Cervantes looked at the gigantic war machines towering up over him. "These are excellent. Perfect! Wonderful!" he crowed, almost dancing with glee. Captain Asmodeus Sark stepped up behind him and saluted sharply.

"They are The Bane, The Merciless and The Fury." He informed his boss, pointing first to the one painted pure white with a black skull like head, then to the truly giant one painted in purple, black and silver and finally to the shortest one, which had splotched crimson and dark green paint. "The Bane is piloted by BCPU 4 Markov Ashino. The Merciless by BCPU 5 Cray Thresher. And the Fury by BCPU 6 Zacharis Frost… after he finishes recuperating." Asmodeus continued.

"What about their specifications?" Cervantes asked, even though he knew them by heart, there was just something about hearing another knowledgeable person speak them out loud.

"The Bane stands twenty meters (66 feet) tall and weighs one hundred and twenty tons. It is powered by a nuclear reactor and is equipped with dual layer Phase Shift armor for protection. It mounts four light antipersonnel machine guns in its head. Three 57mm beam rifles are mounted on each shoulder, and they can all fire at independent targets. It carries a heavy MS gatling cannon on its right arm and a beam deflecting geschmeidig panzer shield on its left arm. It carries an ES06 wide bladed beam sword for close work." Asmodeus began. He then walked over to the next machine.

"The Merciless is thirty meters (100 feet) tall and weighs 175 tons, making it the largest single person vehicle ever created. It is also powered by nuclear reactor and sports revolutionary triple layer Phase Shift armor. It is armored with geschmeidig panzer shoulder guards, much like the Forbidden was. Offensive weaponry includes four heavy MS gatling cannon, mounted two to a shoulder, four radar guided missile 40 racks, mounted two to a leg, a 400mm anti armor shotgun carried in the left arm, a dual 250mm hyper impulse beam cannon in the right arm, six 57mm beam rifles mounted on the chest, a beam claw in each hand and finally a tactical nuclear missile two pack mounted on the back. Its destructive potential is obscene." Asmodeus said proudly. He had always been a proponent of the merits of overwhelming firepower, which the Merciless exemplified.

"Finally we get to the runt of the litter, The Fury. It stands only 17 meters (55 feet) tall, making it shorter than even a Strike Dagger. However, it weighs almost twice as much, at 100 tons. It may be short, but it's jam packed with armor and goodies. It is nuclear powered, of course. It has the experimental new Trans Phase Shift anti-beam armor, which is roughly 80 more effective against beam weapons than normal Phase Shift armor. It is armed with two wide bladed beam sabers, one per hand as well as twenty four armor-schnieder combat knives. The spiky projections mounted two per arm and leg are beam grapples, which can fire up to 300 meters to pierce and grab enemy vehicles. A 57mm beam rifle is also carried in each hand, for ranged combat. The new Afterburner system takes up thirty tons of space on its back. When activated, this system increases the movement speed of the Fury by 250. However, if used for more than ten minutes without allowing for an hour of cool down, it overheats the reactor and the machine detonates. Finally, six wire guided geschmeidig panzer shield pods float around it at all times. It's a variant on the Moebius Zero system, except with defense systems instead of weapon pods. So far, Frost is the only one able to handle it." Asmodeus finished up. "I wish I could pilot one of these." He commented.

"So don't we all?" Cervantes replied. "However, we have three perfectly good pilots already, so I guess we'll let them use them." He walked over to the Fury and touched its foot reverently. "How is Frost anyway?"

"His bullet wounds have mostly healed up, but his arm repair is still causing him problems. It was nearly blown off by a large caliber bullet. It'll be another few weeks yet before he regains full use of it and is ready for deployment." Asmodeus replied.

"What about the Purifier?"

"You mean the MS we built using the Freedom schematics? The first one is finished, the next is about 15 completed. They are working as fast as they can, but they weren't designed to be mass produced by current technology. We don't have a pilot for the Purifier though. BCPU 5 Sihov is brain dead and no longer useful." Asmodeus answered.

"Hmmph." Cervantes grunted noncommittally. "What about my future son in law?"

"As a pilot or just a sit rep?" Asmodeus asked, caught slightly off guard.

"Both."

"As a pilot, he'd be marginal. With the installed AI system I'd say he'd be about as proficient as an advanced trainee, at least until he went through the proper courses."

"Could he fire the weapons and operate it under non combat stress?" Cervantes asked, his mind working at hyper speed.

"Easily." Asmodeus replied, wondering where his boss was going with this.

"Good. Now… the sit rep?" Cervantes asked, sitting down on the Fury's foot.

"Well… as you probably noticed from the transcripts, your daughter and Sai haven't slackened off in their physical relationship. If anything, they've increased their intensity. They go about three times a night, on average. Given the rather aerobic nature of their lovemaking, I'd say Sai's in better shape now than he ever was before, and the same for Vanai."

"Why must you always rub the sex into my face like this?"

"Because I know you're secretly proud sir. I'm your intelligence director, I can tell."

"Hmmph. Continue."

"Sai's been applying his same level of performance to his work at our Hawaiian branch. He won the employee of the month award after three days of work. The kid is sharp as a razor. He's got valuable experience in combat situations and has learned how to improvise successfully, so adapting to the hectic nature of the business has been a snap for him. Already the section he has been put in charge of has increased productivity by… 32. That says to me he's also a natural and charismatic leader. The chief exec of that branch has personally called and informed me that by Sai's contributions alone, our sensor and electronic warfare technology has leaped ahead by three years. Hawaii exec wants him promoted to upper management ASAP." Asmodeus reported.

"He makes me proud. I wish I had a hundred more like him." Cervantes admitted. "He'll be a junior vice-president by the end of today."

