Disclaimer: I do not own S-Cry-ed or Gundam SEED.

"The Sub-Commander"

Phase Three: "Going Tactical"

Village Hidden Among the Mountains, Kage (Shadow) Mountains, Lost Ground

1457 Tokyo Standard Time

The Village Chief's residence

"It has been about what, ten years since last you stayed this long my old friend," Gai Tsuchi (Determined Earth) spoke to the legendary Sentinel, Paul Johnson.

"Indeed, not since your people fled the Mainland and came here and we, together with the others, built this village of refuge for your ninja," responded the gaijin Alter User and secret fellow Shinobi.

"Indeed, but you always visited and even oversaw the teaching of many at the academy, which I must admit was a brilliant idea then and now and into the future. We've never had so many requests for our ninja, plus the rank system for ninja and missions, it makes it easier to organize and train!" Chief Tsuchi said and reaching for his pipe and tobacco reminding the Sentinel of an old friend with the same habits when uncertain times had just come knocking.

"Yes, Cadets, Genin, Chuunin, and Jounin, but so far no Hokages for this village, no surprise there… I did turn the position down so that one from the village could take it up, but so far no one meets the requirements, even after ten years, but patience is a virtue. Though I am running out," both men laughed, "but seriously, is everything safe, useable, and ready?" the conversation turned important.

"All is well and ready, do not fear," the Village Chief smiled, "we are ready too my friend Shinobi of Leaves and Mist."

"Good, but for now, I would like you to meet my sister, Sherries Adjani, you remember her?" he asked.

"Of course!" the two turned to look at the aquamarine haired and teal eyed girl that had a small hour glass frame and a child like face for a young woman of nearly twenty.

"Hello uncle," Sherries said with a smile to the man that her brother often left her with when the missions were too dangerous or he had to do something alone.

"Hahaha, still calling me that, my wife will have a fit!" the three laughed and dodged the various items that came through the doorway.

"YOU DON'T KNOW THE HALF OF IT YOU TROUBLE MAKER!" the Chief's wife yelled as she continued on with whatever she was doing.

"Ouch! She managed to hit me twice in the same spot!" whined the Chief as he rubbed his backside.

"Told you to practice," his friend was blunt and unsympathetic.

"He did indeed," Sherries seconded the motion.

"Traitors," muttered the Chief and the three had a good laugh that was interrupted by a jounin named Takashi.

"Chief! We've found a young girl near the perimeter with ninja skills, but she is not of the village. She is currently hiding in the forest to the southeast of the village!" Takashi looked reminded the former Sub-Commander of HOLY of another jounin about the same age appearance named Kakashi.

"Anything else about her that you can name off the top of your head?" asked the blonde shinobi.

"Her eyes are completely white! Her hair is average black, maybe a little darker, oversized coat in my opinion and the others, but she is skilled and seems to be wearing standard Genin gear underneath, but the oddest thing is her head band which is blue with a metal plate…" Takashi was interrupted.

"Did she use a technique that made her eyes seem different or the veins around them to bulge?" asked Paul.

"Yes… I take it you know her, because she has a leaf head band," Takashi was curious.

"Sounds like a Hyuuga girl… age?" the American born asked.

"About twelve to fifteen years of age," was the quick response.

"Then it might be Hinata… though how? The Shin-Obi...! Well, better go double check, past the word to capture with as little injury to her as possible and to exercise extreme caution in your searches and approaching her," everyone was listening in carefully, "that girl sounds like a member of a particular ninja family I know and they have a very unique ability when it comes to their eyes and senses. Most of our techniques won't work, so use the genin and the chuunin as scouts and smokers to keep her attention, I don't she will attack immediately, but extreme caution is mandatory and use the jounin to surround and trap her, but I'll come capture her myself, but hopefully we can end this peacefully, as she is most likely lost and confused and that's making her defensive and I'll explain things later, everything, I'll come cleaner than a suit at a dry cleaners," everyone agreed and made ready to leave to join the search, they were not required.

Another ninja, a genin came into the room to report that the girl had had a brush with HOLY members Tai Ryuhou and Tachibana Auska. A couple of chuunins had been able to rescue the girl before they could move to take her into custody, but she had fought them and she was now in the village clinic.

It was there in the clinic that Paul Johnson explained what he knew of the girl's family after visually confirming her identity and recognizing the family seal on her clothes. He also told of her home village, its location, everything. Needless to say that those who heard were shocked speechless, but considering that there were people, two of which were in the that very clinical room, could destruct and reconstruct matter with just their spiritual energy and a lot of the techniques being used by the Mountain Village used another form of spiritual energy called Chakra, the story was very much believable in the end.

"That's a lot to take in brother, but if she... Oh I get it!" Sherries realized something, "she was avoiding one group only to run into another that must have been well rested, but also boasted two of the most powerful Alter Users in HOLY. Of course she was overwhelmed."

