Gundam Wing: Journey to a New Battlefield

by operation meteor

The war is won, yet he cannot find peace. When a mission gone wrong throws Heero into another world, how will he survive? And how will he react when he is confronted with his greatest challenge yet? For love can be trickier than any battlefield foe...

15. Chapter 15

Author's Notes: I"M BACK! Lol, I always wanted to say that.

In all seriousness, I'm sorry it took so long to get this chapter out. I know you all want to dive on in, but there's something important we need to go over first. Bear with me, it won't take long.

I've always felt that great music is one of the hallmarks of a great show, movie, or video game. Unfortunately, with fanfiction you can't exactly add a soundtrack to it, kinda hard to do that with literature. However, I believe that music can enhance one's reading experience as much as it does watching a favorite movie or anime, and from now on I'm going to try and do that in my fic. How, you ask? Simple; during the chapters, you will encounter prompts for when I want a certain song to begin in the background. Here's an example of said prompt: (Start "Song"). There will be a similar one for when I want it to stop playing.

Of course, I couldn't force you guys and girls to actually go to youtube on a separate tab and find the songs even if I wanted to; kinda hard to do that over a computer, lol! So, naturally, you don't have to go along with this if you don't want to. It's just something I'm adding to my fic. Hell, you can choose different songs if you want to!

Also, not all the pieces I pick will be Gundam ones. A lot will be songs I've encountered through video games or other anime. Again, you don't have to go along with them, they're just what I'm using for the particular scene.

Alright, the ones that are in this chapter, in order, are; "White Devil" and "Fighter" from Ace Combat Assault Horizon by Keiki Kobayashi, and "Rhythm Emotion" from Gundam Wing by Two-Mix.

Oh, one last thing. The Seed canon takes a major kick in the nads towards the end of the chapter. I'm not apologizing for it; I've had this planned for months. Don't worry, other battles from later on in the series will still take place, but the circumstances leading up to some of them will be quite different.

Enjoy!

There's only one rule in war: survive.

Episode Fifteen: Operation Spitbreak

For a moment, the entire room was silent. Kira, Lacus, and her father were all completely taken aback by Eileen's announcement.

The former chairman was the first to regain their voice. "That fool! He thinks he can end the war in a single blow by taking Alaska, but the Alliance High Command can simply retreat if it comes down to it. This will turn into a full scale invasion of the Atlantic Federation mainland, and in the end it'll only bog down, regardless of whether or not he takes JOSH-A! The casualties on both sides will skyrocket!"

"Yes," said Eileen, "the Atlantic Federation will fight bitterly for every square inch of their home territory, and countless civilians will be caught in the crossfire. It'll be a bloodbath!"

"And if you did not know about this until now," said Clyne, "then that means Zala's actions are not sanctioned by the Supreme Council!"

"Yes," she replied, "although with the majority of the Council in the hands of the radical faction, there's no chance of him facing criminal charges, even though going behind our backs constitutes a blatant abuse of power!"

"Has the battle officially begun?" he asked.

"Not yet," said Eileen, "but it will start any minute now; Zala would not have made an open proclamation if the forces necessary to carry out Spitbreak weren't already in place."

As her father and his colleague continued to speak, Lacus looked over at the boy sitting next to her on the couch. Fully recovered, Kira had been a beacon of energy and optimism over the past few days, and the pink-haired songstress had greatly enjoyed the time they had spent together. However, now she saw his eyes widen in fear, and she knew why; the Archangel's destination had been Alaska, and with the indomitable Heero Yuy still protecting it the vessel had certainly arrived there intact after the battle in the Marshall Islands. Now it would be under attack once again, only this time the white warship and Wing Zero would be up against almost all of ZAFT's surface forces.

Kira looked at her, and Lacus saw the look in his eyes change from fear to resolve. She knew exactly what he was going to say, and as much as she wanted otherwise, she knew that she did not have the heart to try and stop him.

"Lacus," he said softly, "I'm grateful for all you've done for me… but I can't stay here anymore. My friends are on the Archangel, and I know it's at Alaska. I have to help them!"

Even though she had anticipated what he would say, that did not diminish Lacus's trepidation. "Are you going to return to the Alliance? Are you going to fight ZAFT again?"

The boy shook his head. "No… I'll protect my friends, of course, but ZAFT isn't my real enemy."

He looked at her, his face a beacon of hope and determination. "There are plenty of Naturals and Coordinators… I mean… there are many people on both sides, soldiers and civilians, who are against this war. My real enemies… are those who care only for victory, and don't care how many people have to die for them to achieve it. That's who I'm going to fight."

"If that's how you feel," said Clyne, "then there's something I want you to have. You'll need it to get to Earth and help your friends."

Kira and Lacus looked over at the former Chairman, surprised that he'd been listening in. He turned and smiled at his daughter. "Lacus, those access cards that Bristow sent us… you know the ones."

Her eyes widened at her father's words. The first of the new models… yes! Kira will need its power, and at the same time we can prevent the radicals from using it!

She nodded. "I'll go get them now. Father, can you find a uniform for Kira to wear?"

He nodded. "I already have one; Bristow dropped it off five days ago." He chuckled. "I think he anticipated something like this would happen; his knack for contingency planning is truly remarkable."

"Clyne," said Eileen, still on the screen, "are you sure about this? I mean no disrespect towards your guest, but can we entrust him with something like this?"

"Yes, Miss Canaver," he said, "In fact, I can think of no one better suited to it. Kira's ideals… he seeks to fight the source of this conflict. To do that he will need power, and that machine will give him it."

He then turned to Kira, and Lacus saw her father smile again. "That being said, I do have one small favor to ask in return for this."

The young man was obviously confused as to what was going on, but he nodded at Clyne. "Of course. What is it?"

"When you get to Earth and save your friends," he said, "give a message to Heero Yuy for me."

"What do you want me to tell him?" asked Kira.

"Tell him 'Thank you for saving my daughter'," said Clyne, "I am forever in his debt for that."

Kira nodded, and Clyne stood up. "Well then, come along young man," he said, "I need to get you your disguise."

Lacus stood up as well. "I'll go get the access cards."

"Thank you, Lacus," her father said, "Meet us in the garage. You'll take Kira to the facility; Zala still hasn't deigned you worth keeping an eye on, and we'll have to make the most of that."

She nodded. "I understand, father. I will be waiting for you."

She then turned to Kira and smiled. "You'd better hurry up, Kira. After all, your friends are waiting for you."

….

"Captain!" said the Natta's communications officer, "Priority One signal coming from the Nobel. It's the drop order!"

Captain Talia Gladys nodded. "Tell the pilots to brace themselves! Eject GINN pods on my mark!"

On the main monitor she saw the lead frigates of the 18 ship fleet launch their pods. Each vessel fired two of the capsules, containing three GINNs apiece; their entire mobile suit complement.

"Stand by!" she shouted, "Three, two, one, mark!"

"Capsules away!" said the ship's mobile suit combat controller, "I have green across the board for both drop pods; no mechanical difficulties to report. They'll be hitting the atmosphere in twenty seconds."

"Well done," said Talia, "Helm, pull us up and match heading with the Nobel. Continue on that path until we receive further orders."

As the frigate's pilot carried out her instructions, Talia looked on as the swarm of pods hit the atmosphere, turning red as they did so. Far below, she knew that the surface forces had in all likelihood begun their assault.

So it begins…

….

Creuset grinned from his spot on the bridge of the Vespucci as the armada came within maximum firing range of the Alaskan coast and the enemy fleet. Impressive, Azrael, he thought, I knew you were conning the Eurasians into sending forces here, but I didn't think you'd convince them to allocate this much resources. This will make things all the more entertaining. Time to get to work!

He moved over to the communications station and opened a fleet wide channel. "All hands, this is Commander Le Creuset. Commence the attack. Fuji and Kilimanjaro, release your DINNs and begin saturation bombardment. All submarine/carriers, surface and release both airborne and submersible mobile suits, then commence missile attacks and torpedo salvos. Surface carriers, launch your DINNs at once. Destroyers, concentrate your fire on the enemy forces guarding the beaches outside the bay; clear a path for the landing craft! All mobile suits will attack across the entire front; hit them head on!"

"Helm, bring us up!" shouted the Captain, "MS control, have all units ready for launch!"

Creuset braced himself against the wall as he felt the Vespucci rise. After a few seconds the floor leveled out beneath him, and he knew the vessel was on the surface.

Turning to the primary tactical display, he smiled as he saw the grand fleet arrayed on the screen. The submarine/carriers were interspersed with the destroyers, with the flagship Vespucci at the rear of the formation. The landing ships and surface carriers were at the center of the armada, though the former would move to the front as soon as holes were punched in the flanks of the Eurasian fleet, which were guarding the shores outside the bay. The Flying Fortresses were over the front of the assault force, with the Fuji on the left flank and the Kilimanjaro on the right. Swarms of smaller dots began filling the screen as both aerial and underwater mobile suits streamed forth from their assigned carriers. At the same time, a larger amount of even smaller contacts billowed out from the armada; anti-ship and surface-to-surface missiles launched from the capital ships and the Flying Fortresses.

Heads up, Naturals, thought Creuset, grinning as the warheads began to arc downward at their targets, and face a rain of fire.

….

Kira looked around nervously as he stepped out of the elevator. Dressed in the red uniform reserved for elite ZAFT pilots, he followed Lacus as she approached a door with two security guards in front of it. Looking at the pink-haired songstress, he saw that she still had that soft, gentle smile on her face that seemed to be her default expression. If she was feeling any unease at their situation, she was hiding it extremely well.

The two of them had been escorted to one of the capital's military bases by a pair of soldiers loyal to the moderate faction. Once they had reached the entrance Lacus had flashed the access cards Bristow had given her father, and they had been allowed to enter the facility. Their escorts had parted ways with them in the lobby, leaving them to find their way through the base. Fortunately, Lacus seemed to know exactly where she was heading, and Kira figured either Bristow or her father had given her directions for where to go.

The base itself was located near the main docking bays at the center of the colony. It was officially meant to serve two purposes: a rapid deployment platform for the capital's mobile suit teams, and a support facility for the soldiers who maintained security on the docks. However, according to Lacus, the base also had a top secret research and design wing, and it was that section they were approaching.

As they approached the door Lacus's smile grew a bit bigger as she looked at the guards. "Hello," she said, "I was asked by the Chairman himself to bring this young man here. He's been selected as the pilot for the new model, and the Chairman thought it would be appropriate for me to escort him as a reward for all his hard work."

Both the guards' eyes widened and they looked at Kira with a mixture of awe and jealousy. Kira looked down, the attention not particularly to his liking. I guess I can see why they'd react that way, he thought, glancing over at Lacus, Having her as an escort… well, what guy wouldn't want that?

He saw Lacus show the guards her access cards, and they nodded. "Understood, miss," said one of them, "go on through."

"Thank you," she replied before turning to Kira, smiling, "Come on, let's go."

Kira nodded and moved beside her as they walked through the door. As it shut behind them he saw that they were in a white corridor lined on both sides with doors. At the far end he saw a larger one with what appeared to be a keypad next to it.

Lacus lead the way over to the door at the end, and she ran one of the access cards through a slot next to the keypad. A light above the pad flashed green, and the doors opened, revealing a catwalk that ran through what Kira realized was a hangar. As they entered the facility, he saw that though the area they were walking in was lit, both sides of the hangar were dark, and he couldn't tell if there were any mobile suits along the walls or not.

Eventually they stopped at the halfway point of the catwalk, and Lacus turned and faced the wall. Kira looked the same direction, and thought he saw an outline of something massive in the darkness. What is it?, he thought, squinting to get a better view.

He suddenly regretted his decision as several lights came on, and he had to shield his eyes until they could adjust. After a few seconds he pulled his hand away from his eyes… and his all but hit the floor when he saw what was in front of him.

It was a massive mobile suit, far larger than the Strike had been. It was the same dull gray that Kira's former machine had been when it was powered off, and the young man realized that it must've been equipped with Phase Shift Armor.

Like the Strike, it had a four pronged head crest, and the overall frame had a strong resemblance to his old mobile suit. However, this machine was bigger in every area, and on the back he could see what appeared to be folded wings, along with two large cannons. At its waist he could see additional weapons, including two beam sabers. A large shield was mounted on its left arm. The mobile suit seemed to exude a sense of majesty that, for reasons he could not identify, made Kira think of the Wing Zero.

"A Gundam…" he said softly, not even trying to conceal the awe in his voice.

He'd heard Heero call Wing Zero a Gundam before, but he'd actually come across the term before the quiet and deadly young man had joined up with the Archangel. To be more precise, he'd seen the word, or rather the acronym, on the Strike's main monitor the first time he'd powered up the machine. The letters had stood for General Unilateral Neuro - Link Dispersive Automatic Maneuver, and Kira had unconsciously combined them to form the word. Since then it had stuck with him, though he'd only said the word in front of a few people, and most of them had raised eyebrows at it. From what the young Coordinator had heard from Heero, Wing Zero was made from a highly advanced material called Gundanium Alloy, which was where it took the name 'Gundam' from. Kira knew that Heero hadn't considered the Strike to be a Gundam in part because of that distinction, though he also hadn't been dismissive of the machine.

Still, looking at the impressive machine in front of him, Kira had to wonder if Heero would be willing to overlook the difference in material used in the construction and call the mobile suit a Gundam. Kira had felt a sense of strength from that word from the moment he'd first uttered it, and both the Strike and Wing Zero had strongly resonated with that same sense of power, so he'd been more than willing to refer to both units as Gundams. That same sense of force and presence was exuding from the mobile suit before him, and the boy felt the moniker was appropriate.

"Actually," said Lacus, snapping Kira out of his thoughts, "this is the ZGMF-X10A Freedom." As he turned to her, she smiled. "Although I think Gundam's better because it sounds more powerful."

The young lady looked up at the mobile suit, her expression becoming more serious. "Kira, this machine is equipped with many advanced technologies… including N-jammer Cancellers."

It took him a moment to process that. "Wait," said Kira, "You mean…"

Lacus nodded. "Yes… this machine is nuclear powered." She turned to him, her expression grim. "After the attack on Junius Seven, the PLANTs swore to abandon nuclear power. The fact that Chairman Zala has worked in secret to develop the means to bypass the N-jammers… means he's planning on using nuclear arms."

"Why?" asked Kira, stunned at her words, "Why would he do such a thing?"

"Revenge," she said sadly, "Kira, don't you remember… what happened to Athrun's mother?"

That's right, he thought, she was killed in the Junius Seven attack. Athrun's father is the new Supreme Chairman… I suppose it all makes sense.

He nodded solemnly. "Yeah, I do. But… I don't think Athrun's been fighting for revenge… at least, not before our last battle, anyway."

"I agree," said Lacus, "but his father is another matter. 'Blood for blood' is more or less the rallying cry of the radical faction, and Patrick Zala is the most vocal proponent. Operation Spitbreak will not be enough to quench his thirst for vengeance; I fear he plans to unleash Armageddon upon the Earth. One could also argue that the Alliance, or at least the Atlantic Federation, may well be planning to do the same to the PLANTs; according to Field Marshall Bristow's friends in the intelligence community, the anti-Coordinator faction Blue Cosmos has significant influence in the upper echelons of both their military and political organizations."

"That's who I have to fight," said Kira, "The people in both ZAFT and the Alliance who want to completely wipe out the other side… those are my enemies."

Lacus nodded and smiled at him. "Kira," she said, "you have the will to fight, to take on such powerful foes… but that alone isn't enough. You need power in order to confront them, and the Freedom will give it to you. But you can't rely on its power alone… nor can you rely on your will alone. You need both, Kira. One in hand with the other, in balance... neither will alone, nor strength alone. Combine them, and turn them into your sword and shield."

Kira's eyes widened as the girl spoke, her words showing a wisdom beyond her years that he could only marvel at. "Neither will alone," he repeated, "nor strength alone… who are you?"

Her smile grew a little as she replied. "I am simply Lacus Clyne, Kira Yamato."

….

Standing up in the control booth, Lacus smiled as she waved at Kira through the window. The boy had just suited up a few minutes ago and was now entering the Freedom. He smiled and waved back, and the songstress felt her heart flutter as he did so.

She then turned to the man standing next to her; Field Marshal Bristow's contact within the facility. "How long do we have?" she asked.

"A few more minutes," the man replied, "It should be long enough."

Lacus nodded and looked around at the staff members lying on the floor. "Will they be alright?"

The soldier nodded. "I just hit them with a knockout gas grenade earlier. They'll wake up in about an hour, a little nauseous but no worse for the wear. My partner's got the security cameras in this room on a loop, so we won't have to worry about guards coming in. However, he wasn't able to pull the same trick with the hangar cameras; when Zala finds out the Freedom's been hijacked and sees the recordings, you'll be on there, Miss Lacus."

"It's alright," the songstress replied, looking back out at the prototype mobile suit, "I knew going in what the risks would be, and I am prepared to go underground. My father has made the necessary arrangements, and our allies are ready to help."

"We all know what's at stake, ma'am," said the soldier, nodding, "We'll do whatever it takes to help you and your father; we won't let Zala get away with mass-murder."