"Very good sir. He's also been instrumental in my own operations. He's given detailed exposes on all of his "friends" back in Switzerland, during conversations with Vanai. Pillow talk really is the best way to gather information. Would you believe that both Athrun Zala, son of Patrick Zala and Lacus Clyne, daughter of Seigel Clyne are both living in the same house with Cagalli Yula Attha, princess of Orb?"

"Really? That is interesting."

"Oh, it gets MUCH better sir. Apparently Zala is Yula Attha's lover. From what Sai saw, they're even more into the hot and heavy than Sai and Vanai." Asmodeus replied with a huge grin.

"You're kidding? The Coordinator son of that war mongering arch-demon Patrick Zala is banging the Natural ruler of the oh so sickeningly neutral nation of Orb… the very nation now calling for worldwide peace? That's… I can't even say how good that is for us." Cervantes gaped.

"I felt the same way when I heard it for the first time, sir. I'm not done yet though. Apparently Lacus Clyne has also chosen a lover that she's keeping secret from her faction among the PLANTS. Apparently he is named Kira Yamato… formerly Kira Hibiki, only son of the devil himself, Dr. Hibiki."

"WHAT? Kira Hibiki is STILL ALIVE! The so called ULTIMATE COORDINATOR is ALIVE?" Cervantes screamed in shock and rage.

"Yes, seems so. And here's the scary thing. This Kira Yamato-Hibiki is the kid who piloted first the Strike Gundam, then later the Freedom Gundam. From some people's point of view, he nearly single handedly won the war… after the Coordinators had used GENESIS of course." Asmodeus continued. Cervantes steamed on about that for a while.

"Is that it?" he asked at length.

"No sir. I was saving the best for last." Asmodeus said carefully. "You should sit down sir. This is ground shaking news. Not only is Kira Dr. Hibiki's son… but also Cagalli Yula Attha is actually Cagalli Hibiki… his twin sister, the daughter of Dr. Hibiki. There is apparently pictorial evidence of this."

Cervantes clutched his chest. "Be still my raging heart." He mumbled. "So that means… She's not Nara Attha's legitimate daughter. She's not his heir. She isn't the ruler of Orb, and she doesn't have the actual authority to appoint that Colonel Ledonir Kisaka as her regent. This is… a miracle. A heaven sent miracle."

"I agree sir." Asmodeus said wholeheartedly.

"I don't know which to use. The fact that the acknowledged ruler of Orb, a Natural, is banging a Coordinator, the son of the war mongering Patrick Zala himself no less, while at the same time calling for peace talks… if that got released to the world media along with a few juicy video clips, the peace talks would grind to a halt in horror. On the other hand, if it was revealed and proved to the world that Cagalli Yula Attha is a pretender to the throne of Orb… the country would be thrown into chaos and doubt cast upon the whole agenda of peace talks."

"Use both, sir. I'll use some specialists to get the evidence proving she's illegitimate to be ruler of Orb, which we'll then show the world. While everyone is still reeling from that, we'll show them the video clips of her and Zala fornicating. Everyone in the world will think she's being influenced by the PLANTS into surrendering the world to them. She'll be lucky if she doesn't get lynched by a mob of her own people. At the very least she'll be forever discredited and the peace talks will have to start all over again, with much loss of trust on both sides." Asmodeus planned out.

"Get that evidence and those video clips. I don't care how much it costs or what you have to do. Just get them. ASAP!" Cervantes ordered.

"Yes sir. I must say, this Sai is a godsend. If only he would convert to Blue Cosmos." Asmodeus replied.

"Give it some more time. Vanai will bring him around eventually. I think I know who is going to be groomed to be my new rising star."

"Is he going to marry Vanai then?"

"He will. He might not think that yet, but he will. I'm not letting this goose who lays golden eggs get away. Could you slip an aphrodisiac into his and Vanai's food? I want them screwing like an army of cabinetmakers. If he gets her pregnant, then he'll be ours. He's too responsible to abandon a child." Cervantes asked.

"Consider it done sir. I'll go get started on the evidence gathering. Excuse me, sir!" Asmodeus saluted and headed away at the double quick.

"O happy day!" Cervantes cried out in ecstasy, hugging the foot of the Fury gleefully.

------------------------------------------

"Uhnnn!" Athrun commented, rubbing his eyes as he awoke to a new day. He rolled over in bed and banged into the soft and warm person lying next to him. For a moment Athrun panicked, wondering what was going on, but then the past two weeks came rushing back again. His proposal to Cagalli… her acceptance. The three blissful nights and days at the mountaintop lodge. The congratulatory party that their friends held for them when they got back. Kira, Dearka and Ysak pooling their cash to make a down payment on a single bedroom apartment for Athrun and Cagalli to live in, a few blocks from the apartment complex where everyone else was. Lacus, Miriallia, Chanel and Katie springing to decorate and furnish Athrun and Cagalli's bedroom. And lots of other things. About midway through, Waltfeld and Murrue had left, to go visit Mu's house and his grave, in hopes that those might wake Murrue up. But not before Waltfeld had wished Athrun and Cagalli well and had promised to send them a gift later.

"Atthruun?" Cagalli slurred, nudged awake by the bump.

"Mmm?" he asked, yawning. They had been up late last night. Well… they were up late every night, or nearly so. Now that nobody else was around to be bothered, they had been able to go all out in their affections. Kira had been grouchy about it for a while, but after the first week he seemed to realize protesting was totally pointless… and too late anyway. Besides, they could always lock him out of their apartment when they felt the need, so he was helpless to stop them.

"You were amazing last night." Cagalli murmured.

