"How do I look?" A woman with a black hair cut in a bob with bangs floated out. She was dressed in a regular green ZAFT uniform.
"Fitting for the Black Queen," a man with voluminous brown hair with a blue head band winked. "You could also be someone's sister with that hairstyle and eye color. Are you sure you won't be found out?" He was easily fooled by her disguise but after looking at her, he could tell who it was, but he had to remember that he knew her personally. If she was a stranger to most, they wouldn't be able to recognize her. She's also been hiding herself away from public view. It was the ones who knew her that she had to fool.
She smiled at him as he scrunched his face trying to think about her disguise. "You don't trust me?"
"No, no, Your Highness, I trust you," he nodded his head, his hair bouncing with each nod. "Hey Mikael, I want to see your disguise. Hurry up in there!" He tilted his head to see behind her.
The one called Mikael came out with teal hair that was braided down, it reached his mid back. His scar across his left eye was covered. He was in the same type of ZAFT uniform.
"I like the look, not recognizable at all," the brown-haired guy pointed with his thumb. "Your Highness, how long are you going undercover again?"
"Until a goal has been met," she reassured him while checking her clothes were in proper order, tugging at her sleeves and belt. "The Konungr will be in your care while we are on the mission."
"Don't worry, we will make sure your secret battle vessel will stay hidden," he reminded her. "Do you think I, Lowe Guele, will let your newest creation with some of my favorite technologies get unveiled without your permission? I don't think so. Besides, 8 wouldn't allow it either."
"It's a pity that I am unable to meet with 8 at this time," the woman let out a sigh. She turned to him with a bit of a pout.
"He'll be mad when he hears about the advances you have been making. He'll want an upgrade," Lowe raised his hands behind his head to rest upon them. "Well, I guess this is where we say goodbye then."
"Thank you again for hiding us in your vessel," she put a hand over her heart. "Remember, I also have a few gifts for you and the Junk Guild."
Lowe beamed leaning forward. "You just love to see me anxious!" He let out a sigh, disheartened since he knows it will be after her goal is met that he will get his gifts. "You're always welcome, Your Highness but it should be me thanking you for this honor of helping you get rid of the bad guys."
"Keep cleaning up space and Earth," Mikael corrected. "That's the most important job. Trash and debris are the bad guys."
"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Lowe waved him off. "Get going before I start crying." He waved them off as both of them headed down into Armory One. Lowe started up his vessel and headed back to the Junk Guild.
The two made it to their destination, boarding the LHM-BB01 Minerva. It was rebuilt back to its original blueprint. Most of the original crew reenlisted but there was a new Commander of the ship, Commander Declan Brostmern. Just like the late Commander Talia Gladys, he was a veteran ZAFT ship commander and was decorated in the First Alliance-PLANT War.
When everyone was on board and prepped, Declan spoke the orders of leaving Armory One and allowing its first relaunch back into space after the rebuilt. Their first task was to navigate space to keep peace and order from the extremists who were still battling both ZAFT and the Earth Federation.
"Things are going smoothly so far," Arthur Trine reported.
"Good," Declan nodded. The public knew what this vessel was capable of and how the late Commander Gladys wielded it. He knew others thought he could not stand in the same shoes as her as he was beaten out for the initial spot but now, here he was, commanding the newly rebuilt version. He was under a lot of pressure. "We will keep making our way through to the appointed coordinates and keeping the peace as Chairwoman Clyne ordered."
When it was time, the bridge crew ran through various drills. Declan knew the bridge crew was capable but his strategy and their response time needed to be tested. The rest of the crew didn't have it as bad but they did run through drills.
At the mechanics corner, the two new crew members were meeting with the rest.
"I'm Yolan," he pointed a thumb at himself before pointing to the person next to him. "This is Vino."
The two new crew members changed into the ZAFT bright green uniform that the technicians wear.
"Viola," the woman with the black bob smiled.
"Sebastian," Mikael waved. "I am looking forward to working with everyone."
"Same here!" Vino agreed.
