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

Archangel, Hangar, June 15th, C.E. 71
"Commander DiFalco, Case Red is now in effect. Sir... we're at war."

Within ZGMF-X00A Preybird, Commander Ken DiFalco, alias the Falcon of the Grimaldi Front, closed his right eye. These were words that he'd been expecting; he'd known exactly when the deadline would pass, and the Atlantic Federation's Fourth Naval Fleet would begin military action.

But knowing the moment and living the moment were two entirely different things, and he discovered now that, deep down, he'd never truly believed the Earth Forces would actually do it. That they would actually attack Orb -a nation mostly made up of Naturals, like the Atlantic Federation itself- on a trumped-up charge like this.

Intellectually, of course... This was something he'd prepared for ever since the Panama attack destroyed the Alliance's last mass driver. From that moment on, the Alliance's primary objective had been to acquire a mass driver... and Orb's Kaguya mass driver would undoubtedly be, from their point of view, the easiest target.

Time to show them how wrong they are.

Ken's eye opened; a single second had ticked by on his time display. "This is Commander DiFalco," he said clearly into his radio; he was broadcasting to all of Orb's mobile suit forces, and its naval fleet. "The waiting is over; Case Red is in effect as of now. Remember the plan we discussed... and Godspeed." He paused a beat; it still felt strange, giving the order he was about to announce, but Lord Uzumi and Colonel Kisaka has insisted. It was his plan... and he was crazy idiot who'd started it all. "All forces, engage the enemy."

Archangel, Bridge
"Launch Archangel, Arnold," Murrue ordered, in the wake of the pilot's command. "Romero, arm all weapons; Sai, prepare electronic countermeasures."

"Yes, Ma'am," Sai acknowledged, as the mobile assault ship began to move out. "Preparing ECM and ECCM, in accordance with Case Red Alpha."

"More information coming in from the Fleet, Captain," Flay reported. "The carriers are launching mobile suits; Orb Command reports airborne transports are dropping mobile suits on Izanagi."

"Confirmed," Sai concurred. "Catalogue reports match with the units Falcon's reconnaissance observed at Panama; tentatively ID'd as 'Strike Daggers'. It appears to be a mass-produced variant of the Strike, Ma'am, lacking only Phase-shift and Striker pack compatibility."

"For which we should be thankful," Murrue murmured. "Very well; order our own mobile suits to launch immediately. Ken," she went on, activating her intercom, "are you ready for this?" Her tone was considerably softer now. "You'll probably have to shoot to kill..."

On her right armrest screen, Ken smiled thinly. "Don't worry about it, Murrue," he said coldly. "I accepted that long ago... and I never had any problem killing Earth Alliance flunkies." The light in his visible eye was very nearly as chilling as the silver tracery in his left. "The leader of Blue Cosmos, Muruta Azrael himself, is out here... and they will pay for the Bloody Valentine." He saluted crisply. "We're go for launch, Murrue. Meanwhile, inform Onogoro it's time to test the Astrays under combat conditions."

She nodded. "I'll pass it along, Ken. And... be careful out there."

Ken smiled more naturally. "Oh, come on; like I'd let myself die before I take out GENESIS? Not a chance, my friend."

His image winked out, and Murrue shook her head. One thing you can say for the man, she thought fondly. Once he makes up his mind, the world had better watch out...

Archangel, Hangar
"This is it," Ken murmured, checking Preybird's systems. "In just a few minutes, I won't be the only one here who's officially a traitor to his country."

"You stopped being the only one back at Alaska," Dearka said dryly. "When you convinced me to protect the 'legged ship'... when I opened fire on Yzak."

"Would you two shut up already?" Yzak interjected irritably. "We have a war to fight, don't we? And Freedom," he added harshly, "I'll be watching you out there. You'd better not do anything to humiliate me again, or I swear I'll..."

Kira tilted his head. "Same for you, Duel," he said, just a bit coolly. "I don't want you shooting down a bunch of civilians, like that refugee shuttle you blasted in orbit."

Duel's pilot flinched. "What are you talking about?"

"We don't have time for this," Mu interrupted. "In case you people haven't noticed, the enemy is right on our doorstep."

"Right," Ken acknowledged. "Bridge, this is Falcon; moving to the catapult."

"Roger that, Falcon," Mir replied. "Launch when ready. Do you need a partner?"

"He'll be fine," Cagalli answered for him, from Strike Rouge. "If he needs one, he's got me; but I think he'll leave us all in the dust anyway."

"Whatever," the ace muttered, connecting to the catapult. "This is the Grimaldi Falcon. Preybird, launching."

As Preybird blazed out into the sky, and vanished into Mirage Colloid, Kira's Freedom entered the catapult. Ken's right, he thought. This is it; there's no turning back from the path we've chosen. At least... at least with Freedom, I won't have to kill anyone...

"Freedom, connected to catapult," Mir called. "You're clear, Kira."

He nodded decisively. "Roger that. Kira Yamato, Freedom launching!" The former ZAFT prototype followed its archetype into the blue sky, glorious blue wings shedding sparkles of red.

Cagalli shook her head. "You do have a flair for the dramatic, Kira," she murmured, while Strike Rouge was maneuvered into the starboard catapult. "Even your machine's in on it..."

"You're connected, Strike Rouge," Mir reported. "It's your first battle, Cagalli; are you ready for this?"

"Try and stop me," the blonde replied. "I have to do my part, just like everybody else." She tightened her grip on her controls. "Strike Rouge, heading out!"

"Those two are a perfect match," Mu muttered. "Both idealistic, impulsive... and people you don't want to get mad." He keyed his radio. "Okay, Kestrel, I guess it's you and me next; you ready, 'partner'?"

Sophia grinned. "I may not be in a G-weapon, but I've been itching to try out a mobile suit. Let's go, O Hawk of Endymion... and make the impossible possible."

"Hey, that's my line."

Dearka shook his head. "Ugh; their wisecracking in the face of danger reinforces itself when they're together," he said despairingly. "Yzak, maybe we should get out of here before the one-liners kill us both."

