Gundam Seed: Silent Redemption

By: Kara Aconoe

Author's Notes: Silent Redemption takes place during the time just before the battle for ORB. The original characters used are from War Torn but follow a more true story line than that of the role play turned fanfiction. This entire story is written solely by myself with insight from peers and fellow Gundam Seed fans. Unlike War Torn, this story revolves completely around the plot of Gundam Seed, however some exceptions may be made. Some original characters have been changed from that of their appearance in War Torn so be warned that having read that story does not account for every truth in this.

Phase 1: Misplaced Innocence

A young girl made her way around an Earth Alliance base in the Atlantic Federation. Having heard strange rumors about the military's new developments she found it her duty to investigate. Using any means by which as camouflage, she dashed from object to object and hid in the shadows from crowds of soldiers and mechanics as she slowly searched for what she was looking for. 'If the Earth Alliance really does plan to retaliate against that mishap at Panama then they will have no choice but to use this special weapon of theirs...' she thought as she rounded another corner.

"Hey you, what the hell do you think you're doing? This area's restricted!" came a voice behind her. It was one of the commanding officers. He had spotted her and noticed her suspicious activities along with her unusual attire. Taking hold of the child's arm he forced her to turn around as he scanned over her. Her eyes gleamed in the sunlight as a clouded grey and her pitch black hair was a little longer than shoulder length, with faint traces of silver highlighting certain areas. She wore a white shirt covered by a black vest with sleeves that extended to her elbows and two belts that overlapped atop her plain blue jeans that seemed to be ripped in a few areas. The officer gave a slight sigh as he motioned for one of the nearby soldiers. "Take this girl to the captain." stated the officer as he shifted his glance over to her slightly.

"Er... uh... B-But sir, isn't she just a child..?" questioned the soldier, a bit hesitantly. It seemed to annoy the officer as he somewhat shoved the girl over by the soldier's side. He scrambled to help her from falling as he gently took hold of her arm and straightened her position.

"Fool! Do not question our orders! We are to let nothing interfere with our current operation, including civilians. I'm sure Azrael will find some use for the likes of her..." answered the officer as he turned face and made his way back to his earlier work. The soldier gave out a slight sigh as he looked down at the girl.

"I'm sorry about this but I have to follow my orders." he said quietly as he ushered the young girl over to the main command center. She did not try to resist but rather wished to see just who was in charge of this ongoing operation.

All around them there were ships being boarded by what she could only assume to be the new Earth Forces mobile suits. It looked like they had been in mass production as she spotted numerous entering a nearby ship. Soldiers and mechanics were scrambling every which way as they tended to maintenance. It was then she came back to reality as she felt a slight tug at her arm. The soldier looked down at her slightly as he was about to open the door.

"We're here." he stated as he led them both forward. Inside two men were having a discussion. One was dressed in a white suit with a purple tie, the other donned an Earth Alliance uniform of white which showed his higher ranked position. The two stopped their conversation as their gazes shifted to the intruder. The door shut behind the soldier as he quickly saluted.

"What are you doing here?" questioned the captain as he raised a brow in question.

"Sir!" he said as he eased his position and pushed the girl forward somewhat, presenting her to his superiors. The man dressed in the white suit suddenly had a questionable look on his face as he approached the girl with an awkward expression.

"My, my, my... What do we have here?" he asked as he knelt down and looked her in the eyes. She stepped back suddenly, something about the man sent a chill down her spine like he was pulling over something with his devious expressions.

"Sirs, we found her wandering around the area. My officer thought it best if I reported her directly to-."

"Nonsense! You butt in here all because of some child you found!" interrupted the captain with an irritated look that seemed to send a clear message to the now near trembling cadet.

"N-No... sir... I-I... um..." stammered the soldier as he began to back away as well.

"Now, now. No need to waste your breath on such formalities. Why don't you go back to what you were ordered to do and leave us now, eh?" proposed the man in the suit as he stood back up and folded his arms. The captain turned to face the man with a look of question.

