A/n

Here is the next Phase in the story, sorry to say this is not action packed, but that is coming. I am sorry that this Phase is so long, but it is setting up for what is to come. I still hope you readers enjoy the Phase!

Phase 77: Vailed Tactics

October 21st, 73 CE

It had been over a day since OMNI had made their attempted nuclear strike against the PLANTs. The failure of the strike had not been received well by Alliance leaders, nor those in Logos. Those in OMNI had the strike force fall back to Arzachel to regroup and recover from the price of the failure. It took time for the fleet sent out to return to the moon with the damage which had been received. None within the fleet were pleased with the results of the attempted attack on the PLANTs. It would be motivation to do better in the battles looming ahead in the future. The interference of the Federation provided a different motivation for OMNI which would also be handled in the future. The frustration the Federation had become with their interference in OMNI's and the Alliance's plans had been ongoing even after the Alliance-PLANT War had ended.

On Earth, Alliance leaders were scrambling to figure out what to do next to both save face and not look weak to others. The failure to deal a blow against the PLANTs had made things difficult as morale was already starting to dive down. The dive would steepen once knowledge of the event and its failure went public. It would translate and then transition into a shaking of faith within the Alliance. That would hurt the operations that were in motion meant to press ZAFT into a strained and bad position. ZAFT had to be pressed to the defensive early on in conflict so that the Alliance would have the advantage. It was current plans the Alliance had did better with for the coming war. The failed strike against the PLANTs had also made another fact very clear. The Federation couldn't be ignored as it had during the first two thirds of the Alliance-PLANT War. Dismissing them would only make things harsher and set the Alliance up for more potential failure in the future.

With that in mind, some Alliance leaders were starting to doubt the direction things were going in. However, the radicals and urging from Logos temporarily kept most within the leadership on board with the plans which had been made. There were also those working within OMNI doing much the same with soldiers that were starting to question what the Alliance was doing. An amount of brainstorming had and was being done to figure out a way to change and improve the standing of the Earth Alliance with humanity. For politically, publicly, and militarily the Alliance's reputation was already in free fall. If things didn't change quickly, it would continue to plummet like a stone. Really, the feasible way to help in the efforts in this conflict which was shifting into a war was to have more support and allies that WOULD assist in the efforts.

Logos had helped the Alliance get to where it was, but they were more the supplier and not addition forces to work with. And as things were, few would willing help the Alliance that weren't already member states of the Alliance. Thus, there few immediate options to add to OMNI's forces to work with. Of course, work was being put into trying to convince the member nations of the Federation into "helping" the Alliance's efforts. If that was successful, Federation resources and technology would be available to the Alliance. Yet, there was little to no movement with those efforts with the Federation. And there was likely be less of a chance of the Federation's help with the looming operation. However, setting up a treaty that would allow that was difficult and would take time. It needed to be written so that it was subtle enough to get attention from the Federation and not be seen as a means of controlling them.

The next operation would be harder than the strike against the PLANTs. Those who were in favor of the operation had to have as many on board with it as possible for the best chance of success. And the doubts about the operation against the Federation which was ahead were already worrisomely high. But its success would be the biggest morale boost the Alliance could have. The operation in the works against the Federation was to assault them on Earth at their headquarters. The operation was to make it clear the Federation wouldn't be permitted to be "neutral" in this conflict as they had been in the last. The interference of the Federation made with the operation against the PLANTs hadn't been appreciated at all. This was to be the response to their actions and get back at them.

The assault on the Federation's Asgard base had been in the works for more than six months. Attacking the base was a serious affair as it was the Federation's stronghold on Earth as well as their headquarters. It's location had originally been a prime spot which the Alliances had intended to build a large base for itself. It was strategically located to have control of the Atlantic Ocean and the nations that bordered it. However, the base had been built before the Alliance-PLANT War and the Earth Alliance's creation. So, the Federation's Asgard base had been both an eyesore and an embarrassment to the Alliance. It was a symbol of the Federation's power and dominance which the Alliance didn't like in any way. The Alliance had wanted so much to blot out the point and take the base for themselves.

Nevertheless, the base had never fallen, not to ZAFT, or to OMNI in the years of its establishment. ZAFT had made a few attempts to "test" the base's defensive capabilities. That's what they had claimed their actions had been when it had been calculated attacks. Yet, ZAFT's efforts had borne no fruit as the Federation had pushed them back. ZAFT hadn't even reached the island the base was built upon. Their orbital drops had gotten reasonably close, but all their forces had been shot down before landing. OMNI hadn't had much better luck with assaulting Asgard than ZAFT had, even if they had more attempts than ZAFT. If anything, the attempts the Alliance had made against Asgard had gone poorly to put it simply. And they would put what intel had been gained from those failures to use in the upcoming assault.

There had been lessons taken away from the attacks on Asgard, even if they had been harsh to learn. Asgard's defenses not including mobile weapons and ships were nothing to scoff at, it had been proven time and time again. They had seemingly thought of every potential approach path and method. Their shoreline defenses could beat seaborne fleets while they approached. And they had enough range to have a solid amount of time to wear down ships approaching. Asgard had anti-air defenses behind those shoreline defenses which had about the same range. That hampered if not stopped air transports dropping forces over the base as they were intercepted before they could be over the island. ZAFT had proven those same defenses could be turned to intercept enemy forces coming from orbit as well. And finally, the Federation had some sort of underwater defense system. That included mines that could raise and lower somehow on command. They also had torpedo tubes built into the island along with rail guns to stop approaching ships. The set defenses were bad enough to go against for any assaulting force. However, combined with the Federation's mobile weapons and many seaborne ships stationed there, it was an extremely difficult base to attack and be successful.

However, the taking of the Federation's Asgard was being seen by enough in the Alliance's leadership as important. Taking down the symbol of the Federation's power would help the Alliance's standing and dominance. Some in OMNI weren't as sure doing that would be feasible or end in the way leaders claimed it would. Assaulting and taking Asgard from the Federation wasn't impossible. The Federation wasn't unbeatable as had been implied during the war. They could be beaten, but it took more work and different methods than ZAFT did. If their headquarters could be taken, it would be the first major victory OMNI would have against the Federation's military. And the Alliance needed some sort of win against both ZAFT and the Federation soon.

As the Alliance's leadership was arguing how to do thing, those in Logos were also meeting together to discuss what to do. In said meeting, many of the Logos member were angry at Djibril with the results of the strike against the PLANTs. He'd promised a "quick victory" against the PLANTs and ZAFT with the nuclear strike. Djibril had assured the Logos board the chances of failure would be low. He'd stated contingencies had been planned for should the Federation interfere as had been the case. Yet, in the end, Djibril's plan had failed spectacularly and thrown the Alliance into temporary disarray. One of the few reasons Djibril hadn't been discharged from the board and thrown out of Logos was his salesmanship skills. He'd made a lot of deals for Logos which had been profitable.

Djibril was himself, frustrated at how things had gone with the strike on the PLANTs. Everything had been going just as they were supposed to with the planned operation. The Alliance hadn't been noticed until they had come into range of Lagrange 5. The main fleet had engaged ZAFT and drawn attention onto them and away from the strike teams. The strike teams had snuck into firing range of the colonies and ZAFT wouldn't have the time to get to them before the attack was in motion. The nukes should've ended things there with hitting the colony and destroying them. However, things had gone wrong with the interference of the Federation's military. They had brought their dumb nuke-disabling rifles and had used those to delay the strike team. Such had been planned for with the supplies given to the strike team, which should have lasted while the Federation force was dealt with. Yet, the Federation had bought time for ZAFT to notice the strike team and move to intercept. That force had delayed the strike team for long enough for ZAFT to move whatever they had used to wipe out the strike teams.

The Federation had been planned for as Djibril had told the board. And yet he was being blamed for the thwarted attempt to use nuclear weapons to wipe out the PLANTs. How was he supposed to know ZAFT had come up with something that wiped out nuclear weapons? OMNI intel hadn't mentioned anything to that effect, and that was what Djibril had been working with. None of the contacts with the PLANTs had hinted to the device used so there had been no information from there. And it wasn't like Djibril was any more pleased than anyone else on the board with the results. Yet, he was forced to take the criticism being sent his way by others of Logos' board. "This is no laughing matter, Djibril," one of the board members stated, "do you have an explanation for this debacle?"

Djibril was trying to think of a way to spin this in his favor. He would likely have to take some of the fall for the failure, but not all of it. Djibril could recover from that given a little time so the sacrifice would be worth it in the end. "Indeed, look how easily they wiped us out," said another, and there were muttering of agreement from others. "It was like they already knew OMNI was coming and what was planned." Djibril was doing what he could to control his temper, but that was difficult. To have one's 'failure' pointed out, dissected, and then criticized for it all and not allowed a word in edgewise was hard. For all Djibril knew, the Federation had found out something from their cursed Information Network. The Federation often seemed to stick their noses where they weren't needed or wanted. "Yes, explain why the Federation's military was around the PLANTs in the first place," a different member posed. "Have they allied with ZAFT without us knowing?"

Djibril had tasked some with acquiring information about the Federation in relation to ZAFT. They were also to see what potential defenses they had against nuclear weapons being used against them. That task had been given to Phantom Pain, specifically the team sent to the Lagrange 4 colony cluster. Their trip to the Federation's Milos outpost was to get that intel so any cracks in the plans for the strike were fixed up. However, they had returned with data so corrupted and fragmented it was useless. Captain Roanoke had mentioned Federation operatives had gotten onto the Girty Lue for a time. Apparently, during that time they had made the data unusable. "And what was that weapon that ZAFT used to handle the nuclear missiles," another member demanded. "What information is there about it?"

There was a mix of angry muttering and irritated hissing from the participants of this meeting, while Djibril still said nothing. The fools that were his associates were snipping at one another and it was irritating, more so when they took shots at himself. But he knew his chance would come to respond in his defense and explain things. If he tried to do such before that opportunity came, it would hurt the chances of him getting out of the trouble he was facing. "It's like we heartily dashed out with declaring war with foolish confidence," yet another snapped. "But then we retreated after getting bloody noses!" There was murmuring among the other board members. And from what Djibril heard, they were moving toward having him take the fall for all of them. He wouldn't have that, but he sort of expected the others to blame him for the failure. "Is this scenario of your YOU wrote, Djibril some kind of joke?! Or is this a means to embarrass some of us for your enjoyment and pleasure? We know you're not above setting up things to embarrassing others of us on the board."

Djibril wouldn't deny he had setup situations in the past to spite and embarrass some members of Logos' board. And those he did such to deserve the embarrassment they received from those events. But he knew how far he could take that and not have such come back to bite him. He kept things at the point where it wouldn't do serious harm to him and yet get his point across. The muttering between the other board members rose in volume once more at the accusation of Djibril planning all of this for his own purposes. However, the few most senior board members knew it wasn't the time to snap at Djibril for his antics. Their business relationship with the Alliance was at risk with the recent failure. That relationship was what kept Logos afloat right now and were giving them funds to work with. The contact for the Atlantic Federation had mentioned President Copeland was having doubts before, and that they were increasing. That had to be addressed quickly, so one of the senior members called for silence. Once things had quieted down, the second in line to board seniority spoke, "Potential jokes aside," he began. "From what our contact with the Atlantic Federation has said, its president is having second thoughts about doing business or working with us. The results of the nuclear strike on the PLANTs did contribute to it but the doubts have been growing slowly."

The angry muttering which had been going before now had a clear worried tone to it. "That would seriously jeopardize the plans to oust ZAFT from Carpentaria and Gibraltar among their other bases. We may have influence with OMNI top brass, but there are those that listen to Alliance leadership rather than us," stated another worriedly. "If Alliance leadership decide to sever ties with us, that will be a horrible loss of income. And right now, OMNI forces are waiting for order to start the prep for going against the ZAFT bases. Should we turn and flee after shaking our fists, then we'd become the worst laughingstock that the human race has ever seen."

The most senior member of Logos' board knew the stakes the organization was facing with the failure. It wasn't just the business ventures both current and future were at risk. There was need for responsibility to be taken for the failure, but they also needed to move forward quickly. "We all should know what is at stake," he remarked. "The question is, what do we do now? Whom should be held responsible for this turn of events? Should it be you, Djibril? Now is your chance to explain yourself and what happened with the nuclear strike on the PLANTs."

Djibril's frustrations had come to their breaking point after listening to all the criticism aimed at him. He may have planned the attempted nuclear strike, but the rest of the board had agreed and supported the idea. They bore responsibility for the failure like he did as they had supported the plan. Djibril would remind them he wasn't the only one who would shoulder the failure. The fools would be in the same boat he was even if he had to drag them into it. "Me, responsible for all of these problems we now face," Djibril exclaimed, "that is simply ridiculous." Some recoiled from the exclamation. Djibril took a moment to calm down before he continued, "It seems that you all have forgotten that you wholeheartedly supported the plan, and so, you are responsible for its failure too."

Some began muttering to one another, denying what Djibril was saying. But he kept going, ignoring the muttering, "Deny it as you will, my colleagues, but supporting a plan means you don't have the right to shirk responsibility for what happened because of it. But let's move to what matters for us, and that is the fact that we are at war ladies and gentlemen. We all pushed for this regardless of the reasons we did so. Our business comes from war, so if we back down now, Logos will be added to the failure. We have put our backing behind the Alliance and so we push forward with them. If they win the war, then business for us continues, while it will likely not if either of the other two factions do." Djibril paused and shrugged, "So, our first major plan failed, that can happen in the business world as we should all know."

Djibril had a plan on how to turn this to his advantage and shift the blame away from him. He just had to make this seem less bad than it was. If Djibril could frame this as a learning experience and something they could bounce back from, he could wave off the failure. "You've all watched the footage like I have of what happened. ZAFT possesses a weapon which can wipe out nuclear weapons used against them," Djibril stated simply. "Such a development is kind of impressive, and it's unfortunate that we weren't aware of it. However, now we are, we can plan for its use ahead of time. But I ask you," Djibril glanced over his colleagues, "what do you think could happen if such was aimed at Earth?" Djibril went silent gesturing around the room, inviting any there to speak up and answer the question he put out. After a few minutes with no one speaking, Djibril kept speaking, "I don't know about any of you, but I would rather not witness such to know specifically what that device can do to people."

One of the senior members cleared their throats, "While you make a fair point Djibril, get to what you are talking about. There is business to get to and your elaborate iterations are preventing us from getting to other things." Djibril nodded knowing he had gotten out of full responsibility of the failed nuclear strike. "My apologies for going off on a bit of a tangent," Djibril admitted. "But like you said, there is others business to get to for us. So, we should move forward from this unfortunate turn and do better in future." Djibril stepped back and took his seat again while the business moved to the upcoming operation. "The upcoming Alliance operation against the Federation is in the preparation stage."

There were muttering about the operation against the Federation's Asgard base. There were some saying OMNI's forces would be hard-pressed to succeed. Others said the results of the attack on Asgard could ruin Logos. "Are we sure OMNI is ready to take on the Federation's military," a board member asked. "The Federation proved during the Alliance-PLANT War they are not to be taken lightly." Djibril held in the scoff that wanted to escape him at the mention of the Federation's "superiority." The Federation would be focused on first so they could be put aside before ZAFT was put down. "Indeed, ignoring them would be a mistake, the same one which cost the Alliance victory in the previous war," one of the senior members remarked. "We cannot have the inclination if we are to be successful in the world."

Djibril sighed, "Our plans show we are taking the Federation seriously. We convinced OMNI and Alliance leadership to focus on the Federation and not ignore them," he stated. "The Federation will have to make a choice which they weren't pushed to do in the last war. Their stance of neutrality will not be permitted to stand as it was coddled before. They will have to pick a side in humanity's conflict, it is Naturals or Coordinators. The luxury of not making that choice is no longer available to any." Djibril shrugged, "The fact is humanity has come to the point it can't tolerate genetic type being a defining factor of human beings. Of course, we hope they will make the right decision and help better humanity. However, the Federation has had the time to make a choice and it is time for their answer to the rest of humanity."

The discussion of the OMNI operation shifted to the "treaty" which was in the process of being made to offer to the rest of the world. Djibril had glanced over the most recent draft of the "World Security Treaty Organization." On the face of it, what Djibril had read was okay, it put controls in place to force any hesitant to do what they were told. However, he didn't think it would be accepted by leaders of the Federation. While Djibril didn't like the Federation's political leaders that he'd met, he would admit they weren't stupid. The treaty draft assumed they wouldn't read the whole document through from beginning to end. At least those that Djibril had met wouldn't sign onto the idea. They would see the controls attempting to be slid into place to override them. They were still clinging to their "principles" of humanity which annoyed Djibril. Djibril and others did say the current draft wasn't well-written enough to work or be signed. He said the means to override the Federation's leaders had to be hard to see and not obvious when read.

