Update: Tweaked/rewritten September 2020.

Persistent Pilots, Dictator Dads, and Genetic Geniuses

Council member Patrick Zala was exactly as Eclipse thought he was going to be. When she and Heine had been ordered to talk to him personally, she had been surprised. Usually information went through twenty different people before getting to the "head dog." Eclipse knew a little about his past on the Council and his role as Chairman of Defense was notable. Perhaps that was the reason they were talking to him and no one else in particular. Either that, or SIN-ED just meant that much to him.

The similarities between the older man and his son was clear, but Eclipse had the feeling Athrun actually looked a bit more like his mother. Perhaps as he got older that might change, but standing then in front of Councilman Zala's desk, she struggled to imagine Athrun as such a stern man. No wrinkles were on his face, but it appeared worn and by the look in his eyes, he seemed on the verge of a headache. His darker brown hair was cut short, and greying at the roots, she noticed.

Probably the stress of the job.

"Is this the information here?" he asked lightly, holding up the folder in his hand. His voice had a melodious tone to it, appealing in some ways, however, there was still a commanding edge.

A dictator, Eclipse decided. That's what he sounds like. Although, she'd never say it aloud. "Yes, sir," she replied instead, her eyes resting on the picture frame sitting on his desk as Zala scanned the material. It was a picture of Athrun and his mother, the redhead deducted, noticing the matching hair color and eyes.

It was a dark but cold office, Eclipse realized, noticing that her partner had struggled to cover a yawn. Other than the desk they were currently standing in front of, and the personal photo nearby, there didn't seem to be any other personal touches made to the office. The walls looked bare and plain, but perhaps that was for logistics more than personal taste. No doubt, large televisions were a remote away for some video conference or Council meeting.

Her feet shifted impatiently as he read. They had both been awake for nearing 26 hours at that point and her mind was struggling to focus. She kept mentally kicking herself, however, knowing that any sort of lapse, especially in front of this particular gentleman, could me trouble for her later on.

Zala took another few minutes or so to finish going through the material before he set the papers down on the desk. "So, you talked to them directly?"

"Yes, sir," both replied simultaneously.

"And why didn't they kill you? Or why did they bother telling you all this information and let you escape unscathed?" He leaned slightly to his right, his head falling to rest on his upraise hand. His stare was intense, Eclipse noticed, and a shiver went down her spine.

Or maybe it was just the chill in the room.

"Because I know them personally, sir," Eclipse admitted, taking a moment before speaking up. She had hesitated sharing the information but there was no way it would be kept secret for long and despite her easy lie to the GINN pilot earlier, she couldn't justify lying to the Councilman. Especially not to the scale that lie would have been.

"So, it's true? These are the ones who fled Januarias 4?"

"Yes, sir, I can confirm that."

"So, you're close with this powerful band of renegades then?"

"Only two of them, sir."

"Only two?"

She nodded.

"Mr. Westenfluss, how much importance do these two hold in this group, SIN-ED?"

Eclipse felt Heine tense and pause at her side. Was he trying to protect them for her sake? That seemed like career suicide and she almost spoke up for him, but he found his voice.

"They have pretty big roles, sir."

"How important?"

"From what I could discern, many of the members look up to them, but I'm not aware of their power structure, sir."

Heine was right, Eclipse knew. FS hadn't given any indication he was in charge though based on the mannerisms of those around him, it wasn't a stretch to deduce as such.

"Well, if what you say here is true, we're going to have to monitor them at least, but it might even go beyond that."

"Beyond, sir?" Heine asked.

"According to your report, they plan on going after our military first and then face-off against the Earth Forces. If that happens, we may lose some prominent leaders in the military and that we can't afford. Since they are a small bunch, I'm hoping to dispose of them quietly before they get a chance to start this plan."

Dispose? Eclipse heard the word, but found it hard to digest. If he said the group was so small, why was he going to worry about them? Did Zala think they were powerful despite the numbers? If that was the case, how did he plan on "disposing of them quietly?" She didn't think ZAFT could afford to send a team after them.

