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

22. Phase 22: Battle of Belief

A/n

Phase 22 is here, the battle with the Dominion! And I can tell you right now, if you think it's going to go like it does in the series, then prepare to enjoy and a different battle scene! Originally this phase was going to have more, but its length was getting to the point it was easier to spilt into two phases instead. Anyway, I don't own anything but my original characters and musings, on with the story!

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Phase 22: Battle of Belief

July 12th, 71 C.E.

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-Neutral pov-

Lagrange 4 Colony Cluster

"Calamity, Forbidden, and Raider, launch! Today, the indestructible Archangel falls, and then this war can then move towards the ending it should have had years ago!" ordered the voice of Muruta Azrael over an open channel.

The battle was unavoidable now and Murrue knew that, but a sick feeling filled her at understanding that she would be facing her former first officer in combat. Murrue saw Natarle Badgiruel as an equal, a friend and respected colleague, so she didn't want to fight her. Honestly, Murrue believed that Natarle had the makings of a great commanding officer, she might be strict yet, that was needed at times. Yet now, the Archangel would face her in battle and all on the Archangel had negative feelings about it, showing that this war was truly a horrible thing! The Republic's Prime Minister had put it quite well, this war only took away, destroyed and ruined and did nothing else really. In hindsight, the evidence was so easy and clear to see of just what the war had done along with the hatred that kept it going. Nonetheless, it didn't make it any easier to swallow the facts or their results.

Murrue gave orders for the Archangel's to ready itself for combat and for pilots to prepare to launch out in their mobile suits. The Archangel's Gottfrieds and Valiants came out from their stored positions, to be at the ready for use. At the same time, all sixteen Igelstellung CIWS guns shifted to active mode and began to slowly sweep, ready to intercept incoming enemy projectiles. The special signal and small equipment launchers, were loaded with anti-beam depth charges in preparation of attacks from the black Archangel, the Dominion. The stern missile launchers were loaded with anti-ship Sledgehammer missiles.

Down in the hanger, the three pilots still on the Archangel were getting ready to go out to the battlefield. The Archangel's mechanics were rushing around, doing as many of the needed tasks as quickly and as efficient as possible so that the mobile suits could head out. Dearka was checking over the tuning that the Buster had received by the techs from Morgenroete, making sure the on-board systems were working like he wanted. He was fairly impressed at what the work done on the Buster, the work done, brought an amount of streamlining to the OS. While Krystal was deciding whether to go with the heavy beam rifle set the Shadow had available or go with the flight system that had been rebuilt instead.

Mu was talking to Chief Murdoch about the finer points of the equipment that he intended to use in this skirmish. Back in Orb at Morgenroete's main complex, Mu's mobile armor had undergone extensive modifications in order to work with the Strike. Mu had been very interested in the idea when it had been suggested by Erica Simmons that his Moebius Zero could combine with the Strike. Plus, his Zero got a more updated arsenal that should be more effective against mobile suits that didn't have phase shift armor. And thus far, the mass production Earth Alliance mobile suits hadn't shown to have phase shift armor, they had laminated armor instead.

Now his Moebius Zero Armor, had a gatling gun exchanged for his linear cannon, and was of an 80mm caliber to help have more oomph. The wire-guided gunbarrel pods were still there, but their autocannons had been switched out for a railgun and a pair of missiles in each pod. The other feature the Moebius Zero armor had gained, it could now combine with the Strike, mounting to the hardpoint like the other striker packs did. The Strike would still have its 57mm beam rifle and its anti-beam coated shield with the combination with the Zero armor. With the mobile armor mounted to the hardpoint, Mu would be able to use the gunbarrels, and the gatling gun could swing around and forward to fire at enemies. The added thrust from the gunbarrels would give the Strike better mobility and pushing power, Mu would take that and use it to do what was needed.

The specific point that was being discussed, was how to launch the Zero armor. A remote-control system, similar to what the Federation military apparently used in their mobile suits/fighters, had been installed in the mobile armor during its modification. Mu had studied the system and understood the basics of how it worked, but he hadn't tried it out yet and until he did, he was hesitant to rely on it. So, Chief Murdoch suggested that after Mu took the Strike out, the Zero launch out. Then, the Strike would just need to line up and have the Zero shift over to the mode it docked to the Strike's hardpoint. Doing the process that way, wouldn't require much remote control for either Mu or someone else to do.

Shortly after the pilots boarded their machines, they were sent to the catapults. The Shadow moved to the right catapult and was equipped with the flight system, which Krystal had decided to use. The Strike was sent to the left catapult, but was given no equipment other than the rifle and shield as it would be using the Zero armor. After the Shadow launched, the Buster went to the right catapult and headed out to the field. Mu flew the Strike out and kept in line with the catapult as his Moebius Zero was quickly loaded and shot out from the Archangel. The Zero's forward section ahead of the thrusters and gunbarrels, folded down and the mobile armor connected to the Strike with a jerk. Mu activated the Strike's phase shift armor, before using the thrust he now had to surge forward.

Three mobile suits launched from the Dominion, the same three that had been involved in both battles the Alliance waged against the Orb Union. Their names, as Muruta Azrael had stated, were the Calamity, the Forbidden and the Raider, which name belonged to which machine, none that were facing them could say. Although, regardless of names, all three had already had shown that they could cause chaos and destruction when they came onto a battlefield.

The Kusanagi made its way outside the dock of the Mendel colony not too long after the Archangel did, planning to aid the Archangel against the Dominion. However, the Dominion fired missiles towards the Kusanagi, but the Orb vessel wasn't the target, the colony support cables they were near were. The thick cables under high tension, when the missiles struck them, whipped backwards and wrapped around the Kusanagi, trapping the ship.

The Kusanagi sent out the M1-Astrays on board it out to use their beam sabers to cut the cables and free the ship. Six Astrays in total got to work as fast as they could to slice the metal cables, while keeping eyes on the battle so as to not get shot. Yet, during the scramble, the Dominion had moved away and vanished from the sight of their opponents… well, most of their opponents.

-Line Break-

-Tyler's pov-

I'll begrudgingly admit, Natarle managed to take me by surprise and that doesn't happen often with me. First, I had predicted the first attack wrong and so had been caught off-guard and now Natarle had gotten me with her passenger onboard. She'd shaken me after I'd lost focus at hearing Muruta Azrael's voice and now I was playing catch up. However, I was paying sharp attention and wouldn't let myself be caught off guard a third time!

I reacquired the location of the black ship just as it launched missiles towards the Kusanagi. Yet, they didn't hit the ship, but the large colony support cable they were near, which due to the heavy tension they were under, whipped back and wrapped around the Kusanagi. And Natarle shows her talent for battle tactics, by disabling one ship for a time, so that she can focus on the Archangel. I started following the black Archangel as it used the colony as a shield and a way to hide coming up behind the Archangel. The ship still as far as I could tell, had no idea that I was following them, invisible from sensors and prying eyes. Once again, Federation stealth technology is top notch and is certainly the best at the business! Anyways, I'm not going to wait and see what this ship does this time, such inaction had nearly came with a cost that was unacceptable.

I barrel rolled the Aurora to move to the starboard side of the black ship and focused my rifle, which was still in its stream mode and aimed back at the stern missile tubes. Without further hesitation, I pulled the trigger and my rifle fired its continuous stream and I carved a good deep line along the row of launching tubes. The explosions that followed my cutting beam a short way behind it, made me think that at least some of the tubes were loaded. Still, I got the result I was going for as the starboard side missile tubes of this ship were out of commission.

Next, I swung my mobile suit into a roll over the 'Dominion' as Natarle had called it, to its port side. I pointed my rifle at the stern launchers and sliced a line down them like I had on the starboard side, disabling them as well. Yet, the crew and their captain had taken noticed of my action of disabling the missile launchers. That came in the form of the defenses of the ship beginning to fire in a random manner. I took that to mean that Natarle figured out that she was dealing with an invisible enemy a.k.a. little old me. Now normally, I would applaud the effort and say that such a tactic would be one of the better options to go with, but I wouldn't in this situation. And it's mostly due to the simple fact that I know the specs of the Archangel-class better than most. I know its weaknesses and its strengths, and every single blind spot it has.

So, I dropped downward, keeping close to the ship and positioned the Aurora along the underside of the black vessel. I kept my mobile suit feet away from the outer hull of the Dominion, easily in one of the blind spots and by matching my speed and direction to keep where I was in respect with the rest of the ship. I quickly found a system junction and used it to connect to the Dominion's internal control and operating systems.

You see, the other neat point that I happened to know about the Archangel-class, the types of system attacks that had been tested against this ship class. I got my hands on the report that had been written by those that had done the testing against the system. The list included programs or coding that would simply slow the system down to the kind that would take over the system and control it. The report even mentioned which attacks the on-board systems were more vulnerable to than others. It was for me, literally a guide to messing with the ship to any degree that I wanted. And let me tell you, after one or two lectures I'd be forced to listen to from Natarle Badgiruel, I'd been tempted to test just how effective some of the stuff was, but I had restrained myself before now.

