The meisters were in their suits preparing to launch when Ailee sent a coded transmission to Setsuna. He quickly read it, and after quickly summarizing it in his brain, he shared this information to others verbally through their communication channels.

"So she was able to do something," Tieria noted.

"Well, she's not a rock, you know," Lockon commented. The feelings of hurt that he'd had against her had quickly dissipated due to her recent contribution. She wasn't as selfish as he'd thought after all.

"Mission plan, Ms. Sumeragi," Setsuna requested.

"We don't know if Ailee's source lied to her about the knights' cooperation. But unless they attack you, don't attack them openly. Continue mission plan as discussed," she instructed, and the boys affirmed this.

"What about the Aegis, Sumeragi?" Ian asked.

"What about the Aegis?" she asked in response.

"Are we sending it out for her?"

She shook her head. "Although Ailee's hopes may be in line with ours, sending out her mobile suit to her may cause misunderstandings. Right now, she is acting as the leader of the North and not as a meister. We will support her plans as discreetly as possible. That is final."

The meisters all agreed to this.

~°~

Ailee paced around her room, her heels clicking nervously. She was wearing an outfit similar to the one she wore the day she'd come, although this one had grander epaulettes and a matching aiguillette. At the moment, she had half a mind to rip the aiguillette off and burn it, but doing so would ruin her uniform and possibly take down her image in the process. Not a lot of people remembered her; she was, after all, just the princess hidden behind the palace walls. She was a face, an image, but never the character on whom the fate of millions of lives hung.

Her phone rang, causing her to jump. She managed to answer it after the first few rings, but didn't have the time to check who it was.

"Ailee, are you sure we can do this?" Dongwoo's voice came from the piece of plastic and metal in her hands.

"I honestly don't know, Dongwoo, but something good is more likely to come of it than not. Are you sure the Knights are willing to help?" she asked.

"Yes, but that's as far as I can get. The news can't spread far if I don't want my brother catching on, and trust me, unless he's on your side, you wouldn't want that," he commented. She remembered him talking fondly of his brother, but she'd never realized that there were things where Dongwoo could not approach his brother for.

"Don't get it wrong," he continued. "He's a good person, and I really admire him. But he's not really thinking any more. He's just following ordrers."

"It's going to be okay, Dongwoo," she whispered to him. "Just don't attack the meisters and they won't attack you. I've received confirmation for that, at least, but they're wary."

"As they should be," Dongwoo affirmed. "Will you be heading out?"

"No," she responded. "I can't. General Chou isn't giving me a machine, and I'm not as indispensable as I once was. My father and my brother aren't around. But I will be giving out orders."

"Do well, Ailee. That is a very difficult position," he encouraged.

"Do well, Dongwoo," she replied. "Your job is difficult as well."

"I have Myungsoo and the guys, Ailee. Sunggyu won't be launching, but he's also helping."

"Just be alive and kicking when the smoke clears," she said. "I wouldn't know what to do without you."

"Same goes here," he replied. "Same goes for me."

~°~

Dongwoo couldn't keep himself still as he sat in the waiting room. His nerves were on end.

A hand firmly latched onto his shoulder, forcing him still while a gentle voice reminded him not to move too much.

"I can't help it," he whined. "I'm just so nervous."

"Prince Dongwoo, nervous?" Jaejoong asked jokingly. "You've never been this nervous before, don't do this now. Your brother will notice, and he will worry. He will ask you of it, and you know how stubborn he can be when he feels like it."

"Beyond understanding," Dongwoo conceeded.

"So you'd best just transfer your strength to preparing yourself for the battle. Your brother might not have agreed, but we knights are behind you. And your greatest supporter is Myungsoo," Jaejoong assured him.

"I know, and for that I am forever grateful," he said.

Jaejoong chuckled. "Your heart truly knows no boundaries." Before he could say more, an announcement blared for the pilots to stand by in their machines--they were approaching the battlefield.

When Dongwoo approached his suit, he realized he'd forgotten his helmet. He was about to run back to the waiting room when Myungsoo called him and handed him his helmet. Despite Jaejoong's gentle words, he'd been so flustered by this upcoming battle that he forgot one of the things he always remembered to bring.

"I'll be right behind you," Myungsoo reminded him before scurrying off to his own suit.

Just before the launch sequence was begun, Jaejoong communicated with all the pilots--Dongwoo included--reminding them of their plan of action. He never mentioned evading the meisters explicitly, but his words were cryptic yet obvious enough that everyone knew what he was talking about. Besides, as the eldest of the knights, it was his job to look after everyone.

