Update: Tweaked/rewritten October 2020.

Broadside of a Barn

Eclipse wasn't there for the transmission from the commander. She had been in contact with Dearka and Yzak when they got the announcement, but she was already on the other side of the base by that time and Le Creuset's time was limited. He let it slide that time. Her teammates had the nerve to say she was chickening out, but there wasn't much force behind the accusation. It could've been because the commander was in the background, or perhaps they were finally getting along. Life and death situations do that to people—after all, weren't FS, Stray, and Eclipse the perfect example?—but the redhead figured this was a friendship formed out of necessity. At the moment, they were all each other had.

Actually, part of that confused her. If she hadn't fallen with them, she was sure Yzak and Dearka would get along fine. It could've been the stress of everything going on, but lately—meaning over the past day or so while she was still bedridden—they were each coming in to see her individually. Dearka was understandable because Yzak had been crankier than normal lately, but the Duel pilot's visits had been a mystery. He seemed far more serious than normal, which made her think that something other than the Strike was actually on his mind, but she never breached the topic. He did abruptly turn off the television and walk out one time when a news report came on concerning their rather dramatic entrance onto Earth, but there was nothing specific in the report, which made his reaction even more interesting.

"I'm sorry—Lunar Eclipse was it?—your GINN was practically scrap metal by the time we got our hands on it," the main mechanic explained. "The parts have been recycled and fitted to other machines, so if you wanted to say a proper farewell you're gonna have to stop at six other hangars." He looked a little young to be a main mechanic, but if Eclipse learned anything by now it was not to underestimate them. It took a lot of effort and skill to do so much and yet never be rewarded so age usually had nothing to do with how well a person could fix a machine. Watching him tug on the collar of his bright green mechanic suit, Eclipse couldn't help but feel sorry for him. She didn't enjoy wearing those stuffy things in outer space and at least up there the temperatures were consistent and not changing on an hour-by-hour basis. She was so happy she had the elite uniform now.

The redhead sighed in response to his comments. She figured her GINN would be nonexistent after what had happened, but she thought she would try the "optimism" thing again. The mechanic went on to talk about some new mobile suits being built in the PLANTs, but Eclipse had stopped listening.

What the hell was she supposed to do now?

The obvious answer was to get another mobile suit, but judging by what happened to her other one, she felt like she would just be endlessly cycling though machines. Her reckless abandon with her GINN seemed more like a foreshadowing than a fluke. At the time, following Yzak and Dearka into the atmosphere seemed like the right course of action despite the repercussions. Why?

Partly to help the Gamow and partly because of the thrill.

For a few moments, Eclipse had to admit, she was beginning to like her other half. How could she not? It had saved her ass now plenty of times and she was earning the respect of her teammates, so what wasn't there to like? Well, Greed's remarks and the insinuation of her monsterhood might be a reason to be cautious, but she had to admit it was just plain reckless. Not stupid, because it was downright helpful on the battlefield, but reckless. If she was in her normal frame of mind, she didn't think she would've fallen to Earth. After all, weren't Athrun and Nicol the nice teammates? Why would she want to cause herself more distress by joining the angry duo?

Well, now she was stuck with nowhere to turn.

Almost.

Eclipse surprised herself with how often she thought of the offer Stray and FS gave. She could go to them and leave everyone behind without so much as a letter of apology, so then why was she hesitating? Those two meant everything to her, despite their insanity. In fact, was she any different? They were always at her side and went so far as to comfort her for killing MR. He was a personal friend of theirs and they worried about her.

"Hello, anyone there?" the mechanic asked, waving a hand in front of her face to stress the point. Eclipse blinked, turned, saluted, and then walked out without another word. "Tch," she heard the mechanic say, but just rolled her eyes.

Eclipse left the hangar and ventured back towards the base. She had been released from the hospital late the day before, so she was enjoying the first breath of daytime air she had had in almost a week. Then again, saying a military base was a good place for that outdoorsy scent wasn't accurate either. Since the base was situated near the Atlantic Ocean, the fresh fragrance sometimes made it through the base, but because the hospital—as well as the hangar Eclipse was investigating—was situated near the rear, the only thing that could be smelled there was burning metal, car fumes, and the constant hint of human sweat. Being in a secluded facility with 29 other men, the redhead had gotten used to the salty smell—even when it radiated from her own body—but never learned to enjoy it.

Yzak and Dearka were driving in her direction and she saw Dearka wave, returning the gesture to let them know she had seen. She had yet to see them that day, knowing they had both been released from the hospital days before her. She stopped to wait for them to come closer.

The blonde was driving a small, military jeep with Yzak slouched in the passenger seat. He didn't look happy to be there, but then again, the Duel pilot hadn't been happy at all lately.