"Oh, shut up, Dearka," Yzak grumbled. "Let's just go out there and shoot something before I die of frustration."

Onogoro Island, Outdoors
It was an impressive array of machines that went out to meet the Atlantic Federation's attack. The vanguard was a force of M1 Astrays, foremost among them a trio piloted by Asagi Caldwell, Mayura Labatt, and Juri Wu Nien; ahead of them was the Orb navy, and behind were various armored vehicles... and the Archangel.

The Archangel, a formidable force in her own right, deployed a series of mobile suits of her own; first the Preybird, which vanished almost instantly into Mirage Colloid, then the Freedom, and the Strike Rouge -identical to the Strike save for its red-tinted Phase-shift, power extender... and the Integrated Weapons Striker Pack, which gave it even more firepower than the original Strike could boast, save in Launcher configuration.

Behind them came the original Strike, in Aile mode, and a gold and sapphire Astray. Equipped with a nuclear reactor, the custom unit also featured a beam sniper rifle, borrowed from a space-adapted M1A. Keeping close to Mu's unit, Sophia's lightly-armored machine would be a force to be reckoned with.

Bringing up the rear were the Duel and Buster. Yzak's machine clove into the sky first, and Yzak grinned as his new wings spread from the assault shroud's spinal support. "Now this is more like it!" he said happily. "Time to show these Earth Forces bastards that they don't control the sky!"

"I think the others are doing an adequate job of that already," Dearka commented dryly; as he spoke, his own machine's six wings unfolded, granting the previously almost-immobile Buster far greater maneuverability than ever before. "But at least we can get a piece of the action."

Unfortunately, their opposition wasn't the sort to just lie down and die. Ahead of them lay the Atlantic Federation's Fourth Naval Fleet, commanded in theory by Admiral James Hamilton... commanded in fact by Muruta Azrael. In addition to the usual assortment of carriers, cruisers, and other escort ships, the fleet had launched fighters, mobile suits... and airborne transports carrying more mobile suits, for direct delivery to the island shores.

This battle would not be won easily.

"All right, people," Ken called, from his invisible command post. "Remember the plan. Kira, Cagalli, you two stick together; Mu, you and Yzak act as free agents, attacking when you see an opportunity. Dearka, you and Sophia provide support fire."

"Got it, Ken," Kira answered, echoed quickly by Cagalli; he might have a slight edge in piloting, but he knew Ken was a far better strategist, and so a much better choice for overall command of the battle... even if the younger pilot had no idea how the ace managed to keep track of everything.

"I'm on it," Mu called, boosting his new machine into the air. "Just give me a few minutes to get the hang of the real thing, and I'll be fine."

"Just give me something to shoot at," Yzak grumbled. "I'll hold up my end."

Sophia glanced at the Buster. "You and me, huh?" she mused. "Good thing we get along a little better than we used to, eh?"

"Yeah," Dearka agreed. "Of course, in battle you can stand just about anybody."

She raised an eyebrow. "You sure about that?"

He laughed. "Hey, I never yet tried to kill Yzak, have I?"

"I heard that!" In a momentary -and typical- fit of pique, Yzak whipped his machine around, aimed his rifle, and sent a blast of emerald energy into the torso of the first enemy mobile suit to enter his sights. The stream of intensively-powerful energy splintered the Strike Dagger's hatch, detonated the control panel, and blew the pilot to a cloud of vapor.

"I think you got your point across, Yzak," Ken said dryly. "Keep it up."

"Oh, just shut up," Yzak muttered under his breath. Taking orders from the Grimaldi Falcon wasn't quite as bad as taking them from Athrun Zala, but it still bothered him.

Of course, he'd never been terribly fond of taking orders, even from Commander Le Creuset.

Fourth Naval Fleet, Tarawa-class Carrier Powell, Bridge
"And so it begins," Muruta Azrael murmured. "I must say, Orb seems to be putting up a spirited fight; and they have more state-of-the-art mobile suits than I'd expected."

Admiral Hamilton nodded. "Indeed; and they have assistance that, in retrospect, we should've expected." He nodded at a display. "It would appear, Director, that the Archangel survived the Cyclops... and they seem to have recovered -and duplicated- the Strike."

Azrael frowned. "The Archangel... that's the ship that had a Coordinator aboard, isn't it? The Strike was piloted by someone called Yamato, or something like that... and those Coordinator lovers even accepted the services of the Grimaldi Falcon." He smiled slowly. "You know, Admiral, I think this may be even more interesting than I'd hoped. I can't wait to see what sort of sneaky scheme the vaunted 'Grimaldi Falcon' has up his sleeve... and with that many high-tech machines, we've got even more reason to bring out the new models."

The admiral raised an eyebrow. "Do we launch those three?"

"Yes..." The civilian frowned thoughtfully. "If I remember right, that machine that saved the Archangel out here a few months ago was concluded to be an Orb unit. If it was, then it's out here somewhere, too... so launch the fourth prototype, as well. We'll need the X215's speed to deal with it."

Hamilton nodded. "Begin launch operations," he ordered. "Deploy GAT units X131, 215, 252, and 370 immediately. Inform Lieutenant Cateau that, while she is to engage at will for the time being, if the interloper appears she is to concentrate her efforts against it. Capture if possible; otherwise... destroy it."

"Yes, sir."

Onogoro Island, Outdoors
The battle had begun in earnest now. Strike Daggers were landing on the islands, dropped by airborne transports, while their fellows perched on ships, adding to the vessels' shore bombardment with their own powerful beam weapons.

Here and there, an Astray fell, blown apart by the enemy fire, but for the most part Morgenroete's creations were proving more than a match for machines which, as it was becoming increasingly clear, were rush-jobs. Painstaking engineering won out over expediency, and for every Astray destroyed, two Daggers went down.

Of course, the Fourth Fleet had plenty more where they came from.

There were also inevitable problems even for the Astray pilots who did survive. Short on actual combat experience, they moved clumsily at times, with predictable -and life-threatening- results.

