Author's Notes: Alright, another short chapter… kinda. This one is, on Word, 94 pages long, so it's one page shorter than the last one! Whether that's a good thing or a bad thing is entirely up to you… ok, moving on!

Song list for the chapter, in order of appearance: "Daybreak's Bell" by L'Arc-en-Ciel, "Ash Like Snow" by The Brilliant Green, and "The Round Table" from the Ace Combat Zero soundtrack.

Enjoy!

Episode Nineteen: Three Ships Alliance

"We're leveled out, Captain," said Ensign Neumann, "positron boosters are detached and falling; they'll burn up in the atmosphere. What heading should I set?"

"Hold position here," Murrue ordered, "we need to wait for the core block of the Kusanagi to join us. Without its other components it's completely defenseless aside from the mobile suits inside it; they'll need our protection while they link up with the bow and engine blocks."

"Understood, Captain," the helmsman replied, "Setting thrusters to station keeping."

"Lieutenant Tsukino," said Murrue, "give me a status report."

"No damage suffered during our exit run," she replied, "we're rebalancing power distribution now that the positron boosters are detached; engineering reports a few minor fluctuations, but nothing serious. Electrical systems are almost completely restored to pre-booster configuration; in a few more minutes we'll be back in optimal running form."

"Captain," said the sensor officer, "I have the Kusanagi core block on sensors. I'll bring up their course projection."

The image on the main monitor shifted, and Murrue saw a blue dotted line representing the Kusanagi's trajectory. Their exit course would bring them along the portside of the Archangel.

"We're being hailed by the Kusanagi," said the communications officer.

"Put them on screen," said Murrue.

Morgenroete's Chief Engineer appeared on the main monitor. "Captain Ramius," said Erica, "what's you status?"

"We're fine," she replied, "your boosters worked perfectly, Miss Simmons."

Erica nodded. "Glad to hear it, Captain. They were highly experimental pieces of technology; even with all the trial testing performed there was still a certain level of risk involved."

"I think you can now consider them field-proven," Murrue replied.

"That'll be some comfort to my scientists," she said, looking down for a moment, "things are… somber over here right now."

"I can only imagine," Murrue said softly, nodding in understanding, "Miss Simmons, are you now the commanding officer of the Kusanagi?"

Erica shook her head. "No, Captain Ramius. I was involved in the design of the Izumo-class line of battleships, and I have enough familiarity to run one if need be, but Colonel Kisaka will be acting as the military commander of this ship."

"Where is he now?" asked Murrue, "Shouldn't he be on the bridge?"

Erica sighed. "The Colonel is attending to… personal matters right now. I'm acting in his stead until he's able to come to the bridge."

'Personal matters' no doubt refers to Cagalli, thought Murrue solemnly, the poor girl just lost her father…

Murrue nodded. "I understand. Please, pass on our condolences to Cagalli. My crew and I are forever in her father's debt, both for his taking us in after we left the Alliance and for giving us the chance to escape into outer space. Lord Uzumi's sacrifice will not be forgotten by us; I give you my word on that. Also, you and the rest of the Kusanagi's crew have my sympathy."

Erica bowed her head. "Thank you, Captain Ramius. I will pass your words on to Lady Cagalli and the others when I get the chance. Right now though, I must focus on getting this ship linked up with the other two modular sections; they were launched from L3 a few days ago, and they should be coming within sensor range soon."

"Captain," said the radar officer, "I have two large contacts on long range sensors. Their IFF beacons register as Orb, and their profiles match data given to us by Morgenroete; it's the other two blocks of the Kusanagi."

Murrue nodded before turning back to Erica. "Did you catch that, Miss Simmons?"

"I did," she replied, "we just picked them up on our end as well. We'll begin the linkup procedure now. It's done through tight beam transmissions, so we'll need a clear line of sight between us and the two components."

"Understood," said Murrue, "I'll adjust our position so we're out of the way. By the way, how are Kira and Athrun?"

"They're fine," said Erica, "the Freedom and Justice are both incredibly tough machines; they were able to ride out our exit on the core block's hull with no ill effects. They're coming inside the Kusanagi now."

"Glad to hear it," said Murrue, "proceed with the linkup; we'll keep you covered."

"Thank you, Captain Ramius," said Erica before signing out.

Murrue turned to Ensign Neumann. "Helm, adjust our position, bearing five hundred meters over the Kusanagi."

"Yes, ma'am" said the helmsman as he carried out her orders.

Murrue then turned to her private monitor and contacted the hangar. "Crew Chief Murdoch," she said as the ship's head mechanic appeared on the screen, "what's the situation down there?"

"We're fine, Captain," he replied, "a few things got bumped around during the first part of our ascent, but the ride smoothed out fairly quickly, and the mobile suits, Skygrasper, and Moebius Zero were already secured. We've already got the place cleaned up and ready to go."

"Excellent work, Crew Chief," said Murrue.

"By the way," said Murdoch, "Heero just left Wing Zero about a minute ago. My guess is he's on his way up to the bridge."

Murrue nodded. "Thank you, Crew Chief. Carry on."

Mere seconds after Murrue cut the connection she heard the familiar sound of the bridge doors opening behind her. Looking over her shoulder, she smiled as she saw Heero approaching her. "Heero," she said, "I'm glad you're alright."

The Gundam pilot nodded in acknowledgement. "We made it back to the ship with a little time to spare. Good thing we took down the Strike squadrons so quickly."

"Agreed," said Murrue, "I just finished speaking with Crew Chief Murdoch; he said the ride was a little rough down in the hangar at first, but it smoothed out in short order. How's Wing Zero?"

"Fine," he replied, "I didn't take any hits in the fighting, and the hangar crews managed to secure it before you hit the boosters. I wasn't expecting our exit flight to be as smooth as it was; Morgenroete outdid themselves with those boosters."

Murrue nodded. "I won't argue with that."

"What's our situation?" asked Heero.

Murrue sighed. "Safe for now, but where we go from here… I don't know, Heero. To be honest, I hadn't really planned further than getting us out of Orb in once piece. Right now we need to cover the core block of the Kusanagi while it links up with the bow and engine sections, but after that… I haven't the faintest idea."

Heero put a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry; we'll get it figured out. For now, let's just focus on one thing at a time."

Murrue nodded and smiled, the Gundam pilot's words doing a great deal to ease her concerns. Heero was as calm as ever, and the quiet strength he exuded did wonders for Murrue's anxiety.

"You're right, Heero," she said, "one thing at a time; that's how we'll get through this. Thank you."

He gave her a small smile and nod as he replied. "You're welcome, Murrue."

….

"How could you?" cried Cagalli, glaring at Kisaka through tear-soaked eyes, "How could you just leave him like that? You were his best friend… probably his only real friend… and you left him to die! You made me leave him to die!"

Kisaka responded by grabbing her by the shoulders. "Do you think I wanted to do this?" he growled, startling the girl, "I tried to talk him out of it! I told him he needed to come with us! Nothing would dissuade him, though; this was how he wanted to deal with the situation."

"Kisaka…" said Cagalli, unable to formulate a reply.

"Lady Cagalli," he continued, his voice softening a little, "your father made me promise to look after you in his stead, to help you become the leader our people need you to be. Were it not for that I would've stayed by his side until the end. Yes, he was my friend, and the best I ever had, but I gave him my word that I would take care of you no matter what. You lost your father today… but do not think that you are the only one pained by that loss; you are not the only one mourning Lord Uzumi right now."

Cagalli looked down, ashamed at the accusations she had leveled at the man. "I… I'm sorry, Kisaka," she said, her voice trembling, her grief making it difficult to speak, "I… didn't mean… I just…"

All the while she tried to speak, tears were falling freely. Orb's tomboy princess did her best to choke them back, but it was to no avail. Her shoulders were shaking involuntarily, her hands were balled into fists… her entire body seemed to seize up in her sorrow.

The strong hands that held her shoulders softened their grip as they took her into an embrace. Cagalli buried her head in the Colonel's chest, unable to hold back her sobs, and her tears soaked into her caretaker/bodyguard's uniform.

"Cagalli," said Kisaka softly, "it's alright. I know you did not mean what you said."

"Kisaka…" she cried, "I miss him so much. This past year… all I ever did was argue with him. I defied him… ridiculed him… I was a horrible daughter."

"No," the Colonel replied, "you were not, Cagalli. Your father knew that you acted ultimately out of the love you have for Orb, just as he did. Yes, you're stubborn and headstrong, and you went against his will many times, but he was proud of you all the same. You fought with your father, but he knew you still loved him. You've grown so much, Cagalli, and Lord Uzumi knew that no father ever had a better daughter than he did in you. The two of you had your differences, but every father and daughter have those, and it does not mean that they love each other any less."

Cagalli managed to choke back her tears for a moment and look up at her guardian, managing a tiny smile. "Kisaka… thank you."

He nodded at her before looking over her shoulder. Following his gaze, Cagalli saw Kira and Athrun standing behind them in the corridor. The two Coordinators looked nervous, clearly feeling that they were interrupting something, but at the same time there was concern in their expressions.

"Sorry," said Kira, "we came up here as fast as we could from the hangar…"

"We were worried," said Athrun, looking down, "excuse us, we'll go…"

"No," said Cagalli, shaking her head, "please, stay… both of you."

The two of them nodded before looking at Kisaka. The Orb Colonel returned the gesture. "I have to get to the bridge," he said, "I'll leave you three alone."

As he headed off down the hallway the two boys approached Cagalli. There was a moment of silence between the three of them before Cagalli threw herself at them, taking them both into a hug.

"Thank you… both of you, for being here," said Cagalli, struggling to keep her tears in check, "I… I'm glad you guys made it out ok."

"Of course," said Kira.

"Cagalli," said Athrun, "I'm sorry about your father… we both are."

The tomboyish princess nodded as she let them both go. "I know, Athrun… thank you."

Remembering what her father had given her, she reached inside her pocket and pulled out the photograph. "Kira, my father gave me this before we left… you need to see it."

"This sounds private," said Athrun, "I'll get going."

Cagalli shook her head and grabbed his arm. "No, Athrun… I want you here too. I think you should see it."

The former ZAFT pilot's eyes widened slightly in surprise before he nodded. Leaning in with Kira, the two boys looked at the picture Cagalli was holding. "A mother and her two children," said Athrun, "it's cute… but what's it got to do with us?"

"Look at this," said Cagalli softly as she flipped the picture over, revealing the two names written on the back.

Kira and Cagalli.

"What the…?" said Athrun softly.

"No way…" said Kira, his eyes widening in shock. He looked from the photo to Cagalli and then back to the picture. "You said… you said your father had this?"

Cagalli nodded. "Yes, but…" She flipped the picture back over to show the woman and the children. "This woman… I've never seen her before. My mother… she died in a car accident when I was ten. Yes, I was young, but I still remember what she looked like… and this isn't her."

"I've never seen her either," said Kira, "but... the names on the back of the photo… Cagalli, I don't think your father would give this to you if it was a lie."

Cagalli nodded. As hard as it was to believe, she knew that Kira was right. There was no way her father would give her something like this if it wasn't important… or true. The photo with the names on the back might not have been incontrovertible proof in the eyes of some, but to Cagalli it was. The woman in the picture… was her real mother. The babies in the image were her and Kira.

Kira was her brother.

"But… why?" asked Cagalli, "Why did he never tell me?" She then looked at Kira. "And what about your own parents… or I guess we should say adopted parents. Why did they keep this from you… from us?"

"They must've had a good reason," said Athrun, causing both of them to look at him, "Cagalli, remember what I told you back on that plane about Kira and me being friends? We went to school together on the moon, and I met Kira's parents… I guess adoptive parents now, many times. They're both good people, and I know they love Kira. They wouldn't have kept something like this from him unless they thought it was for the best. I imagine they did it to protect him, just as Lord Uzumi and your adoptive mother did for you." He looked back and forth between the two of them and smiled. "Whatever they were to the two of you biologically, they loved you as their children, and nothing will ever change that."

Despite all that had happened in the past few hours, Cagalli couldn't help but smile. She turned to Kira and saw that her friend… no, her brother was smiling as well, comforted and reassured by Athrun's words.

"Athrun," said Cagalli, "you're absolutely right. They may not have been related to us by blood, but the people who raised us are still our parents, and nothing can change that. They loved us, and we loved them."

Kira nodded. "I know… I know I've had my own difficulties with my… my parents in recent months. Why they made me a Coordinator… now I know they didn't. But even if they had, even if they were the reason why I was the way I am… I still love them, and I know they love me."

The three of them were quiet for a few seconds before Athrun spoke again, his expression becoming more serious. "But still, you guys are right to wonder why they hid this from you. I want to know too; why keep something this important from you two? You're both more than old enough now to handle such a revelation; why keep you both in the dark for so long?"

Cagalli shook her head. "I… I don't know, Athrun. When my father gave me this, he didn't say anything about who the woman in it was. He must've had his reasons for doing so, but… I just don't know."

"I'm getting nothing out of this either," said Kira, studying the picture, "There's nothing here that helps us figure out who she is or where she was when she gave birth. That could be any hospital room she was in. It could've been in space or on Earth; it's impossible to tell."

Cagalli nodded as she looked at the picture. Father, she thought, why did you give me this? Was it just to show me that Kira and I are brother and sister? I mean, that's definitely important… but now I have even more questions. Father…

….

"Looks like things are going well so far," said Murrue as she checked her monitor.

Heero nodded as he looked over the beautiful Captain's shoulder. The image on the screen showed the core section of the Kusanagi well into the linkup process with the other two blocks. The bow section had just finished attaching itself, and the main engine block was lined up and moving in for the hook up.

"Looks like they'll be done in a few minutes," he said, "though I'm sure they'll have to run systems checks afterwards."

Murrue nodded. "I'm sure you're right. Still, at least they're not completely defenseless now; in addition to their mobile suits they can now use the bow weapons."

Heero's eyes narrowed as he studied the image on the monitor. It'll be good to have another warship on our side, he thought, from what Engineer Simmons said, the Izumo-class was the basis for the Archangel, and even if it's not as strong as Murrue's ship, it's still quite formidable. Its own firepower combined with the mobile suits it carries will give us more options in battle. We still need to work out a chain of command, though.

Heero looked over at Murrue, knowing without a doubt who he wanted coordinating actions between the capital ships. It wasn't just because he loved her; with all the combat experience she had accrued, not just as the Archangel's commanding officer but throughout her career in the military, she was clearly the best choice. Orb had stayed out of the fighting until very recently, meaning Murrue's experience in large-scale ship and mobile suit combat was far greater than anything that their ally's own surviving officers could bring to the table.

And there was more. Though Heero knew the burden of command weighed heavily on Murrue's shoulders, she had proven herself to be a very capable leader. She had an intuitive grasp of the capabilities of both her ship and her crew, and was quick to adapt to the rapidly changing circumstances that always seemed to surround the Archangel. That grasp could easily be applied to the Kusanagi in a short amount of time; Heero knew that Murrue had studied the designs that had been sent to her by Morgenroete, and that she was more than capable of utilizing its considerable capabilities in conjunction with those of the Archangel.

She was courageous and intelligent, strong and determined… and most importantly, in Heero's mind, compassionate. Murrue genuinely cared about both her immediate crew and her allies, and did not risk their lives lightly. Yes, she would take risks, ask them to undertake dangerous tasks, but that was the duty of a commander, and she never ordered people into a situation where they were guaranteed to die. She always did her best to make sure that those fighting under her command had the support they needed, that they did not go into battle alone unless absolutely necessary. Heero knew that from personal experience; he was well aware of how determined she was to back him up, to make sure he did not fight alone, regardless of how skilled he was at doing precisely that.

"Heero," said Murrue, looking up at him, "something on your mind?"

Heero was startled to realize that he'd been staring at Murrue for several seconds now. The Gundam pilot quickly recovered though, giving his head a slight shake. "Just running through a few things in my head," he replied, "we're no longer operating as a single ship and its mobile suit compliment; the Kusanagi and her units open up a lot of new potential strategies for future engagements."

Murrue nodded. "You'll have to share whatever plans you come up with later on; it'd be good for us to run some exercises with the Kusanagi and her MS compliment so we can improve our effectiveness in battle."

"Yeah," said Heero, "if we can find a place far enough removed from Alliance and ZAFT patrol routes, we should definitely do some drills."

The two of them were interrupted by the communications officer. "Captain, I've got an open channel transmission originating not too far from our position!"

"Play it," ordered Murrue.

A female voice came over the bridge speakers… one that Heero was surprised to realize that he knew. He hadn't heard it in months though... in fact, he hadn't heard it since the day he'd first arrived in the Cosmic Era. There was some interference in the transmission, but the identity of the speaker was unmistakable.

"… is Lacus Clyne. We have no desire to fight you! We… end the war! Please…"

"N-jammer interference is playing hell with long-range communications," said the radio officer, "I can't clean this up any further."

"Can we at least pinpoint their position?" asked Murrue, "It sounds like they need help."

"Ma'am," said the sensor operator, "I have the source; it's at the very edge of our radar. There are multiple contacts, but I can't make out any distinct profiles at this distance!"

Heero's eyes narrowed as he studied the image the radar officer brought up on the main monitor. It showed the current position of the Archangel and the Kusanagi in relation to the source of Lacus's transmission, which was in the space between Earth and the Debris Belt. The general direction was towards L5; ZAFT space.

ZAFT probably has patrols within the Debris Belt and along the inner rim in that area, he thought, if we go to help, enemy reinforcements could join the fight. Still, according to Kira Lacus is heavily involved in the opposition against the current PLANT government. She could well be the key to making contact with the moderate faction and getting us some much-needed allies. We can't pass this up.

He turned towards Murrue, and as she looked at him and nodded he knew that she had come to the same conclusion. It was a gamble, but one that they would have to take.

"Get me the Kusanagi immediately!" she ordered.

The image on the screen was replaced by the face of Colonel Kisaka. "Captain Ramius," he said, "did you…"

"If you're talking about that transmission, then the answer is yes," said Murrue, "Colonel, what's the Kusanagi's status?"

"The engine block is in the final stages of attachment," he replied, "but the ship's still not battle-ready yet. We can launch our mobile suits to screen us though while we finish the linkup."

Murrue nodded. "I see. Colonel, in that case I'm taking the Archangel to assist Miss Clyne. I need you to release Kira and Athrun to my command; we don't know what we'll be facing when we arrive, and I want those two flying with Heero as my vanguard."

"Got it," said Kisaka, "I'll let them know. We'll be able to get underway in a few minutes, so we'll try to catch up as fast as we can. Kusanagi out."

Murrue then turned to Heero. "Heero, you're my spearhead for this operation. I want Wing Zero's sensor data streaming to the Archangel; that'll help me prioritize targets for when we catch up to you, Kira, and Athrun."

Heero nodded. "Understood."

Murrue then smiled at him. "Suit up and get out there, Heero… and be careful."

Heero gave her a slight smile in return, grateful for her concern. "Roger that, Murrue."

….

"Lacus?" said Kira, his eyes widening as he listened to Kisaka's voice over the intercom.

"Yeah," he replied, "apparently she's under attack. We don't know the details, save that she's close by and towards ZAFT space."

Kira looked at Athrun, who appeared as surprised at the announcement as Kira was. "She must've fled the capital," he said, "after what she did to help you… my father wants her dead, Kira. Lacus and her allies must've no longer been able to stay hidden, and were forced to leave the homeland."

That's right, thought Kira, a sense of dread growing within him, Athrun's father is the ruler of the PLANTs now, and the head of the radical faction. Lacus and her father were working against him, trying to find a way to bring the war to a peaceful end, just like we are. If ZAFT catches her...

"We have to hurry!" he yelled.

Athrun nodded before looking over at Cagalli. Following his gaze, Kira was surprised to see the girl's brown eyes burning with a resolve he hadn't seen since the battle in Orb. "Kira's right," she said, "we have to save her!"

"Yeah," said Athrun, "Kira and I will launch and join up with Heero and the Archangel. Hopefully we'll get there in time!"

"Go!" said Cagalli, "We'll follow as soon as we can!"

Both boys nodded and made a break for the hangar; they were still in their flight suits, so there was no need to stop in the pilots' ready-room. As they rushed down the corridors Kira could feel his heart hammering away in his chest. Images of the lovely pink-haired songstress that had taken care of him and nursed him back to health during his time in the PLANTs rushed through his mind.

Lacus, he thought, fear and determination whirling inside him, hang on, we're coming! We'll save you!

….

The Archangel's powerful engines were getting up to speed as Murrue contacted Heero on her personal monitor. The white warship could move much faster in outer space than it could on the surface, but even then it would still take time for it to reach the point of origin for Lacus's transmission, hence her decision to have Wing Zero, Freedom, and Justice go ahead as a vanguard for the vessel. The latter two machines would launch shortly from the Kusanagi, and Murrue knew that Heero was about ready to take off as well.

The young man appeared on her screen, clad in the black pilot's suit he had worn when they'd first met. His helmet was on this time as well, but she could still see his features clearly through the visor.

"Heero," said Murrue, "what's your status?"

"I'm ready to go, Murrue," he replied, "I just set up a sensor feed to the Archangel; you should be getting my data now."

Indeed, her personal monitor split into two images, the one on the right showing Heero and the one on the left streaming information from Wing Zero. "I have it, Heero," said Murrue, "once you're on scene I'll use your data to get a feel for the overall battle. Once we're in range I'll open up with the big guns."

"Roger that," said Heero.

"You'll be flying with the Freedom and Justice," said Murrue, "I'm holding the Tallgeese Kai and the Buster back until we arrive; since they operate on batteries, they can't fight for as long as you, Kira, and Athrun can. Once we're on scene they'll launch. La Flaga will join the engagement directly, while Dearka will act as support for the Archangel and supplement our defenses."

Heero nodded. "Understood. Anything else, Murrue?"

She gave him a small smile. "Just take care of yourself, Heero. We're still too far away to get an accurate fix on what Miss Clyne's situation is; be on your guard."

"I will," Heero replied, "Wing Zero, launching."

Murrue looked out the forward viewport just in time to see the fearsome mobile suit fly out of the Archangel's hangar, its engines trailing blue fire like a comet. Checking her sensors she saw Kira and Athrun launch from the Kusanagi and quickly move to form up with Heero, with the Freedom on Wing Zero's left and the Justice on the right.

"Miriallia," she said, "set up a tactical channel between us, Wing Zero, the Freedom and the Justice. I want to address all three pilots."

"Yes ma'am," Miriallia replied, "connection established; go ahead."

The main monitor split into thirds, with Kira on the left, Heero in the middle, and Athrun on the right. "Listen up," said Murrue, "I'm giving Heero operational command over your team; he has the most combat experience amongst you. You will follow his orders, understood?"

Both Kira and Athrun nodded. "Yes, ma'am," they said.

Heero nodded as well. "Roger that."

"Be careful, all of you," said Murrue, "We'll catch up as fast as we can, but you will be operating without support for a short period of time. Assess the situation and protect Miss Clyne, but take no unnecessary risks."

"Got it," said Kira.

"Alright," said Athrun.

Heero nodded. "Mission accepted."

Murrue returned the gesture. "Good luck you three. Archangel out."

She leaned back in her chair as the transmission ended. Murrue had been pleased to see Kira and Athrun accept her decision without complaint. She hadn't been worried about the former, but the latter had fought against Heero in the past as a ZAFT pilot, and she had feared the possibility of lingering resentment on his behalf. Fortunately, the former pilot of the Aegis had given all appearances of acknowledging her orders with the professionalism of a true soldier.

This is the first time I've ever really given Heero an official command role, she thought, I mean, I know he's taken charge in previous fights when I've given him a partner like Cagalli or La Flaga, but this is different; I've actually issued an order granting him the authority of a team leader.

Despite Heero's independent tendencies in battle, Murrue was not nervous over giving him such a responsibility. With his invaluable experiences in both his world and hers, combined with his instincts, his ability to analyze a situation, and the Zero System amplifying his battlefield awareness, Murrue knew that Heero would have no problem leading Kira and Athrun in combat. It was true that she had thrust that duty upon Heero out of the blue, but the incredible young pilot that she had fallen in love with had shown not an instant of hesitation in accepting the role she had given him.

Between the three of them, she thought, Heero's perfect to play the role of a leader, and it's not just because he's the best pilot among them. He never said so directly, but I'm certain that part of the reason the other four Gundam pilots ultimately banded together in his world was because of him. They were all independent minded young men like him, yet they were able to unite and fight under one banner, as a single entity… and I know it was due to Heero. They must've respected his courage and determination. Yes, Quatre led the others in combat on occasion, acting as a tactical commander, but Heero helped put him in that position. Heero brought them together, and he can do the same in our world, with our pilots.

Murrue had no intention of making Heero the official leader of all the combat pilots aboard both the Kusanagi and the Archangel. She knew that it was a duty the Gundam pilot would not like, and it would in all likelihood lessen his overall effectiveness in combat. Still, Murrue also knew that Heero could very well lead a small team of elite pilots and still fight in top form, and that was exactly what she had set him up to do now.

Heero, she thought, please, be careful. I have absolute faith in your abilities… but I still can't help but worry about you. After all…

…I love you.

….

Waltfeld braced himself against the arm of his chair as the Eternal shuddered. "Damage report!" he yelled.

"We took that shot on the portside, forward of the engine block," said DaCosta, "armor's holding for now, but another heavy hit there and we're in trouble!'

Like we're not already, the Desert Tiger mused grimly, checking the tactical display on his personal monitor. Three Nazca-class destroyers were at their tail in a staggered formation: one ship coming from on high, another level with them, and the third coming from below. The blue warships were closing in, and Waltfeld was having difficulty evading their fire… not the least because they weren't the only enemy capital ships he had to deal with. Two more destroyers were in front of the Eternal, one coming in from high port and the other low starboard.

