I thought about bringing the AEUG in the last chapter but decided against it. This time for sure Juddau and the AEUG come into play.
The AEUG's Arrival and Yuzu's Betrayal
Cagalli breathed a sigh of relief after the Minerva escaped without any lose of life and the AEUG Gundams were a big help for Captain Gladys. Cagalli went against the Seirans, who tried to willingly send the Minerva to their death, and had the Archangel deployed along with the Girty Lue now under Captain Lee's command. Captain Lee and the crew joined the Orb military answering only to the Chief Representative Athha; the Archangel and her crew had the same status, answering only to Chief Representative Athha as well. When most of Orb military heard that the Seirans were taking advantage of the Chief Representative, they began to split and break apart. Unknown to the Seirans, several Astrays and two Murasames were given to the crew and a few Orb pilots joined up with Minerva crew. The reason was because of an ambush that Cagalli warned Captain Gladys about.
Flashback: Yesterday, Orb Boundary
The Minerva sailed through the escorting fleet and made their way to the border. Captain Gladys was still trying to process the events that transpired the other day. Shinn and Stella were involved in an assassination attempt of a well loved figure and finding out from Chief Representative Athha that the Seirans were starting to overpower her authority and were going to force her to sign the treaty. This situation was getting out of hand. 'Well at least she warned us about the possibility of an ambush,' thought Captain Gladys as she kept wary eye on what was in front of her. The ship had already gone to Condition Red and the mobile suit pilots were ready to launch at a moment's notice. As soon as the Minerva left Orb's border, not five minutes did an Earth Alliance fleet show up to destroy it. They started with about twenty Windams, seven carrier class ships, a prototype Zamza-Zah mobile armor and last but not least the Neo-Dominion. Captain Gladys was shocked to see the Neo Dominion here on Earth; but it wasn't the time to be shocked, she and her crew had to fight back. She gave orders to prepare for anti-ship, anti-mobile suit combat and have the mobile suits ready to go. When Captain Gladys gave these orders, Arthur took over and made the preparations along with the crew.
"Activate CIWS," began Arthur, "load tubes One through Six with Korinthos, load tubes Seven through Twelve with Parsifals, activate Tristans and Isodles."
"Activate the Tannhauser," added Captain Gladys as she saw the Earth Forces mobile armor coming out to meet them.
"Activating Tannhauser," acknowledged the weapons officer. "releasing safety lock, activating weapon's bank, output stable."
"Target enemy mobile armor," ordered Captain Gladys.
"Targeting enemy mobile armor," acknowledged the weapons officer.
"Fire!"
Positronic energy rushed toward the enemy mobile armor in hopes that the mobile armor would be incinerated with one blast. However the Zamza-Zah activated it's Positronic shield to absorb the blast and began fire back at the Minerva.
"There they are!" exclaimed William. "Quick fire the Gottfrieds! We have to slaughter those space monsters."
Deputy Captain Akihara finally lost her cool with William and Adam; they had pushed her buttons as well as the Captain's buttons as well. 'To hell with Logos,' thought Yuzu as she began to pull out her pistol. Captain Nakamura saw that Yuzu had drawn her pistol to shoot William and Adam. Things were getting out of hand with the two Logos spies; they constantly tried to override her authority and her XO was getting ready to shoot them.
"Ahem, we have an enemy ship in front us," spoke up Captain Nakamura as she pointed to the flashes of red and orange against the clear blue sky. "Let's focus on the enemy first then kill each other later."
The two Logos officers and Deputy Captain Akihara traded sinister glares with each other, except that Deputy Captain Akihara had daggers in her eyes.
"But Captain we have orders to…" started Adam before getting cut off.
"Our orders are to observe and only get in involved if the enemy turns the tide," Captain Nakamura said, repeating orders given to her by the Alliance.
"Captain, heat source approaching mobile armor," cried Sergeant Daniel.
"Don't worry about it Sergeant," said William waving his left hand in confidence. "The Zamza-Zah is more than enough to ensure the blood of those 'things' stains the ocean water."
