Gundam Seed: The Federation

by Blackshadow999

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

13. Phase 13: The Portrait of Betrayal

A/n

Chapter 13 revised edition.

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Phase 13: The Portrait of Betrayal

March 6th, 71 C.E.

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-Tyler's pov-

Northern Housing District, Shira, the Republic

One look, told me that Lacus and Sakura had become busy catching up, between the chatting they were doing and the hugging that occurred. Decided that it would be better and easier to leave the two alone to do what they are. Turned back to my two best friends as at least in my view, we had catching up of our own to do. "So, then you two," I started, breaking the ice if you will. "It's been some years since the three of us have been around each other, let alone in the same room. Don't doubt we have a story to tell, know I do at least."

The last time we'd seen each other, had been just before we parted from the prep school at Copernicus City after all. Yes, I'd been seeing Kira pretty much almost every day for the majority of the past year at Heliopolis. But Athrun hadn't been there and his presence had been missed. Both Kira and Athrun nodded in agreement to my statement, in fact, Athrun began with what he had been doing the last five or so years.

Athrun talked about how, once he returned to the PLANTs, his father Patrick Zala had been… well, grieving over the death of his wife I wouldn't doubt. My recollections of my younger days of when I would see Athrun's father was with his mother, Patrick Zala was actually a decent guy. Athrun's mother Lenore Zala, had been assisting my father with his research and work, apparently, she had taken a heavy interest in the applications. In fact, if memory serves me right, it had been Lenore who had convinced Patrick to meet with my father and listen to the vision he had.

Anyway, back to Athrun's tale before getting sidetracked by how I met and knew Patrick Zala, Athrun was informed of his arranged engagement to Lacus. She had been in her career in singing as a pop idol at the time. My blue haired friend, being the nice and kind hearted person that he is, gave or rather built Lacus a present, that being Haro. Athrun has always had a talent for robotics, has practiced the skill of building robots even during prep school days. Actually, Lacus had apparently liked Haro so much, that Athrun had built her a number of them in response to her happiness with the first.

A few years later, Athrun had then enrolled in the ZAFT military, partially due to the insistence of his father and partially because of the loss of his mother in the Bloody Valentine Tragedy. I could understand the feeling, I would be lying if I said the memories of the deaths of my dad and sister didn't play a part in my decision to join the Federation military. Athrun continued by going into a summary of his first tour of duty with Commander Hersey. Never met the man and have only heard mention of the name, so I can't say much about the ZAFT officer. Then of course, a year later, Athrun was assigned to Rau Le Creuset along with his fellow pilots.

His befriending of Nicol Amalfi and Rusty Mackenzie, clearly helped Athrun. Both had a good influence and their views by what Athrun said, were nowhere near as radical as a number of those within ZAFT. Then came the subject of what went down at Heliopolis, and though I knew the basics from the chat Athrun and I had days earlier. He did voice that he had doubts about the rumors that had been intercepted by ZAFT intelligence. But, when Athrun and his team had seen the prototype mobile suits, he had figured that the reports were accurate. Yet, once Athrun had viewed the reaction of the citizens of the colony, the doubts had returned in force.

The death of Rusty had hit Athrun hard, even if it hadn't been his fault that his comrade got shot by an Earth Force's officer. Athrun had to leave the body of his newly made friend behind and board the Aegis. After joining up with another comrade, which was Miguel, the had been about to capture the Strike, that was until Kira and I showed up coming out of the factory. In the end, Heliopolis had collapsed, but the chain of events that led to that was out of the control of any of us.

Then with the pursuit of the Archangel by Le Creuset after the meeting with the council, Athrun had been forced to encounter Kira again and me as well. If that wasn't bad enough, Athrun and his fellow pilots on the team had then lost to Kira, Lacus and myself, not once, but twice and the second time was much worse than the first. The second battle, which was the one before the Archangel met up with the Earth Force's 8th Orbital fleet… well, I'll just say that going against a mobile suit pilot who is in SEED mode, just sucks. You might as well say that the odds are stacked VERY heavily against you, especially if the pilot knows how to use their abilities from SEED factor at a fair level or better… like myself for instance.

Granted, neither Kira or Lacus realized they'd gone into SEED mode or even had the SEED factor by their questions after the fight. However, there's no way around the point that Athrun and the other ZAFT pilots with him had their rears handed to them on a shiny platter! Yes, I did contribute to the result, but my skills come through experience and wit. Still, Kira and Lacus had sent two out of the four packing and running.

And to make things worse, which really wasn't needed, then being put under the command of Sakura, one of the more feared commanders in ZAFT had to make up the 'icing on the cake'. I don't doubt that she picked apart what went wrong with the battle before the meeting up the Alliance fleet. Criticism, even if it's constructive and could help you improve, can really hurt, and were I to guess, Sakura hadn't put the criticism nicely at all, taking into account her mannerisms that she has with other people besides her family or me. After the battle above Earth, Athrun along with Sakura, Lisa and myself had descended down to the Republic.

With Athrun having gotten to the present with what had been going on with him, means that it's someone else's turn and when I say someone else, I mean Kira or myself of course. Well, I looked over at Kira and he gave me an expression to say that he would go next. I was good with that, as I had things to tell them I haven't told them yet, maybe a little to Athrun as I've mentioned I'm in the Federation military.

Kira started by saying how he had returned to Earth, specifically back to the Orb Union where his adopted parents were living at the time. His life had been less eventful as Athrun's and mine have been the last five or so years. Kira and his family moved around a bit and ended out at Heliopolis where he enrolled at the technical college. Lacus had somehow kept up on where Kira had been living through most of the five years, for she visited him from time to time.

At Heliopolis, he had met those who were now friends to Kira and I, not all at the same time, but still. Interestingly, when Kira had met Sai, I believe Sai was kind of intimidated by Kira, while my friend's naïveté left him blissfully ignorant. Sai is really smart, even I have seen the signs of that, he can even come close to being able to do some of the things Kira can. But the two had become friends after Sai realized Kira isn't one to boast or realize the things he does can be seen as incredible to some people. Although Kira didn't mention it… I think because Lacus was in the room, he'd had a bit of an infatuation with the redhead Flay, though I think its passed. Personally, I think Kira is better off with Lacus, but I stay out of the romance of others as a personal rule.

Kira had then been put through being forced to defend the Archangel from those who wished to take or destroy the ship. With his kind and gentle heart… Killing another just isn't in him and so he has a very hard time doing that to someone else. Athrun and I have come to understand and have been trained to fight in combat, Kira hasn't fully yet. To make things harder for my friend, when the Archangel reached Artemis, things had gone not just south, but REALLY far south. By what Kira said, head honcho's words about betraying other Coordinators and being an asset to the Earth Alliance gad affected him. Thankfully, Lacus had noticed and had been with him and was able to help comfort him. Kira finished by summarizing the journey to Earth and some brief details about his recovery after going through reentry.

That left the last to give their story in this catch-up session to me. The issue for me, there were things I can talk about and then, there are things I can't tell or discuss with them. It comes with some of the missions I've been sent out on, which are classified for a couple of reasons. Anyways, I began by telling the two about coming back home to the republic, glazed over the year or so that I took to pull myself together and cope with my sister and dad dying in the Bloody Valentine. Being idol hadn't done good for me and it had been quite clear very quickly to me, so I started looking at doing something with my time. My search led me to the Human Federation military as it seemed like I could find what I felt I was seeking at the time.

My first year officially as a soldier in the Federation military, had been a hectic one. Basic training was tough, but I made it through, hadn't liked the officer I was under, as I swear that they had something against me and went out of their way to make my life hell. Once, I started working within the military, I had quickly climbed the ranks from my performance. I'd shown talents for sabotage, espionage and information acquisition and my abilities with piloting impressed a number of people despite my young age. Let's just say that within the first year, the Earth Alliance had become very displeased with the 'secret information' that had been acquired by myself and others without their knowledge and delivered to Federation High Command. There were other things that I did that are not seen nicely by the Alliance, but that's how it goes sometimes. They'd put in time and resources into finding out who I was, yet they still haven't found out really who I am.

I did tell Kira about the assignment at Heliopolis and the reasons for me being there, yet also said that I enjoyed the time I was able to spend with him and his friends. Wished I could tell Kira about what I'm supposed to do about the mobile suit data in the Archangel's systems, for I don't doubt he would understand the reasons the leaders of the Federation had for giving me the assignment they had. However, with how things stand right now, it's better that I don't for the time being. I'll tell Kira later and explain why I didn't say anything to him at this point… I sure he would understand the my rational behind the actions.

As the catch-up session was finished, the discussion turned to more recent events. Kira started this by asking what reasons ZAFT could've had to attack Heliopolis. Athrun visibly grimaced at the question, "Well Kira, reports from ZAFT intelligence had acquired enough evidence to say that the Earth Forces were developing mobile suits there. ZAFT military command didn't want to take the chance of that being true and do nothing about it," Athrun explained.

"What you didn't know then Zala," came Sakura's voice and the three of us turned to face her, "Was that Le Creuset's orders were to quietly investigate the validity of the reports. Not to send ZAFT forces into the colony and risk doing damage to the colony structure and start a political mess. He made that call on his own, and he will face the consequences for that decision."

That made me wonder something, and I voiced my thoughts, "Okay Sakura, if what you say is true, then answer me this. Does ZAFT Admiral Treize know of the reputation that Rau Le Creuset has earned for himself over the years of the war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT?"

Sakura sighed, "You're referring to Creuset's habit of going in guns blazing first and make excuses about his reasons later I assume?" she posed.

