Kojiro Murdoch considered himself a simple man with humble beginnings. After finishing his education and training, he applied to join the Atlantic Federation armed forces, not because he wanted to be a soldier so much, but because mechanical things fascinated him. The military had the most state-of-the-art hardware, and Kojiro would like to get his grubby hands on them. It was an ambition that he had since he was a young boy growing up on the Hawaiian island of Kailua-Kona, and he was happy to spend his whole time tinkering with them.

He didn't like the current war being fought between OMNI and ZAFT. However, he couldn't help feeling that if it didn't happen, he wouldn't be selected to serve on Archangel, got the chance of being involved in the G Project. It was a dream come true, and he had no reason to complain. If he had to complain, it was the amount of work involved. The amount of maintenance after each mission was staggering. To add to that, the constant testing and retesting of the recently reacquired and subsequently modified, Buster added to the long hours. Yes, a man was driven by passion. However, he still needed food and sleep to function properly.

Functioning properly was the reason he approached the Allster girl, who was standing next to Buster. When he was close enough, he noticed that the redhead teenager was engrossed in examining a tablet in her hand. From where he was standing, he could see the screen showing a diagram of a familiar black mobile suit. It resembled one of the three Gundams. "Kuro no Strike, ka?" he remarked softly to himself in Japanese.

The statement startled Flay, and she fumbled with the tablet as she tried to prevent herself from dropping it.

"Ah, warui, warui... my bad, sorry," Kojiro apologized, switching to English when he saw her reaction. While moon's gravity was weaker Earth's, it wouldn't do if she damaged the thing and blamed him. The tablet she got from those Eurasians back in Artemis seemed important and expensive. "I was thinking to myself. Didn't intend to surprise you there,"

"Dajare?"

"Wordplay?" Murdoch scratched his chin in confusion. "No. I wasn't trying to make a pun. From where I'm standing, the diagram resembles a black Strike."

Flay looked at him and then returned to her computer. After a few seconds, she said, "Oh, I see what you meant. The grayed-out areas are dark in color. That's why it's 'kuro'. I should change the color coding," she mused before switching off the tablet to address him, "Not only the first name, it seems?"

Kojiro shrugged. "My ancestor took up his wife's family name when they got married, but they ensured that the entire family line can speak Japanese. Don't ask me to do tea ceremonies and whatnot,"

"But you eat sushi?"

"One word. Poke bowls,"

"That's two. But who's counting? So, what do you want to ask?"

"Rather straight to the point,"

"Would you prefer to talk about how sushi is like classical music? People pretend to get them to show how cultured and classy they are?"

"That, coming from someone whose country's sole gastronomical contribution 'is fish and chips',"

"You forgot apple pies that you people are so proud of,"

"You people rewrote history to cover up your meager contribution," The apple pie was a longstanding symbol of America, the dominant country that was part of the North Atlantic Federation, so it was impossible to have originated from other countries.

"Well, I digress. So, your question?"

"Who the hell are you? I'm not one of them haters, but you're like a..."

"I'm a redhead though,"

"Sorry?"

"You're going to ask me if I'm a 'Kuro no dinator'?"

To his chagrin, it's one of those wordplays again, with the girl changing 'Coor' to 'Kuro no'. "That's lame," he dismissed.

"I give you that, but so is your roundabout attempt," Flay answered him with a hand on her hip. "You don't really care about it, so why start now?"

"Okay, I'll redo this," Kojiro then pointed at the helmet that she had been using while piloting Aegis. "You left it here on purpose, didn't you? While it looked like a normal diagnostic helmet, it's customized for them,"

"Bzz... Once again, you're making it long-winded than you're supposed to,"

Kojiro threw up his hands in the air. "I give up! You explain it then!"

