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

56. Phase 56: Fight for the Future

A/n

Okay here is the last part of the battle scene. As I said, this and the last phase turned out to be 40k+ and that is just too long. So this picks up where I left off in the last Phase. As I do every five Phases or so, I don't own anything from the Gundam Universe as much as I would love to. I only take credit for my characters and musing which come into this story and make it what it is.

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Phase 56: Fight For the Future

September 27th 71 C.E.

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Around Jachin Due

In Jachin Due's command center, Chairman Zala had a smirk on his face at what he was being told. GENESIS was just about done charging to be used finally. The Federation hadn't been able to get past the defending forces and reach GENESIS. With the cannon's current aim, the gamma beam would wipe away a good portion of the Federation's fleet. It would get the battle moving properly for the needed conclusion to the war, which had been delayed. The Federation had handled the Alliance fools who had been expected to attack the PLANTs. GENESIS would deliver a serious blow to them and silence their resistance. There was nothing any could do to stop the gamma beam from doing what it was designed to do.

The defending ZAFT forces were ordered to move out of the path the weapon pointed in so they wouldn't be affected by it. The remaining defending forces would be needed to mop up and Federation forces that survived GENESIS. Patrick was confident the tables were about to change and give ZAFT the advantage. That advantage would ensure they would win this battle over the other two factions who had tried to interfere. Once the battle was over, GENESIS would fire upon Earth and end this war once and for all. Coordinators would become the new human race as they should, while Naturals would become extinct. However, two groups of enemy mobile suits got past the defending forces as they were pulling back and approached GENESIS. Patrick instantly ordered the interception of the enemy units. GENESIS must not fall or be damaged; it was the device to bring about a bright future for Coordinators. Yet, none of the ZAFT defenders reached them before enemy forces got close to GENESIS. Some of the enemy suits fired at GENESIS but the phase shift armor held and disbursed the attacks.

The coalition fleet's two groups moved toward the dish using ZAFT falling back as an opportunity. One within the group carried a disruptor rifle to be used on ZAFT's gamma-ray cannon and prevent it from firing. As GENESIS finished its charging cycle, the rifle carrier got into effective range and brought it to bear on the dish. Operators in Jachin Due called enemy forces had gotten close enough to attack GENESIS. Patrick shouted for the phase shift armor to be put to full power to prevent any damage to GENESIS. Power was redistributed to the armor system to strengthen it just before attacks came. But while the rest of the attacks were disbursed by the phase shift, the odd rifle's beam appeared to bypass the armor, going down the cannon's barrel. Patrick cursed the beam's ability not to be stopped by the phase shift armor. GENESIS was necessary to finish Earth and end the war to ensure a future for Coordinators. And yet when the beam died down, GENESIS remained seemingly unharmed by it. Patrick blinked to ensure that was the case, as that would be extremely good fortune for ZAFT. He then barked orders for a GENESIS damage report to ensure it was still operational. To his satisfaction, GENESIS had suffered no apparent damage from the attacks and was ready for use. What the beam was supposed to do was of no consequence to him as long as it didn't hinder GENESIS.

An operator reported GENESIS had charged to the specified level the Chairman had ordered and was ready to fire. The gamma-ray was aimed at the enemy fleet to have the greatest destructive effect possible. Patrick didn't hesitate; he just ordered GENESIS to fire at the enemy forces so it could wipe them out. He gazed out with a smile as GENESIS's firing sequence was initiated. The Federation would face the consequences of resisting what nature favored for the human race. They would, at last, be handled, and their standing wouldn't save them as it had in the past. But Patrick's smile faltered when nothing happened or changed with GENESIS. No beam came out at the aiming mirror, nothing but silence from what was supposed to be the gamma beam ripping ships and mobile weapons apart. A moment later, alarms began sounding from several consoles signaling issues with operations. Patrick glared around the command center, "What happened," he demanded, "Why hasn't GENESIS fired?!"

There was scrambling to get an answer with the clear anger the Chairman was expressing. Yuki was helping some of the console operators in the hopes he could protect them from the Chairman's wrath. The Chairman had become much less patient and tolerant of any failure or mistake. Enough were suffering from the Chairman's vendetta; there was no need to add more to the group. Yuki knew he would be punished given enough time by the Chairman for trying to help others avoid the man's wrath. But Yuki couldn't live with himself if he just let others who were doing what they were told suffer for something they weren't at fault for.

After going through the data coming back from the sensor, Yuki could see nothing wrong with GENESIS. That was odd, as he'd seen the blue beam hit the dish just as the rest in the command center had. However, no damage showed visibly nor by any sensor readings. The phase shift armor showed as holding and was unchanged from what it had been before the beam had washed over GENESIS. There was no reason that Yuki could find from the readouts that should prevent GENESIS from firing its beam.

As a final thought, Yuki told the operator he was behind to look at the nuclear cartridge. Everything seemed unaffected with GENESIS's systems, from what sensors could tell. All that was left was the power source which was the n-cartridge. GENESIS may not fire as had happened if something had gone wrong with the cartridge. When reading on the cartridge came up on the console display, things weren't good from the data. From the sensor that monitored the cartridge, it was cold and completely inert. With that being the case, GENESIS not firing made complete sense. There was no power for it to use and convert into gamma waves and confine those into a beam.

Of course, the cartridge could be replaced, and GENESIS could be charged and fired. But the fact was sinking in of the n-cartridge going cold had more meaning than the simple change. The n-cartridge had been fine before the blue beam but was cold afterward. It was clear cause and effect, with the blue beam being the main factor. That beam hadn't been meant to harm or damage its target; it had a different purpose. The rifle's purpose was to affect nuclear tech, from what Yuki would guess. Yuki put in a command to have sensors focus on the cartridge's n-jammer canceller. He had a hunch the Federation's new rifles were meant to disable n-jammer cancellers, but he couldn't be sure. What came up confirmed Yuki's hunch as the cartridge's canceller was dead, essentially fried from what he could tell. With the canceller out of commission, the effects of the n-jammers came back and neutralized nuclear power and tech within seconds.

Yuki would personally applaud the Federation for inventing a means to disable nuclear weapons. ZAFT had tried to do the idea before, and the n-jammers had been the result of that. N-jammers had prevented the use of nuclear weapons for a time but, in the end, had only been a short-term solution. The Federation's way of frying the cancellers made the jammers a means to stop nuclear weapons. However, it allowed the choice for some to use nuclear energy in good ways. That was a serious difference as it allowed good use of nuclear tech and stopped abusing nuclear development into weapons. And Yuki believed the Federation would be the better judge of what was good and bad regarding nuclear tech than the other two factions. The Alliance and ZAFT had shown they were more inclined to use it for military application now with the war.

Yuki knew the Chairman wouldn't like the answer that was the truth about why GENESIS hadn't been fired. And the reason it couldn't be due to the Federation inventing and using a means to neutralize nuclear weapons and technology wouldn't be accepted either. But it was the truth as Yuki knew it, and the Chairman demanded an explanation. Yuki would give the truth to direct blame to himself and off the console operators. "Chairman," Yuki started, "it appears the n-cartridge has gone cold."

Patrick swung around to glare at Yuki. What the man had said shouldn't be the case as GENESIS hadn't used the power from the cartridge. Nothing else should make the n-cartridge go cold with its equipment. "What was that," he snarled, "That's not possible." Yuki didn't back down from the snapped retort. If he did, the Chairman would abuse those in the command center. "As I stated, sir," Yuki said firmly, "the nuclear cartridge had become inert. The beam fired at GENESIS didn't do physical damage but appears to have disabled the n-jammer canceller. With the canceller down, the effects of n-jammers made the cartridge inert and unusable. That is why GENESIS didn't fire; the power source is dead."

The explanation shocked Ezalia as it would be a serious change in the war. It made sense when she considered it with what she'd seen with GENESIS a moment ago. A means to counter and disable nuclear weapons would be a critical advantage against those inclined to use such weapons. Should the Federation have invented such a thing, they would have a war-ending advantage over the Alliance and ZAFT. And it wouldn't be exactly a huge surprise for the Federation to invent something the other factions would say was impossible. They had done such things before now, and there were a couple of examples that were hard to deny. Their Hermes-class shuttle and stealth technology were just the most often referred to.

Ezalia would be among those that would suggest acquiring one of the rifles so it could be reverse-engineered and mass-produced for ZAFT. Heck, she would even seriously consider going to the Federation and begging them to give them the technology. She knew that those like Canaver and others would be more than willing to do that to protect the PLANTs. Such technology would make the fear of nukes being used against homes a thing of the past, a history lesson to children. It made the most logical sense and gave a possibility to end the war without resorting to mass genocide. However, when Patrick's voice sounded again, Ezalia's attention was snapped back. "How dare they," growled the Chairman, "Replace the cartridge immediately." Patrick pointed to the com-officer, "Order our forces to hunt down those carrying the new Federation rifles and destroy them." Patrick gained an infuriated expression on his face, "Every single one of those rifles is to be eliminated!"

Ezalia blinked at the last half of what Patrick had just about shouted. His wish to destroy the rifles which neutralized nuclear weapons was insane. There was far more benefit in acquiring one of the rifles than destroying them. And Ezalia knew she wouldn't be the only one to be all for keeping one of the rifles the Federation had created. It lent credence that Lanus had been right in saying Patrick had been lost to madness. "Chairman," Ezalia called loudly, "If those rifles can truly neutralize nuclear weapons, acquiring one would be far more beneficial than destroying them. Even you should be able to see the logic of the idea to protect future generations."

Patrick glared at Ezalia for her comment and suggestion. It was foolishness even to consider what the woman said ZAFT should. There was no need to get one of the Federation's rifles which were assumed to disable nuclear weapons. Once GENESIS was used on Earth, and the purge of Naturals began, things would fall into the proper place. When the Alliance and the Federation were wiped away, and Coordinators took their proper place in the human race, things would smooth out. There would be no need for means to neutralize nuclear weapons once things went in the right direction. Coordinators wouldn't attack one another since there would be no need for such things. Thus, it was better to destroy the rifles that were being used to hamper GENESIS's use. "There is no need of such," Patrick snapped back, "When GENESIS is finished, no nuclear weapons will be used. The Alliance and the Federation will be nothing but history lessons taught to future generations!"

Ezalia hadn't wanted to believe Lanus when he had laid out Patrick cared more about his vendetta and revenge than the homeland's future. Patrick had preached that ZAFT was working for the homeland's future and ending the war. She'd wanted to believe he really was directing ZAFT toward that goal. But Patrick had essentially confirmed Lanus was right that he would bring about the destruction of the PLANTs along with Earth. The Patrick Zala, that had been a visionary, was lost to the madness that had taken over. As the realization sunk in, Ezalia could only exhale heavily, "So, Lanus was right. You care more about your revenge and vendetta than what happens to the homeland and beyond." Patrick gained an enraged expression as Ezalia continued, "Your claims of bringing about a future for Coordinators is nothing more than a false justification you and others use. You've listened to those like Creuset more than any that are genuinely trying to make things better for the homeland as you should."

The woman was spouting nonsense. She had clearly lost sight of the goals which ZAFT was working for. The future for Coordinators would be assured after GENESIS fired on Earth. Creuset was doing important work that led to that desired future. "Creuset has been doing the needed work for the PLANTs to survive," Patrick snarled. Ezalia shook her head, "Creuset is the mole you demanded be found and punished, Chairman," she stated. "Lanus provided enough hard evidence to prove he has been the one to leak information to our enemies during the war thus far. Say what you will, but that man has been working to doom us all while you trusted him. And I don't doubt he still is now you gave him a Gundam to work with."

Patrick twisted around and pressed a button to call in members of Section 2 to remove Joule. The woman had lost sight of the goal and was taken in by the lies spreading to hamper progress. Creuset was not the mole as she claimed; he had been undercover and had provided valuable information about the Alliance. Any that would stand in the way of the needed work for Coordinators' future would be removed. Section 2 agents entered the command center and asked the chairman for instructions. Patrick pointed at Ezalia, "Take her away," he ordered, "she has lost sight of our goal."

Ezalia didn't resist as the two came up behind her to take her out of the room. She knew standing up for others would put her at odds with the Chairman. That didn't deter her from her intention to work for the best the PLANTs could have. From now on, she just wouldn't be doing such from the command center. Ezalia would do what she could to help those like Lanus in the ongoing battle. The first thing she intended to do was open the ZAFT com-channels so Lanus could convince more. "I'll leave, Chairman," Ezalia stated evenly. "I will just say I will be rooting for those you are fighting rather than you. They are thinking about survival, unlike you, who focuses on killing and nothing he says he is."

Meanwhile, the coalition fleet had been trying to transition from pushing ZAFT back to attacking GENESIS directly, but ZAFT defending forces were blocking them. The Archangel was fighting the ZAFT defending forces in an attempt to make a path for allies to GENESIS. The ship had difficulty repelling most of the ZAFT vessels, so progress was slow. That was the scene the Dominion came upon once they reached the area where Alliance forces allied with the Federation were working. Natarle could see what the Archangel and others were trying to do in making a path to GENESIS. ZAFT's nuclear weapon was being shifted to aimed at Earth as far as she could see. Its use had to be prevented once already, but it had to be disabled permanently, or those on Earth would die from the shot and/or the after-effects. Natarle would get behind, stopping such a nightmare from coming to past, and fight hard for that now that the peacemaker force was done. Thus, she ordered the Dominion to provide cover fire for the Archangel.

Murrue could only stare at the black Archangel as it began attacking the ZAFT forces and helping the Archangel. However, Murrue wasn't about to complain about help coming, no matter the source. In fact, the Dominion contacted the Archangel, "Murrue, I know that recent past actions don't speak well for the Dominion or myself," Natarle said over the com-line. Natarle had left the Archangel and then faced them as enemies when she shouldn't have. She should've stood up for them and argued for the Archangel, but she hadn't. However, she was here now and fighting for the right reasons. "But in this, Humanity's dark hour, let us fight side by side once more to bring about a better future."

Murrue wouldn't argue with Natarle about her helping the Archangel right now. The Archangel couldn't complain about where the help came from since allies were being occupied. The Archangel was still a popular ship for ZAFT forces to target in this battle as it had been during the current year of the war. In this battle, allies had helped the Archangel, but as the fighting continued, the Archangel had been forced to work independently. The approach to Jachin Due had been difficult, and many of the allied mobile weapons had been dispatched by ZAFT. But the Archangel had gotten within attacking distance of the ZAFT base. And Murrue was all for working with Natarle rather than fighting against her on opposing sides. She could use a friend to watch her back along with those with her.

As the two Archangel classes fought against ZAFT defending forces, allied mobile suits were in combat around them. The Strike ended up being separated from those he had been working with. Mu realized he had ended out around the Archangel and saw the Dominion was also there. The Dominion appeared to be assisting the Archangel instead of trying to take it down as it had before. Mu had hoped Natarle would've taken their word on what the Alliance had been doing and fought alongside them before now. But her doing now was better than the Dominion being an enemy to the Archangel. As the old phrase went, "better late than never." So Mu didn't worry about the Dominion as he would've before. And he couldn't help the Archangel as he was being kept rather busy by the GINNs and CGUEs trying to attack the ship and those with it. The Strike's power level was just below half, so Mu could fight for some time longer without needing to take the time to resupply. He had been regulating his weapons' power usage during this battle compared to his weapon accuracy so he wouldn't need to resupply quickly.

After the appearance of the Dominion, Mu spotted two Nazca and a Laurasia, closing the distance between them and the Archangel, firing off their guns. The anti-beam depth charge spreads deployed by the Archangel were disbursing the beams while the laminate armor was taking the railgun gunshots. However, the ZAFT ships were starting to pass into the anti-beam area. Their mobile suits were pressing forward, looking to be aiming for the Archangel and Dominion. Mu attempted to get the ZAFT ships to back off. Once that was done, he and others could handle the enemy mobile suits. But the GINNs and CGUEs were hampering those efforts and preventing any from stopping their ships.