The running battle had started ten minutes ago when the cruiser had encountered the three destroyers that were now chasing it. Waltfeld had immediately had the girls launch, with Aisha sticking with the Eternal while the Valkyrie trio took the fight to the enemy. The original plan had been for Adaline to lead her two teammates in cutting through the GINN formations and hitting the destroyers while the Eternal kept her distance. The attacking Wraiths would hopefully force the enemy to recall their mobile suits and eventually pull back, allowing the Eternal to disengage while Adaline and her comrades cloaked their units and rejoined Aisha and Waltfeld.

Unfortunately, that plan had been thrown out the window when the enemy launched their mobile suits. Seventeen of the attacking units were GINNs, but it was the eighteenth machine that had derailed Waltfeld's strategy. The instant he had seen it on the Eternal's sensors he'd known that this battle was going to be a lot tougher than their previous fights.

It was a large mobile suit, roughly the same size as the Freedom or the Justice, and Waltfeld knew that it was part of the same series as the other two prototypes. The unit was very well armed, with two heavy beam cannons mounted on its shoulders, two CIWs in its head, two multi-warhead micro missile launchers attached to the legs, a violet beam saber in its right hand, and a large plasma rifle in its left. On the left arm was mounted a large black shield.

However, by far the most unique feature of the machine was a pair of sharp spikes that were mounted on the back, bracketing the engines. At first Waltfeld had thought that they were a new kind of flight stabilizer system for when the unit was fighting in the atmosphere, but he had been quickly proven wrong when they had suddenly detached from the mobile suit and opening fire with the beam cannons mounted inside them; they were gun-drones.

It takes a very high degree of skill and spatial awareness to use a system like this, Waltfeld had thought, the Alliance had their gun barrel-pods on the Moebius Zero, which were similar to this, and only the Hawk of Endymion was ever to really unleash their full potential. Even Coordinators would have difficulty utilizing this kind of weapon, and there are only a few pilots in ZAFT with the talent to wield these drones to their full potential.

Obviously, the pilot of the new mobile suit was one of those elite individuals… and to make matters worse, it was one that Waltfeld knew. He could've said it was due to the way the unit was handling, and it wouldn't have been a lie; he knew that flying style anywhere. The unit moved and fought with astonishing speed and grace, precision and power… and more than a little daring.

However, even before it had engaged the three Wraiths, Waltfeld had instantly been able to identify the pilot… as he knew that Adaline, her subordinates, and Aisha had done so as well. The moment the new mobile suit had appeared, they had all known who they would be fighting against… all because of the unit's Phase Shift Armor color scheme.

Black base and red trim.

The ensemble of Commander Shemei Rehema. The Valkyrie herself.

Waltfeld had, of course, heard from Bristow that Shemei had been given a new prototype from the same line as the Freedom and the Justice, the ZGMF-X14A Judgment, and that she had been assigned to the task force charged with hunting down the Eternal. He'd prayed, along with Aisha and the girls, that they would never have to fight her, and in the first few days of their flight they'd been fortunate enough avoid her, but he'd always known down in the pit of his gut that their luck wouldn't last forever. Now the legendary Valkyrie was locked in a three-on-one clash with her former teammates, and Waltfeld knew that it was breaking all their hearts to have to fight like this.

Despite the tragic nature of their battle, Waltfeld could not help but find a sense of beauty in the way the four ladies flew their mobile suits in their engagement. The four of them had flown together for so long now that they were damn near telepathic, and the Desert Tiger knew that that familiarity was what had kept them from killing each other so far. He knew that Shemei was holding back; even wielding units as formidable as the Wraiths, the other three members of the Valkyrie team were no match for their former Commander, and they knew it. Still, to even a seasoned military observer it would appear as though both sides were going all out and fighting to a stalemate, and Waltfeld was only able to see through their performance because of his familiarity with the four maidens of war. Their shots were precisely placed, with the opposite side appearing to barely dodge the other's fire but in fact moving in advance to evade before the attack was launched. The same went for their beam saber attacks, each one appearing to be narrowly parried or blocked but in fact part of an intricate sequence of moves.

Waltfeld knew that this was not the first time Shemei had gone three-on-one against her subordinates; they had staged more than their share of mock battles throughout their time together. They knew each other's tendencies and tactics as well as they did their own, which was what had made them such a fearsome team. That kind of familiarity allowed for cooperation that bordered on prescience, as if the four of them all shared one mind. It was that teamwork along with their own individual skills that had allowed them to survive their battles with Wing Zero in North Africa despite flying vastly inferior units, and it was what allowed them to give all appearances of engaging in a lethal battle right now. A single mistake meant death for any of them, but their unit cohesion was still holding strong even as they engaged in a battle that they'd never dreamed they'd actually have to fight.

Every second they battled against each other they walked the razor-thin line between life and death, working to convince the other ZAFT forces that they were trying to kill each other but in fact simply prolonging their fight… and interfering with the enemy's efforts to hit the Eternal. Their fight had taken them multiple times across the firing lanes of the destroyers' heavy guns, and several 'stray shots' had forced individual GINNs to break off attack runs on the Eternal, giving both the cruiser and Aisha a little breathing room. Still, there was only so much they could do while maintaining their delicate balance, and the sheer weight of numbers ZAFT had brought to the table meant that they had the capability to box in the Eternal, and they were working very hard to do exactly that.

The Eternal had been forced out of the Debris Belt shortly after the battle had begun, and the battle was now raging in open space. Waltfeld had done this in order to give his ship more room to maneuver, along with Aisha and the girls. They had been engaged near the border of the Debris Belt and open space in any case, so it had been a simple matter to get clear of the massive field of floating scrap.

However, the enemy had positioned forces on both 'rims' of the Debris Belt, and while the ZAFT patrols were less thick on the inner rim, Waltfeld had known that there was a chance that they could run into more hostile ships… which they had. It had been as they had exited the Debris Belt that they had first spotted the pair of destroyers that were now bearing down on them from the front. Between the five capital ships and the GINNs swirling around, Waltfeld was finding it very difficult to keep the Eternal one step ahead of the enemy. He'd managed to evade most of their heavy weapons fire until now, and the cruiser's armor was strong enough to shrug off scattered hits from capital ship-grade guns, but a concentrated barrage was another matter.

The flock of GINNs launched from the five destroyers was swarming the Eternal, pushing the ship's anti-air defenses well past their limits, not to mention putting a severe strain on Aisha. Because Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla had been forced to engage Shemei at the start of the battle, ZAFT had been able to send all their GINNs straight for the cruiser without having to worry about the Wraiths intercepting them. The 29 mobile suits had quickly converged on the Eternal, but Waltfeld, his lover, and his crew was not making it easy for them to launch their attacks.

Aisha may have been severely outnumbered, but her ZGMF-600 GuAIZ gave her a technological edge over her opponents, and she was putting it to good use. Working in tandem with the Eternal's CIWs and missile launchers to avoid being overwhelmed, the Tigress had begun picking off her foes one GINN at a time, sniping a few machines with her beam rifle and ripping others apart with her Composite Shield's beam claws. However, her unit's lack of Phase Shift Armor made her far more vulnerable to counter attack than the Wraiths piloted by Shemei's former subordinates, and Aisha had to be much more careful when picking her targets as a result. She was forced to spend far more time evading enemy fire or blocking it with her shield, doing all she could to draw attention away from the Eternal and meeting only limited success. Aisha had managed to destroy five GINNs so far, and Waltfeld's gunnery crews had taken down three more with the cruiser's weapons, but that still left 21 units on the field, more than enough to keep her tied up and attack the Eternal while the capital ships attempted to line up shots with their heavy guns.

Damn it, thought Waltfeld, the Eternal was designed to operate with the Freedom, Justice, Judgment, and the Wraiths as a support cruiser; it's not built for this kind ship-to-ship fighting. Were there only one or two destroyers we could take them, even with Shemei being forced to fly against us, but against a task force like this… we're in trouble.

He glanced down and to his right, where Lacus was sitting. Waltfeld had been surprised when the songstress had entered the bridge shortly after the start of the battle and had taken up her personal station. The pink haired young lady had a fire in her eyes, a determination that Waltfeld hadn't seen within her since the death of her father. The heart of the moderate faction had wasted no time in getting on the radio and trying to convince the enemy to let them go. Amazingly enough, Waltfeld had detected some signs of hesitation amongst the mobile suits that were attacking the Eternal, but they had been fleeting, and after a few moments they had renewed their assault on the cruiser.

Nevertheless, Lacus pressed on with her efforts, refusing to give up. Waltfeld admired the girl's renewed strength and vigor, along with her determination to find a way out of their current situation that did not involve the Tiger and his allies killing former comrades, though he knew that her dove's song was falling on deaf ears.

"We have no quarrel with you!" she said into the small microphone at her station, "We do not wish to fight! Please, stand down! This is Lacus Clyne speaking… please, listen to me!" Her voice was strong and passionate, but Waltfeld could detect a growing distress within her words as well. He doubted it was out of fear for her own life; the girl's selflessness was as renowned as her talents as a songstress. Rather it was because the fighting and killing was continuing around her unabated, and she was trying to fight the knowledge that her efforts were by this point an exercise in futility.

Regardless of how pointless her appeals were now, Waltfeld didn't have the heart to stop her. He knew that her father's death was still all too fresh in her heart, and her actions now were serving to distract her from that pain, giving her some sense of focus. Waltfeld did not want Lacus to be crushed by despair, and not just because of her value as a symbol for the moderate faction; he genuinely cared about her. With Siegel's death, Waltfeld knew that, in addition to his other responsibilities, he was now the closest male figure in Lacus's life to a father figure. His vow to the dying former Chairman to protect his daughter was still firmly entrenched in his mind, and he knew that Clyne had not just been asking her to safeguard her from Zala's forces. It was now his duty to help guide her as she made her final transition into a full adult, from a teen idol singer to a grown woman.

It wasn't a role he felt he was ready to take. Fortunately he had help in the form of his lover; Aisha had quickly become a substitute mother to Lacus. While Waltfeld had been forced to remain on the bridge most of the time in order to oversee the Eternal's operations and focus on evading ZAFT's pursuit forces, Aisha had been able to care for the grieving songstress in his stead, with Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla aiding her, taking on the role of older sisters. The Desert Tiger was profoundly grateful for their help, not the least because he felt more than a little guilt at not being able to spend a serious amount of time with Lacus since their departure from Aprilius One. Now that she was up here with him on the bridge, he was loath to stop her desperate entreaties to the enemy, regardless of their ultimate futility. In coming here and taking up her post, the girl had placed herself directly under Waltfeld's wing whether she knew it or not, and the former Field Marshal of ZAFT would not cut off her transmissions, would not take away the sense of purpose they gave her.

Lacus, he thought, I told your father I'd take care of you, but since we left the PLANTs I've delegated that responsibility to Aisha and the girls. I can make excuses for it all I want, and some of them may have a bit of validity to them, but I've still wronged you in not taking any time for you on a personal level. If we get out of this mess… no, when we get out of this mess, I promise I'll try to fix that.

Despite the grim situation the Eternal and her mobile suit pilots were confronted with now, Waltfeld was determined to get them out of it. The odds against their survival were considerable, but he hadn't thrown in the towel yet. He was the Desert Tiger, after all; his tenaciousness was as legendary as his battlefield prowess.

"Helm," he ordered, "take us down forty-five degrees to starboard! Weapons, I want METEORs and the main turret brought to bear on that destroyer coming up from below; we'll rake their upper decks!"

It was a gutsy move to say the least. The lower Nazca-class ship was making the grave mistake of coming up at a shallow angle, and if the Eternal could move quickly enough then it could bring its guns to bear on the destroyer's upper hull before it could target them with its own heavy weapons. However, it would give the vessel coming in from on high a chance to get in behind them for a shot at their engines. In order to pull the maneuver off, Waltfeld could only give his gunners time for a brief volley before pulling the Eternal back up again and repositioning to confront the second destroyer, and all the while the other three Nazcas would still be coming up from the rear, lining up for more shots of their own. The few hits they'd landed so far had been either glancing blows or isolated impacts, all taken by the vessel's armor. If they were given the opportunity for a concentrated barrage, then things would get ugly very quickly.

The cruiser began its dive, and each second that passed felt like minutes to the Desert Tiger. This is why I hate bridge duty, Waltfeld fumed, capital ships maneuver like drunken rhinos. Give me a mobile suit any day.

The Tiger tensed as he watched his personal monitor, which currently displayed the Eternal's projected firing lane and the arc that its forward guns could cover. With their greater rotation the MEREOR batteries would be brought to bear on the destroyer well before the cruiser's heavy turret would, but Waltfeld wanted to hit the enemy with all three guns in order to maximize the power of his volley.

The instant the firing arcs of all three weapons converged on the destroyer Waltfeld gave the order. "Open fire!"

A torrent of emerald beams ripped forth from the METEORs and the heavy cannon and pounded the destroyer's upper hull. The ship's dual railguns were instantly destroyed, and several shots impacted around the bridge, ripping holes in the armor and bulkheads.

Waltfeld didn't have time to perform a detailed inspection of the damage they had dealt their foe; the other destroyer in the pair was fast bearing down on them, along with the trio at their tail.

"Pull us up," he ordered, "sixty degrees up, eighty-five to starboard! Rotate the METEORs to maximum dorsal elevation; same goes for the main gun!"

It was a desperate attempt to deal with the destroyer that was closing in from on high. The move would allow Waltfeld to rake the second destroyer with a volley from the Eternal's heavy weapons, but it would also present a wider target cross-section for the other three Nazca-class ships. He could only hope that the cruiser's armor would hold unit he could maneuver the vessel into a better position.

Damn it, he thought as the ship began its climb, setting up to bring its guns to bear on the destroyer coming in from above, we've damaged one of them, but we're still horribly outmatched here. I'm good, but I have my limits; I can't work miracles.

Several small tremors shook the ship as it moved, impacts from the machine guns wielded by the GINNs still swarming around it. Aisha was doing her best to draw fire towards her, but for all her piloting prowess the Tigress was as human as her lover; she wasn't perfect. She managed to take down another GINN with her beam rifle, but that still left 20 of ZAFT's mainline mobile suits left on the field. CIW fire and missiles from the Eternal forced them to make more cautious attacks, but they could only do so much to keep the enemy at bay.

At the rate things are going, Waltfeld thought ruefully, we might not last much longer. I need a game changer, and fast!

….

Her silver eyes narrowed in concentration, her purple-black hair standing up on the back of her neck, Shemei Rehema fought to maintain the delicate balance she had reached in a battle she had never dreamed she would ever have to wage. Blocking a saber strike from a Wraith she was certain was piloted by Adaline, she swiftly, elegantly redirected the blow, causing the Australian girl's machine to slide past her while the Valkyrie set up to parry an attack from Lan. All the while the two DRAGOON wireless gun-pods that were part of the ZGMF-X14A Judgment's incredible arsenal peppered Priscilla's mobile suit with volleys of emerald beams, forcing the Italian/Romanian Coordinator to keep on the evasive, able to only fire sporadic shots with her own guns which Shemei was able to dodge or block with her shield.

Her new mobile suit was an incredible machine to say the least. She could recall with perfect clarity the fascination she had felt as she had beheld it for the first time in the top-secret testing hangar of Fort Jupiter. The large machine had exuded a sense of power and sophistication that Shemei had gotten from only one other mobile suit; Wing Zero. Indeed, the technicians had proudly told her that the Judgment had been built in part to take on Wing Zero in combat, and had boasted of the power of its shoulder mounted beam cannons and the massive 'Tartarus' heavy plasma rifle, capable of annihilating a warship in a single shot.

Of course, the Judgment had been designed and built before Operation Spitbreak, meaning the designers had been laboring under the impression that Wing Zero's main gun was a piece of anti-ship artillery. They'd had no idea that it was in fact far more than that, capable of annihilating a heavily fortified structure like the Alliance's Alaska base in two shots… meaning it had the firepower to obliterate an entire colony in a single blast. Compared to that kind of destructive force, the 'Tartarus' heavy plasma rifle was a pale and pathetic attempt at a knock off, even with a nuclear reactor powering the weapon. Still, the Judgment's main gun was a powerful piece of artillery, and it would've been more than capable of taking down something like the Eternal in a single shot… had Shemei given herself a chance to target that ship.

When she had first scrambled, Shemei had been terrified that she would have no choice but to open fire on the Eternal; with the lives of her parents being held over her like a sword, there was no way she could miss the cruiser and come up with an excuse that would satisfy Zala and the radicals on the Defense Council. However, the moment she had seen the three Wraiths fly at her, the Valkyrie knew that she had dodged that horrific bullet… only to be confronted with another twisted and tragic situation as she began her three-on-one battle with her former subordinates.

We've done sparing matches like this before, she thought, in CGUEs and DINN Mk. IIs… but this is different. We have to keep up the illusion that we're trying to kill each other, to satisfy the observers Zala's no doubt placed within the task force… but one mistake and any of us could die.

It was a razor's edge that Shemei had to balance herself on as she dueled the three girls who had become a mix of younger sisters and daughters to her during the time that they had spent under her command. However, dancing upon the thin boundary between life and death had a way of sharpening the Valkyrie's focus. The fear and concern was still in her heart, but Shemei was able to use it to heighten her senses, to hone her already unholy combat abilities to an almost divine level of precision and grace. This, combined with the intimate familiarity she had with her former comrades' fighting styles, allowed her to put on a performance that would fool any observer, save for one that was just as familiar with her own tactics and tendencies as the girls were… and all but one of the people who possessed that quality were in the moderate faction.

As for the last one… well, there was no chance that the pilot of Wing Zero would ever be counted among the radicals' numbers.

And so the four mobile suits danced across the stars in a mechanized ballet. Emerald beams flew forth from Shemei's shoulder cannons and the Wraiths beam rifles, large crimson lances of plasma cut loose from the 'Tartarus' rifle… a deadly rainbow of energy weapons' fire crisscrossed the sky between them. The fighting wasn't just limited to ranged combat, either; Shemei's former subordinates were just as willing to go in for saber strikes as well, and the Valkyrie naturally returned the favor.

Gunning the Judgment's engines, Shemei swiftly closed in on the Wraith she knew was piloted by Adaline and brought her beam saber down in a powerful overhand strike. Her former subordinate expertly caught and redirected the blow, forcing Shemei to whirl around and block the Australian beauty's counterattack. The Valkyrie then dove and brought up her shield to block a thrust from Lan before lashing out with her beam saber. The Chinese girl took the blow on her Wraith's left shield and was forced to pull back as Shemei opened up with her shoulder cannons, dodging the large emerald beams her former Commander sent her way. All the while this was going on Shemei was still hounding Priscilla with the Judgment's DRAGOONs, the two black, dagger-like gun-pods flitting around the Italian/Romanian woman like dragonflies, keeping her on the defensive as she weaved through the emerald beams they sent her way, dodging most of them and taking the few she could not evade on her shields while returning fire with her own beam rifles and railguns.

Lan and Adaline quickly regrouped and came back in for another round. Shemei leveled the 'Tartarus' plasma rifle and fired, letting rip with a large blast of crimson energy at Adaline. The girl expertly side slipped to the left to dodge the attack, just as Shemei had known she would. The Valkyrie used the brief opening to close in with Lan and launched a diagonal strike with her violet blade. Lan responded by parrying and redirecting the attack, forcing Shemei to slip past her. The Egyptian born Coordinator quickly raised her shield to block Lan's counterattack before whirling around to deflect a saber strike from the incoming Adaline. Firing another blast with the Tartarus and forcing them to scatter, Shemei then climbed towards Priscilla to engage her in close-quarters combat, withdrawing the two DRAGOONs as she did so and sending them after Adaline and Lan to keep them occupied while she fought her third subordinate.

She thrust forward with her beam saber, an attack that Priscilla took on her left shield head on. The power behind the Judgment's blow forced her back slightly, but she was able to retaliate with a lateral slash from the violet blade in her right shield. Shemei caught and redirected the blow, forcing the Italian/Romanian girl to slide past her right side. Priscilla quickly responded by firing her Wraith's rocket anchors as she moved around Shemei, and the Valkyrie was barely able to dodge the attack. Meanwhile, Adaline and Lan were still trading shots with the DRAGOON gun-drones, but all the while they were moving closer and closer to the duel Shemei was having with Priscilla.

Deciding to return to her earlier engagement pattern, Shemei fired off a blast from her plasma rifle to force Priscilla to put some distance between them. She then whirled around and dove head on at Lan and Adaline, the Judgment's shoulder cannons blazing while the two DRAGOONs pulled back and reoriented themselves to keep Priscilla off Shemei's tail. As Shemei crossed blades with Adaline and blocked a strike from Lan on her shoulder she had her two gun-drones attack Priscilla head on, knowing the Italian/Romanian woman could evade most of the shots and block the rest on her Wraith's shields.

Utilizing the DRAGOON system, or Disconnected Rapid Armament Group Overlook Operation Network as it was officially designated, in conjunction with the Judgment's other armaments was an incredibly complex task. It pushed the Valkyrie's spatial awareness to its limits, and it almost felt as though she were managing three mobile suits instead of one. Nevertheless, in the short time she had spent practicing simulation runs since being assigned the Judgment the Valkyrie had already come a long way towards adapting to the system. It was a challenge to say the least, and the additional level of multi-tasking it piled onto the already complex feat that was mobile suit combat did not make it any easier, but Commander Rehema was already beginning to appreciate the new options the system opened up for her in combat, especially when it came to engaging multiple foes.

If only I didn't have to use it against the girls, she thought, unable to completely keep the sorrow that threatened to overwhelm her heart from her face. Fighting the three of them like this was tearing at her soul in a way she'd never thought possible, hurting her as much as the thought of her parents being held hostage by Patrick Zala and his thugs. Even if the four of them weren't really trying to kill each other, the fact remained that this was not a training exercise but an actual battle with potentially lethal consequences.

She wasn't going all out, of course, and in a way she could tell that the girls were holding back as well; they weren't using the Wraiths' Mirage Colloid System. Certainly if they had done so it would've made it harder for Shemei to fight them, but not impossible; she was so familiar with their flying styles that she would still have been able to read their moves, and the instant the attacked they would've exposed their position, and the fact that they could not use Phase Shift Armor in conjunction with their cloaking devices was a major weakness. Regardless of the fact that neither side in their three-on-one fight was truly playing for keeps, it did not remove the constant threat of death hovering over their shoulders.

And yet, despite the pain in her heart, Shemei could not help but feel a sense of pride within her as well as she dueled her former subordinates. Their flying was better than ever, their skills amplified by the powerful new mobile suits that they had stolen from ZAFT. Their teamwork had already been top tier during the North Africa campaign, but the three girls had taken their skills beyond even that now, working together in a way that almost bordered on telepathic.

A swift forward thrust by the Valkyrie was expertly parried by Lan, who quickly countered with a saber strike of her own. Shemei caught the blow on her shield before pulling her beam saber back to deflect a slash from Adaline. She then threw the Judgment into reverse and opened fire with her shoulder cannons while simultaneously bringing the 'Tartarus' plasma rifle to bear. Adding its large crimson energy lance to the emerald beams already flying forth from her unit, her barrage forced the two girls to break off and go evasive. It was only momentarily though, and the quickly reoriented themselves for a fresh attack, coming in from the right and the left.

Shemei shifted her position and fired another salvo from her shoulder cannons at Lan, forcing the girl to raise her shields and catch the energy beams. The Valkyrie took advantage of the halt to Lan's advance to close in on Adaline, swinging her violet blade in a lateral slash. Adaline caught the blow on her left shield and retaliated with her right beam saber, which was deflected off of Shemei's shield. The Australian girl followed through with her attack and let the momentum carry her past the Judgment, and she quickly turned around and opened fire with her hip-mounted rail cannons.

Shemei gunned her engines and ascended, dodging the heavy rounds. She then jinked to the right to dodge a pair of energy beams fired by Priscilla, who had impressively managed to get in an attack even while continuing her dance with Shemei's DRAGOONs. The Italian/Romanian woman swiftly moved back into her fight with the wireless gun-drones, blocking their coordinated shots with her Wraith's shields.

You've all come so far, thought Shemei as she blocked a saber strike from Lan with her shield, your precision, your speed, your teamwork… the growth you three have shown me today is simply breathtaking. You've become so strong… A small, bittersweet smile appeared on her face as she pushed Lan back with her shield before whirling around to parry a slash from Adaline. Oh, I'd give almost anything to be fighting alongside you three again…

Of course, that 'almost' was her parents, locked away in Aprilius One's Charon Prison, their lives hanging over Shemei like the Sword of Damocles. So long as they were within Zala's and the radical faction's grasp, Commander Rehema would be forced to battle against her former comrades, to go against what her heart was begging her to do; join them and Lacus in rebellion against ZAFT and the PLANTs.

How ironic, she thought bitterly as she crossed blades with Lan while firing the Tartarus rifle at Adaline, causing her to break off and reorient herself for another attack, I'm a rebellious girl at heart, yet I've been collared and chained by Zala and his cronies. I've been forced to become their dog… damn it, I've never felt so low! I'm not one of their Special Operations thugs or their stooges in the regular forces; I at least have a sense of honor and respect for the conventions of war! Zala… I swear I'll find a way to make you pay for this!

For now though, her desire for payback had to take a backseat to her current priorities; the survival of her parents and her friends. As she continued her 'dance' with her former subordinates Shemei was able to take some comfort in the fact that the equilibrium she had reached with her three-on-one clash with the Wraiths meant that she was 'legitimately' tied up and couldn't go after the Eternal; Waltfeld, Lacus, Aisha, and the others were safe from her.

