Yo everybody. I would have had this chapter done a few days ago, but I was suffering from a cold. And it's hard to write when you're sick. But on with the show.

Phase Twenty-Eight: What Stands In The Way

An Apartment Complex

Aprilius One

"Ian, I want some answers. And I want them now." Admiral Rebbecca Kessel demanded. "It was bad enough when Saul went missing and you were forced to go on the run. But now our daughter and her entire Fleet have betrayed ZAFT. What is going on here?"

Ian sighed. "Siegal Clyne is dead."

"What? What are you talking about?"

"Zala's men murdered him."

"There's been no reports of Siegal's death. How do you know that?" his wife asked.

"Because I saw the aftermath..."

A group of ZAFT soldiers stood guard in front a seemingly normal house. The only difference between this house and the house next to it, was the bullet holes in the front of the house and the bloodbath inside.

A black car pulled up to the house. A man with dark brown hair, wearing a black suit and sunglasses entered stepped out of the car. "Agent Birkin, Justice Department." he said, flashing his ID. "What happened?"

"We got a tip that the Clynes and their supporters were hiding out in this residence." a ZAFT Lieutenant replied. "We were dispatched to investigate and arrest the Clynes if they were here. But they opened fire on us and we were forced to defend ourselves."

"Show me." the agent emotionlessly replied.

The lieutenant led him into the house. Inside, was a massacre. Blood and bulletholes were everywhere. Just over a dozen bodies, covered with tarps, laid on the ground. "In the end, there was only one Clyne here. And we took care of him for resisting." the lieutenant said with a smirk as he uncovered the body furtherest from the door.

It was Seigal Clyne. He was dead. His body riddled with bulletholes.

"You fools!" Birkin cursed. "You were suppose to take him alive!"

"Bah. So what? They would have killed him anyway. We just saved them the time of giving him a trail before the firing squad."

"Idiot! You were told to take him alive in case Lacus wasn't with him! Do you know why?!"

"Ah-"

"Because he would know where Lacus is!" Birkin shouted. "Now, thanks to you morons, we have no leads and no idea where Lacus Clyne is! And now I have to explain to my superiors and the Chairman why we have no more leads."

Before the lieutenant could say anything, he stormed out of the house and headed for his car. Birkin started it up and sped off. A few minutes later, he pulled out his cell phone and dialed a number.

"DeCosta here." a voice said over the phone.

"It's me." Ian replied. "Seigal's dead."

"Seigal wasn't caught in the crossfire. I could understand that. His body was littered with dozens of bullets. They had executed him. And the way that man talked about it... This is what Patrick Zala has done to ZAFT. He's turned them into a group of Natural hating thugs."

Rebbecca sighed. She hated politics. They always caused too many problems for soldiers like her. As far as she was concerned, the military and politics should never mix. "And Diana?"

"If I had to say, she's simply doing what she believes in. Apparently, she believes that ZAFT no longer fits her beliefs and has left to join a group that does. And I have to agree with her." Ian replied. "It's changed under Zala's rule. And not for the better."

Archangel-class Assault Ship, the Dominion

Near the Ptolemaeus Crater Base

"Sensors are detecting something! Distance 500, Orange 14 Mark 233 Alpha. Large heat source approaching! Looks like a warship class."

"Stand by for anti-ship and anti-mobile suit combat!" the Dominion's Captain ordered. "Starboard 10, lower bow, pitch angel 15! Activate Igelstellungs! Target enemy warship! Load missile launchers one through four with Korinthos! Valiants! Fire!!"

The Bridge crew rushed to fulfill their tasks. But they were all green and weren't fast enough to finish in time. And the simulation ended with the Dominion's destruction.

"What the hell are guys doing?!" a very annoyed Natarle Badgiruel shouted, chewing out her bridge crew. "You're responding much too slowly! At this rate, we'll be destroyed in our first battle!"

This was the third simulation in row they had failed and she was beginning to become very angry at their lack of success. Even the children from Heliopolis were better than this.

"Captain. We have an incoming message from the fleet headquarters." the comm officer said. "Hold position for incoming shuttle and mobile suits."

Natarle glanced out the window. A group of mobile suits led by a shuttle, was approaching the ship. Most of the mobile suits were Strike Daggers, but there were four that clearly weren't. Those four reminded Natarle of the G-Weapons from Heliopolis and she assumed they were the next generation of those mobile suits.

"Open the hanger hatches." she ordered.