"I'm sorry to be speaking so bluntly about this since you have a relationship with them, Lunar Eclipse, but please understand how serious this is. Not only are we going to have the Earth Forces to contend with, but these rebels too and we have no eyes on their operation at the moment. At least with the Earth Forces we have ways to monitor them and act before they do."

"I do understand, sir," the redhead said, hiding her own surprise. He might be right, but "disposal?"

Kill Stray and FS?

Her breath quickened and Heine must have noticed because she saw him shift uncomfortably. Sure, it had always been a possibility, but she didn't think they were big enough for ZAFT to care. Or maybe Zala was trying to cover up something? Did he just not want these ex-ZAFT personnel galivanting around and possibly sharing secrets? Was it really that simple? Tying up loose ends?

She had to bite her bottom lip to keep from scowling. This Councilman had helped approve the program and made most of SIN-ED the way they were. Now, it looked as if he was just going to cut his losses and pretend that program had never even existed.

But wait, she thought, releasing her bottom lip when she tasted blood on the tip of her tongue. Maybe I can still keep them alive.

"Did you have any ideas who to give the job to, sir?" she asked aloud, receiving a quizzical look from Heine. Zala paused before answering and leaned back in his chair.

She studied him carefully. He was probably very aware of the skillset her and her comrades had, but unless he wanted to try and retrain a team on who the individuals in SIN-ED were and how to deal with them, only to, despite going through all of that, still have the probability that the team would lose to SIN-ED—well, Eclipse was betting that she looked like a pretty good option.

"No, I don't have anyone in mind right now. Why, do you ask?"

"I'd like to do it, sir."

The air seemed to thicken and it felt as if Heine had gone completely still. Based on how much the singer knew about the situation, the idea of her jumping up to be the personal grim reaper for her old friends might have seen heartless. Still, whether he understood her motives or not, she had to try.

It was her only chance.

"Based on everything I know, why should I trust you?" Zala asked, his eyes narrow.

"I know them—can anticipate what they're thinking, sir. You said so yourself, you need eyes on them and who better than someone who trained with them? Knowing them as I do, they're going to try and do things on a small scale. We were trained to run in small combat groups, so they will probably organize in much the same fashion. It would be suicide to attack an army with a large force, so they'll probably act more like terrorists than an army." Eclipse paused as she thought, looking to the side and catching Heine's concerned look. She shook her head quickly, however, not want him to deter her. "They'll probably have smaller pockets of teams spread throughout space and the Earth based on the fact that most of SIN-ED was previously part of the Earth Alliance."

Zala took a moment to think it over and Eclipse felt her heart race. She knew she had to sell herself for this mission somehow, but while her past association with them looked like a weakness, she knew it had to be viewed to be in her favor.

"They're insane, sir," she added. "Who else do you have that is trained to understand that insanity?"

"I'm aware of your skillset, Lunar Eclipse, but you have yet to convince me that I should trust you. You said so yourself, you know them."

"I only know two, sir. The others mean nothing to me."

"But two is still too big of a number. If Mr. Westenfluss is right and they play a large role, they will be your prime target."

"That has yet to be decided, sir. There is no proof."

"And what will you do when you get proof? Can you kill them?"

"I will kill them, sir." To her credit, she didn't hesitate and based on the long stare she received from the Councilman and the affirmation he gave a moment later, she had been believable. Though, deep down, she knew she would kill them. If they had truly gone insane, there was just no other option.

"I will not send you out alone."

Eclipse opened her mouth to argue, but Heine spoke up first, surprising both her and himself, it seemed. "I'll help."

"No," Eclipse countered. "I won't be detected if I'm by myself and infiltration will be easier too."

"Two-person missions have a higher success rate," Heine said simply. Whether or not that statistic held, Eclipse didn't know, but she found herself getting increasingly angry with him. Despite everything, she realized, she didn't want him dead.

And working with her might surely ensure that grisly future.

Zala said nothing for a moment, tapping his chin thoughtfully before leaning forward on his desk, his hands clasped in front of him. "Mr. Westenfluss will help you, but only on your terms, Lunar Eclipse."

"But sir!" Heine cried, clearly appalled by his decision.