The public being riled up had gotten the declaration of war to be made and pushed. However, chaotic masses weren't as effective as directed angry ones were. Thus, the masses needed to be calmed down somewhat to get things moving in the best direction. That was one of the goals of the treaty, which was being written, to give assurance to the masses of "security." It was going to be sold as bringing the world together to face a common threat. That was so if the Federation did reject the treaty, it could be held against them. Such would give the Alliance a reason to go against the Federation as they planned to. It was but another domino in the line which was being setup for the Alliance to use. The treaty was made official less than a week later and sent out to the nations of Earth. Discussion among the member nations of the Federation of the proposal commenced. Each of the governments of the member nations, poured over the document which was the Alliance's Security Treaty.

The Federation's political leaders read through the document the Alliance had put out. Ellen had been in her office when the document was brought to her by her secretary. She was told it was marked as urgent by the sender though Ellen's secretary seemed a bit confused as to why. Ellen found that a tad odd as her secretary was more than competent with knowing what should come to Ellen and why normally. When Ellen looked at the first page, it was clear the sender was the Alliance, but nothing beyond that. The Alliance had already pushed itself into a horrible and untenable position and had seemingly done so willingly. Ellen had sent a message to Joseph Copeland about the dangers of his declaration of war against ZAFT. She had told him if he wanted to explain his reasoning for such actions, she would hear him out. Ellen still didn't agree with the choice, but she would give the man a chance to explain himself as a matter of curtesy. However, Copeland hadn't taken her up on her offer of giving an explanation as of yet and Ellen felt it would be unlikely with more time.

Ellen began reading the document, wondering what this "document" from the Alliance could be about. It didn't take more than a page for her to not like what the document was stating. It was a "treaty" of sorts, but it was an extremely loose interpretation of a treaty. Yet, as Ellen kept reading page after page of the close to fifty-page document, her opinion changed. What she was reading wasn't a treaty. It was a con job being passed off as a treaty in the hopes of others not seeing what it was until it was too late to say no to it. The document was written in such a way to seem like the foundation of an organization which would make Earth a safer place. However, Ellen didn't take it at face value since reading between the lines and digging into some of the points gave a completely different picture.

Overall, the document itself gave the appearance of it being a good idea. It would help tone down the tension that had been developing for those on Earth since the ruins dropping down if it really would do as implied. However, it was in its provisions that the real issues were from what Ellen saw. Everything around the provisions which were twenty-five pages into the document was written to distract from the provisions themselves. Ellen felt others might be distracted by the fluff and niceties put into the document which certainly seemed like the intent. That the provisions were around halfway through the document instead of toward the front was suspicious to Ellen and there would be others that would feel the same as her about that.

The provisions on the face of them looked like an attempt to unite the world. But as Ellen read them in their entirety, she found the "subsections" were where some in the Alliance had buried their "poison pills" they were using the document to try and deliver them by. And Ellen would call them poison pills for a good reason. They were more lethal toxins slipped into a "gift" given to some you wanted to abuse and didn't care if you ended out killing them in the process. The provisions rotted the foundation which had been portrayed in the document before reaching them. They were intended to usurp Federation leadership both of the member nations and of the military forces. It was clear to Ellen the writers had attempted to hide the intent the Alliance had with this document. And they had made the idea subtle somewhat, but they couldn't hide the point completely to those that actually read the document and were attentive while doing so.

By the time Ellen got to the end of the document, she was close to telling her secretary to get her a stiff drink. And Ellen wasn't one to drink alcohol often if at all, but reading the document from the Alliance was driving her hard in that direction. Reading the garbage in the document made her wonder if those in the Alliance really believed the Federation's leader were lacking in intelligence. It was one of the things that Ellen could come up with to explain why the Alliance sent garbage and called it serious documents. What she had read was beyond stupid and she felt a tad insulted they would send it and say it was a treaty. There was no way Ellen would sign the "World Security Treaty Organization" document as it was written. And Ellen was absolutely sure the other member nations' leaders would be of the same mind as she was.

Ellen did have one other curious thought after reading the document. She had met Joseph Copeland a few times and he'd seemed like a reasonable man even if a stubborn one. Ellen couldn't see a reasonable person agreeing to the garbage document she'd read. So, she was left to wonder if Copeland had read the whole document, or someone had just told him what was in it. If Copeland had read the document and agreed with what it contained, then Ellen may have been very wrong about the kind of man he was. Should he have just been told about the document and not read it himself, he was failing at his job and was surrounding himself with unfit people. Ellen sighed and returned her attention to the document again and took out a data pad. She skimmed over the document, making notes on the more horrible points she was sure would come up when this was presented to her cabinet. There would be arguments in the cabinet meeting she would have to call for. Ellen did tell her secretary to call her right-hand Lund and ask him to arrange an emergency cabinet meeting.

As a week passed after the Security Organization Treaty was proposed, the leaders of the Alliance quickly became insistent on an answer from the other nations of the world. Offers of cooperation and peace on Earth were being promised if the Federation were to agree to the treaty were whispered from the Alliance. But none of the Federation member nations heeded to the demand of signing of the treaty quickly. Yet that didn't stop the Alliance and its representatives trying to force an answer from the Federation.

In Orb's case, the treaty was causing a heated argument within the governing council. Uzumi had been the one who had brought the Alliance's proposed treaty before the council. However, most of the notable council members had read the document before it was presented to the council as a whole. The argument was so heated about the treaty and whether to sign onto it that it caused a divide in the council which had two sides which each had around half of the council's members. On one side were those that were for signing the treaty with the Alliance, Unato Seiran who was the leader. On the other was those who were against it entirely headed by Uzumi. The two sides had quickly come to an apparent stalemate in the argument as the council was evenly divided.

The main argument was whether what was in the treaty was true or not and could be taken at face value. The piece of evidence used by both sides was OMNI's recent attack on the PLANTs. Unato argued that to protect Orb and prevent it from burning as it did during the last war, allying with the Alliance would be the best option. The treaty "assured" that no nuclear weapon use would be permitted on Earth by any. Unato said if they joined the Alliance with this treaty, they would be safe without compromising their principles. There was nothing in the treaty after all that required a signer to become a member state of the Earth Alliance. Uzumi countered that logic by stating the Alliance had chosen to produce nuclear weapons in complete violation of the Treaty of Junius Seven. If they wouldn't follow the peace treaty they agreed upon years ago, why should they be expected to do so with their proposed treaty? Also, Uzumi stated with the Alliance willing to use nuclear weapons on those they deemed as enemies. It was more a matter of time before Orb would be in their sights.

Homura had been one of the other few to get words in between Uzumi and Unato. He stated to the council the treaty could be used to chain a signer to obey the Alliance or be stripped of their leadership and used. The debate went on for hours and well into the evening of the day the meeting had begun on. There were breaks taken every few hours, but the passion of the debate didn't wane over time. Some even began to wonder if Lord Uzumi and Unato were using the debate to work out issues they had with one another. Cagalli had never seen her father go at Unato like he was during the debate. She knew that he and Unato did butt heads on some subjects, but they had never argued this heatedly during council meetings. Not that Cagalli disagreed with her father about the Alliance treaty which was being discussed. What she had read was a lot of promises without much plan to back it up on delivering it. And the "provisions" in the treaty were written in a way which provided loopholes which could be exploited.

The debate finally came to a close in the late evening after a fifth vote of the council. In the end, Uzumi had convinced enough on the council to get a majority of the vote for him rejecting signing the treaty. Homura had helped that with laying out some of the loopholes which could be used to bind a nation to the will of others. However, the vote was won by a slim margin even if it was the majority. Uzumi and Homura did take note of who Unato's allies potentially were should this kind of subject come up again. This debate had shown that Unato and those who had similar views needed to be watched. They were getting bolder and may try to get around the council at a future point.

In the Republic, Ellen had called for an emergency meeting about the document which the Alliance had sent to the nation. The moment Ellen had entered the room she could tell the document hadn't been received any better than she had taken it. If anything, her cabinet members were angry showing they took the treaty more of an insult than she had. Ellen had expected those in her cabinet wouldn't like the contents of the document any more than she had. They would see the glaring loopholes the Alliance could use to force signers to do what they said. Thus, any question of signing the document for the Republic was out of the discussion. The debate would be on the response to give the Alliance.

Ellen would be shocked if the Alliance would take a simple no as an answer to their suggested treaty. The Alliance rarely had been the kind to allow refusal of their suggestions without some sort of fight. So, Ellen didn't expect those running the Alliance to let this "deal" of theirs go without pushing it hard. She was planning to deliver the response to the Alliance through a broadcast. But she wanted the input of her cabinet for what she should focus upon to get the message across to the Alliance. Those that were fueling the flames of war need to be told they would not intimidate or cohere the Federation into compliance. The cabinet meeting was short compared to the average time they normally took. But the general focuses of the response were agreed upon. Ellen didn't waste time, going from the emergency cabinet meeting to the press room.

When the broadcast was made live on most communication channels, Ellen was ready. The rest of the world paused much like when the Republic's Prime Minister had given her speech during the latter part of the previous war, caught the attention of many. Even those that disliked the standing and "stubborn beliefs" that the "Dragon of the Republic" had, such as members of Logos viewed the live feed. Ellen took a breath and began, "My fellow human beings. We live in an age when the days seemingly darkness is all around us, and fear is everywhere. The shouts of justice and vengeance have been twisted into cries demanding retaliation and revenge," Ellen stated. "We of the human race are on the precipice of repeating one of the most horrible mistakes which has occurred recently in human history and definitely in the Cosmic Era."

Ellen's words drew attention to her and consider her words. It was obvious that the woman was referring to the Alliance-PLANT War with "horrible mistake." While it had been two years since the war's ending, memories of it hadn't left humanity. The memories of those lost and sacrificed because of the war hadn't been forgotten. Ellen continued, "The debris from the ruins of Junius Seven falling to Earth has been tragic. We shouldn't dispute the fact that the disasters have taken everything from many. The sorrow and pain felt should not be something held inside and passed off as nothing. Those feelings are real and wrench at the one's heart and soul. That is what it is to be human, to feel empathy for those who are less fortunate than us or come into hard times. However, such shouldn't be stoked into the desire for revenge and retaliation against others, especially against those who were not involved."

Ellen wanted to make it clear that what had transpired with the ruins hadn't been desired by the public. It had been the actions of a few who had let their hate blind them to what their actions would do. Most Coordinators hadn't wanted the disasters and had extended help to the victims of them. And yet that had been ignored by most, and those who had stoked the flames and hate had gotten it dismissed. "It is true that a group of Coordinators was responsible for moving the ruins which ended out with fragments of Junius Seven falling to Earth." Ellen moved her hand in a slashing movement, "That by no means should infer or translate into all Coordinators wishing to hurt or harm Natural-type human beings, for that is not so. Those who would say otherwise are attempting to twist and manipulate individuals and groups for their own purposes. It is historical precedence that violent actions start with a few and expand to the many. Unfortunately, those who I identified as humankind's true enemy years ago still exist among us and are still hard at work." Ellen glared hard at the recording equipment, "Do not give heed to them."

Members of Logos weren't pleased at hearing the subject of "humankind's true enemy." Blass's speech had been a serious problem and still was even these days. They had tried to have the speech forgotten, but those efforts had been in vain, for the woman's speech was still quoted by enough people to keep it relevant. And in this case, the woman was using it to refer to those like the members of Logos. Djibril was both angry and amused at this broadcast that had come out of nowhere. It was clear it was the "response" from the Republic on the World Security Treaty being attempted. Djibril had figured a leader like Blass wouldn't fall for the treaty, the woman was too stubborn to be deceived easily. It was amusing that the woman used foolish sediments to try and sway the masses. It was potentially dangerous, but dreamers such as Blass were old fools that wouldn't get with the times. However, it was the meddling of those like hers which gummed up the works on efforts to get a war going. That made Djibril ticked off as he and his colleagues had been working hard to get the conflict to move toward a war. Blass kept going, "I urge you not to listen to their rhetoric. They care nothing about anyone or anything but themselves."

Ellen wanted to get across those that didn't have the best interests of humanity in their minds. Those that were pushing for war were those Ellen had defined during the Alliance-PLANT War as humankind's true enemy. The Alliance unfortunately seemed to be listening to some of those individuals. The signs were simple to see and more of them popping up with the Federation's Intelligence Agency. "The recent war declared by leaders of the Earth Alliance, specifically the Atlantic Federation's president is ridiculous. It is unnecessary and uncalled for to put it mildly and was a rash decision likely made without considering the consequences. I would strongly advise President Joseph Copeland to carefully reconsider his nation's current course of actions."

Ellen wasn't done in laying out what the Alliance was doing and the implications their actions gave. She would make sure the rest of the world knew of what horrors and corruption the Alliance was playing with and dishing out. She picked up the collection of pages which was the Alliance's document and showed it to the camera. "Whoever it was that drafted this document titled: "World Security Treaty Organization" should be seriously questioned about their motives. After reading through this I can say for a fact they aren't as portrayed to others." Ellen gazed hard at the camera, hoping the one she was about to call out was listening. If Copeland was, then perhaps this could be among the last chances to help the man see the error of trusting those around him. "President Copeland, if you have not read this proposal from beginning to end, then take the time to do so. Should you have done that and somehow agree with what this proposal contains, then I say for shame. You are either unfit to lead the Atlantic Federation or you do not understand the false foundation this document lays."

Ellen had no doubt that her fellow leaders of the Federation member nations had read through this document by this point. Uzumi would never even consider signing it, and he would convince Orb's governing council of the garbage the Alliance's proposal was. Markus had served as long as Ellen and so would see the corruption in the document as she had. The kingdom of Scandinavia wouldn't sign the treaty, Markus wouldn't entertain such a notion. Ellen could picture Dianna's reaction after reading the garbage quite well. The current president of the Coalition would screech what garbage it was and then destroy the document in some fashion to vent her disgust and fury at wasting the time reading it. Ellen had considered doing the same but using it in the broadcast was more valuable. Marina had advisors that would be able to help her see the filth the document was. Once Marina knew what it would do, she would reject the signing without delay. In short, not a single Federation leader would even consider signing the document the Alliance had sent them. Ellen slapped the document collection for emphasis, "This proposal if employed is meant to undermine the core beliefs, principle, and values we in the Human Federation have and uphold. It goes further in an attempt to manipulate and overrule the governments of the world including the member nations of the Federation."

Ellen set down the document, promising herself to burn the collection later. She looked back to the cameras, ready to wrap up this broadcast with her answer to the Alliance's proposal. Ellen had made it clear with her cabinet, she would reject the proposal. However, she would do it in her own way. The Alliance wouldn't like it, but it was time for them to understand their behavior was unacceptable. "As far as the Republic of East Asia is concerned when it comes to the Alliance's proposal, our answer is no. This World Security Treaty Organization as written is utter garbage. The writers should be ashamed of even wasting the paper to put such a corrupt filth and muck on it. Any in the Alliance that requests further explanation will be told my cabinet and I have no time to waste on the detritus they want to hand off. The Republic will not accept nor participate with it in any way with their activities in a cooperative fashion. We also question what the intentions are of those who are its authors, for they are humankind's true enemy." With the standing of the Republic set in an unquestioned way by Ellen, the broadcast came to a close.

In the Euros Coalition, Dianna Sorell had been viewing Ellen's broadcast. The document that Ellen had referred to and shown was one Dianna had "glanced" over. The Alliance's blatant attempt to pass a system of control as a treaty had been dumb and a waste of time to read. It had been one of the more frustrating reads Dianna had done. And by the end, Dianna had snarled her irritation of the filth the Alliance had sent which she had wasted her time on. Of course, she had shredded the document afterward as it was nothing but garbage, but that was beside the point. Dianna had quite enjoyed Ellen laying out the foolishness of the document. The woman who led the Republic knew how to deliver a message and make sure it stuck. There were few like Ellen who could put the Alliance in its place in the way she did. Each time Ellen stuck it to the Alliance was something Dianna enjoyed watching the woman work. And after the broadcast, Dianna made her rejection of the Alliance's treaty public, making it clear she agreed with the things Ellen had said.

