Chapter 8: The Carnage over Dawn

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AN: Prologue and Chapter 1 will be updated later today or tomorrow.

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Returning to the ship with Kira had been a slightly awkward affair. The stunt Kira had pulled had caused quite a commotion, and while Ray knew that he'd no doubt be questioned in regards to allowing Kira to leave the ship, he would need to stand in for taking part of the blame; it was mostly to avoid looking at though he was dodging responsibility.

As they flew back, Ray spoke to Kira.
"Hey Kira, if it's any consolation, you've done what you think was right, can't really do more than that, but for the future learn to read the atmosphere, it'll help you out.

"Did I do the right thing?" Kira asked him.

"If you're asking me whether or not what you did was right then you'd be asking the wrong person, I think the question you're looking for is more do you believe what you did was right?"

"In my mind, I feel as though this is what had to be done."

"Then you should accept it, believe in a cause that you stand behind, a principle you can hold onto, or don't, I'm not here to tell you what to think. But just remember, you've already done this, you can't change that." He said as they returned to the Archangel.

There was no further exchange of words, as they would be heading to speak with the Captain and the other officers in regards to Kira's actions, no doubt Ray would be questioned in regards to that. And indeed it wasn't long before they were summoned to speak with the Captain.
"I see that both of you are here."

"I'm merely here to see the proceedings and add in my report."

"You would also need to explain why on Earth you were also letting Kira escape."

"You can't say that I definitively feigned negligence, but I won't admit or deny such a thing." He defended.

"The crew saw you board your mobile suit right before Kira did, and then pursued him."

"I was conducting a few system checks, no harm in that right?" He reasoned.

"While in a pilot suit?"

"I can't operate the start up without my pilot suit."

"But you already knew about Kira's plan didn't you?" She asked.

"I may have suspected it, but I never intervened, deciding it wasn't worth me getting involved in other people's affairs."

"For an Alliance soldier, you seem quite intent on ignoring certain protocols."

"Only when I feel it necessary to do so." He said with a nonchalant shrug.

"Either way I'm confining you to quarters for the duration of the week; this is only because we need you for active roster, and training. You plan to stick around correct?" She asked him a little annoyed.

"I have no reason to leave as of yet." Ray said promptly.

Murrue turned her attention to Kira, she was a little more thoughtful in regards to Kira for various reasons, and she was going to make this entire issue cut and dry.
"As for you Kira, this is a lot more serious of a breach, and due to the nature of your action, this would be counted as an act of insubordination and breach of military protocol, on multiple levels. In any event, I won't gloss over the decision, for the time being we'll be putting you in confinement as well, only because you are civilian and the nature of your stay with us is arguably different. I'd rather believe that under special circumstances you'd be treated as such. But I ask you at least speak to us about this beforehand."

"Understood Captain." Kira said calmly.

"In any event, I have to deal with the fallout; I suggest you get some proper rest. Tomorrow we'll be linking up with the 8th Fleet." Murrue told both of them. "Dismissed."

They both exited the room, followed by Mu who had come along to see them in the aftermath; he had gotten back on last, and figured that there might have been some other proceeding. But with the captain deciding on meeting out disciplinary action on both of them differently, he understood why.

"So you're back on duty?"

"For the time being, not like I could wander off at this point."

"Figures, I couldn't blame her, you're a tangle of trouble like Kira, just a little more complex. You probably didn't think you could sneak away from this did you?"

"I thought about the probability, either way I'd at least admit culpability. I couldn't leave him hanging for all the blame." Ray stated.

"Fond of Kira?"

"No, just making sure that I'm there when I need to be." He replied.

(AN: There was going to be an actual court martial, but it took too long.)

XXXXX

After their meeting and impromptu penalty, Ray had gone back to his quarters to spend his confinement in peace and quiet, as well as taking time to speak with Alice on some predictive statistical models in regards to the events of the future and how they'd play out. So far he was getting some rather worrisome predictions.

But these were in the event of something going horribly wrong; in other cases he just ran the numbers in regards to whether or not they'd accomplish any meaningful goal. The chances of something like this happening was very slim, at the moment at least. For him thing seemed fine, there was no indication of real trouble yet.

The next day, the Archangel and the surviving members of the advanced recon fleet had finally arrived at the 8th Fleet's position, something which Ray was immensely grateful for, seeing as how this gave him the opportunity to avoid dealing with Mr Allster, the Foreign Minister having huffed and puffed about his gripe with Ray's supposed aid in allowing Kira to leave with Lacus.

Thankfully he got a free pass thanks to him feigning ignorance, while Flay who had gone to the effort to protect Kira from scrutiny by distracting her father from his displeasure of Kira. In the end, this had worked out well to keep Kira going, and Ray out of the line of fire as he busily trained the young man in zero gee combat.

He had also gone to some effort to help out the kids to practice for the immediate future, as he hoped he could convince them to withhold leaving the ship just yet. A lot of things were riding on Kira, he nudged them into the mindset that sticking around for Kira was a good thing, and most agreed, albeit hesitantly.

But this was in the midst of some issues regarding Flay, who from what the kids understood was, her father intended to take her to Earth, and even suggested bringing along Sai. Though Sai had thought about it, he was conflicted as much as Kira about the decision to leave. For Ray, he was quite adamant on keeping the gang together, so he distanced him from the Minister, letting him consolidate his thoughts.

'Let's just hope I've played my cards accordingly, if things go well, then Kira would be willing to stick around and fight and his friends will be there to support him. As for Flay, well that's another obstacle.' Ray thought deeply.

Today was going to be the real kicker, and he had to be ready.

XXXXX

After they stopped with the 8th Fleet, they were busy getting resupplied, with new equipment, weapons and parts. Ray had checked the manifest for anything of note, and made it a point to the Captain to requisition more munition, and even some spare pieces for the Striker Packs, in case they had to replace or repair them.

He knew that Strike would be going through tons of battles, and he wanted to customise the Strike using readily available parts he could get his hands on. There would be time in the near future to upgrade the Strike, hopefully so that Kira would be able to fight more equally on Earth, he knew there would be much more trouble on the horizon, with Zala's team getting full upgrades in pursuing the Archangel and Strike.

But until then, he'd be patient, there was still time before that, and the battle in orbit was going to be a lot more hectic. With him in this fight, there was going to be a shift in focus, and once they were on Earth, hopefully not off course, or too far off course, then they'd be able to focus on the main series of events.

It was midday when the Archangel Staff officers were called together for their transport over to the 8th Fleet Flagship Agamemnon, and it would be here Ray intended to meet with Admiral Halberton in person. It was an interesting experience to be sure, since he was going to have to reveal some very ugly truths to the Admiral.

Aboard the shuttle the crew were busy going over what they had intended to report when they arrived on the flagship, so far everyone was distracted by a myriad of thoughts. But for Ray, he knew that there was a lot to take into consideration, the precarious situation he found himself in was the internal politics of the Alliance, and how he knew that he had to manipulate the context to fit his needs.

He just hoped that the situation was just as he read it, or he would be in for a ton of shit. Admiral Halberton didn't realise the nature of the Alliance government or the Atlantic Federation, and if there was any hope of getting the man to side with Murrue in the future, then he would need to convince the man.

His train of thoughts were broken as he saw the distinct burst of engines being ignited, a flight of Mobile Armour moved through the fleet.
"Hey I know those units." Ray said cheerfully while pointing outside of the shuttle window.

"Aren't those the new Moebius models the Alliance Navy had been producing for space?" Murrue asked while watching them performing their manoeuvres.

"Yeah, TS-MA-X3A Moebius Eta, I heard these had been in development at Luna though."

"Experimental type mobile armours?"

"They were put into limited production, I'm certain you'd know about them though Mu." Ray turned to the lieutenant who gave him a perplexed expression.

"Me? Well I met one of their training squadrons in the past, but that was just once, before I had been given the duty to train the pilots for the G-weapons project."

"You knew about these machines?"

"Well yeah, I was part of the training unit which had been assigned to them."

"But you got the task for training the G-weapons operators instead."

"I never thought these things would enter into production so soon though."

"I doubt it; these are probably issued to a veteran unit which finished orientation." Ray surmised.