"I don't appreciate the outburst, Mr. Westenfluss. Lunar Eclipse has provided some interesting reasoning and I have to agree. From this moment on, Lunar Eclipse is officially assigned to and in charge of taking out the organization called SIN-ED." Heine gave a quiet curse and looked away. Zala frowned, but didn't otherwise scold the pilot and nodded. "Now, as far as I'm concerned, this matter has been decided. You are both dismissed."

"Thank you, sir," the redhead said before saluting and exiting the room. Heine did the same and followed quickly after her, a small but evident frown on his fair face.

Zala silently watched them go. This girl's appearance had posed a few interesting developments. He hadn't recognized her at first, but as soon as he read her profile he knew he struck gold. Hiding a smile, he reached over and pressed down the intercom button.

"Yes, sir?" asked the female soldier on the other end.

"I need to speak to Gilbert Durandal."

"Are you insane?" Heine yelled as soon as he caught up with Eclipse. They hadn't gotten far from the office, but Heine wasn't about to waste any time in settling matters.

"Probably," she responded and her tone had pissed him off even more.

"That's not what I mean." He grabbed her arm when she tried walking away further, spinning her to look at him. "Doing this alone is suicide. Let me help you."

"No."

He scowled and felt his hand tighten around her arm, but if he was hurting her, she didn't show it. "Why, Eclipse?"

"You come, you'll die, and in the end, I'll end up on my own anyway." She shrugged.

"You don't trust me? You don't trust my skills?"

"I doubt your emotions. Against SIN-ED they'll get you killed."

"Emotions aren't a weakness," Heine spat. "I hate that you keep insisting otherwise."

"Not against humans, but we're not humans remember?"

He growled again, his frustration clear. "They aren't; you are."

"And this is where you piss me off, Heine." She finally pulled her arm from his grip and squared up to him. "I have to be them in order to stop them. How is that not obvious? You've known me for, what, a grand total of a day? How can you even begin to think you know me?"

"Despite what you are led to believe, you are easy to read." He crossed his arms across his chest and stared at her hard, looking more like a scolding older brother than the singing soldier she had come to know him as. Her own brother came to her mind then, but her anger pushed his image aside.

"You want everyone to believe you're just some mindless weapon, but do you even remember the way you acted when you saw those two old friends of yours? Well, I do and—trust me—that was no emotionless machine. The person that I saw in that hotel could never take on SIN-ED according to your standards. You laughed, you had hope, you—"

"Then I'll turn it off. I know I can do that much."

He rolled his eyes. "You are going to turn off your affections for them?"

"I have to!" she shrieked, surprising even him with her outburst. "You think anyone else can do this? Can you name someone you want to send to slaughter, Heine? If I was trained for this and I'm ordered to do it then I'm going to fuckin' well do it."

Heine found himself sighing and shaking his head, pacing as his mind reeled. He was so angry, so confused, and so worried all at the same time. Who was this soldier? Why did she insist so much she was something she wasn't?

And why did it bother him?

"So, just like that, you accept the mission to kill your friends."

"I need to stop them, yes."

"No more thoughts on it—nothing?" Eclipse's anger ebbed slightly but she was still being stubborn. Heine could see it on her face, and he frowned, trying not to let it rile him up again.

"Tell me, did you see what my profile said?"

"What do you mean?"

"Simple question, Heine. I know you saw parts of it when I was upset in the colony and just now it was clearly laid out on the Councilman's desk. What did you see?"

He sighed and looked down, shaking his head. "Eclipse, honestly, I didn't see—" There was a click and his head shot back up, the only thing in his line of vision being the barrel of a gun. His heart skipped at the sight and his body almost reacted instinctively, but he had to stop himself. He looked at her instead, his eyes following the barrel backwards towards her face.

"I'm certain you saw the word written in all CAPs on my profile—it's hard to miss. Do you remember it now? Now that I have your attention?" He frowned, but she continued. "Berserker. You know what they are? They are warriors bred for fighting, in other words, they are weapons. That is what I was named on Januarias 4, Heine, and that is what I am."

