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
Jachin Due, Pilot's Locker Room/Hangar, September 26th, C.E. 71
The man ZAFT knew as Commander Rau Le Creuset, whose current name meant "The Crucible" -and who refused to ever use the name he'd been born with, Aru La Flaga- fastened his white commander's flightsuit, and paused, looking into his locker. Specifically, at a bottle of pills...
Shrugging, he opened the bottle, downed the entire contents, and washed it down from a zero-g water bottle. It may be an overdose, he thought, almost clinically, but it's not as if it's going to matter any longer. This will keep me going long enough to finish the job...
Le Creuset turned, and made his way out of the locker room, toward a special hangar. He had one last task to complete... or two, if he had his way. He'd settle for destroying the world, but there was one man he wanted to deal with personally. "Do try to stay alive a little longer, Falcon," he murmured, with a secret smile. "It's our destiny to face each other, you know; I'd hate for us to disappoint each other." He knew that, even with GENESIS foremost in his mind, his old rival would want to face him personally; settle the old score. And besides, they were family.
He entered the hangar at a brisk but even pace, and was met by a technician, who swiftly saluted. "Commander Le Creuset," the man greeted. "Here to test the machine in combat, Sir?"
"I certainly intend to," Le Creuset confirmed. "Tell me, how is the unit?"
"Spotless, Commander," the tech replied promptly, and smiled. "But I suppose you want the technical details. As you know, the ZGMF-X13A Providence was created in reaction to Commander DiFalco's X00A Preybird, by order of Chairman Zala. The unit's basic frame was constructed from the same base design as the other ZGMF-X units, and then much of the technology DiFalco's X00A project leaked to us was added, such as much of the internal systems, and the software. Additionally, from observational data of the Preybird in action, we've created our own version of a system called 'Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network', or 'DRAGOON' system."
Le Creuset nodded. "Yes, I'm familiar with it; Falcon tends to use it sparingly, but it's obviously very effective when in operation."
"Such was our own conclusion, Sir. You'll note that Providence is equipped with eleven DRAGOON units, with a total of forty-three beam emitters; this should give you and advantage, should you run into Preybird, as from what we've seen that unit has only ten units, with forty emitters." The tech paused. "You realize, though, Commander, that this system requires certain... unusual capabilities to make use of it."
The masked commander smiled. "Don't worry. Anything the Grimaldi Falcon or Hawk of Endymion can do, I'm sure I can do just as well." He shoved off toward the Providence's hatch, and glanced back. "Good work, soldier; your efforts will be much appreciated." And, Falcon... don't you dare die before you and I can meet one last time in battle...
Lagrange Point Five, Near Jachin Due
It was an event that could've been predicted months earlier by an astute observer, and yet it would still have come as a total shock.
ZGMF-X00A Preybird and ZGMF-X10A Freedom rushed each other, weapons out... and not at all in the spirit of practice. The two pilots were clearly in earnest, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. No one was in that patch of space save for the two combatants and a number of ZAFT mobile suits who were, for the moment, too surprised to take advantage of the situation.
Kira Yamato had realized very quickly what his opponent intended to do with the Gerbera Straight he held in both hands, and had hurriedly put away his beam rifle. Now he held a beam saber in a two-handed grip -not as easy as for Preybird, since he actually had a physical shield- and he let out a yell as his machine and its opponent raced to meet each other.
Ken DiFalco's right eye blazed with controlled anger, both at Patrick Zala's actions and his own student's insane attack, and he made no attempt to slow down. Physical blade clashed with energy, and they were locked for an instant, blade against blade. "You don't know what you're doing, Kira," he said through gritted teeth. "You're out of your mind!"
"You're wrong," Kira shot back, feeding more power to Freedom's verniers in an attempt to force Preybird back. "You're the one who's lost it, Falcon. I admired you, learned from you, and now you've become nothing but a murderer!"
"There's a difference between murder and war," Ken grunted, shoving right back. "And if you think you can defeat me, you obviously haven't been paying attention."
Freedom flung itself back suddenly, causing Preybird to blaze past before its pilot could compensate for the launch of equal pressure. "You're the one who said I could be even better than you," Kira said fiercely, readying his beam rifle again. "You said yourself I was the quickest study you ever saw."
"There's a difference between skill and success, Kira," the ace informed him, boosting away; taking one hand from the Gerbera's grip, he took a moment to rip away the melted stump of his left rail cannon, destroyed in Kira's first attack. "I taught you technique, and I tried to teach you the mentality, but you obviously never listened."
"If listening would've made me like you, I'm glad I didn't!" Kira unfolded his weapons, and sent a blaze of energy fire and a hail of railgun slugs at his erstwhile mentor. "You're killing people for no reason but to avenge yourself, and that's something I can't allow!"
Preybird's arms crossed, and the light-wave shields that blazed to life intercepted the fiery assault. "This isn't vengeance, Kira," Ken disputed. "This is a necessary expedient; and if you were a soldier, you'd understand that a soldier's job isn't to die for his country. It's to make the other guy die for his!" He sheathed the Gerbera, lifted both beam rifles, and unfolded his remaining rail cannon. Then his DRAGOON units pointed straight forward... and the twin satellite cannon barrels snapped up to firing position.
Kira's eyes widened at the moment the ace pulled his triggers. Forty-two emerald streaks scorched through space toward him, along with a burst of slugs... and a pair of low-powered antimatter bolts spat from the Nataraja. He can fire smaller shots from reactor power alone, he realized. I never knew he could do that... He threw Freedom into a series of wild, tumbling evasive maneuvers, desperately weaving through the web of emerald and orange fire. He allowed the rail cannon slugs to connect -with Freedom's PSA, they were nothing more than a distraction- and splattered many, many beams on his shield. The bolts of antimatter annihilation -which would've blown even Freedom apart with ease- streaked harmlessly past.
That's one thing to remember: I'm better than he is, long-range. If I can just stop him from closing the distance...That was easier said than done, though; for all that Ken might not be the best shot in the world, he was very good at avoiding fire. It was how he'd survived the long months of battle, first against the Earth Forces, then his own people, and now both sides..
A GuAIZ, deciding to take advantage of the incomprehensible but useful battle between two of his enemies, slashed across space toward them, firing its beam rifle; an instant later, it tumbled away, plasma and laser fire having smashed its head and arms to splinters.
Having dealt with the momentary distraction, Freedom directed its weapons toward Preybird again, and Kira glared at his mentor's machine. "How do you expect to end the bloodshed with an attitude like that?" he demanded. "The killing has to stop somewhere!"
"Not my problem," Ken shot back; his DRAGOON units returned to his wings, and he fired another double barrage from his rifles. "'War is diplomacy continued by non-diplomatic means'; that's what Clausewitz said, Kira, and if there's one thing I've learned in this war, it's that history never lies. My job is making war; I leave making peace to politicians like Chairman Clyne. I'm not good enough at that kind of double talk."
Freedom caught the twin emerald darts on its shield, and Kira sent a pair of plasma bolts back his way. One connected, melting away Preybird's remaining Xiphias. "You were good enough at it to get us all out here," he said in rebuttal. "You manipulated us to get us here to do what you wanted us to!"
Preybird put away its left-hand Talon rifle, and snatched out a beam boomerang. "Don't try to tell me you didn't walk into this with your eyes wide open, Kira," ken said coldly. "I won't deny I used you, but you -all of you- knew I was doing it, and not one of you tried to stop me. And be honest with yourself," he added, tossing the spinning energy blade. "Where would you've gotten without my help? Our help? With Freedom alone, you wouldn't have gotten anywhere at all. Oh, Eternal might've thrown in with you, but what could one ship and one mobile suit do?"
