Update: Tweaked/rewritten August 2020. Previously titled: Hot, Sexy Men in Red

New Ship, New Orders, Old Comrades

"Try not to be so frustrated, Ades." Creuset lightly pushed off the main screen to stand at the mission briefing table. He had joined Captain Ades and the others on the bridge earlier that afternoon. There were two other soldiers sitting near the front of the bridge, keeping an eye on the radars and prepared to alert the ship if anything came within the vicinity. One other soldier had been tasked with keeping an eye on the investigation into the two captured at Morgenroete, but the press was surprisingly quiet on the matter. Most likely, the government was trying to keep the matter under wraps, but it was starting to make people nervous. If Moregenroete had managed to get anything out of Avalanche and Chronos, they were sitting ducks and, possibly, escalating a conflict that they had no right to stick their noses in. At least they had proof the machines were being built and while they were not put together in the current information Eclipse had procured, there were additional reports that they had been taken apart for repair reasons, not because they weren't finished.

Le Creuset had sent the information to the Chairman of Defense, Patrick Zala, after reading through the information, but still hadn't heard anything back. It had been over a day and they were running out of time.

Now or never.

"Well, I don't imagine it'd be too late to hear back from the Council at least." The captain was an older gentleman with dark brown hair and sideburns reaching down to the top of his cheekbones. He had a long face that seemed to be cut short by the black and purple captain's hat he always wore. Strict to the rule book this one was. He swiveled his chair around to face the commander, a slight frown on his face. He didn't like doing things without the Council's approval, but he wasn't about to go against Le Creuset's instincts either.

Pick your poison.

"It will be too late. I have a sixth sense about these things." A photo lay resting on the table and Le Creuset glanced at it as he picked it up. The head of a mobile suit with its armor greyed stared back at him. The commander's gaze was long and hard, analyzing the photo as if it could tell him more than the information he already had. He was just so curious about the machines and anxious to get them out of their enemy's hands an into theirs. They were both dangerous and special.

A combination he admired.

Looking back over at the captain, Le Creuset tossed the picture past the older man before continuing. "If we don't seize the moment now, later we'll pay with our lives for our reluctance to take action." He paused, watching the screen at the front of the ship and the two pods as they propelled themselves toward Heliopolis. He knew about the total of ten soldiers, five of them redcoats, on the crafts and withheld a smirk. No, they had to act and they would manage the repercussions as soon as the suits were in their hands. "The Earth Forces new mobile weapons. We must secure them before they attempt to move them."

"That's all thanks to those weapons isn't it? They're the reason those Naturals are being so jumpy."

"I agree with you in saying that they chose their path poorly, and no doubt they had paid for those decisions. We are forced to work with the hand we were dealt and if there's one thing that we're sure of, they're cautious. Most likely they had made the final adjustments on the suits over the past day and are about to transport them to a different facility entirely. We can't afford to lose sight of them now or even let them go to Earth."

"So, we capture them."

"Heliopolis broke their neutrality as soon as they agreed to build those things." They both paused, digesting the situation. Elite military personnel were going to infiltrate the colony and take hostile actions in order to steal some weaponry. Innocent bystanders were bound to get hurt and even killed all because Orb decided to do something rash.

Foolish.

"Speaking of those soldiers of yours. Do you think they're dead?"

"I'm sure that Lunar Eclipse is the only survivor," Creuset responded, taking one of the seats near the table. He rested his hand on the armrest and looked back at the screen to continue watching the descent.

"What about the others on Januarias 4?" Ades continued.

"The rebellion? Ah yes, did you receive any new information on that matter?"

"I did, but the news isn't pretty." He paused for a moment and looked at the other officers on the bridge. He excused them and waited for the bridge to be empty before continuing. "Three officers helped them escape and out of all the superiors there, those were the only ones to come out alive. Even the civilians working at the facility were slaughtered."

"How many recruits survived?"

"Out of the seventeen that were registered, twelve attempted the escape. Two were transported to Earth prior to the uprising and have since then been drafted permanently into the ZAFT military. The other three were here at Heliopolis with us. Out of the remaining twelve, eleven got out safely."

"So that's a grand total of fourteen survivors then," Le Creuset said slowly, doing the math and tapping his mask thoughtfully. "I warned Captain Vindur about this, but he didn't take my words to heart, I see. A pity really. A lot of ZAFT's time and money went into that project."

