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

41. Phase 41: Warping Truths

A/n

Here is the last of the three Phase for a time, don't know how long it might be for more so don't ask please. Anyways, enjoy the Phase!

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Phase 41: Wrapping Truths

May 1st, 74 C.E.

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-Neutral pov-

The Orb Union

The approach of the ZAFT fleet was registered and upon being question as to why they were coming towards Orb, their reasoning was even more ridiculous. The claim from ZAFT was for Orb to hand over Lord Djibril to them immediately. Uzumi Athha recalled much that was said in the meeting between most of the political leaders of the world. The potential of ZAFT attacking nations of the world had been discussed, but hoped not to be a reality, yet here it was.

However, Uzumi and the others on the council of representatives had agreed when the campaign against Logos began, that none from the organization would be given haven or a place in Orb. So, they replied that such a man wouldn't be permitted to enter Orb for a number of reasons and there must be some sort of mistake. Uzumi also asked what evidence ZAFT was basing their claim off of that Djibril was in Orb and was sent pictures that said a great deal. The pictures were of Yuna Seiran with Djibril and in the background was an aircraft that belonged to the Seiran family.

At seeing this, Uzumi communicated to the ZAFT commanders in charge of their fleet, saying that he nor any in Orb's leadership had seen these pictures before now. However, they would look into this immediately and shutdown all access to the mass driver and ways into space until this was verified and settled. Those from ZAFT accepted Uzumi's assurances, but said that they couldn't wait forever, yet also preferred to not have more bloodshed over this. The second after finishing with the ZAFT commanders, Uzumi instantly went over to Unato, grabbed him by the collar and jerked him upward. "Unato, what has your son done," demanded Uzumi in a mix of anger and coldness.

Unato Seiran was in shock at what Uzumi Athha was doing, for the man may be stubborn, but avoided violence most of the time. "What are you talking about Uzumi," he questioned.

Uzumi dropped Unato and then brought up some of the pictures ZAFT had sent, "Your son Yuna is with a man that is a war criminal now! ZAFT forces have come here, demanding we hand over Djibril, a man that we shouldn't and wouldn't allow into our nation! That either means that Djibril isn't here and there has been a mistake or someone foolishly smuggled him into Orb under everyone else's nose! You Unato, can at least understand the dangers of bringing in such a man to our homeland, especially with the world as it is! Now tell us, did Yuna bring Lord Djibril here to Orb or not," Uzumi said in the form of an ultimatum.

Unato looked away, "Of course not, Yuna would not be so foolish," he said unconvincingly.

Uzumi could see the signs and let out a long sigh, "So, the pictures we've been sent are true then," he uttered. "I know that we didn't always agree on how things should be for Orb to have the best future Unato. Nevertheless, I thought that at least we were united in knowing what could not be permitted to protect Orb's people who we represent. It would seem that I was mistaken," he said sadly. "Unato Ema Seiran, you are guilty of the crimes of treason and betrayal of the Orb Union and so are stripped of all privileges effective immediately."

After Uzumi pressed a button, Orb soldiers entered the room, Unato couldn't believe this was actually happening, even as he was escorted out of the council room. When Unato was gone, Uzumi turned to the others, "Finding Yuna Seiran and Djibril as soon as possible are top priorities," he stated firmly.

Nonetheless, it was ten minutes later, an announcement was broadcasted that none expected, by none other than Yuna Roma Seiran. "On behalf of the government of the Orb Union, allow me to reply to ZAFT's warning and ultimatum to our nation. The individual by the name Lord Djibril, whom you have demanded that we hand over is simply not in this nation." A pause was made before Yuna Seiran continued, "Furthermore, this kind of intimidation where the threat of force is used-"

The broadcast was cut off at that point by others in the Orb government to stop Yuna from making things worse. Yet, the damage had been done by Yuna's reply, ZAFT commanders wouldn't listen to Uzumi and others that tried to make it clear that Yuna's views didn't represent Orb. Chairman Durandal had stated that he would find those that had brought about this war and stop them from going further and Djibril was exactly that. To deliver on his promise, Durandal gave the authorization to commence the invasion of Orb in order to capture Lord Djibril, designated "Operation Fury". Orb had been given a chance to do the right thing and hand over Djibril and they had not. Whether there was a split in the governing body, which it appeared to be, that wasn't the point of the matter any longer.

The fleet of ZAFT and defectors from the Alliance in range of Orb, received their orders to find and capture Djibril and so they began deployment. The mobile suit pilots were told to do their best to keep civilian casualties and damage to the cities to a minimum and avoid if possible. The targets of interest would be the "Seiran Estate", the Orb government facilities and the military headquarters.

As attacking forces began launching into the air and underwater, defending forces were scrambling out to defensive positions. Uzumi contacted Orb's defense headquarters and reached the one in charge, Colonel Soga. "Lord Uzumi, we're deploying all we can against the incoming force sir, but we're just outnumber and will be overwhelmed if we don't receive help and soon," Soga iterated.

Uzumi knew things were grim, but still, he hoped that it wouldn't come to a mess like this again like it had in the first war. "Do the best you can, remember that protecting the citizen is among the top priorities Colonel, no doubt reinforcements will come, but we need to hold out until they do. We are looking for Yuna Roma Seiran currently, should he show up at defense headquarters, you are to arrest and restrain him for the crimes of treason and sedition, Unato is already in custody. Is all of that clear Soga," Uzumi posed seriously.

"Perfectly Lord Uzumi, we will do our utmost," Soga replied.

It wasn't long before the ZAFT forces and the those defending Orb clashed and the fight became horrible and ugly fast. Orb's defenders did the best they could keep the ZAFT Forces from getting to the mainland but were soon unsuccessful and were being pressed hard to stop the ZAFT forces from advancing forward.

As Operation Fury began, above the battle, a group of ZAFT Laurasia-class vessels were coming into position to drop descent pods with ZAFT reinforcements down to Orb, with a few Nazca-classes escorting them. The operation against Orb was important for several reasons, one the capture of Djibril was critical, that man had done more damage than almost any other in the Alliance. Then, the Federation had not been doing much to help in the efforts against Logos or in the war thus far other than defending their own. Operation Fury would mark the beginning of the twilight of the Human Federation and their fading into history.

The Laurasia-class ships got to their designated positions and were about to initiate their drops, yet then one of them took a hit from behind. That was followed by a number of Federation mobile suit appearing around the ZAFT group and attacking them. ZAFT mobile suits launched from the Nazca-classes and attempted to defend themselves and protect the Laurasia-classes but found themselves hard pressed. Then Federation ships revealed themselves and fired at the Laurasia vessels before they were able to release the descent pods. The battle lasted for a little over five minutes, the ZAFT forces left in ruins at the end, no pods with their reinforcements deployed.

The Federation force moved into the position that ZAFT had been in, frigates and a few cruisers watching for any that might come around that would attempt to interrupt operations. The dreadnoughts and the other cruisers starting to launch out mobile suits, each encapsulated in heat resistant shells that would get them through the atmosphere. With the attack on Orb in progress, those being deployed down were all Mobile Suit Core special forces members, so had seen combat and had a good amount of experience. Every single one of them had done the type of atmospheric descent they would make, nicknamed the "Hellios Drop" due to its straight drop downward at a zero-degree entry angle. The Hellios Drop is also the most dangerous and risky method to do atmospheric reentry and has the highest potential of death if done wrong. Even so, all the mobile suit pilots volunteered for the mission to assist allied forces in Orb and so, they launched and began the descent down to Earth.

-Line Break-

Hidden Base among the Marshal Islands, The Archangel

Cagalli was beyond furious with the stunt that Yuna had just pulled, for it had make the situation, which was already bad and fragile to crashing and being much worse. His announcement, wrongly saying that he was representing the Orb Government and then replying to ZAFT's demand to hand over Djibril was stupid. Yuna's clear lie about Djibril not being in Orb was idiotic and was not helped by his distain of ZAFT's actions. Now, because of Yuna, ZAFT had begun an assault on Orb and the defenders were having a difficult time keeping ZAFT from advancing. It was very hard for Cagalli to watch the attack on Orb and what it would bring to the nation. Why Yuna was defending Djibril, Cagalli hadn't a clue and didn't really care right now, it was hurting everyone around him.

However, the Archangel wasn't ready to head out to the field just yet, the needed repairs were close to being done, but there was still work to be done. Those doing the work, were doing it as fast as they could, sacrificing sleep to hurry things along. Everyone was giving a hundred and ten percent or more to finish things up, so the Archangel could move out soon. Kira was up in space and he said he would return as soon as he could, but there hadn't been any contact with him yet.

But, Cagalli couldn't calm down, even when Athrun came onto the Archangel's bridge and put a comforting hand on her shoulder. Athrun could understand her unrest Cagalli was feeling, being stuck here and not able to do much at all, the feeling was all too familiar to him. The reason Athrun had come to the bridge, was so that he could do something even though he was injured as he was. Vice-Captain Amagi when he heard someone coming onto the bridge, he came out of the CIC, "Mr. Zala, are you sure you should be up yet with your injuries," he posed.

Athrun gave a pained smiled, "I'm well enough that I can at least sit at a station down in the CIC, I don't wish to be one of the only ones doing nothing."

No one disagreed with Athrun, as it was clear that he was restless and wanted to help in some way. So, Meyrin helped Athrun down into the CIC and into the electronic warfare station and Meyrin to the interception and counter measure station next to him.

Still, it wasn't long before Cagalli couldn't handle the imaginations of the dangers that Orb's people could be in right now. She spun around and was going to head towards the hanger here, dead set on taking either the Strike Rogue or even the Shadow and fly to Orb to do something to help Orb's citizens. However, Kisaka stopped her before she left the bridge of the Archangel, "Wait Lady Cagalli," he said.

Cagalli struggled against the hold, "Let go of me," she snarled, before breaking free. "I will not stand around and do nothing while Orb and its people are being attacked! I cannot and will not do that while I'm able to make even the tiniest difference for the better for them," Cagalli shouted.

"We're not going to stop you Lady Cagalli in your wish to help Orb's people, we merely wish to help you," said Erica Simmons calmly.

Cagalli reined in her emotions and allowed herself to be led by Kisaka and Mrs. Simmons to a set of doors in the interior of the island. There she looked at the two adults, wonder what they were doing, but then noticed a plate to one side of the doors with words, and Cagalli moved forward to read them.

"A wish, that the day never comes when these doors need be opened, that what lies beyond these doors is never required to be used."

The words made Cagalli curious about what they meant and what they referred to with, "Lies beyond these doors". Erica Simmons input the commands to have the doors open, and a darkened room was revealed. "This place was built so if a time should ever come, or rather if Orb was at risk of being attacked and burned again, that this could be ready to prevent and protect Orb and its people from that," stated Mrs. Simmons.

Lights came on and the sight of a single mobile suit instantly became the focus of all in the room. The frame of the mobile suit was overall very similar to the X105 Strike, though the shoulders were longer and there were also a couple of other differences. The color of the machine was gold, the joints were black along with various other parts of the frame. There was a beam rifle in the right hand and a shield on the left arm. A flight system mounted on the back of the suit, which looked similar to the Justice's Fatum-00.

