Gundam Wing: Journey to a New Battlefield

by operation meteor

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

26. Chapter 26

Author's notes: Sorry it's been so long, I've had a lot going on in my life. Graduated college, got a new job with State Farm, hooked back up with the ex-girlfriend… what can I say, I've been busy!

You've all probably noticed the new cover the story has. That cover is the work of fellow author EpyonZero23, and used with permission. Thanks a lot, buddy! Speaking of EpyonZero23, if you read the fic "Haruka's Wings" that I've mentioned a couple times in the notes of this story and like it so far, I highly recommend checking out his newest fic. It's called "Look at Me", and like "Haruka's Wings" it's another very good drama/romance story, a Gundam Wing/Photo Kano crossover. Only the first chapter is out right now, but it's a great intro; keep up the good work buddy!

Ok, onto the song list for this chapter. In order of appearance: "117" from the Halo 4 OST, and "Merlon" from the Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War OST.

Disclaimer again: I don't own Gundam Wing or Gundam Seed. I'm doing this because it's fun.

Enjoy!

Episode Twenty-Six: The Battle of Elysium

After setting Wing Zero down in its berth in the Archangel's massive hangar, Heero took off his helmet and ran a hand across his sweaty forehead.

It's been a while, he thought as he took a deep breath and let it out, since I've had a fight like that. I haven't been pushed like that in a mobile suit battle since my clash with the Judgment. Shemei was right; the Galm Team is far above the rank and file ZAFT pilots. Those guys won't be easy to deal with.

Despite that thought, Heero was surprised to realize that he was glad he had not finished them off while they had been retreating. It wasn't because of their skills and a desire to test himself against worthy opponents; that desire had been purged once and for all from his system through his final duel with Shemei. No, it was because of what Murrue had said; cutting them down like that would've been cold-blooded murder, and it was thanks to the woman he loved that Heero was finally able to see himself as more than just a killer.

She pulled me back from the darkness, he thought, a small smile appearing on his face, just like she did at Orb… like she's been doing for me since the moment I met her. Murrue, you truly are an amazing woman.

The Gundam pilot watched as the rest of the Archangel's mobile suits entered the hangar and settled into their berths. Shortly after the battle had concluded, Waltfeld had ordered the warships of the Three Ships Alliance to take up flanking positions around the bruised and battered Task Force 9.3, and that they were to get underway immediately. Heero was puzzled that Waltfeld had chosen L3 as their vector; he had assumed that he would've wanted to go somewhere out of the way to talk with Commander Bohuslav rather than head straight to the Orb colonies, especially since they wanted to avoid drawing the attention of the Earth Alliance and ZAFT to those habitats.

Something's going on, he thought, I know that shuttle from the flagship went over to the Eternal almost immediately after the battle ended, but it wasn't long after that that Waltfeld told us to head towards L3. They would've had only a few minutes to talk…something's wrong here.

Heero had no information on what that something might be, but he had a feeling that would change soon enough. Shortly after the capital ships had gotten underway, all of the mobile suit pilots had been ordered to return to their home vessels, and the Desert Tiger had been quite specific in asking that Heero, Shemei, Bristow, and Cagalli be ready for a debriefing.

Once the hangar bay was sealed, Heero popped Wing Zero's hatch and floated out of the Gundam, his helmet cradled in his left arm. As he closed up his machine he saw the Valkyrie leave hers and head over towards him, followed by Bristow.

"Hey," she said as she and her lover approached, "any idea what's going on?"

Heero shook his head. "Not a clue." He turned to Bristow. "How about you?"

The Wolf of the Far East shook his head. "I've got nothing… except for a bad feeling in my gut."

"I think the rest of us share that sentiment," said Shemei.

"No argument there," Heero replied, nodding towards the hangar exit, "Come on, let's get moving."

Wing Zero's pilot took point as the three of them headed towards the door. As they did so Heero caught sight of the Archangel's chief mechanic.

"Murdoch," he said, "Wing Zero's gatlings are dry; fill them up."

The scruffy but reliable head technician nodded. "You got it, Heero."

"Hey," said Shemei, "The same goes for the Judgment's missiles; I blew through all of them in the fight."

"I'll have my crew get on it," said the mechanic, "We'll have your machines ready to sortie again in no time."

The Valkyrie smiled. "Thanks, chief."

Heero simply nodded at the man before continuing on his way. As the three of them approached the exit the Gundam pilot saw it open well before they got there, and none other than Murrue was in the doorway.

She smiled the instant she caught sight of Heero, and it was one the young man readily returned. "Heero!" she said as she floated into the hangar, "Welcome back!"

Heero met her halfway, and the couple embraced. "It's good to be back," he said as he held her tightly, "I'm sorry I made you worry like that."

Murrue shook her head, still smiling as she leaned in to kiss him on the lips. "It's alright, Heero," she said, "You're here now, and you didn't strike those fleeing pilots down; that's what matters."

"You might regret pulling him back like that," said Bristow, causing the two lovers to turn towards him, "Galm Team are two of the best pilots in the Earth Sphere, Captain Ramius; they'd have to be to survive a fight with Heero. They could be a serious threat in future battles."

"I know that," Murrue replied, her voice firm, "but taking them down when they were retreating like that would still have been no better than murder. I won't commit the crimes my superiors would've, nor will I let Heero do that even if it's to help our cause. If we meet them on the battlefield again, we'll deal with them accordingly."

Heero nodded as he looked at Bristow and Shemei. "Murrue's right," he said, "Taking them down like that may have been the logical thing to do, but it wasn't the right thing to do. War is cold and brutal, we all know that, but if we lose our humanity to it then we become no better than the monsters we're fighting against."

Bristow nodded. "Well said. I just hope the next time we fight them we'll be able to take them out of the game for good."

"We'll just have to wait and see what happens," said Shemei, "No sense in worrying about it now, Eric. Galm Team's off the field for now, and we need to focus on our new friends."

"Of course," Bristow replied.

"Speaking of our new friends," said Heero, turning to Murrue, "do you have any idea what happened between the Commander, Waltfeld, and Lacus over on the Eternal? They can't have had more than a few minutes to talk before Waltfeld contacted us about the briefing."

Murrue shook her head. "I'm afraid not, Heero. I just received word from Waltfeld about the briefing. That's why I came down here; I wanted to meet you and go to the briefing room together."

Heero nodded. "Then let's get moving. I don't like being kept in the dark, and I've got a feeling that whatever happened on the Eternal between Lacus, Waltfeld, and Bohuslav, it was big."

Murrue took his hand. "Agreed. Let's go."

The four of them quickly made the journey from the hangar to the briefing room. When they got there Murrue immediately established a connection with the Eternal before sitting down with Heero and the others.

The Gundam pilot saw Waltfeld, Lacus, and Commander Bohuslav appear on the screen. "Hello, everyone," said Lacus, smiling, "I'm glad to see you're safe and unharmed."

"It's good to see you as well, Miss Clyne," said Murrue.

Heero skipped the pleasantries. "What's going on? What did the Commander tell you?"

"Hang on a second, Heero," said Waltfeld, "We're still setting up a conference connection with the Kusanagi. Captain Ramius, is everything good on your end?"

Murrue nodded. "Our connection is open to all ships, Waltfeld."

"Ok," the Desert Tiger replied, "We're patching through the Kusanagi now."

The people on the Eternal were moved to the top half of the screen, with the bottom half being given over to the Orb delegation. Heero saw Cagalli and Kisaka appear, the former still dressed in her red and white Orb military flight suit.

"Hey," said Orb's tomboy princess, "can you guys hear us?"

"We're reading you loud and clear, Cagalli," said Murrue.

"Same here," said Lacus, "I'm glad you're alright, Cagalli; I was worried."

The blonde girl smiled. "Thanks, Lacus. I'm ok. I might not be as good as Heero or Kira, but I can hold my own in a fight."

"So you can, Lady Cagalli," said Kisaka, "That doesn't mean we're comfortable with you fighting on the front lines, especially given your importance to our cause."

"Hey!" snapped Cagalli, "I can do more than just lead my people; I can fight for them, and I'm going to do that! Don't even think about trying to keep me off the field!"

"Please, calm down," said Lacus, "Cagalli, I assure you that no one is trying to hold you back. We all know how determined you are to fight on behalf of your people and your friends, and will not keep you away from fighting."

Cagalli nodded. "Sorry, I guess I got a little carried away there."

Waltfeld chuckled. "You're as feisty as always, Princess." His expression then became serious. "Enough of that for now though. Our guest here has given us some vital information, and it has a direct impact on your people, Lady Cagalli."

Heero's eyes narrowed at the Desert Tiger's words. He had a feeling that whatever was coming, it wasn't good.

"Well, it would, wouldn't it?" said Cagalli, "I mean, wasn't the Commander planning on seeking asylum at our Eden and Elysium colonies?"

"That was my original intent, Lady Cagalli," said Bohuslav, "However, I received dire news from a friend of mine in the Patrol Fleet that forced me to alter and accelerate my plans."

"What is it?" asked Bristow, "I've got sources in the Patrol Fleet too, Commander, and they haven't passed on any significant news of late."

Heero saw Bohuslav's eyes narrow. "You would be former Field Marshal Eric Bristow, correct? The unofficial spymaster of both Siegel and Lacus Clyne?"

"Yes to both questions," replied the Wolf of the Far East, "and you still haven't answered mine. What information was passed on to you, Commander Bohuslav?"

The rogue officer closed his eyes for a moment. When he opened them Heero saw a very dark and heavy look in them, and the bad feeling in the Gundam pilot's gut only got worse.

"The Earth Alliance is massing a fleet not far from L3," said the Commander, "They're going to launch an assault on the Orb colonies."

A stunned silence fell over the delegates of all three ships. Heero felt Murrue grab his hand and squeeze it tightly, and as he looked at her he saw that her expression was one of shock and horror. The Perfect Soldier couldn't blame her, especially given the knowledge that so many refugees from the Orb mainland, Coordinator and Natural alike, had fled to the colonies prior to and even during the battle against Azrael's armada.

The Valkyrie was the first one to break the silence, and her words perfectly captured the moment. "Oh, fuck…"

Shemei wasn't the only one to respond with profanity. "Shit," said Bristow, "How did we miss this?"

"You can't catch everything, buddy," said Waltfeld, "We both know that."

"Maybe," Bristow replied, shaking his head, "but something this big…"

"We can worry about gaps in our intelligence sources later," said Heero, "Right now we need to focus on stopping the invasion."

Bristow nodded. "You're right. Commander, do you have any idea how big a force the Alliance is mustering for this?"

"My intel's a few days old," said Bohuslav, "but when I got the report, it looked like at least two carrier battle groups and some support squadrons. I don't know how long they'll continue to gather strength."

"They wouldn't have to wait much longer if they already have two carrier battle groups at their rallying point," Kisaka cut in, "That's more than sufficient a force to defeat our current defenses."

"Hold on," said Cagalli, "I thought we had been building up the protective forces of the Eden and Elysium colonies with new mobile suits!"

"We have," said Kisaka, "but they lack capital ship support. The only other Izumo-class battleship is the namesake vessel, and that's under control of the Sahaku noble family. They've been running their own agenda since the start of this war, operating independently of Orb as a whole. The Izumo is nowhere near Eden or Elysium, and Orb has not built any other class of space-going warships."

"What defenses do the Eden and Elysium colonies have?" asked Murrue, "From what Cagalli said, they must at least be greater than the security forces that were at Heliopolis."

"Don't forget, Captain Ramius," said Kisaka, "those security forces were largely supplemented by Alliance ground units inside the colony, along with La Flaga and his fellow Moebius pilots in outer space."

"I'm well aware of that," said Murrue, "but that was before Orb got its own mobile suits operation and into mass production, not to mention before Heero gave Morgenroete those new designs."

"New designs?" asked Aisha, "I thought Orb was only fielding the M1 Astray in outer space, and that the schematics Heero gave Morgenroete were for surface combat, with the exception of the Tallgeese."

Heero shook his head. "No, there were other models in there as well, and Engineer Simmons told me they did press one into production for Orb's space forces to serve alongside the M1; the Taurus."

Kisaka nodded. "I've spoken to Engineer Simmons, and she told me that the Taurus will server well as a complement to the capabilities of the M1 Astray, but that does not change the fact that the mobile suit squadrons of the colonies alone cannot win this fight."

"What about the Alliance defectors that showed up a few days ago?" asked Murrue, "Surely they'll have at least some impact."

"Yes, but not enough," said Cagalli, "It was just a few flotillas, made up of Drake-class escort ships and Nelson-class battleships; no carriers. They've got mixed complements of mobile suits and armors, and I know they'll be able to help, but they're split between defending Eden and Elysium."

"Even if they were concentrated, I doubt it would make much of a difference," said Commander Bohuslav, "The Earth Alliance appears to be approaching this invasion with their usual play; overwhelming numbers and firepower. It was my hope that Task Force 9.3 might be able to turn the tide. Even with the Earth Alliance now fielding new mobile suits, my pilots are all combat veterans and could give the enemy pause even with older machines."

Heero saw Murrue nod. "I'm sure. The fact of the matter is that this war has decimated the Alliance pilot corps; there are very few veterans left in their ranks. However, thanks to their much larger population base, they never have problems finding new pilots to fill in the gap."

"And the Alliance is still fine-tuning its mobile suit tactics," said Waltfeld, "They're not yet used to fielding them on a large scale and haven't worked out appropriate doctrines and strategies to take full advantage of their new weapons. I know those are handicaps we've been able to exploit, and I have no doubt that Task Force 9.3 could do so as well, but even then the enemy's advantage in numbers would still be heavy… and Task Force 9.3 is not what it once was."

"Indeed," said Commander Bohuslav, bowing his head, "that is why I must ask for your help. We know that Orb sent the majority of its Coordinator population to the Eden and Elysium colonies just before the Earth Alliance launched its invasion of the home island. If Azrael's thugs manage to breach L3's defenses, those refugees will be slaughtered. Even if they do not swear loyalty to the PLANTs, they are still our people, and we will defend them!"

"Cagalli," said Heero, "How many refugees made it to the Eden and Elysium colonies?"

He saw Orb's tomboy princess close her eyes for a moment as she thought about Heero's question. When she opened them he could see that her usually fiery brown eyes were dark and grim. "About forty thousand are at Eden," she said, "and I think Elysium's hosting over fifty thousand. I know we sent both Naturals and Coordinators to the colonies, though the latter were the majority; most of our Natural refugees we sent to the Equatorial Union, the Central Asian republics, and Oceania. We managed to establish temporary housing for those that made it to the colonies, but I know they're still having problems with overcrowding. If there's an invasion, there's no way they'll all fit into the shelters; they'll be caught out in the open and slaughtered!"

"Yes," said Kisaka, "and I doubt it will really matter to the Alliance forces if the people they kill are Coordinators or Naturals. As far as they are concerned, Orb became the enemy the moment it refused to ally itself with them against ZAFT. Even if the Earth Alliance tries to take the colonies intact, it will still be a massacre not just for the Coordinator refugees but all of the inhabitants; the Alliance may take care to avoid damaging the habitats' industrial and agriculture capabilities, but they won't show the same discretion with areas reserved for civilian housing."

Bohuslav nodded. "While Orb may not be allied with ZAFT, it is ZAFTs mission to protect all Coordinators. I had implored my superiors to dispatch a fleet to intercept the Alliance force and destroy them before they could get underway, but they would hear none of it; ever since the Fall of Avalon, we've been on defensive posture. I could not sit by while another massacre was perpetuated while my military had the power to stop it and did nothing. Also, we did not undertake this mission just because of the large number of Coordinator refugees inside the Orb colonies, but to protect all of the civilians residing there. That is why my subordinates and I left ZAFT, and it is why I'm asking you for your help today. Task Force 9.3 has no chance of accomplishing its mission as it is now, but with you on our side we can save the colonies!"

Heero had to admire the man's commitment to protecting the innocent, regardless of their race. He turned to Murrue, and he saw the woman he loved smile and nod. Heero gave her a small smile and nod in return while gently squeezing her hand. Regardless of what else was said today, the two of them had already made up their minds as to what they would do.

We'll save Eden and Elysium, he thought, No matter what the size of the enemy fleet that comes at them, we will beat it back.

They turned back to the rest of the meeting as Lacus began to speak. "Commander Bohuslav," she said, smiling, "On behalf of the entire Three Ships Alliance, I would like to offer our support in your endeavor. We will fight alongside your task force and defend the Orb colonies."

Bohuslav bowed his head. "Thank you, Miss Clyne."

"You are quite welcome, Commander," the songstress replied, "However, it is now I that must ask you for aide. I will not make this a precondition for our cooperation with you in this endeavor; you will have that regardless. Nevertheless…"

"You wish for us to join forces with you after the battle," the Commander finished for her, "and fight against both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. Am I correct?"

Lacus nodded. "Yes, Commander. I know it is your wish to protect your subordinates and avoid killing those soldiers still loyal to ZAFT, but the stakes in this war are too high for a force like yours to remain on the sidelines. Our mission is to bring an end to this conflict that does not involve the greatest acts of mass murder in human history, and we need all the help we can get if we're going to stop the Earth Alliance and ZAFT from carrying out those atrocities."

"As a practical matter, you know you can't sit out the rest of this war, Commander," said Bristow, "Even if we can ward off the Alliance's assault on L3, the Orb colonies will not be left alone for long. If the Earth Alliance wins this war they will return to L3 with a vengeance, and no one will be able to stop them. The same goes for ZAFT; Zala is as determined to wipe out the Naturals as Azrael is our people, and a few thousand Coordinator refugees inside Eden and Elysium won't stop the PLANT radicals from attacking the colonies once they've defeated the Alliance."

"The fires of this conflict have grown to the point that they will consume far more than just the Earth Alliance and ZAFT," said Murrue, "Every human life in the Earth Sphere is at risk, Commander Bohuslav. We must stop the extremists on both sides; the very survival of the human race is at stake!"

"Zala and Azrael have their respective camps gearing up for what might as well be the Battle of Armageddon," said Heero, determined to drive the point home to the rogue ZAFT officer, "The stances they've taken are absolute; there is either friend or foe as far as they are concerned, and no room for neutrality. That fanaticism is driving the two largest militaries in the history of the Cosmic Era towards their final campaign, and if we don't act it will become a firestorm that consumes everyone."

Heero saw Bohuslav close his eyes for a moment. When he opened them there was a resolute look in them, and the Gundam pilot knew that they had won him over.

"I suppose I knew it would come down to that," said the Commander, "Even a blind man could tell that both sides are in a mad dash towards the point of no return, and don't give a damn as to whether or not the fires of their hatred burn more than just the main targets of their wrath. Very well, Miss Clyne, Waltfeld. Once we've repelled the Alliance invasion force, we will join your cause; Task Force 9.3 will fight under your command."

There was a collective sigh of relief amongst the representatives of the three ships. For his part, Heero simply turned to Murrue, and the couple shared another small nod and smile. They now had the allies they had fought so hard to gain.

Turning back to the screen, he saw the others smile. "Thank you, Commander," said Lacus.

Bohuslav nodded. "You are welcome, Miss Clyne. I only hope we will be able to stop both sides from going over the brink."

"As do we all," said Waltfeld, "With your force fighting with us, our chances for success just got a little bit better."

"Speaking of fighting," said Bristow, "How do we repel the Alliance fleet from the Orb colonies?"

"That will be tricky," the Desert Tiger replied, "As you know, we're already inbound to L3, but we don't know how the Alliance will hit the colonies. They could divide their forces and strike Eden and Elysium simultaneously, or hit one at a time."

"I think it will be the latter," Murrue cut in, "Based on my experience with the Earth Alliance, I believe they would prefer to concentrate their overwhelming force against a single target rather than spread it out. Two carrier battle groups sounds like the kind of force they would send to invade a colony, especially given the upgrades Orb's made to the defense of its colonies since the attack on Heliopolis. With the deployment of the M1 Astrays and the Taurus mobile suits, Eden and Elysium are now essentially giant, immobile carriers. The Alliance is well aware that Orb has begun mass producing its own mobile suits, and they would want to be absolutely sure that they could conquer the colonies even with those new units being utilized in their defense."

"I agree with Captain Ramius," said Kisaka, "Based on our observations of the Alliance over the course of this war, a single, concentrated strike would fit their patter of behavior. It certainly was the case with regards to Orb; they hit us with the entirety of their Pacific Fleet, rather than dispatching elements to fight us and the ZAFT occupation forces at Panama or the East Asian Federation at the same time."

"The same also goes for their activity in the East," said Bristow, "They focused their entire Atlantic Fleet on the invasion of North Africa, diverting forces only to isolate Gibraltar. Their armies were spread across the continent, but the bulk of their forces converged on Lake Victoria for their strike at the spaceport."

"If this is the general consensus," said Lacus, "then what colony do we choose to defend?"

"Eden and Elysium are both flying long-range patrols with the Taurus mobile suits," said Kisaka, "When the Alliance makes their move we'll have enough notice to trace their vector and determine what colony they're targeting."

"We can take up position between the colonies," said Waltfeld, "That we can move to either one the moment we know which one the Earth Alliance has targeted."

"I'll contact Eden and Elysium," said Cagalli, "If they're on high alert before the attack starts they should have a better chance of holding out until we arrive."

"You should have them increase the range and frequency of their patrol flights as well," Heero suggested, "I know you guys couldn't build the Taurus to its original specs because of the N-Jammers, but even on batteries it still has good range. It's the best recon unit you could ask for."

Cagalli nodded. "I'll do that. Thanks, Heero."

"How soon can we get into position?" asked Murrue, "All three of our ships may be ready to go, but I know the vessels of Task Force 9.3 have all sustained damage. Commander, what's your state of readiness?"

"Mixed, Captain Ramius," replied Bohuslav, "We can repair some of the damage while underway, but none of our ships can go full throttle. We need a dry-dock to get our vessels back up to full operating status. From where we are now, I'd say it would take us around two days to reach L3."

"We'll just have to hope the Alliance doesn't launch its attack until then," said Waltfeld, "Commander, we'll stay with you the whole trip. Patch up what you can en route. Be ready to reorganize your formation; I'll send you your ship assignments before the day is out."

The Commander nodded. "Understood, Waltfeld."

"I think that's everything we needed to go over here," said Lacus.

Waltfeld nodded. "Captain Ramius, I want the Archangel to move to point for the rest of the trip to L3. Have your pilots rest up; they're going to need every bit of strength they have for the coming fight."

Murrue nodded. "Will do, Waltfeld."

"Alright, everyone," said the Desert Tiger, "I know we just wrapped up a big fight, but we're flying right into another one. Be ready for anything. Dismissed."

With that the screen went black. Heero, Murrue, and the others stood up and headed for the door.

"Well," said Shemei, "I didn't see that coming."

Bristow sighed as the door opened. "Same here. Damn, talk about being blindsided."

"It was inevitable," said Heero as the four of them left the room, causing the others to look at him, "There was no way Azrael would ignore a large, vulnerable population of Coordinators forever."

"Heero's right," said Murrue as she leaned against the corridor wall, "At least this way we have a heads up, and Orb has time to prepare its defenses."

"I'm surprised the Alliance waited this long," said Shemei as she and her lover took up position against the opposite wall while Heero joined his lover, "Why didn't they move against the colonies immediately after the invasion of Orb?"

"If I had to guess," Bristow replied, "I'd say two factors played a role. The first would be them consolidating power over the rest of the planet; a process that is still ongoing, I might add. The second would be the buildup for their inevitable final confrontation with the Zala regime."

"The latter is an ongoing process as well," said Murrue, her eyes narrowing, "Why would the Alliance divert resources to go after L3 now?"

"Pride and hatred," said Heero grimly.

"Ok, I'm a little lost," said Shemei, raising her right hand, "I get the second one, but not the first. What's pride got to do with the Alliance suddenly targeting L3?"

"Orb's wounded the Alliance's pride, or more particularly that of Azrael and the High Command, far too much for them to handle," Heero replied, "Think about it. The Alliance may have conquered the Orb homeland, but they took one hell of a beating in the process."

"Thanks in no small part to you, Heero," said Bristow, "Were it not for your presence, I imagine the invasion of Orb would've gone much smoother for the Alliance."

"Perhaps," said the Gundam pilot, "but that's beside the point. Look at it this way; a tiny, though very well armed, island nation stood against the dominant power on Earth. The Alliance may have won out in the end, but they paid a steep price for it, and that may be almost as bad as loosing for them, especially since they didn't get the Kaguya mass driver, one of the key objectives of their invasion."

"They were humiliated," said Murrue, nodding, "but if that's what's driving them to go after Eden and Elysium now, why wouldn't it have driven them to attack the colonies sooner? Even back then the Alliance space fleet was still more than large enough to conquer L3, even with its standoff with ZAFT."

Heero, Murrue, and Shemei were taken aback by Bristow suddenly slapping himself on the forehead. "Because of what happened at L4…" he said, "Shit, I should've thought of that earlier!"

"Thought of what?" asked Shemei, putting her hand on her lover's shoulder, "Eric, what's up?"

"Azrael personally lead the fleet that attacked Orb," said Bristow, "and he did the same with the battle group that we fought at L4."

Heero nodded. "Exactly, and both times he failed his objective. At Orb, even though he conquered the country, his fleet was bloodied and the Kaguya mass driver was destroyed. At L4, his goal was to destroy the Archangel because it had betrayed the Alliance, but he was defeated. Not only that, but his entire battle group except for the Dominion was destroyed, and his prized flagship was mauled during the fighting."

"But you were responsible for crippling the Dominion, not the Orb forces," said Murrue.

"Not directly," said Heero, "but you know that I couldn't have pulled off that attack if the Kusanagi and the rest of her M1s hadn't been able to engage the rest of the Alliance force when they did. Orb's now had a hand in two major embarrassments for the Alliance, and Azrael wants to make them pay. The fact that the Eden and Elysium colonies are now packed full of refugees, many of them Coordinators, is a bonus for him."

"Exactly," said Bristow, "We should've seen this coming. If nothing else, Azrael is a petty, vengeful bastard."

"Something he's got in common with Zala," Shemei deadpanned, "They'd probably kill themselves out of horror if they knew that."

"Were it so easy…" muttered Heero, shaking his head.

"Well, it doesn't matter now," said Murrue, and Heero admired how firm and resolute her voice was, "We know now that the Alliance is targeting the L3 colonies, and it's our job to stop them. There's no point in recriminating right now over how we didn't see this coming; we can worry about that after we've saved Eden and Elysium."

Heero nodded and reached over to grab his lover's hand. "Well said, Murrue."

Bristow and Shemei nodded as well. "You're right," said the Valkyrie, smiling, "and we need to make sure we're ready when the time comes to fight."

"We'll head back to the hangar and see to our machines," said Bristow, "We'll be ready to go on your orders, Captain Ramius."

As the Valkyrie and the Wolf of the Far East left, Heero turned to Murrue. "I should go down too," he said, "I need to run maintenance checks on Wing Zero and make sure it's ready to go when the battle begins."

Murrue nodded and smiled. "Alright. I need to get to the bridge and inform the others about our next move. Don't work too hard, ok? You just got done with another fierce battle; take a little time to rest."

"I'll rest when you do, Murrue," Heero replied, "and not a second sooner."

Murrue shook her head, but she was still smiling. "You really are stubborn sometimes, you know that?"

Heero nodded and gave her a small smile in return. "I know. It's a Gundam pilot thing."

"And a 'you' thing," said Murrue, giggling as she leaned in to kiss him, "and I love you for it. I'll see you later, Heero."

"Roger that, Murrue," he replied.

….

Pixy leaned against the wall of the corridor, glancing anxiously towards the door to the Kerimov's medical bay. Damn, I hate this, he thought, I know the guy was calm about it, but still, that wound looked serious. Shit… hang in there, buddy.

It had been over an hour since the Galm Team had returned to the destroyer. The vessel was now well underway, returning to PLANT space at full speed. Galm Two had survived more than enough fights to know that he was in the middle of an adrenaline let-down, but his concern over his flight lead's condition was keeping him from heading back to his quarters and hitting the hay.

Pixy had been amazed that, upon their arrival to the Kerimov and leaving their mobile suits, Cipher had completely refused the gurney the medical team had brought out. He'd insisted on going to the infirmary under his own power, stopping only to allow the medics to wrap the left side of his face in bandages to temporarily stop the bleeding.

The guy loses a frickin eye, but he's still acting like his usual self, thought Pixy, Totally unfazed. That had to hurt like hell… damn, I wish I had that kind of control. Sometimes I swear Cipher's got liquid nitrogen running through his veins; I've never seen a cooler customer.

Galm Two wasn't a fool; he knew that any warrior of his or Cipher's caliber would put up a tough front no matter how bad the injury was. That didn't stop the mercenary from being any less impressed by his flight lead's composure. Other than the initial reaction he'd heard over the radio, Cipher had not commented on his wound at all, though Pixy had seen him grimacing as he'd exited his mobile suit.

The door to the medical bay hissed open, nearly causing Pixy to jump. Out of it walked a young woman with mid-length blonde hair, light blue eyes, pale skin, and a lithe body with a modest bosom. "Hey, Kelsey," said Pixy, familiar with the lady, who was one of the assistants to the ship's chief medical officer, "How's he doing?"

The girl shook her head, and for a moment Galm Two feared that things had gone from bad to worse, but then she smirked at him. "Your flight lead's one stubborn bastard; he's completely refusing the painkillers. I was hoping you might talk some sense into him."

Pixy sighed in relief; if that was the worst problem, then things were alright. "Sorry, sweetheart," he said, giving the young woman his trademark chuckle and smirk, "but that's not gonna happen. Cipher hates anything that dulls his senses; it'd have to be major surgery for him to even consider painkillers… which means that if he's refusing, then things aren't that bad."

"From a certain point of view," Kelsey replied, "Yes, his wound is not life threatening and has been properly treated, but he did lose a freaking eye, Pixy. Most men would be whining like pussies from a hit like that, begging for the drugs; your flight lead's a freak of nature."

"Tell me something I don't know," Pixy shot back, "So, he's doing ok?"

"Yes," said Kelsey, "though he will require additional treatment, the worst is over. Now, could you please go talk him into letting us give him the good stuff?"

"I'll talk to him," Pixy replied, "but forget the painkillers, sweetheart; I already know the answer he'll give me."

"Then tell him the follow up treatments will be hell to pay without them," Kelsey deadpanned, "Maybe that will motivate him."

"I highly doubt that," said Pixy, motioning towards the doorway, "Ladies first."

"If you weren't a gentleman, I think I'd have smacked you by now," said the girl as she walked into the infirmary.

Pixy smirked. "You wouldn't be the first."