"Not bad for a 16 year old former virgin, you mean?"

"Well… I haven't exactly got a depth of experience with non 16 year old former virgins, but yes." She replied. "Do we have anything planned for today?"

"Well… since we quit school last week… not really." He answered.

"M'kay." Cagalli said. "I'msleepback" she informed him. He turned over to follow her good idea. "Athrun?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"Did you move my picture of me and Kira as babies? The one my dad gave me?"

"No. Is it not where you left it?"

"No… it doesn't matter. It probably just fell on the floor during our fun and games last night. You wicked man. What was the name of the game we were playing?" Cagalli muttered.

"Twister. It's an ancient party game. A family heirloom of Alkire's. He gave it to us for his gift, remember? And it wasn't my idea to play it so that the loser of each game had to remove an article of clothing."

"At least it was a tie."

"Only because I didn't want you to get cold."

"Sure… whatever."

"Hey… speaking of cold, isn't it a bit chilly in here?" Athrun asked.

"Yeah, now that you mention it, it is." Cagalli replied, lifting her head to look around. "That's funny… I don't remember opening the window last night."

"Neither do I. But we plainly did so. No one else could have opened it, after all."

"What time is it?" Cagalli asked. Athrun craned his neck around to look at his alarm clock, which had the alarm turned off.

"Ten forty one am." He replied with a smile. "It feels good to sleep in. I don't know how I managed to wake up at 5:00 am during the war." There came a sudden insistent knocking on their apartment door. Athrun groaned and inched his way out of bed when the knocking continued unabated and in fact grew more urgent. Athrun slipped on a lounging robe and ambled out of the bedroom and into the common/kitchen area. "I'm coming." He grumbled, yawning. The knocking grew frantic. Athrun opened the view shutter in the door. "Dearka! What the hell do you think you're doing?" he asked irritably.

"Turn on your TV to the news. Right the hell now!" Dearka said, his face pale as snow.

"What?" Athrun asked, shocked more wakeful by the sight of his distraught friend. "What's wrong?"

"It's best you see for yourself. Cagalli too. Turn the fucking TV on dude. Right the fuck now!" Dearka's voice quavered even as he blasphemed. Athrun unlatched the door. Dearka barged right in. "Why are you gawping at me? You have to see this, though you're going to be pissed as HELL, I know." Dearka said, hurrying past Athrun over to the TV. Athrun followed behind him, wondering if Dearka had blown a fuse in his head. Speculation faded when Dearka flipped the channel from a commercial to a news service.

"…For those of you just joining us, this is a live update on the Orb crisis." The anchor was saying. Dearka turned the TV up so that it was blastingly loud. "Incontrovertible evidence was released to this news service along with all others worldwide. This evidence conclusively proves that the ruler of Orb, the young Cagalli Yula Attha, is in fact a pretender to the throne." Athrun's jaw dropped. He heard a scream of surprise from the bedroom. "This photo, along with several DNA tests and other documents, were found outside the studio this morning, along with a note from a concerned world citizen explaining their meaning." The photo on screen was an exact replica of the photo Cagalli's father had given her just before he died.

"Formerly thought to be the daughter of Lord Uzumi Nara Attha, Cagalli has now been proven to be the daughter of the scientist Dr. Ulen Hibiki, deceased. Dr. Hibiki was a major proponent of Coordinator engineering several decades ago, but was killed in the Mendel Colony bio disaster. This development has cast serious doubts as to the sovereignty of Orb and to its current position as leader of the World Peace Organization. The peace talks have ground to an absolute halt, as ambassadors struggle to confirm whether or not Orb is actually a country or not. There is panic and rioting in the streets." The announcer continued calmly. Cagalli had thrown on one of Athrun's large shirts over her nudeness and had rushed out into the common room.

"This cannot be happening!" she said in denial.

"I don't think we knocked the picture over… and I don't think it was us who opened that window last night. We're being deliberately attacked." Athrun replied, his voice full of cold rage.

"That's a pretty low blow…" Dearka started to say. Then the situation got much worse.

"Wait… we have just received an update. Younger viewers are urged to ask for parental permission to keep watching. The following tape is rated "M" for mature audiences only." The announcer said, touching his ear as he received voice confirmation of the update. He swiveled in his chair to watch a TV screen, eyes wide in anticipation and dread. The image that came up on the screen was steady and clear, with no jerkiness or fuzziness like most amateur video tapes have. Two young people, completely nude, were standing on a white plastic mat that had four rows of five colored circles on it… one red, one yellow, one blue and one green. As the tape ran, the young people, one a young man with blackish hair and green eyes, the other a young woman with blond hair and amber eyes, contorted into a bewildering variety of sexual positions and acts. The tape continued for fifteen long minutes before the announcer reappeared. "For those of you just joining us, that tape showed Cagalli Yula Attha, the former ruler of Orb, having sex with Athrun Zala, son of the former PLANT supreme chairman Patrick Zala, the man who tried to destroy all life on Earth a few months ago. There is a strong rumor going around that they recently became engaged."

Athrun heard a bumping noise and saw that Cagalli had slumped to the floor in a dead faint. Dearka was staring at the screen, his eyes practically bugging out of his head. "Who did this? Why do they want to ruin Cagalli's and mine lives?" Athrun asked in a confused voice.

