Gundam Seed: The Federation ver 2

by Blackshadow999

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

6. Phase 6: Aftermath

A/n

Here is Phase 6, Enjoy!

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Phase 6: Aftermath

January 25th, 71 C.E.

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Lagrange 3, Heliopolis

Within about a minute, Tyler finally stabilized the Shadow and had come to a stop just floating in space. Tyler looked around and saw that he was in a debris field made up of chunks and pieces of what had been Heliopolis. To Tyler, it felt like he had gone to sleep and was now in some sort of nightmare even though he knew that it wasn't. He was awake and not imagining what was before him currently. All that was left of the colony was some framework and all the debris that had made up the place, and that had happened in a matter of minutes. He and his team had failed to prevent the colony's collapse. Sure, Tyler had failed missions before, but it had been some time since the last failure as bad as this.

Tyler forced himself to take a moment to assess his current standing as non-nice as he knew it was. He was now alone other than the ZAFT pilot he had grabbed before being sucked out of the colony. His two friends' locations were unknown, nor did Tyler know where those he had been around were either. It was still a combat situation technically until he knew where the ZAFT forces were for sure. Tyler was working to keep his breathing calm as to not waste the supply of oxygen he now had to work with which was limited. When he tried switching on the radio the Shadow had he got static only for anything but immediate short-range area. It was due to the interference of N-Jammers that the ZAFT ships were putting out. Plus, the after effects of the colony coming apart had generated a good deal of heat which was also making radio communication extremely difficult.

Tyler had been in some bad situations before now, but this was definitely one of the harsher ones he'd been in for the last year. And with the information that Tyler had, there wasn't much of a chance for things to get better without a serious change. All Tyler was left with was the ZAFT pilot, so he switched over to an open channel, "Hey ZAFT pilot, are you okay?"

There was a moment before the reply, "Yes, I believe so, why did you save me? Aren't you with the Alliance and OMNI," asked a male voice.

Tyler's first thought was to reply with 'hell no' right off the bat at being considered an ally of the Alliance or OMNI. And with having first-hand experience with how they both operated in and out of the public eye, Tyler felt justified with such a response. However, as the manners that Tyler had been drilled with by his mother demanded, he didn't voice that thought and took the time to consider what to say. Tyler came to the conclusion that his job and the required secrecy was as good as blown by this point thanks to recent events. So, he just figured that giving it straight would be best, "First, I saved you as I firmly believe that no one should die if such an event can be avoided. Second, I was around OMNI personnel due to unexpected mitigating circumstances that were beyond my control, and I'll be sticking to that with any question. Technically, I'm an agent of the Federation Military and do a number of things with that job."

Miguel was taken aback at hearing the one that had saved his life was a Federation soldier. That fact could explain a few things that before were a mystery with at least the unknown black suit. Those within ZAFT knew that Federation personnel were good at their jobs, they had proved it over the years of the war. For Miguel, this was his first experience knowingly seeing what a Federation pilot could do. It really gave creditability to the rumors and stories that he'd heard from others and reports. So, Miguel hummed in thought, "Federation huh, I always heard that their personnel were good at all sorts of things, I guess it's true. So then, what do we do now?"

Tyler didn't think he should be a point of comparison for Federation soldiers, especially not pilots as he was among some of the best ranked ones. That was a fact that Tyler just kept to himself most of the time, for a couple of reasons. Most that found out Tyler was a pilot were surprised due to him being as young as he was more often than not. When the fact was said that Tyler was a top pilot, most people didn't believe it and Tyler could understand that to an extent. Yet, on to the question the ZAFT pilot had asked as Tyler had no idea what to say, it's something he'd love the answer to himself really. Tyler decided that introductions would be at least a good place to start, "Well, introducing ourselves would be a place to start, my name is Tyler McGregor, and you?"

Miguel was seriously wonder who this Federation pilot was, "I'm Miguel Aiman," he replied.

The beeping of the Federation com-unit sounded in Tyler's ear and he was hoping that it was news he could work with. He saw no reason to mess around and sugar-code the situation, "This is Tyler, what's your location? I'm in a bind at the moment and could use some help out of the current circumstances."

Tyler was in trouble and he didn't kid himself about it as he didn't see the luxury of doing so. The first thing that would be the most obvious was air as he had a limited supply of breathable air and that would run out, likely in the next hour or so by his estimations. Next, as much as Tyler would prefer to bring Miguel into the cockpit as it would make things easier, he couldn't do that as the air would go away and he couldn't afford that. The last issue which effects the others, Tyler didn't have any means to change the current situation.

Lisa could hear the serious tone in Tyler's voice and she could understand why it was there. The outcome that happened was close to the worst possibility and none could really argue that. And as Tyler hadn't had a pilot suit on when this all happened, he was more than likely on a limited air supply. "We're almost to where you are Tyler, you okay," asked Lisa in response to Tyler's plea.

"I'm good for the moment, but I've a ZAFT pilot with me on the outside and I'm without a pilot suit, so have a limited air supply to breathe. Thus, is the current plight for me," Tyler stated, "any ideas of a way to change it for the better, anyone?"

Lisa shook her head a bit as Tyler had no idea how lucky he was right now with the situation as it was. With the Federation cruiser a short distance, Tyler's issues could be solved effectively. "You're lucky, you know that right," returned Lisa.

"Too right lass, but then, Tyler has always been lucky, haven't ya mate," came the voice of Luke.

Tyler was forced to pause for a moment at what Lisa and Luke said as it implied a great deal. At the moment, Tyler wasn't feeling all that lucky, not with how the day had gone today, he felt quite the opposite. Heliopolis had collapsing due to OMNI and ZAFT fighting one another, which stood as a type of failure in the mission the investigation team had. Granted, technically the team had gotten the information of what OMNI had been doing and that was the goal. But the price at which the goal was obtained in the end didn't sit right to Tyler and so he saw this result as a failure. Still, Tyler pondered what Lisa said more than Luke, "Uh, thanks for the vote of confidence Luke, but how lucky do you mean Lisa? Because, from where I'm sitting right now, I don't see myself as being that lucky," Tyler replied.

One of the current standard Federation space fighters appeared next to the Shadow as the optical camouflage of the machine disbursed. "The Federation Cruiser Donnen is about two hundred yards in front of you right now. So again, I say you're lucky," returned Lisa.

Tyler got what Lisa meant by him being lucky as a ship would help in the problems Tyler immediately faced. And that it was a Federation ship was in Tyler's mind an improvement other than his friends being on the Alliance ship still. So, Tyler switched over to the radio to talk to the ZAFT pilot, "Miguel, hold on please, we're going to go forward and get on a ship. From there I'll do what I can to help you back to the ZAFT ship you were assigned to if it hasn't been downed, I promise you that."

Miguel was stunned at the teen that was in the mobile suit which he was with after the colony debacle. Not only had this teen offered him a way out of dying during the previous fight, which none had done before for Miguel, he was now promising that he would get him back to the Vesalius. Before the mission, Miguel would not have believed one have been his opponent if they offered what this one had. Granted, the Federation did sometimes offer a way out with less casualties, but he'd never seen that in-person. But honestly, this teen had done things that others hadn't that Miguel had seen, so once again, he decided to take a chance. "Okay, I believe you," Miguel said back holding onto the suit's hand he was in.

Tyler used the Shadow's thrusters to move forward and started in the direction that Lisa had indicated the Federation Cruiser was around. A Federation Enterprise-class Cruiser had a length of two-hundred-seventy-five meters from bow to stern. The forward half had the shape of the old-fashion seaborne ship with the exception of the front as it had a barrel built into it, where the rest of the ship was more rectangular. The engines were in two groups on the back of the ship made up of four heavy thrusters and four smaller thrusters with a pair above and below the main engines. The navigation bridge of the ship was just behind the middle point of the ship where a two-story tower came out of the ship structure. There were also fifty meters by twenty-meter plates that stored the linear catapults used for launching machine and equipment.

And like all Federation spacecraft, the ship is equipped with an optical camouflage field generation system to make the ship is undetectable. As well as having the ability to be undetectable, the sensor arrays the ship has is able to detect the system. The OMNI and ZAFT forces have made in the attempt to copy the Federation's stealth capabilities but have failed thus far. For other defensive systems, there were eighteen 75mm automatic multi-barrel interception guns known as 'Falcoguns' spread around the ship. Eight of the guns were on the forward half, ten other guns were around the main rear half of the ship.

The Enterprise-class cruiser's arsenal was made up of three high output beam cannons codenamed 'Ionus', one on either side just forward of halfway point of the ship and the last one is ahead and below the navigation bridge. Missile tubes are housed at the center forward of the bridge as well as in the hull that came off the forward half of the ship. None of the arsenal of the cruiser interfered with the two fighter catapults that were built into this class of Federation ships. The catapults were normally kept in stored position when not in use as an Enterprise-class could carry up to four space fighters at a time and still had room for some other craft.

The ship supports a crew complement of two-hundred crew made up officers, non-commissioned officers, engineers and mechanics along with pilots. Those were the specs of the Enterprise-class as Tyler knew them even if he didn't spend much time on any of them much. The jobs he did normally would be considered field work in some way, shape, or form the majority of the time. The cruiser was likely part of the patrol that had been coming to confiscate OMNI's work by what Tyler would guess.