I nodded, "Yes indeed, that's what I'm referring to."

"Yes, Lanus is well aware of Le Creuset's habitual behavior and to answer your unsaid question, he wasn't the one that assigned Creuset, it was the National Defense Committee," Sakura added.

That information caught me off guard, for it implied that the National Defense Committee was going around the unofficial head of ZAFT's military. That was a worrisome idea for not just ZAFT , but for the Federation, and the Alliance as well. "I see, then riddle me this, aren't ZAFT military command and the National Defense Committee supposed to be on the same team working for the goal of protecting the PLANTs and its citizens? Or has that view changed these days?" I inquired.

Lacus was the one to answer the question, "The two groups are supposed to be working together Tye. The National Defense Committee's purpose is to help the armed forces to have what they need and make sure others don't limit them to the point soldiers can't do their job, but," she said, trailing off at the end.

So then, apparently, the committee is over stepping their position's responsibilities these days. That's an interesting fact to find out… wonder what Federation High command would think about this, if they don't already know. The two ladies went back to the catching up again and for a little bit, all I could do was stare. It was strange to see Sakura acting so… normal! My gaze flicked to Athrun and then to Kira who were both staring as I had, "Give the two a bit of a break, who knows when the last time was that they saw one another and got to spend some time together." I said quietly.

Both Kira and Athrun looked away from the two females, "Suppose you're right Tye" remarked Athrun.

"Yeah, I agree with that" Kira said.

Even with that being said, the scene was still so awkward that I couldn't stop myself from saying one more thing, "Still, is it just me that thinks it's just plain weird that one of the most feared ZAFT pilots and commanders is the same woman we're seeing hug Lacus like she hasn't a care in the world and is only a loving sister?"

There was a moment silence between the three of us, "It isn't just you Tye," whispered Athrun.

Kira hummed in agreement, "Yeah agreed, sorry for ever doubting you Tyler when you were telling me about Sakura," he said to me apologetically.

It was then I heard a knock at the door and knowing that Lisa was 'getting ready for the day', it's my job to mind the door… and it's my front door anyways. Rose from the couch and headed to the door, opening it when I got there and found a surprise waiting for me. On my front steps was Luke and Alan waiting for me, "Luke… Alan… wasn't expecting you coming by just yet." I greeted.

Yes, Lisa had said that both Luke and Alan would join the two of us soon enough, but I hadn't expected them to descend and travel to the Republic in a week or so. I stepped aside to let my two other teammates inside with their things they had with them. Asked them if they'd had breakfast yet, which they said they had. Caught sight of Sakura and Lacus heading out the door, with Athrun and Kira bringing up the rear, leaving me with my teammates. I told both Alan and Luke to use the room at the end of the hall, since Sakura doesn't really use it anyway. She's pretty much moved herself into my room, without permission from me. When I did make mention of the predicament with the pink-haired woman, Luke broke down, fell to the floor rolling around laughing hysterically. Thankfully, Alan didn't have the same reactions, just told me he felt sorry for my situation, but saying how much of a gentleman I was proving myself to be.

Lisa joined us by the time Alan and I managed to calm Luke down and stop him from laughing. Luke and Alan brought Lisa and I up to speed with what was going on with them. They had come down in the Euros Coalition and from there come to the Republic of East Asia to meet up with us. However, both mentioned that tension was building within the Federation as the fighting was becoming worse between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. That was expected, but not the magnitude that it was already. There were even rumors among the Federation Military that the Admiralty were discussing the need of full mobilization of the space forces and bring those on Earth to full alert. For such to be even considered, worried me for it hasn't needed to happen yet during this war, even if this was rumor.

Still, with Alan and Luke here, maybe we can complete our mission and hopefully buy some time in this situation that was getting more volatile. The fear of the Earth Forces getting mobile suits was real and seen as a serious threat. The expectation is that they will be used to gain territory for the Earth Alliance and that the war will become much worse. With the current leadership of the Alliance, it was not just a real possibility by being planned for. With the number of members of the leadership that were also member or shared the views as one of the anti-Coordinator groups, you would have to be really dim to not see that presented problems. Their expected territory expansion, would included the member nations of the Human Federation as much as ZAFT's territory.

I don't know what reason the Alliance would state or use as an excuse, but honestly, I doubt they would have any logical justification. After all, the fact that there'd been a number of Naturals that made up over a sixth of the population of Junius Seven, hadn't stopped a nuke being shot at it. That had been followed by covering up any evidence against their claims and denied loudly any they couldn't have dismiss. So, attacking neutral nations that won't do as they're told by violent, hate-blinded idiots, isn't wrong to them.

It was just after finishing catching up with my teammates, a thought popped into my head that I should probably take care of. The Archangel is getting repairs done and is being resupplied and will be for a few days. The crew would've been told this, but I doubt they were informed that the mobile suits would be taken from the Archangel and sent to Teswa for work. The complaint I foresee, is that while the machines are there, none of the Archangel's crew will get to see or access them while they are at Teswa. The wisdom being due to agreements and a treaty or two, no Earth Alliance, Earth Forces or ZAFT personnel are allowed in or around Federation R&D facilities without express permission and are accompanied while they're there.

Recalling that, I stood up and told my teammates that I needed to take care of something, before I headed out looking for the captain of the Archangel, Murrue Ramius. I just hope that the acting captain of the Archangel doesn't overreact or snap at me for arranging the favor by getting the mobile suits over to Teswa to get work done. If anything, it wasn't the easiest thing to arranged, even with the connections at Teswa, but I had managed it. However, I'm expecting from Natarle at least, complaining and me sticking my nose where it shouldn't be, she seems determined to find fault with me when she can a good portion of the time.

-Line Break-

-Neutral pov-

Murrue gathered the officers in the house that had been provided for them to stay while in the Republic. There was a need to discuss what was to be done going forward and with the time to do so, might as well, right? Once the officers were gathered in the sitting room in the house the meeting was being held in, Murrue began the meeting, "Thank you for coming everyone, I called this meeting to discuss what we should do going forward," she said to the room at large.

Natarle nodded and stood up, "Currently, the Archangel is being resupplied as well as undergoing needed repairs at the dry dock here. We'll see how the progress is going tomorrow, but the estimated time for the work was said to be two to three days," she iterated.

"It's nice of the Republic to assist us in repairs and resupply," commented Mu. "One of the few times that we've gotten help like this since the start of this journey."

"I don't know about anyone else, but this is my first time coming to the Republic of East Asia. I have always heard it is a beautiful place and is open to any to come in, as long as you follow the rules of course," remarked Krystal. "I can see why it's a frequented vacation destination with many people."

Chief Murdoch shrugged, "Sure, it's nice to relax and have someone else do the repairs and resupply, but what about the other equipment that's on the ship? Will they do that too or will that be up to my boys and I, if it's our job, then we should start as soon as we can," he asked.

"If you're referring to the mobile suits chief, I do believe I've an answer," said a voice from the doorway of the room.

Everyone in the room turned and saw Tyler McGregor leaning against the doorframe. A feeling of surprise and shock filled the air as seeing the young man as none had seen him enter or even heard the front door open. Mu was the first to regain use of his voice, "Man oh man Tyler, you have a talent for popping up out of nowhere."

Tyler shrugged, "Walked in the front door like anyone else would, not my fault no one was listening or paying attention," he replied.

"You said something about the mobile suits, didn't you Tyler?" inquired Krystal.

"Yes, I did, happen to remember a detail I should've mentioned earlier but forgot to, my apologies," Tyler said evenly, then turned to Chief Murdoch. "Before the Archangel arrived, I thought it would be nice to arrange things so that you, your engineers and mechanics could have a real break and not have to worry. So, put in a good word with some people I know and managed to get an arrangement for the Asuka and the Strike to have full repairs done, free of charge. That being said, you need not worry about those machines, they'll be in good order when the work is done, if not running better than they were," Tyler stated.

Natarle glared at Tyler, annoyed with the teen and how he was once again, overstepping bounds of authority and responsibility. "Where and with whom did you get to agree to work on mobile suits that you have no right to say anything about?" she snapped back.

There was silence for a long moment, all but Tyler and Natarle were quiet as was now customary when these two butted heads as they did from time to time. Tyler held his gaze on Natarle for a moment, then sighed, "Good golly, I do a good deed for someone and get snapped at for it. I was trying to remove an amount of work from those who had more than most would expect them to be able to handle, that's all." He commented before sighing again, "And technically Natarle, the Asuka isn't yours or the Earth Alliance's either and Kira will be fine with the arrangement when I inform him. Secondly, haven't you been stressing the mechanics too much lately? Why not give them a break and stop driving them into the ground with all that you demand from them? Then to answer your question of whom and where, the two mobile suits were sent to the Teswa R&D complex and those there will be doing the work."

There were a few gasps at the mention of one of the most well-known Human Federation development facilities in the world. "But how did you even manage to arrange such a thing?" questioned Murrue.

"Have some friends who work at Teswa and through them my request was accepted," replied Tyler.

"I wouldn't doubt that the scientists at the place are very good at what they do, but they're seeing machines that they've never encountered before. So, how would they be able to help with the little time there is?" asked Krystal.

The others in the room nodded at the question. Sure, most of them had heard of Teswa, it was famous after all, even if no one knew where it was or what development was exactly done there. But, prototype mobile suits being worked on would have its own set of issues? They would have to figure out the machines first before working on them, wouldn't they? The confused looks seemed to register to Tyler and he spoke up again, "The scientists are good at what they do true, but what you don't know, is they have complete schematics for both the Strike and the Asuka. That in mind, they already know what needs to be where and what not about both machines."