"Maybe I did walk into it," Kira conceded angrily, "but if I'd known what you'd do once we got here, I would've stopped you long ago!" He fired a single, precise beam, and the beam boomerang vanished in a puff of vaporized metal. Then, with barely a pause, he fired another full barrage from his ranged weapons, and had the satisfaction of seeing Preybird's right-hand Talon be torn to splinters.
Ken saw that, and snorted in disgust. "You've forgotten everything I taught you, I see," he said contemptuously. "Didn't I tell you to choose your own course, your own path, and follow it through to the end?"
"You did," Kira acknowledged. "And by stopping you from murdering these people, that's exactly what I'm doing!"
"This isn't murder, this is war," the ace told him icily, "and you're wrong. You're still trying to disable me, and that is where your greatest weakness lies. You've strayed from the path you chose, because unless you kill me, your path will fail... because the only way to stop me is to kill me!" He lifted his remaining Talon, and pulled out his remaining boomerang. The former he trained on Freedom; the latter he threw at a CGUE that was doggedly blasting at him. Over the radio, there was brief scream as the weapon bit deep into the CGUE's cockpit, and exploded. Then there was silence...
"There are ways of stopping you besides killing you," Kira argued, inwardly sickened by how easily his former friend had consigned his enemy to death. "Just knocking you out of the fight-"
"I'd like to see you try!" Preybird caught the boomerang when it came around again, boosted toward Freedom, and hurled the weapon once more. "The Grimaldi Falcon you might've won against, but I guess you didn't get the memo: he isn't here anymore."
Kira smashed the boomerang to useless junk with his shield, and blew a CGUE's rifle to splinters with his own when it tried to get close. "What are you talking about?" he demanded now; this battle had gone beyond the immediate issue of Ken's "murderous" attack, and in the heat of the moment had expanded to cover every disagreement they'd ever had, congealed into one brutal argument. "What you mean, you're not here anymore?"
"I didn't say I wasn't here anymore," Ken corrected, seemingly unperturbed by the loss of his second beam boomerang; he now switched the rifle back to Preybird's "dominant" hand. "I said the Grimaldi Falcon isn't. You just don't get it, Kira, do you? I locked away my humanity after the Bloody Valentine, became the elemental force of nature people knew as the Grimaldi Falcon; but with my humanity went my passion, my drive to succeed, and survive. Against an enemy like you, I might actually have been disabled. Victor nearly managed it more than once. But today..." Behind his helmet, he smiled savagely. "Today I've given that up, and now you face Ken DiFalco the man, not Falcon the legend. Only death will stop me now... and in this battle, neither will alone nor strength alone will be enough." Almost as an afterthought, he spun around, pointed the Talon back over his shoulder, and fired, showing that for all his preference for blades he knew how to shoot, too.
Kira cursed to himself, as the beam went straight down the barrel of his own right-side Xiphias rail cannon. Metal warped and melted, control runs and power relays sparked and went out, and the remaining projectiles in storage converted themselves to rapidly-expanding gas. "I knew all about that," he shot back at the ace, literally firing back at the same time with his Lupus. "If I didn't have the strength or will, I wouldn't be here!"
The emerald dart turned Ken's remaining Talon to scrap and free-floating hydrogen, leaving Preybird with only its DRAGOON system and twin satellite cannon for ranged weapons; but to Ken DiFalco, the loss of mere guns was nothing more than an inconvenience. "You just proved yourself wrong," he informed his old student. "Freedom and your own skills -which even I acknowledge- are your strength, but you have not the will to end this fight. Only when you understand that sometimes a killing blow must be struck will you be able to defeat me." He drew the Gerbera once more, and charged...
Archangel, Bridge
"What's the situation out there, CIC?" Murrue asked, voice and face intent.
"Unclear, Captain," Natarle replied. "The Earth Forces Fourth Fleet seems to be the only one actively engaging in combat operations at this time; Fifth and Seventh appear to be busy rearming mobile armors."
"Best guess is that Fourth is the vanguard," Sai concurred, "while Fifth and Seventh are the support for the Peacemaker Force. At least, there's where most of the ECM and ECCM is coming from, as well as numerous weapons-grade radiation signatures."
Murrue nodded. "What about ZAFT?"
"That's even less clear, Captain. A number of their forces seem to be engaging ours, but there's been less activity than Falcon suggested we should expect. Ever since that transmission about GENESIS..."
She closed her eyes. "I understand, Sai." They're getting ready to fire that thing, and want to be able to pull their people out of the line of fire as fast as possible. Smart...
Behind her, Flay stiffened. "Captain! Receiving anomalous transmissions from Freedom and Preybird!"
Murrue turned in her chair, surprised; Flay never said things like "anomalous". "What do you mean, Flay? What's going on?"
The redhead didn't respond in words. Instead, she simply patched the signals through to a speaker, and the Captain felt her eyes widen in shock. "-strayed from the path you chose, because unless you kill me, your path will fail... because the only way to stop me is to kill me!"
"There are ways of stopping you besides killing you. Just knocking you out of the fight-"
"I'd like to see you try!"
The blood drained from Murrue's face, hearing those words, and the ones that followed. "What's happened out there?" she whispered. "Are they...?"
Sai swallowed audibly. "Confirmed, Captain. Freedom and Preybird are being attacked by several dozen ZAFT machines... and appear to be firing upon each other. Both units have also received damage-"
"Confirmed," Mir cut in, reading the telemetry from the two machines. "Freedom has lost one rail cannon, and Preybird... Preybird has lost all long-range weapons save the DRAGOON system and twin satellite cannon." Her expression, like that of just about everyone else on the Bridge, was more than a little shell-shocked. She knew as well as anyone among the six vessels the strain that had come between the two pilots, but this...!
Natarle, unsurprisingly, was the one who kept her cool. "Is there anyone in range to break it up?" she said curtly. "I don't care who started it, or why, but this is something we can't afford."
Mir hastily consulted her telemetry data. "Just the Justice, Ma'am," she said after a moment. "As per pre-battle planning, most of our units are scattered, and even Athrun's machine is a little ways away, closer to Jachin itself..."
"It'll have to do," Murrue said decisively. "Get me Athrun." From what she'd heard so far, she had a good idea of what all the shooting was about -even if she still couldn't figure out what had triggered it in the first place- and she honestly wasn't sure which side was truly in the "right" of this one. She rather thought Ken was making telling points, but under the circumstances... and they certainly couldn't afford to have their two best pilots shoot each other down!
I just hope Athrun can get to them in time...
Lagrange Point Five, Near Jachin Due
Athrun felt a wave of despair roll through him at his father's final words. "Don't call me father. I told you, you're not my son. You've been corrupted, just like Falcon... so now the both of you can just die!"
I've failed, he thought sickly. I've failed my father, my best friend, the Commander, and Lacus... and my mother. My father's nothing but a shell now... there's nothing left of the man I once called father. Is it... is any of this because I betrayed him? A spasm of pain gripped him at the thought. Because I left to stop him... did I push him completely over the edge?
The thought wasn't a happy one. His thoughts usually weren't these days, however much he tried to hide it, but this was even worse...
Luckily for Athrun Zala's sanity, his helmet speakers crackled with static. "Athrun, do you read me?" Murrue called. "We have a situation , and you're the only one who can help."
He sobered instantly, professionalism pulling him back into the job at hand. "What's going on?" he asked calmly. "I don't see anything from here, but you sound-"
"It's Kira and Ken," she said bluntly. "I don't know what started it, but now they're trying to kill each other!"
Athrun blinked in shock. "What? But- I know they've had their problems, but this is crazy! And Kira doesn't kill! Ever since we nearly killed each other, he's..."