Mu did spot Krystal popping up and joining him in trying to fend off ZAFT's assault along with others from the coalition fleet. His allies did stop ZAFT mobile suits from advancing further toward the Archangel. However, they had already gotten worrisomely close to the Archangel, close enough to attack it. They kept ZAFT from getting much more than random shots off toward allied ships. Yet, as Mu kept fighting to fend off ZAFT's defending forces, he caught a glimpse of a GINN getting past most of his allies. It then set up for a shot on the Archangel, specifically at the navigation bridge with a beam cannon. Mu wasn't about to allow another to fire upon the Archangel and destroy it. None would threaten Murrue's life, while Mu was able in any way to stop them from doing so.

Murrue and those not on the CIC on the bridge, she saw the GINN bringing its beam cannon to bear on the Archangel's bridge. Other ZAFT mobile suits occupied the Strike, Shadow, and other allies, so they couldn't do much to stop the enemy from blasting the Archangel. The Dominion was defending itself from attacks ZAFT was making and wasn't able to shoot at the GINN. Thus, the Archangel was about to face its end when the GINN fired its beam cannon. And in the end, the Archangel had done far more than what had been expected of it from the outset. The ship had gone above and beyond what its designers and builders had ever intended her to do. Murrue was proud of how the Archangel and its crew performed during its service. Those were her thoughts as the GINN fired its cannon and a plasma beam zoomed toward the ship. Time seemed to slow down for those watching the beam coming at the Archangel.

Mu had broken away from the GINN he'd been fighting and raced to get between the Archangel's bridge and the GINN's weapon's firing path. The Strike's shield had already taken an amount of punishment, so it was questionable if it could block beam attacks properly now. But Mu didn't care about if the shield would hold or not. Murrue's life was in danger, and he would protect her no matter the cost to himself. That was how much he had come to care for and love Murrue Ramius. He was willing to give his life for her. Thus, Mu managed to get the Strike in front of the Archangel just after the GINN fired with his shield in front. The plasma beam slammed against the Strike's shield and halted. Alarms blared inside the Strike, and Mu knew his shield wouldn't hold through the attack. The beam would penetrate and hit the suit itself, but it would save the Archangel from destruction.

Most would say what Mu was doing was pointless and even impossible. Saving lives once was just that, saving some for a time, not necessarily for the future. There was no way to know that actions like his would make a difference in the end. Yet, the same had been said about the Federation before now. And here they were, having put together an "impossible" force to do an "impossible" task. So, Mu would take the chance that his attempt could be for nothing, but he hoped it would make a difference to those he cared about and beyond. Then Mu had always been capable of making the impossible possible, and he'd repeatedly proven that. Mu couldn't help but say his signature phrase, "I told you, I have a knack for making the impossible possible."

Murrue stared, tears coming from her eyes at the line Mu would so often say during hard situations. However, she watched painfully as the plasma beam ripped through the Strike's shield and hit the suit itself. The explosion which followed engulfed the Strike and sent debris flying in every direction. There was a brief moment when Murrue couldn't believe what she'd just witnessed. Yet, then pain welled up in her heart as the fact Mu had been taken from her forever sunk in. The man she loved had given his life to save her and the ship without hesitation. She knew Mu would do such a thing, it was the kind of man she'd learned he was. She couldn't stop the cry of horror in the form of a howl that came out of her screaming the name of the man that she loved, "MUUUUUUUUU!" Murrue wasn't the only one who felt pain seeing the Strike destroyed. Those on the bridge were silent at seeing the Strike being destroyed.

Krystal felt the same pain as Murrue seeing him die to protect the Archangel, as Mu had been a good friend. They had been watching one another's back for much of this war and had saved each other multiple times. Of course, neither had kept count of how many saves they had done for each other, there was no real reason to keep score. So, to see Mu go down enraged Krystal as much as it hurt her. He had been a good man who didn't deserve to die in this foolish war. She brought out the Titus cannon after letting go of the railgun rifle and aimed at the GINN, which had killed Mu. Krystal nailed Mu's killer with the positron cannon. She then grabbed the railgun rifle and destroyed the two that were close by.

At the same time, Tyler had been working his way across the battlefield after dealing with the Alliance nuke-carrying force. He'd been working his way toward ZAFT's gamma-ray dish so he could help dispatch it permanently. He had the disruptor rifle if he needed to stop the cannon from firing at Earth. Unfortunately, before Tyler had reached GENESIS, he'd gotten into a fight with ZAFT forces and ended up losing the disruptor rifle with its destruction. He'd noticed ZAFT was targeting them specifically not too long ago, just after one had been used against ZAFT's weapon. He took that as someone in the command structure had figured out what the rifles did. And Tyler wouldn't doubt that when the Chairman was informed about the rifles' capabilities, he would order them to be destroyed.

The way this battle would end once and for all was for ZAFT's gamma weapon to be destroyed. Tyler was sure if the dish and what was in it were in any way intact, the fighting would continue even if this battle specifically didn't. The use of weapons of mass destruction may have been called a historical deterrent. But history showed they were drivers of conflict as well as causes of mass genocide rather than deterrents. Thus, the Alliance's nukes had to be disabled and destroyed because enough would use them without hesitation wherever they felt like it. The same would need to happen with ZAFT's weapon as well for the same exact reason used for the Alliance. Tyler counted on the Chairman, trying to use his gamma-ray until he struck Earth if the dish and all the rest were utterly destroyed. So, its destruction was a necessity for the human race's survival.

Nonetheless, as Tyler was getting within a reasonable distance from those defending ZAFT's gamma dish, his attention was diverted. He witnessed a small group of ZAFT forces assaulting the Archangel and the Dominion. Tyler hadn't expected to see the Dominion helping allied forces. However, he wouldn't say no to that as it meant Natarle had finally gotten to the point in some way the Alliance she was following was on the road to nowhere. The Strike and the Shadow were nearby, fending off ZAFT forces with some other allies. But reinforcement for them were a distance away if things got worse, which was a real possibility. So, those on site were the only immediate help the Archangel and Dominion had against their attackers. Tyler didn't like that setup for the Archangel, for he still had friends on the ship. There were also the others on it, which Tyler had come to think were good people and so didn't deserve to die.

A GINN with a heavy cannon aimed at the Archangel had caught Tyler's attention. Tyler put his foot down to attempt to get to the GINN before it took a shot at the vessel and potentially did serious damage or, worse, destroyed it. But as rapidly as Tyler was closing distance, he could see he wouldn't reach the enemy machine in time to affect their actions. The GINN fired its cannon before the Aurora could even get into effective range for a beam rifle. Tyler could only watch as the beam headed for the Archangel before seeing the Strike get in front of the vessel's bridge. The Strike used its shield to halt the beam for a moment before Tyler heard Mu saying something about making the impossible possible. Then the beam burst through the shield and hit the Strike directly, causing it to detonate.

Tyler processed what he'd just witnessed, and the facts began sinking into his brain. The Strike being destroyed meant Mu was dead and gone since there was the slimmest of chances he could've survived the explosion. The issue Tyler had with that was he'd been starting to like the guy and think him a decent and good one, which humanity needed these days. The man was among many good men and women dying in this war. It was beyond frustrating that those pushing for this war didn't care about the lives they were taking indirectly. In response, Tyler glared at the three ZAFT ships that had been supporting the GINNs and CGUEs in the general area. He would take them down so they couldn't kill any more good people.

The Aurora was in its flight mode as Tyler moved it forward into action for his decision. He brought the crosshairs of his suit's plasma cannons on the first Nazca class. Tyler pulled the trigger and blasted two gaping holes in the target. A cascade of explosions followed the hits as the ship was destroyed. Tyler didn't stop there, he flew over to the other Nazca class and dove below it in preparation for what he would do. He pulled the Aurora's flight controls back and had the suit climb upward and crash into the Nazca's central structure. Tyler plowed through the ship's internal structure, ripping through deck by deck before he emerged through the upper hull of the vessel.

Krystal was working on dispatching the GINNs and CGUE when she saw the flash in the direction of one of the Nazcas. When she glanced in that direction, she saw one of the Nazca exploding. She couldn't think of what happened as the Shadow, and allied mobile suits had been working on ZAFT suits, not the ships yet. The Archangel and Dominion were still defending themselves from other ZAFT defending forces, so it couldn't be them. But then, Krystal spotted the Aurora appearing in its aircraft form and heading toward the other Nazca class. Krystal slashed the CGUE in half before her gaze returned to the Aurora. Her sight locked onto it in time to watch the Gundam dip under the Nazca, then surge upward and crash into the ship's underside. Krystal blinked as she didn't think she'd seen right with what the Aurora did. Tyler wasn't one to do crazy stunts often, at least not without taking into account the risk and mitigating them. So, plowing through a ship wasn't something she would expect Tyler to do such a maneuver. A moment later, the Aurora burst through the Nazca's upper hull, appearing to be fine and undamaged. Krystal would guess the suit's phase shift had protected it and stopped the carved path from doing damage to the Aurora.

After ripping through the Nazca, Tyler glanced down at his power readouts to see the cost of what he'd just done. The display said the phase shift had taken around two percent of the Aurora's power supply for the plowing. He knew phase shift would make crashing through a ship possible with little to no damage. The armor system was good at absorbing punishment as long as it had power supplied to it. The Federation's version of phase shift was even better than the Alliance's creation. It was why Tyler had done the move without much thought. He would've done the same in the Shadow if he'd been using it in this battle.

But Tyler's thoughts shifted back to working on taking down ZAFT's nuclear weapon, as that was still a priority. He glanced around and saw the Archangel would be fine for the time being without his help. So, Tyler reactivated the Aurora's stealth system before flying off toward GENESIS to resume his task. Tyler took in the form and construction as he approached the massive dish structure, which he couldn't be seen from a distance. From what Tyler could tell, the large dish was more of an amplification device for the beam with its field of mirrors. The smaller mirror array in front was a reflection and spitting point back at the dish. It also could and likely was the means for the beam to be aimed at its target. There was a hole in the larger mirror field's center. Tyler suspected the initial gamma wave energy came from that hole, so behind that would be the nuclear power source and the means to transition it to gamma wave energy. In simple terms, this meant that if the small funnel in front was moved out of line with the hole, the weapon couldn't fire effectively, if at all.

He dodged and weaved his way to the aiming array unseen by ZAFT defending forces. They were busy desperately trying to hold back coalition forces from getting closer to their weapon. Tyler noticed ZAFT had taken losses in this battle, but they were still fighting hard against the coalition forces. It could also mean a portion of ZAFT forces could've been convinced of the lies the Chairman and others had told them. Tyler couldn't say which reason was the most likely, but it didn't make a great deal of difference. There was still enough around to stop him when he made his move on the smaller array. The Aurora made a tight arc to come around perpendicular to the aiming array for GENESIS. Tyler disengaged the Aurora's stealth system and slammed into the funnel array with a decent amount of force, having partly shifted the Aurora. Now, the Aurora had its upper torso in its suit mode, so its hands were in front and in contact with the array's surface. Once he was pushing against the structural ring above the one which held the mirrors, Tyler threw his throttles forward. The Aurora's thrusters burned hard and slowly began pushing the funnel out of position.

At the same time, in Jachin Due's command center, Patrick had been enraged and fuming with how things were going. He watched the Federation and their allies continue to push and resist what needed to happen. Defending forces were turning against the homeland in small groups as the battle continued. Patrick had no doubt Treize was using lies to trick them into betraying ZAFT and the PLANTs. How Treize got past the encryptions and blocks in place didn't matter anymore, likely more traitors helping him. The Champions had been the first to turn their backs on the PLANTs to follow Treize, and others had followed. Then when GENESIS was about to fire upon the enemy fleet, the Federation's new rifles had taken the chance away. Not only had that bought time for enemy forces, but it had also encouraged them to fight harder. Defending forces had been putting up a good fight. They were making ZAFT proud, but they were being beaten back still. Some of the Federation's rifles had been destroyed as Patrick had ordered, but not all of them had been eliminated. Thus, those rifles could still be used to hamper GENESIS being used. So, things were not going according to plans that had been made months ago, far from it really. Things were supposed to be ZAFT vs. the Alliance for this battle; that was the setup prepared. The Federation wasn't supposed to be interfering with their "neutrality" they had stood by for the war.

Currently, enemy forces were assaulting GENESIS and Jachin Due directly despite defending forces trying to hold them back. The Alliance forces that weren't working with the Federation had been dealt with. And as far as Patrick was concerned, that had been done by ZAFT forces. The Federation had done little to help against the Alliance's attempt to use nukes on the PLANTs. It mattered not what lies or false evidence others provided against that point. Patrick would stand by ZAFT had been protecting the PLANTs. GENESIS's phase shift armor was preventing serious damage for the time being, so it was still operational. The armor would hold until the cartridge was replaced, and GENESIS was charged up again to fire. So, the struggles of the Federation and those with them were fruitless in the end, as GENESIS would still end Naturals once and for all.

Nonetheless, then there was the report saying an enemy unit appearing and making contact with GENESIS's aiming array. When optics were zoomed in on the area, Patrick was furious to see a red Gundam pushing against the aiming mirror. Should the array be knocked out of alignment, GENESIS couldn't fire anything but a concentrated and confined beam. Shots like that would work, but the purge of Naturals would take much longer than planned and allow fools to attempt to stop it. Patrick ordered ZAFT forces to focus on destroying the enemy machine to stop it from interfering with GENESIS. However, minutes later, alarms began going off, signaling the aiming mirror's alignment was at risk of going outside the acceptable range for GENESIS to use. So, the Aurora quickly became the focus of Patrick's fury with the Federation's actions. That increased attempts to shoot down the red Gundam were hindered by enemy forces coming to its defense. It allowed the red machine to continue meddling without being hampered, which irritated Patrick.

Tyler was moving the array slowly but surely out of line with the hole in the dish. Its mass was making moving it take longer than Tyler liked, but he wouldn't give up on stopping the weapon from firing in any way he could. And yet, ZAFT forces moved to stop his activity and shoot him down, were Tyler to guess. However, allies came to the Aurora's defense and kept ZAFT busy, allowing Tyler to keep going. Tyler was grateful for the help as it let him buy time for efforts being made in destroying ZAFT's gamma weapon. He kept pushing the array as he could to get it away from the hole it worked with. But Tyler didn't miss the clash his allies were in with ZAFT was getting messy quickly. ZAFT forces appeared to be getting so desperate they were doing crazy and suicidal things against their opponents.

Those fighting ZAFT to protect the Aurora was being taxed hard with their opponents' desperation. Luke and Alan were among those who were helping keep ZAFT off the Aurora. They were willing to do what they could to help Tyler as he was doing the important work needed as he tended to do. Luke was fighting a CGUE while Alan just finished off a GINN. But then, Alan saw a GINN bringing a high-energy beam cannon to bear on the Aurora. If the Aurora were destroyed, ZAFT's weapon would be more likely to be fired on Earth. There were too many between the GINN and Alan, so there was only one way to help Tyler. Alan wouldn't allow ZAFT's gamma-ray hit Earth if it could be prevented. His wife and son were more important than his own life. And though protecting Tyler would likely end out killing Alan so he wouldn't see his family again, they would live on, and that's what mattered to him. Thus, Alan flew forward, taking a deep breath as he went preparing himself for what would come.

Tyler glanced at his allies again and found a GINN aiming a high-energy beam cannon at the Aurora's torso. The phase shift armor wouldn't be able to block a high-energy beam making contact. If Tyler moved, ZAFT's weapons could still be potentially used since the mirror was still in line with the hole. So, Tyler's eyes widened as life events began flashing before him. The cannon fired, and a green beam zoomed at Tyler, slowing down his passage of time. Tyler felt and heard his heartbeat as the beam came closer and closer. However, before the beam hit the Aurora and killed Tyler, a Delta fighter appeared in the beam's path. The scene froze, with the Delta fighter blocking the beam with its shield. Alan glanced down and saw his shield wouldn't hold. The beam would come through it in a moment and strike his machine. So, Alan opened a channel to the Aurora, "It's up to you now, old boy," Alan said. "Do not let this weapon fire at Earth and kill all those on it." Alan took a breath and was ready for his end, "Make it worth a gentleman's heroic sacrifice."