Adam laughed at William's comment and William joined in laughing with Adam. Captain Nakamura began to see why her XO wanted to shoot those blood thirsty monsters sitting at the helm of her ship. Captain Nakamura had no problems with Coordinators like most of her crew; most of them were from Eurasia and forced into service by threats and intimidation. Secretly they wanted to get back at the Alliance for forced service and also bring Logos down. Captain Nakamura believed that her XO gathered them with help from her father and a few Tsunami Guardian sympathizers. Tsunami Guardians were an organization of Naturals and Coordinators within the nations of Earth Alliance who fought the Earth Forces politically and also in battle. Most battles were fought by Coordinators and a few Naturals. They also made new technology even that the Earth Alliance or ZAFT weren't aware of. Politics were handled by the Naturals with help from some of the Coordinators who were experts in politics. Captain Nakamura had secretly considered joining the Tsunami Guardians; she had contact with them to boot.
Back to the battle, the Impulse and the Minerva's crew were getting overpowered by the sheer numbers the Earth Forces had with them just to destroy one ship. Sai commented that the Alliance must've thought that the Minerva might be a reminder of the Archangel with all the luck they had in battles. Captain Gladys smiled and made the assumption that the Minerva was ZAFT's Archangel ship from what Sai had stated. Things were looking grim for them until a barrage of beams struck the Earth Alliance fleet and the enemy became confused as to who attacked them until the dust settled. When the dust cleared away Shinn noticed a mobile suit similar to the Zeta Gundam charging into battle followed by a ship with the same insignia the three Gundams fighting alongside them.
"Captain have you ever seen a ship like that?" asked Arthur as he was amazed at the ship that just rescued them.
"No, I haven't seen anything like it," answered Captain Gladys. "But considering that they must belong to the AEUG like the three pilots who are helping us, we should at least thank them." She pointed to symbol on the ship. It was a familiar symbol sense the three AEUG Gundams had the AEUG symbol on it.
"This Bright Noa of the AEUG ship, Argama," the ship captain on the COM called to the Minerva. "It looks like we made it on time. You guys need help?"
"This Talia Gladys, captain of the ZAFT assault ship Minerva," replied Captain Gladys. "I thank you for your assistance and accept any help you can give us."
"Roger that Minerva," acknowledged Bright. "All hands Level One battle stations."
"The enemy has a mobile armor that we need to take out," explained Captain Gladys.
"Roger," said Bright before turning to his crew. "Torres, have Juddau join the Minerva's mobile suit and target the mobile armor."
"Yes sir," acknowledged Torres, one of the Argama's bridge officers.
"Roger that," acknowledged Juddau as he turned to face the mobile armor.
Juddau charged towards the mobile armor and help Shinn.
After twenty minutes of fierce fighting and massive destruction of the Earth Alliance fleet, Cagalli came on the visual COM and told them to return to Orb territory for repairs. She explained that the Seirans had set them up for the ambush and she had just found out before she began to write the message warning them about treaty hostile takeover.
The next day Cagalli was now waiting for Roux's plan to fall into place. She first thought it was a crazy idea that Roux suggested to her. But Roux warned her that no matter what she said to Yuna and Unato they were going to twist her words and turn the people against her. Cagalli certainly didn't want the people of Orb to think of her as their enemy. The kidnapping was a perfect way to stick it to the Seirans and she knew that her people would be safe as long as the Seirans kept Orb out of much of the fighting between the Alliance and ZAFT. I guess you could say that Cagalli had some trust in Yuna in keeping Orb out of war. She waited silently, pretending to feel sad about the marriage… no that wasn't it, she actually was sad that she couldn't share with Athrun how she felt about him. While she was lost in their thoughts, one of Yuna's servants informed her that it was time for the wedding procession to start. 'Oh I'll show Yuna and Unato that I'm rebelling against them,' thought Cagalli ash she wiped the tears from her eyes and put on a determined face. 'Roux's plan better work or else I'll be screwed for the rest of my life and Orb will fall.' Cagalli made her way to the hall and met the crowd waiting for her to arrive as well as the idiot she was going ditch at the altar. Cagalli got in the car after Yuna got in and they proceeded to the Shrine of Haumea.
