"Coordinator?" Flay asked while raising her eyebrows.

"Pretending not to hear me wouldn't help establish otherwise," Murrue said smugly, confident that the whole thing was in favor.

"I assume you have proofs for such a baseless assumption?"

"Will the multiplexed brainwave patterns displayed by you suffice?" Archangel used to carry PIXIE pilots who were conditioned beyond normal so it was important to keep track of their wellbeing; hence the brainwave scanning among other things. It was a just a normal procedure when they scanned Allster's brain when they took her and Yamato into the custody and she didn't go through it the first time but after seeing the way Izumi interacted with the redhead, she considered the possibility. "It is higher than expected from you, a Blue Cosmos member."

"That is quite interesting, Captain, but I'm sure the result is inconclusive."

"How about your psychomotor tests then? Maybe the simple fact that you can control a mobile suit optimized for a Coordinator to control?" The previous battle had revealed that 'Shawn' and Mirriallia's pairing wasn't as optimum as she thought it to be.

"Fluke?" Flay shrugged. "Besides, you're missing the big picture here. If I'm really a Coordinator, then why would I join Blue Cosmos, the enemy of all Coordinators?"

Murrue had expected such counterarguments. Trying to raise doubt about her identity by manipulating everyone's negative perception of her; it was a clever move, judging by small subconscious nodding by some inside the room. But she had prepared a trap for such manipulation. "Very well, then…"

"Maybe I should undergo NCDNA-Heterochromatin marker test to prove that I'm not a Coordinator?"

Murrue's eyes widened at the unexpected answer. Non-Coding DNA Heterochromatin test was the absolute test to determine whether someone was a Coordinator or not by identifying the non-coding strands of DNA. While Coordinators may have different genes that led to the differences in their appearances, they shared enough genetic materials prevalent in the said DNA strands to allow positive identification; the test was considered accurate enough to identify up to 15th generation Coordinator even with input from Naturals. She was just about to ask for the former Blue Cosmos agent to undergo the test but since Flay offered to do it without any prompting showed how confident the redhead was with the test supporting her assertion. Perhaps Flay wasn't a Coordinator like she suspected?

Seeing that Murrue seemed wasn't willing to continue on, Flay shrugged. "Since you understand that I'm not what you claim, we'll continue on with the briefing." She then proceeded with her explanation. Despite her initial thought, Spectrum wasn't really built by ZAFT and whatever base she infiltrated, it wasn't ZAFT's. Whatever faction that was behind Spectrum, its presence was probably unknown by both ZAFT and Earth Alliance. Flay then explained the situation that led to Spectrum ending up in their hand, leading from her insertion into the research facility up to the attack by one of Blue Cosmos' own special force to take advantage of the ensuing chaos caused by Archangel's attack.

When someone asked how the Blue Cosmos knew when the attack was to be launched, she had a thin smile and answered that it was the same thing with how Archangel was given the mission to retrieve her and Spectrum: Halberton was a Blue Cosmos member.

Before Murrue could protest, she then explained that before it was usurped by extremists Blue Cosmos was actually an environmental research and pressure group, with several leading scientists as its members. In fact, few of its previous members had contributed their expertise into designing and building PLANTs. Even after Blue Cosmos was hijacked, there were few who were working to return it to its former role, one of them was Admiral Halberton.

Flay could only guess since the good admiral was already dead but he planned for the attack on the ZAFT base in such a way so that Archangel could retrieve Flay and whatever she was supposed to steal. That move would have helped to sabotage the Blue Cosmos' efforts to get its hands on ZAFT technology so that it could escalate the war even further. If Alliance could mass produce mobile suits with even a quarter of Spectrum's capabilities, it could quickly end the war by overwhelming ZAFT and not even the famed Gundams could help to change it.

The same thing probably would happen if it was ZAFT that got hold of it.

"Is it really bad if we just let any one of them get Spectrum?" someone asked.

He was given a very hard, cold and incredulous stare that caused him to shrink. "The other side wouldn't let it utilize the given advantage," Flay answered. "And that includes resorting to anything. So either both sides don't get any or we just give each side a prototype."

"But there's only one Spectrum to go around and it's with us," Mwu remarked.

"There's a probability that there are two more mobile suits similar to Spectrum and today's briefing is regarding how we will deal with them."

Murrue got up from her seat in surprise. "Impossible!"

