A/n
I hope you readers are liking the changes thus far, here is phase 3.
Phase 3: Aftermath
January 26th, 71 C.E.
-Neutral pov-
The Archangel, Heliopolis Debris Field
Aboard the Archangel, red lights flashed throughout the ship and normal lighting had been dimmed, creating a cold feeling throughout the ship. In the mess hall, the Heliopolis students stared at the view screen in shock, gazing at the ruins of their home, having trouble taking it all in. It felt surreal, to see Heliopolis which had appeared so solid and structurally sound, turn into floating masses of material. While on the bridge, the crew was in just as much shock, "I can't believe this… it was, so fragile," said Mu softly, looking out the viewport on the bridge.
Murrue clenched a fist at the sight of the results of this fight displayed in front of them. This wasn't supposed to happen! Heliopolis wasn't supposed to be attacked, nor collapse! Yet, that's exactly what had occurred and there was nothing that could be done to undo this. Murrue turned and look down at Natarle in the CIC, who was trying to contact Kira, Tyler and Lacus. In the chaos of the colony breaking apart, all contact had been lost.
"X105 Strike, X209 Shadow, SA01 Asuka! Do you read," she said, tones of worry becoming audible. "Lacus Don! Tyler McGregor! Kira Yamato! If any of you hear me, respond!"
There was crackling heard from the communication channel for another moment, then it was broken, "This is SA01 Asuka," more static resounded before Kira's voice came again,"This is Kira Yamato."
"X105 Strike, Lacus here," came Lacus's voice an instant later, though the com-channel would go from being clear to having static cut over the one speaking off and on.
At hearing two out of the three pilots, and knowing they were okay after the chaos that had happened, Natarle let out a sigh of relief. Yet, the third reply that all were expected and waiting for didn't come. Static was all that came from the Archangel's com-channels after Kira and Lacus replied. "X209 Shadow, respond!" Natarle repeated. Nothing but static was heard, which made the bridge crew uneasy. Natarle accepted that for the moment, the Shadow wherever it was, it couldn't communicate with the Archangel, "Are you two alright?" Natarle asked the other two teens.
"Yes, we seem to be fine," replied Lacus.
"Do you have our position?" inquired Natarle.
"Yes, we do," said Kira, sounding strained.
"Then return for now," said Natarle. "You're able to, right?"
"Is there anything from Tyler?" Asked Lacus.
Murrue frowned at the question, "None yet, but with the interference, it might be hard for contact to be made if he's much of a distance from the ship. We will keep trying though, come back to the ship for now," she said
-Line Break-
The Vesalius
Much of the bridge crew of the Vesalius gazed out at the wreckage of the former space colony off and on while they did their work worked. The air of worry and apprehension was easy to feel by all on the bridge, "Who could have anticipated this?" muttered Ades. "What will you do now? The Council won't overlook the annihilation of a neutral nation's colony. And even if they do, it's unlikely that others will."
"How can a colony that was building new weaponry for the Earth Forces be considered neutral?" reasoned Le Creuset.
"But Commander," started Ades.
Rau Le Creuset turned away, while Captain Ades was clenching his fists, the whole mess with Heliopolis had been blown out of proportion quickly. He had agreed with the view of Commander Le Creuset before with what they had known. The information on the mobile suits being developed had been solid, but for the results of the actions to be this wasn't the outcome hoped for. Now the new Earth Alliance warship was somewhere in the debris, which with the heat and other interference, wouldn't be found for the time being as the sensors couldn't tell the difference between it and the surrounding debris. They were down four mobile suit pilots between the Vesalius and the Laurasia-class ship, the Gamow. They had lost all their green uniformed pilots and that was harsh, and all they had to work with was the four Alliance prototypes and those weren't very usable just yet.
Commander Le Creuset was looking over the map display, he had said that he was attempting predict where the 'legged ship' as he had begun to call it was right now. Ades knew that Command Le Creuset had a reputation of disregarding rules, he had read up on him before the masked man had come onboard the Vesalius. Rau Le Creuset's record of service for ZAFT was good and bad, had participated in well-known battles, but on missions, the results didn't always justify the means he chose to go with. In this, the situation wasn't simple anymore and there were consequences that would come. Once the PLANT supreme council got wind of what happened, and they would probably by the curtesy of the Federation Military or Human Federation politics. Then, there would be bad repercussions for those involved! One of the few ways things could become worse in Ades's view, was if a Federation patrol were to come by with them still around the area.
The tense silence was interrupted by the communications officer, "Captain," he said a tad shakily. "There's a Federation ship requesting to have a word with us sir," said the officer.
Captain Ades had been apprehensive before about how things had played out, now he was seriously concerned for what was going to happen. Granted, there had always been the risk of the Federation finding out that ZAFT had attacked a neutral colony was possible, all on this mission knew that in the back of their minds. However, for them to be here now with the space colony just collapsed, put the Vesalius and the Gamow in a very incriminating position! Looking over at Commander Le Creuset and seeing he hadn't looked up at all at the statement from the com-officer. It wasn't surprising that there had been no warning of the presence of a Federation ship, they were pretty much undetectable until they wanted to be seen. The Federation's stealth capabilities were no great secret, even if the methods certainly were from both ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. Yet, the Federation's ships all had the ability to seemingly appear out of nowhere, that was made clear to both sides early on during the war, if not before the war official started. Ades sighed since it fell to him to answer the call, "Very well, put them on," he said calmly, even if he didn't feel so.
A moment later, an image of a woman came up on the main screen, she had red hair and was in the customary Human Federation military uniform that was mostly blue, and the rest black with gold trim. Captain Ades cleared his throat, "This is Captain Fredrik Ades of the ZAFT Nazca-class destroyer Vesalius. What can we do for the Federation?"
"This is Captain Mary Shepard of the Federation cruiser Donnen. Captain Ades, you are to stay where you are and prepare to have Federation personnel come on board your vessel." Said the woman that had identified herself as Captain Shepard in a serious tone.
"And what reason would the Human Federation have to come aboard this vessel, Captain Shepard?" Asked Commander Le Creuset looking at the main screen now.
