A/n

There was really on some grammar corrections in this chapter, I liked how this chapter flowed as it was. So, I'm keeping it the way it is. Anyways, on with the story!

Phase 15: Recovery

March 21th, 71 C.E.

-Neutral pov-

Marshall Islands, Orb Territory

The battle between the Archangel and ZAFT forces came into the view of the Federation fleet, and it looked messy from a distance off, not a good sign or omen. An explosion that occurred along the shoreline of one of the Orb Union islands only added to the event and the feeling of foreboding of those within viewing distance of it. The Federation fleet commander ordered Fighters to launch out to clear the ZAFT forces that remained in the area. At the same time, ZAFT submarines were told bluntly, that should they not leave immediately, then it would be seen as a treaty violation and they would be fired upon… and the Federation Military had earned the reputation of having impeccable aim very well. The ZAFT forces didn't waste time and quickly left the area after that, motivated to keep going with Federation fighters flying over them and ship guns pointed in their direction.

Lisa, Alan and Luke were assigned to join the search operation to assess the situation that the conflict between the Earth Forces and ZAFT had produced. The three however, were also keeping an eye out for the Shadow as there had been no word at all from the machine or its pilot. And Tyler had left around ten minutes before they had gotten here, so it was hard to think that something bad had happened in that amount of time.

Lisa was beginning to wonder seriously what had happened the longer the search went on. Tyler was certainly not an amateur pilot, far from it, he was ranked in the top ten pilots within the Human Federation. Most didn't have a clue that he was that good, though it was mostly due to how well he did when he used his SEED factor. Lisa was fairly sure that Tyler would have used that ability in this instance, lives of his friends were at stake after all. Then there was the explosion on the shoreline earlier, little was known about what had caused that and with the size of the blast, it would take a sizable charge to produce that. The only thing that Lisa could think up that would have enough explosive power, would be the charge that was built into the Alliance prototypes.

It was as Lisa flew along the shoreline where the explosion had happened, that she got her first view of the results of the event. Debris was spread over a large distance and seemed to be made up of metal and rock. The bigger pieces told the story better and helped view the picture of what had happened. Clearly, there had been a battle between different mobile suits here, two by the amount of debris and shrapnel. As Lisa spotted a few of the larger chunks, she moved her fighter closer and came to land on the ground near the wreckage to get a closer view.

Once she had landed, Lisa opened the cockpit and hopped out, sliding down to the wing and then from there to the ground. When on firm ground, she started running towards the debris to get a closer look at the piece of metal scattered along the beach. Lisa when she got closer and could see that she hadn't been imagining things, the wreckage was indeed made up of two mobile suits, one of them being the Shadow. The sound of voices drew Lisa's attention and she glanced over in the direction that they were coming from. She saw a number of children a distance away, watching her and whispering to each other. Some of children were trying to hide and others weren't attempting to do so at all. As they could have witnessed some of the battle, Lisa approached them, "Did any of you see what happened here?" she asked.

"Yes, we did happen to hear and witness some of this horrible battle that took place," replied a male voice.

Lisa turned and focused on a man that appeared behind the kids, and when he had, many of the children flocked to him. He was around average height, had with black hair was wearing a long sleeve jacket with a tan shirt underneath. His eyes were closed and a few of the children were guiding him forward, so Lisa assumed that the man was blind. She removed her helmet before continuing, "My name is Lisa Malto, I'm a pilot of the Federation Military, I'm here inspecting what happened here. Can any of you give me a summary of the events that occurred please?"

The man nodded, "I'm known as Reverend Malchio. As to what happened, we heard the sounds of the battle going on. I kept the children inside, felt it would be safer to do for them. But then, there was a loud boom and a bright light by what the children said. After that, silence then began to settle over the area. We came out then, hoping to understand what unfolded out here," he answered.

"Reverend Malchi," called a child's voice. All there looked in the way that the voice had come, "There's a big mound over here… it has flat sides, not like rocks have and I think there's something inside it," the child went on.

Lisa, the children and Reverend Malchio went over to where the child that had spoken was. Lisa instantly saw that the 'mound' the child had been referring to was as far as she could tell, a good portion of the torso section of the Shadow or what was left of it, which was a surprising amount, the cockpit itself was mostly intact. The outer plating of the mobile suit's midsection was gone, but the framework was still there. The components of the machine were still around where they were supposed to be, not necessarily where they had been placed during the construction. A number of those components were melted and unrecognizable, also forming a layer of melted material between the inside of the cockpit and the outside world. Lisa moved forward climbed up and hoisted herself to the front of the machine, which was facing upward and began scanning with a critical eye.

The damage was extensive true, but the cockpit surviving an explosion that had been witnessed, was a miracle in itself. It was through some of the gaps in the metal and the other melted material, Lisa could see something… reaching into one of the larger gaps, she touched an arm. She breathed a sigh of relief, she realized her hand was touching Tyler's however, as Lisa checked his pulse, worry and fear reasserted themselves as his pulse was very faint! Quickly tapping out a command on her wrist panel, Lisa got into contact with the flagship of the Federation fleet, "This is Lieutenant Malto, I need a medical Evac asap at my location! I have a Federation pilot in critical condition," she stated in a calm manner that she didn't feel herself, so it took her effort to keep calm as she was.

There was a conformation from the other end, which left Lisa to wait for the helicopter that would come and hopefully get Tyler out of what's left of the torso of his mobile suit. Reverend Malchio began gathering and calming down the children who were either excited or scared at the moment. Soon the sound of an approaching helicopter was audible, shortly after that, the sight of the helicopter getting closer was seen by all there.

The second the helicopter's skids were less than a foot from the ground, people in the craft began jumping out and rushing towards the remains of the Shadow's torso. Reverend Malchio had the children stay out of the way of the rescuers, as did Lisa. Two of the men were hefting plasma cutting tools and began slicing away the metal that was between the outside and Tyler. It took around twenty minutes to get into the cockpit area, but once they reached it, Tyler was brought out and lowered slowly to the stretcher waiting on the ground. Lisa was shocked and horrified at seeing that around half of Tyler's pilot suit still remained on his body if not less and some of that was melted to his skin. While what parts of Tyler's body that had been exposed, were burned and were a terrible sight to witness.