"That I don't doubt a bit," Kelsey replied, winking at Galm Two as she led him over to his flight lead.

Moving towards Galm One, Pixy saw that, other than fresh bandages, his partner didn't look that much different from when he had first gotten out of his mobile suit. "Yo, buddy," said Galm Two, waiving as he came up to his flight lead, "A little sparrow tells me you're being a real pain in the ass."

"Call me 'sparrow' again and it will be my foot up yours, Pixy," Kelsey shot back as she sat down at a nearby desk to check something on a monitor.

"I'm loving that bedside manner, sweetheart," Pixy quipped playfully, "Are you like this with all visitors here?"

The young woman chuckled and gave Galm Two a wink. "Just the cute mercenary flyboys."

"Get a room, you two," Cipher muttered.

"Yeah, no," Pixy replied, smiling as he turned back to his flight lead, "I had that thing with Amelia back in the capital, remember?"

"I thought that was just a one-nighter," said Cipher.

"One hell of a night, more like," said Pixy, "I'm holding out for a repeat performance." He glanced back at Kelsey. "Sorry, sweetheart."

"Oh, please," said Kelsey, shaking her head before looking past Pixy and smiling, "You're flight lead's way more my type, stubbornness aside."

Pixy chuckled before smirking at his flight lead. "Well, you heard her, buddy. She threw that right across the plate; you gonna take a swing?"

Much to his surprise, Pixy saw Cipher actually take a long, serious look at Kelsey with his good eye. Galm Two was equally taken aback to see the normally confident and witty medical assistant actually flush a bit at his stare, and she gave Galm One a small, shy smile.

Cipher then gave Kelsey a small nod. "Sometime… perhaps. I would not mind your company."

"Well, then…" said the young woman, her voice a little shaky, "I'll… I'll have to give you my number later."

Cipher then turned back to Pixy. "Save the worries; I'm alright. It's not as bad as it looks."

Pixy shook his head in amusement. "You would say that. What next, you gonna say you have a spare eye anyway?"

Cipher shrugged. "Something along those lines. It'll take a little time to adjust, but I'll make do just fine with the right one."

"Well," said Pixy, "at least you'll be able to rock the eye-patch look. I hear some girls dig that."

He glanced over at Kelsey again and winked. The girl smiled as she looked at Cipher. "Not gonna lie," she said, "I think you could pull it off, Cipher."

Cipher shrugged. "We'll see. In the meanwhile, I've got more important things to worry about than appearances." He turned to Pixy. "What's our status?"

"The Kerimov's heading back to the PLANTs at full speed," said Pixy, "We picked up four stragglers from the fight, and other ships are inbound to recover the other mobile suits. We passed up the only two frigates to survive the battle a little while ago; they're limping home."

"Talk about a Charlie Foxtrot," said Cipher, "Zala won't be pleased when he hears how badly his navy got thrashed."

"No kidding," Pixy replied, "and by Wing Zero and the Judgment to boot… that's just gonna be salt in the wound for him."

Cipher chuckled. "I wonder who he hates more; the Demon that came out of nowhere, or the Valkyrie that betrayed him?"

"My money's on Heero Yuy," said Pixy, smirking, "If there's one thing that guy knows how to do, it's utterly humiliate our illustrious Supreme Council Chairman."

Cipher nodded. "Speaking of Heero Yuy, what did you think?"

"I could ask you the same thing," Pixy replied, "We've never faced an opponent like that before."

Cipher closes his good eye for a moment. "Yeah…" When he opened it, Pixy saw something new in that steely blue-gray gem, a light that Galm Two had seen only a few times over the course of their partnership. Looking at it, the mercenary pilot felt a jolt run through him as he realized what it was; excitement.

"He was incredible," said Cipher softly, "His moves, his timing, his accuracy, and that's not even counting his machine… damn, what a fight."

Pixy nodded. Though he wasn't quite as driven as his flight lead to find an opponent that could push them to the limit, he could not deny that it had certainly been a thrill to finally encounter an enemy that could actually compete with them without simply relying on superior numbers like the Earth Alliance forces had done in their past battles.

Galm Two gave his partner a small smile. "I've never seen anyone fight like that. It was one thing to watch the recordings from the raid on the capital, but to go head-to-head with him… holy shit."

Cipher chuckled. "My thoughts exactly. He won't go down easy."

"Can we even do it?" asked Pixy, shuddering, "His skills combined with his mobile suit… I've never seen a deadlier combination. I don't like to whine about being limited by our machines, but…"

"The GuAIZ Lancer and Archer cannot stand against him," Cipher finished for him, "Hell, we barely managed to survive that round. Were it not for Arthur Team, we would have fallen."

Pixy closed his eyes for a moment in silent tribute to the dead. When he opened them he turned to his flight lead. "We need nuclear powered machines," he said, "The Lancer and Archer are solid units, but they just can't compete with a beast like Wing Zero, no matter how great our skills."

"I'll talk to Zala about that when I get the chance," Cipher replied, "Considering we're the only team he has that's proven they can survive a fight with Wing Zero, I'm sure he'll see it as in his interest to give us the technology we need to combat his greatest adversary."

"Sure that's not an overstatement?" asked Pixy, "I mean, don't get me wrong, I agree that Wing Zero's one hell of a threat, but I'm pretty sure that priority number one is still defeating the Earth Alliance. They do want to exterminate us, after all, and I don't think genocide is on Heero Yuy's agenda."

"I know that," said Cipher, "What I meant was that he's more unpredictable than the Earth Alliance, and the same goes for his allies. Couple that with the fact that Wing Zero has the firepower to destroy structures like the Avalon battle-station, and you have the ultimate wild card in this war. He has been that since the moment he appeared on the scene back in February."

Pixy nodded. "You're right there. Makes you wonder where he's from, doesn't it? I mean, let's face it; if Wing Zero really had been built by the Alliance, they would've fielded more units like it by now, especially since they now have the ability to mass produce mobile suits that Naturals can use and Heero has turned against them."

"Yeah," said Cipher, "I know Zala was eager to play up the idea that Wing Zero was the result of collaboration between Orb and the Alliance just like the legged ship and its mobile suits, but I always had a hard time buying that line. Recent events just put further doubt on the whole idea. If Orb had a hand in its construction, I'm pretty damn sure they would've built other units like it and fielded them against the Earth Alliance during the invasion of their country. As for the Alliance… well, they'd probably be using them to launch hit-and-run strikes against our colonies."

"No kidding," said Pixy, "The firepower to wipe out one colony in a single shot, and it's not affected by the N-Jammers? No way in hell the Alliance wouldn't have fielded more units like it by now if they could. Wherever Wing Zero came from, it sure as hell wasn't them or Orb."

"Wherever it's from, I doubt that's a mystery you two will be solving any time soon," Kelsey chimed in, causing the mercenaries to look at her. She smiled and shrugged. "Look, I'll be the first to admit that you guys are smarter than most of the pilots I've dealt with, but you're just that; pilots. You're not Military Intelligence or Secret Service, and those are the people I hear that you're supposed to leave this kind of work to. So stop worrying about stuff outside your field of expertise and focus on what you need to be."

Pixy and Cipher traded a glance before looking at Kelsey again. "And that is?" asked Cipher.

"Staying alive," she replied, smirking, "What would I do for entertaining conversation without you two?"

Pixy was surprised to see Cipher smirk as well. "She does have a point."

Pixy had to chuckle at that. Since the first day the two mercenaries had come aboard the Kerimov, she'd been an almost constant presence whenever they went for meals. She'd been friendly in her approach and had made Cipher and Pixy feel welcome aboard the ship… and she'd been one of the few soldiers serving on the Kerimov to do that.

I know it's traditional, he thought, soldiers who fight under a nation's flag view mercenaries like us with, at the very least, distrust. Our skill level can only win us so much respect, and it's not enough to bridge the fundamental trust gap. I understand that, even accept it… but that doesn't mean I have to like it.

Kelsey hadn't given Cipher and Pix the usual cold-shoulder that the ZAFT regulars tended to give the Galm Team. Though more than a little sarcastic, the quick-witted, confident, and downright tomboyish medical assistant had welcomed them with open arms, and had definitely become one of the mercenary duo's few real friends in the armed forces.

Pixy nodded. "We'll try. No promises though; you know who we're up against."

"That fight's over for now," said Kelsey, "and you don't know who Zala will send you against next time. So focus on resting up… and in your case, Cipher, recovering." She smiled at Galm One. "I can't have you dying on me before you take me out for drinks."

Cipher nodded. "I don't think you'll have to worry about that; with the shape our machines are in right now, there's no way we'll be able to fly combat missions any time soon. Besides, Pixy said we're headed for the PLANTs right now; I doubt we'll run into Wing Zero at L5."

"Yeah," said Pixy, "I'm pretty sure that bit with Avalon was a one-time deal for Wing Zero and the renegades… though you never know what might bring them back."

"Please don't jinx us," said Kelsey, "I'd really rather avoid another fight with the Demon Lord of Avalon if I can, especially since I'm sitting on a big target; warships don't exactly fare well against Wing Zero."

"We won't let him take out the Kerimov," said Cipher, and Pixy noted the serious intensity in his voice, "That, you can count on."

Kelsey nodded and smiled. "Thanks, Cipher. Just make sure you don't let him take you out… and try to keep Pixy alive if you can."

Both mercenaries had to chuckle at her end note. "No promises," said Cipher, "but I'll do what I can."

"Can't really make any guarantees," said Pixy, "You know who we're up against."

"I know," Kelsey replied, "and I'd rather stop thinking about that for now, if it's all the same to you."

"She's right," said Cipher, "Let's drop it for now."

Pixy nodded. "Alright."

Like it's that easy, he thought as he looked at his flight lead, You might fool her, buddy, but not me; Wing Zero's not leaving your mind anytime soon.

Of course, Galm Two could hardly blame Galm One for that. To a pair of mercenary aces who had gone the whole war up until now without a serious challenge from a single pilot to fighting one that could actually defeat them when it was outnumbered by them… well, it had certainly left an impression.

Too bad the Valkyrie Team defected, mused Pixy, It would've been nice to at least compare notes with them. I know Field Marshal Creuset fought Heero Yuy during the orbital battle with the 8th Fleet, but we haven't crossed paths with him in a long time, and even if we were to meet him in the PLANTs I doubt he'll be forthcoming about his little duel; he plays things close to the vest.

Galm Two smiled, knowing that their mobile suits' cameras and sensors had captured every moment of the fight with Wing Zero, giving them plenty of material to go over. They would study every second of it, learn from their mistakes…

…and when the time came to fight the Demon Lord of Avalon again, they would be ready.

….

Sitting at his station in the vast central control room of the Ptolemaeus lunar base, Azrael smiled as he watched the image on one of the main monitors. On display were two squadrons of warships, each composed of two Nelson-class battleships and six Drake-class escort ships, running through training maneuvers. It wasn't something that Azrael would normally take the time to watch, but what made it worthy of his attention was the fact that both squadrons were also fielding flight teams composed completely of the new Strike-Dagger mobile suits; there was not a mobile armor to be found among them.

It will still be quite some time before we can completely retire the Moebius units, he thought, but we've certainly made progress. Ah, Coordinators, how does it feel to know that we've turned your greatest weapons against you? Our mobile suits are superior to yours, just as Naturals are superior to Coordinators… how very fitting.

As satisfying as it was to watch Natural-piloted mobile suits flying above the base with their warships, Azrael was not observing them just for the sake of evaluating them or inflating his ego, though the latter was undeniably a side-effect. The head of Blue Cosmos and de facto ruler of the Earth Alliance was simply killing time, waiting for the moment that he was scheduled to make a very important call.

Our buildup for the attack on the Orb colonies has proceeded very smoothly, he thought, We just have a few more details to iron out before the invasion begins. This call should go a long way towards that. After all, I already practically own those two men…

There was a small chime from his personal monitor; it was time. Azrael chuckled as he entered the necessary commands on his keyboard. "Time to go to work," he muttered.

He tapped his finger on the arm of his chair for a few minutes, stirring impatiently as he waited for the connection to be established. Eventually it was, and two men appeared on the screen. One was significantly older than the other, in his late forties and already balding, with what was left of his black-gray hair running along the sides of his head and down in very long sideburns. His eyes were covered orange-tinted glasses, but Azrael could still make out his black irises. The second man was much younger, no older than twenty. Azrael was amused at his purple-black hair, not sure what kind of look the young man was going for. Both men wore maroon suits with light blue shirts, and anyone looking at them could tell that they were clearly members of the upper class, though it would require knowledge of politics to know that they were in fact members of Orb's ruling elite.

Both noblemen nodded at him. "Lord Azrael," said the elder, "it is good to speak with you again. My apologies for our recent lapse in communications."

"Indeed," Azrael replied, "We haven't spoken since the fall of Orb… when I found out that you had been moved to Elysium and that you would be of no help in dealing with that stubborn old fool, Uzumi."

"There was nothing we could do about that," said the younger man, "We were relocated a week before the battle started, and under false pretenses!"

"Lord Uzumi," said the elder, "informed us that we were to inspect the orbital Morgenroete facilities remaining at L3, and to reassure the people of the Eden and Elysium colonies that they would be protected. We didn't realize his true intent until it was too late, and by then we could not contact you; Athha family dogs had us under near-constant surveillance."

"Yet you are able to speak with me now," Azrael replied, smirking, "What changed, Lord Unato Ema Seiran?"

The head of the Seiran noble family smiled. "Ever since the homeland fell, the situation here in the colonies has been shifting. The bulk of the military is still loyal to Lady Cagalli, and she enjoys strong popular support, but we've been able to exert more influence now than in the past. It was only recently that we were finally able to remove the surveillance Lord Uzumi placed upon us."

"We've made great strides in the public arena," said the younger man, "to show that we are responsibly governing our colonies despite the loss of our homeland. Even with the influx of refugees we've still been able to provide our people with adequate resources, and we've established enough 'trust funds' with members of the security apparatus to finally cast off the observation that old man had us under."

Azrael chuckled. "Your son's truly coming into his own as a politician, Lord Unato. You must be so proud."

Unato nodded. "I am, but this is hardly the time for praise. We received a transmission from the Kusanagi earlier today; we know you're coming for the Eden and Elysium colonies."

"In that case, I'll dispense with the pleasantries," said Azrael, "I've committed two carrier battle groups already, and smaller flotillas are en route to join them. The assault will begin soon, and I want your help. I can assure you that this will be a mutually profitable arrangement."

"I don't know what we can do," said Yuna Roma Seiran, "Even though we're nobles, we don't have control over the military; those brutes are only taking orders from Cagalli and Kisaka, and both have told them to increase our defenses!"

Azrael scowled. "I may have to withdraw my earlier praise, boy. Whining won't get you far in this world, and it's certainly not befitting of a member of the ruling elite."

"Yuna," said Unato, "Let me handle this."

The younger Seiran folded his arms, looking more like a petulant child than a nobleman.

Not one of my favorite pawns, thought Azrael, but I use the tools that are available to me, and in this case the Seirans are ideally placed tools.

The relationship between the heads of the Seiran family and Azrael was a mixture of economics and ideology. Over the course of several years, Unato had invested no small amount of his private wealth into holdings in North American Heavy Engineering, one of the Atlantic Federation's major industrial corporation whose activities included both civilian and military contracts. However, his share in the company paled in comparison to the holdings of Azrael and his colleague Lord Djibril, and the head of Blue Cosmos had swiftly turned the tables on the Orb nobleman by buying up shares of several smaller corporate entities that had ties of one form or another to the Seiran family. Azrael had stopped just short of pushing out Unato in all cases as majority shareholder, and the Orb nobleman knew it had been done as a shot across the bow; if Azrael had wanted to completely buy him out, he could do so in a heartbeat. It was a game of business brinksmanship that Unato had eventually realized he ultimately could not win; the resources of Azrael far trumped his own. In order to preserve his holdings and advance his influence in Orb and potentially the Atlantic Federation, Unato entered into an alliance with Azrael, though of course the arrangement had been under the table.

It was through their backroom meetings and highly encrypted communications that the two men had realized that they had something else in common besides the desire to accumulate wealth and power; an intense dislike of Coordinators. Azrael knew that Unato's distrust and disdain for the genetic freaks could not quite match his own, but that did not trouble him; what mattered was that the Orb nobleman and his son saw the new race of humanity as a threat to the rightful dominion of Natural humans, and it was through that common ground that a mutually beneficial alliance had come to fruition.

In order to coax Unato and the rest of the Seiran elite into an arrangement, Azrael had sent funds through shell companies and other buffer entities into the coffers of the noble family. Along with this direct bribery, both Azrael and Lord Djibril had offered Unato and other members of the family that were in on the arrangement key information regarding some of the Atlantic Federation corporations that the Orb nobleman and the secret rulers of the Earth Alliance both held stock in. This gave them a considerable edge over other traders on the market, though of course that kind of insider trading was highly illegal.

Azrael was not concerned about those dealings being found out though; with entities such as the CIA, NSA, FBI, and SEC so thoroughly packed with members of Blue Cosmos or its sympathizers it was quite easy for him to divert attention from his under the table activities. Even if someone did decide to shed light on what was going on, there was little to fear; Blue Cosmos, and by extension LOGOS, had thoroughly invested funds and other means of influence into key members of the Atlantic Federation judiciary.

The Seirans had multiple uses to Azrael. As one of the senior noble families they were ideally placed to advance certain agendas in both foreign and domestic policy in Orb, though the close ties of the Athha family to the military had hampered them on both fronts, especially due to the current state of the Earth Sphere and the considerably raised prominence of the armed forces as a result. Another way the Seirans served Azrael's agenda was as sources of information, though that function had become limited as well recently due to the shrewd mind of the late Lord Uzumi and the way the Orb military compartmentalized their intelligence.

Azrael knew that the Seirans had been out of the loop for most of the past few months, but with the death of Lord Uzumi, the fall of the Orb homeland, and the general disarray that the nations remnants were in, the nobles had slowly but surely begun to reassert the power that the head family had once marginalized. Their relocation to the Elysium colony would serve Azrael very well, since he knew that lesser members of the Seiran family held positions as administrators and bureaucrats within the orbital habitat.

"Forgive his outburst, Lord Azrael," said Unato, and Azrael could see the sweat gathering at the man's brow, "however, he is correct in that we do not command the respect or loyalty of our country's surviving armed forces; that unfortunately is indeed in the hands of Cagalli and the senior officers on board the Kusanagi."

"That's fine," Azrael replied, "There are other things you can do to make the coming occupation easier for both yourselves and our troops."

"Like what?" asked Unato.

"Regarding the influx of refugees from the homeland," said Azrael, "Have you been thorough in processing them?"

Unato nodded. "As much as we can under the circumstances. Most had proper identification, though the sheer numbers have put a strain on our resources."

Azrael smirked. "Well then, it is quite fortunate for you that I will be able to relieve you of that strain soon enough."

"How so?" asked Unato, his eyes narrowing.

"Don't play dumb, Lord Unato," said Azrael, "It's common knowledge that the majority of the refugees your colonies are currently hosting are Coordinators… and you know our stance on that matter."

Unato nodded, sweat gathering at his brow. "Of course, but how you go about enacting your… policy… at Eden and Elysium is another matter. I can't see this arrangement of ours helping us if you destroy the colonies."

Azrael smiled and shook his head. "Lord Unato, I never said anything about destroying your colonies. Indeed, that is the last thing on my mind. However, my plans do involve ridding you of your current infestation, and your assistance in the matter would be greatly appreciated."

"In what manner?" asked Unato.

"Your authority over the colonies, for starters," said Azrael, "With the power I wield, it would be a simple matter once the fighting is over to remove the other noble families entirely; Orb would belong entirely to the Seirans. I know your family has long desired to supplant the Athha clan as rulers of your nation. Cooperate here, Lord Unato, and I will make it a reality."

Both Orb noblemen smiled at Azrael's words; the sweet nectar of absolute dominion over their country was impossible for them to resist. "And what would you require in return for this, Lord Azrael?" asked Unato.

"With the massive amount of refugees in your colonies," said Azrael, "there's no way you could possibly fit everyone into the emergency shelters, correct?"

Unato nodded. "Yes. As it is, they barely fit the standard population of either colony. We could only squeeze in a small fraction of the refugees."

"As I thought," said Azrael, "That will make this much easier."

"What do you mean?" asked Yuna.

"When the attack begins," said Azrael, "it will be at Elysium; our entire force will be concentrated on that colony. I want you to focus your emergency response efforts on the primary citizens, while the refugees are left to fend for themselves. Do you understand?"

Both men nodded. "Yes," said Unato.

"Good," replied Azrael, "Once my forces have entered the colony, they'll purge the Coordinators. Of course, you'll have to deploy your internal security forces to defend them, but since all of your mobile suits will be fighting outside the colony all you'll have to protect them with will be your older armaments."

"I get it," said Yuna, smiling, "We put on a show of protecting them so our people don't realize that we deliberately left the Coordinators out to be killed by you."

"Precisely," said Azrael, smiling as well, "after all, your citizens don't share our dedication to solving the Coordinator problem; if they believed you simply let us gun those freaks down, they'd rebel against your rule. This way you can convince them that you did all you could to protect the refugees, and that your forces were simply overwhelmed. To make this easier, I will need you to send me the primary locations for the refugee housing so my forces can immediately converge on those points rather than scour the colony trying to pinpoint them. Once the majority of the refugees have been dealt with, you will be offered our terms of surrender. Since they leave you with authority over the colony and the other one provided you cooperate with the Atlantic Federation in all our future endeavors, you would be wise to accept the terms."

"I would accept those terms," said Unato, "but Lady Cagalli never would, and she and the rest of her allies are underway to L3 as we speak. That's not the only problem. I can only give the surrender for the Elysium colony; Eden is not under Seiran control."

"No, it is not," Azrael replied, "but word of your surrender should help things considerably. After the battle is concluded you can contact Eden and inform them that if they comply with the surrender agreement the Orb colonies will still retain considerably autonomy as long as they cooperate with the war effort. Given the power we will be sending against Elysium, I'm sure they will take the message quite seriously and decided in our favor."

"That still leaves the Kusanagi and the other ships," said Yuna, "not to mention Wing Zero. What do we do about them?"

"Yuna is right," said Unato, "Between those warships and that machine's firepower, they could throw a serious wrench in this plan, Lord Azrael."

Azrael smirked. "Have a little faith, Lord Unato. I have something special in store for those traitors. Aside from that, the force they'll be confronting is over twice as powerful as the battle group that fought against them at L4; they'll be outmatched. While I'm certainly expecting my forces to take losses against them, our triumph is inevitable. Orb will be yours, and together we will be one step closer to ridding the Earth Sphere of the Coordinator menace once and for all."

Unato nodded. "Very well, Lord Azrael. I will send you an updated map of the colony with all the refugee housing areas marked. Is there anything else you require?"

"Just one thing," said Azrael, "I want you to compile a genetic registry of every citizen living in the Eden and Elysium colonies."

"You plan to purge the citizenry of the colonies along with the refugees?" asked Yuna.

"Just the Coordinators among them," Azrael replied, smiling, "and only after both colonies have accepted the surrender agreement. I'll be sending special task groups to oversee the operation, and I'm expecting the full cooperation of both colonies' internal security forces."

"I'll begin screening the ranks," said Unato, "I'm sure we have officers that are sympathetic to your aims; I'll have them serve as liaisons between your forces and ours."

"Excellent," said Azrael, "I'm sure our forces will work together effectively once the battle is over."

Unato nodded. "Once we have control over the colonies and the outlying resource satellites, everything at Orb's disposal will be pressed into service of the Alliance war effort. I know our resources pale in comparison to yours, Lord Azrael, but our agricultural and industrial facilities will still be of use to you."

Azrael smiled again. "Of course, Lord Unato. Every little bit helps. I understand that Orb has a new mobile suit for warfare in outer space; I can't wait to have my scientists examine one upon the conclusion of the operation. It's too bad you haven't been able to send me the schematics; it would save time and work."

"My apologies," said Unato, "but Morgenroete and the military are keeping the plans for the Taurus to themselves; Lady Cagalli's influence at hand, no doubt."

"No matter," said Azrael, "that problem will be resolved soon enough."

"About that," Yuna chimed in, "You don't have to kill Cagalli, do you? Surely capturing her would be enough."

Azrael scowled. "Are you questioning me, boy? I'm about to back your family's ascent to power; you shouldn't bite the hand that feeds you."

"Forgive him, my lord," said Unato, elbowing his son, "Pay it no mind."

"But father!" cried Yuna, "I thought that…"

Unato cut him off. "That arrangement was for peacetime, and a few years down the road. Thanks to Lord Azrael, we no longer have a need for it. Keeping Lady Cagalli alive under these circumstances will not help us gain power over Orb, Yuna; she must be sacrificed."

Azrael raised an eyebrow. "What 'arrangement' are you referring to, Lord Unato?"

Unato shook his head. "It's inter-family politics, Lord Azrael, and as of this agreement between us it is now completely irrelevant."

Azrael shrugged. "Very well, I'll take your word for it."

Unato nodded. "In that case, we eagerly await the arrival of your fleet."

"Yes," said Yuna, smiling, "and to bringing an end to the Coordinator threat."

Azrael grinned. "If I had a drink on hand, I'd raise my glass to that. I'll be sure to come visit you in Elysium before our final offensive against the Coordinators; we'll have ourselves a toast then. Until next time, gentlemen. Do try to keep a low profile until we've secured your hold on power."

"Understood, Lord Azrael," said Unato. With that, the Orb noblemen vanished from the screen.

Azrael turned back to the main display, once again watching the two squadrons and their mobile suits conduct their exercises. He continued to smile as he did so, quite satisfied with what he had just done. Thanks to the Seirans, the coming slaughter of the Orb Coordinators would be quick and efficient, and L3 would be under the control of the Earth Alliance in all but name.

For a man hell bent on conquering the Earth Sphere and exterminating the Coordinator race, it was a good day's work.

….

His expression frigid and hard, Atlantic Federation Rear Admiral Jeffrey Rogers floated through the corridors of his flagship, the Agamemnon-class carrier Reagan. Well into his fifties, the veteran fleet officer still cut an imposing figure thanks to a vigorous and disciplined workout routine. He was tall and fit, with the only real signs of his age being his gray-black hair and some wrinkles in his face. The Rear Admiral was clean-shaven, all the better to give prominence to his sharp jaw, and his pale blue eyes were colder than an Antarctic gale.

Rogers was a lifelong navy man. He may have gotten into the prestigious Atlantic Federation Naval Academy in Annapolis in part due to family connections, but he had gone through its courses and his subsequent career on his own merits. His active duty service had begun in the surface navy, but eventually he had been moved to the orbital fleets due to the need for veteran officers in the growing space forces. Rogers hadn't made huge impacts in terms of tactical or strategic innovation, but his stern, by-the-book attitude and solid composure under stress had ensured his steady rise in the ranks. It was thanks to the combination of his discipline under fire and simple attrition that he'd ascended to the rank of Rear Admiral roughly six months into the war, and he had remained at that level since then. He'd commanded battle groups in numerous engagements and operations, with the only constant in all those being his flagship, the Reagan.

While his politics had been neutral at the start of the war, concerned only with the state of the armed forces and the navy in particular, the constant stream of casualties and the frustrating lack of decisive victories for the Earth Alliance had slowly but surely cemented a fierce hatred of the people he fought against. While this may not have been out of the ordinary under wartime circumstances, the animosity of Rear Admiral Rogers extended well past the armed forces of the PLANTs; the entire Coordinator race was the subject of his hatred. In Rogers' mind the 'Coordinator problem', as it had been termed by Blue Cosmos and its sympathizers, could only be solved through ruthlessness and tenacity. To the battle-hardened fleet officer, the only way he saw to achieve true victory in this conflict was through total war, and the only acceptable outcomes were either the subjugation or complete annihilation of the Coordinators. Peaceful coexistence was no longer an option; the Coordinators would be enslaved in all but name, or they would be destroyed.

He came to a stop outside the ship's medical bay. Pressing a button on the small console next to the door, he spoke into the receiver. "Dr. Patterson; it's Rogers."

"Just a second," came the reply.

A moment later the door slid open, revealing the elderly Dr. Charles Patterson, the Reagan's chief medical officer. Shorter and frailer than the Rear Admiral, Patterson had to look up to meet the gaze of his commanding officer. "What can I do for you, sir?"

"Those… pilots that were sent over from the Lodonia facility," he said, scowling, "I need a status report."

The doctor nodded. "Please," he said, stepping to the side, "come in."

Rogers did so, and as the door closed behind him he caught sight of the reason he had come here; ten teenagers, their ages ranging from thirteen to sixteen, lying strapped to beds, unconscious.

The fearsome Rear Admiral could not help but feel a sense of disgust as he looked at the sleeping youths. For a decent human being, such disgust would normally be directed at the organization that had abducted them and forced them to become soldiers, but that was not the reason for Rogers' feelings. Rather, the disgust was aimed squarely at the subjects themselves, along with the other ten that were on board the second carrier in the fleet that would soon be invading L3, the Perry.

They're no longer human, he thought, Augmented things, neither Natural or Coordinator. Freaks apart, abominations on par with our enemy, and yet we need them to fight that enemy. What a despicable situation.

"Will they be ready for battle?" he asked as he turned to the doctor, "The time to launch our operation is coming soon."

"Oh, yes," Dr. Patterson replied, "The drug that counteracts the sedative requires mere minutes to take effect."

Heavy sedatives were required with this latest batch of Biological CPUs due to the extent of their augmentation. The particular drug cocktails they'd been given were more powerful variants of the chemicals given to the three young men that had fought at Orb and L4, and they were each tailored to the individual's genetic and physiological makeup. As a result, their reflexes and mental speed were on par with Coordinators, and in some cases even superior, but it came at a steep price; rational thought was quickly overcome by the subjects more primal emotions, especially fear and rage. The first fed into the second, creating a vicious cycle that resulted in the subjects lashing out at everything in sight with lethal speed, accuracy, and power. While billed as 'super-soldiers', in reality the youths had been turned into berserkers, barely controllable by their superiors as they rampaged across the battlefield.

While they had certainly performed well during simulations and live-fire exercises, they all eventually ran into the same problem; they lost the ability to discriminate between friend and foe. Unlike the first three Biological CPUs to see battle, whose teamwork had been strained and even combative to say the least, these newest iterations could barely even manage that. The group tactics they had been able to implement had been crude at best, and eventually their hyper-aggression took them beyond the point of being able to cooperate in any meaningful way; they were as likely to target each other as they were the enemy if kept on the field long enough.