Tyler's voice wouldn't obey him as Alan had been talking; his throat had clenched down instead. He knew he was hearing his former teammate's final words before he gave his life to preserve Tyler's own. Alan wasn't as close of a friend as Kira or Athrun were, but he'd listened to what Tyler would say. Alan hadn't treated Tyler like a lucky kid as some did, and Tyler appreciated that gesture. Plus, from what Alan had said in passing, he had a family, a wife and a son back on Earth. He was sacrificing himself, giving up any chance to see them again, all for Tyler to potentially make a difference.

As Tyler watched, the Delta suit vanished in a fireball and shrapnel with the beam coming through the shield. A painful feeling exploded within Tyler, seeing Alan die right in front of him. Tears began coming from his eyes, and he couldn't stop his teeth from clenching in anger. The pain of loss and sorrow was only matched by the rage that was blazing in Tyler. War may take lives which sickened Tyler, but when that included friends, it irked him greatly. Tyler slammed the throttle to where their "normal" stops were. Then Tyler pushed the throttles inward and then forced them forward to have the Aurora's thrusters go their hardest. The Aurora's thrusters put out more power to the point it would have it going super-sonic on Earth. Tyler also had both of the Aurora's plasma cannons start charging up to their FULL capacity while pushing the aiming mirror.

Inside Jachin Due's command center, Patrick observed ZAFT forces trying to get to the red machine. A beam was fired, and an explosion gave Patrick hope that the menace had been handled. But when it cleared, the red machine was still pushing the aiming mirror, which was close to becoming a serious problem. The array was almost out of the range where the gamma beam could hit it and effectively reflect back to the dish. That was bad enough without any more issues being added to the problem. However, then the red meddler put on a burst of speed and increased the amount of motion it was imparting to the aiming mirror. The aiming array could be pushed or pulled back into place, but that would take time without interference which would be difficult. Enemy forces would make moving the aiming array take longer, giving them more time to try and hamper GENESIS's use. And the blaring alarms said the mirror was at the edge of where it could still be used.

When the aiming mirror was fully out of line, as far as Tyler could tell, he pushed the Aurora away a short distance and brought the plasma cannons to bear on the array. The lower third of the cannon barrels split open, widening the barrel for increased output. Particles of light began gathering at the end of the cannons, much like the effect that the Archangel's Lohengrin blaster cannon did. Tyler glared murderously at the aiming mirror with anger, loathing, and the utmost hatred. He pulled the trigger and roared in pain and rage as the beams erupted from the cannons. The beams were around the same size as the positron beams from the Archangel's Lohengrins.

Patrick stared as the red mobile suit used its two cannons against the exterior alignment mirror before anyone could stop them. The mirror was engulfed, and alarms sounded in the command center, which didn't bode well. When the light from the beams faded, the alignment mirror was nothing more than a blob of metal, and less than half the original structure remained. Patrick growled the order for the machine to be destroyed, whatever it took for its actions. But before any could eliminate the troublesome machine, it disappeared from sight and sensors. That served to infuriate Patrick Zala more as the threat the red enemy posed still stood. Still, he demanded another exterior aiming mirror moved into place so GENESIS could fire a volley at Earth. No matter what, GENESIS would strike Earth and bring this long conflict to the end it needed.

Tyler was still breathing hard as he flew away from ZAFT forces trying to calm down and ignore the pain coursing through him. Having to watch Alan die for him stabbed at Tyler in a way that hurt him so much, ignoring the pain was impossible. The plasma cannons' barrels had closed as Tyler shifted the Aurora to its flight mode. He had flown off as ZAFT forces had been shooting him. Tyler activated the Aurora's stealth system so he could vanish from enemies' sight. There was still more to do to disable ZAFT's weapon permanently and keep Earth safe from nuclear attack. The weapon itself needed to be destroyed or made non-functional enough so it could be disassembled. Then the Chairman had to be confronted before the nightmare could come to its end.

So Tyler got behind the main dish structure of GENESIS, looking for a way inside the weapon. Tyler felt he could find some sort of control system, he could then put his skills to use and sabotage the weapon. Tyler knew he was one of the Federation's top hackers and saboteurs. It was why he was classified as a "specialist" and why SOLAS had recruited him in the first place. And it didn't take long to find an entrance Tyler could use in the form of an airlock which he took. He positioned the Aurora just above the airlock before he exited the cockpit and floated over to it. It took a moment for Tyler to defeat the control panel for the airlock, but he managed to get it to open. Tyler sailed into the tunnel and headed down it, glancing down at his left forearm panel for environmental readouts. The specific reading that Tyler was keeping an eye out for was the radiation levels since he was inside a nuclear-powered weapon. The Federation pilot suit could protect against nuclear and other types of known dangerous radiation. However, they did have a limit before the dangerous effects of radiation would harm the wearer.

At the end of the tunnel, another airlock cycled before opening to a small control center. Tyler floated inside and glanced around, seeing a circle of consoles ahead of him. He could see no one here, which Tyler hadn't expected since this would be a hazardous environment when the weapon activated. He sailed over to the closest collection of consoles and scanned them to see what was being done from here. Tyler first saw that the facility was being controlled not from where he was but remotely. Tyler would hazard a guess that the control was being done from Jachin Due's command center. The next point that stood out to Tyler was another aiming mirror being moved to take the place of the one Tyler had destroyed.

Tyler quickly began typing out commands to see what could be done to stop this weapon from firing. If he could, Tyler would figure out a way for it to be broken down or just destroyed outright, whichever worked out the best. His hacking skills quickly got him through the security of the weapon's system. As he looked at the power source of this weapon, a "nuclear cartridge," an idea came to him. The cartridge was pretty much a contained nuclear explosive with only one way to go. Thus, eliminate the path it was directed to go, one had a hell of a pipe bomb! It was an easy thing to use, and those in Jachin Due would be able to do little about it when the cartridge detonated. And any method Tyler used had to be hard to counter by those who were at the controls.

Tyler got to work on changing the instructions that this system used when told to fire. He planned to have the cartridge activated but have the reaction be different. Instead of transferring it in the form of a confined gamma beam to the mirrors, it would stress the cartridge to have it rupture and the energy go outward. The plan needed what was essentially a misfire to cause the pipe bomb to go off and cause the explosion. That proved to be a more work-involved task than Tyler had expected it to be, even taking into account his sabotaging skills. The major reason that was the case was that someone had already done work before Tyler entered the system. With Tyler's experience and skills with sabotage and hacking, he couldn't miss the signs of another being around and setting up a "trap," even if others would. And seeing what the trap was meant to do, Tyler had a very educated guess as to who it was that set it up. The individual was none other than the dirty rat Rau Le Creuset. The masked man had shown he wanted destruction to come everywhere and to everyone.

The man had made the trap come into play should ZAFT's defending forces lose the battle. Should ZAFT get to a point where they would lose, the trap would start a timer before activating.

And that point wasn't that far away with how things were going as far as Tyler had seen. The trap was set that if a specific person is killed, some real nasty things will happen. The problem, as Tyler saw it, was that person was Chairman Zala. That man would likely need to be taken down, as Tyler didn't expect him to come quietly if given a chance. Thus, when Zala was killed in whatever way it occurred, it would trigger GENESIS to aim and fire upon Earth. Where Tyler had seen Creuset wanted mass death to happen, he hadn't figured out why the man wanted such and would do essentially anything to accomplish it. In the end, the rat's reasons didn't matter, his planned actions were what was important and needed to be stopped. Tyler wouldn't let the rat have his way and achieve his goal. He would use his skills to change what was in place and have it go as Tyler wanted. And since the rat planned for GENESIS to "fire," Tyler left portions of Creuset's work where it was. It would make the misfire Tyler would have happen not to be seen or changed until it was too late.

Once Tyler had finished arranging his sabotage for GENESIS, including making his work unnoticed, he put things back to seem the same as before he touched it. None at Jachin due would see or find his work with the steps Tyler took. They would come upon the rat's stuff first before finding Tyler's, and he would stand by that. So, with things as he wanted, Tyler headed back down the tunnel he'd come in by so he could return to the Aurora. He kept a close eye on radiation readings as they were higher than Tyler liked. If the reading jumped noticeably, Tyler would take that as the weapon was about to activate and fire. However, the readings were within the rated tolerance Federation spacesuits could handle and didn't show the weapon about to fire. Tyler had to wait for the airlocks to cycle, which upped his tension.

Upon reaching the Aurora, Tyler decided to go to Jachin Due next from GENESIS. He would trek inside and get down to business dealing with the Chairman. ZAFT's weapon was taken care of even if it wasn't destroyed yet, and it would be soon enough. Now the one leading ZAFT's side needed to be handled for the battle to come to its conclusion. The journey to ZAFT's base was clear since ZAFT was busy with allied forces and moving an aiming mirror into place for GENESIS. Tyler was coming from behind GENESIS to avoid fighting so he could not be hindered. He spotted the entrance to a large hangar for Jachin Due and swooped in. Tyler shifted the Aurora into suit mode and used his beam rifle to destroy the ZAFT suits inside so they couldn't stop him. There were still shuttles around the hangar, which Tyler left alone so those who wished to leave could. He didn't doubt there were those that had recognized the Chairman was insane and blind to what his actions would do. They weren't bad people, they had just been caught up in the crap the war had descended to.

Tyler landed his suit, exited his cockpit, and entered the docking waiting area. Once in the pressurized waiting area, Tyler removed his helmet and left it near the airlock he came from the hangar inside. Tyler did a quick check of his equipment to make sure they were ready to use if needed. There was still a real chance of loyalists to Zala were still around and potentially armed, so Tyler wanted to be as prepared as possible. He was ready to do what was required, whether that was to kill or the like. That included shooting Chairman Zala, and Tyler feared that was not just possible but likely what he would end out having to do. He hoped it wouldn't come to that, of course, but with how things were, it was more a dream than reality.

Tyler shook his head and focused back on the task of finding Chairman Zala. The probable place to find the man was in the base's command center. The man would be at the center of things with his insistence on firing his gamma beam at Earth, so Tyler would start there. The insanity which drove the war had gone on for too long and needed to end. Chatter had already mentioned Azrael had been captured, which Tyler was happy about. Chairman Zala was the last one who was pushing a faction for the war.

Ezalia was concerned for those in the group she was with more than for herself. She'd been doing what she could to hamper the Chairman from using GENESIS. Ezalia had opened all the ZAFT channels so Lanus could use them to convince others to join the efforts. After that, she'd been working her way to the hangar to leave since she knew she would be a target of The Chairman. Going against him was now akin to a death sentence fit for a traitor, and that was what she was doing. As Ezalia had been moving, she came across others who were clearly trying to leave the base. From what they told her, it was for similar reasons she had herself for leaving Jachin Due. The Chairman was getting worse with the more progress the Federation and its allies were making. Ezalia was glad to hear GENESIS had been delayed again, with its aiming mirror being destroyed.

But GENESIS had to be stopped for good if the PLANTs and any others were to survive, she was sure of that. Perhaps, if she could get together with Lanus, they could come up with a plan to do that. If any could make the impossible possible in this, Ezalia would bet on Lanus every time. But Ezalia couldn't do much more in Jachin Due, so leaving and getting to the Federation fleet was the best course of action. Thus, she had been leading many who wanted out from the Chairman's insanity to the hangar so they could leave. Her group bumped into Yuki and other soldiers, and Ezalia was concerned that things had taken a bad turn. But Yuki assured her they were trying to evacuate those who could from the base. Section 2 had been hampering that effort, yet Yuki and those under his command had been working harder despite that. So, Yuki and those with him joined Ezalia's group and continued forward.

They made progress in getting around halfway to the hangar when things changed. A group of Section 2 agents spotted them and began firing their weapons at them, bringing them to a halt.

Yuki and the other soldiers got the others behind cover and returned fire the best they could at those who had halted their progress. But it was Yuki and his soldiers' pistols against Section 2's assault rifles, and it didn't take long for the difference to be apparent. Ezalia knew those loyal to the Chairman wouldn't listen to reason. It had become clear that Section 2 had been turned into his attack dogs who would kill those that disagreed with him. Her group was definitely in a bad position, and it would take a miracle to change that.

Meanwhile, Tyler steadily moved deeper into the base to avoid being taken by surprise. He had taken out his Hornet SMG, so he had it ready to point and shoot others who attacked him if that came up. It was a few minutes of him progressing through the corridors before Tyler heard gunshots ahead of him. Tyler rushed to the nearest corner, carefully looking around it to see what was happening. The gunshots weren't coming in his direction, which had him wondering what was happening. And Tyler saw a few men with guns shooting at something down a perpendicular corridor. From what he could see, the guns those ahead were using happened to be assault rifles. Those outdid Tyler's SMG on power, but he had the element of surprise and accuracy on his side. That factor tended to assist and save the surviving side of the confrontation. The other side was using what sounded like handguns from what came to Tyler's ears which was a worse match than Tyler's gun was. Tyler took careful aim at the leader of those ahead of him, set his SMG to fire short bursts, then pulled the trigger. The first man when down with the burst before Tyler took in his targets' positions and whipped around the corner he'd been hiding behind.

The Section 2 agents were trying to eliminate those the traitorous soldiers had been trying to evacuate. But then their leader was shot from a different direction than the soldiers. The other four caught a brief glimpse of a figure whipping behind the corner of the corridor. It sure looked like the figure had been in a Federation spacesuit. If Federation soldiers had entered Jachin Due already, there were much more problematic issues for Section 2 to deal with. The Federation would come in armed and prepared to shoot those that resisted. They would be more difficult to handle than the ZAFT soldiers.

Tyler took a breath before pushing off and had his backpack's thrusters put him into a spin toward the wall on the other side of the doorway. He fired a burst at the second man as he rotated to the other side of the corridor's entrance. Tyler heard bullets zooming in his direction from the suited men. But he was in cover, and the shots merely struck the wall as his thrusters brought him to a halt on the floor. Tyler could tell he had an advantage with his pilot suit's thrusters, they would give him speed and stability in the zero-g environment. Still, Tyler got out a sonic grenade and set it to be at a quarter charge. That should make it so the grenade wouldn't affect whoever his opponents had been attacking. Tyler primed the grenade and then chucked it into the corridor.

There were gunshots, but a moment later, the boom of the grenade going off. He took a calming breath as the grenade went off, then he sprung into the corridor, his thrusters igniting and pushing forward. Tyler shot at one of the three remaining men as he zoomed toward them. That man took the bullets in the chest as he was trying to recover his senses from the grenade blast. The two were shaking their heads to clear them, but they realized their comrade had been shot. They were just taking in that the figure they had glimpsed was rapidly approaching with a gun. Tyler took out his knife and spun vertically as he got to the two, kicking one in the chin hard. The Section 2 agent was sent into the ceiling while the other attempted to bring their rifle to bear on the attacker. Tyler swung his gun and sent a burst into the gun wielder's chest, killing them. Tyler then whipped back to the other, who was floating downward after colliding with the ceiling. He plunged his knife into the man's chest, ending his life.

Ezalia was going to ask Yuki what options they had for this situation when things changed, as things were bad for them. She knew Yuki would likely have little to answer with, but what else could she do. But then there was the sound of gunfire from another direction. That had been followed by the cries of those who had been shooting at them. The sounds of fighting continued for a bit, and those were accompanied by other sounds that Ezalia couldn't identify. There was a different gun being used against the Section 2 agents. It wasn't an assault rifle, nor a pistol as Yuki and soldiers were using, but something in between. Then there was a loud boom, followed by air rushing past her group. None of them were knocked back, but the loud sound frightened some non-soldiers. Two more cries were heard, followed by a grunt of one of the Section 2 agents, then there was silence.