"It appears that your colleague came off rather the worse in this, my condolences to you Miss Malto," said Reverend Malchio.

One of the medics from the rescue team came over and informed Lisa that Tyler would be flown to Orb to stabilize his condition, which wasn't good obviously even if he was alive, that fact was quite something in itself. Malchio then suggested that Tyler be sent to the PLANTs to recover after being stabilized as there was less chaos happening currently and so, it would hopefully help speed along his recovery. He even offered to arrange with someone that he knew there to help out, to which Lisa agreed.

The Federation medical helicopter took off and had flow from the scenes of battle to the Orb Union mainland. Tyler McGregor was taken to the emergency room right after the helicopter had landed as his condition was precarious at best. Lisa, Alan and Luke flew to the Orb mainland once they were able and the cleanup from the battle the Archangel had with ZAFT forces was done. Yet, even when they arrived, Tyler was still in surgery and so his teammates weren't allowed to see him until he was done.

Hours went by, before news of Tyler finally came, yet there was little good news brought. Tyler's condition had been stabilized for the time being however, he was far from okay. He had injuries all over his body, the burns had been fixed as best as it was possible, though that was only one of the many problems Tyler faced now. He had lost an amount of blood, which had been replaced already with two blood transfusions. Tyler was also still unconscious and there was no estimation as to when he would possible wake up… if he did at all. The doctors' prognosis wasn't comforting at all to Tyler's teammates. Lisa informed Alan and Luke that she along with Tyler would be going to the PLANTs, to hopefully give him time to recover. However, both Luke and Alan were to keep their eyes open and keep out of trouble while she and Tyler were gone. They acknowledged they would do their best to keep watch, before they all parted ways.

Tyler was prepared for transport with portable life support hooked to him, before he and Lisa traveled to the shuttle port. Once Tyler was loaded on the shuttlecraft, Lisa got onboard and shortly after that after gathering a few things, the craft launched into the skies, starting its journey towards the PLANTs. Lisa hadn't planned to return to the PLANTs after she had left them, even though they had once been home for her. But, if going there gave Tyler a better chance to live and recover, then she would go back and even would risk crossing paths with her former male parent if that was necessary.

-Line Break-

Aprilius One, Lagrange 5

Close to two days had gone by since Reverend Malchio had contacted Siegel Clyne with an odd request. Siegel hadn't at that time seen an issue with agreeing to helping the man, Reverend Malchio had been very helpful in the past and so Siegel had been willing to assist him. However, it had been an hour later when his daughter Lacus had contacted him, saying she was coming back to the PLANTs, Siegel found himself in a difficult predicament. He hadn't seen his youngest daughter since she had gone to visit her friend Kira Yamato who had been living at the Orb Union's resource colony Heliopolis, before it had collapsed.

Then there was a message from his eldest daughter Sakura a couple of days earlier from Carpentaria. She had said that she was fine and that would likely return back into space before too long. The message had left a good deal of unanswered questions with Siegel and had caused him to seriously wonder what was going on. The last he'd known, Sakura had been sent out by Lanus Treize to handle a threat from the Earth Alliance, the man had never mentioned exactly what the treat was though. Yet, Siegel had some time ago, stopped stressing over what Sakura did within the ZAFT Military, she had proven she could handle herself. That didn't stop him from worrying about her, but that was all he could do these days.

It was painful to see the growing distance developing between both his daughters and himself as of late. Sakura… well, Siegel had seen that this war had affected her in harsh ways and talking would not help much. She had lost friends and comrades that she would likely never get fully over losing. However, with Lacus… he had hoped she would stay at least somewhat close as she had always done with him since his wife's death. Siegel knew he was partially to blame as he was so busy with being the Supreme Council Chairman, so he couldn't say he had tried his best completely, he could've done more.

Now, he was at the main docks of the colony, waiting for a 'pair' that Reverend Malchio had said would come and Siegel himself was to meet. Yet, as Lacus was also due to arrive within the next hour or two as well… rearrangements had been made. Siegel had asked Lanus for help, asking for someone that he could borrow the services of and one that Lanus himself trusted. The issue of who Siegel could trust, was becoming one that was appearing a lot more than it used to be and it worried him. The person that had been recommended by Lanus, was named Andrew Waltfeld or the 'Desert Tiger' as the title he earned for the work he did in the African Community on Earth. When Siegel had met the man, he had seemed a decent and honest fellow, along with the woman that had accompanied him, her name had been Aisha as he recalled. They had both agreed to meet up with Lacus and make sure she got to the Clyne residence.

Siegel was brought out of his thoughts when the announcement of a shuttle from the Orb Union docking came. He moved forward in the boarding and observation lounge and looked down on the dock, where a shuttle was now coming into, wondering who it was that Malchio sent here and why. Siegel watched as the boarding tunnel connected to the shuttle and he waited for whomever would come off the craft. Reverend Malchio had said that one would be a young woman around the same age as Sakura along with a general description. But other than that, not much else had been said in explanation, only that this request was of the utmost importance. It was odd, and it made Siegel wonder what this was about, especially when there had been little details given about the pair and pretty much none about the other.

It was the sight of a young woman that fit the right age range and description which Siegel had been given exiting the boarding tunnel, looking around the lounge. She was a few inches shorter than Sakura was, possessed straight black hair that fell to just above her waist. Her eyes were a neutral green and gave Siegel had a small feeling of familiarity, though he couldn't place why, so dismissed it. The young woman was wearing a white wrap/surplice type dress with an off-white reefer coat with a hood. The inside of the coat appeared to be lined with aqua-green frill lace while the coat was embroidered with black velvet. Her hands were covered with gloves that had white palms and wrists while the fingers were black. Lastly, she had black tights with a decorative green garter with white ruffles on her left thigh.

Siegel, assuming that this young woman was one of the pair mentioned to him, so he moved forward towards her, "Excuse me Miss," he greeted.

The young woman turned to Siegel and her eye brows rose, "I was told by Reverend Malchio that I would be meeting with someone that I had very likely heard of, but I never expected it would be the Chairman of the PLANT's Supreme Council." She replied, before she inclined her head in greeting, "My name is Lisa Malto, Chairman Clyne, it's nice to meet you in person. I have heard much about you before now, you're supposed to be quite the peacemaker and politician."

