Gundam Seed: The Federation ver 2

by Blackshadow999

Different telling of Gundam Seed. With the conflict between Naturals and Coordinators getting worse as time passes, some nations have banded together and formed the organization known as the Human Federation. Will the Federation be able to help bring peace or will the hatred between Naturals and Coordinators destroy everything and bring extinction of humanity? Cover by Saddle Patch

25. Phase 25: Sacrifice

A/n

I'm finally back and glad to return to this story and get this Phase done after so long. I do apologize it has taken the time it has, between work, working on my bachelor's degree and one of the worst spurts of writer's block, this phase has taken much longer than I liked. But it is done now for you readers to enjoy, so Merry Christmas and hope you like this present!

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Phase 25: Sacrifice

March 20th, 71 C.E.

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The Archangel, close to the Marshall Islands

The mood onboard the ship for the last week had been the lowest it had been since the outset from Heliopolis. The majority of the crew's morale had been dragged down by recent events, not only from Tyler McGregor's actions and absence but the tension that came from other things. The overall mission hadn't changed, the Archangel was still to travel to OMNI HQ at JOSH-A and arrive as soon as possible. Once there, the crew would learn more of what would come next from the OMNI higher-ups.

Those that made up the crew, however, became divided into groups that hadn't existed before Shira. There were Kira and the volunteers from Heliopolis who stood together believing what Tyler had said and that he was an ally. The team of mechanics seemed to also agree more with Kira and those from Heliopolis when it came to Tyler, though they didn't voice it. Then there was the group that either thought Tyler was a traitor or didn't know what to think. For those that saw Tyler as an ally, nothing that was said changed their views or opinions. Most didn't challenge the teens or their views nor were they questioned beyond the first day by the majority. Natarle was really the only one that kept voicing her belief that Tyler was a traitor and had sold them out. However, nothing that Natarle said swayed the teens though nor did they argue back either.

Natarle's badgering of them wasn't helpful while they worked during their shifts. And it had forced them to handle the frustration out of the crew's eye among themselves. Kira had gotten to the point that he pretty much ignored Miss Badgiruel unless she was giving a direct order and Lacus was much the same. The others had come to the point that they only communicated with her in the form of answers to questions that didn't involve Tyler. They still all kept a polite and professional air about them, but they were starting to distance themselves in a fashion from the rest of the crew.

Most of the crew pretended Natarle's actions weren't happening and just ignored it not wanting to make it worse. Mu and Krystal attempted to tell Natarle to let it go and leave the kids alone, but the woman wouldn't listen. They had thought to discuss with the vice-captain that her insistence wasn't helping the crew's morale, but they knew it would be fruitless. In the end, Murrue stepped up and put her foot down with a ship-wide order. The order was that talk about what occurred in Shira was to be avoided unless absolutely necessary. Natarle took the hint to stop bringing up Tyler's actions for the time being even when she was right. Kira and the other teens did appreciate what Murrue had done, even if it had only put off the issue for later. Nevertheless, even with the discussion and the insults against Tyler stopped, it didn't change the gloomy feel and mood that was over the ship.

Murrue decided it was better to move forward and not dwell on what happened around Shira. Nice as it had been to get repairs done and the ship resupplied for their journey, their mission was still a priority. OMNI's JOSH-A base was still a long way away and would take close to a month to get there traveling by sea. And while the supplies should be able to cover that time frame, if the Archangel resupplied in Orb, then they could cut the travel time down somewhat. Hence, Murrue and the other commanding officers came to the consensus stopping in the Orb Union to obtain supplies before going on to Alaska would be prudent. It would hopefully be the only stop made before JOSH-A and the only event of note along the way. However, with how ZAFT had been chasing them up to this point, the likelihood of having a peaceful journey ahead was very low.

Less than a day out from the mainland of Orb around the Marshall Islands the point was proven with ZAFT forces appearing. The Archangel's sensors picked them up first with sonar detecting three Vosgulov-class subs. The subs were closing in from the south which would infer that they were from Carpentaria in the Oceanic Union. Murrue could see that the ZAFT group would reach them before they could get to Orb, they were faster in the water than the Archangel was. And that was before the sight of mobile suits on ZAFT's Guul atmospheric subflight lifters which only added to the difficulty in the coming battle. Among the ZAFT machines were also the other four OMNI prototypes, each with its own lifter.

The odds for the looming battle were certainly not in the defenders of the Archangel's favor. It would be at least three to one, if not worse depending on if the enemy subs were packed with other mobile suits. On the Archangel's end, they were down a mobile suit from the three they had in previous battles. So essentially, they had two mobile suits and two aircraft to face ZAFT forces coming at them. That this would occur in Federation territory really didn't matter as their pursuers had proven they didn't care.

No more time was wasted when the subs came into sensor range, battle stations were sounded, and everyone was at their stations for what was coming. Krystal as much as she didn't like the position was stuck on the bridge in the co-pilot chair when stations were called. She wanted to be out there fighting but shift and timing wouldn't allow that. The ship's only backup pilot for the skygraspers was Tolle so he would have to take the second craft. The teen had been learning quickly how to use the skygrasper and had made two test flights which had both been good. However, while Mr. Koenig had done some simulations, he had no actual battlefield experience which the upcoming fight would not be a good one to use for that.

At the call to battle stations, Mu had received a quick brief on what they would face from the bridge. After that, he had raced down to the hangar as he knew things would be harsh out on the field. Mu would be the team lead and normally he had no issue with that, since those that defended the Archangel knew their jobs. Yet, this time Tolle would be taking the second skygrasper as Krystal was on the bridge. The kid hadn't been on a real battlefield yet, and this would be a nightmarish awakening to the point.

The three teens slipped into their pilot suits in the locker room. Tolle was a tad nervous about what was ahead. He'd done test flights with the skygrasper and that had been okay, he had managed to handle that. He'd also done combat simulations with the aircraft and he had scored moderately high. But even Tolle knew that simulations weren't how things necessarily went on a battlefield, lives were at stake. Lacus could see that Tolle was nervous, even if Kira wasn't seeing the same thing she was. So, Lacus elbowed Kira and gestured at Tolle, which when Kira looked, he saw Tolle was unusually silent. "Tolle," Kira started, "You okay?"

Tolle glanced at Kira, "Well, just a little nervous I guess," he replied. "You two make going out and fighting against ZAFT look easy. Doing it myself, I'm starting to think that you two have it much harder than it seemed before. I guess I'm only now realizing how much those of us on the ship count on you two, the Lieutenant, and the Major for our safety," Tolle paused, "Along with Tyler."

Kira smiled at his friend, "We'll all be out there looking out for one another," Kira stated, "We will all make it back to the ship."

At the same time, Tyler was pacing the main deck of the Lapis-class, trying to keep himself contained. His stress levels were on the rise, skyrocketing would be more accurate in his mind with the circumstances as they were. It was no longer a question of if, it was now when ZAFT would catch up with the Archangel. Intelligence had confirmed that a hunt group had set out from Carpentaria to pursue the OMNI ship. That in turn translated into the patrol Tyler was with would now get things under control and clean up. Whether that meant the ZAFT hunting group was wiped out would be up to them. Tyler himself didn't have an issue with the job ahead of when it came to ZAFT and dealing with them. But Tyler had friends whose lives would be at risk during this altercation and he wasn't okay with that.

As details were coming in about the developing fight to the patrol, the higher Tyler's stress climbed in response. His mind kept supplying him with images that he didn't like at all and wouldn't see if he could do anything about it. The Shadow could reach the battlefield before the patrol could with its current equipment. The only thing stopping Tyler from doing that is he knew it would be outnumbered by a margin which would cost lives if mistakes were made. And yet, Tyler felt if nothing was done that there was an equal chance of mistakes ending in killing people.

Drawing close to where the fighting was taking place, there came a point that Tyler just wasn't willing to wait any longer. Tyler knew that he wouldn't be able to win the battle by himself and have everyone alive in the end. Circumstance as they were made that outcome far too low for Tyler to put faith it would happen. However, Tyler was confident that he could make a difference even if it was to delay ZAFT long enough for allied reinforcement to arrive. He knew that he could go ahead, one of the perks of his pilot license, but it was one Tyler tried to not use if he could help it. But Tyler saw things as desperate now and so he would use what was available to him to get the job done.

So, Tyler went to the ship captain and told him he intended to launch out in the Shadow as soon as he could. The captain wasn't against the point since he knew that McGregor had a pilot license. The young man had a reputation for doing things his way, stories about him circulated as he was the youngest member of SOLAS as well as an ace pilot himself. With that in mind, the captain called down to the launch deck to have it ready for a mobile suit. Tyler had been out of the bridge the moment the ship captain had begun calling down to those on the launch deck. He put on his pilot suit as he made his way to the Shadow in the mobile weapon hold. Once in the hold, Tyler boarded the Shadow and activated its OS before communicating that he was ready to launch.

The Shadow was released from the dock it had been put in and Tyler moved it over to the main elevator that went to the launch deck. He had his suit "step into" the catapult ram platforms which locked the Shadow's feet in place. The elevator began rising to the upper deck and sunlight hit the cameras and displayed for Tyler to see. After the elevator reached the launch deck, there was a clunk of tracks connecting and the Shadow moved forward off the lift. There was a slight jerk as the Shadow was locked into the catapult and Tyler glanced down to where the deck crew was clearing the way. A few were signaling the catapult operators on what was happening on the deck. Tyler saw the signal for hold which meant the catapult was about done charging up the rams to launch. He gripped his controls and waited still keeping an eye on the deck crew as he knew the signals they used. It was seconds after the wave forward to launch came that Tyler was forced back into his seat as the Shadow zoomed forward. The moment the Shadow was off the carrier Tyler transitioned into a stable flight, activating its mirage colloid while heading forward towards where the battle would be. The captain stated it would be around twenty minutes before they came into range to join, so Tyler would buy the time needed.

Meanwhile, on the Archangel, Mu moved to one catapult while Lacus in the Strike moved to the other. Mu requested that the Launcher Striker pack be equipped to his skygrasper as he wanted any advantage he could get for this battle. That would give his craft the Strike's Agni cannon and weapon pod along with the aircraft's own arsenal. The Agni cannon was attached to the underside of the left-wing between the fuselage and the left engine below the medium caliber wing cannon. The Launcher's weapon pod was mounted on the right engine so that the pack's battery was linked into the skygrasper's own power system. He moved to the right catapult with the airtight shutters sealing behind his craft once equipped. The exhaust intake module rose up to redirect the craft's engine exhaust before the outer door of the Archangel rose to reveal the view of the sea. The electron acceleration rails came into place and extended out, then hummed into life for the launch.

