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Six years. I am so sorry everyone. All I can say is that my life has been a hectic struggle for a long time now. It still is.

But in a twist, losing my job because of this pandemic has been the best thing that's happened to me in a long time. I'm remembering what it was to enjoy life. To live, to laugh, to pursue my passions. I want to complete this story. More than any other, I want this story to reach its end. I want to share with all of you the story of the first story I wrote that really felt like it was my story and a good one as well.

No more words here. I'm sorry for the wait. I hope I can someday make it worthwhile. And thank you, for your patience, for your encouragement, and for always hoping.

Disclaimer: I do not own Gundam SEED or any associated characters. Solid Shark owns the OC Sophia DiFalco, the Grimaldi Falcon, and all OCs associated with Falcon. I own Lily Clyne, the OC members of her team, and claim credit for the design of the Astray White Frame "Sakura."

Phase Fourteen: The Revelation
February 28th, Cosmic Era 71

Desert Dawn Base Camp

Laughter echoed throughout the rebel camp as the Desert Dawn celebrated their victory over the Desert Tiger, caring little about the Blood Princess one way or another. The Archangel crew, on the other hand, were far more somber—although they'd lost choppers and their ship, the ZAFT forces had escaped with the majority of their machines damaged but ultimately intact. It was something Mu brought up to Sahib in the command center.

"You have to realize that ZAFT still has a lot of power right now," he said. "In the end, all we really got were their ships."

"You're right, of course," agreed Sahib, "but let them celebrate; there hasn't been much cause for it lately for us."

"Fair enough," said Murrue, "but what will you do now?"

"Well, our bargain is more or less finished when you get down to it," said Sahib, taking a sip of coffee. "You've damaged the Tiger enough for you to just waltz right out of here, and perhaps that would be best for everyone involved.

Sufficed to say, that came as a surprise to the four senior officers.

"But what about your group?" asked Sophia. "Without our power, there's not a whole lot more you can do, and ZAFT will come back for those mines before long."

"In a way, I guess you could say that's the point," said Sahib slowly. "The Desert Dawn are, ultimately, powerless to stop ZAFT. We will do what we can when the time comes, fight to our last man if that's what it takes to protect what is ours; at the very least, with the Lesseps out of commission, ZAFT operations in this area will be severely restricted for the foreseeable future. Either way, we can't tie you down here to fight our battles for us and, long-term, it may be most beneficial to us if you reach your destination and bolster the Earth Forces, who are far less likely to have any interest in this area."

"That's true," said Natarle. "With control of the Middle East, the Alliance as a whole would have only minimal interest in those mines and may be more open to negotiation for them, plus with this territory under ZAFT…"

"Not to mention if we leave, the Blood Princess will probably follow," added Mu. He looked back to Sahib. "I've gotta say, the more time I talk to you, the more I understand how you've managed to accomplish what you have."

"Leading a resistance like this is much harder than a traditional military," agreed Sahib. "At any rate, let me be the first to wish you good luck on the rest of your journey."

"Yes, and to you as well in your fight against ZAFT," replied Murrue.

"I'll drink to that," said Mu.

A moment later, before anyone could say anything else, Sahib's son Yaru ran into the command center.

"Father," said Yaru, "the Chief wants us all to honor our fallen warriors."

Sahib nodded grimly in response and led the group outside.

As the chief from Tassil spoke the names of all the Desert Dawn troops to have died in the fight against the Desert Tiger, Kira, Lacus, and Sai strayed a short distance away, finding a small measure of privacy.

"How's Flay doing?" asked Sai, looking at Lacus. The rosette let out a small sigh.

"She seems to be doing fine," said Lacus, who'd been taking care of Flay in her quarters since the battle earlier. "She's taking it well overall, but she's still pretty stressed."

"She's counting on you and Kira for support more than anyone," said Sai, leaning against a wall. "But despite that… well, there are a few things about her that's had me worried lately."

"Like what?" asked Kira. None of them noticed the figure quietly approaching their location.

"To be honest, she called off our engagement after we landed," said Sai, drawing small gasps of shock from his two friends, "which I think I'd seen coming for awhile. She's been doing everything she can to help you as well, and I think…" He shook his head slightly. "Well, I really shouldn't say; it's her business really."

"But with Flay counting on us that much… maybe we shouldn't be keeping secrets from her," said Lacus softly, drawing shocked stares from the two boys. "You saw her earlier Kira, and you heard what she said in orbit. I just… I don't feel comfortable keeping secrets from her. I trust her, so… so I want to tell her the truth about me."

"We've kept a pretty tight lid on that," said Kira. He hesitated briefly. "But… I know what you mean. I'm not comfortable keeping things from my friends, even if I know it's necessary."

"So we'll find some time to tell her," said Sai, "but in the meantime, how are you two doing? With Lily and the Tiger."

"Well, that sand cloud… I don't know what happened," said Kira, "I was fighting Shiho one minute, drove her off with the flamethrowers after the sand kicked up, and then didn't manage to do anything else before it fell."

"It was pretty much the same with me," said Lacus, "except that Lily talked to me as well. I think ZAFT threw the fight—they damaged themselves under cover of that cloud."

A small gasp of shock drew their attention, making them realize they were being observed. The figure listening in tried to hide, but they spotted her anyway.

"Flay…" muttered Kira. Slowly, the redhead stepped into their line of sight and walked over to them. "How much… how much did you hear?"

"I… I got here when Sai was mentioning the engagement," said Flay, staring at her three friends uncertainly. "What's going on? What secret? Why would ZAFT… why were you talking to the Blood Princess?"

"Don't call her that," said Lacus, "please."

"But that's just it; I noticed earlier that you reacted oddly whenever someone mentioned her, so why?"

"Flay… Lily's my older sister," said Lacus softly. Flay's eyes widened as she gasped in shock. "My real name is Lacus Clyne. I'm sorry that we've kept this from you, but…"

"But that's…" Flay stared at the girl she'd come to think of as possibly her best friend, a small hint of betrayal in her eyes, "what's really… going on?"

