Old Friends Anew: Special Edition

Phase 3: The Pit of Hellfire

The explosion blew Adam away hard, flinging him to the concrete of the harbor, sliding next to Shinn.

"Help the injured!" Todoka ran up to him. "Are you okay?!" Shinn lifted himself into standing position, still in shock.

"Haah… haah…" Adam gasped, blood trickling from his mouth, his eyes wide, stunned at his survival. He stood up slowly.

"Follow me, hurry!"

"Shinn!" Adam coughed. "What about the others?!"

"Hah!" He gasped, turning around. "Father… mother…? Mayu?" He looked up to where he was before… or what was left of it.

Adam turned around as well, aghast at the scene. The hill above them was now a cliff. Looking down quickly, Shinn saw something… his sister's hand next to a rock. "Ah! Mayu!" He ran towards her.

"Shinn!" He went after him.

"Oi!" Todoka tried to stop him.

"Huah!" Shinn gasped as he got closer. Mayu's dirty, bloody arm was attached to nothingness.

"Mgh!" Adam grunted as he pulled up next to his friend. Looking up, he saw the rest of her, lying back in a pool of her own blood, her bones shattered. "MAYU!" He dove forward through the fire, not even feeling any heat from it. He went to his knees as he skidded next to her. "No… Mayu! Mayu, look at me, please!" He brushed her hair away from her face.

There was still life in her eyes, and she smiled weakly. "Ad…."

"Don't try to talk! Just stay with me, Mayu! Shit, that's a lot of blood."

"Shinn." She opened her mouth again, only to have blood pour from it. "Ma…." She went silent.

"Mayu, don't you fucking DARE die on me!" Adam yelled at her as he cradled her in his arms. "Wake up!"

She continued, mouthing. "Ma… mo… ru…."

Mayu looked up into his eyes, as two tears rolled down his cheeks. "Unh. I promise."

"Hee." She smiled one last time, before her eyes glazed over with a gray tint. Her head fell back, unable to keep it up on her own.

"Uh! MAYU!" Adam yelled. "Mayu! Don't! Don't you go!" She didn't respond, as she slipped from his arms, back to the bloody stone. His eyes went wide as he stared as his arms, every inch covered in her blood. "Shinn… I tried…." He turned towards the boy.

Shinn fell to his knees in front of Mayu's severed arm. His voice wouldn't come to him. He reached for the hand, but clenched his fist before he got to it, gripping the earth next to it, tears pouring down his face. He didn't even take notice as two mobile suits stirred up a gust of wind. "You…." The military man reached for him.

Shinn turned around, looking into the skies, his suffering turning to rage as he saw Freedom, Calamity, Raider, and Forbidden going at it in the skies. Adam's eyes widened. "Shinn? Mayu? This is…!"

Clenching his sister's phone, Shinn raised his head into the air. "HEEEEAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!"

Adam's eyes shot open, hearing the scream loud and clear, even over the lapping waves washing into his ears. He couldn't move, paralyzed. As two tears mixed with the sea water, he closed his eyes, just as a brown and white metallic shadow passed over him.

'Enough. It's fine now. I've seen enough. Shinn, I saw your suffering. I was a part of it. Now I understand, and I can't blame you anymore. I had promised Mayu, and I failed. I'm sorry Shinn.

'Meyrin. At least I saved you. That's what really matters to me. You, the one who found my heart where it felt emptiness was, if you can live on, that's good enough for me. I can do no more.'

'Do you think you can just throw all of us away like that?!'

Adam's eyes shot open. "You awake sweetie?" His mother sat next to him as he lay in a hard spring cot.

"Unh." Adam groaned as he slowly sat up, rubbing his forehead, only to find that it was bound by medical tape. "What happened?"

"You took a blow to the head when you hit the ground. Remember it?"

"A blow… Ah! Freedom!"

"There you go."

"But...." Adam tried to search through his recent memory, but there seemed to be some holes. "The house you guys were under collapsed."

"The human body is a mysterious thing. When in a pinch, people can call upon some great strength." Adam's father emerged from another room, with a steaming cup. "Here, drink some of this."

He took a sip and gulped. "Thanks. But are you guys okay? I mean, you were pinned."

They looked between each other before turning back to their son. "We're fine. Doesn't even hurt."

"Hmm?" Adam looked at his mother's legs, and not a blemish was on them. He turned towards his father's and gave him a little tap in the shin with his toe. No reaction. "You two are like superhuman sometimes, I swear."

"Well, of course, we're your parents!" His mom stuck her tongue out at him. "Come here, honey." She pulled him into a hug.

"Group hug!" His father yelled before wrapping his arms around the both of them.

Adam smiled, relieved for the affection, even though the hug had no warmth to it at all. "This is why…" His mom spoke, and he turned to look at her. Her skull, with burnt flesh falling off, gargled at him. "You should never think about dying again!"

Adam's eyes shot open, the scream he wanted to scream wouldn't come. "AH! Doctor, he's regained consciousness!"

"Impossible! Double the dose of the sedative! If he tries something, we'll lose it!" The doctor looked down into his eyes. "Listen. Don't move, don't speak, don't even think. We're trying to save you, so just relax and sleep well."

'It was like being trapped in a nightmare. Why did we end up fighting each other? Just so we could fight? I should have understood it… should have known it…. But slowly… bit by bit… it all slipped away…. What we could do… we were supposed to do…. It all disappeared…' The world in front of him went dark as his eyelids shut. 'Into that thick fog.'

Shinn sat on the nose cone hangar door, leaning back against the wall, staring at the cones. His fist clenched his cell phone shut, turned to a picture of his best friend.

A young girl rolled out of her bed. As she struggled to get up, she winced at the needles of IVs in her arm. "So how's our surprise pa…." A nurse entered and gasped before dashing towards the girl. "No! You're in no condition to get up!"

"Did it work? Is Minerva safe? I fired the beam, right? We won, right? Adam, I need to find Adam, let him know… let him know…." She passed out in the woman's arms.

Athrun was surrounded by the dark locker room as he shut his closet. He drew his lips tight as he pressed his hand hard against it. Without another word he turned towards the door and exited.

Lunamaria woke up in sickbay, gripping her head with her good arm. She slowly began to get her bearings.

Stellar suffered in her bed, the oxygen mask over her face was hardly used by her shallow breath. Her looks got progressively worse, dark rings surrounding her eyes. As she made eye contact with Shinn, her smile was cut short as pain ran through her spine. He kneeled down next to her and looked back and forth between her, the vital monitor, and the room, hoping to find a nurse or doctor.

All in a row, Kira, Cagalli, Miriallia, Murrue, and the ship's surgeon stood in front of an observation window. The orange-haired subject lay on the bed, unconscious, multiple IVs and monitors on him. "Somehow, his vocal chords and a portion of his lungs were burned. We had to go in and treat the damaged tissue and stimulate growth. He apparently caused more damage when he tried to speak at some point, ripping one of the weakened muscles in the process. We re-attached the muscle, but it's pretty bad."

"What scenarios are we looking at for his recovery?" Kira spoke to the window as Cagalli pushed her forehead to the glass, sobbing.

"He's lost a lot of blood. It's up to fate now. Even if he recovers, his voice will never be the same, that is, if he can speak again."

"What about the girl, Meyrin? How's she doing?"

"The nurses tell me she's woken up twice already. She shouldn't do anything for three months, but she'll make a full recovery."

"Well that's good at least. If Adam wakes up, tell him that she's alive and that will encourage his recovery." Cagalli dried her eyes.

Receiving the news, Lunamaria went in search of kinship in Shinn. Instead, she couldn't restrain her rage, slapping him hard. "What the hell is wrong with you?! You're acting like Adam's not affecting you at all! And Meyrin too…. Have you gone completely heartless?!"

"Probably. Sorry if that's a problem."

She slapped him again. "STOP IT! Why aren't you crying?! Why aren't you even sad?!"

"What do you want from me?!"

"I don't know! But I want something! I just lost my sister, damnit! She was your friend too! How can you stand in front of me and not cry?!"

"Don't put me in with the rest of you! Ever since I saw Falcon explode, my tears have dried up! Do as you freakin like! I don't care anymore!" Shinn pushed her aside and left. Luna collapsed to the cold metal and screamed as her hot tears coated it.

The medical bay always seemed emptier at night. The nurse wrote down the readings on the stat monitors as the doors admitted someone. "What do you need? At this hour…." She turned around only to see a black and red blur before the pain in her midsection made her black out.

"That so?" Shinn recalled as he put the woman down gently. "There's really nothing you can do?" Captain Gladys inspected the doctor's chart as Shinn listened in from around the corner.

"Stellar." He turned towards the girl.

"Ah. It's up to time now."

She opened her eyes slowly. "Neo?"

"Huh?"

A weak smile caressed her lips. "Oh, it's Shinn."

He returned her smile. "Let's get you home. I will keep my promise to you." She just stared at him. "Stellar, I'll protect you."

"Any more attempts to keep her alive would be futile. Plus, it would only make it harder for the autopsy to get accurate data." Shinn grunted as he pushed her bed out the door.

In the hangar, an MP and a mechanic made small talk which was interrupted by the sounds of squeaking wheels. "Uh?" He turned towards the sound. "Hey, just what are you doing?!" Shinn said nothing and pushed Stellar's bed harder. "Bastard! I asked you a question!" He armed his rifle and ran towards the Coordinator pilot.

"What's up?!" Another heard and went to back him up, with two of his fellow police following behind. Ray, unnoticed in the commotion, also pursued.

Shinn was stuck waiting for the elevator. "Don't move!" One of the men leveled his weapon.

"Guah!" One of the other security guards got hit. Ray took on three of them at once with only his fists.

The first forgot about Shinn and turned on Ray. "What the hell are yo-"

Shinn raised his fists and slammed them onto the weak spot on the back of the guard's neck. He crumpled to the floor as Ray mopped up the final guard. "Are you returning her?" He said calmly, like he wasn't in a fistfight less than five seconds before.

"Uh… yeah." Ray stared at him, looking for more. "As things are now, she'll die. If she lives, she'll be treated like a lab rat. I won't accept that!" He wheeled her into the elevator as he spoke.

As the door was about to close, Ray wrapped his hand around it and kept it open. "You'll come back, right?"

"Eh?" He didn't expect the question. "Of course!"

"Then hurry. I'll let the gate open for you."

"Eh?"

"Whatever life she lives, if she lives, I'm sure she'd want to." Ray let go of the door and it slid shut.

Alarms blared around Ray as he locked out the controls on the bridge from the secondary control room. He ignored the pounding the chief made on the door. "Open up! Kuso! Hey, someone get a laser cutter and slice off the lock!"

"All set, Shinn." Ray spoke into his stolen headset.

The captain came onto the bridge as fast as possible. "What's wrong? What just happened?"

"Here we go!" Shinn hit the throttle, and the engines roared to life. The little blue plane was out into the night sky, barrel rolling away from the ship.

"Captain, Impulse just launched!" Burt gasped.

"Eh?"

The blue, red, and white color scheme coated the armor as the shield stretched out from its four point star. Shinn loaded a data disk into his onboard computer. "The EAF base positions. Gaia's broadcast code. Yosh, this will do!" He went off on his dangerous mission towards enemy territory.

Hours passed. Impulse sat down on one knee, ironically, in the same spot Savior was a few days earlier, when Athrun and Adam met Kira and the others. "Uh?" His radar picked up something, and the viewscreen automatically zoomed in. "That mobile suit?!" He was reminded of his first real sortie with Adam, in the Indian Ocean.

Neo's screen also zoomed in. "That mobile suit?" He landed his metallic humanoid next to Impulse. When the Windam deposited him on the ground he spoke. "I'm Neo Roanoke! As promised, I am alone and unarmed!"

After a few seconds, Impulse's hatch opened. Shinn lost his grip on Stellar when the winch stopped, and he quickly caught her as he dismounted. "Khh." He grunted as he squeezed her shoulder. "The only reason I'm returning her is because she'll die if I don't! So you'd better make me a promise! Take her away from war, mobile suits, or anything that can cause death! Give her a world that's kind and warm! Return her to it!"

Neo stepped forward, and his opponent picked Stellar up and stepped backward. "That promise… I'll keep." After a pause, Shinn approached him and gently placed the blonde into his arms. "Stellar."

She woke up again, barely able to put on a smile. "Neo."

"Well then." The man turned around and started to walk back to his mobile suit.

"Hold on!" Shinn said as he started digging through his pockets. He held out the glass jar with the shell in it.

"Hmm?"

"Shinn…" She whispered as his warm hand placed the cold jar in hers.

"Don't forget, Stellar." He placed her hand onto her heart. "Please, don't forget me." She sighed through the pain with an affectionate look, one that Shinn couldn't handle. He broke away without a word and let the winch take him.

Impulse took off into the rising sun, wiping his eyes. He looked at the moisture on his wrist. "Guess I can cry. Looks like I'll have a lot of apologizing to do."

As the legendary legged ship sat at the bottom of the sea, two soft blue eyes opened slowly, raising the girl they belonged to out of the depths of unconsciousness. "Are you awake?"

The pinkish redhead turned towards the noise and blinked until her vision cleared. "Cagalli…san?"

"Well at least I know you don't have amnesia, ne?" The blonde chuckled.

"Where am I? What happened?" Meyrin struggled to sit up. "What are you doing back on Minerva?"

"Woah, take it easy Meyrin Hawke." ORB's princess gently pushed her back. "You've gotten a bad concussion and a few other rough injuries. The doctors won't want you out of bed for a week, so stay put."

"I don't really feel up to trying that again anyway." The girl sighed and took the opportunity to check her surroundings. "I'm not on the Minerva, am I?"

"No, you're on the Archangel."

It made her freeze. "Did we lose?"

"No. Not exactly."

"Did we win?"

"No. Not exactly."

"What happened, Cagalli-san?"

The older girl sighed deeply as she began to recount the tale of the battle. The injuries sustained, the death toll, Adam's rescue, and the aftermath; it all returned in a flood as two brown orbs revealed the image of a ceiling to the brain in the next room over.

Impulse had docked. Shinn surrendered to the MPs without a fight, and they approached the Captain's quarters. Athrun got off the wall outside and Luna gasped beside him. The MP commander hit the doorbell. "Pardon me, ma'am. Shinn Asuka has been detained and we have brought him per your request." Shinn's hardened look turned to guilt when he glimpsed Luna, but as they were admitted to the chamber, the façade went up again.

Talia and Arthur stared at the boy. She raised her hand and the MP saluted, leaving the prisoner to them. Once the door closed, she spoke. "It looks like you're prepared for your punishment." He didn't respond, looking to some remote corner of her desk. "Ray believed in you, but you did right in returning. However you already knew what would happen if you did, didn't you? You released a prisoner without orders, assaulted the crew, launched a mobile suit without clearance, and made contact with the enemy. A breach of protocol this stupid has never reached my ears before! Being executed by firing squad would be getting off easy!"

"She was about to die." Shinn spoke quickly. Both senior officers raised their heads a little higher. "Captain, you were already aware of that fact, I believe."

"Shinn, hold your tongue!" Arthur furrowed his brow, but the captain raised a hand to stop him.

"If that's your only justification, I can't support what you've done. This incident will be reported to HQ, and when I receive their verdict, your punishment will be doled out. Until then, Shinn Asuka and Ray Za Burrel are both confined to the brig."

Trying to get a grasp on his situation, the boy lying on a hospital bed couldn't do much other than restrain his bladder. There wasn't a nurse or a bedpan to be seen. A door slid open behind him. "Eh? Well, what do you know, you're awake. Sorry I wasn't here earlier or I would have managed to catch you when you woke up." A brown-haired eighteen year old with violet eyes appeared in his line of sight. "Yo, Adam Cancho."

Adam's eyes went wide. He opened his mouth, but Kira immediately shut it.

"Na-ah! No talking. Your voicebox is damaged and needs time to heal. So absolutely no talking of any kind. None. Got it?"

Adam let out a breath through his nose and nodded slightly.

"Okay, I'm guessing you have some questions?"

Another nod.

"Okay, well ask away." He handed the boy an electronic writing pad and stylus.

His aching arms wrote something down. "Meyrin?"

"She's got a bad concussion, but Cagalli tells me she's awake. They had a long discussion."

The boy smiled as a tear ran down his cheek.

"You were really worried about her, weren't you?"

Adam nodded slowly, sniffing quickly to stop the flow.

"So, let me fill you in on what happened." Kira proceeded to do the same with the ailing teen as Cagalli did for his beloved.

The trip to the brig was traditionally a long one, but the longest moment was when Shinn passed the cell of Ray Za Burrel. After being ushered into his own cell, his handcuffs were unlocked and he sat down on the rock hard bed, his back against the wall Ray was leaning on. The awkward silence between them persisted until the doors slid open. The footsteps stopped at Shinn's cell, revealing the dark blue hair and emerald eyes of a member of FAITH. "Shinn."

The boy turned to talk towards the far wall. "Just what do you want?"

"No…uh… I wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Eh?"

"I should have realized how much you cared for her."

"Ah… well it's not like she was important to me like that." Athrun looked towards him in confusion. "I just couldn't take it anymore. Stellar was the victim in all of this. Even so, everyone forgot that and only saw her as an EAF Extended. 'If she dies, it can't be helped' and the like." Shinn grumbled the last sentence.

Athrun looked away. "But I think you may have forgotten something."

"Huh?"

"That girl was an EAF pilot, and she's the confirmed killer of many of our comrades. And yet you…."

"But that's!" Shinn shut up while he gathered his thoughts. "But… But it's not like she wanted to be that way! We knew what we were doing when we joined ZAFT, but she's not like us!"

"If you put it that way, then that's another reason why she should never have been returned."

"Uh?"

"If her own will to stop is impeded, then she might still…."

"Kgh!" Shinn gripped his pants tightly before standing quickly, resisting the urge to plunge his hands through the bars. "So you're saying that it would have been fine to let her die?! The suffering and fear that Stellar had to go through…!"

"Shinn."

"Also, that guy made me a promise! Stellar would be taken to a place that's kind and warm, away from the world of war!" Athrun's eyes quivered as Shinn kept on. "How could I not…"

"Shinn. Shut up already." Both arguing pilots turned towards the other occupied cell. "That's enough out of you too, Athrun. It won't help talking about it now that everything is said and done."

"Ray." Athrun didn't know what to think about his tone.

"What's done is done. The future is what's unknown. Both don't mean a thing. Praying and waiting for tomorrow to come is the only thing. That's all anyone can do."

Supreme Chairman Gilbert Durandal once again sat in his office, reading the bad news from Minerva. "This certainly complicates matters. With so few working mobile suits on board…. Well," He said as he stood up. "I'll have the entire council on my ass about this one, but I think I can push it through." He moved another chess piece. "The game is getting to its critical phase."

In the Steppes of Russia, a battle was being fought. The EAF Ground-based Aircraft Carrier Bonaparte cruised through explosions and the fog of the snowstorm around them. Missiles impacted the armor plating as two BaCOE units pulled alongside. One of them fired its linear cannons towards the roof, only to be destroyed by two beam weapons.

A blue, orange, and white mobile suit landed in the snow, shooting its beam pistol at a charging ZAKU. Its form looked familiar, though now better equipped than its original specs, the EAF's resurrection project was complete with this machine. Blu Duel was charged with defending the ship. Its female pilot grunted as the enemy MS exploded. "Mou, these guys just won't quit! It's getting old."

"Everyone probably wants to enjoy your company, Mudie. Egh!" A dark green and red MS fired its beam cannons from atop the Bonaparte, destroying two ZAKUs that were bearing in on his comrade. Another rebirth of a mobile suit of the old generation had appeared. Verde Buster, with twice the firepower of the original, had emerged.

The Duel's alarm beeped as two more BaCOEs closed in. From its left shoulder container, she pulled three explosive throwing knives and hurled them into their faces. The two destroyed BaCOEs were avenged by a third, a Linear Rail Cannon type. As the pilot blocked with her shield, she didn't notice a second gallop behind her through the smoke with sabers drawn. "Ah!" She gasped as the alarm went off. Pulling out a beam saber, she whirled it towards the enemy too late. The arm flew off, along with her shield, as the suit crashed to the ground.

"Mudie!" The Buster's pilot saw her plight.

Her left leg was sheared off in a rifle blast. "Egh! I'm in trouble, I think." New contacts came head on. "Ah!" Three of the newest BaCOEs, the Keroberos type, pounced on the suit at once. "Hold on a second!"

From the air, a black and gray mobile suit fired its beam pistols into ZAKUs before landing. This mobile suit was the third of the resurrection projects, and their most ambitious unit, Strike Noir, improving the Strike and adding a new backpack. Its presence would soon be fully known by the enemy. "Ah!" The pilot gasped as he looked towards Duel.

The Keroberos Hounds were pounding into the armor with their beam spikes. The pilot could do nothing but scream as their merciless attacks continued. The only thing that silenced her was her own demise, as a spike pierced her heart. The enemy was finished, so they turned their doglike heads towards a new opponent.

"Huuu!" Noir had its beam blade engaged as he charged the hounds. They turned to engage, one firing off beam cannon rounds from its back. Noir ducked low to avoid the blast before leaping into the air, hurling the blade into the path of the first BaCOE. It tried to slide to a stop, but it was too late. The suit was cut in half before it exploded. The other two tried to come in from behind when he landed. He merely pointed the hands back, and two grappling cables shot out of the palms, nailing each dog in the forehead. Doing a backflip over them, Noir pulled the reins tight and swung them both into each other, crushing the pilots in the impact before they were destroyed. He looked towards the wreckage of the Duel as Buster landed next to it.

The Gundam's pilot jumped out. "Just what the hell happened here?! Don't shit with me! Oi, Mudie! This is a joke, right?! MUDIE!"

That night a cargo jet landed in the hardened snow and ice. Sven Cal Byran, pilot of the Noir, encountered the disembarked procession in the halls of the battleship. He stood to the side as a man in a gray and red mask, a green haired boy, and a blonde in a sterile medical bed went past him. He only looked for a second before understanding everything.

"Oopsy." His fellow Gundam pilot said as he rounded the corner. "What's that all about?"

"My guess is a destroyed Extended."

"Hah?"

"It's not like they live very long." He just shrugged it off and went to get a drink.

One week later…

Adam kneeled forward and put his hands together, praying in front of a smooth black slab with names engraved on it. He hadn't expected a room like this to exist on the ship, and when he found it, the orange-haired Coordinator felt compelled to pay his respects.

The door slid open behind him, and a girl with sandy hair and turquoise eyes entered. "Umh?" She blinked as she saw him, but then she smiled. "So how's our resident miracle doing?"

Adam pulled out his drawing pad. "Okay for the most part." He wrote. "Most of the stitches came out this morning, but some of the worse injuries still need time to heal. As you can see, I still can't talk yet."

"That sucks. Excuse me for a moment." Milly knelt down to pray. She lifted her head up to the sky and let a tear roll down her cheek.

When she rose, Adam already had a message waiting. "If I may, what's this memorial for?"

She pressed her fingertips to the cold slab. "This is a memorial for all the crew members and friends that died in the first war. I started it… when Tolle died." She rubbed the engraving of Tolle Koenig. "Almost everyone has lost someone who meant a lot to them. Mu La Flaga, Natarle Badgiruel, Fllay Alster, and so many more."

"Alster…. Where have I heard that surname before?"

"Prime Minister Alster of the Earth Alliance during the first war. Fllay was his daughter. Whatever you do, don't mention her name in front of Kira. His wounds run really deep with her."

"I see…."

"I come here to have an outlet, a way to deal with the pain, I suppose. A video on grief I watched once said: 'Humans will do anything to work through their grief. Some of the smarter ones turn the pain into creative energy, making incredible works for those that have passed on.' That's what got me started on this memorial." Adam didn't respond as his color palette inverted behind his eyes, shuddering at something unseen. Milly put a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, you okay?"

The contact reversed the effect. "Huh? Um, yeah. Just needed a moment there. I'm sure everyone would appreciate all the work you've done."

"You don't look so good. Maybe you should go to the doctor and have him take a look at you."

"I'm fine, but thanks for worrying."

She blinked. "You sure you're okay?"

"Yeah, I'm all right. Really!" He wrote before he walked away, with Miriallia looking on in deep concern.