Yuki had been listening when the odd gunfire started. It sounded like some sort of submachine gun, but Yuki couldn't say better than that. The other odd sound he'd caught was what Yuki could only guess as some sort of thrusting device. Clearly, someone had been attacking the Section 2 agents, though there was no clue as to who. So, Yuki carefully looked around the corner he'd been taking cover behind to see what he could discover. To his shock, Yuki saw a lone figure standing over the bodies of the five Section 2 agents. The individual was in a Federation spacesuit, specifically one of their special forces variation spacesuits. The Federation soldier had one of their exclusive submachine guns and a combat knife. And from what Yuki could see, a set of thrusters was attached to the suit's backpack.

For a single Federation soldier to have handled several Section 2 agents by themselves said an amount about the soldier. Even for the Federation, the soldier couldn't be a regular one when their military personnel were exceptional. But this Federation soldier was certainly preferable to the Section 2 agents. Those from the Federation were reasonable from Yuki's experience, so he hoped and expected this one would be as well. They were at least much less likely to shoot first rather than ask questions to learn more, as Section 2 was lately. So, Yuki signaled two of those under his command to follow him, and they confront the Federation soldier. They moved into the corridor slowly, not to alarm the Federation soldier.

Tyler had killed the five to get them to both leave him be and to get attention off whoever they were chasing. Tyler had expected to meet resistance along the way to hunt down the Chairman. The man would have some sort of attack dogs roving around to keep others in line, that was logical. He intended to continue looking for Chairman Zala to deal with him and get things heading for a close with the battle. Tyler would let those who wanted to leave do just that without his interference. However, movement caught Tyler's eye before he could resume his search for the Chairman. He reacted and pointed his gun at the movement, ready to pull the trigger should that be needed. Yet, Tyler blinked as he took in three ZAFT-uniformed soldiers with handguns facing him. They appeared tense and worn from what impressions Tyler could get. So, he lowered his gun a bit, "I assume you were some of those that the ones I dispatched were trying to kill, correct?"

At the three nodding, Tyler couldn't help but shake his head at his circumstances. He'd been going against strange circumstances during the last twenty-four hours that were odder than normal. Granted, the war was worsening by the day, but the battle had certainly had Tyler facing strange situations. And while Tyler knew there would be days, he would question why they were going the way they were, experiencing them wasn't what most would expect. Tyler let out a sigh, "It wouldn't be the strangest thing I've seen in the last twenty-four hours, sadly." He paused, "It certainly has been one of those kinds of days that one has to wonder about several things."

Yuki blinked at what the young man said. He looked to be around eighteen and stood five foot nine. The young man had green eyes and spiky tan locks of hair that went in random directions. Yuki knew the war had forced younger people to enlist, but that hadn't sat well with him. And yet, this young Federation soldier had bested well-trained agents who were compared to above-average soldiers. Yuki would've normally wondered and questioned what was implied in the last line the young man had said. Granted, the battle going on was unlike any that Yuki had seen before today. But the teen implied he had seen stranger things than this war had produced thus far. Yuki almost didn't want to know what this teen considered strange compared to non-strange. But as the young Federation soldier had just saved them from death, Yuki wouldn't question what they were talking about. Yuki signaled the two with him to lower their guns before he gazed at the teen. "Indeed," Yuki returned, "They've been attempting to stop those of us that have been trying to evacuate others who wish to leave." Yuki gestured to the corridor behind him, "This was one of the last groups I'm aware of, which was trying to evacuate."

Tyler flicked his SMG's safety on and holstered his weapons since those he was facing had lowered their weapons. He believed what the leader had stated. Tyler didn't doubt there were those that wanted to leave. He also bet there were still soldiers that would be dedicated to helping those who wanted to leave. Tyler didn't think that all those in ZAFT were like the Chairman. In fact, he felt there were far more against what the Chairman worked for than helping the man. That made Tyler think those he'd dispatched were some of the Chairman's attack dogs he used to keep most in line. "Should I ask what you did to have death sentences on your heads," Tyler inquired. "Or should I just assume questioning the Chairman is enough now to warrant being shot dead?" Tyler sighed as he knew there had been signs the Chairman had been getting worse. The man who controlled ZAFT had insane, which was dangerous enough with the war going on. For him to be as a dictator was worse, which it seemed had gotten to the point where it was getting people killed faster than before. "Signs said things were heading that direction, but I'd hoped it hadn't gone so far yet."

Ezalia had been doing what she could to calm those in her group. They were all non-combat personnel who had been doing what they were told. Most of them were scared, and Ezalia couldn't blame them. Yuki was meeting with the group's savior, which she listened to as the interaction continued. From what Ezalia heard, it sounded like the individual was either well-informed about how things had been going with ZAFT lately or had good at guessing. She leaned toward the former rather than the latter and believed the Federation soldier. With their Information Network, the Federation always seemed to know things they shouldn't but did anyway. With whatever ways they had, it wouldn't surprise her if they knew the Chairman had become more radical over the past few months.

Nevertheless, Ezalia had told the Chairman she would be rooting and implied she would be helping those going against him. She'd been doing that after being "escorted" out of Jachin Due's command center. Ezalia had been doing what she could to help Lanus and the Federation. Their interests aligned more with the PLANTs' survival and well-being than what the Chairman had in mind. The first thing Ezalia did was open all the channels that ZAFT used and ensure Lanus could use them. She had also contacted those in the National Defense Committee to instruct what they should be telling the defense forces. Most on the committee were more than willing to follow her instructions rather than the Chairman's orders. Things had been moving in a better direction when her work was noticed and blocked. However, Ezalia felt she had made progress and given ZAFT and the PLANTs a chance to separate from the Chairman in this battle. It would now be up to those like Lanus and her colleagues on the Defense Committee.

Once her work had been discovered, Ezalia knew she would need to escape from Jachin Due. The Chairman would have Section 2 hunt her down once he figured out she was the one who was messing with his plans. So, she hadn't stayed in the quarters she'd been taken to for long after knowing her work had been noticed. As she had slipped out of the quarters she had been confined to, alarms had begun going off, bringing a small smile to her face. It gave her hope that her work was causing soldiers to realize the folly of the Chairman's web of lies. When they understood the truth, they would turn and fight with Lanus and the Federation to defeat the monster that was hell-bent on attacking Earth.

Along Ezalia's way, she had found others who were trying to leave the base. After asking them, they all said they feared for their lives and wanted no part of the Chairman's vendetta. She couldn't have refused them as they had, like her, seen the truth and had been sickened by it. They had met up with Yuki and his group shortly after, which led them to the current situation. Yet, Ezalia was done hiding from those who had been taken in or were blinded by the Chairman's lies. Thus, she stepped out to look at the one who had dealt with the Section 2 agents who had been trying to kill those in her group and herself.

The young man before her was in a Federation pilot suit by what she saw. It appeared to have an array of equipment, some of which seemed to be equipment used by special forces. That said one of two things to Ezalia, either this young man had that level of skill the Federation had him in special forces, or he had his own custom tool set as some soldiers did. And with how this young man had dealt with the Section 2 agents, Ezalia leaned towards the former rather than the latter. It was both an incredible thing and an unfortunate truth that elite soldiers were getting far too young to be morally right. The war had been forcing the young to pick up weapons and use them to kill one another. Ezalia knew the point too well, as her son was a ZAFT mobile suit pilot. She was proud he was willing to serve, but she wished it wasn't required as she imagined any parent would their child.

But as Ezalia gazed at the young man, he looked familiar to her. She couldn't place the familiarity at first, but she was sure she'd met him somewhere before now. The hair and definitely the face stood out and caused Ezalia to have the feeling of familiarity. The face reminded her of a man she once met, which Patrick had introduced as she recalled. The man had been a scientist which was odd with Patrick, and that was why Ezalia remembered the encounter. By what Patrick had said at the meeting, the man was studying agriculture, working for a means to end hunger for all of humanity. It was a lofty dream, to be sure, more so these days than back then. But Patrick had been convinced the man's work would accomplish what others hadn't. However, Ezalia couldn't recall the scientist's name, but this young man's face certainly resembled them.

Yet, a moment later, Ezalia remembered where she had met the young man. It had been on Aprilius One after the Heliopolis incident since Siegel had introduced him. As Ezalia recalled, Siegel seemed to have known the young man more than just having met him that day. How Siegel could've encountered the young man was any guess to Ezalia. "I know you," Ezalia started, "Siegel Clyne introduced you." Ezalia paused for a moment to remember the young man's name, then it came to her, "Your name was McGregor, I believe. You were at Aprilius One after the mess with Orb's Heliopolis incident."

The mention of Siegel drew Tyler's mind back to when he had been on Aprilius One. He had been there to give his accounting of the messy event in which the rat had played a major part. That event hadn't gone in any way on the path Tyler had wanted. The masked man had wormed his way out of responsibility and wasn't even blamed for his actions which had led to the destruction of the colony. However, before the council meeting, Siegel had introduced him to at least one other council member. As he recalled, it had been a woman; after a longer look, it was the same woman before him. And yet, something else tickled at the back of his mind that Tyler couldn't figure out. Something about the woman reminded him of something, but Tyler couldn't say what at the moment. As annoying as the nagging feeling was, he instead inclined his head to the woman, "Correct, my name is Tyler McGregor, and Siegel did introduce me to a few," Tyler replied. "He is alive and kicking, I'm happy to assure you. The attempts to silence and kill him failed due to the interceding of others."

Hearing that Siegel was alive was wonderful, more so that he was alright. There had been no credible information on the subject of what had happened to Siegel. It had been said Siegel had died in the fire that burned down the house he'd been hiding in. At least, that was Section 2's report, and the soldiers who had inspected the site had agreed with the assessment. That news hadn't gone over well, only slightly better than the Chairman accusing Siegel of being a traitor. Much like Lanus, Siegel's record spoke for him better than any accusations against him, so the Chairman's words had caused division. Ezalia had been with those who hadn't wanted to unseat Siegel so Patrick could be the Chairman, but that had been the minority. But this wasn't the time to ask questions about others. Her group had to leave while there was a chance before Section 2 agents caught up and killed them. This Federation soldier could help them get to a hangar to leave alive. With Yuki's soldiers, it had been questionable though she knew they were dedicated to helping get as many out as possible. "Could you help us reach one of the hangars and a shuttle," Ezalia pled. "Our luck in that matter has been bad, as you have seen for yourself. All of us wish to help as we can to end this war peacefully, and we know the Chairman's plan isn't the way to do that. And because we disagree, the Chairman sees us as traitors worthy of death. He is completely focused on his revenge and vendetta against Naturals."

Tyler knew the Chairman had descended to an extremely low place, but this was lower than he'd figured the man had sunk already. The Information Network had suggested the man was essentially a lost cause to any reason. Tyler had begrudgingly agreed to that after Athrun's recounting of his meeting with the man. But for the Chairman to be willing to kill any fanatically aligned with him was farther along the road to the insanity that Tyler had feared. But that was beside the point now. It merely meant Tyler would likely have to deal with and put the man down in the end. He didn't doubt he could get this group to the hangar he had entered by. Tyler hadn't met many along his way, and those he had were already taken care of or had fled. Any that could help with ending this war was needed alive and working, Tyler was sure of that. It would take extra time, which Tyler could use to get to Chairman Zala, but it would benefit others. This battle was to bring peace which would benefit many, and just as many would be required to bring it about. But it sounded like at least the woman, who was clearly the leader knew where the Chairman was, which would help quicken his search. "Sure, I could do that," Tyler replied. "In exchange, if you could tell me where to find the Chairman, I would certainly appreciate that."

Ezalia figured the reason the young man wanted to know where the Chairman was had something to do with him being here. He was here to capture or even dispatch the man for all she knew. It wouldn't be exactly be surprising as Patrick was lost and wouldn't stop his vendetta by choice any longer. The Chairman would have to be dealt with in some manner for this battle to come to an end. Ezalia was more sure now that the Chairman wouldn't stop in his efforts unless forced to. And in this, the Federation and its allies had the best chance to stop the Chairman if any could. So, Ezalia told Tyler the Chairman was in the command center if he hadn't left, which was unlikely. She also told the young man the best route she knew of to reach the command center with the least chance of delay.

Meanwhile, Athrun had been all over the battlefield, even after taking care of the Alliance task force that had been carrying nuclear weapons toward the PLANTs. There was still much to be done on this battlefield before the fighting would come to a close. But his mind had returned to the one of those that kept this insanity going, Chairman Zala. Athrun hadn't forgotten how the last confrontation with the man was. He realized that the Chairman wasn't his father, as Tyler had implied, merely someone who wore his face and used his voice. The memories of Patrick Zala were good ones for Athrun in the earlier days with his father. With those in mind, he wouldn't let another defame his father's work in the manner the Chairman had been. And so, he had been heading toward Jachin Due to confront the Chairman. Nicol and Miguel had met back up with him, fighting along the way. During the journey, the three got into the thick of things with ZAFT defending forces still loyal to the Chairman.

During the fight, the METEOR unit's weapons were damaged by enemy attacks. There came a point Athrun was forced to undock from the METEOR as more than half its weapons were either gone or didn't respond anymore. He then had the Fatum-00 deploy to compensate for the METEOR's loss. That action didn't halt the advancement towards Jachin Due for Athrun or his comrades, other than the damage incurred along the way. Athrun's group made their way to Jachin Due slowly but surely. When they got close to the station, Athrun broke off from Nicol and Miguel, continuing alone. Nicol and Miguel kept fighting as Athrun flew toward Jachin Due, looking for a way inside.

Athrun spotted the entrance to the base's larger hangars and flew inside. He found an open dock to land the Justice in. After he popped out of his cockpit, Athrun glanced around, taking in his surroundings. Athrun was surprised to see the Aurora in a dock nearby, meaning Tyler was here already. His friend was likely here to do much the same thing Athrun was with confronting Chairman Zala. There were also two shuttles left in the hangar, which any hadn't used to leave yet. Athrun wouldn't be surprised if there were those who would try and escape the base with how things were going. In fact, ZAFT personnel filed into one of the shuttles as Athrun watched. He moved forward and questioned one of the soldiers about what was going on. Athrun was told they were under the command of Athrun's old mentor Commander Yuki. Yuki had quietly ordered soldiers to evacuate those they could from Jachin Due.

It didn't surprise Athrun that Yuki was doing what he could to protect people. He had found the man honorable and dedicated to protecting those he could. And with that going on, Athrun could focus on getting to the Chairman and confronting him. From what warning the soldiers gave, there were still agents of Section 2 around Jachin Due. Athrun would keep the warning in mind as he continued forward. He thanked the soldiers and moved into the dock waiting area before removing his helmet and leaving it. He then carefully began making his way towards the station's command center, for that would be where the Chairman would be.

At the same time, Tyler nodded to the information before directing the group to enter the corridor so they could get moving. Enough time had been spent talking, for there was work to do and things to settle. As the group began organizing themself, Yuki ordered those under his command to grab the assault rifles the Section 2 agents had been using. While the soldiers were taking the weapons, Tyler took out his SMG and a fresh clip, then reloaded his gun. There was still the chance Tyler and those he was going to escort could come across enemies. And Tyler judged that those he'd dispatched were going to be what to expect from any Chairman loyalists. They were to be unlikely just to stop them to ask questions. They would shoot first and ask questions later if required, so Tyler would assume that going forward.

Once all were ready, Tyler took the lead for the group and led them through Jachin Due toward the hangar the Aurora was in. There had been a shuttle there that the group could use to leave the base. It took time to reach the intersection, which led to the hangar. However, soldiers appeared on the intended path. The non-soldiers were motioned to hide while those with guns moved to be out in front. Yet, the ZAFT personnel who spotted the group raised their hands and said they wouldn't shoot. Yuki recognized the soldiers as some under his command who had been working on evacuating non-combat personnel. So, he held up a hand and lowered the rifle he was carrying, "They are some who had been working with me," he said. Then he looked at the soldiers, "Join us; this is the last group to evacuate."

