Welcome!
It's my first fanfiction, so I would like to apologize in advance for my spelling and grammar errors.
It is based in Solid Shark's Falconverse, and published with his authorization and help.
There will be only two changes to the story- one which I can disclose is that Cagalli will end up as Raptors gunner in Helipolis and will travel with Archangel .
As a gesture of gratitude for my reviewers, I will send to anyone who will post a review of my story, a small sneak peak of the next chapter.
Disclaimers
I don't own Gundam SEED. Falcon and co are the property of Solid Shark. I own only my own plot.
Near Orb Resource Satellite Heliopolis, January 24th, C.E. 71
The space was dark, illuminated only by the lights of stars. Well mostly by the stars. The brightest of them wasn't a star at all. Slowly it changed shape as it rose in the view-port of the shuttle. A small light that meant to humans a lot, a place they could call home among the stars. A space colony, probably the last one of the old, so called island 3 type. The name originated probably from the fact, that colonies of this type were anchored on asteroids, which indeed looked like a space island. Only a few of them remained in space at L4, but since the beginning of the war, they were all abandoned. But war was far from here, since there was only one human colony at L3 … A lonely cylinder-colony floating in space, a lone place of peace in the warshaped word. Heliopolis.
Cagalli was mesmerized by the view, as to be expected of someone who had never been in space before. The view was spectacular enough for her to even forget about her mission. Well, almost. She had never been in space before for a reason, or rather, a lot of reasons. Still, since she had escaped her home a week earlier, she felt free at last and enjoyed it a lot more then she would admit. But the mission was important. Since her father denied her information, she would get it herself, no matter what.
Only one problem remained, she was using a fake identity, and that could get a bit complicated if someone found out. Her ID was original, and the papers were ok, one of only perks of being who she was, but still it was a double edge sword – if someone was looking for her here and know which one of a few extra identities she would use, they could send her back before she would finish. Fortunately someone would need to know where to look. And she was sure, that she left enough fake trails to confound even the best. Not that she wasn't careful, it was simply that they were her teachers, that's all. And it wasn't the first time she needed some fresh air and decided to leave on her own.
And at least she would have some help, and with that thought she went back to enjoying the view of the stars.
Cagalli had known Ken over the internet a few years back, before this crazy war. They lost contact long before the Aprils fouls crisis made radio waves ineffective, but a week ago she found him in the Helipolis network. Since he had lived in PLANTS before, she suspected his family wanted a safer place in this days. That was a blessing since Ken was an accomplished hacker in his old days. It would be difficult to contact him if he was at L5, but Helipolis was a part of ORB, and to facilitate communications with homeland, there were a few laser links via satellites and one to Ame No Mishima. Still it enabled only basic communications, so Cagalli was only able to contact Ken via a short e-mail. Since the matter was sensitive, she was waiting to get to Helipolis itself. There the real deal had to be brought via a more secure way.
The blond girl was only an hour from her destination, but for the time being she wanted to enjoy the beauty of space. She was trying not to think about her father, responsibilities, politics and everything that made her life as complicated as it was.
PLANTs , January 24th, C.E. 71
It was a very distinctive feeling, a sign that something might end bad. It usually happened when he was in trouble, big or small. This headache was never wrong. It was only a matter of the magnitude of a mess he was going to get himself into. But there was no way to contact him. Because of the war there was no way of sending any warning if You didn't know where to. And even then, there was no way t know if the warning would arrive on time. There was only a silent prayer that this will be only a small, personal mess, notching more.
XXXX
At the same time in a very bland, looking like thousands of its type, military room with a very typical looking and indeed build in tens of thousand copies military hardware, an experienced soldier was viewing a simulation with eyes wide open. The yesterday result was within what was achieved before by a few of his old comrades, but the person in question was definitely not a soldier, moreover it was someone without any military training at all …
XXXX
War was fought not only in the battlefields but also in the quiet rooms of those with power. It was apparent to them that the war was at a stalemate. Both sides were bleeding, with none having un upper hand at the moment. Yes the recent advance was crucial, but the costs started to pill up. Even small events could tip the war in any side's favor and there were some wild cards on the table. And a few players that either drop off the radar or hadn't participated yet. Those high were starting to divide on what would end it. And since how to end a war was a political matter, a silent, bloodless so far, political struggle was being fought behind the scene. It didn't change since the chancellor Otto von Bismarck who was said to say that less people know about politics, the better they sleep.
One of those that played from the shadows was reading his files once again. A dead end in a decade long investigation, about a project even a master player in this grey field, didn't know nothing more than the codename. And if any of the long forgotten secrets would surface in this war, it could be a weapon. A very potent weapon.