Dianna in the Euros Coalition wasn't the only one of the Federation leaders who had been watching Ellen's broadcast. Uzumi had got to see it as Orb's council had come to its decision late the night before the broadcast. He also didn't miss the Euros Coalition stating its own refusal of the Alliance's proposed treaty. Uzumi sent Orb's rejection out shortly after Dianna had made the Coalition's public. Markus Noventa who was the head of the Kingdom of Scandinavia's government had also watched Ellen's broadcast. He could help but applaud and respect Ellen for coming into the public eye and calling out the Alliance for their foolishness they had been up to. The parliament and Markus had already gone over the Alliance's "document" a few days ago. An agreement that they had come to after discussion, had been a united rejection of the proposal from the Alliance. Thus, he was the next Federation leader to publicly reject the Alliance's proposed treaty.

Marina in the Equatorial Union had just gotten out of meetings with the council she worked with for the nation's government. Her closest advisors had broken down what the Alliance's treaty would do if put in place. The implications had been horrifying as it more than undermined the Federation's principles. It would also give the Alliance the means to force the signers to do what they wanted. So, the council had been in agreement to reject the Alliance's proposal. It was shortly after that meeting, Marina came across Ellen's broadcast. She agreed with Ellen and what she was saying. It was very similar to what her advisors had been telling her the treaty would do. Thus, she was the final leader of the Federation's member nations to state its rejections of the Alliance's proposal.

The complete rejection from all the Federation member nations was a disappointment for the leaders of the Alliance. It had been hoped that putting the treaty as the world standing together against a common threat. Granted, it was the most likely result to a suggestion of working together with the Alliance when it came to the Federation. However, the treaty had been written to push for open cooperation without mentioning the "common enemy" they would go against directly. There had been things slipped into the treaty so the Alliance could force the signers to do what they were told, but they had been buried so they should have been glossed over. Yet, apparently, enough of the hidden parts had been found by the Federation for what they were which had led to the rejection.

If there had been just the flat rejection, there could've been work done to push for a second try of unification. However, with the broadcast from the Republic's Prime Minister had essentially killed any chance of that. Blass had revealed the treaty for what it was to the world and there was little the Alliance could say to counter that. Attempts were being made to turn the narrative around and play down Blass's broadcast, but it wasn't going well so far. The results of the treaty avenue had gone in the direction that had been predicted. But Alliance leaders had been hoping for the chance of things going differently. The fallout was unwelcome but Alliance leadership and those in Logos. The other thing which came from the broadcast was the insult aimed indirectly by Ellen Blass at the leadership and Logos. The issue with the insults were the broadcast would not just be waved off by some.

The speech itself would have far-reaching repercussions which the Alliance would now be forced to deal with. Doubts had already been growing within soldiers and others within the Alliance and OMNI. Work had gone into trying to play those down and there had been some success in that. However, the speech could easily undo much of that work and encourage the doubts to grow again. There would have to be even more work done to prevent dissension in the ranks from becoming a real problem. Logos was already instructing those in Phantom Pain to work on stamping out potential problems before they became an issue.

The other loss the rejection of the treaty brough was the denial of access to Federation technology and resources. Logos had been hoping they could get access to what the Federation's military had to work with. They had been trying for years to get use of Federation resources but had failed thus far. OMNI intel and the information Logos had said Federation technology was still an amount ahead of ZAFT and Alliance technology, or even in development. It was the standing technological advantage the Federation had and maintained which was irritating for both Logos and the Alliance. And the Federation seemed to possess and access top-grade materials which Logos had difficulty getting their hands on. There was no information as to where the supply lines led to, so Logos couldn't intercept the materials they wanted from the Federation.

The final issue that came with the rejection of the Federation of the treaty, was the other thing which could accelerate plans. Right now, the Alliance had use of two mass drivers, the Habilis driver and the rebuilt Porta Panama driver. Those two were going at essentially full operation to keep up the supply lines needed for Alliance operations going on. If the Alliance could get access to other mass drivers, the supply lines could be bolstered and increased. That would translate into being able to get to planned operations sooner than they were set currently. Yet, the rejections upheld the Federation's policy of no outside military use for the Federation-controlled mass drivers.

Meanwhile, Alliance forces were descending from orbit to the Alliance's Porta Panama area. It was in preparation for a "large" upcoming operation that rumors had been going around about. Neo and the trio he'd been working with were in the forces that had descended down to the base. The descent from orbit was routine for Neo as he'd done it many times before now. It wasn't the change of scenery from space to Earth that had Neo wondering what the higher-ups were thinking. Neo knew the Alliance was ramping up things with the operations they were lining up, but even so the pace seemed rather reckless. But having more details on that was above Neo's paygrade, so he didn't ask for more information.

The sudden reassignment that had come to Neo for himself and the trio had been unexpected. The assignment with the Girty Lue had worked out fine, and it had been eventful in both good and bad ways. That made the sudden change a tad odd to Neo since things had been working out just fine. But recent events had changed a lot of things for the Alliance and Logos. The ruins falling to Earth had occurred which had opened the way for the attack on the PLANTs had more effects which were still being dealt with. Yet, the failure of the strike against the PLANTs had wounded morale for OMNI and Neo knew it. However, it was an event that could be recovered from given time and effort which had been in the works. But those two events had been a driving or rather used for justification for the Alliance's actions as of late.

The assault on the PLANTs had been a little too ambitious if Neo were to give his opinion. Not that Neo felt the higher-ups would've missed a chance to hit ZAFT where it hurt the most. Yet, ZAFT had been ready for the attack and the Federation had been there to assist in its thwarting. ZAFT hadn't been sent reeling as the assault had intended to do. However, the volume of the demands made by those who had been riled up for retaliation hadn't been toned down. Thus, there was still support for the Alliance to attack the other two factions. But Neo didn't think that would stay that way much longer without tangible results the Alliance could deliver. And if support dropped, then future operations of OMNI's would be at risk of being unable to move forward.

Things for the Alliance had gone down a questionable path in Neo's view with the next "attempt" Alliance leaders made. Convincing the Federation's member nations was a lost cause from what Neo had seen, and historical evidence supported him in that. It was a waste of time and resources to try urging others who wouldn't agree with the Alliance's view to conform. And yet, the Alliance leadership came up with a "treaty" to try and get the Federation to cooperate with the Alliance. From what Neo had read, the treaty had been written under the guise of "uniting the world." There had been controls hidden in the document to allow the Alliance to overrule any Federation objection when made. That was the real purpose of the treaty, to have the means to control and use the Federation as they saw fit.

The idea had been attempted before during the Alliance-PLANT War. However, in that instance, it had been done in the form of an ultimatum. That had only proven how stubborn the Federation was, but also how strong their military could be. Neo would've thought the lesson would've been learned that manipulating the Federation was nigh impossible. Tricking them was extremely difficult for a couple of reasons. The first was their leaders weren't dumb nor blind, they made sure they knew what was being offered when another tried to present things to them. Thus, it was no surprise the "World Security Organization" Treaty had been rejected in the end by all of them. The rejection from what Neo had heard had been done on the grounds of the principles the Federation stood by. That was what the Federation normally did when others questioned what they did, stuck to their principles.

Nevertheless, with the interference with recent plans the Alliance had been working on, the current standing of humanity would likely change. Neo doubted the Federation would be "quiet" for much longer with the operations looming ahead. In the new war that was coming soon the Alliance wouldn't allow the Federation to remain neutral. The risk of an alliance between them and the PLANTs was too high for the higher-ups' liking. The failure of the nuclear strike on the PLANTs proved the potential view of what that could be like. And the picture which was being seen would spell disaster to no end if ignored by the Alliance. Neo didn't disagree with the potential risk ZAFT and the Federation working together could be. However, he also knew the Alliance stirring things up could cause the idea to happen as well.

Neo certainly could understand why the Alliance was doing what it was currently. And he could agree with the intentions they had even if the methods weren't the best in Neo opinion. Case and point, Neo agreed the Federation needed to be handled if the Alliance was to come out on top. However, the way the top brass wanted to go about it was beyond reckless and foolhardy. The upcoming operation that Neo and the trio were to participate in was a prime example of the point. OMNI was gathering forces to assault a Federation base, their headquarters on Earth specifically. Yes, OMNI top brass insisted an assault needed to be made on the Federation's Asgard Base once again.

The Federation base had a reputation unlike any other military facility/complex that currently existed. Asgard or as the some called it, the "Unassailable Fortress of the Federation" was their headquarters. It took up what had been the island known as Iceland before the Reconstruction War. It was one of the largest bases officially on Earth even if ZAFT or the Alliance didn't want to admit the point. And the reason it was called the Unassailable Fortress was none had ever been able to take it from the Federation or even come reasonably close. Neo knew many of the stories about the place. Most of those stories were told with a hint of fear or anger from those that had somehow survived attempts on the place or knew someone that had died in attacks. Thus, it was a "black mark" for OMNI and the Alliance as it would've been owned and claimed by the Alliance if the Federation hadn't existed.

After landing at the Panama spaceport, Neo had the trio follow him to the airfield where they would catch a transport to their next destination. The three Gundams the teens used were quickly loaded into the transport and the craft lifted off. As the transport flew along, Neo decided to look over records on Asgard to get a better feel for the upcoming operation. While Alliance records would be scarce on the finer details about the Federation's stronghold, Neo wanted to look them over for things potentially missed. Neo had the knack of seeing things that others would dismiss or miss in reports. And with the heavy risks ahead, Neo wanted to know what he could so he and the trio could survive.

One could say that in the OMNI Enforcer organization, there was a "rating system" used to classify the threat of enemy bases and facilities. There was concern and fear of places which were at the top of that said system list. And Neo knew at the top of the list was the Federation's Asgard base. It held that spot for a few reasons which were implied more than mentioned. There was also a fair margin between Asgard and the next place on the list. Another point that had Asgard at the top of the list the other most feared base the Federation had was even more mysterious and unknown. That base was the Federation's military command base in space which their soldiers referred to as their "military high command." If that base's location was known to OMNI, it would likely have the top spot and Asgard would take the second.

As he looked over the reports on previous attempts against the Asgard base, Neo's concerns grew. OMNI had never been able to get close to taking the base, and that wasn't for a lack of effort or attempts. The attacks had all ended in failure of course, but some were far worse than others from what Neo saw. However, the attack did give hints as to what responses the Federation had to enemy forces. There were defensive guns along all the shorelines, regardless of the direction an enemy force could approach from. Yet, the approach did make a slight difference in what kind of response was met first. West and southern approaches had met what had been reported to be sub-aqua mines. North and eastern approaches had slightly heavier artillery or something to that effect from the reports. But there was one point in common with all those approaches, and that was after coming into a certain range, you became a real target of Asgard. That range was estimated to be between three and five kilometers. In that range, it triggered multiple responses from the base which would press against enemy forces.

If that wasn't bad enough, Asgard's defenses had been estimated to have been beefed up since the last attack against the base. And the final report Neo had read had made it clear the last try had been harsh for the Alliance. The defenses were an issue, but Neo had seen no mention of any idea which could counter drops from orbit. That point nagged at Neo since he couldn't see the Federation ignoring that approach vector. The Federation, annoying as they were, tended to think of most things which could be done against them. They were prepared for attacks which came their way, they had proven that. Thus, in Neo's mind, it wasn't a question of if, but rather what the Federation had for handling attackers from above. The operation was supposed to have forces dropping in from orbit, so the answer to the question was a valid point which should be accounted for.

After going through the reports on Asgard, Neo didn't like what the operation was "supposed" to accomplish. And it wasn't the goal that bothered him, it was the likelihood of success which irked Neo so much. The operation on the face of it seemed more like a suicide mission that was being called for. The Federation was entrenched so deeply, uprooting them was in exercise in futility truthfully. The set defenses were straightforward enough to deal with, and should enough force be applied, Neo felt that could be overwhelmed. However, when that was combined with Federation mobile suits and vessels, the fight became a ridiculous escapade. The Federation had better mass-production machines which were more versatile than what the Alliance had to work with. OMNI ships may be able to match the Federation's somewhat, but mobile suits made the difference.

Hypothetically speaking, should the OMNI force somehow be able to take Asgard from the Federation by some kind of serious miracle, it would be a hollow victory. Neo could only estimate the amount of losses the OMNI fleet would take to have a slim chance of defeating the Federation in the operation. They wouldn't be small, more like catastrophic if Neo was to make an accurate guess. And those losses would do more damage to the Alliance than the higher-ups seemed to think they would. The responses he'd heard about the potential losses had been it would be for the greater good of the Alliance. But Neo felt the losses they would take would have more of a disillusionment effect within OMNI. After all, who would want to have their lives thrown away for a clear fool's errand? OMNI would be lucky if they didn't lose more than half their Earth-base fighting force with the assault on Asgard.

Were Neo to give his honest opinion on the matter to the top brass, OMNI's resources would be better used elsewhere. For example, they could use the same force to oust ZAFT from their Carpentaria base. That would get the Alliance another mass driver to work with which they seemed so desperate to get. And there was a higher chance of success in taking Carpentaria with the fleet than Asgard. But the operation's goal wasn't effective use of forces like it should be. It was more about appearance and sending a message to the Federation and Neo knew that for a fact. Yet, such decisions like proper strategy were again above his paygrade and so not up to him. He wasn't against that as it meant he didn't get the blame thrown at him when things went wrong.

Hours passed while the transport flew to the area off the Atlantic Federation's eastern coast where the OMNI seaborne fleet was being gathered. As the transport was moving into land, Neo glanced out the window looking over the fleet. It was certainly the largest Neo had seen to date, and likely was the biggest put together by OMNI. The fleet's size was expected as it would be going against the strongest military base on Earth. There were ships of all OMNI seaborne classes, though there were more Spengler classes than others. It was all for carrying mobile suits for the battle looming ahead. The aircraft Neo was traveling in landed on one of the Spengler-class carriers within the fleet. Neo exited the transport glancing around the carrier's deck. There was a tense air on the ship, which he could understand. The upcoming operation against Asgard would have most on edge since it would be harsh regardless of the outcome. There were already growing doubts about attacking the Federation and beginning a conflict with them. Neo had some himself, but he just didn't say them out loud for the higher-ups to hear.

The trio followed Neo down the boarding ramp onto the ship's deck. Sting glanced to his right and saw their Gundams were being unloaded from the transport. They would be stored in the cargo hold until the battle by what Neo had said. Neo had mentioned their reassignment was for some large upcoming operation. From what Sting had heard during the descent and the trip on the aircraft, whatever the operation was about was concerning the soldiers. The words that had stuck out to Sting had been "harsh battle," and "Asgard." The harsh battle was clear enough even if Sting couldn't say what would make a fight as bad as much as soldiers were implying. However, Asgard didn't mean much to Sting, Auel, and Stella. The other two said they didn't have any idea what others were talking about any more than Sting did. Sting hoped Neo would clarify what all the talk was about sooner rather than later.

The trio was assigned quarters while on the ship. Neo told them to go to them and he would come by and explain things to them when he clarified things. A few crew members guided the teens off to where their quarters would be. Once they were gone, Neo made his way to the ship's bridge so he could talk with the captain. Hopefully, the man would have more information of what was going on, the state of the fleet, and where things stood for the upcoming operation. The general reports hadn't told Neo what he wanted to know in detail, and he wanted to have more to go off of. With the operation against the Federation, Neo wanted whatever could be provided so he could plan the best he could for himself and the trio.

When Neo got his meeting with the captain, he tried to be as diplomatic as he could be. He knew Phantom Pain's reputation would be used against him by officers. It had been a thing he'd gotten used to, even when he was one of the "nicer" Phantom Pain operatives. From the conversation, Neo learned preparations for the fleet were close to being finished. There had been a little delay with the tension and jitters going through the members of the fleet. It was hoped the fleet would be moving out tomorrow and heading for Asgard. It would take around fourteen hours for the fleet to reach attack range of Asgard. And Neo felt those hours would feel longer than they actually were.

The operation would violate the few treaties that stood between the Alliance and the Federation. By what was said, those on the political stage would accuse the Federation of violating the Treaty of Junius Seven. The charge was pushed by saying the Federation had helped the PLANTs which would be against parts of the treaty. Neo felt the accusation was rather flimsy and that most wouldn't accept the point if not distracted by the attack on Asgard. Of course, the nuclear strike wouldn't be mentioned in the accusation as it would reflect badly on the Alliance and crush the justification being used. There was more than enough bad reference about the Alliance going around. The whole accusation was an excuse to press back against the Federation's military. The top brass and the Alliance leadership would force the issue that the Federation would either conform and side with the Earth Alliance or be an enemy of them.

