Disclaimer: I still do not own.

The newly emerged warship drew the attention of the combating Mu La Flaga and Rau Le Creuset, as well the group around the freshly equipped Strike. "It's the Archangel!" Lieutenant Ramius exclaimed in relief.

"We broke into the colony's interior," Neuman reported from the pilot's seat. "Morgenroete's been destroyed. The Strike's activated--No! It's in combat."

"Wonderful," Ensign Charles Badgerial grumbled from the command seat. He clenched his fists as he unconsciously leaned closer to the monitor. What else could go wrong?

As if summoned by his thoughts, a white ZAFT CGUE flew straight for the bridge, aiming its giant rifle.

"Evade!" Charles ordered. "Starboard!"

The Earth Forces ship rolled away, as Le Creuset emptied his rifle's clip. He ejected the clip and swooped down towards the remaining G-weapon. The Earth Forces' mobile suit was black with silver trim and a blue torso. Green weaponry was mounted on its back.

"Phase Shift?" Le Creuset asked, remembering the initial reports of mined data. "Then let's see about this."

He aimed and fired. Several people on the ground scrambled for cover as the Strike knelt in front of them. The shells bounced off the Strike's body. "Not even enhanced APSV harms it?" Le Creuset mused.

"Ready stern missile tubes seven through ten!" Charles Badgerial ordered. "Target enemy mobile suit. Laser designator! Do not hit the shaft or ground. That's an order!

"FIRE!"

The ZAFT suit dodged the four missiles, withdrawing up to the central shaft and zigzagging around it. All four missiles impacted the shaft and exploded, causing damage.

On the ground, Murrue Ramius saw the Strike's Agni aiming towards the enemy fighter. Alarmed, she cried out, "Wait! That's too--" The powerful beam weapon fired. The white suit tried to dodge, but the blast took it arm off.

And continued on, blowing a hole several meters wide in the side of the colony.

Inside the Strike, Kira's jaw dropped as he stared at the damage he inflicted on his home.

Le Creuset studied his CGUE's readings on the blast, as he adjusted his OS to compensate for the damage. "How is that possible?" he wondered as he retreated through the blast-hole. "A mobile suit with that much firepower?"

Onboard the Vesalius, Katherine sat in the Aegis' cockpit. She typed in lines of code as she rebuilt the system to ZAFT specs. With her ZAFT training and programming skills, Katherine could do this job in her sleep.

Which was just as well, since her mind kept switching channels to her past with Kira. In the middle of Kira awkwardly presenting her with a set of cat clips, Katherine suddenly heard an alarm beep. "WHAT THE HELL!?" Michael exclaimed.

"I'm sorry," Katherine laughed nervously. "I started working on yours too by mistake."

"That's all right," Richard responded. "We're finished the external inspection and recharging. You?"

"Yeah, I'm done as well." Okay, Katherine, she told herself. Time to focus. This isn't doing anyone any good. She folded the system's keyboard to the side. "How did they ever manage using that OS?" she muttered quietly…

Kira smiled as he accepted her goodbye gift, Birdy hopping into his hands...

Alarms suddenly blared through the bay. "Commander Le Creuset is returning. Damage sustained from a direct hit. Firefighting and rescue crews to B deck!"

Katherine moved to the edge of her cockpit and watched the commander's CGUE fly into the bay. Several elastic cables caught the mobile suit and slowed its inertia before it could crash into the far bulkhead. "His suit lost an arm!" Toby remarked.

That's impossible, Katherine thought, even as her green eyes stared at the damaged unit.

"Begin cooling armor!" one of the emergency crew ordered. Four streams of compressed air blew onto the suit.

Katherine looked away. But if that was Kira...

Inside Heliopolis, the Archangel had landed in an empty field. A panel in the ship's right leg had opened, allowing the Strike to board. Kira did so, with Lieutenant Ramius and his friends in the suit's hands. He knelt the Strike down, allowing his passengers to climb off.

Several uniformed people rushed over to them. "Lieutenant Ramius!" the man at the front called.

"Ensign Badgerial," the lieutenant replied as she exchanged salutes with the man.

"I'm glad you're safe."

"You as well," Lieutenant Ramius replied as Kira exited the cockpit. "I'm glad you protected the Archangel."

As Kira rode the manlift down, the ship's crew focused their attention on him. "Come on!" he heard a man in orange coveralls say. "That kid doesn't look like he's learned to shave yet!"

As Kira set foot on the floor, his friends rushed over to him. He quickly assured them that he was okay. Then the group turned their attention to the Earth Forces.

"Lieutenant Ramius, what's going on?" Badgerial asked.

Before she could reply, a new voice piped up: "Wow! What a ship!" A blond man in a gray and magenta Earth Forces' flight suit strode in. "Lieutenant Mu La Flaga of the Seventh Orbital Fleet, at your service." The man saluted Lieutenant Ramius and the others.

The ship's personnel returned the salute. "Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of Sector Two, Fifth Special Division."

"Ensign Charles Badgerial, of the same."

"May I ask who's in command around here?" La Flaga queried. "I'd like permission to come aboard."

Ensign Badgerial looked grave. "The captain and senior staff perished in the battle. I believe Lieutenant Ramius is now in command."

Miss Murrue gasped. "What? The captain?"

"Only about a dozen of us were left," Badgerial continued. "Mostly non-commissioned officers."

"Damn. What a disaster. In any case, please grant me permission, Lieutenant Ramius. The ship I was assigned to got shot down."

"Oh, of course," Lieutenant Ramius replied. "Permission granted."

"And who's that?" La Flaga asked, focusing the soldiers' attention back on Kira and his friends. Tolle clamped a hand on Kira's shoulder.

"They're teenage civilians," she responded, "who were in the factory district during the attack. The one in the black shirt's Kira Yamato. He wandered into the firefight over the Aegis and Strike. For his safety, I took him onboard the G-weapon. He then took control and successfully defeated a GINN."

As some of the ship's crew muttered in disbelief, La Flaga walked over to Kira. "You... You're a Coordinator, aren't you?"

A lump filled Kira's throat at as his friends exclaimed in surprise. He was not exactly hiding, but the majority of the Alliance's enemies were Coordinators. Over the pilot's shoulders, Lieutenant Ramius' eyes narrowed. It'd be worse if I tried to lie, he thought as he swallowed. "Yes."

Immediately, a handful of rifles pointed straight at him. To his right, he heard Tolle growl.

"Thank you for bringing this back, Miguel," Le Creuset commented smoothly as the playback of his GINN's flight data on the fight against the Strike ended. The masked commander floated by the tactical table at the back of the bridge. The large display screen was to Le Creuset's left. Ades stood next to him with Miguel on Ades' right. Continuing around the table, Katherine came next, followed by Olor and then Matthew. The redcoat pilot frowned as she continued to stare at the screen. Behind his mask, Le Creuset raised an eyebrow. Katherine typically did not get distracted. "I'd have been quite the joke otherwise," Le Creuset continued, making sure to inject the right amount of humor into his tone, "for allowing my suit to lose an arm to an Earth Forces' model. No one would have believed it possible.

"You're all aware of the state of the original OS?" Le Creuset asked. Ades, Olor, Miguel and Matthew all nodded, while Katherine's frown deepened. Interesting, Le Creuset noted. "With that in mind, I have no idea why this suit moved so well." Katherine's green eyes dropped down before she nodded. Oh? Very interesting. "But it's clear we can't afford to leave the suit in their hands. If we can't capture it, we must destroy it, along with that new warship. Don't underestimate it!"

"Sir!" The four pilots sharply returned Le Creuset's salute.

"Okay, listen up!" Ades ordered sharply. "Miguel! Olor! Matthew! Prepare to launch at once! We've been authorized to use the type D weaponry. Make sure to put and end to this!"

"Yes, sir!" The three promptly left the bridge.

Katherine approached Ades. "Sir, please allow me to sortie as well."

That caught Le Creuset's interest. "You no mobile suit," he pointed out. "Besides you've all ready completed a difficult mission by capturing one of those units."

"But--"

"Let the others go this time, Katherine," Ades instructed. "They have more to prove, given the humiliation they suffered in the last round."

Katherine seemed to deflate. "Yes, sir," she mumbled before floating off the bridge. Le Creuset watched her go before turning to Ades to discuss the Aegis' specs.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?" Tolle demanded. He had jumped in front of Kira and now stood with his arms held out to block anyone walking past. "SO WHAT IF HE'S A COORDINATOR! HE'S NOT AN ENEMY!"

"LEAVE HIM ALONE!" Miriallia shouted from Tolle's side. Stunned, Kira realized that his friends had formed a half circle between him and the Earth Forces. "KIRA FOUGHT TO PROTECT US!"

"Guys..." Kira trailed off, unsure what to say.

Sai had no such issues. "Stand back and leave this one to us!" he told Kira.

"That's what friends are for," Karrie added as she stared wide-eyed at the guns. She swallowed hard and straightened her shoulders. "'Sides, we owe you one."

"Lower your rifles!" Lieutenant Ramius ordered as she too moved into the riflemen's way.

Ensign Badgerial followed her. The burly man muttered something to the lieutenant that Kira could not hear.

"It's obvious if you think about it," the lieutenant replied. "Heliopolis is neutral territory. It's within reason that some Coordinators would come here to avoid the war. Am I wrong Kira?"