"That's probably true as well, given the scale of the battles recently breaking out; the EA must be desperate to turn their luck around." Mu said in agreement.

The experimental X3A Moebius Eta was quite a step up from the older Moebius types; their performance was given a boost with newer engines boosters to achieve higher speeds. They also featured variable thrust system which allowed the engines to pivot 360 degrees; high speed manoeuvring made them far more versatile for combat.

An added improvement over older TS-MA2 models was the increased firepower, being able to utilise improved weapon systems, most could use experimental beam weapons, twin linear guns, and a new missile pod attachment to fire a barrage of missiles against enemy mobile suits. They were the Alliance's primary interdictor in terms of countering mobile suits used by the ZAFT forces.

It was a shame that they didn't get more attention, since the series skimmed their involvement entirely, thanks to the fact that SEED mostly focused on mobile suits and other aspects of the story and diverged wildly away from the more everyday people of the world. Like the way space battles were fought, the reboot of SEED actually attempted to establish realistic space combat.

He watched them dancing around in formation around the fleet, before his attention turned back to their approach to the 8th Fleet's flagship, Agamemnon.

XXXXX

400,000 kilometres away…

On the edge of a debris field a pair of Alliance Drake-class frigates traversed the debris field, they were closer to corvettes in terms of firepower and speed, intended to scour the field and report back to the 8th fleet. The 'Baton Rouge' and 'Yazoo' had been given orders to keep a lookout for potential enemy forces approaching the 8th fleet from the debris field. To this end, both ships had deployed two TS-MA2-R units to patrol the area.

A wiry looking man with visors looked over his sensor unit. "Scopes are clear, nothing so far."

"Keep on it Shawshank, we've still got 30,000 k's to go." The pilot, a burly unshaven man with Martini scratched onto his pilot suit said.

"How do you suppose the enemy's going to sneak an assault fleet right through the debris belt, especially with the 8th Fleet nearby?"

"Plenty of ways, as long as they kept to the debris field and shied from lining across the horizon, they could move a fleet of ships under the cover of the debris field, it's an old trick used by smugglers and criminals before the war broke out."

"Really?"

"Yeah, I was a patrol officer for the old UN Space Administration Force, so I know this." Gabe said.

"No way, I thought you were an old space junker."

"Junk guilder? The fuck?" Gabe said perplexed.

"Hey you're messy as one." Shaw remarked.

"You got me there." Gabe laughed as they continued their patrol route.

It was then something caught the attention of Shawshank.
"Hey did you see that?"

"What is it?" Gabe dropped his mirth and focused on Shaw's response.

"Sirocco-3 probe just picked something up…" Shawshank replied. "It's moving."

"It's not another runaway engine from a defunct craft is it?" The pilot asked as he checked their sensor logs.

"No, too big, thermographic analysis says waste heat; it's distinct, moving along our axis, 273, 103, 700 kilometres."

"I think it's time to report in." The pilot said as he hit the com channel for the ship.

"Baton – Actual, this is Clyde-1 we're detecting a heat source in our area, unable to determine what it is, requesting permission to investigate."

"Understood Clyde-1, you're permitted to investigate."

"Alright let's see what's going on…" Gabe said as he pulled their recon craft into a quick burn.

He accelerated to 200m/s and burned for 30 seconds before stopping, letting inertia carry their craft into the debris field, as he got deeper, the pings of loose debris and objects bounced off the hull of their Recon Moebius. It was a disconcerting feeling that at any moment an object bigger than a soft ball could potentially rupture a fuel tank or damage a sensor, but Gabe kept his calm.

"Should we cut speed now?"

"Not until we're within 50kms, better we get there in a hurry, debris aren't so much an issue, we're depressurised, and I know that our armour can handle more than a bit of rough handling."

"Umm is that a safe conclusion?"

"Come on man, I've done this a hundred times, this is nothing new, barring the fact that we're in a warzone. Better we find the enemy, than the enemy finding us."

"If you say so."

They closed distance to approximately 50kms before Gabe cut back and throttled their Moebius down slow enough that they could safely visualise the surrounding area, he manoeuvred them around large debris and such to avoid being spotted.

"Is that a Mistral?" Shawshank said.

"Looks like it, looks like its running out of control."

"That looks like Spadder's unit!"

"What's wrong?" Gabe asked.

"Spadder's was the unit attached to the orbital patrol; they went missing a couple of days ago." Shawshank said as he looked at the fighter's damaged fuselage.

Gabe froze as he felt something cold in the pit of his stomach; he yanked his controls to the back and pulled the Moebius away as the derelict Mistral suddenly exploded.

"What the hell?"

"It was rigged with explosives, and old booby trap technique used by pirates and criminals to down rescue units and patrols, son of a bitch."

As they managed to get clear, the operator suddenly received a warning on his console.
"Gabe, IR spike, we're being targeted!" The co-pilot yelled as the alarms rang. "Lock on!"

"Where?" Gabe reacted reflexively as he pulled the machine away from the area and made a headlong reverse thrust towards the debris field.

"320, 112, one incoming!" Shawshank replied in succession.

The craft made a sharp turn around the nearest source of debris just as the enemy fired a guided missile in their direction; the pilot and co-pilot were pressed into their harness as their recon Moebius made an escape vector through the debris field. Their pilot suits pressed their bodies as they pulled over 3g of force making the manoeuvre before the missile could reach them.

Gabe was a seasoned pilot to know how to get around missiles, ducked his unit between two narrow points, he deployed flares and at the edge of one of the floating sections, fired an anchor into the section before, he cut engines and let momentum carry them away. The missile locked onto the flares but missed as it was an impact only type warhead; it flew randomly through them and slammed into a debris section.

The explosion detonated behind the Moebius as Gabe using the anchor had swung them around the debris and sent them at a perpendicular angle; he severed the anchor at the right time to allow them a straight shot out of the field. As they raced across the debris field dodging as many large chunks of floating junk.

The enemy pursued them from behind. Gabe was able to take evasive action and bring them around the enemy's flank as they attempted to fire a missile up their engine exhaust; he ducked around to get a proper view of the mono eyed monstrosity hunting them. His eyes fell upon not the machine, as daunting as it looked, but the side insignia.

"Clyde-1 to Baton Rouge Actual, we're being pursued by enemy mobile suit, GINN-Recon variant, markings; they're from the 3rd ZAFT expeditionary fleet!" Gabe yelled as he tapped the com suite, hoping that it'd transmit.

"Fucking hell, they're part of Butcher of the Messene's fleet?" The operator exclaimed as they attempted to dodge incoming fire.

"Shaw, focus!" Gabe yelled as he pulled them away.

"I'm transmitting, but we're getting nothing, jamming from those suits and the debris field is screwing our signal, it's bouncing all over the place."

"It looks like we don't have much of a choice, we'll have to link back up, and hopefully we can get a warning to the fleet."

The small craft dove around large chunks of broken debris and through the wreckage of a destroyed cruiser, still taking fire from the enemy mobile suit; the amount of obstacles and the higher manoeuvrability of their recon Moebius gave them an edge in terms of being able to avoid direct fire around these tight bends.

It was thanks to the improved engine boosters added for escapes when needed; the craft could handle the increased manoeuvres and demands from the pilot to evade pursuit. But mobile suits weren't called mobile suits for nothing, and these were long range recon type GINNs, meaning that they were capable of pursuit.

Gabe came up with an idea.
"Shaw, how good is your sense of direction?"

"Why?"

"I'm going to do a duck and cover."

"What?"

"We'll blind them by using our missiles and smoke screen, dunk it into an area which they'll attempt to pursue us and lead them off in multiple directions."

"That's insanely risky."

"Better than nothing." He said.

As they headed towards a series of broken floating buildings, Gabe set his guidance computer to dumb fire 2 missiles off as decoys, the smoke screen behind him would allow him to divert the GINNs attention away long enough to make a duck and cover act. It was a rather old fashioned trick, but he knew it worked on pursuit units.

The missiles shot through the screen as he hooked their anchor to the side of a debris chunk and let them pass over. Within a minute the screen dissipated and the GINNs had appeared to have moved off. Gabe detached from the debris piece and let them drift off at low speeds towards the cover of some solar panels.

