Lunamaria knew she was supposed to be retreating or at least pulling back, but what she had just bore witness to was mind blowing. That rogue Mobile Suit had disarmed three of ZAFTs state of the art Mobile Suits in a flash, not only that, but it was so quick her cameras could not pick it up, only a very slight afterimage. Insult to injury was that it seemed to think that the stolen Mobile Suits were no worth chasing down and it just let them go now, they were disarmed and no threat to that strange Mobile Suit that is if they were ever a threat at all.

The three stolen Mobile Suits now were defenceless or rather they were weakened and, in a position to be recaptured. But the situation from the Minerva was dire and while she could gain bonus points for capturing the stolen Mobile Suits. Lunamaria was aware that if the Minerva was badly damaged or destroyed it would be for naught. She wouldn't admit it to Shinn, but he was right in the sense they should not turn their back on this unknown Mobile Suit. Mostly because Shinn was hot headed at the best of times and feeding his ego was not a good idea.

In her mind, if that Mobile Suit was of ZAFT origins, then the pilot could easily be up there with Athrun Zala or the pilot of the Freedom in terms of skill. But now seeing as the stolen suits from Armoury One were getting away, most likely to link up with their mother ship. Lunamaria attempted to contact the unknown Mobile Suit and said "Hey our mission here is to recapture those stolen Mobile Suits, I don't know who you are but we cannot simply let them go!"

The voice responded to her, Lunamaria was certain that Shinn would have thought the tone of this pilot to be an arrogant one. But then again she knew that Shinn was capable of projecting his own insecurities. To Lunamaria, the voice just sounded slightly tired and annoyed when it said "Your mission not mine. By all means go ahead and attempt to capture them. I'll be right here so when you're overwhelmed do flee in this general direction and I might be moved to assist you."

This confirmed two things to Lunamaria, first was that he wasn't there to help them out. So he couldn't be part of ZAFT and perhaps was some interloper into this scenario. But given that he had sided with them or rather protected and assisted them, he could be an ally, or he could just be a cobelligerent. The last word was not a term she thought she would ever have to use in real life. She was going to say something but Shawn sent coded message urging her to return so they could save the Minerva.

Before deciding to trust this strange suit by turning away from it, Lunamaria asked "You're not coming to assist us in saving the Minerva? If you're from the Junk Guild or one of those mercenaries you'd be highly rewarded for any services rendered."

It was always good to keep strange Mobile Suits close at hand to be studied and if he was a mercenary, enticing him with a reward to stick around was a valid method. Except the next words she heard told her that he was no such man and that the pilot had some sense of self worth when he said "I think you've got the wrong impression of me. I don't see my services like that, in fact I don't sell them at all. You don't need my assistance save your ship, if you did then would mean that her defences and crew were in adequate, and she'd be not worth saving."

That stung, like it really stung when he said that to her face or rather just to her as Lunamaria pulled away. Not worth saving if it could not save itself, she'd prove him wrong, whoever he was. But still that suit, there was something to it that was just alien almost. Though then again an alien having a Mobile Suit was the most ridiculous thing she'd ever thought of, but then again no one when they work up thought they'd be here right now then did they?

Anthony was content with the way things had gone, he just sit here in the same spot and thanks to the battle that was raging just vanish. ZAFT would lose, well they'd win but their enemy would still get away, which means ZAFT would lose. And after the second battle of Jachin Due, Anthony was absolutely fine with that. He had been able to vent on the Extends because he was in this conflict. Mortality had demanded that he join it as these people from ZAFT had done nothing to him at all, but that did not translate to him having to be polite cordial with them more than he had to be.

He would let Shinn and Lunamaria along with their two named faceless buddies go and save the Minerva and he'd stay put. The Zero System had already predicted the outcome of the battle and he knew the Girty Lue and the stolen Mobile Suits would get away. While it was not the best possible scenario for ZAFT, Anthony did not find he cared much for what was best for an alternate timeline version of his past adversary, in fact the fact that he was helping them out already left a bad taste in his mouth.