Before Siegel could say more, specifically ask what she meant by the last line she had said, when a doctor with an assistant came out of the boarding tunnel, the assistant pushing a gurney. Strapped onto the gurney was a young man in his late teens, with wires and tubes connected to him. The monitors showing the young man's vitals, but other than that, there was no movement from the man other than the slow rise and fall of his chest. Siegel glanced over the young man with a worried expression however, that look changed to shock and horror as he recognized the young man was Tyler McGregor. Even with the oxygen mask over his face and the bandages covering him, Siegel could see enough to know that it was the young man that Sakura had shown so much interest in.

If his eldest daughter were to see the young man like this, Siegel couldn't say whether she would demand and seek vengeance upon whoever was responsible for putting Tyler in this condition, or fall into some kind of depression. Sakura could go either way in this, Siegel had seen both types of reactions from his oldest child.

As Siegel began take more in of Tyler's condition, horror grew further within him with seeing how serious things were. Tyler wasn't only being given oxygen, but also seemed to be receiving fluids and by one of the empty bags, had gotten at least one blood transfusion while traveling here, perhaps more. Bandages covered the majority of his body and around his upper torso there were splotches of red that were visible. How Tyler had come to be in this condition he was in now, Siegel couldn't begin to guess, but it seriously worried him, "How did he end out like this?" asked Siegel Clyne.

Lisa shook her head in response, "This isn't the place or the time to talk about the events that occurred. I will give you an explanation, but not here."

Siegel agreed to this and led Lisa and Tyler along with those transporting him outside of the port. From there, the group headed to the Clyne residence, where Tyler was settled into an empty room that could be locked for privacy. After settling Tyler in, the two medical professionals bowed, before leaving the house.

Siegel led Lisa to a sitting room, where she began the explanation of how Tyler had ended out in such a critically injured state. Lisa gave a summary of the battle that had happened on the outer reaches of the Orb Union's territory. As Siegel listen to the description of the battle that had occurred, he became confused as well as irritated. There had been nothing about any of this event within the recent council meetings, no reports from the National Defense Committee, which for an event like the one being described, there should have been. There had certainly been nothing brought up in the last meeting he'd had with Lanus, which suggested that Lanus might have not known about this, for Siegel knew Lanus would never approve something like the battle on the outskirts of Orb.

That these events happened at all, violated a major standing treaty that the PLANTs and ZAFT had with the Human Federation and that could end really badly. Those in the military leadership knew full well, the Federation Military rarely ignored trespasses and certainly didn't wave off such blatant violations of treaties and agreement. So, the question that was left, who was responsible for this and how were they getting around the notice of the ZAFT's leadership's notice. Siegel knew he would be inquiring further into this, for this was a dangerous development in many ways!

The story became sadder still, when Lisa spoke of the explosion that Tyler had been in, even if she hadn't seen it herself. Hearing of Tyler's thoughts before he had gone into the battle, especially about Kira Yamato and Athrun Zala possibly fighting one another to the death. Knowing that those two were friends with Tyler, from the few times he had talked with the them, for friends to be force to fight was still very sad. It pained Siegel Clyne to listen to this heart-wrenching tale that this war and the hatred that had brought, had come to pass.

Meanwhile, at the same time that Siegel was learning of what had befallen Tyler, the shuttle that Lacus took from Orb to the PLANTs docking at Aprilius one. However, she barely noticed the passing of time during the trip home. With recent events weighing her down, her mood was low and so returning home didn't feel nice like it usually did. She felt hollow and empty to the things of the world around her. She had been attempting to deal with Tyler's… death, but she wasn't doing well at all. The sorrow gripping her was so painful, it was so hard for her to ignore the pain it brought her. Nonetheless, oddly her father wasn't at the docks to meet her like he normally tried to be, instead, a man and a woman she'd never met before were waiting for her.

The man was just under six-feet in height, had short brown hair with full sideburns. His purple eyes stood out as the color was rare and was the predominate feature of his ruff hewn face. He appeared to be in his early thirties and had fairly tan skin. His ZAFT uniform was a dark tan color, had short sleeves, making Lacus believe it was the desert variation for the military uniform. Meanwhile, the woman was a head shorter than the man, having long dark blue hair flowing down her back with an orange streak on either side of her face. She had dark green eyes and looked to be around the same age as the man. She was wearing a tight fitting blue body suit that left her shoulders and collar area exposed.

The two introduced themselves as Andrew Waltfeld and his partner Aisha. Said that they had been asked by her father to meet her as something had come up, due to that, he couldn't come himself. The two escorted her back to her family's residence, where her father greeted her. After her father had greeted her though, Lacus couldn't hold back her feelings of sadness and began crying. With how Tyler's death had affected her, the pain that she had been holding in came pouring out of her. Lacus sobbed as she told her father of what had happened around the Orb Union.

She had barely finished the tale of woe, when she noticed something different, there was a woman passing by the sitting room and Lacus wasn't aware of there being any new staff recently. It was enough to catch her attention, even with her sorrow flowing fresh within her. The woman had only paused momentarily in the hallway, before she kept going down the corridor. But Lacus had seen her for long enough to realize that she had seen the woman before and recently. It had been around the Republic, for the woman had been staying at Tyler's house, yet Lacus couldn't figure out why she would be here at this time. "You, I saw you back in the Republic, but what are you doing here?" asked Lacus, clearly confused.

The woman stopped and looked at Lacus, "First, my name is Lisa Malto. As for what I'm doing here, not that it's really your concern right now, I'm looking after a friend who was injured," Lisa answered, before continuing on her way.

Lacus rose and went after Lisa, catching up halfway down the hallway. "What do you mean looking after a friend? Why here of all places?" Lacus pestered.

Lisa stopped outside a door of one of the guest rooms and turned, facing Lacus, "You are quite persistent Lacus Clyne, or do you prefer Lacus Don?" She questioned.

Lacus was seriously taken aback at being addressed by the name Don, for she didn't use it around the PLANTs, only outside of them. "How do you know that name?" She asked slowly.

"The answer to all your stated questions are on the other side of this door," Lisa said pointing to the door she was next to. "However, I give you a warning and that I recommend you listen to as well as heed, you will not like what you see in there. I can see that you're in a great deal of pain right now, it's quite obvious for any looking at you. What you would see in there, will bring you different pain than you are in already, perhaps cause worse than you feel now."