"And how would they have schematics on the mobile suits?!" demanded Natarle.

Tyler gave the woman a deadpanned look, "You know Natarle, you asking that gives me an opportunity to say some things I've wanted to tell you. First, do realize how often you set yourself up for the hits from previous actions? Second, were you aware that the Alliance personnel which had been working at Morgenroete, were beyond extremely lax when it comes to security, both physical and digital? I could say more yet, you haven't been interested in listening to me about that subject especially. Well guess what, while at Heliopolis, full schematics were acquired for all five prototype mobile suits along with the Archangel's blueprints and those were sent to Federation High Command, and from there to Teswa. As for the Asuka, Orb engineers supplied what was needed, they'd no problem with doing so as I've been told," he lectured.

Natarle was about to retort, yet Murrue spoke over her, "If you have the schematics for all the prototype mobile suits, could we have copies of them? It would really help in our mission a great deal Tyler. The Earth Forces could possibly bring the war to a close a lot sooner."

The young man shrugged with indifference, "It's not my call honestly, but I'll save you the trouble of finding out who's it is and going to them to ask. The answer you would get from them… is going to be no," Tyler said simply.

"But why," asked Arnold Neumann.

Tyler turned to the man, "For a few reasons that I can think of, none of them you will like or agree with I assume, but that's how it is. The major reason would be the leaders of the Earth Alliance haven't been friendly to others lately nor trustworthy, were I to guess," Tyler returned.

"What do you mean 'haven't been friendly or trustworthy' lately?" inquired Mu.

"I take it that you've been in space for most of the last year Mu? Kind of like I've been as well, for this idea has become a sizable amount worse over the last year," Tyler began. "The leaders of the Earth Alliance, especially those of the Atlantic Federation, nothing personally against any of you from there, but they've been… putting pressure on the member nations of the Federation to not just help the Alliance but also leave the Federation and join the Alliance instead. There have also been a small number of incidents in member nations that have caused issues that have been linked back to the Alliance, to name a few things" Tyler stated.

The member of the Archangel crew, were rather shocked by what Tyler had said about the Alliance. But he continued, "Then, with the agreements of that came from the Morpheus convention decades ago. The Earth Alliance and the groups that make it up are not to threaten or force nations that are a part of ZAFT or the Human Federation into joining the Alliance for expansion, self-interest or both. However, as of late, those in the Alliance have been… bullying other nations more insistently and don't take no as an answer, which is pretty much doing exactly what they Alliance has agreed not to."

Tyler then turned towards the front door, "I just thought you should know, should anyone start panicking when they don't see the mobile suits on the Archangel. I thought it was the nice thing to do," he said and then left.

There was silence for a little while after Tyler left, until Natarle spoke her mind, "Sometimes, I can't figure if Mr. McGregor is trying to help or hinder."

"Well, it certainly not a bad thing for the two mobile suits being repaired at a place like Teswa," commented Krystal.

Murrue cut over the two women, "Back to what we do next, our goal is still to reach Alliance HQ at JOSH-A Alaska." She said to get all back on track.

-Line Break-

-Tyler's pov-

The day passed and when I woke up the next morning, found that Sakura was as she'd been almost every morning this last week, in my bed. I'd given up trying to get her to stop, for she'd made it clear that she had no intention of stopping the action. I mean, she's been chasing me for a few years now, and my refusals hadn't slowed her down, doubt me continuing to tell her no will do any more than it had already. Noted that Sakura was once again… wearing very questionable clothing, which got me to get myself out of Sakura's hold and get myself ready for the day.

When I reached the kitchen, found that I wasn't the only one up already, even if the sun was just rising. The rest of my team was also up and were making breakfast. After the meal, I began the conversation on the mission that we still had assigned to the four of us. I laid the information out I had come across earlier while waiting for info on where the Archangel had been. The data said that those at the JOSH-A base, were preparing for when the Archangel would arrive. Their techs and mechanics would no doubt be ready to extract the mobile suit data the second the ship docked. Then from there, the data would be sent to factories for mass production of mobile suits, the only issue that I see at this point is the OS. The Alliance needs a Natural-use OS and there hasn't been any evidence from the information network the Federation uses that they have come up with one. But, for the Alliance to have mobile suit plans is dangerous enough to worry, for there was always the chance that someone could write one for the Alliance unknowingly.

So, the solution I had been considering, was to sabotage the data. We couldn't remove the data as the crew would be blamed for the action and suffer the consequences. That left altering the data in such a way to not be noticed until later. The best opportunity to do that would be while the Archangel is here in the docks of Shira. As long as the data is unusable and or unreadable by the time the vessel reaches Alaska, things should hopefully work out for the time being. The plan I was thinking of was to get a virus to do the needed job, would be calling Carlos to see if anyone he knew was developing something that would fit the bill that was required to do the task.

Lisa, Luke and Alan were on board with the plan I gave and so began divvying out the jobs to pull this off. Luke and Alan would go down to the docks area to gather what information they could so that we can do this as quietly as possible. Meanwhile, Lisa would acquire supplies such as clothing to pull off this task. I would see if I can get a virus from Teswa that could make the data unusable. Plans changed a bit when Sakura and Athrun came into the room and Athrun did admit that they'd been listening to the planning session. Instead of telling them to leave, decided to involve them as that would work out better for this. So, Sakura would help Lisa in supply acquisition and Athrun would assist me in getting the means to make the Alliance mobile suit data inert.

We broke up into three pairs and went to work on our tasks, Alan and Luke headed out, taking the rented car they had and headed to the docks. Lisa and Sakura caught a ride into town to shop for the things we would need. I made the call to Carlos and found out that he believed that he had a colleague that might have what I was asking for. After hanging up, I made one more quick call to get a temporary pass for Athrun to be able to enter Teswa. Then Athrun and I piled into my car and drove to the train station in the north and boarded the train to Teswa.

-Line Break-

Teswa Research & Development complex

Athrun and I arrived at Teswa station in good time. I expected the process of getting through security to take a bit longer than it normally takes. After all, someone like Athrun won't be let in due to policy, but as Athrun has permission, he'll get in. So, after Athrun and I got through the checkpoint, we were escorted to Carlos's office, where my friend was waiting for us by the look of it. I nodded to my 'geeky scientist' friend, "Hey Carlos, how goes things here?" I asked.

Carlos sighed, "Well, I'm thankful we finished your suit's work along with the X-303 Aegis before the two other mobile suits arrived very early this morning. Still, you'll not hear complaining about the two machines coming here, has been very exciting to get a closer look at the X-105 Strike as well as Orb's prototype model. Orb's chief engineer Erica Simmons was rather pleased to hear the 'Asuka Astray Frame' was here, apparently it was thought to be lost during the collapse of Heliopolis. Also, was interested in the one piloting it when I began telling her about the OS that we got a view of on both machines. The systems are quite something, even I have to say that," he answered me, then he glanced over at Athrun, "And who is this?"

I smiled, "This is one of my best friends Athrun Zala, he's also the current pilot of the Aegis. And if you could keep quiet about it, I can tell you who it was that wrote the OS for the Asuka AND the Strike."

Carlos's eyes widened, "You know who wrote that OS?! Of course I wouldn't say anything about it, just curious as to who was able to grasp the workings of machines like these mobile suit is all," he replied.

Drew a little closer to Carlos, "The one who is responsible, is my other best friend Kira Yamato. He's a wiz when it comes to programming, wrote his own OS where I based mine off the Federation's OS model and framework. Kira is around the same age as Athrun here," I returned.

I could see Carlos was about to inquire further, but I cut him off, "Listen Carlos, we're kind of in a hurry today. You said that you knew someone that could assist in the task of corrupting data that I need to have done. Could we please see this colleague of yours and see if they have what we need?" I asked.

My friend nodded and gestured for Athrun and me to follow him and we did. Carlos led us to a different section of Teswa and into a moderately sized laboratory. This lab was clearly meant for computer research of some sort from the equipment in this room. Carlos called over one of the people who happened to be a female and she came over to where the three of us were standing. The woman was of average height, around mid-five foot. She had medium length blonde hair that ended at her jawline level. Her figure was pretty normal to me, not too thin or too wide, healthy overall. She had brown eyes and high cheek bones. Of course, she was wearing the customary white lab coat with a blue shirt under the coat.

"Tyler, this is my colleague Doctor Heide Strum. She is one of the senior developers in our system research department." Carlos introduced, before turning to the woman, "Heide, this is a friend of mine, Tyler McGregor."

The woman identified as Dr. Strum looked at me, "I see, nice to meet you Mr. McGregor," she said shaking my hand, "I assume there's a reason that you're here other than introductions."

I nodded and smile a little as a phrase that my dad often said came to mind, "Indeed I am Dr. Strum, hoping you can help me with a difficult task I'm trying to accomplish. I wouldn't be here if that wasn't the case, as much as it is interesting to see the people here. My dad would always tell me, 'to get a job done, focus on doing what moves you closer to completion not digression'," I couldn't help by say one of my dad's chants in the sing song voice he would use when he would say it to Lana or me. Hey, I've learned many a life's lesson with my dad singing them over and over.

Carlos snickered at hearing the line, he had met my dad and by what he said, took a class from him. So, he could have heard quite a few of dad's quirky musings as he would use them in class as well as out of it. Dr. Strum was staring at me, "That phrase is one I've heard a number of times, one of my professors used to say it, who was your father?" she asked.

