Gundam Seed: The Federation ver 2

by Blackshadow999

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

89. Phase 91: People Worth Protecting

A/n

Sorry for the delay in this story, I am working on this one as I can the best I can. Now, as it has been 5 phase, you readers should know, I will be giving you a disclaimer for this story. I do not own anything from the Gundam Universe, as much as I would love to, which includes Gundam SEED owned by Sunrise I believe. Nor do I own anything from other universes I borrow stuff and ideas from. All I take credit for are my original characters, my musings which go into this story, and the enjoyment I feel as I write this story. Any suggestion to the contrary of what has been stated is frankly not true and I would prefer none report this story as such. With that out of the way, I hope you enjoy the action-packed phase ahead. Fair warning this Phase will be violent and will go into some detail about that.

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Phase 91: People Worth Protecting

November 20th, 73 C.E

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Orphanage, Marshall Islands

The evening dragged on, and the kids started being put to bed for the night. Tyler was keeping his ears open listening to the kids being guided to bed. He went to his bag and retrieved the control unit again. Tyler felt things had calmed down enough around the orphanage for him to activate the mines and not have to worry about accidental triggers. So, Tyler sent the command for all the mines to prime and arm themselves. All the mines signaled they did as ordered and were ready to unleash their nastiness on those that came. Tyler set down the control unit by the sofa and settled down. The unit would alert him when the proximity sensors detected any approaching. That would be the warning Tyler would get for the counter defense needed to begin.

Tyler didn't really fall asleep as he would normally do at night. With what was ahead, Tyler couldn't drop off into deep sleep, his mind wouldn't let him. The hours ticked by as Tyler waited and "rested" his eyes. The data Tyler had viewed was too suspicious not to check and make sure didn't happen. He hoped the hint that he'd given to Waltfeld, and his partner had been taken seriously. Tyler didn't want to tell them directly the orphanage would be attacked, but he wanted them to help the rest to reach the shelter safely. Tyler could handle the assassins coming with what he had. At least, Tyler could buy the rest time to reach the shelter as he delayed the intruders. It would be a dangerous job, but Tyler was willing to protect the kids and his friends as required doing whatever it took.

It was the middle of the night, likely around midnight if Tyler was to guess, though he couldn't say the exact time when things changed. The control unit began sounding an alarm, bringing Tyler out of the light dose he'd been in. Tyler rolled over and he picked up the control unit and glanced at it. The alarm was saying that the proximity sensors had detected some coming into their range. Tyler studied the unit for a moment longer and saw that his prediction of the direction the assassins would come from had been correct. The group had landed on the beach that Tyler had placed mines along, which would buy time. Tyler had woken up fully and was off the sofa in less than a minute more. What he'd prepared for was here and Tyler was ready to do what he had to in order to protect those at the orphanage.

The other thing which Tyler did was call in the "favor" he had prepared for this situation. He'd managed to arrange for a complete blackout for all communication and sensor detection when he called for it for the general area. That would make the ZAFT group unable to get anything back to the PLANTs, or even any of ZAFT's bases, even Carpentaria. They would be cut off from their allies that weren't within a few kilometers. And they wouldn't know about the blackout until some of them, likely their support ship couldn't reach Carpentaria. It would serve a few purposes as Tyler felt he would be using the Exia Gundam against this group. Tyler didn't want ZAFT finding out about the new Gundam at this point when the prototypes were being tested. Plus, those that sent the ZAFT group wouldn't be aware of what actually happened around here. The only thing that any would know was the group dispatched had failed and none had survived.

At the same time, the ZAFT black ops team had set foot on the beach that was near the place their target was supposed to be. The information which had led to the island and the housing unit had been verified by others. It had made the mission to take out the target possible which had given the go for the mission. Higher-ups had said this dispatch mission was important, critical event. The target posed too much a risk to plans which were in motion to ignore them anymore. The Federation had helped hide them for long enough, which had made the mission more important. Information stated the target had at least three guards which could be dealt with proficiently. This mission would be risky as it would take place within Federation territory. But if the team could get in, take out the target, clean up and get out, things would be fine.

All the soldiers checked over their equipment, making sure they were ready for the mission. All of them knew how serious the mission they had been given was for the PLANTs and their future. Each and every one of them had volunteered to do this mission. The leader glanced over his team before he put on his visor and slid it down over his eyes. The visor would give the team great night vision to work with. That would help them reach their target so they could take them out. The leader turned to his team, "You all understand what is expected," he posed. "We can't leave any traces of the target on the site. But make sure one of us definitely get her. Failure isn't an option in this. For the future of the PLANTs and Coordinators, the target must be dispatched. Time is of the essence as the Federation will not let us go should they find out about this mission before its complete."

All the soldiers acknowledged the point of the mission. The ZAFT team began moving forward, two scouts in the lead. It was only a short distance forward that one of the scouts stopped and cried out. The leader glanced in the direction of the scout, "What happened." However, there were two audible quick clicks followed by a series of hisses before the scout fell backward. One of the other soldiers moved forward carefully, looking over the scout. To the soldier's surprise they found several small darts sticking out of the scout's legs, torso and one through the bridge of his nose. There was also a spike sticking out of their right foot with a small cylinder like object a foot away. The setup was familiar to ZAFT black ops. It was the signs of a Federation grenade/mine that trapped the one who stepped on it and then fired sharp piercing darts into them. The soldier stepped back a few steps at realizing what had happened. Seeing the mine was bad enough, but what came with it was worse. There was never one mine in an area, there was always several and came in a field. "Sir, he set off a mine," the soldier said. "It is a Federation mine, one of their spike-launching ones."

The ZAFT team lead cursed silently at what the soldier just reported. It said there was already Federation interference in their mission, which was kind of expected but hoped it wouldn't come up already. And if there was one mine, there would be more along the way to the place where the target was located no doubt. The Federation spike launching mines were deadly in a different way than the explosive ones. The spike launchers could pierce body armor at close range. Simply put, for any soldier that stepped on one, they were essentially dead as the spikes would pierce them enough to do either fatal damage or have them bleed out. It would complicate the mission, though it wouldn't stop them from completing it. The assassination was seen as necessary enough that ZAFT black ops had been sent on an off the books mission. "We will need to be careful with our approach," the leader ordered. "Keep your steps light and your ears open. Any sound and you are to move back so the mines don't catch you. If the Federation mines hit you, you will likely die from it."

Back with Tyler, the control unit showed that one of the mines on the beach had gone off. It meant that the ZAFT group had been forcefully aware of the first minefield in their path. Tyler watched the control unit for a bit and saw the intruders begin moving slower than before. They were being cautious which wasn't that surprising for them to do, Tyler would do the same in their position. That caution wouldn't have Tyler doing any less to stop the assassins, but he could see the signs of their training. It would give Tyler time to reinforce his shooting position before those coming came into his range. He went to his bag and grabbed the "glasses" which were a special visor. It would give him good night vision which was a step up against those coming.

With a plan in mind, Tyler moved over to the door which led out to the first balcony. He opened the door quietly so as not to wake the orphanage's inhabitants just yet. Tyler took his large duffle bag with him as he exited out onto the balcony. He then moved what furniture he could to the side that faced the beach to give him cover he would need later. Tyler had his duffle back next to him once he'd made what defense he could. He took out the parts for the long-range rifle he had packed and put it together for use. Tyler had other guns, along with grenades and the like. There was an explosive device in the bag, which Tyler would use if it came to it, but he would prefer to avoid it if possible.

Once the rifle was put together, Tyler brought it up and used the scope to see what he could. The control unit was still next to him, beeping on occasion saying mines were going off. Tyler didn't see any of those coming yet, but they were working their way through his first "field of misery" and that was out of view from the orphanage. Tyler kept an eye to the rifle's scope so he could see those he was going against coming and stop them. However, after what felt like an extremely long minute, Tyler became frustrated. The ZAFT group's caution was drawing out the issue which Tyler was here to handle. The blackout would only go on for so long, so Tyler had to get things moving at a quicker rate. So, he lowered the rifle and glanced at the control unit and got an idea. A quiet chuckle escaped Tyler before he put in a command into the control unit which switched all the mines to switch on their remote detonation option. Tyler watched the control unit's display show all the mines were ready for commands before tapping one mine and had it go off. One of the intruders stopped meaning Tyler had gotten one of them with the mine.

It took a few minutes for the ZAFT group to make it through the first minefield. They had only lost three or at least only three had been stopped. Tyler had figured the group sent wouldn't give up easily with the mission they had been given. The orders as written implied that the senders saw this as a priority for whatever reason. So, Tyler wasn't surprised that the assassins were still trying to reach the orphanage after knowing there were mines placed to do them harm. Thus, Tyler looked at the control unit's display and chuckled again, "I doubt this lot knows the ancient game called battleship, but that is what is coming to my mind in this." Tyler chuckled again, "Dad, you may not like this exact version of the game you taught me, but I will use it with the pranking skills you instilled within me to protect my friends and those here." Tyler watched as the group got closer to the second minefield. An evil smile came to his face, "Let's start with A4," he said before tapping the display. There was an explosion a short distance away as the mine he had signaled detonated. One dot stopped moving, "And that looks like a hit to me. Welcome to my playground from hell punks! This game of battleship will be one that your lives will be on the line among other things."

Within the orphanage, the thud from the mine exploding shook the house a bit which got responses from the inhabitants. Andrew and Aisha were snapped awake and grabbed the handguns they had on their bedside tables. Andrew glanced around since the sound had seemed to come from a distance away from the orphanage. It was a moment later Andrew realized what was happening which had woken them. The event that Tyler had appeared around the orphanage unannounced for had begun. "Well, it sounds like what Tyler is here for has started," Andrew said. "And I would say he has kicked it off in a way that whoever it may be trying to visit will have serious trouble I would say."

If the explosion Aisha had heard was anything to go by, she wouldn't disagree with Andy's assessment. It seemed Tyler was here to prevent whoever was trying to get to the orphanage from reaching their goal, whatever that could be. And it sounded like Tyler had set up some rather nasty things for the unwelcome group. With Tyler's skills he'd shown he had as a Federation soldier and a specialist, she couldn't begin to guess what the kid had prepared. "Yes, it seems that Tyler has put out some particular nasty surprises for whoever is trying to come to the orphanage," Aisha admitted. "But it may be wise to get the others to the shelter while Tyler delays them, wouldn't you say Andy?"

Andrew knew Aisha was right in what they should be doing. Tyler was working to buy time for those in the orphanage to reach the shelter which was built into the rock behind the house. The kid was risking his life for those at the orphanage to achieve that which was commendable. And while Andrew had learned that Tyler had a real knack for getting through situations others couldn't, even the kid had limits like everyone else. Thus, the kid could only delay those trying to get to the orphanage for so long before he was bypassed, or he was disabled in some way. Andrew nodded to Aisha's suggestion before they both got out of bed and dressed quickly. "Would you go and see how Tyler is doing," Andrew asked. "Murrue and I can get the kids moving toward the shelter while you do." Aisha didn't see an issue with checking on Tyler. She didn't doubt the young man was doing just fine by the sounds from the outside. The two headed out into the hallway and found Murrue coming out of her room.

Murrue had been woken by the thud and slight shaking which had happened a moment ago. She had grabbed the handgun she had in her room in case protecting the kids became necessary. The chances of such coming up was low with them being in Orb territory which the Federation's military kept a watch over. But with Tyler coming around unannounced, something had felt off and that a non-nice event of some sort would occur. Andrew and Aisha had mentioned they suspected that Tyler's presence wasn't a coincidence which she agreed with. And the thud which sounded like an explosion certainly seemed to lend credence to the assumption. When Murrue got into the hallway, she found Andrew and Aisha were already there. "Do we have any idea who might be trying to visit us at this hour," Murrue asked. "It is rather late, and it sounds like they are having quite the time right now with our regular guest."

While the question of who could be visiting was interesting, Andrew more wanted to know where those going against Tyler's work could be from. It seemed that Tyler had known what kind of group he would be going against with his prep work. The kid had a knack of knowing things others didn't, he'd proven that beyond a shadow of a doubt. Andrew would've given an answer to Murrue, but the sound of a gunshot from a high-powered rifle cracked through the night air. The three adults were left to wonder from the sound what Tyler could've brought to work with. Andrew wouldn't be surprised if the duffle bag that Tyler had with him contained an arsenal to some degree for the kid to work with. Tyler prepared for serious situations that he went into, which Andrew would respect and applaud, not all did that. "I can't say who it is trying to visit," Andrew remarked. "And as for the "time" they're having trying to reach the orphanage, I would say Tyler has much to do with that."

Aisha giggled at Andy's observation. They had underestimated Tyler time and time again with what he could do and what he would do for those that were important to him. This instance was a very good example of the point. Tyler had come expecting a group to come in the night, and he had made sure said group would have a grueling time moving forward every meter they managed to the orphanage. "It certainly explains why Tyler popped up unannounced," she commented. "And from the thud which woke us up, I would guess he put out explosives or mines of some sort for our unwelcome visitors."

Andrew didn't doubt that Aisha was right about mines being placed by Tyler before getting to the orphanage. From what Kira had said, Tyler was supposed to be a member of the Federation's SOLAS. It wouldn't be a shock if that was true, it would explain some of the skill sets Tyler had to work with and why he could be seen as a specialist. Andrew wouldn't be at all surprised if Tyler had laying a minefield or something similar taught to him. It was something special forces could know about from what Andrew understood. Tyler's work would help get the other inhabitants of the orphanage to the shelter before whoever had come got to them. "While I would say you're right love," Andrew began, "I would say that isn't the most important thing for us to think about right now." Andrew smirked a bit, "I'm more interested in where our guests might be from rather than who they are. I can only assume that they have been specially trained if Tyler is going as hard as he is."

Andrew knew that discussions on who the group was or where they came from was something to have later. There was work to be done and it was the priority they needed to focus on. Tyler was delaying those here to do harm so they could get everyone to the safety of the shelter. He was risking his life for them and that shouldn't be waved off by wasting time. "However, there is business to get to which needs to be given priority," Andrew said in an air of business-like professionalism. "Murrue, if you would start getting the kids and Lacus going toward the shelter, that would be best. Tyler is buying us time to get all in the orphanage there while he keeps our unwelcome guests from reaching the orphanage and doing harm or worse. I will go and do the same with Malchio and Kira while cutting off any that may get past Tyler's efforts as I can." Andrew gazed at Aisha, "Aisha, would you go make sure Tyler is good for the moment? I wouldn't doubt he is doing fine, but he is risking himself for us and that shouldn't be waved off. Then you can help Murrue and I get the rest to the shelter."

Murrue nodded, agreeing that time was of the essence for them now. Tyler was a heck of a soldier, she wouldn't deny that as she'd seen him do amazing and crazy things while she had known him. Kira had also mentioned that Tyler was a member of the Federation's SOLAS, which wasn't much of a surprise if that was true when Murrue looked back on things during the Alliance-PLANT War. And should the group Tyler be going against be made up of Coordinators, then things would be difficult for those in the orphanage. Tyler would help delay the intruders with the skills, there was no doubt about that. "Got it," Murrue replied before she turned and headed deeper into the orphanage.

