Gundam Seed: The Federation V 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

3. Harsh Reality

A/n

Here is Phase 3 for you readers. I hope you readers are liking the changes thus far not just in grammar but the additions as well, enjoy!

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Phase 3: Harsh Reality

January 25th, 71 C.E.

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Athrun was in a state of cold numbness which had pain flowing throughout his body. He couldn't quite believe he'd seen what he had. Athrun had made a break for the mobile that had been the closest to where he had been in cover. His comrades had been drawing the attention of the OMNI soldiers by being decoys for him. Athrun had known Rusty's plan was a risky one from the moment it had been explained by his friend. Yet, he'd also been well-aware that things had been desperate. OMNI was holding their positions and wearing the mission team down and killing then one by one. If nothing had changed quick, they would all be shot and killed before any of them had the chance to get out of the situation. While Athrun knew that, it didn't make what had happened any easier to swallow.

Athrun had reached the mobile suit he had ran for. He hadn't looked back to his comrades who were buying time for him. Athrun now regretted not at least glancing back sooner to those that were being decoys for him. After he had gotten into the cover of the mobile suit, Athrun had taken a moment to glance back. The sight he had been met with had stabbed his heart. Athrun had watched as two of the remaining teammates he had were shot and fell. Athrun hadn't wanted any of his teammates to get killed on this mission even when he knew that was a serious possibility. But having to see it happen with his own eyes just pained his heart more than he had expected. His teammates were dying so he and others could have a chance to take OMNI's prototypes.

Nevertheless, seeing his comrades die for him was as a discomforting pain with what came next. Athrun witnessed Rusty get shot in the leg and have to duck behind the crates he was using for cover. Then a moment later a grenade bounced into that area. Athrun had begun to move, but the grenade went off engulfing where Rusty had been. It had been surreal to him for what had seemed a long pain-filled moment. There was little if any way that Rusty could've survived the grenade going off that close to him. Even if Athrun had somehow reached him, there would've not been the time to do anything to change the outcome. As that thought had sunk in, it had brought on the cold numbness Athrun was feeling currently. He had just lost a close friend because of this mission which he couldn't get back.

Athrun had swung his body back into cover as bullets once again came his way. The stabbing and aching in his heart were extremely difficult to ignore. He'd just had to watch a close friend be killed by OMNI. Rusty hadn't deserved to die at all, he had been a very good person at heart. Rusty had doubts about this mission and the risks involved for all that would be on the team. That showed he cared about those who had risked their lives and died for this foolish capturing mission. Just thinking about it was morphing the cold emptiness into anger and fury. Athrun whipped around and shot one of the remaining OMNI soldiers quickly gunning down the other too. He even managed to get the individual that had shown the signs of being one of the officers around the factory giving out orders. However, before Athrun could potentially finish the officer off, they dropped into the cockpit of the other OMNI machine.

Athrun knew he could do little more with the circumstances having come to what they were. So, he used his thrusters to get up to the suit's cockpit entry. Athrun lowered himself to the pilot seat and sealed the cockpit, but it was more him going through the motions. The pain of losing Rusty had come back and overwrote the anger he'd been using a moment ago. Tears came to the corner of Athrun's eyes as Rusty's death sunk in further. Rusty may not be one of Athrun's best friends like Tyler and Kira were, but he hadn't been just a passing one either. Rusty had saved Athrun's life many times during the survival course just as Athrun had for him. They had bonded during that time and gotten to know each other more than just acquaintances. They had told one other their dreams and goals, which had meant something to Athrun.

Athrun had the cockpit hatch closed and sealed before he pulled the keyboard out to get to work. He hoped working on the machine's operating system could help him ignore the pain in his heart even if only a little bit. The OS was messy as the mission data had implied it would be, those it was worse than the simulations had been. It required Athrun's concentration to sort out and then modify the system to move it towards something that would be functional. And the work which would be needed to make the OS functional wouldn't be small, Athrun could see that as he sorted out things. As he was doing so, he saw the suit was designated as the GAT-X303 Aegis. That wasn't the only thing he learned while he was working on the mobile suit's operating system.

Overall, the prototype was quite an impressive machine when it came to what it could potentially do. Athrun would use the word "potentially" as the unit appeared capable of several things that were notable, but most were not to the point they would work properly. The Aegis certainly seemed fit for the position of a command unit like CUGE were for ZAFT normally. But many systems were either barely working with serious issues or weren't functioning at all. For instance, the communications radio system was "up and running" but long-range functionality was not there yet. Athrun did disable the one system that seemed working just fine which was the self-destruct. He didn't think there was a remote function with the self-destruct, but Athrun didn't want to risk there being one and it being activated with him inside.