"Not entirely," Kira replied. "I lived here before the war. But as a first-generation Coordinator, my family's currently as unwelcome in the PLANTs as the Atlantic Federation."

"First-generation?" a brown-haired soldier in white muttered to a dark skinned, purple-haired man in orange coveralls. "They still make those?"

"So your parents are Naturals," La Flaga commented. He turned towards the other Earth soldiers. "My apologies. I didn't mean to create a fuss. Just curious."

"Lieutenant La Flaga?" Ramius asked.

"I was an escort for the intended pilots. I observed a fair number of simulations on the trip here. They struggled just to get the things to move."

"I'm not surprised," Lieutenant Ramius replied. "The OS was incomplete until Kira took over."

"The kid keeps getting more impressive," La Flaga commented. "What about the G pilots? I don't see any of them."

"The bombs detonated near the control booth," Charles Badgerial answered, "when the captain was welcoming them. So they also--"

"Yes," La Flaga looked down. "I see." He began walking into the ship.

"What do we do now?" Badgerial asked.

La Flaga stopped and turned. "What do we do? I've been shot down, and Le Creuset's team is waiting outside the colony." Several soldiers' eyes widened at the name Le Creuset. "I suggest we plan." La Flaga resumed his walk into the ship.

Lieutenant Ramius turned to the pair of men with the brown and purple hair, who were still muttering about Kira. "Murdoch, inspect the Strike and Moebius. Have your men make the necessary repairs. And send a team to retrieve all parts and equipment they can find from the remains of Morgenroete--salvage all food, water and energy stores you find as well. Pal, escort our guests to some of the empty quarters, then help the salvage crews."

The brown haired man blinked in surprise. "They're staying?"

"At least until I determine the status of the shelters." The woman walked off, taking Badgerial with her.

"Status?" Karrie asked.

"They may be locked down given the hole the colony's wall," Sai replied.

Kira winced at the reminder of what he did to their home.

Katherine floated in front her open locker. She held the top of the door as she stared at the clean pressure suit inside. In front of her eyes, bloodstains grew on the suit. Flashes of battle swarmed in front of her. The images seemed to come from all points in time, but the image of Kira's skewered body at her feet stuck out.

IT WASN'T HIM! She thought stubbornly, tightening her grip on the locker door until her knuckles turned white. It couldn't be him. And I'll prove it.

"Birdy!" Katherine blinked as she remembered Birdy's cry. She whirled and stared at an empty spot on the floor.

"Let him fight for them."

Katherine whirled back to her locker. She saw no one, but she still knew the voice that whispered in her ear.

It was her own.

"D equipment," Isaac observed as he watched the outfitting of the GINN force from the pilots' observation lounge. His twin sat on the opposite side of the large sofa. Dearka had sat between them, but floated up the last time the Vesalius adjusted position and never bothered to return. Nicole hovered right in front of the windows over the suit bay.

Dearka gave a low whistle. "Le Creuset doesn't believe in under preparing. That's enough to take out a small fortress."

"They could wind up destroying the colony with that," Nicole observed.

"They deserve whatever they get," Zachary interrupted harshly. Given Orb's duplicity, Isaac was inclined to agree. But damaging the colony could cause serious political fallout.

Nicole's eyes darkened. "Those in charge, yes. But there are children in the colony."

"The little ones are all safely in the shelters by now," Isaac told her. "And it's not like Miguel and the others would deliberately target the colony."

"I know," Nicole answered. "But I have a bad feeling."

Dearka scoffed.

On the bridge of the Archangel, Murrue Ramius got off the phone with Heliopolis Control. "Fortunately, the colony's almost a hundred percent evacuated. The last incident upped the hazard level to nine."

"So the shelters are locked down," La Flaga commented. "What do we do with those kids then?"

"Lieutenant Ramius detained them for the secrets they'd seen," Charles Badgerial sternly reminded him. "We couldn't exactly release them anyway."

"The enemy just stole four copies of those secrets," La Flaga countered. "You can't honestly find that worth dragging them though the heavy fighting we'll encounter when we leave."

Charles glared at him. "In the absence of our captain, protocol dictates that we restrain them until we can contact the eighth fleet for a determination."

"Or your lieutenant can make a decision herself!"

Charles clenched his fists. "That'd be presumptuous--"

"Enough," Ramius cut in. "We can't just leave the kids in a structurally unsound colony with no hope of shelter. Besides, I believe we'll need to rely on the Strike's power to make our escape."

La Flaga frowned. "Do you think the kid'll go for that?"

"I'll convince him," Ramius replied.

The kid? They don't mean... "Can't you fly it, Lieutenant?" Charles asked.

"Not with the OS the kid wrote," La Flaga replied. "A regular human couldn't possibly grasp it anymore."

"Then make him change it back!" Charles retorted. "I mean... How bad's the original OS?"

"Bad," Ramius answered. "It could barely be moved."

Charles grimaced at that. "But to let a civilian--a Coordinator child at that--drive it!"

Lieutenant Ramius locked eyes with Charles. "Do you think we can make our escape without it?"

It was hard to argue with that logic.

Olor's GINN launched from the Vesalius. Miguel stepped onto the catapult to follow him. Within seconds, Miguel had launched and Richard gave the order to close the hatch. As he spoke, the captured Aegis activated and walked to the catapult. Richard had to scramble out of its way, nearly tearing his pressure suit in the process. "Is that going out, too?" he demanded.

"Nobody told me," Toby replied as the captured suit launched.

"WHAT!?" On the Vesalius' bridge, Fredrick Ades stared at Penobscot in shock. "Katherine Zala launched in a captured suit? Call her back at once!"

"Let her go," Le Creuset smoothly countermanded Ades' order. The team commander floated in the middle of the bridge, a couple of meters in front of where Ades sat in the captain's chair.

"What?" Ades sometimes chafed under the authority of the white-uniformed commander. And he felt the masked man tended to favor the children of Supreme Councilors, but this was unusual, even for him.

"We've mined all the secrets those suits have to give," Le Creuset replied. "And this may prove… interesting. One Earth Forces suit against another."

Le Creuset turned and floated toward the back of the bridge. He stopped beside Ades' chair. "But do have her report to me when she returns. Such... unusual behavior needs to be addressed." Le Creuset continued out of the bridge.

As the Aegis caught up to the three GINNs, Miguel radioed it for an explanation. The face that appeared on the video monitor surprised him. "Katherine? What are you thinking?" While spirited, the blue-haired elite normally kept a level head. He would have expected a stunt like this from the more impulsive Zachary Jule or Dearka Elthman before Katherine Zala.

"I'm joining the strike force," Katherine replied levelly.

"You didn't receive orders for this mission," Matthew cut in snidely.

"I didn't receive any orders to return."

"Katherine..." Miguel scolded.

Katherine closed her eyes and sighed. "I need to come along. When I went for the Strike--after everyone else died--"

Oh great, Survivor's Guilt, Miguel thought as Katherine continued.

"I thought I--"

"Very well," Miguel sighed.

"Huh?" Katherine's puzzlement was echoed by Olor and Matthew.

"If you want payback that badly, I won't stand in your way. And I like the thought of Naturals getting sunk by their own weapon."

"Right." Katherine looked down and to the side. She bit her lip before looking back up. "Miguel--"

"Don't thank me," Miguel cut her off. "I'm not helping you out when you have to face Ades and Le Creuset. Understand?"

"Yes."

"Good." I just hope this helps whatever's going through her head.

In the hangar bay, automatic equipment mounted a new weapons pack onto the Strike. Kira sat in the Strike's cockpit and observed the weapon specs. "Sword Striker?" he murmured, relieved not to have the Launcher pack. The hole he punched through his home with the Agni stayed fresh in his mind. "That should prevent further damage."

"Our top priority is to escape Heliopolis," Lieutenant Ramius instructed as the Archangel lifted off. "Be careful not to damage the colony!"

Tonomura grumbled, "That's impossible!" Something showed on his screen. "Mobile suit approaching through breach in wall! It's a GINN!"

"What are they thinking?" Mu exclaimed as the data displayed on his screen. "It's got heavy artillery meant for destroying bases! Are they using that here?" An explosion shook the colony and answered his question. As the smoke cleared, two more GINNs entered through the new hole. "Separate group approaching from the Tannenbaum district!" he reported.

"Send out the Strike!" Badgerial ordered.

A blue suit flew through the Tannenbaum hole. Tonomura's eyes widened as he identified it. "One's the X-303 Aegis!"

"They're all ready sending it into battle?" Lieutenant Ramius sounded stunned.

To Mu's annoyance, she was not the only one distracted by its appearance. "It's theirs now!" he snapped. "You want it to sink us?"

"Prepare to fire Korinthos!" Badgerial ordered.

"Phase Shift armor withstands projectiles!" Lieutenant Ramius countered. "Link laser to main cannons! Fire at will!"

"Olor! Matthew! You take the ship!" Miguel ordered as he angled to intercept the Strike. "Katherine, you're with me!" The Aegis followed without a word. "Show us that spirit that made you defy orders!"

"Sure," Katherine replied flatly.

Miguel sighed. I sure hope our victory snaps her out of it.