Andrew had held a gaze with Aisha for a moment before he headed down the hallway. He would go to Malchio first and tell the man to head for the shelter. Reverent Malchio had come to trust Andrew, Aisha, and Murrue for the defense of the orphanage and its inhabitants. The man had stopped questioning what they said to him and would follow the advice they gave. Kira would likely ask questions about what was happening, yet there wouldn't be time to give a full explanation to him. Good as Tyler was at fighting, he wouldn't be able to keep those going against him from advancing indefinitely. There was a second thud as Andrew was making his way toward Malchio's room. That told Andrew that whoever Tyler had prepared for was determined to do whatever they had come to do since they were willing to traverse a minefield.

Aisha had stared at Andy for a moment before she'd split off from the other two and headed toward where the gunshot had come from. She would assume that Tyler was out on the balcony off the room the sofa he'd been sleeping on had been in. If the large duffle bag Tyler had had been filled with guns, Tyler would be using them now against those coming. The gunshot suggested one of those guns was a high-powered rifle of some sort, potentially a sniper rifle. Should he have weapons more powerful than handguns, then he could do better than Aisha, Andy, and Murrue could do to stop the intruders. But she felt Tyler's motivation would be what would slow down those coming the most. He would likely figure out an escape route once the rest were in the shelter and safe before dealing with the intruders.

The second thud had fully woken up Lacus. The first had gotten her to come out of the dream she'd been having. The sound had been confusing as thuds in the middle of the night made no sense. The orphanage was isolated on an island in Orb's territory which was not heavily populated. That fact tended to discourage visitors that didn't know those at the orphanage from coming. There had been nothing said of some coming in the middle of the night that Lacus could recall. Sure, Tyler popping up unannounced had been surprising, but it wasn't unheard of. Yet, that didn't explain what may be going on for the thuds and slight shaking to happen. The first thud could've been something from Lacus's dream, she couldn't say. But the second thud had been clearer which had her feeling it wasn't a dream at all.

Lacus sat us and glanced around the bedroom, trying to process what could be going on. The kids were still asleep as they had been when Lacus had come to the room for bed herself. All but one had appeared to roll over with the first thud. A few had started waking up after the second thud. Lacus couldn't say what the thuds were from, but she was getting a sinking feeling it wasn't a good thing somehow. And that feeling in her heart was gaining strength the longer Lacus was trying to figure out what was happening. Lacus wondered if Tyler popping up didn't mean there was something going on that he was here to stop. Tyler was one that went above and beyond for those he saw as friends and family. Lacus had seen proof of that point and was grateful she was among those that Tyler considered as friends.

Lacus's attention was shifted when more of the children began waking up asking what was going on. She moved to comfort them and keep them calm while she was still wondering what was occurring herself. Lacus hoped that someone would come by and inform them what was happening. Mr. Waltfeld and Miss Aisha tended to do that when something odd was occurring. So, when the bedroom door opened, Lacus turned and saw Murrue standing there. Lacus instantly could see something was wrong from the expression on the woman's face. She was stressed and worried about something with the hardened look on her face. "Miss Murrue," Lacus questioned. "What's going on?"

Murrue was now feeling the stress of time being against her and the rest. Tyler may be holding the group coming back for the moment, but he may not be able to do that for a great deal longer. The orphanage's inhabitants needed to get to the shelter as quickly as possible so Tyler wasn't overwhelmed before he could draw back. Murrue scanned the room and found most of the kids were awake now along with Lacus. Lacus was working to comfort the children who were asking about what was going on. Yet, time was of the essence and so an explanation would have to be given later. "Lacus, there is little time," Murrue stated. "You and the children need to get out of bed and then we have to head for the shelter quickly." Lacus heard the tone in Murrue's voice and knew she wasn't joking about needing to move quickly. Something was happening and had the orphanage's protectors on high alert. So, Lacus began telling the kids to get out of the beds and move out into the hall.

While Lacus was organizing the kids with her, Murrue moved onto the next room with the rest of the kids and Kira's mother Caridad Yamato. Murrue opened the door and did much the same as she had with the room Lacus was in. By the time Caridad got the kids with her moving, Murrue had moved back into the hall and found Lacus had her group of children with her. Murrue had both groups stay behind her while she led them toward the shelter on the lower level of the orphanage. She would protect the kids along with Lacus and Caridad by taking point of their group. There was the possibility that some could get past Tyler's efforts to stop the group. Andrew was only covering one part of the orphanage, which would leave her to do the same for those with her. Murrue still had her handgun, and she was ready to use it to protect those with her.

Andrew had reached Malchio's room and found the man was awake. Malchio had sharp hearing with his ears making up his eyes not working for him from what Andrew had seen. He told him that they had unwelcome visitors trying to reach the orphanage. Malchio didn't argue, instead grabbing his cane and moving out of the room. Andrew said that Murrue was working on getting the kids to the shelter already. Malchio acknowledged that and said he would meet join up with them. Once Malchio had headed off toward the shelter whose entrance was on the lowered level of the orphanage, Andrew headed for Kira's room.

Kira had been woken up by the first thud, trying to figure out what had brought him out of sleep. The crack of a gunshot had snapped him awake the rest of the way. Kira realized that something was going on and it was unlikely a good thing for those at the orphanage. His thoughts had first gone to Lacus and the kids, hoping they were alright. There shouldn't be any that knew Lacus was here other than trusted individuals who had been told. But Kira knew there would likely come a time when others who didn't have good intentions could find out where she was. Kira had felt that Mr. Waltfeld, Miss Aisha, and Miss Murrue would be able to protect those at the orphanage against those that would come for the most part. They were trained soldiers after all, so they knew how to fight others when it was required.

Kira got out of bed and headed toward the door. Before he reached the door there was a second thud which shook the orphanage a bit. Kira stepped out into the hallway and glanced around to try and figure out what was happening but found no evidence which helped him determine that. Then Mr. Waltfeld appeared at the end of the hall which led to the other bedrooms. Kira instantly noted that Mr. Waltfeld had his pistol out ready to use. That didn't comfort Kira as that strongly suggested bad things were in the process of occurring. "Mr. Waltfeld, what's going on," he asked. "What were the thuds and crack about?"

Andrew closed the distance between him and Kira before grabbing the young man directing him toward the closest stairway. "There isn't much time to explain things, kid," Andrew stated. "We have company, and it is clear they aren't here for a nice visit. However, I do believe Tyler is working on delaying those trying to reach the orphanage. He also seems to have done prep work which is slowing down the intruders." Andrew was pulling Kira as he was making his way toward the stairs while he continued. "We need to get the rest in the orphanage to the shelter as quickly as we can." There was another crack of the high-powered rifle which got Andrew moving faster. "Tyler is risking himself to buy us time to do that as that gunshot should tell you. So, there is no more time to use on explanations."

Back with Aisha, she reached the sitting room Tyler had said he would sleep in just after the crack of the rifle she'd heard before. She scanned the room and found Tyler wasn't there. Aisha shifted her gaze to the glass door which led to the balcony and spotted Tyler there. The young man had moved the furniture on the balcony to the side he was at, clearly to make barricades for himself to use for cover. Aisha moved to the door and opened it to see and asked if Tyler was okay. If he was, she would go and help the others get to the shelter safely.

Tyler had become both somewhat frustrated and kind of maniacal with what he was doing. The ZAFT group hadn't taken the "hints" he'd been giving to say they weren't welcome and to go the hell away. Granted, Tyler had expected the assassins wouldn't give up their mission easily unless they were forced to. But Tyler was making their approach beyond dangerous and as lethal as he could make it. One would think that any going into that would realize someone was making things much harder for them and think about pulling back to preserve their lives. Not that the group being persistent would discourage Tyler from keeping up his efforts to stop them up. He would show this ZAFT group just how stubborn he could be when it counted. He'd taken a few down with the mines so far and hit two of them with his rifle shots, though not kill shots. But Tyler felt it was time to be more aggressive with the punks he was going against.

Tyler picked up the control unit and stared at it for a moment, taking in the signal positions of his opponents. Some had made it past the first line of mines and was just about to the second. Tyler gritted his teeth, "Damn tenacious punks," he cursed, "Let's go with B3 and B5 then." Tyler tapped two mines and had them detonate. The mines going off at the same time shook the orphanage a bit more than the thuds before did. Then Tyler smirked, "I'll show you lot that your tenaciousness will not outdo my stubbornness." Tyler tapped one mine after another in the first line until they had all gone off. He giggled evilly as the mines were going off and he heard cries from that direction meaning he'd hit some of the intended targets. "You will have to trudge through my version of a playground from hell if you want to get to the orphanage!"

Aisha had opened the glass door and been kind of stunned at seeing what she was. Tyler had a sniper rifle with him, which was understandable with the gunshots that had been heard. That he had set up barricades for himself was also easy to comprehend too. What was surprising to Aisha was Tyler grabbing what appeared to be a data pad and then tapping which resulted in the thuds of explosions. That implied that the pad was some sort of control device that Tyler could use to set off mines remotely. For Tyler to have not just placed mines but think ahead enough to have them be able to be remotely detonated was somewhat frightening. Aisha had seen hints that Tyler could be a dangerous soldier, but this went beyond those hints. It made her glad that she and Andrew weren't enemies of Tyler. Aisha moved forward and ducked behind the closest barricade next to Tyler. "I assume you are doing okay out here," she asked.

Tyler glanced to his right and found Waltfeld's partner there. He realized that he'd been so focused on slowing the punks down that he hadn't noticed another coming up to him. Tyler had really hoped that the adults were working on getting the rest to the shelter the orphanage had. He would delay the ZAFT group for as long as he could, but Tyler knew he couldn't stop them from getting to the orphanage forever, that much was clear by this point. Tyler was doing fine for the moment, but once his opponents started using more destructive stuff, he would be in a harsher situation. He knew he would have to slip away and escape at some point in this. But Tyler wanted that to be after the rest got into the shelter and locked it down. Tyler inclined his head, "I'm managing for the moment," he returned. "I'll keep this lot occupied while you and others get to the shelter." Tyler paused, "I will likely be able to keep them out for another five minutes or so at least, hopefully more. With that in mind, the quicker you and the rest get the shelter, the better for me."

While Aisha didn't doubt Tyler would manage somehow with what he was doing, it was still him against however many were trying to reach the orphanage. The odds were stacked against him, and fully aware of that, but he was still doing what he was. Aisha certainly could respect one that was willing to do that kind of thing for others. However, the closer the unwelcome group got, the harder things would be for all at the orphanage, more so for Tyler. He would need to escape at some point or be overwhelmed by those and would be killed if the group he was fighting had any say in the matter. The young man had shown he was capable of getting out of tough situations, but this would be a hard one no matter how it was viewed. "Escaping for you won't be easy I imagine," Aisha remarked. "Are you sure about this?"

Tyler knew this crapshoot of a situation would be a difficult one going into it. He was facing special forces equivalent trained people intent on killing those at the orphanage. Tyler had gone into this knowing what kind of odds he would be going against while risking his life to do so. His friends were in danger and Tyler wouldn't stand around and do nothing while that was the case. Tyler knew that slipping past those approaching would be complicate, it was an expectation. He would figure out a way to escape and impede his opponents before moving onto the next phase of this stupid crap. Tyler would utilize his SOLAS training and experiences with missions to do what he had to. "I'm as sure as I can be in this," Tyler replied, "I'm already deep enough in that getting out of it now before the end would be extremely difficult." Tyler waved a hand, "Go and focus on getting the others to the shelter, I'll be fine working on this."

Aisha slipped back into the sitting room and then down the hallway as Tyler focused back on the group he was delaying. He rose back up and fired his rifle once he sighted targets. Tyler was aware that those he was slowing down had bullet proof vests, so his shots wouldn't have as much of an effect as it would normally. But the punks had gotten close enough that Tyler could start using the other things he had brought. From what Tyler had seen, the members of the group were in black suits with bullet-proof vests and what appeared to be helmets with infrared optics. They also each had a gun with a suppressor and other tools for what they were here to do. Tyler dug around in the duffle bag and took out one of the flash bang cluster grenades he had gotten from the armory. He then pulled the lock pin, rose up a bit to see where he would throw it before he chucked the grenade at the ZAFT group.

Tyler had ducked back down by the time the flash bank deployed and went off. The light should blind those approaching for a moment, and Tyler would take that. Once the flash happened, Tyler sprung back up and took aim and fired his rifle. He used the last few rounds the rifle had, not missing one shot with the rifle even if the hits weren't disabling as Tyler would've liked. He'd been slowing them down, but they were also taking more time than Tyler wanted them to. The blackout he'd called for was only going to last around an hour before it was lifted. Tyler needed to have this done and wrapped up before that hour was up. The ZAFT group's caution had been a good sign at first, but now it was drawing this situation out more than Tyler could afford.

Tyler cast aside the rifle and dug around in his "goodie bag" bringing out an assault rifle and a fragmentation grenade. Yet, before Tyler could glance over the barricade and aim his grenade, something came over onto the balcony. Tyler's gaze snapped to the object that had come onto the balcony, and then reacted. The object was a grenade which was very bad for Tyler, so he rushed to it, grabbed the grenade and chucked it to his left as hard as he could. The explosive went off and Tyler heard glass shattering below him. Tyler moved back to where he'd been and chucked his own grenade at the punks before he readied himself to pop up and start shooting at them. The grenade detonated before Tyler sprung up and began firing bursts from his assault rifle at the ZAFT group.

At the same time, the ZAFT group had been getting closer to the building where the target was located. The approach had been anything but smooth or simple. The mines had been bad enough, but they could be avoided on the beach. The mines that came after those further along the approach were more problematic. One in the group had been injured by the mines already. And the mines seemed to be set off remotely somehow. That suggested whoever was delaying them had sensors somewhere to see where they were in relation to the mines. The mines hadn't stopped the forward progress, but it had certainly hindered it. That wouldn't change the mission the group was here to accomplish. Their target was to be eliminated with the least amount of traceable evidence left once done. However, the elimination of the target was non-negotiable, it was the bare minimum for the mission.

The issue with the delay and hinderance they were being forced to experience was it would complicate the mission's chances of success. The longer it took to reach the target, the more likely they would get to a place it would be harder to reach, if not escape. Intel said there was supposed to be a bunker of some sort at the place for those in the building to retreat to. If the target got to that bunker before being reached, it would make things harder and take longer. It wouldn't be a failure per se, but it would just require heavier and more powerful equipment to deal with and get to the target for elimination. But the more time the mission took, the more likely the Federation's military would come around and jeopardize things.

The approach had been made harder with a shooter firing upon them. The shooter had quickly been located on the second-floor balcony which faced the ocean. The group leader had ordered focus on the shooter so they could be eliminated, and progress made. The enemy shooter showed themselves to be a good shot since they didn't miss that any in the ZAFT group could tell. They were likely also the one which were detonating the mines and slowing them down further. The grenades thrown the enemy shooter's way didn't find their mark with the distance they had to go. There was one that got to the balcony, but it was tossed off by the shooter. The group leader didn't think there was more than a single enemy shooter at the place to counter them. However, there was the possibility that the Federation had sent a team to protect the target before the black ops group arrived. That would make the mission more a suicide run, which would be made if it came to that.

Nevertheless, the approach hadn't been halted, even with all being thrown the group's way. They would reach the building given a little more time which would make the enemy shooter less effective. Close quarters combat could put the hinderer at a disadvantage and allow them to be cornered and dealt with. The shooter had to be taken down so they couldn't interfere with the elimination of the target. There was still enough in the group up and able to have a few go and deal with the shooter and not impact the mission's goal. But until the group reached the house, that wouldn't happen as great as that would be. There was the chance of a lucky shot or grenade reaching the shooter, but that was unlikely with how things were going.

