Chapter 5: Trailblazer… (Part 1)

XXXXX

Elsewhere in the Sol System, between Luna and Earth, the Versailles had begun the search for the missing Lacus Clyne, with the goal of finding the young woman as soon as possible. But to do so required a lot more than one ship, and so the Versailles under the command of Rau La Creuset had been given assistance from ships which could be spared for the operation.

Two warships had joined up, Hauser and Raeford, along with a faster recon craft known as the Delano had been sent to support the Versailles in its operation. Together they were expected to scour the charted path through to the orbital debris belt of the Earth, whether or not this would yield results was arguable, but it was necessary.

As the battle group of warships headed to Earth's outer orbital area, the officers of each respective ship had gone to meet with Creuset who had been given command over the operation. They were meeting in the Versailles's CIC to determine the best course of action and where they intended to search.

The first of the arrivals in the CIC was Lieutenant Commander, who entered the bridge first in an orderly fashion before the captain of the Raeford appeared. Creuset met the captain of the Raeford with a salute and a handshake.
"Captain Biden, it's been a while since our last encounter has it not?"

"Yes it has." The man said promptly grasping Creuset's hand and giving a firm shake.

"I see that you're doing well, Creuset." Another officer said.

Rau recognised the man immediately, seeing as they were serving together a year ago.
"Lieutenant Commander Sato, it's a pleasure to meet again face to face." Creuset said with a hand outstretched.

"Likewise Commander." Sato replied curtly.

Rau met Sato years ago during his early deployment, Sato was a man with a distinct scar upon his face which he had attained from the catastrophic Junius Seven incident, he was a survivor of the nuclear attack and he deeply harboured a hatred for Naturals, he was calm and composed at least on the outside, but he was spiteful within.

As they finished up introductions the captain of the Hauser appeared, a tall broad shouldered officer with chestnut hair and a short but bushy beard. The captain was followed in by a younger looking officer, a woman with blonde crew cut, she had fiery emerald eyes. Rau recognised these two, though he didn't know much about them besides the fact that they were also veterans of the early invasion of Earth.

"Captain Nader and Commander Leif." Biden saluted at their arrival.

The two officers from the Hauser returned the salute before stopping on the opposite side of the computer display in the CIC. Nader began first.
"Gentlemen, it is an honour, are we ready to begin?"

"No, there's still someone missing." Rau said as he recalled the recon ship from before.

At that moment, the door opened and a younger officer floated in, his uniform a slight mess, his sleeves slightly rolled up, and his collar undone.
"Ah here's the bridge." The man said to no one in particular as he announced his arrival.

"Who's this?" Leif asked whilst eyeing them critically.

"Commander Lou Casul, seventh patrol fleet, I was given orders to join with the battlegroup as soon as possible." The slightly messy officer said with a lazy salute.

Leif didn't seem to take to the man very well, eyeing him as suspicious, either that or she was scrutinizing his appearance. Sato just didn't look at the man with a good impression, Captain Nader didn't seem to particularly care and Biden gave the man a smirk, he knew the officer in question.

Rau was honestly amused that this man was an actual officer, if anything he didn't really seem like a professional, then again, that might just be his personality. The man was part of the patrol fleet which buzzed around the Earth, and they weren't particularly famous for doing much than scouting out a location and then running away.

"Commander Lou, it is good to see you again, I do hope you didn't accidently get lost on your way to the bridge, did you?" Nader asked the man.

"Umm, no, I just had to stop to look out the port; it's a really lovely view of the debris belt."

"I can imagine." Leif said with the roll of her eyes.

"As all are now present, we can begin." Rau stated promptly interrupting before they had another distraction.

Their eyes turned to the digital display on the bridge, the display which had a layout of the surrounding space, it marked their patrol routes between the Alliance and the ZAFT forces, and it detailed the recent movement of fleets, along with outposts. So far things looked as though the Alliance was holding its forces back.

It made sense as most forays the Alliance dispatched against ZAFT were crushed quickly and brutally, sending out more ships would have been utterly futile, however there was indication that they hadn't entirely wiped out the Alliance forces, considering the remaining four fleets marked out on the map in bright red.

As they looked at the map, they noted the highlighted markings of the orbital debris zone, known as the shoals. Their current position was marked out not far from the shoals, there were also marked passages which indicated safe passages which had been documented by the recon units, either from previous excursions or recent ones.

"I'm assuming everyone has been briefed on the nature of our mission, correct?" Rau inquired across the room.

"To search and recover Ms Clyne, preferably alive and well." Captain Nader stated promptly, his stern tone making it clear what his priorities were.