It took a little less than five minutes of traveling before Tyler spotted the starboard catapult coming out from its stored position. He locked into an approach and quickly came into the influence of the catapult's electron rails that were putting out a reverse magnetic field which was slowing the Shadow down. The cruiser still wasn't visible as it would have its stealth field up and running still. Tyler turned his mobile suit around so that the rear would hit the deceleration cables and not his front as he had a passenger with him. Tyler assumed that his teammate went coming in the Federation vessel through the other linear catapult. The Shadow came to a stop, quickly connecting the feet of the machine to the deck as the catapult retracted and shifted back into its stored position. Next thing that occurred were lights coming on in the compartment illuminating it, but the Shadow stayed where it was as the space began to pressurize with oxygen.

"Pressurization sequence in progress, stand by," announced a mechanical voice that came through the sound filters. After the announcement, Tyler waited for half a minute as the airlock was cycled and the mechanical voice came again, "Sequence complete."

The airlock opened and the lift the Shadow was on moved down into the hangar of the ship and followed the personnel there who directed him to a dock. And with an atmosphere outside the Shadow, Tyler toggled the controls so that the forward display split and retracted before the cockpit hatched opened. He popped out of the cockpit, instantly looking down to the hands of the Shadow to where the ZAFT pilot had been. Tyler saw that the pilot Miguel Aiman as they had called themselves when asked looking around the hangar. Tyler didn't blame him for doing so, it was rare for those who weren't crew or members within the Federation Military to be onboard a Federation vessel.

Tyler used the top section of the Shadow's cockpit hatch to launch himself and sailed down to the same level as Miguel took off his helmet. "Nice to meet you face to face Miguel Aiman," Tyler said holding out a hand.

Miguel had been glancing around the place, more out of curiosity than anything else. There was so little information about the Federation's equipment and ships, so there was always speculation on what the inside of a Federation ship would look like. Miguel hadn't believed some of the estimations about Federation vessels, but he had heard and participated in some discussions about the idea. So, seeing the inside of a Federation vessel was different than he expected it would be, it looked kind of like a standard ZAFT vessel other than the hangar was organized differently somewhat.

Yet, Miguel was snapped out of his trance when he was greeted, so he turned to face the one who had spoken. The teen looked to be around Miguel's own age maybe a year younger if any and he stood at five feet nine inches. He appeared lean to the point that he was close to lanky in overall body figure. With green eyes and spiky tan locks of hair that went in random directions, he looked much like an average teen. He was wearing a sand color T-shirt with a white vest over the shirt with his casual black pants. Miguel assumed that the teen was the one who had saved his life, so he took the hand offered and shook it. "Yes, I have to say," he said as he glanced around, "this is not what I would've imagined the inside of a Federation ship would look like. But then, there isn't much information on what the inside of a ship belonging to the Federation looking like."

Tyler knew the reason for the 'outsiders' not seeing the inside of Federation vessels, of course was the Federation doesn't share that kind of information with others. The Federation Military's High Command was rather notorious for that type of thing Tyler knew and did tend to agree with. The less information others know, then the longer the advantage of information possession the Federation keeps, or that being the mentality. Tyler firmly believed that the close guarding of tech that only the Federation used had made sure that the war wasn't worse than it was already.

The Federation cruiser that Tyler had boarded was named the Donnen and was the leading ship in the patrol that had been coming around to bring to task the personnel of the Alliance's OMNI forces. And within the tactical command center, which was directly behind the navigation bridge of the Donnen, officers were at control consoles that lined the edges of the oval shaped room. In the center of the room was a table that also acted as a holographic display which also had Federation officers looking over and inputting data to help to have a clear picture of the situation.

At the one end of the table was a red-haired woman that was five feet five inches in height, her hair had the length down to the middle of her neck. She had brown eyes that were currently looking over the data that was being displayed in front of her with a serious and calculating expression. The woman was wearing the standard Federation commanding officer uniform, which was the blue long sleeve coat, that buttoned left of center and was black from mid-chest down. There were gold bars on the shoulders and wrists, denoting the woman's rank. On her shoulder pad was one star and four gold straight bars in a row and the same arrangement of star and bars on her sleeve at the wrist. This woman was named Mary Shepard and she was the captain of the Federation vessel.

"Ensign Cob, how long will it take to get a good reading on the area that Heliopolis formerly occupied," asked Captain Shepard.

The short brown-haired man that was on a side of the table typing away on a console, looked up at the red-haired woman. "We're working on it Captain, should have it done in five minutes or less ma'am" stated Ensign Cob.

A male bridge officer came up behind Captain Shepard, "Captain, even if we can't get clear readings yet, the sensors have been able to make out two ZAFT vessels in the area. If reports from the Investigation Team are correct, one is a Nazca-class and the other is a Laurasia-class," said the man.

The man was in the same uniform as the captain though on his wrist and shoulder pads was a star and three bars symbolizing his rank of Commander. His face showed Asian descent, along with his black hairs and brown eyes. Captain Shepard glanced over her shoulder, "Tell me Commander Sulu, have we been able to confirm type and precise locations of these two ZAFT vessels," she asked.

"Not yet captain, and it's not for lack of trying. There is a great deal of interference around the area, likely due to neutron-jammers transmissions and the aftereffects from the collapse of Heliopolis. We have already detected a few of beacons from lifeboats and we're awaiting your orders to start recovery opts to retrieve them and bring them back to the ship. The cruiser Enkeya and the dreadnaught Boyd will begin retrieval of the lifeboats in the next ten minutes when they come into range to do so captain," replied Commander Sulu.

Captain Shepard nodded and turned back to the central display for a moment, then faced Sulu again and was about to speak when something interrupted them. There was the sound of an alarm, then the security door to the rest of the ship opened and in walked a woman in a Federation pilot suit.

The woman stood at five foot four with raven black hair that went to her mid-back. Her eyes were green, and she appeared to be in her early mid-twenties. The suit the woman was wearing consisted of an outfit that was similar to a one-piece jumpsuit. The torso and inside of the legs and arms were black while the outsides were white. Then, there was a grey belt at the hips along with a holster for a pistol and knife on the right thigh and a pouch on the left thigh. Finally, there was a chest plate with shoulder straps that connected to a backpack piece that would attach to a pilot seat in a Federation fighter and secure the pilot in. And to the bridge crew of the Donnen, the coloration of the suit denoted that the woman was a member of the Federation's Special Forces.

The black-haired woman came over and stood in front of Captain Shepard, "Captain, I'm Lieutenant Lisa Malto, Federation Special Forces and a member of the Federation investigation team that was assigned to Heliopolis," she said saluting

Captain Shepard saluted in return, "Welcome aboard the Donnen Lieutenant Malto. What is it I can do for you," asked Captain Shepard.

"Well Captain, my team leader Tyler McGregor came on board in a prototype mobile suit as I assume you noticed. But he also brought a ZAFT pilot on the Donnen," Lisa paused as she wasn't fully aware of what had Tyler with said pilot, "due to circumstances that I'm not fully aware of at the moment. I thought it best to inform you of the development."

Back with Tyler and Miguel, they had exited the cruisers hangar and made their way through the corridors of the ship. Their destination was the captain's cabin where Tyler would ask if they could help him keep his word that he gave Miguel get back to the vessel he was assigned to. Honestly, Tyler didn't see much of an issue with doing what he promised and could be used as a reason to board one of the ZAFT vessels to get their side of what happened at Heliopolis. The collapse of the resource colony shouldn't have happened at all in the first place. And where Tyler knew that the OMNI personnel were partially to blame, ZAFT forces weren't non-contributors to the results. So, returning Miguel could serve as an excuse to get information from ZAFT in a nice way, one could hope Tyler would say.

And while Tyler was well-aware that the Alliance shouldn't have been developing weapons at the colony since it was the reason that the Investigation team had been sent that wasn't the whole issue. ZAFT forces had stuck their noses where they shouldn't have and that had assisted in the result that came out. However, Tyler knew that there was no reason to complain about what shouldn't and should've happened at this point, there's nothing that can be done to change what occurred. There would be an accounting demanded from the Federation and Creuset would then have to attempt to explain his actions. Tyler kind of wanted to read that report when it was written as he wanted to see that man grilled.

Miguel was looking around as the two traveled through the ship, yet that's to be expected as so few non-Federation walk the decks of a Federation vessel. It took them slightly less than ten minutes to reach the captain's cabin. Now, where Tyler might have the rank of Commander as of thirteen months ago in the Federation Military, the rank of captain still was higher. Tyler had been a Lieutenant commander before his current rank, and it was a long story how he started with the rank he did, but that is to be told another time. Then Tyler was also a part of the Federation's S.O.L.A.S. or Specialized deplOyment tacticaL Antiphon Squadron. SOLAS was pretty much the best of the best that the Federation Military had at its disposal, and they were given some special privileges that others weren't. SOLAS was equivalent to ZAFT's 'FAITH' pilots or the Earth Forces' 'SWORD' pilots.

