Gundam Wing: Destiny's Call

by operation meteor

Sequel to Journey to a New Battlefield. It's been two years since the Bloody Valentine War and tensions are rising. When a shadowy group attacks the colony of Armory One, a certain Gundam pilot takes to the battlefield once again. However, little to his knowledge, some old friends are on a journey to his new world. M for language and violence (again, it's war. What do you expect?)

9. Chapter 9

Author's Notes: All right, another chapter done! I'm glad I split this one off from the previous one, I really wanted to start the new war off with a bang and I was able to make that the center of attention.

Song list, in order of appearance: "The Trooper" by Iron Maiden, "The Round Table" from Ace Combat Zero: The Belkan War, "Rules of Nature" from Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance, and "Rush" from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon.

I don't own Gundam Wing, Gundam SEED, or the Metal Gear franchise. I'm doing this for fun, nothing more.

Enjoy!

Episode Nine: Opening Match

October 21st, C.E. 73

Aboard the Laurasia-class frigate Naomi Hunter, Boris Vyacheslavovich Popov scowled as he watched the newsfeed on the main monitor. A First Generation Coordinator in his late thirties, he was a well-built man with close cut dark brown hair, brown eyes, and a thick yet well trimmed mustache. Formerly a Commander from ZAFT's space forces with more than his share of combat experience under his belt, he'd gone from formal military to independent security contractor after the Bloody Valentine War had come to a close.

The company he'd founded, Maverick Security Consulting, had quickly grown to become the premier PMC operating out of L5. ZAFT's downsizing after the war was a windfall for his fledgling company, and practically overnight his enterprise had swelled with recruits and hardware, including advanced weaponry that he'd been able to purchase for next to nothing. The Naomi Hunter was the crown jewel of Maverick's assets, and even though the Laurasia-class was now considered outdated the vessel was still nothing to sneeze at. It retained all of its wartime armament, and the relatively lax regulations concerning PMCs meant that Boris had been able to upgrade the ship's capabilities. Two more 58mm CIWS had been added, both mounted on the upper hull flanking the bridge, while batteries of six anti-air missile launchers apiece had been installed on the far sides towards the back of the ship. The original sensors had been torn out and replaced with the more advanced versions that were employed on the Nazca-class destroyers. The frigate's engines had been overhauled as well, and while the ship's overall speed still wasn't quite up there with the more modern warships in ZAFT's fleet it was still a decent improvement over what the class had previously been capable of.

As the head of the company, one might think that a man such as Boris should've been in an office rather than a warship. That certainly might've been the more responsible way to go about his role, but Boris wasn't a fan of the boardroom, to put it mildly. Maverick did maintain an office in Aprillius One, but that mostly served as a place to hold meetings with clients and to handle minor administrative functions. In his eyes he could manage his company just as well from a warship as he could from an executive's office, and in this capacity he could still put his combat experience to good use.

In setting up his company, he'd taken care to emulate some of ZAFT's structure while incorporating other schemes and ideas from fellow emerging PMCs. The most obvious homage to his former military was the uniform design he'd commissioned for the crew of the Naomi Hunter. It was basically identical to the ZAFT uniform design, but the base color was one not used by the Coordinator military; silver. All crew members, regardless of their rank, wore the same color uniform. Distinctions in command and role were denoted by a patch on the upper left torso. To signal his role as both the ship's commander and the head of the company, Boris wore a patch that had a dark grey base, which was emblazoned with a white horse overlaid with a blue lightning bolt, while below that were three letters in black bold font: MSC, the abbreviated form of the company's full name.

He shook his head as he continued to watch the press conference. "Bozhe moi… so it's war again, huh? Courtney, any updates from our liaison?"

A busty young woman in her early twenties, with her blonde hair tied in a bun and an energetic gleam in her green eyes that was only sharpened by her glasses, Courtney Collins was in charge of supervising communications between the frigate, its mobile suits, and outside contacts in ZAFT and the civilian PLANT administration. Oddly enough, she'd actually earned a Masters in Business Administration shortly before joining up with Maverick. When Boris had asked her why she'd wanted to join a PMC rather than go into finance and set herself up for life, she had responded that she had considered that but in the aftermath of the war she wanted to do some good in the world. Maverick had been quite a young company back then, but even in its early days Boris had worked hard to make sure his enterprise conducted itself according to high ethical standards, and that had been attractive to Courtney. Now, here she was on his bridge, and her skills made her a valuable part of the crew.

She glanced back at him and nodded. "We just got a message from our coordinating officer back at Headquarters. They want us to redeploy. I'm sending you the coordinates now."

Checking the small monitor mounted on the arm of his chair, Boris nodded when he saw the data flash on the screen. Their new post was on Line One, formerly known as the Jachin Due Line until ZAFT's big reorganization after the war. It would place them directly in the path of the oncoming Earth Alliance armada, and Boris knew that they would be in for some heavy fighting.

"No time to waste, then," he said, "Helm, get us over there. Courtney, contact the home office and give them a status update."

"Understood, sir," she replied.

Boris then glanced over his shoulder at a dark-skinned man working a console behind him. "How long will it take to get a briefing set up for our pilots, Kevin?"

A fellow classmate of Courtney back during their university days, the dreadlocked Kevin Washington was something of a jack of all trades for Maverick. Not only was he the right hand man of Boris, but he was also in charge of handling pre-mission briefings, negotiations with new or current clients, weapons procurement, Human Resource management, accounting and business development. It was a lot of responsibility for a man who was just in his early twenties, but Kevin rarely complained about the workload.

"That depends," he replied, "Do we have accurate intel on what the enemy's sending our way?"

"Courtney?" said Boris.

"Headquarters sent over some files along with those coordinates," she replied, "They should have everything we'll need. I'll send them to Kevin now."

A few seconds later Boris saw Kevin nod as his screen flashed. "Got 'em. I'll review them as fast as I can and get back to you, boss."

"The sooner the better," said Boris, "We need our pilots brought up to speed before the enemy arrives."

"I hear you," said Kevin, already intently studying the new information.

"Courtney," said Boris, "Send those files to me as well. I'd like to look over them before we engage the enemy."

"Of course, sir," said Courtney, "They're coming over now."

They showed up a few seconds later on his personal monitor, and his eyes narrowed as he studied their contents. It was easy to see why ZAFT was marshalling so many ships to repel the coming assault; the armada massed by the Earth Alliance was the largest to have been deployed by either superpower since the Bloody Valentine War.

His mind flashed back to the Second Battle of Jachin Due. Back then he had been commanding a flotilla of frigates, not just a single ship like he was today. The sheer brutality of that battle was so fresh in his mind it was as if it had just happened yesterday instead of two years ago. He could recall the casualties with perfect clarity; eighty percent of his flotilla had been wiped out in that ferocious brawl. The stress and trauma that came with seeing so many people under his command perish had been one of the reasons why Boris had moved to the private sector after the war; having responsibility for that many lives and seeing them snuffed out so ruthlessly wasn't an experience he wanted to repeat. With Maverick's space combat assets just being a single warship and its six mobile suits, he felt like he was much more capable of shepherding the young men and women who had joined his company, although he was well aware that it was impossible to guarantee their safety in this line of work.

He sighed as he shut off the news feed. There was no point in further viewing when it was just going to frustrate him further. Despite all that had happened in the last war, mankind had chosen to ignore the lessons that should've come with its close brush with Armageddon. Peace was officially over.

No shots had been fired as of yet, but the Second Bloody Valentine War was well underway.

….

"Should we keep him in school?" asked his wife, "I've hear a lot of other parents talk about pulling their kids out."

Leaning back in his chair as he spoke to the love of his life over the video feed, Jack shook his head. "There's no point in that. Where're they going to go? Even if they pull their kids out of school, they'll still be in the PLANTs. It's not like moving to another colony's going to change the fact that we've all got targets painted on our backs. I say keep John enrolled. He's made some good friends there; it'd be a shame for him to lose touch with them just because we got spooked."

The star pilot and ground operative of Maverick Security Consulting, Jack certainly stood out in a crowd. His light blond hair flowed down almost to his chin, and along with his complexion had contributed to one of his many monikers; White Devil. His blue eyes usually had an easy-going look to them, but when the action started they could become sharper than daggers and colder than the winds of Siberia. He was tall and well built, which was to be expected when one considered that he'd been fighting in one form or another for most of his life. Born a Coordinator thanks to the machinations of a petty warlord and a twisted doctor for the sole purpose of being a soldier, he'd cut his teeth in one of the many ethnic conflicts raging down in Africa as a young boy before being brought to the PLANTs by humanitarian aid workers. From such bloodstained beginnings it was only natural that he would've been drawn to ZAFT, but even though the battlefield called to him he had been saved from utterly drowning in it by the woman he was speaking to now.

I've really come up in the world, he mused, From child soldier to PMC fighter… and a family man, to boot. That's one hell of a journey.

It was a journey that wasn't anywhere close to done, at least not if he had anything to say about it. He had a steady career, a wife, and a son, and he wasn't about to let the Earth Alliance take that away from him. If he had to fight to keep them safe, then he was fine with that… and the enemy would find out the hard way how he'd earned the nickname 'Jack The Ripper.'

On the screen, Rosemary smiled, her relief clearly visible in her warm brown eyes. "I think you're right. I'll keep him enrolled. Hopefully the other parents will make the same call; I don't want him to go to school all alone."

"Some of them will probably pull their kids out regardless," said Jack, "but there should be plenty that stay on. Like I said; where are they going to go?"

"Right," she replied, "I just hope he's not too worried about all of this. I've been trying to keep him from following the news, but you know how kids are these days."

Jack smirked. "Yup; way too tech savvy. I swear, it starts at a younger age with each generation. It's kinda scary sometimes."

His lovely brunette wife nodded. "I think part of it is that he wants to follow what you're doing. He knows that fighting's part of your job, so it's his way of trying to connect with you when you're not around."

Jack sighed. "Well, with the way things are shaping up now, it looks like I won't be around for quite a while. Even if the Chairman plans on fighting this war defensively, I've still got no way to tell when our next shore leave will be. We may be private sector, but we've still got tours of duty; they're just called 'contracts' now."

Rose smiled. "Maybe, but Boris has always been good about making sure that you get to spend time with us. I'm sure he'll work out something."

"We'll see how it goes," said Jack, "How're you holding up, Rose?"

"I'm all right for now," she replied, "Things have been quiet at work, but I suspect that will change real soon; the demand for counselors always spikes once the fighting starts. It may be job security, but I wish it didn't have to be that way."

Jack nodded. "I hear you.

Before he could continue his console beeped, and he saw that he had an incoming call from the bridge. "Hang on a second, Rose; looks like Kevin's got some news."

Switching over to the other line, he saw his friend's face appear on the screen. "Hey, Kev. This better be important; you're cutting into quality time with the Missus."

Kevin winced. "Ah, sorry about that. I just wanted to give you a heads up, Raiden; I'll be hosting a briefing in about an hour."

Jack raised an eyebrow; Kevin only used his call sign when they were in a battle or about to head into one. "Does it have something to do with the Council's press conference and why I felt this ship pick up speed a little while ago?"

Kevin nodded. "We're headed for Line One. The Earth forces are on their way; looks like they're planning on taking us head-on."

"The Alliance doesn't do 'subtle' very well, eh?" Jack replied.

Kevin chuckled. "Understatement of the year. Haven't seen a fleet like the one they've massed since the last war. It's gonna be all hands on deck for this one, and we'll be right in the middle of it."

"Got it," said Jack, "I'll be there. Are the suits ready for action?"

"Courtney's already given the hangar crews the heads-up," said Kevin, "They'll be good to go well before the shit hits the fan."

Jack nodded. "All right. Anything else?"

Kevin shook his head. "That about covers it. See you at the briefing."

As Kevin disconnected Jack brought his wife back onto the screen. "Sorry about that."

Rose smiled. "It's all right. What did Kevin want?"

"Just to make sure I don't miss an upcoming meeting," said Jack, "I'll get to learn what we're flying into, so that should be fun."

Rose nodded. "Okay. Jack… be careful, all right?"

Jack smirked. "No promises there, Rose. You know how I can be once the fighting starts."

"Jack, I'm serious," said Rose, "There are too many widows in the PLANTs already, and I don't want to be one of them! Promise me you won't take any unnecessary risks, all right? John and I both need you to get through this in one piece."

Jack smiled and nodded. "All right, Rose. I promise I won't do anything too crazy."

Rose sighed. "That's all I can ask for, I guess. Stay safe, Jack. I love you."

"I love you too, Rose," he replied before ending the call.

He leaned back in his chair while smoothing over a wrinkle in his uniform. The last thing he wanted to do was make his wife worry, but he supposed that there was just no avoiding it here. It was just one more thing that he would have to make the Earth Alliance answer for.

You should've stayed on your side of the Zero Line, Earth forces, he thought as he felt a familiar dark energy awakening within him, I guess I'm just going to have to reintroduce to you to someone you met in the last war. I hope you haven't forgotten 'Jack The Ripper', because he hasn't forgotten you.

He closed his eyes for a moment, and when he opened them again there was just a flicker of red in them. It was a hint of the beast he would soon unleash upon the enemy.

I think it's time for 'Jack' to let 'er rip!

….

"What?" Shinn burst out, "What do you mean we're not deploying? The world's at war now!"

"Calm down, Shinn," Rey admonished him, putting his hand on his shoulder.

Shinn brushed him off and glared at his friend. "Like hell I will! We're really just supposed to sit here while the Alliance attacks the PLANTs? That's bullshit!"

"Mister Asuka, stand down now!" Talia barked, "You're a soldier of ZAFT, not some street punk, and I expect you to act accordingly. Control yourself!"

Off to the side he was dimly aware of Lunamaria putting her hand to her forehead. "Idiot…"

"Understatement of the year," Wufei quipped.

As the four top pilots currently on the Minerva, they had been summoned to the Captain's office so Talia could brief them on the current situation. Shinn had kept his cool at first, and had been raring to go when the Captain had said that the Alliance armada had crossed the Zero Line, but this was too much. Their homeland was about to come under assault, and they were just expected to standby in Orb and do nothing?

Talia glared at him. "Contain your anger and think for a moment, Shinn. From our position down here on the surface it is literally impossible for us to arrive at the PLANTs in time to aid in the defense of our homeland. The battle would be over long before we even got close to L5."

"But we can't just stay in Orb and do nothing!" Shinn protested.

"Permission to speak freely, Captain?" asked Rey.

Talia gave Shinn's fellow Red a cautious nod. "Go ahead."

"I understand that simple logistics prohibit us from making it to the PLANTs in time to repel the coming assault," he said, "However, why do we remain in Orb at all? We have no sufficient reason to stay that I am aware of, and if the Earth forces are on the move up in space they are doubtlessly advancing on the surface as well. Carpentaria is ZAFT's major bastion of power in the Pacific Ocean, and the Earth Alliance would be foolish if they did not send their surface navy to attack it. Our most logical move would be to leave Orb immediately and head to Carpentaria so we can shore up the defenses there."

Shinn nodded, relieved that Rey had his back. "He's right, Captain. There's no place for us here in Orb! We should be doing our part to help ZAFT, even if that's not up at L5!"

Talia shook her head. "Believe me, I am in full agreement with you, but we cannot simply charge off without orders. As of right now, the Defense Council has not seen fit to provide us with a new mission that better fits the current circumstances. Until we hear otherwise, I'm afraid that we are confined to the Orb Union."

"But we're the most advanced ship in the fleet!" cried Lunamaria, "How can the Council keep us stationed in a neutral nation when they need our power to help them win this war?"

Talia's eyes narrowed. "It is not our place to question the Council, Miss Hawke. They are the ones who grasp the full strategic picture; we operate on a much more tactical level. If the Council has not yet seen fit to order us to move out, then there must be a reason for it. If we act impulsively then we could be inadvertently jeopardizing whatever stratagem our superiors have in place."

Wufei folded his arms. "So you won't take any initiative whatsoever?"

Talia gave him a harsh glare. "I don't know how things work with the group you've operated with before, Wufei, but ZAFT is a professional fighting force. As soldiers we're expected to follow our orders and act as part of a cohesive whole; taking independent action without consulting our superiors is a recipe for disaster."

"But waiting around for exact orders is hardly productive," Wufei countered, "Were you explicitly ordered to maintain your position in the Orb Union, or did the Council simply not provide new orders that better fit the rapidly shifting events?"

"They did not provide us with new mobilization orders," Talia admitted, "but that's hardly license for us to depart here at will. I recognize the distinction that you bring up, but an asset as powerful as the Minerva cannot operate with complete freedom. We need guidance from above so we can act with purpose and direction."

"A move from here to Carpentaria would have purpose and direction," said Wufei, "and under the current circumstances it would hardly be unreasonable."

Shinn raised an eyebrow. Was Wufei actually siding with him?

"It might make sense to us," Talia replied, "but our superiors may not see it that way. Until we receive new orders or the local authorities force our hand, we will be remaining here. If you wish to leave, Wufei, I can hardly stop you since you're not formally under my command. However, for the time being the Minerva will hold its position and that is not up for debate."

Wufei shrugged. "Whatever you say."

Talia turned back to Shinn and his fellow Reds. "We may be on standby here for the moment, but that does not mean that we will be sitting idly. I expect the three of you to continue to hone your skills in simulations and assist the hangar crews in maintaining your machines. We may have to move out at a moment's notice, and you will be prepared to do so. Is that clear?"

Shinn and the others nodded. "Yes, ma'am."

Talia nodded. "Good. That's all for now. You're dismissed."

Shinn kept his composure until they got out of the room. Once they were clear he slammed his fist against the wall.

"Damn it!" he growled, "What the hell's wrong with her?"

"She's only doing what she believes is best as Captain," said Rey, "She has responsibilities that we do not."

"Rey's right, Shinn," said Lunamaria, "I don't like it either, but orders are orders; we're stuck here until further notice."

Wufei shook his head. "Such a limited mindset."

Lunamaria glared at him. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Exactly what I said," Wufei replied, "Simply waiting for orders and not acting on your own initiative limits what you're capable of. I would've thought that ZAFT would encourage greater flexibility in its officers, especially given your numerical handicap."

"Well, no one said that you have to stick around," Shinn grumbled, "You get to leave whenever you feel like it."