However, the same naturally did not hold true for the rest of the ZAFT task force. The five destroyers and their GINN squadrons were moving to box in the Eternal and Aisha's GuAIZ and take them down, though so far they were having trouble sealing the deal. Even in the midst of the delicate balancing act that was her duel with Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla, Shemei was able to spare brief glances towards the maroon support cruiser and the black and green GuAIZ as they fought against the ZAFT task force. Both capital ship and mobile suit were fighting very well, and between them had not only downed 20 GINNs but had damaged two of the Nazca-class warships as well, though Shemei had no time to determine the extent of the latter.

You always hated the thought of bridge duty, Waltfeld, Shemei thought, whether it be on our land-ships or in outer space, but you're doing pretty damn well with the Eternal. Kudos, Desert Tiger. Same goes for you, Aisha; it's good to see you flying a mobile suit again.

Still, all the skill in the Earth Sphere could not change the fact that Waltfeld and Aisha were outnumbered, outgunned, and outflanked. The destroyer pair in front of the Eternal had been damaged and temporarily thrown into disarray, but the trio of capital ships that had been tailing them was still coming on strong, and Waltfeld's latest maneuver had put the support cruiser in a very dicey position. Coming out of its attack on the destroyer pair in front of it, the cruiser's turn took it onto a path across the enemy trio's firing arc, with the central Nazca in a position to do serious damage to the ship with its main guns. Shemei could tell that Waltfeld was trying to orient the Eternal so that it would be facing the center ship head-on, minimizing its target profile and allowing it to meet the destroyer with maximum firepower, but capital ship's maneuvered slowly even in the vacuum of space, and the Tiger's move was not yet complete. At that moment the cruiser's starboard flank was exposed to the enemy warships, and Shemei could already see the barrels of the center destroyer's main guns begin to glow green, their energy beams mere moments away from leaving the barrels.

Damn it, she thought as she parried a saber strike from Adaline with her own blade while simultaneously blocking rifle fire from Lan on her shield, there's nothing I can do from here to help them! The Eternal's armor is heavier than our regular capital ships and can take some punishment, but a concentrated barrage… All she could do was pray that the ship's hull would be able to stand up to the punishment it was about to receive.

The Valkyrie's heart leapt up into her throat, beating like a jackhammer. Time slowed to a crawl, the single second between the destroyer's guns charging and firing feeling like an eternity. Shemei's heart was filled with dread as she prayed that the ship's salvo would impact a non-critical part of the Eternal, or at best not even penetrate the cruiser's armor.

But the shot never came. Shemei's eyes widened as she saw a massive golden-yellow beam tear through the blue warship from below, disintegrating armor and bulkheads in the blink of an eye and ripping the destroyer apart in a massive explosion. All the combatants froze, taken completely off guard by the sudden attack. The Valkyrie then heard a beeping coming from her sensors, indicating the arrival of new contacts. Glancing at the display while quickly pulling back from Lan and Adaline and keeping her DRAGOONs between her and Priscilla, Shemei's surprise was compounded as she identified the three mobile suits that were coming up from below the battle.

The mobile suits on the left and right of the center contact were the Freedom and the Justice; units Shemei knew were piloted by Kira and Athrun. While she was well aware that the former was now an ally of the PLANT moderate faction, she had heard little of the latter's activities other than the fact that he had been assigned the Justice and sent to Earth. The fact that he was flying with the Freedom indicated that he had joined forces with Kira, but that was a secondary concern for her. In fact, neither the Freedom nor the Justice really mattered to her at that moment; it was the mobile suit they were flanking, the one that had fired the shot, which had her full attention.

It was a machine that she would've recognized anywhere.

Wing Zero.

Suddenly the whole situation had changed, and Shemei could feel something coursing through her veins that she hadn't felt in days; excitement. She was instantly taken back to her two duels with the amazing pilot of the machine that had just saved the Eternal, those heart pounding, hair-raising, thrilling battles against over the sands of the Sahara against the young man that had rocked the Earth Sphere in a way no one else could ever hope to match. Shemei recalled with perfect clarity the words that literally otherworldly pilot had spoken to her at the end of their second battle.

"I was thinking… what could you do in a more advanced mobile suit?"

It had been just after he had defeated her for the second time, the second loss she had ever experienced in her career as a pilot. Waltfeld's army had been beaten and was withdrawing, and theirs was the final clash playing out in that epic battle. He'd had every right to kill her after he had cut off her DINN Mk. II's sword arm, and as he had pointed his emerald beam saber at her cockpit she had indeed been expecting him to finish her off.

But he hadn't. He had let her live. It would've been more prudent, more efficient, to kill her, but he had not. The battle was over, and her side had lost… and he had treated her with the respect and courtesy of a true, professional soldier by allowing her to withdraw with her allies. That alone would've already increased the considerable admiration she's held for him at that point, but he had surprised her by going a step further and asking the question that had quickly become a new driving force for her, a new motivation to hone her skills even further than they were already, causing her to seek out old friends in the PLANT capital and propel her down the path that had led her to where she was now.

Now she had the new mobile suit that she had so desired. Granted, it hadn't been given to her under the circumstances she would've preferred, but that did not change the fact that she was now wielding a machine that far surpassed any other unit she had flown before… and the very pilot and mobile suit she so dearly wanted to match the Judgment against had just taken the field.

Shemei wasted no time in getting on the task force tactical channel. "This is Commander Rehema to all ZAFT forces; leave Wing Zero to me."

It was a bold move on her part, especially considering just how limited the powers that came with her rank were now in light of her parents' situation. Though as a Commander Shemei technically had the authority to issue such an order, the task force Commander was a Zala loyalist, and the Valkyrie knew that the real power in the squadron lay with him. He was the one sending reports directly to Zala, meaning that the lives of Shemei's parents essentially rested on his words.

However, Shemei was banking on the task force Commander going along with her proclamation for a very simple reason; fear. Not of her, but of Wing Zero. The fearsome mobile suit and its extraordinary pilot had gone from just a source of concern amongst the military elite to an almost demonic figure, the very names of both man and machine eliciting awe and dread from even the most seasoned officers. The carnage it had wrought on the Operation Spitbreak invasion force, combined with the complete annihilation of the Alaska base, a facility designed to take direct hits from nuclear missiles and survive, had thrown both the military and political establishment into a state of quiet panic. ZAFT had to save face in front of the civilian population, of course, so any public reports regarding the extremely powerful mobile suit were naturally downplayed, and any fear was hidden beneath the mask of confidence and professionalism.

However, behind the scenes, in the halls of power, Shemei knew from Eric's accounts that the raw power of Wing Zero and the supreme skills of Heero Yuy were considered a threat to all ongoing operations. New orders had gone out regarding the mobile suit; it was not to be treated as a single combatant, but as an entire combat wing unto itself, and to be countered with overwhelming force. If it was spotted within the vicinity of one of the front line fleets, then said fleet had orders to abandon all other operations and concentrate solely on taking down Wing Zero, and all other active combat units within or near the sector the engagement was taking place in were similarly ordered to drop everything and reinforce their comrades.

The orders were somewhat different if an entire front line fleet wasn't within interception range. If Wing Zero was encountered by units operating on a task force level or smaller, then the new doctrine was for any pilots designated elite and wielding advanced mobile suits were to engage the enemy, while their allies supported them, withdrew, or called for reinforcements.

Shemei and the Judgment more than qualified for the role of 'elite pilot' and 'advanced mobile suit', something she knew the task force Commander was well aware of. The man had made no effort to hide his distrust of her, but he had also exhibited a grudging respect for her skills as a pilot, even going so far as to admit that she was the best one operating in the task force.

Just as she'd expected, the task force Commander's voice came over the radio. "Very well, Commander Rehema. Engage at will. We're calling for reinforcements to deal with the Freedom and the Justice; you will be the only one engaging Wing Zero."

"Understood," Shemei replied, "Rehema out."

That went well, she thought as she broke away from Lan and Adaline, firing the Tartarus rifle and forcing them to scatter while pulling the DRAGOONs away from Priscilla, and from the Commander's point of view it's a perfect setup. I engage and tie up Wing Zero, and either I defeat it and rid Zala of a major threat or am defeated myself and thereby ridding the radicals of a pilot they suspect is aligned with Clyne's daughter and supporters but can't prove. They'd also lose the Judgment, but I'm sure they'd be fine with that if I was removed from the picture. It'd also give them license to murder my parents…

That last thought served to darken the excitement she'd felt at the prospect of her long awaited rematch with the young man she viewed as the ultimate soldier. Then again, it had darkened every aspect of her life since she'd received the news from the Supreme Chairman. Her new relationship with Eric, her acquiring the Judgment… everything that should've made her happier than before was dampened by the thought of her parents sitting helplessly in Charon Prison, their lives dependent on the whims of genocidal monsters.

And so it served to dampen her mood as she prepared to engage Wing Zero. The unbridled respect and admiration she held for the unit's incredible pilot felt tarnished by the knowledge that she was now fighting as a dog of the radical faction. This was a battle she had wanted, more than anything else, to fight of her own free will. Engaging her opponent from North Africa under coercion tainted everything that made her friendly rivalry with Heero so unique and thrilling in her eyes. The knowledge that there was a pilot out there that could go beyond what she had believed to be possible as far as combat ability went, who could drive her to train anew and strive to reach such heights, who she looked forward to engaging in combat with as much excitement as she did to being taken into her new lover's embrace and feeling his lips pressed against hers… it was all shadowed by the threat to her family.

Gunning her thrusters and charging headlong at her opponent, Shemei could only hope that she'd be able to shake off that shadow, if only briefly, in the rush that was combat with a foe more than capable of matching her in battle.

It's been a long time, Heero Yuy, she thought, a feral smile appearing on her face in spite of the gravity of her situation, shall we pick up where we left off? No… let us dance anew, flamenco along the razor's edge between life and death. I have a new machine and months of training piled onto my own experience, and you have a host of new battles under your belt, against odds that would be suicidal for any other pilot. Let's see which of us will spit in the face of the Reaper today. Let's show the world how true aces do battle! Game on, Heero Yuy!

….

(Start "Daybreak's Bell")

"Kira," said Heero, mere seconds after he had fired the Twin Buster Rifle and obliterated the destroyer that had been about to open up on the maroon cruiser before it, "Lacus's signal is originating from that ship. Get over there and deal with the GINNs attacking it. Mind the black and green unit; it looks like it's protecting the vessel, so I'd designate it as friendly. The same goes for those three black and red machines, the ones that look like heavy versions of the Blitz."

"Got it," said Kira, gunning the Freedom's engines as he broke away from their three-suit formation and made a beeline for the vessel.

"Athrun," said Heero, "go for the two destroyers that were flanking the one I just took out. Whether you disable or destroy them is up to you; I want them neutralized ASAP."

"Understood," said Athrun, "what about you, Heero?"

"That's easy," the Gundam pilot replied, glancing at one of his monitors, which showed a large mobile suit heading his way… one with a very familiar color scheme for its Phase Shift Armor. "I'm engaging the Valkyrie."

Athrun's eyes widened for a moment before he nodded. "Alright." The he signed out and broke away from Wing Zero, leaving Heero to face his rival from North Africa.

Indeed, the advanced-looking black and red machine that was heading for him now had caught his attention the instant Heero and his comrades had come in close enough to identify individual units. Even without the distinctive color scheme Heero would've known right away who was piloting the mobile suit; the way it was flying had instantly reminded him of his two clashes with Commander Rehema back in North Africa. His conclusion was supported by the Zero System, which had noted just as Heero had the grace and precision with which the unit was flying.

The three mobile suits the Valkyrie had been facing off against were likewise of a new design, though Heero was instantly able to recognize similarities between them and the destroyed GAT-X207 Blitz. Their units bore the same black and red color scheme as Shemei Rehema's new machine, but even without that Heero would've instantly recognized them by their flying styles as the Valkyrie's subordinates.

Or rather, former subordinates. The fact that they were now clashing with ZAFT's legendary Commander was not something Heero had expected to see upon his arrival at the battle zone, all the more so after fighting against the Valkyrie Team in North Africa. Though he had only known them briefly, the loyalty and friendship the four women had with each other had been readily apparent, and Heero found it difficult to imagine them fighting against each other. More importantly, the Perfect Soldier did not think that Rehema was the type to willingly give her loyalty to the new regime that now ruled the PLANTs; he doubted honorable pilot would support the government that had ordered the massacre that had taken place at Panama.

Why is she fighting with the ZAFT task force, he thought, more importantly, why is she doing battle with her former subordinates? I can tell that they weren't going all out, but the fact remains that they were engaging each other with lethal force until just now. Something's not right here…

He had little time to ponder that mystery at the moment, though; Rehema was closing in fast, and the Gundam pilot had to focus his attention squarely on her. Adjusting his aim with the Twin Buster Rifle, Heero opened fire, sending a blast of golden-yellow energy at the Valkyrie. The fearsome new black and red machine jinked to the right, evading the shot, and brought up its own large rifle in response. Heero dove to the left as Rehema opened fire, dodging the lance of crimson energy that spewed forth from the new mobile suit's main gun.

A powerful shot, he thought, nowhere near the levels the Twin Buster Rifle can reach, but a formidable weapon all the same. ZAFT's R&D teams have been busy. Gunning the throttle as he closed in with the Valkyrie, Heero weaved back and forth as the two large cannons on the new unit's shoulders opened up, spewing emerald energy beams his way. Checking his sensors, he saw that the mobile suit was emitting the exact same energy readings as those of the Freedom and the Justice; it was nuclear powered and using N-Jammer Cancellers. With the aid of the Zero System the Perfect Soldier was able to thread his way through the barrage, and he ignited his green beam saber as he moved in for close-quarters-combat.

Rehema was quick to respond in kind, bringing the violet blade in her mobile suit's right hand up in anticipation of the clash to come. The gap between them quickly vanished, and Heero wasted no time in bringing his beam saber down in a powerful overhand strike. The Valkyrie took the attack head-on with her blade, and Heero noted that, as was to be expected, her new machine had much more power than her old DINN, and was able to block the strike without being forced back nearly as far as her former unit would've been.

A sudden flash of warning from the Zero System caused Heero to pull back and go evasive, and not a moment too soon. The two spine-like projections on the back of the mobile suit had detached and were coming at him from the right and the left in a pincer attack, their tips glowing with emerald light. Heero quickly ascended as the two gun-drones opened fire, their energy beams flying through the space that had mere moments ago been occupied by him.

Remote beam cannons, he thought, his eyes narrowing, this just got a lot more complicated. Were it not for the Zero System expanding his awareness and giving him the sense of battlefield precognition that increased his lethality in a fight a hundredfold, combined with the brief glimpse he'd caught of the new weapons as the Valkyrie had engaged her former subordinates before breaking off and heading for him, the two gun-drones would've destroyed him right there.

Now the Valkyrie was on the attack, closing in with her beam saber, thrusting the weapon forward, the two gun-drones flanking her machine. Reacting without hesitation, Heero instantly parried and redirected the blow, causing the mobile suit to move past him. He then dove to avoid fire from the drones before bringing the Twin Buster Rifle to bear and cutting loose. A torrent of golden-yellow hellfire spewed forth, and Rehema jinked to the right to dodge the blast. This gave Heero the breathing room he needed to go back on the offensive, and less than a second after the beam had left his weapon he had already hit the throttle and was moving in for a follow-up attack.

He lashed out with a horizontal strike, one that Rehema took on her mobile suit's large shield. She quickly retaliated with a vertical chop, one that Heero swiftly parried. The Valkyrie dove, following through with her strike in order to make the most of her forward momentum. The move briefly exposed the back of her machine to Heero, but it wasn't an opening the Gundam pilot could exploit; the twin gun-drones were already angling for more shots at him, and he had to climb to evade their fire.

The Valkyrie quickly reoriented herself for a follow-up attack, unleashing a horde of micro-warheads from the missile launchers attached to her unit's legs. Heero responded by opening up with Wing Zero's shoulder gatlings, ripping the missiles to shreds. At the same time he once again took aim with the Twin Buster Rifle and opened fire. Rehema responded swiftly, dodging to the left to evade the shot and opening fire in kind with her large plasma rifle, along with her two shoulder cannons. At the same time the two gun-drones had flanked Heero from both sides, and they added their own beams to the mix.

The Perfect Soldier dove, rushing head-on at the Valkyrie, barely dodging the large crimson lance of plasma fired from her main gun, weaving through the barrage from her shoulder cannons and leaving the gun-drones in the dust. He lashed out with his emerald blade in a vicious forward thrust, one that Rehema barely managed to deflect with her own violet saber. Heero countered by raising Wing Zero's left knee, slamming it into the lower torso of his foe. The sudden impact forced Rehema back a little and gave Heero an opening for a follow-up strike with his beam saber. The Valkyrie narrowly managed to block the slash with her unit's shield, and Heero was forced to jink to the right as the two gun-pods closed in from behind.

The Perfect Soldier didn't back off completely, though. Rather, he quickly rushed in again and pressed his assault with a vertical strike. The Valkyrie blocked the attack with her own blade and countered by attempting to shield-bash Wing Zero, and Heero responded by taking her hit with his own shield. He then ducked left and made a thrust with his beam saber, one that Rehema barely managed to parry and redirect. Heero slid to the side of his foe and swiftly transitioned into a diagonal slash, forcing Rehema to block the blow with her shield.

All the while he was doing this, Heero was mindful of the gun-drones' position. By keeping the battle close-quarters the Gundam pilot knew that he was actually limiting the effectiveness of the Valkyrie's new weapons, as she now had just as good a chance of hitting herself with their beams as she did Wing Zero, forcing her to take greater care in lining up her shots.

Indeed, the two black dagger-like weapons were now hovering at the edge of the fight, constantly darting around in an attempt to get a clear shot. Heero wasn't going to give them a chance, and he continued to press his offensive against the Valkyrie, limiting the amount of exposure he had to the gun-drones and staying as close as possible to Rehema.

He opened fire with his shoulder gatlings, knowing that while the physical rounds were useless against Rehema's Phase Shift Armor the impacts would disrupt her balance. The volley hit his foe in the right side, but to her credit the Valkyrie recovered extremely quickly. Shifting her position and raising her shield to take the rest of Heero's volley, the fearsome Commander swiftly lashed out with her violet blade, and the Gundam pilot had to take the blow on his shield. Heero was then forced to pull back as the Valkyrie opened fire with her shoulder cannons, along with the micro-missiles stored in the launchers mounted on her unit's legs.

Heero evaded the emerald beams and obliterated the missiles with a blast from the Twin Buster Rifle, but his response had given Rehema the opening she needed to attack the Perfect Soldier with her gun-drones. The two black weapons once again flanked Heero from both sides and opened fire, and he dove to avoid their shots. He was then forced to evade to the right as Rehema cut loose with another blast from her plasma rifle.

As Heero dodged the shot he returned fire with the Twin Buster Rifle, once again forcing the Valkyrie to go evasive. The Perfect Soldier then seized the initiative and launched a renewed offensive, swiftly closing in and launching a powerful overhand strike with his beam saber.

She's even better than last time, thought Heero as their blades met, Having a new mobile suit, no doubt from the same line as the Freedom and Justice, has given her greater combat capabilities, but that's only part of it. She's been retraining, improving her skills, pushing herself to the edge of her abilities and beyond… she's been preparing for this rematch for quite some time.

The Gundam pilot realized that a very small smile had appeared on his face. Fighting her… it's almost like fighting Zechs again. I didn't have the same mentality as that man, but I think I understand him a little better now. Back in North Africa, when Rehema and I first clashed… she was really the first pilot to push my abilities in this world, even more than that CGUE pilot during the orbital battle. I don't have the same passion for battle as Zechs and Treize did… but fighting the Valkyrie helped me understand a little why they felt that way. Finding someone that can truly push your skills, force you to call upon all your abilities and experience, flying with them on the razor's edge between life and death… there's a certain thrill to it, one I just can't deny.

Just as he had back in the North African campaign, he felt that same thrill, that same adrenaline rush, coursing through his veins. As he and Rehema crossed blades again and again, broke off and pounded away at each other with their guns only to dive back in for yet another swordfight, Heero felt the same excitement that he'd experienced during his final duel with Zechs. At the time he hadn't understood it, especially given the gravity of the situation as the largest remaining block of the battleship Libra plummeted towards the Earth, and it had puzzled him for quite some time afterwards.

Now, though, he understood what it was; the thrill of fighting a rival, not an enemy. Though they were on opposite sides, Heero held Shemei Rehema above and apart from the other pilots in ZAFT, even her former teammates. She was more than just a skilled enemy ace; she was a colleague, someone who had ascended to that incredibly rare level of piloting ability… someone worthy of the title of Gundam Pilot. It was impossible for him not to respect and admire her, and he knew that she felt the same way about him. Just as Heero had forged a bond with Murrue, he had unwittingly created a tie between himself and the Valkyrie. This one, though, was not based upon compassion, or the fires of the passion and affection that Murrue had awakened within Heero's heart, but on a powerful mutual respect shared between the two pilots that had ascended to heights beyond practically all others in their fields. They could only find a true competitor in each other, and each drove the other to further improve their skills, to push their abilities beyond what they had previously thought possible… all in preparation for their next confrontation.

Of course, that level of respect did not mean that they would avoid fighting to kill, and their clash was one of soldiers engaging each other with lethal force. If any of them had tried to do anything less, then that would've spelled their doom. Nevertheless, as Heero continued his battle with Rehema he found part of himself regretting that they had to clash like this. It didn't matter that she was the closest thing he had in this world to an equal on the battlefield, and that their clashes had elicited a heart-pounding excitement that was usually brought forth by the powerful affection and passion Heero had for Murrue; at heart, the Gundam pilot did not want to kill the Valkyrie. Of course, he had taken no joy in any of the lives he had ended throughout his long career as a soldier, but as he fought Rehema he could not deny wishing that the contest they had found themselves in did not have to be waged with such deadly force.

The words she had spoken near the end of their conversation in Banadiya all those months ago echoed in his mind as he crossed blades with her yet again. "It's too bad, really. You're a decent guy, and I have no doubt you've seen a lot of action. I wouldn't have minded swapping stories sometime."

Indeed, thought Heero as he blocked one of her attacks and moved swiftly to counter, I would've liked that as well. You and I at some bar, Murrue by my side, the three of us sharing drinks and tales… I'd infinitely prefer that to fighting you like this.

(End "Daybreak's Bell")

….

Brining the Freedom's impressive array of artillery to bear, Kira sighted in on his targets and opened fire. Crimson lances of plasma, emerald energy beams, and yellow rail cannon rounds tore through space and nailed five of the GINNs swarming around the maroon cruiser, taking out head cameras and destroying rifles. With the number of enemies it was faced with suddenly reduced by a full quarter the black and green mobile suit that had been defending the warship went on the attack, taking down one GINN with its beam rifle and another with the two violet energy claws its shield was emitting. CIW fire from the cruiser destroyed another GINN, leaving just twelve of the machines left.

At the same time Kira had thrown himself into the fight, Athrun had launched an attack against the destroyer that had been to the right of the vessel that Heero had annihilated upon their arrival. The Justice weaved through the blue warship's anti-air fire with ease, almost seeming to taunt the vessel's gunners in the process. There was nothing taunting about its own attack, though; with precise fire from his beam rifle and the two cannons attached to the Fatum-00 backpack/subflight lifter, Athrun quickly proceeded to knock out the destroyer's powerful bow beam guns. He then turned his attention to the dual rail cannons by the bridge, hitting them with a barrage of emerald beams as well before moving on to hit the ship's engines.

The three black and red machines Kira had seen earlier, the ones that, as Heero had pointed out, looked like more advanced versions of the stolen Blitz, had proceeded to hit one of the two destroyers that had originally been damaged by the cruiser, and they were now in the midst of ripping the ship apart with their beam rifles and rail cannons. The cruiser itself had oriented itself on the sole undamaged destroyer and had brought its bow guns to bear on the ship before the ZAFT vessel could do the same. Kira saw the twin batteries mounted on both sides of the bow, along with the central beam turret, open fire. The bow guns of the destroyer were quickly reduced to bits of twisted and molten metal, and the cruiser began raking its fire up along the hull, emerald beams working their way towards the ship's bridge.

Kira established an open channel to contact the cruiser. "This is Kira Yamato on the Freedom. Unidentified cruiser, please respond! Lacus, can you hear me?"

The pink haired songstress appeared at the bottom left corner of Kira's main monitor, a smile on her face. "Kira!" she said, her light-blue eyes gleaming with joy and gratitude, "It's so good to see you again! I'm glad you were able to make it here in time. Thank you for saving us!"

Kira nodded. "No problem, though I'm hardly alone here."

"So we can see," said a familiar voice, and Kira's eyes widened as he saw the Desert Tiger appear on his screen, "you brought quite the rescue party, kid!"

"Mister Waltfeld!" cried Kira, "What are you doing here?"

He chuckled. "Trying to keep our songstress here alive, and not doing a very good job at it. Thanks for the help, Kira; you're timing was perfect."

"Heero's the one you should thank, sir," said Kira, "he's the one who took out that destroyer, and Captain Ramius put him in charge of our team."

"Did she now?" said a third voice, and the face of Waltfeld's lover appeared on the bottom part of Kira's display as well, "I like this Captain already; she knows just who to send into a hot spot. That shot of his earlier saved the Eternal from one hell of a beating."

"Indeed," said Waltfeld, smirking, "alright, enough chatter people; we've still got a battle to fight here!"

"Kira," said Lacus, "please, help Miss Aisha take care of the remaining GINNs; we need to force ZAFT to withdraw!"

