PHASE 01

I SAW AN ANGEL OVER HELIOPOLIS

PRESENT DAY:

JANUARY 25TH, COSMIC ERA: SEVENTY-ONE

ZAFT VESSEL VESALIUS, HELIOPOLIS LOCAL SPACE

"I don't like this Le Creuset, Not even in the slightest,"

"Try not to look so frustrated Tandar," the masked man smiled calmly at the scowling bald Captain on the Vesalius' screen, "Both myself and Michaels agreed this was the best course of action we could take under these circumstances. This will all end in our favour, you'll see,"

"A Commander she may be, but she's still only a twenty-three year old woman!" Tandar sighed as he ran a finger across his steel grey moustache, "She's still young, and eager to prove herself, even after all we did at Junius Seven. I still think we should wait for a response from the Council before we rush into this,"

"I hate to take a side, but I think Matthias may be right sir," Ades glanced up at the masked Commander stood beside his chair, "It's not to late to recall the assault ships and wait for the Council's reply,"

"It will be too late," the two Captain's winced slightly at the hard edge that suddenly developed in the Commander's voice as he turned to the holotable behind Ades' chair, "I have a sixth sense about these things. If we don't seize the moment now…" He smiled almost sinisterly as he tossed a picture his Captain's way, "Later we will pay with our lives for our reluctance to take action. The Earth Forces' new mobile weapons…we must secure them fore they attempt to move them,"

"And what of the ship?" Tandar frowned darkly, "Sending in a team to retrieve the mobile weapons is risky enough, but commandeering their carrier too? The 603rd Technical Evaluation Unit was created to evaluate potential technologies, not steal them from under the Alliance's nose,"

"Then think of it as returning to Aprilius One to retrieve new technology for your team to evaluate, with a slightly higher risk factor," Rau smirked, "We've both seen what Michaels and Westfield are capable of Matthias, we both know they're capable of capturing that ship with minimum losses. We must secure all of the Alliance's new weapons before they have a chance to move them. If we do not, we will surely die by their hands,"

"I should of written my will,"

I couldn't help but smirk to myself at the grim thought as the group of twenty soldiers flew silently through the empty vacuum of space, the immense bulk of Heliopolis dominating my vision.

Despite only being seventeen, I had actually considered writing a will once before now; seated in the cramped cockpit of a GINN, completely drenched in sweat as the invading Earth Forces fleet soared towards Junius Seven.

This was a completely different scenario however. On that nightmarish occasion I had been sitting in the cockpit of a mobile suit, Here, I had nothing but a thin excursion suit to protect me from the enemy.

All around me, nineteen other bodies, five more in red, thirteen in green and one in white, seemed to be equally on edge as we approached a maintenance hatch, the giant slabs of metal parting like some huge mechanical mouth as security lasers within winked off without a sound, the work of insiders on ZAFT's payroll no doubt.

A nudge from my white clad comrade brought me out of my thoughts the others of our team passed us by, the smiling pert features of Sara Michaels flashing me a wink through her visor as she patted me reassuringly on the shoulder, the sentiment behind it is as clear as day to me.

"Don't look so worried Marcus,"

I tried to smile with a nod as she pushed off into the dark void of the tunnel beyond, but deep inside me I had had a horrible feeling in my gut. A feeling that this entire operation wouldn't go as smoothly as Sara wanted it too.

The silence was finally ruptured as the sounds of a functioning shipyard echoed through my helmet's speakers from the vents below our feet.

"So it's actually true then," I frowned through the grate as I made out the white hull of an obscurely shaped ship, "Orb isn't as neutral as they say it is. How could they betray our trust like this?"

A rough shake at the shoulder brought my dark eyes up to meet the emerald ones of Athrun Zala, his stern gaze curtly informing me to get my head out of the clouds.

I merely nodded meekly as he pushed away from me, signalling to the remaining red suits and five of the green suits to follow him.

After receiving a slightly harder blow to the head from Sara, the remaining forces followed her down to a nearby access hatch as we made our way towards the giant carrier.

"What the hell is wrong with you Westfield?" The Commander scowled darkly in my direction from behind her helmet's visor as I flinched under her glare, "You're supposed to be a trained ZAFT elite! Stop spacing out! You're embarrassing me!"