"What should we do with the girl then?" Ades pulled up Eclipse's profile in the pad he was holding, taking another moment to look at her file. There was no indication the soldier would break orders and loyalties, but the stunt at the facility was giving him doubts. Where did her loyalties actually lie? "Do you think she plans on meeting up with them?"

"I'm positive that she doesn't know of the mutiny. If she did, she probably would've fled to them instead of us." The commander hesitated, brushing aside some blonde hair. To assume that much was still a risky move and he didn't want to make more than one risky move that afternoon. "We should probably keep her aboard for the time being."

"Under close surveillance?"

"Of course, Captain."

"Our options for her are limited for the time being and I really don't want to keep her idle. We don't have any extra room for another mobile suit especially with the five new ones coming and until we know more about the situation, I refuse to put her in charge of one."

"Yes, I agree. We'll have her work as a mechanic for now. She seems to know quite a bit in that field and we can never have enough of those experts aboard, especially now with the prototypes. She may be of some use."

Ades nodded slowly, going back through her profile. "I'll inform Carter then." They slipped into a familiar silence, both wrestling with the news from Januarias 4, the mission they had launched before Council's approval, and the fact that they now had a potential renegade soldier aboard their ship. "What do you think those rebels'll do?" Ades asked, breaking the silence.

"That I'm not sure of," Le Creuset admitted with a shrug. "There's a small chance they might flee back to their families, but that seems very slim given the training they went though. Revenge seems a viable option, but who they choose to take that revenge out on is also a mystery." Le Creuset paused again and stared back at the screen. The pods were just beginning their descent towards Heliopolis. Soon things were going to get even more interesting and despite the threat those trainees might pose, they all had to focus on getting those prototypes. "I guess we'll just have to wait for them to make a move. Until then, let's try to keep Lunar Eclipse off their radar and out of range."

"She seems like she'd make one powerful enemy."

"Ah, but a more powerful ally."

Eclipse stood in front of her mirror for the fifth time that day and it was only a quarter past one. Considering how big of a tomboy this particular female was, that was quite embarrassing. Pulling on a few strands of her hair, she inspected them again. The red color was showing through in random splotches, but she could still be called a bluehead in every respect. The dye took to separate areas differently, so the washing had done nothing more than make her head look like a tie-dyed T-shirt.

Woohoo, she thought with a sigh, knowing that three shades of blue and only two shades of red didn't look that great together. The weapon debated washing her hair again, but since it was getting so dried out and felt straw-like, baldness was scaring her more than the fact of having blue hair for the rest of her life.

As soon as Eclipse had left the commander's cabin the previous day, she had taken a shower and had attempted to wash out the dye entirely.

Poor thing had no idea.

It was well-known that Eclipse had been denying her femininity since day one at ZAFT training, so the idea that she never read fashion magazines wasn't too insane. How then could a girl like that know there were different kinds of hair dye? Her efforts to get the blue out had taken nearly forty-five minutes. After that amount of time, her locks had ceased transforming any further leaving her with what she had now.

Well, it was very retro to say the least.

Le Creuset had been the first to see the finished product the day before when she went back to discuss the warship that Avalanche and Chronos had supposedly found. He was kind. He smiled and made a humorous comment, but nothing more than some final advice as she was leaving.

The day had continued with an order to join the others on the bridge for a briefing. The captain had still been waiting for the "go ahead" from the Council, but Commander Le Creuset had wanted everyone to be ready at a moment's notice.

She had dreaded going, however, being a soldier doesn't give you any leeway when it comes to orders.

Follow them or get punished.

Tough choices.

It had surprised Eclipse at first to know that the team she was assigned to was, ironically, filled with pilots from her very first class at the academy. Of course, she wasn't in the program for long and she was almost immediately transferred to Januarias 4, so it was both a matter of whether she recognized them and/or they recognized her. Absently pulling at her hair again, she doubted the latter.

She had arrived on the bridge with little fanfare and saluted to an acknowledging Captain Ades before finding a corner to try and stand in. She had steadied herself not far from the door, taking in her teammates.

Thinking back on that time, Eclipse's lips flipped into a frown. Her fingers slowed as she brushed at her hair.