"…We go now, live to the royal palace of Orb. Regent Ledonir Kisaka has appeared at the top of the stairs to the palace. The whole agenda of the peace talks has been called into serious question. We go now, live." The announcer was saying. The scene jumped to a live image outside the royal palace of Orb. Kisaka was indeed standing at the top of the stairs, surrounded by a massive mob of reporters. Outside the palace gates, what looked like thousands of Orb citizens milled about, confusion and anger on their faces. "Regent Kisaka! Regent Kisaka! What do you have to say about the real reason why Orb wanted to have peace talks? Now that it has been revealed that your titular ruler has been engaged secretly to a Coordinator… Patrick Zala's son no less and has consummated that engagement, how can any country ever trust Orb's intentions regarding peace with the PLANTS?" a reporter asked nastily.

"Kisaka doesn't look so good. He looks like he's about to have a stroke or something." Dearka observed.

"Kisaka's not the only one… I can think of at least two other people who feel that way right now." Athrun gasped.

"Who?"

"Me… and Kira." Athrun replied, falling to his knees. Dearka rushed over.

"You're not really having a stroke are you?" he asked in concern. Athrun shook his head numbly. Kisaka's face was a mask of rage. However, Athrun knew that Kisaka wasn't mad at him and Cagalli. They had of course informed him of the engagement and he likely knew well what they were up to in their apartment, but he had done nothing more than wish them well and say he would handle things on the political end once it became necessary.

"No comment."

"The worst part about all this is… neither of these accusations are lies at the most basic level." Athrun said shakily. "They may have some twisted information in them, and have been presented in a harmful manner… but that really was me and Cagalli on that Twister mat. That was last night. And she really isn't Lord Uzumi Nara Attha's actual daughter. But… why? Why is someone out to get Cagalli and I?" Athrun continued weakly.

"I don't think it's personal. Or not fully anyway. I think this is an attack on the peace talks." Dearka said.

"Who would want to shut down the peace talks?" Athrun asked and then chorused the answer with Dearka a second later. "Blue Cosmos." They both said.

"Regent Kisaka! What is Orb's position on cross genotype marriage? Are Coordinator-Natural pairings common in Orb now?" one reporter asked. Another snorted. "Hell, is it even LEGAL?" he asked. "Regent Kisaka, please comment on why your country was giving preferential treatment to the PLANTS? Was it because your ruler was having sex with a Coordinator all this time?"

Dearka snarled and flipped the channel. It was no use, EVERY channel was playing this story, even non-news channels. "…Sex and legitimacy scandal in Orb…" "…world nations shaken to their core…" "…rioting in the streets. People are marching on the royal palace in the thousands…" "…calls for Cagalli Yula Attha to surrender herself to the Orb supreme court…" "…Atlantic Federation severing diplomatic ties to Orb and withdrawing its ambassadors, critical to the peace process…"

"Damn Blue Cosmos just destabilized the entire world with ten minutes of pictures and the equivalent of an XXX-rated video tape." Dearka commented, shaking his head. "Is peace really that fragile?" Dearka considered something new. "You know… since they stole that picture from you… and obviously use a telephoto lens to shoot that video… Blue Cosmos must know where you two live… and probably where the rest of us live."

"We have to get out of here. Out of this country." Athrun decided. "If we stay here, Cagalli and I will be arrested and turned over to Orb for trial. Or maybe they'll just skip the formalities and go straight to the World Court. Everybody is going to be after us, including the people who are outraged at two under aged kids getting engaged and having sex… even though it does happen all the time. Just not on International TV."

"Arrested? You'll be lucky if this place isn't firebombed before tonight. I mean, sure you got the under aged decency people after you… but you're also going to have the people who are rabidly against Coordinator-Natural marriage coming after you. And they're likely to be the more violently inclined type, being as many are Blue Cosmos cast offs or rejectees." Dearka replied.

"And Blue Cosmos might strike directly or indirectly against the rest of you as well. I don't think TEMPEST would be of much help against an angry mob numbering in the hundreds… firing a machine gun into them would just make everything worse." Athrun said, his mind running on autopilot. "Dearka, run back to the apartment complex. Get everyone together and have them start packing… a single carry-able bag each. Just the essentials, no bags of clothes or keepsakes. I'll meet you there with Cagalli and our stuff in a half hour. Go!" Athrun ordered.

Dearka saluted out of habit and ran off as fast as he could. Athrun looked around his apartment with a pained gaze. It had only been his and Cagalli's for a matter of weeks… and yet it already seemed to contain so much of their memories and lives. His mouth twisted bitterly. He would make Blue Cosmos pay for this, if it was the last thing he ever did. He picked Cagalli, who was still in a faint, up off the floor. The feel of her warm body made him think of last night. Athrun swore to give the cameraman a special taste of revenge. He gently carried her back into the bedroom and laid her on the bed. He then took out two black leather suitcase-bags and started to pack.

------------------------------------------------

"This whole thing is pretty fucked up." James commented to Alkire as they sped over to the kid's house. Alkire was driving in his Ferrari and was making the car howl as he coaxed every last iota of speed and handling from it in his haste. They were already going well over two hundred and thirty kph, and still accelerating.

"Blue Cosmos is the only one with the motive and means to do something like this. Concerned world citizen MY ASS!" Alkire spat as he weaved in and out of traffic, ignoring lights and signs and even driving the wrong way on one way streets in an effort to get to his destination sooner. For James it was like being a passenger in a form of combat where your opponents tried to ram you in multi ton vehicles traveling at combined speeds of more than he wanted to contemplate, while being helpless to do anything to save himself.

"Jesus, Alkire… are you trying to get us killed?" James asked, his face white as Alkire raced a train to a train crossing and only barely passed it by eight feet or so.

"I'm trying to make sure Chanel and Katie ARE NOT killed, James. They're at Ysak's room right now. And you can make a sure bet that if Blue Cosmos knew where Athrun and Cagalli lived, they know where everyone else lives too. A direct attack or indirect attack could be going down this very instant. So, please SHUT UP and let me concentrate on getting there soonest." Alkire retorted.