Interestingly, after doing a little research, I found out that not only was the report pretty much ignored by those in the Alliance, little to anything had been done by anyone. I've come to expect a higher standard from work from Morgenroete… or maybe the Alliance personnel were getting too impatient and telling them to hurry up. Although, in the defense of Morgenroete's technicians and engineers, they did note the issues and they had fixed the vulnerabilities in the Izumo-class's systems as I understand it. It leaves one to wonder sometimes, if those in the Earth Alliance will ever learn the lesson that sabotage is never something to be ignored or dismissed as nothing to worry about. Sabotage, is an ever changing and fine art, and it's one that I know well and am an expert in. I've used the art against the Alliance on a few occasions to great effect, even if they don't learn from those events.

Whatever the reason is, I knew what vulnerabilities there were in the Archangel-class and I would exploit them as I saw reason to. Besides, the designers of this ship class never planned for someone like me to make attempts to mess with the ship! I'm a security designer's worst nightmare incarnated, a system architect's darkest machination realized and I'll prove why I can be seen that way using the Dominion! What I've in mind, will put the Dominion's onboard systems through the worst beating and stress that they have ever gone through, I personally guarantee that!

I brought the keyboard out that is stored on the right side of the seat when not in use, and it took me seconds to gain access to the ships on board systems. How might I have gotten access to the ship's system so quick you would ask? Well apparently, some idiot thought there was no issue, danger or element of stupidity in leaving the default system access codes active and usable. Seriously, if this isn't just down right dumb and ridiculous, I don't know of a way it can be more so, other than having no defenses or security at all! Whoever did the security for this ship needs to be fired and punished, because they made one of the simplest mistakes that can be made!

It's yet another prime example of how those within the Alliance screw themselves, the little things that they dismiss or ignored come back to bite the hardest normally. It's no wonder why they're having such difficulty fighting against ZAFT, they give their opponents so much opportunity. I mean hell, with the codes I used, I had free reign to do whatever I damn well please and the other part of this, there will be little that the crew on board could do to stop me from their end. So, that being said, I got down to setting up a "gift" for the woman that I've had a number of run ins with and needs to be given a less of just how ridiculous the Earth Alliance was being these days.

Not too long after I started to lay the groundwork for the program I would set loose, I connected a com-channel to the unit in my helmet. I did this so that, my typing won't be heard at all, don't what to spoil the "surprise" I'm making. But, I'd some things that I wanted to say to the Archangel's former first officer. I connected the channel to the Dominion's bridge's speaker system and gave my greeting, "I have to say Natarle, you have some really bad luck with who you take orders from, my heartfelt condolences."

-Line Break-

-Neutral pov-

Dominion bridge

At seeing the white vessel that belonged to Orb, which had been moving to support the Archangel, now tangled up in the colony support cable, Natarle focused back on the task at hand. The mission that the Dominion had been assigned, was still to sink the Archangel and that wouldn't be easy.

Right now, the number of mobile suits that were facing off, were five versing seven. So, when it came to numbers, the Dominion had the advantage, but Natarle had learned on the Archangel that numbers weren't a good statistic to go with. The machines from the Dominion, the Forbidden, Calamity and Raider, were by their specs powerful, but their "pilots" were questionable in her opinion. It was especially true, with the possible pilots they would go against, and Natarle knew that fact. Then, four other mobile suits were also sent out, two were the new version mass production Dagger suit. The first Dagger was equipped with the Strike's Aile set, while the second was given the Launcher set including a 320mm beam cannon.

One of the other two mobile suits, was a variation based on the X103 Buster. There were two real differences other than coloration came with its arsenal, the missile pods specifically. Where the Buster had six missiles per pod, the Dagger variation had only three missiles per pod. The second, was that this suit could equip two beam sabers on their forearms, though it was optional equipment. Then the Buster Dagger, like other Dagger models didn't have phase shift armor, but laminated armor like the Archangel-class did.

The other of the two Dagger model suits, was based on the X102 Duel. The frame was the same as the GAT-01 Strike Dagger and not the Duel's. Its equipment was made with data acquired on the Duel's extra equipment that ZAFT had given it. The "Fortrestra" equipment included a Linear Cannon, missile launcher and beam sabers. The linear cannon was like the railgun that the Duel possessed, except that it was limited as it used clips fed into it with each shot. The missile pod, had eight missiles instead of five as the Duel did. And there was also the shield and the beam rifle that was built from the design of the Duels on rifle. The rifle was 57mm and put out a high-energy beam, and had a single shot grenade launcher under the main rifle barrel.

The Dominion's seven machines were going against five opposing mobile suits, of those five, three of them, Natarle didn't think she would see again. The Strike, had new equipment that looked like part of one of the Zero mobile armors, which had been modified to combine together. The X103 Buster also came out of the Archangel, and Natarle couldn't guess who would the pilot now. However, the last of the three mobile suits, was one that she thought to be destroyed and gone, the X209 Shadow, equipped with its flight system. The other two suits that came out from the colony, she assumed to be the two that director Azrael had mentioned, the Freedom and the Justice. The white and black one appeared to be built with range in mind by what she could see. The red one Natarle guessed was similar or complimented the other by covering ranges that it was less good with.

Natarle ignored her growing doubts and ordered the Dominion to use the colony to get behind the Archangel after the mobile suits had gone out, she wanted to end this quickly. Natarle had hoped that Murrue would have surrender when she had asked her to, but the offer was refused. Of course, Natarle had not taken the first refusal as the final answer, she had said that she would do whatever she could to help their situation and had meant it. What had gone down at JOSH-A… Natarle had felt it wrong. Captain Sutherland should've been court marshaled for all the lives lost there that he claimed were necessary sacrifices, when nothing had been done for them at all. The man's claims of the lives lost were unavoidable were bias, for a select few of the lost lives had been personnel from the Atlantic Federation, the vast majority was their allies from the Eurasian Federation. Natarle wasn't the only one who felt that way within the Earth Forces, but the higher ups disagreed and that stopped the argument. But, for that event, twisted as it might have been, to lead the Archangel and her crew to go rouge… Natarle wanted to believe that stress and/or other factors played a part of the mistake that she didn't know.

Things had become worse and fueled her doubts, when Murrue had implied that the Earth Alliance had done more in the war than was on record. Murrue Ramius had been fighting in this war between ZAFT and the Alliance long enough to know that horrible things happened in war and this one was no exception. Yet, Natarle had been taken completely by surprise when Murrue had stated the Alliance had attacked the member nations of the Federation. There had been no reports or any information that had suggested anything like that, the very thought of the Alliance attacking the Federation was ridiculous! The assumption within the Alliance, was that the Federation and its military were stronger than ZAFT by a slight margin at the very least. There was little solid evidence to prove how strong the Federation was, but what was known inferred that. So, confrontation with them had been avoided as much as possible for that and other reasons.

However, if what Murrue said was true, and Natarle had gotten to know her well enough with the amount of time they'd worked together, to know that this subject wasn't something she would joke about. Then there was information being kept from the Alliance forces in space by those on Earth, which shouldn't be happening. If the claim was true, it would potentially explain the recent change in the Federation Military's space forces and their strikes against the Alliance orbital fleets. But, before anything else could be mentioned that would provide an explanation, director Azrael had interrupted, and the battle had started.

The sight of the Archangel came back into view, with its back facing the Dominion, Natarle was about to give the order to fire missiles from the stern launchers, intending to just disable the Archangel. She wouldn't destroy the Archangel unless SHE deemed that necessary, no matter what Director Muruta Azrael 'suggested' she do to the Archangel. However, Natarle never gave the order to fire the missile. She was interrupted as the Dominion was shaken and rocked, before one of the bridge operator called out that the starboard missile tubes had sustained major damage. It was an unexpected turn, and Natarle was attempting to figure out what had taken the shot to do the damage. There had been nothing that would suggest that an enemy had made it close enough to make a precision strike on the Dominion.

Nevertheless, she didn't have time to think hard about how the hit had come, because less than minute later, the ship was rocked again, and the report of the port side missile launchers being disabled came. That said enough to Natarle for her to comprehend that there was an enemy around that had a stealth system. So, she ordered the defenses to begin interception at random as a response and perhaps reveal the enemies position. The next few minutes passed by slowly, and nothing to show for it, no mobile suit revealing itself as she had hoped. It wasn't until a voice came over the speaker system for the bridge that caught all's attention that things made more sense.

"I have to say Natarle, you have some really bad luck with who you take orders from, my heartfelt condolences," said a young male voice.

Shock filled Natarle at hearing the voice, for the voice belonged to Tyler McGregor. But that was impossible, the teen was supposed to have died in the explosion of the X209 Shadow outside of the Orb Union when the Aegis self-destructed! True, no body had been recovered, yet that explosion was more than enough to kill someone. Yet, apparently, somehow the older teen had managed to survive the event… how, Natarle couldn't even guess. But, Tyler had proven more than once, he was resourceful and had a knack to come out of situations that most would have great difficulty doing the same. Still, with him around the Dominion now, that meant that he wasn't piloting the Shadow, but some other mobile suit that hadn't likely been seen. "Tyler McGregor?" Natarle uttered.

"The one and only as far as I still know, you sound shocked to hear me Natarle. Rest assured, I'm no ghost, nor would I haunt you if given the choice. The Grim Reaper missed me when he took his swing a few months ago, but that is life for some. Nevertheless, as I was saying, you have really bad luck at whom you take orders from these days, and it's clearly been going downhill fast by what I can tell," Tyler replied almost lazily.