"I know, and I don't understand it either. I think Kira's trying to end this without any killing, but Ken... You know him, Athrun! He doesn't lightly shoot at a comrade, but if that comrade is trying to get in the way of his mission, he'll do whatever it takes!" She swallowed hard. "If you don't stop them, Athrun, one of them is going to..."
Going to end up dead, Athrun completed mentally. Yeah; probably Kira. He didn't know what was going on, but he did have a healthy respect for Ken DiFalco's skills... and a certain knowledge of how Kira's own ideals would hamper him in this fight. "All right, Captain, I'm on my way." Even as he spoke, he angled Justice toward the fight and fed power to the METEOR's thrusters. "But... aren't you going to try speaking to him?"
"I just tried," Murrue answered, "but Ken's got some kind of lock running on the system right now; we've never seen anything like it. We can hear him, but he's not listening to anyone but Kira right now; I guess he's determined to see this through without interruptions. Flay's working on a way around it, though-"
Her voice suddenly vanished in a burst of static, and Athrun's eyes widened. "No," he whispered, darting a glance at his displays. "Dead Zone..."
He didn't know how the Earth Forces had noticed the situation -or how they'd applied the effect from so far out- nor why they chose to take advantage in quite this manner, but he knew exactly what had happened: the Earth Forces -probably from the vanguard Fourth Fleet- had just activated a portion of the ECM effect they'd used to attempt -and nearly succeed- to trap and destroy the Archangel over a month earlier. The effect called Dead Zone. If the sudden loss of long-range radio was any indication, things were about to get a lot hairier... and now there was no chance of talking Ken and Kira out of their fight. He had to stop them himself, by force...
Athrun was so caught up in these thoughts, as he raced toward the two battling machines, that only trained reflexes kept him from being obliterated by the beam blast from nowhere. The emerald dart came from "above", and had Justice not pulled a hard left, it would've gone straight into the cockpit... and just incidentally vaporized one Athrun Zala.
When his mind had assimilated the event and returned to the present, he glanced quickly around and found a dark-blue-and-gray mobile suit coming toward him. It was equipped with some kind of peculiar spiked backpack, a humongous beam rifle, and some sort of combined weapons system over its left arm. "What is that?" Athrun wondered aloud. "A new ZAFT model...?"
The voice that came over his radio, only slightly tinged with static, caused a ball of ice to form in his gut. "Well, well, if it isn't Athrun Zala," Rau Le Creuset said pleasantly. "I hoped I'd run into you, Athrun; it's been a long time since we saw each other."
"Rau Le Creuset," Athrun whispered. "What are you doing here, Commander?" he demanded. "I don't have time to deal with you right now."
"Oh, what a shame; no time to catch up with your old commander?" Le Creuset chuckled. "Actually, Athrun, I believe we have plenty of time... since, after all, you're heading to interfere with Falcon and your friend Kira, and that's something I can't allow."
Justice's pilot glared. "I'd like to see you try and stop me," he said coldly. "Get out of my way, or die."
Another chuckle. "Well, at least you're confident, Athrun. This should be most enjoyable." The spikes on the backpack, as well as several waist-mounted units, detached, and began to move around Providence independently. "Let's see how you do, shall we?"
Athrun winced, recognizing now what the spikes had to be. A DRAGOON system, he thought grimly. An improved model of Preybird's most lethal weapon... which means this could get ugly. "All right, Commander," he said aloud. "Let's do this. If you won't get out of my way, then I'll force my way through!" Feeding more power into the METEOR's thrusters, he charged forward, firing his full armament... and the storm of emerald fire began to weave its deadly dance around him.
Odin, Bridge
Lewis Halberton cursed as communications went down. "That's not good," he muttered. "Jason, was that what I think it was?"
Jason Chance nodded unhappily. "I'm afraid so, Admiral. They've activated part of the Dead Zone effect. We're not affected by it, but since we weren't able to complete the modifications to the other ships and the mobile suits, well..."
Halberton nodded grimly. All well and good that we can function properly, he thought bitterly. But that doesn't help us coordinate our efforts when the other ships can't even hear us! "What was the last status report before communications went down?" he asked. "Is the operation still on track?"
"Not sure." Chance bent over his displays, oblivious to a Laurasia being obliterated by their single Lohengrin beyond the viewport. "Last transmission from Archangel indicated something was going on between Freedom and Preybird, but they were cut off before they could finish. Beyond that, I can only say that everything seems okay in our sector; Morgan is starting to pull ahead -looks like something got his attention out that way- and Arkbird is still off our port- Wait, Arkbird is beginning to move away!"
Halberton was on the radio in an instant (the Arkbird being close enough to reach even through the interference). "Arkbird, this is Halberton. Sparky, just where do you think you're going? You're leaving formation!"
Sparky Cooper's face appeared on the monitor, and he nodded somberly. "I know, Admiral," he said quietly,"and I'm sorry we're going to be leaving you unattended. But this is something more important, something we have to do for the Boss." He paused. "We're setting course for Jachin Due itself, Sir."
"Are you insane?" Chance demanded bluntly. "One ship has no hope of taking out that all by itself! Your weapons would be slag by then, and even if they weren't, the only way to inflict catastrophic damage would be to-" He broke off suddenly, eyes wide. "Wait, you can't mean...!"
Sparky nodded again. "'Fraid so, Jason. We're accelerating to ramming speed even now."
Halberton met his gaze. "You realize Patrick Zala isn't the only man on that rock, Sparky, don't you? That base must have..."
"Over two thousand people, last I heard," the huge soldier agreed quietly. "I know, and none of us like it. But there are two things that outweigh that, Admiral: if Patrick Zala is removed from the picture, along with GENESIS' controls, all that'll be left is mopping up. And besides... I have it on good authority -which I haven't told the Boss- that that lunatic's set up Jachin to self-destruct if GENESIS is destroyed."
Chance stiffened in his chair. "What? But why?"
Sparky shrugged. "Who knows what goes through the mind of a madman? But if I had to guess, I'd say we're not the only people dealing in throw-of-the-dice operations. I think Patrick thinks that if GENESIS is dealt with, his last card will be gone, and there'll be nothing left for him, or for his people. Crazy, yeah, but then so is he."
Halberton closed his eyes. And so this is what it's like to watch a friend go willingly to his death, in order to stop a greater evil... and so another of the Gray Demons will pass from this life. He looked up. "Godspeed, Lance," he said softly.
"Thank you, Admiral. From all of us." Behind the big man, his far smaller female exec nodded agreement... and then they vanished.
Jason Chance swallowed a sudden lump in his throat. "I can't believe it," he whispered. "Are they... are they really going to go through with this, Admiral?"
"Yes, Jason," Halberton said heavily, "they are. The Gray Demons, one and all, set the survival of the PLANTs over all else; and loyalty to their commander comes in a close second. They'll fly all the way to hell for him and them, if they have to, and if that means they have to fly their ship into an asteroid, so be it."
"But can they actually do it?" the captain wanted to know. "I know what I said, but even a ramming attack..."
Halberton smiled sadly. "Don't forget, Jason: the Arkbird, like the Asmodeus and most of True ZAFT's mobile suits, is nuclear powered. There'll be no supercritical detonation, but even a nuclear meltdown will provide a most satisfactory explosion."
Chance swallowed again. "This day had better be remembered by history," he said hoarsely. "Good men are going to their deaths, and if I have anything to say about it, their names will never be forgotten!"
The admiral nodded, still with that sad smile. "I agree completely, Jason. Now..." He looked back at the fire-control officer. "Lieutenant, make sure everything's in working order. We're going to do our best to make sure Arkbird gets through to her target!"