"Sorry Ma'am," I smiled apologetically while Mira Sanchez, Valiant's tan skinned Communications officer and Stanford Canestro, a green haired pale faced engineer shared a giggle as we hid behind a pile of crate's in the legged ship's hanger, the remaining green suits moving quietly around the edges of the large bay, unseen my the Earth Forces hard at work, "I just can't shake off this bad feeling in my gut. Something doesn't feel right here,"

"Tell me about it," Michaels sighed as she slumped against the crate, "The hanger's empty. Looks like we're going ahead with Le Creuset's plan. I was really hoping his intel was wrong…"

"I think we have a bigger problem to worry about," Canestro nodded to he opposite end of the hanger, "Those big doors haven't closed yet. Looks like they're still loading up supplies. If the Hanger doors are still open when Zala's explosives go off, we're all gonna get cooked nice and crispy like,"

"How long do we have Marcus?"

I checked the watch under the fold of my glove, "I'd say about four minutes. If we can get to the controls up in the booth, we can easily close them in time,"

"So do we get up there?"

"Well, it's zero gravity in here, so it shouldn't be much of a problem, but the place is crawling with Alliance soldiers. I'd need a distract…"

"Way ahead of you," Michaels smirked as she brought her rifle to bear, "Get jumping Marcus, and make it quick. Canestro and Sanchez, follow my lead,"

"Sara, what are you…"

"HEY ALLIANCE SCUMBAGS!!!" I felt my jaw drop as my commander suddenly bounded out from our hiding place with ferocious speed, a flashbang from her belt sailing through the cavernous hanger, the stunned soldiers shielding their eyes with crises of pain and surprise as it exploded across the deck.

"Gotta hand it to our Commander," Canestro smirked as alarms suddenly blared across the shipyard, "She makes one hell of a distraction. You better get up there West," he fired a burst from his own rifle in sync with Mira beside him, the rest of our team leaping out of their hiding places as one, "You know how she gets about tardiness,"

"R…right,"

The hanger bay now dissolved into chaos as I pushed myself up into the fray, a spray of bullets belching from my rifle as I dodged past enemy fire to the catwalk that ran along the side of the hanger above me, two alliance soldiers thrown completely off the metal walkway from my assault, crimson liquid bubbling in the zero gravity from their excursion suits as several factory workers did their best to run from the sudden battlefield.

Two minutes to go. I bit my lip slightly as I tossed a flashbang into the booth, blinding white light pouring out of the large windows as the sounds of agonised screams pierced my helmet's speakers, their shouts quickly silenced as another hail of bullets erupted from my rifle into the room.

"Commander, I'm in," I glanced for only a moment at the two bodies that hung in the air, one of which was decked out in factory overalls, before checking my watch, "thirty seconds until detonation,"

"Make it quick Marcus!"

"Closing the hatch,"

The sound of groaning machinery was drowned out by the weapons fire from below, sweat beading down my face as my eyes darted between the massive doors that made up the front of the legs and the watch as it counted down the last few seconds.

"Come on….come on!" they weren't going to close in time. Fifteen seconds to go and the metallic doors at the end of the shipyard was still in sight. Ten seconds and the craggy rock below it was still in sight.

"Five…four…three…two…one!"

A dull thump vibrated through the ship.

The massive hanger doors closed with barely a wisp of flame surging underneath them, quickly extinguished.

ZAFT and Alliance officers alike cried out in surprise as the legged ship jarred loose of one of it's moorings, bodies and crates sent flying in all directions as I clung to the console in front of me for dear life, the ship listing violently into side of the shipyard.

There was a screech of metal against metal, a pathetic moan as the ship settled, then…silence.

My breathing was low and haggard, the sound of the alarms within the ship sounding dull in my ears as I pushed myself out of the control booth back down to the floor.

"Everyone alright?"

"I'm okay," Canestro grinned shakily as he pulled an unconscious factory worker from a pile of crates, a pair of our comrades helping a third tend to a shot to the shoulder, "More then I can say for the Naturals though. What about you Mira? You good?"

"A little shaken up, but not scorched if that's what you mean," the petite communications officer nodded as she tied up another pair of soldiers with a length of spare wire, "Commander?"