Lacus was in the Strike checking over the onboard systems while waiting for her turn to go to load the suit's equipment and launch out. The Strike came to a halt and then dropped into the linear track connectors locking in for launch. Alarms were sounding as the docking cage disconnected and pulled back from the mobile suit. Once in the airlock, the Strike was loaded with its "Aile" Strike pack as requested by her. Lacus figured that with them being outnumbered, mobility would be at a premium. When the equipment was attached, Lacus focused ahead as the catapult opened and the rails came into launching position. Both Mu and Lacus shot out of the Archangel and set themselves between ZAFT and the ship.

The next up were Kira and Tolle, the skygrasper to the left catapult and the Asuka to the right one. Tolle didn't ask for the remaining sword striker pack even when it was available, he was just trying to concentrate on using the craft's equipment. He was still sweating a bit as the realization he was about to fly out into battle. Tolle was scared, he didn't want to admit it, but he was terrified of what he was about to do. He was questioning how Kira, Lacus, and Tyler dared to go out and fight to protect those on the Archangel. The thought of pulling the trigger and potentially killing another human being was horrifying to Tolle, even to defend friends. But it was expected of him to do just that and Tolle didn't know if he could shoot when the time came.

At the same time, Kira was going over the Asuka's systems, more out of routine than a need to do so. As the Asuka dropped into the linear track connectors locking in for launch, his thoughts turned to other things. Kira wished that Tyler was with them in this battle, if he was Kira would be more confident in the Archangel's chances in this. Yet, due to a misunderstanding, Tyler was elsewhere and they were all in danger because ZAFT wouldn't leave them alone. That would place much of the work in this battle on Lacus and himself. Because of that, Kira knew that power usage with the mobile suits would be the biggest factor in who would come out alive. The two final machines the Archangel had launched out and joined the others on the field. As ZAFT mobile suits surged forward toward the Archangel, the four defenders moved to stop them.

The Duel made a b-line for the Asuka as Yzak wanted to take that machine down more than ever. Three times Yzak had fought the winged suit and three times he had been bested by it and it was beyond irritating. His "wish" or need to beat the winged machine had become what others were calling an obsession, though Yzak didn't think it to be that. Once the winged machine was beaten, Yzak would do the same for the black enemy suit. After both were dealt with things would return to what they had been before Heliopolis.

Kira spotted the Duel coming at him and raised his shield to defend himself against the onslaught. It was clear to him that the pilot of the Duel whoever they were had some sort of fixation on the Asuka. Kira couldn't guess why the Duel's pilot was fixed on him, such had never happened to him before being drawn into the war. The issue was the Duel would take most of Kira's attention and that could allow its allies to attack the Archangel. The other stolen machines were bad enough, to have other ZAFT mobile suits with them made defending the ship harder.

Lacus was quickly forced to engage the Blitz who kept her busy and unable to stop the other ZAFT suits. And she had really not gone against the Blitz in battle before, she normally went against the other three. In fact, now that she thought about it, Tyler had been the one that fought the Blitz when it came around. Lacus had to say though, whoever was piloting the Blitz was tactical and more reserved than the other stolen machines. Things got worse when the Buster began helping the Blitz forcing Lacus to pay attention to them and no one else.

Both Tolle and Mu noticed that Kira and Lacus were being kept busy and away from the Archangel. The other ZAFT machines were taking the opportunity to move forward toward the ship and attack. Mu opened up with his medium-caliber cannons and beam turret aiming for the GINNs that was coming. Tolle did much the same as Mu but he was having difficulty concentrating on the task. The Archangel supported its defenders as best it could but the assaulting force was just more than the ship could effectively handle.

It was ten minutes into the battle that the Shadow got close enough to see the signs of the fighting. Tyler scanned the field before himself and didn't like what he saw though he suspected things wouldn't be nice. On the ZAFT side of this, there were three WASP-type GINNs that were equipped for underwater operations, an assault-type GINN, and two regular GINNs. There were two GINNs that he'd not seen before, which made Tyler think it was a new variation of the GINN model for areal recon. And then, the machines from the Alliance's GAT series were present, all four of them in fact. It was about as bad as Tyler figured it would be if not slightly worse with the stolen OMNI units involved. And as expected on the Archangel's side were its two mobile suits and two skygraspers out fighting ZAFT.

The Archangel was flying above the ocean still pointing its bow towards Orb's mainland ahead of it. The ship had proven in Tyler's view it was not a bad warship, but it wa certainly not meant for serious solo assault. Things would be hard with a full crew which Tyler knew the Archangel didn't have. It made Tyler wonder a bit what Creuset could have said or reported about the Archangel to have ZAFT hunting it like they were. ZAFT knew what they were doing went against standing treaties and there would be consequences for that. With ZAFT attacking openly in Orb's territory, it wouldn't be kept quiet, the Federation would be getting answers from the PLANTs Supreme Council.

Tyler refocused on the task at hand, he would do what he could to prevent ZAFT from getting to the Archangel. Granted, Tyler knew that he couldn't reverse things on his own, though he could be considered to an extent a "one-person" army by some. It came from Tyler being ranked a top ace pilot, however, that came more from the capabilities that Tyler gained when he used his SEED mode. Only two others had beaten him which was why he was ranked third in the Federation, and those two were former ZAFT champions. And Tyler would use his abilities to protect and save his friends regardless of what consequences followed. Yet, he still questioned why people like him seemed to put in the position of cleaning up rather bad messes.

As Tyler continued forward, railgun rifle in the left hand and the beam rifle in the right he scanned the field to get ideas of how to efficiently turn things around. He knew that the ZAFT subs would need to be priority targets as they could resupply ZAFT forces. But time was of the essence, so just attacking the subs wouldn't get the results Tyler was going for. However, Tyler then felt his SEED mode coming on which changed the whole situation. Tyler had more experience than Kira or Lacus did with SEED factor as he'd had it come before now, so he knew how to use it effectively. Being able to predict where one's opponents would be almost all of the time would help cancel out the unfair numbers, Tyler was confident in that. And now a plan quickly began forming in Tyler's mind on how he could get things to turn around to something more preferred. The subs were still at the top of the list of targets but once that started ZAFT would come to him. Making himself the primary target would get the attention off the Archangel for a time. Tyler as an ace pilot could handle being shot at for a time and not be taken down in the process.

He focused on his first target which was the nearest ZAFT sub even if it was underwater at the moment. However, Tyler had the LAS cannon shift into active use mode as he intended to use it on the sub. With the Shadow's mirage colloid up and running along with his echo-trace system, Tyler was ignored by ZAFT and unseen by the Archangel. Tyler brought out the hidden scope and began acquiring the sub's location so he could shoot at it. The sooner that ZAFT forces had to worry about issues with resupply the better in Tyler's mind things would be.

As Tyler was acquiring the location of the sub, one of the WASP-type GINNs with aquatic equipment came into his field of vision. And while it wasn't the ZAFT sub he was searching for, it would still be a start. He raised his beam rifle and fired nailing the head of the GINN thereby taking out the main cameras the suit had to use. Then Tyler proceeded to disarm the mobile suit but left its legs and thrusters so that it could retreat if the pilot chose to. By the time Tyler finished up with the GINN, the Shadow's scope found the nearest sub's location. Tyler stored his railgun rifle and had the LAS cannon swing forward for use and as the accelerator coils had been warming up. He then pulled the trigger and shot the sub making a hole along with a tower of water that followed the explosion that came from the puncture Tyler made. The shell from the LAS cannon ejected from the back of the weapon and fell to the water beginning its cool-down cycle.

The tower of water didn't go unnoticed by some on the battlefield even if most were busy enough to miss it. Mu did manage to catch sight of the tower of water going up on the side ZAFT was assumed to be on. However, as far as he knew, none of the Archangel's defenders were on that side of the field as they were on the defensive. So that begged the question of what or who was attacking the ZAFT sub. Granted, they were in Federation territory, so their intervention was expected at some point. But if Federation forces were on the field already, they had been quicker to respond than normal for even them. Not that Mu would in any way complain when the Federation stepped in and shooed ZEFT away.

Nicol also noticed the tower of water and had heard the cries of distress from the struck sub over the radio. The sub that had been hit did come to the surface to prevent flooding from sinking to the sea bottom. Still, the event brought back the worries and concerns he had with this mission before setting out from Carpentaria. And it wasn't that Nicol doubted that Commander Creuset's intuition was off or wrong, it had proven to be right. It was this mission that took place in Federation territory and would give the Federation's military more than enough reason to attack them. The other "issue" that Nicol saw in this was there were four defending the enemy ship when there should've been five. The absence of the black mobile suit had started as disconcerting to Nicol, but it was getting worrisome now.

By previous reports, the last sub that had tried taking the legged ship down had dealt with the black enemy machine and it had "equipment" that could strike the sub underwater. The black machine had already shown it could switch equipment much like OMNI's X-105 Strike. Nicol could only imagine what Federation R&D could do with that technology and it wasn't pleasant thoughts. Should the Federation get ahold of OMNI's project that had designed the mobile suits Nicol and his comrades used, the applications were frightening as well as endless. Phase shift alone being employed or worse improved by the Federation would be nothing but problems for those who went against them.

Back with Tyler, he moved on after scoring a hit on the sub seeing that some of ZAFT's pilots had figured out something was attacking them that wasn't the enemy ship or its defenders. Some of the GINNs were scanning around trying to find the cause of the tower of water and the damaged GINN. Tyler began making his way closer to the Archangel and its defenders as they were one of the major reasons he was here. As he went, Tyler was shooting off the arms and heads of GINNs that he passed. There were a few that didn't ignore him as most did and for those he did shoot to destroy, but the rest he left damaged.

Elsewhere on the battlefield, Kira was fending off the Duel and Lacus was fighting the Buster. Their opponents were not making it easy for them and kept them busy as their allies surged forward. Kira had come to think the pilot of the Duel had some sort of obsession, though he couldn't figure out why. But the last few battles made it clear the Duel's pilot would go for him if given the chance. Kira wouldn't let the Duel get past him as then the Archangel would be in even more danger than it already was.

