Gundam Seed: The Federation

by Blackshadow999

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

6. Phase 6: Supplies from the Silence

A/n

Here is Phase 6, Enjoy!

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Phase 6: Supplies from the Silence

January 29th, 71 C.E.

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-Neutral pov-

The Archangel

There was not a single sound on the bridge of the Archangel after all had witnessed the destruction of the three Alliance vessels and the accompanying mobile armors. For the Alliance officers and crew members, it was a show of undeniable evidence that the Federation military could still out do them by a painful margin. And watching the three ships get destroyed as they had, most could only gaze at the screen that had shown them mere moments ago. "What was that?" asked Tolle in a quiet voice.

For a short period, there was silence, but then Krystal answered Tolle's question, "If I had to guess, there's a Federation vessel in the general area."

Natarle popped her head out of the CIC, "And how do you come to that conclusion Major?" She asked.

"Because," returned Krystal, "One, the type of damage the Nelson-class took is from a weapon that only the Federation has. And two, the Federation are still the only ones that can strike another vessel without being seen."

Mu nodded slowly, "Krystal is right, I've seen the remains and the visual records of the idea that she's referring to. What happened to the Nelson-class fits what I've seen perfectly, though this is the first time I've seen the damage done first hand. It certainly gives a different perspective that just seeing pictures and what's left of a ship, that's for sure," he said.

Murrue turned to Mu and Krystal, "Just what kind of weapon can do that then?" she asked.

Krystal and Mu looked at each other and then their heads fell, "It's a question that the higher ups in the Earth Forces want to know, but never have found out. It's not for the lack of putting for the effort of trying to and what is known, isn't much to go by," replied Mu.

"Yes, all that any have been able to do is make guesses as to what the weapon the Federation uses, from the damage it causes and that's not enough. And now that you see the idea, you can see that it doesn't help understand how it can be done." Krystal glanced around the room, "Whatever it is, makes a large hole with little if any warning, armor does little to protect from it, and when done in a vital spot, the ship is destroyed. The Alliance has very dearly wanted to engineer the weapon that causes that kind of damage that we've seen, but none have succeeded yet. The Federation Military has given no information, hints or anything when pushed," added Krystal.

"Ma'am! Federation vessel appearing ahead of us, at yellow eleven, 25 degrees to starboard, distance 200," called Jackie Tonomura, who was sitting at the sensor station.

That served to end further conversation on the matter as a Federation cruiser appeared off to port of the Archangel. The Archangel's crew stood down from level one battle stations, and most on board were letting out a sigh of relief. Although they didn't relax with a Federation vessel close by, but it was better than having ZAFT hunting them relentlessly.

Down in the hanger, both Kira and Lacus exited their mobile suits and exited the hanger. However, it was clear that Kira was bothered by the events that had taken place at Artemis. In fact, Kira could hear Garcia calling him a traitor over and over in his mind and it was infuriating him as much as it plagued him. Kira didn't look closely to where he was going and Lacus just followed him, worried about his silence and the expressions that were going across his face. After a few minutes, the pair found an empty crew quarters which Kira entered followed by Lacus, Kira immediately floated over to the bed and sat down on it.

Lacus had been quiet for the whole trip to the room, trying to figure out what could be causing this kind of reaction in Kira. Granted, it was obvious that this had to do with something that happened while the Archangel had been docked at Artemis, but other than that, Lacus couldn't figure out what was wrong. Perhaps Kira would open up and talk if she cheered him up, that always helped her when she was having a hard time. No doubt Kira would perk up, when he hears that Tye had been on board and had been helping out. Lacus was certainly happy to know that Tyler was alive and okay, hopefully it would do the same for her friend that was hurting right now.

"Traitor," Kira muttered to himself.

At hearing that one word, Kira's mood made sense to her, even if it surprised her as was evident with her blinking. After processing the fact that explained Kira's mood, Lacus moved over to the bed and sat beside him, placing a hand on his arm, "No, Kira," she said reassuringly. "You are no traitor. Remember, your genes aren't what make you who you are."

Kira glanced over to his left at her and saw Lacus smiling gently his way. "You are yourself Kira. Even if Coordinators have greater mental and physical growth than Naturals, our emotions, heart and soul make us just as human as any other type of human. Your choices, the people you choose to be your friends, family, and country say who you are. Not the people of the same genetic type. As Tye often has said, no matter whether one is a Coordinator or a Natural or any other kind of human, we're all human beings first, regardless how we came into the world or our heritage."

Kira, looking into Lacus's soft eyes, saw the truth of them and then smiled. He realized just how much of an idiot he was being right now by letting words effect him so much. "Yeah, you're right, I don't know why being called a traitor effected me so," he said trailing off.

Lacus gained a down casted expression, "Besides, I can be considered more of a traitor than you are," she said. "Unlike you, the place I call home is the PLANTs, I'm the daughter of the Supreme Council Chairman and my sister is the foremost commanders and a champion of the ZAFT military. Yet still, I haven't betrayed the ideals of my father or myself. Kira, you and I are fighting for what we believe in, and the friends we must protect. Tye would be saying well done and good job were he in this room right now and you know it."

"Lacus," said Kira softly in surprise.

Lacus hadn't seemed the type to be this out spoken, her father Siegel Clyne yes, but Lacus, not as much. It impressed Kira to see and hear her talk like this, then he noticed that Lacus was smiling, "Oh, by the way, that person in the Federation pilot suit that we saw in the hanger before, it was Tye," She continued cheerfully.

That caught Kira off guard and he blinked in surprise, "Wait what? Tye was the one in that pilot suit?" he questioned.

Lacus nodded, "Yes, don't doubt we'll see him soon enough," she said happily.

Before Kira could inquire further, a knock came on the door. "Hey kids, you alright?" came Mu's voice. The two looked over at the door before it opened, revealing Lieutenant La Flaga with Flay standing right behind him. "The majority of us on the ship have been worried about you two."

Mu fully stepped into the room, "I mean, by what Flay here said, the Earth Alliance officers from Artemis said some harsh things to you and called you horrible names," he continued.

"Its fine," said Kira, straightening up a little and waving a hand to have the subject dropped. "They're only words and they're untrue so it doesn't matter really, thanks Lieutenant."

Kira then looked over to Flay, who was looking embarrassed and ashamed, "Flay, are you alright? Things got bad back in the hanger and I lost sight of you during the scuffle."

"Yes… I'm fine… Thank you," she said. "Listen, I just wanted to apologize… for doubting you. I hadn't realized how hard this must be for you and that you aren't as different as I thought before."

"It's okay," said Lacus reassuringly.

Shaking his head slightly, Mu turned and left the three teenagers to fix the relationship between them. Yet, he hadn't gotten more than a couple of steps down the corridor, when a thought occurred to him. Once that thought had popped up in his head, a small smirk formed on his features. The idea was amusing, but at the same time a fitting thing. Hell, the two weren't real soldiers anyway, so why not? They have done enough to deserve it. With the thought firmly set in mind, Mu set off to find the captain and talk to her.

Meanwhile, Murrue had left running the ship to Natarle and left the bridge. She was exiting the lift to head to her quarters, in order to prepare herself for the Federation officers that would likely come on board the Archangel and so was thinking. Sure, during her officer training, she had been told and heard accounts about the times that Federation forces had disabled ships, both ZAFT and Earth Alliance, before boarding them. In some of those experiences, apparently, armed soldiers would come and take control of a ship. The worst story she had been told about, an armed force of Federation soldiers had been able to cease control of an Agamemnon-class in under ten minutes, no losses to them, plenty of Alliance crew injured in exchange.

And then, Murrue was aware that the state of the relationship between the Human Federation and the Earth Alliance wasn't the best lately. In fact, it was only slight less bad than the relationship between the Alliance and ZAFT. Yet, the fear she shared with others in the Earth Forces, was what would push the Federation to ally with ZAFT or just go against the Earth Alliance. To be honest, it wasn't a question of if the Federation did join up with ZAFT, it was more a question of when with how things were going. And when that was to occur, the Earth Alliance would be defeated completely, estimations put the campaign lasting less than a year as things stood. Even if the higher ups didn't want to admit the point, it was clear that the Human Federation was more tolerating the actions of the Earth Alliance rather than accepting them for years now. The few displays of military might from the Federation, had shown that the Alliance had better chances against ZAFT. And if the Federation had mobile suits, like some rumors suggested, then the Earth Alliance was doomed even more. She was in her thoughts so much that she didn't notice Mu coming up to her, "Yo, captain!" said Mu.

Murrue jumped a bit as she looked at Mu, "Um… Yes, lieutenant, what is it?" asked Murrue.

Mu smiled, "Calm down, you look rather stressed, any reason for that to be the case?" He asked.

Murrue looked away, "Well, it's likely that we will have Federation officers on board the Archangel at some point soon. I know this ship isn't exactly a secret any more, but still, it's weighing on me, that's all. What did you need Lieutenant?" She asked.

"Don't worry about Federation officers, they're not as intimidating as reports and some people make them out to be. I've met a few of them and those I have, are decent people, all you have to do is keep calm and explain our situation. I'm pretty sure even they can understand, and there are the refugees on board as well. As to what I'm here to ask you, it's just a little favor I'd like to ask of you," said Mu.

The captain blinked, "Favor?" she asked.

"Yeah," he said. "Now that the kid and the pink princess are officially volunteers crew members, I figure, with what they've done, we should give them some better quarters to work with. We've got plenty to spare with less than a full crew aboard. They are the star mobile suit pilots here after all, which we depend on to defend the ship. I think they deserve to be a tad more comfortable with the job they do, don't you?"

"Yes actually, I do," said Murrue, with a smile of her own.

Did Mu really think she was born yesterday? What Mu was going for was fairly obvious and she could tell where Mu was going with this. And that's what made taking him down a peg or two enjoyable, "Well, I believe I know just where to put them Lieutenant. They're college level educated pilots like them are generally assigned the rank of ensign. So, I think I'll put them in two of the ensign-rank quarters."

Mu was taken aback a bit, but recovered quickly, "What, you think they'll need that kind of space?" asked Mu, wanting to prod her slightly in his own direction and to show that he wouldn't be outdone so easily.

"Actually, I was thinking I'd rather not have them uncomfortable getting undressed in their own quarters and not worry about others looking in." Murrue gave him a pointed stare.

Ouch… thought Mu with a wince, that wasn't what I was implying, but point taken.

"We can put them right next to each other," continued Murrue. "They'll doubtless need one another's support during this journey, so keeping them close by is probably a good idea. Besides, we might as well keep both of those annoying little robots in one area."

Now it was Mu's turn to blink, "Annoying little…? Oh right, those things!" said Mu. "They have names, what were they… Oh yes, Haro and Tori as I recall."

Murrue chuckled at his reaction as it showed she had gotten the better of the man. "Geez, I wonder who made them… they certainly do a good job at producing annoying little appliances, I'll give them that."

-Line Break-

The Gamow

"Damn it!" Nicol shouted in anger to himself, banging a fist against the locker in front of him. "I can't believe we let them get away a second time."

It was a rare thing for Nicol displaying emotions like this, and it put off his comrades a bit, "It's not your fault Nicol," said Dearka with a small sigh. "Unexpected circumstances came up that we couldn't predict. The enemy ship has better speed than the Gamow, so once they got a head start."

"I guess you're right," said Nicol. "Even still, after all of that… the Zephyr is going to be disappointed in me."

Yzak snorted at Nicol's worry, "I doubt that," he said. "We may have missed the objective, but we still managed to blow half of Artemis to dust, and you made it all possible. If anything, you've probably scored brownie points with the Zephyr, which isn't an easy thing to do."