Flay cocked her head. "I'm Flay, which escaped into this dimension using Anywhere Door. From where I came from, Archangel and all Gundams were destroyed, and the world was taken over by Zoong First Reich. I plan to change the future by leaving the helmet onboard the ship. Then I use my knowledge of the future to create a convoluted plan so that I will end up being rescued by Kira and end up on Archangel. With my genius plan, I thought no one would suspect me. Alas, you're perceptive!"

Kojiro stared at her.

"Or you can settle for the unbelievable excuse that I forgot the helmet?"

"Your snarkiness is way above what I've seen from teenagers,"

"Thank you,"

"I'm not complimenting you,"

"it's a compliment to me,"

Kojiro would have retorted, but stopped when they were approached by a technician. They were wanted at the bridge.

"Whatever's waiting for us, I'm preemptively blaming you for it," Flay said as they made their way to the bridge.

Snarky, not cute at all. Kira must have a masochist streak in him; that was why he could handle her.

"Let me get this straight. You want my help to get the Orb refugees into the embassy? Even though we are already here?" Flay asked.

Mu shared a look with Murrue and said, "See, she's a fast one,"

"That's why Kira and others are not included in this discussion. I may ask unwanted questions and you don't want them to find out?"

"And observant too," Mu responded. Apart from her, everyone on the bridge was enlisted while her absent friends were volunteers. "But don't worry. We'll include them, and you can help in convincing them,"

"All this planning... Why can't you open the main door and shove everyone outside?"

"Orders. Specifically, we're to continue hosting them and not aid in repatriation. They can leave any time, but we're not allowed to tell them that,"

"Okay... and?"

"I'm sure a boffin of your caliber can figure that out,"

The order that Murrue received was to hold them onboard the ship until Orb delegates came for them. However, Archangel was a warship that could be deployed at any moment's notice. She wanted to have no noncombatants onboard if possible.

Flay's eyebrows raised in realization. "Your order is to continue hosting, not detain. So, it's okay if Orb Embassy or a third party such as NAGI arrange for them to leave?"

"If we follow the wordings, yes,"

"You people are assholes, you know that?"

"Assholes, by necessity, I promise you. And you know why,"

Natarle was against the whole thing. In her opinion, it went against the spirit of the order. She also felt strongly involving the teenagers in the matter, especially since most of them came from Orb. That she could stand leaning on the wall near the door of the bridge, arms crossed, while remaining silent, spoke volumes of her ability to reserve her opinions when required. Murrue was pragmatic enough to consider getting the civilians off the ship when it was reassigned. However, she was too soft. With Natarle sitting the matter out and Murrue not heartless enough, Mu ended playing the role of a negotiator by the process of elimination.

As he told Flay, it was necessary.

When the ship landed at the port, he had expected it to be refueled and to have its supplies replenished. Mu expected Orb to come and demand the return of its people. However, no one came. Instead, as he had told Flay, the unexpected order was received.

The three were discussing how to implement the decision when Murrue discovered the loophole. The order did not prevent repatriation, but merely prevented the crew's involvement. It was Natarle who made the sarcastic remark of getting NAGI involved, seeing that the telecommunication company had a presence in Copernicus.

Thinking about it clearly, it was strange that Flay didn't get off the ship. After all, she wasn't enlisted, so the normal rules and regulations wouldn't apply to her. It was evident that she hadn't done so because of her loyalty to her friends. Taking advantage of her attachment made him and Murrue felt bad, but it had to be done.

Mu added, "I didn't realize you care for Orb,"

"It's the principle of things. Let me see the written order,"

Startled, Natarle half uncrossed her arms. "That's classified!"

"Based on regulations, I know enough to get me executed ten times. If you're worried, you can always shoot my corpse a few more times,"

Mu turned toward Murrue. She nodded, "I'll allow it,"

"Captain!" Natarle said with a betrayed expression.

"We need her help. Therefore, I'm invoking my discretion to include her on a need-to-know basis,"

"Yes, Ma'am," Natarle said as she retreated from her protest

"Dalilah, if you will,"

Dalilah entered some commands, and the order was displayed on the main screen.