"In case you haven't noticed Commander, the neutral resource colony Heliopolis has collapsed, and by the heat in the general area, it happened recently. The Orb Union, who owned the space colony, since they are members of the Human Federation, will want an explanation as to what happened. With you in this area, it is assumed that you saw what could have caused the event, so an exchange of information is in order. Then, one of our pilots picked up a ZAFT pilot that has said that he is assigned to your vessel. We are bringing him back to your ship to return him," stated Captain Shepard curtly.
Captain Ades was surprise at the mention of a ZAFT pilot being returned, as well as the fact of the Orb Union being a member of the Human Federation. There had never been any report or announcement of that fact and it was a fact that would make this situation possibly worse. "How nice of the Federation military, to wish to return one of our pilots. Of course, there's no problem with Federation personnel coming on board our vessel and an exchange of information would be welcome," said Commander Le Creuset.
The channel with the Federation vessel closed and Captain Ades turned to Commander Le Creuset, "Commander, do you really think it's a wise idea to allow Federation personnel on the Vesalius? The Alliance ship could use the time to escape," Ades remarked.
Creuset thought for a moment, "That is a possibility however, the more that we cooperate with the Federation Military at this point, the less blame of what happened to Heliopolis we'll likely receive. Plus, I am quite curious which of our pilots they saved," replied Le Creuset.
Ades nodded slowly, but still had reservations about this event. The next five minutes were extremely tense ones, especially when the Federation cruiser became visible above the ZAFT vessel. The Vesalius shook a bit as the Federation cruiser connected to one of the upper hull airlocks.
Commander Le Creuset left the bridge and headed to the upper deck, to greet the Federation personnel that would come aboard the Vesalius. It would be interesting to find out how much the Federation had known about the Alliance weapon development. There were already a number of ZAFT officers and crew members gathering at the two hatches in the upper hull of the ship, Nicol Amalfi among them. Then with little warning the hatch closer to the ship's rear opened up and two uniformed Federation officers floated through the hatch and oriented themselves perpendicular to the deck of the Vesalius. Moments after the two officers came through, the woman that had spoken on the radio channel came through the hatch.
Le Creuset made his way to the front of the crowd, "Ah, Captain Shepard, welcome on board of the Vesalius. It's always a pleasure when officers of the Federation military come and visit."
Mary Shepard's face took on a serious expression, "This is not the time for flattery Le Creuset, nor am I interest in hearing any from you."
Seconds after the brief exchange of words, another person came out of the hatch, yet this time the person was wearing a green ZAFT pilot suit. "Miguel!" called Nicol with surprise.
A second person came through the hatch, rolling to orient themselves with the ship deck. That second person was a young man with tan hair and wearing grey and tan camo pants and a black leather top. The top had shoulder pads that had belts that went under the armpits and connected on the back of the shoulder pads on both sides. There was an inch-wide strip of leather that went across the upper chest that attached to the belts on the shoulder pads. Then there was a two-inch wide belt around the waist area of the uniform. Chap like lengths of leather extended over the outside of the upper legs, yet still were connected to the top piece. The sides of the top were grey as were the two-inch cuffs of the short sleeve top and to top off this uniform, blue lining the folds and seams of the clothing. The uniform was the less formal uniform of the Human Federation military.
"Miguel, it is wonderful to see you alive and now back on the Vesalius," greeted Commander Le Creuset.
Miguel saluted, "Thank you Commander, sorry it took me so long."
"Not at all Miguel, having you back is enough," returned Le Creuset, before turning to Captain Shepard. "You have my thanks as well as ZAFT's, for bringing back one of our own Captain, it is very much appreciated, especially with the losses taken today. Now then, if you would follow me, we can exchange the information that we have on recent events."
Captain Shepard nodded and followed the ZAFT Commander down the corridor. Nicol came forward and put a hand on Miguel's shoulder, "Miguel, are you okay?" he asked.
"Yeah, I am, thanks Nicol… only wished that Matthew, Olar and Ryan were here with me too," replied Miguel.
Athrun Zala came into the corridor, to find out what was going on and stopped once he saw Miguel. He had thought he had died along with Matthew, Olar and Ryan when the report that all four GINNs that had been sent out to finish off the mobile suits had been lost. It had pained him as much if not more than worried him. If those two odd mobile suits and the last Alliance machine were able to dispatch four GINNs, they were becoming more dangerous as time passed! Athrun floated forward towards the thinning crowd, "Miguel, you're alive!" uttered Athrun in relief.
Both Nicol and Miguel turned to face Athrun as he came towards them. Miguel nodded, "Yeah, thought I wouldn't make it for a bit, but it's really thanks to this guy over here," said Miguel pointing to the Tan haired young man who smiled slightly at being gestured at, "I wouldn't be here if not for him, especially when my GINN was destroyed."
At hearing that, Nicol faced the young man that was a little older than himself and then, bowed to him. "Thank you very much for helping even one of our comrades to make it back to us."
When Athrun heard Nicol's thanks, he shook his head a bit as he focused on the one responsible for Miguel being alive and back on aboard the ship. No matter who they were or what a member of the Federation had been doing around here, it was because of them that Miguel was here now. However, as Athrun looked to the face of the young man that was a couple of years older than Athrun himself, he found his mind coming to a halt. The face was familiar, but… It couldn't be who Athrun thought it was, even with the five or so years that had gone by since he had seen him! Yet, the young man waved at Athrun with a smile, "Hey Athrun, long time no see. Although, I've got to say, I was expecting a bit more of a greeting rather than a shocked gape. I mean, since it has been a while since the last time our paths crossed one another's," said the young man.
Miguel looked between Athrun and the young Federation pilot, "Wait, you two know each other?" He asked.
The tan haired young man rubbed the back of his head, "Well, yes, I would definitely say that we do. By the way, I don't think I've introduced myself yet, my name is Tyler McGregor, and I'm a Federation pilot. It's nice to meet you all," said Tyler.
"I'm Nicol Amalfi, nice to meet you Mr. McGregor," replied Nicol stretching a hand out.
Tyler took the offered hand and shook it, "Nice to meet you Nicol, but please, just Tyler will be fine," he said.
Athrun snapped out of his shocked state, "Tyler what are you doing around here?" he asked.
Tyler frowned, "That's the first question you ask me Athrun, not how have you been doing, or what's been going on with you? After all, it's been around five years since you and I have been in each other's presence," he said in a very convincing hurt tone.
