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.

Intermission

"Really? So after getting your ass handed to you by rau le creuset, a char clone and a terrible one at that, you not only waste a trans-am on destroying a few ships and mobile armors so as to "make sure your threat wasn't taken as being vague", then to top it off, you almost die by nearly having to perform re-entry on your own." Said Luke as he set Noah's requested cup of hot chocolate in front of him as well as his third plate of pop tarts.

Noah nodded as he dug into the pastries. It was nearly midnight and he had just finished a shower, changing into new clothes, and then finally telling Luke the story, from the top, as to what all happened to him. Luke had been silent, only talking when confirming what Noah wanted as he was hungry, tired and thirsty all at once so Luke was helping him adjust to…well what equated to helping a war vet re-adjust to civilian life.

Every small noise had Noah jumping, and he had tried to take a nap only to awake yelling a warning to Nicol about something coming at him. He showed all the signs of PTSD and in each symptom he proved more and more that he had in fact in those few minutes…live months aboard the archangel and as a true gundam pilot.

Luke shook his head as he sat down to his own second helping of hot cocoa. He took a sip and cleared his throat. "I just...I still can't believe it. I mean you literally got to pilot a gundam. Hell you got to sleep in the beds on the archangel, meet Kira…I mean I'm no seed fan boy but still….say what were the beds like anyways?" he asked as he thought of it.

Noah raised an eyebrow as he swallowed his bite of pop tart. "Hard, cold…well that was all I knew for now. Later when I actually got quarters with Nicol…kinda soft, warm...slightly better then what I'd expect prison beds to feel like. But again they were meant for military personnel. I mean Nicol said that it was quite an upgrade from zafts quarters. Why does it matter though?" asked Noah as he sipped his cocoa.

Luke shrugged. "I don't know…first thing to come to mind. I just can't believe you lived through all this." he said as he got up and glanced back into the room containing the simulator. Everything was saved onto a removable hard drive and the system was shut down. While Noah had tried to nap Luke had looked into the simulator and was surprised by what he found.

Inside the makeshift cockpit the chair had a blackened hole through the center of it, and the back wall was scorched with an obvious entry circle for something in the core. And when he sat down in it the seat seemed to have a crunch to it, like it had gone from a comfortable leather seat to a burnt crisp that was waiting to turn to dust. When the simulator closed he had gasped.

The front of the cockpit had a massive scorch mark on it, and when the plavsky particles tried forming the cockpit they were like a corrupted file. The main viewing monitor was missing spots, the control orbs were cracked and not responding, and not even movable...whatever system Noah had to keep the particles forming the cockpit had been broken to all hell. Whatever had finally pulled Noah from his simulation…had not been friendly…and he highly doubted Noah should be alive.

Noah nodded. "Yeah…well I count my lucky stars for that I guess." he said as he swallowed the last of his pop tarts and grabbed his cup of cocoa and headed through the simulator room. "Hey wait…where are you going!?" called Luke as he scrambled to get up and follow him.

Noah stopped and turned around with a speed that made Luke nearly trip on his own feet as he nearly ran into his friend. His eyes held determination. "I'm going back…"he said simply before turning around walking past the simulator and towards the stairs that lead to his room.

Luke wasn't sure what he meant till he looked to the yellow orb that had contained EX-caliber. Key word…HAD. When Noah went to get the gunpla and do...something with it, likely tune it, upgrade it, they found that the model was gone. This had confused Noah. He couldn't understand where the model had gone. His only clue…was a midnight black metallic dust that coated the stand.

"What do you mean going back? To bed?" he asked as he followed his friend up the stairs.

Noah shook his head. "No…to my workshop. I need to see if I have enough spare parts to rebuild EX-caliber. Nicol won't hold out in operation spitbreak alone and unless he recruits Dearka and gives him the buster which I pray he won't do…Dearka would just run….anyways the point is I saved him for a reason." He said as he opened a door and Luke finally caught up and gasped. Workshop was an understatement. The room he was looking into was a gunpla equivalent to…well suffice to say if the best chemistry lab in the world and the best old school smith shop had a baby…this lab would be it.

Luke watched Noah walk into the lab and know exactly where he was going. He stood in the doorway and watched Noah tear apart the "workshop". Gunpla riggings flew one way, a tackle box filled with spare parts went the other way. Various things were thrown around the room and Noah became more and more frantic.

