I own nothing in terms of the gundam seed characters or the base model parts of the EX-caliber gundam though its personal design and name are mine. Thank Bandai though for the basics. Also thank nemesis astrea once again for letting me use his basic plot point of the ZERO system.

Read on and I hope you enjoy.

Destroying your nightmares

Noah groaned as he slowly came too. He could feel a bandage on his head and a mattress under him that felt like it was a cheap, hard mattress bought from a yard sale. He slowly opened his eyes and blinked. Instead of being in his home and hoping that seeing the strike gundam had been a dream…hell that everything was a dream…he was sitting in the brig.

He glared at the ceiling. "SERIOUSLY? THE BRIG! I SAVED YOUR BUTTS AND I GET THROWN IN THE BRIG!" he exclaimed as he shot up and instantly regretted it as a wave of disorientation, vertigo and lightheadedness hit him…along with the fact he had to grab the metal bars of the foot rest with his feet to keep him from floating into his cell bars.

He heard a chuckle from outside and looked up to see Mu la flaga, the always calm and cool headed ace mobile armor pilot glancing in at his cell. His famous grin was plastered on his face, Noah remembered it from all the times he'd told murrue he could make the impossible possible in gundam seed.

He sat down on the bed as best he could and watched the man turn from where he had been standing next to his cell, leaning back against the wall. He turned his head to a nearby guard as he said something and nodded. "Yeah, she should probably know about him being awake." He said then turned his focus back on Noah.

Noah's glare softened as he sighed. "I'm guessing that my machine was such an unknown you guys decided to throw me in here?" he asked as he looked mu in the eyes. Mu nodded. "Yeah. Didn't help the soldiers that got you thought you had been trying to run when you floated over them. I mean, no alliance uniform, an unknown machine which either doesn't have phase shift armor or has an unknown metal used for its armor. You're just a whole enigma wrapped up in a hoodie and jeans." said mu who gave his also famous shrug when he finished in a gesture of, 'I don't know what to tell ya'

Noah sighed and pinched his nose. This wasn't happening…he did NOT somehow get sucked into the seed universe. How did that happen anyways? He began trying to process just what could have gone wrong. Last thing he needed to do was potentially put a product on the market that could kill its users by dropping them in the middle of a series made up of war, likely in a huge battle, and have some part of their machine fail and boom…they are gone.

The thing was, plavsky particle specialized scientists were still just scratching THE SURFACE of what they could do. Depending on a model's features there were isolated incidents of fighters "assimilating" with their machines, whatever happened to their machine happened to them but usually when the fight was over a long nap fixed everything.

Then there was the incident at the 7th world championship. The particles became supposedly charged with so much "emotion" similar to the assimilation that they gained a will of their own almost and created the space fortress A Baoa Qu in order to protect its primary source of particles when it began to overload and would have potentially continued to build more on it's own had the space fortress not been penetrated by a group of fighters.

Perhaps there was something behind the particle's ability to bring the machine to life? Maybe they opened a window between reality and the fictional dimensions that are the gundam Meta series? But then why would his 00 based machine react this way to a seed scenario? Perhaps the GN particles his machine now produced had affected things? Was he even producing GN particles? So many questions could be asked with this incident in and of itself it started to give Noah a headache so he let it rest for now.

By that time the acting captain Murrue Ramius had shown up and was glaring at him as he seemed to ignore her presence. He was by far the most irritating man she had ever met and she only had known him for five minutes. Were she natarle she figured she'd be yelling at him by now but whatever was occupying his mind seemed to have left as he focused on her.

Once Noah was focused on murrue she sighed. She couldn't be too mad at him. He did save flay's father which allowed her bridge to relax once Flay broke down in happy tears to see the zaft ship stop firing and her father's shuttle flying over.

"I am Lieutenant Murrue Ramius, acting captain of the archangel class assault carrier, archangel. On behalf of my crew and the crew of the Montgomery I'd like to say thank you. But sadly we barely know anything about you or your machine. We do know your name is Noah Carson from Ensign Yamato. And you told us your machine is called the EX-caliber. But…" she sighed, pinching her own nose and closing her eyes.

She didn't know where to start. The lack of phase shift armor? The fact it had no clear propulsion yet moved as fluidly and with a grace almost as if it were underwater? Or maybe how it managed to avoid a hail of CIWS fire at nearly point blank range and disable half the Vesalius' armaments, including their main cannons as if they were nothing. Or the more important question: how did he pilot it at all? They had looked inside the cockpit…it was a chair….that was it. Mu even dared go inside and sit down, see if that flipped some panels or opened something. But she also didn't know where to start given how he stated it was classified when he was brought onboard.

"Celestial being…"said Noah. That got her to once again open her eyes and focus on him.

"What was that? "She asked as she took a step closer to his bars.

He took in a deep breath and began to spin his own tale. "I work for an organization known as celestial being. I'm what they call a gundam meister. Trained to use that machine for the purpose of ending this war. I was supposed to work with a team…but both they and their machines were destroyed with heliopolis given mine was the only working prototype. "He said, taking a moment to let them ask the obvious questions to help him get his story straight.

Mu shook his head. "That's impossible. The alliance would have known of another G-weapons project being built right next to theirs. "Said mu as he glared at the kid, thinking he was trying to take them for fools. Instead he just shook his head.