Back with Tyler, he was noting the ZAFT group was getting much closer than he liked. They had already passed three of the five rows of mines he'd placed. And the closer they got, the more likely he would be forced to move if he didn't want to get blown up by grenades. So, Tyler put down his rifle, grabbed two tear gas grenades, pulled their pins and lobbed them over the balcony to the punks below. It was a moment later that the grenades began pouring out the gas and spreading it toward the ZAFT group. Tyler couldn't stop the smirk at hearing the coughs that he was starting to hear. It said the ZAFT group didn't have gas masks and so the tear gas would affect them. Tyler popped back up and fired his assault rifle until his second clip which he'd inserted was empty. Then Tyler began emptying his duffle bag of the grenades pulling pins and chucking them over the balcony at his opponents one after another.

After Tyler had gone through the grenades he had, he took out the shotgun and handguns but put them aside for the moment. He would use those guns while going through the house during his escape. Then Tyler took out the biggest gun that he'd brought and what had made the duffle bag so heavy aside from the explosive device in the bag. The explosive device would be set up as Tyler went through the house before he would get out of the building. Tyler put the duffle bag to the side before turning back to the M125 Gatling Gun, which was a M134 Minigun variant he'd brought. It was a six-barreled gatling gun which could fire up to three-thousand rounds per minute and was only limited by ammo it had to work with.

Tyler only had two-hundred-fifty rounds in the ammo case attached to the gun. The ammo was forty-six-caliber and Tyler was glad he'd asked for the caliber at the armory. The caliber would make the ZAFT group's vests a moot point as they wouldn't help them as they had with the assault and sniper rifles' rounds Tyler had already used. Tyler quickly checked the minigun over and found everything was in order for him to use it. He flicked off the safety before rising up and swinging the barrels to bare on the punks. Tyler pulled and held down the trigger letting the barrels spin up to speed and begin firing bullets. He gained a smirk as bullets started raining down on the punks he'd been fighting against.

One in the ZAFT team called out that they spotted someone on the balcony. The leader assumed the figure was the enemy shooter that had been hindering them. However, when the leader looked at the balcony, his eyes when wide as his visor showed what appeared to be a Gatling gun in the shooter's possession. As the Gatling gun's barrels began spinning, the leader shouted to take cover. The rain of bullets forced the ZAFT group to dive and roll out of the way of the storm of bullets sent at them. Some didn't make it out of the storm of bullets from the Gatling gun, instead mowed down by the bullets. Their bullet-proof vests they had didn't help them as the bullets ripped straight through them. The buzzing sound of the Gatling gun quickly made any attempt to communicate with one another unfeasible.

At the same time, Andrew and Kira had met up with the rest that were making their way toward the shelter's entrance. The two had been checking rooms as they went to make sure no one got left behind and in harm's way. Aisha joined that task shortly after it started, which sped along the process. They reached the main group that was almost to the shelter's entrance. Andrew and Aisha were relieved to see all of the orphanage's inhabitants were there. They hadn't met any others along the way, meaning that Tyler was keeping the attackers from getting into the orphanage so far. They hadn't missed the increased sounds of gunfire being exchanged, nor the explosions occurring.

Kira was glad to see everyone was alright and together right now. It meant that they were safe for the moment and would reach the shelter shortly. The armored shelter should protect them from whoever Tyler was fighting. However, that worried Kira since his friend was still putting his life on the line by fighting against whoever was outside. Tyler was doing that alone, likely against a large group which was a harsh situation for him to be in. While Kira appreciated Tyler's willingness to go above and beyond for those he cared about, he didn't like it was necessary in his eyes. Mr. Waltfeld's reassurances about Tyler being okay and buying them time hadn't lessened his worries about Tyler. Kira had half a mind to go back and help Tyler get to the shelter with the rest so his life wouldn't be in danger. He even turned a bit so he could do just that but was stopped by Miss Aisha. Kira looked at her and found her shaking her head, "Going back for Tyler wouldn't end well, Kira," she said. "You would likely be hurt if not killed trying to get to him. Tyler assured me he would find his own way out of the house when the time came."

On the other hand, Murrue was glad to see the others joining up with them. She had been forced to fight an individual along the way. The individual had been dressed in what she knew special operations forces tended to. Murrue had gotten a lucky shot and disabled the individual after a bit. But that bit had told her she had been going against a Coordinator, no doubts about that. Their group needed to reach the shelter as quickly as possible as she wouldn't be able to fend off multiple trained Coordinators attacking them. Tyler was doing an amazing job keeping them mostly back, Murrue wouldn't deny that. But he would have his own problems soon enough so wouldn't be able to help them more than he already was. She would've said they all needed to get moving, but a sound stopped her doing so. That sound was a loud buzzing with an underlying of gunfire, and Murrue only knew one type of weapon that could put off that sound. But that Tyler had brought such a weapon with him was crazy and shouldn't have fit in the duffle bag he had. "That sound," Murrue uttered in growing shock, "Does Tyler have a gatling gun?!"

Andrew had seen the hints that Tyler had done prep work for what he was working on right now. The kid had placed mines for those approaching and that to Andrew showed how dedicated to stopping them Tyler was. What Aisha had whispered to him that she'd seen when checking on Tyler only further reinforced the point. So, at this time, Andrew wouldn't be surprised at any weapon Tyler could've brought to work with. Heck, for all they knew, Tyler could have a mobile suit ready and waiting to be used to counter the group trying to get to the orphanage. Andrew applauded Tyler for the lengths he would go for those he cared about, it was something else he would admit. But seeing the idea with his own eyes just made it all that much more incredible to comprehend. Andrew snorted, "At this point, with what we've seen with Tyler's prep work, I'm no longer surprised with anything Tyler is working with. The kid came knowing he would be fighting hard to repel others who would be determined to reach the orphanage do whatever they are here to do."

Andrew motioned for the group to hurry forward and get to the shelter. The group rounded a corner and came to the entrance of the shelter. The children were shooed inside by the adults followed by them. Andrew and Aisha were the last ones to move into the shelter before locking the entrance. The armored doors shut and the controls on the outside moved to be behind a panel to prevent access to them. Andrew glanced around before sighing, "We managed to get everyone to the shelter while Tyler bought us time," he remarked. "That is better than the alternative."

Murrue collapsed to the ground as the stress on her shoulders lessened with the orphanage's inhabitants safe in the shelter. She still couldn't explain why Coordinators had come here to the orphanage, but it didn't matter. If Tyler hadn't been there to slow the majority of them down, they would all be in direr straits than they were right now. Murrue wouldn't doubt Tyler would manage to get out alive like he always seemed to be able to do. He survived a mobile suit detonation during the war when almost none did. So, Murrue imagined that Tyler would pull off an escape somehow against those assaulting the orphanage. "Those attacking us are Coordinators," she stated, having recognized how out classed she had been with just one-on-one. "That doesn't make sense, but I can say that is the truth without any reservations."

Andrew didn't doubt what Murrue had said about those assaulting the orphanage being Coordinators. The Alliance would unlikely be trying to be stealthy about whatever this situation was about. And Andrew was starting to suspect that the group Tyler was fighting was here to kill somebody specific. They would probably kill all at the orphanage if given the chance, but Andrew would bet that wasn't the main goal. And with Tyler fighting like he was, Andrew would be surprised if those coming were novices in any way. No, it was more likely they were some type of special forces unit were Andrew to guess. "I don't doubt that Murrue," Andrew remarked. "In fact, I would be shocked if the group wasn't a special forces type unit. That's what I feel it would take to put Tyler in the mess he's fighting against."

Kira was in shock at hearing what Mr. Waltfeld said. For some, to send highly trained soldiers to the orphanage didn't make sense to him. There was no reason he could think of other than doing harm which would call for such a thing. "But who would send special forces here," Kira question. "That doesn't make sense at all."

With those assaulting the orphanage being Coordinators, it implied that ZAFT had sent them. Andrew couldn't say the target such would be sent out to take care of that lived around the orphanage. Andrew and Aisha were traitors to ZAFT from the last war, so they could be the ones the group was after. However, that was unlikely as special forces wouldn't be wasted on traitors like them. That would leave the most likely target being either Kira or Lacus. Kira was a dangerous pilot for any to go against, and that was before him being a Gundam pilot was taken into account. But Andrew was leaning heavily towards Lacus, being the target the group was after. She had influence others didn't around the PLANTs, which some didn't like. Yet, there was more benefit as far as Andrew was about to think of keeping Lacus alive and capturing her than killing her. That was the part Andrew couldn't figure out about the situation. Tyler probably knew more than they did and could shed a light on this later. "The Alliance wouldn't use Coordinators to do this, nor would they be stealthy in what is going on," Andrew stated. "That leaves ZAFT as the likely senders for this group Tyler's fighting against."

Kira couldn't wrap his head around ZAFT sending soldiers to the orphanage. They had no reason to, and they shouldn't know Lacus was here anyway. "Wait, they're from the ZAFT organization," Kira uttered. Mr. Waltfeld nodded in response which didn't comfort him at all. "But why would ZAFT attack any of us," Kira questioned. "They have no reason to do so."

Andrew looked at Lacus who was currently comforting the crying kids. "If I were to guess, the group is here to assassinate someone. The style and determination they are showing says that to me. And I feel that their target would be," he trailed off gesturing at Lacus without saying her name. "However, that is just my opinion based on what we know right now. Perhaps Tyler might know more about why this group is here for the task, though I would imagine this situation was the reason Tyler popped up out of nowhere."

Back with Tyler, when the Gatling gun ran out of rounds, he dropped the gun and ducked down again. There was little more that he could do from the balcony or for the orphanage with what he had. He would set the explosive device in the center room before getting out of the house as quickly as possible. The ZAFT group would have to go through that room to reach the shelter. Should the bomb that Tyler had go off there, it should level the house making reaching the shelter much more difficult. That would transition the situation to the next phase which Tyler bet would involve mobile suits. The group would've brought something that could be classified as heavy equipment, and mobile suits fit that bill the best.

With that in mind, Tyler grabbed the pistols and jammed them into his pants before retrieving the shotgun. Tyler slung the duffle bag over his back before he went back into the sitting room. Tyler had barely turned to the hallway when a banging sound got him to twist back toward the balcony. He saw two grenades there, which got Tyler to jump into the hallway for cover. The grenades shattered the glass that faced the balcony, but Tyler didn't take any hits from shrapnel. Tyler scrambled up and headed for the stairwell that would lead to the first floor. He had his shotgun out and ready for any that he would meet along his way. The inhabitants of the orphanage should've been able to reach the shelter and got inside by this point. Thus, the only ones that Tyler could come across were those from the ZAFT group who wouldn't be friendly to him.

The ZAFT group moved forward and finally reached the building after all the delays that had been thrown at them. But reaching the building was a good step forward for the mission. The one soldier that had tried to circle around the place and reach the target had stopped checking in. The leader took that as they had been taken down before they could get to the target. That meant it fell to the rest of the team to uphold the mission and see it through to the end. The team was still mostly intact, even with the loss of a few. It had been frustrating that there had been hinderance to their mission. However, the team should be able to carry out the mission still even with the enemy shooter around.

The leader had the team split into two groups before entering the building. The small group would go and handle the enemy shooter and prevent further interference from them. The other group would search the building for the target and do what they were there to do. The leader told all the team to keep their eyes open and alert. Traps had been all along the approach, there was no reason to not expect that in the building too. And until the enemy shooter was confirmed dead, they were a threat to the mission as well. The smaller group would dispatch the enemy shooter and then join the rest to finish the mission before extracting.

Tyler raced down the stairs, when he got to them and rushed to the room, which he would set the bomb in. When he reached the room, he put the duffle bag in the center of the room. He then grabbed some wire in the bag, attaching one end to the bomb's trigger and the other end to the door that faced the direction the group would be coming from. The moment they opened the door, the bomb would detonate. The bomb was strong enough to take out the room and more importantly, the central support pillars the orphanage had. If the pillars were compromised, then the weight of the second and third floors would have them crash down and collapse the orphanage. That would put more in between the ZAFT group and the shelter they would have to take time to work through. There was also hope that the bomb would take a few of the punks with it when it went off.

Once Tyler had the bomb set up to go off when the door was opened, he left the room heading toward the kitchen. The kitchen had a door which Tyler could use to get out of the house and make distance away from it. He had his shotgun was at the ready if he came across any one as it would be members of the ZAFT group. Tyler came to a stop when he heard creaking of floorboards. It said he wasn't alone in the house, which was very concerning. Those that Tyler was protecting were already in the armored shelter, so were unreachable without serious equipment to get it open. That left those that Tyler had been fighting being in the house with him now. He didn't kid himself, they would shoot to kill him if they found him just as Tyler would be doing. So, he tightened his grip on the shotgun and moved through the halls checking around corners to make sure he was clear.

Tyler was closing in on the kitchen, when he came to a stop hearing footsteps drawing closer. He plastered himself to the wall and approached the corner where the corridors met and listened. From what Tyler could tell, there were at least three coming in his direction. He'd expected some of the ZAFT group to try and hunt him down when they got the chance. Tyler had been making their job hell, he didn't expect that to be waved off. Yet, it made his escape path a harder one to get down. Tyler would manage the point, it just would be harder and potential get a mark or two in the process. He shuffled to the corner and prepared to peek around to see where the ZAFT soldiers were and how close they could be.

The smaller group of the ZAFT team had been searching for the enemy shooter. The house was quiet, saying the mission target very likely had reached the bunker the building was connected to. The rest would be working on finding the target while the smaller group would dispatch the shooter. There hadn't been signs of traps yet, but the three were keeping their eyes open for anything out of the ordinary. Finding nothing as they search was putting the three on edge since that was the opposite of what they had been facing with the approach. The enemy shooter had been hindering the ZAFT team at essentially every turn, there was no reason for that to change inside the building. So, the three ZAFT soldiers were actively scanning in front of them as they kept going.

Tyler heard the footsteps coming closer to him. He took a breath and peeked around the corner to get a view of those stalking him. He found three soldiers coming down the far side of the corridor toward him. That was all Tyler got to see before he was noticed and the three raised their guns and began firing in Tyler's direction. He pulled back and watched as the bullets struck the wall across from him. Tyler knew his situation was bad, but it was getting harder as time was moving forward. The three ZAFT soldiers had automatic weapons, Tyler had a shotgun. Sure, Tyler's gun had more power per shot, but his opponents could pump out more bullets than Tyler could. And right now, the rate of fire had the advantage over power per shot, Tyler knew that even if he didn't like the fact.

Nevertheless, if Tyler could get an opening, he could get a shot or two off at those shooting him and throw them off. Heck, Tyler could get lucky and hit one of the three helping his odds go up a bit which he wouldn't complain about. So, Tyler waited for the opening he needed, likely would be the three reloading. The opening came a long moment later, which Tyler went into action. He whipped around the corner raising his shotgun as he did so. Tyler fired his gun, the first shot struck one of the soldiers in the vest. Tyler reloaded and aimed again and nailed one of them in the arm. He was then forced back behind the corner as bullets started coming his way again. Tyler knew he couldn't wait for all that long as the bomb was primed to go off when the trigger was pulled. He risked dying if he didn't get moving, which was higher than the injuries he would likely get being more aggressive. Tyler whipped around the corner again and unloaded two more shots, which left him with three rounds left to use in the shotgun. The first shot missed, but the second shot got one of the soldiers to crumple to the floor.