The three hesitated briefly before Kira spoke up.

"We should talk somewhere else," said Kira, "somewhere we can be certain we won't be overheard."

ZAFT Mansion, Banadiya

"It'll take months to repair the damage to the Lesseps and Petrie," commented Andy idly as he sat in the lounge along with the other members of Zodiac in the city, "and I imagine Command won't be happy with what happened back there. All this may have cost us a lot of influence in ZAFT."

"Not especially likely," said Lily calmly, once again staring out over the city, "after all, we were severely underequipped for the mission." She smirked slightly. "It all comes down to how we spin it, but we do have an ally up top with Ken." She turned back to the others, her smirk vanishing as she did so. "What about casualties?"

"Well, I organized things pretty carefully," said Andy, "but I didn't expect the second fighter or that they could use the equipment of the Strike, so casualties were pretty high off of the ships."

"The numbers were definitely higher than anticipated," remarked DaCosta, "particularly aboard the Henry Carter. We'd anticipated taking heavy damage, so I had certain sections of the ships evacuated and carefully trimmed down the crew count; we didn't lose very many more of the crew of the Lesseps and Petrie than we'd anticipated." He sighed. "But… all those people dead… and for what? General, are you really sure about this?"

"I'm not infallible," replied Lily. "Yes, I may have made a mistake in this, but I'm acting as I believe is best with what I know about the circumstances."

"And your sister didn't factor into your plans at all?" asked Alicia, perhaps a bit more harshly than she really meant to, which drew sharp looks from most of the others. Lily's expression didn't shift much though.

"Up in orbit, I ordered heavy weapons fired on them in order to plunge them into the atmosphere on a different course from the Archangel," she said coldly, causing Alicia to flinch. "Of all the things I have ever done, the mistakes I've made, the people I've killed, the people who I led to their deaths… that order, to attack Lacus, was the hardest thing I have ever had to do." Lily quirked an eyebrow, but her expression didn't change otherwise. "Yes, Pilot Morris, my sister means a great deal to me. Yes, she factored into my plans. And yes, I would destroy the world to protect her were it not for the fact that she would hate me forever if I did so." As everyone vaguely gaped at her, Lily gave Alicia a faint smirk, causing the BuCUE pilot to shrink back a little. "Would you do any less for someone you loved?"

Desert Dawn Base Camp
The next morning

"But you have to take me with you!"

Cagalli was arguing. Again. Now, Sophia hadn't had much interaction with the blonde, but she'd heard the bits of gossip flying around and once heard Natarle groaning about the girl, so the constant arguing wasn't a surprise, but that made it no less irritating.

"You people don't have any idea what's going on down here," continued Cagalli, "and I'm better at solving supply problems than any of your crew."

"However…" started Murrue.

"Of course, I can't say I'll come with you to Alaska," added Cagalli quickly, "and there's no way I'll sign up for the Earth Forces. But you need my help."

"What do you mean 'your help'?" asked Mu.

"I can… um… uh…" sputtered Cagalli. "I can help in lots of ways!" Sophia barely managed to suppress a small laugh, especially as she heard what seemed like a sigh of exasperation from Kisaka as Mu stood up.

"It's not that simple," said Murrue.

"You're gonna help us, like a goddess?" questioned Mu.

"Whatever the case may be, I'm going with you aboard the Archangel," said Cagalli. "I've already decided." With that, Cagalli turned around and walked away with Sahib.

"You know, as hard as it would be to make her stay, I don't think avoiding the argument now would be worth the smaller arguments we'd have to deal with later," said Sophia lightly. Sighing, both Murrue and Natarle nodded in agreement.

"I apologize for her behavior," said Kisaka. "Cagalli has always been spirited, and she's not used to being trapped anywhere."

"Trapped huh?" muttered Mu. "I wonder…"

Two days later

"We're heading out captain," said Neumann as the Archangel exited a canyon. "Approaching the Red Sea."

As he finished speaking, the Red Sea came into view. The sight was awe-inspiring for the Archangel crew, as it had been years since any of them had ever seen the ocean—and some hadn't ever seen it before in their entire lives.

It had been two days since they left the Desert Dawn base, and they hadn't had any trouble with ZAFT since then. Natarle had been suspicious of another attack throughout, but neither Mu nor Sophia—both with more experience under their belts than anyone else on the ship—were remotely surprised. Not for nothing was Lily Clyne called the Knight-General, and she was not one to pursue needless battle.

"Incredible," murmured Neumann.

"Whoa," whispered Tolle, leaning forward as dolphins became visible jumping on the surface. The Archangel steadily descended once it passed out over the ocean, soon landing on the surface of the water and proceeding forward like a sea-faring vessel.

Murrue couldn't refute the assessments of her ship's pilot and navigator. It had been a long time since she'd seen the ocean herself—and, if she was frank, she'd hardly seen it in her youth. Even then, the crowds and tension on the beaches she'd visited had prevented her from gaining a true appreciation of the ocean.

It was a far greater experience to be sailing across the ocean.

"For a short time, I will allow off-duty crewmembers to take turns above deck," said Murrue, smiling. "Please relay the message to everyone onboard."

"Ah, that's great!" said Tolle.

"Bridge to Chief Murdoch," said Natarle suddenly, as serious as ever, though she was privately just as fascinated by the ocean. "Are the sonar preparations on schedule?"

"We're working on them right now," said Murdoch, turning to where Kira was working on a laptop hooked up to the hangar computers. "The kid's making the final adjustments now. It shouldn't be too much longer."

"Hurry it up," said Natarle. "And Chief? I'd be careful about calling a superior officer 'kid' if I were you."

"Ah…"

"That kind of thing could end up in your official record," said Natarle before cutting the link. What was kind of freaking him out was that her voice had carried a joking tone he didn't think he'd ever heard from her before.

