Gundam SEED Fan Fiction / Vandread Fan Fiction ❯ GunDread SEED- The Second Stage ❯ Part 1 - Plans and Preparations ( Chapter 11 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

The Nirvana and the Harvesters begin making plans for their next encounter. The crew take some down time and more antics get underway.

Just what is going on with the female crew all of a sudden?

And what new horrors are the Harvesters and their techs going to cook up THIS time?

Anime/Manga: Gundam SEED Fan Fiction / Vandread Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Comedy / Action | Type: Crossover | Uploaded On: 05.10.2006 | Updated On: 05.30.2006 | Pages: 34 | Words: 41.4K | Visits: 991 | Status: Completed

GunDread SEED The Second Stage

Chapter 6

Part 1

Plans and Preparations

Disclaimer: I once more state that I have no legal ownership of VanDread or Gundam SEED. That means that I am not to be held liable by anybody claiming ownership of said shows.

*************

The Nirvana was busy cruising in space, and for the first time since the planet incident not nearly a week ago, the crew was not being attacked by their enemies, the Harvesters and that meant some serious down time for the crew of the pirate vessel. And a load of people were taking great advantage of that. But for some, there was time for a good conversation.

*************

In one of the rest rooms…

“It's nice to take a break from the fighting. By the way, do you think the Commander's all right?” Sara Elsman asked Mai Miazaki as the two were busy taking a refresher from their daily work schedules.

The brown haired girl shook her head sadly. “Nope I don't think he's completely forgotten it. He's still working at the Register and with his Gundam, but for now he's still not being easy around the rest of us.”

Sara nodded. “Yeah, I guess so. But it was…rather interesting, don't you think so?”

Both girls blushed a bit as they thought back about that incident not a few days ago. Sara then thought about some other details and decided to ask. “Have you heard about some strange things happening in the Medical Bay?”

Mai shook her head and that was when she decided to ask.

*************

In the Medical Bay…

Duero and Max gazed at the computer monitor in the medical facility. Paiway was taking a break in the cafeteria leaving the two siblings to complete the process of their experiments. Both men were in a state of utter resignation as the data proved that the theory was very much completely accurate, and when they completed the next step of their test earlier with the data they were able to get from the old colony ship's archives, they knew that there was no escaping the truth now.

The elder sibling then took out the container that had Kyo's seed sample and quickly placed the disposable container in the slot for the incinerator. The last of Kyo's seed sample was used up and frankly, Duero was happy for it since it had caused some considerable risks.

He didn't hold it against Parfet when he found the bug Jura had placed on the console of the Medical Bay not a month ago. Ever since then, several girls, including the blonde Dread pilot in question had been trying to take the sample by sneaking into the Medical Bay. He and Max had caught them in the act on more than one occasion, and knew what they were after, even if they denied it.

Max and his brother made one final test and when the data went positive once more they knew that it was time to inform the captain about this fact. When they were nearly finished with the compilation, Duero and Max heard the door open and spotted Barnette Orangello walk into the room. The green haired girl greeted the two men and Duero decided to go and take a break in the Bio-Park, he told Max to meet up with him soon and present their combined research to the Captain.

Barnette walked over to Max and had a tinge of pink as she gazed at the younger McFile sibling. She then decided to get back to what she wanted to do before her embarrassment overwhelmed her and walked towards the younger man.

“Hi.”

Max smiled at the Dread pilot and responded. “Hello Barnette, are you all right? You seem to have an injury of some sort.”

“Yeah…I got this small bruise on my arm getting out of bed this morning…and uh…” The girl said as she stood in front of the younger medic.

Max offered a seat to Barnette. “No need to worry, I'll take a look…” He then professionally looked the injury over. “Hmm…it's not too much of an injury. I'll just give you some ointment and it will fade in a few hours.” He then got to his feet and took an ointment bottle out of the nearby locker and when he returned to his patient, he poured a small portion of ointment on his hands and on the area where Barnette's bruise was, once the application was done, he began to massage the bruise, with just the right amount of force to allow the congealed blood to flow and the muscles to loosen, without causing pain to flow.

Barnette's cheeks had a deeper pink tinge and her heart beat a bit faster as she felt the warmth of Max's hands on her skin. Granted the young man's hands were rougher than hers, but he was so gentle in his ministrations that she didn't notice the difference. The way he moved his hands and the warmth he had mixed with hers, making her feel very relaxed as she gazed at the young medic.

“You know something Barnette…hello, Barnette are you all right?” Max asked his patient when he noted that Barnette was staring at him with considerable focus and she didn't hear him. And he could see that she seemed to have some color on her face, similar to the time back on the planet.

“Huh? Oh! I'm sorry!” Barnette immediately realized that she was staring liberally at Max and quickly shook herself mentally while trying not to embarrass herself. “You were saying something?”

“I was saying that this is the fourth time this week you've gone to the Medical Bay for minor injuries. Yesterday you came with a minor cut, the day before that, you had a small burn in the kitchen from cooking, and the first day…well, you get the picture. You know, if I didn't know any better, I'd start thinking you were getting this injuries on purpose.”

Barnette merely scratched the back of her head. “Now why do you think I'd do something that silly?” She replied with a laugh and a sheepish expression. She then gazed as max went back to his ministrations, she took in the way his face looked. He had tanned skin, she noted that before on the desert world, but under the lights of the Nirvana's lighting, his face had an almost exotic tan, like light copper. She could see that he had very well formed muscle structure, not very hardened, but smooth and strong. She then looked at his eyes, and took in the wonderful shade of amber in them.

“What's wrong? Do I have something on my face?”

“No…you just look…very, what's that word…handsome.”

“A compliment, thanks.” Max said with a smile as he finished his actions. “Now I recommend that you try not to move too much when sleeping. What kind of dream did you have to make you do that…was it an intense dream?”

Barnette gave an embarrassed look as she nodded. “It was intense, but it wasn't a nightmare. I need to get back to work, Meia's supposed to have a training session for the Dread pilots on new tactics to beat the Harvesters next time we meet them.” She then stood up and made her way to the exit of the medical facility.

Max nodded as he escorted Barnette out of the Medical Bay. “Maybe I can find out why you had that dream. I'm not saying I can be a dream specialist, but if I know what made you have that dream, then maybe I can help you avoid getting too many injuries early in the morning.”

The two then parted ways as Barnette headed of in one direct, while Max went back to the medical bay to end his shift and meet up with his brother later, all he had to do was compile his own work.

Barnette looked back at his retreating form and then she blushed deeply as she gazed at Max's retreating form as certain images made their way back into her head.

“I wonder what would you say if my dream was about you Max?” Barnette asked herself quietly as she thought about her dream…and began to blush even harder.

*************

“This is the first time I've seen you have your hair down Parfet.”

Chief turned and faced her superior in the Engineering Bay of the pirate vessel. The head engineer was still in her normal engineer's garb, but the second in command of the engineers noted a considerable amount of changes in the spunky engineer.

“What do you think? Do I look okay?” Parfet asked as she released her hair from her normal braids. (How they remain the same shape and size, I'll never know.) She then combed her hair with her fingers a bit and allowed the normally curled strands to loosen.

“You look fine, but are you sure you want to go around without your glasses on?” The second in command under Parfet Balblair asked as she pointed to the pair of spectacles the head engineer had placed on the table. Like all the girls under her, the head engineer had some difficulty without her glasses when it came to moving and looking at certain things.

“It's all right, I won't be needing them where I'm going. I'm just going for a physical check-up, nothing major.” Parfet said as she walked away from her fellow Engineer and…

Smack!

Bumped nose first on the wall near the door!

“Ouch! Hehe.” Parfet rubbed her nose carefully and gave a sheepish look to Chief and opened the door. This naturally left the young woman with a confused expression on her face and the rather large sweat-drop on the back of her head.

Later…

“Oh…I wish I still had my glasses!” Parfet said as she tried to make her way to the Medical Bay to see a certain Talark medic, who was no doubt getting ready to leave the medical center of the Nirvana. The head engineer wished she at least had her glasses since she had found herself lost in the paths in the Bio-Park.

<Darn! If I don't hurry I'll miss Duero by another hour!> Parfet reproached herself as she tried once more to get out of the park. But she had lost her way and before she knew it she took to a brisk walk so she could find a way out.

It didn't take long however for Parfet to collide with someone.

“Ahhh!” Parfet yelped in surprise but then found herself being held by the person in front of her. Since she closed her eyes for a moment she had no idea who was in front of her.

“I'm sorry, I just need to find the Medical Bay and…”

“Parfet, are you all right? What are you doing without your glasses?”

Parfet stiffened as she reached out and held her rescuer, since she realized who she happened to be holding. She opened her eyes and found herself staring at a broad chest…a man's muscular chest. And she had no trouble recognizing the voice.

“Duero?”

“Yes, it's me.” The Talark youth answered as he gazed down at the petite engineer. He was curious why Parfet was without her glasses, as he always saw her wearing them on almost every occasion they met. He then noticed that Parfet's hair was not in her normal braids, his confession to Kyo already showed that to him she looked fine with those thick braids, but for some reason beyond him, there was a certain urge in him saying that he should try and feel the chocolate brown tresses through his fingers. He put that idea aside as he still wasn't totally sure about the whole idea of physical attraction existing between him and his long time female friend.

Parfet's eyesight was only bad at long distances, meaning she was near sighted, so she naturally had no trouble seeing at close range. She could smell Duero already, back then in the past she didn't notice anything about Duero, but ever since that mission on the trap planet they were stuck in, she felt this need to know all the details about the head physician of the Nirvana. His scent was different, it wasn't like the perfume she knew existed and used frequently on her world, nor did it smell bad, it was just…him, and for reasons she didn't know, she liked Duero's scent. She then decided to look at him.

The doctor noted that the head engineer was going to look at him so he moved back a bit to give her some space. The head engineer looked at him and he looked at her.

Parfet noted that like his hair, Duero's eye, the only one not covered by his bangs, was deep onyx black. She felt like staring at it since it reminded her of a pure midnight in Megele, a very beautiful and serene midnight black. She also noted that Duero had taken off his normal trench-coat that he had with him on almost all of his duties, except for the time he slapped on a pilot's uniform and helmet when he piloted his Morpheous Gundam, this allowed her to see the broad shoulders and his neck. The body parts in question were covered with tanned skin and had a deep sense of power. She also felt the warmth he was radiating through his clothes, and the heat from his harder male form was starting to affect her as more heat rushed up her face until she thought her cheeks would ignite. It didn't help matters as she began to recall a certain event that happened a few days ago.

Duero noted that without her glasses on, Parfet had deep violet colored eyes. Since she had never taken off her glasses until now, he didn't know that violet was her eye color. Her eyes reminded him of some deep colored rock crystals he had seen his brother fashion as a jewel when they were still kids back on their desert planet. Since she didn't have anything to hide her face, Duero noted that she looked very nice with smooth light cream skin and in his opinion, didn't have anything to detract her features. He then noted that Parfet had once more unzipped her jumpsuit and had the sleeves tied around her waist. This allowed him to see the upper form of the brown haired girl, which was still clothed in her tank top. He noted that despite the fact that Parfet wasn't as…well formed as the other girls in the chest she was… Duero mentally slapped himself as to avoid staring at her a bit longer than needed.

Parfet then decided to break the embrace despite a voice in her head telling her not to.

“Sorry for bumping into you Duero, I guess I should have brought my glasses with me when I went out to talk to you and have my physical.”

Duero nodded. “You should not forget them when you are out of the Engineering Bay.” He then had this voice in his head, telling him that Parfet looked a load better without the large glasses blocking her eyes, it made her look more…Duero immediately took on the persona of his medical side and decided to ask a question.

“You know, with corrective laser surgery, you could have your eyes restored to normal 20/20 vision Parfet.”

Parfet smiled, while squinting to see Duero better. “I know, but I've been wearing the glasses for so long, they are a part of me now and I couldn't bear the though of losing them someplace.”

“Hmm…then I suggest you get some contact lenses, men on my world who can't afford or not wish to undergo eye treatment or have glasses made for them, have contacts specifically made for them.”

“Maybe, but I don't have the money to have that made, and we're not near Megele for me to pay for them anyway.”

“Don't worry about that, I'm sure there may be some there in the Medical Bay, and if there isn't any then I can have some made for you.”

Parfet blushed at the thought of Duero actually making something for her, sure there was the painting during Christmas time, the same one she loved looking at while hiding it from her fellow engineers, but something that personal was a different matter.

“Is that okay with you? I mean you're very busy taking care of others and not just me you know?”

“Not a problem, you're a valued part of the crew and to be honest one of the people I highly respect on this ship. If you did lose your glasses, then at least you have something to help you once you get a replacement. (And before he could contain his mouth) And you have a very interesting shade of violet in your eyes, so I think you should show it more often.”

“You mean it?” Parfet felt her heart stop for a moment and beat rapidly as she gazed at Duero.

Duero knew that he admitted the truth and decided to complete his words. “Yes, I happen to like that shade of color you have, I hope I didn't say something to upset you.”

“No! It's not upsetting…It's just that nobody on my world or even here comments on the color of my eyes when I take my glasses off, thank you Duero.” She then decided to ask something she normally wouldn't have asked him under most circumstances, but it seemed that now was a good time as any. “Duero… Can I see your face?”

Duero was somewhat confused at that statement. “What do you mean? You've seen my face already for a very long time.”

“Not that way…I mean, can you move that bang of hair of yours aside so I can see what you look like without it?”

Duero thought about it and nodded, since he was considered to be of average appearance on his home-planet he guessed there would be no harm in him revealing the rest of his face. But as he reached with his right hand to move the bang away…

“No, can I do it?” Parfet asked timidly and when Duero nodded his consent she reached out with her own right hand and pushed the bang of Duero's black hair aside. Once she did so, she felt a rising amount of heat hit her full in the face and her eyes widened.