"Yes, sir, Major." James replied, though he didn't salute for fear of being thrown out of the car if he released his hand grips. As it turned out, soonest was about five minutes later, when Alkire pulled in a 360 spinning hand brake stop, tires smoking, leaving a good pound and a half of rubber on the street as he skidded up onto the lawn itself.

"Go!" Alkire shouted, grabbing his assault rifle from its back seat concealed rack. James ran around to the trunk of the car and lifted out his machine gun and web belts with his machine pistols. Both men were already dressed in hurriedly put on flack jackets and urban camouflage clothing. They stormed inside the apartment complex, ready for anything. Their caution was unwarranted however. There were no attackers. Just a mob of confused adolescents trying to make sense of a world turned suddenly hostile.

Kira was sitting on the couch facing the TV, which had been mercifully turned off. He was rocking his head back and forth and chewing his lip as he started vacantly off into space. A fully packed bag sat next to him. Ysak was pacing around the room, gesturing angrily. Chanel and Katie followed him carefully, ignoring the sweeping arcs of his arms as he expounded against Natural extremists in general and Blue Cosmos in particular. Ysak too had a fully packed bag. As did every other teenager there except for Chanel and Katie, who's stuff was at home. Alkire nodded. Raine and Victor were taking care of packing for the team, while Vlad was out doing maintenance on Alkire's passenger jet, in preparation for sudden departure. Alkire had wondered if he would have to help the kids along, but then he reminded himself that most of them had as much or more combat experience than he did. They didn't need to be told what to do in an emergency.

A loud rumbling came from outside. Alkire identified the sound of Athrun's bike by memory, but checked visually just to be safe. A good operative relied on his memory or assumptions for nothing. Athrun and Cagalli were dismounting from Athrun's motorcycle from where it was parked next to Alkire's car. Both were dressed and carrying packed bags. "The kids are all here. Send the cars." Alkire radioed to Raine and Victor.

"We're done at home too. We're on our way in the ATV jeep and my vehicle." Raine replied. "Robert… I'm going to miss our house." She continued a moment later, tears in her voice.

"Yeah, babe, I know. Me too. But we have to go. If the right people do enough digging, which will undoubtedly happen eventually because of this crisis, Blue Cosmos will find out about us. After that point our life spans will be measured in hours. Besides… we can't just abandon the kids. Any of them." Alkire replied.

"Yeah. They're all family as far as I'm concerned. Chanel and Katie are like our children… the others are like favorite nieces and nephews." Raine said.

"It's okay Raine. We'll rebuild. I've got a spacey enough safe house in Hawaii. That's where we're going. We'll be safe there while we figure out what to do. And figure out how to make the sonsabitches pay dearly for this attack." Alkire told her. "Alkire, over and out. See you soon." He had been so emotionally caught up that he hadn't even corrected him when she had called him by his birth name, Robert. It was a name he had discarded for security reasons after forcibly discharging himself from EFSOU. Major Robert Jones was wanted by the Earth Forces Military Courts for mutiny and murder of a general officer. Major Alkire Majesty had no such problem. That was another thing that would rapidly come out with enough digging. All of the pictures they would be leaving behind… a few of them were of Alkire as Robert, with his buddies from EFSOU. Once the press got a hold of that, he'd probably have to come up with a new alias, because the police and the EFSOU sponsors would be on him like shit on a monkey.

Athrun and Cagalli had just entered the room as Alkire turned around. Both looked understandably distraught, though it was easy for Alkire to see the spark of fiery anger that flared within their eyes. These two weren't going to take this thing lying down. Athrun glanced at Alkire, which caused the older man to jump slightly. Athrun's eyes were a really vacant, flat color. All the life and pity and jolliness had been drained out of those eyes. They were the serious eyes of a person who would do what needed to be done to set things right. Alkire had heard the kids talking about the Berserk mode that Athrun and Kira seemed able to enter when they needed to kick things into high gear, but this was the first time he had ever seen it or lent the tales any credence.

Kira stood up suddenly. Alkire noted that he had the same look in his violet eyes as Athrun did in his green ones. "We'll get the people responsible for this." Kira promised Athrun. He then went over to Cagalli and hugged her tightly. "I'm sorry Cagalli. I know this horrible situation must have been like a stab in the back."

"How did they know about the picture?" Cagalli whispered. "Nobody but you guys, my friends knew about that picture and what it meant."

"Sai knew." Ysak commented from across the room. "He's also still missing. I find that curious."

"Sai wouldn't tell them something like that." Kira refuted.

"Maybe they tortured it out of him. This is Blue Cosmos we're talking about here." Dearka countered. Lacus and Miriallia went over to Cagalli and gently disengaged her from Kira's arms. They led her over to a corner of the room removed from everyone else and did their best to comfort her. Athrun, Kira, Dearka and Ysak clustered on the other side of the room, talking and gesturing to each other in mixed anger and resolve.

"Uncle Alkire, Uncle James… what are we going to do?" Chanel asked, coming over to the two of her father figures that were there.

"Yeah… what are we going to do?" Katie added.

"We're going to leave. We're going to Hawaii, to my safe house there." Alkire replied, refusing to lie to them.

"Will we be coming back" Katie wanted to know.

"No. Most probably not." Alkire told her. Well, we might come back on an Op, but not to visit, definitely not.

"Is Ysak coming with us?" Chanel asked.

"Yes. They're all coming with us."

"What did you say?" Athrun asked, coming over to them.

"I said you're coming with us. It's the only way you'll be able to leave the country. The airports will be closed to commercial travel and all the borders will be checking people very carefully. Anybody who sees you will probably turn you in to the police or worse, the press." Alkire repeated.

