AN: Happy New Year everyone, and welcome to 2015! And to start things off, I figure what better way than with the latest chapter of this story? So without further ado, here's the next chapter in the new saga of the Cosmic Era and the Transformers. Expect difficult battles, shocking revelations, and an ending you may or may not have ever expected.

I do not own anything from either the Gundam or Transformers franchises, or any other franchise that is mentioned in this story.

Chapter 19: The Next Turning Point

It was the morning after Athrun had encountered Kira at Orb, and the Z.A.F.T. and Decepticon ships were now hidden away outside of Orb waters resupplying, with the respective leaders of each team overseeing the resupply on the decks of their ships. Well, Dreadwing was overseeing the resupplying while Athrun was gazing off into space thinking about a number of things that were plaguing his thoughts, or rather two things that were plaguing his thoughts.

The first of which was Kira. After encountering his old friend in the caves on that last mission he took part in alongside the Decepticons, he felt as though his old friendship with Kira had become stronger than ever, and not only that, but now he was worried what might happen now that Dearka knew about his connection to the Strike pilot. Oh Dearka did promise that he would keep Athrun's secret from the other members of the Zala team just as Dreadwing had done the same with keeping his knowledge on who the Strike pilot was from the other Decepticons, but Athrun still could not help but worry. Then there was what Kira had told him at Orb the previous night. He knew what Kira meant when he had said what he said to him, and he felt really good knowing that Kira still considered him to be a valuable friend, a fact that showed through the fact that he had taken and continued to take such good care of Birdie. Even though Athrun knew all of this and was touched by it, he knew that one thing had not changed, a fact he stated to himself aloud saying, "But you were still on the other side of that fence."

His thoughts then drifted to someone else who had been on his mind lately. Specifically, a certain young, blonde haired girl that he had only met in person once on a deserted island. Cagalli had been on Athrun's mind ever since he heard her announce her identity to the Orb Forces a few weeks ago. When he first met her, Athrun could not deny that there was something about Cagalli that had intrigued him, and something that made him feel like he should know her from somewhere. As soon as he found out that she was the Orb Princess he was thrown for a loop just like everyone else, and even so, something about her just seem to keep bringing his thoughts back to her. Was it the words she had spoken to him while they were on that island with Dreadwing and Arcee, or was it the fact that despite not being a soldier she seemed so determined to stop anyone that insisted on continuing this war. "Cagalli Yula Athha," Athrun then commented to himself again with a slight chuckle. "Well you certainly weren't kidding when you said you weren't with the Earth Forces."

"Athrun," a voice called out to him, bringing his attention back to the present just in time to see Nicol running up to him. "Hey, are we done with the resupply yet?"

"All done on both accounts, right Dreadwing," Athrun called out.

"Affirmative Athrun Zala," Dreadwing confirmed. "I will see you in our next briefing for the upcoming battle."

Athrun nodded at that as Dreadwing moved to reenter the Havoc to meet with his team, and get them organized. As he did, Nicol pointed out a school of flying fish off the deck of their ship that they should check out, but Athrun politely declined prompting Nicol to take a seat next to his friend as they both gazed out to the horizon. Athrun then felt he the need to ask, "Why did you volunteer for the military Nicol?"

Nicol gave his friend a questioning glance, wondering what brought that up all of a sudden, which lead Athrun to quickly state, "I'm sorry, it's none of my business."

"It's okay," Nicol assured him with a smile. He then answered his friend and commander's question saying, "I guess I felt like I should do my part and join the fight after I heard about Junius Seven. And you?"

Athrun looked at Nicol for a moment before replying with a small smile, "The very same reason Nicol."

Nicol nodded and then looked off into the distance again as he stated, "It actually kind of makes you wonder why some Decepticons like Knockout or Dreadwing joined their military doesn't it?"

Athrun nodded in agreement at that, not because he did not already know at least Dreadwing's reason for fighting with the Decepticons, he was well aware of that fact, but because the idea behind that statement did make one wonder about why people decided to join a military of any kind whether they be from Earth or even another planet.

Dreadwing was making his way through the Havoc when he came upon Knockout, grumbling about something. "Everything okay here," Dreadwing asked.