Duero's face was well formed, smooth tanned skin, and had a quality that screamed attractive to Parfet, though the thought of any man being attractive to a woman of Megele was unheard of. Parfet realized that it was a lie, Duero was very much a beautiful specimen of a man as his face was perfectly formed. No flaws in the nose, his lips seemed to attract her gaze along with the strong lines and features of his face, but it was the fact that both of his eyes were now exposed to her that made her gaze at him. They were like beautiful stones of midnight-black that beckoned anybody gaze at them, and Parfet realized she was doing that VERY shamelessly. She wanted to stop but all that she could do for them moment was gaze at Duero, and when she was done…all she said was…

“Beautiful…”

“Are you satisfied with your look Parfet?” Duero asked as a formality since he already knew from the way Parfet looked at him she enjoyed it. And for some reason, he felt…proud of it.

Parfet merely nodded silently, while trying not to blush to the point that she would collapse out of utter embarrassment.

The two then went back to the direction of the Medical Bay to complete Parfet's daily physical check-up. All the while the brown haired girl was blushing deeply as she began to have…rather…indecent images involving herself and the man beside her

*************

Later…

As Duero and Max made their way to the bridge to request an audience with the Captain, they were being greeted by stares from various members of the female crew, it didn't matter what section of the ship the girls worked in, they were still being greeted by stares that somewhat unnerved them. It was then that they ran into another one of the few men on the Nirvana.

“Hey Gunny, how are you doing?” Duero asked their senior in combat school. The older man gave them a wave and then walked up to them with a look of confusion, slight confusion.

“I'm fine…minus the fact that I've been stared at by the girls for the past few hours. You have any idea what's going on?” The older man asked his former students.

“Not a clue Gunny, maybe we can ask them once we get the chance.” Max replied as he checked the data disk he had in his hand.

Bart then called from behind them with a wave. “Hey guys! You all having a meeting of the minds or what?”

“Not really, by the way Bart, shouldn't you be in the navigation well on a practice run or something?” Aleck asked the bald navigator as he normally would be working in the bridge for a practice run in order to master the full functions of the Nirvana.

“Not right now, the Captain said I need a break anyway since I've been in the well for the past three hours since this morning.” Bart said as he cracked his knuckles and allowed the stiffness in his neck to be loosened. He had taken only a light meal and decided to get some practice, he had always been lucky or rescued when he first took on being the Navigator, but after all he had gone through, it as time to shape up and get serious. Lives were at stake and he wasn't a kid anymore, the loss of Shirley taught him that, despite this change of outlook, Bart still remained himself, though in this case, more serious and focused when it came to his duties as the Nirvana's pilot and the main gun operator.

“Is the Captain still there?”

“Yeah, she's there with the commander talking about some important matters, you guys want I can call her with the communicator?”

Duero and Max thought about it for a moment and decided to allow the navigator to call the Captain. It didn't take long for the navigator to call Magno and Magno wasn't all that happy.

“What is it this time Bart? We're rather busy right now.” And that was true as Magno and BC were deep in discussion

“Sorry to disturb you Captain, but Duero and Max have something to show you.”

“All right, tell them to go to the Conference Room, Buzam and I will be waiting for them.”

Duero and Max thanked Bart and Aleck as they made their way to where they would meet up with the Captain. Aleck however noted that there was something serious in the air surrounding the two young men who were his former students. Aleck was older than the other men (minus the fact that Kyo was older by at least four centuries) and had a great deal of instinct when it came to what others had in their minds. Something bothered his former students and this made him very uneasy, however he knew that the McFile siblings were among the best students in the Academy and could handle things when they wanted to. He sighed and decided to grab Bart by the neck and drag him away.

“Ouch! Gunny! For Grand Pa's sake don't grab me like that! And where are you going anyway?!” Bart yelped as he tried to loosen Aleck's grip on his neck while the two were walking.

Aleck loosened his grip a bit but held Bart nevertheless. “I'm heading off for a cup of coffee and a game of cards with Gascogne after break-fast, you coming?”

Bart sighed and nodded, it's not like there was much else to do today, but he perked up as another idea came to mind, but this had nothing to do with him cross-dressing one time all those months ago. He had an idea on how to improve the food pills and that meant a side trip to the kitchen and getting some ideas of food preparation…and since he had little else to do…

“Why not?”

*************

In the Conference Room…

“What is it you wish to discuss with us today Duero? It sounds very important, even more so with both you and your brother here.” Magno asked as she and Buzam faced the two McFile siblings who were carrying a bag of some sort.

“Yes Captain, it has something to do with the current methods of reproduction both our planets have. We've already uncovered much information that has some considerable ramifications for that process.”

Duero then began the explanation by loading in a video disk into the insertion slot. In moments, the viewing monitors showed what the women easily recognized as the facility they used on Megele to store the eggs of the female couples who intended to start families, namely the eggs of the woman who planned to be the ohma.

“The process of Megele women on procreation involves the process of splicing the genes of both consenting parents in a vat that replicates the womb of the woman who will be the bearer of the child. The ohma's egg is filled with the genes from the fahma to complete the genetic material exchange and once the egg shows signs of the fertilization and growth process, the now fertilized egg is them surgically injected into the fahma's womb and is allowed to complete the growth and maturation process and in the period of nine months, the baby is born naturally…as far as the female birthing process is concerned.”

The group watched the video from the splicing process and finally to the impregnation and birth. Magno then looked at both men and wondered why they would bring up something she had been familiar with when Megele was founded.

“I am impressed by the way you understood Megele's birthing process, but what does this have to do with what ramifications you both mentioned?”

“Allow us to finish Captain. We'll explain everything once this last part is over.” Max said as he inserted the next data disk, and this one revealed what appeared to be a massive cloning vat/factory, but the captain didn't recognize the design of the place, but she did notice that there were only men who manned the facility.

“On our world of Talark the process is different, but with some similarities. Since men don't have any natural ways of giving birth to our next generation, we rely on more mechanical methods. In this case we use a special birth matrix vat to store the seeds of two consenting male parents, and when they are spliced, the vat is manipulated to ensure that the fetus is able to be born in human form. And after nine months of gestation and controlled growth, the child is released from the vat and is raised by the two fathers.”

Magno shivered at the thought of being born like a machine, being assembled with no warmth of a mother's touch around her as a child as she watched the video depicting the process. But for reasons unknown BC didn't seem all that disturbed by the images she was seeing.

“For all intents and purposes, though the women are more anatomically suited to have children than men, both our worlds' birthing methods have the same key principles to act as the operational foundation.” Duero said as the video ended.

“That very informative, but what does this have anything to do with what ramifications you mentioned?” Buzam asked, with a slight hint of impatience.

Duero and Max were silent for a moment as they realized that what they would say would be a real shocker. The elder brother took his younger brother's prolonged silence as a sign that he should take over with the explanations.

“Captain, Commander, we've done some intense research on a theory I came up with not a few months ago concerning the process of artificial child-birth, namely that of our two worlds…and we've uncovered that if our worlds continue the methods of procreation we have shown you both, then the populations on both worlds will face the same situation that nearly ended the Coordinators.”

The two women were stuck silent by that and looked at each other gravely, and also watched the two men who had the same grave looks in their faces. Then the elder woman leaned forward.

“Can you explain further?”

Duero nodded as he brought out another video record. The images in the new disk were different and showed a set of genetics research notes, all of which concerned the human genome.

“During the time of Earth, our ancestors had given birth to children naturally, namely when the introduction of the Cosmic Era calendar. Therefore meaning…procreation between men and women being the only way to propagate future generations. This was before the founding of advanced genetic enhancement from conception by George Glenn, the man who was considered to be the first genetically engineered and enhanced human. He founded the ideas which we all now as the way to have methods to re-engineer the human genome at birth by scientific means namely when the child is still in the embryonic stages of development, with it being reintroduced back to the womb to be grown into full term. The methods he founded however proved to have incited violence and hatred, which as you recall from the video record from Misty Cornwell's escape pod led to the separation of the human race into two genetic types.”

“Coordinators on one side of the spectrum, they were those who were born through the methods outlined by George Glenn before he was killed by an assassin. And Naturals on the other, they were those who rejected the birthing methods of Coordinators and gave birth to children naturally. This, plus political and economic reasons resulted in the war that started from the attack on the Junius 7 PLANT colony.”

Max then took over as he moved the images to what appeared to be still data notes on the human genome and designs for what appeared to be a birth matrix.

“What we didn't hear was that giving birth to Coordinators at the time was not in the least bit pleasant. Many rich and influential families at first covertly had children born as Coordinators as there was a world-wide ban on having children born as Coordinators. But when the ban was repealed, many families went and had appointments of have their children born as Coordinators. However, due to some of Glenn's notes being destroyed by those who hated genetically enhanced human beings, the process was flawed, as many children who were subjected to the process suffered genetic and physical defects since the results at birth did not match up to when the genes were tampered with, plus the mother's womb was unable to support the genetic modifications, and many families would not be able to have children as miscarriages were common. This was the greatest problem faced at the time by those who wished to have children who were genetically enhanced.”

“The solution came from a man named Dr. Ulen Hibiki. Both of us tried to unlock what other data we could but some of it was sealed by a high security system. But from what we learned, he was able to perfect a device that could replicate the environment of a woman's womb without the `wildcard' factors that plagued those who wished to have Coordinator children. Ulen's research pointed out that since there were certain random genetic instances in the womb of a mother which caused mistakes to manifest in the newly modified genome structure of the child leading to the inability to handle the growth and acceptance of the newly modified genome, then the child would not survive birth, and even if the child did survive, then that child would have severe mental, emotional, and physical defects.”

The images then showed the man in question as he worked on several design specs in a wall monitor.

“Dr. Ulen then decided to create the artificial womb which would allow a child to be born, but cut away the danger of random genetic damage/mix-up that would be involved if the child was born naturally. It was said that Ulen's work on this process was the most hated by the radicals of the terrorist group Blue Cosmos at the time, and therefore years later, when he completed and perfected the process, he and his wife were killed, there was no other data since that too was sealed away. What is known is that the colony where he worked as attacked by a biological weapon, and many important records were lost or stolen. But those who were able to salvage most of his notes were able to create the artificial womb and this allowed Coordinators to be born without serious to critical physical and mental defects. The result of the artificial wombs being used for giving birth to children were children who were very much more efficient than those who were born normally.”

Duero nodded as he showed images of children who performed better than others in many aspects.

“These children would be able to learn anything at a much faster pace, have increased immunity to certain viruses and nearly all diseases, plus would be physically stronger and faster than normal children, and would be more flexible on many fronts of human actions and culture. Sadly they were treated like freaks at the time, until the end of the war and the eventual peace treaties and actions made by both sides.”

“Go on.” Both women said as they listened more intently.

“At the time, a fatal mistake on the birthing process of Coordinator generations was founded. It turned out that future generations of Coordinator children ran the risk of sterility. This was due to the fact that their genes, namely for distribution of inherent genes was the first to be tampered with since parents could now dictate every aspect of their child, from height, eye color, and the like. Despite this flexibility the genes of Coordinator children were altered and were not allowed to be able to combine with the other set of genes from the respective parents naturally, even more so with the use of the artificial womb and lack of natural gene input as that of Natural born children. That fact was discovered by scientists on the PLANTS when they ran tests on the third generation for continued genetic viability. The scientists rushed to find a cure to counter the threat of sterility and the following genetic and physiological damage that would be the results…but were only able to do so with the end of the war between the PLANTS and Earth.”

Max then took over as the images changed to a large room where both the symbol of Z.A.F.T and that of the Earth Alliance were seen side by side, and members of both factions were signing on a peace treaty.

“Scientists from both Z.A.F.T and the Nations of Earth were able to isolate and create a genetic cure that brought that genetic instability to normal, but this meant that they could not use the method of the artificial womb too much fear of re-upsetting the genetic pool of their group. In this time however, there were recorded couples who were either Natural or Coordinator, such unions were at first reviled by those who still believed in the fact that either side were the enemy. But when their children were born an amazing discovery was made, the cure had somehow done more than allow the stability of the genome to improve, but it allowed Coordinators to be born in the natural way without the major risk of genetic, mental and physiological damage to the child, and the child is still able to have succeeding generations. Many still resented these unions, but in the coming years, the children who were born of Coordinator and Natural parentage, exhibited the traits of both gene groups.”

“These children had the same abilities of Coordinators, but when they would have their own children, there were no dangerous complications. These children and the succeeding generations that followed helped seal the gap and in time, both terms of Coordinator and Natural were discarded, and the human race became one unified whole. This happened for the past three hundred years all the way to Colonization Era…and to this point in time when our two planets were founded.”

Duero then ran a data disk that revealed an image of the human genome. And began to high-light several important points with a laser pointer. Along with those images were the images of the two birthing methods on both Megele and Talark.

“When the two parts of the Ikazuchi were separated, and the seven founders of our respective planets arrived on the worlds we descended from, they knew that they could not have children in the normal fashion due to their decision to separate from each other. So the only option they all had was to use their own genetic material to ensure that they would have future generations. Thus they used the method that Coordinators used to have children in the time of war and the separation of the Coordinators from Earth's population.”

“The artificial womb…” Magno said silently as she digested the information. BC was still silent as she listened in.

“The condition that plagued Coordinators and their generations is known as gene shifting as on occasion, genes have a rare tendency to move away from the assigned gene blocks they are supposed to bond with, it also exists in natural child birth but is counter-balanced by the random gene variables and the natural gene input process of the human female's womb. But with the artificial womb and the manipulation of genes by artificial methods the danger of the genes being misplaced by being tampered with increases dramatically. The gene code blocks that form the basic foundation of the genome are either scattered or merge with the incorrect gene code blocks, and this can result in mutations and mistakes in the child's code since the gene blocks are supposed to follow a pattern similar to that of the gene block formation of the child's parents. The changes were subtle and were considered merely minor mishaps when the process was used, and were naturally discarded. But the damage began to manifest into growing instances of sterility and genetic instability. The plans for the creation of the artificial womb still were kept and also there were records of it in the Ikazuchi as mementos of the past.”