Yet, while on board a Federation ship Tyler would be treated as having equal rank with the captain, but the ship's captain could still overrule him if they see a reason to. Tyler was taking a risk here in asking that Miguel is returned to the ship to which he's assigned. Technically, per regulations, Tyler knew he shouldn't have brought him on board to begin with, yet he didn't see leaving him to die being something he could accept. Meaning that is was about time for Tyler to accept the responsibility for his actions and take the consequences that would come. And where Tyler was no stranger to accepting consequences, he still didn't like it when he was doing things for the right reasons but still had to get flak for it.

Tyler knocked on the door and he was told to enter, the door opened and into the captain's cabin both Tyler and Miguel stepped inside. As Tyler wanted to make a good impression, he saluted shortly after coming inside the cabin, "Commander Tyler McGregor reporting as per request," he stated.

Tyler found himself looking at the captain and they were a woman, which was somewhat rare but not unheard of by any means. Tyler knew there was a difference between male captains and female captains, and he was not discriminating, merely giving the truth as he'd seen it. The woman looked up at me, "I'm captain Mary Shepard, I assume that your companion is the ZAFT pilot I was told about," she replied in an almost emotionless voice.

Miguel didn't mistake the tone in the woman's voice, she wasn't in a good mood and thin ice was below his feet right now. He had thought being around Commander Creuset was difficult, but this woman was giving off a bit of a worse air. So, Miguel knew it would be best for him to be on his best behavior which was him saluting the woman, "Ma'am, I'm ZAFT green pilot Miguel Aiman," he said stiffly.

Tyler saw the signs that Lisa was as quick to minimize risk as she ever was, and he was thankful for what she does as it tends to save hassle later on. The air in the room wasn't sitting well for Tyler as this woman is giving off a serious, no-nonsense vibe. It kind of reminded Tyler of how his mother could get when she's ticked off about something and he avoid her when she's like that. Captain Shepard nodded in return to the introduction, then she turned back to Tyler, "Commander, perhaps you can explain somethings to me as sensor readings haven't said much as of yet." Tyler inclined his head to signal Captain Shepard to keep going and she did, "With the orders that I received along with the other ships in the patrol, it was my understanding that we would be here to bring to task the Alliance forces that were in Orb's resource colony."

Tyler could respect another that wanted to get straight to the point as he tended to do that himself. Yet, he swallowed and then nodded, "That sounds about right captain," he confirmed, but wasn't given the chance to explain as Captain Shepard continued.

"And yet, when we in the patrol arrived on site, we find debris where the space colony should be. What happened Commander for this to be the case," she demanded.

Tyler was quickly thinking on where to begin in the explanation of how things had come to where they were currently. He had known that the question as to what happened here would come, the answer was just so complicated. Tyler cleared his throat, "Well Captain Shepard, things got far more complicated in the last few days which wasn't expected." Tyler received a bit of a cold glare from Captain Shepard, which he took to mean don't ramble and just answer her question outright. "Put simply ma'am, things were going fine at the beginning of the week, then things started getting tense and complicated quickly. Today started alright, then ZAFT forces got involved. They entered the colony, I believe they were aiming to only foil OMNI's weapon development and them moving any of the project."

Tyler paused and looked back at Miguel who he hoped would back up the story/assumption that he was making. Tyler was trying to help Miguel not look so guilty in this, but he could only do so much. Miguel wouldn't disagree with the statement of ZAFT aiming for the Alliance's project for that was the original plan. Of course, things hadn't worked out as hoped and things developed into what had happened. So, Miguel nodded at Tyler's statement, "Yes, we were only there to get the prototype mobile suits. It was never intended for the citizens of the colony or the colony itself to be put into harm's way," he said in a sober tone.

Turning back to Captain Shepard, Tyler picked up the explanation, "Unfortunately, OMNI personnel's reactions added lots of fuel to the chaos, which in turn, put the colony and its citizens in danger. My fellow team members and I tried to minimize the damage the best possible. However, it didn't work out the way that we hoped in the end as it obvious. I managed to board a mobile suit at the Morgenroete Inc. complex, along with another and we fought off the last stolen Alliance machine and two GINNs. The three machines retreated and then I hooked up with the OMNI forces that were still alive for a bit. It was in the hopes that further damage to Heliopolis could be prevented. I'm ashamed to say, the results," Tyler hesitated, "speak for themselves ma'am." Tyler lowered his head slightly and didn't meet the woman's gaze, "I made a bad judgement call, and I admit that. The new OMNI ship proved more powerful than I'd calculated from the blueprints that had been obtained and what information that I'd gotten on it. That was made worse with lack of experienced crew operating her, and because of that, Heliopolis is now in pieces. This is due to my bad call, so it's in part my fault," Tyler admitted as he finished his recounting.

Tyler couldn't read the captain's face from what he had told her, but she shifted her gaze to Miguel. "And how did you come to keep the company with this ZAFT pilot," she asked.

"During the last fight, three GINNs," Tyler started remembering his comrades, "well, were destroyed and when I and two other mobile suit pilots surrounded his machine. I gave him the option to exit his machine and give himself up and live. When he exited his suit, the Alliance ship fired one of its beam turrets. I reacted and grabbed Miguel here and rushed downward to avoid being shot. However, that beam hit the colony central shaft and it didn't take nicely at all. During the process of the colony breaking up, I was pulled outside of the main colony from the force of the atmosphere being sucked out. I gave my word that I would return him to the vessel he is assigned to, that's all captain," Tyler summed up.

Then Tyler waited for the verdict to come, what that will be he couldn't say, but he would face the consequences of his decision. The captain seemed to be considering what Tyler had said for a couple minutes, then she looked to Miguel, "And what ship were you assigned to," she asked curtly.

"The Nazca-class vessel Vesalius ma'am," replied Miguel.

Captain Shepard nodded slightly, "Very well, I don't see why that cannot be arranged. One last question for you pilot Aiman."

Miguel didn't know what to make of this Federation captain other than to not get on her bad side as it felt worse than being in front of Commander Creuset. "That is ma'am," he asked.

"Whom might your mission commander be," inquired Captain Shepard.

Tyler had a good guess thanks to Lacus, but he was curious too as he wanted to be sure who he was dealing with. The information Tyler had seen on Rau Le Creuset had given a clear picture of the man and it wasn't a good one at all. The man Rau Le Creuset had created the reputation for himself that he didn't do things by the book if he wasn't forced to which was rare. Rules and regulations meant little to him, they weren't boundaries, they were 'suggestions' that he usually dismissed as nothing. There were many Federation officers that wanted Creuset to be held responsible for what things he pulled, and Tyler knew that as fact. The reason the man didn't normally was he got off for his actions within ZAFT before the Federation could get ahold of the man.

Miguel looked somewhat surprised at the question, not at asking the mission commander necessarily, but for something else. He understood the reason for the inquiry but there were some stories that didn't paint the commander nicely, but they were just stories. "Oh, that would be Commander Rau Le Creuset," he replied.

That confirmed Tyler's information and he would be making sure that the man's name was in his report on what happened to Heliopolis specifically. That man had ZAFT forces enter the colony, and Tyler was pretty sure the man knew the action was against standing treaties. And Tyler had never liked those like that who disregarded rules just because they could, Tyler always had a reason when he did such but there was none in this for Creuset to use. He entertained the hope that perhaps his report could nail Creuset, but Tyler knew he would have to wait and see on that.

The captain nodded at the answer, then she touched a communication control, "Sulu, move the ship towards the nearest ZAFT vessel, identify it visually if you have to, you're looking for the Nazca-class destroyer. Once you have identified it, inform me please."

"Understood Captain, will do," was the reply to the request over the com-channel.

Captain Shepard turned back to the both of us, "We will return you to your ship Miguel Aiman. Plus, I would like a word with your mission commander," she said in a tone Tyler couldn't read.

At the same time, aboard the Archangel, red lights flashed throughout the ship and normal lighting had been dimmed creating a cold feeling throughout the ship. There were soft alarms sounding as those onboard were taking in what had just happened. In the mess hall, the Heliopolis students stared at the view screen in shock gazing at the ruins of their home, all of them having trouble taking it all in. In mere minutes, the colony had broken apart into fragments and becoming completely uninhabitable. It had seemed so unlikely, the colony coming apart, it had always been solid and functional.

Meanwhile, on the bridge of the ship, the crew was in just as much shock, "I can't believe this," Mu uttered as he looked out the viewport, "it was, so fragile." All the OMNI personnel had been told how colonies could collapse, but for all looking at the scene, it was the first time they had seen such an event.

Murrue clenched a fist at the sight of the results of this fight displayed in front of them for it wasn't supposed to happen. Heliopolis wasn't supposed to be attacked, nor collapse yet, that's exactly what had occurred and there was nothing that could be done to undo this. All the planning and careful actions taken had been for nothing at this point. Murrue considered the situation, they had one of the prototype mobile suits, plus two that was nothing about. The majority of the Archangel's assigned crew was dead along with the pilots for the G-weapons. The ship was now in a situation that it would likely have to fight its way out off with an unknown chance of success. Put simply, things were grim and Murrue knew that even if she didn't want to admit it out loud.

She turned and look down at Natarle trying to contact Kira, Tyler, and Lacus as there had been no word from them since the colony collapsed. That was the other problem currently, the collapse had separated their mobile suits and the interference wasn't helping find them. "X105 Strike, X209 Shadow, SA01 Asuka," Natarle said, tones of worry becoming audible. "Lacus Christopher! Tyler McGregor! Kira Yamato! If you hear me, respond!"