Juri, hard-pressed by a determined Strike Dagger, retreated desperately, firing her CIWS in an effort to gain breathing space. "Get away-!"

White, blue, and red flashed by, just beyond the Dagger; a streak of emerald pierced the machine, ripping into vulnerable power systems, and the machine erupted in flames and oily smoke. "Gotcha," Mu said smugly, taking to the air again. "Doesn't matter how much armor you put on 'em if a beam will go right through... and these guys don't seem much interested in armor anyway."

"Thanks, Commander," Juri said breathlessly, redeeming her performance of a moment before by slicing a Dagger in half with one of her sabers. "Thought I was done for."

"Don't mention," he told her with a grin. "And don't call me Commander; in True ZAFT, Falcon's the only 'Commander'. I'm just a grunt... and I like it that way."

"Um... right..." She, along with her fellow test pilots, were continually bemused by the likes of Ken DiFalco and Mu La Flaga... and Sophia DiFalco, for that matter. They were all legends in their own right, but they insisted on being treated just like anyone else. It left them confused, unsure of how to act around them.

Kira Yamato was something else. He was swiftly acquiring a reputation of his own, but he remained fundamentally what he was: a young, teenage pilot, who was still getting used to the idea of having the power to make a difference. It wasn't that he was somehow... more approachable than the senior pilots; more that he acted the way they expected him to.

And right now, he was doing exactly what they expected him to: wreaking general havoc on the battlefield.

Right now, he flew high above, keeping an eye on the situation at large; he was ready to lend a hand where needed, while his -appropriately- assigned partner handled more offensive work. Glancing down, Kira winced slightly. Cagalli had whipped out one of the IWSP's nine-meter shipkilling blades, and now held it in a two-handed grip. With a snarl of anger at the people who had dared to invade her homeland, she swung at a Dagger; the huge, katana-like sword entered at the right shoulder, sheared downward with a scream of protesting metal -and eviscerated pilot- and ripped out the left hip. The machine's halves slowly began to slide apart... and then exploded, throwing shrapnel everywhere.

"That'll teach you," Cagalli muttered, and boosted back into the air.

Kira shook his head. Much as he wanted to, he couldn't blame Cagalli for her tactics; she had as much reason as Ken to be angry with the Earth Forces, and her anger, if less tightly-controlled -a given, what with Ken's unbelievable self-control- it was also more tightly-focused. Where Ken had a short way with anyone who dared to obstruct his plan, Cagalli's wrath was reserved -for the moment- exclusively for the Earth Forces. ZAFT as a whole -as opposed to Rau Le Creuset- had not yet earned her full ire.

But if they do... we'd all better watch out. He smiled slightly to himself. Nobody gets in the way of that princess if they want to stay intact...

He shook off those thoughts, seeing a half-dozen Strike Daggers that had made the mistake of clustering together... where Freedom's targeting systems could see them. His face a calm mask, Kira brought up his advanced targeting, waited the few moments for the computer to lock in all the targets... and unfolded his plasma and rail cannons, while raising his beam rifle.

Earth Forces pilots cried out in surprise as limbs, heads, and weapons were sheared away by the impossibly-precise fire from above. Two Daggers fell, each with a leg ending in a molten stump, heads -and targeting systems- blown away completely. Two more simply had their weapons explode, while the final pair were unlucky enough to lose all fours limbs and their heads.

Ken watched from his cloaked Preybird in something akin to disbelief. How did he do that? the ace wondered. Sure, Freedom's designed for long-range interception of multiple simultaneous targets, but the system was never intended for targeting individual limbs like that!

Admittedly, he himself could do the same... with his DRAGOON system, or his beam rifles. But dismembering that many targets at once, with weapons as large -and clumsy- as plasma cannons...

Kira is far from ordinary, Ken realized. There's more to him than any of us ever thought... more than any of us ever imagined was possible. What kind of genetic modifications went into him, anyway? Spatial awareness to rival my own, the eyesight of an eagle... and the reflexes of a rattlesnake.

He didn't understand exactly how Kira could be capable of such a thing... but there was one thing he did know: he never, ever wanted to face Kira Yamato on the battlefield. He was confident he could survive it, and certainly inflict massive damage on the Freedom... but surviving didn't necessarily mean winning.

This is the one pilot alive who could fight me to a stalemate... or worse...

He hoped he'd never have to find out firsthand.

Ken shook himself, returning his attention to the overall tactical situation. He remained under cloak for now -though in less than twenty minutes now, the Mirage Colloid would dissipate beyond the point of usefulness- because he preferred to keep Preybird as a hole card for as long as possible. The Earth Forces knew of the machine's existence, certainly -given the incident outside of Orb in March, there was no way to avoid that- but it was highly unlikely they realized just how capable it was. If they based their estimates off the performance of its incomplete version, they'd be in for a nasty surprise when the time came to engage...

For now, the battle seemed to be in the defenders' favor. Only a handful of Astrays had fallen, and Strike Daggers were falling left and right; meanwhile, the armored vehicles that did little to mobile suits were doing a fair of job of air defense, shooting down the enemy aircraft with relative ease. And, of course, the various G-weapons were wreaking havoc of their own.

Shiho had been forced to sit this battle out, unfortunately; her CGUE DEEP Arms -she refused to fly anything else, even temporarily- was clearly a ZAFT model, and it wouldn't do to show the Earth Forces that some elements of ZAFT were aiding Orb, after all.

Not yet, anyway...

He glanced again at his Mirage Colloid status. Fifteen minutes...

Mu cursed, catching a beam blast on his shield. "There's no end to these guys," he hissed. "Just how many mobile suits can those ships carry, anyway?"

"Too many," Yzak muttered. He fired a hypervelocity shell from his railgun, and had the satisfaction of seeing the Dagger he'd targeted detonate spectacularly; evidently, the shot had pierced the torso at exactly the right spot to hit the machine's battery, triggering a massive -and catastrophic- energy release. "But they can't keep throwing these pathetic toys at us forever. Either they'll run out, or they'll try something fancy."