"They did know, where do you think the duel came from? It was the basic frame for all the G-weapon prototypes….including ours. But its frame didn't work for us. Too bulky and square. Perhaps I should shed a bit more light on our project…well I should shed what light I can. Celestial being is a 3rd party organization who intended to enter this war in an attempt to stop it using superior mobile suits. We had the brightest minds from ZAFT, the E.A., and morgenroete working with or for us…all in secret. Think of us like…an anti-war group. Yeah I know…hypocritical given our intent to stop both sides from escalating this war with basically more war." He said as he once again let them absorb the information while he tried to twist celestial being's origins to fit into seed and give him a cover. So far they seemed to be buying it.

This time murrue spoke up. "I was undercover working with the project, why have I never heard of this? Or any of the tech in your machine?" she asked as she began to get drawn into his story. It had an air of BS but at the same time seemed plausible…but the tech still didn't fit.

Noah knew this question was coming up eventually. He waved his hand to dismiss the question as he said, "well I can't go into the specifics of it but essentially that machine was the prototype of prototypes. Again it's where the duel came from. While our goal was not to escalate the war, we also knew that ZAFT clearly had an upper hand…so anything we couldn't use we tossed your way in secret. My machine was also the prototype for plenty of the more…exotic and far-fetched technology. Honestly if I told you half of what we had planned you`d think I was crazy that it could even be used in general let alone in mobile suit design." He said, suddenly acting superior which upset Murrue a bit.

She bit her lip though as she seemed to have him explaining everything…well to a point. After all, half of what he said just brought up more questions. Mu beat her to the next question. "But Current battery technology, like what is used in the GiNN or the G-weapons gives you a limited operating time, how did you not only survive Heliopolis but get all the way out here?" he said with a tinge of anger in his tone as he was clearly getting annoyed with the fact Noah's answers only begged more questions. This, though, got a sad look from Noah.

"Like you we had a prototype carrier for our machines. Each machine though was to be held in an eject-able pod that had its own limited propulsion system. They were currently docked like the shelters, ready in case ZAFT attacked us or you. My machine and container were the only completed projects. They rushed me to my machine, got me in it and ejected the container just before Heliopolis broke up. As far as I know my team, their half built machines and the entire group there blew up as our part of Heliopolis was rigged to blow to cover our tracks should we ever be attacked. Using its camera's I watched your ship launch, your first fight, and tried to get my container to move so you could pick me up. But the rapid ejection had short circuited some of its controls so I had to get into its programming and fix it. I had the system track you to try and get an idea of where you were heading but by the time I got things working you were gone. I had an idea of where you'd go to enter the earth's atmosphere and land at JOSH-A so I had the container head that way so as to preserve my own machine's power. Sadly though it ran out of juice near the remains of Artemis. I opened the container and launched my machine, setting it to self-destruct as I flew away. Took me some time but I finally caught up to you guys and I guess…saved the day huh?" he asked, taking in another deep breath and watching them, waiting to see how they'd react.

At this point Mu seemed ready to burst out laughing purely at how either ridiculous the story was or how incredibly lucky the young man was he didn't know which. Murrue on the other hand still had one question for him. "Are you a coordinator? And if not, how do you pilot that machine? To this day there are no records of a mobile suit being piloted by a natural." said Murrue. The mention of him possibly being a coordinator brought Mu back to being serious as he waited for the answer.

Noah laughed. "I'm a natural. Did I not just say I've trained to pilot that machine? I`ve been with it since it was just a skeleton, the basic frame being reconfigured from the duel to become what it is now. If I ever had trouble moving it the techs got right on fixing it. Hell, I could disassemble that thing and rebuild it with the right team of mechanics." He said as he looked back down. Time to put the final nail in this story and to end the questioning.

What he said next made Murrue gasp and Mu to frown as he suddenly felt bad for giving the boy such a hard time. "My parents were part of the organization. They died making sure that I got into my machine and hoping I'd end this stupid war. Seriously…coordinator, natural? Who really should give a fuck…your all human….but no…gotta use labels. "he said before using his legs to hold onto the foot rest as he laid back down with force…well would have if they had gravity. "Me and EX-caliber will make sure this war ends with as little bloodshed as possible…so many innocents have died already…" he said as he rolled over to stare at the wall…and hide his grin as he knew he was selling this perfectly. Either they would believe him and let him get back to his machine where he may be able to leave this mess…or they would leave him here and force him to wait for ZAFT to attack again and realize they need him.

Mu sighed and scratched the back of his head. "Sorry kid…didn't know you lost your family in that mess." He then turned to Murrue who had just as sorry sort of a look on her face. After all…they all had lost someone in this war. This young man had practically been raised probably in his machine and now it was all he had.

Murrue was tempted to let the kid out…but he still had basically just said he had both the E.A. and ZAFT for enemies. To let him run around the ship, even supervised, or even more so to let him near his machine could prove a disaster for the ship. "I'm sorry to say this…but you`ll have to stay in the brig for now. There are still just too many unknowns to let you loose on the ship. "She said before pushing off the wall and floating towards the brig's main door to leave. Mu however fished an object out of his pocket and tossed it towards Noah. "Hey…here's your little…game thing, I don't know. We found it on your person and can't unlock it. It better just be some kinda game thing. Don't make me regret giving it to you. "He stated before floating away while Noah continued to pretend to sulk.

