Hi Everybody! Sry I have been away for so long. I was working on things with my personal life that I never got the chance to work on this chapter. I WILL make announcements from now on so that no one will have to wait for my progress.

Anyway Review Time!

Chachabow: Huh, I feel like I read this some where before. I mean the way the chapter turned out kinda feels like I've read it before in another gundam seed crossover fanfic. The pod with mystery girl with no memories but turned out to be special and the OC pilots suddenly getting nerfed despite the last chapters having told us how good the OCs skills were. Next, will be some evil OP dvil OC showing up acting like they've waited for the good OCs to show up just to start something when they could have done so earlier way before the good OCs have shown up.

Seriously, reading this chapter gave me deja vu because I honestly felt that this chapter copied another fanfic's chapter with how everything played out. Heck, there are literally some fanfics that copied and paste certain chapters with literally no changes at all (like a certain ultraman crossover literally is doing). My advice, try to not add too much drama or plot points that have no impact or adds to the plot, otherwise it will look rather forced in like it did in this chapter.

Answer: Ok one I have no idea what you talking about. and two the pilots are relativity new to being ACTUAL Gundam Pilots. So taking down green coat grunts are one thing but going up against ZAFT Redcoat pilots, who are the equivalents of pro Gunpla Fighters, is one hell of a difference.

Guestbean: Ummm not wanting to sound like a troll or a total a-hole but everything in this chapter felt rather forced. From the OCs questioning themselves about killing to the who berserking pilot. I can understand why the OCs feel like they do in this chapter but it would have made it better if you had done this in the last two chapters with them not killing a lot of zaft pilots since they didn't seem all bothered due to them somewhat coming to terms with what needs to be done. It feels like an excuse to have unneeded drama to make the OCs question themselves now isn't really needed.

The same can be said with the OC piloting the Age Magnum going berserk. That right there felt like it added just so that the OCs have issues and not have them ruin kira and Athrun talk like in the cannon. Not to mention them suddenly being nerfed and acting like noobs just so that Zaft be seen as threats (then again they kinda sucked in cannon since Kira had jesus plot armor protecting him).

Look, I know you don't want the OCs to be too OP (which is stupid since Kira is literally Jesus with all that plot armor) but maybe you shouldn't had them be experience pilots and had them be some newbie who hadn't played that long to be aces. That way you can have the OCs struggle a bit but get better as time goes on.

Sorry if the review sounded rude but I don't want to see you make the same mistakes like many writers on here did with theirs.

Answer: Ok while you make a good point on what you said but let me elaborate on why I did this:

One, while it is true that now they begin to question themselves odd but i felt like they need to address this now so it doesn't come around in the back of their minds, but I see what you mean.

Second, the reason why the pilot went berserk was not just because the Archangel was getting attack, but it was because our extra guest from said ship that allowed him to go into that state. Think of it like a psuedo-FX Burst Mode but was influenced thanks to an outside force.

Also their not really experienced pilots, their Gunpla Fighters / Beta Testers that has mental programing of experience pilots but not the muscle memory that is required to be said experienced pilots. The only reason why they don't go full Gundam Meister, Gundam Fighter, and X-Rounder on ZAFT forces is because of what I just said before: They got the mentality of a MS pilot but not the muscle memory.

Perseus12: I started to HATE the Commander of Artemis and what the happened to those Gundam pilots that spark them? I'll wait to read the next chapter. Interesting story and I like it! *Thumbs uP!*

Answer: You and about everyone in the Gundam Fandom hates the Artemis personnel and what happened to the pilots I will explain overtime within the story.

OK now that is taken care of...lets get to the chapter!

It's Showtime!

Chapter 4

Archangel

"What is the meaning of this, Commander Biddulph!? I request an explanation of your actions immediately!" yelled Natarle making some of the soldiers aim their rifles at her. The man raises his hand making his soldiers lower their weapons a bit.

"I'm just blockading the ship's control and fire security control systems as a security measure."

"Blockading but the way you're doing…"

"Your ship isn't registered in military data banks so naturally, it doesn't have an identification code that we'll recognize. Given the circumstances we did permit you to enter port but unfortunately, we haven't recognized you as our allies."

"Still you can't-" Natarle did not have a chance to finish her sentence since she is cut off by Biddulph.

"This is a military facility. I'm sure you'll understand that much. Now then, I want some high-ranking officers to come with me. You'll have to explain the situation to us in General Garcia's office."

Both Murrue and Natarle frowned at the Biddulph but nonetheless complied to his orders. The two left the bridge with him and an armed escort. As they left the bridge, they cannot help but look at the ship locked down with Eurasian guards around the corner. Moving along, they see Mu with his hands up along with another armed guard behind him, pointing his rifle at his back.

"Stand down soldier, he'll be coming with us since he's another ranked officer on board the ship. I don't want him harmed when I present him to General Garcia." ordered Biddulph. The soldier complies to his orders, lowering his rifle down. With all three of them assembled, Biddulph and his armed escort reached the exit, loading them in a shuttle. Seeing their Eurasian commander hop inside with the three officers in tow, the other guards outside the ship embarked in their shuttles, leaving the port and back to the heart of the base.

While that was going on, a few Artemis personnel remaining in the ship, rounded up the mechanics and the other crew members, shoving them either in their barracks or in the cafeteria. Coming in the cafeteria was Murdoch, Chandra, Romero, Arnold and Jackie with their hands behind their heads.

"You got to be kidding me! What the hell is wrong with you guys?!" yelled a disgruntled Murdoch as he along with the others filed in the cafeteria.

"Shut up and get in! Anymore fuss and we'll not hesitate to use lethal force if necessary!" ordered a Eurasian soldier as he and his colleagues went in, taking their posts around the place.

"Damn bastards…" Murdoch took a seat next to Kira while the others sat in different sections of the cafeteria. Tense silence reigned the air before the civilians started to resume whatever they were doing.

"Eurasia is supposed to be an ally, right? Shouldn't they get along with the Atlantic Federation?" asked a confuse Sai.

"Well yeah, we usually get along with them…but that's not the problem here." said Jackie.

Romero takes a sigh, shaking his head in disappointment and frustration. "The problem is the identification code. The Archangel doesn't have one which makes them suspicious of us."

"That's what these guys are worried about? They need some identification code to allow us in?" Tolle raised an eyebrow at the ludicrous reasoning.

"Apparently. They think we're spies or something like that." said Chandra.

"If you ask me, that's just an excuse. There's something else going on here that we don't know about." Murdoch looks around to see the last one of the Gundam pilots, besides Kira and the ones in the infirmary, not with them in the cafeteria. "Hey kid, where's Kaito? I don't see him with us here." asked Murdoch, whispering in Kira's ear.

"He's not here in the ship."

"What do you mean he's not here?! Did he abandon us in this situation!?" Murdoch looks like he is ready to track down Kaito and kill him on the spot. Kira quickly shakes his head, telling him something else.

"No, he didn't. He said he's going to look around the base and see what he can find around the Artemis. Probably looking for a way to give us an exit."

"How's that possible? The whole place is guarded from head to toe. It'd be suicide for him to go alone by himself. Can he even pull it off?"

"I don't know how he'll do it." Kira gives him a shrug. "I too also find it quite suicidal, but he told me to trust him. If he can handle ZAFT pilots by himself, then I'm sure he'll be fine."

Murdoch huffs, crossing his arms on his chest. "I hope that guy is right because if he doesn't, there'll be hell to pay."

Reina was looking around the cafeteria and notices that everyone looked uncomfortable and she was feeling the effects from this. By the time she woke up from her frozen prison, she felt like she could sense everyone in this ship. all of their thoughts and emotions felt like a storm that hit at full force. When the Battle to Artemis happened, she felt more emotions from the battlefield as she gave off a silent prayer toward the pilots of the Gundam, more specifically Seiji.

However when she did that, she felt as if her mind or rather her presence went towards the AGE Magnum and its pilot, then she was able to help Seiji by doing...something to him to give him a boost in his pilot skills. At first, she felt like she did the right thing as Seiji was wrecking the ZAFT Gundam pilots with great ferocity, but that changed when he attacked his friends in a blind fury. In a effort to get him back to normal, she tried to calm him down but he was so enraged it was very difficult. Luckily for her, Seiji began to grow tired from his fight with Kaito and she was able to calm him down and return back to her body.

'Seiji...I hope you're alright.' Reina thought to herself as she closes her eyes and calms herself to keep herself sane from the situation their in.

Chifuyu and Maya were silent as they were looking at something in Chifuyu's hand: A handheld device that has a small screen. As she looks at the device, Chifuyu begins to remember what happened half an hour ago.

[Flashback]

As the Archangel was docking into Artemis port, Chifuyu and Maya were heading to find Kaito and the others after that hectic event. After a few minutes, they arrived at one of the private rooms that was reserved for pilots and higher military personnel. Chifuyu clicked on the console that was near the door to see if someone was in.

"Kaito, are you in there?" Chifuyu asked as she waited for answer. After a few seconds, she got an answer from the other side.

"Sure. Come on in."

Chifuyu and Maya opens the door and enters the room, however both were in for a surprised as the saw Kaito putting on a pilot suit they weren't familiar with as he was halfway finished, showing his bare well-toned upper body. Maya was blushing up a storm as she covered her eyes in embarrassment. Chifuyu was blushing a little bit but she had more control over her emotions than Maya, however she did happen to notice that as Kaito was putting the suit on, he had what looked like a large scar on his left shoulder as he finally puts on his suit.

Kaito looks over to the two woman and smiled a small smile. "Hey there. I was planning on finding you two, but you saved me the trouble." While Maya was getting herself together, Chifuyu looked a little confused at what Kaito said.

"You were planning to find us? Why?" she asked as Kaito pulls out a small black device with a small screen and places it into her hand.