Surprise, surprise.

Calling the jeep small was almost giving it too much justice. It was an olive green color with no doors or roof. The front seats were relatively roomy, but since the back seat was made mostly for equipment, it was short and leaving no space for a tall individual to do anything more than crawl up into a ball. Ideal for grabbing weaponry quickly, but terrible for picking up friends on a Friday night.

"Glad to see you on your feet," Dearka said when they were next to her.

"Glad to be on them."

"I'm surprised you skipped out on the meeting," Yzak noted. Apparently, he felt the need to bring it up even though he knew Le Creuset let her stay put and get the information later. "You act like someone who follows the rule book rather closely." His bandage was off—which should've put him in a better mood—but somehow Eclipse doubted a doctor approved of it. His scowl as she looked at it only confirmed her suspicions, but she kept her mouth shut.

The phrase, "Well, you don't follow them either," didn't seem like a smart move at the time.

"You guys just came out to check up on me, or is there something important you had to say?" Eclipse asked.

"Did you want to hear what the commander had to say, or not? Hop on." It was Dearka who said it, but there was a bit of sharpness to the comment. Eclipse just shrugged, wondering what had angered him so quickly, but jumped into the back when his head flicked backwards for her to get in. Not enjoying the prospect of curling into a ball, she sat up on the trunk and put her feet down onto the seats. Yzak looked down at her boots and back at her, but rolled his eyes when she shrugged.

Eclipse liked that he stayed quiet, grabbing onto the back of the seats when Dearka took off quicker than she expected. "Well? What's the news? We're stuck here, I take it."

Yzak nodded, sitting a bit straighter in his seat when they passed in the more congested area of the base. He didn't want to look sloppy in front of so many captains. "He wants us to help out the occupational forces here on Earth. Knowing the 'Legged Ship' is around here somewhere, it makes sense, but, damnit all, I hate the Earth."

"At least this means you get another shot at the Strike. Stop being so peevish and be happy about that at least," the blond grumbled, slamming on the brakes when a couple of off-duty greencoats stepped in the way. Eclipse flew forward—luckily bracing her feet up on the front seat just in time—Dearka sighed, and Yzak let loose some interesting dialogue. Him and the soldiers argued for a few more moments before the blond got bored and took off. "We're going to check on the Duel and Buster," Dearka shouted, trying to outmatch Yzak's string of threats. "You might get bored, so did you want me to drop you off somewhere else?"

"Maybe I should see if they need my help," she started, not quite sure her musings were loud enough, but their responses proved they had heard.

"You're not a mechanic anymore. You're a pilot now, for fuck's sake," Yzak spat.

Dearka sighed, but his sentiment was the same. "The prototypes have been around long enough and schematics have been shared around, I'm sure. You're not the only one to understand them anymore, so let the others do their jobs."

Eclipse made a sour face at the reprimands, but bit her tongue. She really had no ammo to argue with. They sat in silence for a moment, Eclipse thinking they were going to say more about their predicament. "So that's all the commander had to say? We're stuck here waiting for further orders?" The car had slowed down considerably by that time. Either Dearka didn't want to hit anyone, or he didn't want Yzak to end up in another shouting match.

The redhead was betting on both.

"It wasn't a long transmission," Dearka explained. "The commander said, if we got the chance, we could take out both the 'Legged-Ship' and the Strike, but, like you said, we're stuck here being lap dogs."

"Sounds like fun," Eclipse grumbled.

"It'll be downright boring." Yzak had regained his sulking posture and stared off to his right.

The remaining redcoats decided not to press the matter and grew quiet themselves. The Duel pilot had a point.

Earth was going to be terribly dull.

They decided to drop Eclipse off at the shooting range. She couldn't recall which one had the "bright idea," but she didn't really have a say in the matter. The last thing she remembered was sitting in the back daydreaming as Dearka avoided more careless military personnel. Or were they the ones being careless? Eclipse never knew the blond to be a speed demon, but maybe it was just because he was in a bad mood.

"We'll contact you if anything new comes up," Yzak had said before they sped off, forgetting the redhead wasn't wearing anything they could communicate with anyway.

"Whatever," she muttered and walked inside the building.

It was pretty big—bigger than a mobile suit hangar—but more high-tech than she had seen at a military base. Usually places like this were reserved for training facilities and yet here she was, standing amid some newbies in a line just waiting to get to the shooting range. Being all electronic, it was no surprise when Eclipse glanced over at the trainees to see them firing fake rounds at computer screens. The screens changed distance and size—which made things a bit harder—and, by the looks of things, would increase or decrease its challenge level depending on the soldier's score. Effective, to say the least, but by glancing at the line, Eclipse couldn't help but sigh. This looked more like an amusement park rather than a place where people learn to kill others.