"I'm betting something fancy," Sophia grunted, and raised her own weapon. A beat later, she fired; the emerald dart smashed through a Dagger's cockpit, vaporized the pilot, and blasted out the other side through the verniers. The machine stood still for a moment, then toppled slowly to the ground... and exploded. The Kestrel cursed then, and raised her shield to splatter an incoming shot. "Anyway," she went on, "whatever else I may think of the current Alliance command, I don't think they're stupid... and they had to have at least suspected they'd encounter top of the line machines. They've got something up their sleeves; I just don't know what... Watch it!"

Strike, Duel, and Astray alike scattered just in time to avoid a pair of heavy green cylinders that came down from the sky. The energy expended itself in a brilliant flash on the ground... but the fact that it was there in the first place boded ill, as did the burst of machine gun fire that followed it.

"Hmph," Orga Sabnak, pilot of GAT-X131 Calamity, grunted. "Missed..."

"So maybe you should aim better next time," Clotho Buer, piloting the machine upon which Calamity rode, X370 Raider, shot back. "Those guys are fast."

"Not fast enough," Shani Andras whispered, triggering X252 Forbidden's Hresvelgr plasma cannon. The weapon would ordinarily have missed completely, but the magnetic field generated between a pair of railguns sufficed to guide it towards its target.

Mu hissed in surprise and consternation, even as he took the brilliant red bolt on his shield. "New Earth Forces models? You were right, Sophia; they did have something up their sleeves."

"Yeah," Sophia acknowledged. "And whatever they are, they have Phase-shift... which not all of us do. Falcon?" she called. "Now might be a good time..."

There was no verbal response... but a sudden flowing effect in the open air revealed a crimson and gray machine in mid-flight. ZGMF-X00A Preybird had entered the hunt.

As far as the Earth Forces were concerned, it was like a demon had suddenly entered the battlefield... as was, essentially, the case. Preybird already gripped its Gerbera Straight in both hands, and all ten wings were spread; it looked like an avenging angel of death, and without hesitation it went among its enemies.

A Dagger simply fell apart, components slashed and shattered by the right-shoulder-to-left-hip diagonal slash, and another fell when Preybird whipped to the left, the violent spinning motion sweeping the incredibly-sharp katana through the Strike Dagger's waist. The pilot survived the initial blow... but the subsequent explosion left no doubt as to his fate.

The DRAGOON units fell from Preybird's wings in the middle of the carnage, and they allocated their beams with lethal precision. An entire squadron of F-7Ds vanished, shattered and melted by forty emerald streams directed against only twelve targets. Incoming shells from the main guns of warships were targeted with unreal precision and blown away before they reached shore; missile swarms ceased to exist under the fire of emerald fury.

The most lethal of the Gray Demons had been unleashed upon his traditional foes once again, and where the instruments of his wrath could reach, no Earth Alliance unit was safe.

Archangel, Bridge
"That isn't a man," Murrue whispered, catching sight of Preybird's rampage. "That's a force of nature..."

"Commander DiFalco seems to have matters under control, for the moment," Natarle observed. "Shall we concentrate our fire on the enemy fleet?"

"Hmm...? Oh, yes, do that," the Captain answered, shaking herself loose from her morbid fascination. "Yes, I think we should leave the mobile suits to the others, for now."

"Orb forces are continuing to hold out," Sai reported. "Astrays currently outnumber Strike Daggers; though it appears likely the Fourth Fleet has a number of them in reserve. So far, our fleet has lost only three Aegis-class cruisers, though loss rates are expected to rise."

"Understood. Concentrate fire on the carriers; if we can take those down, we should be able to reduce the threat."

"Signal from Hades, Captain," Flay called. "Four unidentified machines have been launched; three are already engaged with our units."

Murrue looked at her sharply. "And the fourth?"

"The fourth unknown mobile suit is heading for Sector Three, Captain," Mir reported. "Ma'am... it's heading directly for Preybird."

The Captain cursed to herself. "Very well; warn Ken he can expect something a little more challenging in a few moments."

"Already on it."

Onogoro Island, Outdoors
One machine hung high above the battlefield, unknown to either side. Unlike every other mobile suit in the area, it was simply observing... while its pilot prepared to make a difficult decision.

So it's begun, Athrun Zala thought. The Earth Forces really have attacked... and the Freedom is right in the middle of it. So now... what do I do?

He didn't know the answer to that question yet; so for now, he chose to watch, and get a sense of what was going on. One thing, though, was clear: his assessment of Preybird's capabilities had been just about exactly right. The machine was engaged in a close-combat assault on a group of Strike Daggers, using only its Gerbera Straight, while relying on its DRAGOON system for point-defense. It was a Gray Demon in truth, letting nothing stand in its way...

The Freedom's actions proved to him once and for all that it was, indeed, his friend Kira Yamato in the cockpit. No one else would be using that massive firepower to systematically disarm -not destroy- that many targets. And no one else would be capable of the precision he was displaying; possibly not even the Grimaldi Falcon himself.

Orb seemed to have the upper hand here, and yet... those newly-arrived Alliance machines might well tip the balance. Something about the way they fought, and the massive firepower they were bringing to bear... Athrun's intuition told him that those three machines -and the fourth, headin straight for Preybird- were far more of a threat than they seemed.

And the probability that the Earth Forces have nuclear weapons waiting in reserve... Can Orb even hope to win this?

Athrun didn't know. But now, he began to feel that, just perhaps, he did know what he needed to do... the path that was right for him.

Kira was the first to spot the machine that seemed headed straight for Preybird. Long-limbed and spindly-looking, it was a brilliant white... and appeared to be armed only with a beam rifle and some kind of beam knife. The armament mix looked ridiculous, at first glance, but Kira didn't need his mentor's long experience with mobile suits to realize that the light armor and minimal weaponry were compensated for by the machine's incredible speed.

"Ken," he warned over the radio, "you've got someone heading right for you; another one of the new Earth Forces machines-" He broke off, dodging around a plasma shot from Forbidden. "Watch yourself," he finished hurriedly, and turned back to his own battle.