"Yes, at least that is the official reason for the dispatch of so many warships to locate a single person, a feat easily accomplished by one Nazca-class and a pack of recon craft. Unofficially this operation was given a green light due to the nature of our enemy's recent developments." Rau began as he brought up the intelligence files from their recent string of failed attacks.

The others looked at the display with scrutinising eyes, their minds crunching down on this new piece of information, though Rau suspected that they had already come to learn that something was already out of place with recent battles ending in defeat of ZAFT forces engaging the Archangel or being repulsed repeatedly. He knew that these machines couldn't be left alone, not after all the effort he had put into trying to secure them, and the risks of this war dragging on into the many years ahead, before he could enact his plans.

"The Archangel and the Strike, along with this new machine, so far we've dubbed it Azure Falcon, though there are other terms being used, ours will be set as Azure. This mobile weapon is quite a tiresome foe, having repulsed multiple attempts to destroy it, as well as managing to slip through every attempt to catch it." Rau continued as he brought up the pictures of the machine in action, after the last battle, they had lost track of the Archangel and its complement of machines.

"Quite the conundrum isn't it, I don't recall any ship having escaped so many attempts to destroy, especially a lone craft." Captain Biden commented.

"Seeing as it's a new warship and the fact that it has a mobile suit, this probably didn't factor into anyone's calculations." Rau pointed out.

"Yes, we've all read the reports you've so graciously provided Commander." Leif stated in response.

"So, what are we looking at exactly?" Biden inquired.

"A pattern of movements of the debris field, either to find the Archangel and or the survivors from the Silverwind, our search pattern however will be stretched across a wide distance and area across many sectors should we attempt this. But the issue at hand is still the Archangel." Rau said while he flicked through each charted passage.

"How do you suppose we should approach this?" Leif inquired as she looked at the paths.

The group of officers thought over this complication in their plans, the operation had a large number of them involved, and Rau knew that the Gamow would continue the search for the Archangel, but chances were low they'd locate them on their own, and while he was looking for Lacus with his associated officers, they might miss any chance to hunting down the ship and its machines. But as if fate intervened, Commander Lou spoke up.

"There's a lot of activity around these areas, I know seeing as we had dispatched a recon GINN out into the area, we lost contact some time before we departed." Lou stated as he pointed out on the map.

The others were genuinely surprised as well at this new piece of information.
"Wait, you said you had a recon GINN out that far?" Rau inquired as he looked over the data.

"We dispatched one in response to the emergency message from the PLANT Council, after that, we have nothing, only the confirmation that the GINN was destroyed, likely by a beam weapon, judging by the impact the suit must have received." He said as he recalled the event.

"A beam impact?" Nader said clearly intrigued.

"Yeah, I'm honestly surprised, it's likely someone got the drop on the GINN and destroyed it before it could report back." Lou stated with a shrug.

"Not unless you're the Archangel." Rau said aloud as he looked at the images from the destroyed GINN.

"You think the Legged Ship is in the area?" Nader asked the commander.

Rau nodded before he turned his attention to Lou. "You said you were monitoring the Alliance fleets in orbit over Earth right?" Rau asked Lou.

"Yes, the 8th fleet under the command of Admiral Halberton was sighted, about here." The commander indicated on the map in orbit. "They had their entire fleet performing a regular patrol; I was nearly spotted by a patrol of warships which were heading around high orbit, moving along this trajectory." He marked out a passage leading out beyond the debris field.

"Looks like an advanced patrol heading to Luna HQ." Biden said with scrutiny.

"No, there's something more…" Rau said as he pondered over the potential routes.

"What are you thinking Creuset?"Biden asked the commander.

"We lost the Archangel here, from Artemis, during the chaos the ship could only go in a few directions, as we had patrol circling Luna during this period, it's likely they passed through the debris belt, if that's the case…" Rau said drawing up lines.

"Then they're heading to meet with the 8th Fleet?"Lou guessed from the direction of which Rau seemed to take the conversation.

"It's very possible." Rau said as he suspected that this was the case.

Leif then interrupted. "Umm Commander, I'd like to point out that this sector is far outside of our designated search pattern and as much as we'd like to justify the risk of dealing a crippling blow against the Alliance, ignoring the risk of losing the daughter of the chairman is something I should remind you as a serious issue." She reminded the commander of their original objective.

Rau internally gritted his teeth he knew it wouldn't be so easy to just get out of saving the pink haired princess by running off to chase down a potential lead, especially under a hypothesis, he could get away with this if it wasn't for the public image on this, he could gamble it, but public backlash should he fail would be horrendous. He'd have to pull more strings than he could afford, and it might cost him more than his reputation if he failed.

