{ === + === }

Following the report of the sinking of the Archangel by Z.O.E. to Usea, the entirety of that nation's military force waited with baited breath for another attack…for the next four days.

There was no concerted attack, which only served to heighten the sense of unease that Usea had.

Meanwhile, what was left of the Federation folded entirely to the Usean forces, and Earth was again united under one banner through conquest.

…Except for the Copernicus City on the moon, as the city had gone silent.

Obviously, that had set everyone up to believe that the city had fallen to whatever force controlled the ZOE, but unfortunately Usea was unwilling to investigate, as its space force is still paltry as all hell and honestly the ZOE is terrifying.

Thus.

…

[High Moon Orbit]

…

The area around the moon had a surprising amount of shrapnel and debris.

Behind one of the larger pieces of a scrapped Federation warship, there is a shimmer, and Ribbon's CFA-144 Dracula appears into view anchored onto the warship debris.

Ribbon goes through his checklist. "Harpoons are ok…Mirage Generator…stable…"

The Dracula was embedded in what can best be described as an oversized cardboard box. The oversized mirage generator (along with attached coolant systems) allowed the fighter to remain undetected while it made the three day journey from the DSSD to the Moon.

"Long range scanners show no reaction from Copernicus." Nemo reports. "It also shows no traffic of any kind over Copernicus City, either."

While the SEED universe isn't known for its prolific space travel, it was fairly reasonable to see small operation crafts (such as small worker units) within the boundaries of any space installation.

Right now, however, Copernicus was entirely silent, and that was cause for concern.

"How are we going to approach this, Mobius One?" Nemo asks.

Ribbon mulls it over for a second. "We'll leave the stealth unit here and conduct a high speed recon."

Nemo was curious. "Why not use the generator and go in slowly?"

"Given how the DSSD folks described it, this thing can't take a hit. No point running the risk of being shot down with the generator." Ribbon flips a few switches. "All clear?"

Nemo blinks affirmative. "Roger that…the ODLS system is primed and ready. Let's do this."

Ribbon put power into the Dracula's thrusters, detached himself from the mirage generator, and dove towards the city.

…

[DSSD]

…

Sai caught Miriallia going through the station's scanners again (they were still stuck on the station).

"Still looking for Kira?" He asks her.

"It's been days." Miriallia grumbles. "He should've told us something."

Sai didn't feel like bringing up the possibility that Kira's disappearance might have not been entirely voluntary. "Maybe he's just especially busy."

"Well…" Miriallia couldn't really debate the point. "Maybe he can just write us a letter."

Sai sighs in the 'oh well' kind of way.

The two of them then hear the particular scanner they were watching blip.

…

"One unit incoming, one unit incoming," A DSSD Operator reports, "Checking cross section match…clear. It's a ZAFT Nasca-class Cruiser."

"ZAFT?" The station captain repeats with a frown. "What's a ZAFT ship doing out here? Hail them."

"Yes sir." Another operator nods. "This is the DSSD hailing unidentified ZAFT cruiser. Please respond. ZAFT cruiser, please respond."

Static.

"ZAFT Cruiser, please respond."

More static.

A gruff voice interrupts their efforts. "Stationmaster, this is the hangar; we have two pilots ready to deploy if there's something going on."

The station captain took the call himself. "Stationmaster here, we copy. Have them ready to deploy immediately."

Mu blinks in surprise when the message was relayed to him. "Immediately? What's out there?"

"A ZAFT Cruiser just came into our outermost defensive line." The mechanic helping him with his DSSD Astray (UT-1D model) replies. "It's not responding to our hails."

Cagalli seems confused. "ZAFT has nothing to gain by attacking this place. What the hell are they sending a ship for?"

"Guess we're about to find out." Mu pats the Astray he's borrowing. "Let's do this, princess."

…

The ZAFT ship entered the second defensive line before Mu and Cagalli's Astrays were able to deploy and intercept.

Note: while the DSSD has defensive lines set up in their operational doctrines, they don't actually have the guns to enforce said defensive lines.

"Whoa." Mu whistles as his Astray approached the ZAFT cruiser. "Stationmaster, I'm relaying a feed from my cameras. You should see this."

"Good idea; bring it up on the main monitor." The stationmaster commands.

The large primary monitor at the front of the room comes alive, and the station crew all bore witness to the smoking husk that is usually the blue, cross-like ZAFT cruiser.

"No wonder it couldn't hail back." The operator hailing it mutters.

Mu flipped through a few frequencies for a response before giving up. "Let's try some shorter range com systems." He says instead, and accelerates towards the cruiser.