Ironic really.

"Aw, Shana, you couldn't hit the broadside of a barn," a greencoat three spots ahead of her chided to the brunette standing next to him. He looked to be no older than fifteen with black hair and an athletic build. There were two other boys standing next to him, and if Eclipse didn't know any better, she would have said they were triplets. "Hell, I've never seen you get higher than a 20 percent hitting rate."

"Hey, that's not fair, Breck. I've hit the target plenty of times. Besides, I'd whip your ass in the simulations any day," the girl said, elbowing the blonde next to her and forcing a nod out of her too.

"Wanna bet? I've never lost in that thing, right Caleb? Erick?" The two other boys didn't seem as enthused about Breck's statement, but nodded anyway. Most likely they were the ones he beat.

"Probably because you've only been challenging weaklings. Why not give it a try with us? We'd definitely give you a run for your money." It was Shana's friend who made the declaration and the one thing that impressed the redhead the most was her confidence. The blonde looked to be half the height of Breck and even less than half his weight. Eclipse knew not to judge people based on appearance, but for as young as these five were, they hadn't had enough battle experience to be given such respect.

"Well, aren't you a little smartass," Erick, presumably, said and the girls just laughed.

This is ridiculous. Why am I stuck behind such children? the redhead thought, deciding to look somewhere else.

At least until the boy behind her joined into their conversation. "Why not put these two sissy girls in their place, Breck? Ten minutes in they'll probably start crying from a broken fingernail. This is why they shouldn't even allow girls to carry guns."

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Eclipse asked, for the first time not even thinking before she opened her mouth. Damnit. She almost slapped herself for interfering, but held back. It wouldn't have helped anyway.

The boy blinked, as if just realizing he was standing so close to one of his superiors. Running a nervous hand through his orange hair, he tried make up for the mistake. Too bad this particular elite didn't give out forgiveness so easily. "Oh—uh—sorry, ma'am. I meant no offense of course. It's just that—"

"Just what, Shane?" Shana stepped in, coming over to stand in front of the youth. If her friend was short, this brunette definitely wasn't. She came up to about his nose, but was built for hand-to-hand combat. Broad—almost manly—shoulder and calloused hands proved that, however, there was something she lacked, the redhead noted. Shana may have been issuing all of those threats, but really she didn't have the courage to back them up. That was obvious by her quick anger, weak stance, and trembling eyes. If Shane would've been paying close attention he probably could have seen it too.

"Forget it. Why don't we just decide who the real 'tough guy' is around here?" Caleb suggested from up ahead. "Us three guys verses you three girls."

"What?" Eclipse blurted, not remembering when she volunteered for this stupid match. "I refuse to be a part of this."

"Yeah, we don't need her anyway," the blonde said. "Redcoats always think they're too good to hang out with us, lowly greencoats."

"Rika!" Shana tried to call her back, but ended up chasing her in the end. Caleb, Erick, Shane and Breck turned to redhead and glowered. Apparently, they were all thinking the same thing, but all Eclipse wanted to know was when this turned into a war between ranks.

"So, what'cha think, elite? You too important to train with us?" Shane asked, looking to be the hothead of the group. Honestly, the redhead didn't give a damn about ranks. After all, she may have a red uniform, but, if ordered, she would still go fetch coffee for the nearest commander. The only place ranks mattered was on the battlefield and since they were at a mere shooting range, she didn't think they applied. Why, then, were they getting so bent out of shape?

"She's probably afraid we'd show her up," Breck said and began walking away. His flunkies followed a second later, but Eclipse wasn't about to let them off that easily.

"Frankly boys, I wouldn't care if you defeated me in a silly game. Not only would that prove I have a soft spot for underdogs, but when real soldiers start shooting, I know I won't be running for the nearest bed to hide under. You guys are fresh out of the nursery and have no idea what you're even attempting to brag about. But what the hell, I'll humor you for the time being." The greencoats looked angry at first, but it soon shifted to misplaced confidence. Sure, Eclipse would probably regret the decision later on—and as she massaged her right wrist she knew she would—but for the time being she wanted to savor her impending victory.

It had been a long time since she had so much… innocent fun.

It sounded like a good idea at the time. Hell, who wouldn't want to embarrass six greencoats? Neither Shana nor Rika had talked to her when she arrived in the locker room, but Eclipse didn't care. If she was there to make friends she wouldn't be trying to shoot their heads off at the local training facility.

Then again, maybe she would.

The match was to be a battle royale between six new soldiers and one elite. Being a royale, people probably would've betted on the redcoat winning, but since the greencoats would probably team up against her, the smart gamblers wouldn't merely decide on uniforms alone.