"This is a text only communication device that can't be tracked or traced. This is going to be our only communication when I get into Artemis while everyone else is busy." Kaito said shocking the two women were shocked at what he said.

"Are you crazy?!" Maya shouted which caused Kaito to cover his ears. "How in the world are you going to get in there without being seen? You going to stand out!"

Kaito looked at her for a moment before picking up his helmet and places it over his head. The helmet completely covers head, and the visor has a reflective surface showing Chifuyu's and Maya's refection.

"While this will conceal my identity, I can understand why you think I'm going to stand out. Luckily though, I got that covered." Kaito said as he was pressing something on his wrist. "See you girls soon."

"FREEZE!"

Both Chifuyu and Maya froze as they turned to see two Eurasian officers with rifles pointed towards the two women.

"Okay you two, follow us and don't do anything stupid." One of the Eurasian officers said causing the two women to blink in confusion. Two? Chifuyu looked back to see if Kaito was still there, but to her surprise he was gone!

"MOVE IT!" the other Eurasian officer shouted causing Maya to flinch in fear causing Chifuyu to place her hand on her shoulder calming her down and the two went out the room with the Eurasian officers behind them. Luckily, Chifuyu hid the device so they couldn't see it.

[End of Flashback]

'I hope you know what the hell you're doing Kaito. Things are about to get rough here.' Chifuyu thought to herself as she places the device into her pocket before a Eurasian guard sees it.

Meanwhile in Artemis

Speaking of our GN-Type pilot hero, Kaito was sneaking around the Archangel undetected thanks to the cloaking device installed in his new pilot gear. Before he left the white warship, he took out a black Celestial Being spacesuit that he has under the seat of his Gundam, a data chip from the Mainframe system, placing it into a slot on the helmet, and finally a few weapons for the infiltration. He also gave Chifuyu and Maya a communications device just in case matters are starting to get too hairy.

Equipped with his pistol: A Maxim 9 Suppressor, he easily sneaked through the ship, shooting down unsuspecting Eurasian guards with ease. He was able to spook one poor unsuspecting bastard before placing a bullet in between his eyes permanently silencing him for good.

Reaching the hangar, he spots six guards with four walking around the catwalks, while two are on the ground floor guarding the exit. Activating his cloak, he immediately sets his sights on the lone guard walking on the top level of the hangar. The guard walked a few paces before stopping. Taking his chance, he quickly aimed his Maxim 9, squeezing a round burst right through his head. The guard fell immediately.

"One down, five more to go."

Kaito spotted two more targets down the lower catwalk, so he immediately hopped on said catwalk, landing behind the oblivious Eurasians. Taking a knee, he aims his pistol before firing another two bursts, killing them simultaneously.

"What the? What's going on over there?" A suspicious Eurasian guard looks over to where the two men down. Picking up his rifle, he begins to walk over to their position, unknowingly walking right by Kaito. Holstering his pistol, he takes out a combat knife, ready to execute the poor bastard.

Kaito immediately uncloaked himself, crouching as he stalks his target. When the guard immediately stopped, he looked down at his two dead comrades. He was about to alert his other comrades only for Kaito to kick him right at the back causing him to stumble forward. The pilot cloaked himself when his target turned, making the man look around the for the source only to find nobody. Getting closer, Kaito uncloaked himself, jabbing the knife right on his neck.

"Shh…that's it. Don't fight it, just accept it. That's it. Goodnight." Kaito silently cooed to the dying guard. He slowly brings his body down on the floor, placing his rifle next to him in a quiet manner before grabbing his knife, smearing the blood on the guard's uniform.

Holstering his knife, he turns his attention to the last two Eurasian guards standing there, looking bored. He quietly hops down from the catwalk right behind a couple of crates right in time when his cloaked timed out. Deciding to wait for the cloak to recharge, he tuned in on their conversation, seeing if he can get some information about the people in charge of this base.

"Man, I'm bored out of my fucking mind, Anton. Are you sure these are the general's orders?" said the first Eurasian guard.

"Yeah, they are. Have you ever doubted our boss before Lucius?" retorted Anton.

"Just a bit but seriously, we have to stand on guard duty the entire time. Almost as bad as monitor duty to be honest." complained Lucius.

"Sounds like a you-problem. If you're so damn bored, then go make some rounds around the place. Might ease up your boredom problem."

When the conversation was over, Kaito saw the recharge meter filled up. Deciding to never bother cloaking himself since nobody is around other than those two greenhorns, he popped up from his place, with his Maxim 9 pistol at the ready.

"W-what the…"

"Surprise motherfuckers!" Kaito immediately fired two accurate rounds in those two guards, killing them instantly and silently. He pushes their bodies out in the Artemis's port while checking to make sure nobody is around to see it. With the coast clear, he immediately spots an elevator lift.

Cracking his knuckles, Kaito has upload a mini map of the complex from his helmet visor. Standing next to the map display was an image of a young girl has the appearance of less than 10 years old, but her real age is unknown. Her voice is like that of a young girl, but she speaks very maturely and in an emotionless manner. This is his AI Partner Gundam Meister 874, a.k.a: Hanayo

"Hanayo, upload a mini-map of the place to my HUD."

"Affirmative. Initiating download sequence."

Hanayo begins the downloading sequence which takes a couple seconds before uploading it to his helmet's HUD. Marking some of the facilities, the GN-Type Gundam pilot and his new AI friend begin their "tour" around the Artemis.

"Alright, Artemis. Let's see what you have to offer…"

Outside Artemis' Sensor Range

A Crimson Nazcha-class Battleship named the Rewloola soared through space with great speed, along with a trio of escorting dark green Laurasia-class cruisers. As the small group of ships approached the Gamow, the ZAFT personnel couldn't help but look at the ships with a bit of awe.

"So…that's them?" Dearka asked, "The Blackfire Corps?"

"I always heard about them from my mother," Yzak stated, looking at the ships. "I can't believe that we have to rely on a mercenary group to help us out."

"You can kinda see the ZAFT influence, though." Nicol added, as the ships moved alongside the Gamow. Once the ships were aligned, a docking tube extended from the Rewloola out towards the Gamow, connecting the two ships.

The three ZAFT Red coats awaited by the airlock, before it hissed open as a Caucasian man with slick backed blond hair whose lower face is hidden behind a mask, wears a type of uniform like that of modern-day Military uniforms, and has cold blue eyes appeared from the other end, landing gently on the deck. "You must be the Le Creuset team, yes?" He asked with a deep filtered voice, eying the three men.

"Yes sir, Mr. Alexander" Nicol nodded, "I'm Nicol-"

"No need for introductions, Mr. Amalfi, you can call me Alex." The Blackfire Corps commander who was now known said Alex, waving his hand. "I've read your file, all of yours. You're all fairly good pilots, and soldiers considering you were able snatch four of the five Gundams."

All three pilots blinked "Gun...dam?" Dearka asked in confusion.

Alex sighed, shaking his head. "The O.S," He stated, "When you start it up, the O.S spells out the acronym G.U.N.D.A.M, it sounds much more interesting than G-Weapon, wouldn't you agree? But that is beside the point…our mission today is fairly clear: the destruction or capture of the Legged Ship and her mobile weapons are a secondary objective as we-"

"Wait, secondary?" Yzak demanded. "Our mission is to take down that damn ship before the EA-"

"OMNI Enforcer likely has all the data they need to begin mass production of variations of the mobile suits, Mr. Joule." Alex informed, glaring slightly at the silver-haired pilot, who flinched at the icy stare. "The only thing they lack is a Natural-Friendly Operating System, which they will create on their own sooner or later. As such, the sinking of the ship and MS are the secondary objective."

"Then…what is our primary objective then?" Nicol asked.

"Artemis itself," Alex informed, pulling out the image files on the asteroid base. "Or more specifically, the lightwave barrier technology it possesses…think about it: the entirety of the PLANTs shielded behind by an array of Lightwave barriers…if the EA find a way around the N-Jammers, the barriers will be the last line of defense for the colonies, to prevent another Junius Seven. That is the primary duty of ZAFT, is it not? The defense of the PLANTs?"

The three pilots were silent, while Yzak still had a frustrated face…but even he had to concede to his point. "So…you have a plan then?"

"I always do, though I theorize you have been thinking just as I have, Nicol." Alex spoke, looking at the youngest pilot. "The Blitz has a stealth system, yes?"

"Um, yes - Mirage Colloid, near complete stealth."

"A coward's weapon-" Yzak began to say, before…

*POW*

The other two pilots both recoiled when Alex suddenly smashed his fist into Yzak's face, who now had wide eyes, a distinct red mark on his face, and blood dripping from his lip. "You're a fucking idiot," He growled, "Did you even stop to consider that mobile suit's capabilities could save countless lives? Infiltration teams can go deeper behind enemy lines to gather mission-critical intelligence, the accuracy of which can mean the difference between life and death to hundreds, if not thousands of soldiers on the battlefield?!"

He then grabbed Yzak by the collar of his uniform "And how dare you talk to your own comrade like that! Do you expect someone to watch your back while you're insulting them? Keep up that attitude, Joule, I have friends in the Council that can have you booted back down to a green coat and give you the shittiest position within ZAFT that you will never rise out from. While I am running this operation, you do as I say, when I say it! UNDERSTOOD MAGGOT?!"

"Y-Yes sir!" Yzak shouted, as he and the pilots all gulped.

Alex took a deep breath, before nodding. "Good…glad to see we're on the same page now." He stated, "Now…here is our plan of attack…Nicol, you will launch in the Blitz Gundam, move ahead of the rest of our forces and disable the Lightwave barrier generators. Artemis's base commander has become so reliant on the shields he has neglected all other forms of defense, I would even gamble many of the ships within the station are understaffed. Once the generator is down, our main attack group will launch. Our ships may not arrive in time to stop the Legged Ship from escaping, but remember Artemis comes first, we can always hunt the Legged Ship down again later."