He then puts one of his Astray's arms onto the ship's hull and turns on his speakers. "ZAFT Cruiser, can you hear me?"

"Mayday, mayday." He heard the automated system in the ship respond instead. "This is the ZAFT Cruiser Voltaire. We are under attack and have sustained critical damage. All hands are abandoning ship, requesting immediate rescue. Mayday, mayday…"

"By the looks of it, a lot of the escape pods are still on the ship." Cagalli notes in her flight around the cruiser. "Nobody got out?" She felt a little sick.

"Think optimistically, princess." Mu reassures her. "Stationmaster, scramble rescue assets; let's get this puppy open and see what's going on."

"Stationmaster copies, we're sending staff, standby."

"I've watched enough sci-fi to know that we should keep that thing away from our station." An operator mumbles.

…

Fortunately, his alien knowledge was unfounded, as the cutting crew was able to gain entry through the ship's warped catapult entrance with neither issue nor xeno interference.

Also fortunately, they were able to rescue a small contingent of the ship's crew, who had managed to lock themselves down with the ship's life support systems before the rest of the ship depressurized.

That was a week ago.

The first thing the trapped ZAFT crew did upon their release was to ask for clean water.

The second thing they did was to meet with the stationmaster and to debrief on exactly what attacked their ship.

…

Long story short, it wasn't pretty.

About a month ago, ZAFT experienced a spate of digital attacks within their networks (found out only after the fact) and post-action analysis indicated that the attackers had accessed their blueprints…which were supposedly one of, if not the most, well defended data within the entire ZAFT network.

Two weeks ago, A ZAFT patrol found a rogue Nasca class cruiser with an unknown IFF and engaged. The result—what's left of it—was in front of them.

"If nothing else, this new enemy of ours has some amazing production capabilities to bring a ship from blueprint to full operational status in just two weeks." Mu had noted.

"What color was the Enemy Nasca?" Murrue asks.

"Purple?" One of the ZAFT survivors says. "I think it was purple." He wasn't sure why this information was important.

"Who dyes their craft purple?" Cagalli rolls her eyes. "No taste at all."

"There's nothing wrong with purple." Mu replies. "It's better than if the ship was all red."

They all agreed on that one.

"So what do we do, Captain Ramius?" the stationmaster asks Murrue. "There's something extremely dangerous in space lately, might this be from the same source?"

Murrue frowns. "I would like to conduct an investigation if possible, but…"

They have no ship, and the only mobile suit they technically had was Cagalli's Strike Rouge…and it was out of power.

The Strike Rouge was not compatible with the batteries used by the UT-1D Astray that the station fields (owing to the station wanting to maintain its neutral status against all conflicts), thus denying it the possibility of a resupply. Even better? The external connector of the Rouge didn't match the ones used by the Astrays, so it couldn't even be hooked up.

The mechanics are working on an adapter module, but for the moment the Archangel crew's hands were tied…unless they felt like asking for the DSSD to loan them a few units.

"There's an intact GINN in the ship." One of the ZAFT survivors spoke up. "You can use that."

"If the enemy is affiliated with who we think they are…" Mu's smile was a bit sad. "Then going out in a GINN will just get the pilot killed; it might be better to wait for Ribbon to return from his investigation before we plan our next moves."

"He's that much better than you?" Murrue couldn't help but ask.

Mu grins. "Not if I had a mobile armor."

…

[Unknown Location]

…

"Copernicus City has detected an interloper." The robotic woman voice announces. "Visual match confirm that it is the Reaper of Usea. His current flight patterns imply that he is on a recon mission."

"Mobius One, huh…?" The robotic male voice muses. "Do we have enough assets to stop him?"

"Copernicus City can deploy up to twenty Strike Daggers immediately. Projections suggest that it will not stop Mobius One."

"In that case, do nothing." The male voice sighs. "Instead, what of the preparations for the seed operation?"

"The operation should use a better name."

"Rejected." The male voice snaps.

The female voice could've been smirking. "The preparations for the operation will be complete within twenty hours, and the bonus objective has already been achieved."

"Excellent."

"There are a total of 210 units participating in this operation." The female voice continues in its flat tone. "150 are model V9, 50 are model 94, 6 are model 93, and 4 are GP03."

"The model 94 and 93 were not adapted for atmospheric combat." The male voice notes. "Have the changes been made to their fin funnels?"

"The fin funnels have been adapted with technology derived from the V9." The female voice answers. "They will perform normally while within an atmosphere, although with reduced service time."

"Good…good."