"Do you honestly believe that?"

"As much as you think you 'know me,' you don't know what I've been through or have done. Do I honestly believe what's in my file? Yes, frankly, I do." Her eyes narrowed and Heine took a breath to steady himself.

"Eclipse—"

"I could pull this trigger. It wouldn't matter that we just went on a mission together or the experiences we shared. If I was given the command, I'd shoot. I can turn off my 'humanity' just like that. You think that's normal?"

Heine was already shaking his head before she finished. "No you—"

Bang.

Well, click.

Heine's breath stopped when he heard the sound. He didn't know whether to be relieved the gun hadn't been loaded or scared because she didn't hesitate to try and kill him. "See," he began, "I knew you couldn't do it."

"I wasn't given an order," Eclipse stated simply.

At first Heine scoffed about it, refusing to believe her, but her eyes gave her away. The cold reality was there. "Please, I only want to help."

"No."

"Stop trying to convince yourself you're no better than them!"

"Enough, Heine. I don't want to see you get hurt because of something I couldn't prevent." She sighed and lowered the gun, reaching around her back to put it in the holster. "Thank you for worrying about me, but there really is no need. If you make it through this war alive, then I'd say it's because of fate. But if we meet again it will be because of luck." She turned then and walked away down the hall.

Heine didn't follow.

He was still fuming even after her footsteps had faded, but he knew he had said as much as he could and the rest was up to her. If she did need him, he liked to think that she would contact him, if only because Councilman Zala had told her to. It's enough for now, he thought, his mouth still in a snarl, but even that emotion was short lived. He was suddenly tired; tired of her stubbornness, tired of his, and even more tired of the fact that he was so damn bothered by it all. "You're wrong, y'know?" he began, talking into the empty hall. "If I survive this war, it's luck; if we meet again, it's fate. And I have a tendency to choose my own fate."

It had been about an hour after the meeting with Eclipse and Heine before Patrick Zala got in touch with the genetic scientist, Gilbert Durandal. The latter had been in the PLANT for a convention and after a few brief words over the phone, he had agreed to speak to Zala in his office.

Zala put down the paperwork he was working on when the younger gentleman was ushered in, walking around his desk to grasp his hand. "Ah, Gilbert, thank you for speaking to me on such short notice."

"Of course, no problem at all. It's nice to see you again, Patrick. I trust you and your son are doing well?"

"Yes, we are doing quite well, thank you." He motioned for Durandal to sit in the seat across from his desk and walked around to sit across from him.

The two of them had been acquainted with each other for the past few years, having been running in the same social circles. They didn't often speak to each other on a professional level, so this particular meeting was rare, but Zala had been aware of Durandal's work and research for some time.

"I'm glad to hear it," Durandal responded in kind, unbuttoning his suit jacket before taking the seat offered. He had longer, black hair with stunning orange eyes that went nicely with his pressed shirt, blue tie, and black business pants. Typically, there was a labcoat over his attire, but he had a speech at the convention that morning and had been fielding questions in a forum just before he received the call from the Councilman.

"As I was saying over the phone," Zala began once they were both settled, "there's some information here I'd like you to look at." He slid the closed folder on his desk across to Durandal, leaning back and observing the younger scientist as he flipped through the pages.

"Would you mind telling me what I'm supposed to be looking at?"

"I believe you were on one of the teams monitoring the progress of that experimental program the Council approved about a year ago. The one on Januarias 4."

"The one created in reaction to the information found about the Earth Forces facilities, you mean?" Zala nodded and Durandal mimicked the gesture. "Yes, I had been getting regular updates until about a month ago, but no one has been telling me what went wrong."

"The short answer is that the trainees rebelled, the staff were killed, and most of the facility records destroyed. The clean-up team has only just finished going through everything and the files we do have contain some information on progress reports, but nothing encouraging, I'm afraid."

"What do you mean by that?"

Zala turned slightly in his chair and crossed one leg over the other, and sighed. "While things looked promising at the beginning, most of the trainees either plateaued or were on the verge of a breakdown."

