The debris was the same as the others, floating wreckage in space, creating Earth's own ring. The Impulse and Destiny were adrift behind debris. Selena was inside with Lunamaria while Mikael was with Shinn.
The other pilots watched the engineers come out with their mobile pods as they head into the debris. The four had already found the location but needed the mobile pods to distract the enemy. Those mobile pods looked through the debris and found a fake area. As the engineers brought out the fake debris, Selena and Mikael went out to the correct location and retrieved the debris.
As they planned, the radicals showed up. They started to fire at the mobile suits. The engineers got back into the mobile pods to head back to safety. An enemy GINN grabbed onto one of the mobile pods pulling the debris out of it. The GINN discarded the mobile pod.
The mobile pod rotated with turbulence. The engineers were screaming for help while holding on for their lives.
"I'm going to save them!" Shinn headed off as Lunamaria kept guard. The thrusters kicked in as he caught the mobile pod. "Got ya!" He started to get hit by blasts.
"It's okay," Selena radioed to Lunamaria. "Save them first. The debris will guard us."
"Right," Lunamaria headed off to cover for Shinn. Lunamaria deployed the mobile shield, covering Shinn and the mobile pod. When she had the chance, she shot back at the enemies. "I'll cover for you. Get them back to the Minerva."
"What about Sebastian and Viola?" Shinn maneuvered the pod in one arm to shoot with the other.
"They'll be fine for now," Lunamaria braced for shots. "They're in the debris."
The two worked as a team heading back towards the Minerva. Another enemy mobile armor tried to get another mobile pod. The pilots instructed the engineers to let go of the debris they acquired. The engineers did as they were told. ZAFT pilots grabbed the mobile pods, helping them get back into safety.
"Dammit! We have to go back!" Shinn put down the mobile pod in the hanger.
Lunamaria was heading back to the location she dropped off Selena when she was getting shot at. She turned her mobile suit to find the enemy and attack back with her rifle. Shinn flew past her but had to brace himself for missiles being launched at him. The two struggled at trying to fight them off when the enemy kept coming in grabbing the debris that was left to float.
"Hold on tight!" Shinn radioed to them. "We're trying to head to your way!"
Dearka flew in with his Blaze ZAKU Warrior. He had heard that the two engineers were still out getting the debris ready. Shiho and Yzak were on either side of him, trying to search for them.
"Are you two still there?" Dearka radioed them.
"Still alive and still working," Mikael answered.
"We are headed towards the coordinates," Dearka looked around for them. "Tell us which debris you're hiding out at."
"That's not how hide and seek is played," Selena teased. Mikael elbowed her. She gave him a glare. "We see all three of you. Keep coming. The debris fragments are ready to be taken as well."
"Fragments?" Dearka asked. "I thought it was just one."
"With this, it will be the last of what is needed," Selena was resting near the top of the fragment with Mikael watching the other side. "Won't have to worry about the radicals. Start moving to the right. Perfect. Now keep coming. We're on top."
The three machines saw the two on top. Dearka would go ahead to make sure there wasn't an attack while the two would get into the machines. There was a blast that shook the debris.
"Dammit!" Dearka started blasting back at the enemy.
Selena and Mikael held on as best as they could. "Let go, we got you!" Yzak called out as both him and Shiho reached out to grab either of them.
"You two are starting to be more trouble than your worth," Dearka teased. "This debris is one of them, right?" He grabbed the debris fragment.
"Yes," Selena moved behind Yzak's chair. "The fragments on either side of the debris you're holding are the other two."
Shiho grabbed onto the one closest to her while Yzak took the other one. The three headed back to the Voltaire. Yzak radioed in that they have the debris and the engineers. Other ZAFT pilots came out to help guard them.
Yzak got hit but a missile, pushing Selena forward into the screens. She stopped herself by clinging onto his chair but she then ended up in his lap. He opened his eyes to her on his lap. "Huh?" He flinched as he felt her whole weight upon him. Her weight was moving his hands, which moved the machine.
"Don't worry," Selena gripped on the chair. "I'll move out of the way. You won't need to help me." She crossed her arms pulling her whole body upwards in a rotating motion. She pushed herself to be behind him again. Yzak regripped the joysticks to move them out of the line of fire.
Lunamaria fired off missiles at the enemy. "We got your back! Shinn, now!"