Flay gestured to the main screen that showed the globe of Earth with two spots on it and explained that two celestial bodies entering Earth atmosphere in the week after the attack on the ZAFT's base in Ocenia. Unlike normal meteors whose vectors could be calculated though, the celestial bodies disappeared just after they entered atmosphere.

"So, you're saying that because they disappeared, they're mobile suits," Shinn said, arms crossed. The self-professed Otaku soldier seemed to have trouble accepting the whole situation. "And we're supposed to take that at face value?"

"Of course not," Flay answered. "As the matter of fact, the objects could be anything. However, we do have to investigate it," she made a gesture and a digital file opened showing a digital order and signature, "as per instructed by your leader."

Shinn leaned back and muttered, "I really don't like it. We're on a wild goose chase all over the world, risking our necks looking for two stupid blobs"

"We're risking our necks looking for the blobs, yes, but not on a wild goose chase. Your country's intelligence agency provided us with the following information." Two spots appeared on the globe, one in Africa and the other one in South America continent. She tapped the one at the Africa map. "Africa is closer so maybe we should go there. There are unconfirmed sightings by locals of a mobile suit in the area. As some of you know, ZAFT is fielding mobile suits in this region but they're mostly BuCUEs which are quite suited for such terrains as its bipedal mobile suits aren't suited for the harsh environment."

"And why don't ZAFT and Alliance search for it?" Mwu asked.

"Simple. The witnesses aren't partial to any party. Besides, even if they do find out, the area is highly volatile as it is that any movement by either side will be detected by the other party and lead to the escalation of conflict. So, if any particular side managed to acquire it, we would have seen an increase of military operations in the region so I'm quite confident the mobile suit isn't with any one of them. But that doesn't mean time is on our side."

The globe disappeared and was replaced by a news broadcast about a terrorist attack in Pearl Harbour where a bomb placed near a hospital ship caused numerous deaths and untold casualties. A hawkish Defense Secretary of Atlantic Federation then appeared to condemn the terrorists behind the attack and gave assurance that all efforts will be made to identify those responsible for the attack. Flay waited patiently until the recording was finished before continuing. "Chandra caught this broadcast yesterday," she said as she gestured to the man.

"And it is connected to us in what way?" Tolle asked. "I understand that the fact that the terrorists were ruthless bastards but what it has to do with our mission?"

The redhead glanced at Murrue to see the Archangel Captain was already gritting her teeth in anger. "It looks like your captain already understands the situation. Think about it. The attack took place in one of Atlantic's biggest naval bases which is highly secured and they blamed it on terrorists."

"It's not impossible," Mirrillia argued.

"Yes, but yet it's improbable. Besides, why blame nameless terrorists when they can blame ZAFT?"

"The attack blamed on nameless terrorists and not ZAFT because they wanted a common enemy that will be feared and loathed by all sides, including ZAFT," Murrue answered. "An enemy who attacks indiscriminately not because they are in a war but rather to spread terror and fear into people."

"And do you have any idea who the terrorists might be?" Shinn asked.

"Of course. It's us. We're the terrorists behind the attack." Murrue looked at Flay. "That's what you're going to say, aren't you?"

"Yes."

There were murmurs as everyone became animated, not believing what they heard until Flay motioned them to quiet down. She then explained that the attack was no without any shadow of doubt was Phantom Pain's modus operandi of sowing fear and discord into the populace. First, they would stage terror attacks that would cause panic among the general populace. Then they would slowly reveal the identity of the so-called group behind the attack before finally declaring an all out war against it. "I'm not sure but maybe a month from now on, they will reveal the existence of the terrorist group that managed to steal Atlantic Federation's newest battleship and use it to wreak havoc on innocent lives. Why, I wouldn't be surprised if there's going to be attacks on civilians in ZAFT controlled territories which will eventually be blamed on us," she said, finishing her explanation.

"Hey, that's suspiciously similar to how the war against PLANTs started," Shinn observed.

"True, because that's how it happened. Of course, most people involved in the conflict don't realize that and are believing that they are fighting against the enemy who doesn't care for the safety of civilians."

"And this is what you learned in your Blue Cosmos espionage school?" Murrue asked with a frown on her face. She already realized that everyone was being used but hearing that from another still hurt.

"It was what I learned from the mass psychological manipulation class," Flay had a forlorn smile her face, "or at least that's the 'reality' that's formed my world."

The AMEF-SEAD01 DINN engaged its boosters slightly to reduce its vector, causing it to hover just a meter away from the landing pad. It then dropped, shaking the overall structure slightly.