Hell, thought Rogers as he looked at the youngest of them, a thirteen year old girl with short-cropped black hair, they can hardly even function off the battlefield anymore. If they're not sedated, they'll eventually attack anyone near them. Their only purpose now is to be our dogs of war. They've been turned into pure weapons, forged for the fires of combat… and will be destroyed in them, one way or another.

The combination of the drugs, extreme mental reconditioning, and physical training had turned the teenagers into beings who could only kill or be killed. As far as tactical weapons went, when combined with their mobile suits they would excel in the role chosen for them, but they had no future; it had been stolen to turn them into what they were now. They could barely be kept conscious outside of battle, less they freak out and lash out at those around them at any moment. They were kept alive through IV, awakened only for combat or training. Thanks to the brutal brainwashing and the mixture of drugs they were kept on even out of battle, they could no longer function in normal society.

To any normal human being, what had been done to the ten youths before Rogers, the other ten on board the Perry, and the many more that were still at the Lodonia facility, was an unspeakable act of evil. Thousands had already died just for the research of the Extended Human program to progress as far as it had, and those that had survived up until now were utterly destroyed as human beings. Rogers had heard that Dr. Frick and the other researchers had reserved some of the subjects for a 'Second Stage', one that promised more stable soldiers with greater long-term viability, and he would much rather have those at his disposal than what he had been given.

I'll just have to make do with these, he thought, They should be enough.

"We're expecting heavy resistance, doctor," he said, "and it may be a protracted battle. How long do I have before these… things begin to turn on each other and my soldiers?"

Dr. Patterson shook his head. "I'm afraid I can't give you a precise amount of time, or even an estimate. In all the exercises we ran with them, the amount of time they were able to function cohesively and controlled was random. Sometimes they could go for a few minutes, while other times they could fight for an hour non-stop."

"So," the Rear Admiral growled, "my forces might have to put them down at any time? That could be very problematic to say the least, doctor."

"Not as bad as you might think, sir," relied the doctor, nodding at the young girl he'd seen earlier, "Look at her neck."

Rogers did so, and saw a black collar around her neck. Attached to it were two small capsules, one on each side corresponding with her jugular, and the Rear Admiral could see a dark blue liquid in each of them.

"What is that?" he asked.

"Those capsules," said Dr. Patterson, "contain a greater concentration of the sedative they are under now. There is a small transceiver attached at the back of the neck, wired to those capsules. At your command, small injection needles will be unleashed from inside the collar and will send the sedative directly into their blood stream; they'll be unconscious in seconds. I imagine you'll have little trouble recovering them under those circumstances."

"What if they take the collars off?" asked Rogers.

"They're electrified," said the doctor, "If the subjects touch the collars with their hands, they'll be shocked. There's a specific transmitted code that deactivates that feature. Only their supervisors, which in this case include me, know what it is. The default setting is non-lethal, but it can be adjusted to a fatal shock should you need us to make an example out of one of them."

Rogers nodded. "I'll keep that in mind."

"Is there anything else, sir?" asked Dr. Patterson.

Rogers' eyes narrowed as he studied the nearest subject. "How will they hold up against the likes of Wing Zero's pilot?"

"In a one-on-one fight, or as a group?" asked the doctor.

"However many can engage that thing at once," Rogers growled.

"If the confrontation is single combat," said Dr. Patterson, "I would not expect any of the subjects to win, even with their new mobile suits. Wing Zero is simply too powerful, and its pilot is highly experienced and skilled. Only by attacking that thing in groups will they have a chance, and I cannot tell you with certainty how many must engage it to guarantee success. The more of them you throw at Wing Zero, the better your odds of success will be."

Rogers sighed. "So even with these 'super-soldiers', you're telling me my best bet is still our old superior numbers play? I'm not impressed, doctor."

"These subjects were never meant to engage something like Wing Zero in single combat," the doctor replied indignantly, "They were meant to be the tip of the spear we drive into the Coordinator hordes, ravaging their front lines while our conventional forces took advantage of the chaos they spread. However, based on the simulations we've performed and the recordings I've seen of Wing Zero in combat, I believe a team of our pilots can at least stall that thing. If they can't kill it, they may be able to set it up to be taken down by the regulars."

"I suppose we'll find out when the time comes," said Rogers.

Dr. Patterson nodded. "Do you have any more questions, Rear Admiral?"

Rogers shook his head. "Just have them ready when I tell you to. That will be all, doctor."

The Rear Admiral quickly left the room and headed down towards the Reagan's hangar. Now that he was relatively sure that the special soldiers sent to him by Lord Azrael would be able to fight, and if necessary be contained and recovered, it was time to make sure the same could be said for their machines.

It didn't take him long to arrive at his destination. Pausing in front of the door, he hit a key on the small console next to it. "Crew Chief Maynard," he said, "This is Rogers."

The reply came in the form of a deep male voice. "What is it, sir?" asked the Reagan's head mechanic, Andrew Maynard.

"I want to inspect the units. Is it safe to come in?" said the Rear Admiral.

"Affirmative, sir," replied Maynard.

Opening the door, it did not take long for Rogers to spot his chief mechanic. A broad, well muscled, dark-skinned man in his mid forties was floating over to him, dressed in the standard orange jumpsuit of Atlantic Federation technicians.

"Rear Admiral, sir," said Maynard, saluting as he came to a stop in front of Rogers, "It's not often you come down here. I could've sent you a report if you wanted details on the machines."

"Perhaps," Rogers replied, "but the operation we will soon be undertaking is quite important. I felt I would emphasize that by coming down here."

"Consider your point made, sir," said Maynard, "Follow me, and stay close."

The Rear Admiral did as he was told. The vast, cavernous hangar of the carrier was bustling with activity as technicians scrambled all over the units they were assigned to maintain. Rogers had the ship's mechanized complement memorized, but there was still something comforting about seeing the machines in person. In passing he noted the twelve beam cannon equipped Moebius mobile armors and ten Strike-Daggers, but he was not concerned with the mass-produced, conventional units; it was the last ten machines that had him preoccupied.

"I take it these are what you really wanted to see, right sir?" asked Maynard as they stopped in front of the first of ten dull gray mobile suits.

Rogers nodded as he looked up at the machine. "Not much to look at," he said, "At least, not without its Phase Shift Armor online."

"Perhaps," said Maynard, smiling as he looked up at the unit, "but when you look beneath the surface, sir, the Strike-Avenger is a technological marvel."

Rogers had to agree with that. From the technical briefs he'd read when the units were first assigned to his command, the Rear Admiral knew that the GAT-X105Av was a considerably improved variant of the original Strike mobile suit developed at Heliopolis. Like its predecessor, the unit was designed as a multi-mode mobile suit, able to equip different Striker packs depending on the mission profile. The baseline unit shared the same basic armaments as the original Strike; two head-mounted Igelstellung 75mm multi-barrel Anti-Air CIWS, along with two hip-mounted Armor Schneider combat knives. When activated, the Phase Shift Armor would share the same blue, red, and white color scheme as its predecessor, but this was where the similarities ended.

The baseline Strike-Avenger was much more energy efficient thanks to the rapid advances in mobile suit battery technology that had been made by the Earth Alliance in the wake of the incident at Heliopolis, and its engines had been upgraded in order to take full advantage of this, giving the unit considerably more thrust. In addition to this, the batteries of the Strike-Avenger had over two and a half times the power capacity of the original Strike. As a result the unit could take more punishment and operate longer, especially when given additional power from one of its various Striker packs, but the fact remained that mobile suits with Phase Shift Armor were still much more expensive than those without it; the unit would not be seeing mass production anytime soon.

"Are the units ready for battle?" asked the Rear Admiral.

Maynard nodded. "Our latest tests showed green across the board, sir."

"What about their Striker packs?" asked Rogers.

"Good to go," Maynard replied, "You've got the full menu to choose from when the time comes to outfit them."

And quite a menu it is, mused Rogers, his mind going back to the technical briefs he'd reviewed before.

Each Striker pack available to the Strike-Avengers was either an upgrade of the earlier packs used on the Heliopolis prototype, a hybrid of the packs from the prototype, or, in a few cases, drawn from the weaponry used on more recent models.

The most basic of the augmentation setups was the Aile-Avenger pack. Like all the packs designed for the Strike-Avenger, it offered increased power to recharge and supplement that of the mobile suit's batteries. It kept the beam sabers, beam rifle, and shield of the original Aile pack, but it augmented them with a significant boost in the unit's mobility that the prototype could not match, even offering the same full-flight capabilities in atmosphere as the Neo-Aile packs developed specifically for the Strike-Daggers. Its wingspan was wider when deployed, and on those wings were two hard-points each. These could mount air-to-air or air-to-ground missiles, unguided or smart bombs, rocket pods, gatling guns, or even torpedoes in the event the unit was needed for oceanic warfare. Like the original Aile, its greatest asset was its versatility, with the aforementioned upgrades improving that aspect considerably. However, this lack of a specialty was also a weakness; it could be outgunned by mobile suits dedicated to a heavier role, or outfought by units designed for swift, close-quarters combat.

The second pack designed specifically for use on the Strike-Avenger was the Double Launcher setup. In this format, the unit wielded not one but two of the powerful Agni Hyper Impulse Beam Cannons. This made the mobile suit a fearsome artillery platform, ideal for attacking ships, heavy fortifications, or orbital structures. However, the added punching power came at a cost. The combo weapons pod of the original Launcher pack, which contained the multi-barreled 120mm anti-ship Vulcan gun and two 350mm gun launchers, had to be removed to make room for the second Agni along with the extra power supply necessary to keep both beam guns firing, limiting the pilot's options in combat. Even with the additional battery capacity of the Strike-Avenger and the added power from the pack, the Double Launcher setup consumed energy quickly, and when combined with the power draw of Phase Shift Armor it resulted in the unit running out of juice faster than any other configuration for the mobile suit. This drawback was only compounded by the obvious deficiencies the Double Launcher pack had with regards to dealing with agile foes, which could easily outmaneuver it and either shoot it down from the flanks or behind or take it down in close-quarters combat.

In direct contrast to the Double Launcher pack, the third configuration for the Strike-Avenger was the Twin Sword pack. As the name implied, this pack gave the unit not one but two 'Schwert Gewehr' anti-ship swords. The Twin Sword pack also came with two 'Midas Messer' beam boomerangs, one mounted on each shoulder. However, this configuration eschewed the 'Panzer Eisen' rocket anchor and small shield that were mounted on the left arm of the original unit. The Twin Sword Strike-Avenger was the ideal unit to offset the weaknesses of the Double Launcher, and indeed it was Rear Admiral Rogers' intention that the pilots wielding those two packs would be assigned to work together... though given the instability of said pilots, whether or not they would actually be able to cooperate effectively was another matter entirely.

The fourth augmentation pack was called the Sword Launcher, and as one might expect from the name it was a hybrid of the Sword pack and Launcher pack. It incorporated the 'Schwert Gewehr' anti-ship sword, mounted on the back of the right shoulder, and the Agni Hyper Impulse Beam Cannon mounted on the left. However, in order to blend the most powerful weapons of the Sword and Launcher packs respectively this Striker pack had to do away with the secondary weapons for both original augmentations. This configuration was as close as the Earth Alliance could get in fielding a mobile suit with similar, if still quite inferior, capabilities as the infamous Wing Zero, and Rogers mused that imitation of that fearsome machine had probably been the intent of the designers behind the Sword Launcher pack.

The fifth Striker pack was a departure from the previous ones in that it incorporated technology from the prototypes flown by the first three combat ready Biological CPUs. Designated the Havoc pack, the base of this augmentation was the 'backpack' used by the Forbidden, and like the Forbidden it contained a 'Geschmeidig Panzer' energy deflection/redirection system, along with a 'Hresvelgr' plasma cannon. However, the backpack lacked the twin 'Eckzahn' 88mm railguns of the original Forbidden. For close-quarters combat the unit wielded the 'Mjolnir' sphere-breaker of the Raider in its right hand, while on its left arm was mounted the Calamity's shield, complete with the imbedded 'Kaefer Zwei' dual ram cannons. The result was a unique and deadly attack unit, but it was by no means perfect. The 'Geschmeidig Panzer' energy deflection/redirection system and the 'Hresvelgr' plasma cannon were power-hungry to say the least; the unit ate through its battery life at roughly the same pace as the Double Launcher did. Also, the Havoc Strike-Avenger lacked beam sabers for close-quarters combat, and its sphere-breaker suffered from the same vulnerability to energy blades as the one used by the Raider.

With our ten units outfitted with these packs, thought Rogers, along with those from the Perry, we should smash through the Elysium defenses with ease. More importantly, the twenty Strike-Avengers of this battle group should give us the edge we need if Wing Zero and its allies show up. Yes, they may have nuclear powered mobile suits, but the reports indicate that there are only seven of them. Our Strike-Avengers will have over two-to-one numerical superiority, and when combined with support from our conventional forces they should be more than capable of overwhelming even foes as powerful as the infamous Heero Yuy.

Rogers smiled as he looked up at the machines. "Tell me, Crew Chief," he said, "Do you believe in fate?"

Maynard raised an eyebrow as he looked at his superior. "Why do you ask, sir?"

"When Wing Zero entered this war," Rogers replied, "it fought alongside the original Strike and the traitors of the Archangel. I think it's only fitting that that machine meets its end at the hands of our Strike-Avengers, don't you?"

Maynard nodded and smiled. "Aye, sir. That would be entirely appropriate." His expression then became more serious. "That being said, I would hope to avoid an encounter with Wing Zero entirely. That machine isn't something one wants to meet on the battlefield, especially if they're in a ship; awfully hard for something like the Reagan to dodge a shot from that damn rifle."

"Let the pilots and ship captains worry about that," said Rogers, "The only thing I need you to worry about is our mobile suits and armors."

Maynard nodded. "Understood, sir. Is there anything else I can do for you?"

Rogers closed his eyes for a moment, recalling what Dr. Patterson had told him regarding neutralizing the Biological CPUs once they began going out of control. There had been something in the files on the Strike-Avenger about a mechanical feature related to that as well, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it.

"Crew Chief," said the Rear Admiral, "you're aware of the… nature of these machines' pilots, yes?"

"Of course, sir," said Maynard, "It's not exactly a secret on this ship who will be operating the Strike-Avengers. While the units do have the new Natural compatible Operating System installed, everyone knows that only truly exceptional pilots could take full advantage of the machines… and whether that 'exceptional quality' comes from talent and training or certain augmentations is up to our superiors, but not beyond our notice. Word travels fast on a warship, sir, regardless of what security protocols are in place… and when you suddenly fill up half the medical bay and add guards to it at the same time as new mobile suits and pilots are transferred to the carrier, anyone can put two and two together and come to the obvious conclusion."

Rogers nodded. "I see. I'm a lifelong navy man, Crew Chief; I understand the flow of scuttlebutt. Nevertheless, you and your men should be careful about the news you spread. Depending on the content, there could be dire consequences."

"Of course, Rear Admiral," said Maynard.

"Now," said Rogers, "from what you've told me, I assume you know about the instability of the pilots that will be flying the Strike-Avengers. Should they go too far, we have means of stopping the pilots that will not damage the mobile suits, but that does not change the fact that the units will be vulnerable. Do you have any means of bringing the Strike-Avengers back to the carriers that does not involve conventional recovery teams, or must we waste valuable resources to get them home in the middle of combat?"

"Actually, there is something these units have that we can use in such a scenario," Maynard replied, "It was in the technical files that were sent over."

"I looked over those," said Rogers, "but I must have missed that bit. Tell me, Crew Chief, what you found."

"The Strike-Avenger," said Maynard, "has a very limited auto-pilot function."

Rogers' eyes widened at that. It had been difficult enough to refine mobile suit operation systems to the point that Naturals could pilot them; to his knowledge, no one had dared to attempt automation.

It looks like our military's been researching more than just new machines and human augmentation, he thought, I wonder what else they're trying to accomplish…

"How does it work?" asked Rogers.

"It's command-authorized, and only goes one way," said Maynard, "Basically, the mobile suit responds to a special signal from its carrier, and takes a direct path towards the ship. Maneuvering capability is non-existent; it's a straight line approach, with only rudimentary directional control for the landing procedure, and capture nets will be required, along with our heavy machinery to get them into their berths. These things won't be going evasive or doing anything fancy on their way home, sir. They'll be easy targets for the enemy in this state."

Rogers' eyes narrowed as he studied the Strike-Avenger with this new information in mind. The development of a mobile suit autopilot, however rudimentary, was a very interesting development… and potentially a disturbing one. Even that basic level of automation on combat units, Rogers believed, was to stand on the ledge of the metaphorical slippery slope that was the development of artificial intelligence. The idea of machines being able to act and potentially fight on their own was something that freaked out the Atlantic Federation elite almost as much as the threat posed by Coordinators. Extremely strict limitations had been imposed on research in that field, along with draconian punishments for those who crossed the line. This new autopilot program for the Strike-Avenger struck Rogers as something that could only have been developed in a cutting edge research project, and it had to have been running for quite some time now. The Rear Admiral had to wonder if his superiors had only green-lighted the project as a means to ensure the recovery of valuable hardware or if it was merely the stepping stone for something more; the hatred of Coordinators embraced by the higher ups was such that even the dreaded line of combat-capable AIs might be crossed in the pursuit of exterminating the genetic freaks.

Dorana Xen, he thought, suppressing a shudder, is this your work?

Rear Admiral Dorana Xen was a very… unique individual, to put it mildly. For starters, she was the only woman in the Earth Alliance forces to have reached such a lofty rank. However, she very rarely took part in field operations. Rather than head a fleet, Rear Admiral Xen was in charge of a group of research ships that was collectively known as the Special Projects Task Force. The Special Projects Task Force had been operating since before the war, and had any number of successes to its credit; it conducted experiments that ranged from conventional weapons testing to new cyber security programs to developing chemical and biological agents and everything in between. There was no one better to lead such a group; Dorana Xen was a brilliant woman, with Master Degrees in Computer Programming and Engineering. Rogers had heard that it was Xen who had adapted the Operating System developed by the Coordinator pilot of the GAT-X105 Strike to the point where it could be efficiently wielded by Naturals, so it would not surprise him to learn that she was behind this new autopilot.

What made Rogers uneasy though was a rumor he had heard from more than a few sources regarding his brilliant fellow officer. It was whispered that Dorana Xen had an obsession with pursuing research on Artificial Intelligence despite the very harsh restrictions and sanctions against it. In fact, one of the many murmurs Rogers had heard about Xen was that she had once actually succeeded in uploading a full combat-capable AI to an obsolete Predator drone that she had somehow managed to smuggle out of its mothball storage facility and bring back up to operational status. If the whispers were true, in the incident that followed the drone had actually been tested at the Atlantic Federation Edwards Air Base and managed to destroy its assigned targets, but after the test had concluded it had continued to seek out additional targets. Having exhausted its munitions during the test, it proceeded to ram a parked C-151 transport jet. No one was killed, and the official report claimed that the plane had been destroyed by a fuel fire, but multiple eyewitnesses swore they saw a Predator drone make a kamikaze run on the craft, and Xen had been listed as assigned to Edwards Air Base at the time of the incident. She had been swiftly reassigned, but shockingly enough there had been no punitive actions taken against her, and Rogers suspected someone had seen value to what she was attempting to do in light of the growing Coordinator threat. Rogers had to wonder if she had been given permission behind closed doors to continue her research… and what another one of her AIs might do if it were installed in a mobile suit instead of an old drone.

However, now was hardly the time or place to voice such doubts, so Rogers simply nodded. "I see. Still, it's impressive that they have that much capability."

"Agreed," Maynard replied, "especially considering how long it took us to create a Natural-friendly pilot system at all."

Indeed, he thought, and that was far too long. If we'd been able to field mobile suits sooner in this war… well, the war might be over by now. At least now we can make up for lost time. With the Strike-Dagger now in mass production and units like the Strike-Avenger being fielded for elite pilots and 'special soldiers' like those test subjects we're now more than capable of turning the tide of this war.

"So," he said, "the Strike-Avengers are ready for battle. I trust the same can be said for the rest of this ship's units?"

Maynard nodded. "Yes, sir. They can sortie at any time."

"Good," said Rogers, "Make sure they stay that way. Dismissed, Crew Chief."

Maynard saluted before heading off, and the Rear Admiral made his way back to the hangar exit. When he left he wasted no time in going to the bridge.

Upon his arrival Rogers immediately went to his station. As he took his seat his communications officer turned to him.

"Rear Admiral," said the man, "We have a Priority One transmission on the line; origin is the Ptolemaeus base."

"Put it on screen," said Rogers.

The main monitor shifted from a birds-eye-view of the fleet to the face of none other than Muruta Azrael. "Rear Admiral Rogers," he said, "What is your status?"

"Still at the rally point, Lord Azrael," he replied, "We're ready to go on your order."

Azrael nodded. "How long will it take you to get your fleet to the Elysium colony?"

"From our current position, it's about a two day cruise," said Rogers.

"I see," said Azrael, "Rear Admiral, I've just concluded talks with a party inside the colony that will make the long-term goals of this operation easier to obtain. Due to that, your orders have been slightly altered."

"What's been changed, my lord?" asked Rogers.

"For your attack," Azrael replied, "your initial objectives remain the same; neutralize the Orb defenses and force your way into the colony. However, you are only to enter the colony with mobile suits and armors; you will not be inserting ground troops during the battle."

The fleet commander raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand, my lord. I thought it was imperative that we get infantry into the colony to prevent the Orb from sabotaging their industrial and research facilities."

Azrael shook his head. "That won't be necessary. I've just concluded a deal with the party that will be surrendering the colony to us; the internal security forces will not destroy the facilities."

Now Rogers was very confused. "Forgive my questioning, my lord, but if we have such an arrangement with someone capable of surrendering the colony to us, then it strikes me that this entire battle will be unnecessary. Would it not be enough to simply bring my fleet to Elysium and ask for the colony's surrender?"

"No," said Azrael, "the party that will be surrendering is the Seiran noble family, and unfortunately they do not have control over the Orb military. You will have to destroy all of the colony's armed forces before offering the surrender. Also, your mobile suits and armors will have a special objective once they get inside the colony."

"And what is that?" asked Rogers.

The screen suddenly split into two, with Azrael taking the top half and a cross-section of the Elysium colony taking the bottom. The humongous artificial habitat followed the same design as the destroyed Heliopolis colony, though there were differences with the interior layout. Unlike Heliopolis, Elysium put a greater emphasis on agricultural capability, with large swaths of the main cylinder devoted to farming while the industrial facilities of Morgenroete and other manufacturing and heavy engineering firms had been completely shifted to the massive hollowed out asteroid that made up the back of the colony. Even with the considerable space taken up by the farming fields though, there was still plenty of room for urban sprawl; Elysium was as much a city floating amongst the stars as any other space colony. The Rear Admiral's eyes were immediately drawn to four blinking red dots on the lower image, all located in the central habitation cylinder.

"What you are seeing," said Azrael, "are the locations for the refugee camps established inside the colony. The overwhelming majority of those refugees are Coordinators. When your forces enter the colony, they are to immediately attack those camps and kill everyone they find inside them. The defenses inside the colony should be light; the Orb military will be deploying the bulk of its mobile suit forces outside Elysium, so the only units your squads should encounter inside will be older, more conventional units. Once the camps have been destroyed, you will make the offer of surrender. Is that understood?"

Rogers nodded without hesitation. "Yes, Lord Azrael."

"Good," Azrael replied, "Once the surrender has been accepted, your will land ground troops inside the colony. They will work with collaborating members of the local security forces to hunt down and kill any surviving Coordinator refugees, along with those Coordinators who have been living inside Elysium as registered citizens. The Seirans are quite eager to enact such a purge, so the operation should proceed smoothly with their help."

"What about the rest of the population?" asked Rogers, "Given Orb's stance on Natural-Coordinator relations, I do not think the colony's inhabitants will take kindly to seeing their fellow citizens being rounded up for us to kill them."

"That's what the bulk of your occupation force will be for," said Azrael, smiling, "You should have more than enough troops to keep the population under control. After the initial invasion, you will be the head of the occupation and all military matters concerning the colony. The Seirans should be able to handle most of the civil governance. I did tell them that they could have autonomy in such matters, but if the security situation changes at any time you have my authority to take whatever actions you deem necessary. Should our Orb partners protest, you need only tell them that you are acting with my blessing; that should shut them up."

"Very well," said the Rear Admiral.

Azrael's expression then became more serious. "Your forces will also have another set of top priority targets in this operation, Rear Admiral, though we do not know for certain when you will encounter them."

Rogers raised an eyebrow. "Who are you referring to?"

"The rogue warship Archangel and her allies," said Azrael, "Somehow they've learned of our impending invasion and are on their way to L3 as we speak. While this will make the operation more difficult, it is also a great opportunity. Your force is over twice as powerful as the one we fielded at L4, Rear Admiral; you will be able to eliminate the traitors and their allies once and for all."

"With all due respect, Lord Azrael," said the Rear Admiral, "if the Archangel, Wing Zero, and their supporters are expected to intervene at some point in this operation, then perhaps we should strengthen the fleet."

Azrael shook his head. "We do not have time, Rear Admiral. If we wait to reinforce the fleet then the traitors and their abomination friends will already be on site and prepared to counterattack. You cannot give them time to prepare. More importantly, we cannot divert any more resources from our buildup; preparations for the final offensive against L5 cannot be interfered with!"

Rogers sighed; it was clear that Azrael was in no mood to negotiate here. "I understand, my lord."

Azrael smiled. "Have a little more faith in your forces, Rear Admiral. Yes, I have no doubt you will take casualties when Wing Zero and its supporters take the field, but you have more than enough strength to defeat them. After all, you have twenty of our newest model mobile suits in your fleet, along with pilots that can bring out the full-potential of those machines."

"Yes, my lord," said Rogers, seeing no other option but to simply go along with the man.

"Also," said Azrael, "when those forces arrive on scene, you are to concentrate your efforts against two particular targets first."

"What targets are those?" asked Rogers.

"One, of course, is Wing Zero," said Azrael, "That damn Heero Yuy has interfered in our war effort far too many times. He must be dealt with, and I know that the special pilots and the mobile suits I sent you will be up to the task."

Rogers had his doubts about that. While he did believe that multiple Strike-Avengers operating in concert could stand against Wing Zero, he knew that that could only happen if they were controlled by disciplined and veteran pilots… and that was the main problem; the pilots that had been assigned to the Strike-Avengers in his fleet were anything but disciplined veterans.

However, there was little point in telling Azrael this. Rogers knew that his de facto commander-in-chief had faith in the new Biological CPUs, and it would do him little good to question it. He could only hope that they would be able to fight effectively long enough to take down Wing Zero, or at least distract it so his fleet could get into position to bombard it. If a few of the Strike-Avengers were taken down in the process, so be it; it would be a price well worth paying if it meant killing Heero Yuy.

"Understood, my lord," said Rogers, "What is the second target?"

"This," said Azrael.

The image on the bottom half of the screen changed from the map of the Elysium colony to a picture of a mobile suit. Rogers instantly recognized the model as an Aile pack equipped Strike, but he was put off by the color scheme. It was a mix of pink and maroon, and the Rear Admiral felt that such an ensemble was disgusting on a piece of military hardware.

"Whose mobile suit is this?" asked Rogers.

"We believe it to be the unit piloted by Cagalli Yula Athha," Azrael replied, "As of her father's death at the end of the invasion of the Orb homeland, she is now the nation's Chief Representative."

Rogers was aghast at this. "They let their ruler fight on the front lines? That's madness!"

Azrael nodded. "Agreed, Rear Admiral. However, that does not mean we cannot take advantage of it. The Orb military's allegiance is theoretically to the country as a whole, but in practice its top brass tend to follow the lead of the Athha family. Both Uzumi and his brother died when the Kaguya mass driver and spaceport were destroyed, leaving Cagalli the last direct descendant/relative of the former ruler. As such, she is the key obstacle to the Seirans seizing power over Orb and brining the remnants of its military to heel. In order for our plans to succeed, she must be eliminated. Is that understood?"

Rogers nodded. "Yes, Lord Azrael."

"Good," Azrael replied, "remove those two obstacles, and our dominion over L3 is assured."

"What about the Eden colony?" asked Rogers, "Won't we still have to invade it after we conquer Elysium?"

"Not invade," said Azrael, smiling, "just occupy. The Seirans have enough allies in Eden that they will be able to extend their power from Elysium to that colony as well once Cagalli has been killed. The military forces at that colony will no longer oppose us, and will in fact aid us by kicking out the Alliance defectors gathered at that colony. With no port to shelter at, we can hunt them down at our leisure. All you will need to do is send a token force to the colony, along with one of your troop carriers. That will be a sufficient force to secure Eden and commence the purge of the Coordinators living inside that colony."

"Understood," said Rogers, "Do you have any additional orders, Lord Azrael?"

"Only that you get your fleet underway," said Azrael, "and that you do not fail this mission. Azrael out."

Rogers sighed as his superior disappeared from the screen. "At last…" he muttered under his breath; he'd been growing tired of waiting for the signal to commence the operation.

With Azrael now gone from the screen, the main monitor had returned to its previous image; an overview of the fleet. It was certainly an impressive array, but with all the new information he had just received the Rear Admiral had to wonder if it would be enough to accomplish his mission.

The Reagan's battle group composition mirrored that of the second carrier force operating with it. Each had sixteen Drake-class escort ships and eight Nelson-class battleships. However, joining these two battle groups were two smaller squadrons, each made up of two battleships and four escort ships. Like the warships that had been dispatched to fight the Archangel and her allies out at L4, the complements of these vessels were split between mobile suits and mobile armors, and in the latter case the Moebius units had been refitted with beam cannons. In total, the fleet had 184 mobile armors and 220 Strike-Daggers. With the fleet's twenty Strike-Avengers leading the charge, Rogers had no doubt that his force would blow right through the Orb lines.

Assigned to each carrier battle group was a Manhattan-class troop carrier. Although given a different designation, the ship actually used the same hull design as the Agamemnon-class fleet carrier. This was no accident; several Agamemnon-class carriers had been refitted into Manhattan-class ships shortly after the war began; more specifically, after ZAFT had deployed its N-Jammers. Deprived of the ability to nuke the Coordinator colonies into oblivion, the Earth Alliance had embraced a different strategy; overwhelm ZAFT with sheer numbers in conventional assaults, destroying their navy and then landing troops inside their colonies. The creation of the Manhattan-class troop carriers had been the result of this quick change in doctrine, and rather than design new ships from the ground up it had been simpler to take an existing hull and alter it for their needs. The process had been rushed, but the vessel's cavernous hangar bay made it quite easy to turn it from a fleet carrier into an infantry transport.