Despite what he was saying, Yzak was pretty pissed off at their target getting away, but there was nothing that could be done about the situation, and even Yzak couldn't deny that it wasn't really anyone's fault. And the way Nicol had disabled the Alliance base's defenses that were supposedly impenetrable, was impressive. Yzak had to say that, for of the many things Nicol may be, such as a coward and a fool sometimes, he'd a talent for tactics that was rare. What happened at Artemis, was a prime example of that said talent and it made Yzak a bit proud to work with someone that could find ways to do what many considered impossible.

"Did you forget about the Zephyr's reputation or how she earned it?" asked Nicol soberly.

Dearka and Yzak winced at the question and its implications. They had indeed forgotten for a moment that the Black Zephyr, in addition to being one of ZAFT's most brilliant strategists, and the feared champion, she was also one, that you don't want to disappoint for fear of what she would do in response! She could scare others with a simple glare or a couple of words with the way she came off as. But the biggest thing, the Zephyr loved a good fight and challenge… And to take such an opportunity from her… Was something you WILL regret… a lot! With what had gone down at Artemis, Nicol could have just taken away a good opportunity for battle for the Black Zephyr.

"Yeah… forget what I said," returned Yzak in as somber of tone.

-Line Break-

The Archangel

Close to an hour had gone by since leaving Artemis and the Archangel had been traveling forward. "Reconfirming status," announced Pal. "No enemies within a five-thousand-kilometer radius, just the one Federation cruiser. It appears ZAFT forces lost sight of us for the time being."

Murrue sighed in relief. She really wasn't up to more fighting, after the events of the past twenty-four hours, give or take a margin either way. "All that pandemonium at Artemis must've covered our escape from others," said Mu from the copilot's seat. He turned the chair to face Murrue, "So, we should be thankful to the Federation, if only for that."

"True, however," started Natarle, "Ahead of us is Human Federation controlled space. They have a reputation of not taking it nicely, when those who don't have permission, travel through their territory."

"Yes," said Murrue in agreement, "I share both of your points of view. We're fortunate that the Laurasia-class is no longer able to track us. But we still have many problems as we did before, and not one of them has been resolved other than losing the ZAFT vessel for the time being."

The others on the bridge all heaved a unanimous sigh that said it all. Murrue was speaking the truth, after all, supplies were short… especially water.

"So anyways, what happened to all the Eurasian soldiers on the ship?" asked Mu, glancing around in hopes of an answer.

Arnold shrugged, "Well, as surprising as it sounds, Mr. McGregor appeared and took care of the majority of them. After that," he said, not finishing the line.

"Mister Murdoch said he'd take care of it," piped up Tolle, "something about tossing them out the airlock."

Murrue and Natarle shared an uncertain glance at that, neither were sure they wanted to know the whole story of what happened while they were locked up. Even if it sounded outlandish with the facts they had just heard, there was still more than enough to worry about. The shift change came and positions were switched out and other replaced.

Sai, once he was relieved of duty, went searching for Flay as he hadn't seen her since she had been used as a hostage. He found her when he glanced into the mess hall finding it deserted with one exception, "Flay, are you alright?" asked Sai.

"Yeah… Kira and Lacus made sure I was safe after we were dragged away… and then, in the hanger, there was a Federation pilot that helped me and made sure that I was okay before that in the hanger. I just talked with Kira and Lacus a bit… I wanted to apologize for what I started," she replied.

"That's good to hear," said Sai, sitting down next to her. "This has to be a lot harder on them then they really show. That goes for Tye as he's also fighting to protect us as well. Not only are they fighting other Coordinators, but all three of them have friends who are living in the PLANTs."

"I can't imagine," Flay remarked quietly.

"No, I don't know if any of us really can," said Sai. He looked at Flay, smiling slightly. "So, uh, try not to trouble them, okay?"

"Yeah… I understand."

Sai glanced down, thinking of how hard this must really be for Lacus. Kira had trusted Sai with the whole truth of who Lacus was, and it was a secret Sai had kept even from his own parents. He suspected that Tye knew who Lacus really was, since Tye always seemed to be informed somehow. If the Federation pilot suit he had been wearing was anything to judge by, then the way he got a lot of that info was through the Federation, who could somehow find out almost anything from what Sai had heard.

The truth was, Lacus was from the PLANTs, her fiancée had lost his mother in the Bloody Valentine, her father was the leader of the Supreme Council. She was a morale-boosting idol singer, and to top all of that, she had a close connection one of the foremost and feared commanders and champions ZAFT has ever had. Given all of that, calling what she was doing hard for her, may have been an understatement.

-Line Break-

-Tyler's pov-

The Donnen

After returning to the Donnen, I was left looking for something do occupy my time. Before I left the hanger, I checked up on the progress on the adjustments to the Shadow. The work wasn't done quite yet and I don't think Chief Montoya was appreciating me hovering over him and his team as they worked. So, when he sent me a serious look, I took the hint and left the hanger to let the mechanics work in peace. However, that still left me with the continuing problem of having something to do, I don't like to be idle if I can help it.

Then, there's the dilemma of the Archangel, which was made up of a series of problems. Right now, the Earth Alliance vessel is on the very edge of different territories. On one side that was behind us, the Earth Alliance was in control and ahead of us, the Human Federation calls the shots.

As far as I know, the Archangel's destination from what I learned back at Heliopolis and the short time on board the ship itself, will be the Earth Alliance's Lunar HQ, their Ptolemaeus Lunar Base. The other option, would have the Archangel descending to Earth to get to the JOSH-A Alliance base at Alaska. That's the Earth Alliance HQ for Earth itself after losing Victoria to ZAFT around a year ago. Were the ship to travel ahead through Human Federation territory without permission, I don't see that going well. The chances are that they would be shot at before they got to the other end of Federation space as things stood, since it ends close to Earth's outer orbit.

If there's any chance for me to help, I would need the help of Captain Shepard. With that in mind, I headed to the bridge and found out from commander Sulu, that the captain was off duty and in her quarters. Not being deterred, I made my way to the captain's quarters and knocked. After being told to enter, I did so and once again I find myself in the Donnen's captain's cabin. Captain Shepard was still in her uniform, but the coat was partly open, the top half of the fastenings undone. She glanced up at me, "Commander, to what do I owe the visitation?" she asked tiredly.

"Well, Captain," I said, "I was thinking, since both our current assignments involve the Archangel in some way, it might be a wise idea to get the Archangel's crew to cooperate. It would make things easier for most in this and I would imagine much better in the long run."

Then, I went into detail about the plan I had in mind and though it may have sounded simple, it wasn't in the long run. The mission of preventing Mobile suits or data of them falling into the hands of the Earth Alliance when they have been desperate to get either or both for years, is no easy task. So, to get the cooperation of the Archangel and her crew, then appearing to help them would gain their trust and that would be required for success in the standing objectives.

That being said, if the Archangel could go through Federation territory, then ZAFT would be a little harder pressing in attacking the ship. Do I believe it would stop Rau Le Creuset from pursuing the Archangel? Not in the slightest if his reputation is accurate, and with the encounters I have with him thus far, I'm inclined to believe he earned his reputation well. So, I'm expecting him to not really care that the Archangel would be going through Federation controlled territory. The ZAFT commander, had been dogmatic about this pursuit of his query thus far, I don't expect being in an area that he shouldn't be in to stop him or even slow him down much, if at all.

I'm aware that Rau Le Creuset is one ZAFT commander that a number of leaders of the Federation military would have no complaints should he be discharged or go away in some shape or form. Those in the admiralty of the Federation military, may not say out loud, but there are signs that say that they don't like Le Creuset or his actions. I don't blame them, from what I've seen, I'm not liking the guy either nor do I believe I'll ever be fond of the man, for he only brings chaos. Meaning, if the Archangel could be 'escorted' through the area, they would be a little safer and if ZAFT forces do strike or rather 'when', then there's help on hand, I call that a bonus and good preparation.

Captain Shepard agreed that having the cooperation of the Alliance officers aboard the Archangel being helpful. That would require her to talk with Murrue Ramius and Natarle Badgiruel… and honestly, it's better the captain do it than me. I've the hunch that I'll have less credibility with the ship officers when they figure out that I'm not just a pilot of the Federation, but also that I'd been working to stop them at Heliopolis, among the other things I haven't told them… I don't know how bad the reaction will be when it comes.

-Line Break-

-Neutral pov-

The Archangel

Arnold sighed as Tolle entered the bridge and took his station. With ZAFT momentarily out of the picture, Tolle would be able to handle flying the Archangel for a while and at the same time, get some practice driving the ship. The teen was learning fast as decently how to pilot the Archangel and Arnold had told him that a few times already. Plus, Arnold could finally get some rest and well-earned it was like most breaks he got. Most of the crew was getting a little nervous as the message had come that there would be some Federation officers would be coming on board to discuss current and future standing. So, Arnold was hoping to get some sleep before the tense atmosphere got stronger.

"Chief Neumann, please wait for a moment," said Murrue, following him outside the bridge.

"Yes captain?" asked Arnold, managing to keep the weariness out of his voice.

"I would like to ask you along with Major McAlester, to go and greet those from the Federation as they will be here rather soon as they are coming our way. Although, on your way, could you find Kira and Lacus for me," said Murrue. "I had a discussion with Lieutenant La Flaga about it, and we agreed upon something…"

Murrue explained to Arnold that Kira and Lacus would be moved to new quarters and told him which ones they were. Arnold agreed to tell the two pilots and then he and Krystal left the bridge of the Archangel. The two began heading towards the center part of the ship, guessing that's where the Federation would come onto the ship from theirs. Glancing in the barracks rooms, looking for Kira and Lacus the found them in the quarters they had been using since the incident with Heliopolis. The light level was dim so only parts of the room's interior was distinguishable from the doorway. "Excuse me? Mister Yamato, Miss Don, are you in here?" asked Arnold.

There was a form stirring on the left, "Yes… is there something you needed Chief Neumann?" asked Kira, sitting up in the bunk where he was lying. Lacus was lying on the bed opposite his and she was waking up as well.

"Sorry for waking you both, but the captain asked Major McAlester and me to show you two to your new quarters," said Arnold. "Since you've been doing volunteer work, as our key pilots no less, it has been felt that you should at least get better sleeping arrangements than what you have right now."

"Oh, I see," said Kira, swinging his legs over and to the floor.

He looked at Lacus, who was getting out of bed, he did the same and they both rummaging around for what few possessions they had on them at the time of this all got started. A short while later, Arnold and Krystal led the two Coordinators down a hall to their new quarters. To the surprise of both Kira and Lacus, their new rooms were right next to each other.

"The captain assigned you quarters' right next to each other," said Arnold. "They're for low-ranking commissioned officers normally, but since you're pilots, she thought it was appropriate. Ordinarily, you'd be sharing with another officer of the same rank, but given the small crew compliment and the circumstances, you'll each have your own quarters. Lieutenant La Flaga and the Major here, are in quarters down the hall, and you can talk to either of them if you need anything."

"Understood," said Kira.

"Thank you, Chief Neumann," added Lacus. Arnold gave a slight nod as they arrived at their new quarters.

With Kira and Lacus getting down to the business of settling into their new rooms, Arnold and Krystal resumed on their journey to greet the Federation officers, both were a little nervous at the prospect of meeting some of them, as the Federation had a reputation for being mysterious and strict and neither of them had personal experience with any.