"I'd prefer we confirm this before acting." Biden stated aptly.

"It is the most logical course of action, we should present viable evidence that this is the case and then pursue the enemy, but for now we will have to focus on searching the debris field." Leif stated to the gathered officers.

"Commander Lou, did you chart the course of those Alliance ships?" Rau inquired as he looked to the man.

"Yes, they're heading in on this projected course."

"I want you to stay within sensor range with your ship, seeing as you have a ship with faster speed and better sensors, this will save us a great deal of effort."

"You want me to go on alone with a single craft to keep tabs on an Alliance patrol in order to catch if there is any indication of the Legged Ship in the area?"

"Yes, meanwhile the rest of our battlegroup with scour the area near the last known position of the Silverwind and progress along a projected pattern following the axis of Earth, which will allow us to stay within relative range of the Alliance patrol group, but we will rely upon you."

Commander Lou smiled.
"Alright if you want me to do that for you, I'll do it."

It was a rather concerning fact that they were making a detour from their intended mission, but with the risk of the Archangel and the 8th Fleet regrouping meant that there was a highly probable risk of them losing the chance to corner the ship and destroy it. Not only this, but there was also the potential risk of the knowledge of the G-weapons project and the Archangel making it safely to Alaska HQ.

However this did seem to run against their objective to secure the daughter of the Chairman, so it was up in the air whether or not they'd be able to settle this matter, regardless this was the decision of the Commander, and he was given charge of this operation. They would have to trust his judgement in this matter, and most of them did, his record spoke for itself, though Captain Nader and Commander Leif were more focused on completing their objective, which was clear at least to them.

They were more concerned about following their objective of recovering the Chairman's daughter, regardless, they were supposed to be the more pragmatic of their force, Nader being a trusted ally to Clyne's family. This course of action would no doubt be criticised, but seeing as their limited choices and their standing orders, it'd have to be done.

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Aboard the Archangel, the crew prepared for an exciting day, they were expected to meet up with their allies from the 8th fleet; the advanced patrol group under the command of Captain Nolan Amir had designated a rendezvous site, where the Archangel would be able to finally get proper relief and support.

The ship was a buzz of activity as the crew got the ship ready, work crews doubled their shifts to get repairs completed as soon as possible. As for the civilians aboard the ship, many were relieved at the news that they were finally going to be in friendly lines for once, and a few rejoiced with this news, planning on throwing a small celebration down in the mess hall.

Of course such plans would have to wait until they actually made actual contact with the advanced patrol group, until then they were to remain waiting in the designated quarters. Of course this didn't really dour the mood for people, the youngsters were eager, with Flay taking it upon herself to prepare for her reunion with her father by doing a complete pedicure in as much time as she could afford, with whatever water they had in surplus of as well.

Meanwhile Kira was busy training with Ray again, this time in the use of guns, well paint guns, Ray felt that Kira's zero gee training was lacking, so he took the young man out for a fun game of tag using the paint guns the work crew had available, this sort of peeved a few of them, but most enjoyed the short exercise the duo were engaged in.

This was only further escalated by Mu deciding to drop in with the other crew members, Tolle and Sai having to participate in the game alongside Mu who wanted to try and gauge Ray's abilities for himself. Their game was a quick and messy endeavour, resulting in an entire area of the hangar being decorated in hues of green and blue, despite the best efforts by the work crew to cover the area up in tarps.

Still it was enjoyable while it lasted, and everyone had time to mingle more, it also gave Ray time to give pointers to Kira and the others in regards to 3D combat, that there were quite a few factors to keep in mind of when strafing whilst on the move, nor to mention having to account for drift and inertial movements.

He also made some effort to try and teach Kira a few moves which would no doubt aid him in the future, should he ever come face to face with a tougher opponent. Though with the way things were going, they were going to encounter something sooner or later out here, likely Rau himself operating a mobile suit to counter the Strike and Eventide.

Another troublesome issue was the upcoming battle between the escort fleet and the ZAFT forces, which he couldn't avert even if he wanted to, ZAFT likely had patrol ships out in the region, tracking their movements. It would happen regardless, and Ray knew it, this battle had to happen, and if he attempted to interfere here, he knew it'd raise a lot more questions, ones which he couldn't just lie through his teeth about or cover up.

In this scenario they were going to have to deal with whatever came next, be it good or bad, he knew it, as he looked through his compact computer, he thought about the course of the future, the potential fallout from saving Flay's father or letting him die. He knew that saving Flay's father would more than likely detail the timeline, and there was no telling where it might end up going.