"No," Knockout flatly stated. "Dealing with Barricade and his Decimators is hard enough, with that overgrown bug here it makes things so unbearable that I'm surprised that my finish hasn't begun to wear just from being in the same room as them."

The drama king of the Decepticons was of course referring to what he had to deal with after Barricade's team and Airachnid had joined up with them at Megatron's orders. Needless to say, saying it was a difficult adjustment for all of the Decepticons would be putting it extremely nicely. Airachnid and Slipstream were almost constantly at each other's throats in some struggle for dominance that no one understood, while the Decimators all seemed to have the idea ingrained into their processors that they should be running the show. Thankfully, Dreadwing was able to handle things most of the time, but he could not be everywhere at once, and when he was not around things got heated once again.

"Honestly Dreadwing, I don't know what Lord Megatron was thinking assigning those loose cannons to this unit. Like things weren't bad enough as they were, now we have this baggage to deal with," Knockout continued to complain.

"Are you questioning our leader's orders Knockout," Dreadwing questioned, the underlying warning not going unnoticed by anyone within listening range.

"No of course not! I'm just saying that the sooner this little team's work ends the better we'll all be is all," Knockout hastily replied.

Dreadwing nodded at that and then simply moved to continue on his way before Knockout stated, "But I'd watch my back around Airachnid if I were you. It's no secret that she has had just as many plans of her own as Starscream has had of stealing power from Megatron, and I wouldn't put it past her to see taking you down as a step closer to achieving that goal."

Dreadwing did not acknowledge that with any form of reply, but he did nod in understanding of that, as he knew this to be true. Thankfully, he intended to show Airachnid that he was not as easily dealt with as she must believe him to be.

Meanwhile in Orb, everyone was preparing themselves for the departure of both the Archangel and the Omega II the following morning. The Autobots had decided to travel the rest of the way to Alaska with Ratchet and Ironhide remaining behind in Orb as support for Orb in case the Decepticons moved to attack the peaceful nation. This decision was helped by the fact that Colonel Kisaka had informed them all of the intelligence that Orb had received of the recent activity in Carpentaria and rumors Z.A.F.T. planning a massive operation, and Optimus knew that if the rumors were true, then the Megatron and his forces would more than likely be a part of such a grand operation. The Autobots were not going to stand by and do nothing knowing this, so any argument on whether or not the Omega II would be joining the Archangel in finishing its journey to Alaska was immediately dropped.

As for the Archangel crew, they were doing everything they could think of to prepare for their departure and eventual arrival in Alaska, with Kira doing some final maintenance on the Strike, Tolle running through as many flight simulations as he could, and everyone else doing whatever they could think of doing to prepare themselves. Of course there was also another reason for all this.

That reason was everyone's concerns about the Z.A.F.T.-Decepticon team that had been pursuing the two ships for so long. Kisaka had assured them that there was a strong possibility that the team had given up and left seeing as they had not been spotted near Orb for so long, and things had gone well for them on the diplomatic side, but that did nothing to alleviate anyone's concerns. Optimus himself had stated that if the Decepticons had even the smallest reason to believe they were still here in Orb, then the chances of encountering the Zala team and Dreadwing's unit were quite high, a fact that all Autobots agreed with given how much experience they had all had with dealing with Decepticons after so many years.

The only downside that everyone saw in their departure was that they would be leaving friends and family alike behind. While the Autobots would be leaving behind Ironhide and Ratchet, and theArchangel crew members their families, there was one person in particular that they all would miss after their departure from Orb, and that was Cagalli who had decided to stay in Orb after a heart to heart talk with her father that gave her some things to think about when it concerned ending the two wars that Earth had been caught in. Though they all understood Cagalli's desire to stay, they all made sure to make it no secret that she would be missed, especially Arcee, who received a hug from her little sister figure in reply.

The morning of their departure finally came as the two ships received word from the Orb fleet that they could proceed according to schedule. The fleet had agreed to be a kind of escort for the two ships as a way of masking the two ships' departure. Before the Archangel could move to leave, Lord Uzumi arrived at the dock requesting that Kira come out on the upper deck for a moment. Kira did as asked, and soon noticed that Bumblebee and Optimus had done the same as him, climbing out onto the upper deck of Omega II. The three wondered for a moment what the reason for this was when they heard Cagalli calling out to them.