It was a new facility, so the technology was top-notch. Each player—made it sound more like a game than actually training—was ordered to wear a special outfit. They looked a lot like the pilot suits worn for mobile suit fights—helmet included—but there were a few kickers that made Eclipse glad she didn't have to wear them for missions. The suits were designed to stimulate real battle experience. When a person was hit—by splattering bullets from an enemy's (or even an ally's) pistol—the area would gradually grow heavy depending on the severity of the wound. So, if a person was shot in the thigh, the weight of his leg would escalate and slow him down to a mere crawl. The same could be said for an arm wound, foot, side, and so on. Only two shots were considered instant kills; a head shot and one to the heart.

Pretty much it was advanced paintball.

There were three terrains to choose from, city, forest, and desert, depending on how adventurous the trainees wanted to be. The whole ordeal was quite lifelike and even the weather was unpredictable. However, Eclipse had to wonder how much the whole thing cost the military. After all, one, well-placed attack and the building would be history. Sounded like a waste when put that way, but oh well, it wasn't her problem.

Fitting a glove over her right hand, she couldn't help but wince. It was going to be a long fight if she couldn't rely on her dominant arm. "Hey, I hope you're up for this," Rika commented from the other side of the locker room. Oh yay, they were speaking to her again. "Even though you're a girl, we're not going to spare ya."

"You'd be stupid if you did. Besides, we're all against each other in this one. If you want to make teams, fine, but know it's not my fault if you get hit by friendly fire."

"Strange," Shana began. "Advice from a redcoat?"

"I don't know what made you hate my rank so much, but I'm really getting tired of everyone I meet having some kind of misplaced grudge against me. Be mad at the person you're supposed to. Don't just shove it on me because it's of convenience to you," Eclipse said and grabbed a helmet. They didn't say anything more and just followed her into the arena.

Hearing the door shut behind her, Eclipse had to pinch herself to make sure she wasn't going insane—at least not yet. A cityscape stretched out in front of her, so close to the real thing she almost ran over to the nearest coffee shop and asked for a latte. The three girls stood in the northeast corner, at what seemed to be an on ramp to a highway. A short, cement wall separated the ramp from a small expanse of grass, complete with dandelions and unwanted trash. Another street—running parallel to the highway—marked the beginning of town. There were three cars parked on the side and one sticking out of an ally at the furthest corner of the arena. I wonder if they drive, Eclipse thought, but shook it off. She wouldn't be able to do anything with them even if they could; the place was too crowded. Off to the girls' right was a park with a collection of real trees making it look more like the forest terrain than the city one. Impressive.

The four other competitors walked out moments later as the supervisor went over some basic rules and equipment. They were each given three clips with 15 shots each, and one semi-automatic pistol, enough to last against an enemy four times this size, but the redhead wasn't going to argue.

It just meant she could go a little crazy was all.

Special transmitters were slipped over the glove of their non-dominant hand, indicating how many were "dead" on the field. It seemed a bit foolish to have such a device, especially since this "game" was supposed to train soldiers for such situations. They weren't always going to know who was down and usually never had any idea how many they were up against. Well, teach them one thing at a time, apparently.

"You'll have a two minute grace period where you can get into position," the instructor explained, walking out as he did. "And that time starts now."

"Good luck, halfwits," Breck said and ran off towards the park.

The others said a loud "Hah!" before looking for their own cover. Eclipse sighed, shrugged and walked away. If anything, she'd get a chance to see where most of the others ended up, so why waste energy running?

There really wasn't much to choose from. Two had already fled into the park, so she didn't want to go there and three, she knew, had stuck around in the city. Two were collaborating by the nearest parked car, one stayed next to the entrance, but the last one was unknown.

Perhaps someone did know what he—or she—was doing.

This place is as good as any, Eclipse thought, ducking down next to the farthest car. A wall was to her back and her peripheral vision was good enough to cover her sides, so all she really had to worry about was an attack from above and from below. If they came at her from above, they'd have a hell of a time climbing over the vehicle, so she'd still have enough leeway to turn and kill them first. If they came at her by crawling under the car, she would just shoot the tires.

See, good enough.

The grace period ended a moment later, alerting the troops with a bell loud enough to make any nervous soldier jump. A gun went off once the sound died away, and—thinking it was just a reaction from being so on edge—she was surprised to hear a counter attack. Damn, they're just going right at it, aren't they? Eclipse thought, smirking to herself when she heard a player go down. It sounded like Shana and she wasn't too happy about the shot either. The redhead doubted there could be cheating with an advanced system like this one, but there was always a possibility. Either that or she had just become a victim of a tag team.

