The Minerva crew assembled and were ready to launch. The Joule team was closer to them but still far enough away. They were ready to launch when the signal was given. This first mission needed to go smoothly.
"Shinn Asuka, Destiny, launch!"
"Lunamaria Hawk, Impulse, launch!"
The mobile pods were launched with them, tethered behind. When they reached their destination, the mobile pods untethered themselves and started their search.
Lurking in the area were a few radicals. They relayed the situation but were told to hold off until the correct debris of the facility was found.
On the Voltaire, Yzak and Dearka were in the pilot gear heading towards their mobile suits. Shiho had already launched and was waiting on the fringes.
Large and small debris were floating around them. The mobile pods searched section by section. The technicians spoke in code in the whole time, making sure that if anyone tapped into their system, no one would understand.
"It's been almost four hours," Declan had his hands clasped together. His eyes never left the screens.
Arthur was anxious the whole time but knew the technicians could find them. It may just take a little time.
Selena and Mikael had made sure they took the sector where it was at most likely. The mobile pod's lights shined against the large debris. The two looked to one another. They couldn't bring the mobile pod in. Selena motioned that she would go out first.
She exited the mobile pod with a tether. She floated to the debris. There was an entrance big enough just for two people to enter. Inside the debris was the section they needed. Selena's space gear was fixed that she could interact with others on different radio. The same with Mikael's. The two were on a different frequency.
"This is the one," Selena floated around inside. "These pods will help us. When ZAFT tries to link up and the radicals start to interfere, that's when we will take advantage during the crossfire."
"The two are on standby," Mikael checked the surroundings.
"I'm heading back," Selena followed her tether back.
Mikael pulled her tether inside. He was hooked to his own tether. "Ready to switch back?"
Selena got inside. "Let's start." She switched both their frequencies. "This one's too damaged, I can't see inside."
"Ah." Several people were in unison. Finally. They found the first one. The next moves were crucial. Selena tried not to roll her eyes as the rest of the crew just made it slightly obvious that this was the one.
"I'll come over to help you," Shinn knew the keywords of a successful finding. He moved his way to them.
When he moved, the radicals were waiting until he started to hook onto the debris. Yzak and his team were ready as well.
"I'm here to break it open," Shinn smiled. He started to grab onto it when shots started to fire. "Get back!" He yelled as he blocked the oncoming blasts with his shield.
Mikael maneuvered the mobile pod to try to get behind some debris.
"Get the pods out of there!" Arthur ordered. Lunamaria backed up Shinn while the other pilots started to take away the pods.
"Viola, Sebastian," Shinn fired shots back at the radicals. "Get back to the Minerva!"
"As if we're not trying," Mikael responded. "We're caught in the crossfire."
"I'll lead them off!" Shinn forgot all about taking the debris. Lunamaria was fighting off radicals on the other side.
The Joule team saw they needed backup. "Let's help them out." Yzak ordered.
"Wait, if we're leaving, we need to tag it," Selena glanced to Mikael.
"Tag it?" Shinn growled as he blasted away.
"Did you forget why all of us are out here?" Mikael reminded him.
That's right, Shinn remembered. We need this debris. Dammit! He tried to maneuver to grab it again. Out of the corner he saw the mobile pod still trying to dodge the blasts. I can't get them hurt but I also need this.
"Hey kid, you needed backup," Dearka fired at some of the radicals blasting at Shinn.
"Deputy Commander Elsman," Shinn felt relieved.
"The Joule Team," Lunamarai's screen showed blasts coming from Shiho's Blaze ZAKU Warrior.
"Lead them off," Yzak commanded as he flew his GOUF Ignited closer. "I'll grab the debris."
"Right," Dearka nodded. Shinn and him pushed back on radicals.
"Wait, we still have a mobile pod," Shinn turned to view Selena and Mikael. "Hold tight." A blast hit the mobile pod, jarring it off course.
"Ugh!" Selena and Mikael hit against the sides. It started to drift into debris.
"It's malfunctioned, we need to leave, before we crash," Mikael tried to move the joysticks. The lights started to flash and alarms blared.
"Right," Selena nodded. The two clipped off their tethers to the machine. They still had a tether to themselves. "We'll have to make way to the debris."
"Viola! Sebastian!" Shinn watched the mobile pad crash into oncoming debris. "Damn you extremists!" He fired off more rounds, taking down his opponents.
"We're fine," Selena floated in space. "For now, but we'll need a lift."
"You're just floating in space!?" Dearka spotted the two ZAFT technicians.
"We're trying to make our way to the debris," Mikael floated in a different direction. "But, yeah. Can't really maneuver a mobile pod that's been destroyed by oncoming debris."
Shiho was closer to one of them. "I got them!" She flew her machine over to them. She opened her cockpit. She unbuckled herself and grasped the side. "Take my hand!"
"Thanks!" Mikael grasped her hand letting her pull him in. Mikael headed behind the chair. He pulled in his tether as Shiho sat back down. "I'll be out of the way."
"Where's the second one?" Shiho tried to spot the second technician floating in.