The group started to talk about what they should be expecting to see on this voyage. A couple other technicians floated over to them to converse.
"Hey, Vino, Yolan, did you guys eat yet?" Shinn called out to them as he floated by them.
"No, wow how long have we been talking?" Vino scratched his head.
"Quite a while," Viola teased.
Lunamaria was on the other side of Shinn, the two were curious about the new crew. They had some new pilots as well.
"Oh, this is Viola and Sebastian, new technicians," Yolan introduced them. "This is Shinn and Lunamaria, pilots." The four nodded to one another.
"Well, since I am starving, let's all go eat," Vino placed his arms around Yolan and Shinn.
Lunamaria was still curious about the two. "I don't remember seeing you two at the ceremony where it was given to Captain Brostmern."
"We were late transfers," Mikael explained.
"Oh," Lunamaria blinked. She wondered what that meant and where they were originally. It was a bit of a mystery. She was going to have to learn more about them. The group headed to eat. The new technicians just mostly listened and added into the conversation every now and then. When it was over the group split up.
Mikael and the woman headed to the sleeping quarters. Mikael stopped in front of the woman's door. "So far so good."
"Yes, but we'll run into trouble soon," the woman stared down the corridor. "The coordinates Lacus has us moving to, extremists were last seen in that vicinity. Declan must be itching to test out this ship."
"Just the same as you, Selena," Mikael whispered into her ear as he kept an eye out on others.
She tapped him on his chest. "Can't test out a vessel when there isn't an adequate enemy to test it out on. I'll see you next shift."
Mikael nodded. He headed off towards his room. Selena headed into hers. She got onto her bed and closed the curtain. On the shelf she grabbed a book that opened up to a hidden laptop. Selena hacked into ship without the firewall noticing her. Next, she surveyed ZAFT's network to see if key words were triggered. Nothing as of yet. She then used the satellites to detect a vessel that she was following, a neutral medic shipped that picked up fallen soldiers and hurt civilians. The people would be healed and rehabilitated before being allowed back to their countries.
Back on Aprilius One in Aprilius City, Supreme Council Chairwoman Lacus Clyne was looking through the current report. She was focused on the report that she didn't hear Kira carrying a tea tray. He set it down trying not to interrupt her. He poured both cups for them. Kira was now as a guard to stay close to Lacus instead of fighting wars as a pilot unless it was necessary to try to keep the peace once more. He held a commander title so he could keep close to her but he wanted to do something useful, so he would guard her.
Lacus looked up from her report to give him a smile. "Thank you."
"Are you still worried about the Minerva?" Kira could see how much pressure Lacus felt from it. She had trouble sleeping and had a scowl on her face from thinking time to time.
"I know that the crew can handle it," Lacus took her cup without looking at him. "It's the rest of the people on Durandal's list that has me worried. They could regroup and influence another war all over again."
"Agreed," Kira sat down. "The list he made public and the private list we have are two very different lists. The names of those who were not disclosed to the public, you said some of them had struck deals with him."
"Yes," Lacus held her cup before taking a sip. "It is frightening that the people we know and public leaders have made deals with Durandal, but we must start changing their views in order to have a better world."
The two continued chatting about what expectations that may happen and what their plans were to counter it.
Kira would speak his opinion when Lacus would ask for it on certain topics. He didn't feel excluded as he knew Lacus was intelligent and can hold her own. He felt he was more of her sword for her to wield when she needed and a shield to protect her. When he was not nearby with her, he was working with some engineers from time to time. It reminded him of the times in Heliopolis. It was simple and carefree.
Making their voyage, Voltaire and Rousseau, were in the same general region. Their mission was similar but they had been out on tour longer, patrolling around.
Dearka was staring at the map. "I wonder how the new Commander is doing with the Minerva." He glanced over at Yzak who was shifting through reports. "You didn't display any emotion when they announced that they needed a new commander since its repair."
"That is the flagship of ZAFT," Yzak reminded him. "Besides," he glanced at Dearka before looking back down. "That vessel requires the commander to stay with the bridge and relies more on tact. I prefer to fight alongside as a pilot."