"Why would I leave?" said Wufei, "What I want is already on its way here. All I have to do is sit back and wait."

Lunamaria raised an eyebrow. "What you want is coming here? What on Earth are you talking about?"

Wufei jerked his thumb in the direction of Talia's office. "Rey was right back there, you know; it's not just the Earth Alliance's space forces that are on the move right now. I'm sure that their surface navy is heading this way as we speak. They might be after Carpentaria, but they could very well attack Orb as well. After all, neutrality was no guarantee of security in the last war. In fact, they have a very good reason to move against Orb; ZAFT's premiere battleship is here. Nations have used much less as a pretext for invading other countries in the past."

"The Earth Alliance would be risking a great deal in attacking a neutral nation so early on in a new conflict," said Rey, "and their numbers, while formidable, aren't what they used to be. An invasion of Orb is a needless diversion and waste of valuable strategic resources."

Lunamaria nodded. "Rey's right. Attacking the Orb Union at this point doesn't make much strategic sense. They're better off focusing all their strength against us. Going after a neutral country is just going to turn global opinion against them."

"True," Wufei admitted, "but the Atlantic Federation may have something else in mind. The threat of invasion can be quite potent in and of itself, especially considering what the Orb Union suffered at the hands of the Americans during the last war. Just the presence of the Pacific Fleet may be enough to convince Orb's leaders to throw their lot in with the Alliance… and what do you think would happen to the Minerva should that occur?"

Shinn's eyes narrowed as he put two and two together. "They'd sell us out. Bastards! It's just like before!"

Lunamaria shook her head. "I can't see the Chief Representative doing that. She seemed like such a nice person, and she was on the Minerva during Operation Redemption; she saw us help save the world from the falling ruins. She wouldn't send us up river like that… would she?"

Rey sighed. "We cannot rule anything out. Even if Orb's head of state is positively disposed towards us, other figures in her government may not be so inclined to view us as friends. The threat of an Alliance invasion would be serious indeed; as Chief Representative, Lady Cagalli has to look out for the interests of her people first and foremost. Could she really continue to harbor us with the prospect of another Atlantic Federation assault on her country hanging over her head?"

"She should stand up to them!" Shinn barked, "If she really believes in her country's ideals then she should give the Americans the finger! Orb's leaders don't really believe the crap they spout, though; you can bet on them handing us over to the Alliance at the first opportunity."

"That may very well come to pass," said Wufei, "If it does, what do you plan to do about it?"

"That's obvious," Shinn shot back, "We fight our way out! There's no way I'm going to go along quietly when they try to hand us over to the Alliance!"

Wufei chuckled. "So sometimes even you are capable of talking sense, eh? Better late than never, I guess."

Shinn scowled, "If that's supposed to be a compliment it's a shitty one."

Wufei shrugged. "Take what you can get. Your piloting skills are nothing to write home about, that's for sure."

Shinn clenched his fists. "Why, you…"

"Enough, Shinn," said Rey, once again putting his hand on his shoulder, "Don't let him get under your skin."

"Forget about that," said Lunamaria, stepping forward and studying Wufei carefully, "If we have to fight our way out of Orb, will you be helping us?"

"I'm still on this ship, aren't I?" Wufei replied, "It wouldn't exactly be helpful for me if it got destroyed or captured by the enemy. I certainly can't let anything happen to Nataku. If we are attacked here, you can count on me taking the field."

Lunamaria folded her arms. "And beyond that? When we do leave here, I'll be anything that we'll be heading straight to Carpentaria. Are you still going to stick around after that?"

Wufei nodded. "Why wouldn't I? This ship's been at the center of the action since the raid on Armory One. So long as that trend continues, there is nowhere else that I would rather be."

Shinn saw Rey's eyes narrowed. "What are you after, Wufei? You may have fought alongside Heero up in space, but you did not follow him and the others after the orbital battle. What game are you playing by staying on board the Minerva?"

Wufei shook his head. "You still haven't figured it out? I've practically spelled it out for you already."

"Well, give us a hand," Shinn growled, "I'm sick of you acting like you know something that we don't."

"Shinn's right," said Lunamaria, "Don't get me wrong; having you here is a big boost to our combat power, so I'm all for having you stick around. However, if you're going to keep fighting alongside us, then we deserve to know your real reason for doing so."

"Fine," Wufei replied, "You want the truth? I'm not fighting for a flag like you. There's no homeland that I'm defending and no ruler that I'm serving. I'm not even fighting for Heero or the others; their cause isn't mine. They're old friends, but our reasons for fighting are our own."

"Yeah," said Shinn, "We got that each of you guys tend to do things your own way."

"If you're not fighting for a nation or your friends, then what are you fighting for?" asked Rey.

Wufei closed his eyes. "I'm looking for answers. I want to know if 'peace' at the expense of lives can really be defined as peace."

He turned and started to walk away. "I want to see if mankind is really capable of defeating the evil that festers within its heart, and whether or not it deserves the peace that soldiers give their lives to win. Most of all, though… I'm here because this is my home."

Lunamaria raised an eyebrow. "This is your home? You mean Orb?"

Wufei shook his head, and his answer chilled Shinn to the bone. "My home is not a country. My home…"

"…is the battlefield."

….

The alarm was still blaring as Athrun raced through the Gondwana's corridors, hot on Heine's heels. "All hands, Level One Battle Stations! I repeat, all hands, Level One Battle Stations! This is not a drill!"

This is it, he thought as he and his guide entered the pilot ready-room and suited up, I can't turn back now.

He saw Heine give him an encouraging nod as he zipped up his flight suit. "We're ready for this."

Athrun nodded, hoping that he looked more confident than he felt. "Right. Let's go."

Grabbing their helmets, the two pilots swiftly entered the hangar and made a beeline right for their mobile suits. The service crews nodded at them as they approached and flashed thumbs-up; their machines were ready to go.

"It's not my place to tell someone with your experience how to fight," said Heine, "but for this mission, remember that you're my wingman. After this is over I think the Chairman will let you act independently, but for now I want you to follow my lead, all right?"

"Got it," Athrun replied.

Heine nodded before entering his ZAKU Phantom's cockpit. "I'll see you out there."

Athrun returned the nod before getting into his machine and closing the hatch. Quickly powering up the unit, he ran through its startup checklist.

"Weapons, thrusters, hydraulics, sensors, Blaze Pack…" he muttered as he studied his monitors, "Looks good."

Heine's face appeared in the bottom left corner of the screen. "We'll launch from the top portside catapult. You're up after me."

"Copy that," said Athrun, "Ready whenever you are."

On his monitor he saw Heine's orange machine leave its berth and make for their designated catapult. Athrun followed his lead and watched as his flight lead got locked into the launch system. The panel of lights on the side wall went from red to yellow, then finally green, and the Blaze ZAKU Phantom shot out of the carrier like a cannonball.

"Here we go," Athrun muttered as the signalman off to the side waved him forward.

A few seconds later his machine was locked into the catapult. The lights on the side wall went through their sequence, and then the female voice of one of the carrier's mobile suit flight coordinators came over his speakers.

"Athrun Zala," she said, "You are clear for launch. Good luck!"

He nodded. "Roger that. Athrun Zala, launching!"

His green machine surged forward, and before he knew it he had cleared the carrier. Checking his scanners, he quickly found Heine and gunned his engines to catch up with his flight lead. The space around him was already full of mobile suits; the Gondwana was launching her units with incredible efficiency.

So many of them, he thought as he watched his comrades fly out of the carrier, and they're all from just one ship…

As the fleet flagship, the Gondwana was at the heart of the armada that ZAFT had assembled to halt the advance of the Earth Alliance forces. Composed of no less than a thousand ships, it equaled the numerical strength of the approaching force, but this fleet was made up of roughly half of ZAFT's total fighting strength as opposed to the Alliance's armada, which was just around thirty percent of what the Atlantic Federation and its allied states could field. Athrun knew that ZAFT was maintaining reserve battle groups to send into the fray at the first sign of trouble, but it would be a very bad thing if they were called upon; losses for the Coordinator forces would hurt them much more than what their enemy would suffer when they took casualties.

He had forgotten what it was like to stare down a fleet of this size. The Earth Alliance armada seemed to sprawl out like an oncoming tsunami. The multitude of warships looked like a vast school of sharks about to plunge into a feeding frenzy, and the space in front of them blinked with countless tiny blue-white shooting stars; the thruster trails of mobile suits. There were familiar faces in the form of Drake-class escort ships, Nelson-class battleships, and Agamemnon-class carriers, but there were also newer and more intimidating opponents in the form of the wolf packs of Typhoon-class destroyers and the mighty Victory floating in the dark heart of the armada. The oncoming Dagger L mobile suits looked like a massive swarm of angry hornets propelled by light blue fire, and it would just be a matter of seconds now before they'd be within firing range of their ZAFT counterparts.

It was certainly an imposing sight, but Athrun's confidence was buoyed by the force that would be backing up him and Heine. The sight of rank up on rank of Laurasia-class frigates and Nazca-class destroyers offered a comforting familiarity, and that was bolstered by the presence of no less than three Orizaba-class carrier/dreadnoughts. Interspersed with the older vessels were the newer Hel-class cruisers, and Athrun was impressed by how many ZAFT had managed to produce in the two years since the end of the last war. Last but not least, of course, was the Gondwana, although Athrun knew that the ship's weaponry didn't quite measure up to its formidable appearance. Behind them all were the pristine hourglass colonies of the PLANTs, a powerful reminder as to what they were all fighting for today.

If the warships of the defending fleet were a display of ZAFT's shipbuilding prowess, then the multitude of mobile suits deploying from them were a grand testament to Coordinator ingenuity. Squadrons of ZAKU Warriors filled the void, each equipped with a Blaze, Gunner, or Slash Wizard Pack. Leading them were ZAKU Phantoms much like the units Athrun and Heine were flying, and those too were fitted with augmentation packs. However, it wasn't just the newest generation of mobile suits that were deploying to defend the Coordinator homeland; Athrun spotted more than a few teams of older GuAIZ Rs, and even original model GuAIZs and modified GINNs from the last war. All were flying from their host warships as swiftly as the vessels could launch them, and they were rushing headlong at the incoming enemy.

"Heads up," said Heine, "Firing data's coming in from the Gondwana!"

Indeed it was; Athrun's console beeped as he saw his sensor grid become a sea of overlapping crimson lines, each one representing a firing lane. The fact that he was getting this now meant only one thing; the armada was about to cut loose. Eager to avoid getting shot down by a friendly warship, Athrun quickly followed Heine as his flight lead maneuvered into a safe zone amidst the firing lanes.

Start "The Trooper"

A few moments later the ZAFT armada practically erupted with weapons fire. A gargantuan storm of particle beams, railgun rounds, and missiles ripped forth from the assembled capital ships in a tsunami of death. At the exact same time, the Earth forces cut loose as well, and the crisscrossing barrages created a titanic and lethal light display of the sort that the world had not witnessed since the final battle of the last war. Strings of explosions tore through both sides as the front ranks of the armadas absorbed the initial salvos; thousands of lives snuffed out in an instant, and this was just the first few seconds of the battle.

"You okay?" called Heine.

Athrun nodded, amazed that he hadn't been hit in the massive crossfire. "Still in one piece."

"Good," his flight lead replied, "Here they come!"

As the battle groups and squadrons that made up the two armadas began to exchange fire at will, the first waves of Earth Alliance and ZAFT mobile suits crashed into each other. Beam rifles, railguns and missile launchers flared to life, a smaller but no less deadly version of the gargantuan opening bombardment conducted by the capital ships. Energy melee weapons glowed in the hands of mechanical gladiators, with units on both sides already hacking into each other.

On his display he saw a cluster of six Dagger Ls become highlighted as Heine sent him more data. "They're heading right for us. Let's show them what we got!"

"Copy that," said Athrun as he zeroed in on his foes.

Four of the approaching machines had no augmentation packs whatsoever, but two of them were equipped with the twin recoilless cannons of the Doppelhorn Pack. They were approaching in tight formation, and the two Doppelhorn units wasted no time in opening up with their artillery. Athrun and Heine were able to evade their fire without too much effort, but those salvos were swiftly followed up by beam rifle fire from the other four machines.

"Amateurs," said Heine, "Eat this!"

The missile launchers mounted on his Blaze Pack flared to life as multiple warheads surged towards their targets. Rather than mirror his flight lead, Athrun instead unleashed a volley of precise emerald death from his rifle. Heine's missiles obliterated the front ranks of the enemy squad, while Athrun's shots ripped apart the two Doppelhorn units.

They kept their formation too close, he thought as the six short-lived explosions faded, They must've been green…

"Nice shooting!" praised Heine, "Another group incoming!"

Athrun nodded, drawing and igniting his beam tomahawk before following his flight lead right into the enemy pack. He let fly with a volley of missiles, turning three Dagger Ls into fireballs while his partner picked off two more with his beam rifle. Another Alliance machine rushed at him, beam saber raised, and Athrun brought his own melee weapon up to block the enemy's strike. After deflecting the blow he swiftly retaliated, burying his blade in the cockpit of the hostile mobile suit.

I still prefer beam sabers to this, he thought as the enemy machine exploded, but I'll take what I can get.

Indeed, he certainly couldn't afford to discard his tomahawk now; more hostile mobile suits were inbound, and they looked like they meant business. Surging forward to meet them head-on, Athrun blocked a few beam rifle shots on his shield before slamming into a Dagger L like a linebacker. Throwing the machine and its pilot off balance, Athrun quickly hacked his foe to bits. Another unit tried to hit him from the left flank, but he was saved by Heine, who cleaved the mobile suit in half with his melee weapon.

"Thanks for the save," said Athrun as he shot down another machine.

"Anytime," Heine replied while carving into another Dagger L with his axe.

Expending the rest of his missiles on another trio of Dagger Ls, Athrun followed up his barrage with a volley of particle beams. Two more enemy machines bit the dust, but it felt like he was trying to fight his way through an ocean of mechanical combatants. Athrun and Heine might be holding their own in this massive brawl, but they didn't seem to be advancing, and they certainly weren't in any position to threaten the enemy's warships right now.

All around them it appeared to be the same; both sides' mobile suits were locked in furious clashes, with neither party able to gain the upper hand. As the mobile suits continued their chaotic and brutal clash, the warships behind them swapped salvos with abandon, launching more beams, railgun rounds, and missiles than there were stars in the sky. The lighter vessels of both sides were being decimated by the heavy fire being exchanged, while the heavier warships were already sporting numerous scars. If ZAFT emerged victorious today then Athrun was sure that the shipyards would be busy for quite some time to come repairing the battle damage inflicted on the metal titans that were locked in this gargantuan head-to-head clash.

"We're not getting anywhere with this!" he growled in frustration as he cut down another machine.

"The battle's young," said Heine as he shot down a pair of Dagger Ls with his rifle, "Give it time."

Heine was right; the fight had only just begun, and in a brawl this large Athrun wouldn't be able to just carve his way through the enemy ranks in a matter of minutes. He also had to remind himself that he wasn't flying the same mobile suit that he'd wielded in the late campaigns of the last war. The Blaze ZAKU Phantom was a good machine, but it was no Justice. It was only natural that he would have to fight harder with this unit in order to make progress in this titanic battle.

Continuing to fight his way through the seemingly endless waves of mobile suits, Athrun tried to scan the sea of foes for any familiar faces from the Armory One raid. Unfortunately there were just far too many hostile contacts for him to get an accurate picture or zero in on any one machine that was outside his immediate area. At the very least, he couldn't tell if the Gaia was active on this battlefield or not, and at this rate the only way he would find out for sure would be if he ran into it.

Focus on what's in front of you, he mentally chided himself as he picked off two more Dagger Ls with his beam rifle, otherwise you're going to get killed.

"Shit," he heard Heine hiss as his flight lead struck down a mobile suit with his beam tomahawk, "I've seen those before... Athrun, these are our new targets!"

Athrun's eyes narrowed as Heine sent him new combat data. The machines that showed up on his monitor were not mobile suits, but instead mobile armors, and familiar ones at that. Their hulls were broad and circular, larger than any mobile suit, and they were bristling with weaponry. Two twin heavy energy cannons were mounted on the top of the hull, and they were augmented by multipurpose missile launchers. Mounted on the edge of the circular hull to provide short-range anti-aircraft fire was a ring of ten Igelstellung CIWS.

"Juggernaut assault mobile armors," said Athrun as he shot down another Dagger L, "I thought those were all wiped out in the last war!"

"The Alliance kept producing them after the peace treaty was signed," Heine replied as he blasted a pair of machines, "After all, it's not like those units were subject to any restrictions."

"Damn it!" Athrun growled as he cut down a mobile suit with his axe, "They're going to blast their way right through to the capital ships!"

Indeed, they were already in the process of doing so. Athrun counted at least a few dozen of the machines, flanked by supporting squadrons of Dagger Ls, carving swaths of destruction through ZAFT's forward mobile suit teams. Waves of crimson fire spewed forth from their topside cannons, utterly disintegrating any machine caught in their path. Their missile launchers were busy as well, letting fly with streams of warheads that tore into the ZAFT squadrons trying to stop the mobile armors' advance. Suppressing fire from the ring of CIWS was just the icing on a very lethal cake, while their tough hulls were shrugging off the glancing blows they'd taken so far.

"You remember how to fight these things, right?" asked Heine as the two of them began cutting a path through the nearby Dagger L squadrons to get to the closest Juggernaut.

Athrun nodded as he hacked into a machine with his axe. "Their armor's thick, but they're vulnerable from beneath. Their batteries are located in the belly too, so punching through the hide down there can take the whole thing down."

Heine smiled on his screen. "Good memory! I thought you might be a little rusty after not having to fight these things for two years!"

"It'll be a little harder than last time," said Athrun while shooting down a Dagger L, "The beam tomahawk won't cut the same way as the sabers the Justice had."

"I know," Heine replied as he nailed another machine with a headshot, "but these are the weapons we have to work with, and we've got a job to do. Let's get to it!"

Right, thought Athrun while carving up a hostile contact, before they start opening up on the capital ships…

Heine went low, and Athrun stuck right with him. Picking off enemy units in rapid succession with precision rifle fire, they worked their way through the crowd towards the lead heavy mobile armors. The squadron escorting their closest target began to redeploy, already moving to intercept them.