Finally he slammed his fist down on his painting desk. "That's right…since the simulation was only going to scan EX-caliber…or was supposed to I used my master works version. Every piece tuned to perfection…even sei Lori would drool at the sight of it. When I was done I threw away all my trashed models and hadn't made spare parts because again…"he said, his fists shaking in rage. "IT WAS ONLY SUPPOSED TO SCAN IT!" he yelled before falling to his knees. His eyes darting all over at the piece of the floor he was staring at.

Luke took a step toward him but Noah held his hand up.

"no…this is good…I can rebuild it…make it better, stronger…and I can even build a blitz…yeah…"Noah began to whisper as he shifted to sit on his rear cross legged, a plan forming in his mind.

Luke had to smile. The look on Noah's face told him even if he had PTSD…he was still the same Noah he was before he became a gundam pilot. He had a plan…and no one would get in his way. He had the same look before every gunpla battle, before any experiment he made. Luke turned around and headed back for the kitchen. He would call his wife, tell her that he needed to stay a few days to watch Noah as the loss of his father had finally gotten to him and he needed help sobering up. While turning Noah into a drunk or anything like it in his wife's eyes was his last intent he knew it'd buy him a few extra days if he needed before she would demand his return.

Intermission

Murrue sighed as Mu explained their situation. He held a cup of coffee in his hand. Coffee. When was the last time they had a chance to actually enj…well try to enjoy the military grade coffee?

They had just finished getting the three mobile suits and the mobile armor into the hangar.

The mobeius zero was now out of commission unless Murdoch worked a miracle and converted it to work in atmosphere. But that's a "when pigs fly" scenario. For now Mu was set to start getting familiar with the skygraspers they now were in possession of. Since they were compatible with the striker packs they would be a bit easier for him switch too then just a normal fighter.

Their main problem was that after Nicol had helped them get Kira and Noah from their machines and to the med bay AND move all three mobile suits inside, he HIMSELF passed out. The doctor expected Kira and Noah to survive. Noah somehow had survived similar temperatures as Kira and they were surprised when his blood work finally proved he WAS a natural and yet he was in no worse shape than Kira…well…Kira was essentially knocked out and as the doctor said his body was essentially taking the time to rest and allow him to come back to full health.

Noah on the other hand seemed to be in a coma, no more like in limbo. Stat wise he was healthy aside from a light fever, even lower then Kira's own fever. But brain activity wise…well it wasn't looking like he was waking up anytime soon.

Nicol however the doctor quickly diagnosed as soon as he looked at the green haired coordinator. Exhaustion. It was likely his first time fighting without his team. And the efficiency and lethality he showed with the blitz combined with moving said machine plus two more he was unfamiliar with into the hangar AND having used the blitz to at least get the mobeius zero into position so the mechanics could bring it inside…While the doctor had never done any real medical work on a coordinator the fact Nicol was fast asleep while Kira seemed to be fighting for his life with his own body and Noah was dead to the world almost literally…yeah Nicol was just tired…very very tired.

In other words….they had three mobile suits and a jet along with the ships basic defenses. And until one of the three mobile suit pilots woke up they were down to a jet and their own wits.

Oh…and that's not the worst part. They weren't just deep in enemy territory…no…they were in the desert tigers territory. Yep…3 mobile suits and a jet reduced to just a jet for now…their situation was JUST GREAT.

Intermission

Luke watched from the counter of Lori's hobby shop as Noah went to each section and began pulling gundams from the shelf. It had barely been 24 hours out of the simulator that Noah demanded he be driven to the Lori hobby shop as Luke wasn't letting him go anywhere without him lest he had a PTSD accident and get locked up as some kinda gunpla battle nut.

First to hit the counter was a 00 gundam seven sword system/g, master grade, 1/100th scale. The next was another master grade, the 00[t]. This confused him. Most gunpla battle models were made from 1/144th scale models. Yet he seemed focused on using master grades which only came in 1/100th scale. Maybe he found the gunpla quality better?

Either way he glanced to china Lori who was smiling as she was rubbing the rounded belly holding her and the famous sei Lori's first child. It had been years since Luke was last in here so he decided to see what the kind woman seemed so happy about. Thought it certainly seemed Noah's presence had made her even happier.

"How many more months Mrs. Lori? 2? 3?" he asked as he glanced at her belly. The woman giggled.

"4 actually. I know I'm a bit big but sei says it just means a healthier baby." she said as Noah walked up with a master grade deathscythe hell custom and went back, soon returning with a master grade blitz gundam. He stood there for a moment, looking over his selection carefully, like the model…or likely models were forming in his mind. China looks down at the selection and hummed an approval of sorts before waddling around the counter and heading into aisles.