Natarle felt the familiar twinge of annoyance shoot through her at Tyler's attitude and showing of what she saw as disrespect. Both of which, appeared to be unchanged since the last time she had dealt with the teen, meaning that his near-death experience hadn't improved any of his quirks. Honestly, Tyler had real potential, he could act responsible and like an adult and Natarle couldn't deny that, as much as she might want to sometimes. Yet, he was the definition of a rebellious teenager the majority of the time around her, and it irked her. "And what are you trying to imply McGregor?" She challenged.

"Well, nice to see you are the same as ever Natarle, brings a smile to my face to hear you attempt to practice Anger Management, you certainly need it sometimes. But as I was saying, it has to be very unpleasant as well as demeaning to have to listen to a high and might idiot. I've unfortunately had a bit of experience in that, so can say it's not nice to deal with, but one is sometimes forced to cope with it. But, it's worse when the said idiot, is also a scumbag, and trust me when I tell you that you got yourself a hell of scumbag you're being forced to listen to, it has to suck. Your skills at commanding are being wasted right now, so again, I send my heartfelt condolences to you Natarle, your position is truly a horrible one, in more ways than one," Tyler answered.

Natarle could picture clearly in her mind the calm expression as if he was talking about nothing of real consequence and doing so right in front of herself. It was believable that he had experienced having to listen to someone that he didn't wish to, his attitude towards those in command inferred that. But, Tyler wasn't normally as blatantly rude as he was being right now when he was referring to director Azrael. Then for the teen to actually say that she had skills as an officer and that they were being wasted was a first. Tyler hadn't ever said to Natarle that she had skills as an officer out loud that she had heard.

"Watch that mouth of yours boy," growled Azrael, anger evident, meaning that he was aware that Tyler was referring to him when he said 'scumbag'. "You're biting more off than you'll ever be able to handle, quit before you pay the price for it."

"Oh ho, the one in the position to be the king of scumbag speaks," Tyler announced sarcastically.

Natarle felt further shock and embarrassment at how Tyler was speaking to Director Azrael of the Earth Alliance's National Defense Industry Association. Granted, Tyler had made it clear that he didn't have much respect for those in the position of command. It was that, which had been the root of most issues between the teen and herself. But, this went beyond disrespect, especially with the influence Azrael had, it was dangerous! "Tyler, rein in that attitude of yours right now!" Natarle commanded.

There came a snort in response, "Natarle apparently, you've forgotten already, though how you can with the number of times that we've discussed this subject, I couldn't say. But, I don't follow orders of just anyone or commands that I don't agree with. So, I'll repeat what I told you before now, in the vain hope it will sink in and I don't have to say it again. I won't jump when I'm told, only when I feel the urge or need to do so. I won't dance when I'm commanded to, only if there is an awesome beat going for me to bust out my awesome dance moves. I won't snap too or salute if I don't feel like it, no matter who it is in the room. And most of all, I won't take orders unless it's from one whose EARNED my respect and said order makes sense to me. That hasn't and won't change anytime in the near future, so shut up, accept it and deal," Tyler returned.

A hand hit Natarle's forehead in the developed response that had come with dealing with Tyler and his attitude. "I see your behavior hasn't gotten any better Tyler," Natarle remarked, containing the frustration that the line he spouted had flared up. Tyler had been an ongoing pain in her neck while she had been on the Archangel. It got to the point when Natarle swore that he was going out of his way on purpose to infuriate her, just to see if he could get her to react.

"What you see is what you get with me Natarle, I can't see any way I can put it simpler than that. And besides, you really expect me to be nice to the quality of scumbag that your illustrious Alliance's National Defense Industry Association director is? I'll give the man a bit of civility due to manners that have been drilled into and taught to me since I was young, but that's all he gets from me. If I had my wish, he'd be in restraints and standing trail for the stunts he's pulled, for he is one that can be properly called humankind's true enemy," Tyler shot back.

Natarle was somewhat confused by Tyler's last line, but Director Azrael wasn't please at all by the comment, especially the last three words that had come from the bi**h Ellen Blass. However, Azrael reined in his emotions before replying, "You've quite a mouth boy, I'll give you that, comparable to the one who's words you use," the blonde man stated evenly. "But, I recommend you watch what you say, or you suffer a great deal for it."

The sound of Tyler chuckling was heard, "I don't know what's funnier, how rich it is for this to come from a genuine war criminal, or the subject matter of what you said. But, I would say to you that you just gave some real wisdom, you should apply to yourself first. Or perhaps you aren't aware that's your status with the Federation military? Although, how you can't know that you're classified as a war criminal, when a couple of attempts to take you into custody have happened before now, I can't begin to guess," Tyler replied, then there was a pause, before he continued. "Yet, back to the present situation, with the caliber and quality of person that I am, I'll attempt to be nice and polite by saying that it's in your best interest to give up or tuck tail and run, the choice is up to you Natarle."

Natarle felt a mixture of incredulity and denial from her pride and sense of duty at Tyler telling her to either give up or run and say he was being nice. Still, part of her was whispering that it meant that there was something going on that most weren't seeing right now. "And how is that advice you being nice Tyler?" Natarle posed.

There was a slight pause, "Need I remind you Natarle? I know the specs of the Archangel-class probably better than you do. That being said, I know the strengths and weaknesses of the ship and can exploit any of them when and as it strikes my fancy. You do the figuring on what I can potentially do with that information Natarle, I doubt it will take you long to come to the correct conclusion," Tyler said in reply.

That statement caused Natarle to hesitate, for thus far, she hadn't been able to accurately estimate how much Tyler knew about the Archangel-class. Yet, by what he just said, he knew a great deal of information about the ship class and that made him a very dangerous and potentially lethal opponent. Natarle had been grateful that she hadn't been going against Tyler McGregor from just seeing how good a fighter he had shown himself to be. But now, she had growing fear knowing that she was about to see what it's like to fight the teenaged Federation pilot as a serious opponent. "By the way Natarle," Tyler said in a business-toned voice, "before I go, I'm leaving you a gift. Think of it as a way to remember and commemorate all the times we had on the Archangel. I don't doubt you'll be able to appreciate it properly, especially as it's coming from me. Enjoy~" finished Tyler, singing the last word.

Natarle was left to rack her brain on what kind of 'gift' Tyler would leave, good or bad. Assuming that he was defending the Archangel and his second to last line, then the gift would unlikely be of help, more likely a hindrance. But even knowing that much didn't help narrow down what Tyler could've done to the Dominion. Knowing those facts, worried Natarle greatly!

Moments later, the sensor station operator announced that there was a mobile suit ahead of them. Natarle looked to the forward viewing screen and saw a red mobile suit with wings flying from under the Dominion. It had two long cannons connected to the insides of the wings and who knows what power those could put out. The machine had a unique beam rifle that was wider from top to bottom. There was also a short shield that was white, on the left arm. It was certainly different than any mobile suit that Natarle had ever seen before now.

The suit glanced directly at the bridge and then transformed into what was more shaped like an atmospheric aircraft and very slowly began orienting itself to go forward towards the battle. The mobile suit hung in front of the Dominion as it oriented, as if daring the ship to shoot at it. If Tyler was the pilot as Natarle suspected he was, then the teen could very well be doing just that, she wouldn't put it past him. "Hey Natarle, the line of not being able to hit the broad side of a warship is coming to my mind right now. I can't say exactly why it does, but hey, take your best shot and we'll see if I'm having the correct line for this situation." Tyler said over an open channel.

Natarle felt the desire to get ahold of Tyler and shake him hard for his obvious attempt to taunt her, for it was ticking her off. However, she shook her head and ordered the Gottfrieds to aim at the mobile suit. The beam turrets moved to bear on the red suit and they were sent the command to fire. However, the cannons swiveled to be off sight and fired beams, which wasn't supposed to happen. And it was that, which helped Natarle understand what possible range of effects Tyler's 'gift' could have.

-Line Break-

In Mendel's main dock, the Eternal's final preparations were completed, and the engines were fired up and the ship headed out to the battlefield. Even though the Freedom and the Justice had launched out to fight already, the Eternal wasn't clueless as to what was going on. Over the open com-lines, those on board the Eternal had been putting together parts of the ongoing battle. The Astrays were still working on freeing the Kusanagi from the colony's support cables and they were making progress. The Archangel was fending off the second Archangel-class, but was having difficulty doing so. All five mobile suits were in combat with the same three mobile suits that had appeared during the first battle of Orb and four other Alliance suits. There had been no word from the Aurora since it had launched, other than the single message to the Archangel, warning of the approaching Alliance vessel. But, it was assumed that Tyler was somewhere on the battlefield, and would assist as he could.

Once getting away from the dock, the Eternal turned it's bow towards the battle that was going on. The other mobile suit that the ship carried, hadn't been ready previously, but now with the final needed adjustments done. The ZGMF-X11A Regenerate was set to go out for it first skirmish and just needed a pilot. The suit was given the same type and make of beam rifle that the Freedom and the Justice carried, the "Lupus" rifle. The clear and obvious choice for the pilot would've been Andrew Waltfeld, but he was sticking with the captain's chair and the responsibility that came with the position.