"But you could have commanded that vessel, I would command this one, and Shiho would command the other," Dearka smiled just thinking about it.
Yzak mocked. "Is that all you care about, rising in rank?"
Dearka chuckled. "I just want my friend to see get what he deserves." Yzak stared at him. "And maybe a little something for myself." Yzak rolled his eyes with a smirk. Dearka relaxed his stance by putting his hands behind his head and leaned back. He started to drift away from the map. "Do you think we will see any action while surveying?"
"A peace treaty was signed but," Yzak flipped a paper over. "There are still extremists out there, pushing their ideals onto others. The Minerva is supposed to tackle that as we survey the wreckages and then deal with the extremists."
Dearka sighed, shutting his eyes. "Since there is peace, I don't know what to do with myself."
"You could get back to work," Yzak chastised.
"Don't go pulling rank," Dearka smirked. "Should have gotten a girlfriend before I left." This made Yzak chuckle. Dearka opened one eye to glance at him before closing it. "You're in the same boat as me, unless you and Shiho?"
Yzak stopped. He looked over to him. Dearka opened his eyes and turned on his side to view Yzak. "It is not permitted between commanding officers and subordinates."
Dearka's eyes lit up. "But?"
Yzak went back to reading through the papers. "There is nothing between us."
"Ah, come on!" Dearka's shoulder hit the wall. "You two get along so well." Dearka drift back to the map. He put his hand on his chin and his other hand supported his elbow. "Unless, you're still hung up on someone?" Dearka smirked. This situation, only Dearka knew about.
Yzak glanced away before looking back at the papers. "That was a long time ago. Her and I have never contacted one another after that. That was what we agreed upon."
"That wasn't an agreement," Dearka teased. "You two couldn't contact one another after the training and both of you took the chance. Kind of romantic if you ask me."
"No one asked you," Yzak shot him a look with a smirk.
"What if she came back into your life?" Dearka pushed himself down to stand by using the map. "Would you pursue her again?"
Yzak let out a sigh. "You are forgetting something important. She's betrothed. It would be pointless to continue to pursue when we already know the end result."
"Yeah-yeah," Dearka waved it off. "He could be dead. No one knows who she is betrothed to, not even the guy or her. He could have died in the last wars." He shrugged.
"It's not our business," Yzak ignored him.
Dearka didn't push it further. It was still a touchy subject for him. Yzak would keep his composure whenever he heard subjects that pertained to her. Dearka stared back at the map. He should get back to work.
Yzak shifted through another folder. There were lots of details and clues about the locations of hidden facilities from Blue Cosmos as well as radical Coordinators who are still influenced by Patrick Zala. It was secret mission, only Yzak and Dearka knew. The map Dearka was staring at didn't show the possible locations. Yzak and Dearka had them memorized.
"Locate, ambush, flush, detain if possible or shoot to kill if necessary," Dearka pushed back to get a whole view of the map. "Which do you think we will run into first? Blue Cosmos or the radicals?"
"Radicals," Yzak titled his head to the side as he looked over a photograph.
"Any new clues?" Dearka glanced over.
"It seems that we will need the Minerva or a bigger vessel than ours to enclose some of the facilities," Yzak pondered out loud.
"At least things will get interesting," Dearka smiled.
The Minerva was drawing closer to the coordinates with the Joule team heading parallel in the same direction but miles away from them.
DINN Ravens were drifting with debris to hide themselves.
"Sir, ZAFT has entered the vicinity, what are your orders?" One pilot spoke as he watched them on his radar.
"Lead them astray," a calm voice spoke. "They may be after our facility but let them find it. Don't let them lead you on. Remember, we want to catch them in the act before we start our mission."
"Understood," the pilot agreed. The pilot relayed orders to the others. There was a vessel hidden in the area for them to escape if need be.
On the bridge of the Minerva, Commander Declan was on edge. He could sense that something was going to happen. "Deputy Captain Trine, get everyone ready."