Flay read the order and frowned. "This order came from the Atlantic Federation's HQ?"

"Specifically, the Ptolemaeus," Mu confirmed.

At that revelation, she sighed, approached an empty seat nearby, and slumped down, remaining quiet while massaging her temples. Eventually, she said, "Very well. I'll help. But we must sneak them in,"

"Great!" Mu said brightly. "As expected, you come around to the idea,"

"I'm honestly impressed with the three…," Flay looked at Natarle, who was scowling, "scratch that, two of you. No hesitation in making NAGI a scapegoat,"

Murrue wanted to say something, but Mu beat her to it, "It's necessary assholery, as we agreed just now,"

"But torpedoing two separate high-level diplomatic engagements? I've no words to describe what I'm feeling right now,"

The atmosphere became tense as everyone else realized that they had missed something crucial.

Tolle looked at the entrance of the Orb Embassy through his binoculars. From the rooftop where he was standing, it made for a perfect observation spot. He glanced down at his friend, who was seated cross-legged, punching instructions into his laptop, which was connected by a cable to a nearby terminal. "Why can't we bus them in again?"

"Flay said that enemies might prevent them from approaching," Kira replied.

Tolle was happy about Kira's progress with Flay. However, his friend should reserve a bit of skepticism and not swallow everything she said. She could have claimed that Earth was flat, and Kira would accept it as gospel, despite evidence supporting the contrary. Then again, Captain Murrue put her in charge of the operation. "Wait, enemies?"

"Yeah,"

"How can they have enemies? They're normal people, similar to..." Tolle trailed as he realized that he, Kira, and others had enlisted and therefore couldn't be considered civilians. "They're civilians. Why are they wanted again?"

"She said that they have important diplomatic utility,"

"Status, you mean," Tolle said, correcting his friend. "You're making them look like items that can be used and manipulated,"

Kira stopped typing to consider the mild rebuke. "Maybe I remembered it wrong," he admitted before continuing with his work.

"How's the progress?"

"I've secured the surveillance cameras in the two kilometers radius. I also gained enough processing power in case we need to do something,"

"Must be a large botnet," Tolle remarked, wondering how many computers Kira had hijacked and put under his control.

"Not really. Only few computers,"

"Do tell," Tolle replied. His friend should have taken control of a few supercomputers.

"Three of them are from the embassy. The rest are from nearby computer centers,"

Tolle was speechless for a moment. "We need to get treasonous tendencies out of your system."

"Treasonous tendencies? I don't understand what you're talking about,"

"We'll cross that bridge later," Tolle said while patting his jacket's right pocket for reassurance. "Line's secure?"

"Yep,"

Tolle stuck an earpiece in his ear and connected it to the communication device clipped to his pants. "This is Prairie-Dog, calling Colony. Come in, Colony."

"This is Colony," the sound of his girlfriend on Archangel was clear amidst some small hissing noise. "I hear you loud and clear,"

Flay was right when she said that the city had installed something to improve wireless communications inside the city, regardless of N-Jammers.

"Everything," Tolle watched Kira give a thumbs up, "is proceeding as planned here. Status update?"

"Care package on schedule. In five,"

"That's good to know," Tolle said. Based on Commander Flaga's briefing, the refugees will be transported via a modified 3-ton lorry into the Orb Embassy compound. While it sounded straight forward to him, the manner Mu had described it, the entire operation would have been fraught with peril. "How's about on your end, Dinner Beaver?"

"Nothing out of the ordinary. Pancake is notable though, but stingy on the syrup," Sai reported. He and Kuzzey were sitting at a café near to the embassy's gate.

"They're running low on stock?" The conflict would affect a neutral location, like Copernicus City.

"Other items look okay though," There were some background conversations between Sai and Kuzzey. "Tolle, west side,"

Upon Sai's prompt, Tolle watched the indicated location and saw three robbed figures crossing the road toward the embassy. "Wow, covered from head to toe, face covered. That's like a giant neon sign saying that they're planning to cause some troubles," he remarked.

