AN: Ladies and gentlemen, it is finally here! The first of the many most epic moments in the story, as the Archangel and Omega II find themselves facing the first of their greatest challenges yet.

Kira: Secrets will be revealed.

Optimus: New mysteries will be brought about.

Cagalli: And most importantly, will be the beginning of...

AN: DAH! CAGALLI SAYING TOO MUCH! [Hits control that causes massive hammer to swing down and narrowly hit Cagalli]

Cagalli: SERIOUSLY?! I WAS JUST READING YOUR SCRIPT! WHY DO YOU KEEP DOING THIS TO ME?!

AN: Oh I don't know, maybe because you keep trying to give away spoilers about the story! And I know that I did not write that into your script!

[AN and Cagalli continue to argue in the background, with a massive cartoon gag fight ensuing.]

Optimus: Perhaps we should proceed without them?

Kira: I think that would be for the best. lyokoMARVELanime does not own anything from any of the Gundam or Transformers franchises or any other franchise mentioned in this story.

Optimus: And now my friends, prepare yourselves as the battle for Alaska begins!

Chapter 22: Return of Two Heroes

The morning of Flay, Mu, and Natarle's departure had come a little too soon for most people, but right now almost everyone of them hoped that at least one of those departures would hurry up and be over. Even from the Omega II, the Autobots could all hear Flay's protests about her being sent off of the ship. How the Pits did those guys ever think that it was a good idea to let her enlist, the Autobots all thought, including Optimus surprisingly. It was not until Flay was finally off of the Archangel that she finally shut up, but even so, everyone on the ship was still sad to see their crewmates go. Despite all that had happened, each person aboard the Archangel had formed a strong bond with each other that they were certain would last for a long time.

Though he shared his human friends' sadness at the departure of such great friends and comrades, Optimus himself was more preoccupied with other thoughts at the moment. Jazz, Bumblebee, Arcee, and Bulkhead had all now been gone for the entire day and all of the previous night since he sent them out for their investigation mission after the hearing and had yet to report anything of significance. Optimus was not that worried for their well being since he knew full well that all four of them could take care of themselves, but he could not help but still worry about his fellow Autobots and what they might find. It was not that he did not want them to have some form of success, but after what Arcee had told him and the others the previous night, he was truly feeling worried about what information the team would bring back.

It did not ease his worries for his team or the suspicions he was now holding when he and the others that were aboard Omega II heard of the Archangel's next assignment. They had simply been told that the white ship was to serve as part of JOSH-A's defense forces until further notice and that was that. Murrue had tried to get them to tell her something about why it seemed there had not been any news yet concerning any of their requests, but all they told her was that they were busy moving to defend Panama, that they would let Captain Sutherland know, and just left it at that.

"Like they were ever looking into fulfilling those requests to begin with," Arcee stated over the radio as she reported in from where she was.

"All the same Arcee, the fact that they're still trying to cover up the truth like Knockout would a scratch on his finish and giving the Archangel such fragged treatment simply means we need to uncover the reason why all the more quickly," Hound told her.

"Have you been able to find anything yet Arcee," Optimus asked.

"Not unless you count the fact that it seems nearly everyone seems to have vacated the place completely. At least everyone in the Atlantic Federation anyways."

"Yo guys, might wanna hold up with the chatter for a second. I think I might have something you should be aware of," Jazz suddenly cut in.

"What's up Jazz," Elita asked.

"I'm a little ways out from the control room. Obviously I'm not inside since my holo-form might be recognized, but I can still pick up what's being said in there, and you might wanna take a listen to what I just heard yourselves."

Jazz then played back a recording he had made of the conversation that he had just mentioned for all the Autobots, both on the ship and out on the mission to hear. "How's it coming," they heard someone ask.

"Everything's on track," they heard Sutherland's voice reply. "I'm certain that everything will begin as we planned and finish as we planned."

"And how's the evacuation coming," another unknown voice asked.

"I'd say another three more vessels or so," Sutherland replied.

"Does that give us enough time?"

"There's no way they'll get to the deepest levels that quickly."

That got everyone wondering why they thought someone would be getting to the deepest levels of what they assumed to be JOSH-A in a certain amount of time, and who they were talking about going there period. Before anyone could ask the question aloud, an all-too familiar voice caught the ears of every Autobot that was listening to the recording. "I certainly hope you are right about that Captain Sutherland. After all the trouble that I went through, I'd hate for it all to be for not," Starscream's voice stated smugly.

"Don't you mean all the trouble we went through Starscream," Onslaught's voice the asked.

"Oh yes of course Onslaught. The trouble we went through," Starscream quickly amended.

"Tell me that was not who I think it was," Bulkhead asked from where he was in JOSH-A.

"Hate to be a bearer of bad news Bulk, but that was definitely Starscream and Onslaught talking to Sutherland and that little punk captain seems to be a lot chummier with them than he was with us," Wheeljack replied.

"It would appear that Sutherland has information that he has felt unnecessary to share with all of his forces, but as to what exactly he has been planning with Starscream and his new forces, it is hard to say at this time," Optimus observed aloud.

"But I thought Scream was working with Blue Cosmos, not the Earth Forces," Bumblebee then buzzed in.

"Guess there's a lot more going on with that so called terrorist group than any of us ever thought," Elita snarled angrily.

Optimus then turned to the monitor that was displaying an image of Jazz's helm as he ordered, "Jazz, you and Bulkhead return to Omega II at once. Arcee and Bumblebee, do whatever you must to uncover just what Sutherland is hiding in the lower levels and who they are hoping to lure down there."

"On our way Prime," Jazz answered, and then the communication lines were closed.

"Optimus," Elita asked as she walked over and placed her servo in Optimus's with a worried look.