Either way he was content to stay put and do nothing, he'd done enough already and doing more would be meaningless. All he had to do was let the battle go on and let the debris get in the way and he'd be off. Where would he be off to, while Anthony knew he could just predict where he'd be off to, for things like that he preferred not to, at least not to for the moment. Yes if he could he'd just sit out this conflict, knowing that the heroes would arise out of it and seize the day and Durandal and his Destiny Plan would fail, he did not need to interfere.

But then again Anthony knew that the MS Agito Zero would hold him to the standards that he had set for himself. He would have to get involved out of moral reasons and for the ideals he believed in or rather the ideals he wanted to believe in. However his idleness was interrupted by a communication from the Minerva asking for assistance from him. How odd it or rather Anthony knew its Captain had just walked right into this ambush without even taking heed of the warning he had sent them.

So what now, they were asking him for help? He had very gently let Lunamaria know what he thought of ZAFT using the fact that if the Minerva could not save itself, it was not worth saving. It was not surprising to Anthony that the MS Agito Zero began to predict a course for him to move to assist them. While it did not surprise Anthony, it did annoy him that the Zero System was well aware that he would move to aid them or rather was prompting him to do so because it was the right thing to do.

Grumbling to himself Anthony said, "I'm trying to not get caught up in another war that is just not my fucking problem."

Captain Talia Gladys of the Minerva now heard Meyrin report "Captain, Shinn has joined the battle is pushing back the enemy Mobile Suits. Shawn and Dale are currently close behind with Lunamaria bringing up the rear. After we sent out that request for assistance, the unknown Mobile Suit is also moving. But it is faster than our suits and will reach us before Shawn and Dale."

The almost amused voice of the Chairman could be heard next to Captain Gladys as he said "I just wonder who is that strange Mobile Suits pilot and where did he get it? It is not often you find Mobile Suits around the debris field, then again he could be a part of that Junk Guild, no if he was part of that they'd be more of them around for sure and he'd have identified himself as such."

Talia wanted to tell him now was not the time to be musing on what that Mobile Suit was, from what she heard from Meyrin it has saved one of their pilots. But that didn't mean it was an ally, it just meant that it happened to be there, from what she could surmise this person could be the one who told them this was an ambush. But their motives were suspect to scrutiny, why were they here, what were they doing and it was awfully convenient that they were here during this battle?

A little too convenient for her tastes but Meyrin's next words cut her off saying "Captain the Gaia, Chaos and Abyss have taken flight towards Bogey One, should we redirect Shawn and Dale to pursue them and recapture them?"

Now this, this was a hard decision due to the fact that they were under attack and Rey could not launch just yet. They were still under heavy fire from Bogey One and Shinn was still fighting off the enemy Mobile Suits. So while she could redirect Shawn and Dale to fly in their Mobile Suits ZAKU's to recapture those stolen Mobile Suits. It would be three against two and for all she knew the MS Gaia, MS Chaos and MS Abyss were all completely combat ready still and it would be a death sentence to send two of her pilots after the three of them.

So she chose the more conservative option, not risking the life of her pilots and their Mobile Suits saying "Do not redirect them. We need all the help we can here. No use capturing them if we are gunned down by Bogey One or left stranded here in the Debris Belt. Let them know they do not have any orders to divert course and chase after Gaia, Chaos and Abyss!"

Seeing a slight inclining of Durandal's head, Talia felt he approved of her action now as the Chairman asked the Chief Representative "I do wonder what the Mobile Suit is doing here though and just what it is. But I suspect we'll learn that in time. I must say thought that it is fortunate that it was here to assist us, because things may have gotten worse than they are now."

The entire crew braced now as a salvo from Bogey One was intercepted but the explosion pushed the Minerva into the asteroid which prompted Talia to command her crew saying "We're not out of the woods yet, no one lower your guard. I need every hand to still be ready for battle and treat it as such. This battle is not yet won, and we are still under constant attack from Bogey One!"

Of course, this time she was right. The battle was far from over and she would prefer it that her crew treated it as such. In her mind if they could eliminate the enemy Mobile Suits that were attacking them right now. Then they could turn their attention towards Bogey One and the recapture of the stolen Mobile Suits. She judged it was better to consolidate their position rather than divide their forces like they had done before and get ambushed again.