Kira and the Bots turned to see Cagalli running over to the Archangel dressed in an Orb uniform of her own calling out, "Kira your parents are here just look up there!"

Kira's head spun around to where Cagalli had indicated and he saw his parents looking down and calling out to him through the sound proof glass, a sight that both Optimus and Bumblebee saw as well, and which brought small smiles to all three of their faces. Kira suddenly found himself unsure of what to do, despite the fact that he had met with them, he was not sure what to think of seeing them here now. Cagalli then came up onto the deck, and after catching her breath she asked, "Why aren't you at least waving to them? Say something Kira."

She then saw a small, sad look on Kira's face and understood at least a small amount of what Kira was thinking right then. "Cagalli could you tell them sorry, but not right now? I don't think right now is…" Kira could not bring himself to finish that sentence as he could already feel tears coming to his eyes.

Understanding full well what Kira meant at that point Cagalli said okay and then let her friend turn to reenter the ship. Kira then paused for a moment and then turned to face Cagalli once again as he said, "Take care of yourself Cagalli, and thanks for everything."

Cagalli then found she could not take anymore and found herself running over to her friend and grabbing him in a strong hug that Kira happily returned. Neither one of them noticed the shocked expressions of their parents when they saw the two embrace, but it was a fact that did not go unnoticed by the two Autobots, which lead both scout and leader to wonder what the reason for this was.

"Listen," Cagalli whispered to Kira. "Don't get killed."

Kira gave Cagalli an understanding smile as he reassured her, "Don't you worry. Nothing's gonna happen to me. I'll be with Optimus and Bumblebee."

Cagalli nodded as she released Kira and disembarked from the Archangel while giving the two Autobots a look that said she was counting on them to look out for him. Optimus and Bumblebee both answered it with a nod of understanding and then moved to reenter their own vessel. Before they did, they looked back to Kira's parents one last time and nodded to them as they thought,Do not worry Mr. and Mrs. Yamato. We will keep our promise to keep your son safe as best as we can.

The promise they were thinking of was one they made after Kira had brought his parents to meet his new best friend, Bumblebee, and the rest of the Autobots the same day he went to meet with them, not wanting to hide anything from his parents. Optimus then swore by the spark of Primus to Kira's parents that so long as Kira piloted a mobile suit and the Autobots fought alongside him, that he would do everything in his power to keep the young Coordinator safe, a promise that was immediately echoed by Bumblebee, and both were more than determined to see that promise through to the end if they had to.

With everything having been said and done, the doors to the two hangars then opened and the two ships moved out to return to their journey to Alaska and to return to the battlefield once more. Cagalli watched them go, with a sure look on her face that showed how certain she was that the two ships and all the friends of hers that were on them would make it to their destination safely, and as soon as the two ships left the underground hangar, her watching was joined by a familiar red truck and white ambulance that were silently praying to Primus that their friends and comrades, who they now considered as a part of their family would be safe.

Athrun had rushed to the control room as soon as he heard from the carrier sub's captain that there was activity in the Orb fleet, despite the fact that nothing was scheduled. Despite the fact that they had no identification on any of the vessels that were heading Northeast, Athrun did not need to know in order to know what was going on and immediately ordered the ship to prepare for battle and alert the Havoc to the situation. As he ran through the halls towards the locker room for his flight suit, he crossed paths with Jaylen standing off to the side like she was waiting for him.

"Jaylen is there a problem," Athrun asked as he came to a stop.

"Actually I just wanted to talk to you about something concerning the enemy," Jaylen replied with a knowing smile. Athrun nodded in reply, prompting her to continue, "You know who the Strike pilot is don't you?"

It may have been phrased as a question, but the way that Jaylen had said it made it seem more like a statement. Athrun knew that was exactly what she meant it as, and was shocked and wondering how she knew. Jaylen then smiled as she answered Athrun's unasked question saying, "I had a suspicion that you might, but I didn't want to approach you until I was certain."