"This is SA01 Asuka, Kira here," came Kira's voice over the radio though the channel had an amount of static on it.

"X105 Strike, this is Lacus," came Lacus's voice an instant later to which Natarle began to sigh in relief.

Yet, the third reply that was expected didn't come for there was only crackling static after Kira and Lacus replied. "X209 Shadow, respond," Natarle repeated. However, static was all that was heard which made the bridge crew uneasy. Two out of three machines were better than none, but the Shadow had proven to be quite powerful with McGregor in it. Yet, Natarle accepted that for the moment, the Shadow wherever it was couldn't communicate with the Archangel and would be on its own for the time being. "You two alright," Natarle asked the other teens.

"Yes, we seem to be fine," said Lacus.

"Do you have our position," posed Natarle.

"Yes," replied Kira sounding strained.

"Then return for now," said Natarle. "You're able to, right?"

"Is there anything from Tyler," asked Lacus.

Murrue frowned at the question as to tell the teens anything but the truth wouldn't be right after what they had just done. The three teens had outdone any expectation that any had of them when they launched out. That any of them were alive was quite impressive, that only one was missing was unfortunate but could be worse. "None yet, but with the interference, it might be hard for contact to be made if he's much of a distance from the ship. We will keep trying though, come back to the ship for now," she said.

At the same time, much of the bridge crew of the Vesalius gazed out at the wreckage of the former space colony off and on while they worked. The air of worry and apprehension was easy to feel by all on the bridge and it seemed to get thicker as time moved forward. "Who could have anticipated this," muttered Ades. "What will you do now? The Council won't overlook the annihilation of a neutral nation's colony. And even if they do, it's unlikely that others will."

Rau knew the man had a point, whether Orb itself raised the stink or some within the Federation, this event wouldn't be kept quiet. However, Rau had been considering that if he could spin this event in the right way, he could get the blame shoved onto the Alliance and off of himself. It wouldn't be easy, especially if the Federation had evidence of some sort to point to him, but it was possible. "How can a colony that was building new weaponry for OMNI be considered neutral," posed Creuset.

Ades would admit that Creuset's words weren't exactly wrong, but that wouldn't fly with some. ZAFT had enough problems without creating more by doing stupid stunts and the commander should know that. "But Commander," started Ades.

Rau Le Creuset turned away while Captain Ades was clenching his fists, the whole mess with Heliopolis had been blown out of proportion quickly. He had agreed with the view of Commander Le Creuset before with what they had known. The information on the mobile suits being developed had been solid, but for the results of the actions to be this was not the outcome hoped for. Now the new Alliance warship was somewhere in the debris, which with the heat and other interference, wouldn't be found for the time being as the sensors couldn't tell the difference between it and the surrounding debris. They were down four mobile suit pilots between the Vesalius and the Laurasia-class ship, the Gamow. They had lost all their green uniformed pilots and that was harsh, and all they had to work with was the four Alliance prototypes and those weren't usable just yet.

Commander Creuset was looking over the map display, he had said that he was attempting predict where the enemy carrier he had nicknamed the 'legged ship' was right now. Ades knew that Command Creuset had a reputation of disregarding rules, he had read up on him before the masked man had come onboard the Vesalius. Rau Le Creuset's record of service for ZAFT was good and bad when you looked over his whole career. He had participated in well-known battles, but on missions, the results didn't always justify the means he chose to go with. In this, the situation wasn't a simple one anymore and there were consequences that would come.

Once the PLANTs Supreme Council got wind of what happened, and they would probably by the curtesy of the Federation Military or Human Federation politics, there would be an uproar. Then, there would be bad repercussions for those involved for sure. One of the few ways things could become worse in Ades's view was if a Federation patrol were to come by with them still around the area. The tense silence was interrupted by the communications officer, "Captain," he said a tad shakily. "There's a Federation ship requesting to have a word with us sir," said the officer.

Captain Ades had been apprehensive before about how things had played out, now he was seriously concerned at what was going to happen. Granted, there had always been the risk of the Federation finding out that ZAFT forces had attacked a neutral colony, all on this mission knew that in the back of their minds. However, for them to be here now with the space colony just collapsed put the Vesalius and the Gamow in very incriminating positions! Looking over at Commander Creuset and seeing he hadn't looked up at all at the statement from the com-officer didn't help things.

It wasn't surprising that there had been no warning of the presence of a Federation ship, they were pretty much undetectable until they wanted to be seen. The Federation's stealth capabilities were no great secret, the methods certainly were from both ZAFT and the Alliance. Yet, the Federation's ships all had the ability to seemingly appear out of nowhere, that was made clear to both sides early on during the war, if not before the war officially started. Ades sighed since it fell to him to answer the call, "Very well, put them on," he said calmly even if he didn't feel so.

A moment later, an image of a woman came up on the main screen, she had red hair and was in the customary Federation military uniform that was mostly blue, and the rest black with gold trim. Captain Ades cleared his throat, "This is Captain Fredrik Ades of the ZAFT vessel Vesalius. What can we do for the Federation?"

"This is Captain Mary Shepard of the Federation cruiser Donnen. Captain Ades, it is requested that you stay where you are and prepare to have Federation personnel come on board your vessel," said the woman that had identified herself as Captain Shepard in a serious tone.

It may have been put as a request, but in reality, it was a statement of what to do for the least amount of trouble in the immediate future. The Federation Military was known for disabling vessels that didn't comply with requests if they saw the reason to and they usually did. However, Rau then came forward and entered the conversation, "And what reason would the Federation have to come aboard this vessel Captain Shepard," he asked looking at the main screen now.

"In case you haven't noticed Commander, the resource colony Heliopolis has collapsed, and by the heat in the general area, it happened recently. The Orb Union who owned the space colony will want an explanation as to what happened and as a member nation of the Federation, we intend to find out for them. With you in this area, the assumption is that you saw what could have caused the event, so an exchange of information is in order. Then, one of our pilots picked up a ZAFT pilot that has said that he is assigned to your vessel. We are bringing him back to your ship to return them," stated Captain Shepard curtly.

Captain Ades was surprise at the mention of a ZAFT pilot being returned as well as the fact of the Orb Union being a member of the Human Federation. There had never been any report or announcement of that fact and it was a point that would make this situation possibly worse than it already was. Technically speaking, it was ZAFT mobile suits fighting that had contributed to the colony's collapse even if OMNI was also involved. "How nice of the Federation to wish to return one of our pilots. There is no problem with Federation personnel coming on board our vessel and an exchange of information would be welcome," replied Commander Creuset.

The channel with the Federation vessel closed and Captain Ades turned to Creuset, "Commander, do you really think it's a wise idea to allow Federation personnel on the Vesalius? The Alliance ship could use the time to escape," Ades remarked.

Rau thought for a moment since what Ades has said was possible and even likely, but there was more to this situation then capturing that ship. If they cooperated, that could show they had less to do with the colony collapse and that would be very beneficial. "That is a possibility yet, the more that we cooperate with the Federation, the less blame of what happened to Heliopolis we'll likely receive and the more that can be done the better. Plus, I'm quite curious which of our pilots they saved," replied Creuset.

Ades nodded slowly at the "reassurance" but still had reservations about this event as the Federation weren't known for being very understanding with "rule breaking". History of encounters with the Federation's Military tended to show the opposite of understanding. If you didn't have solid proof that you didn't do something, then you were suspected and would be questioned. And truthfully, those from the Vesalius and the Gamow didn't have evidence that would help them not appear to be involved.

Commander Creuset left the bridge after the communication with the Federation ship and headed to the upper deck. He planned to greet the Federation personnel that would come aboard the Vesalius to make a nice impression. First, showing good manners would get an amount of blame off ZAFT forces for what happened, and Creuset wouldn't say no to that. And it would be interesting to find out how much the Federation had known about OMNI's development as it would be shocking if they had known nothing. The ways that Federation found out things was nothing short of amazing, even Rau had to begrudgingly admit that point though he didn't like to. Their "Information Network" was impressive, but they never shared the use of that, and Creuset had tried to get access through others, yet never managed to get anything out of that.

As Creuset went the tense air was spreading, especially when the Federation cruiser became visible above the Nazca-class. The ship shook a bit as the Federation cruiser connected to one of the upper hull airlocks. In fact, Rau saw there was already a number of officers and crew members gathering at the two hatches in the upper hull of the ship. Nicol was among them since he had returned to the Vesalius not too long ago from the other ZAFT vessel.

For Nicol, this was his first in person experience with Federation forces. He had read about what they did and their normal tactics but reading and experiencing were different. Admittedly, he was more curious than nervous about this encounter. There had been a rumor than the Federation had rescued one of the pilots that had gone into the colony. And one saved was better than all dead as was feared when the colony collapsed.

Then with little warning the hatch closer to the ship's rear opened up and two uniformed Federation officers floated through the hatch and oriented themselves perpendicular to the deck of the Vesalius. Moments after the two officers came through, the woman that had spoken on the radio channel came through the hatch. Creuset made his way to the front of the crowd, "Ah, Captain Shepard, welcome on board of the Vesalius. It's always a pleasure when officers of the Federation's Military come and visit."

