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?)

12. Chapter 12

Author's Notes: Hello again, long time no see! Ok, seriously, sorry about the delay, I wound up with a lot more content in this chapter than I had originally planned. I also just got an Xbox One, so the combination of the Halo Master Chief Collection, Halo 5, Middle-Earth: Shadow of Mordor and Middle-Earth: Shadow of War might have been a bit of a distraction. So… yeah. Sorry about that.

Song list for the chapter, in order of appearance: "Bad Luck Charm" by Jeff Williams from RWBY: Volume 4, the metal cover by Srod Almenara of "The Rains of Castamere", and "Ready to Die" by Andrew W.K. (if you're a fan of Team Four Star's Hellsing Ultimate Abridged, then I think you'll appreciate where that one's used in this chapter!).

Enjoy!

Episode Twelve: A Bloody Omen

"Gottfrieds locked on target," said the chief gunnery officer, "Ready to fire on command."

Murrue didn't mince words. "Open fire!"

The Archangel's heavy beam cannons cut loose, sending bolts of emerald death racing over the waves. A moment later they slammed into their target, a cruiser, amidships and blasted the vessel apart.

"Launch secondary barrage!" ordered Lieutenant Tsukino, "Fire Valiants and Sledgehammer missiles!"

The ship's heavy linear cannon's and ship-to-ship missile launchers unleashed a brutal follow-up salvo. This time the target of the attack was a destroyer, and the combined power of the heavy slugs and warheads ripped apart the vessel's upper decks, turning the warship into little more than a blazing wreck.

From the opposite side of the battlefield, Murrue could see the Dominion pounding away at the Earth Alliance battle group with the same brutal efficiency as her sister ship. Caught between two of the most advanced warships in the Earth Sphere, along with their mobile suits, the hostile force was being swiftly and methodically torn apart. The two carriers at the heart of the battle group had been able to launch their mobile suits this time unlike previous strikes, but the Dagger Ls and Windams that had sortied from the vessels were doing little good against the foes arrayed before them now.

A low-power shot from Wing Zero Albion's Twin Buster Rifle blew two Dagger Ls from the sky, while a backstab from Deathscythe Omega's Beam Scythe impaled a third machine. A storm of bullets from Heavyarms Arsenal ripped a pair of Windams apart, while another was sliced to pieces by Sandrock Saladin's Heat Shotels. A blast from the Vayeate Kai's heavy Beam Cannon reduced a Dagger L to cinders, while the Mercurius Kai stabbed a Windam with its yellow beam saber right through the cockpit. Meanwhile, the Strike Rouge was picking off one Dagger L after another with its beam rifle; Cagalli was clearly intent on making the Earth Alliance pay for turning the Orb Union into a puppet state.

The devastation being inflicted upon the Earth Alliance's mobile suits was mirrored by the carnage the warships were suffering below. A volley of particle beams, railgun rounds, and lances of plasma energy from the Freedom raked a cruiser, stripping the warship of all its weaponry in a matter of seconds. The last surviving carrier found itself set upon by no less than the Gundam Epyon Revenant, and the crimson mechanical devil wasted no time in utterly mauling the vessel with its Heat Rod before administering the coup de grace with its blazing Beam Sword. Meanwhile, Adaline's Wraith picked apart a destroyer with pinpoint beam rifle fire, and her actions were mirrored by Lan and Priscilla as they systematically eliminated their targets. A volley of smoke grenades from the launchers imbedded in the legs of the Tallgeese Kai concealed Mu La Flaga's approach to his target, and when the Hawk of Endymion emerged from cover he brought down his violet beam saber and sliced a destroyer in half.

Perfect, thought Murrue, we've almost got this wrapped up. Bristow's covering the Dominion while Aisha and Andrew are handling our defense, so even if the remaining enemy mobile suits try a desperation attack against us we're more than capable of fending them off.

The possibility of the surviving Dagger Ls and Windams attacking the Archangel at this point in the battle seemed very unlikely, though. There were only a handful of Earth Alliance mobile suits remaining, and Terminal's mobile suits were taking them down one after another in rapid succession. The same went for the few hostile warships that were still afloat; while they had taken a few shots at the Archangel and the Dominion, they had not been able to launch a concentrated assault due to the mobile suits assaulting them, and the heavy armor of the advanced battleships had been more than capable of withstanding the uncoordinated fire that had been sent their way.

"Any sign of enemy reinforcements, Lacus?" asked Murrue.

The songstress, who was currently working the ship's sensors, shook her head. "Negative, Miss Murrue."

Murrue nodded. "Good. Let's mop up quickly and get underway; that could change all too quickly."

This was the fourth Earth Alliance battle group that they had attacked since leaving Home One, and while it had gone as well as the previous strikes Murrue could already notice some key differences between this force and the ones they had assaulted before. For starters, this force had already had some of its mobile suits airborne flying patrols when the Archangel and Dominion had surfaced to attack, and there had been long-range AWACS planes operating in the area as well. Clearly the enemy was beginning to take security for their warships more seriously now, which meant that battles from here on out would only get more difficult. Murrue knew that it was inevitable that the Earth Alliance forces would start tightening up their defenses in light of the damage Terminal had been inflicting upon them, but she had hoped that the enemy would still be sloppy for at least a little while longer.

There was a brilliant flash of golden-yellow hellfire as a blast from Wing Zero Albion's Twin Buster Rifle took down the last three Windams. Meanwhile, down below the Gundam Epyon Revenant brought its beam sword down on the final operational destroyer left out of whole battle group and cleaved the ship clean in half.

"All targets destroyed or neutralized," said Lacus.

Murrue smiled. "Good. Miriallia, begin mobile suit recovery."

The young woman nodded. "Aye, Captain."

"Flay," said Murrue, "I want you to verify the next rendezvous point with the Dominion."

Her red-headed communications officer nodded. "Understood, Captain."

Looking out the main viewport, she saw Heero's machine heading towards the Archangel. The azure waves of light flowing from its wings were a stark contrast to the orange-red glow that was reflected on the ocean waves, hue born from the combination of burning warships and the setting sun. It was a hauntingly beautiful sight, but Murrue wished it hadn't come at the cost of so many lives.

The men who crewed those warships and mobile suits may have been our enemies, she thought grimly, but how many of them were truly fighting for the crusade of Blue Cosmos? I'm willing to bet that it wasn't as many as their superiors might like to believe…

"Captain," said Flay, "Incoming transmission from Wing Zero Albion!"

Murrue nodded. "Patch it through."

Heero showed up on the monitor a moment later. "Everything okay over there?"

Murrue smiled. "Yes. The armor held up nicely; the hits we took didn't cause any serious damage."

Heero nodded. "Glad to hear it. I'll be there soon."

He disappeared from the screen, and outside Murrue saw his Gundam begin its final landing approach. As soon as all the mobile suits were on board both the Archangel and the Dominion the two warships would slip beneath the waves and leave the area; by the time Alliance reinforcements arrived they would be long gone.

One skirmish had come to a close, but the war for the planet's surface had only just begun to heat up…

…and Murrue was sure that it would reach a blazing intensity before it finally came to an end.

….

Putting down her sidearm, Lunamaria flipped the switch on the wall and watched as her target was brought to her. "All right, let's see how I did this time…"

When the paper target was close enough for her to see where her rounds had hit, she sighed in disappointment. There wasn't a single bullseye on the sheet.

"Shit," she hissed, "What the hell am I doing wrong?"

"I can answer that," said a familiar male voice from behind her.

Lunamaria turned around and saw Wufei leaning against the wall. "Oh, really?"

"Sure," Wufei replied as he stepped forward, "It's actually pretty simple. I'm surprised your trainers never caught it."

Lunamaria folded her arms. "So, what is it? What am I screwing up?"

Wufei nodded at her hand. "You keep twisting your wrist to absorb the recoil. It works for revolvers, but it's not very well suited to military semi-automatics."

Lunamaria raised an eyebrow as she looked down at her hand. "Really? I never even noticed I was doing it."

"Probably because you started doing it instinctively and no one ever called you out on it," said Wufei, "Your shots were still hitting the target, and that's really all they ask for as far as basic military training is concerned. I doubt any of your instructors were sharp enough to spot you doing it."

Lunamaria sighed. "You're probably right. So, how do I fix it?"

"Focus on how you're bracing yourself when you fire," said Wufei, "A twohanded grip will improve your stability. Eventually you'll be able to do it by instinct and override your old habit. Try slowing your rate of fire while you're adjusting your technique; it'll help you stay aware of how you're shooting, and you should be able to catch yourself if you start twisting your wrist again."

Lunamaria smiled. "All right… and thanks."

Wufei shrugged. "Don't mention it."

Lunamaria nodded down the range. "You want to squeeze off a few rounds?"

"Not interested," he replied.

Lunamaria shrugged as she turned back to the range and reloaded her weapon. "Suit yourself."

Consciously altering her grip to follow his advice, she sighted down the gun and opened up. Once the clip was empty she brought the new target back, and she was pleased to see a much tighter grouping for her shots. She still didn't have a bullseye yet, but she was definitely getting close to it.

"Nice," she said with a smirk.

"Don't let it go to your head," said Wufei, "The real trick is being able to pull it off while under fire from the enemy."

Lunamaria rolled her eyes. "God, you can be such a buzz-kill sometimes, you know that?"

"So I hear," Wufei replied casually, "It doesn't change the fact that I'm right."

Lunamaria scowled. He was right, but she didn't want to agree with him and give him that satisfaction. In the end, she settled for reloading and then holstering her sidearm before heading for the exit.

"Whatever," she said, "I don't know about you, but I could use a bite to eat. It's gotta be past dinnertime by now."

Wufei nodded before following her out. "Yes. Food sounds good right about now."

Leaving the firing range, the two of them strolled across the vast compound that was ZAFT's Carpentaria base and made their way towards the closest mess hall. Lunamaria was still astounded by just how expansive the base was; it dwarfed any military installation she had been assigned to over the course of her duties up in space. There seemed to be an almost constant stream of incoming troops and supplies descending from orbit to reinforce the garrison, and she couldn't even begin to guess just how many soldiers the facility was now housing.

"Sure is starting to get crowded around here," she said as she nodded at a group of officers and enlisted troops disembarking from a shuttle on the tarmac.

"It seems that your superiors are serious about fortifying their surface installations," said Wufei, "I imagine it's the same over at the Gibraltar base."

Lunamaria smiled. "I bet you're right. The Earth forces are going to be in for a nasty surprise if they try to attack us here."

Wufei shook his head. "These transfers from outer space to the surface are impossible to miss. If the Alliance doesn't recognize the buildup underway down here then their intelligence services are either willfully blind or incredibly incompetent. In the event that they do stage an attack on this base, I have to imagine that it will involve almost all of their forces in the Pacific theater."

"Bring 'em on!" said Lunamaria with a smirk as they entered the mess, "I'll shoot down whatever they send our way!"

Wufei chuckled. "I'm sure they're shaking in their boots at the thought of going up against you."

"Laugh it up all you want," Lunamaria shot back as they dished up, "I'm getting better, and you know it! Sure, I'm not at your level yet, but give me time. At the rate I'm going I wouldn't be surprised if the top brass decide that I deserve a mobile suit upgrade sometime soon!"

To her surprise, Wufei actually looked rather thoughtful as the two of them found a table. "That's always possible. Mobile suit research and development always accelerates in times of war. They've already got Shinn flying a prototype, so you getting one or even just an upgrade to a more potent frontline unit isn't out of the question."

Lunamaria's eyes widened. "Wait, are you serious? You're not pulling my leg here?"

Wufei shrugged. "I'm just stating that the chance exists, no more and no less. Take it for what you will."

Lunamaria smiled. "Well, I'll take it as a good sign if you're going to be that way."

The two of them were quiet for a few minutes as they dug into their meals. Looking around as she ate, Lunamaria saw that the mess hall was about halfway full at the moment. Most of the occupants were rank and file troops and support staff, although Lunamaria did spot a few officers in the mix as well. There was a surprising amount of tension in the air, which didn't sit right with her; she would've figured that everyone would've been a little more relaxed since they were on a friendly base.

"Hey," said one of the soldiers at a table across from where they sat, "Did you hear the news?"

"You mean about that Alliance battle group that went down a little while ago?" replied another, "Who took it out? We don't have anyone out that way, right?"

"That's the fourth one over the past few days, and the second one just today," said a third, "I heard a rumor that it's…"

"Shhh!" hissed a fourth before jerking her thumb at a nearby Commander, "Not in front of the brass!"

Lunamaria raised an eyebrow. "I wonder what's going on? Meyrin mentioned that the Alliance forces in the Pacific had been losing ships, but she didn't say much more than that."

Wufei smirked. "It's just a hunch, but I think I know who's taking them out."

"Really?" asked Lunamaria, "Who is it?"

"If it's not ZAFT," said Wufei, "then what other force is out there that's not aligned with the Earth forces and is capable of inflicting so much damage in such a short amount of time? I think you can take an educated guess, don't you?"

Her eyes widened as she realized what he was getting at. "Wait, you don't mean… you really think it's your friends from earlier?"

Wufei nodded. "Yes. Who else did you think it would be?"

"Well," said Lunamaria, "when you put it that way, I guess it makes sense. Still… why would they help us like that? I mean, they might've helped us out up in orbit, but that was different. The world wasn't actually at war yet, for starters."

"They have their own goals, just like I have mine," Wufei replied, "Since the Earth Alliance is the aggressor in this war and tried to wipe out the colonies at L5, it's not really a surprise that Heero and the others would target them."

Lunamaria nodded. "Okay, but why not work with us directly? They'd be more effective, wouldn't they?"

Wufei shrugged. "They want to handle things their own way. It's who we are."

Lunamaria shook her head. "I really don't get you guys. Still, as long as you're on our side, I guess it's all good."

Wufei didn't answer, so Lunamaria went back to her meal for a few minutes. Glancing around the mess hall, she couldn't help but notice that more than a few of the other soldiers there were giving Wufei suspicious looks. It made sense; he wasn't dressed in a ZAFT uniform after all, so he stuck out like a sore thumb. Lunamaria realized that there wasn't really any established protocol for a situation like this. What was she supposed to say if a superior officer questioned them about why he was here?

I really hope we can avoid that, she thought, I'm sure the Captain wants to avoid any incidents here.

"So," she said after a moment, "have you ever thought about joining us officially?"

"No," said Wufei, "and I don't plan on it."

"Why not?" asked Lunamaria, "I mean, you've already fought with us in a few battles already. If you joined they'd probably make you a Red right off the bat. Hell, you could become a member of FAITH with your skills and your Gundam!"

"Rank and the power that comes with it mean nothing to me," Wufei replied coolly, "I am here to fight for my own sense of justice, not to join an army and fight for its cause."

Lunamaria sighed. "Look, I get that you have this whole independence thing going for you, but can't you at least think it over? Even if you're fighting alongside us, people are going to question you if you're not part of our forces."

"Then let them do so," said Wufei, "They can ask whatever they want. I'm under no obligation to answer them, and if they decide to force the issue… well, they should be prepared to visit the infirmary."

Lunamaria shook her head. "You're a stubborn jackass, you know that?"

"Be that as it may, my answer remains the same," said Wufei, "You're wasting your time if you think that you can change my mind."

Lunamaria rolled her eyes. "Fine. Just don't blame me if it causes headaches for you."

"My combat skills speak for themselves," said Wufei casually, "If people in your army aren't satisfied with that, I don't particularly care. They'll just have to learn to deal with my independent status."

"Right," said Lunamaria dryly, "I'm sure your charms will make them feel at ease."

Wufei chuckled. "Now you sound like Duo."

Lunamaria raised an eyebrow. "Is that a good thing or a bad thing?"

"Take it for what you will," said Wufei, "I just hope that your sense of humor is better than his, otherwise this is going to be a long campaign."

Tell me about it, she mused, I'll be amazed if I get through it with my sanity intact at this rate…

….

One of the benefits of having the Desert Tiger as part of Terminal was that the organization never lacked for high quality coffee. That was something that Heero had given silent thanks to several times before, and he was doing so again as he took a sip from the liquid goodness in his mug.

This beats the hell out of the sludge the Earth Alliance stocked this ship with in the last war, he mused, I bet his brews were in high demand with the troops he led in North Africa…

He glanced out the nearby viewport and saw a school of fish dart past. It still amazed him to think that Erica Simmons and her work crews had been able to modify the Archangel and the Dominion to the point that they were capable of cruising underwater like this. Sometimes it felt a little strange to look outside and see marine life swimming by rather than the sky, but the stealth advantage it gave to the organization was quite worth the slight disorientation.

"Well, well," said a familiar male voice from behind him, "I didn't think we'd find you here."

Turning around, Heero saw Andrew and Aisha Waltfeld enter the lounge. They had changed out of their flight suits just like he had and were now wearing the typical black and red ensemble of Morgenroete employees.

"I thought you'd be up on the bridge with Murrue," said Aisha.

Heero nodded. "I was earlier, but she was worried about me. She thinks I need to take a little more time to unwind after a mission."

"Well, I can't blame her there," said Andrew as he and Aisha filled up on coffee and came over to join him, "You are one of our more active pilots and field operatives, after all. It's important to make sure you don't burn out."

"I know my limits," Heero replied before taking another sip from his mug.

Aisha smirked. "Really? Sometimes I wonder, and I'm sure I'm not the only one that does."

Andrew chuckled. "Personally, I think having your buddies from your old world here now is making you even bolder than you were before, and that's saying something."

Heero shook his head. "The missions we've undertaken since they arrived here haven't really been all that different from what we encountered in our old war. The pace of events has picked up considerably in recent days, but it's nothing that we can't handle."

Aisha sighed. "Ah, it must be nice to be young and have that kind of energy."

"Hey, now," said Andrew with a smile as he put his arm around her, "From where I'm sitting, you've got more than enough energy to run with the likes of them. I'm the old one in this crowd."

Aisha giggled before kissing him on the cheek. "Not old, Andy, just seasoned… and that's just the way I like you!"

"I'm sure we'll all be a little more seasoned once this new war is behind us," said Heero, "Of course, as of right now it's hard to say which way this conflict is going to turn next."

Andrew nodded. "Hard to argue with that. We're on a roll, but we can't keep this up forever."

"No kidding," said Aisha, "I'm sure I'm not the only who noticed that the enemy already had units airborne when we attacked them this time. They're tightening up their defenses and improving their reaction times. I think our happy hunting time out here is coming to a close."

"It had to happen sooner or later," said Heero, "The enemy was never going to just sit back and let us keep hammering them the way we have been. From here on out we'll have to be a lot more cautious in determining when and where to strike."

"You're right about that," said Andrew, "We've definitely got our work cut out for us here."

"And we can't focus on the Earth Alliance forever," said Aisha grimly, "Sooner or later we'll have to deal with ZAFT, too. Durandal might not be embarking on a campaign of genocide, but he's up to no good; the attack on Home One was a pretty clear indicator of that."

Heero nodded. "His time will come. I can't say how or when, but I intend to make him pay dearly for striking our home."

Andrew chuckled, but there was a dark look in his eye as he studied Heero. "Hell hath no fury like a vengeful Gundam pilot, huh?"

Heero closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath to keep himself collected. "I'd be lying if I said that the thought of bloody retribution hasn't crossed my mind. While I'm all but certain that Lacus was the intended target of the attack, the fact remains that they brought enough force to kill all of us. It was only thanks to our perimeter surveillance grid and our firepower that we were able to defeat them. On a personal level, I'm looking forward to turning my guns on the agents of Durandal's will, and eventually the Chairman himself… but I can still keep things in perspective."

She may not have been your target, Durandal, thought Heero, but the fact remains that your attack on Home One threatened Murrue just the same. I slaughtered fleets and armies in the last war for that sin, and when the time comes I will visit that same hell upon you and those who serve you.

He saw Aisha and Andrew smile, but they still seemed a little wary. Heero couldn't blame them; everyone in Terminal knew the carnage he was capable of unleashing when his wrath was provoked. However, Heero refused to let this become another instance of him losing control of himself and becoming a slave to the brutality of the ZERO System. For the sake of Murrue and everyone else he cared about, he would keep his cool.

After all, revenge was a dish best served cold.

"Good," said Andrew after a moment, "Trust me, you're not the only one that wants to go after him. We just need to make sure we time things right. Right now, Durandal's got public opinion on his side, at least anywhere that's outside the Earth Alliance's sphere of influence."

Aisha sighed. "That fake Lacus is going a long way towards bolstering his popularity. There's also the fact that the Alliance is quite clearly the aggressor in this conflict. The Americans and their allies may have the numerical advantage in this war, but given Durandal's cunning and political acumen I honestly think he's going to be the tougher foe to tackle."

"Are you sure that you two had no encounters with him at all back when you were with ZAFT?" asked Heero, "Anything at all, no matter how inconsequential it might seem, could give us an edge."

Andrew shook his head. "Unfortunately, we don't really have much. Aisha and I were mostly consumed with military affairs; Durandal was in civilian politics. His sphere of influence at the time was limited to governance of the capital itself, so we didn't really have much overlap."

Aisha nodded. "After Andy and I went underground we used Eric's network of contacts to scope out potential allies in the civilian administration, but Durandal wasn't one that we felt comfortable approaching. We kept our distance; he wasn't actively hostile at the time, and we didn't want to add more enemies to our plate. We had enough of those to go around as it was."

"I can relate," said Heero dryly, "It does make our position more difficult, though. I conversed with him during my time on the Minerva, but my overall exposure to him was rather brief. If we could find someone with extended personal experience with the man it could be a game-changer."

"I wouldn't put any money on that," said Andrew, "We'd have to go all the way to L5 to make those kind of connections, and that's pretty risky business."

"We can have Eric put out a few more feelers though, right?" asked Aisha, "Durandal achieved great prominence as both a politician and a scientist before that, which means that there must've been people that were burned by his success. There must be a few former acquaintances who hold grudges and would be willing to talk."

The Desert Tiger's brow furrowed. "I hadn't considered that angle before. I'll run it by Eric later. Who knows? If we put out a line and bait it right, we might just land a big one."

"Indeed," said Heero, "If nothing else, it's worth looking into."

Aisha smiled. "One of our advantages in this fight is knowledge of PLANT politics. Even if we don't have anyone currently in Durandal's inner circle on our side, we know how business is done at L5 and we've got the right connections to take advantage of that. In that respect, it does make them a little easier to keep track of than the Earth Alliance."

Andrew sighed. "You've got that right. I'd kill for that same kind of inside knowledge when it comes to the Atlantic Federation. It's too bad the former Earth Alliance soldiers in our midst don't have any contacts back there to exploit."

Heero shook his head. "Murrue and the others had to cut ties far more completely than you and the other ZAFT defectors did. I know we were able to get her mother out of there, but apart from that we haven't extracted anyone else. Between the two superpowers, the Earth Alliance holds the bigger grudge against us thanks to the Archangel and the Dominion switching sides in the last war. Durandal's administration might've taken a softer line with defectors from ZAFT, but the Alliance has kept its hardline stance. Any attempts to communicate with internal opposition elements in North America could expose us to enemy counter-intelligence operatives, and that's a risk we can't afford."

Andrew nodded. "I wish it were otherwise, but your point's valid. It's a shame, really. I know the Atlantic Federation propaganda machine is potent, but I can't imagine that everyone in North America buys into it. Patrick Zala's old regime in the PLANTs sent the opposition underground, but even then there were plenty of people among the civilian population that didn't swallow the party line."

"Maybe," said Aisha, "but the opposition in the PLANTs was very well organized; you, Eric, and Siegel Clyne saw to that. From what little we've seen it doesn't appear to be the same in the Atlantic Federation. It may officially be a multi-party system, but in practice every political interest group outside the ruling faction has been effectively marginalized."

That much was certainly true. The limited knowledge Heero had of internal politics within the Atlantic Federation reminded him of the situation that his old world had suffered through under the reign of the United Earth Sphere Alliance. Oppositional parties had been subverted or crushed outright, freedom of assembly and speech had been greatly curtailed, the lower classes were ruthlessly exploited while those at the top of the social pyramid enjoyed privilege and status beyond anything they might actually deserve, the press was made to bend and serve as little more than an outlet of the regime, and the threat of violence from the military and police hung constantly over the heads of those who dared dream of trying to challenge the system. It was an all-too-familiar state of affairs for Heero, but as much as he might desire to fight back against the authoritarian regime that ruled North America he knew that Terminal did not have the power to overthrow it outright. They could only defeat the armies and fleets of the Atlantic Federation in the field, hoping to inflict such heavy losses as to make the surviving rank and file soldiers lose all taste for battle. Against a foe that commanded one of the largest economies in the Earth Sphere that was a tall order, to put it mildly.

"We knew from the beginning that we would have no inside help when it came to dealing with the Americans," said Heero, "That remains true now, and it will likely stay that way throughout the course of this war. We'll simply have to contend with that reality accordingly."

Andrew smiled. "You don't seem all that worried about it."

Heero shrugged. "I'm a Gundam pilot. We've got a history of taking on hardline regimes without inside support. It's what we were trained to do."

Aisha smirked. "And now we've got four of you on our side. I almost feel sorry for the Atlantic Federation. Almost."

Andrew chuckled. "I can't argue with you there."

"Even with our expertise, this won't be a walk in the park," said Heero as he took another sip of his coffee, "This war has only just begun, and none of us can say for certain what path it'll take before it finally comes to an end."

Aisha sighed. "It'd be nice to have an end in sight. It's awfully hard to plan out a family life when you can't tell whether or not you're going to be on the battlefield the next day."

"Too true," said Andrew, and Heero couldn't help but notice a hint of wistfulness in his tone, "Some long-term stability in the world once all this is over would be great. Otherwise… well, I don't want to bring up a child in a world at war."

Heero's eyes narrowed as he looked back and forth between Andrew and Aisha. "Wait… are you two…?"

Aisha smiled and shook her head. "If you're asking whether or not we're expecting on that front, I'm afraid the answer's no. I would like it to be otherwise, but I'm with Andy; when we do have a kid, I want it to be in a world that's not about to burst into open warfare at the drop of a hat. Someday…"

The Desert Tiger put his arm around her, smiling as well. "It'll happen. Count on it."

The two of them turned their gazes to Heero again, and the Gundam pilot couldn't help but notice the gleam in their eyes. He didn't know what was coming his way, but he had a feeling he wasn't prepared for it.

"So," said Aisha, "what about you, Heero? Is family on your mind these days?"

An image of Murrue immediately flashed through his mind, but the Perfect Soldier wasn't sure how to adequately respond. "Well… of course. Murrue's the reason I'm fighting in the first place. I want to end this war so she can live in peace and safety. What else would I think of?"

Husband and wife laughed as one, and Heero didn't know what to make of it. Having already made one apparent misstep, he decided to wait them out and try to get a better feel of the situation. He was on defense now, and he had no idea how he might regain the initiative.

Aisha shook her head. "Oh, Heero… what are we going to do with you?"

Heero raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand. Did I say something wrong?"

"Yes and no," said Andrew with a smirk, "I guess we should've expected it, really. After all, you're still rather immature."

"Excuse me?" said Heero.

"Don't get us wrong," said Aisha, "When it comes to the world, and especially to warfare, you're as sharp as they come. However, it's another story entirely when it comes to women."

"You and Murrue," said Andrew, "You've been together over two years now, right?"

Heero nodded. "That's correct."

Aisha smiled. "Tell me; has she talked to you about the future before? About where you two are going?"

"What do you mean?" asked Heero.

Andrew shook his head. "Come on, Heero. You don't have to play dumb here."