Neo didn't argue the point of what the plans were for the assault on Asgard, he knew it would be pointless. The Alliance forces might have the upper hand when it came to sheer numbers with ships, but that was one of the few things in their favor. Asgard's defenses set along the shoreline would make the approach to the island hard and rough at a bare minimum. And that would be combined with fending off Federation mobile suits and ships that would be fighting against them. Yet, the hope was that mobile suits dropping down from orbit would split the Federation's attention enough to provide an opening that could be exploited. A frontal assault wouldn't be enough to take Asgard, none were really kidding themselves, uprooting the Federation's military would take tactics and not brute force alone. Neo headed to the trio's quarters to explain the general plan which he had been told about.

It was after the sun had set when the orders were given out to the fleet, and it began moving away from the coastline. It was a sight to see for Neo, the vast number of ships sailing in formation numbering a little over a hundred, a show of strength for OMNI and the Alliance. As the fleet traveled towards their destination, the Alliance political leaders officially accused the Federation of treaty violations. To call to task the Federation, the Alliance deem it necessary to 'bring the Human Federation's military under control', starting with their Earth-based headquarters. Although such reasoning was merely justification for the imminent attack the Alliance was about to make on Asgard, both sides readied themselves and waited for the other to make the next move.

At the same time, Tyler was making his way back toward the dock the Normandy was in. He'd gone to inquire and search for the progress of a means to get Shinn back to the Minerva. Tyler had also been seeing the latest news of where things stood with the few weeks that had gone by with the Normandy at Asgard. The things Tyler had heard and learned hadn't been encouraging. There and been an OMNI fleet gathering off the eastern coastline of the Atlantic Federation. The size of the fleet had become somewhat concerning to Asgard's high command. It was already over a hundred vessels which was the largest fleet that OMNI had put together that Tyler had heard or read about. That would be a tough battle for Asgard's defensive fleet, but Tyler was sure it would be up to the task. Information was saying a battle was coming soon, but nothing specific on how soon yet. There were eyes on the fleet pretty much constantly, looking for any sign of movement.

That information was bad enough in Tyler's opinion, but it hadn't ended there for what he'd been searching for. He'd gotten an "update" on the situation with Shinn, his Gundam, and getting them to Gibraltar and back to the Minerva. Said update hadn't been what Tyler had been hoping for since it hadn't been good news. It had been over two weeks since the Normandy had come down from orbit. And from what he'd been told, Asgard had reached out to Gibraltar and informed them about Shinn and his Gundam being around the base multiple times by this point. However, Gibraltar's reply had been anything but what it should've been each time. The officer on duty had told Tyler those from Gibraltar had been outright rude and difficult when on the comm line for the attempts made. Gibraltar's replies in a nutshell had been "not our problem" and "handle it yourselves." Tyler had been assured by the officer they had informed Gibraltar once again that this had to do with their Gundam-type mobile suit during all the communications. Such hadn't made a difference apparently any more than the previous times, nor had the point of Asgard not being able to spare the resources currently due to current circumstances done much either. Gibraltar hadn't listened to either point during any of the contacts, just repeated it was the Federation's problem and to get on with handling it.

If Tyler had been the one taking any of those calls, he would've given the ZAFT officer a dressing down unlike any they had received previously. It likely wouldn't have done much good if any, but it would've made Tyler feel a tad better. If it had been an option, Tyler would've gotten someone above those on the line to help with the dressing down. Tyler would've done that whatever it would have needed to happen and get Shinn the help he needed. Heck, with Shinn's skills and potential, Tyler would've told Gibraltar if they were insistent Shinn and "their" Gundam were the Federation's problem, that was fine. The Federation would get to keep them, and ZAFT wouldn't be able to lodge a complaint about giving them both to the Federation as they had insisted it was their problem. Tyler would almost want to do that just to see what kind of consequences the ZAFT officers who had refused to do anything would face. Shinn was one thing and ZAFT seemed to not understand what kind of pilot they could have with Shinn which was truly sad. But for them not to want their Gundam back as quickly as possible was certainly odd. Tyler more figured whoever had been on duty in Gibraltar during the calls was being an idiot and not doing their job.

Should there be much more hassle with getting Shinn back to the Minerva with the more than two weeks ZAFT had to work with, then Tyler was inclined to say screw Gibraltar. Tyler would be willing to argue for the kid to remain with the Federation as it would be a benefit for him. Shinn had great if not amazing potential as a Gundam pilot. Tyler had seen the signs of that and knew the kid was like Kira and Athrun with what he could possibly do. The kid just needed the opportunity to show he could do what he set his mind to. Shinn would prove he could help change the world, Tyler had no doubt in that. However, it sounded and seemed like ZAFT wasn't willing to give the kid a chance to do that for the excuses they could give to justify such. If Shinn didn't get the opportunity, he could lose the chance to become a real Gundam pilot. Tyler didn't want to see that happen just because some thought giving the kid a chance wasn't worth it or that he was too young.

Tyler made it back to the docking area and boarded the Normandy. Things had been quieter than Tyler liked lately. Tension was building, but that was because there was a looming battle ahead in the coming days if luck was with the Federation, less if not. He just hoped something could be done to get Shinn back to the Minerva before the Alliance came to assault Asgard. But that looked extremely unlikely the longer Tyler was looking at things as they stood. More than two weeks had gone by, and ZAFT had done little to nothing, and that would unlikely change in the near future. That didn't mean Tyler would make the best effort to get the kid back to the ship he was assigned to. Yet, Tyler wasn't seeing a viable option to work with right now which he could do that for the kid. There was the possibility of having Shinn's Gundam put on the Normandy and the ship head for Gibraltar. However, with an OMNI attack looming, the Normandy had to stay in port on standby per standing orders from Asgard High Command. Transports weren't available as every aircraft was being employed for preparation work and keeping an eye on the movements of the OMNI fleet.

Nevertheless, Tyler didn't want to lie to the kid and say everything was working out great. That was something Kira would do without doing the research Tyler had, and he wouldn't do that to Shinn. And Shinn had been waiting for more than two weeks for different news than it was being worked on. Tyler ended out coming across Shinn on the lower crew deck at a table in the mess. He was by himself and seemed to be thinking about something. Tyler felt it was as good a time as any to inform Shinn about the progress or rather the continuing lack thereof for getting him back to the Minerva. So, Tyler took the chair across from the kid and waited for Shinn to notice him.

Shinn had been trying to think of how he could be useful and help around the Normandy while he was there. He wanted to thank the crew of the ship for what they had done for him in the last two weeks. They had been nice to him even when he was a ZAFT soldier, they hadn't seemed to care he was with ZAFT. They had welcomed him when he had just come down on the ship like he was an expected guest or someone they had known was coming. And for that kindness, he wanted to repay them somehow even if it was in small ways to show his gratitude. It seemed only proper, and his mother had always taught him to show gratitude toward those who were kind.

The other thing that was going on while Shinn had been on the ship was he'd been learning things by observation. Shinn had heard the stories of Federation military vessels much like others had. As a citizen of the Federation, there hadn't been a great deal of mystery to the point of how the Federation's military operated. The Federation's military used ships much like the Alliance and ZAFT even if they designed them more effectively than the other two factions. It was accepted as an unsaid fact to the Federation's citizens, and it wasn't questioned or really explored much. However, while Shinn had been at the ZAFT military academy, it had been a completely different response and picture. The Federation's military was seen as a mysterious force which could trounce its enemies who went against them. They had technology that was beyond the other two factions, though none said much as to what they thought it included other than the "stealth" tech.

It had never made a lot of sense to Shinn what was said about the Federation in the way it was. ZAFT had always seemed somewhere between afraid of the Federation and wary of them. There was little reason given other than the example of the Federation's military showing strength. There had been something mentioned about the Federation saying little about what they did and why. Maybe it was because he'd been a citizen and seen the dedication the Federation's military had for its citizens. He couldn't be sure what made the Federation so mysterious to others. The Federation showed what it stood for through action rather than words more often than not. Shinn had seen the proof of that and couldn't disagree that such showing said more than words ever could.

The other thing on Shinn's mind off and on was any chance of him getting back to the Minerva. Shinn hadn't heard if there had been any progress made on making a way for him to return to the Minerva during the last two weeks. He felt that Commander McGregor would do as he said and try to find a way to help Shinn return. At least, Shinn believed Mr. McGregor was a commander though he couldn't be sure that was his rank. When those in the Normandy's infirmary had referred to Mr. McGregor, Shinn hadn't been completely coherent so hadn't heard Mr. McGregor's rank. However, with the skills that Mr. McGregor had, Shinn would expect him to be at the level of a Commander. He was unlikely a ship officer with him going out to battlefields in mobile suits. Thus, Shinn just assumed Commander McGregor was the equivalent of a ZAFT team lead. Shinn decided he would head for the quarters he'd been given while on the Normandy. He would ask Commander McGregor in the morning if there had been any progress on Shinn getting back to the Minerva. There was the hope he would get something, but that hadn't been what he'd gotten yet.

Nonetheless, when Shinn looked up, he found someone sitting across from him. He blinked and found it was Commander McGregor. How long he'd been there, Shinn couldn't say for sure. But he hadn't noticed Commander McGregor even approach let alone sit across from him. "Commander McGregor," Shinn said in surprise. "What are you doing there?" Tyler smiled, "It took you a little while to notice me being here. You appeared to be deep in thought about something, care to share?" Shinn didn't answer the question right away, for the answer was complicated. There was a lot on Shinn's mind, and he didn't know where to start right now. After a moment, Shinn did start speaking, "I don't know where to start," he said honestly. "Recent events have me wondering if another war is coming and if peace is impossible in the end."

Tyler could understand some questioning if peace was still a possibility for Humanity. The radicals in control of the Alliance certainly made the idea much harder to exist. The spreading of hatred of different genetic types made no sense on the face of it, even when it had begun. Yet, those that wanted conflict pushed it, creating the hatred and vitriol which fueled the Alliance-PLANT War. It was also pushing the current conflict which was moving toward a war. Tyler put a hand to his chin, "I can see why you would question if peace is still possible," he remarked. "The world can certainly seem like a dark place with the violence and hatred going around." While Tyler would admit the bad things going on in the world, colonies, and space these days, he didn't think that should be the end all be all. Tyler still had faith and hope in Humanity, that it could do better than just be stuck in the cycle of fighting one another. He believed the human race still had the potential to move beyond fighting amongst themselves. "However," Tyler began, "I would like to think that as dark as things are, there is still hope for a better tomorrow for us all."

Shinn wanted to believe Commander McGregor when he said there was still hope for a better tomorrow. The last sentence sounded so nice, full of hope which felt so good and right. But it was hard to do so with the fighting that seemed to keep happening again and again. "How do we see such a better tomorrow that you say can still happen," Shinn asked a little dejectedly. "The Treaty of Junius Seven was supposed to be what made another war slim to none. And yet, the Alliance is attacking people, causing the conflict to grow and move toward a war. What hope is there really that another war come to the human race and destroy everything?"

Tyler smiled sadly at the questions Shinn was asking. He didn't blame the kid for questioning if war could be stopped. It was a valid question and shouldn't just be waved off as something without a definitive answer. Yet, Tyler had taken the time to consider the idea and had leaned on advice he'd gotten from his father. "I would say it is good you are asking those kinds of difficult questions. It shows you notice things aren't as portrayed by those who want to hide what they are doing," Tyler replied. "As dark as things may seem, we can't give up and lose hope. It is having faith that there is still good in humanity and clinging to hope which allows us to get through dark times. I fully believe in that and have seen the truth of the point in my own life several times." Tyler paused for a moment, "I was given advice when I was younger which has held true thus far and I see no reason why it would fail anytime in the future. Anything of true value requires effort and work to obtain. And it is because of the work put into it that there is value to what is obtained. It is through that work we learn the genuine value of what we are working for."

Shinn blinked at what Commander McGregor was saying. Many at ZAFT's military academy had said he shouldn't be asking all the questions which came to his mind. Many of the questions were more to get thoughts from others to perhaps help him understand things, not to portray others not having answers. But many around the ZAFT military academy and even outside of it seemed to take it that way. Yet, Commander McGregor had said Shinn should be asking his questions and that it was a good thing. Aila hadn't minded the questions Shinn would ask her, and she had been the last who hadn't said Shinn asked too many. While Shinn had been a Federation citizen, asking questions had been encouraged by leaders. ZAFT had been different in that with seeking information. They weren't against the action, but it wasn't openly encouraged. So, it felt good to be encouraged to ask questions that Shinn had.

Commander McGregor talking about faith and hope had also gotten Shinn thinking. It made him realize that he'd been focusing on the wrong things and that had gotten him feeling down. Commander McGregor was right, Shinn couldn't let himself give up on a brighter tomorrow just because things seemed so dark. The advice which the commander had given Shinn an amount to think about. Shinn agreed that something valuable required work to be put into it for it to be achieved. But he'd never thought about peace applying to the idea, but it made sense as Shinn thought about it. "So, you're saying that peace is the same in it will take work to achieve," Shinn questioned. He hesitated for a moment, "Sorry if it seems like I'm asking lots of questions."

Tyler shook his head at the apology, "Don't be sorry," Tyler said. "I think it is good to ask questions. It shows you're thinking critically about things and humanity certainly needs as many critical thinkers as it can get." Tyler took a breath before continuing, "Yes, peace is still possible, but will likely take a lot of work to achieve, and more to maintain. Achieving and maintaining are different things and that's where I think the mistake tends to be made. Achieving something is but a step, and many think it is the end of the work when it is not. And from my experience, maintaining is normally not thought about and is the harder of the two. However, just because something is seen by some as impossible or others are completely against, I don't think an idea should be given up on and dismissed." Shinn sighed, "But the conflict is heading toward a war," he said. "How do we fight that toward lasting peace?"

Tyler knew things were heading toward a full-blown war, the signs were clear enough. The Alliance and likely their "mysterious funders" wanted a war to come to the human race again. What their reasons for wanting that, Tyler could only guess the hatred they stoked motivated them. Their funders likely wanted a war as it made them more money than when there wasn't conflict. Forcing a war would make the Alliance the bad guys, not that Tyler felt they cared about that. Their rhetoric had portrayed them as "fighting the good fight" when it was exactly the opposite. "I admit, peace won't be easy," Tyler stated, "And a war is likely ahead for humanity. Yet, I don't believe that should discourage those willing to fight for it to just standby." Tyler paused for a moment to think how to phrase what he wanted to say. "You have to find your own motivation to fight. If you fight just because you're told to, then the work needed for peace will be horrendous. And you have to find that motivation for yourself, another can't give you that, for it is personal."

Tyler decided to shift the conversation to giving Shinn the info he had on getting him back to the Minerva. The discussion on war was interesting, but not relevant at this time. "But moving onto what I wanted to talk to you about, Shinn," Tyler remarked. "I had come to talk to you about finding a way to get you back to the Minerva once again." Shinn nodded as he'd wanted to ask how he could get back to the Minerva and potentially how long it would be. Tyler kept going, "I'll state straight out, the news I have isn't what I want to give you. And again, it isn't personal, I just prefer to tell the truth over little white lies. Overall, the process of getting you back to the Minerva is still a work in progress as it has been for the last two weeks. Because of that, I can't say how much longer it will be for you to get back to the Minerva."

Shinn blinked, a little confused at being told the news wasn't what Commander McGregor wanted to tell him. That didn't bode well and hearing the process of him getting back to the Minerva was still ongoing didn't help dismiss that. That had been the loose answer he'd been given in the last two weeks. He'd thought that surely by now, Gibraltar would understand he and the Impulse were here and needed a ride back. "What do you mean still a work in progress," Shinn inquired. "It's been over two weeks now, what is the hold up?" Tyler exhaled heavily, "To be honest, a lot of stupid stuff if you ask me. The Information Network has stated the Minerva arrived at Gibraltar after coming down in the Mediterranean Sea. They've been there for around two weeks from what I understand. Some in Asgard's High Command have reached out to Gibraltar, multiple times I assure you." Tyler clenched his fist before continuing, "Gibraltar's general reply hasn't changed and is still poor to say the least and that's putting it nicely. They have been rude and seemingly went out of their way to make things difficult each time. Their answer," Tyler said using air quotes when saying answers, "has remained essentially getting you and your Gundam to Gibraltar isn't their issue to deal with. Those at Gibraltar insisted the Federation needs to handle transporting you to ZAFT's Gibraltar base." Tyler sighed and shrugged, "They've been told specifically Asgard can't spare the resources currently to transport you to Gibraltar, but they apparently won't accept that."

