Gundam Seed: The Federation ver 2

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 Saddle Patch

70. Phase 70: The Hunt is On

A/n

I know this is sooner than expected, but I'll explain further at the end of this Phase. I hope you enjoy it!

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Phase 70: The Hunt is on

October 3rd, 73 C.E.

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Girty Lue, Lagrange 4 Colony Cluster

Neo was in his quarters reviewing the "results" of the attack on ZAFT's colony and the Federation's outpost. The Girty Lue had been able to escape from the combined assault from the Federation and ZAFT. The new ZAFT ship had come from within the colony from a dock that hadn't been mentioned by OMNI intel. Because of that, the ship hadn't been disabled by the attack on the port or the surprise strike on the patrols. The Federation ship had popped up out of nowhere and had complicating things. Neo felt the Federation ship had probably been chasing the Girty Lue for what had been done to the Federation outpost. It was the most logical explanation that Neo could come up with to explain them appearing. It had been extremely close on the escape for the Girty Lue. Slipping away had come with a harsh price paid to manage it in the end.

The damage incurred to the ship was extensive when the damage reports had come to the bridge. Neo had glanced over the reports and hadn't liked what he'd seen on them. At least half of the Girty Lue's offensive weapons were in need of repair. That was bad enough since damaged didn't necessarily mean out of commission, but it could. Neo had overheard Ian talking with bridge operators saying a portion of the weapons didn't respond to commands at all. The new ZAFT ship and one or two in the patrols had done an amount of the damage, but nothing crippling. The Federation on the other hand, was responsible for the issues the Girty Lue was dealing with that could cause immediate problems.

The CIWS turrets' interception system had gone down and couldn't be brought back up or reset until the system was fixed. From what Neo understood, the system would need "fixing" requiring mechanics going outside to get the system responding again. By what Neo had heard, the damage was in areas that should have been shielded from conventional attacks. However, that fact had apparently hadn't stopped the place from being struck in some way. And that was just the general damage report that Neo had been given access to thus far with the operation against ZAFT's Armory One. The general report only showed a part of the situation the Girty Lue and its crew were in. Neo expected there was more damage and issues that hadn't been stated to him yet. Put simply, the Girty Lue was not in the best shape to go into combat if that was required.

The data they had been told to acquire was gone, likely destroyed by the Federation when they came onto the ship. Plus, some soldiers had given their lives to try and stop the Federation's boarding party. Granted, Neo knew and had heard the stories of the lengths that those within the Federation's Military would go to defend and keep their Information Network secure. However, he'd thought most of what was said had been out of paranoia and worries about the Federation's military power. But apparently, the stories of the Federation making sure that data doesn't get into the hands of others without permission weren't exaggerations. It certainly could explain why none of the attempts to exploit the Federation's Information Network had been successful yet. Many an OMNI group had disappeared after they tried to get into the Federation's network. The point of the matter was that one task of their mission had cost them the results of the other.

Nonetheless, Neo's group had managed to acquire the Gundams as their mission objective stated for them to do. It was an achievement with the tasks they had been given by OMNI, which was better than nothing gained. Heck, Neo had no idea what the data was that they stole from the Federation outpost. All that had been said was it had "great value," but there had been nothing more mentioned regarding what the files contained. Neo had learned it was better not to ask what the higher-ups wanted specifically. That tended to earn more responsibility and potentially put one's life in danger if the information was serious. Neo didn't want more crap to deal with, and he definitely didn't want to put his life on the line by knowing more than he needed. The point was whatever the data was that Neo and others stole was gone. The Federation's boarding team had destroyed the files in such a way they couldn't be recovered.

The acquisition of the Gundams came with a cost different from what stealing data from the Federation had. While the trio had managed to escape the PLANT colony with their targets, the exit hadn't been clean. The trio's performance had been outstanding for what they had been facing. Neo applauded their adaptation on the fly, with ZAFT coming at them nonstop. OMNI soldiers would've had far more trouble and likely would have failed. Yet, they had gotten back to the Girty Lue with their assigned targets, and Neo would stand by that result. However, it hadn't been without problems which had been somewhat an expectation. According to Sting, ZAFT had put up more resistance than predictions had figured. And Neo was inclined to believe Sting as he was the calmest of the three and their "leader."

Of course, Neo wasn't foolish enough to believe ZAFT would let thieves of their machines leave without trying to stop them. It would've been outright shocking if ZAFT had done nothing to resist and attempt to stop the theft. Also, from what Neo had seen, there was at least one ZAFT Gundam OMNI intelligence apparently missed with the mission info they gave the Girty Lue to work with. Sting had mentioned to Neo there was a gold Gundam which hadn't chased them as well. That meant there were two Gundams that ZAFT still had to work with out of those they'd developed recently. Neo would state that on his report, that intel had been incomplete whether intentional or not. It would show that they were not at fault for the failure in full with the ZAFT part of the mission. His group had been working with the information they had been given by OMNI intelligence agents.

Another thing which concerned Neo was what happened after the teens had returned to the ship. He recalled being told about the trio's need for maintenance on a regular basis, but not given a great deal of detail about that. Something about the maintenance keeping the conditioning at the level which gave the high performance. Because of the needed maintenance, the trio had a time limit in which they could have high performance, which gave them the advantage over ZAFT soldiers. The "operational limit" described hadn't sat the best with Neo, but he had decided to give the trio a chance and see what happened. Their performance was indeed the high level which had been advertised. Yet, when they had gotten back, it had been clear they were having issues, likely their limit coming into play. It had appeared like some from a video record of serious drug addicts going through withdrawal.

The trio had been put into the pods that had been sent with the three by their handlers. From what Neo had read, they came from a place called Lodonia, which was some sort of lab for those like them. It reminded Neo of toddlers being tucked into their cribs. Their handlers had been working to ensure they were working as stated when they arrived. If it were just the required maintenance with the pods, then Neo wouldn't be as concerned. The time in the pods could be planned for enough to make such trios effective for combat. Neo could even see the project which had made the three could be utilized for the Alliance to progress in becoming the dominant faction of Humanity. However, there was more to the trios of "extendeds," as the handlers referred to them.

That came from their "control" methods which were used in their training period. "Block words" were supposedly instilled in candidate to be used if they disobeyed. The word would somehow disable them for a time until maintenance was done according to the handlers. They stated a "candidate's" block word was seen as a last resort to get them to do something. When Neo asked further, he had received an odd explanation of the "discipline system" that was used on project candidates. It hadn't made a great deal of sense to him since there were parts of it that hadn't made sense. But Neo had gotten to the point the system was a means of control over the candidates and preventing unnecessary and undirected violence from them. Stella had been worse than the other two after returning from the mission they had been sent on. From what Neo was told, it was extremely likely her "block word" had been used on her. And from what Neo saw, it had been much as it had been described to him with what block words did.

If it was true that one of the boys had used Stella's block word, it was concerning. It didn't matter who it was, though Neo suspected it had been Auel. The kid had shown he was the reckless one of the three. That the "last resort" had been employed to get Stella to cooperate was a problem. It meant she had been so focused on the mission she had lost sight of the goal of it. Neo could appreciate a soldier being focused on a task, but it became a problem when it compromised the goal of the task. According to the handlers, the other part of the issue was that every time a block word was used, it caused problems and damage that took time to undo. Supposedly, the issues differed from candidate to candidate, but the issues had to be handled before they could be sent out again.

The whole situation with the trio affected potential responses that the Girty Lue could make to any pursuers. The ship was now down to the three stolen Gundams and Neo's mobile armor. The Girty Lue had been supplied with Daggers for the operation and all of them had been lost in it. The cut down number of mobile weapons worried Neo as he felt there would be some chasing the Girty Lue before it could reach Lunar HQ. The Gundams were being adjusted and repaired, and Neo had been assured they would be ready for battle in around an hour. His armor was much in the same position receiving repair treatment. Neo would very much like not to be the only pilot that could be sent out to deal with mobile suits. If the Gundams could be used, that would make the chances for the Girty Lue to make it back to the moon higher. The trio's handlers had stated the boys would be ready in around an hour, but they preferred ninety minutes if they could get it. Stella would need at least two hours, likely more, to correct what had been done to her. So, Neo could only pray for time for his group to prepare for whoever would be hunting them so that the Girty Lue could have more options to repel enemies.

The question Neo knew he would be asked of him, and the ship's captain by the higher-ups was what they did to make the losses worth it. Neo wondered if any answer he could come up with would be satisfactory to those who would demand an explanation. There would be a reporting, likely over a secure com-channel or in person. Whichever it turned out to be, he doubted anything he could say to justify what had gone down would be accepted by Alliance higher-ups, and it would be somewhat harsher with those from LOGOs. So, Neo wasn't looking forward to when that time came up, and he was put on the "hot seat" when that came. Instead of brooding, Neo left his quarters, as staying there was doing little to nothing for him and headed toward the bridge.