"Hopefully we can stop him before he gets that far," said Lacus. She smiled as she saw Kira power up the mobile suit, its dull gray hull changing color as the Phase Shift Armor activated. The torso was black, the arms, legs, shoulders, and head were white, and the wings were blue and black. A truly impressive machine, she thought, Perhaps now that it is in Kira's hands, it can serve a better purpose than as a harbinger of destruction.

She nodded at the soldier next to her, who went up to the main console and began typing. As the doors at the far end of the hangar opened up, Lacus went to the microphone nearby and spoke. "Kira, we're sending you flight coordinates to get through the homeland defenses. They were designed to prevent an external assault; they're not as good at keeping things in. Still, expect resistance as you make your escape."

"Got it," he said, "Anything else?"

"The coordinates we're giving you pass through the Pendragon Line," she replied, "It's not as fortified as the Jachin Due Line, but there are still a large number of warships and mobile suits stationed there. If you're forced to engage, don't get bogged down in a dogfight; reinforcements will arrive and overwhelm you. The Freedom is the most powerful mobile suit ZAFT's ever built, but it's not invincible."

"I'll be careful," said Kira, "Lacus… thank you."

The songstress smiled. "You are very welcome, Kira. Now, go and help your friends!"

"I will!" he replied. "Kira Yamato, Gundam Freedom, launching!"

….

Gunning the Freedom's engines as the doors opened, Kira was amazed at the power of the machine. The acceleration was far superior to that of the Strike, and as he rocketed out of Aprilius One he saw that the other systems were no less advanced. "Amazing!" he said, "It has over four times the power of the Strike!" The mobile suit's nuclear reactor meant that it had an unlimited operating time; like Wing Zero, the machine's operating capacity was limited only by its pilot.

Warning alarms went off in the cockpit as blips appeared on his radar; his departure had not gone unnoticed. I hope Lacus made it out of the base alright, he thought before turning to face his foes and bringing the Freedom's weapons online.

There were eight GINNs approaching, two closer than the rest. Kira decided to engage them first. Drawing and igniting two violet blades, one in each hand, he swooped in on the approaching foes, far faster than he'd ever moved in the Strike. The mobile suit handled so precisely… and Kira knew how he wanted to use it.

Closing the gap with the two lead GINNs, dodging rifle volleys, he struck with his beam sabers. Moving like two violet blurs, the weapons sliced the heads off of the machines, practically blinding them.

Incredible!, he thought as he left the disabled units in his wake, I never could've done that in the Strike! Turning to face the remaining six GINNs fast approaching, he decided to try out the Freedom's ranged weapons.

Putting the beam saber in his left hand away, he drew the machine's 'Lupus' high-energy beam rifle. At the same time, the two 'Balaena' plasma cannons, which had been folded on the back of the wings, swung forward and mounted on the shoulders, while the hip mounted 'Xiphias' rail cannons swung up and forward as well.

While the Freedom's artillery was arming, one of the displays in the cockpit light up, and Kira started designating targets. The system was far more precise than the more conventional setup he'd used on the Strike, and was able to track and lock on to multiple targets. The young man took a deep breath. Here goes...

Kira cut loose, unleashing a barrage of crimson plasma blasts, green energy beams, and yellow cannon shells. The rain of fire slammed into the incoming GINNs. Rifles exploded, maneuvering jets were trashed, heads and the cameras inside them were shot off… but not a single mobile suit was destroyed, not one pilot killed.

I can do this!, thought Kira as he flew through the group of disabled machines, This is how I want to fight! My enemies aren't these pilots; they're the people who are manipulating them!

His radar lit up with more contacts as he flew away from the capital. Most were too far away to engage him at the speed he was going, but there were some out front that he would have to deal with. Two Nazca-class destroyers were turning to face him, launching their GINNs as they did so. They must be part of the Pendragon Line's forces, he thought. The twelve mobile suits spread out as they moved to engage him.

"No need to fight all of them," he said to himself, "I'll cut right through the middle."

Weaving through a rain of rifle fire as the GINNs cut loose, Kira swiftly closed the gap. He cut the rifle arm off one machine while at the same time letting loose a shot with his own beam gun, which took the head off of another GINN. The young man then sliced another GINN's sword completely in two while hitting the engines of another with a second shot from his beam rifle. Then he was through the enemy mobile suits, closing in on the two large azure warships.

Once again bringing all his weapons to bear, Kira began picking targets with the Freedom's advanced tracking system. He then opened up, raining crimson, emerald, and saffron fire down on the destroyers. Both vessels forward heavy beam cannons were knocked out of commission, along with the dual rail cannons further back along their hulls.

The major threats to his new machine removed, Kira flew straight past the destroyers. The two warships weren't completely defanged, and released volleys of CIW fire and anti-MS missiles. However, the few shots that did connect barely even rocked the Freedom, and the mobile suit's nuclear reactor ensured that its Phase Shift Armor would never run out of power; he'd never have to worry about losing his protection in the middle of a fight again.

Checking his sensors, he saw that he had cleared the Pendragon Line. Other mobile suits and warships were rushing towards the point where he'd engaged the ZAFT units in his path, but they stood no chance of catching up to him. He turned his gaze towards the Earth, pushing his engines as fast as they could go.

Hang on everyone, he thought, I'm coming!

….

Athrun sighed as he looked out the window of the shuttle. Space, he thought, when I was down on the surface, I actually missed it. Now, though… Even after all the time that had passed since the battle in the Marshall Islands and his second encounter with Cagalli, his mind remained besieged by conflicting thoughts. More to the point, he couldn't get that strong willed, fiery tempered yet surprisingly compassionate blond girl out of his head, and she was on Earth. The young man knew that heading back into space meant his odds of seeing her again had shrunk to just about zero… and he wasn't sure how to feel about that.

In the distance he could see the telltale hourglass figures of the PLANTs growing larger and larger, and he knew that the shuttle would be passing through the Exclusion Grid soon. After several weeks of languishing in Carpentaria without so much as a peep from the homeland, he had suddenly been ordered to return to the capital. So here he was, sitting on a shuttle with only a handful of other soldiers on board with him, his left arm still in a sling, though that would change within a few days.

As he peered out the window, he saw the telltale blue fire of thruster wash, and realized that something was approaching them. Squinting, he struggled to make out what it was. It's too small to be a warship or a shuttle, he thought after a moment as the thing came closer, I guess it's a mobile suit.

Indeed, after a few more seconds the ZAFT pilot realized that was exactly what it was. However, he realized that it wasn't a model he was familiar with. It certainly wasn't a GINN, though he could see that the strange machine bore some similarities to the prototypes that he'd helped steal in what seemed like a lifetime ago on Heliopolis.

It was moving incredibly fast, and Athrun was only able to catch a glimpse of it up close as it streaked past his side of the shuttle. His eyes widened as he saw just how big the unit was; even in the split second he had to view the thing, he could instantly tell that it was larger than any of the GAT machines. He also was able to make out several weapons on the thing, more than any of the Alliance prototypes had been able to carry. It must be a new model!

Then it was gone, becoming little more than a fading pinprick of blue thruster fire before disappearing altogether. Athrun couldn't help but smile slightly. What a machine, he thought, Wish it hadn't been going so fast; I would've liked to study it up close. Oh well, maybe father will show me the schematics when we meet; his message did mention giving me a new unit, after all. Perhaps it's a mobile suit from the same line as that thing. I guess I'll see what happens soon enough…

….

"Alright, let's do this!" roared Zubov as his DINN Mk. II dropped out of the Fuji. Gunning his engines, he and the rest of Schwarze Team swiftly moved to the head of the fleet, leading the charge as the massive swarm of mobile suits filled the sky. His seven squad mates formed up around him, and Rot and Grün Teams moved in on Schwarze's left and right, respectively.

As the Special Operations Squadrons took their place at the tip of ZAFT's spear, the swarm of missiles launched by the armada slammed down into their targets. Several Alliance destroyers, the enemy ships closest to the Coordinator grand fleet, suffered a multitude of hits, with some being outright torn in half as multiple missiles smashed into them at once and detonated. Explosions ripped through the ranks of enemy fleet, and the Natural's forward ranks were already reeling under the carnage.

At the same time, Zubov spotted the telltale white trails in the water of the armada's opening torpedo spread, and hundreds of the warheads ripped through the enemy fleet. Destroyers that were already suffering from missile hits were mauled by explosions below the waterline, while scattered detonations in seemingly empty patches of sea told the Vulture that at least some Alliance submarines had been hit as well.

Not all of the armada's opening barrage was aimed at the enemy's naval force, naturally. A veritable hail of missiles arced down onto the shoreline, ripping apart armored vehicles and fortifications as they paved the way for the landing force that would soon be moving forward. Massive emerald beams added to the carnage as the Flying Fortresses opened up with their ventral cannons, annihilating gun emplacements and tanks.

Contact alarms blaring in his cockpit let Zubov know that the Naturals were not taking their hits lying down; fighters were streaming from the decks of the enemy aircraft carriers, and more planes were also coming from inland facilities. Already scores were in the air, with undoubtedly many more to follow.

Schwarze Teams Commander grinned as he saw the Su-63Ks and MiG-75s fill the sky before him. "Come on, boys!" he yelled, igniting his beam saber and brining his rifle to bear, "There's plenty for everyone!"

The black and grey DINNs, with their silver death's heads displayed proudly on their chests, charged head on as the enemy fighters unleashed a massive opening barrage of missiles; the Alliance's first counter-attack. The mobile suits of all three Special Operations Teams dodged the enemy fire with ease, shooting down any warheads that they couldn't evade. Of course, the sheer volume of missiles that had been launched meant that the ZAFT air units couldn't completely avoid getting hit, and several of the regular forces' machines exploded as some of the multitude of missiles found their targets.

However, the losses were negligible in light of the hundreds of DINNs that filled the sky, and the ZAFT air units quickly retaliated with their own horde of missiles. The sky was chocked with contrails and warheads, and dozens of explosions ripped through the forward ranks of the Alliance air wing, shredding fighters and pilots that were unable to eject.

Both sides were moving too fast to launch an organized second salvo, and Zubov knew from here on out the air battle would be a massive furball; the largest of the war, he reckoned. Just the way I like it!

Pulling the trigger as he smashed headlong into the center of the massive fighter swarm, he cackled like a maniac as three planes were torn apart by rifle fire; his first kills of the day. Whirling around to dodge a pair of missiles, he quickly sighted in on the plane that had launched them and slammed the throttle forward, spearing the jet right through the cockpit with his violet blade.

As he threw himself into the thick of the fighting, he howled with joy as the battle became exactly as he had predicted, had hoped it would be; a massive free-for-all, with hundreds of fighters and mobile suits racing across the sky, explosions dotting the horizon as far as the eye could see. Schwarze Team was at the heart of the furball, along with Rot and Grün, the three Special Operations Squadrons jockeying for kills in an undeclared contest; the animosities between the units' respective commanders made such a fight inevitable. Despite the fact that both Rot and Grün only had four mobile suits each, they were already making an impressive showing for themselves, with the former's crimson machines fighting with ruthless efficiency while the latter's green units engaged the enemy with their trademark flexible technique, dividing into wing pairs that fought back-to-back in order to maximize coverage while minimizing their chances of hitting their teammates.

Down below, smaller explosions appeared just beneath the surface, along with smaller torpedo tracks; signs of an equally furious underwater battle as ZAFTs GOOhNs and ZnOs clashed with the Alliance's mini attack subs, the Aqua Darts. At the same time, larger torpedo tracks crisscrossed between the two fleets; both sides' larger submarines were already going at it.

Meanwhile, the Alliance's surface ships had recovered enough to return fire. Undamaged destroyers moved forward, along with the larger missile cruisers, and they began trading salvos with both ZAFT's surface ships and the Vosgulovs, which were running on the surface in order to recover any DINNs that were damaged but still able to return to their ships.

As Zubov destroyed a fighter with his rifle and sliced another in two with his beam saber, one of his subordinates contacted him. "Sir," the man said, "There's no sign of the legged ship or Wing Zero yet."

"Keep your eyes peeled," said Zubov, "They're probably still inside the base. Once we catch sight of them, we'll tear our way through this rabble and take them both down. There's no way we're letting Rot and Grün have the glory of those kills!"

….

Murrue's eyes widened in disbelief as Admiral Sutherland finished his message. "ZAFT's hitting us here?"

The Atlantic Federation Supreme Commander nodded. "It looks like they tricked us; Panama wasn't their target after all. Captain Ramius, launch your ship immediately! Defend this base at all costs!"

Murrue nodded. "Yes, Admiral; we're moving out."

"Good luck," said Sutherland before he cut the connection.

Murrue wasted no time in issuing orders. "All hands, Level One battle stations! Launch the ship immediately! Bring all weapons online; be ready to fire the moment we leave the dock!"

As the bridge crew scrambled to carry out her instructions, she turned to Heero. The young man who had captured her heart looked at her, his Prussian blue eyes as calm as ever, strength flowing from them.

He nodded. "I'll launch as soon as the hangar doors open."

As he turned to head towards the hangar, Murrue grabbed his arm. "Heero!" she said, knowing that her crew was too busy to be paying any attention to the two of them at the moment, "Be careful, alright? If ZAFT's hitting us here, their force must be massive."

"Roger that," he replied before running to the door. Then he was off the bridge and out of sight.

Turning to face the forward viewport, she saw that the Archangel was already leaving its berth and moving towards the exit. Slowly the massive dock door opened up before them, though the waterfall in front of it obscured her view of any actual fighting.

"Get the hangar doors open!" she yelled, "I want Wing Zero to be able to launch the instant we clear the exit."

"Yes ma'am!" said Miriallia. After a few seconds she spoke up again. "Doors are open… hey, hold on, Heero!"

The rest of the bridge crew gasped as Wing Zero shot out of the hangar before the ship had even cleared the waterfall, before even the base door itself had finished opening up. After a second of surprise Murrue found herself smiling. I should've known he'd do that, she thought as the ship neared the exit, the door now completely open, Heero would want to hit ZAFT as soon as possible, especially considering the force they must have marshaled to strike here.

The ship passed through the waterfall, and as the view cleared Murrue was stunned by the sight before her. The entire bay was a battlefield, with explosions all across the area, above, on, and below the surface of the water. She saw what had to be over a thousand fighters swirling overhead, mixing it up with hundreds of DINNs. No one was keeping formation; it was a massive aerial brawl.

Meanwhile, on the surface, the Eurasian fleet was already pulling back. Murrue was shocked to see several vessels already on fire and sinking at the mouth of the bay, while beyond them a massive armada of enemy vessels was pressing forward. There must be nearly a hundred destroyers alone in that fleet, she thought, and their Vosgulovs are running on the surface… they even have conventional carriers too! That wasn't all; looming overhead were two titanic Flying Fortresses, the same class as the one they had fought over the Indian Ocean. The pair of airborne leviathans was raining missiles and energy beams down on the coastal fortifications and whatever vessels were in front of the shore, and Murrue knew that they were clearing the way for the massive transport ships that were behind the front lines of enemy warships.

"Captain," said the radar operator, "Additional contacts coming in from high altitude; they're drop pods!"

Carrying GINNs, no doubt, thought Murrue. "How many?" she asked.

"Thirty-six of them, ma'am," he replied, "Their trajectories are split; half are going for the east side of the bay, the other half to the west!"

They'll be landing to help clear out the coastal defenses before the landing ships arrive, thought Murrue, from there they'll support whatever forces come ashore. Thirty-six pods, three mobile suits in each… that's over a hundred GINNs!

Murrue knew they had to act quickly if they were to have a chance in hell at turning the battle around. "Form up with the fleet," she said, "We'll support them with everything we've got. Be ready to put up anti-air fire, and get targeting solutions on the enemy warships!"

"Sonar readings are off the charts," said the sensor officer, "Aqua Darts, GOOhNs, ZnOs… Christ, they've got an underwater dogfight going out there!"

"Keep us above the surface!" said Murrue, "Watch out for suits coming to the surface for rocket attacks."

"Wing Zero's engaging the enemy!" yelled Miriallia.

"On screen!" yelled Murrue. An image appeared on the monitor of the Gundam leveling its Twin Buster Rifle and fired as a formation of six DINNs broke through the massive dogfight and headed towards the Archangel. The blast wasn't as large as Murrue expected, and only two of the purple machines were destroyed. Wing Zero then gunned its engines and moved in with its beam saber and proceeded to decimate the other four machines.

Why did he hold back so much with the rifle?, thought Murrue as she watched Heero slash the DINNs with his emerald blade. An instant later she realized what the answer was; because of all the friendly aircraft in the area, Heero couldn't use the Gundam's massive rifle as freely as he had been able to in their past engagements. Of course; he's trying to avoid friendly fire!

As Heero finished off the last of his immediate foes another voice rang out. "Captain," said the radar officer, "Sixteen new contacts are heading this way… they're the same kind of DINNs that the Valkyrie Team uses!"

"Get me a visual!" she ordered. The image on the monitor changed, showing the upgraded DINNs ripping their way through the edge of the massive dogfight taking place at the mouth of the bay. Eight of them bore a chilling black and grey paintjob with a silver death's head emblazoned on their chests, four had a dark green camouflage pattern, and the last four were blood red with black stripes on the arms and wings. All of them had violet beam sabers in their right hands and rifles in their left.