Shinn didn't exactly understand what the commander said as it didn't make sense. Gibraltar should be more than willing to help get the Impulse and Shinn back to the Minerva, especially having been given two weeks thus far. Gundams were prized machines since the prototypes had shown what they could do. And with the Treaty of Junius Seven's provisions, the number of Gundams were limited per faction. Thus, a refusal to get one back was more than odd in Shinn's mind. "What do you mean getting the Impulse and me isn't Gibraltar's issue," Shinn asked with a confused tone. "The Impulse is a ZAFT Gundam, they should want it back. This should've been settled two weeks ago." Tyler wouldn't disagree with Shinn, for logically, he was in the right, and many would side with him. However, that wasn't the situation and Tyler felt there was more going on than was being said. So, Tyler nodded, "I and many others would certainly agree with your view, Shinn. But I don't know why Gibraltar has been refusing to help get you back to the Minerva. I just don't have that answer as much as I wish I did. They apparently keep saying it isn't their issue and that the Federation has to handle it."

Tyler stopped for a moment, his own thoughts about Gibraltar's responses coming to him. He would have had choice words to those at Gibraltar. Tyler would've also called for their base commander to get on the line. If they had refused, Tyler would've gone through the work of finding out who it was and then going to them directly and telling them what those on-duty were doing. If two weeks hadn't passed already, he may still have thought to do that, but that wasn't going to help. Tyler had wanted to tell Shinn first before he did any "prodding" with ZAFT and get things moving better. "Truthfully, if I'd been taking any of the calls, I would've dressed the idiots down for leaving a Gundam pilot out on their own," Tyler said. "It's a serious waste and just plain abuse which shouldn't be practiced by any of the factions." Shinn was kind of flattered Commander McGregor was calling him a Gundam pilot. But he was a backup pilot, not the Impulse's primary pilot. "I'm not a Gundam pilot," Shinn admitted, "So, you don't need to call me one."

Tyler was forced to pause at hearing Shinn saying he wasn't a Gundam pilot. If Tyler had not seen Shinn wasn't inclined to lie with the last two weeks of getting to know him, he would think the kid was trying to make a joke. With the skills Shinn had, there was little reason for him not to pilot a Gundam. His talent and skillset fit so well with a Gundam-type it was fairly stupid not to put the kid in one. All Tyler felt he would have to do is have Shinn do a Federation simulation or two and higher ups would be working to have Shinn transferred from ZAFT to the Federation. If ZAFT didn't have the kid assigned to a Gundam, Tyler would be seriously questioning what they were thinking among other things. "I beg your pardon," Tyler said. "You're saying you are not a Gundam pilot?" Tyler shook his head, "You pilot a Gundam kid, that makes you one." Shinn looked away, "I'm not assigned to the Impulse," he replied, "I'm just a backup pilot."

Tyler didn't quite believe what Shinn was telling him. The kid clearly believed what he was saying, even if it didn't make sense. That ZAFT had Shinn as a backup pilot for a Gundam was completely stupid to the point it was ludicrous. The kid's skills should more than enough prove he had the makings of a Gundam pilot. "A backup pilot," Tyler questioned with a slightly incredulous tone, "Your skills and potential are being wasted in that position. You should be assigned to a Gundam, period. That ZAFT hasn't done that already is just baffling." Tyler sighed knowing that questioning why ZAFT did or didn't do things was a pointless discussion. "But talking about why ZAFT is making the decisions they are isn't worth it right now." Tyler focused back on Shinn, "I promise you once again, I'll do what I can to get things moving to get you back to the Minerva. It may take me some time and unorthodox methods, but I can get results even if they aren't exactly as I say they will be." Shinn believed what Commander McGregor would do something to help him get close to going back to the Minerva. How he would do so, Shinn couldn't begin to guess. Tyler kept going, "Moving on, you really need to cheer up," he stated, "how would you like to talk with your family?"

Shinn blinked at the offer to talk to his family. ZAFT wouldn't allow outbound communication at any time without permission. He assumed the Federation would have similar policies with outbound communication. "But is that even allowed," Shinn questioned. "I don't want to get anyone into trouble." Tyler chuckled in response, "If you were to ask others, they would probably tell you it shouldn't be done. However, I can do things others won't and not get into trouble for what I do. So, yeah, I can get a comm channel to wherever I see fit." Tyler rose from the chair he was in and walked over to the mess's general terminal. "What PLANT are they on?" Shinn blinked for a moment, "Um December 3," he replied. Tyler nodded, "Give me a moment then." Shinn watched as Tyler did something with the terminal, he couldn't see specifically what. It was a long moment later that Tyler waved Shinn over and he saw a call was being made. Then his mother was on the screen much to Shinn's surprise. He didn't know how Commander McGregor had gotten the call to go through, but Shinn really could use loved ones to talk to.

Tyler smiled as he walked away, and the kid was talking to his family. It sounded like Shinn's mood was improving with the simple task of Tyler connecting a call. It hadn't taken much to get around the simple restrictions on the civilian com-lines. Tyler left the mess and headed to his quarters so he could get to work. He intended to do some prodding to get Gibraltar moving in helping Shinn. Two weeks of nothing had been insulting and Tyler had shown the patience of a freaking saint not getting involved directly, but that was at an end. How much Tyler would have to do would be up to those he dealt with at the ZAFT base. Tyler would even bug those on the Minerva if he had to to get Shinn the help he needed. He didn't want Shinn to be around Asgard when the Alliance began their assault. From intel reports, the assault would begin in two days or less by current estimates, and Tyler felt that estimate was being optimistic. OMNI wasn't known for being patient, more the opposite really by Tyler's observation. And they wanted to take the Federation's military down a peg or more. Attacking Asgard would be their attempt to do that even should it fail, the Alliance would spin it to benefit them.

Tyler's issue was not the attack, it wasn't a question of if really, it was more when it would happen. He didn't want Shinn around when that assault started. With the heart Shinn had, the kid would very likely volunteer to help in Asgard's defense with little hesitation. Tyler wouldn't blame Shinn for doing such a thing, for it was a good mark for him. Yet should Shinn be heading for Gibraltar to get back to the Minerva, then that wouldn't come up and that was preferred to Tyler. Thus, Tyler would prod the best he could to get Gibraltar off their butts and get their pilot back. They'd had two damn weeks to do something voluntarily, now they would be forced to do the work they should've been doing. If he had to embarrass some to achieve that, Tyler would do so with gusto and enjoy the work. But he had an idea of how he might get something to happen.

Meanwhile, it was early evening with the sun having set at ZAFT's Gibraltar base. Aila was waiting for Matt to get back from talking with his contact after getting time off the Minerva. She hoped that Matt would find out something about Shinn and the Impulse. It had been two weeks with little to nothing said about the Impulse or Shinn. All that was being talked about was the upcoming operation. The Minerva needed some kind of news about the missing mobile suit and pilot which it should've gotten when it arrived at Gibraltar. There were some, mostly those that knew Shinn, that were pestering Talia and Arthur about him. Matt and Aila had tried to help tone the pestering down but hadn't had much success. Aila was sure Shinn was doing alright even if she didn't know where he exactly was or how he was doing herself. If he descended with the Federation frigate as Matt had said, then Shinn was likely around the Federation's military. The Federation was reasonable and polite to those outside of the faction, even with the Alliance. So, Shinn would be treated just fine before he was able to make it back to the ship.

Nevertheless, Aila was concerned with the air of tension around Gibraltar. She had noticed it shortly after the Minerva had arrived at the base. Aila knew a ZAFT operation was looming rather soon. If she had heard right from a friend she knew with connections to the National Defense Committee, it was being called "Spear of Twilight." It had been drafted after the attempted strike against the PLANTs that had happened recently. The operation was to strengthen ZAFT's positions on Earth with the Alliance pushing for a war. Forces would be dropped from orbit down to mainly Carpentaria and Gibraltar. However, forces would be distributed out to other places from there to combat Alliance activities. The operation just showed that war was ahead for the human race, and it would be nigh impossible to avoid.

Aila was brought out of his thoughts when she noticed Matt was making his way toward her. She paused for a moment as she noted Matt wasn't in a good mood. That didn't bode well for the hope of good news for what he had gone to look into. She closed the distance between herself and Matt as he really did seem angry about whatever he'd found out. "Matt," she began, "Are you okay? Did you get to talk to your contact?"

Matt didn't reply right away to Aila's question. He'd finally gotten to talk to his contact as he'd hoped to. The guy had been kept busy with all sorts of things for the last two weeks. He'd said something about being given extra work as some sort of punishment for something but hadn't given details. However, what his friend had told him hadn't been what Matt had wanted to hear. Matt's contact had told him that the Federation had reached out to Gibraltar multiple times since the Minerva had gotten to Gibraltar. It was normally during the late-night hours and so, those on duty during that time had taken the call. His contact had told him the answer they had been giving to the Federation which had been ridiculous. From what Matt had heard from some, the "night watch" was not liked by most. They were difficult to work with and were "loose" with the rules and protocol Gibraltar is supposed to run by. They apparently had an unofficial record of being that way which they got enough to discount it by the higher-ups. That was bad enough if not for the answer they had given to the Federation.

The Federation had reached out from their Asgard base according to those who had gossiped about the night watch. Asgard had informed Gibraltar about a ZAFT "Gundam" had come down with a Federation vessel in each message. They wanted the Gundam and its pilot to be returned to Gibraltar and asked for assistance to do that. The night watch had told the Federation when they called it wasn't Gibraltar's issue, nor would the base do anything to assist them. They had gone further telling Asgard they would have to handle the return of ZAFT's Gundam. The head of the night watch had said something to the Federation to the effect of hurrying up and getting the Gundam back. Matt's friend had mentioned some had said the Federation had stated with each call they couldn't spare the resources, but others had disputed that point. The overall issue was the night watch had pushed back against the Federation multiple times in the last two weeks. Also, they had said nothing to Gibraltar commanders by what his friend said and nothing about the communications had been put on Gibraltar's records. Matt ran a hand through his hair, "No, Aila," he replied, "I'm not okay. And yes, I did get to my contact, and they had stuff to tell me."

Matt stopped, trying to organize his thoughts to deliver what he'd learned to Aila. He didn't want to blow up at her or vent the anger he felt. Aila didn't deserve to be on the receiving end of such a thing, and Matt didn't want to do that to her. "I'm mad about what I was told has happened," he admitted. Aila hugged Matt to help him calm down, "I can see you're unhappy right now. Talk to me and say what has you in this mood." Matt sighed before he kept going, "My friend told me the Federation has reached out about a ZAFT Gundam." Aila nodded, "The Impulse I wouldn't doubt."

Matt figured Aila would make the same connection as he did when a ZAFT Gundam had been mentioned. That wasn't the problem that Matt had about the info he'd gotten from his friend. It was what the night watch had done in response which irked Matt so much. "Yeah, that's what I figured too. The issue comes in with the response of those on the night watch which has me steaming. The night watch," Matt said with air quotes, "essentially told the Federation getting the Impulse to Gibraltar isn't ZAFT's problem."

Aila blinked, thinking she couldn't have heard Matt correctly. The Impulse was a ZAFT Gundam developed by ZAFT for its use. ZAFT wouldn't want others to have it to use and reverse engineer the tech from it. So, the Impulse was ZAFT's concern and issue if it wasn't under its control. ZAFT could only have a set number of Gundams to be able to use which was determined by the Treaty of Junius Seven. ZAFT couldn't afford to lose a Gundam especially with a war on the horizon. "You got to be kidding," Aila muttered. "The Impulse is our Gundam, it is a ZAFT machine. What happens to it is our problem."

Matt knew Aila would be as appalled as he was with what the night watch had done. But there was still more the night watch did to make the situation worse. "It didn't end there, they told those calling from Asgard they would have to get the Impulse to Gibraltar. My contact said the Federation did take the response well and said Gibraltar needed to be involved. The head of the night watch has replied with something to the effect of the Federation needing to hurry and get the Impulse back." Matt paused for a moment, "Supposedly the Federation told the night watch Asgard couldn't spare the resources at the moment to get the Impulse to Gibraltar. But the night watch waved that off as nonsense with each contact." Matt stopped again, anger filling him at the foolishness of the night watch. "Those idiots have been acting up and it is biting us in the rears."

Aila hadn't liked what she'd heard from Matt as most of it was troubling. It sounded like the night watch had put the Impulse in the position, so it was on its own to get back to the Minerva. And yet, the night watch's behavior shouldn't be permitted but they were getting away with it. ZAFT protocol and policy should've made it clear that communications from other factions were to be handled delicately and reported to their superiors. But Matt had said each contact, implying there had been more than one. If it was true that the Federation had reached out multiple times in the last two weeks and yet said nothing, that said the issue was worse than simple misbehavior. "Hold on, the Federation has reached out multiple times about the Impulse," she asked. Matt nodded in response to her question and Aila couldn't help but be frustrated. This went beyond negligence; it was plain idiocy. "And those in command here at Gibraltar are okay with them doing that? If they are, it should be reported to the National Defense Committee."

Matt shook his head as the night watch's activities weren't known to the higher-ups around Gibraltar. How it was that the higher-ups didn't know Matt could only guess that enough didn't want to say anything. That could mean those in the night watch were threatening those who knew, or others were in on the bad behavior. "From what I was told, those in charge here at Gibraltar don't know about the night watch's behavior. I don't know why that is, but I would guess those on the night watch are intimidating or making sure others don't tell higher-ups. Thus, they are getting away with the ridiculous behavior."

While Aila could understand Matt's frustration with the actions of the night watch, they could do little about it themselves. And it didn't help Shinn and the Impulse get back to the Minerva to fume about what others were or were not doing. Aila knew she and Matt weren't the only ones on the Minerva that wanted to help Shinn. However, Aila couldn't come up with any logical or feasible means which those on the Minerva could help Shinn right now. She wouldn't accept there was nothing that could be done, but it would take some thinking. There were possibilities that could be done but would require methods that were normally frowned upon. But perhaps Aila and Matt could brainstorm while on their shift on the Minerva's bridge. "Well," Aila began, "There is nothing we can do right now about what Gibraltar's night watch has been doing. We can do some brainstorming during our shift while being in charge on the Minerva which starts soon. We can see if we can come up with something to work with to get Shinn and the Impulse can return to the ship."

Matt knew Aila had a point as much as he wished there was something that could be done. They couldn't do much if anything to change the behavior of the night watch at this time which would have immediate effects. Really, it just meant those on the Minerva would have to come up with something to help Shinn and not rely on Gibraltar. And as they both had the eight-hour night shift to be in charge of the Minerva, they would have time to try and come up with a potential plan. "Sure," Matt replied, "I'm just frustrated that those who should be helping us are doing the opposite. But as you said, we will come up with something while on watch to help the kid make it back. I don't know what we can do to help him, yet I feel we can come up with something to get things going in that direction for Shinn. The kid has been away for two weeks, we owe him a good attempt if not better." The two made their way back to the dock the Minerva so they could take over the watch.

Arthur was on the Minerva's bridge as the shift change was approaching. The shift had been quiet with little of note happening. Aila and Mr. Dems would soon take charge of the Minerva and let Arthur get some down time. There had been no news that Arthur had heard about the Impulse or Mr. Asuka as of yet. By what the captain had mentioned, Aila had told her that Mr. Dems had some sort of contact around Gibraltar who could give him information. Aila had said something about Mr. Dems's contact could hopefully provide news that would lead to the Impulse and Mr. Asuka. Arthur certainly hoped that Mr. Dems got news on the Minerva's missing pilot and mobile suit. The Impulse had certain been a saving grace for the Minerva during her service thus far. Arthur felt that the Impulse would continue to make a good difference for the Minerva. But it would need to return to the ship for that to be the case. Yet, Mr. Dems had apparently been having trouble getting to his contact so far. Arthur hoped that wouldn't last for too much longer, but he couldn't say.

When the bridge's door slid open, Arthur turned and saw Aila and Mr. Dems coming in. Arthur exhaled, "Hello you two," he greeted. "It's time for the shift change, is it?" Aila nodded, "Indeed, it is, Arthur," she returned. "You can go get something to eat and sleep before tomorrow morning." Matt nodded, "Yep, we can handle things here while you and the captain get some rest." Arthur wasn't against getting some down time as the shift though quiet had been long. However, Arthur was still curious if either of them had acquired information about Mr. Asuka and the Impulse. There was the chance they could have and any news was better than no news at all. "Did either you find out anything about the Impulse or Mr. Asuka while you went out into Gibraltar today," Arthur questioned. "I know you have been trying to find out information from your contact, Mr. Dems. But it has been said you've been having trouble with that for the last two weeks we've been here. The captain mentioned you two were going to look into it as you could and may have better success than what we are being told from Gibraltar."