The Girty Lue still needed to get back to OMNI's Arzachel base before their mission was considered done. And Neo had a nagging feeling that journey wouldn't be easy to make from where they were by any means. He was sure the ship was being pursued by one, if not multiple, vessels after attacking the PLANT colony. How harsh the journey's issues were going to be moving forward would depend on a couple of factors. The biggest factor would be how many vessels were chasing them and if it was ZAFT, the Federation, or both. Neo assumed ZAFT would send at least one ship after them, perhaps a group to track them down. They wouldn't want their Gundams left in OMNI's hands if they could do anything about it. One ZAFT vessel could be dealt with, and it would be easier if the Gundams could be deployed to the field. The Gundams would be needed if multiple ZAFT ships were pursuing them from their colony.

The other two scenarios were worse than ZAFT chasing them, which Neo expected for what they'd done. Should the Federation be pursuing, that would be far more difficult to shake off for the Girty Lue. The Federation had proven to be dogmatic about a pursuit they had started. They didn't let another get away from them easily, if at all. They also controlled Lagrange 4 and could have the ships they had in the cluster track the Girty Lue down more effectively than ZAFT. There was the unknown Federation ship class which had attacked them had shown it was well-equipped to take on the Girty Lue on equal footing should it pursue them.

The scenario Neo was praying wasn't the one the Girty Lue would face was a team effort between the Federation and ZAFT working to chase the ship down. Were that the case the ship faced, Neo feared it wouldn't be a matter of making it back to the moon in a timely manner. It would be a matter if they could make it to the moon, let alone Arzachel with being chased by such a team. Gundams wouldn't be enough to make a difference, for the enemy side would have at least two of their own if the unknown Federation vessel was on the team. Neo knew it didn't help to worry as that normally became paranoia, which was unhelpful. However, the Girty Lue would prepare the best it could for the worst-case scenario as they were able. Neo came onto the bridge and saw all their hard work. Ian was behind one of the console operators looking over their station.

Ian heard the bridge door sliding open, and he twisted to see Captain Roanoke coming onto the bridge. The masked man had been going over damage reports by what Ian had heard him saying he would be doing in his quarters. Ian had to admit the Girty Lue had taken a beating and had come off on the losing end of the battle thanks to the unknown classed Federation vessel. The crew had been working hard to repair the damage incurred, and Ian was proud of their efforts. Time was of the essence as enemy forces were likely to take up pursuit when they could. The Girty Lue should be able to lose chasers in the colony cluster before heading for the moon. But they also had to evade Federation patrols, which made the escape tricky. Ian had been working with his helmsman to come up with a good route they could use to accomplish the goal. They had also devised a few backup routes they could use to escape if things worked out right.

He had been working with his Electronic Warfare operator to see how the CWIS system repairs were going when the captain had come onto the bridge. Ian told his crewman to keep working with the mechanics who were outside working on repairing the damaged junction. Then he turned to Neo, "Captain Roanoke, while things didn't go ideally as we may have wanted," Ian stated. "It looks like, somehow or another, we managed to pull off the ZAFT part of the mission successfully. We acquired the Gundams, which was one of the goals." Ian paused, regretting the Dagger pilots, who had given their lives for the operation. "Although we sacrificed all our Dagger pilots to do that." Ian sighed, glancing around the bridge, "And the Federation certainly gummed things up. I assure you that we are working through the repairs as quickly as possible. It is hoped the Girty Lue will be back in full working order within the hour with how repairs are going." Ian's head fell before continuing, "The Gundams are being worked on, but that will take longer than ship repairs. I wish I had good news to report with this, but with how things ended out around the PLANT colony, I can't honestly think of much."

Neo could see Ian was trying to look at the bright side of things for them. And Ian had a point that there was not a great deal of good going for them currently. That ship repairs would be done within the hour was better than what Neo had feared they could be. The damage to the Gundams being fixed was expected to take some time. Intel may have given some info on the Gundams, but it didn't give the full specs for them. Thus, the mechanics were figuring out the Gundams as they were working on them. Neo hoped that the Gundams would be ready when the battle came to them again. There was still one question he had for Ian. With Federation soldiers coming onto the Girty Lue, there was a chance they had done more than destroy the data. "Have you had some look over the places the Federation went while onboard," he asked. "I don't think any of us want any more surprises to pop up when we need them the least."

Ian had a few doing what the captain suggested already. Captain Roanoke wasn't the only one that feared the Federation had done multiple things while on the ship. Yet, nothing had been found so far by those inspecting the ship. They had been going over the areas the Federation had been around with a "fine-toothed comb," as the phrase went. Ian hoped the Federation had only gone after the data and done nothing else, but he wouldn't assume that. "I have a group going over where the Federation was as we speak," Ian replied. "From they have reported so far, they have found nothing from their close inspection. They should be finished by the time the ship repairs are completed." Neo hoped nothing would be found or pop up later on with the Federation's jaunt onto the Girty Lue. He exhaled heavily, "I certainly hope there is nothing for them to find, and we are just being paranoid about this."

Neo focused on what was ahead of the Girty Lue and him. Getting away from ZAFT's response was a step forward. However, there had been a price paid for the escape, and repairs from that were being rushed as they could. He felt the escape they needed to pull ahead would be harder than the previous. And then getting to the moon and Arzachel would be a task in and of itself. Many factors would still play a part in how the escape would go, and most of those factors were unknown. But Neo decided to do what was possible and work from there, "How much longer until we reach point B," Neo posed. "It would be best we get there and have a route from there to Lunar HQ ready and in mind."

Ian had been working with his helmsman on that question before the captain had come onto the bridge. From where they were, reaching the designated point would take two hours or so. Routes to the moon from there were loosely made, most of them avoiding the Federation patrols. The factor which could change the timeframe was if others chasing them caught up before reaching that point. "About two hours or so if we don't meet anything along the way," Ian answered. "From there, we have come up with a few potential routes to use to get back to Arzachel."

Neo had known things would be tight for them while in the colony cluster, if not all the way to OMNI HQ. The cluster was under the control and watch of the Federation, and they kept an eye on the area. Avoiding their patrols was a matter of planning, but planning on the fly made that harder. He knew the two hours it would take to reach the point they would then try and exit the cluster would fall far longer than they should. And with ship(s) pursuing them as they spoke, it would feel even longer than just two hours. Neo sighed, "The next two hours are going to be extremely long." Ian knew the captain was right about the two hours feeling like they were longer. And that was before assuming they were being pursued by enemy forces. "Do you believe the new ZAFT ship or that unknown Federation vessel will be coming after us?"

Neo was sure at least one vessel was either chasing or would pursue the Girty Lue. He just couldn't say with certainty what force would pursue them and what would make up the force. That was the most worrisome factor of what they would face ahead. And he wouldn't lie to make others feel good or think everything was going to be fine. "I can't say yet," Neo admitted. "I don't really know with current information. With what we've done, it provides motivation for ZAFT and the Federation to chase us. But let's assume that at least one vessel is pursuing us. It could be ZAFT or Federation; there isn't a way to say right now. Yet, let us hope that both of them aren't, or that there is more than just those two chasing us. It is best to be prepared for what possibilities you can, so keep on our present course."

It wasn't the answer Ian wanted, but it was the one that he expected. There was little way to say if they were being pursued and, if so, by who. The trip back to Arzachel would be anything easy or safe for the Girty Lue. "I was hoping you might have had a way to acquire more information, but I suppose that was wishful thinking," Ian returned. "Let us hope we reach point B without too much trouble. That would be a good omen, and we haven't had many of those since the outset." Ian paused, his thoughts turning to the three remaining pilots the ship had to work with. He hadn't missed them being taken off to the storage bay where the odd pods had been placed. The Girty Lue would need them up and ready sooner rather than later. Ian just hoped the captain had news on them, "So then, how are the three recovering then?"

Neo had seen the trio as a double-edged sword for them; they had both good and bad qualities. He'd suspected that when he had read about them and the project they were a part of. They could outdo ZAFT pilots; there was clear proof of that with what they'd done inside ZAFT's colony. However, their "operational limit" was their main weakness since it determined how effective they could be. "Overall, they seem to be doing okay by what I saw and have been told by their handlers," Neo replied. "They are sleeping like little babies tucked into their beds really. However, it seems Stella's block word was used, and I assume it was Auel that did it to her. That it occurred at all worries me a little, as I've been told it is supposed to be a last resort. So, I can't help but wonder what was going on for that to be considered."

Ian hadn't liked the idea of teenagers being the primary pilots of the Girty Lue. Yet, he'd done as Captain Roanoke had suggested, giving the three a chance to prove themselves. Bringing back the Gundams was commendable; even Ian would admit that. However, the "maintenance" that the three seemed to need for their performance was worrisome. As powerful as a soldier could be, it was a waste if they couldn't be employed when needed. Thus, Ian gained an expression of slight worry, "Pilots that have to be returned to their cradles after every mission. And for them to spend extra time in them when something bad happens to them is even more concerning." Ian paused, wondering if the trio really were a future soldier type OMNI intended to use. "Do the higher-ups believe that Lodonia's work will be of any real use to us and the Alliance?"

