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

I also do not own the Odin; it is Deathzealot's creation, and the credit is his, not mine

Archangel, Captain's Office, August 13th, C.E. 71
Five days had passed since Sparky's warning of a new ZAFT deployment had reached the Archangel. During that time, the four ships -the three original True ZAFT vessels and the Odin- had done little to prepare; until Sparky's contacts uncovered where they needed to look, there was little they could do about it other than make sure repairs were complete and all systems were go.

That was not to say that the crews had nothing to occupy their attention during that time; Ken, for one, watched with increasing unease as the battle for control on Earth's surface took a new turn. For the past sixteen months, since the deployment of Neutron-jammers in Operation Uroboros, ZAFT had won most of the battles, depriving the Earth Alliance of all their mass drivers and securing effective control of a significant portion of the surface.

Then had come the Battle of Alaska, which cost ZAFT over half their field strength on the planet; and though the Battle of Panama promptly deprived the Alliance of their last mass driver, the tide had clearly turned. With the subsequent reclamation of the Victoria Spaceport -and its mass driver- by the Earth Forces, and the demonstration of nuclear power at Orb, ZAFT offensive operations on the planet's surface had effectively ceased. Within two months of the Battle of Orb, all Earth-based ZAFT forces had withdrawn to Carpentaria, Gibraltar, and Kaohsiung, while others used the remaining mass drivers to return to the space. Earth's regained nuclear power had apparently proven to be an overwhelming factor on Earth itself.

That alone had been enough to concern Ken DiFalco. He knew Patrick Zala better than his own son did, and it wasn't like the man to give up so easily at the first threat of a nuclear strike; Zala knew as well as Ken did that Muruta Azrael couldn't afford to keep flinging nuclear weapons around within the atmosphere if he wanted to maintain the notion of fighting "for the preservation of our blue and pure world".

That meant Zala was more than likely preparing for an overwhelming counterattack of his own... with unconventional weaponry.

Operation 8.8 had been the last straw. Carpentaria had been taken not long after the Ayers Rock Landing Operation, and Gibraltar had suffered the same fate within days. The ZAFT forces that were not captured or killed during these operations had fled to Kaohsiung, whereupon they -and the spaceport garrison- had sought the sanctuary of space. The Taiwanese mass driver had burned in their wake, leaving little for the Earth Alliance to recover.

And the Earth Alliance Forces, dominated by agents of Muruta Azrael's Blue Cosmos, now held sway over the planet.

"The war is entering its final phase," Ken said tiredly, examining a holographic display; once again, he wore an eyepatch over a Prussian blue left eye laced with silver, while a normal eye gazed out from the right. Though they were not completely back to normal yet, he could once again see without the use of clumsy devices.

"Yes," Murrue Ramius agreed quietly, "I think you're right. With Earth in complete control over its territory for the first time since the April Fool's Crisis, the only defensive operations that need concern them are over Ptolemaeus, and their orbital bases... and that never took up more than a fraction of their resources."

Andrew Waltfeld nodded in silence, while Aisha sighed, rubbing the scar the LaGOWE's destruction had left her. "Yeah, that sounds about right," she concurred sadly. "How long do you think we have, Falcon?"

The ace rubbed his own latest scar, the horizontal one over his eyes. "I give it a month before they can begin offensive operations against the PLANTs. Just because they no longer have to worry about defending planet-side bases doesn't mean they can just charge ahead; first they need to consolidate their forces in space. They'll be pulling everything off Lagrange points Three and Four, I expect; Three never had anything of strategic value anyway, and Four only has a few dozen wrecked or abandoned space colonies. There's nothing there that they'd find more important than a final, smashing blow to the PLANTs."

"And they're playing right in Patrick Zala's hands." She shook her head. "They've got no clue, do they?"

"Not unless Le Creuset's been passing them information again," Waltfeld said, speaking for the first time. "And under the circumstances, I don't think that's likely. He gave Azrael information about Operation Spit Break to provoke a massacre; he gave the slimy bastard the N-jammer canceler technology for the same reason. Now it's in his best interests to just let things proceed as they are, since any Earth Forces attack will lead inevitably to the use of GENESIS."

Murrue looked at Falcon. "Does that mean we've done enough? If both sides are already heading for what we've been trying to arrange..."

Before Ken could speak, Aisha cut in. "I'm afraid not, Murrue. Oh, it's a perfect setup in some ways; there's no doubt that this will be the final battle. But without our intervention, it'll likely result in the destruction of both the Earth and the PLANTs. And since we don't have the forces to take on both at once, as things stand..."

"The Earth Forces are in essentially the position we want now," Waltfeld mused. "They were the thornier problem, since they had greater manpower, but we've given them enough trouble to make things difficult for them, especially considering that their mobile suit forces are practically a joke. ZAFT, now... they were never a major issue, since the Earth Forces seemed to be doing the job nicely, but as long as they still have this 'GENESIS Alpha'..."

"They won't have it for long," Ken said grimly. "No matter what it takes, we're getting rid of that monstrosity." He shook his head. "It must be a recent addition to their arsenal, that's for sure; there's no way Patrick could've slipped something like this past me. He wouldn't have wanted to, in fact. It was my job to figure out how to deploy the original GENESIS, so I'd have been the one he'd turn to for strategy."

"Unless he thought you were no longer reliable," Murrue suggested.

Waltfeld snorted. "Not likely, Murrue. If Patrick Zala had at all suspect the Commander here was untrustworthy, he'd never have let him keep the position he had. Besides, look at how much of the data he had on battle plans still proved valid months after his desertion."

"If there was anyone Patrick trusted, it was me," Ken agreed. "I was the strategic brains of his operations, and in charge of his most secret project... not to mention its designer. No, this is something newer... and I don't like it one bit."

That's an understatement, Murrue thought. I thought you were going to explode when you heard the news... not that I blame you.

The discussion was interrupted by the intercom. "Captain," Flay called, "we have new information coming in on the GENESIS Alpha situation."

"We're on our way," Murrue said immediately, and turned to Ken. "It sounds like we may finally have the information we need."

Archangel, Bridge
"We received several messages in the last hour," Flay said, when they arrived on the Bridge. "The first was from Captain Cooper."

Murrue nodded. "Let's hear it."

"We've got some of the data you asked for, Boss," Sparky's voice said a moment later. "Not nearly as much as we'd prefer, but it's enough to give us a ballpark on what we're facing. First of all, we've determined from various reports that GENESIS Alpha is located somewhere within the Debris Belt, probably in one of the relatively stable zones. It's exact location is, unfortunately, unknown, but by correlating data from the Regenerate's raids -of which there have now been several- we've figured out that its base -and GENESIS Alpha- has to be in there somewhere."

"Makes sense," Ken murmured, almost to himself. "The Earth Forces don't patrol the Debris Belt much, and for good reason; too much risk of getting smashed by debris. A GENESIS device, though... that could just blast larger chunks out of existence if it had to..."