The blue-haired ZAFT pilot looked down, "Sorry Tye, I didn't mean…"
Tyler chuckling, put a hand up to stop Athrun to stop talking, "You still take things way too serious my friend. I was just messing with you, didn't mean anything by what I said." Tyler moved forward and embraced Athrun, "Although, I have to say, it's good to see you Athrun, you're looking well."
Nicol cleared his throat, "Well, it seems you two have catching up to do, so I'll go and finish the adjustments to the mobile suit I brought back." He said.
"Yeah, I'll come with you Nicol," interjected Miguel.
Tyler pulled away from Athrun and waved a hand, "Oh, we can all go, I have to wait for Captain Shepard anyways and she's talking with Commander Le Creuset. Who knows how long that'll take? So, I need something to do to keep myself occupied," he said.
And so, the five of us proceeded down to the Vaselius's mobile suit hanger, along the way, Tyler and Athrun were making small talk between one another, catching up on thing. Miguel and Nicol were smiling while they listened and glanced back at the two friends speaking avidly with one another. Once in the hanger, Nicol floated over to the X207 Blitz suit and popped into the cockpit. Tyler looked around and his gaze stopped briefly on the two stolen Earth Alliance mobile suits. Athrun noticed this and frowned slightly, "These two machines…"
Tyler didn't let Athrun finished, by speaking up, "Are two of the Earth Alliance prototype mobile suits, specifically; the X303 Aegis and X207 Blitz, both of the 'GAT' series," Tyler said flatly as if the information was common knowledge.
Miguel and Athrun gaped at Tyler, Miguel was the first to gain use of his voice, "How do you know that?" he asked.
"Learned about them during the last year, as a member of the Federation investigation team that was sent to Heliopolis. In fact, know about all five prototypes, including the three that aren't here," Tyler replied tiredly.
"Wait, there's been a Federation team investigating at Heliopolis for the last year?" Asked Nicol, having come out of the Blitz and floated up to where the group was.
Tyler turned to face Nicol and nodded, "Yes, for around a year as of this week, you have very good hearing Nicol. Back to the point, there's been the rumor that the Earth Alliance was doing weapon development in neutral territory. So, I was with one of the teams looking into the rumor's validity. As I believe we all know now, the Alliance was using Heliopolis to do the development." Tyler's tone had been gaining a bit of a spiteful tone halfway through his explanation.
Then Tyler suddenly got a look of interest on his face, "Say, Athrun, Nicol, what do you think of the OS the Alliance suits have? Never was able to get much information on the operating system the Alliance was supposedly designing. Makes me kind of curious about it, since the Alliance has been attempting to develop a Natural-use OS for who knows how long now. I've been wanting to know if they have made much headway or if they still have a long way to go," he said.
Both Nicol and Athrun's faces got an expression of disgust, "OS… I don't think you can exactly call the system that was installed on them, which was to 'run' these machines, an Operation System," replied Nicol.
Athrun nodded in agreement, "Yes, the system was a mess, I can't guess what the designers were thinking with how it was working."
"So," Tyler posed, "Would you say the OS is garbage, junk, something like that, yes?"
Both Nicol and Athrun nodded, "Yes, something like that would be fairly accurate," replied Athrun, "I know that I had to pretty much rewrite the OS to have something that would work."
The conversation ended when a ZAFT officer came into the hanger and went over to the group of pilots. The officer said that their presences were needed on the bridge of the vessel; so, the four pilots head up to the bridge. In the command center of the vessel; Captain Shepard, Commander Le Creuset and Captain Ades were looking over information being displayed, when Tyler, Athrun, Nicol and Miguel entered. Le Creuset glanced over as the four pilots entered, "Ah, you four are here, very good." Said Le Creuset waving over the pilots.
They came over to the display table, the information that the commanding officers had been looking at, was still there. Tyler glancing over the table and read information that was there. "As you can see, the Vesalius has been called back to the PLANTs by the Supreme Council. They want an explanation for what happened at Heliopolis in detail." Said Le Creuset.
Captain Shepard inclined her head, "And since the Donnen is going that way as well for the same reasons. And because the members of the investigation team are on the Donnen, they will be giving their report to the council. Traveling together seems better," she said.
-Line Break-
-Tyler's pov-
The Donnen
After returning to the Donnen, I was shown by Commander Sulu to quarters for the journey to the PLANTs. The room wasn't large, but nor was it what the mid and lower ranked officers of the ship had, their quarters are meant to bunk three to five officers. The room I was given had a bed, a sink, a couch and desk for working space. I would have to thank Captain Shepard for the quarters, as I'd a report to write about what happened at Heliopolis. It wasn't one that I looked forward to writing, that's for sure! Putting the pack that was pretty much what I had with me down by the bed, I floated over to the desk 'sat down' and began to recall recent events and getting my thoughts into order. I was brought out of my thoughts by a knock on the door. "Come in," I said.
In the door came the other three members of the investigation team. It's not the first time that the whole team had gathered together, but it wasn't a common event throughout the last year either. Seeing that Alan Knight was in the lead, standing at 6' in height, he had short blonde hair that was styled with the hair going back, leaving his forehead in clear view. Alan's eyes were hazel and was still in his pilot suit. Even if Alan was the only Natural on the investigation team, that didn't make him any less a value member.
Luke Lascy was just behind Alan, with his height at 5'11", had his customary smile. Luke had spiky hair that was an average of three inches in length and was charcoal black. His eyes were a grey color, rare color but as a Coordinator, it's what his parents chose. Luke was also still in his pilot suit like Alan was and lastly, Lisa brought up the rear.
Alan sat on the bed, Luke floated up into a corner of the room and Lisa floated by the desk. I cleared my throat, "So, what do I owe the visit from you all?" I asked as I type the title and first sentence of the Heliopolis report.
"Well, the three of us thought we could help you with the investigation report by discussing the events that came out to the collapse of the colony. Since the report will be unpleasant to write I wouldn't doubt," said Lisa.
It's at times like this, that working with comrades that are also good friends on missions are wonderful. The discussion started with the time of our arrival at Heliopolis. We all got there in a thee day period, as it could be suspicious if we all arrived together at the colony. With the assignment we were on, discretion was a big thing, so the less attention that we drew, the better. Each of us had a different story for the 'reason' that we were coming to Heliopolis and allow us to access different place in the colony.