"I'm not," Heero countered, "At least, I don't think I am…"

"Let me put it this way," said Aisha, "Heero, has she ever asked you about where you see the two of you down the line?"

Heero couldn't help but blush slightly; although she hadn't brought it up in as many words, Heero suspected that Murrue had been angling in that direction in more than a handful of their conversations over the past few weeks. "Perhaps…"

"And?" asked Andrew, "What have you told her?"

"That I promised to protect her and make it through this war with her," Heero replied, "I told her that I was committed to continuing to build our new life together, and I meant it."

Aisha smiled. "I'm sure you did, but… well, at this point you really need to start thinking about more than that. I'm willing to bet Murrue is."

Heero shook his head. "I'm confused. What are you talking about?"

"Look, Heero," said Andrew, "Everyone can tell that you're completely devoted to Murrue, and that includes her too. However, there comes a time in a committed relationship when you need to take that extra step. Do you see what I'm getting at?"

"Not quite…" said Heero, only halfway telling the truth; he had a suspicion about what the Desert Tiger was getting at, but the implications were rather daunting.

Aisha giggled. "You know, there's a line in an old pop song I like that sums things up quite nicely. Care to hear it?"

"Sure, why not?" said Heero nervously.

Aisha grinned as she sang. "'If you liked it, then you shoulda put a ring on it!'"

Heero could not help but blush slightly as his gaze was inevitably drawn to Aisha's ring finger. Now he was definitely in unfamiliar territory, and the married couple across the table from him could see it clear as day.

"Well," said Aisha with a smirk, "does that clear things up for you, Heero?"

Andrew chuckled. "You weren't exactly subtle there, dear."

Aisha kissed him. "There's a time for subtlety and a time for blatant teasing, Andy. This is the latter."

"Blatant is one way to put it," muttered Heero as he tried to find his metaphorical footing.

"Oh, come now, Heero," said Aisha, "It's just Andy and I here. If it weren't us, it'd be Eric and Shemei having this little chat with you."

"I'm not sure if they'd include a song, though," said Andrew with a smirk.

Aisha winked. "Hey, you gotta use what works!"

"Well, Heero," said Andrew, "what's the holdup on your end? It's been over two years now, after all. You can't tell me that it hasn't at least crossed your mind."

"It… has," said Heero hesitantly, "Every once in a while…"

Aisha beamed with triumph. "I knew it! So, come on, Heero, tell us; why haven't you gone all in?"

Heero shook his head. "It's not that simple…"

"Why not?" asked Andrew, "You're already willing to put your life on the line for her, after all. You've pretty much nailed the commitment part at this point. All that's left is to make it official."

Heero sighed. "You talk like it's so easy…"

"Hey," said Aisha, her voice softening as she reached across the table to grab his hand, "what's wrong, Heero? I know we've been teasing you here, but Andy and I really do want you and Murrue to be happy together. I think this is the next big step for you two, and I think you believe that too. So why do you sound so nervous?"

"It can't be the ring bit that's scaring you," said Andrew, "You know Murrue's not the type to care about how large or rare the rock on the thing is, Heero. Besides, with Terminal's resources we can easily help you get one that's worthy of her if that's your big hang-up."

"It's not the ring," said Heero, "Although I'd be lying if I said that I had any idea what kind I'd get her. Still… that's not the issue."

"So what is it then, Heero?" asked Aisha.

Andrew smiled. "It's just us, Heero. We're here to help. You know that, right?"

Heero nodded. "Yeah… I do."

"So let's have out with it," said Aisha, "Whatever's eating you can't be as big a deal as you're making it out to be."

It was hard to find a place to start, but Heero took a shot at it just the same. "Before Murrue and I got together… I didn't know the first thing about what being in a relationship meant. I've learned a lot over the past two years, but I'm not blind; I know there's plenty that I still have to figure out when it comes to… well... romance."

"Are you worried about how to pop the question?" asked Andrew, "I admit that can be a little tricky to figure out, but you don't have to go overboard. Under our present circumstances it's not like you can take her out to the fanciest restaurant in town and then get on your knee before the check arrives. Still, there're plenty of ways to arrange a romantic backdrop even on a warship."

Aisha nodded. "He's right. Hell, you proved that you're capable of thinking outside the box on that front two years ago. Don't you remember that date you gave Murrue while we were hiding out at L4? I guarantee that Murrue does!"

"I had a lot of help with that," said Heero.

"And there's nothing wrong with that," said Andrew, "Remember how I dragged you, Eric and La Flaga into my little scheme when I proposed to Aisha? Eric did the same with me when he decided to pop the question to Shemei. Everyone can use a little outside help for stuff like that. That's what friends are for, after all."

"If you need a bit of assistance," said Aisha with a grin, "or even just someone to bounce some ideas off of, you only need to ask. Between the three of us, I bet we could come up with a way for you to really sweep her off her feet!"

Heero couldn't help but give a small smile in return. "I might take you up on that. Still… that's not really the heart of the matter, either."

"Then what is?" asked Andrew, "Come on, Heero. It's not like you to beat around the bush like this."

Heero sighed. "It's what comes afterward. I… I know that Murrue wants for us to be more than just a couple. She wants us to be a family. I want to make her happy, but… I don't know if I could give her what she deserves. She grew up with a real family, even if her father turned against her during the last war. Things were… different for me when I was younger. I didn't really have the typical family experience growing up, and while I've learned a lot about it since I came out here… can I really give her something that I don't fully grasp myself?"

Andrew nodded solemnly. "I see. When you lay it out like that, I can definitely understand where you're coming from. You're afraid that, because you lack that firsthand experience, you won't be able to truly play your role in the family that you build with her."

Heero nodded. "Yes. I know that marriage doesn't necessarily guarantee children, but I'm sure that Murrue would want them someday. Could I really be the kind of husband that she would need in that situation when my own circumstances were so outside the norm?"

"That depends," said Aisha, her eyes narrowing, "Let me ask you this, Heero; if you and Murrue were to have children, what would you want most for them?"

Heero's answer was immediate. "To give them the life that I didn't have. To keep them safe and free from the wars that I've seen firsthand. I'd want to make sure that they're healthy and happy just like I want Murrue to have that same joy and security."

Aisha smiled. "Well, then… there's your answer."

Heero raised an eyebrow. "I don't understand."

"What she's saying, Heero," said Andrew, "is that if you're willing to give any potential children you have the same love and devotion that you show Murrue, then you've got nothing to worry about. You already have the most important qualities in the kind of husband that she deserves; dedication, compassion, and strength of will."

"Exactly," said Aisha, "It doesn't matter if you lack the experience of a conventional family. Every family is unique; there's no one-size-fits-all approach, no matter what people might say otherwise. As long as you have a warm heart and the courage to protect the ones you love, then everything else will come with due time. You may play it cool on the outside, but we know you, Heero; you're as gentle and caring at heart as any of us."

"So what you're saying," Heero replied cautiously, "is that… I already have what I need?"

Andrew smiled. "That's right. Murrue understands you far better than you think, Heero. If it's lack of family experience that worries you, I know that she'd be more than willing to help you out. The same goes for the rest of us. You only have to ask."

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

"Don't feel like you have to rush yourself," said Aisha, "Take some time and think things over. It's important that you do this on your own terms. Timing's important, but so is comfort. You should really make sure that it's a setting where both you and Murrue feel secure. Some people go for a bold and public approach, but I think something a little more private would work better for the two of you."

"I think you're right," Heero replied, "Thanks."

Aisha smiled. "Anytime."

"Remember," said Andrew, "this is about the two of you above all else. Don't worry so much about traditions or societal expectations. Do what feels right for the two of you, and everything else will fall into place."

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

Aisha winked. "Don't be afraid to shop around a little for ideas. I'm pretty sure that Shemei and Eric would be willing to pitch in if you ask."

Heero's eyes narrowed. "You're coordinating this with them, aren't you?"

The Desert Tiger gave him a mischievous smirk. "Whatever gave you that idea?"

"Your history with them, for starters," said Heero.

Aisha giggled. "Well, we'll neither confirm nor deny your suspicions. You'll just have to hunt them down and find the answer yourself!"

"That's a little tricky considering that they're on another ship at the moment," said Heero dryly.

Andrew chuckled. "You'll find a way. You always do."

Heero nodded. "I suppose you're right."

"So," said Aisha, "are you feeling better about all of this now?"

Heero gave a small smile. "A little, yes. I still don't know if I'm really ready for this, but… well, you've given me a place to start. It'll take some time, but… I'll get there. It's for Murrue, after all. She deserves that much… and a lot more."

Andrew grinned. "Call it a hunch, but I think you'll do just fine."

….

Murrue smiled as she finished her sandwich. "Thanks again for waiting for me, Heero. You know, you could've eaten earlier and I wouldn't have minded. Between the two of us I'm sure you worked up the bigger appetite; piloting a mobile suit is a much more physically exerting effort than commanding a warship, after all."

Heero shook his head. "I really didn't mind the wait. Besides, between the two of us I'd say that you have the tougher job. After all, you're responsible for far more lives than I am. The pressure that you're under far exceeds what I face in battle, but you still manage to handle it and persevere."

"That's sweet of you to say," Murrue replied before taking a sip from her coffee mug, "Why don't we just agree that we both put in a hard day's work and leave it at that?"

Heero nodded. "Sound's good."

It felt good to simply relax and enjoy dinner with him after all that they had done today. Engaging two Earth Alliance battle groups in relatively quick succession was a considerable exertion even for a group as strong and disciplined as Terminal. The fact that they had made it through both fights with no losses was an even greater victory than their destruction of the enemy's warships and mobile suits, and it was a testament to the skill of Terminal's pilots and officers that they were able to perform so well at such a grueling pace. Still, even the best soldiers needed a chance to catch their breath, and with both the Archangel and Dominion submerged and well away from the battlefield they now had an opportunity to do just that.

Tomorrow we'll have to figure out what our next step is, she thought, I just hope Andrew and Eric have at least an idea as to what our long-term strategy should be. With the shape of current events in the Earth Sphere it's so hard to tell what's needed to be done in order to bring the fighting to an end…

"Are you all right?" asked Heero.

Murrue nodded, not wanting to worry him. "Yes. It's just been a long day."

"I hear you there," said Heero in between bites, "The going won't get any easier, either. Both sides have marshalled their full might for this conflict, and even if their forces are reduced from what they were in the last war they still vastly outmatch us in terms of numbers and resources."

"Yes," said Murrue somberly, "and now that they're openly engaging each other the Treaty of Junius Seven is a dead letter. If they haven't instituted mass conscription yet, I'm sure it's only a matter of time before that measure is undertaken. They'll also remove any remaining restraints from their armaments industries. Any losses that we inflict upon them will eventually be replaced, and they'll be able to replenish their ranks far easier than we ever could. If this becomes a war of attrition then there's no way that we can win."

"Which is why we won't let it come to that," Heero replied firmly, "As long as we stay on the move we can avoid getting pinned down. Our force might be limited in size, but if we apply our power in the right place at the right time we can make a decisive difference in this conflict. We just have to be ready to seize the chance when it comes, even if it means taking a great risk."

Murrue smiled. "Then I guess it's a good thing that we've got four out of the five deadliest risk-takers of all time on our side. If there's one thing you Gundam pilots are good at it's taking an operation that others would consider suicidal and turning it into a smashing success."

Heero chuckled. "Yes… I suppose we've gotten pretty good at punching above our weight class over the years. It's too bad Wufei's still operating with the Minerva; having him with us would greatly boost our striking power."

"He'll rejoin you guys in due time, won't he?" asked Murrue, "I mean, it's not like he really has strong ties to anyone else in the Cosmic Era."

Heero shook his head. "It's not really about 'strong ties' when it comes to Wufei. As a rule, us Gundam pilots tend to do things our own way, but Wufei takes it further than the rest of us. While he may seem unpredictable, once you understand his sense of justice it becomes a little bit easier to figure out what his next move's going to be. That actually has me a little worried."

Murrue raised an eyebrow. "Worried? Why?"

"Deception and infiltration aren't Wufei's style," said Heero, "He may seem like a wild card, but he's quite open about his intentions and desires. His ideals, especially when it comes to justice, can be exploited once one gains a decent comprehension of them."

"Perhaps," said Murrue, "but from what you've told me about him he also seems like a very intelligent young man. Surely he would recognize if someone were trying to use him for their own ends."

Heero nodded. "He would. However, depending on how he interpreted the situation, he might still go along with them. Don't forget that he's also rather prideful when it comes to his abilities. It's quite possible that he would reason that he could use his own power to bring about his idea of justice even while fighting under the cause of another. It would be tricky to put him in such a situation, but not impossible."

Murre shook her head. "Maybe, but in his current position I have a hard time seeing how he might be turned towards an end that didn't align with his sense of justice. Sure, he's with the Minerva right now, and we know that we can't trust ZAFT after what happened back at Home One, but it also appeared to be a black ops force that was involved in the attack; it's unlikely that the mainline forces know that their government just tried to murder Lacus Clyne. If the regular forces, including the Minerva, were to undertake a mission that crosses a line like that then I'm sure Wufei would catch on; I can't see how something like an assassination would square with his sense of justice. You Gundam pilots are a perceptive lot, after all, and from what I understand Wufei probably wouldn't like the idea of being used in a black op or a similarly unseemly mission."

"That's true," Heero admitted, "I might just be overthinking things. With our current position the way it is, I guess I'm inclined to imagine worst-case scenarios so I can try to come up with contingencies. Maybe I'm worrying too much. Like you said, Wufei's intelligent and perceptive, even after accounting for his pride."

Murrue smiled. "Yes, and there's also the fact that we all know just how highly you Gundam pilots value your independence. I think that would make Wufei exceptionally difficult to manipulate into joining a larger cause since it would restrict his freedom of movement."

Heero nodded, and Murrue was surprised to see him smile as well. "True. That being said, some of us don't mind being part of a larger group. It has its benefits, after all."

Murrue couldn't help but blush slightly, knowing full well that he was talking about her. "Is that so? Are those benefits worth giving up some of your independence?"

Heero's response was to lean across the table and kiss her. "Absolutely."

Murrue felt the heat that had already been rushing to her face further intensify. "Well, then… I suppose I'd better show you just how grateful I am for the sacrifices you've made for us."

Now it was Heero's turn to be caught off guard. "Murrue…"

She gave him a devious smile as she stood up and beckoned for him to follow. "It's been a long day, Heero. Why don't we retire for the night?"

It was true that she was tired, but she had no intention of going to sleep right away when they returned to the quarters they shared, and from the look in his eye Murrue could tell that Heero felt the same way. She led him out of the mess hall, and the two of them made for their room at a brisk pace. As soon as they arrived, she pulled him inside, kissing him fiercely as the door closed behind them.

….

October 26th, C.E. 73

"Here you go," said Duo as he passed a coffee thermos to Murdoch, "Fresh from the pot!"

The Archangel's chief mechanic smiled as he took a gulp. "Thanks. You didn't have to do that for me."

Duo grinned. "Hey, you've been taking good care of Deathscythe for me, so it's the least I can do. I was worried when I first brought my buddy aboard, but I gotta admit, you guys are pretty damn good at this!"

Murdoch chuckled. "Well, we've had two years of practice. Back when he first came aboard, Heero wouldn't let anyone touch Wing Zero. After he loosened up and finally started showing us the ins and outs, though, it was one hell of a learning experience getting to work on that thing. It's actually made working on your machine a lot easier; there are a lot of similar parts."

Duo smirked. "You know, that hasn't always been a good thing. Way back in the day when Heero had the Wing Gundam, there was this one time where he actually stole parts from Deathscythe to complete repairs on his machine. Talk about a dick move, right?"

Murdoch laughed. "He really did that? You must've done something to piss him off, then!"

"Hey!" Duo protested, "I didn't do anything!"

"Are you sure about that?" came Quatre's voice from behind.

"You just being yourself can be enough to piss people off sometimes," said Trowa.

Duo rolled his eyes as he turned to face his friends. "Oh, ha ha, very funny. Get your kicks in at old Duo's expense while you can, is that the idea?"

Quatre chuckled. "Well, why not?"

"You make it too easy," Trowa quipped.

"He's got a point there," said a third familiar voice.

Duo and the others turned to see Heero approaching. "Don't tell me you're here just to join in on the fun, Heero."

"Not this time," Heero replied as he glanced at Deathscythe Omega, "How's it look?"

Duo smiled. "Murdoch's still giving it the once-over, but so far, so good!"

"Same with Sandrock," said Quatre, "The technical crews here are just about as good as Howard's gang."

Trowa nodded. "Their work on Heavyarms was professional and efficient. I can see why you've become comfortable with allowing them to work on Wing Zero."

"They're some of the best mechanics in the Earth Sphere," said Heero with a nod at Murdoch and his crew, "Our operations wouldn't be possible without them."

Murdoch grinned. "Thanks, Heero!"

"I think we've spent enough time with our mobile suits for now," said Quatre, "Anyone want to go grab something to drink?"

Duo nodded. "Sounds good to me. The coffee around here is the best!"

"Refreshment would be nice," said Trowa.

"All right, then," said Heero, "Let's go."

It didn't take the four of them long to make it to the lounge and brew a fresh pot. A few minutes later they were all gathered around a table, and Duo couldn't help but smile as he took a sip of his coffee.

Just like the good old days on Peacemillion, he thought, All we're missing is Wufei…

"So," he said after a moment, "what's on the agenda today besides servicing our Gundams?"

"Not much," Heero replied, "I was talking to Murrue and Andrew earlier; they want to take this chance to make sure our mobile suits and warships get a quick maintenance check. Considering all the fighting we've been doing over the past few days, it certainly doesn't hurt to look everything over before getting back into the action."

"How are we doing as far as supplies?" asked Quatre.

"We made sure the Archangel was fully stocked well before ZAFT's black ops strike force attacked Home One," said Heero, "She's all set for an extended campaign, and the same goes for the Dominion."

Trowa nodded. "That's good to know. Friendly ports of call seem to be few and far between at the moment."

"We've still got the covert Morgenroete docks, right?" asked Duo.

"Yes," said Heero, "but it takes a lot of work to keep those hidden. Frequent returns would eventually betray their position. The loyalist personnel under Erica's command will maintain and protect them, but we should not utilize them until it becomes absolutely necessary."

"Good point," said Quatre.

"Can Morgenroete as a whole be trusted?" asked Trowa, "I know that the Chief Engineer and her supporters are on our side, but from what I understand they're only one part of a very large conglomerate."

"The company has deep relationships with both the Orb civilian government and the military," Heero replied, "Since both are now operating under the Seirans' rule that does mean that the heads of the company are now obligated to answer to them. That being said, the company has a history of showing greater loyalty to the Athha family than the other noble houses. Even if the Seirans try to exert control over Morgenroete, I don't think they'll be able to uncover the employees within its ranks that are sympathetic to our organization."

Duo smiled. "Well, that's good to hear. It'd be a shame if they got in trouble just for helping us out."

"Speaking of Orb," said Quatre, "How do you plan to handle their military? I know they're aligned with the Earth forces now, but they're still Cagalli's people."

Heero closed his eyes for a moment. "I'll… try to show a measure of restraint. However, if they move to attack the Archangel, all bets are off."

Trowa's eyes narrowed. "Personally, I would expect nothing less from you. However… have you discussed this with Cagalli?"

Heero shook his head. "No. She has enough to worry about as it is; she doesn't need the thought of me killing the soldiers of her country added to the mix. The rest of you are free to engage the Orb military as you see fit. If we're lucky, we should be able to keep conflicts with them to a minimum."

Quatre sighed. "I hope you're right."

Duo shook his head. "This whole situation's a mess. It'd be bad enough if we only had to worry about the Orb military, but I don't think that's the worst part of it. There are still Coordinators that live in the Orb Union, right? If the Earth Alliance really is fighting a war of extermination here then I doubt they've forgotten about them."

Heero nodded. "That's true. I know that emigration from Orb to the PLANTs among the country's Coordinator population has stepped up since the last war, but there are still plenty of them that still reside in that country. The Earth Alliance's top military priority at the moment may be defeating ZAFT, but I'm sure they've got plans for the Coordinators that reside in both Orb and other countries on the surface of the planet."

"Is there anything that we can do to help them?" asked Trowa.

"There has to be," said Quatre, "The Alliance isn't going to ignore them forever. Those are innocent people who are being targeted just because of how they were born! There must be a way for us to protect them!"

"From where I'm sitting," said Duo grimly, "the best way to do that is end the war as quickly as possible. Other than that, I can't really see what else we can do. Don't get me wrong; what the Alliance has done so far in this war disgusts me, and I'm sure they've got the same fate in mind for the Coordinators in Orb as those they tried to kill at L5, but we just don't have the manpower to protect them and engage in the other theaters of this war at the same time. We have to prioritize our resources."

"But these are civilians we're talking about!" Quatre protested, "I know we're a small group, but even so…"

"The only thing that would work is if the Alliance were convinced that there was a higher priority target than the Coordinators for them to go after," said Trowa, "Given the way they kicked off this war, though, I have a hard time seeing how they could be convinced to shift their priorities like that. They see Coordinators as the biggest threat; they have for years."

Heero's eyes narrowed as an idea began to form in his mind. "The biggest threat… could that work?"

"Yo, Heero," said Duo, looking puzzled, "What's up?"

"I know that look," said Trowa as he studied Heero carefully, "You've got a plan, don't you?"

Quatre's eyes widened. "Do you, Heero?"

"I just might," said Heero, downing the rest of his coffee before standing up, "It's right up our alley, but I need to run it by some people first."

He could already imagine what Murrue's reaction would be.

….

"No," said Murrue firmly, "Absolutely not."

She had been up on the bridge earlier, but Heero had pulled her into the private communications suite to describe his latest scheme to her. It truly was vintage Heero, and that was why she was utterly against it.

"Murrue, think about it," Heero countered, "We need a big play to keep the enemy focused on us rather than hunting down civilians. This would be a good way to pull that off."

"It would also be a damn good way to get yourself killed!" Murrue shot back, "Heero, I know you've pulled off risky operations in the past, but this…"

"Isn't quite as bad as you're making it out to be," Heero gently contested, "If we make our approach right we'd have the element of surprise, and it's not like the attacks on Avalon or GENESIS; the enemy wouldn't have nearly as much firepower."

"That's not the point," said Murrue, "There would be absolutely no way that the Archangel could back you up in an operation like this. We swore to protect each other, Heero! How can I do that if you're so far away?"

Heero grabbed her hand. "Murrue, I haven't forgotten the promise we made, but this is something that has to be done. If we don't find a way to shake up the enemy and get them to shift their focus, then they'll be able to enact the same agenda they wanted to put into practice in the last war. It'll be all the easier for them now that the Orb Union is in their camp. We can't protect Coordinator civilians and fight the Alliance and ZAFT at the same time. We need to buy ourselves some time, and this operation can accomplish that."

As much as she hated to admit it, Murrue knew that he was right. That didn't make going along with his plan any easier, though. His tendency to assign the riskiest tasks to himself was shining through quite clearly here, and Murrue was determined to find some way to make sure that his back was covered, even if she wouldn't be able to do it herself this time.

"Fine," she said, her eyes narrowing, "but we're going to make a few modifications to this plan of yours, all right? For starters, I'm not going to let you solo the objective that you've assigned to yourself. You're going to have help, and there's only one other mobile suit in our group that can keep up with the Wing Zero Albion. That one's coming with you, and this is not up for debate, you got that?"

Much to her relief, Heero didn't argue. "Understood. I'm sorry, Murrue. The last thing I want is to worry you like this."

Murrue smiled wearily. "I know, Heero. You're doing what you believe is right, and I'll admit that there is a certain method to the madness in this plan. That doesn't mean that I have to like it, though."

Heero nodded. "I know. I can't make any promises that there won't be any future crazy plans like this one, either; you know how war is."

"All too well," Murrue replied somberly, "but you can make this promise to me; that you'll come back alive. Nothing less than that is acceptable. Do you understand?"

"Roger that," said Heero.

….

In the private communications suite of the Dominion, Shemei smirked as Heero finished outlining his plan. "Well, now… gotta say, I'm impressed, Heero. This is ballsy even for you."

Next to her, Eric shook his head. "Not the word I'd use for it."

"More like insane, but at this point I suppose that'd just be splitting hairs," said Murrue, who was standing next to Heero on the monitor, "Still, as much as I don't like it, I'll admit that the potential payoff could be substantial."

"It's our best possible shot at diverting the Atlantic Federation's attention from their other objectives in this war," said Heero, "We need to make ourselves a higher priority target to them than the Coordinator civilians in the Orb Union, and at the very least this will definitely get their attention."

Shemei chuckled. "No argument there. It's gonna really piss them off."

"That's one way to put it," said Eric, his eyes narrowing, "I can definitely see why you wanted to modify the plan, though. It could certainly use a little work."

Murrue nodded. "Indeed. So, Shemei; will you and the girls join in?"

Shemei grinned. "You have to ask? Of course we're in!"

"Thanks," said Heero, "With your help, we've got a better chance at pulling this off."

"And a better shot at getting through it alive," Murrue added.

"Don't worry, Murrue," said Shemei, "I'll watch Heero's back. You've got my word on that."

Murrue smiled. "Thank you. That's all I can ask for."

"Hitting the targets themselves should be fairly straightforward," said Eric, "The real issue here is the distance involved. We're talking a round trip of thousands of kilometers here, and between the two teams Heero and Shemei will have the longest flight by far. Your endurance is going to be pushed to the limit."

"I can handle it," said Heero.

"All of us can," said Shemei, "I'm more worried about the rest of you guys than us, actually. I know we're still leaving mobile suits behind to defend the battleships, but you won't be at full force."

Murrue nodded. "Believe me, we're well aware of that. We'll make sure to keep a low profile until you return."

"And we'll keep the rest of our pilots on guard just in case," Eric added, "It never hurts to be careful."

"Agreed," said Heero, "We'll convene a briefing for the strike teams and then commence the operation. We just have to get Andrew to sign off on it."

Shemei grinned. "If I know him, I think he's going to be all for this!"

….

The Desert Tiger chuckled as Heero finished laying out his plan. "Well, well… at this point, I suppose I really shouldn't be surprised, but still… you Gundam pilots really are a bold bunch, aren't you?"

"So I hear," Heero quipped, "Will you back this?"

He turned to his wife. "What do you think, dear?"

Aisha smirked. "Hard to say no when he puts it like that. If nothing else, it'll deliver one hell of a shock to the Atlantic Federation. That alone makes it worth the risk."

Indeed, he mused, Fortune favors the bold, after all. I wonder if this is why Lady Luck seems to smile upon Gundam pilots; they're not afraid to push the envelope.

They were currently in the Archangel's briefing room. In addition to the three of them, Murrue was also in attendance. A formal briefing had not been convened yet, but clearly one was needed if this plan was to be hammered out and turned into reality. As far as Andrew could tell, this little informal get-together was meant simply to sell him on the scheme, and at this point he was more than willing to buy into it.

"The element of surprise will be critical here," said Murrue, "If we don't plot their approach just right then Heero and the rest of our pilots won't be able to achieve success."

"The enemy's wide open," said Heero, "The bulk of their western forces are concentrated in the southwestern Pacific right now. They may still have units covering the rear, but there will be gaps in their defenses."

Aisha nodded. "He's right. Plus, there's no way that the Atlantic Federation would expect us to make a play like this. It'd be completely out of left field."

Andrew's good eye narrowed. "No doubt. That being said, we'd provoke a pretty strong reaction with a stunt like this. It won't make our lives any easier."

"Since when have we ever taken the easy path?" asked Heero.

The Desert Tiger couldn't help but chuckle. "You've got a good point there."