Kira nodded. "Got it."

Lacus smiled again. "Be careful, Kira." Then she cut the connection.

"Come on, kid," said Aisha as she evaded fire from two GINNs, "let's take care of these guys!'

Kira nodded. "Right." Gunning his engines, he closed in on a different pair of GINNs and ignited one of the Freedom's beam sabers. In a matter of seconds he had cut the rifle arm off of one and speared the head of the other, forcing them both to withdraw.

"Nice work, kid," said Aisha as she destroyed another GINN with her beam rifle, leaving just nine enemy mobile suits to go, "Although… you sure about letting them off easy like that?"

"They're fleeing now," said Kira as he evaded enemy fire, "they're no longer a threat."

"For this battle at least," Aisha replied, "well, how you fight is your call. At least they won't be shooting at us for the rest of this round. Still, don't expect me to hold back against these guys." As if to make her point she tore another GINN apart with her violet beam claws.

Kira nodded grimly. "Right."

He then returned his attention to his own fighting, once again picking targets with the Freedom's advanced tracking system before opening up with the mobile suit's artillery. Three GINNs lost their rifles to plasma blasts and particle beams, causing them to quit the field.

Alright, he thought, only five GINNs left. We'll have this wrapped up in no time!

Unfortunately, that was when fate decided to spit in his face. Glancing at his sensors to check up on the surrounding forces, Kira's eyes widened as he saw the other destroyer that had been damaged prior to their arrival bringing its main guns to bear on the Eternal. The three black and red machines had just finished destroying the other vessel and were rushing to hit the blue warship, but Kira knew that they would not make it before the destroyer opened fire.

"Lacus!" he cried out over an open channel, "Move!"

The songstress did not respond, but the maroon cruiser that she was aboard did begin to break off its attack on its current target, which had already been heavily damaged, in an attempt to go evasive. However, Kira was well aware that capital ships could not turn on a dime; there was no way the Eternal would be able to avoid the coming salvo.

The destroyer's main guns glowed green… before the vessel was annihilated in a blast of crimson-orange energy.

A new contact appeared on Kira's sensors, a very familiar one; the Archangel. Coming up fast from below, the white warship was certainly a sight for sore eyes in Kira's case. As the red-orange glow faded from the barrels of the Lohengrin positron cannons that had obliterated the ZAFT vessel the two hangar doors opened, and the Tallgeese Kai and the Buster launched from the ship. The former rushed headlong towards the Eternal, while the latter took up position over the Archangel, its Gun Launcher configured in its sniper- setting.

"Hey, kid," said La Flaga as he quickly joined the fray, picking off a GINN with his beam rifle, leaving just four enemy mobile suits to go, "mind if we crash your party?"

Kira couldn't help but smile. "Go ahead, La Flaga."

"Don't think I'm going to let you guys have all the fun," said Dearka over the radio, cutting loose with the Buster's artillery. A yellow beam lanced through a hapless GINN, detonating it like a firecracker.

"Nice shot," said La Flaga as he impaled another GINN with his beam saber.

Captain Ramius appeared on Kira's screen. "Kira, La Flaga, secure the space around that cruiser and coordinate with their forces. Dearka, stay with the Archangel; we'll deal with the remaining capital ships and screen Kira and the others."

"Yes ma'am," said Kira.

"Copy that," said Dearka.

"Understood," said La Flaga.

As Captain Ramius signed off Kira saw the white warship continue to move in, bringing its weapons to bear on the destroyer that the Eternal had hit earlier. The blue vessel's bow weapons were wrecked, but it still had the dual rail cannons further along the hull, and it was bringing them to bear on the maroon cruiser.

Captain Ramius never gave them a chance to fire. The Archangel's Gottfried beam cannons and Valiant rail cannons opened up and pounded the destroyer with a brutal barrage. At the same time the Buster opened fire as well, adding its Gun Launcher to the mix. The central section of the ZAFT ship, including the bridge, railguns, and hangar, took the brunt of the bombardment. Armor plating was breached, bulkheads ruptured, and a sudden explosion ripped the destroyer in half.

At that the last two GINNs had apparently decided they'd had enough, and began pulling back towards the sole remaining destroyer, which had been mauled by Athrun's solo attack in the Justice. Its primary engines were wrecked, but its auxiliaries appeared to be functioning, meaning the GINNs still had a ride out of there.

Kira sighed in relief. It's over for now, he thought.

Well, not quite. As he glanced at his sensor display, Kira saw that Heero's duel with the Valkyrie was still in full-swing. Wing Zero and Commander Rehema's new mobile suit were going at it with everything they had, and their battle was a marvel to behold. The two combatants clashed with a speed, power, grace, and efficiency that Kira had never seen before. He was awed by the supreme level of skill demonstrated by both pilots; it was beyond anything he'd ever imagined.

Kira was torn as to what he should do. On the one hand, Heero was his friend, and Kira wanted to help him in his fight. However, he had a feeling that the last thing the fearsome pilot wanted was assistance; indeed, he hadn't communicated with Kira or Athrun since engaging the Valkyrie.

Kira was saved from his dilemma by Captain Ramius. "Heads up everyone," she said, "we've got additional warships on long-range sensors, closing fast!

Indeed, an alarm went off in his cockpit mere seconds after the Archangel's CO had spoken, and as Kira checked his radar he saw five vessels approaching from the direction of the Debris Belt. Their IFFs registered them as ZAFT ships, two destroyers and three frigates.

Crap, he thought, they'll be launching mobile suits any second now!

"Captain Ramius," he said, "what should we do?"

Ramius wasted no time in issuing orders. "Kira, I want you, Athrun, and La Flaga to take on the enemy's mobile suits. The Archangel and Buster will attack ZAFT's capital ships as soon as they come into range!"

"This is the Eternal, Waltfeld speaking" came the Desert Tiger's voice over the radio, "Mind if we lend a hand, Captain Ramius?"

"Depends," Ramius replied, "What's the status of your vessel and mobile suits?"

"We took some light hits earlier," the Desert Tiger replied, "but we're still in fighting shape."

"This is Tigress," came Aisha's voice, "I'm ready for another round."

Kira's eyes widened as he heard another familiar voice follow that of Waltfeld's lover. "This is Adaline. The girls and I are good to go. We've expended all our missiles, but we still have our other weapons."

"Understood," said Captain Ramius, "In that case, we'd more than welcome your support. " Her voice then took on a slightly amused tone. "Although… I never thought we'd be fighting side by side with the Desert Tiger, not to mention the subordinates of the Valkyrie."

Waltfeld chuckled. "Can't argue with you there, Captain." His voice then became more serious as he continued. "Unfortunately, we don't have the full Valkyrie Team with us."

"I know," Captain Ramius replied solemnly, "Wing Zero's been streaming its sensor data to my ship from the beginning; I know Heero's fighting Commander Rehema."

"I see," said Waltfeld, "the situation's rather complicated, Captain. The Valkyrie may be fighting against us now, but believe me when I say it's the last thing she wants to be doing. I'll elaborate latter; right now we have bigger problems to deal with."

"Agreed," said Captain Ramius, "All hands, prepare to engage enemy reinforcements!"

"This is Waltfeld," said the Desert Tiger to his own forces, "Tigress, you hang back and cover us. Adaline, you, Lan, and Pris join the Archangel's forces and attack the enemy mobile suits and capital ships. Captain Ramius, we'll support the Archangel against the enemy vessels."

"Understood," Captain Ramius replied, "we'll send you our telemetry so we can coordinate our fire."

"Much obliged, Captain," said Waltfeld.

As the two leaders readied their warships and subordinates to engage the enemy, Kira gunned the Freedom's engines and moved out ahead of his allies. He was soon joined by La Flaga, Athrun, and the three black and red machines that he now knew were piloted by the Valkyrie's subordinates… or rather, former subordinates.

Why, he wondered, why are they fighting against their Commander? Why aren't they all on the same side anymore?

….

(Start "Ash Like Snow")

Raising the Tartarus rifle, Shemei cut loose with a blast of crimson plasma. Wing Zero almost effortlessly side slipped to the left, replying in kind with its awesome main gun. Dodging to the right, the Valkyrie readied herself for the inevitable charge, and Heero didn't disappoint. The young man swiftly closed the gap between them and launched a powerful slash with his beam saber.

Shemei blocked the attack with her own violet blade while trying to set up her DRAGOONs for an attack on Heero's flanks. It was a case of easier said than done, though; the incredible pilot had already adapted to the presence of the gun-drones and had become quite skilled at putting himself into positions where Shemei ran as much risk of hitting herself as him if she opened fire.

You never cease to amaze me, Heero, she thought as she opened up with her shoulder cannons, forcing her foe to dive to evade the attack, your spatial awareness is incredible! I would've been able to hit any other pilot with the DRAGOONs by now, but you've been able to keep track of them while fighting me… god, what I wouldn't give to know how you do it!

Of course, she hardly expected her rival to tell her the secret to his seemingly prescient battlefield awareness. Whether it had something to do with Wing Zero itself or the phenomenal pilot at its controls, Shemei doubted she'd know for sure any time soon. In the end, it was academic really. All that mattered was that Heero's ability to read the flow of battle was greater than any other pilot Shemei knew of, herself included.

The space she had created with by firing her shoulder cannons now gave her the opening she needed to send the DRAGOONs after Heero in earnest, and she wasted no time in doing so. She moved the gun-drones to hit Wing Zero from the front and the back, but Heero had anticipated her move and jinked right to break away from the pincer. Shemei then settled for a more head on attack, firing with both drones from the front while at the same time cutting loose with her shoulder cannons and the Tartarus rifle.

Amazingly, and yet to Shemei not surprisingly, Wing Zero managed to weave through the barrage of energy beams and evade the large crimson plasma blast. Just after the Valkyrie had opened fire with her main gun Heero replied in kind, and golden-yellow hellfire ripped forth from Wing Zero's powerful rifle. Shemei climbed to avoid the blast, but the move put her on the defensive once again, and Heero wasted no time in moving in for another round of close-quarters-combat.

Their duel had fallen into a pattern similar to that of their fights over the sands of the Sahara all those months ago, with alternating exchanges of long-range fire and beam saber strikes. Of course, Shemei was now fighting with a machine vastly superior to the unit she had wielded in her first two clashes with Heero, but there was still a sense of familiarity between her battle with Wing Zero's pilot now and their earlier duels.

The only real difference here, she thought solemnly, is that the girls aren't with me this time. She had to wonder how Heero would've countered the full Valkyrie Team if Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla had been working with her now in their Wraiths. Shemei had no doubt in her mind that Heero would've found a way to fight the four of them – he was just that phenomenal of a pilot – but she also knew that it would've been much more of a challenge to him.

In the end though, as she once again crossed blades with her rival, Shemei knew that it didn't matter. More importantly, she knew that she didn't want the girls working with her in this particular battle. It had been fine in their first two battles with Heero given the young man's vastly superior mobile suit, but now that the technology gap had been narrowed by a significant margin both for Shemei and the girls the Valkyrie knew that she would only be truly satisfied in fighting Wing Zero one-on-one.

I owe him a fair fight, she thought as they went at it in a series of vicious strikes, slashes, thrusts, blocks, and parries, he fought against all four of us back in North Africa and defeated us with no help from anyone else… and he did it twice for that matter. He didn't kill any of us either, though I'm sure he was fighting lethally even then. He was holding back, but he still had the will to kill; we were just good enough to take his blows in places that would damage but not destroy our mobile suits, not to mention avoid taking direct hits from that rifle of his. He still could've finished us off after he'd damaged our DINNs, but he let us withdraw. He showed us a professional respect and courtesy that's almost non-existent nowadays. I owe him nothing less than the same!

There was more to it than Shemei's sense of honor or her determination to hold herself to the high standards of respect and courtesy she felt every soldier should have for another. As strange as it may have seemed, the Valkyrie had actually come to view Wing Zero's pilot as something akin to a friend.

This is the fourth time we've met, she thought as she lashed out with her blade, only for Heero to block it with his shield and retaliate with a horizontal slash that she was barely able to block with her own shield, three times in battle, once out of it… and yet, I long ago stopped seeing him as a real enemy.

It was impossible for her to do so. The level of admiration she held for Heero's abilities was simply too high for her to have even the minimal animosity a soldier does for their opposite number. That, combined with their conversation at Waltfeld's headquarters in Banadiya, made it impossible for her to view Heero in the same manner that she knew the practically everyone else in ZAFT did; as a demon of war, a masterful killer, feared and hated from the Defense Council down to the rank and file.

Heero, she thought as their beam sabers met again, you truly are an amazing young man. It's more than just your skills as a soldier; in the brief time we spoke in Banadiya I could tell just what kind of person you are. You're strong, courageous, and cunning, but you're also kind and insightful as well. You're as humanistic as the girls, Waltfeld and Aisha, and me. I would much rather be your friend than your enemy.

Unfortunately, Shemei didn't really get a say in the matter. Her personal feelings were meaningless as long as her parents were in the clutches of Zala and his cronies. She dearly wanted to join forces with her former comrades, now more than ever since it was apparent that Heero and the Archangel had joined their side, but she couldn't. She had to fight them; there was no other choice.

Shemei opened fire with the Judgment's shoulder cannons, forcing Heero to back off and once again putting some space between them. As she prepared to attack Wing Zero with the Tartarus rifle and the DRAGOONs she spared a quick glance at her wide-view sensor display.

Only one destroyer left, she thought, along with a handful of GINNs… we've been decimated. Truth be told… I'm actually rather grateful for that. That destroyer's captain will have to issue a general withdrawal order now, meaning I can get out of here. I won't be able to finish my duel with Heero, but I can deal with that. Besides… it just feels wrong fighting him like this, with my parents' live hanging over my head. This is a battle I wanted to fight of my own free will, not with a gun to my head.

She was then surprised to see that five new warships had appeared on the radar and were closing in fast. They all have ZAFT IFFs, she thought as she fired on Heero with her gun-drones and rifle, two destroyers and three frigates. Damn, I guess this battle isn't over after all. They'll be launching mobile suits any time now.

Shemei could not afford to give the reinforcements or the wider battle any more attention though; Heero had once again evaded her attacks and was returning fire with Wing Zero's powerful rifle, forcing her to go back on the defensive. She would just have to hope that Waltfeld and the others could take care of the new threat.

I'm sure they'll be fine, she thought as she blocked a vertical strike from Heero's emerald beam saber, the Archangel's here now, along with the Freedom and the Justice. They'll be more than capable of working with the Eternal and her forces to deal with the newcomers. I just have to focus on my duel now.

So she continued her battle with Heero, the Judgment and Wing Zero clashing with unholy speed, grace, and power. The adrenaline was still pumping through the Valkyrie's veins, driving her on like it never had before… but it wasn't what it should've been. It was tainted, corrupted by the fears she had for her friends and family.

For months I longed for this chance to face you again, Heero, she thought, but here and now, with my parents held hostage, with my friends under attack… this isn't how I imagined our rematch would go. Yes, your allies are helping the Eternal and the girls, and that's a huge weight off my chest, but still… I don't have the freedom I had in our previous battle. I want to fight you as I did back then, in our last duel over the sands of North Africa, with only you and me to concern myself with. Just you, me, and our blades…

(End "Ash Like Snow")

….

"Helm," said Waltfeld, "bring us along the Archangel one and a half kilometers to her starboard side; I want our CIWs and missiles to have overlapping coverage."

"Aye sir," the helmsman replied.

"Sir, I have telemetry from the Archangel," said DaCosta, "They're setting up to engage the left wing of the enemy task force."

"We'll concentrate our fire on the right then," said Waltfeld, "Weapons, I want our main guns focused on the destroyer on our half of the task force; that's our first target. Once they're in range, open up."

"Yes sir," said the chief gunnery officer.

"Sir, we have mobile suits launching from the enemy capital ships," said the sensor officer, "unit count is eighteen GINNs, twelve GuAIZs! Scanning squadron IFFs… shit!"

"Calm down, missy," said Waltfeld, "What's wrong?"

The young lady took a moment to compose herself before replying. "Sir, IFF transponders register the GuAIZs as being piloted by Special Operations Squadrons; Schnee and Silber Teams, to be precise."

Waltfeld's good eye narrowed as he processed this new information. "Hillenberand and Kellerman," he muttered, "damn… why'd it have to be those two?"

Erich Hillenberand and Dietrich "Boss" Kellerman, the heads of Schnee and Silber Teams respectively, were the cream of the crop for Zala's Special Operations Squadrons, surpasses only by the Chief Commander of the organization, Anton Kupchenko, and his fearsome Gault Team. Though aligned with the PLANT radical faction, the two Commanders and their pilots were on the mild side of the party, feeling that Coordinators should conquer and lead the Earth Sphere rather than embracing the increasingly genocidal tendencies of the group's more hard line members. They did not have the same reputation for viciousness and barbarism that the notorious Schwarze Team did, but they more than made up for it with the sheer skill of their pilots. Both were six-man teams, each capable of making their comrades that had fallen to Wing Zero look like rank amateurs in battle.

They're not as good as Gault or the Valkyrie Team, thought Waltfeld grimly, but they're still very sharp units, and now they're outfitted with GuAIZs to boot. Kellerman's a strict professional, but Hillenberand… he's a real daredevil, and I'm willing to bet that attitude's rubbed off on his subordinates. He's the biggest threat on the field, not counting Rehema, and Heero's got her occupied right now anyway. People have compared him to Zubov, claiming both are true warriors, but that's a mistake. Zubov lived for slaughter; Hillenberand lives for battle.

"Get me the Archangel immediately!" he ordered.

A brown haired, brown eyed woman with light skin appeared on the Eternal's main monitor. She was certainly a beauty, but what really caught Waltfeld's attention was the small blue stone laying against her white uniform.

A Tear of Isis, he thought, so Kira was right; Heero has bonded with the Archangel's Captain. The guy's got good taste in women, no doubts there… if he's truly romantically inclined towards her.

Waltfeld shoved his musings aside; now was certainly not the time for them in any case. "Captain Ramius," he said, "two of the squads that launched from the task force are Special Operations units. They're the ones flying the new mobile suits, the GuAIZs."

She nodded, instantly grasping the situation. "Understood, Waltfeld. I'll have Kira and Athrun deal with them; that will free up the rest of our forces to hit the GINNs and capital ships."

Waltfeld nodded, impressed with how quickly the woman had been able to adapt her plans to the new information. No wonder the Archangel's lasted so long, he mused, it has a very sharp commanding officer. The Alliance lost more than just a powerful warship when it left their forces; they lost one of their best Captains.

"Sounds good," said Waltfeld, "Eternal out."

….

"Got it," said Kira as he listened to Captain Ramius's new orders, "Athrun and I will take care of those two squadrons."

"I want both of you to watch your backs," said the Captain, a stern expression on her face, "your foes are elite pilots flying new model machines; don't underestimate them."

"Understood," said Athrun, who was on the same channel.

"We'll be careful," said Kira.

"Good luck," said Captain Ramius, "Archangel out."

As the Captain signed off Kira adjusted his visual sensors, focusing on the two teams the Archangel's commanding officer had just singled out to him and Athrun. They were both six-person units, and they were flying the same kind of mobile suits as Waltfeld's lover. The team on the left sported a dark grey paint job with small white triangles along the edges of their shields, along with their shoulders. The one on the right had a light gray base with black stripes running horizontally across the units from head to toe, like tiger sharks.

"I recognize those color schemes," said Athrun, "the one on the left is Schnee; the right squadron is Silber. I'll take Silber, you take Schnee."

"Ok," said Kira, "any words of advice?"

"Schnee Team has a reputation for being risk takers," said Athrun, "more so than most mobile suit pilots. They're gutsy, aggressive, and talented; as Captain Ramius said, watch your back."

"Alright," he replied, "you too."

Athrun nodded before signing out.

Kira gunned the Freedom's engines, breaking left as the Justice went right. The two advanced mobile suits rushed ahead of their allies in order to engage the Special Operations Squadrons as quickly as possible and keep them away from their friends.

(Start "The Round Table")

Brining the Freedom's artillery to bear on the Schnee Team, which was approaching him as three wing pairs, Kira picked his targets with his advanced tracking system and opened fire. His foes reacted quickly, scattering but not panicking, and raised their shields to take any shots that they could not evade. The six GuAIZs fanned out around Kira, beam rifles brought up to bear and violet energy claws igniting from the emitters on their shields.

The young Coordinator brought up his own beam saber in response, and not a moment too soon; the centermost mobile suit charged him head on, taking a swipe with its beam claws. Kira was barely able to block the attack, but he was unable to counter; incoming rifle fire from three of the other machines forced him to go evasive, climbing over his initial attacker. He was quickly met by the other two machines as they flanked him from both sides, moving in for the kill.

Kira blocked the beam claws of one unit on his shield and managed to parry the other's attack with his beam saber. Throwing the Freedom into reverse, he then opened fire with its guns again. One of his beams hit the rifle of a GuAIZ and destroyed it, but other than that he did no damage.

Crap, he thought as he dodged fire from the five machines still armed with their rifles, I can destroy their guns, but those beam claws are emitted from their shields. Cutting off their shield arms will be a lot harder than taking out the sword arm of a GINN or mass production Strike. Maybe I should target the emitters with the Freedom's guns…

He tried doing precisely that, but the emitters were awfully small targets, and his foes were able to take his shots on the center or upper parts of their shields, away from the beam claws. Then the unit that had first attacked him rushed in for another head on strike, forcing Kira to bring his shied up to take their slash. He tried to retaliate with his beam saber, but he was forced to dodge to the right to avoid two rocket anchors that suddenly shot out from his foe's hips.

Damn, that was close, he thought as he blocked slashes from two more GuAIZs while evading fire from the rest, he could've tied up my sword arm with the wire attached to one of those anchors; I would've been a sitting duck!

He spent the next few seconds blocking another round of beam claw swipes from two more machines while dodging rifle fire, trying to figure out how he was going to work his way out of the mess he'd found himself in. Gunning the Freedom's engines and climbing above his foes, Kira let rip with another barrage from his artillery. He managed to knock out another mobile suit's beam rifle, but like its comrade it still had its rocket anchors and beam claws, and that still left four machines with their full range of armaments.

Kira was then forced to go evasive as the four rifle-armed GuAIZs surrounded him and opened fire while the two that were now limited to close-quarters-combat attempted to take him in a pincer attack. Taking the initiative, Kira charged one of the attacking machines and lashed out with his beam saber, aiming for the emitters on the unit's shield. Unfortunately his foe managed to adjust their position and take the strike on the center of their shield. Still, Kira's attack did disrupt his enemies' pincer attack, and he was able to dive and temporarily break out of the surrounding squadron.

The damage he'd done in the opening minute or two of the dogfight had been negligible, but Kira had gained some insight into the new machines' capabilities. They were fast and well armed, but the Freedom had them beat in both categories. Kira could outmaneuver his opponents, and in a one-on-one fight he had them outgunned; the trick was to figure out how to make the most of those advantages against the entire squad, not to mention do so without killing his opponents. Taking out their head cameras would be his best bet, though it would not be easy; his foes were quite maneuverable in their own right, and their shields would present a considerable obstacle to attacks on their main sensors. The units would still have their backups as well, and while it was much harder to fight with the lower-resolution auxiliary visual sensor on a mobile suit, it was not impossible.

Kira's position also gave him a brief view at the wider confrontation. Athrun was in the thick of his engagement with Silber Team, and the fact that he did not share Kira's compunctions about killing had allowed him to take down one of his foes already with a well-placed rifle shot to the back. It was still relatively slow going for Kira's old friend, but in terms of foes neutralized the pilot of the Justice was definitely doing better in that regard.

Meanwhile La Flaga, Dearka, and Aisha were tearing into the GINNs that were attempting to attack the Archangel and the Eternal. Despite being outnumbered six to one the three pilots were more than holding their own, thanks to the lethal combination of their own skills and superior mobile suits. Six of ZAFT's grey and green mainline mobile suits had already been destroyed by the deadly trio, while CIW fire and small anti-air missiles from the Archangel and the Eternal had destroyed three more, leaving just nine GINNs left.

The two capital ships themselves weren't sitting by idly. The Archangel had opened fire with her Lohengrins the instant one of ZAFT's destroyers had come into range, annihilating the vessel. The white warship was now facing off two of the task force's frigates, pounding them with the Gottfried beam cannons, Valiant railguns, and heavy Sledgehammer ship-to-ship/surface missiles. The two frigates were trying to respond to the Archangel's withering barrage, but they were severely outgunned by the massive assault ship, and the loss of their companion destroyer right off the bat had disrupted their original order of battle. Their return fire was uncoordinated, and the few shots that hit the Archangel were shrugged off by the vessel's incredibly tough laminated armor.

The Eternal, for her part, was focusing its main batteries on the second ZAFT destroyer. Lacking positron cannons it could not go for a one-hit knockout punch like the Archangel could, but the combination of the METEOR batteries and its heavy turret actually allowed it to outgun a single Nazca-class ship in a straight-up fight, and it was mercilessly punishing its foe with a rain of emerald beams. The destroyer got off a few shots in return, but they did not hit any vital areas of the Eternal.

The other two Laurasia-class frigates were trying to support their companion destroyer, but they were having a hard enough time fending off attacks from Commander Rehema's former subordinates. The two green ships were firing their CIWs in all directions, meaning that the girls couldn't rely on their Mirage Colloid systems, but they were still more than capable of posing a threat to the frigates even while visible. With their Phase Shift Armor shrugging off the occasional hit by an anti-air gun round, Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla hammered away at the two ships with their beam rifles and rail cannons. The first two were focused on one vessel, while the third was soloing the second.