Lacus was being occupied by the Buster which had been restored with its original equipment. The Blitz had been drawn away from her by other things happening on the battlefield, so she had been able to focus on the Buster. The fight with the Buster started fine, Sakura's lessons were serving Lacus well. On the other end, Dearka found himself having to work hard and concentrate in the fight he was in. Things that Nicol and Athrun were coming to Dearka's mind about the enemy suit pilots. Before this battle, Nicol had iterated his concerns about the enemy pilots which had included some new information. According to Nicol, he had heard the Black Zephyr say that the black suit was part of the Federation's military. That Dearka could believe and would admit was more than just possible, unlike Yzak who had replied with such being nonsense. However, the second part of what Nicol said more concerned Dearka as the Zephyr also suspected said enemy pilot was likely Federation Special Forces or better. The black suit's pilot was one thing, but if what the Zephyr said was true and with her experience it likely was, then what were the odds the other two enemy pilots weren't normal? The past performance would suggest that either the Strike's pilot and the winged suit were fast learners or had piloting experience.

Tyler noticed the matchups that Kira and Lacus had been put in and he didn't like them at all. With Kira, Tyler didn't like or appreciate that the Duel's pilot had some sort of interest in his friend. Then Lacus was fending off the Buster who had its equipment back now which Tyler had destroyed in space. Tyler did not doubt that Lacus could manage fending off the Buster given time, the girl was using her sister's lessons well. However, Tyler then spotted the Blitz moving to help the Buster which he wasn't okay with. He didn't doubt that Lacus could hold her own against both for a time, but he didn't want to test how long that could be true. Also, should Lacus get into trouble and Tyler do nothing to help her and Sakura find out, he didn't want to imagine how much worse the woman would make his like hell.

With that in mind, Tyler decided to lure away the Blitz and fight that machine leaving the Buster for Lacus to deal with. And while Tyler intended to let Nicol Amalfi live, he had to convince him to leave as well. Some soldiers were stubborn on taking a hint, Tyler knew that as he was one of those kinds of soldiers sometimes. He hoped Nicol would be smart and after realizing he was outmatched would retreat from the fight. So, Tyler flew ward, pointing his railgun rifle at the Blitz, and let lose a few rounds in that direction. He could have used his beam rifle, but then there would be a chance of killing the pilot.

Nicol was moving to help Dearka with the Strike, things were souring in this battle and the problems were getting worse. It was only a matter of time before the Federation's military appeared if they haven't already. Once they were in the mix, ZAFT would be pushed to the defensive and the battle would be essentially over. So the quicker the enemy defenders could be disabled, the better chance there was to get the legged ship. Nicol did observe that the OMNI suit's pilot was doing decently against Dearka, in fact, more than decent. He was wondering if the pilot had some sort of training, and if so, who had been the one teaching?

However, before Nicol could get back to the Buster, shots flew close to the Blitz, which got Nicol to glance down at his sensors. There were ally and enemy signals everywhere, so rounds flying by wasn't out of the question. The shots that had come close had appeared to be what came out of the Recoilless rifle some of the GINNs were carrying. Nonetheless, something in Nicol's mind said it hadn't been "friendly fire" and he couldn't dismiss the thought. Yet, Nicol's attention was forced to shift as the Strike shot its beam rifle his way, so he had to weave out of the way. But then, the Blitz was struck from behind in the torso which got Nicol to swing around and search for who had shot him. That hadn't been friendly fire, that had been precision shots, he did not doubt that anymore.

As the Blitz was scanning around, Tyler knew he had Nicol's attention and that was what he wanted. Tyler deactivated his machine's mirage colloid and switched the Shadow's phase shift armor on. He kept closing the distance between the Shadow and the Blitz so he could strike in close range. The next thing Nicol knew the enemy black machine had appeared a worryingly short distance from. By the time the Shadow had gotten right in front of the Blitz, Nicol had just enough time to raise his shield to defend himself. Tyler ignited his shield's beam saber and slashed downward and slammed down onto the Blitz's shield. Nicol was once again surprised at this machine's capability and how its pilot used them.

And now Nicol was sure that the black machine had been the one that had struck the sub before. However, this time the black machine had yet different equipment than in the last encounter. In addition to its shield and beam rifle, it had two cannons attached to its back frame that sat behind either shoulder. Also, it had a second rifle that appeared longer than its normal beam rifle from the brief picture that Nicol had gotten. Nicol would guess that one of the two cannons was the weapon mentioned in the report from the sub that had gone against the legged ship which could strike an underwater sub. And for all Nicol knew, his opponent's backpack could have a second battery thereby extending its operation time. Then, while the Blitz's shield's anti-beam coating was holding its enemy's beam saber at bay, the Shadow had more thrusting power than the Blitz even combined with the subflight lifter.

Tyler kept pushing forward against the Blitz using his advantage with thrusting power the Shadow had over the Blitz. He saw little reason to be nice beyond not killing when it could be avoided to achieve the intended goal right now. Nicol tried what he could think of to get out from being on the defensive as he could do little in that position. However, in Nicol's mind, this battle had the odds stacked so high against him that there was little way he could win. He hadn't missed the signs subtle as they could be, the pilot was doing whatever they did to have eyes in the back of their head right now. If Nicol needed proof of his suspicions, a GINN moved over to help him but the black machine grabbed its beam rifle and shot the GINN destroying it. And it wasn't the single-shot kill which Nicol could respect the skilled attack, it was the black machine didn't even glance that way before shooting.

It was a moment later that Tyler forced the Blitz backward before ramming the Blitz, knocking it off its lifter and sending Nicol tumbling a short distance. Nicol was working to stabilize his suit as he didn't want to be vulnerable with the black enemy machine as his opponent. That task was made harder when the Shadow fired three consecutive rounds in rapid concession from its railgun rifle. Nicol had once again admit the Zephyr was right with this enemy pilot being anything but ordinary, they were in a similar if not the same league as the Champions. And its "new" rifle was interesting in the fact it could rapid-fire with railgun-like projectiles, that idea was only theoretical as far as Nicol knew at this point. ZAFT had tried to make a type of railgun mobile suit used that could fire consecutive shots without a cool down time, but attempts were not promising. And yet, the Federation looked to have made a working idea that did just that showing their technological development was still ahead of the Alliance and ZAFT.

When a momentary lull came for Dearka in his fight against the Strike, he glanced over to where the Blitz had been. Nicol had been moving over in Dearka's direction to likely assist, that was how Nicol was, help a comrade even when it made things harder for you. Even Yzak had admitted Nicol was a good "person" when he helped others on a battlefield which was rare for Yzak to say out loud. And with the Strike's pilot not just showing improvement, but also signs of potential personal training from one who had to be experienced and likely an expert, Dearka needed help if he could get it. However, Dearka spotted the Blitz in combat with none other than the black twin to the Blitz. The enemy machine had its shield beam saber pushing on the Blitz's shield and they looked to be locked in that position.

And Dearka noted that the enemy machine had different equipment that he'd never seen before now. It had a backpack with two cannons behind its shoulders along with a new rifle clipped on the left upper leg. Dearka saw the Shadow pushing forward and slowly but surely forcing the Blitz back in their clash. The Blitz flailed a bit to try and get the Shadow to back up but nothing worked to break the deadlock. Dearka was forced to block an attack from the Strike, but an explosion got him to twist to see a GINN being destroyed and the Shadow pointing its beam rifle in that direction. And what got a shiver to go up Dearka's spine was that the black machine hadn't looked that way before shooting. It was just as unsettling as it had been back in the upper atmosphere when the Shadow had done the same.

Lacus also noticed the ZAFT suit being destroyed and saw that the Shadow was fighting the Blitz. She was surprised to see Tyler's machine here on the battlefield since the Archangel crew hadn't parted with him on the best of terms. Lacus was glad he was here, the Archangel and their friends needed all the help they could get to make it through this battle against ZAFT. Of course, she knew that Tyler valued friends far more than the opinions of others about him. And yet, to see him kill another and do so without looking at them when pulling the trigger was unsettling. She figured that Tyler was a skilled pilot, but to be able to hit a target without taking the time to aim visual was a rare capability. Lacus then witnessed Tyler force the Blitz back and then ram it as he did with some opponents. Then the Shadow grabbed and raised its longer rifle and shot three rounds in rapid succession.

Dearka shoved the Strike away a bit and then he combined the Buster's rifles in the snipe configuration and took aim at the enemy black machine. To Dearka's frustration, the Shadow evaded two of his shots and blocked the third with its shield all the while not even glancing his way once while it was being attacked. After the third shot, Tyler did look over to where the Buster was and saw his opponent had regained its high-energy rifle. Tyler clearly remembered nailing that beam rifle a couple of fights ago, it had been sacrificed to save the pilot's life. That implied ZAFT had managed to reproduce OMNI's weapon, meaning they were reverse engineering OMNI's project slightly quicker than Federation intelligence had predicted.

Nicol after a minute got the Blitz back to being stable and gave the command to his lifter to come back to him. Once back on his lifter and flying levelly, he quickly locked back onto the Shadow so he didn't lose sight of it. When Nicol spotted his opponent, he saw that the Shadow had raised its railgun rifle and it was pointed at the Buster. The Buster had been shooting its combined rifles likely Dearka trying to help Nicol against the Shadow. However, the Shadow started using its rifle firing shot after shot also adding its shield cannon every third rifle shot to the mix. Thus, Dearka was getting essentially pummeled by railgun rounds and was forced off shooting his rifle and defending himself. Dearka was being shaken by the impacts and he was trying to figure out how his enemy was using some kind of rapid-fire weapon or combination. That machine had never shown before now that it could do that with anything other than its "hidden machine guns" in the torso. Nicol pointed his beam rifle and fired but the Shadow moved out of the way and kept up its barrage on the Buster.