"I wish he didn't," said Murrue dryly, "It'd be nice to have an easy mission come our way every now and then."

Aisha giggled. "True, but then we wouldn't have quite so many entertaining stories to tell when we kick back and relax with a few stiff drinks!"

"We'll definitely need a drink or two once this is all over," said Heero.

Murrue nodded. "You got that right."

"Indeed," said Andrew, "The drinks won't come until we've put the work in, though, and we've got quite a bit ahead of us. Let's get to it."

….

I still can't believe we got the others to sign off on this, mused Quatre, I guess Heero's really gotten them used to working with the harebrained schemes that us Gundam pilots can come up with…

He was in the cockpit of his Gundam running through the preflight checklist. The briefing had wrapped up a little while ago, and he was feeling the typical pre-mission jitters. That familiar mix of excitement and fear was almost like an old friend now, and despite his preference for peace Quatre wouldn't deny that it was something he had missed while he was stuck at the office in his family's company headquarters.

As he was reviewing his mobile suit's systems he was surprised to see the face of none other than Lan Zhao appear in the bottom right corner of his screen. "Hey, there! You ready for this?"

Quatre smiled. "I think so. How about you?"

Lan grinned. "Hell, yes! You and I are both on the second team, so we got this one in the bag!"

"Don't get overconfident," Quatre gently admonished her, "You know what they say; no plan ever survives contact with the enemy."

Lan nodded. "Don't worry, I'll be careful. Someone's got to watch your back, after all."

"If someone does need to do that," Quatre replied, "then I'm glad you're the one volunteering for the job. I feel safer already."

He had the satisfaction of seeing her blush; usually it was the other way around when it came to the two of them. "Well, I can't have you go dying on me. It'd be a waste to have a guy like you go down out there."

Quatre smiled. "I appreciate the sentiment… and the feeling's mutual. I'll do all I can to protect you, Lan. The world would be a lesser place without a woman as vibrant as you in it. I want to make sure the light you give it is not extinguished."

The shade of red that had swept over her face earlier got even darker, but she still managed to return his smile. "You really do have a way with words, you know that?"

Quatre laughed. "So you keep telling me."

Lan nodded, and her expression became more serious. "Well… there's something else I wanted to tell you. Actually, I guess 'ask' you would be the better term for it."

Quatre leaned forward. "What is it, Lan?"

Much to his surprise the normally forward and entrancing Chinese pixy became almost sheepish. "You… haven't really settled in on the Archangel, right?"

Quatre raised an eyebrow. "Well, it's where I'm currently staying, but I suppose if I had to leave I could do so without difficulty. Where's this coming from, Lan?"

She smiled again. "Well, I was wondering… after this mission's done… did you want to come back to the Dominion with me?"

Quatre's eyes widened. "Would… would that be okay?"

"I don't think Captain Badgiruel would object to having one of the legendary Gundam pilots operating from our ship," she replied with a wink, "Besides, even if you came over here the Archangel would still have plenty of mobile suits to spare, so I can't see any of the higher ups making a fuss over you switching ships."

Quatre nodded. "You're probably right. Still, if you don't mind me asking, what brought this on?"

Lan sighed. "It… it's going to sound selfish… and childish… and I won't deny that it is both of those. Still… promise not to laugh?"

"Of course," said Quatre without hesitation, "You have my word, Lan."

"Thank you," she said, "Look, I… I want to spend as much time with you as I can. We already know that you can't stay in this world forever, and I accept that. That's why I want to make the most of every possible second that I can get with you. Normally I don't get this hung up over a guy, but… well, you're definitely not like most guys. You're… you're special, Quatre. There's no one else out there who's anything like you, in this world or any other."

Now it was Quatre's turn to blush. "I… I think you're giving me too much credit there, Lan."

Lan shook her head. "No, you're just way too modest. Besides…"

"Besides what?" asked Quatre as her voice trailed off.

A wolfish smile appeared on her face. "I need someone to warm my bed, and you're the only one I'll accept. So what'll it be, lover-boy?"

The heat was now surging furiously to Quatre's face. "Well, when you put it like that, how can I say no?"

"Now that's what I like to hear," said Lan with a wink, "I'll see you in the skies, my Desert Prince!"

….

"Are you sure about this?" asked Eric.

Shemei smiled at her husband as she wrapped up her preflight checks. "For the tenth time, dear, yes. We can do this, Eric. You know we can."

On the monitor, she watched him sigh. "You're right. I know now's hardly the time to be having doubts. It… it just eats at me, knowing that there's nothing that I can do to back you up on this one."

It warmed her heart to know that he was so concerned about her, but Shemei still didn't like to see Eric worked up like this. "If you want to help, dear, then do everything in your power to protect the Dominion while I'm gone. I'll need a place to come back to after this little raid of ours is done, after all. Protect the ship and yourself, you got that?"

Her husband nodded and smiled. "All right, then. In exchange, you'd better make it back here, all right? We haven't come this far just for the enemy to take either of us down now."

Shemei grinned. "You got that right, babe. I'll be back, count on it. You'd better have a warm reception ready for when I return."

Eric smirked. "Don't worry, I will. Take care of yourself, Shemei… and give 'em hell out there."

Shemei chuckled. "Oh, don't worry. I'll give them a dance with the devil... one that they won't be walking away from!"

….

"Are you ready?" asked Murrue.

Heero nodded as he wrapped up his systems check. "Everything's good to go."

On the screen, his lover shook her head. "I'm not asking about your Gundam, Heero. I'm asking about you."

Heero gave her a small smile. "I know. I won't tell you not to worry; I know that I couldn't stop you, and your concern really does mean a lot to me. Still, I'm ready for this, Murrue."

Murrue sighed before returning his smile. "All right, then. Just make sure to pace yourself out there, all right? This is going to be one hell of a trip for you, after all. Don't linger on site for too long. Inflict the damage that needs to be dealt and then get out as fast as you can."

"You got it," said Heero, "Keep out of sight until we return."

Murrue nodded. "Will do. Be careful out there, Heero. I love you."

"I love you too, Murrue," he said, "Now, let's do this."

"Right," said Murrue.

Her face disappeared from the monitor, only to be quickly replaced by that of Miriallia. "Opening the hangar doors now. Watch yourself out there, Heero."

"Roger that," said Heero as he saw sunlight begin to filter into the hangar.

As soon as the massive metal doors had finished opening the lights at the side of the linear catapult went from red to green, and Miriallia's voice came over the Gundam's speakers again. "Wing Zero Albion, you are clear for launch!"

Heero nodded. "Copy that. Zero, launching."

The Gundam shot of the hangar in the blink of an eye. It spread its four white wings as it gained altitude, propelled higher and higher by streams of azure light. Out ahead, Heero could see crimson light-waves up ahead; the Gundam Epyon Revenant was already airborne.

One by one, the rest of the mobile suits assigned to the mission launched from their respective warships. From the Dominion came the three Wraiths, while following Heero out of the Archangel were the Gundams Sandrock Saladin, Heavyarms Arsenal, and Deathscythe Omega. The eight mobile suits quickly formed up into two teams, with Heero and Shemei making up the first strike group while the others composed the second.

"We all have our targets," said Heero, "Let's go. No matter what, return alive; that's an order."

"Roger that!" his comrades replied as one.

He gunned Wing Zero Albion's engines, with Shemei doing the same with the Epyon Revenant right behind him. The six Gundams that made up the second strike team likewise floored it, and within moments the mobile suits were just pinpricks on the horizon to the viewers aboard the twin battleships before disappearing altogether.

Operation Blackjack was underway.

….

Night had fallen over the Atlantic Federation's Pearl Harbor naval base. While the headquarters of the Pacific Fleet still had thousands of officers and enlisted men stationed there, it was impossible to deny that the sprawling facility had become rather quiet since the vast majority of the warships previously stationed there had departed for their campaign. A handful of vessels remained behind, but apart from a few destroyers on defensive patrol most of them were laid up in drydock undergoing maintenance. Even without the mighty fleet, the base was still defended by a network of anti-air batteries, surface-to-air and surface-to-ship missile launchers, and the mobile suits housed in several hangars scattered across the facility, but its guardians were lax. After all, the enemy was thousands of kilometers away from here. It was impossible for ZAFT to mount an attack on the base while they were busy trying to defend their own surface facilities from an impending Earth Alliance siege.

There was likewise little concern amongst the base's commanders regarding the renegades from the last war; after all, the Archangel and the Dominion were all the way out in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. The fearsome battleships were in no position to launch a direct attack, and the officers in charge of defending the facility considered a mobile suit strike to be unfeasible due to the sheer distance involved. Such a flight would be an endurance test that no combat pilot could endure.

Unfortunately, those Alliance officers were unwittingly following in the long and colorful tradition of past military leaders who had underestimated what Gundam pilots were capable of.

And they were about to pay dearly for that mistake.

….

Kicking back in the cockpit of the Deathscythe Omega, Duo took a sip from his water bottle as he watched the timer on the monitor enter the final phase of its countdown. He smirked as he readied himself for action; he'd been looking forward to this ever since Heero had laid out the plan to him and the others.

Just like old times, he mused with a chuckle, I almost feel sorry for these guys…

Almost.

He grinned as the timer finally hit zero. "Time to rock and roll!"

Start "Bad Luck Charm"

The Gundam Deathscythe Omega currently had its Active Cloak engaged, and now that it was show time Duo decided to enhance the effect. Flipping a switch, he activated the mobile suit's built-in high-pressure fog emitters. He allowed them to run for a few seconds so that an ominous mist built up in the area immediately surrounding the Gundam; all the better to send chills down the spines of the Atlantic Federation soldiers stationed at the base. Then he ignited his emerald beam scythe and made a broad swing, ripping into the side of the hangar he had positioned his mobile suit next to in preparation for the surprise attack.

His strike caused the right side of the hangar to collapse completely. As he deactivated his Gundam's active cloak he took another swing, this time mauling five Dagger-Ls that were standing in the middle of the building. A few more swings demolished the rest of the structure along with the remaining mobile suits that had been inside it.

His destruction of the hangar was the cue for the rest of the strike team to begin their assault. A rain of Lancer Dart missiles descended from the skies as Adaline, Lan, and Priscilla launched their opening salvos, destroying a string of anti-air batteries. Their follow-up barrages decimated the nearby airfield, blowing apart several transport planes and helicopters.

Meanwhile, out in the harbor, the Gundams Sandrock Saladin and Heavyarms Arsenal emerged from the water like ancient aquatic demons. The former tore into a destroyer with its Heat Shotels and ripped the vessel apart, while the latter set its sights on one of the drydocks and proceeded to utterly demolish it with a hail of missiles. For his part, Duo was already moving on to another building to tear into, and he wasted no time in bringing his scythe down upon a garage, laying waste to both the structure and the array of vehicles inside it.

Having exhausted their missiles, the three Wraiths switched over to their beam rifles and railguns. Their pilots immediately locked onto new targets, and a series of aviation fuel storage tanks swiftly became one giant inferno. The girls then turned their guns onto the various support structures that made up the airfield, and the sea of flames rapidly expanded.

Not a bad start, he thought with a chuckle, but we need to kick things up a notch! This party's nowhere near done yet!

Gunning his thrusters, he sent his mobile suit racing across the tarmac towards one of the administrative buildings. In a matter of moments, he had laid the structure to waste with his beam scythe and was already on the hunt for another target. He found one in the form of a surface-to-air missile launcher, and he wasted no time in ripping the weapon apart. A series of heavy anti-air cannons went up in flames next, and those were followed by one of the many radar arrays that dotted the base.

For their part, Quatre and Trowa were proceeding to decimate the facilities that were so vital to supporting the efficient operation of the Pacific Fleet. They were tearing into the drydocks with devastating precision, reducing both the structures and any ships inside of them to little more than charred ruins.

His sensors started to light up as enemy mobile suits began to emerge from the undamaged hangars. This to be expected; the base was so vast that it would've been impossible for the strike team to destroy all the hangars before they could deploy machines to counterattack. That was fine as far as Duo was concerned; now he would have some targets that could actually fight back.

"I hope you guys brought your dancing shoes," he said with a smirk as he hit his thrusters and moved in to attack, "because I'm about to take you to a ballroom blitz!"

The mobile suits emerging from the hangars were all Dagger-Ls, which made sense to Duo; the newer Windams had likely been sent straight to the front lines, leaving older model machines on guard duty for bases like this one. Even if they weren't the most sophisticated units in the Alliance's arsenal, Duo didn't let it go to his head; he knew that they were still more than capable of killing him if he got careless.

The enemy opened fire on him as soon as they spotted him, but Duo already had the Gundam's cloak closed and the Micro-Defensors activated to deflect the incoming particle beams. Within a matter of seconds, he was within striking range, and with the first swing of his beam scythe he cut down three Dagger-Ls. The surviving units split up, with some pulling back to bombard him from long range while others ignited their beam sabers.

They may be rearguard troops with older models, he thought, but they know what they're doing.

Bringing his beam scythe down and splitting a Dagger-L in half vertically, he then brought the weapon back up to deflect a strike from another machine before whirling it around and mauling his attacker. Hitting his thrusters, he darted to the right to evade incoming fire before charging back in. With a broad swing, he cut down two Dagger-Ls, but there were plenty more where they had come from.

Suddenly a rain of particle beams and railgun rounds fell upon the machines, and a whole string of enemy mobile suits burst like firecrackers. Looking up, Duo saw that Adaline and Priscilla had come to give him some supporting fire. Checking his sensors for the third member of the Wraith trio, he quickly found Lan making a beeline for the drydocks where the Gundams Sandrock Saladin and Heavyarms Arsenal were continuing their rampage.

Off to help her lover-boy, he thought with a smirk, Quatre, you really scored with that one! Now, if I can just get Trowa to hook up with one of her friends…

He shook his head as he deflected a beam saber strike from one of the Dagger-Ls before ripping the machine apart. He'd have plenty of time to consider the next steps for Operation: Help A Bro Get Some once the battle was over.

He chuckled as he barreled headlong into a fresh squad of Dagger-Ls. The Earth Alliance had started a war of conquest and extermination, which meant that anyone who willingly served them now was deeply in debt to the devil himself.

And as the God of Death, Duo was more than willing to make sure that the devil was paid his due.

….

Raising Sandrock Saladin's arms, Quatre proceeded to bring the twin Heat Shotels down hard on a cruiser that was laid up in one of the many drydocks that dotted the Pearl Harbor base. The warship was utterly defenseless, and the Gundam's blades sheered through the hull like blazing hot knives through butter. He then made broad horizontal swings with his mobile suit's signature weapons, utterly wrecking cranes and other heavy machinery that was integral to the functioning of the dock.

"All right," he muttered as he surveyed the destruction around him, "Time to move on to the next one."

He was currently the only one attacking the drydocks. Trowa had been aiding him in that task earlier, but the L3 native had shifted his targets and was now pounding away at a string of warehouses that contained parts and equipment essential to the repair work done by the docks. Multiple buildings had already been reduced to smoldering ruins, and Heavyarms Arsenal wasn't anywhere near close to finished yet.

It really is just like old times, he mused as he pulled his Gundam away from the wrecked drydock, Attacks like this were our bread-and-butter when we first started our campaign against the United Earth Sphere Alliance and OZ. The more things change, the more they stay the same…

Of course, there were some key differences between this attack and the ones from the early stages of their last war. For starters, the Gundam pilots had initiated this attack as a group effort rather than coming at it as individuals. There was also the fact that they had help in the form of the three Wraiths, which in Quatre's eyes qualified as Gundams in their own right. In that light, the Pearl Harbor base was actually under attack from no less than six Gundam pilots, meaning that the Atlantic Federation facility was actually worse off than those Quatre, Duo, and Trowa had attacked during their old war.

Of course, the Atlantic Federation base wasn't taking this pounding lying down. Duo had already ceased his efforts to attack facilities and was concentrating his efforts on taking down the squads of Dagger-Ls that had moved to repel the attack, and he was being supported by Adaline and Priscilla. Lan was actually headed towards Quatre, and not a moment too soon; the Desert Prince could see several Earth Alliance mobile suits moving to engage him.

Reorienting himself to support her, Quatre locked onto a team of Dagger-Ls and opened fire with the missile pods mounted on his Gundam's legs. The resulting barrage wasn't anywhere near as impressive as what Trowa was capable of with the massive amount of artillery mounted on Heavyarms Arsenal, but Sandrock Saladin still drew blood from afar as a trio of Earth Alliance mobile suits were torn apart by the warheads. A precise and lethal hail of particle beams and railgun rounds rained down from Lan's Wraith, reducing two more machines to cinders.

Quatre charged forward, taking advantage of the enemy's disarray to rip a pair of Dagger-Ls to shreds with his Heat Shotels. Descending to join him on the tarmac, Lan ignited both of her Wraith's violet beam sabers, and soon the two Gundams were back to back as they carved into the hostile machines.

"Told you I've got your back!" came Lan's voice over his cockpit speakers.

Quatre smiled. "I never doubted it for a moment."

"How long do you want to stick around?" asked Lan as she thrust one of her blades through a Dagger-Ls cockpit, "These guys aren't much to write home about, but more of them are crawling out of the woodwork with each passing second."

She was quite correct. Despite the damage the strike team had done to the base, enemy mobile suits continued to scramble to engage them. It didn't matter that their ranks were entirely made up of older models and second-line troops; eventually the weight of numbers would begin to tell. Surveying the area, Quatre decided to make the call as head of the strike team; it was time to pack it in.

"We've done enough for one night," he said as he sliced two machines in half, "I think it's time to head home."

"Sounds good to me!" Lan replied as she switched over to her beam rifles and started laying down covering fire.

"All right, everyone, listen up!" said Quatre as he addressed the strike team as a whole over their tactical channel, "Commence withdrawal. We've accomplished our mission."

"Roger that," said Trowa as he finished laying waste to a warehouse with his Double Assault Beam Cannon.

"Copy that," Duo chimed in as he took down two Dagger-Ls with a broad swing of his scythe, "Time to make like bandits and head for the hills!"

"Understood," said Adaline as she took down a trio of mobile suits with a volley of particle beams and railgun rounds, "Pris, let's go!"

"I'm right behind you!" Priscilla replied as she finished off a hostile machine with a beam saber straight through the cockpit.

The six Gundams rapidly gained altitude, with Trowa laying down a final burst of covering fire to discourage pursuit. As the strike team retreated, Quatre surveyed the damage below. The burning carnage below bathed the night in orange-red light, and Quatre could only guess at the casualties that had been inflicted.

We did what we had to do, he thought firmly as he led the strike team's flight from the Hawaiian Islands, Our job's complete. The rest is up to Heero and Shemei.

End "Bad Luck Charm"

...

October 27th, C.E. 73

The largest facility of its kind on the western coast of the continental Atlantic Federation, Naval Base San Diego was the second most important port of call and operations facility for the Pacific Fleet after the base at Pearl Harbor. With a focus on logistical support including repair and drydocking, it was a key rear-line facility for fleet maintenance, and it had grown substantially over its long years of service. In addition to the long rows of docks and storage facilities, expansions and add-ons to the base over time included an airfield, training complexes for reserve officers, and an advanced communications hub capable of coordinating the actions of every ship in the Pacific Fleet should the need arise.

As of right now, that communications hub was abuzz with activity as status reports on the damage suffered by the Pearl Harbor base in a surprise attack continued to come in. Analysts were pouring over every scrap of data they could get regarding not only the extent of the destruction but also the identity of the attackers. Even though several hours had passed since the attack, the higher-ups were still having trouble processing what had occurred. It was now barely an hour before dawn, and everyone was exhausted from the night's activities. If there was any comfort the officers and enlisted men could take, it was that there was no way the enemy who had struck the Pearl Harbor base could reach them way out here.

Unfortunately for them, not only were they grievously mistaken, but they were about to face off with a pair of foes that were far more terrifying that the six pilots who had attacked Pearl Harbor.

….

Skimming low over the surface of the sea, Heero already had the course for his opening attack run locked in. Shemei was hot on his heels, and he knew that he could count on her to cover him every step of the way. Scanning the base up ahead, he saw no sign that the two Gundams had been detected by the Atlantic Federation, but that would change the moment he powered up the Twin Buster Rifle.

Start "The Rains of Castamere"

Heero gunned his engines and gained altitude as he split his rifle into two separate weapons. Sighting in on his first targets, it only took him a moment to lock on. Two blasts of golden-yellow hellfire raced across the sky before slamming into two of the dock and turning them into a pair of blazing pyres.

"Here we go," he said, already adjusting his aim as he acquired his second set of targets.

"Copy that," said Shemei, "You hit the base, and I'll keep the mobile suits off your back. Let's hit 'em hard!"

Heero didn't need to be told twice. He cut loose with a second salvo, and two more docks burst into flames. Increasing the charge in both guns, he then aimed further back and fired again, this time blasting the primary dock control tower and a large garage into searing bits of twisted metal. From there he continued to gain altitude, setting up for a sustained bombardment of the base.

They never in their wildest nightmares thought that an enemy could reach them here, he thought grimly as he cast his baleful gaze down upon the base, and now it's time to make them pay for that arrogance with their lives.

His next set of targets were an anti-air missile launcher batter and a series of barracks. A pair of blasts from the split Twin Buster Rifle reduced them to molten slag, and the Perfect Soldier methodically set his sights on fresh victims. The next salvo took out the air traffic control tower and the primary aircraft hangar. The blasts set off a string of secondary explosions as tanks full of aviation fuel burst into flames, and soon the entire airfield was bathed in a sea of fire. Air raid sirens cried out into the night like the wails of banshees, and Heero could only imagine the raw terror those on the ground were gripped by as they realized just who was attacking them.

Glancing at his sensors, he saw the Epyon Revenant go into a dive. It didn't take Heero long to see why; several Dagger-Ls equipped with Jet Striker Packs were taking off, and the Valkyrie was moving to intercept them. Heero almost felt sorry for the Atlantic Federation pilots who were climbing to fight them; none of them would live to see the dawn.

Confident that his comrade had him covered, Heero continued his bombardment. Walking his salvos slowly but methodically across the base, offices, barracks, warehouses, and more were consumed by the overwhelming firepower of the Twin Buster Rifle. The only structure that Heero intended to spare in his assault was the hospital; everything else would be laid to waste.

This would not be a battle.

This would be an execution.

….

Swooping down like an avenging demon, it didn't take Shemei long to score her first kill of the mission. The Dagger-Ls fired furiously and frantically as she approached, but it was child's play for her to weave through their salvos and close to melee range. A broad swipe with the Epyon Revenant's Heat Rod ripped a trio of machines to superheated shreds, and this was followed up with a horizontal slash from her beam sword that cut down two more mobile suits.

The devil's come to call, boys, she thought, I'm here to drag you off to Hell!

The Alliance machines ignited their beam sabers, but as Shemei butchered her way through their ranks it was plain as day that there wasn't a competent melee combatant among them. What few pilots were able to block her initial strikes weren't able to effectively counter, and she carved herself a swath of destruction through their ranks. Other enemy pilots attempted to keep their distance from her and engage with their rifles, but what particle beams she couldn't evade outright she simply deflected with the energy shields built into the Epyon Revenant's crimson wings.

Even as she continued her assault on the enemy mobile suits, Shemei knew that she had to remain mindful of her position. After all, her role in this raid wasn't actually an offensive one; it was to act as Heero's escort. While the Wing Zero Albion was hardly vulnerable by any stretch of the imagination, by keeping the responding mobile suits away from it Shemei was giving Heero space to concentrate on his systematic bombardment of the base. Sure, a single full-power blast from the Twin Buster Rifle would've annihilated the sprawling facility in an instant, but there also would've been collateral damage to the surrounding city, and it also would've destroyed the hospital. While they were going for a brutal sneak attack, the Perfect Soldier and the Valkyrie weren't the monsters that Atlantic Federation propaganda made them out to be; in fact, their conduct on the battlefield was far more civilized than anything displayed by the Earth Alliance forces so far in this war.

We're not the ones trying to nuke colonies, Shemei mused grimly as she impaled a Dagger-L through the cockpit with her emerald blade, I don't think the Atlantic Federation has any right to complain about our attack given the way they decided to kick off this war. Of course, they'll bitch about it all the same. Oh, well…

The Valkyrie wasn't the least bit concerned with enemy propaganda at the moment. Her mission was simple; defend Heero and destroy any adversaries that attempted to intercept him. It was a task that her Gundam was very well suited for, and one that she was carrying out with gusto.

Pulling back once she finished savaging the first wave, she swiftly moved to intercept a fresh squad. The Dagger-Ls opened up with their beam rifles, but the Epyon Revenant was far too agile of a target for them. Within seconds she was among them, her beam sword and Heat Rod lashing out left and right as she gave them a brutal introduction to the Gundam designed to keep pace with none other than Wing Zero itself. Strings of explosions illuminated the pre-dawn sky as Dagger-Ls fell in rapid succession; there wasn't a pilot among the enemy ranks that could match her.

Your hour has come, boys, she thought as she sent one enemy after another to meet their maker, This is the price you pay for serving a power that's hell-bent on genocide.

This is the whirlwind that the Atlantic Federation shall reap.

….

With each pull of the trigger, Heero continued to rain death down upon the Atlantic Federation base. Administrative buildings, warehouses, garages, barracks, docks, ships and armored vehicles alike were consumed by the devastating bombardment Wing Zero Albion was hammering them with. Sirens continued to wail impotently, and there was the occasional burst of anti-air fire that came his way, but any battery that took a shot at him soon found itself silenced by a blast from the Twin Buster Rifle.

The sky was gradually lighting up with the blue-white thruster flares as more enemy mobile suits entered the airspace in an attempt to drive off the attackers. So far, the Valkyrie was managing to keep them occupied; Heero had already lost count of the number of Dagger-Ls Shemei had destroyed so far. However, more would soon arrive from neighboring bases, and a prolonged battle was not part of Heero's mission. Despite their skills, neither he nor his partner were in any condition for a sustained engagement; the long flight here had been a considerable effort by itself, and there was still the journey back to take into account as well.

We've done enough for one raid, he thought as he destroyed another dock, The damage we've inflicted here combined with the Pearl Harbor raid should be more than enough to get the Atlantic Federation's attention.

Shifting targets, he locked into a group of Dagger-Ls that were heading for the Epyon Revenant and opened fire, turning them into a string of explosions. "Shemei, it's time to pull out."

"Copy that," she replied as she mauled a trio of machines with her Heat Rod, "Lead the way!"

Reforming the Twin Buster Rifle into a single weapon, he increased the charge and cut loose with one final blast. The wave of devastation washed over a squadron of Dagger-Ls and reduced them to bits of superheated metal. That was enough to secure them the required space to withdraw before more reinforcements caught up with them. Sparing one last look at the ruined base, Heero gunned his engines and headed out to sea with the Epyon Revenant right behind him.

End "The Rains of Castamere"

….

He may have appeared calm on the surface, but on the inside Colonel Nazara was absolutely livid as he read the status updates that continued to trickle in following the attacks on the Pearl Harbor and San Diego naval bases. While it was already abundantly clear just who had launched the raids, the head of Phantom Pain was still infuriated by the sheer nerve his adversaries had shown in this latest move.

You would dare to insult the pride of the Atlantic Federation so dearly, he silently seethed, and make us look weak before the eyes of the world… I will make you pay for this in blood, Heero Yuy!

Even as the attacks inflamed the bitter hatred he held towards Wing Zero's pilot, on a purely intellectual level Nazara could not help but allow himself a bit of admiration for his foe's latest move. The sheer audacity behind such a strike was not to be dismissed out of hand, and the endurance that was required to pull it off was positively inhuman. The Colonel could already picture the repercussions, and he had no doubt in his mind that his opponent had seen them coming as well.