The woman opened the door and entered the room, leaving Lacus access to the door and giving her the choice to not listen to the warning. Lacus paused for a period wondering what Lisa Malto had meant with what she'd said, but then put a hand on the knob and opened the door. Upon entering the room, Lacus found it was dark, Lisa was on the left side of the room, but what drew attention was something at the other end of the room, which looked like a bed of some sort. There were screens surrounding the bed and they showed reading of the sorts you tend to see in hospitals.

None of what she saw made sense to Lacus yet, nor did it answer any of her questions of the woman Lisa Malto. Hoping to learn more, Lacus drew closer to the bed and the closer she got, the more detail she could see. There was definitely someone in the bed and they were hooked to tubes and wires. However, it was when Lacus's gaze settled on the bed's occupant's face, that she stopped. Lacus had the sensation of her heart being squeezed hard, but the stabbing feeling she had been experiencing since leaving Earth, was lifted. For, the one in the bed was Tyler McGregor, her friend and after scanning the screens, it seemed he was still alive! But, as she kept gazing at him and the information on the screens, the pain returned in full force as it was apparent, that Tyler was far from okay in anyway.

Lacus then began notice all the bandages that Tyler was wrapped with, along with what was more specifically connected to him. The sight of evidence of burns on Tyler's face that were still a long way from healing, brought fresh tears began flowing from her eyes. "Lacus, he is alive," said the voice of her father. She turned to look at him coming up behind her, "Admittedly, he doesn't look good much at all right now, but given time to recover, he should get better."

-Line Break-

Lisa continued to watch over Tyler as the days went by and there was still no sign of him waking up. Although, Lisa didn't show the worry she felt about Tyler, that didn't mean she didn't care about what happened to him. Even if she had only met him close to two years ago, Tyler had really given a different impression back then. He had come off much more cold and unfeeling than he was now. Granted, Tyler puts up a 'mask' around others so they didn't see how he really was, he had put off a cold and unfeeling air when she had met him back at that time with no visible reason to do so.

It was only later that Lisa had learned that the reason that Tyler tended to distance himself from others, was due to the loss of most of his family in the Bloody Valentine Incident. However, recently she had seen that there were those that Tyler didn't do that as much around. His friends from Heliopolis were good examples of the idea, for he acted differently than he would others. Lisa believed that the 'mask' was Tyler's way of coping with the loss of most of his family in the Bloody Valentine Incident, but she couldn't be sure.

She had been surprised when on the particular mission against the Earth Alliance she had met Tyler, that a teen had been assigned to the team. Yet, Tyler had proven that he could go the distance that any of the other members of the team could. Yet, over the time Lisa had gotten to know Tyler, it had become clear that he had a good heart, but there was pain that hadn't been faced yet.

To pass the time, Lisa had checked in on the Federation's Information Network and looked through the PLANTs media data. She came across an article about how a number of the committees for the PLANTs' Supreme Council were meeting here currently. That meant there was a possibility that some of Lisa's former family could be here on Aprilius One, since Legislator Minti was here at Aprilius One. Lisa didn't really have much of a desire to see the man that had been her father, not after the fight that had occurred just before Lisa had left the PLANTs. That had been followed by the man disowning her after Lisa walked out and decided to join the Federation Military.

However, Lisa felt that it would be nice to see her mother Sally Minti in person and perhaps her younger brother Matt, were he here as well, along with her little sister Cynthia. Memories of having to say goodbye to those she had left years ago came back to Lisa's mind. Lisa had been between eighteen and and nineteen, while her siblings had been ten and four. Her mother hadn't taken her leaving well at all or how her father had been acting back at that time. While her brother hadn't voiced his feelings in front of their father, likely to not get into trouble with the man. Lisa's younger sister had been more scared of what was happening than anything else. Considering the pros and cons of a meeting with her mother, Lisa was left thinking hard about whether she should do so or not.

After a few minutes of deliberation, Lisa decided that with this being a rare opportunity, which hadn't come up in years, there was no reason not to. Lisa was here and her mother very likely was too, it would be a shame not to try and see her. In fact, it was the first time that Lisa had been close to the same place as any of her former family in over two years. The last time Lisa had come close to any of them, it had been Legislator Minti, though she hadn't crossed paths with him directly. The issue had always been that with Legislator Minti around, the rest of her family was forced into silence as the man kept the results of her leaving as they were.

With her mind made up, Lisa took out the personal communication device that she had with her. Inputting the last number that Lisa knew of her mother had, hoping that hadn't change, then put the device to her ear and waited. She heard two ring tones, then there was a voice on the other end of the connection, "Hello, this is Sally, who may I ask is calling?" Asked a feminine voice.

The voice was that of Lisa's mother and though she had spoken to her weeks ago, it still was nice to hear her voice. "Hi mom, I'm sorry for calling you out of the blue like this," Lisa greeted.

"Lisa?! No no, it's fine so, what's your reason for calling, it is rather rare that you to do so," she inquired.

Lisa hesitated for a moment, feeling pain at realizing that her mother was right that it was rare for her to call, mostly due to Legislator Minti. The wedge that had been driven between Lisa and her family was evident, but still wasn't nice. "Well um, I noticed that the media mentioned that there were meetings of the Supreme Council committees and when I checked, I saw that… Legislator Minti was among those who were at Aprilius One. Knowing that, I thought that since I happen to also be on Aprilius One at the moment… well, I was thinking that we could possibly meet and maybe catch up. It's been a while since we've been in the same place, so," Lisa trailed off.

The response was immediate, "That would be great! I would really like to do that Lisa, it would be wonderful to see you again… you didn't leave under the best of circumstances," said Sally sadly.

Both Lisa and her mother discussed where they could meet up at, and settled on a small café that was in the central commercial district of the colony. Lisa got off the com-device and prepared to leave, but went to check on Tyler before she went out. Tyler was still in the bed he had been laid on after arriving at the Clyne residence, nothing had really changed yet with him.

It was because of Tyler that Lisa had considered calling her mother and meeting her she realized. After watching Tyler and how much he valued family, it had brought back memories of fonder times for Lisa. She hoped that Tyler would wake up, but at the same time she wanted to be here when such happened when it did.