"Were the drugs not being administered correctly?" Durandal looked down at the paperwork in his hands again, but was paying more attention to Zala's words than the ones printed on the pages.

"From what we can tell, the drugs were only given to a select few and those were disposed of for various reasons about six months in. Ironically, Naturals might have more of an affinity for that type of thing than Coordinators."

Durandal frowned and looked at Zala briefly, but didn't say anything. Most likely there was something wrong with the regimen, but he wasn't about to say as much.

"According to those records, while the trainees have very impressive skillsets, arguably it was all a failure."

Durandal's frown deepened. "Based on my regular reports, it was all going according to plan. Do you think they were fudging the data?"

Zala shrugged. "I don't know much about the data, but based on this profile I was given today, we seem to have a successful candidate after all."

"But what good is that if they all rebelled?"

"Nope, we still have one under our control."

"What do you mean?"

Zala shifted again, leaning forward to the desk and pointing to the paperwork in Durandal's hands. "Five were sent out on missions before the mutiny took place. Two were killed, two we lost contact with and then there was that one, Lunar Eclipse. As fate would have it, she recently came in contact with her former comrades from Januarias 4 and has received intelligence concerning their plans."

"So, you're telling me one experimental soldier—her." He pointed to an updated photo of Eclipse. "She managed to survive the program and get valuable information from a group of fellow renegades?"

Zala nodded. "She also volunteered to be the one to dispose of them."

"Hold on here," Durandal held up a hand to accent his point. "You're just going to let her go? The only positive remnant from the program? Surely she'll join them based on camaraderie alone."

"You're right in that it's a bit risky, but you must know she did run into them and yet came back to ZAFT. I think we have a tighter hold on her than we had on the others whether that is based in sanity or loyalty, I don't know. Either way," he continued, folding his hands in front of him on the desk. "I don't imagine this group will cause us much trouble, but I don't just want our dirty laundry on display either."

"So, she's gonna clean up the mess? Again, the only positive result from the experiment? She should be studied, monitored—"

"Look at the bottom of the profile and I think you'll see why it might be better to let her develop in her own way."

Durandal did as suggested and skimmed through the material. Nothing stood out of the ordinary, so why Zala was being so reckless seemed beyond him. He was about to say as much when his eyes did, indeed, grow wide with surprise. "They do exist," he muttered quietly, scanning the other pages as well. He knew the probability of Berserkers existing was low, but ever since he read the data from the Earth Forces, he began getting curious. So, there's one in this age, he thought with a small smile. "I didn't know about any of this."

"I didn't think you did. It seems Vindur kept the secret to himself."

"Maybe not to himself because he had to get this drug Muscimol from somewhere."

"It wasn't from your team then? Have you heard of it?"

"No, I haven't," Durandal admitted. "As far as I know, no one specializing in this area has come up with it."

"You're thinking he got it from somewhere else then?"

"He had to have. All prescriptions sent to that facility had to be approved by me first."

"Any ideas on where he got it and why?" Zala asked, leaning forward on his desk, probably expecting a list of names and places, but as soon as Durandal shook his head, the Councilman sighed. "I'll have someone look deeper into the situation then. No doubt this is why your reports were so different." Leaning back, he tapped his finger anxiously on the desk. "I don't think I need to tell you about how important this information is, Gilbert. If this gets out…"

"I understand very well, Patrick. This might be our leg-up on the Earth Alliance."

A long silence passed between the two. Durandal looked at the profile again and felt his heart race. If Vindur's suspicions were true, they had struck gold. He didn't trust the former captain, however, knowing he had known very little about the scientific world. He clearly knew folklore though, Durandal had to admit, and that was enough for now.

"We'll need confirmation," Durandal said to Zala. "I don't want to get my hopes up just yet without proof."

"You'll need a blood sample then?"

"I'm sure that should be good enough. I can't just keep her in the lab for studies because we need her skills on the line, but if further confirmation is needed…"

"I'll give her to you, no questions asked."

"Thank you."

"Now, I'd like your opinion on the rebels. They seemed to have formed a group called SIN-ED. What do you make of them?"