While Cagalli was approaching the Shrine, the crew of the Archangel were launching from their secret base underneath Reverend Malchio's orphanage. Once the Archangel had launched, they made their way to a position near Onogoro Island and Kira launched in the Freedom to retrieve Cagalli before making a swift withdraw from Orb territory. The plan also had adding Astrays and Murasames to supplement the Archangel's ability to fight mobile suits of either the Earth Forces and/or ZAFT should it be necessary. Along with the Freedom and Andrew Waltfeld's customized Murasame, the Archangel had the Strike Rouge for Cagalli should she ever decide to fight as well. Either Roux or Elle would join them once they made their way in the direction of a base being constructed by the Earth Forces. Kira quickly zoomed past Orb Defense Headquarters toward the Shrine while the Orb military was trying to scramble a couple of Murasames to intercept him.
The sounds of air raid sirens couldn't be heard from the Shrine; but just as Yuna and Cagalli were about to confirm their vows a soldier spoke up out of turn.
"It's no good, the forces from HQ can't make it on time," the soldier reported to his superior officer.
Yuna took notice of the soldier's report; he turned and asked, "What is it; what's going on?"
Most of the audience flew into a panic as the Freedom arrived on the scene. Much Yuna's surprise not one of the Astrays opened fire on the Freedom but tilted their shields after the Freedom tilted it's shield first. Yuna tried to hide behind Cagalli but when the Freedom was reaching for Cagalli, Yuna ran away and the four Astrays fled the Shrine toward the Archangel. Yuna couldn't believe what was happening to him; the four Astray pilots he assigned to guard the wedding deserted their post, the Freedom kidnapped his only real threat to not signing the treaty and now it seemed that the Orb military was split between those loyal to Cagalli and those loyal to the Seirans. The Freedom and Astrays made their way to the coast while two Murasames managed to catch up them.
"Attention Freedom," called out one of the Murasame pilots, "we're here to provide assistance and join you on your journey."
"Alright thanks for the help," replied Kira.
The Freedom and Murasames boarded the Archangel while the Astrays were making their way to the Archangel. Once the Astrays were retrieved, the Archangel and four Orb ships including a mobile suit carrier fled from Orb.
"They escaped along with four of our own ships?!" snarled Yuna. "You fools! How could let them get away?!" Yuna was frustrated at the fact that more Orb soldiers deserted him. He and his father were setting a course for the right path and the treaty was supposed to ensure it.
'But maybe it's a good thing she's gone,' thought Yuna with a little smirk on his face. 'Father and I don't have to worry about Cagalli complaining and the position is right for the taking.'
"Well, Father, we don't have to worry about Cagalli getting in our way," Yuna said to his father Unato.
"Yes," agreed Unato. "But now that the Archangel is out and has Cagalli, they're sure to cause trouble for us and for the Alliance."
"What can one ship accomplish?" Yuna asked his father mockingly.
Unato didn't like what Yuna asked him; he knew that if the Archangel could survive a long pursuit of ZAFT forces and fight off the Earth Forces, then they could surely turn the tide of the new war that had started in the wake of the failed attempt to nuke the PLANTS. Unato was sure that the Archangel and it's allies would most likely act as peacekeepers and try to end the war before it got worse.
'Yes, the Archangel could accomplish a lot,' thought Unato.
"We need to warn our friends that the Archangel is on the loose," remarked Unato.
"Oh please, Father, their not much of a threat to the Alliance," Yuna said confidently.
Later that night Unato made a secret communication to Djbril and warned him that the Archangel was now out and roaming the world with four Orb ships that turned traitor on their nation. Djbril was shocked to hear that the Archangel was on the loose and they were aided by traitors to their to own kind. Oh they would die the same way the crew of the Girty Lue would die, a brutally bloody and savage death. Nonetheless, Djbril wanted to destroy the Archangel and now that they were in open he would have the chance to have his lackeys destroy them.
The Angel Peacekeepers, as they called themselves now, headed towards the base that was being constructed by the Earth Forces. The problem was that they had to go near Carpentaria in order to get to the base and shut it down. Captain Ramius thought they were in a predicament since she thought they had no intelligence on the base. Cagalli assured her that Kisaka would provide the necessary Intel on the base before they launched their attack. It would take them at least two days to reach the base, assuming that ZAFT wouldn't engage them in battle. They set course for the Earth Forces' new frontline base and hoped they wouldn't have to face mobile armors like the Minerva had to when they left Orb.