"Looks like they're not going to make it easy on us," said Heine.

"They never do," said Athrun, "Watch out; they've got some Doppelhorn units in the mix!"

"Good eye," Heine praised, "Let's get 'em!"

They rushed in as the Juggernaut's escorts fanned out. The regular Dagger Ls made up the forward group moving to intercept Athrun and Heine, while the Doppelhorn units stayed with the mobile armor, their guns already tracking the two ZAFT pilots. Zigzagging through the incoming fire, Athrun and Heine started to thin out the herd with quick rifle volleys. The former ZAFT Red nailed two in his first attack, while the FAITH operative downed three more machines. Not content to simply trade weapons fire with the pair of oncoming ZAKU Phantoms, the remaining Dagger Ls rushed in with beam sabers ignited.

Bring it on, thought Athrun as he blocked a violet blade on his beam tomahawk, Close quarters combat is my turf!

The enemy quickly found that out the hard way as Athrun swiftly carved into the Dagger L's cockpit. As the machine exploded he transitioned right into an attack on the next unit, and he proceeded to hack it to flaming pieces. A little further ahead Heine was similarly carving into the Alliance machines that tried to take him on up close, all the while evading cannon fire from the Doppelhorn units.

Having broken through the front ranks, the two ZAFT pilots took aim at the Doppelhorn Dagger Ls. Weaving through cannon fire, Athrun was the first to draw blood, hitting one of the mobile suits right in the cockpit. Heine swiftly nailed one as well, and together the two pilots polished off the remaining escorts before turning their full attention to the bulky mobile armor itself.

The Juggernaut had not been idle during their approach. As Athrun and Heine had carved a bloody swath through its escorts the heavy assault unit had rolled until its topside missile launchers were aimed squarely at the two ZAFT pilots. The mobile armor unloaded on them, forcing the pair to split up to evade the barrage. After dodging the missiles, though, it was a relatively simple matter for Athrun and Heine to come up around the Juggernaut, weaving through its CIWS fire until they were looking right at the unit's belly. Heine charged right in, hacking into the mobile armor's hull with his beam tomahawk. Athrun came in right next to him, and under their combined assault the armor gave way and they were able to puncture the Juggernaut's batteries. Sparks flew from the gutted machine, and the two ZAFT pilots pulled back. It wasn't a moment too soon; the heavy assault mobile armor went up in flames just a second later.

"Nice work!" said Heine, "Looks like you've still got it!"

Athrun smiled. "Thanks. You're not too bad yourself."

Heine chuckled as he picked off a Dagger L with his beam rifle. "High praise, coming from you. So, you up for another one?"

Athrun nodded as he cut down another machine. "Just pick a target. I've got your back."

"Right," said Heine, "Okay, got one. Sending the data your way now!"

It showed up on Athrun's monitor a moment later. There was the heavy assault mobile armor on his screen, and just like the one before it was flanked by escorting Dagger Ls. Once again the guarding units were a mix of regular and Doppelhorn-wielding machines, and there were no friendly units close enough to provide backup. Athrun and Heine would be on their own, but he didn't particularly mind; he was already getting the hang of working with his flight lead.

The two of them surged forward, and Athrun was thankful for the extra thrusters built into the Blaze Pack. The increased mobility was a lifesaver in such a chaotic environment. Sure, it wasn't as fast as the Justice, but right now he would take what he could get.

All around him he could see ZAFT mobile suit teams moving in to intercept additional incoming Juggernaut mobile armors. While some groups were clearly led by veteran pilots and showed signs of success, others were composed only of new recruits and were being cut to ribbons by the heavy assault mobile armors and their escorts. Overall the defenses appeared to be holding, but Athrun refused to let himself become complacent The battle had only just begun, and he knew from experience that the momentum could swing from one side to the other at a moment's notice.

Remember why you're here, he told himself as he covered Heine's advance through the Dagger Ls that stood between them and the next Juggernaut, If these guys breach the defenses, the PLANTs are done for. You can't let that happen!

He'd already born witness to one Bloody Valentine Tragedy. He refused to let another happen on his watch.

End "The Trooper"

….

Start "The Round Table"

"Huh," said Pixy as crimson fire from the Orthros cannon wielded by his Gunner ZAKU Warrior disintegrated two Dagger Ls, "They're not doing half bad."

"Who?" Cipher replied as he sliced a machine in half with his GOUF Ignited's Tempest beam sword.

Pixy nodded at his sensors. "Zala's kid and the guy from FAITH. They're already on their second Juggernaut. We're falling behind, buddy."

Cipher chuckled while mauling a Dagger L with his Slayer Whip heat rod. "Is that so? We'd better step things up, then. We can't have them showing us up, after all; we have a reputation to uphold."

Pixy grinned as he blew another machine to atoms. "Got that right. These guys are cannon fodder; let's go after something that actually has meat on the bones."

"The Juggernauts won't be much better," said Cipher as a barrage of emerald beams from his 4-barrel Draupnir gun shredded two more Dagger Ls, "They're big, but they're not exactly hard to kill."

"They're all we got to work with right now," Pixy shot back as he destroyed another mobile suit, "I'm not seeing any aces on the field right now, so if we want something a little more challenging we'll have to settle for them."

Cipher sighed while hacking apart a machine with his blade. "If we have to 'settle' for them then they hardly constitute a challenge to begin with. Still, I suppose you have a point."

Pixy smirked. "Pick a target, buddy; I've got your back!"

It didn't take long for his flight lead to change course and start heading for a nearby Juggernaut. True to his word, Pixy was right behind him, his rifle raised and ready to take out anything that stood between them and their objective.

This thing's got a nice kick to it, he thought as he blasted two more Dagger Ls with his rifle, I could definitely do worse for weapons…

For all his earlier complaints about the inferiority of the Gunner ZAKU Warrior compared to the new machine being developed for him, his current mobile suit was serving him quite well in this ferocious battle. With Galm One dealing with enemies that came in for close-quarters-combat, Galm Two was free to focus targets that were at a greater distance. It was the same dynamic that the two of them had shared during the last war, and it was working just as well for them now as it had two years ago. Only one foe had ever beaten them when they'd worked together, and that adversary was absent from this battlefield. Neither Pixy nor his flight lead would be happy to admit that, but that absence was for the best; for all their skill, without the right machines they wouldn't stand much of a chance against Heero Yuy and his upgraded Wing Zero.

With the way things stood now, the Galm Team couldn't afford to get caught up in a prolonged duel with a skilled opponent, as much as they might've enjoyed such a fight. The broader battle was in full swing, and it wouldn't do the mercenary duo any good to find a worthy opponent at the cost of taking their attention away from the rest of the enemy forces. Right now they were carving a path of carnage through the ranks of the Earth Alliance mobile suits, and that was exactly what Durandal was paying them for. If all went well and the PLANTs survived this battle unscathed, Pixy and his partner could expect a considerable bonus in their paycheck.

We certainly negotiated a good rate for our services, he mused with a chuckle as he shot down another machine, Then again, it wasn't that hard; Durandal really wanted us to fight for him. Hard to blame him, considering our reputation…

"Go low," said Cipher as he slashed a Dagger L in half, "We'll punch through the escorts and skewer it from beneath."

"Copy that," Pixy replied, sticking with his flight lead as the GOUF Ignited went into a dive.

A few seconds later they were beneath their target and the mobile suits surrounding it. The Dagger Ls wasted no time in reorienting to intercept them, but the Juggernaut itself continued to proceed forward. That suited Pixy just fine; the escorts would be a lot easier to deal with if they weren't being supported by the assault mobile armor.

A rain of particle beams and cannon fire flew at them, but the Galm Team weaved through the barrage with casual ease. The enemy was panicked and sloppy, and Pixy had a pretty good idea as to why; any mobile suit pilot worthy of the title would've recognized the logo emblazoned on his and his flight lead's machines. The dogs of war were on the hunt, and they were determined to bring down their prey.

Pixy was the first to engage, letting fly with a stream of crimson energy from his Orthros cannon. The blast ripped through the front ranks and took down two Dagger Ls, opening a gap that Cipher immediately exploited. Galm One rushed right in, cutting one mobile suit in half with his sword while ripping another to pieces with his Slayer Whip. Darts of emerald fire flew from the wrist-mounted Draupnir cannons, and three more machines were torn apart in the lethal hailstorm.

"I'm making my run," said Cipher.

Pixy nodded. "I've got you covered!"

Galm One charged the Juggernaut, gunning straight for its belly and ignoring the surviving escorts. The remaining Dagger Ls didn't even have time to engage them; Pixy was already tearing into them with blasts of red death. One Alliance machine after another fell to Galm Two's fire, and while the Juggernaut was now beginning to roll to bring its heavy weaponry to bear on the mercenary duo Pixy knew that the move was far too late.

Gunning his engines, Cipher plunged his beam sword into the gut of the enemy. As soon as he pierced the armor he followed up with a stream of fire from his Draupnir cannons, and Pixy couldn't help but wince as he imagined all the internal damage those bolts of green energy were doing to their target. A second later Galm One withdrew his sword and pulled back, barely getting clear in time as the assault mobile armor exploded.

Pixy chuckled as he shot down another Dagger L. "Cutting it a little close there, buddy!"

"The deed is done," Cipher replied coolly as he speared a mobile suit on his blade, "Let's move on; our next target awaits us."

Pixy nodded. "Copy that. I'll follow your lead."

Apparently his partner had already found a suitable target, because his GOUF Ignited proceeded to jet forward straight into a pack of Alliance mobile suits. Shrugging as he went along for the ride, Pixy joined his flight lead in carving a path of destruction and death through the enemy ranks. In the distance he could spot their target; another Juggernaut mobile armor and its escorts.

We're getting pretty far out in front, he mentally noted as he checked his sensors, If we keep this up we might be able to start hitting some of their smaller warships soon. Taking a few of those down should give our pay a nice little boost.

"They're not here," said Cipher while slashing a Dagger L in half, "How disappointing…"

Pixy raised an eyebrow as he shot down another machine. "Who?"

"Desperado," Cipher replied before mauling a mobile suit with his heat rod, "I was hoping for the chance to go up against their Winds of Destruction, but I see no sign of them on this battlefield."

Pixy nodded as he scanned the wider fight. "Yeah, you're right. Looks like it's mostly Alliance regulars that are out here today."

"A shame," said Cipher, "I thought our fellow dogs of war might be able to offer a better fight than the cannon fodder we're dealing with."

Pixy shrugged as he blasted a pair of Dagger Ls. "I guess the Alliance didn't want any auxiliaries and guns for hire involved in its grand assault on the PLANTs. It's too bad, really; it's not much of a fight without them."

Cipher chuckled while impaling another hostile machine. "Indeed. They're not like our Chairman; he's much morewilling to bring in us mercenaries when the chips are down. Results are what matter, not the patriotic devotion of the soldiers."

Pixy didn't reply, but there was no need to; he was in full agreement with his flight lead. As the two of them continued to blaze a path of carnage through the ranks of the Earth Alliance mobile suit squadrons, Pixy could spot another one of the Chairman's guns for hire providing evidence to back up Galm One's statement.

Nice to see you're out here too, Raiden, he mused while shooting down a Dagger L, and I hope you'll continue to help us show the Alliance that they made a mistake in not bringing their dogs of war to the party today. This is what we live for, after all, and who are the politicians to deny us from doing what we do best?

End "The Round Table"

….

Rushing across the battlefield, his machine an azure angel of death, Jack was completely in his element. He hadn't experienced a clash like this since the final battle of the last war, and while the stakes were sobering there was no denying the rush he felt at once again engaging the enemy in a titanic winner-take-all brawl.

The Raijin's definitely living up to expectations, he thought as he sliced a Dagger L in half, I'm glad Boris was able to get his hands on this thing!

Technically speaking, Raijin hadn't been the mobile suit's original name. In fact, the unit hadn't even been given a moniker beyond its numerical designation when it had first been constructed. Built shortly after the war as a prototype, the ZGMF-V01 had been envisioned as a possible base from which new ZAFT mobile suits could be developed. While past Coordinator mobile suits like the GINN and GuAIZ had been rather bulky designs, the V01 was a radical departure from that model. Compared to past units, it was lightweight and slender, with the design focus being on speed and maneuverability. Anything that could possibly detract from the unit's incredible mobility had been stripped away, to the point that despite being an advanced next-generation prototype the mobile suit lacked Phase Shift Armor since that would've drawn power away from the thrusters.

A dark blue hull with a horizontal green visual sensor in its head, the V01 was an intimidating machine despite its relatively slim build. Mounted on its forearms were a pair of shields which doubled as storage compartments for the unit's primary weapons; two MMI-540 Valkyrie beam swords. These were more slender versions of the double-edged melee weapon employed by the GOUF Ignited, and could be wielded either as handheld weapons or deployed directly from the shields that housed them. The only other armament possessed by the machine was a pair of fire-linked MMI-GAU25A 20mm CIWS mounted in the mobile suit's head for dealing with missiles and light aircraft.

While the V01 had shown great promise as a prototype, in flight testing its flaws had become readily apparent. Control of the machine's center of gravity was absolutely vital in combat, and any mistakes could lead to blows with very little striking power even though the attacks were made with beam swords. The unit's high speed was another factor; it was just too difficult for the average pilot to bring out the mobile suit's full potential. Since the armor's toughness had been reduced in order to lighten the weight and enhance the machine's mobility, agility was essential for survival in combat; a pilot who could not make the most of the unit's maneuverability would not survive for long. In the end the project had been mothballed and the only unit constructed had sat in storage as ZAFT turned its attention to designs that were easier for pilots to handle and promised greater survivability in combat, eventually resulting in the ZAKU series and the Second Stage prototypes developed at Armory One.

However, just because the project had been rolled up did not mean that the mobile suit produced by it had been forgotten. When no pilot from ZAFT's regular forces post-treaty had shown an aptitude for a machine of its caliber, under orders from Chairman Durandal the Integrated Design Bureau had invited a handful of contract fighters to try their hands at wielding the experimental mobile suit. Jack had been one of them, and he'd been the only one able to demonstrate proper control over the machine. Maverick Security Consulting proceeded to purchase the mobile suit at practically a bargain price, and Jack had quickly rechristened it the Raijin.

Now here it was, tearing through the battlefield like one might imagine a god of lightning would. Jack could close the distance with his foes in the blink of an eye, evading their panicked fire before plunging his blades into their machines. Occasionally he would utilize one of his arm shields to block incoming fire, but he didn't rely on them. With the Raijin, speed was the name of the game, and that suited Jack's fighting style perfectly.

While he might've been out in front, Jack wasn't the only pilot from Maverick Security Consulting on the battlefield. The other five mobile suits carried by the Naomi Hunter had taken off shortly after he had, and while the GuAIZs weren't nearly as fast as the Raijin they could still provide support, which they were with their beam rifles. The units might've been military surplus from the last war, but they were still deadly, especially in the hands of the veteran pilots Boris had hired to fly them. Bearing the same blue paintjob as the Raijin, they flew in a loose but disciplined formation, keeping enough distance for evasive maneuvers yet still able to maintain overlapping fields of fire.

Start "Rules of Nature"

Jack's eyes narrowed as he saw a group of six Dagger Ls closing in on him. "So you're next, huh? Bring it on!"

He charged at them head-on, and the enemy squad wasted no time in opening fire. Weaving through the rain of emerald particle beams, Jack rapidly closed the distance before impaling the lead Dagger L with the beam sword held in the Raijin's right hand. As he withdrew that blade from the exploding machine he blocked a beam saber strike with his second blade, this one still mounted within its arm shield. Whirling around, he sliced the second mobile suit in half before diving to avoid taking fire from the surviving four units.

Reorienting himself before rushing in for another assault, Jack sliced the head off of a Dagger L before taking down another machine with a diagonal slash. The remaining two machines were not sitting by idly, though; they both charged in, forcing Jack to climb to avoid being impaled.

"Nice try," he said as he moved in for the kill, "but you're way too slow!"

He hacked one machine to bits while blocking a particle beam on one of his shields. With a single fluid motion he brought his mobile suit around and lunged forward, skewering the final unit on his blade.

As the final explosion faded Courtney's face appeared on his screen. "Raiden, how's your machine holding up?"

Jack nodded and smiled. "Pretty damn well. It's moving even better now than it was during the trials."

"Not surprising," Courtney replied, "Boris rode the hangar crews hard to make sure that it was in peak fighting condition."

"Is that so?" said Jack as he cut down another Dagger L, "I'll have to buy him a drink for that."

"Just don't forget to stay on the move," Courtney reminded him, "I know you've got those shields, but they don't provide the same amount of cover that a ZAKU's would. If you stop, you're dead."

"I know," said Jack as he dodged fire from another group of incoming mobile suits, "I'll be careful."

Courtney rolled her eyes. "Since when have you ever been careful? I know you take risks; it's what you do best. I'm just trying to make sure your kid doesn't lose his dad."

"Have you been talking to Rose again?" asked Jack with a smirk as he parried a beam saber strike before gutting his attacker.

"Just watch your back, all right?" said Courtney, "If you die I just know that you'd come back to haunt me for kicks. I'd rather avoid that."

Jack chuckled; she might not have outright and said it, but it was good to know that she cared all the same. "What makes you think I'd haunt you? If I became a ghost I might mess with Kevin instead."

"I heard that, jackass," said the voice of his buddy on the Naomi Hunter's bridge, sounding more than a little amused by the exchange, "Don't make me go Ghostbusters on you."

"Not gonna happen," Jack shot back as he sliced another machine in half, "So, you two want me to go somewhere specific, or just keep carving up these guys?"

"Actually," said Kevin, "we do have a target in mind."

"I'm sending the data to you now," Courtney chimed back in, "It's a Juggernaut and its escorts, so watch yourself."

Jack's eyes narrowed as the target information appeared on his screen. "Got it. I'm going in."

"Be careful, buddy," said Kevin, "Someone's gotta pay for drinks when this is all over, and I'd rather it not be me."

Jack chuckled as he thrust his blade into another Dagger L. "All right, cheapskate; I'll survive this fight so I can pick up your bar tab."

"I'm counting on you, Raiden!" said Kevin.

