Chapter 3

Koren walked into the pilots lounge and when she looked at Rey Zabarrel, she didn't like what she she looked longer and then she realized something. 'Where have I seen-'

"Yes?" Rey looked a little spooked.

"You look...familiar." She finally said.

"I...see." 'From where?' Rey looked at her again and then to the other two pilots."This is Pilot Shinn Asuka and Pilot Lunamaria Hawk."

"I know, I've seen them on TV." Koren sounded annoyed. "Lemme guess, you guys bought what Durandal was selling?"

That got Shinn to look at her with haunted eyes. Lunamaria gripped his hand.

"Predictable. And that's why I didn't want to be this close to that asshole."

Hine walked in and seen her. "I see this is the infamous troublemaker." Koren looked like she was going to kick him in the nuts. "But I know what he's done to your brother."

"What was done is done. And now he is no more." Rey looked away.

"Actually I got mail from him. The ARCHANGEL duped you. And the Pilot of the STRIKE is still alive as well." She smiled at Shinns wide eyes.

"That's impossible! I shot him down!" Shinn looked like he couldn't believe it.

"Believe it. Athrun and Meyrin are also aboard that ship as well." She outright grinned at how deadly Rey's eyes got.

"Then the Chairman shall know of this."

Before Rey even got to the door.

"Rey, if you sic ZAFT Intelligence on me, know one thing, they can't break me. And the reason I'm here is the help you all out."

"People can be replaced."

"Unless you have made yourself valuable. Like I have." If looks could kill, she would have been dead.

"You don't even have a GUNDAM!" Shinn looked to her.

"I don't need one. It's all about tactics. Yes, you all have power. I won't deny that, but you can't power through everything. Me and my team have been through alot, and we owe the Pilot of the FREEDOM our lives. He saved us when alaska went bad. And Shinn, just so you know, he is trying to teach you a lesson. It's called a respect for life. It's why he chooses to disarm rather than kill. Think about it numbnuts." She left the lounge in silence as Shinn looked down.

"But every enemy must die...right?" Shinn sounded so small and alone.

"She...is right." Hine broke the silence.

"An enemy still alive-"

"Can become an ally in the future." Hine smiled.

Shinn looked even more confused.

That's when the other two pilots from the Maximillion team entered. One was short and stocky, a massive scar on the left side of his face and a bald patch on the left side of his head. His remaining good eye was a bright red to go with his blonde hair. The other one was tall and lanky, looking more hawkish than anything else. His green hair was accented by his amber eyes.

"Your her teammates..." Rey looked at them

"Tanner Ulder." The blonde introduced himself in a no nonsense way.

"Michael Kapp. Let me guess...she just said that she couldn't be broken, yes?" Kapp's look was a little out there.

"Yeah..." Shinn looked confused.

"That's because in the last war she was raped. You see-"

"Shut it Kapp before I kneecap ya." Ulder had an angry tone in his voice.

"What do you mean she was raped?" Lunamaria looked between the two other pilots.

"Lets just say that while she was a prisoner the guards put her through hell." Ulder looked like he had dropped the subject.

"She won't let any man touch her, other than her brother, now if you think about that-" Ulder hit Kapp's knees from behind causing the man to go down quick.

"I told you to shut it!" The look of fear on Kapp's face was enough to quell his anger. Then he dragged the other man out.

"This is not good." Rey looked to his team of pilots.

"Those bastards!" Shinn sounded angry.

"We should listen to her." This caught the guys in the room by surprise.

"Why?" Rey was confused.

"She may know something we don't." Luna looked down sadly.

"Alright." Shinn nodded.

'Not good...Gil has to be told.' Rey quietly left the two together.

xXx

Yuna looked in the mirror and turned. He smiled as he liked what he saw.

"You there, how does this look on me?" He looked to a female servant.

"Dashing." She said it with compliments in her tone, but she looked utterly board.

"Whatever, get out of my sight." He dismissed her and she gladly left.

'When she see's me in this it will prove to her that she made the wrong decision.' He smiled as he kept looking at himself in the mirror.

A lieutenant walked in with some paperwork. "Sir, these need your signature."

"Yes, yes..." Without reading he just signed the papers. It was obvious he wanted to get back to admiring himself.

The Lieutenant saluted and left the child in a mans body.

The Captain that was in charge of the Intelligence Dept. just looked at the signature. "Send me Maximillion." The Ensign saluted and left. 'I guess if the temporary leader of our nation thinks its ok, then it's ok...'

"Yes sir?" Dracos saluted the superior officer.

"Your packet just got signed off on by none other than Yuna Roma Seiran. Since it was a special case, the head of state has to sign off on it, which is currently that...person." The Captain looked like he wanted to say something.

"Orders?" Dracos looked in askance.

"What we've all been doing. Tracking down down the ARCHANGEL...but I want you to look into something else." The Captain pushed a photo towards him. "I want you to find this man and keep an eye on him. Be worse than a tabloid cameraman digging through a celebrities garbage. I want to know every move when he makes it." The Captain just had that look in his eye.