They launched by age--Jaejoong first, Yoochun next, Junsu, Changmin before Dongwoo, Woohyun, Hoya, Sungyeol, Myungsoo, and lastly Sungjong. Immediately, each of the pilots headed in different directions to combat their enemies, with Junsu separating himself from the main team by diving into the ocean depths. Most countries did not have underwater mobile suits--it had been a surprising combination of Sunggyu's talent and Junsu's commendable ability to maneuver underwater that allowed him to be the king of the seas. Submarines lacked the agility of his suit, and they were eliminated quite easily. Ships and other sea vessels quickly met their demise as well since they had no way of defending themselves underwater.

Yoochun's strength was in his hand-to-hand combat techniques. His machine was green, and it held, quite aptly, a scythe. Soldiers had come to call him the "Green Reaper" because so far, the only pilots that had been able to escape his scythe's deadly blade were the meisters of Celestial Being.

Changmin was land-based. His machine transformed to and fro between a humanoid shape and a canine form. He quickly ripped through bases with his machine's claws though all of them were firmly attached to the frame. The blackness of his machine resembled the frightening beauty of the darkness and the unknown. But conforming to a loyal canine, he would immediately drop what he was doing to follow his leader's commands.

The team's leader was none other than Jaejoong, the knight that commanded respect from others with his adaptability. Although he did not often go underwater, since his machine was never built for it, he could go head to head with almost any pilot. On the ground, in the air--he could maneuver and out maneuver most pilots. He was known as the "Angel of Death" because his attacks somehow always spared the enemy of painful deaths, or broken lives that lingered like ghosts.

Each of the four older knights had his machine modified by Sunggyu, and they were quite thankful for it. Never had they before experienced such agility and strength, and they were grateful for the fact that Sunggyu was on their side.

~°~

Ailee instructed the North Korean army to strengthen their attacks. She pushed them to give it their all, and then abruptly, she ordered them to gather together and put down their arms.

Before any of the South Korean soldiers could attack, Jaejoong commanded them to stop. Being a Knight, he had a higher rank than any other military official except one of royal lineage.

After reminding her soldiers not to fire, she launched an unarmed mobile suit and sent out a message to all the machines and carriers.

"Attention. My name is Lee Ye Jin," she announced. "To the South Korean army, I ask that you withdraw your arms."

When the machine was securely standing on a flat surface, she opened the cockpit's door. She climbed out and stood at the edge of the cockpit's door. Clad in her all-white ensemble, she was quite the sight to see in the middle of the frozen battlefield.

"I ask that you stop attacking the North," she said. "We have lost enough lives--is it still not enough blood for us to choose another path?"

~°~

"What does this girl think she's doing?" Yunho asked. "Shoot her down, we're taking the North," he commanded, but none of the soldiers moved.

"Jaejoong, shoot down that child," Yunho commanded.

-That is against my code,- Jaejoong responded. -I cannot attack an unarmed civilian.-

"How is that a civilian?"

-All right, an unarmed person,- he ammended.

"Jaejoong, you are my knight. This is insubordination," Yunho warned.

-Yes, if it was the Yunho I pledged my loyalty to that I am talking to. But you're no longer that person.-

"What? I'll deal with you later," Yunho said, and commanded someone else to move, and someone else did.

~°~

-Incoming mobile suit.- Ailee was warned by General Chou, but she knew she couldn't just move away. Going into her mobile suit meant defending herself, and it meant becoming willing to ignite another battle. She bit her lips and hoped that it would not attack her, but General Chou's repetitively urgent warnings told her otherwise.

Just before the mobile suit reached her, it was blocked by another one. One that was white and gold.

"Dongwoo!" she exclaimed in shock.

-Sorry for coming in late,- he told her. -I was still having a debate against my brother.-

"At a time like this?"

She heard him shrug through the radio before he quickly unarmed the soldier's suit. He turned towards Ailee and picked her up with the Lancelot Albion's giant, metallic hand.

He greeted her with a warm smile when he welcomed her into his cockpit.

"What are you doing?" Ailee asked. "We're supposed to be stopping a battle!"

"We are," he replied. "Just a little unconventionally," he winked.

She opened up a communications system with her headquarters, where she was met with a relieved expression from General Chou when she informed him of her safety.

-At this point, what will we do?- he asked.

"I'm going to ask you to wait," she said. "Dongwoo and I will do our best to get this situation under control."

-Roger that,- he affirmed, and let her do what she thought she needed to do.

"We can do this," Dongwoo assured her as they took the next step towards peace.