"Did we lose them?" Shaw asked.

"I think so, that scattering effect should have thrown their sensors off from us." Gabe said as he looked around.

As they moved past a broken solar panel and towards a gap to which they'd be able to sling themselves towards their ships, they didn't see the waiting sniper behind the cover of a broken apartment complex which floated loosely nearby. It zeroed in on them and within moments, unleashed a burst of fire.

Their fighter was struck by three systemic hits from enemy fire, the first ripped through the starboard engine and was followed by another which tore into their fuselage rupturing the internal fuel tanks and sending their Moebius into a spin. Gabe attempted to correct their orientation but the last round impact right through the cockpit.

The bullet blowing through Shawshank's seat before the craft went tumbling away into a debris piece, Gabe only conscious enough to see their craft smash into the side of a broken section of an apartment which had been left adrift from some forgotten colony project. In an instant the craft was smashed against the structure before exploding in a fireball.

Regardless of whether or not Clyde-1 was able to return back to the ship, the 'Baton Rouge' and the 'Yazoo' had both been destroyed in the time the two craft were engaged in recon. The ZAFT units having drawn the recon fighters from their intended path, the mobile suits hiding in the debris field managed to get right under the prow of the ships and engaged before they could effectively respond to the attack.

Both frigates were sunk within minutes by precise shots from the advanced GINN recon scouts from the 3rd ZAFT expeditionary fleet.

The leader of the pair observed. "Looks like the pathway is clear."

"Signal back to the Cygnus, we're done here."

"Understood captain." The recon specialist replied.

XXXXX

Meanwhile…

Ray had spent some time pondering over the decisions he had made over the course of his arrival into this reality, the risks he was taking with Lacus and George Allster had put him in an uncertain position. He felt somewhat like Kira, but he a definite end game in sight, the trouble was how much trouble he'd have to go through to get to that end game.

And now he was here, in Halberton's office with the rest of the Archangel's command staff, he was wondering if the Captain was feeling nervous. In the time they had spent debriefing, the attention turned to Kira, who Ray stood up for; deciding in trying to convince them that he believed Kira would stay aboard, if for his friends.

Natarle made the remark about pressuring Kira, but Ray smacked the argument down, and emphasised on the choice being ultimately up for Kira to decide, it'd be unsightly for someone to be forced to fight. He had known from experience that child soldiers didn't tend to do well when you had a gun put to the back of their heads or hold something against them.

In any event, Halberton agreed, it'd be unsightly to utilise a forced child soldier. Ray understood the mentality which Natarle looked into, 'the ends justify the means', but such thinking was dangerous, especially when it came to people. You shouldn't justify the means by ignoring every principle in the book, or what would you even call those principles?

It wasn't long before they wrapped up debrief, Murrue had expressed her concerns about a ZAFT counter attack, but the admiral understood, there was going to be a battle. He reassured her that he had no intention to stick around and die needlessly, but he would see the Archangel to her destination.

As reassuring as he could make it sound, realistically the fight was going to be very ugly; still the man had an air of confidence. As they wrapped up debrief, the admiral asked him to remain.
"Warrant Officer Rayleigh Hyung, can you please remain, I'd like to speak with you."

"Yes sir." Ray said promptly in response, he knew what was going to happen and kept a straight face, the others gave him a look of concern, at least Murrue did, La Flaga passed him a curt nod of the head, which Ray returned and Natarle left without so much as a glance.

'Do or die time.' Ray thought inwardly as he looked upon the admiral, remaining stoic, though internally he was uneasy. There was a lot that could go horribly wrong if he couldn't convince the Admiral about his reasons, he Halberton wasn't a fool, he was a military man, and one with the capacity to understand reason.
"Sir, what is it you'd like to discuss with me?" Ray asked after a few moments.

"There is actually quite a bit. I've noticed that you were the only officer aboard the ship who has forgone writing down anything in specific detail, understandable considering your position, however what has drawn my attention was the way you handled the incident regarding a Ms Lacus Clyne, apparently you were helping her to escape."

"I've stated for the record, I had no direct participation in the incident I merely conveyed it." He stated clearly. "I let it play out, that's all I can say."

"Rather unorthodox for someone who claims to be a Special Forces operative?"

"I am unorthodox, more so than some people would like."

"As well as the fact you revealed the existence of your mobile suit rather than hide it is another thing I've read upon by Captain Ramius, and the fact you were hiding a great deal of knowledge was what perturbed her."

"I can't say much Admiral; you should know that, I've revealed that Eventide is an experimental unit, and one which no one outside of the chosen few was supposed to know of its existence or what it was intended to do." Ray stated.

"I inquired about your origins, and I even made a call to the Alliance HQ on Luna about your existence, so far no one has been able to give me a straight answer, Alliance HQ on Luna declared that your existence is unknown to them. Though they might be covering for you, but I don't think so." Halberton levelled at Ray with an intense look.

"Because, if that was the case, they wouldn't have asked about whether or not I was present in the fleet?" Ray already knew what the man was thinking.

"You got that right, you don't exist on their records, and as far as I know, Luna HQ has done little to try and me give answers as much as they're been attempting to extract answers from me."

"Then certainly that must answer some suspicions." Ray said.

"Indeed it has. You're been lying about your origin and that machine haven't you?"

"In a sense, it's a complicated matter."

"Is that so? And why would that be?"

"Sir if I may speak frankly?"

"You may." He permitted.

"Sir, I am military, albeit formerly, I can't state for certain if you'd understand why I am involved in all of this, and if you did, I doubt you'd quite agree with why I am doing this."

"And why might this be the case?"

"It's a waste, a needless and bloody waste of lives, all perpetrated for the sake of politics, something I and you find distasteful, we are soldiers, we fight for the people in the sense we will protect the people and the ideals by which the society we were raised in. But we cannot blindly turn our eyes from the poor decisions and needless bloodletting." Ray clearly said.

"And now this brings up my opinion as to why would this matter to the conversation?"

"Because the program I was involved in was a Black Ops project designed to create mobile suits which would ultimately ensure the Alliance pushes for further aggression against the PLANTs."

"What?" Halberton said perplexed.

"You might not know this Admiral, but behind closed doors you have many enemies, some who are closer than you might think."

"That's a bold claim, what evidence do you have?"

"This." Ray said pulling up a data card.

"What is this?" He asked Ray.

"A replacement project, I stole this from a secure terminal at Heliopolis during the attack by ZAFT, I was tasked with retrieving data, but I have a habit of sticking my nose into things I shouldn't. This was transmitted by Morgenrote to an unknown satellite base." Ray informed him as he gestured for Halberton to plug it in.

"These units." He said as he looked up the profiles.

"They're based on the cooperative efforts from the G-weapons research, they're currently under development in the Atlantic Federation under the guise of a special application program, but it won't be long before they're launched. I know for a certainty that the Alliance intends to use them." He informed Halberton.

"The design on these units, who authorised their creation?" Halberton asked.

"Members of Alliance High Command, I know for a certainty that Admiral Sutherland and several other officials had been involved in this as well." Ray stated. "But you couldn't pin the evidence unless you knew where to look."

"Why are you showing me this?" He asked.

"Because Admiral, if you choose to ignore what's going around you admiral, it might just cost you your life, and many other people's, something I'd like to avoid." He said seriously.

There was a moment of contemplation from the admiral, clearly he was shocked about this new revelation that the Alliance military or more specifically radicals within the military of the Atlantic Federation planned to do something. His aim was actually more distinct, Halberton was a man who stood for ending the war with an armistice, rather than total annihilation.

He was a man of a strong ideology which stood behind fighting for the sake of the people and the system it was supposed to represent, but he had never considered how bad it would get. It was his belief that he could convince those at Alaska to change their minds for the immediate future, ending the war before things escalated. Not escalating it under their terms in order to push an agenda.

"Who else do you say is involved in this?" He asked.

"Murata Azrael, a notable member of Blue Cosmos, I know he's got his hands in the Alliance military, especially with his supporters in the Atlantic Federation government, paid and bought officials, and a few nice handshakes here and there. He's got a lot of pull, especially with Admiral Sutherland, and from what I understand, he's got plans."