There was only one redcoated pilot that she didn't know named Rusty. He seemed to want to blend in as much as Eclipse had, so her clearest memory of him was his red hair. There were a couple other pilots there as well, a taller greencoat with blond hair seeming to be the one with the highest rank. He was called Miguel Aiman and based on the way he had interacted with the crew, he had a good rapport.

Nicol Amalfi, she had recognized right away. He was the youngest member with green hair and a had still retained his boyish charm, from what she could tell. He was the shortest, always had been the shortest, and—perhaps—would always be the shortest. It wasn't a flaw, however, his orange eyes counteracting his boyish looks. There was some experience there.

After Nicol she had seen Yzak Joule. His signature silver, shoulder-length hair, and icy blue eyes were the same as she had remembered, but he had grown taller and gained a bit of muscle. He stood to be a little under six foot with broad shoulders and a confident demeanor. The confidence, of course, was another signature trait.

The group had been looking over and discussing some diagrams on the briefing table at the time and were absently making remarks as they admired the schematics in front of them. Dearka Elsman had made a comment then, she remembered. He was Yzak's sidekick and personal friend, so the fact that they had been put on the same team made sense. Dearka was was darker-skinned than the others, was still blond, still had stunning violet eyes, and still tall. Somehow, he seemed to have changed the least, both in appearance and personality based on his rather eye roll-worthy remarks. He was the tallest of the five redcoats at six feet.

The last one she had noticed was named Athrun Zala. He had been standing thoughtfully next to Nicol on the opposite end of the table to her. He was probably one of the more technically minded individuals of the group so while the others might have been paying more attention to the aesthetics of the suits, he was bound to be looking at the schematics. He stood to be about her height with dark blue hair cut around mid-neck and emerald green eyes. The last time she had seen him, he was a pipsqueak with young, girlish looks. She remembered him well primarily because his family's status in the PLANTs and he was famously in an arranged marriage with Lacus Clyne.

Eclipse sighed as she turned on the water once more, dipping her hands under the faucet and splashing the cool liquid on her face. Most of the pilots, she noted, had some family member fairly high up on the food chain. Typically, people with status and money liked to keep their kids away from danger and often had a lot of influence in doing so. The fact that they were all on the same team and on the team assigned to this particular mission was rather interesting.

No one had approached her or attempted to interact with her after the briefing and she realized she was okay with that, using the time given to her to catch up on the news cycle. There hadn't been any new developments regarding Chronos and Avalanche, but their fate might always eat at her if she didn't find any sort of hint concerning their ultimate end.

She hadn't been given any new orders, so her things were thrown rather unceremoniously into the closet in anticipation of whether she would be told to either unpack or be sent elsewhere. Her laptop was on the desk churning through some news sites as she took her time in the bathroom, still eyeing what her handiwork had done to her hair. It'll come out eventually, she had to remind herself.

There wasn't much more she could find in the news, so she was debating having a brief wander around the ship and, possibly, checking in to see what her new orders were. It was a new day and maybe someone would have finally decided what to do with her. If anything, knowledge was power, as far as she was concerned, so a working mental map of the Vesalius seemed like a good consolation prize.

Using the sink for leverage, she pushed off towards the door. She miss-judged her leap by a fair margin and had to claw her way across the wall to find the door switch. Eclipse had had very little anti-gravity training and nothing outside of her mobile suit. The weightless feeling was quite an experience and may take some time to get used to, but the soldier was enjoying it.

Who didn't like to fly?

Pressing the button, she propelled out the doorway and into the hall.

The weapon was never one for direct approaches, especially when it came to her commanding officers, so her decision hadn't come without any sort of nervousness. She had had her share of jokes and wordplay with her fellow trainees on Januarias 4, but nothing more than orders from her superiors. Perhaps that was because the last time she let her lips flap she had gotten slapped and then shot in the hand for her other antics.

Needless to say, Eclipse had learned her lesson fast.

She paused just outside her door, hearing the door shut behind her and lock. The bridge was at the end of the main hall, but she was under the impression that a soldier should only go there when commanded or has a shift. Since Eclipse fell under neither category, she would have to go to the commander's quarters and speak to him personally.

Not the greatest idea, but then again, what choice did she have?