The trio approached one pillar and stood next to it while talking, animatedly moving their hands as they did so. Their suspicious behavior, as expected, attracted the attention of four guards from the entrance who made their way to them. When the guards were a few steps away, one of them threw something which landed on the formers and exploded, releasing volumes and volumes of thick smoke, triggering panic in the area. "What the heck is going on? Kira?" Tolle uttered.

"I'm on it. Taking control of all vehicles in the area and forcing them to slow down," Kira said, fingers dancing on the keyboard.

"Huh? That sounds right," Tolle said. Kira's action preemptively prevented unnecessary injuries and accidents.

"Rerouting all emergency responses that will come to the embassy," Kira announced.

The smoke had surprised the guards, but they quickly caught hold of themselves and chased the trio. One guard took out a stun gun, took aim, and fired. One of the three people removed his robe and threw it to block the shot, revealing a young male teenager with greenish hair. He then brought out his own stun gun and fired at the guard, who deftly moved and evaded the shot. The guard and the green-haired teenager faced each other with caution while reloading their respective stun guns. They then cautiously closed the distance with each gun aimed at the other.

Meanwhile, the three guards surrounded the teenager's two colleagues. One guard tried to take a step forward but one of the robbed figures threw bolas on his legs. The weapon quickly wrapped itself around the legs, causing the guard to trip. Another guard tried to help him but suddenly convulsed on the spot before falling to the ground. It turned out the green-haired teenager had disabled his opponent and then brought out another stun gun to shoot the guard. The trio disabled the remaining two guards and then left the area.

"Insertion in five seconds," Kira announced.

At that announcement, Tolle continued his observation. A truck moved toward the entrance, and the gate swung open to allow it in. The truck stopped right inside the gate and a sentry exited the guard booth, only to convulse and fall to the ground. The truck driver got out and threw away the weapon he used. He then ran away, exiting just at the embassy's fate closed behind him.

"What the heck happened?" Tolle asked, not understanding the whole situation.

"We have to leave the place," Kira said while closing the computer, putting it on the ground, and then jumping on it, causing a crunching sound as he broke it beyond repair.

"What have you done?!" Tolle asked in amazement at the strange behavior.

"Although I've securely erased everything, there's a chance that they could recover something," Kira explained matter-of-factly as he examined his handiwork. He stomped it a few more times. "So, breaking the hardware would make it harder,"

"That makes sense... Wait, that's not what I was talking about!" Tolle protested. "The computer is Flay's, isn't it? And that model is super expensive!" he said in a half-shrieking manner.

"Flay told me to make sure it's unusable and that's all the time I have," Kira gestured toward the rooftop entrance and said, "We must leave. We're already compromised, and a few minutes later they'll arrive here,"

They entered the building and sprinted down the emergency staircase. Tolle thought about the situation. It was absurd. A delivery has degenerated into a terror attack. "What about the refugees?" he asked.

"They're already there, so they'll be fine. The media have also been informed and are converging toward the embassy,"

They were already away when the police vehicles converged on the building. While Tolle observed the fully armed police pour out of the cars, he questioned Kira. "They will not track us, are they?" he asked, amidst multiple siren sounds echoing all over the place.

"Not to worry," Kira assured. "I've replaced our likeliness with deepfakes,"

Hours later, everyone was assembled at the bridge to watch the news broadcast that showed footages of a proboscis monkey and a panda running away from the building.

Despite the inherent success of the operation, Natarle wasn't satisfied. "The whole matter blew up!" she said, throwing her hands up. "When you told us to let you take charge, you didn't tell us you'll be sending your commandos to cause mayhem,"

"Don't be melodramatic. They're not commandos. They didn't go through the training yet and are just security agents. Besides, they were very restrained in their conduct," Flay answered.

