Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: An Equal and Opposite Reaction

Phase - 01

Aprilius One, Aprilius City, PLANT
15th April C.E. 70

Ichiro Suzuhara sat on the lone chair in a rather Spartan corridor, he let his head fall back slightly so that it was resting on the wall behind him. Ichiro wore the green uniform of the Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty militia; he was waiting to be summoned to appear before the National Defence Committee. Somehow his name had been put forward as a candidate to command one of the new flotillas that were being raised to help the war effort. He wasn't averse to the idea of getting a command it just seemed like a big jump, currently he was a mere flight leader in the Mitchell Squadron. He could only assume that he had some mysterious patron that was pulling strings in his favour.

The doors to the committee room opened slowly and Ichiro jumped to his feet, he was starting to get nervous. A young female aid beckoned him to come into the room. He paused for a moment to adjust his uniform before taking confident strides into the committee room. The aid that had guided him in disappeared off into one of the room's corners while he went to stand in front of the committee's desk. Ichiro could feel the sweat starting to drip off himself; it was hard not to be nervous in front of the committee they were some of the most powerful people on the PLANT Supreme Council, not to mention the fact that they controlled Ichiro's own fate at this moment. Ichiro tried to relax but the cold gaze of Patrick Zala was fixed on him.

'Ichiro Suzuhara you have been summoned here today to hear the National Defence Committee's decision regarding your candidacy for flotilla commander.' said Ezalia

Joule, the silver haired woman who was sitting to Patrick Zala's right. 'You have shown a great deal of piloting skill and tactical ability during your time with the Mitchell Squadron. It is therefore the decision of this committee to create the Suzuhara Squadron.'

'Your command will consist of twelve GINN mobile suits, including your personal mobile suit, as well as the Laurasia class frigates Tesla and Archimedes. They are currently stationed at the December Six Ring Station.' said Patrick Zala. 'The majority of the pilots are fresh from the ZAFT Military Academy but the frigate crews are veterans, I believe you are familiar with the Archimedes.'

'Yes sir, she was my first ship sir.' replied Ichiro promptly.

'Your mission will be to bring them up to speed as quickly as possibly. We need to bolster our space forces in case the Naturals attempt to cut off our forces on Earth.' continued Zala. 'Therefore it is imperative that your unit is battle ready as quickly as possible. You are dismissed.'

'Yes sir.' replied Ichiro with an added salute. 'I will not fail you sir.' Zala returned the salute and with that Ichiro turned on the spot and marched from the committee room.

When Ichiro got back into the Spartan corridor he breathed a sigh of relief, Zala had been intense exactly like he'd been told Zala was like. Ichiro took a handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his face, he then ran a free hand through his black hair. The news that the Archimedes would be under his command was reassuring. It was the ship Ichiro was first assigned to when he graduated from the Military Academy and its captain, Roger Philips, had taken Ichiro under his wing; it was from Philips that Ichiro had learnt all his tactical combat knowledge.

'Commander Suzuhara?'

Ichiro looked up to see a pretty young blonde haired girl, wearing a ZAFT uniform, holding a clipboard and looking rather nervous. 'News travels fast, I'm Suzuhara.' he said reassuringly.

'H-hello Commander, I'm Elizabeth Bartley sir. I've been assigned to you as your aid.' she said. Ichiro could tell that her nerves were getting the better of her.

'How old are you?'

'I'm sixteen sir.'

Ichiro sighed heavily. 'Same age as her.' he thought. Then he added aloud. 'Okay Ms Bartley. I suppose we'd better go rustle up a transport since my command is all the way over at December Six.'

'It has already been arranged sir.' said Elizabeth as she looked at her clipboard. 'Its waiting for us in Bay 11, you belongings and mobile suit have already been loaded onto it.'

'They sure don't waste any time do they.' mused Ichiro before starting to walk down the corridor; Elizabeth fell into step behind him.

---

December Six Ring Station, December City, PLANT

The transport's forward apogee motors flared to slow the ship down as it approached the December Six Ring Station. When the transport stopped the docking gantry extended and locked onto the portside airlock. The green light that signified that the airlock was connected flashed on and the double doors opened slowly. Ichiro stepped through the airlock and was mildly surprised to see that no one was waiting to greet him. 'I guess I'm that important, yet.' Through the reinforced glass windows of the docking gantry Ichiro could see the Dockers already beginning to unload his personal GINN from the transport; further into the distance he could also see the green hulls of the Archimedes and Tesla.