Meanwhile, the Donnen moved to the position that it was over the Archangel in preparation to connect. Most of the time, a Federation vessel over another ship had the intent to disable the opposing ship. However, this time disablement wasn't the intent, just to connect the two ships so that shuttles would be needed. Once in position, the Donnen used a tunnel from the bottom of its hull which connected to one of the top hatches on the Archangel. Captain Shepard accompanied with two other officers, arrived at the Donnen's end of the tunnel. There was four soldiers in space suits armed with assault rifles with them, ready to jump in if things went bad. The captain nodded at the soldiers and told them to stay aboard the Donnen for the moment while she and the two officers when over to the Archangel. When the connecting tunnel was pressurized and filled with breathable air, Captain Shepard along with two other officers entered and sailed over towards the Earth Alliance ship.

Once the three reached the hatch on the upper hull, one of the officers connected an electronic device to the small access port beside the hatch. The hatch shortly unlocked and opened with the aid of the small electronic device use for hacking through Earth Alliance and ZAFT security and Captain Shepard, the two Federation officers right behind her floating onto the Archangel.

So, the only real warning that any aboard the Alliance vessel had was the dull thunk of the tunnel engaging its magnetic pressure seal and start filling with air. Arnold Neumann with Krystal McAlester right behind him caught sight of a door to maintenance access ways of the Archangel, including an airlock to the outside opening. Out of the door came three Federation officers, in the known Federation uniform and quickly faced Arnold and Krystal. The officer in the center was a woman and had a serious look on her face. Both Arnold and Krystal didn't miss that the woman's uniform had more symbols and markings than the other two officers had, meaning she probably had higher rank. And if either Arnold or Krystal needed more proof, the woman gave it herself when she spoke, "I am Captain Mary Shepard of the Federation cruiser Donnen, where is your captain?" She asked curtly yet gave no room for debate.

There was tense silence that hung over the corridor, so much so, that none noticed the fourth figure that popped their head out of the maintenance corridor the Federation officers had come out of, which was sideways to the deck of the Archangel. The person was in a Federation pilot suit, but didn't have the helmet, so that the young man's tan hair and green eyes were visible. "Say Captain Shepard, has anyone ever told you that you come off as extremely strict and intimidating? It can be very hard to respond to and make you hard to approach," Tyler commented.

Mary Shepard glanced back at Tyler McGregor who was smiling slightly and gave him a deadpan expression, "There has been mention of something along those lines McGregor, do you have a point you're trying to make saying such?" She inquired.

Tyler waved a hand in dismissal, "Not really, I was just curious if you've been told that you present yourself that way," Tyler paused, before smiling a bit though in a more nervous manner. "I think it would be best for me to uh… occupy myself with something else… so, I'm going to go for a walk then… trying to keep myself out of trouble while doing so. Chief Montoya wasn't appreciating me hovering and waiting for him and his mechanics to finish up the work I asked them to do."

Captain Shepard huffed a bit and turned back to Arnold and Krystal, "Lead the way to where your captain is, there is much to discuss." She said.

Arnold swallowed and nodded, showing the way towards the captain's cabin on the Archangel. Tyler however, didn't follow them, but began to float around the ship, looking for his friends.

In the Archangel's captain's cabin, introductions were exchanged between the Alliance officers and the Federation personnel. They were short and polite, yet still to the point, which painted the picture of the current relationship that there was between the Human Federation and the Earth Alliance clearly. The feel in the room was tense to put it mildly however, Murrue Ramius broke the tension, "So then, Captain Shepard, the Archangel's ultimate destination is the Earth Alliance's Lunar HQ at the Ptolemaeus base, or Earth's JOSH-A base would work as well. However, we're short on supplies and that's making the journey difficult," Murrue said laying out their current situation.

Mary Shepard crossed her arms over her torso, "I'm aware of the general situation that your vessel is working with and I sympathize. Yet, you are aware that while right now you're in Alliance territory, should you continue much farther, you will be entering Federation controlled territory. According to standing treaties with the Alliance and ZAFT, neither Alliance vessels or ships from ZAFT are allowed to enter unless they have been given permission. If they do, then they tend to be shot at until they leave," returned Shepard.

Natarle Badgiruel clenched her fists, "Then you say that we should turn and face ZAFT instead of going forward?" She snapped at the Federation captain.

Shepard glanced at Natarle, giving her a deadpanned stare, "It's not my issue what you do, I'm stating the agreed upon rules set by the treaties that have been made between all sides to maintain a semblance of peace," she replied.

"Then please," Murrue spoke up, gaining everyone's attention. "Allow the Archangel to pass through Federation territory! It's the quickest route and the sooner that we get to our destination the better," Murrue begged. "I'm aware that the Archangel is an Earth Alliance vessel and isn't registered yet with the rest of the Alliance, but we need to reach one of the two Earth Alliance headquarters."

Captain Shepard, seemed to think for a moment, "As long as you don't cause trouble or an incident as you go, I don't see it as much of a problem," was the strict woman's answer. "Plus, we can give you some immediate supplies to tie you over for now."

With the agreement made and understood, the Federation officers left and those left began to look at what route to take forward. Murrue, Natarle, Mu and Krystal returned to the bridge and the rest of the crew was informed of the Federation's permission that they now had. But, the question of what route to take lie ahead, "Now with permission to travel through Federation territory, hopefully that will make encounters with ZAFT forces less likely. I believe we should try to use earth to slingshot ourselves to the moon," said Murrue thoughtfully.

"Is that our best option?" asked Natarle, looking over their current course to the moon. With the reminder of the strict watch of the Federation which the Archangel would be under, Natarle was irked with the current circumstances. She had nothing personally against the Federation Military, though Natarle did agree in part with those that saw the Federation's insistence of neutrality being ridiculous. But, in all honesty, the pressing issue was that they didn't have the supplies to really make it on the suggested route, at least, that's how it was with the refugees on board. Even were they to ration the supplies there were, it wouldn't last for long before people started to snap. "Can't we look for a better route somewhere?" Natarle asked to the room at large.

"Afraid not Ma'am," said Arnold, "If we chart a course either to the Earth Sphere itself or close to it, we'll have to cross the Debris Belt, despite that route taking us less time to reach than getting to lunar orbit via a direct path from current position."

"Suppose we navigate through it?" asked Murrue suddenly.

"Are you suggesting going through the Debris Belt?!" exclaimed Arnold. "Are you crazy?! There's no way that's possible! If we attempt to pass through it at this speed, we'll end up becoming part of the collection of debris! I'm a decent pilot, but I'm not that much an expert!"

"The junk heap that humanity made ever since they began exploring space," muttered Mu. "It's true, we don't want to be a part of that," he paused suddenly, a thoughtful look on his face. "Wait a minute…" he said slowly, "yes, the Debris Belt!"

The others were still discussing what was the best route to Lunar HQ, ignoring Mu's muttered comment. That's, until Krystal spoke up, "Mu, I've seen you with that expression before, and I don't know if I should be worried or wonder where you get your ideas. What kind of scheme are you cooking up in your head?"

"Hm? What are you two going on about?" questioned, catching both Mu's and Krystal's attention.

"Am I a person who can make the impossible… possible?" said Mu with a thin smirk.

"Mu, whenever you say that, I get worried that whatever idea you having is crazy," sighed Krystal.

-Line Break-

-Tyler's pov-

I was wondering down a corridor, kind of hoping to run into Kira and Lacus as I'd some catching up to do with them. Had a lot of news that I wanted to tell them both plus, I'd missed those two along with the friends I had made at Heliopolis. Was coming up upon the mess hall when a group of refugees came out of the room. In their lead, was the little girl that had been scared by the Artemis soldiers, clearly in a much better mood.

The little girl wasn't watching where she was going and she crashed into me, pushing me back a tad with her weight. I quickly fixed my bearing and at the same time, did the same for the girl. A woman, I believe the young girl's mother, came forward and was bowing to me in apology. When the girl looked at my face, her eyes widened and she smiled, "You're the nice guy that punished that bad men that were scaring us," she said.

You have got to love the simple logic of a child, they've better sense than many adults do. I 'knelt' or rather brought my head down to her eye level and smiled back, "You're right, I did punish those men, they were doing bad thing that they shouldn't have. It's good to see that you and everyone else is okay," I said kindly.

The little girl sprung forward and hugged me, "Thank you for saving us!" She cried.

My smile grew at hearing that, it's times like this, that the jobs I do in the Federation Military are worth the effort and hassle they have involved. The simple thank you, brought warmth to my heart and made me proud that I was able to protect these people, not just out of duty since they're citizens of the Human Federation, but because I could do so. "Your thanks are much appreciated little lady, don't always get that. It is the duty, honor and especially a pleasure to protect and serve those like yourself," I returned.

The child's actions acted as a trigger for the others in the group of Heliopolis refugees to come up to me and thank me for my intervention. It may be rare for me or others in the Federation soldiers, let alone Special Forces members to be thanked for the jobs we do, but dang… it feels wonderful when people do show gratitude, even if it's just a thank you!

It took ten minutes for the group of people to move on and I allowed to continue on my search for friends. I came into the mess hall and found that it was empty, except a red-haired girl that I've crossed paths with. Still don't know Flay's last name, but then, I'm not the best at remembering names, quite horrible at it actually. Although, since she was supposed to be close with Sai, maybe she might know where Kira, Lacus and the others are. It doesn't hurt to ask, I say! I cleared my throat, "Hello Flay," I greeted politely.

Flay turned and upon seeing me she drew back for some reason, don't ask me why she would. My only guess at this point, is that she has an issue with Coordinators. That's the only point that makes sense, since I'm always polite to her when she was around the others. Yet, I noticed her staring at me for a bit longer, "Wait! You're one of Sai's friends from Heliopolis, aren't you?" She asked hesitantly.

I nodded, "Yes, my name is Tyler McGregor." I introduced myself as I sat down next to the girl.

It was just after my introduction, when Flay appeared to notice my Federation pilot suit, "That's the same suit that the person who saved me was wearing, was that you?" She asked.

Shook my head a bit, "Nope, that wasn't me, but he's a colleague and a friend of mine," I replied.

"Oh," she muttered, before she focused back on me, "Well, the next time you see him, could you thank him for me?" Flay asked me.

"Certainly, don't doubt he'll appreciate being thanked, it happens rarely now-a-days for those of us in the Federation Military for what we do," I remarked.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw two figures come into the mess hall and when I turned to see whom it was, I felt surprised and happy to see Kira and Lacus. They both quickly spotted me and came over where Flay and I were sitting. Flay took this as a cue for her to leave and she did exit to the mess hall, leaving Kira, Lacus and myself in the room. Lacus threw herself at me and crashed into me in the form of a hug, which I did return to her as she is a long standing and good friend to me. Kira put a hand on my shoulder and squeezed, I smiled, "Good to know that I'm not a stranger around you two yet with the time I've been absent," I remarked.

Kira smiled, "I don't think you could ever be a stranger around us Tye," said Kira with Lacus nodding in agreement.

"So Tye, what's been going on with you?" Asked Lacus.

I took a moment to think about how to order my thoughts on how to present the chain of events that I had been in. After a minute I gave my answer, "Oh… A great deal of things in the last few days, if you two would like to listen, get comfortable, it'll be long."

I began my story at the point where the three of us had been separated from one another, which was during the collapse of Heliopolis. The point I started at was when the ZAFT pilot had been doing as I'd suggested, before the Archangel had fired in our direction. I'm still a tad miffed about the crew of this ship doing that. But, upon taking the time to review the situation, they'd been scared and stressed, so I'll give them the benefit of the doubt and assume they hadn't been aiming for us intentionally. Of course, the colony shaft had come apart and the structure of the resource colony had followed, the atmosphere had been drawn out of the space of the colony and that force had separated us. Having found myself alone with only the ZAFT pilot for company, I'd had good luck as the Federation cruiser had been in the area. Since with the interference that came from the colony's breakdown and the battle that had been going on, couldn't contact anyone that wasn't in the immediate area.