This seemed to pique even Noah's interest as he originally moved to get more models and builder parts but wanted to see what the wife of the famous builder of the "build" series of gundams would pick out for him as she herself had gained a talent for building beautiful gunpla…and making art that was as deadly in a gunpla battle as it was beautiful.

To Luke though, having phased out of gunpla and gunpla battles long ago, he was unsure as to what the woman could add to Noah's own selection. He figured she'd come back with detail parts or decals, something to increase the sale. Not that she was a mischievous woman in that manner just he didn't expect her to know what Noah wanted.

Neither however expected her to waddle back with a stack of boxes. She carefully set them down and took a moment to breathe as she again caressed her belly. After all she had brought back a HG 1/100th scale dynames, a similar scale and grade cherudim HWS model as well as a few various builder parts. Even if they were plastic models…she was pregnant and they likely tired her just balancing them. She then went back around the counter and began to stack the boxes in a specific order, with the blitz and the "007" gundam at the bottom. Once she was done she looked to Noah who seemed to be critiquing her choices and the stacking order.

Luke kept looking between the two. Both world tournament level builders, one married to a multiple tournament champion and world renowned builder. He was confused but he knew it made sense to them. Finally Noah's eyes went wide and he looked up at her with admiration.

She nodded and smiled. A silent dialogue between the builders as Noah again had that look on his face of a plan forming in his head. Soon his speed rivaled a coordinators as he ran to one corner of the store and grabbed paint, came back, looked at the models, and then went back for more paint or another builder's part kit. Once he was satisfied with that he looked to the models and now paint selection. When his brow furrowed china cleared her throat.

Again as if they could read each-others minds and were both seeing the same custom gunpla she reached under the counter and brought out a resin kit for custom parts. Noah looked at it while stroking his chin, looking at the models and build parts and held up 3 fingers. She then did the same and shook her head. Holding up two.

He raised an eyebrow in confusion. She smiled and sweetly said, "Pin vices and scribers." she said which made Noah snap his fingers. "Right…ok 2…"he said before going back to analyzing his purchase list while she grabbed another resin kit.

Luke looked to china and was confused. "How do you…" she stopped him by pointing to a picture of her and sei. "Who do you think beat him in the world championship and made him the builder he is today?" she asked giggling.

Luke's eyes widened. "He never mentioned he fought HIM! I…I sadly couldn't go cheer him due to my second child's birth but…"he blinked when she shook her head and again pointed to the photo. He looked to it and gasped. China was the one holding the world championship trophy and the trophy was right next to it…with her name on it.

"I learned how he thinks when he builds when I taught him. The fact my own built, and I proved it to him, but a gunpla I built beat him, he begged me to teach him since sei had another gunpla showcase tour to go on and he lived nearby. He's also our best customer because of that training." She said as Noah once again left to go search the store for something. "it's obviously second hand training from sei…but he already nearly rivaled my husband in terms of how to make the smallest detail make the biggest difference. I just helped put him on a similar playing field in other areas."

Luke looked to the boxes then her. "So…what IS he building?" he asked as he assumed she WAS seeing the same gunpla or a similar one. China pointed to the blitz which had deathscythe stacked right on top of it as well as the cherudim and dynames.

"A custom blitz, more stealth, maybe recon level? Either way he intends for it to run silent and catch enemies by surprise…a sort of alpha predator if you will give its cloaking." She said before pointing to the other stack.

"And this…is his EX-caliber on steroids. He intends to shed his usual cosmetic damage and gimmicks and just simply make it a hit and run machine. Moves fast and hits hard." She stated as Noah came back and seemed to glare at her while setting a high grade harute gundam on top of the 00 gundams stack along with a few pages of decals on each stack as well as a pack of special paper to print custom decals. She giggled. "Well I can't help it if he asks." she said before Noah finally pulled out his wallet and china could start ringing him up.

"I also want to order a sandrock kai custom conversion kit that includes its anti-beam cloak and have it shipped to the house." he said with all seriousness, as if speaking to a requisitions officer on a ship. China nodded and quickly entered that into her register before continuing to ring him up.

Luke looked to Noah with amazement. He had always known his friend was on a whole nother level when it came to gunpla than him, then again he was barely into it in the first place while Noah was into it even during his time at college learning what let him build his simulator.

And afterwards…the look in his eyes. He had more than acclimated to the status of a gundam pilot….whatever switch had flipped to help him be the pilot he needed to be in there never seemed to switch off. He was determined, like setsuna when he stared at exia or the 00, his eyes screamed one thing…

No one would get between him and whatever goal he had….and he'd use his gundam to do it.