"What sort of plans are we talking about?" Halberton asked.

"Do you know anything about Project Wipeout?" Ray asked the admiral.

"No, but I have a feeling you do."

"It's ongoing at Alaska right now, and I know for a certainty it's not good, especially if I suspect what they plan to do with it."

"Why is that?"

"Project wipeout is utilising thousands of engineers and technicians in areas to work on something that Alaska HQ has at JOSH-A, I can't get deeper into it, but I believe that it will have significant impact on the war, serious enough that it might resulting in worsening hostilities. And worse yet, it might leverage Blue Cosmos into a position of absolute power."

"And what would you like me to do?" Halberton asked, clearly he knew Ray wanted something.

Ray reassured him. "Do nothing, I have a contact that is already looking into the project, but I'd like for you to help me, find a way to bring these men to justice. I'm asking this not so much as a favour but something I know you would feel compelled by, it might save a lot of lives at the end."

"Sounds like quite a goal, but why are you pinning such a proposal upon a common career soldier? I'm sure you could have approached others." Halberton asked curiously.

"You are one of the few men I know with greater integrity than those in Alaska, and while my branch is busy developing these weapons, I know they're dancing in the palm of Blue Cosmos. I can't trust anyone barring select individuals as to what I know. But you have a reputation." Ray reasoned.

Halberton was a principled man, with a reputation that kept him in a position of power that Blue Cosmos couldn't overrule him on, this made him an obstacle, and if they could get rid of him, they'd take it. But right now he was needed, and while Ray knew that there was a firestorm that'd erupt from this, he'd make sure Halberton was there to contend.

Having him around could change things drastically, if you knew why, for one Halberton disagreed with the sentiment of his fellow officers, and on top of that he scrutinised heavily Alliance policies. If anything the man would more likely fight against Blue Cosmos under the grounds of stopping their madness as well as Rau's plans.

"And you truly trust me to carry through with this?"

"I have no reason not to, you might be a career officer, but you're a conscious man, you care more about the lives under your command as well as the lives of others. You couldn't shake this fact off."

It was true, the Admiral found wasting lives distasteful especially by those in the higher echelons of command.
"Very well I'll see to what I may be able to do, I hope your gamble pays off, for the both of us."

"I don't plan on losing." Ray said.

"Somehow I wonder do you intend to walk this road alone?" Halberton asked him.

"It's not the first time." Ray answered with a cheery smile.

Halberton assessed the man before him, Ray wasn't lying to him, as far as he could tell, there was indeed a conspiracy going on within the Alliance military, and the war was about to reach a new and terrible level. With Blue Cosmos in the mix, and officials rubbing shoulders with them, he would need to be extremely careful to avoid being blindsided.

'Where does the road lead?' He thought deeply at the implication of his next few choices.

"If that is all, I'll take my leave."

"Dismissed." The admiral said.

Ray, left leaving a rather brooding man comes to terms with an uncertain future.

XXXXX

After exiting the Admiral's office, he was asked by Murrue what he had discussed, but he didn't reveal more than some nonsense about his trip to Alaska and plans for him to be debriefed afterwards. There was no mention of names or anything specific barring he mentioned to Mu about some potential training opportunities for new mobile suit pilots.

It wasn't long before Ray returned to the ship to check upon his things, making sure to get ready for the coming storm, he had gone over his inventory for this battle, he knew that it would be a tough one; the ZAFT fleet coming in would be well armed and equipped. And they were going to throw a lot at them, but something felt nagging, he couldn't shake it, not since the day before, he didn't know what it was though.

At first he thought it was his old instincts kicking up in preparation for battle, but he dismissed the notion as he had done a lot to supress such instinct. No this felt as though something fairly bad was going to happen in this next engagement.

"Murdoch, I need you to prepare a few things for me while I'm going out, here's a list."

"What is this?"

"Strike's newest upgrade, I want him to pack these weapons and equipment in combat, I don't care if Kira objects to it, he'll need it if he wants to survive the next engagement."

"That's a lot to get done." Murdoch said scratching his head at the list details. "We're taxed as it is."

"Well it's not like you'll be doing too much in regards to space after this. I assume we've got new things?" He asked.

"Yeah a whole bunch, even some Skygrasper units."

"Then this shouldn't be a problem, the issue is going to be in the more immediate future, for now, tell Kira to load up and get Strike prepared for combat. He'll go with a full combat load, and I'll be going to help the fleet in defensive action."

"Didn't the Captain say?" Murdoch was about to object.

"I know what the Captain said about joining in, I'm going in anyway." He said as he headed down to the Eventide.

"Alice, please tell me everything is set?" As he got closer he contacted Alice.

"I spent the last day preparing your Mod-1 changes, just as you specified, are you sure that you want to go through with this?" She asked him.

"We'll need the Burst mode for combat if we're going to live to see tomorrow."

"And what about the secrecy of Eventide's total capabilities?"

"It might all go to hell either way, so no point in keeping it secret if we're all going to die." He noted.

Yes battle was coming, but neither Ray nor anyone knew what was about to unfold truly.

XXXXX

In the aftermath of the battle with the Eventide, things had taken a sharp turn around, the data sent back to the PLANT supreme council had sparked another heated debate about the potential fallout of a new mobile suit which could surpass the previous G-weapons captured. ZAFT had been the first to respond, taking drastic measures to do all it could to ensure that the Archangel, Strike and the newly dubbed Eventide were destroyed.

Laurentia-class cruiser had been called upon, with a full fleet from ZAFT's 3rd Expeditionary Fleet, one of the first fleets to engage in battle over Earth; it was the most notable for defeating the 5th and 2nd Alliance Fleets in battle, and wiping out most of the defences around two Alliance space colonies.

The fleet's force wasn't up to its full potential mainly because it had been on a deployment around the moon not long ago, and they hadn't time to resupply their force. Not like it would really matter at this point, this was a rushed operation; one which they hoped would be enough to deal with the Archangel and the 8th Fleet quickly.

A total of twenty seven ships were gathered, in comparison, the Earth Alliance's 8th fleet numbered over forty. Coupled together with the Archangel, this gave them a pretty big playing field, the fleet in orbit had constant resupplies and had ample time to organise, which was a bit of an issue, seeing as how the 3rd Expeditionary Fleet had 3 damaged ships which had depleted most of their mobile suits.

Rau was currently having his CGUE Altair repaired and refitted, again. This time he was opting for more firepower rather than melee capabilities, he experienced how badly things could get with the Eventide's devastating ability to slice things apart with ease. Engaging in melee against that machine was a good way to die quickly.

Eventide's abilities were miraculous; it was as if the machine's pilot had refined his skills to near perfection. It was more than capable of going toe to toe with multiple suits at once, and even with his custom CGUE with wire guided attack system, he was unable to defeat it. This raised a lot of questions as to the potential abilities the Eventide possessed.

He knew from Yzak and Dearka's previous engagement that the Eventide was much faster, and manoeuvrable than in its fighter form, for whatever reason, the pilot known as Ray Hyung, was able to perform feats which surpassed his own machine or that of any of the G-weapons making it likely one of the most powerful G-weapons in existence by this point.

The trouble was that he had no clue as to the sheer extent of the machine's total abilities, which is why this mission was going to be so crucial. Having emphasised the strategic and tactical issue of facing multiple G-weapons like the Eventide and Strike, the ZAFT HIGH Command had viewed this as something which had to be dealt with ASAP, even with the risks posed to the 3rd Fleet, the option to destroy that machine was just too good to pass up.

Athrun made a case and statement to support military action in pursuing a new aggressive policy in attacking the Eventide would be preferable than ignoring the dangers presented by the mobile suit.

"So you must be Rau La Creuset, the White Phantom, quite a reputation you've gained for yourself during the battle of Endymion." Rau turned his attention to the tall but well-built figure of Admiral Vinzer.

"Why thank you Admiral Vinzer, I must concede though, having heard of your achievements, I doubt I could hardly compare."

"Ha, modest are we?" Vinzer said levelling a wolfish grin. The man was good at reading people and Rau knew this.