Of the other "non-offensive" options the Aegis had, the sensors array appeared to be working but would need to be adjusted and how it fed the displays would need to be worked on. The camera sets looked to be okay, but much like the sensors would need some attention to get them going as they should. The system would definitely need serious streamlining done before the machine were ready for serious use in battle. The last system that Athrun noticed which held his attention for a moment was the armor system the machine had. The "Phase Shift" Armor system if it would work as the description was saying it would, could be a game changer in the war. The description stated the armor would make projectiles and physical non-beam attacks useless against it. Athrun couldn't say if he believed the armor system could do what it was saying. And it appeared the system only worked while it had power, thus the system was limited to the battery in the suit.

The Aegis had some solid offensive options to utilize while in combat, Athrun would admit. The transformation ability was something that Athrun could see lots of potential with if it could be improved. And with the armor mode the Aegis had, there was a powerful beam canon to be used, and it was only usable in that mode. The other weapons, with the exception of the multi-barrel CIWS looked to be beam-based. That OMNI had been developing beam weaponry for mobile suits was concerning as much as mobile suits themselves were. But much like other systems the Aegis had, the weapons would need work to be effective while in battle. Athrun was somewhat torn with ZAFT using what OMNI had developed with this project of theirs. And he didn't doubt that ZAFT R would take what tech they could from the machines acquired by the mission team.

It took Athrun several minutes to get the operating system fixed up to the point it would function. Sure, he hadn't had to completely rewrite the system, but that was more due to time constraints. Athrun may end out rewriting the OS later to get it working properly when he got the time back on the Vesalius. He had to say that OMNI may have built an impressive machine with their prototypes. Yet, the systems that were supposed to run them was more than junk, garbage, and whatever term for trash was used. It had been a ridiculous circus which Athrun had to sort out and work with for the time being. However, once Athrun had finished what he had to, he gripped the controls had the Aegis begin to rise out of the dock it was in.

As the surrounding displays came up, Athrun caught sight of the other prototype moving toward the factory entrance. The unit's movement was quite jerky from what Athrun could see. Not that the Aegis was doing a great deal better than the other. But Athrun's improvements were making a difference even if they weren't doing as much as Athrun had hoped they would. The other thing which Athrun could see was the factory structure was doing beyond poorly. It would likely collapse soon enough with the damage that had been done to it. With that in mind, Athrun felt it was best that he followed the enemy machine. It wasn't just to see what could be done to stop the OMNI officer, but to not be trapped in the factory. So, Athrun piloted the Aegis to the opening in the factory. He managed to get through the "entry" before noticing the wall was going. He had the Aegis thrusters ignite and get out of the way just as the wall came crashing down into a pile of debris.

Athrun spotted two GINN suits close by while the Aegis was in the air. ZAFT's ZGMF-1017 GINN was the current mass-production model that was used in combat and even general tasks in space and colonies. From what Athrun recalled from his history class, the model had been developed by the Heinlein Design Bureau. The bureau was one of the earlierPLANT state-run military design bureaus. The standard model had been developed from the first mobile suit the Prototype GINN which had been a worker suit. Yet, the current GINN model was also seen to be the most efficient version of a humanoid-type mobile suit in the Cosmic Era. The head had one main optic camera to work with and give the view for the pilot to see by. They model had been made to be more mobile and have better maneuverability most through its thrusters including the backpack thrusters. And with the ability to equip different equipment sets which made its variations gave ZAFT an advantage.

The two GINNs that Athrun's comrades were using to help in the mission were the standard equipped variation. They had the standard equipment that most GINNs had for combat. The MMI-M8A3 76mm assault machine gun was what ZAFT used in combat. It was the first automatic firearm developed for a mobile suit by what Athrun understood from the lessons he'd gotten at ZAFT military academy. It had two firing modes which were semi-auto that was more for precision firing, and full auto meant for rapid firing. The gun was effective against most opponents ZAFT had gone against in the war thus far. The MA-M3 heavy blade was a double-edged physical blade developed by the Martius Arsenals branch of ZAFT's R using the same molecular processing technology as the outer armor of the Laurasia-class. It was reinforced with an alloy called Suitium making it very strong and great for cutting through metal. The blade could easily cleave an OMNI mobile armor in half. Although right now, both GINNs had those stored on their left side skirt armor.

