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

Gray Demon Eyrie, September 20th, C.E. 71
Two months. It had been over two months now since True ZAFT's operations had begun in earnest; yet it had only taken perhaps a month of active operations to get as far as they could on their own. With the fall of GENESIS Alpha, it seemed as though offensive operations on both sides had come to a sudden halt, as though they were waiting for something...

Ken, like the other leaders of the group, was privately certain he knew what was going on. Patrick Zala had most likely blamed the loss of the GENESIS Alpha facility on the Earth Forces, making use of his sworn enemy -and former trusted confidant- to help arrange his own solution to the conflict. Meanwhile, Muruta Azrael and the Earth Alliance forces had evidently decided that the "Butcher Bird" and his forces weren't worth wasting attention and resources on; now he seemed to be preparing for an all-out attack against the PLANTs.

There would be one obstacle to their advance: the asteroid fortress Boaz, formerly known as the resource satellite Nova, which Ken himself had taken away from the Republic of East Asia. Functioning as the gateway to the PLANTs, it would remain a formidable adversary for any force sent against it.

Meanwhile, True ZAFT had finally reunited on the dark side of the Moon, at the remains of the former Gray Demon base on the Grimaldi Front. During the time Archangel, Kusanagi, and Eternal -and later the Odin- had been softening up both sides' military potential, the crews of Arkbird and Asmodeus had been hard at work, preparing the old base for reoccupation; now the fruits of their labor had paid off, and the six vessels met for what all suspected would be the final respite before the end.

"They'll have little choice but to nuke Boaz," Ken said thoughtfully, peering at a display in the Eyrie's old war room. "The PLANTs themselves can -theoretically- be taken by conventional force, but not as long as both asteroid fortresses are in the way. Boaz has to go first, since it's an easier target, relatively speaking. Then, either Jachin Due... or GENESIS, if Azrael discovers its existence in time."

"I think you're right," Andrew Waltfeld, their other strategic genius, agreed. "Soon, you think?"

Ken nodded. "If you want my profession estimate, I think they'll set out in no more than a couple of days... and they're closer to L5 than we are right now. This is our last council of war, ladies and gentlemen; the Shiva Option is about to be executed whether we like it or not... whether we're ready or not."

"Then we'd better make sure we are ready," Lewis Halberton declared. "I don't know about making sure that the PLANTs have overall victory, Falcon, but I agree it's up to us to stop all this before it results in a catastrophe."

"But what happens if we succeed," Murrue worried, "but don't survive the experience ourselves? I'm not afraid to die for this goal, but little good it does us if we can't even make sure what we do works."

Ken nodded at their resident politicians, Siegel Clyne and Yuri Amalfi. "That's why I want the two of them to remain here during the fighting. No offense, Chairman, but I doubt you would have much to contribute to a space battle."

Clyne nodded ruefully. "That's true, Commander. My area is politics; I'll leave the fighting to those who are qualified."

"Agreed," Amalfi said quietly. "I'll leave that to my son." He hesitated. "No offense, Commander, but could you...?"

"I'll do my best to keep Nicol out of trouble," Ken assured him. "Though to be perfectly honest, I don't think he'll need much help. Not only is he a fine pilot himself, but his Raiden is equipped with Mirage Colloid... and the enemy cannot fight what it cannot see."

"There will be work enough, and dangers enough for us all," Ledonir Kisaka cautioned. "The path we have chosen is not an easy one; and at Jachin Due, we will be facing the very best on both sides. If we do not use every resource available to us, and every ounce of strength and cunning we posses, we will not succeed in the task we've set for ourselves."

"Well said, Captain Kisaka," Sparky Cooper said approvingly. "Well said indeed. I don't think we need fear too much that we'll become overconfident; we've all known the risks for months, some of us for a year now. We're all aware that this battle will be the last... and so, of course, the most difficult."

"Right," Tom Delaney concurred. "This is the moment we've been preparing for... the final mission for which we've sacrificed so much."

Murrue glanced at him in amusement. "You're not normally that much of a poet, Tom. Are you sure you're not running a fever?"

The engineer-captain of Asmodeus grinned. "Lost causes and hopeless battles bring out the best in me, Murrue; just look at the job my boys and I did building Preybird."

"Braggart," Aisha murmured tolerantly.

Waltfeld cleared his throat. "Getting back to the matter at hand," he said pointedly, "we need to decide exactly what we're doing here." His one-eyed gaze swept the room. "Are we trying to cripple the ability of both sides to wage war, or are we trying to accomplish a more limited objective? Do we target the two fleets and their mobile weapons, or the space fortresses and GENESIS itself?"

Ken closed his eye in thought. "GENESIS is a target regardless," he said slowly. "That weapon could too easily change a truce into a massacre. Boaz... Boaz is likely going to be a nonissue as far as we're concerned; if we can stop the Earth Forces from blowing it up, I'll be much surprised. Jachin..." He trailed off, thinking.

"I hesitate to bring this up," Natarle began slowly, "but... you still have agents within the PLANTs, right, Falcon?"

"Yeah," the ace acknowledged. "Some of them are guarding Representative Amalfi's wife, and I've got a few in more sensitive locations, too. Why?"

"Well... what if we were able to decapitate the ZAFT chain of command before the battle even began? If ZAFT's forces were disorganized..."

Sparky shook his head. "No, Natarle," he rumbled. "Like we told you before, the objective is not a coup d'etat. If it were, we could've done it months ago. No, we have no interest in taking control of the PLANTs... and it would be bloody stupid to do it at this juncture, anyway. We take out Patrick, and the Earth Forces have free reign until we rein in the chaos. Oh, a few ZAFT commanders will have the brains and initiative to fight them off in a few places, but without a unified command structure, some of the Earth Forces nukes will get through to the PLANTs... and with the average population those hourglasses have, the casualties would probably be worse than the Bloody Valentine."

Natarle winced. "Right; I knew that."

"Don't feel bad, Natarle," Ken advised her. "I assure you, the same thought occurred to me more than once during the long journey to reach this point; but the same objections Sparky just outlined always killed the notion. No, we're going to have to do this the hard way, whether we like it or not."

"So how do we start, Falcon?" Halberton asked quietly.

The ace rubbed his eyepatch in thought. "The first thing we do is take out the Earth Forces' nuclear-equipped squadrons; Alicia tells me the nukes will probably be carried by several squadrons of Moebius units, collectively known as the 'Peacemaker Force'." He grimaced. "'Peacemaker Force'. What a misleading name, considering that their intent is to make war, not peace." He shook himself. "In any case, our first priority is to ensure that none of the nuclear-tipped missiles reach the PLANTs."

Murrue nodded. "If we can do that, we subtract the nuclear threat from the equation; that'll just leave conventional forces... and GENESIS. Then what? Take out Jachin Due itself, and GENESIS' control systems with it?"

Ken shook his head. "No. I'll grant that doing that would probably end the GENESIS threat, at least long enough for us to end the battle and then dismantle the cursed machine, since the device's local control -given that the unit is usually unmanned- tends to be highly efficient. The problem, however, is that nothing we have could destroy Jachin itself. It would take a full-on ramming attack by one of our capital ships to accomplish that feat, and I will not send men out to die in a suicide mission." He clenched a fist. "No, Jachin will have to be dealt with in another way; leave GENESIS itself to me."

Haring that tone, most of the room's occupants backed off a pace, carefully looking elsewhere and pretending they'd momentarily gone deaf, and Murrue leaned toward the pilot. "Ken," she said quietly, "are you sure this isn't turning into an obsession for you?"

His eye narrowed. "I admitted a long time ago that I was obsessed, Murrue," he said, equally quietly. "I will freely grant that this is no longer entirely about protecting the PLANTs. The genie is out of the bottle; no matter what we do now, no matter that both existing GENESIS units will be destroyed, another will be built again."

"Then what's the point?" she asked; not scornfully, but genuinely wanting to know. "What's so important to you about destroying this one, if more can -and will, someday- be built?"

"The point... is that only in this can I redeem myself." Ken sighed. "Murrue, the difference between this unit and GENESIS Alpha, and any units to follow, is that I built it. This unit was specifically constructed for the purpose of carrying my plan, and I was the one in charge of construction. It was my desire for revenge that brought about its creation, and so only in its destruction can I find redemption. Not in revenge, but in atonement... no matter what the cost to myself."

Murrue's gaze sharpened. "You'd better not be thinking what I think you're thinking, Ken. We may all be expendable, but that's not the same as throwing your own life away for one final moment of redemption." She lowered her voice. "What good is redemption if you're not around for it?"

He raised a hand. "I'm well aware of that, Murrue, and believe me, I have no intention of getting myself killed if I can avoid it. But GENESIS' destruction would be worth my life, if it came down to it... and, as I said, it's my responsibility... and I'm the only one who can do it anyway." He lifted an eyebrow. "Unless you think someone else knows Preybird well enough to accomplish the objective?"

Aisha cleared her throat. "Correct me if I'm wrong," she said carefully, "but phase-shift armor isn't invincible, right? So why not just pound GENESIS into scrap with shipboard weapons?"

Ken shook his head. "We've been over that, too, Aisha. According to what we've learned, the completed unit is equipped with multiple layers of PSA; and PSA is capable of resisting even a positron cannon, if placed in sufficient density. Yes, our six ships could eventually break through, but the odds against having the time to do it that way are astronomical."