"I know Elita. I too fear that we and this world are all about to face a dark day in both ours and the humans' war," Optimus answered with his own worried expression as he gave her hand a gentle squeeze, showing his sparkmate that he was here for her right now.

Meanwhile up in space, and with all the rest of the Z.A.F.T. and Decepticon forces, said armies had finished with all preparations for Operation: Spitbreak and were now just waiting for Chairman Zala's authorization to proceed. Megatron stood on the bridge of the Nemesis watching as his forces prepared to move out along with the Coordinators as Zala received word that the landing teams were in position and the operation area was all green. If he were to be honest at least with himself, then Megatron would have to say that he was disappointed that Athrun Zala and Dreadwing would not be participating in this operation, but all the same he understood that Athrun had been asked to return home and join Z.A.F.T.'s Special Forces for a reason, and Dreadwing had been insistent on acting as Athrun's guard in his return trip home. He smiled with pride at the fact that Dreadwing had succeed so brilliantly in at least some small aspect of his mission with the Zala team, and felt more certain than ever that Dreadwing would make a very fine first lieutenant.

Megatron was then stirred from his musings as Patrick Zala gave a final speech before Operation: Spitbreak finally commenced. "As we embark on this operation, it is my strongest wish that it will bring the war to a swift conclusion, and inspire the hope in us all that this will lead to true freedom and justice! Let Operation: Spitbreak now commence!"

Megatron then grinned in anticipation at what would come next, and he did not have to wait long. "Message from central command," someone then announced a moment later. "Target of operation code name Spitbreak is JOSH-A, Alaska."

Megatron let out a low, menacing chuckle at the mutterings of confusion he could hear coming over the comm. of the Z.A.F.T. forces' confusion at the change in location for the operation from Panama to JOSH-A, showing that he and his most trusted Decepticons knew the true target of Spitbreak the entire time and then softly commented, "In battle, the quickest way to slay any beast you face is to sever the head. Decepticons, prepare to assault JOSH-A, Alaska now! Transform and rise up!"

A mere minute after Megatron's orders to proceed, a large fleet of Decepticon vehicons and flyers had deployed through Decepticon Ground Bridges or from the Nemesis itself to head for Alaska along with the rest of the Z.A.F.T. forces. As he watched his forces go, Megatron thought to himself, Today may finally see the end of the Autobots at last. Though if that is true, then the only thing I have to regret about all of this is that you did not fall by my hand Optimus Prime.

"That's a creative move," Yzak commented to Slipstream over his comm. link. "I see Chairman Zala wasn't put in charge for nothing. I'm kind of impressed."

"Yeah and why's that Yzak," Slipstream asked from aboard the Havoc, which she had taken command of after Dreadwing's departure for the PLANTs.

"Because they've concentrated their forces at Panama, where they expected us to attack. This is our opportunity, and this will finish the Naturals," Yzak explained excitedly.

Slipstream had to smirk in excitement as well as she fully agreed with that sentiment whole heartedly. "And with any luck, it will see the end of Prime and his Autobots at last as well."

"Then let's go get 'em," Yzak stated, and not a minute later, he and the Decepticons of the Havoc were off once again for battle, this time with all of Z.A.F.T. and the Decepticon armies alongside them.

They had all heard the alarms sound throughout all of JOSH-A and the explosions that had come quickly after, but that did not mean that any of them wanted to believe what they were hearing. Sadly, those hopes were dashed as outside the Decepticons had sent numerous vehicon troops and flyers out with all forms of Z.A.F.T. forces from BaCUEs to GOOhNs and all manner of mobile suit that Z.A.F.T. possessed.

A moment later, the Archangel received a message from JOSH-A's joint operations room, and Sutherland's face appeared on the main monitor. "Captain Sutherland, what's going on," Ramius asked.

Whether or not Sutherland heard her was hard to tell, and from the image Optimus was looking at on the Omega II, it seemed as though the man was barely trying to conceal a devious smile as he spoke. "All defense forces are to launch at once. Commence interception," Sutherland stated in a supposedly angered tone. "They tricked us! At the last minute they switched their target here to JOSH-A!"

Murrue was as shocked to hear this as everyone else aboard the Archangel and the Omega II was, and Miriallia and Sai could swear that they heard Optimus almost growl out Megatron's name under his breath as though it were a curse, but she was quick to shake it off as she pondered aloud, "Fighting under these conditions is suicidal, but we can't afford to lose headquarters."

She then turned her attention to the battle that was ahead of them and gave her orders to the ship. "All hands proceed to level one battle stations! We've been given our orders and the Archangel is taking off!"

"You're kidding! Without Kira or the commander," Kuzzey exclaimed. Murrue understood why Kuzzey would ask such a thing, but all the same she knew that they had to do this.

"Autobots, prepare to roll out! The Omega II is heading out into battle as well! Our primary mission is to protect the Archangel, the defense forces, and everyone else in JOSH-A from the Decepticon forces at all costs," Optimus then ordered his own troops.

"Whoa Prime," Jazz cut in as he walked onto the bridge. "You sure that's a good idea since we're down two Bots at the moment?"

"Bumblebee and Arcee will join us as soon as they can, but until then we must proceed to do everything that we can for our human friends and allies," Optimus stated with confidence. "Jazz, you and Bulkhead remain here and take command of the bridge. The rest of you are with me on the deck in the field."

The other 'Bots nodded in confirmation of the orders, and soon all but Jazz and Bulkhead were loading up with their choice of extra weapons and jetpacks to meet their enemies head on, none of them able to completely distract themselves from worrying about their friends in JOSH-A, or even aware of what was really going on.