A short while later, after the shuttle and the mobile suits had boarded the Dominion, Captain Bernard of the Ptolemaeus Base, a blond haired man in a blue suit and four pilots in odd flightsuits, stepped onto the bridge.

"I apologize for interrupting you in the middle of a simulation." Bernard said.

"It was no problem at all sir." Natarle replied as she and the bridge crew saluted.

Bernard returned the salute. "Allow me to introduce you to Director Muruta Azrael of the Atlantic National Defense Conglomerate. I'm sure you've heard the name before."

Natarle nodded. She was familiar with the man's name. He was after all the head of the largest weapons manufacturer for the Atlantic Federation and the Earth Alliance.

"He will be joining you aboard this ship as an observer of the four state of the art mobile suits that have been onto the ship."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Captain." Azrael drawled.

"Lieutenant Commander Natarle Badgiruel."

"I must admit, I never expected the Captain of this ship to be this young and beautiful." Azrael said before turning to Captain Bernard. "Is this some sort of added benefit?"

"Not to worry. She is very skilled." the Captain replied. "Her family has a long history of military service. In addition, prior to her posting here, she served as the first officer of the Archangel."

Arzael was impressed by this. "So you're very familiar with the Archangel then." he said. "That will be very useful. Since our mission is to hunt down and sink the Archangel."

Inside the Mendel Colony's Harbor

Several Hours Later

"Captain! Four incoming warships!" Sai shouted. "Three Nazca-class and one unknown!"

"Scramble all-"

"Hold it." John said, interrupting her. "They may just be passing through here and not even know we're here. Rushing in isn't wise. Get us a visual first."

The lead ship was a pink vessel that was unlike anything they had seen before. But the other three were a familiar sight. The three painted Nazca-class warship of ZAFT's 11th Fleet. John took a sip of coffee through a straw. "Well now. This is interesting." he commented.

"Captain! Incoming transmission."

"Let's hear it." Murrue said.

Kira's voice came over the comm. "Archangel, Kusanagi, this is Kira Yamato. These ships are not our enemies. Please stand down."

John laughed. "Wow! Those two are something else! They leave with a shuttle and a mobile suit and come back with four warships!"

A short while later, the four ships entered the hanger alongside the Archangel and Kusanagi. The bridge crews of both vessels and some of their mobile suit pilots had gathered inside a docking passage. Waiting to meet the crews of the newcomers. The doors opened and group of mostly ZAFT officers entered. At the head of the group was...

"Andy! You magnificent bastard!" John shouted in joy. "I should have known you were too stubborn to die that easily!"

Both men laughed as they shook hands. At that moment, a portion of the ZAFT officers saluted John. "Commander. It is good to see you again." a black haired woman said.

John returned the salute. "Same here. And I see that you're the same as always, Ice Queen."

Waltfeld turned to Murrue. "Would it be out of line to say it's a pleasure to finally meet you all face to face? I'm Andrew Waltfeld."

"Commander Diana Kessel. 11th Autonomous Mobile Fleet." Diana added.

"Murrue Ramius." Murrue said. "I must admit, I am quite surprised you all here."

"Same here." Andy replied, turning to Kira and Lacus. "Right youngster?"

"You have a very good reason to want me dead." Kira solemnly said.

"We're in a war." Waltfeld commented. "Everyone has a reason, yet no one does."

Kira nodded his head. "Thank you."

The Archangel's Hanger

A Short While Later

Dearka, Saul, and Nicol hadn't gone with the others to meet the crews of the newly arrived warships. Instead, they had opted to remain behind to do a maintenance check on their machines before going out to help the Astray pilots with gathering the supplies from Mendel. "So who do you think the newcomers are?" Nicol asked as he climbed out of the Neo Blitz's cockpit and floated down to his teammates.

"Don't know." Dearka replied. "Heard they're from ZAFT though."

"You think Yzak's with them?" Nicol asked.

"Doubt it. If he was, he would have come here by now." Saul said. "Probably a bunch of hot shot pilots that think they're all that."

"Hello Saul." a voice said from directly behind Saul, sending a shiver up his spine.

Saul slowly turned around. Coming face to face with his sister Diana. "Er...Hello sis."

"It's good to see you again Saul." she said before her fist hit his stomach.

Saul stumbled back in the zero-g environment, hitting the Neo Blitz's foot. "And if you ever do that again, you better be dead. Because otherwise, I'll hunt you down and make you wish you had died. Am I clear?"

