I
"Calling Ticonderoga, calling Ticonderoga. This is ZAFT Vessel Agememnon. Do you read us?" said Athrun into the comm-link.
"This is docking station Ticonderoga. Agememnon, we read ya' loud and clear. What is your request?"
"Requesting docking procedures. We have a consignment of detection equipment for you."
"Very well. Do you have your code?" Athrun turned to Kira.
"You remember it?" Kira nodded.
"Like the back of my hand." He meant that quite literally. Turning over his hand, he read aloud the numbers written in heavy black marker. "Code is one-four-one-E-H-Z."
"Agememnon, please confirm. Clearance code is one-four-one-Echo-Hotel-Zulu?"
"That's correct." There was a pause.
"You are cleared for docking. Lower your shields and we will being docking procedures."
"Roger that. Shields will be down in thirty seconds." Athrun leaned back in his chair and spun in a full circle before letting out a sigh. It had been almost a year since Jachin Due and the end of the war. Ticonderoga had been completed three months ago as symbol of future cooperation between Earth and the PLANTs. Soldiers on both sides had been redeployed to work as part of a peacekeeping effort. Because Athrun was primarily trained for spec-ops he wasn't very useful as a peacekeeper and so was relegated to the position of a supply and logistics officer. Kira had resigned his position in the Alliance, but volunteered as a civillian volunteer through a program at Martius University.
"Shields will be down in twenty seconds." said the ship's automated voice. Athrun groaned. "Did you ever see this coming?" Kira turned to his friend. "This logistics crap. I mean honestly, I didn't see us becoming baggage handlers." Kira shook his head.
"Yes but it's for a good cause. Someday we can tell our children we were part of the great reconstruction." Sometimes Athrun wondered if Kira ever wrote out his responses before he made them. He did at times seem too optimistic.
"I would rather be with the peacekeeping force. At least then we could be utilize what we know to put down Blue Cosmos." Kira shuttered. Despite the fact that their leader was dead, Blue Cosmos was not being quiet. It still caused Kira shudders knowing there were people out there calling for the extermination of people like Athrun and himself.
"You know the treaties ban special operations. This is supposed to be a peacekeeping operation."
"Eh."
"Shields will be down in ten seconds."
"Logos, you are cleared for docking as soon as your shie…." The comm-link was suddenly cut off and static rose from the speakers.
"What the hell…" said Athrun as he turned back to the control panel. A red light began to flash and the panels began blinking. "There's a major energy surge in the vacinity. I'm putting the shields back up." Kira pointed out the window.
"Athrun! Look!" he shouted. Outside was indeed a bizarre sight. It looked as though there were ripples moving silently across the sky and obscuring the view of the station. "Je-sus…" the ripples passed the station and slammed into the Agememnon, shaking it violently and throwing both boys from their seats. After several second the ship became still again. "Are you okay?" asked Kira.
"Yeah, I think so." Athrun felt liquid running down his face. He touched his brow and looked at his fingers to see blood. "Shit. Maybe not. I opened my brow." He stood up slowly and went back into the sleepy compartments to look for the first aid kid. Hardly thirty seconds had passed before Kira shouted again.
"Athrun! Ticonderoga!"
"Yeah, what about it?"
"It's gone!"
"What do you mean it's gone?"
"I mean what I said. The damn station has dissapeared."
"Kira, a space station doesn't simply dissapear." said Athrun as he walked into the cockpit while pressing a bandage to his forehead "You must still be recovering from the…oh my god." It was true what he had said. There was no sign of docking station Ticonderoga.
"I'll see if I can get a hold of it on the comm. Maybe we just got thrown out of its view." said Kira. " Ticonderoga, this is the ZAFT vessel Agememnon. Ticonderoga, this is Logos, do you hear me?" There was no response. He changed to the distress frequency. "Can anyone hear me? This is the ZAFT vessel Agememnon calling anyone in the immediate area." There were several minutes of silence before a broken, staticky voice came through the speaker. "This is…Air...ship Mamayev. A..memnon we…you." Kira fine tuned the frequency. Mamayev made no sense to either of them. If it wasn't in the ZAFT or the Alliance fleet, the only other explanation was that it a Merchant Union vessel. Third party trading, however, had been temporarily suspended due to the peacekeeping agreements.
"Mamayev, your name doesn't check out with us. Are you a ZAFT or Alliance vessel?"
"What are you talking about?"
"Can you identify as a ZAFT or Alliance vessel?"
"Neither. We don't know what you're talking about. We are the Air Force Ship Mamayev. Logos you are not registered in our database." Both boys looked at each other.
"That can't be. We just indentified with Ticonderoga."
"That name doesn't mean anything to us either. Stand down and prepared to be boarded.
"But…"
"Stand down and prepared to be boarded or you will be fired upon." Given that ultimatum they saw little choice than to obey. The Logos had no weapons onboard. Its primary means of defense was its speed.
"Alright. We're shutting down our engines."
"Good. Send us your coordinates." Athrun followed suit and gave them two sets of numbers. Ten or so minutes later a shadow moved over the Agememnon. Athrun and Kira looked out opposite sides of the cockpit as the enormous ship came to a halt over them. "We will now initiate the boarding process. You have an overhead hatch we presume."
"Yes." The comm-link shut off. A seconds later they heard the Mamayev's vaccuum tube attaching itself to their hull, followed by a burst of compressed air. The hatch opened and icy wind rushed into the ship. The first person to drop down was dressed in neither in khaki or red. He wore an olive green uniform with red piping around his collar and cap and high leather jackboots. Slung over his shoulder was a rifle of unknown design. He was followed soon after by another man in the same uniform.
"Alright. You two up against the wall with your hands in plain sight until the Captain arrives." Both complied, leaving their arms at their sides. Soon, they heard the sound of more leather jackboots descending the ladder from the airlock. As the Captain appeared, both were shocked to see his face. He jumped down and brushed the frost off his uniform, which was the same cut as the two others, but his was a much deeper forest green with epaulets. In addition, he wore a distinctive medal on his left breast consisting of a small gold star attached to a short red ribbon.
"Dearka?" said Athrun.
"That's Captain Elthman."