Shinn was lounging on his bed, reading a magazine. The Minerva and her crew had been docked for her repairs after the last skirmish. Lunamaria came running into the room when the door opened. She grabbed the magazine out of his hands.

"Hey!" He jerked in surprise. Shinn tried to take it from her hands.

"Nope!" Lunamaria glanced at it. "We have word that the mysterious Archangel will be on the move!" She watched to see his reaction.

Shinn jerked up. "What! Really? Now?"

"Not now," Lunamaria rolled the magazine up and gave him a tap on his head. Shinn flinched even though it didn't hurt. "The alarms would have gone off, sounding off to get to our battle stations."

Shinn relaxed a bit. "Then how did we get this information? Are we sure it's not a trap?"

Lunamaria knew he was going to ask this. She had thought the same as well but intel near the compound had confirmed movement of where the Archangel is held. "Would you rather wait for the trap or to face it head on before it can?"

Shinn saw how confident she was. "Alright. When do we head out?"

"When we hear about the first sighting," Lunamaria answered. Shinn grabbed onto her hand, pulling her down to him. "Wah!"

"Then we have a bit of time," Shinn pulled her in close. He was going go to drift off, so a quick nap with his girl in his arms would suffice before the next fight.

"Ugh! No napping!" Lunamaria tried to get out of his embrace. "Every time! You have gotten so lazy!"

"I can only do the same thing over so many times," Shinn argued. "Going out with the civilians, practicing on the gun range, going through drills, checking up on my mobile suit, rewatching battles. Sometimes its nice to nap and be lazy."

Lunamaria stopped. She did not want to sleep in his arms again like this. She felt like she was wasting her time. She could be productive while waiting.

The alarms rang through the rooms. "All hands to level 2 battle stations. I repeat all hands to level 2 battle stations."

The two flinched. Lunamaria took this time to squirm out of his hold. "Finally." She stood up, fixing her uniform. "See. Didn't have to wait long."

Shinn stood up next to her. "Shall we try to take the red ZAKU down again?" Lunamaria nodded. The two then ran to their stations.

On the Morningstar, Ra was dressed in his red pilot suit with gold accents and helmet. He had his helmet in hand while escorting Selena to her ZAKU. She was in a matching pilot suit but it was white with silver accents. Her helmet was on but the glass was up. He helped her into the cockpit.

"A word," Ra hooked up her safety harness. "This was supposed to be a test run. Seeing how you would do in the real thing. We had some targets for you to try but this time, we're going to have to jump in with both feet." He stayed close to her. "We're attacking those that fire at us." He stared at her eyes which held no focus. They weren't in the void, but he was worried what would happen. "When you enter the battle field, you will fly up to perch yourself on this vessel, and battle using long range tactics. Understand?" Selena nodded. "Good. Let's make your first battle a memorable one." He pushed a button on her helmet to bring the glass down.

Ra headed out of the cockpit to head over into his. He harnessed himself in. He had a screen and a set of controls made to control over Selena's ZAKU. He watched another screen that showed where the Archangel was heading towards the coastline.

On the PLANTs, Dearka was called for a meeting. He waited by himself in a secluded room. There were refreshments to the side. He had grabbed a water bottle and some snacks. He was nervous as to why they had called him. He hoped it was news on Yzak.

The door opened to reveal Kira. Dearka stood straight up, saluting him. "At ease." Kira held a file. He shut and locked the door behind him. "Take a seat." The two sat down. "This isn't really a mission from ZAFT but it's going to shown as one. It's been a week since we retrieved this information. What I am about to show you is highly confidential." Kira took out a photo from the file. He placed it in front of Dearka. It was a photo of Selena being proposed to by Ra. Dearka's jaw dropped. This was shocking and absurd. He gaped at Kira who nodded that it was true. "We need you to head to the Kingdom of Scandinavia to confirm Princess Selena's presence, confirm Commander Joule's presence, and to get intel."

Dearka closed his mouth. He couldn't believe what he was seeing. Kira brought out a few more pictures. It was the rest of the engagement, where Selena agreed, and the two sharing a kiss. Each picture made Dearka mind's go blank. He had no idea what to think. She loved Yzak. What was going on? Was this the royal betrothal then?