I gave some detail of my meeting Miguel Aiman, nice guy and did well under the stress he had to have been under at the time. Anyway, the rest of my team had come along and had helped me to get to the Donnen. Kira and Lacus had asked a few questions about me being in the Federation Military, and I did answer them as best as I could. Neither seemed to have a problem with me being with the Federation military, so I took that as a good thing.

Resumed my tale at the point that I went on board the Donnen, and meeting the captain of the Federation vessel. Miguel had been curious, but who could've blame him, rare thing for those outside the Federation to be on a Federation ship after all. The reason for this, is Federation High Command doesn't give out information that they don't see the need for others to know, which is most things. Still, I kept going with saying how I had gone onto the ZAFT Nazca-class, had even seen Rau Le Creuset while I was there. I said how interesting it was to meet Nicol Amalfi, clear friend to Athrun. I even mentioned the, amusing reunion with Athrun, a mutual friend of all three of us. Getting to at least glimpse the Aegis and the Blitz had been unexpected, but it had, in the end given helpful information.

I moved on to the portion of going to the PLANTs and meeting with the Supreme Council. Although, I didn't say that I'd been wearing the more formal Federation uniform, since I don't like wearing it. Then I continued with meeting up with Captain Shepard and the two of us then met up with Siegel Clyne and Ezalia Joule, before we went into the council meeting itself. That session… had gone not as I'd envisioned or had hoped it would, thanks to Rau Le Creuset. The reaction of Patrick Zala hadn't comforted or helped in any way. The man had been the foremost members of the council to worry me of those how hadn't taken what had gone down at Heliopolis in the way I would have predicted.

The talk that had taken place between Athrun, Siegel Clyne and myself had been better than the council meeting. It had been nice to speak to Athrun in a far less tense or professional setting, as I hadn't been able to do so until that point. At least, I got to confirm that Athrun is officially engaged to Lacus, not that it means a lot at this time. Been fun to tease him, that I won't deny that, since I don't get to do that to Athrun often, much more to Kira. It wasn't nice to be reminded of Junius Seven and what had been lost there, but it is one of the connections I have with Athrun. I'm hoping that I did get across the point of what dangers that his father posed with his views to Athrun, but I can't be sure.

Then when Siegel Clyne had joined us and it had gotten a little better and a little less nice at the same time. When I told Athrun about me being a pilot of one of the prototype mobile suit along with Kira doing the same. Athrun had taken the information not so well, though he had accepted what I'd told him. I hadn't mentioned that Lacus was piloting the Strike, for he had taken learning that two of his friends were being hunted by the commander he was under the command of. As I finished this portion of the tale, I recalled a request from Siegel Clyne, "Now that I think about it, your father did want me to give you a message Lacus." I said.

Lacus had a curious expression on her face upon hearing that her father had asked me to tell her something. "What did he want you to tell me?" she asked.

"Well, he said that he's worried about you of course, but told me to tell you to be careful and stay safe, but hold to your views and beliefs." I answered.

Lacus nodded to what I said and I continued where I had left off. That brought me to the point that I'd crossed paths with Lacus's sister Sakura. Honestly, was tempted to just skip ahead and say nothing about what had happened with Sakura. As a compromise, I made mention of… 'seeing' Sakura, Lacus gave me an apologetic look, while Kira just looked confused. Moved on to heading towards Artemis and the chain of events that happened there was a completely different can of worms. Nevertheless, things had turned out okay in the end, with help from myself and my comrades, but still.

-Line Break-

The Donnen

I returned back to the Donnen after the visit I'd with my friends on the Archangel. I know that I didn't have a room on the Alliance ship, and I did have the motivation to change that standing now. Got a decent night sleep in the quarters on the Donnen, woke up refreshed which hasn't happened for over a week. The task of the day would be to hopefully move over to the Archangel and get things arranged that I could start getting the crew's cooperation in my mission I was assigned. The best to go to for arrange that would be Captain Shepard, hence why I was on my way to her cabin to present my case. Knocked on the door and waited for a response, "Enter," said the voice of captain Shepard.

Went into the captain's cabin and floated to be in front of Shepard's desk, she looked up at me and gained a look of slight surprise. "Commander McGregor, to what do I owe this visitation?" She asked me.

I rubbed the back of my neck, "Oh, well ma'am… I'm here to make a bit of a different request, it may seem a little outlandish, but nevertheless," I trailed off.

"State your point commander," said Shepard curtly.

I cleared my throat, "Yes, sorry captain. I would like to request, for me to go over and travel aboard the Archangel going forward ma'am." I said politely, but internally I was holding my breath, waiting for the woman's answer.

Shepard blinked and appeared taken aback at my request, "And why might I ask, would you request such a thing commander. By what I've read in your profile, you very much dislike the Earth Alliance, have an amount of bad experience with them or something to that effect. So, for you to want to go over to one of their vessel and have to abide by their rules… It confuses me," returned Shepard.

What Mary Shepard had said was true, on both points. I'm not the fondest of those from the Earth Alliance, have had bad experiences with those I've crossed. Then, if I go over to the Archangel, I would have to follow Alliance rules and regulations, to an extent at least. But it wasn't like I was going to join the Alliance or anything, "You stating that I would have to follow Alliance rules and regulations is true ma'am however, if I'm on the Archangel, then I'll be able to accomplish the mission my team and I have better."

The female captain mulled over my reasoning for a few minutes, "Very well, commander, I'll defer to your judgement in this." She said.

After exiting the captain's cabin, once the conversation about my intended relocation was finished. I stopped by the room that I had on the Donnen, quickly packed my things into a suitcase and was on my way to the hanger as fast as I could. The sooner I was on the Archangel, the better, my mission would be much easier if I were on the Earth Forces vessel. Plus, I miss my friends more after talking to some of them and want to be on hand if they are put into danger. However, I caught sight of Lisa on my way to the hanger and came to a halt. Hadn't expected to see my friend before I headed out, "Hey Lisa, come to give me a farewell for the time being before I head over to the Archangel." I asked.

Lisa shook her head, "No, I'm here to confirm that you understand what the mission that we're currently assigned. Following the Archangel is only part of this assignment, the main part of this is to prevent the Alliance from obtaining a mobile suit and use it to mass produce them for use on the battlefield. I'm asking if you understand what that means you might have to do to accomplish the mission," she stated to me.

I hesitated at the implication that Lisa was putting to me. My friend might not have said it outright, but I knew what she was saying. The job that was to be done, just might have me appear to betray those I call my friends, though I would like to avoid that if at all possible. Yet, I have already give thought to the possibility of me having to do things such as sabotage or similar actions. I want to help and protect my friends and those refugees on the Archangel, but I also comprehend what could very well happen if the Earth Alliance were to become able to mass produce mobile suits. It was what made this current assignment so dang difficult! "I do understand what needs to be done Lisa, even if I don't want to do such things. I'm worried about how things will play out, I think I would question myself if I wasn't worried. However, I believe I'm up for this."

"Oh, and what if your friends that you made at Heliopolis accuse you of betrayal?" Lisa asked me seriously.

That cut to my heart, so I didn't answer immediately, it was one of the few fears I had with me going over and staying on the Alliance vessel. I highly doubted that Kira would see anything I would do as an act of a traitor. We've known each other long enough to know that there's a bond of trust between us and so there would be a reason to what either of us do. Sai, Miriallia, Tolle and Kuzzey, I'm not as sure with if I were to do things that can be seen in a bad way. A fondness for them has developed in me over the last year, it made me stress over the possibility that they could come to hate me if I look to betray them along with the Archangel. I took in a breath, "If that should happen, then it will hurt, and I can't help that. But… in the end, I would like think they would come to understand the reasons why I do what I do." I replied, yet my voice wavered ever so slightly.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and seeing it was Lisa's I looked back at her face, "Tyler, you know that Alan, Luke and I will help you the best we can. You're not alone in this, don't forget that fact," said Lisa in order to comfort me.

I nodded to her and thanked my female friend and continued towards the Donnen's hanger, stopping by the pilot locker room to put on my pilot suit. Entering the hanger, I found that chief Montoya and his team had finished the modifications that I'd requested with the Shadow. So, the machine that I'd acquired at Heliopolis was ready for use and I planned to take the mobile suit with me when I went to the Archangel. I humbly thanked the man and his team for the work they did on the machine that I was coming to call mine. After doing so, I entered the Shadow's cockpit, before launching from the Donnen, heading to the Archangel.

After I landed onboard the Archangel and moved my suit into the dock it was assigned to before. Once in the dock, I exited my mobile suit and thanked the mechanics around the dock. As I floated towards the door out of the hanger, I greeted Chief Murdock and then was told by him, that Captain Ramius wished to talk to me. I expected I would be required a "inquiry" and I wasn't worried about the conversation or its subject matter… Mostly. It was better that I was meeting with Murrue Ramius rather than Natarle Badgiruel, the second in command of the Archangel didn't exactly get along with me and I feel that won't change in the near future in any way, except by getting worse. If the crew hadn't told the commanding officers about me coming on the Archangel in a Federation pilot suit by this point, then I'll be shocked.

I made my way to the captain's quarters and entered when given permission to do so. The second I was in the room, I could tell this was going to be a long talk and NOT a nice one for me. Sitting at the desk in the room was Murrue Ramius, her face was like the times before that I've been in her presence, not bad, nor good. On her left was Natarle Badgiruel with a serious expression on her face, which made my levels of apprehension grow. To the right of the desk was Mu La Flaga and Krystal McAlester behind the Lieutenant, neither of those two worried me as I got along with them just fine so far. I refocusing on the task at hand for me, I breathed in deeply and exhaled, "I heard you wanted to see me, that right Miss Ramius?" I asked.

"Yes, that's correct," answered Murrue, gesturing towards a seat in front of the desk she sat at.

I moved over to the seat across from the captain's desk yet, before I lowered myself into it, I bowed to the four Alliance officers, "Before this discussion starts, I would like to thank you all for taking the Heliopolis refugees on board that you did and protecting them. It's greatly appreciated, thank you," I stated politely.

After giving my gratitude, I sat down in the chair, facing the officers of this ship and their judgement. It didn't take long for that judgement to fall and I steeled myself against whatever would come my way. The first blow came from Natarle as I'd expected it would, "So then Mr. McGregor, are you or are you not, a member of the Federation military?" She demanded.

It's one of the question I figured would come and I didn't see any reason at this time to deny the facts as they are. However, since I'm wearing a Federation pilot suit, you would think that the answer is a given and so the question needn't be asked. "The answer is yes, though I would think my current clothing would be enough to give you that answer," I replied simply.

"Care to give further detail?" was the inquiry from Murrue Ramius.

I sighed slowly, "Honestly, not really, but since you're asking fine. I'm a soldier in the Federation military, which you can logically assume by this point. And I'm well aware that I look too young to be, but that's how things are. So then, does it make you happier now that you know whom I work for?" I retorted flatly.

Natarle slammed a clenched hand on the desk, "The hell it does! Why didn't you mention this fact earlier?!" she demanded in an angry tone.

Yeah, I figured this would be this woman's reaction when she found out I was in the Federation military. Natarle Badgiruel came off as someone that expects to be told all about someone else and is not happy when that's not the case. I glancing over at the other three in this room as saw that their reactions were not as bad by gave a similar message. The feeling that I was needlessly being put trial for some kind of offense that I didn't commit washed over me.