In the brig, a new person entered, stopping at Ray's cell. "You look okay. They treating you correctly in here?" Luna held her broken arm gingerly.

"Military protocol has been fully enforced. No harm will come to us without the Council's ruling."

"I see."

Silence pervaded the room once again, before Ray made a small smile. "But I'm not the one you came to see, am I?"

"Eh?" Luna's eyes opened a little wider as Ray motioned his head towards the next cell over. She sighed, setting her jaw before she walked over. "Shinn."

"Luna."

They stared at each other for what seemed like an eternity. Luna broke her gaze and clenched her teeth. "Geez!" She whispered as she started to walk away.

"I'm sorry, Luna." He said quickly, stopping her in her tracks.

"And just what are you sorry about?!" She whirled back around. "Doing something stupid and getting yourself stuck in that cell? A bit late for that, idiot!"

"Not that! I'm sorry… I was so unfeeling towards you."

"Eh?"

"When I said I couldn't cry anymore, I was just lying to myself." He let his head fall, darkening his eyes from view. "The truth is, Luna, I didn't want to admit that she was gone to myself."

"Shinn…" Luna's voice trembled, almost matching his own.

"We were always close in the academy. We did everything together, right? We had a great time, right?"

Luna wiped a tear from her eye before she spoke again. "Yeah, we had a blast together. We were always the number one group. Why are… ah!" Her breath caught in her throat as she saw a drop fall to the floor.

"She was a friend. She was energetic. She was funny. But most importantly she was your sister!" Shinn threw his head back and let the tears stream down his face. "And she loved my best friend. Now they're both gone." He turned his deeply reddened eyes towards the quivering girl on the other side of the bars. "I don't want you to forgive me, Luna. I've been too cruel to you for that. I just wanted to say I'm sorry."

"Shinn… I… I…" The salty droplets in Luna's eyes started to blur her vision. "I forgive you!" She whispered as she ran out of the brig.

On the newly re-supplied Bonaparte, Sting and Stellar stood in front of a charcoal-colored metal behemoth. Neo looked towards the girl in the enhanced and more heavily-armored flight suit. "This is your new machine."

"Uh? Stellar's… new…."

"Ah. Stellar must enter the fight again, or else creepy things will come to kill us." With those words, his promise to Shinn was broken.

"Kill us? Stellar too?" Neo nodded as the fear sunk in. "Neo too?"

"Correct." He whispered, knowing that the most dangerous opponent wasn't an enemy unit, but the man pulling his strings.

"No!" She buried her face into his arm. "Not that! I don't want to die!"

He caressed her cheek with his gloved hand. "Then you'll have to do it. If it's Stellar, then you'll be fine. The scary things need to disappear."

"The scary things… disappear…." She stepped back and looked at her unit, her resolute side emerging.

The massive tank began to move forward as battle helicopters and Windams took to the skies.

The cockpit consoles slid into place above and below Stellar as they began to glow around her. What the system booted read spelled doom.

Gigantic

Unilateral

Numerous

Dominating

AMunition

G.U.N. Fortress

Stellar smiled at the screen as cables snapped off of the black body. Klaxons blared around the cargo bay. "Living CPU, linkage complete." Bonaparte's dome began to open and the GUNDAM's red eyes flashed to life. "Emergency personnel, please stand by. Beginning CPU data extraction. X1 Destroy, platform and gate have been released." All four engines on its surface roared as they lifted the huge machine from the inside of the ship. Revealed to all now was the most dangerous thing in existence. A Gundam five times the size of any other Gundam, its black and red armor shone in contrast to the snowfall. Its long legs were bird-like talons, able to step on anything. Its almost UFO-like ring housed its engines, two compartments for poseable weaponry, and twenty gunports. Just above the eyes was a strange turquoise crystal, and on the back of the UFO stretching far over the front were two double-barrel cannons. X1 Destroy – it was a true mechanical monster.

Burt, assuming Meyrin's old duties, turned to the captain. "Incoming priority one transmission from HQ. Coded for your eyes only."

"Eh?" Arthur blinked as the captain turned in her chair.

In the brig, two MPs tromped in front of Shinn's cell. "On your feet." He and Ray were released and cuffed.

" 'We regret the loss of the captured Extended who escaped and died soon after. After deliberating the wartime situation and the accused's exemplary record, this case will not be prosecuted for any and all involved parties.' EH?!" Arthur took a massive step back after reading the letter aloud. "Wh…what in the world is this?!"

In his office, Chairman Durandal moved another chess piece and smiled. "I'm not willing to sacrifice my knights just yet." He chuckled and winced. "Ow, my ass!"

"Excuse us." The captain's chamber door slid open, and a determined Shinn stared straight into her eyes. Gladys let out an irritated breath at the situation.

Within minutes, Ray and Shinn were free men, surrounded by whispers of their crewmates. "He wasn't prosecuted?"

"Eh? No way, after that stunt?!"

"HQ's orders?"

"I guess he really is Mr. Super Ace, huh?"

Two massive forces were on course to an inevitable collision in the middle of a Russian Winter. Destroy, sent as the Devil's advocate, grabbed the bars of blood, prepping to spread the gates of hell wide open. ZAFT took the first shot, a Lesseps class firing its beam cannons at the monstrosity, GaZOOT missiles shot off in a second wave, with BaCOEs contributing anywhere there was a gap. Their enemy's forehead gem glowed an unearthly shade of purple, spreading out into a web of blue and red energy. All weapons that impacted it either deflected or exploded harmlessly. Destroy was equipped with a massive Positron Reflector. All mobile suits moved in as the smoke dissipated.

"HhhuuaaaaaAA!" Stellar yelled as she activated her shoulder-mounted cannons. Particle energy gathered inside the tubes and it fired four beams of pink and blue energy that swept through the battlefield, slicing the battleship up like it was made of butter. The devastation continued into the streets of the city behind them, taking out civilians by the hundreds. It was the worst case scenario, as four beam weapons equaling the power of a Positron Cannon aimed towards a city. Hellfire had been lit in the streets, and no amount of snow could put these fires out.

Shinn entered the lounge with a straight face, and Vino was the first to see him. "Uh? Shinn! Thank God, man! Do you have any idea how much we worried?"

As Athrun turned towards him, Luna stood cradling her damaged arm. She watched the boy with a softer look than before. "Sorry to worry you so much." Shinn spoke in a formal tone as he turned to Athrun. "It's all taken care of now." The boy said with his head slightly tilted to one side, a look of dominance etched into his face. "I should thank you for everything."

"Not at all…." Athrun blinked, not quite sure what to make of Shinn's actions.

The BABI suits fired their chest cannons at the monster with zero effect. A tank came at it from a side street, but the creature lowered its poseable weapon and fired a beam shot straight into it. A BaCOE bounded towards the demon and jumped. The arm's gem spread a beam shield and smacked the poor dog away. Stellar mercilessly stepped on the downed suit, not even leaving a chance for the pilot to escape before being crushed. She straightened her machine and let out a cry. "HeeeeaaaaYY!" Missiles launched from the upper deck of the saucer. Their high yield payloads slammed into any mobile suit in reach. The arms of the mobile armor broke off and took to the air to intercept incoming DINNs. As one fired its machine guns, the pod spread its reflector. The other pod sent five beam blasts into one of the DINNs. The second one was mopped up soon after. The red holes on the sides of the UFO shield erupted into 20 fully rotating beam cannons that aimed at anything that threatened it, coating the entire region with explosions and smoke. The attack disintegrated and swept away hundreds of evacuating civilians along with the mobile suits. The red eyes of the Destroy glowed evilly as its shadow loomed over the city, like a demon of death beckoning for the next suicide to come to it.

Shinn's look turned towards the sarcastic, adding hatred and superiority into the mix. "Apparently HQ has a few people that think the way I do."

"Eh?" The air between them began to boil.

"What I'm saying is that your form of 'righteousness' isn't the only one that exists. Well then." Shinn saluted and left with a sly smile on his face, leaving Athrun hanging without a retort.

"Captain!" Burt turned from his station as fast as possible. "HQ just sent an emergency signal!" All the bridge crew turned towards him. "The EAF has started a major offensive in Central Eurasia. All ZAFT forces are to sortie in an emergency counterattack!"

"Say that again?!" The captain gaped.

Stellar stepped on a broken BABI amongst the flames, embers bouncing off of her hull. "To stop the creepy things… I'll annihilate EVERYTHING!" She whispered to herself as her cannons bore down on the streets of Berlin.

The positron reflector shone in the dark night as valiant efforts went to waste upon it. Civilians ran through the wreckage in panic, trying desperately to get away. "Mama!" A lone boy cried as BaCOEs drove past him.

Tanks made a front line and fired their linear cannons at the enemy. Every mobile suit within miles was scrambled to fight the horrid creature, but their numbers were dwindling fast. "Don't let up!" A GuAIZ R pilot ordered. "We can't let it take the city!"

The Lesseps cruiser on the outskirts fired its cannons at the metallic demon, and the reflector took it all without making even a dent. "BasTARDS!" Stellar cried as she activated the beams on the saucer section.

"GUH!"

"AAGH!" ZAFT pilots screamed in pain before they were no more. The blasts spread wildly, turning the already panicked streets into pure chaos. Anything and everything was swept up and killed, including civilians. Destroy's overhead cannons fired their pent up energy, lancing through the Lesseps like it was paper. As the ship detonated, Stellar stared at the embers floating up at her from the flames.

Deep in the council chambers of PLANT, a report came in. "It's useless. We've lost all contact with the Gardier squad! The target is in the middle of Berlin. Gibraltar has been asking multiple times for a response strategy."

"Practically all our forces in the area have been annihilated! Chairman, I recommend a full retreat!"

Durandal's mouth hid behind his intertwined fingers as he considered the statements. "But what will retreating do for us? That won't stop that… thing's crusade, will it?" The strategic commander gulped. "What's Minerva's location?" As he spoke, the said ship cruised at full speed over a farm, trying to keep from harming anything below.

Stellar's rage blinded her. She fired at anything that wasn't considered a friendly. A group of running women carrying their children? A beam shot from its arm pod splattered them across the pavement. A disabled BaCOE the pilot was abandoning? Bubblegum on its bird-like claws.

"Papa! I'm scared!" A little girl spoke to her infantryman father in tears.

A woman in the small group they were in screamed. "Look out!" A beam hurtled towards them.

The man held his daughter close. The hot green energy flashed for a moment, then disappeared. No explosion. No death. He looked up to see an orange and brown mobile suit in the middle of the beam's path, its shield protecting them all. "M… Murasame?"

Adam smiled in relief as they began to retreat. 'I'm glad I made it in time.' He turned towards the colossal fortress. 'Now for this thing!' Adam's borrowed Murasame leapt into the sky.

Alarms went off in Stellar's, Neo's, and Sting's cockpits. A cloud twisted open as a swirling beam of red and blue light cast down on Destroy. Stellar gasped as she raised her reflector. She gritted her teeth as her seat shook. "Nani?" Out of the deep snow-saturated clouds came a heroic shade of blue. It dove full bore at the ogre with its wings spread. "Hah!"

"Freedom!" Neo grunted, as from the smoke emerged the legged ship with an orange and brown mobile armor taking point. "Tch! Them again?!" His Windam began to accelerate.

Kira zoomed forward, whipping out his rifle and firing at close range. The beam deflected. He flipped over and backed away, casting a look of disbelief over his shoulder. "Why is this thing so big?! Adam, your run!" He began laying cover fire.

The orange-haired Coordinator pushed his throttle to max. Going into a roll he fired the rifle on his wing and the beam housed in his rudder. After seeing the damage, or lack of it, the Murasame turned tail and fired a missile out of its rear housing. The explosion didn't leave a scratch. 'This thing is a freaking juggernaut!' He thought as he began to regroup.

Stellar hissed. "Just what the hell… are you two?!" Her hatred was followed by multiple beam attacks.

"Ungh!" Kira yanked out his saber and batted a few of them that aimed his way as he dove forward.

The purple Windam flew over the black Gundam's shoulder and took a pot shot at Freedom. Kira had to break away to avoid. "Watch out, Stellar!"

"Neo!"

"Forget about the other one. The white one is Freedom, it's a toughy!"

"Eh?" Stellar's computer scanned the mobile suit diving towards her. "I don't care what you are." She flipped a switch on her control board and Destroy's eyes flashed. "Cause I WIIIILLL…!"

The colossus's waist rotated a full 180 degrees. "Ugh?" Kira spread his wings and stopped in midair, while Adam's Murasame had to flip into mobile suit mode before halting. The joints in the Destroy's arms reversed as they flipped down to its sides. Sting took in a stunned breath as he witnessed it for the first time. Destroy's UFO-like shield lifted over its head and locked into a backpack mode. The Gundam's true eyes were revealed, an enraged green with a red border. The mouth plating was dark gray, and the armor around the head was pitch black, holding four Vulcan cannons. Not only that, but the mouth itself housed a small multi-phasic cannon to match the three full size ones on its chest.

The Devil's advocate loomed up into its full height as both Cagalli and the captain gaped. "That thing is…."

'A mobile suit?' Adam finished the thought, his eyes trembling.

In a demonstration of its demonic power, all four cannons charged up, firing straight for Freedom and Murasame. Both boys gasped and scattered before it came close. The energy kept going and tore into the capital building. The heat from the beams was so overwhelming that the buildings melted that were in the path. As the smoke started to clear, everyone that could find a window or video monitor had their breath taken away at the horrific scene. Murrue gripped the handles of her chair tightly. "Cover them! Gottfried, prepare to fire!" The portside cannon rotated to get a bearing. "TEI!"

"Teh!" Sting grunted as the energy weapon painted the sky a powerful green. He switched to mobile armor form as he rolled away.

"Tch!" Neo gritted his teeth as he throttled backwards.

Destroy came to the front. "Hhhaaaaaaahhh!" Stellar cast the field around her mobile suit and the energy dispersed in all different directions.

"Eh?"

Neuman's jaw dropped. "It was deflected?"

Cagalli rotated in her seat. "Captain, at this rate, Kira and Adam will…."

The internal communications screen opened up. "Cagalli-sama!" Amagi spoke. "I ask that you let us sortie too."

"Eh? Lieutenant Amagi?"

"Though this battle is not for ORBs sake, doing nothing in the face of this event is a travesty!" The pilots next to him nodded.

Sting and Neo were becoming a nuisance as they tried to defend Stellar. Adam pulled out a beam saber and took two swings at Chaos, forcing him to back away. It cleared the line of fire for Kira, who extended all of his weapons and took the shot at Destroy.

Stellar braced herself and the shield deflected it all, sending them into buildings and streets below. The amputated hands of the demon of death flew through the skies, ganging up on Freedom. Blasts in groups of five hurtled at him in different intervals and directions. Kira's skills were just enough to evade getting shot up. "Eay!" He snarled as his cockpit rumbled.

"Eat this!" Sting fired his bullets and beams at Freedom. Kira sidestepped it just in time. "A mobile suit isn't all about what the machine can do! My pilot skills will take you down!"

"Kuso!" Both Freedom and Chaos exchanged rifle fire as they circled one another.

Three Murasame broke formation and descended on Chaos, rifles releasing their energy payloads as fast as possible. Sting grunted as he blocked one with a shield and tried to take a shot at a passing jet. "Kira-sama!" One of the pilots called out. "We'll handle this!"

"Eh?"

"Daijobu, Kira!" Cagalli was next on the screen as her version of his old MS floated next to him. "Leave this to us."

Her brother smiled. "I gotcha. I'm counting on you." He switched transmissions. "Adam, look after my sister!" The boy saluted and Freedom gunned towards Destroy again.

"Adam, let's start evacuating whoever is left."

"Understood."

"The rest of you, keep Chaos busy!"

"Ma'am!" The Murasame pilots acknowledged. Ikeya started on the offensive. "Let's go, Gou, Nishizawa!"

"Sir!" They all turned formation and transformed, firing their rifles from above as they descended on Chaos.

"Kuso!" Sting hissed as he pulled his shield over his head, trying to evade.

"Rrreeaaaayy!" Stellar's screams echoed through her cockpit as every hand beam she had fired simultaneously.

"Egh!" Kira was getting pissed as he tried to fit through the barrage, barely able to back away.

"Hhaaaaaahhh!" She fired a massive missile barrage as she crouched forward.

Kira would hold back no more. His seed shattered in his eyes, enveloping them in the pure purple of his berserker self. Freedom extended all of its weapons at the missiles and fired without even waiting on the targeting computer. The explosions cascaded around him.

"Kuso!" Neo went on the attack. "I won't let you get close to her!"

A chill went up Kira's spine a moment before the blasts were to hit. He dodged them quickly. "That Windam's style… why?"

Chaos danced around two shots, firing twice at a passing Murasame before almost getting clipped by another rifle blast. Cagalli defended a group of refugees with her shield as Adam cleared them an escape route. Destroy's amputated hands fired again. Kira danced around the beams, spinning one way and then the next. He returned fire with everything he had from an upside down position. Once again they were deflected into buildings.

"Shinn Asuka, Core Splendor, ikkimas!" The black-haired Coordinator, and the only ZAFT pilot around with a working unit, gunned his engines.

Instantly radar on all sides of the battle were ablaze with four blips following in a straight line. Adam eyes widened. 'I know that radar shadow!' He took off from his position in the rubble.

"Heat sources incoming, four!" Miriallia yelled over the battle explosions. "This is… Impulse!" All four of its parts formed together into Force Impulse. "Also, Minerva has just come into scanner range!" The two captains stared at each others' ships.

Shinn drew his beam saber and dove for the enemy mobile suit. Stellar fired all her multi-phased beams at him, which he danced around. As Impulse began to close in, at the last second Stellar used her fingers to create a beam web. Nothing could get through, and Shinn had to pull back before he was cut to ribbons. "Kuso! This is going to be tougher than I thought!"

Suddenly an orange Murasame pulled up to him. 'It IS Impulse!' Adam smiled, pulling out his own beam saber in the opposite hand.

"Eh?" Shinn blinked at the suit. "Oh…kay. I don't really get it, but… here we go!" Adam and Shinn took towards Destroy side by side. The two side cannons on Destroy's chest fired, and the boys changed their formation in unison as they curved around the beams. They joined together again as they continued forward.

'Notice! Figure it out!'

"He's matching me move for move! It's just like…" Images of the smiling orange-head came to mind. "No, I'm just imagining things." Shinn shook it off and drove harder. They tried to dance around the Destroy to see if they could make an opening. The strategy failed and the beam web went up again. Neither of them could make the strike. They backed away. "Damn it! I can't even get near this bastard?!"

A wavering orange beam struck Destroy in one of the double barreled cannons, shorting it out. Stellar cringed. "Nani?" The entire world stopped.

"I… I know that shot!" Arthur gasped.

"Yahoo! Here comes the cavalry! Late for the party as usual, but just in time for the tango!" Alan Sheridan and his cut-and-shut ShEZAMS had arrived. The safety lock on his Drunken Breaker released and the buster sent out another blob of orange light into Destroy, which was this time deflected by the Reflector.

"Th… that mobile suit?!" Arthur stuttered.

Adam was tempted to slam his head into the console in front of him. 'Of all the backup in the world, we get this guy?!'

ShEZAMS gunned its METEOR's engines and closed in on the demon. Neo turned to face it. "Just what the hell are you?"

Alan switched from his buster to his CIWS machine gun and fired it into the sky. The peppering of bullets caught Neo off guard, and the beam saber got knocked out of his hands, never to be recovered. The BaCOE-headed suit flipped over Destroy while switching to its beam rifle and fired. No damage resulted. "Heh. The EAF sure go out of their way to make thing as grand as possible. But it looks to me like they're trying to make up for a certain inadequacy though."

'This guy never changes.' Adam facepalmed his helmet.

ShEZAMS flew up to Impulse. "I saw what you were trying to do there. Looks like you could use a bit of a distraction." He pulled out the Breaker again and landed on one of the more intact rubbles. "Try it again and I'll…" A warning beep sounded in his cockpit. "Oh crap." A puff of smoke sent him flying out of the cockpit.

"Again?" Arthur sighed under his breath.

Alan pulled his head out of the ash. "You stupid piece of shit! I ought to dismantle you bolt by bolt! When we get home, I'm SO giving your ass an overhaul!" He tromped up and kicked it in the shin. "Now let me back up!" Obediently, the winch lowered.

Adam flipped open his visor and pinched the bridge of his nose. 'Seriously, this is all the backup we get, God?'

"Ahem. As I was saying…." Alan said as he closed the cockpit. "I'll provide the distraction. You just concentrate on that demon!" He fired a shot of his Breaker at Destroy.

Stellar ground her teeth. "I don't know where you came from, but I'll annihilate you, you creepy freak!" The battle was back on in full force. Stellar used her backpack's beams to attack everything that moved.

Shinn just shrugged and went forward, his beam saber drawn. "No worries about it missing something THIS big!" Alan cried as he timed it just right. "Tei!" The weapon's blast impacted Destroy's leg. The energy rippled on impact, and the colossus began to lose its balance on that side. Stellar counterattacked with its hand beams. "Shimatta!"

Adam pulled up in front of him with shield and sword drawn. He blocked two of the beams and batted a third away. 'Come on, come on! Line up another shot!' He thought as he continued to cover the red-head.

"Hrrraaahh!" Shinn saw an opening and fired at the other leg. Destroy started to lower as its systems restarted. Alan targeted the face and fired. Both positron shields in its hands went up to protect it. "This is it!"

Stellar winced. "Or else creepy things will come to kill us."

Shinn approached from below, drawing his beam saber. "So you'd better make me a promise! Give her a place that's kind and warm!"

"Hhhaaaaaaaaaa!" Both of them cried. As the hands started to lower, they fired at Impulse, which danced into the opening between blasts. He targeted the cockpit, and with a swift slash, the black metal was sliced open like a can of worms.

"Egh!" Stellar winced as metal, plastic, and glass shards attacked her. If she were a few feet further forward in the cockpit….

"Stellar!" Neo heard her cry and broke off from his fight.

"Ugh!" Kira pursued.

"Just what the hell is this monstrosity?" Shinn turned around for another pass.

Stellar's pain was released in the form of tears as she went back on the attack. "Eaaaahhh!" Her rage was reflected in Destroy's attack pattern. There was none. "WwwaaahhhhH!" Entire city blocks were vaporized. Landmarks were reduced to rubble.

"Why are you doing all this?!" Shinn whispered under his breath. The dark mobile suit's demon origins were confirmed as the fires behind it gave its enormous silhouette a new hideous countenance. "Just why are you killing everything in sight?!" Stellar just gritted her teeth as maddened tears streamed down her face. All of her hand weapons discharged at once as Impulse dove for her again. "Eeeaaayy!"

"Cut it out, kid!" Neo fired his rifle twice while at full throttle. He rammed him and locked arms.

"Kuso! What's your problem?!"

"The pilot of that thing… Stellar's in there!"

"Heuh?!" Shinn gasped as he recognized the Windam and the voice. His jaw remained open as his camera zoomed in three times on Destroy's cockpit. Sure as the snow falling, Stellar sat there, sharp shards of metal piercing her flight suit.

"Hmm?" Talia leaned forward.

"Shinn!" Athrun gasped as he watched the monitors.

"What's wrong with him?" Luna held her broken arm close. "Please tell me he didn't get hit!"

Neo let go of Impulse slowly, and Shinn made no move to attack. "Neo!" Stellar squeaked, mistaking the event for aggression as she took a step forward.

Seeing his chance, Kira unfolded the guns on Freedom's hips and charged them. The railgun blasts impacted the corner of the cut in the armor, causing another explosion the girl had to shield herself from. "Stellar!" Neo yelled as Shinn looked on in horror.

Both Freedom and Impulse backed away. "Just what the hell are you doing?! You trying to be a target?!"

Shinn didn't respond. Stellar's arms covered her face. "Or else…to kill us."

"No! Don't! I don't want to die! I'm afraid!"

"Tch!" Neo went on the offensive against Freedom again, firing another rifle blast. Kira blocked it with his shield. An explosive throwing knife popped out of the Windam's hip and he hurled it at the nuclear-powered suit. The moment it impacted the shield, it detonated, taking out the defensive measure.

"Murrue-san!" Kira looked back to the Archangel. "I'll leave this one to you!"

"Eh?" She blinked.