And last, but certainly not least, there was Wing Zero and the Judgment, locked in their own private battle. Heero and the Valkyrie's epic clash did not look like it would be letting up any time soon. The two of them alternated between trading shots at range before diving in to cross blades. Commander Rehema's new mobile suit actually had more weapons than Wing Zero, but none could match the overwhelming firepower of the Twin Buster Rifle. The additional weapons, particularly the gun-drones and shoulder cannons, did give the Valkyrie an edge in close quarters combat, but Heero's raw skill combined with the Zero System was enough to negate that advantage. To Kira's eye their fierce duel had reached a stalemate, and he had to wonder what would happen when the rest of ZAFT's forces in the area were defeating, leaving Rehema as the last enemy combatant. Kira was sure Heero would want him and the others to stay out of the fight, but whether or not they would abide by that desire was another matter entirely.

Focus Kira, he thought as the Schnee Team closed in on him, you'll have to deal with these guys before you can help anyone else anyway.

Not waiting for the enemy to surround him, Kira cut loose with the Freedom's guns. His foes once again scattered, either evading the shots or taking them on their shields, but Kira was fine with that; it gave him the opening he needed.

Gunning the throttle, Kira closed in rapidly on one of the gray and white machines. Firing his guns again to keep his foe on the defensive, Kira swooped in and slashed the head off the GuAIZ with his beam saber. He then turned around and attacked another mobile suit, once again firing all his guns and forcing his opponent to raise their shield to protect their center, giving Kira the opening he needed to slice off his foe's rifle arm.

Alright, he thought, that's three that don't have guns now, and of the other three that do one's lost its head camera, so it should be withdrawing now.

He raised his shield to block a beam claw attack from one unit and then parried another with his beam saber. Kira was then forced to dive as another unit tried to spear him from behind, and as he evaded the attack he was shocked to see that it was the one he had just beheaded.

No way, he thought, he only has his auxiliary backup cameras now; their resolution is low quality even at close range, and just basic flying with them is hard. How the hell is he still fighting just by using the backups?

Kira climbed before reorienting the Freedom to face his foes and unleashed another rain of fire. One of his plasma beams caught a GuAIZ in its head, removing its primary visual sensors. However, that did not stop the unit from continuing its charge, and Kira had to raise his shield to block a swipe from its beam claws.

Suddenly he heard a chuckle coming over the radio. "So, the rumors are true; Freedom's pilot lacks the will to kill. Don't get me wrong; you're good kid, very good… but trying to play nice won't help you against us."

"Who are you?" asked Kira, working frantically to trace the source of the signal. A second later he found it; the sole undamaged GuAIZ, which was closing in on him from head on.

"I suppose there's no harm in telling you," said the pilot as he opened fire with his beam rifle, forcing Kira to raise the shield to block the shot, "Erich Hillenberand, Schnee Team Commander."

"Commander," said Kira as the GuAIZ moved into beam claw range, "your allies are being beaten back by my friends; you've lost this round. Please, withdraw!"

Hillenberand laughed. "Don't insult me, kid! This fight's still in full-swing! Allow me to let you in on a little secret; we Schnee Team pilots are suckers for a good fight, and even if you lack the will to kill you're still putting up one hell of a scrap. Besides, this is our turf, and we'll fly how we please!"

Kira didn't have time to reply as he was forced to dodge a rapid succession of rocket anchor shots; if any of them managed to snare the Freedom then he was screwed.

I guess there's no point in trying to reason with them, he thought grimly, but still… I can't just kill them!

It was clear though that simply removing their head cams and beam rifles would not be enough to defeat his foes though. The way the GuAIZ was designed made it difficult for Kira to employ his usual tactics; the beam claw emitters were mounted in the shield, and the way it covered the arm it was mounted on made removing it a very daunting task, while the rocket anchors were only exposed when they fired.

Glancing over at Athrun's fight again, Kira saw his friend slash an enemy unit in half, leaving four mobile suits left for him to deal with. Is that what I'll have to do here? Do I… do I really have no choice but to kill them?

Heero's words echoed clearly in his mind at that moment. "When you can't disable your foe's mobile suit, or if they decide even after being disarmed to charge you and self-destruct in the hopes of taking you with them, will you be able to do what is necessary? In such a scenario, a split second of hesitation may cost you your life… or the life of someone you care about."

None of my friends have been endangered yet, he thought, these guys are focused on me. If this goes on though… I don't know.

"Come on, kid!" said Hillenberand as he charged in for another attack, "Stay focused, or we're going to kill you! I want to beat you at your best, not when you're spacing out!"

Kira blocked his enemy's beam claws on his shield before lashing out with his violet blade. This time he managed to destroy his foe's rifle, but he knew that would not dissuade the Commander. He was then forced to climb as two more machines tried to impale him with their beam claws while the last two that still had their rifles took shots at him. Frantically dodging the Schnee Team's relentless assault, Kira realized he'd lost track of their leader. He quickly glanced at his sensors, and his eyes widened as he saw Hillenberand closing in fast from behind.

Kira whirled around, raising his shield to block the coming beam claw attack… only to watch in shock as a violet blade materialized out of thin air, impaling Hillenberand from behind.

"Damn… bitch…" said the Commander, just before his machine exploded.

"What the…" said Kira, but before he could finish his query Hillenbrand's attacker revealed itself, or rather herself, by deactivating its Mirage Colloid.

"If you won't kill them," said the voice of Lan Zhao, an arctic chill in her tone as she swiftly whirled around and destroyed another GuAIZ with her beam rifle, "then I will."

"When did you…" said Kira as he blocked an attack on his shield.

"Adaline ordered me to get over here," she interrupted coolly, evading fire from the rifle duo, "She sent me to bail you out while she and Pris keep fighting that frigate pair. They're both concentrating on the same ship instead of attacking both like we were earlier. I have to say I'm disappointed, Kira; I thought you were better than this."

"They're just pawns being used by the PLANT radicals," said Kira as he blocked more attacks, "they're not the real enemy."

"If you said that of the regular army I'd be inclined to agree," said Lan, who had ignited both her beam sabers and was mixing it up with two GuAIZs at once, "but these are Special Operations pilots, Kira; Zala's right hand, if you will. They were all selected to join his 'elite' organization because they share his ideals to one degree or another. They're not just grunts fighting for their homeland and loved ones; they're agents of death and destruction, and must be dealt with accordingly."

As she spoke she blocked a GuAIZ's beam claw on her right shield before impaling it with the beam saber imbedded in her left. She then swiftly whirled around and opened fire on another unit with her rail cannons, causing it to raise its shield and go evasive. Her piloting since entering Kira's fight was a testament to the skill Commander Rehema had required of her subordinates; in the brief time since she had intervened she had killed half the enemy squad. Granted, she had done so via the element of surprise, but it in no way detracted from her accomplishment.

"Look," said Lan as she closed in on her foe while Kira warded off strikes from the other two machines, "if you want to play nice, save it for the regulars; you've got the skills and the mobile suit needed to pull it off against them. Against guys like these, though… well, either suck it up and play for keeps or draw their fire while we professionals neutralize them." She punctuated her sentence by bisecting her foe from head to toe before whirling around and opening fire with her rail cannons on Kira's foes, forcing them to scatter.

Kira once again opened fire with the Freedom's guns, attempting to force the last two members of the Schnee Team to withdraw before Lan caught up with them. It didn't work, though. On the contrary, as they raised their shields to take Kira's fire they left themselves wide open to the Chinese Coordinator, who quickly finished them off with a pair of beam rifle shots.

"Well," she said, "glad that's over with. Now we'll just… oh, fuck! Eternal, dive now!"

Whirling around, Kira saw one of the frigates, damaged by the former Valkyrie girls' attacks but not destroyed, lining up for a shot with its main guns. The other frigate in its pair had been mauled by Adaline and Priscilla, with evacuation shuttles streaming from its hangar, but the destroyer was still alive, albeit severely damaged by the Eternal. It wasn't finished though, requiring Waltfeld to continue concentrating his fire on it until it fell. Adaline and Priscilla were rushing over to open

Oh crap, thought Kira, because Lan had to come help me, she and the other's couldn't finish off that frigate fast enough. Now it has a shot at Lacus!

But the frigate never got a chance to fire. Two large crimson energy blasts washed over the ship, completely obliterating it.

Was that the Archangel?, he thought. Checking his sensors he saw that that could not be the case; the Archangel was still engaging the other frigate pair. Both of the green ships had been heavily damaged, but they had not attempted to withdraw yet.

Several new contacts appeared on his radar, coming up from below to join the fight. Zooming in on them with the Freedom's cameras, Kira smiled as he saw the Kusanagi rushing up to lend assistance. It was surrounded by eight mobile suits, seven of which were black and white M1 Astrays. Kira's eyes widened as he saw the eighth machine; it was a pink version of the original Strike.

Kira heard Lan whistle over the radio. "Phew! I don't know who you guys are, but I'm not going to look a gift horse in the mouth. Great timing!"

Suddenly Cagalli's face appeared on his screen. "Hey, Kira," she said, smiling, "sorry we're late!"

"Cagalli!" he said. He then realized that she was wearing a white and red Orb pilot's jumpsuit; she wasn't hailing him from the Kusanagi. "Are you in a mobile suit?"

She nodded. "Yup, the Strike Rouge. We built it using the debris from the original Strike, along with fresh parts from Morgenroete. We've upgraded the batteries so it can fight longer, but other than that it's the same unit you fought with before."

"Are you sure you should be piloting that thing?" asked Kira.

"Hell yes!" she replied angrily, "I'm not going to let you, Athrun, and the others take all the risk. I'm going to help you guys, and I can do it better on the front lines than by sitting on the Kusanagi! Now come on, let's give Athrun a hand!"

Kira nodded. "Right."

"I'm going to rejoin my friends," said Lan, "you guys can finish off Athrun's foes."

As Lan pulled away Kira turned towards his friend's fight and gunned the Freedom's engines. The Justice seemed to have things in hand well enough on its own, though; there were now only three GuAIZ's left out of the original six in the enemy team. Picking targets, Kira opened fire, destroying two of the machines' rifles and forcing the third to raise its shield to block the incoming shots.

Athrun wasted no time in capitalizing on his foes' distraction, rushing in to impale one unit with his beam saber before taking down another with rifle fire. The only unit left now was the one that had blocked Kira's first shots, and the boy expected it to withdraw. That was not the case, though; the GuAIZ redoubled its efforts, lashing out at the Justice with its beam claws before firing at Kira with its rifle to keep the Freedom at bay.

"Back off!" said Kira over an open channel, "This battle's over; you can't win!"

"It doesn't matter," the enemy replied, "you killed all of my subordinates, and I will be damned if I do not make you pay for that before you take me down!"

"Kira," said Athrun grimly as he fended off his foe's attacks, "there's no point in trying to reason with this guy. Go cover our capital ships; I'll finish him off."

Kira sighed, resigning himself to the facts. "Alright, I will."

As Kira pulled away he watched Athrun continue his close quarters clash with his foe. The Freedom's pilot wondered how his old friend would end the fight, only to be surprised to see an emerald beam pierce the GuAIZ from behind, destroying it. Checking his sensors, he saw that Cagalli had fired that shot.

Now it's really over, he thought. Looking over the wider battle, he saw that the destroyer that the Eternal had been pounding was beginning to pull back, and the same went for the two frigates that the Archangel had been bombarding. For their parts, both Captain Ramius and the Desert Tiger seemed content to reduce the pressure they were putting on their foes, firing only a few shots in order to dissuade their retreating enemies from turning around and trying to restart the fight. All the GINNs had been destroyed by La Flaga, Aisha, and Dearka.

"All units," said Captain Ramius over the tactical channel, "form up around the Eternal. The Archangel will take the left flank, and the Kusanagi will move onto the right."

"Hang on," said Lacus, "what about Heero and Rehema?"

Kira could've smacked himself; he'd forgotten all about Wing Zero. Scanning his sensors, he was quickly able to find Heero… and was surprised to see that he was still going at it with the Valkyrie.

Captain Ramius spoke again, and Kira thought he heard a bit of reluctance in her voice. "We'll standoff away from their duel. I… I don't think Heero would want us to interfere."

Kira nodded; the Captain was probably right. Taking up position over the Eternal, all he could do was watch as two of the best pilots in the Earth Sphere continued their lightning-paced duel.

(End "The Round Table")

….

Jinking to the right to avoid another large blast of crimson energy, Heero wasted no time in returning fire with the Twin Buster Rifle. As Rehema dodged his shot the Perfect Soldier dove at her, zigzagging to evade fire from the gun-drones and shoulder cannons. He swung his emerald blade in a horizontal slash, one that the Valkyrie blocked with her own violet saber, and the two of them once again began another sequence of strikes and parries.

They had continued their clash uninterrupted by the wider battle, locked into the familiar pattern of long range bombardment followed up by beam saber combat. Neither of them had let up, but Heero could not help but feel that Rehema wasn't truly going all out. It was subtle, but as they had fought he could sense a kind of forcefulness to her movements that hadn't been there during their duels in North Africa. It was as though something was weighing her down, something that she was trying to shake off via the thrill of a duel with a skilled foe but not having complete success at it.

Heero had subconsciously begun holding back a bit as well the instant he had sensed this. He respected her too much to go all out when she wasn't able to do the same. As they clashed the Gundam pilot had tried to figure out what was wrong with his foe, but that was easier said than done. He could've just contacted her over the radio, but he had a feeling that whatever was distracting her wasn't something she could discuss over an open channel.

Checking his wide-range sensors as he pulled back to dodge a volley from the Valkyrie's shoulder cannons he saw that the greater battle had begun to wind down; ZAFT was slowly pulling back. The Archangel was still laying down fire on the last two frigates, along with the sole surviving destroyer from the original task force, but Heero could tell that Murrue was only using her ship's weapons to dissuade her foes from turning around and trying to attack them again; if she'd wanted them destroyed, she would've done so already.

All our capital ships are secure, he thought as he weaved through cannon fire and shots from the gun-drones, let's see if the people on that cruiser have any information that'll clear things up on my end.

"Attention unknown cruiser," he said, "this is Wing Zero; identify yourself."

A smaller screen opened up on the lower right corner of his main monitor, showing the face of Lacus Clyne. The idol singer smiled at him. "Hello, Heero Yuy. It's good to see you again. Thank you for your help earlier!"

"I don't mean to be rude," the Gundam pilot replied as he opened fire with the Twin Buster Rifle after dodging a blast from Rehema's main gun, "but I don't have time for pleasantries; I need information, and fast."

"About what?" she asked, a puzzled expression on her face.

"Let me take this," said a familiar male voice, and the image shifted to none other than the Desert Tiger. "Heero, fancy meeting you here. What do you need?"

"What's up with Commander Rehema?" he asked as he began another round of sword strikes with the Valkyrie, "Why is she still with ZAFT? I know she was fighting her former subordinates earlier. What's going on, Waltfeld?"

The former ZAFT Field Marshal sighed. "The radical faction has taken Shemei's parents hostage, Heero. She's a First Generation Coordinator, meaning her parents are Naturals. Combine that with the open secret that the Valkyrie doesn't support the hard line stance of the new ruling party, and that put them near the top of Zala's shit list."

The pieces quickly fell into place in Heero's mind as he continued trading slashes and blocks with his foe. "They were taken to ensure her loyalty to ZAFT. Were it not for that, she'd be with you guys now, right?"

"Exactly," Waltfeld replied, "I think Zala would prefer to simply kill them and her, but despite his hatred of her he knows that she's the best pilot he has… and the only one that's fought you twice on near-even terms, not to mention lasted the longest against you. That's why she was given her new machine, the ZGMF-X14A Judgment; the radicals may not trust her, but they need her if they want a shot at killing you."

"Why not pull the same trick with her subordinates' families?" asked Heero as he and Rehema once again parted and began trading rifle shots.

"Because we moved first," said Waltfeld, "we got the girls' families into hiding. Shemei's parents were stubborn, though; her father in particular didn't like the idea of going into hiding, and we couldn't persuade them to get into our safe house network before Zala's thugs rounded them up."

Heero nodded. "Thanks for the information. Wing Zero out."

As he dodged fire from Rehema's shoulder cannons and gun-drones something he'd said to Murrue months ago flashed through his mind.

"…a soldier who's forced to fight will never be as good as one who fights of his own free will."

That's why she's flying like this, thought Heero as he took another shot with the Twin Buster Rifle, She's fighting with the knowledge that if she doesn't, her parents' lives are forfeit. It was a grim bit of news, and Heero felt as disgusted with Zala and his cronies as he had with the Atlantic Federation High Command, though this time without the overpowering wrath that had accompanied the latter. To think they'd stoop that low… then again, their endgame is genocide, so nothing's off the table for them now.

There was little he could do about it right now though save for continue his duel. With the ZAFT survivors beginning to pull back it was probable that Rehema would soon receive a recall order and would have to break off their engagement. That was fine by Heero; after what he had just learned, he didn't have the heart to keep up their battle longer than was necessary.

As their blades crossed again Heero could not help but feel sorry for his rival. He'd had no family of his own, so he could not imagine what it was like to live with the knowledge that their lives rested on his shoulders, but he had no doubt that it was a very heavy burden for the Valkyrie. He wanted to contact Rehema, to show her that he was now aware of her situation, but there was the very real risk that her communications were being monitored, and any chatter between him and her could be taken by her superiors as a sign of collusion with the enemy. If that happened then Heero had no doubt that the lives of Rehema's parents would be forfeit.

At the same time there was a fresh upwelling of determination within the Gundam pilot. Not just to survive their battle and continue the fight for peace, but out of the desire to help his rival. It wasn't just so they could have a true rematch, one without anything weighing them down, though that was certainly a part of it. He wanted to help Rehema because it was the right thing to do.

No one should have to go through what she's enduring right now, he thought as they continued trading saber strikes, this has to be set right!

….

You're as strong as ever, Heero, Shemei thought as she parried her foe's slash with her own beam saber, and your perception is truly remarkable; I can tell you're holding back again, matching the level I'm fighting at. A small, bittersweet smile appeared on his face. She did not know if the young man was aware of the circumstances under which she was fighting, but she knew that he had been able to figure out that something was keeping her from truly going all out. She wanted to contact him, to acknowledge what he was doing now as she had done so back in North Africa when she had been momentarily distracted by the destruction of the LaGOWE until she had learned that Waltfeld and Aisha had survived. Unfortunately she knew that she could not do so; she was well aware that the radicals were monitoring all communications coming from the Judgment.

Damn it, Zala, she fumed as she continued her clash with Wing Zero, thanks to you I can't even give Heero the simple courtesy of conveying my gratitude. Honor and mutual respect may have no meaning to scum like you, but they do to me!

She sighed as she tried to attack Heero from the flanks with her DRAGOONs, only for her incredibly gifted foe to dive and evade her fire. I'm sorry, Heero, she thought, after what you did for me in North Africa, you deserve better than what I can give you now. I've tried, but with the lives of my parents hanging over me like this… I just can't give you the fight I know we both want, nor the respect and courtesy you've earned a hundred times over. I can't even thank you for recognizing that I can't go all out against you right now…

Shemei had a hard time recalling when she had last felt so low. With both her parents having been officers in the Egyptian Air Force before immigrating to the PLANTs, both of them had gained a strong sense of respect and courtesy as a result, something that they had worked hard to instill into their daughter. Shemei was truly grateful for that, recognizing such qualities as being important to developing truly meaningful relationships with other people, as being essential to friendship and cooperation. They were also vital in war, even towards the enemy, as they kept soldiers from lowering themselves to the levels that the Alliance and ZAFT were stooping to now, committing fresh atrocities and crimes with each passing day, dishonoring the military uniform and all it was supposed to stand for.

That's one of our biggest problems, she thought as she traded rifle fire with Heero, our new leadership has a complete disregard for the laws and customs of war, and the same goes for that of the Alliance. It's been a slow process, but that sense of cruelty and barbarism has now seeped into the ranks of our front-line fighters. I'm sure the majority of soldiers on both sides conduct themselves in accordance with their oaths and the conventions of war, but more and more fighters on both sides are starting to embrace the brutality of their leaders now. It's sickening, disgusting, horrifying… and it will destroy us all if it continues.

At last she received the command she'd been praying for; the withdrawal order. It hadn't come from the task force commander; his ship had been destroyed by the Archangel's powerful positron cannons. Its origin didn't matter though; all Shemei cared about was that she could at last quit the field.

She fired off one last blast with the Tartarus rifle, one which Wing Zero easily dodged, before gunning her engines and retreating towards the two surviving frigates from the second task force and the last destroyer from the initial group. Checking her sensors she saw that Heero was not pursuing and was merely holding his position, letting her go.

"Thank you, Heero," she whispered under her breath, "and… I'm sorry."

….

Murrue sighed in relief as she watched the black and red machine that had been engaging Heero move to join the three retreating ZAFT warships. "All weapons cease fire," she ordered, "this battle's over. Let them go."

"Understood ma'am," said Lieutenant Tsukino, "guns, hold fire!"

Turning to her personal monitor, Murrue wasted no time in contacting Wing Zero. "Heero," she said as the Gundam pilot appeared on the small screen, "are you alright?"

The Perfect Soldier nodded, though even through his helmet visor Murrue could see a little bit of sweat on his brow. "I'm fine, Murrue."

She smiled in response. "I'm glad to hear that. We saw your duel from here… you were fighting the Valkyrie, weren't you?"

Heero nodded. "Yeah…"

Murrue became concerned at the young man's reply; he seemed distracted by something. "Heero, is something wrong?"

Heero sighed. "Our fight… it wasn't what it should've been. I'll explain when I get back."

Murrue nodded, giving him a soft smile as she did so. "Alright, Heero; I trust you."

She was pleased to see him give her a small smile in response. "Thanks, Murrue." His expression then became more serious. "So, what's our next move?"

"I'll contact the Eternal and try to figure that out," she replied, "for now, I want you to take up position over the Archangel."

Heero nodded. "Roger that."

"And Heero," said Murrue, "excellent job today. Your flying… you were spectacular."

Thought Murrue had done her best to focus on commanding the Archangel, she had kept a part of her personal display monitoring Heero's duel with Commander Rehema throughout the battle. The two pilots' fearsome clash had easily put both their battles in North Africa to shame, not the least because the Valkyrie was now flying a significantly more advanced mobile suit than her modified DINN. Murrue had instantly been able to determine that Rehema's new machine was part of the same line as the Freedom and the Justice, and was an incredibly dangerous unit, made all the more deadly by the phenomenal skills of its pilot.

Murrue had been worried, but at the same time her faith in Heero's abilities had never wavered. She had known, without a shadow of a doubt, that Heero would triumph in his duel with the Valkyrie. He would survive, she had been absolutely certain of that. He would come back to her.

And he had.

Murrue felt that familiar warm feeling in her chest as she watched Wing Zero fly towards the Archangel and take up position over the white warship, the mixture of relief, pride, and affection that always came from witnessing Heero return to her from a successful mission. The young man she loved more than life itself had once again gone through the fires of battle and come out unharmed, returning to once again stand by her side, ready to face whatever came at them next, to support her in her ongoing struggle to protect the lives of her friends, subordinates, and allies.

Heero, she thought, smiling, you survived, you won, just like I knew you would. You're safe, and this battle is over… and you can come back to me.

Heero nodded, and Murrue saw a small smirk through his helmet visor. "I didn't know you were watching. Didn't you have a warship to command?"

Murrue couldn't help but laugh a little in response. "Yes, I did, but I can multi-task, Heero."

Heero gave a small chuckle in response. "No argument there. Alright, I'm assuming defensive posture over the bridge. Wing Zero out."

Murrue turned her attention back to the bridge. "Get the Eternal on the line."

"Yes ma'am," said the communications officer, "connection established."

The Desert Tiger appeared on the main bridge monitor. "Captain Ramius," he said, smiling, "you really bailed us out of a nasty situation there. Thanks for the help."

Murrue nodded. "You're welcome, Field Marshal… or should I call you something else?"

The man chuckled. "I suppose it should be ex-Field Marshal, but it doesn't have quite as good a ring to it. You appear to have kept the rank you formerly held as an Alliance officer though, so I think I'll keep my original title; Field Marshal will do, Captain."

"Excuse me," said a familiar female voice, "Mister Waltfeld, may I speak to her?"

Waltfeld smirked. "Of course, not everyone will actually use that title, especially not this little lady. Go ahead, Miss Clyne."

The image shifted to none other than the pink-haired songstress that had graced the Archangel with her presence so many months ago. Lacus smiled as she greeted Murrue. "Hello, Captain Ramius; it has been quite awhile since we last met. I'm glad to see you're well."

Murrue smiled. "As well as one can be, all things considered. It's good to see you too, Miss Clyne."

"Please, just call me Lacus," the girl replied, "you and your crew saved my life, both today and several months ago; you need not use formalities with me."

"That's a generous attitude," said Murrue, "still, I insist upon it, if only for myself, out of respect for the cause you represent."

Lacus bowed her head. "I'm honored that you hold me in such regard, Captain Ramius. Thank you very much."

"You're most welcome, Miss Clyne," said Murrue, "what is your current situation?"

"We've taken some damage," said Lacus, her face becoming more serious, "but it is not critical, and we can still move under our own power. The Eternal has a large conference room/amphitheater, and I would like to hold a meeting there between parties from all three ships as soon as possible. There is much we need to discuss."

"I'm sure," said Murrue, "but here may not be the best place to do that; I'm sure ZAFT reinforcements will be converging on this area soon. We need a quieter place to have that meeting."

"Agreed," said Lacus, "Mister Waltfeld is trying to find such a place right now. Hang on, I'm transferring you back to him."