"Ken's right," Murrue said unhappily. "We're just going over the same territory we've covered time and again over the past two months. Well, we don't have the time to debate this anymore. We have only days left now, before the fighting starts; we have to make the most of it."

The eleven people in that room took several moments to think about that in silence. They truly had come a long way, these past nine months... longer, really for some. Ken DiFalco had been on the sharp end since the blockade, two years before; he'd been through the Bloody Valentine, Yggdrasil, First Jachin, Endymion, and Nova, before ever dreaming of allying himself with his erstwhile enemy, Mu La Flaga, the Hawk of Endymion. He'd treaded a path that had torn at his very sanity, fighting a shadow war his comrades hadn't understood until they, too, were betrayed, and threw themselves into his wild gamble.

Sparky Cooper and Tom Delaney had long gone with their boss, joining him around the time of Jachin Due and sticking with him through the Grimaldi Front, Nova, and even the betrayal of ZAFT, acting as agents within the organization they no longer trusted. Loyalty to their commander had carried them this far; loyalty would see them through to the end of it.

Andrew Waltfeld and Aisha had begun this as ZAFT soldiers themselves, fighting to keep the Libyan desert under control. They'd succeeded admirably, until the day they met their match in battle against the might of the Archangel and the wits of Ken DiFalco; that had put them on the road to joining the Clyne Faction, and from there the "traitorous" splinter faction known as True ZAFT. Along the way, Waltfeld had lost an arm and an eye, and Aisha now bore a scar on her face, but they regretted none of it. Better to pay the price in physical pain than tainted honor.

Siegel Clyne, for his part, had suspected long before Operation Spit Break that he would eventually break with his old friend Patrick Zala. The hardline attitude the man had taken after the Bloody Valentine had become increasingly worrisome; the actions of Clyne and his followers had been inevitable, and had led them into collusion with the masters of deception, the former Gray Demons.

Yuri Amalfi had come to this path entirely unprepared. First he'd learned of his son's "death" on Earth, which had briefly led him into Zala's radical faction; then Nicol had turned up alive, in the company of the "traitors" following Ken DiFalco. Upon learning of the GENESIS device and Zala's intended use for it, Amalfi had waited only until True ZAFT had been ready to move out to break with current Supreme Council. Now he supported his son to the hilt, in the hope that True ZAFT's victory would protect them both... and his wife, still in hiding in the PLANTs.

Ledonir Kisaka had begun this as a colonel in the Orb Ground Forces, acting as a bodyguard for the heir of his nation, while at the same time helping to defend his hometown of Tassil. With Orb's stubborn neutrality, he'd scarce believed that he might become involved in the larger war; discovering that his nation's leader, Uzumi Nara Athha, had been in discussions with the ZAFT desert Ken DiFalco had come as a profound surprise... until he learned what they had already known, and realized that Orb would inevitably be drawn into the conflict as well. When the Earth Forces attacked Orb with nuclear weapons, his cooperation with the True ZAFT forces, through the command of the Kusanagi, had been wholehearted.

Lewis Halberton had, for all his sympathy toward the PLANTs and his friendship with the Grimaldi Falcon, been a loyal supporter of the Earth Alliance Forces for all his adult life. The bombing of Copernicus had raised quiet doubts -he found it difficult to believe that the forces Ken served would do such a thing, when the last thing they wanted was war- but he had remained steadfast in the performance of his duty... until the day his ship was destroyed beneath him, and he was rescued by a crew of Earth Forces deserters with proof of what really at Copernicus... and the influence Blue Cosmos held in the highest levels of both the Earth Alliance military and provisional government. From then on, his only desire was to end the war, and uniting with his young friend's forces had been the best way to do it.

Natarle Badgiruel came from a military family, who had served the Atlantic Federation -and the former United States before it- for generations. For her, duty, and strict obedience to The Book, was as a natural as breathing; treason was unthinkable to her. She followed orders, fought brilliantly, and remained utterly committed to Earth Alliance victory... until the day they broke faith with her, tried to destroy her and her crewmates in a bid to kill as many of the "unnatural" Coordinators as possible. To someone for whom treachery was the greatest sin, and who had spent enough time with the gentle, open Kira Yamato to know the folly of unthinking hatred, that was intolerable, and she had gladly turned her formidable talents to the downfall of her former nation.

And Murrue Ramius... the day this had all begun, she'd been a senior-grade lieutenant, suddenly thrust into command of the entire ship by the wholesale slaughter of the command crew. She'd been the one to lead Archangel during the long race to the Eighth Fleet, the battles against ZAFT in the desert, the ocean voyage to Orb... and finally the journey to Alaska, whereupon she'd been forced to make her own choice, between loyalty to her crew and loyalty to her nation.

But, as Ken had said at the time, the Earth Forces no longer had any claim on her loyalty when they chose to throw her and her crew away as mere bait for a trap, when they broke faith with her. Oaths cut both ways, and if Headquarters chose to sever their half, Murrue Ramius was likewise freed of obligation.

A long path we've taken, to reach this point, Murrue thought in the silence. Much of the path was directed, however subtly, by Ken; and yet no matter his manipulations, I still walked into it of my own free will. He showed the path, but he was content to let us make our choice, whether or not to proceed... and it was I who led Archangel to this point. And would do so again, with or without the knowledge I now have of the workings behind the scenes of this conflict. About the only thing I might've done different, knowing what I do now, would be to join his conspiracy earlier...

She frowned inwardly, considering that. Yes, I'd do it again... but would it entirely be reason guiding me? There's no denying that, for all his effort to maintain an outwardly cold demeanor, Ken has charisma; not only can he plan, but he can lead, a less common and infinitely more valuable talent. And... there's no denying what I feel, either.

For a long time, she'd tried to exactly that; and succeeded so well she wasn't even aware she felt it in the first place. Murrue had, of course, known Ken for some years. His older sister had been a close friend of hers since they attended the Atlantic Federation military academy together, and while on leave she'd met the young man several times. Back then, she'd seen only a reserved scholar, quiet but cheerful, training in engineering and the martial arts. When they'd met again, at Heliopolis, that was how Murrue remembered him; it had taken her a long time to reconcile her past image with the cold, calculating ZAFT ace she knew now. Cold, yet charismatic; calculating, yet occasionally capable of spur of the moment decisions, with long-term consequences... one of which had been to join the Archangel rather than blow it out of space. All because he had a hunch that it might fit in with his grand scheme to end the war...

And now? After months of living, working, and fighting on the same ship, Murrue had rekindled her years-past friendship with Ken, and indeed become one of the few who could name him as a close friend. Even when he maintained his basilisk act, she could read his emotions with startling accuracy; she frequently knew what he was thinking almost before he did. And beneath it all, she knew that within that cold shell, locked away behind barriers of a strength greater than any metal, lay a wounded young man who but awaited the day of his own redemption to return to the light.

And that's why... I've fallen for him...

Whether the quiet, reserved pilot had even realized that, Murrue didn't know. She suspected he did, though; for all that he locked his own humanity away, he was a shrewd student of character, and little slipped by him. Of the entire crew, he alone -well, he and Mir- had realized from the start that Flay was merely manipulating Kira, in the short while they were together. He had also very likely been the first to predict the relationship between Kira and Cagalli.

Of course, Ken did have his blind spots; it was entirely possible that he was completely ignorant of the fact that his erstwhile captain -who would once have been a mortal enemy- was in love with him.

Sure it is, she thought with a mental snort. More likely, though, he's just being his usual self... which may be just as well. Would he appreciate the irony, if he knew what I do about the Battle of Jachin Due? If he knew... who died there? She lightly fingered the pendant she wore beneath her tunic, remembering another pilot; a mobile armor pilot, whose fate she had taken months to track down... and only succeeded after Sophia DiFalco and Mu La Flaga unknowingly provided her with the last critical information...

A quite cough broke into her thoughts. "Ah... Murrue?" Waltfeld said carefully. "You still with us, or did you fall asleep?"

Murrue shook herself, blushing faintly. "Ah, I was just lost in thought, Andy. Did I miss anything?"

Halberton looked at her with a uncomfortably knowing look in his eye. "No, actually; we were waiting for your to come out of your trance before we got back to business." He nodded at Ken. "Falcon?"

The ace nodded back. "Right," he said calmly, apparently unaware of what his captain might've been thinking. Not that I buy his innocent look for a moment, she thought irritably. "From what we've uncovered, we think the Earth Forces will be moving-"

The chime of the intercom interrupted him. "Captain?" Flay called; she still remained on Archangel's Bridge, on communications watch. "We've just received word from the Junk Guild that the Earth Forces have begun Operation Elvis. Several Fleets are now moving on the PLANTs themselves."

Murrue activated the microphone at their end. "Understood, Flay. Thank you." She turned back to the others. "Well. It seems that whatever delayed them the last nine days has been cleared up. Ken?"

The ace had clearly been calculating flight times in his head, because he replied without hesitation. "Six days, Murrue. From Ptolemaeus, it'll take them six days to reach L5; and approximately the same for us." His gaze was solemn. "Our time of rest is over. If we don't move now, we'll never have the chance."