"All I can say is I want to review what Le Creuset thinks is enough explosive force to take out a small shipyard," Michaels scowled as she pulled a nearby officer out from under a pack of crates, blood bubbling from his nose in the zero gravity, "Masked idiot almost tore the ship to pieces. This looks like the last of the survivors in here. All the others are dead. Myria, take two team members and head outside and check for survivors. Capture anyone alive. They should be all pretty beat up, so they shouldn't give much of a fight. Canestro, take another two and head down to the engineering room and do the same. Marcus, you, me and the rest of us are going to storm the Bridge,"

"You're kidding right?" the engineer stared at his Commander incredulously, "Ten of us against a whole ship load of Naturals? We're Coordinators, not supermen!"

"We should have taken more men with us Ma'am," I nodded in reluctant agreement, "We're not like the Le Creuset Team. We just evaluate technology…"

"Le Creuset's intel stated that the legged ship was manned by a skeleton crew. That means minimum staff in the important areas, namely the Bridge, Engineering, and the hanger bay. We've already taken care of things here, and if the way the Naturals turned out after that crash about, I doubt the rest of the crew is in any better shape," Sara grinned as she indicated to two of the green suits nearest to her, "We're not supermen, that's for sure, but compared to a ship load of beaten up Naturals, we might as well be!"

"So much for being a vital area,"

I couldn't help but smirk slightly at my Commander's despondent face as she took in the empty Bridge before us, our comrades quickly scrambling into the command centre to check for hiding enemies behind the consoles and chairs.

"I don't get it," Sara frowned as the two soldiers confirmed the Bridge to be deserted, "Where is everybody?"

"Maybe they weren't as ready to launch as we thought," I shrugged carelessly as I turned to one of the greencoats, "Stanford, you and Illum start searching the corridors. Get Canestro on the line and tell him to do the same before he starts powering up the engines. I'll get Mira and her team up here so we can start making a move on heading out,"

"Yes sir,"

"You didn't have to do that you know," Michaels glared at me with irritation as the two soldiers floated back into the elevator.

"Hm?" I removed my helmet as I pushed off towards the foreword consoles, pushing my messy brown hair out of my dark green eyes as I studied keyboard before me, "Didn't have to do what?"

"Give orders," she sighed as she pulled her own helmet off her head, her flame red ponytail drifting listlessly in the zero gravity, "Ever since Junius Seven, whenever I stop unexpectedly or even pause for thought, you seem to feel the need to fill in for me,"

"Maybe it's your imagination," images of stolen schematics flashed before my eyes as my fingers hovered over the buttons, "But Ma'am, we are in kind of a hurry here. We don't have time to dawdle,"

"I know that!" I winced as I felt her azure glare trying to pierce the back of my skull, "Just…get the ship up and running, I'll recall Mira and her team,"

"Already on it," I smiled as I flipped a single switch near the steering wheel, the Bridge coming to life with a moan as the damage status screen flashed onto the computer before me, only several blotches of red in a sea of green, "Whoa…This ship takes a beating and it still comes back for more. It'd take a whole lot more then what Le Creuset just dished out to destroy her,"

"Does this ship have a name?" Sara floated down to me as she switched off her radio.

"According to this her name is…Archangel. LCAM-01XA," I tapped the corner of the screen for emphasis, "Better then calling it the Legged Ship I guess. Makes her sound like a bad stripper….OW!" I saw stars as my Commander slapped me round the back of the head, "What was that for?!"

"For having a dirty mind," Sara smirked as she leaned up against the console, "Mira's coming back, she found only one survivor, unconscious. Everyone else is either dead or crispy,"

"What's the difference?"

"She didn't find any crispy bodies,"

"Ah,"

"Canestro and Stanford have also rounded up a few survivors that were on board. Mostly factory workers. Canestro and Illum are heading back to Engineering to try and speed up the start-up process. Any word from the others?"

"No, the airwaves are still being jammed," I frowned as I activated one of the Helm's comm. screens, "Short range communication only. We'll have no way of know what's going on at Morgenroete until we get out of here. Unfortunately…" I sighed as I nodded towards the main window, "We're not going anywhere until we shift that debris,"

"I'll have Canestro work on it when he's got the time, meanwhile, see what you can do about familiarising yourself with the Helm. Mira will be up shortly to help with operations,"

"I really don't think we can do this," I shook my head as I slumped into the chair before the steering wheel, the Commander heading up to the Captain's chair, "We've only got ten people, this ship requires a skeleton crew of at least thirty…"

"It's not like we're going to take her to Jachin Due to defend the front lines," Sara smirked, "We're just getting her out of here so our techs can properly pull her apart. All we need is the engines, life support and basic weapons systems…just in case,"

"What if things went down south at Morgenroete?" I turned to face her anxiously as Mira and two other soldiers, Illum and Ryan, filed out of the elevator onto the Bridge, "Maybe it'd be better to wait here until we have a clear idea of the situation,"

"If the situation at Morgenroete has gone bad, then the Le Creuset Team will need back up," Michaels indicated to the new group and pointed to the CIC, Weapons and Fire Control, "If anything, we might be able to give the Earth Forces something else to shoot at," she picked up the phone embedded in the Chair's armrest, "Canestro, any ideas on how to get the rubble moved?"

