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

32. Phase 32: Vailed Tactics

A/n

I doubt I need to say this, but this Phase is longer than the last few, but there is a reason. But, I won't spoil what's coming up in this Phase. My standard disclaimer is still up and ongoing and I stand by it, on with the where I left off!

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Phase 32: Vailed Tactics

November 4th, 73 C.E.

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-Neutral pov-

Aprilius One, L5

Athrun waited with the man that had met him upon arriving at Aprilius One, since apparently Chairman Durandal was busy. Yet, as time moved on, Athrun became more and more antsy, it came from the building tension from recent events. There came a point when Athrun just couldn't sit anymore, so he rose, telling the man that he was going to wash his face and freshen up. Once Athrun had splashed water onto his face, he gazed up into the mirror and wondered if this trip to talk to Chairman Durandal was really the best course of action as it had seemed like. After all, during the previous war, things had seemed the same way as they were now at first but turned out being the complete opposite later on.

He was making his way back to the waiting room, when along the way he heard a voice, "Yes, I understand, don't worry about that, how much time do we have."

Athrun had come to a stop about halfway through hearing the sentence, for the voice was Lacus' of all people, but that couldn't be right! He made his way to the top of the stairs he was on, then looked around for the source of the voice speaking. His gaze fell upon a girl that by Athrun's mind shouldn't be there, for by all appearances, Lacus was standing around forty feet or so away from him. There was even a Haro ball robot bouncing up and down next to 'Lacus', though Athrun had not made one which was the crimson color the Haro he was see was.

However, this made no sense, Lacus was living in Orb and had been for close to two years now with Kira, so how and why would she be here on Aprilius One?

The only differences that Athrun could spot from where he stood, was the hairclip she was wearing along with the outfit. Lacus normally wore the twin wave clip in her hair, it was the one she liked according to her, instead there was a star shaped gold hairclip. Then the outfit… well, he imagined that there could be a slim chance that Lacus would maybe wear such clothing for a performance. But other than that, Lacus wouldn't wear something so revealing, more so these days, not even to attract Kira, since the naïve fool wouldn't catch the drift. So, Athrun was left to wonder what was going on here for this scene to exist, for it didn't fit with what he knew at all. He couldn't help but utter one word as he kept staring at the girl conversing with two men, "Lacus?"

A moment later, as if his utterance had been some sort of signal, the girl turned and spotted Athrun standing and staring at her with surprise written on his face. The girl gained a big smile on her face, "Athrun," she cried and quickly raced towards him.

Athrun just felt more confused at this development, he didn't know who this was! Sure, this girl may look like Lacus physically in more than an uncanny way, but she couldn't be her. This girl was a complete stranger to him and to have a stranger call your name like they knew you well, it brought a strange and awkward feeling to him. He felt more awkward when the girl came up and hugged him, claiming she was happy that he'd come to see her. When the girl pulled back a little and looked at Athrun, his mouth spoke without his brain instructing it, "Wha-What are you doing here?"

"I've been waiting such a long time Athrun, waiting for you to come and see me," 'Lacus' replied.

Athrun was left stunned at this whole situation, none of it at all made any modicum of logical sense. Lacus had never been like this in front of other people, definitely not so open and dare he say flamboyant as this girl was heading towards. True, she was very outgoing in her performances and singing, but outside of that she was usually more reserved than this girl.

-Line Break-

Unknown Location on Earth

On Earth, Alliance leaders were scrambling to figure out what to do next, both the Earth Forces' top brass and the top political officials. The failure to deal a blow against the PLANTs had made things difficult as morale began diving down once knowledge of the event went public. Those feelings had shaken the faith in doing the operations that were in motion to press against ZAFT and also to make it clear to the Federation how things would go. The upcoming assault that was planned on the Federation's Asgard base was to leave no doubt what the normal behavior of the Federation was known for would get them. The interference of the Federation made with the operation against the PLANTs hadn't been appreciated at all! So, the attack was also a way to get back at the Federation.

But, the set back from failure to have a victory against ZAFT and the PLANTs, it was causing doubts and serious worried to spread throughout the OMNI Enforcer and the Alliance itself. The taking of the Federation's Asgard was seen by those in charge as important, whether it was by military force or through political means wasn't the point. If it came to using force, then if the base could somehow be taken, it would be the first major victory against the Federation Military and the Earth Alliance needed a serious morale boost and that would provide one. And even if it came to an attack and it failed completely, the intelligence gained from it would be helpful for later tries against the base. Yet, there were parts of the OMNI Enforcer that were losing confidence in the leaders of the Alliance and those they listened to.

An amount of brainstorming had and was being done to figure out a way to change and improve the standing of the Earth Alliance. For politically, publicly and militarily, the Earth Alliance's reputation was plummeting like a stone very quickly in a very bad way. Really, the feasible way to help in the efforts in this new war was to have more support and allies that WOULD assist in the efforts. However, as things were, few would willing help the Alliance that weren't already member states of the Alliance. Work was being put into trying to convince the member nations of the Federation into 'helping' the Alliance and allow to force needed actions later on. However, setting up a treaty that would allow that was difficult, for it had to be subtle and unsuspected to work at all.

For those who funded the Alliance, Logos in particular, many of the members were angry at Djibril as he had promised a 'quick victory' against the PLANTs and ZAFT, yet he had failed spectacularly. Djibril was himself, frustrated at being blamed for the thwarted attempt to use nuclear weapons to wipe out the PLANTs. Everything had been going just as they were supposed to, ZAFT had been distracted by the main fleet and the attack group had gotten into firing range of the colonies. Then things had gone wrong, the interference of the Federation's military and ZAFT's unknown countering weapon coming into play.

"This is no laughing matter Djibril, do you have an explanation for this debacle," asked one of the other board members of Logos.

"Indeed, look how easily they wiped us out," said another, and there were muttering of agreement from others.

"Then explain why the Federation's military was around the PLANTs in the first place? Have they allied with ZAFT without us knowing," asked a different board member.

Djibril was doing what he could to control his temper, but having his 'failure' pointed out, dissected and then criticized made such a task much more difficult. How in the hell was he supposed to have known what ZAFT had prepared or that the Federation would stick their noses where they weren't needed or wanted and interfere with the nuclear strike?! It had been the job of Phantom Pain to acquire intel on that from the Federation's Information Network for this operation. That was supposed to include possible means that ZAFT might have to counter a nuclear strike, yet they had been unable to bring the data back intact.

"Yes, and what was that weapon that ZAFT used to handle the nuclear missiles, what information is there about it," questioned yet another.

There was a mix of angry muttering and irritated hissing from the participants of this meeting, while Djibril still said nothing. The fools that were his associates were snipping at one another and it was irritating, more so when they took shots at himself. "It's like we heartily dashed out with declaring war, but retreated after getting bloody noses," exclaimed one angrily. "Is this scenario of your that YOU wrote Djibril, some kind of joke?! Or is this a means to embarrass some of us for your enjoyment and pleasure?"

The muttering between the other board members rose in volume once more but fell shortly thereafter. "I would think that the president of the Atlantic Federation is very likely having second thoughts about doing business or working with us at all. With the results like this, it would be surprising if he wasn't," said the second board member that had spoken about being wiped out.

"This could seriously jeopardize the plans to oust ZAFT from Carpentaria and Gibraltar among their other bases. The Alliance forces are still waiting for their orders to start those tasks. Should we turn and flee after shaking our fists, then we'd become the worst laughingstock that the human race has ever seen," stated another worriedly.

"We all know what is at stake, the question is, what do we do now," posed one of the more senior Logos board members. "Whom should be held responsible for this turn of events? Should it be you Djibril?"

Djibril's frustrations came to their breaking point and he could no longer stay silent while associates took potshots at him. "Me, responsible for all of these problems, that is simply ridiculous," Djibril exclaimed, much to the surprise of the majority of the other board members. Some were muttering to one another as Djibril continued, "We are at war ladies and gentlemen! That is fact and it's more important and essential now that we win this conflict and blaming one another isn't helping our cause. You've all witnessed the footage, they possess a weapon that erased our nuclear forces in an instant. Can any of you feel remotely safe with monsters having such power hanging over our heads? If so, then you can explain how to the rest of us in this meeting."

There was silence to Djibril's challenge, so he kept going, "No, we must keep fighting against the monsters to protect everything we hold dear!" Djibril took a moment to calm himself and reestablish his composure, "The goal is still unchanged ladies and gentlemen, the plan needs revision, even I admit that, but we'll make it better than the last. And when we succeed, Coordinators will be put in their proper place and the human race will become as it should be!"

"And what about the Human Federation and its military Djibril, what is to be done about them in your grand scheme? Ignoring them is a mistake that cost the Earth Alliance victory in the previous war, I would hope that you do not have the inclination to do the same," posed a senior board member.

"The 'Mighty Human Federation' will have to make a choice, their stance of neutrality will not be an acceptable excuse anymore," Djibril stated coolly. "Either they support Natural-types, or Coordinators, claiming to back both is a luxury that can't be tolerated any longer. They either join us on Earth, or they will be our enemies in this war, there is no middle ground."

Within the remainder of the meeting, the proposed solution that was concocted by Logos and fed to the Earth Alliance, was to make draft up a "treaty" so that perhaps others could be drawn in. To calm much of the public on Earth were still crying for vengeance for the colony drop, even if that was in more Alliance controlled territory than Federation areas, the "World Security Organization" was drawn up. The idea overall was introduced to the whole world, was to come together and work to keep the world safe from "threats" and creating peace going forward for all the population of Earth.