Inside the Archangel, Sai, Tolle, Karrie and Miriallia joined other civilians--mainly Morgenroete employees who were onboard during the attack, but a few of those locked out of the shelters had chanced tagging along on a battleship over remaining in an unsound colony--inside a crew lounge. The monitor in the middle of room showed feed of the battle. Currently, the Strike and a GINN danced around each in the air. The Strike dodged a green energy blast from the GINN. The beam hit one of the support cables that tethered the colony walls to the central shaft. A hole melted through the edge of the cable. Weakened by the heat, the remaining cable pulled apart. The students watched speechless as the cable, as thick as a two-story building's height, fell to the ground below.

Inside his cockpit, Miguel adjusted his aim and fired again. The Strike barely dodged, and the beam destroyed a building on the ground. Miguel fired again. The Strike only moved an arm before the beam impacted the shield on it. Miguel grinned in triumph. "Did I get him?"

As the glare dissipated, Miguel spotted the Strike racing at him, sword poised overhead. Miguel backed away as the sword slashed through the air where he had been. He fired his beam weapon as he dodged.

The Archangel crew had their hands full with the other two GINNs. A flurry of missiles from one slammed into one of the ship's gun turrets. "Weapons bank four is hit! Sealing emergency bulkheads!"

The GINN released another flurry of missiles while the second GINN fired all four of its huge missiles at once. "Intercept them!" Charles ordered.

"No time!" someone protested.

"Okay, give me manual targeting control," La Flaga demanded. Charles did just that, hoping the man knew what he was talking about. Computers generally targeted faster than people could, but Moebius Zeroes required a rare spatial awareness to operate.

"Starboard!" Lieutenant Ramius ordered. "Forty degrees! Full speed!"

The Archangel flew away from the smaller missiles. La Flaga successfully shot down the large ones.

The smaller missiles rained down on the colony walls.

The shelter shook again. A long tube, with seats backed against each wall, the shelter had a narrow central corridor. In the last seat that had been filled, a blonde with amber eyes gritted her teeth. They had waited in there for hours. Once the tremors of battle had ceased, they received only a brief, automated message that the shelter was in lockdown until repairs could be completed. No word had come since, and now--

"Has another battle started up?" the black haired man sitting across from her asked.

Duh, the girl thought. She hated sitting around not knowing exactly was happening. Which side was winning or the damage to Helio--

"Alert level has reached ten," the automated voice spilled over the intercom. "This shelter maybe ejected as a lifeboat. Please fasten your seatbelts."

The blonde growled and looked to the side. Ten. The damage was severe enough that even if the battle ended now, the colony may still have to be evacuated for the duration of repairs--if not abandoned and replaced. Damn you, father. Purple eyes and messy brown hair filled her mind. I hope he made it to those other shelters, she thought.

A loud explosion echoed through the shelter, as if they sat in an off-key metal drum.

The damn Natural continued to elude Miguel's shots. "Damn it!" he cursed. The guy was quick; Miguel had to admit that. "Get behind it, Katherine!" he radioed to the Aegis. The suit in question had not done much except hover. Miguel wondered what Katherine was thinking. Of course, she might not trust her new machine to only target the enemy. The Strike did keep bringing the battle close, and the Aegis had unfamiliar weaponry. I'll get the full story later, he vowed.

"Right," Katherine acknowledged and swooped down.

The Strike turned as the Aegis approached. Katherine had to continue on, but the Strike made no move to attack. In fact, it froze. Miguel as he closed and aimed at the suit's back. And here I was beginning to respect your skill. Letting the fact that we stole your weapon shake you. He scoffed. Stupid Natural.

Unfortunately, the stupid Natural dodged at the last minute. The Strike pulled something from its back. A short energy blade formed as the Strike threw it, spinning so it appeared as a disc of light. Miguel dodged it and once again aimed his rifle--

"BEHIND YOU!" Katherine shouted.

Before Miguel could react or even understand her meaning, he felt something impact the legs of his suit. Alarms blared in his cockpit as the right leg fell off, the pink weapon also falling away from the suits. Miguel tried to regain control, but the black suit was on top of him. Its sword sliced through the GINN's torso.

Miguel screamed in pain as electricity arced through his cockpit. The sword may have miraculously missed him, but he knew he would never escape befo--

An explosion devoured his GINN.

Mu La Flaga targeted and fired the laser cannons as one of the GINNs flew up, away from the ship to position itself for another flyover. He took out the GINN. However, the beam continued on, grazing the central shaft. The GINN's explosion caused additional damage to the shaft.

"FUCK!" La Flaga swore as chain reaction explosions rippled along the shaft.

Murrue agreed with his sentiments as she stood and stared at the sight. "We can't afford to cause anymore damage to the colony!" she said.

"AND WHAT DO YOU PROPOSE!?" Charles Badgerial snapped. "STAND DOWN AND LET THEM SINK US!?" He opened a radio channel. "STRIKE! GET BACK HERE! WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"

As debris fell around them, the Aegis and Strike hovered, facing each other. Matthew's voice filled her cockpit, calling for her. Katherine kept silent as she watched the Strike. She knew she hesitated to act because she could not get the thought of Kira out of her mind. But as the other suit did not attack, she began to feel that it was him. After a moment, the Strike readied its sword. She aimed the Aegis' beam rifle at the black and silver suit. The two suits rushed each other, but Katherine held her fire, waiting and watching for the Strike to make its move.

The Strike flew past her without attacking. Both suits spun around to face each other again. Katherine could not stand it anymore; she had to find for sure. She switched on an open channel. "Kira? Kira Yamato?" No response, but the other suit froze. Triumph warred with dismay. "It is you, Kira! Isn't it?"

"Katherine Zala?" Kira finally responded. "What are you doing here?"

"Me? What the hell are you doing inside that thing?"

The Archangel shot down the last of the GINNs. As it exploded, two large missiles launched off its back. They automatically locked onto the closest big structure they detected: the central axis. Their impact knocked a large segment out. The remaining shaft crumbled, releasing all support cables.

"Compulsory evacuation now in effect," the synthetic voice announced as the shelter accelerated to the left. Flay gripped the sides of her chair and forced herself to take deep breaths. Tears spilled from her closed eyes. Heliopolis, her home of the past couple years, was likely lost.

The racket and shaking over the course of the two battles had had Flay thinking that their shelter would be ejected several times over. Yet she found herself in a state of disbelief once it did happen. She wanted nothing more than to open her eyes and find herself in bed. Or perhaps the recliner in front of the telev--

BAM!

Everything lurched upward and to the left. The shelter walls reverberated, singing a discordant wail as the lights cut out.

"HELIOPOLIS IS EJECTING LIFEBOATS!"

"WHAT!?" Ades pushed himself up out of his chair at Penobscot's words. He watched the small shuttles rush away from the cylindrical structure. On their heels, bits of the colony began flying off the spinning sides. The walls themselves broke apart at the seams and moved out from their rotational plane. Within seconds, Heliopolis transformed into a cluster of debris spinning in an expanding spiral.

Ades felt the blood drain from his face. "Commander!" he breathed.

Le Creuset stayed silent, watching the scene in front of them.

Ades swallowed and offered a silent prayer that all the civilians evacuated.

As the colony walls grew further apart, so did the force of the air escaping into vacuum. With the Archangel buffeted about by the gale-like turbulence, the Strike and Aegis had no hope of staying in place. Kira and Katherine were ripped away from each other and thrown into cold space.

"Should we go to the next district, then?" Karrie Buskirk asked. She felt vulnerable out in the open, and there might be room in those shelters.

"I don't know," Tolle answered. "P--"

An explosion ripped through the asteroid side of the colony. The four friends scrambled for cover as an enormous shadow emerged from the hole. They crouched beside the wall of the nearest building. As the smoke and debris cleared, the shadow turned into a massive red and white warship. It glided over the four students, shedding a layer of dust as it went. The fine grit showed clearly against Karrie's black braids and white jeans. "WHAT ARE THEY THINKING!?" she wailed. "ARE THEY TRYING TO BRING DOWN THE COLONY!?"

"We broke into the colony's interior," Neuman reported from the pilot's seat. "Morgenroete's been destroyed. There's no sign of any of the G-weapons."

"Fuck!" Ensign Charles Badgerial cursed from the command seat. He clenched his fists as he unconsciously leaned closer to the monitor. "What about ZAFT?"

"No mobile suits in the area," Neuman responded.

"N-jammer levels are dropping," Chandra reported. "It looks like they withdrew."

"Wonderful," Charles growled sarcastically. "Find a spot to take us down. We'll send a team to check for survivors and the G-weapons."

"A Moebius Zero just entered the colony! The pilot's signaling us!"

"Good. Perhaps he can give us some answers."

The large warship matched the colony wall's rotation and glided down to land in a vacant field. Shortly afterward, an orange Mobile Armor came through the harbor and landed on top the ship.

"That's Earth Alliance!" Sai exclaimed.

Anger rushed through Miriallia. "All this time, they were hiding in our asteroid?"

Only two things could easily be seen in the dim room: the back of Le Creuset who stood without his mask and gloves, and the image of a man near thirty displayed on the wall in front of the ZAFT captain. "And you're sure Katherine Zala's bonded with the Witchblade?" the man in the image asked. His eye color matched this shoulder-length black hair. He wore an outfit of red and blue.

The blonde captain nodded his head at the other man's image. "Yes. When she raised her arm into the camera's view, I saw it in bracelet form around Katherine's flight suit. And wielding it is the most likely way she got close enough to recognize that she killed her childhood friend." The blonde glanced down. The back of his right hand had a burn scar in the outline of a circle. "I remember that stone well. I don't think Ades, Zelman, or any of the bridge crew noticed the bracelet."