"Yes, Sir!"
Jachin Due, Command Center
"How long until we can fire GENESIS?" Zala demanded. "We must use it as soon as possible, if we're going to win this battle."
"Dropping Mirage Colloid now, Your Excellency," a tech replied. "Activating phase-shift armor, all layers; firing capability estimated within thirty seconds."
The Chairman smiled, watching GENESIS reveal itself on the main display, a blue tint flowing across it in the distinctive pattern of PSA activation. "Very good. As soon as it's ready, advise our forces to get clear of the firing line. I want it targeted on the Earth Forces Fourth Fleet... through the location of ZGMF-X00A Preybird."
"Yes, Your Excellency!"
Soon, Zala thought. Soon, it will all be over... The Earth Forces -and maybe even the Earth itself- will be wiped away, my traitor of a "son" will be dead... and, perhaps best of all, that bastard Falcon will be gone for good. He was useful while he lasted, but now he's nothing more than an irritant. Those ships of his are like hyenas, nipping at our heels, but soon we'll bring them to heel...
Yes, this would indeed be a day of reckoning.
Dominion, Bridge
Azrael smiled to himself, seeing the signs of confusion among True ZAFT's ranks. ZAFT itself, and the Coordinator Homeland, was his true target, but getting rid of DiFalco's pack of rats was a worthy goal in itself. They'd been a nuisance for far too long now...
"It appears Dead Zone is leaving them a bit befuddled," he remarked to his tame admiral. "You'd think they'd learn, but I guess that's too much to expect..."
"Don't underestimate DiFalco's people, Director," Hamilton warned. "I agree they're becoming more disorganized now, but it's not as bad as Castor's final report indicated the confusion was the last time Dead Zone was employed. Of course," he went on thoughtfully, "that day we were able to employ the full effect; here at Jachin, only the radio jamming is practical. Pity."
"I'll take what I can get," Azrael said dryly. "By the way, what's the status on rearming the Peacemaker Force? I want to get those nukes out there as soon as possible."
The admiral consulted his armrest screen. "Shouldn't be long now, Director," he answered after a moment. "I'd say five minutes at worst, and then we'll be ready to send them out again. I estimate the biological CPUs will reach True ZAFT's forces at about the same time, and then things will get really interesting."
"Yes," the Director agreed, "it's always nice to have a diversion-"
"Admiral!" Dominion's detection officer broke in. "Something else just appeared near Jachin Due, out of Mirage Colloid. Computer can't tell what it is, but it's huge, Sir!"
"Show me," Hamilton ordered, and an enlarged image appeared on the main screen. It was still too far to see much detail, but it appeared to be some kind of giant mirror... "Director," he said abruptly, a cold feeling spreading through him, "you're the weapons' industry expert. Can you tell me what use a mirror over three hundred meters in diameter would be in a combat situation?"
Azrael frowned. "A giant mirror? I guess they could be trying to pull the stunt Archimedes supposedly did, by focusing the sun's rays at us; but ZAFT should know that even if it worked at all, it wouldn't work well... and they're not the types to throw that much time and effort -and money- into something like that. Unless..." His eyes widened. "Lieutenant! Where's that thing facing?"
"Directly toward Fourth Fleet, Director," the detection officer replied, mildly bewildered. "Why?"
"Tell them to get out of there!" Azrael shouted in response. "Now!"
Hamilton turned to look at him in surprise, but began to pass the orders. "Fourth Fleet, this is Dominion. Get clear of that area-"
A bright glow said it was too late.
Lagrange Point Five, Near Jachin Due
"This isn't the answer, Falcon," Kira grunted, raising Freedom's left arm to ward off Preybird's Gerbera. "No one has to die here; we're trying to stop the killing, not create more of it out of blind vengeance!"
"I told you, this isn't about vengeance," Ken retorted, as his slice barely missed to one side. "And what youdon't understand is that in war, people die! There's nothing you can do about that. Look at Hiroshima and Nagasaki, why don't you!"
"Are you saying nuclear weapons are the answer?" Kira questioned, as the ace swung again. "And what do you think they're gonna do against phase-shift with- What the-!" He stiffened in shock as some kind of bright flash momentarily lit the blade as it connected with Freedom's forearm... and a chunk of armor came away spiraling out into space. "That's not-"
"Possible?" Ken finished. "Know yourself, know your enemy. Sun Tzu said that millennia ago, and he's still right today. I suspected I couldn't completely trust you, Kira, so I had my people make a couple of special modifications to Preybird without telling anyone else. One of them was an idea I got from the AMATU: a weapon covered with phase-shift will pierce phase-shift, so Tom added trans-phase armor to my Gerbera; and since it only activates on contact, there was no betraying power surge until the first time it touched phase-shift." His one-eyed gaze hardened. "You know yourself, Kira, I'll grant you that, but you clearly do not know your enemy. And," he added, almost as an aside, "I wasn't advocating the use of nuclear weapons. I was just pointing out that sometimes, a great deal of blood must be shed in order to spare of the blood of many more. This is a basic truth of war!"
"Then we should work to change it!" Kira shot back, and drew a beam saber. "You devious bastard!" he added. "You still wouldn't tell us everything-"
"I had no choice," the Grimaldi Falcon said coldly. "You're a bloody good pilot, Kira, you know that? So I realized I needed an ace up my sleeve, if you ever tried anything foolish." He shook his head. "You just don't get it, do you? You can't change the nature of war, Kira. Human nature doesn't change! Decades, centuries, even millennia pass, but mankind stays the same. We have our faults, we have our virtues, and that is the on constant in the world."
"Humanity has changed," Kira insisted, fiery blade sweeping toward Preybird's head. "Don't tell me we haven't come a long way from the World Wars!"
"Oh, you're right about that," Ken acknowledged sardonically. "After all, even with early-generation nuclear bombs in the mix we only killed a few million people in World War Two; in the Reconstruction War, it was over a billion... and the Bloody Valentine took over two hundred thousand lives in an instant." He shook his head, parrying the stroke. "No, Kira, all that's changed is the number of people we can kill at once, and the weapons we use to do it."
"You're sounding like Le Creuset," Kira snarled at him, jabbing his blade through Preybird's left shoulder. "You're sounding exactly like Le Creuset!"
The Gerbera snapped up, hard, and hacked through two of Freedom's fingers and catching the hilt of the energy blade, sending it spiraling off into the blackness. "I am nothing like Rau," Ken hissed, truly angry now. "I recognize mankind's sins, just as I recognize my own. But unlike that madman, I see something in humanity worth keeping alive." Even through the screen, his Prussian blue eye burned into Kira's with fiery intensity. "Do you think I'd come all this way to stop GENESIS if I desired humanity's destruction?"
"Maybe not," Kira conceded, yanking out his other saber, "but that still doesn't justify the measures you've taken to get this far. The things you've done-"
"We're soldiers, Kira, we stand or we die!" Preybird caught the first stroke from the new blade on a briefly-energized light-wave barrier, and lashed out again. "War is ugly, and what soldiers do are things that civilians should never see. But someone has to do them, so that others don't do things that are even worse."
"You mean things like what you're doing?" Kira demanded. "By killing everyone in your path when you can't even reach GENESIS in time?" He boosted back, and fired a barrage from his plasma cannons. "I'm trying to stop you from doing those things!"
Ken snorted. "Then you're delusional, Kira. Even if you were right to open up on me -on your comrade, as well as someone you chose to serve under- you're forgetting one very important fact: you don't have what it takes to kill me."
"I'm not trying to kill you!"