"It's a lot to take in," Kira spoke again. He could see Dearka go through the motions of trying to figure things out while still being surprised. "We had the same reaction. However, this isn't an official royal engagement as Orb Representative Atha has not received a royal invitation. Princess Selena is doing what she wants. We don't know what her goals are, but it does not seem to line up with ours anymore." Kira let out a sigh. "It's hard I know. Especially now that Yzak might be held hostage." He placed out more pictures. "Our friendships we have made doesn't make us weak but it can cloud our judgement." They were pictures of Selena with Rau and Rey. "It wasn't an easy decision to place the princess on the enemy list but she's not exactly our friend either."

Dearka let out chuckle. It kept getting worse. How many more surprises could there be? "Easy decision? How many times has Athrun put her down?" Dearka muttered. "How many times has he brought her up as the enemy?"

"Was he wrong though?" Kira grimaced. "I know this must be hard as you must have had some connection with the princess through your late commander. I didn't want to believe it either, but this evidence is the truth, so far. We can no longer continue to believe she is on our side after this proof. If we had proof that this is a lie, then we can think of her in another light, but it's not looking good." Dearka nodded. What Kira said, made sense. "Another thing, you must keep this information from Yzak. We don't know what he's been told. It might be better to keep him in the dark, it may keep him safe, until we know more."

"I'm sorry," Dearka hung his head. He didn't mean to speak his mind like that when Kira was coming to him with official business. "Does the Kingdom know I am coming to them?"

"Yes," Kira nodded. "They accepted your meeting with Yzak instantly. Again, its under the pretense of ZAFT official business, however, where Yzak is being held at, only civilian clothes allowed. They'll escort you to him. You cannot take these with you, but take a close look at them before you head off."

"How long have I been given to meet with him?" Dearka flipped through the photos.

"A week when you arrive," Kira answered.

Dearka flipped through the pictures one more time before handing them back. "When do I leave?"

Kira took them from him, "when you leave from this room. You have a flight in a few hours."

"Yes, sir," Dearka stood up, saluting him once again. Kira stood up after he placed the photos back in folder. He saluted Dearka back. The two brought down their arms. Kira unlocked the door and headed out first. Dearka headed out a few minutes after him. He didn't know what to think anymore. He headed back to his place to gather his belongings and head to the nearest terminal.

Back on Earth, the Morningstar reached the coast line with the Minerva miles away parallel to it.

"Looks like they aren't moving," Arthur informed.

"They're up to something," Declan watched the screens. "It's going to be a standoff. Don't fire first. Let's watch what they do."

Over at the Kingdom, Yzak had just finished redressing. He came out of the guest room. It had been another day of the usual routine of physical therapy, reading, and lounging around. He did his swimming regiment earlier. He showered even though the water didn't have a lot of chlorine. It felt nice. In the common area, Sven was lounging on one of the couches. He had items on the coffee table. Sven was occupying himself with a handheld computer tablet, tapping it intermittently. Yzak came over to sit next to him. He noticed a chess game on the coffee table. Yzak was studying the game when he sat down. He looked over to Sven who was still looking at the screen.

"Relaxing or working?" Yzak saw the tea set. He poured himself a cup.

"Hm?" Sven looked up from his tablet. He looked over to Yzak. "Oh, a bit of both."

"Your game?" Yzak glanced over to the game.

"Oh no, not mine" Sven felt giddy but remained calm. "You a chess player?"

"Of course, you don't remember?" Yzak dropped in a few sugar cubes.

"Ah, I do," Sven smirked. He went back to his tablet. "But my mine isn't as sharp. Hence why I have these things out. Different ways to sharpen my mind. Let's play a set then." Yzak nodded in agreement. "Good," Sven mused. He moved his hand over the chess game. "New game." The pieces moved back to their sides. Yzak was stunned. "Hm. You must be unfamiliar with it. This is a special chess set. Only few of these are made. You can play a physical game with anyone in the universe who has a similar chess set. You can even play multiple games at once. It will keep track of each game. I'll let you be white for our first match." The chess pieces changed color along with the chess board. "It also can change colors. It can rewind moves so you can see what you were playing over time. Amazing, isn't it?" Yzak smiled and nodded.