Lunamaria removed her helmet and tucked stray strands of hairs behind her ear. Switching the autopilot on, she leaned back on her seat as her mobile suit slowly made its way to Minerva's main hangar. She was a trained soldier, but damn anyone telling her that she was to be denied of her shower at that time. Well, her mobile suit had air conditioning, just like any other mobile suits, mobile armours and aerial fighters out there but there was no air conditioner that could relieve the icky feeling she was feeling.

As her DINN entered the hangar, she idly noted the modifications being carried out on the 'Gundams'. Most of the modifications were not major, such as repairing the damaged areas on them or reconfiguring the battery output, if she guessed a technician's action of playing with the said power cell was correct, but Aegis had what seemed to be Striker Pack being fixed to its back. The add-on would, in theory allow atmospheric flight but at the expense of Aegis not being able to reconfigure into its mobile armour mode which was moot since the mode was only effective while in space.

And she was quite sure that her sister was involved in it. After all, when they were small, it was Meyrin who came up with wacky Rube Golberg machine and zany Heath Robinson contraption.

Well, the grass was always greener on the other side and that was that; they were sisters which meant it was within their divine rights to be jealous of what the other had while conveniently ignoring their own strength.

Finally the mobile suit turned and reversed into its designated bay and Lunamaria waited until it had been secured by the technicians before powering down the main operating system, taking out the memory disk containing her mission's record and opening the hatch. She lowered herself on the winch only to see Captain Talia was already waiting for her, arms crossed. She rolled her eyes, knowing her action couldn't be seen clearly. The aerial defense specialist had clearly forgotten Captain Talia when she decided that no one would stop her from having her shower immediately.

She snapped a salute after she reached the floor.

Talia replied her salute before gesturing toward the briefing room and began walking there.

Lunamaria quietly sighed and dragged herself behind the captain.

"What's your findings?" Talia asked Lunamaria when the two were alone.

"Our orders had been issued through proper channels, at least on the Earth side," the redhead pilot answered as she entered the memory disk into a table computer and passed it to her captain.

Talia looked at the information on the said device thoughtfully. "So we have to rule out that our communication link had been compromised."

Lunamaria nodded. "If it's okay, ma'am, may I know why you didn't ask my sister to search the network as well?" While she herself was air defense suppression expert, she could also conduct on-field intelligence gathering. On the other hand, it was really Meyrin's forte in searching for information, especially on the internet.

"I would have," but from the data here, I think it would lead to the same conclusion. In fact, I already suspected that there's no problem with the Earth side."

"But that means…"

"That will be all, Ensign," Talia said as she made a dismissive gesture even as her attention was still transfixed on the tablet in her hand. "Go and have a nice rest."

"Yes, ma'am!" Lunamaria snapped herself and saluted, knowing that the discussion had ended and she had no right to proceed further. "Excuse me!"

Talia kept staring at the tablet long after her subordinate had left the room before finally setting it on a nearby table. Following the altercation with Archangel and the Alliance carrier, she had expected to be court-martialed for assisting the enemy. She was proven wrong when not even a slap-on-the-wrist was given to her because of her action. Of course, an inquiry had been formed to investigate the matter as per regulation. However, the finding of the inquiry, which was made only two days after it was formed, duly cleared her out any wrongdoings on the grounds that she was performing as was expected out of any captain in the given situation.

The inquiry was a sham even from the very beginning.

The Minerva captain had begun to suspect that someone or some group, perhaps even inside ZAFT itself, had planned for the ship to help Archangel escape the attack from the Alliance carrier. If it was true, then for what reason? To capture it and its prized prototype? But why did the roundabout way of doing it?

Looking it from the other angle, the order wasn't to help Minerva in capturing Archangel but for another reason, one that she has yet to figure out.

It was the reason why she had ordered Lunamaria to conduct a small-scale investigation into the matter under the pretext that the Alliance managed to subvert ZAFT's communication network. And the result of the investigation, which was in her hand, had increased her concern.

Well, whatever comes, she would be prepared for it.

Hands behind his back as he gazed on the blue planet below him, Gilbert had a look of contentment on his face. "I have heard about your latest escapade, Rey,"

"You told me that I have a free reign on whatever I want to do."

A wisp of a smile appeared on Gilbert's lips at that statement. "Of course, that's what I promise you and I assure you I intend to honor that."