Preybird's CIWS fired a diversionary burst. "That's exactly my point," the ace said levelly. "If you were trying to kill me, then you might have what it takes. But what you fail to understand is that when you're facing a man who will continue to fight no matter how much damage he takes, who absolutely refuses to let any infirmity get in his way, who will sacrifice everything before he gives up, a killing blow is the only way to stop him."
Kira shook his head. "I don't-"
"Falcon, this is Odin, do you read me?" Halberton's voice suddenly blared over Preybird's radio. "Falcon,respond!"
Ken stiffened. "Lewis? How are you-"
"No time for that!" the Admiral snapped. "Get out of there; you're directly in the line of fire!"
The ace's eye widened, and his head snapped around to look at the gigantic mirror hanging beside Jachin Due. "No..." he breathed. "I'm too late..."
Kira blinked in surprise -not having been able to receive Halberton's transmission- when Preybird suddenly sheathed its Gerbera, darted out a hand, and grasped Freedom's arm. "Falcon, what are you-" The sudden G-forces from being violently dragged away cut off his words... and seconds later he understood what his mentor had done.
A tremendous column of red-orange fire erupted from the weapon known as GENESIS, and as the edge of the deadly stream of gamma radiation passed over them, held back only by the light-wave bubble Preybird generated over them both, Kira Yamato began to understand what Ken DiFalco had been telling him... because at the risk of his own life, and his chance of stopping GENESIS from firing a second shot, his mentor had just saved his life.
Archangel, Bridge
Murrue stared at the display, and felt a lump in her throat as she swallowed hard. She thought she'd been prepared for the sight; not only had Ken described the effects in great detail, but she'd also seen GENESIS Alpha in action. She had thought she knew what was coming... but she was wrong.
GENESIS Alpha had been but a pale shadow of the fury that scorched across space now. It blazed through the space where Freedom and Preybird had been dueling -only the faint sight of a glowing bubble on the fringes saved her from despair- and ripped right through the heart of the Fourth Fleet's formation. Ships and mobile suits simply came apart at the atomic level, savaged so brutally that only those at the very edges of the path of destruction left any debris at all. Men and women were torn apart, and as they died, so did their ships...
Evidently, they had finally found something to break through even Natarle Badgiruel's calm, for now the black-haired woman stared numbly at her own display. "Oh... my... Is... is that...?"
The anguished cry of fury and grief that came over the radio in the wake of the eruption of fire -the radio was clear again, probably due to the sudden destruction- was answer enough. None of them had ever heard that sound before, but they all recognized the voice.
Oh, Ken, Murrue thought, as the afterimages of the beam began to fade from her retinas. I'm sorry...
"It's confirmed, Captain," Sai said, shaken. "That was a nuclear-triggered burst of gamma radiation, amplified to an energy level in excess of our own Lohengrins..."
"GENESIS," Alicia Cateau spat. "I wonder how many of my own former comrades just died? For that matter, I expect a number of ZAFT troops were lost, too." Practically vibrating with an anger of her own, she turned and made her way toward the elevator.
"Where are you going, Lieutenant?" Natarle questioned.
"To the hangar," Cateau replied. "It's time I did my part."
The other woman blinked in confusion. "But we don't have anything left in the hangar; all our mobile suits-"
"There's still one thing left down there," Cateau said simply, and left.
Murrue hardly even noticed. "Status report," she said, voice far calmer than her own emotions. "How much damage did our forces take from that blast?"
Flay murmured into her headset for several moments, before glancing down at the Captain. "Minimal, Captain; none of our ships were in range... though it seems we did lose both of Eternal's GuAIZs, as well as one from Asmodeus." She paused, muttering another query, and then sighed in relief. "We just received word from Freedom and Preybird. They were only caught in the fringes of the attack, and Preybird's wing-mounted light-wave barrier protected them both. Also... they're heading back into the fight in tandem, Captain. Freedom and Preybird are no longer firing on each other."
Murrue smiled in relief. "I'm glad to hear it. Tell Ken I'll want a damage report from him, when he has a moment, but other than that-"
"Captain!" Tonomura interrupted. "The Arkbird has deviated from its assigned course, and increased to maximum acceleration!"
"What? Get me Captain Cooper!"
A moment later, Sparky's somber face appeared on her right armrest screen. "Hello, Captain Ramius; I figured we'd be hearing from you, if Dead Zone went down in time. What can I do for you?"
Murrue stared at him. "What can you do for me?" she repeated. "You can start by telling me just what it is you think you're doing! This is no time for spur of the moment-"
"This isn't spur of the moment," he cut her off. "We planned this -without the Boss's knowledge, in case you're wondering- as soon as we learned of the opposition we'd be facing here." The big man sighed. "Look, I already had this conversation with the Admiral. Captain Ramius, this is something we have to do; not just for the PLANTs, but for the Boss, as well. If we can pull this off, we might make the difference in this battle... we might improve the odds that the Boss will get out of this alive."
A light dawned. "You're going after Jachin itself, aren't you?" she whispered. "But to do that..."
"We'll have to ram," Sparky acknowledged. "I know, and every one of us is prepared for that. My engineer is already shutting down our reactor cooling systems right now; by the time we reach Jachin Due, we'll be ready. It's time to make the sacrifice, Captain." He paused. "If I don't get the chance... will you tell the Boss for me? Tell him I'm sorry it came to this? And... I hope the two of you have a happy life together."
Murrue swallowed. The -literally- twitchy ex-pilot had become a friend of hers in the months True ZAFT had been together; his death would hurt all by itself. But the thought of how Ken would react to the fall of his exec, his alter ego... To have come so far, to have kept what's left of his team alive for a year, only to have one sacrifice himself now...
"Thank you," she whispered at last. "But... Sparky, are you sure...?"
"It's something I owe the Boss," Sparky said simply. "He saved my life, you know, the day that accident nearly fried me; he pulled me out before it could leave me with anything worse than a facial tic, and nearly got himself killed doing it. Now it's time I gave something back... time I gave my all to stop this war, and let him have peace inthis life." He met her eyes calmly. "He's got something to live for now, Murrue, which is something that couldn't have been said for a long time after the Bloody Valentine. It's time he had a chance at a real life."
"Thank you," Murrue said again, voice breaking. "...Goodbye, Sparky. And... thanks for everything."
"Goodbye, Murrue. Godspeed." Lance Cooper's face vanished from the screen for the last time.
And a solemn silence fell over the Archangel's Bridge.
Dominion, Bridge
Muruta Azrael was literally trembling with rage. "Those bastards," he hissed. "Those unnatural, space monster bastards!"
Even James Hamilton was shaken by what they'd just witnessed. "What in the world just happened out there?" he wondered. "Director... how did you know?"
"I knew because I happened to read a theory once," Azrael replied through gritted teeth. "A theory in a science journal published in the PLANTs, written a by certain irritant with an eyepatch. It talked about using focused gamma radiation as a propulsion system, through use of a gigantic mirror and nuclear bomb-generated gamma rays. It was supposed to be an engine to the stars... but my company and I did a little research, and realized that if someone could crack a few technical problems, an engine like that could be turned into a weapon." He glared out the forward viewport. "Obviously, that bastard DiFalco did more than just 'research' the idea!"
The admiral frowned. "But he couldn't have been the one to fire that thing; he hasn't even been in the PLANTs in months-"
"But I'm sure he was the one who got the ball rolling," the Director said angrily. "And because of that, we've got, what, two fleets left? And no vanguard to keep the enemy busy?"
"I'm afraid so, Director," Hamilton said heavily. "We're not helpless, of course, but that was a third of our total force... and if that thing should fire again..."