Discussion among the member nations of the Federation of the proposal commenced. Each of the governments of the member nations, poured over the document that was the Atlantic Federation's Security Treaty. Overall, the treaty itself appeared like a good idea it would help tone down the tension that had been developing for those on Earth. But, the more that Federation leaders looked over page after page of the proposed treaty, the more it seemed suspect of more than just working together as the writers claimed it was. This suspicion grew as pressure for an answer was applied shortly after the full treaty was given to the non-Alliance states. As a week past after the Security Organization Treaty was proposed, the leaders of the Alliance became ever more insistence on an answer. Offers of cooperation and peace on Earth were being promised if the Federation were to agree to the treaty were whispered from the Alliance.

No nation was left out of this plea and pressure, for Orb, the treaty caused a divide in the Representative Council. The council was divided between two sides when it came to this security treaty, on one side were those that were for signing the treaty with the Alliance, on the other was those who were against it entirely. Unato Seiran was the 'leader' of those that were signing the treaty, while Uzumi Athha was the head of those where were against the treaty. The main argument used by both sides, was the Alliance's recent attack on the PLANTs. Unato argued that to protect Orb and preventing it from burning as it did during the last war, allying with the Alliance would be the best option. Lord Uzumi countered that logic with the simple truth that the Alliance had decided to use nuclear weapons against those they deemed their enemies and asked how long it would be before they did that to others again. In the end, Lord Uzumi rallied the majority of the Council to his side and it was agreed that the treaty was full of too many potential loopholes that could be exploited by the Alliance to sign the agreement with them. Yet, the decision's vote was won by a slim margin between the two sides.

Just as the decision was being reached in Orb, Prime Minister Blass commenced a broadcast that was transmitted to the entire world and the colonies. When the broadcast was made live, much like when Ellen Blass had given her speech during the latter part of the previous war, it caught the attention of many. Even those that disliked the standing and 'stubborn beliefs' that the "Dragon of the Republic" had, such as members of Logos, viewed the live feed.

"My fellow human beings, we live in an age that the days are seemingly dark, and fear is everywhere. The shouts of justice and vengeance have been twisted into cries that demand retaliation and revenge. We of the human race are on the precipice of repeating one of the most horrible mistakes which has occurred recently in human history," Ellen began.

The Republic's Prime Minister's words cause those listening to stop and think, yet still listen, "The dropping of the ruins of Junius Seven have been tragic and have taken everything from many. The sorrow and pain felt is not something that should be held inside and passed off as nothing, for such emotions are real and wrench at the one's heart and soul. However, do not let others stoke that into the desire for revenge and retaliation against those who were not involved," Ellen reasoned. "It is true, that a group of Coordinators as responsible for moving and then dropping fragments of Junius Seven down on Earth. Nonetheless, that by no means, infers or translates into all Coordinators wishing to hurt or harm Natural-type human beings. Those who would say otherwise, are attempting to twist and manipulate individuals for their own purposes. Unfortunately, those who I identified as humankind's enemy still exist and are once again hard at work. Do not give heed to them, I urge you not to, they care nothing about anyone or anything but themselves."

Members of Logos weren't pleased at hearing the subject of 'humankind's enemy', for it was referring to them. Djibril was both angry and amused at this broadcast, first amused at the foolish sediments from Ellen Blass, but angry at how she was attempting to undo the work that had been done to get the current war started.

"This war declared by the Earth Alliance, specifically the Atlantic Federation, is unnecessary and uncalled for. And I would advise that its president Joseph Copeland carefully reconsider his nation's current course of actions." Ellen then held up a collection of documents, "Whoever it was that drafted this "World Security Organization" proposal, should be seriously questioned about their motives! President Copeland, if you have not read this proposal from beginning to end, then take the time to do so. If you have and somehow agree with what this proposal contains, then you are either unfit to lead the Atlantic Federation or you do not understand what these documents intend."

Ellen slapped the document collection for emphasis, "This proposal, is a means to undermine the core beliefs, principle and values that we in the Human Federation uphold! It goes further in an attempt to manipulate and overrule the governments of the member nations of the Federation. As far as the Republic of East Asia is concerned, this World Security Organization treaty as it is written, is utter garbage! Therefore, the Republic will not accept nor participate with it in any way, along with questioning what the intentions are of those who are its authors!"

With the standing of the Republic set in an unquestioned way, the broadcast came to a close. The leaders of the Euros Coalition shortly followed with their own refusal to the creation of the Alliance's World Security Organization. Stating that they were in full agreement with the statements made by Ellen Blass. The Orb Union was next in refusing this proposal to allying with the Alliance for the security of Earth, also agreeing with stated sediments. The other two member nations gave very similar messages of rejection and agreement to questioning intention of the Alliance.

The disappointment of the leaders of the Earth Alliance was deep, since all the Federation's member nations ended out rejecting the proposal, 'standing together' as they tended to most times. Even if this result was kind of expected, it was still an unwelcome result for the Earth Alliance and members of Logos were the most displeased by the outcome and statements made. They had been insulted indirectly by Ellen Blass and her speech would have farther reaching repercussions that would now have to be dealt with. Plus, Logos had gotten their hopes up on getting access to Federation technology, something they hadn't been able to do before. Federation technology was still ahead of ZAFT and the Earth Alliance development and the Federation kept it like that much to the irritation of both. The other issue that the refusal of the Federation member nations brought, was the use of their mass drivers would be denied for military use if not all use by the Alliance. There had been a couple of loopholes tucked into the treaty that would have made it possible to force allowing use of them for the Alliance.

-Line Break-

Off the East Coast of the Atlantic Federation

The descent from orbit was routine for Neo Roanoke and the Extended trio, though the sudden reassignment was a tad unusual. Granted, with recent events likely played a part, the colony drop and the following assault attempt against the PLANTs failing had shaken the standing of the Earth Alliance as seen by the majority of the world. Neo had thought that the nuclear strike against the PLANTs had been a little too ambitious at the time. With the demands being made of the PLANTs, it had caused the other two factions to get together and discuss things, a potentially dangerous turn. And so, it had proven to be the failure of the operation, as well as a case of why ZAFT and the Federation working together would be detrimental to the Earth Alliance.

Then, Alliance political leaders had gotten the idea into their heads that they could somehow convince the member nations of the Federation into a deal to work together. In truth, the intention was to put the Federation in the position that they could be manipulate them to do what they wanted. It was a stupid and foolish idea, and like the attempts during the First Alliance-PLANT War, this "World Security Organization" Treaty had been rejected in the end by all of them. The Human Federation had always been stubborn and held to their ideal of not having an agenda behind what they do, only nobility and the "preservation of humanity". However, Neo doubted that the Federation would be staying quiet or out of this new war for long, really the Alliance wasn't going to give them the option or choice. The risk of an alliance between them and the PLANTs was too high, and such would spell disaster to no end if ignored.

Where Neo understood and agreed with those ideas in principle, he wasn't so readily to agree with the planned actions the "top brass". The operation that Neo and the trio with him were to join was the attack on a Federation military base. But, it wasn't just any base that was the intended target, it was none other than the 'Unassailable Fortress of the Federation' their Asgard Base that was the Federation's military HQ. So, along the way to meet up with the fleet that would carry out the operation, Neo was looking over the previous attempts to assault the Federation's military headquarters and stronghold. After scanning the reports, Neo was even less interested to be in on this operation, it was looking a lot like a suicide mission to him. Even if this assault was by miracle successful in taking the base from Federation control, the losses incurred would doom the Alliance on Earth in the long term, for it would be easily more than half their fighting force that would be sacrificed. And the chances of having any kind of victory against Asgard, were beyond slim whether any admit the fact or not.

Honestly, were Neo to state his opinion, they would have better success using the same force to go against ZAFT's Carpentaria base. But, such decisions weren't up to him, so he was to keep his mouth shut and stay out of business that didn't concern him, or that's what he was told by the higher ups. The aircraft that was transporting him, the trio and their mobile suits took a couple of hours to reach the Spengler-class carrier ship and land. The mobile suits were off-loaded and stored in the hold below. The trio was escorted to their assigned to quarters, while Neo met with the captain of the ship and one of the leaders of the large fleet. Neo learned that preparations were close to being finished, even with the tension and jitters that were traveling through those in the fleet with their target being what it was.

Within the OMNI Enforcer organization, there were places that were 'worried about' and 'feared' by most. Asgard was at the top of that list for a few reasons and had a fair margin between it and the next place. The first reason, was that no one had ever taken the base, not the Alliance, nor ZAFT, heck, neither had gotten close to call it a good attempt, hence its nickname. Second, it is one of the most well-established Federation bases, if not the most well-established stronghold, so uprooting would be an arduous task in itself. The final point that made Asgard the most feared base, was the Alliance had never found where the Federation's military command base in space was. If that base's location was known, it would likely have the top spot and Asgard would take the second.

Asgard's defenses were estimated to have been beefed up since the last attack against the base and the last try had been harsh for the Alliance. The shoreline of the island that Asgard was built on, was lined with lookouts and heavy cannons and turrets. Underwater, there were measures there that made an approach beneath almost worse than on the water, between the minefield and linear guns placed in the island structure beneath the water's surface. The only questions left, were what was there for dealing with forces incoming from above if anything and how the defense had been improved by the Federation. The first question was asked because there were going to be Alliance vessels in orbit that would drop mobile suits down towards Asgard.

The few treaties that still stood between the Earth Alliance and the Human Federation at this point, would be pretty much broken with the planned attack. Apparently, from the political stage, the Alliance was going to accuse the Federation in violating the Treaty of Junius Seven in helping the PLANTs. Of course, the nuclear strike wouldn't be mentioned as that would reflect badly on the Alliance and there was more than enough of such going around. The whole accusation was an excuse to press back against the Federation's military and show them that they would either conform and side with the Earth Alliance or be an enemy.

It was only a day later that orders came to the Alliance fleet to move out and head for Asgard to attack at a little after dawn of the next morning. All the ships, made up of ever ship class the Earth Alliance had created and a little over a hundred vessels in total making up the force, moved out. It was a sight to see, the vast number of ships sailing in formation, a show of strength for the Alliance. As the fleet traveled towards their destination, the Alliance political leaders officially accused the Federation of treaty violations. To call to task the Federation, the Alliance deem it necessary to 'bring the Human Federation's military under control', starting with their Earth-based headquarters. Although such reasoning was merely justification for the imminent attack the Alliance was about to make on Asgard, both sides readied themselves and waited for the other to make the next move.