However, ZAFT victories at the Battle of Jachin Due and the Battle of Avalon inflicted heavy losses on the Earth Alliance's forces, and the top brass realized that a swift invasion was off the table. Most of the Manhattans were converted back into mobile armor carriers, with only a few remaining as troopships and kept away from active theaters of the conflict in case their unique capabilities were someday required. With the impending invasion of the two surviving Orb colonies, that time had now come.

The Manhattan-class troop carrier kept the two dual beam cannons and multiple CIWS of the Agamemnon-class ship, but to this they also added six heavy missile launchers at the bow, bracketing it with a row of three on each side. The launchers were designed for the Meteor-type Missile, a warhead specifically built to blast through the heavy main dock doors of colonies. The powerful munitions weren't good for much else; by missile standards they were slow and bulky, making them vulnerable to CIWS fire, lighter missiles, or interception by mobile suits or mobile armors. They were ill-suited for anything other than very large, fixed targets, and colony entrances fit the bill nicely. However, Rogers was doubtful he would have to use the Meteor Missiles in this fight; with the power wielded by the Double Launcher and Sword Launcher variants of the Strike-Avenger, along with the heavy weapons of his frontline warships, it was likely that the main entrance to Elysium would be breached well before the troopships were forced to enter the fray.

I only have two of them, thought Rogers sourly, and I need the soldiers inside them for the occupation; I'd rather not risk them on the front lines, especially if something like Wing Zero will be on the battlefield. Those troopships would be sitting ducks for that machine.

While some of the carrier's massive hangar space had been converted into barracks for soldiers, the ship did still carry craft. However, rather than the mobile armors or mobile suits that Agamemnon-class carriers held, the Manhattan-class ship maintained a complement of twelve G-24 heavy gunships. While designed to replicate the multi-purpose helicopter gunships common in surface action, the G-24 differed in several key aspects. The frame itself was actually a scaled-up version of the TS-MA2 Moebius mobile armor, with the triangle main body and the bracketing engine pods enlarged to accommodate the craft's new mission. It was operated not just by a pilot but also a copilot due to the increased complexity, and extending below and back from the cockpit was a bulky, almost block-like passenger compartment capable of holding twenty-four soldiers with full combat gear.

For armament the G-24 kept the twin 40mm Vulcan guns of the original mobile armor and added to that two six-barrel air-to-ground rocket launchers, one at the front of each engine block, along with two air-to-air missiles attached to the side of each engine block and a rear-facing 30mm machine gun turret manned by a gunner. In addition to these weapons, each side of the passenger compartment contained a 7.62mm rotary cannon that swung out when the side-doors opened, allowing their gunners to cover infantry as they deployed or were recovered by the craft. The gunship was meant to clear a landing zone and drop the troops it carried before quickly taking off and either providing close air support or returning to its mothership to pick up another batch of infantry. It was fast and surprisingly well armored for such a craft, but it was not without its flaws. The G-24 maneuvered like a brick and its weapons were no match for mobile suits or even mobile armors. Also, its limited troop capacity meant that even all twelve of a Manhattan-class ship's G-24s could not carry all the soldiers the vessel held in one sortie; multiple trips were required to offload all troops, which was why another function of the G-24s was to work in cooperation with allied mobile suits and armors to clear a very large landing zone where the troopship itself could touch down and offload the bulk of its infantry.

Rogers could see the fleet's two troopships now on the main monitor, at the very back of their respective battle groups. In his was the class's namesake ship, the Manhattan, while the Perry's battle group had the Houston.

Sixty-four capital ships total, he thought with no small amount of satisfaction, more than enough to bring two colonies to heel, no matter how many mobile suits they've packed inside them.

As for Wing Zero and its allies…

…he'd just have to wait and see.

"Comm," he said, "signal the fleet. We're moving out."

….

July 23rd, C.E. 71

Floating through the corridors of the Archangel with a tray full of food, Heero made his way towards the Captain's office. Murrue had been quite busy since they had joined forces with Task Force 9.3 and had embarked on their journey to L3. With the addition of the ZAFT defectors to the Three Ships Alliance, Waltfeld had wasted no time in reorganizing their forces, and part of that had consisted of splitting up the surviving renegade warships into smaller flotillas, each operating in concert with one of the three larger battleships. In the case of the Archangel, the former Earth Alliance battleship would now be acting in engagements as the head of a group consisting of herself, the two frigates Ronin and Paladin, along with the destroyer Knight Errant. The Eternal had been set up with the other two destroyers, while the Kusanagi would coordinate with the three remaining frigates. Waltfeld had decided to designate the three flotillas as Groups Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie; the Archangel was the lead warship in the third group, while the Eternal led Alpha and the Kusanagi headed up Bravo.

Now Murrue's gone from Captain of a single ship to a flotilla commander in the blink of an eye, thought Heero, It was enough pressure on her just to protect the crew of the Archangel, but now she's responsible for three more ships besides that. I know she hasn't said anything yet, but I'm sure it's not easy for her.

The Gundam pilot knew that the woman he loved was working hard to figure out how best to integrate the capabilities of the two frigates and the destroyer that had been assigned to fight alongside the Archangel, along with their surviving mobile suits,with those of her ship and mobile suits. Fields of fire, flanking maneuvers, support between mobile suits and pilots that hailed from different backgrounds and had their own styles of combat… all that and more made for a ton of adjusting on Murrue's part.

Heero was well aware of Murrue's doubts and fears, no matter how well she hid them from her crew. He knew that she did not believe she was up to the new task she had been given, that she was afraid she would get people killed due to bad calls on her part. The young man wanted to do all he could to help her through this, to make her realize that she was more than capable of leading her newfound flotilla into battle. Heero believed in her abilities, and he was sure that he could convince Murrue that she had what it took to succeed in her new role.

However, Heero had duties of his own to attend to, something Murrue had pointed out to him more than once. As the pilot of the Archangel's most powerful mobile suit, he had to make sure that his unit was ready for the next battle. Not only that, but Heero also had to familiarize himself with the new allies that would be flying with the Archangel so he would understand their strengths and weaknesses when the time came to fight alongside them. While the Gundam pilot still mostly considered himself a solo combatant he did understand what Murrue had been getting at, and he had dutifully set himself to his task, examining the information that Commander Bohuslav had sent over regarding the state of his surviving ships and mobile suits. While the smaller units could be completely repaired in the hangars of their respective ships, the same was naturally not true for the frigates and destroyers themselves; there was only so much their crews could do when the ships were out of dry-dock. The files the Commander had sent over also included information on the past campaigns of Task Force 9.3, and that was vital intelligence to both Heero and Murrue; they could use it to understand how their new allies fought, and that understanding would make a huge difference when the time came to engage the enemy.

Still, even with his own considerable responsibilities, the Gundam pilot was still more than willing to put in the time and effort needed to give much needed support to the woman he loved. Whether it was an embrace and a kiss, sitting together enjoying a cup of coffee, talking to her about what was going on and sharing his insights wither her, or simply holding her hand and meeting her gaze, Heero was doing everything he could think of to try and take some of the stress off Murrue's shoulders.

In this case, that involved bringing her lunch. It wasn't something they had arranged, but the two of them had taken meals together so often now that they had each others' schedules memorized, meaning it was quite easy for Heero to anticipate and surprise his girlfriend in the manner he'd planned to do today. He was bringing enough food for two, and he was hoping that he could do a little more to help Murrue boost her confidence over the course of their meal.

Giving pep talks isn't my strong suit, thought Heero, I'm not the kind of guy that can just whip up a great speech. Should've taken a few notes from Quatre or Treize, or maybe asked Lacus for some pointers. She's certainly got a gift for inspiring people.

He shook his head. This was the woman he loved he was thinking about here. It wasn't a simple pep talk he'd be giving. He'd be engaging her in a mutual conversation, the kind they'd shared so many times now. Heero needed to do for her what she'd done for him quite a few times now over the course of their journey together; to convince her that she was far more than she believed herself to be. The Gundam pilot knew that Murrue had the strength, intelligence, and willpower to not just rise to the challenge before her, but surpass it with flying colors.

A few seconds later he made it to Murrue's office and opened the door. As it slid open he heard a slamming noise followed by a yell. "You bastard!"

Heero's eyes widened for a moment as he feared he had inadvertently done something terribly wrong, but as he saw Murrue he realized her ire was not directed at him. She was standing up behind the desk, her gaze fixed on the monitor. Her hands were on the cold steel surface, and Heero could see her arms trembling. When he saw her eyes, he was shocked by the look in them. They were wide, and those usually warm, compassionate brown gems held two very different emotions in them; anger and sorrow.

"Murrue!" said Heero, rushing into the room and closing the door behind him, "What's wrong?"

She looked up at him, clearly surprised by his presence. "Heero… I didn't hear you come in."

He shook his head as he set the tray off to the side on her desk. "Don't worry about that. Murrue, what's going on?"

Murrue took a deep breath before looking down at the desk. "Heero… do you remember back when we were just settling at L4… what you asked Waltfeld to do for my crew and I after that meeting?"

Heero nodded, his chest tightening as he realized where this was going. "Yeah… to let you and the crew send messages to your families."

"Yes," said Murrue, "Since the battle yesterday against the ZAFT fleet made it pretty clear to people where we are and where we're heading, I figured there was no harm in establishing an uplink with the net and checking for replies. I ran it by Bristow and Waltfeld, and they agreed, so I relayed our signal through the Eternal's array to get as clear a connection as possible."

"And you got a reply to your earlier message," Heero said cautiously.

Murrue nodded and looked at him again. That mixture of despair and fury in her eyes tore at Heero's heart in a way he'd never imagined possible; this was one of the last ways he wanted to see the woman he loved.

"I did get a reply," said Murrue, "from my father… and I really wish I hadn't."

Coming around the desk, Heero put his hand on hers. "What was it?"

She intertwined her fingers with his as she spoke. "Do you remember what I told you about my family during our first date in Orb?"

Heero nodded. "Your father's in the Atlantic Federation forces… the base commandant at the Norfolk Navy Yard, right?"

"Yes," said Murrue, looking down again, her voice beginning to crack, "He's been in the Atlantic Federation Navy for almost his whole life. I… I knew it'd be difficult for him to hear what I had done… that he might not be able to accept it… but still…"

Heero took a deep breath; this was going to be worse than he'd first thought. "Murrue," he said as he squeezed her hand, "what did he say?"

She looked at him again, and the pain in the Gundam pilot's chest only increased as he saw his lover struggle to hold back tears. "He… he disowned me, and called me a coward. I… I could deal with it if it was just that, but he went further. He said… that I should've done my duty… and died at Alaska."

Heero's eyes widened in shock. "What?" he said, his blood chilling in ice-cold fury, "He'd rather have his own daughter die in a massacre like that setup at Alaska than fight to save her crew like you did?"

Murrue nodded. "Yes… and there's more."

Heero's heart fell still further as he fought to keep his composure, to be the pillar of strength he knew Murrue needed him to be right now. "What else did he say?"

He saw her tremble, and she tightened her grip on his hand as she spoke. "He said that… if I had any sense of honor and decency left… I'd kill you and then turn myself and my crew over to the Alliance."

Heero shook his head. "Turn yourself and your subordinates in? That'd be suicide; he'd have to know that they'd execute you all after what you've done. Even if there was a trial, it'd be a total farce; there's no way in hell the High Command would let you live!"

Murrue nodded. "I know Heero… and thank you."

Now Heero was confused. "For what, Murrue?"

She gave him a sad smile. "For not asking if I was going to kill you to satisfy my father."

"I know you, Murrue," Heero replied, "You love me as much as I love you; you'd never do something like that. My faith in you is absolute; never forget that."

Moving faster than Heero thought possible, Murrue let go of his hand and took him into a fierce embrace. "Oh, Heero…" she said softly, her warm breath on his ear, "Thank you."

The Gundam pilot took her in his arms, and he could feel her trembling as he held her. She was clearly choking back sobs, doing her best to keep her roiling emotions at bay. Heero admired the incredible strength she was displaying now… but he knew that there were some things that people shouldn't keep bottled up inside them.

"Murrue," he said, "there's no one else here. It's just us; let it out."

He didn't react as her grip on him tightened, did not give a sign of pain as her fingernails dug into his back. Heero simply held her as he felt the tears begin to run down Murrue's cheek as she buried her face in his neck and shoulder, letting her fully express the sorrow that came with knowing that a beloved parental figure had not only abandoned her but wished her and the man she loved to die for doing what had been right.

As he held her Heero had to call upon all his discipline to avoid embracing the same burning hatred for Murrue's father that he had for the Atlantic Federation High Command following their betrayal at Alaska. His vow to Murrue in the Archangel's med bay after his rampage at Orb had not been forgotten; he would not let the elder Ramius's betrayal of his daughter become the dark seed for a new wrath. Embracing that anger would only further hurt Murrue, and that was the last thing Heero would do, especially after what she was suffering now. He would keep his promise to her, stay true to the woman he loved.

After a few minutes Heero could feel Murrue's grip on him loosen, and the two lovers slowly parted. Wiping the remaining tears from her eyes, Murrue gave Heero a small smile. "Again… you've saved me again. Heero, you truly are an amazing young man."

Heero shook his head. "I just want to help you, Murrue. That's all."

"I know," Murrue replied, leaning in to kiss him, "and that's just one of the reasons why you're so incredible."

All Heero could do was give her a small smile. "I told you before, Murrue; I'll never abandon you. Even if the whole world turns against us, I'll stand by your side until the very end."

Murrue nodded. "I know… and that's more than I can say of my father as of today."

Heero shook his head. "I don't understand… how could he do this to you?"

Murrue sighed. "I'm… I'm still trying to figure that out, Heero. I always knew the military mattered to my father as much as my mother and I, but still… I never imagined it would come down to this."

"I know he's off the front lines," said Heero, "but your father still has a senior position within the Atlantic Federation Navy; he wouldn't be deaf to reports from the battlefield. He has to realize the direction his homeland is going in. If military honor really does matter to him, then he has to know that the path his country is on grossly violates the laws of war."

Murrue nodded. "I know, but… well, it seems my father's no Commander Bohuslav; atrocities appear to be ok in his book."

Heero's eyes narrowed as a thought occurred to him. "What are his views on Coordinators? Did he ever talk about that with you and your mother?"

Murrue shook his head. "Not with me, and I don't know if he shared his ideas with mother." She looked down. "I don't know what's worse: that his reaction to what I've done is just because I betrayed my country, or if it's because I've decided to fight to prevent Blue Cosmos from slaughtering Coordinators. I wish I'd asked him about what he thought regarding the attack on Junius Seven. Maybe then I'd have a little more insight into what he was thinking when he wrote his message…"

Heero put his hand on her shoulder. "Don't, Murrue; there's no use in beating yourself up over the past. You taught me that, remember?"

She looked at him again and nodded. "Yeah, I guess I did."

Heero felt a pain in his gut as he prepared to ask another question, one that had to do with the message. The last thing he wanted to do was keep Murrue's mind on that horrific thing, but this was an inquiry that needed to be made. "Murrue, did your father say anything that might reveal the Alliance's future plans? Were there any accidental clues he may have left in that message?"

Murrue closed her eyes for a moment to think before she responded. "No, Heero. He may be off the front lines, but my father still understands operational discipline and security protocols; he wouldn't be so careless as to inadvertently slip us any information that may help us fight against the Earth Alliance."

"All right," Heero replied, "Sorry, but I had to ask."

Murrue shook her head and gave him a small smile. "I know. It's ok, Heero."

They were quiet for a moment until Heero spoke again. "What about your mother? Have you heard anything from her, or was she mentioned in the message?"

Murrue shook her head again. "No. I'm… I'm not sure how to take that."

"As a good sign," Heero replied, grabbing her hand, "I know it's hard to see it that way, but if this was just from your father and your mother wasn't even mentioned, then it means she still believes in you."

It was flimsy logic at best, but Heero refused to bring up the alternative; that Murrue's mother was equally ashamed and would not contact her daughter. Murrue was hurting enough right now as it was, and Heero would do all he could to help her heal.

To Heero's relief it appeared to work, for Murrue nodded and squeezed his hand. "I… I think you're right, Heero. Mother… she's not military like father is… I think she'd have a more open mind about our situation. Maybe father knows that and he's not letting her get in touch with me."

"When this is all over," said Heero, "we'll try to contact her. You deserve to hear from both your parents, not just the one who's taken the side of the enemy."

Murrue sighed. "The enemy… I never thought I'd have to call a family member that, but… yes. My father's our enemy now, Heero. I'm sorry."

"Don't," said Heero firmly, "Murrue, this is not your fault. Don't apologize for your father's actions. If anyone owes someone an apology, it's him to you."

Murrue nodded. "Yes… of course." She then looked down at the floor. "Look at me, falling to pieces like this… I'm pathetic. How can I lead our new allies if I can't keep it together when I get bad news from my family?"

"No," Heero replied, "you're not, Murrue. This isn't just 'bad news' from your family; it's your own father betraying you, wishing for your death. It'd be wrong if you didn't have an emotional reaction to something like this. The fact that you feel it so deeply means your human, Murrue! This isn't weakness."

"Maybe," said Murrue, "but still... everyone else is expecting me to have control of my feelings so I can lead them effectively. Their lives ride on my ability to stay in control!"

"And you have that ability," said Heero, "You've proven yourself more than capable of commanding others throughout our journey with a level head. It's not just with the Archangel either; you did an excellent job in coordinating our actions with the Desert Dawn fighters back in North Africa, as well as when your ship fought alongside the Orb Navy during the invasion."

"Perhaps," said Murrue, "but both of those groups took heavy losses, especially the Desert Dawn fighters; Waltfeld and his forces mauled them in that final battle."

"Everyone knew there were going to be casualties among them in that fight," Heero countered, "They were fighting mobile suits with technicals and a few tanks. Even with the Archangel, her mobile suits, and the Skygraspers supporting them, things were going to get ugly. That does not change the fact that you led that force against one of the best armies on the planet and won. As for the Orb invasion, our allies likewise knew that things would not be easy, especially given the size of the fleet the Earth Alliance sent against us. I may have been rampaging during that battle, Murrue, but I looked over the reports and Wing Zero's sensor data the day after; I know how well you fought, and that the Orb Navy's losses could've been much worse."

The Gundam pilot grabbed the woman he loved by the shoulders. "Murrue, you can do this. Waltfeld and the others would not have put you in this position if they did not think that you could handle it. You have the strength, skill, experience, and intelligence to lead our new allies in battle. Yes, some of them may die, but that's a risk they accepted going into this, and it's the same risk we accepted when we decided to fight against both the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. They're willing to put their lives on the line to prevent an atrocity, and I know that you can harness that determination to lead them effectively in battle because you have it as well."

Murrue smiled at him. "Heero… thank you."

Heero nodded, pleased to see that the turmoil that had been in her eyes before was swiftly fading. Reclaiming those beautiful brown orbs was that warm strength and compassion that the young man so loved about her. Her resolve and confidence were returning; she was ready to fight again.

Surprising him, she pulled him in for a deep kiss, and Heero readily returned it. When they eventually parted Murrue reached out to touch his cheek. "I don't know what I'd do without you," she said as she softly caressed his face, "Your strength… is just incredible, Heero."

The Gundam pilot shook his head and gave her a small smile. "If I'm as strong as you say I am now, it's only because of you, Murrue. You've helped me deal with my doubts and guilt, allowed me to grow into the person I am now, supported me in my darkest hours; the least I can do is return the favor."

Murrue kissed him on the cheek. "You've done far more than that, Heero. More to the point, you and I are far past favors at this point. We're a couple, Heero. We stand by each other, give each other strength, not out of debt, but because we want to."

Heero nodded. "You're right there."

"I know I am," said Murrue, winking, "Now, why don't you and I take a little lunch break? It'd be a shame for the food you brought here to go to waste."

Heero could feel his small smile grow a little at her words, and it wasn't because of any hunger. The sorrow and anger that had tormented her before weren't even visible now, though the Gundam pilot knew they were not completely gone. It would take time for Murrue to completely heal from the wound her father had inflicted upon her heart, and Heero would be there for her every step of the way. What mattered now, though, was that her belief in herself had been restored, and they could continue to move forward together, ready for the battle that they were fast approaching.

Murrue, he thought as he looked at her, your father called you a coward, but that's the last thing you are. You are the bravest woman I've ever met. So, let's prove your father wrong. Let's challenge the Earth Alliance to battle again, save the Orb colonies and the refugees inside them from the fleet that's gunning for them… and then let's follow that up by forcing the two strongest militaries in the world to end this foolish war on our terms!

….

July 24th, C.E. 71

At her station on the bridge, Murrue studied the image on the main monitor. It was a simple map of L3 and the space around it, with the two Orb colonies and several smaller resource satellites highlighted in yellow, while off on the fringe was the red dot that symbolized the damaged Artemis base.

I wonder, thought Murrue, if their intent is to conquer Orb's remaining colonies and facilities at L3, why doesn't the Earth Alliance stage the attack from Artemis? I know it took a beating during the ZAFT attack when we escaped, but to my knowledge the base was not destroyed.

In the end Murrue chalked it up to the combination of the Eurasians' much reduced presence in outer space, the damage suffered by the base, and the facility's close proximity to the Orb colonies. The Eurasian space fleets had taken heavy casualties during the first year of the war, and with the Lightwave barrier's generators destroyed by the Blitz during the attack on Artemis Murrue guessed that what remained of the Eurasians' orbital forces had been recalled to the asteroid base to help maintain the reputation of 'Invulnerable Artemis'. Meanwhile, by all accounts the Orb colonies had not been aware of the gathering Alliance fleet until Cagalli had passed on the intelligence given to them by Commander Bohuslav, meaning the enemy had been trying to keep their impending attack a surprise. Artemis was at the edge of the Orb military's patrol zone, and it would have been easy for a pilot to detect a large buildup of ships near the base.

It's only thanks to Commander Bohuslav's contact in the Patrol Fleet that we're aware of the coming attack, Murrue thought, suppressing a shudder, Were it not for us saving Task Force 9.3, we'd have no idea about the invasion until it was all over… and all the refugees were dead.

She was determined not to let that happen. They'd been given valuable intelligence by their new allies, and Murrue swore to herself that it would not go to waste.

Glancing at her personal monitor, she brought up the information on the ships assigned to fight with the Archangel to briefly go over their condition one more time. The two frigates and the destroyer with her ship were as ready as they could be for battle given the pounding they had taken in their last fight. Most of their weapons were online, and their mechanics had managed to make substantial progress on repairing their engines. However, the vessels were not at maximum operational capability, a fact that caused Murrue no small amount of worry. It was hard enough leading a fully prepared warship into battle, even one as powerful as the Archangel; she knew having wounded companion ships would only make things even more difficult.

Matters weren't helped by how few of those three ships' mobile suits had survived the battle with the ZAFT fleet. One of the frigates only had a single GINN available to it, while the second had two, and the destroyer could only field a CGUE. Murrue had already made up her mind on how those few units would be deployed; they would stay with their mother ships and intercept any incoming attackers.

The heavy lifting's going to come down to Heero again, she thought, just like it always does. Damn it, I hate this. He deserves more support than what I can give him.

That support actually was substantial, though not enough in Murrue's eyes. The Archangel's Captain had her usual order of battle ready to go: Shemei would link up with the rest of her team as soon as she deployed, Dearka and La Flaga would join Heero on the offensive, and Bristow and the new M1s would stay back with the white warship. Murrue was ready to tear into the enemy fleet with all the considerable firepower at her disposal, but she wished that the vessels from Task Force 9.3 had more surviving mobile suits so she could send additional units to back up Heero.

Turning back to the map on the main monitor, Murrue once again focused her gaze on the two Orb colonies. The Archangel and her allies were at the outskirts of L3, and their course was set for the midway point between Eden and Elysium.

Her eyes narrowed as she studied the map. Which one, she thought, will they hit first? Of course, that's assuming they don't split their forces and strike both at once. If that happens, well…

It was not a train of thought she wanted to finish.

Suddenly the communications officer cried out. "Captain, we're getting an open transmission from the Elysium colony! They're under attack!"

"Any word from Eden?" she asked.

"Negative," said the officer, "just Elysium! According to the transmission, the Alliance is hitting the colony with at least two carrier battle groups!"

So it's one target, she thought, We'll have to fight their full fleet, but we can hit them with our full force.

Murrue immediately began giving out orders. "All hands, level one battle stations! Arm all weapons, and have our pilots ready to launch!"

"Ma'am, the Eternal's hailing us!" said the communications officer.

"Patch them through," Murrue replied.

The faces of Lacus and Waltfeld appeared on the screen. "Captain Ramius," said the pink-haired songstress, "Did you get the distress call?"

Murrue nodded. "Yes, Miss Clyne. We're ready to act on your orders."

The girl glanced at Waltfeld and nodded. Taking his cue, the Desert Tiger spoke. "We can't afford to wait until our full group gets to Elysium; we need to dispatch the nuclear powered machines as a vanguard. They should be able to buy the colony's defenders some time until we can catch up."

Murrue grit her teeth. She knew it was the best move, but she didn't like it. Once again, she'd be sending Heero forward to fight without her ship supporting him. It didn't matter that he'd have six of the best pilots in the Cosmic Era fighting alongside him; she just didn't feel right unless it was the Archangel that had his back.

There was no room for argument though. Ever second wasted was a second more that the Earth Alliance forces had to batter down Elysium's defenses, get inside the colony, and commence their massacre of the refugees. This was the only way they had a chance at stopping it… or failing that, swiftly avenge the fallen.

"Understood," said Murrue, "I'll get Heero and Shemei airborne ASAP."

Waltfeld nodded. "Shemei will lead her girls, but I want Heero in charge of the overall group, with Athrun and Kira acting as his personal backup. I know he likes to fly solo, but he's got leadership talent, whether he'll admit it or not, and the experience to go with it."

Murrue had to smile at that; it echoed her own thoughts about her young boyfriend. "I'll let him know."

"I hope they're ready," said Lacus, "If Commander Bohuslav's information is correct, then the enemy fleet is at least twice the size of the force the Alliance sent against us at L4."

Murrue nodded. She shared that concern, but she did not doubt Heero's abilities or those of his friends. "I know Heero and the others will be able to give them pause, but we still need to catch up to them as fast as we can."

"Agreed," said Waltfeld, "Let's make it happen. Eternal out."

As the Desert Tiger and the songstress faded from the screen Murrue began issuing new orders. "Have Wing Zero and the Judgment prepare for launch immediately."

"Yes, ma'am," said Miriallia.

Turning to her personal monitor, Murrue opened up a private communication with Wing Zero. "Heero," she said when she saw the young man appear on the screen, clad in his black flight suit, "We're sending you and the rest of our nuclear powered machines out ahead as an advance force. You'll be in charge of the whole squadron, and Athrun and Kira will be your direct support while Shemei fights with her team."

Heero nodded. "Understood. Which colony is the enemy hitting?"

"Elysium," said Murrue, "It looks like they're concentrating their full force on that colony."

"Did the Orb forces send any information about the enemy fleet?" he asked.

"Nothing beyond that it was at least two carrier groups, which corroborates the data we got from Commander Bohuslav two days ago," said Murrue, "However, we don't have a complete picture, so be on your guard."

"Roger that," said Heero.

"Heero," said Murrue, "We'll catch up to you as fast as we can, but until then you and the others will only have whatever surviving Orb forces that are at Elysium as backup. Please be careful."

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

A moment after Heero faded from Murrue's screen Miriallia spoke up. "Wing Zero and Judgment, you are clear to launch!"

Watching out the forward viewport, Murrue saw the Perfect Soldier shoot out of the Archangel's left 'leg' and the Valkyrie fly out of the right. At the same time the Justice left the Kusanagi while the Freedom flew out of the Eternal, followed shortly by the three Wraiths. Kira and Athrun formed up with Heero, while Shemei's subordinates quickly got into formation with their leader.

As Murrue watched the seven mobile suits soar out ahead of the warships, quickly becoming little more than blue dots of thruster fire before disappearing entirely, she took a deep breath and let it out. Determined though she might be to save the inhabitants of the Elysium colony, her true concern as always lay with the safety of her boyfriend.

One life means more to me than thousands, she reflected, I know that's selfish of me… but I also know it's human. Heero, please defend those people… and stay alive long enough for me to get there and protect you!

….

On the bridge of his flagship, Rear Admiral Rogers scowled as he watched the battle unfolding before him, with the Elysium colony serving as the backdrop to the grand struggle. The enemy was putting up more of a fight than he had anticipated, even without the aid of the renegade warship Archangel and her allies.

There had been no subtlety to the Earth Alliance attack. Rogers' had commenced the operation completely by the book, and the Atlantic Federation playbook for the invasion of a colony was quite simple; a full frontal assault concentrated on penetrating the enemy lines and breaching the main entrance to the habitat. To that end, the two carrier battle groups and their support squadrons had merged into one large conical formation in order to maximize their frontal fields of fire and overlapping coverage for their weapons. As was typical of any Earth Alliance formation, the Drake-class escort ships made up the outermost layer. Following close behind were the bulk of the Nelson-class battleships, with a few of the vessels remaining to the rear to protect the Agamemnon and Manhattan-class carriers. All mobile suits and mobile armors had been launched just prior to the capital ships entering firing range of the enemy, billowing out from the fleet like a swarm of locusts. At the head of the swarm had been the twenty Strike-Avengers assigned to the fleet, their augmented pilots chomping at the bit to carve into the enemy. There were four of each of the five different configurations in play, assuring that the attack's spearhead was diverse and able to handle anything that moved to counter it.

In terms of warships, the enemy force opposing them was not even a third the size of the Earth Alliance fleet. Rogers had been disgusted, though not surprised, to see that all eighteen ships were defectors from the Alliance forces; twelve Drake-class escort ships and six Nelson-class battleships. They were deployed in a standard defensive array, firmly positioned between the Earth Alliance fleet and the colony's main entrance. The vessels had clearly once been part of outlying patrol forces due to the fact that there was not a single Earth Alliance mobile suit among them; all the ships had deployed mobile armors with the old standard weapons setup of a linear gun and four missiles. There were 132 of the craft deployed, but despite the numbers Rogers was not concerned; his forces would swat them from the sky like the annoying flies they were.

However, the defectors' allies were packing much more advanced machines. As soon as Rogers' fleet had come within range of Elysium mobile suits had begun pouring out of the colony like bees defending their hive. Several squadrons had been made up of the M1 Astray, but it was the unit the other teams had flown that had given Rogers' pause.