She'd appreciate it more if Chairman Durandal focused more on their survival rather than musing on that unknown Mobile Suit. Not that he could do anything in this situation, just that he was distracting the other crew members from performing their duties by constantly bring it up. Like now as he said "I'd very much like to see that Mobile Suit whatever it is and whoever made it, must be very talented and also very secretive to be able to make a Mobile Suit without anyone knowing."

It suddenly it Captain talia Glayds that Chairman Durandal was not idly chatting, but he was more like probing Chief Representative Cagalli Yula Athha knew anything about that Mobile Suit and what it was doing here. But given what the Captain of the Minerva could see when she briefly turned her head to look at them, it was clear that the young lady had no clear idea as to the origins of the Mobile Suit, especially given the fact that they had yet to see it in person.

But Meyrin now report "Captain, the unknown Mobile Suit does have ZAFT designation or rather it has one assigned to it. It read sto O. I believe the Mobile Suits Designation is-"

She was cut off by Cagalli now who said in shock stating "Dreadnought Class High Manoeuvre Mobile Suit Agito Zero. Designation DCHM-MS Agito Zero."

This made Captain Talia turn her head towards Cagalli now as she saw Durandal for the first time in while looked shocked. She knew he had been trying to probe the young lady. She could tell that Cagalli did have an explanation that she said "That is about all that I know about it other than it was just a design and predates the war and was join project between my father, Siegel Clyne and Patrick Zala."

In response to this she heard the voice of Alex Dino who may or may not be someone else say what they all wanted to say which was "What?"

The face from Chairman Durandal was unreadable to Talia, but she suspected that he'd be discussing this in further detail later. She too would think more on this, when the enemy was not firing at their rear and breathing down their neck. It did raise a doubt in her mind that if there was a Mobile Suit from before the war that was more advanced than their current Mobile Suits just what was lost during and how far ahead were they before things got escalated to the levels of the Bloody Valentine?

The MS Agito Zero blazed past the two ZAFT MS ZAKU's, Anthony personally felt distasteful for having to call those things that. He also took offence on Char Aznable's behalf for the Red one that was piloted by Lunamaria Hawke. The enemy to him were in what just another flavour of the MS Strike Dagger, not a real threat. What were they called GAT-02L2 Dagger L? Not that it mattered to him now as he slammed into one knocking it back away from the Minerva.

Anthony guided the MS Agito Zero to avoid the shots now from the MS Dagger L and calmly moved up to it and ripped the gun from its hands. Crushing the Beam Carbine in his hands he states "Using light firearms on my Mobile Suit? I'm not almost offended, I am offended at such rudeness. Either way I accept your surrender."

Predictably the MS Dagger L pilot did not surrender and drew its beam saber as the pilot shouted at him "Come and get me you bastard!"

The MS Agito Zero now just raised its fist and in a short burst of speed slammed into the enemy Mobile Suit's chest impaling it and the man inside. The explosion that happened did nothing to affect the MS Agito Zero abut Anthony sadly said "I told you, you should have surrendered, wait did I just quote Quatre?"

Now call Anthony superstitious, but if he recalled correctly. Quatre from Mobile Suit Gundam Wing, did not have the best time with the Zero System. That was not a good sign that he was starting to sound like him, but regardless of what was and what was not good, Anthony saw that Shinn in the MS Impulse had just finished off the other MS Dagger L and now was turning his guns on him.

This was the Blast Impulse equipped for far combat and was just another rip off of the GAT-X105 Strike Gundam. It was without a doubt better than the MS Strike Gundam, but to Anthony it was still a pale imitation. He had watched SEED Destiny after all and did not appreciate the MS Impulse. The pilot who Anthony knew was Shinn Asuka now stated "Unknown Mobile Suit surrender and disarm, this is a ZAFT military operation that you have interfered with."

Anthony who was unfazed by the weapons being pointed at him, had the MS Agito Zero fold its arms in a display of confidence and defiance saying "If you want my weapons kid, come and get them!"

Now Anthony was well aware that this would not have been enough to provoke Kira back what almost a year ago. In fact even Yzak would note that any back in those early days would have been able to tell that attacking a Mobile Suit that just folds it arms rather than does anything, is baiting you. Shinn Asuka lacked the combat experience of Yzak Joule, the mental maturity of Athrun Zala or the sense of responsibility of Kira Yamato.

