodshed anymore than he does... but in war, there's no other option. To bring it to an end, lives must be sacrificed." He rubbed his eyepatch. "'The tree of liberty must be watered from time to time with the blood of patriots'," he quoted. "And this, unfortunately is one of those times; with my knowledge of history, I see that. The war can't last forever... but the sort of single, bold stroke Kira would prefer just won't work."

She slowly shook her head. "To be honest, I don't know which of you is correct," she admitted. "I tend to think that Kira is right... but on the other hand, I don't have your expertise in the area. I guess we'll just have to see what course this war takes; that's the only way to see which of you is right."

"Mm..." He nodded slightly. "Yes, you're probably right. To be perfectly honest, though, I'd prefer Kira was right; I just don't think he is." The ace gazed into the now-fading sunset. "Red sky at night, sailor's delight," he murmured. "If the sky is any indication, we should have a little time to rest... and determine what course we'll take from here."

PLANTs, Maius Four, ZAFT Hangar, May 17th, C.E. 71
It was six days since the meeting in the White Symphony Theater; and now Athrun Zala, his arm healed at last, now prepared to depart the PLANTs on his new assignment. He sat in the cockpit of ZGMF-X09A Justice, and waited for the technical personnel to finish readying his machine for launch.

While he waited patiently, he mused on the events that had brought him here. He had been ordered to track down destroy the Freedom, and anyone who had come into contact with it... but unknown to his father, his mission had already failed.

Father doesn't know about Preybird, Athrun thought to himself. Or this "True ZAFT" faction's total willingness to use the NJC technology to accomplish their goals. And even if Cooper and his people weren't still at large, the only way I'd be able to take down the Freedom -and Kira- would be to get through Ken DiFalco and his Preybird... and I don't think I'm capable of it. Justice is a powerful machine, but that pilot, and that mobile suit...

The problem was that the Grimaldi Falcon hadn't gotten the highest kill score in ZAFT by being incompetent. He was, in fact, a highly dangerous adversary, who had defeated everything that ever tried to get in his way... including a number of ZAFT pilots. And that had been when he was still piloting the Earth Forces machine, the Raptor; in Preybird, from what Athrun had seen, there were only a tiny handful of pilots who could hope to challenge him... and Athrun Zala wasn't certain he was one of them.

Kira could, he thought to himself, but Kira's something else... and with a better idea of just how the Grimaldi Falcon fights. I might be able to take him, in an even contest, but against that new machine, Justice wouldn't be in an even contest; not with all that firepower. Not to mention the fact that Preybird appeared to be optimized for close-combat to an even greater extent than the Justice.

In any case, Athrun's mission was already hopeless, even before it began... and he wasn't certain he wanted to try. Lacus' revelations about Kira's survival, and why the breakaway faction the Gray Demons had formed fought against ZAFT, had made him question what he was doing... and his father's attitude hadn't helped any. All of which meant that Athrun's loyalty was being sorely tested... something made worse by Lacus' statement that she still cared for him.

No, he decided. I can't carry out this assignment. But... do I just gather enough data to prove to my father that it's impossible, and return... or do I go the route Cooper and DiFalco have already taken? Which is the right path?

There was only one thing he knew to do at this point: he had to find Kira, and talk with him. Maybe then... his own inner quandary would be resolved.

Athrun's reverie was broken by a radio transmission. "All systems check out, Justice," the duty flight-control officer reported. "All umbilicals are detached; you're clear to launch." As he spoke, the massive hatch above the mobile suit slid open, revealing a long launch tunnel.

"Roger that," Athrun acknowledged. Here we go... "This is Athrun Zala. ZGMF-X09A Justice, launching!" Putting words into action, he pressed his foot down on the vernier control, and the red machine, strongly resembling his old Aegis, leapt into the tunnel, and out into space...

Archangel, Hangar, May 25th, C.E. 71
"This is quite the machine you have here, Ken," Cagalli commented; she sat in Preybird's rear seat, module closed overhead, examining the systems and database. "And you came up with it all by yourself?"

