Gundam Wing: Destiny's Call

by operation meteor

Sequel to Journey to a New Battlefield. It's been two years since the Bloody Valentine War, and tensions are rising. When a shadowy group attacks the colony of Armory One, a certain Gundam pilot must take to the battlefield once again. However, little to his knowledge, some old friends have embarked on a journey to his new world... and their power will rock it to its core.

27. Chapter 27

Author's Notes: Hello there! Sorry for how long this one's taken, things have been ramping up at my day job, this is definitely the busiest time of year for us even without the overtime that management's had us pulling the past year or so. Happy Thanksgiving weekend to everyone who partakes in the holiday.

Song list for the chapter, in order of appearance: 'Battlefield' from Endless Waltz, 'Daedalus' from Project Wingman, 'The Round Table' from Ace Combat Zero; The Belkan War, and 'Bismarck' by Sabaton.

Enjoy!

Episode Twenty-Seven: Backfire

November 30th, C.E. 73

Checking his sensors for fresh contacts as he guided his Gundam through the snowy skies northwest of Moscow, Heero suddenly heard a chime echo in Wing Zero Albion's cockpit. A small square appeared in the lower right corner of the Gundam's main monitor, revealing Murrue's smiling face.

"Anything yet?" she asked.

Heero shook his head. "Nothing beyond the friendly air patrols and ground defense formations. Is Moscow sure about that arrival time? Given the distance involved, it'd be understandable if they miscalculated a bit."

Murrue nodded. "Good point. They are supposed to be coming all the way from Murmansk, and it's a prototype to boot; engine trouble or other technical difficulties aren't out of the question. Major Gardinier mentioned that they did rush the fitting-out stage due to the escalating war. I don't think this thing's even gone through proper trials yet."

"In all fairness, neither had the Archangel before it's baptism of fire at Heliopolis," Heero pointed out.

"True," Murrue conceded, "We managed well enough, all things considered. I suppose I should at least extend the benefit of the doubt here, especially given that our hosts have so graciously 'loaned' this new beast of theirs out to us."

Heero couldn't resist a slight smirk at that. "One hell of a loan… I didn't think our credit rating was that good around here."

Murrue winked. "Well, it helps that we've made good friends with the bank, as it were!"

"We did save their bacon a little while back," Heero noted, "If this is a tip they're throwing in for our hard work, I'm not about to turn it down. I just hope that she's as tough as they say she is. With the kind of firepower that we tend to draw our way, she'll have to be able to take a beating if she wants to survive."

"The armor specs looked promising," Murrue replied, "Same general idea as the plating of the Archangel, and similar material as well."

Heero shrugged. "Not too surprising, given that the Eurasians were supposedly inspired by her to build this new toy of theirs. Her armaments didn't look half bad, either. Not the same kind of punch as with the Archangel, but since they're working with a smaller hull design that's to be expected."

"Smaller design or not, I'm still surprised that they built her down on Earth rather than up in space," Murrue remarked, "Constructing something with that kind of tonnage is a lot easier upside than downside, if you will."

"There are definitely greater challenges to be factored into such work planet-side," Heero concurred, "Sounds like there wasn't much choice in the matter, though. Eurasian Federation orbital construction capacity can't hope to match that of the Atlantic Federation and ZAFT, and a lot more of that infrastructure is dedicated to churning out commercial hulls rather than warships. They had to squeeze it in where they could."

Murrue sighed. "Well, at least we'll be able to put her through her paces down here. The Eurasians can consider the combat data from the coming engagements to be our payment on the interest for this loan."

"Assuming she survives long enough to transmit it," Heero muttered.

Murrue winced. "Let's try not to jinx this, okay?"

"Fair enough," said Heero before a beeping from his sensors caught his attention, "Speak of the devil… I think I've got her."

"Well, go get a good look for us," Murrue ordered, "Let's see just what we're really working with here."

"Copy that," Heero replied as he gradually accelerated towards the new contact.

Soon enough, it was within visual range. Zooming in with his mobile suit's visual sensors, Heero's eyes narrowed as he took in the vessel that was smoothly floating across the plains. At 290 meters in length, the Eurasian Federation's prototype armored assault cruiser Chimaera was a surprisingly elegant creation. Its dark grey hull was built in the shape of a teardrop, with its bulbous bow arcing back and gradually tapering off until the frame ended in a pointed tip that dipped slightly at the stern. Slung beneath the 'tail' of the teardrop was a bank of three main engines along with an array of six secondaries. Her upper hull gradually rose until it culminated in a bridge tower similar to that of the Archangel, albeit with noticeably lower profile.

While Heero could appreciate the aesthetics of the design, he was less interested in how the Chimaera looked than he was in what she could offer in combat. Scanning the ship with Wing Zero Albion's Search Eye, the results he got were considerable. The cruiser's primary armament consisted of two heavy dual beam cannons in centerline superfiring mounts on the 'slope' that led up to the bridge tower, while a single-barrel turret was on the backslope behind the bridge. Slung along the sides of the ship were a pair of 100cm linear cannons, similar to the Valiants found aboard the Archangel but of a slightly smaller caliber. Ten 60mm multi-barrel CIWS dotted the hull for point defense, while two rows of ten slots apiece on each side of the upper hull at the base of the bridge tower housed anti-air missiles. Along the lower edge of the bow was an arc of four torpedo tubes, confirming Heero's suspicions that the cruiser was designed to operate not only in space and on the surface but beneath the waves as well. Rounding out the considerable arsenal were two quadruple anti-ship missile launchers at the rear of the vessel.

Fairly well-rounded set of armaments, Heero mused before shifting his focus to the single large and closed hatch at the front of the warship, but they'll only be as good as the mobile suits that they're supposed to be supporting. The Eurasians haven't seen fit yet to tell us what kind of machines this ship is carrying; only that it officially has capacity for six of them.

"You getting all of this?" Heero asked Murrue.

Murrue nodded. "Definitely. The file photos didn't do her justice. We'll definitely be able to make good use of her."

Heero was about to reply when his sensors chimed again. Checking the display, he saw two familiar mobile suits taking off from Moscow and heading his way; the Hyperions of Espada Team.

"Hold that thought," said Heero before switching frequencies, "Espada One and Two, what brings you out here?"

"We want to get settled in early," Alberto replied.

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Settled in?"

"Aboard the Chimaera," Marcella chimed in, "She's only carrying four mobile suits at the moment. Ours are the last two."

Heero was a bit taken aback by that. "Wait, you mean you're both coming with us tomorrow? I was under the impression that you'd soon be deploying to the front in central Europe."

"We put in a transfer request, and the Defense Minister fast-tracked it," Alberto explained, "Consider us part of the Eurasian Federation's loan package to Terminal."

"It'll be an honor to fight alongside you again," Marcella added.

Heero inclined his head. "I see. Well, I'm not about to turn you down. Just be ready for anything. Terminal never picks the easy fights."

Alberto chuckled. "Oh, we're well aware of that! Why do you think that we wanted in on the action?"

"You guys are the ones that have been having all the fun so far in this war," Marcella remarked, "You can share a bit of the limelight, can't you?"

Heero's eyes narrowed. "We're not doing this for glory. You should know that."

"Of course," said Alberto, "and neither are we. We simply want to go where our talents will be put to the best use."

Heero nodded. "Well, you'll definitely be able to test your skills soon enough. Rest up while you can."

"We will," Marcella acknowledged.

"Espada Team, out," Alberto signed off.

The Eurasian Federation is putting a lot of faith in us if they're sending aces like them out with their new warship in this 'loan' of theirs, Heero mused as he watched the two Hyperions line up for landing aboard the Chimaera, I just hope that they remember the golden rule of war; no plan survives contact with the enemy. We'll do what we can, but there's simply no way we can guarantee that their assets will be returned in one piece when this is all over… if at all.

If the Chimaera was lost, it would represent a significant investment of the Eurasian Federation military going up in flames. The prototype's hull had been laid down at the start of the year, when tensions between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT had only just been starting to build up again. With ZAFT having announced the imminent launching of their own prototype battleship Minerva later on in the year, the Earth Alliance member states had felt a certain urgency to respond in kind. While the Atlantic Federation hadn't made any public announcements of new prototype capital ships, the vessel that had been deployed in the sneak attack on Armory One and designated by ZAFT as Bogey One before ultimately being lost in ZAFT's Operation Redemption was clearly a product of whatever program had been put in place to counter the Minerva. Heero and the rest of Terminal had wondered if the other member states of the Earth Alliance were putting similar programs into motion, and the existence of the Chimaera was very much a confirmation of that on the part of the Eurasian Federation.

Unfortunately for the Eurasians, it turned out that producing advanced prototype warships wasn't something that could be done particularly quickly or cheaply, regardless of how much construction techniques had advanced over the course of the First Bloody Valentine War, and there had been numerous technological issues to work out during the design and building process. As a result, the Chimaera had not been prepared for action when the Second Bloody Valentine War began, or even when the Atlantic Federation had commenced its invasion of continental Europe. As Murrue had noted earlier, the vessel hadn't even conducted proper trials yet, which meant that Terminal was taking into its care a warship whose reliability could not be guaranteed.

I'm sure the Eurasians gave her the best crew that they could spare, Heero thought, but there's only so much that they'll be able to do if their equipment fails on them. If Admiral Babych has any sense, he'll at least have made sure that the ship's got plenty of spare parts on hand for the inevitable mechanical and technical problems that will arise.

Murrue's voice returned and pulled Heero away from his thoughts. "Looks like we'll have more potent support than we'd initially hoped for. Having Espada Team on tap is a boon for us."

"Can't argue with that," Heero replied as he brought her face up on his main monitor again, "I'm less worried about pilot quality than I am with the performance of the ship they're riding on."

Murrue sighed. "It's not ideal, but we can't exactly afford to be picky right now. We're lucky that Eurasian Federation felt generous enough to grant us this level of support in the first place. At least the trip down from Moscow will give us time to run through some on-the-go exercises and evaluate our new companions. With luck, any kinks that arise can be worked out before we enter actual combat."

"Fingers crossed on that one," said Heero before taking another look at the new warship on his display, "I'm not seeing Terminal's IFF signature on the cruiser yet."

"We're transmitting that to them now," Murrue assured him, "When the Chimaera leaves with us tomorrow, she'll officially be under our banner. Same goes for her pilots. That'll give Moscow some level of deniability when ZAFT inevitably raises the issue of her fighting against them, though it'd be a stretch to call it 'plausible' deniability."

Heero nodded. "Understood. Well, we've gotten our first good look at her, so there's nothing else for me to do up here unless you want me on combat air patrol for a while."

Murrue smiled. "Given our proximity to Moscow, I'm pretty sure that the Eurasians can give us fair warning should the Atlantic Federation attempt another strike out here. Come on home, Heero. We'll be setting out bright and early tomorrow, so rest up while you can."

"Copy that," Heero acknowledged.

….

Leaning against the wall of the pilots' ready room, Wufei folded his arms as he stared down Heine and Rey. "Whatever this is about, can we make it quick? You'd better have a damn good reason for interrupting my training."

He saw Rey bristle, but Heine quickly stepped in to play peacekeeper. "I can assure you that it's important, and it will also be quick. Believe me, the last thing we want is to be a serious disruption. We need you in top form. After all, your help will be crucial to what's coming."

"And that would be?" asked Wufei.

"Another fight with Heero Yuy," Rey answered.

Wufei raised an eyebrow; he hadn't seen that coming. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me right," Rey shot back with a scowl, "There's no point in pretending otherwise."

Wufei shook his head in disbelief. "Is this supposed to be payback for that stunt he pulled back at Gibraltar? I would think that ZAFT might have much more important things to concern itself with at the moment, such as an ongoing Earth Alliance offensive."

"The Atlantic Federation's assault on Europe is something that we wish to address in force," Heine replied, "but first, it's imperative for us to ensure that our other enemy is removed from the equation. I do wish it didn't have to come to this, but it cannot be helped."

Wufei's eyes narrowed. "Are these your words, or those of Chairman Durandal?"

"Both," said Heine.

Wufei regarded Heine for a long moment, his gaze lingering on the ZAFT Red's FAITH emblem. "A loyal lapdog through and through, aren't you?"

"The Chairman has a vision for the Earth Sphere," Heine answered firmly, "one that promises peace for all of mankind. After the hell that the world went through two years ago and has descended into once more, I would say that humanity needs new guidance if it's ever to break this destructive cycle. Chairman Durandal has a plan to achieve just that. He would've liked if Heero Yuy and his friends had given him the chance to convince them of the righteousness of his cause, but he's been rebuffed at every turn. His patience has run thin. Your old friend has become an obstacle to world peace, Wufei."

"Heero Yuy and Terminal as a whole are loose cannons that can no longer be allowed to run free," Rey added with a glare, "They are unpredictable and as liable to attack ZAFT as they are to strike at the Earth Alliance; the fight at Gibraltar was proof enough of that. With the war continuing to escalate, ZAFT will soon bring its full might to bear in the name of stopping the Atlantic Federation's campaign of destruction and genocide once and for all. However, before that can be done, unconstrained third parties need to be removed from the playing field. We cannot afford any wild cards here."

"Gundam pilots are wild cards by definition," Wufei casually pointed out, "Your Chairman is well aware of that, along with the fact that he still has one in his employ."

"Indeed, he is," Rey confirmed, "which is why he asked us to approach you directly before the new operation in the works goes into effect. You should feel honored; you're being informed of this before Captain Gladys or any of her crew for that matter. It's an honor that you frankly don't deserve in my opinion, but the Chairman feels otherwise."

Wufei studied them both carefully. "This new operation… would my role in it be only to fight Heero, or would you have me go after the other Gundam pilots as well?"

"We know that your interest is strictly in challenging Heero to single combat," said Heine, "You demonstrated your zeal for such a duel during the fighting at Gibraltar. All the Chairman asks of you is a repeat performance."

"While ZAFT uses the space that I buy them by engaging in Heero such a duel to go after Terminal's other mobile suits and warships," Wufei surmised, "You want me to keep the biggest threat on the field occupied."

Heine nodded. "Yes."

"You don't have a problem with that, do you?" asked Rey with a note of challenge in his voice, "You've been saying ever since you joined up with us that you're only seeking battle. That hasn't changed, has it?"

Wufei was quiet for a long moment. Although his final victory over Rodrigues at Moscow had left him pondering over his path forward, he could not deny the truth; his hunger for combat with a powerful foe remained, and Heero Yuy promised to be the strongest adversary he could find in the Cosmic Era. Their clash at Gibraltar, even if it had only been a skirmish, was more than ample proof that Wing Zero's pilot still retained his edge in single combat regardless of Wufei's disapproval over Heero's new reason for fighting. Wufei still desired a challenge, and Heero was guaranteed to deliver on that front.

However, a part of him was uneasy with the circumstances under which he'd be fighting their next duel. Sure, Wufei had his personal disagreements with Heero, but he didn't doubt his old comrade's genuine desire to bring this war to an end. Heero's mission was the same as that of Terminal as a whole, and the other Gundam pilots had jumped aboard without hesitation. Their cause was one that Wufei agreed with, one that was clearly on the side of justice…

…and yet ZAFT was now targeting them.

And ZAFT was asking Wufei to aid and abet them in their hunt.

When he was finally able to give his answer, Wufei made sure to offer zero ambiguity, and he spited both ZAFT pilots with a harsh glare. "Your Chairman wants me to fight Heero? I'll do it… but I will only fight him. If ZAFT's stupid enough to pick a fight with Terminal at a time when they should be focusing on the Atlantic Federation, then you can engage the rest of their organization on your own. Heero's my only target. If you order me to attack the others, I will not comply. Is that clear?"

Rey looked like he wanted to argue, but Heine quickly interceded. "Clear as crystal, and acceptable. I'll relay your terms to the Chairman. I'm sure he'll accept them."

"Good," said Wufei as he turned away from them and headed back towards the hangar, "because if he doesn't, then he'll have to find someone else to do his dirty work for him."

….

Lunamaria could only gape in stunned disbelief as Wufei relayed the details of his encounter with Heine and Rey to her. Her mind reeled at the stunning revelation of what the crew of the Minerva would soon be ordered to do, with the sheer madness of the impending mission temporarily overwhelming her ability to form coherent sentences.

"I… I don't… this can't be… what the hell?" she stammered while fumbling about in a futile attempt to put her thoughts in order.

It didn't make a damn lick of sense. The Atlantic Federation was on the march, and her superiors thought that the Gundam pilots and their allies were the targets most deserving of ZAFT's attention? It was absolute insanity in every sense of the word. Lunamaria was suddenly very grateful that Wufei had brought her out onto the topside observation deck of the Minerva to deliver the news, because she didn't want her friends and comrades to see just how utterly baffled and horrified she was by what she had just heard.

For his part, Wufei gave her a weary and sympathetic look. "I know it's hard to stomach, but it's the truth. I wouldn't lie to you over something like this."

Lunamaria slowly nodded as she leaned against the railing, still struggling to center herself. "I… I know. I trust you, Wufei. It's… it's just that… none of this makes any sense! I mean…. I know there was that fight at Gibraltar, but that… that was just a skirmish, and Heero and the others… they haven't fought us since then. They've been focusing on fighting the Earth Alliance… just like us. We should still be on the same side!"

"For what it's worth, I agree," said Wufei, "This is a poor move on Chairman Durandal's part, and I can't see it ending well. Nevertheless, it's the decision he's made, and the Minerva will get orders to that effect soon enough."

"And… you're going along with this?" Lunamaria asked nervously.

"Like I said to Heine and Rey, the only part I'll play in this affair will be to duel Heero," Wufei replied, "I have no quarrel with the other Gundam pilots or the rest of Terminal. I want to test myself against Heero, that's all there is to it."

Lunamaria shook her head in numb incredulity. "Taking him on… as a test? I know you fought him before and survived, but still… Wufei, are you out of your mind? I thought you'd gotten this out of your system after you killed Rodrigues!"

"In slaying Rodrigues, I defeated a worthy adversary," Wufei remarked, "In fighting Heero, I'll have one even more deserving of my skills than Rodrigues. Engaging him in combat back at Gibraltar was all I needed to know that he's the one I really want to fight. I think it's what I really came out here for in the first place."

"You're nuts, you know that?" Lunamaria muttered.

Wufei chuckled ruefully. "Probably."

There was an uneasy silence between the two of them for a moment before Lunamaria spoke again. "Heine and Rey… you said that you're the only one they've approached with this information, right? Not even Captain Gladys knows about what we're about to be ordered to do?"

Wufei nodded. "Even though she's also a member of FAITH like Heine, she's apparently out of the loop. Since Athrun wasn't present earlier, I think it's safe to assume that he hasn't been notified yet, either."

"Then we're fixing that right now," Lunamaria said as she seized his hand and began pulling him towards the hatch.

Wufei's eyes widened in surprise, though he didn't resist. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me, flyboy," Lunamaria replied, "I know Athrun just got back from a strike earlier today, and the Captain should be in her office right now. We're going to find both of them and tell them what the Chairman's about to drop on us."

"It's probably not going to change anything," Wufei pointed out, "You'll all still be stuck with the mission."

"I don't care!" Lunamaria snapped, "This whole thing stinks, especially how the Chairman told Heine and Rey about it first but not the Captain. I want her to at least know what kind of shit our 'superiors' are about to throw us into!"

She was surprised to see Wufei actually chuckle at that. "Well, when you put it like that… lead on."

….

Athrun could only listen in stunned silence as Wufei recounted his conversation with Heine and Rey. When he'd been called into Captain Gladys's office and had found Altron Custom's pilot along with Lunamaria present, he'd figured that something was wrong, but he hadn't dared imagine what had just been revealed to him.

I… I suppose I should've seen this coming, he thought numbly as he struggled to process the information, I was warned by the others, after all. Even so… Chairman Durandal… what the hell are you doing?

Glancing to his right, he saw that Captain Gladys was in a similar state of shock. She had good reason for it, too. Not only would she soon be receiving orders to take her ship into battle against a foe that outgunned the Minerva and her mobile suits to a truly ludicrous degree, but Chairman Durandal hadn't even seen fit to have her be the first notified of these new orders despite the fact that she was supposed to be the battleship's commander and a member of FAITH to boot. It was becoming abundantly clear that not all FAITH members were considered equal in Chairman Durandal's eyes.

Rey's not even a member of FAITH, Athrun absently recalled, but he was notified alongside Heine before either of us. There's definitely more to him than meets the eye.

After several very long and uncomfortable moments of silence, Talia finally spoke up. "Wufei… you're certain that this information is accurate?"

Wufei nodded. "Completely. The Chairman clearly wanted to make sure I'll be on hand to tango with Heero before giving the rest of you your marching orders. I highly doubt that they were lying."

"And you're okay with this?" asked Athrun incredulously, "You're fine with taking part in an operation aimed at your old friends as long as it means you get a shot at Heero?"

"Heero is the only one that I'll be fighting, as I made clear to Heine and Rey," Wufei answered, "How you all deal with the rest of Terminal is your concern."

"We shouldn't be 'dealing with them' at all!" Athrun furiously countered as he turned to Talia, "Captain, going after Terminal is completely counterproductive. I know we had that fight with them back at Gibraltar, but that's the only time our forces have openly clashed. Their efforts have overwhelmingly been focused on combatting the Earth Alliance, just like ours have. There's no need to pick this fight!"

Talia sighed heavily. "The Chairman clearly feels otherwise. I wish that weren't the case. Differences and past skirmishes aside, I agree with you that Terminal really isn't a target that we should be going after, especially with the Atlantic Federation still actively engaged so close to us. Nevertheless, we don't decide who we fight; our superiors do. If Chairman Durandal's really going to order us to go after Terminal… we wouldn't have a choice, Athrun."

"Captain, with all due respect, I don't think we should just roll over and go along with the Chairman on this one," Lunamaria argued, "You and Athrun are both members of FAITH, so aren't you supposed to have greater authority than rank and file soldiers? Why not use that to challenge the Chairman on this?"

"You still haven't received direct orders," Wufei pointed out, "There's time to try to change the Chairman's mind."

Athrun quickly nodded. "He's right, Captain. We need to reach out to Chairman Durandal right away!"

Talia's eyes narrowed as she focused on Wufei. "If we did that, the Chairman would instantly realize where we got the information regarding this impending operation from. You'll be drawing some rather unwanted attention."

Wufei shrugged. "I can take care of myself, Captain. Besides, your Chairman needs my talents on the battlefield. That gives me leverage with him."

Talia studied him for a moment before eventually nodding. "If that's a risk you're willing to take, then so be it. I only hope that the gamble you're making is a calculated one. The Chairman might value your skills, but push your luck too far and his view will likely shift unfavorably."

"Duly noted," said Wufei.

"When will you contact the Chairman?" asked Athrun.

"As soon as you lot are out my door," Talia replied, "For security's sake, I ask that you all refrain from discussing this matter with anyone else amongst the crew. It's important that, when our new assignment officially comes down, our command structure still gives the appearance of being unified. If it becomes widely known that Heine and Rey have become Chairman Durandal's pipeline for relaying information to us, then questions will inevitably rise regarding the delegation of authority aboard this vessel."

Athrun understood, though he couldn't help but point out the obvious. "As far as the crew's concerned, you're still the commanding officer of the Minerva… but if your authority can be circumvented by Heine and Rey, then how long will it be until the others begin questioning who's really calling the shots?"

Talia gave him a firm look. "Until I'm ousted by either the Defense Council or the Chairman himself, my command remains official. If Heine and Rey think that becoming Chairman Durandal's eyes and ears aboard this warship is all it takes to overturn military protocol and authority, then they'll be in for a very rude awakening. You're all dismissed."

Athrun was a bit taken aback by the abrupt end, but he dutifully filed out of the Captain's office along with the others. His mind was abuzz with whirling thoughts and feelings, and he could only absently bid farewell to Lunamaria and Wufei before making his way back to his quarters.

We're going to be ordered to fight Terminal, he thought, Chairman Durandal… why are you doing this?

He had no obvious answer to that question, but he did know one thing; whatever remaining feelings of good-will he'd had towards Durandal were now firmly out the window. His doubts following his conversation with Durandal regarding Shinn's defection and abduction of Stella were now dominant, which meant that it was time to start planning his escape. He'd stick around a bit longer, but now it wasn't out of some sense of misguided loyalty to ZAFT. Rather, it was to learn whatever he could about Durandal's true intentions while he was still in a position of relative access and privilege within ZAFT. Athrun doubted his luck would hold for long, but he would push it as far as he could before jumping ship.

He could only hope that Durandal and his lackeys wouldn't catch onto him before then.

….

"You're displeased," Durandal commented after Talia had finished relaying what she'd learned earlier, "I can understand why, of course. Forgive me, Talia. In the future, operation orders concerning the Minerva will be conveyed directly to you. You have my word."

There was a time when that would've been enough for me, Talia thought bitterly as she clenched her fists beneath the desk, but that time has come and gone, Gilbert.

"With all due respect, Chairman," she began slowly and cautiously, "that is how orders to a military vessel should always be conveyed. It has been how this ship has received commands since even before the official start of this new war. What I want to know is why you seem to have made an exception here. Was I not inducted into FAITH as a sign of your trust in my capabilities? If you're now informing two pilots that are supposed to be under my command of this ship's next impending mission before me, how am I supposed to interpret that? Heine and I are both FAITH members, as is Athrun Zala, yet I cannot help but notice that Heine was the only one of us to be contacted by you with regards to this new mission. Your inclusion of Rey is even more puzzling since he is not even a member of FAITH. Am I now to take it that I must consult with the two of them before sending my ship into action to see if there are not any potential alternative or additional orders that have been issued and may thus impact our operations?"

"It was an honest mistake, Talia," Durandal replied in a pleading manner that struck her as not being entirely sincere, "and I had fully intended to provide you with your new orders before the Minerva would embark on her new assignment. Heine and Rey may have received a message from me first, but they do not command the Minerva; you do, and I have no intention of changing that."

Talia was having a very hard time taking Durandal at his word, but she kept that to herself. "I see. It's good to know where we stand."

Durandal inclined his head. "Indeed, it is. Again, you have my sincerest apologies, Talia. I understand the gravity of my error here, and I promise that this will not happen again. As a mere politician I fear that, even though I am now called to lead our people in a time of war, my understanding of military protocols is still somewhat lacking. Rest assured that the last thing I wished to do here was undermine your command authority."

And yet that's exactly what you did, Talia silently fumed, and you're smart enough to know that, professed ignorance of military protocol be damned. Gilbert, just what do you think you're playing at here?

She kept her composure, though, and made a show of graciously accepting his apology. "I'm relieved to hear that, Chairman. As this was an honest mistake, I will say no more of it. I understand that you're under a great deal of pressure, so an error or two can be forgiven, and this one was not particularly egregious. At the very least, no lives were lost. For that, we can both be thankful."

Durandal smiled. "Yes, quite so."

Talia took a deep breath. "That being said, Chairman… this new mission… is it really necessary? Yes, it's true that two of my pilots fought with Heero when he covered Shinn's abduction of the Alliance prisoner, and that he and his allies skirmished with our troops at Gibraltar, but those were only two engagements. Tactically and strategically, the Atlantic Federation has been and remains the far greater threat, and for the most part the actions of the four Gundam pilots no longer allied with us along with their supporters have been focused against the forces of the Atlantic Federation. Given the death and destruction that the Atlantic Federation has wrought upon Europe, shouldn't our efforts remain concentrated there? With all due respect, I fear that we're picking a fight that isn't required and will only result in unnecessary casualties for ZAFT."

Durandal's expression sharpened noticeably. "I understand your concerns, Talia, but with the Earth Alliance's two most powerful member states fighting each other, now is the ideal moment to remove unpredictable elements from the equation. I can respect your reluctance to engage the Gundam pilots and their supporters, especially in light of all the aid they rendered to the Minerva in previous operations, but our partnership with them was always going to be temporary. In fact, the Gundam pilots were quite up front about that."

"I'm well aware of that," Talia replied, "That still doesn't justify opening up a new front in this war against a foe that's proven themselves more than capable of punching well above their weight. I'm simply concerned that the potential costs we might pay here outweigh any possible benefits. More to the point, no matter how much faith I may have in my crew, I cannot blind myself to the obvious; in a fight against the Gundams and their supporting battleships, the Minerva is hopelessly outmatched."

"Which is why you will not be operating alone," Durandal countered, "Naval elements aside from the Minerva have already been organized for this mission, and you will be given coordinates for a rendezvous with some of them shortly. There is also a ground contingent operating out of Diocuia, and they are already mobilized."

Talia's eyes narrowed. "Already organized, mobilized… how long has this been in the planning, Chairman?"

"It's one of many contingencies," said Durandal, "After studying the events of the last war, it was deemed prudent to have plans in motion in case a group like the Three Ships Alliance attempted to sway the course of a new conflict in a direction away from ZAFT's interests."

Talia's head jerked back in response to that. "Away from ZAFT's interests? Chairman, with all due respect, I believe the interests of the Gundam pilots and their allies are the same as ours; ending this war before it can devolve into the horrendous bloodbath of the last one and preventing a genocide. Whatever our differences may be, I think I'm safe in saying that we both have at least that in common."

Durandal shook his head. "Superficially, that may appear to be the case, but there is a world of difference between what they're pursuing and what the Earth Sphere ultimately needs. The 'peace' that the Three Ships Alliance won lasted a mere two years, and I'm not so sure it can even really be thought of as peace in the first place. It was more like a brief intermission. Do not get me wrong; I know that the desire of the group that's taken the place of the old Three Ships Alliance for peace is genuine, and they're acting in a manner that they feel will serve that goal. All they can hope to achieve, though, is the same as last time; a lull. No more and no less. The world needs more than that, and it falls to ZAFT to bring a true and lasting peace to the Earth Sphere."

Despite the lofty premise in his words, there was a strange undercurrent that Talia could not help but pick up on in the Chairman's voice. Perhaps Gilbert himself hadn't noticed the inflection, but she most certainly had. It took Talia a moment to recognize what it really was.

Ambition.

Durandal had spoken so often of achieving peace, and Talia had gone along with it because that was what she, her crew, and the Coordinator people genuinely wanted. It was what she had believed herself to be fighting for since the Second Bloody Valentine War had begun. Durandal professed to desire it, and Talia wanted to believe that he sincerely meant it. Perhaps he truly did. And yet…

…her gut told her that he wanted more.

"It may seem at first glance that we are simply taking two different paths with the same destination in mind," Durandal continued, "but such an assumption is misleading, Talia. The path of the Gundam pilots and their allies one that's guided by shortsighted optimism. It may grant the world a brief reprieve from catastrophic violence, but they do not have the strength to guarantee a permanent peace. Ours is a harder path, one that demands unpleasant decisions, but the destination will be true peace."

Talia took a deep breath. "Chairman… no… Gilbert… if the peace we're after involves turning our guns upon those who saved humanity from annihilation two years ago… is it really a peace worth fighting for? Is this really the right thing for ZAFT to do?"

Durandal sighed, and in Talia's eyes he seemed genuinely remorseful. "If there was another way, Talia, I would pursue it. Believe me, I am not thrilled to have to make this choice… but it must be made nonetheless."

"There's no dissuading you from this, is there?" Talia asked anxiously.

Durandal shook his head, and his tone hardened. "No, there is not."

Talia nodded in resignation. "I see. If this really is to be your order, then the Minerva will carry it out. That being said, at present it would be difficult to do so. At last report, the Archangel and Dominion are all the way out at Moscow. The Eurasian Federation may be busy fighting the Atlantic Federation, but I doubt they'd let ZAFT's most advanced battleship pass through their territory unchallenged; we are, officially, still at war with them. More to the point, only the Minerva could make such a journey. The naval elements you say you've assembled would be unable to join us overland, and I doubt that the ground contingent out of Diocuia would be powerful enough to force its way through the entire Eurasian Federation army, regardless of whatever losses they Atlantic Federation have already inflicted upon them."