Originally, Eclipse had planned on just waiting until the others got so restless and took each other out, but not only would that be terribly boring on her end, one of her opponents didn't seem to like the idea either. A gun fired nearby and judging by the sound, it was pointed in her direction. Eclipse wasn't sure why he—or she since there was still one left—fired so recklessly, but when she looked around, she suspected his reasoning. Hiding behind a car was turning into a really bad idea. Not only was there nothing else nearby for her to run to, but if she blew her cover now, the others would be right on top of her. Her enemy fired again, proving he was walking towards her without caring about the other players. Then again, they probably weren't shooting him on purpose.

So she was being ganged up on too.

Weighing her options, she found she really only had a few. She could blow her cover and pray no one shot her before she got all of them, or be inventive. Eclipse decided on the latter. Noticing how loose the hubcap was behind her back, she took a few seconds to pry it off. The shooter was—judging by the sound of his shoes and how loud the gunfire was—about 10 meters away. It was a safe enough distance to feel comfortable, but the redhead had no idea where her other enemies were. Cursing silently, she finally pried the hubcap off and scooted towards the front of the car.

Eclipse could now see the helmet of her adversary. A few more steps and she would be in his view, but she planned on knocking him off before then. Clenching the hubcap to her stomach, she steadied herself. Let's see. If he's coming from my right, then there's got to be at least one more to my left, probably at 10 o'clock. That guy's waiting for me to jump up and shoot this lunatic, so I'll avoid that, she thought and inched around towards the front of the car. Let's try this. Curling the hubcap in her left hand, she let it fly—kind of like a Frisbee—at the approaching soldier. She was exposed for a few seconds, but not enough time for anyone to get off a shot. Her plan worked well and she knocked down the assailant amid some colorful words. His knee is going to hurt for a while. Smiling, she rounded the car from the front, running parallel to the downed man. His partner, however, had a quicker trigger finger than anticipated and she only managed to fire a bullet into the right bicep of the downed soldier before heading towards the park. She slipped behind the marble fountain, ignoring the naked man shooting water from, well, an inappropriate spot. As far as she knew, only one was out and another now had a serious disadvantage. That meant four were still at full strength. And one could have me in his sights right now, she remembered and fled towards a more congested area of the park about 18 feet away.

Eclipse couldn't decide whether to applaud the terrain designers or slap them. At the moment, congratulations seemed to be in order, but no matter how hard she looked at it, six, seven-foot tall—and pointy at that—bushes spaced evenly apart seemed like way too much effort for a simulation. It was right up there with the inappropriate fountain and the fact that it was actually functional. However, the redhead decided to forget the criticism and ducked behind one of the bushes. It wasn't the greatest cover, but being on the outskirts of the arena, it was as good as she was going to get for a while.

She had a building at her back and the fountain in front of her, the rest of the expanse in between filled with grass. Her current cover wasn't solid enough to make her feel comfortable and checking her wristband, she saw there were three, red buttons lit up, indicating three "dead" on the field. Halfway there. Thank goodness there's a scavenger shooter here otherwise I'd be surrounded by greencoats by now, she thought and adjusted her grip on her pistol when she heard movement. A man was making a break across the grassed expanse at the other end of the bushes. It was an odd move because not only did he have a shot at her over by the fountain, but he might have seen her run to the bushes and might have even gambled a sprint down the line of trees to her position instead of across the long, coverless expanse. It looked fishy and she crouched, aiming at him through a thin part of the branches.

Running a little faster than she anticipated, the redhead only managed to clip his left shoulder, but that was enough to send him scrambling to the ground. Having such a good sniping position for the kill, one more shot took him out of the game, however, her antics had alerted another player to her whereabouts, which might have been the plan all along. A bullet passed through the bush and over her head, a strong possibility of hitting her if she had been standing. It was the soldier with the wounded right bicep and he had to break cover for the shot. He was a good shot with his left hand then, which surprised her as much as it made her frown. She saw him on the further corner of the park, just around the fountain and took the risk.

He was moving back into cover around the fountain and she would lose any shot she might have if he managed to hide once more. Leaping, she ducked into a forward roll, ending in a crouch and firing off a shot before he had a chance to hide. Her aim was off, however, the bullet landing in his left hip for a crippling, but not deadly blow. He buckled and fell onto his stomach, Eclipse standing and sprinting towards and then past him as she put one bullet into his back and ran to the other side of the park behind and across the street into a narrow alleyway to crouch between some bins.

One left.

While it may have been a good thing there was only one left, how the hell was she supposed to find him? She had no leads as to his position and if he survived this long, he wouldn't just pop out and say, "Here I am!"

A pity, really.

Should she make the first move? It was tempting since she was positive she would be able to avoid any fatal blows, but she didn't want to be stuck with a bum leg. A hit to the arm would've been fine—because she'd just use her left hand—however, her Berserker half was supposed to be the reckless one, not her normal self. Thank goodness she hadn't switched over either. Maybe it was the life and death thing.