“The men of Talark used the complete process of the artificial womb while the women of your planet used their natural wombs to give birth, but the process and procedures of genetic manipulation and control in the creation of Coordinator children served as the fundamental foundation of our planets' individual procreation process. And like the saying goes… `Mistakes have a way to come back and haunt you.' ”

The screen then showed the DNA profile of the gentle bridge officer, including the facts surrounding Ezra's family tree and their own DNA profiles. Next to Ezra's DNA model was that of her daughter, Lacus. In certain parts were the DNA structure was colored along with that of Lacus's own DNA profile.

“I'd like to show you that the damage is underway because of the use of the methods we all are using, as you can see, there are high-lighted sections of Ezra's DNA profile, these indicate the traits that she can share with her children. Normally the DNA profile has considerable similarities in sequence between parent and child due to inheritance, but as you can see there are now differences in Lacus's DNA sequence pattern.”

“Lacus has a different DNA sequence pattern than her mother's” Buzam noted as she and Magno gazed at the two DNA patterns. Important marker acids from Lacus's DNA model were not in place where they should be and contrasted with Ezra's.

“Yes, normally the gene codes should be the same since Lacus inherited them from her mother, but they are not. Ezra's own DNA profile doesn't match the normal DNA profiles of her own fahma and ohma and their own DNA profiles don't match those of their own parents effectively. The damage however is already building and the process of birthing in Megele is just adding more fuel to the fire.”

Max then took over as Ezra and Lacus's DNA pattern took center stage and charts began to show lines that were marked with Ezra and Lacus's name and their respective DNA profile.

“We're not saying that she can't children nor can Lacus have any children of her own when she matures, the damage hasn't gotten to that point, but the damage is still there, as time will progress, Lacus's DNA and that of Ezra will be harder to replicate and use as a foundation to have new children, in time however that will change in which greater genetic and physical defects will become present in the succeeding generations as it becomes more saturated due to overuse, instability, and lack of natural manipulation, the damage will continue until…the DNA becomes totally unstable.”

The DNA profile then broke down and all of the gene blocks that formed the DNA strand shattered, making the women in the room silent as they began to grasp the ramifications.

“I think we made out point. When I began this research I thought it would not be validated, but the data is conclusive and accurate. I'm sorry but the damage is already spreading.” Duero said as he and his brother waited for Buzam and Magno to respond.

“But this is only Ezra's family line. Surely the others don't have such damage.” Buzam objected as she looked at the monitor that had the image of the shattered DNA strand.

“No Commander…the damage is in ALL the women of Megele. Ezra and her daughter weren't the only ones we tested this theory on. We also took samples from members of the crew, including ourselves, and we've found that the men of our world are also affected by gene shifting.”

Duero said as he revealed more DNA strands, the DNA profiles of Dita, Meia, Sara, Jura, Mai, Gascogne, Parfet, and many others, all of their DNA patterns were marked, showing the damage of gene shifting. He then revealed the DNA profiles of himself, his brother Max, Bart, and Aleck, showing to them that the damage was not limited to women, but to the men as well.

“I guess we've all reached the end of the loop then.” Magno said sadly as she thought over all that she had been shown by the two men.

Buzam took all this in carefully and replied. “How could something this critical and this dangerous be totally ignored on Megele and Talark? Surely the First Generation was aware of such a thing like this occurring during the birthing process?”

“Pride and arrogance, BC, pride and arrogance are the reasons we have reached this point.” Magno said in a sad tone of voice. “When the two sides separated they were blinded by their desires to live apart, and their own vision on what they future of their new generations should be. There should have been more time to consider the ramifications of such an act, but it was already too late. It's like the saying I knew of back before the split and the founding of both our worlds. It went as… `The sins of the past can always influence the future.' How true it is now, considering the situation.”

“We know that saying as well, but that now is a moot point at this stage.” Max said as they finally showed the last image of their research model. “In any rate, the continuous use of the current birthing methods will result in the eventual destruction of the gene pool on both planets. And as a result, we'll be repeating the failing of the Coordinator side of our heritage, but at an even grander scale.”

“True, if both worlds die, then who will help rally the forces we need to defeat the Harvesters? But we can't do much moping and worrying about it in our current state, in that case…what options do we have to remedy this problem?” BC asked.

Magno gave a very large knowing grin as she gazed at the two men. “It's rather obvious IF you were paying attention BC. Assuming you've done all this important research, you both KNOW what our two peoples will HAVE to do to correct this, I take it?”

Duero and Max looked at Magno without an answer for a few minutes, and then nodded with grins as they knew what Magno was stressing.

“We surmised you knew what we meant before, since it was obvious as you are also one of the First Generation.” Max said with a smile.

“What is it our people will have to do?” Buzam asked, though the silver-haired female jus KNEW the answer would shock her.

“Why, the process men and women went to have children together, what else?” Magno said with a smile and in a straight no-nonsense tone.

“WHAT?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?” Buzam said as she felt all her blood flow into her face and make seem as if she had been poured with red water.

(Apparently, she had NO idea how much the answer would shock her, didn't she? Oh well.)

“It is the most logical and viable solution. Long before the advent of Coordinators, artificial birth methods, and genetic engineering, the human race always propagated new generations in this way in the very beginning of it's existence, so it makes sense that co-gender procreation is the most logical step.” Duero said as he remained calm while the Commander of the pirates looked as if she was in the company of completely proven escapees from the loony bin.

“You…you…you mean…men…men…men and…men and…women, will…have to?”

“Don't sound so shocked BC, I know about the process myself. You see, before Megele was founded, and when I founded the pirates, I was a mother with a child with a man, so I can assure you that the process is very much possible.” Magno said with a sad smile as memories of giving birth to her son came back to her, and seeing the precious bundle look back at her and her husband, the boy's father, and give a small cry. She quickly shook those memories aside for the moment.

Duero and Max then placed their gazes at the elder woman and the elder McFile decided to ask the old captain. “Captain, Kyo was the one who informed us of the process, this was the reason I began to research on this theory.”

“Ah…I see that Kyo told you about it. Hah, I KNEW that he would know.” The older woman gave a smirk at the two men.

Duero blushed a small shade of pink and replied. “Well, his explanation on the `facts of life' as he put it was…rather informative, though he didn't give all the details on how it was done at first. I am still very curious about it and hope that you can shed some light on the subject, if you wish to do so Captain.”

Max then interjected. “I also have been informed and just like my brother I am also VERY interested on how it was done. He did give us more information, but with all due respects to you Captain Magno, can you tell us how the process works between a man and a woman?”

Magno gave a hard look at both men, and then…grinned and laughed out loud. “Now if I told you two strapping youths that, then it would be a really interesting time on the Nirvana when you figure it out! But I can say that it can be the most…”

“CAPTAIN!!!”

All three turned and faced the sub-commander who looked a great deal more anxious than they had ever seen her.

“What is it BC?”

“Captain…Are you and the doctors…suggesting that…men and women will really have to…?”

“Yes I am.”

“Captain, that's…”

“Buzam, hear me out. On the day that men and women on the ship of Megele separated I knew in my heart that the time would come when we all would have to come back someday, I was denied the chance to see my own child grow up because of the splitting between the crew of the Ikazuchi. I have always believed that both our sides have reached the point where we both should live as human beings were meant to live…and that was TOGETHER. Coordinators did so despite their use of artificial wombs and so did Naturals before they both put aside their differences and brought the human race back together. It was how our ancestors lived and prospered many centuries before the time of the First Generation on both worlds. And I for one wish to say that the time is now.”

“But what you're asking is near to impossible! The leaders of Megele will NEVER agree to something of that magnitude! And I doubt that the men of Talark will agree to something like that either!”

“Are you saying that you disagree with all the evidence Duero and Max have worked hard to show us is not evidence enough of what we have to do?”

“No…I admit that their data is accurate and very much authentic…but still, we can't just…”

Magno smiled and gave a reassuring nod to Buzam.

“I know what you mean BC, I'm not saying we force the women of our world or the men of Talark to do it immediately. But you know that there are women on Megele who disagree or object to what Lady Grand Ma says. Many individuals on Megele are willing to be more open, and despite the Megele police and military's own attempts to put a stop to those dissidents, there are many of them who are idealistic. Take the case of Dita, she is one of the most open-minded people I have ever met in my life. Even if she never met men before she was the very first to forge a relationship with a man, namely our Gundam pilot Kyo, and you know how much closer she is getting to him. I'm willing to bet all my credits that there are people like Dita who are open-minded and willing to seek out new things for themselves on Megele. Many of our own crew are already discarding the propaganda of our world and are more accepting of our male crew as well. And from the looks of Duero's younger brother, and their senior instructor and from what they have told me when we met, there ARE also men on Talark who also disagree with their leadership, despite the risks entailed by it.”

“In any case, we must show both our leaders that at the rate our population's futures are going, it will be doomed for all time. Furthermore, we would make the sacrifices of our ancestors mean nothing. They all survived a war sparked by hatred, and now were able to reunite and become stronger than before when there was still a division of genes to what we are now…if they didn't then none of us will be alive today. Not you, me, Duero, his brother, the men of Talark, the women of our world…everyone in the whole galaxy.”

“We would be repeating the sins of the past in a more horrific fashion if we don't make this happen. Also, children from both our sides would help forge a new peace, just as children between Coordinator and Natural parents did in the past, and give a greater future to all of us. I can't deny that such a process will be long and hard, considering the situations on Talark and Megele, but if even one couple from either planet agrees and both make a lasting relationship, then we can be assured that it will be worth every moment and effort.”

She then gave both medics a very sly grin. “I said it before and I'll say it again, things have gotten a lot livelier since you guys joined us, I think things will get even MORE interesting! By the way you two…”

“Yes Captain?” Both brothers asked.

“Since the two of you have taken so much time and effort to complete all the data, then I suppose you both will ALSO be joining in this move to unite men and women?” Magno said slyly as she knew just what she really meant by UNITE men and women. “Do you each have a certain somebody in mind as your life-partner?”

The blush on both Duero and Max's faces went from small smudges to full time spills as the brothers began embarrassed and flustered at the meaning of Magno's remarks.

“We…uh….haven't thought that far yet.” Both admitted while they twiddled their fingers.

Magno merely laughed as she already knew very well about the growing relationship between Max McFile and Barnette, and Duero's own relationship with Parfet. She couldn't help but smile at the thoughts of those relationships. She then wondered how a certain Gundam pilot would take to this situation and that made her grin like a certain fairy tale cat in her mind.

Buzam couldn't do much but give out a tired sigh and have a sweat-drop flow down the side of her head. There was only one thought in her mind as she thought over what she had learned.

She didn't want to even try and comprehend the reaction on either Talark and Megele if the data ever came out.

*************

In one area of the Nirvana…

Kyo was busy walking to where the rooms in the male section of the Nirvana were, he needed to get his mind back into order after the last few days. It was torture enough for him to be in the company of many attractive females, and he had done a load not to be staring at many of them in appreciation and desire, namely with the three Dread pilots and along with others. It was torture to be working with the Crusader Squadron, who were comprised of very much athletic girls who's bodies would be shining with sheens of sweat during work-outs, and no doubt in his mind Sara had a…bounce in her step when she worked out.

It was hard also when working with the girls in the Register in his off hours, having his hormones play merry hell on his mind while working, made him very aware of their own well built forms in their clothes, complete with mini-style skirts, he knew that Mai had well formed legs, since he had been looking at her somewhat more often than needed, the rest of her form was…well stacked.

The other girls who were after him were also on his mind. Misty Cornwell, who was slowly adjusting to the rest of the crew showed the innocence of youth, with her own sense of adult maturity. Even when in her normal clothes she was very attractive, and Kyo wondered if he was starting to develop a complex similar to a Lolita complex. Minus the fact that she spent nearly sixty-three years in cryo-sleep she still looked fourteen years old. But her exuberance in getting close to him as of late was playing merry hell on his mind. But he would have to be dumb and blind not to tell that given a few years now to physically mature, Misty would be one hell of a babe.

(He doesn't know he's already four hundred nineteen years old, so he beats Misty by miles in the age department.)

Of course there was no doubt on his involvement with the three Dread pilots. He thought about Dita, since she was the first he ever met. Having to recall the exuberant redhead sitting on his lap, and whenever she squirmed on a certain part of his male form made him VERY aware of Dita's lithe form, it didn't help matter when she would glomp onto him, allowing him to feel her full form, along with her own developed chest. Plus seeing her nude was enough to make him hard in many ways at night and deprive him on occasion of sleep.

Meia was next, and having seen her in that very attractive dress, AND seeing her NUDE, made Kyo very aware of the hidden and obvious beauty of the aqua-haired girl. He then recalled how it felt of her sitting on his lap and her leaning on his chest, and this made him blush to the point he'd be considered having red for skin. Plus seeing her, in any dress, or on the bath fiasco…without any clothes…it kept him very much active at night.

Jura…well, after seeing her nude on more than one occasion, and being able to witness her sexuality, and nearly having sex with the blonde, he was very aware of her beauty both in and her own growing inner beauty. Seeing her in her normal garb was torture enough, but the transparent tank-top and pants was something else, not to mention when she didn't have a stitch of clothing on was something way out of his league. Plus the images she left him in his mind in either dress or without them was plain torture.

<ARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!>

Kyo then recalled an incident that reversed the situation in a sense that now the women were looking at the men…in the same fashion as he would look at some of if not many of them in the same fashion. And it was all ironically possible due to the need to have a good clean bath, with some warm water for a change since he had taken so many cold showers, by all rights, he should be suffering a massive bout of terminal pneumonia.

<I should have been more thorough when I checked the bath area that day!> Kyo thought as he thought back on that scenario a few days before.

*************

Flashback…

Kyo sighed as he checked the chronometer, it was already twenty minutes past ten that morning and he was getting rather curious as to what was taking the others so long. He sighed once more and gave a small smile as he looked into the room behind him.