Lacus then spoke up and stepped forward volunteering to pilot the mobile suit, even mentioning that her older sister had given her some lessons. That had been enough for Andrew Waltfeld and Aisha to say that she could pilot the mobile suit. If Lacus's older sister Sakura Clyne, the Black Zephyr herself had given her lessons, that said a lot. Sakura was arguably one of the best pilots ZAFT had, other than perhaps Lanus Treize and the one known as the "Comet". And with the Comet having disappeared years ago without a trace and Admiral Treize not going out himself much anymore, Sakura was seen as the best ZAFT currently had. To be informed that the woman had taken the time to give her little sister a few lessons on piloting a mobile suit, when there were many who would do nearly anything for that opportunity, was reason enough to let Lacus do as she asked.

So, Lacus put on a pilot suit and went to the Eternal's hanger and boarded the X11A Regenerate. The Strike had been the last mobile suit that Lacus had used and though, this suit's cockpit was similar, it wasn't the same. She took a bit of time to look over and take in where the important controls were. She noted that this cockpit was more like a cross of the same series that the X105 Strike was a part of and a ZAFT CGUE mobile suit.

Once she had the layout of the cockpit down, Lacus signaled that she was ready, and her mobile suit was moved to the Eternal's catapult. She launched out and joined Athrun and Kira on the battlefield, along with the others from the Archangel. Even though Lacus disliked fighting, hated this war and what it had done, more so after listening to Ellen Blass's message for it rang true with her. Lacus didn't want to see those who were friends, who she cared about and loved, to die and she not have tried to help them, no matter what the cost.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the Mendel colony, three Nazca-class vessels which had been chasing the Eternal arrived on site. The signs of the battle playing out was visible even from where they were and so caution was being exercised. The Vesalius was still in the lead of the three with the Helderton and Heusinger following it. While the ships took in what they could of what was going on in the battle on the other side of the colony, they exchanged information to create a more complete picture. As that was happening, Rau Le Creuset was studying what they saw even with the distance from the fighting and having his own thoughts about how things were going.

It didn't take long, for Creuset to make the decision that he would sortie to gather more viable information. Yzak would accompany him, in case something unexpected came up and trouble needed to be faced. Creuset would've had Nicol do so as he was calm and cooler under most situations. However, as he had said he was unable do this mission, Creuset would have to make due with just Yzak. The other ships would be on standby in case something went really wrong and assistance became necessary.

Le Creuset was going to pilot a mobile suit from a new series of ZAFT mobile suits, the ZGMF-600 GuAIZ. The suit was developed from data from the Earth Alliance prototype mobile suits as well as the CGUE. The frame was similar to the CGUE overall, but had parts that were based on the Alliance suits. Its arsenal was made up of 76mm CIWS guns in the head, a composite shield, two guns at its waist and a beam rifle. The CIWS were much the same as some of the Alliance prototypes had. While the shield did have anti-beam coating, it also had two beam claws emitted at the shield's tip on either side of the center.

The beam rifle was made from specs from the GAT-X series stolen from the Alliance and had much the same qualities. The pair of guns at the suit's hips, called "EEQ7R Extensional Arrestors" and they were equipped with rocket anchors. Due to the weapons short range, it is used to generate a beam spike to use as a projectile. However, when the gun's rocket anchor is connected to the suit's backpack in order to grapple onto an enemy unit, its range while limited to fifteen meters or less, can restrain the machine.

The suit that Creuset was given to use, was grey with some white, which were normal commander pilot colors that weren't custom. Both Creuset and Yzak launched out from the Vesalius and flew into the back dock of the colony. There was an atmosphere still and the sight of the ruins that had once be the home of those who had worked in Mendel. Yzak was glancing around the silent colony layout, feeling an ominous foreboding creeping into his mind.

Creuset wasn't very happy to be in this colony, he had been here before and it hadn't been a pleasant experience. So, the masked man's mood was not high at all yet, until he felt an odd tingling sensation. A smirk appeared on his face, knowing that it meant something specific and that kicked Creuset's mood way up. The last time he had the feeling, was back at the JOSH-A base and that had been entertaining. Creuset expected this meeting with Mu La Flaga to be hysterical, more so with this location as it held significance to both Mu La Flaga and Creuset himself. Creuset gave orders to Yzak to scout around, and once the Duel had gone to do as ordered, he landed at a particular complex and began planning out how this would play out.

On the other side of the colony, in the battle playing out, Mu was battling the Launcher Strike Dagger. The increased mobility that came from the Zero armor, was giving the original Strike a serious advantage over the mass production model. Krystal was going against the Duel Dagger, and clearly showing that she had more real-world experience in piloting a mobile suit than her opponent. Dearka was fighting the Strike Dagger equipped with the Aile striker pack and was holding his own. The fight was easier than the times that he had to go against the original Strike, and so Dearka was doing fine against the Alliance machine.

The Freedom and the Justice were keeping the three custom Alliance mobile suits occupied. Then, with the addition of the Regenerate, the odds became even more equal. As both Strike Daggers were shot down, leaving the two new suits and the three mobile suits they had seen in Orb, Mu paused. The feeling that had washed over him was all too familiar for him to ignore. The question of how Le Creuset could be around here and why ran through his mind and there was only one way to answer either question. Mu retracted the gunbarrels back to their docks, before turning towards the colony as that's the direction the feeling had come from. He then flew off towards the dock so that he could go through the airlock system that led into the colony interior. He would find Le Creuset and hopefully get to the masked man before he causes trouble for anyone else.

Krystal sliced one of the Buster Dagger's gun into two pieces, forcing the suit to fall back and retreat. And as the suit did so, she caught sight of Mu heading for the main dock of Mendel. Wondering what he was thinking to go that way at this time, Krystal shot off after the Strike. Dearka managed to send the Duel Dagger running, he saw the remaining three Alliance suits were fighting the others. That was before he spotted the Shadow flying towards the Mendel colony's dock, and that made him curious, "Where could the old lady be going? And where's the old man anyway? Wasn't he fighting out here a few minutes ago?" Dearka muttered to himself, before he flew after the Shadow.

As he passed through the dock, the Eternal contacted him and asked what was going on. He said that Mu had disappeared, and the Krystal was going into the colony and was more than likely following Mu. Dearka said that he was going to find out what the two were doing and would make it quick as possible. After telling the Eternal what he knew, Dearka headed for the airlock tunnel system that led into the colony interior.

When Mu came into the main dock Mendel had, he entered the system of airlocks that would take him to the colony's interior. Once inside, he saw that it was mostly brown, no green to be seen, there were structures that were in varying states of disrepair. The signs of the long-standing absence of life of any kind was eerie, more so with there being a breathable atmosphere that sensors displayed was present.

The sensation came again to Mu and he headed for a particular complex of buildings. Once closer to the place, Mu saw an unknown mobile suit, a new ZAFT model more than likely. Mu landed the Strike by the complex and exited the mobile suit, then touching down on the ground. He made sure that the pistol he had with him was loaded and the safety was off before looking forward to the place he would start searching. With Rau Le Creuset involved, anything could happen, and it paid to be prepared and Creuset also probably had a gun too.

Mu went Inside the structure, it was dark, but there was enough light to see the shape of the hallways and interior of the place. Mu kept in the corners, looking around them, so as to not be caught unaware by Le Creuset. He worked way further inside, but after a few minutes, Mu was forces to duck behind a wall as gunshots came his way.

"Mu La Flaga, fate seems to be set on us meeting to settle our issues, doesn't it?" came the voice of Rau Le Creuset ahead of where Mu was currently.

Mu gritted his teeth, "What the hell are you doing here Creuset?!" he shouted.

"Follow me Mu La Flaga, I'll personally show you the truth," replied Creuset.

At the same time outside of the complex, Krystal and Dearka spotted the Strike and the unknown mobile suit. Krystal suggested that they check the area out to make sure it was somewhat safe, to which Dearka begrudgingly agreed. Dearka didn't have anything personally against Krystal McAlester, but she could be bossy sometimes. They split up and circled the group of buildings, as Dearka rounded a structure, he came face to face with a mobile suit he didn't expect, the Duel.

Yzak was shocked to see the Buster, but quickly felt anger at seeing the machine. When he had heard Dearka had been captured, Yzak hadn't taken it very well, he might not had shown that he cared about his comrades much, but he didn't like losing them. Now, right in front of himself, was glaring evidence of Dearka's absents and irked him badly! The Buster had been Dearka's and for some Natural to think that they could take that seat and use it like it was nothing, wouldn't stand with Yzak.

Dearka was about to open a com-channel to speak with Yzak, but the Duel shot at the Buster, forcing Dearka to evade. He couldn't open a channel, with the moves he was being forced to do to not be shot down. It wasn't until the Shadow attacked the Duel from the side that the barrage let up on Dearka. The Duel countered the Shadow, and Dearka could see that Yzak was fighting more angry than usual, and that wasn't a good thing with him. Dearka was trying to figure out how to break up the fight without either mobile suit taking damage, when he spotted the Blitz flying towards the skirmish. The Blitz got a hold of the Duel and began pulling it back, while Dearka shot forward and did the same with the Shadow.