"She said to hurry," said Murdoch with a sigh.

"Well it's not that easy you know," said Kira. "That thing's made by ZAFT, so it's gonna have some compatibility problems."

"Still, I can't imagine it will take us too much longer," said Sophia. "Just a bit more to work out." She smiled slightly. "I've always been interested in ZAFT's Lorenzini sensors. It'll be nice to play around with one myself."

"Should certainly be interesting," said Mu. "But enough about the ship. Chief Murdoch, how's the work on the Skygraspers?"

"Nothing but routine maintenance on yours," said Murdoch. "Skygrasper 2 needed some engine work, but nothing too severe. It's fit to fly, but we wanted to do a little double checking. We'll get to work on that once the sensor work is done. How about Miss Allster?"

"Flay's been doing just fine, all things considered," said Lacus, walking over to them. She'd been helping out with maintenance on the Strike. "She was pretty shaken up for awhile, but she seems ready to fly again."

Kira shifted slightly, thinking about the other revelation that had shaken up the redhead.

Flay sat in Lacus's quarters, keeping Haro and Birdy company so they didn't bother anyone, and giving her privacy to digest how many things had changed recently.

She'd flown in combat. It had been an experience both horrifying and exhilarating, but she'd done it, she'd survived… and now she had more confidence in herself, her ability to help… and she did find that she loved the feeling she got from flying.

She'd now taken lives, forever staining her hands in blood. That the blood belonged to enemy soldiers did little to mitigate the feelings of disgust when she thought about it, and whenever she looked at her hands—particularly her right hand that had actually pulled the trigger—she couldn't help but see it coated in red.

On this, she had spoken to Mu. Though surprised by the way she described it, he'd reassured her that the worst of it would pass, and she'd get used to all of it sooner or later. The blond ace had not, however, suggested that was necessarily a good thing.

But then there was the other matter that preoccupied her—Kira and Lacus, the latter most especially.

The revelation of who Lacus really was had shaken Flay right to the core, but more so for how they'd hidden it than the revelation itself. She understood it, but that they'd kept it secret from her for so long and only ultimately told her because she'd overheard something she wasn't supposed to… that stung. Still, that was at least somewhat mitigated by what she'd heard immediately before, about them wanting to tell her.

But it went deeper than that. What she'd heard from them, about their belief that ZAFT had thrown the fight, made her gut clench even tighter thinking about the ship she'd destroyed. She was no longer entirely certain she knew who was right and who was wrong, who was her friend and who was her enemy…

Well, no, she did know something there. She knew who her friends were. It was the allies outside of this ship who concerned her, because now she looked in the mirror and saw the eyes of a killer… and that was merely for killing enemy soldiers in the heat of battle.

How much more monstrous must be the eyes of those who had destroyed Junius Seven, by ordering the destruction and especially by pulling the trigger?

But then, there was ZAFT once more. Flay trusted Kira, Lacus, and Sai with all her heart, so she did not doubt what they were telling her about what happened at the battle, but it still boggled the mind. For enemy soldiers to have thrown the fight, let them escape, even sacrificed their own…

Were they really the enemy?

And if they weren't, what did that make her, having killed so many aboard one of their ships?

Could she fly again? Could she kill again?

Glancing at her hands again, Flay briefly saw not her own hands, but Lacus's, stained in blood… the blood of soldiers of her own homeland.

How could Flay not fight again, when Lacus had sacrificed so much more for them?

Uncertainty swirled through the redhead's mind.

Later

"Ah, this feels wonderful!" said Mir, rushing over to the rail as she, Tolle, and Kuzzey took their turn on deck atop the starboard Gottfried.

"Sure is beautiful," commented Kuzzey. "I'm feeling dizzy."

"Oh yeah, this is the first time you've ever been at sea, isn't it Kuzzey?" asked Tolle.

"Mhmm," murmured Kuzzey, nodding.

"Weren't you born on Heliopolis?" asked Tolle.

"Yeah, and I thought the desert was scary," said Kuzzey. "This place really freaks me out. It gets really deep in some parts, doesn't it?"

"Yup," said Tolle.

"Yeah, and there are monsters too," said Mir with a wicked expression.

"Oh, stop teasing him Mir," said Tolle as Kuzzey gasped and backed away from the railing slightly. "It'd be a shame to scare him away from the sea before he's even been to a beach."

"Fair enough I suppose," said Mir, shaking her head slightly with a small smile. "We're friends after all, and I wouldn't deny a friend the chance to enjoy the beach."

"Oh, what have I done," muttered Tolle, burying his face in his hands as his girlfriend began to extol them on the virtues of the beach. Doctor Graham, standing nearby, couldn't help but chuckle as he overheard their antics.

It's good to know that war hasn't totally scoured them of innocence…

Kira, having just finished the work on integrating the Lorenzini sensors with the Archangel's systems, stepped out onto the rear deck behind the bridge tower. Following just behind him were Lacus and Sophia, taking advantage of the opportunity for a break themselves.

"It's been too long," said Sophia softly, one hand holding her black hair down in the wind. "You two ever visited the ocean before?"

"Not that I can remember," said Kira. "I used to live in Orb, but my family moved to Copernicus when I was only a few years old."

"Once for me," said Lacus. "A family friend took me to Orb for a trip."

Sophia took a deep breath.

"The smell of the ocean breeze…" she said, "there's nothing quite like it. You don't get this in the artificial, recycled atmosphere of ships in space."

Lacus giggled a bit at that.

The three spent the next little while enjoying some quiet camaraderie, with Kira and Sophia chatting about engineering.

Eventually, someone else joined them.

"There you are," said Flay, stepping out onto the deck, drawing their attention.

"Flay… are you doing okay?" asked Lacus. The redhead gave a slight nod, eyes flickering between the three of them before settling back on Lacus.