Mary Shepard's face took on a serious expression, "This is not the time for flattery Creuset, nor am I interest in hearing any from you."

The exchange was being observed by the crew in the area, though none interfered with it. Yet,

seconds after the brief exchange of words, another person came out of the hatch, yet this person was wearing a green ZAFT pilot suit. Nicol instantly recognized the individual as Miguel Aiman and Nicol moved forward, "Miguel," he called with surprise.

A second person came through the hatch rolling to orient themselves with the ship deck. That second person was a young man with tan hair and wearing grey and tan camo-pants and a black leather top. The top had shoulder pads that had belts that went under the armpits and connected on the back of the shoulder pads on both sides. There was an inch-wide strip of leather that went across the upper chest that attached to the belts on the shoulder pads. Then there was a two-inch wide belt around the waist area of the uniform. Chap like lengths of leather extended over the outside of the upper legs, yet still were connected to the top piece. The sides of the top were grey as were the two-inch cuffs of the short sleeve top and to top off this uniform, blue lining the folds and seams of the clothing. The uniform was the less formal uniform of the Federation military.

Creuset noticed Miguel being surrounded by the crew, "Miguel, it is wonderful to see you alive and now back on the Vesalius," he greeted.

Miguel saluted, "Thank you Commander, sorry it took me so long."

"Not at all Miguel, having you back is enough," returned Creuset before turning to Captain Shepard. "You have my thanks as well as ZAFT's for bringing back one of our own Captain, it is very much appreciated. Now then, if you would follow me, we can exchange the information that we have on recent events."

Captain Shepard nodded and followed the ZAFT Commander down the corridor. Nicol closed the distance and put a hand on Miguel's shoulder, "Miguel, are you okay," he asked.

"Yeah, I am, thanks Nicol," Miguel paused thinking about his three comrades, "only wished that Lester, Keagan, and Paul were here with me too."

Tyler said nothing as technically, he was responsible for taking down two out of the three other ZAFT pilots that had come into the colony. Of course, Tyler hadn't wanted to kill them and wasn't pleased about it since he certainly wasn't. However, it had been kill or be killed at the time, so Tyler had done what he had to protect others. Plus, it seemed that Miguel wasn't mentioning that Tyler was the pilot of one of the mobile suits, so he didn't see a reason to bring it up.

Athrun Zala came into the corridor to find out what was going on with the noise. He had been in his quarters since hearing about those sent to the colony were all likely dead when the colony collapsed. Athrun was cursing that he hadn't gone with them so that he could have helped and perhaps helped them get back alive. Yet, as Athrun took in the crowd and saw who it was around, he stopped for at the center was Miguel. It had pained him as much if not more than worried him to have been told that. If those two odd mobile suits and the last Alliance machine were able to dispatch four GINNs, they were becoming more dangerous as time passed. Athrun floated forward towards the thinning crowd, "Miguel," he got out with shock and relief, "you're alive."

Both Nicol and Miguel turned to face Athrun as he came towards them. Miguel was well-aware that if not for the Federation pilot with him, he would have died with his comrades. Of course, he had already personally thanked Tyler McGregor as he said his name was for the save. So, Miguel nodded, "Thought I wouldn't make it for a bit, but it's really thanks to this guy over here," said Miguel pointing to the tan-haired young man who smiled slightly at being gestured at, "I wouldn't be here if not for him, especially when my GINN was destroyed."

At hearing that, Nicol faced the young man and saw that he was a little older than himself. And whoever this person was, they had saved a comrade and that was something to be grateful for. For saving lives, the faction they were a part of didn't matter, a life saved was still a life saved and that was a deed to be recognized. So, Nicol bowed to the one that Miguel had gestured to, "Thank you very much for helping even one of our comrades to make it back to us," he said.

When Athrun heard Nicol's thanks, he shook his head a bit as he focused on the one responsible for Miguel being alive and back on aboard the ship. No matter who they were or what a member of the Federation's military had been doing around here, it was because of them that Miguel was here now. There had been enough lives lost already today and thankfully there was one spared from that fate. Manners dictated that gratitude be shown for the action even if the reasons for them being around the colony were questionable.

However, as Athrun looked to the face of the young man, he found his mind coming to a halt at what he saw. The face was familiar, but it couldn't be who he thought it was even with the five or so years that had gone by since he had seen him. Tyler easily saw the look of recognition from his friend who he knew instantly. Sure, it had been five years or so since Tyler had seen Athrun, but it was easy to know it was him. And so, Tyler simply waved at Athrun with a smile, "Hey Athrun, long time no see man," he said then put a hand to his chin, "Although, I've got to say, I was expecting a bit more of a greeting rather than a shocked gape. I mean, it has been a while since the last time our paths crossed one another's."

Miguel and Nicol looked between the two as it was clear they knew each other somehow. The question of how was running through both their minds as Athrun had never mentioned a friend like this one. It was Miguel that voiced his mind first, "Wait, you two know each other?"

Tyler was forced to pause as what is said implied that Athrun hadn't mentioned him to anyone here. It was understandable really, it had been years since he, Kira, and Tyler had been around one another. But where could Tyler even begin with the friendship that Athrun, Kira and he had? In the end, Tyler rubbed the back of his head, "Well, yes," he admitted, "I would definitely say that we do. By the way, I don't think I've introduced myself yet, my name is Tyler McGregor, and I'm a Federation pilot. It's nice to meet you all."

"I'm Nicol Amalfi, nice to meet you Mr. McGregor," replied Nicol stretching a hand out.

Tyler held in the flinch at being called Mr. as there tended to be two reasons that he got the Mr. title added to his last name. The first was formality which Tyler wasn't fond of, but normally tolerated from those that insisted using the idea. The other reason was that Tyler had done something that had gotten him into trouble that he was facing the consequences of. So, Tyler took the offered hand and shook it, "Nice to meet you Nicol, but please, just Tyler will be fine," he said.

Athrun was trying to come up with an explanation as to why Tyler would be around here at all. But he couldn't come up with a reasonable answer, which snapped out of his shocked state. "Tyler what are you doing around here," he questioned.

Tyler frowned at Athrun's question since it wasn't the way Tyler wanted to have a reunion go if he could help it. And Athrun was one of Tyler's best friends and it had been a number of years since they had seen one another. Granted, this wasn't the best circumstance for a reunion to take place and Tyler didn't deny that, but still. "That's the first question you ask me Athrun, not how have you been, or what's going on with you," posed Tyler in a slightly hurt tone, "After all, it's been around five years since you and I have been in each other's presence, close to two since we've chatted much."

Athrun blinked at what Tyler said, and then realized there was more truth to the subject of how long it had been since he and Tyler had talked. Honestly, Athrun hadn't talked face-to-face with Tyler or Kira for two years at least and likely more. He had sent a message or two to each of them, but that had been it sadly looking back. The three were still friends, none of them questioned that, but the absence of seeing and talking was taking a toll on him. So, Athrun's gaze fell a bit, "Sorry Tye, I didn't mean," he started.

Tyler wasn't trying to embarrass his friend or make him feel bad, only prod him a bit and have a laugh from the result. So, Tyler snickered before putting a hand up to stop Athrun to stop talking, "You still take things way too seriously my friend. I was just messing with you and didn't mean anything by what I said." Tyler moved forward and embraced Athrun, "Still, I have to say it's good to see you man, you're looking well."

Nicol cleared his throat as it felt like he and Miguel were intruding, "Well, it seems you two have catching up to do, so I'll go and finish the adjustments to the mobile suit I brought back," he said.

Miguel agreed with Nicol's thought of leaving these two to catchup as it was beginning to feel awkward for him and Nicol. "Yeah, I'll come with you Nicol," interjected Miguel.

Tyler pulled away from Athrun and looked at the other two starting to move away. Truthfully, Tyler didn't have much to do and he wanted a distraction to take his mind off things and this was an opportunity. So, he waved a hand, "Oh, we can all go, I have to wait for Captain Shepard anyway and she's talking with Commander Creuset. Who knows how long that'll take? So, I need something to do to keep myself occupied," Tyler remarked.

None disagreed and so, the four proceeded down to the Vesalius's hangar. Along the way, Tyler and Athrun were making small talk between one another catching up on thing. Miguel and Nicol were smiling while they listened and glanced back at the two friends speaking avidly with one another. Once in the hangar, Nicol floated over to the Blitz and popped into the cockpit to do some needed work. Tyler looked around and his gaze stopped briefly on the two stolen OMNI machines as the Aegis was also in a dock.

Athrun noticed this and frowned slightly as it was complicated how and why the mobile suits got to the ship. He still had his doubts about the mission, but what was done was done, and there was no way to undo what happened. It was proof that the war was a horrible thing and the damage it caused more often than not. So, Athrun was trying to come up with a way to explain what Tyler was seeing, "These two machines," he began.

Tyler knew exactly what the machines were and how they got there even if his friend didn't know that. It was one of the issues Tyler had with not keeping in touch with his best friends, the miscommunication and the lack of it sucked. So, he didn't let Athrun finished as he spoke up, "Are two of OMNI's prototype mobile suits, specifically the X209 Blitz and the X303 Aegis," he said flatly as if the information was common knowledge.