"Maybe. I've found something interesting in the ship's database that might be of use," The engineer's face appeared on the main screen above the windows, "Turns out, this baby's equipped with something called the Lohengrin. It's basically a positron blaster cannons, two of 'em, practically capable of annihilating anything in their way. If we fire a low yield blast directly in front of us, we should blow everything away, doors included,"

I turned to face the Commander quickly, "He's not serious?"

"Do you really think he'd suggest it if he wasn't?"

"Commander, with respect to Canestro, we have no idea the kind of power this Lohengrin possess! A low yield blast could rip a hole through the loading dock and straight out the other side of the colony! These people are neutral. It's not their fault their government betrayed them to the alliance…"

"If you have a better idea Marcus," Sara's eyes narrowed, "You better spit it out,"

"I don't," I scowled darkly, "You know I don't. I'm just saying there has to be another way,"
"At this moment in time, we have no idea what is going on beyond the walls of this shipyard," Sara sighed as she leaned back in the Captain's chair, "Maybe Zala and co. have already captured the mobile weapons and are waiting impatiently for us to arrive, maybe they're all dead and we're all that's left. The point is we don't know, and if we can get out there and give them a hand, I'd much rather do that then sit here waiting to be rescued. I wouldn't want to give Le Creuset the satisfaction,"

"There's more to life then trying to get one up over the Masked Man," I frowned slightly as I returned to the steering wheel, "Why does she always feel the need to prove herself? Maybe youth and command…just don't mix well,"

"Attention all hands, this is Commander Michaels," Sara's voice broke my thoughts as she picked up the armrest mounted phone, "Stand by for launch sequence. From the data before me, we can speed up the start-up process by omitting programs C-30 through L-21. Canestro, start up main power,"

"Roger. Main power online,"

"Output increase is stable," various diagnostic screens danced before my eyes as the mammoth vessel slowly began to hum with energy, "We still need four hundred fifty seconds for the required rating though,"

"Too long!" I winced at my Commander's harsh tone, "Canestro, what's the status of the conduits to Heliopolis?"

"Undamaged Ma'am. What did you have in mind?"

"Set us up to draw power through them. Get the conduits online and relay power to the accumulator,"

"Connection confirmed…power flow stable…Hey West, how's it look on your end?"

"Much better, only twenty seconds until we hit the required rating," I turned back to smirk at my Commander, "Any better?"

The redhead merely returned the gesture, "Much better Westfield. All hands report in,"

"Life support systems…normal," Ryan's eyes darted across his screen, "CIC coming online,"

"Weapons systems online," Illum nodded from his seat beside mine, "FSC Contact. Magnetic field chamber and pellet dispenser…functioning and stable,"

"Maintaining external impact damper and maximum output," a frown crossed Mira's tanned face, "Still nothing on all communication frequencies,"

"Linking main power," I gripped the steering wheel tightly as Archangel slowly rose up from it's resting place, levelling out as it reached the centre of the ruined shipyard, "Engines…stable. All Archangel systems online. Aside from the fact we still don't have communications, we're ready to head out,"

"If going in deaf is the least of our problems Westfield, we'll be getting off lucky," Sara merely smiled as she leaned back in the Captain's chair, "Seal all bulkheads. All hands, prepare for sudden impacts as well as possible damage to the ship as we depart. Marcus…

Let's get the hell out of here!"

"The power pack…which one is that?"

"The weapons and power pack are integrated. Mount the whole unit!"