"We all are," said Courtney, trying to inject some sobriety back into the conversation, "None of the Juggernauts have drawn a bead on our ship yet, but if they do then we'll be in big trouble. Your target's the closest one to us; take it out!"

Jack nodded while dodging more particle beam fire. "Copy that. Raiden, out!"

Slicing a mobile suit in half with his right blade before impaling another one with the left, Jack wasted no time in rushing towards his target. The heavy assault mobile armor and its escorts were currently engaged with a squadron of ZAKU Warriors, but from the way the fight was going Jack doubted they would last much longer.

Bunch of rookies, he thought grimly as he watched the friendly machines get torn apart, You can't take a Juggernaut head-on with regular mobile suits. Damn it all…

It was too late for him to save the soldiers that were getting mauled by the Juggernaut and its supporting Dagger Ls. All he could do now was make the most of their ill-conceived attack and gut the behemoth. Pushing the Raijin's thrusters to their limits, he went into a dive and held his course until he was beneath the mobile armor and its escorts. A few of the Dagger Ls reoriented themselves to meet him, but the others were still tangling with the surviving ZAKU Warriors.

"You're mine!" he hissed as he went into a climb, weaving through the hail of particle beam fire.

Within seconds he was in striking range of the lead Dagger L, and with a single swing of his sword the unit was decapitated. Not pausing for so much as an instant, he went straight for the next machine. The pilot of the opposing unit actually managed to block his initial strike, but Jack simply thrust forward with his second blade and gutted the mobile suit. Whirling around to parry a beam saber strike from another machine, Jack immediately countered with a diagonal slash that ripped the attacker apart. Jetting to the right to dodge a volley of particle beams, he then rushed right at the pair of Dagger Ls that had fired the shots and ripped them apart.

That takes care of the small fries, he thought, Time for the big one!

Continuing forward with its main weapons blazing, the Juggernaut was a perfect target. Ascending to strike his prey, Jack brought his twin blades together and plunged them into the mobile armor's gut. Sparks and gouts of flame gushed from the mortal wound, and Jack quickly pulled his machine back. Slamming his thrusters into reverse, he still found himself rocked by the explosion that signaled the mobile armor's demise, although a quick check confirmed that he'd taken no damage.

"Target eliminated," he said.

"Nice job!" Kevin replied.

"We got another one for you," Courtney chimed in, "Watch out; this one's got new models acting as escorts!"

Jack's eyes narrowed as he studied the targeting data. "Windams... so they're finally on the front lines."

The next step in the evolution of the Atlantic Federation's mass production mobile suits, the GAT-04 Windam bore many similarities to its immediate predecessor, the GAT-02L2 Dagger L. Its overall frame clearly delineated it as a descendant of the famous GAT-X105 Strike mobile suit developed at Heliopolis over two years ago, sans the Phase Shift Armor. Like all units in this evolutionary line it had head-mounted CIWS, in this case the same four M2M5 fire-linked Todesschrecken 12.5mm models utilized by the Dagger L. Mirroring its predecessor, it also had beam sabers and Mk315 Stiletto rocket-propelled anti-armor penetrator knives, both mounted on its hips. A shield was also mounted on its left arm, although in this case it narrowed towards the end, giving it greater utility as an improvised melee weapon should the need arise. The standard color scheme for these new units was a white and blue setup that was common of Earth Alliance frontline units.

The Windam's superiority to the Dagger L was due to some significant increases in both mobility and firepower. The new model used batteries that were more efficient and had greater capacity than previous incarnations, which allowed for a serious upgrade in weaponry. As a result its ranged weapon of choice was the recently developed M9409L Beam Rifle, a firearm that was both larger and more powerful than the M703K Beam Carbine utilized by the Dagger L. Supplementing that was a rather unique modification; an Mk438/B Dual Multipurpose "Würger" SA10 missile launcher mounted within the shield, making for a decent surprise weapon in close range encounters. The unit's speed and maneuverability were greatly enhanced by the addition of powerful vernier thrusters mounted on both its legs and shoulders, making it capable of outperforming ZAFT's ZAKU series machines even if said units were equipped with Blaze Packs.

On top of all its new weapons and equipment, the Windam had another feature that was pretty much standard for units of its lineage; the ability to mount augmentation packs. The units Jack was looking at now utilized a mix of the classic Aile pack and the newer Doppelhorn pack, further enhancing their mobility and firepower. When backed up by a unit like the Juggernaut Jack knew that they would not be easy to take down.

"Stay on your toes, Raiden," Kevin cautioned, "We don't have any archived combat data on those units, just the specs. Be ready for anything."

"Good luck!" said Courtney.

Jack nodded. "Thanks. I'm going in."

He rushed straight for the escorts, and it didn't take them long to react accordingly. The Windams with the Aile packs moved out in front, while those utilizing the Doppelhorn packs set up for a barrage Both parties were rapidly closing the distance, and Jack only had a matter of seconds to pick his first target.

"All right," he hissed under his breath, "Let's do this!"

Punching his thrusters, he went for the Aile Windam at the far left wing of the formation. Working his way through a rain of particle beams, he lashed out with his beam sword, only for his adversary to block the attack on their shield. Jack instantly struck with his second blade, and this time his attack found its mark, puncturing the unit's torso and taking it down.

He didn't have any time to celebrate his latest kill, though; the other Aile Windams were moving in to attack, while the Doppelhorn units were sending concentrated salvos his way. Pushing the Raijin's agility to its limits, Jack zipped through the enemy formation like a comet, impaling one Windam before slicing another in half. A precise barrage of beam rifle fire forced him to raise both his arm shields, and his mobile suit rocked under the impacts.

Those rifles are no joke, he thought, and the same goes for the pilots firing them. This won't be easy…

Diving to avoid further fire, he reoriented himself and charged the closest unit. The Windam was able to block his initial strike with its beam saber, but a follow-up attack from his second sword was successful in gutting the machine. Whirling around to block a slash from another mobile suit, Jack countered with a thrust that went straight through his attacker's cockpit. The herd was thinning, but he wasn't out of the woods yet. His foes were actually putting up a decent fight now, and he could feel a primal energy stirring within him.

The urge to cut and slash with abandon, to fully submerge himself in the thrill of combat…

The lust to dive head-first into the ocean of blood, to cast of the few restraints that remained to bind his inner demon…

He chuckled as he hacked a Windam to bits before dodging rifle fire from another. "Not bad. What else do you got?"

His surviving enemies answered by surging forward, guns blazing. Pushing his thrusters to their limits, Jack soared through the rain of fire with speed that any lightning-god would approve of, carving into his adversaries with brutal efficiency. The body count was rising, and so was the appetite of the dark side of his psyche…

His blood was boiling, his heartbeat increasing, and a crimson haze was slowly permeating his mind. As he cut down one foe after another, one shackle after another was cast aside. The normally easy-going, good-natured 'Jack' was slowly giving way to the bloodthirsty and thrill-seeking 'Jack' that had been born all those years ago during his time as a child soldier drenched in gore and knee-deep in bodies.

Jack the human being was slowly giving way to Jack the Ripper.

Rending his mechanical foes to twisted scraps, a twisted smirk appeared on his face as he continued to hack and slash his way towards the Juggernaut. Why did he always try so hard to suppress this side of him? This was his normal; his nature. Whenever he spoke about his combat skills being tools for justice, he was trying to convince himself as much as the others that he was fighting for the right reasons.

But who was he kidding?

He was born to kill.

And so, here in the midst of a sprawling battle with the fate of not only his family and friends but millions of other people on the line, why should he hold back the part of him that actually thrived on the battlefield?

Why hide who he really was at a time like this?

He cackled as the last Aile Windam fell to his twin blades, giving him a clear path to the Doppelhorn units and the heavy assault mobile armor beyond them. "Sorry to keep you waiting. The gloves are coming off, now. Ready to play? I know I am!"

The Doppelhorn units fired away with their recoilless rifles, and even the Juggernaut was now shifting to bring its formidable array of artillery to bear on the Raijin. Jack didn't care; all he saw were targets and soon-to-be corpses. Grinning like a maniac, he bolted through the incoming fire until he was right in the faces of the Windams. His twin blades flashing in streaks of violet light, he cut one unit in half before tearing another to pieces. One of the Windams managed to ignite its beam saber, but Jack swatted the weapon aside with contemptuous ease before spearing the unit through the cockpit. The last escort fared little better, firing wildly with its cannons and rifle, even letting fly with the missile launcher built into its shield. The sloppy barrage did the Alliance pilot no good; Jack simply weaved through the fire, shot down the missile with his CIWS, and charged the Windam, impaling the machine on his twin blades. Now the path to his main target was wide open, and he surged towards the Juggernaut even as it opened up on him with everything it had.

For all the formidable firepower his foe possessed, it was utterly impotent against an adversary that it could not hit. Skirting the edges of the crimson streams of energy and shooting down missiles with his CIWS, Jack was all but taunting his enemy as he swiftly closed the distance. It would've been a simple matter to gut the mobile armor from beneath just as he had the previous one, but this time the Ripper wanted to play with his food before devouring it.

So he started with the energy cannons, slicing the weapons barrels and rendering them useless. The crew of the Juggernaut responded by unloading on him with their missiles and CIWS, but it was pitifully easy for Jack to evade their counterattacks. As soon as the current volley of warheads had flown from their launchers he darted in, ripping apart the weapons with his twin beam swords. Now it was only the CIWS that could strike at him now, and since they were all mounted along the rim of the machine it was a simple matter to keep out of their line of fire. Reorienting for the coup de grace, Jack came at the mobile armor from above and plunged his blades straight into its cockpit.

"Nice work!" said Kevin as the Juggernaut was consumed by fire.

"New targets heading your way," said Courtney, "Sending you the data now!"

Jack simply nodded and watched as the information came onto his monitor. As soon as he had all the data he rushed forward, tearing apart any Dagger L and Windam that got in his way.

"Come on!" he snarled as one mobile suit after another fell to his blades, "This better not be all you've got! After all this time…"

"Jack. Is. BACK!"

End "Rules of Nature"

….

"Magnificent," said Nazara as he soared through the carnage.

The gargantuan fleet brawl was everything he had hoped for and more. Massive salvos of particle beams, railgun rounds, and missiles continued to crisscross the void between the two fleets, either hammering opposing capital ships or taking down mobile suits unfortunate enough to get caught in the middle of the firestorm. The forward ranks of the two armadas had been decimated, and with the staggering losses suffered by the smaller warships the larger vessels of both sides were being forced to wade deeper into the fray. Destroyers, cruisers and battleships tore into one another with ferocious abandon, with neither side giving or asking for quarter.

Oh, how I've missed this, he thought as he guided Nosferatu through the fray, A battle within sight of the Coordinator colonies, raging like the most spectacular of forest fires, consuming all in its path… it's glorious!

He let his gunbarrel-drones loose as he came upon a squadron of ZAKU Warriors. Opening up with all four weapons, he destroyed three mobile suits with a single salvo. He followed up with fire from his beam rifle, and another ZAKU was blown out of the sky. A salvo from his hip-mounted linear guns shot down a fifth machine, and he took down a sixth with a quick charge and thrust from his beam saber.

He grinned as his latest victim met their demise. "Is this all your genetic modifications are good for? Burn, Coordinator trash!"

The rest of your kind will soon be joining you…

It wasn't yet time for the Alliance's trump card to be played. The plan was to inflict enough casualties against the ZAFT fleet so that significant gaps would be opened up in their defenses. While the Coordinator forces were taking steady losses Nazara knew that they were not yet at the point where they would be vulnerable to his nuclear strike. The battle would have to rage on a while longer, but Nazara was fine with that; he hadn't had this much fun on the battlefield in a long time. With no Wing Zero to get in his way he had free reign, and he was making the most of it.

Another barrage from his gunbarrel-drones blew away a trio of GuAIZ-Rs. More of the machines returned fire, but none of them could come close to hitting the Colonel. Plunging in with his beam sword, he slashed one unit in half before whirling around and hacking another to flaming bits. His drones let fly with a web of emerald fire, obliterating three more GuAIZ-Rs and helping him carve a path through the Coordinator ranks.

"Is this the trash you mean to oppose me with, Durandal?" he snarled, "You'll have to do better than that!"

Of course, he doubted that he'd find much better on this battlefield. ZAFT's glory days of utter dominance with its mobile suits were well behind it. Casualties and defections had robbed it of its finest pilots in the last war, and despite their best recruitment efforts Nazara knew that their losses had been irreplaceable. Sure, some of the pilots that had defended the Minerva had shown promise, but none of them were here now, and even if they were the Colonel knew that they would not be able to stand against him. The only pilots that could take him on were down on the surface, safely out of the way.

All according to plan, he thought as he blasted a quartet of ZAKUs with his gunbarrel-drones, although I suppose it is a bit of a pity. It would've been so satisfying to kill Heero Yuy at the moment our nukes destroyed the L5 colonies. To have him know utter failure in the instant before I struck him down… well, we can't get everything we want in life, I guess. His time will come soon enough…

For now he could be content with the knowledge that the legendary Demon Lord of Avalon would be watching this battle helplessly from Orb. It would be most amusing to see the look on his face when the broadcasts showed the Coordinator colonies reduced to thermonuclear ashes, but alas that was a luxury he would not be able to indulge in. In the meanwhile he would continue to enjoy himself by butchering any Coordinator soldier that came across his path, and in this environment he certainly did not lack for targets. He had no escort, but he did not need one; he was a force unto himself, and the last thing he wanted was friendly units getting in the way.

Opening up with his four gunbarrel-drones again, he smiled as a trio of ZAKU Warriors turned into fireballs. Raising his beam rifle, he shot a ZAKU Phantom through the cockpit before shredding a GuAIZ-R with a salvo from his linear guns. A pair of Slash ZAKU Warriors rushed him, their beam axes at the ready, but Nazara was already moving to counter them. Deflecting the opening strike from the first unit before gutting it with his beam saber, he whirled around and blocked a slash from the second unit before slicing it in half.

His console beeped, and he saw the face of Admiral Wallace appear in the bottom right corner of his monitor. "Colonel Nazara, perhaps you should not venture so far forward? Your loss here would be most detrimental to the war effort; a man with your leadership responsibilities should not put himself at such risk."

Nazara chuckled while shooting down a pair of ZAKUs with his gunbarrel-drones. "What's the matter, Admiral? If I didn't know better I'd say that you were worried about me!"

"You are a valuable asset," the Admiral replied, "No other pilot in our ranks is capable of fighting Wing Zero one on one. You are a strategic resource that cannot be lost here!"

"Are those your words or Djibril's that I'm hearing?" Nazara quipped while picking off another hostile contact with his beam rifle, "Admiral, if you try to tell me what role I should play in battle again, I'm going to throw you out the airlock the next time I see you. Is that clear?"

The Admiral gulped. "Quite so, Colonel."

"Good," said Nazara before blasting a GuAIZ-R with his linear guns, "Now do me a favor; do not contact me again until we're ready to play our trump card. Understood?"

Wallace nodded. "Yes, Colonel."

"And tell Djibril that I'll fight however I damn well please," Nazara added, "If he wants to judge me he'll have to try his hand at mobile suit combat first. I'll take his orders, but he can take whatever pathetic criticism he has and shove it right up his ass. Nosferatu, out!"

Now, he thought as he surveyed the battlefield, where were we? Oh, yes…

…a glorious slaughterhouse!

….

Sitting at the back of the massive war room in ZAFT HQ, Durandal leaned forward in his chair, peering closely at one of the myriad screens on the far wall. The opening battle of the war remained in full swing, and to his eyes it appeared that neither side had gained the upper hand.

"How awful…" his aide Rachael whispered, "So much death…"

Indeed, he thought grimly, and there will be plenty more of it before this day is done.

He had been here since the battle had begun, staying more or less out of the way while his military handled their gruesome task. Both Grand Admiral Rainer Brinkmann and Admiral Valter Girardelli were out with the armada itself; Rainer had transferred to the flagship Gondwana shortly before the fighting had started, while Valter was on the Hel-class cruiser Balder. Admiral Jaime Delgado, while not an active commander in the fleet engagement, was also out there, albeit at the battle's edge aboard the destroyer Johannes Bosscha, waiting patiently for the order to deploy ZAFT's defensive ace in the whole. The rest of the Defense Council members occupied various spots of this chamber, analyzing incoming data and occasionally issuing instructions to their aides.

Durandal was not the only member of ZAFT's executive governing body to be in attendance. The rest of the Supreme Council was here, at his invitation. It was mostly a symbolic gesture; they had absolutely no role to play in the ongoing hostilities, after all. However, Durandal still found it enlightening to have his fellow Council members in a place where he could observe their reactions to the battle raging on L5's doorstep. It was an opportunity to see how they fared under pressures that were outside what they were used to dealing with on a daily basis. All their power did them no good here; this chamber was the realm of the military, not the politicians. How they conducted themselves in an environment where their authority was of little value was of genuine interest for Durandal; it would be of great value to gain further insights into the minds of his colleagues and judge which ones would be the most useful for his plans going forward from here.

As of right now, the experience was proving to be rather amusing. A handful of his colleagues retained a solemn bearing, watching in stoic silence as the gargantuan fleet brawl played out on the screens before them. Several other, however, were noticeably fidgeting, although whether it was from simple fear or agitation at their lack of influence over the current situation was up for debate. Durandal took careful note of each Councilor's demeanor; the knowledge he would gain from these covert observations could prove most useful later on.

Are you still alive out there, Athrun Zala?, he mused, How does it feel to once again be fighting under the flag of ZAFT? Will this experience serve to bind you completely to my cause, or will you bear further scrutiny and testing after this battle is over? One way or another, we shall find out soon enough…

Of course, he was unable to guarantee that Athrun Zala would survive this battle, and Durandal supposed that was a microcosm of his overall dilemma. As Supreme Council Chairman he had a considerable ability to influence geopolitical events; indeed, one could easily make the case that his actions had helped set the stage for the conflagration now raging on L5's doorstep. However, there was a key distinction between influence and control. He could guide events to a certain extent, but even one well versed in the arts of long-term planning and manipulation was only capable of so much. Sometimes there were situations that he couldn't approach with his typical chess-play approach, setting up the pieces and moving them in the appropriate direction. There were some scenarios where he had to take on the mindset of a gambler; in the end, all he could do was place his bet and throw the dice.