Less than a month after arriving at the concealed -and officially destroyed- lunar base, the six vessels of True ZAFT once again lifted from the Moon's surface, settled into close formation, and began accelerating toward Lagrange point Five. Had anyone cared to look, the thermal signature from such a large concentration of nuclear reactors -previously dispersed throughout Earth orbit- would've made them an easy target... but ZAFT was concerned only with the Homeland now, and the Earth Alliance cared only to attack the PLANTs.

Six days to prepare for what all aboard those vessels knew would be their last battle. In that time, those crews did what they could to relax; loose ends were tied up, and -in more than one case- wills were written... and most of all, they tried not to think about the fact that not all of them would be returning from this battle alive...

Archangel, Observation Deck, September 21st, C.E. 71
Kira Yamato idly watched the stars through the massive viewport, and wished fervently that his own mind was truly as much at peace as the depths of space seemed to be. But peace eluded him for now... and he knew exactly why.

It wasn't Ken's assertion that they likely couldn't help Boaz; even Kira knew that they couldn't possibly arrive any faster than the Earth Forces, given how little warning they'd had, and parking nearer to the PLANTs and simply waiting would've been an invitation for destruction. No, he understood that... but Ken's words were still at the heart of his dilemma.

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."

Being told that the only way to save the Archangel was to kill his comrade had not gone over well with Kira. In fact, he'd been so horrified by the idea, so unable to truly think it through, that he'd frozen up completely...

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 hardened. "That ship means more to this effort than even the knowledge in my brain, Kira, and we are running out of time!"

He'd been unable to make a decision, and that failure had very nearly been the end of everything. As he dithered, GENESIS Alpha had fired, and only Yzak and Dearka's attack from the inside had prevented it from reaching Preybird's power receptors, which would've allowed Ash Gray to fire the twin satellite cannon... and destroy the Archangel.

Not just the Archangel, Kira thought moodily. That weapon could've taken out all of our ships... all because I couldn't make a choice. Because I couldn't even try to disable Preybird, we nearly lost everything...

"Kira? What's wrong?"

He looked up, to see Cagalli drifting into the compartment, looking concerned. "Oh, hi, Cagalli," he greeted quietly. "I was... I was just thinking. About that battle last month."

She sighed. "Kira, there's nothing about that battle that you should be worried about. We stopped Ash Gray, we scrapped his machine, and Yzak and Dearka blew up his superweapon. All their machines were taken out back there, so why are you still worrying about it?"

"I didn't know, at first," Kira admitted. "It's been bothering me since then, though... and now I finally understand why." He looked away, back out at the stars. "I froze up, Cagalli. I had to make a choice, with the Archangel's safety at stake... and I couldn't. I just couldn't do it. Falcon told me to fire, and take Gray down with him; his own life for ours. And I just... couldn't do it." He squeezed his eyes shut. "I don't like what he's doing about the war, Cagalli... but I couldn't just shoot him down, either, even if he was the one who told me to. But... because I couldn't, because I was too weak to make a choice, we would've lost everything if those two hadn't..."

"We all make mistakes," Cagalli reminded him. "And nothing could've prepared you for that. Frankly, I wanted to tear a strip of Ken's hide for that one. That was quite a mess..."

He shook his head. "No, Cagalli, this wasn't like that ambush Admiral Halberton saved us from. Then Falcon did nearly get us killed, because he didn't have a backup plan. This time... he stayed cool and in control, even when facing his own death." He smiled, but without any humor. "Actually, he was like that even in Zantetsuken; he knew he'd made a mistake, but he didn't let it stop him. He just kept on giving orders, changing his thinking to fit the situation. But me... when I was faced with something unexpected, I just froze up..."

Her eyes narrowed. "Don't start doubting yourself, Kira," she warned. "We'll be going into battle again in just a few days, and if you second-guess yourself now..."

Kira looked up, and smiled at her. "Don't worry, Cagalli," he told her. "I promised you I'd come back, and I'm gonna come back this time, too. No matter what happens, I'll be ready for it this time; no matter what choices I have to make, I'll do what I have to."

Cagalli sighed in relief, and hugged him tight. "That's better," she whispered. "I was afraid you were going to go to pieces on me or something... and then I'd have to hurt you."

He laughed quietly. "I wouldn't risk that, Cagalli. No way..."

Archangel, Officer's Lounge
"You know," Sophia DiFalco remarked, sipping at a drink container, "one thing I really hate about zero-g is that you just can't mix a proper martini..."

Mu La Flaga laughed. "Not the sort of thing I'd picture you drinking, Kestrel. In fact, you're not at all how I thought you were; when I first came on board... Well, to be perfectly honest, I didn't like you all that much. Maybe it was because of the bad blood between you and Falcon, but..."

"I'm sure that was part of it," she granted. "And I'll be the first to admit that I... wasn't as understanding of Falcon as I should've been. Back then, of course, I saw ZAFT as the enemy, pure and simple; I had no idea that they actually had more justification -far more justification- than we did."

"You've changed since then," Mu noted. "And not just in your attitude toward our little brother. You've been a lot easier to get along with since... oh, since around the time the Eighth Fleet was destroyed, I guess."

Sophia took another sip of her drink. "Not hard to understand," she said easily. "Back when we first met, I was busy with engineering; and I tend to be a little short-fused when I'm dealing with machinery. Machines have an annoying tendency to malfunction, and while the reasons may be perfectly logical, it can take days to find the specific problem. When you're in the cockpit of a mobile armor, though -or a mobile suit, for that matter- you don't run into many problems that can't be fixed just by shooting at them." She shrugged. "And... well, I guess you might say I was like Falcon, back then: playing a role. We all do, sooner or later; though with Falcon it often seems like he's been playing the role for so long that he's become the role."

"Maybe he has," Mu mused. "On the other hand, I think I know one person who might be able to break him out of his shell."

She chuckled. "Yeah, Mu, I know what you mean." She lifted an eyebrow. "Did you expect Murrue to fall in love with him like that?"

He shook his head. "Not really; but maybe that's because I tend to forget that Falcon's been an adult for longer than a Natural would be at his age. Besides, whoever thought anybody could see enough through that mask of his to find anything to fall in love with?"

"Now you're starting to sound like me, before I got over my worries about Metzinger's work," Sophia remarked. "I thought you were the one always getting irritated with me for saying things like that."

"There's a difference," he pointed out. "I'm not saying that there isn't a human being in there, I'm just saying that I'm surprised anyone was able to see through his act." Mu tilted his head. "So, what do you think? Does Falcon feel the same way about her?"

She polished off her drink -inwardly being thankful she'd spent enough time in pilot's bars to get a high alcohol tolerance- and leaned against a bulkhead. "Yeah," she said finally, "I think he does. He would never admit it, might not even know it... but yeah." She looked up, eyes narrow. "You hear the story behind his crazy moves at the Bloody Valentine? Beyond Metzinger's role, I mean?"

Mu blinked. "Yeah," he said cautiously. "I didn't know you had, though. Neither Falcon nor Dearka ever like to talk about it."

"Dearka and I have... reached an understanding," Sophia told him. "I think nearly getting killed by Miriallia changed his mind about Naturals; maybe because it proved a 'little girl' wasn't afraid to kill. Anyway, he told me about it, awhile back... and now I think I understand Falcon a little better. And, frankly... I hope he and Murrue do get together."

Mu's own eyes went narrow at her tone. "You're nervous about something, aren't you."

"You got that right." She sighed. "Look, Mu, for all the problems we had for awhile, my brother -our brother- and I have gotten along a lot better lately, and I love him; he's the only family I have left. And I'm scared of his obsession with GENESIS. He's so set on destroying it that I think... he'd willingly sacrifice himself to take it out." She swallowed. "He doesn't have anything to come back to, Mu; nothing to really hold him here. He has friends, yeah, and you and me, but... the death of Laura Elsman broke something in him, and realizing what he'd done to avenge her finished the job. If he survives the battle, fine; he'll be okay with that, and maybe then he'll be able to move on. But before that, he's not going to make any special effort to stay alive any longer than he needs to in order to do the job. He lives for redemption... and I'm not sure if he lives for anything beyond that."

The Hawk of Endymion considered that for several moments. "Then I guess we'll just have to make sure he doesn't die on us," he said finally. "Eh, partner?"

"Eh," Sophia agreed, and then smiled slightly. "Of course, we might not need to worry; if Murrue ever gets the courage to actually say anything about it to him, well... I know this about Falcon: he'll do whatever he can to come home if he knows someone's waiting for him." She glanced away. "Or I should say, Dearka knows; I was too busy being afraid of him to find out before that..."

Mu lightly grabbed her arm. "Hey, now, don't you start getting all depressed and self-hateful, Kestrel. One of you has to be upbeat; I don't know if the Archangel's morale could handle both DiFalcos getting all moody and depressed. They might revoke your alias, if it came to it, and we can't have that, now can we?"

She raised an eyebrow. "I guess you're right... but let me ask you something, Mu: does your alias actually mean anything to you?"

He blinked at the unexpected question, then looked away. "Yes and no," he said in a low voice. "On the one hand, no pilot minds having his ego stroked like that; but on the other... C'mon, Kestrel, you know as well as I do that Headquarters only pinned that nickname on me to try and salvage something from Endymion. Sure, we won, but only by incinerating a whole lot of our own people... including the few members of my own squadron the Gray Demons hadn't already killed." He sighed. "No, Sophia, I can't say I'm exactly proud of that name."