"Yes, but now the question is where is Tai and Tachibana? Ryuhou is more stubborn than a Texan mule and meaner than a Chicago junkyard dog," Paul was visibly worry, "he doesn't know when to call it a break."

"I see," the Chief said and then came up with an idea, "We can't make it look like we got sloppy while in a rush and give them a rabbit trail!"

"Well, the normal tricks won't hold them at bay, but if we lead them away towards the sea, all the better. There are plenty of old boat and ship wrecks there, they're fall for it hook, line, and sinker, especially if we make it look like a boat had just cast off," Paul concluded and Takashi was already on his way out the door.

The plan was simple, but when dealing with the situation that the Lost Ground was in, it was perfect. To add to that perfection was the fact it worked. The two HOLY members and their HOLD soldiers returned to the city to file a report, but both knew they had been duped, but they would need additional manpower for the hunt. What the two didn't know was that they were only given practical skills in law enforcement and taught basic head on attack tactics, but their opponents were shinobi and soon to be revived mercenary group that was actually a front for an independence movement that was led by trained soldiers. HOLD and Holy would not know what hit them when the preparations were complete, but meanwhile, on a ship next to a newly built village hidden in a cove, a captain paced her ship's bridge.

"Where is he? Damn he's late!" the raven haired woman complained.

"Sorry captain, but he hasn't…" 'Beep beep,' "…correction, he has just established contact with us ma'am," a redheaded girl of fifteen years reported from her post.

"About time!" the captain was furious with her XO.

"Sorry about calling so late Nattie, but folks ain't the nicest around these parts, but that aside, I got you them gifts I promised and a little extra goodies too," the XO was obliviously speaking in code.

"Well, I do declare that you have done a right fine job, but only if they're like you promised sugar pie!" the captain said the words well, but still she was cringing at having to speak as such.

"Oh yes! My dear sweet Mary Lou would like to meet you and she'll be a bringing a friend with her. A sweet young lass from a dear friend's home," the XO's words were a bit of a surprised, but with what he was and what he did, the crew of the Atlantic Federal Ship Dominion were not surprised by his report.

"Okay sweet'ems! Just come on home! I do a miss ya!" Captain Natarle Badgiruel was still cringing, but deep down, she did miss him, but only he had figured it out and the ship's crew wasn't the clueless ones.

The bridge crew snickered to one another quietly at the sigh the captain gave, but that gave way to weak moans of displeasure as some lost the bet that had been made. As to what, only they knew, but some snickering did continue on, especially for a redhead named Flay Allster, rank Petty Officer, and ship communications operator.

"Okay," the captain said turning to the CAG, "When we get the new equipment how long until were combat capable?"

The CAG was a man in his late thirties, but didn't show it physically or in his piloting. He was considered a minor war hero for downing four GINNS in rapid succession during the Battle of Endymion and like the Hawk who gained his name there; he too had been in the 3rd Lunar Fleet and was one of the few remaining soldiers with the ability to use the Moebius Zero and its gun barrels to maximum effect. He stood at 5'5" and was actually thin shouldered, but she had heard from the XO of the CAG wading into a group of ZAFT soldiers when his ship had been boarded by ZAFT commandoes and he single handedly took down eight of nine in a fierce exchange of blows with him coming out on top. Yet, he bloodied Commodore William Sutherland's nose once for scoffing at his shortness and lack of obvious strength. Which explained why he was still a unit XO himself until he had arrived aboard the Dominion and the ship's first XO got himself and four others killed during the first clash with the Triple Ship Alliance.

In that three way free for all, the man that was known as the "David of Luna," had returned to the ship in a wrecked standard GAT-01A1 Strike Dagger, but the XO was there to hand over to him a couple of gifts, they turned out to be Striker Packs, including a new Striker Pack, and a GAT-105 Dagger. Equipped immediately with the new Striker Pack, the Moebius Gunbarrel Striker Pack, the "David of Luna" held the entire M1 Astray mobile suit complement of the Kusanagi at bay long enough for the ship to pick up Flay Allster and retrieve all other units. Needless to say, even Muruta Azrael endossed the man as the ship's new CAG, Ryan C. Davidson and as the XO said once, "he reminds me of the Sergent Jellied from the book Starship Troopers, a short NCO that through he didn't show it, he was more than strong enough to take down troopers twice his size even if the odds in numbers were stacked against him. David taking on Goliath is the moral and ZAFT knows it."

Remembering that quote, she remembered that there were a lot of Davids in the past, even the Atlantic Federation grew out of several of them including two that were famed world powers for centuries, the first was the United Kingdom and the second the United States of America. Then she thought if you go back far enough, you would noticed that even Rome went from being a David to a world power. Sighing she looked at the dark colored man with short standard military crew cut brown hair. She looked directly into his blue eyes, the only thing that told of his mix parentage.

Commander Davidson was quick in with his wit and his mind and he had been waiting for the three or so seconds that his superior looked him over.