The people of the Atlantic Federation would be outraged by these attacks on their home territory. They would demand to know why their mighty military had been unable to protect both bases from coming under assault. In response, the government would have no choice but to recall some of its frontline forces in order to secure the homeland until the shipyards and factories were able to construct enough vessels and mobile suits to not only make good the losses suffered thus far but also ensure that the Atlantic Federation military could act both offensively and defensively with utter confidence in its position.

The odds against ZAFT's forces in the active theaters of this war will improve considerably as a result of our coming redeployments, he thought, and that will also give the renegades and traitors allied with Heero Yuy more room to maneuver. He's played his hand well…

Now, more than ever, it would be up to the forces under the Colonel's command to get things back on track. While he had no idea where the battleships belonging to the renegades were hiding, he had another target that he was tracking; aerial and satellite reconnaissance had confirmed activity at the docks of Carpentaria indicating that ZAFT's prize battleship would soon be underway. There was only one place that it could be heading; the Suez Canal and the Gibraltar base beyond. Nazara fully intended to destroy the Minerva while it travelling at sea, and he was already moving his forces into position to accomplish that. It would not be the same as taking the fight to the renegades, but it would have to suffice for now.

Beware, ZAFT, he silently fumed, I'm coming for you. If you think that the chaos sown by Wing Zero and its allies will aid you, I'm afraid that you will only gain the briefest of respites through it. The Demon Lord of Avalon will not be able to save your precious battleship this time.

The Minerva will fall.

….

Arthur's eyes widened as Talia gave him the news. "You cannot be serious! How is that even possible?"

The two of them were in her office; she had just summoned him to convey the fresh intelligence that had just been received. It was still the early hours of the morning, and the Captain of the Minerva was very thankful for the strong pot of coffee that she had brewed before calling her subordinate in.

Talia sighed; her sentiments mirrored those of her Executive Officer, but that did not change the facts that had been reported to her. "I know it's hard to believe, but it's the truth. Both the Atlantic Federation's Pearl Harbor and San Diego naval bases were attacked during the night, and it was Heero Yuy and his allies that did it."

When they publish next year's edition of the dictionary, I expect to see a picture of Heero Yuy next to the word 'bold', she mused, If that's not a succinct description of him, then I don't know what it.

Arthur shook his head. "But… but the sheer distances involved… how on Earth would they have pulled off such strikes? It boggles the mind!"

Talia nodded. "I certainly won't argue with you there, but the reports from the Surface Intelligence Bureau were quite clear on the matter. It's already having a considerable effect, too; aerial reconnaissance has shown several warships breaking off from the main body of the Pacific Fleet. If I had to guess, I'd say they're returning home to defend their ports against future attacks. The enemy will still have a considerable presence down here, but it will be reduced, and I have no doubt the Defense Council will take advantage of that. In fact, they've already begun to do so."

Arthur raised an eyebrow. "How so?"

"I just received updated orders from them a little while ago," she replied, "They're accelerating our schedule; the Minerva is to launch within the hour."

"And our course?" asked Arthur.

"It remains the same," said Talia, "The higher-ups are eager break the enemy's hold on the Suez Canal. We won't be going alone, either; our assigned escorts are the Nyiragongo and the Whakaari."

"Two Vosgulov-class ships," murmured Arthur, "The Defense Council's serious about this."

Talia nodded. "Indeed. Get to the bridge and make sure we're prepared to launch on time. I'll join you shortly."

Arthur saluted. "Aye, Captain!"

I hope the crew's well-rested, she thought as her XO left the office, I can't imagine that the enemy will let us get all the way from here to the Suez in peace. They'll contest our passage sooner or later. The only question now…

…is where.

….

Out on the observation deck of the Minerva, Athrun couldn't help but smile as he looked out over the sea. The morning sun was steadily climbing higher and higher, the gulls sang, he could spot the occasional fish leap from the water; it was truly a breathtaking vista.

How long has it been since the last time I was on a warship at sea?, he thought, It must've been during the last war back when I was with ZAFT. The more things change, the more they stay the same, I suppose…

The Minerva had put to sea a little over an hour ago. Carpentaria had already vanished over the horizon, and the ship was moving at a brisk clip over the waves and into the west. Athrun knew that he shouldn't have felt so relaxed; the ship had gone onto standby alert as soon as it had cleared Carpentaria's defensive umbrella, and even the escort of two Vosgulov-class ships could only do so much if they were attacked by the much more numerous forces of the Atlantic Federation. Still, there was something liberating about being out here on the front lines as opposed to sitting back in Aprilius One, or even Carpentaria for that matter.

Defending the PLANTs up in space was one thing, he thought, but now, down here on the surface, I have a chance to go on the offensive. There's a lot to be done; I'm sure Heero and the others have left plenty of the enemy for me to take on.

Word had spread swiftly through the ship about the twin strikes on the bases at Pearl Harbor and San Diego. While much of the crew was incredulous at the very notion of two attacks as bold as those, Athrun could only shake his head in a mixture of amusement and envy. The audacity of the strikes, the ruthless exploitation of the element of surprise, the swift and brutal application of the power of Gundams; the plan behind them had Heero's fingerprints all over it. It was strange to find himself jealous of his friends in Terminal, but he was all the same; oh, what he would've given to be part of such a mission.

As shocking as the raids had no doubt been to the world, though, Athrun knew that it would take more that lightning-fast strikes with powerful mobile suits to bring this war to an end. Sustained campaigns would be required, and the will of the enemy to fight would have to be slowly ground down. A group such as Terminal could strike with precision and strength, but that would not be enough to return peace to the world. A grueling struggle would be required, one that spanned many fronts.

Only ZAFT had what it took to bring the fighting to an end.

That was Athrun's belief now, although he imagined that his friends in Terminal would dispute it. After meeting and working with Chairman Durandal, though, and seeing what ZAFT and the PLANTs under such leadership was capable of, Athrun was no longer convinced that Terminal could do what was necessary to restore peace to the world. In fact, he was starting to wonder if Terminal's policy thus far of engaging in no more than the occasional alliance of convenience with ZAFT since the attack on Armory One was actually the wrong the way to go. From where he stood, it made far more sense to enter into a formal partnership with the current PLANT government. With the strength of both parties combined, bringing the Earth Alliance to its knees would be far easier to accomplish than if the two organizations were not acting in concert.

Heero won't go along with that, he mused, I can tell he doesn't trust the Chairman. Heero doesn't lead Terminal, though. If I can approach the others and make a case for an alliance with ZAFT, they might just go along with it. If it can bring this war to a swifter end, then it has to at least be worth a shot…

His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of the door opening behind him. Turning around, he saw Shinn Asuka come out onto the deck, although the ZAFT Red stopped when his gaze met Athrun's.

"Oh," said Shinn, "You're already out here. Guess I'll go chill somewhere else."

Athrun raised his hand before he could leave. "Hey, hold on! You don't have to go. If we're going to be fighting alongside each other, we really should try to get along."

Shinn gave him a skeptical look. "Really? I thought you didn't like me because I called out your Chief Representative."

Athrun sighed. "Look, if you can refrain from insulting her like you did before, then I think we can patch things over. I know you hold her responsible for what happened to your family, and while I believe you're wrong I also know that nothing I say is going to convince you otherwise. So why don't we just agree to disagree for now and leave Cagalli out of all this, all right?"

After a moment Shinn nodded. "All right."

Athrun forced a smile; he'd take what he could get from the hotheaded pilot at this point. "Good. Why don't you come over here? The view's really something!"

Shinn joined Athrun by the railing. The young man still seemed wary of Athrun, but at least he didn't look like he was about to pick a fight.

"So," said Athrun, trying to find some way to break the ice, "that was your first time being at Carpentaria back there, right? What did you think?"

Shinn nodded. "It was interesting. I didn't realize that the surface bases could get so big."

"That's right," Athrun replied, "It makes sense when you think about it, though; there's a lot more room down here for construction that there is inside a colony, after all."

"Were you there during the last war?" asked Shinn.

"I spent a little bit of time there," Athrun replied, "It's actually grown quite a bit since then."

Shinn shook his head. "Why do we even have bases on the surface now anyway? The PLANTs are a space-based nation; we don't need a presence on the Earth."

"In theory, you're right," said Athrun, "However, I'm afraid it's a little more complicated in practice."

"What do you mean?" asked Shinn.

"Well, look at where things stand now," Athrun replied, "We're at war again. Having fortified positions already set up on the surface of the planet is invaluable for our campaigns. Also, the more we fight down here, the more resources the Earth Alliance is forced to devote to its surface campaigns to drive us off the planet. That means less manpower, supplies, and mobile suits going to their fleets up in orbit, which reduces the direct threat to L5."

"But can't it also cut in the other direction?" Shinn countered, "If we're devoting resources to maintaining bases on the surface, then that's less manpower, supplies, and mobile suits for the fleets that are defending L5!"

Athrun nodded. "I never said that there weren't tradeoffs. Your point is valid, but it's a price that the Defense Council is willing to pay in order to maintain an appropriate balance of forces on Earth and in space. It helps to give them more strategic options for their campaigns, and flexibility like that is vital when you consider the disadvantage we suffer in terms of numbers and resources."

"That's only thanks to that stupid treaty," Shinn protested, "Now that we're at war, the treaty doesn't matter anymore; the Alliance proved that when they tried to nuke the PLANTs! We can boost our numbers now, and we should be concentrating all of those numbers on our space fleets."

Athrun shook his head. "It's true that the Treaty of Junius Seven put us on an inferior footing when it came to numbers, but look at the last war; there was no treaty regarding the sizes of the armed forces fielded by both sides, and our ranks were still less than those of the Earth Alliance. Now that we're engaged in conflict, I have no doubt that both the Defense Council and the Supreme Council have moved to transition the PLANTs into a war economy. That means that more resources will be devoted to building mobile suits and warships, while greater numbers of citizens will be brought into the armed forces to man them. However, that still does not change the fact that we can never hope to match the Earth Alliance in terms of sheer numbers. Hell, the forces of the Atlantic Federation alone outnumber us to a ridiculous degree. We may have hurt them when we repulsed their attack at the start of this war, but that doesn't change the fact that they can still field larger armies and fleets than we can even with the full weight of our economy behind our armed forces."

Shinn sighed. "Damn it… it's not fair!"

"I'm with you there," said Athrun, "but it's not about what's fair now. It's about doing what we can with what we have. The deck's stacked against us, but we still have cards to play. We have our gifts as Coordinators, and we've always held a technological advantage over the Earth Alliance. It's true that both sides can field mobile suits now, but our R&D teams in the field of mechanized warfare have greater expertise than those of the enemy. We can beat them as long as we play to our strengths."

Shinn nodded, a look of grim determination on his face. "We have to. For everyone they've threatened to kill… we have to beat them!"

"Yes," Athrun replied, "and if we're going to beat them, that means we have to keep our skills sharp. So, why don't we head down to the hangar and do that?"

Shinn raised an eyebrow. "You mean run simulations?"

Athrun smiled. "Sure. We need to pass the time somehow, and if we're going to be working together it's important that we understand how each of us fights. So, are you up for it?"

He was relieved to see Shinn smile after a moment. "Sounds good to me."

It's a start, he thought as the two of them headed inside, I don't know if I'll ever be able to get him to change his mind about Cagalli, but for now I'll settle for him being willing to fight alongside me. It's definitely better than him being jealous and suspicious of me.

….

Leaning back and folding his arms, Sundowner chuckled as he saw who was on the monitor. "Well, well, who do we have here? I was beginning to think you'd forgotten about us, Colonel."

The masked leader of Phantom Pain nodded. "Rest assured, I did no such thing. I've merely been attending to other matters. You hardly require micromanaging, after all."

Sundowner grinned. "I'll admit, we've been able to keep ourselves entertained just fine with the locals. That being said, there are only so many ways that you can kill guerilla fighters who don't even have mobile suits. It does become a little stale after a while."

Desperado's top captains and their support staff had been dispatched to North Africa a little while after the Earth Alliance's failed assault on L5. Atlantic and Eurasian Federation forces had secured the Suez Canal well before the mercenaries had arrived, and the dogs of war had wasted little time on turning their mobile suits on the local insurgents who continued to contest the occupation. It had certainly given Sundowner more than a few opportunities for personal amusement, but he was an animal that liked to play with his food, and it was hard to keep things interesting when the enemy was so fragile and easy to kill.

"Have ZAFT's forces from Gibraltar given you any trouble?" asked Nazara.

Sundowner waved his hand dismissively. "Nah. A few probes, nothing more. We sortied just the same, but there wasn't really much sport in beating them back. They don't have their best fighting out here."

Nazara smiled. "Good. Then that means that you can spare one of your best for a special operation."

Sundowner folded his arms. "Which one do you want?"

"Rodrigues," Nazara replied, "He's an insolent son of a bitch, but he's got exactly the right skillset for the job I've got in mind."

Sundowner nodded. "All right. When do you need him?"

"ASAP," said Nazara, "There's a limited timeframe for this job, and the travel requirements are considerable; the operation will be in the Indian Ocean. I'll pass along the exact coordinates after our call's over."

Sundowner smirked. "What do you got cooking up?"

"An interception," said Nazara with a grin, "ZAFT's prize battleship has left port. I have no doubt they're heading for the Suez, but I don't intend for them to make it that far."

Sundowner grinned. "You sure you only need Sam? I'm down for a good rumble if you want some extra muscle!"

Nazara shook his head. "Tempting, but I'm afraid I need you and the rest of the Winds to remain on station; there's always the chance that ZAFT could launch a concentrated attack from the north, and they're still dropping reinforcements from orbit. Holding the canal is paramount to the success of our operations in the region."

Sundowner shrugged. "Fine. I'll get my kicks another way, then."

"I'm sure you will," said the Colonel, "Nazara, out."

….

The sun was setting by the time Heero spotted the Archangel and Dominion breaching the surface. The sight was a most welcome one; he was absolutely beat after the round trip he and Shemei had just made.

"Home away from home," he said with a small smile.

"Got that right," said Shemei over the radio, and he could hear her stifle a yawn, "Shit, I'm bushed. Haven't done a mission like that in a long time."

"Keep it together until you touch down," Heero replied, "It'd be pretty embarrassing for pilots like us to screw up our landings after pulling off a raid like that."

Shemei laughed. "And here people say you don't have a sense of humor!"

Heero chuckled. "Indeed."

The landing was easy enough, although he had to focus a little harder than normal due to how worn out he was. It was a considerable relief for Heero to feel the feet of his Gundam finally hit the solid plating of the Archangel's hangar deck. A minute later he had his mobile suit in its berth and proceeded to power down.

About time, he thought as he wiped the sweat from his brow, I still can't believe how long that round trip was…

Exiting his Gundam and sealing the hatch behind him, he gave a weary nod to Murdoch as the head mechanic and his subordinates came over. Wing Zero Albion would be in good hands, which meant that Heero could go get some much-needed shuteye.

As tired as he was, he couldn't help but smile when he saw the door at the far end of the hangar open, revealing none other than Murrue. It only took her a second to spot him, and she met him a moment later.

"Welcome back," she said with a smile as she embraced him.

Heero nodded, taking a moment to rest his head on her shoulder. "Feels good to be back. Sorry I was gone for so long. I didn't mean to keep you waiting like that."

"It's all right," she said softly in his ear, "You're here now, and that's all that matters to me."

"Was everything okay back here?" he said as they separated.

Murrue nodded. "It was pretty quiet. No complaints here."

"Good," said Heero as he looked around the hangar, noting something unusual, "Where's the Sandrock? Quatre's still in one piece, isn't he?"

Murrue smiled. "He's fine. He decided to land on the Dominion instead of the Archangel this time. He didn't specifically state why, but I'm pretty sure I've got a good idea as to what his reason was."

Heero smirked as an image of a certain Chinese Coordinator flashed through his mind. "Yeah, I think I do too."

She took his hand and began leading him from the hangar. "Come on. You don't need to hide it from me; I can tell just by looking at you that you're exhausted. It's time for you to rest."

She knew him too well, and Heero didn't even bother to protest. He simply followed, already feeling lighter just knowing that he was back on the ship with her.

"Word of the raids is spreading like wildfire," she said as they moved through the corridors, "From what we've been able to gather, it sounds like the Atlantic Federation is in complete disarray."

Heero nodded. "That's definitely good news."

Murrue smiled. "They're panicking. They've got no clue where we're going to strike next. I know I was against this move, but I have to admit, it's already paying off."

"I suppose we'll know more in the days to come," said Heero, "We're going to be busy, that's for sure."

Murrue nodded. "Indeed. That can wait until tomorrow, though."

Before Heero knew it, they were already at the door to their quarters. Murrue kissed him as she led him inside, and he collapsed onto the bed in her arms a moment later.

…

October 28th, C.E. 73

Shinn sighed as the simulator screen went black. "Damn it. He got me again!"

The results had been the same ever since he'd started training with Athrun. Shinn knew that he shouldn't have been surprised; after all, Athrun was a veteran pilot with more combat experience than him. The string of defeats still stung, though, especially after others had repeatedly praised his abilities and he'd been given the rank of ZAFT Red straight out of the academy.

I need to get stronger, he thought, All my friends are counting on me!

Athrun's voice came over the speaker. "That's enough for now. Let's take a break."

Shinn nodded and popped open the canopy of the simulator. Athrun got out a moment later, and Shinn saw Lunamaria and Rey standing outside; they'd been watching the two of them on a nearby monitor.

"You guys were really going at it," said Lunamaria as Shinn and Athrun approached.

Rey nodded. "You both appear to be in top form."

Shinn smiled; he'd take what he could get from Rey. "Thanks."

Athrun nodded. "That was a good round. You're definitely better now than you were up in orbit. Just remember that fighting down here's different than up in space; you need to account for atmospheric conditions, not to mention the gravity."

"Right," said Shinn, "I've only fought one surface battle so far, so I know I still have a way to go."

"We all do," said Lunamaria as she smiled at Athrun, "Good thing we've got pilots with us now who are experienced in combat down here."

"Yes," said Rey, shooting a look towards the Altron Gundam, "Now we just need to make sure that we all work together when the time comes."

Shinn followed his gaze and saw Wufei standing on the hangar deck looking up at his machine. The two of them had worked reasonably well together during the flight from Orb, although Shinn was still sore over how Wufei had smacked him with his Dragon Fangs at the end of the battle with the Alliance force and their prototype mobile armor. Ever since that fight he'd kept the Gundam pilot at arm's length, and it wasn't just because of his bruised ego; he couldn't bring himself to trust the independent fighter, even if he was willing to engage in battle alongside him.

"We'll be fine," said Athrun as he glanced over at Wufei as well, "Wufei might not be a member of ZAFT like the rest of us, but he's one of Heero's friends and has already proven his abilities. That's enough for me."

Rey folded his arms. "Personal friendships are all well and good, but that does not change the fact that he's an outsider, and an unpredictable one at that. We can't rely on him."

Lunamaria raised an eyebrow. "Hey, where's this coming from, Rey? Sure, Wufei can be a little abrasive, but he's not a bad guy. He's helped us out quite a bit since he joined up with us, so doesn't he deserve the benefit of the doubt. Yeah, he attacked Shinn in the last fight, but let's be honest here; Shinn was kind of asking for it after flying off the handle like that."

"I'm standing right here," Shinn grumbled.

"I know," Lunamaria quipped, "Deal with it."

"Putting aside the skirmish outside Orb," said Rey, "we cannot forget that Wufei's allegiances do not lie with either ZAFT or the Minerva. He's told us as much himself. We should see him only as a temporary ally, even an expendable one, and use him appropriately."

Lunamaria glared at him. "Expendable? What the hell, Rey? You sound like an Alliance officer, talking like that! None of us are expendable, and that includes Wufei!"

"I do not mean to imply that I see him as mere cannon fodder," Rey countered, "He is far above the rank and file pilots of either the Earth Alliance or ZAFT. I freely admit that his abilities surpass those of even most of the elites on both sides, myself included. He is useful to our cause, but we should not blind ourselves to the fact that he is not one of us. He is an ally of convenience, nothing more."

Lunamaria scowled. "He's not just an ally. He's a friend! God, I just can't believe you… ugh, forget it!"

She stormed off, leaving Athrun, Shinn, and Rey behind her, all three of them rather confused. Athrun looked at his fellow pilots, and after a moment they all shared a shrug and a thought.

Women…

….

Wufei smirked as he looked up at his Gundam. Unbeknownst to the four ZAFT pilots, he'd heard every word of their conversation. Sharp hearing was a must-have for Gundam pilots, and it was certainly a handy attribute. That was also how he could hear Lunamaria approaching him over the hustle and bustle of the hangar even though he was focusing on his mobile suit.

"You're not in the best of moods," he said dryly as she came up behind him.

He couldn't see the look on her face, but he could tell just from the way her footsteps had faltered that he had taken her by surprise. "How do you…?"

Wufei shrugged. "You'd be amazed at what I pick up on."

Lunamaria sighed as she came to a stop next to him. "I guess I shouldn't be surprised at this point."

"There's always room for surprise," Wufei replied, "That's part of life."

She gave him a wary look. "Did you hear about what your friends did last night?"

"Who hasn't on this ship?" said Wufei, "I can't say that I'm surprised; raids like those come naturally to us. I was impressed by the distance involved, though."

Her eyes narrowed. "You're not planning to fly off to join them, are you?"

Wufei rolled his eyes. "I already told you that this is where I want to be. Hearing about my friends pulling off a couple of daring strikes isn't enough to change that."

Her evident tension lessened considerably at that. "Oh, okay. That's good to hear."

"Glad I can offer some reassurance," Wufei quipped.

"So," said Lunamaria, "if you don't mind me asking, how did you and your friends get to be so… well… crazy? I mean, striking the Atlantic Federation homeland? I know you didn't do it personally, but I've seen some of the stuff that you're capable of, so I can definitely imagine you pulling off something like that. Don't get me wrong, you're all incredible pilots, but I think you've got a few screws loose."

Wufei chuckled. "That's not a bad way to put it, I suppose."

Lunamaria sighed, relieved that he wasn't taking offense. "So what's the deal? Do you guys all feel like you have something to prove by being so reckless, or is it just a stupid macho thing?"

"Neither," Wufei replied, "It's how we were trained."

Lunamaria raised an eyebrow. "You mean your instructors actually told you guys to pick the biggest fights you possibly could?"

"We challenged the entire world to battle," said Wufei, his eyes narrowing, "The fight doesn't get any bigger than that. A surprise attack on the enemy's homeland is trivial in comparison. If you don't have the nerve to take the kind of risks that we do, then you'll never reach our level."

Lunamaria folded her arms. "Okay, first of all, I've got plenty of nerve, thank you very much. Second, when did you five 'challenge the entire world to battle', exactly? Wing Zero's first recorded appearance was an intervention on behalf of the Archangel when it was flying under the flag of the Earth Alliance, and it continued to do so up until the First Battle of Alaska. After that, the ship was at war with both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance, but the crew still had allies in the Orb Union, and they were able to pick up defectors from both sides. Even then, that pretty much would've been a fight against the entire world, but there's no mention of you, Duo, Trowa, or Quatre in any of those events. Granted, I'm sure that plenty of pilots that fought with the Three Ships Alliance will never have their names recorded by history, but with the level of skill you've displayed I'm pretty damn certain that you four would've become well known along with Heero. There's not a single mention of the four of you in every history of the Bloody Valentine War that I've read, so what war did you guys fight in?"

Perhaps I've been saying too much to her as of late, he mused, I haven't exactly lied to her so far, but neither have I openly admitted that I'm from another world entirely. At the rate things are going, though…

He was surprised to find himself tempted to tell her the full truth regarding his origins, but he suppressed the urge. There was no point in doing so at the moment, even accounting for his growing respect for the girl's determination and spirit.

"Isn't it enough to witness our capabilities firsthand?" he asked, "What does it matter to you when we made our battlefield debut when we've already proven our prowess before the eyes of the world?"

"Maybe that's enough for the others," she replied, "Maybe where you come from and where you first fought doesn't matter to them… but it does to me."

Wufei was genuinely puzzled. "Why?"

She looked down, clearly flustered. Wufei was only further confused when he saw a wave of red come over her face.

No, he thought, the wheels slowly turning in his head, she can't…

She really shouldn't…

Not if she knows what's good for her.

When her gaze met his again, there was a surprisingly piercing look in her indigo eyes. "Back when we were in Orb… you told me that there was once someone special in your life. Before she died, did she witness your battlefield debut?"

Wufei closed his eyes, his mind flashing back to that fateful day all those years ago. "Yes… because she was on that very battlefield with me. In fact, she was out there before I was."

Lunamaria gasped. "Really?"

Wufei barely heard her; his thoughts were with the past now, not the present. "Foolish girl… then again, I suppose I was a fool as well. Maybe that's the real reason why the clan had joined the two of us as one; two hotheaded fools like us could only be with each other, less we burn all other suitors."

Lunamaria's eyes widened in shock. "Joined… wait a minute… do you mean…?"

Wufei nodded. "Her name was Meilan Long… and she was my wife."

….

Lunamaria was speechless. Of all the possible revelations Wufei could've offered her today, the fact that he'd once been married was the last one that she had been expecting.

"She was the first to fly onto that battlefield because her sense of justice was stronger than my own," said Wufei, "After she died, that sense of justice passed on to me… and to the Gundam."

Lunamaria looked up at the green and red machine standing before them. "The Gundam?"

Wufei nodded. "It was originally called Shenlong. In life, Meilan liked to call herself 'Nataku'. She was proud, fierce and strong; the name was perfect for her… although I refused to admit it until she was dying in my arms."

Lunamaria's face paled, and she suddenly found that it was all she could do to choke back tears. "Oh my god…"

"Her body may have passed from the world," said Wufei, "but I knew that her spirit remained. It resides with the Gundam, so from that moment forward I called it Nataku. Even when it was badly damaged and reborn as the Altron, to me it has always been Nataku. It always will be."

Lunamaria looked back and forth between the mobile suit and Wufei. It wasn't unheard of for pilots to form strong attachments to their machines, but Wufei took it to a whole new level.

"My clan is dead," Wufei continued, "along with my wife and even the colony that we once called home… and yet, as long as Nataku is here, they survive. Their fire and justice lives on in my Gundam, and I will not let it fade from this world. Through battle, that fire and justice is reborn into the world."

"So you'll just keep on fighting, then?" asked Lunamaria, "What about when the war's over? You can't keep fighting forever. No one can."

Wufei shook his head and started to walk away. "You're naïve. As long as mankind exists, there will always be battles. And as long as those battles are raging, Nataku and I will keep fighting."

She sighed as she watched him leave the hangar. Just when she thought she knew him, he had to go and drop another bombshell on her that forced her to reevaluate everything. Figuring him out sometimes felt like banging her head against the wall.

And yet she was more desperate now than ever before to understand him.

Why?

Her mind didn't know…

…but her heart did.

….

"Thanks for coming, everyone," said Andrew as his audience settled in.

"I think we're overdue for one of these little sessions of ours, dear," said Aisha with a smile, "We did just shake up the board in a pretty big way, after all."

That we did, he thought, and we're still trying to assess the fallout.

They were in the Archangel's briefing room, and they had a full house. In the audience were Murrue, Heero, Duo, Trowa, Yzak, Dearka, Kira, Lacus, and Cagalli. Meanwhile, conferenced in on the monitor behind the Desert Tiger were Shemei, Eric, Quatre, Lan, Priscilla, Adaline, La Flaga, and Natarle. There was an anxious air in the room, and for good reason; the pace of the war was accelerating, and with the multitude of events unfolding across every front they needed to get a handle on the strategic situation and figure out their next move.