-Line Break-

-Tyler's pov-

After coming up from under the Dominion, I made sure to disengage my suit's stealth system so that those on the ship could see me. I even looked straight at the navigation bridge's forward viewing ports and hung out for a short period. I was giving time for Natarle to tell her crew to aim for me, I thought about showing the Aurora's back side and wave it to imitate waving one's rear end to dare someone, but I restrained myself doing that. Still, I couldn't resist doing something to goad Natarle in this, "Hey Natarle, the line of not being able to hit the broad side of a warship is coming to my mind right now. I can't say exactly why it does, but hey, take your best shot and we'll see if I'm having the correct line for this situation." I said over an open channel.

I was to test the effects of my 'gift' or rather the devil I made and set loose and confirm that it was doing as intended. I'm confident things are going just like I intend them to, it's the reason that I'm giving this opportunity to the Dominion, for I don't present this kind opportunity often. You see, as I'd been chatting away with Natarle, my fingers continued typing and writing the program that would mess with the Dominion's systems when I unleashed it. Simply put, the program I was whipping up, was nasty with a serious capitol "N" for what it could potentially do. My program can be considered the same as a gremlin that there are myths and stories about from history. Apparently, gremlins are mischievous creatures that sabotaged aircraft and machines and what I'm made will do that with VIGOR! My gift will mess with as many systems as it can get to and since I'm going to attach it to the onboard root system the Dominion has, there will be nothing it won't be able to reach. I did put in lines of code to make sure this little gremlin would leave the life-support systems alone, but that's the only system it was not to touch.

So, if inquired on how much damage could my program could do, my answer is that depends on a few things. First, time, the more time that my gremlin has to work, the more hell it will raise and create. Second, the response of those on the ship, the more they try to get rid of it, the worse things become. The only real way that my gremlin can be ousted, is to reset the entire on-board system, not part, but the whole system. I have no doubt that Natarle will resort to doing that at some point, but it won't be the first option that she goes with, she'll avoid it for a period. Then the last thing, I gave my program some points of priority to go for after release, some of those being the targeting systems and move on to other systems that depend on that, then keep going on from there. However long my gremlin is doing its job, is time earned for this fight to be a tad easier for those of us defending.

Now, with me, dare I say flaunting and daring those on the Dominion to, take a shot at me and adding my taunt, I was asking for trouble many might say. My actions weren't going as far as to paint or present a big red and white target for them to use. Yet, what I'm implying isn't all that different from making the message 'go ahead and try to hit me' any more plain and obvious. I think the only way was to do what I was holding back and I'm being nice right now.

While making myself a target, I shifted the Aurora into its flight mode and slowly oriented myself to go forward to the battle. I was waiting for the shot that I'm sure would come my way and disappointed, I most certainly was not! The Dominion's Gottfrieds swiveled to set their sites on me, yet before they let loose a round the turned in different directions then fired. It was freaking hilarious to see how well my gremlin was fulfilling the intentions I had for it. After having proof that my gift was working, I headed off to where the mobile suit brawl was being thrown down. When I got into visual range of the skirmish, I noted that four of the suits that had launched from the Dominion were gone. I couldn't say whether they had been destroyed or had retreated back to their ship from what I saw, but it's the same in the end. But what has me mystified, was the Strike, Shadow and Buster were missing from the field as well and there were no clues as to where they went.

With the Dominion's fighting effectiveness thrown out of whack for the time being, I dove in and joined Lacus in the Regenerate, Kira and Athrun in their fight. They were dancing with the three Alliance mobile suits that I had been told about and reports had iterated things on. The three mobile suits had similar qualities as the three I had faced during the fight for the Republic. One suit was geared for artillery, one is for high-speed combat and then one for a more rounded assault.

The assault suit, the X370 Raider I believe if the information I happened to copy from the Dominion is correct. It was red and black, looked near identical to the blue and black machine that could change to a mobile armor that had been in the attack on the Republic, it just had different equipment. It had what looked like an ancient ball and chain like weapon, rather not test how effective the weapon is. Kira had said it had a good amount of force when it made solid contact when he had fought this machine around Orb. It also had a shield with guns built into it, wasn't much information on those. Also, as I approached the skirmish, I saw a beam cannon that fired from the head of this suit which I noted.

The artillery wielder, the X131 Calamity, was heavier and beefier, and had cannons over the shoulders like the other artillery suit. However, it had half the number of rifles and cannons than the one I'd seen during the Alliance's assault on the Republic. The two cannons over the shoulders were mounted on a backpack like section. Like the other artillery machine, there was a shield and a two-barrel cannons built into it, just bigger than the other. Then there was an emitter in the upper torso of the machine and if it was a cannon, it was like the Aegis's multi-phase cannon, so I assume it has the same purpose.

The high-speed suit, X252 Forbidden, was the most different of the three. It had a backpack unit which included two shields, a long rail between the shield and backpack that looked to be like magnetic capabilities. Then the central section of the backpack was made up of a part that seemed to be able to swing over the head maybe, with a beam emitter in the front center. I would have to watch myself with that one a bit, supposedly the rails had railguns in them. Then, there was the feature of a 'bending beam', according to Kira and Athrun. That had been all they had said about it, the plasma beam this suit fires can changes it direction somehow. The shields can also deflect beams, meaning they likely had the Alliance's Geschmeidig Panzer in them.

Once I joined my allies on to the battlefield, the machines on our side regrouped. I got close to the Justice, whereas the Freedom was next to the suit that the Eternal had carried out with its escape, the ZGMF-X11A Regenerate. It was another suit from the same series that the Freedom and the Justice belonged to. The three Alliance machines charged us quickly after we regrouped, we dodged in two different directions, Athrun and I in one, Kira and Lacus in another.

Athrun went for the Raider as it was close to us, he combined his beam sabers and clashed with the Alliance suit. I found myself face to face with the Forbidden, I was still a distance from my opponent. I brought up and aimed my beam rifle, pulling the trigger, shooting a bolt at the green suit, more to see what kind of reaction the pilot had. The Forbidden moved its shields forward and my shot was deflected away. So then, the shields are equipped with the Earth Alliance's Geschmedig Panzer like that Duel like unit's shield had been. And I can now see another example of why the "Homura Deflector" my suit's shield has, is comparable, both deflect beams. I believe the deflection system that my suit has does the idea better, but there isn't enough information to make a clear decision if that's true or not.

I sent a couple more shots at the mobile suit, even though I knew they would be deflected, yet I wanted to see if the angle of deflection was consistent or changed with each shot that bounced. The result was that the beams deflect off consistently at a range of seventy-five to ninety-five-degree angles from the original bolt vector. Hitting the left shield went right and the other shield went left, and I'll probably test that in this fight.

After learned this information, I applied it and made a calculation, using the position of the Raider in comparison with the Forbidden and found that that black and red machine was within the deflection angle range. So, I brought out one of my plasma cannons, took aim at the right shield the Forbidden had, charged up the cannon to close to a third its capacity and fired. The plasma beam was deflected, bouncing off at a near perfect ninety-degree angle. The shot then nailed the Raider's shield, forcing the suit back a distance as it blocked.

I heard laughing over the radio, though this time the voice wasn't female like the last Alliance custom model I'd faced at the Republic. Still, it sounded around my own age, yet a tad crazier than the last one and that worried me a bit. I rushed forward, storing my beam rifle and plasma cannon, then taking out both of my beam sabers. The Forbidden swung a scythe at me, which I evaded on reflex, came from some of the spars I've done with Kurt. I'll say this for the guy, when he's coming at you with his beam scythe, you get a major shot of adrenaline and that can help you dodge better. And this pilot, whoever they were, was not as fast as Kurt or near as scary to be swinging a scythe at you!

I parried the second swing with a beam saber and got a shallow slice on one of the shields, but not much damage and hadn't gotten near its emitter. I put away both of my beam sabers and when the next swing came, I grabbed the pole the weapon was attached to and stopped the swing with one arm after a moment. Then, I grabbed the shoulder of the Forbidden, then sent a knee into the torso of the machine hard. Next, I positioned the Aurora's other leg or rather foot on the torso, let go of the pole and shoved hard. The Forbidden went flying away from me, and it was very satisfying to watch!

An alarm going off, caught my attention, and when I looked down at the displays in the cockpit, I quickly figured out what the alarm was telling me. My gremlin that I had unleashed on Natarle, had just been ousted from the Dominion, meaning the ship's on-board systems had been hard and fully reset. My gremlin messing with the ship's systems had bought time, just not as much as I had hoped it would. Oh well, my gremlin had enough time to do things, and something tells me Natarle will be rather mad at me when next we meet. However, that's how things go sometimes so, make do with what you get as the phrase goes.

The Calamity fired its backpack mounted cannons at Athrun, then turned and fired a multi-phased cannon from the suit's torso at Kira. I was forced to dodge as the Raider came at me and sent its ball weapon in my direction. Still, I caught sight of Lacus rushing the Calamity with the Regenerate, firing the beam rifle she had. Then she stored the rifle, the sections behind the shoulders of the suit moved forward, the left arm of the Regenerate folded into the section and a beam sword ignited. I was rather surprised at the sight, I mean the suit's arm had changed into a beam sword, not something you see often. The right arm went through the same transformation and ignited a second beam sword. Lacus's attack didn't stop there, the Regenerate's legs went through a similar change as the arms had, before pointing at the Calamity, and shooting beams from the lower limbs. Three beams came from each leg and at point blank range, they didn't miss much at all.