The captain of the Gamow decided to voice his concerns. "What about the enemy mobile suits? Wouldn't they try to stop us?"

"No, their priority is defending the Legged Ship," Alex informed, before he chuckled. "Plus…knowing Admiral Garcia's ethics, and if the pilots of those mobile suits are decent human beings, they may just let us have the base." He chuckled, shaking his head. "Either way…if we do engage the enemy Gundams, leave them to me, and our MS: but remember, we may know what the Strike can do for the most part…but those other three mobile suits may have more tricks up their sleeves, so stay on guard."

Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol saluted. "Yes sir!" As the Red Coats head towards their MS, Victor was looking over the files of the Archangel, the Strike Gundam, and most importantly to him: the three unknown Gundam units.

'Three custom variants of Gundams that I'm familiar with.' Alex thought to himself as she scans though the files. 'a Gundam Astraea Type F2 with a GN Twin Drive, a crimson colored Shining Gundam that can fire energy shots like a DBZ protagonist, and a Gundam AGE-1...or is it the AGE-2? Whatever, it can switch forms without the AGE system nearby...now that i think about it, how are the other ones able to switch weapons of the freaking ether? Well I hope to find out soon...without it killing me.' he thought to himself as he left the meeting room to head back to his ship and his fellow company of mercenaries.

Artemis: General Garcia's Office

General Gerard Garcia and his executive officer, Stefan Cazacu, looked at the multiple screens showcasing the many angles of the majestic vessel known as the Archangel.

"So, this is the top-secret military project of the Atlantic Federation. They call this warship known the Archangel. Who would've thought something like this would jump right into our laps?" remarks Garcia.

"So, the rumors of Heliopolis being involved with the project is true?" asked Stefan making the scheming Eurasian general nod his head.

"Looks like those rumors appear to be true but I could care less at this point. Still, this is an opportunity that cannot be passed up. We'll invite the crew to spend some time here." And by spending time, he means holding the crew hostage, but I guess I do not have to tell you that right? A knock occurs from the other side of the door making the two looks towards the door.

"Yes, what is it?" asked Garcia.

"Pardon me for interrupting something important sir. I have the three officers from the unidentified vessel with me." answered Biddulph.

"Just in time, Commander Biddulph. Come on in."

The doors parted, revealing Biddulph, Murrue, Natarle, and Mu. Garcia clears his throat before standing up from his chair to greet his "guests".

"Welcome to the Artemis. My name is General Garcia, head of this military base. I hope our staff members did not give you too much trouble and have greeted you with welcoming arms."

The three did not seem to buy the so-called "welcoming arms" bullshit but they are not in the mood to argue with the Eurasian general. Garcia sat down before opening his laptop. He pushes the hand scanner forward, motioning them to place their hands on it. The three did just that before the man's laptop brings up their military IDs.

"Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, Lieutenant Mu La Flaga and Ensign Natarle Badgiruel. It appears that your identifications are genuine Atlantic Federation IDs. For a minute I thought you were enemy spies disguising yourselves as Earth Forces personnel, but it seems that my paranoia is getting the better of me."

"We apologize for the trouble sir." said Mu.

"It's not a big deal, Lieutenant La Flaga. In fact, I've come across your impressive record, Hawk of Endymion."

"You have?" asked a surprise Mu.

Garcia nods his head. "Indeed, I have lieutenant. I too also fought in the Grimaldi Front."

"Is that so? Then you must've been part of Commodore Villard's unit."

"Correct but due to the unfortunate circumstances in that battle, we had orders to retreat. However, thanks to your heroic efforts in taking down five GINNs, it gave everybody a morale boost in this troubling time."

"Why thank you very much sir." Reminiscent talk is over. It was then that his blue eyes gain a devious glint in them.

"Though it surprises me that you of all people would embark on its ship, much less be part of the vessel's crew. Care to explain that to me, Lieutenant La Flaga?"

Mu knows the game the general is playing but he is not going to give in just yet.

"Unfortunately, being on a special mission, I'm not at liberty to divulge much information." The man just shrugs his shoulders at him. If the man is stubborn to give him any information about the ship, then so be it. One way or another, he will get his hands on it.

"Very well. I shall respect your answer, but you have to understand, you won't be expecting to get resupplied right away."

"General Garcia, with all due respect, it's crucial for us to head towards lunar headquarters immediately. Not to mention, we're being pursued by ZAFT." implored Murrue.

"ZAFT, you say?" The Eurasian general presses the red button on the remote, showcasing the three officers a lone Gamow heading straight to Artemis's impenetrable umbrella.

"The Laurasia-class ship? I thought there were two ZAFT vessels pursuing us?" Natarle looked at the screen, somewhat confused about the current scene she is looking at.

"I don't know what second ZAFT vessel you're talking about, Ensign Badgiruel, but as you can see, this one has been wandering around the umbrella for quite some time." The man flashed them a dangerous grin making the three officers wary at the man's devious behavior.

"Regardless, one or two enemy vessels isn't that much of an issue for us, but this means that you can't leave here. Even if we did resupply you, do you think we'd let you leave so easily?"

Mu placed his hands on the table. "Sir, please be reasonable about this. They're after us, not you. We have a big target painted on our heads and we can't drag the Artemis into our mess. At least understand that."

The man laughs at the Hawk of Endymion. "Damage? To the Artemis? Those ZAFT bastards are not going to do a damn thing. Besides, they'll grow tired and eventually leave. They're probably needed in an important battle than wasting their time pursuing you."

"However, they're-" Garcia raises his hands silencing him.

"Don't worry about it, Lieutenant La Flaga. They won't do anything if the umbrella is up. Now, I suggest all of you to get some rest. You seem to be tired from the journey, so I'll have rooms prepared for you." Pressing the same red button on the remote, a soldier came in, saluting to the general.

"We'll get in touch with the lunar headquarters once they leave. From there, we'll plan everything."

"Are you sure the Artemis is safe with the umbrella surrounding the base, General Garcia?" asked Natarle.

"I assure you, Ensign Badgiruel, the Artemis is as safe as a baby being carried in the arms of a loving mother. You have nothing to worry about." He then turns to the soldier that came in his office. "Take them to their room."

"Yes sir!" The soldier saluted before escorting them out of Garcia's office. Meeting them were two armed guards who escorted them to a rather luxurious suite before locking them in with the guards posted outside the suite.

Inside, the three officers are having a conversation about what transpired in the Eurasian facility. Natarle is pacing back and forth around the suite, venting her frustrations to the world. "Sure, the Archangel may be an unregistered but the treatment we're getting is unbelievable!"

"Can't be helped. Right now, they don't want us to return to the ship but what I'm concerned about are the guys here in the Artemis."

"What do you mean by that, Lieutenant La Flaga?" asked a confused Murrue.

"The umbrella is impenetrable, not allowing anything, even lasers, to pass through the shield which made them lazy and rather complacent. They think they're safe since they're not in a strategic location, but do you think that'd last for long?"

The two did not say anything to the man, letting silence reign in the atmosphere.

"Regardless, we have to figure out a way to return to the Archangel and get out of here. We've overstayed our welcome and if we don't have a plan, then we won't be able to help out in any major front in this war." said Mu making the others agree to his point.

Meanwhile in another section of Artemis…

Just as Mu, Murrue, and Natarle are being held captive in their room, Kaito and Hanayo are doing some investigation around the base. The GN-Type pilot continues his trek around the complex. While he looks around Artemis, he cannot help but shake his head in disappointment at how lightly and haphazardly guarded the base is. He did not even have to use his cloak feature of his pilot suit as often as he would think he would, making it easier for him to move around the complex without being detected.

Not to mention, he spots a couple guards literally sleeping on the job with their rifles plopped on the floor like pieces of discarded trash.

"Even grunts from our own military weren't this lazy on guard duty, despite it being a shitty job..."

"Agreed on the assessment Pilot Kaito. The Artemis personnel and staff members do a poor job in maintaining security around the base. This is a breach in the Earth Forces protocol manual and must be corrected."

Kaito snorts at the idea of these guys beefing up the security systems. "Highly doubtful they're going to do anything about the security around here. First off, ZAFT didn't attack them due to the umbrella shield covering the base from head to toe and everything around it. Second, this place is in the middle of nowhere and isn't a major threat in any way, shape or form so ZAFT just ignored them. Third, these guys have so much faith in the umbrella since the shield is impenetrable it made them lazy, incompetent, and complacent."

Trudging along, he continues to move through the base until he stops at one of the empty offices within the complex. Peeking inside, he sees nobody in the office. Taking advantage of the opportunity, he takes out his data pad, prying the lid of the keypad open with his knife. Inserting the USB cord into the connector slot, Kaito pressed the button on the handy device, initiating the hacking sequence. The procedure now complete, he closes the keypad's plate before the doors parted to the right side. Entering in, he gets to work.

"Alright let us unravel General Garcia's true colors. Hanayo, keep an eye out for me, will you? Warn me when they're about to come in."

"Very well, Pilot Kaito."

Opening the computer, Kaito connects his USB before he begins to search around, finding anything he can dig up on the man. Couple minutes went by until he found some rather interesting stuff on the no-good Artemis general.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here…"

Clicking on his personal files, he looks up some rather interesting information regarding the no-good general. General Garcia obtained his rank thanks to him knowing a few people within the Eurasian political circle, and never had to go through military school or basic training.

"Will you look at that. The head honcho is a political general. Kind of explains why the fucking dumbass placed the umbrella in a non-strategic base such as the Artemis."

Kaito scrolled down the computer to see him involved in some shady business with black market dealers, such as biological weapons, illegal firearm deals, and…three prototype MS under the filename: "PROJECT HP/BS/DR." and the contents it held.

"Why am I not so damned surprised? Of course, he'd have some dealings within the black market. But why would he want our mobile suits when he has four prototypes that he could easily mass produce? To increase his power or did he just receive them recently?"