Siegel Clyne, as her host, had given Lisa permission to use one of the vehicles should the need arise while she was at the residence. So, she borrowed a car and drove down to the commercial center of the colony where the café that she would meet up with her mother was. Lisa found the small outdoor food and drink shop that was the agreed meeting place and after glancing around, found that she had likely beaten her mother here.

Lisa picked a table and ordered a drink while she waited for her mother, a feeling of slight nervousness flowing over her. It had been over four years since she had seen her mother, pretty much the day she had left her former home was the last time. And Lisa had been rather mad at her father as he had been adamant in not listening to what she had to say and was stating what she would be doing with her life. In fact, the last thing he had said, was should Lisa go through the door, she'd better not bother coming back as she wouldn't be family any more, nor welcomed. Hadn't been the best way to leave her family on, but her father had been stubborn and unwilling to even try seeing things as Lisa herself saw them, only control her life.

"Lisa?" said a familiar older female voice.

Twisting around in the chair she occupied, Lisa saw her mother a short distance away. Her mother looked fairly similar to Lisa herself in appearance though older looking, but her hair color was a dark brown with some greying and her eyes were hazel. Lisa rose and took a couple of steps towards her mother, but the older woman closed the distance before Lisa could and embraced her. Lisa returned the gesture after a moment had passed. "It's really good to see you Lisa," said Sally Minti

"You too mother," Lisa returned, "Sorry that it has been so long since we've seen each other."

Sally Minti shook her head, tears still flowing, "No, it's fine Lisa. Being able to see you right now is enough."

The two stayed in the hug, until the came a different voice, "Matt, why is mom crying while hugging that other lady?" Ask a girlish voice.

Both Lisa and Sally looked over to where the question had come from, seeing a young man in his late teens with a hand on the shoulder of a nine or ten-year-old girl. "Cindy… mother is crying because she is happy, and that 'other lady' is actually our older sister Lisa," said the young man, whose name was Matthew Minti, while the girl was Cynthia Minti.

The young man and girl came over to the table when Sally beckoned them to. Matthew embraced his older sister as he hadn't seen for years and Lisa returned the hug. And it was at this point that Lisa was happy that she had decided to meet with her mother and gotten the opportunity to see her family again. More so, when they all began catching up with what had happened over the last four years.

-Line Break-

-Tyler's pov-

Marshall Islands Area

The view of the battle ahead between the Archangel and ZAFT forces wasn't pretty and not one I wished to see. On the ZAFT side of this, there were three WASP type GINNs that were equipped for underwater operations, an assault type GINN leading them and two regular GINNs. There were two GINNs that I haven't seen before, probably new variations of the GINN model, obviously for areal recon. Then, there were the four suits that seem to not be able to leave the Archangel alone, the Alliance's GAT series, all four of them in fact. With the mobile suit force, my guess is that there are at least three subs or more to carry that many mobile suits.

Looking to the other side of this conflict, you have the Archangel flying above the ocean. Sturdy ship it is, and the Archangel has proven that a few times already, but it's certainly not meant for this kind of thing. Could see one skygrasper with the Strike's 'Launcher configuration' equipment, the Strike with the Aile equipment and the Asuka out with an anti-ship sword with it, defending the Archangel against ZAFT.

I focused on the task before me and felt the onset of SEED mode, which would help in this. Threw the throttle forward to their stops and put the petal down, zooming forward. The beam rifle in my suit's right hand, shield on the left with railgun and beam saber ready to use. The LAS cannon's barrel was connected in its full length and the acceleration coils were warming up. The Shadow's mirage colloid was active, so none had noticed me approaching the skirmish in progress.

To start, I brought out the hidden scope the Shadow has and began scanning for my first target and my crosshairs came to stop on one of the two WASP type GINNs with aquatic equipment. Raising my beam rifle, I aimed at the GINN and fired, nailing the GINN and it shortly exploded. The second suit of the same type definitely took note of its fellow being shot and destroyed, for it was looking around for the source of the shot. At the same time, the GINN was moving off of its original course, but without thinking, I adjusted my aim and fired again, destroying the second GINN.

After taking care of them, my attention was drawn to two particular machines clashing, those being the Asuka and the Aegis. I moved towards where the two were fighting, in order to stop them from hurting each other. As I made it halfway there, the Asuka was rushing towards the Aegis, anti-ship sword swinging in an arc towards its opponent. The Aegis didn't move out of the oncoming sword, yet, just before the Asuka made contact with the Aegis, the Blitz appeared seemingly out of nowhere. The Blitz shoved the Aegis out of the way and… the Asuka's sword cleaved into the torso of the Blitz. Time seemed to stop for a moment, the image of the anti-ship sword shallowly digging into the cockpit, then the the long blade continued in its arc through the Blitz and the mobile suit vanished in a large explosion.

A moment later a voice cried out in pain over the com-channel, "NICOL!" yelled the voice of Athrun.

My eyes widened at what had just happened and I gained a sick feeling in my stomach. How could that have just happened?! It somehow didn't feel right, like it was out of place, I don't know how else to explain it. An object coming from the Archangel caught my attention, and when I looked, it was the second skygrasper. However, shortly after the aircraft launched, the Buster managed to get a shot on the Archangel and the ship crashed along the shoreline of the closest island.

"Kira… how could you… you killed Nicol!" said Athrun in a voice that was a mix of anger and pain.

My attention shifted back to my two best friends duking it out, the Aegis sped forward and attacked with its beam sabers, yet Kira dodged the strike and got behind Athrun. Then Kira swung his own beam saber at the Aegis, though he missed.

"KIRA!" shouted Athrun in anger.

I tried to speed up my approach, but I was going all out!

"Kira!" Came the voice of Tolle.

The skygrasper shot at the Aegis, and Athrun threw the Aegis's shield at the aircraft like a Frisbee. I watched in what felt like torturous slow motion as the shield sailed and crashed into the cockpit of the skygrasper.

A sharp pain spread in my heart at the sight, more so when I heard Kira, "TOLLE!"

The feeling of shock at having to witness the death of a friend hurt horrendously as it spread through me! Images and flashes of memories that involved Tolle went through my mind, the good time and the less nice times.

