Naruto looked out over at the city of Armory One and couldn't deny that it truly was a beautiful sight

Naruto looked out over at the city of Armory One and couldn't deny that it truly was a beautiful sight. Even though he was in space, he had always enjoyed the natural beauty and smells of nature. It was good to see that even though countless wars had ruined Earth beyond compression that there were still some people out there willing to recreate the once beautiful atmosphere of Earth. Too bad they weren't doing it down on Earth and merely doing it to make their colonies look beautiful.

He didn't get to appreciate the sight any further when the elevator stopped and he turned away from the beautiful sight. Calmly, he made his way past the secretary and entered the temporary office of Chairman Durandal while he stayed at Armory One. The Chairman looked up and smiled when he realized who it was that entered his office.

"Commander Uzumaki, it is good to see you. I hope the past week here as been to your satisfaction," smiled Chairman Durandal.

Naruto was dressed in red and black ZAFR uniform that was customized designed just for him. On the right collar was a small pin, that let all ZAFT personal know that he was a member of FAITH.

"Chairman, you wished to speak with me," said Naruto as he stood in front of the man.

"Yes, I was hoping you could give me your honest opinion on what you think of the new mobile suits being put into production," said Durandal as gestured for Naruto to have a seat.

"The Gundams or the new ZAKU units?" asked Naruto as he took a seat in one of the comfortable chairs. Durandal smirked at that because if there was one thing about Naruto that he respect it was his insight. The Chairman had no doubt that Naruto could easily find out anything he wanted to, but instead merely did his duty and nothing more.

"I was hoping you could give me your opinion on the new Gundams put in production," answered Durandal as he leaned back in his chair.

"They are all powerful mobile suits, but because of how they are built they each have a weakness that I am sure you know all about," replied Naruto.

"Yes, I am aware that the Gaia, Abyss, and Chaos each have a very exploitable weakness, but I do wonder what you think of the Impulse. I have great hopes for that mobile suit," smiled Durandal with a gleam in his eyes.

"The Impulse is no different then the Strike except it uses a different power source. I believe both mobile suits are a liability in battle," said Naruto to the surprise of Durandal.

"Why do you say that?" asked Durandal curiously.

"It is a Gundam designed to reach optimum efficiency by being able to change its parts during battle to fit any situation. That is the main problem with it. Those few seconds that it takes to change gear, leaves it wide open for an attack that any smart opponent would take advantage of. It would need to work in tangent with some other mobile suits that have some competent pilots to cover it while it changes gear," explained Naruto.

"Hmm, I never thought of it like that and I do see your point," confessed Durandal thoughtfully while Naruto looked at him blankly.

"Gundam Epyon has a weakness in that it has no long-range capabilities though its incredible speeds and maneuverability do make up for it," said Naruto as he finished evaluation of the Gundams.

"Yes, I have received several requests from certain factions wishing to study your mobile suit. Not that I can blame them since your Gundam is obviously different from any other Gundam I have seen," said Durandal with a small smile.

"If you wish to see its capabilities then prepare a real life battle simulation in space and I will show what it is capable of. If it is just my own abilities you worry about then, assign me a ZAKU and I will use that instead for the simulation," said Naruto.

"I take it you know about the meeting I had about two days ago with several of the members of the board," chuckled Durandal.

"If they really want me dead that badly then give them the opportunity. If they should succeed or fail they won't be able to bother you anymore because you gave them the chance," said Naruto.

"You could always change your appearance and take on a different name like I first suggested," smiled Durandal.

"I don't hide from anyone," replied Naruto as his eyes narrowed slightly and Durandal backed off a bit.

"I understand, I just wish we didn't lose so many fine soldiers," sighed Durandal as he remembered the many assassins Naruto would bring in, but they would always use a poison on themselves before they could be interrogated.

"I will look for a proper mobile suit while you schedule the battle simulation," said Naruto as he got up and left the office. Durandal watched him go with a contemplative look on his face.

Break

It was the middle of the night, and all the lights in the colony were out. At first look, it would seem all was quiet, but to the trained eye, one could vaguely make out a group of men breaking into one of the hangars.

"Sir, we are in," whispered one of special forces men.

"Good, let's hurry up and destroy this mobile suit then we will go after that damn Natural pilot," replied the leader with a large grin on his face. The others just nodded with a determined look in their eyes as they all snuck into the hangar undetected.