Scrolling through the files, Kaito indeed saw a couple incidences of Garcia holding some friendly units' hostage, and in some of those cases, robbing whatever valuable assets they have before killing them in the process. Take note here, ladies and gentlemen, that the majority, if not all of those said forces were from the Atlantic Federation.

Adding more to the growing list, Garcia and a few other generals within the Eurasian side of the Earth Forces had been kidnapping, or as he placed it, "conscripting" Coordinators, one catching his eye called Canard Pars. Once instated in the army, they then exploit the victims to fight for them, sometimes injecting them with some drugs to make them docile. The files also talked about how Garcia would use utilize these kidnapped Coordinators and stolen inventory to betray the Earth Alliance when he has the chance which also raised a major red flag.

Other than that, the man was involved in a couple scandals which are irrelevant since most of them occurred in the Eurasian Federation and are not involved with the military, so he dashed them out. Downloading everything in his USB, he unplugged it from the computer before keeping it on his person. He may as well show Murrue and the others about this later.

"We good there Hanayo?" asked Kaito.

"Indeed, Pilot Kaito. I recommend we leave the office before an Artemis personnel comes in and alerts the rest of the base."

"I was about to say that Hanayo." He said as he begins leaving the office, exploring more of the Artemis base. As he was doing this, he pulls out the same device he gave to Chifuyu as he begins to type in a set of instructions to Chifuyu on what to do: When Kira is escorted(taken) to the Archangel Hanger to pull data from the Strike, Head to Artemis Hanger #5 to get two mobile suits then steal the other two mobile suits with the ones they're going to pilot.

Rewloola Battleship and Gamow

Nicol sat in the cockpit of the Blitz, running a last-minute system check before he launched. 'This is it. If this succeeds, mom and dad will be that much safer.' He thought it over in his head.

He shook that out of his mind now. Nicol prepared to activate the Mirage Colloid just as he was given the green light to launch. Taking off, the black G-Weapon's frame was rendered invisible, leaving nothing of its existence as it flew towards Artemis. In the hangar of the Rewloola, Alex watched as Nicol took off and headed towards Artemis on a terminal screen.

'Good luck, kid.' He thought, 'Let's make sure you go home in one piece this time… ' He donned his helmet, smirking slightly as he turned his gaze towards another machine in the hangar. Within were multiple mobile suits, mostly custom-built variants of the ZGMF-1000 ZAKU Warrior, with a few ZGMF-1000/A1 Gunner ZAKU Warrior and ZGMF-1000/M Blaze ZAKU Warrior. However, at the end stood a single mobile suit colored black with silver trimming, with an elegant yet deadly build, and multiple thrusters, including the large pair on its back. But its most telling feature was its head, sponsoring a golden V-shaped head crest. The signature mark of a Gundam.

'Time to bust out again, eh Kuroyajū?' He thought, chuckling slightly as he leaped up, allowing Zero G to let him drift to the MS. 'After all, the best way to fight a Gundam, is with another Gundam.'

Artemis Hangar Bay

Down in the Artemis's port room, Garcia is looking intently at the Archangel, figuring out a way to keep the warship in the base's confines while eliminating all the crew members of said warship. Interrupting his musings due to the beeping of the computer, he looks down, pressing a button revealing a Eurasian staff member responsible for managing the umbrella.

"What is it?" asked Garcia.

"ZAFT's Laurasia-class ship is leaving the area. Coordinates: Yellow 18, Mark 20, Charlie. Distance 700 but is increasing as we speak. Permission to disengage the umbrella sir." To support his report, he shows Garcia a visual image of the Laurasia-class ship leaving the Artemis.

"Permission granted. I'll leave the rest to Rize but continue to maintain surveillance around the area."

"Yes sir!" Closing the line, he hears the door part making him look at Stefan walking in. "Well, Stefan?"

"Examination of the ship is coming along smoothly but we have…an issue with the mobile suits in the Archangel."

Garcia frowned in irritation. "What do you mean you have problems with the machines? What's the matter with them?"

"The Atlantic Federation's G-Unit has a lock on the OS that's impossible to analyze and is giving our troops a hard time trying to crack it open. They're still working on releasing said lock as we speak."

"What about the other ones?" asked Garcia.

"The other units are not Atlantic Federation mobile suits but looks similar. Custom units from the looks of them."

The Eurasian general raised an eyebrow at this sort of news. The Archangel is harboring unknown units onboard the ship? The man gained a devious tint in his eyes. Not only is there a prototype mobile suit unit in the vessel but also three unknown MS units! Things are looking up for the better and he intends to take full advantage of this golden opportunity.

"Really? That's remarkably interesting. Are they working on cracking the other units open?" Unfortunately, much to his ire, Stefan shakes his head at his superior.

"Sorry to be a bringer of bad news sir but like the Strike, the other units also have locks on their OS. In fact, when we tried to access one of them, one of our laptops fried in a matter of seconds."

"So, in other words a security system. Do we at least know where the pilots are?" Again, the man shook his head making him tiredly sigh at this.

"Tch. If you need something done, do it yourself." The scheming Eurasian general turns around to look at the port room staff. "Crew, keep working on what you're doing. Roman, I'm leaving you in charge here."

"Yes sir!"

The two left the port room heading straight to the Archangel to deal with the situation Stefan presented to him. While the no-good general and his executive officer left the port room, Kaito and Hanayo are heading over to the umbrella control station. The Militia pilot took out a couple Artemis personnel whilst being cloaked. Once eliminated, he stuffed their bodies within spacious closets to prevent anybody from finding their vanished comrades.

Finally reaching his destination, he has Hanayo scan the entire room before breaching in.

"Hanayo, get a quick scan around the area. I want to know how many are inside before I storm in." Producing a beam, Hanayo scanned the control room twice before relaying the information to Kaito.

"My scans indicate fourteen occupants inside the control room."

"Perfect. Time to give these lazy assholes a little wake-up call."

Reloading a fresh new magazine into his pistol, he stowed it away before grabbing a flashbang. Grabbing his data pad, he pried the lid of the keypad open, inserting the USB cord into the insertion slot. The process complete, he placed the lid down before the door opened. Once opened, he threw the flashbang in, stunning everybody in the room.

Kaito stormed in, eliminating everybody with his Maxim 9 Suppressor Pistol. With everybody now eliminated, he immediately shuts the door before heading straight to the computer. Luckily, he did not have to do a lot of hacking since they just turned off the umbrella.

"Time to make sure the umbrella stays off and for us to leave to our intended destination."

Navigating around the system, he begins to type a couple codes before the monitor shows him an option to say "yes" or "no" to shutdown the Umbrella. Clicking "yes", the monitor begins to process the decision before showing him a message that basically says the umbrella is shut down.

"Alright Hanayo. Time to head back to the Archangel. Our job here is done."

"Very well, Pilot Kaito. Marking the nearest exit to your HUD."

Following the shortcut Hanayo provided him, Kaito managed to head back to the Archangel while taking down a few stranglers along the way.

Archangel - Cafeteria

Just as Kaito and Hanayo are heading back to the vessel, Garcia and Stefan entered in the ship's cafeteria, demanding to know who the pilots of the 4 mobile suits are.

"Sorry to interrupt you ladies and gentlemen but I need to know who the pilots and mechanics of the mobile suits on board are on this ship."

Kira was about to get up until Murdoch firmly placed both of his hands on the kid's shoulders. He looked at him only for the chief mechanic to shake his head at him. Arnold got up from his seat to confront the two officers.

"And why the hell are you asking us?" asked Arnold in a stern voice.

Stefan grabbed him by the collar. "Why you!"

"Is it because our captain and the officers on this ship didn't tell you? Or is it because you're too much of a chicken to ask them?"

"You're talking to a high-ranking officer here, so I suggest you retract what you say!" Before things can get heated, Garcia steps in to diffuse the situation.

"Let him go." The executive officer did as he was told and released him. "Among the Atlantic Federation, you people are elite personnel selected for a top-secret military project so the pilots must be among your group. Am I wrong on that?"

"What are you planning to do with the Mobile Suits?" asked Arnold.

"Oh, nothing my dear boy! It's just that we're fortunate enough to be granted an opportunity to observe it before making an official announcement on it. So once again, who are the pilots of the Strike and the three unknown Mobile Suits?"

Murdoch cleared his throat before answering him. "It's Lieutenant La Flaga and Petty Officer Neumann sir. The other Mobile Suits are prototypes that doesn't have pilots yet."

Garcia did not seem to be convinced by the clear lie. "Nice try but we monitored the battle fought earlier. Even I know that he's the only person capable of handling the Moebius Zero and its gun barrels. And clearly Petty Officer Neumann here is the Archangel's pilot so that can't be it. Also, we have recordings of those three Mobile Suits in action."

Gaining a devious glint, he immediately went over to Miriallia, grabbing her tightly by the arm.

"You bastard!" yelled an angry Tolle making all the Eurasians aim their weapons at him.

"It's highly unlikely that a woman would pilot that thing but considering the fact the Archangel's captain is a woman, I wouldn't be surprised if the pilot is also a woman."

Knowing that he cannot stand idly by Kira immediately got up from his seat. "Stop it right there! I'm the pilot of the Strike."

"Kid!" Murdoch tried to push him down on the chair, but the teen swatted his hands away, looking right back at the Eurasian general with a hard look on his face.

"Hey kid, I appreciate you wanting to protect the girl, but that machine is not something a young guy like you should handle, am I right? So, get fucking real!" Garcia was about to give him a punch, but Kira easily dodged the attack, grabbing him by the arm and threw him down on the floor. This immediately started a fist fight which led Sai getting his glasses knocked off, falling into Flay's arms.

"Would you stop it already! What Kira saying is true! He is the pilot of the Strike!" Stefan looked at her as if she were kidding.

"Bullshit, you're lying!"