Turning right from her room, Eclipse grabbed on to the moving railing next to her hand. Small, thin handles were secured equally across the belt strapped to the contraption so that she had something to hold on to as she was propelled through the hallways. The weapon took one and headed towards the interior of the ship.

"Ah, just the soldier I was looking for." Le Creuset was gliding towards her from the opposite direction. Eclipse had to admit she was grateful for meeting him in the hallway instead of possibly disturbing him at his own quarters.

The commander let go of the belt and steadied himself onto the floor. It was obvious that he was comfortable in the weightless environment. Too bad Eclipse didn't feel the same. She let go of her own handle and managed a salute once she finally steadied herself. "Sir?"

"I'm assigning you to the hangar as another mechanic. I know you're well-educated in that field and I'm hoping you might be able to help once the new prototypes arrive. You have studied the schematics, correct?" She nodded. "Good. I would like you to share some of that knowledge with the other workers."

"Yes, sir. I'll go there right away." She saluted, no questions asked, and continued on down the hallway, taking a right at the first intersection. It looked like she would be staying aboard for a bit longer after all.

Le Creuset watched her disappear before checking his watch. The real fighting was about to begin and he hoped that his soldiers would succeed.

The officer laughed. Why was he worried?

Nothing would go wrong.

The mobile suit hangar on the Vesalius seemed to take up more of the ship than any other area. The ceiling was about 90 feet tall and had the width and length to fit ten GINNs snugly, but efficiently. Seven of those said machines were standing motionless in varied spots and three of them had a mechanic and pilot at the cockpit. The mechanics wore the same puffy marshmallow suit that Eclipse had the pleasure of wearing the day before, complete with glass face mask. She frowned, knowing that if she was assigned to such a position, then she'd no doubt be wearing the same outfit.

Such a cruel world.

The pilot's suit was built for movement, she knew, and despite the how thin it looked, it would keep the pilot safer than any mechanic's suit. It was double-layered in both the arms and the legs, but the torso, and especially the chest and neck area, was triple-layered. The area from the bottom of the rib cage all the way to the chin was the color black and looked to be of a tougher fabric than the rest of the attire. The black material wrapped itself around the top section and onto the shoulders, even draping down around the wrists. The black boots weren't as high as with the standard green uniform—which had them stretching up to just below the knee—but ended above the ankle.

"I take it you're the new crew member," an older gentleman said, floating over towards her. He wasn't dressed like the other mechanics in the room, which gave Eclipse a little hope in possibly not having to wear the dreaded space suit, but was adorning the same green outfit the weapon was wearing. She hadn't received a new wardrobe yet. Shaggy, black hair covered the top of his head, but Eclipse could see the beginning strands of grey mixed in. His eyes were a dull brown over a large nose and small mouth. Pale white skin gave the impression that he stayed indoors more than anything. Tinkering with his tools it seemed. "Lunar Eclipse, right?" She saluted and he extended a calloused palm. The weapon hesitated, but eventually took it with her own worn one. "Call me Carter."

"Just Eclipse is fine, sir." It was a strange statement to say, mainly because the girl had never asked that of anyone before. Usually the person just assumed the shortened version was preferred. Eclipse honestly didn't care either way.

"A female, huh? We haven't seen a woman around these parts in ages. I hope you can put a few of these men in their place."

The weapon just smiled and released his hand. Being in a training program with 29 other boys had prepared her for such an occasion, but she decided that keeping her head low might be a better idea than trying to show up any seasoned soldiers.

"Things'll start heating up here pretty quick, so I advise you to suit up. I'll tell you where to go from there."

Eclipse saluted and pushed off towards the locker room, keeping her opinions to herself just like with the commander. She had no authority to complain or question anyway.

"It's time," Le Creuset said, turning to Captain Ades as he did.

The captain nodded and returned to his team on the bridge. "Weigh anchor! Vesalius launch!" The main boosters started as soon as Ades had given the command, and the three waiting GINNs launched.

Eclipse watched them take off and found herself amused. She never saw the launching system in action and found it quite intriguing. Given, she knew enough about the sequence to take it apart and put it back together again, but seeing it in action put so many things into perspective.

She was no longer at the facility.

A smile curled up her lips for the first time since arrival. She was out; finally out.

Her triumph didn't last long, however, her grin slipping the moment two, familiar faces flashed across her mind's eye.

What about FS and Stray?