Tyler drew back behind the corner and prepared to sprint across the corridor while the bullets continued to fly at him. He rushed forward, pointing his gun at those still firing at him and fired his last three rounds. One of the rounds hit a vest, while another struck the wall behind the two and the other missed. However, Tyler felt a stinging on the back of his left arm before he reached the other side of the hallway intersection. He didn't stop, just kept sprinting toward the kitchen where he would find cover to work with for a bit. He dropped the shotgun as it was out of ammo to work with so wouldn't help him. Tyler heard footfalls behind him saying the two soldiers were taking up chasing him. He'd expected that to be the case, but the counters in the kitchen should provide some cover for Tyler to work with.

Tyler rushed into the kitchen and was heading for the counter. He didn't stop, he jumped and slid across the counter before dropping behind it. Tyler measured and slowed his breathing so it wouldn't be heard and say where he was. He glanced down at his left arm and found a bullet had nicked it and created a small gash that was bleeding. There was little that Tyler could do about the gash for the moment until he had the two chasing him dealt with. He took out the pistol and magnum he had readying himself for the two to come to him. If the guns weren't enough, the kitchen had plenty of sharp and pointy things to use in stabbing and slicing motions. Yes, Tyler would fight with knives and other kitchen utensils against the soldiers the best he could and prove kitchen tools could be used as weapons too when needed.

The two ZAFT soldiers had followed the enemy shooter after they had crossed the intersection. They had lost a comrade who had been shot by the shotgun the enemy shooter had with them. It was still their task to take down the shooter so they couldn't interfere further in exterminating the target the mission had stated. All they needed to do was corner the shooter and then kill them before joining the rest of the team. While they chased the shooter, the two spotted the shotgun in the hallway. It said the shooter wouldn't be using that, but it didn't mean the enemy shooter didn't have other guns to work with. The two were still trying to be cautious as the shooter had proven they were deadly if underestimated.

Tyler heard the footsteps drawing closer and then come to a stop in the kitchen. Tyler steeled himself, waiting for the soldiers to come to him so he could spring into action. The two sets of footsteps helped Tyler know the two were separating and searching the kitchen. The closest set of footsteps was coming from Tyler's right so, he put down the magnum without a sound to have a free hand. The moment Tyler saw a leg, he shot forward and grabbed the ankle wrenching the soldier's leg out from under them. The soldier fell to the floor with their leg pulled out from under them. Tyler shoved his pistol into the knee of the leg he'd pulled down and pulled the trigger. The soldier reacted by clenching muscles after having a bullet put in their knee. Tyler whipped his pistol up and aimed it at the soldier's face and pulled the trigger again and again.

Tyler dropped the pistol and twisted around, grabbing the magnum as he went. The attack on the dead soldier would draw the other one to Tyler, so there was no time to catch his breath. As Tyler faced the opposite direction and found the other soldier bringing up their gun. Tyler didn't have the time to aim properly, he could only pull the trigger. Tyler's bullet struck his attacker's arm while the enemy's bullet hit the magnum making it fly away. He reached for a dish by him and chucked it at the soldier to distract them at the very least. Tyler shot up and grabbed the butcher cleaver and a long kitchen knife to work with. He then whipped around and buried the cleaver in the ZAFT soldier's side, right between two ribs. The soldier cried out and tried to raise their gun and shoot back. Tyler felt a burning in his left thigh which he took as a bullet hitting it. But he thrust the kitchen knife and plunged it in the soldier's neck and shoved it through. Blood squirted onto Tyler as he pushed the soldier away from him and they crumpled to the floor.

Tyler took a few deep breaths before he grabbed the two kitchen towels and headed for the door to the outside. Tyler began running once outside, even though his left leg was hurting with the injury the bullet had done. He ignored the pain and focused on making distance from the orphanage before the bomb detonated. Tyler would head to the cave and get the Exia once the bomb went off and he took a moment to take stock of his injuries. Tyler was halfway to the cave when the ground shook hard. He turned and saw smoke coming out of the windows or where the windows had been on the ground floor. A moment later, there were crashes, and the two floors above began collapsing down. Tyler smirked at the sight knowing he had again delayed the punks getting to their goal.

Tyler stopped and hunched over with his hands on his knees as he caught his breath from his escape. Tyler glanced over his arm and leg again. The gash on his arm wasn't too bad and a towel wrapping should be enough to stop the bleeding. The injury to his leg wasn't too much worse than the gash. It was deeper somewhat and would do better after some medical treatment and a bandage. The towel would help it not get a whole lot worse until he got that needed treatment. Tyler wrapped both his injuries and used his sleeve to whip off the blood which had squirted onto him. Tyler had a little time to use as it would take some time for the ZAFT group to get to the beach where they would probably get their mobile suits. Once Tyler had taken care of his injuries and caught his breath, he stood back up. He began jogging toward the cave to get the Exia, so he continued stopping the punks from killing innocent people.

Back with those in the shelter, Kira had moved over to where Lacus was. She was comforting the kids who were scared about what had been happening. Kira still was worried about Tyler, but there was nothing which could be done for him right now. He put a hand on Lacus's shoulder and forced a smile, "Are you doing okay, Lacus," he asked. "Things have been stressful tonight, more than they normally are."

Lacus finished comforting the child who had been hugging her while crying about how scared they were. She appreciated that Kira was checking on her even if it should be clear that she was okay. His worrying about her was very sweet of him and she couldn't help but love him more for that. She could only imagine Kira's worry about Tyler risking his life for them. So, Lacus smiled softly back at him, "I'm doing okay, Kira," she assured him. "The younger ones are the most scared of what is going on. The drills of coming here I think have helped them not panic as much as they could be right now. But all the noise has really scared them, and I can fault them for that." Lacus paused for a moment glancing around hoping to see Tyler there, but she didn't see him in the shelter. That was concerning as it could mean Tyler was still outside and risking his life. "Where is Tyler? Didn't he make it to the shelter after buying time for us to get here?"

Kira's head fell as Lacus's question reminded him that Tyler was still outside, likely in danger. He knew his friend was able to look after himself better than many could do, even adults. Tyler had learned important life skills when he was younger and after Bloody Valentine. Kira assumed it had been Tyler's way of coping and moving forward from his father and sister's deaths. That didn't mean that Kira wasn't worried with Tyler outside working against those attacking the orphanage. From what Mr. Waltfeld had said, those attacking were probably from ZAFT and specially trained. Tyler said he was a member of the Federation's SOLAS, but Kira couldn't say if that would be enough to keep Tyler from getting hurt. "He's still outside the shelter," Kira admitted. "I don't know more than that unfortunately, though I wish I did."

Lacus could see that Kira was worried about Tyler, and he wasn't the only one that was beyond concerned. She was also worried about Tyler and the potential situation he could be in. Those attacking could do Tyler harm or worse kill him. However, Tyler had proven if there was ever one that could defy the odds, he was that person. Tyler had come out of situations that would seriously hurt or kill others. That didn't lessen the worry for his well-being, but it gave hope that Tyler would be okay in the end. So, Lacus smiled and took Kira's hand, "Tyler will be okay, he does have a knack the vast majority of the time to come out of things alive and relatively fine," Lacus assured. "I know that doesn't make the worry go away, but it can help."

Kira knew what Lacus said was right, Tyler tended to be okay after harsh situations where others wouldn't be. His friend had a knack of coming out fine from situations where others would shrink and fail. But it wasn't that Kira didn't believe that, it was Tyler putting his life at risk for him and the rest which bugged Kira. He didn't want Tyler to put his life on the line for them, he shouldn't have to do that after the war. Sure, there had been conflict building, but that wasn't a war, at least not yet. Kira feared it would become so given more time, but he didn't want to think about that. "I know Tye will manage as he normally does," Kira said. "But I don't like him risking his life for us."

Lacus knew how Kira felt with Tyler risking his life for them. She didn't like the point any more than Kira did. However, it was how Tyler showed he cared about them, and she didn't want to deny that. Instead, she felt that having faith in Tyler was the best way to thank him for what he was doing. "I don't like him doing so either and wish it wasn't necessary," Lacus returned. "But have faith in him and that he will come back to us okay." Lacus would have said more but then the shelter shook harder than the thuds from earlier.

Most in the shelter were glancing around worried that the armor plating could have been breached. Andrew didn't see any sign the shelter was compromised from what shook it. However, the was crashing sounds outside of the shelter which sounded like things collapsing. It made Andrew curious if Tyler had some sort of bomb with him in that duffle bag he'd had with him. It wouldn't be a surprise if the kid did and had just used it. If true, and the bomb was powerful enough and placed right, it could have the orphanage collapse on itself. Andrew glanced at Aisha, "Did you get a look in that duffle bag of Tyler's when you check up on him," he questioned. "I'm starting to wonder if Tyler had an explosive device or a bomb of some sort in there."

Aisha hadn't gotten a view of the inside of Tyler's bag, though she had tried. There had just not been the time to get a good view with Tyler being shot at. He'd had guns and grenades, that was as much as Aisha had understood. There could've been explosives and/or a bomb for all Aisha knew, and she just didn't see it. So, she shrugged, "I didn't get a good look at the contents of the bag sorry to say," Aisha replied. "There could very well been such a thing in that duffle bag for all we know. Tyler had guns and grenades, so a high-grade explosive wouldn't be all that shocking."

Meanwhile, Tyler had gotten to the fissure that would lead into the cave the Exia was hidden in. Getting through the fissure was not pleasant with the injuries he was ignoring, but Tyler managed it. He made his way down to the Exia and took a moment to catch his breath again before he had the cockpit open for him. Tyler climbed into the Exia and settled into the seat before he had the hatch close. He then activated the suit's OS, focusing on what was ahead for him. Tyler disengaged the GN repose mode for the reactor and had it start putting out particles for him to use. The particles quickly flowed through the Exia and helped with the system checks that the OS was doing.

Tyler considered a general plan to work with to go against the ZAFT group and stop them once and for all in this. The punks almost certainly had mobile suits to use for their goal. The shelter wouldn't hold up against what mobile suits could do to it, Tyler was sure of that. Thus, Tyler would have to fight them and keep them away from the shelter among other things. He was certain that the Exia would have no serious issue in the fight and whipping ZAFT machines with what Carlos had said it could do. However, with the enemy having mobile suits, that strongly implied there was at least one vessel supporting them, likely a ZAFT Vosgulov class sub. And there could be more than one in this, Tyler couldn't say with what he knew right now. But the sub would also have to be taken down before this was all said and done. There was a lot to get done in less than thirty minutes when the blackout would be lifted.

Instead of complaining and trying to think about a plan more, he activated the Exia's phase shift armor and stealth system. Once those were up, Tyler had the Exia lift off a little to have the suit hovering. Then he had it float backward, still impressed at the mobility the Gundam had to work with. Tyler had the Exia sink into the water and make its way through the channel that would lead to open water. He decided to find the sub first and deal with it before moving onto the mobile suits. It would test the Exia's capabilities underwater and eliminate the enemy's ability to resupply. Plus, it would scare the ZAFT punks with their sub being whipped and attacked in a way that had never been done before. There was no reason to keep the Exia a secret while the blackout was in effect anyway. The ZAFT group would be dealt with before that was lifted and so wouldn't be able to report anything back to those who sent them.

Tyler came out of the channel and quickly found the Vosgulov a moderate distance away from him. It was sending out a model of mobile suit that Tyler hadn't seen before now, so assumed was a new model ZAFT had. The suit looked kind of similar to ZAFT's GOOhN underwater mobile suit, but not the same. Its cruising mode wasn't the same, but would no doubt allow it to move through the water well enough Tyler didn't doubt. The suit overall appeared much meaner than o ther models Tyler had seen recently. It had a more humanoid design which would make it more effective on land Tyler would bet. The ones that Tyler was seeing were green overall but had yellow on the shoulders and above its primary optical sensor. Tyler studied the machine as he was closing the distance between him and the sub. Each mobile suit had two sets of missile launchers and beam cannons on the shoulders. The arms had what looked like machine guns and a claw.

There was nothing that Tyler was all that concerned with when he would face them. But their arsenal was a problem as it would be able to cut through the armor the shelter had given enough time. The punks would have to get through the rubble created by the orphanage collapsing, but the ZAFT machines unlikely would have that much trouble with that. It was motivation to deal with the sub proficiently so he could move on to the mobile suits. He could sink the sub easily enough using the Exia's sword by cutting gashes and openings for water to flood into the vessel. So, Tyler focused on the sub and not the mobile suits heading for the surface and the beach that the punks had landed on.

By the time Tyler got into range of the sub, it had finished launching mobile suits from its catapults. Tyler had the Exia dive down to be below the sub and its main blade swing into active use position. He was in the zone he tended to be in when fighting where he was focused on the goal he was working for. Tyler fully intended to have the sub heading for the bottom before he considered it dealt with. He would also make sure the crew had no way to leave the sub when it was heading for the ocean floor. Tyler knew where Vosgulov's escape pods were and would disable them during his attacks. He had the Exia move to be close to the sub and then thrust his blade forward to begin cutting an opening in the sub's underbelly.

At the same time, the captain of the Vosgulov class sub was working on keeping calm and collected. The mission of the black ops team had been straightforward when it had been iterated to him. They were to get in, take out their target, clean up and then extract as proficiently as possible. The mission was in Federation territory, that came with its own set of risks and problems. Should the Federation find out ZAFT was doing things they shouldn't in their territory, there would be hell to pay. But the black ops team was well-trained and should be able to handle the mission they had. However, things had come up which had complicated the operation shortly after the team had been deployed.

The first problem had been the team had discovered mines had been planted on the beach. That suggested there were some that knew the team had been coming and potentially what their mission could be. The second issue came shortly after the first when the sub's communication's officer had reported they couldn't reach Carpentaria. They had tried several times, but something seemed to be blocking communications and data transfer in or out of the area. Such was possible though difficult and would normally need time to be set up before it would be effective. The most likely to do that was the Federation as it was in their territory, which further suggested the Federation could and likely was aware of what was happening.

The third and perhaps worst of the complications stemmed from the first with obstructions popping up to slow and hinder the black ops team. They reported an "enemy shooter" that was working against them at the target location. The enemy shooter could be the one that placed the mines both on the beach and along the approach to the target's location. The resistance the shooter put up was fairly impressive the captain would admit, even if it was very problematic. A single enemy hampering a team didn't happen often, more so with special teams like black opts.

In the end, the building the target was in had been made to collapse. That had forced the black ops team to call for mobile suits to be deployed to the beach for them to use to finish the job. The unforeseen complications were mounting and putting the mission at risk of failure. The black ops team was to be commended with the determination they were showing with the direction to complete the mission. But time was of the essence as the Federation could come around to see what was going on. The longer this took, the more likely that would happen and then those working on the mission would be on their own. And there had been no mention of the enemy shooter being dealt with thus far either, so they were still an active threat.

The sub captain was brought out of his thoughts when the sub shook a bit. He glanced around at the bridge crew, hoping for an explanation of what had just shook the ship. The captain was told that an opening had been made in the sub's underbelly at the forward half of the ship. Water was now flooding into the area and was making the sub's orientation more difficult to maintain. The captain questioned what had made the gash in the hull but got no answer to that. That worried the captain as it said there was an enemy out there which the sub's sensors couldn't see or detect. If an enemy was out there, they would unlikely stop at just one strike against the sub.