"And what helped you come to that conclusion," Athrun asked, finally regaining his voice, grateful that no one else was around.

"The other night in Orb," Jaylen casually replied. "I'm sure you remember the fact that you gave a robotic bird back to its owner, and I saw the look of recognition on your face at the sight of said bird and of the person it belonged to. The fact that you seemed so certain that the Legged Ship and the Autobot vessel were in Orb still just further proved that fact, and given that Dearka seemed to recognize him as well, I can only guess that he had met him recently somehow. So I have to ask, who is he?"

Athrun looked around one more time to make sure no one else was present to hear this, and then sighed, knowing that he could no longer hide it from Jaylen. "His name is Kira Yamato, and he was my best friend from back when I lived on the moon. I hadn't seen him until the attack on Heliopolis, which was when he first began piloting the Strike. The other reason I kept quiet about this though, is that Kira is Coordinator like us who was living in Orb."

Jaylen nodded in understanding, and then placed a hand on Athrun's shoulder as she stated, "Don't worry, I don't intend to tell anyone who doesn't already know, and I totally get why you're not so eager to fight against him. So if that is the case, who do you want to fight?"

Athrun looked at her in confusion before saying, "It's not like I want to fight someone specific…"

"Yeah I get that. Same goes for me," Jaylen cut in with a chuckle. She then gained a serious expression, "We never really want to fight against someone, but when everything boils down to it, we're still soldiers. We have to fight who we're told to even if we don't like it. I get that you don't enjoy fighting your friend, especially a friend that's as close to you as this Kira is, but I won't tell you to forget about him and just fight him like any other enemy. Whatever happens out there today, just know that I'll support whatever call you make no matter what happens."

Athrun stared at Jaylen for a moment, wondering how someone could be as good natured, kind, and understanding as her, and then gave her a grateful smile as he said, "Thanks Jaylen. I appreciate that. And thanks for everything else you've done for us up to this point as well."

Jaylen looked at Athrun in confusion for a moment and tried to say that she did not do all that much before Athrun cut in saying, "You may not have been with us since the start, but you are definitely a welcome part of this team, and I'm grateful to count you as one of my friends."

Jaylen then smiled and nodded in thanks to Athrun before the two ran off to the locker room to get themselves prepped for battle along with the others. A moment later, they had all suited up and boarded their respective machines, waiting for the call which soon came as one of the crew announced, "Two of the ships are separating from the enemy fleet. Identifying…It's the Legged Ship and the Autobot Vessel!"

Exclamations of surprise and impression were shared throughout the Zala team and the Decepticon team alike, as Nicol called out, "I knew you were right Athrun."

"Awaiting your decision Commander Zala," Dreadwing stated over the comm. link.

"We're taking off," Athrun declared. "Those ships go down today!"

With that, the Zala team launched into what they intended to be the final battle with the Earth Forces Legged Ship and the Autobot Vessel, with Dreadwing and the Decepticons on the Havoc not far behind as the Decepticon commander shouted out, "Decepticons, transform and rise up! Prepare to annihilate the enemy ships!"

"Heads up folks," Wheeljack called out from his post on Omega II's bridge. "Scanners just picked up on five human mobile suits and a number of Decepticon signals!"

Through their interlinked comm. system, the Archangel crew heard Wheeljack's report, which was then confirmed by the officer monitoring the radar on the Earth Forces ship. "Checking readouts now," Hound reported from his computer. "Mobile suits ids are Aegis, Buster, Blitz, Duel, and the unknown; Decepticons in the sky are Dreadwing, Thundercracker, Skywarp, Slipstream, Blackout and an unknown helicopter that scans are reading as Airachnid, with Breakdown, Barricade, and Junkheap stationed on the upper deck of the Decepticon vessel."

"They were hiding. They were waiting for us," Natarle exclaimed from aboard the Archangel.

"Crew, prepare for undersea and air battle! We have to lose them. I know it's a tall order but I'm sure we can do it," Captain Ramius then ordered.

"Autobots, prepare to roll out," Optimus then ordered his own troops. "Elita, stay and cover the bridge. The rest of you load up and report to battle stations!"