Azrael cursed viciously. "Send out the Peacemaker Force," he bit out. "I want nuclear missiles targeted on that hourglass, and that mirror!" He lowered his voice to a hungry whisper. "And take us out of Fleet formation. DiFalco draws his strength from his troops... and the traitorous Archangel is his flagship. We're going to hunt her, Admiral, and we're going to bring her down. And once we've done that... we're going to bring down the Butcher Bird himself."
Lagrange Point Five, Near Jachin Due
Athrun had been mostly oblivious to the eruption of GENESIS; he'd noticed it, certainly, but right now he was far more concerned with surviving to draw another breath.
Is this the strength of madness? he wondered, spinning his METEOR-equipped machine through a web of laser fire. Or is it just that new machine of his? One thing was for sure: Le Creuset's mobile suit was even more advanced that Athrun's own, and that was not good news.
"You're good, Athrun," Le Creuset mused, his DRAGOON units providing a steady stream of fire to keep Justice on its toes. "I was never able to properly appreciate that before, but now that our swords have met in battle, I see that you truly are worthy of the medal your father awarded you. Only a pilot such as you could've defeated Kira Yamato in battle, and for that, you have my respect."
"I don't want your respect," Athrun grunted, firing the METEOR's primary beam cannons in a blaze of red-orange fire. "You're a crazed menace, Commander, and the only respect I want is from my friends!"
"Even from Kira Yamato?" Rau mocked, using Providence's huge main thrusters to boost away from the beams. "Even from that twisted creation of a madman's deranged dreams?"
"He's not a 'twisted creation'," Justice's pilot shot back. "He's my friend, and I don't care how he was born! None of that matters!"
"Not to you, perhaps," Le Creuset conceded, triggering a heavy emerald blast from his enormous rifle. "But to others? Surely you know the stigma that will be attached to those who willingly associate with the Ultimate Coordinator, if his secret should ever be revealed."
"If I've learned one thing from serving alongside Commander DiFalco," Athrun shot back, cursing inwardly as the shot from the Judicium smashed one of his smaller beam cannons to splinters, "it's that sometimes, you have to just do the right thing, no matter what kind of 'stigma' might be attached!"
Le Creuset nodded thoughtfully. "You learned from the best, I'll give you that. Falcon is nothing if not courageous... but my brother's courage will be his downfall, in the end. Even if he succeeds in this mad quest, he knows better than anyone how low the odds of his survival are." The DRAGOONs swooped in again, and the METEOR simply proved to be too large a target to easily miss, even with its massive thrust capacity. Emerald streams speared in, and Justice's maneuvers weren't enough to save it from damage.
Holes were liberally torn throughout the METEOR's structure, but Athrun did his best to keep it in the back of his mind; in this battle, the contest of wills would have a profound effect on the physical battle, as well. "I wouldn't call Falcon 'brother' to his face, if I were you," he grunted, trying not to think about the last thing his old commander had said. "Not unless you want to make him angry enough to kill you outright."
"And what would be wrong with that?" the masked man said whimsically. "After all, we both know his mobile suits don't survive very long when he gets angry. His skill is phenomenal, but really too much for any machine to handle. And besides... it's not as if I'm going to live beyond this battle anyway. Better that we should die together, as the last relics of Al Da Flaga's arrogance."
"You're forgetting Mu La Flaga," Athrun pointed out, unleashing a barrage of missiles, "and you're not going to die together, because Commander DiFalco is going to survive... and I'm going to stop you here and now!"
"I'm forgetting nothing, Athrun," Rau told him, his DRAGOONs setting up a curtain of green fire that tore the missiles to shrapnel. "But you see, Al Da Flaga never truly acknowledged Mu as his son; I was the one that bastard chose, and I daresay Falcon is exactly the son he always wanted!"
"He'd hate to hear that," Athrun muttered, then cursed as something within the METEOR detonated, throwing him into a spin. Must've been that DRAGOON attack, he thought, struggling with his controls. I just don't get it; why can't I hit this guy?
Le Creuset laughed, watching Justice spin helplessly around its own axis. "Don't be so surprised, Athrun," he advised. "You didn't think I could allow you to defeat me, did you? I still have to meet Mu in combat one last time... and, of course, I can hardly deny Falcon the opportunity to take one last shot at me, his true brother." Raising the Judicium again, his tone turned thoughtful. "You know, there's not actually much difference in our ages; perhaps five years or so, if that. In many ways, your new commander and I are more like brothers than he and Mu could ever be..." he shrugged. "Well, that doesn't matter to you, now does it? Goodbye, Athrun Zala. You put up a good fight, but in vain." He squeezed the trigger...
...Just as Athrun ejected the METEOR unit entirely, throwing Justice free of the deathtrap the weapons platform had become. "It's not over yet, Commander!" he called, even as the METEOR exploded behind him. He drew his sabers, connecting them together, and charged forward; he knew he couldn't defeat Providence in this manner, but if he could just get close enough... "I'm still bringing you down!"
"What can you hope to achieve?" Le Creuset wondered, more amused than anything else. "Justice doesn't have the firepower to stop divine Providence; not without that METEOR unit. Or are you just trying to distract me from going after Falcon?"
"Oh, you'll find this distracting, all right!" Twisting through the maelstrom of energy fire, Athrun delved into Justice's software... and started removing the safeties on the nuclear reactor. "I guess today is a good die to die!"
Le Creuset blinked, then began laughing as his systems reported increasing radiation levels within the Justice. "Oh, Athrun, this is delightful! You truly are worthy of that red uniform; pity you won't be around for the award ceremony!"
"Neither will you," Athrun said with a feral smile. If I die... then I die well. I'm sorry, Lacus, but I'm sure Commander DiFalco will take care of you...
He pushed those thoughts out of his mind, and devoted all his attention to dodging the Providence's attacks. Now all he had to do was survive long enough for his reactor to meltdown... and then it would all be over for the both of them.
Preybird and Freedom flew side by side, on the same team again at last, as they streaked across space toward Jachin Due. Both machines were badly scarred -and Preybird now did not dare use its bubble generator, lest it burn out and take the power receptor surfaces with it- but now they shot only at the enemy, not at each other... and Kira made no sound of protest when Preybird's blade buried itself in a mobile suit's torso.
"I'm sorry, Ken," he said quietly. "I didn't understand..."
"No," Ken agreed, "you didn't. But you couldn't have, either, and that's partly my fault; I always kept my thoughts to myself, as a security measure, never thinking it might be part of why you distrusted me." He shrugged. "Well, what's done is done."
"Yeah," Kira murmured. "But you know," he added, with a slight smile, "that attack run of yours was pretty stupid. You'd never have gotten anywhere near GENESIS all by yourself."
"Not after the damage you inflicted on me, certainly," the ace agreed, but with a trace of amusement rather than anger. "You're right, though, it wasn't very bright. But enough about that for now; we can talk later... when we're not in such a hurry."
"Yeah..." Inwardly, Kira winced; he still wasn't sure exactly what Ken had been up to, all this time, but the fact that he risked throwing away everything he'd worked for to save Kira's life told him he'd been wrong to open fire. Now he just hoped neither Freedom nor Preybird had taken enough damage for it to truly be dangerous...
Preybird slowed momentarily, as a pair of GuAIZs came directly toward it, beam rifles firing. Ken took one shot on his left buckler... and then both machines feel away, trailing sparks from neck and open shoulder joints. "Nice shooting, Kira," he said approvingly.
"Thanks."
Nothing more was said for several moments, as the two mobile suits began to cut their way toward Jachin Due... but something abruptly caught Ken's eye, and he stiffened. "Kira," he called, "look up, near Jachin's north pole..."