"Got it, Kira," Ken murmured, swinging Preybird around. "Be careful, amigo." He could spare no more time for worrying about his friend, though; now the new machine was coming for him on foot, and moving very, very fast. He'd need all his skill -and wits- to pull this one off.

The white machine came to an abrupt stop right in front of him, and his radio crackled. "This is Lieutenant Alicia Cateau, Earth Alliance Forces, pilot of GAT-X215 Cobra. You are hereby instructed to surrender immediately and disarm your weapons, or I will destroy you."

The ace raised an eyebrow. "Not going to happen, Lieutenant," he said calmly. "I've come a lot farther than you can possibly know, and I'm not about to give up now."

In Cobra's cockpit, Cateau shook her head. "Then the blood is on your own hands, sir." She raised her beam knife, and sprinted.

Another pilot might've been confused, left off-balance by the rapid circle Cobra was making around Preybird. Ken, on the other hand, was merely watching impassively, as though completely unconcerned... though one Cagalli Yula Athha would've known better. It was merely his habit of gathering information about an enemy before he struck.

Cateau, on the other hand, knew nothing of this. What's he doing? she wondered. Does he intend to just sit there and die, or has my tactic been even more successful than usual? Something about this doesn't smell right... it reminds me too much of the Bloody Valentine... Well, only one way to find out.

Cobra stopped circling, coming to a rest directly behind Preybird, and the knife lashed out for the machine's main vernier. One good stab to that location, even with Phase-shift, should be enough to reach the power systems, and destroy the target in one fell swoop... except that Preybird was suddenly no longer there.

Cateau cursed in amazement. One moment, the machine was there, the next it had gone straight up in a flash, and now it twisted in the air with an agility a mobile suit shouldn't have been capable of, stooped... and transmitted a single, chilling message.

With the inhuman, ascending wail of a peregrine falcon, Preybird fell from the sky, Gerbera Straight replaced by a beam saber, and Cobra had no time to react. The blade of frozen fire, given fearsome impetuous by the fall, made contact with Cobra's right shoulder, melting away Phase-shift, thin battle armor, and control circuits alike; the limb dropped to the ground, sparking and useless.

Before Cateau could begin to recover from the shock, Preybird had landed on one knee... and now swept its saber to the right, going through Cobra's waist in an explosion of molten and shattered metal. The white machine, its helpless pilot cursing all the while, toppled off its legs, landing next to its severed arm.

"All right, interloper," Cateau hissed. "Finish me; I probably deserve it anyway."

Preybird's head shook in a surprisingly human-like movement. "Sorry, Lieutenant," the unfamiliar voice of the interloper's pilot said. "But you can't interrogate a corpse, and for all my hatred of you people for what you've done to the PLANTs, I don't take out my vengeance on a poor soul whose machine has been rendered helpless." It turned to look at another voice, which had just arrived; the new one was the red-tinted copy of the Strike, with its peculiar backpack. "Cagalli," Preybird's pilot said, "take this hulk back to Onogoro's base facilities, will you? I'll want to talk to the pilot when this is done."

Judging from the brief hesitation, Strike Rouge's pilot clearly wanted to argue; but, judging from the tone of the other pilot's voice, he was in overall command, no matter how informal things might seem. "All right, Ken," she said finally. "But I'm coming right back out here, understand? I'm not going to stay back and keep out of trouble, if that's what you're hoping for."

A chuckle. "Cagalli, I wouldn't have gone to this much trouble to get you flying in the first place if I expected -or wanted- you to." Preybird looked back down at Cobra. "I'll deal with you later, Lieutenant. Right now, I have a battle to fight."

Cateau didn't even protest being captured; she was too busy considering the implications of the mysterious pilot's words. Hatred for what we've done to the PLANTs...? So ZAFT is involved here, or at least some elements... I wonder if Headquarters even realizes they were accidentally right... She swallowed, remembering something from her own past. I just hope that man is serious about not taking vengeance, after what I did...

By the time Ken had dealt with the Cobra, and Cagalli had retreated from the battlefield, Kira was fully engaged against the other three machines. He fought alone, as Strike, Buster, Duel, and Sophia's Astray were all busy dealing with Strike Daggers... and right now, he wished he didn't.

I know Ken thinks I'm some kind of super-pilot or something, he thought to himself, exchanging shots with the Calamity, but right now, I'm not feeling that special. No, he corrected himself, sideslipping to dodge a plasma beam, I am feeling special... or at least these guys seem to think I am!

Kira spread Freedom's wings wide, opening them into HiMAT configuration, and targeted all his weapons on the Forbidden. "Take this!" he shouted.

Shani laughed. "You really think you can hit me, loser?" To Kira's astonishment, the instant his fire reached Forbidden's shields, the plasma and laser streams simply curved away, refusing to touch the machine. The hypervelocity rail cannon shells still connected, and forced Shani back... but with Phase-shift still up, they were nothing more than tiny thorns... if that.

Orga chuckled. "Shani, Clotho, you two take care of this guy; I'm going to play with the ships for awhile, got it?"

"Yeah, whatever," Clotho muttered. "If you're gonna go, at least get off my back, will ya? Freeloading jackass..."

"I heard that!" Nonetheless, Calamity obligingly jumped off Raider's back, heading for land, thus allowing Raider to transform into its mobile suit mode... which just happened to be equipped with a weapon called the Mjollnir spherical breaker, resembling an old-fashioned ball and chain, which happened to be massive enough to damage Phase-shift armor.

Slightly.

Well, at least now I'm down to only two enemies, Kira thought, almost sardonically. But both of them have heavy weapons, and can fly in atmosphere...

He considered asking Ken for advice, but decided against it. He probably didn't need it... and he knew what the ace was likely to say anyway. "If you've never seen it before," Kira muttered, "watch it for awhile, find out what makes it tick... and then hit it where it'll explode. Yeah, that's about what he'd say..."