The Alliance forces might have the upper hand when it came to sheer numbers with ships, but that was one of the few things in their favor. Asgard's defenses set along the shoreline would make the approach to the island hard and rough. And that would be combined with fending off Federation mobile suits and ships that would be fighting against them. Yet, the hope was that mobile suits drop down from orbit would split the Federation's attention enough to provide an opening that could be exploited. A frontal assault wouldn't be enough to take Asgard, none were really kidding themselves, uprooting the Federation's military would take tactics and not brute force.

Meanwhile, an air of focus and tension was heavy within Asgard's command center, all personnel were at their stations, monitoring the large Alliance task force drawing closer. Negotiations had been attempted, yet no response was received, but not much was expected from the Earth Forces at this point with the accusations made by the Alliance. The one in charge, a woman by the name of Elle Vianno, was looking over both oncoming Alliance fleet as well as the Earth Forces vessels in orbit above Asgard itself. Elle was herself, a Hybrid-type though a tad shorter than five and a half feet. She had long blonde hair made up of wavy lochs, with blue eyes and she looked a few years younger than she really was, which was forty-nine. Elle Vianno was one of the two Federation Admirals that were over the Earthbound Defense Forces and her preference was working on the field, which is why she was at Asgard herself.

Asgard's position had just finished being solidified and its defenders were either ready or making their final preparations. Three trusted commanding officers would handle the delegated orders and see them get to where they need to so that they were followed from Admiral Vianno. All of Asgard's defending forces knew and understood what was at stake in this upcoming battle. If the Asgard base were to fall, then the Euros Coalition would be hard pressed to keep the Alliance from terrorizing and taking it over. That was why all forces were being deployed with ships ready to reinforce the shoreline defenses and mobile suits lining up to launch. Mobile suit pilots were in their machines, waiting for orders to head out to the battlefield and fend off the Earth Alliance.

Admiral Vianno ordered the two working orbital cannons to take aim at the Alliance vessels above and standby to fire as she looked over the display of the soon to be battlefield. The third anti-orbital cannon wasn't completely ready yet, there were still needed adjustments before use, so would not be employed. That left the two operational anti-orbital gun batteries, called 'Valkyrie 1' and 'Valkyrie 2', swung their barrels upward to come to bear on where the Alliance vessels were above. The sooner that one of the Alliance's attack vector was eliminated, the better standing Asgard would have. Both cannons began their charging cycle as the Alliance forces kept closing the distance.

Once the Alliance fleet crossed into Asgard's outer defense perimeter, Admiral Vianno ordered the initiation of the counter attack. Sirens wailed around Asgard, signaling that the battle that would be named the "Neflheim Siege" had officially begun. The shoreline defenses commenced their interception job, firing at the approaching Alliance ships. The Alliance changed their overall formation to having ships break off into smaller groups to make it harder to pick off ships, but still continued to surge forward.

The Earth Forces' tactical plan to this 'siege' against the strongest Federation base was made up of multiple stages and this was only the first. The fleet was to gain as much attention of Asgard's defending forces, so that they would not pay attention to other things. The second stage would start when mobile suits would drop down from orbit over the base. With the attention off of them, those forces then could infiltrate Asgard and work from within on causing chaos among the Federation defending forces. From there, the two-pronged attacks would work towards each other and would managed to reach the island itself which Asgard occupied. There was no real plan after that as none of the Earth Forces commanding officers knew if they would make it that far in this battle.

Federation ships shot back at the Alliance vessels and supported allied mobile suits as best as they could, their efforts being put forth to slow and stem the tide of the Alliance attack force. Inside Asgard's command center, the start of the Alliance's drop from orbit was detected by Federation sensors, which gave some warning of the Earth Forces plans. "Admiral Vianno, the Veadan Sensor Array have detected Alliance space forces have begun dropping entry pods from their ships," called out a sensor operator.

The anti-orbital cannons were originally constructed as a precaution against the possibility of ZAFT trying to use their landing forces to attack Asgard. Apparently, the Earth Alliance had also developed entry capsule for mobile suits like ZAFT had for their landing forces. "Valkyrie 1's charging cycle has completed, Valkyrie 1 is ready to fire," piped up another console operator.

Elle nodded, "Valkyrie 1, target the lead Agamemnon-class and fire," she ordered.

The command set was inputted and the first boom from the anti-orbital cannon firing its energy bolt echoed far and wide. The bolt zoomed upward, the magenta color standing out against the blue sky as it rocketed up, meaning that the discharge of the cannon did not go unnoticed by any, either in ZAFT or the Alliance. The Alliance might not have known about the purpose or function of the cannon when it fired its first shot, but communication from their allies above quick made the point clear. One of the Agamemnon-class carriers, which had started releasing its descent pods with mobile suits inside, had taken a direct hit by the magenta bolt and though it had been destroyed, it was now essentially out of commission. Nevertheless, it did provide an answer to the previous inquiry of whether Asgard had the means to deal with an attack from above other than mobile suits, and the answer was a resounding yes!

The second anti-orbital cannon shortly joined in the work of dealing with the Alliance's space force, the two taking turns to discharge at the Alliance vessels above, pausing only for recharging, even as the Alliance seaborne ships came closer and closer. It was as the second anti-orbital cannon fired for the third time, that Alliance forces came into range to deploy mobile suits effectively. There was no time wasted, the Earth Forces sent out every machine they had towards Asgard. The immediate response, was many groups of Excel fighters with the newer ZEL Defender suit models leading them, heading for the Alliance mobile suits from Asgard. The mobile suits from both sides quickly became embroiled in combat with each other when they reached the other.

When it was Neo Roanoke's turn to launch out to the field, he took-off in his custom dark magenta Windam, which was equipped with the jet striker. The Jet Striker pack, was meant to give a Windam suit atmospheric flight capabilities. The Gaia, the Abyss and the Chaos followed Neo out to the battlefield, flying within the same group as Neo was in at the start. Neo saw the clash of mobile suits begin and quickly get heated between the Alliance and the Federation. The firing of the cannons which were striking the Alliance ship in orbit were coming intermittently and Neo had to admit, he was sort of impressed at those weapons. Not only had the Federation come up with a weaponize means that could hit something in orbit, which no one had managed before now and not for a lack of trying, but they had also kept it secret too. Even if the Human Federation and its military was irritating in 'their way' of doing things, they were still tenacious to such an extent that one had to begrudgingly respect it somewhat.

Then, Neo took in the formations of those the Alliance were fighting, which gave Asgard's defenders a solid defensive position and reinforced their set defenses at the same time. And even though the Alliance outnumbered them with ships and were close to matching them with numbers of mobile suit for the moment, odds weren't in the Alliance's favor. The Earth Forces had pretty much everything they had out, but Neo was fairly sure that the Federation did not have all their forces fighting yet. It was "Classic Federation Military Operational Style", send out an amount of your troops, normally around half, then have the rest help in staggering resupply so that your enemy is worn down. That operational style was one of the biggest standing advantages that the Federation had and made them such difficult opponents as they 'fought smarter, not harder' most of the time.

Neo quickly reached the combat zone and was shortly engage by the current mass production the Federation uses. He quickly found that the mobile suit model was not something to scoff at, they were effectively armed for both close and far range. The other problem, was the Federation machines were equipped with some type of phase shift armor system. The Gaia had stuck in the same area as Neo himself, fighting against another Federation suit. The Abyss went down into the water, speeding towards the Federation sea vessels, showing off the specialty of the Abyss. The Chaos joined up with a different Alliance squadron and worked with them to try and make headway forward.

The skirmish kept going without any sign of stopping, but the Alliance force overall was brought to a grinding halt with their approach to Asgard. Then, when what entry drop pods had been released from the vessels in orbit before they had been disabled came over Asgard, the pods separated into pieces revealing the Dagger suits inside. The Alliance suits leaned forward, facing downward as they fell, seeing their destination and scanning for potential targets. Sirens wailing around Asgard, warning of the incoming enemies as the Alliance mobile suits descended towards the base. As the Alliance pilots got closer to the base, beams and projectiles started coming at them from below from Federation mobile suits working to intercept those dropping in from above. The descending mobile suits shot back at their attackers, but there were more of them than those coming down.

Neither the Earth Alliance nor the Federation showed any sign of giving even an inch to the other as the battle dragged on. Neo just slashed a Federation machine into two pieces, backed up while the suit exploded, when a sight caught his attention. What appeared to be a shadow of a small to medium sized vessel moving under the water, became a vessel surfacing from the sea. It was seconds after seeing the central part of the ship, that Neo recognized the vessel, for he had encountered it before. He specifically had dealt with it around ZAFT's Armory One, it was the same new frigate-class ship. What this ship was doing here around Asgard, Neo could begin to guess, but the vessel had proven to be troublesome before and he doubted it would be any different this time. The ship's wings were positioned differently than before, which said that this ship class could shift parts to gain an advantage in a situation, yet another fact about the craft that said it was a problem.

From the frigate, came three more of the Federation mass production mobile suits, followed by the red custom mobile suit that Neo went against in his mobile armor. The four new mobile suits added to the Federation forces, though the red machine made more of a difference than the other three. Admittedly, Neo wanted another go at the mobile suit and its pilot, for the last time they had clashed it had end embarrassingly for him. So, Neo flew towards the red mobile suit, focused on making the Federation pilot that had taunted him before, regret their actions.