This battle was a perfect example of that. A clash like this was necessary for Durandal's broader vision to come into being, but hostilities had come about much sooner than he had originally planned on. The raid at Armory One and the Break The World Incident had forced a rapid acceleration of his agenda; indeed, he had been hoping for hostilities to at least be delayed until he had more than one nuclear countermeasure such as the Neutron Stampeder at his disposal. Now the defense of both the PLANTs and his great vision hinged in large part on an experimental device, and despite the promising data gained from smaller-scale trials there was no guarantee that the countermeasure would be able to stand against the kind of mass nuclear volley that the Defense Council was anticipating the Earth Alliance would throw at the colonies sooner or later. The device was an unusual combination, at least in Durandal's mind, of both a chess piece and a roulette ball. He could consider his bet all he wanted before placing it, but in the end he would only get one spin of the wheel. These were the highest stakes yet in his career, and if things fell apart now there was no contingency waiting in the wings; his fate would be the same as that of his fellow citizens.

In truth, Durandal felt no small measure of fear at the very real prospect of his demise this day should the defenses fail. However, at the same time…

…he was more excited now than he'd ever been before in his life.

Oftentimes he would have a mental image of himself sitting down at a table, a chessboard set out before him. Every piece had its function and place, and there were only a certain amount of moves that could be made. The player across the board would vary; some days it would be the Atlantic Federation and the broader Earth Alliance, while others it would actually be the Supreme Council and his other internal obstacles. However, today he had a very different mental image. This time, he saw himself sitting down at a poker table, with the party across from him being the Earth Alliance military. He envisioned his hand, his opponent sitting across from him, and the cards that were already laid down on the table. Two were already turned over; their faces clear to the players. One remained facedown, and that was the card that the entire contest now hinged upon.

Would it be his undoing?

Would it be his triumph?

He would find out in due time.

….

"That's five," said Cipher as he withdrew his beam sword from the gut of another Juggernaut, pulling back just before the mobile armor exploded, "Can they offer anything better than this?"

If his partner heard him he did not reply, but Galm One didn't care; he was venting his frustration rather than seeking input. He had been hoping for so much more than the foes he was fighting now. The battle was large enough, to be sure, but the opposing combatants were seriously lacking in quality.

If there was an absence of worthy adversaries out here it was certainly not for lack of trying on the Galm Team's part to seek them out. The legendary mercenary duo was at the forefront of ZAFT's defensive efforts, leaving a swath of mauled mobile suits and shattered assault mobile armors in their wake. With the casualties they were inflicting upon the enemy any aces in the Alliance's ranks should've been drawn to them by now, but none of their opposing number came close to the high standards Cipher set for his adversaries.

Perhaps they're too high, he mused bitterly as he ripped a Windam apart with his heat rod, Ever since Jachin Due, I've been looking for a fight that could match the same intensity as that final duel. I will not dispute the stakes inherent in this engagement, but I cannot deny a certain… disappointment.

If his wingman had similar complaints he was not voicing them. Galm Two was methodically blasting away at any mobile suit that dared to approach them. Precise and powerful streams of crimson energy reduced incoming machines to cinders and forced others to exercise greater caution in their attacks on the mercenaries. The fear that the Galm Team inspired in their enemies was certainly useful, but the restraint it put on their adversaries only added to Cipher's sense of dissatisfaction. He wanted to face an enemy that could completely brush aside that fear and make him truly fight for his life, and the only man who had ever been able to accomplish that was far away from this battlefield.

"Got a nice, fat warship up ahead," said Pixy as he picked off a Dagger L, "What do you say, buddy? Shall we start hunting big game now?"

It didn't take long for Cipher to find the target his companion had designated; a Drake-class escort ship that by some miracle had yet to be touched by the monsoons of fire the two armadas were throwing at each other. The vessel hardly qualified as 'big game' as far as Cipher was concerned, but adding a warship or two to their kill count could only help the Galm Team's paycheck for this fight.

He nodded as he shredded a Dagger L with a barrage of small emerald particle beams. "Very well. Let's go."

Cutting down the few mobile suits that stood between them and their target, Cipher and Pixy were on the escort ship before its crew knew what hit them. Streams of 75mm shells flew from its Vulcan cannons, but the fire was so sloppy that the veteran dogs of war had no trouble evading them. Cipher struck first, slicing into the ventral bow turret with his sword before going topside and repeating the process with the weapon mounted in front of the bridge. Deprived of two thirds of its close-range anti-air armaments, it was a simply matter for Pixy to line up a shot and blast the bridge with his Orthros cannon.

"One down," said Pixy, "and plenty more to go."

Cipher nodded as he designated another target, this time a Typhoon-class destroyer. "Cover me."

"Copy that," Pixy replied before blowing away a Dagger L.

The black warship wasted no time in opening up on the mercenary duo. Galm One and Two came in from on high, and the destroyer met them with machinegun fire, anti-air missiles, and particle beams from its topside turrets. It was a more formidable spread than what the Drake-class escort ship they had just wasted was capable of dishing out, but it was still insufficient to save the vessel from the wrath of the Galm Team.

Pixy opened up their attack, taking out the beam turret behind the destroyer's bridge with his Orthros cannon. Cipher followed up with a barrage of emerald beams from his Draupnir cannons, aimed not at the warship itself but at a volley of missiles it had launched at them. The warheads were ripped apart by the precise fire, clearing the way for the Galm Team to finish off their target. Pixy took another shot with his heavy cannon, and this time it was the beam turret in front of the bridge that went up in flames. Diving in at full speed, Cipher delivered the finishing, cleaving the bridge in two with his beam sword.

"All right!" cheered Pixy as the destroyer succumbed to its wounds, "Nice one!"

Cipher was indifferent; taking down the destroyer had hardy been more difficult than their earlier crushing of the escort ship. Capital ships didn't really qualify as interesting targets as far as Cipher was concerned; they might be able to take more damage than mobile suits, but they were much easier to hit. Still, he knew that the Chairman would approve of them taking down as many as they could today, so he and his wingman would play their role accordingly.

The question now was whether they should push further ahead or hold the line. Their assignment was actually defensive in nature, and to move too far forward would cut them off from friendly support. Galm Team was formidable even if their current mobile suits weren't of the same caliber as those they'd wielded in the final battle of the last war, but they were not invincible. What the enemy pilots apparently lacked for in skill they could easily make up for in sheer numbers, and that wasn't factoring in the guns and missiles of the opposing capital ships. Moving too far into the enemy's ranks would make them vulnerable to crossfire from the anti-air weapons of multiple vessels, and without Phase Shift Armor it would be just a matter of time before they started taking serious damage.

Advance or hold, he mused as he sliced a Dagger L in half, that is the question. So what will it be?

He found his answer at the edge of his sensors. His scopes were picking up a unit with power readings that were quite distinctive, even in this chaotic battlefield; it had a nuclear reactor. Reorienting himself, Cipher quickly found the target and zeroed in on it. The unit was a violet mobile suit, and Galm One could instantly tell that it had Phase Shift Armor. With its four gunbarrel-drones, twin linear guns, beam rifle and beam saber it was ripping a path of destruction through the ranks of ZAFT's regular mobile suit squadrons. The unit was completely unsupported, and to Cipher that meant only one thing; the pilot had some skill, more so than any of the soldiers he'd fought so far today. They would have to backtrack a bit to reach their target, but Cipher was fine with that if it meant he might finally have an interesting fight today.

"I have our next target," he said with a smirk as he transmitted the data to his wingman, "What do you say?

Pixy chuckled as he shot down a Windam. "Well, well… that's an interesting design. Nuclear powered, too… this one might actually be a challenge. I'm game if you are, buddy."

Cipher nodded, his eyes narrowing. "I am. There's no official name for this thing on file yet, so I'm designating it Alpha One for now. Let's get him."

….

Nazara smiled as he impaled a Blaze ZAKU Phantom with his beam saber. "Yes, that's it! Burn, you disgusting vermin. Burn with the rest of your kind!"

He was continuing to carve his way through the opposition like a wrathful demon, and nothing the Coordinators could throw at him had so much as slowed him down. Sure, a handful of pilots had shown some small amount of skill, but they were but mere insects when compared to the adversary he really wanted to fight.

I've survived four fights against Heero Yuy, he thought as he picked off a Gunner ZAKU Warrior with his beam rifle, Compared to him, you rats are nothing!

It was strange to pay such a compliment to a foe that he so deeply despised, but it was true nonetheless. As deep as the hatred he had built up over the past two years for the Demon Lord of Avalon had grown, Nazara could grudgingly admit a level of respect for the young man he considered to be his arch-nemesis. It was easy for people to just chalk up the reputation of Heero Yuy as due to nothing more than the power of his incredibly advanced mobile suit, but the Colonel knew that technology and brute force could only carry a pilot so far. The young man had undoubtedly earned the level of admiration, dread, and loathing that his name invoked depending on where one stood in the Earth Sphere's deadly geopolitics. Compared to the levels of dominance and skill he'd displayed in every single one of his engagements since he first made his debut on the battlefield over two years ago, ZAFT's rank and file could never hope to match up.

However, ZAFT had more than their 'rank and file' troops fighting on this battlefield today…

…and Nazara could not help but smile as he checked his sensors and saw who was coming his way.

The pair of mobile suits approaching him at top speed might've been different models from what this pair of warriors had wielded in the last war, but their paintjobs and emblems were unmistakable.

There was no official word after Jachin Due, he thought as he blasted a Slash ZAKU Warrior with his linear guns, but there were rumors amongst the intelligence community that they'd survived the final battle of the last war. How wonderful to see that the rumors were true!

He chuckled as he gunned his engines, rushing to meet his new foes head-on. Heero Yuy might not be on this battlefield but he'd found the next best thing.

"Welcome back to the battlefield, Galm Team," he said with a grin, "Let's see if your skills are as sharp now as they were two years ago!"

….

Start "Rush"

Pixy's eyes narrowed as the nuclear powered mobile suit charged at them, deploying its gunbarrel-drones in preparation for an attack. "Here we go."

The Gunner ZAKU Warrior wouldn't do well in a head-to-head fight with a machine like this; it was far outclassed in mobility, versatility and protection. Pixy's only advantages would be experience, firepower, and the fact that he wasn't fighting alone.

"I'll try to keep his attention on me," said Cipher, "Fire whenever you get an opening."

Pixy nodded. "Copy that. Watch yourself, buddy."

"You too," Cipher replied, "I'm going in."

Galm Two cut back on his thrusters as his flight lead moved to engage. The hostile contact wasted no time in opening fire, filling space with particle beams and linear gun rounds. Pixy hissed as he tried to evade the barrage, taking one of the beams on his ZAKU's shield; this foe was a much better shot than the previous enemies they'd engaged in this battle so far.

Well, he thought, at least they'll keep us on our toes.

Braking to the left as Cipher went right up the middle, Pixy took aim with his Orthros cannon and opened up. Alpha One slipped to the right to dodge the shot, but its evasion gave Cipher the opening he needed to finish closing the gap, and he made a diagonal slash with his beam sword that forced the enemy onto the defensive. The bogey parried Galm One's attack, but it was unable to immediately counter since Cipher followed up that strike with a lash from one of his heat rods. Alpha One dived to avoid getting caught by the whip, and it was finally able to strike back with another barrage from its gunbarrel-drones.

As Cipher danced through the rain of emerald fire, Pixy took another shot with his Orthros cannon. Once again, Alpha One was able to dodge the crimson energy beam, but Galm Two's attack did help take some of the heat off of his flight lead. Taking advantage of the breathing room, Cipher charged in again, opening fire with his Draupnir cannons and keeping the target on the defensive.

This guy's good, he thought as he took another shot, only for the enemy to evade this blast as well, Able to manage the drones and keep from getting hit by either of us so far… he's definitely a cut above the cannon fodder we've been dealing with up until now.

Alpha One wasn't taking Pixy's potshots lying down. The hostile gunned its engines, outpacing Cipher's GOUF Ignited and buying itself enough room to open up on Galm Two with everything it had. Forced onto the defensive, Pixy was all over the map as a frantically worked to evade the incoming fire. For a moment he feared that Alpha One would be able to charge in and attack him up close, but the enemy wasn't able to advance; Cipher was attacking from below, opening up with his Draupnir cannons and interrupting the barrage. Alpha One turned back towards Pixy's flight lead and rushed forward, thrusting forward with its beam saber. Cipher was able to deflect the attack and strike back with his heat rod, but the enemy was able to slip to the right and avoid the whip.

Now that he had some breathing room again, Pixy quickly took aim and opened up with his cannon. Crimson fire flashed across the void, but Alpha One was able to dive and avoid taking the hit. The shot did give Cipher a chance to press his assault, but only for a moment; a salvo from the target's linear guns forced him to take evasive action, which gave their foe a chance to go onto the offensive.

Alpha One didn't waste any time; it moved on Cipher hard, all weapons blazing. Pixy did what he could to lay down supporting fire, but the enemy was moving on his flight lead with an almost single-minded determination. The violet mobile suit managed to evade Pixy's attacks without losing any of its forward momentum, and as Cipher was working to stay one step ahead of Alpha One's barrage the advanced machine closed to melee range and raised its beam saber, ready to cut the GOUF Ignited in half.

Of course, Cipher wasn't about to go down that easily. Pixy watched as his flight lead brought up his beam sword to meet the attack before lashing out with his heat rod. The enemy smoothly slipped to the left to avoid the whip before coming back in for another exchange of blades. Galm Two was amazed at how quick the two combatants were; he couldn't take any shots now without risking a hit to his flight lead.

Well, he thought as he saw a group of Windams moving in on the duel, I guess I'd better make myself useful. At the very least I should be able to keep the cannon fodder from interfering…

Switching targets, he zeroed in on the lead Windam and opened up, blowing it to bits with his Orthros cannon. The rest of the incoming mobile suits scattered and adjusted their heading; now they were coming right for him.

Pixy smirked as he lined up his next shot. "Sorry, but that party's invitation only. If you pricks want in, you'll have to deal with me first!"

He didn't bother waiting for a reply. Sighting in on his next target, he opened fire, nailing the Windam right in the cockpit. The remaining machines moved on him as fast as they could, and for the first time in the battle Pixy brought out and activated his beam tomahawk.

These things are considerably faster than Dagger Ls, he thought as he prepared for close-quarters-combat, I've been relying on my buddy to deal with the ones that try to get in close for a while now, so I might be a little rusty at this…

Bringing his axe up, he managed to block a vertical strike from the closest Windam. He then gunned his engines, hitting the hostile with a tackle and pushing it back, giving himself just enough room to blow it away with his cannon. Pixy didn't have time to celebrate; another Windam was already moving on him, forcing him to whirl around and deflect a slash from his new foe before hacking right into its cockpit.

Two more hostiles were closing fast, and Pixy barely had enough time to respond. Throwing his thrusters into reverse, he managed to buy himself just enough space to shoot down the lead Windam with his Orthros cannon, but the second one was still able to get into beam saber range. He hastily deflected a horizontal slash before striking back, cutting the unit down with his axe.

Pixy breathed a sigh of relief when he saw that the area was temporarily clear. "All right. Time to get my ass back to the main event."

Cipher had managed to hold his own in Pixy's brief absence, but Galm Two could tell that his flight lead was hard pressed to continue defending himself. It was hard to say if Alpha One had him on the ropes, but at the very least the enemy had the initiative and seemed intent on keeping it. Pixy raised his cannon and sighted in on his target, determined to give his friend the chance he needed to turn things around.

"Don't forget about me, asshole!" he growled as he opened fire.

Alpha One dived to avoid the crimson blast, but the shot seemed to put the enemy temporarily off balance. Cipher immediately seized the opening and rushed in, firing his Draupnir cannons before lashing out with his heat rod. Alpha One continued to pull back to avoid getting hit, but Galm One pressed his assault, lunging forward with his beam sword and thrusting right at the enemy's cockpit. The hostile managed to deflect the strike, but before they could counter Pixy took another shot, and while it didn't connect it did help keep Alpha One on the back foot.

Not sure if this guy's as good as Heero Yuy, but he's putting up one hell of a fight, he thought as he watched Cipher exchange blade strikes with the enemy, Then again, it might just be that we're working harder to make up for the shortcomings of our mobile suits. I wonder if this guy would've lasted this long without a nuclear powered machine…

He shook his head. That kind of speculation had no place in this fight. More importantly, it just smacked of excuse making, and Pixy preferred to avoid that if possible. In the end he supposed it didn't really matter if things would be different if their foe had a less advanced unit or if the Galm Team were wielding the units ZAFT was secretly developing for them. Their enemy was making them work for their paycheck, and that was what counted.

He smirked as he took another shot at his target. For the first time in over two years, he felt alive again. The adrenaline was truly pumping through his veins now that he and his flight lead were up against an adversary that was making them earn their keep. This was why he'd chosen the life of a dog of war…

…and he knew that Cipher felt the same way.

End "Rush"

….

The Gondwana rumbled as it took another hit, but Grand Admiral Brinkmann was unconcerned. The leviathan of a carrier was not just the largest ship in ZAFT's fleet; it was by far the toughest. The particle beams and missiles that had hit it so far this battle would not be enough to threaten it; only a concentrated barrage from conventional weaponry would be able to bring the behemoth down.

The carrier's Captain did not seem overly worried about the recent impact either, but then again nothing in this battle so far had seemed to faze her. A rather stern and imposing woman with close-cut blonde hair and blue-gray eyes, Joyce Allen was a veteran of the last war and one of ZAFT's most accomplished front line officers. By the time the Bloody Valentine War had gotten underway the First Generation Coordinator had already been made one of the first female Captains of ZAFT's Nazca-class destroyers, and she'd had nowhere to go but up over the course of the conflict. Her name had come up multiple times for promotion to the rank of Admiral after the reorganization of ZAFT's hierarchy, but each time she had turned down advancement, preferring to remain a Captain of a warship. As an alternate promotion of sorts, she had been transferred by Grand Admiral Brinkmann himself to the Gondwana, and it was a decision that was paying off now. She had a reputation for keeping a level head while under fire, and that was a vital quality to have in a fight like this when the stakes were so high.