"Yes ma'am." Saul instantly answered.

Diana nodded and left the trio. "Damn. That woman's scary." Dearka said as soon as she was safely out of the hanger.

Both Nicol and Saul could only nod their heads in agreement.

"To think that she managed to escape with something like this ship and three Nazca-class ships. She's really something." Cagalli commented, staring at the Eternal with Athrun.

"Yeah." he said as Cagalli glanced at Kira and Lacus together in another catwalk.

"You don't mind, do you?" she asked. "She is your fiancée, right?"

"Ex-fiancée." Athrun replied. "Because I was such a fool."

Cagalli shrugged. "Well, better to realize that now than never." she said, a smile forming on her lips. "And I think Kira is just as much a fool. I guess even Coordinators can do stupid things. So we might as well get use to it."

"You think so? I guess you're right.

The two glanced up again at Kira and Lacus.

"My father... He's dead Kira..." Lacus said to Kira, finally releasing tears and sorrow she had held in since she learned of her father's death.

She hugged Kira and cried into her chest. Kira simply hugged her back. This war had claimed many loved ones already. Flay's father. Those people on the shuttle. Waltfeld's lover. Tolle. Cagalli's father. And now Lacus's father. It had to stop before more loved ones were killed. They had to stop it.

Chris watched the two groups from further down one of the catwalks. He sighed. He missed Flay and watching them only made it worse. But she was safe on Earth at least. He didn't have to worry about her safety.

"For what it's worth, I'm sorry about Aisha." John said, taking a sip of coffee.

Andy silently sipped his own coffee. "She chose to stay in the cockpit after I told her to get out." he finally said. "I guess she wanted to be with me regardless of the outcome."

John nodded before taking another sip. "She was a good woman. And loved you dearly. Had this war never happened, I suppose the two of you would have gotten married by now."

"Probably. I had considered proposing to her. But with the war going on, I felt like it wasn't the right time."

"Excuse me sirs." Diana said, approaching the pair.

"Ah Diana. Have you met with your brother yet?" John asked as he turned to her.

"Yes sir."

"So how many times did you hit him?"

"Only once." she replied.

"Only once? Don't tell me you're going soft on me." John teased.

"No sir. Won't dream of it, sir."

"And stop with all this sir stuff. We're over the same rank now. So there's now need for that."

"Sorry sir."

John hung his head in comedic manner and sighed as Andy laughed. "Somethings never change." John muttered. "So any reason why you came by?"

"I wanted to ask when you'd be transferring back to the Odin and taking command of the Fleet sir." Diana answered.

John shrugged. "That eager to relinquish command? That's not sign of a good officer."

"Perhaps. But the 11th Fleet has always been your Fleet sir. You practically built it from the ground up. You're the only one that should be commanding it sir."

"Well then, I guess it's time for me to take command once more."

Flay wondered the corridors of the Archangel. But this wasn't a pleasant walk through the halls. Blood and bodies filled the corridors. The bodies of the crew of the Archangel. Chief Murdoch. Dr. Hunnicutt. And many more people that she knew lined the halls.

But they all couldn't be dead. Someone had to still be alive. She continued to search the ship for someone, anyone that was still alive. Eventually she found herself on the bridge.

But it wasn't any different from the rest of the ship.

Captain Ramius sat in her chair, her lifeless eyes staring out into space. Blood puring down from wounds on her face and chest. Kuzzey was sprawled over his console. His face locked in an expression of terror. Below in the CIC, Miriallia was lying half on the ground, in a pool of blood. Next to her was Sai. His broken glasses on the verge of slipping off his face. Natarle was there as well. Slumped on her chair and like the others, blood pouring from numerous wounds.

Suddenly, the sounds of battle filled her ears, distracting her from the horrors around her. She turned to the large bridge window. The Raven and the Strike battled two mobile suits she had never seen before. One was black and red. Armed with a number of heavy weapons. The other was dark gray and didn't engage them that much. Only firing the occasional shot from it's rifle.

The black and red machine fired it's two hand carried cannons at the Strike. The Strike raised it's shield. But the multi-phase beams destroyed the Strike's shield and the arm holding it, as well as it's right leg. And he continued to fire on the Strike. Obliterating the white and blue mobile suit.

"Kira..." a horrified Flay whispered.

Then Kira's murderer turned to the Raven. It repeatedly fired it's cannons at the Raven. But the Raven transformed into it's mobile armor mode. In that state, it was too fast and maneuverable. It dodged the shots and flew in close to the mobile suit. The Raven transformed back and before his opponent could react, sliced through it's chest with his beam sabers. The black and red mobile suit exploded.