Athrun's face twisted. "I don't want to drag you into this." Alkire laughed at him. Athrun's face went blank.

"Kid… Athrun… we were "into this" a hell of a lot more than you were. We've been destroying Blue Cosmos facilities for months now. In fact, the first time we met you, we'd just come back from destroying a training center. Besides, you're friends… one of you is getting to be family. For friends and family, this isn't a burden." Alkire said. He clapped Athrun on the back. "Now, I see you got everyone packed and gathered. That's good. Raine and Victor will be here in a few minutes with transport. Then we'll go to the airport, where Vlad is checking out my jet. Fifteen minutes after we get to the airport, we'll be in the air and on our way to safety in Hawaii. The vehicles will be loaded onto a transport plane owned by a friend who owes me a few favors and will be shipped over to us a few days later. I'm not leaving my Ferrari behind. Though we will of course change the plates and paint scheme. Too bad. I was fond of cerulean blue." Alkire said, laying out the plan.

"You're certainly well prepared." Ysak commented.

James belly laughed and shifted his heavy machine gun to his other shoulder so he could pat Ysak on the back. "We're commandos, kid. We do this sort of thing for a living. Of course we're good at it."

Alkire looked out the window. Victor and Raine had just pulled up in the ATV jeep and Raine's town car. The minigun had been removed from the back of the ATV so it could drive around on public roads without attracting too much attention. "Rides are here. Everybody outside, on the double! James, you cover them. I'll take rearguard." Alkire ordered. James nodded and ran outside, falling to one knee with his machine gun at the ready once he hit the lawn. "Ysak, Chanel and Katie, you're with Raine in the town car. Dearka, Miriallia, you get the ATV with Victor. Kira, Lacus, you're in the Ferrari with me. Athrun, Cagalli, take the motorcycle and follow Raine. James will go as gunner on the ATV." Alkire rapped out. People began grabbing bags and running outside in groups. After everyone else was outside Alkire did a quick sweep of the premises and, finding nothing amiss or forgotten, he sprinted outside and jumped into the Ferrari, eschewing the use of the door.

Raine was just pulling out into the street with Athrun following her, making sure to go at the speed limit so he could stay with her. Victor gunned the ATV jeep and quickly passed her, James hanging on for dear life as the jeep jounced and bounced along. Victor wasn't the most careful driver and he was especially hard on the shock absorbers when he was in a hurry. Alkire shifted into reverse and spun his sports car like a top, ending with the car in the street facing the other way from the direction the other vehicles had went.

--------------------------------------------

"Isn't the airport the other direction?" Kira shouted from the passenger seat. Lacus was lying down in the back, gripping the seat as if she was afraid she would fly out.

"Sometimes!" Alkire replied and kicked the Ferrari into first gear, rapidly accelerating to second, then third and eventually up to fourth. He soon reached his normal safe speed for residential streets of one hundred and seventy kilometers per hour. "I usually think my way is faster though." Alkire crowed, jumping the car over a curb on its reinforced tires, a legacy of Vlad's tinkering and racing up a highway off ramp. He entered the four lane highway going the wrong way and was quickly going twice the speed limit. Kira's face drained of all the blood as cars honked and hurtled out of Alkire's way, seemingly missing by scant inches.

"We're all going to die!" Lacus cried.

"This is attracting a lot of attention, you know." Kira warned.

"That's the idea. I'm the best driver of TEMPEST, so I stand the best chance of escaping from the police if they come after me. While all the police are trying to corner me, the madman in the blue Ferrari, our friends will have a clear and safe journey to the airport, without having to worry about the stress of high-speed chases." Alkire responded. Flashing lights appeared on the other side of the road, pacing them. "There's our police escort. Now the fun begins." Alkire said, swerving across the median turf into the correct lanes for his direction of travel. In moments there were five police cars racing desperately to catch up to him. All points bulletins were crowding out the airwaves, asking all cars to clear the highway.

"There's a helicopter above us! It has police markings!" Lacus screamed. There was a sudden rain of shiny metal objects on the road ahead of them.

"Caltrops. A good plan. But this isn't your average Ferrari." Alkire laughed, driving right over the serrated blades, his reinforced tires blasting them out of the way with nary a scratch. Alkire touched a hidden switch on his dashboard. The front middle armrest folded to the side to reveal a console of buttons and switches. "I always feel like James Bond when I see this." Alkire commented dryly. He pressed a button and one of his rear taillights folded back to reveal the tip of a small rocket.

"You can't kill them! They're just doing their job!" Kira protested.

"I'm just doing mine. They're professionals. They understand. Besides, who said anything about killing them?" Alkire retorted.

"You're going to shoot them with a missile!"

"Watch and learn. Before they teach you how to kill, they teach you how to subdue." Alkire said, pressing the button again. The rocket shot out and flew directly at the helicopter. There was no time for evasion. However the rocket didn't blow the helicopter to pieces, instead detonating a few feet from the windshield and spraying it with a very sticky, quick drying tar like substance. Blinded, the helicopter broke off its pursuit.

"That was amazing! I'm sorry." Kira started to say.

"Not done yet!" Alkire replied, pointing at a blockade of three police cars parked across the road ahead, with police officers crouched behind them, pistols raised.

"STOP YOUR CAR! SURRENDER! YOU CAN'T WIN!" a policeman called over a megaphone. Alkire pressed a different button. His headlights retracted back into the car and two more missile tips became visible. Alkire flipped a switch and used one hand to pick up a microphone.