All right; fast-thinking tactics-choosing time. First applicable adage: never face twice your numbers if you can avoid it. So, divide and conquer; knock one of them out of the equation long enough to at least get a few good hits on the other. Alternate between targets until both are molten masses of wreckage.

The black machine first, Kira decided. Knock him away, then engage the green one in close combat. Man, I wish Ken was in range; he's the melee specialist...

Unfortunately, Preybird was then engaged with its own problems. Calamity's unexpected leap had landed it right in front of Ken's machine, with heavy firepower... and facing Ken with a machine he'd never seen before. Right now, he was using his light-wave barrier to intercept everything thrown at him, while he hurriedly attempted to determine what weak points Calamity had... or at least how to get past the nuisance. An additional problem was the strain imposed on the light-wave barrier itself; though with nuclear power, its duration was effectively unlimited, there was only so much strain the generator itself could take before the entire system collapsed...

Which meant Kira was completely on his own for this one.

Well, he wasn't the sort to just give up and die; or stand around wringing his hands till he got blown away. Time to see if Freedom is really as good as I thought.

Kira cartwheeled Freedom to its right, causing a plasma beam to -barely- miss; and, just incidentally, cause Raider's next Mjollnir strike to streak past Freedom into Forbidden's shields. The impact wasn't enough to do catastrophic damage, but it did send the machine back nearly a hundred meters... and irritate Shani.

"Watch it, you idiot!" he snapped. "He's the target, not me!"

"Then aim better yourself, loser," Clotho shot back. "That plasma shot nearly hit me!"

"It would've served you right!"

"Why, you-!"

Kira shook his head in utter bemusement. How can these guys expect to get anything done if all they do is scream at each other? Well, I'm not about to complain...

Taking advantage of the short lull (though given the insults between hurled between the two Alliance pilots, "lull" was not, perhaps, the best word), he threw Freedom back, and got ready for another range-weapon assault. "Dodge this!" he hissed, and pulled the trigger.

Kira's action proved successful, despite having directed all his fire at the Forbidden... for the machine's Geschmeidig Panzer defense was still up. That resulted in the rail cannons shots impacting on Forbidden's physical shields... while the two plasma beams and the emerald dart from his beam rifle curved away, on a course that just happened to intersect with the Raider.

The machine's left shoulder was blown away, vanishing in a flash of green, and took a mobile armor-mode machine gun with it, while at the same moment, powerful red streams burned away both mobile armor claws.

Clotho snarled in outrage at the damage to his machine. "Shani, you bastard! Watch where you use that thing!"

A pair of emerald blasts from below interrupted their petty squabbling. "Shut up, you idiots!" Orga snapped. "Or didn't you notice you've got somebody right next to you shooting at you?"

Forbidden and Raider burst apart, as their pilots were reminded of their overall mission... and the consequences if they forgot it again. "Right," Clotho managed, in a saner voice. "C'mon, Shani, let's get this guy. He's the one behind this!"

Shani smiled thinly. "Right. Die, you bastard!"

Kira didn't swallow; he was the veteran of too many battles to despair. Nonetheless, the sight of both those machines coming at him again, intent on blasting him out of the sky, was most unwelcome... and most unhealthy. Here we go again...

The next few moments were a blur, with machine gun fire, laser beams, and plasma streams going everywhere. Somehow, Freedom danced around everything thrown at it, even managing to return fire twice, but Kira Yamato was outnumbered, outgunned, and outmaneuvered.

Then a narrow beam of red light pierced the heavens, and a column of white light retraced its path...

Kira, recognizing the effect, hurriedly threw Freedom to one side. Now these guys are in for it... In one sense, he wasn't pleased with the tactic being employed, since it would certainly destroy anything it touched; on the other hand, it would very probably save his own life.

True to the pilot's expectation, a stream of red-orange fire, tightly-focused, erupted from ZGMF-X00A Preybird, aimed precisely at Forbidden, and, behind it, Raider. "Try this, Alliance scum," Ken hissed, eye narrowed. "Now you've gone way too far!"

Forbidden vanished behind the tremendous energy release, obscured by the meeting of matter and antimatter... but the stream suddenly arced upward, spearing into the sky instead of annihilating the machine it had been targeted upon.

Ken stared, shocked in a way nothing had shocked him in over eight months. "Impossible," he whispered. "Nothing short of a light-wave barrier can defend against that; and nothing can deflect it!"

For all his vaunted observational skills, the ace had been too busy with Cobra and Calamity to notice the Geschmeidig Panzers; now he was paying for it.

Shani laughed. "Loser! You think that will help you?"

"Maybe that won't," another voice hissed, "but this will!"

In Freedom's cockpit, Kira's head snapped around. It can't be!

Even the ever-unflappable Ken -still in shock over the failure of his Nataraja attack- could do nothing but stare at the mobile suit that came down from the sky like a crimson angel of death... and if he could do nothing, the pair of Earth Alliance pilots could do less than nothing.

Athrun Zala began his blitzkrieg attack by blasting Raider in the face with a Lupus beam rifle -twin to the weapon Freedom carried- thus effectively knocking the machine out of the fight; with the head gone, Clotho's forward view was severely limited.

Then it was Shani's turn, and the green-haired pilot snarled in rage as ZGMF-X09A Justice released its Fatum-00 subflight unit, slammed it into Forbidden, and reattached it to its own back in a flashing movement. "You bastard!" he screamed, his machine falling back. "Who are you?"

"Who am I isn't important, as far as you're concerned," Athrun said coldly. "What is important is this: if you want the Freedom, you'll have to get through me first."

The protective way in which Justice now hung in front of the Freedom, shield raised, rifle aimed, underscored his point; and the mere presence of the new mobile suit was enough to make both Shani and -especially- Clotho freeze, trying to figure out what was going on.

And as they did so, the one thing between them and extreme pain steadily eroded...

Taking advantage of the momentary calm, Justice rotated in the air to face Freedom. "This is ZAFT Special Forces agent Athrun Zala," the red machine's pilot announced. "Do you read me, Freedom? That is... Kira Yamato."