It didn't take them long before they were all standing in front of a demonic looking Gundam. They stared up at it in anger because they knew who piloted it and still couldn't believe the man had been allowed to come anyone near the PLANTs let alone join ZAFT.

"Get the explosives and set them to go off in five minutes," said the leader. All he received was silence, which caused him to front as he turned around and his eyes widened in horror. He started to back up in fear as he stared into the emotionless sky blue eyes of Commander Uzumaki and all around him lay the unconscious bodies of the special ops members.

"Surrender," said Naruto as his eyes bored into the man.

"Damn you, you are nothing, but a monster," yelled the leader as he grabbed his machine gun. Just as he pulled the trigger, a large mechanical fist came between him and Naruto much to his shock.

"You should have surrendered," said a voice from behind him before he felt a chop to his neck.

"Thank you Epyon," nodded Naruto as the Gundam's arm returned to its side. He then started to gather up the unconscious special ops soldiers. This had to be the tenth or so attack on him or his Gundam since he had arrived at Armory One. It was kind of sad how the Coordinators believed that their enhanced genes would give them an advantage against him. Reminded him of the many clans he had faced in his past who thought they were better due to their own special gifts. Some people would never learn that true strength and power was earned not given to you at birth.

ZAFT Council

"Chairman Durandal, letting this man join the ranks of ZAFT is absolutely ridiculous. I don't know what you were thinking of when you decided to make this decision, but it was highly foolish of you," said one of the Generals as his eyes burned in anger.

"I have to agree with him, he is responsible for the destruction of Boaz, and countless soldiers who fought for ZAFT. Don't you think once people start to realize who he is that others will start to question your sanity?" said a woman as she peered over at Durandal.

"I know it may have seem I made a completely irrational and hasty decision, but I believe with him on our side we are much safer then if he were to rejoin the Earth Forces. You saw what the destructive power he wielded when he was our enemy so it makes much more sense to have him as an ally," said Durandal calmly. The other council members may not like to admit, but what he said was the absolute truth. The man was a major threat to them during the Blood Valentine War and they really couldn't afford to have him as enemy again.

"If it will make you happy, he has agreed to participate in a real-life battle simulation. He is willing to go up some of our best pilots and won't even use his Gundam if it will appease you all. I am sure he will even go so far as to allow the pilots to go for killing blows against him while he will limit himself to only immobilizing his opponents," smiled Durandal as he knew they would jump at this opportunity. He really had to thank Naruto for the idea because it would get them off his back permanently.

"How do we know we can trust him to keep up his end?" asked the General from earlier.

"Simple, his mobile suit will have a self-detonation switch attached to it and should he break any of the rules or turn on us then you can activate the self-destruct mechanism," replied Durandal simply.

"Fine, but I want our best pilots," said the General with a smirk. He planned to pick there best pilots along with the newest models to make sure that this Naruto Uzumaki didn't survive this simulation.

"Good, I will have it scheduled a week from now and I will allow our current ZAFT trainees watch the fight so they can learn something about live combat," smiled Durandal as he got and left the room.

'I do hope you put on a good show Naruto, I look forward to what you can do,' thought Durandal with a smirk as he headed towards his office.

Armory One: Gundam Epyon Hangar

Naruto was sitting in the cockpit of Epyon with the ZERO system activated as he looked over the many possible mobile suits there were. Unlike with the Earth Forces, ZAFT were first to design mobile suits so they had a much larger selection to choose from. Using the ZERO systems, he was able to receive detailed information on each mobile suit in a matter of seconds and had narrowed his choices down to two mobile suits.

The first one was a ZAKU Gunner (ZAKU that Lunamaria pilots), which excelled in long-range combat and had close-combat capabilities. He usually didn't like using guns and weapons such as those, but he had to be realistic. There was no doubt in his mind that he would be facing some of the best pilots they had and he would need a mobile suit that could fight against multiple opponents. This mobile suit had impressive long-range capabilities and he could definitely use it to his advantage. The only problem was that it was a fairly new mobile suit and not many were put in production yet.

The other mobile suit was the ZGMF-601R GuAIZ R that was currently in mass production, but was about to be replaced by the ZAKU units. It had two rail cannons, one on each hip along with a beam saber mounted on the left arm. Came with 2 x MMI-GAU2 "Picus" 76mm CIWS, fire-linked, mounted in head and a MA-MV05 composite shield. The mobile suit was also came with a powerful beam rifle as an optional weapon.