…

[Copernicus]

…

"You know, I thought this place would be a lot more dangerous than it is." Ribbon mutters. "It really is a ghost town."

"Sensors report increased heat generation within the city." NEMO replies. "But it doesn't seem to fit with any kind of civilian life."

"Shit. What happened here?" Ribbon made another pass over the city, this time flying slower to get a better reading and view of the city. "There's no sign of combat, but the entire area terrifies me for some reason."

His attention was then stolen by an explosion from a point on the city opposite of his current position. Being a responsible adult, his natural reaction was to turn and investigate.

…

[Unknown]

…

"The Shark has escaped from its tank." The female voice reports.

"About time, too." The male sounded like it was being snide. "I would've expected him to be far more decisive."

"He has stolen data from our V9 designs."

The male voice suddenly lost all traces of derision. "Kill him!"

…

[Copernicus]

…

"Fighter detected, it's using Atlantic Federation IFFs." NEMO reports. "Cross section check confirms…it's a Moebius Zero."

"Looks like it has company." Ribbon says upon seeing a quad of Strike Daggers chase after the Zero. "We're engaging."

"Acknowledged, ODLS is primed and ready." NEMO replies.

"Mobius One, commencing assault." Ribbon declares and hits his afterburners.

…

The pilot of the Zero grimaces as the Strike Daggers open fire on his small craft.

He then blinks in surprise as a volley of bullets strike the lead Dagger, destroying it immediately.

"Moebius Zero, this is Mobius One of the Usean Air Force." The Zero's pilot hears over his radio as he watches the CFA-144 mow down the rest of the Daggers with concentrated fire. "State your affiliations."

"Affiliations, he says." The pilot grunts. "This is Colonel Markov of the Russian Air Force. I request assistance against these bastards."

Russia? Ribbon muses. Never heard of it. "Roger that, Colonel Markov…though it's best if we leave this airspace immediately."

"Enemy Moebius interceptors coming from above." NEMO notes. "Whatever Markov has, these guys don't want leaving."

"Pah." Markov spat. "We'll break through them."

His Moebius Zero pulls up and ascends toward the dozen or so regular Moebius crafts diving down to meet him.

"Strike Daggers below us." NEMO adds. "Ribbon?"

"Do the honors." Ribbon rotates to have the back of the Dracula face the moon's surface.

"Roger that…ODLS discharging."

A series of short laser bursts spew from the back of the Dracula and strike the Daggers like a rain of knives, shredding their armor and tearing the AI-controlled machines to pieces.

With the threat from below removed, the Dracula could now head upwards against the incoming Moebius crafts.

And here I thought we would be going up against those Ghosts again. Ribbon thought. Guess I can call myself a bit lucky today.

Then he saw exactly how many Moebius crafts were being sent at him.

"Colonel Markov, did you take something from them?" Ribbon couldn't help but ask upon seeing the wall of guns.

"Only what I was owed." Markov grins savagely. "Don't fall behind now, boy." He then detaches the four Gunbarrels that make the Moebius Zero special and ties them to his aircraft with their wires…but with their thrusters facing outwards.

"All ODLS ports on standby." NEMO reports. "We're ready to break through at top speed."

As if sensing this, the wall of Moebius aircraft opened fire with their linear guns.

…

[Unknown]

…

If the male robotic voice had limbs, it would have clasped its fist in victory as it witnessed the torrential downpour of fire upon the two escaping spacecraft.

If the male robotic voice had limbs, it would have then grabbed its head in shock and disbelief (like someone would at the end of a particularly rough sports game) as the CFA-144 Dracula utterly blowing through their lines with all of its guns blazing.

And the Moebius Zero helped too, with its linear gun and gunbarrels.

…

[Copernicus]

…

"Yikes." Ribbon breathes as he tore through the defensive line, his Dracula moving as quickly as he dared while darting around to avoid the fire now chasing after them. "Damage report."

"We've lost the right wing thruster." NEMO reports. "ODLS ports six through sixteen are offline."

"Pah. I lost two barrels." Markov spat. "Too many targets for us to shoot." He detaches the two Gunbarrels and they explode in the salvo of fire going after them.

"Head into the debris, we'll use it as cover." Ribbon orders. No point trying to make a silent escape. He thought glumly, before coming to another decision. "NEMO, open a long-range line to the DSSD."

"Understood." NEMO replies and gets to work.

Given that they were already under serious attack, Ribbon figured that there would be no extra danger from using the long lines. He would be half right.

A girl's voice marred by static eventually comes over the line. "This is the DSSD." She says. "What's your situation, Mister Ribbon?"