Suddenly the picture changed, and Heero appeared on the screen. "I have upgraded DINNs breaking out of the furball."

Murrue nodded. "We just picked them up. Heero, can you intercept? We need to link up with the Eurasians so we can coordinate our counter-attack."

"I'm already moving to engage," he replied, "They're probably elites, like that group we encountered at the Marshall Islands. I'll eliminate them as fast as I can, then link up with you and fight the regular forces."

"Understood," said Murrue, "We'll throw up an AA curtain and keep any other DINNs from interfering."

"Roger that," said Heero, "If I see an opportunity I'll send you targeting data. Wing Zero out."

As Murrue began issuing new orders to the bridge crew she saw Wing Zero ascend to meet the oncoming enemy squadrons. He took on twelve such machines in the Marshall Islands, she though, Even though I helped him with supporting fire from the Archangel, I know he could've taken them by himself; none of those pilots were of the same caliber as the Valkyrie Team. The same is probably true here, but there are even more of them now than in that last engagement. Heero, please be careful.

As the sixteen upgraded DINNs spread out in preparation to attack, Murrue's heart went out to the Gundam pilot. Gratitude and affection were at the forefront of her feelings even in the midst of such an unexpected and titanic engagement. She smiled slightly, her belief in the young man stronger than ever even in the face of the massive enemy force confronting them.

"Heero," she whispered, knowing her crew wouldn't hear her, "Show them what you're made of. Show them what it means to face the man who took on the military might of the entire world. Show them what it means to fight a Gundam pilot. I believe in you… I love you."

….

Admiral Sutherland smiled as he watched the battle unfold on a nearby monitor. The Atlantic Federation Supreme Commander, along with the rest of the High Command, were no longer at the Alaska base, though the forces left behind to defend it did not know that. The top brass had in fact slipped out of the bay in one of the massive transport submarines that had been docked at the base roughly a half hour before the start of the battle. Sutherland had relayed his transmission to the Archangel through the base's communications system in order to make it appear that he and the High Command were still at the base… when in fact, save for the soldiers preparing to board the last transport sub, it was already empty.

"Hang in there guys," he said as he watched the white blip that represented the Archangel move up to join the Eurasian Fleet, "at least, long enough to keep ZAFT busy until we're ready."

….

"Hey," said La Flaga, turning to Flay. The two of them were standing in line on the dock, waiting to get inside the last massive transport sub in the facility. They were still fairly far back in the queue, and the fighter pilot was surprised at just how many people were boarding the vessel.

Surprised… and suspicious.

"What is it, Lieutenant Commander?" said the girl.

The blond pilot didn't want to worry Flay, so he tried to come up with an innocuous excuse. "I gotta hit the restroom," he said, "Think I ate a little too much for breakfast this morning. Save my spot, ok?"

"Oh," the red-head replied, "Alright."

Sorry kid, he thought as he nodded and ran towards one of the doors near the back of the dock, I don't like lying to you, but something's off about all this.

He'd seen the Archangel leave the dock, and knew that the only reason they would be doing so was if there was an enemy attack. Yet the base staff was remarkable calm. There was no rush to battle stations or anything like that. In fact, all they had done was continue to load personnel onto the transport sub.

Though La Flaga, along with the rest of the crew of the Archangel, had been confined to the white warship for the past several weeks, that didn't mean he or anyone else aboard was blind. They could still look out the windows and go out onto the observation decks, and from there he had seen an almost non-stop stream of supplies and personnel being loaded onto the massive transport submarines that had been coming and going since the Archangel had arrived at the base.

By now, he thought as he entered one of the corridors, this facility must be near empty. Why would the top brass leave an Atlantic Federation base almost completely in the hands of Eurasian forces?

Something wasn't right, and he was going to find out what the hell it was.

….

(Start "White Devil")

Bringing the Twin Buster Rifle to bear, Heero sighted in on the approaching DINNs. Selecting a target, he pulled the trigger. A golden-yellow beam lanced through one of the black and silver mobile suits, and it exploded. The remaining seven black and silver machines, along with the four green and four red ones, spread out further, clearly moving to envelop him.

Heero's eyes narrowed as he picked another target, this time one of the red DINNs. He fired another low-power shot, and the unit met the same fate as its black and silver comrade. The Gundam pilot could've taken out more by firing at a higher setting… but the backstop for his shots was the broiling furball that the upgraded DINNs had just fought their way through, and the chances of hitting Eurasian fighters was too high. Normally that wouldn't have bothered Heero; he had no love for the Eurasians, especially after learning of their attempt to take over the Archangel during the ship's stop at their Artemis base.

However… Heero knew that Murrue would not want him to sacrifice their allies just for the sake of taking out more of the enemy. While she had been uneasy upon first seeing the massive Eurasian fleet when they had arrived at Alaska, now that they were fighting to defend the base Heero knew that Murrue would put aside her misgivings and work with them, treating them as fellow comrades. While the Gundam pilot was willing to do anything to protect the woman he'd fallen in love with, including destroying some of the Eurasian fighters as collateral damage if necessary, he knew that Murrue would not want him to do that, and would in fact be saddened and distraught if he did so.

So he would hold himself back, limit the power of the Twin Buster Rifle… for now, at least. He knew from the files he'd read, along with his experience in the orbital battle, that the Earth Forces fighters and mobile armors only had a chance of beating ZAFT's mobile suits if the odds were between four and five to one… and at the start of this battle, they hadn't even been three to one, meaning the Coordinators had the advantage. Even now, as he closed with the upgraded DINNs, he could see on his sensors how the enemy's regular forces were tearing into the Eurasian fighters. The Alliance planes were scoring kills of their own, but those few MS shot down paled in comparison to the carnage ZAFT was wreaking upon them. The kill ratios were clearly in the enemy's favor, and the air battle was already going from bad to worse.

However, there was a grim silver lining to it; at the rate the Eurasians were taking losses, it wouldn't be too long before Heero could truly open up with the Twin Buster Rifle. It may have been a callous way to view the situation, but it was also a simple fact; the more casualties the DINNs inflicted on the Alliance fighters, the clearer Heero's field of fire would be when he decided to stop holding back with the heavy artillery.

Of course, just because he was holding back with the Twin Buster Rifle did not mean that he would be restraining himself with regards to his other weapons and skills. Wing Zero was as deadly in a close-range brawl as it was at long distances, a fact that Heero had demonstrated time and again since arriving in the Cosmic Era.

He veered to the left, dodging a barrage of rifle fire and missiles from the seven black machines as he rushed the formation of green DINNs. They were keeping a loose formation, no doubt in order to minimize casualties should he fire his main gun at a more potent power level, and they reacted quickly. One machine rushed him head on, while two came in on either side and the last one gained altitude before diving at him.

Not bad, thought Heero as he blocked the strike from the machine in front of him before ascending to meet the DINN above him. The two machines that had been coming at his sides formed up to chase him, while the mobile suit he'd just warded off let loose a volley of missiles. Heero jinked to the right to evade, then quickly spun around to parry a blow from the DINN that had been diving at him before counter-attacking, driving his green saber into the suit's chest. As the machine exploded he whirled around and let loose a volley of gatling fire at the two green DINNs approaching from below, forcing them to abandon their pursuit and reform with the lead unit.

Into the gap flew the three remaining red suits guns blazing. Heero dropped his altitude before whirling to block a saber strike from the lead machine. As he forced it back, he saw the other two come at him from behind. He spun around and raised his rifle, but as he fired one of the black and silver DINNs got in the way and was disintegrated by the beam.

What the hell?, thought Heero as he jinked to the left to dodge the two charging red machines, slicing one of them in half with his emerald blade. At first glance one would've assumed that the black mobile suit had taken the blast meant for the red units on purpose, but to Heero it had not looked that way; the machine's beam saber had been raised for a strike, and its chest-mounted missile launchers had been open and ready to fire. It had been going in to attack, not sacrifice itself.

Gunning his engines, Heero ascended until he was above all three of the teams that were attacking him. As they all chased after him, Heero saw that they were not coordinating their actions. Rather than have one team move on his right, one on his left, and one take him head on as he had expected, they were all rushing up in what seemed to be a competitive frenzy. Indeed, he actually saw one of the black machines fire a rifle volley across the path of one of the green DINNs, forcing it to go evasive and fall behind.

The Gundam pilot smirked as he realized what was going on. These guys all want the glory of taking me down, he thought, to the point that they're not cooperating with each other. Black, red, green… all three teams are fighting as separate entities; there's no tactical coordination whatsoever beyond pilots belonging to the same squad. I can use that…

He'd have to if he wanted to wrap up his fight with them quickly and move on to the larger battle. Checking his sensors, he saw that the massive engagement was already deteriorating for the Alliance. The drop pods had burst open as they'd neared the surface, releasing 54 GINNs on each side of the bay, just beyond the beach; 108 suits in all. A few were struck by anti-air artillery and destroyed, but the majority completed their descent intact, using their thrusters to outmaneuver missiles and flak while at the same time slowing their fall enough to avoid trashing themselves on impact with the ground.

At the same time, dozens of Eurasian attack helicopters flew forward to meet the incoming GINNs. While not meant for air-to-air combat, the green and grey mobile suits were still formidable even as they fell towards the surface, and swept the sky with machine gun fire. At the same time, several DINNs broke off from the main dogfight to assist their brethren, and with all the fighter jets caught up in the massive furball the helicopters were outmatched. Still, the Eurasian pilots did not retreat, and managed to score a few kills even as their own casualties rapidly mounted, ZAFT's mobile suits savaging their formations.

The two massive Flying Fortresses were continuing to focus their fire on the coastal defenses, with the occasional shot fired into the fleet battle taking place beneath them. Scattered surface-to-air missiles came up at them, but the Eurasians were too occupied by ZAFT's naval forces and DINNs to put up a concentrated counter-barrage. The few warheads that hit the flying behemoths did minimal, if any, damage, and Heero knew that he'd probably end up being the one to take them down. Another reason I need to wrap this up quickly, he thought.

The fleet elements that had been defending the coastline outside the bay had been mauled, and ZAFT was pressing its advantage by sending up the heavy transports and the lighter landing craft while blasting the surviving Eurasian warships that had stubbornly decided to remain at their coastal positions rather than pull back towards the mouth of the bay with the rest of the fleet. The Vosgulovs and destroyers pounded away at the Alliance ships with missiles, torpedoes, and cannon volleys, while the submersible mobile suits and mini-attack subs continued to thrash each other beneath the waves. Several DINNs swooped in to make attacks on the surviving Eurasian surface ships guarding the coast, ensuring that they would not be able to attack the transports as they moved in for their landings.

At the same time, several GOOhNs and ZnOs were wading ashore, and in cooperation with the recently arrived GINNs were mopping up the rest of the shoreline defenders with rockets and masers. A few of the amphibious MS were knocked out or damaged by fire from the few remaining shore batteries, but the Alliance gunners paid dearly for their kills as GINNs flanked their positions and destroyed them.

Meanwhile, the furball and naval battle at the mouth of the bay was still in full swing, and despite the suddenness and ferocity of the opening attack the Eurasians had at least managed to regroup somewhat after their initial pullback. Granted, they were still being thrashed by ZAFT; Heero counted no less than thirty destroyers, nine missile cruisers, seven escort carriers and five heavy carriers already sinking or sunk, and many other vessels had suffered varying degrees of damage. In addition, several large pieces of debris that had floated up to the surface told the Gundam pilot that the Alliance submarine fleet was taking a beating, though it was difficult to ascertain at the moment just how bad their own casualties were. Scores of smaller explosions were visible below the surface, indicating the fierce fighting between the Aqua Darts and submersible MS, though it was impossible for Heero to determine just who had the upper hand in that theatre of the battle. Two massive fireballs erupted as two of the Eurasians' heavy tankers were struck by torpedoes, and the vessels were quickly consumed in raging infernos.

Still, the Eurasians were hitting back, launching their own missile and torpedo attacks at the oncoming armada. ZAFT's destroyer screen had taken serious hits, with several of the vessels knocked out of action, and there were enough gaps in the line that some of the Vosgulov-class submarine/carriers were exposed. Indeed, Heero counted nine of the vessels listing sharply and belching smoke and flames, while several others had taken moderate damage, along with two of the surface carriers.

Meanwhile, the Archangel was at the rear of the Alliance fleet, multi-tasking as both a battleship and anti-air battery. The white warship unleashed a barrage with the Gottfrieds and Valiants, though Heero knew Murrue couldn't use the Lohengrins without hitting Eurasian warships along with ZAFT vessels. Still, the heavy weapons that were in use were not to be underestimated; Heero saw the large emerald beams from the Gottfrieds rip apart two destroyers, while the heavy rail cannon shots slammed into two of the Vosgulovs, the sheer kinetic force of the massive projectiles all but sheering their targets in two, and both dark green submarine/carriers quickly began sinking. At the same time, secondary explosions erupted on the upper hulls of the ships; the dorsal missile launchers magazines detonating.

The Archangel's heavy missile launchers opened up as well, and four Sledgehammer missiles arced up before plunging into the armada. One was destroyed by a DINN, but the rest impacted their targets, and three more destroyers went up in flames.

At the same time, fresh volleys erupted from the Igelstellung CIWs and Helldart anti-air missile launchers as a formation of six DINNs attempted to break out of the massive aerial battle and join Heero's engagement. The violet mobile suits of the regular forces were ripped apart by the sudden barrage. Thanks Murrue, thought Heero even as he dived down towards his approaching foes.

The Zero System had allowed him to take in the entire battle in the space of mere seconds, and guided his actions as he wove through rifle fire and missile volleys from the pilots that were coming up to meet him. Heero rushed headlong at the black squadron, which had six DINNs left. As he closed with the enemy, he saw images and coordinates flash through his mind as the Zero System fed him fresh data and predictions. He gave a slight smile as he engaged his foes while at the same time sending new targeting data to Murrue. With the way these guys are fighting, thought the Gundam pilot, this should decimate their ranks.

As he'd predicted, the black DINNs had surrounded him, and were almost working as hard to keep any gaps for the red and green teams to launch attacks through from appearing as they were at engaging him. As Heero blocked an overhand strike from a machine he assumed was piloted by the leader due to the slightly better performance it was giving when compared to its peers, he pushed it back while whirling around and opening up with his shoulder gatlings, shredding another black and silver mobile suit that had been coming up behind him. He then dropped his altitude to evade a barrage of rifle shots from three more of the units while at the same time parrying a saber strike from the last of the five mobile suits.

As he did all this, he saw the three green and two red DINNs swirling around the fight, trying to get in to engage but always having to break off and attempt new approaches as the black mobile suits got in their way. Just as predicted, Heero thought, any second now…

Glancing at one of the side monitors, he smiled slightly as four Wombat surface-to-air missiles erupted from the Archangel and flew towards the fight. Great timing, Murrue, he thought as he dropped his altitude a little further and saw the warheads burst, unleashing their scatter-shot projectiles. The tiny red 'buckshot rounds' ripped through the DINNs at the edge of the engagement, and one of the red and two of the green DINNs were torn apart. The last mobile suit of each team barely managed to escape the barrage, and Heero had no doubt that their pilots were the squad leaders. They're good, he mused, though neither are in the Valkyrie's league.

Both the last green and red DINNs redoubled their efforts to get at Wing Zero, diving through the swirling black and silver machines with reckless abandon, no doubt enraged at the sudden demise of their squad mates. Heero met the red mobile suit head on, parrying its strike and allowing the unit to pass by him while he turned to block an attack from the green machine. Gunning his thrusters, he overpowered the DINN, forcing it out of the dogfight and temporarily isolating it.

A male voice came over an open channel, and Heero assumed it belonged to the pilot he was engaging. "What the hell are you?" he yelled, a noticeable Irish accent in his voice. There was also more than a hint of fear in the pilot's tone.

The Gundam pilot didn't bother to respond, at least verbally; he let his mobile suit do the talking. He fired his shoulder gatlings, and though the DINN had gone into full reverse in an attempt to get some distance between it and Wing Zero, it was unable to completely dodge the barrage. Several rounds shredded the DINNs left wing, and its rifle exploded, taking its left hand and forearm with it. Closing the gap in an instant, Heero attacked the machine's now savaged left side, impaling the cockpit before the enemy had been able to adjust his position and block with his violet blade.

I'm a Gundam pilot, thought Heero as he swiftly withdrew his blade and turned around, the green mobile suit exploding behind him, no more and no less.

Taking aim at the mobile suits approaching him, he fired another low-power shot with the Twin Buster Rifle. The yellow-gold beam hit one of the black and silver DINNs head-on, and it became a fireball. That left four of those machines left, along with the last red DINN. All five were coming at him head on, a flurry of missiles flying from their chests. Opening up with his shoulder gatlings, Heero destroyed the warheads as he closed the gap, engaging the lead black and silver DINN in saber combat as he flew through the smoke.

Another voice came over the radio, this one a low snarl with more than a hint of hatred in it. "You've got moves, Natural," it said, clearly male, "Or is it merely that machine you're flying? I'm sure it's the latter; one of your kind is no match for us Coordinators!"