"Athrun… you… you killed Tolle… I'll DESTROY YOU!" bellowed Kira.

I was getting closer to where my two best friends were fighting, hoping that I could somehow make it between them in time.

Kira shot forward, "ATHRUN!" he screamed.

The Asuka moved forward and cut off the Aegis's left arm cleanly like a hot knife through butter.

Athrun pushed the Asuka back, "I'm gonna… KILL YOU!" he shot back.

Then the Aegis sliced off the Asuka's left arm, shield included, before spinning around and landing a blow on the Asuka's flight system. Kira didn't let Athrun get away with that scott-free, took the Aegis's head in exchange. The Aegis leapt back from the Asuka and into the air, before shooting forward and latching onto the mobile suit while in MA attack mode. I was so close to where they were, when I witnessed a massive explosion engulf the Asuka and the Aegis, which forced the Shadow backward.

"ATHRUN, KIRA! NOOOO!" I yelled in the deepest pain.

My eyes snapped open and I found I was looking at an unknown ceiling. My breathing was faster than usual, my heart was racing. I sat up slowly as pain shot through me as I rose, I took in more of the room between the horrible throbs of pain, though it didn't help me figure out where I was. But… there was also a feeling of something being out of place, yet it wasn't triggered by any part of this room I saw. The emotion shifted into a mix of fear, desperation and panic, which are rare feelings for me to have all at once. Noted that I was hooked into medical machines and equipment to help with life support along with being wrapped in lots of bandages, seeing this further baffled me. I tried to remember what could happened that would put me in a position to require these machines to be connected to me.

Images started flashing through my mind… horrific ones of having to witness… my two best friends killing each other. They hadn't been the only ones that had… been killed, there had been a number of people that had. The pictures I was recalling sent me reeling and fell out of the bed I was in. Pain wracked me as I hit the floor and all I could do for a short period was writhe and thrash around in response to the increasing magnitude of the waves of pain. The length of time that the pain overrode my physical sense, was beyond my comprehension, the aspect of the passage of time was lost to me right now. However, once I was able to regain control of my body, I made an effort to get to my feet, managing to do so after a bit. Yet I had to use one of the poles that a liquid bag that was connected to the IV in my left arm to rise up. When I was on my feet, shakily but still on my feet, I shook my head to try to rid it of the terrible images that were playing in my head. What they depicted couldn't have happened, Athrun and Kira wouldn't do that to each other!

My lack of balance caused me to stagger towards my left still gripping the metal pole, feeling really tired, but the feelings of fear desperation and panic were growing, not disappearing. These feelings didn't make sense to me, I could think of nothing that would cause them. A glint caught my attention and raising my head, I found there was a mirror on the wall. Upon glancing at the mirror, hoping to see something that would explain what was going on right now, but I froze with what I saw. My eyes… there weren't like they're supposed to be, the pupils were pinpricks, exactly like they are when I activate my SEED factor.

At seeing this, I stumbled back a couple of paces and toppled to the floor, confusion being added to the mix of my current emotions. I vaguely remember going into SEED mode when I went into battle trying to stop the ZAFT forces from sinking the Archangel, but that event isn't clear in the memory I was recalling at the moment. Conflicting images were swirling around my mind and I couldn't fully tell which was right and which was wrong. The reason I was attempting to remember what had occurred, was… I've a condition which knowing the facts would either provide an explanation or be dismissed. The condition can be triggered by going into SEED mode and being in it for an extended period of time. Said condition was a very bad and can easily be potentially dangerous to possible being lethal, especially with the more time that passes.

I rose back to my feet, using the bed for support, before I took out the IV and disconnected the other cables and tubes. I then exited the room I woke up in and came into the hallway and saw no one or even a sign of there being anyone here recently. I turned to the left, made my way slowly down the hallway, looking for something that would tell me that there was someone here or had been here. Finding a person might help the current chaos that I was swimming in, and right now, I'll take whatever I can get.

I glanced into the rooms I passed, found furniture and signs of habitation, but still no people. The lack of other people was putting me on edge more and more as I moved forward, adding to the growing desperation, fear and panic medley. The other factor that was starting to take hold on me, I was starting to hear whispers, nothing defined, but it was definitely affect me. Things for me took a turn for the worse, when I opened the third door and the sight I viewed got me to stop dead!

The room was in a messy state, metal beams broken and in unnatural positions, couple of fires smoldering around the room. Although, what held my attention was something that caused me so many feelings internally. At the other end of the room, debris lying around them… was… Lana, my little sister. My logical sense and mind shouted at me that the scene before me wasn't right or real in any way, yet my physical senses denied that and gave convincing evidence to the contrary.

I backed away and fell to the ground, clutched my head with both my hands, curling into the fetal position. Lana's voice came to my ears, her screaming at me to help her pounding in my head. The pain washed over me, not helping in anyway as tears coming from my eyes, while I muttered that what was happening wasn't real, I stayed where I was. In my mind, I was pretty sure what was 'occurring', was in reality a hallucination, but… it felt so real my ability to see the difference between what is real and what's not, was coming into serious question! So, I was beginning to believe my condition was coming into play for the second time in my life as it felt so similar to the first time.

Lana's screams for help filled my ears, when suddenly, I was picked up and slapped hard across the face. My little sister's cries for help faded and when I opened my eyes, and when my eyes focused, I saw Lisa was grasping the clothing I was in holding me up. Her slap hurt, but it had helped to clear my head, which was sorely needed with the state I was in currently. Managed to slow my breathing a bit before I showed my gratitude, "Thanks Lisa, really needed that… I'm out of it right now and it isn't nice at all," I said.

Lisa set me down on my feet and it took a moment for me to establish my sense of balance as I was still so disoriented. Yet, just as I was establishing my balance again, something hit me and stole said balance out from under me, causing me to fall painfully to the floor. The something had pink coloration and if my ears were telling me right, it was crying. I sat up and upon further inspection, I realized that the 'something' was in fact, my friend Lacus. It makes me wonder what's she doing here… and where is here was exactly? Even with Lacus clinging to my front, I managed to look back at Lisa, hoping that she could provide the answers to my questions, "Okay Lisa, where are we and how long have I been out?" I asked her.