Within a day and a half the Angel Peacekeepers were in striking distance of the frontline base. This was it for them, they had their work cut out for them. However with the Neo-Dominion stationed their in preparation to strike Carpentaria, it would be a little bit harder for them to shut down the base as they took into consideration the info Mu gave them about the Neo-Dominion.
"Captain Nakamura, we've detected five ships approaching the base," said Sergeant Daniels as she read off what she saw on her screen.
"What, five ships?" asked Captain Nakamura puzzled at recent news.
"Identified as three Orb Aegis class ships, one Orb Takemikazumichi class ship," replied Sergeant Daniels, "and…"
"And?" chimed in Deputy Captain Akihara.
"Oh crap, we're screwed," whimpered Sergeant Daniels. "The Archangel is in the group too."
"The ARCHANGEL?!" roared William.
"Calm down William," Adam said as he put his hand on the shoulder of his fellow Logos comrade. "We should think of this as a good thing since they're coming to us. Don't forget that those 'things' supported the space monsters and fought on their side in the last war."
William calmed down and sat back down at his station. Deputy Captain Akihara turned away and smiled; she wanted to leave the Neo-Dominion and Archangel would be her ticket out off the ship.
"Hey fellas, would you boys mind covering for me for ten minutes?" requested Deputy Captain Akihara.
"Why should we?" challenged Adam.
"Uh, I'm hungry and I want to go to the mess hall and get a quick snack," lied Deputy Captain Akihara.
"Well, you can't fight on an empty stomach," offered William.
"Yeah, no kidding," agreed Deputy Captain Akihara.
"Sure no problem," William and Adam agreed to the XO.
Yuzu walked to the elevator and punched the button for the deck in which the mess hall was located on. When she arrived in the mess hall she was met by fourteen other crew members. Two crew members were ship engineers, four were mobile suit pilots, two were doctors, of course Deputy Captain Akihara was there as the leader, three were marines for repelling borders, one was a ZAFT prisoner disguised as an Earth Forces soldier and the last two were mobile suit mechanics. Their meeting began after they told the cooks to take a break. When the cooks left the kitchen, Deputy Captain Akihara locked the door and turned off the COM system to the mess hall. She took a deep breath and began the meeting.
"Okay guys," began Deputy Captain Akihara, "the Archangel is on the way towards the Alliance's frontline base. Our only chance to escape is during the battle against the Archangel. When the fight starts we have to make sure we have everything ready to go."
Deputy Captain Akihara sat down motioned for the mobile suit pilots to report their preparations for the escape. The lead mobile suit pilot, Momo Ashton, stood up and made her report without Deputy Captain Akihara to start; she knew the task that was assigned to them.
"Ma'am, provisions are secured and are on board our Windams," Momo reported clearly and professionally.
"Ammunition?" asked Deputy Captain Akihara
"Ma'am, we have five assault rifles with four clips for each of them," answered Momo, "everyone has secured a pistol for themselves along with three clips and a set of four small grenades."
Deputy Captain Akihara gave a quick nod and the Ensign sat down in her seat. The next person to make a report was the ZAFT prisoner, First Lieutenant Jacob Hannity of Aprilius 4. He stood up and looked around the group and cleared his throat and began with help from Deputy Captain Akihara.
"Alright Lieutenant, status on the Neo Dominion's ability defend itself," inquired Deputy Captain.
"Ma'am, Korinthos have been sabotaged," reported Lieutenant Hannity. "Effectiveness to the Gottfrieds has been greatly reduced to fifteen percent, munitions to Igelstellungs have been transferred to the ground anti-air batteries, rewiring to Sledgehammers has rendered them useless, Helldarts are rigged for self-destruction upon firing."
"And the Lohengrins?" asked Deputy Captain Akihara.
"Ma'am, power conduits to the Lohengrin cannons have been severed here, here, and here." Lieutenant Hannity pointed to the locations where he severed the power conduits to the Lohengrin cannons.