The room was like the Nirvana's communal bath, in fact it had the same facilities as the room in question, shower stalls, bath tubs, supply stations of shampoos, lotions, and soaps, a large artificial hot-spring was there, and several Jacuzzis were present as well, and all of which had privacy screens, and only the artificial hot-spring had no privacy. In most circumstances, it would have been the same as the women's communal bath, but in this case, it was located elsewhere, namely in one of the sections for the men. Apparently this was one of the original designs of the Ikazuchi while it was still a colony vessel, and therefore, this was used by the men and women, before the separation of the ship and the founding of Talark and Megele. The men of Talark apparently wondered what to do with the room and left it alone when they began to refit the Ikazuchi as a warship, though from what he was able to find out, many of the top brass, since being privy to the past knew this room and were planning to use it…that is until the pirates hit the ship and they all got sling-shot to this side of the galaxy. The communal bath of the women was part of the pirate cruiser they had before the Paeksis fused both ships.

He had found the place when he decided to go exploring the ship, since most of the sections on the men's side were not always well explored, he was over-come with the desire to see what else was on the ship, and for once he was grateful he did so. He began to supply the room with water from the reservoir an when he got the water recycling systems online he went on to fix the temperature settings. Once he was done he was happy to find that the place had a stock of bathing supplies, and many were for men! Once he did so, he decided to take baths here in secret, ever since he had caught the women installing cameras in his shower stall months before, he took no chances and searched the stall BEFORE taking a bath, since there was no telling if a camera was there again. But he had been limited to taking so many cold showers for so long to restrain his hormonal fantasies at night that he almost forgot the feel of warm water on him. If it hadn't been for the coffee he drank on occasion, he would have really forgotten what warm water or hot water felt like. He made sure to soak in cold water to keep him calm, and then slowly took a soak in warm since using both water temperatures instantly would have been a serious shock to his body temperature and that was the last thing on his mind when he wanted a bath.

He then decided after finally having few good soaks to finally relax, he would invite Duero, Max and Aleck to try it out, the room had supplies for all of them, and getting a warm bath was on his mind, plus he knew that the guys at least deserved to know a few things about some of the things about the world of humanity outside of Talark, plus since the place was similar to what women used to bathe, then they can understand the desire of the women to be clean, this had still mystified Duero and his brother, despite the latter's long exposure to women in the past.

Kyo smiled as he heard the voices of the men in question, and naturally when he spotted them they were still garbed in their normal clothes. The good thing was that the bath complex had robes, towels and clothes for them to use.

“Took you guys long enough.” He said as he walked over to the others.

“This the place?” Aleck asked as he gazed the room over.

“Yep, it's the same design specifications as the female's bath area, so there's nearly no difference between them anyway. Have you ever used them?”

“Yep, while we were back on that desert world, but using them wasn't a full priority when you've got robots looking for you periodically.” Aleck said as they entered the facility.

“So this is a Jacuzzi.” Duero said, happy that a portion of his curiosity was satisfied. Ever since hearing the word from Paiway, he was curious what this thing was that the young girl sent her patients after treatment.

“Yep, now let's get changed, it's time to get into a bath.” Kyo said as they were in the adjacent room and took out some towels and bathing shorts.

Unknown to them however, it seemed that a certain bunch of girls were busy looking through the Nirvana's sections…and were close to finding them.

*************

In one of the Nirvana's common rooms…

“It's so silent in the ship now. I hate to admit it, but I wish something would happen for a change.”

Jura said dejectedly as she scanned through the rooms using the computer terminal on the desk. She had been taking a good deal of sleep, and enjoying her dreams of a certain somebody, but she had to awaken for break-fast and went to the Dread meeting room to discuss things with the rest of the pilots when they would meet up with the Harvesters. Meia had come up with some new tactics on dealing with the Harvesters, and they had been working on those moves for the past two hours.

Jura was happy to take a break, but wondered what she should be doing. Part of her wanted to seek out Kyo, but knowing his schedule, he'd be very busy working on either his squadron's battle formations and tactics, perfecting the systems of his Gundam, or helping out in the Register, so for today she decided to just lounge in the room and see what's new in the Nirvana. She wasn't alone as several other girls were there as well, namely her fellow Dread pilots, Dita and Meia, along with Barnette and Parfet. They were talking before and decided to just relax.

“I know Jura, I wish we could have times like before, like I would chase Mr. Alien, but I did promise him not to do it too many times.” Dita said as she worked on a small piece of embroidery. She wanted to give a present for Ezra's baby, Lacus and also to keep in tune with her practice as a seamstress. Ezra was busy taking care of her baby and was in her room for most of the day, but the night before she taught the redhead embroidery so it made sense she would still be practicing it. Besides she could use the skills to make another lovely present for Mr. Alien.

“Well at least we all can take some time and get some rest, though it is getting rather…boring to say the least.” Meia said as she decided to read a book in her free time. Unlike the advanced data-pad style books some of the girls loved to read, Meia owned a few old style paper books; these were well preserved and very well restored so they looked as if newly purchased. The book she was reading had the title of `A Bridge of Hope', a story that Meia read in her youth, but put aside when the disaster happened. It was one of her favorite stories as a growing up child, but she nearly burned it before joining the pirates. After making peace with herself she decided to at least get back to what she loved reading about, it was about two people from different worlds who meet due to circumstances and in time develop a strong bond with one another, it somehow made her think of her growing relationship with Kyo.

“Yeah…hmm, Parfet, can you bypass this security code?” Jura asked the bespectacled engineer when she encountered a password protected viewing option.

“Let me take a look…hmm, this is old colony code system. This will only take a minute.” Parfet said as she began to hack into the old database and found the appropriate codes. Once she did so, she was now able to activate the cameras.

“Okay, this seems to be the camera controls for the rest of the old colony ship.” Jura said as she scanned through the camera options. “Okay, rooms, the sub-bridge, supply docks…seems that there's so much unexplored areas in the ship. I guess we were so used to our side of the ship, namely that of our old cruiser we didn't explore every area. So let's see what we have here….”

It was then that Jura spotted another camera option. “Hmm…it seems that there's a second bath area in the ship, and it's in the men's section.” When she turned on the screen, she then placed it in the wall monitor system in their room. It was when the image came to light that she gave a gasp.

“Look at this!”

The girls with the blonde looked to their absolute surprise, they found out that the bathing area was being used…and NOT be their fellow female pirates!!

Dita, Meia, Jura, Barnette and Parfet were in total shock and something else as they realized that they had just been able to catch the men…in THEIR birthday suits! (*)

The girls were rendered silent and then decided to use the various cameras to move around the bathing area, as Kyo, Max, Duero, Aleck, and Bart got down to moving towards the nearby stalls, and they were only having towels on.

Jura had seen Kyo in the nude before, namely in the bath area all those weeks before, but this was the first time she saw him without him trying to escape her. The fact was that despite the lack of her being in the same room as him didn't stop her as she looked at him with a smile as water began to soak his male form, rivulets of water ran from his hair which was still in it's ponytail, all the way to the rest of his body.

Dita and Meia had also seen Kyo naked, and so it was no surprise when their own body temperatures began to get up a few notches AND they began to feel their heart and breathing rates begin to climb.

Barnette was also in awe as she gazed at Max. Now she had seen him with his torso bare, but that was when she still didn't trust men, and when she learned her lesson, she began to admire the form of a man, but when she saw water and soap suds sliding on Max's body she couldn't help but have the desire to her hands over his hard, warm and wet chest and…

Parfet was in the same situation as she gazed at Duero who was in the nude with fogged up glasses and a line of drool going down to her chin. When she confessed interest in learning more about, namely to Duero in question, she admitted her involvement in the installation of cameras in the men's bath-rooms. She promised to herself since then that she wouldn't violate Duero's privacy, but ever since the growth of her feelings for him, she wished that she could be more intimate with him. And as of now…she was getting her wish, and in more ways than one as she continued to stare and drool...

Unfortunately, when Jura had the images broadcasted on the main monitor of their room, she accidentally activated the video feed to be broadcasted in the entire ship!

Oh boy!

*************

In the bath area…

Kyo gave a satisfied smile as he washed his arms and then his hands, then all the way to his chest, back and torso, the water was not too hot nor too cold and the stall had a slight haze of mist around him, he reduced the shower in order for him to wash himself properly with the bar of soap, allowing soap suds to be on him, and flowing downwards. That was when he decided to take the cloth piece that held his long hair together in his ponytail. This allowed the long chocolate brown strands to become loose and full of moisture.

Duero did the same as Kyo did, washing his body from arms to torso, and abdomen, He also did the same with his shower stall and let the water flow slowly over his body. He then took the time to wash himself properly, since Talark had a somewhat terminal water shortage situation that comes on more than one occasion in it's time, it made sense that taking long leisurely showers was considered a serious waste of precious water sources, and only done the prissy idiots who wanted to be the cleanest corpses in the desert. So in this case since the water on the Nirvana could be recycled many times, the Talark youth decided to indulge in taking a full shower. He then moved the wet bang of his hair on the right side of his face aside, and allowed the hair to stick on the rest of his locks so he'd have no problems cleaning himself properly. He disliked the first introduction to cold water when he was still a prisoner of the pirates and went through the disinfection process, (anybody recall the time he, Bart, and Kyo were in their boxers being hit by cold water from hoses?)

Max had already experienced something like this on the desert world, namely in the underground cities, but due to the many dangers on the planet at the time of the exile of his team and that of Claire's own fellow women, he had not been able to enjoy a good complete bath. And even when they were about to escape, he couldn't take a complete bath due to his still healing, though nearly cured wounds. Now he was busy cleaning himself carefully and enjoying it6. Just like his elder brother, and all the men of Talark, he was very much conscious when it came to proper water source management, so for him to take a complete shower was unheard of before, but now he liked the idea immensely, yet he never will give up the idea of conserving water. He had already unbraided his own long braid of hair and the strands framed his face, along with his own ponytail, allowing the wet strands to cover his shoulders and back.

Aleck just was well was washing his body, from arms to his torso and abdomen, having experienced the same thing on the world he and the other men of the Shard were stranded in. He also kept the teaching of Talark about not wasting water sources. The women in Claire's team always complained about not being able to take long showers and in the past in somewhat grated the nerves of the long-time combat veteran. But he understood women a considerable deal more than most men back on his world, and understood their obsession for cleanliness.

Bart, did very much the same, and was happy to try out these showers, and unlike the cold disinfection treatment he got a few months before, he had warm water for a change. He wondered what soap was at first, but he understood a load more now, and had to appreciate the way it could help in the bathing process.

All of them were unaware that they had a very INTERESTED audience as they went into the other processes of bathing.

*************

In the Crusader Squadron's training gym…

“What's this for?” One of the girls in Kyo's team asked her commanding officer Sara Elsman.

“I have no idea…” Sara said as she stared wide-eyed at the scene. The rest of the girls were also in silence as they saw for the first time, their commander without a single stitch of cloth on him. There were times he took off his clothes, but he always had an undershirt, but this was the FIRST time they had seen him naked…with the exception of Sara.

*************

In the bridge…

“What is the reason these images are here?” Buzam asked as she wondered why the images of the only male members of the Nirvana in the bath were on.

No one responded to her question as Belvedere, Amarone, and Celtic were looking totally wide-eyed as the men continued to clean themselves and they looked even closer at the men as water flowed over their nude bodies.

(Thankfully, Ezra was by now sleeping alongside her daughter, cause God knows how she'd react to this!)

*************

In the Register…

“What's all this about?” One of the Register girls asked.

“I don't know…but `I' LIKE it!” Mai replied as she stared at the images of Kyo washing away the suds on his body. The other men were there in the images, but the Miazaki woman had her eyes only on her commander in the Crusader Squadron and fellow male Register companion.

The other Register girls were in silence as they gazed on the three Gundam pilots, the navigator, and the elder male. And one of the most avid watchers of the elder male from Talark was a certain leader of the Register. Gascogne may not have said anything, but she couldn't help but show the smirk on her face.

*************

Medical Bay…

Paiway's mouth was wide open as she gazed at the scene. But just like before, her precocious nature made her take out her trusty note-book and pen.

“So that's what men look like without clothes on! What till the veterans back home hear about this! Pai Check!”

*************

Star Chart Room…

Misty was having a field day as she gazed hungrily at the men.

*************

The bathing area of the men…

Kyo and the others finished their cleaning and went on with their hair, with the exception of Bart who has already shaved off his hair. Once they were done, they went out of the stalls, wrapped towels on themselves and then made their way to where the hot-spring was.

*************

The rest of the Nirvana crew from the security personnel, the Dread pilots, the engineering teams, and many others were all silent as they watched every image…right down to when the men left the bathing area after soaking in the hot spring.

That instantly ignited the rumor mill on the ship like never before. And several groups of girls began taking large gulps of water. Others were busy trying to figure out why they seem to be reacting rather…strangely to what they had just witnessed.

(Whether what the crew witnessed was a good or bad thing was still up for debate.)

*************

End of Flashback…

Kyo sighed as he recalled the effects of that event. Ever since then the crew, all female crew that is, had become more and more curious about men, literally shocking the daylights out of him when they came up to him with the question of them being allowed to see him bathe. He found out what happened after hacking into the security database and found the video record.

It naturally didn't help matters that Duero, Max, Aleck, and even Bart came up to him with questions concerning the sudden yet subtle change of attitude of the crew. The men were becoming somewhat unnerved by the sudden staring they got for the past few days after their bath, and although there was no hostility directed at the men…rather a curious and cautious air was present when the other crew would look at them.

Kyo gave a groan as he decided to get a break. But that was when his attention was grabbed by none other than a certain elder.

“Kyo, are you there?”

Kyo turned on his communicator and responded to the Captain. “I'm here.”

“Kyo, there's some important matters I need to discuss with you in the Conference Room, in private. Can you make your way here?”

Kyo thought about it and decided what could it hurt if he went there anyway? He about faced and made his way towards the Conference Room.

*************

As he made his way to the Conference Room, he was surprised to enter and find Magno Vivian…

Singing?

Apparently the elder woman decided to relax as she waited for him and decided to sing to herself. Despite her old age, the elder woman had a voice that would have passed for a woman of late teens or early adulthood and she sang with the grace of a natural singer.

But as he listened something about the song Magno was singing began to affect him.

(Another inserted song, care to guess who sang this one?)