An assault-type GINN made its way towards the Shadow to assist its allies who were being pinned down. Tyler noticed the ZAFT machine moving its way toward the fight he was pretty much dominating. He wasn't about to let another interfere and complicate things more than they already were if he had any say. So, Tyler brought out the Shadow's Titus cannon to active position letting it begin charging for use. Nicol saw the right cannon swinging forward and he was worried about what it could do. One of the two cannons could fire some from or volley into the water and his a sub. By the look of it, the cannon out wasn't the one that did that if Nicol was to give an educated guess. Should what Nicol was looking at be some sort of beam cannon, the size of the barrel suggested strongly the output would be nasty and most likely lethal. That assumption didn't stop Nicol from trying to get the Shadow to cease its attacks against the Buster.

The GINN used its assault rifle and began firing at the Shadow which did get Tyler to stop using its railguns temporarily against the Buster. Nevertheless, before Nicol or any of his allies could release a sigh of relief, the Shadow stored its railgun rifle on its left leg and swing its cannon to point at the GINN. Tyler pulled the trigger of the Titus cannon and the positron beam zoomed at the ZAFT machine and blasted right through the suit. Nicol was stunned at seeing the beam his opponent just let loose at his ally. It looked much like the type of beam the legged ship could fire off from its hidden beam cannons. If it was similar or the same, then that would spell out potentially frightening possibilities in the near future. Nicol could only imagine if OMNI had come up with such a weapon and what it could do if equipped with some kind of mass-production mobile suits. Should the Federation have created the weapon, it would be slightly less worrisome as they wouldn't use it recklessly.

The positron beam hadn't been missed by all on the field, just ignored by the majority who were busy with their own issues. However, Mu had seen the flash and a line of red which got him to pause for a brief moment. He glanced at the Archangel, but the Lohengrin cannons were not out, and besides that, the line had been elsewhere on the field. Yet, as Mu scanned the battlefield, he stopped at an unexpected sight. The Shadow was currently fighting against ZAFT forces and had its cannon from the last battle pointing in the direction the red bean had been. That the Shadow was here at all was something that Mu had to admit he didn't expect. Natarle had pretty much declared Tyler a "traitor" to the Archangel even if others didn't agree and essentially told him to never come back. That notwithstanding, Tyler was here and clearly defending the Archangel in its time of need. If that didn't show where the kid's loyalty lies, then Mu didn't think there was anything better which could say it. Granted, Mu doubted it was the Archangel specifically which Tyler was protecting, but his friends onboard, yet Mu could still appreciate that kind of commitment.

When the GINN was out of the way, Tyler had the Titus cannon go back to its stored position, and then he rushed toward the Buster. Dearka had just managed to get his head to stop bouncing around from the barrage he'd been under when he was snapped back to the present. For when Dearka looked forward, he found the Shadow directly in front of him. Dearka certainly didn't like an enemy machine this close, and definitely not this one. As the Buster was disconnecting its rifles, the Shadow kicked them knocking the Buster off balance. Tyler followed that move up with pointing the Shadow's shield at the lifter, specifically at where he knew the craft's power cell was. ZAFT's Guul had its battery cell slightly in front of where the clamps for the mobile suit were positioned. The Shadow let off a round from the shield's railgun which ripped right through the Guul's battery without much resistance.

Dearka was trying to bring his weapons to point forward at his opponent, but he was shaken again and an alarm started going off. When Dearka looked at his forward display, he swallowed hard as it said his Guul had just taken a lethal shot. At glancing upward, Dearka had just enough time to see the Shadow sending a foot at him before he was thrown forward as the Buster was separated from its lifter. As the Buster was falling, Lacus could only stare at what Tyler had just pulled off in front of her eyes. Lacus even would bet Sakura would applaud the move he'd pulled off as impressive and noteworthy. And Sakura was not easy to impress, Lacus knew that for a fact. Yet, as the Shadow turned to face the Blitz again, Lacus was caught by a GINN and was forced to defend herself.

Nicol was both awed and scared at what he'd just seen happen to Dearka. The opposing machine had done a maneuver that any soldier would be commended for if not congratulated for pulling off. Nicol believed most would be hard-pressed to counter that move if called on without serious practice and even then it would be extremely difficult. If the black machine's pilot wasn't fighting against ZAFT Nicol would love to talk with them about technique. However, Nicol was also scared as someone who could pull such off would not be an opponent that textbook strategy would work against. Nicol knew that if he lost his Guul, he would lose any chance to fight and force back the Shadow. His opponent's backpack apparently gave them flight capabilities, and with the thruster the suit had, the backpack may not be needed for the idea anyway. That would be an advantage it had over the Blitz, and there seemed to be a growing number of those from what Nicol was figuring.

So, Nicol raised the Blitz's left arm with the intent to use the Gleipnir to act as a distraction if anything else. Tyler saw the Gleipnir launching and flying in his direction which he could counter just fine with the Shadow's shield. It had been one of the upgrades Tyler was thankful for, his shield had been refitted with Reinforced Zencium, which was three times stronger than the non-reinforced alloy. However, there were also two more GINNs, one a regular type and the other an assault-type coming at the Shadow from different directions. Tyler didn't doubt that he could handle the three suits attacking at the same time, yet should his popularity keep rising as it was, Tyler would have a harder time working towards his goal.

At the same time, Lacus managed to fend off the Ginn and saw that Kira was still fighting the Duel as he had been the last time she'd checked. Kira was doing okay, but Lacus flew over and began helping him with the Duel as the Buster was down and she was free. She hadn't forgotten Tyler, but he was showing he was handling himself masterfully. The problem that Lacus saw was they were being drawn away from the Archangel and some of ZAFT's forces were going for the ship. If the Archangel was sunk, all their efforts would be for nothing in the end, and Lacus wouldn't accept that.

As Tyler saw the Gleipnir zooming at him, he oriented the Shadow to be leaning backward an amount and have the shield in front of the torso. At the same time, the Shadow grabbed its beam rifle and swung it to point at one of the oncoming GINNs. Tyler also had the LAS cannon begin charging as well for use in the next moment. The Shadow parried the Gleipnir which ricocheted off the shield and kept going with a slight upward arc. Then Tyler shot his beam rifle and blasted off a leg of one of the oncoming GINNs which had to drop to its lifter a moment later. Nicol recalled the Gleipnir, surprised that his opponent's shield was able to deflect it rather than penetrate it. The Gleipnir should have penetrated the shield, or at least make some notable damage before being brought to a halt. But the enemy shield had taken the attack making Nicol think the Federation had done something to it. Federation armor was superior to both ZAFT and OMNI, Nicol knew that even if higher-ups didn't want to admit that fact.

Yet, the surprises weren't done, the Shadow brought out its LAS cannon and pointed it in the direction of the other GINN. The cannon fired and punched a sizable hole in the Guul and then a distance behind that made a splash in the water. A tower of water followed the splash and Nicol heard over the radio one of the subs had just taken a hit. He couldn't help but stare at the damage and his mind began putting things together and horror filled him. Nicol's opponent had a weapon that did near-identical damage as Federation space cruisers did with their main weapon. That implied the Federation had engineered the same type of armor-piercing weapon for a mobile suit to use. And Nicol didn't want to put to the test if phase shift armor had a prayer of blocking that kind of attack. If it could by some miracle stop that kind of shot, Nicol would bet the power drain it would require would be enough to effectively make a pilot retreat to resupply.

Nicol had the Blitz rush forward and activate his beam saber to do something to decrease the number of weapons the black machine had. He aimed for the backpack so that he could get rid of those dangerous cannons, as much for himself as for his allies. Tyler saw the attack coming but at the same time, the GINN with the functional Guul was firing its weapons. The situation gave Tyler two choices, defend against the Blitz or eject the Kale pack since he had no time to counter the GINN effectively. The first option would have the Shadow taking the GINN's shots which would drain the Shadow's battery, and Tyler needed as much battery power to work with as he could get. The second option would have Tyler lose both cannons which had been a very helpful advantage in this battle. However, the longer this battle went on with the Archangel flying, the more likely ZAFT would be forced to retreat once Federation forces arrived. In the end, Tyler figured time was more pressing rather than how many ZAFT machines he handled. Thus, Tyler input the command to have the Kale pack eject from the Shadow's docking points.

Nicol was swinging his beam saber down when there were two puffs of smoke and the Shadow's backpack separated. His opponent shot forward while the backpack fell downward toward the water below. Nicol was taken aback as the black suit had just sacrificed the heavy weapons it had for no apparent reason. That still left the Shadow with both rifles, its shield's equipment, and whatever the machine had on it which still could be employed dangerously. But Nicol couldn't figure out why the enemy would just do what it did, it made no logical sense. Yet, before he could consider further, the Shadow used its beam rifle to take out the GINN's lifter and the suit began falling. Nicol rushed forward and caught the GINN before he looked around and saw the Shadow had disappeared. His opponent vanishing didn't end the issue if anything that added a wrinkle to the current circumstances.

Meanwhile, Kira was still fighting the Duel and Yzak was getting frustrated with the lack of successful hits he was having. Athrun noticed that the Duel was having trouble, but he hesitated as it was going against the machine Kira piloting. Then this battle had been going on long enough for the chances of the Federation showing up very possible and the odds increased the longer this was drawn out. And while Commander Creuset was persistent, even he had to know that when the Federation got involved in this, ZAFT would have to fall back and retreat or be wiped out. That this battle was in Federation territory at all had worried all but Commander Creuset who had merely said they would finish this before that came up. Yet, since Athrun didn't want to fight Kira if he didn't have to, he chose to target the legged ship.

As Kira forced the Duel back a red beam shot by in his peripheral vision and when Kira looked he didn't like what he saw. The Aegis was in its mobile armor mode and had fired its energy cannon at the Archangel. The ship's laminated armor had taken the shot but where the beam hit was bright orange. Kira knew that meant the armor was at its limit of dissipating attacks for that particular spot. And after a moment, Kira realized that all the Archangel's defenders had been pulled away from the ship and were being kept busy. So, the Aegis could attack as it pleased without any around to interrupt or stop it from doing so. Kira focused forward and used the Asuka's Igelstellungs to pepper not the Duel but its lifter, specifically its missile launchers. The missiles exploded in their pods and did damage to the Guul, which had alarms going off inside the Duel. Yzak cursed the alarms and found his lifter was going down, meaning he had lost once again against the winged suit.