Tyler took a moment to make sure water was pouring into the slice he had made in the sub. Once he was satisfied with his first strike, he moved on to disabling the sub and making sure it would sink to the ocean floor. Tyler zoomed out from under the sub and slashed the port side catapults as he was rising. He was kind of surprised at how effective the GN blade was at cutting and slashing through things. Sure, the particles being used on it were supposed to make it sharper but seeing that in practice was something else. It was akin to a hot knife cutting through butter as the old phrase went. Tyler would mention that in his feedback and how honestly impressed with the idea he was. That was along with the Exia's performance underwater when it wasn't designed specifically for the point.

After Tyler had made the slice on the port side, the sub started to slowly lean to that side with the water flooding onto it. Tyler decided he had been unseen for long enough in this. The sub couldn't send any message or data back to ZAFT with the blackout in place. So, he disengaged the Exia's stealth system as he came up from his slash on the port side of the sub. Tyler would make sure the sub's crew understood there were consequences just following the orders they were without questioning why. Simply following orders and not knowing why they were being given and carried out got people killed. The crew would learn that lesson by the time the sub was sinking toward the ocean floor. There would be none that would be permitted to escape from the vessel's sinking. That may seem mean for Tyler to do, but the were supporting the punks that were after someone at the orphanage and likely would've killed all there in the end.

The sub captain and his CO were working to keep panic from spreading about the sub being under attack by an unseen enemy. The CO was working on getting the crew near the flooding sections to seal those off and stop the water from getting further into the sub. The captain was working to have the helm keep the sub from tipping with one side being flooded and the other not yet. Keeping the sub balanced with the flooding where it was occurring was a daunting task for the helmsman. The crew was doing the best they could to follow the orders they were being given as quickly as possible. The ship sinking was not good for any of them even if the sub wasn't in deep water at the moment.

The sub captain's attention snapped forward when the sensor operator said they had detected something. What came up on the main screen the sub had was unlike anything the man had seen. It was a mobile suit, that much was obvious from a glance. However, it had features that made it clear it was a Gundam type. There had been no solid fact that Gundams had been made to work underwater other than the Abyss. There had been rumors the Federation had developed a Gundam that could work underwater, but no confirmation of that. The suit didn't match any records ZAFT had on Gundam types, a bridge officer stated that to the captain. The coloration it had said it had phase shift armor which was expected of a Gundam. It appeared to have a long physical blade that was wider than a GINN sword. What was the oddest thing about the machine was it was putting off green light from somewhere in its back. That had never been seen from any mobile suit before now that the captain was aware of. That point could mean several things about potential Federation development which few if any would be good for ZAFT.

The Gundam surged forward zooming over to the linear catapults the sub had. The captain ordered torpedoes to be loaded and to target the Gundam. That was the only option for the sub with the mobile suits away on land. They had a mission to complete which was their priority more than the sub's defense. The importance of the mission had been iterated several times to say no matter the losses, the mission's failure wasn't acceptable. So, the sub was on its own against a machine which projectiles would unlikely do much if anything to. That wouldn't deter the crew from fighting back against the Gundam, but it didn't give much optimism. Torpedoes were being loaded into the tubes as those on the bridge watched the Gundam slicing open the linear catapults and letting water flood on in. As the Gundam was attacking the third linear catapult, the weapons station operated called the torpedoes were loaded and ready. The captain ordered them to fire at the Gundam.

Tyler had just cut open the third linear catapults open when an alarm began going off in the cockpit. He looked down and found the sub had fired torpedoes. Tyler observed the torpedoes zoomed forward before looping around and heading for the Exia. He could avoid them, but that would be a missed opportunity which he'd been asked to do while testing the Exia. Tyler had been asked to test the E-Carbon armor plate while he was using the Exia, and the torpedoes would do that just fine. So, Tyler didn't move the Exia out of the path of the torpedoes, instead facing them and waiting for them to hit. The torpedoes struck and exploded, engulfing the Exia in smoke and disturbed water hiding the Gundam from the sub. Tyler smirked at seeing the armor plate had taken the torpedoes without a problem and shrugged them off while laughing and asking if that was it. The E-Carbon had done exactly what Carlos had said it would by taking projectiles and explosives and getting no scratches or damage at all. Tyler had the Exia swing its sword to clear the water and smoke hiding the Gundam so the sub crew could see they had done nothing.

It had been confirmed that the Gundam had been hit by the torpedoes, smoke and chaotic water hiding it said that. The captain and the CO waited with bated breath to see if the torpedoes had done what they hoped they had. What seemed a long moment later, the water and smoke was swept aside revealing the Gundam. Many on the bridge paled at seeing the Gundam appeared unharmed and really no sign the torpedoes had done anything. There hadn't even been any sight of sparks which phase shift armor put off when disbursing projectile damage. The torpedoes doing nothing essentially meant the sub had no chance at fending off the Gundam, let alone defeating it. The sub was at the Gundam's mercy which it hadn't shown any of that and would unlikely do that now.

With the communications issue prevented any chance to get information on the Gundam to allies so they could know about it. The captain considered for a moment ordering the crew to abandon ship so perhaps some might survive. However, the Gundam rushed forward and stabbed the escape pods. That made any thought of abandoning ship moot as the Gundam wrecked that option. The sub was slowly sinking as the crew was fighting hard against the water flooding into the ship. The Gundam had made sure the sub and all its crew would sink to the ocean floor and die. One of the bridge officers reported the Gundam was attacking the engines, making the sub unable to even try to get to shallow water.

Tyler damaged the sub's engines so it couldn't make a break for shallow water in hopes to save its crew. He'd taken out the escape pods so they couldn't use those. The sub and its crew would share the same fate as the punks who attacked the orphanage. They had chosen to do what they were, and that had consequences which they wouldn't have much if any say in. It was unfortunate that they would die, but some within ZAFT had sent them, and they would be responsible for this. Tyler didn't like that all on the sub would either drown or suffocate and wished that didn't have to happen. But none of them could be allowed to leave and speak of what they had seen or tried to do.

Tyler moved to the starboard side of the sub, and slashed an opening for water to pour in in the back half of the sub. The vessel was sinking slowly, meaning the crew was fighting hard to cut off the flooding. But they were in a losing battle that they were just drawing out needlessly. Tyler continued along and made another gash in the starboard catapults. Then he came to be just above the sub as it was sinking. He would make one more blow which would finish the ship and have it going to the ocean floor. Tyler would strike the bridge and take out the commanding officers and throw the crew into chaos.

The captain looked forward and saw the Gundam coming to float over the ship looking at the bridge. It had the sub sinking slowly with the crew fighting as they could to stem the flooding. But the captain knew the flooding could only be slowed, not stopped with the damage incurred. With the engines down, the sub couldn't even make a break for shallow water to potentially give the chance for crew to escape. The man saw the Gundam raising its blade and pointing it directly at the bridge. The unsaid meaning of the action was clear enough. The next strike would be to the bridge, and it would be the finishing blow for the vessel. The final thoughts of the captain were his prayer that the black ops team would manage to get to their target before the Gundam reached them. That was the only slim chance they would have to accomplish their mission successfully. Should the Gundam get to the ASHs before they took out their target, their chances would be slim to none, extremely closer to none.

Tyler surged forward with his blade out in front, pointing at the sub's bridge. Tyler plunged his blade into the section of the sub where the bridge and shoved it all the way to just before the hilt. He then drew back and pulled out his blade letting water pour into the ship. Tyler was slowly floating back toward the shore as he watched the sub slowly sinking. Before Tyler turned away, the sub began falling to the ocean floor at a faster rate. That showed the crew had lost the battle and the flooding was overtaking the sub, sending it to the ocean floor. He would applaud the sub's crew fighting as they had to prevent the sub from sinking, their efforts were respectable. And it was that which made having to send them to their deaths all the harder. Tyler cursed whoever within ZAFT sent these people to die for a stupid mission.

Tyler turned his attention to the mobile suits that the sub had sent to the beach and the punks. If the sub had been fully loaded, which Tyler expected it would be, there would be fourteen mobile suits. Fourteen versus one would be hard for most, and even Tyler would have to take it seriously to come out on top. But he had the motivation to go hard, and all out as needed going against the punks with his friends in danger. And with the Exia, Tyler should have an advantage over the ZAFT machines. Not only did the Exia have better defenses and capabilities than his opponents, but Tyler's skills with piloting were greater than the punks. Tyler would do whatever it took to protect his friends and the rest of the orphanage's inhabitants.

With that in mind, Tyler picked up the pace of the Exia was climbing to the surface. The Exia burst out of the water and rose up in the air so Tyler could get a quick view of things. One scan of the general area showed Tyler's expectations had been right with numbers, there were fourteen of the green mobile suits. They were in their suit forms now rather than the cruising form Tyler had seen before. From what Tyler saw, four of the ZAFT machines were working on clearing the debris from the orphanage collapsing. Six were behind the first four appearing to be waiting for the four to clear the way. The last four were back from the rest of the group looking to be watching and guarding the group's flank. The four digging through the debris would need a little more time to get to the shelter. But Tyler felt that would still need him to get down to business and whip the rest before those four got to the shelter if at all possible.

Tyler had the Exia zoom down toward the four rear guard the punks had so he could deal with them first. He aimed to the nearest suit's left arm taking out a beam saber as he went. Tyler came down and slashed his opponent's arm off with the saber before having the Exia slam onto the ground. Then he followed that up by having the Exia kick the ASH that he'd attacked sending it into the one next to it. After that Tyler had the Exia jump back a short distance facing off against the four, storing the beam saber as he went. Tyler landed and then waited for his opponents' next move against him. Once they moved, Tyler would rush into action and get down to the business of whipping the four so he could move onto the others. Time was of the essence to save the lives Tyler had come to protect from those who were working to take them.

The rear guard of the ZAFT team had been keeping watch for the rest. The chance of the Federation to come around was getting higher the longer getting to the target took. They would come from Orb's Onogoro if anywhere else as that was the closest military complex for the Federation. The forward group was working as fast as they could getting a path through the debris to the bunker in the cliffs. However, the rear guard's attention was snapped away from keeping a lookout for Federation forces when one of them was attacked. One of the ASH's had its left arm sliced off and then shoved into another. The rear guard looked the way the attack had come from and found a mobile suit a short distance away from them.

The four ZAFT pilots instantly saw the unknown suit was a Gundam type, and one none of them had seen before. It was likely the Gundam was built by the Federation and sent here, which was not a good sign for the mission. The speed of the attack alone was worrisome with the implications it gave. There hadn't been any hints or signs of it being around before this which had been spotted or detected. Sensors had been off shortly after the mission started, but another mobile suit should've shown up on them, but this one hadn't. And for the enemy to be a Gundam type was even worse than just enemy mobile suits. A Gundam with a competent pilot was equal to a full squad at least, if not more. It was possible and even likely the pilot was the enemy shooter who hadn't been confirmed as dead by those who were to hunt them. If it was the shooter, and they were as problematic as before, that would only spell trouble and very likely jeopardize the mission. Two of the ASHs moved forward at the Exia, one with its right beam claw activated for an attack and the other with its machine guns raised. The other two would follow after them once they saw the response from the Gundam.

Tyler twisted out of the way of the beam claw sent at him drawing a beam saber as he went. The other that had come at him began firing their machine guns at him which the armor plate was stopping any damage being done to the Exia. Tyler evaded the claw before slashing upward and cutting off the arm. Then he followed that up by using the Exia's right hand to punch the ASH in the optics, forcing the enemy machine back. Tyler brought the Exia's rifle to point at the other attacking him and pulled the trigger. The bolt from the rifle nailed one of the shoulders of the ASH. The two drew back a bit allowing the other two of the rear guard move forward to attack.

T yler faced off against the two who had moved forward to cover the two which Tyler had countered. One of them began firing beams from the cannons built into their shoulders, which had flipped to be in line with the arms. The beams disbursed when they came into contact with the phase shift armor. The other ASH leaned forward a bit and launched its missiles at the Exia. The missiles, much like the beams had no real effect on the Gundam as the armor plating blocked them. The smoke from the missiles exploding hid the Exia which gave Tyler the chance to switch the rifle to the blade without notice. Then Tyler made a sweep with the blade to clear the dust and smoke. The Exia gazed at the two, its main optics flashing as it did so.

The responses from the Gundam had not been what was expected from any Gundam that ZAFT had on record. The speed of its movements was better than what Gundams had shown before now. The range of motion that the Gundam had displayed was beyond what had been thought possible with current technology and designs. It had defenses that were new to the team members, not just for projectiles but beams as well. And then there was the strange light coming from the Gundam which had been noticed. The light was unlike what had been seen from any other mobile suits before now. That light appeared to give the Gundam mobility the likes of which had been seen as impossible. The Gundam was showing itself to be more dangerous the longer the rear guard fought against it.

Tyler had sized up the mobile suits that he was fighting against now, so knew the general abilities of them. And it was time to get down to business so those at the orphanage weren't killed. So, Tyler surged forward at the ASH which had tried using it beam claw on him. He set his blade so he could do a near horizontal slice into the enemy mobile suit. Tyler also had particles go to the blade to sharpen it before its use in the attack. The ASH raised its remaining arm and activated its beam claw. Tyler rushed forward closing the rest of the distance separating the Exia and its opponent. He then swung the blade at the suit and felt some resistance as the blade hit and cut into the ASH but not a great deal. There was a whine as the blade sliced through the ASH cleanly from one side to the other, cleaving it in half.

The rear guard was forced to pause as their colleague's machine to be cleaved in half, and the ASH detonated shortly after that. The suit had been destroyed with one attack from the Gundam's large blade. The blade seemed to have no issue going against laminated armor. If anything, the blade appeared to not be stopped by the laminated armor much at all. For a Gundam to have a weapon that could cleave a suit in two was more than concerning. And the move showed the Gundam had a competent pilot if not better. That would make dealing with the Gundam far more troublesome for the rear guard and the rest. And the Gundam would no doubt fight to disrupt the mission and make it fail if it could.

After cleaving one enemy mobile suit, Tyler whipped around and rushed at the other taking out a beam saber as he went. The ASH was firing its machine guns at the Exia as Tyler was rushing at it, though Tyler didn't let that slow him down. Tyler plunged the saber into the suit's optics before shoving the suit back from him. Tyler put the saber away and had the GN blade fold to its stored position before pointing the Exia's arms forward and had the Vulcans pop up for use. He had the Vulcans begin unloading rapid bolts at the ASH he'd just blinded. The peppering shots didn't immediately penetrate the suits armor, but it was denting it and warping the armor, weakening it. It was a moment later those shots from the Vulcans began ripping through the armor and getting into the suit's circuitry. After enough damage was done to the ASH, Tyler stopped the Vulcans and stepped back before the enemy machine detonated.

The two remaining rear guards stepped back a bit after seeing the Gundam take down their companions. One of them moved to get to the rest and tell them about the Gundam as communications were spotty right now. The one who stayed behind would do what they could to slow the Gundam down. The task would be seriously risky, maybe even lethal, but the mission's success was more important than how many survived it. The Gundam had the potential of taking down all of the ASHs given enough time to do so. Accomplishing the mission was the top priority even if lives had to be sacrificed to do it.

Tyler drew out two beam sabers as the ASH charged at him. He had the Exia squat down to avoid the swipe by the beam claw. Then Tyler ignited his beam sabers and slashed forward slicing the ASH's legs off at the knees. Tyler didn't stop there, he whipped around to be behind the enemy machine and slashed downward taking off the arms. Tyler followed that up by twisting around to be in front of the ASH and plunged his sabers into the optics and the cockpit. He pulled out the sabers and stored them before jumping back from the enemy unit before it exploded. Tyler shifted his attention to the other punks that were closer to the ruins of the orphanage.

