Sirens? Why? Isaiah strode calmly down the hall, grabbing a young man by the shoulder as he sped past. “Would you care to inform me of the current circumstances?” His eyes flashed dangerously, and the subordinate swallowed hard.

“Sir, Serenity has escaped from the hangar.” He really didn’t want to be the one to reveal the rest of the story to the general, someone was going to die for this, and he’d really rather it weren’t him.

“Is that it?” Isaiah asked icily.

“N-no, sir. It seems someone infiltrated the base, and escaped with her.” The man trembled slightly under his general’s withering gaze.

“Who was it, and why?”

“We’ve been going over the footage, and... Well, it was someone that looked like you, sir.” He yelped in pain as Isaiah’s hand crushed his shoulder.

“Where’s Silvia?!” Isaiah shouted angrily.

“She was taken, sir!” the subordinate gasped out as Isaiah released his shattered shoulder. He fell to the floor, clutching his limp arm.

“Yzak,” Isaiah growled, tearing down the hallway. “Launch the three immediately!” He screamed into his radio, they were his only hope now. He needed that child.

---

Yzak watched Annora closely as she piloted the mobile suit to the coordinates he’d given her. He’d never actually watched her pilot before, and he found it rather interesting to observe. She seemed to concentrate on everything at once, as opposed to what Yzak did, which was generally just focusing on just what was going on outside. Power levels, ammo, the various interfaces, he never paid attention to that crap. He smiled, she really was a prodigy. Even with her memory so damaged, she could still pilot Serenity as if it were second nature.

The small form in his arms shifted slightly, bringing his attention to the small child he held. His daughter, she was breath-taking. She had her mother’s milky skin and brilliant emerald eyes, but she had his hair, his face. This beautiful child, he could hardly believe that she was his. Not long ago he’d believed his life was over, but to hold her in his arms now... He felt as though everything was going to be alright, his future was secure once more. He smiled down at his daughter, who smiled back at him and touched his face with her chubby hand.

“Daddy,” she gurgled happily, and Yzak’s eyes filled with tears. It was at that moment that he fully understood what it meant to be a father, and he felt a twinge of sadness for his own father who never had the opportunity to hold his child. He would remember this moment for the rest of his life, he was sure of it. What would his mother think of his daughter? He smiled at the thought of Ezaria’s face when he showed up with his fiancée and daughter.

“Shit,” Annora cursed under her breath.

“What? What is it?” Yzak asked immediately.

“Isaiah’s sent them out after us,” she replied, her eyes moving everywhere at once. “See? They’re still a ways off, but they’ll catch up. Their mobile suits are ridiculously fast. Argh, we’re fucked if they catch up to us. If you have some kind of plan, now’s the time to let me in on it, mister.”

“God damnit, alright, hold on.” Yzak stood as high as he could, his free hand punching at the buttons on the radio. “Zala, come in. This is Commander Jule, requesting immediate back-up.” He repeated this several times on different frequencies, his heart sinking with each second that passed.

“They’re right on our heels, fuck! Hold on to that kid and brace yourself, it could be a bumpy ride.” The thrusters on Serenity kicked into full gear, throwing Yzak against the back of the cockpit as the unit shot forward at top speed. The three units in pursuit opened fire, and Annora engaged evasive manoeuvres, weaving and spinning this way and that. “We’re lucky, it seems they’re not aiming to kill us, we might have a chance of escaping yet,” Annora called out over her shoulder.

“Yeah, lucky,” Yzak muttered as the radio crackled.

“Yzak?” It was Kira’s voice.

“Oh Jesus, Yamato, I never thought I’d be so happy to hear your voice. We need help badly, three units are chasing us, and Annora’s barely managing to dodge their fire. I need all three of you to launch right now, that’s an order!”

“Hai! Kira Yamato out.”

Yzak slid to the floor, relief sweeping over him. If Annora could keep it up for a few more minutes, they’d be saved. As much as he hated to have to rely on Athrun, Kira, and Shinn, he was certainly glad that he’d told them to sit in their units on standby. No one was a match for those three, Isaiah’s “three” were probably just sad genetic experiments, anyway.

---

“Kei, back it down a notch will you?” Taka suggested over the comm.

“I can’t, if they get away...” Isaiah’s going to revoke our rights, or worse. Kei sighed. “Try to aim for non-vital points, we can’t risk hurting the baby, but we can’t risk losing sight of them either.”

“Damn, three enemy suits incoming, 1500 meters and closing,” Ayumi’s voice interrupted.

“Hold on... Oh crap, it’s them. Justice, Freedom, Destiny. What do we do, Kei? Fall back?” Taka asked anxiously.

“No, we do what we were trained to do. This is the fight we’ve been waiting for. Forget our quarry for now, get into formation and be ready for the battle of our lives.” Kei gripped his controls in anticipation.

---

Sorry guys, the next chapter will be the final one, and will most definitely be a long one. Been super super busy the past year, lots of horrible stuff happening in the family and what have you. Things are finally settling down, so I’ll attempt to finish up all of my ongoing fanfics, as well as publish my new one based on Mass Effect, so look forward to the end of this, and that new one as well. I hope 2007 has treated you all far better than it has me.