"just what happened over there to make you so determined to go back…and obviously hit hard enough to rock the cosmic era to its core?" wondered Luke as he watched Noah pay for all the items. As Noah took the receipt he thanked china and denied any bags. How could he use bags? He had bought half their build parts selection and even more so he had multiple large boxes.

"Luke…little help here?" Noah asked as he looked to his friend who seemed in a daze while he did his best to balance the entire 00 gundams stack at once and began trying to make his way towards the small shops front door.

Luke shook his head and nodded, biting his lip as he attempted to do the same but was stopped by china who grabbed a few small items and bagged them, motioning for him to lead. Luke nodded and followed Noah out with china behind him.

Once everything was loaded in the trunk of Luke's car they both turned to china who pointed a finger to Noah.

"Now Noah…you better show me what you built when you're done. These look like they`ll be about as custom as the build strike series sei made. If you're really gonna kit bash all those I want to see it BEFORE you do any fighting with it." She said, seeming to chastise him like a mother warning her child about his homework.

Noah smiled. "Don't worry Mrs. Lori. If all goes well…you`ll be the head mechanic on these babies. Plus…"he said as he put his hand on her belly and she blushed. "Your kid will grow up to do more than just BUILD gunpla." he said with a smile, leaving her with a vague idea of just what he was doing.

Noah then went around to the passenger side of the car and got in, waiting for Luke.

Luke looked to china and smile. "Thank you. I`ll make sure to take good care of him." he said before getting in the car and driving away.

She smiled and waved as they left before sighing and returning to the store. One downside of having sei for a husband was if ANYONE wanted to learn how to build gunpla…they wanted to learn from him. She had to admit she missed training Noah…but that also came with the shops location. Once all the hype died down about who's shop it was, even more-so after she won the world championship…it slowly dropped down from being packed daily…to maybe once a week to once a month they had a packed store and it was usually after sei made another appearance on tour…and she was here…alone.

She sighed again as she got behind the counter. What she wouldn't give for another gunpla battle just to relieve the boredom. Deciding to ignore the gunpla before her she set a sign on the counter stating she'd be right back and headed up to the house portion of the store. If she couldn't build or battle…then she'd paint….at least then she wasn't bored.

Intermission

Nicol yawned as he slowly awoke, stretching as he did so and stopped when his hands hit a wall. He slowly opened his eyes. He half expected when he felt himself succumb to exhaustion that he'd be back in his cell. Instead as he opened his eyes he noticed there was a different ceiling above him. It was actually the bottom to a bunk bed. He slowly sat up and looked around. He saw two empty bunk beds on the opposite side of the room. He looked down and noticed he was still in his flight suit…and his hands were cuff less.

The amber eyed coordinator slowly swung his legs off the bed and looked around the room. Was he given quarters on the ship? Did saving them from one GiNN really earn him that much trust? Or was it the fact he helped them move the machines inside as well? Though at that thought what else was he to do? If he didn't help them then his blitz wouldn't have gotten inside and likely have been an easy target when watlfeld attacked.

At the thought of the zaft commander Nicol could do nothing more than sigh. He'd be his real challenge here. The blitz couldn't fly, then again the strike could only do so with the aile pack and even then it had to land now and then or else waste its battery. And with him piloting the blitz essentially "FOR" the archangel he would be a HVT now that he was a confirmed enemy.

He looked into the closet where his wardrobe would go and was surprised to find an earth alliance uniform hanging next to his zaft uniform though they were facing each other. He noticed his zaft uniforms…well zaft insignia patch was missing from the shoulder it should have been on and instead had been sewn onto the opposite shoulder of the alliance uniform and something else removed. He then looked around the room once again and found a small tray on the floor next to his bed with a pitcher of water and an already full cup. It also had a note.

Reaching down for the cup and note he took a sip while reading it.

"Dear Mr. Amalfi,

When you wake up I will likely be caring for Kira in the infirmary, but as thanks for saving the ship as well as getting Kira from his mobile suit I thought I should bring you some water for when you wake up. After all the doctor says Kira endured intense heat in his cockpit when he nearly tried attempting re-entry on his own so I'm sure you`ll be thirsty when you wake up after what time you yourself spent enduring some of that heat. The doctor diagnosed you with simple exhaustion and as thanks for saving we captain Ramius ordered you be placed in a proper bunk and given quarters till you wake up.

Again thank you for saving us,

Sincerely,

Crewman second class flay allster.