"No, I'm not! Kira is the pilot of that machine and so are those two men in the infirmary! He's a Coordinator!"

This stopped everybody in their tracks. Murdoch palmed his face in exasperation at the girl's lack of common sense while Miriallia, Tolle, Kuzzey and Sai looked at her with shock for throwing Kira and two of the three pilots under the bus. Stefan surprisingly looked right at Kira. Garcia got up from the floor, placing his officer's cap on his head.

"A Coordinator huh? Well, that makes things interesting. Very well, take him to the hangar at once " He examined Kira for a minute before gaining the same scheming tint in his eyes which unnerved the poor lad. "And have two guards in the infirmary to execute the other pilots on my orders just in case if they give us problems."

"You bastard!" Kira lunged at the older man until one of the guards rammed the stock of his rifle directly into the Strike pilot's stomach, sending him sprawling to the ground in a coughing fit.

"We've been aware that many of ZAFT's mobile suit pilots are teens. I wonder what a Coordinator traitor like you, would willingly betray his kind and side with the Earth Forces. Eh, whatever. Your reasons are you own but it still makes you even more valuable to me."

The general's words struck a chord in the young boy making him upset. Garcia noticed his distressed reaction and grinned in triumph. Turning to Flay, he then asked her of the last pilot.

"What about the last pilot of the three units? Where is he?" Before she can say anything, Kaito's voice immediately answered Garcia.

"You called General Cocksucker Garcia?" The Eurasian general was not pleased to hear the man from the other line call him that.

"What'd you call me punk!?" Kaito laughed at him before answering him again.

"I called you a cocksucker because let's face it, you're one. Seriously you suck so badly as a general, even a janitor can be better than you. Anyways, you asked the girl about the last pilot so here I am calling you out, motherfucker. Yeah, I am not afraid of you! Oh, and if you want to know where I am, I'm in the hangar so don't bother having your lazy ass of a personnel you call soldiers looking for me. I shot them to all to hell." Kaito, from the other side, then turned to his attention to Flay. "And for the girl who sold out Kira, just to let you know, you and I are going to have a little talk when this mess is all over. We're going to have a long conversation about common sense."

Everybody shivered in fear from the icy, cold tone coming from Kaito. Even worse, they can feel the room temperature fall quite drastically. Shaking the fear from him, Garcia ordered his men to grab Kira and lead him down to the hangar.

"Grab the kid and let's go. We don't have time to waste. Sooner we get this over with the better."

When they left the room in a hurry, Tolle was the only one who said the one thing that is on everybody's mind.

"Man…remind me not to get on Kaito's bad side."

Reina could only watch on worried. What could she do? How is she supposed to help her friends?

Meanwhile, Chifuyu and Maya got the silent message from Kaito and noticed everyone's attention seemed to be on the Gundam pilot being taken to the hangar bay. The female Coordinator gave her friend an unspoken signal to follow her as they both managed to sneak away unnoticed. They now have a goal: Get MS and bring them back to the Archangel.

Hopefully, nothing will go wrong…

Archangel Hanger

Down in the hangar, Garcia, Stefan and two armed soldiers escorting Kira walked in to see a Kaito leaning over on Tsurugi's leg unit, twirling his pistol around his index finger, whistling a tune. Looking up to see two armed soldiers, Kaito immediately aimed his pistol and shot them down, placing two well-aimed shots in between their eyes, killing them instantly.

The act shocked Kira, Stefan, and Garcia; the latter two berating themselves inwardly since they did not bring their service pistols with them.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here. The one and only General Garcia of the Eurasian Earth Forces graced me with his presence. An honor if I have to say so myself."

"And who are you supposed to be?" asked Garcia, not in the mood for games.

"Me? Oh, I'm Kaito Musashi, the pilot of the Tsurugi. That's all you need to know for the time being because I'm not going to give you worth shit."

"Let's head straight to the point. You know why we're here so open up your mobile suits and extract the data from them."

Kaito wagged his finger at the general, irritating the man further. "Say it nicely and make sure you say please because if you don't then forget about it."

"Why you-!" Garcia was about to attack him only for Kaito to fire a warning shot at the general.

"One more move and you're going to be like your buddies over there. Now rephrase your orders, now!" Gritting his teeth in anger, Garcia immediately changed his tone.

"Will you please get in your mobile suits and extract the data from your respective machines?" Kaito grinned in triumph right behind his helmet.

"There we go. Saying please wasn't so hard, was it? Alrighty then. Kira! I want you to unlock the Strike's cockpit and begin extracting the Strike's data, okay?"

Kira seemed to be confused, and rather shocked at how Kaito was willing to do something so daringly dangerous as to give them data just so they can make their own mobile suits. He was about to protest until Garcia pushed him to the Strike.

"Get on with it kid and do what he says." Kira reluctantly went inside just as Kaito went in the Tsurugi.

Artemis Hanger 5

Meanwhile, as the Tsurugi and Strike pilot are working on the OS on the Gundams, Chifuyu and Maya snuck out of the Archangel and found themselves inside of another hangar bay. It was completely dark, and no one seemed to be in sight except for four giant figures.

The two girls cautiously stepped towards the figures only to gasp when they gazed upon four mobile suits that bore a resemblance to the other G-Weapons.

One seemed to be built up for close quarters combat with the other built for long to mid-range combat. The last two looked like twins with one having a regular beam rifle while the other had an automatic variant of the beam rifle. Also, they both to have unknown devices on their backs. All the mobile suits were entirely grey, but their eyes were different colored. The close combat MS had red eyes, the long-range MS had blue eyes, and the twins had green eyes.

"Are these...new G-Weapons?" Maya asked, a bit terrified.

"I guess they are, but I've never seen anything like them before." Chifuyu added as she goes towards the close quarters combat MS. "I'll pilot this one. Pick one and let's get going."

*click*

"I don't think so. Turn around slowly."

Both Chifuyu and Maya froze as they both turned to the one who spoke to them and there stood three people. The one on the left is a tall blonde man in a pilot suit with a handgun pointed at the women. The one the right is a young woman with red hair in a Eurasian military uniform and glasses with a pistol as well. Lastly in the middle was a young man with long black hair wearing a red pilot suit also with a handgun. However, what surprises Chifuyu and Maya was the fact that this young man's face reminds them of Kira!

"K-Kira?!" Maya said in confusion, causing the young man to look at her in surprise then suddenly turned to anger as he raises his pistol to her causing her to back up and Chifuyu to get in front of Maya.

"Woman. How the hell do you know that name." The young man said in an angered tone as he cocks the hammer of his gun.

"…Do you have something against him?" Chifuyu asked as the young man turned his gun her.

"Yeah, so? Now answer my question. Do you know Kira Yamato?" The young man asked one more time. Chifuyu was silent for a moment as begins to think of she decided to answer him.

"Yes, I do. If you come with us, you can meet with him."

"How can I trust you?" the black haired teen said as he focuses the aim of his gun on Chifuyu's forehead. "What if you're just lying to me to get the MS here."

"…you can't, but what do you have to lose? Waiting here while the chance of a lifetime is literally right out there passing you by? Well?" Chifuyu said with a hardened glare as Maya looked at her friend with wide eyes. The young man was silent as he looked into the woman's eyes to see if she was lying. After a few seconds, the man formed a big grin on his face.

"I see. Well in that case, how can I say no?"

"Canard Pars!" The blonde-haired man said as he now points his gun at the young man now known as Canard Pars. "What do you think you're doing?! We're supposed to bring anyone into custody to enters this hanger. Are you betraying Eurasia?!"

"Eurasia? or General Garcia, Balsam?" Canard said as he turned to the blonde now named Balsam. "Well, it's not like I joined willingly anyway when they found me. Besides, Special Force Team X isn't part of Garcia's faction. Right Meriol?"

The red-haired woman now named as Meriol nodded as she now points her gun towards Balsam. The blonde pilot was shocked at the action and turns his gun towards. "Meriol?! What the hell are you doing?!"

"Canard is right. Special Forces Team X works for Eurasia, not for Garcia. As of this moment, Canard and I are leaving Artemis with all the MS here. You are relieved of duty Balsam Arendo." Meriol said in a firm tone causing Balsam to clench his teeth in anger at the S.F.T.X. commander as he was awfully close to pulling the trigger.

"You little…BITCH-"

*BANG*

Balsam froze as he looks down to see a growing red stain on the side of his pilot suit. He was shot! He was fucking shot! Balsam fell on his ass as he tries to close his wound with his hand to slow down the bleeding. It didn't matter as he was kicked, knocking him on his back. Balsam tried to get up, but Canard placed his foot on the blonde man chest, causing him to cough. Balsam was now looking at the end of Canards gun and now knows that it was Canard who shot him because of the smoking barrel.

"While my hatred for Kira Yamato for what I am and his...involvement, I also hate that some shit thinks that he's top shit while his war record is lacking. That really pisses me off." Canard said with a grin as he places his gun towards Balsam head. "Bye-Bye~ ya sim trooper."

"CANARD PARS-!"

*BANG*

Maya and Meriol looked away while Chifuyu looked on with a hardened glare, but it wasn't because of the action of what Canard did but it's rather how Canard acted before killing Balsam. Canard seemed to not care about what the others were thinking of him right now as he stared ate the corpse that was Balsam. So, the Failed Coordinator smirked as he turns to the women.

"So, ready to get out of this shithole?"

Officer Guest Lounge

When Mu, Murrue, and Natarle were waiting in the lounge for any word on when they'd be able to leave Artemis with the Archangel before suddenly a huge tremor shook the entire room. Porcelain dishes fell from the shelves and the table while the ceiling fan rocked back and forth like it could fall from its position at any time.

"What the?!" What's happening here?" Natarle asked as she tried to keep her balance along with the other officers.