He saw Lan smirk on the monitor. "Got that right. I bet the Alliance is still pissing themselves with all the damage that we did!"

Duo chuckled. "So, how did you girls like going on an old-school Gundam-pilot style raid?"

"It was… an educational experience," said Priscilla.

Adaline smiled. "I can see why that was your signature style of fighting during your war; we inflicted a significant amount of destruction in a very short amount of time."

"That's the best way to get the enemy's attention," said Shemei, "Rattle 'em good, get 'em angry; angry enemies make mistakes."

"Mistakes that we need to exploit quickly," said Heero, his eyes narrowing, "Have we gotten any updates on Earth Alliance troop movements?"

On the monitor, Eric nodded. "Yes, thanks to my contacts in the ZAFT fleet. According to the intelligence reports they've been forwarding me, the amount of ships that they're redirecting eastwards to shore up their homeland defenses has increased. The force that they're leaving behind is still capable of threatening Carpentaria, but the odds in the local theatre of operations have evened out significantly."

"What about the Orb Union?" asked Murrue, "Has the Alliance shown any indication of deploying forces there to ensure the Seirans' cooperation?"

Andrew shook his head. "Not according to what we've gotten from Kisaka. The Alliance appears to be taking a hands-off approach now that their manpower's taken some serious hits. He's been keeping tabs through his contacts in the Orb military and intelligence service for any signs of enemy covert activity on their soil, but it would seem that their resources are focused elsewhere."

Cagalli sighed with relief. "Good. That means they're not threatening the Coordinators that still live in our country."

"Small favors," Yzak muttered.

Dearka nodded. "No kidding."

Andrew saw Trowa's eyes narrow. "Then it would seem that the Pacific theatre of the war is heading for a stalemate, at least for the time being. If that's the case, then we should shift our efforts to more active fronts."

"Is that really a good idea?" asked Kira, "Things could change quickly over here."

Lacus nodded. "With the manner in which this war has unfolded so far, a sudden shift in fortunes could occur at any moment. If we're out of position when such an event occurs, it could spell disaster."

The Desert Tiger sighed. "I know, but that's the risk you take when your forces are as limited as ours. We can't be matched for quality, but quantity is a serious deficiency. We just can't cover as many fronts as the other participants in this war."

"That only means that we need to plan our next deployment carefully," said Natarle, "We must position ourselves where we can do the most good, and in our case, that will be where the fighting is heaviest."

On the screen next to her, La Flaga nodded. "If things are quieting down in the Pacific, then at this point I'd say our next logical move would be to head west. The Earth Alliance's forces out that way haven't taking the pounding that the ones over here have, so they've got more room to maneuver."

"And ZAFT has a base out that way," said Shemei, "Gibraltar's well-defended, but it's not invincible."

"You're right about that," said Aisha grimly, "It's a tougher nut to crack than Carpentaria, but its position actually makes it easier to cut off from ZAFT reinforcements. Even orbital dropping fresh troops won't be enough if the Alliance marshals their full strength in the region."

Heero nodded. "La Flaga's right; shifting to the west is our best approach. Things will likely heat up out there soon if they haven't already."

"It turns out the fireworks are already flying," said Andrew, "ZAFT's been probing the defenses that the Earth Alliance has thrown up around the Suez Canal. I think it's safe to say that they're setting up for a major push before the Alliance has a chance to launch a full-scale assault on Gibraltar."

"From what my sources have indicated," Eric added, "ZAFT's been dropping reinforcements from orbit in both the Mediterranean and the Red Sea. It looks like they're planning on hitting the canal from the north and the south in a pincer movement."

"What about the east and west?" asked Murrue, "Wouldn't it make sense to hit the area with ground forces from those directions while the naval units move in?"

"It would," Andrew replied, "but the Earth Alliance has set up a network of radar, anti-air, and artillery positions that stretch pretty far to both the east and the west. Any forces dropped from orbit in either area would quickly find themselves pinned down. ZAFT could still try it, but they'd have to commit a significant number of troops and mobile suits in order to punch through the defenses set up in the region. Attacking from the north and the south simultaneously is their best move."

"So what do we do, then?" asked Shemei, "Should we just jump right into the middle of the mess and make a splash?"

"I'd prefer something with a little more finesse," Natarle deadpanned.

"Me too," said La Flaga, "I'm all for a straight-up fight, but we need to play this carefully."

"We don't even know who we should be targeting," Lan chimed in, "Sure, the Earth Alliance started this whole war, but I can't be the only one here who remembers a certain ZAFT black ops strike force attacking our home."

"I'm pretty sure none of us have forgotten that, Lan," said Priscilla.

"It's a good point, though," said Adaline, "Should we really tip the scales towards one side or the other here? Personally, I'm all for sitting back and letting them kill each other."

Duo smiled. "Tempting, but a little too boring for my tastes."

"Letting the fighting drag on will only increase the likelihood of atrocities being committed by one or both sides," Trowa added, "While neither the Alliance nor ZAFT are friendly forces as far as we're concerned, it's not in our interests to remain on the sidelines while the war bogs down."

"I agree," said Quatre, "While we should naturally be wary of ZAFT, at this point the Earth Alliance remains the larger overall threat, and we should do everything in our power to hamper their efforts in this war."

"But if we intervene, we have no guarantee that ZAFT won't shoot us in the back," Dearka protested, "I'm all for sticking it to the Alliance, but we'd be exposing ourselves to another strike from the other side."

Yzak sighed. "No kidding. Fighting a battle on two fronts was ugly last time around, and I only joined you guys during the final showdown of the war. Having both the Alliance and ZAFT launch campaigns against us is not my idea of a good time."

"And we still don't know what Durandal's ultimate objective in this war is," Kira added, "Shouldn't we also be taking steps to uncover that?"

Eric sighed. "I've got my contacts working night and day to figure that out, but I'm afraid it's a case of easier said than done. Tracking ZAFT's forces on the battlefield is much simpler than discerning what Durandal's endgame is."

"He will not be able to keep his true agenda hidden from us forever," said Lacus firmly, "Attacking us at Home One betrayed his hand, and I doubt that will be the last mistake that he makes. He'll slip up again, and we will catch him in the act."

Andrew smiled. "I hope you're right."

"In the meantime, we might be able to use Durandal's secrecy to our advantage," said Heero, his eyes narrowing.

Andrew knew that look; the young man had a plan. "Got something you want to share with the group, Heero?"

Heero nodded. "A hunch, really. It may help us with our next move, though."

Murrue patted him on the shoulder. "We're all ears."

"Lacus is regarded as one of the heroes of the last war," said Heero, "She's an icon as far as the PLANTs are concerned, which is why Durandal created a doppelganger while quietly ordering the assassination of the original. I'm willing to bet that apart from the Chairman and his inner circle, the only ones who knew about the attempt on her life were the members of the strike team we fought. The ZAFT rank and file likely have no knowledge that the Lacus employed by Durandal is actually a fake."

"Seems reasonable enough," said Quatre.

Trowa nodded. "There'd be an uproar in the PLANTs if the people learned that Durandal tried to have her killed. I bet soldiers would mutiny too."

Duo smirked. "Yeah… it'd be a real shame if someone leaked that information, wouldn't it? Is that what you got in mind, Heero? Sow a little bit of chaos in ZAFT's ranks as payback for them putting a hit out on Lacus? I'm game!"

Heero shook his head. "That's not my plan, although we could try that down the road. What I was thinking was that, if the regular ZAFT troops don't know about the attempt on her life, then they also don't know that we were the ones who killed the commandos that were trying to carry out the hit. As far as the ZAFT rank and file is concerned, we're still nominal allies thanks to our actions up in orbit. We should exploit that."

"How so?" asked Shemei.

"Eric," said Heero, "Where's the Minerva?"

"According to my sources, she's left Carpentaria," Eric replied, "She's heading west. If I were a betting man, I'd wager she's moving to help with the seizure of the Suez Canal."

Heero nodded. "I see. We haven't heard anything from Wufei since the orbital battle, so I'm willing to bet that he's still with that ship. Given its importance to ZAFT, it'll naturally be at the heart of their next major campaign on the surface."

"That seems like a reasonable enough assumption," said Andrew, "What does it have to do with what you've got in mind?"

Andrew saw the young man's eyes narrowed. "You know what they say; keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. I think it's time for a little Gundam pilot reunion, with the Minerva playing host."

Duo grinned. "I like it!"

Trowa nodded. "So do I."

Quatre smiled. "Given all that's happened, I doubt Durandal will see it coming."

Cagalli emphatically shook her head. "God damn it, you guys are the craziest bastards I've ever met. You're just planning on walking right into the heart of enemy territory and landing on their prized battleship? You're just begging for Durandal to capture you!"

"Cagalli's right," said Kira, "It's way too dangerous!"

"You are all far too important to our efforts in this war to risk your detention like this," said Lacus, "Not to mention we cannot give Durandal's administration access to your Gundams!"

"We were able to keep their hands off our machines before," Heero countered, "The threat of the Gundams self-destructing within the Minerva's hangar worked just fine up in orbit. I see no reason why it won't work again."

"How about because this time Durandal considers you guys to be his enemies?" Lan argued, "I mean, you did wipe the floor with his black ops goons, after all."

"This won't be like Armory One," said Priscilla, "Durandal will be much warier about having you onboard the Minerva."

"They're both right," Adaline concurred, "Do you really think that Durandal won't put two and two together? He'll know that you're on his military's prize battleship for more than just to take the fight to the Earth Alliance."

Heero nodded. "I'm sure he'll be able to figure out our real intentions, but that won't do him any good. The Minerva's heading for some heavy fighting and will need all the help it can get. The Captain's already seen what we're capable of; she won't turn us away."

"Durandal could order her to do so," Murrue countered, "He is the head of the PLANTs, after all. What's to stop him from having you detained?"

"As far as the crew of the Minerva's concerned, we've only attacked Earth Alliance forces in this war so far," Heero replied, "If Durandal orders Captain Gladys to have us arrested after we've come to offer aid, that will draw unwanted attention. His soldiers will start asking questions, and there's nothing to stop me from revealing the attempt on Lacus's life if they decide to conduct an interrogation."

"It would be your word against that of their leader," said Aisha, "Why would they give your testimony any credence under such circumstances?"

"They don't have to completely believe my testimony for it to have an effect," Heero argued, "The notion alone that Durandal would order Lacus assassinated would be enough to sow the seeds of doubt. Durandal would be well aware of that, which is why I believe he'll tread cautiously once he learns that we've landed on the Minerva. He'll seek to use us for his short-term advantage while finding a way to deal with us later; we'll simply be playing the same game."

Murrue sighed. "What you're saying makes sense, but that doesn't mean I have to like it. There's a lot that can go wrong here."

Natarle nodded. "Murrue's right. This could go sideways in a hurry, and depending on where you are when the shit hits the fan we might not be able to play the role of cavalry to cover whatever escape plan you boys cook up."

La Flaga smiled. "Maybe, but if things go south and I had to bet on who would come out on top, my chips would go to Heero. I remember you leading the way when we stormed the Dominion two years ago. If you could bust into the flagship of the Alliance armada, then you could break out of ZAFT's shiny new battleship, especially since you've got more of your old team with you."

Shemei chuckled. "It's ballsy, but that seems to be a hallmark for any plan that involves Gundam pilots. I say we throw the dice; I want to see how you play this, Heero."

Eric nodded. "Same here. It's a gamble, but we've grown pretty used to making those. If you're looking for someone to sign off on this scheme of yours, I'll back it."

Andrew smirked. "As will I. The five of you Gundam pilots were unstoppable up in orbit. We need to get you all fighting together again, and this is as good a way as any to do it. Besides, I'm sure Wufei's heard a few interesting things in his time aboard the Minerva that he'd care to share with us."

Heero shook his head. "I wouldn't be so sure of that. Wufei's a brilliant fighter, but he's not a spy. Espionage and infiltration are beneath his sense of honor and justice. Whatever knowledge he shares with us will only be given if it does not violate his personal code."

Duo sighed. "That guy… I swear, he really needs to learn to pull that stick out of his ass."

Trowa shrugged. "He is who he is. All we can do is act accordingly."

"We'll figure out how to get Wufei in on this when the time comes," said Quatre, "In the meantime, we need to prepare for our new mission."

"And we need to find a way to make sure that you boys have some form of support," said Murrue firmly, "I may not like this mission, but I'll go along with it. However, I refuse to have my ship stand idly by while you take this gamble."

Natarle nodded. "Same here. There has to be some way that the Archangel and Dominion can provide support for this operation, even if it's merely logistical."

"What if we tailed from a distance?" asked La Flaga, "These ships are pretty sneaky underwater, after all."

"That'll work up until we reach the Red Sea," said Cagalli, "but there's no way we'll be able to slip them through the canal zone undetected."

"Perhaps we won't have to," Lacus chimed in, "There is no guarantee that we'll have to bring them into the Mediterranean, after all."

"I'm pretty sure we will at some point, given that the action is shifting out there," said Kira, "We'll figure out how to do that when the time comes."

Andrew nodded. "Indeed. I think that's enough for now. We've got a lot of prep work to do and not much time to do it."

"When will you set out, Heero?" asked Murrue.

Andrew watched as the young man's brow furrowed in thought. "Tomorrow morning. It won't take us long to catch up to the Minerva in the mobile suits, but the warships will have to work for it. It'll be good if we spend today having the Archangel and Dominion start to close the gap."

"Sounds good to me," said Duo, "It'll give us a little more time to rest up first."

"Not to mention make sure our Gundams our properly serviced before we head out," Trowa added, "This will likely be an extended operation, after all."

Quatre smiled. "It'll be interesting to catch up with the crew of the Minerva. I hope they're doing all right."

"Please, they've already got one of you boys with them making sure that they don't get blown up," said Lan with a smirk, "I'm sure they're doing fine."

"Does it have to just be the four of you that go?" ask Priscilla, "Maybe one of us should tag along too."

Adaline shook her head. "It's better this way. We need to balance out our forces since we'll be losing Heero and the other pilots from his world for a while. The rest of us have to stay behind."

Dearka gave Heero a nod. "Don't do anything stupid while you're gone, all right? It'll be a hell of a lot harder for Yzak and I to protect this ship long-term if you and Wing Zero go and get yourselves messed up."

"Thanks for the concern," Heero quipped dryly.

Yzak's eyes narrowed. "Aren't we forgetting someone in all of this? What about Athrun? He's back with ZAFT, right? He might be able to help with this plan of ours if we can get in touch with him."

Eric shook his head. "We'd have to find him first, and I'm afraid that's a case of easier said than done; my sources lost track of him after the orbital battle. I know that he survived the fight, but I can't say if he's still up in orbit or down on the surface now."

Cagalli sighed. "I hope he's okay. He'd better not do anything stupid."

"One could say that he's already done that, given the fact that he's back with ZAFT," said Heero grimly, "He played right into Durandal's hand with that move."

Cagalli glared at him. "Heero! You're not helping!"

"It's the truth," he replied casually, "You know it just as well as I do."

"You could still be a little nicer about it, Heero," Murrue gently chided him.

Heero nodded. "You're right. Joining back up with ZAFT wasn't his smartest move, but Athrun's still sharp enough to at least keep himself alive. Wherever he's at right now, I'm sure he's fine."

Cagalli smiled. "I hope you're right."

"We'll find a way to get in touch with him eventually," said Andrew, "For now, we've got enough on our plate to deal with. I think we've been here long enough. We all know what needs to be done, so let's get to work!"

….

October 29th, C.E. 73

"I still think that this is a bad idea," said Murrue.

Heero nodded as he opened the door to the hangar. "It very well could be. We're going through with it all the same."

Murrue sighed as she followed him towards his Gundam. "Please tell me this mission isn't all just some secret macho scheme you cooked up because you want to prove something to me. You're already the bravest man I've ever met; you've pulled enough crazy stunts in the time I've known you to blow away the competition."

Heero couldn't help but smirk slightly at that. "Come on, Murrue. You know me better than that."

Murrue smiled. "I suppose I do. You know that I've always got your back, and that'll never change, but that doesn't mean I can't protest when you come up with a reckless plan."

"I know," said Heero, reaching over and grabbing her hand, "Believe it or not, I really don't like making you worry like this. If I could come up with safer plans, I would. I guess I'm hardwired for a bit of risk at this point; old habits die hard."

Murrue squeezed his hand as they came up to Wing Zero. "Yes… and as much as it worries me, I wouldn't have you any other way."

They turned to face each other, and Murrue took him into a tight embrace. "Be careful, all right? The second things look like they might go sideways, I want you to contact us, you got that?"

"Will do," Heero replied, "Just make sure not to follow too closely; if the Archangel and Dominion are detected, then this whole plan could go up in smoke."

Murrue nodded. "I'll try to keep a reasonable distance. It'll be tough to strike the right balance, but I'm sure we'll find a way. We always do."

Heero gave her a small smile. "Even knowing that you're just a call away, I'm going to miss you."

Murrue leaned in to kiss him. "Same here. Watch your back out there, and make sure that you come back to me. I won't accept anything less."

Heero nodded. "Roger that."

….

All right, thought Quatre as he looked up at his Gundam, I guess it's time to get this show on the road.

"Just where do you think you're going?" asked a familiar female voice.

Quatre turned and smiled as he saw Lan approaching him. "On a mission, remember? I'm pretty sure we had a briefing about this yesterday."

"Oh, I remember," said Lan with a smirk, "What I don't remember is giving you permission to leave before I could give you a proper sendoff."

"You mean last night didn't count?" asked Quatre with a laugh.

"Not quite," Lan replied with a wink, "Although, that's not to say that I didn't enjoy every second of it."

She looped her arms over his shoulders and pulled him in for a kiss. Quatre readily gave himself over to it, not caring if anyone else in the hangar was watching.

Eventually they parted for air, although Lan still held him close. "I wish you could stick around a little longer. I really do love your company."

"Believe me," said Quatre, "the feeling's mutual. You're… you're quite a woman, Lan."

Lan giggled. "You really are a sweetheart, you know that?"

Quatre laughed. "So you keep telling me."

"Only because it's true," said Lan, her smile becoming less playful and instead took on a gentler feel, "Take care of yourself out there, all right? I know you're a good fighter, but still… don't get careless."

Quatre nodded. "I'll be careful."

Lan sighed wistfully. "You Gundam pilots… you boys really know how to play with a woman's heart, you know that?"

Quatre was a bit startled. "What do you mean? Did I do something wrong?"

Lan shook her head. "No, it's just… well, I remember when I first saw you and thought that I'd enjoy a casual fling, but… you've grown on me. Now you're heading off on an extended operation while I'm stuck here… it's gonna suck not having you around, Quatre."

Quatre gave her an apologetic smile. "For what it's worth, I'll miss you too, Lan. The time we've spent together… it's been incredible."

Lan leaned over and gave him a quick peck on the cheek. "Don't talk like that, sweetheart; it's not over yet. You're gonna make it back in one piece even if I have to storm that ship and drag you out of there."

"Hopefully it won't come to that," said Quatre.

Lan winked. "Well, if it does, then I can't wait to be the one to save your ass. Good luck out there, Quatre. Kick some ass for me, all right?"

Quatre nodded. "You got it."

….

Standing in the CIC of the carrier John Paul Jones, Colonel Nazara studied the display. "The squadron from the Eurasian Federation is in position?"

One of the analysts nodded. "They're holding at the designated point per our request. Satellite reconnaissance shows that the Minerva has already altered course as a result."

Behind the mask, Nazara's eyes narrowed. "Northwest or Southwest?"

"Northwest," the analyst replied, "It would seem that they don't want to lose time on the journey to the canal zone."

Nazara smiled. "Of course, they don't. Too bad for them they're about to lose much more time now than they would've if they'd gone south. In fact, they're going to run out of time entirely."

You tried to thread the needle and failed, Coordinator scum, he thought in satisfaction, Minerva… I really should thank you for so eagerly playing into my hand.

"Put all units on standby alert," he ordered, "and get me the Crew Chief."

A separate officer nodded at a nearby screen a moment later. "You're live, Colonel."

The grizzled face of the carrier's head mechanic appeared on the monitor. "What can I do for you, Colonel?"

"The components that were shipped out here from the Anaheim labs," said Nazara, "Were you able to finish installing them on the Nosferatu?"

The Crew Chief nodded. "All the modifications are complete. Your machine's ready to sortie whenever you are, Colonel."

Nazara nodded. "Good. I suspect that will be quite soon. Carry on."

He smirked as he studied the display again. Today's battle wouldn't be enough to make up for the humiliation he had suffered at the hands of the Coordinators during the attack on the PLANTs, but it would be a start. Their prized battleship's luck would run out today, and that would be just the first step on his path to renewed glory and power.

He couldn't wait to get the show underway.

….

"So far, so good," said Arthur.

Talia turned to her sensor operator. "Is that Eurasian squadron still maintaining their current position?"

The officer she'd addressed nodded. "Aye, Captain! No movement detected from them."

"Good," she said.

They had to have detected us, though, she thought, which means that other Earth Alliance forces operating in the area will be attempting to intercept us now. In fact, it's odd that the Eurasian group didn't move to do that. Granted, it's only a handful of warships, and they probably know that they lack the firepower to take us on in a straight-up fight, but still… something's off about this.

In the interest of keeping their route as short as possible while still avoiding direct contact with the enemy, Talia had ordered the Minerva and her escorts to alter course to the northwest. They were still in the open sea, but they were uncomfortably close to the southern tip of the Indian subcontinent. Officially, the region was neutral, but Talia doubted that the Orb Union was the only unaligned nation that the Earth Alliance had put pressure on. It was impossible to say how local forces might react to a ZAFT flotilla skirting so close to their territorial waters. She was particularly worried about the Maldives island chain; its location in relation to the Minerva's new course made it a perfect staging ground for an attack.

"Meyrin," she said, "Any word from the Nyiragongo or the Whakaari?"

The red-headed young woman shook her head. "They're not reporting any potential signs of hostile activity, Captain."

"Did we luck out?" she heard Arthur mutter.

It was at that moment the sensor operator sounded the alarm. "Hold on… contacts detected! Multiple mobile suit squadrons approaching from our two o'clock! IFF signatures confirm Earth Alliance forces!"

You just had to say it, Arthur, she silently fumed, I guess that's just our luck…

"All hands, Level One Battle Stations!" Talia ordered, "Identify unit types and relay the information to our pilots! Get all our mobile suits out there right away!"

Time to run the gauntlet…

….

"How many are out there, Meyrin?" asked Shinn as he ran through his pre-flight checklist.

"Several squadrons at least," she replied, "We've got over thirty machines to deal with, and that's just a rough guess. Watch your back out there, Shinn!"

Shinn nodded. "I will."

"By the way," she added, "the Captain wanted me to tell you that Athrun has operational command over you, Lunamaria, and Rey due to his FAITH status."

Shinn's eyes widened. "What? Hey, what about Wufei? You didn't mention him?"

"Wufei's not a member of ZAFT and falls outside of our command structure," said Meyrin, "This isn't the time for a debate, Shinn!"

That was unusually forceful for the normally shy girl, but Shinn knew that she had a point; a battlefield was no place for an argument between comrades. "Fine, then."

The lights along the side of the catapult went from red to green, and Meyrin gave him the go-ahead. "Shinn Asuka, you are clear for launch!"

Shinn nodded. "Core Splendor, launching!"

The jet fighter shot into the sky, and Shinn swiftly oriented the craft to link up with the rest of the Impulse's components. Today he'd be utilizing the Force Silhouette pack due to its greater mobility; that would be crucial for intercepting the incoming mobile suits. A few moments later his machine was fully assembled, and not a moment too soon; Shinn could've sworn that the ranks of the enemy Windams spread as far as the eye could see. They were all outfitted with Jet Striker packs, which meant that not only would they be highly maneuverable but that their standard armaments would be augmented with rocket pods, air-to-air and air-to-surface missiles.

Not a Dagger-L in sight, he thought, I guess they're really pushing Windam production into high-gear now. This won't be easy.

Athrun and Wufei were already in the air, and a moment later Shinn saw Rey and Lunamaria launch and take up positions on the upper hull of the Minerva. At the same time, both the Nyiragongo and the Whakaari had come up to the surface, exposing themselves so that they could launch their aerial mobile suits to help defend the Minerva before slipping back beneath the waves. From each vessel flew six purple and black mobile suits with yellow and red trim; AMA-953 BABIs.

A successor unit to the older AMF-101 DINN, the BABI embraced ZAFT's new emphasis on versatility in its latest mobile suit models. A broad wing was mounted on its back, and when the mobile suit shifted into its mobile armor form the weapons attached to the edge of that wing could be brought to bear on the enemy. These included two QFJ91 12-barrel missile launchers and four MMI-GAU2436 22.5mm 4-barrel machine guns, with each weapon capable of attacking both air and surface targets. Fixed in the mobile suit's chest was an MGX-2237 Ardor multi-phase beam cannon, by far the unit's single strongest weapon. Rounding out the arsenal were the MA-M343 beam rifle and the MMI-M182 aerial gun-launcher, with each hand of the mobile suit holding one of these weapons. For all its artillery and mobility, however, the mobile suit lacked any sort of melee weaponry. It would be up to Shinn, Athrun, and Wufei to make sure that the enemy wasn't given a chance to exploit that vulnerability. They would be the tip of the spear, while the BABIs would form the second line of defense.

As soon as the twelve BABIs were in the air, the two Vosgulov-class submarine/carriers began to slip back beneath the waves. If they hadn't already, Shinn new that they would be launching their UMF-5 ZnOs to contend with potential underwater threats. Each ship carried four of these units, and Shinn hoped that they would be enough to contend with whatever the Earth Alliance chose to send against them beneath the waves.

If it's just the old Aqua Dart attack mini-subs, we shouldn't have a problem, he thought, I mean, the only thing that model's any good for is swarm attacks.

"We'll have to watch each other's backs to get through this," said Athrun, "Remember, our only objective is to protect the Minerva, so don't stray too far from her. We just need to fend off the enemy's attacks until she's out of their effective combat range."

Shinn nodded. "Roger that."

"Sounds good to me," said Wufei.

"We'll back you guys up from down here!" called Lunamaria.

"Affirmative," said Rey, "We're ready to provide support fire, Athrun."

"Good," the FAITH operative replied, "We'll try out best to keep them off you, but you'll probably have company soon."

"Heads up!" called Wufei, "They're coming in!"

The sky lit up with particle beams and missiles as the Windams opened fire. Shinn, Athrun, and Wufei scattered to avoid the barrage, and the young ZAFT Red brought up his rifle a moment later. He let fly with a quick volley, and was satisfied to see his shots blow a Windam out of the sky.

One down, he thought as he weaved through the storm of fire, and a lot more to go!

Bring it on!

….

All right, thought Athrun as he lined up his opening shot, I suppose it's time to see what the Saviour can do in the field. Here we go.

His fingers tightening on the triggers, he cut loose with the mobile suit's Amfortas plasma cannons. Slung under the shoulders, the two guns sent lances of crimson energy across the sky, and two Windams were blown apart by the shots. Knowing that the mobile suit's heavy weapons wouldn't be quite as useful once the fighting became a close-quarters affair, Athrun sent the plasma cannons back into their standby position before drawing the Saviour's beam saber and rifle.

While he and Shinn had already drawn blood against the enemy, there were still more than enough Windams in the sky to make their life difficult. As he weaved through the waves of particle beam fire and missiles the Earth Alliance units sent his way, Athrun tried to find the source of the mobile suits but could not detect any nearby carriers. Either the vessels that the units had launched from were beyond sensor range, or the mobile suits had deployed from one of the islands in the area.