The Berserker didn't just do anything for play.

Fine with me, Eclipse thought. The last person had to be back in the city, since she hadn't seen signs of anyone else in the park, and he probably would have jumped her by now anyway. The body of the first soldier she wounded lay prone on the ground near the car. Knowing no one could leave the arena until the "game play" was over, she couldn't help but feel sorry for him. Hell, it sucked to be the first one shot and have to lie there for the next 20 minutes or so.

Her cover and visual range was limited, she knew, and crouched down with her back against the wall. She could see down the street one way with her eyes but not the other. She tried to use the side mirror from a parked car to see in that direction and it worked, but only for a moment. Based on what Eclipse saw, the remaining soldier had been up the road behind her, probably taking the chance to change vantage points when Eclipse ran into the alleyway. Her options were limited. She was in an alleyway with very little cover and her enemy lining up the shot across the street.

Her best bet was to match the remaining soldier's run and shoot it out as she tried to find better cover. She was too open there.

There was another flash of black across the street and she took a step forward away from the wall, but froze. Something felt off. No, not felt, something sounded off. There was someone to her right down the other end of the ally, she heard the steps. But that couldn't be right. This was the edge of the map, she thought, and there was only one remaining soldier.

Her cover was limited and his footsteps wouldn't slow. Why was he just walking? And did he not know she was there?

Cursing, she didn't have time to figure it out and took a large step out into the alleyway, pivoting to her right and aiming three shots about waist high. Seeing as she hadn't seen her enemy, he could have crawled up to her or merely ran, so the height was elementary. If he was on the ground, he would be dead, but since this particular soldier just walked up to her, he got a few nice shots to the groin.

And it was a guy.

He didn't say anything, she saw his green eyes through his helmet staring down at the three shots and then back to the girl lying on the ground. A mixture between shock, anger, and pride flashed across his fair face, accented with a gaping mouth and outstretched arms.

It looked so natural.

"Heine," she breathed.

Bang.

"I win!" It was Rika who shouted and in any other circumstance, the redhead might have been thrilled. Right then, though, a shot—whether it was from a training pistol or not—to the back of the head would make anyone cranky.

Not to mention she lost the bout.

"You better have a damn good reason for sneaking in here," Eclipse spat, jumping to her feet and taking off her helmet in one smooth motion.

"Did you really have to do that?" Heine asked, his eyes narrowing dangerously, but there was still some humor there.

And that was what pissed her off the most.

She cocked the gun, aimed down at his groin again and fired. The bullet never made contact—in fact it went right through his open legs—but it was enough to make Heine jump. "You know better than to sneak up on me."

"Sure, but what did they," he pointed down, "ever do to you?"

"I won! I won!" the girl continued, jumping up and down around the terrain. She met each of her fallen teammates as they stood and gave the most annoying squeal and dramatic hug in the process. It was a sickening sight and even though—for only a second—Eclipse thought Rika had won based on experience, when her gun went off and nicked Shane's leg, the redhead knew she just had a bunch of good luck. "I won! Guys, I—"

"Shut up!"

"So, what did you need to tell me?" Eclipse asked, leaning back against the railing. Heine had insisted on the location and had said there was something important he had to tell her, which was the real reason he had busted in on her match. He even calmed her suspicions by mentioning it was for the military and nothing personal.

They were near the port, walking distance away from the range and looking out across the water. It was barely midday and she already found herself winded. Perhaps she had done too much too soon, she figured, massaging her right wrist in her left hand.

"I was just in the right place at the right time. Your name came up for transfer and I volunteered to relay the orders. You don't have much time, I'm afraid, so the interruption seemed warranted, but I don't think I deserved such a welcome."

"I'm not going through it again; it's your own damn fault. Just call me outside next time or something. If you weren't wearing the special suit, you'd be a lot angrier with me right now. Probably be singing an octave higher too."

He sighed. "Sorry, it looked like it was going to be a one-on-one hide and seek battle and I wanted to make sure you had enough time." He walked towards her and leaned forward on the railing close to the redhead, but not close enough to cause her discomfort. Eclipse had to smile at that.

Perhaps he had learned.

"Lexi—"

"Eclipse," she corrected.

"Eclipse then." He rolled his eyes, but didn't press the matter, gazing back out across the water. "You're being ordered to Banadiya to help out Commander Waltfeld."

"The Desert Tiger?" she asked, recognizing the name. Heine nodded slowly and she tried to cover her confusion by turning to look back across the port. "Why over there?"

"Apparently, he's been fighting that Earth Forces ship, but things aren't going well."

"In other words, he's losing." She frowned at that, not realizing they and the "Legged Ship" had fallen so far away from each other.