It was a sleek, streamlined machine, with more gentle curves than the sharp, angular design of units like the M1 Astray or the Alliance's Strike series mobile suits. Rather than a humanoid head like those sported by most mobile suits, this machine's was long, tapering upwards, its narrowing design reminiscent of the nose of a jet fighter. There was a single, square camera rather than the 'eyes' setup used by the M1 Astray or other mobile suits, which somehow gave the machine a more ominous and inhuman feel to it. Its color scheme was based on the same black, red, and white theme of the other Orb mobile suit, but its armament was noticeably different. While some of the machines were equipped with a type of beam rifle Rogers had never seen before, others wielded what looked like a heavy beam cannon that would completely outclass the weapons of the Strike-Daggers and Moebius units in the Alliance fleet. It also wielded a violet beam saber, allowing it to match the Alliance units in close-quarters combat. Unlike the M1 Astrays it was flying with, the unit had no shield, making its only defense its mobility.

Rogers knew, thanks to information sent to him by Azrael, that this was the new Taurus mobile suit that Orb had developed. He had to wonder how they had come up with such a machine; it was so different from anything else on the field. The unit was more than just a high speed mobile suit; Rogers had seen some of the machines transform into a fighter as they had launched, and the transformation reminded him for some reason of Wing Zero. That unit too had multiple forms, and the Rear Admiral suspected that Orb had that fearsome machine in mind when they had designed the Taurus.

Once the last mobile suit had left the colony the Rear Admiral was able to get a complete picture of what he was up against. He was surprised at just how many machines the colony had at its disposal; clearly Orb's orbital industrial facilities had been working overtime in the wake of the fall of their island homeland. The enemy was fielding no less than sixty M1 Astrays and thirty Taurus machines, with half of the later wielding the heavy beam cannons. It was an impressive force to be sure, but Rogers knew it was no match for his fleet.

They can only delay the inevitable, he'd thought as he ordered his forces to attack, It's time to put them in their place. No more will Orb get to sit on the fence, using both sides for its own benefit. Before the day is out, its final redoubts will be ours in all but name; they'll be little more than a satellite state of the Earth Alliance.

As the Earth Alliance mobile suits and armors closed with the enemy units the defecting capital ships opened fire, unleashing a hailstorm of beams, bullets, and missiles. The barrage destroyed a few Moebius units and Strike-Daggers, but against the small, agile units its effectiveness was minimal. However, Rogers could tell that the true intent of the coordinated barrage was not to stop the Alliance squadrons in their tracks, but rather to break up their formations while the enemy mobile suits and mobile armors moved in to attack.

The defectors' mobile armors opened their strike by releasing their missiles en masse. They launched two waves in rapid succession, emptying their supply of warheads in truly massive salvoes of 264 missiles each. However, even when fired in such a vast quantity the now obsolete munitions used by the Moebius units were vulnerable to interception and the Alliance mobile suits and armors responded with a vast counter barrage of beams and bullets. The black void lit up like a fireworks display as missiles were destroyed midflight. Others were simply dodged, and in the end the two huge waves of warheads only managed to destroy a few Moebius units and Strike-Daggers.

Though the missile attacks had been weathered with minimal losses, Rogers did not let himself get complacent. He'd seen, even as the mobile armors had launched their volleys, the Orb mobile suits break into two pincers. Leading each formation was a trio of Taurus mobile suits armed with heavy beam cannons in their fighter forms. Moving at breakneck speeds, the new machines let loose with their guns, and the large yellow beams that flew forth reminded Rogers of Wing Zero's main gun, albeit on a much smaller scale. Each beam impacted a target, with two mobile armors and three Strike-Daggers falling to the attacks. The fighter-mode units immediately broke off, with the rest of the Orb mobile suits rushing in to engage the enemy.

Clever, thought Rogers, They took some of the high speed units with the heaviest guns and are using them as hit-and-run strikers. While our units mix it up with theirs, those six Tauruses will continue to harass our formations, taking out a unit or two with each pass before pulling back and setting up for another attack.

It was a smart tactic, but one Rogers knew would only serve as an annoyance rather than an actual threat. With the enemy mobile suits and armors so heavily outnumbered by his own all the Rear Admiral would have to do was grind down the Orb formations until he could devote more units to chasing down and destroying the six fighter-mode Tauruses.

"Flight control," he said, "have all Strike-Avengers with the Sword Launcher and Double Launcher packs punch through the mobile armor screen. They're to begin hitting the enemy capital ships. All other units will engage the enemy mobile suits and the mobile armors that the advancing Strike-Avengers miss."

"Yes, Rear Admiral," said his mobile suit/armor combat controller, a blond haired man in his early twenties.

On the main monitor he saw the designated Strike-Avengers push forward into the swarm of defector mobile armors. The advanced mobile suits were vastly outnumbered, but their sophisticated systems and weapons coupled with the incredible reflexes of their augmented pilots were more than enough to compensate when their goal was simply to breach the enemy formations rather than dogfight every unit.

The Rear Admiral tapped a finger impatiently on the arm of his chair. His fleet's progress was good so far, but he was still concerned. The conical formation he had chosen, along with the deployment of his mobile suits and armors, was ideal for a full frontal assault like the one he was making now, but his rear was vulnerable. There was still no sign of Wing Zero or its allies, and Rogers was hoping to have his fleet take down the Orb forces and occupy the colony before the Demon Lord of Avalon could take the field. That would put him in a much better position to deal with the hated Heero Yuy.

If we push a little faster, a little harder, he thought, we'll make it. The colony's defenders will be neutralized, and we'll be ready to turn around and deal with the traitors and their allies when they arrive. The Archangel and Wing Zero will die here!

….

His shoulder-length jet black hair tied into a ponytail inside his dark green helmet, Collin Armistead had a manic grin on his face as he received his orders. His bright green eyes lit up as the Biological CPU charged forward with his Sword Launcher-equipped Strike-Avenger.

"You don't need to tell me twice," the eighteen year old boy cackled as he brought the Agni to bear on a mobile armor, blowing it and the unit behind it out of the sky with a blast of crimson energy, "They're all mine!"

Diving headlong into the swarm of Moebius units, the bloodthirsty young man attacked with wild abandon. Taking a broad swing with his anti-ship sword, he slashed a mobile armor clean in half with the violet beam on the edge of the metal blade. A split second later he opened up with his CIWS, shredding another unit.

Suddenly another blast of crimson energy tore through space mere meters to the right of his unit. It destroyed two mobile armors, but Collin barely noticed that as he scowled at the source of the shot. "God damn it, Agatha!" he yelled, "You almost hit me!"

"Shut up," replied Agatha Montgomery, a thirteen-year-old girl with short cropped black hair as her Double Launcher Strike-Avenger blasted away with its twin Agni cannons, blowing apart mobile armors with reckless abandon, "Stay out of my way, or next time I will hit you!"

"Fuck you!" Collin snarled as he cut down another Moebius unit with his sword, "You want a piece of me? Come and get it!"

"Both of you, get it together!" yelled another boy, this one a sixteen-year-old with his blond hair in a buzz cut and piloting a Sword Launcher Strike-Avenger, "Do you want to die out here?"

Collin gritted his teeth. "Quit nagging, Fred!"

"No," Fred Madison replied as he slashed a mobile armor in half, "We have to stay focused. What do you think Azrael and those fucking doctors will do to us if we screw up?"

That was enough to get Collin to give a little more consideration to the scenario. "Fine," he grumbled, "Just stay out of my way."

"Shit," groaned Agatha as she destroyed another mobile armor with one of her cannons, "bunch of pussies…"

His anger flaring again at his comrades words, Collin rushed the enemy with renewed ferocity. "Speak for yourself," he growled as he blew away two Moebius units with his Agni, "I'll have more kills than you by the time this is over, you fucking bitch!"

Agatha's response was two crimson blasts from her Agnis, obliterating three machines. "No fucking way, you little shit!" she yelled at him.

His anger fueling his actions, Collin led the charge as he and his fellow Biological CPUs cut into the enemy ranks. He was dimly aware of the other Double Launcher Strike-Avenger from the Reagan joining him, Agatha and Fred as they ripped mobile armors to pieces left and right. At the same time he saw the two Sword Launcher and two Double Launcher Strike-Avengers from the Perry diving into the fray with equal zeal, mauling mobile armors left and right as they carved a bloody swath towards the enemy warships and the colony.

I can't wait to get inside that thing, he thought with a sadistic grin as he slashed another Moebius unit, Then we can have some real fun ripping the place apart!

His mobile suit shook as the rounds of a mobile armor's linear gun impacted its Phase Shift Armor. Annoyed, Collin quickly found the source of the attack and charged the machine, impaling it through the cockpit.

"Don't fuck with me, you little bug," he sneered as he watched the mobile armor explode.

He wished he was back with the rest of the Alliance pilots as they fought the enemy mobile suits; that looked like a lot more fun than dealing with the weakling mobile armors.

"Come on!" he cackled as he hacked another Moebius unit to pieces with his sword, "Is that the best you bitches can do?"

The enemy had no answer for him save to continue their attacks, and Collin responded in kind. His Strike-Avenger and those of his teammates continued to blast and cleave their way through the mobile armor swarm, more than a few times narrowly missing each other in the process.

As Collin advanced he was peripherally aware of the larger engagement raging to his rear. The Alliance and Orb mobile suits and mobile armors were mixing it up in earnest now, and his fellow Biological CPUs not assigned to the forward charge were tearing into the enemy with unchecked ferocity. The four Aile Avengers were leading the counter against the swifter Taurus mobile suits, firing away with their beam rifles and wing-mounted missiles or engaging in close-quarters combat with their violet beam sabers. The new Orb mobile suits responded in kind, yellow beams blasting at the Alliance units and violet blades slashing and stabbing. Despite the enemy's speed and power advantage, the Aile Avengers were more than holding their own thanks to their augmented pilots and the defensive coverage provided by their shields. Collin saw a few of the strange machines fall to his brethren and figured they had the situation well in hand.

They were joined in their clash by the Twin Sword and Havoc Avengers. The former had their blades out and swinging left and right, cutting down any M1 or Taurus unlucky enough to cross their path. Occasionally one would let fly with a pink beam boomerang, and the energy projectile would slice a hapless unit in half. Meanwhile, the Havoc Avengers were tearing through the enemy ranks with their Mjolnir sphere-breakers and plasma cannons, the space around them shimmering as their special energy deflection/redirection systems worked to deflect enemy attacks or curve their own beams in unpredictable fashion, taking the enemy by fatal surprise. As for the rest of the Alliance mobile suits and armors, they were supporting the Strike-Avengers the best they could… while trying to avoid drawing their fire.

Like Collin and his teammates, the other Biological CPUs weren't exactly friendly even under the best of circumstances, and once they got into a fight it took every bit of what little restraint they had to avoid killing each other. Collin had long ago lost count of how many simulated fights where they had been assigned to work together had devolved into open brawls as they had fought over kills and eventually just because they got really pissed off at each other.

It was easy to chalk up the extreme aggression of the Biological CPUs to the drugs they had been put on and the conditioning, training, and outright brainwashing they had been subjected to, and indeed those were all valid reasons. However, there was an underlying factor to their barely controlled fury, their desire to lash out at everything around them. It wasn't something their superiors were aware of, but the pilots themselves were, and anyone with a sense of empathy and an understanding of psychology could understand it.

Collin and his fellow pilots, despite all the drugs and harsh conditioning they had gone through that had been specifically designed to not let them think about this, were fully aware of their true purpose in the Earth Alliance war machine. They knew that they had been taken and transformed into something they had never wanted to be because their superiors were desperate for a way to surpass the Coordinators. Each and every one of them was fully aware that those who commanded them actually hated them, viewed them as freaks, and saw them as disposable tools as opposed to human beings. They were expected to kill not because they had volunteered to fight in this war, but because they had been turned into living weapons against their will. What was worse in their minds was that there was no way out of the situation they were in; withdrawal from the drugs combined with the lethal collar around their necks ensured that. The only possible respite from their situation was death.

Whether by the hands of their enemies or those who commanded them, the Biological CPUs knew that their end would not come by natural causes. They were one of the darkest secrets of the Atlantic Federation; their superiors would never allow them a normal life outside the armed forces when the war was over. Collin and his comrades had been reshaped to be nothing more than instruments of war, and they all knew in their hearts that it would eventually kill them one way or another. This realization had brought despair into the volatile mix of fear and rage that their creators had worked so hard to permanently instill in them, and it served to fuel a deep rooted sense of nihilism and fury. They had been completely screwed over thanks to the hateful and power hungry men that ruled over the Atlantic Federation, but they were powerless to strike back, to try and gain their freedom. In response they had fully given themselves over to their primal rage, reveling in the thrill of battle because they literally had nothing else. Combat had become a game to them; the only thing they could take any amount of pleasure or satisfaction in.

The battlefield was the only place where they could feel some measure of control over their destiny, even though they knew that those who had forged them into what they were today had done so specifically to send them into combat. As they tore through the swarm of defector mobile armors like the wrathful demons the Atlantic Federation had turned them into they lost themselves in the rush of flying and fighting, in the fear and rage that came with being forced to fight in a life or death battle, and in the thirst to prove themselves better than their teammates, at once their deepest rivals and the only friends they now had.

For certain, corrupted values of 'friendship', at least. It was hard to really establish a bond of trust when your comrades could give into their overwhelming anger at any moment and shoot you just to satisfy themselves or out of annoyance at something you said. It was a harsh existence, filled with the cruel brutality that only people loyal to an organization as fanatical and murderous as Blue Cosmos could inflict upon the poor test subjects of the Biological CPU program. All the while they fought, trying to give their broken lives meaning by excelling in the purpose that they had been made for by a group of ruthless racists and their scientists, a small part of Collin and each of his fellow pilots were hoping for an end to their miserable situation.

Even if that end was death.

Taking aim with his Agni, Collin blew away two mobile armors with a blast of crimson energy before shooting down a third with his CIWS. He grinned as he saw the progress he and his comrades were making; the defectors' Moebius squadrons were in complete disarray despite vastly outnumbering the Strike-Avengers, and the Biological CPUs were closing fast with the renegade capital ships.

At the same time he took another glance at the rest of the battle unfolding behind him and his advance strike team. It was a brutal clash, with Orb M1 Astrays fighting Strike-Daggers and beam cannon-equipped Moebius units tooth and nail head on while the more agile Tauruses flitted about like mosquitoes, blasting units with their beam rifles or heavier cannons depending on what they had equipped. Collin could see that the upper hand clearly belonged to the Earth Alliance, thanks in no small part to the Strike-Avengers. The Twin Sword, Aile, and Havoc units were ripping apart the Orb formations; the enemy was on the ropes. Behind it all the Earth Alliance fleet advanced slowly and steadily, the escort ships at the outer edge of the formation firing their vulcan cannons into the fray.

As he sliced another Moebius in half Collin heard a transmission over the fleet channel. "All Aile Avengers," said the Reagan's combat flight controller, "move forward; cover the Sword Launchers and Double Launchers while they hit the enemy capital ships."

"Fuck that!" Agatha snarled over their squadron channel as she blasted three mobile armors with her Agnis, "We don't need their help!"

It was a rare occasion when Collin found himself in agreement with one of his fellow pilots, but this qualified as one. "Little bastards just want to steal our kills!" he sneered.

"Shut up, both of you!" yelled Fred as he hacked a mobile armor to pieces, "Grow a pair and deal with it."

"Piss off, Fred!" snapped Agatha.

"What she said," growled Collin.

Despite their displeasure with the move, they all knew that there was nothing they could really do about it. Collin could at least take some comfort from the fact that the Aile Avengers would be too busy swatting the mobile armor flies to get in on the action against the larger targets.

The big ships are worth more bragging rights, he thought as he sighted in on a Drake-class escort ship, with only a few Moebius units between him and it, and they're all mine!

In a life as twisted as his, he would take whatever fun he could get.

….

Leaning back in his chair, Rear Admiral Rogers allowed himself a rare smile. The battle was proceeding very well as far as he was concerned, and the fact that Wing Zero had yet to make an appearance on the field only increased his confidence.

At this rate we'll have no problem taking the colony and fortifying it before that damn thing arrives, he thought, This time you cannot stop us, Heero Yuy!

The Orb forces had fought well, he would grant them that, but the tsunami of Earth Alliance power bearing down on them now was overwhelming. The surviving M1s and Tauruses were being steadily pushed back, ground down under the might of the Strike-Dagger and modified Moebius squadrons, mauled and eviscerated by the incredible ferocity of the Strike-Avengers.

In an act of desperation, the surviving Taurus units had broken ranks, gone to fighter mode, and raced around the Strike-Dagger and Moebius formations to attack the Alliance fleet. Rogers had responded by having every ship in his force open fire, and the sheer volume of missiles, beams, and bullets unleashed in the salvo for a moment seemed to turn the space before them into a solid sheet of flame. The impressive agility of the Taurus units had not been able to save them; all of the new machines were annihilated in the onslaught.

The defecting warships allied with Orb had tried to respond, but with the advance team of Strike-Avengers now attacking them their counter was weak and unorganized, with four Drake-class escort ships and two Nelson-class battleships already destroyed by the Biological CPUs. A scattered barrage of bullets, beams, and missiles had been loosed by the surviving vessels, and indeed some Earth Alliance mobile suits and Moebius units had fallen, but it was not nearly enough to turn the tide. The warships' attacks had been further hampered by the presence of the surviving M1 Astrays and defector Moebius units; the desire to avoid friendly fire had limited the scope of the barrage almost as much as the disarray caused by the attacking Strike-Avengers.

As for the remaining Moebius units allied with Orb, they were being steadily picked off by the Aile Avengers that were covering the Sword Launcher and Double Launcher units, along with Strike-Dagger and Alliance Moebius teams that had broken through the M1 squadrons. Pleased with the incredible progress his forces had made, the Rear Admiral decided he could step up his timetable.

"Have the Double Launchers break off their attacks on the warships," he said, "They're to begin bombarding the main entrance. Move all other Strike-Avengers forward to eliminate the rest of the defectors' vessels. Strike-Daggers and Moebius units will continue to engage the remaining M1s and enemy mobile armors."

The flagship's flight controller nodded. "Understood, sir."

Thanks to information Lord Azrael had received from the Seirans and had passed on to Rogers, he knew that the two remaining Orb colonies had heavily reinforced their entranceways in the wake of the ZAFT attack on Heliopolis. It would take some effort to punch through the newly hardened docking bay doors, but the Rear Admiral was confident the Double Launchers had what was needed.

Even if it does deplete much of their energy reserves, he thought, we have more than enough firepower to make up for that. I can always order the Sword Launchers and Havoc Avengers to join them.

On the main monitor he saw the four Double Launchers follow his instructions, moving into position to breach the colony entrance. Eight Agni cannons opened up, their blasts of crimson energy hammering the heavy blast doors.

"It won't be long now," he said.

Events were far exceeding his expectations. He was way ahead of schedule, with the Orb forces and Alliance traitors all but defeated, his fleet advancing on the colony, and the penetration barrage already underway. Hell, the Biological CPUs still hadn't begun turning on each other, though their cooperation was far from what was hoped for. Rogers could already imagine the promotion he'd be due when this battle was over; he would finally make Vice Admiral.

They'll give me command of a full fleet instead of two battle groups, he thought, and it will be a force exponentially expanded by the vast buildup we've been undertaking and completely outfitted with mobile suits instead of mixed units. When the time comes I will lead that fleet in our final assault on the Coordinator homeland, and my name will go down in military history as a shining example to all future Alliance officers.

The normally cold and calculating Rear Admiral could already taste the sweet flavor of victory in his mouth. It was almost narcotic, so thrilling it was to have carried out such an important operation so smoothly.

It was enough to make Rogers forget about the one last hitch in his operation…

…until fate decided to punch him in the face with it.

"New contacts to our rear! There are four of them!" cried the sensor officer.

Rogers froze in his chair, his face paling as he realized just what was coming even before the sensor officer identified it… and that he was horribly out of position to deal with it.

"Massive energy spike coming from lead contact!" continued the sensor officer, not even trying to hide his fear, "It's Wing Zero!"

The image on the main monitor shifted, and Rogers could indeed see that infamous mobile suit, along with three of the other nuclear powered machines. A small part of his mind wondered where the other three were, but it was drowned out by the rest, which was focused squarely on Wing Zero. Its double barreled rifle was split, both guns up and ready.

He saw the tips of the two weapons begin to glow with golden-yellow light…

…and then all Hell broke loose.

….

(Start "117")

Pulling the triggers, Heero watched as two blasts of familiar hellfire ripped forth from the barrels of the split Twin Buster Rifle. Pillars of energy hit their targets dead on, obliterating a carrier designated Perry and a troopship identified as the Houston.

Perfect, he thought as he rejoined the two guns into the larger main weapon before drawing his beam saber, we're right in their blind spot.

A second later he saw the Judgment open up with its Tartarus rifle. A torrent of crimson plasma flew across the void, bisecting the troopship Manhattan from stern to bow. The resulting explosions ripped the ship apart.

Already lining up for his next target, Heero began sending data gained from the Zero System to Athrun and Kira. As he did so he kept an eye on the command ship, awaiting the strike of the Valkyrie's three cloaked subordinates.

It didn't take long. Mere seconds after Shemei had eliminated the Manhattan three volleys of six Lancer Dart missiles each appeared seemingly out of thin air, impacting the Reagan at her engines, dorsal beam cannons, and bridge. The poorly armored carrier was demolished by the combined barrage. As it was blown apart Heero saw the three Wraiths decloak and activate their Phase Shift Armor. The move was in the nick of time; all nearby ships had begun firing wildly with their CIWS.

"They're disorganized," said Shemei, and Heero could see her grinning on his screen, "We just decapitated their fleet!"

Heero nodded, though his expression remained as calm and collected as ever. "Agreed, but they'll recover as soon as command authority's been established by the next ranking officer. We need to hammer them before they get their act together."

"Look!" cried Kira, "They're targeting the colony!"

Focusing on Elysium, Heero could indeed see a quartet of mobile suits bombarding the colony entrance. His eyes narrowed as he saw that those machines were all more advanced versions of the original Strike, and that they were wielding new versions of its Launcher pack.

Two Agnis instead of one, he thought, That's bad news for the colony. With that kind of firepower hitting them, the doors will be breached any moment.

Indeed, Heero could already see that the main door was glowing orange-red from the repeated impacts. It may have been reinforced in light of what had happened to Heliopolis, but it had clearly not been meant to absorb the kind of punishment it was taking now.

Elysium's situation was rapidly deteriorating. The Gundam pilot could see the remaining M1 Astrays being surrounded by Earth Alliance Strike-Daggers and mobile armors, along with more of the advanced Strike that were wielding upgraded versions of the augmentations used by Kira's old machine. Heero also noted that four units were using a completely new configuration, one that struck him as a hybrid of the three prototypes that Kira and Athrun had clashed with during the invasion of Orb. In his mind the Gundam pilot designated those mishmash units 'Mutant Strikes', and he wasted no time in entering that into the Zero System; it was as good as anything else to call these new enemies until he learned their real names.

The Earth Alliance defectors were fairing no better than their Orb benefactors. Their warships were getting pounded, with only six escort ships and three battleships still in the fight, and for how much longer was in serious doubt. Heero saw that several mobile armors, each outfitted with the old armament of linear guns, were still fighting against the attacking Earth Alliance forces, but they were in disarray, and more importantly severely outnumbered and outgunned.

All this and more he took in within moments thanks to the Zero System, and it allowed him to plan their next move. "Valkyrie Team," he said, "hit the fleet with everything you've got; we have to keep them from advancing on the colony."

"Roger that," said Shemei, "Girls, you heard the man! Let's make these bastards pay for coming out here!"

"Yes ma'am!" all three replied.

"Kira, Athrun," said Heero, "We'll punch a hole through the Alliance mobile suit and armor formations. Neutralize all units trying to enter the colony. I'll draw as much fire as I can from their squadrons while you support the Alliance defectors and defend the colony entrance."

"Understood," said Athrun.

"Got it," said Kira.

"Good," said Heero as he targeted a battleship, "Let's go."

The moment he finished the sentence he opened fire, turning the battleship into a fireball. At the same time he saw the Judgment destroy another Nelson-class vessel with its heavy plasma rifle. Meanwhile, the Wraiths had proceeded to empty their remaining missiles on a third battleship, ripping it apart.

As they got closer to the enemy fleet Kira and Athrun finally opened fire. The Freedom's artillery mauled the guns and missile launchers of a Drake-class escort ship, knocking it out of the fight. At the same time, Athrun had opened fire with his rifle and beam cannons while at the same time throwing a beam boomerang. The green and pink energy projectiles punctured another escort ship, turning it into a fireball.

"Kira, Athrun, we'll skirt the edge of the fleet and hammer their forward squadrons," said Heero as he sighted in on his next target, an escort ship, "Valkyrie Team, keep going right up the gut."

"Copy that," said Athrun.

"Ok," said Kira.

"You got it, Heero," said Shemei as she fired her DRAGOONs and shoulder cannons and loosed a volley of twenty-four missiles into a battleship, obliterating the vessel under the sheer weight of the warhead and energy beam hailstorm.

"More like up the ass," said Adaline as she emptied her remaining missiles on an escort ship, ripping it to pieces, "We did hit them from behind, after all."

Lan chuckled as she mirrored Adaline's move, nailing another escort ship with the warheads she had left and annihilating it. "We're giving them one mean prostate exam. We must be the doctors from Hell."

"Lan, that's gross," said Pris as she hit a battleship with a volley of six missiles and railgun fire, destroying the bridge, "Couldn't you think of a better line?"

"Meh," Lan shrugged, "I use whatever pops in my head."

"Cut the chatter you three," said Shemei as she weaved through beam cannon and CIWS fire, setting up for her next attack, "We've got a job to do here."

"Yes, ma'am!" the girls replied as one.

Opening fire with the Twin Buster Rifle, Heero hit an escort ship, turning it into free floating atoms. At the same time he saw Kira pound a Nelson-class battleship with his guns, swiftly neutralizing the vessel's weapons. Meanwhile, Athrun cut loose with his beam rifle and the two cannons mounted on the Justice's backpack, and another escort ship bit the dust under a hail of emerald fire.

The fleet may have been caught off guard by their sudden attacks, but it wasn't taking the punishment they were dishing out lying down. Heero and the others weaved across space through an incredibly thick, if unorganized, hail of bullets, missiles, and energy beams. The Gundam pilot noted that, though all seven of the nuclear powered machines were drawing fire, he was subject to more of it than the others.

Even if I'm not in the thick of the fleet like Shemei and her subordinates, he thought as he destroyed another escort ship with a blast of golden-yellow energy, I'm still their primary target. I can use that…

Diving to avoid a salvo of heavy energy beams, Heero sighted in on the swarm of Earth Alliance mobile suits. Most of them were reorienting themselves to face the new arrivals, giving the surviving Orb units an opening to pull back and reinforce the defector warships and the colony. The Gundam pilot didn't think it would do much good against the new model Strike units the Earth Alliance was deploying, but it would buy some time, and that was what mattered.

"Kira, Athrun," said Heero as he brought the Twin Buster Rifle to bear on the swarm of mobile suits and armors and charged it up, "I'm about to clear you a path. Be ready."

Moments after he finished speaking he heard a beeping coming from his weapons monitor; his gun was at maximum charge.

Allowing the Zero System to guide his aim, Heero opened fire. The blast was angled to pass below the colony but still cut a swath of destruction through the enemy ranks, and it did not fail in its goal. The Perfect Soldier had the satisfaction of seeing no less than fifteen Strike-Daggers and twenty-one mobile armors go up in flames. Many of the other units had scattered wildly to avoid the blast, with several of the more advanced Strike units quickly reforming and coming right at him.

"Get going," said Heero, "I've got these guys."

Gunning his engines, the Gundam pilot rushed towards the incoming machines. There were no less than six of them moving ahead of the pack to engage him. Two were equipped with the improved Aile pack, two had the 'Mutant' augmentation, and two were wielding twin anti-ship swords.

That's right, Heero thought as he opened fire with his shoulder gatlings, I'm your opponent, the most dangerous combatant on this battlefield. Ignore the others; I'm the one you want to fight!

His bullets hit one of the Strikes that was wielding the twin anti-ship swords but did no damage, confirming to Heero that the units were utilizing Phase Shift Armor. No sooner had the shots landed on their target when Heero had been forced to dive as the 'Mutant' Strikes opened up with their plasma cannons. Jinking left and right as he continued downward, Heero was barely able to stay one step ahead of the two crimson lances of energy as they curved through space.

Good thing Kira showed us the Freedom's combat footage of that machine I destroyed at L4, he thought as he raised his shield to block a volley of emerald beams from one of the Aile units before deflecting a strike from another twin sword machine with his beam saber, That knowledge will come in handy here.

Bringing up his rifle again he opened fire. The blast of energy tore through space, but all six units managed to evade it. Heero could take some consolation from the fact that his shot was not completely wasted though, as he saw it destroy five Strike-Daggers and eight mobile armors that had been coming to join the fray and once again forced several more machines to go evasive, delaying their entry to his clash with the new models, but it was hardly the result he had been hoping for.

He pulled back as a 'Mutant' Strike lashed out with its sphere-breaker. The Gundam pilot then made a horizontal slash with his emerald blade, and the heavy spiked ball was cut in half. Heero had no time to follow up on his success though as he was force to climb to avoid shots from the other 'Mutant' and the advanced Aile Strikes. Moving to the right, he side slipped a vertical strike from an anti-ship sword before blocking a slash from his foe's second blade on his shield. Pushing forward, Heero countered with a diagonal strike of his own, catching the machine's left sword on its vulnerable backside and cutting it in half. He was then forced to break off as the other units moved in, firing away with their myriad weapons.

Taking quick aim Heero once again unleashed a blast from the Twin Buster Rifle. The six advanced Strikes scattered, but hitting them had not been Heero's intention. Instead the blast of energy downed four Strike-Daggers and seven mobile armors that had been trying to get in on the action and sent others into disarray.

At least I can keep the small fry at bay, thought Heero as he weaved through a series of intertwining, curving threads of crimson energy while bringing up his shield to block several emerald beams, but I'm still playing defense against the new models. I need to seize the initiative, and quickly.

He would have to if he wanted to really turn the overall battle around. The Earth Alliance forces may have been thrown into temporary disarray by the sudden strike on their rear, but already they were beginning to recover. Their fleet was splitting into two sections, with the larger segment remaining behind in an attempt to bombard the Valkyrie Team while the smaller group moved forward to reinforce the mobile suits and mobile armors. Shemei and her girls were still tearing into the fleet, and indeed Heero saw the Valkyrie down another battleship with her remaining missiles and fire from her DRAGOONs and shoulder cannons while the three Wraiths nailed an escort ship with a withering combined assault of beams and railgun rounds. However, even with their advanced machines and incredible skills, the Gundam pilot knew it would still be an uphill battle for the Valkyrie Team.