Mu also noticed the attack on the Archangel and quickly pulled away from the GINN that he'd been working on. He put his foot down and zoomed towards where the Aegis was which had switched over to its suit mode. Athrun was using his beam rifle to attack the legged ship when the beam came his way and he was forced to move right. When he looked, Athrun saw one of the aircraft that had come from the enemy ship flying toward him. The aircraft also appeared to be carrying the Strike's beam cannon on its right wing and the weapon pod that went with the cannon on its left wing. Athrun had to say he was kind of impressed as OMNI had designed one of their aircraft to use equipment packs that the Strike used, it couldn't have been easy. Still, Athrun had the Aegis jump and shift to use the Scylla cannon and with this shot, he hit one of the Archangel's Valiant linear cannons.

The Archangel shook as the port Valiant took a hit from the Aegis's beam cannon. Murrue knew going into this battle things would be grim at best, ZAFT had gotten the jump on them. It had been hoped that traveling through Federation territory would avoid an encounter with ZAFT forces. But instead, three Vosgulov-class subs had attacked them along with their mobile suits which had brought the Archangel to a halt. Of course, all the ship's mobile weapons had been sent out, but its fighting force was down by one. The loss of the Shadow had been more of a blow for the Archangel even if some didn't admit it. And it hadn't taken long for ZAFT to draw away the defenders of the Archangel. Natarle's orders for the mobile suits and skygraspers to get back and stay close had gone unheeded. The reports from the crew that had been near the damaged linear cannon weren't encouraging either. There were fires in that area and smoke was pouring out of the hull ruptures around the Valiant.

Mu had his skygrasper dive and fired the Agni cannon at the Aegis hope to get it to back off from the Archangel. On the third shot, Mu managed to send a beam right through the Aegis's Guul lifter. Athrun had the Aegis leap off the lifter before it detonated from the damage the beam had done. The moment that the Aegis touched the ground, Athrun had it leap backward and begin to make distance from the Archangel for now. However, Athrun did take a shot at the aircraft and managed to get a hit on the craft's right wing. Mu gripped his flight stick as the skygrasper began to fight him with the damage incurred. Mu kept glancing at the altitude readouts falling as his skygrasper started gliding downward. He did get the craft to aim toward the closes island beach he could get to as he glided. A minute later Mu's aircraft skipped on the water twice before hitting the sand and plowed to a stop.

Tyler had by that point gotten some good distance from where he'd been and escaped the attention he had been under. He took a moment to assess things as they stood compared to what he wanted them to be. From what Tyler calculated, Federation forces would be in range in the next few minutes, so ZAFT just needed to be delayed for a little longer. However, then he had seen the Aegis score a hit on the Archangel and one of the skygraspers make a landing on a beach. And while Tyler wouldn't blame his friend for his actions, they certainly didn't help the current situation. Kira had appeared to have dealt with the Duel which did help as Tyler didn't see that troublemaker around. The Buster was down thanks to Tyler and the Blitz was busy with other things, which left really two of the stolen suits still in this fight. The Archangel was down one defender but still had four including Tyler. However, ZAFT was still pressing forward with desperation if Tyler observed correctly which he took to mean they knew they would be in trouble when Federation forces arrived.

Yet then, Tyler caught sight of a scene that he didn't like and was in no way comfortable with. The Asuka had gone after the Aegis and the two were now dancing which worried Tyler a great deal. He knew from the moment he found out Athrun had been among the ZAFT force that had stolen OMNI's pet project that there could be some very bad possibilities that could come up. Losing friends was among the worst things that Tyler could imagine, and yet, here in front of his eyes, Tyler was seeing his two best friends fighting one another. And if things didn't change quickly, there was an extremely good chance Tyler would be attending one of their funerals if not both of theirs. Tyler tapped in a few commands and began hearing the exchange between Athrun and Kira.

Athrun had planned to head back to the subs as this battle was coming to a close and it wasn't worth continuing. He would argue that to Commander Creuset if he had to and tell him their losses were bad enough already and would be worse if they didn't leave. Athrun was confident that Nicol would agree and back him up with the reasoning. If the other sub captains agreed, then the commander would be overruled, and the retreat would happen. However, the suit that Kira was piloting got in Athrun's way before he could get back to one of the subs. Athrun opened a channel so that Kira would hear him, "Kira, please move, this battle is over, it isn't worth continuing for either side."

It wasn't that Kira didn't agree with Athrun's statement, he truly did, this battle was pointless to continue. Nonetheless, it shouldn't have happened in the first place and people had died that hadn't had to. "It isn't that I don't agree with you, but this shouldn't have happened in the first place and you know that somewhere in your heart," Kira returned.

Athrun hesitated as he didn't want to argue with Kira as he agreed on this fight, it hadn't been necessary. Yet, Commander Creuset had been insistent and had only said the legged ship needed to be sunk. Athrun had been worried the commander's persistence was turning into an obsession that was dangerous. And while Creuset was a good commander, Athrun had seriously considered going to the leader over Carpentaria and report his concerns. Athrun was regretting that he hadn't done that already but it was too late to take that back. However, Kira was also defending those that were using him and Lacus to protect them in order to deliver their project. Granted, Tyler, he, and others had made sure that project wouldn't reach OMNI intact, but Kira unlikely knew that.

That brought up the point of Tyler in Athrun's mind, as he had left his friend behind to take a harsh fall. Athrun didn't fool himself, the officers of the Archangel would accuse him of betrayal in a heartbeat when they found out he and Commander Clyne had been there. And it felt like Tyler was taking the fall for Athrun personally to keep him out of trouble, which he knew Tyler would do without hesitation. Yet, he doubted that any of Tyler's efforts to save those onboard the Archangel were taken into account if the crew were aware of them at all. Athrun didn't know if Kira knew of Tyler's effort but if naiveté was anything to go with, he likely didn't, he would have watched Tyler take the fall. Oh, Athrun didn't doubt Kira would have attempted to defend their best friend the best he could. But Kira was just too nice to stand up against authority figures like officers if they were stubborn enough. "I know this battle shouldn't be happening," Athrun began, "But that ship and its crew are not innocent either. What did they do when Tyler helped me and Commander Clyne out of Shira?"

Kira paused as he knew what Athrun was referring to and he was still sore about that event. What Natarle had done to Tyler wasn't fair and had been totally uncalled for whether she meant it to be or not. Kira knew that Tyler had been helping in what Athrun mentioned, he had been preventing a clash between the Archangel's crew and Sakura. There had been a fallout between the crew and those who were friends of Tyler and that was ongoing. However, Kira didn't think that event should mean that the Archangel's crew was guilty of crimes. "They misunderstood Tyler's efforts, I know that, but they don't deserve to die either," Kira reasoned.

Athrun appreciated Kira's heart of gold, he looked for the best of things and in people and that was a great quality. But it was that which made what the OMNI officers were doing to Kira and Lacus so horrible. They were taking advantage of them and using their abilities for their own purposes. Yes, perhaps circumstances did play a part in that, but the fact was whether intentional or not, they were using Kira and Lacus to help complete their mission. Athrun feared if either of them reached whichever Alliance base this ship was heading for, OMNI would hurt them if not worse. Lacus alone would be used as a hostage against the PLANTs as she was beloved by the citizens. "Kira, you're too nice to be doing this, your naiveté is blinding you to what OMNI intends to do."

Kira didn't want to believe Athrun in relation to the Archangel's crew, they really were nice people. And he would deny what his friend said before overhearing what Tyler had been talking about around his house. Yes, Tyler had like Kira knew had been defending the Archangel and its crew from ZAFT. But Kira hadn't forgotten what Tyler said about what was supposed to be waiting at OMNI's JOSH-A base. And it was that which made Kira pause, "Maybe you're right about OMNI, but I can't let ZAFT sink the Archangel."

Athrun was trying to wrap his head around this and couldn't figure out what was anchoring Kira to this. The Archangel's crew was using his friend, Athrun was sure of that, so why help them in that? Granted, Tyler had mentioned something about there being "friends" on that ship, but all that needed to be done was for them to leave too. So what was holding Kira and Lacus back? "Kira the ship can't be allowed to complete its mission," Athrun stated, "it would make this war so much worse. Even you should be able to see OMNI getting mobile suits is an issue for everyone that isn't at the Alliance's beckon and call. Stop being so stubborn in this, Tye, and I can help get your friends off that ship, and then you'd be free."

Kira was a tad surprised at what Athrun was saying, he wouldn't expect it from him. Athrun was suggesting that Kira take Lacus and the others from the Archangel and then leave the rest of the crew to fend for themselves. Athrun was not the kind of person to leave people to die if it could be prevented. Perhaps his time with ZAFT had changed that but Kira didn't want to believe that about his friend. "Athrun are you hearing yourself," Kira asked. "you're saying everyone on the Archangel deserved to die. They are decent people, yes, they have flaws but everyone has some, that doesn't mean they don't deserve a chance to live."

Tyler wasn't liking what he heard, as he knew both sides of this disagreement which Kira and Athrun only had one side each. Athrun had a point with the Archangel's mission needing to fail in the end for everyone's benefit. However, Kira had a point that the Archangel's crew didn't deserve to die just because they were with OMNI. And what was worse to Tyler, he had been the one to give both an amount of their information which they were arguing with. Normally, Tyler wouldn't have much of an issue with Athrun and Kira having a disagreement since he was all for constructive discussion. But with both his friends in mobile suits, the chance that calm discussion without unhealthy emotion coming into play was much too high for Tyler's liking. Thus, Tyler was planning to get between the two and separate them as required and have them cool off before they continue talking. So, Tyler was knocking off the distance between him and his best friends so that he could prevent them from hurting each other. Tyler wouldn't be attending a friend's funeral because of today, he would make the utmost effort to make sure of that. And though the thought wasn't in any way pleasant, if said efforts required Tyler to risk his life to prevent Athrun and Kira from killing one another, he would put himself on the line. This situation was merely a reminder to Tyler why he hated this war, it pitted friends and good people against one another.

Athrun was doing his best to keep calm and collected with this talk with Kira, he knew it would be better in the end. However, Kira's naiveté was making that much harder as it was blinding his friend to the truth. Athrun assumed that Tyler had been trying to get Kira to see that OMNI was not fighting this war to bring peace. He knew that Tyler would be aware that OMNI and through them the Alliance were attempting to assert dominance and for some exterminate Coordinators. And while what Kira said about the legged ship's crew may be true about them being decent people, the ones they worked for weren't. Athrun wanted to believe some of ZAFT's commanders would've given the Archangel the chance to surrender and let the crew live. Yet, this ongoing war had been cutting that number down and it was becoming shoot first and regret later. If it did any good, then Athrun would argue for giving a chance for the legged ship's crew to surrender and be alive afterward with the mission commander. Nonetheless, that in this mission was Commander Creuset and it was extremely unlikely to agree to such.