"I am well aware of that, Talia," Durandal replied, "I will not be ordering you to go all the way out to Moscow to find your prey. In fact, I believe that your prey will come to you."

Talia leaned forward slightly. "What makes you think that?"

"With the Atlantic Federation's assault on Moscow having been thwarted, all the active fighting is in central and western Europe and the seas surrounding it," Durandal answered, "It is on those battlefields that the Gundam pilots and their allies will eventually make their appearance, for that is where they undoubtedly believe they can do the most good. All we will have to do is wait for them to come into range, and then your task force will move into action."

Talia doubted it would be so simple, but she kept that to herself. "The overall forces that you've assembled for this operation… who will have ultimate command authority?"

Durandal smiled. "You, of course, Talia. You've proven yourself to be one of our most capable officers in the area, and you know the Gundams better than any other commander in our forces."

Talia's eyes narrowed. "My authority will be unquestioned?"

"Yes," Durandal confirmed, "No one will be able to override it, and that includes Heine and Rey."

Talia nodded. "That's good to hear. In that case, I hope that everyone involved in this operation understands what they're getting into. Even in the best-case scenario, I fear that many of them will not survive the coming crucible."

"They are prepared for what they'll face and will do what they must," Durandal reassured her, "I've made sure that our most seasoned pilots were made available for this operation, both officially within our forces and otherwise."

Talia arched an eyebrow. "Otherwise? Do you mean to say that we're employing mercenaries in this operation alongside our regular units?"

"The finest to be found in the Earth Sphere," Durandal confirmed with a smile, "and two of them have experience fighting against our chief target. I had them brought down to Earth specifically for this mission. Your chances of success are far greater than you know, Talia."

"Respectfully, Chairman, I'll judge that for myself once I've had a chance to evaluate them," Talia replied grimly, "With the target that you have us going after, we cannot afford to take anything for granted."

….

December 1st, C.E. 73

With her gaze focused on the receding view of Moscow on the main bridge monitor, Natarle nearly jumped out of her seat when a familiar male voice spoke up from behind her. "You know, it's actually kind of sad, leaving so soon. I was enjoying our time here. Weren't you, Natarle?"

Taking a deep breath to calm herself and resisting the urge to strangle her boyfriend for unintentionally scaring the crap out of her, Natarle forced a smile as she looked over her shoulder. "It was a pleasant reprieve, but you knew this day was coming just as much as I did."

La Flaga chuckled ruefully as he came up next to her. "Yeah, I did. Still, it was fun while it lasted, right?"

Natarle had a hard time arguing with that. Granted, as the Captain of the Dominion she didn't get quite as much time for leave as her subordinates, but she'd made her few excursions into Moscow count. Fond memories flashed through Natarle's mind; images of her and Mu taking in the sights, partaking in lunch at a quaint café that overlooked the Moskva River, and posing for a photo with the Kremlin in the background were amongst her favorites.

Even in the midst of such pleasant reminiscences, though, Natarle couldn't quite suppress a frown as her disciplinarian side came to the fore. "It was, but we're back on the clock now. Speaking of which, shouldn't you be down in the hangar checking over the Tallgeese Kai? You still had some maintenance checks to take care of if I recall correctly."

"I finished the last of them before I came up here," La Flaga reassured her, "My machine's ready to go whenever you need me up in the air."

Natarle breathed a sigh of relief before turning her gaze to the bridge monitor again. "If this plan of ours works, hopefully that won't be for several days at least."

"Fingers crossed," said Mu before glancing out the main viewport and catching a glimpse of the Chimaera off the starboard bow of the Dominion, "Looks like our new friends are keeping pace with us so far."

Natarle nodded. "I was reviewing her specs last night. A very interesting concept put into practice with her. My only concern is the lack of proper shakedown trials. The last thing we need is her breaking down on us."

"No kidding," Mu concurred, "If there are any problems, let's just pray that they show themselves before the shooting starts."

"Better than the alternative," Natarle muttered as her fingers entered in new commands on the console built into her chair.

The image on the main monitor shifted to a bird's eye view tactical display. It had the Archangel, Dominion and Chimaera all shown as simple blue dots. All three were gradually leaving Moscow behind them, with the former heading westward while the latter two were proceeding south. Multiple green dots representing Eurasian Federation units were scattered around, either sitting in static defensive positions or conducting patrols.

"Are we sure about this?" asked Mu as he studied the display alongside Natarle, "Dividing our forces when we're already a pretty small group is one hell of a gamble."

"If we're going to trigger Durandal's trap, we need to give him irresistible bait," Natarle argued, "The Archangel supposedly operating solo will accomplish that task nicely."

"I get that," said Mu, "but the other part of our plan calls for us and the Chimaera to be able to avoid all contact with ZAFT until the last possible moment, and both of these ships are pretty hard to hide."

"That's why we asked the Eurasians to lend a hand in that regard," Natarle reminded him as she caught sight of a dozen green blips taking off from Moscow's primary air base, "In fact, that should be them now."

Mu's eyes narrowed. "That's Moscow's ASAT squadron? Well, that should help, although… weren't the Eurasians going to try avoiding provoking ZAFT for the time being?"

"This isn't a direct attack on ZAFT's forces in the field," Natarle countered, "None of their soldiers will die in this sortie."

"I know, but it's still offensive action," Mu shot back, "Even if it's only against unmanned assets, ZAFT's still going to take notice."

Natarle shrugged. "That's for the Eurasians to deal with. They agreed to help us here, and they know the risks that they're taking. Besides, they're still legally at war with ZAFT, so conflict between them, even if just at a small scale, will not appear out of the ordinary. If ZAFT retaliates, Moscow will have to decide for themselves how to handle it. We might've saved them, but we're not their babysitters."

Mu winced. "That's a bit cold, Natarle."

Natarle sighed before offering an apologetic smile. "I didn't mean it like that. Given all that they've already suffered, the last thing I want is for ZAFT to hit the Eurasians just because they decided to help us out. It's simply a danger that comes with their chosen course of action."

Mu smiled. "I know. It can't be helped. All we can do is make sure that the aid Moscow's giving us is put to good use."

"And we will," Natarle affirmed.

….

Looking up from the documents he'd been reading, Durandal's brow furrowed as he regarded the young ZAFT officer on the screen of his desktop monitor. "We've lost them? How so? I was under the impression that one of our satellites would always have the Moscow region under its gaze."

The man on the screen nodded. "We've tried to institute such satellite observation of all capitals within the Earth Alliance, but the Eurasian Federation appears to have stepped up its countermeasures. Three hours ago, our primary satellite monitoring the area was destroyed by an ASAT strike. We vectored in a backup satellite, but it too was destroyed within an hour of taking up its position. Reports of similar strikes against any satellites we have observing Eurasian Federation territory are coming in from multiple sources. This is clearly a coordinated effort."

Durandal took a moment to consider this new information. "The Eurasians are still attempting to throw the Americans out of Europe, so this cannot be the start of a new campaign against us. The purpose of this operation… perhaps it is to shield their new friends from unfriendly eyes?"

"That's our assessment, sir," the officer confirmed, "How should we proceed?"

Durandal was silent for a few seconds before finally answering. "Continue to vector new satellites and probes, and provide whatever ASAT countermeasures are available. We need to reacquire the target as quickly as possible."

The officer nodded. "Understood, Chairman."

The screen went black, leaving Durandal alone with his thoughts. This was only a temporary setback; ships as large as the Archangel and Dominion could not remain hidden forever even with their submerging capabilities, especially given how active they and their mobile suits had been in the war so far. Still, this new development was concerning. Terminal had clearly made some powerful new allies, and they were taking full advantage of their capabilities.

Well played, Terminal, he thought with a begrudging modicum of respect, I should have expected nothing less from you. You were always going to be a far more challenging obstacle to overcome than those crude thugs in the Atlantic Federation. Rest assured, though, that I am not going to give up the hunt so easily.

….

Looking up from her desk, Doctor Claudia Monroe smiled and nodded in greeting as Murrue and Heero entered her office. "Thank you both for coming to see me. With our departure from Moscow and the impending operation, I know you two have quite a bit on your plates."

Still serving as counselor for the crew of the Archangel after she'd been recruited in Orb two years ago, Claudia had changed little since joining up with the eccentric lot that had gone on to form the Three Ships Alliance and subsequently Terminal. She'd allowed her blonde hair to grow out a bit more, though she still kept it tied up in a plain and functional bun while on duty. Her dark blue eyes still held the compassion and empathy that made her so effective at her job, despite the horrors of war doing their best to try and numb her into world-weary bitterness.

"We should've come by sooner," Murrue replied as she and Heero sat down on the other side of the counselor's desk, "I saw your initial and follow up reports regarding Stella. I'm sorry that it's taken this long for me to devote the proper attention that this matter deserves. With everything else that's been going on…"

Claudia held up a hand to forestall anything further. "Captain, it's quite alright, I assure you. You have your responsibilities, and I have mine. I'm just pleased that you were able to review my findings before coming here."

Murrue sighed heavily. "Is it wrong for me to wish that I hadn't? Between your reports and those of the medics… that poor girl… she's been through utter hell."

"And then some," Heero muttered before meeting Claudia's gaze, "I had a chance to read through your report as well. Given Stella's reaction to Dearka's hair color, how were you able to speak to her without her reacting in a similar manner?"

Claudia reached into a drawer and pulled out a simple blue cap. "It's easy enough to make adjustments to suit the needs of my patients. I found that hiding my hair was all that was required to avoid experiencing the same drastic reaction as Dearka did. I hope that young man's doing a bit better now. He came by here a little while after that incident."

Murrue nodded. "I heard from Miriallia that he was feeling pretty guilty about it all, although he had no way of knowing that his very appearance would set Stella off. She was awfully worried about him."

Claudia smiled. "Without going into detail and breaking confidentiality, I believe I was able to help set his mind at ease a bit. Between his circle of friends and my reminder to him that I keep an open-door policy, I think he should be able to bounce back."

"Glad to hear it," said Murrue, "We're going to need all of our pilots in top form."

"That's actually part of what I wanted to talk to you two about," Claudia replied, "Sort of, at least. Specifically, my concern is with a pilot that's… oh, how's a good way to put this? He's between worlds, if you will. He has been ever since he came here with the patient in question."

Heero's eyes narrowed. "Shinn… I suppose his position here could pose an issue given who we're setting up to fight real soon."

Murrue sighed heavily. "I'm honestly torn as to how we should handle him. On the one hand, his talent as a pilot is genuine. He's performed well with the Skygrasper, and if we can find a suitable mobile suit for him then I have no doubt that his effectiveness in combat would be greatly enhanced. However, so far, we've only had him use those talents against forces of the Earth Alliance. Our next foe is going to be ZAFT, and asking him to fight them may be a bridge too far. In truth, I was considering keeping him grounded during this new operation of ours."

Claudia tapped her chin in thought. "That might be the best course of action. The boy's been motivated to fight for us so far in order to protect Stella and save innocent lives from the Atlantic Federation's aggression. We have not asked him to fight his former comrades, and I think it would come across very poorly if we attempted to coerce him into doing so."

Murrue shook her head. "I wouldn't dream of it. That boy's been through more than enough in his own way."

Claudia took a deep breath. "True enough. I was able to browse his dossier thanks to Eric Bristow's contacts within ZAFT. Refugee from the Orb Union, losing his parents and sister during the Elysium attack… it's frankly a miracle that he's able to be in the same room as Lady Cagalli and Kira nowadays. I suppose that's a sign of his growth, but putting him into battle against ZAFT may be a bridge too far."

"Yet ZAFT poses a threat to Stella," Heero pointed out, "and Shinn's drive to protect her is powerful."

Murrue looked more than a little apprehensive. "Heero… are you really saying that Shinn would take on his friends in ZAFT to keep Stella safe? I can understand the motivation, but still… it might be too great of a risk."

"The risk comes through coercion," Heero countered, "If we forced Shinn to fight, it would almost certainly backfire on us. However, outright benching him might similarly be counterproductive. It could engender distrust within him against us, and that would undermine all the progress we've made with him. There's a third path that can be taken, though. It would be a gamble, but one that I think is worth making."

Claudia eyed Heero with cautious curiosity. "What did you have in mind?"

"In my experience with him, what seems to get through best to Shinn is simple honesty," Heero replied, "So, I'll approach him in that manner. I'll be up front about who we're going up against, and offer him the choice of fighting or sitting the engagement out."

Murrue was clearly conflicted. "I'm sure he'll appreciate you being open about this, and I'll be the first to admit that his piloting skills would be useful to us in the coming operation, but still… what if he decides to use this as an opening to go back to ZAFT? If we let him sortie in the Skygrasper in an engagement with ZAFT forces, what's to stop him from contacting them and attempting a return? We might not have given him access to the innermost workings of our operations, but he could still give them valuable intelligence about us. Worse, what if he decides to turn his guns on us during the battle? Depending on the circumstances, he could put himself into a position where he could do tremendous damage with a single surprise attack. A knife in the back while we're tangling with ZAFT could be a fatal blow."

Heero nodded. "Those risks are real. However, I think there's an equal risk in giving him the impression that we're compelling him towards a certain choice, whether it's forcing him to sit out a battle or otherwise. He'd resent us for that, regardless of what help we've given to Sella, and it would be easy for that resentment to fester and grow into something worse."

Murrue sighed. "It would, and it might ultimately motivate him to backstab us. We'd simply be trading the risk of a potential immediate betrayal for the chance of a possible betrayal at an even worse point further down the line. Damned if we do, damned if we don't…"

Claudia took a deep breath before weighing in. "Captain, while the final call is of course yours, may I offer a bit input?"

Murrue inclined her head. "Of course. That's why we're here, after all."

"Based my own study of Shinn, both his dossier and his actions since coming aboard the Archangel, I believe that Heero's proposal may be our best bet," Claudia advised, "He strikes me as the kind of young man who would react poorly to coercion or manipulation of any sort, even if it comes from reasonable intentions. Open honesty would most likely allow Terminal to remain in favorable standing with him, and if he sees the choice as truly his own, then I think he would make that choice truthfully and stick with it. Whether he decides to fight for Terminal against his former comrades or simply remain aboard to watch over Stella, if he feels that his decision really stemmed from his free will, then he would commit to it in full. He strikes me as a very earnest young man. Overly passionate and hotheaded, perhaps, but with a sense of fairness and honor. In sheltering him and providing care for Stella, Terminal has done right by Shinn these past few weeks. In his mind, this may be seen as a chance to return the favor."

"A fair point," Murrue conceded, "Still, we'd be placing a pretty big bet on his gratitude towards us outweighing any previous loyalties."

The Captain was quiet for a few seconds before turning to Heero. "You've established a solid rapport with him. If you brought this up with him, how likely do you think it is that he'd fly for us in this fight?"

Heero shrugged. "It's a dicey situation for him no matter how he looks at it. On the one hand, ZAFT's proven itself a threat to Stella, so simply flying a sortie to keep them away from her might be reason enough for him. However, thanks to the files Quatre sent us from Gibraltar, we know that Durandal wants the Minerva to take part in the operation against us. He wouldn't just be shooting at nameless fellow ZAFT soldiers, but his old friends. That might be too much for him. Overall, I'd say fifty-fifty on whether or not he decides to fight."

Murrue's eyes narrowed. "If he does decide to fight, do you think he'd stay aligned with us?"

Heero nodded. "I know we can't completely rule out the possibility of betrayal, but based on my experience with him, if he decides to fight for us, then I believe he'll stick with us for the whole engagement. Despite his defection from ZAFT, Shinn values loyalty; the only reason he turned on them was out of disgust and shock for what they were going to do to Stella. As long as we continue to protect her and help her recover, he should stay on our side."

Murrue smiled. "In that case, seek him out as soon as we're done here. Be up front about what we'll be asking of him, and make sure he understands that we're respecting his free will here. Whatever he decides, we'll honor his choice."

"Roger that," said Heero.

Claudia inclined her head. "I wish you luck, Heero… although I would be remiss if I did not mention another misgiving that I have here. In truth, I would very much wish for Shinn to sit out this fight, or any others for that matter, and remain by Stella's side. His moral support for her has been vital to her recovery thus far. He's been invaluable in helping Stella calm herself before sessions with me, and he will be crucial to her navigating the long and thorny path that lies ahead of her. If the worst should happen… if Shinn is lost in combat… I fear that impact on Stella's psyche would be immense. He's become her anchor in a terrifying world, perhaps the one bit of certainty and safety she feels she has. If he dies, it could send her into a downward spiral from which she may never recover."

Murrue took a deep breath. "I was afraid you'd say that. It's clear that the girl's on a razor's edge, even with the care you and our medical staff have been able to give her. I don't want to do anything to disrupt or endanger that, but we also need every combat pilot we can get our hands on. My concerns about Shinn aside, he's more than proven his abilities. Even in a relatively outdated platform like the Skygrasper, he's an asset on the battlefield. If he is willing to fight for us, then we need him. As much as I want to ensure that Stella continues her recovery, holding Shinn back just to facilitate that robs us of a potentially valuable tactical asset."

"It's an unfortunate situation, but it's what we're stuck with," said Heero, "I understand your concerns, Doctor, but if this ship is captured or destroyed then Stella's recovery would be a moot point. Our odds of survival are better if every combat pilot we have is airborne and fighting, and that includes Shinn if he's willing to go up against his old comrades."

Claudia sighed wearily. "I'm no stranger to the harsh realities of war; I know that we need all the help we can get, and Shinn's skills make him quite useful. I simply want you both to be aware of the potential repercussions should something go horribly wrong. His life, whether he realizes it or not, is no longer solely his own. For good or ill, I believe that Stella's fate is bound to his. Make sure he's aware of that when he makes his decision.

Heero nodded. "I will."

"Is there anything else that we need to be aware of regarding either Stella or Shinn, Doctor?" Murrue asked.

Claudia slowly shook her head. "You two have both read the reports, and I know you've seen the data out of Lodonia as well. You know how badly that girl has suffered, and how emotionally damaged that boy is as well. I will do everything in my power to help them both, and all I can ask of you two is that you do the same in your own way. Although… I suppose there would be one other thing, though this is less patient treatment than it is catharsis for those of us who need it."

Heero regarded her cautiously. "And that would be?"

Claudia clenched her fists, and she had to work considerably to keep the fury simmering within her in check. "The bastards who did this to her and all the other children dragged into that hellhole… the ones who are responsible for their suffering and torment… they have to pay. I know most of the scientists within Lodonia itself at the time of ZAFT's incursion were shot by the Atlantic Federation security guards to prevent their capture, so the list of remaining accountable suspects is thin, but still… a crime as vile as this cannot go unpunished. The people who ordered this, financed it, or facilitated it in any way owe one hell of a blood debt. Promise me that Terminal will find a way to balance the books, and that these sons of bitches will rot in form or another."

"Oh, we most certainly will," Murrue vowed, her voice straining against what was clearly barely contained wrath.

Claudia then saw Heero's eyes narrow. "Yes, we will… and I think I know a good place where we can get information that'll help facilitate this reckoning. At the very least, it should give us some leads to follow up on when the time comes. The battlefield is where our efforts need to be focused for now, but the hunt for these criminals will be taken up by Terminal, and I suspect we won't be alone in that."

….

"Do you have a moment, Major Gardinier?" asked a familiar male voice from behind her.

Sibylle bit back a curse and took a deep breath to soothe her startled nerves before turning around to face Terminal's top ace. "Monsieur Yuy, I understand that you move silently as force of habit, but could you please try to make just a little bit of noise when you approach me next time? I don't know how many more of these unintended ambushes I can take."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "Ambush?"

Sibylle sighed before forcing a smile. "Perhaps that's putting a bit too dramatically. Still… maybe at least announce yourself from a slight distance rather than wait until you're less than a meter behind me in the future?"

The Gundam pilot seemed to consider it for a moment before eventually nodding. "I'll try, Major."

Sibylle allowed herself to relax somewhat. "That is all I can ask. Now, I assume you're not here for a social call, yes?"

"You assume correctly," Heero replied as he pulled a data drive from his pocket before handing it to her, "I need you to copy and forward the contents of this drive to our new friends across the pond, along with a message."

Sibylle accepted the drive and eyed it in curiosity. "What is it?"

"All the data that my friends and I were able to extract regarding the Atlantic Federation's Extended Program from the Lodonia labs," Heero answered, "along with reports from our medical staff regarding medication and treatment for potential survivors."

Sibylle felt her stomach churn in revulsion; she'd heard a good deal about the Atlantic Federation's monstrous program since joining up with Terminal, and the mere mention of it was enough to make her sick. "I see… and what message do you wish to accompany this data?"

"That Terminal offers this data freely in the hopes that the resistance will be able to make use of it to save the lives of any victims of the Extended Program that they might happen to liberate from their torturers," said Heero, "We would also hope that it might make any future prosecutions of the responsible parties easier to carry out. I would also make a request of my own, though it need not be granted immediately."

Sibylle's eyes narrowed slightly. "What would that request be?"

"That the resistance send to me any information they've managed to gather regarding the Extended Program and those who conceived and implemented it," Heero replied in a hushed tone, and Sibylle fought to suppress a shiver as the Gundam pilot's voice took on more than a hint of arctic menace, "so that I can balance the books in my own fashion once this war is over."

Sibylle could not help but note his particular word choice. "Send to you, Monsieur Yuy? Not to Terminal?"

"Yes," Heero confirmed as he regarded her with a knowing look while checking to make sure that no one was paying particularly close attention to the two of them, "When you eventually receive their reply, Major, I would ask that you notify me personally regarding the matter. There are those within Terminal who would be… uneasy concerning what I intend to do. Then again, perhaps you might be as well."

"Should I be?" asked Sibylle cautiously.

"You're a very intelligent woman, Major," whispered Heero, "You can read between the lines. So, tell me; does what you find in that reading give you pause?"

It wasn't hard at all for Sibylle to guess what Heero intended to do with the whatever hypothetical data the resistance might send in reply to his message… just as it wasn't hard at all for Sibylle to decide that she was more than willing to facilitate him in his endeavor. Courts of legal justice alone could not suffice to truly balance the books of the Extended Program. The blood debt ran deep, and a proper restitution in her eyes could only be paid in kind.

"Those who would be… uneasy, as you say… wouldn't have to know, would they?" the Major surmised with a conspiratorially hushed voice, "In fact, it might be better for them if they don't."

Heero slowly nodded. "My sentiments exactly. Do we understand each other, then?"

Sibylle smiled, but it was less an expression of happiness or satisfaction than it was a predator bearing her fangs in anticipation of the hunt to come. "Oh yes, Monsieur Yuy. We understand each other perfectly."

Heero held out his hand. "Then I look forward to working with you on this little… let's call it a black op, shall we?"

Sibylle readily shook his hand. "I'm from Special Operations, remember? Black ops come with the territory, and this is one that I will happily participate in."

….

Shinn was looking down at a sleeping Stella when he heard the door of the infirmary slide open and a familiar male voice speak. "How's she doing?"

He glanced over his shoulder and saw Heero walking towards him. "A bit better, I think. The medics mostly have her off the sedatives now, but she's still sleeping a lot. I think she's just more exhausted than anything else right now."

"Hard to blame her for that," Heero remarked as he glanced at her, "She's been through hell and then some."

Shinn sighed heavily. "Yeah… she has."

Heero was quiet for a moment before turning back to Shinn. "If she's sleeping naturally now, then we shouldn't disturb her. Let's got for a walk."

Shinn blinked in surprised. "Huh?"

"She's stable, right?" Heero asked.

Shinn slowly nodded. "Yeah, though the medics are still watching her closely."

"Good," said Heero, "That means you're not liable to miss anything important if you leave her side for a bit. She's in good hands, Shinn. You should know that by now."

Shinn took a deep breath before standing up. "I guess you're right. Where are we going?"

"Just follow me," Heero replied, already heading towards the door.

With nothing better to do at the moment, Shinn did just that. He highly doubted that Heero had come down here just to fetch him for a bit of exercise. Something was up, and the best way to find out what that might be was to just tag along and wait for Heero to spill the beans. Soon enough, Shinn found himself being led by Heero into the officer's lounge of the Archangel.

"This should do," said Heero as he settled into one of the chairs.

"That wasn't much of a walk," Shinn noted as he sat down opposite him.

"It was enough," Heero replied casually.

Shinn sighed. "So, what's this really about, Heero?"

Heero studied him for a few seconds. "Already trying to discern the heart of the matter… good. You're learning quickly."

"That's not answering the question," Shinn quipped.

"No, it isn't," Heero agreed, "but this will; we're heading west, and a new operation has begun. This time, our opposition will be ZAFT, and that will include the Minerva."

Shinn blinked several times as he processed what Heero had just said in stunned silence. He couldn't have heard that right… could he?

"Say that again?" he eventually responded when he'd recovered a portion of his wits.

"We'll be engaging ZAFT in this new operation, and the Minerva will be part of the force that they deploy against us," Heero reiterated, "It's a confrontation that's been in the making for some time now."

Shinn could only listen in mounting dread as Heero outlined what Quatre had uncovered back at Gibraltar and Terminal's response to it. His mind reeled as he tried to take it all in. The faces of Rey, Lunamaria, Meyrin, Heine and Athrun all flashed through his mind, along with those of many other crewmembers serving aboard the Minerva.

"Why?" he finally said, as much to himself as to Heero.

"Because it was inevitable," Heero answered, "From the moment Durandal created a fake Lacus Clyne and targeted the real one for assassination… no, likely even before that. The Earth Alliance may have started this war, but the conditions leading up to it are not entirely of the Atlantic Federation's design; Durandal's administration bears their own share of guilt here, especially with regards to Armory One's construction serving as provocation. This was always going to happen, Shinn. It was just a matter of when and where."

"But why would Chairman Durandal set up an operation against Terminal when the Atlantic Federation is the threat to the world?" asked Shinn in growing distress, "I know you guys fought at Gibraltar, but that was just one battle. The rest of the fighting's been against the Earth Alliance, and that needs to continue. The Atlantic Federation's still trying to conquer Europe and butcher anyone that opposes them!"

"The Atlantic Federation invasion of Europe serves Durandal's purposes just fine," said Heero, "In his eyes, it's just the two most powerful members of the Earth Alliance wasting resources and manpower fighting each other. He doesn't care about the civilians being deliberately targeted by the Atlantic Federation. From his point of view, while D.C. and Moscow focus on each other, it gives him a window to put other matters in order. He's decided that Terminal is one of those matters. Actually, he likely decided that long before the invasion began."

"But your group helped save the PLANTs during the last war," Shinn pointed out, "Why would he decide you guys are a threat before a new war even begins?"

"Because he's after something that he knows we would be opposed to," Heero replied, "The exact nature of that 'something' is still unclear, but we've got people working to uncover the truth of it. It's academic at this point. The only thing that matters right now is that Durandal's decided he needs us removed from the playing field. He has an operation planned for us, and we're going to turn it against him."

Shinn was skeptical. "By walking right into the trap he's laying for you? How exactly is that smart?"

"When you know of a trap beforehand, you can find ways to turn it against the one who laid it out in the first place," Heero answered, "We have a plan to do just that, but we can't bring you in on it unless you decide to help us."

Shinn took a deep breath. "And that's what this is really about, isn't it? You want me to fight against ZAFT."

"What I want you to do is make a choice," said Heero, "If you want to remain aboard the Archangel and not take part in this coming fight, you are free to make that decision. No one here expects you to be gung-ho about fighting your former comrades, and we're not going to force you to do it. Say the word, and you can sit this one out. None of us will hold it against you. I would only want you to fight if it was what you were willing to do of your own accord."

Shinn considered his situation carefully. "If ZAFT's really gunning for the Archangel, then they're gunning for Stella by extension, right?"

"I doubt she's a major factor in their decision to launch this operation," Heero remarked, "but she would be endangered all the same. If the ship is destroyed, she'd be going down along with it. If it's captured, then she would be captured as well. ZAFT would likely ship her off to the PLANTs for study and vivisection; it's what Durandal wanted to do to her in the first place, after all."

Shinn's hands balled into fists as he fought to keep his rising anger in check. "Yeah… so what you're really saying is Stella's fate is tied to that of the Archangel."

"That's the long and the short of it," Heero confirmed, "You can stay by her side and continue to care for her, but if this coming battle is lost then all your efforts for her sake will have been for nothing. You can play a much more active role as her guardian, though, and help spare her from a cruel fate."

"But only by fighting against my friends," Shinn countered grimly.

Heero nodded. "Yes. Like I said, no one's going to force you into this. In fact, there's a good reason for you not to, and it has nothing to do with engaging your friends in combat."

Shinn blinked in confusion. "What do you mean?"

"You're far more important to Stella than you know," Heero explained, "Her whole world's been turned upside down, but you've been the one constant for her since you brought her to the Minerva. Whether you realize it or not, your very presence has become vital to her mental health and continued recovery. If you get killed in combat, Stella's mental state could quite possibly deteriorate, and it's not exactly stable as is."

Shinn took a deep and nervous breath. "When you say 'deteriorate'… how bad are we talking here?"

Heero shrugged. "I'm not a psychologist; that's Doctor Monroe's job. Still, if you want my two cents on it, you dying on her could push her over the edge. Not saying that's a certainty, but losing you definitely wouldn't do her any favors."

Shinn's mind was whirling as he struggled to make sense of his current predicament. "So… are you trying to convince me to fight or to stay on the ship with Stella?"

"Neither," Heero replied, "I'm trying to give you all the information you'll need to make an informed decision. Whichever way you end up going, no one here will second guess or hold it against you. I just want you to be able to make that choice without any regrets, whatever it might be."

Shinn slowly nodded. "Okay, then. I… do I have to decide this right away? You're throwing a lot at me here."

Heero shook his head. "I won't ask for an immediate decision. However, we are on a time crunch here, so I do need an answer sooner rather than later."

"How much time do I have?" asked Shinn.

Heero was quiet for a moment. "I'll give you three days."

Shinn raised an eyebrow. "Three days? Won't we be engaged by then?"

"We won't even be close to the expected combat zone by then," said Heero, "We're moving at a slower pace than we were when we went to aid Moscow; the ship's engines just got through some serious maintenance and repair work, and Murrue doesn't want to stress them unduly. More importantly, we need to give the Dominion and Chimaera time to get into position. Three days is the longest that I'll give you because after that we'll need to adjust our strategy depending on whether or not you'll be taking the field with us."

Three days… Shinn knew that it should've been enough, but part of him still felt like it wasn't. "That's really all the time you can give me?"

"Yes," Heero answered firmly.

That, Shinn had come to realize, was typical of Heero; no effort spent sugar coating the truth. It was a blunt honesty that could hurt at times, but the more Shinn was exposed to it, the more he came to appreciate it. If nothing else, he at least knew firmly where he stood with Heero. When contrasting that with the pretty but often misleading rhetoric of figures like Durandal, Shinn knew which one he preferred.

"Alright," he said with a heavy sigh. "Three days, then… I'll answer you on the third."

Heero nodded. "Good. Take your time, but be ready to commit to your choice, whichever one that might be."

….

December 4th, C.E. 73

To say that the atmosphere in the pilot's ready room of the Minerva was tense would be significantly understating the case. From where Lunamaria was sitting, the room felt like it was divided into two opposing camps despite all present theoretically being on the same side. On one side of the room was Lunamaria, Wufei, and Athrun. The other was occupied by Rey, Heine, and the new pilots that had been brought on board the Minerva to make up for the loss of Shinn and the four Gundams that had jumped ship.

Feels like we should have names for our little factions here, Lunamaria mused bitterly, like the 'Just Following Orders' faction and the 'Actually Thinking and Realizing How Messed Up Our New Orders Are' faction. I guess the second one doesn't really roll off the tongue, though. Meyrin would probably come up with a better name.