"DON'T TELL ME WHAT I CAN'T DO!" he blared, using his horn speakers. "GET AWAY! I'M BLASTING THROUGH!" Bullets started sparking off the windshield, deflected by the armored plate glass. "I warned them. Professional concern stops there." Alkire informed Kira and launched his missiles. They streaked into the police cars, which were only about fifty yards away by this time. Both missiles exploded on contact, knocking the police cars hurtling straight up into the air on pillars of fire and smoke. Police officers were sent flying, tumbling to the ground in various painful looking landings. Alkire gunned the car and hit his afterburner injectors, causing the car speed to double within a second. He surfed the car through the flames and smoke caused by the rocket explosions, passing underneath the falling police cars before they hit the ground and detonated in balls of fire and electrical sparks. 'YEAH! That was AWESOME!" Alkire celebrated, speeding on.

Kira looked sick but also relieved. "None of them died. Thanks, Alkire."

"You're a MS pilot but you can't stand killing?" Alkire asked in disbelief.

"I've killed too many people. Killing people just propagates wars. A person is killed, and then their killer is killed in revenge. Then that killer is in turn killed in revenge. It's a never-ending cycle that I forced myself out of. Athrun's done the same thing."

"That's incredible. You're really idealistic, you know?" Alkire said.

"I get that a lot. There was only one person I killed that I ever wanted to kill. That was Rau Le Crueset. He killed people I cared about and had been manipulating both sides into destroying each other with nuclear weapons. He's the one that gave the Earth Alliance the plans for the N-Jammer Cancellers." Kira replied.

"I've heard of Rau Le Crueset. He's pretty infamous among EFSOU operatives. We tried to knock him off a number of times, but he always wiped out the hit teams. I didn't know about that other stuff though. So you fought without killing people?" Alkire asked.

"From just after JOSH-A to Jachin Due, yes. I disabled my enemies by blowing off their MS's heads or arms or weapons, or by cutting off their legs. I'll admit I did kill people at Jachin Due, but that was to stop them from using nukes on the PLANTS. Jachin Due was… a tough battle." Kira told him.

"What Kira means to say is that, though it pained him greatly, Kira broke his oath not to kill in order to save the PLANTS from all experiencing Junius Seven." Lacus added from the back seat. Alkire drove along for a minute or two while he digested this, keeping a careful eye out for the police, who were just regrouping, not defeated.

"I'm not actually against all killing. Sometimes, like with Rau, it is necessary. You could say that I'm just a stickler for due process. If a person is sentenced to death for crimes committed, in a court by a jury of his peers after giving evidence in his defense, then I have no problem with that. I won't pull the trigger, but I'm not going to stand in the way of the bullets either. However, I won't stand for indiscriminate killing in my presence if there is anything at all I can do to prevent it without endangering yet more lives. Not even if it is my friends who are doing the killing." Kira said firmly.

"You're a complex kid, ya know?" Alkire observed. "Most kids your age are worrying about their grades or how to get into the pants of their girlfriends. You're worried about the morality of death in war and the problems with revenge driven mindsets." Kira blushed.

"Well… I never had any problem with school, being a Coordinator. And… well… um…" Kira hesitated.

"He doesn't need to worry about the other thing either. All he has to do is ask." Lacus provided.

"Lacus!" Kira protested. Alkire laughed.

"There's the airport up ahead. The police are probably calling in their elite response unit and the National Guard. We should have enough time to get ready." Alkire said, pulling in to the private access road of the airport and entering a combination on the lock pad. The gate retracted and Alkire drove quickly into a cavernous hanger and up a ramp into a cargo aircraft. Raine's town car, the ATV jeep and Athrun's motorcycle were already inside, along with a grey pick up truck that Kira assumed to be Vladimir's. "Let's go. My jet is two hangers down." Alkire said, carrying Kira and Lacus's bags. He had his assault rifle slung over his shoulder.

When they reached Alkire's jet, which was the modern descendant of the old Gulfstream Lear jets of a few centuries ago, everyone else was already on board and strapped in. Alkire shoved the bags into the cargo compartment and locked the hatch. While Kira and Lacus sat down and belted up, Alkire vaulted into the pilot's chair. Vladimir was in the co-pilot's chair.

"Nice escape. A bit flashy though. It looked like something out of a "B" action movie." Vlad commented.

"Thanks. I think. How's the pre flight?"

"All systems green. I worked her over completely. Missile tubes loaded, ammo belts linked, turret lubricated, fuel tanks topped off, and countermeasures prepped and ready. Traffic control has not, repeat NOT given us permission to leave." Vlad replied.

"Screw 'em. We're leaving. Unless we want to spend the next thirty years in prison for all the illegal stuff we got with us."

"30 years if you're lucky. I'd go straight to the gallows." Vlad shot back with a grim chuckle. "And I don't even know what the Coordinators would want to do to me."

"You can only die once." Alkire observed, strapping his restraining harness together.

"True." Vlad acknowledged with a nod. Alkire warmed up the engines and taxied out onto the runway. He kept his radio off. Traffic control wouldn't be saying anything he wanted to hear. Alkire grinned in concentration. He'd be taking off blind. Not the first time he'd ever done so, or even the tenth, but it was never a fun experience. If he was unlucky, an arriving jet could land on them just as they were taking off. That would be rather inconvenient for all concerned, as both jets would detonate in globes of jet fuel and metal, raining scorched and bloody bodies across acres of land below. "There's the ERT guys." Vlad pointed out, gesturing at the black painted wheeled APC's rushing toward them.

Alkire taxied quickly out onto the runway. Luckily the airport was shut down to prevent Athrun and Cagalli from leaving by commercial jet, so he didn't have to worry about other leaving planes. Jets were still landing though, since it was impossible to escape on an arriving jet. Bullets started deflecting off the armored body of the plane. 'They're getting more serious!" James called from the back. "I see a RPG launcher!"