I was forced to pay attention to the Raider as the mobile suit started attacking me again and again. And yet, from what I had observed thus far with these three Alliance machines or rather their pilots, there was some points about them that stood out. There was a growing number of similarities between these pilots and the ones that were faced around the Republic. Those 'girls' had been odd and unlike most that you meet on any given day, these guys are much the same in that respect. However, these guys were more towards the crazy side than those girls had been, whether that was due to restraint or something else, I can't say.

We met in a clash and I managed to shove back against the Raider and send them back, but the Forbidden took that opportunity to get closer to me. Next thing I see, the Justice appeared above the Forbidden and Athrun kicked the Alliance machine downward. The Raider targeted the Justice, whereas the Forbidden came back to attack me. Athrun and I came to be next to each other, and just before the Raider and Forbidden attacked us both, we got out of the way, causing the two to crash into one another.

The two broke apart from each other and came at us again. I'll give these three one thing, they're persistent and dogmatic about not giving up. I got my beam rifle back out and aimed at the Forbidden, taking into account the deflection angle and where the beam would go with that in mind. I began shooting at the Forbidden, with its pilot cackling and saying how futile my attacks were. Little does the guy understand, he isn't the target I'm shooting for, that would be the Raider. And I was scoring hit after hit on that machine even as the pilot of the Forbidden was laughing it up about my 'useless attacks'.

I adjusted where I was firing a small margin, and kept going, yet now my shots were deflecting to strike the Calamity. And by what I was seeing, the other two Alliance mobile suits could see what I was doing and were clearly unhappy with the actions or non-action of their comrade. I can't say that I blame them, their comrade is acting as a bouncing point for weapon fire that then hits them. The sadder thing, the Forbidden's pilot shows no sign that he even knows that I'm using his defense as an offense against his allies.

My method was interrupted, when one of the other pilots shouted over the radio, "Shani, you idiot! The machine you're fighting is using your shields to hit Clotho and me with their beams. So, stop laughing and stop helping the enemy!"

The Calamity then fired its multi-phased cannon in my direction. I spun the Aurora around, activating the deflection system in my shield. The shield expanded a meter, in the center was an emitter which had been covered up by the shield. Also, on either side of the center, two red fins slid out, forming an 'X' with the emitter in the center of the shield.

The deflection shielding that the Aurora's shield has, actually uses colloid particles, same stuff that the Blitz and Shadow used for stealth systems. When I'd asked Carlos to explain the idea to me in a way that I would understand, he had gone off on a rant, which was confusing. The methodology apparently behind deflection shielding, was that colloid particles were released in front of the multiple emitters used by the system. Some of the particles are positively charged and others are negatively charged. The device that makes the deflection possible, somehow spontaneously align the particles into a three-dimensional cubic lattice or something. These lattice work together to function as a kind of a force field which deflects incoming energy, at least that's one of the few things I'd gotten from Carlos.

Anyways, after activating the deflection system, I set my shield ahead of me to block the incoming shot. I redirected the beam away from me, and towards the Forbidden. The Forbidden blocked, but was forced back from where it was.

My shield collapsed down as the deflection shielding had done what I needed it to and I turned my attention back to the rest of the battle. And by the time I had, the Raider had closed most of the distance between it and myself. I was forced to use my shield to stop the Raider's ball and the force I felt wasn't small and I was fell back a small margin. I lined up my mobile suit's head with the Raider and began firing the Aurora's 50mm CIWS guns, which were loaded with anti-phase shift rounds.

I peppered the Alliance suit with those rounds as fast as I could fire them, they may not penetrate the suit, but it was draining the power through the phase shift armor. That alone will help this fight draw closer towards its end, for this is a battle of endurance. The odds are on our side as the four mobile suits we had are all powered by nuclear reactors, our opponents had ultracompact batteries. And these pilots are making mistakes that experienced pilots don't make often if at all, further screwing them. Need I say more on who it will be that will last the longest in this fight?

As if there was any more needed to shove the odds against the Alliance, the Astrays that had been working on cutting the cable that he Kusanagi had been trapped in, finished and their ship was freed. The Kusanagi came around and pointed towards the Dominion and began attacking the black ship. The Dominion in response, launched two suits that looked similar to some of the original Alliance prototypes. One was like the Buster, then there was one that looked like the Duel.

It was clear to me that the need to end the brawl with the three custom model suits was big. I pushed the Raider back from me, brought out both plasma cannons and began charging them. I charged them both up to half their capacity, and that was the highest I charge them to thus far. I brought them to bear on the Raider and fired. The two plasma beams nailed the Raider's shield and the ball and there was a second that is appeared that they would block the beams. However, it was not to be, for the first sign was that the surface of Raider's Mjoinir began to warp and melt, before the plasma beam punched through the weapon. The Raider's shield was having the same problem, and the pilot detached the shield and quickly go out way. The shield was destroyed and vanished from existence as the plasma beam disintegrated it.

The Raider stared at where the two pieces of equipment it'd had to sacrifice to get out of being nailed and destroyed by me. Then, the mobile suit turned and flew back towards the Dominion and I let him go. With one down and two to go, I moved and joined with the others to take care the other two Alliance mobile suits. Athrun and Kira focused in on the Calamity while Lacus and I turned our attention on the Forbidden.

It didn't take long for it to become apparent, that the two against one fights weren't going well for the Alliance mobile suits. Even the Astrays were forcing the Earth Forces machines back from those we defended. The beat down kept being handed out, until three different colored flare signals were seen from the Dominion's direction. The Alliance mobile suits, including the Calamity and the Forbidden headed back to the Dominion.

With the battle ended, all mobile suits returned to their respective ships, meaning that I went back to the Eternal. Once back on the ship, I learned that the Strike, Shadow and the Buster had gone into the colony interior for some reason. The only explanation that I heard was given was that Dearka Elsman had said something about Krystal following Mu inside. There was nothing else real to say what was going on in the colony's interior. Unfortunately, communication wasn't possible to any in the colony's interior, there was too much between us and the inside that caused interference or blocked signals.

Then there were two other issues that added to the current problems that we faced right now. There were three ZAFT vessels on the opposite side of the Mendel colony and there was no movement yet from them. Then, the Dominion had backed off, but I doubt left the area, as the one calling the shots wanted something, who knows what, and hadn't gotten it. So, as things stood, we were three mobile suits down, had at least four other vessels and an unknown number of mobile suits that can be considered enemies at this time. Where we had four custom model suits, six Astrays and three ships to go against those odds.

It wasn't a nice position to be in, even I have to admit that this is one of the harsher situations that I've been in. It was the general consensus that more information was needed to make any calls as to what to do going forward. Kira volunteered to head inside and see what was going on with those that were missing. Whereas I took the job of spying on who and where those we would have to worry about were. I was the best choice as my machine could travel around quickly and stealthily without notice. Even though I was getting tired and my healing injuries were still making sure I didn't forget them, I still got back in my mobile suit and launched out again.

My first objective, was to find the Dominion and it wasn't hard or take me all that long. I found the black ship just out of sensor range and hiding in the shadows of a neighboring colony. And it looked to be having issues, which my gremlin is likely responsible for, by what I was observing. After confirming the Dominion's location, I headed to the backside of the Mendel colony to see what was to be expected from ZAFT. I got a view of the three Nazca-class vessels, and they looked like three of the standard destroyer that ZAFT uses. So, I assumed that they had the standard loadout of mobile suits as well, which meant six mobile suits per ship, eighteen suits total.

I was about to turn and head back to the dock and report what odd we had going against us and they weren't pretty. Yet, I caught sight of the lead ZAFT vessel, opening its hanger and bringing out its catapult rails. Then I saw, of all machines, the X207 Blitz, coming out of the ship, and head into the colony, likely into the interior. I don't like what the Blitz being here infers, for it strongly suggests that Rau Le Creuset is around here. That could explain why Mu went into the colony interior, he has mentioned that he gets a tingling feeling whenever the masked man is around him.

If Rau Le Creuset is here, then me thinks the rat is up to something again! Yes, I'm convinced that the rat that I've been seeing the actions of is none other than Rau Le Creuset! For him to be around here when an Alliance big shot is, I highly doubt is a coincidence. This is a very problematic development, that's for sure! I hauled my rear along with my mobile suit back to the ships and tell them what problems we have to deal with now.

-Line Break

-Neutral pov-

Mendel Colony Interior

Inside the colony, the four mobile suits, three from the GAT series and then the Shadow, landed in an open area around the group of structures that they had encountered each other. Dearka exited the Buster's cockpit and lowered to the ground with the zip-line. Yzak got down to the ground and was glaring at Dearka. The tension was palpable in the air between the two who had once been comrades.

Nicol got down from the Blitz's cockpit, and when he saw Dearka, he smiled as he was glad to see that Dearka was alive. It was questionable fact when Dearka was captured, there had been no word about him at all. So, when Yzak and Nicol himself were sent back up to space and back to the homeland, it hadn't sat well with either of them.

Krystal touched down to the ground and glanced over the trio of young Coordinators, thinking that these teens were too young to be involved in this war. They were at an age where it was more the custom to be interested in girls and dating, or that's how it was before the war had started. And now this very war had pitted these teen against each other, it was wrong and sad at the same time.