"Then why didn't you tell me that the prototype's real name is Prometheus instead of Spectrum?"

"Hm?", the eyebrows were raised in curiosity, "How do you know about that?"

"Just before I sniped at the mobile suit, the name entered my mind, like the knowledge is there in the first place."

"I have to admit, I find it intriguing…"

"But not unexpected," Rey interrupted. "This is within your prediction, isn't it?"

Gilbert didn't immediately answer but instead put a hand on the glass window. "Tell me, Rey, what is freedom?"

It took the blonde pilot quite a while to come up with an answer. "The condition of being free; the power to act or speak or think without externally imposed restraints"

"Being able to act or speak or think without restraints? I remember a state leader in the era before our time saying that 'Freedom is the recognition that no single person, no single authority or government has a monopoly on the truth, but that every individual life is infinitely precious, that every one of us put in this world has been put there for a reason and has something to offer' Is that what you believe?"

"Yes."

"Yet another great leader in the same era stated that 'The price of freedom is eternal vigilance'. By his statement, it is implied that there are restraints that will limit the degree of freedom one will have. What happens if my 'freedom' conflicts with yours? Therefore, freedom is bound by restraints and boundaries. Yet, the next question is, how much boundaries and restraints constitutes oppression of freedom? Also, will the 'freedom' be considered real if one acts, believing what he believes to be of his own volition but the truth is he was being influenced to do so?"

"What is the point you're trying to make?"

"You're an impatient man, Rey, though it's probably due to the fact that you're a young man. Very well. The point I'm trying to make here is freedom is an illusion, a beautiful view but an illusion nevertheless. Yet, you, myself and everyone else, is willing to accept it as the truth to the extent of ignoring the real truth. That being case, I will ask you again, if I told you that the real name of the prototype is Prometheus rather than Spectrum, will you still shoot at it?"

"Yes."

"What if I tell you, hypothetically speaking, your sibling is in the red mobile suit next to it?"

"I don't have any siblings."

"That's why I said, hypothetically speaking. If it's your brother inside the red mobile suit, will you shoot at Prometheus and risk killing your brother in the process?"

There was a significant hesitation on Rey's part, "Probably not."

"And what if the information is false and I purposely lied to you about it?" Before the other man could answer, Gilbert continued, "You see, I told you before that I'm giving you a free reign on what to do. Yet you depend on me to guide and influence your actions. If I comply with that expectation, doesn't that mean I'm contradicting my promise to you?"

Rey stared at Gilbert for a long time. "But yet, by not doing anything to help me, you probably influence me to act according to what you want."

There was a slight nod. "That is a valid proposition, but at the same time, it confirms my statement that freedom is an illusion. However, will you let yourself remain immobile because of that?"

"No, because me remaining stationary may be part of your plan. The right answer is for me to continue on, believing in my own conviction."

"The same thing with me. By the way, in case you're wondering, I'm not the one who issued the order to Minerva."

The statement had two meanings: either Gilbert got someone else to carry out the order or there was really someone else who issued the order without the man interfering. Regardless, Rey was confident that he knew about the truth behind the situation but asking him would be pointless. "Very well, thank you for your time."

"Rey, in the future, before you take action, perhaps it is better that you investigate first."

"I will." The blonde started walking to leave the room. "Thank you for the advice."

"Oh, before I forget." The statement halted Rey in his stride. "Since you already sought my counsel despite you're not supposed to do so, I might as well offer you something. 'Arkheion' is on the move."

"Arkheion? Don't you mean Archon?"

Gilbert's head shook slightly. "No, I pronounced it correctly."

"And what is this 'Arkheion' is planning to do?"

"Well, you should really find out by yourself. After all, isn't that kind of question only a free man with his own will is able to search for an answer? And as for what to do next with the information," the older man smiled, "You will come up with your own decision, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I will. Thank you for telling me. See you later, then."

"See you later."

Kira watched the small video feed on a small screen to his left even as he scanned the radar for any possible hostile units. The broadcasted video, which he noted that it was encrypted using civilian-grade cipher key, was showing a pink-haired songstress performing in Januarius One, one of the PLANTs' colonies; it took five seconds for Spectrum's computer to decrypt it. One thing that couldn't be denied about military was they had the superlatives of everything: smallest transistors, biggest weapons, most powerful engine, most accurate radars and many more. And the Spectrum he was piloting had the best of the best military equipments, at least from what he learned from Flay's briefing. And to his horror, there were possibly two more units scattered around the world.