Oh my, perhaps she's a former student of my dad's, he had a number of them since he taught on Earth in the Republic, before he transferred to Junius Seven. "My dad was Lance Blass," I said calmly.

Dr. Strum gaped at me, "You're Professor Blass's son?" I nodded in reply, the woman then bowed to me, "You look kind of like your father, Mr. McGregor. I would guess you've your reasons for going by a different last name than Blass, likely political because of your mother?" she inquired.

I nodded again, "You would be right Dr. Strum, don't want my mother to have to pay for the things I do." I replied, then I gained a serious expression. "So then Dr. Strum, I need something that can make a collection of data unusable and if possible unreadable as well. Can you help me with such a task?"

The woman put a hand to her chin, "That depends, can you be more precise on what you want to happen to this 'data' you speak of?" she inquired.

To answer that question, I went into detail of the task I needed to get done. First, the mobile suit data is almost definitely encrypted and could be fragmented in pieces to avoid being detected by anyone. Second, the data is buried deep in the Archangel's systems, so deep in fact that even the crew has no idea it's there. I had gone searching for something that didn't belong and so, with my knowledge of the Archangel, I had found the data, but it had taken days of work. And this task requires that the data either be destroyed to the point that it can't be used in any way or it's unreadable so none of the data can be viewed or heck, all three would be fine as well. Dr. Strum took a bit of time to think about what I'd asked of her, though, she did give me an answer eventually, "There's something in this lab that could do what you're asking. It's not fully tested for application, but I don't see why it can be done," she said.

Then she led us to the other side of the room and brought us to stand in front of a set of consoles that were separated from the rest. Dr. Strum began lecturing us on what this set of consoles were setup for, which was for the testing of a 'program' she called "Xeno". This program could do almost anything according to the good doctor, good and bad. The reason that was the case, was this program followed the set of instructions it was given and would do what it needed to complete the list. This program could even self-modify to complete the job, could do its task unnoticed and undetected if it was told to, or it could make lots of chaos as it went. Last but not least, it could do the task assigned and clean up leaving no evidence it had been there, before it finds a means to transmit itself back to where it's told to go.

Just by what I'd been hearing, this little program sounds like it would do wonderfully for what I needed. It was almost like it was made for this task, it fit the bill that well! "Quite the program Dr. Strum, is there any way I could borrow it to complete the job I'm doing?"

"What kind of data are you interested in making unusable, out of curiosity?" she questioned.

I had a straight face before I answered, "Earth Forces mobile suit data, so it's rather important that it doesn't get to them in usable condition in any shape or form. The data is being transported to the JOSH-A base, but I have access to its transport for a little while longer."

Dr. Strum nodded to me, "That should be possible and knowing that it'll be going against Earth Alliance security beforehand, makes it a little simpler task to program the instructions for Xeno," she replied.

Athrun and I waited as the scientist did the preparation work for this program, though Carlos made use of our presence by asking specifics of our mobile suits, so we weren't idle. Those working on mobile suits were asking us question after question about the four suits here. By the time Athrun and I were let go by the mobile suit developers, Xeno was ready to be the means of taking care of the pesky and threatening mobile suit data. We were given the Xeno program in the form of data sticks to insert into the Archangel which I pocketed. Then, Athrun and I headed back to my place to see how the others did in their parts of this job.

Athrun and I arrived back at my house to find Lisa and Sakura were already there, meaning that we were just waiting for Alan and Luke to returned. The two women told us that those from the Archangel had gone into town for the day, which works out great for me and those helping me. We still needed to put together what we've done, making a much more detailed plan and then enacting the said plan, the sooner the better!

Alan and Luke came back around half an hour after Athrun and I got back from Teswa. We all sat down at the table to have our meeting, Alan and Luke kicked us off with what they had observed at the docks. The workers had been doing the needed maintenance on the Alliance vessel, both inside and out had patterns in their movements. The very good point was the number of comings and goings of works made getting onto the Archangel far easier and less likely to be noticed by anyone later. Both my teammates had chatted with the head of the workers at the docks and had managed to get him to agree to look the other way to us sneaking onto the ship.

Lisa and Sakura added to that with the supplies they got for us, three worker outfits, with hats and equipment. So, whoever would go to sneak onto the Archangel would look like a dock worker and wouldn't be recognized if anyone goes back through video records. In this, every possibility of how any of us could be traced or caught has to be covered as best as we can. Which is where Athrun and I came in and gave a summary of what we picked up at the Teswa complex. The Xeno program fit the needs of this task better the longer I looked at it and I'm confident the program is up to doing.

The next thing I did was bring out a small image projector and brought up the schematics of the Archangel. I went through the basic layout so that whoever did go to deliver the program knew where they would need to go and not look out of place. Then I pointed out the best places that would be insertion points for the virus. The first of course, would be on the bridge and is also the most obvious place to look. So, taking into account that point, the plan is to get the program in at three or six different places in the Archangel's on board systems. That way, at least one copy should be able to settle in and start corrupting the data that's the target.

When the planning meeting came to a close, I heard cars coming past and so the six of us around the table quickly cleaned up the supplies. Hid the stuff that wouldn't be good if it were seen, such as the data sticks or the worker's outfits. Then we made it look like we were preparing for dinner and hadn't been planning sabotage. Kira along with Lacus and the rest of my friends from Heliopolis came over for dinner.

The six of us staying at my house turned in early for the night. That of course meant Sakura got into my bed, but like I said, I've given up telling her off, she won't listen to me. It was especially true this night, since tomorrow was to be the day that either the mission from Federation High Command will be completed or botched. I have a record of accomplishing the missions I'm given, usually with distinction, I have no intention of letting that change!

Morning came as it always does and the surprising thing was that we were all awake at a decent hour, even Sakura and she wasn't an early riser from past experience. At breakfast, it was decided that I would be the one leading those who would insert the program into the Archangel, with Sakura and Luke coming with me. That left Lisa as the leader of the second group that would be the distractors of the crew of the Alliance vessel, which would be her, Athrun and Alan.

My team took the rental car that Luke and Alan had, then we headed to the docks, parking at the end opposite of the Archangel itself. The three of us put on the worker outfits, after which we made our way to the Alliance vessel. Each of us had two data sticks along with two specific spots we were to load the virus into the system from. Luke would be going to the hanger and use one of the consoles down there, he would also do the same to access point in the infirmary. Sakura would take a place in the mess hall, and a particular maintenance corridor before she exited, the maintenance corridor is the one that could also be found kind of like the bridge. Speaking of the bridge, I would take that access point and the other would be in a one set of officer quarters, which ironically, happen to be the ones I occupied while on the Archangel.

Once the view of the white ship came into our sight, Luke spotted a group of workers that were on their way to the Archangel. They would work well for cover and avoid suspicion of the three of us. We kept our heads down and the caps covering part of our faces as we fell into line with the dock workers. It was clear they had been working long shifts, none of them gave us a second look or even seemed to notice our presence at all. This made getting on board the Archangel easy and once on the ship we blended in with the other workers. Once on board, we separating from one another and following other workers to get to the parts of the ship we needed to get smoothly.

I reached the bridge and was still with two other workers, to keep blending in and followed the example of the other two and moved over to a console and began to do work on it. The station I sat at was the Electronic Warfare station in the CIC, though any of the stations in the CIC would work for what I was here to do. While the other two workers were working on two of the stations above me, I stealthily put in one of the two data sticks into an access port and began inputting the commands to load the payload. It took a few minutes for Xeonia to be put in the system, but as no alarms went off and no warning came up, I took that as things were going according to plan. That meant that the program itself hadn't registered as a threat or problem to the system itself, which was what I hoped would happen. Even after I dropped off my "package", I made it look like I was doing maintenance on the system and console for around fifteen minutes. Then there was movement from one of the other two and I followed the move and left the bridge. Next, I headed to the quarters that had been mine and slipped in. I was thankful that I'd 'disabled' the camera in this room pretty much the day I started living in these quarters, so I didn't need to worry about being watched.

After I finished the uploading both copies of Xeno, I discreetly left the Archangel and went to the point where Sakura, Luke and I agreed we would meet up after we were done. I was the first there, but then, I knew exactly where to go and the paths use and not be noticed by anyone else. Sakura was the next to show up to the meeting place and she said that she had uploaded both sticks of the virus to the points that she was assigned. Luke appeared a little while later and he had also uploaded both copies of the program he had. That meant that all six copies were in the system and already starting their tasks of hunting down the mobile suit data and making it unusable and hopefully unreadable.

So, to say I was feeling fairly smug as the mission that my team and I had been doing for the last month or so, was accomplished, was accurate. At least, a great deal of stress had come off my shoulder now that the mobile suit data was taken care of. However, that feeling lessened a bit when Lisa, Athrun and Alan returned. Lisa told me that she believed some of the crew of the Archangel were giving signs of being suspicious of Athrun and there had been questions of those of us that weren't there. Lisa said that there had definitely been questions about Sakura and not just where she was, but some about who she was and how she had gotten here.

Hearing that, worries me quite a bit, none of them except Kira and Lacus know that Sakura is one of the most feared pilot and commander ZAFT has got. But, I know that I'm not the only one who knows that things would be bad if certain situations occurred. One of those would come if Sakura were to be next to Lacus, the resemblance between the two would be extremely hard to miss. Hypothetically speaking, if that happened, then Lacus's identity would be brought into question and that would go badly.

With the suspicions of Athrun, by what Murrue Ramius said, it was likely Athrun who she shot in the leg back at the factory on Heliopolis. If the woman discovered that fact, then the next point that would come up would be him piloting one of the stolen mobile suits, that would be a very dangerous situation. And yet, there was still much more that hasn't been stated or said.