"Distract them!" Alkire ordered.

"My machine gun is in cargo!" James protested.

"Then use a few pistols!" Alkire sang back, opening the passenger hatch.

"You're going to take off with the door open and James hanging out the door?" Vlad asked, incredulous.

"Yes…"

"Okay… just checking." The sound of pistol fire echoed from the passenger compartment.

"Take that!" James cheered. 'Teach you to point a heavy weapon at ME! Whoa!"

"You okay back there, James?" Vlad called as Alkire started accelerating down the runway.

"Yeah, yeah! One of those ERT bastards just tagged me but good with his rifle. My jacket stopped it, but it hurts like a son of a bitch. I managed to give as good as I got though. That's what's so fun about body armor on enemies. You can shoot them lots of times without feeling guilty of overkill." James called back, rubbing his chest and staggering away from the door.

"Are they still after us?" Alkire asked, about a third of the way down the runway. His speed was rising on schedule and the plane was steady, despite the open door causing drag. The door suddenly closed. "James?"

"James is still on board. The bomb I just dropped out the door is not." Victor answered. "In answer to your question… in 3… 2… 1… now they are no longer following." Victor said, to the accompaniment of a large explosion. Alkire soon lifted the plane off with plenty of runway to spare.

"We're getting lots of radar activity. They're trying to track us." Vlad noted.

"Not any more they aren't." Alkire said, hitting the countermeasures button. He had stolen the ECM package from the latest EFSOU lab in the process of getting his discharge papers. Nothing from the Earth Alliance could find out where they were going now, unless they visually followed him. And the PLANTS wouldn't be doing anything in Eurasian Federation territory, especially with the break down in peace talks.

"We have incoming bogeys." Vlad said calmly. "They aren't in my instrument catalog. They're MS's of an unknown type. Earth Alliance IFF though. Doing a weapon scan… one hyper impulse cannon, one 120mm railgun, one radar guided missile 12 rack, one beam saber."

"Pretty heavy armament for mass produced models." Alkire noted. "How are they defensively?"

"Mediocre. Typical Blue Cosmos influenced weapons. Plenty of weapons, but little in the way of protection. Standard armor, low quality ECM. They're also pretty bulky and slow. Upgrade their armor to medium grade. They can take a few hits, but they can't avoid being hit." Vlad replied.

"How many of them? Fight or flight?"

"Five of them. Definitely flight. Though we can certainly handle dropping some discouragement."

"I'll let you deal with that then. I'll handle the escape." Alkire got on the intercom. "This is your captain speaking. I'd like to welcome you aboard Majesty airlines and thank you for flying with us. There is going to be a little bit of turbulence, due the five incoming mobile suits trying to shoot us down, but don't worry… if I screw up we'll all die so quickly you won't know what happened. Have a nice flight." Alkire signed off. Vlad looked at him.

"You're such a crazy bastard."

"Maybe so… but I'm the crazy bastard who's going to get us out of here alive." Alkire replied, throwing the jet into a loop that turned into a barrel roll that turned into a corkscrew dive. Yellow railgun tracers filled the sky, along with the blue-red beams of the hyper impulse cannons, each powerful enough to destroy a light space warship. Missile contrails made white lines all over the sky, but the jet's ECM was too strong for the missile's guidance system to lock on and so Alkire could really only hit one by flying into it. "How's that deterrence coming?" Alkire asked tightly, the jet completing a stomach churning series of evasive maneuvers that wove them through a crossfire so intense that one of the enemy mobile suits actually shot one of its allies and destroyed it.

Vladimir flipped up the covers on two green buttons. "Deterrent one, away. Deterrent two, away."

"What're the green missiles again?"

"Flash burners. The missile releases a long cloud of highly flammable vapor and then detonates, igniting the cloud, which flashes as bright as the sun for about a half second. Anybody looking at the clouds is blinded for about a minute or so."

"I thought those were the red missiles."

"No, the red missiles are the incendiary high explosives."

"Okay then… what are the blue ones?"

"Do you have no memory at all? The blue missiles are the paint missiles."

"Vladimir… the jet doesn't have ANY blue missiles."

"Actually… I made a few upgrades after the last mission. You should close your eyes." Vlad said, following his own advice. Alkire did as suggested, missing the searing flash that lit up the entire sky like a road flare.

"Paint missiles?" Alkire asked after a five count as he opened his eyes.

"Yes. Missiles filled with blue paint. They have very sophisticated guidance systems and use very powerful radar. They also have very long range. When one locks onto a vehicle with ANY sort of ECM, it gives off roughly the same level of warning as being locked onto by a warship's main guns does. Then, while you struggle to avoid the paint missiles, you get out of place for the real missiles, the red ones in this case, to track you down easy and undetected. Psychological warfare." Vlad replied proudly. "They also make good jokes. "Hah hah, got you!" That sort of thing."

"I think we lost them. The green missiles did it."

"You are thinking of using the blue missiles anyway." Vlad predicted.

"Damn right. Target each of the four remaining with a blue missile. This'll put the fear of god into them." Alkire said wickedly. Vladimir grinned and did as directed.

"All right… I'm going to punch the afterburner on the count of 3. On 1, you fire the missiles. Got it?"

"Yes. 3… 2… 1…" Vladimir fired the missiles. Alkire hit the afterburner an instant later, tripling the jet's speed and leaving the enemy far behind, rubbing bright spots out of their eyes and panicking as they flew in every direction, trying to break the target lock of an apparent Agamemnon class warship that had them in its sights.