Destroy your nightmares

Kira was sitting in the officer's lounge with lacus quietly. They had briefly discussed Flay's actions of using lacus as a human shield and Kira had apologized for his friend's actions though Lacus seemed to feel no ill will towards the girl. They then discussed the new mobile suit that had appeared on the field and subsequently proven its dominance in close combat. Kira had looked over the recordings in the strike after the pilot went unconscious and while the medics and lieutenant Ramius discussed why he had done so he brought up the thought of exhaustion, not only due to how long he claimed to have been in space but also his body enduring the G-forces his machine likely stressed on his body. They even compared the strikes data to the recordings on the ship…well Mr. la flaga and the lieutenant did. Kira had offered to keep Lacus company as he felt she likely needed someone to confide in after such an event.

Just as Lacus was about to say something about the friend they apparently shared, Athrun Zala, Flay, her father and the lieutenant floated in. They all stopped when they saw Kira and lacus but murrue moved forward. "I'm sorry sir, I forgot I had given ensign Yamato permission to use the officer's lounge." Said murrue as she tried to motion for Kira to get out of the room.

George Allster, vice foreign minister for the earth federation, looked relieved that Kira was there…not so much on lacus' presence though. He stepped forward before Kira could leave. "No it's quite alright, please stay. I`m actually glad you're here. Not only because it saves me the time tracking you down to thank you for doing your best to save me, but to get your opinion on why the other young man who piloted that strange G-weapon is in the brig." he said, loudly, as if to make it very clear he was not a fan of his savior being locked up.

"I told you, Vice Foreign Minister, he is in the brig because there are simply too many unknowns about him. For all we know we could let him loose and he could go right to his mobile suit and destroy us from the inside!" exclaimed murrue as she floated around to be in front of him though he gently pushed her aside to once again look Kira in the eyes. It was clear he was trying to kill 2 birds with one stone with his next statement.

"Yes you already questioned him though and he gave you a clear explanation of his reasoning for being in that machine and his mission. He's not much different then mister yamato here, though the opposite I suppose." He stated which had Kira giving him a confused look. Flay was merely latching onto her father, her arms around his right arm, though like him she seemed to be disturbed by lacus' presence. She looked up and smiled when he continued.

"I hear you're a coordinator….yet you fight for this ship against your own kind. While I'm sure you have some noble reasoning for it you still have already racked up quite a kill count in such a short time. And yet here you are having a civil conversation with one of the most prominent members of the coordinator society. Mister Carson is the opposite in the sense that he's a natural, and yet he fights both coordinators AND his own kind. I may not like that he intended to fight the E.A. but by the sounds of it had Heliopolis gone right you would have reached JOSH-A with the prototypes and we would have mass produced variants of them, along with advances in military technology that may very well…." that was where Murrue put her foot down.

"DID YOU NOT SEE THAT BATTLE? HE SWOOPED IN, ELIMINATED TWO GINNS AND NEARLY DISABLED A NAZCA CLASS ALL IN THE MATTER OF A FEW MINUTES AND WITH A PHYSICAL BLADE THAT CUT A GINNS LIKE IT WAS BUTTER! AND YOU SAY ALL IT WOULD TAKE IS PERHAPS AN EXTRA MONTH OR TWO OF EXPERIMENTING WITH THE PROTOTYPES AND THE ARCHANGEL TO DEFEAT THEM?" she yelled, almost in his face. It was extremely unlike her but his attitude towards the situation at hand…well it hit her in all the wrong places. For starters how he made it sound like her and the crew were merely pawns. That had Noah and his team showed up on the scene, so long as JOSH-A got the data on the ship and the mobile suits they had a fighting chance. He clearly was underestimating that machine….that or she was overestimating it.

The man just chuckled and patted her shoulder. "Relax lieutenant. You give the boy too much credit. He is one boy with one machine. And on top of that it clearly only dominates in close quarters. This team he spoke of likely had highly specialized machines planned. See? Crisis averted. Plus we get him and the strike to JOSH-A and we can disassemble that mobile suit and learn its secrets. If it can beat a GiNN that easily think what would happen if we incorporated its technology into our own mobile suits? We would be able to thrash the coordinators on their home turf. Speaking of, have you seen it? That thing has no propulsion to speak of? It likely relies on inertia of some sort to move as it does. I bet it's a brick in the atmosphere. If he does act up I suggest we let lieutenant commander la flaga and ensign yamato here do their thing and handle him. "said George as he smiled and continued to chuckle, laughing even as flay pitched in. "if my daddy says he's an easy target then he likely won't last long in our next fight against ZAFT. I'm sure if we let him fight they will handle him. "She said, clearly trying to goat her father into talking down the boy even further.

Murrue sighed though as she pinched her nose. "Yes, vice foreign minister. You're correct. I guess…I just saw how advanced his machine is and how easily he could fight his way through either side's forces. But you are right. He is one person with a single machine. Numbers would easily overwhelm him." she stated as she left the room. She needed to go see their rescuer and ask him a few more questions.

In the meantime Kira was left with lacus and the vice foreign minister's words as the older gentlemen left the room with flay. Kira was mostly upset at this point. Both in terms of being angry and sad. Flay had just…ignored him. Granted it was how she usually treated him…but…then to have her father basically say he should be thinking of killing lacus or something else then just act like the comment was nothing…he wasn't sure whether to cry or shout at something.

Lacus had been nothing but kind to him, letting him vent his frustrations about fighting...she was the enemy technically yet she sat and smiled, laughed...she was an amazing woman. And for a moment he had thought himself jealous of Athrun for the fact he was engaged to her.