"ECM at maximum strength! Deploy smoke dischargers and lay down a smokescreen on both sides," Natarle then commanded.

"Jazz, Bumblebee…" Optimus began.

"Way ahead of ya Prime," Jazz stated as he grabbed a Nucleon Charge Rifle while Bumblebee grabbed himself a Photon Burst Rifle. The Autobots heading out into battle then all grabbed jetpacks for themselves. While they were in Orb, Ratchet was kind enough to help Elita develop a few more of the flight assisting devices for the Autobot team, but the downside was that the jetpacks only allowed for a limited amount of flight, so they all knew that they would have to be careful with how they used them, especially in the case of Bots who preferred close combat such as Bulkhead and Wheeljack.

"Connecting power conduits. Auxiliary power online. Standing by and ready," Kira reported from in the Strike as he had the mobile suit standing ready on the deck at the edge of the launch bay door with the Striker pack's main gun connected to a long cable that extended from the floor.

Jazz and Bumblebee then moved into positions themselves on the upper deck of the Omega II while Optimus and the other Autobots made sure to stay out of sight for a moment, as theArchangel set up the smokescreen that Natarle had ordered. From where the Decepticons and the Zala team were standing, nothing that had happened so far seemed all that impressive. "Do they really think a smokescreen will help them," Slipstream asked rhetorically.

"Heh, they're getting cute with us," Yzak stated from in the Duel. The next thing any of them knew, two Sky Graspers burst out of the heavy man-made cloud cover, one with the Aile Striker and the other with Sword. Neither Yzak nor Slipstream wasted time firing on the two aircraft, only for both planes to swerve to the side and avoid the shots all together. Before any of the Cons or Z.A.F.T. pilots could make any moves against the aircraft, a large red beam fired right into their midst, along with a number of energon bullets that nearly hit Airachnid in her new helicopter form and one of Dreadwing's wings.

"Everyone scatter," Athrun and Dreadwing called out simultaneously, and order that was immediately followed by everyone as the red beams and energon bullets kept coming.

"There's a couple of snipers on the Autobot ship," Skywarp exclaimed.

"No really? What was your first clue," Barricade mocked as he opened fire with his own rifle into the smoke. Neither of them could say anymore as a moment later, a fully powered up Strike burst from the smoke with Hound and Optimus not far behind him. Dearka and Yzak immediately opened fire with support from all three of the Seeker siblings, but it was all for not as Optimus and Hound returned fire on the Seekers, knocking Skywarp and Slipstream out of the sky. Optimus then glanced towards the Strike and saw that Kira did not seem to be able to get enough altitude, until the blue and white mobile suit landed swiftly on top of Slipstream.

"You little brat! I ain't no springboard," Slipstream shouted indignantly as Kira launched the Strike from off of the top of the obviously humiliated Con, sending her flying into another shot from one of the Autobots' the mystery snipers. Kira then landed a hard kick on the Buster and followed up with a shot at the transport the Duel was on, sending both Yzak and Dearka hurtling out of the sky as well.

"Hang on you guys," Athrun called to his friends as he, Nicol, Jaylen, Dreadwing, and the remaining aerial Cons moved to fire on the Strike and the two Autobot commanders. Before they could even get close to either one, the Archangel and Omega II emerged from the smoke, with guns blazing, scattering them once more. As she moved away though, Airachnid found herself flying right into the line of fire of Arcee, who had immediately opened fire on the helicopter, spider-like Con as soon as she was in the two-wheeler's sights.

As the Omega II fully emerged from the smoke, Jazz and Bumblebee could be seen standing up from where they had been lying on the deck with their respective snipers in hand, putting out covering fire with said weapons as they did, while the other Bots moved up to start shooting as well. Despite the fact that the Seekers were knocked aside for the moment, they were quick to recover and soon the Autobots were once again outnumbered eight to seven, and the fact that they were also being attacked by the Z.A.F.T. pilots did nothing to help either. Then again, it was not like they were really trying all that hard at the moment.