As Cagalli stared at the mobile suit in slight wonder, a voice began echoing in the room, "My dearest Cagalli," said the voice of Uzumi Athha.

Cagalli could only stand where she was, her mind reeling from what was happening, "Father," she uttered.

"You being here means the day has come that you need addition power to protect others. And though, I have worked, hoped and even prayed that such would not come to be, but I had this prepared still, knowing that you would not accept simply standing on the sidelines while our people and nation are in danger," the voice of Uzumi continued. Cagalli felt tears coming to the corner of her eyes as she kept listening, "As an Athha, you cannot merely watch events as they happen, your heart will not allow that. Others with that same quality will gather to you and assist along the way in your efforts. Have an open heart, and you will learn life's lessons from those around you, who love and support you."

Silence hung over the room for a moment, before Uzumi's voice kept going, "Therefore, this machine is yours to use as you see fit. Power is what one makes of it, foolish are those that hope for it in excess, but equally foolish are those that resent it for no reason. Think of power as a sword, one for protection of others, so Cagalli, take this and use it well to walk the path to the future you wish to see and live in. Although, I hoped the time would never come that this would be needed, I say this to you should we not meet again. My dear daughter Cagalli, know that you brought both I and your mother wherever she is now such indescribable joy to our lives. And as your Father, these words may be in vain, but I wish you a long and happy life with those that will make you smile and bring you the same joy that you brought my wife and I. I couldn't be more proud of you than I am Cagalli."

Cagalli broke down into tears at hearing the thoughts of her father concerning herself. They were words she had always worked hard so that her father would say 'I'm proud of you'. And then, though Cagalli only had a few vague memories of Lady Athha, her adopted mother, to be told that Cagalli herself had brought joy to those she called parents warmed her soul. Finally, realizing that her father had been watching out for her still, even as she made the decisions she had, both wise and foolish, words could not say how grateful she was to have him as her father. Kisaka came up next to Cagalli, "Cagalli, will you take the Akatsuki as Lord Uzumi wishes, to defend the people of Orb as you desire to," he posed.

Cagalli managed to nod and stop the tears, before she ran off to put on a pilot suit, then came back and entering the cockpit of the Akatsuki. She activated the OS and the startup message came up:

MOBILE SUIT OPERATION SYSTEM
/AKATSUKI - 1000/
General
Unilateral
Neuro - Link
Dispersive
Autonomic
Maneuver

G.U.N.D.A.M Synthesis System

ORB-01

Cables disconnected from the Akatsuki and the outer doors above the hanger opened, revealing the launching tunnel. "Orb-01, Akatsuki, systems on-line and stable, go ahead and launch," said the voice of Erica Simmons.

Cagalli focused on what lied ahead of her, taking ahold of the controls, "Cagalli Yula Athha, Akatsuki launching," she announced.

The Akatsuki shot up and out of the tunnel and began making its way towards the Orb mainland and was shortly joined by a number of MVF-M11C Murasame mobile suits. Within a short period, the view of Orb's mainland came into view, and the battle wasn't going very well. The defenders were being pushed back slowly but surely as the fight dragged on.

Meanwhile, at the Marshall Islands outside the dock, the single skygrasper the Archangel had was on a short runway, waiting to take-off. Murrue with two Orb soldiers escorting Neo Roanoke to come to be by the aircraft, where Neo's wrist bindings were taken off. Neo looked down at his wrists, then glanced up at Murrue, "What is this about now," he inquired curiously.

Murrue hesitated, as it was still painful to talk to this man and know he wasn't Mu, no matter how much she wanted him to be. "Your injuries are healed now, we really have no reason to keep you on the Archangel since we will be going into battle soon. That said, you are free to go where you wish, use this skygrasper and head away from here before the Archangel goes to battle," she iterated.

The conversation might have continued, but the launch of the Akatsuki was witnessed along with the Murasames that followed it. After seeing that, Neo turned back his attention to Murrue, and she looked away not able to look at the face that was identical to Mu's but wasn't him. "I guess you're not Mu, even if you look like him," she got out, before she left. Murrue was painfully letting go of any hope that Mu could come back to himself in any way so that she could try and move forward.

The soldiers quickly followed, leaving Neo and the skygrasper alone outside. Neo could only stare after Murrue as thoughts went through his mind as occurred around the woman. Something within him, an unknown urge was saying to march himself after Murrue Ramius and comfort her the best he could. He couldn't explain why or where the urge came from, much like the other thoughts and emotions that came with her. As far as Neo could remember, he had been a soldier of the Alliance, but his past was mostly a blur the end of the previous war.

Records had stated what he was supposed to have done during the First Alliance-PLANT War, but he had no recollection of what the records said. So, like sometimes before now, doubts were creeping into his mind about his identity. There had been a number of instances before now, whether it was things, places or people that triggered them which contradicted what he thought he knew. And anyways, what was he supposed to do right now, a good portion of what had been the Alliance was hunting down those he took orders from before now. What was still the Earth Forces, had taken almost the same standing as the Federation itself had. In other words, he was stuck and had nowhere to go that he wouldn't be arrested really, leaving him to wonder what to do going forward.

When the Archangel was declared as good to go, Murrue had gotten back to the bridge and had her emotions under control. All non-essential personnel disembarked from the Archangel and the ship headed out and set its course towards Orb to help in its defense.

As the Akatsuki drew closer with its allies to Orb's mainland, the sight of things coming down from high in the sky above Orb caught Cagalli's eye. On closer inspection, she saw that the objects were large shells that became Federation mobile suits descending down towards the ZAFT forces. The Federation machines were specifically the ZEL Defender models, a number of them with varying equipment. Half of the ZEL suits came down on ZAFT forces, causing disarray among them, the other half landed on the shorelines helping reinforce the defense of Orb.

When those with Cagalli, including Kisaka in the custom colored Murasame, got into close range of the fight, the time came to decide what to do. "We need to help rebuild and strengthen the defensive lines if we hope to push them back," Kisaka stated.

Cagalli knew Kisaka was right, "We'll take charge of Defense Headquarters, then reorganize defending forces," Cagalli said. "One team will be with me, the rest of you help hold the defense lines," she ordered.

"Roger ma'am," was the reply from the other pilots.

Cagalli contacted Orb's Defense Headquarters and had them start reorganizing the defense forces and rally them to strengthen the defense of Orb. Evacuations of Orb's people from dangerous areas was in progress and some defense forces were keeping that from being interrupted. She also found out that any and all means to reach space, whether public or private were in the process of being locked down. That would make it harder for Djibril to possibly escape capture and that man couldn't be allowed to get away.

-Line Break-

The Normandy

Kira settled into the seat, to be surprised by the sensation of the backpack of his suit locking in, before having it descend into the cockpit. The way that the Federation used for keeping a pilot safe in a mobile suit cockpit made sense to Kira, but he still wasn't used to it as he hadn't piloted a Federation designed machine before now. He took a moment to look around, for the layout of the space was different, yet had parts that were familiar.

There were the screens forward and to either side that made up the panoramic view as there were normally. Ahead of Kira and just below the forward optical screen, there was the main sensor display, like what the Freedom had, but there were two smaller system displays on either side of the forward screen. Actually, it was much like what the new series Gundam that Tyler had with Lacus's attempted assassination. Tyler had given him a glace at it but not to say anything to anyone else. The suit's controls weren't the 'throttle and control stick' instead, the two ideas seemed to have been combined into two control sticks that were also the throttle, one for each hand. Most of the non-main controls were either on the forward system display or to the sides as it had been with the Freedom. The two com-screens were still in the forward top area on both sides, like was standard in most mobile suits.

Kira started the process of starting up the suit's OS, which came up with a different starting message:

MOBILE SUIT S2 OPERATION SYSTEM
Generation
Unified
Nucleus
Drive
Assault
Module

G.U.N.D.A.M Unity System
_Series GND200-O7 SR/NR 01-32169_
Federation Military

Once the system came up, Kira then started looking through the OS and the suit's system, even though Tyler had explained about most of them. The power this mobile suit had between the Hyper-Deuterion engine and the 'GN Solar reactor' seemed endless. The mobility that this machine had in theory and likely in practice was incredible to say the least and better than most if not all current known mobile suit models. The arsenal the Burst Freedom had was larger than the Freedom had possessed. First, there was a second beam rifle to use, along with the same type of weapons as the Freedom had, though improved versions of them. The railguns weren't on the hips, but on the shoulders and had a range they could pivot giving them versatility. Then there was the addition of the remote mobile weapons, which would make a difference more in space, yet they could be used in Earth's atmosphere, just for s shorter time.

Meanwhile, Lacus was doing much the same inside the Eternal Justice's cockpit. She too was amazed at the changes and improvements that the Federation had made on the two originally X series machines that ZAFT had designed. For power and equipment, the Justice had much the same as the Burst Freedom had. However, the difference came with the arsenal for the two mobile suits had different loadouts which were meant for various forms of combat. Where the Freedom was meant for assaulting multiple opponents the Justice was better against one or multiple in close-quarters. Lacus after she looked over the Justice's systems, sat back in the pilot seat and felt her pilot suit lock into the seat, which she preferred over straps that others used.

The Burst Freedom was sent to the catapult first, to be followed by the Eternal Justice. By the time that Kira was in launching position, Tyler came onto the radio, "Kira, I doubt you want to hear this, but while you've been up here, ZAFT has started an assault against Orb and aren't letting up by what chatter is going around the Information Network indicates. Reinforcements have been sent down and more are on route from different places, but things are still not sounding good. I would think the sooner you and Lacus get there, the better," he remarked.

"Understood Tye, thanks for the info, see you later," Kira replied, then launched off the Normandy.

The Justice soon followed the Freedom, and a short period after the two of them, the Kyrios, Virtue and Rapture launched and headed in the same direction and the Eternal followed them. The Normandy on the other hand, disappeared after that and headed in the direction of Echowas.

-Line Break-

The Minerva

The Minerva and the small number of Vosgulov-class submarines from Carpentaria, came into sight of the assault on Orb. From where they were approaching, it was clear enough that their allies were having difficulty making headway in finding Lord Djibril. The defenders of Orb were holding their own and were pushing back against ZAFT forces, though they were paying for it with losing their own forces. That was saying something as the force sent for Operation Fury had been close to what had gone against Heaven's Base, much of what Carpentaria had and what was left from the assault on Heaven's Base. Talia made contact with the St. Helens, the flagship in Operation Fury and asked the status of the operation. She was told that ZAFT forces had been making progress, but then enemy reinforcements had caused setbacks.

The additional reinforcement from Carpentaria would help get things back to going in the intend direction. So, to help move the operation along, Talia ordered the Osiris and Destiny to head out and assist their allies make headway so Djibril could be found. Aila and Shinn boarded their mobile suits and launched from the Minerva. Aila went to the left side of the field and Shinn went right and began assisting their allies.