Sophia nodded. "I know what you mean, Mu. And therein lies your answer: I don't really care if they take away my title of 'Victorian Kestrel'. First Victoria was a victory, all right, but it was still a bloody mess... literally. ZAFT may've been inexperienced at that kind of assault, but mobile suits are murder against fighters, and that's no lie." She closed her eyes. "I'm just glad I wasn't involved in Second Victoria, or I'd be a POW about now... or dead. Of course, Third Victoria was probably even worse; Muruta Azrael would've seen to that."

"And that's why we're fighting him," Mu agreed quietly. "That man forfeited his right to live a long time ago... and my comrades didn't die at Endymion just to let bastards like him turn this into a war of genocide. We're going to end it... for those who fell before us."

Archangel, Cafeteria, September 22nd, C.E. 71
Man... the world just doesn't seem to work the way it used to...

Dearka Elsman stared moodily out a cafeteria viewport, brooding; it seemed to be something a lot of people were doing lately, on the six vessels of their little fleet. They all knew that the end of their long battle was coming soon... and for good or ill, who could say? All that could be known for sure was that now was the time to think about the past, as well as the future; to make final decisions while time yet remained. Soon they would all be embroiled in battle once again, and no one wanted to leave anything undone.

Do soldiers even have futures? Dearka wondered. A future is something that lies ahead of you... but on the battlefield, you never know if your next moment will be your last. You never know if you'll come home a hero, or a corpse... or a war criminal.

He was reminded of something his best friend had once written, during the days before Patrick Zala took note of him. "There's a curse every warrior faces," Ken DiFalco had written, in one of the papers he'd published within ZAFT. "For some, there is nothing that expresses meaning more clearly than the clash of blades, the echo of gunfire, the feel of fist against fist. Only warriors can truly understand other warriors; yet to gain that understanding, they must all too often meet each other on opposite sides of the field of battle. Men and women who might've been the best of friends under other circumstances can only express that friendship through shed blood and eyes filled with tears from the smoke of a blasted and desolate battlefield. And they all know that, in the end, it doesn't matter which of them wins their battle; whoever wins will not have peace, but rather continue the eternal struggle, until another warrior brings them down..."

And then there was something else, something Ken had never written down. Dearka had once asked Sparky what the ace had told his subordinates, when he announced his decision to desert. What could've made them follow so willingly? The Gray Demons were devoted to their commander, certainly; but they were also very intelligent -else Ken would never have left them to operate on their own, without him- and so blind acceptance didn't seem like them.

Sparky had first answered with the obvious -the GENESIS and Shiva Option data- and then gone on to recount something else his commander had said. "I know this will be a hard road, for all of us, people. Betraying ZAFT, the organization we've all served for years now, is a radical step to take; after all, it's through ZAFT that we've protected the PLANTs. But," Ken had added, "there's something else you need to understand. We soldiers... we're not tools of the government, or anyone else. Fighting is the only thing I'm good at... but at least I always fight for what I believe in. And I will be no tool, ladies and gentlemen. I will not let Patrick subvert what we've all striven for just to avenge himself upon the Naturals; I will not permit myself to be used by a cause I no longer believe in. And I say none of you should be tools, either. What say you?"

"We're not tools of the government, or anyone else..." Dearka murmured. "I'd like to believe that, Falcon, and deep down, maybe I do, but..."

"Uh... Dearka? Are you... all right?"

He glanced up, and saw Mir entering the cafeteria. "Ahh, it's nothing," he said, waving a hand. "Just... thinking about my father, back in the PLANTs."

"That doesn't sound like 'nothing'," she said dryly. "In fact, I'd think that would be pretty important to you, Dearka." She slid into a seat at one of the tables, and frowned thoughtfully. "Your father... he's one of the moderates, isn't he?"

"He used to be, anyway," Dearka confirmed. "Though he might be with Zala's radicals these days, like Yzak's mother. It's been a little hard to keep track of the political situation back in the Homeland lately, since we don't have quite the high-level access the Clyne Faction had back there, before Eternal and Captain Waltfeld pulled out." He twitched his shoulders uncomfortably. "Actually, I wouldn't be too surprised if the entire Supreme Council is in the radical faction these days; most of the moderates went into hiding after Zala started going nuts about the Clyne family. If my father's still able to show his face in public, he must be on Zala's good side... and I'm not sure that's a good sign."

"It can't be that bad," Mir said reassuringly. "I mean, he raised you; I can't see your father being the type to go in for blind stereotyping..."

"I thought of Naturals as a stereotype," Dearka pointed out dryly, "before you tried to kill me; don't give my family too much credit. Still, I like to think my father is smart enough not to fall for Zala's rhetoric... and I'm pretty sure he at least won't approve of GENESIS."

"I guess that doesn't help much, though, does it?" she said with a sigh. "If Ken's right -and he usually is- then Zala won't even have mentioned GENESIS to the Supreme Council at all. If he did, it might lead to a revolt... so your father doesn't know about it."

"No," he agreed, "I'm sure he doesn't; and that's actually kinda reassuring, under the circumstances." He shrugged. "Well, it probably doesn't matter anyway. When the battle begins, the Supreme Council will be irrelevant; one thing Falcon managed to convince Zala of -and managed to get into the Supreme Council itself- was that political micro-managing of war is a bad idea; and micro-managing an individual battle would be even worse. So they'll probably be in a nice, safe bunker somewhere, and my father should be fine if we can just manage to prevent any nuclear weapons from hitting the PLANTs directly."

"What about Boaz?" Mir asked quietly. "You think we can do anything about the attack there?"

Dearka slowly shook his head. "Probably not," he said softly. "The Earth Forces have to attack it; along with Jachin Due, it's one of the 'gateways' to the Homeland, and any attack pretty much has to deal with those fortresses to get in range to attack the PLANTs themselves. And since the Earth Forces will probably arrive at least an hour or two before we do... No," he sighed, "I think Boaz is a writeoff. I really to say it, since there's a lot of good people stationed there, but there's nothing we can do about it."

"That was essentially my analysis," she agreed, and grinned at his expression. "What, you think I spent nine months on a warship -a warship with the ever-eccentric Ken DiFalco aboard- without learning anything about warfare? When you spend as much time on the bridge as I do, you learn a few things, Dearka." Her face fell then, and she looked away. "And that's why... I'm worried. I know we've got a good chance, and that we'll at least go down swinging, but... an awful lot of us won't be coming back. I..."

He blinked. "What are you trying to say, Mir?"

"I... I just..." Suddenly, Mir reached out and, to his shock, hugged the pilot, hard. "Promise me you'll come back, Dearka," she whispered. "You have to be careful out there. I already lost someone once; if you don't come back, just like Tolle didn't..."

Dearka well and truly didn't know how to react for several moments; this was completely outside his experience. The only Natural he'd ever had much contact with before boarding the Archangel was Sophia DiFalco, when she was still suspicious of her younger brother. Now this one...

No, he told himself firmly. Not a "Natural". Natural and Coordinator are distinctions that just keep people apart. Whether our genes are altered or not, we're all human; in every way that matters, we're the same...

He tentatively returned the embrace. "Okay, Mir," he said softly. "I'll be coming back... I promise."

Eternal, Cafeteria, September 23rd, C.E. 71
"We sure have come a long way, haven't we," Athrun Zala said with a sigh. "It's hard to remember that things were pretty much black and white when we started all this. Back then, I was just a ZAFT redcoat, in the Le Creuset team, with nothing more on my mind than avenging the Bloody Valentine..."

"Back then," Lacus Clyne murmured, "I was just a pop singer, helping to keep morale up. I didn't know anything about what was going on behind the scenes; that just wasn't the sort of thing I thought about. Then I came aboard the Archangel, and met Kira... and everything changed, for both of us."

"That's true enough," he agreed. "It certainly made my life more complicated." He shook his head. "I never dreamed I'd meet Kira again in the middle of a battlefield; and never in my worst nightmares did I imagine I'd have to fight him. By the end of it, we'd cost each other a lot, in real and imagined actions -and I did take Tolle Koenig's life- and we were both half-dead. If Cagalli hadn't found me... and if you hadn't helped Kira..."

"Helping Kira was a way of helping you," she pointed out, "just as saving you was a way for Cagalli to learn more about what happened to Kira. It's just so sad that she thought he was gone..."

"Yeah," Athrun said dryly, "it was; and if she'd had just a little less self-control, it probably would've gotten me killed. Still," he went on thoughtfully, "I can't really blame her. And I'm glad those two got together; Kira needed someone to support him through the fighting, Cagalli needed someone to support her after her father died... and they were right for each other."

"I like to think we're right for each other, too," Lacus said quietly. "That this isn't just an arranged engagement anymore."

"It's not," he assured her. "And I have no intention of abiding by my father's decision in the matter." A flicker of pain crossed his face then, at the mention of his father, as he remembered one of the reasons they'd come to this path in the first place.

Lacus saw it, and touched his shoulder. "This is difficult for you, isn't it?" she said gently. "Having to fight your own father, knowing what it is that he intends to use on Earth..."

"Yeah," Athrun said heavily, "it's difficult. Part of me wants to blame Commander DiFalco for this, you know; part of me wants to think that my father would never have come to this if GENESIS hadn't tempted him. But the fact that he could succumb to that temptation in the first place means that something isn't right with him. That he truly is at fault here..."