Much of what could happen, would easily incriminate me, and I have a hard time seeing Natarle letting that slide with anyone, least of all me. I mean, it was bad enough that they weren't happy that the Strike and Asuka were being worked on at Teswa and they couldn't go and check. Were the officers of the Archangel also to find out that the Aegis is there too, I will get really flak for that. Then, when they hear they won't be getting that machine back, they won't be happy at all… and all of that unhappiness and what comes with it, will be directed at me!

I'm starting to think it would be better if Athrun and Sakura leave the Republic, the sooner in fact, the better it would be, and the Aegis along with them. The risk of them being discovered by the Archangel's crew was growing and there would be serious consequences if something bad happened to either of them. Sakura… well, I think it's more how many would it require taking her down, for it would be a lot more than one! She's also the daughter of the current PLANTs Supreme Council Chairman, again not someone you want to do things to. Plus, with her being on good terms with the unofficial head of the ZAFT military… doubt would add anything good to the mix. Then Athrun, that was even somehow a tad worse should he be captured or killed. His father is the chair of the National Defense Committee and that's a position of great influence. And with what Patrick Zala's views were as of late, see Athrun getting hurt or killed only being used as incentive to shout a call to arms and kill a lot more people on earth and in space.

Neither set of results are appealing and certainly not both! So, I took the time in the even to go to the Military command center here in the Republic to make a call. The said call was to the ZAFT base Carpentaria in the Oceanic Union to hopefully arrange a transport and get Athrun and Sakura out. My mood wasn't very good as I made this call, the one I connected to or rather the commander on duty made my mood a good deal worse as it was someone I knew and I wasn't fond of at all! I found myself staring at the masked face of Rau Le Creuset and I couldn't help the grumble that escaped me, "Why does fate have to be so cruel as to screw me over by force me to see your face again Le Creuset?"

"My my McGregor, this is a very unexpected surprise, to what do I owe the pleasure of chatting with you this time?" asked the man that had been a thorn in my side for the last month.

I calmed myself and refocused, "You mind listening for a moment Creuset, I'm calling for a reason and it's not to see or talk to you. I'm calling to ask for a transport to come to Shira from Carpentaria to do a pick up," I said evenly.

"And why would you request that McGregor?" Asked Le Creuset.

A thought came into my mind and I smiled a little, "Cause Creuset, as much as I would enjoy seeing the Black Zephyr give you a beating, followed by the whipping of your life, which both would be epic I have no doubt, I don't have the free time to witness such a wonderful show." I said and it was neat to see the parts of Creuset's face I could view pale.

"What is that supposed to mean McGregor?" he shot back.

"The transport is for her and one of your pilots, Athrun Zala. They happened to descend with me and landed in the Republic. However, at the moment, things have developed that makes it an unwise idea for them to stick around. That clear enough Creuset?" I returned.

"Yes, indeed it is McGregor. I'll arrange for a transport to be there by midnight," he replied.

"Make sure it can carry two mobile suits, the Aegis and the CGUE will be going with them," I added, to which the masked man agreed.

The call ended mercifully as I didn't want to talk to the man as I'd developing issues with him, but the transportation had been successfully arranged and that's what counted. I headed back to my place and told Sakura and Athrun to get their things together to be ready to leave for they would tonight. Then I called Carlos as I knew he would work late today, and asked him to send the Aegis to the airfield by midnight for its departure. He said he would do so, and I started making preparations to get my friend and another friend's sister out of a developing problem. Lisa, Luke and Alan would attempt to prevent others from interfering, probably won't be able to do so for long. However, I was beginning to accept that this would likely be the night I get ratted out and seen as a 'traitor' to the crew of the Archangel. I wasn't looking forward to the rap I would get after I did what I was about to, but as things stand, this is the best I choice I can make.

When it was 11:30, Athrun, Sakura and I got into my car and left as quietly as possible towards the airfield. Don't believe I managed to get away without notice, yet I can't say how long it would take for others to follow. I drove above the posted speed limit as I was becoming stressed at the current circumstances. Upon arriving at the airfield, the sight of a ZAFT transport was a welcome one to me, for it meant Creuset had done what he said he would. I parked the car off to the side and the three of us got out. The Aegis was being loaded onto the craft and as we approached it someone ran towards Athrun, "Athrun, you're okay thank goodness," said the person.

"Nicol?!" replied Athrun in surprise.

So then, it was Athrun's friend and the pilot of the Blitz, I remember meeting him on the Nazca-class. The green haired young man glanced at me and he seemed to recognize me, "You, Tyler McGregor wasn't it? We meet again," he said to me.

"Yes, indeed it's me. I felt that I had to get Athrun and Miss Clyne to safety as somethings have developed that could put them at risk, so here they are." I remarked with a small smile.

It wasn't long before both the Aegis and CGUE were loaded onto the transport and it was time to say goodbye to my friend for the time being. Sakura looked at me one last time, blew me a kiss and got on the transport. I shivered at the gesture and shook my head to clear it and found Athrun looking at me with desperation, "Tye… come with me. You've completed your mission and don't have to stay around to take the fall should any find out," he said.

I appreciated the thought from Athrun, kind hearted as he is still, but I knew what I was getting into when I accepted the assignment. And I still had things to tell Kira anyways, "Thanks Athrun, the thought is well received my friend," the sound of a car approaching caught my attention and I knew I was out of time in this. "But, I'll have to respectfully decline the offer. Our friend Kira still needs a bit of help and I can provide that. Yes, I'll probably if not pretty much guaranteed to take an amount of rap and crap from what went down today, but that's how it goes sometimes. I knew I would face that at some point, so hope to see you sometime soon in the future Athrun," I said before jogging to my car.

I watched the transport closing the back hatch, just as I saw one of the rented vans pulling up a distance behind the ZAFT transport. And I would bet they got a view of the Aegis before the hatch sealed and the craft moved into launching position for the runway. The transport launched and even saw that Murrue Ramius, Natarle Badgiruel glance my way as I started my car and began driving back towards my place. I'd been well-aware I would face consequences for what had just happened, but I didn't regret my actions at all.

The trip home was silent and tension building, I wasn't followed closely by what I could see. So when I pulled into the garage and shut off my car, I took a deep breath before exiting and entering my house. As the coming events were unavoidable, I went to the living room and prepared myself for the storm that would be rushing my way very soon. The rest of my team were with me and sat down to wait for those that would come to arrive. I'd known from the second that I decided that I would go back to the Archangel, that the chance of an accusation of betrayal would come at some point. If it was just dealing with the officers of the vessel, then this would be fine, not a cake walk by any means, but not like I feel it will be with the path taken to get here. What made this hard for me…? I would have to face my friends from Heliopolis, and the first part of this they would hear, would paint me very badly and the facts that could help me defend myself are ones I can't go into much detail at this time. My orders require that I don't say anything about the exact objective of my team's mission, nor its reasons seen for its necessity.

It wasn't much more than five-minute wait, before my front door was forced in and broken down by Alliance soldiers rushing in. Next few moments, my team and I found ourselves staring down barrels of multiple guns being pointed at us. Even though this was expected, it wasn't nice to have guns pointed at you in your own home! Still, I didn't flinch, just settled into an attitude of indifference, complete with deadpanned expression on my face. I simply gazed back at the men who had broken into my house, "You mind lowering those guns boys, before you do something that you'll regret for the rest of your lives. I would hate to see you all throwing away your career for such foolish actions as having an itchy trigger fingers, if not for worse," I said flatly with no emotion in my voice.

If they pull the triggers, they would be tried for their actions and it wouldn't be by the rules of the Alliance. There would be none in the Earth Alliance would be able to say anything in their defense, if they would at all, which I doubt. Their trial would be fair, it's just the evidence against them would be made up of everything they've done good and bad, and judgement would fall from there. The Federation information network isn't something to be underestimated or taken lightly, if you do something stupid, odds are that there are records about it somewhere. And shooting someone isn't something you want brought against you, not unless you have a down right good reason for doing the action.

"Don't listen to him," commanded the voice of Natarle Badgiruel just before she stepped into the room.

My eyes slowly… almost lazily, flicked over to her, my expression remained unchanged, "Do I really need to iterate just what you all would face if you were to shoot any of us Natarle Badgiruel? Do keep in mind where you are at this current time, then use the logic that you have in your brain to see how this would go for you. This isn't territory of the Earth Forces nor the Alliance, so they are not in charge and don't make the rules here. You've shown that you aren't as dim as some Earth Forces officers can be, so exercise that brain you have," I returned.

Murrue and Mu came into the room at that point, "Natarle stop this, it's not the way to do this," said Murrue.

"It's good to see at least one person still has some common sense in their head. I've done the curtesy of not disappearing and hell, I've even waited for you to come here." I stated calmly and clearly, "And what do I receive for the manners and niceties that I present? You respond by showing poor manners in the form of breaking in to property that doesn't belong to you, don't have any inclination to talk with me without pointing guns at in my direction. At first meetings, I would have assumed this type of thing was a running theme with all of you, seen by the messes you leave in your wake," I said evenly, but my words hit hard. But I didn't stop there, "I would hope you've enough respect to do better and at least use the intelligence we have as human beings to talk first, I've come to expect that bare minimum from all of you." I scanned the people in my place now, "Yet, you're acting more like members of Blue Cosmos, whose mentality is, 'shoot and kill first, ask questions later if you're forced to by someone else'. Don't demean yourselves to lowlifes like they are, you've all shown yourselves to be much better than that."