Destroying your nightmares

Noah was looking over the data recorded on his GP base. While Mu was partially right, it was modified to hold some music and a game or two, it was mostly also now on a similar level to a smart phone just without being able to make a call. He was making notes on his little adventure so far when the lieutenant showed up and rapped on his cell bars. He glanced up, saw her, sighed, and looked back down at his GP base. He was curious if he still had his gunplay somewhere in that machine….and how he'd do maintenance on it if it got damaged.

"So…the vice foreign minister is convinced you're not a threat…"

"Even after I stated clearly my enemies were both the E.A. and ZAFT?"

She nodded. She had tried her best to convey this to Mr Allster but he refused to listen.

Noah shrugged, "you do realize why he doesn't care right?" he asked, realizing where flay likely got her hatred for coordinators from the series besides her father's death at the hands of whatever coordinator manned the Vesalius' weapons controls. "let me guess…he thinks I won't last five minutes in a full battle against oh…say a ZAFT strike force intent on sinking this vessel so your about to release me so as to have an extra hand defending this ship?" he asked as he looked back up at her with determination in his eyes.

Murrue could only gasp as he seemed to know exactly what she planned from a single sentence and a nod. "Yes…how did you know? Just how informed is your organization?" She asked as she motioned for the guard on duty to come unlock the cell.

"Simple…he's a ranking member of blue cosmos. I doubt he believes I'm a natural and thinks I'll die killing my own kind. He doesn't doubt my skill or lethality with the EX-caliber….he doubts that I can last long alone. Sad thing is…he's so far from the truth he probably thinks when I do get destroyed the strike can recover my machine and blue cosmos will get their grubby hands on all my shiny toys. "He said with a sad tone as the lieutenant entered his cell to lean against the opposite wall.

"It's one thing to state he doubts you`ll survive in a fight...but it's an entirely different discussion to claim he's part of such an extremist group." She said, a hint of anger in her tone. Today just wasn't her day after all and now she was regretting the thought of releasing him just because a politician thought he was safe to have running around the ship.

Noah shook his head. "We have…had strong evidence that blue cosmos has infiltrated almost all levels of both your military and political circles. That of course was before I became the only member of celestial being. Listen how about we stop discussing things and going in circles on whether I'm a danger to the ship or not. "He said as he turned and hung onto the bed with his legs while looking her in the eyes. "I'll promise my loyalty to THIS SHIP, not the E.A. but this specific ship and protect it till it reaches JOSH-A. And in return you can simply give me room, board and food. Best merc deal I've ever heard of. "He said with a smirk. Plus he knew she had to take it. Otherwise the EX-caliber was only taking up room in their hangar and was a wasted gun that could be protecting the ship.

Murrue sighed and closed her eyes in thought. He was right. They had no money to pay him and he seemed to actually care about this ship even if it was an alliance vessel. Plus with Kira's inexperience in a fight and the obvious skill of such an ace mobile armor pilot like the man known as the Hawk of Endymion they needed another skilled fighter if they were going to last against ZAFT's endless pursuit. Though she wondered what he meant by till they reached JOSH-A. They would be making an orbital drop to it…did he intend to stay in space?

Finally she nodded. "Fine…I accept your terms. You can bunk with Kira." She started and began to leave but stopped at the cell door. "But before I let you leave in your mobile suit…I want you to show myself and lieutenant commander la flaga how you pilot that machine. When we looked in the cockpit and there were no controls to speak of." She said as she turned back to him and saw him grinning like mad.

"Oh of course. After all you guys didn't know about the key. "he stated as he lifted up his GP base then floated towards her, gently pushing her out of the cell before following her out . "Just let me get something to eat first please." He said as he floated past the guard and began to explore the archangel. While he'd rather be exploring the ptolemaios 2 and seeing the actual celestial being members faces at the sight of his machine…this was still an out of this…well his world experience and he was half tempted to try piloting the strike but didn't wish to push his luck when there was a chance he could come back and do this all again with a custom strike and somehow have them exchange his plavsky particle cockpit for a spare one…if they have spares like celestial being did. Then again a spare cockpit meant that the current one got hit…and in Kira's case of piloting it likely meant he was dead.

Either way he was content just trying to find the mess hall, even dismissing lieutenant Ramius' offer to guide him. He was like a kid in a candy store and he was sure his new attitude confused her.

Destroying your nightmares

While everyone on the archangel was trying to decide if Noah was safe or not the Vesalius' crew was trying to figure out just what he was. Rau le creuset took a breath and leaned on the holotable, watching the battle recording for the tenth time, watching the suit fly through space as if it were a fish in water…no…more like a shark. That blade cleaved their main cannons in half before it came up by the bridge. Even he had to admit to a tinge of fear when they saw that red eye. Freezing the image there he heard the bridge's door open and looked to see athrun float towards him.

For a moment Athrun and Rau just stared at it. The bright green and blood red eyes just staring into the bridge. Half the face was darkened and charred along with what was visible of its left clavicle. "Do you think it sustained damage in a prior fight?" asked Athrun, hoping his commander had received news on this machine. Sadly he was met with a head shake.

"No…I've sent this video back to the homeland and have yet to receive news of a previous engagement with it or any news of it in the alliance database. For now we are calling the machine alpha one. What disturbs me most is this…look how the blade locks into position under the arm, as if to brace it for some reason." He stated as he continued the video and it showed the EX-caliber fly away and stop attacking once the announcement was made that the legged ship had lacus onboard. The blade it was pointing at the bridge swung back and with a flash of sparks sure enough it seemed locked into position.