"Surprisingly," Heine continued. "Commander Waltfeld is known for his military prowess, but he still can't sink her and he's asking for some new pilots to fill his ranks. Gibralter's sending more mobile suits as well, but not too many just yet."

"Why not?"

"I think they're waiting for the Duel and Buster to be repaired."

"Makes sense; they'd be a good addition to the ground forces, especially with that ship and G-Weapon floating around. And, since I don't have a suit, they can send me ahead to pilot whatever they have at hand."

"Precisely."

They both stopped, Eclipse to digest the situation and Heine to let her. She figured she might be shipped out relatively soon, but she had only been out of the hospital for a day and her departure would be taking place without the stimulating company of Yzak and Dearka. Since they were assigned to the same team, the redhead figured they wouldn't be split up like this.

"Am I being reassigned to his team?" she asked after a moment, finding the prospect surprisingly disappointing.

Heine nodded. "Temporarily, at least. I don't think they're removing you from the Le Creuset team for long."

Eclipse gave a noncommittal noise and turned around on the railing, facing the water the same as him. She didn't expect to be transferred to a new team so soon, even if it was temporarily.

"Y'know, I was at Victoria before coming here and I witnessed something I… wasn't expecting." The redhead looked at him, curious about his tone and found herself even a little concerned with the grave look on his face. He didn't seem to be a person who was uncharacteristically serious unless there was a good reason for it and she tensed.

"What happened?"

"How d'you do it; tolerate it even?" Heine went on, not completely answering her question. "I understand the psychology behind having little to no remorse in a MS fight; it had been explained to us many times. But those insurgents were unarmed, humiliated, and hand-cuffed."

Now she was curious. What missions was ZAFT sending him on? Sure, he had been sent with her for SIN-ED and was, technically, her partner if the need should arise, but did the connection to her suddenly make him ZAFT's next go-to for similar missions? That thought made her swallow. She didn't want Heine anywhere near that stuff, she realized. Even now, watching him stare out into the water, he seemed less, well, Heine.

It made her feel, surprisingly, protective.

Let me do it, she thought angrily. Leave him alone.

"I was called out to support a ZAFT team that had, apparently, been ambushed by local insurgents who were unhappy ZAFT had taken control of Victoria. Honestly, I didn't stick around for the full report, especially when I witnessed what they considered 'due justice' against their captors." He sighed then and shook his head, his hand brushing an anxious course through his hair. "They weren't even blindfolded, and yet they put a bullet through their heads. How could they just kill them like that? Knowing they were other human beings?"

A part of her was relieved to know he hadn't been a part of the execution. Based on his reaction, however, either he had forgotten about the mishaps with FS and Stray, or he felt she was an outlet who might understand. "How often do they put you in these situations, Heine?" The concern in her voice started him, she figured. Hell, it had surprised her as well.

Maybe she was changing a bit.

He shrugged. "First time other than our fateful meeting." He winked at her and she rolled her eyes, a light smile on her lips. Perhaps he wasn't that different after all.

"I have to be honest though. If you were the one kneeling on the ground, those insurgents wouldn't have shown you mercy either. I don't mean to be cliché, but it's a 'kill or be killed world' out there; there's no middle ground."

"But I just don't remember when we crossed the line from being humans to being monsters."

Eclipse cringed, she couldn't help it. After everything she had been through, she was wondering the same thing herself. The only difference being it was her humanity in question. "Maybe we didn't cross a line, per say, just drew new ones. At first, the killing of another person was barbaric, but now, it's romanticized through war. The battleground is a stage for heroes and those who live are rewarded. Their prize? Well, the life of their enemy of course. What greater homage could be given than one's existence?"

"Are you justifying what they did?"

"You mean what you and I do, too? Killing people with a mobile suit is still killing them. Do you find that to be a less tortuous and merciful end? Death is death, Heine."

"So, I'm to hate myself then?"

She sighed and took a breath, turning away from him to look out at the water. "It's not an uncommon thought, so I guess you just have to ask yourself whether you can deal with it. We're soldiers. 'Murderers' is probably a better word, but we're in a war and the person we have to deal with every morning in the mirror is still ourselves."

He grew silent for a moment as he considered her words and Eclipse let him. Whatever it said about her psyche, she could look at herself every morning and that was good enough for now, she supposed. Would that change later? Or would she be forced to reckon with what she had done?

"I guess we'll have to make sure we bring peace and then make up for it later, huh?"

She laughed. "Right, peace. Not sure even that will even the scales with death."

"A death doesn't have to equal a death to even the scales, you know. I'd like to think there is more to it than that."