Kira dove underneath Neo's next shot and fired two perfectly accurate attacks, severing both the Windam's arms and engines. "Nani? Gyyaaaahhh!" Neo's alarms blared around him.

"Neo!" Stellar squeaked as she saw his smoldering suit. The metallic creation pitched forward on landing. The torso fell off and slid forward, spilling the cockpit's contents before both pieces exploded. "NEO!"

But the man wasn't dead. His mask rolled off to one side as the Archangel closed in. The captain gasped like it was her last breath, recognizing something familiar about the man on the stone below.

"Shinn! What's wrong? Why are you sitting there?! Shinn!" Gladys tried to raise him to no avail.

Adam looked up into the sky. 'Just what is that idiot doing?!'

Stellar convulsed into sobs. "Ah, ah…"

"Or else…us…."

"Guuuuhh! NEO!"

Sting wasn't having a good time of it, either. "Damn, she's out of it! We're pulling out, Bonaparte!" The three Murasame in the sky cut him off. "Uh!"

"Geeehhh!" Two spiraled down in a nosedive, firing both their weapons.

"What the?" He didn't get the chance to say more as a shot coursed down his leg. The impact tilted it into another midoric blast that took out his left shoulder pod. "Gaaaahhh!"

The third Murasame transformed. "You won't escape!" He pulled out his beam saber and sliced the suit in half just above the hips. Both pieces turned into true chaos as they exploded.

Stellar gripped her helmet. "No! Don't! NOOOOOO!" Her voice returned to her as she let all her akashic torment loose. Destroy turned and swept the entire area with the deadly red and blue beams, disintegrating everything in its path. Stellar thrashed madly as the tears continued to flow.

"Oh crap!" Alan took to the skied just before the beams came his way.

Adam's Murasame pulled up the Rouge and got out of the way just in time. 'That pilot is psycho! Uh? Chaos… the Windam… USO! That pilot is an Extended?!'

"Enough, Stellar! STELLAR!" Shinn screamed as the air rippled around him.

Kira went full bore as he drew his saber. "Kuso! Stop this already!" Freedom impacted a hand shield, and the other hand fired through it. Kira had no choice but to pull away.

"Geuh!" Shinn gasped. "You too!" He yelled as he targeted Freedom.

"Guh!"

Shinn took two swipes at him. "You have no clue what's going on! In there… in there…!"

"Uwa?!" Arthur's jaw dropped.

"Shinn!" Luna leaned over the sofa.

"What the hell?" Athrun was just as confused.

Impulse did an about face. "Stellar! Stellar! You know me! It's Shinn!" He tried to get closer with all his weapons disengaged.

Stellar's instincts had overpowered her. "No!" Her behemoth took a step. "Dying isn't good! No! Neo!" She fired her hand beams without aiming.

Shinn desperately tried to fit in between them. "Stellar! It'll be okay, Stellar!" She raised a hand for a point-blank shot. His eyes filled with tears as he lifted his head. "You're not gonna die!" Stellar's eyes opened at the familiar words. "I'll do it! I'll protect you!"

Her brain relaxed as she remembered his kindness the day he pulled her from the ocean. "Shinn." She sighed as she sat back, smiling.

The giant arm lowered. "Stel…lar…."

"Shinn!" For a brief, gleeful moment, her soul left her body and intertwined with his in a passionate embrace as they danced among the stars.

Kira blinked at the bizarre scene below him. Before he could close in for a closer look, Adam's Murasame slid in front of him and placed a hand against its chest. "Let's let him handle this one. Fall back a bit, okay?"

"But, Adam…." Kira paused, looking between them all.

Stellar's soul searching ended abruptly as a small explosion in one of her consoles brought her back to consciousness. As she looked out the gaping hole, she saw Impulse almost smiling at her. However, in the background was a mobile suit with eight blue wings, slowly getting closer. Stellar's mind had already identified this azure creature as the Angel of Death, and knowing what the word "die" does to her, seeing its personification was not a good turn of events. "Or else…" She hunched over, her damaged arms shaking. "creepy things… if it's Stellar, then… kill us." She squeaked as she shook her head. Destroy reactivated, its green eyes flashing in the darkness.

"Uh!"

"Ah?"

"Eh?" Kira, Shinn, and Adam all gasped as Destroy took a step forward.

"Not good, Neuman!" The words echoed throughout the Archangel bridge.

"Tristan, take aim!" Minerva's captain ordered. "Target: EAF's giant canopener!"

"Hai!"

"Stellar! Stellar!" Shinn tried to reason with her again. Destroy's cannons were beginning to gather energy for a massive assault. "Get control of yourself, Stellar!"

Freedom broke free of the Murasame. "We've got to end this now!"

'Kira!' Adam chased after the legendary suit.

"UuuaaaaaAAAHHH!" Stellar wasn't hearing a lick of it.

"STELLAR!" Shinn screamed. The weapons were nearing full capacity.

"GgaaaaaAAAHHH!"

A moment before the pent up power was let loose, Freedom plunged its beam saber into the center cannon. "Hhhaa!" Kira whipped out his second saber and stabbed it into the left cannon.

'I didn't want it to come to this, but…!' Adam slammed his saber into the right cannon. They both drew back.

All three chest cannons overloaded, the explosion sending Impulse flying. "STELLAR!"

Everything fell apart around Stellar as the overload cascaded into her cockpit. As a seemingly last hurrah, the final cannon in its mouth let out its pent up energy harmlessly into the sky as it slowly fell backwards. The backpack collapsed under the colossal Gundam's weight. Kira watched wordlessly from above. The demon from the depths, hell's representative, the Devil's advocate, would kill no more. Destroy… was destroyed.

Alan sighed. "Put up a fight to the very end. Only a true animal would do something like that." He turned around and flew back to his workshop for repairs.

"Stellar! Stellar!" Shinn cradled the girl in his arms as he kept her stretched out on his lap. He had loosened her flight suit to make it easier for her to breathe, and also removed some of the shrapnel from her arms and torso. His breath quivered in sorrow. "Why did this happen? Hgh!"

Adam's Murasame had found Impulse, and he landed next to it without a word.

Her eyes twitched for a moment before opening. "Shi…nn?" He said nothing as he stared into her eyes, not even paying attention to the hot tears that streamed down his cheeks. "You came… to see me?" She slowly lifted her arm.

"Unh… unh!" Shinn sobbed as he grasped her hand tightly.

'Where is he?' Adam thought as he got out of his mobile suit, looking up at Impulse's cockpit. 'He's not in there.' Looking every which way through the wreckage, he jogged, trying to find his lost friend.

The purple-eyed girl also had tears in her eyes. "Shinn… you protected Stellar…." She flinched in pain.

"Stellar!"

The girl opened her eyes once again, staring into Shinn's red, tear-filled orbs. "Shinn… I love you." Her body went limp. The words left her mouth as her soul left her body.

As Adam stepped over a pile of rubble, he saw them. "HAH!" He gasped hard, seeing who Shinn was holding.

Her confession left Shinn stunned, as he dropped her lifeless hand. "STELLAR!" His voice was gone, turned into squeaks and chokes. The third time he had lost something precious to him had happened. The tears wouldn't stop. He didn't want them to stop. Shinn crouched over the body of the girl whose affections belonged to him. He tore his head into the air. "HHHEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!" It was a scream he used twice before, for Mayu, and for Adam.

Adam trembled, his body shuddering at the sound. He couldn't look away, no matter how hard he tried. The girl in Shinn's arms was the one he tried to kill back at Lodonia, the cause of the fight that created the rift between Shinn and himself before Kurata. He cradled her tightly, as if holding a sleeping lover. Adam began to cry, not fully understanding why.

Shinn stood with her limp form in his arms. He turned around, looking straight at the boy in the yellow helmet. Adam swallowed. The look in the boy's eyes was crazed, offering no recognition at all. He walked forward, struggling with the burden of the young girl who loved him, in an almost robotic state. As Adam stood aside, Shinn walked past without even giving an indication that he knew Adam was even there.

Adam reached a hand out to him, but thought better of it, pulling it back to his side. Instead he walked slightly ahead of the boy, unsealing his helmet and turning to face him. He pointed to himself, waved, did everything he could to get Shinn's attention. Nothing worked. 'Shinn… where did you go?'

Six MPs were impeding their path to their Mobile Suits. "Shinn Asuka! Captain Talia Gladys has ordered you to return to ship for debriefing and for the pilot of the enemy unit to undergo a full autopsy. Please comply."

"Stand aside." He whispered low. Only Adam heard him, and he twitched in fear. He continued forward.

"Shinn Asuka! We will be forced to disable you if you do not follow your orders!"

"Tch!" Adam ran in front of them and spread his arms wide, wincing in pain from his stitches. He shook his head.

"If you are the Murasame's pilot, then you have no authority to prevent us. We may have no orders against you, but we will use force if you impede us!"

"STAND ASIDE!" Shinn roared, sending all seven others into shock. The two closest MPs lowered their weapons as they got a good look in his eyes.

Adam gasped when he saw him. 'Not good!' "Get away." He forced out, weakly. "He'll kill anyone who stops him."

"I don't take orders from you." The lead MP pushed Adam aside and lowered his stun gun to bear.

Adam, off balance, was caught by a second soldier. "Kgh!" Adam drew the club from the MP's waist in a flash, slamming it down on the man's wrists. He sent his fist into the man's face as he wrenched the stun gun away from him.

"Why you!" One of the others grunted as the three remaining conscious officers dove at him. Adam whirled the stun gun around and pulled the trigger, the nodes attaching to the MP and sending a charge through him. He dropped the gun and kicked it hard into the stomach of another MP, before slugging him with his club-re-enforced arm. The citrus-haired boy stepped aside as an MP tried to hit him with a club. He shoved his helmet into the man's stomach, and as he fell forward, sent a blow to the nerve in his neck. The two other MPs that lost the will to fight after seeing Shinn's eyes just stood there, not wanting to risk a confrontation, as Adam glared at them over his shoulder.

All the while, Shinn marched forward. He stepped next to Adam. "Thank you." Adam twitched, looking his way, with a glimmer of hope that Shinn recognized him. There was none, as he continued to walk, his teeth clenched, tears rolling down his cheeks, unblinking.

'Shinn….' Adam took in a disturbed breath as another set of tears ran down his cheek. He watched him take off in Impulse as the two other MPs examined the wounded around him.

He dried his face and handed the stolen club to the nearest one. He stood up and looked Adam in the eye. "They'll be in the hospital for a while, but they're alive." Adam sighed through his nose. "I don't quite get it, but I think things would have been worse if they had gotten in the way, so thank you. I'll probably be reprimanded for this though." Adam put his hands together apologetically before heading for his own mobile suit.

'I was afraid.' Adam closed the hatch and took off for the Archangel. 'Shinn had lost so much already. The death of his family changed him. My supposed death couldn't have been any less severe. And for the third time, someone's life was snatched from his fingertips. After this, I was afraid. Afraid that there was nothing left of the Shinn I had known. Afraid of if what remained… could destroy us all.'

"I am PLANT's Supreme Chairman, Gilbert Durandal. I realize that PLANT and Earth is still consumed in war, so I ask you to forgive my intrusion into your regular broadcasts for this message." Durandal spoke to the world from his office.

A ZAFT patrolman found a little girl shuddering and sobbing in the snow-covered wreckage. "Hey, it's okay now." He knelt down after signaling.

One of the medical crew ran up to them. "Well, come with us. We'll get you somewhere warmer." He gingerly lifted her in his arms.

Shinn got to the fingertips of his mobile suit, the hand gently caressing the water. He knelt down with the limp girl in his arms as Durandal's message continued. "I beg of you to listen for a few minutes of time."

As Shinn's warm tears dripped onto her clammy face, Gichou's Lacus stepped next to him. "I agree that this war began from the terrorist Coordinators that caused the Break the World atrocity." He slowly, gingerly dipped the girl into the water, his tears following her into the drink. "We are constantly reminded of the fact that we couldn't prevent it and the deaths that came of it." As she sank lower into the darkened lake her arms spread wide, as if she were an angel being taken away.

"Well Adam-kun, I'm quite impressed." Archangel's doctor flipped through his charts. "Your internal damage is healing more rapidly than expected." Adam blinked in question. "It looks like you'll be back to speaking in just over a month. I think someone above really likes you."

"Even so, we cannot let things continue as they are!" Mia clenched her fist as all ZAFT personnel on Minerva watched the broadcast. Those present on the legged ship's bridge observed too, save the captain, who stayed by the injured blonde man's side. "There can be no peace in a world coated in gunfire!" The true Lacus winced at the line she once spoke. "There's been enough suffering from the pain and hatred caused by this war, hasn't there?"

After silence and snow covered his back, the red-eyed pilot sat up slowly, the snow sloughing off his back. The sobs were gone. The sadness was gone. His composure now consisted of a snarl and purified hatred. "Freedom!"

"But there are still those that attempt to stand against us. They have done so since time began." Djibril raised his head in surprise at Durandal's statement as realization washed over the faces of those who talked with him in Diocuia. "For the sake of their own profit, they cry 'Fight! Tatakai to! Only cowards refuse to fight! They who disobey are traitors!' With each word fed to us, another weapon is lifted, another enemy is created, another shot is fired! They are the Dealers of Death!" Nine pictures were displayed on the screen of old men, and the last was of Lord Djibril himself. Seeing it, he jerked back and his eyes nearly shot out of their sockets. "My truest desire is to never have war in a peaceful world. Therefore, I hereby declare that this world's true enemy, LOGOS, will be removed from this world!"

Those in the refugee camp next to Minerva raised their fists and weapons into the air in cheers that reached even the ears of those inside the ship. "Durandal! Durandal! Durandal!"

Athrun stood there, unmoving, except for the nervous quiver in his eyes. "Gichou…."

Durandal moved the black pawn in position to take the white rook. "Well now, all the pieces are in place." After a pause he looked at the discarded pieces. He picked up a knight and stared at it. "Or are they? As expected the black and white knights moved against the rook, but these two…." He paused the Destroy video on the Murasame and ShEZAMS. "These two are unknowns. Iie, only one is an unknown, it's just that the Blue Knight has returned to the game." He took a breath and sighed. "The Red Knight's move is next. In the next few turns, everything must become clear." He put the knight back down on the board. "Or else trouble may arise."

Two rocket launcher model BaCOEs fired the top rows of their arms, something the legged ship's CIWS cannons had to take care of. "Ten degrees portside! We'll use that plateau as a shield." Ramius ordered quickly. Neuman obeyed with a grunt.

"Valiant one, tei!" Amagi ordered from his station in the CIC Pit.

"Valiant two, tei!" Meyrin also cried. She lent her battle experience here to defend herself and Adam. The electrified bullets erupted from the side cannons, firing back into the squad of BaCOEs.

Two BABIs cleared the line of fire for their chest cannons. Freedom dodged left to miss the attacks, and rolled right for the second round. From his upside-down position he fired everything at once, effectively decapitating and dismembering the enemies. "Murrue-san! Egh!" He had no time to talk as another BABI came down from above. Freedom backed off and shot a blast through its flight unit.

High above the battle, the AWACS DINN recorded the battle, sending data to the Lesseps-class battleship. The ship's cannon shells were sent hurtling just short of the Archangel. A missile got through their guard and impacted the neck of the ship, rattling everyone. More missiles came from below, starboard aft, which a chaff-cartridge set off before they could hit.

"Kuso!" Kira charged up his rail cannons, sending the BaCOE formation scattering before the shots hit the snow beside them.

"Just what's going on here?" The captain complained.

"This is bad!" Amagi called up. "We're being corralled like a bunch of cattle!"

"I already know that! But why did ZAFT turn violent all of a sudden?"

Neuman took his observation. "Whatever the reason, they've got us surrounded on every side!"

Meyrin gasped. "Missiles, incoming from the rear!"

"How many?"

"Too many!"

"Kaihee!"

"Egh!" Kira once again emptied his weapons into the cloud of high yield explosives before they got close to the ship.

The red and gray ZAFT battleship floated through the snowy mountains. Shinn sat in his flight suit, gripping his helmet tightly before standing and taking the long walk to the pilots lounge. In the Captain's chambers, Athrun smacked the desk. "You heard what the Chairman said. 'Take out Logos!' Since when has the Archangel turned into Logos? Don't you see that there's something fishy about this order? I demand you contact HQ and…."

"Damn it, I did that already! TWICE!" Talia stood up, sending her chair flying back. "The answer was always the same. 'Due to their ability to fuel the flames of war and create chaos on the battlefield without showing their intentions, Archangel and Freedom are considered a threat that would best be eliminated from future affairs.' That's the logic HQ is using!"

"Even so…!"

"There's nothing that can be done about it! The operation is going on as we speak!" Athrun swallowed hard.

On the bridge. "AWACS signal is coming in. Patching it through."

Arthur looked up at the infra-red broadcast. "Oh?"

The Lesseps fired again. Barreling around some linear cannon fire, Kira's rifle discharged, lancing through some of the shells. "Captain!" Amagi was practically climbing out of his station. "We won't win at this rate! Please authorize deadly force! If that's unacceptable, then please use the Murasame squadron!" As his pleading continued, Kira pulled out a beam saber and entered a formation of Babis, decapitating and dismembering with each swing.

"Denied." She looked around her seat. "You know what Kira-kun said! They might be trying to force us to do just that!"

"Kh!"

"Argh, chikshou! Lt. Amagi, please let us sortie!" The squadron sat on standby in the dining hall.

"We're taking every Murasame we've got back to ORB!" Murrue spoke over the explosions. Two BaCOES charged forward and fired missiles. Kira slid to the side and dodged, rocketing towards them with his beam saber. He sliced off a front leg and a missile battery, making the dog-like suit tumble to a stop. The last few missiles detonated behind the legendary battleship. "If we can just get to the ocean… until then hang on, everyone!"

"Hai!"

All of Minerva's weapons were armed and ready to go. "Distance left to target point: 20!" Burt reported. "The enemy encounter is now imminent."

"Condition Red announced! Pilots, please stand by in their units!" The call came over the PA. With the first buzzer, Shinn grabbed his helmet and started the slow walk to the hangar elevator.

"Shinn." Ray spoke as he and Luna looked on. "It'll be okay. I know you can take him."

"Uwa?"

Something wasn't sitting right with Adam as he surveyed the situation from the bridge. The explosions had stopped, and there wasn't anyone on their tail. 'We couldn't have shaken them off that easily, could we?' He thought. 'No. Something must be coming.' Kira was thinking on the same lines as he continued patrolling the area.

"Sank you." Shinn's confident smile returned.

Shinn's elevator arrived and he stepped in just as Athrun entered the lounge. "Uh, Shinn!" He yelled. "Don't do this." Shinn just scoffed as he jammed the close button.

On the bridge, Talia fixed her hat and assumed command. "Jamming warheads, launch! Send out Impulse!"

"Sir!"

The Isolde cannons fired simultaneously, the blasts spreading out in front of Archangel, its EMP shockwave blinding the ship. Minerva's Central Catapult raised the little blue jet to the runway. Shinn hit the throttle and ejected into the blizzard outside, barrel rolling to get his bearings in the correct direction. The other two Flyers and Force Silhouette were soon in entering the wintry skies afterwards. All of Minerva's missiles fired at once, taking the blind Archangel by surprise as the missiles slammed into the snow behind them.

Kira was also dodging the large blasts as he skimmed the mountainside. As his sensors finally came back to life, they immediately let off a proximity alarm from above. In a flash of thruster light, Impulse came down upon him. "Hhhhaaaahhh!" Shinn fired his rifle at the nuclear suit, which spread its wings and twisted away.

Archangel was lead to the perfect spot. As they rounded a cliff, a familiar sight slid into their path, nearly hidden by the fog of the blizzard. "Minerva!" Ramius's heart skipped a beat. Adam and Meyrin almost jumped from their seats.

"Visual confirmation of the Archangel. Distance: 3000!"

"Isolde, TEI!" Arthur ordered as Talia watched, stonefaced.

All three cannons fired at once. The marigold-eyed captain reeled back in shock. "Geagh!" Neuman cranked the wheel hard, lifting the Archangel's left leg just enough for the shells to pass under them. The resilient ship went at a 45 degree angle as it avoided collision with Minerva.

"Gwaahh!" Arthur choked on his own breath as he watched them pass.

The goddess of war began a gigantic U-turn, as the ashitsuki leveled out once more. Adam launched out of his chair. "It can't be! Why is that ship after us? Just what the hell is going on?" As the statement hung in the air, Shinn kept the pressure up against Kira, with Athrun grunting in frustration while watching the monitors.

Archangel's missile batteries shot off, sending a counterattack against Minerva, giving them all a shake and a scare. "Gwwaaaahh!" Arthur braced himself against his console.

"It's okay, everyone!" Gladys knew it already. "As long as we keep steady, they won't hit us."

"Eh?"

"I knew they weren't trying for a direct attack."

"Wha?"

"Burt, open up the International SOS channel!"

"Uh, hai!"

The woman picked up the phone in her chair. "This is ZAFT military vessel Minerva's captain, Talia Gladys. Archangel, do you read me?"

"Hua?" Arthur's jaw dropped.

"Captain!" Milly's console picked it up. "Transmission from Minerva."

"Eh? Onscreen!" Murrue responded. Adam helped Meyrin climb out of CIC so they could watch the video monitor.

"This ship is currently under orders from HQ to attack and destroy your ship." The blonde woman said without reservation. Everyone on the opposing ship's bridge flinched. "But seeing the situation as it is, if you lower your weapons, disarm your mobile suits, and surrender, this ship will also end its assault." As she announced this, Kira looked to the Archangel as he dove away from Impulse.

"Captain…." Arthur's jaw nearly dislodged.

"This is the only warning you'll receive. There will be no negotiations after your reply. The lives of your crew will be guaranteed. Please make the wise choice." The screen blipped out as she hung up.

Murrue's eyes quivered as she thought. "Captain…." Neuman turned to glance towards her.

Everything was silent for a moment. "Just like Minerva's captain, isn't it?" She sighed. "I don't want her as an enemy either."

"But surrendering to ZAFT will mean that Cagalli-sama…." Amagi rose.

"Kgh! Amagi!" Cagalli stood rapidly.

Miriallia's screen beeped. "It's Kira!"

"Urgent: Dive/Dive/Dive Priority1: Take Cagalli to ORB. Head for the sea. That's what matters here!" How he was able to type it was unknown, Impulse keeping him extremely busy.

"Kira, that's not the point!" Cagalli was in a panic. "I…." Adam stepped in front of her and raised an arm, tightening the other into a fist. "Adam?" He motioned towards Meyrin, and she nodded.

"Ramius-cancho!" Meyrin pressed her hand to her chest. "Make use of us!"

"Eh?" The entire bridge turned towards them.

"Use us as bargaining chips!"

"Meyrin, that's…" Cagalli was stunned to say the least. Adam put a hand on her shoulder and pushed her back into her seat. "Adam… you're really going to do this? You're one of us though! Both of you!"

"We're still members of the Minerva's crew. Let me talk to them. I know she'll listen to me!" The pinkish-redhead begged as her pigtails fluttered. "This ship has to go on!"

"Meyrin…." The captain sighed. "Miriallia-san, open the same channel they used."

"Hai."

The captain picked up her line. "Archangel's captain, Murrue Ramius speaking. I must say I'm grateful for your proposal. Thank you. Unfortunately, that is an offer we cannot accept."

"Eh?" Arthur blinked.

"Our ship still has more to do. EAF and PLANT is still trying to divide the world into two colors. There apparently is no room for a third color like ours, but that's all the more reason we can't remove ourselves from this world. But I am not about to escape without fair compensation. Therefore, I make a proposal of my own in hopes you will take it. For ceasing your pursuit of our vessel, we shall return two of your crewmembers whom we rescued from the Kurata battle, Meyrin Hawke and Adam Cancho."

"Nani?" Talia was stunned.

The two teens came in front of the camera, their arms wrapped over each others' shoulders, Adam flashing the peace sign. Meyrin took the handset. "Captain, can you hear me?"

Talia's hand twitched for a moment before she snatched the phone up and put it to her ear. "How do I know you're really Meyrin Hawke?"