Athrun shifted his gaze from his comrade's suits to the destruction around the general area of the colony. He didn't like seeing the destruction that he and the rest of the team played a part in being about. The mission wasn't supposed to do serious damage to the colony with the commander's plan. Yet, it was unmistakable that things hadn't gone completely according to that plan. Granted, OMNI had participated in the battle which had done the destruction, but they weren't solely responsible. Athrun caught sight of the people running away from where the GINNs were and the general area of Morgenröte. That made him feel guilty since the team had gotten that to happen too. The inhabitants of the colony had nothing to do with OMNI's project here. Athrun would assume that the vast majority had no idea that OMNI had even been around the colony. Likely only some that worked at Morgenröte were even aware that OMNI had been here working on something. Athrun returned his focus onto the matters at hand, and had the Aegis come down and land close to Miguel's GINN.

Miguel and Lester had been working on taking out any OMNI vehicles that could hamper a withdrawal for their allies. Three of the OMNI machines had been acquired already by some of the mission team. Yzak, Dearka, and Nicol had gotten their units working and had lifted off and were making their way back to the ships. Nicol had mentioned to Miguel that Athrun, Rusty and others had gone searching for the remaining two prototypes. Miguel had figured the two units were in the factories somewhere. Athrun and Rusty along with those with them should be able to find the prototypes, Miguel didn't doubt that. However, OMNI knew the factory layout far better than those on the mission team and there would likely be more of them. That would make things difficult for the rest, which was why Miguel had believed it would take some time for the team to accomplish the goal.

M iguel had been somewhat relieved when two mobile suits came out of the nearest factory. Yet, he had become concerned when one faced off against the GINNs and moved jerkily. Those that were to capture the enemy machines should've fixed the units enough the jerkiness should be less noticeable. He told Lester to keep an eye on the jerky one and see if he could contact either Rusty or Athrun who should be inside. None assigned to the mission had knowledge of what the condition of any of the enemy prototypes were before they reached them. For all ZAFT knew, all the targets could be only partly functional at this point. The data hadn't stated how far along OMNI may be with their project. Some on the mission hadn't liked that point much but there had been little which could have been anything done about it. The other prototype which had been slightly behind the other came down to land next to Miguel.

Athrun knew it was best to tell the two allies he had here of what had happened in the factory. The last prototype wasn't on their side, and it may be able to take advantage of that as long as that wasn't stated to allies. So, Athrun activated the Aegis's radio and had to take a moment to get the channel adjusted to get to his ally. "Miguel, things didn't go exactly according to plan," Athrun stated. "The other prototype isn't an ally to us. It was boarded by an enemy officer so, don't treat it as an ally." Athrun paused as the pain in his heart swelled, "Rusty failed. He and the others played decoys for me and were killed in the process."

Miguel blinked at what Athrun had just said. It wasn't the worst-case scenario that could've happened on the mission, but it wasn't the desired outcome by any means. For the enemy to be able to keep one of their prototypes was bad for ZAFT. But Miguel and Lester should be able to work together and best the enemy pilot and capture the machine given some time. Hearing that the rest of the mission team had been killed was horrible for they had all been good individuals. Miguel also knew that Athrun and Rusty had been friends, so Athrun had to be hurting with Rusty's death. "Sorry to hear Rusty didn't make it, Athrun, I mean it," Miguel replied. "I knew that you two were friends, so that is harsh."

Miguel turned his attention back to the final enemy prototype that appeared to be having issues merely walking around. Sure, not all of the ZAFT pilots were the best of friends that had been assigned to the mission, but that didn't mean that none cared if comrades were killed. Yet, it would be up to those that remained to pick up the slack and complete the mission. "Lester, Rusty isn't in the suit," Miguel stated, "It's still under enemy control." Miguel grabbed his machine gun and fired a few rounds at the Alliance machine. "It will be up to us to capture it and bring it back to the ship. We will do it for the rest of the mission team that didn't make it."

Meanwhile, Murrue was doing all she could to get the suit she was in to operate smoothly. She'd known the G-Weapons were still not fully complete yet, but it was another thing to see just how incomplete they were. The physical construction was done essentially, but the operating system was far from done. From what Murrue had heard, some from the college had been helping with the OS, but Corts had been the one working with those people. However, the OS as it was, while able to move the G-Weapon wasn't smooth in the process as she would like. The control responses were jerky as well by Murrue's observations. It would make any form of combat extremely difficult. She had managed to get the GAT-X105 Strike out of the factory, but that was mostly due to the thrusters working as they should, yet Murrue would take that.