This is supposed to be neutral territory, he mused, but I suppose it's possible the Alliance has a secret base set up out here. It's not like any of the locals would have the muscle needed to keep them out.

Athrun and Shinn weren't the only ones trading fire with the enemy; the twelve BABIs that had launched from the Vosgulov-class ships escorting the Minerva were also cutting loose with their artillery. He was pleased to see that their pilots had decent aim; the beams and shells they unleashed on the enemy in their opening salvo had scored hits, damaging or knocking Windams out of the sky. Unfortunately, the pilots of the BABIs weren't quite as skilled as Athrun, Shinn, and Wufei when it came to avoiding damage; one of the machines was already spiraling down towards the waves thanks to a particle beam blowing its right wing off.

Wufei chose that moment to rush forward, and Athrun wasn't about to stop him; Altron was built for close-quarters combat, so the sooner the Gundam pilot got into melee range, the better. He saw the green mobile suit go low, skimming just above the waves and weaving through enemy fire. The Gundam suddenly went into a climb and let fly with one of its Dragon Fangs, crushing a Windam and sending the remains down to the sea. Then the double-ended beam trident whirled like an emerald cyclone, and two more Earth Alliance mobile suits were torn to shreds.

Gunning his engines, Athrun met a Windam head-on. Blocking the mobile suit's beam saber slash on the Saviour's shield, the FAITH operative then made a forward thrust. His violet blade skewered the Windam's cockpit, and the machine exploded a moment later. Athrun didn't have time to celebrate; a volley of particle beams forced him to dive, but he came back up a moment later with a salvo of his own. The rain of emerald fire he unleashed ripped one Windam apart and blew the left leg off of another.

Progress, he thought as he weaved through enemy fire, but we've still got plenty more to go.

As he scanned the battlefield, he couldn't help but feel like something was out of place. The Windam squadrons had all come in from the west, but if Athrun were the enemy commander he wouldn't attack from just one direction. The Earth Alliance had always had numbers on its side, so dividing up their forces and making flanking attacks shouldn't have been an issue. Of course, Athrun had no way to know for sure just how many units the enemy had in the local area; it was possible that these Windams were the whole of the hostile force that they'd have to contend with today, and that their commander had simply opted for a head-on attack.

Athrun didn't think he and his comrades were facing that, though. His instincts were telling him that this was just the opening move, and that the enemy had yet to play their full hand.

What other cards were the Alliance forces still hiding in this battle?

….

Worthless, thought Wufei with disdain as he tore through the enemy ranks like a buzz saw, I shouldn't be surprised, but still…

He hadn't expected much from the rank and file Earth Alliance troops going into this fight, and so far, their performance was only validating that assumption. The fact that the enemy pilots were flying new mobile suits meant nothing when they lacked the skill to take full advantage of all the capabilities their machines had to offer. By mass production standards, Wufei would freely admit that the Windam was an impressive specimen with a great deal of potential, but it was wasted on the cannon fodder that he was currently butchering.

His left Dragon Fang slammed into an enemy mobile suit's cockpit, crushing the armor and sending the machine plummeting towards the waves. Whirling his double-ended beam trident, Wufei then cut down two more Windams in rapid succession. A volley of particle beam fire forced him to take evasive action, but he quickly zeroed in on his attacker and took them down with a swift and merciless thrust.

Was it really only rank and file pilots and Windams that he would find on this battlefield today? As he effortlessly weaved through enemy fire, Wufei took a moment to evaluate the combat zone as a whole. His comrades didn't appear to be having too much trouble, and he would allow himself a bit of admiration for Athrun in particular; the FAITH operative was putting the Saviour through its paces, picking off Alliance machines with the methodical precision of a seasoned veteran. His movements were efficient, and his situation awareness appeared to be second to none. Were they on opposing sides, Wufei would've already been making a beeline for him to put his skills to the test.

Perhaps a simulator match is in order later, he mused as he sliced a Windam in half, I suppose that'll be the closest I come to finding a worthy opponent out here…

He was less impressed with Shinn, although Wufei would begrudgingly admit that the boy had made some small measure of improvement since the battle on the edge of Orb's territorial waters. The ZAFT Red was showing a little more discipline, and he was making steady progress against the Windams, taking down one after another with either his rifle or his beam saber, but Wufei could still spot flaws in his technique. He was overly aggressive, his spatial awareness needed work, and he seemed more fixated on trying to prove himself to others than on his mission as a whole. Were it not for the power granted to him by the Impulse, the boy's fighting style would've gotten him killed several times over by now. For the moment, though, Shinn was holding his own, and that would have to be enough.

Despite the success Wufei, Athrun, and Shinn were having against the attacking squadrons, the sheer weight of numbers meant that the three of them could not hold them all back. Several machines were able to bypass them, but they soon found themselves confronted with the eleven surviving BABI mobile suits. Their pilots were decent as far as regular troops went, but Wufei disdained the fact that their units lacked any sort of melee weaponry. It was a weakness that the Earth Alliance pilots were learning to exploit; although the BABI could hold its own at mid and long-range, the Windams were moving in swiftly in an effort to carve into the ZAFT machines with their beam sabers. Although several of the Alliance suits were shot down before they could close the gap, a handful were able to successfully get into saber range and cut down the ZAFT units in their way. Soon eleven BABIs became ten… then nine… then eight… then seven.

"Damn it," hissed Athrun over the tactical channel, "They're getting picked off!"

"We have to help them!" cried Shinn, "We can't let them all get killed!"

"We need to do our job," said Wufei coolly as he crushed a Windam with one of his Dragon Fangs, "They have their mission and we have ours."

"Shit," groaned Athrun as he picked off another machine with his beam rifle, "I really wish you weren't right about that."

"Fuck!" Shinn snarled as he sliced a Windam in half, "I hate this!"

"Battle requires difficult choices," said Wufei as he impaled a mobile suit, "Any real warrior knows this. Besides, they're not the final line of defense."

That was certainly true. Fire from the Minerva's 40mm CIWS was already filling the sky, and that was augmented by volleys of Dispar interceptor missiles. The battleship's anti-air weaponry was further enhanced through fire from Lunamaria's Gunner ZAKU Warrior and Rey's Blaze ZAKU Phantom. Try as the Earth Alliance pilots might, they couldn't pierce this last line of defense, although it wasn't for lack of trying.

If more enemy pilots get through, that'll change, he thought as he sliced a Windam in half, It's our job to make sure that the numbers facing our rear defenders aren't overwhelming. We're doing all right so far, but the battle's still young. Our fortunes can turn at any time…

….

"It's a real dogfight up there," muttered Saleh al-Fulan as he studied the main bridge monitor.

A First Generation Coordinator in his early thirties, Saleh was the Captain of the Vosgulov-class carrier/submarine Whakaari. He certainly felt older than that; commanding a vessel was a stressful occupation for any sane man, and he was sometimes surprised that his black hair hadn't started turning grey by now. His dark brown eyes had a grim edge to them as he observed the unfolding battle on the display; three of the BABI pilots under his command had perished, and there was little he could do but pray for the survival of the remaining three pilots.

Watching the sky is not your duty, he mentally chided himself, It is your responsibility to guard against threats coming from beneath the waves. Mourn the dead when the battle is over.

As ferocious as the fighting topside was, things were much quieter underwater. Saleh had ordered his ZnO pilots to report in at regular intervals, and he was sure that the commanding officer of the Nyiragongo had given the same instructions to that ship's underwater units. So far, there had been no signs of enemy submarine activity, and Saleh was beginning to think that they had gotten off easy; if the Alliance was only attacking on the surface, then beating them back would be a much more straightforward affair.

Of course, that was the moment that his radio officer chose to prove him wrong. "Captain, our pilots are reporting eight enemy contacts off our starboard bow!"

Saleh was puzzled. "Only eight? That's not enough Aqua Darts to take on our mobile suits."

"The Neurath Team reports that the contacts aren't Aqua Darts," the officer replied, "They're mobile suits!"

Saleh's eyes widened. "Show me!"

A new image appeared on the monitor a moment later, and Saleh cursed his luck. He'd seen intelligence briefings about this unit, but from what he'd heard it had only just gone into mass production, and he certainly hadn't been expecting to be encountering them out here.

Of all the rotten luck, he silently fumed, I can't believe we have to go up against a group of Deep Forbiddens…

Based off of the advanced prototype GAT-X252 Forbidden that the Earth Alliance had fielded in the latter campaigns of the First Bloody Valentine War, the GAT-706S Deep Forbidden had been developed as the Atlantic Federation's first mass production amphibious combat mobile suit. A white and blue machine, the mobile suit mounted a special backpack similar to the original Forbidden that folded over the unit's head when it entered its high-speed assault configuration. A large pod was mounted on each side of the pack, and within each pod was a set of Nidhoggr scythe-blades that formed formidable pincers designed to rip hostile machines apart. A single phonon maser was also mounted on the pack and usable only in the high-speed assault configuration, and it was the unit's sole ranged weapon. A trident rounded out the unit's armaments.

The reason the Forbidden had been chosen as the template for a mass production amphibious unit was the discovery that its Geschmeidig Panzer energy deflection system could be repurposed for providing a mobile suit with underwater propulsion while at the same time counteracting heavy water pressure. In the event that the system failed, the cockpit had been given a reinforced titanium shell to ensure the survival of the pilot. ZAFT had no recorded combat data of the machine, which made Saleh very nervous about going up against a group of them.

We have greater experience with underwater mobile suit combat, he told himself, I just hope that's enough for us to prevail. Damn whoever was working logistics and didn't send any of the new ASH units our way! I don't know if the ZnO is cut out for a fight against a machine as advanced as this…

It was too late to complain, though. Saleh's pilots would have to make do with the venerable ZnO. However, he would make sure that they weren't fighting without backup.

"Acquire targets and fire torpedoes!" he ordered, "Coordinate our spread with our pilots! We'll give them as much support fire as we can."

"Aye, Captain," the weapons officer replied.

And so our part in this battle begins…

….

"Shit!" hissed Lunamaria as her latest shot missed its mark, "I hate these new Windams! They're too damn agile!"

"Keep your cool and focus," Rey gently admonished her as he picked an enemy machine off with a volley of rifle fire, "Getting frustrated is just going to throw your aim off."

Easy for him to say, she silently fumed, I've never seen anything make him lose his cool…

She had to admit that Rey's point was valid, though; letting herself get mad wasn't going to help her take down the enemy. Shinn might be able to make his anger work for him on the battlefield, but Lunamaria just wasn't wired that way. She was actually rather grateful for that; she didn't want to think about the kind of stupid moves she might make if she was as hotheaded as her friend.

"All right, then," she muttered after taking a deep breath and sighting in on a new target, "Let's take it from the top."

A moment later she squeezed the trigger, sending a fresh lance of crimson energy skyward. This time her aim was true, and her shot pierced a Windam right through the torso and blew the mobile suit to flaming bits. Lunamaria didn't have time to celebrate, though; there were plenty more where that one had come from.

The Alliance forces never lack for numbers, she thought, I know our philosophy is quality over quantity, but it'd be nice to have both.

Things could've been worse; the amount of Windams that had made it through to take a direct shot at the Minerva was actually quite small when compared to all the machines that the forward fighters had to deal with. Athrun, Shinn and Wufei were holding their own up front, serving as a trio of deadly gatekeepers for the Alliance forces to contend with. The BABIs from the two submarine/carriers were still providing supporting fire and a second line of defense as well, although there were now only six of them left. All things considered, Lunamaria and Rey actually had the best position on the battlefield; right on top of the Minerva, supplementing her considerable anti-air armaments with the firepower their mobile suits had available.

Just because it was the best position didn't mean it was one that Lunamaria wanted to be in, though. Yes, she knew it was important to protect the ship, and since her little sister was serving on the bridge crew she had a very personal incentive to defend it, but what Lunamaria really wanted was to get out in front with Shinn, Athrun and Wufei. She knew that she could do more good offensively than defensively, but unfortunately her Gunner ZAKU Warrior was at a considerable handicap when it came to combat on the Earth's surface. The lack of independent flight put her at a serious disadvantage when it came to going up against the units fielded by the Alliance, so the best way for her to make up for that was to work closely with Rey and the Minerva.

"Come on, you bastards," she muttered as she zeroed in on another target, "You want a piece of me? Take this!"

A fresh lance of crimson energy raced through the air, and a second later it tore apart a Windam. Several emerald particle beams from Rey's rifle went flying as well, and another Alliance mobile suit took a hit to the thrusters and went plummeting towards the waves. That didn't buy them much respite, though; more hostile machines were moving in to take their shots at the Minerva.

"Damn it!" she snarled, "Just where are all these guys coming from?"

"There could be a secret base on one of the islands in the area," Rey suggested as he picked off a fresh machine, "Either that, or there are multiple carriers operating just outside of our sensor range."

"With our luck, probably both," Lunamaria quipped as she shot down another Windam.

It wasn't just the sky above the Minerva that was full of threats to the battleship; although Lunamaria's attention had been focused on her duty as an anti-air unit, her sensors were telling her that a fierce underwater battle was unfolding as well. Occasionally she caught hints of torpedo tracks that were barely visible beneath the waves, and from the comm chatter she could overhear it sounded like the ZnOs that had launched from the two Vosgulov-class submarine/carriers were fighting tooth and nail.

If we clear the skies, I might be able to help them, she thought, I know the Gunner ZAKU's not meant for underwater combat, but if I ditch the rifle to reduce the weight I could use my tomahawk; I just can't ignite the beam down there.

She shook her head. Right now, she had her orders, and those were to defend the Minerva against the attacking Windams. As badly as she might want to help out her allies that were fighting beneath the waves, she could not abandon her post. All she could do was fight as hard as she could and defeat the Windams as quickly as possible so that she might be able to lend her comrades engaged in the underwater battle some assistance once the aerial threat had been eliminated.

Keep it together, Luna, she told herself, Your little sister and your friends are counting on you!

It's your job to protect them, and you're going to do just that!

….

Talia braced herself against the arm of hair chair as the Minerva took a fresh hit. "Report!"

"Armor took the hit!" the damage control officer replied, "We're good!"

For now, she thought with a grimace, but knowing our luck, that'll change all too soon…

All things considered, Talia supposed that the battle was unfolding rather well. ZAFT's prize battleship and her escorts may have wandered straight into an ambush, but they were holding their own against their attackers. With enemies striking from above and below, Talia knew that her crew getting through this engagement was far from a sure thing, but she was determined to take her best shot at it all the same.

Underwater combat was not her specialty, so she had given the Captains of the Nyiragongo and Whakaari free reign to handle the engagement beneath the waves. Others might've considered that to be her dodging her responsibilities, but Talia felt otherwise; it would not do anyone any good for her to interfere in an area that wasn't her specialty. So far, her decision appeared to be paying off; the two submarine/carriers and their mobile suit pilots were putting up fierce resistance against the attacking Deep Forbiddens, but not without cost; three ZnOs had already been lost in order to take down the same number of Deep Forbiddens, and the battle was far from over.

The aerial engagement was an area where she could make a much more active contribution, and Talia was making sure that her ship was doing just that. Streams of shells from the CIWS filled the sky, and when combined with interceptor missiles and supplemental fire from Lunamaria and Rey it made for a formidable anti-air umbrella. Unfortunately, it wasn't a completely seamless defense, as the hits the Minerva had taken so far attested to.

Things could've been worse, of course. The airborne mobile suits fighting for the Minerva had blunted the Earth Alliance's assault and were taking up the bulk of the enemy's attention. There were still six BABIs left in the fight, and while their pilots were making a good accounting for themselves, it was really the Impulse, Saviour, and Altron that anchored the defense. Talia hadn't been entirely sure what to expect from Athrun's new machine, but she was very pleased with the performance that it was putting on now. The Saviour was swift and powerful, and when combined with a veteran ace such as Athrun it was a formidable unit. It was easy to forget that it was actually a battery-powered machine like the Impulse; with the way Athrun was making it practically dance through the sky and take down one Windam after another, Talia would've forgiven someone for assuming that such a sophisticated and powerful machine was nuclear-powered instead of running on a lesser energy source.

The Impulse and the Altron were likewise showing their worth yet again, and Talia would privately admit that she was impressed by how Shinn's abilities in particular continued to grow with every engagement. Of course, she was still wary given his blatant disregard for her orders in the previous battle, but for now it was enough to see that he was holding his own and keeping the enemy forces occupied. Wufei was as formidable as ever, and was tearing through any Earth Alliance machine that was unfortunate enough to cross his path. Talia almost felt sorry for the pilots that had to go up against him; the Altron's overwhelming dominance in close-quarters combat made it a daunting foe under even the best circumstances, and Wufei was ripping apart his opponents with ruthless efficiency today.

If this is all we have to contend with today, then we should be all right, she thought, I know we've taken some losses, but given that we weren't the ones that initiated this engagement, we're doing remarkably well.

Of course, that was when Lady Luck chose to slap her in the face.

"New contacts detected!" shouted the sensor operator, "They're coming in from the north! I've got at least two full squadrons, and they're not just Windams!"

Talia's eyes widened. "Show me!"

A new image appeared on the monitor, and Talia mentally cursed when she saw it. This new attack force included several Windams, but there were also some much more sophisticated units along for the ride. It wasn't hard for Talia to spot Desperado's contribution; the black and red Ronin was impossible to miss. Having to face off against one of the notorious Winds of Destruction was bad enough, but it got worse when Talia also spotted the Gaia flying with this new strike force.

The bad news didn't end there; she also realized that the violet gunbarrel unit from the engagements up in orbit was present as well. Even worse, it appeared to have been upgraded; it now sported a rather sinister-looking cannon on its left shoulder, with two elongated rail extensions after the main barrel came to an end. Talia didn't know what sort of weapon this was, but she doubted it would be anything pleasant for her pilots to go up against.

As if to rub salt in the wound, that still wasn't the end of it; she could also see two mobile suits flying with the Gaia that appeared to be black and grey versions of the GAT-X252 Forbidden that the Earth Alliance had fielded in the last war. In addition to the different color scheme for their Trans Phase Shift Armor, the two new machines also differentiated themselves from their predecessor by replacing the old Forbidden's heavy scythe with what appeared to be a staff that ended in a violet beam, while the legs of the mobile suits had been outfitted with additional maneuvering thrusters for increased mobility. Talia wasn't sure what other tricks they might have hidden up their metaphorical sleeves, but she knew they wouldn't be fun for her pilots to engage in battle with.

She knew what she would have to do in order to give her ship and crew a fighting chance at getting through this battle now, but she didn't like it. Additional casualties were unavoidable at this point, and she could only hope that they would not be in vain.

"Meyrin, contact the Altron, Impulse, and Saviour!" she ordered, "Reroute them to deal with the new attack force. The BABIs will have to contend with the remaining Windams from the original Alliance squadrons!"

Meyrin nodded. "Aye, Captain!"

Things are going to get a lot rougher from here on out, she thought grimly, I just hope that we've got what it takes to scrape through this…

….

He's here!

Wufei could hardly contain his excitement when he saw the black and red mobile suit of Samuel Rodrigues amongst the approaching hostile reinforcements. Their last battle up in orbit had never been far from his mind, and now he had the chance for a fresh match handed to him on a silver platter.

There was no way in hell that he was going to pass this up.

He didn't need the instructions from the Minerva to engage the newcomers; he was already gunning his thrusters and racing straight towards them. He wondered if his opponent felt the same surge of adrenaline and excitement racing through his veins. After plowing through hordes of lesser foes, Wufei finally had an adversary to go up against that was capable of providing a good fight. He couldn't ask for more than that.

"Keep away from the Ronin," Wufei told Athrun and Shinn, "That one's mine."

Naturally, Shinn protested, even while he was shooting down a Windam. "Hey! I don't have to take your orders!"

"You do have to take mine," Athrun interjected as he blasted another Earth Alliance machine, his tone brooking no room for argument, "and I'm with Wufei; the Altron will contend with the Ronin. Rodrigues is one of Desperado's Winds of Destruction, a veteran captain and top pilot, so if Wufei can keep him occupied, so much the better for us. You and I will contend with the others, Shinn."

Shinn groaned, but didn't press the matter. "Fine."

"Wufei," said Athrun, "We'll do what we can to deal with the others. However, you might not have the luxury of a one-on-one fight with the Ronin; expect possible hostile interference and watch your back."

"I always do," Wufei replied.

A handful of Windams were between Wufei and his prey. That was the last mistake their pilots would ever make. It only took two Dragon Fang strikes and a whirling beam trident to rip through the lot of them, and then Wufei had a straight shot at the Ronin.

Like clockwork, he heard a familiar voice come over his cockpit speakers. "Well, well… what a pleasant surprise this is, Wufei."

"Same here, Rodrigues," Wufei shot back, "I don't like having unfinished business, so why don't we cut the chatter and get to it?"

The mercenary chuckled. "You took the words right out of my mouth!"

The Ronin's beam katana ignited, and a moment later the two machines were crossing blades. Wufei seized the offensive, whirling his beam trident and hammering his foe with a cyclone of blows from both ends of the weapon. Rodrigues was able to deflect every one of them without taking so much as a scratch on his mobile suit, and his counterattack was equally impressive.

He's even better than last time, thought Wufei with a smirk as he blocked the strikes from the Ronin, I expected nothing less…

There would be no need to worry about friendly forces butting in this time; Lunamaria and Rey were tied up defending the Minerva, the surviving BABIs had the remaining Windams from the first assault group to deal with, while Athrun and Shinn were facing off with the rest of the new strike force. Wufei had Rodrigues all to himself, and while he was mindful of the possibility that another enemy might poke their nose into this fight, that was something that he was prepared to deal with.

For now, he intended to enjoy this rematch to the fullest. As his energy blade clashed with that of the Ronin's, Wufei felt a renewed sense of belonging and purpose that had been impossible to come by in his old world. Once again, the Cosmic Era was proving to the Gundam pilot just why Heero Yuy had taken up residence there; it was a world that was truly capable of providing the foes the likes of them needed to feel alive again.

The peace of the After Colony world had nothing to offer to a man like Wufei.

The wars of the Cosmic Era, on the other hand, had welcomed him with open arms.

….

Carving his way through the Windams with his beam saber, Athrun had his sights set on the violet gunbarrel unit. He had immediately recognized it from the clashes up in orbit, and from the way it had challenged Heero and the Wing Zero Albion he knew that it was only another experienced Gundam pilot like Wufei or himself that would be able to take it on; Shinn would have no chance against it, and the same went for the other ZAFT pilots on the field. He wasn't sure if he could beat it; after all, the machine was nuclear-powered and had a fearsome arsenal. However, Athrun was determined to take a shot at it all the same. The Saviour might not be the Justice that he had flown at the end of the last war, but it was still a formidable and sophisticated machine.

The gun-drones will be the biggest threat, he thought as he stabbed a Windam through the cockpit, I'll have to keep track of those to make sure that they don't flank me.

Indeed, the violet machine was already deploying its attack drones as Athrun made his attack run. The four pods opened fire, filling the sky with emerald particle beams and forcing Athrun to go evasive. Their fire was supplemented by shots from the mobile suit's beam rifle, along with shells from the unit's hip-mounted linear guns. It was the new weapon mounted on the mobile suit's left shoulder that caught Athrun off guard, though; a crimson lance of plasma was unleashed when it opened fire, but when Athrun dived to avoid the shot the beam curved midflight, and he was only narrowly able to avoid it.

"Shit!" he hissed, "Not good!"

He'd seen this before from one of the prototypes the Earth Alliance had deployed in the latter stages of the First Bloody Valentine War, but it had just been a single weapon from one machine. Athrun had hoped that whatever technology was behind such a weapon was too expensive for the Earth Alliance to produce in considerable numbers, and while that still appeared to be the case it was still frustrating to know that he now had to face off against another machine with such a tricky weapon in its arsenal. When combined with the multiple vectors that the gunbarrel drones could attack from, it made engaging this particular machine much more difficult.

So it's got some fancy toys, he thought as he weaved his way through the barrage his foe was sending his way, So do I!

Climbing to give himself room to maneuver, Athrun opened fire with both his beam rifle and the two Super Fortis beam cannons mounted just above the Saviour's shoulders and the heavier Amfortas plasma cannons. The barrage he unleashed wasn't as thick as what the enemy was capable of sending his way, but it was enough to give Athrun a little breathing room. He took advantage of that by gunning his thrusters to close the distance with his foe.

He lashed out with his beam saber as soon as he got the chance. His foe was able to block the blow, but Athrun pressed his attack. He was determined to keep the fight up close and personal with his opponent; it would be the best way to neutralize the advantage that the violet unit's artillery gave it. However, it soon became apparent that this particular Alliance pilot was no slouch when it came to close-quarters combat. Not only were they able to keep Athrun from landing any solid hits, but they were good enough to get in some counterattacks as well.

To make matters worse, it quickly became clear that the pilot of the violet gunbarrel mobile suit had no intention of engaging Athrun in single combat. The FAITH operative was forced to break off and dive when he detected a pair of Windams setting up to attack him from behind. A volley of beam rifle fire was enough for Athrun to send both machines plunging towards the sea, but that was all the violet mobile suit needed to unleash its formidable array of artillery on him.

Whoever this guy is, he's clearly going to make me work for my survival today, Athrun thought as he returned fire, I just hope Shinn's having better luck than I am…

….

Shinn certainly didn't feel like he was having better luck than any of his friends, but that was a matter of perspective. On the one hand, he wasn't going up against the enemy's nuclear-powered machine, which looked even tougher now than it had been the last time he'd seen it. On the other hand, Shinn was now facing off with not only the Gaia but also the two black machines that were accompanying it. The former was formidable enough by itself, but the fact that Shinn had to fight not only that machine but two more advanced units meant that the ZAFT Red had an uphill battle ahead of him.

"Shit!" he snarled as he dived to avoid two curving plasma beams from the black mobile suits, "What the hell are these things?"

The enemy didn't see fit to provide him with an answer. Instead, Shinn had to bring up his beam saber to block a strike from the Gaia. The enemy's strategy for dealing with him was clear enough; the two new mobile suits would bombard him from afar, while the Gaia would hammer him up close. It was quite simple, yet that didn't make it any easier for Shinn to deal with.

This is totally not fair, he mentally fumed as he let loose a volley with his beam rifle, only for the Gaia to dodge and the other two machines to block the shots with their energy-deflection systems, I mean, it'd be one thing if it were just Windams working with the Gaia, but these things? I just can't catch a break…

It wasn't as if he could call for backup, though. From Athrun and Wufei to Lunamaria and Rey to the surviving pilots from the Nyiragongo and Whakaari, all of his comrades had their own problems to deal with. Shinn would have to find a way to make it through this fight by himself, and how he would manage that was something he desperately needed to figure out before the enemy took him down.

If he had an edge over his enemies, it was speed; the Force Impulse was faster and more maneuverable than either the Gaia or the two Forbidden-knockoffs that were fighting alongside it. As long as Shinn was able to play to that strength, he'd be able to keep himself from getting blown out of the sky. Of course, there was a difference between mere survival and actually taking the fight to the enemy.

He would have to do the latter if he wanted to help his friends make it through this fight. Sure, Wufei and Athrun looked like they were doing fine, but everyone else was in trouble. With the Minerva's top three pilots occupied, the rest of the Earth Alliance squadrons now found it much easier to attack ZAFT's prize battleship. The pilots from the Nyiragongo and Whakaari were doing their best, but there were now only five BABIs left in action and Shinn wasn't sure just how much longer they would last. More and more Windams were managing to get through to take shots at the Minerva, and Lunamaria and Rey were hard pressed to keep them at bay. The fact that neither of them had machines that were capable of independent flight just made the situation worse, and not for the first time Shinn cursed the fact that they were now fighting on the surface of the Earth instead of up in space.