Rau turned to Athrun to see him contemplating the meaning of this action. "What do you think it could be it bracing for?" asked the ZAFT commander, curious if his faith in the young man was placed too early. Already he could see he was holding back against the strike. He was unsure as to why but he hoped he'd find a reason to put the strike down soon.

Athrun backed the video up to the point the machine entered and watched the fight play out again. His eyes narrowed as like his commander he watched it again. "It's hiding something. I can't tell what but I'd put my money on a ranged weapon. It rammed Albert's GiNN then cut it in half before moving onto Elizabeth and following up with another attack. If the alliance hadn't built the blitz I'm sure Nicol could have fought similarly and hidden the rifle in its trikeros weapons systems till it was needed. But at the same time the pilot clearly knows his machine's limits or else I think it would have continued its attack even with our CIWS locked onto it. I haven't seen a pilot use a single weapon so efficiently. I know I couldn't use the aegis in such a way, even a custom GiNN without years of experience. "He stated as he looked to his commander, determination in his eyes.

Rau couldn't help but smile as even he had recognized the pilot's skill. "speaking of that fact…notice how the CIWS constantly miss even though he still has to dodge and weave through their fire…but he does so in a specific manner." he stated as he changed camera's and they watched the mystery machine bob and weave through the fire…but there was in fact a pattern before he seemed satisfied before flying over the side of the ship and disabling one of their missile launchers.

Once again Athrun watched it multiple times. "He's spreading those particles. "He stated as a matter of fact.

Rau nodded. "My thoughts exactly. This machine must have some sort of electrical distortion effect to those particles. We looked over our targeting programs multiple times. He was close enough to those guns that he should have been turned to shreds. But instead every time the guns had a lock-on they instantly lost it and fired in that general area. It is my belief this machine was an extra project to the G-weapons, an off the books experiment. Otherwise we would have been made aware of its presence and had a red like you and your team train to take It." he said as he floated back towards the door. "Be wary of this machine, athrun. It should not be underestimated." he said as he moved to leave the bridge.

"Commander…"

"And we will do all we can to rescue lacus athrun. That machine's presence on the legged ship has simply complicated things. Once we have a plan to bring that machine down we will try to rescue her. "He stated before leaving athrun to look at the image of that machine floating in front of the bridge. The skill it had to take to pilot such a mobile suit…he shook his head. It was one machine. He knew it would only be a matter of time before it was shot down. He turned and left the bridge as well. He had work to do on the aegis.

Destroying your nightmares

Noah was sitting in the EX-calibers cockpit….just sitting there. He had his eyes closed, the door open so no one thought he was plotting to leave or something. In truth he was just taking in everything…expecting the simulation to end any moment. Taking in the sounds of the hangar, Murdoch and his crew performing simple upkeep on the strike and moebius zero. He had been nearly bouncing off the walls when he got to sit with Kira and his friends while he ate. He had to admit…for not being a huge fan of seed…this was an experience no amount of money could buy. Hell he could cosplay in a perfect replica of the ship, with people who looked and acted exactly like these characters…and it wouldn't be the same. And when he saw the EX-caliber…at 1:1 scale…he would have fallen to his knees were he not in zero gravity. All seriousness, all the acting to seem like he was from here died the moment he floated up to the head of his machine and looked it in the eyes…well as best he could. To feel the E-carbon armor…to float around to the back and get a good look at the GN drive. With enough time here and money made off this simulator he very well could rebuild this in reality.

Of course first he'd have to be able to do the BS he told Murrue and Mu…about being able to strip this machine down to its skeleton and rebuild it.

On that note he was also trying to figure out how to fix any damage he may incur here. If he could come and go he'd just leave the simulation, fix the model as he assumed the damage would transfer, then come back. But he doubted he could leave at will so he was trying to figure out how to potentially make phase shift armor as strong as E-carbon. I mean they were basically the same thing, just the E-carbon was reinforced by GN particles flowing under it. Shouldn't be too hard to convert phase shift armor.

As Noah took in everything there was a knock on his machine. He opened his eyes to see Mu and the lieutenant floating in front of his cockpit. "So…I'm guessing you want to see what I meant by not having the key?" he asked as he pulled his GP base from his hoodie pocket.

Mu laughed as he saw this. "So that wasn't just a gaming device after all? It actually starts this I assume?" he asked to which he received a nod. At that one hand came down to rest on his side arm, especially when the base stand rose from the center of the cockpit.

"Ok…now then…understand this is all classified." He stated as he waited for the plavsky particles to form the hard light on button. He pressed it and smirked when the two veterans gasped at the flurry of particles within the cockpit which became the controls. He rested his hands on the control balls and waited, letting them take it in. 'oh yeah…definitely wish I had a camera.' He thought as he watched them poke and prod the hard light, Murrue more hesitant than Mu.

Murrue could only stare in wonder at the nearly clear blue panels of hard light. She bit her lip in hesitance as she reached out to touch one. She wasn't an MA pilot and her first time in a MS was in the strike and she had been crap at piloting, barely able to hold her own against a GiNN. But this simple set up...it let Noah control the EX-caliber to such efficiency…

Mu laughed as he glanced at everything, seeing a reverse view of the hangar after hearing the hum of the machine's power source start up and the camera's activate and take in everything. He glanced up though at the red eye, damaged head and clavicle, then remembered the mechanics showing him the arm hidden under the cape. It was in prime condition, looked brand new in fact. Yet the left side of the head and shoulder screamed that the arm should likely be destroyed, in pieces, wiring hanging from broken armor. Instead it seemed to all be a rouse as the arm underneath it all was in prime condition.