Deputy Captain Akihara nodded in approval while Lieutenant Hannity sat down. The doctors had already made their report before the meeting so they didn't have to do it in front of the group. They were disturbed by Deputy Captain Akihara's request to withhold medical supplies from the rest of the crew in case they were stuck on the island with the civilians. She now motioned to the mechanics to make their report.
"Status on the Shadow Stalker, G-Killer, Duel Dagger," inquired Deputy Captain Akihara.
"Ma'am we've pulled out a few wires in the cockpit of the three mobile suits," read Chief Ashley Watson, from her report. "Munitions for the Vulcans on all three mobile suits have been replaced with blanks, beam javelin for Shadow Stalker has seven wires frozen with liquid nitrogen as well as the exterior cover, beam rifle for the G-Killer has lost forty three point seven percent of its energy and it's beam sabers have a reduction of combat effectiveness down to fifty two point one percent."
"What about the power to the mobile suits?" asked Deputy Captain Akihara.
"Ma'am, power packs have been replaced with duds," answered Petty Officer Kelly Eubanks, Ashley's cousin.
"Good, good," replied Deputy Captain Akihara as she breathed a sigh of relief after hearing the mobile suits of the Extendeds were sabotaged. The last report came from the two ship engineers and Warrant Officer Linda Polaski stood up began giving her report without Deputy Captain Akihara to start.
"Ma'am, the majority of the Neo-Dominion's fuel was shipped to the Lunar Fleet. Power to basic operating systems has been drastically reduced by seventy eight point four percent. Computer viruses are set go off when we begin our escape."
"Will they be detected when the networks are scanned before take off?" asked Deputy Captain Akihara.
"Ma'am, no ma'am," answered Crewman Justin Cousteau. "They'll appear as a normal program during the scan. The viruses are programmed to go off on the rescheduled time."
"All right everything is in place," said Deputy Captain Akihara as she unlocked the mess hall and reestablished the COM link. "Everyone, report to your stations and make a final check of our preparations. I want to make sure that our escape is done by the book and no fatalities."
"Ma'am!" acknowledged the group of fourteen soon-to-be traitors
After the cooks returned from the ten minute break they were given by Deputy Captain Akihara, she grabbed a ham sandwich with Swiss cheese and munched on it as she headed back to the bridge. When she returned to the bridge, she saluted Captain Nakamura and returned to her post which William and Adam were reluctant to relinquish back to Deputy Captain Akihara. She opened a terminal to her personal computer in her quarters and began deleting all personal files and any possible documents that might lead the Alliance to any Tsunami Guardian base within the either Earth Alliance or ZAFT territory. All traces of her combat record with the Earth Alliance were destroyed. After clearing that mess she closed the terminal and after beginning a system overload of her personal computer in her quarters, the Deputy Captain breathed a sigh of relief and then resumed her post.
"Captain, the Archangel has begun it's advance to our base," reported Sergeant Daniels. "The Minerva is right behind it distance 2100."
"Have they conspired together?" Captain Nakamura asked herself loud enough for William and Adam to hear.
Captain Nakamura barked orders for everyone to get their stations as they came under fire from two Orb Aegis-class ships and the Archangel. A missile struck the Neo-Dominion when Deputy Captain Akihara made her move.
"Hey, what are you doing?" demanded William.
"I'm going to go help seal the bulkheads," answered Deputy Captain Akihara. "I'm also gonna help with damage control too."
"Very well Deputy Captain Akihara," praised Captain Nakamura. "See that I get a report when the battle is over."
"Ma'am!" acknowledged Deputy Captain Akihara as she headed for the elevator.
"Captain, we have an unidentified ship flying with the Minerva," reported Sergeant Daniels.
"Damn, it must be that ship that destroyed part of our ambush fleet," remarked Adam
"All right you guys," Yuzu whispered into her private COM to the other fourteen deserters, "time to abandon ship and into the arms of the Angel."
"Ma'am," the fourteen deserters acknowledged.
Everyone made their way to their stations. The mobile suit pilots carrying provisions and supplies boarded their mobile suits while the rest of the deserters knocked out the two guards for two motor boats they stashed on board when they arrived on Earth. The three marines took point and lead the way to escape hatch. Once at the escape hatch the group threw the boats into the water and repelled down into them. Lieutenant Hannity and Yuzu took the control of the boats and sped towards the Archangel dodging falling debris with ease. Momo Ashton lead the other three Windam mobile suit pilots to the Archangel and contacted them after switching to a different frequency; Momo sent a message instead giving a verbal communication.