This wasn't an official briefing; if it were, it would've been in the room designated for that purpose and headed by Captain Gladys herself. Heine had organized this impromptu gathering with Rey's help, and Lunamaria suspected she knew why. The two pilots who were Durandal's agents aboard the Minerva likely wished to make sure all the mobile suit pilots were on board with their coming mission… or, failing that, at least make sure that they wouldn't get in the way when the shooting started.

It was a shame that the pilots were being divided like this now, because Lunamaria had genuinely come to like the new arrivals. Over the course of drills and casual chatter she'd started to break the ice with them, and in her eyes, there wasn't a bad apple in the bunch. All were ZAFT Reds, all were friendly in their own way, and they were all committed to bringing this war to an end in the name of not just protecting the PLANTs but restoring peace for everyone. It was just a shame that they were apparently of the same 'follow orders, don't question them' school of thought that Heine and Rey seemed to subscribe to.

The one that Lunamaria had gotten to know the best out of the new arrivals, although that was only because he'd been assigned to the Minerva a bit before the rest, was Emilian Vasile. Brought aboard the ship from Gibraltar in the aftermath of Shinn's defection to Terminal, he'd been assigned to Rey's ZAKU Phantom once a new Core Impulse module for the Impulse had arrived for Rey to take control of. At nineteen years old, he was of roughly average height and kept his dark brown hair neatly trimmed. His bright blue eyes had an almost child-like innocence to them that was a strong reflection of his overall demeanor, so much so that Lunamaria often found herself forgetting that he was a deadly mobile suit pilot who had distinguished himself in the defense of L5 during the Atlantic Federation's attempted nuclear assault at the start of the war. Lunamaria recalled him mentioning that that engagement was where he'd won his promotion to Red, which she supposed was hint enough as to his skill, though she had yet to see him actually fight in the time that she'd known him.

The other four had been brought aboard after the Minerva had returned to Gibraltar following the start of the Atlantic Federation's European invasion, all bringing GOUF Igniteds with them, and the lead pilot among them was a tan-skinned twenty-two-year-old man with black hair and dark brown eyes named Manuel Saavedra. His rather imposing and muscular build belied an easy-going personality. He was also, much to Lunamaria's pleasant surprise, an amateur chef by hobby, and he could often be found in the galley of the Minerva helping the cooks spice up the ship's menu a bit. He'd even brought over a stockpile of new ingredients from the base when he'd transferred over, and his quesadillas and burritos had already won Lunamaria's approval.

Acting as Manuel's unofficial right-hand man, or right-hand woman in this case, was the twenty-one-year-old Larissa Neumann. A willowy woman with pale blonde hair kept tied up in a simple bun and light brown eyes, she'd apparently been serving with Manuel ever since the two of them had been in the Academy together. While she was a bit more serious than her former classmate, Lunamaria still found her to be quite approachable and charming, although her somewhat sardonic sense of humor could be a bit off putting at times. Then again, dark jokes and war went well together, so Lunamaria was willing to chalk it up to being a coping mechanism for dealing with the horrors of the continually escalating conflict.

On the opposite end of the spectrum was Shukriyya binti Nizaam, or 'Kriyya' for short as she had told everyone upon her introduction. Short and curvy with light brown skin, dark blue eyes, and black hair that she typically wore long except when flying, she was possessed by what struck Lunamaria as an almost perpetually bubbly and cheerful nature. At twenty-three-years-old, she wasn't exactly innocent or naïve in a manner similar to Emilian, but she had a bright and optimistic persona that never seemed to waver no matter how grim tidings from the front were or what kind of mission she might be assigned to. It made her fun and relaxing to be around, though Lunamaria had to wonder how long that attitude would last once she and the others engaged Terminal's top-tier pilots in deadly combat.

Rounding out the ranks of the newcomers was Alvise Ferrari, a twenty-four-year-old man with sandy-blond hair, dark green eyes and a broad build that Lunamaria would've associated more with a Roman gladiator than a mobile suit pilot. Boisterous and confident, he would've struck Lunamaria as a braggart were it not for the fact that he had both the ability and experience to back up his tough talk. After all, he'd survived such brutal clashes like the hellish slog that had been the Battle of Nova and the apocalyptic showdown of the Second Battle of Jachin Due in the last war, just as he'd stood strong against the Atlantic Federation's assault on L5 at the start of this new conflict. His boasting could become a bit grating at times, but he balanced that out by trying to inspire his comrades to better themselves. In simulations he wasn't afraid to point out faults in his friends, yet he made sure that those criticisms were constructive and pointed to ways in which they could avoid making the same mistakes.

All of them were brave and well-meaning, which made the coming operation even more of an unnecessary tragedy in Lunamaria's eyes. If anything, they all should've been working alongside the Gundam pilots and their allies to throw the Atlantic Federation's European invasion army back into the sea, not plotting to engage each other on the battlefield. Indeed, the hit-and-run strikes that the new GOUF Ignited squad under Heine and Rey's command had been launching against the American forces showed that the new arrivals had the courage and skill needed to take the battle to the Atlantic Federation when the rest of ZAFT seemed content to sit on its hands. It infuriated Lunamaria to no end that they would now be called upon to take on pilots that had once aided the crew of Minerva in desperate clashes against a common enemy.

This is all so wrong, she thought bitterly, but none of them can see that. How many…

How many of them are going to die because of it?

Heine cleared his throat to call attention and punctuate the ominous silence in the room. "I appreciate you all coming here on such short notice. This isn't an operational briefing in the traditional sense; the Captain will call one when the time comes. Consider this to be more of an informal strategy session for just us pilots."

Athrun was both skeptical and worried. "Is it really a good idea for us to be making plans independent of the Captain? We could end up putting the operation at risk."

"We'll be informing Captain Gladys of our plans well before we actually reach the battlefield," Rey countered, "Us having a strategy worked out ahead of time will make her job much easier."

Lunamaria could not keep her doubts private. "What strategy can help us here? You know who we're going up against, Rey. Sure, we've got good pilots and new mobile suits, but is it really going to be enough?"

Alvise raised an eyebrow as he glanced at her. "Well, not with that kind of attitude. How about a little more confidence, Lunamaria? I know we haven't been working together for very long, but you can trust that we all know what we're doing. It's going to be a tough fight, sure, but that's nothing new to us."

Wufei folded his arms and gave the Italian Coordinator a withering glare. "You have no idea what you're getting yourself into here. None of you do."

"We've all seen the combat recordings," Manuel countered in a calm yet firm manner, "Your old friends are no slouches, and their machines are beasts, but they're not invincible. No pilot or mobile suit is."

"You haven't seen all that they're capable of!" Athrun protested, "The short time we've had since the mission was announced hasn't been nearly enough to go over everything. This fight will be unlike any you've had before!"

"There's still plenty of time for us to review further data from past battles and adjust our tactics accordingly," Larissa added in a clipped and no-nonsense tone, "We can't plan for every possible contingency, but we can still understand our enemy's strengths and weaknesses and take the appropriate measures."

"The Chairman wouldn't have selected us for this operation if he didn't think that we were capable of accomplishing it," Kriyya chimed in, "Besides, it won't be just us taking on the targets. We'll have plenty of support from the task force that's been assembled for the mission."

"There are even top-tier mercenaries involved in this operation!" Emilian chirped with what struck Lunamaria as a bit too much excitement for the occasion, "You all saw the briefing data; they've even got the Galm Team working with us. Those guys are some of the best pilots in the Earth Sphere!"

Athrun let out a heavy sigh. "If you were really paying attention to that data, then you would know that the Galm Team won't be flying machines of the same caliber that they were using in the final battle of the last war. They're going to be fighting an uphill battle here, just like the rest of us."

"What about that ace from MSC?" Alvise argued, "I hear he's got both the moves and the machine to match."

"And there's the merc on loan from Harkema Advanced Industries," Kriyya added confidently, "She's field testing their prototype in this operation!"

The name was familiar to Lunamaria, though it took her a moment to place it properly. A subsidiary of ZAFT's Integrated Design Bureau with operations in both the military and private sector, Harkema Advanced Industries had primarily focused its armed forces contracts on developing individual weapons and other subsystems that were used on its parent organization's mobile suits. It had a hand in the development of the Armory One prototypes along with more mainline units like the ZAKU series machines, but it had been operating in a supporting capacity rather than taking the lead. Kriyya's was the first mention Lunamaria had ever heard regarding the company developing a mobile suit that was completely of its own design.

"What kind of unit is it?" asked Lunamaria.

Kriyya shook her head. "I couldn't get any details from the data beyond its involvement in the operation. It's got to be something good if they're bringing it out for a mission like this, though."

Wufei rolled his eyes. "It wouldn't be the first prototype that my friends have demolished. The weapon can be the most advanced in the Earth Sphere, but it won't matter if the pilot's not up to scratch."

Athrun scratched his chin. "The file only listed what I assume is a code name for the pilot; Frost Druid. How do we even know she's a mercenary and not a full-time ZAFT pilot?"

"Because she's operating off of the Nansen," Rey replied, "That vessel's been designated as the operating platform for the mercenaries in this mission."

Heine sighed. "I personally have mixed feelings regarding the involvement of mercenaries in this operation, but I trust that the Chairman knows what he's doing here. I can't deny that we need top-tier aces for this mission, and the ones that have been brought in to support us all have sterling combat records.

"How are they going to fit into the chain of command?" asked Athrun.

"When combat has begun, they'll defer to the orders of Captain Gladys after they've launched from their carrier," Rey answered, "They'll coordinate their actions with us."

Wufei eyed Rey and Heine warily. "Who are their designated targets?"

"Whoever Captain Gladys determines them to be," said Heine, "though I have to imagine that your fellow Gundam pilots and the Valkyrie Team will be among the top priority targets for them."

Wufei bristled at that. "If they want a good fight, the others will give them that. However, they don't get Heero. He's mine."

Rey glowered at him. "That's not your call to make."

"Like hell it's not," Wufei shot back, "I'm the only pilot you have that you know for a fact can go one-on-one with him; I proved it at Gibraltar. The rest of you can target who you please, but leave Heero to me. We've already had this conversation anyway, remember?"

"We have, and I can understand your desire for a rematch following the inconclusive skirmish at Gibraltar," Heine chimed in, "but we don't have the luxury of indulging your whims or honor code here. Heero Yuy is a prime target of this operation, and must be treated accordingly."

Lunamaria fought to keep from flinching as she saw Wufei's eyes blaze with barely restrained fury. "Let me put it this way; Heero is my target alone. If anyone tries to interfere, I'll cut them down myself."

The ready room went deathly silent before Alvise tried to retort, though even the boisterous Italian Coordinator was clearly shaken. "You wouldn't… you're bluffing."

"I'm a Gundam pilot," Wufei replied as his glare focused on him, and his right hand hovered over the hilt of his sword, "We don't bluff."

Larissa stepped in to try to calm the situation. "Let's save this sort of energy for the enemy, shall we? If you want to take point against Heero Yuy, that's fine, but the entire operation can't hinge upon your duel."

Lunamaria had to refrain from shaking her head; Larissa surely meant well, but her efforts were in vain. Lunamaria knew him well enough by now to understand that Wufei would never compromise a duel in any way. He was determined to take Heero one-on-one, and woe be to anyone who tried to stop him.

The harsh look Wufei gave the Austrian Coordinator spoke to that sentiment, so much so that his subsequent words were scarcely needed. "Heero's not the only target of your operation, merely the most dangerous. I'll be doing you all a favor by tying him up in a one-on-one fight. Try to interfere in any way, and you'll find that I take no issue with expanding my list of targets. Take the damn hint already; I could hardly be more blatant at this point."

Perhaps recognizing that they could hardly avoid to alienate Wufei, Heine raised his hands to signal concession. "Alright, you've made your case quite clearly. If you feel so strongly about it, then those of us in this room will leave Heero to you. You're right in that you keeping him occupied in a duel does offer the rest of us crucial room to maneuver against his allies, and we'd be fools not to take advantage of that."

Rey appeared irritated at Heine's surrender. "The Chairman will not be pleased with this, Heine. We're altering the operation to suit one pilot's vanity."

"The goal of the operation is to remove the Archangel, the Dominion and the bulk of their mobile suits as factors in the war going forward," Heine calmly countered, "Yes, Heero Yuy is considered to be a priority target, but not the only one by any means. Adjusting the operation in this manner will still allow us to achieve our main tactical and strategic objectives. If you're worried about the Chairman's reaction, I will present this change of plans to him personally, so responsibility will lie upon me alone."

Rey folded his arms. "I don't care about whether or not I catch flak for this. I just want to make sure that the mission is accomplished."

"And it will be," Heine reassured him.

Athrun shook his head despairingly. "Do we really have to do this? All this operation's really doing is setting up a lot of good people to die needlessly."

Heine eyed him sharply. "Pilots flying from the Archangel and Dominion have already engaged our forces in combat. You and I should know; we were both targets of Heero Yuy when he covered Shinn's flight from the Minerva. He and his compatriots have made their positions quite clear. They intend to fight both us and the Earth Alliance. They are legitimate targets and should not be treated otherwise."

Athrun glared at him. "There's a difference between a target being 'legitimate' and being one that actually needs to be attacked. The Archangel and Dominion aren't the ones waging war with the intention of destroying the PLANTs and slaughtering our people; the Atlantic Federation is."

"A foe doesn't need to have genocide in mind for them to still be a foe," Manuel interjected, "I know you're friends with a lot of the people that we've been assigned to go after here. Maybe you should sit this operation out and let one of us pilot the Saviour."

"Manuel has a point," Larissa chimed in as she looked warily at Athrun, "Your sentiments are understandable given your previous ties with the Three Ships Alliance, but they make you a liability for the purpose of this mission. I know that the Chairman placed his trust in you by making you a FAITH operative, but I have to wonder if that trust might be misplaced."

Kriyya winced. "Larissa, that's a bit harsh."

Alvise shook his head. "No, she's got a point. Given who we're going after, we need to make sure that everyone involved in the operation is fully on board with it, otherwise we won't be able to maintain unit cohesion in the face of the enemy. That could get us all killed. If one of our number isn't going to be able to commit to the mission's objectives, then they shouldn't be a part of it at all."

Lunamaria was torn. On the one hand, Athrun was one of their top pilots, and they needed all the talent they could get, especially given the nature of their opposition. However, Alvise and Larissa weren't wrong regarding Athrun's potential as a liability.

He's not alone in thinking that this whole op is a bad idea, she mused, I can't say that I'm a huge fan of it, either. If I jump in on his side, then they'll probably want to bench me, too. Then again, maybe that wouldn't be a bad thing.

Part of her really did want to find a way out of the whole thing, but that just wasn't possible. After all, even if she didn't directly participate in the operation, Lunamaria would still be aboard the Minerva, and the battleship would be right in the thick of the fighting. Her personal feelings aside, Lunamaria couldn't just sit back and do nothing while her sister, friends and comrades were all in danger. Her Gunner ZAKU Warrior was limited in its capabilities, sure, but she could at least use it to defend the Minerva. She didn't know how much good it would do against the combined might of four Gundam pilots and a group that had fought both major powers in the last war and come out on top, but she owed it to her allies to at least take a shot.

Lunamaria was still considering what the right path was when Athrun spoke again. "Even if I don't like the operation, I still believe that ZAFT's fight for peace is the right one. If fighting against Terminal is the only way to reach our broader goal, then I suppose there's no choice in the matter. That being said, I want an assurance."

Heine raised an eyebrow. "Of what sort?"

"If we can corner our targets, we need to at least give them a chance to surrender," Athrun answered, "This is the new ZAFT, not my father's organization; we do still offer mercy to foes who lay down their arms, don't we?"

Heine smiled and nodded. "Of course. Perhaps your friends will see reason once they realize the full extent of the of force that we have arrayed against them and surrender. It would certainly save many lives."

"I wouldn't count on it," Rey grumbled.

Athrun shot the ZAFT Red a harsh look before focusing his gaze on Heine again. "If they do surrender, then they're to be treated humanely."

"Naturally," said Heine, "I would insist upon it, as would the Chairman. Despite this unfortunate turn of events, he does hold your old friends in the highest regard. He bears them no ill-will, and I imagine he would endeavor to personally win them over to his side should they see the wisdom of surrendering to our force."

Lunamaria bit back a scathing retort that had been on the tip of her tongue. If the Chairman indeed harbored no 'ill-will' towards the Gundam pilots and their allies, then he wouldn't have signed off on this operation to begin with. It was all so much bullshit, and it made an already dubious mission reek to high heaven of hypocrisy.

Athrun slowly nodded. "That's a relief to hear. In that case, if we really are going through with this, then let me handle the Freedom."

Rey's eyes narrowed. "We've already made an allowance for one ill-advised duel; why should we indulge a second that could just as easily endanger the operation?"

"Because the Freedom is the biggest threat to the operation apart from the Gundam Albion," Athrun countered, "It might not pack the same level of raw firepower, but its weapons array is well-suited to engaging multiple targets simultaneously. You've seen the combat footage, so you know how quickly its pilot can disarm entire squadrons of mobile suits. Isn't it better for the purpose of the mission if all those weapons are focused on a single target rather than neutralizing all of our backup with just a few precise salvos?"

"That's actually a fair point," Manuel conceded.

"Forcing the Freedom into a duel takes away its primary advantage and utility to our opponents," Larissa added, "There's merit in the one-on-one approach here… assuming that our brave volunteer can last more than a few seconds in the fight."

Athrun scowled at her. "I've fought its pilot before, and I know the machine very well. The Saviour might not be able to match it for pure power, but its agility is more than enough for me to make up for that. Besides, I'm better at close-quarters-combat than its pilot is, and the Saviour's more than capable of closing the distance quickly. Trust me; I can take it."

Kriyya smiled. "You're a lot more confident in yourself than I would be in going up against a machine like that. I'm actually a bit jealous!"

Alvise shrugged. "If you think that you've got a legit shot at taking it down by yourself, then I say go for it. Gives the rest of us a chance to concentrate our efforts against the others."

Heine nodded. "Well put. Alright, then; the Freedom is yours, Athrun. I wish you luck in that engagement."

"You're going to need it," Rey quipped as he eyed Athrun with suspicion, "and even that might not be enough. It's not really the machine that you're fighting, after all; the pilot's Kira Yamato. Isn't he your best friend? Do you really think you'll be able to fight him to the death?"

Athrun took a deep breath. "I can't say that I'm looking forward to it, but I'll do what I have to. It won't be the first time that we've tried to kill each other. Besides, Kira holds back nowadays; always goes for the non-fatal shots. I can use that against him."

"I hope you can," said Manuel, "because the rest of us are going to have our hands full."

Larissa nodded. "The remaining mobile suits of the Archangel alone are formidable, and that's not even getting into those stationed aboard the Dominion."

Kriyya bit her lip nervously. "The Valkyrie Team and the Hawk of Endymion are aboard that ship…"

Even Alvise, not one to back down from a challenge, seemed suitably daunted. "If we're not careful, they'll rip us apart."

"Our supporting forces, particularly the mercenaries, will attend to the Dominion and its mobile suits," Heine interjected, "The Minerva and her pilots will be focusing squarely on the Archangel and its pilots. With two of their top pilots occupied in duels, the rest of us will be free to go after our own targets."

"We should eliminate Shinn quickly," said Rey, "He'll probably be flying that same blue and white fighter he flew in Berlin. It's not nearly as big of a threat as the mobile suits, but it can still provide supporting fire from the flanks. With his skill, there's a chance he could pick a few of us off. I'll take him out quickly and then join the rest of you in concentrating against the mobile suits."

Lunamaria was alarmed at just how casually Rey was speaking of killing their friend. "Hold on a second! Rey, do you hear yourself? This is Shinn you're talking about here!"

"Yes," Rey replied with a blunt coldness that took Lunamaria aback, "and he's a traitor. He deserves no special consideration. He's an enemy now and must be dealt with accordingly."

Lunamaria shook her head in dismay. "Without even trying to talk to him or convincing him to come back? Rey, he's our friend!"

Rey glowered at her. "He was our friend. Now he's an enemy."

"You can't really believe that," Lunamaria protested desperately, "Come on, Rey! We should at least give him a chance to come back. We owe him that much!"

"We owe him nothing," Rey shot back icily, "His treachery's forced our hand. He's brought this upon himself."

The harsh repudiation was like a knife sliding between Lunamaria's ribs. Her mind flashed back to the time she, Shinn, Rey, Meyrin, and other members of the Minerva's crew had spent together at the Academy. The lectures and exercises, the antics in their off-hours, getting to know, trust and depend on each other; Shinn had been there for all of that, as had Rey. Sure, Rey had never been the most expressive or outgoing individual, but he'd always wound up tagging along whenever the more reckless members of their group decided to undertake some shenanigans. He played it cool and aloof, but Lunamaria knew that there was more to Rey than that. She'd even seen him crack a smile on rare occasions, usually when Rey thought no one was looking.

And those rare smiles had almost always come up when Shinn was involved.

Shinn had been closer to Rey than anyone else in their circle. They'd been nearly inseparable at the Academy, and they'd continued to stick together once entering active service. They'd fought together since the attack on Armory One, and they'd both dedicated themselves to defending their friends and the Coordinator people. Yes, Shinn had abandoned the Minerva and taken a valuable prisoner with him, but Lunamaria knew him well enough that she highly doubted his actions had been taken with the intent of outright betrayal. He'd almost certainly been acting to help the girl, not out of any malicious motives. Yet here was Rey, acting as though Shinn was nothing more than a vile criminal.

Was their friendship really so easy for him to cast aside? Had Rey simply flipped a switch in his mind, removing Shinn from his list of friends and placing him in his enemies column without even trying to understand Shinn's motives? All the time that they'd lived, trained and fought together since joining ZAFT…

…did it all mean nothing to Rey?

Her thoughts were disrupted by a melodramatic sigh from Heine. "It's a regrettable situation, but I'm afraid that Rey is right. Shinn made his choice, Lunamaria. I suppose we can hope that he won't sortie against us; after all, he hasn't engaged any of our forces as of yet. If the Archangel surrenders and Shinn is aboard it, we can take him into custody. However, if he does decide to take the field and fight against us on their behalf, then we will have no choice but to take him down."

Manuel shrugged. "That's a shame. I hear he was a good pilot when he was fighting for our side. Real waste to ice him like this."

"It's the mission we have now," Larissa remarked, "That's all there is to it."

Kriyya nodded. "Hopefully he'll see sense and surrender."

Alvise shook his head. "If he's as headstrong as his file indicates, I wouldn't bet on it. Be ready for him to come at us like a rabid dog."

Rey's next words chilled Lunamaria to the bone. "If he does, I'll put him down like one."

….

December 5th, C.E. 73

Pixy had operated out from just about every type of ship that ZAFT had at its disposal, and by far his least favorite to use as a base of operations was the Vosgulov-class carrier/submarine. Sure, he could appreciate the utility of the design, but despite the warship's size its interior spaces for personnel were quite cramped, an unfortunate compromise imposed upon the submarine by the fact that so much room was required to house mobile suits. He'd felt like a sardine trapped in a can from the moment he'd set foot aboard the Nansen, though he did what he could to keep his discomfort from negatively impacting his interactions with the vessel's crew. It helped that said crew was actually quite friendly and didn't offer him the suspicious looks that he was so used to getting from other ZAFT soldiers by virtue of him being a mercenary.

You have to take the good with the bad, I suppose, he mused as he meandered on over to the galley, I'm not a huge fan of being boxed in like this, especially underwater, but it's nice to have my talents appreciated by the locals. Not to mention the fact that I get to work with a few other hired guns for this op instead of just Cipher. Nothing against the guy, but he's not exactly the sociable type…

Galm Team's lead wasn't with Pixy at the moment. Cipher was still in the cockpit of his mobile suit running through additional combat simulations along with the pilot from MSC. Pixy liked to think that he had the stamina to run with the best of them, but he was amazed at how well Raiden could keep up with Cipher. Hours upon hours of ferocious simulated battles had gone by, and MSC's ace hardly seemed to have broken sweat. Cipher even seemed to feed off of Raiden's aggressive combat style, no doubt because he too favored the thrill of close-quarters-combat. Pixy supposed that he could've gone a few more rounds with the two of them, but he'd already put in more than enough training for the morning. Besides, he wasn't being paid to wear himself out before the start of the operation. If Cipher and Raiden wanted to have some more fun with their swords, that was fine by him. Pixy's stomach had demanded a lunch break, and he was all for taking it.

Entering the mess hall a few minutes later, he found that it only had a modest crowd at the moment. A few midshipmen and technicians were partaking in their meals, with the big lunch rush scheduled to begin about an hour or so later. Loading up a tray, Pixy was about to grab a table by himself when he saw one at the back end of the galley that had a single occupant, one that he'd been hoping to catch alone for several days now.

Won't get a cleaner shot than this, he thought with a smirk, I guess it's time to roll the dice…

As he strode across the galley, he eyed his target with keen interest. At thirty-six years old, Klara Rask, codename Frost Druid, was the kind of woman that Pixy had once thought only existed in dreams. A slender lady of slightly above average height, her olive drab flight suit clung to her lithe figure in all the right places. Her platinum blonde hair was tied up in a single long braid that was currently resting against her left shoulder and chest, though Pixy had seen it fall more than halfway down her back when he'd stolen the occasional glimpse at her firm derriere. Her silver eyes were currently focused on her meal, though they caught Pixy with a brief side glance as he approached. The look she gave him was one of mild interest, which was as good a place as any to start as far as Galm Two was concerned.

"Room for one more?" he asked with a ready smile.

The contract fighter shrugged. "I'm not waiting on anyone in particular. Feel free."

Her tone, tinted with a silky-smooth Nordic accent, was one of aloof casualness, which seemed to be a near constant for her. In the exercises conducted by the mercenaries since they'd all boarded the Nansen, she'd always held a cool demeanor that reminded Pixy of Cipher. However, she wasn't all work and no play, so to speak; she was hardly above dropping a taunt or a one liner during their simulations, which led Pixy to hold out hope that she'd be amenable to a bit of off the clock fun. First, though, he had to figure out just what made her tick.

"And here I thought Cipher was a cool customer," Pixy remarked as he sat down across from her, "Neither of us are on the job now, so there's no harm in lightening up a bit."

"I'm not being paid to have a social life aboard this ship," Klara replied as she went right back to her food.

Pixy winced inwardly, though he made sure to keep a confident smile on his face. "Maybe, but there's no harm in getting to know each other. We're heading towards one hell of a fight, after all. If we want to work together well when the time comes, we should try to understand each other."

"I understand your fighting style," Klara noted in between bites, "Keeping the enemy at range is your game. I can relate, though I'm not opposed to getting up close and personal either. Should your flight lead get himself killed or caught up in a duel, I know enough about you to work with you as a flight pair if needed."

Pixy chuckled. "Good to know! That's a pretty mean machine that Harkema has you field testing. How'd you get to be the lucky one flying it?"

"Simple," Klara answered, "I was the only one of the test pilots who could handle it. All of the ZAFT regulars they threw at it weren't up to scratch."

Pixy smirked. "And so, they were outdone by a merc… man, that had to sting!"

Klara actually cracked a small smile at that. "I got a few sour looks from the competition. These soldiers… I'll never understand why they always seem so put off whenever one of us contract fighters shows them up. They ought to know that we live for the fight in a way that they never will; it's only natural that our talents would reflect that."

Pixy shrugged. "Ah, you know how it is; they think that fighting for a homeland or ideals somehow makes them superior to those of us who do it for a living and because we know it's what we were born to do. They just can't take it whenever we show them how it's really done."

"You and your flight lead would know better than most," Klara remarked, "I imagine few of the pilots in the regular forces can keep up with you."

Pixy smiled. "You could say that. Why else would my buddy and I have been brought on board for this operation?"

"Your experience would be a decisive factor," Klara noted, "and we both know it. After all, you and your flight lead are amongst the few who can claim the honor of having fought Wing Zero and living to tell the tale. Speaking of which, there's a rumor going around that the last Gundam pilot aboard the Minerva is itching to take a shot at your old enemy. You two don't strike me as the types who like sharing, so what will you do if he gets to the Demon Lord of Avalon first?"

"Hey, what'll be, will be," said Pixy, "If someone else wants to take a crack at the likes of Heero Yuy, I've got no problem with that. Cipher and I will have plenty to keep ourselves occupied with until it's our turn for a rematch."

Klara raised an eyebrow. "That's it?"

Pixy's eyes narrowed. "What were you expecting?"

"A bit more hunger, for starters," said Klara, "Given the way your last battle with him ended, I would've thought you'd be chomping at the bit for another round. Your flight lead certainly seems to be training with that in mind."

"Yeah, well, that's Cipher for you," Pixy replied casually, "He had the duel of a lifetime during the last battle, and I can't blame him for being eager to kick off round two. As for me, I can take it or leave it. Sure, that fight was fun, but there will be plenty of other skilled pilots to take a shot at in this operation. You know what they say; variety's the spice of life."

Klara wasn't completely sold on it. "I suppose you're not wrong, but even so… don't you at least want some payback for the loss last time around? We mercs have our pride to consider, after all, and I doubt you're any different."

"I guess I'd be lying if I said that I was completely uninterested in settling the score," Pixy confessed, "but a good mercenary also keeps the larger contract in mind. Heero's just one target that we've been hired to take out, and there are others for us to go after. Besides, we're a bit limited in our hardware at the moment. You've already seen that. Not that I'm using it as an excuse to shy away from the fight, but it is a factor."

Klara slowly nodded. "I had noticed that. Your flight lead has a standard GOUF Ignited, and you've got a modified one. Good machines, and you've both been using them well in the simulations so far, but definitely a step down compared to what ZAFT had you two flying at the end of the last war. What happened? The machines couldn't have been completely unsalvageable if you two survived."

"The frames were recovered," Pixy confirmed, "but they've been undergoing substantial rework and upgrading ever since. They were supposed to be ready by now, but the techs are having trouble fine-tuning some of the new gear. The Chairman wanted us on this op instead of playing cat and mouse with Earth Alliance patrols up in orbit, so we had to come down here with the equipment we have rather than the gear we want."

"Fair enough," Klara conceded with an approving look, "I hope you two survive long enough to use them. From what I've seen so far, I have no doubt it'll be quite the spectacle. Who knows? If I'm lucky enough to live that long, I might get to fly alongside you both when you finally take the field in them."

Pixy smiled. "I'd say you've got more than just luck going for you. You've got the moves and the machine to make the most out of them. No guarantees for any of us going into this fight, of course, but I'll give you decent odds on pulling through."

Klara smirked. "A vote of confidence from the legendary 'Solo Wing' Pixy himself… I suppose I could do worse."

There was an amused look in her silver eyes, and Pixy sensed an opening. "Not just from me. My buddy thinks that you've got what it takes, too."

Klara looked skeptical. "I don't think I've heard him say as much."

"That's because he prefers action over words," Pixy countered, "Trust me, I know him. I've seen how seriously he takes you during the training sessions. If we were hired to fight you, he'd be eager for the match. As it is, he trusts you to handle your part of the battle. That's a big endorsement, coming from him. We don't usually pull joint contracts with other mercs, but both of us are more than happy to make an exception for you."

"Then perhaps we'll work together again once this current contract is concluded," Klara replied with a wry smile, "Assuming this one doesn't get us killed, of course."

Pixy chuckled. "Well, you know how this line of work goes. No guarantees, right? We'd better make the most of this contract while we can."

She regarded him silently for a moment. "I'd be inclined to agree… but where's the fun without the risk? Survive this coming battle, Pixy, and I will endeavor to do the same. Should we both succeed on that front, then perhaps the two of us can discuss a separate 'contract' of our own."

Pixy smiled; it wasn't quite the answer he'd been hoping for, but at least she was still leaving the door open. "Well, I'm not one to back down from a challenge. Can't make any promises on the outcome, but if I scrape through and you do the same, you better be ready to negotiate."