The group of soldiers joined, making the group larger as it continued toward the hangar. Tyler was still in the lead as they came into the docking area. He gestured to the boarding tunnel connected to the last shuttle still there. "There is the shuttle your group can use," Tyler stated, "Use it to leave this place while there is a chance." He paused, thinking, "I believe there were friendly ZAFT vessels in that direction," he said, pointing where the coalition fleet had been last Tyler had checked. "As I recall, the ship Treize was using was in that direction too. The man could probably use the help you can provide."

This young Federation soldier's help was invaluable to her and those with her. If not for this young man, then she and the rest would likely be dead by Section 2 agents. And then he helped them safely get to the hangar and even told them where to go to escape this fighting and madness. He asked for nothing in return which was rare these days. So, Ezalia bowed in gratitude, "Thank you for your help. We would be dead if you hadn't come along and assisted us." She paused briefly since the thought had come to mind if the shuttle was taken. How would the young man, as he may not have a way to leave? "But how will you exit the station if we take the shuttle?"

Tyler already had an escape plan prepared when the time came for him to leave this place. The Aurora had gotten him inside, and it would serve as a means to leave it and return to the battlefield. Tyler felt he would need to go back out to fight before the battle was finished. Handling the Chairman would be an important step in bringing the battle to its conclusion, but not the finish. The concern was nice to receive as Tyler hadn't seen a great deal of that from any other than from his friends. But he could look after himself when required in situations like the one he was currently in. Thus, Tyler jabbed a thumb behind him in the Aurora's direction, "I have a way to leave, which is the same way I entered. The mobile suit is locked to anyone else, so it won't be stolen while I'm away." Tyler then spotted the Justice in a dock close to the Aurora's, "Plus," he stated, pointing at the Justice, "It looks like I'll have help in dealing with the Chairman."

Ezalia glanced in the direction the young man was pointing, and to her surprise, the X09A Justice was in a dock close to the Federation Gundam. What the Justice was doing here, Ezalia could only guess. The last she'd heard, the Justice had been assigned to Athrun Zala. He had returned to the homeland without the suit and then escaped following the Chairman's insistence he be questioned. Should Athrun be here, the teenager would likely be either about to or currently confronting the Chairman. The Chairman wouldn't show his son pity or mercy; the man was beyond the point he would show that to any. Her son Yzak had mentioned that Athrun was a good soldier even if he was "too cautious" at times, according to him. But what would this Federation soldier know of Athrun Zala? "You're likely right, but why help a stranger," she asked.

Tyler shook his head, "Athrun is no stranger to me." Tyler wouldn't let his friend go through confronting the Chairman alone. There was also the chance the Chairman would try to kill his friend where the man had gone down. Tyler was confident that he and Athrun could handle the Chairman and whatever that involved. But that gave him the motivation to speed this up so he could go help his friend. "He is a friend," Tyler replied.

"Friend," Ezalia questioned, "what kind?"

Tyler smiled as the phrase he held to when describing his friendship with Kira and Athrun came to mind. "As the old phrase goes, 'no greater love can a man have, but that he is willing to lay down his life for a friend.' That is what kind of friend Athrun is to me, and I am to him," Tyler answered without hesitation. "He is one of my best friends, and I will do whatever it takes for him to leave this place alive after dealing with the Chairman."

Yuki was as floored as he didn't doubt most would be at hearing what the young man had just said. He'd listened to the exchange a bit as he directed the shuttle loading. Yuki could recall Athrun mentioning in passing he had two "more than good friends," which he had wished he'd kept in better contact than he had. If this young man was one of those, Yuki could understand why Athrun would consider him more than a good friend. That this young man was clearly willing to risk his life for Athrun was amazing. Yuki saluted Tyler, "Thank you for your help, and may you have good luck and fortune in your endeavors." Yuki faced Ezalia, "Ma'am, we need to go if we are to leave here safely as possible."

Ezalia knew Yuki was right; her group needed to leave if they were to get away from the Chairman. But she did want to thank the young man who had saved her and others properly. So, she bowed again, "Thank you again, Mr. McGregor. I pray for your success in stopping Chairman Zala from dooming us all." Tyler nodded and watched as the people got on the shuttle before he turned back toward the hangar entrance. He still had a task to do, which now involved a friend's life in the balance. Tyler headed back into Jachin Due as the shuttle sealed and lifted off from the dock it was in.

The shuttle exited the hangar and began making its way toward the Federation and its allies. Yuki and another were doing their best to avoid getting caught up in the fighting. However, as they were making progress toward friendly forces, some GINNs caught sight of them. Yuki did his best to avoid the attacks, but it wasn't easy. Yet, as one of the GINNs approached to attack, one of its fellows was attacked. That caused a pause with the other two, and when Yuki glanced in the direction the GINNs was, he was met with an unexpected sight. The custom GINN, whose colors were those that Admiral Treize. Treize's GINN quickly dispatched two of the other GINNs before facing the remaining one. The enemy GINN shortly ran away, leaving Treize's machine, which turned to the shuttle.

Lanus had been seeing shuttles leaving Jachin Due and figured they were personnel escaping the Chairman. He couldn't blame others for wanting to escape the Chairman and his madness. So, he had told those listening to him to protect the shuttles and help guild them to allied ships. He wouldn't let the Chairman kill people just because they disagreed with his views. Lanus opened a channel to the shuttle, "ZAFT shuttle, are you okay," he asked, "No one too hurt, I hope." Yuki couldn't come up with the words for how relieved he was at hearing Admiral Treize. The man was an anchor for ZAFT, and just having him around gave hope of things being okay. "Thanks to you, Admiral, no," Yuki replied, "You've given us time to evacuate those we could from Jachin Due."

Lanus was gratified to hear that Yuki and others had been working to evacuate non-combat personnel. He had been confident that ZAFT soldiers would be working for the best the homeland could have. As Lanus had said, soldiers would fight for the right reasons when they heard the truth. So, Lanus smiled, "It's good to hear your voice, Yuki," he returned. "I am grateful to you and those under your command that have been working to protect the non-combatants. You have my thanks for that." Yuki was a bit taken aback at how the Admiral was praising him. It was rare for the man that had lead ZAFT to give out compliments as he was. "We've just been working to protect those we can, Admiral," Yuki answered. Lanus had his GINN point toward the Federation fleet, "Keep going, and I'll have a team act as escort for you to get to the Salong."

Meanwhile, Athrun took the route he knew wasn't the most direct, but it would unlikely be guarded by soldiers heavily. None stopped Athrun along his way, at least Athrun didn't come across any. The station appeared mostly deserted, and those he did come across went the other way toward the base's hangars. They appeared panicked and focused on leaving the station before things worsened, and Athrun didn't blame them. With what the Chairman insisted on doing, he would want to get away from the man. However, Athrun wanted to confront and deal with the monster that appeared as his father. The monster had to be stopped before GENESIS could be fired at Earth. Should Earth be attacked by it, then most options for a good ending for the war would vanish. The war would continue, and the destruction of humanity would come to pass, which sickened Athrun.

It took around ten minutes before Athrun came to be outside in front of the command center. Athrun glanced around and saw no signs of Tyler being around, nor anyone else. He'd not seen any sign of Tyler had been around, but then, Tyler was well-trained not to be noticed by others. Athrun didn't doubt Tyler would reach the command center when he could. His friend may have encountered resistance from those loyal to the Chairman. Tyler would be able to handle difficult situations like soldiers trying to stop him. So, Athrun took a steadying breath before pushing the button to open the door. The door slid aside, and Athrun entered the command center. The room was much like the rest of the station, empty with pretty much no one around. There was no one at any of the consoles, as the base should have normally been operating. The displays showed that the Federation and its allies were progressing against Jachin Due and its defending forces. However, Athrun's gaze stopped and locked onto the lone figure still in the room, Chairman Zala.

That man seemed unperturbed about what he was watching on the displays. But Athrun could see the subtle signs that the man was enraged with the data. He likely knew he was losing and would not win this in the end through the forces that were still loyal to him. The issue as Athrun saw it was a cornered creature; even a monster could be far more dangerous than when they weren't cornered. The Chairman still could possibly fire off GENESIS before the weapon could be stopped. Were that to happen, the man would win in the short-term but lose in the end. There may be no console operators in the command center, but all firing GENESIS would take was a command in the right console. Thus, Athrun would stop the monster from doing that the best he could. He brought up his pistol and pointed it at the Chairman. "This foolishness has gone on long enough, Chairman," Athrun stated evenly, "Your vendetta will end today."

Patrick had been glaring at the data displayed by Jachin Due's displays. They showed enemy forces were pushing forward, and defending forces weren't stopping them. ZAFT forces were trying to slow and halt enemy forces but weren't successful. Traitors were popping up with increasing frequency hampering efforts to end this long war. All the personnel in the command center had fled to wherever. But Patrick didn't need them to end this war once and for all. He could put in the command to have GENESIS fire once it was charged. It was close, but Federation forces were fighting hard. Thus, it was a race against time, whether GENESIS would be able to fire before its defense fell by the Federation's efforts. Then someone had spoken, and of all of those, it could've been, it was the failure of a boy. Patrick straightened up slowly and turned to face his biological son.

To be honest, Patrick had expected someone like Yuki or Treize to come and confront him. That the boy had made the journey here against all odd was to be commended. It couldn't have been easy for Athrun to make his way here through ZAFT forces. Patrick could see the boy had changed since the last time they had crossed paths. The look in the boy's eyes showed any doubts he may have had before were gone. The boy had resolve, which Patrick would normally applaud from any soldier. Resolve was a good quality, and the best soldiers had it in plenty. But this boy had betrayed him and the PLANTs, so all of what the boy had gained was for nothing. "It is impressive you got here, boy; I'll give you that," Patrick admitted. "And I agree the foolishness had gone on for long enough and needs to end sooner rather than later."

Athrun's grip on his gun tightened with how calm the man sounded. This man spoke as if this was a normal conversation he would have with an acquaintance. His voice held none of the hatred which had brought him to this point that the Chairman had dragged ZAFT to. The fact was the Chairman had brought about this battle along with others who had corrupted him into the monster he was. The deaths that had happened so far and were still in the process of happening could be linked back to those like him. So, Athrun glared back at the Chairman, "I'm not a boy, so you will not talk as such nor as if you know me." Athrun took a breath, "I see you for the monster you have become, the cancer to humanity you insist on being a part of. You wish to destroy the human race by exterminating Naturals, and that's the truth. And you have blinded yourself to the reality such an action will doom Coordinators as well." Athrun paused for a moment, "However, I will not allow you to use my father's appearance and voice to try and accomplish the insanity you're obsessed with."

The response was so unexpected that Patrick couldn't think of a reply right off the bat. The boy was far more different from the last encounter than Patrick had thought. He no longer was questioning things as he had been. Granted, Athrun still stated nonsense as fact, but he now clearly believed what he was saying was the truth. Nothing Patrick could tell him would change his belief; it was obvious now. If only the boy had grown the spine he had now earlier when others hadn't corrupted him; he would've been much more useful. "You've grown a spine; that's progress I wish you had shown before now," Patrick returned. "It is a disappointment you have been taken in by the lies others spout." Patrick gazed coldly at his son, "The extermination of all Non-Coordinators is the only way to end this war and bring about lasting peace. Sacrifices are necessary to achieve that long-term goal. Those that give their lives for the bright future will be honored and never forgotten by those to come." Patrick Zala then raised his own gun and pointed it at Athrun, "Yet, you have lost sight of such a simple fact."

At the same time, Tyler took the same route he'd been on before coming across the group with Ezalia and Yuki. He met none along his way before he could get to the outside the door to the command center. He stopped and took a deep breath to ready himself to enter and take care of business. Tyler tried opening the door, but it was locked and sealed. So he blasted the controls for the door, disabling the hydraulics which kept it sealed. Tyler forced the door open and slipped inside the base's command center. He instantly saw the two before him, one his friend and the other the one he was here to handle. Tyler ducked behind some equipment and listened to the conversation. He'd clearly missed the opening, but he could hear. Athrun wasn't taking crap. Tyler's friend had accepted the Chairman wasn't his father anymore and was treating him as the monster he was. Tyler was glad Athrun had seen and accepted the truth; it would be best in the long run.

At the sound of a gun clicking, Tyler peeked out of his cover and saw the Chairman was now pointing a gun at Athrun. Tyler wasn't about to let another point a weapon at his friend and do nothing about it. He had been hidden long enough, there was work to be done, and the sooner the job was done, the better. So, Tyler rose out of his hiding place, figuring it was time he entered the picture, put in his two cents, and got things moving in the proper direction. "You aren't one to be preaching to us about losing sight of simple fact, let alone any one else." Patrick twisted around to face the owner of the voice which had just spoken. He pointed his gun at Tyler, and in response, the teen raised and then trained his SMG on Patrick. "You deny reality as the truth and state lies are the truth without any real proof beyond your word. Thus, you don't listen to, let alone accept, simple facts as you claim we don't."

Athrun felt somewhat better to have Tyler here with him. This event was bad enough for him, so he appreciated a friend going through it alongside him. What Tyler had said about the Chairman was true, he was preaching something he didn't practice in the slightest. "I called you a monster, but you are more a demon in human skin. As Minister Blass stated, you are one of humankind's true enemies," Athrun remarked. Patrick glared at his son for referring to a blasted Natural's statements as a means to judge him. Naturals weren't worthy to judge Coordinators; they were too blinded by jealousy to be fair. But Tyler spoke, drawing Partick's attention, "I would agree, you, Chairman, are one of humankind's true enemy per the definition given by Minister Blass." Tyler paused for a moment, "And it is sad as you once respected her by going to her for advice on forms of government for the PLANTs. You once valued her views on government and leading people." Patrick wouldn't talk to the woman that ran the Republic. Not only was she a Natural, but the nation was part of the Federation, which was reasons enough not to have anything to do with them. Patrick glared at Tyler, "And who do you think you are," he demanded, "That you believe you can speak to me in such a familiar manner?"

Tyler didn't know which was sadder with this picture, that this man had forgotten what good he'd done in the past or the monster he'd become. He knew Athrun would be hurting in this even if he'd accepted this man wasn't his father anymore. But Tyler would stand by his friend and do what he could to make this more manageable. That was how important Athrun was to Tyler, and he would do pretty much anything for him to help. So, Tyler made his way closer until he was a few meters away from the monster of a man. "I'm surprised that you've forgotten me already. We've met more than once, and some of those were memorable to me even when I was younger, and they apparently weren't for you," Tyler replied. "I used to respect and admire what you stood for and believed in. Yet, I don't anymore with the complete change in your rhetoric. But my name is Tyler McGregor, and I can give you a hint which I would bet you will connect quickly enough."

Patrick was silent, which Tyler took to continue. So he raised his left hand with only the middle finger pointing up and displayed it to the Chairman. Patrick stared at the gesture, and a split second later, anger shot through him as it pointed to an event that had enraged him. The gesture was the same as the one who had stolen the Freedom from the armory months ago. That strongly implied that this McGregor was the thief who had evaded capture by those assigned to hunt the thief. Section 2 had been working on finding the thief, but they had found nothing to explain who they were or worked for. Chairman Zala's eyes widened at seeing this, "YOU! YOU'RE THE THIEF THAT STOLE THE FREEDOM," he shouted in rage.