"Notice to approaching ZAFT vessels! The actions you have taken are in direct violation of your treaty with our nation! Stop your advancement at once! ZAFT vessels! Stop your advancement at once!" Neither Le Creuset nor Ades flinched at the command. Apparently, ZAFT was more informed than even some of the communications officers on the colony.

Heliopolis was the one in violation of the treaty, not them.

The electrical interference made the words hard to make out even from their sitting positions, but their sentiments were too late anyway.

Things were already in motion.

Heliopolis responded quickly which was good in some respects, but the fact that their only defense consisted of five small, box-like mobile armors made the battle look a little one sided.

"We're moving once we take out the mining area," Le Creuset said calmly as if not seeing the difference in fighting strength.

Captain Ades said nothing and watched the screens. Just because he couldn't say anything against the plan, didn't mean he couldn't brood over it. If the Council had given their approval then perhaps he would have been alright sitting there and watching the slaughter, but as things stood, it was going to get very ugly and very fast.

"Yes, sir!" a soldier reported from the front, acknowledging the order.

Le Creuset sighed inwardly and watched the GINNs as they intercepted the mobile armors. So it begins.

There was a small screen near the locker room door that served as the only outside access for the mechanics. There was a direct link from the main screen up in the bridge so each individual in the hangar was able to watch the battle too. Some shouted words of encouragement to the GINNs outside and whenever a machine took a hit they groaned. Some knew what was exactly damaged and could even tell the amount of time that it would take to repair it.

After a while it got quite annoying.

Eclipse opened the locker room door and steadied herself against the wall, stepping inside to wait for the suits to come back. The plan was actually that three of the new prototypes were going over to the Gamow, the Laurasia-class warship with the Vesalius, and only two would come to this hangar. While it sounded like a good idea, that had meant that Eclipse would have little to do. Hearing the shouting outside she figured that a GINN had taken another direct hit and felt a small surge of hope. If the others were preoccupied with the repairs than maybe she would get the opportunity to get a good look at the prototypes.

She could only hope.

Hmph, hope. It seems that's the only thing that I can do nowadays, the weapon thought. She didn't like waiting for people and especially for the people who were doing the things that she was trained to do. After the initial command, she couldn't help thinking that her assignment to the hangar was quite peculiar. She knew the commander was aware of what she could and couldn't do so why had he stuck her in here? Her highest marks had come from mobile piloting, not mechanics. Oh well, she thought with a sigh. I can't argue it.

"Olor's damaged! Emergency landing! Fire crew to B Deck!"

Eclipse heard the announcement, knew that she wasn't one of the fire crew, but went out to look anyway. How could anyone take damage from those puny mobile armors? She looked to her left at the screen and saw a different kind of unit flying around. It looked a lot like the aircrafts found on Earth, but this one was orange with a giant rifle that was attached to the bottom of the craft and stretched the length of the machine. It had four barrels at its back end and from the look of things, they were able to detach and move on their own. Impressive.

The hatch opened as everyone braced themselves, and one of the GINNs came flying back inside. Eclipse figured it was Olar's machine. The unit had lost its right arm and it even looked as if some of the cockpit may have been damaged. Giant webbing caught the suit as it arrived, slowing its approach and as soon as it settled, Eclipse went over to help.

"Eclipse, wait," Carter ordered, holding out a hand as he glided over. "Athrun and Rusty should be coming back soon with their suits. I'd rather have you helping them than working on this unit. We'll take care of it." Eclipse nodded. The two of them used each other to push off in opposite directions and the weapon was back right where she began.

Waiting.

"Emergency pick-up for Miguel Aiman!"

The girl paused. Things just seemed to be happening so fast. So, this is what real combat is like, huh? Or is it, this is what waiting around during a battle is like? I never did do the waiting part very well. She was positive that the emergency pick-up just meant that Miguel's suit was destroyed and another pilot had taken him in. Why they had some fancy lingo for something like that, Eclipse would never know.

The military always had to be precise.

She turned back to the screen and saw that the only mobile armor left outside fighting was the orange one. The Vesalius and Gamow were sitting ducks unless someone went out there to fend him off.

"Carter, is my mobile suit ready?" Commander Le Creuset had come through the locker room door, basically answering her question for her. But why the commander? Weren't there other, less needed pilots aboard that could go out? Wasn't she one of those pilots? Eclipse almost voiced her opinion, but stopped once he glided right past her. Was he going without a spacesuit?