My story, was me being there on an educational exchange as well as getting to "experience the culture", and with my age of 18, that was much more believable. Plus, that would give me the excuse to search of the technical college and its professors that could possibly be involved in weapon development if the Alliance was at Heliopolis. For Lisa, she came as a liaison between the ones in charge of the resource colony and the maintenance workers within the administration structure. That would allow her to look into the leaders of the colony and the maintenance sector as well. Alan came under the guise of a contracted architectural engineer that would work alongside Morgenroete personnel. That gave him easy and unnoticed access to the records of Morgenroete itself. While Luke would be at Heliopolis as a journalist and part-time photographer, making he able to mingle with the population without suspicion. So, we had most of the bases covered to find out if the Alliance would be in Heliopolis.
Admittedly, bumping into Kira again, though unexpected, was very nice for me and helped my job not be noticed by others. Yet, a side note to that, I hadn't seen my friend for five years and he hadn't changed all that much. It took us six weeks to discover that the Earth Alliance was indeed using Heliopolis, specifically Morgenroete Inc. for their development project. Actually, it'd been Lisa and myself that had found the fact out… and it had been by accident.
Lisa had come across some of the Archangel officers that were around the maintenance personnel, while I'd seen a man later identified as the captain assigned to the Archangel, or was supposed to be, at the college and had caught a view of his Alliance ID. From that point on, we began investigating more closely into the activities in and around the space colony. The three Federation fighters had been delivered four and a half months into this mission, when Lisa had gained the trust of the maintenance workers enough for them to tell her about the original construction docks in unused section of the colony that we stored the fighters when we weren't using them and no one would perhaps come across them.
The team had found out about the warship, the Archangel first. It was when Professor Kato had started giving Kira and I 'work' to do for him that the first thoughts of mobile suits entered my mind. Alan had gotten a view of one of them and had confirmed my suspicions. Most of the rest of the time we had been at Heliopolis was used to get as much info on the warship and mobile suits. Once we had handed in our findings, we were told that a Federation patrol would come to cease and confiscate both the mobile suits and the warship.
Everything had been going really well… then ZAFT had come and messed things up. Granted, they couldn't have known that the Federation had been looking into the activities of the Earth Alliance. But really, attacking a neutral space colony, did Le Creuset truly believe that the Human Federation would let that slide? If so, then he's not as smart as his reputation says he is, or else he's very good and worming his way out of things. I'm inclined to assume the latter rather than the former and that doesn't sit well with me at all.
The discussion with the others did help me to decide what to put in the report as I started writing it. Compiling the information would be time consuming, but as the journey to the PLANTs is a between ten and nine-hour trip, I have a good amount of time to work with.
-Line Break-
-Neutral pov-
The Archangel
The crew and officers of the Archangel except Chief Murdoch and the mechanics, who were doing work to get the ship working smoothly and efficiently, were gathered on the bridge. All of them were wondering what was next now that Heliopolis was gone and the was so little of the crew on this ship as most were dead. All that was left of the original bridge crew were Ensign Badgiruel and Lieutenant Ramius, the rest were general crew. Even if no one said it, all on the bridge knew things were grim for the Archangel and there were slim prospects of seeing improvement any time soon.
"So, what do you plan we do now?" asked Mu, breaking the silence.
"Our ship is still in a combat situation," said Murrue, looking over her shoulder at Pal. "Have you detected the ZAFT vessels?"
"No, that's impossible as things are right now," he said with a slight shake of his head. "All that debris is throwing out a tremendous amount of heat and presenting a solid mass to interfere with other forms of detection."
"ZAFT will have the same problem as us," said Krystal, turning in her seat to look at Murrue. "And they will likely wait for us to make a move, then follow us."
Murrue wasn't appreciating having been shoved into the captain's chair, with all that had happened. She was going to be manning the electronic warfare station down in the CIC, never had Murrue thought she would be in the captain's chair. "Tactically speaking, I would have to agree. I think we should move based on that assumption, but if the enemy tries to attack us right now, we'll be in a lot of trouble."
"Trouble is putting our situation mildly," said Mu. "All we've got are those two mobile suits with inexperienced civilian volunteer pilots, Krystal's and my badly damaged Zeros and a warship that is severely understaffed. The third pilot we did have, who might have had some knowledge with piloting a suit which would help, has vanished with his suit. Overall, we're in no real condition to be putting up much of a fight at this point." Mu sighed, "Is there anything going for us in this right now or are we just a couple of steps from being screwed?"
"The Archangel's firepower is tremendous," said Murrue but she then paused, "But, not only are we short-handed, but of those of us left, only Ensign Badgiruel and myself were trained for bridge operations and then neither of our stations were weapon control, so I don't think either of us know much else other than loose basics for other stations. It would be different if we had another four bridge crewmen fully capable of handling the tasks, yet we don't. This ship is built to support a crew of a hundred-fifty, and we're nowhere near that."
Mu looked around, the only people they could offer for bridge operations were Murrue and Natarle. Arnold Neumann was handling the piloting and doing very well, considering that he wasn't any one of the ship pilots at all to begin with. Pal was currently sitting fire control and running the enemy search & detection with it as he at least knew the system even if it wasn't his assigned position. Optimally, the bridge should've had at least six more people staffing it, to make a total of eight. But of the surviving Earth Forces soldiers, which included Krystal and himself, around ten of them were mechanics too busy making sure the ship didn't fall apart to do anything to help out on the bridge or almost anywhere else on the ship. The other seven were those of them on the bridge, running the ship as best as they could.
"Maybe we should punch up to full speed, try to outrun them?" said Mu. "I was told this is supposed to be a pretty fast ship."
Murrue shook her head, "This ship has very high acceleration and cruising speed, but its mass is significantly more than the enemy's Nazca-class and has fewer engines for acceleration," she said. "We do have mobility and firepower on it, but…"
"But an inexperienced crew and lack of people to run this ship," finished Mu, looking over at Arnold. "Think you can maneuver this bulky thing around a Nazca?"
"Well sure, if I had a few weeks to practice," said Arnold. "Sorry Lieutenant, but I'm doing the best I can. What about you?"