"We've also uncovered some information on the Regenerate itself," Sparky went on, "from observational data and some files we've carefully hacked out of ZAFT computers. As its model number indicates, it's in the same series as Preybird, Freedom, and Justice; which means it has phase-shift, the new-model targeting computers... and nuclear power. Like the Justice, it seems to be based off the Aegis, except that this unit retains the transformation capabilities of the X300 frames." Ken could almost hear the grimace behind the next words. "Also... it's huge. A good thirty-five meters long in mobile armor mode, and apparently capable of tremendous speeds in that configuration. We don't know how it does it -or why it's so large- but some reports refer to it as a ship; I guess it remained in mobile armor mode during some attacks, and the size confused people. Anyway, that's about all we've got, Boss, but I hope it's enough. Arkbird, out."

Murrue frowned. "That doesn't sound good," she said slowly. "At least now we know where to look... but I don't fancy taking on a GENESIS unit as well as a mobile suit that large. Machines that big tend to be armed with weapons of commensurate stature."

"I don't like the sound of that speed, either," Waltfeld murmured. "I don't know how a mobile suit could pull that off in the first place."

"I'm afraid I do," Ken said unhappily. "If the mobile suit incorporates certain features, well... You remember what I originally designed GENESIS for, don't you?"

Murrue grimaced. "I forgot. Propulsion."

"Exactly." He rubbed his eyepatch thoughtfully. "If that thing has the proper receptor surfaces on its rear fuselage, it could easily use the emissions from GENESIS Alpha for high-speed propulsion, making interception extremely difficult."

Aisha rubbed her scar again. "Hm; yeah, I bet that would make things difficult. On the other hand, if we managed to capture it, and use it for our own operations..."

"Absolutely not," Ken said coldly, stiffening. "I will not allow one of those devices to exist; the temptation to use it as a weapon would be too great, and I will not permit that. I'll destroy it, even if I have to tear it apart with my bare hands."

She coughed. Oops; sore subject, I guess. Not that I blame him. "Of course, Falcon," she said smoothly. "You're the expert."

"Don't rub it in," he muttered, but the coldness had vanished from voice and expression alike.

Murrue cleared her throat. "Ah, Flay, I believe you said we received several messages? What would the others be?"

Flay nodded, tapping commands into her console. "The next came in from the Serpent Tail mercenary organization; apparently, Mister Murakumo believed we should be kept informed about the situation... though I'm not sure why..."

Ken grimaced. "Word travels fast, Flay; Murakumo probably heard that I was GENESIS' designer, and figured that if anyone knew how to deal with it, it'd be me." He frowned. "I wonder, though... how did he learn of GENESIS Alpha? An informant, maybe?"

She shrugged. "The message indicates that Serpent Tail has been in contact with the Junk Guild, and they learned of it from some freelance information dealer."

"Information dealer." He didn't bother to hide his disgust. "I don't mind mercenaries -not everyone has a cause to be truly committed to- but data traders always strike me as people who deal in information that's none of their business, selling it to other people who have no business knowing it."

"Came in handy this time," Murrue pointed out. "Sometimes you have to deal with people you'd rather never even existed."

"You're telling me?" Unspoken -as it was, in retrospect, obvious- was the reminder that Ken had dealt with the Earth Forces for several months, despite wishing they'd never been born in the first place. "All right, Flay, what does my friend Murakumo have to say?"

"He also had an encounter with the Regenerate," Flay answered. "The Blue Frame was damaged, as was Serpent Tail's Laurasia-class. Regenerate retreated after sustaining minor damage, however, and the message includes vector data on its withdrawal."

Waltfeld nodded thoughtfully. "That could be useful; we need all the leads we can get to find the ZAFT base's exact location." He glanced up. "Did he have anything else to say?"

She nodded. "Yes, Sir. He's on his way to rendezvous with the Junk Guild vessel ReHOME, to enlist their assistance in repairs and consult with them on the current situation."

Murrue frowned. "The ReHOME... that's the Cornelius-class tender, isn't it? The ship that was built to service the Archangel?"

"That's the one," Ken confirmed, thinking. "I missed the Odin data while on Heliopolis, but I picked up on the Cornelius... Lowe Guele and the Professor are using her these days, aren't they? And the so-called 'GG Unit'?" For himself, he'd found the concept of George Glenn living on in that state mildly disturbing; he'd prefer a quick, clean death any day.

"Yes, I believe so," she answered. "Are you familiar with the Professor, by the way?"

"Slightly; I met her during my voyage to Heliopolis on the original HOME. Weird woman, I'll tell you that; brilliant, but strange." He glanced sidelong at Flay. "Let me guess: the next message is from Lowe Guele himself, right?"

Flay nodded. "That's right. According to the message, ReHOME was also attacked by Regenerate, not long after the Serpent Tail incident. The Red Frame's... Power Loader?... unit was damaged, but they succeeded in forcing the ZAFT unit to retreat."

"Power Loader?" Ken shook his head. "Sounds like Lowe's been experimenting again; at this rate, he'll have come up with more equipment configurations than Gai Murakumo's Blue Frame." He shrugged it off. "Anything else?"

"We were contacted directly by Ame-no-Mihashira," she answered; a fact unsurprising in itself. The station and its personnel had been on considerably better terms with True ZAFT since the death of Rondo Ghina Sahaku. "Lieutenant Archer relayed a message from Lady Sahaku, saying that the three Astray prototypes will be joining forces to deal with the clear and present danger presented by Regenerate and GENESIS Alpha, and that they would like to rendezvous with us once the target's location has been discovered."

Ken considered that for several moments. "Events are moving faster than I anticipated," he said at last. "If the saner of the Sahakus has already been in contact with Murakumo and Lowe, and gotten them to cooperate with her... a clear and present danger, indeed." He turned to Archangel's captain. "Murrue? What do you think?" Though he was technically in overall command of True ZAFT, he disliked making unilateral decisions; he'd never operated that way in ZAFT, and refused to change now. Besides, his blunder during what the Odin's people had deemed "Operation Zantetsuken" had given him a harsh lesson in his own fallibility.

In this case, though, Murrue was in agreement with his unspoken analysis. "I think we should do it, Ken," she replied readily. "Neither Sparky nor Tom can reach us in time, which severely cuts down on our forces; and I think both the Junk Guild and Serpent Tail have demonstrated their skill in... unconventional situations. Add in the resources of Ame-no-Mihashira and the Sahaku family..."

He sighed, as though in relief. "Thank you, Murrue; that is essentially what I was thinking. I just didn't want to lead anyone into a death trap like Operation Zantetsuken nearly was."

"Don't start second-guessing yourself, Falcon," Waltfeld warned. "Remembering your mistakes is good, but allowing them to cloud your thinking isn't."

"I know," Ken acknowledged. "The only problem is that I'm not used to making mistakes of that magnitude, so my experience in dealing with the consequences is also limited." He shrugged it off, and turned back to Flay. "Flay, send a message to Ame-no-Mihashira, via the satellite relays. Tell Lady Sahaku we'll meet them on the way, and provide them with our projected course."