Yzak started his first move. Sven moved his without even looking. The game started to pick up before it started to slow down where Yzak was figuring out what to move next. It took an hour before Sven beat him.

"Interesting game," Sven looked up at him. He could tell Yzak was thinking of something else. "Your tactics are reminiscent of being a master at chess along with your tactics as a commander. Easy for me to figure out. However, it was a nice game to jog the mind."

"Do you always win?" Yzak was still studying the board on how he lost.

"No," Sven glanced away from his tablet. "I also usually don't play the black set either." Yzak stared up at him. "The white set has always been my set. I have always played that set growing up. After playing against a genius, I have picked up tricks to win as the black set, but that wasn't always the case."

"W-who was the black set?" Yzak felt like he had already known but needed to hear it.

Sven was taken aback. "I thought it was obvious. Sel. My twin is always black. She started out with the black set. She has never lost a game, and I don't think she ever will. This chess set is also made by her. The game earlier that you saw, was hers as well."

Yzak wanted to show his emotions but he kept very calm. He took a sip from his tea. Then the whole chess game he was trying to figure out was Selena's. Then she was the one who threatened Kira and Lacus. Yzak had to remind himself to swallow his tea. Sven glanced at him before looking back at the tablet. He went back to reading his result. Several thoughts ran through his mind. Was he here for an investigation or for something else, like being held hostage.

"Surprised you didn't know this already," Sven looked up after he was done reading. "Oh, you didn't. Never asked Sel for a game? Hm. That or you didn't know she's an avid player." Yzak set his cup down, still mulling over his thoughts. "Lots of things will keep surprising you when you're around my sister. That's just how it goes. Just like how my results for the Destiny Plan is the same as hers."

Yzak jerked his head to view him. "Destiny Plan? She said she didn't make a deal with Durandal. She said she was supposed to give her opinion and take the test, which she didn't. That's why she was put on the list."

"You see her words to be true," Sven smirked. "You ever think my sister as a liar? A villain? It was supposed to be a deal. She didn't make a deal. She just did it. A bit of play on words. She was put on the list because she gave her opinion which he disliked and for other things, that's for another time. She told him that it was a dunce dream. Her results, my results, and Anita's results are all the same, inconclusive. Meaning all of us would not fit into Gil's perfect, little world. Would you like to try, for fun?" Yzak was taken aback. "Oh, come on. You're already wrapped up in all of this, don't think of unraveling things now." Yzak took the tablet from him. "Your credentials have already been entered, just take the test. I'm curious as to how Gil made his algorithm."

"You can always check the codes," Yzak was tapping the tablet.

"Psh," Sven waved him off. "That's easy. My mind has been asleep for years. Must get the brain back to its sharpness. I have also several files to read, catch up on events, things that went on during my rest and recover. Which means I must read yours again." Sven let out a sigh. "I'm leagues behind Sel, but now its millions verse billions. It will be a while for me to catch back up to her, and that's just with mental capacity. We were close in strength too but now that's in shambles."

Back on Earth, the Morningstar and the Minerva still did not move from one another. Ra could no longer take the standoff. He launched from the vessel with Selena following behind him. Shinn and Lunamaria launched as well. Selena had her ZAKU stand on the platform between the front legs of the vessel.

"There's two?!" Lunamaria let out a gasp.

"Don't worry about it," Shinn tried to make her focus again. "Look where it's at. It's going to be doing long range attacks. We have to focus on the red one. Besides even without the second one, they almost took us down. They're just taunting us at this point. Don't let them get to you."

Ra watched as the mobile suits hovered in the air, similar to how he was. "Really? You're not wanting to cast the first stone. Well then allow me. Morningstar, be careful of my counterpart, but fire Gottfrieds at the Minerva."

"Yes sir," the captain nodded. Ra watched as the rotatable moving canons moved to fire off beams at the Minerva.

"Sir, they've locked onto us!" One of the ZAFT bridge officers relayed.

"EVADE!" Declan ordered. The crew narrowly evaded the Gottfrieds but the hull of the vessel did get scorched. "Fire Isolde! Get more pilots out there."