Neo almost managed to catch the red suit by surprise, but at the last moment, his intended opponent noticed him approaching and evaded Neo's beam saber swing. Neo's next strike was blocked by his opponent drawing a beam saber and using it to deflect Neo, then was shoved back by the red machine. Neo drew his beam rifle and shot at the red machine, and it moved out of the way for the first and second bolt, then shifted its shield for the third. The bolt didn't hit the shield as Neo would have expected, the shield expanded and then deflected the beam away, it was much like the recordings of the Alliance's Geschmeidig Panzer working. There was beeping inside Neo's cockpit and upon looking down, there was a message on the main system display.

'Well hello again tin can pilot, fancy how the whims of fate have us meet again. Still, it's disappointing that your piloting is not much better than your rinky dinky armor driving. But, unlike most of you in the Earth Alliance, I'm generous and will let you have an attempt at fighting me. And yet, between the lack of an effective arsenal and the poor piloting skills that you've shown yourself to have, don't think I have anything to worry about. However, don't let me telling you the truth as it is stop you, by all means, dance with me the best you can ya tin can idiot!'

The message had the same feel as the first one from this Federation pilot, the feeling of annoyance was the same for Neo. This pilot was blatantly insulting him, it was more pointed at Neo himself this time, but the intent was the same, it was to get a reaction from him. So, Neo calmed himself and ignored the insults thrown at him and focused on his opponent. They had shown themselves to be dangerous if underestimated, so Neo would not make that mistake.

And so, started the dance between the dark magenta Windam and the Aurora Gundam. The two mobile suits clashing would go from fighting with beam sabers to breaking apart and switching to using beam rifles against one another. Neo found himself drawing on every skill and tactic that he knew and had to keep up in this fight, coming to realize that the pilot of this red mobile suit was no novice pilot, rather the opposite, they were an expert and possibly beyond that. Within a little more than five minutes, Neo got knocked back and his Windam was put into an exposed position, with an opponent that would likely use the clear firing path. As Neo looked back at the red suit, and saw it was bringing its beam rifle at him, time seemed to slow down to a slow-motion crawl. Then from Neo's left, the Gaia rushed the red mobile suit, and crashed into it, forcing it to go onto the defensive and stop fighting Neo.

The Gaia quickly attacked the Aurora aggressively, driving the Aurora away from Neo's machine. Stella wasn't going to let this Federation mobile suit hurt Neo, she would destroy it before she would let that happen! Granted, these machines and pilots weren't the same as those she, Auel and Sting had been trained to fight and kill. However, she would do her utmost to defeat this machine that had been picking on Neo.

Tyler on the other hand, was kind of hard pressed by this stolen ZAFT mobile suit. Its pilot was fairly skilled and was also unpredictable in their actions against him, making them dangerous. He quickly came to the decision that this fight needed to come to an end as soon as possible, for it was kind of reminiscent of the Battle of the Republic that had occurred during the First Alliance-PLANT War. His opponent was acting like the custom Alliance mobile suit pilots, who he had met since then. So, Tyler had the hunch that whoever the pilot of this black suit was, also happened to be a 'candidate' from the Enhanced Human Project. Whereas the easiest way to end it would be to use the beam rifle to shoot the cockpit, Tyler wanted to avoid that if possible. That left only one option, disable the pilot in order to stop the machine itself, which could be done even with the suit having phase shift armor, that being sheer impact. If the pilot is unable to concentrate on driving the unit, then the mobile suit is as useless as if it didn't have a pilot at all.

The Aurora dodged the beams from the Gaia's beam assault cannons and began the task of getting closer to its opponent. Stella was becoming increasingly frustrated at not being able to take her enemy down. As the red suit closed in, Stella drew a beam saber and made a slicing motion, but again she missed hitting her opponent. The next thing Stella registered, there was a low thud and her head had whipped forward and down with the sudden forward momentum. The rest of her body was kept in the pilot seat by the restraint belts, but Stella's hands lost their grip on the suit controls for a moment. When she got her head back up, Stella saw that her opponent had a grip on the Gaia and its right hand curled up and coming at her. The Aurora's fist connected with the Gaia's torso hard and whipped Stella's head and arms around again. The impacts kept coming over and over, and Stella was rapidly became scared at what was happening. She tried having the Gaia to struggle to free itself from these attacks, but nothing she managed to do changed her position or situation. Each hit was making it harder for Stella to concentrate, the jerking up and down of her head was causing increasing pain, fear and panic she was feeling.

The Aurora kept sending its right fist into the Gaia's torso while holding the mobile suit with its left. Tyler knew that the inherit weakness in phase shift armor was still as it was before, sheer impact, which transferred to the pilot more directly, so he was giving as good as he could. Once the Gaia went limp, Tyler grabbed the mobile suit to keep it from falling to the sea below. Alliance Daggers approached the Aurora and the Gaia, to which Tyler brought out the Aurora's plasma cannons that came to rest on either side of the Gaia's torso. The plasma cannons charged up and fired upon the coming Daggers and destroyed them. Tyler then oriented the Aurora to point its front down along with the black machine and then activate his suit's stealth system to hide the Aurora and the black suit. Tyler then began heading back towards the Normandy, carrying the Gaia with him, his curiosity about the stolen suit's pilot peeked.

Tyler did contact Lisa along his way to the ship, "Hey Lisa, I'm coming back, have a security detail down in the hanger if you would please. I'll be bringing in one of the ZAFT mobile suits stolen from L4 and the pilot is potentially dangerous and violent. It would be best if there are some around to prevent issues from happening," he iterated.

"Okay, are you sure that it's a good idea then to bring said individual onboard the Normandy," asked Lisa.

"For the moment, yes, I believe it will be fine," Tyler replied.

The Normandy, which was above the water, lowered its flight path and entered the water and submerged the ship's wings and the underside of the central structure. The Aurora dived into the water and traveled to the airlock that was part of the launching system of the Normandy, still holding onto the Gaia. Both mobile suits were taken into the Normandy's hanger, where the Aurora moved the Gaia into a dock. The Aurora launched back out to the battlefield to go back into the fight against the Alliance.

The battle went on for hours, morning became afternoon and the siege was still going strong. The afternoon moved towards evening and the Alliance forces stubbornly kept up their assault against Asgard, even as it slowly wore them down. However, as the sun began setting, the signal to retreat was launched from the Alliance lead ship. What was left of the Alliance attack force fell back to their fleet, which was much less than what had come to assault Asgard. Losses on both sides had been harsh, more so on the Earth Alliance's side, but even the Federation took sizable losses in the defense of Asgard. The Alliance mobile suits and ships had done damage, but the odd custom mobile suits had done more than the Alliance mass production models had.

The Earth Alliance forces had been pushed back and ousted, but it had been no simple battle, not with the largest force that had assaulted the base before. The Alliance hadn't made landfall, but they had certainly gotten the closest of those who had attacked Asgard, within 'spitting distance' in fact. However, the distance gained had been hard earned by them, the defenders had effectively made sure of that. Even with the mobile suits that had tried to drop in from above had been met with little to not success, none of them had touched the ground, not in one piece or their pilots alive. Nonetheless, the Alliance assault had managed to do damage to many areas of the base itself. The further from shore one went, the less damage there was, but the reverse was also true the closer to the shoreline, the worse things were. Many of the lookout points were either severely devastated or had been blown away completely. Clean up operations were started and securing the base was done, just in case the Alliance decided to come back soon.

There were effects of the battle not centered on the area that the fighting had taken place around as well. The borders of the member nations of the Federation were tightened down and secured more than they already were, pretty much locked down. All Earth Alliance military personnel were banned within Federation territory until further notice. Although Alliance citizens were not banned like their military personnel, security checks would be more rigorous and extensive with them. Strained relations between the Human Federation and the Earth Alliance fell even further and were close to being the same if not worse than what they had been during the latter part of the previous war after the attacks on the member nations.

Whereas the PLANT's National Defense Committee, saw the definite need to strengthen the position that ZAFT had on Earth itself, especially after the attempted nuclear strike against the PLANTs. Not only was the Alliance disregarding all the agreements that they had made, but also, they were making too, so they couldn't be trusted to keep their word. Hence the sent proposals to the Council, were for an operation that would help the balance of power on Earth and the idea was approved. The operation's timetables were sped up after seeing the Neflheim Siege done by the Earth Alliance. ZAFT vessels gathered together and at a fast pace, made their way to high orbit above Earth, while other ZAFT groups kept the Alliance's Lunar fleet busy and unable to interrupt the operation. The operation was dubbed the "Spear of Twilight" by the PLANT's National Defense Committee and the leaders of ZAFT.

Once in the designated positions, the mission proceeded and ZAFT entry capsules were dropped through the atmosphere. The main places of concern were Gibraltar and Carpentaria as the Alliance had been moving to surround those places as best they could. It was a given that Alliance forces would not make the descent easy or smooth, but those participating in this operation understood the risks. The capsules opened and broke up when they came out of the Thermosphere and the ZAKUs then began the hardest part of the drop.

Alliance forces detected the capsules descending through the atmosphere and alerted their forces to intercept. Failure to take Asgard from the Federation was bad enough, there was no intention of any in the Earth Forces to allow ZAFT to gain more of a foothold on Earth by reinforcing their bases! So, mobile suits launched from the fleet off the coast of the Oceana Union that had been watching ZAFT's Carpentaria base to prevent the ZAKUs from reaching it. Then, there was also Earth Forces which came from the Eurasian Federation that moved to intercept ZAFT landing forces heading for Gibraltar.

-Line Break-

ZAFT Gibraltar base

Everyone had been high-strung since "Condition Yellow" was declared by the base commanders. Talia Gladys had been woken up when the alert came, it had still been early morning and so most were still asleep. After dressing and getting to the bridge, she saw that it was not fully crewed since it was still early. Meyrin Hawk was at her station and saw Captain Gladys enter the bridge, "Captain, Gibraltar base command had called high-alert. Apparently, sensors and long-range recon has confirmed that Alliance forces have begun an attack," she iterated.