Neo had been asking himself much the same question seeing the trio's performance and the cost of that. Regardless of how impressive a project or product could be, if you couldn't use it effectively when you needed it, did it matter how impressive it was? It was a question Neo didn't like having to ask himself. So, he shrugged, "I know where you're coming from with that question." Neo rubbed his forehead, "I've been asking myself the same thing lately." The trio weren't all bad; they had their good points. One of those is them being more stable than those who had come before and were used in the Alliance-PLANT War. The "super soldiers" provided back then had been okay but had harsher standing issues than the three Neo had seen in the trio. "You have to admit, compared to what Lodonia and the other places like it had produced during the first war, the ones we have are better than those were. These guys at least understand and follow orders better and know what we ask of them and what it requires. There is less need for specific instructions for them than the previous versions." Neo paused, knowing there was little they could do about the trio right now. They were all the Girty Lue had to work with and would need anything they could get. "It really can't be helped; after all, everything seems to be in the trial stages this day. All so that we can attempt to keep up with ZAFT and have a shot at matching the Federation in some way."

Ian couldn't disagree with what Captain Roanoke had stated. They were short on options and needed to work with whatever they could to manage to survive. As for everything being in trials and experimental stages, it was true. OMNI's equipment was fresh off the line and out of development. Since the war, the Alliance had been doing whatever it could to gain an edge over the other two factions. All that was being done outside the public eye as much of the development could be considered illegal per standing treaties. "Indeed, I understand that even our world is going through trials these days," commented Lee. "But will all the advances make a difference in the coming conflict?"

Neo didn't have the answers to the question Ian had asked. It was one that had been going around OMNI, both soldiers and non-combatant personnel. The higher-ups claimed the new tech would help, but they hadn't convinced Neo. The Federation had already shown it hadn't been idle since the war's end. The new ship class was only a glimpse of their possible advances they had made. The Gundams were the view into ZAFT's development, and the mechanics' muttering hadn't been comforting to Neo. Logos may be backing the Alliance, but he knew it wasn't because they wanted the Alliance to win the conflict. No, LOGOs made money through conflict and war; that was their motivation. Their profits had declined after the Alliance-PLANT war had ended, and they wanted those back. They were persuading the Alliance to cause conflict and start another war so they could make money again.

Neo didn't much care for the profit in war; it didn't interest him at all, even though LOGOs had made him a "generous" offer. His homeland was under the control of the Alliance, so he fought for their beliefs. He was a soldier and had always been one as far back as he could remember. So, he didn't question what orders he was given often unless it put his life needlessly in danger. And yet, something in him tickled the back of his mind that what the Alliance was doing wasn't right. Neo dismissed that thought and focused forward, "The time will soon come that war will come upon Humanity again. The Alliance will be ready when it does. And this time, even the mighty Federation will be taught that the Alliance should and will be in charge."

Meanwhile, the Federation personnel who had come to the Minerva had taken their leave. The Normandy had left the area shortly after that and vanished. Talia was glad she'd taken the time to exchange information with Captain McGregor. While she had been against it at first, Gilbert had been right in insisting she give the Federation a chance to talk. The information would be helpful in the pursuit of Bogey One and not taking horrible losses. She feared that the Minerva would pursue the enemy vessel and end out losing people in the attempt to bring it down. The task would still be difficult, but not as much as it would've been if not for the Federation information.

The stolen Gundams had to be dealt with, whether it was by taking them back or destroying them. It would be a daunting task, but it needed to be done; the sooner, the better for all in ZAFT. The Federation party had also taken their representative with them, which had ended out on the Minerva with the chaos inside the colony. It was one less concern that Talia didn't have to worry about as the Minerva moved forward. Were a Federation representative being on the Minerva during the hunt, she would have to prioritize their safety to keep good relations with the Federation for ZAFT. It would only be a further complication for the Minerva to deal with and there were already enough of those.

Talia hadn't missed the rumors and gossip which was going around the ship either. The point of the Minerva going after Bogey One was fine since it was the truth. Arthur was the one who brought that to her attention, as was his duty. Talia had told him to keep his ears open and listen to see if the gossip got worse. If it did, they would step in and silence the rumors from causing more trouble needing to be handled. But unless that happened, there was no point in either of them doing anything about the gossip. The two of them had more important things to see than worry about gossip going around the crew. They had a hunting mission ahead of them which was to be seen as a priority.

The captain and deputy weren't the only ones hearing the gossip. Lunamaria had heard the rumors going around about what the Minerva would be doing soon. The ship was supposedly going to pursue the Alliance vessel that had attacked the colony. It made sense to Luna that Minerva would do that after what happened. She wanted to get some payback on those that had made a mess of the colony's interior. Sure, the enemy group had three of the ZAFT Gundams, but that didn't make them undefeatable. The machines on the Minerva would be ready by the time the ship caught up with the enemy vessels. She'd even heard some of the mechanics saying the Osiris could be ready in time for deployment. Who would pilot it, Luna couldn't say since Aila and the other guy were in the infirmary right now.

There was also the rumor that the Federation had been tracking Bogey One before it had gotten to Armory One. There were wild guesses about what Bogey One could've done to get the Federation to chase them down. It was accepted generally the Federation didn't expend resources without a good reason. However, Luna didn't believe what the guesses suggested the enemy group had done. No evidence or facts gave credence to the Federation chasing Bogey One. And if they were, there had been no hint given by them as to why they had been pursuing them. Ultimately, there was little reason to argue whether Bogey One had done something to the Federation. It didn't involve ZAFT, and that was important. That point hadn't stopped many from gossiping about the idea, though.

Nonetheless, it did bring to mind some of the stories about the Federation that circulated around ZAFT to Luna's mind. It was said the Federation didn't waste resources on anything or rumors that were going around. They always seemed to have a reason for what they did, even if they didn't make that reason known to others. The Federation's mysterious nature overshadowed their actions. Intel had done little to help with understanding when it came to the Federation's general behavior. The Federation rarely, if ever, explained its actions to ZAFT or the Alliance, it was almost a signature for them. There had been those three that claimed they were a part of the Federation, but they had vanished. She felt it was better they were gone; they had been annoying to her.

However, her thoughts turned to the battle that had taken place outside the colony. Luna had been stuck on the Minerva when it had been happening. Yet she had heard some of the younger mechanics talking to Shinn. Luna had wanted to ask Shinn and Rey about their thoughts on how things had gone outside the colony. They had gotten to see Federation mobile suits in action, which was kind of rare to see. There were so few close-up recordings to view that ZAFT had acquired even during the latter part of the Alliance-PLANT War. Those were shown to cadets at ZAFT's military academy accompanied by the theories ZAFT had about them. Those recordings made it hard to glean anything about Federation technology or pilot training the Federation had. It only added to the "mysterious" air the Federation had around it, and they seemed to keep up.

She hoped that Shinn and Rey could talk about what they had seen out there during the fighting. They had seen the Federation machines appear and had fought against the Alliance Daggers. Images of the Federation's current mobile suit models, both Earth-based machines and space fighters were just as rare as anything with the Federation. But Shinn and Rey could've seen some of the space fighters that had been out there. There were only guesses as to the capabilities of Federation mobile suits these days. ZAFT Intel hadn't been able to dig up much from what Luna had heard. And Federation still had its "stealth" technology which hadn't been affected by the Treaty of Junius Seven. Yet, Luna was still curious about how the Federation did things. It was an interesting mystery with little answer to it, only hints at the possibilities.

Luna took up to look for Shinn and Rey to ask them what had happened after they had exited the colony. She needed something to do to get her worry off of Aila, who she had gone to visit in Minerva's infirmary. The doctor had said Aila would be okay but would need rest as she recovered from her injuries. She had not just been shot, but the crash with the Osiris had done harm to her too. Luna was still worried about Aila as she respected her, so Luna intended to visit her when she could again. Aila was an example of what Luna wanted to be in her service with ZAFT.

It took around five minutes for Luna to find Rey, who was helping out some of the crew. That was classic Rey, helping out where he could during down time that he wasn't eating or sleeping. Luna asked if they could chat once they found Shinn to catch up and compare notes. Rey had no issue comparing observations of the incident with the Alliance attacking the colony. He mentioned he'd seen Shinn in a mess the last time he had passed. The two-headed in that direction and found Shinn was indeed in the mess hall with some of the younger mechanics.

Shinn had been caught by his friend Vino, one of the young mechanics, and his friend Yolan. The two had been peppering him with questions about what had happened inside the colony and the subsequent battle. Vino had asked what it was like for Shinn to pilot the Impulse in battle. Shinn didn't know how to answer Vino's question about the Impulse. He'd used the Impulse once, so he didn't know the machine inside and out. Shinn assumed the question was being asked as Gundams were rare, so talking to a Gundam pilot was just as rare. But he wasn't technically a Gundam pilot since he was assigned to a ZAKU not a Gundam-type machine. The two continued to pepper him with questions about the Impulse even when Shinn didn't have many answers for them. "Shinn," Lunamaria called, getting Shinn to turn and saw Luna and Rey approaching his group. "Luna," Shinn uttered, "What are you doing here?" Luna got to be right in front of Shinn, "I was hoping we could discuss and compare notes on the attack inside and outside the colony if you have the time."