My gaze came back to settle on the acting vice-captain of this vessel with a cold expression, "You want to know the reasons why I didn't mention anything about being a member in the Federation military? Alrighty then, I'll be more than happy to give you some. The first reason would be your reaction of taking offense and anger that's directed at me for no viable reason. Especially you Natarle Badgiruel, by the way, have you ever consider doing anger management? For, from my observations, you would stand to benefit quite a bit from doing so Miss Badgiruel."

I paused for a moment, to let Natarle Badgiruel to calm down as she didn't take my comment directed at her well at all. But, I kept going, "And correct me should I be wrong, yet the way you're 'asking' me for details about myself and what I do, is being stated more as an accusation of a crime. The last time I checked, being a part of the Federation military isn't a crime in any way, shape or form, even if there are some who scream their declaration that it is, and pointlessly justify their claims. And then second, none of you ever asked, so there was no reason to tell you I was a Federation soldier," I stated.

The response I got was silence from the four across from me at my stated answer, but Natarle found her voice within a few moments. "That's not an answer, that's an excuse!" she barked back at me.

I couldn't help but snort before replying, "Yeah, none of you are in any real position to be saying that, not with what you lot pulled," I said shrugging my shoulders.

Both female officers stared at me with confusion and surprise, for apparently, they hadn't a clue what I was talking about. "The look on your faces says that neither of you know what I'm talking about. That's fine, I can tell you and I'll start by setting the scene," I continued. Took a moment to organize my thoughts on this subject, then I began, "Okay, think back to a little over a year ago, for that's where this starts to get problematic."

I began with how the rumor that there was a group within the Earth Alliance was doing weapon development in neutral territory. Made mentioned that I was with the Federation investigation team that was sent to Heliopolis to see if the rumor was true. Natarle took umbrage to my accusation to them developing the Archangel and the 'G-Weapons' at Heliopolis, "There's nothing wrong with what we've done, how dare you put the blame of what happened to Heliopolis on the Earth Alliance!" she just about shouted.

This woman just has a knack of digging a hole for herself, she's providing a prime example. My deadpan expression that I had gained as I'd been iterating the chain of events, didn't change as Natarle shouted at me. "Perhaps when you started your precious 'G-project', you were doing nothing wrong. I can't say I know who the deal was made with between the Orb Union and the Atlantic Federation, but within the last year, what you've been doing has become wrong. You've been in direct violation of two major treaties that the Earth Alliance has with the Human Federation. Certainly, by the time I got there, you were doing actions that were and are illegal," I stated calmly.

"What do you mean, Heliopolis was owned by the Orb Union, what does the Federation have to do with anything?" Asked Mu.

I turned to face the man I nodded slightly, "An excellent question Lieutenant La Flaga, as it happens, the Orb Union is a member nation of the Human Federation and became so about a year ago. So, as they are a part of the Federation, the rules and treaties that the Federation has with ZAFT and the Earth Alliance apply with them and their colonies too."

After that, I resumed where I left off in my iteration of the chain of events, about how the other members of the investigation team and myself had taken the time to study the Alliance weapon development. And I finished with the attack from ZAFT forces on and in the resource colony, which they used to steal four out of the five machines. Admittedly, the way I was laying out the timeline of events, might be seen as pinning blame and rubbing in the fact that they had been beaten by ZAFT. At least, Natarle Badgiruel had been getting more ticked as my explanation had been given by me. In fact, the woman was so mad at what I had said, that words seemed to fail her. It was Mu La Flaga that spoke out of the group in front on me, "You put the chain of events in a harsh way, don't you Tyler?" he posed to me.

I shrugged my shoulders, "Maybe it sounds harsh, yet I would ask you a question or two if you would take a moment and step back and look at what happened at Heliopolis in a different perspective. The first perspective to see, is with the Earth Forces so desperate to get mobiles suits usable for themselves, is it really a surprise that ZAFT figured out where they were being developed? After all, neither the Eurasia Federation nor the Atlantic Federation have the resources to spare or the scientists that are willing to help them. Most of all the Alliance doesn't have a place that ZAFT and/or the Federation don't know about and watch close enough that the activity wouldn't be noticed." I locked my gaze on Murrue Ramius, "That leaves going to those who aren't a part of the Earth Alliance the most viable explanation. ZAFT wouldn't help you in any way as it would only hurt them. There's no way that the Human Federation would allow anyone from the Alliance access to or use any R&D facilities such as Teswa."

The mention of Teswa, had sharpened the attention of my audience, for it was the name of the foremost R&D facility the Federation has. I continued, "That pretty much leaves the Orb Union with their Morgenroete Inc. left that even gives you a slim chance to develop mobile suits. I can't see the current leader of Orb letting such development occur within their homeland, due to what happened to Heliopolis being the likely possibility of what would occur. Whomever made the deal probably knew that he couldn't do that in Orb and so that pretty much leaves Heliopolis. It's the last choice to work with, which would attract the least amount of notice," I stated the line of logic. I took a breath and said one last thing, "If I can deduce that, should it be much of a shock that some in ZAFT were able to do so as well?"

"Yet, ZAFT attacked Heliopolis and caused it to collapse," remarked Krystal.

My response was to nod slowly, "True, though I never said that you and your colleagues were completely to blame for what happened thus far. Rest assured, there are those on the PLANTs Supreme Council that won't let this go, Le Creuset will have to face consequences. What those are, haven't the faintest idea, but he won't get away with what he did. Yet, you from the Alliance did play a part in the events that led to the colony's collapse, and that's a fact," I returned.

"And what gives you the right to judge, Tyler McGregor?!" growled Natarle Badgiruel.

I returned the glare that I was getting from the woman, then I exhaled, "Always with the harsh assumptions and conclusions with you. Seriously, you should think about getting some anger management, it can only help you," I answered. "Did I ever say I'm judging you, I don't think so? I'm just telling you how things are, but to answer your question, allow me to reply by reintroducing myself." I stood up and inclined my head, "I'm Commander Tyler McGregor, member of the Federation's military's special forces," I stated evenly.

Well, the 'talk' with the top brass of the Archangel ending on that note, not the best I admit, but I would take what I could get right now. I was shown from the captain's quarters and taken to an empty officer's room that was clear the quarters were for an officer of fairly high rank with the size and single bed. Took the time to unpack, went back to the pilot locker room, put away my pilot suit and head back to the quarters I was assigned here. As I was beat from the stuff that had happened today, I went to the bed and quickly dropped off to sleep.

The next morning early, and yes, even if looking out the window it doesn't appear to be so as there is much less change when you're on a ship in space, I was awake. The reason that I was up not doing something on the ship rather than catching up on sleep like I should, was there'd been a meeting and I'd been asked to attend. It was to take place in less than an hour on the bridge, called by the captain herself, though there wasn't any mention as to what the meeting was going to be about.

Major McAlester had the one to come by and wake me up… it took an amount of restraint to keep myself from lashing out as I was tired. I think I was justified with being grumpy, the reception I had received yesterday… wasn't the nicest. Anyways, Major McAlester explained there was a reason for the meeting and it had to do with supplies. So, after waking up more, I could think of little else that I'd in mind to do today, so I got up and got dressed for the day.

Since this meeting would be about supplies, I was left to wonder, the Donnen had given the Archangel some water. But, it wasn't enough to get them through to their destination, just enough to tie them over until the Archangel resupplies more fully. I dressed in my casual Human Federation uniform, even though I had been supplied with a white Alliance officer uniform and not the blue Alliance uniform. I think it had been a gesture of 'good faith' or something like that, yet I didn't see it that way. I won't anytime in the near future, wear an Alliance uniform, wouldn't be caught dead in it without an extremely lifesaving reason! Murrue Ramius, I doubt the acting captain would do that to me, though I can't be sure with Natarle Badgiruel.

Honestly, I considered throwing the uniform out of an airlock and just say that it got lost, but I doubt the excuse would be accepted. I'm in enough hot water with the officers of this ship, I don't need or want to get myself deeper right now. So, after readying myself for the day, I made my way to the navigation bridge of the Archangel. I found out that I was one of the early ones to this meeting other than those already on the bridge doing their shift. I could've been in my bed for a while longer dang it!

Once everyone had arrived for the meeting, I found it a tad amusing that my friends from Heliopolis the civilian volunteers, made up a full third of the current crew now. One I didn't expect here for this, was Flay whose last name I found out from Kira, was Allster and she was in an Earth Forces female uniform too. I'm hoping that Flay having the same last name as the Vice Prime Mister of the Atlantic Federation is just a coincidence. Never met the guy personally, but from what I've heard from those who have dealt with him… he's not well disposed towards Coordinators. Even my mother has said that he was pretty unpleasant to be around when the subject of Coordinators come up at the time she'd met with him a few years ago.

Anyway, Miss Ramius opened the 'meeting' by thanking all of us for coming and told us this meeting was being held to discuss a plan to obtain much needed supplies. After the acting captain started with that, she then turned over the charge of the meeting to Lieutenant Mu La Flaga, who began to lay out a plan he had come up with. "So, this mission will be to get supplies, specifically water," explained Mu La Flaga.

"Supplies?" questioned Tolle.

"We can get some?" asked Sai. "From where?"

"Get supplies, that's correct," said Mu, his amusement was obvious to us all, but then the amusement disappeared as he continued. "Or to be more precise, we intend to take them."

I felt uneasy about what could come next and made my voice heard, "When you say take them, do you say that as in stealing them or something else Lieutenant?" I inquired.

Any stealing that I could think of with the territory we're currently in, would be from a Federation vessel and that would be a no no. I wouldn't stand for that and would put the idea down five ways from Sunday so fast their heads would spin.

"No, it won't be stealing… Exactly. We're presently on a course that will put us in the vicinity of the Debris Belt," said Murrue, continuing for the lieutenant.

My thought process came to a screeching halt at hearing that. The Debris Belt… These Alliance officers better not be implying taking water from the place that comes to mind that has lots of water, floating within the Debris Belt!

"The Debris Belt? What could be there that holds water?" asked Tolle, clearly not understanding what Mu meant.

"Now hold on!" said Sai. "Wait just a minute! You're not saying…"

Apparently, Sai did see what was implied, "Extra credit to the bright student," said Mu.

"The Debris Belt consists of a wide assortment of junked items, drifting around the outer most orbital track," said Murrue. "Of course, this also means it has a fair number of abandoned vessels that have been destroyed in battle."

"You're not suggesting that we get our supplies from there?" questioned Tolle.

Okay, they're likely not suggesting going around the remains of Junius Seven and taking things from there, since they didn't mention it specifically. I don't think I could help do that if I were asked… and I couldn't tell them why I would have such a problem with doing so. That being said, I would then likely be cohered into helping in the idea anyways. I haven't been around the ruins of Junius Seven in years and it brings me lots pain. I mean, who would want to go to the place that your father and little sister died at because there was a group of people who were and still are so dead set on killing Coordinators, that they'll kill other Naturals to do it and see nothing wrong with the act.

"There's not much choice," said Mu. "If we don't do it, we're not going to last for very long, even with the supply that we received from the Federation."

"When the Archangel arrives, we would like for you people to use the Mistral pods and help with gathering the supplies outside the ship," explained Murrue.

All the volunteers including Flay frowned, showing that they liked the idea almost as I did, which was not at all. However, I kept my mouth shut as I'd done throughout this whole meeting with the singular exception of my one question, as I didn't trust the words that could come out of my mouth right now.

"We're not too happy about this either," said Natarle wincing a bit, "but it's the only choice we have right now, our very survival depends on it."