As the sounds of explosions from the battle rang throughout the base, Mu La Flaga was racing through the joint operations center trying to find someone that could tell him what was going on outside, but so far he had not found any one at all. Mu had a hunch that something was really wrong with everything going on in JOSH-A for a while now, and after handing Flay the papers she would need to leave the base he had run off to get to the bottom of things. Mu continued to run through the base to find anyone he could, when he paused for a moment as a weird, yet familiar tingling sensation rang through his head. "That feeling," Mu wondered aloud. "Is Rau Le Creuset here?"

Shaking it off after a moment, Mu resumed running through the hallways until he reached the control room of joint operations. Even though it was the only room that seemed to have any form of light source on, he still felt he should be extremely cautious after getting that feeling he always had whenever Le Creuset was nearby, so he pulled out his energon pistol and slowly looked into the room. There was someone in there, and that person quickly spun around and started shooting at him. Mu had quickly ducked back behind the door frame, and quickly ran in taking cover and avoiding the bullets as best as he could as he did, getting a glimpse of a white Z.A.F.T. uniform and blonde hair as he did, confirming his suspicions that Le Creuset was here.

"It's been a while Mu La Flaga," Le Creuset called from behind his own cover in the other door. "I don't have time for fooling around. Though we've only just met again I apologize for leaving so soon, but if you're still hanging around here, your usefulness to the Earth Forces must be nearly at an end. Oh Hawk of Endymion, how the mighty have fallen."

Mu tried to edge out of his cover to get a better aim on his long-time rival, but Le Creuset just fired off a pair of shots that forced Mu back behind his cover behind a computer and then tried to run off before the ace pilot could get off even one shot on the masked man, but found his exit blocked by a certain blue, Autobot femme. "Going somewhere," Arcee asked as she leveled her default blaster at Le Creuset.

"So the Autobots are still here as well," Le Creuset smirked. "I guess this means Mu's not the only one who's outlived his usefulness. It's actually a shame really; I was really hoping to see how a final battle between the two armies of Cybertron would turn out."

"What're you on about," Arcee demanded.

"Damn it," Mu then gasped. Arcee then took a moment to look over to where Mu was and saw that he was looking at a display on a computer screen, which Le Creuset took advantage of to make his escape.

"Mu? What're you still doing here," Arcee asked.

"Never mind that now Arcee! We've gotta get everyone out of here and fast," Mu told her.

"Why?"

"Take a look and see for yourself," Mu told as he pointed at the screen with his thumb. Arcee crawled over to see the display as best she could, given that she had a small amount of trouble getting around in the room even though she was the smallest of the Autobots, and then gasped at what she saw and at how everything seemed to fit into place and make sense at last.

"By Primus they're insane," Arcee hollered. She then transformed into vehicle mode and shouted to Mu, "Get on now!"

Mu was not about to argue, and as soon as he was on, Arcee started to race back through the hallway she had come from, this time not bothering to be careful of any equipment that would get in her way, and called out over her comm. to Bumblebee saying, "Bumblebee, contact Optimus and request a Ground Bridge. Get yourself back to the Omega II now and tell Optimus that we need to get as many people as we can out of here and fast."

"What? Why," Bumblebee buzzed from his end.

"I explain once I'm aboard myself, just go!" With that Arcee cut the line, and started racing for an area that she knew that she would be able to safely call for a Ground Bridge from with Mu holding on tightly as he could to keep from falling off.

Le Creuset encountered little resistance as he began to make his escape from JOSH-A, only having to stop and shoot a few people as he went, but then was brought to a complete stop when he found Flay Allster sitting on the floor pointing a gun at him in fear. Flay had left the transport that was supposed to take her and Mu from JOSH-A after she had heard the alarm, intent on reaching the Archangel, but had quickly gotten lost. That had lead her into her current situation after she had tripped over someone that Le Creuset had shot.

"Now this is interesting," Le Creuset commented aloud, and for some reason something about his voice seemed to cause Flay to freeze in shock.

"Daddy," Flay exclaimed in shock, completely confusing Le Creuset. "Th…that's my daddy's voice."

Now Le Creuset was both confused and curious. He was not sure whether it was from the trauma of being caught out on the battlefield like this, exhaustion from running all over the base, or something else, but for some reason Flay had thought that his voice sounded like her father's for some bizarre reason. Not wanting to take too long wasting time like this or take any chances, Le Creuset simply rushed up and punched Flay in the gut, causing her to lose consciousness. Before the red haired girl could fall to the floor, Le Creuset grabbed her with one arm and then moved to carry her out of the command room and back to his mobile suit, intent on bringing the girl back with him. Before he got very far, a soft chuckle from behind him caught his attention as an unknown voice stated, "This is very interesting indeed. I assume you are Rau Le Creuset?"

Le Creuset simply turned around and saw a Decepticon he had only heard of until now standing a short ways away looking down at him with a smug grin. "And if I were, would I assume you are Starscream?"

"You would assume correctly," Starscream confirmed.

"You know you are considered a traitor to the Decepticons and Z.A.F.T."

"Ah yes, and that led me to where I am today, but you are the one who is essentially kidnapping the child of late Minister Allster, for what purpose I'm sure very few can only guess. Which begs the question, what happens now?" Starscream and Le Creuset just stood there for a while staring each other down, wondering what the other would do next. A short while later, Le Creuset was flying back to his fellow Z.A.F.T. troops in his custom machine with Flay Allster in his lap, while a silver jet with a few notable bullet holes in its armor flew away without anyone noticing. If one were to have seen all this after witnessing a bit of that exchange, they would think that the two had simply let each other go, but then again that would be crazy to assume would it not?