"Right!" Shinn activated the Wings of Light. This spreads mirage colloid particles, that leaves a trail of after-images, confusing enemy pilots. This threw off the enemy pilots. They tried firing off at the images instead of the actual machine. This gave the three ample time to retreat back to the Voltaire.
Lunamaria watched them get back towards the ship while keeping an eye on Shinn. When it felt safe enough, she called out to Shinn that they could head back. The enemy saw they were retreating. They were going to attack but the debris they had was gone. The enemy reluctantly retreated as well.
On the bridge of the Minerva, Arthur let out the breath he was holding. "Another success. No unmarked, white GUNDAM."
"Almost felt too easy," Declan looked over to him. The bridge was moving back to its position.
"It was still risky having two engineers floating in space," Arthur argued. "They could have been taken by the unmarked, white GUNDAM. We wouldn't know what would happen to them then. Since, we now have all the items, we just have to make sure no enemies attack us on our way back."
"Those radicals didn't want us to have them at all costs," Declan sat up. "Keep at Level 2 for the remainder of the journey. Let's see how the Joule Team is fairing."
"Yes, Commander," Arthur saluted. He stayed on the bridge while Declan headed to his quarters. "All hands at level 2 battle stations." One of the bridge crew spoke his command through the intercom.
Vino and Yolan looked to one another while they were setting up to fix a mobile suit. "Level 2 until we reach Amory One," Yolan went back to work.
"I wonder how Sebastian and Viola are," Vino did the same. "They're crazy enough to perform that last mission."
"Too crazy but that's why they will be specialists when we get back," Yolan sulked. He enjoyed their company. When they were on this vessel, they would talk about different machines and the mechanics behind it. They would learn tips and tricks when there wasn't much of a time crunch.
Vino let out a sigh. "It makes me want to go back."
Yolan jerked his head to see him. "Back to the academy?"
"Yeah," Vino tilted his head. "Going back to get more education on machines and mechanics, possibly becoming a specialist, teaching others. That would be great."
Yolan shook his head. "If I remember right, who needed help studying in the academy?"
"Hey!" Vino protested but stopped midway. He was right. He did get help from Yolan since he specializes with ZAKUs. "Well, maybe both of us can become specialists."
"Do you even know the background for specialists?" Yolan was trying to bring Vino back to the present. "They should have higher rank than private like us since they have degrees in mechanics and engineering. Both of them came from Maius City."
"Remember they said they wanted to start at entry level," Vino explained. "It will be so cool to be implementing the protocols they come up with."
"Yeah, it will," Yolan agreed.
On the Voltaire, Selena and Mikael were working on the debris with other engineers. The crew were split between machine repair and dismantling the debris. Dearka and Shiho were watching the crew members. Yzak was in his quarters speaking with Declan. The two decided to keep their distance from one another until they reach the safety of the PLANTs.
Shiho was speaking with one of the crew members while she glanced at Mikael every now and then. Dearka caught on as he was facing her while talking to a crew member himself. He thought this was an interesting ordeal. Yzak and Shiho, two similar people who are both interested in two engineers who will be specialists. He couldn't wait to tease both of them. He is best friends with Yzak but when he's not around, he's good friends with Shiho. Dearka is friendly with a lot of people.
He headed with Shiho to the lounge to wait for their machines to be fixed. Dearka sat down, crossing his arms behind his head, his legs stretched out. He eyed Shiho. She glanced over to him. Her eyebrow raising.
"Is there something interesting, Deputy Commander?" She asked.
"Speak freely and possibly," Dearka smiled.
"What would that be?" Shiho knew he was going to tease her about something. He always had a grin or a smirk whenever he was about to start his teasing.
Dearka turned to look out the window that viewed the whole hanger. He let out a sigh. Shiho didn't try to figure out what he was thinking. She just waited for him. "It will be a bit lonely without them." She stared at him. Dearka glanced to see her facial expression. She didn't change at all. "Glad we had the chance to be able to work with them." Shiho glanced away. Dearka knew it. "You think they will get an award for their bravery?" Shiho looked back over to him.
"I think they will," Shiho agreed. "Two crew members who put their lives on the line multiple times for these missions."
"They were a detrimental part," Dearka was thinking about the confidential information on these missions. All of these cryo-tanks, tools, and computers from biological research labs that will help both Coordinators and Naturals. Lacus' plan to help them genetically is one of her many steps towards keeping the peace. This made him think about Miguel Aiman's little brother. He joined ZAFT to pay for his brother's medical bills. "We need more people like them." Shiho looked over to him. "More people who are wanting to make the world a better place."