"Can we talk? Privately, I mean," she said. Lacus frowned and shared a brief glance with Kira before nodding.

"Well, I recognize a cue to get out when I see it," said Sophia in a teasing tone. She started back inside, but paused to put a reassuring hand on Flay's shoulder. "Hey, you're doing well. Don't go doubting yourself kid."

With that, Sophia departed. Kira lingered a moment longer to offer Lacus a reassuring smile and squeeze on the shoulder before he left himself, closing the door behind him and offering the two girls as much privacy as he could.

Lacus and Flay stared at each other for a moment before the redhead looked away.

"I've been thinking," she said softly. "About how difficult all of this must be for you. I'm… I'm sorry I got upset, that you were keeping things from me. I know why you did, and I think you were right to do so." Lacus said nothing, wanting to let Flay finish. The redhead forced herself to look back into the rosette's blue eyes. "I'm grateful that you're here, Lacus. I think of you as my best friend, I want to be there for you the way you've been there for me, and… and I'm so sorry, that you're fighting against your homeland."

Silence stretched between them for a moment before Lacus stepped forward and pulled the younger girl into her arms, startling the redhead.

"Thank you Flay," she said softly. "That means a lot to me, but I have no regrets. Meeting all of you has been one of the best things that has ever happened to me."

"What about your sister?"

Lacus smiled, though there was a tinge of bitterness to it.

"Lily would never have forgiven me if I based my decision on her alone," she said. "I admit, fighting her is hard, and it terrifies me… Lily might be the strongest, smartest person I've ever known… but I also think of her as one of the kindest." Lacus broke the embrace and looked into Flay's eyes, her smile now tinged with embarrassment. "Though I admit, a lot of that belief may be because she's my sister. I love her, and I can't wait to be held in her arms again… but I still wouldn't trade away what I've gained on this ship, just for that."

"I understand," said Flay.

And she did—she really did, much to her own surprise. Her now rocky relationship with her father gave her a degree of empathy for what Lacus was going through, even if it was nowhere near as extreme. But she wouldn't give up her newfound friendships for the world.

Now she just had to figure out what was going on between Kira and Lacus, and where her own confused feelings would end up fitting into the mess.

On the bridge, Kisaka was offering what advice he could to the captain, as a show of gratitude for her ultimately allowing him and Cagalli to join the crew for the foreseeable future.

Not that the deputy captain appreciated his advice all that much, but Natarle was a rather stingy woman by nature, so that was to be expected.

"It's certainly a difficult position to be in," said Kisaka gently as the main display screen showed them a map of the Red Sea and the surrounding landmasses. "Getting to Alaska without any additional support from the Earth Forces would be difficult enough under normal circumstances, but…"

"But our circumstances are hardly normal," said Murrue. She sighed, idly rubbing her temple. "ZAFT forces have encroached on much of Eurasia's southern border, so fighting through to friendly forces would be suicide."

"Perhaps, but sailing out into the middle of the Indian Ocean seems like a fool's errand," said Natarle. "If we get attacked out there, we'll have nowhere to escape."

"You say that, but I think you're underestimating yourselves," said Kisaka. "I've seen what this vessel can do—the Archangel's firepower is remarkable, and ZAFT doesn't have the equipment to fight your mobile suits either. Furthermore, ZAFT can't afford to waste resources seizing and holding territory with no strategic value, so their presence in the middle of the ocean will be negligible at best. With the N-jammer interference to keep them from alerting Carpentaria provided they're destroyed quickly, it can be reasonably assumed that things will go well. The rest is really just up to luck."

Silence followed that for a moment before Murrue spoke up again.

"I'd like to believe all of that, but it's evident at this stage that the Blood Princess herself has taken over ZAFT's pursuit of us," she said. "It would be nice to think that we have the strength to stand even against her, but…"

"True," said Kisaka, leaning against the wall. "I'm familiar with the reputation of ZAFT's Knight-General. It certainly feels like a lot of luck was involved in surviving so many encounters with her. I suppose if she's able to field the prototypes they stole from you, then it will take more than just luck to make it out alive."

The captain grimaced slightly. She desperately hoped that they'd never have to meet Lily Clyne on the field of battle ever again.

After leaving the rear deck, Kira ran into Cagalli. Not wanting her to interrupt Lacus and Flay's discussion, he'd somewhat forcefully led her up a level to the observation deck.

"I really don't get it," said Cagalli as the two stared out the window, able to see the two female pilots talking. "I thought those two were best friends. What could they have been fighting about?"

"Fighting's too strong a word in this case," said Kira. "There were some things they needed to discuss. Private matters. It's not my place to share them."

"Fair enough," said Cagalli, turning to him. "How are you holding up?"

Kira smiled slightly as he turned to the blonde.

"I'm fine," he said. "Truth be told, I've been feeling better ever since Talbadiya."

"I suppose it must be easier, knowing you won't have to fight an enemy whose face you know," said Cagalli quietly. Kira frowned at that, turning to look back out the window.

"I told the officers about what happened that day," he said softly. "Commander La Flaga told me that it's easier when you don't know your enemy personally. But if I'm being honest with myself, I don't want it to be easy."

"Why not?"

He said nothing in response for a moment before he let out a sigh.

"Because I don't ever want to believe that violence is the only solution," he said. "Because it's a trap to let it be easy, leading to a cycle of strike and counterstrike, of retaliation in retaliation." She stared at him. "An eye for an eye makes the whole world blind… I have no idea where that phrase originated from, but it's one that's always at the back of my mind. A mentor taught it to me, and I think about it a lot with the Bloody Valentine and the April Fools Crisis."

"Retaliation in retaliation…" murmured Cagalli. "When does it end? When every last enemy has been destroyed?" A bitter smile pulled at her lips as she echoed the question put to Kira by the Desert Tiger a week and a half earlier. "I get it now. I've really been a fool, haven't I?"