"Same goes for you," Klara remarked before finishing her meal and standing up, "You'll find that I drive a hard bargain, Solo Wing Pixy."

"I don't doubt that one bit," Pixy quipped as he watched her leave, savoring the view of her swaying hips for as long as he could.

As far as motivations to survive go…

…that's a pretty damn good one.

….

December 6th, C.E. 73

Come on, Heero thought as he checked his sensor display, I'm well within your outer patrol sphere now, ZAFT. How long's it going to take for you to scramble?

The intel furnished by Quatre regarding Durandal's plan to attack the Archangel and Dominion had indicated that the operation would involve more than just ZAFT's navy; their surface forces had a role to play as well, particularly those based out of Diocuia. With Eurasian Federation forces concentrated on dealing with the Atlantic Federation's invasion, ZAFT's forces in Eastern Europe had become more comfortable with operating long-range patrols from their foothold off the Black Sea's coast. For their part, the Eurasians couldn't spare the assets that would've been needed to force them back to base, but Moscow had at least managed to continue monitoring the troop buildup and patrol patterns. They'd readily passed that information on to Terminal, and it hadn't taken long at all to come up with a plan to exploit it.

That plan required a delicate balancing act from Heero. If he made his intentions obvious by going too close to Diocuia, it would likely trigger an overwhelming response from ZAFT. However, if he didn't get far enough within their patrol sphere to actually be detected and convince the enemy to scramble the force that they'd designated for Durandal's operation, then this would be nothing but a giant waste of time. As things stood, Heero was concerned that he might still be too far out, but he wasn't sure if he could commit to a deeper incursion.

Maybe I should go for it, he mused, Diocuia would have to be utterly blind to not detect me if I made an attack run. I might actually have to buzz their close-in defenses in order to get them to play ball. I can at least outrun any of their combat air patrols, but I'd still be drawing far more heat than just Durandal's task force back towards the Archangel if I did so.

While one part of Heero's mind considered the current tactical dilemma, another was preoccupied by a bit of news that had been relayed to him and Murrue by Major Gardinier shortly before he'd taken off from the Archangel. While Terminal was maneuvering into position for the long-anticipated conflict with ZAFT, the resistance operating out of the Atlantic Federation was apparently in the midst of a rather daring move of its own. Not much in way of detail had been revealed, but they'd apparently seized a very old passenger liner during the recent unrest in North America and had not only gotten it up and running but successfully gotten it past naval patrols and out into the Atlantic Ocean. On top of that, it had just arrived earlier today in the neutral Kingdom of Scandinavia, and Heero's mind had been abuzz with the possibility of Terminal and their friends across the pond gaining another ally.

They're in a precarious position, Heero thought, with the Atlantic Federation's armies just south of them on the continent. The Atlantic Federation's navy is a potential threat to them as well should they openly enter the conflict, though hopefully our planned strikes after this business with ZAFT is concluded will remove that from the equation. Covert support might be the best that we can expect from them in the short term. Maybe an under-the-table intelligence sharing agreement, perhaps a proxy-squadron or two similar to what Moscow gave us with the Chimaera, or possibly some financial and logistical backing… every little bit helps.

Heero was still playing out potential scenarios in his head when Wing Zero Albion's sensors lit up like a Christmas tree, and his full focus immediately snapped back to the current operation. His eyes narrowed as he studied the swarm of contacts that had just appeared at the edge of his display. Zooming in on the faint silhouettes approaching from the southern horizon, he resisted the urge to smile as he saw dozens of BABIs and DINNs on an intercept approach. Larger contacts were behind them; two Lesseps-class land battleships, three of the smaller Petrie-class land battleships, and one of the new model Compton-class land battleships. In short, it was just the kind of response that Heero had been looking for, with all the land warships present having been noted in the intel forward by Quatre.

Heero quickly contacted the Archangel, and Murrue appeared on the monitor a moment later. "They bit."

Murrue nodded as her brow furrowed. "Then keep them on the hook. We'll vector southwest and start reeling them in. Be careful."

"Roger that," Heero replied before ending the transmission.

Target lock alarms began ringing in Heero's cockpit as both mobile suits and land battleships alike began bracketing him. Increasing his speed and zigzagging across the sky, Heero readied the Twin Buster Rifle but did not open fire. If they wanted to keep their new allies in the Eurasian Federation on side, they couldn't fire first; while Moscow had helped shield them from ZAFT's prying eyes by taking out their observation satellites, they would draw the line at a blatant attack. Terminal had to goad ZAFT into initiating hostilities. Fortunately for all involved, Heero was more than accustomed to such delicate operations.

As the horizon soon filled with incoming missiles, cannon rounds and particle beams, Heero allowed himself the smallest of smirks. The enemy had taken the bait, which meant he was free to do what he did best. He took aim with the Twin Buster Rifle and unleashed hell. ZAFT's Operation: Angel Down was underway.

And so was Terminal's Operation: Angel's Defiance.

….

December 7th, C.E. 73

There was a tense silence in the briefing room of the Minerva as Talia waited for the last of the battleship's mobile suit pilots to file in. It was hard for her to blame her subordinates for being on edge; the official news regarding Operation: Angel Down had been dropped a couple of days ago, and they had every right to be nervous about it.

They're holding together remarkably well, all things considered, Talia mused, but this is very much the calm before the storm. The real test of their nerves will begin all too soon.

When everyone was seated, Talia turned to nod at Meyrin, who was standing behind her and to the left of the main monitor. The young woman pointed a remote at the screen and clicked a few buttons, and the slate of black flared to life. A map of Europe and the Mediterranean Sea appeared on the screen, and three sets of blinking dots appeared. The first was moving slowly through the Balkans and was made up of one orange dot being pursued by four green dots. The second and third sets were within the Mediterranean itself, with one southwest of Sicily and moving east while the other was just south of the Aegean and moving west. The western cluster consisted of five green dots which represented the Minerva and a quartet of Vosgulov-class carrier/submarines, while the eastern cluster of five green dots was another Vosgulov-class task force.

When Talia had first learned the details of the forces assigned to the operation, her feelings had been decidedly mixed. On the one hand, the warships assigned all had seasoned crews, a vital necessity given the nature of their opposition. However, since they were after no less than the Archangel and Dominion along with the Gundams, Talia had to wonder if the considerable resources assigned to her command for this mission would actually be enough. For going after any other pair of warships, this would be overkill, but this wasn't just any pair of warships by a long shot.

Durandal, I really hope you're not underestimating our foe here, she thought, I'm not usually one for the overwhelming numbers approach, but I wouldn't say no to additional assets in this case.

She took a deep breath to center herself before addressing the assembled pilots. "Thank you all for coming here. You've already been briefed on the operation itself, but we've received crucial updates from Major Dinev aboard the Compton-class land battleship Uhlenbeck regarding the target's trajectory and estimated time to contact. In light of that, I wanted to get you all back in here to provide the necessary information. The timetable's accelerated, and we're going to have our work cut out for us."

Rey leaned forward, his eyes narrowing as he studied the monitor. "Major Dinev's force is short two land ships. Lost or withdrawn due to damage?"

Talia sighed heavily. "The Petrie-class vessels Metternich and Talleyrand were destroyed by a counterattack from the Gundam Albion after they initiated pursuit and engagement. The remaining land battleships have taken moderate to severe damage, and the mobile suits belonging to the ground forces have suffered considerable casualties. Frankly, it's a miracle that they've been able to keep up the pursuit this long."

Heine nodded. "Their bravery will be remembered. What's the status of the target?"

"The Archangel appears to be relatively undamaged as of the last report," Talia replied.

Manuel's eyes narrowed. "Any sign of the Dominion?"

Talia shook her head. "I'm afraid not."

"That's not good," said Larissa.

"How the hell did a big-ass battleship just drop off the face of the Earth?" asked Emilian.

Larissa shot him a stern look. "Emilian, this is an official briefing; try to be professional, will you?"

Emilian sheepishly smiled. "Oh, sorry. Uhm, what I mean is, how did a ship as large and prominent as the Dominion disappear so completely?"

"Contact was initially lost with both vessels after the Eurasians targeted our observation satellites," Talia answered, "Frankly, we got lucky in reestablishing contact with the Archangel; we only found her because her course took her within the sensor range of patrols out of Diocuia. We have unfortunately not been so lucky when it comes to the Dominion."

"So, she could be anywhere," Kriyya murmured, "That's not good."

"How are we going to handle this?" asked Alvise, "It's an established fact that both the Archangel and Dominion are capable of undersea travel, so for all we know the latter could already be lurking beneath the surface of the Mediterranean."

"That's a distinct possibility," Talia admitted, "which is why the naval task force out of Diocuia is going to be hanging back to act as a reserve while we engage the Archangel. Once contact with the Dominion has been established, they will move to engage her."

"Not a bad move," Wufei remarked, "but in doing so, you're going to be halving the striking power that you'll have to use against the Archangel. Are you sure the risks are worth it?"

"We don't have much of a choice," Talia replied, "The goals of the operation are to neutralize both ships, so we have to allocate our forces accordingly."

"When do we expect to make contact?" Athrun asked with a note of apprehension.

"Sometime within the next 18 to 24 hours," Talia answered, "The Archangel isn't keeping a straight course; they've been trying to shake off our ground and air pursuit, though so far without success. Their efforts at evasion throw a considerable variable into the estimated time to engagement."

"The ground forces will probably have taken even more casualties by the time they drive the Archangel to the sea," Lunamaria remarked.

"A distinct possibility," Talia concurred, "All we can do is make their sacrifice count for something."

I say that when I don't even believe that this operation is worth the lives that have already been spent in its name, she mused bitterly, Durandal… how high of a price is ZAFT going to pay for this?

"The variable time to engagement and the lack of contact with the Dominion aside, our battle group's engagement plan hasn't changed, right?" asked Rey.

Talia shook her head. "Apart from those factors, no. When we're within range, we will send out a demand for our target's surrender. Should they oblige, we will send a crew to secure the Archangel and her mobile suits while taking the prisoners into custody. They will then be transported to Gibraltar for debriefing and confinement. If they do not surrender, we will then engage. Altron Custom will duel the Gundam Albion and keep it occupied, while Saviour does the same with the Freedom. The rest of you will coordinate with the pilots from the submarine/carriers and work to overwhelm the other mobile suits. Minerva will attempt to target the Archangel with our Tannhauser in order to neutralize her quickly. Failing that, we'll take her under bombardment while the submarine/carriers work to cut off all potential lines of retreat. If the Archangel dives, they'll hit her with massed torpedo salvos."

"What if the eastern force makes contact with the Dominion and engages her before we're able to do the same with the Archangel?" Heine inquired, "Will we redeploy to help them?"

"Depending on how far out we are from our own target, possibly," said Talia, "Engaging the battleships one at a time rather than together is certainly ideal, so if our two groups have a chance to converge on one, we will endeavor to do so. The same also goes if the situation is reversed; if the eastern group still has not found the Dominion as we draw near to engaging the Archangel, then they will move to back us up against our target."

Manuel nodded. "It's about as good a plan as we can get."

Larissa shook her head. "I don't know… there's an awful lot that can go wrong."

"We're all so spread out right now," Lunamaria noted, "It'll be hard for us to quickly converge all our forces on a single target."

"Each battle group will just have to be able to tough it out," Emilian remarked, "We've all been training for this, and the Chairman wouldn't have assigned us to this operation if he didn't think we couldn't handle it."

Wufei rolled his eyes. "You think you can just 'tough it out' against foes like these? You really have no idea what you're getting yourself into here."

"So you keep telling us," Alvise quipped with a glare, "I think we've got the picture by now."

"No one ever claimed this would be a cake walk," Kriyya chimed in, "but we're the ones who got the job, so all we can do now is knuckle down and see it through to the end."

All too true, Talia thought grimly, and all I can do is give the commands while hoping that I don't get everyone here killed.

….

December 8th, C.E. 73

It was barely past one in the morning and Marine Commander Giannis Palaiotis, leading the eastern battle group of ZAFT's Operation: Angel Down from the Vosgulov-class carrier/submarine Stommel knew that he really should be turning in soon. A short First Generation Coordinator in his late thirties, his dark brown hair already had more than a few flecks of gray in it, and he was fighting very hard to keep from rubbing his tired light blue eyes in front of the ship's bridge crew. It wouldn't do for their battle group's commanding officer to show signs of weariness or stress, yet both were very much eating away at him.

I need to call it a night soon, he silently told himself, although I doubt that'll really do me much good. Awfully hard to sleep, knowing who and what we're going up against.

It wasn't just the eastern battle group's leader feeling the strain of nerves and barely-concealed dread. The entire bridge crew of the Stommel was on edge, and Giannis had taken enough strolls through the ship to know that the rest those serving aboard her were similarly apprehensive. Reports from the Captains of the other five ships in the eastern battlegroup confirmed that anxiety pretty much permeated the task force. It was hard to blame them for being so nervous. After all, the targets that they were after had destroyed entire fleets; it was hard to have much confidence that a pair of naval battle groups and a single ground contingent would really be enough for this operation, regardless of how experienced the crews involved in the mission were. The presence of the battleship Minerva and some famous mercenary pilots in the western force might've convinced the Chairman otherwise, but Giannis remained pessimistic as to their chances.

"Anything popping up?" he asked the sensor officer, more in an effort to distract himself from his own thoughts than out of actually hoping for any new contacts.

The officer in question dutifully checked his screen before looking over his shoulder and shaking his head. "Nothing sir. Sorry."

Giannis smiled. "Nothing to apologize over. We'll find them when we find them, no sooner or later."

Left unspoken, of course, was Giannis's belief that it would be better not to find the target at all. He might've remained loyal to ZAFT throughout the First Bloody Valentine War, but he wasn't a fool; he knew damn well the war crimes that had been carried out by the military he served, and therefore he hadn't exactly shed tears when the Three Ships Alliance had taken up arms against both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance to end that horrific conflict. If anything, he'd been silently rooting for them, which was a big part of why Giannis was less than enthusiastic about his current mission.

Was it really necessary for ZAFT to engage those that had played such a decisive role in bringing the last conflict to an end? Yes, Giannis was well-aware of the fighting that had taken place at Gibraltar, but to his knowledge that was pretty much the sole extent of combat between ZAFT and the forces of the former Three Ships Alliance. It wasn't the Archangel, the Dominion or any of their mobiles suits that were waging war against the Coordinator people with the intent of wiping them out; it was the forces of the Earth Alliance. The Atlantic Federation was by far and away the biggest threat to the PLANTs, yet ZAFT was diverting vital strategic resources away from combatting them in the name of… what? Clearing an independent faction from the board? Was that really what all this was about?

"What a damn mess," he muttered under his breath.

Before any of his subordinates could inquire as to what he meant, there was a sudden 'thud' that came from above. Giannis and several of the bridge officers looked upwards in confusion. Nothing had shown up on sensors. Had they just struck a bit of flotsam that had somehow not been picked up by sonar?

Then Giannis saw a section of the ceiling begin to glow, first a dark shade of red before quickly growing brighter. The ZAFT officer's eyes widened in alarm as he realized what that meant, but it was already far too late to do anything about it. A shaft of violet light pierced through a mere split-second later, Giannis felt a brief flash of fiery pain…

…and then nothing at all.

….

Down to Davy Jones you go, thought Lan as she watched the two sections of the submarine/carrier that she'd just sliced in half slip into the dark abyss, and you won't be alone…

The Wraiths weren't exactly easy to maneuver underwater, but Lan and her comrades had tackled harder jobs before. At the very least, the fact that the three mobile suits were nuclear powered meant there was no worry of them burning through their energy reserves, so they'd been able to keep pace with their targets and perfectly angle for their attacks. Having come up behind the five Vosgulov-class vessels, the three Wraiths had gone for those that were at the center of ZAFT's broad formation, invisible and silent right up until the time to strike had come. Checking her sensors, Lan saw that Adaline and Priscilla had likewise executed their attacks perfectly, though that still left the two remaining targets out on the flanks.

Or it would've, if the Dominion and the Chimaera didn't have them covered.

The two warships had carefully positioned themselves to trail the enemy force in a manner that would place them in the submarines' blind spot; Vosgulov-class vessels ran quietly, but their own sensors had a hard time picking up noise directly behind them thanks to interference from the craft's engines. Natarle had taken full advantage of that, and the Dominion and Chimaera had fired off spreads of torpedoes that slammed home against their targets just as the Wraiths were pulling away from their own stricken victims. Lan felt her machine vibrate as the shockwaves from the last two submarines exploding washed over her, though thankfully the Wraith suffered no damage.

Deactivating her Mirage Colloid, Lan reached out to her comrades. "Looks like that's a wipe. Anyone pick up any transmissions from them?"

"Nothing on my end," Adaline replied as her Wraith became visible

"Same here," Priscilla chimed in once her machine materialized in the dark water, "Safe to say that we caught them with their pants down. They couldn't get off a single distress call."

Natarle's voice came over the radio a moment later. "Clean sweep, ladies. Good work. Get back to the ship immediately; we need to move quickly if we're to get into position in time for Phase Two."

"Copy that," the three pilots replied in unison.

….

If Talia had been on edge the day before, her prior anxiety had nothing on what she was feeling now. She maintained her cool and commanding presence on the surface, but within she was nothing short of a nervous wreck.

The entire eastern force just dropped off the map, Talia thought in a state close to panic as she replayed the report that she'd gotten that morning in her head over and over again, and we're still expected to proceed! We don't even know what happened to them… though I can hazard a guess.

When she'd first gotten the news, Talia had been utterly stunned. How could a force of five Vosgulov-class carrier/submarines and their mobile suits just vanish without a trace? Search teams had immediately been scrambled from Diocuia, and other naval units had vectored to scan the area as well, but the prospects were grim. No transmissions of any kind had been detected, and neither had any signals from the ships' automated beacons been picked up. Talia had immediately ruled out any sort of tragic accident. One vessel could possibly have suffered a catastrophic mechanical failure of some sort, but five all at once? Not a chance in hell. The more she thought about it, the more she became convinced that there was only one explanation; the eastern force had been ambushed.

Which meant that Operation: Angel Down had been compromised.

How, though? The two most obvious suspects were Athrun and Wufei, but Talia had put them under a very discreet watch ever since first learning of the operation and there had been no signs of foul play on their part. Their mobile suits had been monitored for any sort of outgoing transmissions, and nothing had been detected. Both pilots, despite their clear unease with the operation, had fully flung themselves into preparing for it and had been quite devoted in their training. Talia supposed that either of them could still have found some way to sneak out a message of some sort, but she had a hard time figuring out just how that would be possible.

No, the more she thought about it, the less convinced she became that the obvious suspects were the actual culprits here. There was another angle here, something she was missing, but for the life of her Talia could not puzzle out just what it was. Perhaps an investigation by the Surface Intelligence Bureau or the Fleet Intelligence Service would be able to piece together what had transpired, but that would have to wait for another time. The hour of reckoning was fast approaching, and Talia had much more immediate concerns to contend with.

She hadn't just been monitoring reports regarding the sudden and unexplained loss of the eastern naval task force assigned to Operation: Angel Down. Talia had been keenly following updates from the surface force, and what she'd heard had been strange to say the least. On the one hand, the loss of the Lesseps-class land battleship Castiglione with all hands courtesy of the Gundam Albion's fearsome rifle was certainly a heavy blow, and the mobile suit losses had been no less severe. However, the land force still had one Lesseps-class, one Petrie-class, and the new Compton-class land battleship intact, along with enough mobile suits to at least form a somewhat credible threat to the Archangel and the Gundams, if more on paper than in practice. Given Talia's experience with the Gundams, it was frankly a miracle that any of the ground force's heavy units were still on the field.

It's almost like they're holding back, Talia mused, I've seen the Gundam pilots wipe out entire battle groups with ease, yet half of a six-land battleship task force assigned to pursue them apparently can evade such destruction? I don't buy it. If Heero and his comrades were playing seriously, the entire ground force would've been annihilated already. Something else is happening here.

Checking the map on the main monitor, Talia's eyes narrowed as she judged the relative distances between the three sets of contacts on the display. The Archangel had taken a somewhat convoluted and winding course through the Balkans as if in an effort to shake off her pursuers along with navigating the difficult terrain, but the Uhlenbeck and her surviving compatriots had managed to keep up the chase. At the rate things were going, the white battleship would be at the coast within the next few hours. The Minerva and her battlegroup were racing to intercept before their prey could get far enough out to see where it would be safe to dive, and from what Talia could see it appeared as though her battleship and supporting vessels would be able to just barely make it in time. She already had her pilots on standby; they'd be ready to launch the moment she gave the command.

Supposedly, additional ZAFT vessels on patrol were being reassigned to support Talia's battle group in light of the eastern force's loss, but she highly doubted that any of them would arrive before the fireworks started. She hoped against hope that Durandal would see the light and call off Operation: Angel Down; the plan had surely been leaked, so surely the better move would be to withdraw, regroup, and try again another time, right? Of course, no such order to abort the mission had come, and with only hours left until engagement, Talia highly doubted that Durandal would change his mind now.

He's locked us in, she thought grimly, and the only way out now is to complete the mission…

… or simply try to survive it.

….

Dodging and weaving through a blizzard of particle beams and cannon rounds, Heero was greatly relieved when Murrue's voice came over his cockpit speakers bearing the news he'd been waiting for. "We've got visual on the sea up ahead."

"Then it's time we stopped playing around," Heero replied as he split the Twin Buster Rifle and began powering it up while addressing his comrades over the tactical channel, "All rearguard units, we've got a positive on blue. Time to take the gloves off. Wipe out the remaining mobile suits and then shift to vanguard deployment."

Not even waiting for an acknowledgement from the others, Heero pulled the trigger. Two pillars of deadly light ripped across the sky, with one obliterating a quartet of BABIs while the other slammed into the last of the surviving Petrie-class land battleships and turned it into a fireball on the horizon. Another river of golden-yellow hellfire tore forth from Heero's right, this one courtesy of the Vayeate Kai, with Dearka's shot melting two DINNs before reaching its true target; the ZAFT ground formation's sole remaining Lesseps-class land battleship. Like its brethren, it too went up in a spectacular explosion, leaving only the Compton-class land battleship on the field.

Not that it was in much condition to fight anymore. The Uhlenbeck had been taken under fire by Kira, and the Freedom's pilot was subjecting it to a punishingly precise bombardment. All of the land battleship's heavy guns had already been taken out, and now the stolen ZAFT prototype was stripping it clean of its CIWS and anti-air missile launchers. It was a rather embarrassing defeat for ZAFT's newest model land battleship, though in Heero's eyes the vessel's crew ought to have counted themselves fortunate; they were still alive, after all, and Wing Zero Albion's pilot didn't make a habit of preying upon targets that Kira had already disarmed.

"Sucks to be you guys!" Duo taunted over an open channel as he struck down one machine after another with broad swings of Deathscythe Omega's signature weapon, "The God of Death is off the leash now!"

"About time," Yzak growled as he picked off targets in rapid succession with the Mercurius Kai's beam rifle, "Playing the part of pinata was getting annoying."

"Why are you complaining?" asked Dearka while pummeling a BABI with a precise salvo from the Vayeate Kai's hip-mounted rail cannons, "You can tank all their fire on your shield."

"Doesn't mean I like it," Yzak shot back.

"Cut the chatter and focus," Heero chided his colleagues while shredding a DINN with his Gundam's machine cannons, "We need to wrap this up quickly."

It didn't take long to mop up the rest; the mobile suits of ZAFT's ground force had been steadily worn down through attrition over the past few days of pursuit, and their pilots' morale was undoubtedly suffering thanks to the losses that Heero and his friends had inflicted upon them. Bringing the two halves of the Twin Buster Rifle back together, Heero let off one final shot with the weapon and swept its beam across the sky, accounting for the final operable machines that hadn't already been disarmed by Kira. Seeing that the only units left on the field were a few disabled BABIs making a beeline for the equally defanged Compton-class land battleship, Heero knew it was time to move on to the next phase of Operation: Angel's Defiance.

Leading the others to take up new positions ahead of the Archangel, Heero reached out to Duo on a private channel. "Go dark now."

"Copy that," the L2 native replied, "Our agreement still stands?"

Heero nodded. "It does. You'll have to work quickly, though."

"I know," said Duo as Deathscythe Omega vanished from view, "Leave it to me."

Heero immediately shifted over to another channel and contacted the Vayeate Kai. "Dearka, soon as we pick up the enemy contact, submerge. Cagalli will need your support until the enemy's submersible mobile suit numbers are thinned out."

"All I've got for underwater combat are the railguns," Dearka pointed out, "My big mean beam cannon's going to be useless."

"I know it's not ideal," said Heero, "but we don't have much of a choice here. We'll need both Yzak and Kira airborne, I'll have to deal with Wufei, the Murasames will be guarding the Archangel, Shinn's in the Skygrasper and so he can't fight underwater, and Duo has his own targets to go after. Until the others show up, you and Cagalli are the best we got for undersea combat."

Dearka sighed. "Shit, I don't like this."

Heero shook his head. "Neither do I, but it's the only play we've got."

"Copy that," Dearka reluctantly concurred.

….

Talia had the arms of her command chair in practically a death grip as her eyes were glued to the tactical display. She had hoped that the ground force would be able to send its mobile suits out to harass the Archangel and her mobile suits from the rear while Talia's battlegroup attacked from the front and the flanks, but that was no longer an option; the last report had the surface team's units either destroyed or disabled. Between those casualties and the loss of the eastern battlegroup, Talia's force truly was on its own now. Yes, reinforcements were confirmed to be on the way, but contact with the target was mere seconds away now, and Talia had her doubts as to whether or not any meaningful backup would arrive in time.

We'll at least have the numerical advantage, she told herself, and we can dominate the underwater game here. If the Archangel dives, we can overwhelm her with the amphibious mobile suits from the submarines. Even if she stays on the surface, both the GOOhN and ASH models can attack her from beneath, maybe even disable her engines. Terminal hasn't shown that they have any underwater mobile suits in their arsenal; that's a weakness we have to exploit if we're going to win here.

Even with her considerable advantages in mind, though, Talia remained wary. The Archangel had been attacked by underwater mobile suits in the last war and had not only survived the encounter but had destroyed her attackers thanks to the creative use of the Strike. The original Strike might no longer be an active machine, but Terminal had shown that they possessed an upgraded version of it. Based on what had taken place during the engagement at the Dardanelles, though, that machine was believed to be the personal unit of none other than Cagalli Yula Athha. Talia had a hard time imagining that Terminal would place Orb's Chief Representative in-exile in even greater risk by having her fight underwater.

Of much greater concern than the potential of the Strike Rouge engaging ZAFT's underwater units was the continued absence of the Dominion and her mobile suits. Still no trace of the black battleship had been picked up, and Talia didn't like that one bit. Making matters worse was the fact that three of the mobile suits she carried were stealth units; the Wraiths were ideal for launching sneak attacks, and Terminal had already demonstrated great skill in using them in just that capacity during this war. If they were in a position to take part in this battle, Talia wouldn't know it until it was already too late.

You've done all you can to prepare, she thought, I can only roll the dice now…

Her pilots were ready, at least. All those with full atmospheric-flight capable mobile suits were airborne, while Lunamaria and Emilian had taken up positions on top of the Minerva to augment the battleship's anti-air firepower. Teams of BABIs had taken off from three of the Vosgulov-class submarine/carriers, while GOOhN and ASH units were deployed beneath the waves. As for the airborne units that had deployed from the fourth submarine, those were a much more eclectic mix.

Two of them were familiar. One was a standard GOUF Ignited, though the color scheme was unique; grey base with black trim, and the symbol of a crimson hound biting its chain was painted on the unit's right shoulder. This one, of course, was the unit being piloted by none other than Galm Team's famous flight lead, Cipher. Talia had never worked with the mercenary personally before now and couldn't say that she knew him in any real capacity, but the man's flight record more than spoke for itself. Given the nature of the opposition ZAFT would be facing today, she was more than happy to have a pilot of his caliber on board. A standard GOUF Ignited almost seemed like it'd be beneath a mercenary of Cipher's skill, and Talia wondered what had become of the powerful prototype that he'd supposedly been using during the final battle of the First Bloody Valentine War.

As for the second familiar machine, it was a modified GOUF unit painted in a mix of light grays, though its right arm was red. The unit's official designation was the ZGMF-2000XH GOUF Bombardier. The concept behind it was simple enough; use the GOUF Ignited's frame to create a flying unit packing heavier firepower than the original model while sacrificing some of the unit's mobility and versatility. It retained the shield and Draupnir 4-barrel beam guns from the original model, though the Slayer Whip Heat Rods had been removed to lighten the unit, and the Draupnirs were meant more as emergency close-in weapons. The Tempest Beam Sword had also been removed from the unit's shield, again as a means of lightening the mobile suit as much as possible. All of these weight saving measures were taken to compensate for the fact that the GOUF Bombardier was equipped with the same M1500 Orthros High Energy Long-Range Beam Cannon that was normally utilized by the Gunner ZAKU Warrior, and that also included the heavy weapon's dedicated large capacity energy tank. Galm Two's preference for heavy long-range weapons was well-known, but Talia had never imagined that a new mainline unit would have a modification designed with him specifically in mind.

That extra firepower will certainly be welcome against the Archangel, Talia mused, though I have to wonder just how much good it will be against the likes of the Gundam pilots. Weapons like those are pretty easy for mobile suits utilized by highly skilled pilots to evade, after all. Then again, a mercenary as seasoned as Pixy is would surely know all of this, so it's not my place to question his choice of armaments.

Funnily enough, Galm Team's machines were probably the least unusual of the units that the mercenaries had brought to the field. Much more unusual in Talia's eyes was the abandoned ZAFT prototype being used by Maverick Security Consulting's ace. Granted, Talia had seen a mobile suit similar to the Raijin before; she vividly remembered the Eurasian Federation unit that had dueled the Gundam Albion during the chaotic clash at the Dardanelles. That unit had likewise emphasized speed and maneuverability, but it had also provided its pilot with both close and long-range weapons. The Raijin, by contrast, was built purely for high-speed close-quarters combat. That would be an asset in today's battle against the Gundam pilots, and what little Talia had read about the blue machine's pilot, it sounded like Jack would be a perfect match for the opposition.

The award for 'strangest unit on the field' did not go to the Raijin, though. From Talia's point of view, it went to the fourth and final mercenary machine that had launched from the Nansen. Piloted by the woman Talia knew only as Frost Druid, the prototype developed by Harkema Advanced Industries was unlike any other mobile suit that she had seen before. The designers seemed to have embraced the idea of good things coming in small packages, for the unit was one of the shortest and most compact mobile suits that Talia could've imagined. While units like the Raijin or the Eurasian Federation prototype had sleek and graceful looks, the orange and black frame of the ZGMF SP-34RX looked more like a squat barrel with a head, arms and legs poking out of it. A pair of heavy main thrusters dominated the unit's back, while several smaller maneuvering jets lined both 'rims' of the cylindrical torso. The whole setup looked downright comical, especially in flight; it was like someone had just bolted rockets to a slightly chunky dwarf and then chucked them into the air.

If they had beauty pageants for mobile suits, Talia thought, then this thing would definitely place dead last. Then again, when it comes to military hardware, function should always win out over form.

Having gone over the file that had been provided to her by Harkema Advanced Industries in preparation for the operation, Talia could safely say that the SP-34RX, or 'Spear' as its designers had nicknamed it, perfectly embodied its function. The unit was designated as a fast assault mobile suit, and it had the armament to match that designation. Its right arm didn't end in the traditional hand that one would expect to find on a mobile suit, but instead had the barrel of what could only be described as a massive shotgun poking out of it. Officially designated as the CGP or Canister Gun Pod, the weapon was designed to let fly with bursts of superheated metal flechettes that could supposedly tear conventional mobile suits to ribbons and even overwhelm units protected by Phase Shift Armor. Whether those flechettes would work against units protected by the strange armor used by the Gundam Albion and its brethren was something that the files had not specified, though, and Talia could only hope that the rest of the Spear's arsenal could pick up the slack should the cannister gun pod fail.