"Captain Ramius, we've received a message from a Momo Ashton requesting permission to board our ship along with three other Windam mobile suits and two motor boats heading our way," reported Lacus.
Murrue and Mu were startled by Lacus's report; but something didn't add up to Captain Ramius. 'Why would Earth Forces soldiers and mobile suit pilots want to board the Archangel in the middle of a battle?' thought Captain Ramius.
"Let's allow them on board," suggested Mu. "They were probably forced into service by Logos."
"Logos?" asked Cagalli confused by Mu's statement.
"They're an organization wealthy radical businessmen who rely on wars starting in order to make profits," explained Mu. "They also founded the terrorist organization Blue Cosmos. Most of the decisions that the Earth Alliance makes come from Logos and their leader, a guy named Lord Djbril. Djbril is ruthless and bloodthirsty; he's a lot worse than Murata Azrael."
Murrue thought about it and made her decision. She was going to take these deserters in send them someplace safe from the Alliance.
"Lacus send them a message that they have permission to board the Archangel," requested Murrue.
"Yes Captain," acknowledged Lacus as she began typing a response to Momo Ashton.
"Ma'am, the Archangel is allowing us to board their ship," reported Momo.
"All right," said Yuzu. "Head to the Archangel.
"Ma'am!" acknowledged the mobile suit pilots and Lieutenant Hannity as they sped towards the Archangel. Within five minutes the deserters were on board the Archangel, finally away from those two idiots from Logos.
"Captain Nakamura, our mechanics are reporting that four Windams are missing," reported Sergeant Daniels.
"What?" asked Captain Nakamura confused with her mind in different places.
"Captain, we have a report that Deputy Captain Akihara and ten other crewmen overpowered two guards, three mechanics and deserted the ship," reported Susan Ashton taking over the communication officer position for Sergeant Daniels.
"She did WHAT?!" roared William in shock.
"That bitch!" exclaimed Adam. "She was an enemy all along!"
"Hey hold on," protested Judy, "I've known Yuzu for most of my life since we grew up in Omaha together. She wouldn't just walk away from her post.
"Maybe those fourteen crewmen overpowered her and took her as a hostage," said Judy as she tried to come up with a logical explanation on why Yuzu left the Neo Dominion.
"Captain Gladys we have indications that a battle is taking place at an island nearby," reported Meyrin.
"There's a battle going on?" asked Captain Gladys confused. "Whose fighting who?"
"Checking thermal patterns," said Abby as she took the role as radar operator, "It's the Archangel, three Orb Aegis-class ships and one Orb Takemikazumichi-class ship engaging an Earth Forces fleet stationed there."
"What? The Archangel is fighting?" asked Arthur surprised to hear the Archangel was fighting the Earth Forces again along with Orb ships. "What do we do Captain; should we help them?"
"Lower the bridge," ordered Captain Gladys, "bring the ship to Condition Red; have the mobile suit pilots ready to launch."
"Yes ma'am," acknowledged Meyrin as she began lowering the bridge. "Going to Condition Red; going to Condition Red. All pilots board your machines and standby."
Shinn was eagerly wanting to fight the Earth Forces for the cowardly attack they tried to pull on the PLANTS and it seemed that he would get his chance now that the ship was going into combat.
"Mobile suit pilots," Captain Gladys called from the lounge screen, "we've detected an Earth Alliance frontline base and it's under attack from the Archangel."
The mobile suit pilots were shocked to hear that the Archangel had started a battle. For Athrun, it didn't seem like Kira to start a fight with no explanation. But then again he might've gotten word that the Earth Forces had were going to strike Carpentaria and they had begun intercepting them.
"We don't know what they are doing," explained Captain Gladys, "but we're going to support them in their attack on the Earth Forces frontline base.
Shinn was pleased to hear that they were going strike back at the Earth Forces for the ambush at the boundary of Orb Union. He felt honored that he would be fighting alongside a legendary ship from the last war, even if they were originally from the Earth Alliance. He made his way to the elevator with Stella quickly getting in before it closed. While the elevator gently made its way to the hangar, Stella put her arms around Shinn's waist laid her head on his head back.