Matt clenched his fist and turned away from Arthur while Aila frowned at the question. "The answer to that is yes and no," Aila replied. "We did finally learn some information, which we are convinced involves the Impulse, but it is complicated." Arthur was glad Aila said she and Mr. Dems had gotten some kind of information about the Impulse after the two weeks the Minerva was in dock. However, that Aila had said it was complicated didn't bode well about what they had found out. "What do you mean complicated, Aila," Arthur asked. Aila sighed, "I'll spare the unpleasant details, and say Gibraltar won't be of much help when it comes to Shinn and the Impulse for the moment at least. Matt and I plan to do some brainstorming while we are in charge on what can be done to help them."

Arthur didn't like what was implied by Aila with "sparing" the details about what they had found out. It suggested to Arthur Gibraltar likely knew something about the Impulse and Mr. Asuka but either didn't want to say anything about it or do something to assist. That in itself should be a problem and the base's higher-ups should be stepping in. But by the sound of it, such wouldn't be happening in the immediate future. Yet, if the two could come up with some way the Minerva could possibly help the Impulse and Mr. Asuka, Arthur wouldn't be against that. "I guess all I can say then is I wish you the best of luck on coming up with something," Arthur replied. "I hope those in command of Gibraltar change their standing and help us with the issue. The Minerva really needs its missing mobile suit and pilot back before embarking on any mission."

Arthur left the bridge leaving Aila and Matt alone. Aila went to the deputy station and looked over the system readouts. She found the Minerva's systems were doing as expected and nothing was out of the ordinary. Aila turned and took the captain's chair while Matt took the deputy's seat. "So," Matt started, "Where can we even begin in potentially help Shinn get back to the ship?" Aila took a moment to think of an answer to the question Matt had asked. It was obvious now that those around Gibraltar wouldn't help, either because they didn't feel like it or didn't know what was going on. That left the option of the Minerva having to do something themselves. However, the Minerva was in dock per orders until the upcoming operation "Spear of Twilight" was completed. Thus, Aila shrugged, "Honestly, we are in a bind if Gibraltar isn't going to help us. The Minerva is locked in dock until the upcoming operation is done and that is set for a week from now. And I doubt any will listen to our plight unless we can independently confirm the Federation has reached out multiple times about the Impulse."

Matt knew Aila was right in saying the Minerva was limited with what it could do right now. The upcoming operation was being seen as important with the allied reinforcement it would provide for ZAFT on Earth. And with what Matt's contact had said, his and Aila's words wouldn't, true as it was, override those from the night watch. If they could somehow get an independent source from the Federation proving they had reached out multiple times, then maybe the higher-ups would listen. But short of that, there was little they could do to help Shinn at this time and that irked Matt. The kid had a good heart and didn't deserve to be left alone to deal with whatever came his way until something was done to get him back to the Minerva. And yet that's what Shinn had been left to for two weeks thus far and would be until further notice. "So, short of disobeying orders, our hands are tied," Matt grumbled "And Shinn is on his own without any kind of help from ZAFT for two weeks plus as of now and longer should nothing change." Matt couldn't stop the sigh that escaped him, "I'm kind of inclined to disobey orders and have the Minerva go to Asgard were it up to me. We can curse those that come out against that and say they wouldn't do anything to help."

Aila normally wasn't one to agree with going against orders unless there was a very good reason to do so. But wasn't helping Shinn a good reason? Those at Gibraltar had the chance to do what they could to help out and that had ended out with nothing. And were the National Defense Committee to learn of what Gibraltar's current night watch was doing, there would be consequences for them. However, that would take time which two weeks had already been wasted on. And they didn't know of the full contents of what the Federation had said to the night watch. There could've been more about the Impulse and Shinn which Matt's contact didn't hear about. Thus, Aila shrugged, "While I can agree with your sediments about disobeying orders, I think we can brainstorm more before potentially resort to that. There would be consequences for going against orders and face consequences we would face later." Matt exhaled in acknowledgement, "Yeah, you have a point there, lovey."

During the next hour, the two brainstormed ideas of how the Minerva might help Shinn and the Impulse return. However, the discussion kept coming back to two points that seemingly couldn't be dismissed. The first issue was the Minerva was in dock under orders until at least after the upcoming operation in a week and so couldn't leave. The second issue was they couldn't justify going against that order without proof the Impulse was at the Federation's Asgard base. Gibraltar's night watch would deny anyone bringing up them getting messages from the Federation about a ZAFT Gundam. There was no record of that when Aila had dived into Gibraltar's activity reports which said what went on around the base. It would be their word against those on the night watch and with no proof, the night watch's word would be taken over theirs. So, until there was proof of the Impulse and Shinn being at Asgard, the Minerva was stuck where it was.

Aila could see Matt was frustrated with their lack of ideas coming out of their brainstorming. She would've moved over to help him stay calm, but her attention was drawn elsewhere. Her attention had shifted the the mobile suit controller and communication station. It was beeping quietly and was lit up and that shouldn't be the case at this time of night. Aila moved over to the station and glanced over the console to see what was going on. The console was alerting that a communication was trying to come into the Minerva. The time of night alone made an incoming communication very odd. Yet, when Aila input commands to get more details about the call, she was further baffled. The "call" looked like it was coming from Gibraltar at first glance. It's comm code certainly appeared to be formatted as Gibraltar had them formatted. However, the numbers in it seemed off to Aila somehow though she couldn't say in what way. "Matt," Aila called motioning him to come to the console, "Come look at this."

Matt had been fuming about how Aila and he hadn't been able to come up with anything to help Shinn. But her calling him got him out of his fuming. He glanced over to see she was over at the mobile suit controller and communication station. He moved over to the console, intending to ask her what she was doing. However, when he got into view of the console, Matt saw it was lit up with an alert. He got right next to Aila and saw there was an inbound communication waiting to be accepted. "A call," Matt questioned, "coming in at this time of night?" Aila nodded, "Indeed, that is odd, but while it certainly appears to be from Gibraltar, something about the comm code seems off to me. Yet, I can't put my finger on what it is that seems off and is nagging at me."

Matt glanced at the numbers, and it took a moment to realize that Aila had a point, something did indeed seem off about the numbers. Matt took a moment to memorize the numbers then moved over to another console and put them in. It was likely the numbers meant little to nothing, but it was also possible they would point to something. To Matt's surprise, the numbers did come back with a result. The result said a great deal as the file that came up was Shinn's personnel file. The numbers Matt had put in matched Shinn's ZAFT ID number assigned to him. The format of the ID number was different than the comm code was, but the number did match Shinn's ZAFT ID. And it didn't seem like such would be a coincidence to Matt, which would strongly suggest someone was trying to get a point across. "The numbers make up Shinn's ZAFT ID," Matt uttered. "But why would someone use or even know of those?"

It took a moment for Aila to process what Matt had said about the numbers in the comm code. It couldn't be a coincidence that Shinn's ID code was being used as a call identification code. And that whoever was calling had made the comm code appear like a Gibraltar one said they didn't want to be noticed by those who should be watching the communication lines. That Shinn's ID was being used suggested whoever was calling could know things about Shinn. This call could be what Aila and Matt had been hoping for to get things moving in a better direction. "Well," Aila began, "I doubt it is a coincidence the numbers are what they are. So, lets connect the call and see what this is all about." Aila put in the command to have the call connect and put the call on the console speaker. "Minerva, do you read," said a male voice, "Repeat, can you hear me, Minerva."

Aila didn't recognize the voice, nor had it given anything to identify themselves. But they had addressed the Minerva directly, thus, they had to know where their call had gotten to. That would mean the call had been intentionally directed to the Minerva. Such didn't give any hint as to who it was or why they were reaching out to the Minerva. However, the numbers in the comm code came to mind and made Aila think that this could potentially have something to do with Shinn. Aila put in the command to be able to talk to this mystery person. "This is the Minerva, officer on duty speaking," Aila replied, "To whom am I speaking?"

Tyler had been trying to reach the Minerva for close to ten minutes. The time taken hadn't been spent on getting to the Minerva, less than half of it was spent getting past Gibraltar's security. Truthfully, Tyler was kind of frustrated with the ease he'd had been getting into Gibraltar's network. There had been no sign any had even taken a notice he'd been inside and poking around to find his way to the Minerva. It said far too much about Gibraltar's security and how it was lacking than anything else. Tyler had the idea to make his "call code" look like what Gibraltar would use to not attract attention. But he wanted to get the attention of whoever it was on the Minerva. Coming up with a way to do that had taken a bit of thought, but Tyler had decided to have his call code be the kid's ZAFT ID. If that didn't get attention from those on the Minerva, then Tyler would dive into the Minerva's systems and seek out Captain Gladys. But as he'd been moving toward doing that, someone had picked up the line. While Tyler had been hoping for Captain Gladys, an officer on duty could likely get to the woman. "This is Tyler McGregor, I'm a crew member of the Federation frigate Normandy. I'm glad someone finally picked up, I've been waiting for a bit. I was starting to wonder if I would have to do something else to get the needed attention."

Aila had never heard of a Tyler McGregor, though the last name sounded oddly familiar, but she couldn't place why. The mention of a Federation frigate called the Normandy caught her attention though. Matt had made mention of a Federation frigate that had popped up twice around the Minerva. The first had been around Armory One, and then there had been the event with the ruins falling. That would also strongly suggest it was the ship that Shinn had descended down to Earth with. "What is it you want which has you contacting the Minerva directly, Mr. McGregor," Aila asked. "This kind of communication normally would go through Gibraltar's command center."

Tyler scoffed at being told his message would normally go through Gibraltar's command center. That path had already been attempted multiple times and it had been shoved back in the Federation's face each of those times. Thus, Tyler wouldn't have wasted the time with the idiots that had already made things difficult. "Yeah, I wouldn't doubt this would normally go through Gibraltar's command center. However, I have no interest in wasting time on idiots who are just going to tell me what I have to say, "isn't their problem." Thus, I thought it would be better to reach out directly to you." Even if there was no video feed for the communication, Tyler made a dismissive gesture. "If you weren't aware, some from Asgard have called Gibraltar multiple times in the last two weeks to give information. The reception of those has been far less than appreciated. I'm not the only one who has been displeased by how the kindness we've been showing is being taken. There are some who are considering informing the PLANTs' National Defense Committee about the unfriendly receptions. And I would be one of those who would be in favor of such a thing, just saying. That should say how serious an issue this is becoming."

From what Aila was hearing, this McGregor had evidence Gibraltar's night watch had done something that wasn't acceptable several times. The line about not being Gibraltar's problem had been word for word what Matt had said his contact had told him. And that the Federation sounded like they were considering reporting the receptions to the National Defense Committee, said just how bad the night watch had been. "Sorry to interrupt," Aila began. "Are you saying the Federation has reached out from Asgard about a Gundam more than once?" Tyler stopped at hearing the question about Asgard reaching out to Gibraltar. There shouldn't be any dispute about Asgard contacting Gibraltar about the Impulse. And those calls should've been recorded if Tyler were to hazard a guess per some protocol ZAFT would have. Thus, there being even a question about the point was odd and concerning. Tyler continued after a long pause, "Is there some kind of dispute that the Federation has contacted Gibraltar in the last two weeks. Or perhaps there is more disagreement about how Asgard was told each time to screw off essentially?"

Matt and Aila were taking in not just the words but also the tone in which they were being delivered. Matt was angrier now with being told the night watch hadn't recorded things down and they had been so flippant they had told another faction to screw off. That could easily have a ZAFT soldier court-martialed without them having a damn good reason they did such a thing. And that they had done the idea multiple times over the last two weeks had Matt's blood boiling. He was close to heading out and beating up every single member of the night watch starting with their leader. On the other hand, Aila knew being angry about what the night watch did wasn't the priority right now. They now had proof of the night watch's behavior which could be used to make a case. So, as Matt growled, Aila waved at him to be quiet so they could get one of the things they needed to potentially help Shin. If the night watch could be proven to have done wrong, then the Minerva could potentially get permission to leave Gibraltar for a bit. "Yes, there is a dispute as those who have been taking the calls haven't been reporting anything about the exchanges."

Tyler had been miffed about Asgard being waved off by Gibraltar when they had been reaching out to Gibraltar and he still was. However, it seemed there was more to the problem than he'd expected from just hearing from those he'd talked to. It sounded like the group which had taken the calls was misbehaving. That they were getting away with it was kind of surprising as such behavior should be reported to higher-ups after the first call and more so after each call that followed. He exhaled heavily, "And ZAFT higher-ups don't know the group who has been in charge when the calls come in aren't reporting the contacts from one of the other factions? Those kinds of things would seem rather important to report and record if you ask me." Aila knew this McGregor had a point with the behavior should be reported to superior officers. But that was a complicated matter which Aila wasn't a part of. "You're not wrong, but that is out of our hands for those on the Minerva," Aila returned. "However, about the ZAFT Gundam, is the pilot okay?"

Tyler would applaud at least those from the Minerva were concerned about the kid. Gibraltar hadn't shown a bit of care about Shinn or the Gundam from what Tyler had been told. It had fed the motivation for Tyler to look into Shinn being transferred from ZAFT to the Federation's military. "Well, at least you ask about the kid," Tyler iterated. "Gibraltar apparently hasn't even asked once about Shinn's condition or the Gundam's for that matter. They've been quick to say it isn't their problem and insist the Federation needs to handle it all." Aila could hear the irritated tone in McGregor's voice and could sympathize with it. Gibraltar had shown no interest or care with the subject of the Impulse had been brought up at the times the Minerva had been asking. Tyler continued, "As for Shinn, he is doing okay during the last two weeks. But he has been concerned about getting back to the Minerva which I can't fault him for." There was a pause for a moment, "I've been very unhappy with telling the kid we at Asgard have been trying to arrange for his return, but little movement is happening. And informing him that Gibraltar wants nothing to do with this seems to have hit the kid a bit, not that I blame him. I wouldn't like being told that those who are supposed to be my allies aren't going to do a darn thing to help me when they should. More so when I've been waiting for more than two weeks while separated from my ship." Tyler held his tongue and didn't say he had been considering helping Shinn transfer from ZAFT to the Federation.

Those on the Minerva had been worried about Shinn and wanted to help him ever since reaching Gibraltar. However, it had been clear that those at Gibraltar's which the Minerva had to go through had no interest in helping Shinn at all. However, with the information that McGregor had given them would be able to help convince some of the higher-ups to allow the Minerva to do something. "While I don't disagree," Aila stated, "You reaching out to us does provide a means for us to potentially help Shinn, and for that you have our thanks." Tyler hummed a bit, since he was glad his efforts were not being wasted. "Well, if it helps the kid, I'm willing to do something for him. Yet, I give you a word of warning." Both Matt and Aila sharpened their attention at being told they were going to get a warning. Tyler kept going, "Time is of the essence. Gibraltar has already wasted two damn weeks doing nothing in this and that will have a price I fear. Tensions around Asgard are rising and it isn't the good kind. Don't do any lollygagging, there has already been two weeks wasted on that idea. Gibraltar has been told multiple times specifically Asgard can't spare the resources to transport a mobile suit to the ZAFT base. There is a reason that is the case, even if ZAFT wouldn't have listened to it were details mentioned. I won't say more than hurry it up if you want Shinn and the Gundam back with less effort on your end."

Aila didn't like what she was hearing from this McGregor. What was being said was pointed enough, and yet there was more unsaid and implied. The insistence that time was of the essence said there was a looming event in the very near future. The mention of "tension" had caught Aila's attention. That tension was rising suggested preparations were being made for whatever the looming event was. For McGregor saying it was of a "bad" kind pointed to Aila the Federation's Asgard base was preparing for some type of attack, likely from the Alliance. And the last sentence said the attack was coming and would occur soon. The information, even if lots of it was assumption was certainly concerning in many ways. "Thank you for the information," Aila replied, "We will make sure it gets to where it can do the most good."

The call ended and Aila glanced at Matt with a worried expression. "Well," she remarked, "If that doesn't prove what your contact said, I don't know what could do much better other than confessions from the night watch." Aila sighed, "But there was much left unsaid, but implied and that concerns me more than what the night watch has been doing. Were you able to catch the implication from tensions being mentioned?" Matt nodded, "The quiet times are going to end. Those at Asgard are expecting something to come their way soon and it won't be good for them if I heard right. So, then what do we do now, Aila?"