Tyler knew those who would've viewed his display before leaving with the Freedom would have reactions to it. Those in charge around the PLANTs would be mad about what he did, which had been the intention. Tyler had been aiming to get as much attention as he could so that less would be directed toward Lacus and Siegel. The Chairman's response was what Tyler would expect from fanatical leaders who wanted to destroy the Alliance. And yet, Tyler wanted this man off his normal game so he would be so distracted he wouldn't be thinking about using that weapon of his. Thus, Tyler smiled, "Hell yeah, I'm the one who took the Freedom, and out from ZAFT's own noses, no less. It's the one thing I wouldn't doubt you want to do horrible things to me for flipping you off for others to see and laugh at." Tyler's expression became totally serious, "And that's still my view of the quality which you run things around the PLANTs with. The only difference between then and now is you've gotten worse than before." Tyler shrugged, "Where I can understand the anger you feel with some within the Alliance trying to launch nukes at the PLANTs as I feel some of the same, that's no excuse for what you're trying to do."

Athrun could see what Tyler was getting at with what he'd been saying. While the fear of a nuclear strike against the PLANTs was very real. But that fear shouldn't translate into attacking people that had nothing to do with the events. However, this also distracted the monster from the displays, so he wasn't waiting to fire GENESIS. So, Athrun picked up where Tyler had been going, "We can comprehend wanting those responsible for the Bloody Valentine Incident to pay for what they did and took from many." Patrick twisted to look at Athrun as he continued, "But for you to use a nuclear weapon on the moon and then point it at Earth shows you are just as much a monster as those criminals are. You are no different than those you claim are the cause for the war, nor those you hate and rant against."

Patrick was furious that these two teenagers had the gall to compare him to the filthy Naturals. He was leading Coordinators into the future where they would be the human race, pure and worthy. It was high time humanity had the cancer it had carried for so long removed and continue forward. He would purge the darkness from humanity that had plagued it for countless generations. Even if he died to do it, Coordinators would live on and have the best future possible for them. "How dare you compare me to those filthy Naturals," Patrick roared. "We Coordinators are nothing like them! We are superior and will always be no matter what they do."

Tyler knew for a fact the man couldn't be reasoned with any longer. He'd suspected that the Chairman was a lost cause to reason, but there had been the slim change that wasn't so. Yet, the man wasn't even pretending to listen to facts being told to him. Instead, the man was ranting about his hatred being the reason he was right, and all else was wrong. But Tyler would allow him to justify what he did, though he didn't expect much. So, Tyler scoffed, "And just how are you different, Chairman?" Tyler gestured to the Chairman to go on, "Please, provide evidence of how we are mistaken beyond just your word." Athrun nodded, "Yes, tell us how you are actually different than those who are more than willing to attack the PLANTs you see as enemies, Chairman. This is your chance to prove us and others wrong, and you're right. We won't talk over you as you would make your opinion the only one heard." The two went silent, waiting for the Chairman to give some kind of answer to their challenge. Patrick scoffed, "There is no correlation," he replied simply.

Tyler hadn't expected much, but this was as low as could be. The Chairman was setting himself up to have his justification ripped apart by Athrun and him. Tyler shook his head, "Are you sure you want that to be your answer," he posed. "If that's what you want on the record, fine, I'll personally make sure it is recorded that way. But Athrun and I will then get down to proving how wrong your answer is with actual evidence." Athrun nodded in agreement, "Indeed, you get one more chance to change what you just said. Or else we will rip apart your answer and tell you the truth you refuse to hear." The boys didn't know what they were talking about. Patrick wouldn't change his answer just because these two didn't want to hear the truth.

Tyler waited a full minute, but the Chairman had said nothing. So, he took that as the Chairman didn't want to change his answer. "Okay," Tyler began, "You want to be brutally proven wrong, far be it from me to deny that for you." He paused for a moment, "Where to start on how wrong you are? Your demand for the war being the solution to your grievances is a good place." Athrun picked up from there, "Having soldiers throw away their lives most of the time unknowingly and say there is no other way to bring peace but through fighting." Tyler took the narrative from Athrun, "Using nuclear weapons against your enemies just as those you have been fighting want and are willing to do." Athrun took back the conversation, "They cry for the deaths of Coordinators while you shout for the necessity that Naturals are to be exterminated." Tyler shrugged and spoke, "Just to name a few, the comparison is much like a mirror reflecting what stands in front of it. Thus, you saying there is no correlation is an outright lie that even a child could see if presented with it."

What they said was utter nonsense, and none of it was true. So, Patrick gazed murderously at Tyler, then turned back to look at Athrun. And it was becoming clear that Athrun had been corrupted by the other here, among others that had done the job. That was enough of a reason to kill the teen, and he would pay for leading Athrun to betray those who should have his loyalty. "The two of you are fools, and as for you," the man snarled at Athrun. "You are a complete disappointment and failure." Patrick swung back to face Tyler, who was gazing back, not backing down. "Then you dare compare me to terrorists and criminals. I will make you pay for that and corrupt him into a traitor!"

Tyler could see this was going to get violent and began moving to evade, yet it was already too late. The guns going off echoed around the room as weapons were fired. Tyler felt a stinging in his left shoulder as he aimed his SMG at Chairman Zala. Tyler had pulled the trigger, but his bullet missed striking equipment behind the Chairman. However, Athrun had fired his gun aiming at the Chairman's hand, which gripped the gun he had. Patrick had been shooting at the fool who had corrupted his son, but he didn't get a lethal hit. But that wouldn't stop him from ending the teen's life for all he'd done. Yet, his hand burst in pain as a bullet struck him and forced him to release his gun. Patrick's face contorted in pain as he glared at Athrun, whose gun was pointed at him.

Athrun had pulled the trigger, firing at the Chairman, who used his father's appearance and voice to do horrible things. The monster had shot one of his best friends and had been attempting to kill him. Athrun couldn't imagine a world without Tyler, which would be completely dark for him. He'd already come to see that kind of world when he'd thought Tyler was dead with the destruction of the Shadow. Athrun didn't want to face that darkness anytime soon again, even if that meant he had to fight and kill to do that. He wasn't going to let this monster take what gave his life meaning just because the Chairman wanted foolish revenge. Athrun was more surprised that his hands were as steady as they were with shooting the man. But he had the resolve to see this through to the end, no matter what they would be.

Patrick growled at what had happened as it wasn't supposed to occur. The boy should see the truth of the Federation being fools that needed to be destroyed for the future. He brought up his gun to point at Athrun, to shoot the boy and be rid of him as he wouldn't see the truth. Yet, another gunshot sounded, and chairman Zala was forced to let go of his gun again as the gun took a bullet. Smoke came from the SMG Tyler was holding from its use. Tyler knew what needed to be done. There was one more chance for this man to live to see another day, monster or not. Should he refuse the offer/order, then today would be the day he died so the human race could survive. Tyler's face was impassive and showed little emotion as he spoke words he didn't think he would have to. "Patrick Zala, under the United Nations Charter, Article 4, Section 7," Tyler stated clearly, "I hereby place you under arrest for committing war crimes, as stated per Clause C's subsection 1's definition. You have the right to remain silent as anything can be used against you in the Ecumenical Humanity Court of Law."

Patrick wouldn't acknowledge any that would call him a war criminal. He was making a future for Coordinators, which was far from being a crime. The Federation's definition of war crimes came from when Naturals were dominant. So he grabbed the pistol he had been using in his left hand and swung it up to a point at Tyler. "You think you can judge me," he screeched. "I'm bringing about a bright future for Coordinators, and none will stop that!" However, Tyler had adjusted the barrel of his gun and fired another round, which struck the man in the right side of the chest. The crack of gunfire rang as Athrun pulled his trigger and landed a shot in the left side of the Chairman's chest. Even with blood flowing from multiple wounds, Patrick pointed his gun at Tyler, determined to kill the one who had corrupted Athrun. The man never got off a shot as Tyler pulled the trigger again, putting a bullet hole in the Chairman's forehead.

Tyler lowered his gun before flicking his safety back on and storing the weapon in its holster along his right thigh. He raised a hand to his left shoulder to inspect the wound as it stung with pain. From what Tyler could feel, the bullet had punched a small neat hole through his shoulder. Blood was trickling out of the wound, but Tyler still had the full range of motion in his left arm as far as he could tell. He would need to see a doctor to patch up the hole after the battle, but it wasn't an immediate concern. Athrun could see Tyler checking over the injury on his right shoulder, which had come from being shot. He moved over to where Tyler was, but Athrun glanced back at the body of Chairman Zala. Athrun didn't regret what had happened, and the man was less than a shadow of his father. And now, this monster couldn't use his father's appearance and voice for horrible things. The killing didn't feel nice any more than doing to others did, but this was easier to swallow, seeing the creature as a monster rather than human.

Meanwhile, Cagalli had come into the hangar and saw both the Justice and Aurora in the docks. She had taken that as Athrun and Tyler were inside Jachin Due, an enemy base and thus a dangerous place. Two Astray pilots had followed Cagalli when she'd entered Jachin Due, among them Mayura Labbat. Mayura had been separated from Juri and Asagi during the battle, but she had found herself around the Asuka. So, she had kept close to Lady Cagalli since being separated from her team. She and the other pilot were to protect Lady Cagalli from any that would do her harm. Mayura scanned around the hangar while the other Astray pilot stayed close to Lady Cagalli. The safety of Cagalli was a priority for those from Orb. Orb's citizens needed her after this war ended. When Mayura saw no sign of enemy agents around the hangar, she was caused to pause for the oddity. As an enemy base, there should be soldiers around to repel enemy forces coming in, yet there was nothing. Mayura looked back and nodded that the coast was clear for the time being but didn't lower her guard.

The group of three moved through the base, searching for the two missing pilots whose mobile suits were in the hangar. Cagalli would make sure as many would return as possible when this battle concluded. She may not like how Tyler did some things or his behavior. He was rude at times and often took the path that left a mess behind. And yet, Cagalli didn't feel Tyler was a bad person, even if his actions left much to be desired. Cagalli didn't believe he was related to Ellen as he claimed, but that wasn't the point of this. He was fighting to help bring this battle to the best conclusion it could have, which was the important thing. Then she wouldn't let Athrun go missing and be lost, not when she liked his company. Granted, she was still sorting out the feeling she had for him, but that wasn't the motivation she had for finding him entirely. Thus, she would search the entire base if she had to in order to find the two whose suits were here.

It took them some time to make their way through the base, checking rooms as they went. Mayura and the other Astray pilot took turns checking for enemy soldiers while in the lead. They kept Cagalli behind them even when she said they didn't need to do such things for her. Cagalli wasn't happy that the two with her were forcing her to be behind them while they risked themselves to check for enemy soldiers. She had told them there was no need for them to do that as she could defend herself just fine. They didn't listen to her reasoning and continued to be in front of Cagalli so they could be shields if it became required. Cagalli insisted they go to the command center of Jachin Due, as that was where the two could be. It made the most sense to her that Athrun and Tyler would go there as it was where Chairman Zala would likely be. The two would be here to confront ZAFT's leader to whatever end it would have. Cagalli didn't want Athrun to confront his father as he would likely do here. Yes, he'd said the man wasn't his father anymore, but she wished he would give the man one more chance to see reason. If the man was killed, there was no chance of repairing a relationship.

It took around ten minutes to reach the command center, and when the door opened, Mayura and the other Astray pilot had their guns out and were in front of Cagalli. Cagalli pushed past them to see what was going on, her pistol ready to use. However, Cagalli lowered her gun when she realized that Tyler and Athrun were the only ones in the room. Both looked okay or at least not critically injured in need of medical attention, that she could tell. However, Cagalli glanced at Tyler again and saw him developing a red patch on his left shoulder. She floated forward towards the two trying to figure out what had happened for them to be here as they were. "What happened here," she asked," Why are you two even here?"

Athrun turned, as did Tyler, and stared at Cagalli, both surprised at what the girl was doing there. Athrun couldn't figure out what the girl was around here for; she shouldn't be inside Jachin Due. Sure, he'd heard she was going to be fighting out on the field, which he hadn't much liked. But Cagalli hadn't listened to others telling her how dangerous it would be. So, Athrun doubted he could've done much more than those on the Kusanagi had. On the other hand, Tyler kept the smile back from showing at the girl tracking them down. He would bet a substantial amount of money she had been looking for Athrun; specifically, she had feelings for him, after all. Tyler hadn't missed the signs that something was developing between the two. He was happy for them as he was with Kira and Lacus. Athrun looked away from Cagalli, "I'm here to settle things," he replied. Tyler shook his head, "What Athrun means to say is we came here to solve the issue of Chairman Zala being dead set on using that gamma weapon of his."

While what they said was likely true to an extent, Cagalli didn't buy that was the only reason the two had ended out here. But it didn't look like she would be getting anything out of them at this time, even if she tried pushing. Yet, that didn't explain why Tyler had a crimson spot on his right shoulder. One didn't get injured for little to no reason that she'd seen. So, Cagalli moved forward and squeezed Tyler's shoulder to prove he wasn't saying everything. Blood quickly stained her suit's glove in response, more than she had expected to appear. That would say the wound was more serious than she had thought. The squeeze made Tyler wince in pain as the gunshot wound hurt. "And your shoulder," she posed, "it didn't do this before you came here, I would assume." Tyler didn't want to admit to others outside his friendship circle he'd taken a bullet for a friend for something potentially stupid. He had antagonized the Chairman, so he had been shot at in response and couldn't dodge in time. "A bullet found my shoulder in this room during an altercation," Tyler remarked carefully. "And it didn't slow down at contact when I was unable to dodge. It can happen to the best of us sometimes, I assure you. I'm as human as anyone else and am bound just as the rest by my mortality."

His explanation didn't tell much other than someone had shot him for some reason. No, it was carefully worded to not hint at how it happened. Cagalli had hoped to get more information about what happened with the two, but apparently, Tyler wouldn't be one to give that. Instead, Cagalli reached into the supply pouch built into her suit and took out two bandages. She put one on the front hole torn in Tyler's pilot suit, covered the wound, and then did the same on the exit wound. That should seal his suit enough until he returned to a ship and got medical attention and the spacesuit repaired. Tyler thanked Cagalli for assisting in patching up his shoulder and temporarily sealing his suit. The fix would last him for what he needed to get to a ship and get the attention he needed.

Tyler then faced Athrun as the situation they had just been in was one he wished on none of his friends. Tyler should've done the job of handling Chairman Zala himself and not had Athrun involved. He doubted Athrun would've stayed out of the mess if given the option, but it wasn't fair to him. The monster looked like his father, and to shoot in that situation was harsh. Tyler took a deep breath, "I'm sorry, Athrun, you should've never been put in the position you were. Handling the Chairman should've been just done by me and not needed you to be involved."

Athrun could see what Tyler was saying; it was logical and showed he cared about him. Tyler wanted to have the burden on his shoulders and spare Athrun the pain. That was the kind of person Tyler was, and Athrun was grateful to have him as a friend because of that, among other things. However, Tyler shouldn't have to bear the heavy burden of dealing with the leaders of this war by himself. That was a lonely thing, and Athrun wouldn't doom his friend to such a thing when he could share the burden with him. So, Athrun shook his head, "No, the Chairman needed to be stopped, and you would've been hard-pressed to do so alone," he returned.

Tyler could appreciate that Athrun wanted to help with a difficult task. But he was trained to do the hard tasks that others either couldn't or wouldn't. It was one of the expectations and jobs that SOLAS took on, so others didn't have to. His friend's wish to share the burden was nice, and it showed Athrun was a true blue friend as the reference went. And it wasn't that Tyler doubted Athrun would do hard things to help him; Tyler knew he would. He just didn't want Athrun to do those tasks, as that was what he did to save others from the consequences that came with the job. So, Tyler put his right arm around Athrun's shoulders, "While true, you shouldn't have to pull the trigger and shoot that monster. It should've just been me doing the job. Nevertheless, what's done is done; there's nothing that either of us can do about the event other than put it behind ourselves and move forward. The pain will pass with time, and that is one of the few good things that will come out of this."