"Shinn, there's something that I want to tell you," Stella said as she looked at him. "I never got a chance to tell you this when we were at Kira and Lacus's house."
"Tell me what?" asked Shinn as he turned around to face her.
"Ever since you came into my life," began Stella, "I've been a lot calmer and more open to other people. I also have felt that you mean a lot to me."
"Stella," said Shinn as he tried to figure what Stella was telling him.
"Shinn, I love you," finished Stella as she embraced him and dropped her helmet.
"I love you too, Stella," said Shinn as he dropped his helmet and embraced Stella. As the elevator stopped and opened Yolant and Vino noticed Shinn and Stella embraced and were kissing each other. After Shinn noticed Vino and Yolant blushing in embarrassment, he and Stella picked up their helmets and quickly ran to their mobile suits; Yolant and Vino shook their heads trying to forget what they saw but failed. The other mobile suit pilots made their way down the elevator and began boarding their mobile suits. Lunamaria boarded a Murasame she decided to pilot instead of the Blaze ZAKU Gunner she started piloting at first. She took a liking to the versatility of the Murasame and the fact that she wasn't stuck to fighting on the deck of the Minerva like she would've been with her Blaze ZAKU Gunner. Her Murasame had it's armor upgraded to Phase Shift in part thanks to Chairman Durandal. Captain Gladys couldn't feel like the Chairman was trying to butter up her crew into fully supporting him. The Captain had started to develop a sense of suspicion after Roux began commenting that she thought the Chairman was up to something when he graciously began helping her, Elle and Puru. Captain Gladys didn't want to be suspicious of Chairman Durandal but with the attempted assassination of Lacus Clyne and the sudden appearance of another person claiming to be the songstress, something was definitely brewing in the PLANTS and the Chairman was up to something. Things were mixed in the battle; Athrun and Shinn were swarmed by Windams and Earth Forces were hiding a secret they didn't want ZAFT to find. Unfortunately for the Earth Forces, Shinn broke through the swarm of Windams, joined up with Stella on the island and they both found the Alliance's secret. They were horrified to see civilians were being forced to build the base, let alone that the base wasn't complete. Stella relayed their discovery back to the Minerva and they in turn relayed the news to the Archangel. Astrays from the Archangel launched to go liberate the civilians being forced to build the base. It was a little late to be launching their other mobile suits, when they saw explosions coming from the base. Lunamaria, Cagalli and Athrun managed to shoot down the Windams that tried to swarm both ships.
"We're retreating back to Suez," said Captain Nakamura putting every effort into maintaining her professional face.
"But Captain," Adam began to protest, "we have to stand and fight against those monsters."
"Launch our remaining Windams and recover the Shadow Stalker, G-Killer and Duel Dagger," ordered Captain Nakamura. "Once they have been recovered, launch signal flares to the remaining ships and we'll begin our withdraw."
William and Adam were furious with Captain Nakamura; she wasn't following their orders. Although she was their superior officer in the Earth Forces, she was inferior in the Logos organization. But there was a problem for William and Adam, Captain Nakamura wasn't part of the Logos organization, therefore she wasn't bound to their authority as Logos agents. She had to go and they would begin to find someone they could control easily. Signal flares were fired and the Neo-Dominion and the survivors began their withdraw leaving any Earth Forces soldiers still left on the island behind, steaming to Suez.
The Earth Forces soldiers left behind on the island weren't fortunate like remaining fleet left alive. The Impulse and Gaia went on a rampage methodically destroying the base. The civilians took the opportunity to escape when the base came under attack. A few soldiers noticed and fired on the fleeing men who only wanted to reunite with their families. Shinn noticed this crushed them to death; he also noticed the fences that separated the workers from their families. The Impulse gently ripped out part of the fence so the workers could finally get back to their loved ones. The people on both sides of the fences were overjoyed to be reunited with each other. They looked to both the Impulse and Gaia; they wanted to see face of their liberators.
"Shinn, I think the people want to see us," observed Stella.
"Do you want to meet the people?" asked Shinn.
"Yeah I do," answered Stella.