Miguel and Athrun gaped at Tyler since he seemed perfectly aware of the machines' existence. OMNI had been going to quite some lengths to keep their project a secret from what the ZAFT intelligence agents had said. Athrun knew that Tyler had a knack of knowing things that he probably shouldn't, and he never said how he found out the information. However, this was more a stretch than was normal for Tyler that Athrun knew. But it was Miguel that first to gain use of his voice, "How do you know that," he asked.

Nicol popped his head out of the Blitz's cockpit hearing a few words and those had piqued his interest. This friend of Athrun's seemed to know about the Alliance prototype mobile suits and with the difficulty that ZAFT agents had getting the info they had that was odd. True, the young man said he was a Federation pilot and the Federation Military always seemed to have ways to find out about things, but still. "I learned about them during the last year as a member of the Federation investigation team that was sent to Heliopolis," Tyler stated smoothly. "In fact, I know about all five prototypes including the three that aren't here."

Nicol was doing some serious thinking as if there had been a team sent by the Federation to the colony, that implied that they had either known or suspected OMNI had been doing weapon development there. And while Nicol didn't know all the policies, agreements, or treaties the Federation had, he was quite sure there was one that pertained to weapon development with Federation resources and data being unacceptable. Then from what was rumored to have been said in the exchange between the Federation cruiser and the Vesalius, the Orb Union was a member of the Human Federation. Were that true, then what ZAFT forces did would probably not be seen the nicest even if they had been going against OMNI forces. For all those that had been involved that were in ZAFT knew, they had interrupted the Federation dealing with the situation at the colony.

"You say that there has been an investigation team at the colony," started Nicol figuring the best way to find out more was to ask. "Then does that mean that the Federation was aware of the activities of OMNI there?"

Tyler turned to face Nicol knowing that the truth would not be nice as it would show ZAFT had interfered when they shouldn't have. Tyler suspect Athrun was beating himself up already with what had occurred in the colony and so, Tyler didn't want to make it worse. Nonetheless, Tyler didn't want to lie about had been done as lives had been put in danger and that wouldn't be dismissed. So, he nodded, "Yes, but not at first, there's been the rumor that OMNI personnel were doing weapon development in neutral territory. So, I was part of the team assigned to look into the rumor's validity at Heliopolis. And as I believe we all know now, they were using the colony to do the development of mobile suits," he answered, Tyler's tone had been gaining a bit of a spiteful tone halfway through his explanation. Then Tyler had the thought that Athrun and his colleague would have seen the OS and he never had a problem with a second opinion about things. "Say Athrun, Nicol, what do you think of the OS OMNI's suits have? I was never able to get as much information on the operating system they were supposedly designing as I was hoping for. It makes me kind of curious about it since OMNI and through them the Alliance has been attempting to develop a Natural-use OS for who knows how long now. I've been wanting to know if they have made much headway or if they still have a long way to go."

The question produced a mixture of reactions from both Athrun and Nicol as both had gotten the time to look over the whole system the mobile suits had. To say that the OMNI's OS was not up to a creditable standard, or even working order was an understatement. Nicol had made a basic plan for himself of how to redesign the system to make it work where the mess of the original system couldn't do. It would take hours or work Nicol knew, but it would pay off later when he was in battle by saving him and that was his mentality. Whereas Athrun even though he had much the same view, he had intended to go through and do one system at a time. However, both could agree that the OS the machines had come with was not a usable operating system. Both Nicol and Athrun's faces ended out with an expression of disgust, "Operating System, I don't think you can exactly call the system that were installed on them which was to 'run' these machines, an operating system," replied Nicol.

Athrun nodded in agreement, "Yes, the system was a mess and that is putting it mildly. I can't guess what the designers were thinking with how it was to work with the mobile suit."

Tyler agreed with the assessment, more so after seeing the system and knowing that he had written portions of it. Of course, had Tyler known that Kato was using him to write an OS, he would have refused outright, but that was a moot point now. "So," Tyler posed, "Would you say the OS is garbage, junk, something along those lines, yes?"

That was an apt description from what Nicol had seen thus far, he had been debating ripping out the OS and starting from scratch frankly. Athrun had much the same opinion, the system had been ridiculous, and it was so unusable, the suits would be target practice once the phase shift system ran out of power. That in mind, both Nicol and Athrun nodded, "Yes, something like that would be fairly accurate," replied Athrun, "I know that I had to pretty much rewrite the OS to have something that would work enough to leave."

Yet, the conversation ended when a ship officer came into the hangar and went over to the group of pilots saying their presences were needed on the bridge of the vessel. The four pilots headed up to the bridge once they were ready, Tyler being guided as he wasn't on ZAFT vessels often so was fuzzy on their exact layout. In the command center of the vessel, Captain Shepard, Commander Creuset, and Captain Ades were looking over information being displayed when the pilots entered. Rau glanced over as the four arrived, "Ah, you four are here, very good," he said waving them over.

They came over to the display table, the information that the commanding officers had been looking at was still there. Tyler glanced over the table and read information that was there seeing it was a message from the higher-ups in ZAFT. Put simply, there was being an accounting being called for those that were involved in the incident with Heliopolis. Tyler had nothing against that, but he had a feeling it wouldn't go as intended but couldn't say exactly how. "As you can see, the Vesalius has been called back to the homeland by the Supreme Council. They want an explanation for what happened at Heliopolis in detail," Rau iterated.

Captain Shepard inclined her head, "And since the Donnen is going that way as well for the same reasons it is logical to go together. Also, because the members of the investigation team are on the Donnen, they will be giving their report to the council at the same meeting," she said.

Tyler knew that what Captain Shepard said meant that at least he would be giving a report to the PLANTs Supreme Council. He didn't see a problem with that per se, but he feared his voice wouldn't help as much as he would like. With the way the war was going, those with common sense and reason didn't seemed to be heeded much. Plus, he would likely have to wear the formal Federation uniform which Tyler didn't like but did when required.

After the agreement, Federation personnel returned from the Vesalius and Tyler was shown by Commander Sulu to quarters for the journey to the PLANTs. The room wasn't large, but nor was it what the mid and lower ranked officers of a Federation vessel assigned. Their quarters are meant to bunk three to five officers where higher officers had their own room normally. The room Tyler was given had a bed, a sink, a couch, and desk for working space which would be helpful. Tyler reminded himself that he would have to thank Captain Shepard for the quarters as he had a report to write about what happened at Heliopolis for Federation High Command and summarize for the Council.

Although Tyler wasn't looking forward to writing the report with the chain of events that had occurred at the colony. He sighed before sending the pack of what he had towards the bed and floated over to the desk and began to get his thoughts into order for the report. He felt that Creuset would try to worm out of responsibility if given the opportunity. So, Tyler didn't intent to give the man any room to wave off what his decision brought about. Nonetheless, Tyler was brought out of his thoughts by a knock on the door. "Come in," Tyler announced without much thought.

The door slid open and when Tyler glanced in that direction, he saw that the other three members of the investigation team were coming inside. It was not the first time that the whole team had gathered together, but it wasn't a common event throughout the last year either for them. In the lead was Alan Knight standing at six foot in height making him the tallest in the group by a small margin. He was a Natural-type human that had short blonde hair that was styled with the hair going back leaving his forehead in clear view and also drawing attention to his hazel eyes.

Luke Lascy was just behind Alan with his height a little more than an inch shorter than Alan with his customary happy-go-lucky smile in place. Luke possessed spiky hair that was an average of three inches in length and was charcoal-black, while his eyes were a slate-grey color. Such a color was on the rarer side to be chosen for Coordinators, but it was ultimately up to the choice of the parents of them.

Lisa brought up the rear and all three were still in their pilot suits from the colony collapse incident. Alan sat on the bed, Luke floated up into a corner of the room and Lisa floated by the desk. Tyler cleared his throat before starting the conversation, "So, what do I owe the visit from you all," he asked as he began typing up the report for the Heliopolis assignment.

"Well," Lisa began, "the three of us thought we could help you with the investigation report by discussing the events that came out to the collapse of the colony since the report will be unpleasant to write I wouldn't doubt."

Tyler was glad at times like this that he was working with comrades that had also become good friends on missions like these. The discussion of the series of events were helpful for Tyler and the report he had to write. It had started with the arrival at Heliopolis as none had gotten there at the same time rather done over a week period. It would've been seen as suspicious if the team members all arrived together at the colony, so Tyler and Lisa had decided to space out the arrivals. With the assignment they were on, discretion was important, so the less attention that was drawn the better. Each member had a different story for the 'reason' that they were coming to Heliopolis and allow them to access different place in the colony.

Tyler's story was coming to Heliopolis on an educational exchange as well as getting to "experience the culture", which was believable with him being eighteen. Plus, that gave him the opportunity to look into the technical college and its professors who could possibly be involved in weapon development if OMNI was doing so at Heliopolis. The story hadn't been questioned and Tyler had the needed documents ready or made to not attract attention.

Lisa came as a liaison between the ones in charge of the resource colony and the maintenance workers within the administration structure. It was a position that was sorely needed and hadn't been filled for a period of time, so none had questioned her application for the job. It would allow her to look into the leaders of the colony and the maintenance sector as well. And Tyler knew she was a good people person from some of the previous missions that they had worked on together.