With the rest of the ZAFT black ops team, they were around halfway through the debris of the building. Getting to the target was progressing, though it would be nicer if it was moving faster. The mission had already been delayed more than it should've been. The team had to catch up and pick up the pace the best they could. The mission needed to be completed as soon as possible regardless of how it was done in the end. That they needed to use mobile suits to get things going in the right direction was unfortunate. It would leave potential evidence that the Federation could try and use to trace this back to ZAFT. However, things took another turn which hadn't been planned for nor was it helpful to the goal of the mission.

That change came with one of the rear guards coming up to where the rest were working on getting to the target. From what they said, an unknown mobile suit had appeared out of nowhere and had caused issues. An enemy mobile suit popping up at a critical time where the window to reach the target was closing was extremely bad. If that wasn't bad enough to put the mission at risk, the rear-guard member said the enemy unit was a Gundam. An enemy Gundam appearing seriously jeopardized the mission and could thwart it completely. And apparently half of the rear guard had been eliminated and the third member was likely to soon follow the other two. The other things that were said about the Gundam only added to the problem it would no doubt become. It sounded like it was a newly developed Federation Gundam with technology that hadn't been seen before by ZAFT or the Alliance.

The explanation was just being finished when there was an explosion from where the rear guard was supposed to hold position and keep watch. The detonation was most likely from the third member of the rear guard being defeated and killed by the enemy Gundam. There was no reason for the Gundam not to come to where the rest of the ZAFT team was now. The Gundam had beaten three ASH suits in minutes, meaning it wouldn't be a simple or easy opponent to take on. The ZAFT team may have the advantage in numbers, but it sounded like the Gundam was powerful enough to potentially overcome that. The leader ordered some of those waiting to prepare themselves should or rather when the enemy Gundam appeared and came to them.

Tyler was having the Exia taking elongated strides to get to the orphanage ruins as quickly as he could. The punks were no doubt working their way toward the shelter, which was where the one they wanted was. The sooner they were forced to deal with something else, the quicker they would shift their focus away from the shelter. With three enemy machines down, it left eleven for Tyler to deal with, likely by himself until things potentially changed. That wouldn't discourage Tyler from fighting the punks that had brought this on. Tyler would do whatever he had to in order to protect his friends and the kids. He'd already killed a few, his shirt was stained with the blood of one of those. Tyler had sunk a sub with its crew still in it knowing they would die by drowning or running out of air. He'd destroyed three enemy mobile suits killing their pilots already. Until this situation came to an end with his friends still alive, Tyler would continue what he was doing.

Tyler came into view of the other enemy suits, he didn't waste time instead taking aim at the one ahead of him. He used his rifle to take out one of the enemy's missile launching pods. It would get attention on him and off getting through the debris and that's what Tyler wanted. Granted, Tyler knew he needed to keep himself from being surrounded. That was the possible way that the enemy group could potentially push Tyler back. He'd seen that they were determined and getting desperate to get to their target by any means necessary. That would include destroying the shelter outright if that was the way they achieved their goal. Tyler had known it would probably be a long night for him, but this was getting more frustrating than he'd thought it would get to.

Tyler took out a beam saber as he closed the distance, igniting it as he went. He rushed the enemy group slashing at one with the saber, then shooting at one close by the next moment. The ZAFT machines did scatter a bit so they weren't in a tight group which could be attacked more effectively. Tyler pushed hard and aggressively so that he could keep the punks off kilter and have them react and not being proactive. He was using every weapon the Exia had to work with, throwing beam sabers before retrieving them. Tyler would shoot them with the rifle and employed the vulcans off and on.

The sudden appearance of the enemy Gundam didn't give much time to prepare a counterattack. There was further complication as the Gundam struck hard and aggressively, not giving a chance to do much against it. The team lead ordered a few to focus on getting to the target while the rest kept the enemy Gundam busy. The mission's goal was the priority, and failure wasn't an acceptable outcome. Should the majority or even all of them have to give their lives to accomplish the goal and take out the target, then it was a fair sacrifice. The Gundam may be powerful, but if it could be kept from hampering those working on the target, then it wouldn't stop them from completing the mission.

At the same time, back in the orphanage's shelter, the inhabitants were still sitting wondering what was going on outside. The explosion which had rocked the shelter had been some time ago had been the loudest sound, but there were still noises from beyond the walls. Andrew and Aisha didn't believe those that had attacked the orphanage would give up just because Tyler had been hindering them, or even destroying the orphanage. The shelter could withstand a beating, but it wasn't built to take a heavy assault that one would expect a military complex to receive. Should the group have mobile suits with enough firepower, the shelter wouldn't be an effective defense to protect them.

That led the two to consider the options they had to fall back on if Tyler wasn't able to handle what was going on outside. Tyler was likely still fighting the ZAFT group attacking. If he had a mobile suit, he would be using it by this point to fend off those he could. But as good as Tyler was in a mobile suit, he wasn't undefeatable and could be overwhelmed. The faint sounds that the two had picked up said there was a battle or at least movement from mobile suits. They couldn't say much beyond that, but unless the Federation had become aware of what was going on, it wouldn't be them. That just left Tyler fighting to help them against ZAFT special forces of some sort. Andrew and Aisha didn't doubt that the odds being stacked against him wouldn't stop him from doing everything he could even if it put his life on the line.

As much as they wanted to count on Tyler handling things, if the shelter was breached, everyone would have to be moved. There was an escape route from the shelter, but that would more buy time for them. Until the ZAFT force was taken care of, they were all still in danger. That meant that Tyler's efforts were important, and helping those would be in the best interest of those in the shelter. Andrew and Aisha knew that the rebuilt Freedom was stored in the shelter per Kira's request. And the kid had mentioned something along the lines that the Federation had rebuilt the ZAFT Gundam and made "improved" it a bit when they had. Neither knew what that exactly meant, but hopefully whatever those improvements were could help the Freedom handle the attackers. Yet, the Freedom being used would take convincing Kira to get into the cockpit again and that hadn't been a good subject. But maybe if it was to help Tyler, Kira may agree to pilot the Freedom once again.

Outside with Tyler, he was still fighting against those trying to swarm him. With how they were assaulting him, he had a harder time taking suits down, instead of damaging them. He didn't miss a few turning back to the debris and start firing beams and missiles in the direction of the shelter. Tyler would love to stop those few, but the rest of the ZAFT machines were preventing him from dealing with the few. He could deal with those assaulting him, but it would take time and with the shelter under attack, there wasn't the time. Tyler really could use help dealing with the punks and saving the inhabitants of the orphanage as much as he didn't want to admit that.

Tyler had his blade come to active position and swept upward at the nearest ASH suit. He took off the left arm and a missile pod with the slash. Tyler attempted to rush forward and target those assaulting the shelter. However, two enemy suits moved to be in the way stopping Tyler from getting to those he'd been aiming for. He was getting beyond frustrated at these punks attacking innocent people and his friends. There were lives on the line and Tyler wouldn't let these idiots take them if he could stop it. Sure, Tyler had been fighting aggressively against the group, keeping them off the offensive. But that was only slowly getting things to head in the direction that Tyler wanted. He would take this seriously in a way he'd hoped not to have to resort to.

T yler spun around doing an arc with the Exia's blade to get some space for a moment. "You punks thought that this was a fight from hell before," Tyler growled. "Then let me drag you to a deeper ring!" Tyler felt the onset of his SEED mode. His mind cleared and the possible paths of how to change the flow of battle became visible to Tyler. It would still take time, even if less than before, but it was possible now. There was still the risk the shelter would be breached before he could stop that. But that wouldn't stop Tyler from doing his best to protect those here from being killed. Tyler took out a beam saber and had the blade fold and store itself so he could use the rifle and continued fighting against the group.

The shelter shook as the beams and missiles began striking the outside walls. The kids whimpered as there was shaking again, scared about what was going on again. Andrew, Aisha, and Murrue directed all there to head deeper into the shelter into the armored bunker area. Those there rushed through the door to the bunker with the three adults brought up the rear. They had the security door closed behind them and locked. Andrew knew the firepower being used against the shelter would get into the bunker given time. It was clear that Tyler was being occupied by ZAFT forces so wasn't able to stop the attack on the shelter. He wouldn't blame the kid, he was likely fighting harsh odds and still trying to get to the shelter.

Andrew glanced at Aisha, and then to Kira and Lacus. The expression on Andrew's face said that they couldn't avoid asking Kira to take the Freedom out and fight. Aisha could understand the unsaid message from Andy, things were going bad. They needed to get everyone besides Kira to the escape tunnel quickly. The bunker wouldn't hold that much longer than the shelter was doing right now. Kira would have to take the Freedom out and fight. If he didn't, they would all likely die, Tyler potentially included. The Freedom and whatever Tyler was using should be able to handle the ZAFT force. Once that was done, the rest would be safe for a time in which plans could be made.

Lacus could see things were going badly for all of them with what was going on. Tyler was outside fighting for them, risking his life in the process. The shelter was under direct assault and would likely be breached soon enough. There was nothing to say the bunker would last all that much longer than the shelter would. Whatever group that had brought Tyler here and them attacking the orphanage was determined. The only reason Lacus could come up with which made sense to her was the group was there to kill someone. And the most probable person to be target that was around the orphanage was Lacus herself. It wouldn't be the first time in her life that there had been an attempt to take her life. The idea had happened a few times before, but others had prevented those from being successful. With that in mind, Lacus approached Mr. Waltfeld and Miss Aisha to confirm what she suspected. "Those attacking right now," Lacus began, "They are after me, aren't they?"

Andrew and Aisha gazed at Lacus with worried expressions. It wasn't surprising that Lacus could've figured out the ZAFT force was likely here to kill her. With Tyler popping up, it implied that either Kira or she were in danger. And she made the most logical sense for targets among all of them. "That is most likely the case," Andrew admitted. "With Tyler appearing, the probability of you or Kira being a target for assassination is high." Aisha knew that Andy was right with Tyler popping up meaning Kira or Lacus being a target. And right now, Tyler was outside risking his life for them fighting the ZAFT force that was assaulting them. "Unfortunately, because of that, Tyler is outside fighting against stacked odds risking his life for us," Aisha added. "The best way to change that would be Kira taking the Freedom and help Tyler fight off those attacking. But" Aisha trailed off.

Lacus knew things were bad, but what was being laid out said it was worse than she had feared. She didn't like Tyler risking his life to protect them from harm. And she knew that Kira didn't want to use the Freedom to fight and potentially kill others. He didn't want more blood on his hands than the war had already soaked him in. Lacus couldn't blame Kira for wanting peace and not having to fight again, for she wanted that too. But she also understood what Mr. Waltfeld and Miss Aisha were saying about Kira helping Tyler. Kira could help Tyler better than any other here. And with the Freedom rebuilt and "improved" by the Federation, the machine would be stronger. Kira would need some convincing to get back into the Freedom, but he should go out to help Tyler. She nodded in agreement to what the two had suggested with Kira taking the Freedom and going outside.

Kira noticed Andrew, Aisha, and Lacus approaching him. And he had a feeling what they were coming to him about was something he would be comfortable with. The look on Lacus's face said she had figured out that the attack was likely to kill her. He'd wanted to keep that from her so she didn't worry, but that was no longer possible, it would seem. "You figured out those attacking are after you so they can try and kill you," Kira stated tiredly. He looked at Mr. Waltfeld and Miss Aisha and their expressions said things were worse than before. "And things are getting worse I assume, correct?"

The two nodded, "Sorry to say yes, Kira," Andrew admitted, "And I fear Tyler is hard-pressed to help us out of the situation we're in." Andrew paused for a moment as the subject of Kira piloting the Freedom hadn't gone well. But there was little other option at this point to get the ZAFT group handled quickly for the safety of them all. "Kira, I know that you don't like the thought," he hesitated for a moment, "but it would best for you to pilot the Freedom and fight. Tyler needs help handling the ZAFT group that he is fighting alone. You are the best pilot among us to be able to assist your friend." Andrew turned to Lacus, "Do you have the keys to the bay? It's time to open it and have the Freedom taking to the skies again."

Kira hadn't liked the times when others had brought up him potentially piloting the Freedom again. After the Alliance-PLANT War had come to an end, Kira had wanted to get away from mobile suits and fighting. Having been pulled into the war with what happened to Heliopolis, Kira knew he'd kill many people. His hands were soaked in the blood of those he'd killed during the war, and it haunted him off and on. Living at the orphanage with Lacus had helped Kira dismiss and ignore the haunting memories which reminded him of the blood on his hands. The blood his hands were soaked with made him feel unworthy to be around Lacus. She had assured him that the "blood" he had on him didn't make her love him any less, which had helped.

However, what Mr. Waltfeld had said and was implying were things that Kira couldn't exactly deny. Tyler had been fighting those that had been attacking and trying to kill them tonight. His friend had been putting his life on the line, risking it as he fought those assaulting them. Tyler didn't have to do what he was, but he chose to do it anyway. He fought to protect others he cared about even when it would have blood on his hands. Tyler had always been the strongest and most unshakeable among the trio that was Tyler, Athrun, and Kira. He always seemed to know what was happening or had an idea and had a plan how to deal with things. Kira respected that of his friend and had wanted such for himself at times. Yet, he didn't like the idea of Tyler fighting to protect others alone.

There were signs of conflict happening that would become another war given a bit of time. The attack on the PLANTs by OMNI was a serious push for war by the Alliance. And now some from ZAFT had come to attack the orphanage, likely trying to assassinate Lacus. Kira couldn't just stand by and do nothing while Lacus was under threat. So, it was time to do what Kira had been avoiding and get back in a mobile suit cockpit and fight once again. What he would do after this fight, Kira couldn't say, maybe Tyler would have suggestions. Kira sighed, "Mr. Waltfeld is right," he admitted. "I have been avoiding getting back into a cockpit and things won't allow that any longer without consequences which I don't want to happen. Tye could probably use the help to get things going the way they need to for all of us."

All in the bunker gazed at the door which led to the bay where the Freedom had been stored for close to a year. Tyler had delivered it at the time after Teswa had rebuilt the Gundam after the original had been damaged beyond repair. Lacus wished that Kira didn't need to get back in the Freedom's cockpit and fight again. But as he said, things wouldn't allow him to not do that anymore without others paying consequences for that. "Are you sure Kira," Lacus questioned. "You still have a choice in this." Kira nodded in reply, "Yes, it's time. I don't like the thought of Tyler fighting to protect us by himself. I also want to do what I can to protect you and all the rest here." Kira stopped for a moment before he kept going, "I know that fighting will have me potentially hurting and killing others, and I'm not looking forward to those probabilities. But if I'm not willing to do what I can to protect you, then I'm not worthy to be with you Lacus." It sounded like Kira had made up his mind, though Lacus didn't like the choice being pushed onto him. She hugged him, "Okay, just promise you will be careful and come back to me."

Lacus had Haro open to reveal two keys inside, one gold and the other silver. The keys were to unlock the bay the Freedom was in and had been for security reasons in case some found their way down here. The Freedom was a powerful mobile suit even for a Gundam. There would be those that would be more than willing to use it for horrible things. That was even more true with the Federation having rebuilt it and improved it as they had done so. Tyler had been the one to suggest two keys and locking the bay when he had brought the Freedom to the bay the new orphanage had been built behind. And it had been Aisha and Andrew that suggested that Lacus keep the keys in her Haro as few if any would think to look there.