Cagalli may not know what the two were exactly referring to, but she could agree with the last two lines. Something had happened with the Chairman, who was supposed to be Athrun's father. But Athrun had inferred the man wasn't the man he had known before, but some kind of monster that appeared like the man. It seemed that Athrun had come to terms to some extent, though Cagalli couldn't say how much. She had not missed the chatter on Federation channels that the Chairman had to be confronted and dealt with before the battle would end. She hadn't thought much of what that meant until now, seeing the results of two dealing with the man. However, the conversation came to an end, and the group of five returned to the hangar they had all come in at. Athrun saw that the shuttle which had been left in the hangar was gone at this point. The five returned to their respective mobile suits to leave the base heading toward its fall. The group launched out, the Asuka being flanked by the two Astrays. Cagalli was assisting the Justice with the damage it had gotten getting here though the METEOR unit had taken more than it had. The Aurora was in the back, bringing up the rear of the group, glancing around to make sure they didn't get taken by surprise by enemy forces.

With how damaged the Justice looked to be, Cagalli insisted Athrun return to the allied fleet. Athrun knew the Justice was not in the best condition to continue fighting in the battle. The approach to Jachin Due had been harsh, with ZAFT defending forces resorting to almost suicidal moves to stop the Federation and its allies. Yet, Athrun wanted to disagree with Cagalli as there was still work to do for the battle to come to a close. The Justice was in good enough condition that it could still assist allied forces in wrapping up the fighting. The coalition fleet and its forces were winning and slowly making the push for the battle to come to an end. So, Cagalli's suggestion had merit as it would still take time for the wrap-up. Perhaps, after Justice was repaired, Athrun could come back out to work and help this battle end. Thus, Athrun said nothing to counter Cagalli's insistence he not jump back into the fighting.

Tyler separated from the other four as they headed toward the coalition fleet, engaging his stealth system. The Aurora was okay overall, with minimal damage from the battle so far, but it was slightly below fifty percent on power levels. When this battle was done, there would need to be repaired; Tyler wouldn't argue that point. But Tyler wanted to find Kira and ensure he was doing well since he hadn't seen him earlier in the battle. Should Kira be in a bind or trouble, Tyler would do what he could to bail him out of whatever crapshoot he was in. He'd already saved one friend from potential death; Tyler may end out saving the other before this battle was done. Yet, Tyler wouldn't know what would need to be done until he found Kira. And the rat was still around somewhere, which was concerning to Tyler with what the masked man had set up with GENESIS.

Meanwhile, Rau had finally shaken off Aker and Treize, who had been fighting him toward a corner that they could use to finish him. The two had been irritating, and if not for the Gundam he was in, it would've been a dangerous combo to go against, if not lethal. Even in the Providence, Rau had been hard-pressed to defend himself against the two. The two had worked together to get Rau into a position they could finish the battle. Rau had avoided each attempt, but each try the two made became closer to being inescapable. Thus, Rau knew he had to get away from the two before they trapped and dispatched him. That task hadn't been simple in any way, and it had taken every skill Rau had to pull off. There had also been some luck involved since the two had been insistent, along with having "allied" forces take the fall to give him time to get away.

By the time Rau broke away from the two who haunted him, he had glanced around to take stock of the battle. ZAFT was doing poorly, with a good portion having switched sides and joined Treize and his allies. Jachin Due's defenses had folded, and enemy forces attacked the base to bring about its fall, which wouldn't take long. GENESIS had been stopped from firing twice by the Federation. The first time had been done by one of those odd rifles which seemed to disable nuclear weapons. The second instance was Federation forces knocking the aiming mirror out of alignment and then destroying it. The rifles the Federation had invented were a serious problem to Rau's plans and the countermeasures he'd planned for. They had apparently disabled the Alliance's attempt to send nukes at the PLANTs. From what Rau had heard, it had made them unable to arm or something like that. The same thing had happened to GENESIS, which proved the Federation's rifles neutralized nuclear weapons. It shook the foundations of Rau's plan, which he was trying to hold together to the end.

Zala ordered another aiming mirror to be moved into place so there would be another chance to shoot Earth and end the human race. Rau would see Humanity become extinct, for he had worked for too long and hard to see his plans fail. He had even set up a contingency to ensure GENESIS would fire at Earth to continue Humanity's path to destruction. Rau had programmed that idea into GENESIS when none had been watching. If Zala died, the program would be triggered, and GENESIS would adjust its aim and fire at Earth in seven minutes after Zala's heart stopped in whatever way it would. That was the best trigger Rau could think of since it was the most likely to happen in this battle. The Federation would see Zala as a hinge point and so would send some to "handle" him. Zala was too stubborn to give himself up to the Federation. Rau had made sure to push him to be so. Thus, everything was in place and moving in the direction Rau wanted for the desired result to occur.

Rau was brought out of his thoughts when he spotted the Freedom fighting off some GINNs. He'd been interrupted tormenting the boy by Aker and Treize, which had made doing the idea more interesting. Those two had kept his attention enough for Yamato to slip away before Rau could end him. But here was yet another opportunity to destroy Hibiki's dream child as he had wanted to do for years. So, Rau moved toward the Freedom, fully intent on killing the eyesore this time, no matter what it took.

Kira had just finished the last of the GINNs he'd been dealing with when he was forced to dodge a beam shot at him. He turned in the direction the beam had come from and found Creuset's Gundam there. "We're going to finish our fight, boy," Rau said, "We were interrupted before, but that will not happen this time." Kira took a defensive position as the Providence closed the distance and slashed with a beam saber. He blocked it with his shield as Rau spoke again, "If humanity learns of your existence, they would all want to be just like you. That's what your sire desired the most, to create the mold for humanity to use for itself. He was so obsessed with the idea he did unforgivable things to produce you as his mold he was so proud of! And after that, they would accept nothing less than perfect designed people like yourself!"

Tyler came upon the pair as they began fighting and didn't like what he saw. That Kira was fighting a Gundam concerned Tyler. A scan of the enemy unit increased Tyler's worry as it strongly suggested the machine had a nuclear reactor for power. That had all come before Tyler had overheard the rant from the enemy machine. Tyler had seen Creuset's serious interest in Kira, which Tyler didn't like. The interest quickly became a dangerous obsession that Tyler would not allow to go too far. The rat wanted Kira dead, and Tyler wouldn't let him do that. Tyler would use his skills to kill Creuset if that was required to protect Kira from being dead. Then, the Freedom was in okay condition but was worse than it had started at the start of the battle. It no longer had the METEOR unit to work with. From what Tyler saw, it had been removed rapidly or by force. He believed that because there were marks on the Freedom's torso that matched the METEOR's docking clamps. The shield also looked worn, likely having been used to block often.

As Tyler closed the distance, he witnessed Creuset's machine detach parts which began attacking the Freedom. It was very similar to what Cormag's custom fighter had done with its gunbarrels. Tyler put on speed yet saw the Freedom lose some wings from Creuset's assault, which only motivated Tyler. By the time he reached the point he could influence the battle, the Freedom had lost more. The machine no longer had its right arm, beam rifle, only half of its right leg was still connected, and the shield and its head were gone. Kira used his plasma cannons and nailed two parts. Creuset had lost those two parts from the plasma beam attack, but other pieces then took out the cannons. However, Kira had taken the shield arm of Creuset's suit during the attacks made on the Freedom. Tyler wasted no more time and used his plasma cannons to dispatch two more parts of Creuset's arsenal.

Kira had been doing what he could to fend off Creuset's assault on him but hadn't been doing well. And yet, red beams came from behind Creuset, which took out more of his bits. Kira glanced in that direction and saw a rippling. The rippling turned into the Aurora, which Kira was glad to see coming to his aid. Kira could really use some help in this fight, and Tyler would more than provide that.

Rau drew back a bit with the newcomer's appearance on the current battlefield. The red Gundam had come from behind in the direction of Jachin Due. And it had been using Federation stealth tech, which inferred it was the Federation's version of a Gundam. Those facts bothered Rau a bit as it could mean the Federation could've reached Zala already. That they had produced Gundams wasn't exactly a surprise, they likely got the Alliance's project and worked on it from there. However, Rau had gotten no alert to his trap going off yet, so Zala could've been taken alive. If he was killed, the alert hadn't been sent, which didn't mean GENESIS was not doing what he wanted, but it made him worry something was off. Plus, Rau had heard the chatter about a "red Gundam" attacking the aiming mirror of GENESIS. This machine could be what was being referred to. If so, Rau had a bone to pick with them as they had been hindering things he had worked hard for.

Tyler shifted the Aurora into its suit mode and used his beam rifle to take precision shots at the bits the enemy Gundam had. The less of the bits that could shoot beams the rat had, the better Tyler would feel. And he got the rat down to four remaining bits to work with before the masked man recalled them to him. Tyler aimed his beam rifle at the Providence and moved to be in front of the Freedom. Tyler would have the Aurora shield the Freedom as needed to keep Kira alive and away from the dirty rat. Then Tyler opened a channel that the rat should be on for ZAFT. "Back off you, dirty rat," he growled. Then Tyler turned his attention somewhat to his friend, "Kira, are you okay, need a hand dealing with the rat? The Freedom wasn't looking too good when I was approaching."

The voice was familiar to Rau, and he'd heard it off and on during this current year of the war. McGregor had been trouble before to Rau, and he didn't expect the teen to be any different this time. He had meddled before multiple times and had shown he was a skilled pilot as he'd bested Rau more than once. Then the meddler had a Federation-designed Gundam was problematic in many ways for him. The Gundam had just proven it was powerful and had taken out some of his DRAGOON pods in quick succession. However, Rau found it amusing that McGregor had appeared at this time to save the Freedom. The teen had a connection to Hibiki's dream child, though what kind didn't matter to Rau. It had been clear that McGregor was a defender of Humanity as it was now, perhaps even a hero. Should the boy be a hero, that would bring other problems and serious irritations for Rau. But the boy would fail in his efforts to help humanity survive, and Rau would cackle as it came crashing down. Rau couldn't stop the laughter that came from him, "Well well, what an amusing coincidence to hear your voice again, McGregor." Then Rau turned back to Kira, "Humans made this, they brought themselves to this point. They had to be stronger. They had to be smarter." Rau's voice rose to close to a shout, "They had to go higher."

Kira didn't like where this was going with what Creuset was saying. He accused humanity of going too far for their own good, and Kira didn't agree with that. Humans were driven to fulfill their potential each and every one had. That urge and wish were not wrong and have led humanity since it began. "Your logic is twisted as it is insane, Creuset," Kira snapped back. "You're wrong!"

The two facing Rau were blind to what humanity had become, of how twisted it had made itself. They had chosen the path it was on, chose the precipice it now stood at. Humanity had forged the path toward the destruction it was racing toward. And it would face that end with Rau cackling as it met its demise. "People compete, they hate, they envy, they devour each other," Rau shouted. "And the two of you are far too late to stop Humanity from facing its just reward. Humans brought this on themselves; it's the way they think, deny it as you wish, but that's the truth. Humans created me, and that's how I know what they work for. People knew where they were heading when they chose to forge this path! The darkness that devours all with swallow humanity whole, and its rightful extinction will come to pass! So then, why do you believe what you believe?!"

Tyler was irritated to hear Creuset was disparaging humanity's potential. It was quite an insult to all of what Tyler believed in and stood for. Humans' potential is what made them a god-like species and stand apart from other creatures on Earth. The insult made Tyler wish to destroy the Providence one piece at a time and make the rat squirm more than any urge he'd had before. He was beyond tired of hearing the crap Creuset was spouting as it was the lies he stood against. His parents had taught him the good Humanity had within it, that no matter what darkness surrounded it, Humanity's goodness would shine forth. The light of hope and goodness would stand against the evil some could produce. One of the lines that his father would often say was, "humans would always carry the fire of faith and hope." And the rat had to take a shot at what they believed, which struck a chord in Tyler that he wouldn't be silent. He believed that as long as Humanity had faith and hope, it would always have a future that would not fall into complete darkness. "You're wrong, you dirty rat," Tyler growled. "Do you hear me, Creuset," he shouted, "As long as humans hold to hope and have faith, Humanity will not lose to those who would bring about its extinction!"

Rau clenched his jaw at hearing what McGregor said as it enraged him. It was the rhetoric, the very rhetoric that some had used before to turn humanity away from its end. Peacecraft, the Federation, and those like them had proclaimed it and preached faith and hope that would save humans from the darkness. It had all been to stop conflict from ruining the human race, and it had been successful. However, Rau wouldn't accept it now as he had back when he was younger. He would make sure Humanity would fall to the darkness it had produced. "Humans are foolish," Rau shot back. He moved forward using his beam rifle at the Aurora, which Tyler dodged. "You are both too late," Rau screeched. "The faith you claim Humanity has, McGregor is blind and shortsighted. So many state they believe in justice, but their actions show they don't want justice but vengeance. This battle and its effects are witnesses to that very point. Humans flee what they don't understand, leading to hatred and destruction. You both know I speak the truth." Tyler had to deploy his shield to deflect the barrage as Creuset continued. "Their ignorance led us to this precipice we are on. They'll never learn, and they'll never listen! The fighting and this war prove that beyond any shred of reasonable doubt! We've reached the end of that possible path already, and there is no way to prevent the fall of Humanity now. Mankind will be vanquished at last with the looming event, just as they deserve for what they've done!"

Tyler could only shake his head from side to side at the horrible rant he'd been forced to listen to while evading attacks. He wanted to barf at the things the rat was saying. It proved to Tyler that Creuset was a certifiable nutcase if ever there was one. The 'event' that Tyler was sure the rat was referring to is the trap he set up with GENESIS. Unbeknownst to him, Tyler had already changed it to do something entirely different than shoot at Earth. And Tyler was more than willing to correct and inform the rat of what was about to happen in less than a minute by what he could figure. There had been a timer attached to the trigger, and it would be ticking down to zero shortly. Then would come the misfire and explosive detonation of the gamma beam generator. The Aurora rushed forward at the Providence, "I'm beyond sick and tired of listening to a rat go on about his crappy views and force others to listen to them. You obviously have not taken the time to understand humanity at all!"

Rau dodged the beam rifle's bolt before deploying the four DRAGOONs to attack the red Gundam. "Oh really, McGregor," Rau posed in mocking tones, "then tell me what are they like?" Tyler used his shield to block the shots of two pods and had the Aurora twist to evade the others. He then nailed two of them with bolts from his rifle. However, one of the remaining two shot the Aurora's rifle. Tyler tied to throw the rifle away, but the beams destroyed both the rifle and a portion of the Aurora's right arm. "Humanity has had millennia to learn from its mistakes, but they haven't done so. They never learn and never bother to ask," Creuset stated like a religious preacher. "This is the path Humanity forged for itself, and there is no longer any way to stop its conclusion! All forms of humanity will become extinct, as they should be!" The other remaining bit got a shot in and hit the Aurora's head, disabling Tyler's main camera set. The rat then cackled manically, "Face it, no matter what either of you do now, it's all for not! Earth will burn, and the ensuing tears and screams will make sure the destruction of the rest of humanity will happen! This will be the day of reckoning for Humanity!"

With his remaining camera, Kira had been watching the fight between the Aurora and the Providence. And Kira didn't like what he'd seen since Tyler appeared to be losing slowly but surely to Creuset. So, Kira was going through the options he had to work with to save one of his best friends. The beam sabers were still working, as were the railguns, so Kira drew out a saber and had the railguns come out and move forward. He attacked the Providence with the railguns and made a swing forcing Creuset to back off a bit. Tyler had shifted the Aurora to its flight mode, and the array's camera set gave Tyler a view outside his display screens. He had done so in time to see Kira's work to get the rat to leave him alone rather than finish the job. Tyler wasn't about to let the rat have the word. He would throw him the best "curve ball" he could to prove the rat wrong. "Hey Creuset, I know about your plan to have GENESIS fire its beam at Earth," Tyler stated. "It was a heck of an idea, which is surprising coming from you if you hadn't proved you're a dirty rat. But news flash, it isn't going to happen; I personally saw to that myself."