Sure, Heero thought sarcastically, you keep telling yourself that as I take down your squadron. As with the last speaker, the Perfect Soldier had no intention of replying; this foe wasn't worthy of his words, not the least because of his arrogance. Still, his skill was solid, and Heero decided to take out the lesser pilots first before dueling him. Parrying and redirecting the black team's commander's strike so that the machine flew past him, Heero then whirled and sliced another DINN of the same color in half. As the two sections exploded he increased his altitude and fired a low-powered shot with the Twin Buster Rifle. Another black and silver mobile suit was hit by the beam and destroyed instantly, leaving three of those units left, along with the sole survivor of the red team.

The red DINN quickly rushed in now that there were fewer of its black and silver allies to get in the way. Whirling around, Heero blocked its saber strike before slamming down on the throttle. Just as he'd done with the leader of the green team, he used the overwhelming power of the Gundam's engines to push the red mobile suit away from its comrades, isolating it for the kill.

The crimson machine's missile launchers opened up, and Heero had to back off a bit and raise his shield to block the warheads. The DINN then raised its rifle, but before it could fire Heero had once again closed in, and he severed the mobile suit's left arm with his green blade, sending both limb and rifle falling towards the water below.

"Damn vermin!" said a male voice over the radio, and Heero had little doubt it was the pilot he was facing, "There's no way I'm losing to a filthy Natural!" As he spoke, the red DINN charged Wing Zero, its violet blade thrust forward in an attempt to impale the Gundam's cockpit.

Unfortunately for the ZAFT pilot though, his moves were all too easily read by Heero. The Perfect Soldier effortlessly side slipped to the left, swinging his emerald blade as he did so. The beam saber sliced clean through the DINN's cockpit and out the back, leaving the two halves of the machine to plunge to the sea.

Just three of them left, thought Heero as he turned to face his remaining foes, time to end this.

He'd have to if he wanted to have a shot at changing the course of the battle. On both sides of the bay, both ZAFT's heavy transports and assault landing craft had hit the shores, depositing mobile suits, light vehicles, and infantry. BuCues raced ahead to link up with the GINNs and amphibious mobile suits as they assaulted the next line of Alliance fortifications and armored units. Behind them came the ZuOOTs, the heavy cannons on their shoulders already pounding away at concrete pillboxes and gun and missile emplacements. The lighter, faster BuCues went after the Earth Forces' tanks and artillery, and dozens of vehicles went up like a string of firecrackers. The Eurasians punched back, but their shells, rockets, and missiles only destroyed a handful of mobile suits. The Coordinators quickly filled in the gaps in their formations and pressed the assault. DINNs continued to streak overhead, decimating the surviving attack helicopters, while the GINNs, GOOhNs, and ZnOs proceeded to encircle and annihilate targets the BuCues had bypassed. Already the Eurasian line was collapsing, and the surviving defenders pulling back to the next series of fortifications and bringing up any reserves they could muster.

The massive aerial brawl at the mouth of the bay was, if anything, going even worse than the ground engagement. The swarms of Su-63Ks that had launched from the carriers had already been cut down to barely half what their numbers had been at the start of the battle, while the land-based MiG-75 interceptors had been annihilated entirely. The DINNs were simply too well-armed and maneuverable, their Coordinator pilots' reflexes too quick and precise. Although the mobile suits had taken losses since the start of the battle, the kill ratios were overwhelmingly in their favor, and only a few dozen had succumbed to enemy fire.

The naval battle below was less one-sided, but things were still not going well for the Alliance ships. With the Archangel's heavy weapons blasting away at the ZAFT fleet, the Eurasians at least had some reprieve from the enemy warships... but not nearly enough to allow for an organized counter-attack. ZAFT had shifted their attack priorities from the destroyers and cruisers to the carriers, and they were pounding their targets relentlessly. Four more of the heavy carriers were on fire and sinking, while most of the others had taken varying degrees of damage. The lighter escort carriers were taking a similar thrashing, with six more going down and the rest suffering at least some damage. Heero still couldn't tell how the underwater battle was going, but if the amount of debris floating to the surface was any indication, the Alliance's submarines were faring worse than their ZAFT counter-parts.

Still, the enemy wasn't hitting with complete impunity. The Archangel's withering fire was definitely giving ZAFT a bloody nose, with the latest salvo of energy beams and heavy rail cannon rounds gutting two more Vosgulovs and ripping one of the surface carriers in half. Large torpedo tracks just below the surface told Heero that at least some of the Eurasian's attack submarines were still in the fight, and their warheads slammed into the enemy destroyer screen or slipped through holes in the formation and hit the submarine/carriers. The surviving missile cruisers and destroyers were throwing everything they had at the enemy fleet, and though several of their shots were destroyed in mid-flight at least some managed to break through and hit their targets. Still, overall the Alliance fleet was slowly falling back, and Heero knew that he would in all likelihood be the only one capable of preventing their destruction.

Diving head on at the last three modified DINNs, he jinked left and right to dodge missile and rifle fire while closing in to attack with his beam saber. The machine he's identified earlier as belonging to the black team's leader rushed to meet him, the two subordinate units moving to either side to position themselves for additional ranged attacks.

Heero wasn't about to let that happen. As the enemy commander closed with him, Heero pulled up at the last possible second, causing the black and silver DINN to streak beneath him, momentarily confused by his move. While the lead pilot spent critical seconds reorienting himself, Heero charge one of the other mobile suits. The machine brought up its violet blade to block his strike, but Heero had already anticipated the move. He lowered his own beam saber before bringing it back up, slashing through the DINN's left leg all the way up to its right shoulder, cutting it in half diagonally. As the machine exploded Heero quickly whirled around and fired the Twin Buster Rifle, completely disintegrating the other DINN. Only the leader left now, he thought.

Indeed, the enemy commander was charging at him, spitting bile and vitriol over the radio. "Natural rat!" he growled as he thrust forward with his violet blade, "It doesn't matter how strong your machine is! I am the harbinger of your destruction; the reaper of your pathetic race!"

Heero paid the words no heed, focusing solely on the battle. The enemy's hatred was getting the better of them, and their attack was sloppy. The Perfect Soldier side slipped to the left, effortlessly parrying and redirecting the thrust. He then brought his beam saber around in one fluid motion and slashed the DINNs right wing in half.

Destabilized, the enemy pilot was barely able to turn his machine around as he initiated a last, futile charge against Wing Zero. "I will not lose to scum like you!" he roared, "I am a Coordinator, a member of the Master Race; I cannot be defeated by the likes of you!"

Heero didn't even bother to cross blades with his foe. The Gundam pilot simply raised the Twin Buster Rifle and fired.

At point-blank range.

The black and silver machine was disintegrated by the shot, a single garbled scream from its pilot going over the radio before the voice was consumed by static and the man by fire. Good riddance, thought Heero, his ranting was getting annoying.

The young man who had just annihilated three of ZAFT's top mobile suit teams then turned towards the larger engagement at the mouth of the bay. I'm through with the sideshow, he though as he gunned his engines, flying head-on into the brawl, time for the main event.

(End "White Devil")

….

Flying low and along the far right side of the bay, practically skimming the surface in an effort to avoid attracting fighter attention, Commander Rau Le Creuset smirked as he watched Wing Zero finish off Schwarze Team's leader. An impressive performance, Wing Zero, he thought, it seems I underestimated you; the Special Operations Squadrons didn't last half as long as I thought they would. No matter; they served their purpose.

Indeed, their clash with the fearsome mobile suit had given the masked ace the cover he'd needed to launch his own white DINN Mk. II and begin making his way towards the Alaska base. The Commander's goal was not to engage in the battle itself, and most certainly did not want to fight Wing Zero, at least not yet. The Providence is still a ways away from completion, he thought, until it's ready, I won't be able to match that machine or its pilot. It was an admission the man did not like to make, but he knew it was an honest assessment of the facts, and there was no point in deluding himself. After all, his pride was not worth his life, and he still had things he needed to accomplish before he would allow himself to exit the stage.

The Commander had been slightly concerned that Wing Zero would come after him after dispatching Zubov, but to his relief he saw the formidable mobile suit fly headlong towards the massive air battle at the mouth of the bay. Good, he thought, none of those pilots are a match for Wing Zero, but the sheer numbers should keep it busy for awhile. Plus, Yzak's in there as well; the Duel may be a pale comparison to that machine, but it's still better than the DINNs.

Satisfied that he wouldn't have to worry about Wing Zero hounding him, he turned his attention back to his destination. As he approached the cliffs at the far end of the bay he keyed in a code over a specific radio frequency. Sure enough, a small section of rock began to slide away; one of the launching bays for the facility's Spearhead fighters. Of course, the fact that none had been launched into the battle told Creuset all he needed to know; the Atlantic Federation had already withdrawn their own pilots.

"It seems Azrael's information was correct," he muttered to himself as he lined up for his final approach. Now, he thought, I just have to make sure the rest of his preparations went according to plan. I'm sure he's upheld his end of things, but I still want to see it for myself.

….

Flay looked around nervously. The Lieutenant Commander still wasn't back yet, and the line was becoming shorter and shorter as people filed onto the last transport submarine. As far back as the girl and the ace pilot had been in the queue, Flay was now much closer to the sub, and she knew that it would not be long until she would have to board.

Normally she wouldn't be worried about something like this; it wasn't as if she was particularly close to the older pilot. She had hardly spoken to him since she had arrived on the ship after the attack on Heliopolis, preferring to keep with the people she had known from the colony. However, now that they were both off the Archangel, the blond pilot was the only person she knew, the only person she felt that she could trust. While she knew that all the other soldiers boarding the submarine were Atlantic Federation troops and therefore not her enemies, the fact remained that she did not know them personally, and therefore they just didn't give her the same sense of security that the Lieutenant Commander did, regardless of how little she had spoken to him up until now.

Looking back at the submarine one more time, she finally made up her mind. Running off in the direction she'd last seen La Flaga go, she hoped she'd be able to find him and make it back to the transport before it left.

….

"The Akula and the Pyotr have been destroyed!" said Sai from his post in the CIC.

Damn it, thought Murrue, that's two more of our attack subs down. Based on the readings from the sonar array, the underwater battle was incredibly vicious. While the ZAFT mobile suits were superior to the Eurasian Aqua Darts, the fact that several of the amphibious units had been redeployed to the beach landings had actually served to even the odds and give the Alliance submersible forces a fighting chance.

Still, things weren't going well, and at the rate things were going both sides' underwater units would annihilate each other. The Aqua Darts had been reduced to a third of their starting numbers, though their ZAFT counterparts had fared just as badly since they had to contend with not just the mini subs but also torpedo volleys from the larger Alpha Vs and Thetas. However, ZAFT's Vosgulov-class submarine/carriers were throwing their own torpedoes into the fight from afar, and the Eurasian's heavier submarines were taking heavy casualties. The Alpha V attack submarines had been reduced from 54 to 20, while the larger Theta-class submarine/carriers had lost 11 vessels, leaving just nine remaining in the fight.

The ground engagement was going far worse than the underwater fight. ZAFT's land mobile suits were devastating the Eurasian army, with their BuCues leading their armored thrusts, hitting individual vehicles while the ZuOOTs pounded fortified positions with their heavy guns. The surviving Alliance tanks and artillery were hitting back the best they could, but they had only managed to take out a handful of the land MS; there were still 30 BuCues left in the fray, along with 39 ZuOOTs, more than enough to continue the ground assault. The GINNs, more unwieldy on the ground than they were in space, had taken heavier losses than their surface counterparts, but there were still 74 of them left out of the original 108, which meant that there were plenty available to backup the BuCues and ZuOOTs. The GOOhNs and ZnOs that had waded ashore were still participating in the assault, though they were moving at a much slower pace than the other units and mainly acting as support for the infantry that were moving up with them. The Alliance lines were collapsing again, with the survivors pulling back further inland, attempting to regroup as the battle came closer and closer to the base.

The vicious clash between the surface fleets was still in full-swing, and while the momentum remained with ZAFT the Alliance was hitting back with everything they had. Four more Vosgulovs were sinking, leaving 51 of the fearsome submarine/carriers combat worthy. The enemy's destroyers had taken a pounding as well, and they had been reduced from 97 to 59, with several of the surviving vessels having sustained moderate to severe damage. Another salvo from the Archangel's Gottfried heavy beam cannons had just torn through one of the surface carriers, sinking the vessel and leaving 10 of its sister ships remaining.

Still, the Alliance's own losses were far worse, and the fleet was even now pulling further back into the bay. The heavy missile cruisers had been reduced from 22 to 10, while the destroyers were down to 41 ships. Two more escort carriers had been nailed by missile volleys from the Vosgulovs and were sinking, leaving 10 of them still in the fight, while the heavy carriers had been whittled down to 8 ships, and all the surviving craft showed one sign or another of battle damage. Half of the fleet's heavy supply freighters were in flames, leaving just three of the vessels intact, while two more heavy tankers had been blown apart by torpedo attacks, with ten of the ships remaining afloat.

Worst of all, though, was the air battle. The Eurasian carrier fighters had been reduced to almost 40% of the numbers they had started with, while ZAFT still had over 80% of its DINNs in the fight. The Su-63Ks were just no match for their mobile suit counterparts, and more were falling from the sky with each passing second. The two massive Flying Fortresses were throwing missiles of their own into the fighting, though the intensity and frenzied nature of the furball meant that they couldn't initiate a full-on bombardment with their heavy beam cannons without hitting their own mobile suits, and were thus only firing sporadically. The fact that the air battle was taking place over the Alliance fleet also meant that the Flying Fortresses couldn't bombard the naval units as well, for the same reason. Still, Murrue knew that it was only a matter of time before the DINNs would pull back and clear the way for the airborne leviathans to open a barrage.

"We have incoming!" shouted the radar operator, "Eight DINNs, ten o'clock high!"

Shit, thought Murrue. "Hit them with everything we've got!"

A storm of tracer rounds and Helldart missiles flew from the ship. Three of the purple mobile suits were destroyed, but the other five managed to evade the barrage and continued forward, raising their guns and aiming at the bridge.

They never got the chance to fire. A familiar blast of golden-yellow energy swept through the formation, and all five machines became little more than flaming shards of metal.

Murrue smiled. "Heero!" she cried out. Indeed, the main monitor shifted, showing Wing Zero heading towards the Archangel. She wondered for a second why he had used more power with the Twin Buster Rifle in that shot than he had earlier before realizing the simple truth; with the horrendous losses the Eurasian fighters had sustained, there were now far fewer friendly craft to get in his way.

The Gundam pilot appeared on the main monitor. "I've eliminated the upgraded DINNs," he said, his expression as calm and cool as ever, "thanks for the help earlier, Murrue."

She nodded. "You're welcome, Heero. You've certainly returned the favor."

"Yeah," said the Perfect Soldier, and Murrue thought she saw a bit of relief in his eyes, "Sorry it took so long to take them out."

"Don't worry about it, Heero," said Murrue, "It you hadn't taken them down, those pilots would be ripping our forces apart. Well, worse than ZAFT already is, anyway."

Heero nodded. "Alright. I'm engaging their regular forces."

"Understood," she replied, "We'll back you up and continue hitting ZAFT's fleet with our heavy weapons."

"Roger that," said Heero before signing off.

Murrue smiled again as she saw Wing Zero gain altitude as the extraordinary machine flew head-on into the raging furball. I've got your back, Heero. Now, show them what you've got… and come back to me alive.

….

(Start "Fighter")

Bringing the Twin Buster Rifle to bear, Heero sighted in on a pack of six DINNs that were diving towards the Archangel. I'll take you first, he thought as he opened fire.

Golden-yellow hellfire tore through their formation, and four of the machines erupted into fireballs. Increasing the throttle, Heero closed in on the two survivors with his beam. Within seconds both DINNs had been slashed in two by Wing Zero's green beam saber, and the Gundam was already moving on to its next targets.

The massive furball was still in full swing, and while there were still nearly six hundred of the Eurasian fighters in the air, that number was down significantly from the 1,560 Su-63Ks they had started the engagement with, and it more were being shot down with each passing second. There were no intact squadrons left, and it was literally every fighter pilot for themselves, with the planes scattered across the sky, isolated into pairs or flying alone, easy prey for the enemy mobile suits. Despite the fact that they still outnumbered the ZAFT forces, who had slightly over five hundred DINNs left in the fight, that meant that the numerical odds were practically even… which meant the Alliance pilots had no chance of winning.

At least, not without some serious help.

Immersing himself in the Zero System as he increased the charge of the Twin Buster Rifle, Heero took in the entirety of the titanic aerial battle in an instant. After a moment he found a suitable firing lane and cut loose.

At seventy-five percent power.

A gargantuan blast ripped across the sky, annihilating all in its path. Thirty DINNs were completely disintegrated in the blast, while another eleven caught the edges of the shot. That was still enough to critically damage them, and they plunged from the sky, trailing smoke and fire. Four exploded in midair, while the rest splashed into the sea and disappeared beneath the waves.