"Looks like we're under attack." Mu answered before yelling at the door in a panicked tone of voice. "Arrgh! There's a crack in the wall from that last explosion! Air's leaking out!" He then whispered to his two female companions, "Shout something! Make them open the door!"

The captain blinked once before she began to scream like a helpless woman. Her acting was quite impressive as a damsel in distress…

"KYAAHH! Help! We're gonna die! NO!"

As Murrue kept acting like she along with the others were about to die or something, Natarle could only look at her superior officer and was unsure whether to act or not while Mu hid behind the door to ambush any incoming guards.

When the first guard opened the door to check on them, the next thing he saw was a jab cracking into his jaw which sent him flying and rendered him unconscious before he hit the ground.

"Hey! What's wrong?" the second guard asked, who rushed into the room upon hearing the sounds of a brief struggle. The response to his question came in the form of an arm knocking his rifle aside while a fist buried itself in his gut as darkness followed swiftly after that.

Grabbing their weapons, Mu holstered one rifle on his shoulder while holding another in his hands. "Come on! We better get back to the ship!" Mu said before he moved out into the corridor with his weapons at the ready, followed by Murrue and Natarle.

Outside Artemis

The Blitz, having engaged its attack, fired another energy shot from its beam rifle at the energy barrier generator that shielded Artemis from the rest of the ZAFT forces.

"This is Nicol! The barrier is down!" The green-haired pilot reported.

"Roger that Nicol, good work!" Victor radioed in. "All Blackfire Squadrons – Tora Tora Tora! Hit that base with everything we've got! Clear out the Eurasians, but if they surrender, disarm them - but leave their commander for me. Boarding parties, prepare to engage once we clear the main drydocks!"

"Yes sir!"

"Move out! Alexander Reznov, Kuroyajū Gundam, mobilizing!"

Archangel Hangar Bay

With the sudden explosions caused by the Blitz outside, Kira noticed that the guard and technicians were not paying attention to him or Kaito. Seizing the opportunity, he kicked the armed guard who collided with the technician behind him and immediately closed the cockpit as the two tumbled away in the zero-g hangar bay.

Kaito saw this as this change to grab hold of the safety railing above his cockpit then dropkicked his own guards out and used this opportunity to close the hatch of his Gundam. Placing the GP Base on the activation stand, the Tsurugi come back online.

"W-what's the meaning of this?! I told you nicely to extract the mobile suit's data and you reward me with this?! Unacceptable!" demanded a rather angry Garcia.

"Yeah…about that. Do you really think that Kira or I would willingly give you the data of either mobile suit? Boy you sure are easy to fool. It's no wonder why you're so incompetent and so undeserving of your station. You definitely suck as a general big time." Kaito said as he was giving Garcia "The Bird" with his Gundam.

"You bastard!" Just then, the base begins to shake making him and Stefan wonder what is going on with the base. Grabbing his communicator, he begins to contact the staff members in the umbrella control room.

"Control room, this is Garcia! What are those tremors?!" He did not receive an answer, so he asked again a second time. "Dammit control room! Answer me! What the hell are those tremors?!"

The line went dead again making him throw the useless device on the ground in frustration.

"Dammit! We're being under attacked! Argh, how is this even possible?!"

"But sir! What about the mobile suits?!" asked Stefan.

"Forget about them! We have more important matters to attend to!" The two officers scurried away to manage the situation. Kaito connected his comms to the Strike.

"Hey there kid. Are you ok?" Kaito asked Kira who looked livid at him.

"Kaito! Thank goodness you're okay but seriously! You were about to have us hand them the data of our machines! What the hell's wrong with you?!" Kira shouted as Kaito was not perturbed from his outburst.

"Kid, relax. I was just acting to get Garcia and his XO to lower their guards. Besides, there's no way I'm going to let some schemer of a general make copies of our MS for that matter. Sry to put you though that." Katio said as he checks though his system to make sure everything was operational.

"Oh. Well, I guess I should apologize for my outburst." Kira said sheepishly as he rubbed the back of his hand.

"Don't worry about it. Anyways, get the Strike up and running. We have other things to worry about." Kaito said as he soon hears beeping from his console as Hanayo appeared next to Katio in a holographic image, causing Kira to jump in surprise.

"Pilot Katio, there is a total estimate of 20 MA: Moebius and 3 unknown Gundam-Type MS outside of the vessel. There's also a third unit on its way. Caution is advised." Hanayo said as Kaito creaked his neck as he places the Tsurugi on the catapult-launch pad.

"Roget that, Hanayo. Return to the mainframe and assist when the time arises." Kaito said as Hanayo acknowledge what he said and disappears back into the mainframe.

"Kaito…Who or What was that?!" Kira said in total shock at what he saw.

"We'll talk about it later. Right now, you need to equip the Sword Striker Pack while I head out and hold them off while everyone gets back to the Archangel." Kaito said Kira nodded as he also goes to the other catapult-launch pad. As Kaito was about to launch the Tsurugi, a thought was occurring though his head.

'Why do I get a bad felling something is going to happen?'

Infirmary

While the two guards watched over the unconscious Akira and Seiji, the Eurasian soldiers made small talk to pass the time.

"Hey," The first guard asked.

"Yeah?" The second replied.

"You ever wonder why we're doing this?"

"Hmm, probably because it's our job?" The second sarcastically stated.

"Dude, you don't have to be a prick about it." The first glanced back at the bedridden men. "But still, it's a bit difficult to imagine these guys being the pilots of those mobile suits."

The second guard shrugged. "Hey, I don't get paid to question the ethics of warfare. I get paid to do my job."

The first sighed. "I guess you have a point."

Unknown to the two, Akira's eyes had shot open. Glaring hazel orbs stared at the back of the heads of both Eurasians guards. Grabbing the IV stand, the blond-haired man swung it across the first guard's head, knocking him out then slammed his knee directly into the nose of the second guard.

"Stupid assholes." Akira said as he stretches his joints from his knockout from earlier and shake off the killer headache from the sudden adrenaline rush.

With both soldier's unconscious, the Radiant Star Gundam pilot checked their uniforms and took their weapons. No doubt he'll have need of them to free the crew in the cafeteria. He looks over to Seiji, who was still knocked out, and checks to see if he still has a pulse, which luckily he still does, then Akira heads out to the Infirmary with the knocked-out guards as he locks the Infirmary door from being accessed without a password that he sets up and finally begins to head out to liberate the Archangel.

Artemis Command Room

"What the HELL is going on here?!" Garcia demanded as he entered the command room with the remaining staff that took over the last ones that perished. "The Umbrella is supposed to be flawless!"

"Sir, a mobile suit appeared just inside our defensive perimeter before we could get the Umbrella back online!" One of the officers reported, "It must've used some form of stealth technology to pass by our sensors!"

Garcia cursed. A stealth unit, of all the mobile weapons ZAFT could've captured at Heliopolis, it had to be the machine which could turn invisible to their sensors. "Deploy the garrison and the fleet!" He barked out. "Find that mobile suit and destroy it! And don't let the Archangel escape damnit! And get to repairing-"

"Sir! Mobile suits approaching!" One of the operators reported. "Over twenty units heading our way! And… wait… something's not right… "

"What is it? Spit it out!" Garcia roared.

"Sir, one of them is moving faster," He stated, his eyes widening. "It's moving at…at three times the speed of the others…"

Garcia let that information process before he paled. There was only one man, one man the OMNI Enforcer knew who had a mobile suit that fast…

"...the Black Beast… "

LRX-077(BB) Kuroyajū Gundam

[Play: QuickAttack - Gundam Build Fighters OST - Yuki Hayashi]

Alex smirked as he felt the G-Forces push against him as he accelerated forward into the battlespace, the Blitz doing a number on the Eurasian fleet already… and it was about to get a whole lot worse.

As he flew into Artemis, the first ship to come into sight was a Drake escort ship - firing its missile pods at the Gundam to shoot it down - however it was a vain attempt as Victor darted away from the Missiles firing arc, firing off his 60mm head vulcans, taking care of the missiles before raising his beam rifle - one shot directly to the bridge, followed by another pair to the torpedo racks, and finishing it off by setting off the remaining missile pods, detonating the ship.

He didn't have a moment to rest, before he twirled away from a pair of missiles fired from a Moebius, which darted past as it tried to turn around for another pass - not that it had the chance for before the pilot knew it, the Kuroyajū was right in front of him, as the beam axes within his shield lit up and sliced the pitiful mobile armor in half.

It was simply a massacre. Alex moved from target to target, moving faster than their weapons could follow - which was difficult enough with the strange interference emitting from the machine making the acquisition of a proper target lock nigh impossible. All the while he sunk ship, after ship, after ship - the fragile OMNI vessels proving to be no match to the Gundam.

A full squadron of Moebius units attempted to gang up on the Kuroyajū, while its back was turned as it sliced apart the bridge of an Agamemnon carrier. They thought they had the jump on him… before a dozen tube-like objects ejected from the thrusters and shoulders of the machine, which turned around and began firing a torrent of beams - shredding the mobile armors into pieces without the Kuroyajū even needing to look behind itself.

'Moebius mobile armors…whoever designed those things needs to get shot,' Alex thought, with a roll of his eyes as the Funnels returned to their respective racks. 'The only ones worth a damn were the Moebius Zeros.' He spared a moment to look at their progress - the Blitz was still doing its thing, as the rest of the mobile suit force was finally catching up to them - entering through the docking bay and engaging the fleet and the mobile armors - keeping them distracted from the boarding craft which touched down on the deck, landing dozens of troops down to claim the asteroid base itself.

'They should be able to handle that without me...' He thought, as he took off once more. 'Now…where is the Archangel? Should be making its grand escape soon…It'd be nice to fight one of those new Gundams before they leave...'

With the Tsurugi Gundam

As the Strike is being equipped with the Sword Striker, Kaito had the Tsurugi boost out of the hangar only to come upon the sight of the ZAFT-controlled G-Weapons attacking the drydock of Artemis along with a mobile suit force of... ZAKU Warrior mobile suits?