Beginning to recover from the initial shock, Kira's eyes narrowed. "What are you doing here, Athrun?" he demanded. "Has ZAFT decided to stick its nose into this battle... or are you here to try again to 'avenge' Nicol's death?"

Athrun smiled slightly. "Like you, I happen to know that Nicol's still alive," he said easily. "And as a matter of fact, I haven't received any specific military orders regarding this situation. As far as I know, the homeland is, in fact, totally unaware of it. My intervention is my decision alone."

Preybird boosted up to their altitude and hovered, Gerbera Straight in hand. "I'd ask you to prove that," Ken said coldly, "but I don't think we have time. Whether you're still working for your father or not, we have more important things to worry about right now; and if nothing else, I can always kill you later."

"That," Athrun said dryly, "I never doubted."

"We don't have time for this," Kira pointed out, drawing a beam saber. "Let's get them!"

Athrun smiled. That's more like it, Kira. "Yeah," he agreed. "Let's go."

"At least we're in agreement about one thing," Ken murmured. Though once this crisis is past, you'd better believe I'll be keeping a close eye on you, until I know whether or not you're still your father's lap dog. But for now... He reached for a control, and Preybird vanished under Mirage Colloid.

Athrun blinked at that, but presumed the more experienced pilot knew what he was doing. They don't call him the Grimaldi Falcon for nothing; of course, there's always the possibility that he's just lost his mind or something... Ha. Not likely.

While the trio had been talking, Calamity had leapt back onto Raider's back; partly to get a piece of the action, partly to compensate for Raider's lost forward vision. Now the tandem machines, along with Forbidden, where back on the offensive, forcing Freedom and Justice to scatter in the face of heavy energy fire.

"Take this!" Orga snarled, firing his back-mounted Schlag beam cannons.

The emerald beams splattered against Justice's shield, and Athrun's eyes narrowed. "Just retreat, why don't you," he advised; and, in a sweeping motion, drew one beam saber... and connected it to the base of the other, forming a beam staff. He then cleaved downwards, trying to cut Calamity and Raider in half with a single blow.

"Nice try," Clotho sneered, dodging back, and opening up with his remaining shoulder-mounted machine gun. "But you're gonna be a fatality, too!"

"You've played too many video games, Alliance dog," Ken informed him, appearing out of nowhere behind the two machines. "But if that's what you understand... then understand this." The huge katana came down like the a bolt of lightning, destroying one of Raider's engines in an explosion of parts, debris, and shrapnel. "You're terminated."

Clotho's machine fell back, taking Calamity with it, as it struggled to stay in the air. "What's going on, you idiot?" Orga demanded. "I can't get a shot with all this shaking!"

"Like it's my fault?" Clotho shot back. "I can't see, I can barely keep this thing in the air, and you're complaining 'cause you can't get a shot? Get over it!"

Orga snarled wordlessly, but there was nothing more to be done. Without full engine power, Raider was hard-pressed to support Calamity's weight... and without Raider's support, Calamity couldn't hope to get within reach of these three nuisances.

Which meant that both machines were essentially out of the fighting until Raider could be repaired.

Forbidden, on the other hand, was still capable of creating quite a ruckus all by itself, and this Shani proceeded to do. "C'mon, you losers," he whispered. "Try and hit me, why don't you?" He fired his plasma cannon and railguns simultaneously, hoping to take out the Freedom.

Kira, however, was having none of that. I won't let you, he thought, feeling oddly detached. I can't afford to be defeated here. His shield came up, intercepting the plasma beam, while he let the railgun shots harmlessly impact on his Phase-shift. "You won't get me this time. Ken!" he called. "Give me a hand!"

Preybird angled toward the Earth Forces machine from behind. "Right here, amigo," he acknowledged. "Let's take this-"

He was interrupted by a scream of pain from Raider, followed very closely by similar sounds from Calamity and Forbidden, as the drug that allowed the three pilots to fight on nearly-equal terms with Coordinators ran out.

The pilots of Freedom, Justice, and Preybird watched in bemusement as the three enemy machines suddenly turned tail and ran, while their pilots screamed incoherently.

"What in the world...?" Ken whispered. "What was that all about?"

Powell, Bridge
"Calamity, Forbidden, and Raider are returning, sir!"

Azrael and Hamilton both looked up in surprise at the report. "What?" the admiral demanded. "WHY? They can't be out of power yet!"

The petty officer who'd made the report shrugged helplessly. "I don't know, sir; but we can't get anything coherent from the pilots."

Azrael grimaced. They're useless, he thought irritably. The gamma glipheptin should make them more than a match for anything Orb has, and yet they let this happen to them! Idiots!

He sighed; getting frustrated wouldn't change the facts... and there was another variable to consider, as well. Those unknown machines... especially the one that had so effortlessly taken Lieutenant Cateau's Cobra apart. "All right, Admiral," he said at last. "Recall all your forces, for now; we won't get much farther with just the Strike Daggers. I think it's time for a temporary withdrawal, don't you?"

Hamilton nodded reluctantly. "Unfortunately, yes. So, do we suspend combat operations till dawn?"

Azrael nodded. "Yes. And, Admiral... I think it's time we thought of some way to counter that red-and-gray machine's power, don't you?"

The admiral's eyes widened a fraction. "You don't mean...?"

Blue Cosmos' leader smiled. "That's right, Admiral. I can think of one weapon that will stop even that thing, despite its light-wave barrier." He paused. "After all, nuclear warheads do have a rather large blast radius, don't they?"

Sky Above Onogoro Island
Kira, Athrun, and Ken watched in puzzlement as the remaining Earth Alliance units simply turned around and left... but those forces were not the primary concern at this moment for any of them.

"Thanks for assistance," Kira said slowly, looking at the Justice. "But there's one question you haven't answered." His eyes narrowed. "Just what exactly are you doing here, Athrun?"

To his surprise, the cockpit hatch on the Justice slid open, and Athrun's seat rose into view. "I'm under orders from the homeland," he replied. "Specifically, to hunt down and capture that machine you're in, the Freedom. Failing that, I'm to destroy it... along with anyone you may have come into contact with."