"We are at the Clyne residence on the PLANT colony Aprilius One and you've been unconscious for close to three weeks after somehow surviving the destruction of your mobile suit around the Marshall Island areas in Orb territory," Lisa replied to me.

…I've been out for close to three weeks?! I guess that's more preferable than being dead, though things could still be better in my opinion. It would explain why I feel worse than crap and I'm dead tired… no dead puns intended. Suppose it would be best to see how thing things are and see where I stand, then priority number one, get my condition manageable! "Any changes I should be aware of Lisa?" I asked.

She shook her head, before my attention was drawn back to the fact that Lacus was still embracing me, even after I sat up. "Um… Lacus, not that I mind the hug from you or anything, but it's kind of getting a little awkward and I can't say how long my bodily health," I said. Lacus didn't let go of me, to which I sighed, "Okay, never mind then, could we take this to the kitchen then please? I would kind of like to do something about what I'm dealing with right now before it strikes me again," I continued.

Lisa helped me in getting to the kitchen of this place, and when I looked around, spotted the food that had what would help with managing my current condition somewhat. What I really needed what a dose of a drug known as Letaium serum, that's the stuff that was developed for this type of brain condition along with a couple of others. The problem is, it's not something any doctor has access to or even knows what Letaium serum is. Lacus was still right next to me, still appearing very worried about me.

"Looks like you're enjoying yourself Tye," came a voice to my left.

I turned my head to the left and there stood Athrun, with a cynical look on his face, which doesn't fit him well at all. "Of course he is Athrun, I mean, look at the reward he gets to do after playing the hero," came the voice of Kira, who appeared next to him.

I tried to shut it out, as my two best friends started berating me and saying how much a hypocrite I was. Then I felt something hard slam into my gut, which got Athrun and Kira to vanish from where they were. I sunk to the floor, since I lost my ability to stand, then I looked up, seeing that Lisa was the one that had punched me in the breadbasket. Lacus was chiding her, even though she was helping me, won't look like it, but Lisa was helping me I assure you.

"What is going on here?" Asked a male voice.

Slowly… very slowly, I raised my head to view the other doorway in this room and Siegel Clyne of all people was standing there. I certainly hope that doesn't mean that Sakura is around too, I need her antics about as much as I need repetitive kicks to the head right now. However, Siegel appeared very surprised at seeing me, probably since I was in a bed the last time he had sight of me. Yet, is would be the most likely to be able to help me in change my current predicament that this condition brings. "Siege, I know that what I'm about to ask for will not make sense, but I need you to just trust me for now." I got out, shutting out the pain and the hallucinations that were starting up again. Siegel nodded slowly as I continued, "I need you to contact a doctor and request a dose of a drug called Letaium. It will help me the most right now, the sooner I get that the better."

Siegel went off to hopeful do what I had asked, while Lisa and Lacus assisted me to the sitting room next store and to a sofa. As I was laid down, Lacus kept looking at me, "Tye, what's happening to you?" She asked.

I winced as a wave of pain came down on me and I had to grit my teeth until the pain died down enough for me to focus. "What you're seeing is… something I've dealt with once already, a rare condition," I replied.

Siegel entered the room as I continued my explanation of one of the things I don't talk about to others. "It's called Recoyal Syndrome, can't say how it comes about for I don't know, but it has rather particular triggers that can be identified and its symptoms can be as well. Even in the medical community, it's not widely known. The main symptom is hallucinations, but there's more to it than just seeing things."

"What do you mean more than just seeing things?" Asked Lacus.

But, I was having great difficulty ignoring the effects of my condition and I was forced to put my hands over my ear as the voices of the hallucinations got louder and refused to be dismissed. Lisa, no doubt seeing that I wouldn't be able to finish the explanation, she took it up where I left off. "When Tyler says there's more to it than just seeing things, he means that what he's seeing goes beyond 'ordinary' hallucinations. For those experiencing them, what they see can sometimes more convincing that reality is. It can become, an argument between their physical senses and logical mind, telling them the illusion is real, even if their mind is saying the opposite. It's not at all uncommon for those who experience Recoyal Syndrome to… lose their mind or commit suicide during the first episode of this condition if they don't get treated. In fact, Tyler is one of those few who managed to make it through the first episode and not end out 'broken'. The doctors who did see how Tyler was acting were very shocked that he kept it together, the vast majority don't."

I was having problems keeping things together or know what was really going on around me. The things I was seeing and hearing, were screaming at me, what was being shouted at me wasn't nice at all to have to hear. Pain, emotional, mental and physical were starting to take a toll on me and I just wanted it to end. My thoughts were careening down a slippery slope and the 'people' in the room were spinning and swirling around me. Next thing I knew, the feeling of something holding me down came and then there was a short stabbing pain on the back of my neck. After a slightly cold sensation started spreading through me, the voices and their owners, began to decrease in volume and began going away.

Fifteen minutes after the needed drug had been administered, I felt the symptoms of the Recoyal Syndrome fully fading. It was wonderful to have those negative feelings go away, it had seriously stressed me and had been like my heart being stabbed repeatedly. This experience wasn't as bad as the first time, but wasn't all that much better though. I believe I was taken to the room I had started out in, for when I woke up fully, that's where I found myself. Lisa did say that Siegel was hoping that I would listen to a request when I was awake, which got me curious as to what kind of 'request' this could be.

So, I hobbled to the sitting room as I'm still not in good health and found Siegel, Lacus and the doctor waiting for me. I went over and thanked the male doctor for the service that he had provided me. He said it was no trouble and rather, was interested to meet someone that had the condition I did, since it was so rare. The doctor left after making his goodbyes and I sat down and looked to Siegel and Lacus, "So, what is this request that you have that you believe I can help with?" I asked.

"Well Tyler, no doubt you noticed that the war between ZAFT and the Earth Alliance is getting worse for more than just those fighting in it." Posed Siegel, to which I nodded as I'd indeed seen who things had been getting worse as time went on, for all. Siegel continued, "Since the discovery of the Earth Forces prototypes, scientists within the Integrated Design Bureau have been taking what they have been getting from them and applying them to new projects."

Siegel slid a datapad over to me, and I picked it up and looked at the data on it, to say I quickly fell into a state of shock and respect, would be an understatement. What was on the datapad, was technical specs of two mobile suits developed by ZAFT's Integrated Design Bureau, which is pretty much their top R&D group as Siegel said.