However, though taking out several DINNs at once had been one of Heero's goals, the mobile suits were not his main target. For at the same time the enemy mobile suits that had caught the edges of the blast had begun to fall, the massive golden-yellow beam had slammed into one of the Flying Fortresses. The airborne leviathan melted away under the onslaught, briefly becoming a second sun as it burst into a spectacular fireball over the mouth of the bay.

For a moment the combatants on both sides stopped shooting at each other, stunned at what had just happened. All except for Heero, of course. Using the shock and awe to his advantage, the Perfect Soldier destroyed three DINNs with his beam saber before the enemy was able to react. Dozens of the violet mobile suits charged at him from all sides; the Gundam pilot had definitely grabbed their attention.

Perfect, he thought as both sides resumed blasting away at each other, they've made me their primary target. Just like old times…

Wasting no time, Heero quickly gained altitude, charging the DINNs that were diving down at him. Weaving through a rain of rifle rounds and missiles, Wing Zero was amongst the enemy formation in an instant, slicing and dicing the machines, its beam saber little more than an emerald blur, the Gundam moving too fast for even Coordinators to track. A dozen mobile suits were torn apart in half as many seconds.

Heero then jinked to the right as the mobile suits that had followed him upward opened fire. Dodging their attacks, at the same time the young man turned and opened up with Wing Zero's shoulder gatlings at the DINNs that were approaching from the right. Three machines exploded under the barrage before Heero closed to beam saber range and destroyed another five DINNs with his blade. He then whirled around and fired a low-power shot with the Twin Buster Rifle, disintegrating four of the machines that had flown past him before when he had dodged, their pilots having regrouped for another attack before meeting their demise.

The Gundam pilot then had to go evasive as the second Flying Fortress began an all-out bombardment in a desperate attempt to take him down. Bastards, he thought, they're killing their own pilots! Indeed, as Heero effortlessly weaved through the barrage, fifteen DINNs were destroyed by friendly fire. However, the Alliance fighters were caught in the bombardment as well, and no less than forty planes were torn to shreds by the storm of emerald beams and air-to-air missiles.

I have to stop this, he thought. He had no love for the ZAFT pilots, of course, but the thought of a commander willing to kill their own troops disgusted him. Bringing the Twin Buster Rifle to bear and using the Zero System to find a firing lane, he increased the charge and opened up.

Another wave of golden-yellow energy tore across the battlefield, disintegrating 26 DINNs before ripping through the second Flying Fortress. Like its sister ship, the black behemoth became a massive fireball, raining shards of hot metal down on the armada below.

With the second Flying Fortress eliminated, Heero returned his attention to the DINNs. Dodging rifle fire and swarms of missiles, he took down one machine after another with his beam saber. ZAFT's air forces had been thrown off balance by the sudden addition of Wing Zero into the dogfight, and the Perfect Soldier intended to make the most of it.

The overall shape of the air battle began to change. Scores of DINNs began swirling around Wing Zero in an attempt to overwhelm the fearsome machine. This took some pressure off the surviving Eurasian fighters, but not nearly enough to even the odds against them. As Heero weaved through enemy fire, taking down eight enemy mobile suits in half as many seconds, he saw fighters exploding or falling from the sky one after another. There's still so many DINNs, he thought as he impaled another machine with his emerald blade, they can afford to concentrate all these machines on me. ZAFT still has more than enough units to wipe out the Alliance fighters even with all the mobile suits they're devoting to me.

His attacks with the Twin Buster Rifle had taken the enemy by surprise and eliminated a large number of their mobile suits along with the two Flying Fortresses, but ZAFT still had hundreds of machines left in the fight, and Heero knew that turning the battle around against those numbers would not be easy.

Then again, 'easy' wasn't for Gundam pilots.

Charging a group of DINNs, Heero tore into the enemy machines with his beam saber. Quickly dispatching four mobile suits, he then whirled around and fired the Twin Buster Rifle, destroying five more units that had been about to attack him from behind.

At the same time, a volley of Helldart missiles flew from the Archangel, homing in on a group of three DINNs that were moving to join their comrades in fighting Heero. The trio of purple and grey machines was caught completely off guard, and all the mobile suits were destroyed in the barrage. Thanks Murrue, thought Heero as he evaded a group of missiles, I'm glad you've got my back.

Dodging fire from no less than thirty machines, Heero speared another DINN with his beam saber. Then he gained altitude, charging the units attacking him from above. As he closed with them and began attacking, he spared a brief glance at one of the side monitors, which showed the ground engagement.

ZAFT's landing forces were rolling up the Alliance's lines on both sides of the bay. The enemy army had lost a few more machines, but they still had more than enough firepower to overwhelm the surviving Eurasian troops and their remaining armored support. The Earth Forces were falling back yet again, barely able to maintain a semblance of order as they took up new defensive positions.

Not good, thought Heero as he slashed another DINN in half, at this rate ZAFT will penetrate the final defenses long before the air battle is over. There was little point in him worrying about it though; even the Perfect Soldier could only do so much on a battlefield. He certainly couldn't be everywhere at once.

Doesn't matter, he thought, veering to the right to avoid a volley of missiles, Murrue's not in the base, she's on the Archangel. She's the one I'm fighting for; I don't give a damn about the Atlantic Federation Headquarters.

Firing a low-powered shot with his rifle and taking out two of the DINNs that had fired the missiles, Heero's eyes narrowed in determination.

ZAFT, he thought, I don't care if you take Alaska. You can have that base if you want; it makes no difference to me. However…

…you're not getting Murrue!

(End "Fighter")

….

"Where the hell is everybody?" said Lieutenant Commander La Flaga. Running through the halls of the base, making his way towards the central control room, the ace pilot was becoming increasingly unnerved by the fact that he hadn't run into a single soldier since leaving the dock. What the hell is going on here? Something's not right; there's no way the top brass would leave Alaska completely in the hands of the Eurasian Federation forces. I can understand transferring forces to other theatres, but there's no way they would withdraw all Atlantic Federation personnel. They've left no one besides the Archangel and the Eurasian's to repel a potential attack, and we're under attack right now!

His suspicions intensified as he saw the entrance to the central control room at the end of the hall. Normally the doorway would be closed and guarded by a pair of soldiers… but it was wide open, and there were no security officers in sight. Not good, he thought as he approached, there's definitely something wrong here!

The central control room worked in coordination with the base's communications hub, located on the same floor, to run the massive facility. While the later room, as the name indicated, was built for the sole purpose of handling comm traffic, the former had much broader responsibilities. Here was where information from both the surface and space forces was reviewed, campaigns were organized, the base's defenses were managed from, and much more besides. The layout was similar to the communications hub, but it was on a much larger scale; the room was as long as a North American football field, and four times as wide. Massive screens were arrayed on the far side of the room, capable of showing maps of multiple regions of both Earth and space.

Something was on those screens at that moment, but it was not a map. La Flaga thought it looked familiar, and as he entered the room he was about to take a closer look when a gunshot rang out. His eyes widened as a bullet hit the wall behind him, mere centimeters to his right. Instincts taking over, La Flaga dove behind a console and drew his sidearm, though he didn't return fire. In fact, he assumed that whoever had shot at him was a friendly soldier that had panicked, probably believing that an enemy soldier had infiltrated the base. However, there was something about that supposition that rang hollow in his mind. It seemed off, though the Lieutenant Commander had no factual basis for that feeling. Rather, it was based off a familiar tingling in the back of his head, a spike of adrenaline that, in the past, had always signaled the presence of a certain enemy pilot. It can't be him, he thought, the rush from that near miss has to be messing with my senses… there's no way he could be in here!

"Hold your fire!" he yelled, "I'm Alliance!"

The response chilled him to the bone. It confirmed the sensation he'd felt earlier… which meant that things were even worse than he'd feared.

"Is that you, La Flaga?" yelled Rau Le Creuset, his voice calm and laced with his typical dry wit, "I didn't think I'd run into you here!"

"Yeah, well same here!" La Flaga replied. Peeking over the edge of the console, he saw his rival do the same, the masked ace peering from behind his own cover.

Both men fired, but neither scored a hit, their bullets ricocheting off metal surfaces and igniting sparks as they pierced consoles. Ducking back into cover, La Flaga heard his rival laugh. "Oh, it is good to see you again, my friend… though if you're still hanging around here then your usefulness has come to an end. Oh, Hawk of Endymion, how the mighty have fallen!"

La Flaga was about to aim and fire in response when he heard several shots hit his own cover, forcing him to keep his head down. He raised his pistol over the console and returned fire blindly, unable to tell if he'd hit anything. The blond pilot expended his entire clip with the random barrage. As he brought the gun back down to reload, he was struck by the lack of fire coming from Creuset. Did I get him?

Slowly looking over the console again, he scanned the room but saw no sign of his foes. Cautiously moving out from behind his cover, he walked down the central aisle, peering between the rows of consoles. There was a blur of movement at his periphery, and he whirled around just in time to see Creuset making a dash for the exit. La Flaga fired, but none of his shots connected. The ZAFT commander returned fire, causing La Flaga to duck behind another console for cover. When he looked back over to take aim, he saw that the masked pilot was gone.

He briefly considered going after him when something at the edge of his vision caught his attention; the image displayed on the massive screens on the far side of the control room. His eyes widened as he saw what was on the monitor.

Dozens of white circles, arrayed in a hexagon pattern, were flashing on the screen. Beneath them were a series of rapidly declining numbers; a countdown timer.

"No…" he said softly as he realized just what he was looking at. He had seen an image very similar to it before almost a year ago. The Lieutenant Commander recalled with perfect clarity the debriefing following the battle that had earned him the title 'Hawk of Endymion'. More specifically, an image one of his superiors had shown him following the utter carnage of the final clash at the Grimaldi Front, or more precisely the Endymion Crater, where both sides had been almost completely annihilated. La Flaga himself was one the only survivor of his own squadron from that engagement; the last of the few pilots skilled enough to pilot the advanced Moebius Zero mobile armors.

Everything fell into place in the ace pilot's mind. The emptiness of the base, the presence of the Eurasian forces, the Archangel remaining as the sole Atlantic Federation ship in the area… it all made sense.

"Shit!" he snarled as he turned and ran out of the room. Moving faster than he'd thought himself capable of, spurred on by shock and adrenaline, La Flaga knew he didn't have much time.

I have to get to the Archangel, he thought, I have to tell them what's going on! This entire battle is a trap, and they're the bait!

….

Stumbling as the floor shook, Flay braced herself against a wall. "Lieutenant Commander?" she called out, unable to keep the worry from her voice, "Where are you?"

When she'd left the docks, Flay had gone through the same door she'd seen La Flaga go through, but of course beyond that she'd had no idea where the man had gone, and she had quickly become lost as a result. The girl had hoped to find someone in the halls that could point her in the right direction, but she hadn't run into a single soldier since leaving the docks. Also, not long after she had begun wandering the seemingly endless labyrinth of corridors in the base, tremors had begun to rock the massive facility with increasing regularity. Flay was no expert in the art of war, but even she was smart enough to realize that all the shaking was no doubt being caused by enemy bombardment, meaning she had to find the Lieutenant Commander soon or else the two of them would never make it out of the base.

Of course, it was possible that La Flaga had already made it back to the docks in the time she had been away and had boarded the submarine without her, but the girl did not believe he would do that. While she didn't know him that well, she remembered his words of reassurance, his promises to keep an eye on her, and she knew he had been sincere. He won't abandon me, thought Flay, but if I don't find him soon, we'll both be in trouble!

Unfortunately, her faith in the Lieutenant Commander did little to bolster her confidence as she wondered the base. In fact, as the base continued to shake as ZAFT rained fire down on it, Flay was becoming increasingly frantic, a sense of doom welling within her. "Lieutenant Commander?" she cried out, her voice becoming more fearful, "La Flaga? Please, answer me!"

The only response was her own voice echoing through the empty halls. Flay was suddenly thrown off her feet as the base rumbled around her. The barrage was intensifying… as was her fear and despair.

She picked herself back up and started running, but as she rounded a corner she was suddenly knocked back down as she blindly ran into someone.

Her head hit the wall, causing her vision to become blurry. Struggling to look up, her head throbbing, Flay saw a man standing nearby. He had long blond hair and was wearing a white uniform. His face was difficult to make out, and Flay thought she saw a mask, but darkness was already encroaching on her vision; she'd hit her head harder than she thought.

Flay then heard the man speak. "Well, who have we here?" he said.

Perhaps it was the knock to the head, or the combination of fear and despair, but at that moment, the man's calm and confident voice reminded Flay of her father.

"Daddy…" she moaned, before slipping into darkness.

….

Well now, thought Creuset as he looked down at the red-headed girl lying at his feet, I hadn't expected to run into you here, Miss Flay Allster.

While not personally acquainted with the girl, Creuset was familiar with her. Or rather, her family; after all, it had been his ship, the destroyer Vesalius, that had fired the shots that had destroyed the battleship Montgomery, killing not just the crew but also one very important passenger, the Atlantic Federation Vice Foreign Minister George Allster. After the battle Creuset had received information regarding the man's death, along with the interesting fact that he had been on that ship in order to reunite with his daughter, who had been aboard the Archangel.

He recalled all this with perfect clarity as he looked down at the girl. The masked Commander smirked as new possibilities went through his head; she would make a useful pawn, given the proper nudging.

"Well," he said as he picked up the girl, hoisting her over his shoulder before continuing onward to his mobile suit, "It seems fortune has smiled upon me… and you as well, young lady. After all, you're more valuable alive than dead, so consider yourself lucky."

….

"Come on, hurry up damn it!" growled Mu as he strapped himself in while the plane ran its startup sequence. He'd made his way to one of the hangars, the base shaking all around him as ZAFT's ground forces began bombarding the facility, where he had commandeered an F-7D Spearhead fighter. The Lieutenant Commander had been lucky; it was one of the few aircraft left in the hangar, and the only combat capable plane at that. It was fully armed, and the engines were revving up without difficulty.

There was just one problem; the door at the end of the launch tunnel was closed, and La Flaga hadn't had time to find the control room and override it. His plan was a simple as it was desperate; hit the thing with a missile barrage and blast his way out. The doors are meant to take attacks from the outside, not from within, he thought, Still, there's no guarantee that I'll be able to punch through. There was little point in worrying about it now though; it was the only option available if was to have a chance in hell at making it to the Archangel in time.

He thought briefly about the girl he'd promised to take care of. Sorry Flay, but I have to go. I know there won't be any familiar faces on the transport, but at least they won't be hostile. You should be fine until you get picked up in California. So long, little lady.

After what seemed like an eternity all his displays turned green; he was good to launch. Using the plane's VTOL capabilities, he lifted the jet and had it hover a few feet off the ground while he armed his missiles and targeted the hangar door. "Here goes nothing," he muttered as he fired two pairs of missiles in a staggered volley.

The four warheads streaked down the launch tunnel and slammed into the hatch at the end. The explosion blasted through the door, leaving a hole just barely wide enough for the fighter to fit through.

"Let's go!" said La Flaga, gunning the throttle. The fighter shot down the tunnel and cleared the blasted hatchway with mere inches to spare. The Lieutenant Commander took a little pride in knowing that he was one of the few pilots in the Earth Forces capable of pulling off a stunt like that. Unfortunately, what he saw as he scrambled for altitude dampened the brief high he had gotten from his 'threading of the needle', so to speak.

A massive battle was taking place all across the bay, and the situation was rapidly deteriorating. On both sides of the bay ZAFT's ground forces had advanced to the point where the heavy mobile suits were capable of unleashing a continuous barrage, pounding both the base and the few remaining Eurasian defenders while the lighter units picked off individual Alliance armored vehicles. They won't be able to hold out much longer, he thought, Unfortunately, they don't know they're fighting and dying to defend a deathtrap!

The titanic air and sea-battle was in full swing, and while La Flaga knew that Heero was capable of dishing out an astounding amount of punishment with Wing Zero, he was just one pilot and could only do so much. Indeed, he soon spotted the Gundam on his radar, hacking into DINN after DINN with his beam saber. Unfortunately, more and more kept coming at him, and La Flaga had to wonder if even the Reaper of North Africa could withstand such an onslaught.

The rest of the air battle was deteriorating. Compared to the over fifteen-hundred planes that they had started the battle with, the Eurasians were now down to a little more than two hundred operational aircraft. ZAFT still had over three-hundred DINNs in the fight, and La Flaga knew that the only reason those MS hadn't already slaughtered the Alliance fighters was because of Heero. Still, even with the scores of machines that were attacking Wing Zero, there were still more than enough MS to take on the Eurasian planes, and more jets were being shot down with each passing second.

Checking his radar, La Flaga found the Archangel in the midst of the Eurasian fleet… or what was left of it, anyway. The vast armada that he and his shipmates had seen upon their arrival at Alaska had been reduced to a pale reflection of its former glory. There were only 7 cruisers, 26 destroyers, 6 heavy carriers, 8 escort carriers, 5 tankers, and 1 freighter remaining afloat. Additionally, almost all of the surviving vessels showed signs of damage in one way or another, and La Flaga had no way to tell just how the submarine fleet had fared in the battle, though he doubted they had done much better than their surface counterparts.