'When did you join ZAFT Ms Bartley?' asked Ichiro, Elizabeth was standing a few feet behind him.

'February 21st sir.' replied Elizabeth as they started to walk alone the docking gantry.

'And they've got you doing assignments already?' Ichiro was surprised; his time at the ZAFT Military Academy had been a rather lengthy affair. 'They didn't rush you through did they?'

'I wasn't trained as a pilot sir, they said I lacked the necessary qualifications.' said Elizabeth, for a moment Ichiro thought he could hear a twinge of bitterness in her voice. 'So I was put onto an administration course, it was a lot shorter than the piloting course.'

'That would explain it then.' said Ichiro satisfied by the reply he'd gotten. 'You joined in response to Bloody Valentine then?'

'Yes sir.' replied the young militiawoman. 'I thought that I had to do something to defend PLANT against the Natural's aggression.'

'Interesting answer.' said Ichiro. Having such a young aid made Ichiro feel incredibly old, he was only twenty eight but that still made him twelve years older than her. The same could be said for the his new pilots as well, he'd looked at their personal files during the flight over, Ichiro was a clear six years older than the eldest of the new militia pilots. By now they'd left the docking gantry behind them and were making their way through the busy Ring Station.

---

ZAFT frigate Archimedes, December Six Ring Station, December City, PLANT

Christopher Bishop turned the page of the book he was reading. He was laid horizontally a few feet from the ceiling of the rather crowed locker room. Laurasia class frigates like the Archimedes had the facilities to store six mobile suits and their pilots but currently the Archimedes was also playing host to the six pilots off the Tesla as well as her own. There were eleven pilots in the lounge, including Christopher, and they were waiting for the twelfth to arrive. Christopher suspected that the last pilot would also be the unit commander since it was becoming more common for pilots to be assigned overall command rather than ship captains.

'Hey Jaygee get your arse down here. I got a question for you.' Christopher look down to see that is was David Franklin who'd called him by that annoying nickname. Back at the ZAFT academy his fellow cadets started to call Christopher Jaygee because they said he had all the arrogance and pomp of a Lieutenant Junior Grade. Although Christopher had contested the assertion the name stuck.

With a soft sigh Christopher folded over the corner of the page he'd reached and then put the book into a pocket. Placing a hand on both the white wall and ceiling he slowly swung his body back to the vertical and then with a gently nudge his glided down to the floor where David Franklin held out a hand to steady Christopher's landing.

'How can I help?' asked Christopher as he straightened up.

'Right, young Jonas here,' Franklin gestured at the fresh faced person to his right. 'Seems to have gotten the notion into his head that the Tesla's Captain Foley is superior ship master than the Archimedes' very own Captain Philips. Please help me correct this heinous error.'

Christopher paused for a moment to think over the conundrum. 'Captain Foley does have a quite impressive combat record. Under his stewardship the Tesla has two confirmed and one probable Earth Alliance cruiser kills. However he can be cautious in battle and that has prevented his ship from gaining more kills. On the other hand the Tesla has only ever received minor damage which is a plus as far as the supply corps are concerned.'

'See I told you Captain Foley was good.' interrupted Jonas. 'Even Jaygee agrees.'

'I never said he wasn't good Jonas.' replied Franklin. 'I said he wasn't as good as Philips. Please Jaygee, continue.'

'Captain Philips only has one cruiser kill under his belt; however he has downed eleven escort ships and three supply transports.' said Christopher authoritatively. 'He is also very aggressive in battle often charging into close to his enemies, this leads to the Archimedes receiving more than her fair share of damage.' He paused to think again for a few moments. 'I wouldn't say this was an overly bad thing because it helps to develop a stronger psychological bond with the mobile suits pilots. They know their ship is getting into the thick of it just like they are and so they don't feel quite so isolated when attacking.'

Before Christopher could give his final judgement the hatch to the lounge opened and the black uniformed figure of Captain Philips stepped through, followed by Captain Foley and then finally by a green uniformed man that Christopher had never seen before. One of the pilots yelled 'Captain on deck.' which was followed by all the pilots jumping to attention.

'As you were men.' said Captain Philips in his eloquent tone of voice. 'Allow me to introduce our new commander, Ichiro Suzuhara. This means we are now officially the Suzuhara Squadron.'