While the two ships and the Autobots were keeping the enemy occupied, Mu flew in his Sky Grasper to deploy the Aile Striker pack to Kira, who was able to handle changing to the equipment in mid-air easily. Seeing that Kira had successfully done so, the Autobots then began fighting for real, as Wheeljack and Bulkhead used their jetpacks to rocket towards the Havoc and take on Barricade, Junkheap, and Breakdown. "Well, well Wheeljack. Back for another thrashing," Barricade snarled.

"That depends on whether or not you can take it like a mech Barricade," Wheeljack replied as he whipped out his swords and activated his battle mask. "By the way, you hoping to join a pirate crew or something, or did none of the other 'Cons want to give you a new optic so that they could all mock you about something for a change?" Wheeljack was referring to the fact that the optic that Mu had shot out in their last encounter was now covered by an eye patch, and Barricade did not like anyone reminding him of the fact he had it or of how he had gotten it. With a loud growl from Barricade, the two then immediately rushed each other and clashed their respective weapons against the other's. Wheeljack's swords against Barricade's nun-chucks, and neither one of them were willing to give an inch.

Bulkhead on the other hand had decided to let his old pal have Barricade all to himself while he handled the other two 'Cons on the Havoc's deck. "Well while those two have their fun, what's say you guys go a few rounds with me?"

"Gladly," Breakdown snarled as he brought out his hammer. "I intend to follow through with your challenge from the desert Bulkhead."

"Oh you were actually planning to accept that," Bulkhead exclaimed in fake surprise. "I thought you were going to run away like a little sparkling every time you were reminded of it."

Breakdown roared in anger and then charged at Bulkhead with Junkheap right behind him with a battle staff he had pulled from his trunk. Bulkhead immediately blocked the two strikes and pushed them back before slamming his two wrecking balls into the two of them. Anyone could tell just from looking that this was going to be an all out brawl.

Arcee was having an equally difficult time of her own with Airachnid, because as soon as she finally knocked the spider 'Con out of the air, she had immediately rushed after Airachnid to meet her head on, and the two had begun trading blows instantly. Arcee only made a slight note of how three of her fellow Autobots, Kira, and Tolle were able to knock the Blitz and Blackout out of the sky and how Jazz and Hound went after said Con while Bumblebee and Optimus helped Kira deal with the now returned Seeker siblings, Dreadwing, and the Aegis. As she did note all of this though, she realized that something was wrong with that picture. The unknown machine with the battle axe, long gun, and large backpack was missing. She soon found out what had happened to it, as the Zaku Accelerant suddenly hit her from behind with a missile barrage.

Arcee did a hand spring to help herself land on her feet, and immediately brought out her Plasma Cannon, only to be hit once again by Thundercracker, who had somehow slipped away from the battle that was keeping his siblings occupied. "What's the matter Airachnid? I thought you preferred to work alone these days," Arcee mocked in an attempt to throw her opponents off.

"Well that was then, and I'm quickly finding that having at least one or two people support you does have its advantages. Especially since our last encounter," Airachnid replied coolly. "Oh and speaking of which, once I'm finished with you, I intend to find your little human friend and make her pay as well. Slowly and painfully."

If Arcee was not angry before, she was most definitely furious now, as she charged in with her Plasma Cannon charging up and an arm blade out shouting, "You stay away from my little sister!"

Arcee then started fighting like a whole different person, as she swiftly knocked the Zaku Accelerant away with a hard kick, and slashed at Airachnid, which was quickly followed up by a powerful burst from the Plasma Cannon on Thundercracker, bringing him out of the sky. Though Arcee was doing well, it did not change the fact that she was not fighting with a clear head at the moment, a fact that Airachnid was quick to take advantage of, as she used one of her spider legs to knock Arcee off her feet and send her flying right into Thundercracker's Shockwave burst.

Arcee propped herself up on her arms as she looked up to see both 'Cons snickering down at her, as though she were now finished for sure, when suddenly, a beam blast forced both of them to back off. Arcee looked towards the source expecting to see Kira, but was instead met with the sight of Tolle's Sky Grasper plane. Taking advantage of her opponents' confusion, Arcee quickly spun her leg around to kick Thundercracker's feet out from under him, and then fired a fully charged burst from the Plasma Cannon right into Airachnid's chest, sending her flying.