"Yes sir!" Arthur commanded the rest of the crew.

"This time, we won't lose to them," Declan was determined to take out this enemy.

Ra flew up. "This is what I wanted. Now, to get things going here." He looked on his screen towards Destiny and Impulse. "There they are. Aim for the Impulse, Selena. I will take care of the Destiny. It seems they may want redemption."

Shinn came towards the red Providence ZAKU. Ra flew away to draw out his beam sword. "How about we finish our duel?"

Shinn drew out his Arondight beam sword. "I won't let you win this time!"

Their beams sent out sparks as they clashed against one another. The two flew away, striking one another. Shinn moved one arm to hit the head with his Palma Fiocina, a palm beam canon, that he had used to disintegrate the head off of the Destroy Gundam. The beam reflected off the shiny material of the ZAKU.

"Haven't you learned from the Akatsuki Gundam, beams don't work on materials like this," Ra slashed the beam sword. Shinn dodged it. Ra would glance at Selena's screen to see she still hadn't moved her ZAKU. He left a out a chuckle. She was doing what he said. Ra moved a few buttons on the grid that controlled her machine. It launched a few missiles at the Impulse. Lunamaria dodged them. She brought out her high-energy beam rifle. Lunamaria pointed it at the silvery white ZAKU, and fired.

There was still no movement from Selena. The beam hit something as an explosion blinded the crew. Once those around were able to see again, the silvery white ZAKU was still standing. The DRAGOON pods were hovering around the mobile armor. It had fired beams to neutralize the beam from the rifle, creating the blinding explosive effect.

Ra started to laugh. "I have nothing to worry about now." He increased his speed. "You see, nothing can stop either of us." He launched towards Shinn, having his own DRAGOON pods leaving the machine to fire around him aiming at the Destiny Gundam.

"It's like it didn't even flinch," Lunamaria was taken aback. "That pilot is either really dangerous or has no care for life or death." She fired missiles and her rifle again while dodging the missiles coming from the Archangel.

The DRAGOON pods were sent off to fire at the IMPULSE while Selena aimed the high-beam rifle at the Minerva. Lunamaria couldn't dodge the attacks to stop the beam. Shinn was too busy with Ra as well. None of the other ZAFT pilots could ward off the beam as they were too busy defending off the missiles and attacks coming from the Morningstar.

The Minerva couldn't evade as it was a swift attack. The crew was jostled by the explosion hitting the hull. Declan ordered pilots to try to stop that silvery white ZAKU. Selena fired again as the DRAGOON pods kept Lunamaria at bay. Her beam hit into the Minerva again.

ZAFT pilots started to shoot towards Selena, however the DRAGOON pods were working over-time keeping ZAFT at bay while she fired off another beam. Hitting the Minerva a third time.

"We can't evade their attacks," Arthur pushed himself back into a standing position.

"Continue to try to get to that silver ZAKU!" Declan commanded. "Try to evade the oncoming attacks. Let the rest of the crew know that we may have to jolting maneuvers. Try to keep casualties inside the vessel to a minimum."

"Yes sir!" Arthur repeated the commands.

Lunamaria flew around trying to get the DRAGOON pods off of her. She finally managed to do so with the help of the other ZAFT pilots. However just when she got out of reach, she didn't have much warning as the beam rifle from the silvery white ZAKU had fired directly at her. The warning signals of being locked on, made her brace for her shield but she didn't get it in time. What did save her was the automatic ejection from the mobile suit. Lunamaria did not push it though. The Impulse blew up. It shocked ZAFT's side.

"Luna-maria," Shinn watched the explosion on the screen. "LUNAMARIA!" Shinn went into a frenzy attacking Ra.

Ra gave a manic laugh. "Look how exquisite my other half is! Better give up now. You won't win against her!" He came forward that Shinn had to snap out of it to brace himself against the oncoming attacks.

The Minerva bridge crew watched the explosion. Lunamaria swam to the surface. She couldn't believe she was alive. "Pilot Lunamaria Hawke requesting retrieval." She rattled off her coordinates. The ZAFT crew had a sense of relief that one of their pilots was alive.

"Such a relief," Arthur spoke to her. "We're sending a ZAKU to retrieve you right now. Hold tight!"