But as soon as the fireball died out, the gray mobile suit attacked, releasing a number of strange funnel shaped objects from it's backpack. The funnels surrounded the Raven, firing beams at it. The Raven tried to avoid the beams. But they were coming from all directions. He dodged one shot, but another shot blew off it's left arm. Another tore through it's right wing. It's head exploded. It's right leg was severed at the shin. The Raven's railgun was destroyed. By the end, the Raven was completely helpless.

Then the funnels all at once, fired at the Raven's torso.

"NOOOOOOOO!!!"

"NOOOOOOOO!!!" Flay screamed as she shot up.

Her breathing was heavy and frantic. She was in Creuset's quarters. Thankfully, she was alone. But it had all been a nightmare. The Archangel and everyone on board was still alive. Chris was still alive.

She pulled out the dog tags Chris had given her, from underneath her undershirt and held it in her hands. Chris told her that as long as she wore it, she would be safe. But for the first time wonder, if they were protecting her, what about Chris? He was the one out there fighting. Risking his life. He needed more than she did. She should have refused it, so he would still have it. "Please." she whispered. "Please. I don't care how this war ends. So long as Chris and I are together again after it's all over."

The Archangel's Bridge

The Next Day

"As some of you already know, this colony was scrapped before the war because of a biohazard incident years earlier." Samuel explained to the gathered group of people from the Archangel, the Eternal, the Kusanagi and the 11th Fleet.

Mu nodded. "Yeah. I remember that incident. It caused quite a stir."

"But because of that, it has received only minimal damage and pirates and the like have avoided it out of fear of being exposed to what caused the biohazard in the first place." Samuel continued. "So this place is ideal for us to use as a base for now."

"Our immediate concern is the moon. From what we've heard, the Earth Forces have been continually sending from Victoria since they took it back." Lacus said.

"That can only mean one thing, they're planning an all out attack on the PLANTs." John added, now wearing his old Commander's uniform with his black leather trenchcoat over top.

"You think they'd actually do that?" Murrue asked.

"Of course. Their forces are full of people who have always wanted to do that." Andrew replied. "For the preservation of our blue and pure world."

"Let's not start that." Mu said in an annoyed tone.

"Hey. They're not my words. Though I can't see how getting rid of all the Coordinators will lead to a pure world. Hell, I don't even know what a pure world is."

"Then there's Patrick Zala and those that think like him in the PLANTs. They believe that because of the superior abilities of Coordinators, they are the new and superior race of humanity. And Naturals are nothing but vermin compared to them." John added as Cagalli left the bridge. "As Lord Uzumi said, neither side will tolerate the other to exist."

"We live in such a cruel time." Murrue said, leaning onto Mu.

Mu nodded. "Yeah."

"No. This isn't a cruel time for humanity. It's actually fairly normal." John said. "Look at our past. Just about every war, every conflict, has, in the end, been like this. Two groups of people unable to tolerate each other for whatever reason and descending into violence. That's the flawed nature of humanity. People tend not to like people that aren't like them."

"But it has always been we humans who do this and who stop this. Throughout history there have been many people who feel the way we do." Lacus said as she placed a hand on Kira's shoulder. "Wouldn't it be great to create a world where fighting is not necessary?"

Kira smiled. "Yeah."

Athrun stared out into the Mendel Colony's harbor. His thoughts were on everything that had recently happened at the PLANTs with his father. He had hoped that he could have reasoned with his father. Convince him to find a way to end this war peacefully. But he wouldn't listen and instead, threatened him and shot him.

"I finally found you." Cagalli said, pulling him away from his thoughts. "I bet your mind's going around in circles, getting nowhere. That's why you need to discuss what's on your mind with everyone. When we gather for meetings, you should be there too."

"Sorry."

Cagalli glanced at his arm brace. "Does it hurt?"

"Ah, no." he lied.

"What are you talking about? Of course it hurts. You were shot by your own father."

"I couldn't stop him. I realized it for the first time. I was totally powerless. And I didn't understand a thing." he admitted to her.

"Everyone feels that way. Those who think they understand are only fooling themselves." Cagalli shot back.

"Cagalli..."

"It's still too early to give up on your father. You may still have the chance to talk to him properly. So stop standing around alone looking so hesitant and-"

Athrun interrupted her by hugging her with his good arm. He didn't know why, he just felt like doing it. "Sorry."