Alan came under the guise of a contracted architectural engineer that would work alongside Morgenroete Inc. personnel. That gave him easy and unnoticed access to the records of Morgenroete itself and with the company suspected of being used, it was pretty much a requirement. While Luke would be at Heliopolis as a journalist and part-time photographer making him able to mingle with the population without suspicion. The plan had covered most contingencies from what Tyler and the others had seen thus far.

Although Tyler would admit that bumping into Kira again even if unexpected was very nice for him and helped his objective not to be noticed by others. Fitting in was key and having 'friends' helped Tyler in that even if he didn't like to keep them in the dark about what he was really doing. However, Tyler had gained the mentality to not mix work with personal life which friends were part of personal life. It had only taken six weeks for the team to find evidence that confirmed OMNI was indeed using Heliopolis's Morgenroete Inc. for their development project. Truthfully, it'd been Lisa and Tyler that had found the fact of OMNI's activities, and it had been by accident.

Lisa had come across some of the ship officers that were around the colony maintenance personnel. While Tyler had seen a man later and had identified him as the captain assigned to the OMNI ship, or was supposed to be while around the college as Tyler had caught a view of his Alliance ID. That revelation had transitioned to the team investigating more closely into the activities in and around the space colony. The three Federation fighters had been delivered four and a half months into this mission when Lisa had gained the trust of the maintenance workers. They had told her about the original construction docks in unused section of the colony which was where the fighters were stored when not in use and no one would likely come across them.

The team had found out about the warship first, the Archangel being built under the development complex. Then when Professor Muto had started giving Kira and Tyler 'work' to do for him, it had got Tyler to thinking about there being more to the OMNI's project. It was not too long after Tyler had begun to be suspicious of more that Alan had gotten a view of one of the mobile suits being constructed. Most of the rest of the time we had been at Heliopolis was used to get as much info on the warship and prototype mobile suits.

Tyler had also managed to talk to the OMNI officer that was to be the ship's captain, whose name was Lance Locke. He had found the man to be a good person and Tyler had wondered why the guy was with the Alliance. Of course, Tyler hadn't revealed that he was a Federation operative to the man. However, after getting to know Mr. Locke a bit, Tyler felt sorry about his death as he didn't deserve to die. The man had a family in the United States of South America and now they would be told that he wouldn't be coming back.

Back to the report, once the team findings were sent to Federation's military command, the decision came that a group would be sent to handle the issue. It was a few months passed before the team was told that a Federation patrol would be coming. They would upon arrival cease and confiscate both the titans and the warship as well as hold a number of the OMNI personnel. They were in clear violation of the Latinan Protocol that the Alliance had agreed to even if begrudgingly. That said, confiscation was a given and the arrival of the patrol and them doing their assignment should have been the end of the issue and mission.

But then had come ZAFT forces and they had messed things up and Tyler was noting their interference as such specifically. He knew that they couldn't have known that the Federation had been looking into OMNI's activities but that wasn't the problem. The issue Tyler saw was Rau Le Creuset had attacked a neutral space colony which belonged to a member nation of the Federation seemingly without a care in the world. Tyler wondered for a moment if the man truly believed that the Federation would let his actions and his pilots through him slide. If he did, then Creuset isn't as smart as his reputation said he is, or else he's very good and worming his way out of things. Tyler couldn't say which answer was more likely true, though he assumed the latter rather than the former from what he had seen.

The discussion with the others did help Tyler in deciding what to put in the report and what to highlight. It didn't make writing the report any nicer for Tyler since it was time consuming, but as the journey to the PLANTs was a between ten and nine-hour trip, he had a good amount of time to work with. Then he would have to present his case as Tyler expected Creuset would be doing his utmost to get out of responsibility for his actions.

Meanwhile, the Archangel was still hiding within the debris of Heliopolis and hadn't been found by ZAFT. The crew and officers of the ship except Chief Murdoch and the mechanics who were doing work to get the ship working smoothly and efficiently were gathered on the bridge. All of them were wondering what was next now that Heliopolis was gone and there was so little of the crew on this ship as most were dead from the ZAFT attack. All that was left of the original bridge crew were Ensign Badgiruel and Lieutenant Ramius while the rest were general non-commissioned crew members. Even if none there said it, all on the bridge knew things were grim for the Archangel and there were slim prospects of seeing improvement any time soon.

Mu had never liked awkward periods of silence as it made him antsy and he didn't like the feeling. So, he broke the silence, "So, what do you plan we do now?"

The question was one that Murrue had no definite answer to, and she wanted to have one as much as anyone. The situation was bad, there was no other way to say it really and Murrue knew that even if admitting it was harder. With the colony collapse, things had shifted to a cat and mouse game and the Archangel was the mouse where the ZAFT destroyer and cruiser were the cats. The locations of the ZAFT vessels were unknown right now, so none knew where they would come from if they attacked. "Our ship is still in a combat situation," said Murrue evenly. Then she looked over her shoulder at Pal, "Have you detected the ZAFT vessels?"

"No ma'am, that's impossible as things are right now," he said with a slight shake of his head. "All that debris is throwing out a tremendous amount of heat and presenting a solid mass to interfere with other forms of detection."

"ZAFT forces will have the same problem as us," said Krystal, turning in her seat to look at Murrue. "And they will likely wait for us to make a move then follow us."

Murrue wasn't appreciating having been shoved into the captain's chair with all that had happened up to this point. She was supposed to be manning the electronic warfare station down in the CIC that's what she was trained to do. Lance Locke was supposed to be in the captain's chair and Don Mann in the vice captain's seat. So Murrue never had thought she would be put into the captain's chair during this mission. However, Murrue couldn't change the current circumstances as much as she wanted to. And what Krystal had said sounded right and Murrue agreed with it, "Tactically speaking, I would have to agree. I think we should move based on that assumption, but if the enemy tries to attack us right now, we'll be in a lot of trouble."

Mu didn't blame Murrue for trying to soften the blow, but right now, it was best to just say things as they were. "Trouble is putting our situation mildly," he said. "All we've got are two mobile suits with inexperienced civilian volunteer pilots. Krystal's Mobile armor and mine are badly damaged and this warship that is severely understaffed. The third pilot we did have who might have had some knowledge with piloting a suit which would help has vanished with the machine he was in." Mu paused thinking on how to sum up things, "Overall, we're not in any real condition to be putting up much of a fight at this point." Mu sighed, "Is there anything going for us in this right now or are we just a couple of steps from being screwed?"

"The Archangel's firepower is tremendous," said Murrue attempting to think positive, but that didn't last long. "But not only are we short-handed, but of those of us left, only Ensign Badgiruel and myself were trained for bridge operations and then neither of our stations were weapon control, so I don't think either of us know much else other than loose basics for other stations. It would be different if we had another four bridge crewmen fully capable of handling the tasks, yet we don't. This ship is built to support a crew of on average between a hundred-fifty and two-hundred, and we're nowhere near that range."

Mu looked around, the only people they could offer for bridge operations were Murrue and Natarle. Arnold Neumann was handling the piloting and doing very well, considering that he wasn't any one of the ship pilots at all to begin with. Pal was currently sitting fire control and running the enemy search & detection with it as he at least knew the system even if it wasn't his assigned position. Optimally, the bridge should've had at least six more people staffing it, to make a total of eight. But of the surviving OMNI soldiers which included Krystal and himself, around ten of them were mechanics too busy making sure the ship didn't fall apart to do anything to help out on the bridge or almost anywhere else on the ship. The other seven were those of them on the bridge running the ship as best as they could.

"Maybe we should punch up to full speed, try to outrun them," suggested Mu, "I was told this is supposed to be a pretty fast ship."

Murrue knew that La Flaga was trying to help by suggesting potential actions, but it all came back to not having what they needed. The shortage of able crew made operating the ship properly and to its full potential impossible. So, she shook her head, "This ship has very high acceleration and cruising speed, but its mass is significantly more than the enemy's Nazca-class and has fewer engines for acceleration so it wouldn't be enough," she said. "We do have mobility and firepower on it, but-"

Mu understood what Murrue was saying, the trouble came back to not having the crew needed. "But an inexperienced crew and lack of people to run this ship is hurting us," finished Mu tiredly. Then he looked over at Arnold, "Think you can maneuver this bulky thing around a Nazca-class?"

Arnold shrugged, "Well sure, if I had a few weeks to practice," he replied, "Sorry Lieutenant, but I'm doing the best I can. What about you?"

The suggestion that had just been made caused Krystal to shiver slightly since the thought of Mu piloting a warship wasn't a pleasant one to her. She had seen enough of his piloting style he used with a mobile armor to know that a warship wouldn't take it kindly and that was being nice. Large space vessels were not the same as mobile armors and would be strained and ripped apart with some of the move armors could pull. "I wouldn't recommend that," piped up Krystal jabbing a thumb at Mu. "The Lieutenant is a good armor pilot, but a ship this size wouldn't do well with HIS driving style."

Mu gained a down casted look at pretty much being told he was a crazy driver by Krystal even if she did have a point. The way that he piloted a mobile armor wasn't meant for a warship and he knew it. "She unfortunately has a point, instinct would have me trying to fly it like my Zero Armor in no time flat. Plus, if a fight breaks out, I'll need to be out there, not in the driver's chair," Mu glanced over at Arnold, "no offense."