"Can you face him?" she asked. "Talk to him, take one more chance?"

He sighed. "I can try. In fact, the first thing I'm going to do when we reach Jachin is try to talk to my father. I don't know if he'll listen, but... I have to try. I have to see if there's any way to salvage him, before it's too late... before everything ends."

Lacus nodded wisely. "And if you can't? What then?"

Athrun clenched a fist. "I don't know," he said, almost in a whisper. "Even Commander DiFalco doesn't know; he told me that, and I believe him. Captain Cooper, though... I think he'll try something more direct, with or without the Commander's permission. And... that might be the right thing to do. The Commander and I both have compromised judgment where my father is concerned; me because I'm his son, and the Commander because he was his friend."

"Maybe that's true," she said slowly, "but it won't help you if you keep thinking like that, Athrun. What your father has become is not your fault, and if you dwell on it now, it'll just get you killed." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "If that happened, I..."

He pulled her close. "Now who's being gloomy?" he said gently. "Listen..." A lot of us won't be coming back, he thought to himself, pondering what to say. We all know the stakes are high, and the risks even higher; we have the forces to have a chance of pulling this off, but a lot of us will be expended for that goal. Still... "I won't die out there, Lacus. We still have a future ahead of us... and I want to see it with you."

Lacus smiled contentedly. "Me, too, Athrun."

Archangel, Ken's Quarters, September 25th, C.E. 71
As Murrue approached Ken's hatch, she noted that there was no sign of illumination on the other side. That, however, didn't deter her; she knew as well as anyone that the ace preferred to work under lighting conditions those with ordinary sight considered inadequate, to say the least.

She wasn't sur exactly why she'd come. Natarle had taken the night shift -it was nearly midnight, ship's time- with customary efficiency, and merely nodded when the captain mentioned her intention of checking up on their resident brilliant -if unstable- strategist. Although, she thought darkly, I'm not sure I liked that knowing smile of hers... maybe she wasn't so bad before she loosened up.

Still, why had she come? Perhaps it was because this was the last night of peace before the storm was upon them all; after all the next day would be one of fierce battle. Perhaps she wanted to see if he had any final thoughts on the upcoming conflict... or perhaps she was just worried about him.

Yes, Murrue decided, I suppose I am. And there's nothing wrong with that.

Arriving at the hatch, she cocked her head, hearing a faint sound from within. Not the typing she might've expected, or the swishing sounds of sword practice, but rather... music?

Before she could touch the hatch, it slid aside (incidentally confirming her long-held suspicion that the pilot had hacked into the Archangel's security cameras), and from within the dimness came the unmistakable sound of a string instrument of some kind. Not a recording, either...

Murrue stepped inside, and the hatch slid shut, engulfing her in near-darkness; and though the ace must've manipulating some kind of controls, the music never faltered. Whatever it was, it had a sad tone to it, as befitted a man with his past. When her eyes adjusted enough to make out a few details, she could see Ken leaning against a bulkhead, eye closed, his hands carefully manipulating a violin.

She felt herself becoming lost in the music, and simply stood there, listening, until the piece came to an end, at which point Ken finally spoke. "I thought you might be dropping by, Murrue," he said quietly. "Should I raise the lights?"

Murrue shook her head. "No, that's all right." From the distinctive silvery glow, she could tell he wasn't wearing his eyepatch; he most likely had the lights turned low so that he could dispense with the patch without risk. "I... didn't know you played the violin, Ken."

"I'm a man of many talents," he said simply, carefully putting the instrument in a case. "I find it soothing."

She nodded in understanding. "You've certainly acquired a number of skills, for someone so young," she mused. "Started as an engineer and martial artist, became a pilot, and learned tactics and strategy... and just as an afterthought became a musician..."

"George Glenn won the Nobel Prize at twenty," Ken reminded her. "And genetic engineering technology has improved since his day. Besides, even I need something other than warfare..."

Murrue nodded again, thoughtfully. "But where did you get that violin from? I know you couldn't have brought it from Heliopolis..."

"I left it in the PLANTs, when I deserted," he explained. "It, along with most of my other personal effects, were in storage at the Gray Demon base, then carried away aboard the Arkbird. I left them in storage, though, for safekeeping... until tonight." He nodded at one bulkhead, where ten katanas hung, in two rows. "I also had those brought aboard, as well."

She looked at them blankly, then inhaled sharply. "Those blades... they belonged to the other Gray Demons, didn't they?"

Ken nodded. "That's right. It was only after my desertion that we began to carry our blades with us even in combat, and Talia Coriolis' blade was found intact among the wreckage of her machine." He gazed at the weapons. "One blade for each fallen Demon... the Requiem, which once belonged to Victor Tempest, may he rest in peace. The Asmodeus, who shared its name with Alicia Sharpe. Fafnir, Matt Russo's weapon. Rot Sturm, or Red Storm, which belonged to Rudolph Krieger. Caladbolg -another name for Excalibur- Montgomery Campbell's blade. Hanryoken -'Companion Sword- was Yoshinori Nogura's best friend; in some ways, his sword meant more to him than most people did. Tatyana Iosefova Sokolov's Ivan the Terrible. Petra von Strasser's Valkyrie. Eric Tellerman's Templar; old Eric could trace his lineage back to a Templar Knight, and was proud of it. Talia Coriolis' White Queen."

Murrue nodded slowly, a solemn feeling spreading through her. She was looking at what most people would consider to be mere objects... but were really symbols, embodying what ten fallen men and women once stood for. The last remnants of the dead. It felt almost as if the ghosts of those dead pilots now inhabited the dim quarters of their commander; a feeling reinforced when she realized there were other objects in the once-austere room, photos and other memorabilia of the team.

"They had no family?" she heard herself ask. "No one for those blades to go to?"

Ken shrugged minutely. "Victor was, as you know, a unique case; not only did he have no family, being a clone, but it was also his wish that I take his weapon out with me. As to the others... yes, there were families, but it was the wish of my fallen soldiers that these, at least, stay with the unit."

"I see..." Murrue swallowed. "I understand, I think, Ken. But... you never seemed very interested in the past before. Not like this, anyway."

He was silent for a long moment. "Murrue," he said finally, "I did what I did because I had no choice. To get this far, to make the choices I've had to make, I had to lock away my humanity, safely behind closed doors in mind, where it couldn't interfere. Another man might've broken, faced with this path; fighting comrades, friends, all the while making cold-blooded decisions based solely on logic to reach one conclusion. Any man could've done that for a time... but few could do it for so long, without losing their humanity completely. In that sense, I'm actually grateful to Doctor Metzinger; what little he had time to do to me proved invaluable."

She nodded slightly. "And now? What's changed now?"

"Now?" Another small shrug. "I realized something long ago, Murrue, when blind rage was replaced by cold calculation: to reach the final battle, I had to lock away my humanity. To win the final battle... I have to open that door again. Logic will take a man many places... but sometimes, passion is needed. To win a do-or-die last chance battle, I need fire, not ice. That's how humans overcome even the worst odds..."

Murrue smiled a little. "I think I understand... but I have to admit, Ken, while I may be used to seeing you smile occasionally, I can't quite imagine what you'd be like without your usual reserve."

"You'll see," Ken said simply; there was something odd about his gaze, though...

"Well," she said, after a moment's reflection, "since you're obviously doing fine, I'll let you get some sleep... or however it is that you can rest on a night like this. I'll see you in the morning, Ken."

Murrue was just reaching for the hatch controls when Ken spoke one last time. "Don't think I don't know why you came, Murrue," he said quietly. "Even if I weren't good at reading people, the rumors spread fast." There was a peculiar note in his voice, one she couldn't recall having heard before. "And maybe... maybe it's time I moved on."

She froze there, not moving a muscle, for several moments. Is he saying what I think he's saying? But... Ken never talks like that...

After a brief silence of his own, the ace finished, "When this is over... there's something we need to talk about."

"Yes," Murrue said quietly. "I suppose there is..." But there's something I need to tell you, too, Ken, before the battle. Whether we have a chance for our "talk" or not, it's something you should know... "Goodnight, Ken."

"Goodnight, Murrue."

Dominion, Bridge, September 26th, C.E. 71
Muruta Azrael watched the asteroid fortress known as Boaz grow on the screen with a smug smile. "We're finally here," he said, almost to himself. "At long last..."

"And there's no sign of the 'True ZAFT' faction, either," Admiral James Hamilton remarked. "I'm actually a little surprised they're not here; they must've known we'd be moving soon, and surely they'd try to prevent us from destroying even one of the fortresses..."

Azrael shrugged. "Maybe they ran into some technical difficulties," he speculated, unconcerned. "Or maybe they just realized five ships -or however many it is these days- isn't enough to stand against both ZAFT and us. After all, I may hate DiFalco, but I know better than to underestimate that particular space monster. One thing he isn't is stupid."

"That's true," Hamilton agreed grumpily. "The Butcher Bird caused us enough problems when he was still working within the framework of ZAFT; on his own, without oversight, he's been even more of a nuisance. If he and Odin hadn't set things back by blasting Castor's force to atoms, we'd have been ready before now." He looked up at the screen. "Well, I suppose it doesn't matter. They're not here, so we can proceed with the operation without interference."