It took a few minutes before the guns were lowered and the tension went down a small margin. Murrue's gaze locked on to me, "Well then Tyler, what do you have to say for yourself?" she asked me.

I spotted my friends around the doorway to the living room and so I sighed, "That really depends on what you're referring to," I replied, "I can say a lot of different things about myself, though some I'm not allowed to say in current company. Although, as you serve in a military force, I would think that you know how that kind of idea works."

Natarle gained a look of anger, "Would that include assisting ZAFT forces with the theft at Heliopolis!" she nearly shouted.

I'd known that an accusation of some sort, that would have me assisting ZAFT would come my way. I put a finger to my ear and twisted it to help clear my ear from the near bellow I'd just gotten, "You don't have to yell you know, I've great hearing that I would like to keep for the years I see coming for my life. Still, that's quite an accusation, considering I didn't assist ZAFT forces at Heliopolis, nor the Alliance forces that weren't supposed to be there in the first place either, thank you. The event earlier tonight that you happened to see the tail end of and base your information off of, was me helping a friend and another leave. Honestly, I was playing the peacemaker and taking care of issues before they came up, I prefer to be proactive when I can be. Although admittedly, said friend just happens to have one of the stolen Alliance mobile suits, but one point doesn't affect or have to do with the other in this," I replied calmly.

"That mobile suit being the X303 Aegis," questioned Murrue.

I didn't see any reason to deny what they had seen at this point, so I shrugged, "Yeah, what's your point?" I asked.

Natarle banged her fist down onto the coffee table in the room and for a second, I though it cracked the furniture, but I didn't see any sign that the hit had. "And still, you helped that thief get away?!" she demanded.

My expression or rather lack thereof, would appear to be carved out of stone by this point as it didn't change at all, even though I wasn't at all amused or appreciating what was being implied. Natarle was calling Athrun a thief and my best friend wasn't one, he'd been ordered to do what he did and had serious doubts about the actions. "Would you please refrain from damaging or breaking the furniture here, a portion does belong to me, but not all of it. And as I said before, I helped one who's a friend to me and he isn't a thief any more than any of you are. As for the Aegis, it may have been yours before, but it's not so anymore… get over it and move on," I shot back.

Natarle wasn't please with my reply, to put it mildly, "And when were you going to mention that the Aegis was here?!" She demanded.

I exhaled and rolled my eyes, "None of you ever asked about whether I came down with anyone else, so that's your problem. And before you ask the question in whatever demeaning way you would, the reason I didn't say anything about my friend and what he's done, is exactly what's happening here. You're blowing up about things that are in the past and can't be changed," I said and frowned slightly. "Did it ever once occur to you, that maybe some of those who took the Alliance's prototype mobile suits, didn't entirely agree with what their orders were. Or have you never been given orders that you have some sort of issue with, because if so, you need to get out more."

This argument, had pretty much morphed into a debate between Natarle and me, everyone else was staying out of it. "So then," growled Natarle, "Did you come back to the Archangel just to sabotage it and stop our mission?! Is that what you did when you walked around the ship. Playing nice to gain our trust to steal data for the Human Federation?!"

I was silent, the claim wasn't one that I had expected to be put in that particular way, and so, it caught me off guard. The Earth Alliance didn't have data that was worth stealing, nor that I'd taken in the way that Natarle implied. And though I was quite talented in the art of sabotage, I had done none of that to the Archangel. Heck, there had been suggestions from some of the higher ups of the Federation military to just destroy the Archangel and be done with the matter. Admittedly, it had been a serious possibility considered and I could have had an easy time. All I would've had to do was simply get my friends off and let the Archangel get destroyed in one of the battles it had gotten into.

That's right, I could've let ZAFT do the work for me, and it'd run through my mind, more than once. Hell, there had been a golden opportunity to do just that during the battle above the atmosphere, I would've finished the assignment and that would have solved so many standing issues. But, I hadn't had a good feeling about standing by and letting that happen, and so had stood my ground and couldn't accept that. I'd insisted on taking the non-easy way out to complete the mission, claiming that I could achieve the objectives and not destroy the ship. Hence, why the current situation is unfair to me as it is ironic, what's worse, I've no answer for the accusations that I can say right now. It's true that I had in a way been looking for a chance to do a bit of sabotage, but it was to a specific target and none of the crew knew about it. My mission had been to prevent mobile suit data from reaching the Alliance by whatever means necessary after all.

Yet, choosing the hard way with me wishing for none to die with the mobile suit data, to be accused of doing harm when I'd been doing the opposite. However, what I did already earlier today had taken care of things and finished the mission. Nevertheless, what I'd done wasn't the kind of sabotage that Natarle was inferring, and yet, to those in the Alliance including most in the room, there's no difference between the two. I'd been trying to do what I'd been assigned and keep those onboard the Archangel still be alive at the end. Still, here I was, being suspected and accused of going about destroying the Archangel when I'd been doing my best to prevent that. Nonetheless, I could say nothing about the orders I'd been under right now and that would be pretty much the only way I could clear myself, there within lies the irony of this situation.

"Nothing to say for yourself, Tyler McGregor?!" posed Natarle.

With the corner that I'm been shoved into, even if I told the truth, I doubt any would believe it. Hell, there was unlikely a single thing I could say in my defense that would help me not look like the enemy to those here, they had made up their minds. I even though I knew this was a fair possibility that I would face something like this, it wasn't pleasant to face it at all.

Lisa step forward, yet I put up a hand to stop her, this was for me to face and counter. I would've no one else defend me in this as I'd done the work to get here, "No, Ensign Badgiruel, in your view, it's clear that no matter what I say now, you will see me as nothing else but a traitor period. I could tell you several things, and not a single point would change your mind, no matter how much irrefutable evidence I and/or others can provide you to show what I say is true. So, it's a waste of my time and pretty much all here. Whatever I say, you would twist into an attack against me," I returned calmly, before I let out a tired sigh. "Honestly, it's like having to deal with any given member of Blue Cosmos I've been forced to deal with before now."

Some within the group accusing me, flinched at me comparing them to the Anti-Coordinator Organization Blue Cosmos. Yet, I continued, "They've always had their justification to try and kill people like me since I'm a Coordinator and that's all that's needed to say that I deserve to be condemned and executed. And here, I was beginning to think that all of you were different than them and a good portion of the others within the Alliance. But apparently, I was wrong, suppose it's one of those, you live and you learn lessons."

Natarle ignored my comparison of the crew of the Archangel being like Blue Cosmos and just took my reply as conformation that her accusations were right and that I was a traitor. "One could say the same of you," she returned.

I shrugged, "If you wish to keep moving forward with your eyes shut, you go right ahead. Have fun finding out how long that works out for you," I retorted.

My attention shifted off Natarle, who I wasn't really paying attention to any more, since she had her view of me and only if she were to see how twisted the Earth Alliance's politics and military have become, would that view change. Her reply only went to prove my point that I couldn't change her view, she took an insult into an attack on me. My gaze landed on those I thought of as friends from Heliopolis and if was like being stabbed in the heart. And it's mostly because I couldn't tell them what I had really done and why, which would explain a lot of things.

It was not too long after my final defense, that people began filtering out of the house. It took most of what I'd in me to keep my expressionless air of indifference up, especially after the looks from my friends. The expressions of pain and shock hurt me more than anything else from having to face those I'd come to think as good people recently. I'd known the chance of me being caught doing what I was assigned to do, was there and if it happened my friends would be seeing a picture of me betraying them. What did the extra kick to me, I'd been doing the opposite of putting the Archangel in danger, I've been protecting those on the Archangel, from the danger they can't see, or they refuse to acknowledge. And I'm being blamed for things I haven't done and wouldn't do just because I helped those here and Athrun along with Sakura, from clashing.

After the crew of the Archangel left the room, there was no sound other than the noise of the appliances in the house along with the breathing of the occupants. Yet, as time kept moving forward, my mask of complete emotionless indifference began cracking and was on its way to shattering. The first sign of this, was the tears which started flowing with almost no notice from myself, until Luke spoke up. "Uh mate, you doing alright?"

I looked over at him, opened my mouth, but my voice didn't come out like I was instructing it to do. That's when I realized there was something happening that doesn't normally with me, I even touched a hand to my throat. It took me a couple of seconds, breathing in and out before I tried again to speak and succeeded, "Wrong Luke?" I questioned, "I'm doing peachy! The mission is done and now… now we'll hopefully get some well-deserved R&R. So, what could possibly… be wrong?"

My voice started breaking halfway through my reply, and that I did hear myself, but waved it off as stress building up affecting me. Alan was the next to speak his mind, "Tyler friend, you're crying" he said.

At Alan's comment, I was about to ask him what the heck he was talking about, for I don't cry, haven't for years! But, when I touched a hand to my face, I found that my teammate was absolutely right, I was crying, and I couldn't stop the tears that just kept coming. As this fact sunk into my mind, my head lowered, so my teammates wouldn't have to see me like this. It hurt to have to comprehend, the reasons that this was affecting me. I can handle a bloody battlefield, don't like that type of thing, but I can get through that kind of thing in fairly marginal shape. Yet this, to have friends give me looks and expressions of pain and shock of betrayal… it cut directly to my heart better than anything really had for a long time!

My breathing became noticeably ragged and my face contorted with some of the first true pain I'd shown in close to five years. Silence hung in the air, only to be broken by Lisa, "Tyler, we can help you, we're here for you," she said quietly, putting a hand on my shoulder.