It was agreed that Archangel's main objective was to first locate the two mobile suits as fast as possible.

Flay's revelation was a big shock to him and judging from the reactions he saw, to everyone else as well. The responsibility everyone had to shoulder, which also included him, was very heavy. However, failure wasn't an option as the fate of the world was hanging in balance.

So there he was, piloting Spectrum on a patrol. Reluctantly, Murrue had assigned him to be one of the pilots, due to the fact that he was very 'compatible' with the system. He wasn't sure what the statement but according to Flay, he had the highest synchronization with the mobile suit even though the Tolle's girlfriend and the Otaku were definitely more skilled in piloting than he was. Despite that, his patrol schedule had been arranged so that he would only be send out when the risk was very low; he had no real reason to complain for the arrangement.

However, he was perplexed when Flay stated that he alone was enough to pilot Spectrum which was strange as the mobile suit was optimized for two operators. When pressed for further information, the redhead explained that it wasn't that simple. The mobile suit two operators control scheme would only work if the synchronization of the two of them weren't working effectively. That was a strange statement but he saw Mir and Shinn Asuka combination were quite good in what they were doing, even if he wasn't in the position to say so since he was still a civilian.

Well, at least he didn't have to fight so he had no reason to complain.

"MAYDAY! MAYDAY! THIS IS FLIGHT SIERRA – CHARLIE – DELTA – SEVEN – FIVER – ZERO – TWO. WE'RE UNDER ATTACK BY HOSTILE AIRCRAFT. REQUEST ASSISTANCE!"

As if knowing what was expected next out of it, Spectrum's computer popped up a small window on the panoramic display showing the location of the distress signal's origin. Then another window popped up, showing Flay. "The call is from a registered civilian jet. We don't have the details but it seems that it's under fire from ZAFT mobile suits. It will take some time to launch Spitfire and asking you to return will waste some time…"

"I will have to go," Kira interrupted her.

"But you may have to fight them." 'You may have to kill'

"I understand. I will try to stall for time." 'I don't want to kill but yet there's no way I can ignore the call.'

"What do you think you're doing, Ensign?" Murrue said as she glared at Flay who was sitting at the CIC console. She had agreed to the redhead's request to man the CIC control so she could be monitored but Murrue was beginning to regret the decision.

In response Flay shrugged but didn't turn to face her. "I'm not your ensign, Captain. However to answer your question, Kira is in the best position to attempt the rescue mission."

"I know that but I don't want to him to take the necessary risks."

This time Flay did turn to face her. "I know that," the redhead said in a neutral expression. "But at the same time, you want him to go there, aren't you?"

Murrue reluctantly nodded.

"Then there's no problem."

"But he may encounter hostiles."

"True, but he also has a higher chance of defeating them."

"Why are you so excited with sending him into battle?" Murrue asked in a raised voice as everyone else in the bridge prepared themselves for another round of verbal lashing between the two.

Flay's eyes widened at the accusation. Then she smiled wanly before turning back to her station. "That's certainly the case, isn't it? Well, that's not totally wrong but perhaps I should show you this."

Murrue saw few diagrams of the brainwave patterns being displayed one of the screens.

"The mobile suit's computer had adapted to his brainwave pattern and so optimized for his control. While that doesn't mean anyone else can pilot it, it would always require two pilots configuration in order to perform on par. Even with all that being said, I'm actually hoping that he can buy us some time as…"

"Yo, Captain!" Mwu said as he gave a two-fingers salute. "Ready to go. Just give me the word."

Marco Morassim raised his eyebrows at the resulting 'angel flare' as the jet fired off countermeasures to confuse the heat seeking missiles he had fired at it. If he was in the mood, he would have marveled at how beautiful the angel-like apparition was. However, he wasn't in the mood to waste his time. He had been cheated out of his quarries by that no-good bitch Talia who managed to make a fool of herself by failing to capture the legged ship and its white prototype.

As for him, he had to settle for the small fry in his reticule. According to intelligence, the small private jet belonged to someone who was very influential in Earthsphere. Marco guessed that it was one of those Blue Cosmos spoiled bastards. Well, he would find the answer to his curiosity soon enough as the jet wouldn't escape him and his flight.

The communication transistor beeped as the jet's pilot tried to get him to cease fire but he wouldn't relent until it surrendered to him unconditionally. What annoyed him was that the pilot had the gall to ask him to stop attacking even as it continued to run away. Enough was enough. He aimed at the tip of the jet's left wing and fired.