"Geez, why does she have to be so bossy?" Miriallia sent a scowl the Murrue Ramius' way from around the side of the cargo truck, "Kira's doing his best…it's not like he's a Alliance soldier or anything,"

"Yeah, that's true," Sai chuckled slightly as the Strike crouched down before them, "Can't really blame her though. I mean Kira might not be a soldier, but that woman definitely is. Once more, she's currently one of the most dangerous," he gave his friend a pointed look over the rims of his glasses, "A cornered one. As far as she knows, she's all alone, with no back-up, the enemy on all sides and only a handful of kids at her disposal," he smiled reassuringly, "I think we can give her some slack on her bossy attitude…"

"Wrong," Miriallia scowled darkly from beneath her light brown bangs, "I don't give slack to anyone who points a gun in my face to get us to do what she wants," she sent another hateful glance the Lieutenant's way, "I don't care what she says…she has no right to keep us here or exploit Kira in this way,"

Sai sighed with a simple shrug as Kuzzey came round the front of the cab to lean against it's door, "If you say so,"

"I do say so," the young girl sighed as she turned her gaze to the strips of land above their heads, the alarms sounding almost feeble as they carried to cry out across the deserted colony, "The evacuation orders are still in effect, I guess,"

"Sure sounds like it," Sai sighed again as he pushed his glasses up his nose, "I hope my father and the others made it to the shelters safely…"

"Honestly, I just think this whole mess is a waste of time," Kuzzey groaned as he put his hands behind his head and lent up against the cab door, "I just want to hurry up with this and go home…What was that!?"

Miriallia barely had time to look up as Heliopolis rumbled from a explosion high above her head, the fiery cloud that bloomed from the central support quickly dissipating as a pure white mobile suit flew out into the habitation area, a bright orange mobile armour hot on it's heels.

"W…what's going on?" Kuzzey steeped back from the truck uneasily as Tolle came up beside his girlfriend, "Are they going to fight inside the colony? What…AGH!!!"

Miriallia let out a small scream as the armour screamed overhead, her boyfriend's arm coming protectively around her waist as she was sprayed with sand and grit from the parkland floor.

"Mount the equipment before it's too late!!!"

Ramius' cry feel on deaf ears as she pulled herself out of Tolle's grasp, her boyfriend shouting her name lost in the noises of the battle above as she ran to the shelter of a nearby tree.

There was something…important going on here.

The two machines almost seemed to dance across the air above her, armour and suit circling each other in criss-cross patterns as weapons fire sliced across the void between them.

Then the suit got the upper hand.

Watching from her position beneath the tree, she could only stare as the suit managed to get behind it's orange opponent, the armour's linear gun cleaved in two with a single sweep of the white machine's sword as the alliance pilot swung by.

With his opponent effectively disabled, a gasp of horror escaped Miriallia's throat as the white suit suddenly plummeted towards the artificial ground, the Strike clearly within it's sights as it primed it's rifle.

"KIRA, LOOK OUT!!!"
The weapons pack attacked to the Strike's back with a metallic clunk, the metal greys quickly replaced with it's more colourful scheme of red white and blue as the massive mech rose to it's feet.

Then…something else exploded.

Bracing herself against the tree as the ground seemed to threaten to break apart beneath her feet, Miriallia could only stare as the sleek double hull of a gleaming white space ship emerged from the remains of the hill, the long 'legs' quickly joining to form a single hull as the vessel fully emerged.

For a moment, she felt safe. Watching the vessel glide out over the colony, Miriallia felt a strong presence reflected in the ship's size and immense weaponry. Everything was as it should be, she could almost smile…

Until the massive vessel tilted, and a single massive double barrelled turret extended from the hull and rotated to aim it's firepower in the Strike's direction.

"Attention Earth Alliance Forces, this is Commander Sara Michaels of the ZAFT Organisation. We have captured the vessel designated Archangel, four of your five prototypes are in our custody, and ZAFT warships currently within this colony's territory. Surrender the final unit and come quietly, or you will be destroyed. This is your only warning, what is your answer?"

And as the harsh female voice seemed to echo over the abandoned colony, Miriallia suddenly felt that things…had gone terribly wrong.

PRODUCTION NUMBER: GAT-X105

CODENAME: STRIKE

Suffice to say, I felt the end of this operation had been…sloppy…to say the least.

HEIGHT: 17.72 METRES

STANDALONE WEIGHT: 64.8 METRIC TONS

Despite having reportedly held it's own against a GINN, even with it's newly acquired weapon attached to it's back, the last prototype had quickly stood down when it's pilot found itself looking down the barrel of the weapon the computer banks designated Gottfried. Perhaps it had been on the orders of the officer that had relayed the surrender to the Archangel rather then the pilot's own will though.