Thankfully, rest of the Spear's weaponry was quite formidable. In its left hand, the unit held an SRG-X1, which was basically a powerful railgun designed to act as a sniper rifle. Built into the unit's chest were a pair of MMI-M960 'Cerastes' Gatling Beam Cannons, miniaturized versions of the more powerful MMI-M826 'Hydra Gatling Beam Cannons seen on the EX-K Slash Wizard packs that were designed for ZAFT's ZAKU Warrior and ZAKU Phantom mobile suits. Rounding out the armaments were a pair of MMI-GAU2 'Picus' 76mm CIWS mounted on the unit's head.

The railgun's effectiveness will be nullified by the armor of the Gundams, Talia thought, but it should still be useful in knocking out some of the weapons aboard the Archangel. The pilot will have to rely on the unit's speed to get in close and hammer the Gundams with the beam gatlings in order to do real damage. I hope that this 'Frost Druid' is as good as Harkema claims she is.

"We have the target in sensor and extreme visual range," Arthur announced as he looked expectantly at Talia, "Your orders, Captain?"

"Establish a line of communications and route it to my station," Talia commanded, "Open channel. We'll give them a chance to come quietly."

A few seconds later, Arthur gave her the confirmation she wanted. "You're live, Captain."

Please, let this work. I do not want this fight.

"To the rogue battleship Archangel," she began, "this is Captain Talia Gladys of the ZAFT warship Minerva. I am in command of a task force that has been ordered to hunt you down and end your interference in this war. This confrontation does not have to end in bloodshed. Surrender now, and you will be taken into custody and brought to Gibraltar. On the honor of ZAFT, I pledge that you will all be treated humanely and kept in comfort until the conclusion of this war, at which time you will be released to the country of your choosing. If you do not signal your surrender, then we will be forced to engage you."

The main bridge monitor flashed, and a strikingly familiar face appeared on it a moment later. A woman with long brown hair and deep brown eyes, one that Talia recognized from her ship's visit to Orb before the Second Bloody Valentine War had begun. Back then, the woman had worn the attire of a Morgenroete employee, and she had introduced herself at the time as Maria Bernes…

…but that wasn't how she introduced herself now.

"This is Captain Murrue Ramius, commanding officer of the battleship Archangel," Talia's soon-to-be adversary replied with a tone of grim resolve, "To the battleship Minerva and all those that accompany her, I offer you this one warning; withdraw now, and no further lives need be lost today. If you fail to do so, then you and your Chairman only have yourselves to blame for what will follow."

Talia grimaced; she most certainly did blame Durandal for what was about to happen here, but of course, she could hardly say so in front of her crew. "I have my orders, Captain Ramius. I would much rather take you and your compatriots in quietly and calmly, especially out of respect for your accomplishments in both this war and the last. That being said, if it must come to a fight, then we are prepared for one."

Murrue nodded, her firm gaze never wavering. "As are we."

A tense silence filled the bridge for a moment before Talia spoke again. "Captain Ramius… if we do this, a lot of good people on both sides are going to die here today. I would much rather avoid that, and I can't believe that I'm alone in such a desire."

"You're not," Murrue confirmed, "which is why my offer to allow your withdrawal still stands. It's not too late for you to take it."

Oh, how tempted Talia was to do just that. To say 'screw this' to Durandal's mission and hightail it back to Gibraltar. Sure, she'd be in for court martial and dishonorable discharge at the very least, but she and her crew would still be alive. Of course, once she was removed from command, either Arthur would take her place or some new naval officer would be transferred to the Minerva. The former wasn't a bad prospect as far as Talia was concerned; in her eyes, Arthur had command potential, though he would need to grow into the role. A new commander altogether, though, wouldn't have the same sort of connection that Talia and Arthur did with the battleship's crew… and would likely be far more willing to spend their lives in an ill-advised engagement ordered by the Chairman.

No, there was no running from this, regardless of how much Talia wanted to. She was an officer of ZAFT, one who took her duty seriously. She had orders from the Supreme Council Chairman himself, and those were inviolable. Talia had her mission, and she had no choice but to carry it out to the best of her ability.

"I'm sorry, Captain Ramius," Talia said, with the sincerity of that apology surprising even herself, "but I'm afraid I can't do that."

Murrue let out a heavy exhalation. "So be it, then."

The Captain of the Archangel disappeared from the screen, her image replaced by that of the white battleship itself gradually drawing near. Talia leaned forward in her seat, straining to make out the mobile suits flying ahead and above the warship.

"Get counts and IDs on those machines!" she ordered, "Prime the Tannhauser; as soon as we've got a shot lined up on the Archangel, we're taking it."

Talia was all too keenly aware of the firepower that she was up against. She had seen for herself the incredible might of the new cannon mounted on the Archangel when it had helped to demolish the falling remains of Junius Seven, and Talia had no desire for the Minerva to suffer the same fate. If this really was going to be a fight, then she needed to get the first shot off against her target. It was the only way that she could give her subordinates a chance at survival, and even that wasn't guaranteed.

She saw the main monitor light up as the units flying over the Archangel were identified. The Freedom was present, as were the two Murasames and the Skygrasper. The latter had the old Strike's Aile Pack equipped, and a sinking feeling in Talia's gut told her that Shinn was still the pilot. She could also see the red mobile suit that had the shield drones, and that alone would be a tough nut for her pilots to crack. Reports coming in from the underwater mobile suits indicated that both the Strike Rouge and the blue unit with the heavy beam cannon were operating beneath the Archangel, and the former had the Sword Pack equipped. The latter's main weapon would be useless underwater, so Talia could only assume that its pilot intended to use the machine's railguns instead.

A chill went down her spine as she realized that some very important mobile suits were missing; the Gundams. Prior reports from the land battlegroup had indicated that both the Albion and Deathscythe Omega were operating from the Archangel, and neither were visible right now. Sandrock Saladin and Heavyarms Arsenal were likely operating from the Dominion, and Talia had no idea when they would show themselves. They weren't important right now; Heero and Duo were the main concern at the moment, and both of them were nowhere to be found.

"Captain, the Tannhauser is primed!" Arthur announced.

"Do we have a firing solution locked in?" she asked.

Before Arthur could answer, a massive and violent explosion ravaged the front of the Minerva and shook the battleship to her core. Arthur was flung off his feet, and Talia was nearly thrown out of her chair. The rest of the bridge crew was similarly rattled, with several of them practically sprawling over their consoles before frantically attempting to regain their seats.

"What was that?" Arthur asked in bewilderment.

"The Tannhauser!" another member of the bridge crew called out, "It's been completely destroyed!"

Talia's eyes widened in utter disbelief. "What?"

Arthur's face turned as pale as a ghost as he pointed at the main monitor. "Captain, look!"

Talia did so, and her blood turned to ice. The air just above the bow of the Minerva had a single crescent of emerald energy floating over it. Then the air itself shimmered, and the mechanical Grim Reaper holding that beam scythe appeared.

And the bad news didn't end there.

"Energy spike, high altitude!" cried out the sensor officer, "It's directly above us!"

Before Talia could react, twin pillars of golden-yellow hellfire lanced down through the clouds above. Each blast went straight through the heart of a BABI formation that had yet to properly scatter, and six mobile suits were lost in the blink of an eye. Talia didn't need the sensor operator's subsequent report to know what the source was.

All the pieces now fell into place. Not only had the plan for Operation: Angel Down somehow leaked to Terminal, but they'd come up with a counter. The slow whittling down of the ground task force while keeping it on their tail, the disappearance of the eastern battlegroup; it had all been part of their plan. ZAFT was supposed to be the hunters here…

…but Talia now knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that she and her comrades were very much the prey.

….

Lunamaria had barely been able to keep her Gunner ZAKU Warrior upright as the Minerva was rocked by the destruction of its most powerful weapon, and she had only just managed to stabilize her machine when a shadow fell over it. Her only warning as to what was about to befall her was a single word over an open channel from Duo.

"Sorry."

Lunamaria tried to draw a bead on Deathscythe Omega, but the Gunner ZAKU Warrior wasn't designed to engage quick targets at close range. There was simply no way that she could bring her unit's heavy gun to bear in time, and as the God of Death rushed past her a wide swing from his beam scythe literally cut the legs out from under Lunamaria's machine. The only thing that stopped her mobile suit from falling into the ocean was a timely save from Emilian, who positioned his Blaze ZAKU Phantom to act as a backstop for her. Her unit hitting his rocked both machines, but Lunamaria's fellow ZAFT Red somehow managed to keep both of them from plunging into the drink.

"You okay?" the young man asked as he helped settle the red ZAKU on its back.

"I think so," Lunamaria groaned as soreness from the impact washed over her back and shoulders, "Thanks for the catch."

"Don't mention it!" Emilian replied, "That's what comrades are for, right?"

Lunamaria was about to answer when a second explosion rocked the Minerva and the mobile suits atop her. It wasn't as violent of a blast as the one that had ensued when the Tannhauser had been destroyed, but it was nothing to sneeze at, either. Another one followed just a few seconds later, and Lunamaria was only barely able to see the source from her limited vantage point; in the time it had taken Emilian to save her and lay her mobile suit in a somewhat stable position, Duo had taken out both of the battleship's Tristan Dual Beam Cannons. He probably would've gone for additional armaments, but he was forced away by combined fire from Manuel, Larissa and Kriyya's GOUF Igniteds. Unfortunately, the efforts of the three ZAFT Reds had come too late.

The Minerva just lost her three most powerful weapons, Lunamaria thought bitterly, and I couldn't do a damn thing to stop it.

That bitterness was tinged with relief, though. Duo had been given a perfect opportunity to kill her, but instead he'd opted to simply render her mobile suit immobile. He'd clearly been holding back, and the same went for his attack on the Minerva. Duo had only gone for the battleship's heaviest weaponry; the vessel herself was still intact, albeit in a significantly defanged capacity.

"Get him, guys!" Emilian shouted as he fired off a volley from his beam rifle while also letting loose a swarm of missiles from his Blaze Wizard Pack's launchers.

Lunamaria shook her head. Duo was already pulling back towards the Archangel, which meant he'd be within range of supporting fire from his comrades soon enough. If the other ZAFT Reds continued to pursue him, they'd run into a wall of lead and particle beams.

Turning her gaze skywards, Lunamaria saw Altron Custom rapidly gaining altitude. There was only target Wufei could be going for; Heero. She was momentarily baffled as to how he had made those two earlier shots through thick cloud cover, but she quickly realized that Duo must've been feeding him targeting data earlier. Deathscythe Omega was good for more than just surprise attacks; it was a perfect spotting unit.

"Want me to get you down to the hangar?" asked Emilian as he popped off a few more shots.

"No," said Lunamaria, "It'll take too long for the crews to swap out my mobile suit's legs. I can prop myself up here and provide fire support. Least I'll be of some use that way."

As she worked to sit her ZAKU upright and tried to figure out who to take a shot at, she glanced at her sensors and tried to find Wufei again. He was already out of visual range, having vanished into the clouds above. Lunamaria could only imagine the duel that was about to take place.

"Be careful, Wufei," she whispered, "Don't you dare die up there."

….

"Ow…" Meyrin muttered as she rubbed her forehead while trying to regain her wits.

The powerful blast that had shaken the Minerva upon the destruction of the Tannhauser hadn't been particularly kind to Meyrin; she'd been thrown forward with such force that she'd clonked her head against her console. Fortunately, she could see no signs of blood, and while the bump she felt on her head was concerning it wasn't enough to keep her from doing her duty as the battleship's mobile suit combat flight controller.

She would have plenty to do in that regard, though some of the ship's pilots had already begun acting without her prompting. Most obvious was the case of Wufei, though his target had already been designated before the battle had even begun, so it was no surprise that he'd made a beeline for Heero as soon as the Gundam Albion had revealed itself with that opening shot. Athrun was likewise moving to engage his target, with the Freedom rushing in to meet him halfway. It was the rest of the battleship's mobile suits that Meyrin needed to concern herself with now, but before she could begin issuing instructions the ship's sensor operator threw a wrench into things.

"Two new contacts coming in from the rear!" the officer shouted, "Identified as Terminal mobile suits, and fast ones!"

"Onscreen!" Talia barked.

Meyrin watched as the image on the main monitor shifted and revealed two mobile suits that she'd definitely seen before. One was a white and blue machine that intercepted signals had called the Tallgeese Kai, and it was known to be piloted by the famous ace Mu La Flaga. Meyrin didn't know the name of the crimson mechanical devil that flew with it, but she did know who was believed to be piloting it; none other than Shemei Rehema, the Valkyrie herself.

"Shit!" Talia hissed before turning Meyrin's way, "Vector an intercept!"

Meyrin was way ahead of her, already reaching out to three of the mercenaries that had been assigned to support the operation. "Galm Team, Frost Druid, this is the Minerva with new orders; intercept and engage the two targets coming from our six o'clock!"

"Copy that," the three mercs replied in unison.

Seeing on her display that the trio were already moving in accordance with the new instructions, Meyrin turned her attention back to the units that were operating from the Minerva. "Heine, Rey, take the other GOUFs in and draw out the remaining units defending the Archangel. Don't engage one-on-one; take them on as a team, just like we planned!"

"Moving to engage," Heine reported.

"Copy," said Rey.

The other Gundams haven't arrived yet, thought Meyrin as she watched the various mobile suits move to engage each other, Heavyarms Arsenal and Sandrock Saladin aren't as fast as the Tallgeese Kai and that red unit that just showed up, but they're probably not too far behind. No sign of the Wraiths, but they're stealth units; they could be right on top of us and we'd have no idea until it's too late.

In the midst of her work, Meyrin took a moment to check up on her older sister. Lunamaria's crimson Gunner ZAKU Warrior remained immobile atop the Minerva, situating itself to augment the battleship's anti-air firepower. Satisfied that Lunamaria was as safe as she could get under the circumstances, Meyrin then sought out the mobile suit that had crippled hers in the first place. Meyrin had to resist the urge to smile when she found Gundam Deathscythe Omega; none of her comrades might've realized it at the moment, but Duo's sneak attack earlier was the only reason why they were all still alive right now. With the way that the Gundam Albion had managed to position itself for a high-altitude opening shot without ZAFT being any the wiser, it was clear that Heero could've ended the battleship without its crew or accompanying mobile suits being able to do a damn thing about it. Duo had obviously provided the targeting data for his earlier twin shots, and he could've just as easily done so had Heero decided to target the Minerva instead. However, Duo had gone for the battleship himself, disabling its most powerful guns and crippling Lunamaria's mobile suit rather than outright destroying it.

To Meyrin, the reason behind such a move was clear; Duo had sought to remove both Lunamaria and the Minerva from the fight without killing anyone. Granted, he'd only been partially successful. Lunamaria could still shoot, and not all of the battleship's weapons had been taken out. However, the threat posed by both was significantly reduced, which likely meant that Heero wouldn't take a personal interest in targeting them. Meyrin's chest warmed at the realization; even if Duo didn't return her more romantic affections, he still cared about her as a friend.

You did this to save me, she thought as she watched Deathscythe Omega zigzag between volleys of particle beams flying from three GOUF Igniteds, didn't you? Duo… thank you.

They still had a bloody battle to get through, and plenty could still go wrong, but Meyrin would count herself lucky. Duo had given her and the others aboard the Minerva a chance at survival. She could only hope that it wouldn't go to waste.

….

Immediately after unleashing his opening salvo, Heero rejoined the two halves of the Twin Buster Rifle before putting the weapon away and igniting both of his Gundam's beam sabers. As much as he would've preferred to continue raining down death from on high against ZAFT's task force courtesy of targeting data from Duo, that wasn't going to be how the rest of the battle played out. Heero knew exactly who would be coming for him now that he'd revealed his position, just as he knew that he wouldn't have to wait very long for their rematch to commence.

Start "Battlefield"

Mere seconds after his twin verdant energy blades had been activated, Altron Custom burst through the clouds, its double-ended beam trident blazing. Gunning his thrusters, Heero rapidly closed the distance with Wufei, and flashes of light soon filled the sky as the two Gundams clashed.

"You're all in, aren't you?" Heero asked as he kicked things off with a fierce offensive, weaving a series of deadly arcs with his beam sabers, "The Chairman's got his leash around your neck now."

"Hardly," Wufei quipped as he deflected each of Heero's strikes before countering with a whirling slash followed by a series of quick thrusts that the L1 native expertly fended off, "I'm not after the Archangel or any of the others. I'm here for you alone. If any of ZAFT's pilots interfere, they won't live long enough to regret that mistake."

Slamming his engines in reverse and crossing his blades in front of him to catch a downward swing from his adversary, Heero shook his head. "You miss the point. The Chairman almost certainly wanted you onside to deal with me alone and free up the rest of his forces. You can pretend that you're still acting of your own accord, but if you'd just take a step back and open your damn eyes, you'd see that you're dancing to his tune. I expected better of you, Wufei."

"I'm not obligated to act according to anyone's expectations but my own!" Wufei shot back as he swung his polearm around to strike at Heero with the trident on the opposite end, only for Wing Zero Albion's pilot to intercept the blow with his left blade before he lunged at the L5 native with his right and forced his adversary back onto the defensive.

"Is that so?" Heero asked as he pressed his assault, unleashing a sequence of swift diagonal slashes, "Then you only compound my disappointment. Of all us Gundam pilots, I always believed that you were the one who held himself to the highest of standards. Look at you now, though; willingly lowering yourself to be Durandal's attack dog just so you can feed your own ego by fighting me. It's pathetic. Did you learn nothing from our experience with the likes of Treize?"

"Don't you dare say his name in front of me!" Wufei snapped as he deftly parried Heero's strikes before countering with a vicious whirlwind of blows, "You have no right to speak his name, not when you are the one who ushered in the era that made a mockery of everything he tried to get mankind to see!"

"The peace we forged came about in large part from Treize and Zechs's manipulations," Heero countered as his twin blade flashed in front of him in a frantic effort to deflect Wufei's attacks, "You know the truth just as well as I do; they set up that final battle to show mankind the ultimate futility of war! All I did was destroy the remnants of Libra that posed a threat to Earth. Our collective actions in that final battle were just the last footnote in the war. The peace that stemmed from that was what Treize wanted, Wufei!"

"Not a peace that completely discarded those who fought so hard to achieve it!" Wufei shot back as he intensified his onslaught and drove Heero back across the sky, "Those that found meaning in the struggle were cast aside by the new world order. They've been forgotten, left to rot in the shadows. The people who owe that very peace to their sacrifices care nothing for them!"

Heero shook his head while his left blade caught a thrust from Wufei's weapon before he countered with a stab from his right blade that forced Altron Custom to momentarily back off. "That's not true, and you know it. I didn't stick around long after the war ended, but I know that programs were instituted to help former soldiers from all sides find help, new careers and counseling. They weren't forgotten."

"You haven't seen what's happened since then!" Wufei barked as he let fly with his Dragon Fangs, compelling Heero to evade before retaliating with a salvo from Wing Zero Albion's railguns that glanced off of the heads of Wufei's extending weapons, "While you were out here on your new battlefield, others who only knew war were not so fortunate. They are lost, with no purpose in the new world. New jobs or counseling programs aren't enough for those of us who found meaning on the battlefield, whose lives were defined by it!"

"Our fellow Gundam pilots would beg to differ," Heero pointed out as the two Gundams circled each other, jockeying for an advantageous position before their energy blades would clash again, "Duo, Trowa and Quatre were all able to move on. You can too, Wufei. It's not too late."

"Easy for you to say," Wufei sneered as he charged in and kicked off the next round with a lunging thrust that Heero had to block with both of his beam sabers, "This world still lets you be who you really are! After this war is over, there will still be armies, navies, and air forces. There will still be soldiers who have a place, who have value and meaning!"

Heero's eyes narrowed as he deflected a sequence of whirling slashes from his opponent. "Is that what Durandal's promised you, Wufei? A place in his new world order, one where a warrior like yourself will constantly have purpose? Was that all it took for you to throw away your ideas of justice, to cast aside your very senses?"

"Enough of this!" Wufei snarled as Heero redirected a thrust from his beam trident and struck back with a lightning-fast series of attacks, "Neither of us are going to sway the other with words, and we both know it. Our skills will do the talking from now on."

Another man might've taken some satisfaction in the fact that Wufei hadn't tried to counter his earlier point, but not Heero. All he could see was an old friend slipping further and further into the abyss, falling slowly under the insidious influence of what was perhaps the Cosmic Era's deadliest politician.

And he had no idea how to pull him back from the brink.

End "Battlefield"

….

Athrun's jaw was clenched tightly as he closed the distance with Kira, beam saber already drawn. He had no intention of fighting his friend for real, but at the same time he couldn't just throw the engagement. If ZAFT suspected him of coordinating with Kira in any way, then he'd likely be detained at the very least.

Yet he needed Kira to take him down quickly and convincingly. The arrival of the Epyon Revenant and Tallgeese Kai made it clear that the Dominion had somehow already dealt with ZAFT's eastern naval battle group assigned to Operation: Angel Down, and Athrun had no doubt that other mobile suits from the black battleship were inbound, yet ZAFT still held a numerical advantage that they could use to overwhelm the defenders of the Archangel. Kira's talents would be needed to help hold the line until additional help from the Dominion arrived, which meant that Athrun couldn't keep his old friend locked in a duel with him for too long.

Kira will hold back against me, he thought as he weaved through an opening volley from the Freedom's artillery before reaching beam saber range and crossing blades with his friend, I need him to go all out… without getting me killed.

As the two mobile suits exchanged blows, an idea flashed through Athrun's mind. ZAFT didn't seem to have caught onto how he'd communicated with Kira during the battle in Berlin, otherwise Athrun almost certainly would've been pulled aside by Heine and Rey before now; those two were pretty much Chairman Durandal's eyes and ears aboard the Minerva, after all. Would the same trick work again? It would be a gamble, but as sparks flew from the repeated clashing of the Saviour and Freedom's beam sabers, Athrun realized that he didn't have much of a choice.

So, he took aim with his CIWS and rolled the dice.

….

Athrun, thought Kira as his beam saber met that of his old friend once again, just what are you doing here? Is this for real, or do you have a plan?

Images of his near fatal clash with Athrun during the last war flashed through his mind. Above all else, Kira wanted to avoid a repeat of that bloody history. Their lives had been saved only by chance the first time around. There was no guarantee that Lady Luck would favor either of them again should this prove to be round two.

Was Athrun serious about this fight, or was there an ulterior motive? It was so hard to tell. Between the fierce beam saber strikes and the precise volleys from the Saviour's various weapons, it certainly looked like Athrun was playing for keeps, yet a voice in the back of Kira's mind kept insisting that something was off here. He'd been on the receiving end of Athrun 'playing for keeps' in the past, and this didn't quite feel like that. Athrun was fighting aggressively, yes, but the sheer viciousness that he'd displayed during the gruesome clash two years ago was absent. He was fighting hard, but not quite as hard as Kira knew he could.

After a series of saber strikes and blocks, the two machines pulled back and shifted over to their ranged weapons. Particle beams flew forth from the Saviour, while Kira replied in kind with the Freedom's railguns, plasma cannons and beam rifle. Both combatants either evaded the shots outright or blocked them on their shields; neither took any damaging hits. It was truly a duel of aces, a potentially lethal dance should the wrong step be taken by either party.

It was also a duel that Kira had no time for. The combination of Duo's sneak attack on the Minerva and Heero's high-altitude opening salvo had bought Terminal a bit of breathing room, but ZAFT was swiftly regrouping. The timely arrival of Shemei and La Flaga had drawn away both the Galm Team and the strange orange and black prototype, but the fourth mercenary unit had gone forward rather than back and was now engaged in a fast-paced duel with Deathscythe Omega. Duo seemed to have that threat contained for the moment, with wide swings of his beam scythe keeping the twin swords of the blue machine at bay. Nevertheless, his foe was a formidable one, possessing the deadly combination of clear skill and an agile machine. Deathscythe Omega was a potent melee fighter, but Kira knew that Duo's Gundam wasn't designed for duels. He could only hope that the God of Death's experience and skill would be enough to make up for that deficiency.

Of much greater concern to Kira than Duo's clash with whoever the fourth mercenary might be was the rest of the units that ZAFT was vectoring towards his friends. The Impulse and no less than five GOUF Igniteds, not to mention the remaining BABIS that had been launched from the submarine/carriers, were all moving in on an Archangel that was defended in the air by only the Mercurius Kai, two Murasames, and a Skygrasper equipped with the Aile Pack. Granted, they would have support from the white battleship's formidable array of anti-air weapons, but Kira knew full-well that CIWS, missiles and other such armaments could only do so much against swift machines flown by experienced pilots, even with the considerable upgrades to their targeting software that had been made both during the last war and in the years following its conclusion. They would need help, and they would need it quickly.

That wasn't even getting into the herculean struggle that Cagalli and Dearka would be facing beneath the waves. ZAFT's underwater mobile suits would not only have them outnumbered but would be operating in an environment where they very much had the advantage in maneuverability and firepower as well. If things were going to plan, then help from the Dominion should be incoming on that front as well, but Kira didn't know when those precious reinforcements would be making their entrance in the underwater fight. The quicker things got wrapped up topside, the quicker that Kira could potentially help out in the aquatic arena. Sure, the Freedom wasn't designed for that kind of fight, but its railguns could serve adequately enough.

His most immediate concern was still Athrun, though, and Kira remained stumped as to how to deal with him. As he evaded a fresh round of particle beams from the Saviour, Kira then noticed something curious; mixed within those volleys were bursts of fire from his CIWS. Kira's mind immediately flashed back to what Athrun had done at the Berlin battle. Was his old friend trying the same thing again here? Focusing on the timing of the bursts and the bullets pinging off the Freedom's Phase Shift Armor, Kira quickly picked up on a pattern. Sure enough, it was Morse code, and Kira knew what to do. He traded fire with Athrun while his friend continued to add in volleys from his CIWS to the mix, and Kira let them hit his machine until he had the full message.

'Make this look good.'

'Take me down.'

'Don't hold back.'

Kira's eyes narrowed as he grasped Athrun's true intent. He focused all of his determination and will on the task at hand…

…and a seed appeared in his mind.

It spun, hit the surface of a clear pool…

…and burst into brilliant light.

….

The moment Kira backed off, put his beam rifle away and drew his second beam saber, Athrun smiled. He knew Kira well enough to understand what it meant; his friend had gotten his message and grasped what needed to be done. Athrun would still have to help Kira sell what was about to happen, but that would require putting on an act post-battle, and he already had a good idea about how he'd play things up for Durandal's lackeys aboard the Minerva.

The Freedom rapidly accelerated, and Athrun braced himself. The ensuing onslaught was downright vicious, especially compared to how Kira normally fought. His twin beam sabers moved so quickly that they were barely more than blurs in Athrun's eyes, and he was genuinely surprised at the fact that he was still able to block Kira's strikes. A rain of powerful blows hammered him, yet none caused any actual damage. The ones that Athrun wasn't able to deflect with his beam saber hit the Saviour's shield instead, and it almost made him wonder if perhaps Kira hadn't actually gotten his message.

Those doubts quickly faded once Athrun checked his position and realized what was happening. Kira had very much gotten his message; he was just driving Athrun towards a place where he'd have the best chance of survival once he went in for the finishing blow. The brutal assault was steadily pushing the Saviour in the direction of the Minerva, and it wasn't hard at all for Athrun to picture what would happen once the two of them were directly over the battleship.

….

To say that Talia had her hands full would've been putting things mildly. With the loss of her ship's most powerful offensive weaponry, her initial plan for dealing with the Archangel had been thrown right out the window. While the Minerva still had her M10 Isolde 42cm Triple Cannon along with her missile launchers to employ in ship-to-ship combat, those would have a much tougher time doing serious damage to the Archangel without the beam turrets to back them up, let alone the positron cannon. That wasn't even getting into the rest of the damage that the front of the battleship had sustained when the Tannhauser had been destroyed; the massive explosion had wrought havoc on several of the vessel's subsystems.

I knew to watch out for Deathscythe Omega, she thought bitterly, Duo excels at sneak attacks with that machine, so the likelihood of him pulling one on us was always high. We were supposed to be ready for that, but he still got the drop on us.

It was cold comfort to Talia that the self-proclaimed God of Death now appeared to be fighting for his life against the pilot from MSC. He might not have outright crippled the Minerva, but he'd done plenty of damage. Him literally cutting the legs out from under Lunamaria's Gunner ZAKU Warrior had just rubbed salt in the wound, though Talia could take some consolation from the fact that the red machine could still use its heavy weapon in defense of the battleship. The fact that Duo had disabled Lunamaria's machine rather than go for a killing strike was rather curious, especially since the Gundam pilot had hardly shied away from lethal blows in the past. Perhaps it was his way of letting Lunamaria, and by extension the Minerva, off easy for old times' sake.

"Captain, I think we have a problem!" Arthur called out.

Talia resisted the urge to curse. "What is it now, Arthur?"

"The Saviour," he replied, "I think Athrun's about to be overwhelmed!"

Checking the monitor, Talia grimaced when she saw that her XO was right. The Saviour was being driven back towards the Minerva by a truly punishing offensive courtesy of the Freedom. The twin violet blades of the latter were hammering the former relentlessly, and it looked like it was all Athrun could do to just keep himself in the fight. Talia was shocked to realize that the two mobile suits would be over the Minerva in just a few seconds at the rate they were going.

Athrun was supposed to be able to handle the Freedom on his own, she thought as she watched the dueling machines get progressively closer, and I can't believe that he would've underestimated his opponent here. This isn't good.

She could order some of the BABIs that were trying to attack the Archangel to pull back and assist, but that would divert critical backup from the assault against the main target. Ordering one of the mercenaries to break off from their engagements and intervene was also an option, but the risks there were even greater; the hired guns were keeping some of the enemy's most dangerous pilots occupied, after all. Commanding Lunamaria to provide fire support was possibly viable, but her mobile suit's firepower was a double-edged sword here; given the fast-paced nature of the duel, a shot from Lunamaria could conceivably hit the Saviour rather than the Freedom, and a single errant blast from a Gunner ZAKU Warrior's main weapon would be more than sufficient to kill Athrun. Emilian looked like he was trying to help, but while the white Blaze ZAKU Phantom was taking aim, the mobile suit didn't actually open fire. How could the pilot take the shot when he ran the same risks as Lunamaria in accidentally hitting Athrun?

Then the Freedom rendered all of Talia's tactical options for the situation moot.

It started with a salvo from the Gundam's railguns and plasma cannons. While none of the shots actually hit the Saviour, dodging them at such close range had left Athrun vulnerable to the Freedom's blades. Talia saw a massive flare-up of blue-white fire behind the Freedom as its pilot gunned the throttle, and its two beam sabers lashed out in a series of strikes so fast that Talia could barely follow them. In the blink of an eye, the Saviour's head was cut clean off, and that was follows swiftly by all its arms and legs. The Freedom didn't stop there; it then plunged its beam sabers into the Saviour's Amfortas Plasma Beam Cannons and ripped the crimson unit's most powerful weapons apart.

Reduced to barely more than a heavily battered torso in a matter of seconds, what was left of the Saviour plummeted from the sky. A loud 'thud' echoed through the battleship's hull a moment later as the ruined remnants of the machine landed on top of the Minerva. As for the Freedom, it was already pulling back, putting away the beam saber in its left hand and drawing its beam rifle before sighting in on the remaining BABIs.

"Get a recovery crew on the top deck!" Talia ordered, "Have medics on standby!"

"Aye, Captain!" Arthur replied.

The concern Talia had for Athrun's safety had to be buried for the time being. She could only hope that the young man was still alive in the ruined hulk that was the Saviour. In the meantime, she had a battle to oversee.