A small explosion later and the jet began to dive toward the large ocean below. It was then he saw a small capsule being ejected from it; no doubt there was someone very important onboard for such system to be installed.

Then his cockpit jarred as something rammed into him.

"What do you think you're doing?" Kira demanded, angered at the DINN pilot he had rammed into.

"Well, what do you know, wish hard enough and it will come true. You're here to surrender to me?"

Kira didn't deign to answer the taunt as his attention was on the capsule. The capsule had yet to deploy its parachutes to slow down the descent; he could see damage on the section where the parachutes were stored. At the speed it was travelling, there was no way the occupant would survive the impact into the sea. He engaged the boosters to chase after it.

As he made his way to the capsule, he tried to calculate on how to mount the rescue. It looked rather straightforward in movies: just grab the capsule and everything would be all right. However, it wasn't the case. Even as he catches the capsule, he had to factor in slowly reducing or redirecting its speed in order to ensure that any possible occupant wouldn't be squashed like a pancake due to his mishandling.

A stray shot passed by his left flank. He had forgotten to take into account that he was to mount the rescue effort all the while evading his pursuers.

Marco felt his blood slowly boiling: how dare the pilot underestimate him by ignoring his flight and went after the capsule. He and the rest of his mobile suits kept firing at the lone white devil of a mobile suit. If it wanted to turn its back on him and sped toward the thing, no one can blame him for shooting it from the back.

He pressed the trigger and emptied two cartridges of his MMI-M100 190mm anti-aircraft shotgun's ammunition on his opponent and was displeased when it rolled out of the way.

"Well, I underestimated you," he said as he targeted his MMI-M7S on the escape pod. However, he wasn't trying to destroy the pod; not when he was trying to capture the person inside the pod. According to his quick calculation, the white prototype would sacrifice itself to protect it and thus take some damage, allowing him to subdue both with ease.

No, it wasn't that easy, he reminded himself. The last time he had underestimated the mobile suit, he had lost two of his wingmen. "Costeau," he broadcasted to his submarine. "I want aerial saturation fire at the area I indicated."

He blinked as the numbers of warheads aimed at him kept increasing. It was impossible to shot down all of those missiles and shells being fired at him, Kira thought bleakly. Even if Spectrum was equipped with Phase Shift armor, which it wasn't, he wasn't sure he wouldn't be able to survive such an onslaught by himself, much less ensuring the rescue capsule intact.

"You've had your warning, antiquated ape. If I can't capture both of you, then I might as well destroy the two of you!" the DINN pilot taunted.

It wasn't fair, Kira thought to himself. The rescue capsule wasn't armed but yet they wanted to destroy it. It wasn't fair for to be brought into the conflict, it wasn't fair that the occupant wasn't able to protect himself.

He closed his eyes in frustration. "I will not let it happen." An image of a young girl with pink hair smiling suddenly flashed unbidden. "I will not any harm to her no matter what." Only two seconds had passed but it felt as if the time had expanded into infinity as a seed inside him finally shattered.

Spectrum sped toward the capsule and grabbed it with the left hand and brought it close to the chest. Simultaneously, its right hand drew the beam rifle and fired off a couple of shots at the warheads.

"There she blows," Mwu said as he spotted Costeau from his Skygrasper. The submarine was submerging after firing off its missiles and made a prime target for him. His approach was not undetected, however, as the submarine fired off three interceptor missiles at him.

In retaliation, the blonde ace fired two ASROCs at the submarine and turned away from the missiles fired at him. He waited until the missiles were close to his aircraft's tail before releasing flares and chaff while simultaneously performed a 180 turn. The missiles' seeker heads, having been confused by the countermeasures, didn't register Skygrasper's movements and caused them to continue to fly onward, searching futilely for their target which was behind them.

Meanwhile, the rockets launched by Mwu hit their marks and he briefly noted the explosion before moving on to the position where Kira was.

The demise of Costeau was lost on Marco who had yet to come to grip with what he was seeing: the White Devil's handful of shots managed to take out many warheads that were aimed at it. Each single shot would take more than three warheads in one go and would trigger primary explosions which would in turn take out other warheads as well, triggering more and more explosions. He wasn't sure that the remaining weapons would be enough to stop the intended targets.