Up in the PLANTs, Kira was looking out at the horizon from the Clyne estate, thinking many things over. A short while ago, a light rain had passed and the sun was now shining brightly, which only served as a reflection of what had happened to Kira recently. Shortly after he had sat down for some tea with Lacus and Malchio, Lacus's father had arrived to inform him and Malchio that none of the transports to Earth were being allowed to fly at the moment, including Malchio's personal shuttle, only to be interrupted by a call from a good friend of his on the PLANT Supreme Council that believed that they should be doing everything they could to start peaceful negotiations instead of planning more military operations. The council woman had then informed him that Operation: Spitbreak's true target had been revealed to be Alaska, and as soon as he heard that, Kira could only tremble in fear of what would happen to his friends that were supposed to be at Alaska right now. Now that he had calmed down and thought things through, Kira suddenly found he had come to a realization about what he should do.

Kira was now trying to think of what to tell Lacus, when he heard the door open and the pink songstress herself approach him from behind. At Lacus's call to him, he turned around to face her with a small amount of tears in his eyes, knowing that it was now or never. "It's time I left here," Kira told Lacus.

"Oh," Lacus replied sadly. "Where were you thinking of going?"

"I have to return to Earth," Kira informed her, his determination growing by the minute.

"Why? Even if you go you can't end the war by yourself," Lacus pointed out.

"I know," Kira conceded. "But I can't just stay here any longer doing nothing. If you just did nothing because you thought it wouldn't help, then you'd end up doing less than nothing, for nothing would change and nothing would end. Plus there are now two wars going on here now, and I can't just let the Autobots down after all they have done for us all. Optimus once said that the Autobots would never surrender to any force, Decepticon or otherwise, and I think that applies to more than just an opposing army."

"Will you be fighting against the Z.A.F.T. forces again," Lacus asked. When Kira shook his head no, Lacus then asked, "Then the Earth Forces?"

Again Kira shook his head no and stated, "I now believe that I have a much better understanding of what we should be fighting against, and I have no doubt in my mind that Bumblebee, Optimus, and all of the Autobots know what that is as well."

Lacus stared at Kira for a moment, gazing into his eyes and seeing all the struggles and hardships he had gone through, but also seeing the conviction and hope that was now dwarfing all of that, and the determination he held to do whatever he could to help his friends. After gazing into Kira's eyes for another moment, part of which she could not help but use to admire how beautiful she thought his eyes were, Lacus smiled and told him she understood and asked him to follow her.

Kira followed Lacus inside where Lacus brought him to the estate's butler who was holding out a Z.A.F.T. red uniform. "Please put this on Kira," Lacus told him. She then turned to her butler and stated, "I'd like you to inform them from now on Lacus Clyne will be singing the song of peace."

Kira could now tell clearly that Lacus had been planning something like this for a while now, along with a possible underground activist group of some kind, and he then nodded in thanks as he took the uniform and changed into it in another room. A little while later, he and Lacus were riding to a destination that was unknown to Kira in the Clyne family's limo, with Lacus explaining the etiquette of Z.A.F.T. soldiers to him while they were in the car. At long last, they had arrived at their destination, which turned out to be a Z.A.F.T. hangar of some sort with restricted access.

Lacus then brought Kira through the corridors towards one hangar in particular, only encountering at least two or three Z.A.F.T. soldiers as they went. When Lacus saw that the technicians guarding the doorway had seen them, she gave them a nod and the two immediately opened the door for them, which Lacus then had Kira follow her through. A moment after they had entered, a small amount of lights had come on, and a British sounding voice suddenly spoke up saying, "You know when you said that you did not want any Z.A.F.T. regular soldiers knowing you were coming here I didn't think you would end up bringing them here yourself love."

Kira looked towards the source and saw a large red and white Cybertronian with blue optics and a pair of wings extending upwards on his back looking down at them as they floated through the zero gravity environment of the room, and as they did Kira was able to notice that he had a familiar red logo on both of his wings. "It's alright," Lacus reassured the robot from another world. "This is Kira Yamato, and he's actually not a Z.A.F.T. soldier."

The red and white Cybertronian then seemed to squint a bit as he looked at Kira and then just started chuckling as he said, "Well I'll be a rusty old clanker, all that stuff about Coordinators being fast healers really was true. I must say lad, you're lookin' a lot better than when I first laid optics on ya in Malchio's garden."

"Are you…an Autobot," Kira finally asked.

"Actually, you're only half right there lad," the Autobot clarified. "Name's Jetfire, second in command of the only Autobot unit completely composed of flyers…"

"The Aerialbots," Kira finished excitedly.

"Yeah, how'd you know about that?"

"I was there when the Autobots brought the other four to their base on Earth. Ratchet said that he would have them out of their stasis pods and fully repaired pretty soon too."

Jetfire then let out an overjoyed laugh. "I just knew that old bloke, Silverbolt, wouldn't let us down so easily even in stasis."

Kira smiled happily at the fact that not only had he found the missing Aerialbot, but that he was also able to let him know that the others were all okay. Jetfire then turned to Lacus and asked, "Well since he seems to be doing better, I'm assuming you didn't bring the lad here just so he could give me an update on my old crew Miss Clyne."

Lacus nodded, and with that Jetfire walked over to a hit some keys on a control which soon illuminated the entire room, and brought Kira's attention to a large, grey mobile suit with wings that had an appearance that he knew quite well. "A Gundam," Kira exclaimed.

Jetfire raised an eyebrow at that, never having heard anyone refer to this machine as that before, while Lacus giggled and told Kira, "Actually that's not what it's called. This is the ZGMF-X10A Freedom, but you know Gundam's better because it sounds more powerful."

Lacus then glanced at the machine and explained to Kira, "Under orders from Chairman Zala, they designed a new machine with the same capabilities as the Earth Forces mobile suits they captured, and then added state-of-the-art technology to it."

"And then the bloomin' 'Cons forced me to help with adding a few bits of Cybertronian tech to give it more of an edge," Jetfire finished.

Kira glanced at Lacus in confusion as he asked, "But why are you letting me…?"