"We will not scavenge around for things that belonged to others," reassured Murrue. "We're not taking random things, only what we're in immediate need of right now. Just the basic necessities, that's all." She looked down, a sad expression on her face. "In order to survive…"

It was within the next few hours, the Archangel came into range of the Debris Belt and entered it without slowing down much at all. I gained a bit of respect for the driver of the ship with the way they were moving the large Alliance ship in the field of debris. As for me, I had a chilling feeling settling over me as the Archangel went deeper into the debris field, for I don't like this place. The job for us who were pilots, would be to go out with the pods and provide support as needed and keep watch. And I was not asked if I would go, it was just expected of me and I didn't have it in me to say no at the moment. Once a fair distance inside the field, Kira, Lacus and I launched from the Archangel in our mobile suits and along with us, our friends, including Flay, in the Mistral worker pods for working in space.

Both Mu and Krystal would stay behind and defend the ship with their mobile armors… Why they believe that was needed when the Archangel was Federation territory, I don't know. ZAFT takes care not to enter Federation space without a very good reason to justify the action, because they know they'll be used for target practice and don't want that. But then, I doubt that will deter Le Creuset, so… I guess their worry is somewhat justified. Our group was accompanied by Natarle and some of the mechanics, launched as well in one of the Mistral pods stored aboard the ship.

As we moved forward, large chunks of metal floated past us, they were unrecognizable from what they had been before ending up here in the debris. Then, there was a particularly large piece of debris in front of us caught our attention. The chill that crept up my spine told me in an instant what we were approaching, and my blood went cold and my throat tightened. Although I had agreed to help, I'd hoped strongly that we weren't going to be around this hulk that was in front of us. The chatter that had been going between those in the pods faded and silence was our companion.

"No, this is," whispered Tolle. "A continent… How did it end up here?!"

And then I spoke for the first time since the only question I asked this morning, "No Tolle, that's no continent, that was a colony," I trailed off, unable to say what the debris had once been as the pain in my heart swelled along with memories of past days gone by.

"That's the remains of Junius Seven," said Kira in a tone of horror.

It had been almost four years since I'd been here to see what the results of the hatred of a few Naturals of Coordinators brought about by terrorist. There'd been countless lives lost because of this one act of terrorism by Blue Cosmos. Actually, now that I think about it… It's around the one time in the year that ZAFT forces, normally one or two ships are permitted to enter Federation territory as it is nearly the Anniversary of the Bloody Valentine Tragedy. They always inspect the site beforehand, even though the remains are in Federation territory and the Earth Alliance isn't allowed around it. I hope that they aren't around here yet and that we don't run into them… That could turn ugly.

-Line Break-

-Neutral pov-

A short while later, everyone returned to the Archangel to discuss how the foraging for needed supplies would go. After everyone had gone out to briefly look through the viewing ports and confirm beyond a shadow of a doubt… not that there was one that the ruins were indeed Junius Seven, everyone had gathered on the bridge.

"That water over there? Are you serious?!" demanded Kira angrily.

"There are close to a hundred million tons of ice frozen over on it," reasoned Natarle.

"You're kidding," said Kira. "You saw it for yourself, Miss Badgiruel. That PLANT is where hundreds of thousands of people lost their lives. And yet you…"

Kira stopped and looked over at Tyler who was in a corner of the bridge floating silently. He didn't make any sign that he was paying attention at all, just had his head down and didn't respond. Kira knew why Tyler was in such an unresponsive mood than he was before, it was much like how Kira and Athrun had found him on the day that Junius Seven had become like it was now. For Tyler, having to see what's left of the place that you lost half your family… It can't be easy for him to have gone out and seen what he had.

"That's the biggest supply of water we've been able to locate," said Murrue in a tired response.

"Hey, nobody's jumping for joy over this," said Mu, "I don't hear folks shouting 'hurray water'."

"Lieutenant La Flaga," grumbled Kira quietly.

"Nobody wants to step onto that place if it can be helped," said Mu. "Listen, we're alive, everyone. And if we have too, we'll do what it takes so we continue to live!"

"I agree with the Lieutenant in this," said Lacus. All on the bridge other than Tyler looked to Lacus, Kira and Sai's eyes had widened in shock. "The people of that PLANT were peaceful," she said softly. "Junius Seven was an agricultural colony and so, I'm sure they wouldn't want us to die simply because the only water we could get was from what's left of the PLANT where they died."

"Lacus," said Kira, softly but with strain audible.

"She's right, the water is going to waste if we leave it like it is," said Tyler from the back of the room dryly.

Everyone shifted their attention to Tyler, some had jerked having forgotten that Tyler was even there as he had been so quiet, when the teen wasn't normally this quiet. Yet, as they all looked towards Tyler, they had enough time to see him entering the elevator and the doors closing. Kira squared his shoulders, before speaking again "Alright… then let's get this over and done with."

-Line Break-

-Tyler's pov-

I could stay on the Archangel's bridge any long, so I said my piece on voting to get the supplies we needed and then left. The feeling of growing, nagging pain in my heart was getting worse, since seeing the ruins of Junius Seven. I'd given no signs that others would notice, other than Kira maybe, but he knows why this place holds significance with me.

I avoided the crew in the time before we were to head out to collect supplies. The crew had informed the refugees of where the water that was going to be obtained for the ship was coming from. That was nice of the officers to do that for those who lost their lives here. It certainly gained a small amount of respect from me, that they feel sorrow and some guilt at what the Bloody Valentine Incident had wrought. Lacus… bless her heart, had suggested that some make paper flowers as a type of "memorial ceremony". It was entirely volunteer work, and even Natarle had supported the idea. All the refugee wished to help with the project, which only made it more meaningful.

No one was particularly happy with where they'd be getting water, other than perhaps the children who were too young to understand what was really going on, yet there were few of those who fell into that category. However, the refugees and many of the crew when they weren't on duty, would volunteer to help out in making the flowers. I believe it was the way many saw that they could do to offer up a form of respect for the dead. Flay had practically taken the lead in making the flowers, even though she had clearly held a deep-seated dislike for Coordinators, when she had seen the results of the Bloody Valentine incident, it had affected her. She was as horrified as everyone else at seeing the ruins of Junius Seven and it had shown. When they were finished, Miriallia cast them into space over the ruins.

A short while after the respects were paid to the victims of the destroyed colony, the crew went about the needed work. Kira, Lacus and I, were set to go with the pods, one of us per group of two, and would stand watch while the workers would go gathering supplies. The other job us mobile suit pilots had, was to also keep an eye out for anything else that could be potentially salvaged, not that I expect to find anything that qualifies. With the water frozen in several chunks throughout the colony ruins, we would have to separate into parties to collect the necessary liquid. Kira in the Asuka, set off with the two pods that he was assigned to look after, and they went off to the left. Lacus in the Strike, went to the right with her two Mistrals pods. That left me in the Shadow with the last two worker pods; Sai was among those in the two Mistrals pods along with some of the mechanics that have been on board the Alliance ship.

My group headed into the center section of the colony debris, and as the worker pods began to gather the large masses of frozen water, I was scanning the area. I was making sure I could truthfully claim that I'd done my due diligence in looking around for usable junk. I didn't see a real reason to look for trash around here, I wanted to leave this area as soon as possible. Memories were coming to my mind, adding to the pain I felt and given enough time, I would have difficulty keeping that to myself.

Nevertheless, as I looked around, it took me less than a minute, to register enough landmarks to recognized where we were approximately in the former colony. I was around where the university that had been on Junius Seven, there was no mistaking it! It had been the place that my dad had worked and done his research, so I knew it well. My father Lance Blass, had been a professor of Advance Agricultural development. In fact, my dad had been the foremost scientist in Agriculture development research. The dream drove him to do the research that he would, was to find the solution to world and colony hunger. It sounds ridiculous and impossible, and my dad was sometimes considered a quack because of his dream. But, his work was very good and could have done what he said it would have, I'll never doubt it.

I glanced back to where the Mistrals pods were working and saw that they were completely involved in doing their tasks set to them. With that being the case, I figured that they wouldn't miss me for a short period. Of Junius Seven's population, only a third at most had been positively been identified or found, both of my family hadn't been in that percentile. Even knowing that it would bring more pain should I find their bodies, I still wanted to see if dad and my sister Lana were floating here… to be sure.

I maneuvered my mobile suit to a large section that held the majority of the university buildings and landed in what had been the front quad square. Once the Shadow was firmly on the "ground", I popped out of the cockpit, and had my pilot suit's thrusters whipped out and propelled me forward. I headed to the building that my dad's office was in and entered through the front doors that I had gone through many times before now. Yet, this time felt so much different and not just because it was now in the ruins of the colony. Not only did the bodies floating at random make the scene horrid and wrong, but the silence was just as wrong to me.

The times before, there were always students running from class to class, or to see their professors. Now there was nothing but the bodies and the cold silence of space and it encroached in… it didn't feel right at all!

Ignoring the bodies, not even looking at them, because I didn't wish to see anyone I might recognize. Instead, I made my way down the east wing hallway, knowing the route to the office that my dad had, I'd traveled it many times when I was younger. Within around five minutes, I came to be outside the door I sought, the door to the office of Lance Blass, as the name plate was still attached to the door itself. I took a moment to take a couple of deep breaths before I twisted the handle gently and pushed the door inward.

Once inside the office space, I gazed around and had real difficulty even being able to recognize the room from all the damage that had been done to it from the rapid depressurization the colony went through when it was struck. The three bookshelves that my dad had behind his desk had fallen forward and collapse over the desk. There were objects floating all over the office, the room was so different from the place I remember coming to visit my dad many times before. It was then, I noticed a hand poking out of the debris and the ring on the ring finger was enough to tell me to whom that hand was connected to. The hand was that of my dad, Lance Blass… and I forced myself to look away from the sight.

I was looking at the rest of the room, really searching for my little sister, until an object collided with my back lightly. Instantly my breathing and pulse shot up, took a minute to calm my breathing, then I turned myself around to ascertain what had floated into me. The object was rather big compared to the debris surrounding me and it took me a moment to comprehend what the thing actually was. When I had been able to understand, just what had hit me, I froze in sheer horror and sadness. The long light brown locks of hair, fanned out with no gravity pulling them down, were unmistakable to me. I knew the small… human form floating in front of me… was the body of Lana… my younger sister. My body felt numb at processing the sight of my younger sister floating lifeless before me. The vacuum of space had preserved her perfectly, it was like the near five years hadn't gone by and she was just sleeping.

After a minute, I couldn't hold back the tears and I felt them flow from the corners of my eyes. In my mind, I knew full well that the girl in front of me was dead and had been for close to five years. Nonetheless, I haven't seen Lana for longer than that and I'd always loved my little sister dearly! She'd always been amazed by what things I would do that Naturals aren't usually able to. Lana would encourage me, with her own ways… usually cheered me up after a hard day and make me smile in a heartbeat. I missed my dad and Lana more than I tend to admit to anyone else, other than my mom when I do make the time to visit her. Moving forward slightly, I embraced the body of Lana and felt the tears keep flowing from my eyes and my shoulders begin to shake and convulse.

It took me a little while to come back to myself and realize that I had been here for a period of time and my absence might start to be notice. I headed to the doorway, but before leaving I turned back, looking to the desk buried under debris and over to the floating body of my sister. I silently said my farewells and headed back to my mobile suit, with a horrible pain coursing through my heart.

It was a couple of hours for the collecting of water in the form of ice, once complete all of us headed back to the Archangel. The time the job took was a form of torture to me as it gave time for the pain in me to fester. Still, I was silent the whole way, perhaps just in a state of shock from what I'd seen while out in the ruins of Junius Seven. We all met up with each other just before getting to the ship and I was the last one in to the hanger.

Once in the hanger and had the Shadow in its dock, I popped out of the cockpit and started towards the door out of the hanger. I barely noticed those that had been flying the pods getting their cargo off and stored. I'm just really not in the mood to care at all about the activity and so, simply kept floated towards the exit of the hanger. I needed to get away from being around other people right now, there's too much pain running through me. It was difficult to keep it together and not break down where I was.