She nodded. "Got it, Falcon."

At least they're getting along these days, Murrue reflected. I hear we almost had a bloodbath in the Infirmary after she shot at Dearka; it's nice to see they've put that behind them. "Arnold," she said aloud, "move us out, three-quarter thrust."

"Aye, aye," Neumann acknowledged, and bent to his task.

Archangel swept on, Eternal, Kusanagi, and Odin in her wake, toward what they hoped would be the last battle... before the real thing.

Archangel, Observation Deck
The stars... look so peaceful... Cagalli thought, staring out the tall, wide viewport into space. It's too bad... that we're here to see them only because war brought us back here. To finish what Ken started... what my father died for...

She swallowed hard, remembering Uzumi Nara Athha's sacrifice. His death had been the price they'd paid to bring Ken DiFalco's plan out beyond the reach of Muruta Azrael's nuclear weapons; the weapons Ken's deadly creation, the Preybird, had brought to Orb, because of Azrael's fear of it.

Yet Cagalli had not thought for even one moment to blame the ace. Her father had chosen to die; he could've escaped with the Kusanagi or the Archangel, but he chose to remain behind and suffer Orb's fate, as it was engulfed in nuclear fury. He believed he bore a part of the responsibility for bringing that destruction upon his nation, so he'd chosen to see it through to the bitter end...

No. It was not Ken DiFalco's fault. It had been his war, his creations, his plans that had brought nuclear weapons to Orb, but it had been inevitable that the Earth Forces would attack, once they had lost their last mass driver. The day Panama fell, Orb's demise became certain... and so, while Uzumi Nara Athha vanished in his nuclear funeral pyre, two ships had fled to space, carrying Orb's hopes and ideals with them.

And Orb's heir, Uzumi's daughter.

Why didn't he tell me? Cagalli wondered. Did he feel so ashamed of what my mother did that he hoped to bury it entirely...? ...I guess we'll never know. Father's dead, Mother's dead, Hibiki and his wife are dead... even Metzinger got sliced in half by Ken...

"You look gloomy, Sis," Dearka remarked, floating into the compartment. "Something on your mind?"

"Something like that," she confirmed quietly. "It's just..." She trailed off. "...What did you call me?"

He smiled sheepishly. "Sorry. It's just... that you look just like her. She'd be your age, if she were still alive; probably still would've looked like you..."

Cagalli frowned in confusion. "'She', who?"

The smile turned sad. "My sister, Laura."

"I... I didn't know you had a sister..."

"I don't talk about it much," Dearka admitted. "She died last year, in the Bloody Valentine; that's why I reacted so strangely when I first got a good look at you, in Orb. If I didn't know better, I'd say you were her twin, and sometimes I kinda forgot you're not her."

"I... I see..." In fact, Cagalli did see. She'd noticed long before that her partner's old friend had an air of sadness about him sometimes; he'd get a faraway look in his eyes... usually while looking at her, now that she thought about it. "Did... did Ken know her?"

"Did Falcon know who?" Mu asked, entering behind Dearka. "Oh, hey, you two; didn't expect to find anyone here at this hour." It was a little past midnight, ship's time.

"I couldn't sleep," Cagalli admitted, "and, since Kira's asleep -as he should be, since we've got a battle coming- I came out here to look at the stars for awhile. Thought it'd help me relax."

"Me, too," Dearka murmured. "A lot's happened in the past few months..."

"Yeah," Mu agreed quietly. "Nothing is the same as before..." He remembered vividly the Battle of Endymion, and hurriedly turned his thoughts away from it. "So, like I was saying, who was it that Falcon did or didn't know?"

"It was my sister, Laura," Dearka explained. "And yes... he knew her."

The quiet pain in his voice, Cagalli suddenly realized, wasn't just for himself. "That photo Ken keeps in his cockpit," she whispered in sudden understanding. "That's her, isn't it?"

Mu's eyebrows came together in surprise. "You mean the girl who looks like you?"

"That'd be the one," Dearka confirmed. "She was my sister, and... Well, this is more Falcon's story to tell you than mine, but... I think you should know." He took a deep breath. "Laura was Falcon's teammate at the time of the Bloody Valentine... and his girlfriend."

Cagalli nodded in comprehension, and Mu whistled. "I get it now," he murmured. "No wonder he's so cold... a loss like that, at an impressionable age... No wonder he hates nuclear weapons so badly. And no wonder he wanted to find a way to wipe out entire fleets. It wasn't just to protect the PLANTs... it was to make sure nothing like that could ever happen to him again."

"That's right," Buster's pilot said with a sigh. "It scarred him, badly; I don't think he even remembers what happened after that. Even from the visual records, it's hard to figure out. He was pulling maneuvers the MMI engineers said couldn't be done with a GINN; he was completely consumed by Berserker rage. And..." He paused, closing his eyes. "He's never said her name since that day. He won't talk about her, won't think about her if he can help it... and never, ever says her name."

"He's keeping it bottled up," Cagalli said, voice barely audible. "That explains his outburst, the day I knocked his eyepatch off in the desert. That inhuman control keeps his emotions in check almost all the time... but when it cracks..."

"He's waiting," Mu murmured. "Waiting for the end of the war. When the final battle comes, either he'll die, and not have to worry about it, or live, and finally have the chance to admit his grief when breaking down won't get people killed."

"That's about the size of it," Dearka agreed. "Right now, he's using every bit of rage and grief this war's inflicted on him to fuel his determination; if the war lasts too long, it'll burn him up from the inside, but until that happens, he'll use it as a tool... and never let it out as long as the war is on."

"Except when something cracks that control," the Hawk pointed out. "I saw it, at Mendel; when Le Creuset talked about using GENESIS, Falcon snapped, and charged at him with a sword. That's how he got shot up so badly. And ever since, he's had that Sword of Damocles hanging over his head in a way it never was when Patrick Zala was the only threat." He shook his head. "I've been keeping an eye on him since then... but someone needs to talk to him, soon."

"Yeah," Cagalli agreed. "I think you're right. But... how do we even get through to him?"

The other two exchanged glances, and Mu nodded. "We don't," Dearka said simply. "You do."

She blinked. "Why me?"

"Because you're the closest thing he has to a sister," Mu said bluntly.

Cagalli shook her head. "No way. Sophia..."

"The Victorian Kestrel, lovely as she is, isn't the right person for this," he said patiently. "She's no more blood-related to Falcon than you are, and before Africa they'd not been on the best of terms for several years. You, on the other hand, started with a blank slate as far as he's concerned... and you're also the only person, besides Rau Le Creuset, who's been known to get much of an emotional reaction out of him."

"And an emotional reaction," Dearka added, "is something that would be reassuring to see right now. Besides anger, I mean; like Mu said, hearing Le Creuset's ranting got him so mad he nearly got shot dead."

"Yes," Mu said thoughtfully, "he got so angry he just had to vent his spleen."