"So…that isn't a gaming device? It's the key to your machine. Who designed it? "He asked as he refocused on the cockpit.

Noah smirked, "I did. I knew I'd spend plenty of time in here. So I figured why just have a simple activation switch or something. So…I developed this...G-base. You were right though. It has games on it…and plenty of music. "Noah said as he removed the GP base just as Murrue poke a hard light screen and jumped when it wobbled due to the poke.

"But…why do this? What if the cockpit was damaged? Would those particles not leak out and distort the screens?" she asked as everything shut down and her and Mu moved back to let Noah out.

"Actually it was designed with that very occurrence in mind. The hard light is designed to disperse should damage to the cockpit occur since most injuries within a cockpit are from the screens and control panels exploding. So…if my cockpit does take damage…I won't slam my head into exploding glass and metal…just get a bad case of whiplash most likely." He said as he pushed off the gang plank to go up and look at his machine face again. "Plus it'll come right back and reform the view screens and control panels. So unless I lose a camera I won't actually lose the ability to view it."

"Ok…I got one more question…what's up with the hidden shield?" asked Mu which brought a look of shock to Murrue. She had no idea what was under that cloak and to hear Noah had been hiding something, even a shield still…she had been just like the mechanics were originally, thinking Noah's claim of a complete mobile suit were BS when she brought them to Murdoch. He assumed the same as everyone else….the cloth was hiding a half built arm…or worse no arm at all. He was even preparing spare parts from the strike to offer Noah to finish the arm.

Noah cringed as his rouse had been seen through. He had hoped no one would have looked…but it was a pipe dream. "It's an um…well it's a ruse. Meant to make my machine seem weaker than it is. It was a last minute design as my machine was meant to be the first one to enter the world anyways. It'd seem weak, half assed with only a blade and shield and one arm. Then when the enemy got over confident I'd reveal all its gimmicks. Which I can't tell you what all they are…but that shield is only the surface of what this machine has hidden." He said with a smirk as Mu seemed to nod in agreement.

"If I was coming up to this thing in combat…at first glance I'd guess a rookie mechanic had not only built it but fixed it up after it went toe to toe with a squad of GiNNs and a couple of Nazca class destroyers and barely survived." He said as he pushed off the gang plank as well and began examining the left side of the gundam.

Noah nodded. "Again, that's the point. Sadly while I'm sure you and the refugees see Heliopolis as a failure of sorts…I'm personally glad to have the chance to meet you. If everything had gone according to plan I likely would have met you all on the battlefield, trashed your G-weapons, and subsequently sunk this ship. And that's not just bias or overestimating my own skills…"said Noah, taking on a look of sorrow. "Remember what I said lieutenant. If you don't mind I'm going to put on a flight suit and launch with Kira….you are still handing lacus over right?" he asked before pushing off the EX-calibers head and looking around the hangar to try and ID the door to the ready room. Secretly though…if gravity were in effect he'd be jumping around like mad as he thought of putting on what essentially was an "authentic" flight suit.

As mu and Murrue exchanged worried glances she nodded to Mu who launched off the gundam to follow Noah. "Hey Noah! Follow me. I`ll help you get a suit. Why don't you explain your MS a bit more so I can know how to react to you in combat." He stated as he took ahold of Noah's arm and began pulling him towards the ready room. Murrue meanwhile headed back to the main access way to file a report on this…she had no intent on actually sending it…more make notes of this crazy situation. So much didn't add up…yet also plenty of things fell into place. Before she left the hangar she turned around to glance at his machine, then the strike. It was not only larger than the strike…but with its paint scheme seemed to demand respect, even with the head and shoulder's "custom damage" it exuded a sense of pride and determination…like it wouldn't give up till all that was left WAS that head…

Destroying your nightmares

Kira found himself again speaking with Lacus in the officer's lounge of the ship. Thankfully it seemed Mr. Allster and Flay had gone to other areas. He looked to lacus and thought back to their conversation about athrun. "So…you're engaged to athrun? when did that happen?" he asked, trying to come up with something to say, something to keep him from thinking of what George had said in here earlier.

Lacus nodded. "Yes. It was decided by our fathers about a few months ago. Me and athrun had spent plenty of time together prior to his entrance to ZAFT and when he graduated a red his father and mine agreed it to be a good idea for us to be together and our families to be tied." she stated before glancing out a window. "As I said before he's a kind young man and I wish he had mentioned you before. I'm sure we will live a happy life together." She then looked back to Kira and smiled. "And I do hope that you both survive this war. Friends shouldn't be fighting each other as you are..."

Kira sighed when he heard her say that. "I wish we didn't have to fight. But if I don't pilot the strike my friends who are on this ship might die along with the other refugees…"said Kira though he was surprised when someone interrupted him.

Noah floated into the officer's lounge at just the right moment it seemed as he heard lacus and Kira talking. There were two things he wanted to do right now. 1…get lacus' signature just so he hopefully could use it not only as proof of what his device did…but as proof he actually met these people. Second…he wanted to punch Kira and tell him not to take the freedom. Seriously. If this wasn't gundam he wouldn't be as happy as he was hiding. In fact he'd be as serious as he was acting and even more so because this is seed. He liked Seed, he felt it was an interesting reboot of most of the original series combined. But the recycled animations and Kira's general use of the freedom were his primary reasons, if any, for disliking seed. Though that still didn't mean he hated the series…just parts.