"ZAKU Warriors?! How in the hell are these things even here yet?! Is he involved in this already?" The black-haired man mumbled to himself before the alarm in his cockpit went off. "An enemy!?"

The Gundam looked in the direction of an incoming ZAKU Warrior that had spotted him, firing its beam machinegun at the GN-Type MS. Kaito used the GN Barrier to shield himself from being pelted by the green energy bolts then brought up the GN Rifle and fired a pink bolt at the head of the ZAKU Warrior MS.

With its head a melted scrap, the ZAKU Warrior brought out its beam axe and charged at the Tsurugi only to miss when it avoided the glowing blade then sliced the enemy mobile suit in half with its GN Tachi. Kaito backed away just as the ZAKU Warrior exploded in a cloud of pink smoke.

Sighing, Kaito noticed the Sword Strike exiting the Archangel. "Kira, we've got a problem."

"What's going on?" The Coordinator asked concerned.

"ZAFT has some backup. I'm trusting you to defend the ship while I scout out how many enemies there are. Can you do this for me?" The black-haired man questioned.

Kira bit his lower lip for a brief second but nodded all the same. "Yes, I understand."

"Alright, be careful, Kira. Things are about to get hot." Kaito grinned the accelerated the Tsurugi out into the skirmish.

With Alex, he watched as one of the ZAKU Warrior of his team suddenly ceased transmitting - which only meant one thing, it was shot down. And there was no way in hell a Moebius could shoot down a ZAKU Warrior. Just as he thought this, suddenly he spotted a fast-moving object moving through the battle zone, the custom variant of the Gundam Astraea Type F2.

'There you are,' He thought, 'I know you're from our earth… but I'm not going to go easy on you… you did just kill one of my men… ' With his course set, he adjusted the Kuroyajū Gundam, as the thrusters flared to life and darted after the Gundam.

Kaito's eyes narrowed when his main camera tracked an object speeding right at him. It moved at three times the speed of the other machines. Wait a moment...three times?

"Pilot Kaito! A MS is approaching us!" Hanayo said as Kaito nodded and with quick thinking, the Gundam pilot unsheathed his Tsurugi's GN Tachi and raised it to block a blow from his new assailant beam saber.

"The hell!? A black Sisquiede MS?!" He exclaimed as he continues press on in the deadlock with the Sisquiede MS with a couple of sword swings, both not letting up on their strikes against each other.

"Oh? So, you know what my MS is based on? Well, it's a pleasure to meet your acquaintance, Gundam pilot!" Kaito blinked. Was that the pilot speaking to him? "Answer me this…how is the Meijin Kawaguchi doing?"

"Meijin Kawaguchi?!" Kaito blinked in confusion before his eyes widened in surprise. "Wait a minute…Don't tell me you are-?!"

"Ding Ding Ding! We got a winner! We're from the same world!" Victor replied, kicking the Tsurugi Gundam back with the classical Red Comet Kick. "Name's Alexander Reznov of the Blackfire Corps! You?"

The Gundam pilot glared at the black Sisquiede MS. "Kaito Musashi of the Arbiters of Steel." He replied then brought up his GN Rifle and fired. However, the black mono eyed Gundam flashed out of its blast in a blur of motion, gaining some distance before opening fire with its own beam rifle. The Tsurugi's GN Barrier managed to defend itself from being blasted to bits.

"Pleasure to meet you then; nice to know we're not alone here anymore!" Alex replied, smirking as their duel continued.

"I'd say the feeling's mutual but then I'd be lying!" Kaito yelled, using the HA System to bring out his GN Fangs, creating side plates that holds said weapons, then unleashes them and fired a barrage of energy beams at him. The mono-eyed Gundam dancing from the beams - using his shield to block what he couldn't dodge - before suddenly he deployed a set of Funnels - forcing both machines to soar around one another, firing and dodging one another's fire.

"Well, sorry to tell you this, but I can't exactly hold back on you," Alex informed, finding an opening as he sped forward - activating another beam saber - however only colliding with the Tsurugi's GN Battle Blade. "Can't look like I'm holding back against you, ZAFT might get suspicious…and you did just kill one of my own people - so excuse me if this feels personal!" He emphasized it as he floored the throttle - pushing the Tsurugi back, colliding into the wrecked hulk of a Nelson Battleship.

Kaito gritted his teeth from the impact. "Don't worry! I can take care of myself!" With his declaration, the Tsurugi's eyes flashed as its Twin GN Drive ignited into full blast. Using this acceleration, the Gundam slammed its knee directly into the chest of Alex's MS. The Tsurugi wasn't done as it grabbed hold of the Kuroyajū then threw it at the wreck of an Agamemnon carrier. "Come on! Is that all you got?"

Alex grunted, as the air bags cushioned the impact in the cockpit, however he grinned "All I've got? Kaito, I have yet begun to fight!" He informed, raising the Kuroyajū's legs - kicking the Tsurugi off him - the thrusters flashing alive as he darted after the Tsurugi, the two Gundams clashing and smashing against one another throughout the base. "This is the most fun I've had since we were stuck here nearly a year ago!"

Kaito smirked in return. "Yeah, I actually have a worthy opponent to fight!" The Tsurugi brought out one of its GN beam saber and slashed at the evading Kuroyajū Gundam. "Having to fight these weak pilots from ZAFT make it difficult for me to hold back, especially those brats! But this time, I can go all out!" All his GN Fangs aimed at Victor and fired.

The Black Beast smiled as he bursts upwards - avoiding the beam before returning the favor with his Funnels. "And it's nice to fight something that isn't a damned Moebius or Tanks!" He agreed.

The GN-type Gundam avoided the strafing beams from the enemy Funnels then aimed its GN Cannons. "Fire!" Kaito roared as the powerful beam cannons fired at the Kuroyajū.

"WHOA!" Alex shouted - just barely ducking under the beams, managing to scorch some of the armor along his MS. "We-he-hell, you've got more bite than I thought! I don't know where the hell you keep those big guns. Or those other weapons for that matter…well whatever." He put away his rifle and saber - trading out for a pair of cannon weapons which he proceeded to combine. "So anyways, here's my big guns!"

Kaito blinked. Weren't those from the…?

Oh shit-

"Twin Buster Rifle, 25% - FIRING!" Alex shouted, and the dual barrels glowed as a bright yellow shot of energy blasted out. The Tsurugi's Pilot cursed, flying down to avoid the buster shot - which continued to annihilate an Agamemnon - and still holding enough energy to blast apart a pair of Drake-class ships unfortunate enough to be near it.

"Holy shit!" Kaito exclaimed before sighing to himself. "Well...expect the unexpected, right?" The Tsurugi positioned itself as it returns all its weapons back to storage with the H.A System then pulls out two GN Buster Rifles. "You're not the only one with Buster Rifles!" Pulling the trigger, the barrel of the two GN Buster Rifles fired two larger much more powerful blasts at the Black Beast.

"HOLY SH-!" Alex shouted, flooring the pedals to get out of the way of the blast - the particle beam blasting apart rock - and blowing apart any OMNI enforcer ships unfortunate enough to not move out of the way. "I'd say that be some OP shit, but then again I've got the Twin Buster Rifle, so…pot calling the kettle black I suppose. Geez, what is taking the Archangel so long to leave?"

[Stop: QuickAttack - Gundam Build Fighters OST - Yuki Hayashi]

Kaito blinked. Leave? "What do you-?"

"What, you think I'm trying to stop you?" Alec asked, maneuvering the Kuroyajū Gundam behind a wrecked Drake as it put away the Buster rifles. "Knowing full and well what's going to happen in the future? Like I said - I'm making this look convincing for ZAFT - today I'm only after Artemis really."

"…The Lightwave barriers?"

"Yep. It's the only thing that will keep the PLANTs safe from another nuclear attack," Alex informed, "Plus it'd be nice to have a base of operations where my ships can dock that isn't owned by ZAFT - it's part of the deal I struck with Siegel after Rau hired us. I give ZAFT the schematics and samples of the barrier tech, me and my boys get Artemis since, like before, it really doesn't hold strategic value for ZAFT location-wise."

"I see your point," Kaito reluctantly agreed but had his Gundam raise its GN Tachi at the Kuroyajū. "But make no mistake, we see each other again then we're enemies. That won't change."

"Fair enough…at least until the EA tries to invade Orb, or Jachin Due." Victor informed with a light chuckle - holding his own beam axe-equipped shield towards the Tsurugi. "Until then though, I look forward to our future entanglements…I hope we both survive long enough till the days we can start calling each other allies."

"We'll see." Kaito stated as he pilots the Tsurugi back to the Archangel. Victor looked towards the Tsurugi with a grin on his face as he moves the Kuroyajū back to his troops.

Meanwhile with Kira

Kira was struggling with the attacking Blitz, Buster, and Duel once again. With the Aile Striker, it was relatively easier to deal with but with the Sword Striker it was a bit more difficult.

The Buster fired its High-energy Rifle at the Strike, forcing Kira to avoid the green pillar of light. "Slippery bastard!" Dearka growled.

"Give me a break!" Kira growled as his MS evaded another slash from the Duel's beam saber.

"I've got you now!" Yzak declared, bringing up the 57mm Beam Rifle and was about to fire until a pink energy shot pierced the rifle, destroying it. "What the hell!?"

"Huh?" Kira blinked in surprise until his radar read up on four new contacts, all of which read as friendlies. Glancing back, the Coordinator was met with four new mobile suits.

The first was primarily colored a sage green with black accents. In its hands a rifle that looks like a futuristic M16 automatic rifle. Its visor glared dangerously at the Duel. The second was primarily colored a pure white with black as a secondary color. It seemed to be built primarily for close quarters combat with two beam sabers in its hands. Its red eyes locking onto the Buster. the last two looked like twins with the exception of the colors being red and white and the other blue and grey.