Shinn had come to terms of what had happened with Athrun, at least as much as he could. However, there were still whispers in the back of his mind that there was something consistently off from what it had been before. When word of Djibril escaping the raid on Heaven's Base, it had angered him, for Shinn saw people like him as responsible to a degree for the war as it was. But, when headquarters said that Orb was providing shelter for the last member of Logos, that hadn't sounded right. The leaders of Orb, especially Lord Athha, wouldn't help a man like Lord Djibril, it went against their principles they stood by. It wasn't until Rey had shown him the photographic evidence, that Shinn had to admit that such could be 'possible'. Yet, the more than Shinn considered the idea, the less likely it seemed, and the doubts wouldn't leave him.

However, Shinn cleared his head and focused on the battle and helped ZAFT forces begin to advance once more. Yet, as things were starting to shift back into ZAFT's favor, Shinn spotted a gold colored mobile suit working its way through his allies. Shinn headed for the golden suit but was slowed down by Orb and Federation machines. Shinn either disabled or destroyed them as he kept moving towards his target. Once in range, Shinn began firing at the Akatsuki, but his opponent dodged and shot back. Between blocking with his beam shield and trying to close the distance, Shinn found that his opponent wouldn't let him get all that close. So, he brought out his long-range beam cannon, aimed and fired at his opponent, yet the beam hit then bounced off and back towards the Destiny.

Shinn moved out of the way of his own beam coming back at him, and he decided that the sword just would be the best way to end this. He utilized the Destiny's mirage colloid, which created after-images to confuse his enemies and it allowed him to get in close. However, more enemy mobile suits appeared and attacked Shinn, protecting the Akatsuki. Shinn disabled them and refocused on the gold suit for it seemed to be the 'commander unit'. Cagalli drew the twin beam sabers and shot forward and began clashing with the Destiny, others had just given their lives for her and she wouldn't let that be done in vain. But, it became clear that the pilot of the mobile suit she was now fighting, was skilled and experienced.

While the two mobile suits fought, the Archangel came into range of the battle and took in the scene. It was at about the same time that the Minerva noticed the Archangel's arrival as the Archangel identified the Minerva was among the ZAFT forces. For Athrun who was down in the Archangel's CIC since he was still injured but insisted he helped, the sight of the Akatsuki fighting the Destiny was horrible. It was worse since he knew both pilots going at one another and he didn't want either to die.

The Destiny quickly managed to gain the upper hand over the Akatsuki, first slicing its shield and then using its beam boomerang to clip off the Akatsuki's left arm. Shinn added the second beam boomerang the Destiny had, sending it at the Akatsuki to end the fight. Athrun could only shout out Cagalli's name and watch helpless as Cagalli was about to die.

However, it was not to be, for at that critical moment two object finished their descent through the Earth's atmosphere. The Burst Freedom shifted out of its flight mode which Kira had used for the descent, it had made atmospheric reentry easier to do and the Eternal Justice did the same. Kira immediately realized two things, Cagalli was in imminent and life-threatening danger, and this battle he was getting into would get messier before it ended. Still, Kira had the 'Xiphias 3' railguns on the Freedom's shoulders swing forward and took aim, firing off shots that intercepted and destroyed the beam boomerangs that were sailing towards Cagalli.

The Akatsuki was sent back by the blasts from the destroyed beam boomerangs and that acted as a bit of a distraction for Shinn as well. Shinn however, was brought back on task as alarms warned him of incoming attacks sounded. Looking forward and upward, Shinn saw something charging towards him with what appeared to be beam sabers drawn. He backed up and avoided the sabers swinging at him, before he focused on identifying what had just attacked him. The sight that met his eyes, well if Shinn hadn't been wearing a helmet, he would have rubbed his eyes to clear them of something that shouldn't be there. In front of him, was a mobile suit that looked more than uncannily like the X10A Freedom, which couldn't be since Shinn had destroyed it more than a month ago. Yet, as Shinn studied the suit, it was clear it wasn't the same machine, but the design for it was based on the Freedom obviously.

Memories of the fight against the Freedom even flashed through Shinn's mind, and what followed as he stared at the mobile suit facing him. "The Freedom… but how can that be, how could the pilot have survived the sword I sent through the torso and the blast that followed," Shinn questioned to himself.

Shinn certainly wasn't the only one that was shocked to see a machine that looked so similar to the Freedom. Those on and from the Minerva ranged from feeling shocked to unhappy to see the machine appear when it had. The effort that had gone into taking down the Archangel and the Freedom had been huge and hadn't come without a high price paid. And by the look of it, those efforts had been for not in the end since the 'Freedom' and the Archangel were still around. Then, there was the other machine with the Freedom, which kind of looked similar to the X09A Justice, but not as much as the other looked like the Freedom.

Cagalli was surprised and happy to see the Freedom again, even if it was a different version of it. Kira had headed up into space close to a week ago and that was the last time she had seen them, and a moment ago, Cagalli thought that farewell might end out being the last time to see them, both when those beam boomerangs had been flying towards her. "Kira… is that you," she asked over the radio.

"Sorry I didn't get here earlier Cagalli, go on ahead to Orb's Defense Headquarters, I'll take care of things here," Kira replied.

"Gotcha," Cagalli said and resumed her journey towards Defense Headquarters.

"Miss Murrue, please let Lacus land on the Archangel," Kira communicated to the Archangel.

Kira then moved forward towards the Destiny, forcing Shinn to go onto the defensive momentarily, while Lacus piloted the Eternal Justice to land in the left leg of the Archangel. The Destiny and Freedom became focused on fighting one another as both the Archangel and the Minerva came out of the water and faced-off against each other. Weapons were deployed on both ships and then they began firing at one another.

-Line Break-

As Cagalli kept getting closer to Orb's Defense Headquarters, the destruction the battle was bringing could be seen everywhere she looked. Ships were being sunk or destroyed, mobile suits shot down or exploding in the air, all over two sides refusing to stop their hatred and vendettas. It was harsh to see Orb in this state once again for Cagalli, but her sadness was put aside as she had to focus on shooting down others in her path. Along the way, Kisaka and others that had been with her before joined back up with her, "Cagalli, are you okay," asked Kisaka.

Some of the other pilots also asked if Cagalli was alright, showing their loyalty to her yet, Cagalli knew that time was of the essence right now. "I'm landing at headquarters, back me up," she ordered.

At the same time, a descent pod had come down from above, ahead of them were the three mobile suits that had come from the Normandy; the Kyrios, the Virtue and the Rapture, falling towards the battle. The three mobile suits from the Normandy didn't slow down as they fell towards the water and the fighting, letting gravity contribute to their acceleration and momentum. When they slammed down into the water close together, it sent up a huge tower of water and creating high waves from the epicenter of the impact. The waves didn't affect those flying in the air, but the ships and those in the water, the waved tossed them around, throwing them off for moments. Those moments were taken advantage of by the defending forces of Orb, as they redoubled their efforts to push back ZAFT.

And just after the splash and the waves came, the descent pod opened, and three mobile suits dropped out of it. The suits were bulky, it's arms and legs were light purple in color and the rest was black, other than the for the housing of the optic camera which was red. Each one had a bazooka/launcher which had a bazooka on top of a beam cannon as well as a longer than normal hilt for an enhanced beam saber. There were beam shield generators on each forearm and an emitter on the lower torso which used mirage colloid technology and could create a stream attack. The three mobile suits spread out a bit from where they landed looking over the battlefield.

The three pilots in the mobile suits, the ZGMF-XX9T DOM Troopers, were some that were sympathetic to Lacus and the cause she fought for with the Federation. The first was Hilda Harken, a former ZAFT red, the second Herbert Von Reinhard and ZAFT green, and Mars Simeon also a ZAFT green. "Did I ever tell you how much I hate Earth's gravity," posed Herbert.

Mars snickered a bit, but Hilda cut over them both, "Cut the chatter you two, let's do what we're here to do." The other two agreed, "This is for Miss Lacus."

The three DOM Troopers moved or rather sailed forward, shooting ZAFT mobile suits as they went. Others on the field took notice of the DOM Troopers, yet Lacus informed the Archangel that those from the descent pod and the three machines that had been with them were allies who had offered their services and to tell the Cagalli and the defending Orb forces the same.

Meanwhile, Cagalli arrived at Orb's Defense Headquarters which was still held by allied forces, though ZAFT was trying to take the position. She exited the Akatsuki and headed inside the structure and entered the command center. Colonel Soga saluted Cagalli, "Lady Cagalli, it is wonderful to see you safe and the morale boost is certainly needed ma'am," he greeted

"How bad is the current situation," Cagalli asked, part of her not wanting to know how bad things were.

Soga frowned a bit, "It could be worse Lady Cagalli, but not by all that much right now. The reinforcements we've gotten so far have helped in the efforts to defend Orb, but ZAFT is still pressing forward slowly."

"And what do we got on Lord Djibril, have we found him yet? We might be able to get ZAFT to agree to stop their attack if we offer to give him over," Cagalli posed.

Soga shook his head, "We have everyone we can searching for him. All public and private launching facilities have been locked down as of a few minutes ago," he answered.

Soga would have gone on, but the doors to the room opened and none other than Yuna Roma Seiran, the one of those who brought on the current situation. Cagalli was mad at what Yuna had done, for Orb was in the circumstances it was because of his lies. He looked around he then spoke, "What is going on here, why is ZAFT attacking, they were told that the one they are after isn't here," Yuna demanded.

Cagalli was about to rail on how Yuna was the one who caused ZAFT to start attacking Orb before she punched him, but she didn't get the chance. For two officers came up behind Yuna and restrained him by forcing his hands behind his back. Yuna of course, was not happy with the action, "What are you fools doing?!" snapped Yuna, "Don't you know who I am?! Let me go, you can't do this to me!"

Soga took a few steps forward, "Yuna Roma Seiran, you are being restrained as you are accused of the crimes of treason and sedition. It is in your best interests to be quiet and cooperate," he stated.

Cagalli stared at Colonel Soga, for to accuse another, especially one of the 'noble families' of Orb of treason AND sedition was a serious thing to do and you didn't joke about. Yuna was looking incredulously at Soga, "You can't be serious, you can't accuse me, a Seiran, of treason, let alone sedition, it's preposterous," Yuna shot back.

Soga folded his arms, his serious expression not changing, "It wasn't my decision, though I agree with it wholeheartedly. All the members of the Representative Council are the ones that have placed crimes of treason and sedition on your head."

Yuna was shaking his head, wide eyed, "That can't be," he uttered.

"Lord Uzumi specifically ordered your arrest should you appear here at Headquarters," Soga stated.

"That's impossible," shouted Yuna, clearly becoming furious. "This is conspiracy, I'll see you all discharged and imprisoned for the rest of your lives at a bare minimum!"

Cagalli rushed forward at Yuna as he continued to rant and slugged him hard in the face, for she'd had enough of his antics! Then, Cagalli grabbed Yuna by the collar and yanked him up, "ENOUGH!" shouted Cagalli. "You have caused an abundancy of crap already Yuna! Now where is he, where is Lord Djibril, it's because he's here that ZAFT is attacking Orb right now!"

"I don't know," Yuna replied simply.

Cagalli shook Yuna hard in fury, "Stop helping that back-stabbing monster! He left behind his comrades and associates to take the fall for him at Heaven's Base already. Djibril will do the same to you and leave all here to die while he gets away to keep pursuing his vendetta against Coordinators," she snapped. "Now, where is he Yuna?!"