Well, when you're on top you can do whatever you want, apparently.

"Sir, ready and charged." Carter was floating next to another GINN, but this one seemed quite a bit flashier than the others. It was colored silver and white with larger armor attachments. Not only do they get to do what they want, but they can get the best machines as well.

"Good. Open the hatch." After a few more salutes the upgraded GINN, known as the CGUE, was on the catapult and ready to launch.

The repairs continued on Olor's suit as soon as Le Creuset left and judging by the time, Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol should have all arrived back at the Gamow. But what about Athrun and Rusty? Where were they?

About 10 minutes later the hatch opened again and in came a red mobile suit and the last remaining GINN. The red machine was the same type as the green unit in the respect that it was upright and had similar limbs, but the head was completely different. It looked a tad more human-like, but then again it was hard to see any machine as such. So that's the prototype. Even though she had gotten the information, it was different to see it in person.

The red suit went into its appropriate slot and as soon as the armor had finished its cooling process, the cockpit opened. Two pilots stepped out onto the platform. One was in the same green suit that Eclipse had commented on before, but the other was wearing a red one almost identical to it. Change green to red and black to silver and you have an elite pilot.

The weapon just hoped that it was more than the uniform that proved his rank.

As it looked, the red pilot had gone back to retrieve his green-coated comrade. So, that one's probably Miguel. Then who is the other one? Athrun or Rusty? Eclipse shrugged and pushed off the wall to join them on the platform. Only one way to find out.

The two exchanged salutes, a nod, and then Miguel headed towards the locker room to freshen up. His role was done for the time being. Eclipse vaguely watched him descend before returning to the remaining pilot. Green eyes caught hers for only a moment, but it was enough to startle the breath from her. What was with him? His gaze skipped over to the mechanic that was gliding up next to her, pushing what looked like a set of computers. Very bulky and probably very out of date, but if they worked, why change?

"Where's Rusty?" the man asked. He motioned over to Eclipse to help him steady the computers as Athrun responded.

"Rusty failed. He was killed before he could get to the last suit."

The boy's eyes quivered; the weapon would've bet her life on it. Death had been so natural at the facility that no one even shed a sweat drop let alone tears.

Perhaps he was just weak.

"Ah. Well, we have to get the information from your suit anyway. You work on the internal adjustments and we'll work from the outside. Just let us know when you're done."

Athrun nodded and made his way back to the cockpit. One more command and Eclipse was at the second computer, typing away next to her fellow mechanic. Even though the reactions to war and death were different, the solution was still the same.

Don't dwell on it and move on.

A/N: Hey, another chapter and shorter than the past ones. Main SEED story, so I should really start putting up those disclaimers about how I don't own anything related to Gundam SEED, but sometimes I wonder, doesn't everyone know that anyway? I don't know. I guess it's just protocol. I'll probably just put it up on my profile.

I know that this chapter was a bit choppy and whatnot, so I'm sorry about that. I'm sure that all the loyal Gundam SEED fans also know that the first few episodes are just as jumpy and it was hard to fill in some of the gaps without getting too wordy. When in doubt, stick to the script. Speaking of "script," I will be sticking very close if not exactly to the SEED timeline and events. I think I mentioned that in the previous chapter, but if I didn't, now ya know.

Oh, I changed the heights on the main four ZAFT pilots. It wasn't going to be that way at first, but I made the dumb mistake of not looking at their dimensions before making the ones for my own characters. Since I really didn't want to have Eclipse be taller than Nicol and Athrun, I gave them a height boost. Sorry 'bout that. :P

Thanks again to all who have been reading. I'm glad you're enjoying it and keep coming back.

LunarRaven666: I know how it feels to balance writing and homework, so don't worry. Just take things one step at a time okay? I'll be getting back into that juggling act pretty soon and I'm not really looking forward to it. Heh...

Death-Scimitar: Yes, I am really happy that you reviewed and hope there wasn't a twinge of sarcasm in that statement of yours. I now it's hard to reread things and then review on them 'specially since you hear about this story practically everyday, so I do keep that in mind. Anyway, thanks for the constant support and the reviews. :)

Enjoy the chapter and hope to hear from ya!

Strata