"Copernicus is under enemy control." Ribbon reports. "We're doing a full run back to base. Expect pursuers."

The operator on the other end of the line was in a bit of disbelief…after all, the pursuers would need to follow Ribbon for at least two days...well, more accurately, Ribbon would need to evade his pursuers for two full days before they reached the station.

She did get her wits back fast enough though. "DSSD acknowledges. Please stay safe, sir."

"Can't promise you that." Ribbon grins despite himself and makes a snap turn with his remaining good enough. "Guide for me, Nemo." He orders his digital partner.

If only NEMO could shake his head. "Yes, yes…" he sighs and takes over the controls while the spacecraft is zipping forward backwards.

With Nemo controlling the stick and executing evasive maneuvers, Ribbon was now free to use every last drop of ammunition he had against the stream of Moebius crafts following them…and use every last drop he would. The chasing battle ultimately lasted for two hours, with the pursuers eventually running out of range and turning around.

With the help of Colonel Markov (who had turned his Gunbarrels around to provide what supporting fire he could) the two of them racked up around 600 kills in total.

…

…

"And they still had more to throw at us." Ribbon noted during his debriefing back on the DSSD. "I don't know what we're up against, but it's definitely an organization with a tremendous production capability."

"A tremendous production ability and not nearly enough pilots." Colonel Markov added as the data he brought back was examined. "Their military force is entirely automated."

According to the data brought back by the Colonel, their enemy's primary offensive spacecraft was the AIF-9V "Ghost", an ultra-maneuverable unmanned strike vessel belonging to a certain line of production that the data referred to as the 'Macross' series.

Ribbon had never heard of that term thrown around anywhere, and Gründer contacts within Morgenroete (who received the data per Ribbon's behest) had never heard of a project under that name, either.

However, the data did tell them exactly where the Ghosts were being produced.

"Genesis?" Mu frowns upon reading the topmost name in the list of production plants. "That's an oddly fitting name for a factory."

Sai was a little less interested in what the place was called. "Look at those production numbers." He mutters. "Genesis has to be huge to produce Ghosts numbering in the thousands."

Mu chuckles. "That's true…imagine if all of those Ghosts had the ZOE thing installed into them."

All in attendance imagined it, and then immediately realized that it probably was true.

Ribbon feels himself sweat a little. "I have difficulty believing that whoever we're up against can only produce these Ghosts."

"They could produce the Strike as well." Mu suddenly realizes. "Those things have the ZOE system as well...and the Vesalius warships."

All in attendance look at each other again.

"We need to contact Gründer." Ribbon mutters. "We have a war on our hands."

…

With the revelation that this 'Genesis' was fully capable of fielding powerful automated units numbering thousands, Gründer switched to the mass production of the CFA-144 Draculas with all haste and began churning them out from the production plants in Usea at a remarkably rapid pace.

As the Pink-coated Gründer representative in Morgenroete put it, "Against something like that, giving our Aces the best machines we can build is top priority."

Unfortunately, they were hard pressed for time.

Three days after Colonel Markov's theft of the enemy's data, the DSSD was under attack.

…

"One enemy unit detected; one enemy unit on radar." A DSSD operator announces. "Cross section match from the Eternal's data plan, it's the Freedom."

The main screen brought up the main camera, where the station staff saw the white and blue Gundam (with wings) in its full glory.

Mu heard the announcement while suiting up for combat. "Is it being fielded against us?" He mutters. "Oy, Tiger, you got any idea what's going on here?"

Waltfield was also suiting up. "The odds are fifty-fifty." He shrugs. "Either the kid stole it back, or they slapped that ZOE thing in it…"

"Dammit." Mu grits his teeth. "I guess we'll find out."

For the record: hails to the Freedom did not garner any response, so either it could not receive the general frequencies (which would be highly unusual) or it was under enemy control.

"What's its IFF?" The stationmaster asks, hoping to get a definitive response.

"It's using a Federation signal." An operator replies, her tone communicating her doubt.

Nothing saying it can't spoof IFFs. The stationmaster thought glumly. "Very well, all units, you are hereby cleared to deploy. Engage and destroy it if it shows signs of aggression."

"Roger that, Mobius One, taking off." Ribbon declared as the leader of the attacker squad.

With the ZAFT boys back on PLANT along with the recovered ZAFT crew, the attack squad was comprised of Ribbon, Mu, Markov, Waltfield, Cagalli, Tolle, and four NPC pilots. Ribbon had his CFA-144, Markov had the commandeered Moebius Zero, and everyone else had the UT-1D DSSD Astrays.