But in the grand scheme of things, it was an acceptable risk, seeing as he knew what would happen if George died, then the course of history wouldn't change all that much, should he live, well the outcome might be interesting. Not to mention the potential for what might come as part of this, convincing the foreign minister of the folly of continuing the war might help turn sentiments around.

But this was all speculative, and he had no idea what the man was like besides what was revealed in the light novels and manga, being a protective father figure who cared for his family, he wasn't necessarily ambitious, but he was dedicated to pursuing the political aims of this war. Now Ray knew that there was a chance to turn this all around, but he'd need leverage, and something to convince the man that it wasn't worth trying to drag this war out, or better yet, allow him to create opposition.

The military operator couldn't help but wonder whether or not he'd be able to pull something that introvert, it'd require him taking in many unknown variables, not to mention having to save Allster first before Rau could kill him and turn this entire situation into an utter cluster fuck.

Ray had gone over plans to upgrade a few features on the Strike for combat, one notable upgrade being the side mounted disposable missile canisters, which could be detached once fired. The other was the alterations made to the Strike's Aile pack, modifying the manoeuvring thrusters onto the shoulders allowing increased turn and sideways movements.

Of course this plan had actually been to upgrade the Strike's combat capabilities for when they went down to Earth, Ray had access to the entire database on SEED's mobile suit designs, including the Astray units, like the Gale Strike Gundam, which boasted a highly manoeuvrable frame with high close combat capabilities.

Of course this was going to have to be something he'd look into later, but for now, making suitable upgrades for Kira seemed like the best option, seeing as how they were still in space. Kira was going to need as many advantages as he could get if he wanted to see things through, but there was also this nagging feeling that Ray couldn't shake.

Instincts told him that something big was going to happen, and he couldn't shake the feeling, and his instincts were in most cases right when it came down to imminent danger, he wasn't sure what was going to happen, but he knew that he'd better be prepared for whatever might come. The trouble is that he couldn't imagine what sort of obstacle lay ahead now.

His intervention had either a small impact as of late, aside from Artemis, but that'd take a while for the impact to grow to fruition, in the case of ZAFT however, he wasn't sure, Eventide hadn't transformed, and it hadn't drawn overwhelming attention from being a real pain in the ass to get rid of.

However it didn't mean that Rau Le Creuset would turn a blind eye to its interventions, no doubt the man had something up his sleeves. And he didn't like it…

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The recon craft had managed to track the ships, aboard the ship, Commander Lou couldn't help but grin as fortune smiled upon him, it took a few hours of having to make difficult manoeuvres around the asteroid field, having to navigate his way through by visual sight alone. But the rewards were magnificent, tailing the Alliance patrol group without being tracked.

It was at this time that the recon ship managed to tap into the communications coming from the patrol group.
"How's the communication encryptions?"

"Poor as usual, they've been transmitting on the same frequency, looks like they're desperate to get a response, we've gotten enough evidence, they're expecting to rally with the Archangel, at locations designated." The cyber warfare operator stated bringing up the intelligence.

Lou then sighed.
"Well damn, looks like Rau was right on the mark, contact the Versailles, the net is set."

Lou couldn't help but wonder what Creuset would have planned with this new development, but seeing as this was the man who was so determined to hunt down the Alliance vessel, it could only mean something only Creuset would attempt, risk or no risk.

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Down in the general quarters of the ship, Kira had gone and decided to visit Lacus again today, that and he also wanted to give her lunch, seeing as the chefs were busy dealing with a special surprise being planned out by the civilians on the ship and the crew who had decided to participate. Everyone was down getting ready for the celebration whilst he decided to chat with Lacus.

Upon opening the door, he was greeted by the gentle humming from the girl, her pink robot gently chiming a tone in synch with her. The girl turned to him.
"Hello again." Lacus greeted Kira as he returned to see the girl.

"Hi, I brought you breakfast, sorry about the wait though, things have been rather busy." Kira said with a warm tone as he set the food onto the table in the room.

"I've noticed quite a lot's been going on, is everything alright?"

"Oh, yes, we're expected to meet up with other Alliance vessels soon, so things are a little hectic. It's been a difficult week for most of us."

"I understand."

Kira stood there for a moment, thinking about what he wanted to ask, he was hesitant in his approach mainly because of the situation the girl was in. He wanted to believe that she'd be alright, but seeing as how the Alliance was against coordinators, this placed her into a very serious predicament, a lot more difficult than his own, if he was honest with himself.

He was a random civilian caught up in the midst of this war, this girl was the daughter of the PLANT's chairman, and this really didn't seem like something he was comfortable with letting go. But he knew that she was still just a girl thrown into an unfavourable situation, like everyone else, nobody deserved this.