P.S. Forewarning though there are guards outside your door still but they are more there to escort you to her office when you awake then make sure you don't do something that could harm anyone or endanger the ship. "

Nicol couldn't help but smile. So he was making friends. That was good right? If he was going to adapt to life on this ship, running from his own people with them, then he needed to make friends. Besides, so far his time as a POW amongst them was better then what he was trained to believe. Aside from Noah's death threats they actually seemed…ok with him. Well the tech students did.

Originally they had cowered at him when they ran into him and his escort after he requested time to work on the blitz before the fight in orbit. But this girl was bringing him water and actually gave a damn about his well-being.

He then remembered that he was a mobile suit pilot…something they were meant to have 5 of. Maybe after his show of skill during the battle, which even he could barely believe he pulled off, especially how effectively he used the blitz's mirage colloid to fade in and out of combat like a phantom, but maybe after that they were wanting on his good side.

That made him chuckle. If yzak had heard that thought he'd likely say something to make Nicol feel like he was wrong and that yzak was still the better pilot. If it weren't for a couple of GiNN's drawing his attention he had had a perfect chance to capture yzak. Sure the silver haired coordinator was loud, annoying, had an ego, and was an all-around dick…but if Nicol had a chance he was going to capture him. Noah may not recruit him but at least then he can gloat over the boy about how he had been beaten by a "coward"

But he slowly got up and stretched, careful not to knock over the pitcher of water. He had to admit the bed was comfier then he expected. A zaft vessel hardly counted as a luxury hotel but they were also not short on MS pilots. He expected this was the crew quarters. He figured the G-weapon pilots likely got better quarters and were likely single quarters. He set his glass of water down on a shelf by the head of his bunk and moved towards the closet.

Reaching for the zaft uniform he noticed another note on the earth alliance uniform, this one seemed newer. He pulled it off and shook his head as he chuckled.

"Mr. almalfi, sorry for doing this without your say but I thought it may be easier on some of the crew for you to wear earth alliance colors till Noah can work something out with the captain. So I removed the O.M.N.I. enforcer patch on the uniform and sewed on your zaft patch. Again so sorry for not asking just thought it may save you some glares or a punch or something from someone later.

Miriallia."

Ok…so maybe those kids really weren't so bad for naturals. He slowly and quietly donned the blue and grey uniform and sighed. It was a bit small on him but he decided it was certainly better than being punched or god forbid shot for wearing his zaft uniform.

Once he was dressed he hung his flight suit up and downed the remainder of his cup of water. Time to go meet the captain and make the best of this meeting. After all his quality of life on this ship could depend on it.

Intermission

Luke groaned as he looked to the clock before yawning. It was nearly 5 AM when Luke had finally hit the hay in Noah's guest room at midnight when Noah had been building since they got home. He could hear Noah still building down the hall, his "building music" playing loudly while one could also hear him filing and sanding and painting parts. Just what had he unleashed by allowing the gundam pilot to go buy more models? Maybe he should have insisted Noah take a day or two. Or maybe he should have made Noah swear off gundam for good. But only time would tell if the PTSD symptoms were true PTSD or just after effects of the simulation. He hoped to god his friend hadn't actually experienced the zero system and gone insane. His story was ludicrous.

Could someone really use plavsky particles to cross dimensions? To turn minutes into months? The more Noah claimed to have done or experienced the more Luke became concerned.

After all how could he let Noah get back into that simulator if he was just going to go through that all over again? And what if he didn't get put right back in the same spot? What if he went back in ready to have guns blazing and not prepare for things like potential re-entry? To not prepare for rau le creuset's assault? Then endure them all over, worse maybe because he alters his gunpla too much…could Luke really let him risk it?

Luke finally rolled back over and closed his eyes. He'd worry about it in the morning. He had tried to get Noah to stop building even just to eat and it hadn't exactly worked so what would he say to convince him to stop from planning to return? There was no point losing sleep when if Noah truly was a gundam pilot now he likely would be fine…or pass out in there and sleep it off.

Either way Luke himself was soon out like a light and sleeping soundly.

Intermission

Murrue looked into Nicols eyes quietly as he did the same. She was still unsure exactly what she was doing. Yes he saved them from a GiNN and had cooperated with Mu in an attempt to capture or destroy the buster…but still he had carved a kill count high enough on both sides in the meantime to make her wary of him till Noah woke up.

One thing in his favor is he wore the earth alliance uniform miriallia had fixed up for him. On one shoulder was the earth alliance symbol, on the other ZAFT. It seemed small on the boy but then again it wasn't entirely meant for him to wear for his own comfort, it was worn so that it would help the crew who were still on edge about him feel more ok with his presence. The zaft symbol being transferred was simply to help him feel better about wearing it.