And that brought the internal argument that Athrun was having back to where it began, this war had him facing one of his best friends. ZAFT protocol would expect him to take down the enemy unit which would have him killing Kira. Athrun couldn't face Tyler or Lacus if he did that without serious hesitation and attempting to talk to Kira. There was one other desperate idea that Athrun could think of and he didn't like it. He could as Nicol and any with them to go and "disable" their target and do their best to not destroy the ship while he held one of its main defenders at bay. Not only would Kira fight that, but it also put Nicol in the line of fire which Athrun didn't want to do either. Athrun exhaled heavily, "Kira, please," he started, "I don't want to fight you, but the ship your defending can't continue its journey. If you could convince them to stand down, I will get the ZAFT forces to stop attacking. No one else would have to die and all on that ship can leave this alive and go wherever they wish."

Tyler wanted to believe what Athrun suggested was possible, and if by some weird chain of events Sakura was in charge of this force, he would be onboard with the idea. However, Creuset was the one calling the shots, and Tyler wouldn't trust that man to stop his hunt if asked to. No Tyler was more sure the masked man would take a stand down from the Archangel as an encouragement to sink them once and for all. Kira himself stopped for a moment and considered what Athrun said. It wasn't that he didn't believe Athrun wouldn't try to stop ZAFT if somehow Kira got Murrue to stand down. Kira would go to Murrue as he was sure Natarle wouldn't even for a moment consider the idea. But ZAFT hadn't been very willing to give the Archangel a chance to even talk, they had been shooting at them first. Still, Kira didn't want to fight Athrun either, he was one of his best friends and he still saw him that way even now. "Athrun, I think both of us know as wonderful as your idea is, neither side would agree to it," Kira admitted.

Athrun was well-aware that his last-ditch suggestion was a long-shot, even he was doubtful it would play out well. Nevertheless, he was grasping at straws that didn't have him attacking Kira and possibly killing him in the end. So, it fell to the other desperate idea that he had which could work, which had Athrun opening a secure channel to the Blitz. "Nicol, I have a serious favor to ask you, and I want you to agree to it before I tell you about it."

Nicol had just gotten the GINN he'd assisted after the black machine had beaten him back to a sub when Athrun had contacted him. It wasn't that Athrun was asking a favor of him that made Nicol wonder what was going on, it was he wanted Nicol to promise to do it before he told him about it. Athrun hadn't done that before with Nicol or any member of the team that had come together under Commander Creuset's watch. Nicol knew Athrun wouldn't ask such a thing if he didn't have a reason, but the tone of voice worried Nicol. The last he'd seen the Aegis, it had been set up for an attack on the target ship, but Nicol had been distracted by the black suit. "Okay Athrun," Nicol replied after a brief pause, "What do you need me to do for you?"

Athrun didn't like going behind Kira's back in this, but he couldn't see an alternative that didn't have Athrun potentially killing him. "I need you to strike the legged ship's engines and disable it as much as you can without destroying the main ship structure. I want the crew to be alive by the end of this if at all possible," Athrun got out. "I know it is a lot to ask, but please, I need you to try while I hold the winged suit off."

Nicol blinked for a moment at what Athrun asked, for it wasn't what Nicol would have expected. The legged ship and its crew had been troublesome from the start of the mission to pursue them, there wasn't a question of that. It was because of them that four of the soldiers they had worked with were dead. And yet, Nicol didn't doubt Athrun had a reason to ask what he was, even if Nicol couldn't guess what it was. Athrun was taking on the winged suit, it was no joke to fight that one any more than the black machine, only slightly less dangerous. And while Nicol could see getting over to the legged ship and shooting the engines, it would be hard after the first few shots to not aim for vital areas. Still, Nicol had agreed to help Athrun in this, so he wouldn't go back on his word. Others were currently holding the attention of the other legged ship defenders other than the black suit, so what Athrun said should work. "Yeah I can do that," Nicol returned, but hesitated, "But what would disabling the ship do that sinking it wouldn't?"

"It would spare the crew," Athrun answered, "And then we would have leverage to stop this battle with no more lives being lost unnecessarily."

Nicol could see the logic Athrun was going with, and he would certainly agree with it, too many had died in this. But Nicol wasn't sure that the ZAFT sub captain and more Commander Creuset would give a chance to surrender to the legged ship. Although there may not be the time to do so either as Federation forces were expected any minute now. So, in the end, Athrun's idea would work well in stopping the OMNI ship and then ZAFT could retreat. "Very well," Nicol replied, "I'll do my best, just be careful Athrun." Nicol then activated the Blitz's mirage colloid and began making his way toward his target avoiding the fighting as he went.

Athrun returned his attention to the Asuka and lowered his beam rifle before storing it on the hip binder. Kira was slightly surprised at Athrun's actions of lowering his weapons, perhaps he was showing he didn't want to fight anymore? "Kira," Athrun started, "I don't want to kill you, I hope you can believe me when I say that. I wish this war had never pitted us against each other and I'm sorry about what happened to Heliopolis."

At the same time, Natarle and Murrue could see things were not improving for them as this battle kept going. Close to half their weapons and CIWS systems were damaged and not working properly by this point. If ZAFT kept pushing they would soon overwhelm the ship should nothing change quickly for the better. One skygrasper had crash-landed and so was out of the battle while the other was fighting against mobile suits. Both mobile suit defenders were being kept busy by ZAFT so couldn't jump quickly to help the Archangel. The Asuka was the closest but while it had managed to drive off the Duel and stop the Aegis from attacking the ship directly, it was now in combat with the Aegis. Murrue was kind of hoping that as the Archangel was in Federation territory, one of their patrols would come by soon and help them out. Natarle on the other hand, wasn't optimistic of Federation assistance as she didn't want them potentially doing anything to the Archangel.

Yet, things took a turn for the worse for the Archangel as the Blitz reached attack range by that point. Nicol moved to have the legged ship's engines in view for him to shoot at with his beam rifle. Granted, only two engines were above the water at the moment, but Nicol remembered the wings had smaller engines which he believed he could strike. If Nicol got the two large ones and the wing engines, and perhaps one or two of those underwater, then it would slow the ship to a crawl if not stop it. So, Nicol aimed at the right engine and pulled the trigger, seeing a moment later an explosion and the engine's jet go out. Nicol knew time was now of the essence so he started firing at the wings and the other visible engine. The Archangel shook as one of the large thrusters was hit and when Natarle ordered a damage report, she wasn't happy. One of the large thrusters had been damaged enough to have it shut down which cut down on the Archangel's forward travel speed. It was the last thing they needed right now, giving ZAFT a chance to slow them down and catch them. Natarle ordered Miriallia to contact the Asuka and tell Kira to get back here now as the attacks continued.

Kira lowered the Asuka's beam rifle as he listened to Athrun. He really did believe his friend when he said he didn't want to fight or kill him. Athrun had a good heart, he didn't want to kill people and cause others the same feelings of loss that he'd experienced due to Bloody Valentine. Maybe if they worked together, they could get both sides to come to some sort of agreement as Athrun suggested. Kira wanted to believe that was also possible still and was at least worth an attempt. However, before Kira could voice anything to Athrun, a comm-channel opened from the Archangel. "Kira," Miriallia said in a panic, "The ship is under attack, someone is taking out the thrusters! We need you to come back now and stop them!"

Kira turned and saw there was smoke coming from the Archangel more than there had been before. The Asuka started forward but the Aegis zoomed at is and Athrun had the Aegis grab the mobile suit and hold it preventing it from moving. Kira glanced to his left and saw the Aegis holding him in place, "Athrun what are you doing," he demanded.

Athrun wasn't happy or even feeling good stopping Kira from helping the Archangel, likely for his friends onboard. And if it wasn't for Kira's long-term good, Athrun wouldn't be doing what he was, but that was his motivation. So, Athrun bit his tongue before he spoke, "I'm sorry Kira, but this is the only way I can think of to not have to potentially kill you. A trusted comrade of mine is taking out the ship's engines, once it is slowed down or stopped, I will do everything I can to stop ZAFT attacking." Athrun paused, honestly shocked with what he was about to offer to Kira, but it was all he could conceive to not attack Kira and have to do it seriously. "I will even help you defend the Archangel while getting them to fall back so talks can happen, you have my word. But you have to let my friend bring the ship to a stop first, please, don't resist."

Tyler would have had his mouth open at what Athrun had just said if the battle wasn't as serious as it was. Should Athrun follow through with what he offered, he could be court-martialed if not accused of being a traitor. Not that Tyler doubted Athrun would keep his word, he knew his friend would. It was that Athrun felt any of what he was doing or suggesting was necessary that shocked Tyler. Still, Tyler was trying to get to the two so that he could get them to break things up and focus on working together to end the battle. Tyler felt that were the three of them to work together, they could get all sides to pause long enough to get things to break up. However, the Asuka managed to break free of the Aegis's hold and start going towards the Archangel. The Aegis moved in front of the Asuka and Athrun blocked Kira from going where he was. "Kira," Athrun shouted, "Don't do this, listen to reason and look at the big picture so we can save as many lives as possible!"

Kira was angry at Athrun, not because he was clearly willing to do what he could to stop this battle, but because his plan put his friends in danger. He was a tad surprised that Athrun would offer to help defend the Archangel if it stopped moving. If Kira wasn't so angry, then he would have contacted the Archangel and told them to stop and say what he had to to get them to do so. But his friends from Heliopolis were in danger right now and that took priority. So Kira took out one of the Asuka's beam sabers and slashed at the Aegis. Athrun was forced to throw his controls back to avoid the attack. He took that as Kira wouldn't be cooperating which made this all the harder. However, Athrun surged forward igniting one of his own beam sabers and swinging at the Asuka making it stop. The two began fighting harder and that moved them to the nearby island which became part of the battlefield for both suits.