"Now then, what are you going to do…?" Ribbon mutters as his craft closes in on the Freedom. Mercifully, it didn't seem to have the seven dot pattern that denoted the integration of the ZOE subsystem.

"Break! Break!" NEMO suddenly ordered.

Knowing better than to argue, the attacker force broke from their arrowhead formation and scattered as the Freedom unleashed all of its guns at once.

Tolle spoke for all of them. "Holy shit!" He said as the four NPC Astrays were taken down.

"Engage! Engage!" Ribbon declares and blows past the Freedom.

The non-NPC Astrays all open fire with their beam rifles unto the Freedom.

The Freedom, in response, accelerates upwards and evades the rifle fire with ease.

"That mobility is insane." Mu snarls. "Stay still, damn you!" He fires a shot at the back of the Freedom when the Gundam was just a little too preoccupied with the Moebius Zero plinking it with its linear gun.

The Freedom suddenly turned with its beam saber active and parried the beam rifle shot.

Mu blinks in surprise. "You're joking." He says flatly. "You guys made a seriously troublesome suit, Andrew!"

"Only when it's in good hands." Andrew laughs, his suit charging forward at the Freedom with its beam saber ready.

The Freedom evades some more fire and countercharges with its own saber, and the two clash, and the Civilian Astray was handily overpowered.

As someone who's aware of what the Freedom was capable of (even if the knowledge was only of its theoretical abilities), Waltfield never believed for a second that the UT-1D was at all a match for the Freedom. Instead, he used the blowback from having his blade blown away to make a fast turn and draw his other beam saber, intent on making a cut across the Freedom's cockpit and drag its pilot out.

The Freedom, having only a split second to react, used its own momentum from the swing that broke Waltfield's guard to turn away from his Astray. The Freedom then activated its main engine against the Astray and gave itself a little distance while burning the Astray's faceplate.

Markov releases a Gunbarrel.

While Waltfield recovers from his cameras malfunctioning from the heat damage, the Freedom inverts and aims its waist-mounted rail cannons at Waltfield's Astray. With a slight dodge to evade the quick burst from Ribbon's ODLS, the Freedom fires.

Waltfield feels his unit being knocked downwards as Markov's Gunbarrel made contact with his unit's head. Thus, instead of the Freedom blowing Waltfield to smithereens, it simply de-armed Waltfield's Astray.

The Freedom was then prevented from firing a second shot as Cagalli and Tolle laid down a barrage of covering fire (the two of them opted to take two beam rifles each).

"That reaction speed is insane!" Tolle complains as the Freedom extends its wings and escape from the covering fire he was providing. "Kira! Is that you in there!?" He asks over a general band.

No response.

Tolle's actions exasperated Mu. "Why did you think that would do something?" He asks before noticing the Freedom going after him.

"Because it doesn't have the ZOE thingy on it!" Tolle defends himself while pouring fire on the Freedom in the hopes of stopping it from skewering Mu's Astray.

It doesn't work too well.

"Stop that!" Mu snaps as he dodges another shot meant for the Freedom. "Circle above him!"

The Freedom drives into Mu's Astray and skewers its head with its beam saber. It then executes a flip and a dropkick and drives Mu's Astray 'downwards', away from the DSSD.

Downwards in respect to its current location.

"Gah!" Mu hears his ears ringing. "My control system's damaged, activate auto-recovery."

Maybe he is holding back. Ribbon thinks as he makes another pass against the Freedom to no avail. Kira or ZOE, either of them would've already killed all of us with a suit that powerful. He then rolls and evades a beam shot as the Freedom focuses on him next.

He then goes through a few wildly implausible turns (if it was an atmospheric battle) to evade the barrage of fire the Freedom threw at him.

"Well, at least this is a bit fun." Ribbon starts smiling despite himself. "Let's see if you can keep up with me."

"Be careful with your taunts, lest you tempt fate." NEMO chides him. "Activating all Dracula subsystems."

The CFA-144 Dracula spazzed a little bit as NEMO did the necessary power rerouting needed to bring said subsystems online. Glowing blue streaks then ran along the wingtips of the fighters and it picked up speed while additional bracings circled around Ribbon and clamped him in position.

"The G-dampeners won't last if you go into a full dogfight." NEMO warns Ribbon. "So finish this one quick."

"Roger." Ribbon finds the added padding uncomfortable, but hey. "Mobius One, engage."

The Freedom, having found its first twenty shots or so inaccurate, took its time to aim at the fighter that now trailed two lines of blue behind it. When the Dracula finally took an approach vector towards the Freedom, the Gundam fired a shot from its beam rifle.