UNIT TYPE: PROTOTYPE ALL-PURPOSE MULTI-MODE MOBILE SUIT

MANUFACTURER: MORGENROETE, INC

Not that it really mattered either way.

The five machines had been collected, Archangel was now under our control, and the Vesalius, Gamow and Valiant hung in orbit over the subdued Heliopolis. The first part of our mission had been completed. Now it was just a case of loading the machines up, taking on a larger crew of one hundred personal to insure a more smoother operation, as well as insuring all supplies and technology related to the new mobile suits was either captured or destroyed.

"Hey there,"

I blinked in surprise as I looked up from the Strike's terminal to the open hatch, a small smile gracing my lips as I took in the green hair and brown eyes of Nicol Amalfi as he pulled himself onto the edge of the suit's open cockpit

"Hullo," I nodded in greeting as I set the diagnostic to automatic, "Are you done with your unit's data extraction?"

"Yep. Designation GAT-X207, Codename Blitz," the redcoat smiled good-naturedly, "Your techs from the Valiant are recharging it now. I have to admit, they sure are an efficient bunch of people," he turned his head to the hanger as a green and red suit lumbered by, "Considering you were all brought in at the last moment, I'm honestly surprised, they don't even seem fazed by the disruption…"

"We are a Technical Evaluation Unit, not a battle group," I smiled fondly as I watched the data flow across my screen, "You give us technology, chances are we'll probably tell you how it works and what to do with it by the end of the day, maximum. Put us in a tactical situation…" I shrugged slightly, "Well…the outcome varies from situation to situation," I frowned, my mood suddenly sullen, "I just wish…there had been less casualties,"

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Nicol fidgeted slightly in his excursion suit, "Rusty was…a good friend," he looked up at me suddenly, "I don't hold it against you though. You know, for running this diagnostic and everything. I can't hold following orders against you,"

"That's…decent of you," I smiled slightly, before turning back to the screens before me, "For what it's worth…I'm sorry for your loss,"

"Yeah, me too…but the time for mourning will be later, when we're back on Aprilius One," he smiled at me determinately, "Right now, we've got to focus on the mission, right?"

I smiled with a nod.

"Ri-"
"Nicol? What are you doing up there!?"

The green-haired teen's face suddenly paled.

"Uh-oh…Yzak,"

The diagnostic complete, I set the database to download the data into the portable terminal, before heaving my body out of the cockpit chair to gaze down to the Archangel's Hanger deck, my eyebrows hiking up as I took in the white hair and angry scowl that adorned the redcoat's face, his blue eyes narrowed to slits.

With a small smirk, I couldn't help but notice the family resemblance to his mother.

"Oh, it's you," Yzak's scowl seemed to deepen as I pulled down the debarkation cable from the hatch above me, Nicol waiting patiently as I descended to the ground, "What do you think you're doing? Who gave you permission to touch this machine?"

"I'm not sure you really have the authority to ask," I regarded the younger man quietly, "But since you did so politely, Commander Le Creuset requested I perform the data extraction in Rusty Mackenzie's place. I do work for a Technical Evaluation Unit…it's kind of in my job description,"

"Whatever," the pilot seemed to have etched that scowl directly into his face, "He probably only requested you because Miguel had to return to Vesalius. You're not exactly a part of the Le Creuset Team…" he trailed off as I tried to smother a small chuckle, his face darkening with anger as Nicol came down from the Strike's cockpit behind me, "What's so funny?"

"You really are Ezalia Joule's son," I shook my head in mock-disbelief, "You're both…so full of yourselves,"

"What you say!?" Yzak flared angrily, a threatening step forward quickly subdued as Nicol moved to restrain his friend, "What did you say about my mother!? You take that back!!!"