The screen shifted, and the Desert Tiger once again appeared on the main monitor. "Captain Ramius," he said, "I've found us a spot where I think we can meet up without being interrupted. It's a few hours cruise away from here, just along the inner rim of the Debris Belt."

"What makes you think that ZAFT or the Alliance won't have patrols in the area?" asked Murrue.

"There used to be an Atlantic Federation supply depot there," he said, "it was nuclear powered, and about a year prior to the war there was a malfunction in the reactor, blowing the facility to kingdom come. The entire area was blanketed in heavy radiation, not to mention a few hundred unexploded missiles that were blown free when the place was destroyed."

"I heard about that mess," said Murrue, "I believe the facility was called Caravel station. What makes you think we can safely travel in that area now?"

"It's been over two years now, Captain," replied Waltfeld, "the radiation's dispersed on solar winds to the point that its harmless now, no way it'll penetrate our ship hulls, and as for those missiles the reason they didn't detonate in the first place is because their trigger mechanisms were inert; they'd been freshly shipped to the depot and slated for use in its defense missile launchers, but they hadn't been armed yet. That detail was noted in the shipping manifest but not in the station maintenance logs though, so the Alliance slapped a massive hazardous waste/undetonated explosives label on the whole area and pulled the rest of their forces out. They didn't even bother to try a salvage operation. I imagine by now the Junk Guild's picked the area clean of anything valuable, so there's no reason for anyone to go out that way, and ZAFT won't touch it for the same reason the Alliance won't. It's the perfect place for a meeting."

Murrue nodded. "Very well, then. We'll set a course for that location. Lacus said the Eternal can still move under its own power, but how hard can you push your engines?"

"We can go full bore, no problem," said Waltfeld, "most of our damage is to the armor plating and some of the minor systems. It's nothing we can't patch up either en route or while we're there. We'll fire up the engines and get moving now if you're ready."

"We are," said Murrue, "I'll recall my mobile suit pilots and we'll get underway. We'll pass word on to the Kusanagi as well."

"Good," said Waltfeld, nodding, "by the way, regarding the meeting, I've got a favor to ask."

"Oh?" said Murrue, raising her eyebrows, "What is it?"

"Regarding the Archangel's delegation," said Waltfeld, "I don't suppose you could bring Heero along, could you? I found him to be very insightful during our chat back in North Africa, and I think having him attend the meeting will be a great help in planning out where we go from here."

Murrue smiled. "I couldn't agree more, Field Marshal. In fact, I was going to ask him to come with me anyway."

"Glad to hear it," Waltfeld replied, "Eternal out."

As the Desert Tiger's image vanished Murrue began issuing new orders. "Lieutenant Tsukino, recall Wing Zero, Buster, and the Tallgeese Kai. Then make our heading for the site of the former supply depot Caravel station. Contact the Kusanagi and inform them of our new plans."

"Aye Captain," said Murrue's XO, who wasted no time in carrying out her commands.

Murrue then stood up. "You have the bridge, Lieutenant. I need to go speak with Heero and La Flaga; they'll be joining me later as the Archangel's delegation."

The Lieutenant nodded and saluted. "Understood, Captain."

….

Closing the hatch behind him, Heero leaned against the railing of the maintenance catwalk that had been run out in front of Wing Zero after it had docked in the Archangel's hangar bay. The Gundam pilot removed his helmet and wiped his arm across his forehead, trying to get rid of some of the sweat that had built up there.

This is why I don't like fighting with this thing on, he though, glancing down at the helmet cradled in his left arm, it gets so damn stuffy during heavy action.

"Well that's a rare sight," said a familiar voice, and Heero glanced to his left to see the Hawk of Endymion floating over in the low gravity, "you don't usually work up a sweat while fighting."

Heero shrugged. "The duel was… intense."

"No arguments there," said La Flaga, shaking his head, "we were all watching the last part of it; you put on one hell of a show."

"One that I'm glad is now over," said another familiar voice, and Heero smiled slightly as he turned to see Murrue floating over to him.

The beautiful Captain returned his smile. "Thank you for keeping the Valkyrie at bay, Heero. Things would've been much worse had she been allowed to intervene."

"Yeah" said Heero, nodding. Not just for us, he thought grimly, but for Rehema as well; she may well have been forced to kill one of her friends had we not arrived when we did.

"Is there something you needed from us, Captain?" asked La Flaga.

Murrue nodded. "In approximately three hours a meeting will be held on board the Eternal between representatives from Orb, the PLANT moderate faction, and the Archangel. I want both of you to come with me as this ship's delegation."

Heero nodded. "Alright."

"This a fancy shindig?" asked La Flaga, smirking, "Full uniform occasion?"

"It would certainly be better than a flight suit," said Murrue, "I want both of you to grab a quick bite to eat, get cleaned up and make yourselves presentable. We'll be taking a shuttle over to the Eternal once we hear from them."

"Yes ma'am" said La Flaga, saluting.

"Understood," said Heero, nodding.

The two men turned to leave, but Heero was held back by Murrue putting her hand on her shoulder. "Heero," she said, concern in her eyes, "may I speak to you in private for a moment?"

Heero nodded; he had a feeling he knew what was bothering her. "Sure. Let's get out of the hangar."

The two of them floated over towards one of the hangar exits and stepped out into the hallway. There was no one around at the moment, and Murrue apparently felt it was a good place to have their chat.

"Heero," she said, "what was bothering you earlier? You said that your fight with Commander Rehema wasn't what it should've been; what did you mean?"

Heero leaned back against the white wall of the corridor. "There was something wrong with the way she was flying against me. She wasn't going all out like she did back in North Africa. It wasn't because she didn't want to do it, though; that much I could feel. It was as though she couldn't, like there was some weight on her shoulders that she just couldn't shake off."

"You wanted her to be at her best," said Murrue, an understanding smile on her face, "I know how much you respect her abilities, Heero. She's the only pilot from our world to have pushed you almost as much as Zechs did in your own, and you wanted her to be able to do the same in your rematch."

Heero nodded and gave the woman he loved another small smile. "You know, your perception is truly remarkable, Murrue."

The Perfect Soldier could've sworn he saw a hint of red briefly flash over Murrue's face. "Oh… thank you, Heero," she said, looking almost embarrassed by his praise. She recovered her composure quickly enough though, and her expression became more serious. "So, do you know what was holding Rehema back?"

"Yeah," he replied, "I managed to contact the Eternal during our duel, and Waltfeld gave me the information I needed. The PLANT radical faction has taken Rehema's parents hostage; she's being forced to fight us."

"Oh my god…" said Murrue softly, putting her to her mouth, "… that's… that's horrible!"

Heero nodded grimly. "She's a First Generation Coordinator, meaning her parents are naturals; they were always going to be targets for the new PLANT regime. Still, the fact that they were taken like this, to be held as a sword over her neck…"

"It's disgusting!" said Murrue, her voice rising, her hands balling into fists and shaking in anger, "It's monstrous! Those damn bastards… do they not have a shred of decency left in them? Does anyone in this twisted world have any sense of humanity left in them?"

"We do," said Heero firmly, moving over and gently but firmly grabbing her by the shoulders, "and that's why we're fighting against both the Alliance and ZAFT. We're going to take down the bastards that would dare to even think of stooping as low as they have."

He saw Murrue's eyes widen for a moment in surprise before she mastered her emotions, regaining her composure and giving him a smile, her face glowing in renewed strength and confidence. "You're right, Heero," she said, nodding, "we will take them down, and we will restore this world's sense of decency and humanity!"

Heero nodded as well. After a moment he realized he was staring at her, and still holding her by the shoulders at that. He backed off awkwardly, looking down for a moment in embarrassment. He then looked up in surprise as he felt Murrue's hands grabbing him by the shoulders.

"Heero," she said, her lovely brown eyes full of warmth and gratitude, a radiant smile on her face, "thank you."

The Gundam pilot felt a familiar surge of heat rush to his face, but that did not stop him from nodding in response. "You're welcome, Murrue."

The amazing woman then pulled back a little, her smile becoming a bit playful. "Now, you'd better go rest and get yourself cleaned up, Heero; I want you at your best for when we head over to the Eternal later."

Heero nodded, his mind instantly flashing to the uniform he had worn during their first visit to Orb a few months ago. That should do nicely for the occasion, he thought, and I'm pretty sure Murrue likes it…

"You got it," he said.

"And Heero?" said Murrue. Her eyes met his, and before Heero could react she took him into an embrace. "I'm glad you're alright," she said softly into his ear, "I was worried about you. I knew you would survive, but still… I just can't help but fear for your safety whenever you go into battle."

Heero nodded, returning the embrace, grateful for the concern she showed for him. "Thank you, Murrue," he replied, "that… that means a lot to me."

More than I could ever hope to put into words…

….

"Murrue," said Heero, looking at her, "are you alright?"

Murrue forced a smile for her greatest pilot, and could only hope that her face wasn't as red as it felt at that moment. It was the second time he'd asked her that question… the second time he'd caught her staring at him.

As she had requested, Heero had gone to his quarters to rest a little and clean up prior to the meeting on board the Eternal, which they were now headed to via one of the small shuttles that was kept within the Archangel's hangar. The next time Murrue had seen him, as he met her and La Flaga in the hangar bay, she had not been able keep her face from flushing deep red as he headed towards her… wearing that magnificent uniform she had first seen all those months ago during their initial stop in the Orb Union. Murrue had suspected, no, anticipated that Heero would wear the uniform for the meeting on board the Eternal, but that had still not prepared her for seeing him in it again.

It was certainly not helped by the fact that she had dreamed about him wearing that uniform several times since she had first seen it on him.

Now here he was, sitting right next to her on the shuttle, once again looking like an extremely handsome aristocrat or an officer straight out of the Napoleonic Wars or any other 19th century European conflict. His close proximity to her, combined with her powerful affection for him and his protectiveness of her, only served to increase the pace of her heartbeat and the heat that was surging to her face, and she thanked whatever divine power there was that they were alone in the shuttle's cabin, La Flaga having gone up to the cockpit to take on co-pilot duties for the craft.

I need to get a grip, she thought, the upcoming meeting is very important, and I can't afford to be distracted, but… I just can't take my eyes off him!

It was all she could do to nod and reply. "I'm ok, Heero. I was just thinking… there's a lot riding on this. Where we go from here, how we try to bring the war to an end… we have a great responsibility on our shoulders."

It may have been true, but the words still rang hollow in Murrue's ears; as wrong as it seemed to her, she was far less concerned about the upcoming meeting than she was with the incredibly handsome young man by her side. Matters weren't helped in the least when Heero reached over and took her hand, giving her a small smile.

"I know it's a lot of pressure," he said, "but we'll be fine. You're the strongest person I've ever met, Murrue; you can do this."

She didn't think it was possible, but Murrue could feel her face becoming even redder at his remarks. It was compounded by the fact that Murrue knew Heero was being completely honest with her; flattery was not his style.

He truly sees me as having that strength, she thought, of all the incredible people he's met in his life, he sees me as the strongest! I want to prove to him that I'm worthy of the faith he has in me!

"Thank you, Heero," she said, "coming from you, that means a great deal to me."

Heero nodded. "You're welcome, Murrue."

They rode out the rest of their brief trip in a comfortable silence. Murrue kept her hand within Heero's, gently squeezing it, finding comfort and reassurance in his touch. Her heart was still hammering away in her chest, and she was sure her face still had more than a hint of red in it, but for some reason his words had turned the initial flustering effect of his gesture into a strengthening one. Once again hearing him voice his confidence in her did wonders for her inner strength.

"Hey you two," said La Flaga over the intercom, "the shuttle from the Kusanagi just finished pulling into the Eternal's hangar; it's our turn now."

Murrue nodded. "Thanks for the heads up."

"We'll be landing in a minute," he replied, "figured you two would want to be ready. I'll come join you once we touch down."

"We'll be by the hatch," said Murrue. She stood up and turned to Heero, who promptly followed suit. "Come on, let's go."

The two of them floated over towards the hatch, grasping the handrails along the wall to keep their orientation. We spent so much time on Earth, she thought, now we have to readjust to the peculiarities of space travel all over again.

Eventually they felt the shuttle touchdown, and they were soon joined by La Flaga at the hatch. "Ready whenever you guys are," he said.

Murrue nodded before unlocking the hatch and stepping through it, the two pilots right behind her. As they exited the craft Heero moved to Murrue's left, and she couldn't help but smile slightly as she saw him scan the hangar for threats.

It doesn't matter that this is an allied ship, she thought, touched by his protectiveness, he's taking no chances. Heero, I am truly blessed to have you as a guardian angel.

The ship's hangar was very impressive. It wasn't as spacious as the Archangel's, but that was to be expected as the Eternal was not as big as Murrue's vessel. Four mobile suits occupied berths in the hangar, and Murrue could tell that three of them used Phase Shift Armor based on the dull-grey color their hulls were now, signaling that their systems were powered down. The fourth had a black and green color scheme, and was the same model as the units that had been used by the elite squadrons that Kira and Athrun had faced off against during the earlier battle. There was still space in the hangar for additional units, and Murrue assumed that the machines in there at the moment were whatever the PLANT moderates had been able to steal before fleeing their homeland.

Looking around, Murrue instantly picked out Lacus's pink hair amidst all the people in the hangar and gave her a warm smile. The songstress waved at them and made her way over towards them, and she was not alone. With her was the Kusanagi's delegation, consisting of Cagalli, Erica, Kira, and Athrun, along with three girls in ZAFT red uniforms and an older woman in a black jumpsuit. Murrue could not help but notice that all the women were now staring at Heero… if not ogling him. It was understandable, of course, given the incredibly handsome figure he cut in his uniform, but that did not mean that Murrue had to like it.

She suddenly found herself tempted to put her arm through Heero's, pulling him closer to her. Such a gesture would be inappropriate given the situation though, but that did not stop her from inching a bit closer to Heero all the same. Her smile remained on her face, but it became a bit cooler, and she narrowed her eyes ever so slightly. The gesture was lost upon the men, but Murrue was fairly sure that the women had taken notice of her subtle territorial claim.

You can look, but don't even think about touching him, ladies, Murrue thought, he's mine. She'd allow a handshake for the sake of politeness, but anything beyond that was off limits. It was an uncharacteristic bit of possessiveness on her part, all the more so since she wasn't even in a relationship with the young man who had elicited such feelings from her, but it didn't matter. She was in love with him, was almost certain that he felt something for her as well, and would be damned if she was going to give any other woman a chance to cut in.

Lacus smiled in greeting and held out her hand to Murrue. "Captain Ramius," she said, "it is my pleasure to welcome you aboard the Eternal."

Murrue shook it and nodded. "Thank you, Miss Clyne.

Lacus then turned to Heero and held out her hand. "The same goes for you, Heero Yuy. I'm glad you're here; I'm sure your insights and experience will serve us well in the days to come. Also, it is good to see you again."

Heero reached out and shook her hand. "Thanks," he said before pulling away.

Lacus then turned towards the Hawk of Endymion. "I saw you during my time on the Archangel, but we were never properly introduced. You are…?"

La Flaga grinned and held out his hand. "Mu La Flaga, former Lieutenant Commander in the Earth Alliance forces."

Lacus shook it. "Pleased to meet you."

"The Hawk of Endymion," said the black-haired woman in the same colored jumpsuit, smirking, "I didn't think we'd run into someone like you out here…" She then turned towards Heero. "Nor the pilot of Wing Zero, I might add. It's been a long time, Heero Yuy."

"Miss Aisha," said Heero coolly, nodding. Murrue recalled having heard read that name in the file of Andrew Waltfeld, and realized that Aisha was the Desert Tiger's lover.

"I hope you haven't forgotten about us, you handsome devil!" said one of the girls in the red uniforms, a young woman with Far Eastern features. She smiled and winked, causing Murrue to bristle ever so slightly.

"Lan Zhao," said Heero, nodding. He then turned towards the other two girls, a blond and a redhead respectively. "Priscilla Dalca, Adaline Bellerose."

"You did remember," said Adaline, folding her arms and smirking, "We're flattered."

"It is good to see you again," said Priscilla, nodding.

"Likewise," said Heero, and Murrue was relieved to see that throughout his interactions with the women whom she now realized were the Valkyrie's former subordinates Heero had maintained his normal calm and cool demeanor.

Of course he did, silly, she chastised herself, Heero's not the type to be swayed by simply a pretty face, nor remarks on his own appearance. He knows these women as former enemy combatants and the subordinates of the Valkyrie; he's not attached to them, nor attracted to them. Just because they're ogling him doesn't mean he'll respond. Still, the attention he was receiving from the girls had made her a little uncomfortable , and seeing Heero handle them the same way he did almost everyone else helped put her at ease; none of the women before her were a threat, regardless of any attraction on their own parts.

"Hey, Heero," said Cagalli, smiling, "I almost forgot you had that uniform; wasn't expecting to see you wear it today."

"And we didn't even know he had it!" said Lan, grinning, "God damn, you look good in that, Heero! Boy, what I wouldn't give to…"

"Shouldn't we be moving along?" Murrue cut in, "I can appreciate the need to catch up, but we should get the meeting underway."

Lacus nodded. "Captain Ramius is right; we need to head to the conference room."

"Come on, Lan," said Adaline, and Murrue was satisfied to see the redhead give the Chinese girl an elbow to the ribs before dragging her towards the hangar exit with Priscilla in tow, "get your mind out of the gutter."

"Alright," said Lan, wincing a bit. As she joined her companions though Murrue could've sworn that she heard her mutter under her breath, "think I'm gonna need a long shower later though…"

Lacus and the others all had a puzzled expression on their faces as they watched Lan and her teammates leave the hangar, but it only lasted for a moment. The songstress then turned back towards her guests and smiled. "Please, follow me."

As they made their way towards the exit Murrue could not help but feel as though she were being watched. She glanced over at the woman Heero had identified as Aisha, and Murrue saw that she was looking at her with a small, knowing smile on her face. The Tiger's lover gave her the smallest of nods and mouthed two words at her; 'well played'.

Murrue couldn't help but give a slight smile and nod in response, knowing that Aisha had caught how she had cut Lan off midstream and redirected the conversation back towards the reason they were all there. It seems I gave myself away, she thought, at least to her. I wonder how much she suspects…

Murrue decided to shove the matter aside for the moment. Whatever she suspected, Aisha had clearly decided to remain quiet, and that was fine by her. Murrue also took some comfort in the fact that Aisha would not be inclined to go after Heero since she was already in a relationship with Waltfeld, removing her as a potential threat.

Murrue turned her attention back to Lacus as she guided the group through the Eternal's corridors. "I'm sure you must have several questions," she said, "I promise that I will do all I can to answer them during the meeting."

"Kira gave us some information after he rejoined us in the Freedom," said La Flaga, "he said that you guys are the moderate opposition to the hard liners in the PLANTs, and that you're after pretty much the same thing we are."

Lacus nodded. "Simply put, but accurate, Mister La Flaga. Everyone in the moderate faction, whether they be aboard this ship or back in the PLANTs, wishes for nothing more than a resolution to this conflict that does not involve the greatest act of mass-murder in human history. My father had a vision of a peaceful future between Coordinators and Naturals; he dreamed of making what Orb had achieved a reality for the entire Earth Sphere. The rest of us believe in that dream as well, and we will do everything in our power to bring both races together in peace and friendship; we refuse to let a few extremists take them down the path of mutual annihilation."

Murrue became concerned as she noticed a shift in Lacus's tone as she replied to La Flaga. When she had began speaking of her father her voice had taken on a somber edge, and the girl's slender body had stiffened somewhat. Glancing to her left, Murrue saw Heero's eyes narrow slightly, and she knew that he had caught it as well.

"Miss Clyne," said Murrue cautiously, "Kira told us that your father is the leader of the moderate faction. Is he on board this ship, or did he remain behind in the PLANTs to give guidance and support to those who could not join you in your flight?"

Lacus stopped moving altogether, and Murrue saw her shoulders begin to shake. The pink haired songstress turned to face Murrue, and the beautiful Captain's heart went out to the poor girl as she saw her trying desperately to hold back tears; she suddenly knew the answer to her question, and instantly regretted asking it.

"My father…"said Lacus softly, her voice cracking, "is dead, Captain Ramius. He… he gave his life so I could escape."

Almost everyone in the group gasped at her words, the sole exceptions being Aisha, Murrue, and Heero. The first had undoubtedly already known, and Murrue had come to that conclusion the instant Lacus had turned to face her, and she had simply lowered her head out of respect to the grief she knew the songstress was suffering. Heero had a similar reaction, closing his eyes for a moment and bowing his head.

"Lacus," said Kira, moving closer to her, "I'm… I'm sorry." The boy hesitantly put his hand on her shoulder. For a moment Murrue though the songstress would brush it off, but instead she turned around and flung herself at Kira, throwing her arms around him, abandoning her restraint. The Freedom's pilot responded by taking her into a tight embrace.

"Oh, Kira," said Lacus, sniffing, "thank you… thank you."

They held each other for a bit, and none of the others dared to separate them; it was obvious to all that Lacus needed to let herself out, if only briefly, to Kira. She didn't break down and cry, but Murrue could see a couple tears work their way down her cheeks as she choked back sobs.

The two of them separated of their own accord, and Lacus turned to the other as she wiped away her tears and forced a sad smile for them. "I'm sorry… I didn't mean to…"

"Don't apologize," said Cagalli, coming closer and putting a hand on her shoulder, "I… I know what it means to lose a father. You have every right to grieve; none of us would ever even think of holding it against you."

Lacus nodded. "Thank you, miss… I'm sorry, I know you told me your name earlier, but right now I can't…"

Orb's tomboy princess smiled. "My name is Cagalli Yula Athha. I'm the daughter of Orb's Chief Representative…" Her expression then became more somber. "Our late Chief Representative."

"Lord Uzumi stayed behind to ensure that Orb's mass driver and major military and industrial infrastructure did not fall into the hands of the Alliance forces," said Erica Simmons softly, "he gave his life to deny them to Azrael and his thugs."

Lacus bowed her head. "I had not heard… I am sorry, Miss Cagalli. We knew that the Alliance had launched an assault on Orb, but beyond that we did not know the details. I suppose we should've realized that the nation had fallen when you came to help us; I do not believe you would abandon your people."

Cagalli shook her head. "I… I didn't want to leave, but I had to in order to carry out my father's will, to ensure his legacy could live on."

Lacus smiled slightly. "It seems you and I have a lot in common, Miss Cagalli. I think we're going to be good friends."

"If we are," said Cagalli, smiling again, "then please, drop the 'Miss'. I'm just Cagalli to my friends, Lacus."

"Very well, Cagalli," said Lacus.

"You've both endured terrible pain in recent days," said Murrue, smiling, "I'm truly sorry for your losses. Still, I'm glad to see that the two of you can forge new friendships even in the midst of your grief. You are both remarkably strong young women; both your fathers would be proud."

The two girls bowed their heads. "Thank you, Captain Ramius," they both said.

"Come," said Lacus as she raised hers, "we really should get moving again; I'm sure Mister Waltfeld and the girls are ready to start now."

"Mind if I ask you something?" said Heero as they continued down the corridor.

"Please, go ahead Heero Yuy," Lacus replied.

"Who's running things on board the Eternal?" he asked, "Both you and Waltfeld responded to my hail when I contacted you during the battle."

Lacus nodded. "I'm sorry for any confusion we may have caused you in doing so, Heero Yuy; I had wanted to thank you for the help you'd given us when you'd arrived. Mister Waltfeld is in charge of all our combat operations, while I have taken up my father's role as the political leader of the moderate faction."

"Thanks for clearing that up," said Heero, "and just call me Heero; I'm not too big on formalities."

Lacus smiled. "I will keep that in mind, Heero."

The group rounded a corner and came to a large door. "Here we are," said Lacus as she pressed a button on the wall next to the doorway, opening the entrance.

Impressive, Murrue thought as Lacus led them into the conference room. At the center was a large black circular table with seating for twenty people around it. In the center was a white projector, and there was another one on the ceiling directly above the table, giving the table the capability to utilize holographic displays during meetings when necessary. Surrounding the table were three rows of seating along the walls, and Murrue estimated that they had room for nearly sixty people at full capacity.

Four of the seats around the table were already occupied by Waltfeld and the Valkyrie girls. They all stood up in greeting as Murrue and the others entered the room, and Waltfeld came around the table to meet Aisha halfway, who had moved ahead of the pack to get to her lover. The two of them shared a brief kiss before turning to face the others.

"It's good to see you all," said Waltfeld, "I appreciate your willingness to trust us and come aboard the Eternal for this meeting."

"You had some good character references," said La Flaga, smirking, "namely Kira."

Waltfeld chuckled before turning to the Freedom's pilot and nodding. "Guess I owe you one there, kid; thanks."

"Uh, no problem," Kira replied.

The Desert Tiger then turned back to La Flaga. "I've spoken to most of the people in this room by now, but you're one of the exceptions. You are?"

"Mu La Flaga," the Hawk of Endymion replied.

Waltfeld grinned. "I know that name. I never thought I'd meet the Hawk face to face. I'm glad you're on our side."

He then turned to the brown-haired woman beside Cagalli. "And you are, Miss?"

"Erica Simmons, Chief Engineer of Morgenroete," she replied, smiling, "I took my top research teams with me when we fled Orb, and we're now serving as technical advisors on board the Kusanagi. We will do all we can to support Lady Cagalli as she carries on the will of Orb's late leaders."

"The best and brightest engineers and scientists Orb has to offer," said Waltfeld, returning Erica's smile, "I'm sure we'll find a use for your considerable talents, Engineer Simmons."