Rey waved off the two young mechanics to leave them be and talk to Shinn later. After the two mechanics left, Rey suggested they go to Shinn and his quarters to have the conversation. Once reaching the quarters, Rey took a seat at the desk while Shinn offered the chair to Lunamaria, and he took the bed. Luna was recalling what she'd seen during the attack of the stolen Gundams. She still hadn't liked the Peters guy taking charge back at the hangar and telling Rey and her what to do. Looking back, Luna could see that Peters had been right with delegating people to both working against the Gundams and helping the colony's citizens get to shelters. Luna would've preferred to help with stopping the Gundams, but she'd hoped to finish the evacuation and then do that. That hadn't happened as much as Luna had wanted, but nothing could be changed about that now. After organizing her thoughts, Luna decided to speak up first. "So, what was going against the stolen Gundams like," she asked. "I was sent to help with the evacuations by another, thus couldn't come and help you two."

Shinn considered the question as it had been coming to his mind off and on. Those that had stolen the Gundams had been "odd," for lack of a better term. If they were under the control of the Alliance, as rumor implied, they shouldn't have been as good as they had proven themselves to be. The pilots seemed to know the Gundams' systems more than they should have. The Alliance shouldn't have known about ZAFT's Gundams developed at Armory One. And yet, they had clearly been able to make the units usable by them in a short period. The enemy's piloting skills hadn't been average either; they had been good. "Things were off with them," Shinn admitted, "But I can't say exactly how."

Rey agreed with Shinn that the thieves had been odd in a few ways. While they had been good with combat, they seemed to have violent tendencies which they barely controlled. The trio of thieves also knew the stolen Gundams better than those outside ZAFT should know. Yet, their teamwork was lacking from what Rey had seen. "I agree with Shinn," Rey remarked. "The thieves were different than normal soldiers, even for the Alliance. They seemed to have violent tendencies which were barely controlled. Their aggressive fighting styles imply that heavily."

Luna wasn't liking what Shinn and Rey were saying about the thieves. They were making it sound like the thieves were loosely trained savages that had been unleashed against the colony. It wouldn't exactly surprise Luna if the Alliance had been trying to use psychopaths as soldiers. The Alliance seemingly had no shame or level they wouldn't descend below if it benefitted them. But there would be risks with using psychopaths since they could turn on the "handlers" as those they sent them against. So, it made her wonder why the Alliance may use such for stealing Gundams. "But if it was the Alliance who did this, as rumors are saying," Luna began, "Why to use such dangerous individuals who may turn on them?" Rey shrugged, "They may be getting to a point where they are desperate. There are not enough facts to accurately make assumptions about the event, whether it was the Alliance or why they used those they did."

Luna was silent momentarily as she couldn't argue with Rey's reasoning. However, the thieves and what it was like fighting them wasn't the only question Luna had for the two. There was still what they had seen outside the colony while chasing the three stolen Gundams, which she wanted to know about. "Okay, Rey, I can't argue with you on that," Luna admitted. "But moving on to what happened outside the colony. My ZAKU's thruster was damaged, so I couldn't follow either of you. What happened out there?"

Shinn thought about the chase with the stolen Gundams after exiting the colony. The battle hadn't changed much other than the three had been more on the defensive as they were trying to run away. The Alliance mobile armor had been added shortly after Rey, and he pursued the three out of the colony. The armor had been fighting what appeared to be a Federation space fighter. The pair had crossed paths with them shortly after they had come outside from the other side of the colony. "We kept chasing the stolen machines," Shinn replied. "Some Alliance Daggers tried to stop us, but only two or three of them. However, I want to say that Federation forces were keeping the enemy group busy for the majority of our pursuit."

Rey didn't disagree with Shinn on what he'd stated. The Daggers had been simple to deal with when they had tried to interfere with their pursuit. Rey hadn't missed the Federation mobile suits appearing and pushing the Alliance machines to be on the defensive. "They certainly were by what I saw," Rey commented. "The Federation was likely assisting before we saw them on the field. Gundams being stolen would be a no better event for the Federation than it is for ZAFT. The Alliance doesn't like the Federation any more than ZAFT. So, it is just as likely the stolen machines would be used against them as us." Luna was dead curious about what the two had seen of the Federation machines. Any firsthand information on the Federation was extremely hard to come by. "So, what were they like," she questioned. "The Federation, I mean. How did they fight against the Alliance Daggers? What could you see of their current mobile suit models?"

Shinn blinked at Lunamaria's questions while Rey chuckled in response. Shinn could understand asking about the Federation. It wasn't uncommon for those outside the Federation to do with how its military operated. However, he hadn't figured out why there was such keen interest from some. The Federation's military did what it did to protect the Federation and its citizens; that was a fact. What should it matter how it was done? "They fought them much like ZAFT would, Luna," Shinn answered. "Even with Federation tech being different from what ZAFT uses, that doesn't mean they are inhuman or anything. They fight to protect their beliefs and their citizens." Rey hummed, "You may see it that way, Shinn, but most don't."

That reminded Luna about the "guests" the Minerva had recently. There had been the three she'd encountered, but then there had also been those on the Federation ship shuttle too. While those from the shuttle could be interesting and had been the subject of gossip, the other group had held Luna's attention. At first, she'd been more annoyed by them as they had been nosy. But that changed when the woman had called the blue-haired one "Athrun." That one name had gotten her thinking more deeply about the trio. She couldn't help but wonder if the guy could be the "Athrun Zala." Athrun was a war hero whose actions had helped end the war. He'd stood against the previous chairman even when it had been his father and had done what was right. Granted, Athrun had disappeared shortly after the war, but for him to pop up at Armory One seemed odd. It seemed improbable that the hero Athrun would suddenly appear with a Federation representative. "Have either of you heard about the guests we had on the Minerva," Luna questioned. "Not those from the shuttle, but the other three." Rey gazed at Lunamaria, "What about them, Lunamaria?"

To answer Rey's question, Luna recounted what had gone on down in the hangar after the four mobile suits had come onto the Minerva. The ship had shortly launched after the machines had come onto the Minerva, but Luna only mentioned that. Luna grumbled that "Dems" had ordered her to be on "good behavior" with the trio and to escort them to the infirmary. Of course, Luna said she found Aila there recovering. She repeated what the ship's doctor had said about Aila appearing to have been shot and whipped around the Osiris's cockpit when it crashed. The doctor nor Dems had gone into further detail about what situation Aila could've been in to have been shot. Aila hadn't been awake to help explain what had happened to her at the time. And from what Luna had heard, Aila hadn't woken up yet after she'd been given a blood transfusion.

Luna then moved to the Minerva, going to condition red and leaving the colony interior. She hadn't been pleased that her ZAKU hadn't been up for launching out at the time. Aves had said he would do what he could, but the repairs would take time which there wasn't much of. Luna had no other options to work with at the time, so she'd been forced to wait. However, Luna got to the part she wanted to tell Rey and Shinn. "So, the trio that came onto the ship was supposed to be a Federation representative and two bodyguards. But after general quarters were called, the woman let slip that one of her bodyguard's actual name was Athrun," Luna iterated. She paused for a moment gaining an expression of excitement, "Do you think that it really could've been the Athrun Zala, the war hero?" Rey shrugged in response, "It's possible, but who can say?" Luna couldn't help but wonder if the blue-haired guy was Athrun Zala. What was he doing with the Federation? Athrun was a ZAFT war hero, yet his disappearance had been played down, and little detail was given when questions were asked. "But if it was him, why is he with the Federation now," she posed. "He should've gotten awards and made a member of FAITH by this point with what he's done."

As Rey explained to Luna whether the bodyguard she'd seen could be someone else, Shinn was left to his own thoughts. His mind had gone back to attempting to figure out how the attack on Armory One had come to pass. It didn't make much sense to him as elements of the attack could be traced back to the Alliance's OMNI. They should know ZAFT would look into the incident and then call them out on it, regardless of how they denied it. And the Federation being around would make it even harder for the Alliance to wave off involvement. Yet, the Alliance group had apparently felt the risks were outweighed by the chance of getting Gundams. The whole thing just felt odd and off with what facts Shinn knew of, and he couldn't wrap his brain around the idea.

Shinn wanted to believe peace between all the factions of Humanity was still possible. It was one of the main reasons he'd enlisted, to help bring peace about for everyone. Sure, Shinn wasn't foolish enough to think it wouldn't be a long and difficult goal to work for. But he still believed in the Federation's principles, that Humanity had good within it and that good was stronger than the darkness people could have. It was one of the beliefs Shinn had grown up with that Humans had the potential to do whatever they set out to do. And the Federation's leaders had always said peace was not just possible but a worthy goal to work toward. Shinn also agreed with their views on war, that it was a ruiner and destroyer, nothing more than that. Thus, Shinn couldn't figure out why or how things had led to the attack on Armory One by the Alliance group.