Andrew took one key and Kira took the other before moving to either side of the bay door. They pulled out the lock terminals from within the wall and inserted their keys. The keys were turned which got the heavy door to the bay to begin opening. The bay was dark as the door opened and slid into the walls. But lights came on illuminating the Freedom standing in the bay. The mobile suit had cables and other supply apparatus connected to it. Yet, the suit appeared much as the original had when Kira had first seen it when Tyler had brought it to the Archangel. It felt like the Gundam had been waiting for Kira to come and needed it once more.

Kira strode forward into the bay toward the Freedom. He kept telling himself that he was going to get into the cockpit to help others and protect them. Kira wasn't going to use the Freedom to simply fight and kill others because others said he should. He would go and help Tye fend off those that had been attacking them and attempting to kill Lacus. Kira had a reason to go out in a mobile suit right now and he would hold to that with the circumstances as they were. If a war would come to Humanity again, then Kira would stand up and do what he could to fight for the human race as he could. He didn't doubt Tyler and Athrun would be doing much the same thing when facing the same choice. Thus, Kira choosing to board the Freedom would lead to him fighting alongside his friends which was far better than going against them as had happened during the last war.

T he doors began closing behind Kira as he kept walking toward the Freedom, leaving the others in the bunker. Andrew, Aisha, and Murrue began guiding all in the bunker toward the escape tunnel. Murrue put in the code in the input pad and had the tunnel's blast doors slide open. The majority had entered the tunnel when there was an explosion that broke through the wall of the bunker. Andrew and Aisha had the few stragglers get into the tunnel before they entered it themselves and sealed the blast doors behind them. The tunnel would lead out to the trail which went along the cliffs and out of sight of the orphanage. By the time they got there, hopefully Tyler and Kira would have things going in a better direction.

Kira got up and took the seat for the Freedom and had it lower into the cockpit. He activated the OS had saw the boot up message which had changed slightly.

MOBILE SUIT NEO OPERATION SYSTEM

Generation
Unsubdued
Nuclear
Drive
Assault
Module
G.U.N.D.A.M. Complex
_Series HAVTC-T3 Freedom LA-SE5P_

Human Federation

Kira had not really looked over the "changes" which Tyler mentioned had been made by the Federation when they had rebuilt the Freedom. The OS seemed to respond quicker than ZAFT's version had that Kira could recall. Kira quickly scanned over the Freedom's systems to make sure they were working and know what he had to work with. The first change he noted was the nuclear reactor the Freedom had now was not the same as what ZAFT had equipped the original with. If anything, from what Kira saw, the reactor was safer than the original and even had several safeguards in place to help with that. The other major thing Kira saw which the Freedom had to work with was the stealth system it had.

After glancing over the Freedom's system, Kira focused on the task immediately ahead. He switched on the phase shift armor which was an updated version the Federation used and had invented. Then, Kira had the thrusters hum into life and prime for burn before his mind had the clear thought of going out to help Tyler protect everyone. He pushed the throttle forward and pressed down the foot controls having the thrusters burn hard to get the Freedom lift-off. The Freedom lept upward and Kira pointed the beam rifle at the rock wall above him and pulled the trigger. The beam made a hole for the Freedom to use to leave. It also provided a smoke screen for Kira to work with to not be an immediate target by those outside.

Back with Tyler, he cursed as he spotted the three ZAFT suits, he was being kept away from breaking through the shelter wall. Tyler tried again to get to those three, but the rest prevented him from breaking away from their attacks. His SEED mode was to help move things along, he had taken down two more enemy machines since he had engaged it. But the punks had broken into the shelter, and they would do the same with the bunker if nothing changed. Tyler remembered there was supposed to be an escape tunnel out of the bunker, but if the punks breached the bunker before they could use that, it would be moot. He was running out of time to save those he had come to protect, and Tyler knew that. And it was that which frustrated Tyler to the point it more than irked him with what the ZAFT group was doing.

These punks were here to kill someone and saw nothing wrong in slaughtering all around them at the same time. They were so desperate to accomplish that they were willing to sacrifice themselves to do it. Tyler could only wonder who within ZAFT or the PLANTs would see assassinating Lacus or someone else as so important they were willing to have this done. That was the part which Tyler couldn't figure out in all of this. If Lacus was the target of this group, why assassinate her? With her influence around the PLANTs, she was far more valuable alive than she was dead. Capturing her made more logical sense in Tyler's mind than killing her did. Yet, apparently, some in ZAFT or the PLANTs that thought differently. Perhaps, it had something to do with the "stand-in" that Athrun had mentioned, but Tyler couldn't say.

T yler was trying to decide how to flip things around and go for those attacking the bunker when things changed again. A beam pierced the mountainside behind where the orphanage had stood which drew the attention of all fighting. Out of the smoke came none other than the Freedom, which got Tyler to smile. He'd been hoping that Kira would be getting into the Freedom and coming out to help him with the punks. Truthfully, Tyler was more surprised it had taken Kira so long to make his way out here in the Freedom. Tyler had begun to wonder if he would be doing this whole fight by himself through till the end. Kira wasn't the type to leave a friend hanging when in a tough situation, even with his cursed naïveté taken into account. So, Tyler connected a channel to the Freedom, "It's about time you get out here, Kira," Tyler said in greeting. "I was starting to wonder if you were going to leave this completely to me to pull off and handle for a moment there my friend."

Kira was glad to hear Tyler's voice as it said he was alive and okay. The tone he heard wasn't nice as it implied Tyler had been getting frustrated and under serious pressure. From what Kira saw with a quick glance, there were around nine mobile suits on the ground. One was a Gundam type which Kira assumed was what Tyler was working with right now. The other eight were of a model which Kira hadn't seen before. Five of those were facing off against the Gundam Tyler was likely in. The other three were in front of the shelter which said they had been the ones assaulting the bunker. Tyler looked to be managing for the moment, which would give Kira the chance to deal with the three who were attacking the bunker.

The remaining members of the ZAFT black ops team took note of the newcomer which had appeared out of the mountain side. Another mobile suit to go against would only make their mission more difficult than it already was. And for the new machine to also be a Gundam like the one who had been fighting them was worse. It was one of the team members who then recognized the suit which had appeared. The new Gundam was none other than the X10A Freedom which had been stolen during the Alliance-PLANT War. "I don't believe it," one ZAFT team member exclaimed, "It's the Freedom."

All on the black ops team knew of the Freedom Gundam, it had been designed and constructed by ZAFT originally. Yet, there had been reports the Freedom had been damaged beyond repair in the Second Battle of Jachin Due. Those had been looked into and found to be correct as far as the Intelligence Division had found. Thus, the Freedom had been classified as destroyed and a mobile suit of the past which had led to other developments. There were several that weren't complaining had been destroyed essentially, though they didn't do that publicly. But apparently, the Gundam had been rebuilt by some, likely the Federation since the end of the War. And the appearance of the Freedom now pretty much guaranteed the mission would fail. "What," the leader snapped, "Why is it here and now of all times?!"

Kira had the Freedom deploy its wings out and activated its HiMAT system for the fight he was getting into. He felt the onset of his SEED mode as he focused on the three mobile suits which had been attacking the shelter. Kira wasn't going to let these people from ZAFT if Mr. Waltfeld was right do anything to potentially harm Lacus or any from the orphanage. The Freedom dove down drawing a beam saber as it went before slashing off the arm of the nearest ASH suit. The other two with it trained their weapons on the Freedom and fired at it after it passed them. However, Kira easily dodged the beams being sent at him by the enemy mobile suits. He climbed upward to get a better vantage point to use the Freedom's plasma cannons.

As the Freedom was fighting the three ASHs which had been attacking the shelter, Tyler was still dancing with the other five who had been delaying him. He had switched the GN blade to fold back into its stored position so he could use the rifle. Tyler weaved out of the way of the suit which had just rushed him and twisted around to point his rifle right at the unit's back. He didn't hesitate, Tyler pulled the trigger, the bolt ripping a path through the ASH. Tyler didn't stop there, he made two more shots at the ASH before kicking it farther away and exploded. Three of the four remaining ASHs moved forward at the Exia. Even with that being the case, Tyler noticed that Kira was not aiming for the cockpit of his opponents. He wouldn't blame or hold that against his friend in the fight they were in. Kira didn't like killing and avoided it the best he could, and that wasn't a bad thing in Tyler's mind. Tyler just had little sympathy for those he'd been fighting tonight and so didn't see a reason to show them mercy.

Tyler took out two beam sabers and swept them in an arc to get his opponents to back up and give him space. Two stubbled back toward the one who hadn't rushed forward with the rest, which Tyler assumed was the leader of the punks. The other got on the far side of Tyler but was separated from its fellows which Tyler could take advantage of. He surged forward at the single unit and slashed upward, severing the suit's arms. Then Tyler had the Vulcans pop up and begin pounding the enemy machine. Much like the other suit Tyler had used the Vulcans on, the rapid bolts pounded and dented the laminated armor the mobile suit had. However, that damage quickly morphed into the bolts ripping through the armor and into the suit's internal structure. Tyler had the Vulcans stop before the suit detonated, for he had an idea to work with which wouldn't have the enemy machine exploding quite yet.

Tyler had the Exia grab the ASH suit, which wasn't light, though he didn't expect it to be. It required Tyler to have the Exia's reactor expand a bit to allow increased particle output. He then lifted the enemy suit and spun it around once before letting go. Tyler had tossed the suit and watched it sail right at one of its companions. The thrown machine crashed into its fellow just before it detonated. Tyler was satisfied that the enemy he'd thrown had managed to take the other with it when it detonated, for that had been the hope. It left the other ASH and the leader of the punks to be dealt with, but Tyler didn't see that being much of a problem.

The remaining four of the orphanage's attackers would soon be dead anyways by what Tyler figured. They would either be killed by Tyler or Kira, or else self-destruct he would bet. With the mission being off the books more than likely, those involved wouldn't leave evidence which could connect them to the senders. As much as Tyler cursed that point as then those who planned this couldn't immediately be punished and brought to justice, there was little which could change that. This whole event would be kept quiet by both the Federation, and those who had initiated it. The planners wouldn't officially look into what happened as it would require admitting they had tried to assassinate some within Federation territory. ZAFT wouldn't do that, and the PLANTs' Supreme Council would deny such a thing was even approved. It was the normal expectation of black ops missions and similar ideas Tyler knew. Instead of cursing about what couldn't be changed for the moment, Tyler faced the two remaining ASH suits.

A flash drew attention to the Freedom for a moment, even Tyler's. Tyler saw that Kira was utilizing the Freedom's multi-lock on system with the suit's weapons to shoot off legs, arms, and weapons of the three machines he was dealing with. Tyler wouldn't deny that his friend's method of dealing with the enemy suits was effective. It wasn't the way Tyler would've done the job, but his frustration had been weighing on him from all the crap he'd been going against tonight. But Tyler felt he couldn't let Kira do the rest of the task here with how much work he'd already put into it. So, Tyler had the GN blade swing out to active position and pointed it forward at the two enemy units there. He rushed forward at the non-leader unit intending to impale the suit. The ASH fired beams and its machine guns at the Exia as it came toward it, but they didn't slow the Gundam down or do any damage. The blade pierced the ASH and Tyler drove it in close to the hilt before he stopped.

Kira had managed to disable the three who had been assaulting the shelter and bunker. He'd mostly just shot at their legs, arms, and the missile pods on their backs. Kira still didn't want to kill another if it could be avoided. Taking a life meant that said life was over, for there was no giving it back. That was a missed opportunity for Humanity, Kira believed that with all his heart. It was why he didn't want to kill others even on a battlefield. People made mistakes and bad choices, it was part of being human. However, as long as they were alive, there was the chance for change and a future. The was what the Alliance-PLANT War had taught Kira with its end, the possibility for change and a good future still existed for humans.

Kira had the Freedom turn to see how the Gundam Tyler was using was doing against the other intruders. He saw that where there had been five of the green mobile suits when he'd gotten out with the Freedom, there were only two remaining now. That meant Tyler had dealt with three of the five there had been and he was facing down the last two. The blue Gundam rushed forward with a large blade out in front, aimed at one of the two enemy suits. The position of the blade wasn't for a swing, but that of a spear for piercing, Kira could see that. He could only imagine Tyler was stressed and not in a good mood at all with what he'd been doing tonight. Kira didn't blame Tyler for feeling such things with how he'd been defending the orphanage's inhabitants. Tyler really was a good-hearted individual, Kira would state and defend that point to any that would question it. However, as a soldier, Kira was aware Tyler had been trained how to kill others when required. Yet, Tyler had a moral compass even if it didn't seem so at times like right now with how Tyler seemed to be aiming to kill rather than disable as Kira was.

Kira's gaze shifted to the last enemy mobile suit as he could handle that one while Tyler dealt with the other. The Freedom came to land a short distance in front of the last ASH suit and faced off with it. Kira's opponent rushed forward at him with a beam claw igniting. He had the Freedom squat down and catch the enemy machine on the shield before lifting and flipping the green machine over. As Kira's opponent worked to recover and face him again, he caught sight of the blue Gundam impaling the other enemy unit. Tyler then cut out of the suit and jumped back a bit before it exploded. That left just the enemy suit which Kira was dealing with. He would disable it in hopes that the pilot would surrender and live to see another day.

Tyler had finished with the mobile suit he'd been fighting with impaling it with the GN blade. He'd then turned to the last remaining punk of the group that had caused such a mess. Tyler found that the Freedom was already working on the ASH suit. Kira had flipped the enemy over and was now waiting for the green suit to get up. The Freedom raised its beam rifle and began shooting one limb after another before the weapons on it could be used. Kira finished the enemy unit by shooting its legs off just leaving the torso left. Tyler wasn't feeling inclined to let the punk off by blowing himself up with the suit's self-destruct system. So, Tyler took out a beam saber and sent it at where other ZAFT mobile suits tended to have their circuits which were connected to the explosive charge the self-destruct used ran.

Kira glanced over at the blue Gundam, wondering why Tyler had tossed the beam saber at the enemy machine. It was disabled, it could do no more to them as it was, nor to any of the orphanage's inhabitants. Kira was about to get in touch with Tyler and ask him what was doing, but explosions from over by the shelter drew his attention. The only things over in that direction were the ZAFT machines which Kira had disabled. The explosions implied they had some sort of self-destruct system on them. Sure, Kira had heard ZAFT tended to install such in their mobile suits during the Alliance-PLANT War. However, there was little reason that Kira could think of installing such a system in mobile suits. It was a waste of one's life to just blow yourself up, and for what?

The ZAFT team leader knew that they had failed in their mission even with all the efforts they had put forth. All those that had been involved directly in the mission had essentially killed or were dead beside the team leader. The black ops team had gotten close to reaching the target and taking them out in the required elimination. However, there had been some which had appeared and hindered the mission's objectives. There had been some margin planned into the operation for potential hinderance and minor interference from the Federation. But what had been encountered was more than just minor interference. In the end, the black ops team had been thwarted by those who had been around the target and defended them. To claim anything else being the case would be an excuse for the failure or just a plain lie.

The leader knew this wouldn't be the end for the mission's goal. The operation would just be put on hold until a new plan and opportunity came about. There would be others that would be sent after the target. The target was too dangerous to be left alive with the influence they had and what could be done with that. That point had been made clear by just those that had defended them. The target could influence others to fight for them and against the greater good which was being worked on by others. The future which was in the works for Humanity would make war and conflict things of the past. And the target could disrupt those efforts and potentially ruin the future that was being worked towards. So, this failure, while regrettable and undesirable, was but a set back for a time and not a start of a destructive path.