Talia took her seat, while others were coming onto the bridge and taking their stations quickly. "Is that all the details you have from base command," Talia asked Meyrin.

Meyrin didn't answer right away as she'd gotten back on the line with Gibraltar base command to ask for more detail. It was as Arthur took his station that Meyrin gulped hard at what she had just been told by the com-officer at the command center Gibraltar had. The facts she was being given sounded crazy and if true, were very troubling. She turned to face Captain Gladys who was still waiting for her to give more details, "Ma'am… according to base command, a very large Earth Alliance fleet… has begun an attack on," Meyrin said nervously, trailing off.

Talia didn't like hearing that, but by the expression on the girl's face, there was more to what she was saying than she had gotten out yet. "Where Meyrin," she asked, almost not wanting to know the answer. If the Alliance had a big enough fleet, they might try and succeed at say… taking Carpentaria and that would make ZAFT's position much harder on Earth.

Meyrin took a deep breath, "Asgard captain," she uttered.

There were gasps from some on the bridge, expressions of shock and horror from others. Arthur came out of the CIC, "Asgard, as in the Federation's Unassailable Fortress, that Asgard" he asked, not believing what he had heard.

The thought that the Alliance would attempt to attack the Federation's Asgard base wasn't exactly new. But, were the Earth Forces somehow to amass a force that was able to take the base, it was scare to imagine. Talia sighed and slumped into her chair, "That's the only base that has the name of Asgard Arthur. I'm more wondering what the Alliance is thinking, they already declared war on the PLANTs. So then, why go and pick the same kind of fight with the others who you are on around the same terms with, but you have more trouble going against? It doesn't make logical sense," she mused.

"What happens now ma'am, the operation to drop reinforcement to our bases here on Earth are already planned to occur a few days from now. This event could jeopardize that," Arthur stated worriedly.

"And that's why base command has us on high-alert Arthur, they're worried about the results of the battle between the Federation and the Alliance clearly," replied Talia.

The rest of the day was a stressful one, as Condition Yellow was not cancelled at all, it stood the whole day. Then there were the views that were caught every once and a while of the fighting that was taking place a good distance away. Early on during the morning, 'shots or energy bolts' were observed going upward from Asgard, scaring quite a few of the ZAFT personnel at Gibraltar when they started flying. Seeing the battle from a distance really wasn't the best perspective, but it was all that ZAFT had to work with. Even the one Vosgulov-class sub that was sent to do recon, wasn't able to get much other than a long-distance view of the Alliance's assault on Asgard.

On the Minerva, with Aila now mostly healed up from her gunshot wound, assisted in keeping some onboard the Minerva working and not stopping and gaping at what could be seen of the fight between the Alliance and the Federation. Preparations were important, more now with the battle happening, they needed to be done as soon as possible. If somehow the Alliance won Asgard, then Gibraltar would be a target soon enough, and it wasn't ready for that yet.

But, as the sun was setting, the signs of battle ceased, and many held their breaths as they waited to hear about how things had ended. On the Minerva, when Condition Yellow was cancelled, many of the crew were letting out sighs of relief. Most went to their beds and crashed from all the stress of the day however, some did not do so. Aila had gone to seen Captain Gladys to see if she could find out how things stood. She found the captain in her quarters, "Captain, forgive me if I'm disturbing you," Aila greeted.

"Not at all Aila, how is your shoulder doing," asked Talia. Talia really wanted to have every member of her crew in good health, the pilots included. The Minerva had already lost two of its mobile suit pilots chasing Bogey One, she couldn't afford to lose more.

"Don't worry ma'am, my shoulder is doing better and I'm ready to return to duty," answered Aila. "Do we know how things ended with the Alliance's assault on Federation's Asgard base, and how that will affect ZAFT's position?"

Talia folded her arms and considered what information she had gotten from the base commander. "It is my understanding that the Alliance failed to take Asgard from the Federation, be that as it may, both sides took losses as a result. Then due to the Alliance's actions, the timetable for the reinforcement drop operation had been moved up from a few days from now to tomorrow morning local time. Mobile suit pilots are to be on standby in their machines before 0630 to be ready to help our allies. It's doubtful that the Alliance will just let landing forces get to our bases without harassing them," she said.

Aila nodded, "That makes sense, I still don't get what the Earth Alliance was thinking with attacking Asgard of all places. That action has more likely done more harm to them then help," Aila mused out loud.

"You're certainly not the only one that is thinking about that Aila, not around this base, and not on this ship," replied Talia.

The next morning dawned, and sirens sounded to signal that the drop operation had begun and those around the base were to ready themselves. As expected, the Earth Alliance sent forces to intercept ZAFT's landing forces descending towards their bases. Mobile suits from both Carpentaria and Gibraltar readied themselves to lift off to help their allies. At Gibraltar, the Minerva sent out its own mobile suits, both ZAKUs, the Impulse with Shinn piloting and Aila in the Osiris. The four mobile suits from the Minerva joined with the others that took off from Gibraltar, heading directly for the clash that was occurring between the ZAFT forces dropping and the Alliance group intercepting. Hopeful, they could help as many of their comrades as possible get down to Gibraltar in one piece and alive.

-Line Break-

Aprilius One

The meeting with Chairman Durandal that Athrun had requested ended out being postponed for a day, but Athrun was told that he would be given an 'escort' while he was around the PLANTs and have a look around. When the 'escort' came to pick up Athrun, he found himself in for a surprise as his escort was made up of three of his former teammates during the First Alliance-PLANT War. Athrun was about to greet them, but Yzak Joule grabbed him by the collar, "You idiot! What the hell is going on," Yzak snarled angrily.

Dearka merely smiled a bit and shook his head as he came in to the hotel suite, knowing that Yzak was being the hothead that he usually was. Nicol also waited for Yzak to vent his frustrations because of this new and unexpected assignment that all three of them had gotten from the Supreme Council. Of course, Yzak hadn't given his opinion vocally to any on the Council members about how they should be out making sure that the Alliance doesn't try using nukes against the PLANTs again. This was the normal method that Yzak used, vent on others that were under him, that or put the feelings into a focused task.

Once Athrun had regained his bearings again, he faced the three, "Wait a minute, you tell me what's going on here," Athrun demanded of his comrades.

Dearka moved forward and grabbed Yzak and held him back a bit, while Nicol smiled, "It's good to see you're doing well Athrun, please do forgive Yzak, he's not in the best of moods lately." Nicol leaned closer to Athrun, "And his temper is the same as ever, though he normally controls it these days, surprising and nice that he developed the ability if you ask me."

Athrun went from looking at Nicol, to staring at Dearka holding back Yzak, then back to gazing at Nicol, "Okay sure, but what's going on," he asked.

"You tell us! Even though the three of us are busy, we get the call to report to the Council for a 'special assignment'. When we go down to the Council, they give us the news, we're supposed to be your bodyguards! Don't ask me who's bright idea this was, I haven't the faintest, and they're lucky I don't, or I would be strangling them," Yzak growled.

Athrun was taken aback, bodyguards for him? Why would that be seen as needed, and why specifically three of his former teammates? "What… why would that be needed," Athrun uttered.

Yzak shrugged, "How would I know, Dearka and I left the frontlines for this job and Nicol was helping with the PLANT's defensive perimeter," he snapped.

"I bet you asked to go outside, didn't you," posed Dearka.

"Though you're from a friendly nation, with recent events having you wander around by yourself is an unwise idea, and so isn't permitted without supervision," stated Nicol.

"Yeah, I think something along those lines was mentioned to me, but… for you guys to be my guards, I never expected that," Athrun replied.

"Yes us, it doesn't make sense," Yzak said in a somewhat calmer tone, reining in his temper.

"I think whoever planned this had a reason in mind," remarked Nicol. "And since we're all here, maybe we can go by the cemetery and pay our respects."

Nicol's suggestion was agreed to and the four headed out and made their way the cemetery for fallen soldiers. They all knew which graves their comrades' markers were and where they were located, and it had been close to two years since the four had visited them together. The friends and teammates that had been lost in the previous war, like Rusty Mackenzie, Matthew, Olar and Ryan, were missed, so all four saluted the markers of their fallen allies. After paying their respects, Athrun did ask what the response to the Earth Alliance's recent actions was. "Thus far, ZAFT forces are being deployed for self-defense and not for retaliation," Nicol stated.

"Deployed for self-defensive purposes only? So then, ZAFT's taking action, but not striking back against the Alliance," asked Athrun to clarify.

"Are you surprised," inquired Yzak. "We can't just sit back and do nothing after the Alliance fired nukes at the homeland."

Dearka nodded, "All three of us were out there, Yzak and I were flying interception and Nicol was helping hold the defense lines. If the backup plan of using the Neutron Stampeder hadn't been used, things would be much worse right now for all of us. Plus, the Federation forces were helpful and for what it's worth, a lot of us are grateful that they helped save the PLANTs, even if some of the other things they do aren't as helpful," he added.

"And what about you," Yzak challenged. "What are you doing all the way out here in the homeland? And what about Orb and the other Federation member nations, what are their plans?"

Athrun frowned, "I can't say for certain yet. Things on Earth are getting chaotic as well, but I don't think that the Federation would do anything horrible to the PLANTs."

There was a bit of an uncomfortable silence between the four of them for a moment, before Yzak spoke again, "Come back to us Athrun."

Athrun spun around and stared at Yzak, for he was the last one that he expected an invitation, let alone a request to come back to ZAFT. Nicol then cleared his throat, "Odd as it may be, I would echo Yzak's request and sediments. ZAFT needs pilots like you Athrun, the Champions are good and everything, but they're individuals, we need more who are willing to do what it takes."

"Granted, there will likely be some obstacles for you," Dearka said taking up where Nicol left off. "And I don't know what any of the three of us can do to help smooth things over and help it along."

"But, we'll take care of them Athrun, you can come back to the PLANTs you know, it still is home," finished Yzak.