"Not completely," Ken conceded, from the pilot's module (both were closed to facilitate use of the displays). "Several of the systems are based on those of the original six G-weapons -the Raptor's Death Blossoms, for example, inspired the DRAGOON system- but it's true I had a few contributions of my own. The artificial musculature, for instance, was something I designed to prevent a repeat of what happened to my GINN at the Bloody Valentine." He grimaced. "At the time, I wasn't expecting the same thing to happen to Raptor."

"Well," she observed, "I'd say Preybird would take Raptor apart -no pun intended. I've never seen a machine with this much firepower." Bringing up a gunnery program, she shook her head. "I just don't know how you can keep track of all this during a battle..."

"For one thing," he said dryly, "it's not as if I use every single system at once. I generally prefer the Gerbera Straight or the beam sabers; failing that, I primarily use the rifles and rail cannons, with the occasional use of the beam boomerangs. Or, if I want something very, very dead -or if my opponent is more capable than average- there's always the DRAGOON system."

Cagalli nodded. "And the satellite cannon?"

Ken rubbed his eyepatch. "The Nataraja is something I use sparingly; too much risk of friendly fire, and it stresses the systems too much. That weapon is primarily for when I'm facing entire fleets... and for GENESIS. Other than that, it tends to be a little... overpowering."

"Yeah," she agreed. "An antimatter weapon usually is."

A new window suddenly opened on Ken's display; within it was Dearka's face, and he looked grim. "We just got a report from long-range recon aircraft, Falcon," he said tightly. "ZAFT has launched an attack on the Panama spaceport."

They both tensed. "They're trying to destroy the mass driver?" Cagalli said sharply.

He nodded. "Probably; Porta Panama itself is the only logical target. I think they're getting desperate, after Alaska, if they're trying a stunt like this."

"Not desperate," Ken murmured. "At least, not entirely..." He looked up. "Dearka, do we still have a live feed from that recon bird?"

Dearka blinked. "Yeah, I think so; why?"

"Give me a datalink," the ace told him, the slight edge of command in his voice. "I want to see that data for myself, so pipe it through to Preybird."

"You can handle that kind of datalink?"

Ken smiled slightly. "I've commanded entire pitched battles before, Dearka, remember? In light of that, I've got command and control systems installed in Preybird. It can handle the flow; just get me that data."

Dearka nodded. "Right. Just a minute." He disappeared, and Ken looked over his shoulder.

"Bring up the satellite link, partner," he requested. "And no," he added, seeing the look on her face, "I'm not about to blow something up. It just so happens that the power satellites also have limited reconnaissance capability; thermal and optical only, but it'll be enough to show us what's going on."

Cagalli shrugged. "Okay, I'm on it." Bringing up the program that usually initiated laserlink for power transmission, she quickly found the feature he'd referred to, and activated it. "There it is; now what?"

"Now I see if any of the satellites has a clear view of Panama..." Ken trailed off, flipping between various views, and finally nodded in satisfaction. "Here we are," he said, just as the promised data from the recon plane appeared. "Take a look at this."

She frowned as visual data appeared on her own displays. "ZAFT doesn't seem to have much there," she murmured. "They must be desperate... Wait a second, what's that?"

He raised an eyebrow, peering intently at the image. "That" was humanoid in shape, carrying a shield and a beam rifle... and it wasn't a ZAFT model. "I don't believe it," he whispered. "But I should've anticipated it..."

"The Earth Forces are building their own mass-produced mobile suits," Cagalli realized. "They must've developed a Natural-adapted OS of their own."

"Yeah." Ken frowned in thought. "If I had to guess, those are rushed-job mass-produced versions of the Strike. Versatile, reasonably simple... and, unlike the GINNs, CGUEs, and DINNs, armed with beam weapons."

She tilted her head, watching the new machines tear into the ZAFT attackers. "Will this complicate your plans any?"