"Hmm… You like the old Japanese PC game MajiPuri because of its touching plot!" She stuck out her tongue. Talia sweatdropped. "Captain, please just listen. I know that orders are orders, but you've got the power of FAITH. Change the order, just this once! Although we've been well taken care of here, we want to come back home."

"Captain… what if this is a trick?" Arthur protested. She held up her hand in response.

"Captain, I need to come home! I want to see Lumi!" Meyrin's eyes started to well up. "Ever since she got taken out, I've wondered 'is she alive or dead?' Please let me come back!"

Talia clenched her fist. "Meyrin… put Ramius back on."

"Captain!" Arthur stood up.

"Ramius speaking."

"Proposal… accepted." Talia was very slow in answering. "As an officer of FAITH, I exercise my right to edit the order to authorize this deal under our terms! Send Meyrin back immediately as a show of good faith, and Adam will be returned as you submerge into the ocean. This is not up to debate. Agreed?"

"Agreed." Murrue sighed in relief. "I thank you for this."

"And thank you for keeping them safe." Both hung up their respective lines. "Anyone with objections can confine themselves to quarters. Understood?"

"Hai!" No one moved.

"Lunamaria." The lounge screen opened to the bridge. "Go down to the hangar. We're taking aboard someone you're going to greet." The video switched back before Luna could ask anything. She looked back to Athrun and Ray with the same dumbfounded look.

In front of Meyrin's pod, Adam typed out a message. "Say hi to Luna for me when you get there."

"I will, and I'll let Shinn know you're on your way too." She tood on her tiptoes and leaned into him, their lips caressing. "Be safe."

"You too." He whispered as she climbed into the pod and sealed it shut.

The battleship goddess opened its port catapult and admitted the tiny capsule into docking position. Talia picked up the line again. "Reception complete. As promised, this ship will suspend its pursuit. However if Adam Cancho is not returned, we will pursue with deadly force!"

"Understoood. Please, forgive us for the escape." The opposing captain nodded.

Guards surrounded the life pod with weapons leveled as Lunamaria approached. The door opened slowly to reveal the girl in the green ZAFT uniform. The similar colors of the two girls' eyes met. Their faces spread into joyous smiles and their eyes clouded with tears. They ran to each other and embraced tightly. "Onee-chan!"

"Mirei! You're… you're…!"

"Unh! Lumi too! He's going to absolutely flip when he gets here!" Meyrin sighed.

"He? He who?"

"Adam, Lumi. Adam's coming back too." Meyrin's smile and Luna's shock both turned to fear and surprise when the entire ship shook from a nearby explosion.

At the same time, on the Lesseps bridge. "Gladys, that fool!" The commander was boiling over his jowels. "Have all squads re-initiate their attack! That captain's taunts will not go unpunished!" The BaCOEs and BABIs charged again. The flying purple suits shot missiles from their wings at the legged ship. One of those missiles exploded right in front of the Minerva, rocking the ship.

Thinking it was over, Kira was just about to relax, until the missiles started firing again. As he tried to get back into the canyon, Shinn stopped him by firing a shot in his path. They met eye to eye. "Quit running!"

"Shinn!" Athrun cried, looking at the monitors.

"Commandar Willard!" Gladys was furious. "Just what the hell are you doing?"

"I am destroying the enemy! You can either help or stay out of the way! I don't care if you're in FAITH or not. This plan was arranged so perfectly to pressure them. There is no way I'll waste this opportunity!" Two BABIs fired their core cannons at the escaping ship, quickly deflected by an anti-beam cartridge.

Shells hurtled at the Archangel, exploding all around. Adam fell to the floor. "What the hell? They're shooting at us again?"

"Shit! Archangel!" Kira looked back once again while firing at Shinn. Impulse took it in the shield and advanced.

"Hhhhyyeeeaaahhh!" Shinn charged forward.

Freedom fired a shot at Impulse's head. It tilted to one side at the last second, the energy going between his head and beam saber. "Uh!"

"Do you think that every time you try that trick, you'll be able to get away with it?!" Shinn cried out, and in a flash of rainbow colors his pupils solidified. Kira fired two more shots high, which Shinn dodged with a few twitches of his joystick.

"Shinn, you've got to stop!" Athrun stood. "Kira will…"

One shot: Shinn raised his rifle arm, and the blast went under. Second shot: Impulse tilted to one side as the blast skimmed past his cheek. Both suits exchanged fire as they circled around each other. "Khh!" Shinn clicked as Kira lined up another blast. Impulse's rifle arm rose up, and the energy was wasted. The next attack was aimed at his head, which Shinn raised his shield to block. "Heh."

"Freedom's speed and accuracy is almost unmatched in basically every category." Ray inspected the readings. "But it never aims for the cockpit!"

"Uwah?" Shinn blinked as Ray displayed the suits Freedom had downed.

"It always aims for either the weapons or the main camera. This is where Impulse's victory lies."

Freedom pulled out the saber on its left hip, and Impulse followed suit. They clashed sword and shield in the sky, sending sparks flying. They kicked off of each other with a grunt. Shinn threw his shield at Freedom and fired a midoric charge directly at it. The deflection angle bit into Freedom's left shoulder armor. Kira barely had time to notice, as the next shot barely skimmed over his head. The next attack was a beam saber swipe that Kira ducked under. He whipped out his own, curving high. Both shield arm and head were removed. "Minerva! Chest Flyer! Force Silhouette!" Shinn ordered as the Phase Shift Armor discharged. Core Splendor disengaged from the chest and legs, and the Force pack remained on the Chest Flyer as he remote piloted it to ram Kira.

Freedom blocked it with its shield, but the measure wasn't going to help. Going forward, Core Splendor emptied its vulcans into the top half of his suit, detonating it. "Geeegh!" Kira grunted as he tried to keep it together as he began a free fall. Athrun gasped as he saw the maneuver.

Impulse re-formed as Kira slid down the mountainside, but his leg gave out and he fell. "Gaaahh!"

"Kira!" Cagalli saw him in her monitor, but more explosions shaking the ship prevented her from doing much else.

Freedom righted itself, and Impulse drew a new beam saber from his fresh Silhouette. "Rrraaahhh!" He took a downwards swing, and Freedom leapt into the air before it could connect. The snow below turned to steam instantly. Jumping to parallel they met eye to eye again. "I told you you weren't getting away!"

"Kgh!" Kira gritted his teeth as he pulled back.

Impulse took two swings, one forward, one back. "You're the one that killed Stellar!" Shinn's rage overpowered him. "And I was trying to stop her!" He brought his sword down in another vertical swipe.

Freedom backflipped in midair and came around for a saber attack at the waistline. At the last second, Shinn uncoupled the Leg Flyer, so the Gundam's sword passed between them. "Wha?" Kira couldn't react to the move fast enough as Shinn shot out his left wing. "Ugh!" He winced as his cockpit shook.

"Costal distance: just 10 more!" The pilot cried as missiles rained down around Archangel.

"We're not going to make it!" Amagi was desperate. "Send out the Murasames!"

"We'll just have to shake them off!" Ramius was dead set.

"Kuso… Archangel is…" Kira was desperately trying to make it back to his ship on only half his thrusters. "Egh."

Plus Impulse was still on his tail. Freedom hastily ducked another shot. "I'm going to take you down! Right here! Right now!"

Shinn fired two more shots to the waist. One Kira dodged, but the other had to be blocked by the shield. "Something like this… there's no doubt that he's…." Kira tried to find an opening to fire his rifle, but Shinn saw it and lanced through the weapon.

"Minerva! Sword Silhouette!"

"Captain they're nearly at the coast!" Arthur turned towards her. "They're about to get away!"

She sighed. "Arm the Tannhauser. Target: Archangel!" The main cannon extended from its housing inside the ship.

"Lock down all bulkheads! Prepare to dive!" Murrue cried over the explosions.

"Hai!"

"Uh? Captain!" Milly was on alert. "The starboard hatch is...!"

"Eh?"

Adam zipped up his flight suit. 'Everything is turning chaotic. At the very least, I have to save the Archangel.' As the hatch opened, his eyes opened, showing the resolve in his pure brown pupils. "Adam Cancho, Murasame, kissing the sky!" The boy's suit transformed into MS and armed itself with rifle and saber. Adam tossed the saber into the eye of a BABI and shot out the wings of another. He pulled in close and ripped the saber out. He transformed into MA and fired the missiles on its wings and inner hatches, stripping two more of their limbs. 'I have to give them enough time!'

Freedom was nearly at the coast as Impulse rendezvoused with the Sword Silhouette. Putting away saber and rifle, Shinn ripped out the beam boomerang and sent it spinning towards Kira. "Uh!" Kira gasped as he flipped around and blocked with his shield. The impact sent the boomerang into the water, but Kira was deflected as well.

The Silhouette ejected one of the Excalibur anti-ship swords, and Impulse grabbed it with both hands. "GuuuRRRAAAHH!" He nose-dived the nuclear suit.

Archangel hit the water and began to go under. Adam's opponents started to disappear as they pulled back. 'Why are they…' Then he saw the Minerva. 'Oh shit! Get below now, damn it! Kira… where's Freedom?' He saw him, or rather, them. Freedom more then gently caressed the water as Impulse headed straight for him with the Silhouette Flyer as a wingman. 'I've got to stop them!' He cranked his jets to overload and put out everything he had, the entire mobile armor shaking like mad.

"We have to hurry!" Arthur yelled. "If they go under completely, they win!" Talia looked away. "TEI!"

Athrun looked on in horror as the pink and blue beam erupted from the ship, casting a straight line of plasma explosions into Archangel's position. "Uh?!" The explosion caught Kira's eye, but the alarm in his radar returned to the danger in front.

"Guuuuaaahhh!"

Adam saw the explosion out of the corner of his eye, but wasn't worried about it at the moment. A piece of his fuselage armor tore off in a small explosion. "Kgh! Shinn!"

"Agh!" Kira tried to back up as fast as possible as he shielded Freedom's torso and brought his beam saber in position to strike.

"Shinn, stop it! Kah!" One of his displays shorted out in his face.

"HhhyyYYEAAAHHH!" All of Impulse's momentum went to the tip of his sword.

Freedom's beam saber javelined Impulse's head. The sword's tip drove straight through Freedom's shield, and an orange shield slammed on top of it, forcing the attack to go lower into the torso. The world was silent for a moment as the Murasame pulled out its beam saber and cut Freedom's head and chest loose from the rest of the suit.

Dropping his weapons the Murasame took hold of the remaining piece and dove into the shockwave that was billowing out from the Tanhausser hit. The excess power and force blew Minerva to the side as it overtook Impulse. The Murasame's armor began to disintegrate. He lost the main camera. "Kira… Go home…. GO HOME!" Adam's rhaspy voice hissed as he gave the last bit of momentum into kicking the cockpit into the ocean. The Murasame's limbs dissolved. "GAAAHHH!"

Athrun's mouth was agape. When the smoke cleared over the water, there was part of one suit left. Impulse floated lopsided over the water, Phase Shift down, without arms, without a head, and everything else heavily damaged. Still Seeded, Shinn teared up and chuckled while looking to the sky. "I did it. Stellar, with this I avenge you." He continued to laugh.

Athrun took a step forward, staring at the aftermath. "KIIIRRRRAAA!"

Citizens around the world took up arms in guerilla units, taking military supplies and weapons and began attacking anything and everything associated with Logos. Mansions were peppered with gunfire and rockets. "Drag out Logos!"

"Logos bastards!" An entire skyscraper was glowing red from the fires within.

Sequestered in the equestrian club, Djibril stared at the security cameras as one of the masked assaulters shot it out. "Lord Djibril!"

"He's the leader of Blue Cosmos! Drag him out to the square!"

"Djibril!" The remaining Logos members made contact one by one.

"Send help, please! The mobs have made it to my mansion!"

"Djibril, there's got to be something you can do!"

As another man yelled in pain, the head clenched his fist. "This can't… this can't be happening! Damn it all!" He took off running, leaving his meowing cat to follow on its own. "Curse you, Durandal!"

Amidst blizzard, rocks, metal, and flames, a boy in yellow awoke to the sound of footsteps. He struggled to lift his head, seeing high heeled boots in front of him. His energy gave out as he saw the ruff of the fur coat and he collapsed. "Take him and destroy what's left. We wouldn't want our ZAFT friends snooping around." The figure ordered in a teenage girl's voice.

"Ma'am."

She turned around as her comrades ran past her, looking up to the mountainside and the almost warm-looking city there. "I won't let it be over." She sniffed.

At ZAFT's Gibraltar base, a shuttle being escorted by no less than four BABIs came in for a landing. Once safely on the ground, Chairman Durandal himself shook the hand of the base commander.

In the belly of Minerva, Shinn was winched down with applause and cheers the entire way. "Yo! Way to go!" One of the techs spoke.

"Shinn!" Vino ran out to greet him as they crowded him. "That was incredibly awesome, you!"

"Nah, no way." He joked as he prodded him with his elbow.

"You really get him, that Freedom?" Another mechanic asked.

"Yeah, well…."

"Ah, someone is going to get a medal for this one!" Youlan put his two cents in.

"No joke! You're invincible, man!"

Amidst the laughter, Shinn's hawkish eyes spotted a flash of blue and parted the sea of humanity. "Shinn, no!" Luna whispered. She had stayed behind to greet him as well, after sending Meyrin off to debriefing. Her warning was too little too late.

Athrun turned towards the door, trying to avoid the whole situation. "I've claimed my revenge." Shinn spoke in a standoffish manner. Athrun looked over his shoulder without saying a word. "Got yours too."

"Kgh!" Athrun whirled around and grabbed his collar, jarring the helmet from his hand.

"The hell's your problem?"

"Athrun! Shinn!" Luna gasped as she and a few of the techs ran forward.

"Can you really be so happy that you took him down? You feeling proud now?" Luna and Vino went to their sides. "Kira wasn't planning on killing you! He was just… and then you go ahead and…! What fucking dictionary calls that 'revenge'?"

"Is being happy suddenly a bad thing?" Shinn retorted, lowering his brow. "After defeating the strongest enemy you've faced, being proud is now a bad thing?" Shinn grabbed his wrist tight. "Then what would you suggest? Maybe weep and mope around? How about I pray instead? I bet you would have preferred it if I had gotten myself killed out there, isn't that right?"

That did it. "Shinn!" Athrun threw a hard right cuff into his cheek, throwing him back.

"Damn you!" Shinn hissed after Ray had caught him.

As they went for each other, they hit human barriers as Lunamaria and the others held them back. "Don't do this!" Vino grunted.

"Hey, simmer down!" Youlan tightened his grip on Shinn.

"Enough of this, Athrun!" Ray turned towards him.

"Tch!" Athrun clicked as he straightened. "There wasn't any reason for him to be shot down!"

"HAA?" Shinn stuck his neck out.

"Kira and Archangel weren't our enemies!"

"What the hell's wrong with you? They're the worst…!"

"They're enemies." Ray raised an arm to cut Shinn off. Athrun stiffened. "Though we will never know what their intentions were, when HQ classified them as such, enemies are what they were."

"Ray!" Athrun thrust against Vino's shoulder.

"Overthrowing their decision isn't something you can do. We here are ZAFT, after all." Ray saluted the hissing Athrun and took Shinn roughly by the wrist. "Come on, idiot." He forcibly dragged the boy away from the conflict.

"Tch!" Athrun ripped away from Vino and Luna, turning towards another door.

After a long shower and an extremely restless night's sleep, Meyrin went to see the Captain clothed as a civilian. A few seconds after the door closed from her admission, a resounding slap echoed through the office. "I really don't care if you press charges for that, considering that when we get to Gibraltar, I'll be resigning my commission." Meyrin put her wounded hand in her pocket. "I won't be a part of ZAFT anymore."

Talia lowered her head and rubbed her cheek. "What brought this on?"

"Kgh!" Meyrin gritted her teeth hard. "Need I remind you of the person that should be standing here right now? In case you forgot, his name was Adam Cancho! What did you do, sink your memories of him with the Archangel? Or maybe you wrote him off when you fired the Tannhauser!"

"You're out of line!" Talia stood up quickly.

"SO ARE YOU!" Meyrin pounded the table. "You made a deal with Ramius as a member of FAITH and yet you STILL attacked her! Now everyone on that ship is dead, including one of your own crewmates!"

"Now hold it right there, Meyrin! I'm not just going to let that go unargued! Commander Willard was the one that resumed the attack after the deal, not me!"

"I've already seen the tapes, and all I see is that you didn't do a fucking thing to stop him! You have the status, you have the emblem, but you didn't use them at all! The golden captain of ZAFT turns out to be gold plated after all!" This time it was the girl's turn to be slapped.

"AND STAY QUIET!" Gladys took a breath before continuing. "The agreement had already been broken. As a ZAFT soldier, even though I was against it, I was still obliged to finish the mission to the best of my abilities. That's why I ordered the Tannhauser to fire! The situation was already lost!"

Meyrin whispered through her teeth as she shielded her wounded cheek. "And for that, Adam had to die?" Gladys turned her head away. "An organization that goes back on its word and doesn't defend its own members… Now you know why I'm sick of this!" She left without being dismissed, heading to her quarters so she could release the tears she had fought back the whole time.

Adam opened his eyes to an unfamiliar ceiling, his entire body sore. "Man I have got to stop making a habit of waking up in strange places with no less than fifteen bruises."

The doorbell to Meyrin's room rang once. The girl ignored it as she sprawled out on her bed. The second ring came and she covered her head with a pillow. The third ring came. "Gruh! Whatever you're selling, I don't want it!"

"Not even boy scout cookies?" A male voice answered.

"Athrun-san?" She slid the door open. "What are you doing here?" She stepped aside.

"Well, word travels fast on a small ship…."

"If you think you're talking me out of it, you can do an about face right now while the door is open."

"No, no. Don't misunderstand me. From what I've seen, no one is taking into account how you feel. I'm just here to offer my support… and some cookies." Athrun pulled out a box from behind his back as he stepped in fully. "Go ahead and try them. I'm afraid I'm not really good at cooking, so I borrowed your sister's recipe. Hope you don't mind."

Meyrin paused before her teeth sank into one. "This is Lumi's recipe?"

"Better than borrowing the mess hall's."

"Dare I ask?"

"I stopped at line two, where it said 'two parts lard.'"

"In that case, itadekimasu." Meyrin bit down and instantly made a face. She forced it down quickly. "Kaugh! Stick to piloting!"

Athrun rubbed the back of his head. "Sorry, Lacus was usually the cook."

"So Lacus prepared something for you in Diocuia?" The redhead poured herself a drink to wash down the bastardized treat.

"Um, yeah! She woke me up with breakfast, and completely surprised me! Eh heh."

Meyrin looked past the glass as she drank. "You can drop the act. I know that Lacus was a fake."

"Eh? What? But… but…."

"I was on the Archangel, remember? Can't stay on that ship too long without having a few things turned upside down, I'll tell you that." She placed her glass down and sighed. The silence hovered between them for a while, until her unasked question had the courage to come out. "Athrun-san, why aren't you more like me right now?"

"Eh? What are you talking about?"

"I lost the man I love in a meaningless battle. ZAFT was the cause, and what they did disgusts me. You had a ship full of your friends blow up right in front of you, and your best friend taken out by your wingman. You even know about the Lacus deception. Yet you still stay on. I would have quit ten times over by now if I were you."

"You don't want to compare me to you, Meyrin. It's far more complicated than that. I thought the Chairman, even with the Lacus stunt, was generally heading in the right direction. I have to see it through, and stay with my choice to the very end."

"But Athrun-san… you're miserable." He took that statement with surprise. "Seeing you lately, you've been far from happy. Your place isn't here anymore, is it? With the Logos hunt going on, you've been on the sidelines the entire time. Shouldn't you be searching for a new path?"

"You're wrong, Meyrin. This is where I have to be, just like you."

"Oh boy. Here we go." Meyrin rolled her eyes.

"Meyrin, a communications and intelligence officer is hard to find, and even harder to replace. They're a rare breed. To seamlessly relay orders from the captain to mobile suits and maintenance personnel in a voice that the entire crew knows and trusts, that's a big duty."

"Athrun-san, just…" The pigtailed girl was stunned when he put a finger to her lips.

"We both know that the battles are only going to get harder, and I know that every time the intercom sounds, there is always someone hoping you'll be on the other end. Truth is, out of the people in this room, you're the most important." Athrun grabbed the failed food experiment and started towards the door. "I know your mind is made up, but think about it. It's a pretty big ship, you know. Hundreds of people on a megaton mass of floating metal. That's a lot of friends I would hate to lose." With that, he let the door close behind him.

They had finally made it. After leaving Carpentaria so long ago, Minerva was on its final approach to Gibraltar, and the day couldn't be any better. "This is Gibraltar Port Control." They hailed as numerous submarines surfaced in formation with the flagship. "LHM-BB01 Minerva, we welcome you." Arthur and the rest of the bridge stood in awe at all the ships that came in, so much so that the door slid open without anyone noticing. "In a few moments we will escort your ship to Platform Two. Please confirm the beacon."

"This is Minerva. We're confirming the guidance beacon now." The captain turned around quickly, with her mouth open in surprise. Meyrin stood at her old station in full uniform, her earpiece hanging off her ear. She saluted. "Gladys-cancho, Meyrin Hawke requesting permission to return to duty, ma'am!"

The older woman's look turned from surprise to relief. "Granted. Welcome home, Meyrin."

Once docking was complete, a transmission reached Meyrin's screen. "Eh? Captain, HQ is ordering Shinn Asuka and Athrun Zala to report in person."

"Mm?"

"Haro! Haro! Thank you!" The red mechanical monster flapped its arms while in Mia's hands. She and Durandal stood in a dark hangar with a spotlight from above on them.

"Pardon me, sir!" An MP saluted from the door. "Shinn Asuka and Athrun Zala have reported as ordered."

"Mmm." Durandal smiled as Mia gasped happily. As Shinn and Athrun took the long walk along the platform, they peered into the darkness, and the metallic shadows within. Once in the spotlight, they saluted. "Yo. I'm glad to see the two of you again."

"It has been a while, Chairman." Athrun spoke politely.

Once they finished their salute, Shinn spoke up himself. "Your message the other day really touched me, sir!"

"Arigato." Durandal nodded. "Though I have many things I want to talk about, you should take a look at these first." He gestured to the shadows on either side of the platform. "I noticed you glimpsing at them when you came in." The lights came on, and both pilots gasped. Before them were two new mobile suits. No, not just mobile suits, Gundams. "ZGMF-X42S, Destiny. X666S, Legend. I'll show you the specs later, but they'll play a large role in the next few battles."

"Hah!" Shinn's mouth dropped open in admiration.

"Chairman, are you saying…" Athrun looked up at him with a cross face.

"They're your new units." He didn't let him finish.

"Ngh!" Athrun gritted his teeth.

In contrast, Shinn whipped around with the face of a kid with a new toy. "My own… brand new…?"

"Unh." Durandal nodded. Shinn turned to bask in its glow once again, as Athrun took a few steps back in denial. He stared at the steady man with a trembling brow. He tilted his head away, letting out a painful breath through his nose. His reaction didn't go unnoticed to Mia. Of course Durandal saw it as well. He turned towards Shinn. "Destiny has been tweaked in hopes that you will be in the seat."

"Eh? You mean me, sir?"

"Unh." Durandal nodded. "We used the latest combat records from Impulse."

"Ah…" He turned towards the gray machine again.

Athrun spat through his nose and lowered his brow. "Something wrong, Athrun?"

He took a moment to weave the words together. "And these are supposed to assist in the fight against Logos?" Both Mia and Shinn were taken off guard in curiosity. "Fighting against Logos will end the war. You said so yourself, Gichou."

"Ah. The battle to end a war is a rather oxymoronic concept. But it's something we can't help, can we? They're no longer listening to reason, after all." Athrun squared his shoulders as he struggled to keep his emotions down. "That being so, we have to fight."

"However…!" Athrun raised his voice.

"That's the reason why they have to be taken down for good." Durandal would have none of it as he stepped up to the teen. "These are for the sake of winning the final battle."

"Eh?" Both of the pilots didn't expect that. "The final… um, sir?" Shinn realized he was being impolite.