He then turned and winked his good eye at Cagalli. "Nice to see you again too, Princess… though when I first called you that, I never considered it literal. Show's what I knew."

Cagalli folded her arms and smirked. "Got that right, Desert Tiger."

He then turned towards Athrun. "You're Zala's kid," he said, "You sure you want to be on the same side as us?"

Athrun's eyes narrowed. "I share the same blood as my father… and nothing else. I joined Kira and the others to stop him from further plunging the Earth Sphere into bloodshed."

Waltfeld smiled. "Good man."

He then turned towards Murrue and Heero, and the Archangel's Captain noticed his gaze linger briefly on the necklace the Gundam pilot had given her. He then turned to Heero and smirked. "So she was the woman you spoke of in Banadiya; the one on the Archangel that you wanted to protect."

"That's right," said Heero, his eyes narrowing.

"Easy there, Heero," said Waltfeld, chuckling, "you should be happy; she's wearing your gift proudly."

Murrue felt herself blush slightly at his words. Looking over at Heero, she saw that the young man she loved had turned towards her as well. Their eyes met briefly, and, not knowing what else to do, Murrue gave Heero a small smile. The Gundam pilot nodded, giving her a small smile in return before turning back towards the Desert Tiger.

"Indeed I am," said Murrue, "Heero is my dearest friend, and this necklace is a token of that friendship, one I'll never relinquish."

It was a rather bold proclamation to make in front of such a crowd, especially given the fact that Murrue knew most of them perceived her as Heero's superior, though she would never think of herself in that manner. However, it did not bother Murrue in the slightest. In fact, her words actually felt a bit hollow to her, though this was more in light of just how powerful the bond between her and Heero had grown since their days in North Africa… how she had deeply, inescapably fallen in love with him.

The men in the group, with the exception of Heero and Waltfeld, gave her raised eyebrows, but it was the reaction of the female half that Murrue found more interesting. Cagalli and Lacus both had open and genuine smiles on their faces, while Erica and Aisha's were softer and smaller, those of mature women who looked as though some private suspicion of theirs had been confirmed. The Valkyrie girls' reactions were varied; Priscilla had a warm smile on her face, Lan an amused smirk, and Adaline the same small, knowing smile that was shared by Erica and Aisha.

After a moment Waltfeld joined his lover in sharing that same small smile. "I'm glad to hear that, Captain Ramius. In times like these, we need the bonds we've developed with the people around us more than ever. In the end, they're our true source of strength, and I believe that they will be what will get us through this conflict." He then shrugged and chuckled. "Then again, I have been accused of being a bit of a romantic."

"And that's a quality you're not allowed to lose," said Aisha, giving him a quick peck on the cheek."

"Whatever you say, love," he replied, "alright, I think we've spent enough time on small talk. Everyone grab a seat; we've got a lot we need to go over."

Everyone nodded and moved to the table. Murrue glanced to her left as she sat down, where she saw Heero settling in beside her. She once again drew strength from the calm, cool confidence that seemed to always radiate from the young man.

There's so much riding on what happens here, she thought, the future of my ship and the people I swore I'd lead and protect, how we go about bringing this war to an end, who we have to fight to accomplish that… It was a lot of pressure to say the least, but having Heero by her side made it more than bearable.

"I think we should start by getting everyone up to speed on our current situation," said Lacus, looking at Waltfeld, "our allies from the Archangel and the Kusanagi are not up to date regarding the state of our own faction. Likewise, we do not have a complete picture of what happened in Orb's final hours before the Alliance conquered it."

The Desert Tiger nodded. "Good idea, Miss Clyne." He looked between Murrue and Cagalli, and she knew that he had just unofficially recognized them as the head of their respective delegations.

It made perfect sense, of course; Murrue was the Captain of the Archangel and the ship was the closest thing the Alliance had to a counterpart to the PLANT moderate faction, while Cagalli was now the leader of the Orb government in-exile. It still made her mildly uncomfortable though, primarily due to the fact that it implied that she was Heero's superior since he was part of her delegation, a sentiment that Murrue did not share. The Gundam pilot may have consented to take orders from her, but Murrue did not truly consider herself to be his commander. The way she saw it, Heero was her equal, and they simply worked together to defeat the enemies that they came up against and ensure the survival of the Archangel and each other. Heero had consented to following Murrue's instructions because he trusted her; it wasn't due to any traditional sense of military rank. However, for the sake of diplomacy, Murrue would accept the role as head of her delegation.

"We'll go first," said Lacus, "since you trusted us to host this meeting, I think it's only fair that we tell you what's happened on our end since Kira left the PLANT capitol and returned to you."

"Speaking of which," said Murrue, smiling, "I want to thank you for saving Kira, treating his wounds, and helping him hijack the Freedom, at no small risk to yourself I might add. You gave us back not just a pilot but a friend, and you saved our lives in the process."

To her left she saw Heero nod in agreement. "Kira saved the Archangel from the Duel during the fighting at Alaska, and he gave me the opening I needed to destroy the base. If you hadn't gotten him the Freedom, things would've turned out very differently. Thanks."

Lacus smiled at both of them. "You are most welcome Captain Ramius, Heero."

"All that being said," La Flaga chimed in, "enabling the theft of the Freedom no doubt put you in some serious hot water with your government. I'm assuming you went underground after that?"

Lacus nodded. "That is correct, Mister La Flaga. Fortunately, a friend of Mister Waltfeld's had forged an extensive net of contacts alongside my father, and we were able to use that to evade the grasp of the radical faction and build up our own organization. We were hoping to build up enough support and gather enough evidence to expose Zala's plans to wage a war of extinction against the Naturals. Unfortunately, we were betrayed and forced to flee."

"Zala had slipped a mole into our organization," said Waltfeld, "he gave up the location of a meeting between several key figures of our group. Many of them lost their lives in the ensuing gun-fight, including former Chairman Clyne. From there we had to accelerate our plans. My friend helped us hijack the Eternal, along with the three prototype mobile suits used by Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla, and Aisha's limited-production GuAIZ. We've been on the run ever since."

"Who's this friend you speak of?" asked Heero.

Waltfeld hesitated for a moment and looked at Lacus and Aisha. The former nodded and smiled, while the latter gave his arm a squeeze. "Andy," she said, "we invited them over as a gesture of trust, and there's no chance that Zala has agents among them; we can share this with them."

The Desert Tiger nodded and gave his guests an apologetic look. "We spent a lot of time living underground in the PLANT capitol, evading the radicals. Living like that…"

"It heightens your sense of suspicion," Heero finished for him, surprising the others, "you're jumping at shadows, always looking over your shoulder… it makes it hard to trust people again, to open up to them, even when you know they're your friends."

"Indeed," said Waltfeld, chuckling, "would I be wrong to assume that you're speaking from experience? To be specific, from your own war… your own world?"

Heero nodded.

"Wait, hold on," said Athrun, "what are you guys talking about?"

"Sorry," said Cagalli, smiling meekly, "with all that's been going on, I forgot that you don't know about where Heero's from."

"Yeah," said Kira, "it kinda slipped our minds." He then turned to Wing Zero's pilot. "Heero, do you…?"

"It's fine," said Heero, "no sense in hiding it from him now."

"This is going to sound hard to believe, Athrun," said Murrue, "but Heero's not from our world."

The former ZAFT pilot's eyes widened at that announcement. "What the… what do you mean?"

"She means exactly that, Athrun," said Lacus, "Heero and Wing Zero are not from the Cosmic Era, but a completely different timeline, an alternate Earth Sphere. An accident during a mission tore a rift in space and time and sent him to ours."

"That's right," said Murrue, nodding at the songstress, "I'd forgotten that you watched that video log Heero showed Kira and I, Miss Clyne."

"Hold on," said Athrun, turning towards Lacus, "I heard that you were called before the Supreme Council because you'd had contact with Heero while you were on the Archangel. You mean you hid something that important about him and Wing Zero from them?"

"Of course, Athrun," said Lacus matter-of-factly, "for starters, they would not have believed such a tale from me, and secondly, Heero saved my life; I was not about to betray such important information about him to Zala and his allies."

Heero nodded at her in acknowledgment. "I'm grateful for your discretion, Miss Clyne."

"It was the least I could do after you saved the Archangel and myself in the process," Lacus replied. She then turned back towards the former ZAFT pilot. "Athrun, forgive me for my bluntness, but even back then I did not trust your father, and the only way he would've gotten such information out of me would've been through torture."

Athrun lowered his head. "No, it's… it's fine, Lacus. I should've seen even back then what he was becoming, but I couldn't because I was too busy trying to please him."

"Well," said Waltfeld, "there's no sense in beating yourself up over that now. You're here, with us, and that's what counts."

Athrun nodded.

"Well," Waltfeld continued, "getting back to the matter at hand; yes, Heero's from another world. More importantly, he fought in a whole different war before coming to the Cosmic Era, which means he's just about the most experienced combatant on the field."

"Indeed," said Aisha, looking at the young man beside Murrue, "and judging from what you said, Heero, I imagine you are no stranger towards fighting against the dominant government."

Heero nodded. "You are correct, Aisha… more than you could possibly imagine."

"What do you mean, Heero?" asked Lacus.

The Gundam pilot seemed to hesitate for a moment before turning towards Murrue. She saw him give her a small nod, and she realized that he wanted her to elaborate for him. It made sense in a way; if the words came from a mouth other than his own, they would be easier to believe. Telling the others would also help further solidify to them the level of trust that Heero had built up with Murrue, showing them just how much faith Wing Zero's pilot had in the Archangel's Captain.

"Heero was part of a rebellion by his world's space colonies against the Earth government that ruled them," said Murrue, "He and four other young men flew powerful mobile suits called Gundams in their battle against the corrupt military dictatorship that oppressed their homes with an iron fist."

"Hold on a second," said Adaline, her eyes widening in shock, "you mean Heero and four other pilots took on the entire planet?"

Murrue nodded solemnly. "Yes… and they were only fifteen at the time."

A stunned silence fell over the table as the enormity of what Murrue had said sunk in. The entire PLANT delegation sat back in their chairs, their expressions ones of complete shock. The reactions from the others were more subdued, as they were a bit more familiar with Heero than Lacus and her comrades, but it still took them a moment to absorb the full impact of the revelation.

Cagalli was the first to break the silence. "Well," she said, looking at Heero, "now I know why you've got no problem with throwing yourself against long odds; you were doing it way before you met us."

Waltfeld whistled. "God damn… no wonder you pulled that stunt against us back in North Africa; that was probably a cake walk compared to some of your other fights."

"I'll say," said Lan, "that should've been an impossible scenario for you to live through; a god damn suicide mission."

"It was tricky," said Heero, "but hardly what I'd call impossible. When it comes to suicide missions, Gundam pilots are the best at them… or the worst, depending on your perspective; we're really bad at dying."

"So let me get this straight," said Priscilla, "there are four other pilots in your world that are as good as you?"

"Five, actually," said Heero, "one of our foes that survived the war was good enough to fight us several times and live. In fact, he and I fought the last mobile suit duel of the war."

He's talking about Zechs, Murrue thought, I know Heero said that man disappeared after he blew the reactor in the falling block from the Libra, but he's also convinced that Zechs is still alive. I don't see how it's possible, but I believe Heero all the same; I've learned to trust his instincts.

Heero then turned back to Waltfeld and Aisha. "Returning to your earlier point, yes, I do know what it means to fight against forces far more powerful than you. I also know what it means to move from safe house to safe house, constantly suspecting every person that crosses your path… I lived that life for far longer than I would've liked to, and I know how hard it is to open up to people after having done so. However, alliances are built on trust, and there's a two-way street when it comes to that."

Waltfeld nodded, and Murrue saw a strange, almost sagely look on his face. "I don't know if anyone's ever told you this, Heero," he said, "but you truly are wise beyond your years."

"Perhaps," said Heero, and Murrue became concerned as she saw a flicker of sadness in his eyes, "but it hasn't been without cost."

Murrue's mind flashed back to that night over the Red Sea when she had rushed into the young man's room after she had heard him cry out in utter anguish, tortured by the nightmare that was his worst memory. She recalled with perfect clarity how she had held him tightly in her arms, doing everything in her power to protect him from the demons of his past.

The price he paid for that wisdom, she thought solemnly, was far too high. Heero… Acting impulsively she reached under the table and grabbed his right hand in her left, squeezing it tightly. She saw his eyes widen ever so slightly before he returned her fierce grip, though he was careful to be gentle with her hand. He glanced over at her and gave her a tiny nod of acknowledgement, the barest hint of a smile appearing on his face, a glimmer of gratitude in his eyes. Murrue returned the subtle gestures, knowing that they gave the young man comfort and solidarity far beyond any words she could speak at that moment.

If anyone else at the table noticed their covert actions, they gave no sign of it. Waltfeld simply closed his good eye for a moment before speaking. "My friend's name is Eric Bristow. We were in the same academy class... the first one in ZAFT's history, actually, along with Aisha and Shemei. The four of us go back quite a ways, and we trust each other with our lives. Eric's a Field Marshal now, and you've probably heard of him too; he's the one ZAFT sent to take Kaoshiung back in February."

Murrue nodded. "I have heard of him; 'The Wolf of the Far East'. His reputation is almost as fearsome as your own, Desert Tiger."

"With good reason," said Waltfeld, "he's very cunning, and not just when it comes to the art of war; as much as he might hate it, he's a real pro at intrigue and intelligence gathering. It's thanks to him we were able to get out of the PLANTs alive."

"Bristow was removed from frontline command shortly after taking Kaoshiung," said Aisha, "he was 'promoted' to Zala's deputy chief of staff and made a member of the Defense Council. The radicals wanted to get him off the field and away from the massacres that units aligned with them were committing… especially Schwarze Squadron."

"Eric tried to launch a war crimes investigation into them," said Waltfeld, "they're part of Zala's elite Special Operations unit… or at least, they were." The Desert Tiger then smiled at Heero. "You ended their career of slaughter at Alaska, and not soon enough as far as we're concerned. I know Eric wants to thank you for that when you two finally meet in person."

"I take it he's not here right now," said Heero.

"No," said Lacus, shaking her head, "Field Marshal Bristow remained in the PLANTs to serve as an intelligence source for us within ZAFT. His father also sits on the board of directors for the Asimov Design Bureau, one of our chief mobile suit manufacturers. Eric has access to some of that company's databases, and when combined with his position on the Defense Council it makes him our best agent inside Zala's government."

"He's not just staying to act as a spy though," said Aisha, smiling, "he wants to look after Shemei as well. The two of them… well, they've become quite close recently. They were good friends since our academy days... personally, I thought they should've hooked up back then. Ah well, better late than never."

"Hold on," said La Flaga, "you mean this Bristow is the Valkyrie's lover?"

"Yes," said Waltfeld.

The Hawk of Endymion smirked. "Lucky son of a bitch."

"I'm sure Eric agrees," said Waltfeld, "Shemei's the real reason he's staying in the PLANTs; so long as Zala's holding her parents hostage, she can't join us. So long as she's trapped in ZAFT, Eric's determined to stick around as well."

"That's very noble of him," said Murrue.

"Yeah," sighed Waltfeld, "but it could also get him killed. From what I last heard from him, Zala's paranoia is growing by the day. Eric's good at covering his tracks, but there's only so long he can stay ahead of the hounds."

"Sounds like you need to extract him," said Heero.

"Exactly," Waltfeld replied, "but so long as Shemei's forced to fight for ZAFT, he won't budge; it's just the kind of guy he is. I've got a plan as to how to fix that, but we'll come to that later."

"We've shared our situation with you," said Aisha, "we've blown the coop and are on the run, so to speak. Now I believe it's your turn."

"I'm afraid there's not much we can tell you that you don't already know," said Murrue, "Orb has fallen to the Alliance, and we escaped to carry on its legacy and figure out a way to end this war.

"The mainland is conquered," said Erica, "but our remaining colonies and resource satellites at L3 are still intact and free. With the Alliance fleet currently focused on ZAFT's space forces, along with the destruction of Artemis back in February, the enemy's presence in the area is more or less nonexistent."

"I don't want us to go near them," said Cagalli firmly, "those colonies may be friendly to us, but if we attempt to use them as a base that will only draw the attention of the Alliance and ZAFT. Many of our refugees fled there before and during the battle in our homeland, and I refuse to put them in danger."

"Of course, Cagalli," said Lacus, nodding, "we do not want to put your nation's colonies at risk."

"That being said," Waltfeld chimed in, "we could use their help, if only indirectly. Is there any way you could get into contact them, maybe arrange for them to send us periodic supply shipments?"

"That could be arranged," said Erica, "however, that is Lady Cagalli's decision."

Cagalli nodded. "If we can find a way to arrange shuttle flights and rendezvous without drawing attention, then I'm in favor of it."

"It's not something we need to devote attention to right away," said Murrue, "we have enough supplies to last us for quite awhile. The Alliance may be watching L3 in light of the fall of Orb and our subsequent escape, and trying to arrange supply shipments from their colonies right away could convince the enemy to move in on the area."

"True, Captain Ramius," said Erica, "I propose we wait for a few weeks before trying to coordinate a supply run from the colonies. If we can draw the Alliance and ZAFT's attention towards another part of the Earth Sphere, then L3 can begin acting to support us logistically without coming under threat."

"Sounds like a good plan to me," said Waltfeld, "our activities in the near future should be more than enough to draw any Alliance or ZAFT attention away from L3; they'll have much more important things to worry about than a few colonies and resource satellites soon enough."

Murrue's eyes narrowed at Waltfeld's remarks. "What do you mean by that?"

"I've had an operation in mind for a few days now," he replied, "it's risky, but it could help solve a few of our problems. I'll outline it in a few minutes, there are still a couple minor details we need to work out first."

"Like what?" asked Kira.

"Mainly our command structure," said Waltfeld, "things worked out alright in the last battle, but if we're going to be working together in the future then we need a solid delegation of authority, both in battle and out of it."

Murrue nodded. "I agree. That matter was something that I'd been planning to discuss with Lady Cagalli and the Kusanagi's compliment after the ship had finished linking up with its other components, but we heard Miss Clyne's transmission before we could get around to it and rushed to help. Now that we're in the clear for the moment, I do believe that this is a matter we should settle before conducting any new operations."

"Agreed," said Lacus, "for our combat operations, I would like to nominate Mister Waltfeld as our overall field commander; as a former ZAFT Field Marshal he has the necessary experience for commanding multiple warships and large numbers of mobile suits. If anyone disagrees and has another nominee, please speak now."

Murrue shook her head. "I don't think that's necessary, Miss Clyne. You are right in that Waltfeld has the most large-scale command experience among us. My own experience is in single-ship command, along with the mobile suit compliment of that vessel, and I believe it is what I'm best at."

"Don't sell yourself short, Murrue," said Heero, causing her and the others to look at him, "you led us in the final clash in North Africa against Waltfeld's forces; you're more than capable of leading the rest of us in combat."

"Heero has a valid point," said Waltfeld, "considering that you took on my North Africa Corps with a single warship, two mobile suits, two fighters, and a bunch of rebels in converted trucks and a few combat vehicles and were able to beat us, I'd say you have a gift for large-scale combat."

Murrue shook her head. "The plan we were operating under was Heero's idea, not mine. Without Wing Zero acting as bait for encirclement, I doubt I could've come up with a strategy to defeat your forces, Waltfeld."

"You still commanded our combined force during the fighting," said Heero, "it's thanks to your leadership that we were able to force ZAFT to withdraw and were subsequently able to break out of North Africa."

"Heero…" said Murrue, unable to suppress a blush. Having him praise her abilities in front of the others elicited a warm feeling inside her. She did not feel she was entirely worthy of his praise, but she could not deny how good it made her feel.

"Are you putting Captain Ramius forward for nomination, Heero?" asked Lacus.

"Only if she's comfortable with it," the Perfect Soldier replied, looking over at Murrue again.

Murrue couldn't help but smile. "Heero, your confidence in my abilities means the world to me, but I still believe that Waltfeld would be better suited for leading our combined forces in combat. I will be much more effective in my current role; leading the Archangel and her mobile suits."

Heero nodded, giving her a small smile in return. "Alright, Murrue." He then turned towards Waltfeld, his expression becoming more serious. "I'm fine with you leading us, Waltfeld, but I want to make one thing clear; any orders I receive from Murrue supersede yours. Understood?"

Murrue feared for a moment that Heero's bold claim would start an argument, but to her surprise Waltfeld actually laughed at Heero's words and smiled as he replied. "Of course, Heero; I wouldn't expect anything less from you."

The Tiger and his lover both glanced at Murrue, a knowing look in their eyes. It made her a little uncomfortable, and she once again found herself wondering how much they suspected regarding her bond with Heero.

"So we are agreed, then?" said Lacus, "Mister Waltfeld is to serve as our overall military commander?"

"Sounds good to me," said Cagalli.

"I'm fine with that," said Murrue.

"Sure," said Heero.

All three of the Valkyrie girls nodded, and Aisha gave her lover a quick peck on the cheek.

"I think it's a good idea," said Kira, and Athrun nodded in agreement.

"It's settled, then," said Lacus, "all military operations will be led by Mister Waltfeld."

"What about our civilian leadership?" asked Priscilla, "This is more than just a military rebellion; we have regular government officials in our camp as well, whether they be here or back in their homelands."

"Pris is right," said Adaline, "I know the PLANT moderate faction has more or less chosen Lacus as their leader in the wake of the former Chairman's death, but we now have people from Orb and the Alliance to consider."

"You needn't worry about the Alliance," said Murrue, "I severed all ties with the Atlantic Federation and its allied governments the moment I rebelled against their plan for the First Battle of Alaska. Even then, neither my crew nor I had any contact with the Alliance civilian government. Flay Allster was the daughter of the late Atlantic Federation Vice-Foreign Minister, but she is no longer on board the Archangel; she was transferred back to the Atlantic Federation homeland prior to the battle at Alaska, and we have no way of getting into contact with her. The Archangel is the sole ship involved in any military opposition within the Earth Alliance; if there are other moderate factions, I have no knowledge of them."

"What about Orb?" asked Lan, looking at Cagalli and Erica, "The crew of the Kusanagi and the people at its surviving colonies and resource satellites are now essentially their government in-exile."

"I propose a duumvirate," said Erica, "Lady Cagalli and Miss Clyne can head up the civilian section of our organization."

"Hold on," said Cagalli, "I'm still going to be piloting the Strike Rouge; don't even think of trying to remove me from the front lines!"

"No one is, Cagalli," said Murrue, smiling, "but we will not always be in combat, and your people need you to be more than a pilot; they need their leader. You can serve them in that role by working with Miss Clyne."

Cagalli smiled and nodded. "Alright, Captain Ramius; I'll do it."

"I have a concern of my own," said Lacus, "while I have no problem with representing the civilian PLANT moderates, and I welcome Cagalli's help in coordinating action between our civilian organizations, there is no such representative for the Archangel. Captain Ramius, I would feel much better if you would join Cagalli and I in this capacity."

Murrue shook her head. "Miss Clyne, I appreciate your concerns and desires for equality between our three groups, but in this case it is unnecessary. As I said before, to my knowledge there is no coordinate civilian moderate opposition within the Earth Alliance, and even if there was I have no way to contact them. My role in all this is simply to command the Archangel and do everything in my power to protect those that serve aboard her."

"Nevertheless," said Lacus, "the Archangel still serves as a symbol for those moderates within the Alliance, and I believe that you should join Cagalli and me to speak for them."

"I cannot, Miss Clyne," Murrue replied, "if only for the simple reason that neither my crew nor myself consider us to be citizens of the Atlantic Federation or the Alliance as a whole after what happened at Alaska. Our own government set us up to die, Miss Clyne; that is something we cannot overlook or forgive. Orb welcomed us into their land, gave us sanctuary at great risk to their own country, and that was why we decided to join them in their struggle against the Alliance. The Archangel now serves the dream that Lord Uzumi passed on to Lady Cagalli; it serves the ideals of Orb. Therefore I would argue that Cagalli represents us as much as she does the people of Orb."

"Captain Ramius," said Cagalli, her eyes widening, "I don't… are you sure about this?"

Murrue gave the tomboyish princess another smile. "I am, Cagalli. I trust you to act on the behalf of the Archangelin your dealings with Miss Clyne as you would for the people of Orb. We believe in the ideals, in the future, that you represent, Cagalli; we've placed our faith in you, and I know that you will ensure that our trust is well given."

Cagalli nodded, returning the smile. "Ok, Captain. I promise I won't let you down."

"Does everyone here find this acceptable?" asked Lacus.

Everyone gave varying gestures of consent, from nods to thumbs up to vocal affirmation.

"Very well," said Lacus, turning to Cagalli, "you and I will have much to discuss later, though for now well must focus our attention on our military activities. I do look forward to working with you later though."

"As do I, Lacus," said Cagalli.

"I'm assuming one of those military activities involves the operation you spoke of earlier, Waltfeld?" asked La Flaga.

The Desert Tiger nodded. "I suppose now's a good time to get the ball rolling on that now that everything else is out of the way. The simple truth of the matter is that we are outnumbered and outgunned in this struggle by odds that I don't even want to think about. We're challenging both superpowers of the Earth Sphere, and we need every edge we can get… every skilled pilot we can get."

"You're referring to Rehema," said Heero, and Murrue saw his eyes narrow.

Waltfeld nodded. "We need her skills, along with that new mobile suit she's flying, on our side. Unfortunately, so long as her parents are being held hostage by the radicals, she can't join us."

"I take it you're planning a jailbreak," said Murrue.

"Correct," said Waltfeld, hitting some keys on the table in front of him, "and it's not going to be easy."