Looks like we'll have to do things your way, Rey, she thought as she cast one look at the Freedom, I hope you're ready…

….

It was times like these that Yzak found himself very grateful for the technological data that Heero had brought over with him from his old world. The Mercurius Kai's ten Planet Defensors were playing a huge part in keeping him alive at the moment, and the former ZAFT Red was pretty damn sure that he would've already been dead several times over without them. Having arrayed the disks and the shield they generated in an arc around the flanks and back of his mobile suit, Yzak could funnel his opponents into attacking him head-on, and that made them much easier to deal with. His mobile suit's Gundanium alloy hull combined with the fact that the beam saber was integrated into the unit's crash shield meant that he could take quite a bit of punishment even without the protection of the Planet Defensors, but Yzak didn't exactly want to test that with this current crowd.

These guys aren't bad, he thought as deflected a strike from one of the GOUF Igniteds' beam swords with his blazing yellow saber while his shield was peppered by a hail of emerald bolts from another GOUF's arm-mounted beam gun, ZAFT definitely picked good pilots to send after us.

With the bulk of Terminal's heavy hitters currently preoccupied, defense of the Archangel fell to Yzak, Shinn, Dante and Ingrid. Since he had the most powerful machine out of the four of them, Yzak was taking point and working to keep the enemy's most dangerous units focused on him. So far, it was mostly working; all five of the GOUF Igniteds were ganging up on him. Yzak would've preferred to include the Impulse in that group, but whoever was piloting that machine apparently had a beef with Shinn, for they'd gone straight at the Skygrasper. The recent ZAFT defector had his work cut out for him simply to stay alive right now, but in Yzak's eyes Shinn was doing a pretty good job at that. To the boy's credit, he knew not to get into a close-range fight with a mobile suit while he was stuck with a fighter jet; he was doing all he could to keep the Impulse at a distance while peppering the machine with particle beams and cannon fire. The Impulse was quick, but the Skygrasper could actually outrun it thanks in no small part to the mobility boost provided by the Aile Striker Pack it had equipped. That left Shinn's former comrade to take potshots with the Impulse's beam rifle while trying to position themselves to intercept Shinn the next time he lined up for an attack run. Yzak had to wonder just how long Shinn could keep this up. The kid was doing good so far, but his enemy was no slouch, and they would surely adapt soon enough.

"Come on, Kira," Yzak hissed as he blocked a beam sword strike from one GOUF Ignited before whirling around to snap off a quick volley from his rifle at another, "We could really use some help back here."

Yzak was less worried about himself than he was for his comrades. Sure, he had a tricky fight on his hands, but he also had a machine that was well-equipped for just such an engagement. Dante and Ingrid were in a much more perilous position. The two Murasame pilots were doing reasonably well, but ZAFT had brought their latest mass production aerial mobile suits to this party, and they were certainly proving to be an issue. The BABIs had spread out in an effort to surround Dante and Ingrid, and they were filling the sky with particle beams and shells. The Murasames had agility on their side, and their beam rifles were quite potent in their own right, but Dante and Ingrid were spending a lot more time evading enemy fire than sending shots of their own downrange. Fortunately, they did have some invaluable support in the form of the CIWS and anti-air missiles of the Archangel. For all their numbers and formidable weaponry, the BABIs did not have Phase Shift Armor, which meant they had to be extremely wary about venturing into the white battleship's lethal umbrella. Added to the mix were the two Xiphias rail cannon turrets mounted on the ship's stabilizer wing courtesy of the interwar refit, their slower rate of fire more than made up for with their greater stopping power and pinpoint accuracy. A few of the machines had already succumbed to witheringly accurate barrages of shells and missiles, and Captain Ramius clearly wasn't being stingy with the warship's ammunition.

Of course, the Archangel had more than just ZAFT's mobile suits to contend with. While her lighter weapons were busy attempting to shoot down the BABIs, the battleship had the big guns trained on the Minerva. The air beneath Yzak flashed green as the vessel sent a salvo from its two Gottfried dual beam cannons downrange, followed up by a volley from its Valiant linear cannons. Yzak's position meant he had a pretty good view as the shots slammed into the Minerva, rocking ZAFT's prize battleship and taking out two of her CIWS but not appearing to do much more in the way of damage. Volleys of heavy Sledgehammer anti-ship missiles were added into the mix, and while a third of them were shot down by the remaining CIWS of the Minerva and a few more succumbed to fire from the two ZAKUs on the battleship's top deck, the rest peppered the vessel's upper hull. Yzak had to give ZAFT credit; the Minerva was taking the hits like a champ. The hostile battleship was still in the fight, as was demonstrated by a salvo from her triple cannon along with a volley of her own missiles. The rounds of the former wound up hitting the left leg of the Archangel at a shallow angle and glancing off, while roughly two-thirds of the missiles were blown out of the sky by CIWS and Helldart anti-air missiles. The remaining third detonated against the white battleship's armor, leaving some scorching and dents but not appearing to penetrate.

Good thing Duo took out their positron cannon and beam turrets at the start of the engagement, thought Yzak as he crossed blades with another GOUF while his Planet Defensors blocked fire from the rest, otherwise we would've had to play for keeps with the Buster Cannon. Really, we should've done that from the beginning. I know Duo and some of the others wanted to spare that ship's crew out of respect for their past fights together, but I can't say that I completely agree with it. She'll be down for major repairs after this, and that'll keep her out of action for a while, but she'll be back eventually…

The battleship's survival and potential future threat weren't what he needed to focus on at the moment, though. Yzak knew that he had to get an upper hand on the GOUFs that were engaging him, if only so he could in turn help out Dante and Ingrid. The BABIs were definitely a step above ZAFT's old DINNs, and they could pose a serious threat to the Archangel. Their pilots were playing things cautiously for now, but they were gradually tightening the noose. The two Murasames were cutting loose with everything they had, and to their credit both Dante and Ingrid each managed to bag a kill to their name even as they frantically worked to dodge or block the rain of fire that the ZAFT pilots were sending their way. Already, though, the weight of numbers was beginning to tell. A particle beam blew off the left leg of Dante's machine below the knee, while a shell from another BABI's gun launcher damaged the right shoulder of Ingrid's mobile suit, thus limiting her ability to properly aim the beam rifle held by that limb. It would only take a few more shots, lucky or otherwise, to bring both pilots down.

That was when a hail of particle beams, railgun rounds and lances of plasma filled the air. The combined salvo took out the beam rifles and gun launchers of three BABIs, and they all promptly scattered. Even the GOUFs engaging Yzak momentarily pulled back, and he saw the Impulse suddenly disengage with the Skygrasper. Yzak allowed himself a very small smile. He finally had some real backup.

"Took you long enough, Kira," he muttered under his breath.

….

Shinn couldn't resist breathing a massive sigh of relief as Rey broke off. For all his efforts to keep the Impulse at a distance, the simple truth was that Rey would've found a way to close the gap eventually. With his former comrade now moving to help out the GOUFs in engaging the Freedom, Shinn now had some room to actually make a meaningful contribution in this battle.

He gritted his teeth as he set up for a dive, sighting in on a pair of BABIs that were trading fire with Ingrid's Murasame. The former Earth Alliance pilot was doing her best to take them down, but the damage her unit's right shoulder had suffered was putting a real crimp in her fighting capabilities. The Murasame's arm just didn't have range of motion needed to track such high-speed targets thanks to the hit she'd taken, and the two ZAFT pilots no doubt sensed an easy kill.

"Not if I can help it," Shinn murmured before gunning the throttle, "Here we go!"

Descending rapidly, he opened up with every gun the Skygrasper had along with the beam rifle slung along its right side courtesy of the Aile Pack. The barrage from above caught the two BABIs completely by surprise, with one going down almost immediately under the hail of fire. The second unit attempted to line up a shot on him, but Shinn's distraction gave Ingrid a chance to finally draw a bead on the mobile suit, and a single shot from her rifle punched clean through the machine's cockpit.

"Great timing, Shinn!" Ingrid called out, "I owe you one!"

"Don't mention it," Shinn replied with a grimace.

It wasn't that he had anything against Ingrid; the two of them hadn't spoken much outside of flight simulations, but she seemed like a nice enough woman. Rather, it was the fact that she'd just praised him for downing a ZAFT pilot and helping her take out another. Ever since Shinn had fled the Minerva with Stella in tow, he'd held out some small hope that maybe he'd eventually find a way back to his friends and comrades once this war was finally over. With him directly killing a ZAFT pilot and facilitating the death of another, that was no longer in the cards. He wasn't just a traitor to ZAFT in the legal sense now; he genuinely had the blood of its soldiers on his hands. For better or worse, he was in this with Terminal to the end now.

You knew this was coming the moment you volunteered to join this fight, he mentally admonished himself, Doubt's just going to get you killed. Remember who you're fighting for here. Stella's on that ship; if the Archangel falls, so does she.

Pulling up from his dive, he took the Skygrasper into a climb before leveling off and circling overhead. Surveying the battlefield, Shinn's eyes narrowed as he plotted his next move. The Freedom's return had been a game changer for the defense of the Archangel, and a second salvo from Kira took out the handheld weapons of three more BABIs. The ZAFT machines still had their chest-mounted beam cannons to work with, and while they would be difficult to use against agile mobile suits, they could pose a threat to the Archangel. A pit formed in Shinn's stomach as he realized what he needed to do, and he lined up for another attack run.

Making another dive, he let fly with two missiles from the Skygrasper's internal weapons bay. Both warheads were locked onto the same target, which left Shinn free to shift his aim over to the other two BABIs that had just suffered from Kira's barrage. As the first BABI shot down one missile with its chest-mounted cannon only to take the second warhead to the upper torso and plunge from the sky, Shinn opened fire with the Aile Pack's beam rifle and the Skygrasper's machine cannons on the second machine while training the fighter's topside turret on the third. Although the two mobile suits should have been aware of him, their pilots apparently still didn't consider the blue and white fighter jet to be a serious threat despite Shinn's earlier downing of their brethren. The former ZAFT Red made them pay for that mistake with their lives, and both machines were torn apart by his precise fire.

"Sorry, Kira," Shinn whispered grimly, "but BABIs are too dangerous to leave disabled."

If the Freedom's pilot took issue with Shinn's actions, he kept it to himself. Taking stock of the situation, Shinn realized that he might actually be out of work soon. In the time that it had taken him to make his attack run, Kira had already neutralized another group of BABIs, with combined fire from the various anti-air weapons of the Archangel and the two Murasames finishing off the units that the Freedom had disabled. It was a good thing that the grunt pilots were about wrapped up, because now the Freedom was clashing with the Impulse and two of the GOUF Igniteds. That had eased up the pressure on Yzak, but the Mercurius Kai was still outnumbered three to one, and the pilots it was up against clearly knew what they were doing.

As Shinn was trying to figure out where his talents could make the biggest difference, fresh alerts sounded in his cockpit. Checking his sensors, his heart sank as he saw fresh squadrons of BABIs coming in from behind the Minerva; ZAFT reinforcements had joined the party.

….

Talia had gotten so used to receiving bad news today that word of friendly backup arriving almost didn't seem real. Yet the image she was seeing now on the bridge monitor was quite real, as was the data showing up on the tactical feed. Checking the IFF tags of the new arrivals, Talia could instantly tell that they'd scrambled from ships on patrol duty, some a considerable distance away. The pilots of the incoming BABIs had probably pushed the engines of their machines to the redline, or perhaps even past it, to get here so quickly.

If they overheat their thrusters, Talia thought, then they might not be able to get back to their home vessels. Then again, with the losses we've already taken, there's probably room on the ships in our group to take them in after the fight.

It was a surprisingly hopeful thought, one that dared to assume that ZAFT's forces on the field now had an actual chance to survive the storm that their superiors had tossed them into. The fight would still be very much an uphill one, but maybe, just maybe, these new arrivals would be enough to turn the tide.

And that's when Talia's burgeoning yet fragile bubble was cruelly burst by her sensor officer. "New contacts, coming in from behind our reinforcements. Four of them… two are Gundams!"

Talia could just make out a quartet of specks in the distance when one of them let loose with a hail of bullets and missiles. She didn't even need to see the IFF tag to know which one this was; the sheer volume of fire coming from this single unit was all Talia needed to recognize it as Heavyarms Arsenal. Caught from behind, several of the BABIs were reduced to fireballs in the span of mere seconds while the rest scattered. A second speck suddenly surged forward, and Talia soon recognized the silhouette of Sandrock Saladin. Two BABI's were cut to pieces in the blink of an eye as Quatre threw himself into the fray, and Talia knew that they would be far from the last of the Gundam pilot's victims today.

"Captain, we've got positive ID on the other two units!" Arthur called out with more than a hint of bewilderment, "They're a match to units that we encountered at the Dardanelles and Cagliari. They were flying Eurasian Federation IFFs at the time, but now… their tags match those of the mobile suits from the Archangel and Dominion!"

Talia's head snapped back in confusion. "What? You can't be serious!"

"Look for yourself," Arthur replied as the image on the main monitor adjusted.

Sure enough, Talia could see the two units side by side with Heavyarms Arsenal as they added fire from their beam submachineguns into the mix. It gave Talia a perfect chance to compare their transponder signals with those of the Gundam, and it showed that Arthur was correct.

But we saw those units flying under Eurasian Federation tags in past engagements, Talia thought as she frantically tried to process this new development, so why are they operating with Terminal tags now?

Several possibilities flew through her mind in a matter of seconds, with most of them being too outlandish to earnestly consider. In the end, only one made sense; the Eurasian Federation had loaned out the machines and their pilots to Terminal as part of some deal struck by both parties in the aftermath of the Moscow battle. The implications of such a pact were unsettling to say the least, but Talia did not have time to contemplate them right now. The arrival of the two former Eurasian Federation machines along with two more Gundams had turned the engagement on its head once again…

…and Talia had no idea if her foes had any more surprises to spring on her.

….

Start 'Daedalus'

When he'd first spotted the strange orange and black machine angling to intercept him, La Flaga had been a bit stumped as to what to make of the mobile suit that he'd found in his crosshairs. The Hawk of Endymion thought that he'd seen just about every possible kind of mobile suit under the sun by now, but this compact and stubby unit was definitely a new one. His puzzlement hadn't stopped him from popping off a volley from the Tallgeese Kai's beam rifle as soon as he'd drawn a bead on the target, though. Not that it had done much good; the machine had rolled with surprising speed to dodge his particle beams before returning fire with the rifle in its left hand, and La Flaga had only narrowly evaded the railgun round it sent his way.

Those maneuvering jets along the rim are pretty handy, La Flaga thought as he let fly with another volley only for the target to almost casually roll out of the way, and whoever's piloting that thing knows how to take advantage of them.

With the two machines rapidly closing, La Flaga readied his beam saber. He expected the opposing unit to do the same, and he initially thought that the barrel-like protrusion on the mobile suit's right arm was perhaps a built-in beam saber. La Flaga therefore got a nasty surprise when a burst of superheated metal flechettes flew out instead. It was only by sheer luck that he wasn't ended right then and there, with the bulk of the flechettes cutting into the Tallgeese Kai's legs rather than the unit's torso. Still, damage alarms blared in his cockpit, with both of the unit's legs glowing red on the display.

"Shit!" La Flaga hissed as he broke off, covering his pull-back with a quick volley from his rifle.

Just like before, the small mobile suit evaded his shots with almost contemptuous ease. Blue fire blazed behind the unit as its pilot gunned the engines, and La Flaga gritted his teeth as he saw the shotgun-like weapon in the machine's right arm draw a bead on him. This time, he deployed the Tallgeese Kai's Planet Defensors, and breathed a sigh of relief as the barrier they generated proved sufficient to stop the flechettes dead in their path.

Gotta be really careful with this one, he mused as he gained altitude while unleashing another volley from his beam rifle, or they're going to rip me apart with that damn shotgun!

The orange and black machine danced through the air like a coked-up dwarf, spinning and whirling as it slipped between La Flaga's particle beams. It wasted no time in closing in again, and La Flaga saw a pair of panels on the unit's upper torso slide open. The Hawk of Endymion violently juked the Tallgeese Kai to the right, and not a moment too soon, for a hail of small green bolts filled the air where he'd been just a split-second earlier. Taking his machine into a sudden dive, he got beneath his target before gunning his engines and climbing again. Keeping his Planet Defensors deployed in front of him to guard against the enemy's shotgun, La Flaga lashed out with his beam saber and managed to cut off the opposing machine's left leg just above the knee. Not a decisive blow by any means, but La Flaga saw it as a point on his side of the metaphorical scoreboard.

That was when a silky female voice came from his cockpit speakers. "One for one, eh? Not bad, Hawk of Endymion."

La Flaga's eyes narrowed as the two machines pulled back while trading rifle fire. "You know me?"

"We haven't met directly," the mystery woman replied, "but I've seen you at work from a distance before. Your dance with Creuset at the Endymion Crater was quite the spectacle. No wonder your moniker comes from that battle."

La Flaga's eyes widened in shock; very few pilots on either side had lived through the utter carnage that was the Battle of the Endymion Crater in the First Bloody Valentine War. "You survived that meat grinder?"

"Barely," his opponent answered as the two pilots continued to pepper each other with particle beams and railgun rounds respectively only to score no hits, "The Alliance's Cyclops trap damn near got me. I was lucky to be just outside the kill zone. If I recall correctly, a good number of pilots on both sides got wiped out by that thing. To think that you dodged that bullet again at Alaska… no wonder you jumped ship."

La Flaga couldn't help but smirk as he and his foe closed with each other again, firing as they went. "The first time really should've been a wake up call, I guess. Second time… well, you know the old saying, right?"

"Of course," said the woman as she tried to blast him with a burst of flechettes only for La Flaga to already have his Planet Defensors deployed to intercept them, "Seems it applies to more than just Cyclops traps in your case."

La Flaga chuckled as he took a swipe at her with his beam saber, only for the enemy to fire their maneuvering jets and quicky roll out of reach. "You could say that. Your machine's right arm packs a nasty punch. I'm not about to let it catch me off guard again so easily!"

"Good," the woman remarked as she unloaded on him with her unit's chest-mounted beam gatlings, "I'd hate for you to go down so easily. Your reputation demands a more fitting end."

La Flaga grit his teeth as he pulled back under the rain of green bolts, weaving left and right while popping off a few beams of his own. "You think you've got what it takes to beat me? Plenty of pilots just as good as you have tried, lady!"

"I know," the woman shot back as she took aim with her railgun and let loose a round that glanced off the round shield on the Tallgeese Kai's left forearm, "I'm hoping you'll be worth my time, Hawk of Endymion. Do try not to disappoint me."

La Flaga flashed a devil-may-care grin while returning fire. "I always aim to please the ladies! Speaking of which, it's awfully rude not to know the name of one's dance partner, wouldn't you agree?"

The woman actually laughed as she zigzagged through his volley. "Fair enough! You can call me Frost Druid."

"Only a callsign?" La Flaga asked, "I feel like I deserve a bit more than that."

"It's all you're getting for now," Frost Druid shot back as she suddenly charged forwards, the chest-beam gatlings already blazing away, "You want my real name? Prove that you're worth my time first."

"Wouldn't have it any other way!" La Flaga declared while pulling back and taking potshots with his beam rifle.

Need to watch myself with her, he silently told himself as he and his foe danced across the sky, I haven't had a really challenging duel since Creuset. Not sure if she's on his level, but she's definitely dangerous.

End 'Daedalus'

….

Start 'The Round Table'

I knew this wouldn't be easy, thought Shemei as she deflected a beam sword strike from Galm One while blocking a blast from Galm Two with the DSX-1 Shakō-tai energy shield embedded in the Gundam Epyon Revenant's outer left wing, but even with the overmatch I've got with this machine, these guys are really making me work for the win here! Then again, I shouldn't have expected anything less from this pair of hellhounds.

The emblem of the crimson hound biting at its chain was emblazoned upon the shoulders of both GOUFs, and that alone had been enough to tell the Valkyrie that she'd be in for one hell of a fight. She had studied the footage from Heero's clashes with the elite dogs of war multiple times since the end of the prior conflict, yet that knowledge had only done so much to prepare her for taking them on in live combat. While the Gundam Epyon Revenant was leagues beyond the GOUFs in terms of performance, Shemei had known going in that a technological advantage alone would not win her the day. Cipher and Pixy were damn good at what they did for a living, and this fight was proof of it.

In the melee arena, Cipher was matching her move for move. Every attack she made, he was ready to deflect and counter. Whenever she struck with her beam sword, his own blade was at the ready to intercept. When she mixed things up and employed the Epyon Revenant's Heat Rod, Cipher would likewise lash out with his GOUF's whip to meet the attack halfway and disrupt it. All the while, Pixy was circling and taking shots, forcing Shemei to divert attention to either blocking or dodging the scarlet blasts that flew forth from his heavy cannon. She'd tried to take him out a couple times, suddenly breaking off from blade exchanges with Galm One in an effort to neutralize Galm Two with a surprise attack, but Pixy was proving quite adept at keeping his distance and buying enough time for his buddy to swoop in and save his hide.

"No wonder these guys survived going up against Heero," she hissed under her breath as she evaded a shot from Pixy while disrupting a whip slash from Cipher with her own, "They've got more than just the devil's luck in their corner."

Gunning her engines, she suddenly shot upwards in a streak of scarlet light. Neither of the two GOUFs even attempted to pursue; both of their pilots were smart enough to understand that such an effort would be futile. Instead, Pixy took potshots with his heavy weapon while Cipher moved up slightly ahead of him, positioning himself for an intercept the moment Shemei dived back into the fray.

Clever bastards, she thought, I need to find a way to throw them off their game.

Plunging down, she pretended to be going for Cipher, but just before their blades met Shemei pulled her Gundam hard to the right. She angled towards Pixy and attempted to charge, but Cipher immediately lashed out with his Heat Rod and forced Shemei to counter in kind. This gave Pixy a chance to pull further back and circle around before taking a shot from behind her, with only a sharp bank to the left saving Shemei from taking the blast right to Epyon Revenant's main thrusters. Cipher then made his move while Shemei was distracted by Pixy, rushing in and thrusting his beam sword forward. Shemei swatted aside the blade with her Gundam's outer left wing before making a wild slash with her beam sword, and her weapon sliced off the ornamental horn on the GOUF's right shoulder. It was first blood in her favor, although the damage to her foe's machine was strictly superficial.

Superficial or not, though, it was enough to elicit a verbal response from Cipher. "A shame that we never got to face each other during the last war. You live up to your reputation, Valkyrie."

"Thanks," Shemei replied while diving to avoid a swipe from Cipher's Heat Rod along with a lance of crimson energy from Pixy's Orthros cannon, "You guys aren't half bad yourselves. ZAFT shortchanged you with your mobile suits, though. Would've thought that they'd have a better appreciation for your abilities."

"Consider it a case of technical difficulties," Pixy chimed in as he fired off another blast that Shemei smoothly sideslipped while she parried a sword thrust from Cipher, "You can't rush quality work, after all."

Fending off a Heat Rod slash from Cipher, Shemei slammed down the throttle and went for Pixy. "Yeah, but it'd be a shame if you never got to wield the finished product!"

Pixy frantically took another shot as Shemei rapidly closed the distance, but a simple roll was all it took to evade the scarlet energy beam. She lashed out with her Heat Rod as soon as she was within range, and while Pixy was able to angle his machine so that the bulk of the strike was taken on the GOUF's shield, the tail end of the superheated whip sliced into the machine's left leg and tore the joint off at the knee. Galm Two gunned his thrusters in response, and his machine rocketed upwards. He had no chance of outrunning Shemei, of course, but he didn't have to; he just had to keep her at bay long enough for his buddy to save him.

Sure enough, Cipher was moving to do just that. A hail of emerald bolts erupted from Galm One's Draupnir 4-barrel beam guns and forced Shemei to break off her attack. A combination of intense evasive maneuvers and the coverage provided by the Epyon Revenant's outer wings saved Shemei from taking damage, but the volley gave Galm Two a chance to reposition while Cipher closed in to melee range again. As Shemei and Cipher crossed swords once more, Pixy continued to climb above the fight while lining up a fresh shot on the Valkyrie.

"You two really are the best in the merc market," Shemei begrudgingly praised as she dodged a blast from Pixy's Orthros cannon while deflecting slashes from Cipher, "It's a shame that your talents always end up being used for the wrong side."

"Last I checked, ZAFT wasn't the one fighting a war of annihilation here," Pixy pointed out as Shemei evaded another lance of crimson energy from his fearsome weapon while her Heat Rod intercepted a strike from Cipher's whip.

"It's true that Patrick Zala's aims in the final campaign two years ago were extreme," Cipher added as Shemei drove him back with a ferocious sequence of thrusts from her beam sword, "but his regime no longer rules the PLANTs. Compared to the Earth Alliance, I think even you would agree that the current ZAFT is a major step up. They didn't start this war, for one thing."

Shemei shook her head while continuing to batter Galm One's defenses and watching her back for Pixy's next shot. "Come on, you're smart enough to know that things aren't that simple. Durandal didn't fire the first shot, but he helped set the stage for all of this. He'll show his true hand sooner or later."

"Perhaps," Cipher conceded as he parried Shemei's latest thrust before countering with one of his own, "but that won't change the terms of our contract."

Shemei scowled as she banked to the right, narrowly avoiding a crimson beam from Pixy as Cipher went on the offensive. "That's all there is to it for you? The contract is absolute? You don't give a damn about what your employer's really after in this war? You don't care about how far Durandal's willing to go for his aims, or who he's willing to sacrifice for them?"

"We're professionals," Cipher retorted as his whip once again met Shemei's, "Once we sign our names on the dotted line, we see the job through."

"We're dogs of war," said Pixy, "Our contract's our word, and our word is our livelihood. Flying around with a bunch of ideals in our heads would just be a good way to get killed."

"I'm sure you believe that you're fighting for what's right," Cipher added as sparks flew between his and Shemei's blades, "but people like us don't have the luxury of that sort of thing. When we decided to earn our paychecks through death, we knew what we were getting into. Only certain kinds of people are willing to employ our kind, and those employers are even more scarce when you're a Coordinator. We know what we're good at, and ZAFT appreciates people with our talents. It's as simple as that."

Shemei sighed in resignation as she dodged a blast from Pixy while circling Cipher in an attempt to outmaneuver him. "Simple, eh? Fine, if that's what really matters to you. Fight for your contract, then, and I'll fight to put an end to this madness. We'll see which one the history books remember."

Should've known that they wouldn't be talked down from this, she thought as her beam sword met Cipher's once again, I mean, these two have earned their reputation as professional dogs of war for a reason, after all. Nothing for it now but to take them down, or at least keep them busy while the others do their thing. Speaking of the others…

…the girls should be making their entrance any moment now.

End 'The Round Table'

….

I can't believe Kira once fought a battle like this one, Cagalli thought as she plunged the tip of the Strike Rouge's Schwert Gewehr anti-ship sword, and here I thought that I had things rough back then piloting the Skygrasper.

She'd known intellectually that Kira's underwater clash during the last war had been a challenging affair, but having to take on that role herself gave her a newfound appreciation for just how difficult such fighting truly was. The Strike, and by extension the Strike Rouge, really wasn't built for aquatic combat. Cagalli was constantly having to toggle the mobile suit's maneuvering thrusters to keep from sinking, and the unit was noticeably sluggish thanks to the resistance provided by the water. She had to carefully time each and every strike to make sure that her sword found a target; a miss took longer to recover from down here and left her exposed to counterattack. There was also the fact that she could only attack with the metal body of the anti-ship sword; the energy blade itself had to remain deactivated due to the water being able to short out its emitters. It was the same reason why the three Wraiths had been forced to literally get right on top of the submarine/carriers from ZAFT's eastern battle group that they'd dispatched earlier this morning, for only by directly pressing the emitters of their beam sabers to the hulls of their targets could they use their melee weapons without risking damage, and they could only do so for the briefest of moments.

That same handicap worked against Cagalli's comrade in this desperate aquatic engagement. Dearka was doing his best to provide covering fire for Cagalli with the Vayeate Kai's railguns, and they were the only weapons he had that could properly function in this environment. His Gundam's heavy beam cannon was really just deadweight down here, and while his railguns were proving deadly against ZAFT's underwater units their effective firing range was reduced compared to what they had in atmospheric combat or in outer space.

Those limitations only placed further emphasis on teamwork as being the key to both pilots' survival. They were constantly watching each other's backs, with Cagalli at the ready to cut down any mobile suit which came in for a close-quarters attack while Dearka keeping his railguns trained on foes out of reach of the Strike Rouge's sword. The situation gave Cagalli a much greater appreciation for Dearka's piloting skills. Granted, she'd always knowns that he was a skilled pilot, but thanks to his association with first the stolen Buster and now the Vayeate Kai, Cagalli had come to see Dearka as someone who relied primarily on very big guns to get the job done. The precision shooting he was demonstrating with the Vayeate Kai's railguns showed that he was very much capable of more than simply unleashing hell in a single blast downrange, and she was very grateful for it.

"Watch yourself," Dearka announced as he downed a GOOhN with a pair of slugs right through the cockpit, "You've got three angling for you. One ASH below, two coming from the right!"

"I see them," Cagalli replied as she repositioned, "The two from the right will reach me first. I'll take them. Discourage the one below?"

"I'll do what I can," said Dearka, already popping off a salvo at the lower unit that didn't connect but at least forced it to back off and adjust its approach.

The shot had given Cagalli likely just a few extra seconds, and she was determined to make the most of them. Both ASHs that were coming in from the right wasted no time in cutting loose with torpedo volleys. With her mobility extremely limited, Cagalli knew that there was simply no way that she could evade them all. Instead, she charged forward, angling the Strike Rouge so that the Sword Striker Pack's small shield could at least take some of the punishment while at the same time closing the distance to counterattack. Her mobile suit rocked heavily under the detonations, but the combination of her shield and the unit's Phase Shift Armor kept her in the game. The two ZAFT pilots appeared to be dumfounded by her actions, for they only belatedly opened up with their units' maser cannons, and the shots went wide of the mark thanks to a clumsy but effective juke to the right using the Strike Rouge's maneuvering thrusters.

Then Cagalli was in range, and she wasted no time in making that known to her foes. A lunging thrust plunged the tip of the anti-ship sword into the torso of the closest ASH, sending shards of metal everywhere before the unit plunged into the abyss. The second ASH swiped at Cagalli with its claws, but she was able to take the hit on her battered shield before hammering the machine with a powerful blow from her anti-ship sword. The unit's plating was literally crushed in, and seawater began pouring into the newly-created fissures and gaps in the armor. Then the mobile suit began a slow descent to join its brethren on the bottom of the sea.

"Behind you!" Dearka shouted.

Cagalli swung her mobile suit around as fast as she could, and it wasn't a moment too soon; the third ASH unit was practically right on top of her. It let fly with a volley of torpedoes before Cagalli could make a move, and despite being strapped in she was still rocked as her machine shook violently under the impacts. The Strike Rouge's Phase Shift Armor held, but Cagalli saw the mobile suit's energy gauge drop precipitously from taking so many powerful hits. Another salvo like that would be deadly.

Acting purely on instinct, Cagalli gunned her engines. The ASH opened fire with its maser, but Cagalli's move had thrown the pilot's aim off just enough so that it was only the Sword Striker Pack's beam boomerang handle that was hit, and that weapon was useless in underwater combat anyway. Before her enemy could get off another shot, Cagalli stabbed the anti-ship sword into the unit's torso.

"Thanks for the warning," Cagalli remarked as she pulled the blade out of the doomed mobile suit.

There was no answer from Dearka, and Cagalli saw why a moment later. While she had been contending with the three ASH units, her comrade had his hands full with at least half a dozen machines, and more were moving in. The enemy was either emboldened or growing desperate, possibly the latter if the chatter she'd been hearing on the tactical channel regarding the battle above the waves was anything to go by. Either way, it didn't bode well for Cagalli and Dearka. They were heavily outnumbered, and the enemy was well positioned to swarm them now.