"I wouldn't recommend that," piped up Krystal, jabbing a thumb at Mu. "The Lieutenant is a good mobile armor pilot, but a ship this size wouldn't do well with HIS driving style."
Mu gained a down casted look at pretty much being told he was a crazy driver by Krystal, even if she did have a point. "She unfortunately has a point, instinct would have me trying to fly it like my Zero in no time flat. Plus, if a fight breaks out, I'll need to be out there, not in the driver's chair, no offense."
Arnold shrugged in response, then Mu turned back to Murrue, "Well, I suppose we could always surrender captain," he said, catching the others off-guard, though Natarle remained focused down in the CIC. "That's always an option you know."
"If we were dealing with the Federation Military instead of ZAFT, I would be more inclined to go with that, since they tend to be more reasonable than ZAFT is, who shoots first and asks questions later with the Alliance," Krystal added.
Murrue was about to response to Mu and Krystal, but was caught off guard by Natarle's voice, "What was that?" demanded the ensign. "Are you two out of your minds?! If you bring them aboard, you're putting them right in the middle of a dangerous combat situation! Do you really expect to be granted permission for such a thing?!"
All the bridge crew turned to look at Natarle in slight confusion, "What's the situation Ensign?" questioned Murrue. Natarle came up out of the CIC, with a slight grimace on her face, as she still listened to Kira's and Lacus's retort to her telling them no to their ridiculous request. She was about to say that it was nothing to be concerned about and that she would handle what the two teenagers that were piloting the mobile suits. Yet, Lacus then gave information and logical reasoning, which Kira backup, which Natarle couldn't deny without regretting it later.
Natarle sighed after hearing the teens, "Understood, please standby," she said over the radio before focusing on Murrue. "The Strike and the Asuka have heading back to the ship however, they have two Heliopolis lifeboats with them and have requested to bring them aboard the Archangel. According to them, it seems that one of them suffered some kind of damage or malfunction and its beacon along with its thrusters aren't working properly. The other has taken some damage as well, which has affected its beacon, for isn't activating at all."
"That means the chances of either boat being found in time is slim, at least before all their passengers are all dead," said Mu, looking at Murrue.
"Tell them they have permission to go ahead and bring both pods aboard," she said. "We can't leave them stranded out here. Plus, we don't really have the time to argue at the moment with ZAFT searching for us."
"Understood," said Natarle, switching the communications back on. "You have permission to bring them aboard."
"Thank you," came Lacus's voice.
Natarle tapped in the commands to open the catapults for the mobile suits and what they carried. Then Natarle contacted Chief Murdoch and informed him that Heliopolis lifeboats would be coming on board. Meanwhile, above the CIC, Murrue returned to the original subject, "I know we're in a critical situation," she said, "but I have no intention of surrendering." Mu, who had sat down in the navigator/co-pilot seat, turned to look at her curiously. "I refuse to hand over either this ship or the Strike to ZAFT. We must get it and this ship safely to Atlantic Federation HQ, no matter what the risks or costs are."
"Captain," said Natarle, coming out of the CIC after arranging things with the mobile suits and those who would be coming onto the ship, "I recommend we select Artemis as our next destination."
"Artemis…?" questioned Murrue quietly, and somewhat doubtfully. "But that's a Eurasian Federation military satellite."
"The one with the umbrella shield?" said Mu, turning his chair completely.
"That Eurasia claims is the ultimate and unbeatable defense," added Krystal.
"Hmm," mumbled Natarle, nodding slightly. She then turned to the primary display screen, which brought up a general map of the area. "Given our present location, it is the most easily accessible allied outpost, and we are in real need."
"Both the G-weapons and this ship lack a recognition code acknowledged by our allies, right?" said Murrue. "The question remains, would Eurasia…?"
"I'm certainly aware," said Natarle, interrupting Murrue, "Of the fact that the Archangel and the Strike are both considered to be sensitive military secrets of the Atlantic Federation, and we can probably safely assume the same of the Asuka for Orb. The tension between the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations is not the best lately, but with the situation we find ourselves in, I believe they would possible help. Should we set a course to the moon from here, you can't expect us to arrive there without encountering at least some resistance along the way from both ZAFT and the Federation Military. In addition, we left in a hurry and we weren't sufficiently supplied, which means were urgently in need of provisions, all the more so if we're to be carrying additional Orb refugees."
"I realize that," said Murrue.
"I have to say that even Eurasia will be sympathetic to our situation as it stands," said Natarle. "With the situation as it is, the most practical course of action would be to avoid confrontation as much as possible, and then resupply at Artemis. When we're there, we could also attempt to contact Lunar Headquarters."
"Artemis, then?" asked Mu. "I wonder if everything will go exactly as planned with how things stand."
"Doubting before we start out Mu?" Asked Krystal, in a joking manner.
"This is not a joking matter you two, it's hard to say how this will play out," said Murrue, "but it does seem to be our best viable option right now."
-Line Break-
-Tyler's pov-
The Donnen
A little more than half a day passed without much event of note happening as we traveled to the area of Lagrange 5 where the PLANT colonies are. The announcement of our impending arrival sounded throughout the ship, and I finished the sentence I was writing and closed the terminal that I had written the report on. As I would likely be required to appear in front of the PLANT's supreme council, it would be wise to put on my formal officer uniform. I'm not very fond of the set of clothing, feels stiff and doesn't move well, it's why I don't wear the clothing unless I have to. Unfortunately, going to a meeting with the PLANT's supreme council does qualify as one of those occasions that I have to wear the formal uniform.
I mean, the outfit is much like what Captain Shepard wears when she's on duty, the same black pants and top. The over coat is still the black siding and back below the shoulder blades, the identical blue with gold trimming. Really, the only difference between my formal uniform and the one the captain wears on this ship, are the markings on the shoulder pads and wrist. She has four gold bars and a star, I have three gold bars and a star. Also, I had a crest on the right side of my neck collar; the crest had laurel wreath that surrounded two arrows, one in front of the other so that the back on was only two thirds visible. It was the crest and symbol of the Federation Special Forces, which I'm a part of. On the left side of my neck of the pin or crest that was given to members of SOLAS. It was a yellow four-pointed star with a yellow crescent with its center touching the bottom point of the star and the two points of the crescent almost contacting the two horizontal points of the star.