Damn it, he thought as he evaded fire from all three of his foes, I know we trained to fight anywhere, but we're at our best when we're operating in outer space! Being down on Earth like this just gives the Alliance the advantage of fighting on their home turf!

He climbed to gain some breathing room, but the enemy simply responded by opening up with everything they had. Evading or blocking the standard particle beams or railgun rounds was simple enough, but it was the curving plasma shots from the two black machines that were the toughest for Shinn to contend with. It took everything he had just to evade those beams, and each time it was by the skin of his teeth. A single slip-up meant the end of the road for him, and the longer the battle wore on the greater the likelihood of him making such a mistake became.

At this rate, it would be a battle of endurance…

…and Shinn knew that he was losing.

….

Nazara chuckled as he traded shots with the crimson ZAFT prototype. "Interesting… it would seem that we missed another machine at Armory One. A rather impressive one, too… and the pilot's no slouch either."

It would be nice to know who he is, the Colonel mused as he unleashed a fresh barrage, I do so love to know the names of the aces that I'm trying to kill…

His opponent's fighting style seemed vaguely familiar, but Nazara couldn't quite place where he'd seen it before. It was possible that he'd observed his foe from a distance in another engagement and hadn't fought them directly, but he would have to check his mobile suit's combat data later to know for sure. Whoever his enemy was, it was clear that they had a considerable degree of combat experience; the fact that they were able to hold their own against a nuclear-powered machine with a battery-powered unit was proof enough of that.

Pulling back to give himself greater freedom with his artillery, he added a blast from the Nosferatu's newest weapon to the rain of fire he was inflicting upon his foe. The plasma cannon mounted upon the mobile suit's left shoulder was actually a stripped-down and modified version of the Hresvelgr plasma cannon that had been used on the original GAT-X252 Forbidden. The two fin-like structures that were attached to the end of the barrel and formed a tuning-fork shape were actually the key emitters for an energy redirection system similar to what had been used on that machine as well, but they were smaller and weaker, capable of bending the weapon's beam but not of deflecting shots fired at the Nosferatu. It was a tradeoff that Nazara was quite satisfied with; he was looking to maximize his mobile suit's offensive capabilities, not give himself another layer of protection beyond the Phase Shift Armor and his unit's maneuverability.

He had actually hoped to test this new weapon against Wing Zero, but for now it was enough for him to employ it against the Saviour and judge its effectiveness. The curving of the beams it fired was impressive, and their performance was equivalent to those fired from the original Forbidden. Were it not for the Saviour's impressive maneuverability and the skills of its pilot, Nazara was sure that he would've landed a hit by now. As it was, the new weapon's lethalness was amplified by the rest of the artillery that the Nosferatu had at its disposal.

"Let's see how long you can keep up this little dance of yours!" he taunted his foe as he opened up with everything he had.

With his current opponent preoccupied by his barrage, Nazara had a moment to evaluate the rest of the battlefield. The overall situation was certainly quite favorable, although there were a few individual sticking points that he wasn't satisfied with. As he'd expected, Rodrigues had engaged the green unit that had joined the Minerva up in orbit, and even now the two pilots were going at it in a ferocious duel. Occasionally a Windam would try to make a flanking attack on the enemy, but the pilot's spatial awareness was as formidable as their mobile suit's armaments, and they were always able to deal with the interloper while at the same time fending off an attack from the Ronin. It was a shame that all efforts to identify that unit's pilot so far had come to naught; Nazara was even more intrigued as to who was flying it than who he was currently fighting.

I daresay that pilot's even better than the one I'm facing off against now, he thought, I'm almost tempted to switch opponents with Rodrigues, although I doubt he'd let me step in; I imagine he'd be reluctant to give up the chance to face off against an adversary of such skill. Still, it'd be nice if he'd spend less time dancing with his opponent and move in for the kill already…

It wasn't ideal for one of his best pilots to be stuck in a duel, but at least Rodrigues was keeping the enigmatic machine and its wielder occupied. Stella was likewise doing that with the Impulse, but unlike Rodrigues, she required assistance. That aid was in the form of the two GAT-X259 Forbidden Lancers. They were mostly carbon copies of the original GAT-X252 Forbidden, with the only real standout differences being the black armor and the beam spears that replaced the metal scythe wielded by the first unit. This change in melee armament had been implemented in order to give the mobile suit a better close-quarters weapon for use against machines with Phase Shift Armor, and if their pilots were good enough Nazara hoped that those beam spears would be impaling the Impulse soon enough.

According to his sensors, the underwater battle was in a state of ferocious stalemate, a situation that was most irritating to him. The eight Deep Forbiddens that had initiated the attack against the Minerva's submerged escorts should've had little difficulty carving their way through the ranks of ZAFT's ZnOs, but apparently these particular Coordinator pilots were made of sterner stuff than the Colonel had expected. Both sides were now down to four underwater mobile suits each, and despite the fact that the Earth Alliance had the more sophisticated units in the battle beneath the waves it was impossible for Nazara to say with certainty just how this part of the engagement would ultimately play out. As much as he hated the Coordinators, he had to admit that their skill in underwater mobile suit combat was proving to be more than enough to make up for the technological gap.

Combat experience still matters, he thought as he dodged return fire from the Saviour, and ZAFT has plenty of it when it comes to mobile suits. It would appear that they were able to hold onto some veteran underwater combatants from the last war, and they're certainly proving their worth now.

The assault on the Minerva herself was gaining ground, but it irked Nazara to see that the battleship was still more or less in one piece. The Windams that had made it through to the warship were relentless in their strafing runs, but the battleship's defenders were throwing up plenty of anti-air fire, and the vessel's weapons were nothing to sneeze at either. Several Windams had already fallen to fire from either the ship or the ZAKUs that augmented its artillery, paying a heavy price for the damage that had been inflicted on the battleship so far. Nazara was confident that today would finally be the day that the Minerva would meet her end, but it was clear that the Coordinators were determined to make the Earth Alliance forces work for it.

"So be it," he muttered as he cut loose with another salvo against the Saviour, "Wounded animals always fight hardest when cornered; Coordinators are no exception."

And he would take great pleasure in delivering the killing blow against this particular beast.

….

"Damn it!" hissed Stella as she crossed beam sabers yet again with the Impulse, "Why won't you die?"

It was getting rather frustrating, having to face the same mobile suit in battle after battle. The prototype should've been dealt with at Armory One, but whether through luck of the skill of its pilot it was still in one piece and causing trouble for Stella and her friends. She was determined to take it down here and now, but that was proving to be a case of easier said than done.

"Stella, get out of the way!" called a male voice.

Stella dived, and not a moment too soon; a curving plasma beam arced through the air where she had just been. This was followed by a second beam, but the Impulse was able to climb and avoid both shots, though it was a close thing.

"Give me more warning next time!" Stella yelled.

A sixteen-year-old boy in a black pilot's suit with golden trim appeared on the monitor. Stella knew from meeting him aboard the John Paul Jones that beneath the helmet he had spiky blond hair and pale blue eyes. Kevin Carmichael was one of the two pilots that Nazara had brought with him when he had come down to the surface, and while he was a hotheaded young man there was also a straightforward and honesty about him that Stella had found endearing.

"You had plenty of warning," Kevin shot back, "You were able to dodge it, weren't you?"

"That's not the point, Kevin," said another voice, this one female and sounding rather irritated, "You need to be more careful or you could kill one of us! Stella's our friend, and we don't shoot at friends!"

Joining the young man on the screen was a fifteen-year-old girl. Like Kevin, she too wore a black pilot's suit, although this one had light blue trim as opposed to gold. Beneath the helmet was a sharp, almost harpy-like face with fierce brown eyes and short-cropped black hair. Melissa Vicar could be temperamental at times, but Stella knew that she also had a softer side when off duty, and she truly did care for her friends. Stella was happy to be flying with both her and Kevin today, and she swore that she wouldn't let anything happen to her dear friends.

Dear friends…

Two images flashed through her mind, but they weren't of Kevin and Melissa. They were of two young men, one with blue hair and blue eyes, the other with green hair and green eyes. They seemed familiar…

…but for the life of her, Stella could not recall their names.

A voice in the back of her head told her that they were important and that something terrible had happened to them, but it was drowned out by the chaos of battle. Her mind was a whirling tempest as she frantically dodged particle beam fire from the Impulse; she did not have time for doubts.

Despite the three-to-one odds, the battle between Stella's group and the Impulse remained a stalemate. Their foe had good reflexes and a swift machine, capable of evading their fire and getting off a few potshots of its own. The Gaia and Forbidden Lancers were continuing to press the assault, but they seemed no closer to taking their enemy down now than they had been at the beginning.

"Just go down already!" Stella screamed as she charged forward, bringing her beam saber down hard in a powerful overhand strike.

Unfortunately for her, the Impulse was able to block her attack. Her foe then countered by lunging forward, and Stella was barely able to deflect his subsequent slash. The only thing that kept the Impulse from pressing its assault was a sudden charge from Melissa, who thrust her beam spear forward in an effort to skewer the ZAFT machine from the flank. The enemy pilot dived to avoid the attack, and then was forced to pull back even further as a curving lance of plasma from Kevin's machine arced through the sky.

"Stella," came the voice of Colonel Nazara over her cockpit speakers, "You must coordinate your attacks more efficiently with Kevin and Melissa. If you are able to do that, this foe will not be able to stand against you."

Stella nodded. "Yes, Colonel!"

Of course, that was a case of easier said than done. All three Extended pilots were naturally aggressive and individualistic; their training had put far greater emphasis on singular action as opposed to group operations. Perhaps that was part of the reason why the ZAFT pilot they were up against was able to hold his own; they weren't taking full advantage of their edge in numbers.

I guess I'm the one in charge of this little group if the Colonel's talking to me like that, she thought, I can't let him down!

Stella didn't consider herself to be a particularly skilled tactician, but she did have a rudimentary understanding of teamwork. She would just have to apply that and hope that it worked.

"Kevin, attack him from above!" she yelled, "Melissa, you hit him from below! I'll take him head-on!"

"Who made you the boss of us?" griped Kevin.

"Kevin, shut up and listen to her!" Melissa shot back, "We're on it, Stella!"

All right, she thought as she charged at the Impulse, this just might work!

….

Jetstream Sam was grinning from ear to ear as he once again crossed blades with Wufei. "Now this is a fight!"

His smile remained on his face even as his foe swiftly countered his strike by whirling the double-ended beam trident around, bringing the opposite end up in slash that Sam was barely able to dodge. Wufei pressed forward, keeping Sam on the backfoot as he launched a withering assault. Even when pushed onto the defensive, though, the Wind of Destruction known by the codename Minuano remained fully immersed in the exhilaration of the duel.

This was their third clash now, and it thrilled him just as much as the first two did. If there was a downside to this beautiful clash of warriors, it was the periodic interference from the lesser pilots on Sam's side. The mercenary could do little to halt their intrusions into what he considered to be a private duel, but fortunately his opponent was quite capable of watching his back and putting the interlopers down quickly before returning to the matter at hand. Sam could not ask for more in an opponent.

I'll earn my paycheck with this one, he mused, Hell, I'd fight him for free!

Deflecting Wufei's latest slash, he then thrust the Ronin's beam katana forward, putting a halt to his foe's advance. Now was Jetstream Sam's chance to attack, and he immediately seized it. He brought his blade down in a vertical strike, and even though it was deflected he kept up the pressure. Now the tables were turned, but the mercenary knew that his adversary was capable of flipping them again at any time.

That was part of what made the fight so much fun.

Even as he was engrossed in his duel, Jetstream Sam was still capable of maintaining enough spatial awareness to keep up with developments in the broader battle. There wasn't too much going on that really interested him, though, with the possible exception of the Impulse's three-on-one clash with the Gaia and twin Forbidden Lancers. What few glances he had caught of the fight had been enough to show him that the hotheaded ZAFT pilot wielding the Impulse had improved considerably since their duel at Armory One, but Sam was still disappointed in the boy's performance. It didn't matter if he was outnumbered; Sam held the abilities of Stella, Kevin and Melissa in low regard and felt that any ace pilot truly worthy of the title could handle them. As things stood now, all the Impulse's pilot had been able to achieve was a stalemate.

Amateurs, the lot of them, he thought with a shake of his head as he pressed his assault against Wufei, I can't believe they're still so sloppy after all their training and the battles they've survived.

He was much more impressed by the fight that Nazara's opponent was putting up. Both the ZAFT pilot, whoever they were, and the crimson machine they wielded were putting on a very good show. In a way, Sam supposed that it was the inverse of his fight with Wufei; the Alliance pilot now had the nuclear-powered machine while the hostile was using a battery-powered unit. The Saviour was highly maneuverable and very well armed for a unit of its type, and when those capabilities were combined with the skill of its pilot the mobile suit was clearly capable of challenging more powerful machines. Of course, Nazara had a clear edge in firepower and endurance with the Nosferatu, but the duel between the Colonel and ZAFT's mystery ace was still very much in swing. As far as Sam was concerned, at this point the fight between the two of them could go either way.

Of course, that fight wasn't his concern. His duel with Wufei was all that really mattered to him right now, and he was determined to savor every second of it. As his opponent deflected Sam's latest slash before countering with a thrust, the mercenary decided to spice things up a bit by saying hello his foe.

"I really should thank you for keeping this interesting," he said with a chuckle, "You're about the only person on this battlefield that's really worth fighting."

Much to his credit, Wufei didn't miss a beat. "Likewise. No offense, but your comrades aren't much to look at."

Sam grinned as he fended off a fresh round of strikes from his opponent. "None taken! Of course, I don't think the Colonel would appreciate the sentiment, but he's a little preoccupied at the moment."

"Is he the one flying the gun-barrel machine?" asked Wufei, "He looks decent, but I think he's relying more on that mobile suit's power than his own abilities."

"If you beat me, you might have the chance to find out for yourself if that's really the case," said Sam as he parried a slash before countering, "Of course, that's a pretty big if!"

Wufei chuckled even as Sam commenced a new offensive. "You don't lack for confidence. Given your abilities, I'd say that's justified. I'm still going to take you down, though."

Jetstream Sam laughed as their energy blades crossed yet again. "Now that's the spirit! Take your best shot!"

….

Not good, thought Meyrin as she watched the battle continue to unfold on the main bridge monitor, We're in serious trouble here!

The Minerva rocked under a series of impacts from particle beams, only the latest hits for it to take from the Windams that were swarming overhead. Lunamaria and Rey were doing their best to keep the Earth Alliance mobile suits away from the ship, but the enemy machines were swift and there were just too many of them. To make matters worse, there were now only four BABIs left out of the original twelve that had launched from the Nyiragongo and Whakaari. The enemy was continuing to pile on the pressure, and the Minerva's defenses were beginning to crack under the strain.

Unfortunately, Meyrin couldn't see any them getting any help anytime soon. The Nyiragongo and Whakaari both had anti-air missile launchers that would certainly come in handy at a time like this, but the two Vosgulov-class carrier/submarines were both beneath the waves supporting their ZnOs with torpedo spreads against the attacking Earth Alliance Deep Forbiddens. Things weren't looking much better for the three aces that had been the spearhead of the Minerva's defenses, either.

Athrun and Wufei seemed to be holding their own, but both of their fights were currently stalemates. The former was putting up one hell of a fight against the enemy's nuclear-powered gun-barrel machine, while the latter was still caught up in its fierce and lightning-paced duel with Desperado Enforcement's Ronin. While Meyrin was grateful that Athrun and Wufei were keeping two powerful opponents occupied, she knew that by the same token that meant that the two best pilots on ZAFT's side in this fight could not lend their awesome skill and power to the task of taking out the Windams that were swarming the Minerva. Still, even their current stalemates looked better than the situation of the third ace that had launched from the Minerva.

Meyrin's area of expertise was communications, not mobile suit combat, but she knew enough to understand that the Impulse was in trouble. Shinn was still in one piece, but for how longer was definitely an open question. The Gaia and the two new Earth Alliance machines supporting it were relentless in their assault on the Impulse, and from what Meyrin could tell it seemed to be all Shinn could do just to evade their attacks. He might be getting in a few potshots here and there, but it was clear that he just couldn't find the opening he needed to take the offensive in this fight. He was on the ropes, caught in a web of curving plasma beams, volleys of particle beams, and beam saber and spear strikes. The net was closing in, and Meyrin had to wonder just how much more of this Shinn could take.

Shinn's good, but three-on-one odds against machines like those is more than he can take, she thought, He needs help! We all do!

Unfortunately, it was hard to see where help might come from at this point. The Minerva and her escorts were far from friendly waters, and there wasn't a chance in hell that the neutral nations of Central Asia would stick their necks out for ZAFT and risk incurring the wrath of the Earth Alliance. The Minerva's flotilla would have to fight their way out of this mess on their own, but Meyrin was growing increasingly doubtful about their chances of doing so.

The ship rocked under a fresh volley of particle beams, forcing her to brace herself against her console. Checking the main monitor again, she saw the warship's anti-air defenses make the enemy pay for their attack by blowing two Windams out of the sky, but there were still plenty more to contend with. Additional enemy units were already making attack runs, and Meyrin could feel the ship's armor strain under the pressure.

"Breach on the upper deck, portside!" shouted the damage control officer, "Fires have broken out! Suppression systems online, support personnel moving to position!"

"Captain, we can't take much more of this!" yelled Arthur, "What are we going to do?"

Talia's expression was as stern as it had been when the battle had first begun. "We have to press forward. The only way out of here is for us to punch our way through their ranks!"

"We could increase speed," Arthur suggested cautiously, "However, we'd be leaving our escorts behind."

Talia shook her head. "We're not abandoning the Nyiragongo or the Whakaari. Their crews are our comrades, and we'll get through this together!"

"Ma'am, more Windams incoming!" shouted the sensor officer.

"From the west or the north?" asked Talia.

"The west!" the officer replied.

"Shit!" Talia hissed, "Right along our current course! That figures…"

"They must have a base on one of the islands out there," said Arthur, "The Defense Council would've warned us if the enemy had an entire fleet out here, right?"

"Unless there are gaps in their intel," said Talia grimly, "It wouldn't be the first time something got missed in the fog of war."

This just isn't fair, Meyrin silently moaned, I can't believe the enemy would have such a strong force out here! Every battle we've been in, the deck's been stacked against us! Why can't we catch a break?

A fresh wave of particle beams and rockets shook the Minerva. As she desperately grasped her console to keep from falling out of her chair, Meyrin found it harder and harder to avoid giving into despair. The enemy just kept hammering away at them, wearing them down; there was simply no way out.

I don't want to die here, she thought in mounting fear, I don't want to lose Luna here! Someone, anyone, please help us!

Convinced that the end was approaching, Meyrin couldn't help but think of Duo. He had given her courage before, but he wasn't here now. She suddenly, desperately, wanted to see him again. She didn't want to leave this world before she had the chance to see him just one more time.

And that was when the three lead Windams in the next wave were torn apart in a flash of green light.

Start "Ready To Die"

Meyrin's eyes, along with those of every other member of the bridge crew, widened in shock as the air just in front of the exploding machines rippled before revealing a black mobile suit.

A mechanized Grim Reaper.

Gundam Deathscythe Omega.

And that was when a very familiar male voice came over the radio.

"Hey, kids, wanna see some dead bodies?"

Meyrin could've wept for joy. "Duo!"

Sure enough, a moment later his face appeared on the main bridge monitor. That confident smile, the gleam in his eyes; they were what Meyrin needed now more than ever.

They were enough to tell her that everything was going to be okay.

"What are you doing here?" asked Talia, clearly struggling to keep her shock suppressed.

Duo grinned. "Oh, I was in the neighborhood with my posse and thought I'd swing by to say hello. Mind if we crash your party?"

Arthur looked flabbergasted. "P-posse?"

Talia's eyes widened even further. "Wait, who's we?"

Duo laughed. "Come on, do you really think I'm here alone? The whole crew's getting in on the action! The more the merrier, right?"

As if on cue, a startled cry rang out from the sensor operator. "Energy spike, five o'clock high!"

A flash of golden-yellow light came down from the heavens, incinerating a pair of Windams. The main monitor shifted again, and Meyrin saw another familiar machine; the Gundam Albion.

Arthur was apparently having trouble processing so many new arrivals at once. "Heero Yuy's here?"

"So the Demon Lord himself takes the stage," Talia muttered.

"Two more contacts approaching from the rear!" called the sensor officer, "They're coming in fast!"

The image on the main monitor shifted yet again, and Meyrin could see the final two Gundams racing towards the Minerva. Sandrock Saladin had its Heat Shotels out and ready to carve into the enemy, while Heavyarms Arsenal was moving fast to get to a suitable position to unleash its formidable artillery on the Alliance mobile suits.

"Now, if you'll excuse us," said Duo as he sliced another Windam in half, "It's time for my friends and I to do what we do best! You guys can just sit and back enjoy the show!"

All the fear that had gripped Meyrin before vanished in a heartbeat as she saw the Gundams move to engage the enemy. The last thing she had expected was for Duo and the rest of his friends to show up here today, but she wasn't about to complain.

We've got a chance now, she thought, barely able to contain her excitement, Duo's here! The other Gundams are here! We can do this!

….

Looks like our timing was pretty good, thought Heero as he surveyed the battlefield, I can't imagine that things would've improved at the rate they were going, even with Wufei in the mix.

He wasn't surprised in the least to see the Altron engaged with the Ronin yet again. Once Wufei found a foe that was capable of giving him a decent fight, Heero knew that it was impossible to keep him from going at that target with everything he had. It was definitely a good thing that Jetstream Sam was preoccupied with Wufei rather than being allowed free reign on the battlefield, but by the same token that also meant that the Altron was stuck dueling the mercenary instead of taking the fight to the rest of the Earth Alliance attack force.

Fortunately, the other Gundam pilots could help make up for Wufei being busy with Jetstream Sam. As Heero dived headlong into the fray, he cut loose with another blast from the Twin Buster Rifle, and two more Windams were blown apart by a pillar of golden-yellow hellfire. At the same time, he saw Trowa take up position over the Minerva and begin unloading on the attacking mobile suits with his Gundam's artillery. The air was filled with machine gun rounds, missiles, and energy blasts from the unit's Double Assault Beam Cannon, and the Earth Alliance mobile suits seemed to wither away under the punishing barrage. Those that weren't taken down by Trowa's artillery soon found themselves faced with the flashing twin blades of the Gundam Sandrock Saladin; Quatre was wasting no time in carving into the enemy Windams. Finally, there was Duo, who was still out front and taking down one machine after another with broad swings from the Deathscythe Omega's signature weapon.

Suddenly a familiar male voice came over his cockpit speakers, one that he had not been expecting to find here. "Heero? What are you doing here?"

"Athrun?" Heero replied as he scanned the battlefield, "Where are you?"

"I'm keeping your old friend from orbit busy," he said, "If you want to tag in, though, I'll be more than happy to let you take a shot him!"

It didn't take long for Heero to spot the violet gun-barrel machine that he had clashed three times before with going at it with a crimson machine. He recognized the second unit from intelligence files provided by Eric's network; it was the Saviour. Heero didn't know why Athrun was piloting that particular machine, but he supposed that he'd get an answer to that question once the battle was over. It appeared that the gun-barrel unit had gotten an upgrade since the last time they'd fought; a curving blast of plasma from the mobile suit's shoulder cannon was enough to tell Heero that this machine would be trickier to deal with than before.

"Hold tight," said Heero, "I'm on my way. Get ready to move on my command."

"Copy that!" said Athrun.

Heero raised the Twin Buster Rifle as he rapidly closed the distance. "Dive!"

The Saviour went low on cue, giving Heero a perfect opening. He took the shot, and while the enemy was able to evade the attack it was clear that Heero had caught the hostile pilot by surprise, and he fully intended to make the most of that.

"Go give Shinn a hand," said Heero as his emerald beam saber clashed with the enemy's violet blade, "I'll handle this one."

"You got it," Athrun replied, "Good luck!"

Now then, thought Heero as he pressed his assault against the violet gunbarrel machine, I wonder if you've gotten any better since the last time we fought.

Let's find out.

End "Ready To Die"

….

"Damn you, Heero Yuy!" Nazara snarled as he unloaded on Wing Zero with everything he had, "You've interfered in our operations for the last time!"

The sky was filled with linear gun slugs, particle beams, and curving lances of plasma. None of them so much as touched their target. Just like their past fights, Wing Zero's movements were positively inhuman in their speed and reaction times. Not for the first time, Nazara felt as though his opponent was reading him like an open book. The way the Demon Lord of Avalon could weave his way through the Nosferatu's barrage while countering with fire from his monstrously powerful rifle bordered on the supernatural. There was reaction born of experience, but to Nazara it felt like his adversary possessed something closer to precognition.

What is it?, he thought as he let fly with salvo after salvo to no avail, What sets him apart from all other and lets him fly the way he does? This is more than simply possession of superior technology and technique!

He was barely able to bring up his beam saber in time to block a powerful overhand strike from his opponent. Nazara had no time to counter, for Wing Zero had already opened up with its hip-mounted railguns. The slugs the two weapons fired could not pierce the Nosferatu's Phase Shift Armor, but their impacts against the mobile suit's torso still rocked the machine and enabled Heero to press his assault. The Colonel had no choice but to gun his engines and climb in order to give himself some breathing room. As soon as he was out of beam saber range Nazara cut loose with another barrage from the Nosferatu's considerable arsenal, and once again Wing Zero began its infuriatingly graceful dance through the rain of fire.

Under other circumstances, Nazara would've welcomed the chance to go one on one with his nemesis, but that was not his mission today. The destruction of the Minerva was his top priority, and it had been within his grasp before the arrival of Wing Zero and the three mobile suits accompanying it. The Earth Alliance forces had taken considerable losses earlier in the fight, but the Colonel knew that they had been pushing ZAFT to the point of exhaustion, and it had been only a matter of time before their defenses completely collapsed.

Now all that was out the window. The Windams assaulting the battleship had been the first to taste the fire and fury of the new arrivals. While the black unit with the beam scythe was mauling through the forward ranks of the strike teams, the artillery unit and the machine with the twin blades had taken up position over the battleship itself and were wiping the floor with the Windams that still posed a direct threat to the vessel itself. Machine after machine was carved to pieces or blown apart, with the sea below rippling and hissing as a steady stream of superheated debris fell to the waves.

Things weren't going any better as far as the rest of the battle was concerned, either. Now that Wing Zero had engaged the Nosferatu, that had freed up the Saviour to engage elsewhere on the field. The new ZAFT machine was doing precisely that, heading right for the three-on-one match between Stella's team and the Impulse. If the skill the enigmatic pilot had displayed against Nazara was any indication, he had a feeling that Stella and the other two Extended were about to be faced with more than what they were capable of dealing with. Nazara would've ordered Jetstream Sam to support them, but the mercenary was still engaged in his private duel with the green mobile suit that had launched from the Minerva.

This isn't over yet, he thought as he traded fire with his nemesis, I can still salvage the situation. All I need to do is kill Heero Yuy and the day is ours!

Of course, that was a matter of easier said than done.

….

Shinn's face contorted into a snarl as the Impulse was hammered by railgun rounds from the two black Forbiddens. The shots couldn't pierce the mobile suit's Variable Phase Shift Armor, but deflecting them still took energy that the machine couldn't spare at the moment. He was still able to keep one step ahead of the truly lethal shots that the enemy sent his way, but Shinn could not deny that the strain of taking on three tough enemies at once was beginning to take its toll on him.