Both of them exited their Gundams to meet with the people. They were surprised to see a couple of teenagers piloting the mobile suits that saved them from the Alliance; what was more shocking was to them an Earth Forces soldier and a ZAFT soldier worked together. Stella noticed some of the people were uneasy with her because she wore the Earth Forces flight suit still.
"I'm not with the Earth Alliance anymore," Stella assured the people. "I left them after I found out what they did to me and my friends. They were cruel and…"
Shinn put his hand on Stella's shoulder and she calmed down. Two young children approached Shinn and Stella giving them a each a few small flowers as a token of appreciation. Stella smiled and patted a little girl on the head and thanked her for the flowers. Shinn thanked the little girl who gave him the small flowers as well.
"Thank you for helping us reunite with our loved ones," said one of the men who was forced to build the Earth Forces base. "We won't forget your kindness."
"Don't thank just ZAFT," said Shinn, "the Archangel and four Orb ships loyal to Chief Representative Athha came and helped out as well."
The people were surprised to hear that the Archangel appeared and helped in the efforts in freeing the people from the Alliance's oppression. They knew that the Archangel had defected and fought against the Alliance and helped end the war at Yakin Do Wei. It was an honor to have a legend help them out.
Later, once the mobile suits had been recalled the people of the island invited the crews of the Minerva and the Archangel for dinner of appreciation which both captains accepted. Some of the people were surprised to see Yuzu and her fellow deserters on the island because they still wore their uniforms from the Earth Forces. Yuzu revealed that she really belonged to the Tsunami Guardians and she was bringing new recruits their headquarters. Both Murrue and Talia had heard rumors of the Tsunami Guardians but never saw them in battle. For a member of the Tsunami Guardians to infiltrate the Earth Forces and escape was an amazing feat. The residents and crew of both the Archangel and Minerva enjoyed their feast and rested for the night.
When morning broke, Yuzu and her companions burned the Earth Forces uniforms they wore before wearing spare Orb uniforms. 'I'll have to wait until I make contact with the Tsunami Guardians to get a replacement uniform,' thought Yuzu as she typed an e-mail to her childhood friend from Omaha, Judy Daniels. In her e-mail Yuzu apologized to Judy and explained that she couldn't tell her about who she really was affiliated with. She also promised Judy that she was going to get her off the Neo-Dominion and help her join the Tsunami Guardians too. Her final instructions were too delete the e-mail after she finished reading it. After pressing the send button, Yuzu shut off her terminal and reported to her station on the Archangel. She made sure before turning off her terminal to eliminate all traces of her location. She did this for two reasons: The first reason was so the Earth Forces couldn't find her so they could threaten her or her family and friends; the second reason was to protect the crew of the Archangel from the Earth Alliance and so they couldn't trace their location.
Djbril's Manor, Alexandria, VA
Djbril threw a glass vase on the floor after receiving a report from the two Logos agents he assigned to the Neo-Dominion. They were definitely trying to control Captain Nakamura like they were told to do but Captain Nakamura wouldn't follow their orders like she was supposed to. To make matters worse the Deputy Captain deserted and joined the Archangel when it attacked the frontline base along with help from the Minerva and the unknown ship that helped them fight out. Things were going down hill for Djbril and rest of the Logos organization once the Archangel suddenly appeared and Deputy Captain Akihara's desertion from the Neo-Dominion. The report stated that it was possible that Deputy Captain Akihara was part of the Tsunami Guardians, but both William and Adam had no evidence to back up their theory. Deputy Captain Akihara never showed any suspicious actions or acted suspicious to warrant any investigations by Logos.
"The Tsunami Guardians, eh?" wondered Djbril as he pondered the name. Everyone in Logos had heard of the Tsunami Guardians but never saw them.
He poured a glass of wine sipped it gently to calm himself down and he began to gather his thoughts on his next actions against ZAFT. They had to be exterminated quickly but the Earth Forces had used a lot of their nuclear missiles and failed to destroy the PLANTS. He opened up some blueprints for their next destructive weapon. 'This new machine will definitely be the perfect instrument in the destruction of the Coordinators,' thought Djbril as he continued to gently sip his red French wine from a vineyard near Tousles.