Cagalli blinked, then -recalling Ken's catalogue of injuries following the Mendel battle- chuckled appreciatively. "All right," she said finally. "I'll talk to him. I don't know what good it'll do, but I can try. Though I still think somebody else would be better for the job; the Captain, maybe."

Dearka snorted. "Not likely; she's part of the reason I'm worried about him. If you ask me, I don't think what's going on there is exactly one-sided... but Falcon will never admit it. Like you said, he keeps it all bottled up inside."

Archangel, Ken's Quarters
Somehow, Cagalli wasn't surprised when Ken's hatch slid open at the first knock; she'd never seen the young pilot sleep, after all. Rumor said he did so occasionally, but in her experience, he was usually just in a deep martial arts meditation, using that to secure desperately needed rest without risking nightmares.

I always wondered about that, she thought, stepping cautiously in, never dreaming Ken was terrified of the end of the world... literally.

"Good evening, Cagalli," Ken said quietly, looking up as she entered. "Didn't expect you to be wandering about this late."

"Couldn't sleep," Cagalli said simply. "And it looks like you couldn't, either."

"Sleep comes to me less and less easily these days," he admitted, leaning back in his desk chair. "So I meditate, instead." He raised an eyebrow. "But what brings you here at this hour?"

"That," she told him. "Your sleeping problem, I mean; that's part of it." She met his gaze. "You haven't been brooding again, have you?"

The corner of Ken's mouth twitched. "Whatever gave you that idea, partner?"

"I know you too well, partner," Cagalli shot back. "So does Mu, and so does Dearka. We're worried about you, Ken; and you of all people should know that if you let this eat at you this way, you won't be in any shape to fight when the time comes to stop GENESIS."

"That's my lookout," he retorted. "I can deal with my body and mind myself."

"No, you can't," she said firmly. "You're letting this tear you up, and that's bad for all of us. You can't handle this alone, Ken."

He closed his eye. "What are you trying to say, Cagalli? I know there's more to it than that."

Cagalli took a deep breath. "Ken... do you still remember love?"

To her surprise, Ken actually flinched. She'd seen him injured, she'd seen him angry... she'd even seen him happy, once or twice.

She'd never seen him shy away like a wounded animal before.

Dearka's right, Cagalli thought, watching her partner's expression carefully. The Bloody Valentine hurt him badly... worse than he'll ever admit to anyone.

It was the first time Cagalli had seen the quiet, self-contained ace look frightened. She'd just struck a nerve, jabbed him in a thinly-scabbed wound, and now he literally didn't know how to react.

Cagalli gave him a few moments to digest that, then spoke again. "Did the Bloody Valentine wound you that badly, Ken? Was what happened there really enough for you to cut yourself off from other people? One day, you have to move on..."

"You don't know what happened that day," Ken said quietly, in a voice even he didn't recognize. "No one who wasn't there can understand the true horror of that battle. Even Athrun, who lost his mother there, can't truly comprehend it." He closed his eye. "For me, most of the battle is a blank. My birthplace vanished, she died... and my world shattered to pieces. The next thing I recall is waking up in an Infirmary the next day... with a pain worse than any gunshot wound or sword slash." His mouth tightened. "Time stopped for me that day. It led me down a path I should never have taken... a path that's led to me being exactly what Rau called me: the architect of mankind's end. In a way, Kira's right, you know; it was vengeance that drove me to this path. Vengeance that made me convert GENESIS into a weapon. I... I wanted the Earth Forces to try attacking again; then I could extract a blood price from them for that day..."

"I don't..." she began, but he cut her off.

"I can't move on," Ken said simply. "Not yet. Not until the day arrives that I can atone for what I've done. She'd be very disappointed in me, you know; she never would've wanted me to go to such lengths to avenge her. And until I expunge the sin that her death drove me to, I can't move on. And... I'm scared," he admitted; an admission he would've made to no other person. "Scared that if I care for someone again, the same thing will happen... and the cycle will repeat itself. They say there's a fine line between genius and insanity, and they're right. I am a gifted engineer, Cagalli, with a talent for creating powerful weapons; GENESIS' current form came about as a result of my loss... What might I create... if it happened again?"

This glimpse into Ken's inner thoughts disturbed Cagalli. At least now she knew that he wasn't likely to flip out on them... but he was clearly not in top emotional shape. There were things going on in his mind that no one, perhaps not even a trained psychiatrist, could fully understand.

He does see this as atonement, she realized. His mission is to defend the PLANTs... but he's also trying to make up for own his past mistakes. And by forcing a final confrontation, he not only brings the war to a quick end... but uses it as a crucible of fire. A new thought occurred to her, one she wondered that she hadn't considered before. GENESIS Alpha... if he can destroy that, it's a down payment on his own... penance, I guess. His way of beginning to "atone" for his "sin".

"There's no way to convince you that you don't need to 'atone' for anything, is there?" she said finally.

"Not unless you can somehow convince me that I wasn't the one who designed GENESIS," Ken answered. "And you can't, because what I did is a fact. What matters now is that I stop my own twisted creation."

"Even if this guilt destroys you before you get anywhere near GENESIS?"

He surprised her with a slight smile. "Don't worry about that, partner. I may be feeling very guilty, but I also like to think I'm an intelligent person. I'm as aware as you are that letting it dominate my thinking, on the battlefield or off, will ruin my chances of getting rid of it for good. It's just... this is something I need to do. That... thing is my creation, and I'll be the one to destroy it... for her sake, as well as mine."

Cagalli nodded thoughtfully; and then, impulsively, hugged the ace. "Just remember that you aren't alone," she whispered to the surprised pilot. "We're your friends, Ken; even Kira, whether he remembers it right now or not. We can help you."

Ken awkwardly returned the embrace. "Thank you... and I will remember it, partner."

In the end, all Cagalli told Mu and Dearka was that, while they should still keep an eye on him, she didn't expect Ken to lose it completely. She didn't mention anything the ace had told her, though; it was, in her opinion, no one else's business. A very private matter that was his to work out on his own. They could support him, but they couldn't heal him.

And she especially did not tell Kira. Much as she loved him, she was well aware that, given the dark suspicions he already nursed about Ken's plans, learning how intensely personal the battle was for the ace pilot would only fuel Kira's worry about what Ken might do in the final battle that was fast approaching...

Archangel, Bridge, August 15th, C.E. 71
It had taken another full day to locate Regenerate's hiding place -and thus, GENESIS Alpha- with any degree of confidence; and another after that for the proposed rendezvous to take place. But now the pieces were all finally beginning to come together...

"Three ships detected, Captain," Sai reported. "One Laurasia-class, broadcasting Serpent Tail codes, the Junk Guild Cornelius-class tender, ReHOME, and the Orb warship Izumo. They're heading for the rendezvous point as agreed."

Murrue nodded. "Thank you, Sai. Flay, any word?"

The redhead manning Communications nodded. "Yes, Captain. Establishing conference connection now," she added, not waiting for the orders she knew were coming.