"November 19th, 69 CE," My own green orbs narrowed as Joule faltered in his aggressive stance, "I was summoned to your mother's office, on the day of my graduation I might add, to receive my first assignment as an Engineer of the 608th Technical Evaluation Unit; The XASC-76A Jörmungandr, a experimental superweapon designed to take out vessels the size of a Nelson in a single shot. We were to evaluate the weapon during the Battle at L4, but we were never given any tactical data. We were never part of the battle plan, and we lost good men as a result," I scowled darkly, "I made it a point never to accept technology from your mother again as a result,"

"Yeah well…You're not exactly Mr. Perfect either," Yzak smirked, "Marcus Westfield; the flying Engineer who avenged the lost souls of Junius Seven to the Roosevelt…by plunging his GINN into the Bridge,"

Something twitched in my eye, "My right arm had been severed and the ship was getting away. It was the only way to stop it," I looked away in disgust, "I'm an engineer first, a pilot second…"

"Exactly, you're not a pilot. The destruction of the Roosevelt was sloppy and based on pure luck! Heck, the only reason you guys were brought in was because you were close by and we needed the ship…"

"That's enough Yzak,"

I blinked in surprise as another voice entered the conversation, the owner's green eyes casting a stony glare the disbelieving Joule's way as he approached.

"Zala," I nodded respectfully.

"Westfield," he mirrored the gesture before turning to his comrade, "Marcus Westfield is a decorated soldier Yzak, you would do well to show him some respect…"

"Respect to a guy who destroyed a warship by accident?" Joule scoffed, "Fat chance,"

"He did more the destroy the Roosevelt. He is a veteran of the battle at Junius Seven," Athrun smirked slightly as Dearka came up behind him, "He may not have made the most kills, and he might not have been the most skilled pilot there. But he fought valiantly to protect Junius Seven, and even though he and his comrades failed, they deserve our respect for their efforts,"
"I dunno," Dearka smirked slightly, "They did kinda fail and all…"

"But they tried," Athrun shot his comrade a dirty look over his shoulder, "No one knew the Alliance would stoop to such lows as to use nuclear missiles against the PLANTs…"

Athrun's voice seemed to drift off as I felt something flash within my mind; a strange pressure almost as though someone was pushing against my brain until I looked in the right direction…

And let my eyes fall on a small group of seven as they were led by armed escort through the hanger towards the innards of the ship, a pilot, a factory worker and five…children.

"Hey, wait a minute!"

With barely a nod to my surprised comrades as a means of dismissing myself, I quickly ran across the deck towards the surprised soldiers, the captured blond pilot gazing sharply in my direction out of the corner of his eye as I approached.

"What's going on?" the greencoat turned to me uneasily as he motioned for his comrades to continue onward, "Who are these people?"

"Sir," the soldier hesitantly saluted, "I'm not actually sure…I was just told to escort the adults to the Brig and the younger ones to separate quarters…"

"Surely you have some idea? Alliance prisoners? Heliopolis colonists?"

"I…erm…"

"Ugh, this is getting us nowhere. Excuse me," I quickly set my hand on the bare shoulder of the last of the group as she passed by, her body freezing under my touch as she turned to face me with wary brown eyes, "I know this might sound a bit rude but…what rank are you?"

"Hey!" I didn't look up as the young brown haired teen before her suddenly turned around to pull his friend away from me angrily, his wrath barely held back by the alarmed soldier beside me as his friends watched on in bewilderment, "Let her go!"

"Please, answer the question,"

She didn't fully turn around. She just stared at me over her shoulder for a moment more, before turning her attention stubbornly on her shoes.

"E…excuse me?"

"Rank. Lieutenant? Ensign? Warrant?"

"I…I don't have a rank. I'm a civilian…"

"Civilian?" even the young teen, presumably her boyfriend, stopped squirming as the answer came almost as quiet as a whisper, "I wasn't aware we were taking on any civilians,"

"Like I said sir, I was just ordered to take the adults to the Brig at the teens to the private quarters," the greencoat shrugged helplessly, "You'll have to ask Commander Le Creuset about it,"

"Alright…alright," I tried to smile reassuringly for the young girl, but she just continued to stare at her shoes, her boyfriend going several angry shades of red as I patted her gingerly on the shoulder, "This isn't a cruise liner, neither is the colony damaged enough to warrant evacuating any stray colonists we find," I turned to the soldier, "Have one of you take the adults to the Brig as ordered, but you remain here with the rest until I get some answers from the Commander.

Something about this…just doesn't sit right with me,"

"I see…and you're sure about this?"

"Yes sir: three Nelsons and two Drakes. It's far too big to be a patrol fleet, and none of their paths come this close to Heliopolis anyway," Ades frowned uneasily on the Communication screen, "Either they were on their way here before we attacked, or the radio blackout has been going on for too long and someone's gotten suspicious. Regardless, they will be here within half an hour,"

"I see," Rau frowned beneath his mask, a movement unseen by either the Captain or Sara Michaels who stood by his side, "Very well. Find Miguel a new GINN and order all pilots to stand by. I will be returning to the Vesalius shortly,"

"Understood,"

"What about the prototypes?" Sara cast her comrade a sideways glance as the screen clicked off, "Are we just going leave them in storage?"