As she steeled herself for the onslaught, Cagalli suddenly saw a shaft of violet light erupt out of an ASH's chest. Two GOOhNs suffered the same fate, and the water behind them began to shimmer and ripple. The violet energy blades immediately disappeared once their targets were dispatched, and three familiar black mobile suits appeared.

"Sorry we're late," Adaline remarked as she opened up on an ASH with her Wraith's railguns.

"You two doing okay?" asked Priscilla while downing a GOOhN with two slugs of her own.

Cagalli smiled. "Better now that you're here!

"Thanks for the save," Dearka added, "We owe you one!"

"No kidding," Lan chimed in as she picked off a GOOhN, "Your goose looked just about cooked for a second there!"

"I wouldn't celebrate just yet," Cagalli replied as she thrust her sword into an incoming ASH, "These guys don't seem ready to quit!"

"Then let's give them a reason to!" Adaline barked as she plastered a GOOhN with another railgun salvo.

Cagalli was determined to do just that.

….

Well, shit, thought Duo as he desperately blocked his foe's twin blades with his beam scythe, I might actually be in trouble here.

Deathscythe Omega was a magnificent machine, peerless in stealth operations and a general melee brawl, but it was not built to duel a combatant like the one Duo was up against now. His enemy might've only been armed with a pair of swords and two CIWS, but the skill they'd demonstrated in the fight so far was all Duo needed to understand that his adversary required nothing more than those weapons to make his life miserable. The dark blue machine that had hounded him so relentlessly since his attack on the Minerva might not have been nuclear-powered, but it was damn fast and had one hell of a pilot at the controls. Duo had been on the defensive since the moment this new machine had engaged him, forced to keep his beam scythe tucked in close so that he could block the quick strikes that his adversary was hammering him with. What few counterattacks he'd been able to make were little more than quick jabs with the blade or the weapon's handle; his usual wide and sweeping strikes were very ill-suited for a duel like this, and if anything would leave him fatally exposed.

"ZAFT's really not pulling their punches here," he muttered under his breath while deflecting a series of slashes from his enemy's two beam swords, "Where the hell did they find this guy?"

Sweat was building upon his brow, as much from exertion as from stress. This was not the role that Duo had been assigned for in this mission. If Terminal was to snap the jaws of its trap shut, then he needed to either take his foe down soon or find a way to disengage. While Duo would've preferred the former, he was smart enough to recognize that the latter increasingly looked like the better option. How to pull that off, though? His opponent here was fiendishly quick, and the moment Duo turned his back to him would present a perfect opportunity for the enemy to strike him down.

"Might need a bit of help to pull this off," Duo murmured as he checked on his allies, "Come on, guys; one of you can swap out with me, right?"

His gaze went to some old friends and new ones. Quatre, Trowa and the Espada Team actually appeared to have ZAFT's reinforcements contained, to the point of actually whittling them down. Heavyarms Arsenal was practically dousing the BABIs with a rain of shells mixed with the occasional salvo of particle beams, while Sandrock Saladin was carving through the purple and black aerial units with a butcher's efficiency. Alberto and Marcella were likewise picking off their opposition with methodical effectiveness, taking down machines in rapid succession with quick bursts from their beam submachine guns while blocking any fire that they couldn't evade with their shields. In fact, Duo quickly became convinced that they had things well in hand and could probably afford to send at least one of their number elsewhere.

"Yo, Quatre!" he called out while deflecting strikes from his foe, "Mind tagging in here?"

"On my way!" Quatre replied, "Just hold him off for another few seconds!"

"Easier said than done," Duo muttered as he caught both of the enemy's beam swords on the emerald arc of his scythe before smacking the blue mobile suit's torso with the weapon's handle.

The counterattack momentarily rattled the enemy, but Duo knew better than to try and press the assault; his weapon was too unwieldy for such a fast-paced close-quarters duel. Sure enough, his opponent recovered incredibly quickly and was already back on the attack, with Duo having prepared for exactly that by keeping his weapon tucked in close. He managed to catch both beam swords on his scythe again, but he had to pull back in order to keep the enemy at a manageable distance. It didn't do too much good, for his adversary was relentless in their advance. Their twin blades flashed like violet bolts of lightning, and it was all Duo could do to simply keep them at bay.

This guy's definitely got the moves, thought Duo as he twirled his beam scythe in an effort to create a barrier between him and the enemy, Heero said ZAFT goes for quality over quantity, and he definitely wasn't kidding. Even the Earth Alliance mercs from before weren't this good…

Quatre's voice coming over the cockpit speakers interrupted his thoughts. "Duo, dive!"

Not questioning his friend, Duo did just that. A split second later, Sandrock Saladin charged through the space that Duo had just occupied, with both of its Heat Shotels clashing with the blue mobile suit's beam swords. Duo breathed a sigh of relief as he disengaged.

"Thanks, buddy!" he yelled, "I owe you one!"

"Just get into position!" Quatre barked, "Natarle will be making her move soon!"

"I know," said Duo, already activating his Gundam's Active Cloak, "Watch yourself with that guy; he's not playing around!"

Leaving Quatre to contend with his deadly adversary, Duo gunned his engines and moved behind the Minerva. He then activated the high-pressure fog emitters contained in the light grey fins mounted on the Gundam's back shoulder panels, and a blanket of mist slowly began to envelope ZAFT's prized battleship.

"Sorry, guys," Duo muttered as he looked up at the warship's engines, "but I'm not done with you quite yet."

….

"A new opponent, huh?" Jack muttered under his breath as he found his twin beam swords intercepted by the two curved blades of the Gundam that had taken the place of his previous opponent, "This should be interesting."

He had somewhat mixed feelings about being forced to take on a new enemy when he hadn't even defeated his previous target. On the one hand, he'd felt like he was getting close to actually landing a solid hit on the machine with the scythe, though its pilot had certainly made him work to reach even that point. However, this new foe wielded weapons that Jack was much more familiar with. They had much less of a reach advantage over him, though they also didn't suffer from the disadvantages that his prior foe's long weapon had brought with it at extremely close range. All in all, it promised to be an equally challenging fight, especially given how the initial exchange was going.

He's just as good as the last one, Jack thought as his new opponent matched him blow for blow, maybe even better…

Deciding to experiment, he gunned his engines and took his machine hard to the right in an effort to get around his foe. The enemy pilot smoothly rotated his machine to keep Jack in their line of sight, though they minimized their movements and waited for him to strike rather than taking the initiative. In terms of agility, Jack felt reasonably confident that he had the advantage over this opponent, but that didn't stop the enemy pilot from effortlessly parrying his ensuing strikes before counterattacking with a series of powerful slashes that sent his machine flying back as he blocked them.

"I'm faster," he murmured as he reoriented himself and went in for another exchange, "but his machine's definitely more powerful, and he's got some good moves."

Jack unleashed a ferocious assault, his beam swords leaving violet streaks in the air as he hammered the enemy with a rain of blows from every angle he could possibly conceive of. Despite the speed and viciousness of his offensive, the enemy didn't panic or even try to fall back. Instead, his adversary blocked every strike that came in, often just by adjusting the angle of his own blades by less than a single degree. It was a very impressive defense; tight and measured, leaving no obvious openings for Jack to exploit.

It was as Jack continued his attacks that a male voice came over the radio; the enemy pilot was apparently feeling chatty. "You're not bad. No wonder Duo was having trouble with you."

Jack chuckled as his foe counterattacked and suddenly put him on the defensive. "Was that the last guy's name? He was pretty good. Think I would've had him if he'd stuck around a bit longer, though."

"Maybe," his opponent conceded as he cut loose with a brutal series of chops and slashed from his curved blades, "but his mission's not to duel people like you. Sorry, but you'll have to settle for me."

Jack couldn't help but smile despite how hard his adversary was pressing the assault. "I'd call this a hell of a lot better than settling. You really know what you're doing."

"I've had plenty of practice," his foe replied as he hammered Jack's defenses with a relentless rain of blows, "So have you, from the look of things."

Slamming the throttle in reverse, Jack pulled back before immediately diving. He tried to take his foe from beneath, but the enemy was far too experienced for that trick to work. His opponent smoothly rotated his machine to meet Jack's charge head on, with his crossed blades catching the Raijin's beam swords before effortlessly pushing the lighter mobile suit back and counterattacking with two wide slashes that nearly took the unit's head off.

"You gave me the other guy's name," Jack remarked while pulling back again and banking to the left, once again trying to outflank his adversary, "I'd say it's only right that you give me yours."

"It's Quatre," the opposing pilot answered as he repositioned his machine and blocked Jack's strikes once more, "What's yours?"

The mercenary smirked as his mobile suit shuddered while blocking Quatre's powerful counterattack. "Call me Jack."

"Jack, huh?" said Quatre, "Plain name… but I won't forget it."

Jack nodded as sparks flew from their clashing blades. "Likewise."

….

I knew he'd be difficult to fight, thought Rey as he blocked a beam saber strike from the Freedom, I've seen more than enough combat footage to understand that. Still, actually facing him for real… you live up to your reputation, Kira Yamato.

Had Rey taken this fight in his old Slash ZAKU Phantom, he knew that he would've already been knocked out of the game. As things stood, he was only barely able to keep pace with the Freedom; the Force Impulse's mobility was proving to be Rey's saving grace. Even then, Rey knew that part of the reason why he was still standing was that he wasn't in this fight alone, as a curse from one of his colleagues emphasized.

"Shit!" Heine hissed as a plasma beam from the Freedom nailed his GOUF's left shoulder, sending the entire arm along with the shield mounted upon it falling down towards the sea.

"Is this guy for real?" Alvise cried out incredulously as his GOUF's beam sword was shot out of its right hand by a particle beam from the Freedom's rifle.

"I told you not to take him lightly," Rey growled before deflecting a slash from the Freedom's saber.

Then again, Rey privately supposed that he hadn't taken his own advice. He thought that he had; he'd tried to plan meticulously for this engagement, and even had what he'd imagined at the time to be a solid strategy in place. It didn't matter that Athrun was supposed to be the one taking on the Freedom; Rey hadn't trusted him to finish the job, and Athrun had all too quickly proven that he could barely start the job before being taken out. In almost every battle of both the First and Second Bloody Valentine War that it had taken part in, the Freedom had been recorded as shooting almost exclusively to disable rather than kill. Rey's idea had been to take advantage of that by trying to bait the Freedom into going for disabling shots against him before having the Minerva launch a new Silhouette Pack for him to use against the Freedom and turn the tables. He'd even secretly arranged with Captain Gladys prior to the encounter to have the Impulse's other packs set for rapid launch for precisely this purpose.

However, now that he was actually engaged with the target, Rey was having an incredibly difficult time setting up a situation where he could put his plan into action. For starters, the Freedom was much faster than he'd anticipated. It had been one thing to watch it on a screen; it was quite another to actually be forced to deal with that speed in live combat. There was also the pilot's remarkable ability to engage multiple targets simultaneously, an ability that was being well-demonstrated here as Kira methodically picked apart the machines of Rey's allies while keeping the Impulse at bay. Heine and Alvise might've still been in the fight, but both had taken damage now, and Rey was reluctant to call upon reinforcements. Manuel, Larissa and Kriyya were all still trying to take down the strange red mobile suit with the annoying shield drones, and right now it was all they could do to simply maintain some semblance of a stalemate. Calling one of them away would almost certainly give the scarlet machine's pilot a chance to turn the tables; they'd certainly proven themselves good enough over the course of the fight to take advantage of even the smallest window of opportunity.

If only the eastern battlegroup hadn't vanished, Rey thought bitterly, we'd have the numbers to completely overwhelm them…

As things stood, the reinforcements that had shown up weren't managing to contribute much to the fight. Heavyarms Arsenal alone was ripping into the BABIs with its trademark blizzard of bullets and missiles, and it wasn't the only machine that they had to contend with. While the arrival of the Gundams was to be expected, Rey didn't know what to make of the fact that two machines which had previously been fighting under the banner of the Eurasian Federation were with them. The pair of Hyperions from the Espada Team had come seemingly completely out of left field, and the fact that they were flying Terminal IFF transponders served as a further wrinkle. Clearly, some sort of deal had been worked out while the Archangel and Dominion were in Moscow, and Rey had to wonder what Chairman Durandal would make of it.

That was a big picture concern, though, which meant that it wasn't Rey's responsibility to deal with. He was a mobile suit pilot; his role was to advance ZAFT's cause in the field, and right now that meant finding a way to take out the Freedom since Athrun had failed so miserably at that task. That was becoming significantly harder as the fight wore on and Rey's allies slowly found themselves losing parts of their mobile suits to Kira's precise fire. Rey soon found himself joining them, as an attempt to get above the Freedom and pepper it with beam rifle fire only resulted in the stolen machine blowing the Impulse's rifle apart with a railgun slug. That wasn't the only hit Rey took, either; a plasma blast from the Freedom also ripped through the right stabilizer wing of the Force Silhouette Pack, seriously compromising the Impulse's maneuverability. Rey had no choice but to pull back and set up for a Pack swap now.

"Cover me!" he ordered his comrades before contacting the Minerva, "Meyrin, I need a Sword Pack now!"

"Copy that!" Lunamaria's younger sister immediately replied, "It'll be airborne shortly. Get out of the enemy's anti-air umbrella so you can perform the linkup!"

Rey heeded her advice and began to withdraw while Heine and Alvise threw a rain of emerald bolts at the Freedom with their units' Draupnir 4-barrel beam guns. While Rey had faith in their abilities, the simple truth of the matter was that they wouldn't last long against the Freedom without his help, and he anxiously watched the Minerva. Meyrin proved as good as her word; the Sword Silhouette Pack shot out of the battleship mere seconds later, and Rey gunned his engines to position himself for docking.

Only to see a pair of particle beams turn the Sword Pack into a fireball.

Rey blinked in shock as his mind processed this sudden development. All of Terminal's mobile suits currently on the field were engaged with ZAFT forces, and the beams which had destroyed the pack were two small to have come from the heavy turrets of the Archangel, so who had shot it down? Then he realized that the angle of the shots had come from above, and fury that had been slowly simmering within Rey for some time now began to boil over as he laid eyes on the culprit.

The Skygrasper.

Shinn Asuka.

….

Although Shinn still wasn't a fan of the fighting style he'd been forced to adopt courtesy of flying the Skygrasper, he had to admit that there were benefits to it. Getting above the fray before setting up another attack run gave him an opportunity to take in the broader battlefield and understand the wider tactical situation. More importantly in this case, it put him in an advantageous position to spot any new developments that his comrades might miss due to being preoccupied with their own parts of the engagement. So it was that Shinn had been circling over the battle trying to figure out which target to take on next when he'd seen the Impulse's Sword Silhouette Pack fly out of the Minerva, and he'd immediately realized what needed to be done. It pained Shinn a bit to have to fire upon something that he'd once used, but it was a minor pain compared to the dull horror that had come with actually shooting down ZAFT pilots, though Shinn was unfortunately becoming fast accustomed to that courtesy of this battle.

Having nailed his chosen target, Shinn immediately pulled up in an effort to get back above the fray before anyone could react, but he wasn't so lucky this time. Although the Impulse was unstable thanks to the damage its Force Silhouette Pack had taken, Rey was a skilled enough pilot to compensate for that, and he was already moving his machine to intercept Shinn. With the Impulse's rifle destroyed, Shinn thought that he'd have an easier time than before staying out of range; it was much easier to stay beyond a beam saber's reach and the effective firing range of CIWS than that of a rifle, after all. Rey was gunning the Impulse's thrusters to the max, yet the Skygrasper should still have been able to outrun the mobile suit in a straight climb. Then Shinn saw the Blast Silhouette Pack fly out from the catapult of the Minerva, and he realized that Rey had something else in mind.

Shinn tried to bank his fighter so that he could pick off this pack just as he had the previous one, but Rey quickly reacted by positioning the Impulse between the Skygrasper and the new pack. Gritting his teeth, Shinn fired off a volley of particle beams and machine cannons rounds, hoping to at least scare Rey into evading. It didn't work; Rey tanked the particle beams on the Impulse's shield while the machine cannon slugs pinged off of the unit's Variable Phase Shift Armor. Shinn had no choice but to break off before he ran the risk of getting within beam saber range, and that gave Rey the opening he needed to ditch the damaged Force Silhouette Pack and claim the new Blast Pack. The heavy weapons loadout would be ideal for attacking the Archangel, but Rey made no move to engage the white battleship. Instead, he took aim with the unit's two GMF39 Quadruple Missile Launchers and fired off a salvo at Shinn.

"Shit!" Shinn hissed.

In desperation, Shinn banked his fighter hard to the left so that the Aile Pack's shield would be positioned to tank the incoming missiles. At the same time, he rotated the Skygrasper's beam turret and fired off a frantic volley. His particle beams miraculously succeeded in taking down two of the missiles, but the rest were still on target. Shinn grimaced as the warheads closed in; there was simply no way that the Aile Pack's shield would block them all.

That was when a veritable rainbow of particle beams, railgun slugs and plasma lances filled the sky, utterly obliterating the remaining warheads. Shinn jaw dropped as he caught sight of his savior; it was none other than the Freedom itself. The machine and pilot that he'd spent the better part of two years blaming for the death of his family had just saved his life. There was no time for either party to appreciate that irony, though. The Freedom had only barely managed to break away from the two GOUFs engaging it to snap off that volley, and Kira was already turning his guns back onto those machines. As for himself, Shinn knew that Rey would hardly let that be the end, and he couldn't count on Kira to save his hide again.

"No choice," Shinn muttered as he lined up an attack run on the Impulse, "Damn it, Rey…"

He fired off another volley of particle beams before immediately pulling up. Rey effortlessly sideslipped Shinn's shots before flipping around the Blast Pack's two massive shoulder-mounted weapons so that the two Kerberos High-Energy Long-Range Beam Cannons were now slung beneath the mobile suit's arms and aimed right at the Skygrasper. Using them against the humble fighter jet struck Shinn as a ludicrous level of overkill, but Rey apparently felt otherwise. Salvos of scarlet beams ripped forth, with Shinn white-knuckling the aircraft's control yoke as he desperately rolled and weaved through the barrage.

Without thinking, Shinn got on the radio. "Rey, are you for real here?"

"I am," his former comrade responded, the frigid undercurrent of menace in his voice chilling Shinn to the bone, "You brought this upon yourself, Shinn."

"What was I supposed to do?" Shinn shouted as he returned fire, "Stand back and let our superiors cut Stella open like a damn lab rat? Screw that!"

"Her fate was not yours or mine to decide," Rey countered as he let fly with another salvo of crimson beams that missed Shinn by mere meters, "Our superiors determined what was to be done with her. They gave their orders, and our soldiers were going to carry them out. It was not your place to interfere."

"It was the right thing to do!" Shinn countered furiously while raining down particle beams and machine cannon rounds on his old friend, "I saved her by taking her away from ZAFT!"

"And you betrayed ZAFT in doing so," Rey coldly shot back, "You betrayed us, Shinn. You've even killed ZAFT pilots now. Your treachery is complete, and you'll get a traitor's punishment for it."

Shinn wanted to reply, but he was at a loss for words. In truth, he didn't have a good response. After all, Rey wasn't wrong; even if it was for noble intentions, Shinn had betrayed ZAFT. Worse, as of today, he now had the blood of ZAFT soldiers on his hands. It didn't matter that he'd shot them down in order to protect Stella. He'd crossed a line today, one he'd never imagined himself capable of crossing before, and now he had to live with the consequences.

Pulling up and away as Rey unleashes another volley from the Blast Impulse's Kerberos cannons, Shinn could only sigh and shake his head in dismay. "Rey… it doesn't have to be like this."

"Yes, it does," Rey snapped, "You know it, and I know it. There's no going back to the way things were before, Shinn. You've already dug your own grave, and I'm going to put you in it."

….

"Where did this damn fog come from?" Talia asked.

The question wasn't actually directed at anyone in particular, but Arthur apparently felt the need to answer, or at least try. "It's not natural, Captain. It can't be, not with how quickly it's come on. I think it's a trick by the enemy, though how they created it is beyond me."

Talia's brow furrowed as a thought struck her. "Where's Deathscythe Omega?"

Arthur shook his head. "We don't know, Captain. It cloaked immediately after disengaging from the Raijin."

And it's yet to show its face again, Talia mused grimly as a hypothesis began to take shape in her mind, but I doubt it's out of the fight. That machine might be designed as a stealth unit, but whoever came up with it clearly appreciates psychological warfare as well. I'd bet a year's pay that this fog was created by that Gundam. Duo Maxwell, what the hell are you about to hit us with now?

It was a question that she needed to find the answer to sooner rather than later. The Minerva trembling under another salvo from the Archangel was a potent reminder to Talia of just how poorly the battle was going for them. The engagement might not be considered 'lost' quite yet, but Talia was seasoned and clear-eyed; she knew that ZAFT certainly wasn't winning the fight right now.

It wasn't for lack of trying, of course. In the air and beneath the waves, the battle was still raging, with ZAFT's pilots fighting fiercely. Before the mysterious fog had completely enveloped the Minerva, Talia had had a clear view of the frantic clash unfurling all around her. The mobile suit attack on the Archangel had suffered significant casualties amongst the ranks of the BABI pilots from the submarine/carriers, but all of the GOUFs operating out of the Minerva were still in the fight, albeit with varying degrees of damage. Granted, none of them had managed to take down their targets, but Talia could at least take solace that their pilots were still alive. Of course, the longer that the battle dragged on, the more that was likely to change. It was a blessing that the Freedom's pilot still abided by his non-lethal engagement policy, while the crimson machine with the shield drones was still mostly playing defensive since it was taking on three GOUFs at once. Still, ZAFT's overall pilot losses in taking on the Archangel had been heavy, with the white battleship's fearsome anti-air array playing as deadly a role in savaging the BABIs as that of the two damaged Murasames and the Skygrasper.

The only reason why losses weren't even worse was that the enemy's most potent aces were occupied. Although Talia had only been able to catch glimpses of the vicious duel unfolding high overhead between Heero and Wufei, what she had seen was nothing less than breathtaking. The Gundams Albion and Altron Custom were going at it with incredible speed and ferocity, with sparks flying practically every second as their respective energy blades clashed. Talia hadn't been able to tell if either pilot had scored a hit on his opponent, though what little she'd been able to perceive from her vantage point suggested the answer to that question was no. She still had to question why Wufei was sticking with ZAFT while the other four Gundam pilots had all returned to Termina, but Talia was not going to complain; Altron Custom was the only reason why the Gundam Albion wasn't utterly dominating the battlefield right now.

Wufei wasn't the only freelance pilot doing his part to keep Terminal's best and brightest busy. An equally impressive clash had been unfolding behind the Minerva as the former Valkyrie of ZAFT went toe-to-toe with two of the world's deadliest mercenaries. What little Talia had caught of that fight had come through the battleship's rear-mounted cameras, and it made her very appreciative of Durandal's decision to hire the Galm Team for this operation. It was frankly a miracle that the two dogs of war were still able to keep up with Shemei given the technological gap between their respective machines. The scarlet devil being flown by the Valkyrie had been perceivable as barely more than a streak of red light whenever Talia had checked up on the clash, and she could not help but marvel at how both Cipher and Pixy were not only still in the fight but more or less matching their formidable opponent move for move. They couldn't compete with Shemei in terms of speed, so they were compensating through teamwork honed by years of fighting together across the Earth Sphere. Galm One maintained his role as the duo's spearhead and melee fighter, constantly crossing swords and whips with the Valkyrie while Pixy took potshots whenever he got an opening. Talia had never considered herself the biggest fan of ZAFT's policy regarding the employment of mercenaries, but given just how valuable this pair of contract fighters was proving in keeping Shemei wrapped up in their two-on-one match, she was willing to revise her prior opinions on such dogs of war.

The other two mercenaries taking part in the fight had likewise proven themselves to be worthwhile investments on ZAFT's part. Though Talia might not have been all that impressed with the appearance of Frost Druid's machine, she would freely admit that its capabilities were formidable. During the opening of its engagement with the white and blue machine piloted by the Hawk of Endymion, Talia had seen the mercenary actually manage to damage her opponent, though Frost Druid's mobile suit had also taken a hit. Before the fog had enveloped the Minerva, Talia had been able to track their fast-paced duel, and both respective combatants clearly had plenty of fight left in them. They seemed to be dancing through the air, weaving and whirling through the storm of fire being traded between them, relying on agility and technique in what to Talia's eyes had been an almost artful display of prowess. Neither party seemed to have the upper hand in the clash; while the Hawk of Endymion's machine appeared to be faster and had its four shield drones to provide an added layer of protection, Frost Druid's mobile suit possessed a formidable arsenal, and its compact frame combined with its maneuverability made it a fiendishly difficult target to hit. Talia couldn't say for certain just who would come out on top, but she could at least be assured that one of her many deadly opponents would not be interfering in the wider battle anytime soon.

As for the final mercenary, his ongoing clash with Quatre had also proven to be quite the spectacle. Granted, Talia was a little disappointed that the contract fighter known as Jack hadn't been able to take down Deathscythe Omega, but given that the Raijin was now tying up Sandrock Saladin in a vicious close-quarters duel she could hardly afford to complain. The Raijin definitely had the speed advantage, as was amply demonstrated by how Jack mostly set the pace of the engagement, flitting in and out like a wasp and lashing out with his twin beam swords in brief but furious exchanges. She even saw its energy blades graze the Gundam a few times, leaving scorch marks on its arms and legs. However, Talia couldn't say that Jack had Quatre on the ropes, for Sandrock Saladin's pilot had proven himself more than capable of countering the Raijin's speed by anticipating his opponent's moves and consistently parrying and counterattacking Jack's attacks. The Gundam could put a considerable amount of power into its blows, and any that the Raijin had the misfortune of blocking head-on rather than deflecting or redirecting heavily rocked the machine and left it open for vicious follow-up strikes. Sandrock Saladin might've been slower than the Raijin, but Quatre's twin Heat Shotels formed a veritable steel wall between it and Jack's beam swords, one that was proving most difficult for the mercenary to penetrate.

Talia could admire the skill of all four mercenaries operating under her command, but that admiration came with something of a bitter aftertaste when she compared the ongoing duels of the contract fighters with the results her own pilots had shown so far, or rather the lack of them. She didn't hold that against her subordinates; Talia knew better than most that they were up against extremely skilled opponents, and she did not begrudge them their difficult battles. Still, she could not help but feel chastened on their behalf. Heine and Rey, along with the GOUF pilots, had gone into the fight with determined confidence, but now they were finding themselves humbled before Terminal's aces… and before a former comrade.

To say that Talia had decidedly mixed feelings regarding Shinn's actions would've been no small understatement. In truth, she fully sympathized with his decision to flee the Minerva and take the prisoner with him. What Durandal had planned for the poor girl was nothing short of monstrous, a vile cruelty of the sort that Talia would've normally associated with the genocidal psychopaths in the Atlantic Federation. Shinn taking the prisoner to the Archangel was the morally right decision, regardless of how ZAFT might've regarded it from a legal standpoint. That being said, for Shinn to go from there to turning his skills fully against ZAFT by opposing them on the battlefield was a bridge too far. Before today, when Shinn had still been fighting against Atlantic Federation forces even when he was no longer a part of ZAFT, there had perhaps been some sort of chance at bringing him back into the fold. That chance was now as dead as the BABI pilots that Shinn had shot down, and no amount of sympathy on Talia's part for Shinn's prior actions could change that.

Yet, in piloting the Skygrasper, Shinn should have only been a mere nuisance in this engagement, especially when compared to the much more dangerous mobile suits and pilots flying with him. Sure, ZAFT had learned the hard way during the last war that the Skygrasper could be deadly in the right hands, but the march of military technological progress over the past two years should've left the fighter jet well behind by now. Unfortunately for Talia and her subordinates, Shinn possessed the perfect combination of knowledge and skill to make said fighter jet a serious thorn in ZAFT's side. The plan Rey had come up with for dealing with the Freedom in the event of Athrun's failure had been quite literally shot down courtesy of Shinn knowing to look out for the launch of the Impulse's Silhouette Packs from the Minerva and reacting accordingly. To make matters worse, the boy's defection had clearly gotten under Rey's skin. Now equipped with the Blast Silhouette Pack, what Rey should have done was disengage from Shinn and take the fight to the Archangel; his new loadout was designed to take out targets such as warships, and Terminal's iconic white vessel certainly fit the bill. Instead, Rey had zeroed in on the Skygrasper with what Talia could only describe as a fanatic's zeal, unloading basically everything the Impulse had at a target that wasn't worth the effort or expense.

Rey, I always imagined that you were possessed of a cooler head than this, Talia thought bitterly, I must say that I'm disappointed… though perhaps that's a bit too harsh. An attack from a known enemy isn't nearly as painful as treachery from one believed to be a close friend, after all.

Perhaps she would reprimand Rey later, but that assumed he and her would survive the battle. At present, that was far from a guarantee. Despite the Minerva now being enshrouded in an artificial fog, it was still getting hammered by fire from the Archangel; no doubt Deathscythe Omega was providing targeting data to compensate for obscured vision. The battleship trembled under a steady drumbeat of particle beams, linear cannon slugs and missiles, while its own ability to hit back was decidedly limited. The Minerva did still have its M10 Isolde 42cm Triple Cannon, along with its missile launchers, and targeting data was being supplied to those weapons courtesy of the GOUFs and Impulse, but they didn't pack quite the same punch as what the Archangel was throwing back at them. Talia could take some consolation in that her vessel's reduced arsenal was being supplemented by periodic fire from Lunamaria's Gunner ZAKU Warrior, but her field of fire was limited by the position she'd been forced to take due to Duo literally cutting her machine's legs out from under her. Emilian would occasionally send out a volley with his beam rifle in support of Lunamaria's more powerful shots, but the young man was more concerned with being on the lookout for potential mobile suit attacks on the ship, a fear that was well-founded given just how badly Deathscythe Omega had mauled the Minerva earlier.

That fear was only amplified now that Deathscythe Omega was once again literally and metaphorically off the radar. Yes, the appearance of the artificial fog gave Talia a rough idea as to where the Gundam was, but not enough for her ship or subordinates to actually target and destroy it, especially when they were engaged with so many other threats. The fact that the fog had originated from behind the Minerva made matters worse, because if Talia was right about its source, then that put Duo in a perfect position from which to attack the battleship's thrusters. Why Duo had yet to actually do that was something of a mystery. After all, he'd already demonstrated that he knew exactly where and how to hit the Minerva where it hurt; his efficient neutralization of the Tannhauser Positron Blaster Cannon and the two Tristan Dual Beam Cannons at the start of the fight had been a crippling blow to Talia's initial engagement strategy.

Talia's mind was still trying to puzzle out what exactly her opponent was playing when her communications officer cried out in alarm. "The Herdman reports torpedoes on active sonar! Coming from behind our formation, spread of four!"

Talia's eyes widened in shock. "What's their target?"

"The Herdman and the Iselin!" the officer shouted back.

"Get them to the surface!" Talia snapped, "Emergency blow! Find the source of those torpedoes now!"

If their captains are competent, then they should've already made that order themselves, Talia belatedly thought, though a monster liked the Vosgulov-class can only rise so quickly even with all caution thrown to the wind. It may already be too late.

Indeed, it was, as the communications officer confirmed a split second later. "Herdman and Iselin both report hits! Main engines out, rapid flooding... second spread reported! Same targets! It was right behind the first!"

"From the same vector?" asked Talia.

"Unclear," the officer replied in a mix of dread and shock, "Wait… Captain… contact with Herdman and Iselin has beenlost. The Sverdrup reports that they're both going down…"

The loss of two Vosgulov-class submarine/carriers alone would've been a heavy blow for Talia to process, but before she could even begin to formulate her response the sensor officer suddenly shouted out in something perilously close to outright panic. "Large contact detected, behind and below us!"