As for Athrun and Kira, even in the midst of his fight Heero could see them cutting their way through the enemy ranks towards the colony. Wing Zero's earlier shot had given them the opening they'd needed to advance, with the only mobile suits and mobile armors in their way still in disarray. The Justice had drawn both beam sabers and combined them into a double-bladed weapon, tearing through Strike-Daggers and Moebius units like a samurai through a bamboo thicket. Meanwhile, the Freedom only had one of its violet blades out; Kira tended to rely more on his mobile suit's guns than swordplay. Blasting away with his beam rifle, plasma cannons, and railguns, the young Coordinator from Heliopolis was disabling units left and right, and it would only be a matter of seconds before him and his childhood friend would be able to link up with the surviving defector warships.

They would have to do it quickly. Even as he had clashed with the new Alliance units Heero had been mindful of the withering bombardment the four Strikes with the twin Agnis had been subjecting Elysium's main entrance to. While their guns were not the strongest Heero had ever seen on a mobile suit the fact remained that they were lethal, and they were performing one of the tasks that they had been designed for; assaulting a fortified target. The huge slab of dark grey steel that was the main gate was almost a solid sheet of bright orange now from the punishment it had been taking, and there were several very prominent fractures. Heero knew that the gate would not hold much longer; a few more shots would be all it took to finish it off.

Even if Athrun and Kira stop those heavy units from entering the colony, Heero thought as he fired his shoulder gatlings, shooting down missiles that had been launched from the wings of the advanced Aile Strikes, or actually piercing the gate, there's plenty of other units that can finish the job. With the hits that thing's taken, the enemy won't need to apply much pressure now to finish the job.

Heero mentally cursed his occupation with the new Earth Alliance units. Even if distracting as much of the enemy force as he could had been his idea it didn't mean he was happy playing diversion while his foes were one badly damaged doorway away from slaughtering tens of thousands of civilians.

Images from that fateful night two years ago flashed through his mind. The flames in the colony's night, the charred and burned out ruins the morning after, the bodies lying everywhere…

…that lifeless little dog…

As tragic as that incident had been, Heero knew that it would pale in comparison to what the enemy would do if they were allowed to enter Elysium.

He refused to let that happen here.

"Those civilians," he growled as he gunned his engines, climbing above his foes, "are under our protection! I won't let you kill them!"

Taking aim with his rifle, the Perfect Soldier opened fire. A blast of energy tore across space, its target one of the 'Mutant' Strikes. Heero saw the space around the mobile suit ripple as it deployed its unique energy shields, but the new defensive system was like a wall of paper before the might of the Twin Buster Rifle even when fired at less than half strength. The wave of energy swept over the machine and destroyed it.

Nice to know I don't need full power to destroy those units, thought Heero as he evaded fire from the other machines and blocked an anti-ship sword Strike from the unit that had only one blade remaining on his saber, I guess La Flaga was right back at L4; maximum charge was overkill. Forty percent seems to work just fine.

Heero charged forward, pressing his foe hard before kneeing it in the chest, disorienting the pilot. Raising his shield, he then blocked a series of emerald beams from the advanced Aile unit before swiftly whirling around and deflecting another anti-ship sword strike, this one from the unit that still had both blades ready. Heero countered by firing his shoulder gatlings, and the impacts of the rounds forced his foe to pull back even though they stood no chance of piercing the Phase Shift Armor; the drain on the unit's power supply would still be noticeable by the pilot, which was what the Perfect Soldier had been counting on.

The two advanced Aile units and single remaining 'Mutant' unit moved in while the twin blade wielding Strikes regrouped. Heero prepared to parry a beam saber strike from the closest Aile unit when suddenly the machine was forced to dive to avoid a curving lance of plasma from the 'Mutant'. The other advanced Aile machine broke off as well as the 'Mutant' swung its sphere-breaker about wildly.

They almost hit their comrades, thought Heero as he did his best to avoid the heavy spiked ball, blocking the occasional blow on his shield, Their attacks weren't coordinated at all.

The 'Mutant' charged forward and took another powerful swing with its sphere-breaker. Heero pulled back to avoid the swipe, but before he could charge forward to counter with his beam saber he saw his foe suddenly get pushed aside by the shield of an Aile unit before the mobile suit leveled its beam rifle and fired.

Raising his shield to block the shot, Heero once again found himself confused at the odd behavior exhibited by his foes. They were all very aggressive, but there was very little teamwork between them. In fact, now they all seemed to be competing to be the one to attack him.

He might not have understood why his foes were acting this way, but Heero certainly wasn't going to complain about it. With the overall situation still very grave for the Elysium colony, the Gundam pilot would take all the help he could get.

Gunning his engines, Heero charged the advanced Aile unit that had attacked him. Keeping his shield up to block the emerald beams his foe shot at him, Heero slammed his mobile suit right into his opponent. The tackle knocked the Alliance machine off balance, giving Heero the opening he needed to drive his green blade through the mobile suit's chest.

Just as swiftly as he charged, Heero retreated as the rest of his foes moved to attack him. After he'd gained a bit of room he brought up the Twin Buster Rifle and opened fire. The four surviving units scattered, but the shot was not wasted. As had been his intention with some of his other past shots in this fight, Heero's blast tore into a formation of Strike-Daggers and beam cannon equipped Moebius units that had been coming up to join the fray, destroying four of the former and three of the latter and causing the rest to scatter once again.

Opening up with his shoulder gatlings, Heero pounded one of the anti-ship sword wielding Strikes, further depleting its valuable energy reserves. As he hit the unit he sought out the other one, and found it rushing in to strike while its comrade was taking fire. Acting quickly, Heero altered course and hit his thrusters, meeting the approaching unit head-on. His foe raised their sword for an overhand strike and brought it down hard. Raising his shield, Heero blocked the attack before stabbing the advanced Strike in its exposed gut.

Pulling his emerald blade out as the mobile suit exploded, Heero was forced to dive to avoid a volley of energy beams, missiles, and a curving lance of plasma. He noted that there was too much fire for his three surviving adversaries to be putting out, and it was not hard to find the source of the additional shots; the smaller portion of the Alliance fleet that had broken off from the main group to advance.

Their not going all out, Heero as he twisted and turned through the barrage, They're actually trying to avoid friendly fire. Rather conscientious of them; not what I expected given the Earth forces' officers' casual regard for the lives of their soldiers. I guess whoever was next in the line of command actually has a sense of human decency. Too bad they're on the wrong side.

As he evaded the enemy fire he took a brief moment to observe the rest of the battle. He quickly found the remaining 'Mutant', advanced Aile, and dual wielding anti-ship sword Strikes that had not engaged him before; they were busy tearing into the surviving Orb mobile suits and defector mobile armors. Kira and Athrun were clearing the last few enemy units in their way, and Heero hoped that they would be able to quickly neutralize the more advanced machines and help their allies secure the colony.

That couldn't come soon enough. Even from this distance and in the midst of his personal battle Heero could see that the colony's main gate was beginning to buckle under the fierce bombardment the four dual-Agni wielding Strikes were hitting it with. The cracks in it had grown more prominent, and there was a very noticeable inward bent to the superheated metal. It was nearly at the breaking point.

Matters were better with regards to the Earth Alliance fleet itself, but not by much. The Judgment and the three Wraiths were continuing to take out battleships and escorts left and right, but whoever had assumed command of the force after the carriers had been destroyed had managed to sufficiently reorganize their warships to the point of being able to deliver coordinated counter fire. Also, several mobile suits and armors had begun to pull back towards the fleet to support the warships in their fight against the Valkyrie Team, and Heero could only hope that Shemei and her girls could handle the increasing pressure.

"Time to end this," he said softly, his eyes narrowing as his three foes approached.

They weren't flying with any sense of real formation or unity; all three were simply charging in headlong, each trying to outmaneuver the others and set up for the first shot at him. The 'Mutant' Strike actually took a swing at the anti-ship sword-wielding Strike with its sphere-breaker, causing it to pull back a little. A split second later though the 'Mutant' was forced to activate its energy shield as the advanced Aile Strike actually shot at it with its beam rifle. The whole display reminded Heero of his clash back at Alaska with the three ZAFT Special Operations Squadrons that had confronted him at the beginning of the battle, only it was more extreme; while Grün, Röt, and Schwarze Teams had merely tried to force each other to break off so they could have the glory of taking Wing Zero down, these three units seemed to be actively attempting to kill each other.

Hardly the acts of professional pilots, the Gundam pilot thought as he picked his first target, but it's making my job easier, so I won't complain.

He opened fire with the Twin Buster Rifle. The blast was aimed at the 'Mutant' Strike, but it managed to dodge the shot. That was fine by Heero though; putting that unit on the defensive gave him the key opening he needed to hit his real target.

Heero let off a quick burst with his shoulder gatlings at the advanced Aile unit, causing it to raise its shield. While it was blocking the bullets the Gundam pilot charged in, bringing up his own shield to deflect an anti-ship slash from the third unit as he did so. Brushing off his attacker, Heero fired another short burst from his gatlings at the advanced Aile Strike. Again the unit blocked the attack on its shield, but it gave Heero the opportunity he was looking for. Jinking quickly to the left, he cut down the Aile unit as he streaked past its right side.

Not even bothering to watch as the mobile suit exploded, Heero immediately charged the 'Mutant' Strike. Diving to avoid a curved blast of plasma and bringing his shield up to block a beam boomerang from the sword unit, Heero came up beneath his target. The 'Mutant' Strike swung down with its sphere-breaker, but the Perfect Soldier had anticipated the move and met it with his beam saber. The green energy blade cut the spiked ball in half, and both sections sailed harmlessly past Wing Zero. Gunning his thrusters, Heero raised his beam saber and skewered the 'Mutant' Strike from below.

He whirled around as the machine exploded, and not a moment too soon; the advanced Sword Strike was charging at him, its blade thrust outward in an attempt to impale him. Shifting to the left, Heero redirected the blow with his beam saber before opening fire with his shoulder gatlings. The rounds pounded the unit's Phase Shift Armor, doing no damage but forcing the enemy to go evasive lest they lose precious power. With his foe at range now and on the ropes, Heero brought up the Twin Buster Rifle and cut loose.

Amazingly, his foe barely managed to avoid being destroyed by the blast, but they did not come out unscathed; they had caught the edge of the shot, with their right arm and the anti-ship sword held by it completely destroyed. Rather than retreat though, the enemy grabbed one of the knives mounted at the mobile suit's hip and charged Heero.

As he prepared to meet the attack he heard a voice over an open channel. It was young, female, and the Gundam pilot was struck by its shrill ring of rage and fear.

"Why won't you fucking die?" his opponent shrieked, "Why can't we kill you?"

Heero didn't answer. Instead he simply slipped into the weak spot created by the loss of his foe's right arm and impaled the mobile suit on his emerald blade.

He didn't know why, but after hearing the voice of the enemy pilot he felt a strange feeling of guilt as he cut her down. It wasn't like the normal burden that came with killing people in combat; this was almost nauseous, like he was going to be sick. Nor was it because his latest victim was female; though the Gundam pilot would never hurt a woman in any other situation, when they were enemy soldiers on the battlefield he gave them no more consideration than he would men. Heero couldn't explain it, but he had a suspicion that the pilot he had just killed and those that had fought alongside her in those new models were not normal soldiers. There behavior hadn't just been unusual during the fight; something about it had felt wrong.

Who were they?, he thought as he watched the mobile suit explode, Who did I just kill? Those weren't regular pilots, and I don't think they were elites either… something's not right here.

Heero shook his head. Worrying about the pilots he was taking down in the middle of a battle was not going to aid his effectiveness. Whatever was up with his foes, he could figure it out when the fighting was over.

And there was plenty of fighting left to be had. Heero may have removed six dangerous pilots and their mobile suits from the field, but there was still the rest of the Earth Alliance force to deal with. The Perfect Soldier wanted to advance and rejoin Kira and Athrun, but the smaller portion of the Earth Alliance fleet that had detached from the main body earlier was moving on him fast, and there were plenty of Strike-Daggers and Moebius units that wanted to hit him from the other angle.

I can't let those ships get any closer to the colony, he thought as he evaded enemy fire, and the more small unit teams I draw towards me the easier Kira and Athrun's job is. The enemy's main priority may be Elysium, but they're still devoting resources to taking me down, and I need to make the most of it.

Sighting in on the closest Drake-class escort ship with his Twin Buster Rifle, Heero contacted the pilots of the Freedom and Justice. "Kira, Athrun," he said as he took the shot, blowing the vessel away, "I'm going to be busy back here for a while. The colony's in your hands; do whatever it takes to protect it."

(End "117")

….

Kira nodded as he opened fire with the Freedom's artillery, disabling two Strike-Daggers and three Moebius units. "Got it, Heero," he said.

There was no response from Wing Zero's pilot, but Kira couldn't blame him for that. All it took was a glance to see that Heero was in the thick of the Earth Alliance forces, contending with warships, mobile suits, and mobile armors. The same went for the Valkyrie Team; there was no way that they could come to help out Kira and Athrun when they were in the middle of the Alliance fleet hammering away at their capital ships and smaller units while trying to stay one step ahead of the storm of return fire they were facing.

To his right Kira saw Athrun cut down two Strike-Daggers with his double-bladed beam saber before shooting down a mobile armor with the beam cannons mounted on the Justice's backpack. Those were the last obstacles between the two young men and the defector warships and Orb forces… or rather, what was left of them.

The warships that had been defending the colony had been decimated by the new model Strikes. Only three Drake-class escort ships and two Nelson-class battleships were left in action, and if Kira and Athrun didn't get to them soon that number would be reduced to nothing. The surviving M1 Astray and defector mobile armor squadrons were shells of their former selves, and Kira was amazed that any of them were left alive given the ferocity of the Earth Alliance assault.

Sighting in with the Freedom's artillery, Kira immediately picked out a group of six mobile suits, all new models. Two were Aile units, two were Twin Sword units, and the other two were hybrids of the three machines he'd fought at Orb.

"Athrun," he said, sending his friend the data on his designated targets, "I'll take these guys."

Athrun nodded. "Alright. I'll try to punch through to the ones that are hitting the colony."

Bringing all his guns to bear, Kira opened fire. Plasma blasts, railgun rounds, and emerald beams tore through space in a brilliant multicolor barrage. However, the impact of his bombardment was far less than he'd hoped. The two Aile units lost their beam rifles but had managed to protect their heads with their shields, while the hybrid machines had utilized the same energy barrier Kira had seen the green prototype use back at Orb. As for the dual wielding anti-ship sword units, they had simply moved behind the hybrid units, letting them tank the shots.

They reacted fast, he thought, just like those pilots from Orb. This won't be easy…

The six units spread out and immediately attacked. Kira dived and brought his shield up to evade one curving blast of plasma and block another while also dodging two beam boomerangs. Four missiles flew forth from the Aile units, and Kira shot the warheads down with his CIWS.

Gunning his engines, the young man charged the unit furthest on the right of the enemy formation, one of the Twin Sword Strikes. He lashed out with his beam saber, hoping to take out at least one of the unit's arms, but his foe managed to block the slash and counter with its second blade. Kira blocked that attack on his shield, but before he could make a counterattack of his own he was forced to break away as the second Twin Sword unit came in, slashing with both blades.

Damn, he thought as he blocked one sword on his shield and the other on his beam saber, these guys are good.

Pushing his thrusters into reverse, Kira backed off and opened fire with his beam rifle. The emerald beam hit his foe in the left elbow, blowing off the rest of the arm and the sword it held with it. Kira had no time to celebrate his progress though; the two hybrid Strikes and advanced Aile units were closing in, and they looked like they meant business.

Bringing up his shield, he was able to block the swing of a hybrid's sphere-breaker, but the impact still rocked his machine. As he tried to counter he was suddenly forced to dive as the two Aile units came in with their beam sabers, trying to spear him from both sides. Kira managed to get away, but as he was about to open fire on them the second hybrid unit swung its sphere-breaker, hitting the Freedom from behind.

"Augh!" he groaned as he was thrown forward in his seat by the impact. The hit was followed up by two smaller ones as the guns that were integrated into the mobile suit's shield opened fire.

Gritting his teeth, Kira whirled the Freedom around and opened fire. However, his foe simply brought up its energy shield, harmlessly deflecting the rounds and beams. Kira had little time to launch a second attack; the two Sword Strikes were moving in fast, each hoping to impale him on their blades.

Hitting the thrusters, Kira charged the unit that he had damaged earlier. Moving in hard and fast, he took a swing with his beam saber. The Earth Alliance mobile suit managed to block his attack, but Kira quickly countered with a second swing, this one to the backside of the anti-ship sword, snapping the blade in half.

Good, the boy thoughts as he turned to block the blades of the second unit, catching one on his sword and the other on his shield, he's out of the fight.

A sudden impact to his machine's back proved him wrong; Kira's eyes widened as he saw that the Strike had drawn one of its knives and had actually tried to stab him. The metal blade could not pierce the Freedom's Phase Shift Armor of course, but the fact that his foe had actually made such a foolish attack caught the boy completely off guard.

His surprise gave the other advanced Sword Strike an opening to attack again. It came in hard, both blades swinging, and Kira was forced to dive in order to avoid both slashes and the knife-wielding unit, which took another futile stab at him.

"What's with this guy?" Kira said as he tried to put some space between him and his attackers.

The only answer he got was a fresh offensive from the other four units. Two curving crimson lances of plasma forced the young Coordinator to raise his shield and keep on the defensive, and no sooner had those beams been fired when he was faced with the advanced Aile units coming at him from both sides. Picking the one on the right as his target, Kira unloaded on the machine with everything he had. His efforts at disabling his foe were successful, as the head camera was shot off and its sword-arm destroyed at the elbow. However, rather than retreat, the unit simply drew a knife with its remaining arm just like the Sword unit had before.

Firing a hasty volley with his rifle, Kira managed to temporarily dissuade his foe, and not a moment too soon; the other new Aile unit and the hybrid machines were about to attack. Leveling all his artillery at the Aile machine, Kira opened up. Like the earlier mobile suit he actually managed to knock out the head camera and the arm that held the beam saber, but just like before the unit simply drew one of its hip-mounted knives and kept charging.

"Damn it, not him too," hissed Kira as he raised his shield to block a curving blast of plasma while dodging another one. His foes were just as aggressive as those three Earth Alliance prototypes he'd fought before, arguably more so. The young man wondered what it would take to get them to withdraw.

I'm taking too much time, he thought, just like Orb…

It only took a glance at his sensors to see just how desperate the situation was, how he could not afford to be stuck engaging these six machines. The four mobile suits wielding the twin Agni cannons were hammering away at the colony entrance. Kira could see the heavy slab of steel glowing orange-red with the head, with multiple large cracks and sagging heavily inward. It was a testament to the Orb engineers that the door had held up this long under such punishment, but it was clearly at its limit. The boy doubted it would last another minute.

Kira could see that Athrun had made greater progress than he had with regard to his foes. His old friend was mixing it up with the hybrid Sword/Launcher Strikes that had been attacking the defector warships, and he was playing for keeps. The Justice had already cut one of the advanced mobile suits in half with its double-bladed beam saber, and in the split-second Kira was watching it had sliced the Agni cannon off of another, though the Freedom's pilot was sure that Athrun had been going for a lethal blow.

His conversation from a few days ago with Waltfeld and Aisha echoed in his mind, one segment in particular proving to be quite relevant to his current situation.

"The longer you spend fighting against high-caliber foes," said Aisha, "that's more time you're not spending neutralizing other enemies and helping us win the battle. If you're truly willing to go all-out, then none of Zala's elites should be able to stand against you, and I imagine the same would go for the Alliance's hotshots."

"So I should kill them just because it's more expedient?" said Kira, incredulous at what he was hearing.

"Partially," said Waltfeld bluntly, "but also because it will ultimately save lives. Not theirs, perhaps, but those of your friends, your comrades, and ultimately the innocent people we're trying to defend from madmen like Azrael and Zala. Kira, while you're right in that most of the pilots we fight against probably don't truly believe in the vile rhetoric espoused by their superiors, some of them do. I know you can't tell one's political affiliations or ideals apart from another when they're inside a mobile suit, but there's another thing you have to take into consideration."

Do I have no choice?, he thought as he dodged another round of curving plasma blasts from the two hybrid units, Do I…

Do I have to kill them?

The two hybrid units fired more curving shots while the other four units closed in, three wielding knives and the fourth still in possession of both its anti-ship swords. Recognizing that last one as the greater threat to him, Kira leveled the Freedom's guns at it and opened up. With all his artillery concentrated on a single target, the boy was certain that he'd inflict overwhelming damage to it.

He was both right and wrong. The multicolor barrage was indeed devastating, destroying both the mobile suit's arms and knocking out its head camera, leaving it with absolutely no offensive options and reduced visibility. However, to his horror the damage did not seem to slow him foe down; the advanced, if severely battered, Sword Strike continued to charge, intent on ramming him.

"You've got to be kidding me!" cried Kira even as he shifted his aim to the other incoming units and opened fire, "What's wrong with these guys?"

His enemies did not seem inclined to answer his question, save to renew their attacks upon him. Even as Kira's shots took out their head cameras and knives they still came in like linebackers going for a tackle. It was utter insanity; their focus was completely on attacking him, without a thought to self-preservation. Even the three machines and their pilots that he'd fought at Orb hadn't struck him as so reckless. They were aggressive, yes, but compared to these pilots their actions seemed positively tame.

His surprise at his ferocious, seemingly suicidal damaged foes distracted him from the two that still had their complete arsenals at their disposal. Kira was barely able to bring his shield up as the first hybrid Strike swung down hard with its sphere-breaker, and blocking that attack left him open to one from the second unit. The swing hit the Freedom hard on the right side, and Kira's head struck the side of the cockpit. Were it not for his helmet the boy knew he would've been knocked right out, and as it was he was definitely shook up by the impact.

He could see the colony in the background, and the knowledge of the civilians living on it, counting on his actions, fueled his response. The boy managed to climb above his attackers, and when he gained a little space he rained down fire on them. Once again the space around the two hybrids shimmered, and Kira's shots were deflected by the energy shields.

Hitting his thruster, Kira rushed in, putting away his beam rifle and drawing his second saber as he did so. Targeting one of the hybrid units, he braced himself for the sphere-breaker swing he knew was coming. When his foe struck as he'd predicted, Kira ducked under the swing and sliced through the thick cable connecting the ball to the mobile suit with his right blade, sending the spiky orb floating off into space. A split-second later he stabbed his left blade into the plasma cannon mounted on the machine's backpack, and the weapon exploded.

The boy was then forced to dive as the second machine took a swing with its sphere-breaker, aiming for his back. Kira managed to evade the hit, and indeed he had the satisfaction of seeing the spiked ball slam into the hybrid unit he'd just attacked, knocking it off balance; apparently its energy shields were useless against the melee weapon it wielded.

Swooping in to take advantage of the confusion, Kira sliced off the arm of the machine that had just hit its comrade, depriving it of its sphere-breaker. Both his foes raised their shields in response and opened fire with the guns mounted on them. The physical rounds were no threat to the Freedom, but Kira still backed off; his other foes were closing in.

Facing the lead unit, he saw it was one of the advanced Sword units, though at this point it almost didn't matter. Those two machines and the new Aile units alike had been reduced to either wielding their knives or nothing at all as their arms had been destroyed by the Freedom, with this unit being one of the latter.

As the mobile suit closed in Kira heard a male voice over an open channel, and he was surprised to realize that it was the enemy pilot. "I will fucking kill you!" his foe snarled. The sheer, unadulterated rage in their voice chilled the young Coordinator.

His mind flashed back to the battle in the Marshall Islands months ago, more specifically to the moment when the Aegis had charged and latched on to the Strike before self-destructing. Kira couldn't say how, but right then he knew that his enemy was making a suicide run. His face paled as his foe approached, his mind torn. Even if the new Strike self-destructed when it hit the Freedom, the explosion would not be enough to take down the ZAFT prototype. However, it could definitely damage the mobile suit's weapons or sensors, leaving Kira vulnerable to attacks from the other machines or regular Earth Alliance forces. Disabling his foe was not an option; he'd whittled this unit down as far as he could, and it had refused to back down.

"I… no…" he said softly, freezing.

Another image flashed through his mind, one he definitely had not expected. It was none other than the face of Lacus Clyne. She didn't say anything; she just gave him that same kind, serene smile that she always did.

It made no sense to think of such a peaceful girl at a time like this… save for one reason.

If he died here, what would that do to her?

In that moment, the tens of thousands of innocent people inside Elysium faded from his concern, as did his friends and allies he was fighting alongside.

There was only Lacus, and his growing feelings for her.

In death, he would lose both.

He could not let that happen.

He would survive…

…no matter what he had to do.

On his screen, he saw two crimson lances of plasma and two yellow railgun rounds slam into his foe, ripping the advanced Strike apart. Kira couldn't recall firing; he must've done it on pure instinct.

He had killed on pure instinct.

He couldn't stop to think about it; that would paralyze him, and that was the last thing he could afford right now.

The other armless Sword Strike was charging in, head-mounted CIWS blazing, the bullets uselessly peppering the Freedom as the Alliance machine moved in to ram it. Before it could do so, Kira lashed out with his beam sabers. The twin violet blades eviscerated the mobile suit, turning it into little more than scraps and a brief burst of flame.

The two damaged Aile Strikes were next to go. Both units fired away with their CIWS, their pilots raging incoherently over an open channel. Kira didn't both listening to what they were saying, opting instead to quickly blow them out of space with his plasma cannons.

Now all he had to deal with were the two hybrid Strikes. One fired at him with its plasma cannon, but the other had been deprived of that weapon courtesy of Kira and was forced to use the guns integrated into its shield. Kira easily dodged the curving blast of crimson energy and blocked the rounds from the other unit on his shield before returning fire. The red lances of plasma and yellow railgun rounds were deflected by his foes' energy shields, but Kira had expected that and had simply used the barrage to get his enemies to play defense while he charged in. Both units drew the knives kept at their hips, but by the time they did it was far too late to use them. Passing between the hybrid Strikes, Kira cut them both down in the blink of an eye.

Breathing heavily, Kira searched for Athrun on his sensors. He found his old friend just dispatching the last of the combined Sword/Launcher units that he had been engaging, but while Kira had been fighting his foes two of the mobile suits with the twin Agnis had apparently broken off their attack on the colony and were now fighting the Justice. They were firing away with their heavy guns, keeping Athrun on the defensive, his shield raised to block the crimson blasts until he could find an opening to exploit.

The two mobile suits' preoccupation with Athrun gave Kira the perfect opening to attack. Coming in hard and fast, he speared one of the units through its right torso with his beam saber. As the machine exploded Athrun took the opportunity to retaliate against his other attacker, throwing a beam boomerang at it. The pink energy projectile caught the enemy mobile suit right in the cockpit, slicing the machine in half as it passed through.

"Thanks," said Athrun.

"No problem," Kira replied. Inside he was more than a little shaken up at what he had done, but now was not the time to worry about it.

What he did have to worry about was the colony, and he got a very unpleasant update on that courtesy of none other than Heero.

"You're too late," said the Gundam pilot, "The gate's been breached."

….

So you're finally able to do what is necessary again, Kira, thought Heero as he cut down a Strike-Dagger, If only you'd been able to do that sooner.

Even in the midst of his fierce struggle against the Earth Alliance warships, mobile suits, and mobile armors Heero had still been able to keep track of the two Coordinators that had been designated as his wingmen for this battle. It had become immediately apparent that the advanced mobile suits they had clashed against were piloted by people much like those that Heero had fought; combatants with quick reflexes and extreme aggression but only rudimentary teamwork, and even that had disintegrated as the battle had gone on. Athrun had engaged his foes with his usual efficiency, just as Kira had fought in an attempt to disable his foes. However, against opponents who did not know when to withdraw, the latter's restraint did little good. Heero had considered intervening, but he had quickly realized that he could not; he was keeping a considerable amount of the Earth Alliance force occupied, and if he broke of his attack then they would be free to redouble their efforts against the surviving Orb mobile suits and defector warships and mobile armors, not to mention the colony itself.

Even though two of the advanced Launcher units that had been pounding the colony's entrance had broken off from their bombardment to go fight Athrun, Heero had known that the gate's collapse was inevitable. The firepower wielded by just the two remaining units would be enough to finish the job in light of the damage the massive door had taken, and indeed mere moments before Kira had finished off his last foes and gone to help Athrun the pair of advanced Launcher units had fired one final salvo, blasting apart the cracked and bent gate.

Heero had wondered whether or not the two units that had completed the bombardment would enter the colony or move to engage Athrun and Kira. They had swiftly chosen the former, and they were not alone; squadrons of Strike-Daggers and mobile armors were moving towards the breach. It was a relatively small amount when compared to the overall Earth Alliance force even after the casualties it had suffered at the hands of Heero and his comrades, but it was still enough to wreak considerable havoc inside the colony.

Some of the mobile suits and armors that had been engaging Heero earlier had broken off and begun charging towards the colony. The Gundam pilot had wanted to stop them, but the remaining units and fire from the incoming warships prevented him from giving chase. Matters were much the same for the Valkyrie Team; they were too entangled with the Earth Alliance fleet to break loose and come to the colony's aid. Some Strike-Daggers and Moebius units continued to engage the surviving M1s and defector mobile armors, but others had left their ranks and moved on to the colony as well. With their forces so badly depleted and the survivors desperately trying just to stay alive, there was no way the colony's original defenders could move to stop the enemy from getting inside.

"Kira, Athrun," said Heero as he blasted an escort ship with the Twin Buster Rifle, "go after them!"

"Heero, the Orb forces will be killed without our help!" cried Kira.

"At least they can fight back," Heero replied coldly as he shot down a Moebius unit with his shoulder gatlings, hardly believing that the boy would argue at a time like this, "Those colonists and refugees can't, Kira. The Orb forces can no longer save them; that's our duty now. Go!"

"Come on, Kira!" said Athrun, "We don't have time to waste!"

Heero saw Kira nod on his screen. "Right. Let's go!"

About time, he thought as he blocked a yellow beam saber strike on his shield before stabbing the attacking unit in the gut.

Even as he saw the Freedom and Justice rush after the Earth Alliance mobile suits that had already entered the colony though, he knew that Kira's words about the Orb forces were true. The Perfect Soldier and the Valkyrie Team might be managing to keep many of the enemy forces occupied, but there were still mobile suits and armors that would be able to attack and finish off the colony's original defenders.