Still, the Alliance fleet wasn't down for the count, and the remaining ships were still pouring out as much fire as they could against the oncoming enemy armada. Naturally, the Archangel was unleashing the heaviest salvoes, its Gottfrieds and Valiants firing repeated volleys into ZAFT's fleet, but the surviving destroyers and cruisers weren't slacking off either, and were unloading every missile battery and gun that was still operational. La Flaga didn't know how many vessels ZAFT had started the battle with, but he imagined it had been considerably more than what was still afloat. There were 41 Vosgulovs, 42 destroyers, and 7 surface carriers still afloat. La Flaga wondered briefly why the massive submarine/carriers were on the surface before remembering that they had to run topside in order to retrieve DINNs that were either damaged or returning to rearm. It made them vulnerable to the Alliance ships' heavy weapons, particularly those of the Archangel, but there were still so many of them that they could afford the exposure. Also, with the volumes of torpedoes and missiles they were throwing at the Alliance fleet, their foes were having a hard enough time just staying afloat, much less organizing a coordinated counter-barrage.

I have to get to the Archangel, he thought, and that won't be easy. Not only was the ship in the midst of the heaviest naval fighting, but it was also beneath the massive dogfight as well.

Steeling his resolve, La Flaga gained altitude and increased the throttle. Focusing on the mobile suits and planes crisscrossing the sky ahead, he lined himself up for the most direct approach to the Archangel.

"Alright," he said, psyching himself up, "Time to dive into the fireworks!"

Swooping down into the fight, he let loose four missiles. Half of the warheads were shot down, but the other two impacted a DINN and destroyed it. Pulling back on the stick, he took the fighter into a climb just in time to avoid a fresh volley of rifle fire as another DINN tried to take him out.

Damn, he thought as he slammed on the afterburners, doing his best to shake off his pursuer, a Spearhead just doesn't dance like a Skygrasper. I need to get my old bird back if I'm going to stand a chance in hell at helping out in this fight.

The fighter jet wasn't nearly as maneuverable as the DINN, but it was faster, and eventually La Flaga was able to leave his foe in the dust. Unfortunately, there were still hundreds of DINNs flying around, and the Lieutenant Commander knew they'd make landing on the Archangel extremely difficult.

Pulling into a u-turn and setting up for his approach, La Flaga got on the radio and adjusted the frequency. "Archangel," he said, "La Flaga here. Open up, I need to land!"

Captain Ramius's voice came over the radio. "Lieutenant Commander?" she replied, her tone one of surprise, "What are you doing out here?"

"I'll explain when I'm aboard!" he replied, jinking hard to the right to avoid enemy fire, "Dodging these guys is hard enough as is, and they won't make my landing any easier."

Another familiar voice came over the radio. "Lieutenant Commander, this is Wing Zero," said Heero, "Initiate your approach; I'll cover you the best I can."

"Roger that," he replied, "Good to know you have my back, Heero."

"Just make it quick," said the Gundam pilot as Wing Zero hacked another DINN apart, "There's a lot of these guys here; I can't guarantee you won't get shot at on the way down."

"Got it," said La Flaga, "Starting my approach. Archangel, you copy that?"

"Yes," said Captain Ramius, "I'm turning you over to Miriallia, Lieutenant Commander. Good luck."

Not a second later the young lady's voice came over the radio. "La Flaga," she said, "We're opening the port hangar entrance. We'll hold fire on the Gottfrieds, but stay lined up with the ship; the Valiants and missile launchers will still be active, and if you stray too far to one side you could get hit."

"Copy that," said La Flaga as he began his descent.

It wasn't a moment too soon; several DINNs, sensing a target of opportunity, were already heading his way. However, they soon found that they had much more pressing concerns as Heero swooped in on them, killing two with the Twin Buster Rifle before engaging the others with his beam saber. The Lieutenant Commander couldn't afford to get complacent though; with the sheer number of DINNs involved in the fight, he knew that even a pilot of Heero's caliber wouldn't be able to keep them all off of him.

Making his descent, the Hawk of Endymion was confronted with a twofold challenge; keeping the Spearhead within the narrow corridor designated by Miriallia while at the same time dodging enemy fire. Twisting and turning the aircraft to the best of his ability, La Flaga found himself envying his Eurasian counterparts; their Sukhoi birds were much better suited to the tight maneuvers he needed to perform.

His eyes narrowing as he concentrated on his approach, the Lieutenant Commander barely caught a warning from Heero.

"La Flaga," said the Gundam pilot, "you've got incoming, five o'clock high."

"Damn it," he muttered before replying, "Take 'em out for me. I can't exactly stop to tango right now!"

"I'm on them," said Heero. Glancing up and over his shoulder out the canopy, La Flaga saw Wing Zero open up on the pack of incoming mobile suits. Three were destroyed by the Twin Buster Rifle, while the others scattered. Heero quickly closed to beam saber range and slashed one machine in half before whirling around and impaling another unit. The Gundam moved like lightening, and the DINNs were overwhelmed by its speed and power… not to mention the dominating skill of its pilot.

Unfortunately, that was when Lady Luck decided to be that fickle bitch of legend. One of the DINNs, in a panicked attempt to take down Wing Zero, started firing wildly. Heero dodged the shots with relative ease, but just before he destroyed the mobile suit with a well place low-power shot from the Twin Buster Rifle, a few stray rounds hit the right engine of the fighter.

"Shit!" he snarled as the impacts rocked him in his seat. Warning alarms blared in the cockpit, their shrilling assault tormenting his ears until he muted them, he glanced back and saw smoke billowing from the damaged engine. The fighter dropped several meters before he was able to regain control, and the Hawk of Endymion struggled to keep his approach vector lined up.

"Archangel," he said, "I'm coming in hot!"

….

"The Lieutenant Commander's been hit!" cried Miriallia from the CIC, "His starboard engine is damaged, and his control of the plane has been compromised!"

Damn, thought Murrue, things just keep getting worse. "Have the hangar crews deploy the arrestor nets!" she ordered, "Tell Chief Murdoch to have his team stand by with firefighting gear!"

As Miriallia relayed her orders, Murrue returned her attention to the forward viewport. She could see the Lieutenant Commander's plane making its final approach, smoke trailing from its damaged engine. It'll be a rough landing, she thought, but the Lieutenant Commander will be fine; he's not the Hawk of Endymion for nothing.

Beyond the F-7D Spearhead, the air battle raged on. Wing Zero was savaging the DINNs, and Murrue noted with pride that Heero had accounted for more kills than the entire Eurasian air and naval forces combined. There's no other pilot like him in this world, she thought, the only one who comes close is the Valkyrie, and even she was forced to retreat. Heero, you truly are the best… of course, I knew that long before today.

However, Murrue also knew that, despite Heero's extraordinary skills, along with the fearsome Wing Zero, there was only so much the young man could do. He had already fought and defeated three elite squadrons before engaging ZAFT's regular forces, and though he was dishing out an incredible amount of punishment there were still hundreds of DINNs in the fight, and Murrue knew that even Heero would have difficulty in taking them all on. Also, though ZAFT had devoted a considerable amount of their air units to fighting Wing Zero, there were still plenty of machines left to engage the surviving Eurasian fighters, and they were doing so with savage ferocity.

Also, unlike the rest of her crew, she was keenly aware of the strain Heero was fighting under. It wasn't just due to the efforts needed to engage so many targets at once, but also because of the double-edged sword that was the Zero System. Murrue knew that keeping control over the program, bending it to his will, required an amount of mental energy and focus that she'd never be able to match, and that the young man had to exert a considerable amount of effort into doing so, in addition to the already strenuous task that was mobile suit combat. She did not know just how far Heero's endurance could be stretched, and Murrue could only pray that the Gundam pilot's strength and experience with fighting against impossible odds would be enough to keep him one step ahead of the enemy.

"Captain!" cried Miriallia, "Chief Murdoch has acknowledged your orders. The nets are ready, and fire crews are on standby!"

"Alright then," said Murrue, watching as the Spearhead came in for landing, "It's all up to the Lieutenant Commander now."

Her eyes narrowed as she watched the Spearhead struggle to keep its heading. The engine damage must be worst than it looks, she thought, I'm surprised La Flaga's been able to keep that thing in the air as long as he has. Then the plane was below her line of sight, and she knew it had entered the hangar. Moment of truth.

A second later there was a slight rumble. Then Miriallia spoke up again. "The arrestor nets caught the fighter. Chief Murdoch reports that the crews are suppressing the plane's engine fire now. La Flaga is exiting the fighter now; he's unharmed!"

Some good news at least, she thought, though if the Lieutenant Commander's here rather than on his transport, I doubt we'll get any more like it; he may be a little lax when it comes to regulations, but he wouldn't defy orders from the top without a damn good reason. I have a bad feeling about this…

"Captain," said Miriallia, "La Flaga's on the hangar comm."

"Patch him through," said Murrue.

The Lieutenant Commander appeared on the screen, his face dead serious. "Captain, you've got to get the Archangel out of here! This entire battle is a trap!"

Murrue was shocked; that was not what she'd been expecting to hear. "What are you talking about, La Flaga?"

"There's a Cyclops bomb beneath the base," he said, "It's basically a massive microwave emitter array, and since N-jammers restrict those waves to smaller areas, its power is amplified to almost that of a nuke. It'll wipe out not just the base, but everything on this battlefield!"

"My god…" she said, horrified at the revelation, "How… how could High Command…"

"I know, it's monstrous," said La Flaga, his expression one of utter revulsion, "Captain, ZAFT's focused almost all of their surface forces here at Alaska. When the Cyclops detonates, it'll take out between 80 to 90% of their air, aquatic, and ground units, leaving the remainder easy prey for a mop up. That's the plan as imagined by the top brass!" He all but spat those last words out.

It all makes sense, she thought grimly, the cold shoulder treatment when we got here, the Eurasian forces, the lack of Atlantic Federation units… not only will ZAFT's fleet and army be wiped out, but the Eurasians will lose a significant portion of their armed forces, and in the process much of their influence in the Alliance. The organization will be completely dominated by the Atlantic Federation.

The enormity of it all fell upon her like a heavy rain. Shock and revulsion raged within her at the sheer barbarism of the plan. More importantly, righteous indignation burned in her heart at her country's betrayal, how it had been so willing to sacrifice her and the people under her command… and the young man she had fallen in love with.

They wanted us dead, she thought, they wanted Heero dead! No wonder he was on edge at the debriefing; he could sense their intent! He just couldn't figure out their plan.

"They used us," she said, "The Archangel, Heero… they used us as bait, and they expect us to die here!"

"Yeah," said the Lieutenant Commander, "ZAFT has devoted considerable resources in its attempts to take out this ship and Wing Zero… something High Command was well aware of. You and Heero were the perfect lure; adding the Eurasians to the pot was just a bonus to them."

"So we're supposed to stay here and die?" said Ensign Neumann, the helmsman's dismay at the revelation clear in his voice, "Why? Why would they do this to us?"

Miriallia's voice came up from the CIC, quiet and grim. "Because… because we're soldiers. We're supposed to follow orders… even if those orders are to die."

That's the reasoning of the High Command, thought Murrue, to them we're just pawns to be sacrificed… to hell with that!

In a second her resolve and determination returned as she made her decision. She knew it would have serious consequences down the road, and that neither she nor her crew would ever be able to go home again, but she didn't give a damn. Our country betrayed us; it's no longer our home!

"If this ship was supposed to lure the enemy in," she said, "then we have more than achieved our mission. I will not stand by and allow the top brass to sacrifice us just so they can defeat ZAFT!"

Murrue immediately began issuing orders. "Helm, forward on the engines; we'll break out through the right side of the bay! Communications, tell the rest of the fleet to form up on us, and let them know about the Cyclops! Have the Gottfrieds and Valiants focus fire on the ships directly in front of us. The same goes for the missile launchers. Miriallia, have the hangar crews ready the Skygrasper, Launcher load out; the Lieutenant Commander needs his plane!"

Her bridge crew looked at her, their eyes wide as she gave her instructions… her declaration of mutiny. It only lasted a moment though; one by one they nodded and returned their attention to their stations. Murrue breathed an inward sigh of relief. Of course none of them want to stay here and die… still, we are defying the top brass, committing treason… fuck it! I'm getting my people out of here; the brass can go to hell!

She saw La Flaga nod and salute on the main screen before he signed off. Murrue then turned to her personal monitor; she needed to tell Heero what was going on.

Heero, she thought, we can make it out of here. We will survive! I have not come this far to lose you now!

….

Cold fury raced through his veins as Heero listened to Murrue's voice. Outwardly he showed no emotion, but within he was struggling to keep his wrath in check, less it cause him to lose control of the Zero System.

So, he thought, that's the dirty secret they were hiding. It all makes sense… damn it! I wasn't able to pierce that last firewall… I screwed up! He forced the thoughts out of his mind; he'd have plenty of time to beat himself up over it after the battle.

He nodded as she finished explaining the situation. "Alright, I'll do what I can to keep the enemy mobile suits off us." That would be a tall order, even for him; there were still hundreds of them in the air, while the number of Eurasian fighters had dwindled to less than eighty. Heero was also tracking the Duel at the edge of his radar; the last of the stolen prototypes was still engaging the Eurasian planes, but it could join the DINNs fighting him at any time. Dozens of the machines were still swarming around him, and no matter how many Heero took down the enemy just kept throwing more at him.

"Thank you, Heero," said Murrue, "The Archangel will be moving to the head of the fleet; we have the most firepower and the toughest armor, so we're the natural spearhead for the breakout." Her voice was calm, but even over the screen Heero could see the worry in her eyes. He certainly couldn't blame her; the enemy forces remained formidable even after their losses, and a breakout would not be easy.

"Heero," she continued, "please… be careful, alright?"

Heero nodded. The fact that, even in the midst of the fierce battle and the betrayal of her country, she was still concerned for his safety, meant a lot to him. However, he didn't want her to be distracted by him now; she needed to focus on her ship and crew.

"I will," he said, doing his best to reassure her, "I didn't survive the Eve Wars just to die here, after all."

"You're right," Murrue replied, nodding, "Still… watch yourself, Heero."

"Roger that," said Heero, "Wing Zero out."

He closed in on another DINN as he signed off, impaling it with his beam saber. As the machine exploded he gained altitude, both to prepare for his next attack and to assess the battlefield.

The ground engagement was no longer his concern; by now the few remaining Eurasian land units had either surrendered or been killed, and ZAFT's ground mobile suits were focusing all their attention on bombarding the base while the infantry massed behind them, preparing to enter the facility.

No, his areas of focus were the air and sea battle. Both were grim for the Alliance, and the situation was made even worse by the fact that they had been pushed back a ways since the start of the battle, meaning that the Archangel and the surviving Eurasian forces had to fight over a longer distance in order to break through the enemy armada.

Still, the Alliance survivors were already moving forward, forming up on the Archangel and charging into ZAFT's left wing. The white warship lead a much reduced Eurasian fleet. All but one of the heavy carriers had been sunk, and only three of the escort carriers were still afloat as well. Four missile cruisers were still in the action, along with 17 destroyers. All the freighters and tankers were either on fire or at the bottom of the bay. Nevertheless, the fleet pressed forward while firing every weapon they had.

The shift from defense to offense actually caught the ZAFT forces off guard; they had, for the most part, had the dominant role in the battle, and to face a sudden desperate attack like what the Alliance fleet was making threw them momentarily off balance. The Archangel's Gottfried beam cannons gutted two Vosgulovs, while a salvo from the Valiants punched two massive holes in one of the enemy's surface carriers, causing it to begin listing sharply to starboard. A volley of Sledgehammer missiles shot out from the ship's rear launchers and rained down on ZAFT's armada, taking out three destroyers and damaging another Vosgulov. The fire from the smaller vessels added to havoc the Archangel was wreaking, and Heero was also able to observe the white foam of torpedo tracks; some of the Eurasian submarines were apparently still in the fight.

As he went evasive, dodging volleys of rifle fire and missiles, Heero saw the front portions of both the Archangel's 'legs' open up, revealing the Lohengrin Positron Cannons. Now that the ship is at the head of the fleet, thought Heero as the guns began charging, taking on a red-orange glow, Murrue can cut loose without having to worry about friendly fire.

Indeed, a second later a wave of crimson energy ripped forth. Two destroyers literally melted as the beams swept over them, but they were not the targets. The energy blasts continued onward until they slammed into another Vosgulov, and the ship was consume by the flood of red hellfire.

Another one down, thought Heero as he destroyed another DINN with his beam saber, but… there's still a lot of them left.

The ZAFT armada had taken serious losses, but they still had plenty of ships left. 29 Vosgulovs remained operational, along with 30 destroyers and 5 surface carriers. Combined with the over 200 DINNs, along with that were still actively fighting and the Duel, the reduced fleet was still more than a match for the Alliance remnant… even with Wing Zero thrown into the mix.

Heero fired another blast with the Twin Buster Rifle, taking out ten machines with the shot. However, scarcely a second after the beam had left the massive gun, Heero felt the Gundam shake as a volley of missiles hit him from behind. The physical impacts and subsequent explosions were not enough to damage Wing Zero, of course, but it was a sign of just how desperate the situation was becoming; even the Perfect Soldier was starting to take hits.