The main screen split into thirds, showing faces that Ken, at least, was familiar with. "I see you've managed to make it here, Archangel," the black-haired woman in formal robes began. "Not that I expected any less from your ship."

"Thank you for the vote of confidence," Murrue replied, just a touch wryly. "Lady Rondo Mina Sahaku, I presume? Pardon my... wariness, but..."

Sahaku smiled faintly. "Yes, I do look rather like him, don't I? And I believe your one meeting with my late brother was... less than pleasant for you. Well, Captain Ramius, I assure you that I now find my brother's attitudes to have been somewhat... flawed. Besides which, we seem to have a mutual enemy at the moment."

"Indeed we do," Ken agreed, stepping forward. "Enemy of my enemy is my friend, as the saying goes."

"Yeah," the second figure said in amusement. "And you're probably the one who said it. You're looking well, Falcon, for a guy who rumor says had his eyes cut out a month or so ago."

"A temporary inconvenience," the ace said simply, with a gleam of humor in his eye. "How have you been, Lowe?"

"Busy," Lowe Guele replied briefly. "You have your war, we have ours; except now they seem to be the same one. By the way, ReHOME isn't just here for the operation. Reverend Malchio got in touch with us, and asked us to resupply you. I'm sure you have your sources for that kind of thing, but since we're in the area, and this is the tender ship for your class..."

"Much appreciated, Mister Guele," Murrue acknowledged. "I'll admit getting supplies isn't the easiest thing to do in our position."

"Taking on the entire world, and not even getting paid for it," the man in the third image mused. "Yeah, I can see you'd have problems. Well, I suppose there are times when you have to do things for no profit... though this is a fairly extreme example."

"Wars tend to be, Mister Murakumo," Ken said dryly. "So do gamma-ray cannons and thirty-five-meter-tall mobile suits."

"Indeed."

"So where is the enemy's base, Captain Ramius?" Sahaku asked. "Have you located it yet?"

"We think so," Murrue answered. "About six hours' flight time from here, in the wreckage of an old Island-Three colony. The area's fairly stable, at least for the Debris Belt, which makes it an ideal location for a covert base." She tapped her armrest. "The only problem will be getting our ships into there. It may be 'fairly stable', but there's still a lot more debris floating around there than I like to think about."

"The Captain's right," Natarle put in. "The last time the Archangel came through the Belt was bad enough; this could be a nightmare, especially with the number of ships involved."

Sahaku nodded thoughtfully. "I understand. Well, we can partly alleviate that problem: I'm afraid I can't justify bringing Izumo herself any farther than this. The AMATU, yes, but I can't risk leaving Ame-no-Mihashira completely unguarded, so the ship will have to remain here."

"I understand," Murrue agreed. "I assume, then, that you'll be hitching a ride with another of the ships on the way in?"

"We'll be carrying the AMATU with the ReHOME," Lowe informed her. "I know it's kinda weird -the last time I saw that machine in combat, it broke my Gerbera Straight- but we can't let that stand between us right now."

"Agreed." Ken's expression had turned cold. "I'll be transmitting partial data on the original GENESIS; enough to show you potential weak points." His voice hardened. "I'd give you the entire specs, but quite frankly, I find it bad enough that even one complete set exists. I won't take the risk of a hacker obtaining another, and selling the data to someone who could actually make use of it."

"Understandable," Gai said thoughtfully. "Possibly overly paranoid, but understandable. You realize, I take it, that the data on the original design may not pertain to this 'GENESIS Alpha'?"

"Some points of congruity have to exist," the ace said patiently. "They work on the same principle, and this is doubtless derived from my original design. In that case, there are a number of factors which must remain constant, or the machine simply will not work." His eye narrowed. "Remember, all of you: I won't presume to give you orders; I have no authority over you at all. But I will not permit GENESIS Alpha's continued existence. However useful it might potentially be in a non-combat role, the danger it represents is far too great... especially in such close proximity to Earth itself."

"Understood," Sahaku said simply. "You're the expert here, Commander DiFalco, and arguably the man with jurisdiction over the matter... particularly if considered in light of the fact that you are, technically, still a ZAFT solider, however... irregular your current status -and operations- may be."

"Then we're in agreement," Murrue said decisively. "Flay, signal the other ships; Miriallia, have all pilots report to their machines."Her expression hardened with determination. "We're moving out."

A six hour journey in toward the suspected location of the base... a tedious wait, but one which proved to be worth it in the end.

"We've found it, Captain," Sai reported with satisfaction. "Definitely standby ECM coming from that wreckage ahead of us; and we're reading radiation traces consistent with what Falcon told us to expect from a GENESIS device. Also, we're detecting power levels consistent with some sort of base."

Murrue nodded. "Which means this 'Regenerate' must be here somewhere." She brought up her right-hand intercom panel. "Ken? We've located GENESIS Alpha; we're ready to proceed."

"Roger that," Ken replied, from Preybird's cockpit; he looked supremely satisfied to be in the pilot's seat once again. "Flay, patch me into external radio-"

"Status change!" Tonomura barked. "Increase in radiation detected; readings consistent with armed nuclear warhead-"

"Get us out of here!" Ken snapped, what could be seen of his face having gone pale. "GENESIS is about to activate-"

Before he finished speaking, Neumann wrenched his helm controls, hauling the Archangel around in a hard turn above and to starboard, while Odin, Eternal, and Kusanagi scattered. Murrue felt herself pressed into her seat as the ship came around-

A massive column of energy scorched through the space they'd occupied moments earlier, narrowly missing ReHOME and Serpent Tail's Laurasia. Debris vanished under the bombardment of coherent gamma rays, incinerated by the blast that rivaled a positron cannon's power.

"That bastard..." Ken whispered, actually sounding shaken. "Whoever fired that shot, I'll kill him..."

"Later, Ken," Murrue said sharply. "What can you tell me about that shot?"

He took a breath. "Actually, we have good news. From what I saw of it from here, that beam wasn't quite what I was expecting; GENESIS Alpha is clearly much smaller than the original design."

"If that was small," Halberton said from the Odin, "I don't think I want to meet its big brother. What now?"

Natarle was the one who answered that. "Murrue, I think this battle is one for the mobile suits; the ships stand too much chance of being destroyed by that gamma ray cannon. I say we deploy our machines and retreat to a safe distance."

"Concur," Ken said at once. "This isn't like Zantetsuken; and this is the Debris Belt. Mobile suits will have a better chance of navigating through this mess, and we also should be able to dodge GENESIS Alpha's attacks with fair ease." He paused. "Keep our mass-produced units out of this; I don't like the idea of pitting Astrays or even GuAIZs against GENESIS or Regenerate. Or any form of Strike Dagger, Lewis, save Lieutenant Chevalier's Gunbarrel-equipped unit."

"He's right," Murrue agreed. "Admiral?"

"Yes, I agree," Halberton murmured. "All right; we'll send out Morgan, then withdraw. Kusanagi, Eternal, I suggest you get clear entirely."