Luna still believed the blue-haired guy was Athrun Zala; even with Rey's reasoning it may not be. But arguing with her fellow pilot would not lead to any place that would help with the subject. Instead, Luna had changed the subject to why Rey had enlisted in ZAFT. Rey had answered with him being encouraged by his guardian along with Chairman Durandal before he'd taken his current office. After Rey had answered, Luna realized Shinn hadn't said anything for a couple of minutes. She glanced in his direction and found Shinn appeared to be deep in thought about something. Luna asked him the same question that she had Rey, but Shinn didn't appear to hear her. "Shinn," she stated louder than before. "Hey, Shinn, are you listening?" Luna's question snapped Shinn out of his thoughts, getting him to face her. "Huh," Shinn grunted, "What are you saying, Luna?" Luna rolled her eyes, "I was asking you why you enlisted in ZAFT. I mean, you mentioned you lived in Orb before, didn't you?"

Shinn did a double take at the change in the subject, as he hadn't been paying a great deal of attention to the conversation going on. True, Shinn had lived in Orb since he'd been six years old or so. He'd lived in a more rural area in the Republic of East Asia when he'd been younger. However, he didn't have many memories of when he'd lived in the Republic. Shinn had mentioned living in Orb to some of those he'd met at ZAFT's military training academy, including Luna. Thus, Shinn nodded in response to Luna, "Yeah, I lived in Orb before. My family moved there went I was around six and lived there until the last year of the war."

Rey inclined his head in understanding of what Shinn was saying. The "last year of the war" meant when the Alliance had started fighting the Federation. And with Shinn living in Orb, he'd likely left during the nation's evacuation of its citizens. "I assume you left the Orb Union when the Alliance attacked it, correct," Rey asked. Shinn nodded slowly, "My family was around during the evacuations." Shinn paused for a moment, "Honestly, I fear if it weren't for those defending Orb, my family might not have made it out safely. The Federation mobile suits protecting the evacuation route prevented any Alliance forces from reaching us. We moved to the PLANTs after that to get away from the war." Luna recalled some of what Shinn had said being mentioned before while they were around ZAFT's military academy. However, she hadn't connected Shinn moving to the PLANTs being related to the attack on Orb and its evacuation of its citizens. The event had been broadcasted to the PLANTs, and they had looked horrid. "Wow, Shinn, I had no idea that it had gotten that close to you dying; sorry for asking," Luna apologized. "I wasn't trying to bring up things like that."

Shinn knew Lunamaria hadn't been attempting to make him feel uncomfortable. That wasn't how Lunamaria was that he'd seen. So, he shook his head, "No, Luna, it's fine. I know you didn't mean to do such things. My family and I made it, and that's what counts." Shinn took a breath before continuing, "Fighting for peace is my way of showing gratitude to those who worked to protect my family and me when we were in danger." Shinn paused as the internal discussion of joining with ZAFT versus the Federation came back to mind. "Admittedly, I seriously considered enlisting with the Federation's Military after leaving Orb. But as my family was living in the PLANTs, that came with other things. If I joined the Federation's Military, I would unlikely get to see or talk to them often while on duty. And when I decided to enlist, ZAFT and the Federation had the same overall goal to have peace between the factions, but that goal hasn't changed. So, it was logical to join ZAFT as then I could also see my parents and sister more often. Still, I would like to visit the Orb Union again someday; I have fond memories there."

Shinn sighed, "It's those that promote a war that even makes what we do necessary. If the Earth Alliance did as they agreed to at the peace conference and didn't keep scheming in the background, then things would be far better for everyone." Any further conversation was curtailed as Condition Red was declared. It was announced that "Bogey One" had been detected a distance ahead of them. Pilots were ordered to standby in to launch in mobile suits, and the crew was to report to battle stations.

At the same time, those on the Girty Lue had detected the Minerva approaching from behind. Neo instantly noted the ZAFT vessel was the one that had attacked them around Armory One. He'd expected to be pursued by ZAFT before they would be able to slip out of Lagrange 4's colony cluster and head for the moon. There was no sign that the Federation was with them, but there would be little to see with them. And the Federation's patrols were already enough of a problem to weave around. It said that Neo had been right that the Girty Lue wouldn't be able to get back to base without having to work hard for it. The close to two hours had been agonizing both seeming long and yet flying by at the same time since they had run away from the PLANT colony. The ship repairs had been completed, so the Girty Lue was ready for combat. It was the same with the mobile weapons the Girty Lue had on it. However, Neo hadn't heard of Stella waking up yet, and he'd checked close to thirty minutes ago. With the Girty Lue having the three Gundams and his mobile armor, they needed all four of those to fend off the ZAFT vessel. Neo knew tactics would determine this encounter since the enemy ship likely had more mobile suits.

Sting and Auel were ready from what they had said to Neo. The two of them had made it clear they wanted another chance to fight the enemy Gundams. The loss they had suffered had been eating at them and was serving as motivation for them. Neo assumed it would be much the same for Stella when she woke up. He could understand wanting to settle a score and would normally not have a problem with such. However, Neo did tell the two to not forget to watch out for one another and focus on the goal and not exclusively on payback. But before checking on Stella again, Neo wanted to coordinate with Ian and ensure they were on the same page. The Girty Lue needed to fight smarter in this battle than in the last. They would lose if they made too many assumptions or were reckless. Thus, the mobile weapon pilots and the Girty Lue's crew needed to work together rather than separately.

Neo and Ian quickly came up with a solid plan for the Girty Lue to use against the ZAFT vessel. Combat in the colony cluster presented an environment that places other than the Debris Belt provided. The colonies and space rocks could be used for defensive purposes or a hiding place to ambush opponent from. So, the ship would employ its rocket anchors to use debris to get behind the enemy vessel lying in wait for them. The mobile weapons would keep whatever ZAFT sent out busy and draw them away from their carrier ship. It was much for the same reasons that the Girty Lue needed to work together to avoid. If one side could divide the other's mobile weapons from their ship, the ship could be taken down. The deception had all the chance of working in the Girty Lue's favor and gaining the advantage in the looming battle. Pushing that advantage would get the battle going in the right direction for the Girty Lue. The ZAFT ship was not only a danger with attacking the Girty Lue, it could also delay them long enough for the Federation's patrols to become involved.

Once the two had the plan loosely laid out, Neo began heading toward the hangar. When Neo arrived in the hangar, he was glad to see Stella with the other two. That would mean the Girty Lue could deploy all its mobile weapons against the enemy vessel. Neo could hear Sting and Auel chatting about bringing back a trophy from one of their opponents. He would applaud the boys for being so motivated to do better than they did the last time. Stella was rather quiet compared to the others in her trio. This battle would let the trio show what they could do in a fight and Neo wanted to see that.

Sting was working to keep Auel in control, which wasn't an easy thing to do. Auel wanted to race out and be aggressive against the enemy force and was more than ready to do that. And it wasn't that Sting didn't understand the feeling of wanting payback against those who had defeated them. He, too, wanted a chance to outdo those who had beaten them outside the colony. However, Sting knew if they were reckless, then they could be beaten again. The issue in this upcoming fight was that Auel would focus on payback, not beating the enemy and protecting their ship. Even if Auel succeeded in getting payback but didn't protect the Girty Lue, it would be a failure. Auel's strategy had the potential to blow up in his face and then their trio would be held responsible for Auel's actions. Then there was Stella, who had "recovered" from the results of her choices and Auel's actions. She would need to follow the plan and not get sidetracked and distracted as she had the last time.

Stella had listened to what Sting had told her when it had been announced enemy forces were pursuing them. She knew that Sting was right when he said she had gotten distracted and sidetracked in the last fight. That had cost her, even if Auel shouldn't have used her block word to make her panic. She couldn't let herself narrow her view to the point she missed important things. After Neo entered, he'd given the trio all a rundown of the fight ahead of them. Stella understood Neo's instructions as to what they would need to do in the battle ahead. She needed to focus on the goal of the mission rather than the little things like she had been last time. Mistakes now would be far more problematic than before. The ship was on the run from those pursuing them, and if they were caught, it wouldn't be good for any. So, teamwork and tactics were a priority to get through the fight ahead.

Once Neo finished his "explanation," the trio boarded their assigned machines they had stolen. Sting had taken the time to fine-tune the Chaos after its repairs were finished. He had "encouraged" Auel to do the same with the time they'd had before. And after some time, though Auel had grumbled had done as suggested by him. Sting knew Stella would unlikely have the chance to do the idea with the "work" that had to be done on her to fix what happened. Auel using her block word had done damage, and their handlers had been working to fix the issues. But she appeared okay now and ready for the fight looming ahead.

The Chaos shot out of the left catapult while the Abyss launched from the right. The Chaos was followed by the Gaia, and the Abyss was followed by the Exus. After the mobile suits launched from the Girty Lue, Ian ordered one of the ship anchors to aim at the nearest space rock. The ship would use it to hide from their pursuer and get behind them so they could get the jump on them. The anchor zoomed at the rock and slammed into it, attaching them to the space debris. Ian had a decoy missile fired just before the Girty Lue began its arc around the rock it was anchored to. The decoy would make it appear the Girty Lue was still going forward with its course unchanged. Ian had the engines die down so they wouldn't give the ship away, and the decoy would have an even better chance to trick the enemy. He ordered the Girty Lue's weapons to be readied as they swung around the space rock. Ian wanted to be able to pound the enemy vessel once it came into the Girty Lue's sites. Should the Girty Lue be able to unload its full arsenal for long enough, the enemy vessel should be destroyed.