"We all are at some point," said Kira. "I think… what's important is that we learn from it." He turned to face her and smiled. "That's how we grow and mature… and I imagine that's how we find peace… with ourselves and with the world."

He turned to look back outside, so he missed the admiring look Cagalli gave him at that.

"An old friend of mine lives in the PLANTs," said Kira suddenly. "His mother died in the Bloody Valentine. And I saw Heliopolis collapse. On some level, I understand the anger and frustration that drives ZAFT… but I can't let that consume me. I have to be better than that. What's important… what's important is protecting the people I love and doing what I can to make whatever difference I can make."

Cagalli continued to stare at Kira before she suddenly blushed as she realized what she was doing and quickly excused herself. Kira barely noticed, only mumbling a farewell.

He missed the way Cagalli, still blushing, clutched a hand in front of her heart as she walked away, trying to will her heartbeat to slow down.

ZAFT Vosgulov-class Submarine Etna

"This is a general order for all ZAFT forces operating in the Indian and Pacific theaters," said the recording of Lily Clyne. "The Earth Forces new prototype warship has escaped from North Africa to the ocean on what we believe to be a course for Alaska. Under my authority as the commander of the pursuit of this vessel, all ZAFT forces are to avoid contact. The ship possesses an unprecedented level of firepower, can take an extraordinary amount of punishment, and features a mobile squadron that successfully drove off both the Clyne and Waltfeld Teams. Unless explicitly approved by myself or someone under my authority, no unit will engage this vessel, only report its location back to Gibraltar. We cannot afford to be throwing away lives and resources in a hopeless engagement. Clyne out."

Commander Marco Morassim, sitting on the bed of his room/office, scoffed slightly, shutting down the replay. He'd always thought of Clyne as a condescending egomaniac, no better than her former teammates Le Creuset and Falcon. She was a fine pilot, but a terrible leader, as the destruction of her entire team at Endymion had amply demonstrated.

Morassim had marginally more respect for Waltfeld, but that was setting the bar low. The man knew terrestrial warfare, but would have gotten nowhere without the raw superiority of the BuCUE over tanks.

If they thought a space model warship and mobile weapons could possibly defeat ZAFT at sea, well… it was time for them to learn a harsh lesson in how little they understood real warfare instead of their personal honor combat.

"That wannabe commander really has some serious nerve," he muttered. "That kind of condescending message… even for someone who only got where she was because of politics, it's hard to believe she'd think she knows enough to tell naval soldiers they can't do their jobs…"

He hit a switch, connecting him to the bridge.

"Captain, I want you to prepare us for battle," he said. "We're going to hunt this 'legged ship' that slipped past the desert."

"Commander? But the General…"

"Clyne has no authority over me or this team," growled Morassim, "and she does not know war at sea. Carry out my orders."

"Y-yes sir…"

The Archangel
Several hours later

It was a huge relief to Kira and Sai to hear that Flay had accepted their apology and would keep quiet about Lacus's identity.

Now, with Sai off-duty as well, the four were sitting in Kira's quarters, enjoying what amounted to an impromptu karaoke break, taking turns singing with the other three picking a song for them. It would've been humiliating how much better Lacus was than her friends if they didn't know she'd been a professional singer.

"Okay, that's it!" said Flay, hands on her hips in frustration. It wasn't always prominent, but the girl definitely had a competitive streak beneath the surface. "Let's change things up a bit! We'll see how you do singing a song in a foreign language!"

"I hope you mean Japanese," said Sai mildly, "otherwise, I don't think we'll be able to critique it."

"Oh, you bet that's what I had planned!" said Flay as she began to search for a song that she hoped would confound her rosette friend. Kira debated for a moment whether or not to tell her that Lacus was fully fluent in Japanese, then decided he'd rather see the look on her face.

Unfortunately, he wouldn't get the chance to see it—at that moment, alarm klaxons blared and Miriallia's voice came over the PA.

"All hands to level two battlestations," she announced. "Repeat, all hands to level 2 battlestations. Unidentified heat sources have been detected in the surrounding airspace."

Flay's eyes narrowed as she turned to Lacus.

"You get off the hook this time, pinkie," she growled. Lacus shook her head in faint amusement as she followed Kira out of his quarters, the two of them heading for the hangar with Flay on their heels, while Sai dashed in the direction of the bridge lift.

Morassim smirked as he confirmed that they'd found the target.

He honestly wasn't sure what was supposed to be so impressive about the ship, but it didn't really matter anyway. With four DINNs attacking from the sky and the four GOOhNs that were even now deploying from the Etna to attack from the sea, the legged ship and its mobile weapons would soon be sinking to the bottom of the Red Sea in pieces.

"It's time to show Clyne what a real ZAFT force can do," he muttered as he led his squad's descent upon the enemy vessel.

Flay slid into the cockpit of her Skygrasper, consciously willing her hands to not tremble. This would be her first time flying since the battle at the Talbadiya Factory, and some part of her was remembering the trauma from that.

The greater part of her was focused on the reminder that Lacus was fighting against her own people—how could Flay ever live with herself if she didn't do her part to help?

"We finished the engine checks, so you should be good to go," said Murdoch, "but the Launcher Striker isn't mounted this time, so keep that in mind."

"I will," said Flay as she moved her fighter to the starboard catapult. "Thank you Mister Murdoch."

"Everyone, we've identified the heat sources," said Miriallia, just as the hangar doors closed behind Flay. "They are four ZAFT airborne mobile suits, the DINN. The Skygraspers are go for launch. The Strike and Sakura are to remain on standby, and we'll be mounting the Launcher Striker."

"Roger that," came the voices of the four pilots. Flay's grip on the controls of her Skygrasper tightened momentarily as she took a deep breath. She heard Mu launch from the port catapult.

"Flay Allster, Skygrasper launching!" she announced, firing her engines and sending the signal to blast her into the sky.