The first of the two suits was named the ZGMF-X10A Freedom. The machine wasn't one to scoffed at, it was impressive for a couple of reasons. It was clearly designed for assault and taking on multiple opponents at the same time. Some of the equipment of note, it had phase-shift armor for part of its defense like the Earth Alliance's GAT series did. It also had a system made in a wing apparatus that gave this unit very good mobility. The armaments combined with the multi lock-on system would be a harsh combination for any that go against this suit. But, the biggest two things that caught my eye, were a piece of equipment called a Neutron Jammer Canceller, which name says that N-jammers won't do much if anything to this mobile suit. The other equipment, worked with the Neutron Jammer Canceller, was the Nuclear Fission Reactor that powered this machine.

This mobile suit's armaments, were like this machine's other equipment, quite something to read about. The unit had two plasma cannons, stored in the wings if I'm seeing right, along with two railguns on the hips, those weapons could pound enemy machines and start to cut down their numbers. The Freedom had two beam sabers for close range combat and two CIWS 76mm guns to intercept incoming projectiles and pepper close enemy machines. Lastly, this mobile suit had a beam rifle of a similar caliber as the Shadow had and a decent sized shield that was laminated with anti-beam coding. Overall, looking at this mobile suit schematic worried me for several reasons. First and foremost, if this thing were destroyed, it becomes a nuclear bomb and could be seen as a kind of delivery system! Another problem, with how things are turning out to be, it's not matter of if ZAFT would use this suit and the other against the Human Federation and the Federation Military, but rather when I feel.

I switched over to the other mobile suit's schematic, and I found there was some of the same equipment as the "Freedom" had. This machine was named the ZGMF-X09A Justice Gundam, and also was clearly designed for assault in mind. This unit also had a nuclear reactor and Neutron Jammer Canceller, along with phase-shift armor. Like the Freedom, the Justice possessed a multi lock-on system that complimented its weapon load out. The real difference, was a piece of equipment called the Fatum-00, which appeared to be a winged flight system that was attached to the back of this suit.

In the armament department, the Justice had two beam sabers like the Freedom did however, the Justice could combine them into one twin-edged weapon. Another offensive option this unit had, was a type of beam boomerang that were stored in the shoulders of the suit. It had four CIWS guns instead of two as the Freedom had, and were mounted in the head. The Fatum-00 had the majority of the suit's weapons mounted to it, such as the two main rapid-fire beam cannons. Then there was two turret machine guns, which could swivel and then the other two machine guns which were fixed and appeared to be more for interception. Finally, the Justice had a beam rifle that was like the Freedom's and also a similar shield that was laminated with anti-beam coding. Like the Freedom, this mobile suit and its possible applications worried me as there were so many.

After slightly more than five minutes of me studying the schematics, I put down the datapad and looked at Siegel, "From a professional standpoint, I have to admit, both are impressive mobile suits Siegel, quite the achievement for ZAFT," I said dryly.

Lacus had an expression of worry and confusion, "Tye, you don't sound happy," she said.

I glanced over at my pink haired friend, "From a personal position Lacus, I'm not pleased. ZAFT has made very dangerous weapons with these mobile suits. I don't know if one should call them mobile suits or consider them mobile weapons of mass destructions. They could be used as portable nuclear bombs that can be delivered to wherever one wants and do lots of damage before exploding," I replied. I turned back to Siegel, "So, correct me if I'm wrong, but I've the impression that showing me this isn't something others would agree with in any way. That said, what is it you want me to do?"

Siegel pinned me with his stare, "I would like you to pilot one of them out and away from the colony," he stated calmly.

An expression of surprise spread over my face, "I highly doubt those in charge of those two machines along with those they report to, are going to let me take one Siegel," I remarked.

The man agreed with my remark, "Indeed, yet still, I feel you have the best chance of succeeding at this," He answered.

I wasn't against this idea, but being able to foresee the consequences that would come should I succeed didn't sit well. I wanted to know if both Siegel and Lacus understood what doing what was suggested would mean for them. "You two understand what will happen to you if this succeeds right?" I questioned, very worried about both of these people, for they were good people that don't deserve what they would face. "You'll be branded as traitors and would probably be hunted down to either spend the rest of your life in prison or executed, depending how nice the one in charge is feeling."

Siegel nodded sadly in understanding and Lacus's face fell, showing they did know what they would face. "It is unlikely that Patrick Zala will be very understanding or forgiving with me or Lacus, especially with how he acts these days," Siegel stated.

It was the truth, Patrick Zala, Athrun's father, was becoming the one who controlled the PLANTs Supreme Council and through that position, gained a lot of influence within ZAFT overall. Yes, officially Siegel still is the chairman of the Supreme Council, but less of the other members of the council are listening to him. The only saving grace for ZAFT right now that I saw, was that Athrun's father doesn't control the ZAFT military completely, that's still done by Admiral Lanus Trays and he's supposed to be a reasonable man.

I exhaled, "I'm still willing to help in this, but… it doesn't feel right that you two should have to face treatment like that. You're both good people… even Sakura is at heart I believe, so… this just feels wrong," I admitted, then sighed. "Well then Siegel, in exchange, would you help Lisa get out of the colony with the least amount of notice please."

The man agreed to my request for Lisa and the discussion turned to the detail of the planned theft of one of the mobile suits. I chose to go for the Freedom, not because it I intend to use it for it doesn't fit my piloting style, but I think Kira would do wonderfully with it. Apparently, there was a pair that would help Lacus and I enter the facility that the mobile suits were stored in. the man was named Andrew Waltfeld, and I've heard of him along with reading reports about conflicts he was involved with in the African region and that information said he was tactically minded to a degree, more than I am. I retired to bed once the conversation was over, to rest up for what would go down tomorrow.

Phase End

A/n

I'll be ending the chapter here, YEAH my character isn't dead, but then I'm not one who kills off my own characters. Anyways, I know that in the respect of cannon of Gundam Seed Kira is the one that goes to the PLANTs, but I'm doing it differently. Please, some take the time to write a review and tell me what you think, ask questions, tell me I need to fix things, whatever you think. Peace out until next time!