Lacus smiled at Kira as she replied, "I feel that this machine has the power you're going to need. Neither will alone, nor strength alone will be enough, so will this take you where you want to go, and will it help you when you get there?"

"You know this is the only machine that I actually had a bit of a hand in naming. Though Megatron took the suggestion of calling it the Freedom as a sense of irony since they were planning to have it help Z.A.F.T. and the Decepticons, I had actually meant it out of respect for Optimus's belief that freedom is the right of all sentient beings, and I had a hunch that this machine would end up helping the Autobots bring about that age of freedom for all," Jetfire then informed Kira when the young Coordinator did not immediately respond. Kira took all that in as he pondered Lacus's words and what Jetfire had just said, hardly believing that this was all actually happening before he finally made his decision and agreed to take the Freedom with him to Earth.

Kira then quickly suited up into a Z.A.F.T. pilot suit and then made his way to the Freedom's cockpit. Once he had reached it, he turned to Lacus one last time and asked, "Are you sure?"

Lacus smiled and stated, "Yes, and I too will be singing the great song of peace."

Kira smiled and thanked Lacus once again as Jetfire walked over and said, "Well lad if you're ready, let's roll out shall we?"

Kira looked at Jetfire in shock and asked, "Wait you're coming with me?"

"Are you kidding, of course I am! I've been having to endure acting like I was Megatron's prisoner for cycles just waiting to find even a bit of information on my fellow Aerialbots while helping Miss Clyne here, so I am more than ready to blow this place and get down to Earth where my fellow 'Bots need me, aerial and Auto."

Kira nodded eagerly in thanks before turning back to Lacus and saying, "Be careful."

"I will," Lacus reassured Kira. "You too Kira, and know that my strength goes with you." With that, Lacus leaned in and gave Kira a kiss on the cheek, surprising the young man and making Jetfire feel a tad bit awkward.

After Lacus pulled away, Kira smiled and nodded in thanks to her one last time before Lacus moved to float away and stated, "And now, you and Jetfire should both be on your way."

Kira then strapped his borrowed helmet on as he climbed into the Freedom and began powering up the mobile suit. As he looked over the specs of the machine he found something amazing about it. "Energon Reactor Core," Kira exclaimed. "Amazing! This seems to make the machine even better than any nuclear powered device and it has over six times the power of the Strike. Plus with the armor being made of the same Cybertronian metal the Autobots use in their armor, it's even stronger than any ordinary mobile suit."

Kira then brought the Freedom fully online and activated the machine's Phase Shift armor, changing the machine's colors from dull grey to mostly white, with a black torso, and blue wings. As soon as he did, everyone working on the Freedom noticed that someone was being taken and were thrown into confusion and panic. Before anyone could seal him or Jetfire in, the two immediately lifted off and blasted out into space at high speed, with Jetfire transforming into a large Cybertronian white jet with red highlights as soon as he did. Before they got very far from the PLANTs, a pair of GINNs moved to intercept them.

"I'll handle those fraggers lad," Jetfire told Kira, and the Aerialbot then immediately blasted off towards the two GINNs and disabled them completely with a few shots from his guns, letting him and Kira blow by them and straight for Earth. Neither one of them knowing that they passed Athrun and Dreadwing heading for the PLANTs as they did.

As the battle for JOSH-A raged on, it was beyond obvious to Optimus that Earth Forces command had taken all of their best with them to Panama, but he doubted it was because they were really tricked if what Bumblebee had told them was true. Even though the scout had stated that he had no clue as to why Arcee would say they would need to leave the area, Bumblebee was convinced that Arcee would not have said it the way she did for no reason. That was all that Optimus felt he needed to hear for the moment, because he knew that Arcee would explain the full details as soon as she arrived.

Of course, Optimus and the Autobots were not the only ones to notice how lax the defenses of JOSH-A were, as Yzak and the Decepticons had noticed as well, but they were annoyed with it for a completely different reason. "Is this really all there is to shoot," Yzak asked annoyed with how easy this was turning out to be.

"Oh stop your whining and enjoy the fact that we are annihilating the enemy," Slipstream stated. "I do admit I was hoping for more of a challenge, but what can you do?"

"How about pick on someone your own size," Hound shouted out as he fired a shot from a Chaos-Rift Combustor that caused Slipstream and the other two Seekers to scatter. While the Decepticons were helping out with dealing with the Earth Forces, the Decepticon Commanders were focusing most of their efforts on the Omega II and that was not much help for them or the Archangel.

"Hey would someone care to tell me whether or not the main fleet actually intends to come back here and join this fight before it becomes even more hopeless," Elita asked as he shot off a few rounds from her E.D.K. TechVolt at Airachnid and some nearby Decepticon flyers.

"Somehow I get the feeling they'll be none too eager to help out in the way we want 'em to Elita, especially if what Bumblebee said is anything to go by," Jazz commented from the bridge.

Meanwhile, Arcee had finally raced to a point that she could call for a Ground Bridge, but she did not want to waste time going from the Omega II to the Archangel. "Arcee to Omega II, I need a Ground Bridge directly to the Archangel's hangar now!"

"Uh you sure about that Arcee," Jazz asked. "Ratchet said that he hadn't had time to give the Omega II's Ground Bridge a test drive for that kind of application yet."

"Just do it, and tell the deck crew to get out of the way, cause we're gonna be coming in hot!" A couple of seconds after, the green vortex had opened up and Arcee raced through the portal and immediately hit the brakes hard as she hit the deck of the Archangel's hangar. Mu then jumped off and made a beeline for the Archangel's bridge to inform Murrue of what he and Arcee had learned while Arcee transformed and raced back out of the ship to inform Optimus and the other Autobots.

As soon as La Flaga made it onto the bridge, Murrue spun around and cried out, "What are you doing here Commander? What about your transfer?"