So in regards to that, Shinn of course fired is largest gun at Anthony direct, which the MS Agito Zero took to the face. Now in space one would be moved by the explosion. To adjust for this, Anthony had his thruster fire at the same time to counter the force of the blast to ensure it appeared he stayed entirely still. So when the smoke cleared it appeared as if nothing had happened at all and Anthony stated "I'll take that as you're shit at aiming kid and that was meant to be a warning shot."

Now Anthony would have liked nothing more than to activate the NTD-Mode and terrorize Shinn with by simply disabling his Mobile Suit into the debris field and letting him starve to death trapped in the MS Impulse. But that would be a gross abuse of his power and the only real person Anthony hated that much was Rau Le Creuset, so he wasn't going to just do that to Shinn.

But of course Shinn was lining up another shot and Anthony contemplated fire the High Mega Cannon now but that would be a tad bit overkill. He also didn't want to be seen as aggressive so instead Anthony chose to send a broadcast across the ZAFT communications saying "If that Mobile Suit fires on me one more time, I regrettably have to inform you that I haven't got the proper facilities to take any of you prisoner, sorry."

Meyrin Hawke blinked, that was by far the most polite way she had ever heard someone threatening to kill them. Well at least she believed that he was telling them if Shinn fired one more time at them, he was going to kill all of them. That fact was not lost on her Captain who ordered her saying "Meyrin, get in contact with Shinn and tell him to stand down. That's a ZAFT Mobile Suit and not a hostile. If he argues tell him the orders come from me!"

Now Meyrin who did not want to die out here did just that contacting Shinn and saying "Impulse, the captain is ordering you to stand down. I repeat the Captain is ordering you to stand down. That is a friendly Mobile Suit with a ZAFT designation. Do you copy? The Captain has ordered you to stand down!"

There was silence for a moment, but given that Shinn was yet to fire on that Mobile Suit the DCHM-MS Agito Zero and it was yet to turn hostile on them. Meant that Shinn had heard her, he was just sulking about it and didn't want to repeat it to her. But yes finally over the comms she heard Shinn state "I copy, obeying the Captain's orders."

From the sound of it, Shinn did not want to obey them. But then again Shinn was from ORB and always did want to prove his loyalty to ZAFT. Or rather he felt the need to prove he was loyal to ZAFT and was willing to go above and beyond to prove it. The only issue being that if he did right now he might just get every single one of them killed by whoever was in that Mobile Suit.

But she now heard the Chairman state "I find it very disconcerting that if this was a joint project between the PLANTS and ORB that only you know of this Princess. That Mobile Suit and its capabilities are far beyond what we have seen and for it to come from before the First Bloody Valentine, well that's very concerning?"

Next Meyrin heard Chief Representative Cagalli Yula Athha respond by saying "Unfortunately there is not much to share on it, I believe most of the files were destroyed by my father when ORB was invaded. He didn't pass along anything about it then and I only found out about it not so long ago by chance that it came up."

Was she telling the truth? Meyrin could not tell but she had faith that the Chairman would be able to do so and the Chairman did raise a valid point "It is either very convenient or inconvenient that the people who knew about this project are all dead. I am of course cautious enough to be suspicious. Do you by chance know the name of the pilot of the Mobile Suit the what DCHM-MS Agito Zero I believe you called it?"

Meyrin could not hear much else now as more traffic picked up from the Mobile Suits but what she did hear was Cagalli state "If the person who is piloting it is the same person who designed it, than the alias he went by was Anthony Hitoro."

Whatever else was said she could not hear, for she had more pressing duties to attend to. Like for exampling debriefing her sister now as she said "Lunamaria, come in. Lunamaria do you read me. Under no circumstances are you to engage that Mobile Suit. It's designation is the Dreadnought Class High Manoeuvre Mobile Suit Agito Zero, it is apparently one of ours. Do not engage!"

Her elder sister Lunamaria responded straight away saying "Copy that, I've seen that Mobile Suit in action. Requesting update on if we should try to pursue Bogey One and the stolen Mobile Suits?"