The ZAFT submariner's DINN drew out its own anti-air shotgun before signaling for the rest of his flights to attack the prototype. Whoever the pilot was, he wouldn't be able to pay attention to taking down the warheads, deal with his mobile suits and protect the capsule at the same time.

Such plan was perfect in theory but a flaw was quickly found when the white mobile suit moved out of the artillery area with the capsule safely in its care. Before Marco's first subordinate got close enough to use the anti-air shotgun, it hit a section on the capsule, finally succeeding to trigger the capsule's parachute deployment. With the capsule's flowing slowly to the water below, the white mobile suit quickly moved in to engage the pursuing DINN. Even though he was taken by surprise, the ZAFT pilot tried to fire at it from a close range. However, the move was expected. The white mobile suit quickly grabbed the DINN's weapons and tore them away before slashing all of the limbs with its beam sabers.

The second DINN, rather than providing assistance to his colleague which was crashing into the ocean, attacked the White Devil from the distance, taking advantage of the pilot's diverted attention to destroy its beam rifle. With the prototype not having any long range weapon anymore, the ZAFT mobile suit then flew at the White Devil, firing its MMI-M7S machinegun to force the former to continue evading and not counterattack while Marco approached from another angle in a classical pincer movement.

Rather than let itself be caught in crossfire, the prototype quickly flew toward the second DINN, all the while deftly avoiding the projectiles trained on it. Surprise by the brazen and crazy move, the ZAFT's pilot could only gap as his enemy performed a combination of clothline and side hand lash to chop off the main camera. The attack also took out a big chunk of the DINN's wings and without them, it plummeted out of control. The DINN hit the water below at high speed and disintegrated.

"Who the hell are you?" Marco growled as he kept firing on his adversary.

"I'm a normal person," Kira answered as he tried to approach his adversary in order to disable it.

"Normal person? Don't make me laugh! You trample on my pride, sully my name and you call yourself normal?"

"You better stop. I don't want to hurt you or anyone."

There was a roaring laughter over the line. "Who do you take me for? You killed my men and you're still saying such thing? Have you forgotten what you did on the island, huh? Or do you really think that by disabling the DINNs just now the pilots would survive being dropped into the ocean at such altitude?"

"You forced my hands," Kira said with conviction. "I had no choice."

"You sicken me boy, being able to spout nonsense in the middle of battlefield."

The DINN suddenly engaged its boosters and flew at Spectrum at high speed. It happened at such a high speed that Kira barely thought about his next move but it was over. The ZAFT pilot had tried to use the same tactic he had use seconds prior and he had reacted instinctively. One of Spectrum's beam sabers pierced the DINN's torso, not far away from the cockpit, while the latter dropped the shotgun it had brought forward in order to shoot the former.

There was a pained cough. "I… never," the pilot's voice was raspy, "… think that a Natural will be… able to react… able to defeat me in that manner."

"I am… a Coordinator."

There was another laughter, albeit a weak one. "Combat Coordinator? No, that couldn't be… You're a true traitor." Slowly, the ZAFT mobile suit began to drop. "You will regret fighting against your own kind, bastard."

"I don't want to fight anyone. Why can't all of us live together?"

"Heh… Even to the very end… Let me tell you, traitor. The world… the world is not… big enough for Naturals and Coordinators."

The mobile suit was consumed by a large explosion. Kira watched the large fireball receding with misgiving, the ZAFT's pilot's words casting doubt in his heart.

1

Author's Note (6 December 2010)

1. I would like to clarify about the poll I put up earlier on. I put the poll up because I want to know the demography of this story's readers but not determine what kind of pairing this story will be. Even without doing a poll I already know that a significant number of people watching GS and GSD fictions would go for a Kira x Lacus pairing. Instead, I'm just curious about who read this story. As I mentioned, the poll result would affect the storyline but not the pairing, which, even now, is not yet determine. Really, I haven't got to that stage yet. But maybe it's a toss up between the two highest choices in the poll. By the way, if you read stories for Kira x Lacus pairing, perhaps you may want to check out stories such as Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: The White Queen by Maileesaeya. I don't really know the author so I'm not promoting her per say, but that story is quite interesting even though it's on hiatus. If I want to write a story about Lacus piloting a mobile suit, that story will be one of my inspirations.

2. Hopefully, I can finish the next chapter before X'mas but in any case I'm not able to, Merry Christmas in advance and a Happy New Year.

3. If you already formed a deduction of the person inside the rescue capsule by now, your deduction is probably correct. :D