As soon as the Skygraspers cleared the catapults, they began to move their mobile suits into position. Flay, however, focused on the four mobile suits in the sky ahead of her.

"I'd like to know where the hell these machines came from," said Mu as he opened fire with his beam cannon, Flay following suit seconds later. "Its way too far to be Carpentaria, but…"

Flay said nothing, merely kept herself focused on trying to get a lock. For the briefest moment, her targeting system toned with a positive lock confirmation, and she fired off a pair of missiles.

The DINN's had broken formation completely, not even flying in wing pairs, and began to return fire even as the one she'd targeted let off a flare to decoy her heat seeking missiles.

Mu banked right to evade the oncoming fire with Flay following on his wing. That was one thing that had been very thoroughly drilled into her: unless ordered otherwise, she was to stick to his wing as best she could.

It was one thing for Kira and Lacus, with their PS armor to protect them from enemy attacks, to brawl solo. Flay's Skygrasper wasn't nearly so tough.

As the air-to-air battle between the Skygrasper's and DINN's got underway, Murrue and Kisaka were discussing the situation, allowing Natarle to focus on making sure the ship was ready both to take to the air and provide anti-air support to the Skygraspers, as well as for the possibility for an attack from below the surface.

"Its possible this force was dispatched from somewhere in Eurasia," said Kisaka, "but if so, then this is most likely a scout force of some kind. There's simply no way they wouldn't know about Talbadiya by now, so a force of this size doesn't make any sense otherwise. But…"

"Why are they behaving so aggressively, right?" said Murrue. Kisaka nodded.

"A scout force would've avoided an engagement, which suggests this is an active attack force of some variety," he said. "Therefore, it seems logical to assume this was launched by an individual ZAFT team, likely from a submarine carrier. And that means amphibious mobile suits."

"I agree," said Murrue. "Crewman Buskirk, be sure to keep an eye on the sonar. If we are attacked by submarine mobile suits, we'll want to takeoff immediately. Crewman Haw, what's the situation with the Skygraspers?"

"No damage so far, to the Skygraspers or the DINNs," said Mir. The captain gave a small nod of acknowledgment as she focused on the tactical display and the sight of weapons fire in the distance.

"Captain, I'm picking up four objects approaching on sonar," called Kuzzey. He paused a moment, listening closely and examining the data the computer was processing. "Based on their speed and size, they appear to be mobile suits!"

"You heard him Ensign Neumann!" said Murrue. "Get us off the water! Officer Romero, ready Valiants and ventral Igelstellungs!"

"Yes ma'am!"

As the Archangel began to take off, Mu caught one of the DINN's with his Skygrasper's beam cannon. Another DINN fired on the Skygraspers with its shotgun, forcing Flay to break away from Mu to evade.

The redhead sucked in a breath as she was forced away. The DINN that had forced them apart fired off a pair of missiles at her, while another on her right opened fire with its machinegun. Her breath hitched slightly as the missile warning alarm trilled.

"Flay!" came Lacus's voice over the comm. line.

Remember your training, Flay thought to herself, focusing her attention momentarily on the static-filled radar screen, just able to make out the missiles.

In a heartbeat, Flay cut thrust, deployed a flare, and jerked her fighter to the left, letting her craft descend towards the ocean. The missiles approached the flare and detonated harmlessly, while Flay let her Skygrasper's nose fall towards the ocean before pulling back, rapidly raising the nose, firing thrusters… and bringing the DINN firing its machinegun at her into her sights.

She didn't even wait for a proper lock before opening up with everything she had.

The beam cannon missed, by a few meters, but the heat wash still managed to set off ammunition in a spare magazine on the mobile suit's hip, causing it to explode and knocking the DINN out of the pilot's control. Bullets pummeled the fuselage, and while one missile went wide, Flay's second missile found the heat source and slammed into the DINN straight on, blowing the aerial mobile suit to smithereens.

"Hell yeah kid! Great shot!" shouted Mu as her flew directly above her, allowing Flay to put herself back on his wing.

"Thanks, but I think I got lucky," said Flay. She heard him chuckling slightly.

"Skygraspers, be advised, we have Valient 2 locked onto a DINN," said Mir.

"Roger that. Stick with me kid," said Mu, diverting their flight course to keep them clear of the fire.

The four GOOhNs broke the surface to open fire at long range with their rifle dart launchers, but by this stage the Archangel had ascended far enough into the air that they had no hope of hitting at that range.

Then, the Archangel's starboard Valiant let loose, the tungsten round ripping the air apart as it tore through the sky and left plasma trailing in its wake.

The jerky maneuvers of the DINN that had been targeted saved it from a direct hit—but in the atmosphere, that mattered little as the plasma washed over the DINN and set off all of its munitions, including the missiles still loaded in the chest-mounted launchers.

The purple mobile suit detonated in a huge fireball even as the Valiant round shot off towards the horizon and began to lose its incredible momentum.

In the last surviving DINN, Morassim gaped in disbelief.

Meanwhile, the Strike and Sakura, each armed with an Agni hyper impulse cannon, moved to the front of the catapults and opened fire on the ocean, driving the GOOhNs back below the surface.

With the GOOhNs momentarily driven off, those of the crew not belted in place all made sure to grab hold of something to keep them steady as the Archangel tilted to starboard and dove for the water. With the expertise that came from weeks of mastering the ship under heavy fire, Arnold leveled the ship off just above the surface.

Steam blasted from the water, partially obstructing the viewport as the starboard Valiant was dipped in the water, rapidly cooling the barrel after the heat build up from the atmospheric plasma wash that came with firing. After only a few seconds, Arnold pulled the ship back up out of the water, with the Valiant cooled and once again ready to fire.

Mu whistled in appreciation of the tactic.

The GOOhNs returned to the surface, nearly right below the Archangel less than a hundred meters above the water, opening fire with both their rifle darts and rocket-propelled torpedoes.