Rau did his utmost to keep himself composed, knowing the man; it was a bad idea to piss with him.
"I've been quite interested in your reputation with large scale fleet engagements."

"I've proven the concept that it is possible to win without the need of mobile suits, but I never neglect potential assets for turning the tides of battle."

"So this new machine, Eventide, quite imposing isn't it?" The Admiral said upon examining the 3D generated construction of the machine.

"It is more than anything the other G-weapons are, being able to perform transformation in space while battling, and being able to utilise such impressive firepower and manoeuvrability. It's already making waves within our forces; many call it the Azure Hurricane, thanks to its blinding speed and deadly accurate weapons." Rau stated while he recalled his encounter. "It managed to destroy two GINNs and disable the G-weapons Duel, Buster left mainly because it had run dry, but I don't doubt that if it had still the ability to fight, it would have been defeated as well."

"This is a very concerning development, for something which had been concealing itself as an experimental fighter craft; the operator of such a machine must be incredibly skilled." Vinzer noted.

"Either that or they might be a coordinator." Rau stated.

This comment certainly grabbed their attention.
"It makes sense, there's no way a natural human's reactions would be near the level of that of ours, not to mention the tremendous strain the body much be put under in order to achieve such speeds. They're either a traitor or just brainwashed, regardless, they're a threat, and a major one."

"I can imagine the sentiment, no doubt that the Alliance might try taking more drastic measures to win this war, but I would not draw to that conclusion so quickly." Vinzer stated.

Their fleet's movement were steady, they'd be soon to engage the Archangel and 8th Fleet in orbit, utilising the movement of the debris field, they'd shadow from a blind spot created by their advanced scouts. And then from there, the process of attacking the fleet was easy, the trouble was more about whether or not dealing with the Archangel would be as easy.

'But I'll be ready for you this time, Eventide.' Rau thought as he looked at the display.

XXXXX

Riika Sheder was a member of the 3rd ZAFT Fleet's elite force of mobile suit pilots, the Crimson Hunters, their reputation was originally a thing referred to about their past history in developing new mobile suits. Though they weren't normally mobilised as an actual force for ZAFT, all were red coats of ZAFT thanks to their combat record and history, as well as their specialised training in the use of advanced suits.

The Crimson Hunters had been called in as part of the gathered fleet to assist in the destruction of the Earth Alliance Forces fleet which had rallied with the 'Legged' ship. Though it was more about the concerns regarding the Alliance's newest mobile suits, the Strike and the Eventide, from what reports have been flying around.

Eventide was the biggest threat compared to the Strike, being far superior in mobility and speed, not to mention the fact that it could transform, and higher specs in terms of speed and manoeuvrability. This was nothing anyone had seen before, and the fact that the Eventide possessed such a thing, made people wonder how powerful it was.

It wasn't nearly as concerning as the fact that the pilot was a natural with years of military experience and apparently worked for the Alliance Special Forces, which made him even more dangerous. Little else was revealed about the pilot besides that he was some kind of soldier with a long military service history.

As for the potential danger this pilot presented, he was deadly, almost frighteningly so, being able to down multiple machines on his own in a short period of time, he had made a name for himself. Most referred to the Eventide as the Azure Hurricane, thanks to his remarkable speed and devastating ability to fight multiple machines with relative ease.

Riika couldn't say for certain, but she felt that this battle would be a testament for the final trials on the ZGMF-1017-MAS Hunter, their latest attempt at upgrading the ZGMF-1017s; it'd be a great upgrade for their units. But the modifications and adjustments needed were rather slow, making it difficult to apply to every unit.

The added benefit of their MAS variants were their newer weapon systems, armour and mobility in space and on Earth, as nice as it seemed though, there were still quite a few kinks to work out. Still it didn't make the young pilot wonder if it'd be enough to really turn the tide of the coming battle.

'But at least I'll get to see the Eventide up close and in person.' Riika thought with some measure of fear, excitement and intrigue.

She was an astute person with a deep appreciation for designing and testing machinery, some times more so than others might like. And her interest had fallen on the machine known as Eventide. She looked upon her 1017-MAS with her bunny rabbit with glasses insignia printed on its armour and shield guard.

'Let's see what this battle brings.'

(Anyone who read the Gundam Astray Destiny Manga will know who Riika Sheder is.)

XXXXX

The crew were all discussing their situation at length, with Kira coming to terms with his situation, and the others discussing what they were going to do next. After reaching the fleet safely they were able to take time to think about what they were planning on doing next. The kids had received their walking papers, and they had come to a rather jarring dilemma.

After all they had been through; they now had the option to leave. Flay taking her leave with her father, though they weren't sure if she wanted to stay or not, Sai had gone to speak with her father, and apparently George had decided to take her home, Sai was welcome to come along, but he was hesitant.

He ended up deciding to speak with the others; he wasn't so selfish to just leave without at least speaking with his friends in regards to the immediate future. As much as Flay had wanted to stay on the ship, he left her to her father, they'd speak about this later, but he wasn't sure. At that moment, the group had gotten together in their billet.

At that moment it was oddly silent, all of them contemplating their situation, Kira stood beside them, trying to mull over his situation. As much as he didn't like it, he was put in the spotlight, having seen the Admiral, who admittedly was a nice man, he gave concern to what Kira would do, and felt that he should make his own choice.

'How could I go?' He thought deeply as he looked around.

"Do you think we should leave?" Sai asked the others.

"I don't know, after all we've been through, it seems like kind of like we're abandoning them after helping the Archangel get this far."

"Kira, what do you think about all of this?" Miriallia asked.

"Huh, oh…" Kira thought about this for a while. "I-."

"If you go, we won't hold it against you." A voice cut in.

The group saw Ray standing in the door frame.
"It's hard making a decision based on your actions. After the sheer amount of death and destruction you've witnessed, and the fact that you're trying to make heads or tails of where you are right now."

"Ray, I don't know, this isn't what I want. I don't want to keep doing this. After all of these things I've done." Kira said.

"There's no easy answer kid, remember that, when you're faced with hard choices, you have to learn to deal with them responsibly, and weigh the decisions carefully. I made my decision to stay in the military a long time ago, and I've experienced quite a bit. Hardship is a fact of life, and expecting life to be easy is a foolish thing to consider."

"How do you know?" He asked intently.

A moment's silence passed before Ray answered. "Experience, I can tell you right now, you may leave, but this war will still be going on, no matter how you look at it. The war will rage on, and it might get better, or it might get worse. I'm going to fight with all I can, but in the end, I might not reach the end, like everyone on this ship."

"I came to the conclusion I should involve myself, because if I didn't, then who would?" He told him. "I fight for a reason, as dangerous as it sounds, and while it puts me through the risk of death, I don't shy away. Because I believe in that reason, even if it means bearing the burden of taking lives."

"That sounds very bleak." Kira said.

"It's a tragic fact of human nature, to maintain peace; we've always had to act accordingly to ensure peace, sometimes through force. Some might argue it's ultimately a self-defeating argument, but it's a tragic reality, peace isn't easy to attain, maintaining it is even harder."

"But I don't want to kill anymore, hasn't there been enough for someone like me? What good is it to keep fighting like this?" Kira demanded.

Ray sighed as he looked up the ceiling; he closed his eyes and then began. "Kira, there's an old saying, there are no coincidences when it comes to encounters, we all meet each other for one reason or another, and even the slightest encounter with another person can change the course of our lives."

"Look at what you've done, don't you think what you've achieved is something you can say to yourself that you've done well enough? I live with the fact that I kill people, I know it's not something I was born to do, but I learnt to do it, because it was necessary, we could argue forever about how killing is wrong in such circumstances. But I've already made my judgement on the matter, killing is inherently wrong, but a necessity when it comes to one's survival."

"So what I've done is right?" Kira levelled.

"It depends on your perception of your actions. Look at what you've done; you've done well to keep your friends alive haven't you? They're still here and breathing, and so are those civilians you've saved, take that as you will, but you should always keep in mind, every action you take will affect everyone around you."