"Um... but sir, the child?" asked the soldier almost sheepishly as he seemed afraid to step an inch out of line before the men.

"We'll deal with her personally, now go back to your duties." stated the man as the soldier quickly saluted and scurried his way out of the room. As the door closed behind him the captain approached the man in the suit, an angered look on his face that was filled with questions.

"Yes Azrael, what of the child!" he demanded swiftly as he sent his glare off to her. Azrael seemed to push the captain aside somewhat seemingly to clear his space as he dusted himself off a bit.

"Now captain no need to be so abrupt." Just then another door opened as three soldiers entered into the room wearing the standard Earth Alliance uniforms but each had styled them differently. The three all wore somewhat blank expressions on their faces as they filed into the room. "Ah well look who it is." remarked Azrael a bit sarcastically.

"Hmph. Who gave you three permission to come here?" questioned the captain. They all sent him a blank stare as if ignoring him purposely.

"That's all my fault of course." stated Azrael truthfully as he raised his hands in front of himself in their defense. "I never did give them proper instructions."

"You are to board the ship. We are to head on to ORB soon." answered the captain as he made his way over to a desk and sat behind it.

"But of course." replied Azrael as he waved his hands about until they rested on his sides. "Now boys, you heard the man. Get going." he commanded to the three as they sent him cold glares and a few annoyed sneers. All the while the girl was still frozen in place near the other door, trying her best not to be noticed. It was when she took a last step back that the captain and Azrael's gazes shifted over to her.

"Azrael..." said the captain a bit coldly.

"Ah yes, right, right!" he responded. He turned slightly as the three were about to leave the room. "Oh and boys I need you to take her with you." Azrael stated as he motioned to the girl.

"Why the hell should we?" questioned the tallest one in the group with an annoyed expression. Azrael sent them a cold glare as he placed his hand under his chin.

"Do you plan to go against my orders? Now boys you know what happens when you disobey me." he snapped back slyly as the three immediately stopped their advance. An ominous feeling seemed to fill the room as the girl looked closely at the three of them. It was as if they were trembling, but on the inside. "Well..?" he asked a bit testily as his foot began to tap impatiently. The reality of the situation finally sunk into their minds as they all made their way to the girl and ushered her from the room. "I'll be coming to check on your performances soon, until then do what you will but don't get in the way." he advised as they all filed back out of the room.

"Just what is it you have in mind? What could those three possibly need with her?" questioned the captain, a bit curious as to what he had in mind.

"Those three can be a bit troublesome at times... Maybe she can be used an insurance that their performances will increase. I doubt all that training took away every human tendency." replied Azrael as he leaned against the desk. "Besides I may have future use of her. That child is obviously orphaned and to have made it past so many high security areas is quite impressive for someone her age. Don't you agree?"

"Leave your experiments for later, Muruta. My troops are heading onto a battlefield." remarked the captain as he turned his chair away from Azrael and motioned for him to leave.

"But of course. Always for the future and preservation of our blue and natural world." stated Azrael with a bow as he made his way out in the same direction the three had entered.

The three soldiers continued their walk. The tallest one was behind her, he had his arms crossed and was staring ahead, the girl wasn't that tall considering what age she appeared so it was understandable for them to be able to ignore her. To her left and right were the other two, the one on her left had his hands roughly shoved into his pockets and was slumped forward a bit as he trudged with each step and his left eye was covered by his long green hair. The one to her right seemed a bit shorter than the other two but was still taller than herself by far. He had a testy expression on his face as he shifted his gaze from ship to ship as they approached the entrance.

She was being led by them, trying to keep up with their movements until they finally reached the door and she froze in place not quite knowing what to do. The three finally realized they had been crowding around her and nearly jumped back. They had been getting the strangest glances from all those around them and they couldn't figure out why until they looked back down at the girl. 'Please help me...' she thought as she dropped her head and tried to act as invisible as possible, a slight coloring coming to her face.