Aila took a moment to think about what the next best action would be. With Gibraltar not willing to help them get the Impulse back, it fell to the Minerva to do the job themselves. There had already been two weeks wasted just sitting around and waiting for Gibraltar. But with the Minerva locked into dock, leaving would be more difficult. It would be best if someone could have the Minerva released from dock rather than the Minerva having to break free. Regardless of what plan was used, they would need Talia to help them in carrying it out. Talia could contact those who could help the Minerva leave. And she would understand the need for haste once she was told about what they learned. So, Aila looked to Matt again, "Would you watch over the bridge for a bit," she asked. "I think we will need Talia to come in and help with this for the chances of success to be reasonable." Matt nodded and waved her to go, "I'll keep an eye up here, lovey, so go and present our case." Aila left the bridge and headed for the forward crew deck where the officers' quarters were. While she wasn't one to wake up another unnecessarily, things had come to the point that Talia would be needed. Aila came to the door she was wanting and keyed in the command to have a signal inside to go off.

Talia had been sleeping as soundly as she could, but her sleep had been restless. The concerns of the upcoming operation were the lesser of the two things haunting her. The fate of Shinn and the Impulse had been weighing on her mind more over the last two weeks. She planned to talk to Aila and Matt to find out if they had finally learned something before she went on shift in the morning. Matt had been trying to get to his contact, but that had been problematic from what Aila had said so far. Plans could be made with more information and bring the Impulse and Shinn back to the ship. Talia was starting to drop into a light sleep when a signal went off saying there was someone at the door. She rose up and glanced at the clock nearby to see what time it was. The clock showed it was almost 0100 hours, or the middle of the night. Visits at such a time were rare and normally weren't for good reasons in Talia's experience. "Who is it," Talia called. A moment later Talia got the reply, "It's Aila, I need to talk to you about something that has come up." Talia touched the panel next to her bed and had the door slide open before she sat up on the bed. Aila came into the room and had the door slide closed behind her. She waited until dim lights came on to find her way to a chair and face the bed where Talia was. "Sorry for waking you up at this time of night," Aila said in greeting. "But there have been some developments that really can't wait that I feel you'll need to help with."

Talia rubbed her eyes to wake up more. She knew Aila wouldn't go waking up people in the middle of the night without a good reason. Talia's question was what had come up, which by Aila's words couldn't wait. "It's fine if there is a reason, Aila," Talia remarked. "So, what has developed which needs attention?" Talia yawned before continuing, "And did Matt get to finally see his contact? If so, did they provide any information about the Impulse?"

Aila hesitated as the answers to those questions were complicated. They played into the explanation Aila was here to give. But that didn't make organizing a summary any easier to get the important points across. "Let me summarize what Matt and I have learned which have changed things enough for me to come here to you." Aila began with what Matt's contact had told him about the multiple messages from the Federation's Asgard base and the responses from the night watch. Talia was confused at first with what Aila was telling her. She thought it was her tiredness which was causing the confusion, so she'd asked Aila to repeat what she had been saying. On the second time, Talia was not pleased with the responses of Gibraltar's night watch. It was lazy and unacceptable for them to have not just shoved back against the Federation's calling several times, but not record it down. The first part was not helpful because it had wasted two full weeks the Minerva could've worked on getting its missing machine and pilot back. But to not even note the occurrences in the duty record was seen as a serious breach of ZAFT protocol. Hiding their actions from higher-ups would only make things worse for them when it came to light.

Aila kept going with the brainstorming that she and Matt had been doing while on watch. Talia applauded that the two were trying to think of ways to help Shinn, even if they hadn't been able to come up with anything. Then came the call from "Mr. McGregor" as Aila put it. Why Tyler McGregor captain of the Normandy would reach out to the Minerva, Talia couldn't say. How he'd even got past Gibraltar's security without anyone apparently noticing, she couldn't even begin to guess. The information that Captain McGregor had given to Matt and Aila was worrisome. Talia was glad Shinn was okay and still with the Normandy after two weeks. Under Captain McGregor's watch, Shinn would be just fine until he got back to the Minerva. After Aila finished her summary, Talia folded her arms, "While that is a lot which has changed, I feel there is more to this," she remarked. "Especially, with the two weeks that we have been sitting around hoping for news."

Aila nodded, knowing that Talia may only be starting to see what Aila was getting hints of. The unsaid implications from Mr. McGregor were concerning Aila for a couple of reasons. "Yes, I feel there is more being unsaid yet implied than we think there is." Aila paused for a moment, gathering her thoughts. "The mentions of tension around Asgard makes me think they are preparing for some sort of attack against them, likely by the Alliance." Aila's gaze fell to the floor, "For the Alliance to even consider assaulting Asgard, let alone actually doing it concerns me. It makes me wonder if radicals have more control in the Alliance than is suspected by ZAFT Intelligence."

Talia could see why Aila was concerned as she was. The Alliance moving against the Federation already was worrisome. It suggested that the Alliance believed either they could take on both the other factions at the same time, or dealing with the Federation first was best. Out of those two, Talia was inclined to go with the latter rather than the former. That was still concerning since if the Federation lost, it would improve the Alliance's position potentially to a terrifying degree. And if what Aila suggested turned out to be true, then radicals calling the shots more fully would only make a war harder to end. "You're not the only one concerned by this information Aila," Talia answered. "But by the sound of it, Gibraltar won't be helping the Impulse get back to the ship, correct?" Aila nodded, "That is my impression. Maybe you can talk to others that will listen to you and help us. But as it stands, getting Shinn and the Impulse back will be up to us." Aila went over to Talia's desk and input commands into the terminal, "I brought up the recording from Mr. McGregor's call should you need that to prove what I've said to others."

Talia was left to think about what could be done to help with the Minerva's position. One of the base's commanders was a mentor of hers during her academy days. Talia had been meaning to reach out and talk to the man, but there hadn't been the time. "I'll see what I can do, Aila," Talia returned. "Go back to the bridge but be ready to head out." Aila nodded and left Talia's quarters. Talia exited her bed and got dressed before sitting at her desk. Talia did listen to Captain McGregor's message, and it explained why Aila was as concerned as she was. After listening to it, she dialed up the comm address to her old mentor hoping he would be able to help. It was a minute later her first mission commander she'd had as a cadet appeared on the screen. "Commander Hersey, it's been a while sir," Talia greeted, "I hope you don't mind me calling you at this late hour, but I was hoping to have a conversation." The man nodded, "I would assume the conversation is important for you to call at this time. So, what is it I can help you with, Gladys?"

Talia sighed, as she wasn't one to report others unless it was necessary, but when it came up it was never pleasant. "Commander, you know I'm not one to report others unless there is a very good reason," she began. "But something concerning was brought to my attention and I wanted to know if Gibraltar higher-ups were even aware of it." Hersey grunted, "Yes, you were loyal to those you worked with, sometimes to your detriment. It was one of the things that stood out for you as a cadet. But what is the point you're trying to make, Gladys?" Talia took a breath, "You may have read my report about one of the Minerva's mobile suits having been separated from the ship during the descent." Hersey nodded in response, "Yes, I read something along those lines. It happened before you came to dock at Gibraltar, you have my condolences about that. You put in an inquiry two weeks ago shortly after docking for ZAFT to look into its fate as I recall. I can't say I have any information about that I'm afraid, another tends to handle that sort of thing."

Talia nodded at the mention of her request into where the Impulse had come down and what had happened to it. But what she was going to get into next was what she didn't like. She knew Commander Hersey would hear her out, he always did that. But whether he would believe her words was something she couldn't be sure of. Talia respected her first mission commander, but he was a man that wanted facts to support a claim. "One of my pilots reached out to a friend of his in order to see what was going on around Gibraltar. From him, it was told to me that Gibraltar's night watch has not been reporting things accurately." There was a pause before Commander Hersey spoke, "You know I don't deny what another says right off the bat, Gladys. But with a claim like that, I would hope you have proof to give to support it."

Talia had taken a section of McGregor's message to be ready to use as proof. She played it for Commander Hersey to hear. There was a long moment of silence after the clip had been played. "This McGregor that's speaking," Hersey began, "What do you know of him?" Talia leaned back in her chair, "That he is a captain of a Federation frigate. He is supposedly some kind of war hero but doesn't let such go to his head." Talia paused, "I don't see a reason he would be lying about this, Commander. He has no benefit in doing so, and he isn't around Gibraltar so wouldn't know it was the night watch taking calls from the Federation. But base gossip has been whispering about the point even if some have been trying to hide that. It is protocol that communications from other factions are to be recorded regardless of what they are about."

Commander Hersey was left to consider what had been said. It wasn't that he disbelieved Gladys. The woman had never been one to lie to a superior officer. And he'd been suspicious about the "incidents" and "complaints" that had been made about those on the night watch in the last few months. However, every time the complaints were looked into, nothing was ever found. And yet, Hersey had been dubious in letting that be the end of it. Things had been clean with the night watch, too clean in his opinion. Their overall record stated they were a "near-perfect" team to have in an in-charge position. Yet, they were on the shift that most didn't want to have. That didn't sit right with Hersey. If the group was as skilled as their record claimed, they wouldn't be on the night shift. The recording Gladys played certainly sounded legit since the facts lined up. And then McGregor was a well-known Federation soldier, so was normally taken at his word. That McGregor had gotten a message to the Minerva and no alarms about an intruder going off was certainly odd. Sure, there were rumors the kid was some kind of specialist the Federation used on the Alliance to get information which should be secure, but Hersey hadn't put stock into those until now.

"I will certainly look into this deeper as you brought it to my attention, Gladys," Hersey returned. "However, I doubt that is all you wanted to ask of me. So, what else is on your mind Gladys?" Talia figured her old mission commander would figure out she had more to talk about. The man had always been sharp and on point. It was one of the qualities that made him such an effective mission commander. "Still as sharp as ever, commander," Talia replied. Hersey let out a bark of laughter, "Like I would let such slide? I lost count of how many cadets tried to fool me. I may not be training cadets as before, but I'm not senile yet, Gladys. Going to be many years before I retire and go senile." Talia giggled at the response. It proved that her first mission commander was still the stubborn war dog he was when she was a cadet. "Still the stubborn war dog as you ever were sir. From the message from Mr McGregor, the Minerva's missing suit and pilot are at the Federation's Asgard base. Is Gibraltar able to arrange a transport to go there and retrieve it? If so, then it needs to be done as soon as possible. Mr. McGregor implied something was going to happen around Asgard soon and I would prefer my pilot and their machine were extracted before such happened."

Commander Hersey thought for a moment upon the request. Most resources Gibraltar had to work with were doing prep work for the Spear of Twilight operation. It was expected the Alliance would do much to hamper the operation, so things were being done to mitigate that. Thus, it would be a few days at least if not longer before a transport could be spared for a retrieval. "I wish I could say a transport will be ready immediately, but I can't do that. With the preparations being done for the upcoming operation, we can't spare one for a few days. I really want to help you Gladys, you were one of the best cadets I trained. But my hands are tied on this so I can't get a transport to go and get your pilot and their machine right away."

Talia had known it would be possible and even likely a transport couldn't be made ready for days. But there was another option which Talia would go with even when it would be a harder one in the end. The Minerva could go and get the Impulse and Shinn from Asgard. "Sir, I can respect you can't do much. However, you can allow the Minerva to head out and retrieve our pilot and their machine," Talia reasoned.

Hersey didn't reply right away to the suggestion. Yes, it was a possibility, yet the Minerva was supposed to be here for the operation. There was only a week left until the operation would occur. It would be a tall order for the Minerva to go to Asgard and make it back with much time to spare before the operation. "Are you sure about that Gladys," Hersey questioned. "I know you can be bold and gutsy when a situation may call for it. However, doing as you suggest will put your ship and its crew at risk. You will have no help from ZAFT should you depart until you would return to Gibraltar, even if you should need it. This would be off the books and records so, nothing will be said about this. You and your ship will be on their own, all for the one pilot and the Gundam-type. Is it worth the risk, Gladys?"

Talia had already answered the question her old mission commander had posed. The man had drilled into her and the other cadets he'd been training that their group was as close as family. And family was important enough to take risks to get them back from a separation. "As you used to tell me and the other cadets, Commander, the crew you're a part of is your other family. And you would always say one's family is important and worth fighting for," Talia stated firmly. "My pilot which has been separated from the Minerva is a part of my family. If others will not help me get them back, then yes, I will take my ship and its crew to go get them back. You taught me to care about and protect my other family, and so I'm doing exactly as you taught me when I was a cadet." Hersey smiled at seeing one of the lessons he'd done his best to instill in every cadet he taught. It was one of the lessons he'd given to help the young pups to understand none of them could do things by themselves. "Well, at least you retained that lesson from me," Hersey remarked. "I only wished more had taken such to heart. But as it seems as you're set on getting your pilot back. Then I have the docking control team let you leave within the next twenty minutes."

The call ended leaving Talia to decide how to move forward. She had essentially committed the Minerva to heading to the Asgard base. Yet, at this time of night, the majority of the crew were sleeping. She brought up the crew manifest and saw all were on the ship currently. That meant there were none to call back to the ship before it headed out. The Minerva could head out with just a few on the bridge. That would mean there would be no need to wake up the crew to get things moving. If Talia could manage it, she would have the ship head out with just Aila, Matt, and herself do it. Talia didn't want to deal with potential arguments from some about leaving Gibraltar. Thus, if the Minerva was already on route, such arguments wouldn't have standing. Talia exited her quarters and headed for the Minerva's bridge to get things moving.

Aila had returned to the bridge after talking to Talia and saw Matt was at the deputy station. Matt turned when the door slid open and saw Aila coming back to the bridge. "So, how did it go, lovey," Matt asked. Aila smiled at Matt's nickname for her and shrugged, "I can't say for sure. I think Talia believes what I told her about Gibraltar's night watch. I figured she would believe what we found out, but that isn't the issue we have to work against. It is convincing the higher-ups at Gibraltar that will be the challenge we face. I certainly hope Talia can convince one of them to help us. Yet we will have to wait to find out if Talia manages to arrange something."

It was close to ten minutes later when the door to the bridge opened and Talia entered the room. Both Aila and Matt faced Talia, "I hope you managed to get someone who believed you," Aila greeted. Matt nodded, "Yeah, we are kind of grounded if nothing changes like we have been for the last two weeks," he added. "And the waiting we've been doing has gotten real irritating." Talia could understand the two getting tired of waiting. Many among the crew had been worrying and asking about Shinn while the Minerva had been docked at Gibraltar. But now they could do something to help Shinn even if it was a risky option. "Matt, take the helm," Talia directed, "Aila take the sensor and detection station." The two didn't question the orders, merely just did as they were told. Talia took Arthur's station as it had the most versatility of the potential stations on the bridge. "The Minerva will be setting out with the destination of Asgard," Talia stated, "Is that clear?" There was no argument against the orders, it was the answer to their question of what could be done next.

Aila was glad they could now do something to help Shinn with the two weeks of doing nothing being over. However, she felt there was more of a price to being able to leave Gibraltar than was being implied. "I take it leaving Gibraltar didn't come without a condition or two," Aila inquired as she was going over the station she was at. Talia knew Aila at least would understand the Minerva leaving dock wouldn't be completely clean. The Minerva would be on its own for the whole journey to Asgard and back to Gibraltar. Talia didn't want to lie to those who were under her command about the potential risks they would face. "The Minerva will be on its own during our time away from Gibraltar," Talia admitted. "This journey will be off the books and not known to the National Defense Committee."

Aila and Matt felt getting Shinn back would probably be off the record in some way. The lack of help from Gibraltar had essentially made it have to go that direction. However, as time was of the essence, the Minerva would have to put on the speed to get to Asgard as soon as possible. At regular cruising speed, it would take the Minerva twelve to fourteen hours to travel to Asgard. Aila felt if they got Chief Aves involved in this, the Minerva's travel time down to something more workable. The chief could push the Minerva's engines in such a way that would get the most out of them but not do unneeded damage to the engines. "Talia," Aila spoke up, "While I understand the need to keep this quiet for the moment. I think we should bring in Chief Aves to help us with getting underway and on the journey. He can push the engines and not potentially damage them after solid use. If we are to get to Asgard at a reasonable pace, the engines will need to be pushed. So having someone that can help us do that without doing damage to them, all the better I would say."

Talia wouldn't deny that Aila had a good point. For the Minerva to get to Asgard in good time, the ship's engines would be pushed. If they were pushed too hard, it could do damage and that would slow the Minerva down. That was the last thing they needed was the Minerva having engine failure. "You have a point, Aila," Talia admitted. "Move to the comm station and get him on the line and tell him what we are planning to do. Make sure he understands we are trying to keep this quiet for the moment. I trust his judgement should others need to be brought in, but he is to be discrete."