M urrue had the Strike came down near the factory, thinking she could make her way to the Archangel's dock from there. However, the moment the Strike touched the ground, it began to stumble. Murrue had to work with the joystick controls and actuators to attempt to stabilize the suit. She only managed to have the mobile suit take unsteady steps forward. Murrue did try and avoid stepping on any of the people in the area, but that was difficult. Yet, she did manage to get the Strike to come to a stop and keep the Strike standing straight and not fall forward. Murrue scanned over the displays and found the general area was in ruins which wasn't what she was hoping to see. OMNI had come to the colony to work on the G-Project two years ago, more to do the development without ZAFT or the Federation's interference. Those over the project had been trying to avoid a mess like this one. But what she saw in front of her clearly said that all those efforts had been in vain.

Now, Murrue was facing off against the X303 Aegis and two ZAFT GINNs. She knew that the Strike was in no condition for combat with its OS as it was. Just getting the machine to operate and move as she wanted was a serious task in itself. She wasn't one of the trained pilots for the G-Weapons even if she knew the general way to pilot them was supposed to work. Murrue was a technical officer assigned to the G-Project, not a trained or combat hardened soldier. Heck, Murrue was supposed to be assigned to the mobile suit controller station in the Archangel's CIC, not be in a mobile suit's cockpit. Yet here she was in the cockpit of the only G-Weapon that wasn't under enemy control now. She was also facing off against two enemy suits and one of the enemy-captured G-Weapons.

Murrue was forced to jerk the controls as one of the GINNs pointed its assault rifle at her and fired. The jerk on the controls had the Strike stumble to the right. The movement had done what Murrue had wanted, but she more contributed it to luck rather than the Strike doing as she wanted it to. She knew that luck would only help her so much in this situation and it wouldn't be enough to get her out of what she was facing. Yes, the Phase Shift armor would assist Murrue, but if she couldn't fight back against enemies, that would only extend the fight she would lose. And the Strike not having any of its equipment limited Murrue's offensive options she could rely upon for this. All she had was the CIWS in the Strike's head and the anti-armor knives in the hip skirts to work with.

Murrue gazed forward to find the GINN who had fired at her had put away its rifle and was drawing its sword. The Phase Shift would provide a defense against the sword, but that would only last for as long as the Strike's battery could supply power. Murrue chose to get the Strike somewhere else so the people around the area would be less likely to get hurt. So, she began getting the Strike to take measured strides away from the factory structure. She could see the GINN coming toward her, but there was little she could do about that. If Murrue made the Strike go any faster, she would risk the suit falling and put her at a further disadvantage in this. Thus, Murrue had the Strike jump out of the path and go back a bit from where it had been.

M urrue pushed the button for the Phase Shift armor system to activate. The Strike gained a fuzziness before color started appearing over the mobile suit. The machine became white overall with the torso turning blue for the upper part and red for the lower part. Murrue was relieved that the Phase Shift had activated as it should and had done in its tests. It would give her some time to work out something to keep the Strike out of enemy hands. That was the goal that drove Murrue to keep going and not give up in the current situation. If she could get the enemy to back off, that would be something, but Murrue felt getting away and to the dock would be more plausible. Murrue had the Strike face the nearby GINN and she pulled the trigger for the CIWS guns. However, it was quickly clear the targeting calibrations were off since the bullets missed easily.

Miguel was aiming for the last enemy prototype while Lester covered Athrun. Athrun needed a path to leave by, and what remained of OMNI was still fighting them. With the enemy unit still not fully operational, Miguel should be able to bring it down before capturing it. Shooting at it with the assault rifle at a range hadn't done much other than show how the machine wasn't operational yet. Miguel using his heavy blade would get things going in the right direction quicker. He would use the flat of the blade to get the unit to the ground and pin it. Should Miguel manage that, he could board the machine and deal with the enemy officer. While Miguel approached the enemy suit, it sprayed bullets from its interception guns in its head. The bullets were simple to avoid, telling Miguel that the enemy machine's targeting was off pretty badly.

Miguel jumped upward bringing his blade in a downward swing at the machine with the flat facing his target. However, as Miguel had his GINN leap up, the enemy machine had suddenly gotten fuzzy and then changed from grey to a brilliant white, blue, and red. The change in color was odd since the other three hadn't done that before leaving the colony. Miguel focused back on taking down the mobile suit and pinning it rather than the odd change. So, he brought down the blade, but it was stopped on the arms the enemy suit had brought up in a defensive stance. Not only had the blade been halted, but sparks were coming off where the blade met the enemy suit.