As they enjoyed their moment of peace together, the sounds of sirens rang throughout the ship.

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With the ZAFT battlegroup...

It took a bit of time to get the fleet into position and organise a battle plan for their engagement with the Archangel, Rau was quite happy with what he saw, the report indicated that there was a total of five ships, and plus the Archangel, his battle strategy was going to have to ensure that the Archangel wasn't able to escape quickly. But to achieve this meant that he'd have to think outside the box.

"How would we manage to encircle the Archangel and the Alliance patrol group before they can escape?"

"From the size and disposition, I'd say we should attack with an advanced group of two ships, the Gamow and Versailles and then bring the Raeford and Hauser from a flanking position, it'd be the most effective strategy."

"It won't work, should the captain of that ship spot our flanking manoeuvre they'd immediately turn to punch a hole clean through our lines before we could completely encircle them. Even if we wiped out their patrol, it'd fall short if the Archangel got away."

"Keeping the ships close at within a set proximity without allowing an easy escape would be best, but that open area, makes such a strategy difficult."

"It's open space..." Rau said while he looked at the display, it was then something clicked in his mind. "Open space..."

"Pardon sir?"The captain replied clearly confused at his remark.

"How many tow cables do we have?"

"Collectively, we have more than enough for towing all the ships, but they're not meant to tow more than a set classification." The captain stated.

"Don't worry about that, we only need them to hold together long enough." Rau stated as he formulated a new plan.

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Sai and the others had been in the mess hall with their guests, all cheerfully celebrating their planned return to Alliance lines, and hopefully the near end of this tense misadventure that they'd all be forced to endure. Sai was in the midst of chatting with Kuzzey about whether they'd be able to get around to playing games like they'd used to.

Miriallia and Tolle were enjoying a moment together getting a cup of coffee with a slice of cake the cooks had baked with assistance with a couple of volunteers from the civilians. Amidst all of the past tension this week, they got the chance to finally get together and enjoy their time together and actually connect.

Though connect might not have been an appropriate word of Tolle kissing Miriallia at the table with others looking on in surprise, it was a moment of joy after all of the stress of life and death that they'd been dancing with.

"Is that enough?"

"Tolle!" Miriallia said embarrassed with his remark.

The others looked on in surprise but they didn't say anything, aside from a few of the adults laughing at the scene approvingly, today seemed to be going on so well, despite all that they faced, it'd get better or so they hoped. Unfortunately, they didn't anticipate what the future might bring.

"Hey, here's your cake." A little girl said as she hopped over to the couple.

"Thanks for that."

As Miri and Tolle went about discussing their relationship the others decided to leave them alone for a moment, the senior bridge crew members discussed about their situation, as they did so in the comfort of their new acquaintances, the sound of alarms began to ring.

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Alarms rang out across the ship, within the mess hall the gathered crew and civilians stood in place momentarily frozen at the sounds of sirens. It was then the PA announced.
"All hands to battle stations, condition red, I repeat condition red, ZAFT forces are in the vicinity, Alliance Patrol Fleet is under attack, all hands are to report immediately to battle stations, non-combat personnel to emergency stations."

The crew rushed out of the mess hall in short order, a controlled scrum of bodies packed into the doorway, Sai almost tripping over Tolle to get through the doorway; meanwhile the civilians were urged to remain in their bunks until the situation was resolved, hopefully soon. Ray on the other hand was already on his way down to the hangar, Mu in tow.

"Oh of all the things that had to happen today." Mu said annoyed as he rushed down the corridor alongside Ray.

Ray remarked sharply. "That's war unfortunately, it was bound to happen, and with ZAFT's fleets patrolling the space between the Luna HQ to Earth there was a high probability that we'd encounter resistance."

"I know, but for once I'd like to get a decent amount of rest." Mu commented as they both went into the elevator.

The two went to the lockers and suited up in short order before heading down to their machines, they'd have to receive their status update and briefing as they prepared to sortie.

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As Mu and Ray went down to the hangar, the bridge was frantic with activity. Murrue had returned to the bridge when the alarms began, she was greeted by Natarle who had a grim expression on her face.
"Report, what's happening?"

"The 8th patrol group has fallen under attack, they're reporting a Laurasia-class ship attacking from their flank, and another approaching their front, it's a Nazca-class. They're also under attack by mobile suits, confirming their last transmission, we've determined they're some sort of elite force. There's also the stolen G-weapons, Buster, Duel and Blitz, but they're holding back."

"Creuset's team?" Murrue repeated with surprise.