"We could help with the METEOR units-" Lacus began, on Eternal's Bridge; surprisingly, it was Kira who cut her off.

"No, Lacus; I think we should keep that capability in reserve for now. Besides, there's too much debris around here. We might suck it into an engine or something."

"Probably true," Lowe concurred from ReHOME. "Leave this to us, Miss Lacus; we can take care of it." His usually cheerful face had a positively savage expression on it now. "I owe that bastard in the Regenerate... and I intend to make sure he collects."

Ken raised an eyebrow at the response, but said nothing, instead turning to other matter. "As I was saying before, Flay, please patch me into external communications."

Flay nodded. "Right away, Falcon."

As soon as the connection was established, Ken gazed into his own displays. "Attention, ZAFT forces stationed at the GENESIS Alpha facility. This is Commander Kenneth DiFalco, formerly of ZAFT Special Forces. What are you doing, and why did you fire without provocation? Answer me!"

Murrue leaned back, wondering exactly what he was up to. Trying to confuse them? Might work; ZAFT's never been entirely sure what to think of his desertion...

The voice that answered the ace's challenge, however, was not at all encouraging. "You think the questions of a traitor matter any to me?" the mocking voice said. "Not that I mind that you turned, DiFalco; just gives me even more excuse to kill as many of you as I can!"

In his cockpit, Ken visibly stiffened. "I know that voice," he hissed. "Ash Gray... I'm stunned even Patrick would've let a psychopath like you remain in ZAFT. You should've been executed years ago."

"Sometimes Chairman Zala likes having a guy like me around," Ash Gray replied. "Sometimes even he appreciates someone who just wants to kill..."

"Flay, cut transmission," Ken snapped angrily. "Murrue, we're launching immediately."

Murrue nodded, though more than a little confused by the byplay between the pilots. "All right, Ken, but... who is that?"

"Just what I called him: a psychopath. I ran into him years ago, and he seems to be just as deranged now as he was then; a cheerful, crazed murderer who keeps a collection of dolls, one for each person he kills..."

She shuddered... and understood the pilot's fury. If there was one thing Ken DiFalco hated, it was a blotch on ZAFT's honor. A blotch that also happened to be a murderer... So, Ken... you do have some human urges in there... like revenge. I only wish we could help you.

"All right, Ken. Go get him."

Debris Belt, GENESIS Alpha
From three vessels, mobile suits poured out into space. Freedom and Justice took the lead off the Archangel's flight decks, while the Astray Red Frame and Gold Frame AMATU lifted off from the ReHOME, along with the Blue Frame in Second L configuration from the Serpent Tail's frigate. They took point, spearing toward GENESIS Alpha itself, while Strike and Hyperion launched from Archangel, then Duel and Buster, Strike Rouge... and finally ZGMF-X00A Preybird.

Ken's cold anger at the circumstances of the battle was leavened somewhat by the pleasure he derived from being back in the cockpit at last. He'd been too long away, waiting for his eyes to regenerate... and now he was back where he belonged, on the field of battle.

Preybird wasn't carrying quite the usual weaponry as it set out; this time, its pilot had deemed it wise to have a more powerful long arm, and so did not carry its standard Talon beam rifles. Instead, another weapon Tom Delaney had constructed since True ZAFT came together was held in both the mobile suit's massive hands: a powerful plasma rifle, with energy output comparable with an Agni hyper-impulse cannon. The Grimaldi Falcon wanted Ash Gray dead, and he was intent on accomplishing it by any means necessary.

This isn't what I've been fighting for all this time, he thought angrily, boosting toward the area he knew Regenerate would be coming from. I haven't fought this hard, spilled so much blood, just for some murdering bastard like Gray to run amuck and tarnish what little reputation ZAFT still has!

"What's the plan, Falcon?" Mu called, moving cautiously toward the ZAFT base; for this operation, the Strike was in Aile mode, as there was enough debris about to potentially entangle gunbarrels.

"I want you, Sophia, Dearka, and Yzak to go for GENESIS Alpha," the ace replied, gaze never wavering from his own course. "You've got the partial specs in your targeting computers; it'll probably take massed fire to break through. The rest of you, we'd best be on the lookout for Regenerate. I don't know what that thing can do, but-"

"Incoming fire!" Sophia snapped, fleeing Hyperion to one side as beams erupted from behind a nearby chunk of debris. "Mobile suits hidden in a Mirage Colloid field-"

Two dozen GuAIZs now blazed toward them, firing their beam rifles toward the contingent heading for GENESIS Alpha... and behind them was a huge, purple mobile suit, in mobile armor form, looking remarkably like a warped, overgrown version of the old Aegis.

"I see you, DiFalco," Gray said hungrily. "You'll make a fine kill... now die!"

"We'll handle the GuAIZs," Mu said hurriedly, "and try to get to GENESIS Alpha. Falcon, he's all yours; leave the rest to us."

"He's right, Falcon," Kira agreed. "We can handle Regenerate."

Ken nodded, face now a mask. "Yes. Let's take him."

The battle dissolved into chaos, with most of True ZAFT's G-weapons vanishing into a tangle of GuAIZs, while Preybird, Freedom, Justice, and the three Astray prototypes made for Regenerate itself. It should've been a one-sided battle... but battle is seldom that simple.

Ash Gray hadn't been picked for his position for no reason; if he hadn't been good, ZAFT itself would've executed him long before. So when he saw no fewer than three nuclear power machines headed his way -all of them earlier models than his own, but very deadly nonetheless- as well as the Astray prototypes he'd faced before, he sent a single command to his base... and another burst of gamma radiation scorched through space.

Ken swallowed a curse as Regenerate caught the beam on its rear panels, turning the deadly emissions into sheer speed. As the enemy unit blazed through his own formation, he boosted Preybird to the side, raised the plasma rifle, and sent a scorching blast toward Regenerate.

Still riding that incredible speed, Gray twitched aside, allowing the blast to blaze harmlessly past. "Pathetic, DiFalco," he crowed, and converted his machine to a bizarre, four-legged attack mode... complete with a very large rifle of his own. "Take this!"

The retaliatory attack had come faster than Ken had anticipated, and his plasma rifle was smashed away before he could attempt defensive maneuvers. "Bastard," he hissed to himself, and hit several controls on his main panel, just as a second, and even a third high-energy beam streaked toward him.

"Ken!" Kira shouted in horror, seeing Preybird vanish in a maelstrom of fire and warped energy. "Ken-!"

Gray smiled insanely within his cockpit. "So much for the famed Grimaldi Falcon," he said in exaltation. "The reality was no match for the legend after all!"

"Wanna bet?"

Regenerate's pilot blinked, for out of the blaze of glory came Preybird, all ten wings spread... and the distinctive multifaceted sphere of a full light-wave barrier just beginning to fade from around it. Now a buckler-style shield came to life on its left arm, while the right hand held an ignited beam saber.