She sighed and sat back in her chair. "On behalf of this ship I'd like to thank you for rescuing us from that GiNN. I know you were following Noah's orders by not attacking us even if the rest of the earth alliance was your target…but you were never ordered to protect us…merely not attack us." she stated as she watched Nicols reaction.

The green haired coordinator smiled and closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath before exhaling and saying, "while saving this ship was not entirely my objective of destroying that GiNN, had I let it destroy you I would have no home to go back to. That GiNN was one of the two remaining missile armed GiNNs. They were my targets." He said, trying to brush off having saved the ship like it was literally a side fact to that GiNNs destruction. But as he opened his eyes he saw murrue smiling and nodded.

"I see…so saving us was just icing on the cake then?" she asked with a smirk to which Nicol nodded. She then sighed herself and sat forward once again. "As you're aware given you stole four of them, our ship was meant to have five G-weapons to complement our ship. Because of that we have extra, empty officer quarters as we had single occupant rooms meant for the pilots." she said as she tried to word this carefully.

"Sadly I can't give you one of those rooms…just yet. Saving us from one GiNN doesn't warrant such treatment sadly. But…I've discussed it with lieutenant commander la flaga and ensign badgiruel, otherwise known as my command staff…and we agreed it does warrant letting you have better quarters then a cell in the brig." she said and she noticed Nicols face light up slightly and she held a hand up to silence any thanks.

"Don't thank me just yet. Guards will still be posted outside your quarters and you will have your own quarters but since we essentially have a skeleton crew for our ship you`ll have the room you woke up in as your own. It's not as comfortable as an officer's quarters but at least it's better than a brig cell." she said with a smile but her tone made it clear there was more to come.

"You will still need to have any work you do on the blitz overseen by at least head mechanic Murdoch or one of the guards. You will be limited to your access of the ship and if you're seen in restricted areas I will let all officers and our soldiers know they are to shoot you on sight still WITHIN THOSE AREAS. Otherwise aside from interacting with the blitz you will no longer need an escort around the ship." She said and finally put her hand down so Nicol could speak.

Nicol blinked. "So…in other words your giving me limited access to the ship, but unsupervised, and I only need 1 guard or the chief mechanic overseeing any time I spend working on the blitz? Also…why do I need to work on the blitz? Isn't that the mechanics job?" he asked and instantly regretted it as murrue's eyebrow twitched slightly.

"Normally that would be true, and while we only have three machines and now a fighter jet…we are still only naturals. We built the blitz and strike so we can do repairs…but anything short of maintenance, re-arming and repair work we can't do due to the fact we also have a small crew of mechanics thanks to a certain squad killing most of our crew members. We only have just above a skeleton crew level of crew members in general. So…if there's any tuning that needs done to the blitz, especially involving the OS, that's your job." She stated as she was wondering if she needed to restrict Nicols access to his machine further.

Nicol suddenly stood at attention and nodded. "Y-yes ma'am. I understand it's my job to keep the blitz maintained…"he said before relaxing when murrue seemed to relax given she realized Nicol was trying to make a decent impression on her. "But…I was wondering…if perhaps if I spoke with Chief Murdoch…I could make some modifications to the blitz? They are minor, I merely had some thoughts after my last sortie. Especially if since now that were are on earth I'll primarily be using the blitz as supportive anti-air likely planted on the ship." he said as he recalled how he had fought using the machines lancer darts.

Murrue blinked. He wanted to modify the machine…to better defend them? She was surprised by everything this boy did….mostly because again he had just been fighting against them until recently. "Um…sure. And I'm sorry we don't have anything for the blitz to support it on earth. This ship was only supposed to land at Alaska to give the data to HQ, then it was supposed to be a solely space bound ship." she said as she contemplated the fact the strike seemed to be the only unit out of them all that would have been capable of truly giving it's all on earth.

Nicol nodded. "It's ok. Without the other G-units….to be honest the blitz isn't very capable on its own, especially in atmosphere. So I'll be fine keeping my former teammates away from the ship." He said before beginning to turn around to leave. "If that's all ma'am I'd like to go discuss the modifications with Chief Murdoch." He said as he was unsure what to do.

She nodded but picked up on his nervousness. She smiled. "Your with Noah's group, you have no reason to salute me or anything. You understand the only reason I have to put such restrictions on you is because of the fact well…we WERE just recently enemies." she stated as she motioned for him to leave.

He nodded and left her office quietly, intent on going to the hangar to discuss those modifications.