The Girty Lue was designed to be undetectable as possible. From its hull material to the engine output and the mirage colloid, all of it was meant to evade sensors. At least ZAFT sensors should be fooled by the decoy, even if the Federation likely wouldn't. And there wasn't any sign of Federation vessels with the single ZAFT ship chasing them. It didn't mean there weren't Federation forces unseen, but Ian hoped there weren't. The Girty Lue was for stealth and infiltration, to get around enemy detection, and it would proven that in this battle. They would ambush the ZAFT vessel and teach it the mistake it had been to chase the Girty Lue.

Meanwhile, on the Minerva, preparations for combat were being made to go against Bogey One and the stolen Gundams. The signal ahead, which matched the data given on the Federation's beacon was mentioned to have been hidden on Bogey One was still coming in strong. Talia assumed the enemy force would try to deceive them the closer the Minerva got to them. She was ensuring Arthur kept alert and ready to adapt to any hint of a change with the enemy vessel. Bogey One had already proven to be beyond dangerous, given the opportunity. The chance ahead of the Minerva would likely be the best opportunity to handle the theft of the Gundams before they became more of a problem. If they escaped again, then Talia felt it would be harder for ZAFT to deal with them. Bogey One could reach allies and be resupplied and made stronger than they already were.

Arthur ordered all the Minerva's pilots to suit up and head for the hangar. The only exceptions were Aila and Dems, who were still recovering from their injuries. After all, were suited up, they went to the pilot lounge to get the battle plan for the fight ahead. Arthur outlined the general plan for the battle. Rey would stay back in case something went wrong and the other suits were kept away from the Minerva. Lunamaria would be using the "Gunner" wizard with her ZAKU, which had the "Orthros" high-energy long-range beam cannon as the optional weapon. She would still have the MMI-M633 beam assault rifle as an alternative if needed. Two GuAIZ machines were readied, sent to the catapults, and headed out after Lunamaria.

The Impulse's modules were being loaded onto its catapult, and Shinn boarded the Core Splendor again. Meyrin asked him which silhouette flyer he wanted for the battle ahead. With the enemy likely using the surrounding debris, Shinn had to think about what flyer to use. The sword set would not be of much help or advantage with the field as it was building to be. The force silhouette would be fine as it was the most rounded equipment set. However, the blast set had more firepower, and Shinn felt that would help the fight end quicker. The Blast set for the Impulse gave the mobile suit two high-energy long-range beam cannons attached to the backpack called "Kerberos." On the top of the cannons were quadruple missile launchers with guided missiles. Then, on the backpack were two hyper-velocity rail cannons that worked like railguns. This set had two beam javelins stored inside the Kerberos cannons for close-quarters fighting. Thus, in the end, Shinn told Meyrin to load the blast silhouette to the catapult.

Meyrin put in the commands to load the Impulse's modules before she switched over to the channel she used as the mobile suit controller. "All personnel, standby for the launching of the Impulse," Meyrin announced. "The Blast Silhouette has been selected, opening silhouette hangar 3, preparing to load silhouette flyer, standby." At the bottom of the central elevator system under the three platforms, which had already been moved into the lift shaft, a fourth platform track slid into place for the fourth platform. The storage hangar with the number "3" on the front split horizontally open, and the fourth platform moved to the central elevator. Once the fourth platform was added, the airtight shutters began rising, "Platform setup complete, central catapult online, opening airtight shutters," Meyrin stated over the speaker system. The airtight shutters quickly reached the top of the shaft and locked into place, enclosing the lift system. "Emergency crews, standby at launching positions. Raising central catapult to launch position."

Shinn had been activating the Splendor's operating system when he felt the jerk of the platform moving upward. He toggled the last switches to have the OS fully up. Shinn was also breathing calmly to settle his nerves as he moved upward. "Core Splendor, all systems online, the hatch is opening, the linear launch is ready, catapult power levels normal." The Core Splendor came up, and its platform locked into the catapult. "You will be clear to initiate the launch sequence momentarily," Meyrin continued. The sight of light became visible to Shinn as the catapult opened to the outside. Thruster vents rose up behind the craft, and the catapult lit up as it activated for launch. "Course cleared, Core Splendor; go ahead and launch." The four mobile suits launched from the Minerva and headed forward into the debris field. With their opponents being the three Gundams and the mobile armor, firepower was assumed to be key to ending this quickly.

Once the mobile suits headed out from the Minerva, the bridge was lowered to connect with the ship's CIC. And when the command bridge came to the level as the CIC, Arthur informed the captain that two separate signals were showing up. One was on an unchanged course, while the other from the Federation's beacon was beginning to circle nearby debris. Captain Gladys trusted that the Federation's beacon was sending more accurate information to the Minerva. McGregor had warned their enemy was inclined to use deception, and she believed that. ZAFT had been caught off-guard already once by Bogey One; she wouldn't let that happen again. "We'll assume the signal continuing forward is a decoy the enemy has deployed. The one going around the debris is to be considered Bogey One. Load and fire a decoy," she ordered, then focused on the helmsman, Malik YardBirds. "Malik, just as the decoy launches, steer us to hide behind debris, cut the engines, and use only maneuvering thrusters. We'll have an opportunity to take the enemy by surprise this time instead of them getting the jump on us. Send an encrypted message to the suit pilots; we're going to be out of their sight for a bit."

The decoy fired from the Minerva, and then the ship moved to be among the colony debris that floated around the cluster of Lagrange 4. The movement went unnoticed by the Girty Lue as it reached halfway around the asteroid they had attached to. All they saw was their enemy chasing their decoy as it kept going forward as was hoped. Talia was determined to make this battle different than the previous one. The Minerva's mobile suits were scanning around the debris field, searching for the Chaos, Abyss, and Gaia. They did receive a message from the Minerva that the ship would be out of sight of them. It said the enemy carrier was attempting to flank them, and the Minerva was going to turn the tables on them. This meant the four of them would be on their own for the time being as they were hunting for the three stolen Gundams.

The Gundam trio had headed out first from the Girty Lue while Neo stayed behind for a bit. And it didn't take long for them to spot the signals of the enemy machines heading into the debris field. That was more than they had faced from the ship in the last encounter. Auel wouldn't complain if there were more targets to take down in this fight. That would translate to more trophies he could show for his work. And this time, there would be fewer meddlers than there had been in the previous battle. Granted, there had been nothing said of the Federation and that annoying red Gundam. However, Auel would wait for the chance to get back at that one later. Auel could show patience when he had to, which got him closer to the goal he wanted.

Sting had looked at the area the battle would take place so he could come up with a loose plan. They could just go in and push their opponents to the wall, but that may not work. Stella, Auel, and he needed to work together as a team to eliminate the enemy group. Neo had said not to underestimate those they would be going against. Sting could see the wisdom of the recommendation since they had done that the last time. Underestimating ZAFT, even to the small extent they had, made things harder during that encounter. As powerful as they were, Gundams could still be beaten or taken down. That had almost happened in ZAFT's colony, even if Auel didn't want to admit the point. So, Sting had the two hide within the debris and wait for their prey to come to them.

Lunamaria was in the slightly in the lead of the Minerva's group of four mobile suits. The Impulse was slightly behind the red ZAKU, with the two GuAIZ bringing up the rear. Shinn was scanning around the debris field his group was flying through and saw nothing. He didn't like that as it could mean the stolen Gundams had an ambush prepared ahead of them. An ambush would be a simple and easy thing in the debris field with many places to hide and be undetected. And with Bogey One having reached this area first, they had the advantage of the time to prepare traps and ambushes. "I don't like this," Shinn commented, "It's too quiet, and the thieves weren't the kind to be quiet for long."

Lunamaria agreed with Shinn it was too quiet to be a good thing for them. The enemy group was trying to run to who knew where and had come to this area for a reason. It was likely they hoped to shake the Minerva off its trail before it headed for Alliance territory. And from what Rey and Shinn had mentioned during their accounting, the thieves weren't ones to be subtle unless it was beneficial to them. The enemy was likely hiding, waiting for the perfect opportunity to get the jump on them. "I don't like this quiet either," Luna replied. "Everyone, keep your eyes peeled and heads on the swivel. The enemy is out there, do not doubt that. Let's not let them get a surprise attack on us this time." As the four passed some big colony chunks, the quiet was broken abruptly. Out from ahead and to either side, the three stolen Gundams came from behind the debris they had been hiding. The Minerva's machines were forced to evade as the three Gundams began attacking them.

Sting had given the signal to strike when he'd seen the ZAFT machines passing where he had been waiting. The ambush was the best way to cut down the enemy numbers while the Girty Lue took on the enemy vessel. And they would dispatch the non-Gundams first, so the three could work together to take down the final enemy unit. Sting hadn't missed the Gundam from before and had different equipment, even from the two sets they had seen while in the colony. The current equipment the Gundam had appeared to be heavier firepower than the other two they'd seen. It brought into question just how many different equipment sets the enemy Gundam could have. The Gundam seemed to be made of parts which gave it a lot of possibilities on the battlefield, including potential damaged part replacement. Thus, to take it down, Sting, Auel, and Stella must work together to succeed.