The black-haired man frowned. "And the other pilot?"

"Miguel Aiman. If he saw it, he didn't say anything during the transmission. He'd likely want to speak to her privately or bring it to my attention without an audience."

"Yes, the regulations about jewelry could be problematic, but I'm more worried about somebody recognizing that thing for what it is. There are other Coordinators with an interest in the esoteric," the black haired man added as Le Creuset started.

"Of course. I've ordered Katherine to report to me as soon as she's cleaned up. I hope to get more details about the bonding then. How would you like me to proceed?"

"Cautiously. No matter the gifts granted by the blade, it's controlled by the bearer's will, not vice versa. Katherine is not as... antagonistic towards us as Leni Dino. With the right advice, she could prove valuable."

"If she discovers our true agenda, that'll change."

"Indeed. But we've removed such obstacles before. However," the black eyed man stared sharply at Le Creuset. "I don't want to waste the resources. Be subtle."

"Of course, Father."

The black haired man gave non-committal grunt. "You have anything else to report?"

"No, father."

"Then I'll take my leave." In a blink, Le Creuset stood in a brightly light bathroom, staring into the mirror. As a bump caused the man to float up off the floor, he grabbed his mask and gloves.

"Kira!" Katherine breathed.

The purple-eyed teen smiled. "Hello, Katherine. It's been a while."

"'It's been a while'?" Katherine repeated in disbelief. "I killed you, and all you can say is 'It's been a while'?" Katherine shook her head. She floated backwards and bumped against her locker. She started slowly rising. "I don't want you to be dead, so I'm seeing things, yet you still..."

"You aren't seeing things," Kira said calmly, walking across the locker room floor.

"Of course I am."

Kira reached up and grabbed Katherine's right hand. "Some Coordinators have psychic abilities. You know that." He pulled her down to the floor. "Though your bloodline's more unique than that. Not that you'd know."

Katherine snorted. "But you would?"

"I know you're wearing the Witchblade." Kira slid her sleeve up, revealing the bracelet. "Given how it saved you from the ambush, is it so surprising it could let us interact on this level?"

"I..." Katherine stared at the blood-red stone.

"Keep it on," Kira advised. "It can give you insight that'll help you and your comrades during your suit battles. And you've all ready seen what it can do for hand-to-hand."

"Why?"

Kira's purple eyes widened. "It could save your life."

"No. Why were you with the Earth Forces?"

"Oh. I was looking for a shelter when I got caught up in the fighting over the prototypes."

Katherine felt the blood drain from her face. "You weren't a soldier?"

Kira shook his head. "I was a student at a technical college partnered with Morgenroete. I got separated from my friends when we evacuated our lab."

Katherine felt sick. Tears welled in her eyes. "Oh, God. Kira, I--I'm so sorry. I never--"

"It's okay."

"OKAY!? I KILLED YOU! AND NOW YOU SAY YOU WEREN'T EVEN AN ENEMY!?"

"You were a soldier reacting to an attack in the heat of battle." Kira replied gently. "It happens. I understand that now. I understand a lot that I didn't before."

Katherine stared into Kira's amethyst eyes. "But..."

"I can't say dying doesn't suck. And there are things I wish I'd done while alive. But the dead come to terms with their passing far easier than the living."

"Katherine," Kira continued, placing his hands on her shoulders. "You have to accept what happened and move on. You can't afford to second-guess yourself out there."

Katherine nodded. On the battlefield, her--and her comrades'--survival depended on the ability to make split-second decisions. "At least there shouldn't be any more battles where you can't tell soldier from civilian."

Kira frowned, but kept silent.

Katherine felt cold. "There aren't are there? I mean it wasn't a typical operation, and I'm primarily a pilot. Kira?"

The brunette sighed. "I don't know. The future is as unknown to me as to you."

"But then--"

"I have bad feeling about this war," Kira answered. "That doesn't change what you need to do as a soldier in it."

Katherine nodded. She stared at the lockers over Kira's shoulder for a moment before she lifted her arm so that her wrist--and the Witchblade--was between them. "By all rights, I should be the one dead. We were outnumbered and pinned down. If I hadn't come across this... It's unsettling to owe my life to a chance encounter. And what does it want in return?"

"You didn't find it by chance," Kira replied.

Katherine looked up sharply. "What do you mean?"

Kira opened his mouth as if to say something when his attention appeared to shift inward.

"Kira?"

"I'm sorry," Kira replied. "All I can say is that you're part of a line of warriors spanning time. There are things you need to learn for yourself."

"Of course," Katherine replied drolly.

Kira smiled. "Talk to Siegel Clyne about your mother."

"Why?" Katherine snarled. "That bitch walked out years ago."

"Why would she do that?" Kira asked mildly.

"WHO CARES!?" Katherine snapped, irritated. Even after three years separation, Kira should know that her mother was a touchy subject on the best of days. After today's brutal shocks, Katherine considered it the last thing she needed.

"You're not six anymore, Katherine," Kira stated firmly. "Perhaps you should."

"WE DIDN'T ATTACK YOU!" Charles Badgerial snapped from the Archangel's command seat. He glared holes in the communications monitor and imagined wrapping his hands around the officious twit's neck.

"No," said twit agreed. "You just blasted your way into the colony's interior!"

Charles gritted his teeth. "Morgenroete was under attack!" he ground out, fighting for patience. "We came to help!"

"After ZAFT cleared out! It's bad enough the Mainland's going to find out about your project, but the repair bills--"

"WHAT!?" Charles blurted. "Are you saying your government didn't authorize--"

"NEVER MIND THAT! JUST LEAVE THE COLONY!"

"We intend to. We just need to load supplies before we can journey to the Lunar base."

"Don't you mean plunder the remains of Morgenroete?" the man asked coldly.

"I'm not asking for anything more than our original agreement," Charles gritted out.

"Our agreement didn't include colony damage or missing students!" the man spat. "You have an hour. Don't be late." He cut the transmission.

Charles cursed and punched the arms of his chair. He never expected such hostility from Heliopolis when ZAFT had started the battle. Instead of gratitude for help, the general response--both officially and from the civilians who had failed to find shelter--was that the Earth Forces caused ZAFT's attack, then intentionally hid until it was safe to emerge. Charles snorted. They'd be singing a different tune if ZAFT had still been in the colony. "Just get all the water and munitions you can," he instructed Chandra. They don't have the strength to force us out, but it would be best not to overstay our welcome."

"To late for that, Chuck," a voice drawled behind him. Charles grimaced and turned to Lieutenant La Flaga as he strolled onto the bridge. "We overstayed our welcome the minute ZAFT attacked."

"Don't call me Chuck," he said more tersely than was proper to address someone who technically outranked him, but La Flaga would not recognize proper if it waltzed over and blew his ass off. "My name is Charles."

"My Zero'll be ready for launch before we leave," the pilot replied without any sign that he had heard Charles' request.

"That shouldn't be an issue. The ZAFT vessels have withdrawn. Still, it's good to know that we are prepared." Or at least as prepared as we can be, Charles brooded.

"What is it Ades?" Le Creuset asked as he glided onto the bridge.

"Your spy signaled as we began pulling away from Heliopolis," Fred replied, floating over to him. They hovered next to the tactical table. "According to his report their new battleship survived and blasted its way free from the docks."

"Indeed?" Le Creuset mused. "It's tougher than we thought. It could prove troublesome if we left it alone. Does he say how severe the damage is?"

Frederick Ades handed the panel with the report to Le Creuset. "No visible damage. It landed in a vacant lot, and's apparently short on crew and supplies."

Le Creuset scrolled down the report. "Oh my," he sounded amused. "Heliopolis isn't very happy with them."

"They're not any happier with us," Fred replied sharply. "Apparently the assault knocked out a few shelters and caused some civilian causalities."

"That's unfortunate, but it can't be helped. Still, it won't do to leave such a powerful vessel alone..." Le Creuset scrolled through the rest of the report, then turned to table, which displayed a map of local space. "If they're low on supplies, their best bet would be Artemis. We'll swing around and wait here," he pointed at a spot between the Aube station and Artemis, just beyond detection of the colony. "And position the Gamow, here." He indicated a spot the same distance from Heliopolis, but en route to the moon. "If they're foolhardy enough to try for Lunar HQ, Zelman can delay them until we swing around--and move to pinch them when they head our way.

"Have Olor and Matthew transfer to the Gamow. Miguel will pilot the third GINN. The D equipment and fire from our ships should be more than enough to sink it."

Frederick nodded in agreement.

Caridad Yamato sighed and dialed her son's number again. She rushed to the factory district, holding her mobile phone to her ear with her right hand and dangling her high-heeled shoes from her left. Her long-strapped purse kept banging into her side. Heliopolis' phone system lost a couple relay towers in the attack and was overloaded with calls as everyone else tried to contact friends and family. A busy signal sounded in her ear. As she hit redial, Caridad mentally cursed all the other callers. She understood their concern, but many were checking on people they knew had likely been away from the fighting. She knew Kira would have been close to the heaviest of it.

Another busy signal. Caridad tried again as she entered the factory district and turned left towards Morgenroete. The blue haired woman paused, blood draining from her face, when she caught sight of the complex. The main building still stood, but a good portion of the dockyards and one of the warehouses had been gutted by fire. Caridad could see char on all the buildings.