The younger man smiled and offered a small chuckle. "Shouldn't you be asking the Council's opinion on the matter and not mine? I'm only a scientist with a passion for genetics."

"Yes, but you had been a part of the program and have been to your share of Council meetings. What do think?" They slipped into a comfortable silence, Zala seeming to give him a moment to formulate an opinion.

I think they're moving in the right direction, Durandal thought, not voicing his outlook right away. However, killing people probably isn't the way to go. What if we changed— Zala started tapping his finger again and the younger man glanced up at him, seeing the Councilman looking absently at the photo on his desk. Sighing, Durandal decided to save that particular thinking for later when he had more time to develop his idea. "I think they're insane and have to be stopped, but how is going to be the problem. As we discussed, sending in Lunar Eclipse alone is a good idea, but risky. Can we give her some back-up?"

"We have very limited options at the moment, but there are a couple we can send in if needed. I'm just not certain how long they'd survive."

Durandal nodded slowly and sighed, standing and closing the folder before putting it back on the desk. "Can we trust her though?"

"Do we have a choice?"

"I suppose not."

The intercom buzzed on the Councilman's desk and he held up a hand to tell his guest to wait. "Yes?" Zala asked.

"Sir, there's some urgent news about Lacus Clyne."

Eclipse had barely opened the door to her room on the Vesalius when the news about the famed pop star reached the ship. Two new mechanics were muttering about Lacus on their way to the hangar, sounding rather flustered about the story. Either they were fans or they had remembered her fiancé was a colleague.

The redhead had to admit she found the story puzzling, at least from the bits she had heard. Why would a civilian ship be attacked? And if it was, by whom?

Eclipse sighed before setting her things down on the bed and following the gossipers' path to the hangar. She wanted to work on her new mobile suit, seeing as it was brought in before she had arrived back on the ship. It wasn't an impressive piece of machinery she knew, at least not compared to the prototype weapons, but thanks to some information from the Blitz, the Mirage Colloid system was added to her mobile suit's itinerary.

Perhaps the higher-ups thought she might be going on some stealth missions.

It was a GINN in every respect, right down to the assortment of weaponry, but Eclipse was just happy to have a suit. Now she wouldn't be left behind.

Passing two mechanics, she boarded the lift and glided up to the cockpit, taking a seat. Hm, smells like new mobile suit, she thought with a smile, rubbing her hands across the levers and buttons. And it's mine. After taking a moment to let everything sink in, she pulled down the keyboard and switched the screen to the GINNs controls and mechanisms. Absently, she bumped her left arm and cringed. The area where some nurses had taken a blood sample was still sore, but it was such a minor nuisance she forgot about it the moment she cracked her knuckles and began making alterations.

Eclipse wasn't sure when she fell asleep, only that she had. Neither was she sure when she woke up, she just did. Damnit, what time is it? she thought and pushed the keyboard out of the way. It was only then she had remembered the many hours she had been awake and she frowned, her excitement about the suit even trumping her need for sleep. The GINN's screen was black, almost as if the machine shut itself off as she slept, so she decided to leave it, knowing she would get back to it after she had a proper amount of rest. She made her way down to the locker room and passed her fellow redcoat. Athrun?

He noticed her pass by and his surprise must have mimicked her own. He looked to be headed to the Aegis and that made her heart jump for a moment. Glancing back at her suit, she wondered if she actually did need to finish the calibrations. The Vesalius hadn't been scheduled to leave for another day yet, so why was he back so soon?

"Do we have new orders, sir? I thought departure wasn't for another day or so."

"You haven't heard?"

"Heard?"

"About Lacus Clyne."

"Oh." She paused, scanning his face for some kind of indication of how to proceed next. She wanted nothing more than to flee in that moment, knowing personal anything, including conversations, was not her forte. "Yes, I heard the news, sir. I'm sorry."

"Yeah…" His voice trailed off as he turned to look at the Aegis again. "The Vesalius has been tasked with finding her and we leave in an hour. Two more ships have been assigned to Commander Le Creuset's command. You must have missed the briefing."

Eclipse blinked, thinking back on her most recent memories and frowning. "How long was I out?" she muttered quietly, but shook her head when he looked at her suspiciously.