"You have the skills, why not put them to use again," asked Dearka.

Athrun thought about what they were saying and part of him agreed with it, still he told his 'friends' that he would seriously consider what they said. It was the next day, in the afternoon that he got to meet with Chairman Durandal.

It felt odd to Athrun, to enter the very same office that his father had once occupied when he had been Chairman. It had been in this room that he had come to realize that the man that had been his father had died shortly after the Bloody Valentine Incident and the one he had stood in front of was a shell of him. It had been here that the resolution which had carried him through the First Alliance-PLANT War had solidified. So, feelings both good and bad were coming back to Athrun when he came into this room.

"Ah, Mr. Dino, I apologize for the delay with our meeting. Recent events had made many of us very busy managing things so that they do not become worse," Durandal greeted.

Those who were in the room left, leaving just Athrun and the Chairman alone, "No, it's alright sir. I can understand with the strike against the PLANTs had caused other things to come up," Athrun said, trying to dismiss and ignore the feelings coming to his mind.

Chairman Durandal noticed Athrun was frowning as he glanced around the room, "Having bad memories coming back to you being in this room, are you," posed Durandal. "I would assume so, after all, this is the room that you defied your father and started down the path that stood against him in the previous war. Being back in here of course would be hard, I should have considered that, my apologies."

Durandal came from behind the desk he had been behind and came over to Athrun and placed a hand on his shoulder. "The actions of your father are not your fault Athrun, it is not the responsibility for a child to have to carry the burden their parent has made."

Athrun knew that the advice was the truth, Tyler and Kira had been telling him the same basic thing since the war ended. Plus, those who had known his father, had told him to remember the good before the bad that Patrick Zala had brought about. He would have thanked the chairman, but then the door to the office opened behind them. Both the Chairman and Athrun glanced around to see who it was entering the office, and Athrun was shocked to see the girl he had met before, the one that looked so much like Lacus, but wasn't her. The girl spotted Athrun, smiled and moved forward and hugged him, "Athrun! We find each other again!" she cried happily.

Athrun had been confused the last time he had been around this girl, but this time he would have answers about her. He pushed her off, "Who are you," Athrun asked.

"Why, I'm Lacus Clyne, you should know that," the girl answered.

Athrun shook his head at the facts he knew as true and this girl, though she may look like Lacus wasn't her. "You are not Lacus Clyne, you may look like her, but you are different than she has ever been," he logically iterated, even if he wasn't feeling completely calm right now.

"It's quite alright Miss Campbell, Mr. Zala here is trustworthy and he knows what Miss Clyne would be like out of the public eye more than many do," Chairman Durandal said.

"Miss Campbell?" Athrun asked, looking between the Chairman and the girl.

'Miss Campbell' nodded, but didn't look Athrun in the eye, "Meer Campbell is my real name, I'm sorry I didn't tell you Mr. Zala. It's just, I've always been a fan of both Miss Clyne and you for years. So, for me to get to meet you in person is amazing…"

Meer trailed of, while Athrun was wondering if Lacus felt as awkward as he was at being told that someone is your fan and they are happy to meet you. In the end, Athrun gazed at Gilbert Durandal, "Okay, why have someone pose as Lacus Clyne, what does it gain to do that," he inquired.

Durandal was silent for a moment, clearly thinking about how to answer Athrun's question, but then he spoke. "The attempt the Earth Alliance made to use nuclear weapons against the PLANTs, though it was thwarted, was not appreciated at all by the citizens of the PLANTS as I wouldn't doubt you yourself can imagine. There were those that said that we should do the same to Earth, and I think that we all know that such wouldn't end well for anyone."

Athrun nodded in agreement, a nuclear strike on Earth would be just as bad if not worse than a successful on against the PLANTs. But that still didn't explain why there was someone posing as Lacus. Durandal continued, "To help calm tensions, I thought a figure that the people of the PLANTs respected and loved would be very helpful. Of course, I would be honored and grateful if I could have worked with Lacus Clyne herself or even her father Siegel Clyne. They both are highly thought of by the citizen of the PLANTs even these days. Unfortunately, finding either of them has proven difficult for any that have tried, even myself."

The reason that finding both Siegel and Lacus Clyne was known to Athrun himself as they had both told him. They had wanted a fresh start and though they both loved the PLANTs and their citizens, they thought it better that they not be a part of their leadership in any way, shape or form. There had been a number that had assisted in making them vanish from all in the PLANTs, ZAFT and even the Alliance as well. "So, the only course I saw open to me was to have someone substitute for Miss Clyne for the time being and that's were Miss Campbell here comes in," Durandal stated.

"Before this, I sang Miss Clyne's songs and I'm told that my voice sounds a lot like hers. So, when Chairman Durandal came to me and asked me to pose for Miss Clyne for a time, I was flattered. He told me that Miss Clyne had been forced into hiding by some bad people, and so her location is not known right now," Meer explained. "After accepting the job, I had surgery done and the result was that I looked exactly like Miss Lacus. I admit, I had dreamed of such a thing before, but I never thought it would actually happen to me."

"Meer, as Lacus was able to calm the anger that so many felt after having to witness the light of nuclear weapons again. Her efforts have been greatly appreciated as they have assisted in preventing worse events," Chairman Durandal said, picking up where Meer had left off. "Still, with knowing Miss Clyne as well as you do Athrun, it's possible and even likely that she would have contacted you in the years that had gone by since the previous war. So, you wouldn't happen to know where Lacus Clyne is currently? Her help would have a tremendous effect at bring peace and ending this conflict that has come. Rest assured, if a quiet peaceful life is what she wishes for, after her help to bring peace to Earth and the PLANTs, I will personally do everything within my power to help her find that."

Athrun didn't know exactly what to think or say in this, the words the Chairman said made sense and felt right. However, there was something in the back of Athrun's mind that nagged at him, it said that something about all of this was too good to be true. One thing he had learned, mostly with the help of Kira and Tyler, is nothing is perfect, even if it appears or seem like it is, period. The world and the colonies as they stood, weren't bad, but they certainly weren't perfect, and it was mostly due to human beings being imperfect. But, perfection was an ideal to work towards, never to actually be obtained. So, Athrun couldn't identify what it was about what the Chairman was saying, and there was no factual proof of the idea, it was more a gut feeling that there was something being left out.

Yet honestly, Athrun had promised that he wouldn't reveal where Lacus or her father Siegel were unless they gave their permission to do so to anyone and they had not. "I'm afraid that I don't know where either Lacus or her father are right now. I've spoken to them a few times since the war ended, but that's all and each time was an arranged meeting in a preselected place. So, I'm sorry that I can be of no assistance in finding or knowing where they are Chairman," Athrun answered curtly.

Gilbert Durandal frowned at the answer, he had hoped that someone close to Lacus Clyne would know where she was. It had been clear that the young woman had gone through the effort to cover her tracks, making it hard to find her and had likely had help doing so. But, the stand-in had been working fine for now, so she should work into the future, in fact Miss Campbell had been easier to do the job in reality. So, as long as none deny that she was Lacus Clyne that couldn't be disproven, things should work out. The one that could do that, the Black Zephyr, Sakura Clyne, the eldest daughter of Siegel Clyne, had left the PLANTs, it should be fine with that being the case.

-Line Break-

-Tyler's pov-

The Normandy

My mother told me a number of times before now, that I would experience days that I would wish I didn't have to, and boy howdy was she right. Yesterday had definitely been one of those kind of days, that's for sure! The assault that the Alliance had made against Asgard had been the harshest thus far to date. Their justification had been as ridiculous as it had been false, even a child could've seen that the Alliance was made that Federation Military forces had help stop them using nukes against the PLANTs and their attack was the way to get back at us and challenge the refusal of their World Security Organization proposal. Plus, it was no secret that the Alliance thinks that Asgard should've have been theirs to begin with like the member nations.

Anyways, back to the Neflheim Siege as it's begin officially called, I'll admit that the size of their fleet had been something else. Makes me more than just curious whom it is calling the shots for the Alliance, for apparently, we in the Federation Military ticked them off pretty dang good! Then for the Alliance to show off that they have atmospheric capsules was unexpected. The anti-orbital cannons were built and designed to deter ZAFT landing forces originally as far as I understand it. Nonetheless, in the end, the cannons had performed as intended, so I guess it doesn't really matter who got to 'help test' them.

The other thing, mostly to me, I encountered that mobile armor pilot again, the same one that I fought around ZAFT's Armory One. Oh yes, I had fun taunting the tin can pilot, but… there was something nagging at me with the guy or gal and it was familiar, I just can't place what or why. Then, there was the black stolen ZAFT mobile suit and its pilot, that was an issue in and of itself. When the fighting had finally ended, the day had been coming to its close, and a long and hard day it had been. Over twelve solid hours the Alliance had put up a fight, they had also received reinforcements halfway through, they couldn't have kept going the full time otherwise. The defenders had taken losses, even if the Alliance took more than we did, it didn't make the facts any nicer.

So, the morning of the day after the Alliance attacked Asgard, looking over the base, you could definitely see that the place had seen better days. However, it was getting back to normal operational status again fairly quickly and that was good. The full results that came after the Alliance's dumb decision of attacking Asgard, both at Asgard and without started to sink in. The first was the border lockdown that had been initiated and put in place less than twenty-four hours on all member nations had been expected. The ban of Alliance military forces wasn't surprising, other than it hadn't happened before now, since the tension with them had been coming to a bad head. But the ZAFT force drop had been kind of unexpected honestly yes, I understand ZAFT reinforcing their position, yet for the drop of the number of mobile suits they had done… well, the Alliance hadn't like that at all.