"I told you I don't know! He was at the Seiran residence earlier, but by now, who knows where he could be," he answered.

Cagalli was flabbergasted, not only had Yuna and Unato brought in one of the most dangerous men alive right now into Orb, but they also left him unsupervised to do as he pleased. Djibril was classified as an official war criminal since shortly after the giant mobile suit rampaged across the Euros Coalition. Those who were classified as war criminals by the Federation couldn't be trusted in anything. Yuna might be an ignorant idiot at times, but even this should have been obvious no no to him, and Unato should have known much better than to allow this! Cagalli pointed to the door, "Take him away," she ordered.

Yuna was dragged away, complaining as he was taken from the room, while Cagalli turned back to the rest in the room, "We need to find Djibril, if we can hand him over to ZAFT, they will be more likely to listen, until then, the utmost effort is to be put into hold the defensive lines," she barked.

Soga nodded, "Yes ma'am," he turned to the rest, "You heard Lady Cagalli, find Djibril and all forces are to hold the line until we do!"

-Line Break-

The Freedom and the Destiny danced about each other, the Destiny using its beam rifle while the Freedom was switching between its beam rifles and the railguns. Shinn was finding this skirmish with the Freedom quite different than the last time. It was close to the opposite in fact as he was being pressed rather than him pressing. This Freedom had a better arsenal and its mobility was unreal, whether that was due to the odd light that was coming from the mobile suit or something else, Shinn couldn't say. He was blocking the beams shot at him that he wasn't able to dodge with the Destiny's beam shields and got in occasional shots in with his beam rifle. But, no matter the distance Shinn seemed to get, the Freedom wouldn't let him off the defensive position he was pushed into.

From Kira's end, he was amazed at the capabilities of the Burst Freedom as he witnessed them. Sure, Tyler's spiel had given the impression that the mobile suit would be in a league of its own but seeing why is different. The arsenal was neat, but to Kira it was the rest of what the Freedom had that set the suit apart. The Burst Freedom and an improved version of the HiMAT system which added to the Burst Freedom's incredible mobility, combined with the Voiture Lumiere propulsion alone out did the HiMAT that the original Freedom had easily.

The power the Burst Freedom had to work with really did seemed close to limitless, between the Hyper-Deuterion engine and the solar reactor. The Hyper-Deuterion engine was an amazing improvement on the nuclear reactors that the Freedom and the Justice had. The change in the efficiency gave around three to four times what the Freedom and the Justice had to work with before running out. Yet, the solar reactor was even more incredible than the engine honestly, for it was semi-perpetual where the Hyper-Deuterion engine wasn't. That meant to a certain extent, the solar reactor wouldn't run out of energy as it produced particles internally. Plus, the reactor also contributed to the mobility and propulsion of the Burst Freedom among other things. Dodging his opponent, wasn't something one could do blindfolded, but it was not hard for Kira, for he was also keeping up the pressure on the opposing mobile suit.

Kira could tell this mobile suit that he was going against was not one to take lightly, between the range of movement that the suit and its use of mirage colloid from the wings, creating after images certainly made that clear. From the weapons that Kira could identify, range was not an issue or shortcoming of his opponent, they had something for every range. Yet, whoever the pilot was, the way they were fighting hinted that their mind wasn't focused on the battle entirely. Perhaps they had doubts about something to do with the fight, Kira couldn't be sure.

When Shinn finally managed to put enough distance from his opponent, to bring out his long-range beam cannon and took aim. The Freedom had both its "Fastus" multi-phase beam cannons swing up and over its shoulders to bear on the Destiny. The Destiny fired its cannon slight before the Freedom shot back in response. Two beams collide with one another, yet the third beam kept going and went pass the Destiny, but not with a lot of margin when it came to distance. Shinn backed up, worried a tad at seeing that this Freedom had not one, but two high powered beams, which looked to be similar to what the Abyss used for its multi-phased beam cannon.

Shinn switched over to using the Destiny's "Arondight" beam sword and began slashing at the Freedom. However, Kira evaded the beam sword slashing at him, and felt the onset of SEED mode coming on at around the same time. Kira stored his beam rifles in their holsters on the side skirts and readied himself as his opponent charged forward. Shinn was whipping his beam sword down at the Freedom in a vertical slice that could cut the mobile suit in half, but the sword came to an abrupt halt. The Freedom had caught the sword using its beam shields and held the weapon at bay.

Meanwhile, Aila had been fighting on this messy battlefield and had the time to wonder how Shinn was doing. He had been troubled about going into this fight, Aila had seen the signs even if others hadn't. What was troubling him, maybe it was what had happened between him and Athrun or something to do with Orb, she couldn't say. Aila knew that going onto a battlefield with conniptions was risky and dangerous. She had considered having Shinn stay on the Minerva and have Rey go out instead, but there hadn't been enough of a reason to do so at the time.

So, she had begun working her way over in the direction that Shinn had gone when they had parted ways. Shinn had potential, gifts and talents that were rare plus, he was a decent teen and those weren't as easy to find as they once had been. However, when she actually caught sight of the Destiny, she found it was engaged with a mobile suit that looked a great deal like the X10A Freedom. Aila kept making her way closer to Shinn, though she was being slowed down by Orb's defending forces. She had to give Orb's defenders, they were putting up a heck of a fight, their dedication was admirable.

As the Freedom held the Destiny's beam sword, its beam rifles swung up to point forward as the Freedom's railguns pivoted forward as well. All four weapons fired at the same time, the railguns nailed the Destiny in the shoulder and upper torso area, though the suit's phase shift protected the machine. Yet, the same couldn't be said for the bolts from the Freedom's beam rifles, as one shot pierced the Destiny's beam cannon, effectively disabling it. Nevertheless, the Freedom went further by jerking the beam sword away from the Destiny, leaving its opponent with its beam rifle to work with only.

Shinn a second later realized that he could have just been killed by the Freedom. The railguns may have been the only shot from his opponent that made good contact, and if not for phase shift, then he would be dead. But the Freedom's beam rifles had also taken shots at him, how was he supposed to know that the mobile suit he was facing could have its stored weapons be used remotely?! One of the beams had taken out the high-energy beam cannon, it wasn't usable anymore and would need repair. Then the Freedom had taken his beam sword and chucked it away, just leaving Shinn with his beam rifle. Understanding how close he had gotten to death, scared Shinn but also made him angry, for it felt like he was being toyed with somehow and Shinn hated the feeling. Clear focus came to Shinn as SEED mode came on as he redoubled his efforts to take down the Freedom.

Aila was in shock at what she had just seen this new Freedom suit do to the Destiny. In one attack/technique it had just about fully disarmed the Destiny by damaging the high-energy beam cannon and taken away the beam sword. The new Freedom was proving that it was more dangerous than its predecessor, even in a league of its own. The mobility she saw it had was crazy and shouldn't be possible. And if it had the same pilot as the X10A Freedom did, then battling the suit would be even more of a challenging task. Then, there were odd particles of light coming from the mobile suit, what they were or what their purpose was, Aila couldn't begin to guess.

She would have gotten over to where Shinn was, but sudden increased chatter over the com-lines caught Aila's attention. When she glanced over to where the thick of the fighting was, an object burst out of the water. The object appeared to be some kind of odd aircraft that was white overall with orange for some parts, though the nose and tail seconds were black. The machine had two gold fins on either side of the nose array and another gold fin at the back of the nose. There also was what looked like a 'shield' on the left side of the craft which wasn't mirrored on the other side. Finally, a container was towards the back of the aircraft and the machine was putting off the same odd light that the new Freedom did.

Even as Aila watched, missiles were launched from the container, fourteen in total which flew towards allied mobile suits. After the missiles were fired, the contain the aircraft had detached and dropped to the ocean below. That was all Aila could view as Orb's defenders began occupying her attention once again. Yet, when Aila glanced down at the power readouts for the Osiris, the levels were getting low, meaning that she would need to soon return to the Minerva and resupply.

-Line Break-

The planned descent and entry into the water went as expected and had the hoped-for result. The waves that had been created by the impact to the water had thrown a good portion of ZAFT forces off for a period of time. The exchange for the impact was the pilots in the mobile suits were rocked around heavily. Tanya Loussier kept calm as the shaking from the impact with the water came and went, much like Allelujah Haptism did in the Kyrios and Tieria Erde did in the Virtue. Once the entry was complete, the Kyrios had headed up to the surface and took to the air, while the Virtue made its way along the ocean floor towards land and the Rapture stayed underwater.

The Kyrios burst out of the water, container still attached and rose up into the air, its wings flipping out to their flight position. Allelujah was checking over the readouts Kyrios was giving and saw that everything was running as it should. As he looked forward and saw all the ZAFT mobile suits, a smile formed on his face. In a single moment, Allelujah switched over to the secondary persona that had developed during his conditioning at Lodonia, Hallelujah. Where Allelujah was the one that most saw on a regular basis as he was the 'nice one', Hallelujah was close to the complete polar opposite. Hallelujah was violent yet calculating, he loved and reveled in fighting so much that he had made his interest in what he called the 'art of killing'.

With Hallelujah in control, he wasted no time in acquiring targets to send the missiles in the container the Kyrios was carrying at. When he had his targets, Hallelujah pulled the trigger without hesitation. The fourteen missiles launched, and Hallelujah watched as the missile sailed and hit their targets, causing him to cackle with manically glee. With the missiles launched, Hallelujah armed bombs in the container and set them with timers that would have them detonate in forty seconds, then he disconnected and dropped the container. He then opened a com-channel to the Rapture, "Hey Tanya~ I'm sending a party favor down, so recommend you watch it~" Hallelujah said in a sing-song voice.

"I hear you Hallelujah, I'll watch out for myself," replied Tanya. "Tieria, depth charge on its way down, be careful."

"Acknowledged," Tieria said.

Hallelujah shifted the Kyrios into its mobile suit mode and zoomed towards the ZAFT machines, GN beam submachine gun at the ready. The particle beam weaponry proved to be effective against ZAFT forces and Hallelujah quickly became lost in the ecstasy that he felt practicing the art of killing. It was as an addiction to him and he never seemed to get enough of killing and watching others' lives come to their end.

Tanya in the Rapture below, was taking out the ZAFT GOOhNs, utilizing its cruising mode using the particle rifles, micro torpedoes and railguns. With the Raptures superior mobility due to its solar reactor and design, the GOOhNs were unable to keep up though they tried. Yet, they did back off somewhat when the Rapture switched over to its mobile suit mode and began swinging its scythe and more so when the beam blade activated. The Rapture's GN "Nivalhime" scythe had a prototype thermal beam blade that worked underwater, where previous beam blades did not function submerged in water.

As Tanya kept up her assault, the container from the Kyrios dropped sunk into the water. After about thirty seconds, the container exploded sending a concussive pressure wave out from the epicenter. The shockwave destroyed a number of the ZAFT mobile suits that are within range and scattered those that survived. The Rapture transformed to its submersible mode and climbed upward after the shockwave and broke the surface of the water, shifting over to its mobile suit mode, landing on one of the ZAFT Vosgulov-class submarines. Tanya had the two compact MAC guns begin charging as she took in targets, she brought up both shoulder binders and began firing off both railguns and particle rifles. She added the two high-energy beam cannons, which flipped over the suit's shoulders.