Arcee then stood up and gave Tolle a mock salute as he flew over in thanks, and then returned her attention to the battle at hand.

Overall, from an observation on the Archangel bridge, the Omega II bridge, or simply from where Kira and Optimus were standing, the battle seemed to be going well. Bumblebee had been able to drive off Skywarp, leaving only the Aegis and Dreadwing for Kira and Optimus to deal with respectively. Kira had already switched the Strike's equipment over to the Sword Striker thanks to Tolle's support, and Optimus had since brought out his Energon Battle Axe, and the two had immediately charged into battle against their opponents.

As he looked from his opponents, to the battlefield, and finally his mobile suit's low energy gauge, Athrun could not deny that things were not looking good for his team or Dreadwing's. Even so, with a simple glance and a nod from Dreadwing, Athrun knew that there was no way either of them were giving up so easily and even as Kira and Optimus stood their ground in front of their respective ships, Athrun and Dreadwing charged in, beam saber and sword swinging at the two.

"Athrun enough," Kira cried out as he brought the Strike's massive sword down against the Aegis's shield. "I don't want to fight you anymore!"

"It's too late for that," Athrun retorted. "So come on and shoot me just like you said you would! Isn't that what you said, that you'd destroy me?!"

Athrun moved to have the Aegis slash at Kira once more, only for his attack to be intercepted by Optimus's Battle Axe. "Athrun Zala and Dreadwing," Optimus declared in a tone similar to the one he used when he spoke to Waltfeld. "This battle is over! Now be gone!"

Optimus then parried Athrun's sword away and landed a hard hit to the Aegis's head, while Kira used the Strike's sword to deflect an attack on Optimus from Dreadwing and mirrored Optimus's action by landing a hard right hook into Dreadwing face as well. The blow from Optimus caused the Aegis to immediately power down, and the Strike's blow against Dreadwing caused the large, aerial Decepticon to find himself struggling to rise. Kira then hefted the Strike's Anti-Ship sword over the mobile suit's shoulder, when a sudden cry drew everyone's attention. "Athrun get out of there!"

They all turned to see the now one-armed Blitz deactivating its Mirage Colloid, and charging in with a spear in an attempt to strike at Kira. Everything seemed to move in slow motion for a moment as Kira brought the large sword down and then moved to slash at the Blitz out of reflex, and the sword was headed right for Nicol's cockpit. Just before the blade struck, a loud roar of an engine was heard, and the Blitz was tackled out of the way by a Transformer that raced up and vehicle mode and then switched to robot mode right at the last moment before hitting the black colored mobile suit.

Everyone looked on in shock at what had just happened, many grateful that Kira had not taken another life by accident just then, but the thing that had nearly all of them shocked was not that the Strike had just swung its sword in a killing blow out of reflex, but rather who had just saved Nicol's life. There, rising up from the ground so that he was not on top of the Blitz was not Knockout, Breakdown, or any of the other ground based Decepticons, but the Autobots' bravest, and eternally hopeful scout, Bumblebee. While Optimus found this to not be all that surprising at all, everyone else found the fact that Bumblebee had just saved the life of someone who was supposed to be his enemy for no reason at all to be beyond shocking. None more so than the person who's life Bumblebee just saved himself.

As he looked up at the gold Autobot from his cockpit, Nicol could only stare in shock at what had just happened, with one question racing through his mind more dominantly than any other. "Wh…Why did you…," Nicol asked softly to no one in particular. The shock of this caused everyone to be unprepared for what happened immediately after.

"Athrun, Nicol, hang on," Jaylen cried out as she flew the Zaku Accelerant in, using its large battle axe to knock Bumblebee off of Nicol, thinking that the scout intended to bring further harm to her comrade. Kira immediately snapped at the sight of Bumblebee being attacked, and the moment he saw the Zaku Accelerant racing to strike down Optimus, Kira just reacted and swung the Strike's sword right at the Zaku's cockpit, and this time his attack hit the mark.

As her machine began to spark and explode, Jaylen used the last of her strength to look toward the Aegis and the Blitz, who's pilots were now beyond shocked at the sight of their comrade being struck in the way that she had been, and called out as best she could, "A…Athrun…Nicol…run."