"Hi, you've reached Kira Yamato's phone," her son's cheerful voice spilled into her ear. "Leave a message, and I'll get back to you."

"Kira, honey!" Caridad exclaimed. "I know you're all right, but please give me a call, so I'll know you're all--" She broke off as the line went dead. Caridad sighed and ended the call. Kira's phone had gone straight to voicemail, and she could not see him leaving it off instead of trying to contact her or Haruma. She frowned at the thought of her husband. Perhaps she should alternate trying to reach her husband between calls to Kira. Kira might have contacted him. Or he lost his phone in the evacuation. Or the system read its status wrong, Caridad thought as she approached Morgenroete. He's fine.

He has to be.

"I TOLD YOU, I DON'T KNOW HIS NAME!"

Caridad froze as she heard her older sister's voice. She turned and found a young blonde harassing an Aube police officer. The girl had a brace around her right ankle, and stood, leaning forward onto a pair of crutches. "JUST TELL ME IF ANYONE ENTERED DISTRICT SHELTER 37 AFTER I ENTERED 29!" the teen continued as Caridad approached them.

The police officer stepped into Caridad's path and held out an arm. "Ma'am, I can't let you past here," he told her. The man managed to look apologetic for his words and relieved for the interruption at the same time.

"My son's class does lab work at Morgenroete," Caridad pulled up her phone's photo album. "He texted that he would be there until this evening. Kira Yamato. I couldn't find out anything from the public boards." Caridad showed his picture to the police officer. A woman with long, raven-black hair walked by the group, a pair of rescue workers following her.

"That's him!" the blonde exclaimed as she caught sight of Kira's face. "He's the one I'm looking for!"

Caridad turned to her, and found herself staring into Ulen Hibiki's amber eyes. "Cagalli..." Caridad breathed. The girl's eyes widened, confirming Caridad's suspicions. "You came here looking for Kira?" she asked sharply. "What did your father tell you?"

"Huh?" Cagalli asked.

"WHAT DID LORD UZUMI TELL YOU ABOUT KIRA!?" Caridad demanded again, drawing the raven-haired woman's attention. The woman silently walked over while Caridad and Cagalli continued their conversation.

"NOTHING!" Cagalli spluttered as the woman walked over. "What would he have to do with him?"

Caridad blinked at the question. If she doesn't know... "Then why are you looking for Kira?"

"He shoved me into a shelter and I wanted to make sure he got to one okay." Caridad stared at her, pondering the odds of an accidental meeting. "I'd twisted my ankle," Cagalli continued. "And there was just the one seat. They sent him on to Shelter 37. It still showed free space." Cagalli turned to face the police officer. "You have a name now. Could you please check and see if he's registered as entering the shelter?"

"He isn't. Shelter 37 experienced an entrance lift malfunction. No one entered it."

"YOU COULDN'T HAVE TOLD ME THAT FIFTEEN MINUTES AGO!?"

"Aube's not in the business of informing perfect strangers about each other," the man replied stiffly.

"I WASN'T ASKING FOR ANYTHING MORE THAN HIS SAFE ARRIVAL!"

"Could you please tell me if he checked into another shelter?" Caridad asked, hoping to forestall a full-fledged argument between the man and the girl.

The man checked his handheld. "He's not listed," he replied after a minute. "But it's possible he didn't check in. Not everyone who entered the shelters did." He turned to Cagalli. "Which shelter did you check into?" he asked. "You two can try tracing his path between the two--assuming he didn't just head home afterwards."

"Factory District Shelter 29," Cagalli bit out. "As I've told you before!"

"29? Are you sure about that?" the police officer asked sharply.

Cagalli glared at him. "Yes!" she snapped.

"Impossible. 37 is over in the left block. The fastest path between the two would be to cross the catwalks over the Morgenroete docks."

"But that's where ZAFT and the Earth Forces were fighting over the prototype Mobile Suits!" Cagalli exclaimed.

"How'd you find out about them?" the raven-haired woman demanded, stepping around the police officer. "Does your father know?"

"So this mess is your fault," Cagalli growled at her. "I should have known1"

"And what is that supposed to mean?" the woman demanded.

"Look around!" Cagalli spat. "ZAFT would never have attacked us if you hadn't broken the treaty and collaborated with the Earth Forces!"

Caridad gasped at the revelation. After the day's events, she expected her nation might well be at war with the PLANTs now, but had they presumed Aube was about to declare war on them?

"OF ALL THE--HOW DO YOU MANAGE TO GROW MORE NAÏVE EVERY TIME WE MEET?"

"NAÏVE! WHY I--"

Caridad turned to the police officer. "Kira was sent through a battle zone?" she asked. "Don't the evacuation protocols track events like that?"

"YES, ATHHA, NAÏVE!" the woman spat at the same time. "There is nothing in our treaty that prevents private individuals and companies from accepting any clients they wish."

"MORGENROETE IS HALF OWNED BY THE GOVERNMENT!" Cagalli shot back as a pair of men dressed in the uniform of the Earth Forces walked out of the Morgenroete area. One had short navy hair, and the other wavy bond hair with blue eyes. "ANYTHING THEY DO CAN BE CONSTRUED AN ACT OF WAR!" Cagalli took a deep breath, and mercifully dropped volume. "And why are you worried about my father finding out, if you didn't do anything wrong?"

"Don't worry," the police office turned away from the bickering nobles to address Caridad. "Since he knew about the fighting, I'm sure he looked for shelter in another direction. Have you tried checking to see if he went home after the all-clear?"

"Yes," Caridad replied.

"Because Lord," the raven-haired woman filled the single word with a with more scorn than Caridad would have thought possible, "Uzumi's almost as stupid as you! The Earth Alliance will eventually win this war, and your father's polices could set us at odds with both sides if things go wrong. We need access to the Alliance's technology for our own protection."

"The technology ZAFT just seized?" Cagalli spat back. "Congratulations. I give them a day before they find out everything there is to know about it."

"Excuse me, Miss Sahaku?" the blond Alliance soldier asked as he reached him. Caridad absently noted the lieutenant's bars on his shoulders.

The black-haired woman turned to him. "Lady Sahaku," she corrected harshly. "And we're not extending your deadline. Finish your business and get off the colony!"

The blond lieutenant handed the charred remains of a tri-fold wallet to her. A corner and a fold were burned away. "We found a body that wasn't ours, and wasn't in a ZAFT suit." Caridad's blood ran cold as she spotted the stitched star pattern on the blackened wallet. Kira's turquoise wallet had the same pattern. "There's an ID that we think might be Morgenroete related."

"Is it Heliopolis Tech student ID?" Caridad asked quietly. "Was there a crescent-moon medallion in there?"

"Kira may have just dropped it, Ms. Yamato," Cagalli said. "We crossed some of the catwalk as we tried to find our way out of Morgenroete."

"You ran through a battle, Athha?" Lady Sahaku asked, her disbelief obvious in her tone.

"Around it. All the fighting was down on the dock floor," Cagalli replied. "We had to duck and stay low, but we made it through."

"So when he was directed to the left block shelters, he may have decided he could make it through again," Caridad realized.

"The passage beyond the catwalks doesn't exist anymore," the navy-haired soldier remarked. "If he tried, he could have been forced down into the battle, where we--I'm sorry. I hope it's not him."

"Where's the body?" Caridad asked.

"Ma'am," the blond haired lieutenant spoke. "It'll take DNA from tooth pulp for a positive ID. Since there's a chance whoever you're looking for might not be him, you should let the local coroner determine his identity."

"Where. Is. The. Body?" Caridad repeated. She turned toward Morgenroete and saw more Earth Forces personnel removing some stuff from the wreckage. They loaded it onto a truck. Beyond the truck, she spotted a cluster of sheet-covered litters. Caridad dropped her shoes and phone. As their clatter drew the soldiers' and rescue workers' attention, Caridad dashed past them and sprinted up the way. She could hear shouting after her, but ignored them. Shards of glass or other debris sliced into her left foot. She hissed in pain and hobbled on. The lieutenant caught up with her just as she reached the other soldiers, who had moved to intercept her.

"Where is the unidentified body?" she demanded of them, ignoring the men behind her.

"I understand that your son is missing," the lieutenant spoke up, reaching forward to grab her elbow. "But you really don't need to see this, even if they do determine it's him."

Caridad pulled her arm free. "It's not your place to coddle me. Now I want to see that body."

"It's over there," a stocky man with brown hair gestured to a litter set off to the side.

"Pal!" the lieutenant protested.

"You're not gonna stop her. Trust me."

Caridad ignored them as she made her way over to the litter. She pulled the sheet completely off the body. The scent of burnt meat flew up and assaulted her nose. In some parts of the body, the fire had reached the bone before the colony's fire suppression systems had quenched the flames. The right leg, chest and lower left arm had more flesh than the rest of the body, suggesting he had fallen at an odd angle. A few scraps of cloth remained around his wrist, and seared to other parts of his body, along with a few blackened buckles. "The skeleton's height is equivalent to Kira's," she spoke as clinically as she could, while wiping a tear from her eye. "And he favored clothes with decorative buckles." She turned to the Aube officer. "I want a comparison to his DNA profile. I'll provide the data. Just--" Caridad swallowed hard as she choked up. "Just give me the number of your lab."