Auel had moved out and gone after one of the "rear-guards" in the enemy formation. Stella had moved to be in front of the enemy group to stop their advance. Sting had moved so he could attack the other rear guard. The two were mass-production models, which would be simple to dispatch and leave the other two left. Sting had the Chaos deploy its weapon pods with the intent to corner the enemy unit. He was finding the "DRAGOON" system the Chaos possessed had more potential in combat than other systems. Remote weapons gave an advantage when used effectively, and Sting learned how to do that. Sting had one pod get in front of the target and the other behind them. They deployed their beam assault cannons and fired at the GuAIZ, destroying it without much difficulty.

The moment the assault began, Shinn rolled out of the way of beams. He quickly began working on acquiring the three stolen Gundams so he could disable them. Orders given to them said if the Gundams could be disabled and captured, then to attempt to do so. If that wasn't possible or too difficult, the three would be destroyed, so the Alliance wouldn't get the chance to use or reverse engineer and reproduce them. However, Shinn quickly realized that the enemy group was aiming at his allies more than him. That logically led to him understanding the three stolen Gundams planned to team up against him after taking out his allies. Three Gundams going against one was not great or good odds for the one, and Shinn knew that without a doubt. Thus, if he could prevent his allies from falling, the better chances he would have not going against all three stolen Gundams at once. So, Shinn was trying to get a lock on any of the three Gundams, but they were moving too erratically and fast for him to get that. Then the Chaos took down one of the GuAIZs, putting the two groups on even grounds with numbers.

Lunamaria, Shinn, and Shawn moved to use the surrounding debris as cover against the onslaught. However, that didn't work as hoped since the Gundams didn't need the light of sight to use their weapons against their opponents. Auel had seen his GuAIZ target had hidden behind debris, but he wouldn't let that stop him from taking them down. He brought the Abyss's 3-barrel beam cannons and his multi-phase beam cannon to blast through the debris. Auel couldn't help the smile that came to him when there was an explosion signaling he had hit his intended target. Now the enemy group was down to the other mass-production model and the annoying Gundam. Stella was working on the red machine, and even she should be able to handle that one without much help. And once that red one was dealt with, they could focus on the enemy Gundam. When that one was taken down, Sting could shut up and stop insisting they needed to employ teamwork for a signal enemy machine for a bit.

Shinn and Lunamaria were evading left and right, shooting back at their opponents as best as they could. They hadn't missed their two allies, who had been taken down by the stolen Gundams. Luna was still fighting against the Gaia, who had appeared to target her exclusively since the start of the battle. It seemed the stolen machines were avoiding fighting the Impulse directly for the moment. That had made Luna realize they wanted to gang up on the Impulse after taking out its allies. As good as Shinn could be with the Impulse, she didn't want him to be in a fight with such bad odds stacked against him. So, she didn't let the Gaia get too close to her as it would have an advantage in close-quarters combat. They had already lost Dale and Shawn, which was horrible enough; they couldn't afford to lose more. She seriously considered asking the Minerva to send Rey out to help them. But the Minerva had said they would be on their own for a bit, so that may not be possible right now.

At the same time, the Girty Lue came around the asteroid it had used to get behind the enemy. The full expectation was to find ZAFT's warship coming into their crosshairs. Sensors had said the enemy ship had followed the decoy without deviation thus far, meaning they had fallen for the deception. However, to the Girty Lue's crew's dismay, the expectation of the enemy ship of conspicuously missing. Ian had ordered a report from the sensor operator about the position of the enemy ship. The reply was the signal was still following the decoy as it had been for the last few minutes. But there was nothing in front of them that didn't fit or make logical sense.

The absence of the target had Neo quickly suspecting that there was something off. The sensor operator had been confident in reporting the enemy signal was following the decoy the Girty Lue had fired. Neo believed the sensors were functioning as they were supposed to, as there had been no sign to the contrary. That left something else going on than the sensors being wrong in what they were reading. The area might have been throwing off sensors, but that would've been noticed before now, so that was unlikely the explanation. In fact, the only thing Neo could think of that made sense was that the enemy had figured out the Girty Lue had sent out a decoy. Should they have been able to somehow do that, they could launch a decoy of their own to flip the trick on the Girty Lue. And while Neo didn't want to believe their pursuer could've figured out their strategy, things were pointing toward that.

Neo was brought out of his thoughts when an alarm began going off, and an operator called missiles were coming at them. The missiles came from the debris ahead of the Girty Lue, but Neo couldn't tell any more than that. The Girty Lue's CWIS intercepted all of the incoming missiles, but some got close enough to rock the ship. As the rocking stopped, Neo looked up and saw the enemy warship appear from behind colony junk ahead of them. It was the ZAFT vessel from the colony, all right, no mistaking it with its unique design. The enemy ship began assaulting the Girty Lue head-on giving them little time to prepare a counterattack. Somehow the enemy vessel had known what the Girty Lue had been doing. The decoy had been seen through, and ZAFT had used their own to trick the Girty Lue instead. Something wasn't feeling right to Neo; he felt like he was missing something which was giving the enemy an advantage.

To test his theory of there being something seriously off, Neo ordered the ship's mirage colloid to be activated while there was the interference of the missiles detonating. If the ZAFT ship was like other ZAFT vessels, then the Girty Lue would be able to turn the tables on its opponent. On the other hand, if the ZAFT ship somehow kept its advantage, then it would confirm to Neo something was off. ZAFT shouldn't be able to track a ship with a mirage colloid with what OMNI intel had found. The Federation may have a means, but they weren't around here as far as any could tell thus far. So, the ZAFT vessel shouldn't have a way to get past the Girty Lue's mirage colloid. Neo ordered the helmsman to move the ship out of the line of fire, and the crewman did as told. Stealth should make it so the Girty Lue's opponent is unable to shoot at them effectively.

Nevertheless, back on the bridge of the Minerva, the disappearance of Bogey One didn't go unnoticed. Heim informed Talia that the Federation beacon signal showed Bogey One had moved out of the line of fire the Minerva was sending. The Federation's beacon hadn't led them wrong thus far with where the enemy vessel was, so Talia didn't see why it would suddenly start doing so. With that in mind, Talia ordered the Minerva's barrage shift to match where Bogey One had moved to. The Minerva wouldn't let Bogey One get away this time as it had after its attack on Armory One. Should Bogey One escape, it would rain ruin on ZAFT, given the chance to do so.

When the Minerva's barrage moved to where the Girty Lue moved to, Neo got his question answered. The ZAFT ship had something that was somehow able to track them, which didn't make sense. However, the evidence made it the only logical answer ridiculous as it was to what was going on with this ship. Neo couldn't figure out how the ZAFT vessel could be doing the idea, but that wasn't the point right now. The trio was busy with the enemy mobile suits, so they couldn't do much to help the Girty Lue. Neo would have to head out to get the ZAFT vessel to back off and leave the Girty Lue alone. He was confident that he could do such with his mobile armor. So, Neo told Ian he would get out before he headed down to the hangar and entered his mobile armor. As things stood, the Girty Lue was on the road to a loss in this battle. It would then be hard-pressed to escape if it could do so successfully at all. The barrage was still coming from the enemy ship as Neo launched out in the Exus, focusing on what needed to be done and not letting the feelings of irritation in him have control.

At the same time, Talia had seen the Minerva's mobile suits were having trouble against the stolen Gundams. The two GuAIZs had been dispatched by the enemy forces. She'd known that going against Gundams would be risky for the Minerva's pilots. That didn't make losing some any easier to swallow for Talia. Rey had been held back in reserve should Bogey One try and pull something. She hoped Rey could help turn the tides for the Minerva's mobile suit forces. Rey's skills were among the best after Aila and Dems, so if any could turn things around, it was him. However, with he Osiris ready to go, that could give an edge for the Minerva in this battle. Rey was a backup Gundam pilot so should be able to work with the Osiris well enough. Thus, Talia called down to Rey and told him to take the Osiris and launch out to speed along dealing with Bogey One. The Minerva may have the upper hand with Bogey One right now, but such could change. It was why Talia wanted Rey to help with Bogey One first before going to help Shinn and Lunamaria.

Rey didn't argue with the captain telling him to use the Osiris rather than his ZAKU Blaze. He was a backup Gundam pilot, one to step in when one of their assigned pilots could not pilot them. And the captain's order to go speed along dealing with Bogey One was a stance he agreed with. The sooner the enemy ship was stopped, the quicker the battle could conclude. Without a means to resupply, the stolen Gundams would have a limited operation time. That would increase the chances of recapturing them and preventing the Alliance from reverse engineering them. And as far as Rey had heard, the other three pilots that had been assigned to the Gundams were alive, just not on the Minerva currently. Were the stolen machine recaptured, they could be put with those they had been meant to work with. It was the same type of tactic the Federation employed often and proved effective, as suits without a ship had limited operation time.