"Yes sir!" Dracos snapped a sharp salute.

"Dismissed." The Captain smiled.

As the door closed you could clearly read Office of Naval Intelligence. ONI.

xXx

The ETERNAL was in a low orbit over the pacific ocean, the odd thing was, there was a ZAFT orbital drop pod attached to the bottom of the ship.

[Slow and steady Lacus, wait till that suit is locked into place.]

[Roger ETERNAL.]

[JUSTICE is locked. Now get the FREEDOM locked, this time you'll have an easier time.]

She made sure the FREEDOM was locked down as well.

[FREEDOM is locked into place.] She breathed a sigh of relief.

[We have to launch you now, we just got some unwanted attention.] Andrew sounded annoyed.

[Will you be-]

[We'll be ok, just make sure the package gets to its destination.] You could tell the Desert Tiger was smiling.

[Alright.] The pop princess didn't sound so sure.

[I'm going out in my GAIA.] That reassured her.

Then just like that, the pod was launched.

[ARCHANGEL, this is Lacus Clyne, please come in.]

The pod opened up and the pieces fell away as the orbital drop was successful.

[This is ARCHANGEL, your groom to be is waiting to catch you. Just don't freak out by what he's catching you with.]

She had a puzzled look on her face as she heard this. As she adjusted her view she suddenly saw a ZAFT mono eye appear. When a radio signal came in she was less frightened.

[This is Kira Yamato in the GOUF. I'm so happy to see you.]

[I know...I'm happy to see you as well...]

[All right, cut the chatter love birds. Lacus, cut your descent by forty percent.] The radio came alive and had the two people heavily blushing.

[I see her. I'm jumping up to meet her.] The GOUF crouched, and then jumped, the extra weight being very visible. As soon as he felt gravity reassert itself on the heavy machine, he ignited the boosters, jumping straight up into her arms. When he caught hold of the FREEDOMs arm and gravity reasserted itself again, it was much more of a controlled fall. When they landed on the ARCHANGEL Lacus then noticed the extra weight of the machine that her significant other was piloting, the deck plates still denting as the grey close combat monster landed. When he walked in the JUSTICE and she followed him in the FREEDOM she breathed a sigh of relief.

[We just got a message from Andy, he was able to keep them off your back and he enjoys the GAIA.] Miriallia sent the message to both of them. [Welcome aboard.]

As she descended down via the zipcord she noticed Athrun walk up with a girl.

"Athrun, it's a good thing we're letting Mu use the GOUF, it was heavy." Kira came down by zipcord as well.

"So, I recognize the JUSTICE, but this one is..." He looked over to the STRIKE FREEDOM.

"This is the STRIKE FREEDOM." She smiled.

Meyrin couldn't believe her eyes. "Your...your Lacus Clyne...then who is beside the Chairman...?" She looked confused.

"...A fake. The chairman wanted a Lacus he could control. At the time I didn't believe it, But the reason why she never made it back to the PLANTs was because of an assassination attempt on her life, which lead to the ARCHANGEL doing what they did." The look in Athrun's eyes was of despair.

"Its alright, at the time you didn't know that your head was being messed with." Kira looked to his best friend.

"Now we need to come up with a plan." Lacus Got everyones attention.

"Yes...we do." Athrun's eyes looked to the JUSTICE.

xXx

Meer looked out the window of her hotel room at the Carpinteria Base. 'I need a way out...' She then found herself looking at the pink ZAKU WARRIOR and focusing on it. It then hit her. She then put on her most attractive smile and then stepped out.

"Hi there, could you accompany me to the hanger? You see my HARO is missing and I think I might have left him there." She had a sweet and innocent tone in her voice as she looked to the ZAFT green.

"Of course Lacus." The trooper was staring at her...assets and just followed along.

"I must be honest with you...I was feeling so confined in that hotel room that I just had to come out and see the stars...but I can't do it alone." She looked at the soldier in the green uniform...who was now blushing.

"I-I've gotten a 'B' rating on mobile suits...I know it's not anywhere near a red coats 'S' rating." The green coat stuttered.

"What do you think of Durandal?" She was expecting to hear how great he was coming from the green coat.

"Well...can I be honest with you?" He looked around nervously.

"Of course...After all I'm outside without my usual escort and they must be looking for me..." She kept the sweet smile on her face.

"W-Well...I don't like him..." He said in a small voice.

"Why?" She could barely keep control of her voice.

"Well...If he is saying he wants peace, then why prepare a large force here to take on Orb?" He looked confused. She just couldn't believe what she just heard.

"H-How do you know this?" Her voice cracking.

"My cousin is a red coat, but he can't stop showing off. He mentioned a major offensive being planned to take on Orb...saying that they made a mistake in siding with the Atlantic Federation and they're getting their just desserts. Why not send in you to hammer out a peace treaty?" The green coat just looked at her.

"Well...you do have a 'B' rating..." She looked up to the pink ZAKU.