It was the last mistake the pilots would make—even as the Igelstellungs blew the torpedoes apart and Arnold pulled the ship up as fast as it could move, Pal swung both Valiants to point down into the water and let loose.

The water exploded, dousing the plasma wash and lapping at the Archangel. They were lucky enough to only get wet.

In the ocean, the GOOhNs were not so lucky—though their pressure armor was designed to withstand the ocean depths, the twin massive shockwaves at near point blank range in the water overwhelmed them, compromising the pressure armor and snapping the machines like twigs. The pressure wave spread out, killing what sea life hadn't fled from the mobile suits, while two of the GOOhNs, power plants damaged by the shockwave, exploded. Another GOOhN was torn to pieces, and the last, all control lost, began to sink to the bottom of the ocean, where increasing pressure on the compromised mobile suit soon crushed the cockpit like a tin can.

In the sky above, Morassim stared in horror at his IF/F, which indicated the loss of all his allies. Beams lanced out from the Skygraspers, and he turned away and started course back to the Etna.

"Captain Ramius, permission to pursue?" came Mu's voice.

"Negative," said Murrue. "While I'd like nothing more than to take out the submarine it came from, you won't be able to attack it if it doesn't surface to begin with."

"Captain."

Murrue looked at the display monitor, which now showed Kira's image alongside the image of the DINN, which had just broken the sound barrier.

"I'm not sure if it was ever covered in briefing, but the Sakura's flight pack is fully functional," he said. "I can join them in pursuit, and move under the surface to attack the carrier."

"The White Frame is flight-capable?" muttered Murrue in surprise. She'd thought the flight unit was identical to the Aile Striker and wouldn't be any more capable of sustained flight than that was. But then she shook her head—the Orb Astray unit had already proven the superiority of the Orb engineers to their Atlantic counterparts numerous times. She shouldn't be that surprised. "Very well then. La Flaga, Allster, pursue the retreating DINN. Ensign Yamato, equip yourself for undersea combat, then you have permission to launch and join the pursuit."

"Roger!"

"This will make things easier on us," said Kisaka, right before they saw the effects of twin sonic booms as the Skygraspers broke the sound barrier in pursuit. "If we can eliminate the carrier before it reports our location, ZAFT won't be able to be certain of our position. Suspicious, perhaps, but there is a significant difference. One that may be enough to keep the General off our tail."

"I certainly hope so," said Murrue. A moment later, just as the Skygraspers were starting to vanish over the horizon, the Sakura launched in pursuit, carrying a sword and hand-held torpedo launcher, accelerating at near full and soon leaving behind a third sonic boom.

"Hey, how are you doing kid?" asked Mu. Flay glanced at the other Skygrasper before turning her attention back forward.

"I'm alright," she said, though she knew he could hear her heavy breathing. "Well, I'm better than last time at least."

"That's good," said Mu. "We'll continue to practice flying once we're relatively certain there aren't ZAFT forces in the area. In the meantime, don't be too hard on yourself—you're doing very well for yourself. So chin up… partner."

Flay smiled at that.

"Thank you."

A moment later, the two caught back up to the DINN, which had ceased its retreat and turned back to attack them, letting loose almost immediately with a barrage of missiles.

"Break!"

The two broke in opposite directions, some number of missiles turning to pursue each of them. Flay took to higher altitude, while Mu went low, cutting his thrust slightly to let the missiles catch up to him.

Flay once again decoyed the missiles with her flares, dropping two this time as she pulled away and let her fighter fall into a dive straight towards the ocean. While most of the missiles detonated, two of them remained and her gut clenched—she was out of flares.

They were small, micro-missiles, unlikely to be able to destroy her Skygrasper outright—but they could still do enough damage to send her down in a crash landing.

Mu, meanwhile, pulled his Skygrasper out of its dive so low to the water that it began to part from the wind he was generating flying through the air, practically skimming the ocean. The missiles, limited to only heat-seeking guidance instead of more sophisticated guidance systems, reacted a little slower than him, but were so close that they impacted the water and detonated in a series of small explosions.

As the Hawk of Endymion pulled back into the sky, bullets descended on him from the DINN above.

Flay pulled her fighter into tight turns and twisting patterns, alternately firing and cutting her thrusters as she attempted to break the heat lock of the last two missiles. She succeeded in breaking one, but one persistent missile remained.

Then, bullets cut through the sky behind her and destroyed the missile as the Sakura arrived.

"Flay, are you okay?"

She smiled a bit, touched by the concern in his voice.

"Yes, thank you Kira," she said, turning her attention to the DINN currently pursuing Mu.

Well… maybe "pursuing" was the wrong word here—it was more like Mu was dancing around their final opponent, which she couldn't help but find impressive given she was pretty sure his experience before joining the Archangel was mostly limited to space combat.

Then he slowed down, the DINN slipping behind him to keep out of the line of fire, only a few dozens of meters between them. The DINN opened fire… only for the Hawk of Endymion to suddenly pull his fighter's nose upright, turning the Skygrasper's body into a giant airbrake. The DINN overshot in an instant, the pilot not reacting fast enough, and the Skygrasper's nose slammed back into position, now right at the DINN's back, Cobra maneuver complete.

Mu's beam cannon punched through the DINN like tissue paper, and the Hawk pulled up and away from the exploding mobile suit. Flay gaped in complete disbelief at the aerobatic display.

As this was going on, Kira dove into the water and spotted the submarine, mere tens of meters below the surface. He moved towards it, firing torpedoes as he did so.

The submarine responded by launching torpedoes of its own, but most of the launch tubes were aimed the wrong way, forcing the torpedoes to take long turns to try and close in on him.

As for the ones coming at him directly, Kira was able to twist away from these—the Sakura may not possess the underwater mobility that an amphibious suit would, but it was still enough to evade weapons designed to be fired on other submarines or surface vessels.

The torpedoes Kira launched nearly all connected with their target, underwater explosions chaining across the front hull as the torpedoes hit. The hull breached.