(Italic for song lyrics)

shizukana kono yoru ni anata wo matteru no

ano toki wasureta hohoemi wo tori ni kite

In this quiet night, I'm waiting for you

During that time, your smile has faded away

Kyo listened, amazed at the fact that the elder woman could sing well despite her age, but in the moment he began to see images in his mind.

But her face he couldn't see clearly, along with her smile as it began to fade…

<Was… this woman… his mother?>

are kara sukoshi dake jikan ga sugite

omoide ga yasashiku natta ne.

Now that a little time has passed,

Fond memories start to resurface.

Kyo saw more images in his mind's eye, they were still hazy, but for some reason they were getting clearer as he listened to Magno's song.

<Was… this man… his father?>

hoshi no furu basho de

anata ga waratte irukoto wo

At the place where stars fall,

I'm always wishing for your laughter.

Kyo listened even more as more images flooded his mind, they were still hazy and fragmented…but they began to become clearer…and were becoming whole for some reason

<His…parents, laughed with joy as the man who could be his father placed his ear on the woman's belly, and the woman held him and he too placed his ear on his mother's enlarging belly. They laughed with joy…and so did he.>

itsumo negatteta

ima tookutemo

mata aeru yo ne

Even though we're apart now

We can meet again, right?

Kyo did nothing as he listened as the images became different, but clearer and more constructed, no longer broken and no longer covered in mist.

<“Say hello to your baby sister.”>

tsu kara hohoemi wa konna ni hakanakute

hitotsu no machigaide kowarete shimau kara

From when has my smile faded this much

Since it was shattered by one mistake

Kyo wondered why this time he had a sad memory near this part of the song.

<“Come back soon!”>

<“I promise…”>

taisetsuna mono dake wo hikari ni kaete

tooi sora koete yuku tsuyosade

Change only the precious things into light and*

Go beyond the sky with fortitude.

Kyo saw new images in his mind as he listened even more.

<“Welcome to the Guardians, kid!”> The red-eyed man said in greeting to him.

hoshi no furu basho e

omoi wo anata ni todoketai

itsumo soba ni iru

To the place where stars fall,

I want my thoughts to reach you.

I am always by your side

More images came to mind to Kyo…

<“We did it…we're going home.”>

sono tsumetasa wo dakishimeru kara

ima toukutemo, kitto aerune

Since I will embrace that coldness.

Even though we're apart now,

We will definitely be back together.

shizuka na yoru ni

In the quiet night...

(End of Song…)

Kyo shook his head a bit as Magno stopped singing, and he nearly felt a deep sense of loss as the mages faded away from his mind.

“Oh, Kyo, you came early.” Magno's voice called to him, making him turn to face the elder woman.

“Sorry Captain, I never knew you could sing so well.”

Magno nodded as she faced the young Gundam pilot with a smile. “It's something I do when I have the free time for myself. I loved to sing when I was a little girl and up to now… Kyo…is something wrong? You seem to be out of place.” She asked as there was a very serious look on Kyo's face.

Kyo thought over and over on why Magno's song sounded very familiar to him, and why did it invoke those memories and made them clearer to him than before when he had difficulty recalling the past. In a few moments, he decided to ask Magno if she knew.

“Captain…where did you learn that song?”

“It's an old Earth song that I loved singing to my baby boy when he was born. Why, is there anything wrong with it?” Magno asked as she looked that the Gundam pilot who had a very peculiar look on his face.

“No…it's…just that, for some reason…the song is very familiar to me…and your way of singing it is very familiar to me also.”

“Hmmm…maybe it was something you listened to in one of your journeys. Earth songs were very popular in many places in those days when the Colonization Era was happening.”

“Maybe…” Kyo wasn't entirely convinced that it was the truth, but for now he had other concerns. “By the way, what was if you wanted to discuss with me?”

Magno gave him a sly grin that made Kyo a little uneasy as she gestured him to take a seat.

“Kyo…do you recall that conversation I had with you here when we were still on the desert planet?”

*************

Flashback…

Magno: I would have seen him grow up into a good young man, and he'd be going through all the things normal men his age would. I know of what you're going through in that sense Kyo…believe me I know.

Kyo: What are you saying?

*************

End of Flashback…

Kyo gave a mental groan as he recalled the conversation. He then gave a serious stare at Magno once he sat down and faced the elder woman.

“I recall, now what does this have to do with the situation?”

“I have been receiving some reports that you've been trying to avoid contact with various members of the crew for the past few days. The Crusader Squadron's training regimes are being led by Sara more often, and Gascogne reports that you have been avoiding the rest of the Register girls, namely Mai.” Magno then gave him a very knowing smile.

“Now since you have not been born on Talark, and you know more about men and women than the other men, and you are very much a healthy young man, I take it with this down time of combat you HAVE time to notice the fairer SEX by any chance?”

Kyo couldn't help himself as he gave a groan and a blush at the word SEX. And he groaned even more when Magno had a grin on her face as she looked at him intently.

“I see…you didn't act this way all those months before since we were always on alert for the Harvesters, and since the battles were very frequent you were able to restrain your hormones…so to speak, but now…”

Kyo couldn't take it anymore and decided to be a bit blunt while remaining objective. “Thanks for informing me of that Captain, but exactly what is the reason you brought this up anyway?”

“Before I answer that, I want to know how you find your travels with me and the crew, and give me an honest answer. I want to know how you have been holding up.”

Kyo sighed and decided to say how it has been. “It's been a very interesting time, everything's not so bad, provided you recall the mutiny Barnette started, but that's old history now. So far I'm very much getting used to it though it's still touch and go, but things are getting better.”

“That's very good to hear all right, at least there's no hostility on the ship, and that's a good change from the time when we all didn't trust openly. But what I want to know is how have you been coping with being on a ship with ninety percent of the crew being all female?”

“You sure you want me to answer that question?” Kyo said with an embarrassed look. The last he wanted to do was unload all his burdens on the Captain, she had more than enough to contend with anyway.

Magno laughed a bit and then smiled. “Come on Kyo, you don't have to be so guarded about it, I am a woman who HAS a husband who I was VERY intimate with on MY wedding night and after, I had relationships with men in the social and intimate sense in my youth before tying the knot, and I have given birth to a son. I KNOW about the reactions of young men have towards women and the results of it, believe me…so tell me, how are you holding up?”

Kyo took a deep breath and decided to at least relieve himself of SOME of his problems. “Frankly, I'm amazed I'm able to keep my hormones bottled up for so long, along with all my feelings. Every time I see some of the female crew, my brain is filled with very detailed images, and I've been taking so many cold showers, I should be already having ice water in my veins. Plus my hormones keep sending me very…uh, vivid ideas when I go to sleep. Normal guys in my shoes would have already…”

“I see.” Magno said while she tried not to smirk as she listened. “So in simple terms you've been under stress for the past few days due to having wet dreams concerning some of the girls here on the ship?”

Kyo put his hands on his face, trying to hide his frustration and utter embarrassment. “Yes, that's pretty much it, and I've been at it ever since I came on the Nirvana.”

“I see.” Magno then took a deep breath and mentally steeled herself as she decided to ask Kyo a VERY personal question while trying not to laugh at what his reaction would be to it.

“How would you feel if I allowed you to have sex with Dita?”

Kyo immediately stiffened and went into SD (Super Deformed if anybody doesn't get it) mode while his face was bathed from the roots of his hair down to his neck bathed in deep crimson, he then slammed his hands on the table and shouted.

“WHAT THE HECK DID YOU JUST SAY?!?!”

Magno merely looked back and nodded calmly, but Kyo could tell she was trying not to laugh at his embarrassment. “You heard me, how would you feel if I allowed you to have sex with Dita?”

“M…m…me…me a…a…and…D…Dita… h…ha…have…” Kyo began saying while his blush grew even more.

“Have sex.” Magno then smiled. “Or would you like another girl to be your bed partner? Maybe Meia, or perhaps Jura, I also think Sara or Mai, or even Misty, since she IS older than she looks, will be very much willing to join you doing…”

“STOP IT CAPTAIN!!! ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR GOURD?!?!”

Kyo was totally embarrassed and Magno decided to placate the young man before he fainted from blood loss. “Calm down Kyo I was merely teasing you. Please, calm down and let me explain.”

Kyo decided to calm himself and relaxed. Magno then decided to explain her actions to the young man.

“Kyo, I think that your mental condition would be better off if you were able to release the tension, and I believe it will be best that you unleash all those pent up feelings, they are not very healthy for you to keep contained anyway. Besides I can relate, I mean, I was still a very active young woman when I was on Megele, so you can imagine how hard it was for me when there were no men, namely my husband who could help me relieve all that…sexual frustration and desire.”

“Uh…I don't think you need to tell me that.” Kyo said since he was not in the mood to be knowing about how hard it was for Magno to live without her husband.

“True, I don't talk about that normally, but our discussion is about you and your situation. Now I think you should finally release it and I think that you can go ahead and have a relationship with any of the girls. Or if you feel like it you can have more than one girl and I will still approve of it.”

“Huh?! Did I just hear you say you would approve of me having a relationship with a member of the crew…and you'd still approve if I have more than one in mind?!”

Magno nodded. “Yes, so I take it you're willing to make out with a member of the crew? Who's the lucky girl?”

Kyo's mind was divided into two conflicting sides…. One side was his male instincts and hormones who were singing praise towards the heavens since now they could indulge in it. The other side was his moral and practical side, and this was telling him that there was something totally wrong with the situation.

“I don't want to sound ungrateful Captain, but have you lost your mind?! I mean…”

Magno gave him a slight smirk. “Now that's not a very nice thing to say, I'm already giving you a chance you release your tension and hormones, and you deny it. I always thought that nothing would relieve the stress from young men like you than a good old fashioned night of passion and pleasure with a very…”

“STOP! I CAN'T DO THAT!!”

“Why? Is there something wrong with your pipes, or you don't know how to do it?”

“THERE'S NOTHING WRONG WITH MY PIPES THANK YOU VERY MUCH!!! AND OF COURSE I KNOW HOW TO DO…HEY! THAT IS NOT YOUR CONCERN!!!!”

Magno laughed out loud and then smiled. “I can see that, so what's the problem, you know how to do it, and I can guess that you know a good number of tricks.”

Kyo couldn't help but shout, he knew that it was wrong for him to be shouting at Magno, considering her rank on the ship, plus her age, but she had touched a rather sore subject.

“I KNOW! BUT YOU THINK…” He then tried to calm down and speak clearly. “Look, all I'm saying, is yes I do know how to have sex with a woman, but you think the crew on the Nirvana have any idea how to have sex with a man?! They have never been with men for all of their lives except for these past few months! I can guess that the only sexual orientation they have is with other women, so how do you think will I be able to have sex with a woman who's knows nothing about doing it with a man in the first place?!”

“That's very easy. I can tell you that there's only seven words to tell you what to do. You teach them how to do it.”

THAT got a reaction…

“WHAT THE HECK ARE YOU SAYING?!”

“It's not that hard is it, you've had great success teaching Sara and the girls of the Crusader Squadron on how to pilot Vanguards, so I don't think you'll have any problems teaching them that.”

“Are you nuts or something?! Teaching them how to pilot Vanguards is totally different from showing them how to be physically intimate with a man and you know it!”

“True, but it would be helpful since many things are pushing to this point. You could try it and just present a preview of it. I'm sure they will be willing to try, and considering things, you'd have no shortage of willing partners in showing the process…”

“Captain, are you even listening to a single word coming out of my mouth?! It's not that simple!” Kyo sighed and then spoke slowly so as to bring out his point.

“What's going on Captain? I can already say this much, a few months before you'd probably have me thrown out an airlock if I did do those things since you treat the crew like your own family, but now you're actually allowing me to go for it?!”

“Yes.”

“Tell me why, I KNOW there's a reason for this.”

Magno nodded and replied. “I can tell you that you are right and I do have some reasons for allowing you to go ahead.”

“You see, ever since the founding of Megele and me not being able to see my family for the rest of my life made me look at every young member of the ship as my daughter, though they can't really fill the void where my husband and son once, I feel like they are my family.”

Magno sighed and punched up a picture of a family of a man and a woman, with their children, a boy and a girl. Beside it was a picture of a Megele family, the female father, the female mother, and their daughter.

“And I am part of the past of humanity so I consider the new ways of having children as wrong. Having a family and children isn't a lab process. It may have existed during the time of the war between Naturals and Coordinators, but that is now in the past and even then there were men and women living together, and humanity is united once more after the end of the war between Naturals and Coordinators. Love, happiness, trust, respect, and hope were what made a family strong, and the way things are now, I don't think it will end well.”

“When I think about the war between men of Talark, and the women of Megele, plus the way children are born on either world, I feel like we're walking back into the same state that plagued humanity when there was a separation of both sides during the wars. We make what our ancestors strived to do after the war before the Colonization Era mean nothing.”

She then smiled at Kyo and showed him a few images of the rest of the crew. “I want those I care for to be happy, and Kyo, I know that with you, that can happen.”

“What?”

Magno merely shrugged. “I'm old but I'm not blind, nor am I dense and I know for a fact that your not any of those. I do keep an eye on things and I can tell that a considerable number of the crew have feelings for you. I can see it in their eyes. They don't know why these feelings exist in them towards you nor what to do with them.”

“That's the reason why I don't want to do it Captain.” Kyo said as he looked at the images of the crew.

“Look, the girls have been long-time friends long before I came on this ship. The mutiny placed them on opposite sides, and I'm happy at least that things have changed since it was over, but this is about their feelings. And the feelings of a person's heart is something I don't want to play around with.”

“If I did have a relationship with one girl, how would the others feel about it? They'd think I didn't pay attention to them and I rejected them completely. They will never be the same, they'd be hurt and angry, plus they would become hostile eventually to the girl I have a relationship with. If I, for example, have a relationship with Dita, how would the others take it, they might become jealous of Dita, and god only knows how she could handle being shunned by her friends. I don't want Dita to deal with that kind of situation for the rest of the trip.”

Kyo sighed once more as he imagined how hard life would be for him and Dita if they did have a relationship onboard the Nirvana, how Meia, Sara, Mai, Jura or others would react. He shuddered at the possibilities.