"Hey you three!" came the voice of another officer. "Get going already, those mobile suits of yours have been loaded onto the vessel already." he stated as he motioned over to a ship nearby. They all immediately straightened themselves out as they looked to the ship, back at each other and then toward the girl. She was in a bit of a huddled position, her head between her legs, trying to stay as completely invisible as she could. The red haired one approached the tall blonde one and took a glance back at the girl.

"Better get her before that ship leaves." commented the redhead as he began to walk off. The tall one's eye twitched some as he took a big step forward and grabbed him by his shirt collar, pulling him in closer.

"Hell no! You do it!" he shouted at him, still holding him tightly by the collar. The two exchanged glares for a while as neither wished to take hold of the child. The green haired boy just stared at the two blankly as he shrugged and gave a slight sigh. Taking his hands from his pockets he approached the girl who was now half awake and place his hand on her shoulder. Her eyes sprang open as she turned back to see him looking down at her.

"Come on..." he said a bit hushed as he held out his hand for her and helped her back to her feet. The two had stopped their argument as they watched their friend assist the girl. The finally let go of each other and sighed as they all made their way toward the ship. The red-haired one was now in the lead, his hands crossed behind his head as he gazed up at the sky slightly while the blonde followed suit beside him, his arms still folded. The green haired one was a bit behind the two, he stared forward still holding onto the girl's hand as he followed along silently. It seemed to her as if they were all in deep thought but about what she did not know. 'Who are they..?' she thought to herself as she kept up with their pace and soon drifted off into thought as well. It wasn't until she felt a slight tug at her arm that she came back to her senses and looked up to see the three staring back down at her.

They were in front of a door to a room, they had seemed to enter the ship without her knowledge. Why they had stopped in front of the room, however, she did not quite understand. The boy had let go of her hand and they were now positioned in a long stretched hallway.

"What are we supposed to do now..?" questioned the redhead as he looked down at the girl curiously. The green haired boy shrugged again as the blonde gave a slight sigh and looked down at the girl with a bit of an annoyed expression.

"I guess we have to... take her in with us, right..?" he questioned a bit as he leaned against the door behind him. "I mean we were ordered to, weren't we..?" The three spent a few moments of shifting gazes and nods of understanding as they finally looked back to the girl. The blonde one turned around to open the door as he sent a glance back to the girl and finally addressed something directly to her. "I don't know who exactly you are but our orders are to keep an eye on you. You follow what we say, understand?" She nodded in understanding as he turned himself back to the room and shook his head slightly. 'Why do we have to do this..?' he thought a bit miserably as the three filed into the room. There were three beds and a couch in the room along with a chair in the corner. They had all made it to what she thought as their respective beds. She decided it best to just stand the corner and not tread into areas in which were not hers to disrupt. A silence soon engulfed the room as the three laid back in their beds and stared up at the ceiling.

Finally the silence was broken as the red-haired boy got up and was making his way to the door when the ship began to move. The sudden movement caused her to lose balance as she nearly fell over if it wasn't for the help from the boy. She had fallen back into his arms as he help straighten her out he looked at her carefully as she exchanged glances with him. The two others had sat up in their beds as they observed the situation and were a bit surprised about the movement as well.

"You should be more careful..." he said to her a bit sternly, she simply nodded. "Come to think of it... what's your name anyway? That is, unless you'd rather be called 'kid' all the time." he remarked as he lead her over to his bedside where he sat down again. The other two seemed to lean in closer as they too were a bit curious as to who she was.

"It's... Ai, Aiorem Heiwa..." she answered a bit quietly as she turned away from them. They all seemed to lighten up a bit at the sound of her voice, at least as far as she could tell.

"Ai, huh?" he said as he changed his position on the bed, leaned his back against the pillow and stretched out.

"What exactly were you doing around here anyway? I mean don't kids normally go to parks to play or something?" questioned the blonde a bit abruptly.