Katherine stared at the floor as she slowly glided through the halls of the Vesalius. The prospect of answering Le Creuset's questions about Kira was not something she looked forward to, even before she learned the truth. And I can't tell him about that, she thought morosely. Katherine sighed and closed her eyes. Everything she knew about the incidents of psychic phenomena in Coordinators suggested her recent conversation was the stuff of delusion. And yet…

Katherine grabbed her right wrist. Under the cuff of her uniform jacket, she could feel the bracelet. Its red stone gave a pulse of heat, as if in response to her unspoken question. And if the bracelet really existed--

"HEY! WATCH IT!" Katherine's eyes snapped open as she lifted her head. She blushed furiously as she realized that she had nearly plowed into an engineer.

"Sorry!" she blurted as she adjusted her course back to the right side of the hall. As she continued on, she could hear the man muttering some less then complimentary things under his breath. Katherine sighed and turned to the left. A short distance down the hall, and she reached the door to Le Creuset's office. When no response came from her knocking, she continued on past Ades' office and went up to the bridge.

"…Best bet would be to head to Artemis," she heard Le Creuset speaking as the lift doors opened. He and Ades stood on the far side of the tactical table. She saw the backs of Matt, Olor and Miguel. "The Vesalius and Miguel will wait here to intercept. Olor, Matthew, you will transfer to the Gamow and lie in wait here, and close in on the ship after we've engaged it. Of course, should they be foolish enough to make for the moon, the reverse will be true."

Matthew nodded. "Of course. But sir, why bother with an ambush? Why not just go in now? It's not like the ship has any fighters besides the Moebius Zero."

"That Zero is piloted by a formidable enemy ace," Le Creuset admonished. "You would do well not to underestimate it. And as for location of the battle… the reported fallout of the raid suggests that not all of Orb's government knew about their involvement in the G-project. Whether or not that's true, the fact is the prototype ship did not blast its way free until after we seized the Mobile Suits. As a result, the populace seems to be less happy with the Earth Forces than with us. It's in our interest not to antagonize them further, if it keeps their homeland from joining the alliance."

"But we all ready attacked," Matthew persisted.

"And now we're hearing about damaged shelters and lost civilians in the factory district."

Katherine gasped and turned back into the lift.

"We'll look better if--"

"Katherine!" she heard Ades exclaim before the doors closed.

Ades' exclamation drew the attention of Le Creuset and the pilots. "Continue the briefing. I'll speak with her," Ades said as he glided to the second lift.

"She hasn't debriefed yet?" Miguel asked.

"That's not your concern," Le Creuset replied sharply. "Now we do not know what prototype arms and armor the ship may have, so you'll be equipped with the type D configuration…"

Under his mask, Le Creuset glanced over at the lift Katherine had entered. I wonder…

Katherine had not gone far. When Ades exited the lift, he found her across the way, staring out the window. "Katherine?"

The girl jumped around. "Sir!" she hastily saluted. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to disrupt the briefing."

"It's almost done," Ades replied. "I take it you came to give the commander your report about the suit capture and your friend."

"Yeah," Katherine answered dully as she looked down. "I'm sorry it took a while, I just… It…" Katherine turned to look at him. "Sir, about what the commander was saying…"

"We received word from his spy. It seems that the new warship survived unscathed."

"And civilians could not get to shelter…" Katherine muttered, staring out at the stars. "Kira… He was there. He grabbed my arm while I fought with the woman. And I'd stabbed him before I even recognized him. He had started to say something. 'Why are you'. I thought he'd recognized me, but… What if… A civilian would try to run away from the fighting, wouldn't they? But his parents were Naturals. Neutral territory--" Katherine ran a hand through her hair. "He wasn't armed. What if... I made a mistake."

Ades sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. "What exactly happened on the dock?" he asked.

"Rusty and I got pinned between a pair of crates. Peter was trying to slip onto the catwalk and snipe the Earth soldiers on the dock. There was an explosion by one of the crates. The enemies behind our position were taken out. One of the soldiers on the dock got Rusty. I think one of them got Peter as he got them. There were two left, though just the woman was armed. I raced up the suit as she rearmed. My pistol got her shoulder, but I'd run out of bullets. There was a dagger--I'd grabbed it from the transport crate. I sprinted foreword and stabbed the woman. Someone grabbed my arm and shouted. I spun and slashed the blade, and it was Kira dying."

Ades frowned. "If a civilian wandered into a battle, I might tell him to stay behind me or a nearby cover. But civilian or not, attacking a soldier bare-handed is a foolish move. You had to react on the presumption he was armed with a blade or attempting to capture you. Turning your back on him was a mistake. When shots were being traded, the woman was the greater threat, but you dismissed him too quickly."

Katherine looked down. "So if I'd paid more attention to Kira, maybe I wouldn't have… It doesn't make any sense for him to have joined the Earth Forces."

"Why?" Ades asked. "Because you'd rather he hadn't?"

"He's a Coordinator," Katherine replied.

"So?" Ades asked. "Not all Coordinators agreed with the PLANTs' push for independence. I know of one, a Jean Carrey, I believe that left the PLANTs before the war broke out. I believe she's first-generation too."

"But the Bloody Valentine, the way they've treated the PLANTs…"

"I'm sure most of the Earth Alliance population views Junius Ten's destruction as a rouge act. You don't see the PLANTs' side of things from the surface." Ades sighed and turned to stare out at the stars. "My family lived in Colorado for generations. Moving to the PLANTs was not a choice I made lightly. It was a culture shock to discover just how oppressive the trade quotas were. I wouldn't have understood the autonomy movement before I immigrated. Copernicus City is Atlantic Federation territory," he added, remembering the location of the prep school listed in Katherine's file.

"Look, I'm not saying he was a soldier, just that there's no way to know. Battle entails split second decisions, and sometimes tragedy results. But a soldier who can't make those decisions for fear of a mistake dies. Sometimes they drag the rest of their unit down with them. You reacted in the heat of the moment and it was the necessary reaction. It is no different from any of your past battles or the scenarios covered in the academy."

"But he might not have--"

"It's not like you were deliberately searching for civilians to hit. The problem is that you knew him, and you're searching for a reason not compare him to the other soldiers you killed." Fred turned to leave, but placed a hand on her shoulder first. "It's okay to mourn him, Katherine. For the friendship you once shared, even if he was an enemy--or an innocent. It's probably futile to tell you not to feel any guilt, but you can't let it destroy you. If not for your sake, than for Nicole and the rest of your team. Every single one of you depends on the each other for survival out there."

Fred pulled his hand free and pushed off toward the lift. "Get some rest. I'll talk to Commander Le Creuset."

"Yes sir," Katherine mumbled as she turned to stare out the window again.

Fred sighed as the doors closed to take him up a level to the bridge. He hoped that he had reached her. You can't let guilt rule you, he thought, glancing down at a photo he pulled from a pocket. It showed a younger Fredrick Ades and a five year-old boy on a hiking trail in the Rockies, the sun setting behind them. No matter how hard a struggle it is…

"MIRIALLIA!"

"DAD!" the auburn haired girl replied as she turned toward the shout. Reversing course, Miriallia dashed across the street. Her father met her halfway. While not an athletic man--Jonathan Haw was panting from the exertion of his sprint and earlier walking--he still managed to squeeze the breath out of her as he pulled her into a bear hug. "Thank god," her father choked out, tears in his eyes. "When I heard they assaulted the factory district and that half the shelters were damaged..."

"I'm all right," Miriallia murmured when it became clear that her father wasn't going to finish.

"Yes," her father nodded as he finally released her. "Come. Your mother's waiting at home."

"No," Miriallia shook her head. "Yes, I was coming to let you guys know I'm okay, but Tolle stayed to look for Kira, and--"

Her father frowned. "Kira?" he asked sharply. "Yamato? From your class?"

Miriallia nodded. "We got separated during the evacuation of Morgenroete. The professor's guest ran off, and Kira went after her. We couldn't find them after the last suit left, and--Anyway, since I found you, I should go on to Tolle's and let his folks know he's all right. And then… I'm to check at Kira's, see if he went there. That's what they're encouraging everyone to do--go home." She closed her eyes. "I'm not sure what I'll say if he's not there. I don't want to worry them."

Miriallia felt her father's arm wrap around her shoulders. "That's not an easy thing to do alone," he commented softly.

"Sai's no good at not worrying people," Miriallia said as she opened her eyes and stared at the ground. "So we sent him to his and Karrie's parents. Tolle's the best at getting total strangers to answer questions, and Karrie could never stand to leave her wallet in her locker. I'd always made fun of her for slipping it into her pocket, but now she's the only one with her Morgenroete pass, so we gave her our locker keys and sent her after our bookbags with notes of permission.

"Assuming the guards or police or whoever allow it--and if that part of the complex is even standing," Miriallia added. "There was an explosion in the dock area, but I didn't see how far it spread before the suppression systems put it out."

"You saw the fire?" her father asked sharply.

Miriallia nodded. "We were a few blocks away, trying to find a working shelter--the explosion definitely came from Morgenroete. And we have no idea if--where--Kira got out."

Her father squeezed her shoulder. "Would you like me to go to the Yamatos' for you?"

"I can't just wait. I have to do something."

"Okay. I'll talk to your mother while you run by the Koenigs'. Then I'll meet and walk with you to the Yamatos' place."

"Thanks." Miriallia smiled sadly as she gave her father a quick hug.