"Bastard!" Gray screamed, completely losing control of everything but his machine. Enraged by his target's inexplicable survival, he shifted Regenerate back to its mobile suit form, ignited both arm-mounted beam sabers, and struck back against the ace's machine.

Regenerate's size made of for its relative lack of agility, and the blows struck hard. Preybird's saber spun out into space from the force of the attack, and while the light-wave barrier protected the machine itself, sheer inertia shoved Ken backwards, tumbling out of control.

"Falcon!" Kira called, and dove in, followed by the AMATU. He brought up Freedom's specialized targeting computer, locked on, and opened up with all his weapons, pouring laser fire, plasma bolts, and rail cannon projectiles at Regenerate.

Gray flinched as one of the plasma bolts tore a gouge in one of his machine's arms... and then a concentrated barrage blew the entire left arm away. Yet, inexplicably, he smiled. "Don't think you've won this," he said mockingly. "That's nothing!" Converting back to mobile armor mode, he shot away, ducking out of sight behind the same piece of debris that had helped hide the ambushing GuAIZs.

"Where's he going?" Athrun muttered darkly. "I don't like the looks of this... he shouldn't have sounded that confident."

"I think I know," Lowe said grimly. "When I fought him before, he kept replacing damaged parts; he'll be back in a minute, with a new arm. If we're gonna take this guy, we have to figure out how to stop him from repairing himself all the time."

Gai smiled slowly. "Leave that to me," he advised. "I've got an idea... Commander La Flaga," he called, "cover me; I need to reach that base."

"Roger that," Mu answered, as his own beam saber burned through to the core of a GuAIZ. "We'll do what we can."

Archangel, Bridge
Murrue watched the melee with unease. Her ship was unable to intervene in this battle, and she wasn't happy about it; their mobile suits were clearly having difficulty, and if thy lost any now, before they ever got to Jachin Due...

"They'll be fine," Alicia Cateau opined. "Commander DiFalco might be going for a loop right now, but look at it this way: this Ash Gray fellow is greatly outnumbered, and even GENESIS Alpha won't save him from these kinds of numbers."

"I suppose you're right," Murrue said with a sigh. "But I can't help worrying; after all, I'm not a mobile suit pilot, so I don't even exactly understand what's going on out there. I'll have to take your word for it, I guess." She glanced sidelong at the defector. "By the way... why is it that you haven't flown anything since your capture?"

Cateau shrugged. "For one thing, I'm more useful as an advisor; and for another, there isn't anything for me to fly. What was left of Cobra was left behind in Orb, and subsequently nuked, and I'm not exactly inclined to take up any sort of mass-produced unit. The Earth Alliance would happily kill me, after all, and I'm not inclined to risk my own death quite that blatantly, especially when there's little I could contribute to the battle in any case."

Archangel's Captain nodded. "I guess you're right; and Ken certainly values your input. I don't think he's ever been able to think quite like the current Earth Forces leadership."

"Unsurprising; they're not quite the same as the people he out-thought at Nova. Since that time, Blue Cosmos' agents have gained ever more control-"

"Status change, Captain," Sai interrupted. "Increase in ECM and ECCM; N-jammer levels rising."

Murrue clenched a fist. "Let me guess: they're trying to cut off our communications, just like the Earth Forces did in Zantetsuken."

"Looks that way. The protocols Odin sent us seem to be somewhat effective here, but there's still going to be interference..."

"Regenerate is coming back," Tonomura cut in. "With a new arm."

She closed her eyes. So. Here they go again. Be careful, Ken...

Debris Belt, GENESIS Alpha
Ken finally regained control of his tumbling mobile suit just as Regenerate came charging back into the fight, firing its massive rifle. Not a moment too soon, he kicked Preybird into a cartwheel to his right, his own rail cannons pelting Gray's machine.

"Pathetic," the psychopath sneered, ignoring the projectiles. "I have to wonder how you got such a fearsome reputation, DiFalco, when you're obviously so stupid!"

"By having skilled comrades," Rondo Mina Sahaku informed him, appearing out of Mirage Colloid and opening up with the AMATU's Trikeros system. "And by never giving up, I expect."

Gray cursed harshly as an emerald dart creased Regenerate's chest. "You want to play, girl? I'm game. Now die!" He raised his rifle, aimed precisely, and fired in one swift motion.

Sahaku tried to veer away, but Gray hadn't been picked for his job for a lack of skill; the energy discharge caught AMATU through both legs, raging through control systems, power distribution cables... physical connections between limb and torso.

AMATU fell away, sparking from the stumps of its legs. Sahaku didn't dare even attempt to fire after that; given the damage that had been inflicted, she didn't trust her machine not to explode if energy were diverted through the wrong circuits.

"Sorry, DiFalco," she called. "The rest is up to you. I have to retreat for now." Her voice hardened. "Don't let him get away with attacking an Orb noble that way."

Ken permitted himself a thin smile. "Don't worry, Lady Sahaku. I have no intention of letting him live; as they say, chivalry is only reasonably dead."

In the Red Frame's cockpit, Lowe Guele blinked. Ken DiFalco, cracking a joke? I guess anything's possible... Shaking himself, he charged in, swinging his own Gerbera Straight... one which Ken was not familiar with, and hadn't had the time to notice before.

The ace blinked. "Is that thing as big as I think it is?"

"Looks that way," Athrun told him, throwing Justice out of the path of the massive sword... which appeared to be a full one hundred fifty meters long. "I just didn't know a mobile suit could handle a weapon that big."

"It couldn't, at first," Lowe admitted, as his blade missed the ever-alert Gray. "A guy named Jean Carrey helped me outfit the Red Frame with a new set of arms for it; which is good, 'cause this bastard about wrecked the Power Loader the last time we met."

"And now I'll finish the job," Gray hissed. "Die!"

Ken shook his head, as the Red Frame spun away from the energy blast. "Is 'die' your favorite word or something, Gray? I guess I shouldn't be surprised, coming from a psychopath like you." he turned his attention to the melee involving the GuAIZs, and noted that the enemies there had been reduced by about half... and somewhere in the middle of it, Duel and Buster had disappeared. "Yzak? Dearka? Where are you-"

"Look out, Falcon!" Athrun warned. "Regenerate's cockpit just detached somehow; he's heading your way-"

Ken's attention snapped back to the battle at hand, just as something impacted the rear of his machine, between the two sets of wings. "Gray?" he barked. "What are you- What's going on?" Red warning messages flashed across his displays, and now nothing he told the controls to convey to the machine actually happened. "What did you do, Gray?"

The psychopathic pilot laughed. "A lot you've still got to learn, DiFalco; I guess your spy buddies didn't know Regenerate can take over any mobile suit it can get hold of, huh? Well, now watch while I kill your friends with your own machine..."

"And how, exactly, do you plan to do that?" Ken questioned, eye narrow. "Kira can stop Preybird if he has to; certainly he can with you in control."

"Not if he doesn't have the chance." Gray laughed again, insanely. "I've seen the battle data; I know your big, bad positron cannon is powered by energy received by those wings. Well, it's time for a little overcharge. GENESIS Alpha, prepare to fire!"