-Line Break-

The Minerva and Archangel were still firing at each other, neither scoring effective hits on their opponent. Talia was ordering the bridge crew with the intention to hit the Archangel's engines, for if the engines were damaged, mobility is lost and hitting the ship would be easier. Yet, Aila then connected a channel to the Minerva, "Captain, if you could tell Aves to be ready for repair and resupply, Shinn and I-" she was saying.

However, Rey came on the com-line to the bridge, cutting over Aila "Captain, we need to recall Shinn," he said.

"Rey you're interrupting," Talia chastise.

With how things were, recalling a mobile suit or multiple units was up to the field commander and the captain. So, Rey coming in and giving what sounded like orders was unacceptable as he was on standby and not the team lead. But before Talia could tell Rey to explain himself, Aila spoke again, "Captain, I was about to say that Shinn and I need to come in for repair and resupply before Rey came in. However, I would like to know why Rey is using the tone he is, for it certainly sounds like he's giving orders, not suggestions. As for you Rey," remarked Aila.

Rey once more cut over Aila, "The situation has change, it's unfavorable now," Rey stated, as if he hadn't listened to anything that Aila had said.

Talia was starting to really wonder what Gilbert had been thinking when he made Shinn and Rey members of FAITH. Shinn was fine, he hadn't changed all that much other than seeming to be dealing with personal issues, which he kept off the battlefield. Rey on the other hand, it was like manners were put aside and not used unless absolutely necessary and it wasn't helping in this. "Then as Aila was saying before you cut over her Rey, you and Lunamaria should be readying yourselves to go out and replace both Shinn and Aila," she replied.

"Of course, we will sortie, but Shinn has to come in first, his machine needs maintenance and resupply. If we want to win and succeed in this operation, that machine that Shinn is fighting has to be destroyed," Rey reasoned.

Talia's patience was growing thin with Rey being rude and out of line and was about to say so, but another beat her to the punch. "Rey Za Burrel, this isn't a solo mission for either you, Shinn Asuka or anyone else, this is a collaborative effort with allied forces. Should you be losing sight of that fact, then you can be and will be confined to your quarters or even a brig cell until this battle is over if that is required, regardless of you being a member of FAITH. So, if you wish to be seen as fit for duty, then remember your manners and stop on stepping on and over others!" Aila then focused back on Talia, "I agree on the need of maintenance and resupply for Shinn and myself, even if I think that there is an unnecessary actions and focus being emphasized right now."

Aila's com-channel closed, so Talia turned her attention to Rey, "See to informing Shinn then, but be quick. And as Aila said, you, nor Shinn are not to treat this a solo mission. You show signs of doing that, and you will be spending time in a brig cell, I'll personally see to that. Is that clear Rey," she returned.

"Yes ma'am," Rey replied.

Aila broke free from those attacking her and zoomed over towards the Destiny and the Freedom. Shinn on the other hand, was getting frustrated that every shot he made was missing the Freedom. His opponent kept dancing out of the way or got in a near hit every once and a while, but no real damage. "Shinn, back to the ship," came the voice of Rey.

Shinn glanced up to the vid-screen and saw Rey there, "Rey, why are you calling me now," Shinn snapped as he evaded the Freedom's attacks, "I'm busy at the moment!"

Rey didn't disappear, "Shinn the Destiny needs maintenance and resupply, if you want to take that guy down your fighting, you need to come back now," he insisted.

Shinn glanced down at the power readouts and noted that his power supply was at just above twenty percent currently. Although he was frustrated with the Freedom and its pilot as he had no success against them, yet after a couple of deep breaths he could see that Rey was right. However, it was unlikely that the Freedom would let him go to resupply like some sort of old-fashion gentleman. Yet suddenly, the Freedom began to be peppered with rapid shots from behind Shinn and to the left. Looking that direction, Shinn saw the Osiris approaching, firing of its homing missiles at he Freedom. "Shinn, get back to the Minerva, I'll follow you shortly," ordered Aila.

The Osiris leveled its twin vulcan guns and unloaded at the Freedom, drawing its attention from the Destiny. Shinn broke off from his assault on the Freedom and flew back towards the Minerva, the Osiris soon following it. Kira let the Gundam machines go, knowing that he hadn't seen the last of either of the them for this battle. Instead of going after them Kira flew the Freedom off into the thick of the fighting and began eliminating the ZAFT mobile suits.

-Line Break-

The Archangel

Athrun had gotten to his feet when he had heard Kira say that Lacus was in the other mobile suit with him that was landing on the Archangel. Meyrin had quickly stood up and helped him, as Athrun was still dealing with the effects of his injuries. Still, he managed to make it to the Archangel's hanger with Meyrin's help. When they got there, Lacus was getting out of the mobile suit that she had traveled in wearing a Federation pilot suit. Seeing Lacus alive and okay was heartening to Athrun, for he didn't doubt that she was being hunted for but a number of people even in space where he suspected she had gone at some point. "Lacus, you're alright, thank goodness," Athrun greeted.

Lacus turned to see Athrun being helped over to where she was, "Athrun, it's good to see you up and about at the very least," she replied.

Meyrin was rather surprised to see that the woman in front of her was Lacus Clyne, for the person she was viewing wasn't how or what she imagined. The youngest of the Clyne family was a famous singer, but also had fought in the previous war and was seen as a bit of a legend. She was an example that anyone could make a difference, for she had no training at first and she had helped determine the outcome of the First Alliance-PLANT War. She wasn't the singer that was named Lacus Clyne that was seen with the PLANT Chairman clearly. The individual before her didn't fit either image, she looked so… normal and ordinary. She looked back at Athrun, who was staring at the mobile suit that Lacus had come in.

The mobile suit's frame was similar to the X09A Justice, though it lacked the Fatum-00 unit, instead having two wings like the Aurora and four cannon structures, two on each wing on either side attached. There were still the two beam sabers at the hips and the CIWS guns as there had been before. But the beam rifle was a system kind along the lines of what the Osiris had and the shield on the left arm was smaller than before. Getting a view of a mobile suit that looked similar to the Justice did not help Athrun, it more implied that he would be expected to go out and fight again. Finally, Athrun found use of his voice, "The Justice," he posed.

"Yes," said Lacus simply.

Athrun faced Lacus, "For me," he asked.

"Maybe, I think that's up to you to decide," Lacus said.

Athrun felt irritation, "Up to me to decide? So what, am I supposed to be a soldier again and fight whomever I'm told?!"

Lacus said nothing to that but frowned slightly. But before anyone else said anything, there was a hum and from a small projection lens built into the Justice's head, an image began building right next to Lacus, Athrun and Meyrin. The image sharped into a person which Athrun and Lacus knew well, none other than Tyler McGregor. Once the image of Tyler was finished, it bowed, "If this message is playing, then it means that the Eternal Justice made it to the Archangel as intended and very likely not with me in it or I would be saying this in person."

There was a pause, before Tyler continued, "Athrun, I do hope you are listening, I recorded this message for you my friend most of all," Tyler brought up a hand and shook his pointer finger, "and I took the time to really think about what to say. You know that I don't have the same gift with words like my dear sweet mother does, so give me your attention." Tyler stopped and took a 'breath',"Kira has regaled me about how you got yourself into some rather harsh situations as of late and even gave me some details. Said details haven't been pretty to hear and make me seriously question if I'm really the reckless one of the trio. Because, I usually am seen to be so by a clear margin, neither you or Kira can really deny that."

Athrun could only stare at the image of his friend, knowing the last line he stated was very true. Tyler continued after pausing for a moment, "But, that is a discussion for later, let me just get to the point. You are to stop beating yourself up about being tricked by Durandal, and you better not be contradicting me right now about this! I wouldn't doubt you have been beating yourself up about it and Lacus or Kira will tell me if you are."

Athrun felt like such an idiot, but like normal, Tyler was being blunt and straight forward and dealing with what he saw as the 'elephant in the room'. If there was one person Athrun could count on to give him the truth as it was regardless of how harsh it may be, Tyler was that individual. Tyler put a hand to his temple, "My friend, I've said it before and I'll say it again, we all make mistakes, it's a fact of life and is part of being human. What matters and is the measure of an individual is what they do following the mistake. So, you've learned that Durandal is sneaky, untrustworthy and manipulating punk, congratulations. You aren't the only one that he convinced his views had merit without saying what he wanted. The man had me going for a time, so join the freaking club!"

Athrun had to work hard not to laugh at how Tyler was saying what he was, true as it was, Athrun wasn't being blamed for anything, though he believed he should didn't stop, "If you really want to embarrass yourself as I already have, Kira seemed to suspect him first out of the three of us, and you know how he can be slow on the uptake more than you or I tend to be. And if Lacus is listening to this, remember, I don't say what I do about Kira to be mean, for I care about him. It is my own way of expressing such and Kira knows that and has become accustom to it thank you very much."

Athrun did laugh at hearing that, for it was kind of humorous that Kira had seen Durandal for being untrustworthy first and even more funny to know Tyler predicted Lacus would be listening. Tyler had curtailed his 'unique' way of telling Kira things that were to help him at least in front of Lacus as she had shown she didn't like them at all. Tyler paused and waved a hand, "Anyways, it is my understanding that your health isn't the best and I of all people know how it is to be battling poor health and yet wanting to do something to help." Tyler gestured at the Justice behind him, "And so, this mobile suit was sent down by my decision, since I believe you either are or will be feeling useless at some point. It is my version of a helpful solution, should you feel inclined to be gung-ho and not listen to others advice, like me sometimes."

Athrun was in shock at understanding that Tyler had planned this out to help him and likely had to do quite a lot of work for it. Tyler smiled as he paused once more, then gained a serious expression, "Athrun listen, I know the world may seem a confusing and dark place these days but, don't let that blind or discourage you my friend. The low you're feeling happens to the best of us, I know I had such a number of times, the time after Jachin Due is an example. They pass Athrun, I promise you, time keeps moving forward, and you're left to relying on those who care about you, like your friends that worry about you and yes, Kira and I do worry about you even if we show the idea differently. And when you try to justify either to go out or not with you being a soldier, remember I'm one too buddy. Whether a soldier or a civilian, you are first and foremost yourself Athrun, and you choose who you are, no one else does."

The simple truths that Tyler was stating were ones Athrun knew but hadn't been practicing as he really should have. Perhaps that was one of the points that made him feel like such an idiot lately. Tyler resumed after taking a breath, "The future isn't set, we constantly determine it through our actions, but nor should the past hold you back from going forward."

That line caught Athrun's attention, "Ask yourself what kind of future it is you want to see Athrun and once you know that, then do what you see needed to reach it man! The Eternal Justice here is to be used as you see fit Athrun, may it serve you well in whatever endeavor you get yourself into. However, please, no suicidal jaunts, that's more something I get do on rare occasions though I try avoiding such, Sakura has been helping me on that against my freewill. Still, good luck Athrun, don't forget that Kira and I are rooting for you probably the loudest, go forth and kick a** while you go!"