Then, the Sakura reached the submarine. Kira didn't even bother with his sword—the submarine was already doomed, but Kira hastened its death by simply crashing into the exposed innards, then used the sword to cut through the top hull and back out, while the submarine sank towards the bottom of the ocean.

The Sakura climbed to the surface and broke out of the waves, thrusters firing to push him out of the water. The trip into the sea had dulled their efficiency, and he was left hovering instead of flying, but that was enough.

"Good job kid," said Mu, flying overhead with Flay on his wing. "Come on, follow us. We'll keep you on course in case you got a little turned around down there."

"Sure thing," said Kira, smiling slightly at Mu's good humor, though the smile vanished as the water behind him shot skyward—the fatally damaged sub had finally exploded. "How many lives have I taken?"

"Kira…"

The Sakura's pilot jerked slightly, not realizing they'd heard him over the comm. line.

"Kid, that's a question every soldier asks himself at some point," said Mu. "What you have to remember is that you're doing your job, and they're doing theirs. It's unpleasant, it's easier to just hate them, but that's a trap. You might not always feel like it, but the fact that you feel guilty is a good thing—hold onto that feeling, because it keeps you human, but don't wallow in it. Because they knew they were risking their lives, just like you knew you were risking yours. They knew they were signing up to contribute to the taking of lives, same as you."

There was a momentary pause before he continued.

"War is hell, kid, and this is just one reason why. But the moment the soldier forgets that the enemy is human—the moment you see them as an animal—is the moment they stop being a soldier. It's the moment I stop respecting them. So, hold onto that feeling, but remember that what you're doing is protecting people you care about. The Archangel is safer for that sub being sunk."

"Yeah… thank you, Commander La Flaga."

As he spoke, they caught sight of the Archangel in the distance, moving to land back in the water.

After the pilots had all exited their machines, Flay had practically flopped onto a bench in the hangar before gratefully accepting a bottle of water from Lacus, which the redhead guzzled down in short order. Dog fighting and supersonic flight had a way of sapping a person's energy.

"Thank you Lacus," said Flay, smiling at the rosette. Lacus's return smile was a bit weak.

"To be honest, I didn't feel good letting you and Kira fly off into danger while I had to stay on the ship," she said.

"What am I, chopped liver?" asked Mu lightly as he walked over to them with Kira at his side. He smiled. "Don't feel too bad about it. We've all got our own parts to play. This just happened to be a scenario where the Strike wasn't really well-suited to the situation at hand."

"I realize that," said Lacus with a frown. "But it doesn't mean I have to like watching all of you leave me here."

"Sorry," said Kira. Lacus shook her head, stepping over to him and wrapping her arms around him, resting her head against his shoulder.

"Don't apologize for protecting us," she said softly. "Not ever."

Kira was focused solely on Lacus, so he didn't notice the flash of jealousy that passed through Flay's eyes as Lacus hugged him. Mu did though, and he frowned in concern.

All joking aside, he didn't like where this could potentially lead.

ZAFT Orbital Dock #208

"Goodbye," said Nicol, smiling slightly as he gave his parents a salute, though only his father was actually someone he had to salute.

"Be… be careful, Nicol," said his mother, Romina.

"Thanks," said Nicol, "I gotta go now." He knelt down slightly and picked up his suitcase, turning around and proceeding down the corridor.

Romina turned to face her husband.

"He'll be okay, right?" she asked softly. "Please say yes, even if it's a lie."

"Don't ask the impossible," said Yuri softly. "I wish I could have him transferred to Clyne's command. I think I could say yes then. But so long as he remains with Zala's attack dog…"

Romina squeezed a hand in front of her chest.

"Please don't say that," she said softly. He looked away, desperately wishing he could muster up the will to lie to her.

But he couldn't. He could lie to his boss, to his colleagues, to his subordinates, to his own son… but never to her.

A few minutes after Nicol departed, the two saw the Vesalius, finally repaired from its confrontation with the legged ship, light its engines and move gently out of dock, carrying their son away from them and towards a distance battlefield, somewhere on the Earth's surface.

Author's Notes: There you go. I wish I could've given all of you more for all the time you had to wait.

This chapter was a struggle, partially because it upended one of the longest standing parts of the story-the secrecy of Lacus's identity-and partially because I did a lot to stifle any real guiderails for myself. You can recognize scenes where I was exceptionally lazy by whether or not their identical to scenes from the corresponding episode. But enough of that!

Yes, I had Flay find out about Lacus. Truth is, a fair bit of last chapter was essentially setting up this moment. I also go ahead and hint at potential relationship trouble in the future with Flay starting to get jealous. Meanwhile, yes, I did suggest that Cagalli has developed a crush on Kira. Truth be told, that scene was added after most of the rest of the chapter was written, because I really wanted to give Cagalli more than just the brief scene where she makes a pest of herself. It was also useful as a way to give and show a bit of character development for her. I want to give her as much as I can, for reasons I hope will become clear sooner rather than later.

I also had a bit of fun with Morassim getting his whole team slaughtered in a single encounter. Its quite clear that no one who worked on the show had even a high school level grasp of physics, because those cannons they slapped on the Archangel's sides? They terrify me. I realized long before I even finished the previous chapter that the Valiants were going to absolutely wreck the GOOhNs. That conveniently allowed me to put more focus on Flay in her second sortie. I did have a lot of fun with Flay in this chapter. Funny thing is, I'd planned to have Flay ask Mu about his ability to perform a Cobra maneuver, but it was a bit too disruptive to the way the scene played out, and as I was writing it, I realized that both Lacus and Flay were defying my expectations again. They do that sometimes.

Next chapter should be interesting, with no combat whatsoever, but probably a fair bit of dialogue and exposition. Hopefully it comes out quickly and you can tell me what you think.

In the meantime, please review! *puts on blindfold* And I am ready for the firing squad for the long wait.