"Wh-What do you mean, sorry?" Cagalli stuttered as she tried half-heartedly to break free of the embrace.

"Well, like I said. Sorry."

The Vesalius

"This is the Eternal's projected course, calculated from the data we received from Jachin Due." Rau explained to Ades and the gathered pilots.

"The L4 Colony Group. As expected. We continue to have problems there. First it was dealing with those suspicious people hiding out there, and now this." Ades said.

"I can't imagine the Clyne Faction would be this organized. When did they get the desire to fight? And a number of our forces have defected to their side. We should expect anything." Rau said.

"I've personally met both Commander Waltfeld and Commander Kessel before. I never would have expected this from either of them." Ades commented.

"He's a war hero who miraculously made it back alive after an encounter with the legged ship and it's mobile suits. And she was the former student and successor to one of the best space commanders we had. Who would have expected this from them?" Rau replied.

"It's too bad we have to get involved with this mess." Ades said with as sigh.

"Yes. But it can't be helped. Things seldom go as you plan. It's not an easy thing to try and understand, the thoughts hidden within one's heart." the masked commander said.

"Yzak. From now on, Athrun is your enemy. Can you shoot him down?" Rau asked his white haired subordinate.

"Of course! I'll shoot down any traitor!" Yzak sharply replied.

Le Creuset's Quarters

A Short While Later

Rau collapsed into the chair behind his desk. Drained. Flay moved to the side of the desk. For the first time since she was first captured by him, she felt concern for him. Of course, that was probably more because she was worried about what would happen to her and her unborn child if something happened to him. "You're exhausted." she commented.

"I'm only human, my dear." the masked man replied.

"I've spent much of my life as a soldier, going from one battlefield to another." Le Creuset added. "If you say it's because I'm a soldier, I have no argument. But no one is ever born into this world a soldier."

The words struck a nerve within Flay. She remembered her previous life. Before the attack on Heliopolis. She had been a pampered teenager with a doting, wealthy father. She once had lived a life in relative luxury. But that was all gone. Now she was a POW and a mother to be. And yet, aside from her father, she didn't miss any of what she once had. That life now seemed almost completely alien to her.

"I'd like nothing more than to put an end to that forever. And wouldn't you?" he said, pulling out a disk from the drawer. "I hold the final key, but if it stays here then the final door will never be opened. I wish there was something I could do about it."

Flay gazed at the disk, wondering what secrets it held. Wondering how it could be the key to ending the war. And if she should truly believe what he said.

The Dominion

"Clotho Buer. Enhancement implants, stage three. Biological CPU for the X-370. All personal data deleted."

"Kevin Hunter Jr. Stage four enhancement implants. Biological CPU for the X-151. No personal data."

"Orga Sabnak. Biological CPU for the X-131. Stage two enhancements. Also no personal data."

"Shani Andras. Stage four. Biological CPU for the X-252. No personal data."

Natarle shook her head. She had been curious about those four pilots Azrael had brought on board. There was something... off about them. They didn't seem to be normal soldiers. Then there was the extra medical personal that had come on board and taken over one of the med bays. But just looking them up in the ship's records led to only more questions. "All four are classified as equipment. Not pilots." she commented.

It didn't make sense. Why were they be listed as 'Biological CPUs' for their mobile suits? Why were their personal records deleted? Was that how Azrael and her higher ups saw these pilots? Just equipment?

"How much longer before we get to L4?" Azrael asked, interrupting her thoughts.

"We're almost there." Natarle replied. "But I'm still not convinced that we should be going there without any proof."

"My sources are accurate. And that's all the proof we need. It's not as if we're going there based on nothing."

"But you can't trust information from the PLANTs! It could be a trap!" Natarle argued.

Truthfully, she did not wish to fight Captain Ramius and the rest of her former crew members aboard the Archangel. But she had no choice in the matter.

"The Freedom and the Justice. They're the codenames of the two machines we're after. And they're sending five Nazca-class vessels to L4 after them. If the information is true, we can't afford to miss this chance. That's why we're going." Azrael leaned on her chair's display screen and continued. "Let me make one thing perfectly clear. You may be the captain assigned to command this ship. But there are people higher up that have to look at the larger picture here. You've been told to do as I say, right? Just make sure you don't forget that."

And that's all for now. Finally, the battle of Mendel can begin. Along with the secrets of Mendel. I can't wait. As always, review!