The Dracula translated itself upwards much like the Ghost, and the beam sailed harmlessly underneath it.

"I'm a little bitter the Ghost stole our trump card." NEMO notes icily. "Firing lasers."

Two ports on the bottom of the Dracula open up and discharges bursts of red towards the Freedom, forcing it to evade. The Freedom then pulls out its beam saber and makes a swing for the Dracula as it blows past, but misses as the plane translates downwards by a fraction. In retaliation, the Dracula extends a small beam emitter at the tip of its wing and singes the Freedom as it passes by.

"Doesn't look like the blade wings are too effective." Ribbon comments.

"The engine can't provide power to all sources at once." NEMO gripes. "Keeping the ODLS at half power is draining enough."

The Freedom, apparently unhappy about being slightly burned, chase after the Dracula at full speed.

…

The two of them run circles around the DSSD a few times, with the Dracula shooting backwards and the Freedom shooting forwards.

The Astrays would like to interfere, but the speed involved makes it impossible.

"Doesn't he run out of juice? He's been shooting all the damn time now." Ribbon growls, then makes another evade upon hearing the threat receiver.

"It's definitely not powered by a battery like we are." NEMO says. "By the way, we're almost out of juice."

"To no surprise." Ribbon grumbles. "Then let's end this."

Ribbon suddenly makes an over-telegraphed turn to attack, practically inviting the Freedom to take the shot, which it does. To Ribbon's surprise, the Freedom then follows up its beam rifle with its waist-mounted cannons and then the positron cannons that were a part of its wings (the cannons fold over the shoulder to fire, otherwise it might as well be a part of the wing).

The Dracula, under Ribbon's skillful hands, darts around each and every one of the shots with ease. After luring in the Freedom's barrage, Ribbon found a split second opening in the Freedom's movements and fired a grapple towards the Gundam.

The grappling hook wraps itself around the Freedom's leg and Ribbon's lack of deceleration allows the Dracula to blow past the Freedom yet again. With the grapple, the Dracula was able to pull the Freedom with such force that the Gundam ended up spinning in space a few times.

Unfortunately, the speed involved caused the grapple to rip straight out from its reinforced hardpoint and wrap the rest of itself around the Freedom.

"Damage to the tail." NEMO reports; the grapple had taken one of the Dracula's tail fins.

"Worth it." Ribbon grins and uses the momentary confusion of the Freedom to align the Dracula's back to the Gundam. "Nemo?"

"ODLS, full discharge." NEMO announces. "Burn, baby, burn."

Sadly, due to the Dracula being almost dry, the Freedom wasn't so much as 'burned' as simply 'greatly singed'. However, the damage done to the Freedom encompassed its cameras and control systems, and thus the Freedom was crippled well enough for the Civilian Astrays to come in with their own tools, tie the Gundam up, and drag it home to the DSSD.

…

…

While that was happening, however…

[Stonehenge]

…

"Uh…boss?"

Murata Azrael didn't look up from his stack of documents (he's taken to working in the Stonehenge command center for convenience). "What's wrong now?" He asks lazily.

The operator who addressed him blinks at the screen. "There are a lot of dots coming down over our heads."

That got Murata's attention. "Enemies? ZAFT?"

"We're not recognizing their IFF, so it's not in Usea's banks or ours." The operator says. "Some of them are the Ghosts Usea newly encountered though."

So it's the new targets? Murata puts his documents aside. "Given their history of attacking Usea, they're probably enemies."

"Incoming message from Usea," another operator (a cute little hazel-haired girl) announces. "We are to open fire on the unknowns."

"Thought as much." Murata smiles slightly. "Activate Stonehenge! Open fire!"

"Yes sir!" the base commander grins. "Fire!"

…

Nothing happened.

"What's going on?" The base commander demands.

"Stonehenge isn't responding." Operator Girl replies in panic. "All guns are not responding to commands!"

"Did we get hacked? When did that happen?" The commander mutters. "Damn. Purge the system and cut all outside connections, bring our backup online!"

The base does as commanded, going to backup power temporarily as they cut power to break any outside connections. Azrael couldn't help but marvel at the sheer capacity of the Stonehenge installation as it went down and back online in a matter of seconds.

Operator Girl typed in a few commands when the main power came back online. "It's not responding to any input…the gun control servos must've been compromised."

That's not possible. Azrael wanted to point out, but was interrupted before he could speak by the face of a middle-aged man with dirty grey hair interjecting itself onto the main control room screen.