The intensity made Ra revel in this glorious moment. He continued to play with Shinn like a cat with a mouse. He slashed Shinn, chasing him as Shinn dodged. Ra heard the warning signals as someone as locked onto his suit. He moved out of the way as a beam almost hit the Destiny Gundam.

Ra glanced at Selena's screen. He saw that her eyes had glossed over into the void. He moved his machine away. Each time Ra heard the warning signals of being locked on, he would move away. He was glad Shinn was on the other side, almost getting hit. Ra didn't like how Selena was becoming unhinged. He used her unraveling to try to take down the rest of the ZAFT pilots.

Ra lined it up just right so when he dodged her beam, Shinn would be hit. Shinn saw the beam coming towards him but he couldn't evade it. Shinn had luck on his side as well as the ejection button was triggered just before the beam had hit him. He fell into the water as well.

Declan was stunned. He watched another mobile suit blow up on his screen. These weren't regular pilots as well. He couldn't keep his train of thought going as he had to hold onto his chair as his vessel was being fired at.

"Pilot Shinn Asuka, requesting for retrieval," Shinn was wading in the water. He relayed his coordinates.

"We're coming for you Shinn," Arthur gritted his teeth, as he held onto the nearest item. "Stay calm!"

"Sir, if we keep staying here, they will take us down," a ZAFT bridge solider relayed. "We're taking on multiple hits by both ZAKU and the Archangel. The hull is at fifty percent damage."

"Retrieve and retreat!" Declan commanded. "Retrieve our two pilots and retreat!" He couldn't keep up with the same relentless fight. Arthur nodded. He relayed the command.

Ra knew that Selena wasn't just firing at ZAFT but at him as well. He took control over Selena's machine as soon as he saw ZAFT started to retreat. He could see she was still trying to move the machine. He made the machine move back into the Archangel. Selena wasn't stopping. She started to pound on the machine with both of her fists.

"Stop!" Ra commanded her but she wouldn't listen. He saw her get up and put her full weight into pounding into the machine. He could see the sparks flying. "Stop Selena!" She kept pounding away until the grid was broken enough for sparks and wires to pop out. "Dammit." He headed back into the Archangel as well. He watched as she tried to break out of the torso next. He pushed buttons to try to calm her down. She felt the injections through her arms and legs but it only made her hesitate. She grabbed one of her arms sleeves and tried to rip it off. Ra pushed on the conditioning buttons trying to calm her down. She took off her helmet, smashing it against the inside hull. He made her ZAKU move to its place.

"Bring us back to the compound, we're done here," Ra moved his ZAKU next to hers. "Don't open her ZAKU. We're having difficulties." He watched as she was trying to stay awake. "Also, get the team ready for a new batch of tranquilizers, she's running through these ones as well." The torso opened up as a catwalk moved in front of the two ZAKUs. Ra jumped out as soon as his torso opened up. He had taken off his helmet. There was a group hanging around Selena's mobile armor. "Do we have a tranquilizer ready?" Some of them nodded. "Good, open it up." They stared in surprise.

"Sir, aren't you afraid of her?" One spoke up.

"It's not that I am afraid of her," Ra grabbed the tablet out of their hands. "She strikes fear into those around her. That's one of the things I enjoy about her. I'm afraid of all the progress I have made with her will vanish completely. I've come so far; I can't stop now." The torso started to open. The group was ready for her to jump out.

The torso opened fully. There was no movement. Ra headed towards it. He heard the pleas from some of his men. He ignored them. Laying on the ground was an unconscious Selena. He picked her up, turned around to walk out. "Fix this machine. Also, make is so she won't escape so this situation doesn't do it again." He walked towards them. Selena woke up. She ripped his pilot suit trying to cling at him. Ra had waited for this to happen. He pushed the tranquilizer into her. She slipped back to an unconscious state. Ra let out a sigh. "It was great progress but this is why I wanted to just dip our toes in." He started walking back. "We'll need new pilot suits as well. Edit the videos so that we can show our allies what they're in for. Get the reconditioning room ready. I don't want her in this state for our ceremony." Ra continued to walk away from the mobile suits.