The red and white ship lifted up from the colony floor. It rose majestically as the colony rotated clockwise underneath it. As the vessel neared the central support shaft, more of Heliopolis' residents spotted it. By the time it navigated through its way into the harbor, numerous eyes glared after it. The collective sentiment as the ship vanished from sight was "Good riddance".

Charles Badgerial gripped his armrests as the Archangel maneuvered through the hole they blasted from the docks. The monitors showed repair crews waiting to the sides to weld large metal plates over the damage. The ship eased into the cleared path to the harbor and turned to the colony's exit. In minutes, they emerged into the vast field of stars.

"Set course for the moon," Charles ordered.

"You sure?" La Flaga asked.

Charles nodded. "We may be short on supplies, but as short as we are on staff, I believe we can make them last. And given that Artemis is an Eurasian outpost… I'd rather avoid them."

La Flaga nodded. "I understand."

"I just hope we don't run into ZAFT along the way." Charles grumbled. The only thing that may save us is they're thinking they all ready sunk us.

"The White Ship has exited Heliopolis," Penobscot reported. "They're turning toward the moon."

"Let them get halfway to the Gamow," Ades ordered. "Then move to flank at full speed."

"Aye sir," Rochelle Burns, a petite black woman, replied from the navigator's chair. She quickly plotted and inputted the planned course.

Katherine stared out at space. She had not moved from her spot since her talk with Captain Ades.

"He made some good points," Kira said as Birdy swooped into the lounge and landed on her shoulder. Katherine turned to the right. Kira floated there, gazing out at the same stars Katherine had been watching.

Katherine sighed and turned back to the stars. "Is Aube going to join the war?"

"It's too soon to say. The attack raised anger in our residents, but it could be directed at either side--or our own government." Kira sighed. "I'm more worried about my friends and family right now, than my country as a whole."

"They must be so worried, wondering what happened to you." Katherine thought back to her days on the moon. While she had been a boarder at Stanfelt Prep, Kira and his parents lived a few blocks over. Katherine had loved spending time at his place, and had grown fond of his parents. God, how can I ever face them again? she thought. But they deserve to know what happened to him…

"My mom's all ready seen what's left of my body," Kira replied. "Cagalli, too. She's m--" Kira's purple eyes widened. His face reminded Katherine of the time she helped the Yamatos throw him a surprise party. Katherine had just opened her mouth to speak, when Kira blinked and resumed speaking. "They know that I was directed to a shelter that would have trapped me in the battlefield. The exact how--and who--doesn't need to be known."

Katherine swallowed and stared out the window. "I suppose it will be easy enough to avoid Auntie Caridad and Uncle Haruma," she murmured.

Kira stared sadly at the floor. "If Mom decides to seek you out, she'll realize you're trying to avoid her and not rest until she gets the truth. In that case, it would be better coming from you, but don't seek them out." Kira turned to her and laid a hand on her shoulder. "While they would eventually come to understand and forgive you, the--"

"THEY SHOULDN'T!" Katherine protested. "YOU DIDN'T DESERVE--"

"You want them too," Kira replied. "Just as much as you want them to hate you. And they might at first, but they're too fond of you… Forgiveness isn't forgetting. Confession won't bring you what you seek, and knowing who killed me will only increase their pain."

Kira vanished. Katherine turned and found a green-uniformed soldier staring at her from down the hall. Katherine flushed and dashed past him, headed toward the room she shared with Nicole.

"Launch GINNs!" Zelman ordered as the Gamow emerged from behind an asteroid to intercept the enemy vessel. "Target main guns at the White Ship's engines!"

"Laurasia class dead ahead!" Pal exclaimed. "GINNs launching!"

"Charge Lohengrin!" Charles ordered. "Reverse course! Ready Korinthos! La Flag--"

The blond pilot was all ready racing toward the bridge door. "I'll be ready for launch in a minute," he called over his shoulder as the doors opened and he exited the bridge.

"Good," Charles said as the door closed behind him, though he doubted it was possible to suit up and reach the cockpit that quickly. At least he's taking things seriously, for a change. Charles turned to the approaching GINNs. D equipment, he thought as Pal reported the same. "Fire at wi--EVADE!" he ordered as the Laurasia fired at them.

Neuman barrel-rolled the Archangel away from the blast while Tonomura fired a flurry of missiles at the GINNs. The mobile suits dodged the missiles, destroying the ones that could threaten their mothership. "Nazca class approaching rapidly from seven o'clock!" Pal called.

"Target Gottfrieds! Change course! Do not let them pinch us!"

"It's my fault," Cagalli murmured as she sat beside Mrs. Yamato. They occupied a bench in the morgue's waiting room. Somewhere behind the wall at their backs, and assistant medical examiner had pulled a tooth from the body to extract DNA undamaged by the extreme heat. All they had to do was wait for the comparison to Kira's profile. Cagalli had told the woman--and herself--that the body could be someone else, the odds and her gut told her a different story. From the stony way the blue-haired woman next to her stared at the opposite wall, she felt the same.

"You didn't tell him to run back into a battle," she said flatly.

"No," Cagalli agreed, staring at her injured ankle. The painkillers the paramedics gave her had begun to wear off, causing it to throb even when she kept it still. "But if I'd just evacuated with the rest instead of running off to check--he'd never have had to run after me."

"You didn't tell him to that, either."

"No." Tears welled in Cagalli's eyes. "I just had to see for myself that the Earth Forces' prototypes existed, though I knew in my gut that was what ZAFT was after. It was so stupid and selfish, I didn't even think about--"

"THEN THINK BETTER IN THE FUTURE!" Mrs. Yamato snapped, a bite of anger finally filling her words. "We can't turn back time, but we can learn from what happens. And Kira--You're foolish actions may have contributed, but you didn't kill him." The woman sighed, and when she spoke again, she only sounded tired. "You'll be our Chief Representative someday, Cagalli. And if you want to accomplish more than being a figurehead, you need to learn how to anticipate possibilities while accepting that there are things beyond your control."

Cagalli had opened her mouth to reply when the door across from them opened.

Tolle glanced sideways at Haruma Yamato as they followed the orderly through the doors. Kira's father looked to have aged ten years since receiving his wife's frantic text.

"Haruma!" Mrs. Yamato exclaimed as she leaped from her chair and threw her arms around him.

"Any word yet?" Mr. Yamato asked.

Mrs. Yamato shook her head against her husband's chest. "We're still waiting."

"We?"

"Cagalli's here." Mr. Yamato's eyes widened. "The kids met during the evacuation of Morgenroete."

"Does she…" he trailed off and glanced at Tolle.

"I don't think so," Caridad replied as Tolle left the Yamatos to their conversation and walked further into the room. A small area, it had only a handful of chairs. One held a blonde. A pair of crutches leaned against the wall next to her. He walked over to the brown-uniformed girl.

"You're the professor's guest, right?" he asked.

The girl gave a curt nod. "You're one of Kira's friends?"

"Yeah."

"He shoved me into a shelter with one spot left," she said dully.

"Oh," Tolle said. "You were lucky," he continued not sure what else to say. "We couldn't find a single available space."

"At least you're here. He might--"

The door by the chairs opened. A pink haired woman walked into the room. With a grim expression, she strode over to Kira's parents and spoke with them.

"NO!" Mrs. Yamato wailed as she sobbed into her husband's chest, who looked like he had been hit over the head. The blonde beside him winced as Tolle realized he would never see his kind friend again.

Mu launched out of the portside bay, and immediately veered and rolled left to avoid fire from the oncoming GINN. One of the GINN's standard missiles impacted the edge of the bay door as it lowered back down.

Mu circled back to the GINN and deployed his gunbarrels. The GINN backed away from him and aimed it's beam rifle at Mu's cockpit as a second GINN fired large, fortress-killing missiles at the Archangel. Mu dived the Zero as a flurry of missiles from the Archangel intercepted the missiles from the GINN. Mu fired two gunbarrels at each GINN. He recalled the gunbarrels and rolled over. With both GINNs now "below" him, Mu dove at the first one. He fired and dodged missiles from the second GINN as the Laurasia class ship fired on the Archangel. An arm sheared off the first GINN, and the Moebius Zero lost a gunbarrel. Mu ejected the pod before it could damage his mobile armor. Quickly extinguished bursts of flame indicated more missile hits on the Archangel.

Mu looped around and deployed his three remaining gunbarrels.

The Archangel abruptly turned to face the closing Nazca class ship. It blasted a stream of anti-matter at its bridge. The Nazca veered to the side.

Katherine was thrown off her bed as the Vesalius' momentum abruptly changed. She rose up and to the right. As she reached out to catch herself on the wall over Nicole's bunk, the whole ship shuddered. Katherine quickly flipped around and kicked herself to the computer terminal as various orders blared over the intercom. A single touch pulled up a damage assessment to the ship. One of the engines was damaged, along with a section of the hull. At least two crewmen had died.

Katherine turned to the door. If she could not fight, perhaps she could help with the emergency crews…

Olor cursed as Matthew lost his GINN's other arm to the Moebius Zero. Olor had managed to avoid taking damage, but he had only destroyed one of the gunbarrels. Another showed damage, but it retained function. "It's just one damn Natural," he growled as he fired another flurry of medium-powered missiles. The Zero avoided them, though Olor successfully destroyed the damaged gun barrel. The Zero banked around and fired at him while the two gunbarrels fired at Matthew.

Matthew's GINN exploded. Its remaining missiles fired off in a random direction before they could be destroyed with the GINN.