"That's not important," Mu told her. "We have to get out of here right now! This is all one screwed up plan! What kind of orders did they give the defense forces?!"

At everyone's looks of confusion, Mu began to elaborate, with Optimus and the Autobots all being able to listen over the open comm. frequency they had with the Archangel. "Okay, now listen up. There's a large Cyclops System underneath headquarters, and that thing is powerful enough to turn everything within ten kilometers of the base into a blast furnace. It's impossible to defend the base with what's left, and reinforcements from Panama can't make it in time. Soon the defenders will be gone and the main gate will come down. That's when headquarters will make the decision to activate the Cyclops, and destroy the base, and in the process they'll take out more than half of Z.A.F.T. and the Decepticons' fighting strength! That's the scenario for this whole battle as imagined by the top brass!"

"It can't be," Murrue exclaimed in dismayed shock.

"Arcee is this true," Optimus gasped in shock.

"Yes sir. Mu and I both saw it with our own optics. The command center is completely empty, and the only ones left behind to fight back are the Eurasian Forces, the Archangel, and the Omega II because those selfish idiots have given up on their own ship and feel like they should eliminate a problem to their new ally," Arcee snarled.

"Do I even want to know who this ally is," Wheeljack moaned as he fired his Path Blaster at Blackout to drive the large helicopter 'Con back before he got too close.

"You probably don't, but you and I both know I have to say it Wheeljack," Arcee stated. "They've made a deal to work with Starscream. I saw it all in the databases that I couldn't hack before. That's what that encounter that Bee and Elita had with the Insecticons was all about. Starscream was building up his part of his new army with the Insecticons and the Combaticons as his newest soldiers, and it's also the reason why Blue Cosmos was so interested in T-Cogs that time."

No one could believe what they were hearing from Mu or Arcee. Command had really betrayed them all for Starscream and left every one of them there to die only after a desperate battle so the enemy would not know that the base was abandoned. Optimus now knew that humanity was full of corrupt individuals that could be considered as Earth's own version of Decepticons, and everyone on the Archangel were simply horrified by all of this.

"What…what kind of strategy is this," Miriallia asked finally breaking the silence. "Because this is a war, and because we're all supposed to be good soldiers if they tell us to…I guess we're just supposed to throw away our lives."

The mere idea of that being true either saddened or infuriated everyone Autobot and human alike, right to the point that one scout's temper finally boiled over. "NO WAY! There is no way in the Pits that's what it should mean to be good soldiers of any force! That is not what it means to be an Autobot and it never will! I'm not gonna throw my life away because someone in some dysfunctional, prejudiced army told me to," Bumblebee shouted. Though none of the Archangel crew could understand him, they had a pretty good idea of what he said if the looks on the other Autobots' faces were anything to go by.

"Bee's right," Wheeljack confirmed. "Even the commanders in the Wreckers would never give an order to throw away their troops lives even if we do take on the more high risk missions."

"Yeah and Optimus would never give an order like that to anyone under his command either," Bulkhead agreed from the bridge of Omega II.

"I'm with Bumblebee on this one. I don't care what those prejudiced morons say, I'm not throwing away my life for no reason like this," Hound added.

"As Bulkhead said, I would never order any Autobot or any form of warrior under my command to throw their life away for no reason, and I have no intentions of starting today," Optimus stated.

Hearing all of this, and similar statements that came from the rest of the 'Bots, Murrue then made a declaration of her own. "If the object of this whole battle was to lure the Z.A.F.T. and Decepticon forces closer in then in my opinion this ship has already accomplished its mission. Note that I, Murrue Ramius, captain of the Archangel, make this decision alone. No other crewmember is to be held responsible for these actions."

"Don't put so much pressure on yourself," Mu warned the captain.

"Agreed, for there is no reason to, for I, Optimus Prime, leader of the Autobots, make this decision as well, both for the reason of supporting my allies, and for the reason that to do otherwise would be to turn against everything that the Autobots stand for," Optimus then told Ramius.

"Thank you Optimus," Murrue stated as she stood up. "This ship will now abandon the battle area and begin to make its withdrawal! Signal the other ships, and tell them to follow us. Engines full speed to port! We'll break through the left side of the bay!"

"Omega II, match the Archangel's coarse and provide covering fire for both it and all other ships that follow after it. Autobots do what you can to rescue any humans that you are able to, but stay close to the two ships at all times. The protection of the Archangel and Omega II are now our top priorities," Optimus ordered.

At once, Jazz scanned what he could of JOSH-A base and confirmed that the forces that were on the ground in the base were all dead or dying with no way for the Autobots to reach them in time. While on the Archangel, Mu launched in the Sky Grasper to provide support as well. Even so, things were not going smoothly.

After letting Z.A.F.T. take the main gate, the two ships found themselves struggling heavily as they tried to escape, and the fact that the Duel had begun attacking the Archangel while Slipstream and the Decepticon commanders attacked the Omega II was not any help either. All around them, they had to watch as allied ships were either sunk or became dead in the water while the two ships simply took on more damage by the minute. Mu was able to drive the Duel's attention on to him, but there was not much more he could do than that. Suddenly, a Z.A.F.T. GINN flew right up to the Archangel's bridge and aimed its rifle at it.

"NO," Arcee cried out as she and Bumblebee desperately raced over to try and reach them, even though they knew they would not make it. It all seemed like everything was moving in slow motion, as the Autobots and the crew of the Archangel began to fear the worse, and then a miracle happened.

A miracle in the form a beam blast from the sky destroying the GINN's rifle just before it could fire. The next thing anyone saw was a white and blue blur swooping down and slashing the GINN's head off causing the mobile suit to fall back before it was destroyed. Everyone then looked towards the object that saved the Archangel and had now moved to fly in front of the bridge of the ship facing their enemies, and saw a large white mobile suit with blue wings, armed with a large black shield and a beam rifle. "Whoa, where did he come from," Hound asked.