Arnold shrugged in response, then Mu turned back to Murrue as there was one other option as much as none wanted to admit it. "Well, I suppose we could always surrender captain," he said, catching the others off-guard, though Natarle remained focused down in the CIC. "That's always an option you know."

Mu had a point that surrender was an option, though Krystal knew it wasn't the preferred one. ZAFT wouldn't be the nicest, but they would unlikely kill them outright. If they were dealing the Federation's military, then Krystal would say it may be the best option right now but that wasn't what it was. "If we were dealing with the Federation's Military instead of ZAFT, then I would be more inclined to go with that since they tend to be more reasonable than ZAFT is, current relationships aren't helpful with that," Krystal added.

Murrue was about to response to Mu and Krystal, but was caught off guard by Natarle's voice, "What was that?" demanded the ensign. "Are you two out of your minds?! If you bring them aboard, you're putting them right in the middle of a dangerous combat situation! Do you really expect to be granted permission for such a thing?!"

All the bridge crew turned to look at Natarle in slight confusion, "What's the situation Ensign?" questioned Murrue. Natarle came up out of the CIC with a slight grimace on her face as she still listened to Kira's and Lacus's retort to her telling them no to their ridiculous request. The teens were being foolish and at this time such wasn't needed as it was more detrimental. She was about to say that it was nothing to be concerned about and that she would handle what the two teenage pilots, yet the teens were making that difficult. Lacus was giving information and logical reasoning which Kira backup, and Natarle couldn't deny what they were saying without regretting it later.

Natarle sighed after hearing the teens finish their plea, "Understood, please standby," she said over the radio before focusing on Murrue. "The Strike and the Asuka have heading back to the ship however, they have two Heliopolis lifeboats with them and have requested to bring them aboard the Archangel. According to them, it seems that one of them suffered some kind of damage or malfunction and its beacon along with its thrusters aren't working properly. The other has taken some damage as well, which has affected its beacon for it isn't activating at all."

Mu didn't like what he was hearing, though it was good to hear the lifeboats from the colony had ejected as designed when the colony collapsed. However, for a lifeboat to have something happen to its beacon, the chances of it being found with people alive were then slim. "That means the chances of either boat being found in time is slim, at least before all their passengers are all dead," said Mu looking at Murrue.

Murrue knew that Mu was right, to deny the lifeboats coming onboard would be akin to sending the people on them to their deaths. There had been enough death for one day already, so Murrue just sighed, "Tell them they have permission to go ahead and bring both pods aboard," she said, "We can't leave them stranded out here. Plus, we don't really have the time to argue at the moment with ZAFT forces searching for us."

"Understood," said Natarle, switching the communications back on. "You have permission to bring them aboard."

Both Kira and Lacus were relieved to hear they could bring the lifeboats on the ship. When they had found them floating and realized they were damaged, they didn't want to pretend they didn't see them. They had already possibly lost Tyler, no more lives should be lost. "Thank you," came Lacus's voice.

Natarle tapped in the commands to open the catapults for the mobile suits and what they carried. Then Natarle contacted Chief Murdoch and informed him that Heliopolis lifeboats would be coming on board and prepare accordingly. She would admit the teens had good hearts which was all the more reason for them to not be fighting in mobile suits. Granted, they didn't follow orders the best, much like signs from the older teen McGregor had shown. However, given some time and education Natarle believed that could change.

Meanwhile, above the CIC, Murrue knew that the mission they were on was critical to the chances that the Earth Alliance had in the war. As things stood right now, the Alliance was losing slowly to ZAFT even if none wanted to admit it. The Federation only helped here and there and didn't take sides in the war other than protecting innocent bystanders. The G-Project could give OMNI and through them the Alliance the change and chance they needed to bring the war to an end. So, Murrue returned to the original subject, "I know we're in a critical situation, but I have no intention of surrendering." Mu who had sat down in the navigator/co-pilot seat, turned to look at her curiously. "I refuse to hand over either this ship or the Strike to ZAFT. We must get it and this ship safely to the Alliance HQ, no matter what the risks or costs are."

What Murrue was saying was a seriously tall order, there was no argument in that. Making that possible would be a different matter and Natarle knew that, but she did have an idea where they could start. "Captain," Natarle began coming out of the CIC after arranging things with the suits and those who would be coming onto the ship, "I recommend we select Artemis as our next destination."

"Artemis," questioned Murrue quietly and somewhat doubtfully. " But that's a Eurasian Federation military satellite."

"You're referring to the Eurasian Federation's outpost with their umbrella shield," remarked Mu turning his chair completely to face the women.

Krystal and Mu had heard of the place, Eurasian soldiers would talk about it enough and boast about it too. It had a prototype shield that blocked incoming shots, which in itself was impressive, but had its drawbacks. "Which Eurasian soldiers will claim rather loudly is an ultimate and unbeatable defense," added Krystal.

Mu sighed, "Yeah, can't tell you how many times I've been regaled about the umbrella of Artemis and that ZAFT can't get passed it," he remarked tiredly.

"Hmm," mumbled Natarle nodding slightly thinking about what other choices they did have which were few. She herself had heard a story or two of the claims what the energy umbrella shield could do. Natarle didn't believe in the statements as the war against ZAFT had shown nothing was absolute and so the Eurasian Federation's defensive shield couldn't be truly impenetrable as they boasted it was. Nonetheless, Natarle still believed that the base could be a good place to go to supply before trying heading for Lunar HQ. So, she turned to the primary display screen, which brought up a general map of the area. "Given our present location, it is the most easily accessible allied outpost, and we are in real need."

Murrue didn't deny that Natarle had a point for she did, but there was a problem she didn't mention, and it was kind of important. "Both the Prototype suits and this ship lack a recognition code acknowledged by our allies," said Murrue. "The question remains, would the Eurasian-"

"I'm certainly aware," Natarle stated interrupting Murrue, "of the fact that the Archangel and the Strike are both considered to be sensitive military secrets of the Atlantic Federation, and we can probably safely assume the same of the Asuka for Orb." She knew of the rough relationship there was between the two major powers that made up the Earth Alliance. It was no real secret that the two didn't really trust each other and the mistrust was well-earned and developed over years of trying to outdo the other when possible. So, Natarle hesitated, "The tension between the Atlantic and Eurasian Federations is not the best lately, but with the situation we find ourselves in, I believe they would possible help. Should we set a course to the moon from here, you can't expect us to arrive there without encountering at least some resistance along the way from both ZAFT and the Federation. In addition, we left in a hurry and we weren't sufficiently supplied which means were urgently in need of provisions, all the more so if we're to be carrying additional Orb refugees."

Murrue knew that what Natarle was stating was true, but as options were limited, so making the best choice was important. "I realize that," said Murrue carefully.

"I have to say that even Eurasia will be sympathetic to our situation as it stands," said Natarle. "With things as they are, the most practical course of action would be to avoid confrontation as much as possible, and then resupply at Artemis. When we're there, we could also attempt to contact Lunar Headquarters from there as well."

"Artemis then," asked Mu as it sounded like the choice for the path forward had been decided. Even should they make their way to Artemis, Mu didn't think for a second that ZAFT would leave them alone. Le Creuset was too dogmatic about hunting those he did to give up simply because his quarry was running away. If anything, the man tended to chase harder when that happened from what Mu had seen with the man. "I wonder if everything will go exactly as planned with how things stand."

"Doubting before we start out Mu," asked Krystal in a joking manner.

Mu gazed at Krystal, "Are you forgetting who we are dealing with, Creuset isn't one to let others go and not persistently chase them," he returned.

Krystal frowned knowing that her friend had a point, "Okay, a valid argument with Creuset's persistence," she replied.

The exchange going between the two armor pilots wasn't helping in Murrue's opinion. "This is not a joking matter you two, it's hard to say how this will play out," she said, "but it does seem to be our best viable option right now."

Phase End!

A/n

That's all for this phase, not that much change, but still some here and there. Please take the time to write a review and give your input and thoughts, that's what helps with improving my writing. See you all next time!

Federation Enterprise-class

Technical Specs

Classification: Space Cruiser

Overall Length: 250m

MS Capacity: 5

MS Catapult: 2

General Data

Manufacturer: Human Federation

Operator: Human Federation

Machines carried: Delta Fighter, Shadow Gundam

Crew Compliment: 200

Standard Equipment

Optical Camouflage Field System

Similar to the Delta fighter's optical camouflage system, but on a much larger scale.

Phased-Array Sensor Detection System

Works much like ZAFT or Alliance sensor detection systems, but can also see through fields or systems like 'mirage colloid'

Standard Armaments

3 x "Lancer" high-energy beam turrets

There's a double-barreled turret on either side just forward of halfway point of the ship and the last one is ahead and below the navigation bridge.

20 x Missile Launchers

Missile tubes are in the wings towards the back of the ship on both sides.

Magnetic Accelerator Cannon Gun

The operation principle of a MAC is that of a coilgun. The cannon fires a massive metal projectile and often explosive projectiles, using a linear system of magnetic fields coils down a long shaft, increasing the projectile's velocity until it carries an incredible amount of kinetic energy. Mounted in the front fourth of the ship.

12 x "Falcogun" 75mm Multi-Barreled CIWS

8 in the front, 4 on top and 4 on the bottom, 4 in the back.