Talia was about to ask for identification when the Minerva was suddenly rocked by a pair of near-simultaneous explosions from behind. She was nearly thrown out of her seat, and it was only through herculean effort that Talia didn't wind up sprawled out indignantly on the floor. The battleship began to groan beneath her, and a pit formed in Talia's gut; something important had likely just been damaged.

Arthur gave her confirmation a moment later. "Portside thrusters have been knocked out! Impact was from linear cannon fire!"

Talia's head snapped back in shock. "How? The Archangel isn't in a position to land a shot with her Valiants on those thrusters?"

Arthur turned to face her, his complexion going snow-white. "Captain… it wasn't the Archangel."

The Minerva was rocked by another blast from behind, and Arthur soon had a fresh damage report for her. "Outer starboard thruster's been hit!"

"Small contact popping up off starboard stern," the sensor officer announced, "It's Deathscythe Omega!"

"Captain, we're on our centerline thrusters now!" her helmsman called out, "I can barely keep her over the water!"

"Large contact from before is rising," the sensor officer added, "Surface breach imminent."

"Get me a visual!" Talia ordered.

"It'll be hazy," Arthur remarked, "Fog's thick as pea soup back there."

"I'll take what I can get," said Talia.

Start "Bismarck"

The image on the main monitor shifted, revealing for the most part a dense blanket of grey mist. Talia leaned forward and squinted, as if that alone could will the new contact to appear out of the fog. Several long seconds passed before a silhouette became visible in the mist.

A very familiar silhouette.

A towering bridge, two upraised fins, a pair of forward-jutting legs…

…all painted in black.

The Dominion had arrived.

….

Right off of their portside stern, Natarle thought as she suppressed a huntress's smile, while Murrue's angling along their starboard bow. We've got them right where we want them.

"Open fire with the Gottfrieds!" she commanded, "Follow up with Sledgehammer missiles focused on their remaining weapons; lets yank the rest of their teeth out."

The main viewport flashed with brilliant green light as the battleship's two dual high-energy beam cannons cut loose with what would be the first of many punishing salvos. Mere seconds later, a swarm of anti-ship missiles flew forth, arching over the black vessel before racing towards their target. The upperworks of the Minerva were rapidly blanketed by a string of explosions, and the ZAFT vessel's woes did not end there. From the opposite angle, the Archangel tore into the Minerva with renewed ferocity, determined to match her sister ship in beating their mutual target into submission.

"Eric Bristow's requesting launch clearance!" the ship's mobile suit flight controller called out.

"Are the hangar entrances completely clear of the sea?" Natarle asked.

"Affirmative, Captain!" the officer replied.

Natarle nodded. "Then get him airborne. Tell him to stick close; we don't know if the enemy has additional reinforcements coming our way."

She then turned to her communications officer. "What's the status of the underwater fight?"

"The Chimaera is moving on the last two Vosgulov-class vessels," her subordinate answered, "and she's reporting that the enemy's aquatic mobile suits are on their last legs. Looks like the Wraiths arrived just in time."

"Good to hear," said Natarle, "Once the last two Vosgulovs are gone, tell the Chimaera to mind the perimeter; she's our first line of defense against underwater reinforcements."

"Aye, Captain!" the communications officer acknowledged.

Now, she thought as her brow furrowed, let's show ZAFT why they ought to think twice before picking another fight with us. We're the jaws of this trap…

…and it's time we snap it shut.

….

"You've got to be kidding!" Emilian yelled over the radio as fresh salvos of anti-ship missiles fell around him and Lunamaria, "How the hell did an entire battleship sneak up on us?"

Good question, thought Lunamaria as the upper deck of the Minerva trembled around her, I'd like to know the answer to that myself. Damn it, how the hell did we end up here?

From where she was sitting, the ultimate answer to that question could be laid right at the feet of the man who had ordered this whole operation to begin with. Of course, Lunamaria wouldn't dare give voice to such a sentiment; Captain Gladys tolerated quite a bit from her pilots, but she was wiling to bet that badmouthing the Supreme Council Chairman would be a bridge too far. Lunamaria would have to keep her gripes with the superiors who had put them in this situation private for the time being. She had far more immediate concerns to contend with in any case.

If it hadn't been obvious before, it was clear as day now that ZAFT's position in this engagement had become untenable. Although Lunamaria couldn't see much of the battlefield thanks to the fog that now surrounded the warship her mobile suit was perched atop of, her radar and radio were still working just fine, so it wasn't hard at all to get a feel for the tactical and strategic situation. There were a lot fewer friendly contacts on her sensor display now than there had been at the start of the fight, and some pretty big ones were among the casualties. Lunamaria had expected a tough battle, but for two of the Vosgulovs to go down near simultaneously was not what she had foreseen. If the radio chatter was anything to go by, it sounded like the other two wouldn't be long for this world.

Lunamaria had to push such grim thoughts from her mind; there was nothing she could do to impact whatever was happening beneath the waves. Then again, there was precious little she could do to impact the situation above the waves, either. Thanks to her comrades outside of the fog, she could still track targets, and she fired off another blast from her Orthros in the direction of the Archangel. Unfortunately for her, Terminal's white battleship still remained on her radar display afterwards, and the quartet of emerald beams that lanced through the fog and pummeled the hull plates around her was all Lunamaria needed to know that her shot and all the prior ones she'd fired had not been enough to knock the Archangel out of the fight.

"You okay back there?" asked Emilian as he shot down a few missiles that pierced through the fog.

"About as well as I can be," Lunamaria deadpanned as a warhead slammed against the battleship's hull and detonated mere meters away from her machine, "Not sure how much longer my luck's going to hold out, though."

"Don't talk like that!" Emilian protested, "We'll get through this together!"

Lunamaria didn't know how realistic that was, but the sentiment was encouraging. Even if they did survive, it was clear that the Minerva would be out of action for a while. Its weapons systems alone had taken a beating, and the explosions that had come from the ship's rear didn't bode well for the thrusters. Frankly, Lunamaria was amazed that the vessel hadn't completely crashed into the sea by now. Still, they were still alive, though Lunamaria suspected that was more because Terminal had been pulling their punches in this fight.

The Archangel alone has the firepower to destroy us, she thought, That cannon it used against the Junius Seven debris could easily one-shot the Minerva. They've had plenty of chances to use it, too. They haven't… because they're going easy on us.

It was obvious who they had to thank for that; the Gundam pilots. Although they were now on the opposite side, Heero and the others who had left the Minerva clearly still held a level of respect for the ship's crew, perhaps even regarded them as friends. Lunamaria suspected that Duo had played a role in that. While she was still miffed at him for unintentionally leading Meyrin on, Lunamaria was more than willing to bury the hatchet if whatever fondness Duo did have for her sister allowed them to survive this battle.

Lunamaria's face suddenly paled as a familiar silhouette suddenly appeared in the fog. A black mobile suit, its outer cloak unfolded in batlike wings…

…the God of Death himself.

"Crap!" Emilian cried out.

Lunamaria raised her Orthros; she was reluctant to take the shot, but she was still ZAFT soldier and knew her duty. She opened fire, but Duo was easily able to move out of her limited field of fire even before the beam left her weapon. The mechanical Grim Reaper swooped in, going right for the Isolde Triple Cannon.

"Oh no, you don't!" Emilian declared as he ignited his Blaze ZAKU Phantom's beam tomahawk and interposed himself between Duo and the cannon.

Lunamaria's eyes widened in terror; she knew that this could only end one way. "Emilian, don't try it!"

It was already too late. Duo had committed to his attack, and Emilian was in his way. The young man tried to play the role of valiant defender, bless his heart, he really did. Hitting his thrusters, Emilian leapt his machine into the air, attempting to meet the Gundam pilot head-on. Unfortunately for him, Duo had reach, speed and experience on his side. The God of Death feinted with a high swing before suddenly spinning the handle of the beam scythe so that the blade was facing the opposite direction and made a swift backswing at a much lower angle. With Emilian's beam tomahawk still held in a high guard in defense against the initial attack, it was completely out of position to block the follow-up…

…and the crescent of emerald energy sliced clean through the white mobile suit's cockpit.

Lunamaria was still trying to process what had just happened when Duo moved in on her. For a terrifying instant, Lunamaria believed that the Gundam pilot had decided he'd made a mistake in sparing her earlier and sought to rectify it, but his beam scythe simply cut through the barrel of her Orthros cannon and rendered it useless. The glowing green eyes of his machine seemed to stare directly through her mobile suit's ocular sensor and into Lunamaria's soul before the Gundam fired its thrusters and pulled back.

Lunamaria was in such a state of shock that she almost missed a quiet and solemn male voice come over her cockpit speakers, and the two words it said.

"I'm sorry."

End "Bismarck"

….

While he hardly had time to spectate given the frenzied pace of his duel with Wufei, Heero appreciated the fact that their high-altitude clash gave him a perfect vantage point from which to take in the broader battlefield, if only in the briefest of glimpses. So it was that, as his twin beam sabers traded continuous strikes with Wufei's double-ended beam trident, Heero could see the heavily battered Minerva finally break clear of the artificial fog generated by Deathscythe Omega. ZAFT's prized battleship was barely more than a shell of her former self now, and her suffering was not yet complete.

Your timing was perfect, Natarle, Heero thought as he watched the Dominion lay into the Minerva with her Gottfrieds from the ZAFT vessel's portside rear while the Archangel did the same along the starboard bow, Murrue couldn't ask for a better anvil to hammer our opponent into.

With all her heavy guns out, the Minerva could now only count on some of her CIWs and her missile launchers for protection, with the former having suffered considerably. Granted, Lunamaria's Gunner ZAKU Warrior had provided the Minerva with at least some heavy artillery even after the battleship's main guns were neutralized, and the Archangel had some new scars on her armor as testament to that, but thanks to Duo Lunamaria was no longer a factor in the battle, and the white warship was still in fighting shape and perfectly capable of submerging once the time was right. That time would probably be soon, at least if the mass of bubbles coming to the surface was any indication; the Chimaera appeared to have just finished off the last of ZAFT's Vosgulovs on the field.

"You should pack it in, Wufei," Heero remarked as he deflected a whirling slash from his fellow Gundam pilot, "This battle's just about wrapped up."

"No withdrawal's been signaled yet," Wufei pointed out as he pressed his assault with a staccato burst of thrusts with his polearm, "You don't get to bow out that easily."

Heero held back an exasperated sigh while continuing to deflect and redirect Wufei's strikes. "ZAFT's operation here is a bust, and the Minerva is just another shot to her engines away from being dead in the water. Continuing our fight is pointless, Wufei."

"Is it, though?" Wufei shot back as sparks flew from their clashing energy blades, "Is a clash between two skilled warriors ever pointless, Heero? When battle is how we define ourselves, how we express our very being, how could a duel like this possibly be pointless?"

Heero shook his head as he crossed his beam sabers in front of him to catch Wufei's trident before counterattacking with a series of swift slashes. "Look at us, Wufei. Fighting each other, and for what? Just so you can have some validation? So you can get your fix of adrenaline? If that's what you sell yourself for, then Durandal got you dirt cheap."

"Like you're any better!" Wufei snapped as he fell back under Heero's offensive, "What are you fighting for? A woman? A Gundam pilot is worth far more than that!"

"You have a very twisted sense of what we're 'worth' given your current allegiance," Heero countered as he came at Wufei with varying high and low strikes in an effort to keep his old colleague off balance, "but if you want to put it in such blunt terms, I'll tell you this much; my talents are far better used in defense of the woman I love than they would ever be in service to the snake you're fighting for now. Durandal doesn't give a damn about providing someone like yourself a place in the world, Wufei. You're just a tool to him, nothing more. No better than that mercenary you fought against at Moscow."

Heero expected another caustic comeback from Wufei, but his opposite number went completely silent. That silence continued even as the Gundams' energy blades continued to clash, and Heero wondered if maybe he'd actually gotten through to his old friend. If he had, Wufei apparently didn't want to give him the satisfaction of acknowledging that verbally.

Fine by me, Heero thought, I just hope he's actually using his damn head now, or that he will once the battle's over. If he goes on like this much longer…

…then whatever hold Durandal has on him might become permanent.

….

"Can't believe she's still kicking," Lieutenant Tsukino remarked as the Archangel rumbled courtesy of a cluster of missiles from the Minerva hitting her upper hull, "I'll say this much for ZAFT; they can build some tough ships."

Murrue nodded. "Indeed, they did. Her crew should know when they're beat, though. Let's hammer the point home, Lieutenant."

Her XO didn't need to be told twice. "Gottfrieds, Valiants; put another salvo into her! Follow up with a Sledgehammer volley."

Murrue watched her ship's formidable arsenal pummel the Minerva for a moment before turning to Miriallia. "What's the latest from our underwater units?"

"Dearka reports that they're finishing off the last of the GOOhNs now," Miriallia answered, "The ASH units have already been wiped out. Vayeate Kai and Strike Rouge have both sustained damage, but it sounds fairly minor. They'll be surfacing shortly. The Wraiths are already cloaked and shifting targets; they're moving beneath the Minerva."

Murrue suppressed a satisfied smile. "That'll be another nasty surprise for ZAFT, no doubt."

She then turned to Flay. "Is the Chimaera still showing all clear for heavy underwater contacts?"

It only took Flay a moment to get what Murrue needed. "Chimaera confirms that no further enemy underwater warships are showing on sonar. Looks like we're clear to dive whenever you command, Captain."

"Thank you, Flay," Murrue replied before turning to another of her subordinates, "Damage assessment; can we dive without risking flooding?"

The officer's response came a second after he checked his console. "Armor took some substantial hits, but no major breaches detected. Most of our damage is external. Several of the CIWS have been knocked out. We can't repair or replace those while underwater, Captain."

"We'll find somewhere secluded to surface and fix those later," Murrue reassured him, "If all else fails, there's plenty of desert in North Africa for us to lose ourselves in, and we have prior experience in the area."

Turning her gaze back to the broader fight, Murrue took stock of the situation. All things considered, her subordinates had done very well. ZAFT's squadrons had been decimated, with only the units launched from the Minerva along with the mercenaries being the only ones still properly able to engage. Even then, things were dicey for them; all of the GOUFs were damaged in one capacity or another, and the Impulse's Blast Silhouette Pack actually had its left heavy cannon knocked out courtesy of a lucky particle beam shot from the Skygrasper. The mobile suits defending the Archangel had stood their ground, though not all of them were unscathed. While the Freedom and Vayeate Kai didn't have so much as a scratch on them, the two Murasames had definitely taken a beating. Shinn's Skygrasper was in better shape, but some nearby detonations from missiles fired by the Blast Impulse appeared to have damaged the rifle from the Aile pack and torn a chunk out of the fighter jet's left rudder.

The Skygrasper and Murasames weren't the only Terminal units to be damaged in the fight. Murrue could see sparks flying from the legs of La Flaga's Tallgeese Kai, though the Hawk of Endymion certainly hadn't let the hits scored by his opposite number go unanswered. Despite the damage that both Tallgeese Kai and the strange orange and black machine it was fighting had taken, though, both units were still going strong. Murrue couldn't help but marvel at how the two combatants seemed to dance around each other, firing off potshots while weaving and twirling through each other's volleys in a display of dazzling agility and skill. While the unit that La Flaga was fighting might've looked odd to say the least, whoever was piloting it clearly knew what they were doing, and Murrue was quite thankful that the Hawk of Endymion had kept them occupied thus far.

Tallgeese Kai's duel was hardly the only one still ongoing, either. Quite a different match was playing out between Sandrock Saladin and the dark blue machine it was facing off against. While the latter definitely had the edge in speed and maneuverability, Quatre's skill combined with his Gundams long curved blades were more than keeping him in the fight. Damage suffered by both machines appeared to be strictly cosmetic, a testament to the ability of their respective pilots. Although Murrue was naturally inclined to put her money on Quatre given how Heero had praised the skills of his fellow Gundam pilots in the past, she would be a fool if she counted his opponent out just yet. Sparks flew constantly between the two machines as their blades met time and time again, with neither combatant prepared to concede anytime soon.

ZAFT's mercenaries are more than earning their keep, Murrue thought with begrudging respect, I know we prefer pilots who firmly believe in our cause as opposed to those who fight just for a paycheck, but we can always use more aces on our side. With the combined funds of Lacus Clyne's personal fortune and what Erica's been funneling our way from Morgenroete's black budget, maybe we should see about augmenting our forces with a few guns for hire. Provided we can find ones with scruples, at least.

Murrue would rule out the last two mercenaries on the field from those considerations, though; Galm Team certainly had top-tier skills, but the fact that they'd fought to defend GENESIS during the Second Battle of Jachin Due was a serious black mark against them in her book. Their loyalty to whatever contract they had signed with ZAFT appeared ironclad. Even so, she would give them credit for putting up one hell of a fight against Shemei here. Gundam Epyon Revenant by far outclassed the GOUF units being flown by both mercenaries and was barely perceivable as anything more than a streak of red and green light more often than not, yet the two dogs of war were still giving her a run for her money. No matter how many times Shemei crossed blades with Galm One or attempted to run down Galm Two, the mercenaries were good enough to keep her from landing a fatal blow. That might change if the fight went on longer, of course; as a nuclear-powered machine, Epyon Revenant had the GOUFs beat in staying power, and its Gundanium alloy frame meant it could take significantly more punishment than them. Still, Murrue had seen Galm Team go head-to-head with Heero and live to tell the tale, so she wasn't about to write them off just yet.

The same couldn't be said for reinforcing BABI squadrons that ZAFT had sent in to compensate for the loss of their eastern task force to the Chimaera and Dominion, though. The last of those units had just fallen to a withering crossfire from Heavyarms Arsenal and the Espada Team. Now Trowa was moving on to attack the Minerva while Alberto and Marcella were vectoring towards the Archangel. With the two Eurasian Federation aces joining the fight against the GOUFs and the Impulse, Murrue was certain that the ZAFT pilots still attempting to contest the skies over her vessel would recognize the untenability of their position and pull back.

Unfortunately, Murrue knew that there was one pilot on the field who would take much more convincing before withdrawing; Wufei. Heero had been very up front about the L5 native's stubbornness, and Murrue had no reason to doubt his assessment. It was certainly born out in the fierce clash ongoing overhead between Wing Zero Albion and Altron Custom. While Murrue had, for the most part, focused on her own part of the battle, she had been unable to keep from occasionally checking in on the duel between the Gundam pilots. While her opinion on Wufei had naturally soured now that Heero's old friend was firmly fighting against him, Murrue would give the warrior from the After Colony world his due; he was one of the finest mobile suit pilots she'd ever seen.

He had to be to do what he was doing now. Heero might've had the edge in speed, but not nearly to the extent as Shemei did over the GOUF units being flown by the Galm Team. Altron Custom was nearly as fast and agile as Wing Zero Albion, and its double-ended beam trident combined with its Dragon Fangs gave it a reach advantage in the close-quarters clash that the two Gundams were embroiled in. Murrue even caught occasional glimpses of red and orange streams flying from the heads of the two weapons as Wufei unleashed his flamethrowers; they'd do little to no real damage against another Gundam, but they could serve well as distractions and to momentarily obscure a foe's visual sensors. Heero was too seasoned a combatant for that trick to work, though, and his Gundam gracefully spun and weaved around the columns of fire before once again crossing energy blades with Wufei.

Wufei won't disengage from such a clash lightly, thought Murrue, so we have to make sure what remains of ZAFT's forces here are decisively defeated. Only that will convince him that further fighting is pointless… I hope.

"Update from Natarle, Captain!" Flay called out, "She reports that the Wraiths will be in position to execute our endgame in just a few seconds. Any final instructions?"

Murrue shook her head. "We'll keep to the plan; they have the greenlight for their shots as soon as they're locked on."

"Aye, Captain," Flay acknowledged.

If our final stroke here doesn't convince ZAFT that they're beaten, thought Murrue as she watched her ship's guns continued to pound the Minerva, then I don't know what will…

….

As if things couldn't have gotten any worse, Talia thought grimly as her ship was hammered by a hailstorm of missiles unleashed from Heavyarms Arsenal, I don't think they'll be satisfied until they strip us of every last weapon, down to the CIWS.

The scary part was that Terminal had come quite close to doing that already. The battleship's heavy weapons were already out of action, and her CIWS had been reduced considerably. The missile launchers were still operational, though for how much longer was definitely an open question. Even if the Minerva somehow managed to survive this fight, she'd be stuck in Gibraltar's docks for quite some time to come undergoing repairs.

The operation was an utter fiasco regardless of what shape the Minerva returned to base in now. Two task forces worth of Vosgulov-class submarine/carriers destroyed in the span of a day, multiple mobile suit squadrons eviscerated, the cream of ZAFT's crop beaten back and mauled; it was equal parts disaster and embarrassment. Just to rub a bit more salt in the wound, the best performing pilots were all mercenaries or otherwise third party, with Talia's own pilots barely managing to just keep themselves alive.

With the exception of Emilian, she somberly amended, I knew this fight would be bad, that losses were probably inevitable, but still… that poor boy. Going up against Deathscythe Omega like that… he never stood a chance.

She got a brutal reminder that her rough day wasn't over yet in the form of a sudden explosion that rocked the Minerva from aft. "Damage report! What the hell was that?"

"Lower centerline main thruster's out!" one of her officers replied frantically.

"Captain, I can barely keep her up now!" her helmsman reported.

"Positive ID on the attackers!" her sensor operator added, "It's the Wraiths!"

Clever girls, Talia bitterly mused, I bet they cloaked again once the last of our underwater units were knocked out. They must've slipped silently beneath us in all the confusion, and they pulled that attack off perfectly.

"Can we get anything to lock onto them?" Talia asked.

"Theoretically, our anti-air missiles can reach back there," Arthur cautiously answered, "but it's a really bad angle, Captain. Locking on alone would be dubious at best."

"Take a shot at it," Talia ordered through gritted teeth, "If the other centerline thruster goes, we'll be a sitting duck!"

She knew that the missiles wouldn't do any real damage against the Wraiths' Phase Shift Armor, but they were the only weapons Talia had left in her arsenal. If the impacts could at least throw the aim of the enemy off, that might be enough to buy her some time.

"Meyrin, recall our mobile suits!" she commanded, "We need them back here protecting the ship. Get the mercenaries over here, too. They'll be our outer screen."

"Copy that, Captain," Meyrin acknowledged, sounding remarkably calm given just how poorly the battle was going.

"Helm, put everything you've got into that last centerline thruster and any secondary that's still working," said Talia, "We need to break out of here ASAP."

"Captain, are we leaving the field?" asked Arthur.

"We need to get out of this crossfire first," Talia replied as the Minerva shook under a fresh series of impacts, "After that, we'll assess our options."

Just call the retreat already, she silently told herself, Durandal's orders be damned; there's no way for you to win this fight now.

It wasn't that simple, though. Durandal had made clear that this operation was of paramount importance, and the official record would reflect as much. Any unit that retreated during such a mission would need to have justifiable cause to do so, and saving the lives of her subordinates unfortunately would only be considered a secondary concern to Talia's superiors. While she wanted out of here first and foremost to preserve those soldiers that were still alive, the Defense Council could come down just as hard on her subordinates as they could on Talia herself if she couldn't present an airtight case for what she was certain would be an official inquiry. She hated having to factor in such political concerns into her battlefield calculations, but when one was singled out for favoritism by the Chairman it put extra pressure on any decisions that they made regardless of immediate necessity.

In truth, Talia's prior order was really just the first phase of her withdrawal from this doomed engagement. It might not be official, but it was a retreat all the same. Perhaps some of her subordinates might even suspect as much; the writing was on the wall for anyone with half a brain to see. It was no longer a question of winning the battle now, only surviving it.

….

Taking the Skygrasper through a frantic series of maneuvers, Shinn could only count his lucky stars as the missiles fired at him by Rey were either shot down by his fighter's beam turret or zipped past the aircraft with scant meters to spare. Shinn didn't know if he could pull off a repeat; the aircraft's handling had taken a noticeable hit thanks to the damage sustained by its left rudder. Rey had been relentless in his attacks, despite his firepower being halved courtesy of the hit Shinn had scored on the Blast Impulse's left Kerberos cannon. Shinn had never seen Rey fixate so obsessively on any one target before, but it wasn't hard to guess why he was doing so now.

I figured he wouldn't take me leaving well, Shinn thought, but I had no idea he'd react like this. Does he really hate me that much now?

There was no point in asking Rey himself; he'd made his intentions crystal clear in this fight. That made it all the more puzzling for Shinn when he saw the Blast Impulse suddenly break off and head back towards the Minerva. Looking around the battlefield, Shinn saw that the GOUFs were joining Rey in their withdrawal, and the mercenaries were likewise moving to form a loose perimeter around the vessel. Even Wufei had disengaged from his duel with Heero, though he seemed to be lagging somewhat behind the others; no doubt he'd been rather reluctant to end that fight. The Wraiths attacking the Minerva had immediately disengaged in response, and Shinn only caught a glimpse of them before all three activated their Mirage Colloid systems.

"What's going on?" asked Shinn.

"I think they finally found their sense of self-preservation," Heero remarked, "All mobile suits, form up around your respective vessels. Maintain defensive formation until we're clear of here. Shinn, you'll be first in queue for landing. Will you be able to make it down in one piece?"

Shinn nodded as he checked his console. "I think so. Apart from the rudder and beam rifle, it doesn't look too bad. Control's a bit shaky, but I can make the landing."

"Good," said Heero, "The Murasames will be right behind you; they're in a bit rougher shape. Kira and I will play rearguard until everyone else has landed."

Shinn cast a mournful look at the Minerva. He'd been through some rough engagements aboard that ship, but he'd never seen her in such bad shape before. Her hull was covered in blast pockmarks from detonating missiles, the bulk of her weaponry had been methodically destroyed, and there were some serious buckling points in her armor. She appeared to be struggling just to stay over the water; there looked to be barely more than a meter or so worth of clearance between her and the waves, and smoke was billowing from most of her thrusters. Given the beating she had taken from the Archangel and the Dominion, it was frankly a miracle that she was still in one piece.

What hurt even more was what he saw atop of the battleship. While Shinn was relieved that Lunamaria had survived, her Gunner ZAKU Warrior was in bad shape. How many times had the two of them fought together since Armory One? Her machine had been a welcome sight on the battlefield, but now it belonged to the opposing side. The same went for the Saviour, which if anything was in even worse shape than Lunamaria's machine. The cockpit appeared to still be intact, so Shinn could at least take comfort in the fact that Athrun was alive, but it was yet another formerly friendly mobile suit that had been utterly mauled in an engagement against him. The same went for Heine; his GOUF had taken a beating, but it was still at least airborne.

Shinn wondered if any of them would ever understand why he'd made this choice. Perhaps Lunamaria and Meyrin, and probably Athrun, but Rey, Heine and the rest of the crew aboard the Minerva? Only time would tell.

Circling over the Archangel, Shinn kept a wary eye on the Minerva, fully expecting more missiles to come flying forth from the warship. None did, though. With the capital ships and mobile suits of both sides now increasingly keeping their distance from each other, it appeared that the battle might finally be over. Still, Shinn wouldn't relax his guard until the Minerva and ZAFT's surviving mobile suits were well beyond the horizon; he knew better than to underestimate them.

"Hey, Heero?" Shinn said after a moment, "Can I ask you something?"

"What is it?" Heero replied.

Shinn took a deep breath. "Did I… do the right thing today?"

"That's not for anyone else but yourself to decide, Shinn," Heero answered, "You made a choice, and now you live with the consequences. Whether those consequences are worth bearing in your eyes is what will make the decision right or wrong."

Shinn sighed. "Not exactly a straightforward answer… but I guess something like this isn't supposed to be simple, is it?"

"No, it's not," Heero confirmed, "The fact that you recognize that now is a sign of progress, though. You've grown quite a bit since we first met, Shinn."

"Is that a good thing or a bad thing?" Shinn asked as his gaze lingered on the vessel that he'd once called home… and the friends that he'd once called comrades.

"Again, only you can decide that," said Heero, "Don't look to me as some kind of moral compass, Shinn. Weigh each and every action you take against what you've done in the past and how you feel about it. You can seek counsel from others, but in the end, only you can make the decision to act. How your actions influence your growth, and whether that growth is positive or negative, is in your hands alone."

Shinn shook his head in mild frustration. "You don't like making things easy for people, do you?"

"The questions and choices that you're struggling with aren't supposed to be easy," Heero replied, "Still… when you acted to take Stella from ZAFT, how did you feel?"

Shinn blinked in confusion. "How did I feel? Well… like I was helping her. Saving her. I felt… like I was giving her a chance that ZAFT wouldn't."

"Do you regret that decision?" Heero asked.

Shinn's answer was immediate. "No."

"There you go, then," said Heero, "If you're able to live with that decision without regrets, then for you it was the right one. As for the consequences of that decision, including fighting your former comrades… whether you can live with that or not, you might not be able to answer that until the war is over. So, try to stay alive long enough to reach that point, you got that?"

Shinn nodded with a growing sense of resolve. "I will… and you'd better do the same. I want you to be there at the end so I can ask you this again."

A strange noise came over the radio, and Shinn swore Heero might've actually chuckled. "I was planning on that anyway, but if you insist, very well. Strange, though… given how things started with us, I never thought I'd hear something like that from you."

"Like you said; I've grown," Shinn pointed out.

"You have, indeed," Heero concurred as they left the Minerva and Shinn's old comrades to gradually recede into the distance, "Stay on the path that your growth has laid out before you, Shinn, and I think you'll be in a very interesting place when this war is finally over."

Preview for next time!

Badly damaged from battle, the Minerva limps back to Gibraltar for much needed repairs. For their part, although they've won the battle, Terminal has no time to celebrate. Crossing the Mediterranean Sea underwater, the Archangel and her accompanying warships soon surface off the North African coast before heading overland into the desert. Sheltering her vessel amongst the dunes, Captain Ramius orders her crew to commence field repairs while simultaneously coordinating a joint strike operation between Terminal's top pilots, the North American resistance, and the Eurasian Federation Navy. Targeting the Atlantic Federation's largest naval bases in the British Isles, the mission aims to destroy repair and resupply facilities for the enemy on the eastern side of the Atlantic Ocean, allowing the Eurasian Federation Navy a chance to break out, fight for control of the high seas, and strangle the supply lines supporting the invasion of continental Europe. Next time, on "Destiny's Call", Episode Twenty-Eight: Storm Over Britannia.

'Won't you run.'

'Live to fly.'

'Fly to live.'

'Aces high.'

Aces High, by Iron Maiden.

Author's Notes: Got into Project Wingman this past year, so of course I had to bring over a character and turn one of its super planes into a mobile suit. Yup, Frost Druid, aka Klara Rask, is from that game, and definitely one of the more interesting bosses to go up against. The SP-34RX mobile suit she pilots is basically my attempt to translate the unique SP-34R fighter jet, the only aircraft in the game to completely lack missiles (embrace old school WWII dogfighting!), into something worthy of the Cosmic Era's general craziness. Hope I succeeded on that count.

The Chimaera, by contrast, is an original design of mine. I figured that it was only a matter of time that other member states of the Earth Alliance would get on the whole hyper-advanced battleship/mobile-suit carrier game that the Atlantic Federation and ZAFT have been playing, and the Chimaera is what I envisioned Moscow's version to be. Not as large or powerful as either the Archangel or Minerva-class vessels, but size and firepower aren't everything. Having a smaller and relatively simpler design is good for moving the unit into a wider production run, though the Eurasian Federation obviously isn't quite at that point yet since they're still testing the prototype, albeit now under much deadlier conditions than normal testing would entail.

Next chapter's another combat one, so fun times ahead!

Hope you all enjoyed the chapter. Please review, stay safe, and I'll see you all next time!