The Chairman decided to finish his conversation on the rail, looking up at Legend. "When it comes down to it, no one wants to take up arms. But anger, sadness, worry, and dissatisfaction plague the populous and force them to fight. Logos uses this to their advantage, all for the sake of their selfishness. Therefore, being rid of them, the world will be one that everyone desires. War won't exist. If there isn't unhappiness, no one will lift a weapon." Athrun looked away as it soaked in. "I know it sounds like a dream, but I seriously wish to create such a world." Shinn smiled and looked back to Destiny and considered how it would help. "So for that desire, I want you two to keep up your best for a little longer."

"Hai!" Shinn spoke excitedly. Athrun wasn't so lively. In fact he didn't say anything at all, which worried Mia to no end.

Adam opened his eyes and looked around the room he lay in, decorated like an upper middle class home. A thick leather arm-chair faced the door, with a bookstand right next to it. "Yep, I am definitely starting to see a trend here with waking up in strange places." He muttered to himself. The citrus-haired boy tried to sit up, but he couldn't. "Huh?" That's when he finally realized he was bound to the bed by cuffs on his wrists and ankles. "What the hell?" He struggled a bit, only to succeed in making him more uncomfortable.

"My, you sure are the noisy one." A female voice came from the chair.

"Eh? Who's there?"

"You don't need to know who I am, at least not yet."

"Kgh. Am I your prisoner? If so, I demand to know what I'm being held on!"

The girl laughed sadly. "What you are in this place is up to you."

"Oh, just what is that supposed to mean?" He rolled his eyes.

"I myself am nothing. I don't exist, and yet I do. I'm not a ghost or apparition, and I'm sure not an angel. I just… exist. You chose your own path here." Without another word, she stood up and walked out the door. All he saw of her was a glimpse of her long, flowing, red hair.

On a sunny day in Gibraltar, a carrier jet landed on a pad. The PA announcements were coming a mile a minute. "Division R Armory Unit, you're being transferred to the 3rd Paddock."

New blue GOUFs and ZnOs were unloaded in every different direction. "Robespierre and Geno Teams, hurry to the third deck for resupply."

A rare and ominous sight of EAF battleships and vessels of all sizes were coming up to the port. "Port control to all hands! The EAF naval vessels you see before you in formation with object 729 are designated as friendly. They've deserted from the East Asian Republic. Status blue! We are rescinding the alert. I will repeat…." What was the really unexpected sight was that of a tan-skinned man in an EAF uniform that looked unmistakably like Kisaka-san, Cagalli's former body guard in Desert Dawn. Now why was he there?

The weather changed for the worse as night fell. "Ray!" Durandal stood up to greet the saluting boy. At the same time, Mia's uneasiness brought her to Durandal's chambers. When she was about to round the corner, she saw them and quickly retreated behind the wall. Luck was on her side, because she noticed a photograph on the carpet in front of her. She knelt down to pick it up and gasped at what she saw.

In the Gibraltar mess hall, everyone was chatting about the upcoming battle. "But it's pretty impressive, that the Naturals have such a strong army." Youlan commented as he looked at some of the defectors. "Hey, check out that one. Ten bucks says she turns you down."

"Well it's not like Logos has anywhere left to run, considering they're stuffing themselves into Heaven's Base. By the way, you're on." Vino slapped his hand, sealing the deal. He went forward. "Hey, you mind if I join you? The name's…."

Meyrin watched on from her seat across from Luna. "It looks like this is going to be one hell of a battle, huh?" She cut her meat slowly.

"But this will be the last one, Meyrin." Lunamaria responded. "This time it all will. So hang in there a little longer, little sister. We still have to do our best."

"But I'm just back to doing my old job, while you've gotten Impulse. It feels like I'm standing still." She gripped her utensils tightly. "And with everything… with Adam…"

"Meyrin…." Luna became downcast as well.

"What?! I can't believe you!" The girl Vino was courting yelled as her plate broke on the floor. "Pervert!" She slapped him hard.

"Uh, hey wait… I didn't mean it like that! Come on… um… what's your name again?"

"Loser!"

The orange-haired Coordinator lay motionless in bed. The door to his room slid open, and the sound of soft heels walked over to the chair and sat down. "Nice fake, but I can tell you're not asleep." She turned a page in the book she took from the stand.

He opened an eye. "Well thanks. If you were trying to come in unnoticed, you may as well give it up. To my ears, you're noisier than a sumo on bubblewrap."

"Coordinator!" She hissed as she accidentally tore a page. She coughed for a moment and cleared her throat. "I apologize for that. I used to have a strong aversion to your kind that I'm still not completely over."

"Apparently not." Adam rolled his eyes and jingled his binds to emphasize the point. "Look, I don't really want much, but I need to at least see if Meyrin Hawke is all right. Is that agreeable?"

"Meyrin Hawke?"

"Yeah. She's very precious to me, and we were kind of caught in that battle you took me from."

She closed the book and put it back in place. "I see." She stood. "Well, I have a few resources I can use. I'll see what I can do."

"I suppose I should say thank you, but it's kind of hard to in my present situation."

"Indeed." She went to the door.

"Hey wait! Can't I at least put a name or face to the person doing me the favor?"

Her fist clenched tightly as she sighed. Quickly, she turned around and Adam's breath caught in his throat. The girl was quite a beauty, her long red hair brushing her back, not a blemish on her face other than some dark circles under her eyes. Her eyes captivated him the most, if only for the intense pain she showed in them. She wore a sad smile as she spoke again. "As I said, you don't need my name just yet, but here's the face."

Only after the door closed could Adam finally breathe again. "What… what was that? It was like she was pushed to the edge of insanity and was saved from it, only to be torn to shreds!"

The darkness of the night, and the heavy rain, consumed Gibraltar. Athrun's mood was reflected by the intense storm outside, as he let the lightning illuminate his room. Kira squinted. "Is that really true? PLANT, is that really what they are doing? That Durandal-gichou is…." Athrun hissed as he bumped the back of his head against the wall.

"But it's something we can't help, can we? They're no longer listening to reason, after all." Durandal's recent revelations were still fresh in his mind as he replayed the Dardanelles battle, Heine's death, and Shinn's revenge. "That being so, we have to fight."

"Kuso! Kira…." He leaned on the windowsill, suffering from his memories. A knock on the door disturbed his thoughts.

"Athrun? Athrun!" A female voice called to him. The door opened, and a gloved hand hit the light switch. Athrun squinted as his eyes adjusted. "I knew you'd be here!" Mia quickly shut and locked the door. "You really shouldn't act this way!"

"Eh?" He straightened as she ran up to him.

"That Shinn boy is already working on his new unit! You should hurry too!"

"Huh?"

"You never gave Gichou a clear answer back there either! If you don't soon, he'll get suspicious of you!" The bubblegum-haired fake grabbed his wrist and started pulling.

He slipped his arm out. "Suspicious, you say? Of what?"

"Of that you won't be of any use." She waved her hands in front of him in a panic. She pulled out the picture she found before. Where she kept it in that outfit is anyone's guess. "Here, this is…" Athrun took the photo and went completely rigid. It was the first photo Luna took of him, Cagalli, Kira, and Miriallia, when he met them in the ruins. "Gichou and Ray were talking about you."

"I understand now. I had a feeling that Athrun wouldn't be of much use." Durandal put his teacup down.

"His link towards their ship and Freedom was much stronger than we expected. He won't clearly state his intentions and actions to us anymore." Ray spoke without making eye contact.

"He's a grand warrior, but he tends to think too much. In doing that, his great power dies."

"Eh."

Durandal turned towards the table, photographs of Athrun's secret meeting scattered across it. "Can I leave this to you? It needs to be cleaned up."

"Hai."

"See? It's bad for you to act this way. It's too dangerous!" Mia finished off her story. "You have to show him that he was wrong really soon, or else the Chairman might…!"

Athrun's brow quivered. "Therefore, being rid of them, the world will be one that everyone desires. War won't exist."

"However, what you can do, and what you want to do…." Durandal pushed off and floated towards the door. "Those are things only you know the best." It was the line that helped Athrun trust the Chairman.

"Kgh!" Athrun crushed the photo in his fists.

"Athrun." Mia cupped her hands over his tenderly.

A knock on the door startled both of them. "FAITH officer, Athrun Zala. We're from HQ. We have a serious matter to discuss."

The blue-haired teen lowered his head. "Now I get it. So that's how it works?"

"Eh?" Mia whispered back to him.

"That's just like Ray and Gichou, really." He smiled in the irony.

"Athrun Zala! Please open this door!"

The boy's eyes narrowed. "It's true that I won't be a puppet that will only fight his battles for him."

"EH?" Mia's eyes went wide as he walked over to his desk chair.

"Even if his words are given the tone of righteousness!" Athrun hurled the chair at the window, shattering the glass.

The MPs outside slammed against the door until one released his safety and shot out the lock. All three burst in, weapons armed, only to see a freaking Lacus in the corner. They rushed the window, piling into the rainy fire escape. "Find him quickly!" As the last one came out, the blue-haired blur jumped down and slammed him in the back of the neck.

Mia shuddered in panic as she heard the hits, one by one, as all three MPs were knocked out. Athrun had an automatic rifle in one hand as he stepped back onto the windowsill. He stuffed a sidearm into the back of his pants and held his hand towards the girl. "Quickly!"

He lifted her out the window. As they went down the metallic stairs with loud footsteps, they could only hope the rain would dampen the sound. She stopped on one of the lower steps. "Athrun!"

"Uh?" He turned towards her quickly.

"Athrun, why?"

"The Chairman can't stand people that are of no use in the roles he makes for them!"

"Eh?"

"A Lacus that the populous will listen to, and a mobile suit pilot to fight, like me! But even you can't keep this up forever, right?" Mia gaped at his words. "When that happens, he'll kill you too! So please come with me!"

"Wha?!" She squeaked. He continued to tug her down the stairs, but the rain-slick glove slipped out of his hand. She slammed her back against the building. "I… I'm Lacus!"

"Mia!"

"That's wrong!" She whipped her hand away. "I AM Lacus! I keep telling you! Lacus is who I've become!"

"But you…" Athrun whispered to himself.

"I don't care if I'm just a roleplay! As long as we do it right, it's okay. There's nothing wrong with living like that, is there? What's wrong with it?" Her raving tears streamed down her face, near indistinguishable from the rain.

Someone above opened the door and started clanking down. "Ngh… Mia!" He thrust his hand out towards her. She pulled back. "Come with me, please!" She looked into his eyes, completely motionless. "Egh!" Athrun closed his hand and ran down the stairs, realizing how futile the effort was. As he went out of sight, she went to her knees, breaking into torturous tears.

In the lobby, Meyrin overheard a group of MPs talking. "We still haven't found him yet?"

"We've sealed all the exits."

"Then we'll search every single room. We have to get this operation done in quick order. Make sure not to make a fuss. Get in and out quickly."

"Hai!" Meyrin and the nurse next to her shared a look.

Within a few minutes, the pigtailed girl was back in her room investigating her terminal. "Just what was that? What happened out there?" The door opened, and in spilled a rain-soaked Zala with a weapon on his arm. He locked the door before he saw her, not realizing the room was occupied. The girl gasped and shot out of her seat. "Athrun-sa…"

He quickly clamped his hand over her mouth. "Sorry." He whispered. "All I want is to leave! Please, I'm counting on you to stay quiet!"

Her mind registered what the MPs were doing, and her eyes went back between the door and him. She nodded, and he removed his hand. "They're after you? But why?"

"Ask Ray about that one later."

"Wha?"

Three knocks on the door make them both turn around in fear. "It's HQ! We're performing a mandatory room inspection. I must ask you to open the door!"

"I apologize for startling you." Athrun told her. "Do as you wish after I leave."

"Whae?!" She looked back and forth between him and the door. Her pigtails swayed as she shot out and grabbed his free wrist. "This way! Hide here!"

She turned on the water in the shower quickly after stuffing him into the corner. "Baka! This is useless!"

"Don't worry!" She responded. Her next movements completely shocked the older teen as she stripped down to her underwear in record time.

"Oi! What's going on in there?"

"Um, hai!" Meyrin called out, ripping her hairbands out. She soaked her hair with the showerhead and grabbed the nearest beach towel. As she put it on, she looked back at her friend, who now understood the tactic.

Lunamaria heard the commotion and went out. As she approached, one MP decided to bash the door in. As he completed the motion, the door opened up. "Gwaahh!" The men stepped back in surprise as a towel-clothed girl with soaked hair stood in the doorway, looking innocent and confused. They blinked in shock, but none turned away.

"Hold it, Meyrin!" Luna pushed her way to the front. "Why are you dressed so indecently?"

"O… Onee-chan! I was in the shower and then these guys kept going 'don don' on the door!"

Luna shot a look that could kill an elephant at an MP, and he recoiled like there was no tomorrow. She relaxed and turned back to her sister. "Whatever the reason, put some clothes on! God, this is embarrassing!" She turned to another officer. "What the hell is this all about in the first place? All this commotion is cutting into my beauty sleep!"

"Um… it's not really…" Meyrin closed the door as one tried to answer.

Athrun let out a heavy sigh as he put the gun back on safety. Meyrin stood at the door in shock. Her legs and countenance gave out, holding her chest and sobbing. Athrun emerged from the bathroom with a robe and draped it over her. "Arigato." He placed his hands on her shoulders. "You saved me. But why?"

Her breath was short as continued to cry. "I don't know." She whispered. "After Adam… work was supposed… to cheer me up. I could forget… maybe. But it failed. I can't… can't deal…." Her voice trailed off.

"I have to go. I'm sorry I can't stay with you. Thank you." Athrun picked up his gun and turned to the window. Meyrin gripped his ankle firmly. "Woah! Uh?"

He looked back to her, and couldn't see her eyes. "Just this one. Just this one… Adam. The… the hangar!" She shook out of her tears. "Hang on a sec!" Finishing putting on her robe, she sat down at the terminal.

Soon the base was in an entire uproar of alarms. Meyrin raced to her drawers and threw on a new uniform as the rest of the crew looked up from their duties. "Kuso, the port, huh?"

"When did he escape?" Ray followed them, armed with his own weapon.

Meyrin beeped her horn twice, and Athrun dove into the passenger seat. She hit the throttle, skidding on the slick asphalt, cringing as she started to fishtail. Athrun hit the deck as she turned and passed two security vehicles at high speed. Unbenounced to her, Ray was in the truck and recognized her instantly. The car hit the brakes and stopped in front of a brand new ZGMF X-2000 GOUF. "Everyone is patrolling the port right now! Hurry and go!" Meyrin said over the pounding rain as they approached the boarding platform.

"Thank you. But if you…."

"Don't worry about me. Though I don't know what's going on, if you escape, it's fine. Athrun-san is meant to survive."

"But you'll be charged with treason!"

She looked to the asphalt. "I've been dead ever since I lost Adam. Nothing was ever the same. If I can just save you, then I'll die fulfilled."

Footsteps came fast from the side of the hangar. Ray came around the corner and leveled his weapon at them. "Egh!" Athrun grabbed her and dove off to the side.

"Ah!" She squeaked as they made it behind the maintenance terminals, Ray's first shot coming within centimeters of them. "Egh!" They both winced as they landed.

Ray stopped firing. "I see you can still dodge, coward!"

"Ray!" He snarled, sitting up.

"But it's all over now! Your job that is!" He resumed firing, trying to break down the computers.

Meyrin screamed as Athrun shielded her from the sparks and shrapnel. "Enough of this, Ray! You'll hit Meyrin!" He wouldn't let up, so Athrun stuck his gun between the terminal screens and fired blind. Ray jumped out of the way, behind the hangar door. "Kuso!"

Meyrin got a look at the pistol in the back of Athrun's pants in the brief interlude. Ray began to fire again once Athrun let up. Within an instant, Meyrin took hold of the sidearm, just before Athrun rolled out of the way, returning fire. The gun flew out of Ray's hands and skidded to the street behind him. "Kegh!" Ray rubbed his hand before turning to retrieve his lost weapon.

A bullet penetrated the ground in front of his shoe. "Ray!" He turned around to see Meyrin, pistol aimed between the computers directly at him. "I've killed one person with a gun already. I don't want you to be the second!"

The blond turned towards her fully and laughed. "Well well, this is a surprise, Meyrin Hawke! This is the last thing I expected! You do realize the punishment for something like this is death by firing squad, right? What is going through that pretty little head of yours?"

"Shut up!" Meyrin shook her head.

"You do realize she'll be interrogated for your actions, your precious sister that is! She might even be found guilty! Imagine, you and your sister against the wall. Ready, aim, fire!"

"Hah!" Meyrin froze, unintentionally living the nightmare.

"Ray, that's enough!" Athrun yelled.

"You can save her, Meyrin! You can save your dear Onee-chan and yourself! Meyrin Hawke, stop that traitor! Kill him at once!" He swung his finger towards Athrun.

"Ray, stop it! Quit messing with her head!"

Ray moved towards his weapon very slowly. "Lumi is waiting for you back at the barracks, Meyrin. Don't you want to see her again?"

Meyrin pointed her now unsteady gun-toting hand at the FAITH officer. "Athrun-san…"

He took a step back. "Meyrin… no… don't…."

"That's it, Mirei!" Ray took another step back. "End his life so that you can save the both of your own! Pull the trigger!" He hissed. "DO IT!" He broke into a run for his gun.

"Don't…." She whispered. "DON'T CALL ME MIREI!" She whipped around and targeted the weapon, firing three rounds. One skimmed across Ray's cheek, drawing a little blood. The bullets sent the gun skidding further away from him. Meyrin looked to Athrun and smiled slightly. "I could never kill you."

Athrun held out a hand to her, and she took it quickly. They hopped onto the boarding platform just as Ray retrieved his lost gun. As they were raised to cockpit level, Ray came back and took aim. He pulled the trigger. Nothing happened. Ray reloaded and tried again. Still nothing. Athrun closed the cockpit behind them and started up the mobile suit. Ray tossed the rifle away, running out of the hangar as fast as he could.

"Sorry Meyrin, but I have no intention of letting you die because of me!" She nodded quickly. The GOUF's eye flashed to life as the docking clamps were released.

As it walked out, spread its wings, and took to the skies, Ray pulled out a phone from the '80's. "Shinn! Get Destiny and Legend prepped for launch! I'm on my way!"

"Eh? How come?" Shinn answered the other line at the Gundam hangar.

"Athrun has jacked a GOUF and is escaping! He's got Meyrin with him! We're pursuing!"

"Huh?!"

The elevator platform for Destiny and Legend began to rise. Before it reached its full height, Ray jumped down, diving for Legend's winch. In no time, he slammed his back into the chair and started his checklist. "Ray!" He watched as the OS booted up.

"You good?"

"But… Athrun… why would he…?"

"I don't have an answer for that. However he assaulted the guards, and took Meyrin Hawke with him." Legend's armor shimmered with Phase Shift as it stepped forward.

"Wha?!"

"Intelligence is Meyrin's specialty. She might leak vital information if captured. Our orders are to take them out!"

Destiny's eyes flashed green as the clamps released. "Eh?" Shinn gasped. "No way!"

"If we don't get going, they'll escape! Let's go!" Legend took off without another word.

"Egh!" Shinn pushed the throttle after a pause. Its blue and red phase shift was obscured by the darkness as it spread plasma wings to follow.

In the stormy seas, all ZAFT and allied EAF ships were alerted to the escapees presence with an alarm. On a smaller EAF boat, Kisaka-san observed the GOUF making a large water trail. Legend and Destiny flew overhead in hot pursuit, and he left the deck during the commotion. A clap of thunder almost obscured Athrun's proximity alarm. Almost. Legend broke formation and banked to the right. "I'll close in from the right. You're faster, so circle in front of them!"

"Ray!" Shinn began to sweat. "You're really…."

"Keep your guard up. The target in that GOUF is Athrun! You know his skills!"

"But then…!" Shinn looked up to his comm. panel.

"Stop hesitating, Shinn! These are our orders! We need to carry them out!"

"Kgh!" Shinn grit his teeth hard.

Legend pulled out its beam rifle and fired twice. Athrun dodged to one side as the beam hit the water just inches beside them. Meyrin squeaked as the cockpit shook. "Kuso! That's Ray's style!" Athrun continued to coast across the water listing left and right, keeping the shots from connecting. Over his left shoulder, Shinn came within range. Athrun rolled out of the way just before the shot rent the sea.

"Tch!" Shinn snarled, extending his rifle and firing rapidly.

"Shinn!" Athrun cried.

"Why did this have to come about? Why you of all people?!" Shinn's anger boiled over.

Realizing he wouldn't be able to escape without a fight, Athrun turned the GOUF on its back and fired its wrist gattling. Destiny pulled back and spread a reflector shield equipped on its hand. "Knock it off, Shinn! You don't have a clue as to what's happening here!"

"The hell was that?!" Shinn leaned forward and his suit dove for Athrun.

Athrun ascended quickly as more beam shots flew. Meyrin shut her eyes tight as she hung onto his chair. "Shinn!" He did an about face and tossed out the electro-whip. "Egh!" Its red-hot metal wrapped around the rifle and the charge raced through, overloading the weapon and blowing it up just a split second after Shinn released it. The explosion forced him back. "Listen, Shinn! I know that Gichou and Ray truly do sound like their way is the right one…."

"Athrun!" Ray fired his rifle between the two suits. They made a hole for Legend.

"But when the smoke clears, they'll be the ones that destroyed the earth!"

"Weh?" Shinn's face twitched in shock.

"That goes for you too!"

"As if that will fool us?!" Ray boomed over the lightning. "You've disgraced us, Athrun!" Legend pulled out a long beam saber from its hip casing and throttled towards the enemy. Athrun quickly prepared by removing and extending the Tempest sword from his shield. With the spiked shield, the Gouf blocked Legend's arm from finishing the swing. "He's trying to trick you, Shinn!" He pulled back a moment before Athrun took a swipe.

"Agh…Ray!" Shinn sat there, indecisive.

"Just what is it we've done all this for?" Ray's words brought images of Mayu and Stellar to the back of Shinn's eyes. "Are you going to let everything we've fought for be lost right here?!"

"Mgh…" Shinn pulled out a Flash Edge from his shoulder and hurled it.

Athrun tilted his suit to the side, the boomerang sliding just under the shield, impacting the ocean. The two occupants winced from the G-forces. "Shinn, knock it off!" Legend turned six of his backpack's spines forward, and each put forth a beam shot. Dodging once again, the GOUF returned fire with its gattling cannon. "If you're going to shoot me, then at least take Meyrin! She's got…."

"She's been guilty since she hacked the computers! Ever since she returned from Archangel, we've suspected her of being brainwashed! Her existence has no more meaning!" Ray pulled no punches.

"Huh?!" Shinn gasped.

Meyrin's eyes quivered in shock. "Ray!" Athrun snarled.

"My existence…?" Her whisper trembled. "Then go ahead and kill me!" Meyrin jumped in front of the camera. "But let Athrun go! My life in exchange…."

"No! Meyrin, I said I wasn't going to let you die!" He tried to push her back.

"Shinn, if Adam were here, what would he say about this?!"

"Urusai!" Shinn snarled. "He's been gone ever since Falcon blew up! Now you're trying to use him against me?!"

"You're wrong, Shinn! He was with me aboard the Archangel!" Meyrin screamed as the tears welled in her eyes. "He was on that ship when it was shot down! Minerva killed him!"

Shinn's head hit the back of his chair as his color palette inverted. "Adam was… alive?!"

"Have you become unstable, Meyrin?" Ray said as he took another shot. Athrun finally moved the girl out of the way and cranked his controls to one side. "He was KIA at Kurata."

"LIAR! The captain made a deal with Archangel to return us both, but they sank her anyway! You're the traitors here, not us!"

"No way… it can't be…." Shinn's hands twitched at his controls.

"Shinn! Look at what they've done here! They're blatant traitors! Our enemies! Shooting them down is our obligation!" Shinn's head moved left and right, arguing within himself with every turn.

"Shinn!" Athrun begged.

The pilot could take no more, he hung his head as his parents burned in his memories. "It's for the sake of bringing it all to an end!"

Stellar's death, the fight with Freedom, Adam's final message. It all flashed in his head. "KUSO!" Shinn screamed, his rage flowing freely with the release of his SEED. From Destiny's back, Shinn unfolded the anti-ship beam sword and activated it.

"Shinn!" Meyrin and Athrun both gasped.