Olor screamed in fury as he swooped down at the mobile armor. The Zero turned his full attention to him.

"Attention all residents," the Heliopolis' PA sprang to life. Miriallia and her father stopped at a street corner. "ZAFT has engaged the Earth Forces in nearby space. As the battle may drift our way, we advise all residents to seek shelter. Repeat. ZAFT has--"

"I hate those things," a brown-haired woman complained. "So damn claustrophobic."

"It's not mandatory," her companion advised as they walked past the Haws.

"Is this what it's going to be like from now on?" Miriallia asked as her father steered them toward the nearest shelter. "If we go to war with ZAFT."

Her father did not answer. He just put his arm around her.

The White Ship raced toward the Vesalius, the Moebius Zero following. The orange Mobile Armor dodged fire from Olor's pursuing GINN. The White Ship fired all missile tubes as it met and passed the Vesalius. The Vesalius intercepted most of the missiles with its own, then launched Miguel's GINN. Miguel flew after the ship, aiming his large missiles at the ship's engines. He had just fired when the Moebius Zero caught up with him. Miguel turned and fired standard missiles at the Zero. The orange fighter managed to avoid his shots, though Olor took out the enemy's last gunbarrel. The Zero flipped around and fired into Olor's cockpit.

Miguel screamed in rage and fired at the Mobile Armor again. The Zero twisted away as Miguel pulled the trigger.

The Archangel backed away from the closing ZAFT ships. "Status of Lohengrin?" Charles demanded.

"Still charging! Thirty seconds!"

"Target Nazca when read--EVADE!" he called as a hail of missiles came from the Laurasia. "Intercept!" The Archangel rolled as it shot at the enemy missiles. A few made it past the shielding fire and slammed into the Archangel's side.

"La Flaga's taken a hit! He can still maneuver, though."

"Beam canons charged!" Patel called out.

"Target the White Ship's bridge!" Ades ordered.

A sudden flash of insight filled Le Creuset's awareness. "Adjust targeting a degree starboard and half a degree down!" He snapped. Patel followed without question. The shots impacted one of the White Ship's nacelles. The enemy ship pitched down and to the side as it fired its anti-matter cannon. The stream blasted past the Vesalius, and began to dissipate. However, the majority of the particles impacted the side of Heliopolis as it rotated. They left a gouge in the colony.

Under his mask, Le Creuset raised an eyebrow. Father, perhaps I can still do it…

The colony shuddered and threw Caridad forward. Her purse came open and spilled its contents on the ground and into the still open lift. Inside the lift, Tolle knelt down to help pick them up. Caridad shoved his hand back into the lift. "You two go on down," she said firmly. "You can return them in the shelter." Without waiting for a response, Caridad pushed the button to send the kids and the other two occupants down to the shelter. As the lift descended, debris from the blasted hole hit the central shaft. Caridad and Haruma gathered her stuff from the ground, trying to ignore the series of explosion that rolled along the central shaft in response to the impact. "Damn Sahakus," Caridad grumbled.

Karrie hissed in pain as she grabbed her wrist. She had landed wrong when the shaking had thrown her off the pile of debris she had scaled to get in and out of Morgenroete. She forced herself to her feet, cursing her decision to sneak into the damaged building: she had only managed to retrieve everyone's stuff when the latest evacuation notice had sounded. As she had seen no sign that Kira had been trapped in the collapsed halls, she had transferred all phones, wallets and laptops to Tolle's backpack and left the rest, hoping that she had not overlooked any disks with school projects on them.

Karrie looked up and saw a hole in the opposite side of the colony, and smoke falling from the central shaft. Eyes wide, she sprinted off in search of a shelter. Tolle's bag kept hitting her right elbow, causing fresh pain in her wrist. Karrie did her best to ignore it, hoping that she would find a working shelter--And that the colony had not ordered a lockdown.

"My God!" Neuman gasped, staring at the damaged colony.

"PAY ATTENTION!" Badgerial snapped. Neuman registered the incoming beam blasts and scrambled to avoid them. "GETTING SUNK WON'T DO ANYONE ANY GOOD!"

The orange Zero ducked around the missiles from the Vesalius and the missiles Miguel fired as he chased him. "Miguel, back off!" Ades ordered. "We can't effectively target with you in the way."

Miguel reluctantly complied. Before long, the Zero's linear gun scored a hit on one of the Vesalius' railguns. The Vesalius' launched a flurry of 58-millimeter slugs. The Zero had to pull away from the Vesalius to avoid them all. Miguel reacted instantly, flying to intercept the Zero. The Zero turned and fired. Miguel ducked and returned the favor. The Zero suddenly veered upwards. The next moment, Le Creuset's white CGUE launched from the Vesalius racing after the Zero.

The lift doors opened and the occupants hastily entered the shelter. Cagalli hobbled over to the nearest empty seat--the shelter was only half full, so she did not have long to go. That Tolle guy sat next to her, a few of Mrs. Yamato's possessions in his arms.

"Hazard level nine," a mechanical voice announced. "This shelter is going into lockdown."

"The Yamatos!" Cagalli gasped as Tolle raced to the control panel, dumping Mrs. Yamato's stuff on Cagalli's lap.

"Please!" he begged. "There are two more just right outside the shelter!"

"The colony is at hazard level nine. The shelter must protect the air supply for its current occupants."

"It would only take a minute!"

"The colony is at hazard level ni--"

"ARRR!" Tolle slammed his fist on the console.

Le Creuset continued to chase after the Orange Zero. The pilot dodged well, but his battery should drain soon. Le Creuset smirked in satisfaction. "That is you, isn't Mu La Flaga?" he mused aloud. Due to the urgency of the situation, he had launched without changing into a pressure suit.

Le Creuset fired off several missiles. As they launched, the Zero veered toward the side--into Miguel's path. Miguel fired as the zero's linear gun blasted at his GINN. Miguel ducked to the side, but the blast clipped Miguel's suit and short-circuited his missile control. Le Creuset could hear Miguel's curses as all his missiles launched. The regular sized ones spiraled around, some taking each other out as they finally oriented on the Zero's enemy signature. The orange fighter pulled away from the Vesalius. The large, fortress destroyers however, were programmed to lock onto the largest enemy structure they could detect. Instead of thrusting at the White Ship, they turned toward the Vesalius. For one horrid second, Le Creuset thought they had failed to recognize the Vesalius' friendly signal. But they bypassed the Nazca cruiser, which shot down two of them. The remaining two sped towards the colony of Heliopolis. The corners of Le Creuset's lips twitched. Oh my…

"FUCK!"

It seems Miguel's realized the missiles' course, Le Creuset thought.

"Vesalius! I can't override them!"

"They're not responding to our commands either!" Ades replied. "We're still trying, b--"

"Then we can only hope the colony survives the damage," Le Creuset replied. "Miguel, can you return to the hangar on your own?"

"Wha--Uh, yes, sir."

"Do it. I'll worry about the Zero." Exhilaration filled him as he accelerated toward the approaching Mu La Flaga. A pleased smirk graced his lips at the thought of eliminating the bastard Da Flaga's spawn. Behind him, the missiles hit their target.

Caridad and her husband sat on the ground, their backs to the locked shelter. They had decided to wait for the kids to come back up rather than go anywhere else.

If the kids came back up.

Keeping her chin on the arms hugging her knees, Caridad looked up at the smoke in the distance. It curled around toward a black line on the ground. Caridad sighed and looked back at her feet. The colony was still losing air. Emergency crews should be racing to seal the breach, but if there was still fighting nearby, Heliopolis could take more hits. With the emotional hole left by Kira's death, Caridad found it hard to care. At least they knew one of his friends would be safe. And Cagalli. Of all the times for her to breeze into their lives… "The kids have my mobile," Caridad suddenly realized. "I had the photo album open."

Haruma turned sharply toward her. "You keep the device password-protected, right?"

Caridad shook her head. "Critical files and programs are passworded separately."

"I doubt they'd just look. Besides, Lord Uzu--"

A sudden explosion rocked the colony. Caridad looked up to see the support shaft crumbling apart. Beside her, Haruma grabbed her shoulders. Caridad turned into the embrace. Kira, baby, we're coming…

"Alert level ten," the shelter's mechanical voice informed the occupants. "This colony may be ejec--Colony collapsing. Compulsory evacuation now in effect."

Jonathon Haw grabbed and squeezed his daughter's hand as the lifeboat started to launch. Suddenly the other side of the shelter blew in, fire and shrapnel pelting them.

"One of Miguel's missiles managed to find its way through the hole the White Ship left," Penobscot reported as lifeboats launched from Heliopolis. "We're registering internal explosions. The other appears to have taken out some lifeboats before they could launch."

"My God," Ades closed his eyes. "Pull us away from the colony," he ordered. "If it starts coming apart, I don't want to get hit by debris."

YOU'RE GOING TO DIE ANYWAY! Karrie's mind screamed at her as she raced away from a falling support cable. It was true: without the central shaft, the colony would break apart under the momentum of its own rotation.

Karrie stopped and caught her breath as she cleared the stories-wide cable. Logically, she could see no point to avoid a crushing only to be thrown out into vacuum. And it certainly could not hurt worse than her arm alrea--

A nearby building toppled as the cable rolled into it. Karrie screamed and ran until the ground pulled apart under her feet. She fell through the gap into bottomless space.