Once I was dressed, I exited the quarters I had been given and headed towards the forward airlock which would be where those who would leave the ship would get off. By the time I got to the airlock, the Donnen had docked at the capitol of the PLANTs, Aprilius One. Met Captain Shepard and we disembarked into the colony. Council aids met up with us at the dock and they guided us, saying that the Council was waiting for us. Before we enter the council chamber, we were met by Supreme Councilman Siegel Clyne along with a woman with medium length silver hair and blue eyes. Siegel Clyne bowed to Captain Shepard and myself, "Hello, I'm Siegel Clyne, chairman of the PLANT's Council and this," he pointed at the woman next to him, "Is Ezalia Joule, a part of the National Defense Committee and representative of the committee on the council."
The silver-haired women bowed in greeting to us, to which Captain Shepard and I returned, "I'm Captain Mary Shepard of the Human Federation cruiser Donnen and this is Special Forces Commander Tyler McGregor, and he was the leader of the Federation investigation team that was at Heliopolis," said Captain Shepard, pointing to me as she introduced me.
After the greetings and introductions were made, we all went into the Council Chamber, where the rest of the PLANTs Supreme Council was already seated. Chairman Clyne and Councilwoman Joule took their seats, while Captain Shepard and I stood off to the side as did Le Creuset and Athrun who was with him. Siegel Clyne brought up an image of Heliopolis… While it had still been a working resource space colony. "This meeting was called, due to the event that occurred to the Orb Union's resource colony, Heliopolis. Less than twenty-four hours ago, the colony came under attack, by ZAFT forces," stated Siegel Clyne
There was muttering to the last statement, some angry, others shocked, and a few outraged. "Accusing our own forces of such atrocities chairman?" Posed Patrick Zala, the father of Athrun.
I stepped forward, "He speaks the truth Councilman Zala," I said.
All eyes focused on me, Patrick Zala gazed at me, "And whom might you be?" He asked.
Apparently, Athrun's father doesn't recognize me anymore, it has been years. The question however, in this situation, do I use my real name or my alias. I took a deep breath, "My name, is Tyler Blass," I answered.
There were gasps at me saying my name, Patrick Zala looked at me a bit harder. Yet, it was the silver-haired woman, Ezalia Joule that spoke up, "Blass? As in related to the Republic's Prime Minister Ellen Blass?"
I faced the woman, "You are correct that my mother Ellen Blass, is the political and governmental leader of the Republic of East Asia. However, I'm a member of the Federation Military and so, I'm here as Tyler McGregor, a soldier of the Federation." I answered.
"Then please," injected another council member, "If you were at Heliopolis, tell us what happened."
I glanced around at the rest of the Supreme Council and saw they wished to know what had happened like the one that had asked me to tell them. And so, I told them how I was a part of a team that had been looking into a rumor about the Earth Alliance developing weapons in neutral territory. There were whisperings between some of the council members at me saying the rumor about the Alliance. Went on, ignoring the mutterings, saying how the team and I gathered information, and how the decision that came down from Federation High Command, when it came, was that a patrol would be sent to confiscate the ship and the mobile suits. However, before I could say more detail, Commander Le Creuset came in, "Interesting as your accounting is Mr. McGregor, by your account, the Federation knew about the construction of the prototype suits and ship and yet, did little about them," said Le Creuset in an aloof tone.
My gaze shifted over to the blonde masked man, trying to figure out his angle in this, for it didn't make sense to me. He had given out the orders for each time that ZAFT forces entered the colony, the fighting had ended out destroying the colony. "What are you getting at Le Creuset?" Asked chairman Clyne.
"Well Mr. Chairman, Heliopolis is said to be neutral, but with the development of Alliance ships and mobile suits, their neutrality is a lie, is it not?" Posed Le Creuset.
The blonde man stepped forward to the table and after putting in commands into the display controls. The information that was being displayed changed and pictures of the Archangel, designs of the four stolen machines and the three mobile suits that ZAFT didn't get up for all to see. "As you can see, these are far more than just attempts at building machines to match ZAFT mobile suits."
There was a great deal of angry mutterings around the table. Patrick Zala slammed a hand down on the table, "The Earth Forces have managed to develop mobile suits without us knowing! How did this happen?!" he growled loudly.
Athrun moved forward, "The mobile suits aren't complete yet!" He called over the din.
The muttering died down and Athrun's father looked at his son, "What do you mean the suits are incomplete?" Patrick Zala demanded.
"The suits are well designed true, but there are faults that weren't solved, the major one being their operating systems don't work, not for Naturals or really even for Coordinators. For those of us that acquired the suits, we had to almost rewrite the OS to get the machines to perform decently. And even then, there is still a lot of work to make them reliably usable," said Athrun.
I nodded, "With the specs on the prototypes my team was able to acquire, it was clear that the development was being rushed and so the machines weren't usable in combat and wouldn't be any time soon," I added to help clarify the situation.
That explanation seemed to calm most down, yet Patrick Zala still didn't appear happy, "Even if their unfinished, the fact that the Naturals were developing mobile suits is very worrying. Should the Earth Alliance obtain the use of mobile suits, the war against them will get worse!"
…How in the hell, did this discussion that began with talking about what happened to Heliopolis, turn into the dangers of the Earth Alliance developing mobile suits? Whether the Earth Forces developing mobile suits or not, isn't what this is about… So, that's what Le Creuset was doing, get the focus off the incident itself.
"Councilman Zala," I called, "I ask for your pardon, but the merit of the Earth Alliance getting mobile suits, isn't what this is about. A neutral colony that belongs to a member nation of the Human Federation has been destroyed. The event happened because of the decision of the very ZAFT commander in this room, regardless of his intentions. ZAFT mobile suits and soldiers entered Heliopolis and their actions put the citizens and colony in danger, those are the facts. Those actions are violations of a couple of treaties that ZAFT has with the Federation."
-Line Break-
I wandered around after I had been released from the meeting with the Council and my path brought me to a park in the colony. I quickly sat down at one of the benches, opened my overcoat and closed my eyes, beginning to think. The meeting with the council could have gone better, though it could've been worse too. It served as a reminder of why I decided some time ago not to go into politics like my mom is. I mean, with how Le Creuset put his side of things, he had been the good commander by trying to prevent the big bad Alliance forces from getting access to mobile suits. His "version" of events has made me angry because it wasn't what happened exactly, for he left out specific points that would have shown him in a bad light.