"Not really," he said slowly. "Not in and of themselves, anyway; judging from the admittedly limited observational data, I'd say they're no match for even the old Strike, let alone the Freedom or the Preybird. Still... there's the chance that the Alliance has more powerful machines in development..." He trailed off, seeing something new. "Wait; those are..."

Cagalli frowned, watching as GINN walked up to some kind of device that had just been dropped from orbit, and begin punching in some kind of code on a panel on its side. "What are those things?"

Ken didn't answer immediately; instead, he reactivated the radio. "Dearka, tell Command to get that recon plane out of there," he snapped. "Now!"

Dearka blinked, startled by the urgency in his friend's voice, but nodded. "Roger that, Falcon." He winked out again.

Within moments, they were reduced to the data coming in from the satellite, and Cagalli looked at her partner in confusion. "What's going on?"

"I know exactly what those devices are," Ken replied grimly. "And I should've figured they'd be used here. They're Gungnirs, an experimental weapon -another of my designs, as it happens- that produces an electromagnetic pulse, shorting out anything electronic in the area... except for the ZAFT forces, which are doubtless hardened against the effect."

She frowned. "But the Earth Forces machines should be EMP-hardened, too, shouldn't they?"

"Yes... but not against the Gungnir effect. Remember, until now the only way we've ever been able to produce EMP is through high-altitude nuclear airbursts; and those have a more mild effect than a dedicated EMP system like Gungnir. The Alliance forces are about to be wiped out... and the mass driver with them." He shook his head. "This is bad..." If they succeed in destroying the Alliance's last mass driver, the Earth Forces will have no option but to try to take another one. And with Kaohsiung and Victoria occupied by substantial ZAFT forces, that just leaves... Kaguya.

Here.

On the screen showing the overhead satellite imagery, there was bright, electrical flash; and as the Alliance mobile suits began to fall, and the Porta Panama mass driver was engulfed, Ken turned off the display. "I think we've seen enough," he said heavily. "ZAFT has their revenge for Alaska; now the stakes have just gotten sky high... literally."

Cagalli nodded grimly. "What do you think will happen now?"

"I'm not sure... but I am sure that if we're not ready in the next month -probably a lot less- we're going to have problems on our hands."

Out in the hangar, Mu stood in front of the Freedom, gazing up at the powerful machine. These are the wave of the future, he thought. Mobile armors are obsolete, older model mobile suits are no match, and even full-fledged battleships can't compete. This machine, and others like it, have just made me obsolete... I really should see about getting one of the Astrays myself...

Another thought occurred to him then: an Astray would do fine in the meantime... but perhaps, when the Archangel's contingent joined the main body of "True ZAFT", he could get Falcon to build something better... Not a duplicate of the Preybird, though. Even if I could figure that thing out, I'm not sure how he'd react to the idea of having a second machine that powerful lying around, no matter the pilot... After all, it was now common knowledge that Freedom's capabilities had been deliberately delimited to preclude it becoming a serious threat to Preybird, had ZAFT managed to deploy it themselves. Not that it seems to matter; I don't think Falcon realized just how good Kira really is...

In any case, it was clear that the days of the mobile armor as a frontline weapon were over. Mobile suits had the advantage of mobility, armor, and firepower; a Moebius or even a Moebius Zero was no match for this latest generation of mobile suits. Mu had to adapt or be left behind... and the fact that they were in the middle of a war, and were planning to get even closer to the center of the conflict, just added more meaning to it. And with the events that were going on at that very moment...

He heard footsteps, and turned to see Kira walking toward him. "You hear the news about Panama?" he asked the younger pilot.

Kira nodded soberly. "Yeah. According to Ken, it didn't go well for the Earth Forces, either."

Mu sighed. "You know, this just underscores how tough our task is. We've decided to go out and fight against the whole world... and it's not going to be easy. Not at all."