Intermission

Noah looked down at the bowl of cereal in front of him. He had been barred from his workshop after three days of work. He had barely eaten or drank anything since he began working and he only slept twice and even then only for a short time. So Luke had finally dragged him from the room while he was waiting for some paint to dry on the 00 gundam he was building. He looked up at his friend with a glare.

Luke was standing beside him with his phone out, his thumb on the call button for 911. "Either you eat and drink and take decent care of yourself or I call 911 and explain what all you claim happened in a matter of minutes. You`ll be in a padded cell for some time and I know they`ll care for you." he said as he held up the phone.

"Fine…I'll eat and drink something." said Noah sourly as he began to slowly eat the cereal.

Luke nodded. "Good. Because I have to go home in a couple days and I want to make sure you're taking care of yourself. You`ll get back there in time. It's just a simulation. You can get back to where you were any time." He said as he crossed his arms and looked at Noah seriously.

Noah grumbled but continued eating. Luke had a point. But still he wanted to get back to the archangel as soon as possible. But before he could do that he needed a model to put in the scanner. He began to slow his pace and calm when he remembered he also had to fix the simulator…and find a way to get the new blitz into the simulator as well.

Finally Luke saw Noah seem to relax and eat normally. Maybe he'd get to go home tomorrow. He just hoped Noah would call him before going back in again.

Intermission

Noah groaned as he slowly came too. He could heart a heart monitor, and he could hear flay wondering about when Kira would wake up. He tried to remember what had happened last while trying also to not cry out in pain as every bone in his body ached.

He clenched his eyes close for a moment before opening them slowly so as to adjust to the light. He could feel heat…no the warmth of the blanket. His eyes shot open then as he remembered the fight in orbit. He had intended to make a huge difference, maybe save admiral halberton, make sure all the GiNNs were taken out…but he ended up only seeing too a few alliance ships destruction, a single GiNN, and multiple mobile armors. Otherwise rau le creuset had completely derailed his attempt at showing zaft and the E.A. exactly what EX-caliber could do.

And even more so he recalled the near re-entry, how he and Kira had navigated their way to the archangel, and how he had prayed he wouldn't die just before he blacked out.

Finally he slowly sat up and looked to where he saw flay and miriallia discussing Kira's condition. He coughed and tried to get their attention.

Finally after he coughed a second time miriallia turned around and gasped. "Oh my god...NOAH! YOU'RE AWAKE! She exclaimed as she took the two steps to his bed and quickly got him a glass of water from a nearby pitcher. "Thank goodness you're awake. The doctor was getting worried. When he stated you were in a coma he figured it was a worse version of what Kira's going through. But Kira seems to be getting better and you weren't so he thought we may have lost you to your own mind forever." she said as she filled his glass again after he guzzled the first down.

Noah shook his head when he finished his second glass and she offered a third glass. "No I'm fine…but…seriously? I was in a coma?" he asked as he rolled his shoulder with an audible pop.

Miriallia nodded. "Yes…well that's what the doctor said. You were perfectly fine health wise…but you had low brain activity and no one could wake you up." she said as she let Noah get out of bed, forcing him to slowly stand up. "Hey! Take it slow, you just woke up." she said as Noah began heading for the door.

"I need to go check on EX-caliber. It was sure to have taken a beating from that dick…I need to make sure it`s ok." he said, not wanting to tell them he knew of the impending attack given they likely figured it was coming anyways.

Miriallia growled slightly, "fine…I'll just tell the doctor you got up and left when we were supposed to have him check you out before you left." she said which didn't slow Noah down one bit as he left. She sighed and returned to checking on Kira. Hopefully he'd wake up soon. If he didn't...well she hoped EX-caliber worked in atmosphere.

Intermission

Nicol was looking up at the blitz. More importantly he was focusing on its trikeros weapons system. Murdoch was working on removing one of the lancer darts. He felt sorry for the older man. He had just convinced Mu to go relax and not fret over the fighter jets and now Nicol was asking him to remove one of his lancer darts so he could examine them. He had two thoughts in mind. One, remove the explosive warhead and instead improve the rocket system on the tail while also adding a wire system to allow them to be easily retrieved.

If that wasn't possible then he wanted to add a magnetic lock system into the main body of them and in the blitz's so he could just activate it when near the darts and not have to focus so much on grabbing them instead catching them as he flew by with the magnets and then work it so they could be re-attached to their rails easier.

He hoped that could be done for at least one of them. He knew the archangel had limited resources and didn't wish to tie them up too much with having them constantly replace the lancer darts.