A moment later, the Zaku Accelerant and its pilot, both of which had only been a part of the Zala team for such little time vanished forever in a massive explosion. Everyone was shocked at this sight. Optimus and Bumblebee at the fact that the humans' war had caused a young man they came to care a great deal for to bloody his hands with the blood of his own kind, Dreadwing at the sight of another comrade being killed, Kira at the fact that he had just killed someone, even without meaning to, and Athrun and Nicol at the sight of losing a friend that had just sacrificed herself to save them. The final pair felt their despair finally consume them, as they cried out in that despair their lost friend's name one last time, "JAYLEN!"

A moment later the Buster and the Duel landed on the small island that their comrades and enemies alike were on, also in shock at the loss of their comrade and barely even able to believe their eyes. That shock quickly turned to rage as Yzak charged in, beam rifle blazing as he cried out, "You did this. YOU'LL PAY STRIKE! YOU'LL PAY AUTOBOTS! YOU'LL ALL PAY!"

"Athrun, Nicol," Dearka called out as he began firing on their enemies along with Yzak as a way to cover his friends' retreat.

"Optimus, Bumblebee, what's taking you guys so long," Elita called out over her radio.

"Ensign Yamato return to the ship now! There's no need to pursue them any further," Natarle ordered Kira. With that being said, the Strike immediately made a beeline for the Archangel as the large white ship lay down some covering fire for both its mobile suit and their allies. The Omega II quickly joined in with the barrage of covering fire as the Autobots returned to their ship as well and drove back both the Decepticons and the Zala team, who was now down one member.

Yzak and Slipstream both tried to fire on their retreating foes, only to become the focus of an enemy bombardment. "Yzak stop it! We need to regroup," Dearka called out to his friend, who just growled in defeat at that.

"Decepticons, retreat," Dreadwing called out. With that, the Zala team and the Decepticons made their way back to their own respective ships, the whole time the Z.A.F.T. pilots, and Dreadwing were all silently swearing to themselves one simple oath. No matter what it takes, the Strike will pay for taking our comrade today.

AN: Okay I know this is probably one of my shorter chapters, but really there wasn't all that much to put in there this time, otherwise we'd spend more time with conversations that took place before the battle like in the original anime, and the battle would've felt, in my opinion, far too drawn out.

All and all, for those of you who guessed that Nicol would survive this battle while Jaylen did not, give yourselves a pat on the back for figuring out that plot line. I like Nicol, he's a good guy, and he is definitely not someone who should've been killed off just like that. Plus he's a musician, and being a musician myself, I just can't help but like the guy. So yeah, I know adding an OC to die in Nicol's place is a little cliche, but hey cut me some slack! If no one died in that battle then Athrun would not have the motivation he needed to fight Kira so seriously, and I wasn't going to kill off Dreadwing, I've got other plans for him, and I highly doubt it would make as much an impact if it were one of the other Decepticons. I believe that someone once said in both a movie and a popular TV series that where there is death there will always be death or something to that effect. Anyways, onto the preview...

The spark of another life has been extinguished from the universe. As the thoughts of never being able to hear the voice, or see the end of the war alongside their lost comrade rings through his head, Athrun finds that he must find solace and advice in Dearka, who knows the secret of the Strike pilot's identity, and in his friend Nicol, whom he now reveals the truth to. With vengeance strong in their minds, Athrun charges out again to meet Kira once more on the battlefield. Can Optimus and the Autobots force back the attacking Decepticons to save their young mobile suit pilot friend, or will even Bumblebee, one of the fastest of the Autobots on Omega II, not be able to make it in time? Just what fate awaits the rest of the combatants in the storm that is about to rage on the battlefield? And how many more lives must be lost in this pointless war before Kira and Athrun start fighting one and other with everything they have? Next time on Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Prime…Chapter 20: Blades of Vengeance. Prepare for a hell fire unlike anything seen before Gundam and Transformers!

Please read and review, and I'll see you next time! Same Gundam channel...Same Autobot time!...Sorry I've been playing Lego Batman 3 a lot recently and that just kinda had to be put in there somehow.