"Choose to take it as you will, but in the end, there's no going back you've changed, and to accept that fact and move on is something necessary for growing up, because you can't change what you've done, no matter how much you wish to."

The group observed the discussion intently, what Ray said made sense at least to some of them, they can't take back what they've done, and he was right in regards to how they've changed. The past is done, there's no changing it, and they've all done things that they can't take back, so why not move forwards?

Kira looked conflicted; he walked off, silent contemplation surrounding him. Ray didn't blame him, and he couldn't, he was not a soldier, at least not in his mind, and he could understand, but he was in this mess whether or not he wanted to be, and Ray had gone down the same path, but he was shaped by circumstance.

He believed in a cause, and he fought for that cause no matter how much suffering it brought him, and with the belief that it was for the greater good in the end. Kira had to come to terms with that, no matter what happened, he was fighting for the future, his future and the future of his friends, and that there was a light at the end of the road.

"You best leave Kira to make up his mind, should he finally decide, that's up to him. As for all of you I want you to think about what I've said today and make your minds up. The road is clear and present, and the fork is up ahead, stay and fight for your future to see this war end sooner, or leave to see it end from the sideline, it matters, because this ship, that mobile suit, and Kira and you can make that difference." Ray said to them calmly before leaving. "Choose wisely."

There was a brief pause before someone spoke.
"What do you think Kira will do?" Tolle asked the others.

"I dunno, look guys, what should we do? I mean it's tough on Kira, and everyone else, we've helped Archangel and crew get this far, and they don't have enough people to keep going on without us." Sai said disheartened.

"Leaving them behind, to fight alone is kind of selfish isn't it?" Kuzzy asked to the others.

"And the choice we make now will ultimately decide the future won't it?" Sai said perceptively.

"We've changed haven't we?" Miriallia said.

"So, what should we do? Keep going on down this road, or leave it?" Kuzzy asked.

"I'd rather not leave Kira fighting on his own like this, he's been through a lot." Tolle said adamantly.

If there was anyone amongst their group then it was Tolle, who was Kira's closest friend, he was loyal and determined, and none of them could deny this. Tolle always stuck up for his friends, and in this situation, he wanted to stick to it. Miriallia in silent contemplation, she knew that their time was coming up.

They were all rather uncertain of what they were going to do now, after all of this, and the impact that they've left upon the world, it seemed like there was a tough choice ahead. And together they'd keep going, even if it meant risking everything, Kira, regardless of the choice he'd make, they were going to stick it out.

XXXXX

Near the observation deck, Kira had gone back there to contemplate the choices he had made, all the things he had done. But he felt disconcerted, everything was happening now, and he was forced to make a decision, what would it be?

Kira ran into Flay who had gotten away from her father, she faced Kira, with an uncertain look in her eyes.
"Kira."

"Flay, what are you doing here?" He asked surprised. "Didn't your father want you to leave?"

"I wanted to say goodbye, I didn't know if this will be the last time we see each other, so I wanted to at least speak to you before I left."

"Please don't say that, you'll be on Earth, and I'll be going down as well with Sai and the others."

"I know, but I don't know how to say this."

"What do you mean?"

"I always thought more about you, I'm carless and brash, and I know I said things I shouldn't have."

"Does this mean?"

"I like you a lot, Kira. But I'm conflicted, and glad, I'm glad we met one another. And I want us to see each other again."

"You do?"

"Of course, maybe not here, but on Earth, or wherever you'll go. We'll see each other, and if that means in this war, then I'll fight, even if my father says no. If it means getting to see you again out there, I hope that we'll be able to meet." She said with a sense of determination.

He could see that Flay was willing to step up; she was going to fight as well, because she wanted to be there with him again. Kira was surprised but he was happy.
"Then let's meet again, in the future."

The two embraced for the moment, Kira was surprised when Flay kissed him on the lips.
"That's for good luck." She said before departing.

Kira looked on a little surprised, this was the first time he had gotten a kiss from someone, and from Flay. He couldn't help but wonder, what lay in store for him.

(There was actually going to be a lot more interaction between Kira and Flay, with mentions to Sai being involved and some stuff about Flay's aversion to Kira. There were two routes for this, but I chose this one for reasons.)

XXXXX

It wasn't long before the fleet was underway, Flay had gotten off ship with her father, they were taking an executive shuttle down to Alaska, Flay was unhappy about leaving. But Kira and the others reassurance meant that they'd see each other again, and she believed in that, as for Kira, he was left with a decision to be made, which Ray was all too happy to leave the boy with.

He was more focused on what was to come, he set everything up, as well as he could, and with or without his interference, events were moving along just fine. And Ray went on down to the hangar to check on things, he bumped in Natarle in the elevator.
"First time we've been alone together."

"If that's an attempt at flirting you need to work on that."

"If I could flirt, I'd be on Earth right now enjoying a retirement in some place in New Caledonia, assuming it hadn't been destroyed yet." He said nonchalantly.

"Warrant Officer, do you mind if I ask you a personal question?"

"Yes?"

"Why do you fight?"

There was an awkward pause before Ray could think of a proper response.
"That's a good question, I forget, but I've always been in the middle of trouble, whether I wanted to be or not. I seemed to get dragged into these things. It's like old leather, you don't think about it after a while, as it feels so normal."

"Habit?"

"Nature, I guess would be an answer. I don't know how to stop fighting, a sad but stupid aspect of my life, I never liked giving up." He said. "Or I already would have died."

The elevator opened up, Ray took his leave, with Natarle giving him a very perplexed expression, and she hadn't known Ray that long. But something seemed to draw her to him, not in a likeable way, but curiosity in regards to who the man was. The more she thought about it, the more he worried her and she didn't know why.

XXXXX

Kira had gone back down to the dorms, and he had found the others had gone to their stations; they were sticking around for this fight, along with Sai. In the end, they were all in this one together. If that was to be the case, then he'd stick in for them, his friends, those who he cared for and he would fight for.

As he returned to grab his pilot suit, he bumped into Mu.
"So, are you planning on sticking around?" Mu inquired a little surprised.

"Well, I decided to, I've been thinking about everything that I've done, running away now, it doesn't feel right. Not when everyone on the ship is still here, they are my friends, and I shouldn't leave them like this. And I want to be there, to see Flay again." He said adamantly.

Kira pondered over his decision, he knew that he'd have to face down more people, and fight to keep him and those around him alive. And he knew that his choices would impact all those alive here and now, not to mention the future of this entire war, the lives of many now hung in the balance, but he couldn't keep all of them on his mind, those who were with him here and now mattered more than anything else.

It was a shallow way to look at the world, but he felt that this was what he had to ultimately focus upon, if he wanted to keep perspective, Ray made that clear that challenges were expected of life. And facing them was important if he wanted to survive the coming future, whatever it was, he was going to face it.

"Choose to take it as you will, but in the end, there's no going back you've changed, and to accept that fact and move on is something necessary for growing up, because you can't change what you've done, no matter how much you wish to." He remembered what Ray said to him.

Ray was a man of contradictions, and paradoxes, some of which eluded Kira, and others which almost seemed to brutal to comprehend, he seemed to understand human nature better than most people. And he knew how to root out contradictions, the man faced them, without doubt or reservation and he found his answer.

'Would I find my answer?' Kira thought deeply.

There was a sudden change in atmosphere as something rocked the ship, the vibration of movement and the sudden rumbling as though something had struck the outside.

"What's that?" Kira asked as the alarms started to blare wildly.

"I'm guessing company…" Mu said as the alarms went off.

"All hands report to battle stations I repeat, this is not a drill, condition red has been set, all hands report to battle stations." Captain Ramius ordered across the ship.

Within moments hundreds of personnel scrambled to their designated stations, the PA calling out for personnel to their posts, from within the ship Ray had already gone down to the hangar bay. Having decided to take upon this opportunity to join in the fray, he would like to see what awaited him in this war.

Kira suited up and hurried down, Mu having boarded his unit and began to prepare to launch.
"Where's Ray?"

"The warrant officer already left, he looked like he was in a hurry. By the way, he told us to change your loadout, hope you enjoy it kid." Murdoch told him as he let him see the modifications.

"What is this?" Kira said as he looked at the sheer list of changes.