“The same could happen if I make a relationship with a girl apart form Dita, If I had a relationship with Meia, the others would have a grudge on her, and she's already making many close friendships, how would it be if they begin to dislike her for having a relationship with me? It would affect so many things on the Nirvana namely with the Dread pilots.”

He also shuddered at what the results would be if he got into such a relationship with Meia, or Jura…the possible outcomes were like living nightmares as he thought about them.

Magno nodded. She understood Kyo's situation in that respect. He had a kind heart and a caring nature, so it was no surprise he was very reluctant to go and have relationship with any of the girls in fear of hurting the others if he did have a relationship, or in Misty's terms a girl-friend. But she also knew that it was a bad idea for him to keep his feelings bottled up inside of him and it could be bad for not just him, but for the girls in question. They too didn't know how to deal with what they felt for him and if he kept himself closed from that, the results for both parties would be very bad.

“Relationships are like that, sometimes they have their own share of pain and happiness. How you deal with it is how well it will work out for both you and your partner. But the fact is that whether you planned it or not, you have tugged their heart-strings and they are already starting to get more attracted to you. Keeping them inside you and not replying back to those same feelings from the girl with affections towards you is just as unhealthy as denying they exist. And you know what could be the results of you do have an intimate relationship with them.”

Kyo nodded…he knew what would be the results of such intimacy… kids.

“Me, as a mother, would love to have children playing here on the ship, I know Ezra would love it if Lacus had some play-mates and I know for a fact that you'd be a great ohma, or in old terms, a father. You have so many good skills apart from being a Gundam pilot. You can sing, cook, dance, you have a kind heart and nature, you care so much about others, and you know when to put your foot down when it counts. To tell you the truth, you are already prime husband material in my book.” Magno smiled happily at the thought.

Kyo blushed at that, getting praise on the possibility of being a great father is one of the things men don't normally get, even more from a woman who had a husband. “Thanks…”

“The girls see it and I won't be surprised in the least if they secretly like the idea of you being the ohma of their kids, you would really make a wonderful father, and your kids would be blessed, along with your wife. Plus your…shall we say…knowledge of co-gender procreation will be a real surprise and they will really enjoy that.”

“Captain! You're embarrassing me, I'm not THAT perfect…besides, how can you be sure, I mean, I am human, and I do have some bad qualities too.”

“True, nobody's perfect, but that is what makes us who we are.”

“So I…”

“Listen Kyo, regardless of things, the fact remains that no matter how hard you try to suppress it, you WILL need to release those feelings. Now I'm not saying you go wild and take every girl you see into bed.” Magno laughed as Kyo's blush burned at that idea. “But you at least have my approval to go ahead, and I know that with time, things can work out for you and whoever your partner will be.”

Kyo was silent and his mind was still trying to come to terms with what was happening, that is until the combat alarm came on. Looks like it was time play, and considering how he felt, he'd be more than happy to tear into an entire Harvester battle fleet before his tension got the better of him.

As Kyo left, Magno called him. “Oh, Kyo, can you tell me WHEN you're going to pick a girl or MORE than one, if we make it back to Megele, I'll do my best make a good reception for you and…potential life-mate.”

Kyo gave a look of shock and then about-faced and ran to the Hanger where I-Freedom was being stored. His mind was still divided into two parts…

One was his hormonal urges which was in total ecstasy as it screamed…

Images began to circulate all over Kyo's mind about certain things. The other side of his brain, namely his morals and his emotions who screamed back at it, trying to suppress it.

Kyo gave a groan and focused on bashing the crap out of the Harvesters as he got into his uniform and arrived in the Hanger. The way he felt now he needed a serious session to bleed out his tension and emotions.

As he launched out of the Nirvana and went into combat with the Harvesters with the rest of the pirates, he wondered how things were going for the rest of the galaxy.

*************

Speaking of the galaxy and those in it…

*************

The Harvester home-planet…

The Council was busy getting new reports from their various fleets, normally reports of resistance to their fleets was part of the regular problems they had to deal with when gathering their resources for the continued survival of their people. But that had changed, they had received reports of their fleets being ambushed by advanced combat elements, and even when they were able to secure any nav-computer from any surviving ships, they discovered the coordinate databases either destroyed or system wiped, denying them coordinates to the human colonial worlds or the core planets.

And even when they did find those computers with intact coordinates, they turned out to be either wild coordinates resulting in their fleets being sent to uninhabited systems, in result wasting fuel reserves for their forces, or into nova clusters which resulted in massive system crashes in their forces due to massive radiation pulses that bypassed the shielding, meteor belts that resulted in massive damage to their fleets and losses, falling into unstable phenomenon of various forms, they even lost a large fleet to flying into a black hole!

And the second was to flying into a heavy ambush right out of nowhere with opposing fleets, resulting in massive losses from attacking fleets that immediately fled after they hit the fleets hard, and though they gained some considerable organs from the felled crew, they suffered even more when the nav-computers had dead-man codes filled with deadly viruses that corrupted more than one battle-ship's CPU. The whole human race was now on full alert against them and were very much retaliating, and were getting even more successful each time.

“This is unacceptable!!!” A Council member screamed in her frustration. “One of our combat recon forces was ambushed in Gamma sector, and was exterminated!”

“You think that's bad?! Fleet 19 suffered another system crash, resulting in the entire fleet and battle-ship to be lost to us, and right into a meteor shower!” One member retorted as he displayed the report.

“Fleet 41 suffered severe damages from using faulty coordinates that sent the entire fleet flying into a blasted ion storm, not three days ago. The technical units we sent to repair it also were lost in the same ion storm, and it will take the techs ten to twenty days to even get the basic CPU online!” Another Council member said as she also displayed her report.

In simple terms…the whole Harvest operation was going WAY down the hill…

It would have continued until the Harvest Council Leader came into the room, along with the head weapons developer. The leader sat on his throne and watched his fellow members. One then came forward and bowed respectfully, but the leader could tell that his subordinate was trembling with both fear and rage.

“Leader…permission to speak?”

“Granted.”

The subordinate faced his leader and spoke in as much civility as he could. “With all due respect to you Leader, how can we ensure that the Harvest will go according to plan? All of our fleets have encountered increased difficulty in gathering organs from various inhabited worlds. We've been losing more and more fighters, and resources every time, resistance to the Harvest has increased even more, even worlds that were once complacent have retaliated, all this has been reducing all of our quotas. But as far as we have seen, you have made no plans on how to deal with this matter.”

The leader merely nodded and stood up, he walked to a screen and punched in an image of the Nirvana.

“The resulting resistance to the Harvest and our forces is a burden, but we have this one ship to truly worry about. The Nirvana has now began to inspire the rest of the colonists to resist us, if they were able to unite…then the resulting resistance will be even greater that what we have dealt with before. The head of our weapons department however has gained some very interesting information and as placed some new ideas to my attention.”

The leader then turned to head scientist. “Begin your explanation.”

The head scientist nodded as he stepped forward and began to explain. “We have been able to gather as much resources and plans as we can gain from all of our forays into the plan to deal with the Nirvana. Despite many failed attempts, we have gathered more data and hope to complete the final equation to crush the Nirvana, and the I-Freedom Gundam and it's pilot. We have also completed the last of the design requirements for our other Gundam models, The Devastator, Hell-Fire, and Wyvern Gundams will be ready and…”

“Hah! We have already lost the original Dominion Gundam, along with the first variants when the Freedom evolved thanks to the Paeksis, and just recently we lost the new Dominions trying to crush the Nirvana on that desert planet! Every new variant of the Dominion Gundam has failed…how can three new models…” One lower ranking Council member was saying, but that was all he was going to say…

SPLISH!!

Since he was now clutching his now bleeding neck, which had a small throwing dagger embedded at the right side near the throat. He was bleeding profusely and gurgled his words as he fell from his seat. As he tried to stand up another dagger flashed and cut deep into his forehead, resulting in his instant death as he fell. The rest of the Council were struck in silence as they looked from their slain comrade and then looked back…to see their Supreme Leader with his arm outstretched aiming at the fallen member of the Earth Council.

The Leader gave a simple look of irritation. “I believe I didn't give you the approval to speak yet so you don't have the authority to speak until the one speaking is finished. There IS such a thing as professional courtesy, that hasn't died yet.”

He then faced the others of the Council who cringed in fear, including the one who spoke to him. “Make one thing clear, I will NOT tolerate ANY and ALL forms of insubordination within this Council, so unless you have reason and my approval, you will NOT speak out of turn. Is that clear?”

“Yes Leader!” All the Council said in unison.

The leader then faced the guards in the chamber, who thanks to their harsh discipline and focus, didn't cringe the least when they saw him kill the former Council member. One of them, who had the rank of guard commander came over silently and awaited his master's orders.

“Have his organs removed and have them given to the wretches on the lower regions, tell them those are free. Have his body displayed as a symbol to those who try to question either my plans or motives. Understood, Commander?”

“Yes leader.” The lead officer nodded as he and one of his men took the body of the now dead Council member.

The leader then faced the head technician and nodded. “I have to apologize for the disturbance, you may continue your report.”

“Yes Leader.” The tech nodded without batting an eye-lash and went back to work. “Normally we can still engage the Nirvana with one battle-ship, however we have not had any success due to many factors that the pirates have found ingenious ways of exploiting to their advantage. So we have decided to create a few new weapons in preparation for the next encounter. Apart from the three completed Gundams, and the newly built Dominion models, we have created a few new weapons to aid in our efforts.”

Images of a ship design came into focus, along with two more, a ship that looked very familiar, and a new Mobile Suit design, and it was…

“These new weapons will be part of the assault on the Nirvana. However we also have to consider that the Nirvana has a penchant for escaping even the best of traps, their escape from the desert trap a week before can attest that fact. To that end we have requested several of our battle-ships to be here in dry-dock to under-go certain treatments for this mission.”

Data images came into view, filled with new plans and design specifications on several battle-ships. In them included the inclusion of certain features.

“The down-side is that most of their weaponry will have to be either reduced or disabled, namely their main beam cannon and the loss of most of their torpedo launchers. However they will still be able to use their support fleet and reinforcements, considering the features we plan to install…and the number of ships involved…we believe it will be worth it.”

The leader nodded. “You have my personal approval to make this mission official. The name of this mission shall be `Operation: Burning Paradise'. And you and your teams will be given whatever aid and resources you may need.”

He then faced the rest of the Council. “None of you can question this, until the mission is complete, in the meantime…we will continue our normal operations, until Operation Burning Paradise is officially underway. Secrecy is paramount to the success of this mission.”

“Yes Leader!” All Council members said, but that was when another raised her hand.

“Permission to speak?”

The leader looked at her, making her cringe in fear, expecting a quick death for disturbing their leader. But she was relieved when he smiled.

“You may speak.”

“Leader, we have gained no news from our spy Rabat for the past few months, not after he was seen leaving the space station: Mission Delta 6. What shall we do about him?”

The leader nodded as he also thought about the inter-stellar mercenary under his Council's employ. In a few minutes he gave a decision regarding him.

“Rabat has made two mistakes, the first was his leaving behind the data-cube concerning his routes to the hands of the Nirvana's crew, since his last report said he had…'lost' it, though it had later been proven from his neural scan when he was met by one of our scouting probes that he lied about it. His second was allowing himself to be found on Delta 6 by the same pirates. Before the loss of our forces we had learned that he had been found out as our agent by the pirates, and all information regarding his various objectives, aliases, physical data, his contract with us, everything… was revealed to the inhabitants of Delta 6. This has been confirmed when we had intercepted a data transmission burst from Delta 6 no less than a few months ago, before the resistance has grown to this point.”

“It seems that many of the inhabitants of that station were survivors of planets we had harvested before, and with the aid of the Nirvana crew, and the data they had concerning Rabat's trade routes, they had learned that he is the one responsible for our harvesting of their people. Thus they had ousted him and forbade his return, but with the aid of the Nirvana's crew they had the power and equipment to broadcast that data to all the inhabited worlds. This has no doubt led to the increased resistance our forces have encountered for the past few months.”

The Council members were very much in anger, and the leader did nothing to stop them from cursing the rat bastard, they became silent when he called their attention.

“As it stands, Rabat is no longer an asset, but a liability, and we cannot undo the damages his arrogance has caused us. Therefore his contract with us is now terminated.”

“If our forces encounter him, shall we harvest him Leader?” The same woman asked carefully.

The leader merely smiled happily. “Why should we pollute our organ supply with that of a foolish traitor? No…he will NOT be harvested. As now, our forces have full authority to exterminate him on contact. Meeting dismissed.”

As the Council went about his business, the leader came forward to the Council female member, a very attractive blonde with a considerably attractive figure and `assets' he then whispered in her ear, making the blonde Council member smile and blush as he walked back to his room.

He then turned to the woman and smiled with a lustful expression. “See you there.”

*************

In the void of space, a certain ship belonging to a certain rat was cruising along, and it looked like the stuff thrown out of a monster's gut…

Rabat felt like he had been coated in scum and refuse for the past few months. The mercenary had been traveling non-stop ever since leaving Delta 6. The fact that he was no longer able to dock with the mission station was very much a regret, but he thought he could get over it.

It was only now he realized how wrong he was.

He had been `escorted' by the Asuka siblings, Kouji and Maia, who were in their respective Gundams. The two had also given him a sporting set of injuries along with the ones he had gained from Kyo when they found out the truth of his involvement with the Harvesters. Kouji had punched him so many times that he had a black eye the size of an apple, plus several more bruises in various parts of his body, along with those was a cracked knee-cap and a broken rib on the right side of his body, Maia also did a number on him with his hand still recovering from having three broken fingers in mid-bone, a cracked shoulder-blade, three cracked ribs on his left…for a young woman, she packed more physical strength than any woman he knew, in fact, both siblings could hit just as hard as Kyo! It had taken Liz herself, along with Patch and half a dozen others who were as strong as Patch to restrain Kouji and Maia when they faced him and attacked.