Kira did, and did a double take. "Isn't that... the Arkbird...?"
"Sparky," Ken called immediately, stomach tightening, "answer me. Why are you out of formation? Answer me! What do you think you're doing?"
Sparky's face appeared on the cockpit module's inner surface, and smiled sadly. "Hello, Boss. I hoped I'd get to see you... one last time."
The ace's eye widened. "Sparky... what are you saying? What do you mean, one last time? We're both still alive, and we're going to get out of this one together..."
The big man shook his head. "I'm sorry, Boss," he said quietly. "I really am. But this is something we have to do. ...We're going to stop GENESIS by destroying the controls... by ramming Jachin Due itself."
"No," Ken said instantly. "No! Break off your run at once, Sparky. That's an order!"
"Can't do it, Boss." The pilot's eye widened again in sheer disbelief as, for the first time since they'd known each other, Sparky disobeyed a direct order. "You know as well as I do how risky your run on GENESIS would be; and we can't afford to lose you. Remember... this won't be over just because Zala and Azrael die. You know the threat that lies even beyond that. And..." Sparky paused. "It's time I gave something back to you, Boss. You've done so much for us, now it's time to do this for you, because of what you've done."
Ken's hands tightened on his controls. "Sparky... no... You can't..." He swallowed. "Sparky, none of this was ever about me! You know that; along the way I hoped to find redemption, but this was all for the PLANTs!"
His exec nodded. "I know, Boss; that's why we're doing this. You gave your all for the PLANTs... so now we giveour all for you. You have to survive, Boss. Live on, with Murrue... live the life this constant battle has denied you." He sighed. "You can't save us now, Boss; my engineers have already removed the radiation shielding from around the reactor. We're the living dead as it is... Well, I guess this is it. Godspeed, my friend... and goodbye."
Lance Cooper's face vanished, and Ken stared through suddenly blurred eyes at the events unfolding before him. "Sparky? Lance! Answer me! Laaannnceee!"
Jachin Due, Command Center
"It's confirmed, Your Excellency," a soldier reported. "The entire Earth Forces Fourth Fleet was wiped out by GENESIS' attack." He paused. "We also lost several of our own mobile suits, as well as a single Nazca."
"Regrettable losses," Zala said unflinchingly, "but ones that are not in vain. We've taken out a full third of their fighting strength now; and that will give us an opening to take out the other two fleets, and the nuclear weapons they carry." He turned. "How long to get a new alignment mirror in place?"
As Ken had explained long before, the mirror used to reflect the gamma rays back into the giant mirror was engulfed in the subsequent blast, and had to be replaced. Fortunately, upon realizing the threat the man posed to his own creation, Zala had ordered his men to begin practicing replacing the mirror as soon as GENESIS had been completed, and now they were quite adept at the task.
"It should be done within an hour, Your Excellency," a tech said now. "Possibly less."
Zala smiled. "Good. But just in case something should happen..." He moved toward a control panel, and began typing in commands. I know it's unlikely, he thought to himself, but I can't discount the possibility that Falcon will find a way to destroy Jachin Due itself... and there's always the chance the Earth Forces will get lucky with one of their nuclear missiles. If that should happen, I don't want everything I've worked for to die with me. The PLANTs will be free, and the Naturals will be exterminated...
The instructions he locked into Jachin's computers were in essence a deadman switch: if anything happened to the asteroid, GENESIS would begin an automatic firing sequence as soon as all was in readiness.
"There," Zala muttered to himself, "that should-"
"Your Excellency," a communications officer interrupted, "we're receiving a transmission from one of the rogue ships, identified as Arkbird. The captain wishes to speak with you, Sir."
The Chairman looked up in surprise. Cooper, he thought. That's Cooper's ship. He really thinks I'll talk to him? Wait... A slow smile spread across his face. "Let me hear what he has to say. He might let something slip... something we can use against Commander DiFalco."
"Yes, Your Excellency."
Whatever expression Zala had been expecting to see on Lance Cooper's face when it appeared, it was not what he got. "Well, if it isn't 'Captain' Cooper," he said sarcastically. "Judging from the smile on your face, I suppose the treason business is going well... but I assure you, you won't have anything to smile about for very long."
"Perhaps not," Sparky agreed amiably. "But then, neither will you. Your ships all seem to be busy with other matters -besides the ones we blew to atoms- and your mobile suits are pathetic small fry compared to us. You've got nothing to get in our way."
Zala snorted. "What does it matter, Cooper? One Eternal-class ship can't do enough damage to Jachin to be worth it. Are you just here to throw away your life? That doesn't sound like Falcon's style."
"These aren't his orders," Sparky informed him, "and you're forgetting one very important thing: Arkbird isn't quite the same as the Eternal-class."
Nearby, a tech stiffened. "Excellency! We're detecting a radiation signature consistent with a nuclear reactor beginning meltdown!"
Zala's eyes widened. "You bastard..." he whispered. "You're throwing away your lives just to kill me...?"
"In this world, in a battle between you and the Boss, there's only one truth that matters, Chairman: in the end, there can be only one." Sparky smiled, hearing over the radio the sounds of panic in Jachin's command center, as people began to flee. "We all have our parts to play in this war, and mine -as well as my shipmates- is to stop one of the two most dangerous leaders in the world. Goodbye, Chairman."
"Arkbird is on a collision course, ETA ten seconds, we can't stop it-!"
"Game over."
The last thing Patrick Zala ever saw was the bow of the Arkbird plowing through the wall... and the tremendous flash of subcritical nuclear detonation.
The last thing Lance Cooper ever saw was the same flash... but he, like his crew, greeted it with satisfaction.
Asmodeus, Bridge
Tom Delaney watched, grief-stricken, as one of the best friends he'd ever had vanished into the maelstrom of fire that had engulfed the asteroid fortress Jachin Due. Secondary explosions rippled through the rock... and then the whole structure blew itself apart. "Sparky..." he whispered. "No..."
Hie own exec looked up, seeing the tears in his captain's eyes but knowing better than to comment. "Sir? ...What are your order? Archangel is still standing by to starboard, and they'd like to know..."
Tom shook himself. "Continue the mission," he said, in a dry, cracked voice. "There'll be time for grief later. Tell Archangel that we're still... still in the fight." He closed his eyes. "Communications, get me Leanne, please."
"Yes, Sir."
"You called, Tom?" Leanne asked quietly; in the background, her hands could be heard dancing across her controls, dealing death while preventing her own as she swept through ZAFT's forces.
Tom had to clear his throat before he could speak. "You... saw what happened, right?"
"...Yeah. But we're soldiers, Tom; just like at Endymion, there's no time to worry about that right now. Let's finish the mission, and then we can remember all the friends we lost."
"Yeah." He nodded to himself. "Thanks, Leanne. I just... needed to hear that, I guess."
"Well, now you've heard, so get back to work." The words were curt, but the tone wasn't.
"Roger that. See you after the mission, my friend."
Now everything had been said that could be. Tom's instincts told him to contact Ken, as well, but somehow he knew better. We've just struck a major blow, but I bet it doesn't feel that way to the Boss. He just lost a friend, just like I did... and right now he must be having Endymion flashbacks as it is. Better to just leave him alone. Still, just to be safe... He tapped commands into his right armrest screen, readying it for any necessary signal.
"Status report," he called, voice now that a stranger... a calm stranger. "What's the situation out there?"
"Hard to say, Captain," his exec replied. "Arkbird is... gone, as are several of our mass-produced units; we don't have an exact count on them yet. Freedom and Preybird are both damaged, to different degrees, but the other G-weapons seem to be largely intact. Except... we can't find the Justice at the moment, and we seem to have lost track of something large within the Earth Forces formation." He frowned. "We can see that they've launched the Peacemaker Force again, but... there's no sign of the Dominion. Where is she...?"