We're just too spread out, he thought as he slashed another mobile suit in half while evading fire from other machines and the incoming warships, We may have the most powerful mobile suits in the Cosmic Era, but there's only seven of us against a force that numbers scores of capital ships and hundreds of mobile suits and armors. We can't hold them back without help.

Diving to avoid a fresh salvo of beams from a group of mobile armors and Strike-Daggers, Heero turned his Twin Buster Rifle on them and cut loose. The blast of energy he unleashed on them took down three of the mobile suits and two mobile armors while the rest scattered, giving Heero some space to attack the incoming capital ships.

Moving left and right to keep ahead of all the beams, missiles, and shells flying around, Heero sighted in on the closest craft, an escort ship. The warship was already bringing its warhead launchers to bear on him and cut loose as the Gundam pilot faced it. A swarm of light and heavy missiles flew from the vessel, but Heero did not move to evade them. Increasing the charge of his main gun, the Perfect Soldier met the barrage with a wave of destruction from his fearsome rifle. The torrent of energy consumed the missiles before impacting the source of them a moment later, turning the escort ship into little more than superheated bits of scrap metal.

Another down, he thought as he climbed to avoid potshots from a group of mobile armors, but there's still plenty more to go.

At the start of the battle the Earth Alliance invasion fleet had numbered sixty-four capital ships, along with hundreds of mobile suits and armors. The efforts of Heero and his allies had inflicted significant losses in all three categories, but there were still no less than thirty-four warships left on the field, and they had shown no sign of giving up. With the way the fleet had divided itself, the Perfect Soldier was currently facing eight escort ships and three battleships, while the Valkyrie Team was contending with no fewer than thirteen Drakes and nine Nelsons. Into that mix were scores of Strike-Daggers and beam cannon equipped Moebius units, and while it may not have been the ZAFT Home Fleet and the Avalon battle station it was still enough to make for an uphill battle.

Especially since we're on defense, not offense, Heero thought as he stabbed a Strike-Dagger through the cockpit, If we were raiding the fleet, punching through it in a blitz attack, it would be different, but our job here is to keep them away from the colony. Seven mobile suits are not enough to form a solid defense, no matter how advanced they are or how skilled their pilots are.

He shook his head as he slashed another Strike-Dagger in half. "It doesn't matter," he said, "I'll defend the colony no matter what!"

His defiant message was not broadcast over any channel, but the enemy acted like they had heard it nonetheless by redoubling their assault on him. The eleven warships he was facing had been transitioning into a crescent formation in an attempt to envelop him, with the three Nelson-class battleships making up the center while the eight Drake-class escort ships composed the arms while the mobile suits and armors working with them tried to keep Heero pinned in roughly the same part of space. It was a classic maneuver, and one Heero knew he could break by charging forward and hitting the center of the line, but if he did that he feared that even more mobile suits and mobile armors would rush past him and head for the colony, along with some of the warships. However, with the way his enemies were moving in it looked like he would not have much of a choice in the matter.

Shooting down a mobile armor with his gatling cannons, Heero then took aim at the centermost battleship with the Twin Buster Rifle and opened fire. The blast of golden-yellow energy obliterated the warship, but the Gundam pilot had no time to celebrate. As soon as the beam had been fired Heero had immediately gone back on the defensive as more mobile suits and mobile armors attacked. Joining them were the warships, unleashing a rain of beams, bullets, and missiles.

Knowing he had to take the fight to them, Heero accelerated headlong into the hailstorm of fire directed at him by the capital ships. Angling towards the right arm of the crescent to avoid some of the barrage, the Perfect Soldier sighted in on an escort ship and opened up. His foe was destroyed by a torrent of golden-yellow hellfire, but Heero gained little respite; the rest of the warships were already adjusting their vector in an attempt to get him back under the majority of their guns.

As he prepared to fire on the next escort ship the Gundam pilot realized that the amount of fire coming at him had lessened even more than he had anticipated given his new attack angle. It only took a split-second for him to find the reason for that; several mobile suits and armors had broken off from their clash with him and were rushing to join the battle against the surviving Orb forces and the defectors that had allied with them. Already the few remaining M1 Astrays and older Moebius units were engaged in a last stand, and while the Perfect Soldier admired the incredible tenacity they were showing in the face of such overwhelming odds he knew that they would not last much longer. The same went for the three Drake-class escort ships and two Nelson-class battleships that the defectors still had in play; all five ships were damaged to varying degrees, but even without that it was quite clear that they would not be able to hold out against the Earth Alliance assault, especially without the Freedom and Justice supporting them.

His eyes narrowing, Heero opened fire. The escort ship was obliterated, but Wing Zero's pilot could not stay on the offensive; the enemy formation had reoriented itself to the point that they could bring more of their firepower to bear on him, and Heero quickly found himself hard pressed to stay one step ahead of the Earth Alliance gunners. Bullets, beams, and missiles filled the space around him as the Gundam pilot tried to find another opening to attack again.

I can't afford to dance around like this, he thought as he shot down a flock of missiles with his shoulder gatlings while blocking energy beams on his shield, Kira and Athrun may be chasing those two Launcher units into the colony, but the entrance is still wide open now; plenty of room for more Alliance units to slip in.

Climbing above the enemy and slicing a Strike-Dagger in half while doing so, Heero managed to get enough breathing room to set up his next shot. Pulling sharply to the right to dodge a salvo from a battleship's heavy beam cannons, Heero sighted in on the warship that had taken the shot and cut loose. The Nelson-class vessel was blown away by the blast, but that still left one battleship and six Drake-class escort ships in the formation he was currently engaged with, and combined with the mobile suit and armors supporting them it was enough to keep him tied up.

We need a game changer, he thought as he stabbed a mobile armor through the cockpit, Right now we're just surviving, grinding down the enemy's numbers, but that's not enough. We need to shift the momentum, but we can't do that by ourselves.

Weaving through the hail of fire, Heero saw the group of warships he was engaged with actually begin to split up. Two of the Drake-class escort ships on the far side of the formation were rushing forward while the other four vessels of their class and the sole remaining battleship continued to focus their fire on him. For a moment Heero thought that the two escort ships were going to try to flank him, but he quickly realized that their real intention was to get to the breached colony entrance. As weak as the Earth Alliance escort ships were, the Gundam pilot knew that they could still cause unspeakable carnage if they got inside Elysium.

He tried to set up to attack the pair of Drakes, but a group of Strike-Daggers moved to attack him. Raising his shield to block the beams from their rifles while still trying to dodge fire from the other warships, Heero could not get the opening he needed to strike the two advancing warships.

"No," he growled as he impaled a Strike-Dagger, "I can't let them get any further."

However, before Heero could make good on his words, a pair of familiar red-orange torrents of energy beat him to the punch, annihilating the lead escort ship. At the same time several new contacts appeared on his sensors, and the Perfect Soldier could not suppress a small smile as he saw who was leading them.

The Archangel.

Murrue Ramius.

….

(Start "Merlon")

"Lead target destroyed, Captain," said Lieutenant Tsukino, "Firing solutions locked in on the follower."

Murrue nodded as she looked at the battle unfolding on the main monitor and out the forward viewport. "Fire at will, Lieutenant."

The Gottfrieds and Valiants opened up, and the second Drake-class escort ship was ripped apart by the heavy beams and linear cannon rounds. Murrue watched with satisfaction as the other Earth Alliance warships in the formation Heero was battling against quickly fall into disarray as they realized that they were under attack from a new foe. This gave her boyfriend the opening he needed to launch a fresh strike of his own, and Wing Zero opened fire with its monstrously powerful rifle. The blast of energy unleashed by it hit another escort ship head on, turning it into a fireball.

"Ma'am," said the communications officer, "the Ronin, Paladin, and Knight Errant have acquired targets."

"They can fire when ready," said Murrue.

A second after the communications officer relayed her instructions Murrue saw the two frigates and the destroyer accompanying the Archangel cut loose with the guns they had operational. Heavy beams and rail cannon rounds tore through space, and two more escort ships were taken down by the attacks, leaving just one Drake and one Nelson in the group that Heero was fighting.

Looks like we got here just in time, thought Murrue, Heero, we're here to help you now!

Murrue's ship and her subordinate vessels weren't the only ones getting in on the action. Above and to the left of her flotilla the Eternal and the Kusanagi, along with their respective followers, were opening up on the larger battle group that was engaged with the Valkyrie Team. The Orb battleship and the prototype ZAFT vessel led the barrage, with the former destroying a Nelson-class battleship with her Lohengrins while the latter took out an escort ship with her heavy beam turret and METEOR batteries. A split-second after the two advanced warships opened up the two destroyers and three frigates flying with them followed suit. Despite the damage that they had been unable to repair en route the former ZAFT vessels still more than pulled their weight, and two more escort ships and a battleship fell under their combined barrage.

"Miriallia," said Murrue, "Tell La Flaga and Dearka they're clear to move in. Have them back up Heero."

"Roger that, ma'am," Miriallia replied, "Tallgeese Kai, Buster; you are green light to engage. Primary objective is to support Wing Zero."

On the main monitor Murrue saw La Flaga and Dearka's machines rush forward. All the ship's mobile suits and those of her allied vessels had launched when the warships' had been just outside their maximum firing range so that they would be ready to act as soon as battle was joined. In Murrue's flotilla she had Bristow and his Wolf Team covering the Archangel as usual, while the mobile suits from the ZAFT warships were sticking close to their vessels in case any enemy units decided to strike.

Waltfeld's voice came over the group tactical channel. "Group Alpha and Group Bravo will assist the Valkyrie Team in finishing off the main Alliance fleet. Group Charlie and Wing Zero will secure the space around the colony."

That was when Heero cut in. "Not just around," he said as he slashed a Strike-Dagger in half, "Alliance forces have breached the main gate. I sent Kira and Athrun to pursue but haven't gotten an update from them yet. They may need reinforcements if more Alliance units get in."

Murrue felt a chill go down her spine. Adjusting her personal monitor, she quickly zoomed in on Elysium. Her expression became grim as she saw the gaping hole where the main gate had once been, with the occasional Strike-Dagger or Moebius unit slipping into it. There was no sign of the Freedom or Justice and no way to know how many enemies they were fighting against inside the colony.

Murrue wasn't the only one distressed by the news. Over the group channel came Cagalli's voice, her fear and desperation readily apparent. "No! We have to hurry! I won't let them kill my people!"

"The Strike Rouge has broken formation," said the sensor officer, "She's heading for the colony!"

Looking at the main monitor, Murrue saw Cagalli's machine racing out ahead of her allies. It was equipped with the IWSP-X Striker Pack, and that configuration's improved boosters allowed Cagalli to outrun almost all of the conventional mobile suits in the Three Ships Alliance. She was already leaving the four M1s that had been flying with her in the dust, and Murrue was afraid that Cagalli could get herself killed by acting so recklessly.

"Cagalli!" said Waltfeld, "Get back with your group!"

"No!" she yelled defiantly, "My people suffered enough during the invasion of our homeland! I won't let the Alliance hurt them here!"

Stubborn girl, thought Murrue, but I do understand why she's doing this.

Murrue realized that there was no way to deter Cagalli from her course of action, so she decided she'd do what she could to ensure her survival. "Miriallia," she said, "Have Dearka go with her; the Buster should be capable of keeping up with her machine. The Tallgeese Kai will continue to support Wing Zero."

"Understood, ma'am," the girl replied.

Immediately after that Lieutenant Tsukino spoke up. "Captain, we're getting targeting information from Wing Zero; Heero's going for the last battleship in the formation."

Murrue nodded. "Then we'll hit the Drake. Get targeting solutions with the Gottfrieds and Valiants and fire when ready, Lieutenant."

"Aye, Captain," said the XO. A second later she spoke again. "Gottfrieds, Valiants, open fire!"

The Archangel's guns blazed to life, and a quartet of emerald beams and a duo of heavy linear cannon rounds flew through space. They slammed dead-center into their target, and the escort ship snapped in half. At the same time Murrue saw Wing Zero open fire, and the last battleship in the formation that had been fighting Heero was obliterated by a familiar river of golden-yellow energy.

As the escort ship exploded there was a chime from Murrue's personal monitor, and when she looked at it she saw Heero appear on the screen.

"I'm moving towards the colony," he said, "If we act quickly we can still save the surviving Orb defenders and Alliance defectors."

Glancing at the main tactical display, Murrue instantly saw the small group that Heero was referring to. There were only a handful of M1 Astrays and old Moebius units left, along with just two Drake-class escort ships and one Nelson-class battleship left. They were fighting for their lives amidst a swarm of Strike-Daggers and beam cannon equipped Moebius units, but Murrue could see that the pressure against them was actually lessening, though this was only because more Earth Alliance units were leaving that fight to go attack the colony itself.

Murrue turned back to Heero and nodded. "We'll be right behind you. La Flaga will fly as your wing; I've got Dearka heading to Elysium with Cagalli."

"Understood," Heero replied, "Wing Zero out."

Murrue immediately turned to her XO. "Lieutenant Tsukino, I want Corintoss missiles ready to go; target any Strike-Daggers and Alliance mobile armors you can! No Wombat missiles; there's too much risk for friendly fire with those."

"Aye, Captain," the Orb officer replied.

"Comm," said Murrue, "I want the Ronin, Paladin, and Knight Errant to cover our flanks. Have them ready for mobile suit and armor interception and on lookout for any additional enemy warships inbound."

"Yes, ma'am," replied the communications officer.

As the four warships turned towards the colony Murrue took a second to glance back towards the larger battle Groups Alpha and Bravo were engaging in. The two flotillas were hammering the Earth Alliance fleet, with the Eternal and Kusanagi dishing out by far the most damage. Sowing further chaos in the enemy ranks was the Valkyrie Team as they continued to pick off warships and smaller units. Now there were nine escort ships and five battleships left in the fleet, while the mobile suit and mobile armor teams supporting them were rapidly dwindling. Murrue was sure that the enemy would not last much longer; they'd have to begin their retreat soon or risk being completely annihilated.

Or they could surrender, she thought, but that's unlikely; the fanatics that the Earth Alliance has commanding their fleets now would rather die than admit defeat.

Turning her attention back to her part of the fight, Murrue saw Wing Zero heading towards the surviving Orb forces and Alliance defectors. On Heero's wing was the Tallgeese Kai, and together the two mobile suits were cutting down enemy units one after another with their beam sabers and guns as they fought their way towards their objective. Not too far away Murrue could also see the Strike Rouge IWSP-X racing towards the colony, its violet beam saber blazing as it hacked its way through a Strike-Dagger before the shield integrated gatling gun tore apart a mobile armor. Just behind Cagalli was Dearka, opening up with the Buster's Gun Launcher and beam rifle in an effort to keep the Earth Alliance forces off of Cagalli; the girl's headlong charge and single-minded focus on getting to the colony made her vulnerable to attacks from the flanks, and Murrue was glad she'd had the presence of mind to order Dearka to cover her.

"Ma'am," said Lieutenant Tsukino, "We have targets for the Corintoss missiles!"

"Fire at will!" Murrue ordered.

Eight anti-air missiles flew from the Archangel's rear launchers, arcing over the white battleship and into the fray. Three were shot down by Strike-Daggers, but the other five found their mark, and two Alliance mobile suits and three mobile armors were turned into fireballs. The other Earth Alliance machines were put completely off balance by this sudden attack, and as they tried to adjust to the Archangel's presence they left themselves vulnerable to Heero and La Flaga.

A golden-yellow blast of energy ripped through space, ripping apart three Strike-Daggers and a Moebius unit like a string of firecrackers. Sowing further chaos and confusion into the enemy formations was the Tallgeese Kai, with precise shots from its beam rifle downing another mobile suit and mobile armor.

"Mobile suits and armors are breaking off their attacks on the defenders," said the sensor officer, "Looks like they're splitting between us and Wing Zero."

Murrue nodded. "Good, we've got their attention. Let's keep it on us. Lieutenant Tsukino, fire another volley of Corintoss missiles as soon as you have targets!"

"Aye, Captain!" replied her XO. A moment later her voice rang out again. "Corintoss missiles, launch!"

A fresh flock of warheads flew forth and into the enemy ranks. Four of the missiles were shot down by emerald beams, but the other four found their mark, and three mobile suits and a mobile armor were blown to pieces. Additional units were heading towards the Archangel, but Murrue wasn't worried; she was more than prepared to deal with them.

"Miriallia," she said, "Tell Wolf Team to engage the enemy as soon as they come in range. Lieutenant Tsukino, synch targeting sensors with Wolf Team's sensor data and coordinate defensive fire with them! Have CIWS and Helldarts ready to launch and fire when you have targets!"

"Yes, ma'am!" both women replied before carrying out her orders.

"Incoming!" cried the sensor operator, and Murrue could see a group of four Strike-Daggers and four Moebius units moving into attack position.

"Wolf Team's engaging!" yelled Miriallia.

Indeed, Murrue could see the GuAIZ Werewolf and the three M1 Astrays supporting it moving to intercept, violet beam claws and sabers respectively ready to go. The faster ZAFT prototype was the first to meet the enemy, and Bristow wasted no time in ripping into the Earth Alliance units. Firing the unit's rocket anchors, he snared a Strike-Dagger before impaling it on his beam claws. Two more mobile suits tried to flank him, but they were immediately picked off by the M1 Astrays.

"Helldarts, open fire!" yelled Lieutenant Tsukino.

The light anti-air warheads flew forth from their launchers at the back of the bridge tower. Guided by Heero and Shemei's advanced targeting system, the missiles homed in on their targets at lightning speed, and three of the mobile armors were blown to pieces. By luck or skill the last mobile armor and Strike-Dagger managed to avoid destruction at the hands of the Archangel, but nothing could save them from the Wolf Team. Opening fire with his beam gatlings, Bristow pounded the Earth Alliance mobile suit with a withering hail of small emerald projectiles. The unit managed to raise its shield to block the assault, but Bristow simply rushed in and ripped it apart with his beam claws. Meanwhile the lone surviving Moebius unit was hit by coordinate fire from all three M1 Astrays, obliterated under the hail of energy beams.

Back in our early days I would've been worried about fighting squadrons like that, she thought as she watched the action unfold, When we left Heliopolis, we were so vulnerable, with an inexperienced crew and only the original Strike and Moebius Zero to protect us. Now, though, things are very different.

It wasn't just the enemy units that had tried to attack the Archangel that had found that they were biting off more than they could chew. On the main monitor Murrue could see Wing Zero and Tallgeese Kai engaging more squadrons as they made their way towards the survivors of the Orb forces and Alliance defectors. Heero and La Flaga were mauling the enemy, beam sabers and guns ripping foes apart and leaving a trail of hot scrap metal in their wake. The Hawk of Endymion had proven himself to be far more lethal as a mobile suit pilot than he ever could've hoped to be flying mobile armors or conventional fighters, and thanks to the agility and power of the Tallgeese Kai he was capable of dishing out death at lightning speed while still possessing a unique defensive system to deflect return fire. He was putting it all to good use, flying circles around his foes with the blue and white mobile suit. As impressive as that was though, Murrue knew that the Tallgeese Kai and its famous pilot were shadows when compared to the man and machine fighting alongside them; Wing Zero had the prototype mobile suit outmatched, and the same went for Heero with regards to the Hawk of Endymion. The soldier from another world was continuing to prove just how he had earned the plethora of fearsome nicknames he had been given by his enemies over the course of this war, leading his and La Flaga's charge and cutting a bloody swath through the Earth Alliance ranks.

She saw Heero cut down a Strike-Dagger with his beam saber before shooting down a Moebius unit with his gatling cannons. A split-second later Wing Zero raised the rifle that had become so dreaded throughout the Cosmic Era and cut loose. The pillar of lethal light that was sent forth washed over two enemy mobile suits and a mobile armor, leaving naught but slivers of superheated metal behind as grave markers.

Satisfied that the enemy was on the ropes, Murrue turned to her combat flight controller. "Miriallia, has there been any word from our forces inside the colony?"

The teenage girl shook her head. "No ma'am. Dearka and Cagalli haven't reported in, and I've got nothing from Kira and Athrun."

Miriallia's concern was evident in her voice, and she was not alone; Murrue was worried as well, and she could only hope that all four of the pilots that had gone into Elysium were ok.

"Comm," she said, "Have the colony authorities tried to contact us?"

"Negative, ma'am," the communications officer replied, "There's internal radio traffic though; I'm trying to decrypt it now."

Murrue waited a few moments until the officer spoke again… and gave her the worst news possible.

"Captain!" he cried out, "The Alliance forces are targeting the refugee camps!"

(End "Merlon")

….

Setting up refugee camps inside a colony with so much space already taken up by agriculture was no easy task, but the Elysium authorities had somehow found a way. The first and most obvious sight for setting up temporary housing was the central colony park, and civil workers had wasted no time in establishing a tent city. Since weather inside the colony was easy to regulate the usual problems associated with large refugee tents like storms were not a problem, and in fact more than one refugee had noted that it was almost like taking a summer camping trip. The colony's residents had put up surprisingly little fuss at one of their favorite recreational spots being temporarily denied to them in this matter; caring for those that had been displaced by war was something that had become almost instinct to the Orb people over the course of the conflict, and it was easy to put aside frustration in light of the suffering that had been inflicted upon their fellow citizens by the Earth Alliance.

Unfortunately, it had quickly become apparent that one refugee camp just would not be enough in light of the sheer numbers of refugees coming in. A second camp had quickly been established on the grounds of Elysium University, a surprisingly spacious institution for a college located in a space colony. Spare dorm rooms were quickly filled, and in some cases on-campus students were asked to take in a refugee as a roommate, who slept on a cot on the floor. With all available indoor areas rapidly filled with refugees additional arrivals were set up in tents on the open lawns between buildings. Even these soon proved insufficient, and colonial authorities were forced to establish new temporary housing centers once again.

Two more camps had been set up, one at the colony's open air Kurosawa Memorial Center for the Performing Arts and the other at the Elysium Sporting Arena. They were smaller than those at the park and university, but each still contained several thousand people. Resources had been stretched close to the breaking point, but following the conclusion of the invasion of the Orb homeland the flood of refugees had dwindled to a trickle; those who were capable of fleeing had done so by now, while those trapped on the surface were left to fend for themselves. There was still the occasional shuttle flight in, but these consisted of people that had slipped out of either Copernicus City on the moon or had fled the Zala regime at L5, and those flights were few and far between; not many pilots were up to running the formidable blockades that were the Lunar Perimeter and the ZAFT Home Fleet, respectively.

Life in the camps had been relatively peaceful, even dull, but today all that had changed. The scramble alarms had blared all over the colony, and refugees and citizens alike had been treated to the awe inspiring sight of M1 Astrays and Tauruses flying through the air as they rushed to the colony gate to confront some threat. Unfortunately, the refugees had no idea just what that threat was; despite the alarms no notifications had been given to them by the Elysium authorities regarding what was going on, and government staff working in the camps had either found themselves unable to establish contact with their superiors or had mysteriously vanished from the camps entirely. The refugees had no guidance, no information, and in an environment like that they were now all the more aware of their helplessness.

Among those left unattended in the refugee camps was a family of four. In this they were unremarkable, not so different from many of the other families that were in the camps. The father and mother looked like typical Orb citizens, with the former wearing a gray business suit while the latter wore a pink pants suit. Both were of average height, shared the same black hair and light skin, and appeared to be in their late thirties.

Their children also looked fairly typical for such a family. They were a son and a daughter, with the former being fourteen and the latter being twelve years old. The girl was wearing a typical school uniform, with a white shirt, tan jacket with a school emblem emblazoned on it, and a dark red skirt. She was a very cute girl, with long brown hair and chocolate eyes, and there was little doubt among those who knew her that she would blossom into a true beauty once her teen years got underway in earnest. As for the boy, his attire was more casual, comprised of a simple dark blue shirt and gray pants, along with a white coat and gray hat. His hair was black, and his chestnut eyes held a kind but fiery spirit.

The Asuka family had been evacuated relatively early from the Orb mainland, getting out on a shuttle from Kaguya four days before the invasion of the island nation. They had been settled into the first refugee camp in the park, and though life inside the camp was dull the surrounding city had provided plenty of distraction from their troubles. This had been quite fortunate as Shinn and Mayu could be quite rambunctious at times; the monotony of a refugee camp was a poor fit for such active and adventurous children. Shinn in particular had been more than a little frustrated by the tedium as one day blended into another, and had taken to venturing further and further out into the colony, sometimes with his sister Mayu and sometimes alone, much to the chagrin of his parents. Today though, there had been no such adventures; the sirens had gone off relatively early in the morning, and his parents had been adamant that the family stay in the camp. However, they hadn't said that he had to stay in the tent, and indeed none of them were; the atmosphere was simply too tense, the fear and trepidation too great, for them to simply sit in one place. They were at the edge of the camp, looking around for anyone who might have a clue as to what was happening, but were having no luck.

The boy looked out from the camp towards the distant main docking bay and transit tunnel where the mobile suits had vanished through earlier. "What's going on out there?" he asked.

It was a question that he had asked more than a few times today already, and his father gave him the same reply he had earlier. "I don't know, son. We'll just have to wait until the authorities explain the situation to us."

Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, the boy looked down at the grass. "Like that's going to happen…" he grumbled.

Glancing to his right, he saw his sister holding their mother's hand. The normally bright and energetic young girl was now very quiet, constantly looking around, though for what Shinn did not know. It also didn't matter; his little sister was scared, and that only increased Shinn's agitation.

Where are the government people?, he thought as he looked up at the cityscape on the opposite side of the massive cylinder's interior, Why did they all leave? They're supposed to look after us!

After a few seconds he began to hear what sounded like a truck engine, and suddenly Mayu pointed towards a nearby street. "Look over there!"

Following her finger, Shinn saw a large vehicle driving down the street. It was clearly a military unit; the multi-rack missile launchers on its back certainly didn't belong on anything owned by civilians.

Looking around, the boy saw other similar vehicles driving down other nearby roads. While they were certainly impressive, Shinn thought they lost more than a little bit of their intimidation value when compared to the mobile suits he had seen flying overhead before. Still it was at least a little reassuring to see military hardware like that by the camps. Maybe the government hadn't forgotten about them after all in the middle of whatever was going on.

Then Shinn heard an explosion in the distance, and his eyes once again turned towards the main entrance to the colony. He was shocked to see flaming bits of metal falling towards the 'ground', and that surprise turned quickly into horror as he saw two new mobile suits entering Elysium.

"No…" his father said quietly.

His mother gasped, and Maya looked frantically from her parents to Shinn. "What do we do?" she asked, trembling as she held on to her mother.

Shinn had no answer; he had frozen on the spot the moment he'd seen the mobile suits come charging into the heart of the colony. Fear had paralyzed him, and it only grew worse as he saw crimson beams begin to fly from those machines towards the ground.

The Earth forces, he thought numbly, They'll kill us all!

Looking on, he saw missiles and shells streak up from the ground as the Orb forces returned fire, but the counterattack had no effect. The Earth Alliance mobile suits either evaded or shot down the ordinance directed at them before blasting the vehicles that had fired at them. Smoke and flame became visible in the distance as the mobile suits continued to rain crimson death down upon the colony and its defenders. Their movements were swift, their shots devastating… and they were heading towards Shinn's camp.

As the enemy approached there was a deafening roar as the mobile missile launcher his sister had spotted earlier. Shinn could feel the heat as the warheads took flight even though he and his family were a considerable distance from the vehicle, and he was glad he wasn't any closer; as it was, he felt like he was right in front of a blazing inferno.

Despite the earlier ineffectiveness of the other Orb units, Shinn found himself praying that somehow this time would be different. His hopes were dashed as one of the Alliance machines opened fire with machine guns mounted into its head and destroyed the missiles with what appeared to be almost contemptuous ease.

Suddenly he heard his father yell. "Run!"

A strong hand grabbed his arm, and Shinn was practically dragged by his father as his family bolted from where they had been standing. Looking around frantically, Shinn saw that they were all heading deeper into the city. The cover offered by the buildings may have been viewed by some as being better than getting caught in the camp out in the open, but Shinn had seen the giant guns wielded by the Earth Alliance mobile suit as it fired on the missile launcher, blowing it away; it wouldn't matter if he was in a tent or a skyscraper if that thing took a shot at him.

"Where are the shelters?" he heard his mother cry out, "We need to get to a shelter!"

"Someone help us!" yelled Mayu.

Looking at his sister, Shinn could see the tears building at the corners of her eyes; the poor girl was scared out of her mind.

Shinn couldn't blame her; he was too. He may not have been on the verge of tears, but his fear was just as great as that of his sister.

There was a blinding flash of red light, and the Asuka family were thrown to the ground as it shook violently beneath them. Dazed by the fall, it took Shinn a moment to regain his wits. Looking back at where he'd seen the flash, he was horrified to see a swath of the refugee camp, including the spot where he and his family had been standing mere seconds ago, awash in flames. Screams of agony and sorrow rang out, and the boy could see scores of bodies that had been tossed about by the blast… most of them charred and unmoving.

"This… this can't be happening…" he whimpered, his mind unable to comprehend the utter carnage that the day had become.

Despite his overwhelming fear the boy still found himself able to get to his feet. He didn't know how; it must've been by pure instinct. Looking around he found his mother, father, and sister all getting up as well, very shaken up but still alive and unharmed save for a few scratches.

"This way!" yelled his father, and the others followed him deeper into the city, not looking back.

Shinn could hear another series of shots ring out, and some sounded different from the huge guns the Earth Alliance machine had fired earlier. He didn't bother to check it out though; his sole focus was on getting as far away from where he was now as possible. More shots rang out, and the ground beneath him shook once again, though he managed to keep his feet.

As he regained his balance he saw a familiar pink cell phone lying on the ground; it was Mayu's. Shinn rushed over to grab it. A part of him knew it was silly to worry about something like a cell phone at a time like this, but his sister loved that thing, and he didn't want her to lose it.

"Shinn, hurry up!" he heard his father yell.

"Just a second!" he replied as he scrambled to grab Mayu's fallen phone.

As he knelt down to grab the phone there was another flash of red light and a deafening blast. Shinn was barely aware of clutching his sister's cell phone with a death grip as he was blown over by the shockwave. He hit the pavement hard, dazed and disoriented by the blast.

After a few seconds he managed to struggle to his feet. He looked around frantically for his family… and his eyes widened in horror when he finally found them all trapped under slabs of concrete and rubble from a collapsed building.

Their eyes were closed, they weren't moving… and a pool of blood was steadily flowing out from where they lay.

"Mom! Dad! Mayu!" he cried out as he rushed to them.