"Well…you must be Murata Azrael." The man said, looking down on the blue-suited leader of Blue Cosmos. "I'm pleased to make your acquaintance. Your operation to obtain Stonehenge was certainly unexpected."

"And who do I have the pleasure of speaking to?" Azrael asks with a nervous smile.

The man ignored him. "Historically, you were supposed to become a major factor within the Natural forces die aboard the Dominion…I suppose that's no longer possible with you holed up here on Earth, now is it?"

Azrael was now apprehensive. "Historically? What do you mean by that?"

The man ignored him again. "I suppose I can consider this to be a reasonable side effect of introducing foreign elements to a pre-established timeline." He scoffs. "Looks like I need to reassess the potential of the Bleu Cosmos…" The man then looked directly at Azrael for the first time. "I do, however, thank you for your connection to Logos. The knowledge they held proved greatly beneficial."

The hell… Azrael frowns. Wait, Logos had a technical leak a month ago that left virtually no traces. Were they somehow responsible? "I won't ask you again; who are you? Who do you work for?"

"It is not beneficial to give our names to the dead." The man replies tonelessly…almost robot-like. "We will be seizing this station for our future efforts. I trust you will have no problems with this."

Stonehenge as an installation then shook as something heavy impacted the base.

"But it would be improper to deny knowledge as it is demanded…" The man has the barest hint of a smile.

…

[DSSD]

…

The Freedom was hauled into an empty station and Waltfield opened it up.

Strapped to the Freedom's cockpit seat was Kira, with wires running from his flight suit onto a massive panel installed in the back.

"Holy…cut him out, right now!" Murrue orders and the station crew moves to do as she commands.

They didn't need to bother though; the wires automatically detached themselves from Kira a few seconds later, and the boy fell forward into Waltfield's arm.

"At least he's still breathing." Waltfield sighs. "You guys, get him some help." He nods to Kira's friends.

"We'll take care of him." Sai promises, and with Tolle the two help support the unconscious Yamato up and away…as Miriallia beats herself up for being angry at him.

…

…

The Unknown attack upon Stonhenge was covered up by Stonehenge itself, especially as it sent a message to Usea that the attackers were dealt with and required no support…along with an expertly doctored video footage of the action.

Due to the lingering doubts of one minor Usean officer, a single scout boat was sent to Stonehenge to confirm that it was indeed safe and did not require help. However, even then, it would take another two weeks before Usea received notice that the scout boat sent to do the scouting was sunk in action around supposedly friendly waters.

…

[During the Two Weeks]

…

[Unknown]

"Operation Seed has reached its projected halfway point." The female voice announces. "We are now waiting for their retaliation."

"Good…what did you think of Azrael?" The male voice asks her.

"He could have been more interesting." The female voice replies bluntly. "I hope his continued existence proves to be useful to us."

"I do as well…proceed with the secondary part of the operation. Begin leaking data to the Usea high command."

…

[DSSD]

…

Kira woke up looking upwards into a soft, white light. He momentarily panicked and thought he was back at…wherever it was, but the soft snoring by his bed alerted him that he was, in fact, in the company of other humans.

Namely, his three friends had fallen asleep by his bed.

Kira sat up, feeling a little rough around the edges but otherwise ok. The sound of him getting up managed to disturb Tolle (who by now was a light sleeper) and his piloting buddy looked up at him bearily…before breaking into a smile.

"Kira…you're up." Tolle yawns. "What happened to you?" He asks once he's shaken the sleep from his eyes.

Tolle's voice woke the other two, and Miriallia proceeded to give Kira a bone-breaking hug.

"Uh…it's a bit of a blur, actually." Kira admits once he could breathe again. "Last thing I remember was seeing some place with a lot of electronics, before they stuffed me into some weird cockpit thing."

The three of them pelted Kira with some more questions before the head doctor kicked them out.

The next day, they received a proper debriefing…from Nemo, of all people.

"The system installed into the Freedom is a modified version of the COFFIN system." Nemo reports, "by default, the COFFIN system allows the pilot to control the unit in question through neural connections."

Mu didn't like that. "Whoa, whoa. It lets you fly with your mind?!"

"It is a modified version." Nemo points out. "In this case, it lets Kira control the Freedom Gundam through the signals within his entire body, allowing him to use the Freedom as if it was his own limbs." Nemo chuckles. "Perversely, it is the application of this system that made the Freedom easy to bring down, as Kira's body was unaccustomed to operating in outer space."

"Thank goodness for that." Ribbon notes. "You ok, kid?" He asks.