"She's right…as friends you two shouldn't be having to fight each other. Hell at your age you two shouldn't even be in the military in my opinion. But sadly there are scorned and childish adults who think otherwise." Said Noah as he floated over and smiled.

Kira smiled at his words. "Mr. Carson! I'm surprised to see you here. I was unaware the captain had let you have access to the officers lounge." he stated as Noah floated near them.

Noah shrugged. "I go where I want. What can I say? But no…this war is ridiculous. Kids your age should be at home worrying about their next date or test or party…not piloting a machine of war. And even more so this war's entire point it mute. I mean so many people forget how many advancements mankind has made in various sciences, including genetics, that originally people fought over and then after the fighting is done they actually looked at the advances and went, hm….you know what? Doing this actually isn't a bad thing." He stated which got raised brows from both teens

"So…you're against this war as well? Then why fight in it?" asked lacus, confused as to his statement and yet knowing he was a mobile suit pilot

"Because when two idiots have the reins of the powers of war innocents get caught in the middle and THAT is what my organization was all about. The fact that stupid people were given the keys to wars cage and instead of throwing them away…they gave him steroids and set him loose on the earth sphere. Coordinators and naturals…"he said before shaking his head.

"It's all stupid. We are all human…all this is going to climax to be is one big cluster fuck of a battle that`ll end in both sides extinction if no one stands up and says that to the powers that be. "said Noah as he closed his eyes for a moment, took a breath and opened them as he exhaled to see them once again raise their eye brows. "What? I can't be a mobile suit pilot and hate war at the same time?"

They both shook their heads as he moved for the door. "Hey kid…just remember…you're the only one who can protect her on this ship…and you're only a few hours out from meeting up with the fleet. What do you think will happen as soon as the admirals amongst the fleet find out this ship has her?" he warned before leaving.

Destroying your nightmares

Athrun looked at his view screen in sorrow. He was floating in space in the aegis, awaiting his childhood friend to bring his fiancée back to him after receiving a message from the apparent pilot of alpha one. He was currently contemplating the words he'd use…as much as he hated fighting him. As much as he wished to bring the strike away from the battlefield, to keep its advanced technology from killing any more of his friends…and bloodying Kira's hands. He had to get Kira to understand. They were booth coordinators. Kira shouldn't be fighting him.

He smirked though and chuckled when he thought of Kira potentially being on his team. At least until they could sink the legged ship and go home. He could picture Nicol and Kira being friends, yzaks loud and obnoxious personality likely clashing with Kira's kind and gentle soul. Dearka of course would just be neutral amongst them all, hitting on anything that came near them with an ass.

He smiled. It would be nice to have him back. But as he glanced at the legged ship and noticed it beginning to pick up speed he frowned. He remembered Kira's loyalty…and knew it would be hard to pull him away from the ship.

He noticed two mobile suits coming around from the front of the legged ship. His eyes went wide as he saw that black machine following. He was about to radio back to the Vesalius but he noticed the machine roll before flying off, away from their current position. He was confused...it seemed to be using this as a chance to escape the archangel. The way the strike moved even Kira was surprised by this. He wondered where the machine was going.

As the strike approached though he was even more surprised when it raised its rifle and aimed at him. The strike stopped within arms-length. "Athrun zala…" was all he heard over the open communication.

Destroying your nightmares

10 minutes beforehand…

Noah sat in the EX-calibers cockpit, the machine active but the door open so as to keep everyone thinking he was just performing maintenance. He was currently typing away on the hard light keyboard in his lap. He was sending a message to the Vesalius. He was trying to time this right. Almost everyone was asleep, even the mechanics were slow coming onto their second shift. The message read: "sorry for wrecking your ship but thought I'd give you a heads up. The strike is intent on returning Ms. Clyne. Keep your distance and launch the aegis. Strikes launch imminent. Will accompany. Any attacks on the ship will be intercepted and returned 2 fold. End message"

The moment he fired off the message of course he heard a commotion outside the cockpit and pushed a hard light screen to the side and poked his head out. Sure enough he could see Kira pulling a pregnant looking lacus towards the strike. He could only do a facepalm. He had left a duffle bag he found in the ready room on purpose to stop that from happening. Stupid girl and her dresses.

As the strike headed for the launch bay he was pinged from the bridge. He smirked and answered it. "Yes ma'am what can I do for you?" he asked as he was already closing the cockpit.

A comm screen formed from the particles and Murrue was on screen. "Kira is launching with Ms. Clyne in the strike! Can you stop them?" she asked, concerned at the fact that he was already in the EX-caliber.

Noah just shook his head. "Nope…he already closed the starboard launch airlock. I could follow in the port side though and try to keep ZAFT from pulling any stunts…"he proposed as he was already flexing his hands to pull the stupid stunt he had planned…he just hoped he could come back from it.

He saw Murrue watch him launch from the ship and smirked when she turned and yelled, "launch approved! The EX-caliber is to recover the strike and its pilot for disciplinary action!" she commanded before he gave her a mock salute.

"Yes ma'am. EX-caliber will launch immediately." He said as he moved the machine to the port launch bay. He took a deep breath as he felt it get locked into the catapult. "one small step for mankind…"he whispered before he felt the g-forces push him back into his chair as he was rocketed out of the ship, "ONE GIANT STEP FOR GEEKS EVERYWHERE!" he shouted as he pushed the EX-calibers accelerator and began to follow the strike but had no intention of continuing past the rear of the ship.