"B-but I-I'm just a Private First Class...!" He just looked incredulously at her.

'This is what the real Lacus would do.' She then looked deep into his eyes.

"Do you want to be a hero?" She gave the look that could melt the most cold hearted person.

"I...I..." He looked from her to the pink mobile suit and then back to her, indecision running rampant on his face.

"Do you want to make a difference?" She moved closer to him.

"I...yes." He said in a small voice.

"Then take me to the ARCHANGEL... I know it's not sunk." She had a believable facade on her features. 'I hope their not sunk...otherwise both of us are dead...'

"Where would we..." He started till he looked at her.

"Somewhere close to Orb."

He then noticed some green pilots walking by with a white coat running up to them.

"-p pod was just released from the ETERNAL! Quick, get Schaffer's team, Kage's team, and Crichton's team. I want them intercepted." The white coat looked angry.

"Let's go." He nodded to her and they ran to a DINN. She hid in the cockpit when the white coat walked up to him.

"What are you doing here?" The Commander just looked at him.

"I'm sorry sir, but wasn't you told that on the next mission that I was going for a qualification?" The green coat looked innocently at the Commander.

"No...but the more in the air, the better. Get going son." The Commander saluted him as he got into the DINN.

"Yes sir!" Snapping a sharp salute as the cockpit closed.

"Now we just follow them and not get shot down." The Private First Class had a worried tone.

He switched the radio to the frequency that all the teams were using.

[All right, we get those traitors today ALIVE if possible, dead if necessary. And we have a trainee sorting with us, we won't get anymore back up. So lets stay alive people. FOR ZAFT!]

[FOR ZAFT!] They didn't need to sound off as all the other pilots did. Then they took off.

xXx

The alarms blaired to life on the ARCHANGEL as the hangar doors were closing. Kira and Athrun just looked to one another.

"I'm sorry..." Lacus looked down.

"No, we knew that they would find us eventually."

[Athrun Zala to the bridge, Athrun Zala to the bridge.]

"What could they want?" Athrun looked confused.

"Let's find out." Kira left with him.

Meyrin walked with them as well as Lacus, both equally curious. When they all got to the bridge Miriallia looked to Athrun and smiled a knowing smile.

"Athrun..." She had a sweet tone in her voice. "You are a playboy..."

"What?!" Now he looked even more confused.

"We have a request from a 'Meer Campbell' for you to pick her up...but she is on a DINN with another soldier." Miriallia just kept her gaze on him.

"...If we bring her aboard, I'll be responsible for her." Athrun made the statement.

"Then I suggest you do, looks like that pilot is having a hard time dodging his own wing." Kira looked as a battle started near them.

"I'm going in the JUSTICE."

"I'll go with you." Kira left with Athrun.

"Who is this 'Meer Campbell'?" Lacus looked thoughtful.

"...The fake Lacus that was at the Chairman's side..." Meyrin thought out loud.

"Of course...but then..." Murrue looked even more confused.

"He must've told her something important." Meyrin then smiled.

"What then could he have told her?" Neo looked thoughtfully.

"Durandal that bastard...he was going to kill her when her usefulness was used up." Cagalli looked angry.

"So she needs a safe haven. And I always wanted to talk to her." Lacus smiled.

"Lets go meet her."

xXx

The DINN's of Schaffer's team, Kage's team, and Crichton's team came up on the white warship of the past war. Donald Schaffer was a pragmatic man and a realist, He knew he could never beat a GUNDAM. But the warship was another story.

[All right men! Go around and hit the engine's! I want this ship to sink!]

[Yes sir!]

Then as hope was rising among the ZAFT pilots, one of them stumbled onto another radio frequency.

[Sir, that trainee we have is signaling the ship...]

[What is he saying?]

[Sir, he is defecting.]

[Destroy his unit.] Schaffer hated traitors, and he would personally see this one shot down.

As the DINN units swarmed on the lone DINN in their midst, Rachel Crichton noticed the ARCHANGEL's catapult open. What she then saw next nearly stopped her heart.

[All teams, Retreat. I repeat, all teams retreat! We have both the FREEDOM and the JUSTICE! All teams retreat!]

Her team left like their lives depended on it. Kage's team just hovered there and Schaffer's team was still attacking the lone DINN that was doing a lot of dodging. That was their mistake.

The FREEDOM launched its DRAGOONS and disarmed Schaffer's team. The JUSTICE was able to disable the DINN's of Kage's team. With this defeat, the DINN'S limped home, each helping the other ones out.

[This is Private First Class Glenn Rau, permission to come aboard?]

[This is Captain Ramius, permission granted.]

Glenn sighed in relief, his green eyes looking at his passenger questioningly. She just nodded to him.

Then all safe and sound they escorted the the DINN onboard the ARCHANGEL before the white warship of peace submerged.

xXx

A/n: I kinda got carried away...in more than one aspect. To have a rape victim piloting a mobile suit may seem a little extreme. But I think it made the character deep, to have that pain, and then have a way to use it. If anyone disagrees, that's fine.