The madness consumed the young pilot as he pointed the sword forward and unfurled his sparkling plasma wings. Shinn's voice was barely a whisper. "This is all your fault! Because of you… BECAUSE YOU'VE BECOME A TRAITOR TO US ALL!" He lifted the blade over his shoulder and thrust forward. "HHHAAAAAA!"

"Shinn, break off!" Athrun yelled as he turned his thrusters over the max limit, breaking away from his shield and sword battle with Ray as the giant blade sliced the air between them. Shinn slid to the side so fast that an afterimage was produced. He grabbed the electrowhip when Athrun threw it, and it blew up. "Ugh?!" The attack took Athrun off guard, seeing the beam cannon in Destiny's palm.

Shinn pulled back and raised the saber over his head. His speed was demonic, unzipping the sky with afterimages. Athrun couldn't counter, and his shield hand was removed. They tried to backpedal as fast as possible, but Shinn kept driving forward. "HEEAAAY!" Another slice and the gattling arm came off at the shoulder, leaving the GOUF completely defenseless. "That's why I won't… I won't ever again… be tricked by people like you!" He put the sword in front of him and his suit took a nose dive.

"SHINN!" It was Athrun's last plea.

"Hagh!" Meyrin choked on her breath.

"DEEYYYAAA!" The blade went straight through the left side of the torso and out the other side. Shinn let the sword go as the plasma storm lit up the sky. The silhouette of the pierced GOUF fell into the sea, where it exploded soon after.

Shinn panted heavily, as Ray looked on with zero emotion. Shinn closed his eyes and tried to return to normal, but all he saw was the stream of blood clouding the already dark water. His eyes snapped open, SEED gone, replaced with tears.

Far far away from the scene, a man in warm clothes, snow melting on his shoulders came into a lounge with a compter, where the girl with red hair was typing away. "Ma'am."

"What is it, Appolly? I'm busy researching that boy's girl."

"It's about that, ma'am. We've received a transmission from our operative in Gibraltar. Here's the contents." He handed her a disk.

After pulling it up on her screen, she gasped. "This is…!" She stood up and whirled around, staring the man in the face. "He must never get wind of this, understand? This information doesn't leave this room! Delete any backups and make sure the logs reflect it was never accessed!"

"But… doesn't he have the right to…"

"Don't talk to me about rights! If he finds out, his soul will be crushed! I can't let that happen!"

"But…."

"No objections! Don't you think I know what I'm talking about? I can't… let another go through that… the same hell as me!" A tear ran down her cheek, and then another, and another. She rushed out of the room.

"Meyrin? Meyrin did?" Lunamaria was in an interrogation room, being informed about the occurance. "No way… this can't…" Luna's hands were trembling as she held up the photos. "Meyrin was… Meyrin couldn't do… This is just another prank of hers, right?" She looked at the men with trembling eyes. "She's just gonna pop out here any moment and say 'I fooled ya!' ne?" The men looked away as her tears started to flow. "This isn't real! She couldn't have done that! That girl would never do… she wouldn't do something that stupid! " As Shinn and Ray returned to base, Mia picked up her head in shock at the news of Athrun's death. Gladys gritted her teeth as she stampeded Durandal's desk.

Adam sat up in his bed, eating the breakfast in his lap with a fork. On the other side of the door, a female hand pressed softly against it. She sighed quietly for a second and let a little smile appear on her face. Then she gasped and gritted her teeth. "Kuso!" She whispered as she slammed her forehead against the wall.

The bookcase inside jumped a little. "Hmm?" Adam blinked for a second before going back to his meal.

A tiny stream of blood trickled down her nose. "How can I even think of that, especially now? I'm such a pathetic existence!" She turned and walked away quickly.

Shinn and Ray walked the halls side by side. Shinn didn't really even know where he was heading. His feet were moving on their own, but so were a certain girl's as well in the opposite direction. Once seeing her, Shinn stopped, and Ray soon after. Luna let out a small gasp once she halted. The silent vacuum between them was extremely painful, the moment they never wanted to face coming all too soon. Shinn clutched his hand into a fist wand walked forward. They couldn't look each other in the eye, they couldn't do anything really. He just walked. As he took his first step past her, he whispered one word. "Gomen."

"Ah! Hah!" Luna went rigid and turned around. Shinn had only stopped a few steps away, feeling lower than dirt. It brought tears to Luna's eyes once again. Shinn thought what would come next would be some yelling, slaps, punches, and other such violent vents. Never did he think that she would grab his jacket and sob into his back. He turned around, trying to come up with some type of support for her. He clasped his hands around her thin arms, and the contact broke his control. He brought her into a tight embrace they both needed desperately. Her wails became too much, and Shinn began to whimper as well. Ray left without another word. He didn't need to be there for this, so he would leave them be. There was no record of how long they stood there, letting every anguish contained out, but when they did break, their tears had run out for the time being.

The red-haired girl played with the bandage on her forehead as she read about the planned crusade of ZAFT on EAF's Heaven's Base. "Things are picking up faster than expected. Has the prototype been completed yet?"

"Just finished, thanks to an old acquaintance of yours." The girl's second in command answered.

"Old acquaintance?" She echoed.

"I believe he's referring to me." A teen with curly red hair waltzed into the room, hopping over a sofa and sitting cross-legged in it in one motion. "Yo."

The girl's sad smile returned. "It's good to see you again, Alan Sherridan."

"Anything for my best customer. Hey, you got any hot cocoa? I'm just dying for some right now!"

Hundreds of missiles and projectile weaponry launched from Heaven's Base and its battleships in a surprise offensive. The brutal attacks turned the frontal force into fireballs in the sea.

From his seat on Minerva, Arthur's jaw hit the floor. "EH?!"

"Kah!" Talia gasped as Durandal let a small smirk appear on his face.

"Mobile Armor squads, Mobile Suit squads, hashin!" The EAF radios blared. As all mobile suit hatches opened at the base. "Second and Third divisions, launch!" Windams, flight Daggers, and new Euclid armors took to the air. Not only that, but a newer Forbidden Blue squad shot out of the underwater hatches.

ZAFT submarines surfaced, sending a payload of missiles into the coastline. A Forbidden fired its missiles into a helpless GhOON while another stabbed an MA-transformed ASH in the main camera with its trident. A ZnO fired its Maser Cannons into the enemy in reciprocation. Coasting above the waterline, a Euclid took a Tristan blast head on, totaling it.

In the pilot's lounge on Minerva, Shinn brought Luna into a tight hug. They sobbed into each others' shoulders. She pressed her nose into his hair, and put her arms around him as well. 'This war will end!'

The thrusters in the saucer section of an all too familiar radar shadow lifted off. Hell's Gate had reopened, and in this time, from five different places. "ALL RIGHT!" Sting yelled as he activated the twin double barrel cannons over Destroy's shoulders. The four other units took his lead and also launched their massive beam weaponry at the enemy, disintegrating any vessel in the way.

Adam stood in front of the TV, biting his thumb as he saw the battle. His host stood next to him. "I told you before that you choose your own path in this place. I may have to ask you to make your choice soon. The reason I'm showing this to you is because it may help guide you to the path you want to go."

"I see." The girl sat down next to him. "So, which are you?"

"Hmm?"

"Your side, which are you on?"

"I have none. I just want peace, whichever way it may come. I'm one who has been through the hell of war from the start. One who has been given scars, and scarred others because of it. One who shouldn't exist, but lives on as punishment for her deeds. One that wishes no more suffering upon anyone anymore." She met his eyes in sorrow, as she let her defenses fall away. Two tears ran down her soft cheeks.

The boy could swear his heart had stopped for a moment. Every word she said, she had meant. The eyes he stared into weren't the norm. They now held the true pain of the beating her psyche had taken. When he found his voice again, he spoke. "What… who are you?"

"My name is of one assumed dead. By all rights I should be, but I live on in my temperance. So you know the truth, I'll say it." She held her arm to her chest as she looked away. "My name is… my name is…" She sobbed weakly. "Fllay Alster."

All three of Minerva's ace pilots launched, their cockpits shaking all the way. Shinn gripped his controls tight. 'This time, I'll really….' Destiny fired at a rapid pace, taking out the assaulting Windams by piercing their cockpits one by one. The buster cannon on Shinn's back released its locks and he put it into his hands, firing the red and blue beam straight through another.

Luna's rifle discharged. Her Impulse danced around the beams of her opponents as she took shots into them. Legend barrel rolled in the sky, dodging the four opponents on his tail. Doing a backflip, he came within striking distance, taking out three Windams and a Full Spec Raider with his backpack's spines.

Sting's giant can opener turned into its mobile suit form, firing its hand beams into the sky, dashing apart mobile suits in horrid ways. Sting laughed on an open channel as Shinn gritted his teeth, remembering Stellar. Shinn spread his beam shields as the midoric energy turned towards him. His mind became clear as his eyes turned to the pure red of his berserker self. With the flip of a switch he whipped out the anti-ship sword on his back. Pointing it forward, the wings spread to their fullest extent. Swinging the sword over his shoulder, Shinn dove forward, unzipping the sky with his monstrous speed. Stings Destroy fired its chest cannons, followed by the hand beams. Destiny dodged horizontally with expert precision. With one swing, nearly half of the saucer section was removed, including one arm. 'I won't allow it….' He closed in fron the opposite side, charging his palm cannon and clamping it onto Destroy's forehead, sending its ugly face to oblivion. 'Anyone who attacks us will die!'

When Luna and Shinn separated, their eyes met. Something took over in both their minds at that moment, as if guided by some unseen source. They drew each others' bodies closer, and their lips touched. It was held for a long time, as they held each other tighter.

Propelling forward with his momentum at the tip, Destiny's blade plunged into the cockpit, crushing Sting against the back wall. Shinn hit the throttle and tore the blade straight up the mobile suit. The fortress exploded as it collapsed, shutting that gate to hell permanently.

Pulling an Excalibur from over Impulse's shoulder, Lunamaria threw it at Legend, which quickly grabbed and activated it. From over both shoulders, Luna pulled out her Flash Edges and let them fly. Legend came up from below and sliced off one of the cannon barrels on the targeted Destroy as both boomerangs cut into the saucer armor. Impulse came down for the final cut with the second Exaclibur. The devil's advocate was sent to the ground, and within moments it was enveloped in flames and sent to the hell it belonged.

'This time, absolutely…' Shinn's speed was nearly supersonic as the afterimages flowed from Destiny. None of the energy weapons fired could even touch him now. He saw his opening and sliced his sword straight down, actually cutting the mobile fortress in half.

"Uah!" Adam gasped as he continued watching.

"Just what the hell happened?!" Djibril turned tail and ran, boarding a submarine with his cat and took off as fast as possible.

Shinn dodged a hand beam shot and took a diagonal cut upwards into the final Destroy. While still recovering from the backlash, Legend made a second cut in the same fashion the opposite way. The final attack was Luna's as she came down from above, making a straight slice. With the last massive explosion, the demon was vanquished, and the fighting ceased. 'I will protect everything!'

Fllay dried her eyes as she stood. "Well, looks like that settles it. ZAFT will probably get our resources after all." She moved to the door.

"You may want to put that on hold." Adam stared at the screen with clenched teeth, his knuckles white on his fist.

"Hmm?"

"It's impossible. Something's up. Something is up and it doesn't feel right!" He started pacing. "To take down that base is a feat in and of itself, but to break through five Destroys? It's too much!" Adam walked to the door with a worried look on his face. When his shoulder passed the girl's, he stopped. "I'm going back to my room and soak all this up, but I've got a bad gut feeling. Please don't make any alliances yet, Fllay."

Hearing her name, she flinched as he walked away. She stared at his back. "'Who are you,' eh? I should be asking you that, Adam Cancho. Because you're the same as me." She whispered before she went on her way.

On one of the smaller islands of ORB, the wounded Archangel backed into the underwater base. In its sickbay, the twins on watch gasped as their best friend struggled to wake. "Athrun." Kira attempted to help him concentrate. "Athrun!"

The blue-haired teen's eyes focused on someone he never thought he's see again. "Kira…?" He whispered in pain, his eyes filling with tears at the sight. Remembering when Impulse stabbed Freedom, Athrun shot up, trying to sit upright.

As he cringed, Kira pushed him back onto the bed and covered him up again. "Oh no you don't. You're not allowed to move."

"You're… dead…"

"Don't worry, Athrun. You're not dead either." Kira smiled.

For the first time, he saw the golden-haired girl over Kira's shoulder, and she gave a reassuring smile as she fought back tears of her own. Relieved, he passed out again.

"Damn it." Adam paced in his room. "It took the cooperation of me, Shinn, and Sheridan to make even a dent in one of those Destroys!" He grunted as he flopped onto the bed. "But now…" His mind's eye brought him flashes of the new models. "Just what kind of power do those things have that can take out five of them so easily?" On the other side of the door, a soft hand pressed silently against it. 'Everything was just about to fall into place. The world Gichou said he would make in Diocuia was the reason behind the fighting. Meaning…' He shook the thought out of his head. 'No. This world still can go on. They still have the time. I'm sure of it!' "Kira!"

"Hah!" Fllay gasped at the other end of the door.

As the military searched the wreckage of Heaven's Base, Shinn got some bad news in the lounge. "Eh? Djibril wasn't found?"

"He wasn't… no way!" Luna was also in disbelief.

"The current theory is that he escaped alone before the base surrendered." Ray informed the both of them.

"Eh?!" Shinn squeezed the life out of his coffee can.

On the hidden Eternal docked with the factory asteroid, Lacus blinked. "What is this?"

"Hmm?" Waltfeld mused as DaCosta pointed at a notebook with the words "DESTINY PLAN" written in bright red ink. "Destiny Plan?"

"Ah! This might be it!" Lacus gasped.

The tension in the room reached its highest level as an alert came up. "What the hell?" Its camera came up on the main screen.

"A long range reconnaissance GINN?" DaCosta gasped as the gray suit with gold trim shot out the surveillance camera.

"Kira-kun! Get up to the bridge right away!" The PA system echoed Murrue's voice through the entire ship as he did maintenance on Rouge's OS. "Eternal is on the run! According to Terminal's transmission, ZAFT's found them!"

As the access elevator lowered from the Gundam, Kira jumped over the rail and hit the ground running. "Lacus!"

Athrun gasped, forcing himself to sit up against the extreme pain. "Eternal?! That can't be…"

As the ship pushed forward, the rock surrounding it began to shake off. Her pink flagship went to full burn.

Meyrin watched the door slide open in front of her. She had known exactly what she was going to when she had gotten permission to move around: see Athrun. She didn't expect that he'd be forcing himself to sit up, and failing, grunting and sweating in pain. "Athrun-san!" She went over to him as fast as her portable IV would allow.

Neo sat up on the other side. "Oi oi, what are you trying to do?"

"Bridge…" He gasped.

One look in his eyes and she understood. "The comm. terminal!"

'Please… make it in time….' Athrun grunted as Neo punched in the access code to the bridge. "Get going, Kira!"

"Eh?" He blinked, Ramius and Cagalli next to him.

Athrun gripped his chest, his lungs burning in pain. "She needs to be protected, Lacus! If she dies, it's the end for us!"

Kira broke away from the monitor, rushing past a gaping Cagalli, opening his eyes and heading for the lift door. "Arigato, Athrun!"

In space, the Eternal rolled hard to avoid the blasts from the assault upon it. GOUFs and Gunner ZAKU poured forth their energy weapons as ZAKU Phantoms foxed all their missiles at the battleship. The CIWS cannons shot into the vacuum in desperation to protect the flagship as a Gunner hurled a grenade canister at the bridge, exploding just above the ship, the shockwave and light making the bridge crew cringe.

Powerful booster engines roared to life. "Ikkimas!" Kira yelled over the noise and released the breaks. The long tunnel got shorter very quickly, and Strike Rouge's Phase Shift shimmered into the original colors of Kira's first MS. Like a bat out of hell, the mobile suit/rocket combo took to the skies, leaving a massive smoke trail in its wake.

The catapult hatch on Eternal opened, and a single red and yellow mobile suit shot out into the maelstrom. "Eeehhh!" Andy grunted as he got a bead on an MS. With a quick blaster shot, one was down. A Nazca-class below fired its beam cannons and he slid between them. "Kgh!"

Another Wizard-equipped ZAKU came within firing range. "Missiles incoming!"

"Dodge them!" DaCosta was sweating in his commander's seat. "Fire interceptors!" Their anti-missile system sent a cloud into the dust to avoid damages.

"Engh." Kira dripped with sweat as the superheated Strike reached the exosphere.

A Phantom came within range to fire its beam rifle, taking out a CIWS near the bridge. "Agh!" Lacus held on tight as the ship shifted under her.

A GOUF in range stretched out its whip and the end wrapped around Gaia II's blaster. After a quick and futile effort by Andy to pull it free, the rifle overloaded, pushing him backwards behind his shield. "Guakh!" A Gunner clipped Eternal's starboard with an akashic blast. An alarm went off on Waltfeld's blind side. "What now?!" A red, blue, and white suit fired three rifle blasts into the surrounding ZAFT suits, clearing a path. "Strike?!"

The booster jettisoned and the Aile's engines returned to their original position. Whipping around, Kira fired through the Gunner's buster, ensuring it would never fire again. "Eh?" DaCosta looked up.

A GOUF and a ZAKU were next to be disabled. "Lacus! Waltfeld-san!"

"Kira!"

"You…!" Andy couldn't get much else out.

"Sorry, but worry took me over!" Kira shrugged.

A Gunner came from below, leveling the cannon at the underbelly of the ship. Strike shoved its shield in front of the energy. The overwhelming energy detonated it, taking the left arm with it. Another rifle shot took off the other arm, sending Kira's weapon flying straight into Gaia's hands, which discharged it directly into the Gunner that damaged him. "Moron! If you're going to fight, board Eternal!"

"Eh?"

He smirked. "Get your new unit and get yourself back out here!"

"Hai!"

"Ah…." Realizing the situation, his girlfriend pushed off towards the elevator with a grim look on her face.

Back in the Archangel, Cagalli bit the bullet and took a somber visit to Athrun. "Can you ever find it in your heart to forgive me?" She lowered her head in shame.

"I think I should be the one apologizing here."

"But… I…" She couldn't get the rest out.

His emerald eyes gazed upon the ring on her finger. "You were trying to protect it, right? ORB I mean." It left her without a response. "I was just too hasty from the onset."

"Eh?"

"I wanted to do something. Stopping it by any means was my only option… this damn war."

"Even then… it's so difficult, right?" She grit her teeth. "We all want to stop this. But why won't it end?" Biting her lip, she continued. "It just can't be helped, really."

Athrun looked through the ceiling, seeing the friends of his recent past. "No, that's not it at all. I'm sure of it!" He balled his fist.

"Emergency docking system, active!" DaCosta said as the lower hatch opened wide. A stray blast destroyed both of Strike's legs on approach. Two magnetic grapples latched onto the torso and reeled it in at top speed.

Kira bailed from the Strike, diving for the airlock. "Lacus!" After repressurizing, he ripped off his helmet and dove into the corridor, a smile on his face.

The princess of pink dove in from the opposite end. "Kira!" The relief and joy all over her face.

"Lux!" They joined in a tight embrace and sighed as they swirled in the zero-g environment. "Thank God I made it!"

"Kira." They spent an eternity staring into each others' eyes.

Outside, the Eternal pulled up hard to avoid a Nazca's assault, its second round clipping the portside aft.

The ship shook. "Lacus!" Kira shielded her from impacting the wall headfirst. "We can't dawdle anymore."

"Hai." She nodded.

The hangar door admitted both, Kira gasping at what awaited him. It was a mobile suit with the form of the one he lost. Though gray, it stood almost majestically in front of them. Lacus looked down in regret. "Arigato." He gave her a reassuring smile. "With this, I can fight my fight once again."

"Kira." She whispered, tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

He took her hands in his. "Wait for me, and I will return as fast as I can. Then we'll return to where everyone is."

"Hai." She nodded, fighting back her sobs.

The GUNDAM Complex bootup screen ran under Kira's eyes as he reprogrammed it as fast as possible. The Eternal's catapult hatch opened as the lead lanes extended. "X-20A, Strike Freedom, hashin dozo." Lacus called from the control room.

The checklist signaled all clear. "Kira Yamato, Freedom, ikkimas!" In a shower of sparks, the catapult shot him into space. Strike Freedom spun twice as Phase Shift covered the machine. Unlike the original, this Freedom held two beam rifles, and an additional core cannon underneath the cockpit. Its thrusters' output was maximized, adding extra verniers to the legs, and the main joints were covered in gold.

Two ZAKU Phantoms fired their rifles, while a third foxed its missile batteries. Freedom put its wrist out front and spread a hidden positron reflector, rendering the beam useless. Sliding to the side, his expert marksmanship intercepted the missiles before they entered Eternal's range. Sliding between two blasts, his hand went to his hip and decapitated two in one swipe. A GOUF reversed while firing its gattling cannon. Cutting underneath the peppering of energy, Kira removed its arm. The enemies began to swarm him, and as Kira reversed, he fired on opposite sides twice, hitting an enemy each time. One GOUF within range wrapped its whip around the GUNDAM's right leg, while a second snatched its left arm. "Tcgh." Kira glared at them and spread his wings wide. All eight of the blue halves launched, and before electricity could be pumped through the whips, the tips got a bearing and fired beams into the enemy mobile suits.

"GWAH!" The pilots cried as their arms were severed.

"That's a…." DRAGOON System. The demonic trick that nearly destroyed him in the last war was now being used to his advantage.

The HiMat targeting console popped up in front of Kira, painting the targets. All of Freedom's weapons fired, a total of thirteen, simultaneously. Each beam connected with at least one suit in the sky.

All three of the Nazca class bore down on him at once, firing everything in their arsenals as fast as they could reload. Kira dove through the danger and unloaded his railguns into one of their engines. Pulling back, his DRAGOONS shone as bright as his plasma wings. A flash of lightning ran behind his eyes. "ATARE!" The pods dashed around, sliding left and right, hitting the weapons and engines with precision, assuring they wouldn't give chase as Eternal retreated. The lovers smiled at each other as Freedom matched them in escort formation.

Fllay admitted herself into Adam's quarters and sat down. "Uh?" He blinked as he noticed her hairstyle had changed, back to the way she wore it on the Archangel.

She bit her lip. "How much do you know about me?"

He stared at her for a few seconds, trying to read her. "Are you sure you want me to answer that, Fllay?" She winced at her name. "See?"

"It hurts, but I have to bear it. That's what it means to pay penance. So please…."

Adam sighed, looking away before starting anew. "You're Fllay Alster, daughter of Prime Minister of the Atlantic Federation in the year C.E. 70. He was killed when the battleship he was on was sunk by ZAFT Gundams. From what Miriallia-san said, you were very close to Kira, and that you were killed sometime near the end of the war. There's a memorial with your name on it inside Archangel."

"Miriallia Haww… that's just like her, isn't it?" She gripped her chest tightly. "I was never the same after that…. I was… I was very selfish. The world was out to get me, and I needed a shield. I found one… in Kira." She remembered the day she thought he had been shot down, and the helplessness she felt. "I guess you could say it happened at JOSH-A, when ZAFT's Rau le Cruset captured me. Powerless, hopeless, broken… it's exactly the person he needed to deliver what he told me was the key to ending the war to the Earth Forces. Instead, I gave the key to genocide to Murata Azrael himself." Her voice dripped with poison at the name.

"Azrael… the leader of Blue Cosmos?" She nodded as he thought back to the Lodonia Lab. She clutched her chest as sweat dripped down her nose. "You're in agony aren't you? We should stop."

"Please don't. This is just another hurdle I need to get past. Please, let me do this, Adam." She gripped his hand. "I can't do it without you."

"Fllay…."

She closed her eyes, thinking back. "The final battle of the war was at Jackin Due, and it had been thrown into madness. Suddenly I found myself staring at the barrel of Azrael's gun as he threatened my friend and commander Natarle Badgiruel, ordering her to fire on Archangel." She pressed her hand to her head. "It was more than I could take, so for once I thought of someone other than myself and warned them away. Azrael nearly killed me in that moment if it weren't for Natarle, pinning him and ordering us to abandon ship."

"Appolly!" She called to the FCS officer as he headed for the door. "Take care of her." She motioned to Fllay as she body tackled Azrael. "Get moving! Head for Archangel!" The door sealed in front of the girl.