Rau had forced the Freedom away as McGregor had spouted what he had. He'd been impressed the Freedom had been still able to attack him with its railguns. However, Rau was caused to pause at what McGregor said as it was too specific to be a coincidence. McGregor had found out about what Rau had done to GENESIS for it to fire at Earth somehow. There were only two ways for that to be so, either the teen had hacked into Jachin Due's command center, or he had done the same inside GENESIS itself. If the teen was skilled to do a system hack to see that, he could potentially be skilled enough to change the planned trap. But Rau didn't want to believe McGregor was serious about what he had said about changing things. "McGregor, I was almost convinced that you were being serious about messing with GENESIS," Rau replied. "But no amount of lying changes your chances or the outcome of this battle."

Tyler spotted the two remaining pods aiming at him but appeared to be waiting for the moment. So, Tyler took that to keep going and justify the point he'd claimed with Creuset. "You should take your own advice, dirty rat," Tyler returned. "But hey, don't take my word for it if you don't want," Tyler paused, calculating the time left for GENESIS to misfire. "You only have to wait around fifteen more seconds to see the proof. Please, take the time to wait and see the show you helped set up. After all, you are desperate to see the trap you set up, and I won't deny you that." Rau wanted to call the bluff, but as McGregor had given a time frame, he would give the boy that long to live. McGregor was trying to buy time, but it wouldn't work for long. Then Tyler counted down the last few seconds, "Five, four, three, two, one, and zero."

There was silence for a moment before Creuset began to laugh, "Nice try, McGregor," Rau began. However, Tyler cut over him, "Hold up, rat. Look at GENESIS, as the show is just getting started. You should be a little patient; a good show takes a moment to get going and become neat." As if Tyler's statement was a signal, explosions became visible and turned into a cascading wave that spread across the structure of GENESIS. The dish's mirrors were shattering, and metal debris was flying off as more explosions occurred. Rau watched in angry horror as GENESIS was being ripped apart by the explosions. The explosions appeared to be coming from somewhere within GENESIS. That suggested what McGregor said about changing his trap was likely true. If that was correct, then McGregor had ruined years, if not more than a decade, of planning to bring an end to the human race.

Anger and rage filled Rau at seeing GENESIS falling to ruin. Knowing the boy in the red Gundam had ruined the perfect plan fueled his rage more. Not only that, but McGregor also interrupted Rau fighting to kill Hibiki's dream child, which was really irritating. The boy was of the same cut and caliber as Aker was, the heroic type that did what they did for the "good of the many." The difference between Aker and McGregor was he wasn't overbearing in the same way and wasn't as skilled as Aker. So, Rau would kill McGregor, whatever the cost required. He would die for the ruin he'd brought about by destroying GENESIS. Rau had his two remaining DRAGOONs move forward to attack McGregor. Tyler fired his plasma cannons in response which enveloped the two pods.

However, while dealing with the pods, Tyler lost sight of the Providence. He looked upward and found the Providence coming down toward his. Tyler swung the Aurora up to face off against Creuset and fired his flight array's vulcan guns at him while the plasma canons recharged. Rau ignored the projectiles being used against him even when alarms said the shots had more effect than normal projectiles. He drew a beam saber fully intent on stabbing and slashing McGregor's machine over and over until he died. Tyler saw the rat wasn't slowing down from the vulcans' shots and was still closing the distance. The Providence was getting far too close for Tyler's liking since the rat would kill him if he could. Tyler fired his plasma cannons, but the Providence dodged the beams. Rau evaded McGregor's plasma beams before diving down and slicing through the cannons, disabling them. Tyler then let loose missiles at the Providence, but Rau slashed his beam saber to dispatch the missiles. Tyler was out of options and knew it; he had nothing more he could use against Creuset that would be effective enough. Rau surged forward toward the Aurora beam saber in hand, ready to deliver the final blow to the red Gundam.

Kira had managed to face in the direction the Aurora and Providence were fighting in. He had combined the Freedom's beam sabers as that was his last offensive option to use. Kira moved forward at the Providence, intending to stop Creuset from killing Tyler. Kira wouldn't face a world again where one of his best friends was gone. Rau was above the Aurora with his beam saber pointed down at where he believed the cockpit of the Gundam was. "McGregor," Rau yelled as he moved in for the kill. Kira rushed forward and thrust his saber halberd at the Providence. Rau saw something to his left and glanced that way to see the Freedom coming at him. he could do nothing as the Freedom's saber went through the Providence's torso and messed with the onboard reactor's control circuits. Rau couldn't stop the smile as his helmet's visor shattered. The two may have beaten him, but his reactor's detonation would more than likely kill them both.

Tyler heard alarms going off in his cockpit, and he had an educated idea of what they were trying to warn him about. The rat's suit had incurred damage to its reactor, and as a result, it would detonate. And if the influence of the nuclear explosion were the same or similar to what the Freedom and Justice could put out, then Tyler and Kira would be in serious trouble. The Freedom was in no condition to defend itself from that kind of explosive force. The only thing Tyler could think to save his friend was to use the Aurora to shield the Freedom. There was a good chance the Aurora wouldn't survive doing such a thing. However, Tyler was prepared for that if things came to that. Kira needed to survive this battle, and Tyler would do what he could to have that be the case, even if he had to give his life to do it. Ideally, both of them would make it out of this, but the odds weren't high for that outcome. Thus, Tyler rushed forward, had the Aurora shift to its suit mode, and grabbed the Freedom before putting on as much thrust as he could. Kira had just enough time to see the Aurora zoom toward him and grab the Freedom before things went white.

When the explosion began, Tyler was grateful for the restraints in his cockpit as he would've been tossed around it violently if not. Tyler felt parts of his suit become ridged to keep him from whipping around just as the shaking started. Alarms were screeching at Tyler as the Aurora shook violently, and Tyler felt a tearing followed by burning on his right side. Once the shaking had stopped, which felt like a short eternity later, Tyler felt his suit release the ridged hold it had him in to keep him as safe as he could be. Tyler lifted his head to see how bad things were. He was alive, which was the better if the less likely outcome of his choice. However, when he glanced down at his right side, he saw something had ripped into his suit and was now most likely embedded in him. Tyler glanced over his displays and found there was good news and bad news. The nuclear explosion had taken a toll on the Aurora, and there was no question about that. The good news was the phase shift had dampened the impact and damage for the most part. If not for the phase shift, the cockpit could've been penetrated, and Tyler harmed worse than he was. The Aurora's nuclear reactor was still working and stable, which was a miracle as far as Tyler was concerned. The other good news was the cockpit's pressure seal was intact, meaning the rip in Tyler's suit wasn't an immediate problem.

Unfortunately, the bad news was more plentiful, and Tyler knew that hurt him more right now. The back of the Aurora had taken the worst of the damage, but not the only place damaged. The Aurora had lost the lower half of its legs, and the upper parts were damaged badly. What had been left of the plasma cannons were gone, their mounts in shreds. The wings to which the cannons had been attached had little structure left and what was looked like swiss cheese. Tyler tried to shift the Aurora to its flight mode so he could see outside; nothing happened. A buzzing told Tyler there had been an error and the flight mode wasn't going to happen. Most systems were down or working badly at the moment. There was a bit of thrusting power left for the Aurora, but it wasn't anywhere near what it had been. So, Tyler was in a real pickle which he had no way to get himself out of as things stood.

Kira looked around after the light died down, and the scene wasn't pretty at all. There was debris all around, and the Providence had vanished. Yet, Kira's gaze stopped on the Aurora as it was in horrible shape. The backpack was almost gone from the Aurora and was missing portions of its legs. What remained of the legs was visibly damaged and likely wouldn't work well, if at all. There were parts of metal sticking out on the Aurora, clearly having impacted and penetrated. And with the Aurora grey now, its phase shift was down, having protected Tyler as it could. Tyler could be hurt after all the damage the Aurora had taken. And he had taken it all to protect the Freedom, protecting Kira from what had come their way. Kira opened a channel to the Aurora, "Tye," he called with a concern, "can you hear me? Are you okay?"

Tyler hit the button to connect the audio channel, "I'm alive, Kira," Tyler returned. "I can't say how I am as the odds of it were below fifty percent." Tyler winced as the burning in his right side flared up. "I will need to see a medical professional sometime soon, but I'm okay for the moment. However, my suit's optics are out though I have an amount of my thrusters responding. But in essence, I'm driving blind, and I can do nothing to change that. Perhaps if you can see, then I can provide the thrust for us to make it back to everyone else."

Kira was worried that Tyler had said he would need a medical professional for something. It suggested that Tyler had been hurt in some way that was more than just a scratch. But with the Freedom's working camera and the Aurora's thrusters, they could get back to a ship and find the needed help. So, Kira began giving Tyler instructions over the short-range radio, and they flew in the direction of the coalition fleet. Along the way, Kira glanced back at what had been GENESIS moments ago before explosions had surrounded it. "Tye, what did you do to that gamma weapon," Kira asked.

Tyler snickered, which transitioned into a cough, "The rat Creuset had set up a trap for that thing to fire on Earth if certain circumstances were met. I tweaked the trap he set up to make the weapon to misfire and destroy itself. It was a pleasure to make the rat mad and deny him what he had been working for." Tyler paused for a moment, "Hopefully, with things going the way they are, this battle can come to a close. And perhaps, this war can follow to a conclusion."

A/n

And that's where I will leave off with this phase. I hope you readers liked the battle scene that took place over the last three phases. Sorry it took three phases to do this, but it became much longer with the polishing and changes. I'm not saying I regret the changes or what they produced since I'm proud of what I'm posting. Anyway, let's get on to the highlighting and point out of the changes I made.

I'll start with the first scene as you may expected and there are important things I do want to point out. So, the Chairman is mad about how things are going, think that should be obvious. However, I would point out he still isn't admitting reality as others are at this point. The Chairman is so focused on ending the war "his way" that nothing else matters. He believed the Federation interference would be handled with GENESIS, then everything would fall into place. Of course, that isn't what happens as you readers know with the disruptor rifle takes away the chance. But I would highlight the reactions of Yuki and Ezalia in this. Yuki figured out what the disruptor rifle did quickly enough, but his thoughts afterward are the important piece. Yuki applauds the creation of a means to counter nuclear weapons where the Chairman doesn't. He also admits the Federation would be good judges of who and how nuclear tech would be used right and wrong. I wanted to show that some ZAFT soldiers and officers respect the Federation and how they do things.

Moving on to Ezalia's reaction to Patrick's weapon being stopped temporarily. The woman quicky realized how the disruptor rifles are a war-changing advantage. Not only does she see how the disruptor rifles could be a good thing, she goes further. Ezalia is even willing to go to the Federation and ask them or even beg for the technology the rifles use to protect the PLANTs. I want to make it clear, ZAFT hasn't gone to the Federation for help during this war before this. They have begrudgingly thanked them for services rendered, but that is all they have done. ZAFT has seen the Federation as a potential enemy more than an ally. Ezalia also mentions she isn't the only one who would be willing to go to the Federation for the tech they had to counter nuclear tech. The reason I bring this up is I want to show there are those that are not as committed to the Chairman's plan as others.

Now to the next scene and I got questions on this one in the original. I have my reasons for Mu "appearing" to die, so please don't send me questions upon that. It plays a part in Destiny and I'll leave the point at that. Next I didn't have Mu and Creuset fighting as they do in canon for a reason. Rau is more focused on Kira and I wanted it to be left with that as it flowed better to me than the other way. And also in this scene, I have it show that I don't intend Natarle to die or the Dominion to go down. For those that wanted to see that, not going to get that in my story as it serves little to no purpose in the story. I hoped you like Tyler's response in destroying the Nazca classes, I decided to make it more interesting.

On to the scene I'm not the fondest off and I ask you forgive me for saying so. Tyler's efforts to push GENESIS's aiming mirror out of alignment isn't the problem I have. For those who have read my stories, whether this one or my others, you may have noticed I take time to make my own characters and give them depth. They are like real people to me, especially my main characters. So, killing or taking out any of my characters is a hard decision. It is both because I care about my characters and hate hurting my main ones. Hence, sacrificing Alan Knight was not a fun thing to do. However, I feel there is purpose in the death which is why I did so even when it didn't feel nice. Tyler's reaction is similar to mine when I have an event which does better when there is a life sacrificed which isn't just a nameless person. So, forgive me for the scene's flow as it was a painful one for me.

But let me move on from the scene I'm not fond of and get to others which I'm better with. So, let me give a brief highlight of Tyler going into GENESIS. It isn't his actions I want to point out, but the skill description I gave. Before now, I have implied Tyler is extremely skilled and that's why he is in SOLAS and other branches of the Federation want him, and that is true. But I've never stated he is a specialist and because of that he was recruited by SOLAS. I hinted that Tyler hacked the Federation's Information Network and he did do that, which he still holds the record for. That should tell you just how good he is at hacking and add sabotage to that which he picked up. I'm not saying Tyler's efforts aren't to be recognized, but that comes later.

Let's move onto the second to last scene which was fun to rewrite and make better. Now, for those who hadn't read the original, you shouldn't be surprised that Tyler was going to Jachin Due to confront the Chairman. I've been dropping hints it was going to happen before now, so it was bound to occur. Tyler goes in expecting to have to kill Chairman Zala though he hopes it doesn't come to that. But In this, he now comes across a group trying to escapes and helps them. I wanted to further say what Ezalia had been doing to hinder the Chairman and I added Yuki's efforts to that. And come on, you readers can't tell me you didn't enjoy Tyler owning the Section 2 agents as he did, right? I was hearing the matrix theme when I was right that part and I wonder if some of you did. So, Tyler kicks ass and gets to be the awesome hero for that. Tyler then helps escort the group to the hangar. In the hangar, Tyler is asked what kind of friend Athrun is to him. I'm religious but I rarely bring that into my writing, but the line I use is an exception. It is a biblical reference but I appreciate the meaning of if and want to say that is the friendship Tyler has with both Kira and Athrun. The small bit after Tyler helps the group leave I added as it seemed appropriate.

Now onto the other half of the scene which is the interaction between Tyler, Athrun, and the Chairman. In canon Yuki is the one that kills the Chairman, but that obviously can't happen as the man is on the shuttle that left. The other difference I want to state is Athrun doesn't see the man as his father as was stated already and that makes a world of difference. But on with the more interesting things of this part. Patrick's realization of Athrun standing up to him and able to argue effectively is interesting. In canon, Patrick pretty much disowned his son and did in my story. But there is little interaction after Athrun went back to the PLANTs, so this is newer. The Chairman hadn't been watching the changes that Athrun had been going through recently. Of course, the big piece is the comparison that Tyler and Athrun make of the Chairman to his enemies. The other note I would point out from the original, is Athrun has no hesitation where he did in the original.

The other part of the scene I would highlight is Cagalli's part along with those with her. Some of you readers may have noticed that I didn't let the three female Astray pilots get killed. Again I didn't see a reason to have them die as it served little purpose. Instead, I've been giving them some screen time, at least two have gotten some and the last will too later. Also, Cagalli is still sorting out her feelings she has with Athrun, so she hasn't figured out she "more than likes" him. The girl is working on it and for those who had read the original, you know it does go somewhere later.

And the last scene of Creuset getting what he deserves finally. So, his rant is based on what is said in the remastered version of the anime if you want to hear it. But I did change pieces to make it more meaningful at getting the point across. I wanted to show Tyler is a believer of hope and faith which is what he uses to defend humanity. I hope you liked the fight between the three as that is similar yet different for the original.

In conclusion, I once again apologize for the length of these closing notes, but I hope you appreciate the insights I give you readers. Sorry this turned out as long as it did but I wanted to tell the story so you could enjoy it. I will tell you all there will be at least three phases before the transition to Seed Destiny. Yes, you heard me right, there will be two new phases coming for this story. That is why as of the first of the year, updates will be more three weeks between each for a time. Anyway, some of you take the time to write a review and tell me what you think of the story thus far. The next Phase is titled: "What Comes After." Peace out all until the next Phase.