The same morning, the Normandy's repairs were officially finished, and she was in good working order again. My ship had shown just how sturdy and tenacious she was, she'd done so proudly, at least I was filled with pride for the performance of the Normandy and her crew! Unfortunately, one of the Normandy's pilots had been injured and so would stay at Asgard for the time being. It had been Miss Lily Thevalley that had her mobile suit damaged and some shrapnel had gotten her hurt. That put us one pilot down, I wasn't happy about that, even if I didn't yet know Miss Thevalley well, she is my responsibility as the captain of the Normandy.

However, I got to admit, it did solve the space issue that came up when I had brought back the stolen ZAFT suit. And yet, that brings another set of problems which I'm partially to blame for myself. Getting the ZAFT suit hadn't been that much of a difficulty for the Normandy's mechanics, skill people they are. My standing issue which is shared with my ship and crew, the pilot that had come out of the stolen mobile suit. When the machine had been opened, the pilot had still been out cold, meaning I might have bounced them around a bit more than I should have. It's kind of funny and not funny at the same time, the brain doesn't much like bouncing around the skull much, happens to potentially do permanent damage doctors say. So, after the ride I gave them, said pilot had been taken to the sickbay and the doctor had been doing what she could for our 'guest'. I had decided it would be better for me to avoid being around sickbay for a bit as I'm the one that put their current patient there.

But, I still had Commander Marks keep some of his team on hand in case our guest became violent, for their actions show that was very possible. I had my suspicions as to why the pilot could be violent, and while I hope I'm wrong, I doubt that I am with them being a part of the Alliance's project to make individuals into living weapons. That being said, once the Normandy left Asgard's port and was underway, we set our course towards the Republic. The reason for making the Republic our destination, was if my hunch is right about our guest, then the place that would be best for them to go is within the Republic.

When we were underwater and out of sight, I left Lisa in charge on the bridge and made my way towards sickbay. There would be a need to inform the Normandy's guest of how things worked on this ship and what the dos and don'ts were. As I turned down the corridor that the Normandy's sickbay was on, the sound of a female panicking and struggling came down the hall. I quickened my pace to my destination and viewed a scene that I kind of thought might be possible but hadn't wanted to see.

The guest pilot that had been extracted from the ZAFT mobile suits was now bound to an examination table by restraints. The person was a female as the features I could see showed, since the top half of the pilot suit she was in had been peeled off, leaving her in a simple tank-top. She had medium length blonde hair and appeared to be in her mid-teens when it came to age. She was shorter than me, but not by a large margin and I'm within the average height range. The girl was struggling hard against the bands that kept her on the examination table, her eyes wide with fear. She was shouting what sounded like gibberish, but there were words that were comprehendible. Most of the words were; Tanya, Neo, Auel and Sting, which were very likely names of people she knows, but none of them ring any bells for me.

When I glancing to the left and right, seeing that two soldiers had their guns ready to whip up and use if the situation required it. And with the thrashing that this girl was doing, it's a possibility that force might be needed, I hope not. I gestured for them to keep on their guard, which they did. The soldiers on board have become more respectful of me and do as I asked, apparently, I've earned their trust. Anyways, the Normandy's doctor, a woman by the name of Maya Noll, was capable doctor as far as I've seen. She was of average height with grey hair in the style of a bob cut, she had hazel eyes. Her facial features told of her Euros Coalition nationality, and she possessed the rank of Lieutenant in the Federation Military.

As the girl struggled, Doctor Noll moved in and injected a vial of something into the girl and she started calming down somewhat. I held up a hand to stop the soldiers from moving forward, waiting for the good doctor to do what she was. "Listen and listen well young lady, you are to be on your best behavior or you will face punishment," Doctor Noll said clearly.

At hearing the word 'punishment' the girl visibly tensed, which implied more that my hunch was right on the money. I believe that this girl is a part of what is called the "Enhanced Human Project", which overall, had scientist doing things to make Natural-type humans, normally children to make them able to match Coordinators. The subjects or "candidates" as some that were involved in the project called them, often showed violent tendencies. However, all of those that came out of the project that I've seen and encountered, had a reaction of fear and compliance when the reference of punishment is mentioned. It was to the point that it appeared a well-engrained response, which I suspect was done as a means of control, but I can't say.

Doctor Noll then explained that girl was not to be violent while she was here and keep the urges she had in control. After that, the girl, whose name I still hadn't heard or know was released from the bands that kept her to the table. The soldiers behind me readied themselves to step in if necessary, while I took a step forward and waited. The girl sat up and immediately focused on me in front of herself. I smiled slightly, "Hello Miss, my name is Tyler McGregor and I'm the captain of the vessel you are currently on. Do you have a name," I inquired.

The girl didn't answer me, just glanced around the room, taking in the people present, pausing on two soldiers behind me with guns in their hands. Then she gazed back at me, "Where's Neo," she asked, shaky tones audible, sounding kind of lost as well.

"I'm sorry, I don't know anyone by the name of Neo. You are on a Human Federation vessel currently, not an Earth Alliance ship like you probably were on before." The girl began shaking, then started breathing in and out deeply after hearing what I said. "You have nothing to fear young lady, as long as you keep calm and don't hurt anyone, no one will hurt or harm you, I promise you that," I vowed.

The girl focused on me again when I said that no one would hurt or harm her, "I am safe here, I won't be punished," she questioned.

I nodded, "Yes, you will be free to go where you wish on this ship with a few exceptions of course. That's one of the privileges you earn with good behavior, freedom to go where you please. However, understand, should you misbehave and try to hurt another on this ship, then you will quickly lose those privileges and find yourself confined, and if necessary will end out in one of the ship's brig cells. That is how things work on board this ship, and you will be held to this standard like everyone else is, do you understand," I posed.

The girl nodded her head slowly, "Yes, I am Stella and I will be good. I don't want to be punished, being punished is always horrible," she returned, shuttering at memories of something.

With the matter of Miss Stella behaving settled, I had the two soldiers leave, but made sure that they knew to keep an eye on her for the time being. I returned to the bridge as it was to be my shift and Lisa needed the time off anyways and put Stella in the back of my mind. The journey to the Republic was not very eventful, we went around the southern end of the United States of South America to enter the Pacific Ocean. From there, sailed our way to our destination, taking a few days to make the trip. During that time period, I did notice that the girl Stella, had pretty much attached herself to Feldt Grace. Feldt hadn't had a problem with this, more like she had taken Stella under her wing, even giving her clothes, eating with her and spending time with her. The response to the acts of kindness that Stella showed was quite interesting, for she responded as a child does to good attention from those around them.

-Line Break-

-Neutral pov-

Shira, the Republic

A small group exited the car that they had used to reach the docks in Shira, waiting for the frigate named the Normandy to arrive. The group was made up of three women, one an amount older than the other two. The oldest of the women was Lori Kall, one of the former scientists that had worked at Lodonia Lab on the "Enhanced Human Project" or the EH project. The other two young women, twenty-one and twenty, were Rossweisse and Lafter Galiena, who were accompanying Doctor Kall. The message from the Normandy had said that they had an individual on board that was very likely a candidate from the EH project. A number of them had been brought to the Republic to a place that had been created and designed to assist in the recovery of candidates from the thing that had been done to them.

It had been what those who had left Lodonia had been working to do, in exchange for asylum and continuing research into some of the EH project under the Human Federation. All the efforts had been dedicated to undoing the work of the EH project, even Mina herself had been working for a treatment and it had been successful thus far. In fact, Lori had been honestly surprised that Mina had been taking the work to help treat the candidates so that they could possibly have a normal life again as serious has she had. Granted, Mina's people and interactions skills were still not the best, but at least she was trying to honestly improve and had made some progress. Lori could attest that Mina rarely changed herself personally, you either accepted how she was and got used to it, or you avoided Mina as much as possible. Yet, Mina's change Lori credited it to the effect that Deborah, Rossweisse and Lafter Galiena had on her friend.

As for the individual that was on the Federation frigate, if they were indeed a candidate as it sounded like they were, then Lori wondered what type they were. The ship's doctor was a former scientist from Lodonia, so Lori believe that the information was accurate. The reason that Rossweisse and Lafter were with Lori, was in case the candidate lost control and became violent. The two could restrain most other candidates that had come here before now, so better to be safe than sorry as it's said.

The sight of something coming up out of the water, shifted attention to it and the object became a ship that was coming towards the docks. It took some time for the frigate to dock and for it to have ramps connected to the ship to allow the crew to disembark. It was when Lori caught sight of a blonde teenage female coming down the ramp. For a moment, Lori couldn't believe the girl she was seeing who she thought she might be. Oh, there were times that candidates that one of the scientists that left recognized, but it was rare, even more so for ones that Lori and/or Mina knew. Yet, as the blonde girl got closer, there was mistaking her, the teen was Stella Loussier, one of the better performing Extendeds. Stella was a member of the two best performing trios before the parting from Lodonia and seeing her was unexpected, especially since two of the other trio had gone through treatment and were in recovery stage. So, for the Earth Alliance to lose even a member of the remain trio was extremely unusual, if not a good turn of events in the making.

A pink-haired woman seemed to be guiding Stella forward, who this woman was no concern to Lori, she was more interested that she was able to keep Stella calm around so many people. The conditioning of Extended tended to make it difficult for them to be around crowds as they were trained to be soldiers and/or living killing machines. However, when Stella caught sight of Lori, she stiffened, showing that she recognized and remembered her from Lodonia Lab. Stella clung to the woman she was with, clearing fearing that she was soon to be punished for something. Unfortunately, it was what the candidates had registered when they saw one of the leading scientist like Lori. It was far worse around Mina, for many of the candidates still were terrified of her, but then, she had been the one that set up the discipline system at Lodonia and made sure they were observed, so the reactions were understandable.

Lori strode forward towards Stella Loussier, and the girl was clinging to the woman that she was with. The pink-haired woman was asking Stella what was wrong as Lori closed the distance, "Her reaction is quite normal, she should be fine physically," Lori stated.