"Al-already sir?" Arthur was perplexed that it was so quick. Not even a week and they were already preparing for battle. He received no response. "All hands to Level 3 battle stations!" The command was relayed as the bridge descended into the protective stronghold.
Red lights flashed as the command was spoken through speakers. The crew manned their positions as the pilots changed into their space suits.
Mikael and Selena glanced at one another as they manned a station. "It's starting," Mikael muttered.
"We're close," Selena's lips twitched. She wanted to smile. "Declan will be able handle it."
Mikael looked over to Selena. "Things will go smoothly." They were calm about the oncoming fight.
The pilots started to soar in. Mikael and Selena set up the mobile suits so that the pilots were ready to launch when the orders were given. They drifted away when they were finished.
Declan kept the vessel proceeding onwards. Mobile armors were approaching the vessel as the DINN Ravens kept hidden.
"We have mobile armors vastly approaching," one of the bridge crew informed. "GINNs and ZAKUs."
"What side are they approaching?" Declan remained calm.
"Port side," the same crew member informed.
Declan only took a few seconds before speaking out loud. "Continue onto our trajectory. Inform our pilots that they are to fight but to not stray too far from the vessel. It's a trap but we have to disengage the trap to get what we need." The command was relayed.
"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, launch!"
"Lunamaria Hawk, Impulse, launch!"
The pilots launched into space and started battling against the radical pilots. It was almost easy for them but the mobile armors were drifting farther away, trying to lead the ZAFT pilots away. A few radical mobile armors were firing against the Minerva. Arthur commanded the crew to fight against the mobile armors.
On the Voltaire, a crew member came into Yzak's room. He saluted him while speaking. "Commander, we have been notified that the Minerva is currently engaged with radical Coordinators."
Yzak shut his folder. "How long have they been engaged in battle?"
"About forty-five minutes, sir," he relayed.
"Have they requested any outside help?" Yzak's heart started to race.
"No, they have not," the soldier was wondering what the next plan of action was.
Yzak looked at the folder. It was already starting. "Have all hands at Level 2 battle stations."
"Yes, Commander," he put his hand down before heading off to relay orders. The door closed behind him.
"It's finally happening," Dearka drifted towards the door.
Yzak placed the folders back into a locked cabinet that was hidden in plain sight. He rose from his chair and followed behind Dearka. The two headed towards the bridge. Their crew members were organizing themselves to wait for the command.
When Yzak reached the bridge, the captain informed him more about the situation. Yzak had them change their course a bit by closing the distance little by little. The designated coordinates were still in the distance but this was crucial timing. In that location was part of a broken facility that held secrets of some of the extremists.
Shinn and Lunamaria worked as a team trying to take down the enemy forces but the radical Coordinators only dodged them and tried to lead them astray. They kept the fight in close proximity.
"They don't seem as hostile," Lunamaria blasted away.
"That doesn't mean you can let up on them," Shinn maneuvered around to shoot at the others.
"Hah, like I would," Lunamaria dodged a blast.
One of the pilots couldn't maneuver away and had to go back as one of the legs was blasted off. The technicians started to work on the mobile armor. The pilot reconvened with one of the crew members about the battle.
"Retreat," the commanding pilot of the radicals informed the rest.
The mobile armors stopped firing and headed away. This confused the ZAFT pilots and the others as they didn't know what the whole details included of the mission.
"Just like that, they're gone," Lunamaria relaxed a bit.
"Let's head back, we're both running low," Shinn called out to her. The group followed back to the Minerva.
The pilots checked in their mobile suits to be fueled and ready to get fight again. When the technicians took over, they headed to be debriefed. The bridge moved back up into its normal position.
"All hands are at Level 2 battle stations," Arthur informed. "I will debrief the pilots." Declan nodded. Arthur drifted away from the bridge.
At the debriefing room, Arthur learned that it didn't seem like the enemy was attacking to their fullest. Commander Brostmern was right. It was a trap. He let them know that they should rest up while they could since they will need to be on standby incase another battle occurs.