The image of Tyler faded and disappeared. Lacus smiled slightly, "I don't think I could have gotten across what I wanted to say better than Tyler has, other than the last line," she remarked.

Athrun was left to his thoughts, for what Tyler had said had given a lot to consider. As usual, Tyler somehow knew that Athrun had been blaming himself for being tricked by Durandal's words and had chastised him for it. The other things that Tyler had said had cleared most of the chaos and confusion that had been plaguing Athrun. It made seeing the way forward was much easier to understand and decided how to act. Honestly, Tyler may have said he doesn't have the same gift for words that his mother does, but he still somehow knew what to say like her.

With his decision made, Athrun left the room and put on a pilot suit, and the minute after closing the Federation suit, the internal medical system began running, helping Athrun deal with his injuries as they were. He came back into the hanger, walking shakily on his own feet towards the Eternal Justice. Athrun received shocked looks and even gaping from the mechanics that watched him ascend up to the Justice's cockpit and sit in the pilot seat before it descended down into the mobile suit. Most of them not believing he was up to getting into a cockpit without help but also going out to the battlefield in his condition.

Athrun took a moment to take in the layout of the cockpit as it was different yet had elements that were familiar. There were the screens forward and to either side that made up the panoramic view as there were normally. Ahead and just below the forward optical screen, there was the main sensor display however, there were two smaller system displays on either side of the forward screen. For the suit's controls, the throttle and control stick had been apparently combined into two control sticks, one for each hand. Most of the non-main controls were either on the forward system display or to the sides as it had been with the Justice. The two com-screens were still in the forward top area on both sides, like was still standard in most mobile suits. Athrun finished looking around the cockpit and activated the Justice's OS.

MOBILE SUIT S2 OPERATION SYSTEM
Generation
Unified
Nucleus
Drive
Assault
Module

G.U.N.D.A.M Unity System
_Series GND200-O7 SR/NR 01-32169_
Federation Military

The OS booted up faster than Athrun expected, and he was kind of impressed at the OS efficiency. Athrun looked over what this mobile suit had to work with, and he was stunned. The first fact that was obvious, this machine had two separate power sources, one nuclear based and the other was unlike anything Athrun had seen. The nuclear source was a different version of the Hyper-Deuterion engine than what the Destiny and the Legend, but it ran on the same general principles. The other power source was something called a Gundam Nucleus Solar reactor or simply GN reactor. From what Athrun could tell, the GN reactor was better than the Hyper-Deuterion engine in the long run as it was semi-perpetual.

Looking over the arsenal of the Eternal Justice, Athrun found that the Justice had two of the same type of beam sabers and CIWS guns. The main offensive options of the Eternal Justice were the weapon system that is a combination of weapons and its remote assault bits. The "Valor" weapon system was shaped much like a thin version of the other federation fighters' nose section. The defensive part of the shield had a deflection field generator that could deploy a field to deflect incoming beams. The weapons of the Valor consisted of a high-energy beam rifle under the main shield's structure, then there's a particle beam vulcan mounted under the shield between the rifle and shield. Lastly, a beam sword emitter that was projected along both sides of the forward section and would be longer than beam sabers.

The remote weapon bits, of which there were six, four of them had more than one setting or mode to utilize for attacks, while the other two only had a rifle and blade configuration. The large bits had a rifle and beam blade, they also had two more barrels to make a rapid firing weapon as well which were the three modes; rifle, barrage and blade mode. The four large assault bits and are stored in docks alongside each of the two large back wings and could be swung forward while in their docks to be used in combat. The two smaller ones were docked on the side skirts and could also be swung up and forward for use in combat.

This mobile suit also had a flight mode to work with, the Valor weapon system being the nose section. The large back wings shift to come alongside the torso and the assault bits move to be in the center of the wings, having one above and the other below on bother sides. The smaller remote bits that are attached to the side hip skirts shift and form the tail of the flight mode by the rear thrusters which are set in the feet. The forward flight array moves forward from where it connects to the backpack and attaches with the Valor weapon system.

Once Athrun had a decent understanding of the mobile suit, he had the Justice moved to the catapult. Chief Murdoch was apprehensive about letting Athrun go out to the field in his condition, but the kid wouldn't listen to reason. The man even contacted the bridge and informed Murrue what Athrun was doing, but Lacus vouched for Athrun to go out. When Athrun got into the linear catapult, the catapult opened, and the shutters closed to his left. He gripped the controls and looked forward, "Athrun Zala, Justice launching!"

-Line Break-

Orb Territory

The fleet of Federation vessels that were on their way to Orb to assist their allies against the ZAFT force that was assaulting them drew closer to Orb's mainland. As they did, they began to see some of the signs of the battle as they rounded the Marshal Islands. There was another fleet on its way toward ZAFT's Carpentaria to participate in an operation that was going to happen soon enough against the base. Among the fleet heading for Orb, was the second Archangel-class ship the Dominion, under the command of Natarle Badgiruel. The Dominion was traveling under the water, keeping eyes out watching for ZAFT submarines and mobile suits as the other ships traveled above.

Natarle had been surprised when the Dominion had been ordered down to Earth, even with what was going on lately between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT along with Logos. But, those had been the orders, from Admiral Maharaja Karn who was over the Federation's Space Forces and the Dominion was a part of the Federation's Space Forces soon after the First Alliance-PLANT War. After descent, the Dominion was assigned to the seaborn fleets that was going to reinforce the Orb Union, which brought things to where they were currently.

Natarle would admit, after working for the Federation military for a little while, a lot of things with the Federation had made much more sense than they did before when it came to them. The reason many policies and tactics had been baffling before, was there had been half or more of the facts that went into decision were not made public. The Federation didn't say what measures and procedures they had in place, only what events could trigger them was a good example. Although, Natarle was impressed with the training Federation personnel had, not just their pilots, but all of them as some were added to the Dominion's crew.

She came out of her thoughts as her second-in-command, one Mark Dole, who had stayed with the Dominion even after taking the shot that Muruta Azrael had sent her way spoke, "Captain, we're detecting the first few Vosgulov-class submarines ahead of us, and it appears that ZAFT hasn't stopped their assault yet," he said.

Natarle nodded, "Go to level one battle stations, prepare to surface the ship, have torpedoes loaded and deploy Valiants, then have our pilots standby in their mobile suits," she ordered.

Back in the battle, the Archangel was still engaged in a fight with the Minerva, neither having done significant damage to the other. The two ships were still trying to disable the other using their full range of weapons they had to work with. During the continued exchange between the ships, the skygrasper that had been given to Neo Roanoke before the defense of Orb to go where he wished when he left the Archangel reappeared. Neo shot down some of the missiles that the Archangel's CIWS guns missed.

For the crew of the Archangel, to see the face of Neo again, was unexpected, "Sorry about popping up unannounced, but you see, I have a score to settle with the Minerva. Don't worry, you guys will win, and that's because I have the real knack of making the impossible possible," Neo said, before closing the com-channel.

That line from the man that was Mu La Flaga, yet was as someone else, hit Murrue hard as it rekindled the hope that Mu was still in there somewhere. It was the catch phrase Mu used most often, especially when he would have a crazy idea, that somehow worked normally. She'd come to love Mu and she missed him more than words could ever say, it had felt like a part of herself had died the day Mu had been shot down. Leaving Neo Roanoke had been her way of biding her final farewell to Mu, yet to hear the phrase again, in the same voice of Mu and from the one that looked like him, it affected her greatly.

Meanwhile, at Orb's Defense Headquarters the situation that the battle had become was hard for Cagalli to listen to, and reports of not finding Djibril weren't helping in any way. The man had to be somewhere, his goal was to escape from Orb and yet the longer he was missing, the more likely he may escape. Little if any place on Earth would shelter him any longer, that left going up to space as the most viable option. However, all public and private means to launch a shuttle or craft to space were locked down. Kaguya was secure, so that was not an option for Djibril, the other public space port was also shutdown, that only left private launching facilities and there weren't all that many of those.

There were allied reinforcements coming, but they were still minutes away and every minute counted right now. What was left of the defending forces were doing everything they could to hold ZAFT forces at bay and the additional forces that had dropped from orbit were helping. Yet, ZAFT was still advancing slowly, they hadn't been halted so far and the lives lost were mounting.

As this was going on, the resupply and repairs for the Destiny and the Osiris were finished. Shinn and Aila headed back to the hanger, Lunamaria would have followed, but Rey stopped her, "You'll stay here Lunamaria," he said.

"But why, there is a lot to do out there on the field, the more the better right," Luna challenged.

Rey gave her a small smile, "I understand you wanting to go out Luna. But, we need you to say here, if Djibril bolts, then the Impulse will have the best chance to catch him. We're counting on you to finish the job if we can't do it in time," Rey returned.

Lunamaria didn't answer immediately, but eventually nodded, before Rey left to board the Legend and go out with Shinn and Aila. Before Shinn boarded the Destiny, Aila called out to him, "Shinn."

Shinn turned to look at Aila, "Yes ma'am?"

"Don't forget, that losing a fight is okay when you come back, it means you're alive and can have another chance. Do not be reckless and think about potentially sacrificing yourself to obtain a win, keep that in mind," Aila stated.

Shinn nodded, "Will do ma'am," he said then boarded the Destiny.

The Osiris and the Destiny launched first, followed by the Legend shortly after them. The Minerva concentrated on sinking the Archangel, but the Archangel was making the task difficult. Then, Neo's skygrasper got above the Minerva and let loose a missile that as luck would have it made it through the gun fire of the Minerva's CIWS. The missile struck the Isolde cannon, taking it out of commission, but one of the Tristan beam cannons scored a hit on the skygrasper's engines.

Neo glanced down at the skygrasper's displays and knew that he wouldn't be flying for much longer. He swung around to point toward the Archangel then connected a com-channel to the ship, "I might have gotten a bit enthusiastic, you think you can take me in then captain," he posed.

Neo maneuvered the skygrasper to line up with the Archangel's right leg as his aircraft was having growing trouble flying. Yet, as the catapult opened and Neo aimed to land, there was a flash of a scene that had the Archangel in the same position in his mind, but the leg wasn't open there was just part of it missing to have it open. Neo shook his head to clear it of the odd sensation and accompanying image and focused in landing the plane he was flying. The shaking as the wheels of the skygrasper contacting the catapult deck, told him that he was down and alive, that's what counted.

-Line Break-

Athrun, after launching from the Archangel, shifted the Justice into its flight mode, which gave him a bit more speed. He then began looking for the Freedom, for when Athrun found the Freedom, he would find the Destiny as well. Athrun still believed that he could reason with Shinn and help him see the truth that he saw now. Shinn had a good heart and such seemed to becoming rarer these days. Athrun thought he could have told Shinn the truth if Rey hadn't interrupted when he was escaping Carpentaria, he was confident of that.

Shinn was being blinded and used by Gilbert Durandal to pursue and obtain his goals just like so many were. What those goals were going towards Athrun couldn't say, but they weren't what the Chairman stated they were. It had become clear to Athrun that Durandal was working for a future that required giving up things that never should be abandoned. Shinn was fighting for a world that he would very unlikely see or enjoy, for whatever kind of world Durandal was trying to create, people like himself, Kira, Tyler and even Shinn would not be welcomed at all.