"No. If we are facing these odds we shall need as many suits as we can deploy," Rau turned his gaze to the nearby Strike, "The data extraction is almost complete on all five machines. If anything this will show these machines' true potential…and against their own creators no less. I suppose when you think about it, some might call it…poetic,"

"Yes…well…" Sara smirked slightly, "I guess you and I travel in different poetic circles Le Creuset. Who did you have in mind for the pilot of the X105?"

The fellow Commander never replied.

"Commander Le Creuset!"

"Mr. Westfield?" Rau regarded the redcoat with curiously as he came a halt in front of the two Commanders, his breathing slightly laboured from sprinting across the Hanger, "Is there a problem?"

"Sir…why are we taking on civilians?" Marcus lent against the wall slightly as he caught his breath, "The colony isn't in need of abandonment, we don't need to take on anybody we don't need,"

"Hm? Ah yes, the children found with the X105," The Commander looked back along the route the soldier had come to where the soldier and smaller group stood near the rear of the hanger. He indicated to the greencoat to continue with his orders, "Following the surrender of the final unit, these five students were found to be aiding an Earth Alliance Officer in moving the machine. One of them was even piloting it. As such, I feel it is necessary to keep them under surveillance until we can determine their risk to this operation,"

"But Sir, they're only students, they can't be much younger then me or Commander Michaels!" Sara scowled darkly at the comment as Rau indicated to the remaining pilots to come over, "They're neutral citizens. Even if their government betrayed them, that doesn't give us the right to treat them like enemies and take them away from their families like this!"

"What would you have him do Westfield?" Sara cocked an eyebrow in mild amusement, "Just let them go? After they've seen this ship, the prototypes and at least a hundred ZAFT soldiers milling about the place? Sorry, but I'm with Le Creuset on this. We'll keep them here for now until we can figure out what they know and how to keep them quiet. It's not like we're keeping them in the brig like the Alliance soldiers though. We've assigned them separate quarters, keeping them comfortable," she shot Rau a sharp glance as the prototype pilots approached, "We are keeping them comfortable right?"

"But of course," the masked man smiled almost reassuringly, "But right now we have bigger problems to deal with. Gentlemen…" he turned to the pilots, his expression suddenly solemn, "Ades has informed us that a small Alliance battle fleet is approaching Heliopolis, and will be here within half an hour. Considering the total hanger size for three Nelson and two Drake Class warships, it is a safe assumption that we will be heavily outnumbered. As such, the five prototypes will also be put into action with our GINNs in an attempt to bolster our numbers. The Archangel will also head out into space shortly in order to assist our ships. Mr. Westfield," the same almost reassuring smile crossed the Commander's lips, "You will be the X105's designated pilot until further notice,"

"Me, Sir?" Marcus' eyes widened in surprise as Yzak's jaw dropped to the vicinity of his ankles, "But I thought Aiman…"

"Miguel is a capable pilot, but then so are you," Rau continued to smile that same almost reassuring smile, "Why waste resources transferring one pilot back here, when we have a perfectly able one already on the scene? I'm sure another helmsman can be found for the Archangel…"

"It's a steering wheel and a few buttons and levers," Sara shrugged with a smirk, "Anyone with a half decent driving licence should be able to handle,"

"Then we are in agreement," Yzak seemed to have lost all ability to speak by this point, "Westfield will be assigned the X105, and all five of you shall sortie in twenty-three minutes. I'm heading back to the Vesalius to take control of the operation from there. Michaels, the Archangel is yours. As such, I'm placing the prototype pilots under your jurisdiction…"

"WHAT!?!" Yzak's voice suddenly returned to him, "WE'RE GETTING TRANSFERRED TO HER TEAM!?!"

"Looks that way," Michaels smirked dangerously as she shot Joule a matching stare, "Got a problem with that, Old Man?"

"Oh trust us," Dearka smiled apologetically as his hand slapped itself across Yzak's mouth, "He's got no problem with that whatsoever!"

One major note here: I'm not sure if Archangel's cargo bay actually has a booth to operate the doors and such. I just added it here because it was needed.

Hope you enjoyed,

Dearing