XXXXX

Halberton entered the bridge just as the first ZAFT ships were spotted, he didn't need to be a genius to figure out that the enemy had caught them partially off guard. They were preparing for the engagement, but now that it was here, he couldn't help but notice the agitation in the crew.

"Admiral we've detected a mass movement of heat sources approaching from the other side of our epileptic, multiple heat sources indicates a fleet of ships."

"Where was EWACS?" He asked.

"Our patrols didn't report back, likely they were sunk by the enemy beforehand."

"Damn it." Halberton said as he looked over the dispersal pattern. "We were careless." He muttered as he looked at the display screen.

"Incoming barrage, dispersed strike pattern of missiles and linear cannon fire incoming!" Their tactical officer suddenly reported.

"Intercept what you can, but disperse formation accordingly, screen for high yield warheads and don't let them strike the central formation around the Archangel."

"Relaying now." Com operator reported as the fleet began to fire off in response.

In an instant the 8th fleet scrambled to alert status, their position was under fire and the ZAFT 3rd Fleet was on a direct approach for them, no doubt about it, this was the attack that they had been waiting for. But it had come with little warning which left many ships lagging behind to react to the sudden assault.

"EAV Berlin is reporting multiple impacts against its hull, damage sustained minimal, emergency bulkheads holding in place."

"Good thing we ordered for the fleet to depressurise all non-critical sections prior to engagement."

"How's our fleet formation?" He asked.

"We have a total of 20 Drake-class frigates, Austen-class 17 destroyers, 8 Scott-class cruisers, 4 Nelson-class heavy cruisers, 1 Titus-class battleship and 2 Cochrane-class escort carriers still operational."

"We'll give the ZAFT fleet a fight to remember, form up the main body of our fleet around the Archangel, we'll have the 'Nathan Hale' along with a detachment of our escort carriers break and interdict the opposing enemy battlegroup at 342-280 Yellow, tell them to lock the enemy formation down while we cover." He ordered.

"Yes Admiral."

"Admiral, we've spotted the main enemy fleet formation on approach."

"Enemy fleet formation consists of 27 ships, 12 Nazca-class heavy cruisers, 12 Laurasia-class, 2 Genoa-escort carriers, and 1 Pangea-class supercarriers all moving in formation."

"They're throwing a lot more at us than I'd like." Captain Ardis stated from Halberton's side.

"The enemy sees their chance at sinking the Archangel here as a rare one, so they'll throw everything they can manage." He stated. "We will defend her until they are able to complete re-entry."

"Captain Ramius is requesting to participate in the battle." The com operator stated.

"Tell her no, she will remain in position until all preparations for orbital descent are complete, I won't allow the ship to be risked at this critical junction." He replied.

"Very well sir."

It wasn't long before the fight began, with the ZAFT's 3rd fleet closing distance; their first volleys were with linear fire and missiles, to soften their targets up. They push in with a staggered column with their heaviest carriers supporting their main assault force. It was a quick and deadly tactic to blow through Alliance fleet formations quickly, and Halberton knew this, which is why he detached a portion of the fleet to flank.

ZAFT's attack came quickly, 27 warships, the Alliance's 8th Fleet outnumbered them nearly 2 to 1, but the enemy forces were sufficiently better armed, not to mention most Alliance victories were usually only in engagements where the Alliance outnumbered ZAFT 3 to 1 or 4 to 1. This put them in a serious disadvantage, with the numbers stacked a lot higher against them, the 8th Fleet would need to beat back significantly higher number of enemy units on its own.

The ZAFT fleet had significantly greater numbers to throw into this battle, and to top it all off the G-weapons would also be participating in this battle, no doubt to settle scores for their past defeats. Ray's suspicion on the size of the ZAFT force was correct, and the time taken for Archangel to safely reach the 8th Fleet had given them time to call in for a large fleet.

Within minutes of the first sighting, the 8th fleet began dispatching as many mobile armour units they could, a policy enacted to avoid losing entire squadrons before they left hangars. Formations of MA units brought forth took up screening positions within the fleet, their armaments prepared ready for the battle ahead.

"Jesus tap dancing Christ they want us dead!" One Moebius pilot panicked as he saw the cluster of ZAFT mobile suits coming up in formation.

"How many are there?"

"All of them, every goddamn mobile suit in the sector's being thrown at us."

"Calm down, we only need to hold them off for as long as possible, not win this engagement, if the Archangel is capable of making a clear descent into the atmosphere then we could withdraw quickly." Their squadron commander said reasserting calm as he took command.

This was a flat out lie, considering who was leading this assault fleet, Admiral Vinzer, the man who torched 2 Alliance colonies and wiped out 3 Alliance fleets with merciless persecution. He was regarded as a cold hard follower of strategic warfare, demanding utmost efficiency in executing orders, he was extremely well known for persecuting attacks against Alliance civilians, and was regarded as one of the more hard-line members of Patrick Zala's circle of officers.

Halberton faced him in the past and narrowly avoided defeat, if only just once, that was at the battle of Vega satellite colony, the battle was brutal, but he won by a narrow margin. It was one of the very few naval victories the Alliance had secured throughout the war, and it wasn't a pretty one for anyone to take up as a sign of changing tides.

The Alliance had suffered dearly to ensure the continued function of Vega station, since it provided them with much needed resources to continue operating in space against the ZAFT forces. For the most part, this victory had shaped the current course of events, with more focus to deny the Earth Alliance from getting off planet to attack the PLANTs.

But in this aspect, the satellite had cost more to save than to simply allow ZAFT to destroy it, as it had weakened orbital fleet defences, that was a no win situation for the Alliance. And now the two admirals were facing each other again in the same field. Neither exchanged words as none would be needed; here their actions would be how they spoke to one another.

XXXXX

The battle had begun to rage, with ships in full range of beam weapons, the first volley of fire came from the ZAFT Nazca-classes breaking into a spearhead formation and lining to crack the defensive screen of MA units, their tactic initially worked, until Halberton had them change to an inverted pattern, picking off mobile suits and ships in a deadly crossfire with a heavy focus on their ship support.

It resulted in the Nazca-classes at the front taking a beating, with 2 being sunk and 3 being damaged, they also managed to screen their mobile suits in a deadly crossfire, even the best of their pilots could avoid being shot from 6 different angles at once. It was a brilliant tactic that Halberton learnt from Japanese honey bees swarming a predatory wasp, it was costly, but it worked better than individually engaging enemy units.

Still Admiral Vinzer took to his defensive screen and launched a 3 prong attack in a staggered formation pattern, striking with the intent to beak Halberton's screen try to overwhelm his forces. In this, the 8th Fleet's formation took a beating.

Halberton listened to the shouts of panic as ships exchanged fire, and crews suffered loss.

"Intercept!"

"CIWS engaging."

"Too many missiles."

"Look out!"

An explosion followed as one of the Drake-class took multiple strikes, its engines and starboard missile pod being destroyed before it exploded sending the ship careening out of control, secondary internal explosions followed as it drifted away with fires burning out from the starboard section, it wasn't long before someone vented the atmosphere.

One of the Nelson-class heavy cruisers managed to lay fire into the side of a Nazca-class, before dumping its entire missile battery into the ship, the vessel was consumed in a fireball which destroyed the vessel and sent its mobile suit escorts fleeing in all directions. That Nelson-class was then destroyed as several mobile suits swarmed the ship, heavy anti-ship torpedoes; beam fire struck the ship in various sections.

The vengeful ZAFT pilots drove a warhead through the ship's engine and detonated its reactor, the vessel exploded in a shower of fire as it went critical. Halberton couldn't help but watch as he saw another one of his subordinates go down in a deathly glow, he turned his attention to the main enemy formation, and he signalled to the com operator.

"Signal our flanking force, tell them to engage along the enemy's axis and strike against their carriers, and don't let them stop them from knocking those ships out." He stated clearly.

"Yes sir."

The flanking force suddenly pulled around in formation, while ZAFT was focused on fighting the main 8th Fleet, the smaller detachment of ships came around and struck along the exposed axis via the debris field. It was a smart move, intended to break the enemy's control quickly and allow them to get in and destroy the enemy's carrier support.