Destroying your nightmares

It seemed that they got his message, and was surprised Kira still gave basically the same speech over open com's he had in the series but he paid no attention to it. The moment he was out of range of the archangel's rear CIWS and missile tubes he rolled his machine to the left and took off.

Still listening to Kira's demands he was surprised to hear him stutter when he rolled away and flew off into space. But unless his machine truly had a GN tau drive suddenly he should be fine doing what he planned to and if his theory didn't work still be able to get back to the archangel and rot in the brig till the simulation ended…or they reached orb...or whenever Murrue regained her faith in him. Either way he had to do this outside of prying eyes of either the archangel and her crew or ZAFT.

Destroying your nightmares

Barring Noah's seemingly horrible timed abandonment of them Kira was feeling pretty confident right now. He sat in the cockpit of the strike, its rifle aimed at the aegis. He had just opened a channel with the aegis and called out to see if it was athrun inside.

"I'm here Kira…" stated athrun which allowed Kira to sigh in relief.

"Open your cockpit." he stated as he loosened his grip on the right arm's control stick. He glanced at Lacus and saw her smile when the aegis' cockpit opened. Kira pressed the switch on his control console to open his own cockpit. He looked back up to her before saying, "you have to say something."

Lacus gave him a confused look.

"You have to say something. He can't see your face so he can't confirm that you're in here." He said before motioning towards the aegis. She nodded and turned to look at it as well.

"Oh of course…hi athrun! It's good to see you again!" she called out as she shifted in the seat.

Athrun smiled. "I confirm its lacus." Said Athrun as he glanced at his monitors. That mystery mobile suit was nowhere in sight. He was curious as to where it went but also hoped he never saw it again. It held too many mysteries and was too proficient with that sword for his liking...especially when he usually forced himself to get tied up with Kira to protect him. If he could bring Kira with him this time finally he didn't want Kira to hesitate and die against such a monster.

Kira smiled, "then get ready, I'm sending her over." stated Kira before gently nudging the pink princess off his lap and out the hatch. He used both hands to help guide her out straight. He smiled when he saw Athrun catch her.

Athrun was glad to see lacus was safe. Though when he looked her over he couldn't help but raise an eyebrow at her large and rounded abdomen. He guessed she likely was storing something in her suit, likely one of the dresses she usually wore. It actually made him smile. Her and those dresses. And to see haro in her arms made him think of the bird he made for Kira…which brought him back to his current problem.

"Kira come back with us. After what they've done with lacus surely you have no reason to stay with the earth forces. You wouldn't even have to pilot the strike anymore!" he called to his friend, hoping to finally get through to him. "Even that other pilot has left…surely you have to understand you should be with us not them." he stated though for a moment he felt like he was channeling his father's rage for naturals with how he worded that.

Kira sighed and looked down at the controls for the strike. "Truly Athrun I wish I could. I wish we didn't have to fight anymore. But I have people on that ship I truly feel I have to protect. Without me and the strike there's no way they will survive and until I get them home I'm afraid I have to stay with the ship." He said. He almost wanted to beg Athrun to join him. He was sure Athrun had friends in the plants, and even more so the team he fought with likely were friends with him….but he also wanted him to meet his friends…he wanted to meet HIS friends he just…he wanted to stop this fighting.

"Then the next time we see each other on the battlefield Kira I won't show you any mercy!" cried out athrun before turning into the aegis with lacus.

Kira nodded solemnly. "The same goes for me…"he stated before closing his cockpit and turning to head around back to the archangel.

Destroying your nightmares

Le creuset was once again grinding his teeth, but now in his cockpit. Damn that alpha one. When it had sent a message out for them to send out the aegis he had assumed it was a trick, and had been in his own CGUE awaiting the pilot to ignore its own message and attack the aegis and hit it with everything he had. Oh he had been waiting with anticipation…but then the captain told him that alpha one had flown off on its own. "Damn you alpha one…" the fact it had even launched irked him as he knew la flaga was likely in the wings, like him, and Ms. Clyne would do everything in her power as a memorial representative to stop the fighting given the girl followed her father in that aspect. So he decided to save himself the trouble and began powering down his CGUE. With alpha one still on the field somewhere he couldn't take the chance of it somehow coming back to bite him in the rear with it just being him and athrun on the field. No…when he faced alpha one he wanted to be able to focus solely on it. Not have to worry about that annoying hawk or the strike interfering. Those eyes…. They had been looking at him, he could FEEL IT! And he would face that challenge only with his best.

For now Athrun was returning with lacus and his vessel would be leaving to hand her over to another team to return to the capital. He'd have to leave the legged ship and it's destruction to the rest of his team.

He chuckled.

If alpha one showed up…

…he'd likely be down one red…..

Destroying your nightmares

So….there's a more original chapter. I realize the first half may seem rushed and Noah is acting the polar opposite to how he feels…and I may have gone off character for murrue and la flaga. But originally I'll admit I was having trouble thinking of how to continue this due to plans with the blitz and Nicol being dashed by fellow gundam fan comments within my gundam group helping me make the story better by downsizing the arsenal of the EX-caliber. Well not knowing not how continue. More how to do it without falling into my bad habit of following the story EXACTLY as things happen.

BUT! I have fixed this. So yeah…on with the show!