Yzak ended the stare off by raising a gun and pointing it at Dearka, who stopped and looked at the gun. "Yzak, what are you doing?" asked Dearka.

"I can ask you the same question, you came in with the Strike and the Black mobile suit," Yzak said loudly while pointing at the Shadow. "So, how do you explain that Dearka?!"

"Yzak, calm down," said Nicol, coming over to be next to Yzak. "If you want an explanation, then you have to give him an opportunity to actually give one." Nicol turned and gave a smile to Dearka, "It's good to know that you're alive Dearka, after you were captured… well, it was hard to accept that we wouldn't see you again."

Dearka returned the smile to Nicol, "Thanks Nicol, it's nice to know that I was missed," he replied.

Yzak, gritted his teeth, "Nicol, if he's alive, then it means that he's a traitor!"

Dearka faced Yzak with a serious expression, "I have not gone against the things I believe. But, with what I've seen and been through, I can't go back to just following orders blindly like before. There was so much that we didn't know before and it makes a huge difference," Dearka began.

Nicol put a hand on Yzak's shoulder and gave him a look that said to listen and Yzak begrudgingly agreed. Dearka continued, "The pilot of the winged suit, his name is Kira Yamato and he's currently piloting of the X10A Freedom. He's one of the most naïve guys I ever met, and I doubt he has a mean bone in his body. Kira is also best friends with Athrun since they were kids…"

Dearka told them about how he had come to learn how wrong they had been, that those on the Archangel weren't bad or even mean people at all. Dearka had even found out that the pilot that had flown the Strike to the battle where Dearka had been capture was also a Coordinator. Meaning all three of the pilot that they had been going against for the first half of their pursuit had been Coordinators like them. Dearka kept telling them what he had seen and learned while he had been on and with the Archangel.

While that was going on, Kira entered the colony interior and flew around looking for evidence of any of the three missing during the battle. Neither the Strike, Shadow or Buster had been in contact or had returned yet and it had been a lengthy period of time. He spotted the Strike around one the larger collection of buildings and landed next to the mobile suit. Kira locked the cockpit and then quickly took the Freedom's zip-line to get to the ground, made sure he had the hand gun pilots were equipped with. When he was ready, Kira made his way inside the building to search for Mu.

As Kira entered the complex, Mu was already chasing Le Creuset as the masked man kept going deeper into this place. Mu was getting more annoyed the longer this chase went on, Creuset was leading him into something, and Mu was betting it could end out with him getting killed if he wasn't very carefully.

"Do you have any idea what this place is, Mu?" Creuset shouted.

The masked man was stringing him along and Mu was getting angry at Le Creuset, "Why would I, you idiot?" he yelled back.

Mu had been making progress at closing the distance between himself and where Creuset was. This was made clear, as bullets were sent his way and they forced Mu to duck behind objects to not get a bullet in him. Of course, Mu shot back at Creuset, but there was no sign that he had made any hits on Creuset. Still, a sudden burning sensation in his right shoulder, told him that one of Creuset's bullets had hit him. "What a crime it is, for you not to know! Why it's almost like he didn't trust you, oh, but then you were a disappointment to him after all," Creuset bellowed back with tones of mirth.

Mu didn't understand what Le Creuset was getting at, but assumed that it was some kind of insult against him. He began to work his way forward slowly, but then the whole situation changed in an instant.

"Mu!" shouted Kira from behind Mu's positions.

Mu turned and looked behind where he was, "Kira?!" he replied.

For Rau Le Creuset, hearing that one name brought many emotions, surprise, complete disbelief and shock being some of them. It seemed impossible, no, it was beyond impossible that the "child", the "perfect result" of Hibiki's wasn't only alive, against the most horrendous odds, but had also been one of those he'd been dealing with and hunting. It was ridiculous and ludicrous considering all the contributing factors! Nonetheless, if this was truly Hibiki's 'perfect child', for him to have made this far, it made Creuset wonder if there wasn't really something to the mad dream that had been born in this place. In fact, the very thought was becoming hilarious as Le Creuset considered the chances of this coming to pass which were slim. "Kira Yamato, what an honor and pleasure that you can join us here. Now previous events and data make much more sense, you're the pilot of the Freedom and one of the Legged ship's suits. However, I highly doubt you're the one that stole the Freedom, but I bet you would know who it was, I'm quite curious as to who it might have been," Creuset mused.

Kira made his way quickly to reach where Mu was, and noted that Mu had a red splotch on his right shoulder. "Mu are you alright?" Asked Kira.

Mu waved off the concern, "I'll be fine, stray bullet stung me, it's nothing to worry about right now. I'll get it looked at later," Mu remarked.

Mu glanced at Kira's gun and saw proof the kid had very unlikely used a gun before now, "Kira, if you are going to use a gun, you need to switch off the safety first you know," Mu commented.

Kira looked at his gun and gained a flustered expression as he saw that Mu was right that the safety was still on. Granted, Kira understood the mechanics of how guns worked, but in all reality, this was the first time he was using one to defend himself. He turned off the safety and focused back on the situation at handed.

"Now don't hesitate either of you, come and I'll show you where the tale that we three play a part in all began!" Creuset shouted from further inside this complex.

Both Mu and Kira began moving forward from where they had been hiding and went forward room by room, searching for the masked man. All the while, Rau Le Creuset teased them as he stayed ahead of them, "Why Kira, did you know that this is where you were born, or didn't you know that already? Perhaps you don't know of your origins yet? Tis a shame really, for you represent so much, both good and bad to humanity, but so little know the truth about you," he called

Kira hesitated at hearing that, but Mu put a hand on his shoulder, "Don't let the things Creuset says get to you Kira. He would lie if it benefits him and his schemes, don't fall for his tricks," Mu said to Kira.

Kira nodded slowly, but somehow, the things that Le Creuset said wouldn't leave Kira's mind. The two worked their way through rooms that looked like waiting rooms at a doctor's office, as well as hallways with offices on both sides. Yet, it was as they came into a room with two pools filled with liquid, that had nine tanks in the liquid in each pool and there was a walkway between the two pools. Kira glanced over the displays on top of the tanks and saw that the reading were of something he could only guess to be embryos of some sort. On the edges of the room were shelves with containers with partially grown embryos that looked… human. While taking in the elements of the room, they were setting off things in Kira's mind, but he didn't understand why that was happening. "Does seeing all of this bring back memories for you Kira? For you should know this place," posed Creuset.

Vague ideas were popping up, none of which made sense to Kira and it scared him a bit, "Me, know this place? Why should I know," Kira started to say, but upon seeing a name plate on the wall he stopped. The plate said "Prof. Ulen Hibiki M.D., Ph D." and that name was one that he'd heard once before. His parents had mentioned it before, it had been when they had thought he was asleep when he was young, and the name hadn't been said in a nice way. Kira hadn't understood why at the time as he had been really young back then, but the memory was one of the earliest he could remember.

Mu kept moving forward and Kira followed him, even as confused as Kira was at the moment. Kira was snapped out of his confusion as there was a bang and Mu fell to the floor, the blood coming from his right side, Mu had been hit. Kira rushed forward and placed himself in front of Mu, gun at the ready.

Rau Le Creuset stepped out of the shadows, gun in hand, pointing at Kira, "I don't intend to kill either of you, not yet at least. Not with all you've gone through and all that effort and trouble to get here after all, it would be a waste. There is so much for you both to still learn," Le Creuset said calmly.

Kira kept his gun pointed at Creuset, but something on the floor caught his eye. Looking down he felt shook at seeing a copy of the same picture that Cagalli had shown Athrun and himself. She had shown it to him as potential proof that they were siblings, but what would a copy of the picture be doing here?!

Mu was glaring at the masked man, who grabbed a book and tossed it at them. The book hit the floor and slide next to them, several pictures coming out of the book. One picture held Mu's attentions, for it was one of himself when he was a child, and he was with his father Al Da Flaga. It had been back when he got along extremely well with his father, much happier days in Mu's memory.

Both Kira and Mu focused back on Rau Le Creuset, "And how do you have these pictures here, Creuset?" demanded Mu angrily.

"They were here all the time, Mu," Creuset replied, before he continued. "This place can be seen as a forbidden, yet sacred sanctuary. The remains of a dream created by fools that believed themselves to be as a god." Creuset turned to look directly at Kira, "Or didn't you know that those you call 'mother' and 'father' aren't the one who originally brought you into the world or even had you made, Kira Yamato? Or would you prefer your real name, Kira Hibiki?"

Kira was dumbfounded at the questions. Yes, there had been times that Kira had wondered if he was the child of his parents, but he normally attributed differences to him being a Coordinator. He had never thought about or asked either of his parents about where he had come from before.

Mu raised up to his knees and quickly brought up his gun and was about to shot Creuset, but the masked man beat him to it. A sharp pain in Mu's left shoulder came, it wasn't as bad as the wound in his right shoulder, so Mu assumed the bullet nicked him.

"Keep your opinion to yourself Mu, I'll get to you soon enough," Creuset commented, before turning back to Kira, who was pointing his gun at the man. "I figured as much, if you knew the truth, then you wouldn't have turned out the way you are. You wouldn't have turned out so normal, with no signs of the tainted past that you possess. Quite honestly, it never occurred to me when Athrun first brought you name up, that you could possibly be Hibiki's 'dream child'."