"I got lost..." she replied, but it was plain to see she was lying to them. She had come there for a reason, to see just what the military's new mobile suits were but so far she had yet to see the three models in which she had heard rumor of. The three raised a brow to her answer, even they weren't blind to see when someone was lying to their faces. However, they weren't exactly the type to press such questions.

"Well... what about your family?" questioned the redhead once more as he leaned his head up a bit and faced her.

"Yeah! Why didn't your family come and find you?" added the blonde as he leaned in closer, nearly falling off the side of his bead. Her eyes seemed to grow a bit darker at the comment. All the while the green haired boy had been idly listening in but at the sight of her sudden shifts in body language he could tell there was something different.

"My family..?" she questioned slightly. "I don't have a family anymore..." a slight tear dropped from her eyes but she failed to notice. The three immediately stopped their questioning after the sudden change in atmosphere. They all now had looks on their faces that showed a bit of understanding, all but one of course...

"How old are you, Ai..?" asked the green haired boy who was now at her side. She looked up at him, for she had failed to notice him move. It seemed she wasn't the only one too as both of the other boys nearly jumped in place at the sound of his voice. He knelt down to her eye level as he looked deeply into her eyes.

"I'm ten..." she answered softly as she suddenly felt the water in her eyes beginning to well up. The boy seemed to shoot back up to his feet from her answer as all of their eyes widened. 'TEN!' they thought in disbelief as they looked at the girl. The room slowly resumed it's silence as the three all quieted themselves trying to accept the fact that they had been entrusted with the life of some ten-year-old orphan who was found wandering around the base. They were all trailing off in thought until they heard the sound of a slight 'thump'. All of their gazes shifted to the cause of the noise as they sprang from their beds and looked down. It was then they found the source of the noise; Ai had fallen asleep on the floor suddenly.

"Gah! That kid's gonna give me a heart attack..." muttered the blonde as he grasped his chest and took a deep breath.

"Then maybe we should leave her with you, Orga. Maybe then we can get some quiet." snickered the redhead as he leaned back in his bed again. Orga sent him a fierce glare.

"Oh shut up, Crot!" he sneered as he raised a fist in defense and was about to strike, Crot now with a smug expression on his face as he awaited the strike.

"Come on, just try it!" he taunted, leaving himself wide open.

"Why you little-..."

"Shut up..." came an irritated growl from a familiar voice.

"What now, Shani?" questioned Orga as he held his strike but kept his fist ready. Shani sent them both a cold glare but then motioned toward the little body now huddled on the floor trying to keep warm.

"Oh yeah, the kid..." Crot muttered as he turned to see her on the floor. She was shivering a bit and trying to huddle her body for warmth but on the cold floor it wasn't helping very well. The three were now all gathered around her, each exchanged nervous glances to and from the girl. "Uh... what do we do with her?" questioned Crot. Shani shrugged and Orga was busy clearing his throat.

"We can't leave her on the floor..." stated Shani as he gazed down at Ai who was still struggling for warmth. Crot and Orga shifted their gazes to Shani with a questioning look. Such talk from him was unusual. Heck, any talk from him was out of the ordinary for the trio.

"Well then what do we do with her?" Orga finally asked. The three then commenced a bit of silence as they all went into thought of what to do with the child. The silence was broken when Shani felt a tug at his pant leg. While she was sleeping Ai had grasped onto his pant leg by mistake, however she wasn't about to let go either. He took a step back, but to little avail as his other leg was still grasped tightly by the child's firm grip. "Well that answers that." said Orga as he wallowed over to his bed.

"Yeah, have a nice sleep there, Shani." teased Crot as he too went back to his bed.

"Dammit..." he growled under his breath at the cruel turn of events. 'I never asked for this...' he thought as he sent the child a glare, though it had little effect.

Giving a sigh of defeat he knelt down and attempted to gently pick her up. This caused her to finally let go of his pant leg as he held her in his arms and set her down on the couch. He then made his way to his own bed as he dropped onto the mattress and stared up at the ceiling until his eyelids became too heavy for him to stay awake any longer.

'Then again we never asked for anything... but to live...'