"Using that word is just euphemism on your part!" Natarle said as she pointed toward the main screen that was broadcasting the aftermath of the operation. "Small fires, multiple injuries, power cuts, massive traffic jams, did I forget anything else?"

"No deaths and the injuries only involved the guards?" Flay said before she remembered something and turned toward Tolle. "Oh, sorry about the ankle,"

"It's my fault for tripping over a small curb," Tolle said, while looking away embarrassed.

"Still, the responsibility is still mine since it's my plan," Flay turned toward Natarle. "But what I'm not the one who decided to sabotage Orb and PLANTs' negotiation. We're just the for-free help, remember?"

Mu clapped his hand, bringing all attention to him. "Alright. Everyone did their part and we're grateful. We'll handle the rest,"

"Commander?" Natarle asked, clearly not expecting his interjection.

"We'll continue the conversation in the captain's office. You, Captain Murrue, and I," Mu said while thumbing toward the main door; his stoic countenance brook no arguments.

The three reassembled in Murrue's room where Natarle questioned Mu, "Why did you stop me?"

"Missy had that look,"

"That look?"

"She always had that peculiar expression whenever she's about to drop a bombshell,"

"And you don't want everyone else to find out," Murrue said

"Somehow, I already get what she's about to say,"

"Do share, Sherlock," Natarle said snidely, eyes rolled, "Don't leave the two of us hanging,"

"This whole situation reeks like the attack last year,"

"The bombing that triggered the war?" Murrue asked.

The United Nations chose Copernicus City as the site of a final round of peace negotiations between Earth and PLANTs, which was scheduled to take place on the 5th of February of the preceding year. However, a terrorist bombing attack on that day killed the senior leadership of the United Nations and the representatives of the sponsor nations. Siegel Clyne, the PLANT representative Siegel Clyne that was supposed to negotiate with the sponsor nations, survived because of a shuttle malfunction that delayed his arrival.

"I don't see the connection," Natarle said while crossing her arms.

"Did you see what she did? All that chaos she had caused?"

"Of course I did! I pointed that out when you stopped me,"

Mu shook his head. "No, you didn't notice. Everything was interlinked to form a cohesive action. The security was distracted to allow the smooth insertion of the refugees. And then the media was called in to bring attention to their presence. That was why she said that we're going to torpedo two high-level diplomatic engagements,"

"I get that our side and Orb had agreed on them, but what about Orb and PLANTs?" Murrue asked before she reconsidered her words. "Don't tell me Orb is still negotiating with PLANTs for the compensations?"

"Orb didn't want PLANTs to find out, obviously. However, thanks to us, all three sides wouldn't be happy," Natarle complained.

"Well, they deserve it after all the problems they caused us," Mu said. "Besides, they're probably behind the terror bombing,"

"Terror bombing?"

"Forget it. I think I got infected with the Conspirities Virus from Missy. Some TLC and it'll go away,"

"Tender loving care, my foot," Natarle said, not caring for the melodramatic. "You keep coy and all you're getting is a knuckle sandwich from me,"

Mu raised his hands defensively. "Fine, fine," He then turned serious. "The delivery is something that seems simple on paper, but complicated in execution. The terrorist bombing last year was similar," He then explained that before the war, the United Nations was more of a loose international organization of countries that were more interested in forwarding their respective agendas instead of a cohesive body.

"And?" Natarle said.

"Think about it! The rival nations gathered in the same location. Can you imagine our Secret Service not doing their job? The same Secret Service, who would book the entire hotel floor for security reasons? Or sending people to scout the meeting place weeks before the actual meeting? Those people!? I haven't talked about Eurasians and East Asians, and they're at least half as obnoxious as ours! Between them, not even a cockroach could get inside,"

"But they could have planted the bomb in advance?" Murrue suggested.

"The meeting wouldn't start until everyone was in the Copernicus. The moment they knew he would be delayed, they would return to their hotels,"

"They're meeting early to collude?" Natarle said.