"That was the last I would ever see of that great woman."

"That kind of chaos when you were what, 15?" Adam spoke over her wheezing. "Fllay?" The teen hunched over her chair, her eyes wide. "Shit, you're hyperventilating!" He ripped the pillow out of the pillowcase and put the makeshift bag over her mouth and nose, bracing himself against her. "I've got you. Just breathe as deep as you can." Her panting slowed, and he lowered her into the chair again. "That's it, you're done."

"NO!" She blurted out. "I'm… nearly done! If I don't say it, I'll never have the strength to again. You have to let me!" Before he could retort she started again.

The shortest route to the escape pods passed the windows. A gray mobile suit with multiple spines on its back slid past the plexiglass. Fllay covered her head and shrieked. "He's after me! That monster will… Cruset!" The girl shuddered as tears ran down her cheeks.

"You can tell me all about it when we're on the pod, Fllay." Appolly grabbed her wrist. "We need to go, now!"

"I'm too scared."

"I'm pissing my pants over here, you know! You have to trust that I'll get you to safety!"

"We had made it to the hangar with few problems, only to find that our pod had a faulty life support system. Fortunately for us, Azrael's personal shuttle was sitting there too, with a little trick called Mirage Colloid equipped. I was being less than cooperative."

"No… I… I can't go outside! He's out there! He's after me! NO! He wants to kill me!"

"Fllay Alster, pull yourself together!"

"I won't go! I won't go! He'll kill me!"

Appolly went silent before grabbing Fllay's shoulders. "Alster, look at me!" She halted in her tracks, looking him in the eye. "The Captian ordered me to take care of you, and I'm going to do just that. I have a plan, but you need to trust me! Can you do that?"

She wiped her eyes and nodded. "Unh."

"He rigged the faulty escape pod to fly in tandem with the shuttle, while we had the Mirage Colloid to hide us." She paused to pour herself a glass of water and gulped it down.

Adam looked away, his brow quivering. "Masochist."

"Adam, please don't."

"You're killing yourself! How can I not object?! Why are you…?"

"BECAUSE I USED HIM!" The glass shattered in her hands. They both fell silent as blood dripped off of the glass that marred her soft palms. "I slept with Kira and used him as my shield! I gave up my virginity in an act of manipulation just to survive! And when I realized it… and realized that I really… I was too late!" When she looked up he was in her face, staring into her eyes. "A-Adam…."

"You really are a masochist. We need to get you to medical."

"Adam… that look was… what was that?"

"I misjudged you." He looked away as he helped her up. "I'm sorry."

When they returned, the glass had been removed by the maids. "The words are coming easier thanks to you, Adam." She took a breath and started anew. "The decoy was successful. We flew out without getting targeted."

"The Dominion's Lohengrin is powering up!" The second com officer yelled.

"Archangel!" Fllay cried as the red and blue positron cannon lit up the darkness. A lone mobile suit took the attack full on, shielding the ship in exchange for the pilot's life. Archangel's Lohengrin returned fire, vaporizing the Dominion's bridge. "Captain Badgiruel!" The girl barely managed to squeak.

The Dominion went critical and exploded. The navi gritted his teeth. "Everyone hang on! This is gonna be rough!" The shockwave hit both ships, sending them careening away from the battlefield and the Archangel.

"Is everyone still breathing?" Appolly asked as everything stabilized, hearing groans in return. "Status?"

"Maneuvering thrusters – shot. And we're way off course. We'll either fly into something or someone finds us. But the decoy is still on our starboard at least."

"Radar contacts! Two mobile suits ahead, distance 2000! We're on intercept!"

"Can we stop the ship?!" Appolly's eyes widened.

"Even with the engine off, we'll still drift."

"Do it! We can only hope they'll move away. What kind of mobile suits are we talking about here?"

"Unknown. I've got a ZAFT IFF on one, but I don't recognize the radar shadow. The other is… is…."

"KIRA!" Fllay squealed as she saw Freedom dodging attacks from the window. She raced to the comm. "Kira!"

"Fllay?" The radio responded.

"Tch, you again?" Cruset's voice sent chills down her spine. She wanted to scream, but the voice died in her throat."

"Damn it, Fllay! That was an open channel!" He took her back to her seat quickly.

Looking out the window, she saw Freedom's opponent for the first time, Providence. "No! He's going to… NO! Kira!" She shrieked.

True to her words, Providence leveled its rifle at them. Freedom rushed as fast as possible towards the shuttle with its hand outstretched as the beam fired from the rifle's barrel. "The target isn't the decoy! It's US!"

Everything moved in slow motion. Inch by inch, Freedom moved until it brought its shield to block and deflect the energy from both seen and unseen ships. Fllay pressed against the glass as she looked up at him. "Kira."

The boy had looked into the regular shuttle's window, seeing her reflection. He smiled, knowing the girl he loved was safe. One of Providence's DRAGOONs slid above them and fired straight through the small ship. "Fllay!" The ship exploded, and rocked the hidden shuttle hard, jarring both Appolly and Fllay out of their seats. The last thing Kira saw of her was her lifeless expression from the window before it tore apart.

"EGH! Get engines to full! Ride this wave out of here!" Appolly ordered.

"FLLAAAAAAAYYY!" Kira cried, just before the radio died.

"It was the last I heard from Kira." Fllay's shoulders twitched with each sob. "But it's forever etched in my mind. His most important person died in front of him… and it was me. Even after everything I did to him, he still loved me. I never… got the… chance…." The girl fell forward onto the carpet.

"Fllay! My god, Fllay!" He shook her, but she didn't respond.

It was nighttime in Gibraltar. Hardly anyone stirred, except for one black haired boy. Shinn's dream was physically being manifested by his twitching as he sweated profusely. "HEEEAAAAHHH!" His dream self yelled his battlecry as his Destiny fired into the mass of evil mobile suits. A Destroy transformed into its mobile suit mode below him. "Those people… the ones who do such evil… LOGOS!" His mobile suit slid away from the weapons it fired as he closed in. "IT'S UNFORGIVEABLE!" Destiny melted around him, and when all the liquid had flown off, he found himself in Impulse, swiping into a Destroy's cockpit.

"NO!" Stellar shrieked. Shinn gasped when he heard her voice.

Freedom swooped down from above, drawing its beam saber. "Kuso! Stop this already!" Kira yelled at her.

Shinn swept his saber twice at the mobile suit. "Back off! You have no clue what's going on! In that suit…in that suit!" Shinn plunged his Excalibur into Freedom's torso.

"Shinn!" Athrun cried with his last breath. The boy looked again and he was back in Destiny, with the pierced Gouf falling down into the sea.

"Ath…run. Mey…rin."

"Shinn, if Adam were here, what would he want you to do?" The girl's bloodied face came to his eyes.

"Leave him out of this!" Shinn snarled. "He's been gone ever since Falcon blew up, and now you're using him as an excuse?"

"Gomen ne…" Adam's voice echoed as Falcon exploded in front of him blowing him back.

"You're wrong, Shinn! He was with me! He was aboard the Archangel! He saved me! He was on that ship when it was shot down! The Minerva killed him!"

"Get out of the line of fire or else I'll shoot you too!" Adam was pointing his rifle at Ray behind him.

"Shinn!" Athrun begged. "Look at yourself! They're turning you into a puppet! They're only using you!"

"Shinn! Dullindal's been lying to us from the beginning! He's been fooling us from the start of the war, maybe even from before! I know Adam wouldn't want this to happen! Please, please listen!" Meyrin looked into his eyes.

"Shinn!"

"SHINN!"

"SHINN!"

"Shinn, Shinn!" Ray shook him and the boy's eyes snapped open.

He practically jumped into a sitting position, panting heavily. "Ray."

"You were having a nightmare. Are you okay now?"

"Ah… unh." The Destiny's pilot gripped his forehead. A towel flopped onto Shinn's head and a bottle of water was handed to him. "Arigato." He wiped himself down and took a drink. It took a while before he could speak again. "Athrun and Meyrin… I…"

"It couldn't be helped, Shinn."

"Uh?!" He whipped his head up to look him in the eye.

"They betrayed us." Ray looked somewhere in the far wall.

"I know that! Really, I do understand! It's just that…." His voice trailed into nothingness.

"So that's what your nightmare was about?" Shinn was surprised that he figured it out as he watched him get in his own bed. "I suppose I should have been the one to take the shot." Shinn twitched. "You're too soft at times. It makes you weak. You won't be able to protect even a fly like that." Ray turned away and went to sleep, leaving Shinn's retort hanging, a pain in his forehead reminding him of the fight he had with Adam.

Adam spilled out of the chair, landing flat on his face. As he pushed himself up, he raised his head. His eyes were glazed over, exhibiting massive shock. Tears started to flow from his eyes as he reached out with one hand. His mouth moved. "…u-sa…. K…n..." He collapsed, his hand still outstretched as he fell asleep once again, the young woman in the bed above him none the wiser.

Meyrin twitched in sobs as she curled up in the fetal position under her covers. "Adam." Another one of the many nights she cried herself to sleep was once again beginning.

The next morning, the redhead that survived the first war opened her eyes slowly. "Where?" She rolled over quietly. "HAH?!" She jumped out as she saw Adam lying on the floor in the same position he had fallen asleep in. "Adam wake up! ADAM!"

He flopped over onto his back. "Wasn't that stuff limestone?" He opened his eyes and they came back to life after a couple of blinks. "HUH?!" The citrus-haired boy sat up like he was on a bed of nails. "Fllay? Itte te te…." He winced.

She breathed a sigh of relief. "You had me worried there. What happened?"

"I don't know." He winced as he flexed his sore muscles. "Last thing I remember was waiting for you to wake up after you passed out."

"So that's what happened…." She looked away. "You stayed with me the whole night." Fllay blushed, before forcing it back. "When I woke, you were trying to reach for something that wasn't there. It really freaked me out."

"Really? Wonder why." Adam hissed as he stood. "Man, now I'm all stiff." He put a hand out to her and she took it, standing as well. "But still, I didn't think you'd pass out after finishing your story. What a wuss!"

"Hey! Take that back! I don't think I've ever met such a vulgar Coordinator in my life! That was very hard… on me… you… know…." Adam was still smiling, and when she saw it, she couldn't help but do the same. It eventually progressed into a full-fledged hearty laugh. "Thank you, Adam. It was because of you that I don't feel as hurt anymore. Thank you for letting me relieve that stress."

"You know what else relieves stress? Breakfast. I dunno about you, but I'm dying for some."

"Then let's go." She quickly kissed him on the cheek, leaving him stunned. "I'll get the cooks to make Eggs Benedict with Lox this morning."

A formal assembly was being held in the Gibraltar head office, as Shinn stood in front of the base commander. "In recognition for his services at the Battle for Heaven's Base, I bestow upon Shinn Asuka the Nebula Medal." Everyone in the office applauded as Shinn saluted the commander. "Congratulations. I believe this is your second one, right? You should be very proud." He offered his hand.

"Arigato gozaimasu." Shinn took the extended hand and shook it.

At that point it was Durandal's turn, as he took two small boxes from the hands of his assistant. "Also, I have something for Shinn Asuka and Ray za Burrel." Shinn turned towards the taller man as Ray stepped forward and lined up beside him.

They looked down inside the boxes only to see the white wing and golden eye that symbolized FAITH. "Gichou!" Shinn gasped in surprise as Durandal just smiled. He looked to his roommate for help, but he only smiled back.

"I give these to you as a reminder that we rely on both your strength." Durandal said with a small grin. Talia narrowed her eyes to near slits as she watched the proceedings. "Never betray this moment, and show us your power to its fullest extent."

"I'm honored sir." Ray finally spoke. "My best is what I shall give to you."

"I will also strive to my maximum potential, sir!" They took the pins as applause surrounded them.

"Well then… this concludes…." Durandal spoke up when the applause died down.

"Um…!" Shinn interrupted, removing the medal from his chest and balling his fist. "Gichou, as a member of FAITH, could I ask a favor?"

Durandal raised his eyebrow. "Well… I don't mind. What is it, Shinn?"

"I wish to bestow this medal given to me upon someone else more deserving."

The entire room started whispering. Ray turned to him and hissed. "Shinn! That's a sign of disrespect!"

"Wait, just hear me out." Shinn backed up a step. "Chairman, I have been given two decorations for excellence in combat. The other pilots beside me have gotten one each. But there was one of us that was never recognized for his valor." He looked to the floor at his left.

"Uh!" Luna gasped, pressing her hand to her heart. Ray's angry face went blank again, as Talia and Arthur looked on in surprise.

Durandal smiled, knowing full well of what he was talking about. "And? Who might this person be?"

"The person who fought to save innocent lives. The one who defended the Minerva alongside me without question. The Guardian of Gulnahan." Shinn pulled his head up and stared into the chairman's eyes. "Pilot Adam Cancho of the Falcon!"

"And? Why should he be deserving of such an award?"

"I don't pretend to believe that I alone won the battles I've fought. Half of my success is due to Adam. He was my partner, my friend." Shinn gritted his teeth, fighting back tears. "He put his life on the line at Gulnahan to keep thousands of innocent lives from being destroyed, and he even attacked his home country's military forces without mercy for the sake of the Minerva. Gichou, if truth be told, I'd give all my medals to him. So please, Durandal-gichou, I beg you…." He bowed.

"Shinn… that is a… difficult request. It puts me in a tight spot as well, as the Chairman can't so easily go back on his words."

Ray stepped forward and stiffened. "I second the motion!"

"Uh?" Shinn looked up at him.

"I third it."

"Luna?!"

"What Shinn says is the truth, Gichou. Adam was a valuable crewmember and a close friend to all of us."

"Without him, there were many times we probably would not have survived." Luna echoed.

"All right, all right!" The chairman laughed. "However I would need one more FAITH officer to override the ruling. Gladys-cancho?"

"Eh." She nodded. "I fourth the motion."

"Very well then." Durandal put his hand out to Shinn. "I therefore will bestow Adam Cancho a second Nebula medal for his posthumous efforts."

"Eh? A second, sir?" Shinn blinked.

"Did you really think that I'd take away your decoration, even for the sake of your friend, Shinn?"

Shinn smiled widely as a tear slipped out of his eye. "Thank you, sir!" He gripped his hand tightly. The applause resumed with fervor.

Fllay and Adam ate facing each other in her private dining room. "There's one thing I'm confused about from when you told me your story yesterday. If you'll permit me, may I ask a question?" The red-haired beauty put down her silverware and rested her hands in her lap. "Well, the gap is from there to here. How did you get to this city in the mountains, with all these people serving under you?"

She blinked. "That was your question? I thought it would be something a little more painful than that." The teen relaxed a bit. "When I got back to Earth, I claimed my father's inheritance in secret. It was a rather large sum of money, especially since my mother's inheritance was also lumped into it, when she died before Papa. Using that money, I erased myself from existence. Fllay Alster was considered dead, but I still walked the streets as a phantom of her. Half of the remaining funds I invested into companies and stock markets that would double, if not triple the value put in. The rest I used to seclude myself here."

"I see. But why erase yourself? Wouldn't it be a joyous occasion to go and see your friends again, as someone who is alive and well? Especially Kira."

"Okay, that one hurts a lot more." She winced and held her arms. "There was a gap in time before I got back to Earth and claimed my inheritance. By the time I returned, Kira had found someone else, and someone far better than me."

"Lacus Clyne?" the fruit-haired teen spoke in a low tone.

"Yes." She whimpered. "But knowing how much I had damaged him in the past, I couldn't bring myself to go back into his life. He was better off with Lacus, and thinking that I was dead."

"You really have a low opinion of yourself, you know that?"

"Just shut up and eat." She stuffed a piece into her mouth.

"Hai, hai." He took a long swig of cranberry juice. "On the bright side, you've become a lot nicer to people like me, Coordinators I mean. Though things got off to a bit of a rocky start between us, I'm honored to say that we've become friends, right?"

"Right… friends… um, yeah, definitely!" Her melancholy face cheered up for a quick second before it fell and sighed. A knock came on the door. "Enter!"

"Hmm?" Fllay's second in command entered. "Oh, pardon me ma'am. I didn't realize you had company. I'll come back later."

"Oh please, Appolly, it's just breakfast banter. Come now, what is it?"

Adam's jaw stopped chewing. He swallowed hard before he pointed his finger shakily at the man. "You're Appolly? THAT Appolly?" He turned towards the girl and back again.

They both nodded, and the man spoke. "Think about it. If it hadn't been for this woman sitting across from you, I and many other people would be dead. We owe her our lives, and so we are here, serving and supporting her as our thanks." As Adam thought over that statement, the former Dominion FCS officer turned to his commander. "Anyway. We've gotten a report from our informant in Carpentaria about Djibril's location."

"Carpentaria? It's not from Gibraltar?"

"No ma'am."

"So? Finish the report."

"Gichou!" One of his aides came up to Durandal and Gladys in a power walk while they waited for the elevator.

"Now what?" He shot back.

"Lord Djibril has been found, sir." He said after he saluted. The three pilots descending the steps overheard his voice and halted in midstep. "Carpentaria's Intelligence Division submitted the report."

Appolly and the ZAFT aide showed a picture to Adam, Fllay, and Durandal respectively. It showed a photo of Djibril, shaking hands with Unato and Yuuna. "In ORB."

Adam's chair went flying back as he stood and stared at the image. Shinn went wide eyed and his breath caught in his throat. Fllay said it for all of them. "Damn it! Of all the places!"

Carpentaria scrambled all of its available forces to the ORB border within minutes. Battleships, mobile suit carriers, submarines, and helicopters painted the horizon gunmetal gray. "It goes without saying that we demand he be turned over. The Heaven's Base battle is his accountability, and he is guilty of multiple other crimes due to confessions from Logos sources. Those who harbor him do not deserve forgiveness!" As Durandal held an emergency meeting, Talia bit her lip tightly. At that exact moment, Unato and Djibril were sipping tea.

Word began to spread quickly throughout ORB, reaching Minerva, Cagalli, and Athrun. Even into space where Kira and Lacus read Terminal's report. The base commander then took his turn in the briefing. "Even though Carpentaria has dispatched a fleet to back up our demands, we will remain on high alert just in case the worst case scenario comes to pass. We ask that the Minerva launch right away, as a vanguard to the Carpentarian fleet."

"Eh?" Gladys stepped through the mass of commanders. "My ship is leaving the base?"

"You of all people should know just how powerful they potentially are." She clucked at his unfeeling statement. Adam slammed his fist into the chair in his quarters, throwing books around in a tearful rage as Fllay watched in concern from the doorframe.

"Logos's demonic evils cannot go unpunished anymore!" Durandal silenced everyone as he stood and turned to the window. Doing rush checks in his mobile suit, Shinn scratched his head roughly in irritation. "Let us make sure this is the final time we have to go after him!"

"Sir!" The room saluted.

Adam panted hard, sweating, his limbs limp at his sides as he went to his knees. "The maids are going to kill you for this." Fllay finally stepped into the room. "You know we have a punching bag in the gym if you want to take a crack at it." She picked up a piece of what probably was the side table. "This is the first time I've seen you like this."

"You don't understand." He whispered. "You weren't there." He whipped around and grabbed her shoulders, saline drops streaming down his face. "I was there when the battle for Onogoro took place, Fllay! I saw everything slowly burned to the ground! And now ZAFT is going to torch it a second time!"

"Adam… you're hurting me…" Fllay squeaked.

It was only at that time he realized how hard he was digging his fingers into her arms. "I… I'm sorry. I just… I was just a kid! I couldn't do anything! And now… and now…." He couldn't finish the sentence as he slammed his fists into the carpeting. "It's the same! It's the fucking same!"

She smiled sadly as she brought his head to her chest and cradled him. "It's okay Adam. Just let it out. Let it all out." As he bawled out his sufferings into her, the irony was not lost on her as to the last time she was in this position, with Kira. But something drastic had changed between then and now, for now all she had were pure thoughts for the one she held.

Yuna's voice echoed throughout the world's speakers as everyone kept watch. "As acting ORB Representative, it falls to me to answer the ultimatum set upon us."

Cagalli gasped. "Yuna?!"

"The person you have demanded the extradition of named Lord Djibril does not exist in this nation."

"Eh?" Everyone on the Archangel gasped. "YUNA!" The blonde yelled at the screen.

"Eh? What's he…." Arthur spoke from his position.

"Just shut up and listen!" Talia scowled at him.

"Kuso!" Adam ground his teeth together. "Being a bastard is one thing, but this just takes the cake!"

"In addition, we, as a nation, find such intimidation to be an insult to our nation's dignity as a sovereign state. Thus, we find such actions deplorable."

"Ueh?!" Shinn jolted.

"As such, we request that your forces leave our border at once." The calm man ended his speech.

Durandal rose. "We have no reason to participate in a farce such as this. If they respond to our expectations with nothing but lies, then I stand against them with justice and a burning desire for peace as my defense! Lord Djibril shall be dragged out by the scruff of his neck!"

"Sir!"

"KUSO!" Adam slammed his fist into the coffee table. "Has everything I've done up to this point been a waste? I piloted Falcon so I could end the war and give my parents a better world… but did I really do anything? I'm on the sidelines again as I watch another fleet of ships attack my homeland!"

"But Adam, look at what it has brought you! You're here, safe, with me. Nothing can harm you here."

He got up and paced like a madman. "And what about all those people that are going to die over there? God! I just want to do something to help! I can't just sit around! I did that last time and I felt absolutely powerless!"

Fllay rubbed her hands together ever so slightly. " 'If I say I can do nothing, and then do nothing, then I really can't do anything at all.'"

"Huh?"

"That's something I was told from a young love a long time ago. I'll always remember it." It was Kira Yamato's statement she quoted. She stood up and stopped in front of Adam. "I even remember what I said to him after that. 'Then let my feelings protect you.' Come, I have something to show you." She grabbed his wrist and started pulling.

"Operation Fury is a go!" Klaxons blared across the ZAFT fleet. "Condition Red announced! Condition Red announced!" Pilots were raised to their units cockpits in scramble. "Bombardment locations aquired. ORB mainland: Seiran household, National Defense Headquarters, ORB Administration Offices. Pajon squad, ASSHUs, Beil squad, GOOhNs, prepped for launch. All units, all weapons free."

From the St. Helens, the submarine flagship of this mission, the commander picked up the transmitter. "Our target may be Lord Djibril, don't hold back on ORB's current administration now that they've allied with Logos. Eradicate or capture them. That being said, we don't want any civilians getting caught up in this, so make sure your hits are precise." ASSHU and GOOhNs propelled out of the submarines. Goufs and Babis were shot into the sky from their carriers. All of their electronic eyes set their cycloptic sights on the island nation.

"I've got enemy contacts!" Miriallia bellowed. "They're all launching from the ZAFT fleet!" Murrue and Cagalli quickly turned to her. "ASSHU, GOOhN, DINN, BABI, GOUF, in varying amounts!"

"Damn it all!" Athrun struggled to sit up. "Too soon… Kira…." He collapsed onto his side.

"Why are you still trying to do that?!" Meyrin gasped as she rolled through the door.

"And you think you're actually going to be able to do anything with a body that wounded?" Neo sat up. "It can't be helped, so just lay your ass down and rest."

"I can't stay here, Commander…."

"Why does everyone call me Commander? It's Ca-pi-tan!"

"Okay, um, Fllay. Yoohoo, Fllay?" Adam flailed around with his free hand and one leg as he hopped on another to keep his balance.

"Hmm? What is it?" She looked back, cracking a smile at his performance.

"You're pulling a bit hard you know. Like remove-ball-joint-from-socket hard."

"Hmm? Oh, sorry. I hadn't realized." She released his hand quickly. "Better?" She tightened hers slowly, not liking the empty feeling.

"Much." The boy rotated his shoulder and swung his free arm around a bit.

"Good to hear. Now if you've forgotten, ORB's got a crisis on its hands so come on!" The redhead turned around quickly, her long hair sweeping her back.

Ramius practically ripped her captain's phone from its cradle. "Murdock, can we send out the ship yet?"

"That's a joke right?! We still haven't gotten all the engines fixed!" Cagalli bit her lip tightly.