"Is there a reason why they are in this area?" One pilot asked.
"We have not discovered anything like that yet," Arthur explained. "When we get closer to this vicinity, we will hopefully know more information." He circled the area with a laser pointer. "As we reach this area, we will have you launch once again."
The debriefing was finished. Arthur spoke with one of the officers. He needed to build a team to search for this facility. He needed technicians who were willing to risk their lives to help with getting the facility.
"Are there any who stands out for this type of mission?" Arthur asked.
The officer was looking over the requirements. "You said you will need teams made up of pairs. This will be about half of the technician crew for the number of teams you are wanting. These two, even though they are new crew members to us, they work well together. Late transfers, needing combat. You can see how they are handling the repairs." The two turned to view the technicians making repairs down below. Arthur and the officer were in the lounge area where the pilots would sit until their machine was ready.
"Private Viola Orsino and Private Sebastian Illyria," Arthur watched the two worked together as he named them off.
"Heard they were technicians on Armory One, they handled issues too complex for their peers," the officer explained. "They're here to get their combat experience to rise in rank as specialists, hence the late transfer. They needed it to be approved from the higher-ups."
"Specialists?" This made Arthur intrigued. "These two aren't just regular technicians?"
"No," the officer shook his head. "Orsino and Illyria may be starting rank on our vessel but they have the experience and the capabilities for these types of missions, I give them my recommendation, they would be my first choice."
"Thank you," Arthur continued watching them. "I will take your advice into consideration. I will also need your recommendation for the other technicians."
"Yes, sir," the officer continued on which ones he would also recommend for this mission. Arthur marked the technicians. He started to head back to the bridge when he was requested to meet with the Commander in his quarters.
"Good, you're here," Declan waved him in. "Make sure to lock behind you."
"Yes, sir," Arthur locked the door.
"Do you have the list of recommended technicians?" Declan turned to him.
"Yes, we have qualified technicians for this mission," Arthur set down the file for him to review. "If this goes well, then it would set out how well it's going to be for the rest of the missions."
"Good," Declan sifted through the files. As he was sifting through, he received a call on his computer. He accepted the call.
"Greetings Commander Joule," Declan saluted him. Arthur was out of the way so he wasn't able to see him or greet him. "Deputy Captain Trine is with me."
"Greetings Commander Brostmern, Deputy Captain Trine," Yzak saluted him. "Deputy Commander Elsman is with me as well."
"We are drawing close to the site, we have our teams of technicians picked," Declan started the meeting. "We will have our pilots surveying the area and protecting those teams."
"These marked areas are the ones we believe may contain the hidden facility," Yzak showed them a map by holding it up. They didn't want any data to be transferred. "The technicians will need to make sure they have the correct part of the facility. The part of the facility we are needing are the cryo-chambers. It doesn't matter if they are fully intact. The programs and blueprints are what we need the most. The engineers Supreme Chairwoman Clyne has picked will be able to put in the missing links. We just need them. The Minerva should be able to house them easily."
"Sounds good," Declan nodded. "We will inform the crew when they are about to head out. Once we capture the target, we need to guard as much as we can. There are several other targets that need to be acquired. When we have the first one secured and, in our vessel, a reinforcement team will be on its way to take the targets back to the PLANTs"
Yzak nodded in agreement. "Let's hope we don't get too much of problem while recovering the targets."
"Agreed," Declan knew the conversation was coming to an end. "Until then."
"Until then," Yzak and Declan saluted to one another before shutting off transmission between the two of them.
Arthur looked towards Declan. "I will round up the selected technicians and have them briefed for the mission next ahead."
"See to it," Declan agreed. He glanced at the files on his desk.
The technicians were called after the repairs have been made. They sat down in the lecture room. Arthur waited for them to get settled. The lights dimmed. Arthur explained they needed to seek certain debris and to be able to do that, they would need to do this in pairs and explore in mobile pods. Once the correct debris is found, the technicians would speak in code, one of the mobile armors in the area will capture the debris and everyone will head back to the Minerva.