So, in this fight for Orb, Athrun would fight for what he believed, or like Tyler had said in his message, 'the future you wish to see'. And the future that Athrun wanted to see, was one that everyone had the opportunity to live and experience happiness. Personally, the future that Athrun wanted was one with Cagalli and a family with her, simple perhaps, but that's what Athrun wanted in his heart. And so, Athrun searched for the Freedom, shooting down other ZAFT mobile suits as he went.

Kira meanwhile, saw the mobile suit from before coming back towards him and it was accompanied by a second suit. And as Kira looked at the second mobile suit, there was something about it that was hauntingly familiar, but he couldn't place what. He continued dodging the Destiny's attacks, but the second mobile suit didn't stay out of the fight for long. It got behind the Freedom pointed its rifle along with six other parts connected to the suit's backpack forward. The rifle and other parts fired beams at the Freedom at the same time, Kira flipped out of the way of the beams. The Legend kept following the Freedom and using its beam assault cannons and beam rifle to put on the pressure.

It was when Kira evade the third attack, that it clicked in this his mind why this suit seemed so familiar. Kira couldn't help but mutter the thought, "It's like his, it like Creuset's!"

Yes, this mobile suit was close to the same idea as the mobile suit Rau Le Creuset used during the Second Battle of Jachin Due, the X12 Providence. It had pods like the Providence and Kira even got a similar feeling around the machine as he did with Providence and Creuset. Flashes of fighting Creuset went through Kira's mind and those weren't good memories for him at all. An alarm going off, alerted Kira and brought his mind back to the fight he was in and saw that the Destiny was charging at him from behind.

The Freedom's railguns swung back to point at the Destiny as it came at the Freedom, activating its palm beam cannon. The railguns fired, and Shinn had no time to dodge, and so, the railgun shots nailed the Destiny, forcing him backwards. Kira aimed one of his beam rifles at the Destiny, intending to disable it. However, before he could fire, the Legend attacked the Freedom, drawing attention away from the Destiny. Kira combined his beam rifles and had his multi-phase beam cannons come to firing position to point at the Legend. Rey had the Legend swung its gun pods forward and aimed his weapons at the Freedom that help the mistake as Rau had always referred to him as.

They both fired their weapons at the same time, Kira was forced to hold the combined rifle with one hand and activate the beam shield to block the beams. Rey had to do the same as the Freedom, the Legend was pushed back away for the Freedom from the beam of the combined rifles. Yet, the Freedom's heavy beam cannon hit the two large DRAGOON pods at the top of the Legend's backpack, destroying them both. Both the Burst Freedom and the Legend were sent flipping and tumbling away from each other. Kira was attempting to stabilize the Freedom's flight quickly as this was a combat situation. The GN particles coming from the Freedom increased in density around the mobile suit, forming a field for defense as the Freedom's systems were programed to do in an emergency.

"Now's your chance Shinn get him," Rey shouted as the Legend tumbled downward, fighting to regain control of his mobile suit.

Shinn brought out his beam cannon and took aim, ignoring the light that was around the Freedom which seemed to be getting 'thicker'. When Shinn had a lock on the Freedom, he fired the beam cannon, yet the beam disbursed when it came into contact with the 'light' surrounding the Freedom. That wasn't supposed to happen, and Shinn didn't know how that was possible. Whatever that light was, it shouldn't be able to disburse a beam, it wasn't a reflector… was it?

Shinn started setting up for another shot, since the Freedom's tumbling was lessening, opportunity was fading. However, an alarm came for Shinn and he moved out of the way just in time as a beam zipped past him far too close for comfort. Next thing he knew, something crashed into the Destiny and Shinn was forced to regain his bearings. Shinn looked forward when he had stabilized the Destiny's flight and found himself looking at a mobile suit he hadn't seen before. The suit was crimson overall, though its torso was black. On its right forearm, was a long shield while there was a smaller one on the left arm. The suit had two long wings behind it and what looked like four cannons, two on each wing. The other point of note, this mobile suit was putting off the same odd light that the new Freedom was.

Speaking of the Freedom, it had disappeared from the notice of Destiny and the Legend as their attention was on the Eternal Justice. Kira had shifted the Burst Freedom into its flight mode, in hopes that it might help stop the tumbling. As hoped, the Burst Freedom's flight mode did helped Kira stop the tumbling and orient his mobile suit. The increase in G-force was somewhat unexpected for Kira, but it wasn't unbearable. So, he flew a circular arc to come back to lock in an approach at the suit that was like Creuset's.

It was around that time that the tables began to turn, the slight advantage that ZAFT held was wrench from them. The reason that was the case, was the reinforcement for the Federation had come into effective firing range. Mobile suits were sent out, bolstering the defending force of Orb and press against the ZAFT forces who were being worn down by this point. Still, ZAFT kept up their assault to capture Lord Djibril, for their objective was all the more important. Yet, among the fresh Federation forces, were the X130 Raptor, the X251 Sinister and the X333 Bandit all of the former GAT series, also with them was ZAFT's own X88S Gaia. The extra force quickly put ZAFT more on the defensive which didn't help their mission objective.

Then the three DOM Troopers that had been dropped from above were wearing down the ZAFT forces. And, there was the two unknown Federation mobile suits, the 'aircraft' had after dropping the container that it had carried, had transformed into a mobile suit and had gotten down to shooting down ZAFT machines. The superior mobility that the suit showed was scary to its opponents, it was more like it was floating in the air. The other unknown mobile suit was working under the water and was similar to the X31S Abyss. However, it had a scythe instead of a lance and that scythe had a cutting beam that could be maintained under water. When it came to the surface, it used something that would punch sizable holes in ships.

Shinn was staring at the new comer as well as defending himself from possible attack, but he wasn't ready for what he heard next. "Shinn, you need to stop this," said the voice of Athrun.

The image of Athrun appeared on one of the com-screens in the Destiny's cockpit and Shinn stared at it wide eyed. Shinn had used the Destiny's beam sword to destroy the Saviour as it had been running from Carpentaria. The explosion of the mobile suit should have been enough to kill him. Granted, Shinn hadn't wanted to kill Athrun, heck, he looked up to him. Athrun Zala had chosen what was right over what he was told during the First Alliance-PLANT War. Shinn respected that and aspired to be the same, doing what's right and best regardless of orders. Perhaps that was why being told that Athrun had turned traitor sounded off and wrong. Finally, Shinn found use of his voice, "Athrun, but I… killed you… when you were running from Carpentaria," he uttered.

Athrun knew that what Shinn said would appear true back at the time for honestly, Athrun himself wondered how he survived the destruction of the Saviour too. "You tried but didn't manage that Shinn and I don't blame you for what happened. You didn't know all the facts at the time, but what matters is what is happening here and now," Athrun said. Shinn could think of nothing to say, so Athrun continued, "Shinn do you understand what is being done here, what this fight is really about?"

"We're here to apprehend Djibril," Shinn replied without thinking.

Athrun shook his head, "No, that's not the whole reason to this, it's the justification. If that was the reason, this fighting wouldn't be happening, since Orb wouldn't provide shelter to a war criminal like Djibril and you know that in your heart."

Shinn was put into an internal conflict, on one side was the duty to follow orders and on the other was his sense of truth. Duty was stating that evidence provided showed Orb had protected Djibril and that the man needed to be captured to prevent further horrors whatever the cost. Plus, Athrun had run away after doing things that made him a traitor. Truth however, said there was validity to what Athrun said that Orb wouldn't help such a man and historically, it was true. Then, Shinn had not actually been shown or provided evidence that Athrun had done what others claimed he did just told about it. The conflict served to bring chaos Shinn's mind on what was true and what was not.

Athrun could see the signs of the conflict that Shinn was having, it was one that Athrun himself had in this and the previous war. It was intriguing as well as sort of ironic to Athrun, Shinn was where he had been, before Tyler, Kira and others had helped him see the truth. "Shinn, I bet you're really confused right now," Athrun remarked, which drew Shinn's attention. "Things were once so clear, what is right and wrong was solidly defined. Yet now, what seems right and wrong isn't clear at all, simply seems all grey instead of black and white as they were before."

What Athrun said was pretty much what was going around Shinn's head and he couldn't clear it. Things had become so muddled and Shinn couldn't even figure out when it started to be this way. Athrun was about to keep going, but beams being fired at him, forced Athrun to back up. The shots came from the Legend which was flying towards the Justice, "You're a traitor that escaped their just punishment," stated Rey over an open com-channel. "Don't let him deceive you Shinn, he's trying to trick you and catch you off guard."

Athrun was ticked that once again, Rey had interrupted his attempt to help Shinn see the truth that he was being used the last time and was again. Rey either wanted Athrun dead or was completely converted to Chairman Durandal's way of thinking. But, Athrun would not let this end with Shinn being completely blinded to what he was doing and do things he would only regret! Athrun pointed the Justice's rifle and peppered the Legend with the GN vulcan, which forced Rey to break off his approach.

Before Rey could attack the Justice again, beams came his way from a different direction. He turned and saw an odd aircraft that had the same coloration as the Freedom did, which likely meant it was the Freedom and it could transform like the Justice. The Freedom quickly occupied the full attention of the Legend, leaving the Destiny and the Justice. Shinn moved to help Rey, but Athrun got in front of him, "No Shinn," snapped Athrun.

Shinn became angry, as much because he was trying to help a friend, as another preventing him from doing so. "You're just making things worse Athrun Zala," Shinn shot back, firing his beam rifle at the Justice.

Athrun activated the left shield's beam shield to block the beam, but didn't back down, "Am I Shinn," he posed. "Look around you, the scene should look familiar to you Shinn."

Shinn was getting annoyed at Athrun for simply talking to him, yet he glanced around to say that he did. Nonetheless, he froze as he looked at the battle against Orb that he was a part of, for there were things he saw now, but hadn't noticed before. As Shinn gazed at Orb's mainland, the view of civilians running away in panic and fear from the fighting held his attention. Memories of the Alliance's attack on Orb during the First Alliance-PLANT War flashed through Shinn's mind. Images of he and his family running during the evacuations, how Orb and Federation mobile suits had been defending the evac routes. In fact, Shinn saw defending forces putting themselves between ZAFT forces and Orb's citizens like they had back then, some being destroyed doing so.

"You were in a situation almost exactly the same as this nearly three years ago, you were just experiencing it from a different perspective. The difference from before and now Shinn, is you're now see this from the attacker's point of view, not the victim's as you did before, little else has change," Athrun stated.

Shinn felt like he was begin attacked, "That's not-"

Yet, Athrun cut over him, "Not what you wanted or intended Shinn? That's what happens when you just follow orders and don't think about the reasons as to why things are being done!"

"And what would you know, you're a traitor," Shinn snapped back.

"If being branded a traitor is what happens when I start seeing the truth behind the façade that some are putting up, then I am proud to betray those who are tricking everyone else," claimed Athrun. "As for what I would know about just following orders and being sickened by the results, I know more than you would think Shinn. I was in the position you're in now, in both this war and the previous one. Trust me when I say that just following orders when it doesn't feel right brings regret and loss, it tears you up from the inside without mercy."