"You were about to tease me and now you are depressed?" Shiho was in a bit of disbelief.
Dearka let out a laugh. "I was. I was going to tease you about Sebastian." Shiho flinched. The tops of her ears reddened. She looked away from him. He laughed again. Just like Yzak. These two were more like siblings on how they reacted. "But thinking about our mission and what the debris collected will become, it was reminding me of why some of us joined ZAFT. Why some of us went to war; why some of us still wear the uniform." He let out a sigh. "All we want to do in this world is live. Live freely and happily."
"We've had war after war," Shiho started. "Will we be able to keep this peace?"
"I think we will," Dearka was confident. "None of us want to keep fighting. Neither of us want to keep losing lives. Well, as long as no one believes their superior."
"There will always be someone who believes that," Shiho grabbed her floating helmet.
Later on, Yzak asked for Selena to come to his quarters. He wanted to know how the debris deconstruction was going. It was just the two of them. The two did the military formalities.
"We are a few days from returning to Armory One," Yzak explained to her. "How far along are we on getting the debris detailed?"
"Three fourths of the way there," Selena informed. "The trouble we are getting is the dirt on some of the facilities off and trying to get through the wreckage inside."
"Still frozen even though it's been inside for hours," Yzak mulled over this information.
"Exactly," Selena nodded. "We should be able to get it to its shell before we reach Armory One. We will have more crew members working on it once the machines are back in service."
"Already acting like you're part of the crew," Yzak smirked. He always felt the wave of nostalgia speaking with her.
"Aren't we all part of ZAFT?" She raised an eyebrow. "Why would I not be fluid with the crew?"
Yzak softened his smirk. "You're right." He was about to dismiss her.
"Also, Commander," Selena needed to bring up his results in fighting his machine. He waved his hand to allow her to go on. "Thank you. As you know, Seb-Private Illyria and I won't be with the Minerva anymore, I believe I need to continue the system of tracking your attack so that it comes to the computer here."
"Ah, yes," Yzak completely forgot about that. "What do you need?"
"Just your computer," Selena smiled. "I have already got Deputy Commander's set to his personal computer. I could do the same if you would like."
Yzak got up. "No-no, that's fine. Here." He moved for her.
"Thank you," Selena sat down. She turned to the computer. Placing her fingers on the keys, she typed away at an alarming speed. Yzak noticed that the first time. The average pilot needs to be able to type on average 100wpm. He noticed that she was typing at 180wpm.
Yzak watched the pop windows on the screen but he would glance at her fixed gaze on the computer. A fixed gaze that reminded him of someone who was an aficionado of computers and engineering. He did remember she was going to be a specialist and wouldn't find it odd. She was also from Maius City, a city that specialized in applied mechanical engineering, basic and applied metallurgy, applied materials engineering, and robotics engineering. Her records matched her background in those degrees that she got from attending that city's university.
The pop-up windows exited as one window was open. She continued typing away. A percentage bar popped up, showing how much is being downloaded. As she worked, she felt he was standing next to her. It would be one of the last times she would be able to be close to him. It hurt her heart but that's how it was supposed to be. Their lives were no longer on the same path. She kept her eyes on the percentage bar. It hit 100 percent download. More windows popped up. She typed away getting the last of the system loaded onto the computer. She clicked out the windows.
"It is all done," Selena moved the chair, standing up. Yzak was in front of her.
"Thank you," he was sincere.
"It's the least I can do," Selena looked him in the eyes. He was closer than she thought. She couldn't help but glance at his lips. It was an intense atmosphere. She needed to get out of there before she ruins it. Selena walked past him as he moved towards the chair. She couldn't help herself but look at him.
The two stopped as both of them decided to look at one another at the same time. Yzak saw the surprise on her face. He knew he had the same but he was an opportunist and took this chance to kiss her.
A bit of surprise for Selena but she couldn't let it go. She closed her eyes and kissed him back. After a moment, Yzak broke the kiss. He drew back to see her reaction. Selena didn't want that kiss to end. She slowly opened her eyes, wishing for that moment to stay. She saw him waiting with anticipation. She could only break this nicely as she didn't want to continue hurting him.
"I'll have to improve my abilities if that's the reaction," she gave him a wink. Selena saluted him before leaving him alone.