"ZAFT forces are beginning to react to our presence, Admiral," Dominion's detection officer reported. "Communications intercepts indicate Boaz is going on high alert, and mobile suits are beginning to launch. Also, ships and mobile suits from Jachin Due are beginning to scramble."

The admiral snorted. "The Jachin forces won't get here in time to make a difference. As for the Boaz defenders... launch Calamity, Forbidden, and Raider, and deploy the Peacemaker Force. If all goes well, that fortress will be dust in an hour."

Azrael smiled evilly to himself. "And then we move on to Jachin Due," he whispered to himself. "And from there... the Coordinator Homeland itself. Time to shatter those hourglasses..."

In order to launch this final, massive attack on the PLANTs, the Earth Forces left Earth itself almost undefended. Third Fleet had been destroyed over a year before, at Endymion; First even earlier, during the Yggdrasil battles. Eighth had been lost covering the Archangel's descent to Earth's surface, and Second Fleet had been effectively wiped out at Mendel, by the ZAFT and True ZAFT forces.

Now, with the smell of victory in the air, they sent the Fourth, Fifth, and Seventh Fleets to the PLANTs, leaving only the Sixth Fleet in low Earth orbit to defend against raiding attacks. Had they been inclined to do so, True ZAFT would very likely have been capable of destroying Earth's remaining defenses, and from there launching massive attacks against surface targets... such as the Atlantic Federation capital.

Muruta Azrael, however, had made one accurate calculation, which the Earth Forces Headquarters agreed with: even if the enemy did manage to make such an attack, it would be at the expense of losing the PLANTs entirely, and any gains made on Earth itself would be swiftly reversed when the Fleets returned. And, more importantly, they understood that if you presented a serious threat to the PLANTs, Ken DiFalco would respond in force... and none of his people would argue with him.

So the massive attack was launched, with its admirals feeling smugly assured of victory, for even True ZAFT would be no match for the might of three entire fleets, as well as the equally-hostile ZAFT forces. No matter what happened, victory would be theirs.

Unfortunately for them, they underestimated not only the skill of Ken DiFalco, but also the sheer determination of one Lance Cooper and the crew of his ship, the Arkbird...

Archangel, Bridge
"It's as we feared," Alicia Cateau said glumly, watching the main screen. "They got here ahead of us. Not much, but enough."

Murrue nodded, observing the mobile suits and nuclear-armed mobile armors pouring out of the dozens of Alliance warships. "We won't be in range for another..."

"Twenty minutes," Ken supplied without turning; he was already in flight gear, with his helmet tucked under his arm. "Might not seem like much, but by the time we could reach them, the battle will have been joined." He shook his head, frustration evident in his expression. "We don't want to get caught in that."

As if on cue, Murrue's right-hand intercom screen lit up. "What are we waiting for?" Kira demanded, from Freedom's cockpit. "We're here, so why aren't we launching? If we don't hurry, those mobile armors will reach Boaz, and the nukes-"

"There's nothing we can do for Boaz, Kira," Ken said sharply. "We'd be torn apart by the time we got there; there's too many of them, even for the forces we have. And even if we did get there, it'd be just in time to watch nuclear warheads detonating within the fortress. No, Kira, we have no choice but to wait this out... if only to avoid getting nuked ourselves."

"Then how are we supposed to do any good at all?" Kira said pointedly. "If this is too much for us to handle, why did you tell us we had a chance in the first place?"

The ace's eye narrowed dangerously. "I haven't been leading you on, if that's what you're implying, Kira," he said coolly. "I said only that we can't do anything for Boaz; we'll have our chance yet. Look, by the time they've taken out that fortress, they'll have taken some losses; and they'll need time to regroup. When they launch next time, we'll have ample opportunity to get into position before they coalesce into a formation like this one. Then, and only then, will I approve a launch. You can head out if you want to, but I won't take any responsibility."

Murrue winced at the exchange. The two pilots had been on progressively worse terms with each other for a couple of months now, and the choice Ken had given Kira at GENESIS Alpha hadn't helped matters any. Now... I don't think Kira will misunderstand that tone, she thought uneasily. Ken's right; but I'm not sure it was a good idea to say it like that. Ken's tone had clearly indicated what he thought of people who had chosen to accept his authority, then went and demanded an explanation for every order. In that he was undoubtedly correct; for all that Kira disapproved of his mentor's methods, he had agreed to let the older pilot have overall authority, and had never objected to it... which meant, at least in a military situation like this, that he really had no business questioning orders. Kira's never been trained as a soldier, so maybe he doesn't understand that -actually, I'm fairly sure of it, given some of the things he's done in the past- but when orders are given -especially by someone who presumably has more information about the situation than you do- you don't stop to debate them...

She shook herself. Kira had his way, and Ken had one of his own. They simply didn't mesh properly these days.

Meanwhile, Kira had cut the connection with the Bridge, and Ken was heading for the elevator. "I'll be in the hangar if you need me," he called over his shoulder. "Saddle up; lock and load."

To Murrue's intense surprise, a cocky grin was briefly visible on his face as he left...

Arkbird, Bridge
"So," Sparky Cooper said heavily, "it's begun."

"Looks that way, Sir," his second in command, Jane Goldberg, agreed; she, too, saw the growing battle ahead of them. "How long do you think the ZAFT forces will hold out?"

"Not more than half an hour," he said sadly. "Perhaps less; I have the unpleasant suspicion Patrick is going to deliberately use the destruction of Boaz to justify the use of GENESIS. And once that occurs..."

"He'll get off at least one shot," Goldberg murmured unhappily. "The only silver lining is that he won't be able to justify targeting Earth this early in the game." She looked over at her captain. "And then, Sir? We have to make sure the Commander has enough time..."

"I know." Sparky closed his eyes. "You know what we're going to have to do, Jane. One last hellride, as the books would say." He looked up again, and his gaze swept his Bridge crew. "I can't ask any of you to do this, you know. Nor do you have to. I can do this alone."

"No, Sir," his helmsman said firmly. "We'll follow the Commander to hell if we have to, even if we don't come out alive. If that means one last ride into death, then that's a price we're willing to pay, Sir."

"For the PLANTs," Goldberg agreed."And for the Commander. This is the moment we've been waiting for, isn't it? I say we go out with a bang, Captain. Maybe we'll even make sure the Commander doesn't have to risk going inside GENESIS."

"Maybe we will," Sparky murmured. "I hope so. Jack," he called to his helmsman, "lay in that course for Jachin Due."

Forgive me, Boss. But this is something we have to do... and you have too much to live for. The world will need you, when all this is over... and I won't let the sacrifices our comrades made be in vain.

Archangel, Corridor
"Guess we're running a little late," Dearka commented to Cagalli, stepping out of the pilot's locker room. "The others must be at their machines by now."

"Not Ken," she disagreed. "I hear he was on the Bridge until a minute ago; probably making one last check of the situation." She scratched her head. "Though I did expect to see him down here about now; unless he already suited up..."

"Probably." He shrugged. "Well, we'd better get going; this is one party we shouldn't be late for. Falcon would kill us, if the enemy didn't."

"No, Dearka, I wouldn't kill you," Ken said, coming up the corridor toward them. "We've got a battle ahead of us, like you said, and I need all the people I can get for this one. Can't go around killing my pilots, right, old buddy?" To Dearka's shock, the ace clapped him on the shoulder and grinned broadly, before turning to Cagalli. "C'mon, partner; let's go show the Earth Forces -and Patrick- what we're really made of." With another smile, he gripped her arm briefly, then pushed off down the corridor, throwing a jaunty wave as he passed.

Cagalli couldn't help but stare in his wake. "What on earth...? I've never seen Ken act like that. Have you, Dearka?" she asked, turning toward Buster's pilot. "...Dearka?"

Dearka's face had gone white with shock. "Was that... was that actually Falcon?" he said in a hoarse whisper.

"Yeah..." she confirmed carefully. "...Why?"

He swallowed. "Because the last time Falcon acted like that was over eighteen months ago... before he launched in a GINN that fell apart on him." He blinked, not sure he'd really seen it at all. "The day of the Bloody Valentine... before Laura died..."

Cagalli looked at him in surprise. "You mean...?"

Dearka nodded. "Yeah. His mental state's gone back to the way it was before all this happened... to when he was all fired up about protecting the PLANTs, without the depression that was always with him after that day." He slowly shook his head. "There's something weird going on in Falcon's head right now, Cagalli. I don't know what, but there's definitely something different about him today. I just hope it's for the good, not the bad..."

Archangel, Hangar
The hangar was abuzz with activity by the time Murrue -who had left the Bridge at Natarle's subtle urging- entered it. A lot of the activity seemed to be centered around Preybird; a number of Murdoch's mechanics, as well as several people she identified from Arkbird and Asmodeus, were swarming around the wings and twin satellite cannon, evidently making sure the systems required to destroy GENESIS were in perfect working order.

Last minute details, she thought, making her way toward the machine's cockpit. Gets you every time... Well, at least it means he's still here.

The hatch opened within moments of her knock, and Ken stuck his head out. "Oh, hey, Murrue," he greeted. "What are you doing here?"

Murrue smiled. "You didn't think I was going to let you launch without a sendoff, did you?" She glanced around. "Is there any way we can talk privately?"