"Report," said the Captain, her tone utterly calm and in control.

"No penetration from impact reported," the damage control officer responded, "We're in one piece, ma'am."

Joyce nodded. "Good."

"I'm surprised they're not hitting us harder," said Brinkmann, his eyes narrowing as he watched the battle continue to unfold out the forward viewport, "We're the largest target on the field, after all."

"Permission to speak freely, Grand Admiral?" said Joyce.

Brinkmann nodded. "It's your ship, Captain; by all means."

"I do not believe that the Earth Alliance forces are overly concerned with the Gondwana at this point in the battle," she said, "Based on their firing patterns, they appear to be concentrating on opening up breaches in our ranks, and that can be accomplished much easier by hitting our standard front line warships instead of vessels like this one or the Orizaba-class ships. They mean to create lanes through which they can strike the colonies directly; we are a secondary target at best right now."

Her analysis was spot on. Brinkmann had no doubt that the Earth forces would make a serious effort to take down the carrier eventually, but right now they seemed focused on punching through ZAFT's lines so they could take a shot at the PLANTs. This was more or less how he and his fellow Defense Council members had anticipated the battle would play out; the big question was when the Alliance armada would bring out its trump card.

As of right now, we're about even, he thought grimly as he checked the small monitor mounted on the arm of his chair, Losses for both sides stand at about twenty-five percent, although we still have reserves that we can bring into play. From the scouts' reports it appears that the Earth Alliance did not marshal reserve battle groups for this fight, so if it remains a contest of attrition we can continue to hold our own. I highly doubt that's the endgame the enemy commanders have in mind, though…

"Captain!" yelled one of the communications officers, "Transmission coming in from Aprilius One! It's the Chairman!"

Joyce nodded at the Grand Admiral. "That's likely for you."

"Patch it through to my console," Brinkmann replied.

Turning to his personal monitor, he saw Durandal's face appear on the screen a few seconds later. "Grand Admiral, what is your status?"

"The Gondwana remains in one piece," he said, "and the defenses are holding. There is still no sign that the enemy is mobilizing their ace in the hole, but that could change at any moment."

The Chairman nodded. "I understand. In that case, I shall not trouble you further. Our fates are in your hands, Grand Admiral. Aprilius One, out."

At least he kept it short, thought Brinkmann as he returned his attention to the battle, I doubt another Council member would've been so considerate of the demands we face out here…

Tapping a few keys on his personal console, he brought up an image of the Alliance command ship Victory. Like the Gondwana it appeared to have taken a few hits, but the vessel was intact and did not seem to be in danger of falling anytime soon. If the intelligence reports were accurate, then Brinkmann's opposite number today was Atlantic Federation Admiral Gregory Wallace. The man didn't have much of a reputation; he was known as a by-the-book officer with little sense of creativity or innovation on the battlefield. That was good news as far as Brinkmann was concerned; if Wallace remained true to form then there wouldn't be any nasty surprises in store for ZAFT as the battle continued.

Then again, Brinkmann wasn't exactly making a display of outside-the-box thinking with his fleet deployment either. The mission objective was simple; hold the line and repel the enemy assault at all costs. ZAFT's armada was arrayed to accomplish that objective, and while it was fighting well it was more or less a brute force affair. There was no finesses here; this was simply two massive fleets slugging it out. Many had died already, and more lives would be lost before this battle finally came to an end.

If Admiral Delgado's new toy does not work, then this will have all been for nothing, he thought, I hate this. In the end, it all comes down to a device that's only been tested under controlled circumstances. Brilliant gamblers or desperate fools; history will judge us one way or the other depending on the outcome here today. Which will it be?

When will the moment of truth finally arrive?

….

Damn it, thought Athrun as he shot down a Dagger L, There's just no end to these guys!

He'd forgotten what it was like to take part in a prolonged and large scale engagement like this. The raid on Armory One, the skirmish in the Debris Belt and the Break The World Incident had all been relatively contained fights compared to the clash of armadas that he was caught up in now. He still had enough energy to fight on, but there was no denying that he was definitely working up a sweat in this battle.

It was at a time like this that Athrun was grateful for all the innovations and advancements that ZAFT had made in mobile suit technology in the two years since the end of the last war. In particular, the fact that the ZAKU Phantom's beam rifle used energy clips instead of drawing power directly from the unit's batteries was a lifesaver; with the way he'd been fighting he would've had to return to the carrier to recharge his machine by now if he'd been using his old Aegis. That the unit had four extra energy clips instead of the two carried by the regular ZAKU Warrior was a plus; Athrun had just swapped out his second clip, but thanks to the reserve clips he still had plenty of juice to feed his rifle before he had to worry about pulling back to resupply.

The extra shield comes in handy too, he mused as a missile from a Windam hit the barrier mounted on the ZAKU Phantom's right shoulder, I'd be dead without it several times over by now…

Picking off his attacker with his beam rifle, Athrun quickly whirled around to intercept a beam saber strike from another Windam. Deflecting the slash with his beam tomahawk, he swiftly countered and chopped clean through the Alliance mobile suit's cockpit. Diving to avoid beam rifle fire from a third Windam, Athrun immediately reoriented his ZAKU Phantom and sent a volley his opponent's way, ripping the machine apart.

"You doing okay over there?" asked Heine as he picked off a Dagger L with his beam rifle.

Athrun nodded while shooting down another Windam. "I'm fine. You?"

"Still alive," Heine replied as he cut a Dagger L in half with his axe, "That's enough for now."

Athrun couldn't argue with that. The fighting was absolutely ferocious, and from the looks of things it wouldn't be dying down anytime soon. Both armadas had taken a hell of a beating, but they were still hammering away at each other with every weapon that they could bring to bear. The same went for the opposing mobile suit squadrons; neither side was giving an inch in what was the fiercest brawl Athrun had been involved in since the last war. Even if ZAFT emerged victorious today it would no doubt spend quite some time licking its wounds.

And if the Alliance comes out on top, thought Athrun grimly as he picked off a Dagger L, then we won't have any wounds to lick because we'll all be dead…

There'd been no offer of surrender given before the opening shots had been fired, and no such transmission had been issued since then either. The Earth forces seemed intent on making this a fight to the finish, and with ZAFT's back against the wall the Coordinator armed forces were making them pay in blood for every meter that they tried to advance. Even if ZAFT managed to repulse the attack, such a battle was an ugly omen for how the broader war might shake out.

It was at a time like this that Athrun was grateful his father was dead and his followers reduced to the fringes of political life. Chairman Durandal might've been willing to use some underhanded methods in his rule, but he had also displayed a genuine commitment to not only protecting the PLANTs but restoring peace to a divided world. Whatever path he intended to walk, it was not the dark and bloody road of Patrick Zala. ZAFT's victory in this war would not mean genocide; it would mean peace, however hard the fighting to achieve it might be.

If he'd been in charge during the last war, Athrun mused as he cut down a Windam with his beam tomahawk, I don't think I would've defected. This is the ZAFT that I thought I was joining after the Bloody Valentine Tragedy; this is the ZAFT that I wanted to fight for.

He couldn't change the past, no matter how much he might want to, but even in the midst of such brutal fighting he had renewed hope for a better future. If the defenses held and the assault was repelled, Durandal's administration could demonstrate how ZAFT should've fought the last war. The Coordinator armed forces would not descend into atrocity and barbarism, but would fight with dignity and honor. They would defend their homeland and their broader place in the Earth Sphere without becoming the monsters that they had sworn to fight against.

It was a vision of ZAFT that Athrun was determined to make a reality, and this battle was the seed of that. This was what he could accomplish by fighting for the PLANTs instead of staying with Terminal; he could work from the inside to help keep the Coordinator armed forces on the right path and prevent them from descending into the butchery that defined his father's legacy. If he managed to survive this battle and passed Durandal's trial by fire Athrun was sure that he would be given a position of greater responsibility, and he intended to use that not only to help end the war and bring peace to the Earth Sphere but to turn ZAFT into a model fighting force, an example of a just military that could maintain security for its people without condemning millions to slaughter.

Of course, first he had to make it through this fight in one piece, and that was far from a guaranteed outcome in a brawl like this.

Heine was moving forward, and Athrun gunned his engines to keep pace with him. A squadron of Windams was rushing to meet them, and his flight lead wasted no time in opening up with his beam rifle. Athrun joined him, and they were rewarded by two of the enemy machines going up in flames. The rest scattered but continued to advance; they would be on them in moments. The Blaze Packs meant that Athrun and Heine's ZAKU Phantoms would be much better suited to taking on the new Alliance machines than other ZAFT models on the field, but the Windams had already proven to be tough foes in a dogfight. Athrun doubted that these particular units would be the exception to the rule.

His flight lead met the first unit head-on, blocking a diagonal slash on his beam tomahawk before carving into his foe. Athrun raised his axe to block a vertical chop from another Windam before pushing forward and slamming his ZAKU Phantom's left shoulder and shield into the machine. Before his opponent could react, Athrun followed up with a downward slash that ripped the Alliance mobile suit apart. As the enemy exploded Athrun saw Heine engage another Windam, but one more machine was moving in from his flight lead's right flank; Heine wouldn't be able to take both of them simultaneously.

Hitting the thrusters, Athrun rocketed forward and intercepted the flanking Windam while Heine engaged the other machine. He took a swing with his beam tomahawk, only for the Windam to pull back and fire its shield-mounted missile. Fortunately, Athrun was able to take the hit on his right shoulder shield before counterattacking with a horizontal slash that sliced the Windam in half. For his part, Heine had already hacked his attacker to flaming pieces.

"Thanks for the support," said his flight lead.

Athrun nodded. "Anytime."

"We're getting too far forward again," said Heine as he shot down another Windam, "We should pull back a bit."

Heine was right. Looking around, Athrun could see that he and his flight lead had advanced to the very edge of ZAFT's front ranks. If they continued to move forwards at this rate they would end up amidst the Alliance's capital ships, and while the two of them were definitely capable of taking on the larger vessels they would also be extremely vulnerable to crossfire. Once again Athrun had to remind himself that he wasn't piloting the Justice today; the Blaze ZAKU Phantom was a solid machine, but he needed to be much more careful using it than he would have with his old mobile suit.

"Okay," said Athrun, picking off a Dagger L, "I'll cover you."

The two of them gradually fell back, laying down volleys of emerald particle beams to keep any pursuers at bay. In this they were essentially mirroring the actions of other ZAFT mobile suit squadrons in what had become a familiar pattern displayed during this battle.

At this point, the engagement could be characterized as a series of pulses; surges of advance and retreat on both sides. One groups' mobile suits would make headway, but as the opposing side fell back the attackers would come under the guns of the defending capital ships and become vulnerable to overlapping fields of fire. This would prompt the advancing side to pull back since the defending side still had enough mobile suits left to cover their warships. This back-and-forth sequence between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT had played out several times now, and with each reiteration the losses taken by both sides continued to mount. Soon one side or the other would be able to sustain their advance to the point that their mobile suits could begin tearing into the capital ships in earnest, and when that happened it would signal that the tide of the battle had decisively turned.

Then again, thought Athrun as he shot down another Dagger L, we might not get to that point. If the Alliance really is packing nukes then they've got to be readying them for launch by now; the battle's gone on more than long enough for that. Then the only question becomes when they'll make their move…

Both sides mobile suits and capital ships were taking a beating, and at a fairly even rate too. However, the Alliance's nuclear weapons were likely kept in the warships at the heart of their armada, and that core group remained more or less intact. If ZAFT had anti-nuke countermeasures deployed on this battlefield Athrun had seen no sign of them yet. With the way things were down on the surface he knew that Terminal wouldn't come flying in to the rescue; if Durandal's forces did not have a trump card to play when the time came, then Athrun would have a front row seat to the genocide of his people.

"That's not going to happen," he muttered.

"Did you say something?" asked Heine.

Athrun shook his head, mentally cursing the fact that the channel he shared with his flight lead had still been open. "It's nothing."

There was a moment of skeptical silence before Heine spoke again. "All right, then. Keep it together; it'd be a shame to lose it and die here."

Athrun nodded as he shot down an incoming Windam. "Trust me; I don't plan on going down today."

Heine chuckled as he picked off a Dagger L. "Glad to hear it. Now, let's send these guys packing!"

"Copy that," Athrun replied.

….

Marvelous, thought Nazara as he evaded another blast from Galm Two's Orthros cannon, Absolutely marvelous! Galm Team, you more than live up to your reputation. A pity that you're Coordinators; Phantom Pain could use pilots of your caliber.

His two adversaries might be flying inferior machines, but that in no way lessened the threat that they posed. Their strategy was clear; each pilot would play to the strengths of their machines, and this was the same doctrine that they'd demonstrated in the last war. It was quite simple, but Nazara knew that sometimes simple was the best way to go, and the Galm Team was living proof of that. Galm One was almost constantly in his face, weaving through the fire from his gunbarrel-drones to cross swords with him, while Galm Two hung back and waited for openings to take shots with his Gunner ZAKU Warrior's heavy cannon. At the same time, Galm Two also acted as a bouncer of sorts, keeping any other Alliance machines from entering the fray. Nazara didn't mind that; in fact, he was actually quite happy to have the mercenary duo all to himself.

He opened up on Galm One with everything he had, but once again the dog of war was able to stay one step ahead of the particle beams and linear slugs that he sent his way. Bringing up his beam saber to deflect a slash from Cipher's sword, he was forced to dive to avoid a follow-up strike from his adversary's heat rod. As he did so Galm Two struck again, but Nazara was able to evade the stream of crimson death once again. Putting some distance between himself and Galm One, the Colonel fired a barrage at Galm Two with his gunbarrel-drones, momentarily putting Solo Wing Pixy on the defensive.

This is certainly one way to put the Nosferatu through its paces, he mused as he opened up on Galm One with his beam rifle, It will be quite interesting to study the combat data once this battle is over.

The hour of reckoning would soon be at hand. Losses for both fleets were rapidly mounting, and if Nazara had to hazard a guess he would say that the casualties had passed the thirty percent mark. Noticeable gaps were beginning to appear in the Coordinator lines, but they were not yet at the point where Nazara was comfortable in ordering a full nuclear strike. The brawl would have to drag on a little while longer, but the Colonel wasn't in any particular hurry; he was quite content to continue his dance with the legendary hellhounds.

He rushed towards Galm Two in an effort to take the long-range fighter out of the picture. The Gunner ZAKU Warrior fell back, but the machine didn't stand a chance at outpacing the Nosferatu. As it tried to keep some distance between itself and the Colonel's mobile suit it opened up with its Orthros cannon, but the weapon's rate of fire was too slow to make it effective against a swift target like the Nosferatu.

"It's been fun, Solo Wing Pixy," he said as he brought all his guns to bear on Galm Two, "but I'm afraid that your part in this fight is over!"

He opened up with everything he had. Galm Two had already moved to put the Gunner ZAKU Warrior's shield between it and the barrage, but there was no way the barrier could provide complete coverage. A particle beam blew the mobile suit's right leg off at the knee, while a linear round grazed the torso. No critical hits were scored, but Nazara had drawn first blood nonetheless, and he was eager for more.

Unfortunately for him, the other half of the legendary mercenary duo had other ideas. Charging in from behind, Galm One let fly with a hail of small emerald bolts from his unit's forearm cannons, forcing Nazara to break off his attack on Galm Two. As swift as the Nosferatu was, it didn't escape the barrage completely unscathed; one of the darts of energy hit the left linear gun, putting it out of commission.

Nazara smirked as he turned to face Galm Team's formidable flight lead. "Nicely done. It'd be boring if I made it through this fight without a scratch. Let's see what else you've got!"

He opened up with his remaining weapons as Cipher rushed in for close-quarters-combat. Bringing his beam saber up to deflect a slash from Galm One's sword, Nazara threw his thrusters in reverse before taking a quick shot with his beam rifle. The emerald particle beam impacted the hostile mobile suit's left leg just below the torso, mauling the mechanical limb but still leaving the machine more than capable of combat.

One hit apiece, he mused as he dodged a crimson blast from Galm Two, Looks like the score's even.

Ignoring Galm Two, Nazara continued to concentrate his fire on Galm One, determined to take out the mercenary flight lead once and for all. Despite the inferiority of his machine, though, the veteran dog of war was still able to work his way through the barrage until he was right up in Nazara's face and lashing out with his heat rod. The Colonel climbed to avoid the strike, but Cipher stayed right with him and attacked with his beam sword.

"Persistent bastard," he growled as he crossed blades with the hellhound.

The mercenaries more than lived up to their reputation for tenacity. It was easy to see why they had been chosen as the final line of defense for GENESIS in the last war as opposed to one of ZAFT's Special Operations Squadrons; they outclassed any other soldier that had flown under Patrick Zala's banner in the closing campaign of the last war, rank and file or otherwise. Their last two-on-one match with Heero Yuy had become the stuff of legends in the aftermath of the battle; the fate of the world had hung in the balance during that duel, and critics from all sides had acclaimed it as the finest display of mobile suit piloting witnessed during the entire war. It was an almost impossible bar to clear, and yet it was one that Nazara knew he had to surpass if he wanted to have a chance at slaying the victor of that fight.

That was why, despite his excitement at finally having some powerful foes to engage in this battle, Nazara could not help but feel a growing sense of frustration as the fight wore on. Defeating the Galm Team would be a step towards ultimately defeating Heero Yuy, and yet he was only fighting on even ground with them right now despite the fact that they weren't even flying nuclear powered machines like he was. They were a step down from the formidable peak they had ascended to in the last war and Nazara still having trouble with them. If this was all he could manage against them, then could he really hope to defeat an adversary who had only grown stronger since the Second Battle of Jachin Due?

No, he silently fumed as he continued to engage Galm One, I will not accept this. I cannot accept this! My hand will be the one that purges the Demon Lord of Avalon from this world, along with these two dogs of war!

Empowered by his fury, he pressed forward, driving the mercenary flight lead back under a vicious rain of blows from his beam saber. Despite the renewed energy behind his attacks, though, Galm One was still able to fend them off. Gritting his teeth as he struggled to keep his mounting rage in check, Nazara unleashed his gunbarrel-drones, determined to ensnare his adversary in a web of emerald death. However, just before he could open fire, a lance of crimson energy speared one of his drones, and the resulting gap in the survivors' fields of fire was sufficient to allow Galm One to escape unscathed.