The ace felt his blood run cold, especially when he saw where Gray was pointing his machine now. The Archangel! That bastard's planning to kill them all...

He keyed his radio again; about the only thing still under his control. "Kira," he said in a tightly controlled voice, "you have only one option now... and you're the only one who can do it."

Kira's mouth went dry. There was something about that tone he didn't like... "What is it, Falcon?"

Ken's eye closed. "You have no choice... but to target all weapons on my machine." The eye opened again, and he met Kira's gaze on his communications display. "You'll have to destroy Preybird... and me with it."

Dearka had heard the transmissions following Regenerate's surprising maneuver, and instantly knew two things: one, Kira would never accept Ken's instruction; he refused to kill even the enemy under any but the most dire circumstances. Killing a friend -no matter their personal differences at the moment- would be out of the question, as far as he was concerned.

And two: that mean Dearka would have to do something about GENESIS Alpha himself, before a third burst of coherent gamma radiation could be fired.

"It's up to us, Yzak," he called to his comrade, as they dove in toward the weapons' installation. "If we can't stop that thing before it fires..."

"I know," Yzak replied shortly. "If we don't stop it, we lose either the Commander or the Archangel, and losing either would be a big problem. C'mon, Dearka, let's finish this."

The two of them had blown through the rapidly ending melee as though it hadn't existed, allowing their fellows to finish off the GuAIZs, which had been nothing more than an irritant to begin with; now they flew straight toward the ZAFT base that housed GENESIS Alpha. Gai Murakumo was already there, doing something underhanded to what Dearka presumed to be the area that stored spare parts for the Regenerate, but their objective was deeper within... a specific place near the core of the unit.

"One thing I don't understand, though," Yzak remarked. "I thought Commander DiFalco said something about alignment mirrors needing to be replaced after each shot; and that it would take hours to do it. How could they be firing so fast?"

"That was the full-scale GENESIS he was talking about, Yzak," Dearka reminded him. "Alpha's smaller; the alignment mirrors probably don't take as long to replace. Anyway, does it really matter how they're doing it? We can figure that out later."

"Yeah," Duel's pilot agreed gruffly. "You're right. Hey, is that the access hatch? Looks too well-armored to break through with beam rifles..."

Dearka smiled thinly. "Leave that to me, Yzak." Woking with the ease of long practice, he snapped Buster's rifle and gun launcher together, forming its right-handed combination, and pointed it at the armored hatch. "Take this!" He squeezed the trigger, unleashing a torrent of hyper-impulse fire from the weapon directly into the hatch... and armor which had never been intended to stand up to such a barrage began to melt, then rupture...

Kira stared at the Preybird, appalled by the notion Ken had just suggested. "You're asking me to kill you?" he said in a hoarse whisper. "Are you out of your mind?"

"No," Ken said flatly, forcing himself not to think about those on the Archangel's Bridge were making of the situation. "Better that you stop this maniac now, before we lose Archangel, then have me survive but the ship be destroyed."

Kira clenched his hands on his controls. "I can't do it, Falcon. I..."

"You have to. You may lose Preybird, and with it your best chance of stopping GENESIS, but I won't have you saving my sorry life if it means losing everyone aboard Archangel." Ken's voice hardened. "That ship means more to this effort than even the knowledge in my brain, Kira, and we are running out of time!"

"How touching," Ash Gray said mockingly. "Trying to sacrifice yourself to save your comrades; and here I thought you weren't that soft, DiFalco. Not that it matters. You buddy's so soft he couldn't hurt a fly..." He laughed. "GENESIS Alpha... fire!"

Within the powerful weapon, a fresh nuclear cartridge was loaded into place, the detonation sequence began... and a beam rifle, hyper-impulse sniper rifle, railgun, and three separate missile pods poured fire into the side of the firing chamber.

The blast, when it came, was nowhere near the proper alignment; the barrage from the weapon's interior had, within fractions of a second, warped the emitter bore, causing the beam to fire at a slight but noticeable angle... so when it emerged and struck the alignment mirror, it reflected back at an imperfect angle, ripping back into the mechanism instead of reflecting again into space.

As Duel and Buster flashed out of the explosion, Ash Gray's face took on an expression of enraged shock. "What just happ-"

He never finished the sentence.

The Strike Rouge, also in Aile configuration to better deal with phase-shift, drove a beam saber through the back of Regenerate's detached cockpit. "Now you're the one to die, you monster," Cagalli hissed, her blade melting through cockpit wall and pilot alike. "Nobody does that to my partner."

Within Preybird's cockpit, most of the warning messages -save for those alerting him to the presence of a certain anomalous mass between its wings- vanished, control was restored... and Ken let out a heartfelt sigh, sagging into his seat. "Thanks, Cagalli," he said quietly. "I owe you."

"I'll collect, too," she said flippantly. "But you're welcome."

By now, the GuAIZ units had also been dealt with, by the ever-efficient -and lethal- pilots from Archangel, and the remaining machines came to join them. "I guess I didn't need to blow up that stash of parts after all," Gai said, almost mournfully. "I just wasted some bullets; that'll come out of my next paycheck..."

"At least you'll be around to have a next paycheck," Athrun said dryly. "By the way, Dearka, you and Yzak did some good work."

"We had incentive," Dearka said with a shrug.

"And it wasn't exactly hard," Yzak said disdainfully. "Fly in, blow up a few things, and everybody's happy, right? No problem."

No problem, the man says, Ken thought wearily. Well, I owe them one. It was my responsibility... but I proved pretty useless this time out. He shook his head. At least I can be fairly sure I won't be distracted when ut's time to take out the real GENESIS...

"Archangel to Preybird," Murrue called. "Is everything all right out there now?"

"I'm fine, Murrue," he replied promptly. "A little tired, but fine. What's the status of the ZAFT base?"

She grimaced. "Rapidly going to pieces. We'll try to recover any escape pods, but that mis-aimed blast from GENESIS Alpha seems to have torn the place apart. I think we can safely say ZAFT won't be using this place again... and neither will anyone else." She tilted her head. "Are you fit to return to the ship, Ken?"

Ken nodded. "Yeah." He glanced over at the Freedom, and felt a twinge of unease. "Kira? Are you okay?"

"I'm fine, Falcon," Kira replied, an odd note in his voice. "Just fine." Freedom turned toward the Archangel. "Let's go home..."

"Yeah..."

Author's note: GENESIS Alpha is gone, and Ash Gray and his Regenerate with it. Now conditions are ripe for the final stage of Ken DiFalco's Shiva Option; now the Second Battle of Jachin Due is only a matter of time...

Okay, I know this chapter took a little while, and I realize it may be a little slow, with a little too much filler. Well, fear not; this is the last that will be like that. Now the final curtain has risen, and the three-chapter grand finale is up next. I promise, the coup de grace will be anything but boring... but for now, let me know how this chapter was, please. -Solid Shark