He nodded, and beckoned her into the cockpit. Being rather more spacious than a standard mobile suit cockpit, there was easily room for both of them. "What's on your mind?" he asked, as the hatch closed behind them.

She hesitated for a long moment, before finally replying, "There's something I really ought to tell you, Ken." Reaching into the collar of her uniform, she withdrew the coffin-shaped pendant she carried everywhere. "This pendant... was a gift from my old boyfriend. He... was a mobile armor pilot."

Ken nodded, perplexed as to why she was telling him, but understanding at least part of what she was getting at. "That's why you seem a little distant with mobile armor pilots, then. I'd wondered."

"Yes," Murrue acknowledged. "That's why. The reason I'm telling you is... Well, he was at the First Battle of Jachin Due. He... was killed by a GINN pilot, not long after launching from the mobile armor carrier Tecumseh Sherman."

He tilted his head, eye narrow. That name... sounds familiar. Why would I remember the Sherman? Unless... His eye widened in shock. "The Sherman... she was a Nelson-class, wasn't she? I brought her down... which means..." He looked away, feeling suddenly very guilty. "I'm... sorry..."

She touched his arm. "I never blamed you, Ken," she said gently. "The Earth Forces were the aggressors; all you were doing was defending your home against invaders. What happened that day... People die in war, Ken. You've said that often enough yourself. Don't blame yourself for what you did... because I don't blame you, either." She glanced away. "I just... thought you should know, since you're about to head out. And..." She looked up again. "Don't die on me, Ken," she said, an unaccustomed pleading note in her voice. "I don't want things to come full circle; not any more than they already have."

Ken was silent for a long moment. "I don't intend to die today, Murrue," he said finally. "Really, I don't. Because... I have something to come back to." To Murrue's momentary shock, the ace suddenly reached out, and pulled her into an embrace. "I'll be coming back, Murrue," he said quietly. "I promise."

"You'd better," she said past a lump in her throat. "...I love you."

She'd expected him to stiffen at that, but instead he merely tightened his grip for an instant. "I know," he said simply. "That's why I'm coming back."

"Captain Ramius to the Bridge! Captain Ramius to the Bridge!"

Murrue pulled away, looking mildly disgusted. "If that was Natarle's idea, I'll have her spaced," she muttered. "Well," she said to the pilot, nervously clearing her throat, "I guess I'd better get going." She gave his shoulder a last, brief squeeze. "Now how about you go out there and make the impossible possible, hm?"

Ken grinned; still an incongruous sight, but one she figured she could get used to. "You got it."

Archangel, Bridge
"What's the emergency, Natarle?" Murrue asked even as she came through the hatch. "A new development?"

"Look for yourself, Captain," Natarle said sourly, and pointed toward the bow. "In a few moments, I don't think you'll even need computer enhancement to see what's going on."

The Captain swallowed, seeing exactly what her exec was talking about. "They got through the Boaz defenses faster than I expected," she noted, as missiles flew into every available access into the asteroid fortress, while the forces launching them began to pull back at high speed.

"I think the Commander was right," Natarle opined, watching nuclear fire begin to blossom in bursts of unbelievably bright light from with Boaz. "Zala must've done this on purpose. To sacrifice so many men as bait for a trap..." She shook her head in revulsion. "It's just like what Headquarters did to us at Alaska."

"Agreed." Murrue settled into her chair, and punched up her intercom. "Ken? Are you watching?"

"Yes." Ken's right eye was shining suspiciously; clearly, the destruction of Boaz was harder on him than he'd ever admit. "It seems Azrael is in something of a hurry."

"So it would seem," she agreed. "Now what? They're beginning to pull back, but it won't be for long; do we launch now?"

"Yes." She could see him altering his radio settings to an all-ships band. "Attention, all True ZAFT forces. Begin mobile suit launch at once. Repeat, launch all mobile suits immediately!"

"Odin, complying," Jason Chance said simply, and four Strike Daggers, led by a Gunbarrel-equipped 105 Dagger, streaked out into space, coming to a "halt" in front of their mothership.

"Kusanagi, roger that," Ledonir Kisaka acknowledged, and a dozen M1 Astrays, led by Asagi Caldwell, Mayura Labatt, and Juri Wu Nien poured out the bow of the Orb warship. They had lost their country to nuclear weapons; now they would save someone else's from the same fate.

"Got it, Commander; Eternal now deploying GuAIZ units, and the METEORs are standing by." On the heels of Andrew Waltfeld's acknowledgment, the two GuAIZs assigned to his ship shot out of the catapult, and the METEOR units detached, awaiting only their assigned mobile suits.

"Arkbird, deploying now." From Sparky Cooper's command, four more GuAIZs launched into the void... their pilots knowing something about their shipboard comrades their Commander did not.

"This is Asmodeus; we're launching now, Boss." The six GuAIZs -one piloted by Leanne Eldridge- three Astrays -from the Hades, before the ship had been destroyed- Nicol Amalfi's Raiden, and a single CGUE DEEP Arms, piloted by Shiho Hahnenfuss, fired off into the cold vacuum of space as fast as the catapults could cycle.

Then it was finally Archangel's turn. "Kira Yamato here. Freedom, heading out!"

His best friend echoed his sentiments. "This is Athrun Zala. Justice, launching!"

"Yzak Joule, launching." For once, the Duel's pilot didn't sound like he was going to burn up the enemy with sheer rage; from the tone of his voice, he was beyond mere anger and into the realm where his vengeance would be served cold...

On Mir's screen, a blond-haired pilot grinned out at her. "Here we go, Mir," he told her. "This is it."

She swallowed. "Yeah. Look... be careful."

"Always am. Dearka Elsman, launching."

Next into the catapults were Strike and Hyperion; the Strike was, once again, equipped with the Gunbarrel pack. "Bridge, this is La Flaga. Time to go make the impossible possible, eh? I'm heading out."

"That makes two of us," Sophia DiFalco agreed. "Now engaging."

Last, but by no means least, were Strike Rouge and Preybird. "You ready for this, partner?" Cagalli called. "This is the moment you've been waiting for..."

"Ready as I'll ever be," Ken said, sounding curiously cocky. "Murrue, we're going now."

Murrue nodded. "Good luck out there, Ken... and don't die on me."

He grinned. "Hey, I promised, didn't I?" His eye narrowed. "MBF-02 Strike Rouge and ZGMF-X00A Preybird, launching!"

Dominion, Bridge
Azrael cursed mildly. He'd been utterly delighted by the sight of Boaz being blasted into space dust, but this latest development went a long way towards spoiling his good mood. "So they made it after all," he said grumpily. "I was hoping that bastard DiFalco would realize he doesn't have a prayer here."

"Maybe he thinks he's got something up his sleeve," Hamilton suggested. "Not that it matters Six ships and two or three dozen mobile suits are nothing compared to what we have, even after the losses we took getting to Boaz. And since ZAFT is hardly friendly to them, either..."

Azrael sighed. "Yes, I suppose you're right, Admiral. Doesn't make me any happier to see them, though. Communications," he said abruptly, "get me the Doolittle."

"You called, Director?" Rear Admiral William Sutherland said, a few moments later.

"I did," the Director acknowledged. "Admiral, I'd be much obliged if you'd dedicate a few nuclear weapons to those annoying flies who just turned up. We wouldn't them to spoil the party, now would we?"

"Of course, Director," Sutherland agreed amiably. "We'll get right on it."

Azrael smiled to himself. "Maybe this isn't so bad after all. Saves us the trouble of having to hunt them down later, now doesn't it?"

Jachin Due, Command Center
Patrick Zala scowled at the massive displays hanging on the wall before him. I should've known you'd be here, Falcon. Everything was going just fine; the Earth Forces are right where we want them, after that last attack. And now you have to turn up, to try and blunt our victory. I curse the day I ever called you "friend", Falcon!

"Your Excellency?" a soldier said carefully. "The Earth Forces are moving off, Mister Chairman."

"It won't be for long," Zala said dismissively. "They're just taking the time to recharge their mobile suits, and rearm their mobile armors. They'll be back; and in the meantime, I see Commander DiFalco's so-called 'True ZAFT' forces have shown up." He gritted his teeth in irritation. "They're going to throw a wrench into things."

"Wh... what do we do about them, Sir?"

"We wait," Zala said decisively. "For a few minutes, at least. And then... prepare to begin activation of GENESIS on my command. I think we can use observed divisions in their command structure to our advantage."

Lagrange Point Five, Near Jachin Due
Ken DiFalco looked out at the assembled firepower, and felt something akin to awe. His forces -his comrades- might be a pitiful number next to the massive amounts of troops and ships the Earth Alliance and ZAFT could bring to bear, but they were all elite; only the best of the best could've survived this long, and they were all dedicated to one goal.

Now they floated together, arrayed in ranks before the six ships that had brought them here, and awaited only the order to engage the enemy... but first, the ace had one last speech to make.

"All right, people," he began. "First of all, I know you're probably expecting another long-winded speech from me. Well, I'd love to oblige, but we're a little short on time here, so I'll have to keep this even shorter. We all came here for our own reasons, with our own individual experiences having made us leave the organizations we once served with the willingness to lose our lives for them, if we had to. Today, we're here with the knowledge that either side would just throw us away for no purpose... and they themselves have set themselves upon a path of genocide. That's what we're here to stop... so all I have to say is this." He took a deep breath. "Now for wrath, now for ruin, and a red dawn. Engage the enemy!"