"I know. It's going to be difficult... but I don't see that we have a choice." Kira looked at him sidelong. "Mu, I'll admit right now that I don't agree with everything Ken proposes to do. The way he talks about destroying entire fleets, whittling down both sides in order to force a final, decisive battle... I don't like it, and I don't think it's the way we should be doing things. Too many people would be killed if we did that... and there's too much chance both sides will use their most powerful weaponry, especially if the N-jammer cancellers are leaked to the Earth Forces." His fist clenched unconsciously. "Unfortunately... I don't see that we have another option right now. For now, we do have to follow Ken's 'Shiva Option', however much we don't want to."

The Hawk looked at him sharply. "'For now'?" he repeated. "And what happens when it isn't the only option? What will you do then?"

The Freedom's pilot shrugged. "That depends on what other options present themselves. But I can't let this keep on, even if I have to fight alone. The way the war is going now isn't the right way to end it, and I don't think Ken's path is, exactly, either... I guess I'll just have to let my own conscience dictate what I do from here."

"That's what I've been trying to tell you for months, Kira," Ken said quietly, riding Preybird's zip line down to the deck, Cagalli behind him. "I know you don't fully approve of my Shiva Option, and quite frankly, I didn't expect you to. I happen to believe that it's the only realistic chance our small band has of accomplishing the goal... but I won't try to tell you that you have to agree. As always, in the end, it's you own decision, your own judgment to make."

Kira looked over at Cagalli. "And what do you think?"

She walked over to him. "I don't quite know which of you is right," she said quietly. "After everything we've been through, I'm inclined to think Ken's probably on the right track... but you've got a point, too. I'm tired of all the killing; I just want this war to end..."

He touched her shoulder, with a small smile. "Me, too."

Ken cleared his throat. "I don't mean to interrupt," he said dryly, "but I did have a reason to come out here. We just got a call from Chief Simmons; she wants us -that includes you, Mu- out at the Morgenroete facility. She apparently has something important to show us."

Mu cocked his head. "Maybe it has something to do with why the Duel and Buster haven't been around here lately; be nice to find out just what she's been up to... besides installing N-jammer cancellers and nuclear reactors."

Morgenroete Hangar
"I think you'll be interested in what I have to show you," Erica Simmons said, sounding oddly smug, as the group approached the door to the main hangar area (along the way, Murrue and Dearka had also joined them). "You'll remember that we took temporary custody of the Duel and the Buster the other day, in order to complete repairs and make a few modifications?"

"Hard to forget," Mu said dryly. "What with the big empty spaces in Archangel's hangar."

"Well, we've finished the mods... and now that you're back, I thought we should probably return this to you." As she spoke, the doors slid apart... and the Archangel contingent stared at that was revealed, startled speechless.

There, directly ahead of them, stood the GAT-X105 Strike. Once battered, burned, and sliced to pieces, the mobile suit that had served Kira and the Archangel so well now appeared hale and whole again, unmarked by the numerous battles it had fought.

I never thought I'd see it again, Kira thought, with a feeling akin to awe. After what Athrun did to it, I thought it was gone for good...

Simmons smiled at their reactions. "We picked it up during our search and rescue effort in the Marshall Islands," she explained. "And, since Lord Uzumi seemed to think you'd be back before too long, we figured we'd repair this and give it back when you returned. Toward that end -since we thought Kira here was dead- we equipped it with the new OS you designed the last time you were here."

Mu looked up at it, a strange gleam in his eyes. "You mean the operating system designed for Naturals?"

She nodded. "That's right. Now, I can see that Kira won't be flying it anymore -unless he wants to downgrade from the Freedom, which I doubt- so I guess you'll have to choose a new pilot."

Cagalli took in the Strike's newly-repaired visage. "I'll fly it," she said firmly... and then looked at Kira, recalling that it was his machine, after all. "Only if it's okay with you, of course," she added hastily.

Actually, Kira wouldn't have minded at all... but Mu La Flaga had other ideas. "I'm afraid you can't," he said quietly. "Because that's my job."

She bristled indignantly, but another voice spoke up before she could voice it. "Can't think of a better choice," Sophia called, walking toward them. "Better than flying a Skygrasper, anyway. Right?"