Rey boarded the Osiris, looking over the systems the Gundam had as he didn't know it as well as the Impulse. It may have the same basic systems the Impulse possessed, like the variable phase shift armor and the deuterium beam system, but its arsenal was different. Rey glanced over the rifle system which was the Osiris's main offensive option to work with. There was the Vulcan guns which would be effective against non-Gundams. And the shield while the defensive option, contained the beam saber and javelin the Osiris had for close-quarters combat. Once he was done glancing over what he had to work with, Rey told Aves he was ready to go. The Osiris was moved to the catapult and Rey shot out of the Minerva. However, as Rey launched out, the odd tingling sensation he'd felt around the enemy mobile armor during the last battle came to him again. The sensation didn't make any more sense than it had when it had come to him the last time. But when he had it in the last encounter, it had given a warning from what direction the enemy mobile armor would attack from. And sure enough, beams started coming his way, and he dodged before spotting the very same mobile armor from the encounter with Armory One. It was odd the armor hadn't come out with the Gundams. It would've put pressure on Rey's allies more than they were dealing with already.

Neo spotted the gold machine coming from the enemy vessel. It matched the description that Sting had given of the other ZAFT Gundam his trio had encountered inside the colony. Why it hadn't been sent out with the other machines, Neo couldn't say for sure. There was the chance the ZAFT captain had kept one back in case of an emergency. If that were so, then Neo would have to applaud the enemy captain for the choice since it was quite smart. Neo wasn't one to not applaud an opponent for doing something smart in battle. He knew one could learn from your enemy's tactics if one observed them with an open mind. However, Neo was one of the few who were open to observing enemy tactics and not just cursing them. So, Neo would have to handle the gold Gundam before attacking the enemy vessel.

And yet, the enemy machine evaded the shots from his linear guns like the pilot had known the shots had been coming. There was also the repetitive tingling sensation that he got around this machine in particular. The tingling didn't make sense to Neo as it kept coming to him around this machine or its pilot. It was annoying and a tad distracting with his fight against the Osiris. And the feeling was piling on the collection of crap which had been building up rather fast lately during this mission. Every shot Neo fired off missed or was intercepted by the enemy's shield, which frustrated him. Neo knew things could be worse, and it wouldn't take a great deal to push the battle that way. He hoped the enemy Gundams could be captured or if not destroyed before things went south for the Girty Lue. However, he didn't think it would go that way with how events had gone for the Girty Lue.

It was shortly after Neo was wondering how long the Girty Lue had before the tables were turned on them when things changed. It came in the form of the enemy warship, brought out a cannon from its bow, and pointed at the Girty Lue. Within a moment, Neo identified it as a positron blaster cannon of some kind. It charged and fired on the Girty Lue, and though it didn't score a direct hit on the ship, it didn't miss completely. Ian had managed to partly evade the beam to have it pass by and not rip into the ship. However, it was close enough to cause moderate to serious damage to the aft engines, cutting down the thrusting power the Girty Lue had to work with. The shot from the enemy was the turning point in the battle, and Neo knew it as much as he didn't want to admit it.

Neo could see this battle was essentially done, and the Girty Lue had lost the skirmish. He couldn't explain how the enemy had managed to gain such a clear advantage over the Girty Lue. The Girty Lue should have had the advantage with its mirage colloid and the Gundams at its disposal. And yet, the ZAFT vessel and its mobile suits had managed to know where they were and beat them somehow. However, Neo knew it wasn't worth fretting over right now about how they had been beaten. It was time to cut losses and leave before a Federation patrol popped up, making things far worse than they already were. Thus, he told Lee to fire a retreat signal for the Gundams and get the Girty Lue to turn around and escape. Neo then swung his armor around and headed back to the Girty Lue himself.

The sight of the retreat signal wasn't well received by Stella or Auel since they hadn't taken down the red ZAKU or the enemy Gundam. Sting insisted they needed to go back and that the battle was over for now. After a moment, the Chaos, Abyss, and Gaia fell back and made their way back to the Girty Lue. Giving up the chance of destroying the Impulse or the Red ZAKU like they had wanted to. Shinn and Lunamaria let them go as they weren't in great condition to pursue them anyway. The Minerva stood down from Condition Red as the Alliance vessel moved away, taking stock of the damages incurred.

While that was going on, Matt woke up as the sedative was wearing off. The last thing he could remember was getting to the infirmary and being told he would have to be put under to get the shrapnel removed. He'd given blood to Aila as she had lost a worrisome amount from the time she'd been shot to getting to the Minerva. Matt glanced around the infirmary and saw the doctor in his corner and his assistants checking over Aila. Aila still showed no signs of waking up that Matt could see. He hoped that didn't mean she had more serious injuries that needed to be dealt with before she could recover. He then glanced down and found he had an IV in his arm. There were also bandages around his middle where the shrapnel had cut into him.

As Matt rose slowly to a sitting position, he did feel pain around his middle, likely the aftereffects of the shrapnel. It was a moment later when one of the two assistants noticed him and came over. They checked him over, asking him health-related questions. He was told the shrapnel had been removed with little issue. Matt said he was okay, even when his middle was sore from the damage the shrapnel. The doctor came over and talked to Matt. He told Matt that he was lucky none of the shrapnel had reached anything vital. There had been a need to repair some internal damage with stitches, which would dissolve over time. Matt was still to rest and work on recovery for the next few days. That meant no mobile suit piloting and no active-duty work for the time being. He just hoped that Aila would have as straightforward a recovery as he did to work through.

A/n

And that's where I'll leave off and pick up in the next Phase. Now we get into me elaborating why I wrote what I did and highlighting things. Let's start with the first scene with the Girty Lue as there are some things I wanted to talk about. So, the recounting by Neo is to show the Alliance side of the events that had happened in the last few phases. Neo also gives an overview of the beating the Girty Lue took in battle. I know that Tyler kind of did that, but it bears repeating in this I say. Plus, I want to make it plain that Neo and his group was outdone in the end of the battle. And I wanted to show that Neo is trying to look ahead with his remarks about the effects of the damage. I also wanted to establish that Neo is inclined to listen to what Sting says over the other two. I know I pain Auel as the rebel and troublemaker, and he is to an extent, but there are other reasons why Neo doesn't take him at his word. Stella is more clingy which Neo doesn't mind, but sees as no need of further trust from him. But that is why he mentions Sting more than the others in this case and likely future cases too.

Back to Neo thinking ahead and trying to prepare for might come his way. He expects the Girty Lue to be chases by someone or more. That is different from many within OMNI who would just go in do the job and leave thinking little about the consequences. The Girty Lue lost what they went to Armory One with, even if the gained the Gundams. And remember, the Minerva has two ZAKUs, two GuAIZs, the Impulse and the Osiris available. So, can you blame the guy for being worried what he and the ship may face? Thus, Neo and Ian come up with the best plan they can with the information they have. Neo does warn the trio to not fall into the mistakes they did the last time. I would point out that Extendeds are better at seeing mistakes and correcting them than their counterparts, the Boosted Men.

Let's move on to the battle scene of this phase, starting with the Minerva's side. Unlike canon, the Minerva is going into this fight they have an advantage with the Federation beacon. Granted, there are two "separate" fights in this battle with the ships going against each other and the mobile suits doing the same. Now the Minerva is able to turn the planned ambush the Girty Lue intended to use against them. And that had Neo suspicious that "something" was off to give the Minerva such an advantage. No, he doesn't know about the beacon on the Girty Lue and that won't come up until later. But Neo does understand that the Girty Lue can't win by fair means. Thus, why he goes out to the battlefield in his mobile armor.

Neo is met by Rey and he is in the Osiris which is different than the original version of this story. I thought Rey using the Osiris would be interesting as he technically is a backup Gundam pilot. In my opinion, Rey doesn't get enough "screen time" during the first third to a half of Destiny, so I want to change that somewhat. The fight with the mobile suits is much the same as it was before. I'm sorry to those that wanted the GuAIZ pilots to survive. But they didn't play enough of a part in the story for me to change that point.

Finally, the brief last scene of this Phase in the infirmary. I wanted to elaborate on something this scene hints at as it does setup for things later. Understand, Aila who is apparently a popular character with some readers (not that I blame you), will be down for a time. The gunshot wound she has isn't her only injure, the crash of the Osiris did a number on her which will be stated in more detail in a later phase. Matt is doing better, but still will need a little more time to recover from the shrapnel damage. He will get more involved later, I want him to have screen time since I added him. There will be a "relationship" shown between Matt and Aila in future phases for those who have asked me.

In conclusion, while this phase deals with a shorter time period than the last, I wanted to keep it in the story. I know I said that phases would go to a three week period between releases. I would amend that to say three weeks between at most the best I can. If I can put out Phases more often, I will do so, but I make no promises on that point. I had a week free from school which is why this one came out this quick. As aways, if some of you could take the time and write a review telling me what you think of this phase, that would be awesome. I do read reviews, whether they are complimentary, instructive, or critical of me. The next Phase's title is currently, "Return to Orb." I hope to get it would in a week or two.