Because of Shinn they had gotten into a needless standoff with a Mobile Suit that had been helping them out up until then. This had cost them time now and Meyrin turned to the Captain asking "Captain what is your orders regarding Bogey One the stolen Mobile Suits are getting away and our pilots out there would like to know their standing orders."

At this point the Chairman interjects stating "While recapturing our stolen Mobile Suits and destroying or capturing their Mothership Bogey One. But right now, if we can secure the aid and reenlistment of this DCHM-MS Agito Zero and its pilot. It would make our task ahead far easier."

Now by no means would Meyrin claim to know Captain Talia Gladys well. But she did believe that the Captain did not agree with this course of action. This was cemented by the fact that Captain Gladys said "But Chairman, if we let them go now we may never catch them!

There was an audible silence that followed these words before the calm persuasive voice of Chairman Durandal responded to her saying "I am aware of that Captain. The issue is now we have two options, we can risk losing track of Bogey One and our stolen Mobile Suits. Or we can prioritize the securing of a Mobile Suit that as we have seen can outperform them. The way I see it, we should establish that we are still allies to this Agito Zero as that Mobile Suit falling into the wrong hands could prove far more deadly than Gaia, Chaos or Abyss."

Another silence followed before Captain Gladys informed Meyrin "Attempt to raise that Mobile Suit Agito Zero. Invite him on board to recharge his Mobile Suit and to resupply."

Was Anthony a little upset that Shinn did not go overboard and rage at him like a berserker? The answer was yes, he was a little upset that Shinn did not try something. But then again this was for the best after all and thanks to Shinn targeting him the Girty Lue could make its escape and not be captured at least just yet. But now the voice of Meyrin Hawke was heard over the Comms saying "Pilot of the DCHM-MS Agito Zero, the ZAFT Warship the Minerva is offering to recharge your Mobile Suit and resupply you. Do you read us."

What the hell did DCHM-MS stand for? He'd heard the MS Agito Zero be called a lot of things, but never DCHM-MS Agito Zero. But alas the Zero System had the answer showing him it stood for Dreadnought Class High Manoeuvre Mobile Suit. Now of all the things he had seen, of all the things he had heard, that had to be by far the oddest of them all. Just where on Earth or in Space had they got such a ridiculous name from?

Looking towards the Zero System he knew that the MS Agito Zero's, Zero System must have been behind it. Which begged the question 'what else had it done while Anthony was unconscious'. He was certainly in the Cosmic Era, but certainly not in the one he had been in before or else they would be calling him the Red Demon and probably defecating when they saw him enter the battle. Not to mention they would think twice before turning their guns on him or even contacting him like this, so this begged the question as to why they would do so?

They were not like the Archangel who needed all the help they can get, they were supposed to be the best and latest Warship in the ZAFT Space Fleet. But then again, even the best weapons are useless if they are in the hands of those who do not know how to use them. Fool who would walk into an a place that is clearly an ambush without any plan of how to get out and despite the warning that they had done so. But the more pressing matter was his response to the Minevera and their offer right now.

He did not need to reveal just yet, exactly that his Mobile Suit did not need to recharge like theirs did. That would no doubt raise questions about the treaty of Junius Seven if it was being honoured and all that. Not to mention that he was rather hesitant to go aboard a ZAFT vessel, let alone one with Chairman Durandal aboard it. They would try no doubt to seize the MS Agito Zero or at least gain data on it to see if they could copy it and Durandal with a Zero System was not a future Anthony wanted.

But the beeping of MS Agito Zero's Zero System assured Anthony that he could move ahead and not worry about that. In fact now it gave him a short debrief of what to expect and who they expected him to be. While looking at what it said about him being from the PLANTS specifically Junius Seven and about a secret project from before the war. Anthony had to shake his head "I am a little bit tired of playing fantasies now. But I guess like all the people I knew before who are beyond reach and might as well be dead. At least you thought up a convincing backstory that would show me as being someone who only those who are dead knew about."

Opening up the Comms with the Minerva, Anthony said "This is Anthony Hitoro pilot of the DCHM-MS Agito Zero. I accept your offer."