"I've got them," Yzak moved the arm to catch the technician in the armor's hand.
"Nice catch," Selena gripped onto it.
"Hold on, I'll bring you to the cockpit," Yzak drew the arm in closer. He opened the cock pit to allow the technician to float in. Selena drew in her tether as well. She headed behind the seat as Yzak closed the cockpit. Now, to get the debris that was just floating by in the crossfire. Yzak blasted off a round before heading for the debris again when a blast stopped him.
"Dammit!" Yzak cursed. He just wanted to grab the debris. He checked the area where the blast was coming from until he was blasted from behind. Selena gripped as much as she could from bumping into him. Yzak lurched forward. Yzak turned his machine to see what was behind them. Nothing was being picked up.
"What's that machine?" Selena pointed out.
"Huh?" Yzak focused to what was ahead of him.
A pure white, unmarked GUNDAM grabbed the debris and started to head off.
"That's not one of ours!" Yzak started to shoot at it. He felt another blast, this time from the side.
After opening their eyes, the debris was gone along with the white GUNDAM.
"It's over there!" One of the pilots pointed. "That white GUNDAM sure moved fast."
Even the radicals were chasing after the white GUNDAM. ZAFT started to shoot down the radicals along with the white GUNDAM. The white GUNDAM then disappeared before their eyes.
"Are they using mirage colloid stealth systems?" Shinn blasted a few away. The radicals retreated.
"That's a possibility," Dearka gritted as their first mission was a failure.
"Get the rest of the crew back to where they belong," Yzak ordered. "We'll head back as well."
Declan hit the side of the armrest in disgust. "That white GUNDAM, find out more information about it!"
"Understood, sir!"
A white, unmarked GUNDAM, Declan thought to himself. I'll ask Commander Joule what he thinks about it. This could be difficult. There may be more instances where we will see this white GUNDAM again.
Shinn and Lunamaria along with a few other pilots grabbed all of the remaining mobile pods. They headed back to the Minerva. The Joule team headed back to the Voltaire.
"You'll be under our command for now until we can transfer you two back," Yzak informed the technician.
"Understood," Selena nodded.
Arthur debriefed the technicians and the pilots about the situation. It was going well until the radicals and the mysterious white GUNDAM's interference. He explained that there will be more missions like these. They will need to make repairs on the mobile pods and get ready for the next mission.
"I hope Viola and Sebastian are okay?" Yolan was walking with the rest of the technicians back to their area.
"Yeah," Vino agreed. "How were those two so calm when they were floating away untethered to anything, in the middle of a crossfire?"
"I hear those two are specialists who transferred to the Minerva for combat," Lunamaria moved in between them.
"Specialists?" Vino and Yolan turned to her.
Lunamaria raised her chin. "Yeah, specialists. They just need combat and can raise in rank to be high ranking engineers. They will be working on mobile suit prototypes and such. I guess they just have a different attitude about things."
"No way?" Vino stopped. "We've been working with soon to be elite engineers? Those two? Wow! I can't believe it. Maybe we can learn something new and some tricks. Some of those engineers work in secret areas not located in Armory One. I wonder if they will head off there afterwards."
"That seems plausible," Yolan agreed. "Hopefully when they transfer back soon."
"Maybe on the next mission," Shinn chimed in.
On the Voltaire, Selena and Mikael were brought into Yzak's quarters. Dearka was asking them their rank and history.
"You'll be here with us for now," Dearka informed them. "It may be like that off and on since we have more missions like these. I trust the two of you will work with us as we are all ZAFT."
"We will work diligently," Mikael answered.
"Good," Dearka was happy to hear that. "You two are dismissed for now." The two saluted them before heading out. When the door closed, he turned to Yzak with a smile.
Yzak didn't want to hear what he had to say but Dearka was going to say it anyway. "What?"
"What did you think about them?" Dearka raised his eyebrows. "Hm?"
"Seem like soldiers, why?" Yzak gave him a blatant look.
"Oh, maybe it's because she is Yin and you are Yang," Dearka teased. "Could be a match?" Yzak rolled his eyes. "Same hairstyle. Could be cold since you're such a hot head." Yzak rubbed his temples. Dearka tossed his head back in laughter. "I'm just joking." He calmed down. "But maybe?" He inclined.
"Dismiss yourself," Yzak waved him off. Dearka saluted with a cheeky smile.
Selena and Mikael headed towards the locker to take off their spacesuit. They hung them up in vacant lockers to switch into mechanic coveralls. Mikael looked around before moving towards Selena. He gave her a smirk. She rolled her eyes.
"Just be careful," he patted her shoulder. "Let's get to work."
The two headed to the bay where the mobile suits were held. They greeted the head of the mechanics. He allowed them to help out where they could since they were apart of the Minerva crew.
Yzak and Dearka met with Declan and Arthur again to discuss the first mission.
"A white, unmarked GUNDAM," Declan started out. "But according to the debriefings, there was another mobile armor helping it out. Must be using mirage stealth colloid systems. We won't be seeing the last of them. Their interference will hinder our further missions."
"They may have the same goal as we do," Arthur interjected.