The other members of the team had either fallen or had just activated their self-destruct for their suits. The leader's suit had been disarmed and disabled by the enemy Gundam, the Freedom. There was nothing the leader could do to change the outcome of this mission anymore. And with the mission parameters as they were, being captured and interrogated wasn't an option for any of them, the leader included. So, he would join the rest of his men in activating the ASH's self-destruct system and end himself. He pulled the handle to detonate the explosive charge the suit had to blow itself up and closed his eyes.

However, a buzzing got him to open his eyes and glance around to try and figure out what was going on. The ASH should have self-destructed seconds after the handle was pulled as the system was designed. The damage to his machine, bad as it was, shouldn't have affected the self-destruct system enough to stop it from working as intended. Yet, when the man brought up what had set off the alarm, he paled a bit. A beam saber from the blue enemy Gundam had struck but hadn't penetrated deep enough to get to the cockpit. However, it had severed the circuits that went from the self-destruct handle to the explosive charge. Thus, pulling the handle hadn't gotten the activation signal to the charge to detonate. Meaning the man was at the mercy of the two Gundam pilots for whatever would happen next.

Tyler figured he'd hit his mark with the beam saber. The enemy mobile suit hadn't exploded like the ones Kira had dealt with. That implied Tyler's saber had severed the circuits that connected the explosive used in the self-destruct system to the activation handle. The punk couldn't pull a self-sacrifice for whatever they were dedicated to like the rest. Tyler doubted he would get much in the way of answers from the punk, but it couldn't hurt to ask a question or two. The worst response he could get was silence or cursing from what Tyler figured and that wouldn't phase him right now. So, Tyler had the Exia move forward to the ASH so he could have some "words" with the punk inside.

Tyler pulled the saber out and stored it before he put one of the Exia's hands to the enemy machine. He could scan com-frequencies to find the one the punk he was using and have the words he wanted. Depending on the responses Tyler got, Tyler would make the end unpleasant for what he and the rest did, or he would make it slow and painful. It took half a minute to find the channel he wanted. Tyler took a deep breath, "I bet you can hear me, punk," Tyler began, "You and I have gotten to know one another through tonight's event, and I don't doubt you detest me as I've been making you and your team's job horrendous. And I dislike you for making it necessary for me to fight the likes of you to prevent ridiculous crap. I doubt you would be willing to give any hint as to why you and the rest were sent here to do what you attempted, and I stopped. So, instead, I will ask you a different question. What possessed you and/or the planners of this think this was a good idea to go and try and kill someone and slaughter those around them? There is supposed to be a change in how things are conducted, but this event says there is little change behind the scenes."

Tyler paused for a moment, waiting for a potential reply from the punk. Yet, Tyler didn't expect much if anything from the punk that was sensible and logical. But he would give the guy a chance to prove Tyler wrong with what he'd said. Tyler got silence in answer to his question, which was enough of an answer for him and the one he'd expected. The PLANTs may be trying to move in a different direction than before. However, it seemed there were some either among the governmental body of the PLANTs or within ZAFT that didn't agree with the direction. It would explain why some were sent to eliminate someone like Lacus, she could threaten such people. "So, the silence is your answer then," Tyler remarked. He shook his head, "And one would think after the attempted attack on the PLANTs this type of crap would seem disgusting. But apparently, there are enough like you that are willing to become monsters at the same level as idiots from Blue Cosmos and those in control of the Alliance these days." Tyler had the Exia's Vulcans pop up and pointed them at the ASH, "Let that be your final thoughts."

The Exia's Vulcans began pounding the enemy machine rocking the cockpit and the man inside. The questions from the enemy shooter were ones that the man would never answer. He would not reveal those who had given the green light for the mission. They had made it clear the importance of the mission's goal and it being accomplished. If the Federation found out about the plans and operation, that would cause far worse issues in the future. The Federation couldn't discover the plans ZAFT had to be done which the public wouldn't know about. The leader's death would serve to protect the plans in motion which would bring about a bright future for not just the homeland, but all of Humanity. Those were the man's final thoughts as the rapid beam projectiles began penetrating the cockpit.

Kira had watched and listened to Tyler as he had questioned the one in the ZAFT mobile suit. The questions said that Tyler did know more about the event that had occurred tonight than he'd said to anyone at the orphanage. While Kira understood Tyler didn't give all the details about something unless he felt there was a need to, it was still frustrating. Tyler had worried those at the orphanage and not giving a warning had left them scrambling. But Kira would talk to his friend soon enough and see what he knew about all of this. Those at the orphanage including Lacus had been under threat of harm and potential death tonight and Kira wasn't okay with that at all.

Kira didn't like Tyler blasting the enemy suit and killing the pilot, but there was something in him which agreed with what he'd done. Kira couldn't quite explain it, but the anger he felt tonight was stronger and burned more than anger had before this which he could recall. Thinking about Lacus being under threat and in danger of others doing her harm made Kira's blood boil. Words couldn't properly describe the burning anger and fury which had flowed in him. It was unsettling to Kira as he'd tried to be logical and collected as he could be so emotions wouldn't get the better of him most of the time. But the anger Kira had felt tonight had blown through that control he'd been developing easily. The only thing he could come up with to explain the anger he'd felt was the love he felt toward Lacus. The mere thought of losing her terrified him and brought horrible pain to his heart. That feeling had fueled the fury and anger Kira had felt.

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A/n

Okay, that's where I'll leave off for this phase and pick up in the next one. Goodness me, so much to go over in this action-packed Phase so these closing notes will be long. Let me start with I hope you readers appreciated the changes that have come with this rewrite for this phase specifically. I'm not saying the original version was bad or anything, I just thought I could make some improvements. Plus, Tyler got to do more and show off his stuff which many seem to like. Let's move onto the first scene and go on from there, shall we?

The first scene both shows the value of Tyler's setup and determination of ZAFT's black opts team. Tyler was driven to make sure any that would come didn't have an easy time in working toward their goal. Tyler may suspect that Lacus is the target of assassination, but he isn't 100% sure that is what ZAFT is going to do or if there was more they would try to pull off. And with how well the mine fields worked, they shouldn't be seen as overkill for Tyler to put out. You readers should be aware by now that Tyler's preparation normally pay off in spades and this is yet another example of the point. And that is before one takes into account the arsenal Tyler has along with the Exia, which just adds to that.

Turning to ZAFT's black opts team, to say they had no idea what they were in for would be a massive understatement. But then, how does one prepare for going against one like Tyler I would ask? That is especially true when Tyler has prepared a "proper" reception for the said team. Now, that isn't to say they were caught completely unaware, the ZAFT team had been prepared for issues. They knew they were going into Federation territory to do something which wouldn't be seen well at all. Their mission was not just to kill Lacus but leave as little evidence which could be traced back to ZAFT as possible. That would be a tall order with just in mind without adding one like Tyler trying to stop them. So, from the beginning, the ZAFT black opts team was at an unknown disadvantage they learned of far too late to do much about.

Let me take a moment to discuss the "mines" which Tyler put out for the ZAFT team. There was of course the "traditional" mines which made up the second field, besides the remote detonation option they had. And yet, Tyler made that mine field look no different than the surrounding area, so any signs of the mines being placed aren't there. The other mine is in my opinion nasty in a different way than the traditional mine. First, should one step on it, your foot is stabbed through, both causing serious pain and trapping you. Then, when the mine does "go off" it shoots spikes or needles to affect about a thirty-foot radius with penetrating force. In that way it is more similar to a grenade than a mine, but you get the idea I'm getting at. And when either mine type goes off, Tyler sees that, knowing whether or not he got any on the ZAFT team.

Turning to Tyler's side of this, as a soldier, he knows how to use a gun effectively as it should be obvious. He prefers using a submachine gun when he has an option, but that isn't the only weapon he can use well. Tyler may not be an expert with long range rifles, but it does better than average when it comes to it. Plus, he has the motivation to do whatever it takes to delay the ZAFT team from getting to Lacus. Tyler does have a loose plan for what he does even if it doesn't seem like sometimes. Yes, this phase he does fly by the seat of his pants somewhat, but Tyler does fine with that when he has to.

While Tyler is "entertaining" the ZAFT team, the rest in the orphanage worked to get the kids and the rest to safety of course. Now in canon, Andrew has a gun attached and Aisha was dead, not so in my story. And with Tyler there to interfere, the ZAFT team has a much different experience than they did in canon. Also understand, while Kira and Lacus may not know what Tyler can do when put to it, Andrew and Aisha have a bit more of an inkling of what he is capable of. And they are more accepting with the "things" Tyler can do with the the visits and stories they have heard about him from others. So, they are at the point that Tyler doing crazy things isn't something which absolutely shocks them.

Now, the fight Tyler is in goes about as you may expect, he isn't going to keep the ZAFT team from the orphanage, and Tyler knows that. But Tyler doesn't let the ZAFT team get to the house without him scoring some hits on them, especially with the Gatling gun. Tyler didn't leave things there, not with the explosive device he has which he of course uses to take the orphanage down. Although, Tyler's escape is different from the original version of this event, I think it is better. Tyler still gets injured in the exit, but I wanted to show it being harder than just Tyler fighting and defeating a few soldiers in his way. But he manages as he always seems to get out through situation he was in when others would have a much harder time doing so.

While Tyler is doing his thing, I want to point out those in the shelter are not fully aware what is going on. Sure, the adults have educated guesses what Tyler is doing and going against, but that's all they have at the time. But all they really have to go by is the shaking and the sounds that they hear from inside the shelter. Kira has figured out that Lacus is the likely target of what is going on, which is different for him with his naïveté. Now, the two are "closer" than they were before. No, they aren't in a completely intimate relationship yet, but they are working their way toward that slowly. Thus, Kira isn't happy with Lacus being in potential danger, which comes more into play in the next phase.

Let's move onto the second part of the battle which this phase essentially is. I wouldn't doubt that many of you readers enjoyed the second part of the fight slightly more than the first and I don't blame you. I'm not saying Tyler owning the ZAFT black ops team by himself with the mines and guns wasn't neat, it was. But frankly, Tyler whips ZAFT more with the Exia and it is hard to deny that. And Tyler does the idea better than in the original version of this story if you ask me. But let me get into details about this part of the battle as there are some highlights I want to go over.

So, the new part of this which wasn't in the original which is Tyler going against the ZAFT sub was something I felt should be in this. I'm in no way okay with people dying, but it is a fact it happens during conflict, Tyler will admit that when asked. But while the ZAFT black ops team was expected to succeed or die trying, the support ship wasn't. Yet, Tyler knows it is best that none of the ZAFT personnel that are involved in the assassination attempt live to say anything of what happened. Tyler was testing the Exia's performance underwater, but he was taking down the sub so they could be of no potential help to the ZAFT black ops team. And Tyler is efficient at dispatching the sub and having it sink to the ocean floor before moving on.

Now shifting to the mobile suit fight of Tyler going against the ZAFT machines attacking the orphanage. Let me say that the Exia being a gundam does give it an advantage over other mass-production mobile suits as gundam types. But the Exia is a prototype from the next generation machine the Federation has produced. That is the best place to start with this, explaining what the Exia has to work with. The E-Carbon is effective against projectiles, strongest alloy produced thus far in this story's universe. The sub's torpedoes doing nothing is just a good example of the point. The new phase shift armor is not like previous versions that came from the G-Project and what followed. It is more akin to recharging anti-beam coating which regenerates as long as it has power. That isn't to say the phase shift the Exia has can't be overwhelmed, it can, but it takes quite a bit to do that. Most mobile suits don't have the fire power to overwhelm Phase Shift Theta, at least not at this point in the story.

How about we move to the arsenal the Exia used in the battle. So, while the Exia doesn't have a large arsenal, Tyler proves the machine doesn't really need much more than it has. The beam sabers are self-explanatory, but these versions are the first to have variable range deployment, like being a dagger or a saber type thing. This is the first in the development line for beam blades and sabers being able to change their lengths which comes later. The GN rifle is the first example of particle beam weapons which isn't in the SEED universe but comes more from Gundam 00. This will come into play more later with Federation development, but I wanted to mention this. Lastly, the GN vulcans which are different than what the Exia from 00 had are particle beams. They don't have penetration power as the rifle does, but the rapid fire ability makes up for the lack of penetration. And in this phase it show that laminated armor has issues with particle beams more than conventional ones.

The battle itself, well… to say Tyler whips the ZAFT forces by the end would be an understatement. Sure, Tyler isn't trying to win and own his opponents, but this is yet another example shows why Tyler is a frightening opponent to go against. And I remind you readers, the ASH is state of the art and top of the line with ZAFT at this point. They were being piloted by experienced pilots who are above average, just let that stand with what Tyler was fighting. And that is before Tyler activates his SEED mode which just amplifies who good Tyler is as a pilot. Granted, Tyler was being more aggressive than he normally would be, but he was defending those from the orphanage. However, I want to say that while Tyler can be frighteningly proficient at fighting and killing, he has a good heart and fights for the "right" reasons.

Moving back to the shelter while the battle is going on, there are a few things which I wish to discuss. I'll start with the last subject first which is the Freedom being at the back of the shelter in a dock. The Freedom may not have been destroyed as it was in canon, but the damage was so extreme that the original was not usable. Instead, the Federation rebuilt the Freedom and kept it secret, helping the "rumors" and belief the Freedom had been destroyed along around the other two factions. When they rebuilt the suit, they did make some improvements as the machine wasn't going to be used by others from the other two factions. That as Kira mentions includes a stealth system, a more efficient operating system to run it, and a safer and more efficient nuclear reactor for its powerplant. Those will become more apparent later on in the story, but I wanted to highlight them in this phase.

The next thing which I want to talk about from this part of the scene is about Lacus. I want to point out she figured out the attack is happening because a group is after her, likely to kill her. No one told her that or even hinted at it, she came to that conclusion on her own. I point this out to highlight Lacus isn't naïve or ignorant. I know canon doesn't portray her that way, but I want to show Lacus as a very smart girl who has sharp skills of observation. Canon has Lacus as a leader type but also one in need of defending and I want to have her come off as a girl that can take care of herself when she is put to it. This will be more a thing which will come in off and on as the story progresses.

And finally, I want to discuss Kira for a moment. I know Kira is a naïve fool which we all know and love, his personality is part of his charm, I'll admit it. But that can also be part of what is normally referred to as "plot armor" which this series is kind of known for. Yet, I can respect that he doesn't want to soak his hands in more blood by fighting after participating in a war. I don't want Kira seen as a coward for he isn't one. His anger he feels with Lacus being in danger is a sign that he is willing to do what he has to in defense of Lacus. However, back to the point of Kira not wanting to fight, the Freedom was there "in case" in Kira's mind. He never thought or rather didn't want to believe the time would come where he would have to pilot it again. I would highlight that he made the choice himself to get into the cockpit before others had to convince him to do so.

The rest of the phase stands as it is, so I'll begin my conclusion. I know this phase was long, but the battle scene grew into that. This chain of events which involve Tyler and those from the orphanage will continue for a few phases, though I can't say how many yet. As always, some of you take the time to write a review and tell me what you think or ask questions. I appreciate the support from you readers on the stories that I write. Sorry this story is coming more slowly, but life is busy and complicated for me right now and that doesn't look to be changing in the near future. Peace out until the next Phase!