He was angered at them and tried to fight back, and the results were there, he was able to get to his ship and was leaving when the Shinobi and the Kunoichi Gundams appeared beside him, Kouji and Maia were seething with extreme hate, and if the leader of Delta 6 and her fellow survivors didn't restrain them, they would have broken every bone in his body and killed him, even if he knew that many of them were rooting for the two Yurenian siblings to do just that, so he wisely kept his trap shut when they called him, informing him that Liz allowed him to leave alive, instead of being shot down by the mission's now restored weaponry. They also warned him that the only reason they were escorting him away from Delta 6 was that if he tried anything dumb like inform his bastard employers, then they'd have the power and authority to reduce him into space dust the very second they intercepted a transmission from him.

As he cruised space a few days after that incident, he realized that he could no longer be able to trade with anyone. Even the illegal merchantmen that he bought some of his own bogus merchandise wanted nothing to do with him. They even went as far as to send more than one assassin to kill him, or kill him themselves. His contacts on other worlds were now aware of his involvement with the Harvesters and also denied him what supplies he needed to keep himself and his ship working order.

Rabat gave a sigh of frustration as he recalled many of the instances where he had been denied, or even attacked by the worlds or people he came in contact with.

Flashback 1…

Rabat was happy to spot the incoming ship. The ship named the Wandering Pit, which resembled a small carrier belonged to a small group of merchants who were the same as he was. They were selling supplies to various space-farers like him, and they were willing to trade even more in dubious items. He then scanned the ship and began to establish contact.

“This is Rabat, long time no see…”

The communication screen in his ship came online and a man with a beard and a monocle who looked like a slick businessman of both respectable and dubious origin gave him a smile…though for some reason, Rabat could see that there was a trace of anger in it. He naturally discarded the idea since this guy had swindled him once, but he didn't care since he had done more swindling on him too.

“Hello Rabat, it's…been a long time.”

“Hey Mack, listen can you and the others give me some supplies, I've got some left-over credits to pay…”

“Sure we do…in fact we have quite a surplus of ammunition. I hope you are willing to pay for it.” The other merchants who knew him also smiled, though there was something off about their greetings.

Rabat looked at his reserves and nodded, it was time for him to replenish his ammunition belts and he did have enough credits. Utan was ecstatic to have some new supplies of weaponry, though Rabat knew that she would waste them the first chance she got.

“I got enough credits so sure.”

Rabat then was shocked when the ship suddenly activated it's shield, comm-jammers, and weapon banks, which were aimed at him and his ship's scanners told him that the safety locks on the Pit's weapon-systems were now removed.

“Whoa! I said I got credits Mack, why the hell are you?!”

The man's smile faded and a look of intense hatred and fury replaced it, along with the faces of the others.

“Credits that you got selling others out? Credits you got as payment from the Harvesters by any chance Rabat for guiding them to some worlds that don't have people on them anymore? The credits you have gotten from the Harvesters as payments for selling out the whole human race?! ” Mack shouted as the Pit began to close the distance.

“What?!” Rabat was shocked at this. <How did they know I worked for the Harvesters?!>

“We may cheat others Rabat, but even WE won't go far as to sell every human being to be turned into cattle for credits!!! We will never take money that's been dipped in the blood of whole planetary populations, unlike you…you sick bastard!”

“Whoa…Let's talk about this! I'm sure we can…”

“No…if you think we can work it out…you traitor, then you are really becoming stupid! We will never take your blood money…you stinking rat bastard! But you can have the ammunition for free…”

The ship then unleashed a barrage of beam fire, projectile fire, and missiles at Rabat's ship. This made Rabat realize that he was under attack by his own associates as he moved the ship and began to retreat.

“When you are already destroyed from this universe!!!”

End of Flashback 1…

Rabat was lucky to have made it out of that mess, but his ship had taken some serious damages and he had to use some of his left-over ordinance to escape the attack drones the Pit had released from it's combat bays, this reduced his supplies of ammunition a bit more.

But that was only a prelude to all the other things he was about to suffer after his expulsion from Delta 6.

*************

Flashback 2…

Rabat gave a groan as he removed another bullet from his shoulder while hiding in a junk-yard. He was happy that his tunic had some ballistic underlays and that saved his life, but he had suffered a great deal since landing on Teria 7. The planet had been known for it's vast facilities involving weapons distribution and storage and the world was known as a good place to get supplies for a ship's weaponry... and for more personal uses.

Unfortunately even on a shady planet famous for trading weapons to any and all human beings he wasn't safe. The planet's underground heard of him as well…and had deployed several bands of their best warriors to ambush Rabat when he was in one of their colonial cities, and when he was spotted by one of their agents. He had tried to warn Utan to activate the ship, but he found out that the underground had made sure that his communicator's frequency was hacked.

“Having a nice time Rabat?” A feminine voice said out seductively with deep seated malice and hatred from his communicator.

“Look Web, I'm sure we can come to some sort of…” Rabat began to say as he tried to reason with his follower…namely since that woman was the one who shot him with a rifle.

“Now why would we do that hmm?” Web's voice came back as she appeared in the communicator. The woman was a sexy blue haired girl who's hair was half-way to the middle of her neck, her eyes were deep green and had the quality of a femme fatale, and her eyes were now staring deep at Rabat. And if Rabat recalled it right, she would be wearing her normal black body suit that did a great deal of justice to her figure, and her figure and build and assets would have ignited a man's basic instincts into an inferno, which would be the first, and last mistake of the man in question. (**)

Rabat had met Web in one of his forays while his identity as the agent of the Harvesters was still his own secret, and on another world. He normally would have hit on the sexy woman, as he had done in his days, and he tried to do the same on the Nirvana prior to being exposed by Kyo. However, Web or who's real name was Jessie Farnell, was no ordinary woman…She was a foremost assassin for the Sisterhood of Night, a shadowy organization that had some control in organized crime, and served as assassins or body-guards for some of the human worlds that were in the sector he was in, namely to underworld leaders, none of whom tried anything dumb to their female body-guards…UNLESS it was in the contract, and as far as he knew none of the Sisters complained, some of them even became wives to some of their contracts, either criminal or legal. He would have reported to the Harvesters about the human worlds in this sector, but he made the mistake of crossing paths with Web when he tried to swindle one of Web's contractors.

He was able to escape due to Web's contract expiring on the same day, but she nearly blew up his ship and had left a virus in his ship's CPU, and it lead to a whole data-drive crash, and made him lose the coordinates to the sector of space. He was able to restore the data drive thanks to the Harvesters and hoped that he could get the chance to pay Web back.

He didn't expect her to be hunting him…

“Listen…I didn't do anything to you and it's been nearly three years since I made that mistake of swindling that person who had your contract…so why…”

“You want to know why I'm hunting you then?” Web smiled a predatory smile. “The Sisterhood got a very lucrative contract on your head. You see…some of the worlds that got hit by the Harvesters happened to have a few survivors who had some serious muscle, they were either off-world when the Harvesters hit or were among the lucky ones to escape. Now when it came out that you helped the Harvesters gut those worlds, they naturally put a bounty on your head. And other planets realized that you might come by, so their governments put an official bounty on your head, and I'll say this much, they're not the only ones after your stinking hide. Every criminal organization from the Gamma to the Beta sector also have a bounty on your head. And trust me Rabat, that bounty has just reached nearly a billion credits. But I'm not hunting you for just the credits, I'm hunting you a more…personal reason.”

Rabat was able to escape as another bullet, this time from a sniper rifle tore through the steel wall and he ran as another hail of bullets chased him turning the nearby scrap pile into swish-cheese.

“What?!”

“You recall Yureni Prime? One of the worlds that got hit by the Harvesters?” Web's smile changed and became one of undisguised hatred and rage. Coming from a man, that would have been intimidating…but from a female professional assassin…it was enough o make even a battle-tried and tested soldier cry.

“Yeah…I went there.”

“Good, I was hoping you could remember that. I went there when I was now allowed to retire from the Sisterhood. I met a good man there, and I was happy too. We did everything together, and he didn't care if I had been an assassin in my past years. I happened to love him very much, he was the first and only man I cared about more than any mission I did in the past. But on the day I would return after ending my time as an assassin and we would make our relationship public…your clients came and decimated that world. He was killed along with so many others.”

Rabat realized what that meant…he had just killed an assassin, ex-assassin's fiancé, and there was nothing more terrifying than a woman who was angry, and an angry female assassin was a SCARY sight.

“You killed the only man I loved Rabat, and that's why I decided to return to Sisterhood, even if I swore to him on that day I would quit from killing. Prepare to meet your maker you rat bastard.”

*************

End of Flashback 2…

It was only when Utan came into the area with the ship he was able to escape, but not before nearly bleeding like a stuck pig from the left thigh after the last bullet Web had fired struck him. He was able to escape, but not before Web threw a grenade at the thruster of his ship, naturally resulting in the large charred hole on the back.

The under-world now wanted to kill him. Web was only the first of many assassins and mercenaries that went out to kill him. Some did it for the bounties offered by the officials or by the criminal under-worlds. Others had their own reasons, some of which were similar to that of Web. But all that made it very obvious to Rabat that he wasn't safe anymore in his old haunts in the underworld.

And the official bounty placed on him by the legitimate worlds made it even harder.

When he came to another world known as Rygl 4, known as a very industrial world specializing in various construction materials for colonies and ships, plus the making of valuable ores and composites, in the intent of getting parts and materials to repair his ship, he was immediately shot at the very second he was identified.

He escaped the planet before the people's combat fleets comprising of fighters, carriers and battle-boats came at him. He couldn't do anything like contact his Harvester employers since his communications had been jammed.

And that wasn't the only world where he was attacked…

On Janrell 3, a world that had some of the largest weapons manufacturing plants and facilities, dwarfing even Teria 7 on that scale in another sector, he had been able to land but immediately found himself surrounded by several regiments of the planet's battle-hardened combat infantry. The men were rigidly disciplined and didn't kill him on sight, but he could tell that despite their solid expressions they would have killed him in a heart-beat if their officers weren't in the area.

He tried to weasel his way out and get some extra supplies for his ship. But instead the commanding officer merely punched him hard in the solar plexus, making him bend over and receive a stun blow to the back of the head.

He then found himself being interrogated in a hardened combat bunker a few hours later, and the whole situation for the next ten hours was pure hell for him. He hadn't been provided food or water, and he was constantly being beaten by the men that came in, even female soldiers came and attacked him. He could have sworn that he was being given nearly twenty new and VERY painful bruises for thirty minutes each and more when another soldier came in. Each time a torture specialist would come in and force him to answer any questions pertaining to the Harvesters and their combat fleets. After nearly being beaten to an inch of his life, the officer replied that they were going to execute him tomorrow.

He was able to escape thanks to the same device he had used to leave the Nirvana, but his injuries were slowing him down, and if Utan didn't arrive and help him by first disabling the security system the soldiers would have killed him anyway. Utan was very frustrated since they didn't get any new supplies or armaments for the mecha frame of their ship. Rabat didn't care, since he now used up nearly all of his newly purchased medical supplies to heal his extensive injuries.

When he came towards the planet Sandris, famous for being a world specializing in agriculture and food production to re-supply his ship's food stores, he wasn't attacked, but merely ignored. The planet's main defensive shield came online and all of his communications signals were very much denied access.

He had spent nearly three hours trying to reason with the inhabitants, and was about to resort to informing the Harvesters when he discovered that he was being surrounded by combat drones. And the same drones had now jammed his communications.

He then had no choice but to leave, naturally denying his ship fresh supplies of food, and water. No doubt he was going to have rely on whatever he could scrounge up from his ship's food stores.

On the planet Gurin 4, a world that specialized in fuel production, refinement, and storage, he had attempted to steal or buy some fuel. But even here, the reach of his crimes was very long. He had been able to bypass some of the security locks to a supply warehouse, but it turned out that the inhabitants ALREADY knew he was going to try it and had placed many of their security personnel on the scene…and he had another meeting with Web in the same place.

The female assassin was now able to break another set of his bones, including his ribs and left arm, and nearly succeeded in killing him when she had him cornered, and thanks to his patch's flash bang style device, he was able to escape, but not before having to only acquire a few measly canisters of fuel for his ship.

On Ferin 4, another planet with amazing medical facilities and one of the foremost developers of advanced medical gear, supplies and equipment, he had also been given the royal treatment of being ignored. The planet however gave him a firm warning, and sure enough, the planet's orbital shields and it's space defense stations were online, making it very clear that he could do nothing but leave.

This pattern of the underworld attacking him every chance they got, and legitimate government forces hounding him every chance they got had gotten under Rabat's skin more than once, and he tried to sneak into a world.

That however was a serious flaw as he found out that any aliases he would normally would fail, and he got into a world where the inhabitants immediately considered him a harbinger of doom and immediately tried to execute him in a number of bloody and efficient methods, and suffice to say, that was the LAST time he ever went around using another name!

Now his ship was breaking down, low on spare parts, fuel, ammunition, food, and medical supplies, plus all his collected injuries made it very difficult for him in every scenario. Plus not being able to land has made him forget his own personal hygiene and health, and now he felt like he had taken a bath in refuse since he hadn't taken a decent bath in over three long months.

<Damn that Gundam piloting bastard to hell!!!> Rabat fumed as he thought of Kyo and cursed the day he ever ran into him on the Nirvana and that abandoned Mission.

He then checked his scanners and gave out a smile as he identified the incoming signals. It was a Harvester supply and reinforcement group, it comprised of some Cube Fighters, a Seed Ship, and most of all a few supply drones.

The drones were part of the fleet and resembled the ancient Earth fish, the remora. They would flock to the Harvester Fleets and act as suppliers on the move for fuel, spare ammunition and the like. They were also capable of combat as they had the same weapons as the Cube Fighters, though they were not as well armed or armored as the standard fighters of the Harvester Fleet.

<Finally some good luck for a change!> Rabat thought as he send his ship's ID signature and waited for the forces to respond, at least with the fresh supplies, he could finish his task, get his latest pay-check, and get his ship repaired.

If he thought his luck had changed…he had NO idea how wrong he was!

The Harvester units picked up Rabat's transmission and ran it through their data-archives. And when they identified him and came across the new directives concerning the mercenary…their mission became clear.