"The cryo-tanks that were taken," Yzak explained. "Chairwoman Clyne plans to use these to further research the effects of generational Coordinators and Naturals who have been experimented on. If these are in the hands of Blue Cosmos, radical Coordinators, or this mysterious group, who knows what they will do with it."
"As we head to the next coordinates, what are the next debris we need to collect?" Declan wanted to make a solid plan so he could try to have a successful mission.
"It will be parts of different facilities consisting of laboratory sections, computer mainframes, and remnants of the cryo-tanks," Yzak read over a list.
"There will be plenty of opportunities to redeem ourselves," Declan declared.
"Ah-along with the debriefings, we have also concluded," Arthur took this opportunity. "This unmarked, white GUNDAM seems to be in similar styles to Earth Alliance's and Orb's Morgenroete, Inc's G-Project and ZAFT's GuAIZ EFT. It could have phase shift armor since its totally white. Since there are at least two GUNDAMs, there should be a ship in the vicinity unless they have some sort of portable refuel receptacle."
"The debris disappeared with the GUNDAM," Dearka finally spoke. "Can mirage stealth colloid systems be applied to vessels?"
This raised a good question. The three were no where in sight during the skirmish. There were no detections with the radar systems in place. They decided to further investigate when the next mission arises.
Selena and Mikael finished working on the mobile armors, heading towards the canteen with other engineers. They meshed well working with this ZAFT crew too. While handling the smart tablet for the machines, Selena hacked into the databases. There wasn't anything new that she didn't already know. She did pick up signals from the radical Coordinators. The signal went to one source. It was the source Selena had been watching for years now.
During free time after eating, Mikael kept chatting with the crew while Selena headed off to dormitory. She needed more information. It would be easier with her laptop but she could deal without it.
She closed the curtain so she could pull off the paneling to show the wires. She had taken one of the smart tablets in her suit with some other tools. It took her a few minutes to setup everything but she was now in mainframe with all access.
"Tell me your secrets," Selena typed away. Pop up windows of different video messages throughout the past few weeks. She stopped on the ones between Declan and Yzak. "Can't hide everything, can you?" She listened to all of them through headphones she brought with her. Even the one they just had earlier. Selena smirked as they were acting the way she wanted them. She placed a few systems in to keep catching these video messages.
A message popped up while she worked. Integration complete. Awaiting orders.
"Good timing," Selena closed the pop up. "Follow the same orders on the Minerva for these two vessels."
Another message popped up. Command received.
Selena finished her hacking. She undid all of her connections, placed the wires back where they were, and closed the panel. She placed the tools back in her suit, as she needed to put them back before anyone else notices.
There were still some engineers working on the mobile armors. She paused by the tool chest to drop off the tools and pickup different ones. She made it look like she picked up a smart tablet. Selena pushed off the tool chest to drift to one of the workers.
"Still here," she greeted.
The engineer stopped to laugh. "Of course. The others will be back after eating."
"You worked through break?" She started to help out.
"At least main problem is fixed," the engineer looked up to the head of the machine. "The easy problems can be fixed later. At least it can still fight now."
"Don't overwork yourself," Selena warned with a smile. "They break it, we fix it. No need to put more effort than needed."
"A fighter is only as good as his armor," the engineer bantered.
"Yes," Selena agreed. "But until the fighter learns that this is their only armor, we'll be continuing to fix it for them." The engineer only chuckled in return.
As the engineer proclaimed, part of the crew came back. The rest of the crew went to sleep. Some of the pilots came back to check on their machines. Dearka came down to see how the two from the Minerva crew were fairing.
He had looked through their background. Two engineers needing combat to raise in rank. He had several questions for them. That would be for later for now he wanted to see how great these two were. Dearka hovered in front of his Blaze ZAKU Phantom. His mobile armor didn't receive heavy damages but it still needed some repairs.
"Few repairs needed," Selena drifted next to him. This caused him to flinch. "My apologies, Deputy Commander. I didn't mean to scare you. I was lucky enough to be able to work on your machine."
Dearka relaxed, returning to a calm demeanor. "It seems we are lucky to have two engineers who are to be specialists, after this tour, on our vessels. Pity that you are with the Minerva."
Mikael spied they were talking. He kept an eye on them while working.
"The Minerva was the only one accepting new crew members," Selena explained.
Dearka nodded agreement. "Your information stated that you are trying to work with developers on making it easier to maneuver machines."
"Streamlining pilot habits with the computer boards inside the cockpit," Selena explained. "General development of what is easier for the pilot to be trained on and how it serves in combat. The usual experimentation."
"You wouldn't have happened to check out my machine for that?" Dearka asked. He wanted to know how capable they were.
"I can set that up so after the next possible battle, we can gather results and work on making it easier to handle, so there isn't any lag in seconds in sparring," Selena agreed.
Dearka was giddy for a moment before keeping his cool. "You can do that right now?"
"Yes," Selena nodded. "I just need full access to your machine."
"Let's start then," he stared back at his machine with vigor. He moved his body to drift towards the cockpit. Selena followed after him.