"Tye? Are you feeling okay? There still are supplies to unload," asked the voice of Miriallia.

I turned my head to her, not that she could see my face as I'd activated the visor blocker in my helmet out of habit. But, I was thankful it was in place, I didn't want my face to be visible at all to anyone. I may have run out of tears some time ago, but don't doubt that those reservoirs that my tears come from will have refilled by this point. And as if in response, I felt dampness at the corners of my eyes however, I managed to keep my voice even, "Yeah, I'm good Miriallia, just tired from this outing. So, sorry for not helping unload, but I'm going to turn in early today," I said, not stopping my momentum that was moving me forward, nor giving anyone the chance to say otherwise.

Upon exiting the hanger, I didn't go to the pilot locker room, instead I went straight to my quarters and locked the door when I was inside. I took off my helmet, a sizable amount of liquid in the form of drops moved out away from my face. Tears were coming from my eyes again, I couldn't stop them from flowing out, the control of my emotions was pretty much gone by this point from what I could tell, so I did nothing about it anymore. I pushed off from the floor and without thinking, curled into the fetal position and hid my face in my knees. I ended out in a corner of the room as I felt myself softly bumping into the wall and ceiling, and I began to silently sob as images flashed through my mind of my dad and sister that I'd seen in the ruins of the colony. My heart ached and hurt much more than it had in years… ever since I found out both dad and Lana were gone and would never come back.

I kept lamenting without ceasing for a period that I lost track of, but it was the sound of the door to my quarters opening came to my ears that regained my attention somewhat. I didn't look to see who it was that managed to get through the lock I put in place, even if it wasn't my best locking program. There was really only one, maybe two that could get through the lock I made, that being Kira or perhaps Sai. And honestly, I was feeling too much pain to care who it was. I just wanted to be left alone in the misery and sorrow that I was feeling, so I didn't respond hoping whoever it was in my room would leave.

"Tye, what's wrong?" The voice told me that it was Kira that was now in the room. I didn't answer the question, only managed to sniffle and kept my face buried in my knees. Now, I'm not one who normally cries for almost any reason, but remember the family I've lost because of this war is one of the few exceptions. "Tye, something obviously hurt you. I haven't seen you like this for years, tell me… it'll help," Kira continued as he was getting close as his voice was making clear.

I felt a hand on my convulsing shoulders and Kira then took the next few minutes to coax me out of the fetal position that I'd curled into. Tears were still coming from my eyes as Kira's gaze met mine. I could barely see my friend as my tears were making it very difficult to see anything. I could tell that Kira was floating next to me, but not much more than that as little was clear to my sight. Kira didn't say anything to me, just waited for me to speak. It took a bit, but I managed to collect myself to even a small degree along with some shuttering breaths, "I knew it was possible, if I were around this place," I whispered.

The door opened again and others came in, "What the?! Where did all these water droplets come from?" came the voice of Tolle.

Next thing I heard, there was a slap of skin hitting skin and Tolle grunted in pain. "OW! What was that for Miriallia?" snapped Tolle.

"You idiot, be a detective and figure out where these droplets came from, it's not that hard," replied Miriallia a tad angrily.

At any other time, I would have been laughing at what was happening to Tolle, but the pain running through me was making it very difficult to find anything humorous. "Tye… what happened out there in the ruins of Junius Seven that would have you like this? I've never seen you in this state," asked Lacus gently.

Of course, she hasn't seen me like this, only my mother, Kira and Athrun have ever seen me in such a state. Both Kira and Athrun had been there just after I'd learned of what had occurred to Junius Seven. Athrun himself, understood what I'm going through, he'd lost his mother with the destruction of the colony after all. Kira, the naïve idiot that he can be most of the time, had somehow managed to console Athrun and me with the pain the losses had dropped on us. Then my mother, one of the strongest women I know… how she dealt with the loss of dad and Lana, I still haven't figured it out.

I could see her pink hair in front of me, but couldn't distinguish her facial features with my eyes blurred by my tears. I wouldn't doubt that my face was a mess from the crying I've been doing over the last few hours off and on. I just couldn't get the pictures of my dad's hand or Lana's dead body, perfectly preserved out of my head. From the other voices I've heard thus far, I would assume that Sai, Miriallia, Tolle and Kuzzey are also here in my room. All I could do was whisper the same line I had to Kira, "I knew it was a possible, if I were around this place. But, even so… I couldn't," my head fell back to being buried in my knees.

There was silence to my whisper, the pain in my heart was tearing at me from the inside out. My head came up and my voice kept going, "I know I shouldn't have gone off while everyone else was collecting water… but… seeing where we were… I couldn't help myself… with so many never found… there was always the chance they… and they were," I got out, my voice breaking slightly towards the end.

Silence remained absolute from all around me for a bit, then Kira spoke up, "You found your dad and sister," he breathed out in pity.

Kira was the only one in this room who knew that my dad and Lana were on Junius Seven when the nuke struck the colony. Oh, I'm not saying that my friends weren't aware of what happened during the Bloody Valentine Incident or the results. But it isn't the same thing when you had someone you knew there when it all happened, when the colony came apart, especially when those you knew were family. Fresh tears started as my shoulder shook as the pain of seeing part of my dad and the body of my little sister hurt me badly. My voice wouldn't respond to my commands and so I couldn't say anything. However, Kira had said what I could not and he filled in the others about what he meant at stating his realization, "Tyler's… well, his dad was a teacher at the college on Junius Seven and his sister was visiting his dad at the time when… Bloody Valentine happened," Kira trailed off.

"So then," whispered Sai.

"You lost your father and sister when Junius Seven collapsed?" questioned Lacus, the tone of sadness evident.

I was able to nod a little to confirm what was said to be true, it was all that I could do right now. The next thing I registered, I was being hugged by all my friends as they were telling me that they were there for me. I appreciate their efforts to comfort me, seeing me in the pain that I am after seeing both my dad and sister's remains. My doubts that I had on Sai, Tolle, Miriallia and Kuzzey are now silenced and they have earned my trust.

Two days went by after acquiring the stuff in the debris belt. Water wasn't the only things we found there as Lacus had stumbled upon the remains of a ZAFT vessel which had parts that were usable. With those parts that were found, Chief Murdock and his people were able to build a fairly good simulator. Then when Kira and I did a little work on it, the machine became a fully functional training station for mobile armors and mobile suits. However, the mobile suit program was still a little too advance for everyone but Kira, Lacus and myself, though both Mu La Flaga and Krystal McAlester did give the idea a go. They didn't get very far, yet I'll give them high marks for having the guts to try when they went into it, knowing that they were going to fail.

So then at present, Kira, Lacus and I were in the hanger, wearing pilot suits… and yes, even I had an Earth Alliance suit on at the moment, don't ask why, I don't want to talk about it. Lieutenant La Flaga was floating in front of the three of us and behind him was the two Moebius type zero mobile armors. Watching us from the platform by the doorway to the hanger was our four friends from Heliopolis, Flay along with Lieutenant McAlester. Mu was smiling as he stared us, "Well you three, are you ready to try this idea out?" he asked.

I, not having much of a clue as to what the man was talking about, glanced over at my two companions and saw they were just as confused. So, I decided that I would ask the obvious question, "Okay, what are you going on about Mu La Flaga? What do you want us to do here that requires the three of us to be in… these pilot suits?" I inquired flatly.

"Well Tyler, we're going to have Kira and you pilot the two mobile armors, while Lacus taking out the Strike. Then have you three have a bit of a mock battle, to have you three get some practice in," was the Lieutenant's answer.

He wants a what?! I'm not to say I can't pilot a mobile armor and can do just fine and then some. As it happens, I picked up a number of tricks from a colleague of mine that use to be an Earth Alliance mobile armor pilot himself and one of the best as far as I know. But come on, the officers on the Archangel should know that as a Federation pilot, I'm not a stranger to piloting craft. A Delta Fighter after all, is kind of similar enough to a mobile armor in most respects with the exception of mobility and what give the Delta Fighter that advantage. So, what real point could this planned exercise have, other than being entertainment for those on board the ship? And if that's what this is for, then I refuse. I see no reason to perform for others like this, it's a waste of time in my opinion and I avoid that kind of thing!

Yet, since I didn't answer or reply to Mu's statement, Kira and Lacus spoke up and agreed to this mock battle. That in turn put the pressure on me to say yes and participate which I don't want to honestly. Mu was looking at me, waiting for an answer about to my participation, "And what is the interest in this mock battle of yours, might I ask?" I questioned.

"Don't you want to try to pilot a mobile armor?" posed Mu kindly.

Technically speaking, I've flown a mobile armor and have done so against a former Earth Forces mobile armor pilot that's an ace. So, why would I want to 'try' to pilot a mobile armor? I shook my head slowly, "Nope, can't say that I'm very interested in driving an Alliance mobile armor, even if it's a rarer model to see or be around. So, thanks for the offer, but my answer is," I started replying.

However, I wasn't allowed to finish as Miriallia interrupted me, "Oh come on Tye, do it!"

I flinched a bit, before I turned around and looked towards the entry platform and saw Miriallia waving her arms in excitement. Tolle was doing similar motions, just not as much as Miriallia was, "Yeah Tye, let's see what you can do out there!" he said.

Both Sai and Kuzzey appeared to be just as interested in watching me go out in one of the Moebius Zero armors. …This is one of those times that I'm too nice and gentlemanly for my own good and peace of mind. Oh well, I suppose that I could do this, my shoulders slumped slightly, "Oh alright fine, I'll participate in this mock battle. I still don't really see the point to this," I answered.

Once I had agreed to do this, Kira and I got into the mobile armors, Kira took the red zero that was Lieutenant La Flaga's. That left me with Major McAlester's blue zero to work with, which I would make due with. I was going over the systems of the mobile armor, when I heard Kira's voice over the communication channel, "Are you sure about this lieutenant?"

"Of course I'm sure kid, the three of you will do fine. The mobile armors and the Strike are set into practice mode, so no live shots will fly." said Mu. "Don't you all trust me?"

I heard chuckling over the radio, "Not really," muttered Kira.

"I'll second that, don't exactly trust you, nothing personally against you Lieutenant, just don't," I added.

Lacus was quiet and didn't say anything, but there was chuckling that grew into full-blown laughter as the red Zero was loaded to the right the catapult. I was moving to the left catapult, while the Strike would launch after us.

While the loading of the mobile armors was taking place, Kira, Lacus, Mu and Krystal picked up the conversation they had been having in the pilot lounge. During that conversation, Kira had mentioned that he had a weird feeling just before and during his fight with Rau Le Creuset on the trip to Artemis. That had caught my attention… well, the mention of Le Creuset had gotten me to listen harder to what was being said. Mu La Flaga had been surprised at hearing that not only Kira had the odd feeling with Creuset, but Lacus had the same type of sensation, just with Kira. At hearing that, Krystal had suggested that an exercise be done to see how strong the feeling was, that being done with the mobile armors and one of the mobile suits.

Upon that mindset, I got roped into this idea, still, I hadn't exactly said no either, so my fault to a degree. Mu, backed by Krystal, had said it would be best for the three of us to take turns using the two Moebius Zeros. Saying that he'd heard something about other Zero pilots getting similar vibes, and said that his theory was that it's connected with the high degree of spatial awareness needed to properly control the gunbarrels. I've heard a similar explanation from the one who gave me pointers on flying a mobile armor, still didn't know if I believe it.