"It seems like it captain." Natarle stated as the bridge crew returned to stations.

Murrue couldn't believe their luck, after all the effort they threw into avoiding the Creuset team they still ended up getting found, and they had cornered the advanced patrol fleet of all things. Leaving the patrol fleet alone was a huge risk, and Murrue knew it, if this was Creuset, then they'd be risking a great deal on the off chance they'd be able to regroup with the 8th fleet, bur running meant abandoning the foreign minister of the Alliance and risk losing the patrol group.

She couldn't help leaving the patrol to their fate.
"Bring us to battle condition, and get the Strike, Eventide and Moebius outside as soon as they can manage."

"Aye ma'am." Natarle replied as she immediately headed off and began issuing orders.

Murrue's heart was racing, she wasn't sure what to make of all of this, this went beyond her expectations of a worst case scenario, she couldn't help but feel that something was wrong with this picture through, was it the fact that one ship was attacking while the other was holding back? There seemed to be something wrong. The stolen G-weapons weren't moving, and that made her worry more.

XXXXX

The Archangel approached the battle, from the large exchange of beam fire and explosions it seemed as though the battle was dragging on, the Nazca-class was approaching the battle slowly, but it seemed like they were acting as a blocking force to cut off any escape route for the patrol group. The ZAFT mobile suits were buzzing around the patrol group's perimeter, careful to avoid getting hit, but still laying in punishment, they were slowly picking apart the Alliance warships.

Things looked grim, but Murrue was determined to save the patrol group before they were utterly wiped out, not an easy prospect though when you factored in the sheer scale of the battle, and the number of mobile suits they were pitted against, this was going to be a long and brutal fight. But the captain felt that this was the best possible approach for them, so they were determined to relieve their allies.

Down in the hangar bay, the Eventide was being loaded onto the linear catapult alongside the Moebius, Mu signaled as he launched.
"Moebius Zero, heading out!"

The reddish orange mobile armour shot out into the void as Ray's unit was being loaded into the starboard linear catapult, Alice greeted him.
"Ray, all systems are functioning, we're as ready as we can be."

"Have you been able to calculate current enemy presence?"

"The Nazca-class is still a far distance, but based on the number of machines outside, they've dispatched an advanced force of mobile suits, the Alliance ships are barely holding them back." Alice reported.

Ray knew that this was going to go to utter shit once the Archangel engaged in battle thanks to Rau throwing a lot of things at the ship in order to defeat it, the man must seriously want the Archangel down, or the bastard was able to convince someone like Zala to give him support in this attack, either way this was bad news for the ship and worse news for him, thanks to the fact that he now had a fuck ton of enemies to contend with. Completing system checks, he thought over his plans to use the Eventide's mobile suit form, he'd have a lot to answer for if he went down that path.

From the console he heard Miriallia on the channel.
"Ray, linear catapult charge is nominal."

"Understood, I'm clear to launch." Ray said.

"Good luck, and come back." Miriallia said with concern.

Ray hesitated before he replied. "I don't plan on dying in this place."

His neural link was ready as he calculated his launch trajectory.
"Eventide, Launching..." He gunned the accelerator as he exited the ship.

In moments the Eventide shot out the ship at tremendous speeds before making a sharp turn and splitting off to join in on the battle, Moebius had gotten ahead of him, already diving into the midst of the chaotic battle, the Alliance vessels were holding up valiantly, despite the disadvantage they were in, mobile armours zipped around, attempting to chase off the attackers, but to no avail, they were hopelessly outmatched. One by one the small fighter units were downed, meanwhile the primary battleships continued to fight.

It was then Ray spotted a team of customised GINN HMTs with assault shrouds, overkill for many reasons, they were special upgrades for veteran pilots and elite units. Seeing as ZAFT couldn't produce GINN HMTs fast enough, they decided to improve upon the pre-existing machines by adding assault shrouds, for added firepower.

Another bad side to these upgrades was that they also featured an experimental Type-2 Mod 1 linear gun, a step up from the 27mm experimental type machine guns. They were meant to be similar in design to the 27mm, but superior in firepower and range. Adding in the added firepower and improved armour equipment the assault shroud a real pain in the ass.

Things were certainly picking up alright, if they were throwing an entire team of mobile suits operated by such pilots then it was clear that ZAFT wasn't holding its punches, they were gunning for the patrol fleet, and they were determined to down it.

"Warrant officer, what are those?"Murrue asked from the bridge, tension in her tone.

"GINN High Manoeuvre Type, with assault shroud upgrades, just fucking lovely." Ray said with disdain as he realised that they were facing even more difficult opponents.