I brought up my head, the tears flowing down my face faster than before, "Why," I uttered, before my voice caught in my throat. I swallowed and tried again, "Why does this… hurt so much? Why does this pain feel like… what I felt when I fully understood my dad and little sister were killed and were gone forever?"

My voice wavered, but I couldn't help it by this point. The horrible aching in my heart hurt so much and past pain only added to the feeling. Yet, I'd been trying to help those I think of as friends and protect them as well, which normally gives the opposite feeling. I admit, I don't show a great deal of real emotions much anymore, not since the Bloody Valentine incident. It's how I learned to cope with the loss that came with the destruction of Junius Seven for me. But, this… it crashed past the well-developed front I put up that had me showing what looks like real feelings.

"Tyler, old boy, you've been trying your best, that is all any of us can do," remarked Alan.

I know Alan and what the others have said is right, yet still, I'd vowed to myself, that I would do everything within my power and capabilities to not have to feel the pain of loss like I had back when Dad and Lana had been killed. And yet, even drowning in the pain I was, there was still impending danger for the crew of the Archangel ahead, was no doubt in my mind about that with what I knew about the leadership of the Earth Forces and the Earth Alliance. My friends did their best to help me calm down enough to be able to start dealing with this. It took a bit of time, but I was able to calm down to the point that I could think clearly enough to be of sound mind and push past the crushing pain. It would be best to just layout what stressed me so and I knew it, my mom has always said so and she's right.

-Line Break-

-Neutral pov-

The crew of the Archangel, gathered in one of the houses that'd been provide for them to stay in while the ship was being resupplied and repair. The mood in the place was a mix of gloom and feelings of betrayal hung over the group. The silence that was filling the air served to increase the emotions all had. Yet, after a little while, Mu's voice broke the silence, "Man oh man, the current feel around here is just awkward," he said, rubbing the back of his head. "But still, who would have thought that Tyler would do such things, I still have a hard time seeing Tyler being malicious like this."

"Indeed, he didn't seem the kind of person to help ZAFT, especially after how hard he defended the Archangel. I just feel there has to be something else, but I can't see what more there could be to this," remarked Krystal.

There was another moment of silence hung in the air, but then Kira hit a wall with a fist, "How can any of you accuse Tyler of betrayal?! He hasn't done anything wrong!" he shouted angrily.

Kira was more than just frustrated, he was angry, and Kira didn't get angry easily. But, having to listen to Natarle paint Tyler as a criminal was wrong and infuriating. One of his best friend was being seen and labeled as a bad and horrible person that tricks people, and for what? For helping out their other best friend that they share along with Lacus's older sister get back to ZAFT territory to prevent issues coming up between them and the crew of the Archangel.

Yet, that was apparently enough, for Natarle to also accuse that Tyler had been attempting to sabotage the Archangel as well. It was as ridiculous as it was frustrating to Kira more than anything had been before! If there was something Kira knew about his friend Tyler McGregor, then it would be that he didn't do anything he did without a viable reason and he didn't like hurting people if there was a way to avoid it. Tyler had clearly shown to Kira himself, that the destruction of the Archangel wasn't his goal at all. He had defended the Archangel far too hard for that to be his objective. And whatever his real job was to do, it was causing him grief enough, that he was going out of his way to do what he was at cost to himself.

"Kira is right! Tyler has been helping by working for the best interest of us all! How can any of you accuse him of being a traitor with everything he's done for all of us?!" piped up Lacus with feeling.

Natarle stepped forward, "I can understand that this will be hard to accept, but the fact of the matter is, Tyler helped out the enemy. He has taken your trust along with all of ours and used it to pull a fast one over us all. It's more surprising that he would do such to you two," commented Natarle gesturing at Kira and Lacus, "but apparently, loyalty means little to Mr. McGregor."

That was the final straw for Kira, to hear someone say that Tyler had little to no loyalty to his friends, that was one of the lowest blows and Kira wouldn't let that stand without challenge! "YOU'RE WRONG! TYLER ISN'T LIKE THAT AT ALL!" bellowed Kira, to the shock of everyone else. Kira then kept going, but his volume was less than a full bellow or shout, "You're just pinning the blame on him for everything that's been going badly, you have no proof of wrongdoing or that Tyler had anything to do with anything! Clearly, you haven't taken the time to get to know Tyler at all!"

Kira, after yelling the line turned towards the door of the house and stormed out, slamming the door after himself. No one spoke after Kira's outburst, most there couldn't come up with anything to say after hearing the young Coordinator's defense of his friend. It was again Mu that found use of his voice, "Got to give the kid credit, he's loyal to his friend."

"Their friendship is more than strong enough for them to trust one another to not accept such claims, unless they come as a confession from the other personally," Lacus remarked, then she too left the room, but not the house.

Meanwhile, Kira was stomping outside to vent his anger at hearing the insults and accusations against Tyler. It had hurt to have to listen to Tyler be seen in the picture that had been given by Miss Badgiruel. Kira, without thinking had been walking towards Tyler's place, and upon noticing this, he thought it would be nice and good of him to tell Tyler that at least Kira himself, did not see him as a traitor in any way. However, as Kira approached the house, he heard voices from within the place and what he heard stopped him where he was.

The sound that had frozen Kira where it was, the sound of Tyler speaking in a way he hadn't for a long time, five years in fact. The tone and wavering in Tyler's voice shocked and hurt Kira, much like it had, when Athrun and himself had found Tyler curled up in his dorm room at the lunar prep academy.

"Tyler, old boy, you've been trying your best, that is all any of us can do," remarked a male voice, it had one of the accents that was found in the Euros Coalition.

A few minutes passed, before Tyler began speaking again, "Being cursed isn't what hurts, I've unfortunately gotten used to that by now. But… the expressions of shock and pain from my friends… it won't stop playing through my mind, it just hurts and aches so much."

Kira felt for Tyler, he wanted to rush in and comfort him, much like he had just after Junius Seven had been destroyed. But Tyler didn't stop talking for long, "And if that's not enough, then there's how I've been trying to handle finishing our assignment AND have the Archangel still be in one piece with her crew alive and kicking. Yet, it's like no matter what I do, they're still going to be screwed and because the crew of the Archangel are decent people, makes it worse," Tyler said.

"You say the crew of the Archangel are decent people, would you say that of its second in command, Natarle Badgiruel?" Asked a feminine voice, likely of the female companion Tyler had at his place.

There was a snort from Tyler, "Natarle Badgiruel is a tight reared officer and a royal tight a**, far more so than your average tight reared one true, but at heart she's not a bad person. She can and normally is strict as hell, but think that comes from something else, family perhaps, I can't say. That woman, nor any of the other members of the crew of the Archangel deserve to die and that's what is ahead of them."

Kira listened harder at hearing the last sentence that Tyler said, for it didn't bode well for anyone. "Heck, even if I had told them what those at the head of the OMNI Enforcer and the Earth Alliance view the Archangel and her crew, they wouldn't believe me. They don't 'appreciate' what the Archangel has done at Heliopolis or afterwards as those events have already come back to bite the Alliance in the butt, specifically the Atlantic Federation in more ways than one. They have been distancing themselves and denying any involvement with the events and doing so loudly to everyone else. Those rebuttals do include the existence of prototype mobile suits and that the Archangel had been built at Heliopolis, which is ironic in several ways," Tyler kept going.

What Tyler had said had given an interesting perspective, for it said a lot about the Earth Alliance. "Honestly, the only real reason the Alliance hasn't sent out forces to sink the Archangel, which would solve some of their problems, is what the Archangel carries. Sure they deny the existence of prototype mobile suits, but they still want the results of the work that was done at Morgenroete. The data the Archangel has on board, is far more valuable to the Alliance, much more than the ship or her crew are," Tyler explained.

"You're right mate, but what does that have to do with what's ahead of the Archangel?" Asked a different male voice that had an accent that Kira wasn't familiar with.

"It has quite a bit to do with the idea Luke," Tyler replied. "I would be amazed if the Archangel and her crew receive anything, but a harsh welcome should they make it to JOSH-A. The crew have and are being made into scapegoats for the Alliance to get out of recent events. They definitely won't be happy when they find the data they want so much is now unusable and the blame for that will fall on the crew of the Archangel. But back to the main point, as the Earth Alliance is all about control, they will separate those they believe can still be controlled and keep them. Meanwhile, the rest there is no intention of keeping around, will be sent to die on some kind of suicide mission. Honestly, it's frustrating that good people are gotten rid of regardless of their value and skill!"

There was a pause, then Tyler picked up where he left off, "What haunts me the most, is what will happen if Kira and Lacus are still on the Archangel when or if it gets to JOSH-A."

Kira strained his ears to hear what was going to be said after Tyler had said his name and Lacus's. "Kira I fear, he'll be quietly assassinated and then his body disposed of in such a way that few will ask further and for those that do, will either be silenced or just killed. And yet, Lacus will face worse than that, especially once those there figure out who she is. For her, being the daughter of the chairman of the PLANTs Supreme Council, she will be used as a hostage. The majority of the Earth Alliance's leadership wouldn't hesitate in do something as low as use a hostage to get what they want. Hell, they will threaten to hurt Lacus in a heartbeat to get Siegel Clyne to cave into their demands. Not like the man could give into the threats, for it would conflict with the best interest of the citizens of the PLANTs," Tyler iterated.