"Well, I'm just gonna…" He trailed off again and jutted his thumb back at the Aegis.

"Aren't you worried, sir?" Eclipse asked suddenly, surprising even herself with the question. Either she was tired, or Heine had softened her a little bit and that thought made her frown.

"Huh?"

"About your fiancé."

"Very, actually, but I admit I didn't think you'd be the one to ask me about her." He shrugged. "I figured I'd busy my mind with the Aegis, but, honestly, I don't know what's left to do. You are very thorough."

Eclipse shrugged, as if it was the most natural thing he could say. "Just doing my job, sir."

"Stop it with the 'sir,' would ya? It makes me nervous."

"I don't think—"

"That's an order."

"Ah," she said, her lips actually curling up into a smile. Perhaps Heine had been right and she was easy to read. "Fine, I can't disobey an order."

"Good," was all he said before he turned and boarded the lift to the Aegis and it wasn't until he disappeared into the cockpit that she finally turned and began making her way back to her own unit. If they were leaving in an hour, she needed to get her suit up and running. That meant no nap and making more of an effort to stay awake during the process.

Sighing, she brought the keyboard down once again and began her adjustments. Her attention would often pivot over to the Aegis and its pilot and it wasn't until she caught on to what her subconscious had been up to that she frowned and cursed quietly.

No, she refused to have Heine be right.

A/N: I am officially on my Christmas Break from school and plan on busting out as many chapters as I can. Some may be longer, like the last one, and others may be terribly short, but I want to put a lot out before I start another semester. Seeing as my next classes involve even more reading and writing than the previous one, I have no idea when I'll get around to writing this. Then again, I always seem to find some way, don't I?

Well, we can say good-bye to Heine for now. I was amazed at how observant he was though. He seemed to be that way in Destiny, so I guess it isn't too surprising, but still, I'm impressed.

We're getting back into the main SEED story now. I hope you enjoyed the little get together with Stray, FS and Heine, and if it was boring, I'm sorry. The next chapter should get back into the action, and I'm pretty sure from here on out, the action is pretty much non-stop. If there is another stand-still it's because more exposition is needed.

So, who was surprised by Durandal? I always love my random coffee/late night epiphanies and most of the connections in this story come from my addiction to the stuff. The connection fit and it works really well-as we'll see in later chapters. We all know he just didn't begin existing in Destiny and he had some ties to Zala. Also, the fact that he was a genetics expert helped me out a lot. (We can all thank Death-Scimitar for that tidbit of information). I hope you enjoyed his grand entrance.

Eclipse has a crush? Really? And it's not Heine? But why?! Good question. I'm not totally sure who would treat her better, but we'll just have to wait and see who she picks in the end.

Oh, has anyone read Gundam SEED Astray? If you have, is it worth it? Please let me know. I've been reading some things about it and really, I'm not finding it too appealing. It seems like they were forcing some acquaintances and plot lines, so please let me know what you think. I'd love to hear about it.

Darkangelsonic: I am such a fan of Stray that it's ridiculous. When I first started writing him, I tried to make him so strange and off-the-wall that no one would really understand/like him. Little did I know I made him the cutest/weirdest guy I know. :) I'm so proud of you! You were the first one to review! Woot! Can you be this time too? lol. I'm glad you're enjoying it. As I said before, the action should start picking up here really quick and, most likely, it won't stop for a while. I just needed some chapters for the exposition and interesting twists.

Death-Scimitar: ...(speechless)...

CSS Stravag: "Grammar SNAFU" huh? I've haven't heard it put that way in a while, but I'm glad you liked the longer chapter. Really there wasn't a good place to end, and if there was, I didn't like it. :) Anyway, the logical/bloody method is what makes this plan so appealing. In a way, it does make sense and seems like a possible path towards peace, but when one sits down and realizes the full extent of the idea, it's quite scary. I wonder if the Gundam series will ever find the best way to obtain peace. Oh, and I'm really glad you liked Heine in the end. Hopefully, after this chapter you'll like him even more (I know I did).

Strata