Preybird's massive Gerbera Straight flashed out of its sheath, and the crimson-and-gray machine led the charge toward the waiting enemy forces.

It was Earth Forces Strike Daggers that they reached first; Hamilton had redeployed his machines as soon as the True ZAFT forces had launched, and now awaited only the Peacemaker Force before making another attack on the PLANTs. In the meantime, he intended to make the advance as costly on Ken's people as possible.

The machines of True ZAFT, however, made things confusing, for not all of them were headed in the same direction. Freedom and Justice, having linked up with the METEOR units, followed Preybird straight ahead, toward Jachin itself, but the GuAIZs from Arkbird, Eternal, and Asmodeus streaked off for a large concentration of Nazca and Laurasia-class ships, and their own accompanying mobile suits, while the Astrays stayed with the ships to function as Combat Aerospace Patrol. Meanwhile, most of the rest of Archangel's PSA-equipped units headed for the massive Earth Forces fleets, and Nicol, Leanne, and Shiho sped off for another concentration of ZAFT forces.

Ken and his comrades had realized long before the battle arrived that they simply didn't have enough firepower to try a massed attack; so their only alternative was to attempt to be everywhere at once, which was what this radical breakup of forces was for. Even as the mobile suits went hunting for the enemy's mobile forces, the ships were splitting into pairs, dispersing in an attempt to flank the location where Ken believed GENESIS waited, under Mirage Colloid cloaking. They would do what they could to batter at the device themselves, and even if they failed to destroy it, they would at least help prepare the way for Preybird.

And Preybird itself swiftly began to wreak havoc all its own.

Kira Yamato watched the events with concern. He was cutting something of a swath himself, with the METEOR's many weapons, but they were all intended as disabling shots. Preybird, however... Ken was fighting in a way he'd never seen before, combing his usual precision with a flair, a passion for the battle itself that disturbed him. Even as he watched, a CGUE tried to intercept the speeding Preybird, only to have the Gerbera slice him in half from left hip to right shoulder in a blaze of sparks and rain of debris. There was a brief scream from the ZAFT pilot, and then... silence. The eerie silence left only by the dead.

What are you doing? Kira wanted to demand of his mentor. They're no match for you; there's no reason to kill them just for following orders! You're good enough to just knock them out of the fight without all this killing! Ken's Tolkien quote just before giving the order to engage had been inspiring, all right; but it had also been, to Kira, an unpleasant indicator of how the ace was thinking right now.

Something's wrong here, too, he thought. This is... too simple, somehow. Is he about to lead us into another trap, like the Zantetsuken mission?

"Watch it, Kira," Athrun warned then, his METEOR-equipped machine rolling to the right and pummeling a GuAIZ that had been going for Freedom's underside. His shot, too, was fatal; but Athrun had been rushed, unlike Ken's cold, deliberate lethality.

"Thanks, Athrun," Kira radioed, and fired off another burst of his own, a spread of missiles that ripped into a cluster of Alliance units. "Do you see the Earth Forces G-weapons anywhere?"

"Not yet; but I'm sure they're out here somewhere." Justice's pilot glanced around. "They probably just haven't penetrated this deep into ZAFT's lines yet; remember, the whole reason we launched the attack when we did was because the Earth Forces were busy regrouping." He hesitated. "Kira... I'm gonna break off for a minute, okay? I need to get into radio range of Jachin Due."

Kira blinked. "Why-? Oh. Go ahead, Athrun; I'll keep them busy here." He must want to talk to his father, he realized. While he still has time...

As Justice broke off, he could see Preybird's rail cannons go off, targeted precisely on an old GINN's cockpit. There was no chance for escape before the armor-piercing slugs slammed through the obsolete unit.

Almost unconsciously, Kira's left hand moved to the controls that would separate Freedom from its METEOR at need...

Jachin Due, Command Center
"So here they come," Zala muttered. "Falcon, you bastard..."

"Your Excellency," a communications technician called, "we have an incoming transmission from one of the enemy mobile suits. It identifies itself as the ZGMF-X09A Justice, and the pilot asks to speak with you." The tech swallowed. "He claims to be Athrun Zala..."

"Put him on," the Chairman ordered instantly. "Athrun! What are you doing here, in the company of DiFalco's traitors?"

On the screen that had just lit up with his face, Athrun flinched; this was not how he'd hoped to start the conversation. "It's a long story, Father," he managed at last. "It began when I followed my orders, and located the Freedom, and its pilot..."

"Yes," Zala said angrily, "and why didn't you finish the rest of your mission? You were ordered to destroy it and all those who came into contact with it, not join forces with it!"

"You'd order me to kill my best friend?" Athrun demanded, gaining confidence from his own rising anger. "I thought out mission was to liberate the PLANTs, Father, not kill everyone who gets in the way! The mission was liberation, not subjugation!"

"You've been listening to DiFalco too much, I see," Zala retorted, eyes narrow. "Subjugating the Naturals is theleast that we must; nothing less could guarantee our freedom. That's something Falcon never understood, despite the loss he himself suffered at the Bloody Valentine." He sneered at his son. "So what are you doing here now, Athrun? You've obviously betrayed, so what did you hope to accomplish by talking to me?"

Athrun's face fell. "I'd hoped to find some trace of my father within you, Chairman," he said quietly. "I thought maybe I could still get through to you. I guess I was wrong..." He met his father's eyes. "I'm sorry, Father, but now I'll do what I have to. I'll oppose you, as long as there's breath in my body."

"There won't be for long," the Chairman said shortly. "You're not my son anymore." He looked over at another technician. "Drop GENESIS' Mirage Colloid," he ordered. "And activate its phase-shift armor."

Athrun's eyes went wide. "Father! No, you can't-"

"Don't call me father," Zala said harshly. "I told you, you're not my son. You've been corrupted, just like Falcon... so now the both of you can just die!" He glanced over his shoulder, where a figure lurked in the shadows. "Le Creuset," he said, voice too low to be picked up by the microphones, "get out there. If Falcon survives this, take him out... along with my wayward son."

"Yes, Your Excellency." With a hidden smile, Rau Le Creuset turned and slipped out of the room... as, outside, matters came to a conclusion that had been approaching for months.

Lagrange Point Five, Near Jachin Due
Ken, even as he fought his way toward where he knew his target lay, had been monitoring the transmissions between Justice and Jachin, and now his blood ran cold. He's really going to do it, he thought in sudden fury. He's going to fire my cursed creation... that bastard! I have to stop him!

With an even greater ferocity than before, he threw Preybird forward. Exercising a skill seldom seen before -for now all of Preybird's inhibitions had been dropped- he drove inward, flashing toward the interior of the ZAFT defensive lines with an almost reckless haste. A trio of GuAIZs blocked his path, and his blade licked out; one received a deep slash through the cockpit on the first pass, and the other two were viciously bisected when Preybird made a full circle.

Continuing on his way, his DRAGOON system deployed, seeking targets; his rail cannons unfolded, began to fire-

And one of them was suddenly melted away by an emerald dart. "Stop it, Falcon!"

Ken's head came around, and his eye widened to see Freedom advancing on him. No longer encumbered by the METEOR unit, all its long-range weapons were deployed... and all of them were locked onto the Preybird. "What do you think you're doing, Kira?" he demanded. "Stand down!"

"I should be the one saying that," Kira shot back. "Think about what you're doing, why don't you!"

"What I'm doing is trying to stop Patrick from immolating us all," Ken said harshly. "What I want to know is what you're doing."

"Vengeance isn't the answer, Falcon," Kira told him, eyes flashing. "This isn't about stopping GENESIS any more, and I won't let you slaughter people like this for no reason!"

The ace almost gaped. "No reason? You're out of your mind. They're in the way, and if I let them kill me, we all lose, and you know it, Kira!"

"I don't believe what you're doing is necessary," Kira replied. "You may think you're doing this to stop the killing, but all you're really doing is causing more killing yourself. And I won't let you, Falcon. I won't!"

Preybird turned to face Freedom directly, and the DRAGOON units began rotating around its vertical axis, all forty emitters aimed at the same spot. "You're going to stand in my way, then, are you?" Ken said dangerously.

"If it's the only way to stop what you've become, yes," Kira said unflinchingly. "When we first fought together, I admired you, Falcon. But now you've lost sight of what brought you here, and if you don't stand down... I'll have no choice but to shoot you."

Ken's eye narrowed, a dangerous light within it, and Preybird's Gerbera Straight rose vertically before it. "You have no idea what it is you're doing, Kira," he whispered. "The stakes are too high for this. But if you want to risk losing everything we've both fought for... then on your head be it!"

Preybird and Freedom ignited their verniers, and charged...

Author's note: The Second Battle of Jachin Due has arrived at last. Boaz is gone in the nuclear inferno, and the true battle has begun; Athrun has lost his last chance to bring his father back... and now other problems have surfaced. Will this divisive fire cost them everything they've fought for?

All right, I know, this chapter is really late. Well, as you can see it's a long one, and I was a little distracted recently (that's the problem with Metal Gear; it takes up too much of my time...). In any case, I shall endeavor to bring you Chapter 44: The Fallen in a more timely fashion... and in the meantime, I hope this chapter was... interesting, shall we say? Anyway, let me know what you think. -Solid Shark