Damn, he thought as he ascended, evading a second volley, not good. All these DINNs still left… I can only track so many targets for so long, even with the Zero System. He hated to admit it, but the sheer weight of their numbers was beginning to take a toll.

Clenching his teeth as he closed in on another machine and impaled it, the Gundam pilot could feel the sweat on his face, could hear his breathing becoming more labored. Still, his determination burned as strongly as ever; he wasn't finished yet.

There was a beeping coming from one of his displays, and as he glanced at it he couldn't help but smirk slightly. "Took you long enough," he said as La Flaga's Skygrasper scrambled for altitude, having just launched from the Archangel. The Agni Hyper Impulse Cannon slung beneath its fuselage opened up, and a DINN was speared by the crimson beam, turning into a fireball.

The Lieutenant Commander appeared on one of his monitors. "Sorry I'm late," he said, "Murdoch's crews were split between outfitting my plane and making sure the Spearhead didn't blow."

"Better late than never," said Heero as he jinked to the right, dodging rifle fire, "Get above the furball and set up for a run."

"I know the drill," said La Flaga, "I can't turn and burn with these guys, so hit-and-run attacks are my best bet."

"Yeah," he replied as he destroyed another missile volley with Wing Zero's shoulder gatlings, "and thanks for the help."

"No problem," said the Lieutenant Commander as the blue and white plane continued its ascent, "You and I have put a lot of work into defending that ship; we can't let her go down now."

"Roger that," said Heero as he fired a shot with the Twin Buster Rifle and took out three more DINNs. He was then forced to dive as no less than a hundred machines opened up on him, and he was barely able to weave through the barrage.

He took out two more DINNs with his beam saber before whirling around and destroying another with a low-power shot from the Twin Buster Rifle. Damn, he thought, the air battle's momentum is shifting back into their favor. An unbidden image flashed through his mind; his battle at Luxembourg in the last war. Fighting against overwhelming forces, slowly being worn down…

No, he thought, this isn't that battle! I'm not here looking for my own death, and my life isn't the only one on the line. Murrue's counting on me; her life rides on my rifle and sword! I can't fail her!

La Flaga's voice came over the radio. "Fox One! Fox Two!" Two missiles flew into the fray, each hitting a DINN. One lost half its wing and was forced to withdraw, while the other caught the warhead directly in the cockpit and exploded. A second later a red beam lanced through the fight, destroying another mobile suit.

However, despite the Lieutenant Commander's considerable skill and the firepower of his fighter, he was little more than an irritant to the ZAFT pilots. Five DINNs broke off to engage him, and their places were quickly filled by more machines.

Zigzagging across the sky, dodging fire and striking out when he could, Heero noted grimly that ZAFT could easily afford to devote the amount of resources to him that they were. The Eurasian fighter squadrons were all but finished. A scant thirty planes remained in the sky, and only a handful of DINNs were required to handle them. Heero was now facing almost the entirety of ZAFT's surviving air units himself; a force that, even with the considerable losses inflicted on it, still numbered nearly 200 strong.

Increasing the charge of his rifle, he let loose a large blast, and twenty machines ignited like a string of firecrackers. The enemy made him pay for the shot though, unleashing a maelstrom of rifle fire and missiles.

Even with the aid of the Zero System it was impossible for Heero to dodge all the shots; he was tiring, his reflexes and reaction times slowing. Wing Zero rocked as several missiles slammed into the Gundam.

Suddenly he heard La Flaga's voice on the radio. "Heero, the Duel's heading for the Archangel! I can't intercept!"

"Fuck!" he snarled as the image appeared on one of his monitors. Indeed, the blue and grey machine was weaving through the Archangel's anti-air curtain, almost casually shooting down two fighters with its beam rifle while doing so. The few rounds and missiles that hit the G-weapon were not enough to deter it, and its Phase Shift Armor assured that physical attacks would not be able to bring it down.

"Get away from her!" he growled as he took aim with the Twin Buster Rifle. However, just before he fired, another group of missiles slammed into Wing Zero from the side. The impact threw off his shot; five DINNs were destroyed, but the beam slammed into the water behind the Duel.

Heero felt himself go numb with shock and fear as he saw the machine take aim at the Archangel's bridge.

Murrue!

….

As she saw the stolen prototype level its rifle, Murrue was convinced that her luck had finally run out. Her heart and mind went out to the extraordinary young man who had impacted her life in a way she'd never thought possible. There was no blame within them; she knew that Heero was doing all he could to protect her, and that the odds against him were overwhelming… even for a Gundam pilot.

As she looked out the forward viewport, she imagined the young man's face in her mind's eye. Heero… please, live on for me. The time we had together was the best period of my life. I love you, Heero.

She did not close her eyes as the barrel of the Duel's rifle glowed green, its shot a mere instant away. She would not look away; after the countless times that Heero had stared death in the face, how could she do less?

There was a flash of emerald light, an explosion…

Murrue gasped as an energy beam pierced the Duel's rifle, causing it to detonate. The explosion threw the machine off balance and forcing it back, and another mobile suit interposed itself between it and the ship… one unlike any unit she had seen before, save one.

Hovering in front of the Archangel, the newcomer presented a powerful image. It's white and black frame, and blue and black wings, exuded a sense of majesty that Murrue had only felt when looking at Wing Zero.

A voice came over the radio… one Murrue had thought she'd never hear again.

"This is Kira Yamato! I'm here, Archangel!"

Her eyes widened in shock, her face paled as though she'd seen a ghost… completely understandable, considering she might as well have.

"Kira?" she said, "Our Kira?"

The boy's voice came over the radio again, eliminating all doubts in her mind. "This is Kira Yamato! Archangel, please respond!"

"Kira!" cried Miriallia, shock and joy in her voice.

"It is Kira!" said Sai.

"Yeah!" said Kuzzey.

"Get him on screen at once!" ordered Murrue.

The young man's face appeared on the main monitor. He was wearing a red flight suit and helmet, and Murrue knew that they were ZAFT flight gear. She didn't care about that at the moment; she'd find out where he'd come from later.

"Kira," she said, smiling, "You're alive!"

He nodded. "Captain, you need to pull back! I'll help Heero and La Flaga take care of these guys!"

Murrue shook her head. "Kira, we can't! There's a Cyclops bomb underneath the base. When it blows it'll destroy everything on this battlefield. They tricked us; this entire battle was a trap, and High Command used us as bait!"

"What?" he said, his eyes widening in shock, "How could they…?"

"It doesn't matter," said Murrue, "We have to get out of here!"

Kira nodded. "Alright, I'll help clear a path."

"Kira, wait!" she cried, "Please, help Heero! ZAFT's hitting him with almost every DINN they've got left!"

As she spoke she glanced at her personal monitor, which was focused on Wing Zero. Heero had recovered from the hits that had thrown his earlier shot off and was fighting his way through the DINNs towards the Archangel, but that did not change the fact that he was still up against nearly 200 mobile suits. Every time he launched an attack of his own he was vulnerable to counter-fire from other machines, and while the Gundanium alloy that gave the unit its name was all but impervious to physical attacks, Murrue feared that the mobile suit's armor would be worn down under a concentrated bombardment.

"Alright," said Kira, "but what about the Archangel? The Duel's not out of the fight yet; it could come back at any time!"

That was true, and Murrue could see the mobile suit in question hovering not too far away, as if trying to figure out the best way to get past the newcomer. Still, she was desperate to help Heero… and in that desperation she found inspiration.

As she looked at Kira's new mobile suit, she saw that it was bristling with weaponry. She didn't know the specifics of it, but she felt that, when combined with Kira's own skills, it might just be enough for what she needed.

"Kira," she said, "Charge the Duel and take it out quickly. After that, come back over the ship and open up with every gun that thing has; we'll combine our firepower with yours!"

"Got it," said Kira. Murrue saw his mobile suit grab a beam saber and ignite it with its right hand, the violet blade springing to life as the young Coordinator moved in to attack the Duel.

Hang on Heero, she thought as the ship shuddered from a missile hit, the warhead fired by one of the enemy destroyers, we're coming! Please, stay alive; it's our turn to save you!

….

"What the hell is that thing?" said Yzak, his jaw dropping as he saw the machine that had destroyed his beam rifle charging at him. He'd never seen a mobile suit like the one coming at him now; the closest comparison he could come up with was Wing Zero.

Another Alliance secret weapon?, he thought, Damn it, that thing showed up at the worst possible time!

He didn't have time to think of much else though; the machine moved incredibly fast, and was on him in no time. He ignited his own beam saber and raised it to block the attack of his new enemy.

He never even came close to blocking the strike. Moving faster than he'd thought possible of a mobile suit, his foe altered the angle of his attack and severed his sword arm. A split second later it fired its beam rifle and hit his flight platform.

"Damn it!" he yelled as the platform shuddered, smoke and fire pouring from it. He disconnected the Duel from the device just before it exploded. Struggling to adapt to the thruster-techniques he'd seen the Strike use during the battle at the Marshall Islands, he was barely able to raise his shield as the new enemy machine came in for another attack.

Yzak thought he'd be able to block this strike, but the enemy swung their sword beneath his shield, ripping the Duel's legs off. This was then followed by two heavy impacts as the rail cannons at the machine's waist swung into position and fired. The rounds hit the Duel's torso, and when combined with the previous attacks the unit had taken were enough to push the power gauge down into the red zone; he had less than a minute before his Phase Shift Armor deactivated… if his foe didn't kill him before then.

He's got me, thought Yzak, beam saber destroyed, rifle destroyed… all I've got is the Igelstellung CIWs mounted in the head, and they won't even scratch that thing; I can tell it has Phase Shift Armor. Damn it, it can't end here!

He was surprised to hear a voice over his radio. It was on an open channel, and he somehow knew it war from the pilot that had so soundly beaten him. "You need to get out of here!" the voice said. Yzak was surprised to realize that it sounded like a young man, probably around his age. "If you don't want to die, leave here now!"

His eyes widened in shock. "He's… letting me go?" said Yzak as the machine flew off. Mercy was the last thing he'd expected… but he wasn't going to complain. Completely taken aback at the sudden turn of events, he nevertheless knew that the stranger was right. If he kept trying to fight in his state, Yzak would only be signing his own death warrant.

Doing his best to keep the Duel stabilized, he made his way back towards the ZAFT fleet. His altitude continued to fall though, and it was only with the timely assistance of a DINN that he was saved from plunging into the sea.

As his fellow pilot helped him make his way to his carrier, he looked at one of his monitors, which showed the battle he was leaving. "Who is that guy?" he said as he watched the formidable new mobile suits fly back towards the legged ship.

….

Taking up position in front of the bridge of the Archangel, Kira's eyes narrowed as he aimed the Freedom's artillery at the air battle overhead. He could see Heero and La Flaga, slugging it out against a massive swarm of DINNs. Heero was taking out foe after foe with the Twin Buster Rifle and his beam saber, but every so often he took a hit as well. Kira knew that his fellow mobile suit pilot was getting tired, a sign of just how brutal the battle had been before he had arrived, and just how desperate the situation still was. La Flaga was struggling as well, hounded by a flight of DINNs that refused to give up pursuit, and the Lieutenant Commander was only able to get off a few shots amidst his frantic evasive maneuvers.

Locking in on a group of targets, Kira cut loose with the Freedom's beam rifle, plasma cannons, and rail guns. Green, red, and yellow shots flew across the sky, and a dozen mobile suits lost their weapons or head cameras. At the same time the Archangel unleashed a torrent of fire from every weapon it could bring to bear on the fight. The white warship's bombardment was focused on the flanks of the enemy air forces so as not to endanger Heero and La Flaga. Emerald beams, heavy rail cannon rounds, Igelstellung fire, and Wombat missiles tore into the DINNs, and several machines were destroyed.

I wish Captain Ramius could take them out without killing them, he thought, but I know she can't. The Archangel isn't like the Freedom; it can't target with the same degree of precision.

The enemy air forces were taken by surprise by the sudden barrage, and Kira saw both Heero and La Flaga immediately move to make the most of their reprieve. The Hawk of Endymion pulled the Skygrasper into a u-turn. As the blue and white fighter faced its pursuers it cut loose with the Agni cannon. A crimson beam destroyed one of the DINNs, while a barrage from the heavy gatling gun took out another. Meanwhile, Heero once again fired the Twin Buster Rifle, destroying ten more machines. He then charged another formation of DINNs and began hacking into them with his beam saber.

Still, though they had regained some momentum, Kira knew that they were all in great peril. The Archangel and the other surviving Alliance ships were still moving forward, but their pace was too slow; the ZAFT armada was making their breakout difficult, to say the least.

I have to get them to stop fighting, he thought as he adjusted the radio, I have to warn them about the Cyclops trap!

….

Heero couldn't help but smile slightly as the black, white, and blue mobile suit opened up with its guns. Supported by the Archangel, their combined firepower took the ZAFT machines by surprise, and gave him and La Flaga the opening they needed to counter-attack.

Kira, he thought as he destroyed ten DINNs with the Twin Buster Rifle, I guess you're tougher than I thought. I was sure you'd died when the Aegis and Strike exploded. Then again, considering I survived self-detonating the Wing Gundam, I guess I shouldn't have written you off so quickly. It's good to have you back… my friend.

Heero had plenty of questions, of course. How Kira had survived, where had he been the past several weeks, where had he gotten the mobile suit he was now piloting… those were amongst the many queries floating in the back of his mind. However, the Gundam pilot knew that those questions could wait for later; they had much more important things to worry about at the moment.

He raised an eyebrow as he saw that all of Kira's shots only disabled the DINNs, rather than destroyed him. The accuracy is impressive, he mused, and Kira never really accepted the fact that as a mobile suit pilot he would have to kill people… still, I have my concerns. If he stops trying to kill entirely during battle, he may be unable to react if he's confronted with a situation where he has to kill. That could cost him his life, or the lives of others. I'll have to talk with him about that later.

Still, Heero wasn't about to complain now; even if he wasn't destroying the enemy mobile suits, Kira's shots were still enough to take them out of the fight, and they desperately needed to remove as many of them as they could, as fast as they could, if they were to stand a chance at getting out of there alive.

As he destroyed another DINN with his beam saber he heard Kira's voice over the radio, on an open channel. "Attention ZAFT forces! There's a Cyclops bomb underneath the base! When it blows, it'll kill everyone here. Please, stop fighting and withdraw now!"

Heero shook his head as he took down another DINN. Well intentioned, Kira, he thought, but pointless. You may be trying to save their lives, but all they see is another enemy shooting at them. They'll only view your words as a ploy; you're not going to convince them to back off.

Still, something had to be done if they were to survive the battle. Kira's arrival had tipped the scales somewhat, but the Alliance ships weren't progressing fast enough. Even on it left flank, where the Archangel had resumed hammering away with its guns in its role as the lead ship of the break out force, ZAFT's forces were still strong, and they were fighting back fiercely. The ragged survivors were taking hits, and thought the Archangel absorbed the rounds and missiles that hit her hull with minimal difficulty, the same could not be said for the Eurasian ships.

At this rate, thought Heero as he fired another shot with the Twin Buster Rifle, taking out four more DINNs, they're not going to make it! Murrue… I have to save her!

He was desperate for a plan, any plan… and he knew of only one place he might find inspiration. Going on the evasive, he immersed himself further into the Zero System. He knew that he was increasing the risk of losing control over it, especially considering how much strain his body and mind were already being subjugated to, but he had no other options.

I need a path, he thought as images and numbers flashed through his mind, I need a path out of here. Not just for myself, but the Archangel as well. Literally, metaphorically… give me something, Zero.

And then it hit him. All the other images, all the other possible futures that the system was presenting him with, disappeared.

All but one.

Heero's eyes narrowed, his incredibly sharp mind focusing on the single possibility, the one chance he had to save the woman he loved. It was risky, of course; in fact, it was practically suicidal.

In other words, par for the course for a Gundam pilot.

He had the power and the skill to pull it off… he just needed a little help.

Hitting the radio, he contacted his fellow pilots. "Lieutenant Commander, Kira, listen up. Cover the Archangel; I'm going to take care of the Cyclops system."

"What do you mean, Heero?" asked Kira as the Gundam pilot gunned his engines, making a mad dash towards the Alaska base.

"Damn it, Heero!" yelled La Flaga, "You can't shut the Cyclops down! The base is a labyrinth; even if you knew which way to go, there's no way you could get to the bomb before it blows! It's a suicide run!"

"When did I say I was going inside the base?" Heero replied.

There was silence on the comm line for a second before La Flaga burst out laughing. "Oh, man," he said after a moment, "I knew there was a reason I liked you! So, you think you've got what it takes to pull it off?"

"Only if you two protect the Archangel," he said, "I won't be able to focus my aim correctly if I'm worried about that ship."

Of course, it was Murrue he was worried about more than the ship, but he wasn't about to say that to Kira and La Flaga. Besides, right now keeping Murrue and the Archangel safe were one and the same.

"Copy that," said La Flaga, "Good luck, Heero!"

"Don't worry," said Kira, both resolve and a hint of confusion in his voice, "We'll take care of the ship. Uhm… good luck!"