Because of that spin, he'd managed to take the focus of the incident off the damage and danger to the citizens, and placed it on the Alliance and their activities in Heliopolis. Thankfully, by what I could tell, the majority of the council had listen and frowned down upon the actions of Le Creuset. The problem is that key figures were evenly divided on this and that won't help prevent this kind of thing from happening again. In particular, it had worried me that Athrun's father Patrick Zala had taken the same focus as Le Creuset did. Patrick Zala had the most influence on the Supreme Council after Siegel Clyne and a good deal in the ZAFT military as the head of the National Defense Committee, so I can't say what he might do.
The man had been a friend of my father, and the times I recall being around him, Patrick Zala had been a reasonable man. Strick at times yes, but more to help in understand, he had taken great interest in my father's work, calling it one of the best developments for all of mankind since colony development. Yet, the person I'd faced in the meeting, wasn't the person that I'd met with my father all the years ago that the encounter had occurred. The loss of his wife, clearly hadn't been taken well, but… the way Patrick Zala was acting, it was dangerous!
Upon hearing footsteps coming towards me, I opened my eyes and glanced over in the direction of the person walking my way. To my slight surprise, I saw that it was my friend Athrun Zala that was making his way towards me. He sat down on the bench next to me, "So Tye… The meeting with the council… Went okay, wouldn't you say?" Said Athrun, trying to break the silence.
"Okay, I guess so. Rau Le Creuset certainly making sure to shift the blame on the Earth Alliance and off the damage done along with the danger the citizens were put in with that his actions and those who followed him brought about. But, that's what I saw, so my view could be skewed right now. Anyways, your father was rather vocal about how the 'Naturals' were at fault. I don't remember him disliking Naturals so much, at least he didn't make that known when he was around my dad. Yet, I haven't seen him for years now, so I can't say much in this," I replied dryly.
Athrun grimaced, "Yes, he's been like that since…"
He trailed off and didn't finish, but I could give a very educated guess, "Junius Seven and the Bloody Valentine incident. You and your father lost your mom… Didn't you Athrun?" I asked quietly.
I knew the fact that he had lost his mother. I remember that day that what would be come to be known as the Bloody Valentine Tragedy with complete clarity. It had been February 5th, 66 CE. I'd been at the lunar school, which was the same one that Kira and Athrun were going to. I was just a year above them, yet we were neighbors with how our living arrangements ended out. The three of us had become the best of friends, as well as I helped them on stuff with school. Kira and Athrun had been in class that morning and I was enjoying a free period. I'd been watching the news for something to listen to, when the breaking news report came on. When I heard the announcer say that a nuclear missile had struck Junius Seven and the colony had broken apart. It had put me in a state of shock! The very next day was to start a break from school. My plan had been for me to stop by Junius Seven to join up with my dad and sister, before we headed back to Earth and spend time as a family with my mom, just the four of us.
Junius Seven was one of the agricultural PLANT type colonies. Plus, there was also a university in the colony where there was some of the most advance agricultural research was being done and tested. My father was one of the lead scientist in that research, that he had hope would benefit both Earth and space colonies… perhaps become a major step towards solving the hunger problems that still exist. Heck, there'd been representatives from ZAFT that had come to see my dad, including Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala, which both were very interest in his work. Even people from the Earth Alliance had visited my father and showed interest in his work. The Alliance had offered him a lot of stuff to work for them exclusively, though my dad had said no. But now, with one action… Junius Seven was changed into debris and everyone that was there was gone.
I had somehow gotten back to my room, where Kira and Athrun had found me later. And once I had found use of my voice and told them what had happened, Athrun fell into the same shock as I was in. It had been Kira, who had managed to bring us out of the pain of loss and comfort us. Yes, Kira Yamato may not look like the kind of person that could comfort friends like he did, but Kira did just that.
I sighed as Athrun was still silent, "You and your father weren't the only ones that lost loved ones in that tragedy Athrun," I said quietly.
"Sorry, I never meant to infer," he replied.
I cut Athrun off, "I know that you don't, but your dad is really taking what the Earth Alliance does, as some sort of an insult to him personally and as an excuse to cry a call to arms. I understand the pain of what the destruction of Junius Seven brought… but Patrick Zala's actions don't provide a good solution or a lasting one at all," I paused and bit my tongue. Athrun gazed at me, "I'm sorry Athrun, this won't sound nice, but it's my view and opinion and only that. The man that looks like your father isn't looking out for the best interest of citizens of the PLANTs like he's supposed to be as is the duty of the position he holds. He's out for revenge that could and likely go beyond vengeance and the scope of what happened with Junius Seven Athrun."
I was trying to soften the blow for my friend, but with the movement of ZAFT's military lately and the action taken in this conflict had made it clear. Patrick Zala, who is one of the major leaders of the ZAFT military and been using unnecessary force and action against members of the Earth Forces. The Alliance wasn't doing much better, yet that's the point, Athrun's father is lowering himself to the same level as those that are fanatic about exterminating Coordinators. I set my hands on the back of my head and leaned back a bit, "Anyway, enough about dull and dreary subjects, they're not healthy to dwell on long. What's been going on with you Athrun? I haven't seen you or talked to you for a few years now other than that short time on the Vesalius," I said to clear the air.
My question had the desired effect of clearing the bad feeling around us and Athrun smiled a bit, "Well, not too long after finishing at the prep academy, I enlisted in the ZAFT military at the suggestion of my father. After a year and a half of training, I did my first tour with Commander Hersey, who was under the command of the Black Zephyr herself. After a year of that, I was promoted from green to red uniform and I was transferred to the Le Creuset team," He answered.
"Nice, sounds like you've been busy, but you're missing something," I posed, setting up Athrun with a straight face.
My friend looked at me with a confused expression, "Missing something, what are you talking about?" he asked.
I got a smirk replacing my straight face, "Oh… the fact that you're engaged to a young lady, that you're supposed to marry in the future… she's supposed to be very good looking, have a nice personality," I then lowered my voice for my next comment. "At least, she has a much better personality than her sister does, I can attest to that." I switched over to a normal volume, "I believe her name is Lacus Clyne. Or is that rumor incorrect, my dear friend?"