Before Cagalli could explode, Ken leaned toward her. "Don't worry," he murmured, quietly enough that no one else heard. "I've got an idea; and besides, first I expect I'll need to have a... discussion with your father. I don't know how much he'll like the idea of you flying; but I'll manage."

She smiled gratefully. "Thanks, Ken," she whispered back. Any "idea" he has must be interesting... and if anybody can convince my father to let me fight, it's him. Idly, she fingered the gold Order of the Nebula that hung from her neck. Yeah, he can do it...

"So," Dearka asked then, "what about my Buster? What have done with it?"

Simmons smiled. "Right over there, Mr. Elsman. I think you'll be interested to see the modifications we've made to it." Leaving the others at the Strike, she led Ken and Dearka over to another part of the hangar... where a sight that was, in anything, more surprising than the Strike awaited them. "So, what do you think?"

It took them both a moment to think of anything to say. The Buster, once obviously incapable of atmospheric flight, now had some kind of six-winged backpack, with a pair of beam sabers and four peculiar modules attached to the boosters. It looked almost like an Aile Striker pack, but...

Ken's gaze sharpened. "I know that equipment."

Erica smiled broadly. "That's right, Commander. We didn't just salvage the Strike; we also retrieved what was left of your Raptor. The main body was a total loss -unsurprising, given your self-destruct sequence- but the backpack was largely intact, missing only the beam cannons. So, when you guys got back, we thought we'd give the Buster atmospheric flight capability, and some close-combat weapons."

Dearka nodded to himself, a slow smile growing. "I think I like it," he said at last. "The one thing I never liked about the Buster was its lack of mobility. But now..." Then he frowned slightly. "But why keep the Death Blossoms? Only a pilot like Falcon can even use them at all."

She chuckled. "Normally, yes, that's true. In this case, however, we've added an additional program to Buster's OS, which allows for a set of preprogrammed targeting maneuvers to be input into the Death Blossoms units. It's not nearly as effective as it would be with a pilot like Commander DiFalco or the Hawk of Endymion controlling it directly, and it's a lot more likely to be destroyed by enemy fire, but it does give you some all-range capability. And, since -like the Strike and the Duel- we've added an NJC and nuclear reactor, you won't have to worry about the power drain." She reached into a pocket, and withdrew a data disc. "This has some blueprints you might find interesting," she said, handing it to Ken. "They're for a large, physical sword; we'd have built it ourselves, but we judged that standard blades are obsolete, so this design calls for the same material a Gerbera Straight is made from. Since we don't have Lowe Guele on hand at the moment, I thought I'd pass it on to you, since your friend Delaney is capable of forging with that metal."

Ken plugged the disc into his pocket computer, and nodded thoughtfully. "Looks like a zweihander," he remarked. "Huge, with a long handle and a wide, single-edged blade, curved close to the tip..." He looked at his old friend. "So, Dearka? What do you think?"

Dearka considered it. "Might be useful," he decided. "I don't have quite your skill with a saber, so I can't use that to deflect beams; and since Buster doesn't have a shield, this would at least give me some defensive capability." He snorted. "Probably doesn't take much effort to get something that big into a defensive position." He raised an eyebrow. "Well, if the Buster's here, then where's..."

Before he could finish, Yzak's irate voice echoed through the hangar. "Okay, what did you guys do with the Duel? If you lost it, I'll..."

The two ex-ZAFT pilots exchanged looks. "Same old Yzak," Dearka said with a sigh.

"Fortunately," Ken agreed. "I was starting to get a little worried."

Author's note: The Panama mass driver has been destroyed, leaving the Earth Forces unable to send large amounts of equipment or personnel into space. Soon, they may do something drastic to rectify that...

Meanwhile, Archangel's crew has a chance to relax... and retrieves their old machines, with upgraded capabilities...

Yes, yes, I know; late update. Well, it was kind of a slow chapter. I'm not actually sure how you'll like it, either; it was mostly filler, after all. Oh, well. Guess I'll just have to wait and see... Anyway, till next time. -Solid Shark