Tom frowned himself. There was something ominous about that; something that had his instincts screaming at him. "Keep checking," he began. "Bring us to port, and warn Archangel that Dominion is-"
"Sir! There's something coming out of the Fourth Fleet debris field!"
His head snapped up, and his eyes widened. The Archangel's dark twin, Azrael's flagship, was coming toward them... and the Gottfrieds were beginning to glow.
He hit the button on his armrest. "Boss! Dominion is approaching Archangel and Asmodeus; weapons hot, I think they're going to-"
Thomas Delaney flung himself at the Bridge elevator doors, just as the emerald flash erupted from Dominion's bow.
Lagrange Point Five, Near Jachin Due Remnants
Ken had been slumped in his seat for several moments before the event. It was the first time in over a year that he'd lost one of his pilots -as opposed to someone like Tolle Koenig- in a battle. Under other circumstances, he might've been too wrapped up in staying alive to feel anything... but this time, all he had to do for a time was stare at the expanding gas cloud that had once been Jachin Due.
Sparky... no... I kept you three alive through so much, even after I deserted, and now I lose you on the very cusp of victory. He swallowed. It should've been me, Sparky. It should've been me...
He understood something now that he hadn't before. He'd spouted his Lessons of War from time to time, lecturing newer pilots on how to survive... but now Ken DiFalco understood that the most important lessons weren't the ones he taught others. The most important ones were those he learned from those who sacrificed themselves, for him and for others.
"I'm sorry, Ken," Kira said softly, knowing how inadequate the words were. "I..."
Ken swallowed again. "I know, Kira... and thanks." He took a deep breath...
... And promptly exhaled like he'd been kicked in the gut. "Boss! Dominion is approaching Archangel and Asmodeus; weapons hot, I think they're going to-"
Tom's voice cut off with sickening suddenness, and the Grimaldi Falcon's head whipped around just in time to see Asmodeus' Bridge -less well-armored against beams than the rest of the hull- be simply smashed to pieces, with debris scattering off into space.
"Tom!"No, this can't be; not two of them, not this fast-
"Ken," Kira said urgently, "the Archangel! We've got to do something!"
Ken nodded jerkily. His battle plan had gone to pieces, his friends were dropping like flies, but he still had a job to do. Normally it was Kira who fought for the living, while Ken made sure the fallen didn't die in vain, but now he had to fight for both. "You watch out for the Peacemaker Force," he rasped. "I'll go after Dominion. Got it?"
Kira nodded. "As ordered. Don't let..."
Don't let Murrue die, too, Ken finished mentally. "I won't." Leaving Freedom to watch for the nukes, he hauled Preybird around, and began a mad dash across space.
Archangel, Bridge
Murrue felt a hammer blow to her chest. First Arkbird slammed into Jachin Due and exploded, taking the fortress with her, and now Asmodeus lost the top of her superstructure, and her chain of command broke with it. She could see the ship to Archangel's port, flaming metal blazing into space at the top of the ship's superstructure, the ship herself listing to port and falling out of formation...
And dead ahead, the Earth Alliance Forces Mobile Assault Ship Dominion. Of the same class as both Archangel and Asmodeus, only she could threaten either of the ships, let alone both. Now, with one sucker punch, she'd knocked Asmodeus completely out of the fight, leaving Archangel to fend for herself.
"Change target, Romero," she heard herself say. "Ignore ZAFT completely; target all weapons the Dominion."
"Understood, Captain," Pal replied, and began rapidly typing the new targeting orders into his console. "Target locked, Ma'am."
"Begin firing."
Dominion opened up at the same time, and beams, missiles, and bullets began flying between the two ships... and Muruta Azrael chose that moment to speak to the "traitors" one last time.
Flay didn't wait for instructions before putting the signal through; again, it was a battle of wills as well as weapons. If Azrael could be distracted, very likely his crew could be, as well, so she put the murderous businessman on the screen immediately.
"Well, hello, Captain Ramius," Azrael drawled, ignoring the sounds of combat even though his own ship was getting hit in the process. "I thought I'd chat with you one more time, before we blew you to pieces."
"This isn't over yet, you bastard," Murrue told him, anger smouldering in her eyes. "You haven't won, and you're not going to win, either." She didn't even twitch when the ship heaved around her, signaling the destruction of Helldart launchers. "I'm not giving up."
He shrugged. "Didn't think you were, Captain... but it just means you'll go out swinging. In case you haven't noticed, you've already lost two of your ships; and while we might've lost more, well, we've got the numbers to absorb that, and you, my dear, do not. And, of course, the mobile suits you've left behind for CAP are no match for the Dominion." As though to prove his point, a pair of Astrays went up in a puff of flame, their pilots left with no time to scream as the beam cannon blasts ripped through them; in an almost karma-like display, Dominion's port Valiant promptly followed them into death.
"I didn't realize suicide attacks were your style, Azrael," Murrue shot back. "After all, even if you kill us, there's no way you'll escape alive yourself; or didn't you notice that you're getting hit, too?"
"Doesn't matter, Captain Ramius," Admiral Hamilton put in. "We know what we're doing... and dying isn't it, however much that would please you."
This time, as an explosion heralded the loss of a Gottfried -as evidenced by the sudden slacking of Archangel's fire- she did wince... but her eyes remained steady. "If you think you've got a way out of this alive, Admiral, I suggest you use it now, or we will kill you here and now."
Azrael smiled, and Murrue's stomach clenched. "What a wonderful idea, Captain; thank you for suggesting it yourself." He glanced at Hamilton. "Admiral... fire Lohengrin, please."
Murrue's eyes widened. "Sai!"
"Confirmed," Sai said tautly. "Dominion positron banks charged; they were ready to fire even before they attacked the Asmodeus-"
"Goodbye, Captain Ramius."
The weapons mounted in Dominion's front "legs" extended from their hiding places, seemingly in slow motion. One of them was smashed away by Pal's desperate Gottfried fire, but the other gaped open... and red-orange fire powered out, directly for Archangel's Bridge. Murrue prepared herself for death...
...A death that never came. The fiery light show beyond the viewport continued, but there was something blocking it; something that looked like... a mobile suit?
"Ken!" Murrue choked out. "Ken, don't!"
Between Dominion and Archangel, hovering like a tamed demon, was ZGMF-X00A Preybird. Both arm-mounted light-wave barriers were active, held up in front of the powerful machine, holding back the tide of antimatter fire. But Murrue knew that even that would only keep it back for a few moments; the generators couldn't take the strain...
"I'm sorry, Murrue," Ken grunted. "Truly sorry... but I've lost too many friends today. I can't... lose you too..." Already, it seemed that Preybird was being affected by the antimatter; it's head simply dissolved, and the rest was being eaten away now, as well. "Hey, you were the one who told me to make the impossible possible, right?"
Her eyes filled. "Ken, please... you can't... you can't leave me..."
"I'm sorry," he said again. "Goodbye, Murrue. I love you..." His voice faded, and static filled the speakers.
The antimatter stream faded at last, and all that remained to be seen of Preybird was the Gerbera Straight, shattered against the stars...
Author's note: The space fortress Jachin Due has fallen, and with it Arkbird, Asmodeus, and Sparky Cooper. And now even the Grimaldi Falcon is gone from the battle, with no end to the fighting in sight...
Well, this chapter is up a little faster than the last one, eh? Still longer than average, but then so's the chapter. Anyway, let me know how it was; and beyond that... no comment. -Solid Shark