Aila nodded before moving over to Meyrin's console. She got ahold of Aves and explained the situation. Aves understood what was being said about the Minerva heading out. He would push the engines and do so safely enough it wouldn't burn them out. And honestly, he would prefer to just do it himself and not have the younger mechanics potentially make mistakes and mess things up. Thus, Aves got dressed and hurried down to the Minerva's engine room and got to work. He did his work to route the fuel differently so the engines would be fed fuel more efficiently. Aves had meant to do this over time, but apparently it was time to just give it a shot and have faith it would work.

Aila was reporting that Aves said he just about had the engines ready to be pushed, when Matt called the docking locks were retracting. Aila moved back to the sensor and detection station as Talia told Matt to start moving backward when he could safely. Talia also got the communications to come to the deputy's station instead of the regular comm and controller station. The Minerva began moving back away from the dock slowly. Matt found being at the helm of the ship wasn't all that different from a mobile suit. However, the ship was slower in responding to commands than a mobile suit would, but the input was in general similar enough. The Minerva backed out of the dock and turned toward open water. Once hitting open water, Talia ordered Matt to put on the speed for the ship. The Minerva picked speed as it headed toward the Federation's Asgard base.

A/n

And that's where I'll leave off for this Phase to pick up in the next. I apologize in advance for the length of these ending notes, there is an amount to cover. So, where to begin with the highlighting and explaining as there is an amount to cover. I know I stated this Phase wasn't action packed, but I want to say it was more information packed. There are several things which are covered in this Phase and foreshadowing which are intentional. I suppose starting from the top and going on from there would be best.

Okay the first scene with the response to the Alliance's attempt to nuke the PLANTs has a few things to go over. Let me start with laying out how the Alliance had been depending on success of the strike for their campaign. The strike against the PLANTs while all of us see as a horrible thing, the Alliance had a line of logic to doing it. The operation was meant to be a solid blow against ZAFT with striking at the Heart of it. Even if the Alliance hadn't hit all the colonies, the operation was to damage and destroy enough of them to hit ZAFT where it hurt. Aprilius One was one of the priority targets of the Alliance force. The mentality of it was to take out the PLANTs' Supreme Council. Without the council, ZAFT could and likely would be thrown into disarray. With ZAFT in chaos, the Alliance planned to start working against them on Earth push them off kilter. Once that was done, the Alliance was intending to go against the Federation. I know it doesn't sound tactically sound, but I never said it would, now did I? Yet, with the strike failing as it was, there was of course backlash against those that want the war. Logos isn't spared from this response, even if they aren't in the open receiving the idea. The issue with that was the Alliance was already planning to strike against the Federation to get them to not help ZAFT as well as punish the Federation for several things. And with a serious failure under the Alliance's belt, some soldiers with OMNI are starting to have doubts.

Now, let me talk about Asgard a little as it isn't in canon and "replaces" a base the Alliance has elsewhere in my story. So, in canon, Heaven's Base is where a portion of Asgard is in my story. Understand, the Federation built Asgard before the Alliance existed, a few years before the Alliance-PLANT War began with the Bloody Valentine. The Alliance sees Iceland and all of the Euros Coalition as territory that should belong to them as they do all the Federation Member Nations. But with Asgard the symbol of the Federation's military might, the Alliance hates the place for that and many other reasons. Heaven's Base was built elsewhere which I will reveal later on. However, the fortress that Asgard had been made into is seen as a prize to the Alliance as much as a victory it would be to take it from the Federation. Thus, it shouldn't be a surprise to you readers that there have been attempts made against Asgard. None have succeeded, which is why it has the nickname of the "Unassailable Fortress of the Federation."

Moving onto the meeting Logos had which is in this Phase. As in canon, Djibril is blamed for the failure of the strike against the PLANTs. However, in my story, he keeps his cool, for I wanted to portray him as a smart villain. I think the role of a smart villain fits Djibril well enough for this portion of the story. That isn't to say Djibril is pleased with the failure against the PLANTs any more than his colleagues. However, the horrible man does manage to spin the failure into a learning experience, so he doesn't have to shoulder the blame. One has to applaud how Djibril changes the direction the conversation is going, for it is quite good. Djibril is many things, and one those things is an expert "salesman" which he can use those skills for his own benefit.

Let's go to the next part which is the transition into the next scene. The "World Security Treaty Organization" was the poor attempt of the Alliance to get allies, that's the best thing I could call it. I model the treaty partly from canon and the descriptions of it from the idea of unfortunately American politics where "poison pills" are a thing. The treaty itself is written to seem like a united effort to have Earth protected, or that is how it is portrayed. In reality, it is a delivery system for the Alliance's and Logos' poison pills. Those poison pills are intended to undermine and provide a way to overthrow the Federation's leaders. Now those pills are hidden in the provisions the treaty has, which are closer to the end of the document. That is so one has to read most of the document before coming to the poison pills stuffed into it. But as you readers should know after reading this Phase, the treaty is an attempt for the Alliance and Logos to get access to Federation resources and technology.

Now, with that in mind, should it be any surprise that the Federation's political leaders were suspicious of the document. Remember, three out of the five current Federation political leaders were in charge during the Alliance-PLANT War. Thus, they know the Alliance is not the good faith types that really try to do what is best for the world. The Euros Coalition leader, Dianna Soreil is not the type to fall for tricks the Alliance puts out. She just has more visible reactions than Ellen or Markus do. And Marina has people around her are aware of how the Alliance does things rather than what they want others to see. But I wanted to use this Phase to give a intro for Dianna and a revisit for the other leaders of the Federation.

I do want to highlight what goes on in Orb with their governing council as it is significant. In my original story, I didn't go into the argument and fight that goes on, and after thinking about it along with the complaints, I feel it should be in this. Over the two years or so that have gone by since the Alliance-PLANT War, two "factions" in Orb's council have come out. There are those that sympathize with the Alliance and those who fund them, which Unato and Yuna are a part of. That fact is important for later, which some of you might be able to guess when it comes up. The council still contains those that stand with the principles of the Federation, like the Athhas. This is where Uzumi being alive and surviving the Alliance's attack on Orb makes a difference in the story. The fight between Uzumi and Unato will be shown off an on, so keep what has been stated here in mind.

The next scene has us going back to Neo's group. I know it has been a bit since I've brought hm in to the story, but I assure you he isn't a side character. There is just so many characters to work with and give screen time to move the story along that I can't have non-main characters the screen time they deserve. Anyways, this scene I would say gives a general view of the non-radical people in the Alliance. Neo's thoughts on the strike on the PLANTs and the upcoming strike on Asgard are interesting. Neo doesn't come out against the nuclear strike on the PLANTs, which says he isn't against the war per se. He isn't fully okay with the death and destruction that the Alliance wants to bring down though.

However, his views about the operation against Asgard are more important than the ones on the war. Remember, Neo isn't among those that hate AND underestimate the Federation and that sets him apart. Neo gives the general view of the Alliance of the Federation's Asgard base. It is known as the Unassailable Fortress and Neo had "receipts" to prove the point. The fear OMNI has of Asgard is the first point that shows how dangerous the base is seen by the Alliance. The reports that Neo mentioned are yet more receipts to the Alliance's foolishness. Neo understands that the Alliance's operation whether it fails or succeeds will not end well in the long run. That's what makes the Alliance's plan to go against Asgard is so stupid, there is no scenario where the Alliance gains an advantage or benefit from. But this will be continued and shown in the next phase, so I'll leave it there.

In the second to last scene, we learn a couple of things which are of note. So, Tyler has been trying to help Shinn get back to the Minerva, as we would expect him to help one another. To say he was unhappy about what had happened or rather the lack of assistance from Gibraltar would be an understatement. Now, let me put what Gibraltar's response can be seen as. Those taking the calls at Gibraltar whether they meant to or not, made it seem like ZAFT cares nothing about Shinn or the Impulse Gundam. Unfortunately, I can see ZAFT believing Shinn isn't worth spending time getting him back. In my story, Shinn doesn't start out as a Gundam pilot like he is in canon, keep that in mind. However, I would also remind you that due to the Treaty of Junius Seven, all three factions have limits of how many "active" Gundams they can have to work with. Let that sink in that those who were answering the calls from Asgard weren't taking into account an active Gundam ZAFT can use was in the equations.

Tyler being mad about this response is understandable, and I'm not referring to the Impulse even if it is in the equation. Tyler can see an amount of the potential that Shinn has as a Gundam pilot. And he is frustrated that those in ZAFT don't seem to have a clue of what Shinn could do given the chance. That is why Tyler mentions inclination to potentially work to have Shinn transferred over to the Federation's Military. Just imagine for a moment, Shinn being with the Federation's military and what comes with that. I dipped into the idea with Athrun before this, so I've given a view for how the Federation's military treats their personnel. I would also mention that Tyler has been telling Shinn he was working on getting him back to Gibraltar before this.

Shinn has been away from the Minerva for around two weeks, I want to make that clear for you readers. ZAFT hasn't made active attempts to reach out to him to check on him or the Impulse officially. So, can you blame the kid for wondering what was going on and why there had been nothing from his allies. This is one of those "instances" that Shinn is wondering why ZAFT is doing what it is. Such things will come up from time to time, just wanted to mention that. Shinn is also having a question of faith at the moment, which is due to the cycle which is pointing toward war again. I want to state at this point of the story has an important conversation which could be glossed over. What goes on between Tyler and Shinn may not seem like a big thing, but it will play into things in the future. Tyler is a firm believer in the good there still can be in Humanity even with the horrible things going on. Shinn on the other hand, has been seeing the horrible things some were pushing for and been feeling glum to put it mildly.

I will state again, Shinn isn't driven by anger and a thirst for vengeance like he is in canon, that is a real difference with my story. This conversation is a good example of Shinn having a "growth" moment in his character development. Shinn wants to see a bright future for humanity, much like Tyler does. But he hasn't gained the faith and hope that Tyler has developed by this point. The other difference with Shinn is he is "curious" and asks questions. Remember, he grew up within the Federation, which makes a huge difference for his development. He grew up with the principles of the Federation where there is no Coordinator vs Natural and the like. The Federation is different in encouraging curiosity and pursuit for the truth, unlike how ZAFT became during the Alliance-PLANT War and certainly not like the Alliance. Tyler sets Shinn up with telling him he needs to find his motivation to fight. That is an extremely important thing which will play a crucial part later for the kid.

The other half of the conversation is Tyler telling Shinn the truth about Gibraltar's response. I point that out for the reason that Shinn is getting a view of ZAFT he didn't have before. ZAFT at this point is seen as "united" with Durandal taking control of the Supreme Council. This shows that isn't necessarily the case which wasn't heavily questioned before this. I'm not say that Shinn is doubting ZAFT to the point he would go elsewhere at this point. However, this instance is planting seeds that could come into play at a later point. The other idea in this conversation is about Shinn being a Gundam pilot. Tyler feels the kid should and we know that Shinn has the potential to do so. This is more a reveal that ZAFT's methods for identifying and assigning pilots can be flawed.

Now, let's move onto the last scene in this phase which has some interesting things to highlight. So, as I mentioned in an earlier phase, Matt had a friend around Gibraltar that he can get information from. Well, after two weeks or so, Matt got the info, though he didn't like what it said if that wasn't obvious. I would also point out in this Phase, we get a peek at the boyfriend/girlfriend relationship Matt and Aila have. So, the two find out that the Federation has reached out to Gibraltar about a "ZAFT Gundam" and its pilot. That is revealing, for it shows that the Federation know the Minerva is at Gibraltar and that Shinn along with the Impulse are assigned to the ship. Thus, those at Asgard calling Gibraltar are not asking about the facts, they are reaching out to get Shinn and the Impulse back to the Minerva. I would point out the timing of the calls from Asgard are when there is the time to make them. Remember, Asgard is preparing for the Alliance's assault which is coming soon, so they don't have all day to do whatever.

Gibraltar's response as you readers know was "not ZAFT's problem," which is ridiculous when you think about it. Of course, Aila and Matt didn't accept nor like the response the Night watch gave to Asgard. If that isn't bad enough, Gibraltar "adds insult to injury" by saying Asgard would be responsible for getting the Impulse back to Gibraltar and to be quick about it. It makes you want to slap those on the night watch, don't it? I know I wanted to do non-nice things to them, but that is the point of this. And rest assured, this behavior will be mentioned later on, but I won't reveal how and in what way. Now, Matt is steaming, but Aila knows that blowing up about the night watch's behavior won't help them. So, Aila suggests a "brainstorming" session to see what they can come up with to help Shinn. Realize that as stated, they can't blame the night watch without proof of what they are doing. It is why the group is getting away with the idea to this point.

When the two get back to the Minerva, I would say Arthur's inquiry into what they had shows most if not all on the ship are worried about Shinn. The two take over and try to come up with potential ways to help Shinn. The roadblock is those at Gibraltar aren't inclined to listen to them and they can't prove the Night Watch is doing what they are. Those in command at Gibraltar are busy preparing for the upcoming ZAFT operation which is from canon, the Spear of Twilight. Thus, they aren't going to listen to something like a missing mobile suit and pilot until after the operation. That only changes when Tyler calls into the Minerva. Let me point out two things, first, remember Tyler has "amazing" hacking skills. Second, he used that said skill set to get into Gibraltar's systems and get his call to go directly to the Minerva. That is all done without setting off any alarms or alerts for those who are on watch. And the majority of the time Tyler was doing this was spent waiting for someone on the Minerva to pick up. Let that sink in, Tyler got into a notable ZAFT base and had enough workspace to get his call to go to a specific place and didn't need a great deal of time to do that. Imagine what he could do if he had intentions to do harm to the base, I'm just saying.

Moving to the conversation between Tyler and the two on the Minerva's bridge. Tyler gives the Federation side of the communications between Asgard and Gibraltar. I can't blame him for doing so in the tones that he is, for I would be doing similar. However, Tyler does calm down after hearing there are problems with some of Gibraltar's staff. Tyler does admit it is nice those on the Minerva care what is happening to Shinn. He was getting worried that no one cared about the kid. That would've served as motivation to have Shinn transferred to the Federation's Military I assure you. And Tyler gives an honest view of Shinn's standing and what he thinks about it which I think many could agree with. Yet, Tyler don't waste time and says for those on the Minerva to hurry things along. Tyler is attempting to have Shinn gone before the Alliance attacks Asgard, that is his motivation. This transitions to Aila going to Talia to explain what they learned. And understand, this is happening like around 1 am local time, so most are sleeping.

The conversation between Aila and Talia is brief and to the point, but it leads to the more interesting one which follows with Talia and the commander on duty at Gibraltar. Now, some may remember the name Commander Hersey for it has come up already once. And it was Athrun who mentioned it as the man was his first mission commander. It is in this conversation which we get a glimpse of Talia's past which canon doesn't go into great detail about. I think there are characters in the Gundam Seed Universe that don't get as much attention to their character as they should. Canon may be limited in that, but I'm the sure as hell not so will enjoy doing some unwritten details about some. In this instance, Talia mentions a lesson she learned under her first mission commander which I feel is an important one. That lesson is those you work with, especially when lives are on the line are family. She uses that and rightfully so, to say she is willing to do things which protocol and regulations would say shouldn't be done.

From the conversation, the Minerva is given "permission" to go and retrieve the Impulse and Shinn. The cost of that is being off the books while doing so. Now, some might ask what is so bad about the Minerva being off the books. I would reply to that, no help of any kind from ZAFT and its allies. The Minerva will be on its own and responsible for anything it should do during its time away from Gibraltar. You will see how that plays out in the phases ahead, but it does play a part. I know this sets up a divergence from what canon and even my original version did, but I say it will be an adventure which I hope you readers enjoy. Talia has the Minerva head out from Gibraltar as quickly as it can. It shows that she is taking Tyler's warning and what implies seriously.

In conclusion, I apologize once again at how long the ending notes are, but there was just a lot to go over. I also will state that the event which is coming after this phase will likely be a multi-phase affair. The reason that is likely is I don't want to shorten things just to get on with things like I have done before. I want to give the fun details and rest assure, what will happen around Asgard will be something else when it comes to the scenes I will be painting with my writing. As always, some of you take the time to write a review and tell me what you think of the phase and the story thus far. I take criticism, though I certainly prefer it to be constructive. You can ask questions as you like, and I'll answer them the best I can without spoiling things. The next phase is on track so far, but with the event I'm writing, I can't say if it will remain so. The next phase is titled: "Neflheim Siege" but that is likely to change if the phase gets too long and it is a serious possibility. Peace out until the next Phase!