The holoprojector on the table activated, and several rows of light-blue hourglass-shaped structures appeared over the table; PLANT-class colonies, the Coordinator homeland. There were a hundred-twenty of them in all, and one in the middle was blinking red.

"Soran and Akila Rehema are being held in Charon prison in Aprilius One, the PLANT capital," said Waltfeld, "The prison itself is located in the upper half of the colony."

The colonies disappeared, and in their place appeared a large building. Five stories tall, it was essentially a big concrete box surrounded by a thick wall, four guard towers, and barbed wire.

"I'm surprised such a facility exists in the heart of the PLANT homeland," said Murrue, "I would've thought another colony would be used for incarceration purposes."

Waltfeld shook his head. "Every group of PLANT colonies has their own specializations, and the individual colonies within the groups have unique traits and purposes. However, they do still follow a universal layout, and every colony has its own prison facility. Usually they're never anywhere near full to capacity, but… well, it's amazing how fast a military dictatorship can round people up."

"Where are Rehema's parents located?" asked Heero.

"Here," said Waltfeld, hitting another key. The image zoomed in on the east side of the building, and a section of the fifth floor was blinking red. "They're on the top floor, E Block, Cell E15. It's directly against the east wall."

"That place looks heavily guarded," said La Flaga, "is this gonna be an inside job, with us covering their escape once they clear the PLANT Defense Lines?"

"Not quite," said Waltfeld, shaking his head, "Eric has a few contacts in the prison staff, but no one in a position to help us with the breakout other than giving us the location of Shemei's parents. Our plan for getting them out is a little more…straightforward."

I don't like the sound of that, thought Murrue grimly.

The Desert Tiger hit a few more keys, causing the image to change again. The PLANTs themselves reappeared, only this time the image was zoomed out much further than before, and the colonies were surrounded by a wide red cube of dots, which Murrue realized represented warships.

"This is the PLANT Exclusion Grid," said Waltfeld, "the defenses of our homeland. Due to the three-dimensional nature of space, warships and mobile suits must be placed to cover all possible attack vectors. In response to the near back-to-back thefts of the Freedom and the Eternal, the Defense Lines have been significantly beefed up over the past few weeks."

"I'm assuming Zala withdrew ships from the frontline forces to accomplish that," said Murrue.

"Not entirely, Captain Ramius," Waltfeld replied, "a few vessels were recalled, but most of the reinforcements came from the PLANT shipyards; Zala initiated a massive increase in armaments production a couple months ago, and new warships are already coming off the line. Some have been dispatched to the front lines, but most have actually been allocated to the Defense Lines. All sectors of the Exclusion Grid have undergone considerable reinforcement… all but one."

Waltfeld pressed another button, and the bottom section of the cube began flashing.

"According to Eric," Waltfeld continued, "the Avalon Line has not received new forces, and as far as warships goes it has the least of all the Defense Lines; only two hundred capital ships."

"Only two hundred?" said Cagalli, her expression incredulous. Murrue couldn't blame her; half the table had a similar look on their faces, and Murrue was sure she was among them.

"The Defense Lines cover a vast amount of territory," said Aisha, "hundreds of thousands, if not millions of cubic kilometers of space. The warships and mobile suits on the Avalon Line are stretched out over that huge area, and will take time to react to an attack against one specific point."

"And like I said," Waltfeld continued, "the Avalon Line, in terms of warships, is the least powerful of the Lines; most of the others have at least double that amount of ships, and the Jachin Due Line's at almost a thousand now."

"So your plan's a blitz," said Heero, his eyes narrowing, "a concentrated strike on one section of the Avalon Line, breaching it and getting a team inside the PLANT capitol and breaking Rehema's parents out of prison."

Waltfeld smirked. "You catch on quickly, Heero." He then sighed. "Unfortunately, it's not going to be as easy as you make it sound; there are… complications."

Murrue sighed. "There always are."

"As Heero stated," Waltfeld continued, "our strategy essentially boils down to a hard, fast strike. A group of our most powerful mobile suits will breach the Avalon Line, and one will enter Aprilius One and extract Shemei's parents from Charon Prison. The other pilots will keep the enemy from sending reinforcements into the colony to attack our infiltrator from the rear. Once Shemei's parents are recovered the strike team will withdraw under covering fire from our warships."

"Simple enough in theory," said La Flaga, nodding, "but I can already see some of those 'complications' you mentioned earlier. For starters, how the hell are we supposed to get one of our pilots inside Aprilius One? There's no way we can just send them through the front door; the main docking bay will be way too heavily guarded."

"Indeed," said Waltfeld, "which is why we won't be using the front door."

The holoprojector image shifted, becoming a picture of Aprilius One. A long red line ran through the colony, representing the axial shaft. "This isn't widely known," said Waltfeld, "but the axial shafts of PLANT-class colonies are not solid all the way through; there's a large maintenance passageway that runs the length of them so mechanics can make repairs inside them operating large mechanical exoskeletons. Basically, they use unarmed mobile suits… meaning the maintenance corridor is large enough for combat units to fly through. There are hatches that allow for access to the corridor at both ends of the colony; that's our entry point."

"How do we get our pilot inside?" asked Murrue.

"The hatchways are opened via transmitted codes," Waltfeld replied, "These codes, while important, are not highly classified. After all, they're used by civilian maintenance crews, and our defense planners haven't even considered the possibility of an enemy making it past our fleets and using the axial shaft maintenance corridor as a means to infiltrate our colonies. Eric has sent us the latest codes that are in use for the shaft, and is monitoring the network used by colony maintenance crews in case the codes are changed prior to our arrival. He's also sent us the radio frequency used by the repair crews. The pilot that goes in will transmit those codes on that frequency, which will open the shaft. From there they fly through the shaft until they get to the second half of the colony, and then use their beam saber to slice a hole in the shaft and head towards the prison."

"Won't that destabilize the shaft and cause it to collapse?" asked Kira.

Waltfeld shook his head. "A hole the size of a mobile suit won't cause that level of disruption; PLANT shafts are very sturdy, more than enough to handle that degree of damage."

"What about entering the prison itself?" asked La Flaga, "How does one pilot extract two people detained in a high-security facility?"

"That won't be a problem," Heero cut in, "according to the layout we saw earlier, Rehema's parents are detained on the top floor. A simple cut with a beam saber can remove the ceiling, and then the pilot can pull away the wall, removing the section that the energy blade would've superheated. Then the pilot gets Rehema's parents into their unit's cockpit; a cramped fit, but still doable. It'd be a quick, surgical extraction."

Very surgical, thought Murrue, using a mobile suit's beam saber in that precise of a manner is no easy task… She was feeling more and more unsettled as the details of the plan were laid out; her instincts were telling her who would be called upon to take the biggest risks in it, including entering the capitol, and she did not like it one bit.

Murrue looked to her left, at the extraordinary pilot who she had little doubt would play the biggest role in Waltfeld's plan… and the most dangerous. Heero…

"What about interior forces?" asked Adaline, "Whoever is charged with entering the colony will have to deal with them, and their back will be exposed while they're extracting Commander Rehema's parents from Charon Prison."

"They'll be covered," said Waltfeld, "I've already spoken to Eric, and he's going to make his own flight during this extraction. He's got a mobile suit picked out for his escape run, and he'll use it to cover the pilot that makes the extraction from Charon Prison. He'll then join that pilot on the run out of the colony."

"What unit is he grabbing?" asked Lan.

"He wouldn't say," Waltfeld replied, "beyond the fact that it's a unique unit the ADB's been working on. It doesn't really matter anyway; Eric's a good pilot, and he's more than capable of covering the pilot we send inside Aprilius One."

"It sounds like we've got all our bases covered, then," said Athrun.

No, thought Murrue, remembering something she had heard about the PLANT defenses, not quite. Every PLANT Defense Line is anchored by a large base covering the most direct approach to the colonies… more specifically, Aprillius One. The Avalon Line will be no exception… in fact, I can vaguely recall hearing something about the base on that Line being different from all the others. What was it…? Murrue felt as though she was grasping at something just out of reach; the key detail was on the tip of her tongue, but she could not remember exactly what it was.

She turned her attention back to the meeting as Waltfeld continued. "Unfortunately that's not the case, Athrun. All those problems that were brought up before were important, but our biggest hurdle is still before us… and it has to be dealt with if this plan has a chance of working."

Here it comes, thought Murrue, her apprehension increasing. She found herself unconsciously tightening her grip on Heero's hand as the image on the holoprojector once again changed.

"Each of the six Defense Lines that make up the Exclusion Grid," said Waltfeld, "has a large base at the center of them, along the most direct approach to the capitol. In a raid like ours, speed is everything; the longer we take, the more time ZAFT has to bring in reinforcements and overwhelm us with sheer numbers. We have to take the most direct approach to Aprilius One, meaning we have to deal with the base anchoring the Avalon Line… and it's a fortress unlike any other."

A large white disk-like structure appeared over the table, and Murrue realized she was looking at a completely artificial space station rather than the asteroid bases she knew ZAFT was fond of, like Boaz and Jachin Due. The surface bristled with beam cannons, missile launchers, and CIWs, but what instantly caught Murrue's attention were four massive guns, each as long as the station was thick. Her sense of trepidation only increased as bits of info she'd heard in reports and rumor over the course of the war came to the forefront of her mind; she knew what she was looking at, and could've slapped herself for not being able to remember it sooner.

"Back in 67 C.E.," said Waltfeld, "about the same time we put the GINN into full production, ZAFT began serious planning for the defense of the Coordinator homeland due to increasing tensions between the PLANTs and the Earth governments, particularly the Atlantic Federation. . In July of that year Dr. Anton Kupchenko, a premier engineer and a talented pilot who would go on to head up Zala's Special Operations Squadrons in this war, laid out the first schematics for a large-scale defense battle-station. Construction was approved for a station the following year, but budget constraints and the enormous cost of the project meant that defense planners were more inclined to seek out and repurpose existing resource satellites, converting them into asteroid-fortresses like we did early on in the war with Jachin Due and Boaz. As a result, only one space station was approved for construction. Battles over funding and resources between the project team and the growing ZAFT fleet led to several delays in construction, and the station was finally completed three days after the Battle of Jachin Due on April 20th, C.E. 70."

"I remember hearing about that," said Murrue, "the Atlantic Federation 5th and 6th Fleets attempted to launch a conventional assault on the PLANTs, and they were intercepted by the ZAFT fleet out by Jachin Due, which back then was a resource satellite. The Alliance fleets were repulsed after sustaining heavy losses, and it was after that battle that ZAFT converted Jachin Due into the fortress that would anchor the Defense Line that would bear its name."

"Correct, Captain Ramius," said Waltfeld, "while ZAFT was towing Jachin Due into its new position as anchor of its Line, the Alliance was preparing for a second assault on the PLANTs, this time from beneath the homeland. They knew about the Avalon battle-station, but they thought that, thanks to the struggle for resources between the project teams and the ZAFT fleet, the fortress was still incomplete, and that its weapons were not operational."

"Mistake of fact?" asked Heero, "Or a disinformation campaign?"

Waltfeld smirked. "It was the latter, Heero. ZAFT wanted the Alliance to underestimate the lower defenses of the PLANTs, so there was no official announcement regarding the completion of the Avalon battle-station. They still sent a large force for the attack though, larger than the one that was repulsed at Jachin Due. It was composed of the Atlantic Federation 7th, 9th, and 11th fleets along with the Eurasian Federation 4th and 5th fleets. On our end, our fleets were still recovering from the Battle of Jachin Due; even in victory they had taken considerable losses. The majority of our forces were out of position, and only a few task forces were able to support Avalon during the opening phase of the battle, which took place on April 26th, C.E. 70. The Alliance assault was subsequently repulsed, with the enemy suffering over fifty percent casualties to the ZAFT Navy's twenty-five, thanks to the Avalon battle-station."

"It must be quite the fortress if it was able to make up for the firepower gap between the Alliance and ZAFT forces involved in the battle," said Heero.

Waltfeld sighed. "Indeed, Heero. The station is 8km in diameter, 800 meters thick, has a crew compliment of around 12,000 people, and is armed to the proverbial teeth and then some. It carries 300 GINNs, and has dry docks for the maintenance and repair of up to ten warships. Avalon's firepower makes it an entire fleet unto itself. The conventional weapons alone are staggering: it has 80 heavy beam cannons, 60 surface-to-air missile launchers, and 200 CIWs."

Murrue noted that the four massive guns, whose length doubled the thickness of the station, had gone unmentioned. She doubted it was an oversight on Waltfeld's part; the Desert Tiger had thus far only mentioned Avalon's conventional weaponry, and Murrue highly doubted that those four guns counted in that category.

Indeed, Waltfeld hit a few more keys on the table, causing the four guns to flash red. "As formidable as all that is, it pales in comparison to these monsters; the Tunguska cannons. They're 80m linear-magnetic accelerator cannons; essentially, the biggest railguns in the Earth Sphere. Their firepower is beastly; they can one-shot capital ships and are capable of ripping a PLANT-class colony in half. Not counting nukes and Wing Zero's rifle, they are the most powerful weapons in the Earth Sphere. Fortunately, thanks to the enormous costs inherent in constructing such weapons, only four were ever made. Unfortunately for us, all four of them are mounted on the Avalon battle-station."

"Those guns, combined with its conventional weapons and mobile suits," Aisha chimed in, "are what allowed the Avalon battle-station to repulse the Alliance assault force when working in cooperation with ZAFT fleet units; the fortress has enough firepower to be considered a fleet unto itself. That's why the Avalon Line has the least warships placed on it of all the PLANT Defense Lines; the Defense Council knows the battle-station can more than make up for the discrepancy."

"I'd say that thing is more than just a hurdle," said Murrue grimly, "it completely trashes your plan, Field Marshal, especially the latter section; there's no way the Archangel, Eternal, and Kusanagi can provide covering fire for the strike team as they make their withdrawal with the Tunguska cannons pointed at us. They can take us all out in a single volley."

"The Tunguska cannons are astronomically powerful," said Waltfeld, "but they have a critical weakness; rate of fire. The guns are massive in scale, but they operate on the same principle as more conventional linear cannons, using a series of electro-magnets to accelerate projectiles down their barrels, allowing them to achieve deadly impact velocity. All linear guns after firing must go through a recharge cycle, or more specifically, the electro-magnets along their barrels must do so. On most weapons, including those used by capital ships, this recharge time is usually no more than a couple seconds at most, but the Tunguska cannons operate on a scale never attempted before in railgun history, and draw upon enormous amounts of power to accelerate their massive projectiles. After firing a single shot, a Tunguska cannon requires a period of five minutes to build up the charge needed for its next attack."

"The station's gunners are well aware of this weakness," said Aisha, "To compensate for this, the guns are usually fired cyclically, with each weapon going off every one minute and fifteen seconds for maximum rate of fire; one shot with each gun for four shots total every five minutes."

"The only time the gunners have ever deviated from this cycle," said Waltfeld, "was during the opening shots of the Battle of the Avalon Line; they fired all four guns at once, and took out four of the fleet's Agamemnon-class carriers before they could launch their mobile armors. It was a devastating blow to the Alliance fleet, but it came at the cost of all four guns being down for the next five minutes of the battle, a window the enemy used to move in on the station and the ZAFT Navy. The fighting was fierce, but our task forces combined with the station's conventional weapons and GINNs were able to keep the enemy at bay long enough for the guns to recharge. From then on the station's commander decided to stick to the one minute fifteen seconds cycle rather than take another risky four-gun volley."

"That's all interesting information," said La Flaga, "but it doesn't change the fact that those guns will rip apart our warships, regardless of whether they fire all at once or in their cycle."

Waltfeld nodded. "True enough. However… what if the guns weren't operational by the time our capital ship trio arrived on scene? In fact… what if Avalon itself was already dealt with?"

"Dealt with how?" asked Athrun, folding his arms and arching an eyebrow.

A smirk crept onto the Desert Tiger's face, and Murrue realized what he had in mind as his gaze settled on Heero. Everyone else followed his stare, their own minds taking a bit longer than Murrue's to come to the conclusion that she had reached… and was completely against.

Murrue shook her head vehemently before anyone else could speak. "No, absolutely not! You can't ask Heero to take on Avalon!"

"He's the only one who can," said Waltfeld, "If Wing Zero's rifle was capable of destroying a hardened base like Alaska, then it has the power to take out the Avalon battle-station in a single shot. As long as that fortress stands, our plan can't work."

"Then let's hit one of the other Defense Lines!" said Murrue, desperate for a way to avoid what she knew in her heart had to happen, "You said that Avalon is the only place that has the Tunguska cannons, meaning the other fortresses are more conventionally armed; Heero can take out one of those easily."

"Every other Line also has at least twice as many warships as Avalon does," said Aisha grimly, "ZAFT would be able to reinforce our breaching point much more quickly, and our strike team would be overwhelmed; no amount of fire from our own warships would be able to cover their flight from Aprillius One."

"ZAFT is spread thinnest on the Avalon Line," said Waltfeld, "destroying the battle-station will create a massive hole in that Line, and it will open up the quickest route to Aprillius One. They'll be able to get some warships on-scene to confront our strike team, but given the sophistication of our mobile suits and the skills of our pilots they'll be able to hold their own long enough for Heero to enter the PLANTs, retrieve Shemei's parents, and get out. Our own warships will be able to destroy any ZAFT vessels that move to block their path out, and they can lay down a barrage to ward off pursuit before pulling out."

"So now you not only want Heero to take out Avalon," said Murrue angrily, "but also enter the PLANT capitol? You're giving him the most dangerous tasks; he'll face the greatest risk!"

"He's the best pilot we have," Adaline chimed in, "everyone here knows that, including you Captain Ramius. Hell, you and your crew have been with him since he made his debut in our war; you know what he's capable of better than anyone else."

"It's still not right!" yelled Cagalli, surprising Murrue and the others by joining the Archangel's Captain in dissent, "After all he's done, you're asking Heero to throw himself against impossible odds!"

"He'll have support," said Priscilla, turning to the Desert Tiger, "Field Marshal, would I be safe in assuming all our nuclear-powered mobile suits will be operating in the strike team?"

Waltfeld nodded. "That's correct, Miss Dalca. The Wraiths, Freedom, and Justice will operate to give Wing Zero cover while it takes out the Avalon battle-station and makes its run to Aprillius One. They'll then keep any mobile suits from entering the colony behind Heero, while Eric covers him while he gets Shemei's parents out of Charon Prison and makes his flight back down the colony's axial shaft. Heero won't be fighting alone, Captain Ramius."

"It doesn't matter!" Murrue cried, "You're still putting the greatest burden on his shoulders!"

Murrue knew she was fighting a losing battle, but she didn't give a damn; she would not stay silent while the Eternal's delegation tried to pressure Heero into taking on such a momentous task. Murrue knew better than anyone else what the young man she so dearly loved was capable of, and Waltfeld's plan was not beyond his abilities. However, it would push Heero's skills to their utmost limits, and it would force the Gundam pilot to confront what were perhaps the longest odds of his career, and the biggest threat; the Tunguska cannons might not have the same level of strength as the Libra's massive main gun, but there were four of them, and when combined with the station's conventional weaponry, its mobile suits, and the supporting ZAFT Fleet Murrue knew in her heart that taking them on would surpass everything else Heero had done as a Gundam pilot.

Her faith in Heero's abilities was as strong as ever, but that did not change the fact that the tasks he would have to undertake in the role Waltfeld had designated for him would put him in more danger than he had ever been in before. Murrue was terrified for his survival. It didn't matter how much confidence she had in Heero's skills; the young man she loved was being asked to challenge suicidal odds, and the fear that now gripped her heart would not let her stay silent.

Lacus chimed in then, and Murrue was surprised to hear the songstress take her side. "Mister Waltfeld, Captain Ramius is correct; your plan asks more of Heero than it does of any other pilot, perhaps too much. Is there no alternative strategy available to us?"

"Believe it or not, Miss Clyne," said Waltfeld grimly, "there isn't; this is the only plan I have that has a shot at success."

"So you're going to throw Wing Zero into the heart of the meat grinder?" said La Flaga, folding his arms, "I know warfare requires some cold calculation on our parts, Desert Tiger, but this just feels wrong."

"No one said it felt right," Aisha responded, "but it doesn't change the fact that it's the only way we can pull this off. And like we said earlier, Heero won't be alone; he'll have some of the best pilots and mobile suits in the Earth Sphere backing him up."

"Backing him up, yes," said Murrue, glaring, "but Heero will still be the tip of the spear. He'll be exposed to the most fire, the most enemy units, and after what happened at Alaska I'm certain ZAFT considers Wing Zero a top priority target now, if they didn't before; they'll throw everything they have at Heero!"

"I can do it."

Silence fell over the table as everyone turned towards Wing Zero's pilot. Heero had remained calm and collected throughout the debate, and Murrue had been wondering when he would speak up. As she looked at Heero Murrue saw that his expression was one of grim resolve and determination. This only served to heighten Murrue's concerns, for she did not see the usual cool confidence in his features. His strength and determination were still there, but there was a flicker of something else in his Prussian blue eyes; apprehension. Heero knew better than anyone else the limits of his abilities, and Murrue realized that he had come to the conclusion that blitzing the Avalon Line, taking out the fortress that anchored it, and breaking Rehema's parents out of the PLANT capitol would be a severe test to his skills.

"Heero," Murrue said softly, squeezing his hand underneath the table, "you don't have to."

Heero shook his head. "Yes, I do, Murrue. Waltfeld's right; we need every edge we can get, and that includes Commander Rehema. Her skills combined with her new mobile suit will be an invaluable addition to our force, and they're worth the risks needed to get them." He looked up at the hologram of the giant disk-shaped fortress floating over the table. "Avalon is a very formidable target… perhaps as powerful as the Libra was… but I can take it down." He closed his eyes for a moment, leaving Murrue and the others to wonder what was going through his mind. "It will be… difficult," he said as he opened his eyes, "but I can do it."

The fact that he was openly admitting the challenge the task would pose only served to confirm what Murrue already knew; that it would push him to the edge of his considerable combat prowess. Still, the determination and resolve in his eyes had not lessened, and Murrue knew that he had made up his mind.

I can't say anything to dissuade him, she thought solemnly, and… he's right. The fact that the Valkyrie is capable of fighting him one-on-one is testament enough to her battlefield prowess. If she were on our side, leading her team, working with Heero and the rest of us… who know what we could accomplish? This is an incredibly risky operation, but the potential payoff is enormous. If Heero says he can do it, they I have to trust in him; I have to show him that I believe in him.

Murrue gave the young man she loved a small smile. "Alright, Heero. I've witnessed you fight more than enough to know that you can do the impossible, and I've always had your back in those battles. I won't do anything less here; I'm behind you all the way."

"As are we," said Adaline, her two teammates nodding beside her, "You may be our spearhead for this operation, Heero, but you will not be alone. As Field Marshal Waltfeld said, all our nuclear powered mobile suits will be part of the strike team. I don't know how Kira and Athrun wish to operate in this mission, but I know how my unit will play its part; the Valkyrie Team is yours to command, Heero."

"Are you sure about this?" said Heero, "We've never worked together before. You'd trust your unit to the hands of a pilot whom you've only met before now as an enemy combatant?"

"Absolutely," Adaline replied, "I know Commander Rehema has the utmost respect for you, and the rest of us share that sentiment."

"You were able to take us all on at once," said Lan, "and not only survive, but win. No other pilot's come close to pulling that off since we became a unit. As far as we're concerned, in the absence of Commander Rehema you're the only pilot here fit to lead us into battle."

"We have complete faith in your abilities as a soldier," Priscilla chimed in, smiling, "we will follow you without hesitation."

"As will Kira and Athrun," said Murrue, looking at the pilots of the Freedom and the Justice, "the two of you were willing to accept commands from Heero during the previous battle, and I'm expecting you to do the same in this operation."

Both boys nodded. "We will," said Kira.

"Heero didn't give us too many orders," said Athrun, "he just told us who to engage and left us to do so at our own discretion. Still, it worked well for the last battle, and we'll follow his orders in this one."

"All of you will establish telemetry feeds between your mobile suits and our warships," said Waltfeld, "The instant Heero destroys Avalon we'll move into position. By the time he gets out of the colony we'll be ready to help clear the escape route."

"We won't let the enemy cut you off," said Murrue as she once again turned to Heero, "We'll hit them with everything we've got."

Heero nodded as his eyes met hers. "Roger that."

"Alright," said Waltfeld, grinning, "there are still a few operational details we need to work out, but we've got ourselves a plan. Let's blitz the Avalon Line!"

Preview for next time!

The Archangel and her allies make their way towards the Coordinator homeland and a battle unlike any they have fought in before. Though all have faith in each other's abilities, none can deny that the odds they are up against are nigh beyond comprehension… including the Perfect Soldier. The looming engagement promises to surpass all of Heero's previous operations in terms of the risks he must undertake, and the Gundam pilot acknowledges the very real possibility that the coming battle could well be his last. Aware now more than ever of his own mortality, Heero knows that he cannot go into this fight with any doubts or regrets, prompting him to at last act upon the affection and passion that have been awakened and nurtured in his heart by Murrue Ramius. For Heero, the stakes in this more personal and private confrontation are higher than any in the coming battle, but he cannot escape the feeling that it is now or never. Next time, on 'Journey to a New Battlefield", Episode Twenty: The Eve of Battle.

Time to roll the dice… lay the cards on the table… and take a shot at destiny.

Author's Notes: Schnee Team, Silber Team, and their respective Commanders were inspired by the elite units in Ace Combat Zero that bear their names.

The next chapter is going to be a unique one in this fic's history; a purely romantic episode. If you want combat, you're going to have to wait until Episode Twenty-One.

As always, please review! Until next time, my friends!