Tyler had paled when Kira had attacked the Aegis as it signaled the fight had just turned and was going downhill fast. He felt he could get to them in the next minute if he wasn't drawn into something else along the way. It was painful for Tyler to see his two best friends fighting, and it was quickly looking like they were striking to damage and potentially do harm to the other. Tyler would leave helping the Archangel to allied reinforcements that were about to arrive, they would do as good as Tyler would. If Tyler deviated from his current task, he was convinced one of his friends would be killed. Neither the Asuka nor the Aegis was getting notable hits, but that wouldn't take long to change. "Kira," Athrun shouted, "Don't do this!"

"I won't let you hurt them," Kira yelled back.

Tyler was putting the Shadow's thrusters to their "safe" limits to get over to the fighting mobile suits. Yet, Tyler wasn't the only one that was heading towards the Asuka and the Aegis, Tolle in his skygrasper was doing so as well. Tolle had heard the cry for help from the Archangel, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do much to help. However, he could free up Kira to do so and then try his best to distract the Aegis. He knew it was borderline sucidial and there would be a good chance the Aegis would kill him. But their friends were on the Archangel and Kira could help them best to be alive after this. So, Tolle swallowed hard and then locked in an attack run aiming at the Aegis, arming one of his missiles. He sent the missile out and it stuck the Aegis momentarily giving the Asuka some breathing room.

The Aegis shook as the missile hit, the phase shift armor blocked the shot from doing damage to the suit. Athrun glanced the direction the missile came and saw one of the OMNI aircraft coming at him. That OMNI pilot may be helping Kira, but they were also using him and helped this situation come about. So Athrun threw his shield like a frisbee at the oncoming aircraft to get them to back off. Tolle watched as if in slow-motion the shield coming at him, there was no time to veer off enough to not take a serious hit. Thought flashed through Tolle's mind as he stared at the projectile coming closer. There had been things Tolle had wanted to do, things he had wanted to say before he died. One of the big things that came to him was he had wanted to tell Miriallia how he felt about her. Yes, he may have joked about it before when around the rest of the gang, but Tolle really did like her. Heck, he'd been trying to figure a smooth way to ask her out on a date the next time they got shore leave. But now he wouldn't get to do any of what was coming to mind, and he regretted not having the courage to do so.

Tyler had seen the shield thrown by the Aegis, and he didn't blame Athrun for it, he was reacting. However, Tyler wouldn't let Mu or Krystal die today as they were good people and the world needed as many of those as it could get. He pulled on his controls and pulled up to get in the path of the shield so he could intercept it. Tyler knew he couldn't divert the shield any more with it so close, but he could stop it dead with his shield. Tyler raised it up and the Aegis's shield slammed into the Shadow's shield with massive kinetic force. Yet, the projectile struck in the side before Tyler could get the main face of the shield in place, so it punctured the shield. An alarm began screeching after the impact and when Tyler looked down at the display, he saw the shield's railgun's firing camber had been breached. That was causing an overload that would end in a detonation which would destroy the shield. Tyler hit the switch that would detach the shield and he let it fall to the water below.

Tolle had been readying himself to veer the best he could so the shield nicked the aircraft engines and maybe manage a crash landing. However, a moment before Tolle was going to do that, the shield appeared to vanish which was followed by a crashing sound. Then there was something falling through the air which Tolle couldn't identify as he went left, but whatever it was exploded just before it hit the water. The next thing Tolle knew, the Shadow materialized where the shield had been but it was missing its own shield. It took a moment for Tolle to realize that Tyler had just literally saved his life. And Tyler wasn't supposed to be around here as he'd been left back in the Republic when the Archangel left. Yet, Tolle was grateful that his friend had been around this battle and had stepped in to save his life.

Tyler would have taken the time to acknowledge Tolle's thanks he gave over the radio if the situation wasn't what it was right now. He was a tad surprised that Tolle was in one of the skygraspers. It wasn't Tolle wouldn't be able to fly the aircraft, he had been acting as the Archangel's co-pilot so it wouldn't be that much different. Tyler was taken aback that Tolle had the courage to get into the cockpit knowing he may not come back, it wasn't as easy as some made it seem. Still, Tyler assumed that Tolle could make it back to the Archangel just fine from where they were. He needed to focus on splitting Athrun and Kira up as soon as possible before the two got to the point of doing serious harm. As Tyler looked back, he saw to his worry that Athrun and Kira were going harder at one another.

Kira had been horrified when the Aegis's shield had been flung at one of the two skygraspers. And a glance down told him it was Tolle in that said aircraft that was about to have the shield plow through. Kira tried to shove the Aegis back so that he could try to stop the skygrasper's destruction. But Athrun didn't let him leave so Kira was left to watch painfully as the projectile kept getting closer to Tolle. Nevertheless, the Aegis's shield came to a dead halt before it dropped a moment later with something attached to it. The shield exploded just before it made a splash but Kira's attention was drawn back to Athrun as their fight resumed. But now, Kira was fuming since Athrun even if unintentionally, had almost killed one of his friends. "How could you, Athrun," Kira began with a snarl, "You almost killed Tolle!"

Athrun blinked at Kira's response trying to think about what he was so angry about. The name Tolle was vaguely familiar, he believed it belonged to one of those Kira had introduced him to back around Tyler's place, yet no face was coming to mind. However, that did suggest that maybe one of Kira's friends was helping as a pilot for the OMNI ship, which Athrun hadn't been aware of. Yet, Athrun was also wondering what his shield had hit to stop, let alone blow up before striking the water. This whole fight had gone south quicker than Athrun had thought it could and it was frustrating him. Before he could apologize to Kira and tell him he hadn't known his friend had been in that aircraft, the Asuka attacked him again. After the first push from the Asuka, it slashed upward with its beam saber and Athrun tried to pull back to avoid the attack. However, he wasn't quick enough as the Aegis got its left arm sliced off as Athrun was jumping back.

Athrun's frustration was growing as he was doing the best he could to not hurt or kill Kira in this battle. He had asked Nicol to do something that could easily get him killed and Athrun had not wanted to put Nicol in that position. Athrun had even offered to help Kira after Nicol finished which he would have to pay for later. Defending an enemy ship was a serious thing and if you didn't have a solid reason to do that, you would be court marshaled bare minimum. And yet, none of that had gotten Kira to listen and let Athrun help him save as many people as they could. "That's not what I," Athrun started trying to keep calm but his irritation was getting the better of him. Kira had killed ZAFT pilots today and they were not horrible people any more than other people were, "You have taken lives-" Athrun couldn't get out the words he wanted to say and make them nice, "why won't you listen Kira!"

The Aegis shot forward and cut off the Asuka's left arm, shield included in exchange for what Kira had done to the Aegis. Athrun then had the Aegis twist around to get behind the Asuka and stabbed the backpack. He leaped back and the Asuka's backpack had a dull explosion, which Kira noted that half his thrusters weren't responding now. He didn't like how Athrun was being so stubborn, Athrun was claiming Kira was being stubborn but it was him that was doing that. So, Kira whipped out the Asuka's beam rifle and nailed the Aegis's head taking out Athrun's main cameras.

Tyler was now in range to do things to separate the two mobile suits even without his shield to work with. He was worried that the situation had already spiraled to the point that Kira and Athrun were trying to tear the other machine apart. The Shadow landed on one leg before Tyler had the suit launch forward toward the Aegis and the Asuka. Tyler was using his machine's thrusters and the added momentum that he could get from the push the Shadow's legs could give. Just before Tyler could reach the two, the Aegis leaped backward and transformed into its armor attack mode.

Athrun was making do with having the Aegis's main cameras gone, and could see motion ahead of him. So he had the Aegis leap back and shift into its armor attack mode before zooming forward towards the motion. As the Aegis rocketed forward, the Shadow got to the Asuka and shoved the suit away. The Aegis crashed into the Shadow and its three remaining limbs latch onto what it hit. Tyler looked forward and saw the Aegis's cannon emitter pointing right at him. Athrun couldn't see what he hit, but as the Asuka had been in front of him, he assumed that's what he had latched onto. So, he pulled the trigger for the Scylla cannon in the back of his mind hoped that the canon was aimed above the cockpit.

Tyler witnessed the emitter charge for a second, but then go out right after that. With Athrun, a moment after he pulled the trigger, an alarm went off, denoting that there wasn't enough power to use the Scylla. With that option not working, Athrun could only think of one other thing to stop Kira from this. He brought out the timer and keypad that was connected to the explosive charge OMNI installed in this mobile suit to destroy it. He input the code and set the timer for two minutes and began the detonator's countdown before he unbuckled the seat restraints. Athrun opened the cockpit of the Aegis and quickly got out of the mobile suit, using the thrusters on the backpack of his pilot suit to get to the ground safely.

Tyler was a tad relieved that the Aegis's cannon wouldn't fire, likely due to a lack of power in the battery. Yet, the Aegis wasn't letting go of the Shadow which held Tyler's attention since it said the battle wasn't over. Then the Aegis's phase shift dissipated confirming Tyler's suspicion of the suit lacking power. Tyler tried his controls, but the Aegis stayed where it was which had Tyler looking for any sign of what was coming. A moment later, Tyler saw something red moving away from the Aegis. It was a few seconds later that Tyler realized what he'd seen and what it meant was about to happen. The "red" had been Athrun exiting the Aegis and by how he was running, he'd likely activated the Aegis's detonator.

The second his feet touched the ground, Athrun began sprinting away from the mobile suit that had been his for close to two months. It would perform one last task by self-destructing and taking the Asuka with it when it did. After a little over a minute of making distance from the 'bomb' his suit was now, Athrun turned to look at the scene about to happen. However, what met his eyes wasn't what he was expecting to see in his wildest imagination. It wasn't the Asuka in the hold of the Aegis as it should have been, instead, the Blitz's twin the Shadow was what the Aegis was latched on to. The Shadow was struggling and clearly trying to get the Aegis off of it. At seeing this, Athrun felt terror and dread flood through him at the picture of the Shadow where it was. Without thinking, Athrun turned on the spot and began sprinting back towards the two mobile suits.

As he was hurrying back, thoughts were flashing through Athrun's mind wildly, the foremost of which was what would the Shadow even be doing here?! Tyler had stayed behind back in the Republic, so the Shadow shouldn't be here at all. And then why would he even consider helping those that would have branded a traitor. If anything, then Tyler had more reason to not help OMNI than Kira with the mission he'd been working on. The only reason that Athrun could figure that Tyler would help the Archangel was Kira, Lacus, and their friends were on the ship.