"What's the matter?" Mu inquired at the tone of his voice.

"They're not normal GINNs and they're much more advanced, packing added firepower and armour upgrades, my beam rifle might be good, but those machines got a lot more to throw in than a squadron of GINNs." Ray said as they made their way into the battle.

"Well that's not discouraging at all." Mu added sarcastically as he engaged in battle.

"Keep on the watch, we're going in hot." Ray said as the suits closed distance.

Ray knew from reading up on the GINN HMTs that they were issued to special units or elites; they were sparingly used until the later end of the war and the interwar period of the SEED timeline. This meant that those operating the suits were better than regular GINN pilots, but they hadn't encountered his Eventide, so he had the advantage of surprise.

He knew that his Lancer had range, and it would be able to get one or two, but the others were going to adapt quickly and try and close distance fast, keep him from supporting the Archangel and the Strike, which was going to be a real pain in the ass in itself. But it was expected, they needed to keep him away as long as they can pound the Archangel and Strike, the Mobius was another issue, with that in mind, he went pre-emptive.

Crosshairs locked on the first suit he knew he could down, and he pulled the trigger, his shot went straight and on target, the occupying pilot of the machine had barely a scant couple of seconds to react, but never got his chance as he was struck. The beam slicing his suit open, and the pilot being incinerated as his body boiled away.

The GINN HMT erupted into a fireball, sending the others scattering, they were honestly surprised at how their first team member was shot down so quickly. But he was able to follow up rapidly, managing to fire off three more shots before he was soon barraged by shots from opposing units. The pilots were quick to zero in on his long ranged fire, forcing him to pull back and try to angle his unit on an intercept trajectory.

His machine zipped forward, laying down a barrage of missiles and beam shots, managing to clip another GINN HMT AS unit, though with less success. He forced the second machine to withdraw with a direct impact upon their suit. But this just left the two units, one of which he recognised by the markings on its armour, the mark of an old enemy in the series.

"Commander Sato?" He thought as he realised the distinctive markings of the crossed swords and bloody hand, the man was rather well known, but he didn't really show up aside from the manga and that was in a prologue chapter, his contributions were largely in Destiny.

But this timeline was different, if that was the case, then things had changed a lot more. This made things complicated for Ray, as now he had Sato to contend with in battle. This was a very bad thing for Ray, as he knew that the Archangel was now at a serious disadvantage, being pitted against multiple units which weren't regulars, and being commanded by Sato, who wasn't meant to show up until much later.

Now the situation was down the shitter faster than he could down bottles of cold Jack Daniels on a Summer Sunday. Slamming the accelerator, he decided to start playing for real; the risk was way too high to ignore the danger present to the Archangel, if Sato's unit was here, the Rau got a lot more to his force.

XXXXX

From the approaching vector, the Versailles made its final approach, the ship was prepared for battle.
Rau watched as the battle unfolded, he saw the Archangel throw itself into the battle, determined to break through to its beleaguered allies, as the ship had entered into the net, Rau executed the next phase of his plan.
"Have Yzak's unit move in from the Gamow, make sure to tie down the Strike and other machines as much as possible, this will be crucial if we want to achieve victory." He told the captain.

"Aye commander."

"And now, for us to unveil our welcoming gift." He turned his attention to the tethered ships hiding in the shadow of the Versailles.

"Captain Nader, Captain Biden, we're now in position, begin flanking maneuvers once we detach the tethers." He told them promptly.

"Understood." Nader responded as he began issuing orders.

The Raeford, and Hauser detached their cables, allowing them to drift off one at a time behind the shadow of the Nazca-class and split off.

XXXXX

The remainder of Creuset's team were now joining the fray, seeing as they were behind due to their launching position. Regardless, this added in a volatile mix which would no doubt just throw things in favour for the ZAFT forces in this battle. Yzak led the charge with Blitz and Buster in tow, laying down on the Alliance fleet, they were quick to locate the Archangel and Strike, along with the Eventide.

"I see it, it's engaged with Lieutenant Commander Sato's unit." Nicol said as they approached the battlefield.

"This time I'll down that bastard for sure!" Yzak snarled as he gunned his engines forward.

The members of the Gamow were coming in hot, with their target in sight; they were going to carve a bloody path, especially with the 3 G-weapons at their disposal. Duel took point alongside the Buster; the Blitz was taking the rear of their formation. The rest of the mobile suits hanging back were ordered to act as a blocking force to hold any attempted breakthrough.