Athrun cheeks gained a red tint to them, "Well, it was my father who arranged the engagement between Lacus and me," he said.
I poked him softly in the side with my elbow, "Yeah so? You don't sound like you're against this engagement with Lacus, Athrun. I mean, come on, Lacus is pretty, has a nice personality and good golly, can she sing!" I returned still with a smirk.
"Indeed, Lacus can sing well and loves doing so," said an older male voice.
Both Athrun and I turned to our left to see a man that appeared to be in his forties approaching us. He had medium length blonde hair and same color mustache. His eyes were a dark grey and was taller than both of us. The man was one that I knew and had seen less than an hour ago, he was none other than Siegel Clyne.
"Hello Chairman Clyne," greeted Athrun politely.
The line that Siegel had said was kind of amusing, so I snickered a bit, "Well, you would know better than either of us how Lacus sings, being her father and everything Chairman Clyne." I remarked.
Siegel Clyne took the bench next to us, "Please, no need of formality from either of you, especially in this kind of setting," he said with a smile.
The atmosphere relaxed a bit more, yet with Siegel Clyne here, I had to ask a question even though it meant going back to a subject that I wasn't fond of. "So then Siegel, what did you think of the council meeting?"
Siegel Clyne frowned at my question, "Certainly not as well as some of us would like I would imagine, personally not how I wanted it to go," he said.
I figured that his answer would be along those lines. Siegel saw the wrongness of what Rau Le Creuset had pulled and sees the need to prevent such things. But, that then brought up a serious inquiry, "Tell me Siegel, how much pull and influence does Patrick Zala have within the Supreme Council and outside of it?" I asked.
"Within the Council, probably second to myself," answered Siegel. "Outside of the Supreme Council, mostly in ZAFT itself."
Those pieces of information worried me, for they spelt trouble in potentia and leaving that to its own devices is never a wise idea. Patrick Zala's hatred of Naturals bordered on a fairly managed obsession and those can be more dangerous than an unmanaged one. However, another thought crossed my mind as I thought about the events of today. I wanted to make sure Athrun knew what Le Creuset would likely put him and the others under the masked man's command, was going to put them to. I turned to Athrun, "Hey Athrun, I have something to tell you, and it would be best that you keep to yourself for the time being. Definitely do not tell Rau Le Creuset, since it will likely make no good difference and possibly be a motivations. I can't say with that man," I said to my friend.
Athrun stared at me for a bit, but then nodded to me, "Okay, what is it?"
I took a deep breath, "First, the Alliance's new warship, named the Archangel, had three mobile suits, but right now is carrying two. Of those two, the machine that is like Orb's suits. the one with the winged backpack… Well, the pilot is someone that I know," I started.
My blue haired friend's eyes went wide, "You know the pilot of the winged suit?! Then do you know any of the pilots the Alliance are using for the other two mobile suits?" He asked.
I nodded and I pointed to myself, "The machine with the frame that's near identical to the Blitz, the pilot for that one is me," I said quietly, but Athrun heard me.
"You… were the pilot for…?" Athrun stuttered.
"Of the X209 Shadow mobile suit, yes indeed and that's its designation the machine. I'm the pilot Athrun, though I didn't choose to be, it happened more due to necessity," I returned. Athrun looked like he had just gotten smacked, but I wasn't done yet, I kept going, "The pilot of the mobile suit with the winged backpack… It's Kira, you know, Kira Yamato our friend," I finished.
My friend's shock increased further, yet so did Siegel Clyne, "Kira Yamato you say? Tell me Tyler, was Lacus with him?" Asked Siegel Clyne a little worriedly.
Athrun's expression morphed into horror at hearing Lacus's name, "Wait, are you saying that Lacus was at Heliopolis when the mission to steal the Alliance machines was going on?!" He questioned.
I hesitated for a moment, then slowly nodded, "Yeah, she was visiting Kira when everything when down, probably would have been heading back today or tomorrow, were I to guess. At least, I believe that was the plan, but well… that's not what happened or is happening," I remarked with a strained tone.
Athrun gained a look of guilt that mixed with the expression of horror at coming to understand more factors to what happened at Heliopolis. I sighed, knowing that Athrun was now internally beating himself up, "Athrun, you didn't know everything that was happening, even I didn't know all that was going on. That being said, don't blame yourself for what happened at Heliopolis. If anyone is to blame, it's Rau Le Creuset for his choice of actions without taking into account the consequences of them," I said.
I can't say if Athrun heard my attempt to help him not blame himself or felt guilt about what happened to Heliopolis. Silence pervaded the air and five minutes passed by before my friend spoke again, "So then, do you plan to go back to the Alliance warship?" he asked me.
That query caused me to pause and take a moment to think about how I should answer. I would like to go back to the Archangel, if I'm given the choice in the matter. However, with the investigation mission over now, it's more likely that my teammates and I will be reassigned to something else. So, I might not get an option to go back to the Archangel for the time being, I really don't know right now, I'll have to play it by ear for the time being. "Well, I can't say for sure at the moment Athrun. Technically, the assignment that I had is over now, so I really don't know what I'll be given to do. If I'm given an option, then I would like to go there yes. For there are people I know on board that ship and I would very much prefer they don't die because the Alliance and ZAFT go at each other," I answered.
Athrun was silent at my reply, which caused me to exhale heavily, "Look Athrun, we're both members of a military force, different groups true, but nonetheless, we're both soldiers. I assume that you understood that taking the job of a soldier meant that you would have to at times do things that you don't want to, such as destroying someone's home, or killing another." I said flatly.
It's not a truth that I like or wish to admit, but I can't deny the validity of what I just said to Athrun. As a soldier, I've killed people and did it in the last twenty-four hours, I'd killed three ZAFT soldiers myself. Pulled the trigger, shooting one in the head and then, used a mobile suit to kill the other two. The look in Athrun's eyes said that he knew what I was talking about, not to the extent that I've experienced, but the message was one that we both understand the meaning and validity.
Phase End!
A/n
And that's where this phase ends now. Please some of you take the time to write a review and either point stuff out or comment on what you think.