"Damn you, Solo Wing Pixy!" he snarled at the man who had robbed him of his chance to take down Cipher.

Much to his surprise, he actually got a response from Galm Two. "I don't know who you are, but it looks like you're losing your edge. What's wrong? You mad, pal?"

"Insolence!" Nazara hissed as he took a shot at Galm Two with his beam rifle, "Know your place, you battlefield dog!"

Galm Two chuckled as he dodged the attack. "Know my place? I'm pretty sure I know it better than you, asshole."

"A pilot who loses his cool so easily," Cipher chimed in as he lashed out with his heat rod, "has no place fighting against us."

Nazara growled as he dived to avoid the whip. "Hardly. Look how far the two of you have fallen from your glory days! You may have survived two fights against Wing Zero, but I've survived four. I'm already above you!"

"And yet you can't beat us," said Galm Two, and though the feed wasn't visual Nazara was sure that the mercenary was smirking, "What's that say about you?"

"You have talent and a powerful mobile suit," Cipher added as he and Nazara crossed blades again, "but you're arrogant. I may not know your identity, but I can tell this much just from our fight so far; you think that everyone is beneath you, and that makes you careless even when you really ought to know better."

"The careless ones are you and your lackey!" Nazara snarled, "Your machines are outmatched, and yet you continue to engage me. Your overconfidence is suicidal! You're only alive now due to dumb luck!"

"I'll admit," said Cipher as he blocked a strike from Nazara, "we were quite fortunate to survive our clashes with Wing Zero. However, luck was not the only factor at play, just as I would imagine that it was not by luck alone that you survived your encounters with that machine. However, we have the capacity to learn from our previous encounters and apply that knowledge to new engagements. I have to wonder if your overwhelming arrogance allows you to manage such a simple feat."

"Why don't you just be honest?" said Pixy as he opened up again with his heavy cannon, "You're only alive because Heero didn't think you were worth killing. That's my take on it, anyway."

His teeth grinding together in fury, Nazara unleashed his remaining gunbarrel-drones on Galm Two. "Then that will cost him his life, just as your pride will cost you yours!"

One of the beams grazed the Gunner ZAKU Warrior's head, but that was the closest Nazara got to landing a hit on Galm Two. He didn't have time for a follow-up attack, either; Galm One was opening up on him with his forearm cannons, forcing him to climb to get clear of the barrage of emerald energy darts.

This has gone on long enough, he thought, I have a battle to win here. It's time to put these dogs of war down!

The tale of the mercenary hellhounds ends here!

….

Boris braced against the arms of his chair as the Naomi Hunter took a direct hit. "Report!"

"Starboard topside beam turret is out of commission!" cried the damage control officer, a dark-skinned woman in her early twenties, "All other weapons remain operational!"

Boris nodded. "Then put them to work. Let's make them pay for beating up our beauty queen!"

The rest of the frigate's armaments opened up on the closest targets that they could lock on to. A salvo from the port topside beam turret and the central dual railgun turret slammed into the bridge of a Drake-class escort ship, knocking the vessel out of commission. Fire from the frigate's CIWS and missile launchers managed to take down a trio of Dagger Ls, but that was all the anti-air defenses could claim with that barrage.

"Could be worse," said Kevin from behind him, "That's the first major hit we've taken this whole fight."

"Don't jinx it," Boris reprimanded him, "This slugging match isn't over yet. Courtney, how're our pilots doing?"

"We've lost Blue Five," she replied grimly, referring to one of the GuAIZs, "Blue Three has sustained significant damage and is returning now; she'll be set up for hangar approach any minute now. Blue's One, Two, and Four are still in the fight."

"What about Raiden?" he asked.

Courtney nodded. "Still going at it. Although…"

"This is no time for hesitation," said Boris, his eyes narrowing, "Good or bad, spit it out. What is it?"

Courtney sighed. "I think he's getting a little too… into this, if you know what I mean, sir."

Kevin chuckled grimly. "So he's let the other 'Jack' out… guess we should've seen that coming at a time like this."

True enough, thought Boris, I don't like this beast that he keeps repressed so much of the time, but if it serves him well here, then I suppose I'll have to tolerate it…

He certainly couldn't argue with Raiden's current performance in this fight. Maverick's top pilot was azure lightning unleashed, blitzing through the Alliance's mobile suit squadrons with incredible speed and ferocity. The Raijin was more than proving its worth as a fast attack mobile suit, and Boris idly wondered if ZAFT was regretting only producing a single prototype right about now.

If Boris had any complaints, it was with how far forward Raiden had advanced over the course of the battle. He'd remained at the very front of ZAFT's line ever since the fighting had started, and he was carving his way through the enemy ranks so quickly that Maverick's GuAIZs were really only able to provide token support at this point. The fact that Raiden was racking up so many kills would be good for Maverick's future contracts with ZAFT assuming the PLANTs made it through this battle in one piece, but Boris would've preferred his top ace exercising a little more restraint. It was just a sign of how much he'd let 'The Ripper' come out in this fight, and Boris could only hope that he retained enough situational awareness to avoid getting cut off from friendly forces and overwhelmed.

"Will he be okay like this?" asked Courtney, "I mean, he's tearing it up out there, but…"

"He'll be fine," said Kevin, "He's in his element, even if he's letting his nasty side come out to play. I almost feel bad for the sons of bitches that have to fight him out there. Almost."

Indeed, Boris mused darkly, It's hard to feel much pity for the enemy when their agenda is likely the complete annihilation of our homeland. If Raiden unleashing The Ripper is the price to pay for saving our people, then so be it.

He turned his attention from his top ace to the larger battle. Neither side was letting up, and the body count was growing rapidly by the second. The Naomi Hunter was far from the only warship to bear scars from this encounter, and Boris doubted than any ship from either side would make it through the gargantuan brawn unscathed. It was hard to believe that these two armadas actually represented the reduced strength of the Earth Alliance and ZAFT fleets following the Treaty of Junius Seven; this was still a clash for the history books even if it couldn't measure up to the Second Battle of Jachin Due.

"Boris," said Courtney, "Blue Three's lined up for hangar approach!"

He nodded. "Open up and get her in quickly! Have medical on standby in the hangar in case she's wounded!"

Courtney nodded. "Copy that!"

He could see the battered GuAIZ on the main monitor. The blue machine had definitely taken a beating; the right arm and the rifle it had held had been completely destroyed, the left leg had been mauled, and one of the thrusters had taken a hit too. There was no way the hangar crews would have it patched up and ready to sortie again in this fight; it would be out for the rest of the round.

"Hostile contacts coming in!" cried the sensor operator, "Dagger Ls, three of them!"

"Let them have it!" Boris ordered, "Cover Blue Three!"

The ship's CIWS and anti-air missile launchers opened up in a furious barrage, and even the frigate's heavy artillery joined in on the action. The incoming Alliance mobile suits were flying in a tight formation, and in the midst of an anti-air curtain like the one thrown up by the Naomi Hunter that was a fatal mistake. Two of the Dagger Ls were ripped apart by missiles, while the third was shredded by streams of shells from the CIWs.

"Targets down!" yelled Courtney, "Blue Three is aboard!"

Boris sighed with relief. "Good. Close up the hangar; we don't want a lucky shot getting in there!"

"Roger that!" she replied.

From the back of the bridge he heard Kevin whistle. "Cutting it a little close there. Talk about a lucky break."

No argument there, thought Boris, but in a fight like this, I'll take whatever small favors I can get.

One pilot dead and their GuAIZ lost, another severely damaged with its pilot possibly wounded; if those were the only casualties that Maverick Security Consulting suffered today then Boris would consider his company to have gotten off easy. Unfortunately for him and his subordinates the battle wasn't over yet. Even with his past experience it was still hard to imagine how both sides could continue to stomach the level of carnage he was witnessing, but the brawl still showed no signs of easing up. He wouldn't be surprised if he gained a few new gray hairs from this fight; he might be able to hide it from his crew, but the stress this battle was putting him through was all too real. It wasn't his own safety that he was concerned with, but that of his employees. Even if they all knew what they'd signed up for when they'd joined the company it was still rough to put them through a clash like this.

"So," said Kevin, "how much longer until they bring out the big guns?"

"Hard to say," Boris replied as he watched the continuing clash through the main viewport, "Honestly, I don't know why they haven't brought them out already. With the losses we've taken there are definitely openings for them to exploit now."

Kevin nodded. "It's gotta be soon. I hope our employers are ready for it, because we won't be able to do shit when it goes down."

That was all too true. Maverick could engage in regular combat, but the group wasn't outfitted for missile interception. If the Earth Alliance really had brought nuclear weapons to the party and were just moments away from firing them, Boris and his employees would be completely powerless to stop them.

"We have to trust that the Defense Council planned for that eventuality," he said, "That is their responsibility. Ours is simply to fight and survive, so let's focus on that."

"You got it, boss," Kevin replied.

….

From the bridge of the Victory, Admiral Gregory Wallace scowled as he watched the continuing fleet brawl. Such a clash of warships and mobile suits was truly a glorious sight to behold, but at the moment he was less concerned with the ongoing bloody spectacle than he was with whether or not the enemy had been softened up enough for his armada to launch its knockout strike. Timing was crucial, and even without the meddlers from the last war on the field the Admiral was concerned about possible interference with the pending nuclear attack. He wanted to launch his final strike with absolute certainty of success, but in a chaotic battle like this certainty was a luxury that no one could afford. All he could do was evaluate the situation and make the appropriate judgment call… and hope that if things went wrong Nazara would at least spare his life.

"Where's the Colonel?" he asked the carrier's primary mobile suit combat coordinator.

"Still engaged with the Galm Team," the officer replied, "They appear to be stalemated, sir."

Of all the rotten luck, he thought, Those dogs of war were supposed to have died in the last war. Meeting them here is an ill omen…

At least Nazara was keeping the mercenary hellhounds occupied. The last thing the Admiral needed was for the two of them to start carving into the Alliance's capital ships. Even if the Galm Team didn't have the same powerful units they'd used in the final battle of the last war, they were still capable of inflicting plenty of damage. They'd already done in a few warships and had helped blunt the assault from the Juggernaut mobile armors before engaging the Nosferatu, so if the Colonel was able to keep them contained for the rest of the fight then the Admiral would have no complaints. He wouldn't even mind if the mercenaries succeeded in killing the masked leader of Phantom Pain, although he would then have to answer to Lord Djibril, and he doubted that encounter would be a pleasant one.

"What's the status of our nuclear strike squadrons?" he asked.

"All launchers have been fitted to their Windams, and all warheads have been loaded," replied the flight coordinator, "The vessels carrying them are all intact. The units can be launched and their warheads armed on demand."

It was something of a miracle that all of the mobile suit squadrons dedicated to the coming nuclear strike were still in one piece. The carriers that held them had been kept at the rear of the armada so that the front ranks would act as a shield for them, but with the amount of fire both sides had been trading it was still amazing that the fleet's trump card remained intact. Admiral Wallace did not know how much longer his luck would hold; the time to strike would have to come soon.

As things stood now, losses for both sides were at the forty percent mark. ZAFT had yet to bring in reserves, but the Admiral was sure that that would change soon enough. This was their homeland that the enemy was defending, and he had no doubt that they would fight to the last soldier to keep it safe. There were enough breaches in the enemy ranks that a nuclear strike at this time was certainly a viable option, but would it have maximum effectiveness?

In the end, the Admiral came to the conclusion that now was likely the best chance he'd get. If the enemy brought in reserves to fill the gaps then the odds of success would diminish, and since the Alliance lacked their own reserves in this fight it would signal a shift to a battle of attrition that they were not equipped to win. However, despite his official position as the head of the armada, he could not actually make the order to launch the strike by himself; he needed Colonel Nazara to sign off.

"Get me the Nosferatu," he said, "Now!"

A few seconds later the masked Colonel appeared on the monitor. "What is it, Admiral? I'm a little busy here at present, so do make this quick."

"Colonel," said Wallace, "It is time; we won't get a cleaner shot than this. We have to deploy our trump card now."

There was a moment of silence, and the Admiral feared that the Colonel would overrule him, but then he simply nodded. "Very well. Deploy and launch at your discretion, Admiral. Nosferatu, out."

The Admiral sighed with relief as the Colonel disappeared from the screen. The time for doubts and hesitation was over. Now he had leave to unleash the fires of Armageddon, and he wasted no time in doing so.

"Contact all carriers that are transporting nuclear strike squadrons and order them to launch their mobile suits," he ordered, "Launch the ones on the Victory as well. Have our regular squadrons redouble their attack, and the same goes for our capital ships; we must keep ZAFT off balance so the missiles make it through to their targets! The first wave can be fired as soon as the pilots have targeting solutions!"

"Understood, Admiral!" replied the communications officer.

He smiled as the officer relayed his instructions to the other carriers while the flight control officer ordered the Victory's nuclear strike squadrons to launch. The battle was about to enter its final act, and it promised to be one hell of a finale.

Today, he thought triumphantly, we will accomplish what our predecessors could not. The mightiest fleet ever assembled in history failed in this task, but we shall surpass them, and ours will go down in history as the force that ended the Coordinator threat once and for all!

For the preservation of our blue and pure world!

….

"Admiral!" cried the Gondwana's primary sensor officer, "We've got new launches from the enemy carriers! Profiles are confirmed as Windams, but they're outfitted differently than the units our pilots have encountered so far today."

"Show me," Grand Admiral Brinkmann replied calmly.

The view on the main monitor shifted from the broader battle to a zoomed in shot of the newcomers. His eyes narrowed as he saw the specialized augmentations these particular Windams had been given. They consisted of a pair of launchers, one mount on each shoulder, and in each of those launchers was a large missile. It didn't take a genius to guess what kind of missiles they were, but Brinkmann waited for confirmation nonetheless.

"Detecting radiation signatures from the new contacts!" cried the sensor officer, "God, it can't be…"

"Nukes," said Captain Allen, her voice harder than granite.

Brinkmann nodded grimly. "Indeed. The hour of judgment is here. Get me the Johannes Bosscha immediately!"

"Aye, Admiral," said the communication's officer, "Establishing the link now!"

Admiral Jaime Delgado appeared on the main monitor a moment later. "Grand Admiral! Is it time?"

"Yes," said Brinkmann, his steely gaze fixed on Delgado, "We've confirmed nuclear strike squadrons are launching from the Earth Alliance carriers. Is the countermeasure ready for use?"

Delgado nodded. "We can spin it up and fire on your command."

Brinkmann nodded. "Good. It won't by my command it fires upon, though. This device is your section's brainchild, Admiral. I leave its deployment in your hands."

Delgado's eyes widened. "Grand Admiral… are you sure?"

"Now is hardly a time for jokes, Admiral," Brinkmann replied, "The fate of the PLANTs is in your hands now. We will send you targeting data, but the final fire command will be issued by you. Good luck."

"To all of us," Captain Allen added quietly.

And so it comes at last, thought Brinkmann as Delgado disappeared from the screen, the deciding moment of this battle…

….

The instant his superior had vanished from the screen, Admiral Delgado turned to the Captain of the Johannes Bosscha. "Begin the priming sequence at once. We'll only get one shot at this, so let's make it count."

The dark-skinned Captain Adam Trevelyan nodded grimly. "Understood, Admiral."

As the destroyer's crew brought the Neutron Stampeder online, Delgado studied an image of the device on his personal monitor. The anti-nuke countermeasure was bigger than the destroyer it was mounted on, and if it was used successfully today it would become one of the crowning achievements of Delgado's R&D section. Two massive bracers, one on each side of the bridge, helped clamp the Neutron Stampeder to the destroyer, and these were further reinforced by two smaller spurs that extended from the base of the device. The central pylon was mounted over the entrance of the destroyer's hangar, so the vessel's mobile suits had been transferred to the Gondwana prior to the start of the battle. The pylon extended out well past the bow, and mounted on it were a series of twelve fins, with six on each side. These were the device's emitters, and if they performed as predicted today they would be the key to saving the PLANTs from utter annihilation.

"Has the enemy launched their missiles yet?" he asked.

The sensor officer shook her head. "Not yet, Admiral, but the units carrying the warheads are advancing rapidly."

"It won't be much longer before they fire," said Captain Trevelyan, "Will this device be fully primed on time?"

"It'll have to be," said Delgado, "or this was all for nothing."

Fortunately he could already see sparks of energy dancing along the fins of the device as the Neutron Stampeder came online. The countermeasure was designed for rapid response and deployment once it was mounted on a warship, but the power it drew from its host vessel was substantial. Delgado still wasn't entirely sure how many of the destroyer's systems it would knock out when it fired, but he did know that it would at the very least render the ship inert. They would be incredibly vulnerable to enemy attack, even more so than they were already. A token force of four frigates and another destroyer had been assigned to escort the Johannes Bosscha, but that was all Brinkmann was willing to spare; the rest of ZAFT's vessels were allocated to the reserve battle groups, and too large of an escort would draw the Alliance's attention to the Neutron Stampeder before it was ready to be used. Maintaining a low profile was critical to their success, and so far that approach had paid off.

Powering up the Neutron Stampeder would throw that approach out the window. The energy spike would be impossible for the Earth Alliance to miss, but the Johannes Bosscha was positioned at a sufficient distance from the fray that by the time the enemy could move to attack her and her tiny escort flotilla it would be far too late.

"Priming status?" he asked.

"Thirty-five percent!" the weapons officer responded, "Forty... fifty…. Sixty…."

"Let's hope this thing doesn't burn out before it can fire," Captain Trevelyan muttered under his breath.

Agreed, thought Delgado.

The sparks dancing along the fins of the Neutron Stampeder increased in intensity, and Delgado could hear a thrumming come from within the ship as it fed more power to the device. The hairs on the back of his neck were standing on end, and if it weren't for his uniform's sleeves the goose bumps on his arms would be visible for all too see. Today would secure his place in history as either a triumphant hero or a colossal failure; there was no middle ground.

It'll be one hell of a chapter to put in the memoir, he mused, If I live long enough to write one, anyway…

"Seventy-five percent!" called the weapons officer, "Eighty… eighty-five…. ninety…."