ZAFT had little time to react as they were suddenly under assault from the flank, mobile suits scattering to engage with the flanking force. They swarmed quickly to stop the detached force from getting into their formation, missiles and beam fire being exchanged. MA units fired missiles striking 2 Laurasia-class and damaging a Nazca-class, but failing to get to the carriers.

A Drake-class sustained considerable damage as multiple beams struck its axis across the drive section and forward missile pods, detonating the explosive warheads and crippling the ship. It spun out of control as the air vented from the starboard section, and without the drives running to correct the ship's uncontrolled spin, it collided with another Drake-class which had been in formation.

Admiral Vinzer met Halberton's attack, making sure to whittle down their flanking force. It seemed like a futile gesture, trying to strike the heart of the enemy formation, but strangely enough, salvation came for their attack, a brilliant beam striking through the fleet's formation, gutted one of the carriers.

"What was that?"

"Sir, it's the Eventide, it's followed in with the flanking force."

Halberton couldn't help but watch in surprise as the Eventide flanked in from the side.

XXXXX

Throughout the battlefield in orbit ships were either destroyed or damaged, a fiery haze emanated throughout the battle as men and ships died. Ray noted how the explosions were nothing like how SEED depicted such explosions, with craft being reduced to fireballs or suffering massive decompression effects.

For the most part, ships didn't explode in the same way either, most tended to go down like actual space ships, either losing integrity or being blown open with crew getting sucked to oblivion, or their ships would simply implode from decompression. The sudden pinkish plume was just a way to save animation costs and also avoid gorier details of war.

The scenes of carnage were much worse, with damages; ships suffer crew loss, either because the crew is either suffocate in space or they end up being killed by the exchange of fire. Men and ships burning as they're hit, the bodies of some being sucked out and others being reduced to molten slag as their ships suffer critical damage.

The scene of carnage was truly brutal and beautiful display of lights erupting in the night sky for anyone looking about, the scene of carnage would look to the observer a strange scene of light flashes and streaks of red. In and amidst of ships engaged in deadly exchanges, the Archangel was situated to the central formation, shielded by the remaining ships from the 8th fleet.

Halberton was determined to stop the ZAFT 3rd Fleet from ever reaching the ship, even as his fleet was gradually torn to shreds from beam impacts or missile strikes, he stood defiantly; ready to give ZAFT a fight for its life. Ray had to respect the man, he was good at what he did, no doubt about that.

His suit engaged from the enemy flank, having decided to join the flanking force in the attack, he couldn't help but see what the ZAFT fleet could bring, and so he rushed headlong into battle. He saw the carriers in the enemy fleet, 2 Genoa-class escort carriers, they weren't much to look at, being capable of carrying 30 suits each, and they were slow and heavily armed.

But they were glass cannons, being designed cheaply; they were less advanced than the Pangea-class or Laurentia-class command ship, being intended to support fleet actions with escorts. Their strength was the sheer number of mobile suits they could deploy in battle, and Ray knew that he could exploit this.

Beam fire came in around Eventide as it sliced through the void, leaving a trail of glowing light around it, Ray had modified Eventide's weapon load out. He changed his shield, arming it with twin beam repeaters, and he had attached 4 missile pods onto his suit, giving him disposable firepower against large formations.

In fighter mode, he zipped from point to point, dodging incoming fire, he could see the panic in the enemy's actions, trying to zero in on him, but he was too fast. He went in hard, cutting past the remaining escorts and firing a burst from his lancer, blowing a hole through the Genoa's exposed aft engine drive.

He severed the entire section off with one shot, the one big weakness of the Genoa being its engine drives, was prone to damage and could cripple the vessel if even a missile strike got in between the structural supports. The carrier began to drift off course as the ship's engine ripped off the main craft.

"Precision strike, if I do say so." Ray said proudly.

"Incoming message from the Archangel."

"Patch it."

"Warrant Officer, what are you doing?" Murrue asked tensely.

"I figured I'd help out the 8th Fleet, it's the least I could do in the midst of this battle."

"Warrant Officer, I thought the decision was to cover the Archangel as we made our descent."

"I know, I'm sorry about being insubordinate, but for once, I'll say this. I can't hold myself back, battles like this are familiar to me, and I have no issue fighting them, I'll be able to do more fighting now than sitting back."

"Somehow I had a feeling you'd say that."

"It'll be easier than having the enemy trying to swamp the Archangel, and you have Mu and Kira to shield you as well, right?"

"Kira's-." She was about to object but she was cut off.

"I'm good to go Captain." Kira reported in.

"Kira."

"I've made my choice, so I'll fight. If it's only to see this war end, then I'll do it."

"You're growing up kid." Mu interjected.

"I'd like to continue with this bonding moment over the com channel, but I've got some unwelcome acquaintances I need to attend to." He said as he suddenly accelerated.

He dodged a burst of beam fire from the Duel, Yzak no doubt was pissed, and he came in lashing out with his full arsenal, his assault shroud providing him additional firepower. Buster moved in to support, with a whole lot of missile and beam fire, missing Ray almost every step of the way, Eventide took evasive action and retaliated.

"Nice try dickheads." He yelled over the coms. "But you'll need to do better than that."

He didn't hear their response, but he could tell he was getting under their skin; Yzak took formation with Buster and lashed out in a combined attack. Duel going low, with Buster going high, Eventide transformed and countered Duel's attack and swung around to fire at the Buster, catching the unit in the shoulder and sending Dearka barrelling out of the way.

This fight between them was fierce, as the battle had only started a few minutes ago, for men in battle this feels like hours. For Ray, he was fighting with all that he could, without going into overdrive. He didn't need to wait long before the other G-weapons and other mobile suits joined in on this battle.

But for Ray, he knew what to do, he changed into fighter mode and sent them on a chase around the field, firing off his weapons and downing more ships as well as sowing chaos, at this close range with friendly mobile suits trying to engage him, the ships had a hard time firing after him, and in his fighter mode, he had the advantage.

He swerved around another ship before he changed again, this time, getting Duel in a pincer movement, he struck hard and fast, the Duel's rail launcher hadn't even time to fire when he slammed into it and sent it colliding with a nearby GINN. Dearka chased in trying to get a clean shot, but he threw a canister filled with particles to blind him.

Dearka blind fired and nearly hit a friendly unit, before Ray showed up and grabbed his weapons from behind, he slammed the Buster in the stomach with Eventide's knee cap and threw the machine at the Nazca-class sitting between them, he didn't wait until he pulled away to engage regular mobile suits.

He was in the midst of battle when he felt something, something in the back of his mind, he looked around for it. Eventide could feel something.
"RAY!" Alice called to him.

He reacted almost instinctively, like every nerve in his body was screaming for him to turn, and he did so to counter the incoming beam blast. Eventide rolled back as it was hit by a highly concentrated long range beam blast, telling Ray what had attacked him was coming in to take a strike out on him.

Eventide barrelled out of the way as a series of beam strikes gutted the Nazca-class he had been next to, the ship exploded, sending debris in all directions as it went critical. Ray pulled away and armed his shield barrier, and just in time as the following blast struck hard enough he was thrown back.

"I know this attack!" He said as he looked to see what had struck at him.

A red and gold trimmed mobile suit appeared, gleaming armour in the brilliance of the encroaching horizon. Its eyes brilliant and menacing, he could feel the gaze of its pilot. And he heard voice of the woman he had once loved.
"I found you." She said.

XXXXX

AN: Okay I know this is late, thanks to some difficulties, the chapter updates fell behind; I'm balancing a lot more things than I'd like. Also I'm trying to update a few other stories; I really want to get back to writing them as well.

In any event, this chapter was originally going to be much longer, actually this was Chapter 7+8, but I cut down content and decided to split this into two parts. Just for the sake of time. I'm really trying to get new chapters out, and I'm also rewriting a lot of the original content I put in, the whole discussion with Halberton was supposed to go very differently.

And the opening battle was with the Recon unit getting spotted and a battle erupting shortly afterwards. Ray's involvement was going to be very different as well, having him engage from the rear of the fleet, not what he's doing now.