The Justice used its left arm to gesture to the world around both Shinn and Athrun, "Is this what you want the future to be like Shinn? If not, then tell me what kind of future you wish to see and are willing to fight for. If you can't tell me that Shinn, then it's better that you leave this battlefield and return to the Minerva," Athrun challenged.

Shinn hesitated, "We're fighting for peace," he replied.

"You don't sound very confident with that answer and that's not what I'm asking Shinn, it's not going to be acceptable," Athrun shouted. "I said what kind of future do YOU wish and fight for Shinn, not what others tell you that you should be fighting for! You need to know and understand what you're fighting for Shinn, fighting for its own sake is as pointless as it's meaningless and you're a better person than that! Understand why you're so angry right now, what it is that is irking you so much about this, don't just ignore the reasons your heart is telling you to just fight because you can."

The chaos in Shinn's mind was not being helped by Athrun's questions, and in this situation, it was only making him angry, so he rushed forward at the Justice. He took the beam sword in one hand and a beam boomerang in the other, slashing at Athrun. Athrun took out and combined his two beam sabers and used them to parry Shinn's attacks, before he fired both the GN Vulcans and the 50mm CIWS guns. Shinn drew back, putting the beam sword away and taking out the other beam boomerang, then throwing both at the Justice. Athrun used the Valor's beam shield to deflect the first boomerang and the combined beam sabers to fend off the other.

At the same time, the Freedom had drawn the Legend a short distance, facing the Legend and waiting for the Legend to make the next move. The two clashed, first with beam shields and beam sabers, then switching over to ranged weapons like beam rifles and other ranged beam weaponry. Kira managed to keep the Legend and its pilot occupied enough for Athrun to do what he wanted with the other ZAFT pilot.

As the mobile suits fought each other, the Minerva still put forth efforts to disable and then sink the Archangel. Things changed when the Dominion came up behind the Minerva and began firing at them. The crew of the Archangel was surprised to see the other Archangel-class ship, none of them had seen it all that long after the previous war. But as Natarle was providing a distraction to the Minerva, Murrue didn't want to waste what a good friend was giving. So as the Dominion was firing at the Minerva from the rear, the Archangel oriented itself so that it could submerge. "Prepare to submerge, descend twenty," ordered Murrue.

"Preparing to submerge," piped up Tolle from the co-pilot station.

"Descending twenty," finished Arnold.

The Archangel hit the water and began to sink into it, and Captain Gladys knew that should the Archangel get underwater. "Captain," said Arthur turning towards her with the view of the Archangel going into the water on the forward viewscreen.

"We won't have any real offensive option if they get underwater, whereas they will still have their Linear cannons and torpedoes. However, we're being pinned by the second Archangel-class and aren't able to effectively attack the Archangel at the moment," stated Talia in frustration. "We need to ascend immediately Malik!"

By the time the Minerva began ascending, the Archangel was under the water and aimed the Valiants up at the Minerva. "Valiants, fire," ordered Murrue.

The shots from the Valiants zoomed upward, out of the water and hit the rear of the Minerva but didn't do major damage. The Dominion soon submerged like the Archangel and from underwater, both used their linear cannons and torpedoes to take out ZAFT ships.

All over the field, ZAFT forces were being forced back from their advances they had made during the battle. Federation forces had regrouped and had solidified their defensive line and did not let them collapse. The reinforcement received by Orb had tipped the scales and ZAFT was now starting to be beaten. The fighting kept getting worse for ZAFT as it went on for all concerned.

The Freedom was still fighting the Legend and the Justice was still going against the Destiny. Rey was frustrated that seemingly no matter was he did, the Freedom would either block or dodge him. The mobile suit was proving to be well-designed and not an opponent to underestimate. But it was more than just the mobile suit, there was its pilot as well and that individual was one that Rey loathed. Kira Yamato, he was the reason the world was the kind of unpeaceful place it was. Rau had been right about the Ultimate Coordinator, they were dangerous and could inspire humanity to keep on the path it was on. It was Kira Yamato, the Ultimate Coordinator, the Perfect Human that soured humanity to what it had become. It was for that reason that he needed to be snuffed out and wiped from history utterly!

Shinn meanwhile, was losing his nerve as he clashed with the Eternal Justice. His thoughts were becoming more muddle with the things Athrun said and what others had told him. It was making Shinn desperate and acted restlessly and though he knew that was not to be heeded in combat, he couldn't help it anymore. Images were still flashing through Shinn's head, adding to the growing emotional issue and stress he was having. "Shinn," called Athrun.

"Damn it!" Shinn shouted, and SEED mode came on for him.

The Destiny shoved the Justice back before backing up a distance, then Shinn rushed forward, beam sword ready to strike down its opponent. Athrun saw the Destiny coming at him, the resolve he had was unbreakable which caused the onset of his own SEED mode came, and things became clear. Athrun opened a com-channel at the same time he readied his beam sabers and the Valor's beam sword to be deployed. "Shinn, please forgive me for this," Athrun said, moving forward at the Destiny.

Athrun swung his beam sabers through both of the Destiny's forearms, then spun around, activating the Valor's beam sword, which was longer than a normal beam saber by one and a half times. He brought the sword down to cut through the holsters that would hold the beam sword and the beam cannon cutting them off and warping part of the wings. Then Athrun twisted the Justice around to send a shin into the Destiny's midsection, sending the suit flying back and downwards. The places the Destiny had been sliced exploded, before the Destiny was caught by the Osiris before it could hit the water and sink. Shinn left stunned at how he had been defeated in a way he hadn't seen coming at all and while he had as clear a focus as he could get. Yet, Athrun had defeated him completely along with leaving further questions echoing within his mind.

Athrun then turned towards the Legend, brought the Justice's four large assault bits to bear on the machine and fired all four of them. Rey was forced to dodge and realized that he was now going against two powerful mobile suits that his chances against them together were bad. The Destiny had been defeated and Rey was on his own now. So, Rey decided to cut his losses and leave to get back to the Minerva, there was next time to correct this.

The field commander for mobiles suits on ZAFT's side, was seeing that the operation was all but lost by this point. Continuing on in this would only bring losses for ZAFT, it was clear to see for anyone. They connected to the St. Helens as the Minerva did the same, and the discussion of what should be done began.

Yet, by this time, the Virtue reached the shore, coming up out of the water and generating a GN field around itself. Any shots that were sent at the Virtue disburse against the GN field as the Virtue turned around and faced towards the ZAFT ships. "Virtue, preparing to destroy target," stated Tieria, bringing his GN Bazooka to connect to the GN reactor's flow in the torso and began compress GN particles. When the compression was complete, Tieria took aim at the lead ZAFT submarine, "Compressed particles, releasing," he said.

The large particle beam shot from the Virtue's bazooka, instantly gained attention as it surged forward. The beam shot towards the ZAFT ships that were surfaced, specifically the St. Helens. It slammed into the St. Helen and time appeared to stop for a moment as the submarine was silhouetted by the magenta beam. But then the beam engulfed the St. Helens and the ship disappeared with an explosion.

-Line Break-

Orb Defense Headquarters

ZAFT forces were being repelled slowly, but the cost that had been paid thus far was high. Many lives had been lost and sacrificed in the efforts of protecting Orb and its people from ZAFT's assault. And yet, Lord Djibril hadn't been found and he was the reason that ZAFT was attacking in the first place. So, it was understandable that Cagalli was becoming more than frustrated quickly as the situation didn't change much. If Kisaka hadn't been there to prevent Cagalli from going back out to the battlefield and join back in the fighting, then she would have done just that.

It was when an alarm was announced from a section of Orb's mainland that had been reported searched, and it was followed by live feeds showing a shuttle launching from a private linear catapult, both owned by the Seiran's. Cagalli ordered the interception of the shuttle, by whatever means were necessary. The shuttle instantly became the focus of both sides when it came into view. The Impulse launched from the Minerva pursuing the shuttle, for it was assumed that Djibril was on board the craft. There were even a couple of ZEL Defenders that chased after the shuttle as it ascended.

However, the shuttle Djibril was on, managed to escape its pursuers despite the efforts to stop it. ZAFT forces soon retreated after that, heading back towards Carpentaria under the orders of the Minerva, who took command after the St. Helens was destroyed. Federation forces let them go, and kept their defensive lines for a little while, just in case ZAFT should try and attack again. The sounds of battle died down and the fight for Orb came to its conclusion as the sun began touching the horizon as it started setting.

Kira moved the Freedom over next to the Justice, after all, Athrun was still recovering from serious injuries. But a moment later, the Justice dropped a distance before it caught itself, that worried Kira and so he maneuvered the Freedom down and took hold of the Justice. "Athrun, what's your condition," Kira asked.

Athrun was breathing hard and raggedly as his condition was making sure he couldn't ignore them anymore. The Federation pilot suit's medical support had helped take the edge off the pain and make it manageable, but that wasn't enough. Athrun knew that he had reopened some of his wounds during the battle but couldn't say it to Kira as he fainted. Kira carried the Justice back to the Archangel as it was obvious that Athrun needed medical help.

-Line Break-

Earth's Orbit

Lord Djibril had been worried for a period that he would escape the assault by ZAFT on the Orb Union, for it had been close. He had thought slipping away from Heaven's Base was a real piece of work, but it had been closer with leaving Orb. But now that Djibril was up in space, he would have allies, where he had been losing them on Earth. Djibril would finish the job of ridding the human race of the monsters that Coordinators really were.

Once Djibril reached the Daedalus Lunar base on the dark side of the moon, which neither the PLANTs nor ZAFT had been watching. The Federation had been glancing at Daedalus, but they hadn't done anything other than that. Both were too focused on the Arzachel base to give Daedalus much if any attention so, the Coordinators knew nothing of the of the massive beam cannon 'Requiem' that was built there. There was no sign that ZAFT had discovered the relay stations or their purpose in relation to Requiem. Djibril couldn't stop the smile that came at the thought, of what he had in mind to introduce Requiem to Gilbert Durandal and his kind.

Djibril relaxed in his seat, since this shuttle would meet up with an Alliance patrol and they would escort him the rest of the way to Daedalus, he was home free as the old phrase went. Yes, there had been complication to get this far, more than were expected, but it was okay. As long as Requiem fired and destroyed the some if not all the PLANTs by the end of its use, everything that had happened would be worth it. He, Lord Djibril would succeed where others before him had failed in exterminating Coordinators!

However, the sound of worried chattering came to his ears and it was annoying Djibril. After a moment, Djibril got out of his seat to see what was going on, "What is the matter," he asked when he reached the shuttle's cockpit.

The Alliance officer turned to Djibril, "Well sir, the fleet," he uttered pointing out the forward viewing port. Djibril looked out the window and his eyes widened, for there was wreckage of ships ahead. Once again, others had caused setbacks and it was frustrating! He then looked back at the shuttle pilot, "Continue on to the Moon," Djibril ordered.

Phase end

A/n

And I'll leave off there, these last three phases were a real spurt of writing and work! However, I would like to think it was worth it in the end, but I'll leave that up to you the readers to decide. As for what is to come, the only thing I'll say is it won't be the same as canon, sorry that's all I'll reveal. Anyway, fav, follow and review!