Finally the hangars crane lowered one of the long missiles in front of him and Murdoch made his way over. Nicol looked to him and sighed. "If you want Mr. Murdoch I can wait till you get some sleep to work on this. I don't plan to join the next sortie unless Noah requires me too or captain Ramius requests it while I work on just how I'll use the blitz effectively in atmosphere." he said which caught the mechanic by surprise clearly.

"Yeah kid if you don't mind I'd like to get a couple hours sleep. I mean there's not too much you can do with this…well except make it explode but the blast won't be big enough to cause any real damage alone…sooooo I guess if you want to look it over, see if you can figure out how to get whatever your planning to work then go ahead. Since you're not physically in the blitz's cockpit I guess I don't need to be here to watch you or to call for a guard. Just remember you need supervision to be in the cockpit." he said before yawning walking away.

Nicol nodded. "Sleep well. I hope commander watlfeld waits long enough you all can get some sleep." he said. It was odd. He meant that with all sincerity. He did hope watlfeld held off his clearly impending attack till these good people….

It was then Nicol realized why he was slowly beginning to actually enjoy his time on this ship. It wasn't that zaft military vessels were strict or anything…but he had always heard how horrible the alliance was to coordinators. Yet here he was…being treated quite well actually. Yes it helped he brought down a few GiNNs and saved them from one…but he was actually getting to know them as well. And they were getting to know him.

Plus with the skeleton crew level of crew members a lot of them were pretty laid back and relax when it came to regulations. Such as not checking to see if Nicol had graduated top of his class in zaft academy in explosives handling…

As Nicol looked at the lancer dart before him he realized he could easily arm the missile, even trigger it's propulsion system and get it to knock out something in here, hell maybe it'd even hit the strike or EX-caliber…

But instead he walked away, seeking out the tools to begin dismantling the weapon and disarming the warhead inside.

It was then he saw Noah walking…well limping slightly into the hangar. He watched him, unsure if he should help him or wait for orders? How did the celestial being chain of command even work? There were two of them…was it just simply Noah was in charge and Nicol was his partner? Or would he plan to recruit more people? Form an actual chain of command?

Just as he took a step to help Noah towards the elevator up the gangplank the alarms in the hangar began to blare.

Watlfeld had launched his attack. Now…really? And Mr. Murdoch had just left to go get sleep. Now Nicol felt even worse as he moved faster to help Noah to his machine. He planned to get a guard to escort him to the bridge. He wanted to watch EX-caliber in atmosphere.

Everyone did…

Intermission

Luke waved as he started his car. The last 48 hours showed Noah slowly coming back to his old self. He was still determined to go back but at least he was eating and sleeping normally. Hell he even showered. But he had hung that flight suit up in his workshop, almost as if to remind him of what he was trying to get back to. Either way he felt Noah would be fine and with that wave he drove off, hoping he'd hear from Noah before he decided to go back into that thing.

Intermission

So at the end kinda lost focus, not interest just focus as I tried to wrap things up.

I`m sure some of you are wondering why put china in here…and pregnant…and married to sei. Well for one you're likely also confused how Noah got out of the simulator…yet is supposedly knocked out in seed.

Here's the answer. This is a double sided chapter…I guess is how to word it. For the seed parts it's simply kinda down time while everyone settles in on earth. It's also the past…technically. So for them and for all intents and purposes, Noah is still in the simulator.

The parts in build fighters universe are set after he exits the simulator in chapter one. Don't worry, this won't be a recurring theme. This is just for this chapter.

As for why china is pregnant and married to sei? Well…nemesis never stated just when this story takes place for build fighters? So why not have them be old enough to be married, expecting a kid, and having taken ownership of Lori hobbies? Plus I have this sorry habit of making a main female character pregnant in my stories…so I got that out of my system by making her pregnant.

Also yes…according to how I see china's relationship with sei going…she'd eventually get epically good at building gunpla and eventually she'd participate in a tournament or two. So…why not have she win one? And have she be the one to beat Noah? And then have her train him in gunpla building?

And lastly I'd like to point out that Noah's main weakness is his pride in his skill as a fighter. So being out maneuvered like I had him be with rau is his main weakness. And can you guess what happens next time he gets out maneuvered? Re-read what I said about the simulator. It's a good hint as to what happens.

Also…lol this is my actual last comment. As I said EX-caliber and Noah are not invincible. That will be shown in a couple episodes when my second OC and Noah's eventual love interest debut on the battlefield. Also there's a reason EX-caliber wasn't in the scanning ball thing…

Anyways, read, review, and express your thoughts on the story.

Till next time, happy building.