Ichiro took a step forward and bowed slightly. 'It's a pleasure to meet you all.'

As Ichiro took a step back Philips began to speak again. 'Now before I let him loose on you I should remind you to listen to everything he has to tell you. Not only is he your commanding officer but he's also here to whip you lot up into shape. His current kills tally is eighteen Moebius' and three escort ships.' Philips then turned to speak to Ichiro. 'If you'll excuse us Sir, Captain Foley and I need to make the final preparations.'

'Very well Captains you may go.' Ichiro returned the salutes of the two captains as they left the lounge; he then turned to face his pilots. 'Well then what an interesting bunch you are. I had the opportunity to read over your academy reports and I've seen some areas that need improvement.' He paused for a moment to look at his watch. 'In twenty minutes we will begin a mock battle training exercise; the Archimedes mobile suit team, including myself, against the Tesla's team. Well get to it gentlemen, the clock is ticking and you've got mobile suits to prepare. There will be serious repercussions for anyone who is late.'

'Yes sir!' replied all eleven pilots in unison.

---

Ichiro's GINN stepped into the field created by the linear catapult, as the electromagnetic forces took hold with GINN was lifted off the deck. Ichiro was thankful to find that the Archimedes' hanger crews were just as efficient as when he'd last been stationed there. In honour of the fact he was now a commander they had repainted the GINN dark blue with silver highlights, the personal colours he dreamed up when he first became a cadet at the academy, he was quite interested in just how they managed to find the colour scheme and vowed to take the matter up with Captain Philips later on.

The face of Elizabeth Bartley appeared in the right hand video communications monitor. 'The other GINN teams are assembled sir. They have been assigned designations Alpha through Delta on your IFF system. You are Alpha One sir.'

'Thank you Ms Bartley.' Ichiro brought up the new information on the team designations. The Archimedes' two teams of three GINNs were designated Alpha and Beta while the Tesla's two teams were Gamma and Delta. 'Did they rope you in as a controller Ms Bartley?'

'I'm only doing my job sir.' she replied. Ichiro noticed a faint smile starting to creep onto her face, the first time he'd seen one since they'd met. 'After all I am meant to aid you and that's a little hard if you're going to be running off in your mobile suit the entire time sir.'

Ichiro chuckled. 'I'll try to take that into account next time Ms Bartley.' He performed the last few system checks before bellowing 'Suzuhara GINN launching!' The electromagnetic forces of the linear catapult flung the GINN out into space when the umbilical power cable reached its limit it was released from the GINN and snapped back into the hanger.

---

Ichiro brought his GINN to a halt right at the centre of the gathered GINNs. All the other GINNs were painted in the standard grey colour scheme; Ichiro's blended in nicely with the backdrop if space, the silver trim gave it an almost ghostly appearance.

'Good to see you all made it out here on time gentlemen.' said Ichiro on the open squadron communications channel. They were far enough away from the ships and from the PLANTs that the neutron jammers didn't have a big affect on radio transmissions. 'As you are already aware we are using paintball ammunition for this exercise. For each paintball round that hits your mobile suit you will be docked one days pay.' Ichiro paused for the expected complaints, sure enough they came and he took care to mentally note those who complained the loudest. 'All proceeds will be going to the ZAFT Widows and Orphans fund.' That brought silence quickly enough. 'Right then Gamma and Delta teams I want you to go out to a distance of one kilometre before we begin the mock battle.'

Ichiro watched as the two teams of three mobile suits all turned and began to accelerate away. The distance gauge on the edge of his main monitor tickly slowly upwards as the distance increased. He switched his communication channel over to the one assigned to transmit to both the Alpha and Beta teams. 'Okay when they come at us I want you all the charge them down and try to get behind them. We're fighting in open space so remember to think in three dimensions.'

The distance gauge flashed red to inform Ichiro that his targets had reached one kilometre, instantly all six of the GINNs turned to double back. 'Tally Ho!' yelled Ichiro over the communication channel; few of the pilots recognised the significance of the archaic expression. Ichiro pressed his feet down hard on his foot pedals that controlled the GINNs main thrusters. With the two groups of GINNs closing at high speed it didn't take them long to travel the kilometre that had separated them.