"A party crasher huh," Slipstream snarled. "Who invited you?"

"He invited himself, with me as his plus one you bloomin' fragger," a British sounding voice called out just before Slipstream was bombarded by a hail of bullets. The Autobots and Seekers all looked and saw a white and red Cybertronian jet swoop down and completely outmaneuver Slipstream before she had a chance to retaliate with an excited "WHOO-HOOO!"

"Oh by Primus, is that you Jetfire," Wheeljack called out excitedly.

"How many other blokes do you know that can out fight the Seeker siblings on their own field like," Jetfire asked as he spun around and transformed, arming himself with a Thermo Rocket Cannon on his right arm that he immediately fired a few shots at some flyers with.

"Archangel, Omega II, this is Kira Yamato in the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam. I'll cover you. Meanwhile, please withdraw to safety," Kira then radioed, shocking the Archangel crew and the Autobots right to their cores.

"Kira," Miriallia asked in surprise.

"It is Kira," Sai exclaimed happily.

"Our Kira," Murrue asked in the same tone as Miriallia.

"Kira is that really you," Optimus called over his comm. link.

"Yeah it is Optimus. Sorry to worry you guys," Kira replied.

"You are alive. We feared the worst my young friend."

"Well there will be plenty of time for a proper reunion later," Kira then reminded him. He then had the Freedom fly up as he tapped into the power that Malchio called the SEED, entering SEED Burst mode at will for the first time. He then brought all of the Freedom's weapons online and fired a massive burst at his enemies, but not once did he ever hit any of the cockpits, making Optimus smile under his battle mask seeing that Kira had finally found a way to ensure his training was brought out to its fullest after losing the Strike.

"Please stop wasting time and withdraw," Kira told his friends.

"Yes but…" Murrue stated, coming out of her shock as best she could after she saw Kira's face appear on the monitor.

"There's a Cyclops System beneath the headquarters, and we've all been made fools of by the Earth Forces command by letting them con us into being bait." Kira gasped in shock when he heard Jazz's report to him. "That's why we can't bail on the party just yet. We gotta get further away from the base."

"I understand," Kira told him. He then opened a channel to every combatant in the area as he began firing all of the Freedom's weapons to drive his opponents back. "Attention all Z.A.F.T., Earth Alliance, and Decepticon forces. Any moment now the Cyclops system will activate and the Alaska base will self destruct. Both sides please cease fighting and withdraw from this area immediately! I repeat…"

Everyone could only stare in astonishment and awe as Kira repeated his message to the warring factions, and soon enough everyone began either smiling with pride at what Kira was doing or praying that he could pull it off. However, not everyone was doing so, as one silver haired, scarred pilot swooped down firing on the Freedom. "I'm not falling for that," Yzak shouted as he charged at Kira, only for the Freedom to block his blasts with its shield.

Kira thought back to how the Duel had destroyed the shuttle full of civilians and how much he hated him for a moment, until he calmed down and remembered what was happening here and now, and then intercepted Yzak's attacks with the Freedom's shield blocking the Duel's beam saber, and then catching Yzak's punch with his free hand. "I told you to stop! Do you want to die," Kira shouted out.

"What do you mean," Yzak shouted as he used the Duel's assault shroud to try and blast the Freedom's head off, only for the Freedom to dodge and land a head butt on the blue mobile suit allowing it to back flip in mid-air and swoop in with its beam saber, aiming at first at Yzak's cockpit.

Yzak cried out in fear of the beam that was headed for him, thinking he was about to meet his late comrades in the afterlife, when Kira moved his strike down at the last moment and simply sliced off the Duel's legs. "Forget about fighting and get the hell out of here," Kira shouted as he gave the Duel a hard kick in the back, knocking it towards the sea to be picked up by Slipstream's retreating form.

"Well you're quick, but not quick enough to out fly my missiles," Thundercracker chuckled until he was hit from the underside of his jet mode. "OW! Who did that?!"

"Leave the lad alone ya traitorous brat," Jetfire shouted as he flew around to block Thundercracker from aiming at the Freedom.

"I knew we should've snuffed your spark all those years ago back on Cybertron Jetfire," Thundercracker hollered.

"Well too bad for you then, cause now this lad's just as much under my protection as he is under the rest of the Autobots'."

"Ooo I'm shaking my boots," Thundercracker retorted sarcastically as he fired a missile barrage at Jetfire. It was not enough to hit the Aerialbot though, as he was able to shoot down all of Thundercracker's missiles before they even came close to him or Kira.

"You and your siblings always did shoot your mouths off more than you did your weapons…Thundercackle," Jetfire mocked.

"I've told you never to CALL ME THAT," Thundercracker shouted at hearing Jetfire's old insult for him as he fired a larger barrage of missiles.

"Is that supposed to scare me or something, Thundercackle," Jetfire shouted as he transformed and aimed his Thermo Rocket Cannon at all the missiles and the Seeker who shot them in an instant, and then blasted all of them out of the sky.

Skywarp was quick to swoop down and grab his brother in time to teleport them back to the Havoc, while Slipstream ordered the other Decepticon commanders to fall back to the ship as well. That was when Jetfire picked up on something he did not like at all. "Autobots, I've just detected a massive energy spike coming from the Alaska base! The Cyclops System has been activated," Jetfire shouted as he reassumed his jet mode and began to fly away from the impending blast radius.

"Engines to maximum! GET US OUT OF HERE," Murrue hollered.

"Autobots, return to Omega II at once! Jazz divert all unnecessary power to the engines! GET THE SHIP TO SAFETY NOW," Optimus shouted.