Shit, shit, shit, he mentally seethed, I don't know how much longer I can keep this up!

He had lost any ability to seize the initiative in this fight; it was all he could do just to keep himself alive now. The Impulse's speed and maneuverability were the only reasons why he hadn't been taken down already, but as Shinn's reaction times began to lag that advantage in agility was starting to count for less and less. It was hard to say what would give out first at this point; the mobile suit, or the pilot.

He raised his shield to block a volley of particle beams from the Gaia. Normally he would've returned fire immediately, but twin curving lances of plasma from the black Forbiddens robbed him of the opportunity. He could only fall back and evade the shots, and that just gave the Gaia room to send additional volleys his way.

"Damn it all!" he growled as he zigzagged through the rain of fire, "Don't these guys ever run out of energy? This sucks!"

Complaining wouldn't do him any good, but Shinn just couldn't find a way to free himself from the quagmire he was caught in. Every evasive maneuver and every close block with his shield seemed to sap his energy now. It was getting harder and harder just to think straight, let alone figure out some sort of tactical breakthrough.

Once again, he saw the black Forbiddens set up for a pincer attack while the Gaia faced him head-on. Shinn brought up the Impulse's shield to block the worst of the barrage, but he knew that he wouldn't be able to avoid taking damage this time. It was only a question of which machine would land a hit on him.

And that was when an emerald particle beam pierced one of the black Forbiddens from behind.

As the mobile suit exploded, Shinn saw the source of the shot that had taken it down. It was the Saviour, and the shot it had fired was just the first of a volley. The second black Forbidden and the Gaia broke off their attack as the crimson machine came in hard and fast.

Shinn was stunned at this turn of events. "Athrun? I thought you were taking on that gunbarrel machine!"

"Change of plans," Athrun replied as he continued to lay down fire, "Heero's got that one!"

Shinn knew that his situational awareness needed some work, but even then he was still shocked to realize that he had missed the Gundam Albion's arrival onto the battlefield. His fight with the Gaia and the mobile suits supporting it may have been intense, but Shinn felt that he should've at least picked up on something like that. Not only had Heero entered the fray, but so had the rest of the Gundam pilots that Shinn had met up in orbit. While he was certainly grateful for the reinforcements, the thought of being bailed out by the man that had knocked him unconscious with a head-butt did irk him somewhat.

"What's he doing here?" Shinn asked as he crossed blades with the Gaia.

"Ask him yourself after the battle," said Athrun as he traded fire with the remaining black Forbidden, "Right now we've got more important things to worry about!"

Shinn nodded. "Right."

As much as he wanted to know why Heero was sticking his nose into the Minerva's affairs again, Shinn knew that now was not the time to complain. He returned his focus to the Gaia; now that the fight was one-on-one, he knew that he had a much better shot at beating his opponent.

The tables have turned now, he thought as he went on the offensive, I'm going to make you pay for stealing that machine!

You're mine!

….

Stella's mind was numb even as she continued to fend off the Impulse's assault. Her body instinctively moved her machine so that it protected her, but her mind kept replaying the moment where the red mobile suit had shot Kevin's Forbidden Lancer in the back. The image of the black machine exploding was seared into her mind…

…and it was awakening memories that she didn't realize she possessed.

Memories of a green mobile suit getting impaled through the cockpit.

Memories of a blue mobile suit being disintegrated by a pillar of golden-yellow hellfire.

Memories of the friends that had died inside those mobile suits.

Sting…

Auel…

She shook her head. Who were they? She didn't know anyone like that. Kevin and Melissa were her friends.

And Kevin had just been killed.

Her mind was a mess, a jumbled and chaotic maelstrom of images and memories that didn't make sense. It was all she could do now just to maneuver the Gaia and keep herself alive, and in her current condition it was quite possible that she would soon loose even that capacity.

"Stella!" shouted Melissa as she traded fire with the crimson mobile suit, "What are we going to do? They killed Kevin!"

Stella didn't have an answer. The Gaia seemed to be blocking the beam saber strikes from the Impulse on its own while her mind warred with itself. She had taken charge of her friends earlier and was supposed to lead them, but now that was beyond her.

And that was when the crimson machine charged forward, batted aside Melissa's beam spear…

…and stabbed her machine straight through the cockpit.

Stella's face had already been pale before, but now it turned almost ghost-white as she watched her second friend die. "Melissa!"

Her vision blurred as tears welled up inside her helmet, and she was barely able to block a strike from the Impulse and avoid suffering the same fate as her friend. The crimson mobile suit now joined the assault, supporting the Impulse with beam rifle fire.

There was nothing tactical or sophisticated about her response. She simply lashed out like a wounded animal, cutting loose with her rifle and swinging wildly with her beam saber. It kept the enemy at bay for the moment, but it would not work for long.

Stella didn't care. She was beyond reason, consumed with grief and rage at the loss of her friends. Making matters worse was the constant back-and-forth taking place in her mind, where the faces of Melissa and Kevin kept getting replaced by those of the blue-haired boy and the green-haired boy. She didn't know them, and yet every time the word 'friend' went through her mind their faces popped up alongside those of Melissa and Kevin before eventually replacing them. None of it made any sense, and it only served to drive her deeper into her sorrowful frenzy.

Suddenly a familiar voice came over her cockpit speakers. "Stella, pull back! Now!"

"Colonel?" she cried out, looking around frantically for him.

A hail of particle beams drove the Impulse and the crimson machine back, but they weren't from the Nosferatu; they were from a squadron of Windams. When Stella found the Colonel's machine, she saw that he was still fighting Wing Zero.

"The battle is lost, Stella," said Nazara, "You need to pull back now. You don't want to end up like Kevin and Melissa, do you? Do you want to die here today?"

Stella shook her head frantically. "No, but… they have to pay!"

"And they will," Nazara replied, "but not today. We need to retreat for now, Stella… but there's a special way that we have to do it."

Stella was confused. "A special way? What do you mean?"

"Our remaining Windams will cover us," said Nazara as he traded fire with Wing Zero, "and we'll head for the base. That's just our first step, though; our enemies will follow us there, and that's where our reserve squadrons will attack them. That will give us the chance we need to escape to the carrier. We can't lead the enemy directly to our ship, so this is the only way that we can retreat. Do you understand, Stella?"

Stella nodded. "Yes, Colonel!"

"Good," said Nazara, "Go, now! I'll be right behind you!"

….

"I'll be right behind you," Nazara muttered to himself as he fended off yet another beam saber strike from Wing Zero, "Easier said than done."

The plan for withdrawal from the field was sound, but it had one key sticking point; the manner in which he was going to disengage from his current duel. Time and time again, Heero Yuy had proven himself to be a foe that was not easily dealt with, and he was more than living up to his reputation in this battle as well. What shots Nazara took at him that weren't evaded outright were deflected by the energy shields emitted from the mobile suit's outer wings, and the machine's agility was so great that it was always able to find an opening to return fire and put the Colonel on the defensive.

I need to get him to back off, thought Nazara as he parried a slash from his foe, I can't very well retreat when he's right in my face, after all.

He gunned his thrusters in reverse before opening up with everything the Nosferatu had, hoping that the barrage would buy him the space he needed to withdraw. Unfortunately, it was not to be. Instead of falling back, Wing Zero actually charged forward, and it moved so swiftly that it was able to race ahead of the salvo's convergence point and counterattack. The enemy thrust his emerald blade forward, and Nazara was barely able to deflect the attack.

It was as he was thrown onto the defensive that the Colonel was finally able to figure out a way to buy himself enough room to withdraw. The Nosferatu's mechanics certainly wouldn't like it, but at this point Nazara was out of options.

The techs can whine and moan all they want, he mused, My survival comes first; machines can always be fixed, after all.

Fending off another slash from Wing Zero, Nazara climbed and unleashed another barrage with his mobile suit's artillery. Once again, Wing Zero's maneuverability combined with the skill of its pilot and its shields was enough to save it from taking a direct hit, but rather than pull back his gunbarrel-drones, the Colonel sent them all forward. At the same time, he contacted the dog of war on his payroll.

"Minuano, pull out," he ordered, "We're withdrawing."

"Too bad," the cheeky mercenary replied, "It was just getting interesting around here."

"You can dance with your friend over there another time," Nazara growled, "Our Windams will cover our retreat. Disengage and fall back to the base first, then the carrier."

The hired contractor gave him an insolent smirk and mocking salute. "You're the boss."

Indeed, I am, he thought, and as the boss I will live to fight another day!

….

"Looks like he has gotten better," Heero muttered under his breath as he weaved through the barrage of particle beams the nuclear-powered machine's gunbarrel-drones were sending his way.

The Earth Alliance prototype may have been upgraded, but the addition of a single new gun, regardless of how sophisticated it was, did little to deter Heero from taking on the mobile suit head-to-head. The pilot's skills were another matter, though; the enemy's abilities had increased substantially, and they were certainly enough to make Heero work for his win today. He'd give credit where it was due, but that wouldn't stop him from completing his mission.

The battle as a whole appeared to be on its last legs from what Heero could see. The Earth Alliance's strike force was in tatters, with the remaining mobile suits fighting desperately just to stay in one piece ever since the Gundam pilots had entered the fray. It was a losing proposition, though; Heero, Duo, Trowa and Quatre had caught the enemy completely by surprise. As strong as the enemy might've been before, they had clearly not come prepared to take on the likes of the united Gundam team.

As Heero continued to evade fire from the violet mobile suit's gunbarrel-drones, he noticed something odd about the behavior of the unique weapons. They weren't as spread out as they had been in the enemy's previous attacks, and they were being employed much more aggressively than before. In fact, all four of them were still moving forward, acting less like mobile gun turrets and more like guided missiles.

That was when the proverbial lightbulb clicked on in Heero's head.

That was exactly how they were being used now.

"Shit," he hissed as he gunned his engines in reverse and raised the Twin Buster Rifle, "He's making a break for it."

He kept the weapon at a low-power setting for greater rate of fire as he opened up. The initial shot took down the lead gunbarrel-drone, and the second one fell with the next blast. The remaining two formed a pincer as they continued to charge forward, so Heero split his weapon and opened fire again with the twin guns. This time the pair of blasts took down the final two drones, but they had served their purpose; the nuclear-powered machine had begun its retreat, and it had a substantial head-start on Heero. If pressed, Heero believed that he could catch up, but that wasn't his mission; protecting the Minerva and securing a place with the ship's crew was.

Heero wasn't the only one to pick up on the enemy's withdrawal; Duo appeared on one of his displays a moment later. "Looks like they're packing it in. Want to pursue?"

Heero shook his head as he reunited his twin guns into their original form. "Negative. Secure the airspace around the Minerva; she's our objective today, not the stragglers from the attack force."

Duo nodded. "Roger that, buddy!"

Making good on his word, Heero opened up with his Gundam's hip-mounted railguns, knocking two Windams that had been taking shots at the Minerva out of the sky. Duo, Trowa, and Quatre were likewise wrapping up their effort to clear out the remaining threats to the warship. The only one not taking part in that mission was Wufei, and that was only because he was still engaging Desperado's Ronin.

That was when Heero noticed a trio of Windams moving in from behind Wufei. He was about to give his friend a warning, but it immediately became clear that it wasn't needed. Wufei dived just before the Alliance machines opened fire, and when he came back up both of the Altron's Dragon Fangs few forth, crushing two of the mobile suits. The third continued to pour fire at him, but Wufei easily evaded the volley before impaling the machine with his beam trident.

The enemy's attack might've been foiled, but Wufei's moment of distraction was apparently all the opening that the Ronin needed to begin its withdrawal. For a second, Heero thought that the L5 native might make to pursue, but the Altron did not do so.

Letting a worthy opponent go, Heero mused, I suppose that is Wufei's style…

"I think we're just about wrapped up here," said Quatre as the enemy forces continued to pull out.

"They've had enough for one day," said Trowa.

"Woohoo!" Duo cheered, "Team Badass for the win!"

"That's not our name," Trowa quipped.

"Well, it should be!" Duo shot back.

"You all right over there, Wufei?" asked Quatre.

There was a moment of hesitation before their comrade responded. "I didn't need your help, you know."

Duo chuckled. "Still talking hot shit, eh? Never change, Wufei!"

"Well, I'm glad you guys decided to stop by," Athrun chimed in, "Thanks for the save."

"Anytime," Heero replied.

"Uhm, Heero?" said Duo, "Is it just me, or did one of us not get the memo about the fight being over?"

"What are you talking about?" Heero asked before checking his display, "Oh, wait…"

It was Athrun who summed up what they were all thinking at that moment. "Shinn, you fucking idiot…"

….

"Get back here!" Shinn shouted as he chased after the Gaia.

It wasn't just the stolen ZAFT prototype that was fleeing; the Ronin and the violet gunbarrel machine were retreating as well, along with a handful of surviving Windams. Shinn's attention was focused only on the Gaia, though. After all the time that he had spent fighting that mobile suit, he wasn't about to let it escape now. The enemy had tried to keep him from pursuing it altogether, but it had been a simple matter for him to carve his way through the Windams that had attempted to cover the Gaia's retreat.

I won't let you get away, he silently seethed as he pushed his engines as hard as they would go, I'm taking you down here and now!

"Shinn, what are you doing?" cried Lunamaria, "The fight's over! They're retreating!"

"If you pursue them, we can't support you from back here," Rey chimed in, "Shinn, come back."

Shinn shook his head. "I can handle this by myself! I'm going to capture the Gaia or destroy it here and now!"

Shinn knew that the Force Impulse was faster than the Gaia, so it would just be a matter of time before he'd be able to run it down. This was the last of the stolen Armory One machines that he was chasing, and he was determined to bring the thief piloting it to justice for both the hijacking and all the death that they had caused with that mobile suit since then. The attack on the colony would be avenged, and he would deal with a dangerous enemy at the same time. It didn't matter to Shinn that no one appeared to be joining him in his pursuit; that just meant that he'd have an even greater opportunity to prove himself to the others by taking down the Gaia on his own.

I'll show them all how its done, he thought as he raced over the waves, None of them will be able to question me after I take down the Gaia! They'll see that my way's been the right way all along!

He was outnumbered, but if the enemy was running then that meant that their will to fight was gone. They had to be low on power, and the Alliance's nuclear machine had lost all of its gunbarrel-drones; it was a ripe target, and Shinn would consider it the cherry on top of the sweet cake of victory if he could take down the mobile suit that not even the legendary Heero Yuy could destroy in addition to defeating the Gaia. If he could eliminate the Ronin as well, that'd be just another bonus.

It was only then that Shinn noticed that the machines he was pursuing were heading towards an island on the horizon. He had expected them to be retreating towards a carrier, but this seemed to reinforce the theory that they had a secret base in this area. That was even better as far as Shinn was concerned; he could be the hero that took out the Alliance's hidden installation in addition to neutralizing the Gaia.

Sure enough, as he got closer to the island his sensors picked up signs of activity. There was radio traffic on what Shinn recognized as Earth Alliance frequencies, and he spotted increased power signatures of the kind often associated with large structures. He didn't know what kind of facility the Alliance had built out here, but that didn't matter; it wouldn't be around for much longer.

He gained altitude as he pursued his prey over the island. The terrain was a mix of woods and hills, but soon enough he was able to spot a prominent clearing with several buildings in it. He instantly recognized a few of them as mobile suit hangars, and there was a fully functional military airfield their as well. Several other structures appeared to be in various states of construction; it seemed that the enemy had yet to completely finish building their base.

"You're mine!" he shouted as he charged forward.

The telltale chimes of missile lock warnings rang out, and Shinn spotted several mobile anti-air batteries taking aim at him. As they let fly with their warheads, multiple turrets opened up and spewed streams of shells at him. The rounds were deflected by his Variable Phase Shift Armor, while the CIWS mounted on the mobile suit's chest shot down the incoming missiles.

Shinn swiftly raised his beam rifle and returned fire. It took little effort to destroy the various anti-air weapons, but more serious threats were launching from one of the hangars; a squad of Windams.

They must've held them back in reserve, thought Shinn, I'll take them down too!

He charged forward, unleashing a fresh volley from his rifle. The lead Windam took a particle beam straight through the torso and was blown apart. The other machines returned fire, causing Shinn to bring up the Impulse's shield to block their shots. He kept moving forward, bringing himself into beam saber range within moments. Shinn's first strike cut a mobile suit in half, while his second impaled another machine through the cockpit.

It was as he engaged the enemy's reserves that he noticed his primary prey wasn't attempting to help. Instead they were fleeing again, this time heading north. Shinn wanted to pursue, but the remaining Windams were all firing on him; if he turned his back on them he'd simply be asking to be shot down.

"Damn it!" he snarled, "Get back here, you cowards!"

The pilots of the Gaia and the other advanced machines ignored him, leaving him to contend with the Windams that had launched from the base. Shinn felt nothing but impotent fury as he struck down one mobile suit after another. The real targets were getting away; he didn't want to settle for mopping up the enemy's reserve forces, but there was no way that he'd be able to catch up to the Gaia and its accompanying units now.

"Son of a bitch!" he hissed as he blocked beam rifle fire with his shield, "I can't believe they're going to get away!"

Unfortunately, he didn't have time to worry about that now. The enemy apparently had greater amounts of mobile suits held in reserve than Shinn had initially realized; more Windams were launching from the hangars scattered around the base. They were starting to surround him, and all it would take was just a lucky shot or two for them to bring him down.

That was when a volley of particle beams came out of nowhere and took down two of the approaching Windams. Turning around, Shinn saw the Saviour charging in, its beam rifle blazing.

"Thanks for the help!" he said as he impaled a machine with his beam saber.

The response was not what he'd been hoping for. "Shinn, you idiot! Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"I was trying to take down the enemy!" Shinn countered as he shot down another mobile suit, "That's our job, after all!"

"Charging off alone after retreating forces recklessly is just begging to get yourself caught in an ambush!" Athrun berated him as the Saviour destroyed two more machines, "Do you ever think before you act?"

Shinn grimaced. He didn't want to give Athrun the satisfaction of admitting it, but he knew that his point was valid. It was more or less what had happened; if Athrun hadn't arrived, it was quite possible that the enemy reserve forces would've been able to take him down.

It doesn't matter now, he thought as he slashed a Windam in half, The two of us are more than enough to deal with the rest of the enemies here and their base. We'll take them all out and head back to the Minerva.

It was as he was trading fire with the remaining mobile suits that something on the ground caught his eye. There were two broad areas hemmed in with chain-link fence and barbed wire, with a long dirt road going between them. Inside the cordoned off areas were large groups of people, and as Shinn zoomed in on them with his visual sensors he realized that they weren't soldiers; they were civilians.

"They're being kept apart by force!" he cried, "Alliance bastards!"

Innocent families being torn apart by war hit all too close to him. It didn't matter that these were people that Shinn had never met before; it was far too easy for him to imagine his family down there, separated by fencing and the cruelty of the Alliance military.

"Look like they separated out the men from the women and children," said Athrun as he stabbed a Windam, "They're probably using the men as forced labor to finish work on the base!"

"And they're holding their families as hostages to make sure they cooperate," Shinn snarled, "Son of a bitch!"

"Shinn, hang on!" Athrun yelled as the ZAFT Red took off towards the civilians, "We need to deal with these guys first!"

Shinn didn't pay Athrun any heed. It only took a moment for him to reach the civilians, and it was child's play for him to rip the fencing from the dirt with the hands of his mobile suit and toss it to the side. Shinn smiled as he saw the two separated groups rush towards each other, embracing the family members that had been so harshly taken away from them.

Unfortunately, Shinn's focus on the civilians came at the cost of his broader situational awareness. The Impulse was suddenly rocked as a particle beam caught in in the left shoulder, wrecking the joint and almost blowing the arm completely off. Shinn was barely able to keep the mobile suit from falling on the civilians that he had just saved, and as he frantically tried to turn to face his attacker he saw that the Windam's rifle was sighted in for another shot; the enemy pilot had him dead to rights.

Until the Saviour impaled them from behind.

The Alliance machine exploded, and Shinn made sure that the Impulse was positioned to protect the civilians from the bulk of the blast. Nervously scanning the ground, he was relieved to see that none of them appeared to be wounded. Turning his attention back to the fight, he saw Athrun chase off the last of the Windams before setting his sights on the base itself. Streams of plasma flew from the Saviour's heavy weapons as hangars and supply depots were blown to bits, but Athrun was careful not to destroy any buildings that were near the civilians.

Shinn sighed with relief as he scanned the area. "It's over."

Out of the corner of his eye he spotted a group of soldiers that looked like they were going to advance on the civilians. Shinn scowled as he turned the Impulse towards them, and he was about to open fire when the Alliance ground troops realized that they'd been detected. Dropping their weapons, the infantrymen then ran for the hills.

"Looks like that's the last of them," said Athrun, "The civilians should be able to find their way home. The Alliance has more important things to worry about than harassing them now."

Shinn nodded. "Right."

"By the way," said Athrun, and Shinn couldn't help but wince at his firm tone, "you and I need to talk later."

"Is that an order, sir?" Shinn grumbled.

"Yes," Athrun replied, "and it's one that's well within my authority as a FAITH operative. Meet me on the upper deck of the Minerva once the official debriefing's over."

Shinn scowled. "Fine."

He was sure that it wouldn't be a pleasant encounter, but for right now Shinn didn't really care. They'd managed to defeat the Alliance forces in the area and save civilian lives on top of that. No matter what else happened, Shinn would gladly take the win.

….

Leaning back in her seat, Talia sighed with relief. "It's finally over."

It had come at a cost, but they had won the day. All of the Minerva's mobile suits were still intact, and while the ship had taken some damage it was nothing that couldn't be repaired by her crew. Both the Nyiragongo and Whakaari were still in one piece, although they had suffered losses amongst their mobile suit teams; of the twelve BABIs they had fielded, only four were left, and only two of the original eight ZnOs were left as well. It was a heavy price for the two Vosgulov-class ships to pay; they barely had enough machines left to protect themselves now, let alone the Minerva.

"Where are Shinn and Athrun?" she asked, "Any sign of the Impulse and Saviour?"

"I've got them on scope," the sensor officer replied, "They're on their way back. Impulse appears to have suffered moderate damage."

That figures, she thought, Shinn did charge off without backup, after all. What am I going to do with him?

Technically, Shinn's actions didn't constitute an offense; Talia hadn't given express orders not to pursue the enemy once they'd begun to retreat, after all. Still, the Impulse's pilot should've known better than to initiate such a reckless chase, and Talia was sure that the only reason the Impulse hadn't suffered more extensive damage was because Athrun had gone after him.

"I've got Athrun on the line, ma'am!" cried Meyrin.

Talia nodded. "Put him through."

ZAFT's newest FAITH operative appeared on the main bridge monitor. "Captain, we discovered an enemy base on one of the islands up ahead. We were able to deal significant damage to the facility in addition to eliminating the enemy's reserve squadrons. I'm sending the data over now."

"Very good," said Talia, "Did you spot any signs of additional enemy forces in the area?"

Athrun shook his head. "No, ma'am. As of right now, we're in the clear."

"Understood," Talia replied, "In that case, please return to the Minerva. I'm sure your energy reserves must be running low."

Athrun nodded. "Aye, Captain."

Talia turned to Meyrin. "Begin recovery procedures for all of our mobile suits."

Meyrin nodded. "Aye, Captain!"

"Captain," said Arthur, looking back and forth between her and the main monitor, "What about… them?"

He didn't specify who he was referring to, but he didn't need to. As had been the case up in orbit, the Gundam Albion and its fellow unique machines were the elephant in the room. What to do about them was a question that Talia was not sure she had the answer to.

They're not our enemies, she thought, but are they still our allies? Their actions today certainly saved our lives, but if our experience with them up in orbit is any indicator then they must have their own agenda. How do we play into it this time?

"Captain!" called Meyrin, "I've got Heero Yuy on the line!"

"Speak of the devil," Talia muttered.

"What should we do?" asked Arthur.

Talia forced a smile, hoping she didn't appear as tense as she felt. "Well, considering they just did us a big favor, it'd be rude for us to ignore him. Go ahead and put him through, Meyrin."

"Aye, Captain," she replied.

The young man appeared on the main monitor a moment later looking no worse for the wear. "Captain Gladys, are you all right?"

That's about as friendly a greeting as we could hope for, she mused, I'll take that as a good sign.

"We've sustained damage, but it's nothing we can't handle," she replied, "It would've been much worse were it not for your intervention. I suppose we owe you one again. Thanks for the help."

Heero nodded. "You're welcome. We're actually here for more than just today's battle, though. Your destination is the Suez Canal, correct?"

Talia's eyes narrowed. "How do you know that?"

"Why else would the Minerva be heading west?" said Heero, "The Alliance occupation force in the canal zone prevents ZAFT's forces at Carpentaria and Gibraltar from reinforcing each other. They need to dealt with sooner or later. Would you object to us joining you?"

Talia's eyes widened. "You want to join us again?"

Heero nodded. "Yes. Perhaps it would be better if we came to an arrangement face to face. May we land on the Minerva?"

Arthur turned to her. "Captain, are we seriously going to let them on board our ship again? We don't know what they're really after."

I'm well aware of that, she thought, but this is too good of an opportunity to pass up. Our escorts took heavy losses today; having all five of the Gundams on our side would more than make up for it going forward, even if it's just a temporary alliance.

Talia nodded. "Yes. Meyrin will guide you. I look forward to speaking with you and your comrades shortly."

"Likewise," said Heero, "Albion, out."

Talia turned to Meyrin. "Coordinate landing operations with the Albion and the other machines. Make sure the hangar crews are aware of who's coming aboard."

Meyrin nodded. "Understood, Captain."

"Arthur," she said as she stood up, "You have the bridge."

Her XO's eyes widened. "Captain, at least let me come with you! You can't seriously be considering meeting with them alone!"

"This is Heero Yuy we're talking about, Arthur," she said with a chuckle, "If he's here to cause trouble, it won't matter what kind of escort I have. The fact that he saved our hides again would seem to indicate that his intentions are not hostile, though. Going by myself will send a signal of friendship and trust."

Arthur nodded, although he still looked worried. "Understood, ma'am. Still… please, be careful."

Talia smiled, touched by his concern. "I will, Arthur."

He may fret far more than is good for an Executive Officer, she mused, but his heart's in the right place. Of all the second-in-command possibilities that I could've gotten, I'm glad he was the one assigned to this ship.

The bridge door closed behind her, and she took a deep breath before heading off to the hangar. The battle might be over, but that didn't necessarily mean that the Minerva was out of danger. After all, she was about to meet with four pilots who could tear it apart without breaking a sweat if they felt like it. There would be no fighting her way out of this if things went south.

It was time for Talia to try her hand at diplomacy and hope for the best.

Preview for next time!

The battle over the Indian Ocean is over, but that is just a skirmish compared to what lies ahead. As the Gundam Team once again settles in aboard the Minerva, ZAFT's advanced battleship continues along its course towards the Suez Canal. The Earth Alliance forces await them in well-fortified positions, and they will not be easily routed. While ZAFT's assault force now includes the full might of the Gundam Team, the opposition is reinforced by the top captains of Desperado Enforcement, and they are all eager for battle. Next time, on "Destiny's Call", Episode Thirteen: Devils and Hellhounds.

War is no place for angels…

Author's Notes: And with this chapter, the action officially moves west! The Pacific theater of the war is on hold for a while; now the Middle East and the Mediterranean will be in the spotlight. Expect plenty more large-scale battles to come; I'm just getting warmed up!

Until next time! Please review!