"Are they allies?" Kira wondered aloud.

"Kira, are you okay?" Came the voice of Chifuyu.

"C-Chifuyu? Wait, are you in one of those mobile suits!?" The Coordinator exclaimed in surprise.

A camera link came online in the boy's cockpit, revealing Chifuyu giving her fellow Coordinator a smirk. "That's right. Gundam Byakushiki will back you up!" Her Gundams eyes lit up as she finished what she said.

Maya's face appeared a second later. She blushed slightly in embarrassment. "I-I'm here to help, Kira-san. Double R Gundam SAGA should do the trick." The visor raised showing its glowing azure eyes.

Kira sighed with relief. "Thanks, you two are a big help right now."

"Heh so you're Kira Yamato?" A voice spoke out though a private comm line as Kira looked toward the red and white Gundam in confusion. "Well guess those girls weren't lying. Anyway, let's have a little chat after we get out of this." The red and white Gundam flies up forwards towards the ZAFT Gundams and fires his beam rifle causing them to separate from staying together.

"Bastard!" Dearka shouted as he combines his High-energy Rifle and Gun Launcher, with the Gun Launcher on the front, forming his Anti-Armor Shotgun. It fires a single stream containing multiple shells that later splits apart, resulting in a scatter shot that could do serious damage in a wide area. However, what he didn't expect was that the red and white Gundam activating the thing on its back, creating a light-wave barrier in front of it, blocking the Buster Gundams Shotgun attack. "What the hell?!"

"A light-wave barrier?!" Yzak said in shock as well at what he was seeing.

"No way...It can be placed on Mobile Suits?" Nicol said in a concerned tone.

"Hehehehe...HAHAHAHA!" The pilot said said as the light-wave barrier dispersed as the red and white Gundam raises its rifle towards the ZAFT Reds MS and fires again, causing them to back off. "Nothing can stand up to me, Canard Pars or my Hyperion Gundam!"

Bridge

After successfully making it out of the lounge, Akira, Neumann and the others had managed to regain control of the bridge. They were relieved that the three officers had also made it back before they launched the Archangel to escape.

"We can't move freely here! Archangel, taking off!" Murrue commanded as the Archangel slowly ascended and scattered wreckage as the docking clamps gave way. Just as they were about to increase the ship's speed, the main screen suddenly showed Kaito inside his Gundam.

"Lieutenant Ramius, get the ship out of here immediately!" The black-haired man stated. "Another mobile suit force besides the other G-Weapons is attacking Artemis."

"Another ZAFT force?" Murrue repeated, obviously surprised by this development.

"Maybe, some guy calling himself Alexander Reznov." Seeing the woman flinch, Kaito narrowed his eyes at her. "Who is he?"

"H-He's the leader of the Blackfire Corps." Murrue informed, "They're a mercenary group usually employed by ZAFT, even sharing similar command structures with some exceptions. He uses mobile weapons and technology that no one in the Earth Sphere has ever seen before…not until the G-Weapons that is! Victor is infamous for what he did at Endymion, sinking ten EA battleships on his own, in a mobile suit surpassing anything even ZAFT could possibly produce."

"Like a wild beast…no." Kaito muttered. "Like a raging comet." His frown grew. "His mobile suit is like mine. A Gundam."

"Kaito, we need to leave Artemis. Can you and Kira protect the ship until we get clear?" Murrue asked.

Nodding, the Tsurugi pilot responded. "Roger, we'll handle it." Cutting the feed, the buxom brunette sat in her seat.

"Increase the power to the thrusters! We're leaving this place immediately!" The captain issued orders to the bridge crew.

The Archangel proceeded to soar off, escaping through the rear exit of Artemis, avoiding the rest of the ZAFT MS teams plus the Gundams. "Dammit, they're getting away!" Yzak shouted, as he began to chase after them - only for his machine to lurch as the Kuroyajū Gundam grappled him. "What the-?!"

"Let em go, Yzak." Alexander stated, "We can catch her another day - remember, Artemis's capture is the primary objective."

Yzak snarled but obeyed as the G-Weapons ceased their pursuit of the Legged Ship - turning back to deal with Artemis. The Kuroyajū Gundam remained for a minute, watching as the battleship left - smiling.

"Good luck Kaito, you and your friends." He said, before turning back towards the asteroid base, and flaring towards it to finish what they started.

Archangel

After the recovery of the Strike, the two Hyperion Gundams, the Tsurugi Gundam, the Gundam Byakushiki, and the RR Gundam, the pilots left their machines, but Kira was the only one that moved away from his friends. Kaito watched the boy leave while Chifuyu drifted by him.

"What's wrong with him?" She asked.

"I think it would be best if you go and find out. Garcia said some pretty deep things." The black-haired man replied. "Why don't you go and try to cheer him up, Chifuyu?"

Nodding, the black haired woman drifted after the boy while Maya looked up at Kaito. "Why is Kira so sad?"

"It's because he's coming to terms with what he's doing. He's realizing that he's basically a traitor to his own people; to Coordinators." Kaito explained. "It's hurting him inside."

The green haired woman frowned. "I guess I could understand how he feels."

"Heh, so that was Kira huh?" A voice spoke ups as they turned to see Canard Pars with Meriol Pistis walking up to the group. "Looks like he been having a shitty day."

"Canard!"

"What? He does!" Canard said towards Meriol with a small grin. Kaito walks towards the two SFTX members.

"Canard Pars of the Hyperion Gundam Unit 1, right?" Kaito asked the Coordinator, who looked towards him with a grin.

"Yeah that me. So, who the hell are you?" Canard asked with a bit of a snarl, but stopped and blinked in confusion as Kaito raises his hand for a handshake.

"Kaito Musashi, Pilot of the Tsurugi and team leader of my squad: the Arbiters of Steel. Nice to meet a fellow Gundam pilot." Kaito said with a small smile on his face. Canard looked at the hand in front of him and grinned as he now gives a firm handshake to Kaito, who returned in kind.

"The same. Now if you excuse me, I'm going to see the little runt." Canard said as he was about to pass Kaito, but the GN-Type Gundam Pilot stops him by placing his hand on his shoulder. "What? Got something else to say?"

"No it's just...you're meeting with Kira will have to wait."

As soon as Kaito said that, a group of Archangel personnel with guns arrived and surrounded the SFTX members. Behind the armed men were Murrue, Natarle, and Mu with their respective uniforms. Murrue is the first step forward towards the duo.

"Greetings. As much as I appreciate your help in our escape from Artemis, we need you to come with us." Murrue said with authority in he voice. Canard was about to lash out against Murrue, but Meriol places a hand on his shoulder to stop him from doing something that he'll regret. After a few moments of silence, Canard only sighed as he and Meriol were escorted out of the hanger towards either a unused Pilots Quarters or the Brig. Murrue looked towards the remaining Gundam pilots. "And I like to thank you three for putting you lives on the line for us."

"It was thanks to Kaito that all of this worked out. It was his idea after all." Maya said with a small smile as Murrue did the same as she raises her hand towards Kaito for a handshake which he obliges her.

"Just doing what I have to do." Kaito said with a grin but frowned as he looked towards the Eurasian SFTX members that was being escorted at gunpoint. "Are you sure you got this handled? They did help after all."

Murre nodded. "I will make sure that they are place in one of our guest quarters. I will make sure they are treated well." She said as she left with Natarle and Mu. As Maya decided to return to the Heliopolis gang, Kaito stayed back as he looked towards the Gundams with a narrow look on his face.

'Now that we have more Gundam, even ones I'm not familiar with, we now have a huge advantage.'

Pilot Quarters

Kira staggered into his room with little life in his eyes. He caught a glimpse of Akira sleeping on the bunk above Kaito's but didn't think much of it. He slumped onto his bed while hugging the pillow under his chin, not even caring about the robotic bird, Birdie, which had landed on his shoulder.

"I'm…" Kira muttered under his breath as a lone tear came from his eyes then slid down on his cheek before Chifuyu came in to find the boy exhausted.

Sitting on the edge of Kira's bed, Chifuyu only had silence before she finally spoke. "Hey, I don't really know what got you upset but I guess that Garcia guy must've said something to hurt you." The girl glanced down at her friend. "But just remember this, you chose to fight against ZAFT to protect your friends. You didn't choose to fight against Coordinators because the Earth Forces told you to."

Kira inclined his head and looked at the Coordinator girl. "What do you mean?"

"Well, I mean if you think about it, we're not really fighting to better ourselves or to kill others. We're fighting to protect those that can't protect themselves." Chifuyu explained. "It's funny because I don't think Maya and I would've even piloted those other mobile suits if it wasn't for your courage."

"My...courage?" Kira looked surprised to hear something like that.

"Yeah, you didn't even have any mobile suit training, yet you fought alongside Kaito and the others to protect us in the Strike. That takes courage and selflessness." The black-haired woman smiled, ruffling Kira's brown hair.

The boy pouted slightly. "Knock it off; I'm not a little kid."

"You sure act like one though." Chifuyu teased. Before Kira realized it, Chifuyu started tickling him like an older sister would their little brother. Thus, Kira had couldn't help but laugh out loud like a child once more with Chifuyu chuckling with him.

'You would have loved to meet this kid…Ichika.'

"Ugh." A voiced groaned out as causing Chifuyu and Kira to stop as they turned to see Akira looking towards them with a tired look on his face. "Hey I know that you guys are have a happy moment but can you tone it down please? I woke up in the infirmary with a killer headache and had to fight my way though multiple soldiers to free the hostages so that we can get the ship. So again, please keep it down." Akira said as his eye dropped as he lays back down to sleep, causing the two Coordinators to sweat drop at what just happened.

PHEW! Finally got this one done! I will make sure to ACTUALLY keep everyone up to date when I fall behind, I swear!

Till then, PEACE!