As soon as the two commanders had given those orders, the ships had begun accelerating as fast as they could away from the battlefield with anyone who had not gotten aboard their respective ships blasting away at their top speed as well, and Kira using the Freedom to save a Z.A.F.T. pilot before his GINN fell into the sea near the blast radius. Thankfully the Archangel and the Omega II were able to get away in time with a number of forces from both sides, with no one but the Decepticons knowing that a certain masked Z.A.F.T. soldier in particular smirking in amusement at the apparent success of the Earth Forces' trap that none of the other Z.A.F.T. soldiers knew about.

A short while later, the Archangel, Omega II, the Sky Grasper, and the Freedom had all landed on the remains of the island that once held the headquarters of the Earth Alliance, with Jetfire touching down on the ground a moment later, and nearly everyone feeling that even though they had made it, they had just been dealt a terrible defeat. Kira was checking over the pilot he saved only for him to die a few minutes later.

Though not everyone was wallowing in this despair, as was evidenced by the fact that Bumblebee had flown down from the Omega II onto the beach and raced over to the powered down Freedom in vehicle mode to see the pilot. As soon as he reached him and reassumed his robot mode, Bumblebee whirred out a question to Kira, who looked up and smiled as he answered, "Yeah Bee, it's really me."

The fact that Kira seemed to understand him seemed to reinforce that it was him for Bumblebee, but just to be sure the scout trilled something else out that he was sure that only Kira would be able to understand without guessing to which the young pilot replied, "Yeah I missed you to bud."

Now Bumblebee was convinced that it really was his friend, and he quickly knelt down to wrap a hand around Kira in the best hug that the scout could manage, which Kira happily returned, showing that despite the tragedy that had happened, one good thing had come about. The reunion of two best friends.

The PLANTs were abuzz with what had happened down at Alaska, as everyone raced around talking about it and trying to get answers as Athrun walked into the building with Dreadwing not far behind. Athrun then spotted someone he knew and called out to him to get answers of his own.

"Athrun Zala," the commander exclaimed in surprise. "What're you doing back here in the PLANTs?"

"I'll tell you but first what's going on," Athrun asked as Dreadwing approached from behind.

"Operation: Spitbreak seems to have failed," the commander told Athrun and Dreadwing. "We don't have the full details yet, but one initial report is saying…they were annihilated."

"You're kidding," Athrun exclaimed. His shock only matched by the fact that Dreadwing's usual emotionless mask had fallen by a small amount as well.

"I'm afraid I have one more piece of bad news for you," the commander then whispered to Athrun. "Somebody and we're not sure who yet, stole one of our top secret mobile suits. One of the new ones that the Decepticons were helping us to develop and they seem to have freed an Autobot prisoner who escaped with them."

"What prisoner," Dreadwing demanded. "I was not aware that we even had any Autobot prisoners, let alone one in the PLANTs."

"I'm not sure about any of those details as neither Megatron nor Soundwave are saying anything on the matter, but it seems that the person who gave the thief access to the mobile suit and helped to free the prisoner was Lacus Clyne. The National Defense Committee is in a state of panic."

Athrun gasped in shock as he dropped his brief case in surprise, while Dreadwing's mask fell completely at hearing this news and his shock became just evident as Athrun's. "It's not…it can't be," Athrun tried to reason. "I know Lacus. She wouldn't do this!"

Dreadwing did not want to believe it anymore than Athrun did, having spent so much time with the pink haired girl since he first met her, but it did not stop him from raising the questions that now plagued his processor. If it was true, then why did Lacus do it, and where was she now?

Kira: Well Cagalli is still fighting with the author, so what should we do?

Optimus: Perhaps we should ensure that Cagalli does not shoot him with that hunting weapon.

Kira: Nah I wouldn't worry too much. It's pretty much turning out a lot like a Bugs Bunny cartoon, and if I'm assuming the roles are the way they seem to be, Cagalli's never gonna get him.

Optimus: Why is that?

Kira: You don't watch a lot of cartoons do you Optimus? Elmer Fud never gets Bugs.

Optimus: I see. Still this chapter seems to have turned out quite well.

Kira: Yeah I'll say. Of course that raises a lot of questions about the new changes in the Freedom as well.

Optimus: I believe that lyokoMARVELanime said he would go into further detail on that in the upcoming chapter, and would tell of how everyone was preparing for the upcoming battle for Orb as well.

Kira: Of course we don't need to tell them that. The preview's got it covered...

[AN and Cagalli both freeze for a moment]

AN: Oh we at that point already? I got this. Onto the preview!...

Athrun and Dreadwing do all they can to find Lacus and get answers, and when they do they find that they're beginning to question their respective loyalties, as Athrun begins to see what has begun happening to his father, and Dreadwing learns a horrible truth that his lord and master had tried to hide from him. Meanwhile on Earth, everyone shares a great reunion with Kira and return to Orb where an overjoyed Cagalli greets both Arcee and the friend she thought that she had lost. What dangers now lie on the horizon as the Autobots and the Archangel's crew prepare for a new battle, against a new foe that is now allied with Starscream's personal Decepticon forces, and can the return of old Autobot allies even the playing field for them? Next time on Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Prime…Chapter 23: Realization of Truths. Prepare for the dawn of your true battle on Earth Gundam and Autobots!

AN: Now that that's out of the way, where were we?

Cagalli: I was about to blast you!

AN: For shame girl. You've got this backwards. [fixes gun so that the barrel is pointed in Cagalli's face]

Cagalli: Oh thanks. [fires but ends up shooting herself]

AN: HAHAHAHA! Never gets old!

Cagalli: URGH! I'M GONNA BLAST YOU FOR THAT!

Kira: Aaaaaaand there they go again.

Optimus: It would seem that they will be at this for a while. In the meantime...

Kira and Optimus: Please read and review, and we will see you next time!