"Come on," Captain Trevelyan hissed.

"Missile launches detected!" shouted the sensor officer, "The first wave's firing!"

"Ninety-five… One-hundred!" cried the weapons officer, "Primed for firing!"

Delgado's response was immediate. "Fire!"

Here goes nothing…

….

A twisted grin was on Nazara's face as he continued his clash with the Galm Team. The mercenaries were still putting up a furious fight, but now it did not matter how much they strove to defeat him; they had already lost.

You have failed, Galm Team, he thought triumphantly as he saw the first wave of nuclear-burdened Windams let fly with their devastating payloads, The moment of our victory has finally arrived!

He knew from intelligence briefings that ZAFT completely lacked a long range anti-missile system. The closest they had gotten to that was the METEOR weapons developed alongside the stolen battleship Eternal during the last war, and with both the vessel and the weapon system in the hands of the renegades they'd never created replacements for them. Had they mass produced the METEORs and created a defense network with them it would've proven to be a formidable barrier, but the system was complex and expensive so ZAFT had never pursued that angle.

That didn't mean that the Coordinators were standing by idly as the first wave of nuclear missiles took off. The massed warships and mobile suits continued to trade fire with their Earth Alliance counterparts, but a significant number of them were now redirecting their cannons and missiles towards the oncoming warheads. The volume of fire, while not the full might of the armada, was quite impressive, but it lacked the precision required to take down the missiles. The lifespan of all Coordinators residing at L5 could now be measured in just a handful of seconds. There were backup waves of Windams armed with nukes at the ready, but from what Nazara could see he doubted that they would be needed.

"You've lost, you dogs!" he snarled as he traded sword strikes with Galm One while unleashing his gunbarrel-drones on Galm Two, "Your home is going to burn, and you're powerless to stop it!"

"You son of a bitch!" snarled Pixy as he fired his Orthros heavy cannon at Nazara, who effortlessly dodged the shot.

Cipher was silent, opting to simply continue to exchange blows with Nazara. The mercenary seemed to have already written off the colonies as a loss, and was now focused on avenging their impending demise. That was fine by Nazara; once the PLANTs were destroyed the follow-up nukes could be used against the ZAFT fleet, and then Alliance mobile suits and capital ships could help him overwhelm the Galm Team and take them down for good. Then the Alliance would turn its attention to the Orb colonies at L3 and the remaining Coordinator enclaves on the surface of the Earth. The final cleansing that Muruta Azrael had failed to achieve in his campaign two years ago was now underway at last, and nothing could stop it now. Nazara and Lord Djibril were about to triumph where their predecessor had not, and for the Colonel it was a sensation sweeter than the finest wine.

Until it all went straight to hell.

An alarming high pitched chime came from his sensors, and behind the mask Nazara's eyes widened as he saw the source. It was an energy spike, the likes of which he hadn't seen since the Break The World Incident. The source was quite unexpected; it was a small flotilla hovering at the very edge of the battlefield, consisting of only four frigates and two destroyers. As he zoomed in he saw that one of the destroyers had been modified and fitted with a prolonged spar-like device with several fins jutting from it. The fins were glowing with energy, and Nazara's mind suddenly flashed back to the final battle of the last war.

No, he thought, it's not GENESIS. So what is it?

His question was answered a second later as all the energy built up within the device was unleashed in a tsunami of raw power. Nazara's sensors went haywire, but he was able to pick up one distinct reading; the energy's signature was similar in nature to that of N-Jammers, but it was in a form that the Colonel had never seen those devices come anywhere close to emitting. Suddenly the fact that he was piloting a nuclear powered mobile suit ceased to be an asset in his mind, and he immediately broke off his engagement with the Galm Team. He pushed his thrusters to the max, climbing as fast as he could in the hopes of getting above the massive wave of energy that was sweeping across the battlefield.

The torrent of power actually went over the ZAFT forces first, but Nazara's eyes narrowed as he saw that the energy had no discernible effect on the Coordinator fleet. Warships and mobile suits alike were completely unscathed, and the same went for the Earth Alliance's units.

Except for those carrying nuclear warheads.

The missiles that had already been launched detonated the moment that the wave of energy washed over them. A series of massive orange blossoms of radioactive fire bloomed, consuming all nearby contacts whether they were friend or foe. The first wave of warheads was utterly consumed, with all of them going off far short of their intended targets.

But the devastation didn't stop there. A second later the storm of power met the reserve waves of Windams that had yet to unleash their payloads. Like the missiles that had already been launched, these detonated in a titanic display of raw firepower that one might find to be beautiful under other circumstances. This certainly did not qualify as such an occasion as far as Nazara concerned, for these detonations were taking place right in the heart of the Earth Alliance armada.

Durandal, you son of a bitch, Nazara seethed in silent rage as he watched the conflagration spread, You played us!

With painstaking effort and at staggering financial cost, the Atlantic Federation had spent the past two years secretly rebuilding the nuclear stockpile that had been expended and wasted at the Second Battle of Jachin Due. As today's operation was nothing less than an attack on the Coordinator homeland, the Earth Alliance's armada had been armed with every single nuke that had been built through those clandestine efforts; Lord Djibril and Colonel Nazara had decided to leave nothing to chance when it came to the annihilation of the denizens of L5. However, that thoroughness was now being turned against them, as the tsunami of energy from ZAFT's new weapon was obliterating every nuclear weapon on the battlefield… along with every ship and mobile suit unfortunate enough to get caught in the blast radius as the warheads detonated. Nazara didn't know what kind of effect the wave would've had on the nuclear reactor of the Nosferatu, but his earlier decision to climb and escape the attack before it was too late appeared to be paying off.

The combined light from ZAFT's new weapon and the detonations of so many nuclear devices at once overwhelmed the Nosferatu's visual sensors, causing a temporary blackout. The mobile suit's other scanners were still working just fine, though… and they showed the once glorious Earth Alliance armada being utterly devastated by their own trump card.

Even in his fury, the strategist in him had to admire what his foe had done. After the events of the last war, a bind idiot would've known that the Earth Alliance's first move in the event of renewed hostilities would be to immediately march on L5 with overwhelming force. ZAFT had prepared accordingly, but it was only now that Nazara realized his adversary's true goal.

Durandal had set a trap, and the entire Coordinator civilian population of L5 had been the bait. Repelling the Earth Alliance's armada would've been one thing, but the deployment of this new ZAFT creation revealed the Supreme Council Chairman's real objective; to annihilate the Atlantic Federation's hidden nuclear stockpile in the opening engagement of the war. The entire setup had been on colossal gambit, and for Nazara's foe it had paid off in spectacular fashion.

"Clever bastard, aren't you?" Nazara hissed, "Damn you, Durandal!"

The light faded enough for the Nosferatu's visual sensors to function properly again. It was little comfort, though; all it gave Nazara was a naked eye confirmation of what the rest of his mobile suit's scanners were already telling him.

The Earth Alliance armada had been taking steady losses prior to launching their nukes, but the force had still been cohesive and at sixty percent fighting strength. The fleet's unity, direction, and power had been shattered by their own nukes detonating in their midst. All of the carriers, including the Victory, had been wiped out. The bulk of the battleships, destroyers, and escort ships had likewise been annihilated. An armada that had once boasted a thousand warships had been reduced to barely over forty, and those survivors were all battered and scarred. The chain of command had been obliterated; Colonel Nazara was now likely the highest ranking officer, giving him both de jure and de facto leadership over the remaining forces.

At least I won't have to use Wallace as a mouthpiece anymore, he mused, That was getting old really fast.

Both sides had ceased firing in the wake of the near-complete annihilation of the Earth Alliance armada, but Nazara doubted ZAFT would refrain from attacking forever. Further combat was beyond pointless now, and the Colonel did not feel like committing suicide via enemy fire today.

"Attention all surviving Earth Alliance forces," he said, "This is Colonel Nazara. Withdraw immediately. Fall back to the Lunar Perimeter."

There were no protests, not that the Colonel had expected any; after the tables had been so brutally turned he was sure that the survivors just wanted to get the hell out of dodge. He set course for the closest battleship, sparing one last look at ZAFT's new weapon as he did so.

So nukes are out of the question now, he thought, Well, there are other plans in motion. They'll just take longer to come to fruition. This was only the first battle.

This war is far from over.

….

"Transmission coming in from Aprilius One!" called the communications officer, "It's on HQ's line."

"Likely the Chairman, then," said Captain Allen.

Grand Admiral Brinkmann nodded. "Patch him through."

Sure enough, Durandal's face appeared on the main monitor a few seconds later. "Congratulations, Grand Admiral."

Brinkmann shook his head. "Thank you, Chairman, but the praise should go to Admiral Delgado; it was the Neutron Stampeder that won us the day."

"I will contact him next," said Durandal, "but I wanted to speak to you first. What's the status of the enemy survivors?"

"They're in full retreat," Brinkmann replied, "Shall we pursue?"

Durandal shook his head. "Let them go. It's better for the Alliance to get accounts of what happened here from firsthand witnesses. I imagine the psychological impact will be greater that way."

Brinkmann nodded. "Understood, Chairman. Anything else?"

"Not at this time," Durandal replied, "I'll leave you to your work. I eagerly await your debriefing at the next Defense Council meeting. Until then, Grand Admiral."

As soon as the Chairman disappeared Brinkmann began issuing new orders. "Commence search and rescue operations. All undamaged mobile suits are to assist with scanning for survivors and bringing damaged units to any ship with the space for them. The fleet will remain on full combat alert until recovery operations are complete."

The communications officer started relaying his orders to the rest of the fleet while Brinkmann turned to Captain Allen. "How long will the Gondwana be in for repairs?"

She shook her head. "That's difficult to say. I don't believe we've sustained major damage, but we did take some hits that need to be addressed. I'm more concerned about replenishing our pilot and mobile suit ranks than repairs on the carrier at the moment, though."

"Of course," said Brinkmann, "The Gondwana will be given top priority for new pilot assignments to bring her up to full strength. We can do at least that much for the flagship of the fleet."

Captain Allen nodded. "Thank you, Grand Admiral."

So, he thought as he returned his attention to the forward viewport and the vast field of destroyed and damaged ships and mobile suits before him, round one is ours. The Earth Alliance space forces will take some time to lick their wounds, which means their next move will be on the surface. It's going to be a ground game for a while now. I hope we're ready.

….

"So that's what they were hiding," said Heero.

He was down in the hardened communications room beneath Terminal's estate, and he wasn't alone; Murrue and other senior members of the group were with him, along with the three Gundam pilots that had come here following the Break The World Incident. Thanks to Eric Bristow's connections within ZAFT they'd been able to tap into Coordinator satellite feeds to monitor the engagement at L5, and while it had bothered Heero to have to sit back and watch rather than join the fray himself he knew it was impossible for them to get in on the action. In any case, he was relieved to see that their suspicions about ZAFT possessing a countermeasure to deploy against the Atlantic Federation's nukes were proven correct, although he would've preferred to have concrete evidence of that prior to the massive fight they'd just witnessed.

"Impressive," said Murrue from her seat next to him, "I don't know what I was expecting, but… well, it wasn't that."

Andrew Waltfeld nodded. "I'll say. ZAFT's outdone themselves."

"They took some pretty heavy losses in that fight," said Aisha, "but given the outcome the Defense Council would be justified in stating their victory was worth the cost."

Eric Bristow chuckled. "I'll say. They just wiped out about a third of the Earth Alliance's orbital fighting strength and made them waste their nuclear stockpile in the process. Looks like Durandal's bet paid off big time."

Shemei sighed with relief. "At least the colonies survived. Gotta admit, I was pretty worried for a minute there."

Duo whistled. "No kidding. The Atlantic Federation really wants to wipe out Coordinators if that's the kind of firepower they're bringing to the big opening match. Talk about having issues…"

"They lost this round," said Quatre, "but I doubt they'll sit idle for long. They've still got plenty of firepower up in space, not to mention their surface forces."

Trowa nodded. "Their orbital fleets have taken a serious hit, so their next major campaign will likely be down here. The Pacific Fleet's still heading this way, after all, and with their current position it's still impossible to say if they're gunning for Carpentaria or Orb."

"It'll be Carpentaria now," said Heero firmly.

Murrue raised an eyebrow. "How can you be so sure?"

"ZAFT just humiliated them," Heero replied, "The Atlantic Federation will want to make up for that. Attacking them directly on the surface will be the way to go. Their Atlantic Fleet's probably making for Gibraltar with similar intentions."

Andrew nodded. "I think Heero's right. The Alliance can still threaten Orb, but payback against ZAFT's likely their top priority now. With the losses they just took up in orbit any similar moves in outer space are out of the question for a while, so hitting ZAFT's two strongholds on Earth is the next logical step."

"I hope they're ready," said Aisha, "Gibraltar and Carpentaria are hardened bases, but they can't hold out against a siege forever."

"So," said Shemei, "we've got a good idea as to the enemy's next move. What's ours gonna be?"

"Same as before," Eric replied, "If the Pacific Fleet tries to wipe out the troops at Carpentaria, their rear will be exposed to us. We'll be the hammer and let ZAFT play the anvil."

Duo grinned. "Sounds like a plan to me!"

Trowa nodded. "I'll be ready for whatever part we must play."

"I'm worried about Orb," said Quatre, "With the losses they just took up in orbit, the Earth Alliance will be desperate to bolster their strength in any way possible. They're going to ratchet up the pressure on Cagalli's government to side with them now, and if her position's undermined by the Seirans she won't be able to stand up to them."

That possibility had never been far from Heero's mind. Cagalli's situation and Orb's in general was all too precarious. Joining the Earth Alliance was the last thing she would ever agree to, but if enough nobles and ministers backed the idea then she would be powerless to stop them. He didn't just care about it because of what it meant for the war as a whole, but because seeing her country become nothing more than a vassal of the Atlantic Federation and violate its principles in the process would devastate Cagalli. She was more than just an ally; he considered her a friend, and he wanted to help her in any way that he could.

"If it comes to that," he said, "we'll have to get her out of here. We can't let the Earth Alliance use her as a puppet."

Murrue shook her head. "Heero, you're talking about kidnapping a head of state. That's a tall order, even given our level of access to Cagalli."

"It's not kidnapping if she comes along willingly," Heero countered.

Andrew raised his hand. "I think we're getting a little ahead of ourselves here. The pro-Alliance forces in Cagalli's government haven't made their move yet. Orb's official stance is still neutrality, and until we see concrete signs that it's being thrown out the window by the Seirans and their supporters we can't risk taking action against the government."

"But we can't just sit back and watch forever," said Aisha, "We're going to have to make a move sooner or later."

"Our fight is with the Earth Alliance for now," said Eric, "We need to focus on that until we know for sure that Orb's going to move into their camp."

"Still," said Shemei, "there's no harm in drafting a contingency plan. If anyone's in a position to slip her away from the Seirans and the Alliance, it's us."

"Sign me up for that job," said Duo with a smirk, "If it throws a wrench into their plans, then I'm all for it!"

Trowa nodded. "The enemy can't be allowed to have her as their public face in Orb. If we must extract her, then I'll help with that operation."

"Same here," said Quatre, "I'd hate for her to end up like Relena did with Romefeller back in our war."

"Hey, she turned that around pretty well," said Duo with a grin, "Made it backfire right in Duke Dermail's face when she gave that speech, remember?"

"We're talking two different leaders here," said Heero grimly, "Relena was a gifted public speaker even back then. Her charisma's a powerful weapon, but unfortunately it's one that Cagalli lacks. She has firm faith in her ideals, but her oratory abilities aren't quite up there with Relena's. Even if they were, I don't think her opponents would be swayed by just words at this point."

Murrue sighed. "I fear you're right about that. If words and diplomacy had a chance to work, we wouldn't be in this mess. The time for talk is over, and that goes for Orb as well as the Alliance and ZAFT."

"And us by extension," said Andrew, "The war's already begun. The Alliance and ZAFT are already on the field, and we'll be joining them there soon enough."

That was all too true, but Heero couldn't shake the feeling that they were missing some critical pieces of the wider puzzle. The Earth Alliance's objectives were straightforward, and the same went for Cagalli's internal opponents in Orb too. What made him uneasy was ZAFT. The battle they'd just witnessed had made it clear that the PLANTs had greatly enhanced their defensive capabilities over the past two years even with the restrictions from the Treaty of Junius Seven in place, and Heero had to wonder just what else was in their new arsenal. The Earth Alliance had already blatantly shown to the world its violations of the treaty, so if ZAFT had any proscribed weapons of their own they would likely be fielding them soon enough.

It wasn't the PLANTs' arsenal that had Heero worried, though; it was the endgame. If an ordinary leader was in charge then the Gundam pilot would've felt comfortable assuming that a defensive war would be ZAFT's overall strategy, but Gilbert Durandal was anything but ordinary. The man was charismatic, cunning, and if Heero's conversation with him after the Armory One raid was any indication he definitely had a long term vision that stretched beyond L5's security.

I can't figure out his endgame, he thought, and that needs to change fast. I don't know why, but…

…I feel like this entire war's riding on the answer to that question.

Preview for next time!

The first battle of the Second Bloody Valentine War is over, and the result is a decisive victory for ZAFT. With their assault force annihilated, the Earth Alliance moves to a defensive posture in outer space. However, their forces on the surface of the planet are still at full strength, and ZAFT races to reinforce its garrisons before the enemy lays siege. As the fleets and armies of the two superpowers maneuver into position, the Atlantic Federation's pawns in the Orb Union become more aggressive, confronting Cagalli with a scenario that runs counter to all of her ideal. Meanwhile, ZAFT makes moves of its own within the neutral nation, but Durandal's sights are on a prize distinctly separate from the Orb Union itself. Next time, on "Destiny's Call", Episode Ten: Cloak and Dagger.

Not all battles are fought in the open…

Author's Notes: On the technical side of things, the ZGMF-V01 'Raijin' is actually based on the Grimgerde from Mobile Suit Gundam: Iron Blooded Orphans, with some adaptations and modifications to fit it in with the Gundam SEED universe. Couldn't help myself, I love that machine!

Well, we've finally got some combat going in the story again. It took me a little longer than I thought it would to get back to the action side of this, fic, thanks for sticking with me!

Hope you enjoyed the chapter! Please review!