'There is no denying ZAFT's genius when it comes to designing weapons of mass destruction,' thought Naruto as he went over each mobile suit. After going over there capabilities a few more times, he deactivated the ZERO system and prepared to go look at these mobile suits personally. There could only be so much learned from study design lay outs, which is why Naruto wished to see these mobiles up close.

As he walked through Armory One he noticed many of the soldiers look at him with respect and awe. They obviously took notice of his uniform and the FAITH pin, which is why they were giving him such looks. If only they knew who he was then no doubt they would be trying to kill him instead of looking at him as they did now.

It wasn't like he was hiding his identity and he even introduced himself to people with his real name. The only problem was that even with him giving his real name people didn't know who he was because no one except for those at the top or the elites knew that he was the pilot of Wing Zero. His identity in the Earth Alliance had always been kept a secret from ZAFT so they couldn't target him for assassination. Chairman Durandal hoped to keep it this way, but Naruto knew eventually it would get out and the attacks would increase. Who knows, perhaps one of his attackers would succeed and manage to kill him. Not likely, but it was something that Naruto could hope for.

"Hey Shinn look, it's one of the new ZAKU units that are starting to come out," said a beautiful teenage girl with short purple hair as Naruto entered one of the hangars.

"Calm down Luna, we are still trainee so don't get your hopes up," said a boy with messy black hair and sapphire red eyes.

"Both of you need to stop talking before we get in trouble with any military personnel," said a boy with long platinum blond hair that fell down past his shoulders.

"You and Rey are such kill joys. I can't wait until we graduate and are able to get a mobile suit of our own," said Luna with stars in her eyes.

"What exactly do you know about this mobile suit unit?" asked a voice from behind the three. Shinn and Rey turned around and their eyes widened in awe as they recognized the uniform.

"It is known as the ZAKU Gunner, it specializes in long-range support by using its 'Orthro' long-range beam cannon to take out enemies and even bases with enough firepower. I believe they also come with a M4-M8 beam tomahawk for close-range combat as well," answered Luna excitedly.

"Luna," whispered Shinn, causing the girl to turn around and look at the boy. Her eyes widened in shock as she realized who had asked her the question.

"Forgive her sir, she didn't realize who you are," said Rey as he saluted the man along with Shinn and Luna. Naruto just shook his head at them causing them all to relax before he started to speak again.

"I am impressed with your knowledge since the unit hasn't even reached mass production yet," said Naruto with a small respectful nod. He usually kept to himself, but the girl's knowledge on the ZAKU was helpful and impressive for someone who had yet to become an official soldier. The girl would go far if she is as good a pilot as she is knowledgeable on those mobile suits.

"Thank you sir," blushed Luna lightly at the praise.

Rey took the moment to study the man in front of him and noticed the pin on the left collar of his uniform. The man was a member of FAITH, which meant he took direct orders from the Chairman, but he couldn't remember ever seeing the man with the Chairman and he spent a great deal of time with the Chairman when he was smaller. This peeked his curiosity because now he wanted to know exactly who this man was.

"Um sir, I don't mean to be rude, but are you here to test pilot the Gunner ZAKU?" asked Luna.

"Something like that," replied Naruto before brushing past the three and heading towards the ZAKU.

"Did he just brush me off?" said Luna with a cute pout as she was hoping to talk more with the gorgeous Commander.

"How would I know?" shrugged Shinn as he and Rey headed away from the hangar. Luna just watched the Commander leave before chasing after her friends.

"Sir," saluted a bunch of mechanics as Naruto came by their station.

"Is this mobile suit battle ready?" asked Naruto as he stared up at the Gunner ZAKU.

"Um, yes sir," answered the mechanic as he gave Naruto a curious look.

"Good, set up a battle simulation exercise and feed it to the cockpit. I want to test out exactly what this mobile suit can do," said Naruto as he brushed past the mechanics.

"Yes sir," said the mechanic as he started to order the others do as the Commander told them.

Break

"So, got any clue why we have been called here?" asked Dearka as he walked next to his old teammate. He was wearing a green ZAFT uniform instead of red one since he had been demoted for insubordination.

"As if I have any idea why they have called us in," scowled Yzak as he straightened out his new white uniform that signified his rank as a Commander.

"Well I heard it had something to do with some type of training exercise," said Dearka, causing Yzak to look at him in disbelief.

"Yeah right, like they would waste our, better yet, my time with something as stupid as some training exercises," replied Yzak. He didn't realize how wrong he was as he walked into the Chairman's office.