More shots rang out, and nearby impacts once again knocked him off his feet. Looking up at the sky, he saw the Earth Alliance mobile suit from before. It was missing one of its guns, and Shinn saw that it was fighting against a large white, black, and blue machine. The new mobile suit opened up again with its many guns, and the second heavy cannon of the Alliance machine was blown apart, along with the unit's head. However, a few of the new machine's shots had not found their target, and instead had impacted the cityscape.

The crippled Alliance mobile suit charged the other machine in a kamikaze run. It didn't get far; crimson and emerald beams from the new mobile suit blew it apart, raining down bits of hot metal everywhere.

Shinn saw the victorious machine hang in the air above him for a moment, like it was surveying the destruction around it. As he looked at it the boy could feel rage and sorrow warring within him, and for some reason it found its focus on that black, white, and blue mobile suit.

The unit might have saved Shinn, but for all the boy knew one of its earlier shots could've been the one that had caused the collapse that had killed his family just as much as it could've been fire from the Earth Alliance mobile suit. He had no way to know for sure… and even then it almost didn't matter.

Why?, his mind shrieked as he looked at the machine, two contradicting messages resounding in his head, anger and grief drowning out any sense of logic, Why didn't you save them? Why did you kill them? You let them die! You killed them!

He glared at the machine, a raw, visceral hate quickly growing in his heart with every instant he looked upon that mobile suit. For a moment he could've sworn he saw the machine's cold mechanical 'eyes' fall upon him, but it passed as quickly as it came. There was a powerful roar as the mobile suit's thrusters flared up, and the machine raced off.

"Get back here!" the boy screamed as the mobile suit faded into the distance, "GET BACK HERE!"

It was no good; there was no way in hell the pilot of that machine could hear him. Even if they could, what would it matter? Would a mobile suit pilot turn back for one screaming boy while a battle still raged around them? Surely not.

His gaze falling, the boy once again saw the lifeless bodies of his family. Almost as quickly as it had risen up within him, the rage and hatred subsided. The adrenaline rush he had been on before had become a crash, and Shinn slowly stumbled over towards his fallen family. When he reached them he fell to his knees, heedless of the blood spreading out around them.

"Mom…" he said softly, his voice broken and hoarse, "Dad… Mayu…"

Unnoticed by the people running around in the chaos looking for friends and family or desperately seeking shelter, the boy reached out for his sister. His hand touched her cheek, and it was colder than he had ever felt it before…the final confirmation to what his heart had already told him.

Amidst the fire and smoke, the shrieks and wails of the wounded and grieving, the boy's sobs were inaudible… and none but him could see the tears falling into the pool of blood.

….

His eyes wide with horror, Kira surveyed the damage around him. "No…" he said softly, "How could they do this?"

He'd managed to stop the Earth Alliance prototype from completely destroying the refugee camp in the park, but the unit had still been able to wreak considerable carnage. A single blast with one of its Agnis had been enough to devastate a swath of the camp, and the flames were spreading unabated. In addition to that, random shots from the unit during its fight with the Freedom had damaged or completely destroyed several nearby buildings… and fire from Kira's machine had only made things worse. While the boy had been incredibly careful in picking his shots, the quick reflexes of his foe had been enough to ensure that not all of his attacks would land on target, and inside Elysium the only backdrop for his attacks was the colony itself. He may have managed to keep his and the enemy's fire from destroying the main shaft like what had happened at Heliopolis, but that was little consolation when the boy could not begin to tell how many were already dead or dying below him.

Kira shook his head and grimaced. As painful as it was to see another Orb colony in this state, he knew that he could not stop now to despair; the full weight of the damage could only be taken in after the battle was over. Gunning his thrusters and gaining altitude, he headed towards Athrun.

Rushing to his friend's aid, Kira saw the Justice dispatch its adversary as he approached. Athrun had made his final assault by leading with a beam boomerang. As his foe dodged that attack the Justice had charged in, double-bladed beam saber swinging. The initial slash had destroyed the unit's right Agni cannon, and a swift twirl of the weapon had brought the second blade into the advanced Launcher Strike. Only a quick reverse from the Alliance pilot had kept the blow from being fatal, but as it was the slash cut off the unit's right leg and had grazed the chest area, leaving a long black furrow just to the right of the cockpit.

Unfortunately for the Earth Alliance mobile suit, while it had managed to avoid death by the double-bladed beam saber, it had forgotten the weapon the Justice had used at the beginning of its offensive. The beam boomerang had hit the apex of its arc and was now coming back to Athrun, and the enemy's move had put it right between the violet projectile and the former ZAFT mobile suit. There was a brief pink flash as the beam boomerang cut through the advanced Launcher unit from behind, and then the mobile suit detonated like a grenade.

"Good job," said Kira as he flew toward his friend.

On the screen he saw Athrun shake his head. "Not good enough. Look down there."

Checking the area his friend had designated, Kira gasped at what he saw. It was the colony's local university, quite reminiscent of the college he'd gone to back on Heliopolis… and part of it was in flames. The boy counted at least two completely destroyed buildings, while several others were damaged and on fire. Debris was strewn all over the place… along with many bodies.

"They knew," said Athrun, his tone dark and grim.

Kira was puzzled. "Knew what?"

"Remember that information Cagalli got from the colony and sent to us on the way over here?" he asked, "The refugee camps; those Alliance pilots knew exactly where to go. Your target went right for the park, Kira, and mine attacked the college."

Kira's eyes widened at his friend's words. "But how? That's impossible!"

"No," said Athrun, and Kira saw his eyes narrow, "Not if they had help."

A chill went down Kira's spine. "Someone from the inside… but who?"

"We'll figure that out after the battle," said Athrun.

Kira nodded; his friend was right.

Fresh beeping came from his sensors, and it only took a glance to confirm Kira's worst fears. "Damn it, more of them made it inside!"

It was two small groups, each composed of two Strike-Daggers and two Moebius units. While the threat they posed to the Freedom and Justice were minimal, Kira knew that even basic machines like those could inflict untold carnage inside the colony, especially since the two advanced Launcher Strikes had apparently obliterated the bulk of the conventional interior defenders in their brief rampage through Elysium. Now the civilians were completely unprotected, save for Kira and Athrun.

"Let's go!" yelled Kira, already hitting the Freedom's thrusters.

Athrun nodded. "Right behind you."

Taking the utmost care with his aim, Kira set up shots. Opening fire, he was rewarded with half of the enemy mobile suits and armors losing their beam guns. On his wing, Athrun had disengaged one of his beam sabers and had drawn his rifle. Opening fire with that weapon and the two guns integrated into the Justice's backpack, Kira's friend destroyed two of the mobile armors and one of the Strike-Daggers, leaving just one of the Earth Alliance mobile suits still in fighting shape.

Rushing forward, Kira tore into the last Strike-Dagger. His violet blade was little more than a blur as the Freedom swiftly dismembered and decapitated the Earth Alliance machine. Crippled, his foe slowly began to pull back, rejoining the other disabled mobile suits and armors as they made their way back towards the colony entrance.

However, no sooner had the damaged units retreated into the docks when more machines appeared. This time it was a larger force, with no less than twelve Strike-Daggers and eight Moebius units rushing into the colony.

Kira readied his guns, opening fire as soon as he had acquired targets. The multicolor barrage was as precise as the previous one, taking out the main guns of three Strike-Daggers and two mobile armors. To his right he saw Athrun cut loose with the Justice's artillery, and three emerald beams struck down two more mobile suits and Moebius unit. Kira saw the remaining twelve machines scatter hastily, and he wasted no time in taking advantage of their disarray, rushing in to strike with his beam saber.

Moving far too fast for the enemy to hope to counter, Kira immediately sliced off the rifle-arm of a Strike-Dagger before cutting off the barrel of a Moebius's beam cannon. Athrun had charged in as well, and had put his beam rifle away in favor of dual-wielding his energy blades. Two Strike-Daggers were cut down so fast their deaths seemed to occur almost simultaneously, and that was swiftly followed up with two mobile armors getting sliced in half from front to back.

At least the ones I disabled are retreating, he thought as he watched his earlier targets pull back, They're not crazy like the pilots of those new Strikes. What was up with those guys?

It was a mystery he'd have to solve another time; he still had a colony to defend.

Four Strike-Daggers and two mobile armors remained; a paltry force with no chance of taking on the two incredibly advanced stolen ZAFT prototypes. Kira wondered if the enemy would see sense and pull back, but he quickly found himself disappointed as he brought up the Freedom's shield to block incoming energy beams. Apparently these foes could not leave the field unless they were critically damaged by him or killed by his allies.

He opened up with the Freedom's rifle, taking out the head of a Strike-Dagger before rushing in and cutting of its rifle-arm. At the same time he was attacking he saw Athrun charge another mobile suit, ripping it apart with his twin energy blades. Sighting in on another foe, Kira fired again with his rifle, and the beam gun slung beneath a mobile armor was trashed.

"How do you think they're doing outside?" he asked Athrun as he saw his friend stab the last mobile armor through the cockpit.

"Don't worry about them," said Athrun as his target exploded, "It's Heero and the Valkyrie Team we're talking about here; they can handle themselves until the rest of our force arrives."

Kira nodded. "Right."

There was another series of beeps, and Athrun spoke. "More contacts coming our way!"

"I see them," Kira replied.

This time the enemy was more spread out, and it seemed like these foes were stragglers rather than organized teams. There were nine Strike-Daggers and five mobile armors; not nearly enough to pose a serious threat.

I wonder why they haven't sent more units than this into the colony, Kira thought as he prepared to engage the enemies coming out of the docks, The others must be taking up most of their attention.

He was about to open fire when he saw two more mobile suits appear. Kira was surprised to see that they were not hostile, but friendly; the Strike Rouge IWSP-X and the Buster.

"Hey guys," said Dearka as he opened fire, downing a mobile armor with the Gun Launcher and destroying a Strike-Dagger with his beam rifle, "Sorry we took so long to get here."

Kira smiled as he swiftly disabled a Moebius unit and a Strike-Dagger. "I'm just glad you guys made it."

"Same here," said Athrun as he picked off another mobile suit with his beam cannons.

Two railgun rounds roared through the air as Cagalli opened up, nailing a Strike-Dagger in the back. "Waltfeld and the others are beating back the Alliance fleet now," she said as she and Dearka flew into the heart of Elysium, "How bad is it in… here… oh my god…"

Kira winced as her voice trailed off; he knew witnessing the carnage wrought by the two advanced Strikes on the interior, limited though it might have been, would deeply upset her. He could only hope that she would be able to keep enough of her focus to survive the rest of the battle.

He saw Athrun rush forward, ripping apart a mobile armor with his twin violet blades as he moved towards Cagalli; his best friend's mind had apparently gone along the same path as Kira's, and he was positioning himself as Cagalli's wingman for the remainder of the fight.

"Cagalli," said Athrun as he stabbed a Strike-Dagger through the cockpit, "I'm sorry, but you have to keep it together! You won't do your people any good if you die here!"

As Kira disabled a Moebius unit with a well-placed shot from his beam rifle, knocking out its main gun, he heard his sister's cracking voice. "But… I was supposed to protect them…"

"You still can," Athrun replied as he eviscerated another Strike-Dagger with a cross slash from both his beam sabers, "but you can't give in to guilt and despair! There will be time to mourn after the battle!"

Kira nodded as he disabled the last mobile armor with his beam rifle, sending it packing. "He's right, Cagalli. Your people are counting on you now and will need you even more when the fight's over!"

The boys' words seemed to get through to her, because Kira heard some of her strength return to her voice as she ripped apart a Strike-Dagger with her gatling cannon. "Ok," she said, "Let's take these guys down!"

There weren't many of 'these guys' left to fight. Only two Strike-Daggers remained battle worthy, and both were isolated, completely lacking in coordination with each other. Their movements were frantic, and Kira couldn't tell if they were still trying to break through to attack the people below, retreat back through the docks, or mount a suicidal attack on him and his friends.

Deciding to force them into the second option, Kira took aim and opened fire before his friends could make attacks of their own. Crimson lances of plasma, yellow railgun slugs, and emerald beams flew through the air, taking out the rifles and head-cameras of the last two Earth Alliance mobile suits. Kira was satisfied to see the enemy duo begin to retreat back towards the entrance.

"They're done," said Athrun, "I've got no more Alliance contacts inside the colony."

"Anything else coming through the docks?" asked Dearka; the Buster's sensors were not as powerful as the advanced arrays utilized by the Freedom and Justice.

Kira shook his head. "Nothing. I guess the others managed to secure the entrance."

"Come on!" cried Cagalli as she flew towards the closest refugee camp, "We need to help the people down there!"

Kira was about to follow her when Athrun cut both of them off. "No," his best friend said firmly, "We need to get out of the colony."

Athrun's words felt like a punch in the face to Kira, and he wasn't the only one floored by what the Justice's pilot had said. "What?" yelled Cagalli, "Athrun, they need our help!"

"We have to get down there!" shouted Kira.

"We have to get out of here. The people of this colony need us to defend them from any more Earth Alliance units," Athrun replied, "We're just four teenagers; we can't do the wounded down there any good. It's better to let professional emergency personnel take care of them; we'd just get in the way!"

"Athrun's right," said Dearka, "We'll do the colonists and refugees more good by keeping any more Alliance units from entering the colony. The four of us should have no problem defending the gate, and if it's not under threat we can help the others push back the rest of the Alliance forces!"

Kira relented; their arguments were sound, and every second they spent debating was more time for the enemy to try to get into the colony.

"Yeah," he said, "Alright. Come on, Cagalli."

His sister sighed. "Damn it… ok, let's go."

As the four of them rushed towards the exit, Kira took one last look back at the fire and smoke coming up from where the Earth Alliance units had managed to score hits on the interior. He could take some comfort from the fact that, unlike Heliopolis, the main axial shaft was still intact, but there was only so much consolation that detail could provide. A lot of innocent people had died today… and the boy knew that he bore some responsibility for that.

If I'd been willing from the beginning to fight lethally against those guys, he thought as they entered the docks and raced towards the breached gate, I would've beaten them faster, and I might've been able to stop the other units from punching through the entrance. I didn't, though… and people paid the price. Heero, Waltfeld, Aisha… were they right?

Is the only way for me to fight at my best, to truly protect people…

…to kill?

….

"Ma'am," said Lieutenant Tsukino, "We have targeting locks for the missiles!"

Murrue nodded. "Launch at will!"

A volley of Sledgehammer missiles flew forth from the rear launchers, arcing over the ship and towards the remnants of the Earth Alliance fleet. The heavy anti-ship warheads slammed into a Drake-class escort ship and tore the vessel apart.

Another down, she thought with grim satisfaction, only a few more to go.

Indeed, with the staggering losses they had taken since Heero and the others had first hit the fleet from behind, Murrue was surprised that the surviving Earth Alliance forces still were not pulling back. Then again, it would be difficult for an organized withdrawal at this point; their ranks were in complete disarray.

With the Archangel's latest kill, the Earth Alliance fleet had been reduced to a mere four escort ships and two battleships. Likewise, the numbers of Strike-Daggers and Moebius units were hardly even a shell of their former selves; scattered fragments of said shell would be a better way to put it. Thanks to the combined efforts of Murrue's flotilla, Heero, the surviving M1 Astrays and Alliance defectors, the breached hatch of the Elysium colony was now completely secure. Indeed, Murrue had actually begun to press forward with the Archangel while leaving the Paladin, Ronin, and Knight Errant behind just in case one of the scattered Alliance units tried to make a run on the colony. Heero and La Flaga had advanced with the white battleship as well, and the two lethal aces were aiding the mop-up of the enemy force.

Murrue watched as Wing Zero cut loose with the Twin Buster Rifle, obliterating a Nelson-class battleship. As Heero took the shot La Flaga was covering him, picking off a Strike-Dagger and a mobile armor with the Tallgeese Kai's rifle. Their coordination throughout the battle since the Archangel's arrival on the scene was very impressive; the two pilots flew like they had been fighting alongside each other for years rather than just a few months.

It wasn't just the Archangel and her mobile suits that were tearing into the enemy forces. Since their arrival the Eternal and the Kusanagi had maneuvered themselves and their respective flotillas into perpendicular attacks on the Earth Alliance fleet, and were hammering them with a devastating crossfire. Making matters even worse for the enemy was the continued presence of the Valkyrie Team, picking off warships, mobile suits and armors left and right.

This is hopeless for them, Murrue thought as she saw the Judgment take down the last battleship with its Tartarus rifle, They're getting slaughtered and they're not even trying to retreat or surrender! Are their surviving officers really such fanatics? Is this horrific zeal truly embraced from the highest echelons to the lowest ranks? Was I surrounded by people like that the whole time I was in the Earth forces and just never realized it?

It was difficult to contemplate; she'd been far more comfortable believing the genocidal hatred against the Coordinators was mostly the product and possession of those in positions of military and political authority in her former country. Sure, Murrue knew that there would be frontline soldiers who also embraced the murderous agenda of Azrael and his ilk, but she'd believed it had been a minority of the armed forces and that most of her former comrades were simply following orders out of the desire to defend their homeland and the people they cared about. However, the behavior she was witnessing in her former military today and over the past few weeks was new cause for concern; the seeming willingness displayed by these soldiers to fight to the death just for the chance to kill Coordinator refugees was absolutely chilling. Of course, it could also have been that they had been forbidden from retreating no matter what; Murrue could certainly see her old commanders making such a decree, especially after what they had done to her ship and the Eurasians at the First Battle of Alaska.

Whether by zeal, coercion, or just utter paralysis from panic, it almost didn't matter. Murrue could see just a couple of vessels that had pulled away from the fight, and from the way their weapons but little else was damaged she knew that they had been hit by Kira. They had already been moving away from the enemy fleet when the Archangel and her allies had entered the fray; they'd been too badly damaged to continue fighting. From the way things were going that tiny handful of disarmed vessels would be the only Alliance units to survive the clash today, and with what she was seeing with the other ships Murrue was half-surprised that they had not tried to ram the vessels of the Three Ships Alliance in a pointless display of fanaticism and vengefulness. Cooler heads must have prevailed on those ships, for they looked to be on a solid retreat course with no intention of getting back into the battle. As for the units of the enemy fleet that were still capable of fighting, Murrue knew that they were not long for this world. The pitiful remnant of the Earth Alliance invasion force was all but in the grave, and Murrue's allies wasted no time in hammering the final nails into the proverbial coffin.

On the main monitor she saw the Eternal open up with her heavy beam turret and METEOR batteries. The salvo of emerald beams nailed an escort ship right in the bridge; Heero and Shemei's targeting system was proving to be as lethally accurate on the stolen ZAFT cruiser as it was on the Archangel.

Waltfeld's vessel wasn't the only one getting in on the action. From another angle the Kusanagi fired her Lohengrins, and the twin torrents of crimson energy she unleashed washed over another Drake-class vessel. Armor and bulkheads melted and ruptured, turning the Alliance ship into little more than a few hot and twisted pieces of metal.

The last two escort ships were, like the few remaining Strike-Daggers and Moebius units left on the field, isolated and uncoordinated. This of course made them easy targets for the frigates and destroyers fighting alongside the Eternal and the Kusanagi, and Commander Bohuslav took full advantage of it. The two Nazca-class and three Laurasia-class vessels opened fire, and even in their battered state their barrage was still complete overkill as far as the Earth Alliance ships were concerned. Hammered by heavy beams and rail cannon rounds, the last two Drakes were completely blown apart. As if the twin explosions served as withdrawal flares, the last surviving Strike-Daggers and Moebius units finally seemed to come to their wits and began retreating after the vessels the Freedom had disarmed earlier. They were joined by a few damaged units leaving the colony, and Murrue guessed they had fought the Freedom; she doubted they would still be in one piece had they encountered one of the other pilots that had gone inside Elysium.

A sixty-four ship fleet, thought Murrue, and we cut them down to just one battleship and one escort ship, along with a handful of mobile suits and armors! Hopefully the Earth Alliance will think twice before sending another force to L3.

Waltfeld's voice came over the tactical channel. "All ships and mobile suits, disengage. The enemy's retreating; let them go."

"Acknowledged," said Murrue.

"Understood," came Kisaka's voice from the Kusanagi.

"All ships, begin mobile suit recovery, then pull back to the colony and form a perimeter," said Waltfeld, "Colonel Kisaka, I want you to establish contact with the Elysium authorities and arrange for docking space for the Archangel, Eternal, and Kusanagi as soon as possible."

"I'll get right on it, sir," Kisaka replied.

"Helm, you heard him," said Murrue, "Set us up in front of the colony, and have the rest of our flotilla form up with us."

"Aye, Captain," said Neumann.

"Miriallia, I want you to oversee our mobile suit recovery," Murrue ordered, "Have Chief Murdoch's crew on standby for repairs and rearmament. I want all our units ready to sortie again if the enemy returns."

"Yes ma'am," said Miriallia, "By the way, Heero's on the line."

Murrue nodded. "Patch him through."

She smiled as she saw the Gundam pilot appear on the main monitor. "Heero, I'm glad to see you're alright."

Heero nodded. "Same to you. Your timing earlier was great."

"I'm just glad we were able to catch up to you when we did," she replied, "I don't want to think about what would've happened had more Earth Alliance forces entered the colony."

"It's bad enough that some were able to get inside," said Heero, and from the rueful tone of his voice Murrue could tell that he was clearly blaming himself for that, "and we still don't know what happened. At least, I haven't heard anything from Athrun and Kira."

"Nor have we," said Murrue, "but we did see some damaged units leaving the colony a little bit ago, so we can assume that Kira at least was fighting them."

Heero nodded, and then Murrue saw him glance to the side. "Looks like we'll get the full story soon enough," he said, "I've got Kira, Athrun, Cagalli, and Dearka coming out of Elysium now."

Murrue turned to her bridge crew. "Get a visual on the gate!"

The screen split, with Heero being moved to the upper half while the bottom showed the breached colony entrance. Much to her relief Murrue saw the Freedom, Justice, Strike Rouge, and Buster exiting the colony, all undamaged.

"You four," said Heero, "status report. What happened in there?"

"We dealt with the Alliance forces that got inside," she heard Kira say, "but… we couldn't stop the first two that got in from attacking."

A shiver went down Murrue's spine. "How bad is it?"

"The Orb interior forces were decimated," said Athrun, "There's not much left of them. The two Alliance machines that breached the gate blew right through them and went straight for the two largest refugee camps."

Oh, god no, she thought, her eyes widening as she imagined the carnage that must've unfolded inside Elysium.

"We stopped them from destroying the camps," said Kira, "but they still managed to fire on the refugees, and they attacked other parts of the inside as well. I… I don't know how many died."

"Damn it," said Murrue softly, looking down for a moment. When she turned back to the main monitor she saw that Heero had momentarily closed his eyes in silent tribute to the slain. Once they opened Murrue saw them narrow; something was brewing in her boyfriend's keen mind.

"You said they went straight for the largest refugee camps," said Heero, "There was no deviation in their flight paths?"

"Just to take out the interior forces that were closest to them," said Athrun, "but there's no mistake; they knew exactly where the refugees were housed."

Cagalli's voice came over the channel, and the girl was clearly shocked at what she had heard. "No… that's not possible! The only way that could've happened is… is if…"

"They were tipped off," Murrue finished for her, her eyes narrowing as she met Heero's gaze, "Someone on the inside sold them out to the Earth Alliance before the attack."

Heero nodded. "Every war has its traitors. This one is no exception."

"Bastards," she heard Dearka growl, "I thought Orb territory was supposed to be a haven for Coordinators; now they're setting us up for slaughter!"

"No!" cried Cagalli, "Dearka, that's not true! Orb is and will always be open to all; Coordinators are as welcome as Naturals, and we do protect them!"

"She's right," said Kira, "if someone did sell out the Coordinators, they weren't acting on behalf of Orb as a whole. The people would be outraged if the leadership tried to sell any minority out to those that wanted to kill them!"

"That may be," Heero cut in, "but it doesn't change the fact that there's a traitor somewhere inside the colony. We need to be careful."

Murrue nodded. "Agreed. I'll contact Waltfeld and let him know. We'll need to be cautious with our next move, especially if we're going to be around here for awhile."

"About that," said Cagalli, "Captain Ramius, if you could spare any of your ship's medical personnel, I would greatly appreciate it. Kira and Athrun may have stopped the Alliance suits before they could cause further damage, but from what I saw inside I'm sure there were still heavy casualties; Elysium's hospital won't be able to deal with them all."

"Of course, Cagalli," said Murrue, "We'll give your people whatever aid they need, and I'm sure Waltfeld and the others will do the same."

She heard the girl sigh. "Thank you, Captain Ramius."

"You're welcome, Cagalli," Murrue replied, "You'd better get back to the Kusanagi for now. I'm sure Colonel Kisaka will need your help in making arrangements with Elysium's authorities before any of us can land inside the colony."

"You're right," she said, "Cagalli out."

On the main monitor she saw the Strike Rouge make for its mothership, with the Justice following closely. The Freedom broke off as well, heading for the Eternal. As for Wing Zero and the Buster, Murrue could see them making for the Archangel, with the Tallgeese Kai tagging along.

Poor Cagalli, she thought, we may have saved the colony, but it wasn't a bloodless victory. The forces defending Elysium before we arrived were decimated, and the civilians were attacked as well. To her those losses may very well outweigh our triumph… I could certainly understand her seeing things that way. Who knows how many innocent people were murdered today… slaughtered by the nation that I used to call my home.

"Murrue," said Heero, startling her, "are you ok?"

She looked up at him, and she could not help but give him a small smile; his perception was truly remarkable. "I am, Heero. How about you? I'm sure the fight wasn't easy for you."

He looked down for a moment, and Murrue wasn't surprised at what he said next; there was a subtle but undeniable air of guilt surrounding him, one she understood quite well. "I'm alright. I just wish we'd gotten here sooner. If we had, maybe we could've stopped the Alliance from breaching the gate, could've held them off long enough for you and the others to catch up. I know we saved the colony, but… with all the innocent blood that was spilt today… even when taken into perspective with all the lives we did save, I have a hard time celebrating our victory."

Murrue nodded. "I know what you mean, Heero. These people should never have been targeted; it's just another sign of how far the Earth Alliance has fallen. I wish we could've saved everyone, but it just wasn't possible today. In light of that, praising a triumph just doesn't feel right."

She then gave him a small smile. "However, that doesn't change the fact that we did save the colony. Tens of thousands, maybe hundreds of thousands of innocent people are alive because of us. We can't help those that did die, but we can help the living. I intend to do everything in my power to aid those that suffered from what happened here today, to prevent such a tragedy from ever happening again… and I know you'll be by my side the whole way. Won't you, Heero?"

That familiar quiet strength returned to the Gundam pilot's eyes, and Murrue knew that her words had reached him. He gave her a small nod and smile as he replied. "Of course, Murrue… and thank you."

"Anytime, Heero," she said, "Now, come home, Heero. The battle is over; you need to rest."

"Alright," he said, "but I'm coming with you when it's time for us to meet with the Elysium authorities."

"So far that's Cagalli and her peoples' responsibility, not ours," said Murrue, "There's a chance we might sit this one out."

"Maybe, but I doubt it," said Heero, "I'm sure Lacus and Waltfeld will be meeting with them as well, and I think they'll want representation from the Archangel as well. They've been careful to maintain a sense of equality between our three ships, even if we've acknowledged them as the leaders of our movement."

"You have a point there," Murrue replied, smiling again, "If they ask for us, we'll go together."

Heero nodded. "I'm coming in for landing. I'll see you soon, Murrue."

She nodded. "I'm looking forward to it, Heero."

Her boyfriend disappeared from the screen, and the monitor shifted back to a full view of the Orb colony. Seeing the massive structure, Murrue felt a mix of pride and sorrow. On the one hand, knowing that they had stopped a full Earth Alliance invasion and the purge of all Coordinators inside Elysium was certainly a worthy accomplishment, one she would certainly consider a career highlight. However, the weight of the slain civilians fell upon her heart just as it did Heero's, and she could only wonder how many had been killed by the pilots of her homeland.

We'll set this right, she thought with determination, We cannot bring back the dead, but we can bring to justice those that were responsible for their passing. Whether by capture and trial or death in combat, we will make Azrael and the High Command pay for the slaughter they ordered here! If we can't do that, then those who died today cannot rest in peace; we owe them that much.

Murrue was confident that justice would be served one way or another, but that was not for today. Her responsibilities now were to look after the people on her ship and to render all possible aid to the people of Elysium. The prospect of a traitor within the colony was present at the back of her mind, but beyond informing Waltfeld and the others about her and Heero's suspicions she knew she could do little about it other than stay on her guard.

At least we'll have a place to rest for now, she thought, Even with a threat lying within, Elysium is still a place where we can take some much-needed leave. Once we've dealt with the aftermath of the battle and have done what we can for the wounded, I'll talk with Waltfeld and the others about organizing some R&R. After all, it may be the last chance we get in this war.

Preview for next time!

The Battle of Elysium has ended, but the colony's trials have only just begun. Deciding to stay at Elysium for the time being to defend it and its sister colony Eden from further attacks while they plan their next move, Heero, Murrue, and the others join in the efforts to care for the wounded and restore some semblance of normality to a deeply traumatized people. As time goes by the members of the Three Ships Alliance make efforts to care not just for the civilians and refugees, but their own war weary souls as well. While Heero, Murrue and their friends partake in some invaluable shore leave, signs of the final campaign are becoming more and more prominent. The military buildups initiated by Azrael and Zala's respective forces have reached unprecedented levels, with both sides preparing for the largest battle in mankind's bloody history. As ominous as this massing of warships and mobile suits is though, it pales in comparison to the true horror brewing in the shadows. In a restricted part of ZAFT space, Zala's scientists and work crews hasten to complete a weapon of unimaginable power, while on the dark side of the Moon the Earth Alliance resurrects the bane of Junius Seven. Next time, on "Journey to a New Battlefield", Episode Twenty-Seven: Final Reprieve.

"It's the deep breath before the plunge." Gandalf the White, "The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King" film adaptation.

Author's notes: Woohoo, Episode Twenty-Six is done! Sorry it took so long, I've only been able to do a page or two a day thanks to how busy my life's become, hopefully things will settle down a bit soon and I'll be able to write more. As you could probably tell from the preview, Episode Twenty-Seven will be a non-action chapter, but that's no reason to skip out; lot's going on there, from romance to drama to intrigue! Besides, I promise the chapters after Twenty-Seven will more than make up for the lack of combat in Twenty-Six. In fact, they'll have the biggest battles of the story; Boaz and Second Jachin Due! If you thought those fights in Seed canon were big, just wait until you read MY versions!

As always, your reviews are greatly appreciated. See you all next time!