Ken's Gerbera Straight lifted slightly. "I wouldn't recommend trying that, Athrun," he said softly.

The red machine's pilot smiled thinly. "Don't worry, Commander; I don't have a death wish. My orders never anticipated that Freedom might make it all the way to Orb -with its own formidable military forces- or that you might link up with Commander DiFalco's Preybird. Of course, the fact that my father has no idea Preybird even exists might've had something to do with that, but still..."

Kira cleared his throat. "So, what are you planning to do?" he asked warily.

"Talk," Athrun said simply. "All I want to do is talk, Kira. A few people have given me reason to question my loyalties... people like Sparky Cooper... and Lacus." He paused. "There are things I have to know, Kira. I have to know what you're fighting for... and, more importantly, I have to know what I'm fighting for."

Can I... can I really trust him? Kira wondered. After all that's passed between us, can I truly trust him now? He thought about asking Ken's opinion... but then he realized that doing so would be pointless. He'd just tell me that it's a judgment only I can make... and he'd be right. So... what is my judgment? He looked again at Athrun, who waited patiently for his response. The last time we met, we tried to kill each other... but so much has changed since then. He's learned that his reason for killing me didn't truly exist... so I guess I have to give him the benefit of the doubt.

Decision made, he raised his head. "All right, Athrun... Let's talk."

Onogoro Island (Late Afternoon)
Every single one of Onogoro's defenders was exhausted. From the surviving Astray pilots, to the elite core of the Archangel's machines, everyone needed a break. Even the crew of the Archangel herself, who had spent their time mostly providing air defense and taking potshots at the enemy fleet, needed sleep.

The only question was whether or not they'd have a chance to get any.

Juri, Asagi, and Mayura were sprawled in front of their machines, barely conscious; this had been their first battle, and it had taken its toll. Now, exhausted, Mayura dumped the entire contents of a canteen over her head while her companions dozed on the ground.

Dearka stood on Buster's open hatch, breathing heavily. Two months ago, I was trying to kill these people... yet here I am, fighting alongside them. I guess... I really have found a place where I belong, a path to truly follow... and believe in. Sighing tiredly, he grasped his zip line, and made his way down to the ground.

Nearby, Mu had just descended himself, and now he dropped to the ground, almost collapsing. "Wow," he breathed. "What a day..."

"Yeah," Sophia agreed, unceremoniously plunking down next to him. "Haven't been this tired since the Battle of Suez, when Andy Waltfeld got the name Desert Tiger. And that was against Coordinators; never thought I'd be in this kind of battle."

"You know what, Kestrel," he said wearily, "neither did I."

Duel had touched down not far from Buster, and now Yzak lowered himself to the ground. What am I really doing here? he wondered, looking out over the assembled forces. Once I swore to take vengeance on the Strike pilot for giving me this scar, but now I'm fighting with him... but why? What is it about these people... that binds us all together this way? He snorted to himself. Ahh, I just can't let them show me up, that's all.

Strike Rouge had returned from dropping off the prisoner in time to help mop up the remaining Strike Daggers (those that hadn't inexplicably retreated, at any rate), and now Cagalli walked away from her grounded machine, glancing around at her country's warriors.

"Good work, everyone," she called, as clearly as she could through her own weariness. "I don't know exactly why they retreated, but..."

Cagalli trailed off then, seeing the last three machines touch down; first Freedom, then Justice, and finally Preybird. It was evident that Ken had waited out of caution, but the fact that he'd landed at all indicated that he saw no immediate threat. So who...?

Then she saw the figure who descended from the red machine's hatch, and she broke into a run. Athrun...? What is he doing here?

Ken watched Kira and Athrun descend to the ground, even as his own zip line reeled out. Maybe now we'll get some answers, he thought... but his eye was narrow, and his free hand rested on the hilt of his katana. But if Athrun tries anything...

Not that he'd be likely to, even if he did still harbor ill feelings toward Kira, for his appearance had attracted something of a crowd. Every pilot who could get to his feet, a number of Orb soldiers, and even Murrue and several other members of the Archangel's crew had come out from the ship. None of them knew who the new pilot was -though Mu had begun to suspect he did- but they all wanted to know what was going on.

Athrun, for his part, was watching Kira with interest. Even as they began to walk toward each other, he took in the flightsuit his old friend wore. That's a ZAFT suit... but not standard ZAFT insignia. So it's true; Kira has thrown in his lot with DiFalco's people. Which means... that he's not with the Earth Forces anymore. Of course, he thought with an mental snort, that was obvious from the way he was fighting out there.

Kira moved with resolute steps, approaching the friend whom he had tried to kill, when last they met... who had killed Tolle Koenig, when the young man had tried to intervene. So, Athrun... you're back. But... what will you do now? Will you still follow your father, even if you can't carry out these orders?

He overheard Ledonir Kisaka saying something about recognizing Athrun, and he raised a hand; he knew the reaction those words would produce. "He's not an enemy," Freedom's pilot told the soldiers, who had raised their weapons. "Hold your fire."

Oblivious to Ken DiFalco, who now held a naked blade in his hand, the two pilots in nearly identical uniforms came to within several paces of each other, and stopped. They looked at each other for a long moment, a silent tableau, as though measuring one another...

Then Kira Yamato smiled. "Hi, Athrun. It's... it's good to see you again."

Author's note: The first attack by the Earth Alliance on Orb has been driven back; and a prisoner has been taken. How will Ken DiFalco react when he learns what lies in her past?

Meanwhile, Athrun Zala and Kira Yamato have met again... and off the battlefield, for the first time in three years. Where will Fate lead these two young souls, now that they have been reunited?

I'm actually not sure if this update is late or not, this time; if it is, I apologize, but I say this in explanation (if not exactly excuse): there was a certain amount of difficulty involved in writing this battle, given the number of mobile suits involved and the sheer power of the Preybird. For the next battle, however, I've got things pretty much figured out... and this story is about to depart from canon, big time. Till then, though, let me know what you thought of this chapter. -Solid Shark