The way that Creuset said 'dream child' didn't sit well with either Mu or Kira, for it was extremely derogatory. Kira's hands were shaking as he kept the gun set on Creuset, the confusion had returned and was doing a number on him. Kira was becoming a little scared as what Creuset could say next, "Really, I had assumed that the twins the man was supposed to have had died, whether it was by accident or design, didn't really matter in the end. As long as you didn't survive, it was fine with others and myself. Your death along with your real father, Doctor Hibiki was sought by a number of people, to destroy what you represent. Blue Cosmos especially wanted you to cease to exist and, so you were a big target for them back then."

None of what Creuset had said made sense, Kira was no one any should be interested in. He was a Coordinator true, but that was it, other than that he was a normal kid, "What you say doesn't make sense… I'm no one of interest," Kira shot back.

Creuset began laughing at Kira's answer, "No one of interest you say? Oh, far from it Kira Yamato, you are a person of extreme interest. Still, you grew up and survived, even through the war as it is thus far, aren't you curious as to why that is?" Creuset asked. Then his face gained a near crazy expression as he spoke again, "Hell, looking back on events, what you've done even leads me to believe that there may be something to their crazy, mad dream."

Kira was getting frustrated at being led on, "Get to the point, what are you saying that I am?!" he demanded.

Creuset broke out laughing, "Why dear boy, you are the dream of humanity that so many have dismissed as complete fantasy. You're the Ultimate Coordinator, the culmination of mad men's ambitions, a view of perfection that none can reach! The perfect human being," he stated insanely.

That was one of the last answers that Kira expected to hear. It made little sense to him, the terms 'Ultimate Coordinator' and 'perfect human being' meant nothing of significance to him. But the descriptions that went with the terms, weren't nice ones to Kira at all. Kira didn't consider himself anyone out of the ordinary, certainly not ultimate or perfect. He made mistakes like anyone else could, and he learned from each of them, so what would Rau Le Creuset say he was these things?

But things didn't end there, Creuset continued, "It was Doctor Hibiki who created the artificial womb, built and designed to make the perfect human child. And after his failed attempts, he made you, the only real successful birth that came. The man was so obsessed with this 'dream child' of his, that he saw nothing wrong at all with using other children to produce you."

The more Creuset said, the more confused Kira became. All that was being said, was crazy, but there was a whisper in the back of Kira's mind that kept saying 'what if', what if it was true. That whisper wasn't helping Kira at all, it was only making his confusion worse. "Today will be the day that the secrets I know will be revealed. You see, I was not born naturally at all, but nor am I a true Coordinator. Oh, I was altered at an early in the embryonic stage as some Coordinators are, but there's so much more to the story. And it all goes back to the first one, George Glenn, humanity's first enhanced human Coordinator," Creuset proclaimed.

Lights suddenly came on, revealing the room they were in currently, in its entirety. The room was of a laboratory, and the equipment said that it was geared for genetic engineering. Mu got up to his feet and both he and Kira moved into hiding behind consoles. Mu was shaking Kira, trying to get him out of the daze he was in currently, not that Mu blamed the kid. All the things that were being said by Creuset, they had to confuse Kira in more ways than one, whether any of it was true or not.

"Can you comprehend how much chaos that the man and what he represented spreads even today, the darkness that he let loose on humanity?! What so many people began doing after what he revealed what he was?!" Pose Creuset in growing volume, the tone of growing insanity becoming clearer.

One of the displays lit up and videos began playing: "Video record, dated August 9th year 52 of the Cosmic Era" said a female voice.

Then, the sound of people talking echoed throughout the things that they were saying suggested they were talking to doctors about their unborn child they were intending to be a Coordinator. There were also angry shouts of mistakes made according to what was requested. All the sounds were only adding to Kira's daze of confusion as it kept going. Mu took the gun in Kira's hands, knowing the kid wouldn't be able to use the weapon effectively as he was.

As the videos continued playing, Creuset spoke again, "Oh the things that people would do for the dreams of the child they wanted, the greed they had and showed. And that's where Doctor Hibiki and others like him come in. Hibiki was the one who created the artificial womb to make all the dreams of people even more possible. That invention of his was made to cut down on mistakes made and it did just that, oh, but it came at a price that none know, nor will ever admit! And in the end, what have people gained for obtaining their dreams? The world as it is now and all the horrors and violence that it includes, that's what has come from fulfilling dreams!"

The logic was sick and twist, Mu knew the man was a certifiable nut case, but he hadn't thought Rau Le Creuset had lost this much of his mind and he was screeching rubbish! Such a man was dangerous in so many different ways, Mu prepared himself to pop up and shoot the man. Yet, Creuset kept screeching, "The twists and turns that came because of this obsession, could trump the 'progress' made in earlier times with ease! Humanity is so amazing, isn't it? So much potential and so many things they can create yet, what do they use their potential for, to try and take what another has that they want no matter what is requires! They even come up with ways to make others miserable and then kill them, that's what humans bring to one another! None can escape this fate, and yet still some foolishly try. The stupid Human Federation is probably the closest group to succeed so far, but they too will fail! THIS CYCLE WILL CONTINUE INDEFINITELY UNTIL THE HUMAN RACE BRINGS ABOUT ITS END!"

Mu had more than enough by this point, the ravings of this mad masked man were ridiculous and need to come to a close! "And what gives you the right to be a judge of any of us Creuset?!" shouted Mu.

Creuset laughed manically, "I HAVE EVERY RIGHT MU! I'M THE ONLY ONE THAT CAN JUDGE HUMANUTY AS IT IS!"

Mu popped up and shot off some rounds at Creuset, and moved to a different hiding spot. Mu did this to draw attention away from Kira, but Creuset had a hanging piece of equipment fall and provide a smoke screen and a shield for him.

"Don't you remember Mu? We met one before, long ago before we ever came into contact with one another on the battlefield," claimed Creuset in less volume than he had been screeching in before, then he started to laugh madly, "Your father, Al Da Flaga was an arrogant fool, who believed he could cheat death. And I curse that I'm a clone of that man, but I got him back by burning down his house with him inside, it was a fitting form of revenge! It would have been better if you were in there with him and his wife too, but then we wouldn't be here like this if that had been the case," shouted Creuset.

The reminder of having to watch the place he had called home burn down, infuriated Mu. Both his parents had been in the house when it had burned, and even if Mu hadn't been getting along the best with his father at the time, that didn't mean Mu wanted him dead. And by what Rau Le Creuset just claimed, he was the one who set the blaze on its way. "You expect me to believe that my dad had a clone made and that it's you, like anyone would believe such a fairytale!" yelled Mu, rage in his voice.

"Rest assured Mu, I don't want to believe it any more than you do, it is that crazy. However, it's a fact that can't be denied! The same horrible DNA that the fool had in himself, runs in me," bellow Creuset in return.

Kira managed to shake himself out of the confused daze and refocused on the current situation. He looked around for something to work with as Mu had taken his gun and was a distance away from him now. Kira spotted a scalpel on the floor that could be thrown at the man that was shooting at them. So, Kira listened and waited for the opportunity to rush out, grab the tool and send it Creuset's way. "It is because of fools like Hibiki and Da Flaga, that humanity must come to an end, these foolish and insane ambitions will do the job anyways! And in the end, the conceited fools floundering in the chaos and destruction will get exactly what they wished for!" shouted Creuset to the room at large.

Kira sprinted out and grabbed the scalpel from the floor, but felt a bullet nick his left shoulder as he went. There was a gunshot from behind Kira and the grunt from Creuset said that Mu had hit the man. Kira twisted his body and took aim and threw the medical tool at Creuset's face, and the blade caught the mask and the face wear came off Creuset's face. Everything went silent just after the mask hit the floor, Mu and Kira stared at the full face of the man that had always had a mask on it. For Mu, it was as if he was staring at the face of his father when he was a child. It showed that his claim to being his father's clone was pretty much true and it gave Mu a sick feeling. From Kira's perspective, it was strange, there was resemblance between the face and Mu's own, but they weren't the exact same.

Creuset had an angry expression on his face, "Do you seriously think that you can change the world from the direction its going now? No one can change the war or stop it from bringing an end to humanity!" Creuset began cackling madly, "Voices of reason go unheeded, and nothing changes, fools like Ellen Blass think that a rousing speech can sway the minds and hearts of people. The whirlpool of hatred is spreading far and wide and can't be stopped by anyone! It can only be destroyed and everything else with it, that is humanity's destiny!"

After shouting that, Creuset turned and ran off. Mu tried to pursue the man, but his injuries stopped him from doing so. Kira went to Mu and asked if he was okay, Mu was breathing hard, "I'll be fine Kira. Don't listen to anything that mad man said kid, he's insane and made it very plain right now," Mu replied.

Phase end

A/n

I'm leaving off there, and will continue in the next phase. Now some of you might have noticed that there are a few major events that I still do include, even if they don't play out the exact same. I have reasons for doing so and it will make sense soon enough. I do admit that I'm filling in on some of the history between Mu and Creuset. But, I also doing the same to an extent with Kira's origins as here really isn't lots of solid information on the idea, so I've come up with some as I've gone along. Please some of you, take the time to write a review, I got good responses with the last phase. I would love that to keep going, I value the views and the points and questions that are brought up, they are helpful. Until the next Phase!