Rabat wondered why the Cube Fighters and supply drones came at him at high speeds and at what appeared to be attack angles. He however got his answer when they fired and his ship was hit by a few salvos. He immediately got his ship into evasive maneuvers and realized that this was no joke, they were not playing for the crowd…they were going to kill him.

“UTAN!” he shouted to his simian companion as he powered up his ship's defensive unit, but considering the lack of extra ammunition, he doubted he could keep up the fight.

<What the hell is going on?! Why are they attacking me?!> Rabat then recalled what Kyo told him on the Nirvana before.

Flashback…

Kyo: Listen up you stinking genetic reject. From this moment, I don't consider you as a human being, but an inhuman parasite. I should just rip you into shreds so you'll be out of our misery, but that's a small consolation to all the grief and problems you've caused to the whole human race! However, make no mistake of this. I promise you, that if you ever cross my path again… I'LL MAKE SURE YOU GO STRAIGHT TO HELL!

End of Flashback…

BOOM!!!

Rabat had no time to recall all of it as now he was being attacked by the forces of his former employees. With low food, fuel, medical supplies, and now soon to be lost ammunition…Rabat couldn't help but feel his luck was about to run dry on him.

*************

Back at the Nirvana… a few hours after the battle

Jura and the other girls sighed as they took their baths in the Jacuzzi. The communal bath was very much intact after the incident that involved a certain young man. But for now, they were in the mood to relax and take some time to clean up.

“Ah…I feel like I haven't been able to clean up in days!” Jura said as the bath attendants of the Nirvana massaged her body while she had a towel wrapping up her nude form, while she also had a towel keeping her long blonde hair under wraps.

She had been busy coming up with some new schemes to get Kyo to give her his seed, and naturally have a baby. But the reason for having Kyo's child began to change, and she began to wonder about what she will do after having Kyo's child. She blushed slightly as she began to feel even more attached to the Gundam pilot, she felt this after that time she had nearly succeeded in seducing him. She then decided to go and see the Captain and ask her some important questions.

She then turned to see the others in the bath area. Dita was there taking a bath, and scrubbing her arms with some soap. Meia was taking a soak in a tub, Sara was in the shower and taking a good warm one, Mai was also rubbing herself with a wet sponge while sitting nearby. Misty was there as well, taking a pail and pouring cool water on her nude form. The girls as far as she knew all had the desire to catch Kyo, and she felt that it was going to be one hell of a race to catch the Gundam pilot.

Once she was done with the massage, she went to a nearby tub filled with warm water, she then took off the towel covering her body, revealing her naked form as she went into the tub. As soon as she began to soak in the warmth, her mind went back to some of the videos she had seen, and in that moment, she felt a rush of heat in her body and a smile began to make it's presence on Jura's face along with a deep blush.

<I'll make you mine yet Kyo!>

Meia looked herself over as she cleaned herself up a bit with some soap while she got out of the bath. She began to think about her growing feelings for Kyo. She decided to at least be more open towards Kyo since she did like him, and as she thought about the two times she had seen him nude. The first was in this very same room… and the second was the time they had seen him bathing in the men's side of the ship, and as she thought of those times, she couldn't help but blush hard at the images of the young man she had seen. As she thought about it…she began to wonder what else she could try to get Kyo to open up to her.

Dita smiled as she took out a pail of cool water and washed herself clean of the suds. She then wondered about what she should be doing after beating the bad aliens. Speaking of aliens…she then thought about the object of her attention and affections…Kyo. She wondered if she could make something delicious for Kyo to munch on, she hoped he would be all right. Plus she wanted to be closer to him, but thoughts of a less innocent nature came into the mix as she recalled the times she had seen Kyo without a stitch of clothing on him. She put those aside for a while as she thought about what to make for Kyo.

Sara began to wash her hair with some shampoo and thought about a load of things, normally she'd be thinking about new tactics and maneuvers for the rest of the Crusader Squadron the next time they faced the Harvesters… but now her train of thought was directed at her commanding officer. She began to wonder about what else she could learn about him, and despite that in military terms, fraternizing with an officer of higher rank was a violation of protocol, Sara Elsman knew for a fact she wasn't in the military, at least officially. She liked the softer side of Kyo, and was eager to learn more, namely from what she had seen.

<Hmm…maybe I should ask him more questions when he's not on duty.>

Mai was busy as she finished rinsing herself clean and decided to try some scented oil to soften up her body's sore muscles. As she did so, she began wondering about her relationship with her fellow Register worker and commander in the Crusader squadron, Kyo. She had already made her intentions clear that she wanted to know even more about him. But how to do it?

<Hmm…maybe I can ask him after work. I might learn more about him, after all, he's the ONLY man I've ever told about my family history.>

Misty gave a sigh as she finished her bath, allowing the feel of the cool water on her skin, maybe that could relieve the tension and maybe allow her to have a calmer attitude, namely when it concerned her Prince Charming. She had been having more vivid dreams of the Gundam pilot as of late due to seeing him naked in two occasions. She knew that the other girls in the bathing area, namely the three Dread pilots, Sara Elsman, and Mai Miazaki were all of her rivals in getting Kyo as a boy-friend.

<I'm not going to lose my Prince Charming to any of them…no way!>

The results were the same despite the directions they came from. All six girls had only one thought that made them the same.

*************

Elsewhere on the Nirvana…

Kyo didn't know why, but he couldn't help but have a feeling of dread and anticipation crawl down his spine. And for some reason he began to see a certain bunch of female crew-members in his head.

*************

Of course Kyo wasn't the only guy who had a girl after him…

Barnette smiled a bit as she finished her latest master-piece in the kitchen. She finally put the last pieces of basil and sliced spring onions as toppings to her fillet mignon and placed the sauce on it. She planned to have this for Max since he had been very busy in the Medical Bay, and just recently he was there in the galley, she had met him earlier and decided to ask if he would like to try some of her cooking. He agreed and here she was.

She had made sure that unlike the spice laden fillet she had made to get a one-up on Kyo before they became friends, she wasn't going to do anything that harsh since she wanted to get closer to Max, namely after seeing him in the nude.

Back then she would have never considered a man attractive in any sense, but now it was different. After the scene she had seen, she didn't have any trouble having fun thinking about Max.

Max wondered what Barnette's creation would taste like, and after getting a considerable amount of the odors coming from the kitchen, he could tell it was a good meal. Though she had been staring at him with even greater intensity, and why was it he was also staring back at her with just as much intent?

*************

Elsewhere…

Parfet was happy as she worked in the Engineering Bay, with only Duero as company since the other girls were either on duty on other parts of the Nirvana or were now on their way to eat at the galley. Duero agreed to help her out on some maintenance work since he had been able to complete his shift in the Medical Bay.

She turned and watched Duero as he had taken off his trench-coat and was only garbed in his normal sleeveless black body-suit. She began to let her eyes wander over Duero's form. His shoulders were broad and hard looking, no doubt from his battles as a child to survive in his desert home. He had told her about himself, just like his brother Max had spoken to Barnette about his life. To say she was shocked was an understatement about his life but the results were undeniable, as he was a very hard-working individual, very intelligent and very much a guy anyone can count on…namely her.

She immediately blushed at went back to work, namely because she began to recall when she had seen him naked.

Duero on the other hand turned and looked at Parfet and watched her work. He still wasn't sure about the attraction thing but he wasn't going to pretend that he liked the way Parfet looked in her tank top, with her jump-suit unzipped and wrapped around her waist by the sleeves, allowing her form to be seen, and he wasn't going to deny that…he liked her figure.

Duero immediately went back to work before his brain began to get a load more filled with unknown images.

*************

Back to a certain rat bastard…

Rabat gave a groan of frustration and effort as he checked the wreckage of the Seed Ship for more spare parts he could salvage. He and Utan were able to hold their own against the Harvesters, but paid a high price for their fighting back.

The mecha frame that served as the primary weapon system of his ship was nothing but a jettisoned, smoking pile of debris after being brutally blasted and torn apart by the Harvester forces. Utan had already used up every bit of ordinance they had, and had to resort to hand to hand combat in order to break even. The ship itself had been blasted hard and thanks to it's shield and armor plating it was still functioning, but barely as most of it's systems had been severely damaged, and it's core power planet was also leaking, and needed immediate repairs.

Rabat and Utan worked as fast as they could since there was no telling if the Harvester forces they had defeated had sent a trace signal to any units in the vicinity, right now they were wearing space suits to make sure they had not wasted the energy of the ship.

After getting a serviceable cable relay from the ship the mercenary went on and activated the emergency systems of his ship. He then waited as panels on the wings of his ship opened to reveal solar power collectors. As the collectors began to absorb the energy from the cosmos, Rabat saw that their power absorption rates were low since they were also damaged by the battle.

As much as he wanted them to move faster, he could do nothing but wait. He had to get as much power as he could to his ship's back-up power generators and leave as fast as possible before he got hit even more, plus being sent adrift in space was a prospect Rabat wanted no part of.

As his ship began to slowly to leave the battle-field Rabat realized now that one thing was apparent…

He was now a hunted man…on both sides

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Back on Earth…

The chambers of the Harvest leader were spacious and full of whatever tools the man needed to run the whole world of the Harvesters. But like any leader he also needed some things to unwind and take the edge off to relax. And for now he had something…or in this case…

Someone…

The female Council member was on his bed sleeping soundly while the man admired her features, namely her undressed form underneath the sheets of his bed. The woman might not be able to have children by most standards, that didn't mean that sex was out of the question. He had loved the situation an exploited it well, after several hours that is…

He sighed as he got out of bed and went to the windows of his little enclave and watched the world outside. He hoped that soon, things will become different for all involved. He had his own plans and he was now ready to implement them once the time came…but for now, he had to do as much damage to the Nirvana until the time was right for the revenge his people wanted.

He then turned as saw the woman starting to recover, he smiled as her and she smiled back. He wasted not time and went back to his bed and his companion. There would be others like her, but for today it was her turn.

Outside of the room of the Harvester Leader, the guard droids didn't leave the location even if there were moans and cries. Since they derived from pleasure and not pain the droids had their duties and kept focus on such matters, and that was to ensure that no one disturbed their lord when he was…taking a break from his duties.

Despite all this…the players in the universe were now getting ready for their next climactic battle as the Harvester techs instructed the construction drones to begin the installation of their requirements for Operation Burning Paradise.

*************

To be continued…

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Author's notes:

Chapter is now officially completed, and I want to say thanks to the many readers and hope to hear more comments soon from all of you. See you all on the next chapter!

Okay, I am also now allowing anyone to send me reviews and comments, but like the members of Mediaminer.org, please be sure to be constructive with a critique if you have one, but if it's a flame, them I'm going to kill it.

Looks like Rabat's crimes are about to super kick him in the ass…REAL hard! So what else will happen?

Well, what did you expect? Even criminals can band together when they learn that a threat is leveled against ALL of them, and being turned into spare parts for organ hungry people is one dead serious threat in itself.

So, how many other people will try to kill Rabat now that they know he's the Harvester's prime spy? And what will be his reaction that his own employers, former employers that it, now want him dead?

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Author's Notice:

To Tifalockheart022: In an email you sent me a few weeks before, you requested that after the mission, Jura would try to do something indecent on Kyo. And I have to say I am happy that it met and surpassed your expectations.

Thanks and hope for more comments and reviews soon.

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Important points:

Okay, I think I should explain this before I get too many questions. But the burning one is probably from the fact that most Coordinators in the Gundam SEED anime who are in Kira and Lacus's age gap are considered to be in danger of being sterile. So the question would go like this.

“How could Kyo be born naturally when Coordinators of the Third Generation showed signs of sterility, and his mother Lacus Clyne would be in that category?”

Here's my view of it. In the fact that if you all have seen Gundam SEED, you should know that Kira's NOT a normal Coordinator by any standard, but is in reality an Ultimate Coordinator, so he actually is far superior to BOTH Naturals and Coordinators, add the fact that he is a First Generation Coordinator means that he does not have the danger of sterility as the succeeding generations of Coordinator children do, plus the fact that he has no gene flaws…so to speak due to being the only known `successful' Ultimate Coordinator born. In my point of view, this would allow Kira to have children who share all his traits, combats skills, and most of his Ultimate Coordinator traits.

In my view-point of Lacus being Kyo's mother, she had already received the gene cure at the end of two years in the end of Gundam SEED, and due to the fact that she exhibited certain traits similar to SEED mode, she may have gained a gene side-effect from the SEED that allowed her to have children, kind of like being able to evolve and have kids, this mind you is only MY interpretation to fix in my story so don't expect it in any Gundam SEED forum pages. These ideas were in my mind when I wrote the Prologue of the First Gundam SEED so this will show how Lacus could have children, namely Kyo, and Kyo's younger siblings Mira and Aki.

If anybody has more questions about this and want more clarification, then you can email me, send reviews, or comments. Either way, I'll do what I can to make the picture a load clearer to everyone.

(*) I got inspired by this when I saw a screenshot of another VanDread DVD known as VanDread: Turbulence, in which Dita, Jura, Meia, Ezra, Paiway, Misty, Parfet, and Barnette are in the baths, naked with their assets hidden by their limbs, hair, towels, various postures and positions, (Close enough, but…NOT THAT WAY YOU PERVERTS!) and the mists from the warm water. (What a blasted shame that was!)

Now since this was a bathing scene for the women in the anime, it was VERY interesting! Namely in the eye-candy and fan service departments! As if seeing Dita, Meia, Jura, and Barnette in their normal attire isn't enough eye candy, that picture took the cake (^-^). (I AM a straight guy you know!) But I figured it was time for the women to get the feeling of physical attraction to the men, so I figured I'd do the reverse and have the men in the spring instead.

Hope that this will be acceptable, now if any ladies are reading this part, then I hope that it fits the bill properly. I'm not yet done with it, so we'll see the results of this later on as I work on it more.

(**) Think of a fusion between Faye Valentine of Cowboy Bebop, and Christie Allen of Dead Or Alive, and you've got an idea what Web would look like. Oh Yeah!