That brings us to the current time, Kira and I were waiting to launch out of the Archangel. We would be followed by Lacus in the Strike, equipped with the Aile Strike pack. The particular equipment that had a high-powered thrusters backpack meant to increase mobility and maneuverability. With us going into the Debris belt, we would have an open field to practice flying these machines with less to worry about. It was better than a simulation, as this would be real and practical experience in piloting.

It would be just the three of us out there by ourselves with the Archangel observing from the sideline. Mu and Krystal said they would come out with us later on to 'assist' us on taking on multiple targets at the same time in different ways. If I had my way, then they won't do that with me. Maybe, if I show off some of the piloting skills I do have, then the two might stop underestimating me and leave me alone for a while. Although, apparently since we weren't really in a combat situation right now, our friends were on the bridge along with Flay. She had been allowed on the bridge when she'd asked to watch. I believe her concern and gratitude for Kira and Lacus that had been showing since Artemis, completely overcoming her dislike of Coordinators.

"Kira Yamato, Moebius Zero, taking off," called Kira, no doubt rocketing from the ship.

That meant it was my turn, and as I'm not a stranger of mobile armor controls, just been a period of time since I flew one. I decided to set the controls to manual without telling anyone as I prefer them that way, even if it takes more to use the machine when set that way, sealed my helmet by having my visor come down, "Tyler McGregor, Moebius Zero, heading out," I called before shoving the throttle forward and I zoomed out of the catapult.

Kira and I didn't have to wait long as Lacus came out a few minutes later, "Lacus Don, Strike, I'm taking off."

Kira and Lacus flew a few loops around the Archangel, giving Kira a chance to get used to the Zero's controls. I took the time to perform a few maneuvers to check response to the controls and the feel on their sensitivity. Even if the systems were set to practice mode, meaning that the weapons wouldn't fire live shots, for us in the cockpits, it would show the fight as if we were using real weapons.

"Strike, Zero 1, Zero 2, you have the go ahead to begin the exercise." said Miriallia, gaining our attention.

"Got it." said Kira as he rocketed at the Strike.

"That sounds good to me, let's get this going," I replied, turning the mobile armor I was in towards the mobile suit and shot forward at a decent pace.

As Kira and I closed the distance between us and Lacus with Kira slightly ahead of me, Lacus started drifting to the left. Kira fired off a shot from the Zero's linear Gun, in response, Lacus zoomed to the right, aiming her rifle and opening fire on both Kira and myself. I threw the control stick hard to the right and put the blue Zero into a barrel roll, allowing me to evade the shots that Lacus was sending off. I caught sight of Kira rolling to the left to dodge, at the same time deploying one of the gunbarrels as he resumed his approach towards the Strike. The gunbarrel brought out its two autocannons and they began spitting shots at the mobile suit. Kira was also using his armor's linear gun to take on the Strike.

Recall that Mu had suggested starting out with using only one gunbarrel at first, and then adding the others when we became more comfortable with the system they used. However, for all of Kira's actions, Lacus evaded the shot with some rather fanciful maneuvering… you know, I'm starting to wonder just how much Sakura has taught Lacus. Yes, the pink-haired girl had mentioned that her older sister had given her a few lessons. With Sakura being one of ZAFT's best of their Champions or ace pilots and is one heck of a pilot in her own right, makes you wonder. If she had given her basics, nothing to worry about, if however, she had gone further, then there would be more to take into account with Lacus. The point that Lacus hadn't said to what extent Sakura had educated her in piloting a mobile suit, left the question of how skilled she was.

Lacus shot off a couple more harmless "blast" from her beam rifle, which Kira only narrowly dodged. Lacus finally went on the offensive by charging forward, focusing on Kira and firing repeatedly at him. Kira evaded by activating the wire that connects the gunbarrel, pulling it back in at the same time cutting off the other thrusters on the Zero. He activated the engine on the retracting gunbarrel an instant after the wire started drawing it back. The jerking of the wire gave the red Zero the inertia that allowed him to dodge the incoming shots from the Strike.

While Kira was do an admittedly five star job piloting the Zero armor, I made my way to be behind the Strike. When I was where I wanted to be, I aimed the barrel of the linear gun at the Strike and fired. Lacus managed to spin around in time and block the shot with her shield at the last second. That shifted her attention on to me and I was forced to do some barrel rolls to avoid getting hit by the beams coming my direction.

The Strike got hit by autocannon blasts and after taking a moment to look, saw that Kira had deployed three out of the four gunbarrels, ignoring flying the mobile armor itself, instead concentrating on using the three gunbarrels to surround the mobile suit and letting loose from three different directions. Several shots from the autocannons were marked as hits, but as autocannons aren't strong enough to do heavy damage or even disable a regular GINN, much less a more advance mobile suit with Phase Shift armor. Although, by what I've seen during the duration of this exercise, mobile suits with PS armor weren't factored in to the damage calculations of this mock battle setup. The Strike was being seen as a GINN rather than an Alliance prototype with better equipment.

Lacus countered Kira's attacks by doing some impressive acrobatics to dodge the gunbarrels shooting her and fired back at the red Zero. Kira then duplicated the maneuver he did earlier, and pull the red Zero out of the line of fire as the bolts from the Strike's beam rifle zoomed by the armor and the gunbarrels. The mobile armor was pulled entirely around via the gunbarrel wire, the upper and bottom barrels docked back on the mobile armor. While the red Zero was rotating as it sailed out of the paths of the beams, Kira shot off the linear gun. My friend then charged at Lacus and moved forward a little before deploying the top and bottom gunbarrels again. And so, this dance of the two mobile armors verses the mobile suit around one another continues.

However, a moment later, it was over, as Lacus managed to hit the red Zero with a single rifle shot, marking it as destroyed for the practice run. That just left me and Lacus in this skirmish, and that's fine by me. But, as I'm a gentleman, I'll offer my lady friend a chance to opt out. "Nicely done Lacus, the one who taught you how to pilot did a really good job. So, as a way to show respect, I'll give you the opportunity to back out and we can consider this fighting tango a draw. What do you say?" I offered calmly.

"Nice as your offer is Tye, think it would be more interesting if I beat you," replied Lacus.

…I was hoping she wouldn't take my offer, I'd been getting bored during this mock battle, perhaps now this could become fun. I observed the Strike charge towards me, and in response, I deployed all four gunbarrels and once they were at the end of their wires, had them ignite their thrusters. Lacus got within range of me and drew her beam saber, yet I wasn't worried. There came a hard jerk and I was pulled to the left, out of the way of the saber that was being swung at me. While my left gunbarrel with the assistance of my upper and lower pods were pulling me out of the position of being cut by a beam, I activated the right gunbarrel's autocannons. And so, as that pod soared past the Strike, I fired off a quick barrage to throw my opponent off guard.

The Strike backed off a bit after taking fire from the autocannons, while I still sailed sideways, being pulled along by three of the gunbarrels. I kept an eye on the tension readouts on the wires the gunbarrels were attached to and controlled by. I would like to not have them snap under the stress I was putting them through. Thankfully, as far as I could tell, this Moebius Zero is built like the others I've seen and so were sturdy as hell. I had all the gunbarrels rocket forward, tugging the main body of the armor along, much like the historical dog sleds used dogs to pull them forward.

The Strike fired off its beam rifle in my direction, though the bolts weren't aimed very well. I'd the wires to the pods, start retracting, but instead of the gunbarrels coming back to the main body of the mobile armor and docking to it like you would expect them to, I had them pull me towards them. The gunbarrels still pushing forward with their thrusters, the wires towed me ahead and brought me to the gunbarrels. I felt the machine shake as the four pods docked on the back spars or rather banged against the spar an amount harder than they would under usual circumstances. I then used the controls to get the right gunbarrel to point outward and the left pod to shift inward and have their thrusters burn hard. That pitched the blue Zero to the right, bringing the white mobile suit into my targeting crosshairs of the linear gun barrel.

Lacus was turning to face me, putting the Strike's cockpit smack dab in front of the linear gun's firing line. Not one to refuse such an opportunity, I squeezed the trigger and sent two shots from the armor's main weapon at the mobile suit's cockpit. The shots nailed where I had intended, the message of the target being destroyed came up on my front display. I gained a satisfied smile and snickered quietly, "Whoop there it is … eat your heart out Cormag. You would be laughing your head off seeing this," I whispered to myself and chuckled a bit.

-Line Break-

-Neutral pov-

The Archangel

Mu sat in his seat on the Archangel's bridge, getting over gaping in astonishment at the performance of the three teens. He'd known that these three were Coordinators and that they had shown talent in piloting in varying degrees. But, this mock battle that had just gone down, there's far more to these three than any had suspected. Sure, the Zero Type mobile armor is considered comparable to a GINN or perhaps even a CGUE with a good pilot, yet that didn't explain what had just happened. Mu knew that Kira Yamato and even Tyler McGregor had experience in piloting, though it was with mobile suits, not mobile armors. Nonetheless, those two had just used mobile armors that are equipped with gunbarrels, which most pilots have lots of difficulties in working with, and they had made it look easy.

Granted, Kira had lost, yet he'd still gotten a fairly good grasp on the gunbarrels during his first run. Kira may not have used them as skillfully or precisely as Mu himself or Krystal did however, the kid had done far better than Mu had during the first year of training. It'd taken eighteen months for Mu to get around Kira's level of use skill. Then, Mu had never even thought of Kira's somewhat insane strategy of using the wires, they had felt often more of a hindrance than a help. Yet the young Coordinator had got them to produce inertia and help maneuver the mobile armor out of enemy fire.

What Tyler had done… that kid hadn't just won against the Strike, he hadn't gotten hit once and used the gunbarrels in even more crazy ways than his younger friend! Hell, he could probably be able to give almost any given veteran armor pilot a serious run for their money! If what he had just done it anything to go by, Tyler was downright good!

"Well, I gotta say… I'm impressed," said Mu, putting up a front by smiling and keeping his voice even. "Keep up the good work all of you, but don't forget to let the pink princess have a turn in the rotation."

"Yes lieutenant," came the panting voices of Kira and Lacus over the radio.

"Sure thing, La Flaga," replied Tyler in his normal voice.

Once the radio was shut off, Mu's smile faltered a bit as he turned back to the captain. "Okay, Kira and the pink princess are scary with what they are capable of," he said with the corners of his mouth turned down a little, before the frown deepened. "But, Tyler's skills and capabilities… They terrify the hell out of me!" Mu then sighed, scratching his head, "Damn it all, those three kids make me look bad with how easy they make what they did look. Now what am I supposed to do? They're rendering me completely obsolete!"

Krystal patted Mu on the shoulder, "You're not the only one they're doing that to Mu, I'm in the same boat as you, don't forget." Krystal paused for a moment staring at the front viewing port, "Although, I think that Tyler has had previous experience with mobile armors, specifically a Zero type, it's the only way I can think of, that could have him be as familiar with how to use gunbarrels."

The blonde-haired man turned to his fellow mobile armor pilot, "You think that Tyler has done this before?" He asked.

Krystal nodded, "Yes, and likely shown how by a skilled pilot if I were to guess."

Both Mu and Krystal were left to ponder, that if it was true that Tyler did have previous experience with mobile armors. Then just how much experience did he have? And if he'd been taught by someone else, who could have possible taught him well enough to do what Tyler had? There weren't many armor pilots that were skilled enough… or crazy enough to attempt what the oldest Coordinator on the Archangel had done in the mock battle. In fact, Mu and Krystal were considered more towards the crazier end of the risk scale among Alliance pilots, so there weren't any armor pilots that either could come up with.

Phase End!

A/n

That's all for this phase, not that much change, but still some here and there. Please take the time to write a review and give your input and thoughts, that's what helps with improving my writing. See you all next time!