"Too long for the mission he proposed, about three or four weeks to get a grasp of an idea," his report was not good, "we will need to use his own men and the ship in the following action."

"Inform the hanger Petty Officer Allster and thank you Commander Davidson. When the new equipment arrives put the pilots through hell to learn how to use them in the quickest amount of time with in reason and for future operations," the CAG smiled, he was going to enjoy carrying out the Captain's orders.

'Call me short behind my back, eh. Now let's see whose weak now,' the CAG smile turned evil as he left the bridge via the lift in the back.

Having caught a glimpse of his evil smile, the whole bridge seem to shake as the those still there tried to push the memory out of their minds and began to pray for the men and women in the mobile complement.

Three Weeks Later

Flying through the air to give his fighter a thorough check, the XO of the AFS Dominion, the former Sub-Commander of HOLY, Commander Paul Johnson flew his F-5E Tiger II to get any remaining crinks out of the bird. He wasn't one for really dog fighting, but he was no push over if he had to dog fight. He just had the F-5E Tiger II to supplement his A-4 Skyhawk, but of which and the many other things and planes he had brought secretly using HOLD and HOLY's allotted funds, which of course is illegal, but he was the secret leader of a movement to expel the Mainland Puppet Government of the Mirachi Special Economic Zone. The plan was to form a new nation called the Republic of Osea, it was a temporary name that just stuck so they were Osean Rebels, but the Mainland was still igorenant of the existence. With the Osean seals on his plane, he decided to let them know something was afoot and there wasn't thing one that those oppressors could do about it.

Coming in at the low altitude of only 20 feet from the deck, or ground, Commander Johnson suddenly did a soft climb in altitude and then a rapid accession into the air as he came to the hill just before the East Number 11 Outside Gate Checkpoint and flew over the city's wall before the guards and air traffic controllers knew what was happening and since he was armed, he began a bomb run on the Tower of HOLY.

Reading his book as always when off duty, Straight Cougar's only warning of the attack came when 20mm machine cannon shells started to rip through the windows and the 9th floor lobby. People scattered everywhere as they saw a fighter come screaming towards the lobby. The 20mm fire ended, but the fighter had fired two missiles instead. The missiles struck and people were thrown about as the fighter flew through the lobby and out the other side of the totaled room. Only Straight Cougar saw four objects leave the plane. He immediately realized what they were when there were four thunderous explosions and a terrible small, localized quake. He looked at where the bombs had landed. The vehicles in the vehicle yard for the patrols that were going out later that day had become a fiery junkyard as more vehicles exploded. It was clear that this attack was no suicide run as the fighter did several victory loops and circles showing off against the poorly prepared defenders. It flew off, but not before strafing some of the main freeways in the city, causing little damage, but creating panic and terror.

Straight Cougar had recognized the seals as those belonging to the old mercenary band that he and the Sub-Commander had been a part of, with the latter leading the band. It was quite clear that someone from the group had had it with HOLD, HOLY, and the Mainland.

"Talk about your political statements, I doubt anyone was killed in that attack," he said aloud.

A young woman who recently arrived earlier in day was confused by his words. So she asked him if he knew anything.

"Yeah, I do Miss Minori," he responded.

"It's MIMORI!" Mimori Kiryu yelled at the pink sunglasses wearing man.

"Yeah, sorry, but the Mainland turned a blind eye about ten years ago to a resistance band that was acting like a mercenary band," he saw her surprised reaction, "the band was said to include foreign born soldiers sent by their governments to make a new nation out of the Lost Ground. Anyway, that fighter had those markings, because I've seen them before, that's all I know and it is second hand information, probably unreliable at best," the Speed Alter of HOLY said.

"Oh my god!" someone shouted as everyone saw a huge formation of fighters and fighter-bombers, albeit with minor formation problems, and last, but not least, a black flying battleship.

Pairing Polls are still open! SO VOTE! (God Bless Democracy!)

Ryuhou/Mimori – 2 (4)

Ryuhou/Scherries – 3 (4)

Ryuhou/Kanami – 0

Ryuhou/Ayase – 2 (3)

Ryuhou/Kami – 0

Kazuma/Kanami – 1

Kazuma/Mimori – 4 (6)

Kazuma/Scherries – 3 (6)

Kazuma/Ayase – 2

Kazuma/Kami – 0

Couger/Ayase – 0

Couger/Kanami – 0

Couger/Mimori – 3

Couger/Scherries – 0

Couger/Kami – 0

Tachibana/Kami – 0 (3)

Tachibana/Mimori – 3 (4)

Tachibana/Scherris – 1

Tachibana/Kanami – 0

I need more votes and the more votes, the more influence that shall be made to the story. For now, though, we will be seeing the characters not that often as the story begins to build and then, then we will see the votes begin to take hold and the main Scryed Charaters come in. Please inform your friends, because I need votes!