Kira nods. "I'm fine now, thank you…is there anything else you can tell me about the Gundam?"

"Well…prior to us shutting it down, the Gundam was transmitting a copious amount of data elsewhere. Given the packets of data the DSSD staff managed to intercept and decrypt, it is my personal belief that the deployment of the Freedom was for strictly data gathering purposes."

"That's all fine and good, but they've lost their toy." Chief engineer Murdoch says gruffly. "Whoever it is, they're not all that smart."

"I would have to disagree." A DSSD chief scientist (nametag: Sol Ryuune L'ange) says. "The data was plenty clear that the Freedom was discarded due to having collected sufficient data."

"So I only won on a technicality?" Ribbon sighs theatrically. "Woe is me." He says with a glance at his Dracula, now with a tail fin missing. "What else do we know?"

"Well…nothing beyond that." Nemo concludes. "Although I do have a conjecture."

"Share it with the class, Nemo." Waltfield says.

"I believe that the Freedom and mister Yamato were both sent to collect data for a piloting program." Nemo says. "Thus, it is now entirely possible that the enemy's Ghosts would be outfitted with AIs comparable to Mister Yamato's skill."

There's a moment of dead silence as everyone in attendance let that sink in.

…

[Unknown]

…

"Is it a loss to release the Coordinator so early from us?" The female voice asks.

"It is a short term loss." The male voice admits. "However, having Yamato on the enemy side will help their growth. It is a preferable alternative to having the enemy focus on him and him alone."

"And what of the other?" The female voice wonders.

"He knows that we are using him and allows himself to be used for his greater goal." The male voice sighs. "He will be useful for additional data, but I doubt he will be much beyond that."

"I see."

…

[Following the Two Weeks]

…

Usea military elements across Earth received a command.

"'Stonehenge has been compromised. Kill it.'" Blaze summarized. "How was it compromised? It was under Usean control, right?"

"Judging by the sound of things, it was attacked two weeks ago…" Talisman says. "Whoever attacked it fed Usea spoofed data until now."

The two of them were testing out the mass produced CFA-144M Draculas that Gründer were churning out as fast as they can. They were flying against X-02s being piloted by the rest of Wardog Squadron and a small contingent of Astrays flown by Orb pilots.

The Mass Produced CFA-144M Dracula have an onboard computer to assist with targeting (much like NEMO) but lack Nemo's sophistication. Also, owing to the data gathered from Ribbon's fight with the Freedom, the mass production versions have a minor version of the ODLS (featuring only four discharge nodes) and extra batteries devoted specially for the ODLS systems.

"So this makes Stonehenge an enemy again, huh? Who took it over this time?" Blaze asks as an X-02 pings him. "I see you, Archer." He adds.

"Roger, captain. Here I go!" Hans Grimm (callsign Archer) says a tad shakily.

"We don't know who took it over, which is why it's surprising." Talisman continued, flying against another X-02 being piloted by Nagase (callsign Edge). "By the sounds of things, it was the attacking faction that let Usea know they attacked the installation to begin with."

"Huh? Really?" Blaze casually executes a barrel roll and places himself behind Archer's X-02. "They're pretty damn confident, aren't they, taunting us like that."

Archer's X-02 made some evasive maneuvers but it couldn't throw off the Dracula on its tail, and soon flashed the signals for defeat.

"I personally don't think it's a taunt." Talisman replies. "The data leak was too well executed." He then inverts and evades the X-02 being piloted by Marcus Snow (callsign Swordsman) before he could settle on Talisman's tail.

"So they want us to hit them." Blaze summarizes. "I'm going to go out on a limb and say it's not just an act of kindness or hubris." He then dives and 'sweeps' the Astray with his guns. "Faster on your engines, kids; you'll die if you stand around like that." He warns them.

"Yes sir!" The Orb pilot captain replies readily.

"I think Usea's going to pool their resources for this one." Talisman says. "It's going to be big."

"Stop chatting and take us seriously, dammit!" Swordsman snaps.

In response, Talisman executes a sudden Kulbit (a super-tight loop turn) and Swordman overshoots Talisman's Dracula badly.

"Tag." Talisman says with a cheeky grin. "You're it."

Swordman gapes. "Uh…best two out of three?"

…

[Unknown]

…

"Usea will mount an attack on Stonehenge with a concentrated force within three days." The female voice says. "They are moving a little slower than expected."

"It is no matter; continue to grant them information as planned."

The female voice could've bowed. "Understood."

.

.

.

{ === + === }

Author Notes:

Rush to completion train might've hit a few snags.

A few snags called work.