Tyler heard multiple alarms going off loudly a moment after what was coming sunk in, blaring warnings of imminent danger. Nonetheless, he knew that it was too late for him to do anything to get out of the explosion about to happen. With the Aegis where it was, Tyler couldn't get out with the time he had left. Even if he could, Tyler wasn't fool enough to think he would make the distance to not be within the influence of the detonation. And so, he stopped struggling as Tyler let the stress he'd been feeling drain away as acceptance became firm within him. Tyler had always figured that he would go out of life fighting and also more than likely in a spectacular way. One of the few regrets Tyler had was he knew his mother would be in pain with his death. However, Tyler had managed to stop Kira and Athrun from killing each other and that's what counted in the end to him.

Time seemed to slow down as his end was closing in, and it was a surreal experience for Tyler. He had lived his life as much as he could just as his father would tell him to do and Tyler was proud of that. And he could at least say he had done his best and saved his friends from doing something they would have difficulty forgiving themselves for if they could. A smile came to Tyler's face at the comforting thought, "Well, I've done what I can, no one can do better than that." Tyler paused for a moment, "Sorry mom, I just couldn't sit by and let my best friends try and kill each other." Tyler took what he believed would be his final breath, "Be seeing you soon, dad, Lana." Right after he uttered that a blinding light quickly filled his whole vision as the Aegis detonated.

Athrun saw the blinding light of the explosion engulf the two mobile suits which forced him to a halt. The concussive force that came from the explosion stunned Athrun slightly and pushed him back from the epicenter. Pain flooded Athrun and it intensified as it sunk in that his friend Tyler had just died in that explosion. And that he'd played a major part in that event made Athrun feel so much worse. He'd been attempting to not kill one of his best friends, and yet, Athrun had ended out killing the other. Athrun could only give voice to the pain in one way, "TYLER," yelled Athrun with all his might before he was taken off his feet and sent flying from the blast.

He bounced along the ground a few times before he managed to grab ahold of something and keep himself from flying farther back. The effects of the mobile suit explosion lasted near a minute and it was accompanied by crashes and bangs of objects hitting the ground and other parts of the environment. Yet, as the light died down and the sounds of objects crashing to the ground came to a stop, Athrun brought his head up and froze at the sight he had. Debris was spread everywhere, which was made up of pieces of the Aegis as well as the Shadow. But both mobile suits were destroyed and the possibilities of any surviving such a blast were slim to none. An empty feeling took over and filled Athrun as he just stared at the field littered with scraps of metal which dulled the pain ever so slightly.

Cagalli was racing to see what had caused the explosion the group with her on her heels followed her. That ZAFT had attacked the OMNI vessel within Orb's borders was ridiculous and they would answer for that. She knew her father and the rest of Orb's council already planned to "grill" the PLANTs' Supreme Council about this. They would be held accountable for this occurrence, Cagalli would help make sure of that herself. So, she was not in the best mood while on this exploration as she was irritated about this. A Federation patrol was already on route to settle this and get ZAFT to move along quickly. And while Cagalli appreciated the promptness the Federation's Military was to be commended as it prevented horrible messes from involving innocent bystanders. It had helped Orb's own military forces improve their response times and efficiency in the long run.

However, as Cagalli got close to where the explosion had been, she came across a lone person in a red ZAFT pilot suit. Kisaka, Cagalli's guardian was right behind her and also noticed the ZAFT pilot who seemed to only be staring. Cagalli wanted answers and if this guy could give them then she would drill him for it. She grabbed his right shoulder and turned him around, "ZAFT pilot, what the hell is going on here," she demanded.

Kisaka held in the sigh at Lady Cagalli's behavior, it was so blunt and normally that wasn't helpful in any given situation. Lord Athha had been trying to help his daughter exercise manners but he was so busy these days he wasn't able to correct her. Kisaka had also been doing what he could but the girl just didn't listen to most other than a select few. There was Cagalli's father of course, but there was also the current leader of the Republic as well. And right now, making blunt demands for information wasn't going to help figure out what was going on. "Lady Cagalli," Kisaka started, "that attitude isn't helping in our assessment." Cagalli knew that Kisaka was right, but her irritation was getting the better of her right now and so was showing. So, Cagalli took some deep breaths and calm down as much as she could with the current circumstances. As she did so, Kisaka ordered the others with them to inspect the immediate area for any information that could help them know what was going on.

Athrun was still in shock enough he wasn't aware of what was going on fully. He felt someone grab his shoulder and turn him around and start saying something, but he didn't comprehend what was being said. He did take in enough to understand that he was being identified as a ZAFT soldier but little other than that. Athrun took a moment to glance around and took in that those in the area were in Orb Union military uniforms. It would make logical sense, he was in Orb territory, but Athrun was still so numb that he didn't consider beyond that fact. However, a blonde-haired girl moved to be in front of him and he looked up at her. The first thing Athrun noticed was the girl was kind of pretty and she was around his own age. And if the situation was different, Athrun might even ask for the girl's name. Cagalli on the other hand, gazed down at the guy, "So then, what happened here?"

Athrun understood the question this time where he hadn't the last, but he couldn't respond. Images of the Shadow being destroyed along with memories of Tyler were going through his head. What could he say to any of these people? That he'd just killed one of his best friends by accident while he'd been trying to kill his other best friend? Athrun doubted any would believe that and give him a chance to explain, he would unlikely do that in their position. And as he thought of what to say, the pain of losing Tyler came back in full force. In response, Athrun's eyes rolled upward and he fell to the ground, having been embraced by unconsciousness, and thrown into nightmares that now haunted him.

At the same time, Kira was recovering from having been shoved and then blinded from something. He'd been fighting Athrun in the Aegis and the fight had been getting bad if Kira were to be honest. The Aegis had been coming at him just as he got hit by something and forced the Asuka away a distance. Kira had gotten the Asuka to land on the ground and slid to a stop and had taken a moment to regain his bearings. However, then there had been a flash of light, accompanied by a boom that had shaken the ground. The force of the boom had pushed the Asuka back a small margin but Kira had kept the mobile suit from tipping over. Objects had flown past Kira, and been crashing around him with bangs. Kira had brought up the Asuka's remaining hand to try to improve the clarity of the cameras' display to try and see what was going on. He managed to dodge many of the incoming objects which were made up of rocks and metal, but some still struck the mobile suit.

It was what felt like a long minute later when whatever was happening died down, and the light went away. Once that was the case, Kira looked around to take stock of what could have happened to cause the light and flying things. Some of the stuff had struck the Asuka, yet the phase shift armor had prevented notable damage. However, a sight on the left caused Kira to freeze and a serious shiver run up his spine. There on the ground was unmistakable, the head that had belonged to Tyler's mobile suit, the 'Shadow'. Yet, half of the 'face', appeared to be melted revealing internal circuitry and components. The left eye was damaged badly among other differences from what it should have been stood out for some reason, all clear signs of serious damage.

It felt surreal as Kira stared at the piece of his friend's machine, and it left his mind with a storm of thoughts. How could the Shadow have been here? Tyler had stayed back in the Republic when the Archangel had left days ago, hadn't he? And if he was here, why hadn't he made that known? Ice cold dread began flooding Kira as if the Shadow was so damaged, Tyler could be in trouble. Kira quickly moved the Asuka to the place he had been before being pushed and the sight didn't help the growing fears. Debris was spread far and wide some recognizable and others much less so as he gazed out over the area. Parts were obviously from the Aegis, Kira knew its appearance enough to know what he was seeing. Yet, others pieces were clearly from the Shadow, all the parts strongly saying the machines were blown apart. Kira was stunned by the destruction that was in front of him, and the ice-cold dread was morphing into heart-wrenching pain. The realization that his friend Tyler was gone and wouldn't be coming back began sinking in making the pain grow worse.

The pain quickly transformed into something the likes of which, Kira hadn't felt before and he couldn't ignore it. Memories of Tyler and all the times that he had been there for Kira and Athrun flashed through his mind. Tyler had always gone out of his way to help those he considered friends, he had never left a doubt about that. It was one of Tyler's defining and endearing qualities which Kira always had to admit he appreciated. And apparently, he had even made the ultimate sacrifice for Kira himself to prove that friends were so important to him. Kira's voice was failing him as time kept moving forward and the pain continued to grow. Kira had always assumed that Tyler would be around whenever he would need him, so much so that Kira had taken the fact for granted. And now, Tyler was gone forever and had given his life to save both Kira and Athrun.

Kira vaguely heard the orders coming over the radio for him to come back to the Archangel, but it fell on deaf ears for a moment. Yet, Kira swallowed and ignored the tears that were beginning to flow from his eyes and did as he was told. The pain still remained and brought a numb feeling to Kira as he flew back towards the Archangel. The trip back to the Archangel, gave Kira the time to understand fully that Tyler had taken the attack that was meant for himself. Athrun had tried to use the Aegis to kill him, and if not for Tyler, then Kira would very likely be the one gone instead.

Phase end!

A/n

Okay, I'll leave off there and continue in the next Phase from there. As I said in the beginning, I am sorry this Phase took so long to come out. Due to a mix of working full-time and school my writing time has been cut down more than I like. Then I had a massive headache of writer's block which made this Phase take so long. Hopefully, Phases won't take months going forward, but I make no promises.

Now on to the details of this Phase and less on my excuses on why I've not posted in a while. First, some of you may have noticed that I go into detail about the feelings of the character more than I did originally. That can be seen with Tolle's views before the battle and in the battle itself as an example. It has been an addition in this rewrite that I think brings more to the story as you get to know the characters more. Second, as most of you may have noticed, I changed some of the finer details of the battle flow in this Phase. I would like to say it feels better in the way it is now than before, readers are entitled to your own opinions. Tyler still gets to show off and be awesome, and others get to comment on that point. Specifically, the conversation between Athrun and Kira is more fleshed out than before. I also wanted to show Athrun is having growing serious doubts about what he is doing.

I hope you readers enjoyed this Phase as I worked hard to have it done by Christmas. I would also like to say that I've been working on "A Dragon's Tale" rewrite and there is already some of it posted. If you like my writing please go check it out. Please some of you write reviews for me and tell me how I did. See you in the next Phase!