"Nope," Mu replied, striking out the possibility. "No politician would do something stupidly blatant. Unless they're stupid, of course. Besides, if there's a collusion, it's going to be among the sponsor nations,"

"Then it's strange that Siegel didn't come earlier," Murrue said.

"Perhaps it was on purpose?" Mu said conspiratorially. "What if PLANTs sent an impersonator to the meeting and purposely delayed Siegel's flight?"

"But the terrorists?"

"There were no terrorists! It's all bullshit they're feeding everyone! Even school children know better. It's a false flag,"

"It could have been a coincidence, like the assassination that triggered the World War I in the previous era," Natarle said, referring to the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria, heir presumptive to the Austro-Hungarian throne, and his wife, Sophie, Duchess of Hohenberg by a nationalist wanting to free Bosnia and Herzegovina from Austria-Hungarian rule. The assassinations were successful only because of a series of coincidental events.

"No. After Lincoln and then Kennedy, the Secret Service upped their game. Believe me, I saw them at work. Only one way the attack could happen; it's an insider's job,"

"Ours?"

"Ours? Eurasian? PLANTs? Heck, all of them are suspects, we might as well throw Missy's favorite island into the basket,"

"I can picture it if ours or Eurasians were behind the attack. But PLANTs?! The war affected them the most!" Murrue said. "Siegel wouldn't accept this kind of action!"

"He came at the very last minute. That's a fact. Even if we accept that, how come the organizers weren't informed about his shuttle's malfunction?"

Natarle nodded at Mu's insinuation. All spacecraft had communication and backup communication systems. While the N-Jammers hampered communications, they were deployed after the Junius Seven attack, so there was no reason for communication problems. "Occam's Razor,"

"Right. The simpler explanation is usually the correct one," Mu said while nodding his head.

"So, ZAFT is the one who caused the war?" Murrue said, still trying to come to grips with the idea.

"Our side isn't exactly made up of peace-loving hippies, either. Besides, it's only a possibility. Like I said earlier, many sides benefit from the war. The military-industrial complexes, for example, are happy churning out weapons even as we speak. Even as Missy talking smack about her favorite island, her own company must have made a bundle selling communication gears to everyone. Heck, I wouldn't be surprised if NAGI was the one responsible."

Natarle groaned. "That's a severe case of Conspirities you have there,"

"I know, right?"

"Certainly a lot of information to chew," Murrue said. "The question is, how useful is that info to us?"

"Not so much. We're just a cog in the machine of war,"

1

A/N

1. Based on my limited knowledge and experience of how official events are held in the real world, the terrorist bomb attack in Copernicus wouldn't take place. Yes, 9-11 happened, and it inspired Gundam Seed. But hijacking an airplane and crashing it into a building differs from trying to bomb an international summit full of security agents swarming around. Before anyone uses the UN bombing scene in Captain America: Civil War (2016) as an example, let me point out that Austria's security agencies aren't inept as portrayed; presence of superheroes notwithstanding. I rewatched the explosion scene a few times; and boy, there's a lot to comment, from how shoddy the security was to how a bomb explode on the ground floor, but the force caused the glass window at a floor a few meters high to spray downward at high speed. Shouldn't the glass spray go upward? I know it's just a movie, but my current work causes me to question more about these things.

2. The notion of world leaders travelling and arriving just as the meeting is about to start wouldn't happen, since you know, there's a chance of their vehicles having problems? Since millennia, we have leaders and diplomats arriving ahead of the scheduled time so they can relax and enter negotiation with fresh minds and bodies. Even a surrender would be scheduled, not held in an ad hoc manner.

3. PLANTs weren't really innocent regarding its involvement in the Copernicus terror bomb attack. Recall my observation in the earlier chapter about ZAFT probably had a sinister reason for sending its scouts to search for Silverwind.

4. This title is inspired by the Wings of Words because it reminds me of how Kira, Archangel and the rest of his Orb team became the new LOGOS. Yes, the contradiction is intended.