Feldt looked at the woman who had spoken, she appeared to be in her forties and was slightly taller than Feldt herself. She had long tan hair, styled in a ponytail and light blue eyes. The woman's figure was more defined that Feldt's, whose was average. The clothes that she wore, suggested that she was some kind of doctor or scientist. But that still left the question of why Stella felt fear with this woman, for Stella was clearly afraid of her. "What do you mean that Stella's reaction is normal, and who are you," Feldt asked, trying to calm Stella down at the same time.

Lori shrugged, "My name is Lori Kall, and those like her tend to react that way around some of us that worked at the lab they once lived at."

Feldt didn't know whether to just believe what the woman Lori Kall said and leave it at that or ask what was done to cause another to act as Stella was. Stella was still hiding behind Feldt as if her life depended on it. "Hey there! No one's going to hurt you, so you don't need to be scared," said a new bubbly voice.

Upon looking to her right, Feldt saw one of the two younger women standing close by, but there had been no sign of her moving, it had been like she had just appeared. The young woman, was a tad younger than Feldt herself, and was taller by larger margin than Doctor Kall. She had light brown hair that were tied into twin tails. She also had green eyes and put off an air of a cheerfulness and a bubbly personality, like the friendliest person one can imagine. Stella was staring at the young woman with an expression of fear but also a mix of confusion with it. Lori sighed, "Lafter, I believe you are just confusing her, not relieving her fears," she said.

It took time to calm Stella and have her follow Lori, Lafter, and Rossweisse, but eventually, Stella went with them. They traveled to one of the train stations and the four took the underground trains toward their destination. Stella began to become nervous again, as she got closer to the place they were head toward, which had been referred to as "Shangri-La". As soon as Stella had seen Doctor Kall, the engrained reaction she had for any of the big authority figures of Lodonia had come. High authority figures at Lodonia tended to only show up for two reasons; checking on progress, or to 'get things back on track'. The latter was worse than the former, for candidates, it could very well mean that punishment was coming. It was far worse when the former head of Lodonia came around, seeing Mina Moss was almost always a bad omen, all the candidates knew that and were still terrified of her because of that.

When the train came to a stop, the group of four exited, the train and walked up a set of steps. They came out into a lobby/office area, Stella was asked some questions, which she answered out of habit as such was regular at the lab. After that, Stella was then led forward to what was outside of the lobby. She had to squint from the sunlight that was shinning down as the light quality was noticeably different from what it had been in the lobby.

Once she became used to the light levels, Stella looked around and her mouth fell open at what met her sight. Stella was seeing a large valley that was mostly green with plant life with a mix of blue, various grays and brownish-red. The blue color was of the lake on the opposite side of the valley, as well as the waterfalls that would come down the mountainside. The grays were of the stone paths and walkways for the lighter grays, while the darker grays were the roofs of buildings that were scattered around the valley. The brownish-red was also part of the structures but were the sides. There were trees all over the valley, thicker in some places, more than others.

The place was unlike anything that Stella had ever seen before, and she didn't know what to think. There were sounds, smells and sights that she was completely unfamiliar with, and some were intriguing. She was led over to one of the larger buildings, she was looking around and taking in the unfamiliar scenery. Stella was still in slight awe of this place when she was brought into a medical examination room. The room and its setup were so familiar and normal that it didn't phase Stella at all.

Lori left Stella with Lafter and Rossweisse, while she went to talk to her 'friend' to get Stella's 'treatment'. A few minutes later, Lori came back into the room and was followed by another. All that changed the second another entered the room, all because of the woman who carried an air of cold intimidation. Many would call her beautiful with her silky long neutral brown hair and light blue eyes. However, was that the woman, named Mina Moss gave a completely different impression than her looks gave. All feelings of awe and literally, every good feeling Sella had been having, vanished when she saw Doctor Moss. Stella had seen the former head of Lodonia a select few times and each time had left very bad memories with her. So, seeing Doctor Moss, instantly had Stella terrified as it would have with any EH project candidate. Mina Moss was the one that had run Lodonia Lab and had established the disciplinary system used there and made sure it was enforced.

"So, she's the one that you were referring to then Lori," posed Mina.

"Indeed Mina, like I said, one that we both know from Lodonia, from one of the two best performing Extended trios," Lori replied.

Mina gazed as Stella, who was frozen with fear, "Yes, I recall her and the other two from her trio. The other older trio was more stable overall, worked well as a team. Hers was good at getting results however, the two males would clash more often and that was a potential issue."

Mina's iteration of the performance of Stella, Auel and Sting trigged Stella to start shaking and trembling at being referred to by Doctor Moss. The woman could do horrible things if one's performance was not good enough, so keeping her happy or at least pleased was very important! Stella didn't want to be punished, especially not a punishment given out my Mina Moss, those punishments were much worse than normal! Stella bowed her head, "Please Doctor Moss," Stella begged loudly, but she managed to keep it from being a shriek. All in the room turned and looked at Stella, "I promise I'll be good, I'll do whatever I'm told to so, please, don't punish me!"

"You are not in trouble Stella," said Lori kindly, knowing that Mina still had the affects she did before with the candidates, she scared them into near instant compliance. "You have been brought here to receive treatment, to give you a chance at having a normal life."

Stella started at Doctor Kall, not understanding what she was being told. She was trying to comprehend what was being said, for Stella didn't understand what was meant by 'a normal life'. The explanation that followed was just as confusing, Stella caught some of what was being said. There was living around other people mentioned and that was somewhat a strange idea to her, for she'd never done such before, nor trained to do the task. Violence not being necessary was as much if not more a foreign concept to Stella than living around other people, for all her training she had gone through at Lodonia had insisted otherwise.

After the explanation, Stella was given a physical examination, routine as such was done regularly at the lab. She was the guided from the building she had been brought to, out towards the some of the smaller structures by Lafter and Rossweisse. Nonetheless, along the way, an adult caught the three girls and called them inside one of the buildings. Upon entering, Stella heard a sound that was not known to her, but sounded like something she might have heard before, many quiet and high-pitched barking.

"You're timing is good Lafter, Lyla's puppies are to the point that they are ready to have their own home and owners. I know that you said you wanted one," the adult male doctor was saying to Lafter.

Stella moved forward to get closer to whatever it was making the barking sounds. What the doctor had said meant nothing to Stella and she was curious to know what she was hearing. The barking sounds were coming from a basket, and so Stella glanced inside the basket to see what was there. What Stella saw, were a number of small four-legged animals that had fur and one tail each. Their fur was brown mostly with patches of black with white along their fronts. They had long floppy ears and long noses. There was a bigger version of the animal that all the small ones were staying close to. However, there was one of the small animals that turned around and was looking at Stella, its tail wagging vigorously. Stella stretched a hand towards the animal, she didn't know why she did so, yet the small animal used its tongue to lick her hand. She giggled at the ticklish sensation that came with the licking and there also came a warm feeling in her heart.

"Oh my, it looks like this little guy has taken a liking to you Miss," posed the male doctor.

Stella stared at the little animal who started barking in a playful manner and nuzzling her hand, "I don't know what it is," she said, before giggling again.

"He's a dog, a puppy" Lafter stated as if it should have been obvious. But when Stella just looked at her blankly, Lafter gain an incredulous expression, "Are you saying that you've never seen or even know what a dog is?!"

Stella shook her head, for the term 'dog' nor 'puppy' hadn't connect or register with anything she knew. The next thing Stella knew, Lafter rushed forward and hugged her, "YOU POOR GIRL!" she shrieked. "TO NOT KNOW OF THE JOYS OF PLAYING WITH ANIMALS, YOU'VE HAD SUCH A HARD LIFE!"

Stella still didn't know what to think exactly about this girl Lafter Galiena, she seemed nice, but she changed completely from one moment to the next, it was weird. "Miss Galiena, if you would please remember to use an inside voice," chided the male doctor. Then he faced Stella, "Perhaps, you might be interested in keeping him? But do understand, he is not an object that you can play with and then throw away. That little beagle puppy is a living creature and will require care, affection, and attention daily without fail," iterated the doctor.

The question stunned Stella, for she hadn't really had something to really call her own like this. The mobile suit she had stolen before wasn't the same as this was, but this 'puppy' as the others had called it, had given her warm feelings, similar to what Tanya did. Stella liked the feelings that she had around her sister and to be able to have similar feelings by keeping this animal with her sounded like a good idea. And so, after more instructions on how to care for the 'beagle puppy', he was given to Stella and seemed excited to be with her. Then Stella was shown to a place that had a bed, simple furniture and basic things and told that this was where she could stay while she was treated.

Phase End

A/n

Alrighty then, I'll leave off there for this Phase. If it isn't clear by this point in the story, I don't follow canon very closely. I'll use events but, yeah… I think I've said enough upon this point. Anyways, no doubt a number of you readers have question about what developed in this Phase, PM me or write a review and I'll answer what I can, but I ask you give me a bit of slack if it take time for me to reply, work and school suck it out of me. The one point that I will say, is I separated Stella from Neo and the other members of her trio for a reason and you readers will find out as the story goes on.

Titanic X

Don't worry about logging in, makes no difference to me. As for snapping America out (which I would assume you mean the Atlantic Federation) doubt had been planted, they grow in ways that few can guess. I know that isn't exactly an answer, but I would be spoil thing that are coming up and honestly, I haven't planned all the events out which I want to happen just yet.

Duked

Thanks for the compliment, the position of the Federation and ZAFT may look close, but I would say it is kind of like neighbors. If something bad is going to happen to your neighbor, one is inclined to assist, as much for them as to protect yourself as well. And then, the implied information provided to ZAFT, was along the lines that the Alliance had likely been building up a nuclear arsenal. From that, it's not all that hard to surmise that the Earth Forces would want to use such on the PLANTs. So, the Neutron Stampeder was built before that, it just was prepared to be used before the battle. Then, as you say diplomatic representatives were there, so to avoid issue with that, they provided help to ZAFT for that situation.