"Roger that," said Heero as he signed off. Slashing his way through the horde of DINNs, destroying no less than twenty before he finally broke out of the furball, he pushed his engines to the max as he flew towards the Alaska base, leaving his enemies in the dust.

All the while he was running calculations through his head. Two consecutive, full power, in atmosphere…, he thought, that's within the structural tolerances, and it should be enough to deal with the fortifications. I haven't gone above seventy-five percent in this fight, so the reactor's been able to keep up with my usage; I have the charge I need. It should be enough; the real trick will be targeting… that, and pulling this off before the Cyclops detonates and kills us all.

….

"What the hell is he doing?" said Ensign Neumann from his post at the helm.

Murrue heard other members of her crew utter similar statements as they saw Wing Zero streak towards the Alaska base on the main monitor. She couldn't blame them for their doubts; they didn't know what he was planning to do.

Murrue, however… even though Heero had not contacted her before he'd made his breakout and begun his run towards the base, knew exactly what he had in mind. Part of it was because of how well she had come to know the incredible young man… and the other part was that she knew exactly what kind of power he wielded, and that he would be drawing upon all of it to achieve his goal.

You can do it, Heero, she thought as she turned her attention back to the enemy fleet, I know you can. I believe in you with all my heart; I know you'll succeed!

….

(Start "Rhythm Emotion")

Climbing above the range of the guns of the ZAFT ground forces, Heero moved into position over the base. Charging the Twin Buster Rifle as he did so, he brought up a terrain map of the area on one of his side monitors.

Heero's eyes narrowed as he recalled his infiltration of the base several weeks ago; more specifically, the facility maps he had pulled up on the computer during his hacking attempt. He had not saved them onto any external memory device, but they were stored in something much easier to access; his own mind.

With perfect clarity, he saw the floor plans of the base overlay perfectly with the terrain map in his mind's eye. Aiming the Twin Buster Rifle at the exact center of where he knew the Cyclops system to be located-the giant circular room that had been labeled as a storage facility on the map- he held his position as the barrels of the gun glowed with yellow energy. When the charge reached maximum he double checked his trajectory, took a breath, and pulled the trigger…

…and unleashed Armageddon.

The power to destroy an entire colony tore forth from the weapon; a massive torrent of yellow-gold hellfire. The energy blast slammed dead-center into the target area, and Heero's monitors were flooded by yellow light as a titanic explosion ripped through layers of earth, concrete, and steel. The base's mass driver, part of which ran over the area he had targeted, was utterly annihilated, as was the airfield.

The massive blast expanded outward, a gargantuan hemi-sphere of golden-yellow destruction. The ZAFT mobile suits closest to the base were pulverized by the shockwave and Heero knew that he had just killed not only them but any Eurasian ground forces that may have surrendered in the process.

That grim fact did not deter his resolve, and he began recharging his weapon even before the light from the first blast had dissipated. They're already dead, he thought solemnly, if not by my hand, then the Cyclops. It does not change the fact that I killed them, but they were doomed either way. He closed his eyes for a moment, thinking of the woman he had sworn to protect at all costs. Murrue, forgive me. I know you will; you've always been so understanding with me, and you're smart enough to know that the Atlantic Federation High Command doomed those men and women by putting them in that position. Still… I'm sorry.

As the Twin Buster Rifle built up energy for its next attack, Heero checked his monitors to see what was happening in the rest of the battle. He saw that both sides had actually stopped firing at each other for a moment, as if they were transfixed by what he had just done. I guess I can't blame them. After all, this is the first time I've used the full power of the Twin Buster Rifle in this world. The ZAFT forces are probably doubly shocked; after all, as far as they know I'm an Alliance pilot, and I just fired on the Alaska base. To say they're probably confused right now would be an understatement.

Still, the pause in the fighting did not last long. Heero saw Kira's new machine open up again with its guns, destroying the rifles of several DINNs. La Flaga joined in with the Skygrasper, taking out a mobile suit with the Agni and another with a pair of missiles. Meanwhile, the Archangel and the surviving Eurasian ships resumed firing on the ZAFT fleet in their desperate attempt to break through and escape the battlefield.

As he continued charging the rifle, Heero knew that he was vulnerable. However, none of the DINNs moved to engage him, which was what he had been counting on. They're still trying to figure out what's going on, he thought, I know they didn't believe what Kira said about the Cyclops, so right now they're probably wondering if I'm a traitor or just insane. Either way, they'll keep their distance for a little while at least, which is all I need.

Zooming in on the impact area with his sensors, Heero saw that he had ripped a massive hole in the ground, and had torn through several layers of the base's fortifications. The next shot should do it, he thought. It would have to; his instincts were telling him that he was running out of time, and quickly.

"Here goes," he muttered to himself. Taking aim again, Heero opened fire, once again releasing a power that none in the Cosmic Era had ever dreamed existed until today. Another massive explosion engulfed the base, and his visual sensors were once again obscured by bright yellow light. Still holding position, Heero knew that now he could only wait and see if he had destroyed his target; if he was still alive in the next few seconds, he would have his answer.

Eventually he could feel himself relax as his instincts told him that the threat had been neutralized. Adjusting his sensors again, he was able to confirm his suspicions; the crater was deep, and it had definitely passed the 500 meter mark where the Cyclops system had been stored. What he could make out on the bottom was little more than black and red earth, turned to glass by the incredible heat of the explosion.

Taking one last look at what had once been a combination of base and death trap, Heero gunned his engines and made a beeline for the Archangel. Contacting the ship, he saw Murrue's face appear on the monitor.

"This is Wing Zero," he said, "The Cyclops system has been destroyed."

Murrue smiled. "Thank you, Heero. I knew you could do it!"

Heero nodded. "Thanks… but I didn't even tell you what my plan was."

"No," said Murrue, "but I know you, Heero. I know what you can do with Wing Zero. Now, let's get out of here!"

"Agreed," said Heero, "I'll help Kira and La Flaga keep the DINNs away from the Archangel. You focus on cutting a path through the fleet."

"I will," she replied, her brown eyes burning with resolve, "We will survive, Heero!"

Heero couldn't help but smile slightly, remembering the words he'd spoken before destroying the falling section of the Libra. "Yes, we will, Murrue."

He signed off before he plunged headlong into the horde of DINNs still swarming over the battlefield. Heero didn't dare use the Twin Buster Rifle so soon after firing it twice in row at maximum power; he wanted to give the weapon some cool down time. Instead he would focus on close range combat and leave the long range fighting to Kira; the boy's new mobile suit certainly had enough guns to handle that.

Wing Zero streaked across the sky, slashing three DINNs with its beam saber in as many seconds. Though Heero was tired from the prolonged battle, Kira and his new machine were taking a considerable amount of the pressure off him, and Heero was once again able to avoid taking any major hits while fighting.

He fired his shoulder gatlings, destroying two DINNs before the last of his ammo was depleted. Looks like I'm stuck with just the beam saber now, he thought, that'll have to be enough.

He radioed Kira to give him the news. "Kira, I'm out of ammo, and I need to give the rifle time to cool off, so I can only use my beam saber. You're our heavy artillery for the rest of the fight."

"Got it," said Kira as he let loose another storm of fire with his guns, disabling eight DINNs, "La Flaga and I will handle the long range fighting."

"Take a load off, Heero," said the Lieutenant Commander, "You've gone way above and beyond the call of duty. Stay close to the Archangel and play goal keeper for us; you'll never admit it, but I know you're getting tired."

Heero nodded, knowing La Flaga's words were true. "Thanks. Wing Zero out."

Heading for the ship, taking down three more DINNs in the process, Heero took up position above the Archangel's bridge. I can defend best from here, he thought.

It also gave him a front row seat to Murrue's struggle to get her ship and crew out of the battlefield. The remaining Alliance forces had suffered further casualties, and the surviving flotilla was damn near pitiful. Only two cruisers were left, along with nine destroyers. The escort carriers were gone, though the last of the heavy carriers still miraculously remained afloat. Scanning the water, Heero also was able to detect the outlines of four Alpha V attack subs and one Theta-class submarine/carrier. The radar showed only twelve Eurasian fighters still airborne; the last remnants of the once mighty air force. The surviving DINNs were ignoring the planes, focusing their efforts on Kira, La Flaga, and Heero. At least they'll all be able to fit on that carrier, he thought grimly, assuming any of them survive the last minutes of this fight.

The Archangel and her allies were redoubling their efforts to punch through the ZAFT fleet, sensing that they were at long last on the home stretch. The white warship cut loose with its bow-mounted Lohengrins, and crimson fire spewed forth, destroying another Vosgulov. The Gottfrieds and Valiants opened up as well, taking down four more destroyers. At the same time, the Eurasian warships fired with everything they had left, damaging several ships in the process.

Of course, Heero wasn't idle as the Alliance ships made their final push. Though Kira was taking a considerable amount of the DINNs' attention, and La Flaga was making himself a thorn in ZAFT's side with constant hit-and-run strikes, there were still plenty of enemy machines left to attack the Archangel. A group of mobile suits came down from above, and Heero met them halfway. He tore into his foes, and four DINNs exploded in the space of mere seconds. At the same time, the Archangel's CIWs and Helldart missile launchers cut loose with renewed fury, aiming at the machines at Heero's flanks. Three more were destroyed before the others backed off and attempted to regroup for another attack run.

Heero never gave them the chance. He slashed one DINN in half, and then impaled another through its cockpit. He then bisected another from stem to stern before pulling back, resuming his position over the Archangel's bridge.

The Alliance fleet's final, desperate attack, combined with the withering and incredibly precise fire Kira was dishing out and Heero's own defensive piloting, at last met with success. Firing one last salvo with the Gottfrieds, the Archangel destroyed the last Vosgulov-class submarine/carrier in its path, and led the allied ships out into the open ocean. At that point the ZAFT fleet commanders apparently decided that enough was enough; the surviving ships on the armada's left wing pulled in to reinforce the center, while the more intact right wing advanced further into the bay. The DINNs pulled back, discouraged from pursuing by a final barrage from Kira. The young Coordinator then made his way towards the Archangel, with the Lieutenant Commander's fighter close behind him.

Looking at the black, white, and blue machine on his monitor, Heero nodded at the image; a salute to the capabilities of both the mobile suit and its pilot. You've definitely gotten better, Kira, he thought, and that machine… it may not have the proper alloy, but I think it might be worthy of the title of 'Gundam'. I may have some reservations regarding your… tactics, but that doesn't change the fact that I owe you big time. You saved Murrue when I failed, and I'll never forget that. Thank you… it's good to have you back.

There was another feeling in his heart besides gratitude, and it wasn't directed at his fellow mobile suit pilot. He could feel the wrath smoldering in the depths of his soul, and while he was able to keep it under wraps for now and not let it affect his control over the Zero System, he could not deny that it was there… and that it could prove problematic in the future.

That wrath was not for ZAFT, which would have come as a surprise to others. Though they had attacked Alaska and nearly killed the woman he loved, Heero's attitude towards his foes was the same professional detachment that he treated all his enemies with. The Alaska base was an important strategic target, and ZAFT had a vested interest in taking it out, along with the Archangel. Of course, Heero would fight to the death to defend the ship and Murrue from ZAFT, but he would not hate ZAFT while doing so; they were simply the opposing force, no more and no less.

No, his fury was for those who had set Murrue up, who had tried and damn near succeeded to get her killed; the Atlantic Federation High Command. Heero would never, ever, forget their treachery… and he would make them pay for it in blood.

With our actions, he mused, we will now be labeled as traitors by the High Command. The Archangel can never return to Atlantic Federation territory; we're on the run now. I doubt we'll be able to take shelter in Eurasia either; though we helped save some of their forces, I have no doubt they'd want to control the Archangel, and I won't allow them to use us as pawns like the Atlantic Federation High Command did.

We'll have to find somewhere else to take refuge… and the High Command will no doubt come after us eventually. The Archangel represents a considerable investment, and though they were willing to sacrifice it as bait, now that it's effectively gone rogue I'm certain they will begin efforts to hunt us down and destroy us soon enough. When that happens, when we meet Alliance forces on the battlefield…

…I'll kill them all.

(End "Rhythm Emotion")

...

It was fortunate for Creuset that he was both wearing a mask and standing at the rear of the Vespucci's bridge. The Commander had a reputation of remaining cool no matter what happened… a reputation that would have taken a severe blow if the submarine/carrier's bridge crew could see the rage burning in his eyes. His teeth were clenched, all but gnashing together in fury, concealed only by the firmness by which he kept his lips sealed shut.

Everything had been according to plan. He had made it back to the ship, which had been secure at the rear of the armada, well out of range of the impending Cyclops detonation. Creuset had removed the Allster girl from the DINN Mk. II and stashed her away in his quarters after sedating her; he considered her more of a somewhat confined guest than an actual prisoner, along with a potentially valuable pawn for his long-term goals. He had then made his way to the Vespucci's bridge, brimming with anticipation at the coming carnage, the fruition of the next stage of his grand plan, the harbinger of things to come.

And then, in the space of mere minutes, it had been completely derailed.

He had been surprised at the arrival of the Freedom, not the least because it had saved the legged ship. Obviously the prototype had been hijacked, and he had little doubt the Clyne faction had been behind it. He'd resolved to deal with them as soon as he returned to space, but the new mobile suit's arrival had not immediately threatened to throw off his scheme.

Then Wing Zero had made its run towards the base. Creuset had at first been puzzled as to what its pilot had been thinking before seeing the fearsome machine take up position over the facility. Then it had dawned on him what was about to happen… just before the Gundam opened fire. Even then though, he had not believed that Wing Zero's main weapon would have the power needed to breach the base's fortifications and destroy the Cyclops system.

He'd miscalculated. Considerably.

Now all his hard work, months of deception and planning… had been reduced to a single, massive hole in the ground.

The ZAFT armada had suffered heavy losses in the fight… but they were not nearly as bad as they would've been had the Cyclops detonated as planned. There were still 20 Vosgulovs, 19 destroyers, and 5 surface carriers left, along with all the heavy assault transports and the smaller infantry transports.

The mobile suit count was also far more than it should've been. There were still 54 GINNs, 21 BuCues, 25 ZuOOTs, and, counting the disabled units, 108 DINNs. Only the amphibious units had suffered the losses his plan had called for; 90% of them had been destroyed, either on the ground or in the fierce underwater fighting, taking nearly all of the Eurasian underwater combat forces with them. The only bit that went right, he fumed.

Barely maintaining his cool veneer, he excused himself from the bridge, delegating his command authority over the fleet to the ship's captain. He made his way through the ship's corridors, still holding back his rage, until he made it to his private office.

Once inside, he locked the door, walked briskly behind the desk, grabbed the ZAFT flag that hung on the pole behind it, and swung it at his computer. The monitor shattered, but that wasn't nearly enough to satisfy his fury. He then swung the flagpole at one of the chairs, hitting it with such force that the wooden frame splintered. Creuset then hurled the flagpole at the wall like a spear, with enough strength to actually leave a considerable dent in it.

He then whipped out his sidearm and fired at the lamp on the desk. One shot was naturally enough to shatter the light bulb, but Creuset emptied the whole clip into the fixture. After hearing the telltale click due to the empty magazine, Creuset threw the gun at the wall. He then walked over and punched one of the pictures hanging on the wall, this one a watercolor rendering of a Nazca-class destroyer trading fire with a Nelson-class battleship. Glass shards from its protective covering embedded themselves into his knuckles, and blood dripped on the floor. However, his rage was so great that he did not feel the slightest hint of pain.

"Damn you," he growled before letting lose a howl worthy of a hellhound, "Damn you, WING ZERO!"

Preview for next time!

Having survived the battle at Alaska, Heero and the Archangel's crew are now officially traitors to the Earth Alliance. Desperate for a place to rest and resupply, Murrue pins her hopes on the neutral nation of Orb. Meanwhile, the aftermath of Operation Spitbreak sends shockwaves throughout the Earth Sphere, and both sides scramble to adjust their plans in the wake of the unforeseen turn of events. While Creuset moves to manipulate Supreme Chairman Zala and ZAFT in order to get his plan back on track, another player is at last taking the stage. Though he may have the appearance of an angel, his hatred and ruthlessness are worthy of the deepest pits of Hell. Next time, on "Journey to a New Battlefield", Episode Sixteen: Enter Azrael.

Desiring purity, he seeks to purge with fire... ambition and genocide walk hand in hand.

Author's Notes: Whew, finally got this one done. I have to admit, I was really worried about doing it right, especially after all the buildup. Well, I'm happy with the way it turned out, it was a blast to write! Creuset rampaging at the end was just the icing on the cake. Shouldn't have underestimated Wing Zero, Commander...

As I mentioned in the last chapter, updates will take longer to do from now on due to the increasingly complicated geo-political situation in the Earth Sphere, along with the developing character relationships, especially the main pairing. Of course, the battles will be growing more intricate as well; as big and detailed as it was, Spitbreak was really a trial run for me, a test bed for my large scale battle writing techniques, and a harbinger of things to come.

Well, 15 officially kicks off the second half of the story! How've I done so far? As always, please review, I really appreciate the input!

Until next time, my friends!