Earth, January 24th, C.E. 71
In a similar room one of the players that viewed it from a sideline was having his own share of troubles. The state of the world and more importantly the war itself was at a stage where he would be force to act in the future. It was probably unavoidable as one shrewd ally of his pointed out some months ago. Still there were missing pieces in the chessboard and one small family problem that did make his headache bigger.
XXXX
ZAFT commander looking on a similar map in his hand under a tropical tree was having a hard time formulating a daring plan to change some of the variables both on his front and of the whole war. He was a bit unfamiliar with this region of the continent, and his target was probably the strongest Eurasian stronghold on Earth but he know that if this campaign doesn't succeed, the repercussions will be severe. He must attack by the middle of the next month. Before the first anniversary of that day.
XXXX
The OMNI high command was playing the same game, but the know that it was now a simple yet brutal one. After losing Taiwan it was either holding until their little pet project succeeds leveling the player field or getting steamrolled before new weapons can be used. It was a waiting game now.
Orb Resource Satellite Heliopolis, January 24th, C.E. 71
It was a peaceful day at the park, but for Kira Yamato it was far from relaxing. The amount of new work was staggering and the professor Kato was a real monster. He sighted, and closed his computer. It was time to get to the lab, and deliver yesterdays work. If he wasn't a Coordinator, he would collapse under the load of work. As it was, he was just starting to collapse slowly. Whatever the good old professor was up to, he needed it fast. And fast enough to not worry too much about safety procedures. They were working on Morgenroete security clearances too high for mere students this days.
XXXX
In professor Kato lab situation was a little more tense. Well it should be, since there was more work then the college students could even dream of completing.
Kira, do you have some spare time?
A lame joke Sai, I wished the day would have a 8 hours more, I'm going to take this work home. Yesterdays took me a day and a half. If this keeps up we should have a 48h working day you know.
Well it could get worse you know.
Tell me about it.
Leaving the lab and his friend Sai, Kira wished to get away from this dull task. Programing, programming, programming. Where are the happy days spent in the Luna prep school he wandered. Where is Athrun this days ? PLANTS were waging a war, and he know that his father was a high profile politician so it was a bit of a moot question but still. Now to only get to that park spot where nobody, well almost nobody know to look for him. It was another dull day all along.
XXXX
Ken DiFalco was leisurely typing on his computer in his own room in Helipolis, when a message came in. Well that was a bit intriguing. He didn't have a lot of friends now and one thing for sure, he didn't had a lot of them here. Well Cagalii Youla was an old acquaintance of His from the time before this nasty furball, so a request for a meeting and a secure chat now was not something he would brush over. He opened a safe communicator, well the safest one he could get here, still a bit of a long shot from the old times but who could be so interested in such a conversation to get a real code-breaker to work on it when there was a war outside? He started typing:
Hello amigo.
Hello to you Ken.
What brings you to Helipolis and what can I help you?
I'll be direct. Sorry for asking all out of the blue, and I will understand if You refuse but I need a hacker.
Hmm it sounds interesting, and a bit illegal? Care to explain?
I need to know what is going on in Morgenroete. There are strange gossips in ORB about Earth Forces MS program being conducted here.
Well that sounds interesting, amigo.
And illegal, sorry. I will repay you with what I can.
Amigo, don't even try, we're friends. And besides I don't need money.
Are You sure? Won't it require some funds to simply start looking?
No problem, I'm in Morgenroete College by the way. Can we meet there tomorrow?
Sure. Where?
Professor Kato lab, I think You are looking for him as well?
You read my mind partner. Can I trust You?
Sure, how long had it been?
Well, yeah.
Plus I'm a bit interested myself. See you tomorrow, I will try to dig something. Over and Out.
Cagalii closed her computer waiting in the line to the border guard. Well she thought, he sounded almost like a military, but I always remembered he was a martial artist not a soldier. A martial arts maniac, but still a civilian. The guard waived at her, and the control begin. Her papers were as genuine as the could be. The only danger of being discovered could come if father had sounded the alarm and gave her photo to military and she was sure he would do that only if he had no other way…
XXXX
Ken was a lot more interested then he would tell Cagalli. Well, he thought, the OMNI is getting on the right track, I would bet a fortune that admiral Hamilton is at least partially behind this.
He started his terminal, securing a connection that couldn't be followed by most, well almost none of the regular coordinators, and it was needed if he wanted to get information without being tracked down. Lesson Fifteen: There is a time for the headsman's axe, and a time for the assassin's knife. It was going to be a very interesting evening…
XXXX
In the dark, underground computer room in the Morgenroete building a women was typing with frustration… well it was to be expected. Her masterpiece was so complex that getting an OS to simply move the thing…and she was wondering how to get the remote weapon moving. Well there were pilots that could make it move but all besides one were lost at Endymion. Well there was at least a few candidates and one of them good enough to pass but all were still on the battlefront on Earth. Since the project was approved long before they run out of pilots and since it was still better then the incomplete striker pack it got the priority. Still, since there was a gunner to operate it, that might just work. Emphasize on might. There was no pilot in Atlantic Federation that could pull that off and move the MS at the same time., not that he would had to operate everything himself. There was still hope.