In the end, they were both guessing, so she just shrugged, not having a concrete answer and after being part of a program that seemed to flirt with that concept, she didn't want to admit to him that insanity still seemed to be the viable outcome. "Just don't get soft. I'd hate to think you got killed because your enemy was a bit less indecisive."

"You saying you don't want me to die?" Heine was genuinely interested, resting his head on an upraised hand. A confident smirk curled up his lips, but Eclipse found herself rolling her eyes. They looked at each other for a moment, making their own assessments in that split second and the redhead bailed first.

"You're scheduled to take off in an hour," he said a moment later, a bit of laughter in his comment. "I'll meet you at the carrier."

"I'll let the others in my team know."

They nodded to each other. "And, thanks, Lexi," he said a moment later and she shook her head, not wanting to correct him yet again.

Maybe I'll let him call me that.

Yzak and Dearka weren't hard to find; Eclipse tracked them down to a nearby hangar. They were standing on the floor in front of the Buster and Duel, chatting as they observed the repairs. If they hadn't been asked to do anything, it meant the machines were most likely damaged more than she had initially thought and that was a little concerning. She tried not to think about it as she caught them up to speed.

"The desert?" Yzak scoffed. "I really hope that isn't our next destination too."

"Where the 'Legged Ship' goes, we go," Dearka said simply and shrugged. "I suppose we should be happy to know we're still on point."

"Well, I'm going to be temporarily transferred, so there's still the possibility you two won't be sent there too. Maybe if you play nice here, they won't want to kick you out and you can avoid the sunburn."

Yzak cocked his eyebrow. "Have you developed a sense of humor too?"

Dearka snorted through a short laugh and Eclipse rolled her eyes, waving goodbye and leaving them to their damaged machines.

She didn't have much to pack. In fact, everything she did own was still on the Vesalius and knowing it was up there and she was down here, the probability of her getting it within the next hour was very small. Heine—presumably—talked intelligence into giving her a laptop and some other accessories, but other than that, her luggage was extremely light.

The carrier was relatively small, transporting only two BuCUEs and three soldiers, counting Eclipse. Ironically, the two soldiers were Breck and Rika. Judging by their faces, she figured they were chosen because of their success at the simulations—and not personal preference—but the redhead was still wary they could hold their own.

Not going in right away, she looked around for her well-wisher, wondering if this was going to be the first promise he had ever broken to someone. The thought was short lived, however, not being able to hold back the smile when he ran up to her.

"Ah, you look like you missed me," Heine said.

"More like thinking you bailed."

"Actually, I'm supposed to be monitoring some air waves right now, but a buddy of mine offered to fill in for a bit."

"That's quite a friend."

"Yeah, they're not that bad if you ever find a few," he mocked, laughing when she rolled her eyes. "You gonna be alright by yourself?"

"Who are you all of a sudden, my mother? Damnit, Heine, you know I can take care of myself. Need I remind you of some nicely aimed shots?"

"You're right, let's not go there."

"Hey, elite, the pilot said we're taking off. Better get inside," Breck called, but the engine starting was enough of a hint. Heine took a step back to shield his eyes when the upper blades started rotating, and at first the redhead thought he was going to wave and walk away, but he seemed to be saying something.

"What?" she yelled back, hoping to hear his last words before he got too far away.

"I said, do you know a Lathan Rymyr?"

Eclipse froze. "L-Lathan?"

"I'll take that as a 'yes,'" Heine went on, having to shout even louder now. "He says that if you die, he'll have to kill you. A little cliché, wouldn't you say?"

"H-Heine!" she yelled, but he was too far away now and waving vigorously. If she didn't know any better, he was amused by her reaction. If only she thought it was as funny. He knows Lathan? Dear God, the world must be coming to an end. Nothing short of Judgment Day could save us from that meeting.

A/N: Alright, guys here's another chapter. 25, woot! I never thought I'd get this far. See, I have this tendency to drop stories before I finish them. Probably not unfamiliar to some of you out there. Hopefully, that won't happen with this one and I have a few good friends who won't let me anyway.

Yeah, I know I said I'd get Andy, DaCosta, and Aisha last time, but apparently there was more to do in this one than I thought. Anyway, they'll for sure be in the next one and maybe even some SEED favorites. If anything, Andy will be excited to know there's someone who loves coffee as much as he does. Kinda scary if you ask me.

Well, I have a special shoutout to make to my Betas, Death-Scimitar and CSSStravag. Death has always been a Beta of mine, but I never gave her enough credit. She knows this story wouldn't go anywhere without her, so I guess it's okay. Stravag's awesome. He knows the things I don't, and sees the things I can't. A nice combination if you ask me. Being great writers in their own respects helps things as well. Thanks guys!

Also, thanks for the reads and reviews. I know the last chapter was a tad slow, so hopefully this one made up for it.

See you all in the next chapter!

Strata