Upon entering the combat zone, the Duel gunned right for the Eventide, Yzak wasting no time on trying to down the mobile suit as fast as possible. Beam rifle spouting off green beams as the pilot tried to take his hatred out on the one bastard who had given him so much trouble over the last week.

Ray saw this and immediately took evasive manoeuvres and retaliated with a missile barrage which he knew wouldn't work against all 3 suits. It did buy him time to gain additional ground, and give him time to let loose with his beam weapons, peppering the three suits and driving them back before allowing Lt La Flaga to start pummelling them with his cannon shots.

"Thanks for the assist, didn't really need it though." Ray said jokingly.

"Right." Mu said as he snickered.

They were quick to separate the suits and throw them into confusion, before they split off into two directions, Ray knew that he had to keep the pressure off the Alliance warships as much as possible with Minister Allstar on the Law, he knew it was a powdered keg ready to blow, and one lucky shot would send that ship down.

Duel and Buster pursued him while the Blitz went after the Mobius Zero, this was just as he needed as he knew that Mu could handle the single machine, but for him, he just needed to put them off from attacking the Montgomery which had George Allstar on board. Though there was no guarantee that it'd survive if things went to utter shit.

Now all he had to do was hold these bastards off from downing the Archangel, Strike and Mobius Zero. Assuming that this situation wasn't going to turn to utter and complete shit. As he dodged another beam blast, he did a flip and lashed out at the two machines, forcing them apart, it seemed like his usual manoeuvres weren't going to work as effectively now.

Yzak was a hothead, but he wasn't pants on head retarded, at least not here, the pilot knew to memorise Ray's attack patterns. As he blazed past, the Duel and Buster doubled down and struck with a concentrated barrage, narrowly missing Ray's left engine and almost clipping his wing, Ray kept ahead with his thrusters and sensing the impending attack.

He then turned in to attack the Duel, managing to give Yzak a scare with a concentrated attack on his shoulder, knocking the Duel backwards, Yzak cussed as he found no opening. Buster took up the attack and attempted to down him with a combined attack, narrowly missing him, Ray managed to get around and retaliate. The battle dragged on as he fought the two machines, but it seemed as though fate was about to throw him another curve ball.

"Ray, we have incoming enemy reinforcements!" Alice alerted him.

Ray pulled his attack back as he heard the warning, he immediately pinwheeled around and saw the source of Alice's alert.
"You've got to be fucking shitting me!"

The attention from the Archangel and the rest of the Alliance fleet turned to the approaching ships, multiple ZAFT warships, with the Nazca-class under Rau's command, these two ships began to circle around them. On top of this, the ships began to deploy teams of mobile suits, aside from one, but it didn't matter, they were completely surrounded now.

"Captain!" Ray called the Archangel.

"We see it." Murrue said with gritted teeth.

"How the hell did they manage to get that many ships out here so quickly?" Mu said as he looked at the combined numbers of ships now coming around them.

"Probably hid the ships in the shadow of the Nazca-class, if I had to hazard a guess, it's probably why it was hanging back for so long, wait for us to dedicate ourselves into the battle and spring the trap." Ray stated as the battle continued.

"Captain, what are we going to do?" Kira asked as he looked around the number of enemy ships and suits now around them.

"I don't know." Murrue replied as the battle intensified.

The Archangel made a sharp turn to block the attacks coming from thew newly arrived Nazca-class closing from their flank, meanwhile the others were turning to face the oncoming Laurasia-class approaching from the other flank. The Alliance fleet commander called.
"Hell of a time to come to our rescue, but it looks like we don't need rescuing as much as you do now." Captain Amir stated.

"Captain, are you alright?" Murrue asked with concern.

"Law's been damaged, but she's still fighting, the others aren't doing so well, and now we've got this to contend with. I thought I sent you a warning to turn away and get away from us."

"We thought it was better to come and render assistance."

"Well it's not use now, we're utterly surrounded." The captain told her with a dismal tone.

"But we're not dead!" Ray cut in.

"Who are you?" He asked as he eyed Ray with suspicion.

Ray introduced himself promptly. "Warrant Officer, Ray Hyung, Alliance Special Operations Naval Warfare. Captain, I know this situation is grim, but it isn't entirely hopeless, we still can get loose if we can find a weakness somewhere in their formation, it might not be all that good, but better than waiting to die or surrender."

"Brave words, do you have any sort of idea on how to get out of a ZAFT encirclement?" Amir asked the man with the grim smile on his face.

Ray then smiled.
"I thought you'd never ask."

XXXXX

AN: Alright, I'm sorry to cut things short, times short these days, and making this into one chapter would be a real pain in the ass, the original word count went over 17,000 so I'm not going to post this all at once.