Some of the more adventurous pilots fired off experimental bursts as soon as they entered effective firing range. Ichiro, however, conserved his ammunition by holding fire until they were closer. Then the GINNs were upon each other as they passed each other instantly started to try and get behind each other. Ichiro decided to do things a little differently. In a stomach wrenching manoeuvre he rotated his GINN through a one hundred and eighty degree vertical turn. He triggered a series of short bursts with his thrusters to counter his momentum.

Taking advantage of his new found tactical advantage Ichiro proceeded to fire off several bursts of paintballs. A steam of four paintballs splattered the grey paintwork of Jonas Bond's GINN. As the paintballs struck the GINN its quantum computer automatically simulated the damage sustained, the case of Jonas it shut down everything but life-support and pasted the message 'Bandit Down' on all his cockpit monitors.

---

By the time the mock battle was ten minutes old there were only three GINNs still operational. As far as Ichiro was concerned this was an unsatisfactory performance. From the Archimedes teams only Ichiro and Christopher Bishop remained, though Christopher had an arm disabled. The Tesla's Michael Hicks was still going.

Ichiro held back to allow Christopher a chance to attack. Christopher pushed his GINN to full speed and began a wide flanking movement. As he closed in on Hicks' GINN he triggered a short burst of paintballs only one of which managed to his their target. It was enough however to shut down one of the thrusters bundles within the GINN's binder wings.

Using his now unbalanced thrusters Hicks span his GINN away from Christopher and in the process let loose and long burst of paintballs that empty his magazine. Much to Christopher's annoyance a large percentage of the un-aimed paintballs splattered into his mobile suit which resulted in a dark cockpit with the legend 'Bandit Down' blazoned across his vision.

Hicks did not have long to celebrate as a stream of eight paintballs hammered into his grey GINN, giving the torso a nice coating for blue paint. 'You're dead Mr Hicks.' Ichiro's voice came through Hicks' cockpit speakers. 'Nice try but you really should keep up your observations. You never know what might sneak up on you.'

Hicks hammered his fists down on his GINNs controls, he didn't not like the way the Commander was treating them. 'With all due respect sir I don't see the point for fighting other GINNs.' he declared loudly. 'We only have to fight stupid Naturals in their crappy mobile armours; we don't need special training for that.'

'Contrary to popular belief Hicks just because we're genetically superior to naturals it doesn't make us invincible.' said Ichiro in a tone of voice that conveyed a sense of someone with first hand experience. 'It is true that we Coordinators have rendered Naturals an obsolete form of humanity however that does not stop gifted Natural pilots from being able to kill us. Trust me the Earth Alliance has a whole unit of such individuals; and judging from all of your performances today I'd say they could easily wipe the flour with you.' He paused to let that sink in for a little while. He didn't really think that many of them would believe him; they would just have to learn the hard way. 'Right back to your ships and get those GINNs cleaned at the double, we don't want people thinking we are a messy unit. Once you're done cleaning we'll try this battle again until you can last longer.'

---

ZAFT frigate Archimedes, December Six Ring Station, December City, PLANT
16th April C.E. 70

Ichiro rubbed his eyes slowly. They'd fought the mock battle a further five times yesterday until he called it a day. The pilots were starting to show an improvement but Ichiro could also see the ones that would be the first to die when they entered combat for real. Most of them had, what he called, the Coordinator Arrogance. The absolute belief that just because they are Coordinators that somehow makes them righteous invincible warriors for Justice and Freedom. Ichiro also like to call them 'Brainwashed Propaganda Junkies' but he knew well enough to keep thoughts like that to himself.

There was a knock at the door to Ichiro's office. He called out 'Enter.' and the door slid open smoothly. Elizabeth Bartley stood in the door carrying her ever present clipboard. 'Yes Ms Bartley?'

'Sir we've just decoded a transmission from the National Defence Committee.'

'That's strange, I wasn't expecting anything from them.' he stood and walked over to her and took the transcript and started to read it. 'They can't be serious! There has to be a mistake.'

'What is it sir?' asked Elizabeth meekly.

'They're activating the squadron already. We are to be put on alert for possible combat operations within the next twenty four hours.' exclaimed Ichiro. 'They are also relocating us closer to the resource asteroid Jachin Due. This is insane we're not ready for battle yet, are they trying to kill us?'

---

Next Phase:- The newly formed Suzuhara Squadron is flung into a desperate battle to help protect PLANT but will they be able to protect themselves as well?

---

Notes: I'd just like to thank DendrobiumStamen for answering all the questions about SEED I've asked of him so far, and bound to ask more of him in the future.