Pain came to Kira's heart hearing what Tyler believed would happen to Kira himself and more to what could happen to Lacus. But, Tyler kept going, "I understand the reasons Federation High Command has for not wanting the Earth Alliance to have mobile suits. I agree that if the Alliance were to have mobile suit, they will use them against the Federation, starting with the member nations first. Heck, the message my mother received from the Atlantic Federation is a prime example of how the Alliance is run now. Their 'urge' to assist them in the war against ZAFT, I'm more surprised that they just didn't outright say 'mankind's enemy' like some of them do anyways. Then the suggestions they gave were disgusting, they were telling us to demean Coordinators to less than human."

What was being said and implied shocked Kira a good amount, it was a lot to take in. The way the Earth Alliance was painted, was different than those on the Archangel talked about it, but some of the news reports fit what Tyler had described. "Yet, with the virus already doing the job of corrupting the data, part of the standing problem is being handled now," Tyler finished.

There was solid silence after that, Kira backed away from where he had been listening to Tyler speaking, and he didn't think anyone in the house had noticed him. What he had heard… it'd made sense and had filled in the holes in the reasons why Tyler had done what he had. But, to hear his best friend breakdown like that… Kira hadn't heard Tyler talk in a voice like that since Athrun and Kira himself, had found Tyler in his room at the lunar prep academy on the day Junius Seven had been attacked. It'd hurt to hear Tyler talking like that again. Kira had want so badly to rush in and do his best to comfort his friend who was clearly in pain… that sounded like he'd been keeping inside. The urge had strengthened as the conversation had kept going.

Kira quickly made his way back to the place where he hoped that the crew from the Archangel would still be. To his good fortune, the majority of the people from the ship were still there, not talking much though. When Kira came in Lacus was the first to get up and go over to him, for her she wanted to check that he was okay. After all, Kira had left in a rather angry mood and that was rather unusual for one with a temperament like Kira had.

"Good to see you've cooled off Kira, you were pretty mad when you went out the door." remarked Mu, glancing in Kira's direction.

The young Coordinator nodded and looked a tad embarrassed that he had lost his cool like he had. But then, Kira remembered that he was coming back to tell everyone about what he had heard. The information would prove that Tyler isn't a traitor like he was being painted as, "Listen, while I was out walking, I heard Tyler talking and by what I heard, he is as I've said, been working for the best interest of the whole crew," stated Kira firmly.

There was silence at Kira's claim, yet Krystal then spoke up, "Well, what is this information you heard? I for one, would certainly like to hear it as I've a hard time seeing Tyler as a traitor, doesn't seem the type to do that kind of thing," she said.

Kira began going through what he had overheard, starting with the part about how those in leadership positions in the Atlantic Federation denied any involvement in what the Archangel had gone through or caused. About how the ones that the crew of the Archangel considered their superiors, said there was no prototype mobile suits built or designed at Heliopolis and the Archangel hadn't been created at the colony.

Much of the crew appeared shocked and many were appalled at the information Kira was telling them, but Kira kept going. Telling them that Tyler believed the Earth Forces had very likely considered sending others to destroy the Archangel, but had decided against that action. The reason being that there was special and valuable data on the ship somewhere that the Earth Alliance wanted badly. Tyler hadn't mentioned where or what that data exactly was, but to those he had been speaking to, seemed like they all already knew about it. From what Kira could figure, it had something to do with mobile suits, though he didn't say that.

Next, Kira told those listening about what was said about the type of reception would be waiting for them at Earth Alliance Headquarters at JOSH-A. It had sounded like more than a guess as to what Tyler believed what would occur, as if he had evidence of some kind. The details that Kira heard, from the crew being separated into the two groups of who they wished to keep and those they didn't, to shouldered those they didn't keep with the blame of what had happened essentially using them as scapegoats. Kira left out what had been said would happen to Lacus and himself apart from the others as he didn't want to tell Lacus and everyone else would then question why Lacus would be used as a hostage against the PLANTs.

Finally, Kira had laid out what had been said about Tyler's mission and why the leaders of the Federation Military viewed of the Earth Alliance getting mobile suits as a serious problem. The position and viewpoint wasn't all that hard to understand, for it was based on the assumption that the Earth Forces would attack the Federation and with recent events, it was possible that such could happen. So with that in mind, in order to protect their citizens, they had sent a group to do what they could to prevent the Earth Alliance from getting access to mobile suits. It's why Kira himself thought that the 'data' had something to do with mobile suits, mostly from what Tyler said later on.

However, Kira left out the mentioning of some sort of virus or program that was 'taking care of' the data. By what Tyler had said, it didn't sound like it would hurt the ship itself just do something to the data mentioned. If Kira had mentioned something about the program, then it was likely that someone would use the fact to say Tyler was a traitor again. Still, Kira did mention of the document that Tyler had said had come to the Republic leadership. He knew that would mean that Tyler's mother would be the one to have received this document… whatever it was. It had been as much as what Tyler had said, as the way he had said it, which had made it clear that the content wasn't nice.

Once finished, Kira waited for the reaction of those who had been listening, for at least in his own mind, Kira had proven that Tyler wasn't they enemy at all. Natarle was the first to react, "Quite the story, I'll admit that Kira. Still, there's no proof that any of this information is true, Mr. McGregor could just be making all of it up to cover himself and that's just as likely," she said flatly.

Lacus got in front of Kira and kept him back, before he could snap back at Natarle, for he was mad again as what he said was being waved off. Mu however, hummed in thought, "I don't know, from what Kira said, Tyler is either well informed or really good at picturing how people can act. And honestly, from what I've seen, I'm more inclined to go with the former rather than the latter. I mean, some of that information is pretty specific and it makes me wonder." The man put a finger to his chin and began to pace, "I mean, the denial from leaders of the Atlantic Federation, that sounds like what most politics I've been around do, deny what makes them look bad. Although what has my attention is the 'reception' that's supposed to be waiting for us at Alaska."

Krystal nodded in agreement, "So it caught your attention as well Mu? The reception sounded rather worrisome specific and makes me really more than just curious too," she commented.

"That point alone says Mr. McGregor doesn't know what he's talking about. It's utter nonsense," reasoned Natarle.

Mu stared at Natarle, "Really? Would it be the same kind of utter nonsense that he told you about ZAFT with the battle with the 8th fleet before he went out? That turned out to be rather on the money as I recall," Mu challenged.

Natarle was at a loss for words at that reply from Mu, for she couldn't think of an answer to it. "There's no reason to debate this right now, we depart tomorrow on route to Alaska. Everyone is to go and get sleep, be on the ship at 0800 hours," commanded Murrue, ending the argument.

People began exiting the room, heading to the beds they had, until all that remained was Kira, his friends from Heliopolis and Lacus. Sai was the first to speak, "Kira, after hearing what you said… I don't know what exactly to think. Tyler helping that ZAFT pilot is hard to dispute."

"To Tyler, the one that he helped wasn't a ZAFT pilot, but one of his two best friends by the name of Athrun Zala. And the other was," Lacus said before pausing while glancing at Kira who was nodding, "she is my sister Sakura Clyne."

Everyone was staring at Lacus, "You said the name Clyne right?" asked Tolle. "But your name is Don isn't it Lacus?"

Lacus looked down at the floor, "No, it actually isn't guys, and it's my fault that you think it is," said Kira. All attention shifted to Kira, "With Lacus's last name being so well-known, it seemed a really bad idea to have anyone else know what it was," he said in explanation.

"But why is it such a big thing for you to have the last name Clyne Lacus? I mean, it's not like you're related to the one with the Clyne name in the government of the PLANTs right," returned Miriallia.

Lacus sighed, "Actually… the one you're referring to is named Siegel Clyne and he's my father. His job and position is that of the chairman of the PLANTs Supreme Council and my sister is one of the best ace pilots and commanding officers that the ZAFT military has. And then, my career being an idol singer does contribute to the issue." She replied.

Kira frowned, remembering what Tyler had said would happen to his friend Lacus should she reach the Earth Alliance Headquarters. Lacus took note of Kira's expression, "Kira, are you okay?" She asked.

Kira focused on where the voice came from and realized that Lacus was right in front of him, looking worried. "Oh well," he muttered.

Lacus didn't let Kira not tell her what was troubling him, and it didn't take Kira seemed to realize that she wouldn't. He exhaled heavily, "Tyler said that you and I Lacus, would be facing something a bit different were we to go to Alaska. He believed I would be killed in such a way that most if any would know about it happening." Kira paused as he didn't like what Tyler had describe for what awaited Lacus at all, though he believed he was right. "He said that you would be used as a hostage against the PLANTs and wouldn't be let go."

Everyone minus Lacus gained a horrified expression, however, the pink haired girl herself nodded in sad acceptance. "Yes, I would imagine it would be as Tye says it would. Sakura also said not to trust the leaders of the Earth Alliance and it would fit with that," she remarked.

From that point on, their other friends believed as Kira and Lacus did, that Tyler was no traitor, but a friend doing the best he could to help and protect them. After that, the separated to the beds to get at least a little sleep before tomorrow.

The next day dawned and the crew boarding the Archangel was a solemn affair. It was easy to see that not all of the crew believe as Natarle did that Tyler had been tricking them the whole time. The Alliance vessel's departure was quiet, but not unnoticed by anyone. Tyler had gotten up early and witnessed the ship leaving the dock and shortly the port itself. As he watched, he silently wished his friends safe travels, but his worries didn't leave him.

Phase end

A/n

And that's where I'll leave off for this chapter. A lot of material covered in this chapter and I tried to not ramble, but I wanted to get to the point where the Archangel was heading out to setup for the next chapter. My reasons as to why… I'll keep to myself until the next chapter. Please take the time to write a review or PM me and tell me what you think or to ask questions. Can't promise that I'll answer every question, but I will try to answer the ones I can.