Hidden amidst the GOOhNs were some of a special type. As most of them rose to climb up on shore, these slammed straight into the rocky shores and started burrowing. These were ZAFT's newest experiment, the GOOhN Underground Mobility Test Types. Only time would tell if they would pass or fail this test.

Babis flew directly into the city, unhindered by defense troops, squeezing through the spaces in skyscrapers, making windows shake, and scaring a lot of businesspeople. As they flew over a certain limousine, a pale man with a price on his head looked out past them with a disturbed look. Then the explosions began around the Seiran mansion. "Eeh." Djibril grunted as servants and maids ran for their lives.

"Detecting a bombardment on ORB's main island!" Milly shouted out the news as soon as she got it on her screen. Cagalli choked on air as she stood erect.

At the frontline base, the radar was going insane. "The Izanagi Coast has unfolded as the landing area for enemy mobile suits. They're closing!"

"Ah mou! Why are things going like this?" Yuuna walked into the room. "I said he wasn't here, so why are they still going after us?"

The commander was very thankful for being a commander at that point, that and his permission to be frank due to that rank. "Because they know it was a lie!"

"Enh!" Yuuna flinched.

"Why did Parliament send such a halfwitted response?"

"But, two years ago, when Archangel was…."

"The governmental body and the world situation is completely different from then to now!"

The immature man was taken aback by the comment, again. "Ah… um… Shut up, seriously! Anyway, begin defensive countermeasures immediately! Send out the Escort Fleet immediately! Intercept and eliminate! Mobile suit squads, launch!" They were already underway before he finished the statement.

"Amagi, our Murasame squadron is launch capable, correct?" Cagalli turned her eyes to the taller man.

"Uh? Yes."

"Then we'll go." The girl nodded resolutely. "Captain, sorry but I'll need to commandeer a Sky Grasper!"

"What?" The request stunned the captain.

"Cagalli-sama!"

"It may be all we've got, but we'll launch just the same!"

The ORB fleet put out a desperate barrage to counteract a missile attack from the BABI formations. "That's just too reckless!" Murrue yelled after her as she made her way towards the elevator. "In something like a Sky Grasper…!"

"ORB is going to be turned to ashes again!" It was as if the princess could hear the scream of the Murasame pilot that was shot up by the Gouf's gattling gun, or feel the pain of the ones that were pierced by the Babi's core cannon, or smell the napalm as the missiles landed on the beach. "I won't sit around anymore!" She made a mad dash to the elevator.

At the same time two people emerged from the same elevator, Kisaka and a special guest. The blonde girl ran blindly into the larger man and was bounced backward. "Cagalli?"

"Colonel Kisaka?" Amagi was obviously not expecting his presence.

"Erica-san?" Murrue recognized his companion, the leader of the Astray Project, Erica Simmons.

"Come on, Amagi!" Cagalli was unphased. "We can't waste time!"

"Hold it, Cagalli!" Kisaka's strong hands clamped down on her shoulders.

"I've already said I'm not waiting! Let go!"

"Just calm down and come with me!"

"No way! If I'm fated to watch, I'd rather be burned with my nation!"

Kisaka only smiled and let out a small chuckle. "Well that would be a problem. That's why I asked you to follow me."

Fllay halted at a very large cargo bay door. She finally released the pincer grip she had on his hand as she went to her neck. The older teen tugged a card off of her necklace and walked to the access pad to the left of the door. "I brought you here so you may know the true secret of this facility. And it is in…" She swiped the card through the reader and pressed her hand onto the screen. The door began to open wide. "This room."

Adam and Fllay walked side by side, in step with each other as they entered into the darkness. When they reached a railing they stopped and the lights snapped on to reveal… nothing. The boy looked left and right. "Okay, I see a lot of metal, a couple of minor computers. Where is it?"

"Look down." The girl pointed with one finger.

Adam peeked over the railing, and saw the familiar silhouette of a jet. "GWAH?" He was so stunned that he almost went over the rail.

"FAID-R1, codename: Eagle." A young man with red, curly hair stepped out of the shadows and yawned. "Yo. Had a feeling I'd see you again, kid."

Adam's lower back slammed into the rail as he pointed a very shaky finger at him. "Sh...Sh…SHERIDAN?" Adam turned to the girl. "Is there anyone else I know that's here? My fifth grade gym teacher perhaps?"

"Nah, he's bouncing at some club down in Nicaragua." Sheridan chuckled.

"Will you two please be serious?" Fllay shot them both very deadly daggers.

"Yes, ma'am." They answered simultaneously in very small voices.

Fllay pressed her palms to the railing and looked down at the mobile armor. "Project Eagle. It was the real reason why I created this institution." She sighed. "When I had learned that Freedom was all but destroyed after the Battle of Jackin Due, it was my hope that I could create a mobile suit for Kira to use if he ever needed to again. Of course I never considered that he might actually rebuild it. Even after we learned that Freedom had arisen from the ashes like a Phoenix, we still continued on, just in case. But then… after that fight with Impulse…." She stopped when her voice trailed off. A single tear ran down her cheek.

"Fllay…." Adam rested a hand on her shoulder. "He's not dead. I saved his cockpit before my Murasame disintegrated. Kira is still out there, I know it!"

"Adam," She sniffed and dabbed the tears out of her eyes quickly. "But she's no longer his to claim. Eagle needs a pilot."

Two heavy doors receded after an old dusty lock was released, and Cagalli, Amagi, Kisaka, and Erica all entered the darkened bay. The lights snapped on. What they reflected off of was so bright and yellow, Cagalli had to shield her eyes. Once her vision cleared, she gasped at what she saw was standing there. "A golden mobile suit?" Amagi was as shocked as anyone. Indeed, the giant robot that stood immobile before them was covered from head to toe in gold and onyx armor. Its body was modeled after Strike, but Strike never looked so regal.

Cagalli." From the speakers above, the words of a man echoed through the chamber.

"Father…?"

"If there should be a day when you're in need of power, I give you this in response to that need. Power is only that, power. Only fools wish for too much of it, but to hate it totally is just as foolish. The sword was made to protect. If you need it now, then grasp it with your two hands!"

A warm, silky hand slid over Adam's, and he turned his head towards its female source. "Fllay…."

A tear rolled down her cheek. "Adam please, take Eagle. A sword has no purpose if it just lies unused, and I trust you with its power. Will you… will you allow me to protect you with these true feelings?"

The boy placed his free hand on hers and stood to face her. When she looked him in the eye, he nodded. "Arigato, Fllay."

In central command everything was going crazy. "Baramatsuraba's second defensive line has been broken!"

"The defensive line around the mainland has totally collapsed! If we don't reorganize the troops, we'll be wiped out!" Commander Soga stated without even a blink to Yuna.

"Then do it!" Yuuna snapped at him. "Just hurry up and do it!"

"Then give us your orders, sir!"

The system screens activated all around Cagalli as she gripped the controls. The bootup was complete, and Akatsuki's blue eyes flashed to life. As the fueling cables disconnected from the mobile suit, the opened the hatches above the suit. "ORB-01 Akatsuki, system activation. You're free to launch."

"Cagalli Yula Athha, Akatsuki, hashin saru!" The engines burned white hot, and the golden suit shot out of the cave like a bat out of hell. The golden sword was released.

Adam's screens came to life around him as he turned the ship towards the exit. The double layered bay doors opened up with a blast of cold, snowfilled air rushing in. The pilot pressed the phase shift armor button, and the entire thing was coated with a blue and brown color scheme, like the Falcon before it. The boy locked on the breaks and jammed the engines to full. "Adam Cancho, Eagle, aim for the stars!" The brakes unlocked and the brand new mobile suit, the sapphire sword was out to meet the world, spreading its six wings out along its body.

One Gouf in a wipped out area suddenly came under concentrated fire from above. "Are… are those reinforcements? AGH!" The mobile suit exploded, taking the pilot with it.

In the base itself, the radar operators were completely confused. "Soga-san, new troops have appeared over the coast!"

"What was that?"

"Eh?" Yuuna completely forgot about his argument with the man.

"Their ident codes ID them as Takemikazuchi's units!"

"Say that again?"

"T-takemikazuchi?!" Yuna trembled, the words of the late commander ringing in his ears. A visual appeared of the lead mobile suit, the golden gleam of Akatsuki. "What the hell is that?"

From the strange suit, on a special ORB channel, a transmission echoed throughout the base. "I am Uzumi Nala Athha's daughter, Cagalli Yula Athha. Defensive HQ, are you reading me?"

As whispers began running through the base commanders, Yuna managed to warp over to the radio controls, snatching up a microphone. "Cagalli! C…Cagalli! You really did come! My Honey! Thank you so much, my beautiful goddess! I'm the one commanding, me!"

The girl's voice turned soft and caring, even as ZAFT troops vectored in on her. "Yuna!" She fired her rifle into a DINN. "Do you agree that I truly am the Representative Emir of the United ORB of Emirates?"

"Definitely. Definitely! Definitely! I definitely know it's you! She's telling the truth everyone!"

The girl's act came to an end right then and there, as her true gruff self returned. "Then with the power I wield, I order all available officers to apprehend and restrain Yuuna Rouma under the charge of high treason! Restrain him!"

"Eh?" Yuuna looked up at the screen, not catching most of what she said.

Soga silently went up next to him. "As ordered by our leader, I shall now begin my restraint upon you!"

"Huh?" Yuuna turned just in time to get a completely slugged in the cheek and thrown back a few feet.

"I have shown restraint against you sir! And may I say that felt damn good!" Soga rubbed his knuckles as the others piled on him.

"C… Cagalli!" It was the only thing he could think of as he struggled against the mass of humanity on top of him.

On the bridge of the Archangel, the wounded ace and his female crutch limped through the door. "Athrun!" Miriallia went wide-eyed once she saw him.

"Oi oi oi!" Her partner couldn't find any other words.

"I'll be fine." He answered her unspoken question. "At the very least, I can operate in CIC."

On the surface helipad, a security officer took a knife to Neo's bonds. "What's this? Why are you doing this?"

"Your injuries have already healed, I'm sure." Murrue stood opposite him, her face unreadable. "Staying here will only cause you more harm."

"Ah?"

"The Skygrasper… well… it may be a fighter, but we already had it prepped. Please take it and go." The last she said with tears beginning to well. His retort caught in his throat as she turned the other way, sniffing. "You're not Mwu. You never were!" She dashed off, trying to run away from not only him, but the aura of her dead love.

Three Murasame pulled up in formation and transformed, raining down beam shots on the Babis below with pinpoint accuracy. Two more in the air targeted Akatsuki as a command unit and fired their core cannons at her. Cagalli only stretched out the metallic body. It took both attacks and sent them back directly where they came from, piercing and destroying the ones who attacked. From the back of her flight unit, two beam cannons unfolded at Cagalli's hips, and she fired them along with her rifle into three Goufs, not letting their pilots live to see tomorrow.

"Doust team has been disabled! They're falling back!"

"Area-12's coastline, we're being repelled."

Things were not going as planned for ZAFT, as the St. Helens monitored the situation. "What the hell is going on? Just seconds ago they were about to collapse!" The general grumbled to his aide.

"Minerva is coming in from 8 o'clock! Distance: 20!"

In the pilot's lounge on Minerva, the three pilots leaned against the sofa, watching the screen. "So where's Djibril?" Shinn grunted.

"Apparently he has yet to be found. They're rather persistent in their resisting." Ray spoke flatly.

"Uh? Shinn?" Luna turned to him, noting his non-reaction.

"We have no need to launch all three suits at once." Ray shrugged. "I should suffice for the time being."

"No." The black haired boy's brow furrowed. "I'll be the one to go."

"Eh? But Shinn, you…." Luna put her hand on his shoulder.

"I agree. Don't think that way." Ray spoke quietly.

"No, I'm going out!" He made his way to the elevator. 'If ORB is the target, then I'm the one who will destroy it!'

Soon, the Archangel surfaced right next to the cliff the Sky Grasper was sitting on. As the battleship rose into the sky, letting the water roll off its smooth metal in a spray of heavy mist, Neo followed it with his eyes. Murrue noticed him still on the rocks for a moment before turning to the front.

"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, ikkimas!" The blue and red PS armored suit shot out of the portside catapult.

A Murasame got a rifle shot from behind. Another turned towards the source. "What the…?" He never got a shot in before he was vanquished.

"Cagalli-sama, be on your guard! One of ZAFT's new units has…!"

"That thing is…." Cagalli focused her sensors on it, and recalled the broadcast, and the destruction that certain mobile suit caused against Heaven's Base. "Kgh!" She thrust herself towards the new arrival.

"Kegghhh!" Shinn snarled through his teeth as his radar beeped incoming.

"Eeeeehhh!" Cagalli fired at close range. Destiny spread its beam shield just in time to catch the blast.

"Kgh!" Adam was pulling some serious G-forces as he hit and broke the sound barrier. "Let me make it in time! Wait for me please! Mom. Dad. Wait for me, ORB!"

Akatsuki fired its beam rifle at Destiny multiple times. Each time it hit, it just dissipated off of the beam shield. Cagalli gritted her teeth as she unfolded the cannons from her flight pack. "If that thing breaks through, then ORB will..." She fired both cannons and her rifle at the blue and red mobile suit, which easily dodged two shots and deflected the third.

"Tch! What the hell is that thing?" Shinn snarled. Destiny's beam cannon uncoupled from its housing on its back and unfolded into firing position.

"Uah!" Cagalli gasped quickly as she stretched the mobile suit out, so the beam got a direct hit into its chest. In a flash, the red and blue energy weapon was sent right back where it came from, barely giving Shinn time to dodge.

"Beams get reflected?" He tested his theory by shooting at its head with his rifle. The green energy just split into three parts on impact. "If that's the case!" Destiny folded up the beam cannon and made the switch with its anti-ship sword. With the saber pointed straight ahead, Destiny unfurled its great plasma wings. With the sword slung over his shoulder, Shinn gunned his thrusters straight towards the unknown suit.

It was nearly too fast for Cagalli to react. She was frozen as she saw the blade and the afterimages of Destiny. "Cagalli-sama!" A cry came from above. An entire squadron of Murasame vectored in, firing at Destiny, and getting Shinn's attention. He changed course and slid past the green energy with ease. As a Murasame tried to pass under him, Shinn slashed his sword and cut it in half.

Destiny easily swerved around the weaponry discharges as its wings unzipped the sky. "That won't hit me!" As he flew up to meet the three assaulters, he caught an untransformed Murasame with his blade. The pilot no longer existed.

"AUGH!" A pilot's last cry was heard as his mobile suit was pierced by a beam shot from Destiny's rifle. Another pilot's sensor beeped too late, as Destiny cut it lengthwise with his massive sword.

Among the flaming debris that was falling around him, Shinn turned to the golden suit. "Egh!" Cagalli grunted as she pulled back. From the suit's left hip, she pulled out a double-edged beam saber and readied her shield before she went full burn.

Shinn did the same with his big blade. "Could that be the commander's unit?" They clashed sword and shield. "Your skills don't amount to anything!"

"Ughe!" Cagalli strained against the controls.

With Archangel in sensor range, everyone gasped at something. "That's Destiny?!" Athrun swallowed at his monitor as he slashed Akatsuki's shield down the middle. "Shinn!"

"Gegh…" Cagalli's cockpit shook as she throttled back in urgency.

The Minerva's bridge also saw something unbelievable. "Archangel?!" Arthur's jaw was halfway to the floor.

"As we feared, they didn't sink after all." Gladys bit her lip.

"Haaaaaaahhh!" Shinn yelled as he took a Flash Edge boomerang from his shoulder and whipped it Akatsuki's way.

The blonde commander couldn't react fast enough, her forward momentum from her charge not helping as her mobile suit lost its left arm. "Guh!" Sliding to the side with no way to recover, Shinn took his chance. The second boomerang was unleashed as the first was on its return, a perfect pincer maneuver that no one unit could escape from. And she knew it too.

"CAGALLI!" Athrun couldn't restrain himself at his monitor.

A meteorite came from space above at untrackable speed, however it wasn't a rock. Two mobile suits, their armor red from the heat, entered the battle from above, Strike Freedom in the lead, with another suit in tow. As the armor cooled, the second suit gleamed a deep purple with green trim. Seeing he was short on time, Kira broke away. "Make it!" The railguns unfolded and sent two rounds within meters of Akatsuki, intersecting the forward boomerang and detonating it.

The explosion threw Cagalli free of the path of the first, Destiny grabbing it as he checked the skies. "Nani?!" Freedom dove at him from the shine of the sun. "Houh?!" He gasped as he noticed the radar shadow. Freedom engaged both of its sabers and accelerated into combat, taking a swipe at Destiny as pulled back.

It was only then that the rest of the battlefield noticed their presence. "Kira!"

"What just…?" Luna tried to replay it as Ray's face turned into a massive scowl.

Kira put himself between Shinn and his sister, the golden hinges shining in his eyes. "Freedom? Why is that… No way!" His astonishment turned to anger. "Just why?!"

"Murrue-san, Lacus is in your care now." The channel also broadcast to the pink-helmeted woman in the purple suit as it came in on landing approach. "Leave this one to me. Cagalli, get back to ORB!"

"You got it!" She responded after she snapped out of her hesitation.

Freedom dove forward, and Destiny spread its wings in response. "KUSO!" Shinn growled before they clashed twice in midair.

As Archangel opened its hatch to admit the newcomer, Athrun forced himself to stand. "Duh!" He winced, and Meyrin was immediately at his side.

"We'll advance to the front immediately." Gladys sent an urgent message to the commander. "By your leave, I trust?"

"A…ah."

"Accelerate and liftoff immediately! Starboard ten! Today Archangel falls!"

"Hai!" Water poured off the base of the ship as it banked to intercept.

"Minerva is on its way." Murrue squinted. "Everyone got that?"

"Hai!"

"Launchers 1 through 10, load Dispars. Tristan and Isolde, targeting Archangel!"

"Rear missile launchers, load Sledgehammers! Gottfried and Valiants, targeting Minerva!"

The ships stared each other down, as did their captains, as Arthur and Amagi handled the timing. "TEI!" Their payloads unleashed simultaneously. Missiles intersected anti-air bullets, sending clouds of fire and smoke that were soon torn through by beam cannons and projectile blasts, just above or below their targets. As they passed each other, the second volley of beam cannon energy intersected anti-beam disperser packs. Neither of the two ships took damage as they prepared for the second attack run.

The atmospheric radar went on alert as a metal stone entered, its bolts exploding. "What the?" A ZAFT soldier pulled it up as he hunkered behind some wreckage.

"Is that a ZAFT drop pod?" A Murasame pilot swallowed in fear.

The three suits within the pod landed in crouched position. Their black and purple armor rose to full height as their monocular camera activated. The one on the left sighed. "I just knew Earth's gravity would be a pain."

"What are you saying now?" The leader of the team side glanced his video feed. "Let's get moving, dumbasses!"

"Ouh!" The one on the right acknowledged.

"For Lacus-sama's goals!"

"What the… hell are those?" Milly put up the new units on screen as their formation cut through a platoon of ZAFT mobile suits on the ground, and one in the air.

"Murrue-san. Cagalli-san." Lacus sent a message from the bay. "The drop pod's mobile suits are not to be fired upon."

"Eh?"

"They are a specialized team that agree with our cause, and have requested to participate in this battle. Please treat them as such." The three mobile suits hit their throttles and coasted above the surface like hovercraft. They fired their beam rifle portions into three ZAFT suits as they passed, their beam shields activated on their arms. A Zaku that was dumb enough to pursue one got a shot to the chest that overloaded the battery and exploded.

"I understand."

The bay door slid open in a hiss. "Lacus! Endh…"

"Athrun!" She gasped, seeing his weakened condition.

"Lacus-sama?" Meyrin studied her in silent thought. "Then, is this the real one?"

Shinn took two downward swipes at Kira, the speedy suit dodging each attack. "Kuso! Why are you alive?!" Kira's SEED dropped in front of his eyes. Tossing his rifles into the air, he engaged the deflectors on the back of his hands and caught the third swipe in a bare-handed catch, something that human martial arts masters couldn't even accomplish uninjured. "Uegh?!" The railguns unfolded at his hips and let off its rounds. The explosion ripped the sword from Destiny's grasp and Freedom tossed it away.

"Hagh!" Luna squeaked in fear as she and Ray clamped onto the couch in the lounge.

Backing away from the smoke, Shinn drew his rifle. "If that had been a beam…" Kira caught his rifles and readied them for a counterattack. "Then it would have been finished! IS THAT WHAT YOU WERE SAYING, HUH?!" Shinn's rage willed his SEED to shatter. Spreading his plasma wings he accelerated around Freedom, the buzz of his afterimages keeping Kira distracted as they exchanged rifle fire.

Athrun stared at the new metallic arrival as Lacus returned from the locker room, now changed into one of her favorite outfits. "Justice, huh?"

"Infinite Justice, to be precise."

"Are you also going to say that a soldier is my destined role? To only fight and kill…?"

"That kind of question I don't know the answer to." Her eyes trembled. The pain in Athrun's heart and mind was finally clear to her.

"Shinn!" Ray's face appeared in his communications window. "Regroup and resupply, now!"

"Kgh."

"We'll take him together!" Reluctantly Shinn turned back towards Minerva.

"With the injuries you sustained, that question must be exceptionally difficult." Lacus shook her head. "But Kira said this to me:…"

"I think when you have the drive to make a difference, and you have no way to do it, that's the worst pain there is." He said it as they made plans to re-enter the atmosphere.

"That little…."

"If you close yourself off to everything now, then that pain will continue." Kira grit his teeth as he sliced through suit after suit in the horde sortied from ZAFT. "That if things have gotten too difficult, it would be better to give up and accept the end as inevitability. But doing that only brings about your own suffering, something no one close to you wants to see."

A half-destroyed GOUF flew under Minerva's port wing and overloaded. Gladys gripped her chair tightly. "Twenty degrees to port! Circle behind them!"

"Parsifal, tei!"

"From 11 o'clock, missiles. Number: 8."

"Kaihee!" Archangel's anti-air defenses went into overdrive as they banked to the side. Two missiles broke through the barrage and a beam-firing ally swooped in to intercept. It blew through the smoke in front of the bridge, clearing the view.

"Skygrasper?!"

"Heheh." Neo appeared on screen. "Sorry. I just don't know when not to butt in."

Murrue choked on the air. "Y-you?!"

"But you know, that Minerva over there… I don't really like it."

"Eh?"

"Relax, you'll win. I am the guy that makes the impossible possible!" His transmission cut.

"Hah?!" Mwu's final words flashed in the captain's head as the Grasper barrel rolled to the front. "Mwu…."

"Power is just that, power." Lacus looked into the face of Justice. "It only does what you want if you use it with all your heart."

Legend leapt out of Minerva's catapult, Destiny following shortly behind. Kira's sensors went wild. "That thing…"

"DEAY!" Shinn cried as he fired his resupplied rifle.

"Kgh!" Kira spread his shields again to intercept. Much to his surprise, his alarms still continued to blare.

A large jet came in on an intercept vector as a blue and brown phase shift coated its body. "TORYAAAH!"

"Nani?!" Shinn reacted too late as it slammed into him, throwing him off vector. "GWAH!"

"Shinn!" Ray gasped as he pulled back.

The plane spread six wings and rotated around, opening its claws and firing the beam cannons inside. Shinn spread his shield just fast enough to avoid destruction, blowing them both away. "I had a feeling you were still alive." Kira's audio echoed.

"Uh? You're…."

The plane's wings folded back, as a hatch opened underneath the claws. Simultaneously the claws receded and legs folded out. Two arms unfolded from the chest cavity as the beam cannon on the nose uncoupled and slid in to replace it. A white line ran down the nose and it separated, sliding onto the shoulders, a rifle and a shield sliding into its hands as its eyes flashed to life. "Tch. Another phantom appears." Ray snarled.

The operating system in Infinite Justice came to life, and its green eyes flashed on. The portside hatch opened, and the lights inside the catapult turned yellow and green, to indicate the clear path. Athrun's purple helmet barely hid his bandages. "The person I am is, Athrun Zala! Justice, deru!" The mobile suit shot out of the catapult, and the purple phase shift armor gleamed in the mid-day sun.

The new suit turned towards Destiny. "The machine that cut a Destroy in half… I won't let the same happen to ORB!" The pilot's brown eyes shone in anger.