Note to self : After this is over I will request that the so called Hawk of Endymion be transfer here to get the bugs out of those striker packs. They may be the best weapons we have, but they are a pain to the ass to get them in working condition. And since he may be related to my personal knowledge gathering, two birds of pray with one stone.
She started typing memos about the maintenance again. It was a new weapon, but as they say, Logistics win the war. No weapon could win a work without ammo, fuel and mechanics. At least chief Murdoch mechanics were bright enough to understand most of it at the first reading. Well, being selected as the best of the best was probably a reason. Oh, what he would do to get back on Earth again.
At that moment she realized something was up. The files she was working on were opening a lot longer then they should. She twisted her head and addressed a technisian on the other side of the room.
Check the network, somethings not right.
On it.
I will help, what do you got?
The files are being read by some program I don't know. Could it be someone from Morgenroete?
Let me check it. Try to locate the terminal which runs that program.
A minute... Terminal 51, there's no such terminal! It's a hacker! He's tring to get the files!
Separet the network! Fast!
She grabbed the cables and simply pooled the plugs on her workstation. The old fashion way was also the best way. After that, she looked at her black screen. Well, now we have to report it all. What a way to start a day. Since it was impossible to get a connection from outside the colony it could mean somebody was interested in Morgenroete. Notching new, but if that person got a good look onto the files and get the world to ZAFT it could spill trouble… Now it meant only that she would have to report this. And nobody would be happy about that…
XXXX
Ken was smiling. Well they got the network disconnected, probably the hard way but he got what he wanted. Now only to get the files to Cagalli, and a good copy to someone who could use it. Well, Tom should see it, he would be really surprised how good Naturals, well scratch that, ORB engineers (he know that there would be a few bright Coordinators and at least some pretty good Naturals there) were in the MS department. Still time left, and nothing to do, he glanced at the MS-s Operating System. The call that a system, it has more holes then the Swiss cheese. Calling it a disaster was saying it lightly. In reality it would be difficult just to move the machine with it. He looked through his old files, found an old one, his old masterpiece. Looking at it, he smiled. Maybe a little exercise in writing something better to shave some free time? Since he wasn't sleeping too well lately it could be at least partially interesting.
XXXX
Murrue Ramius was not pleased with the hacking incident. Well, she was only the engineer, but the safety of the G-weapons were her responsibility. Since pilots for those would arrive tomorrow,and because of that hacker, the captain decided that all spare parts, ammunition, striker-packs that they couldn't complete by tommorow, as well as not needed coplete spare ones were to be transferred to the Archangel. Since they were less conspicuous then the MS-es, everytching that weren't needed for the final tests, was now being moved to the ships hangar, in case of an attack. It was rushed, but still it was best to load all the ammunition and spares before loading the most important components. Especially since the space were they belonged was at the back of the main hangar. And especially since they were taking everything that might be needed for the prototypes plus a kitchen sink. It was a history long tradition that new equipment had it's quirks and needed a lot more care before becoming, old standard trusted weapon. She was reading through the manifests and documents were one of the technicians came:
What about the gunbarrel pack mam, we don't have it on the list?
Load it on. We don't have time and manpower to finish working on it and we already have enough problems with the Raptor. Besides there are a lot of spare Moeubious Zero parts on the ship since they send them after Endymion here. That will help chief Murdoch to get that thing together on our way to the moon.
But they say we don't have a pilot for that?
We don't and we won't probably. There are only two men in all OMNI that have enough of spatial awareness to fly that thing after Endymion, and only one of them is a pilot. Last time I herd, the other was still a tank company commander, and refused to go to space.
Well, maybe they can find someone by the time we reach lunar orbit.
Let's hope so, but since it's equal to daydreaming, let's worry about that later. We have now a lot of work that has to be done and fast.
On it mam.
She got back to work. At least it was something to keep the mind of the war. They are going into the thick of it again soon. Good thing she was only a engineer, not someone with the responsibility for others lives.
XXXX
As night, well an artificial night, enveloped Heliopolis, some went to sleep with the resolve to solve mysteries, some with work done half-way or a thought of battles ahead, and some with the battles they couldn't get away from even in sleep.
A long distance from Helipolis, but nevertheless closing on it were 3 ships. One old OMNI ship on a special mission and following it two ZAFT weasels. No one know that it was only a day before the course of the war and history would change at the peaceful Helipolis. The gears of history were starting to turn again.