The response from the enemy unit caught Miguel by slight surprise with him not expecting something like this to happen. He could imagine OMNI had tried making armor which would block attacks like from a GINN's assault rifle or the blade. But this isn't the kind of thing Miguel had thought he would come up against. If the "armor" whatever kind it was could block the heavy blade, then it was possible it could stop other weapons. It showed that the concerns that Commander Creuset had brought up about OMNI's project weren't without merit. "What the," Miguel exclaimed in frustration and surprise. "What's going on with this armor and color change."

Athrun had been working on figuring out the best path to leave the colony with the Aegis. Lester was covering him while he was doing so by keeping OMNI forces busy. But Miguel's exclamation drew his attention back to the enemy mobile suit. It had changed color which reminded Athrun of the description of the Aegis's Phase Shift armor system. That it had stopped the GINN's heavy blade was worrisome. Yet, the sparks said as good as the armor was, it would only last as long as power was being fed to it. Athrun got on the radio to Miguel, "OMNI's prototype suits are equipped with a system known as Phase Shift Armor," he stated. Athrun activated the Aegis's own armor system turning his mobile suit a brilliant red. He then used the Aegis's CIWS interception guns to destroy a few incoming missiles before taking out the artillery truck that fired at him. "Once it's activated, it renders the physical blades useless as well as most projectiles according to the system description."

The fighting was disrupted in the next moment when the front of the factory had a portion blown outward. Athrun caught a glimpse of something shooting out of the interior structure before it was up in the air. He followed the object and quickly identified it as a mobile suit. The issue Athrun saw with that was it was one he had never seen. It looked somewhat like one of OMNI's prototypes, but it wasn't the same. The machine was definitely not one of those the mission data had shown anything about even when it appeared similar to one. That there was another mobile suit here at the colony brought up many questions. With it coming from inside the factory, it made Athrun think back to what he'd seen while inside. He couldn't think of anything that would even point to the existence of the unknown machine.

A thrun watched as the mobile suit landed a short distance away from the fighting. What had him instantly concerned was the machine's movement as it appeared far better than what Athrun had the Aegis capable of and certainly far superior to the enemy unit had shown. The landing had been what was expected of a GINN with a trained pilot. Athrun hadn't been able to spot any sign of jerkiness or even poor response from the unknown mobile suit. And none of them knew who was piloting the unknown or which side they could potentially be on. Without that knowledge, it had to be seen as a potential threat to them trying to leave with the last OMNI machine.

If that wasn't worrisome enough, the smooth movement strongly implied the unknown suit had a working operating system. That system could possibly be a fully complete Natural-use operating system which was very bad if OMNI got their hands on it. If the unknown did have a fully working OS, then the question was if it had the systems and equipment OMNI had developed with the prototypes. Should it indeed have even some of the systems the Aegis possessed, then this fight would be rough to say the least. There was just no way to say much about the unknown machine by just looking at it. Yet, Athrun was very worried about its sudden appearance from the factory.

Athrun wasn't the only one to take note of the unknown mobile suit appearing from the factory, Miguel had seen it too. Miguel glanced in Athrun's direction and saw he was doing okay himself. The unknown machine had to be taken into account and not ignored quickly. "What the," Miguel exclaimed, "Lester, Athrun is doing just fine, so you keep an eye on the unknown machine that just came out of the rubble." While Athrun was doing okay, he should really get going and get the machine he had back to the Vesalius. "Athrun, Lester and I will handle things here, so you get going and get that suit to the Vesalius. If you stick around this place forever, the Naturals will find a way to get the machine you have back."

At the same time, Tyler had come down and landed the Shadow a short distance away from the factory. He hadn't seen Rusty bounce around into his view, so assumed that he was still behind the pilot seat like from the start. As Tyler had saved Rusty's life, Tyler would rather he not die while he was with him. Things were already horrendous enough with the attack on the colony, and Tyler was doing what he could to deal with that. Tyler would rather not have one of the lives he'd saved being lost added to the plate of hardship today. "Rusty," Tyler started, keeping his gaze ahead, "You still good back there with our exit being as bumpy as it was?"

Rusty wouldn't disagree that the ride out of the factory had been bumpy. Granted, the factory interior had been doing poorly so exiting the structure quickly was necessary. Using a mobile suit had gotten the job done, even if it had been a rough means to do it with. Rusty had held on while the mobile suit Tyler was piloting was in the air. The movement of the machine was better than Rusty had been concerned it could be with the current operating system. Sure, Tyler had made serious modifications to the OS from what Rusty had been able to follow. Yet apparently the modifications had done more than Rusty had been able to process. But all and all, Rusty was doing better than he could be all things considered. "I'm alright for the moment," Rusty replied. He gazed at the forward display and saw two GINNs and the other two OMNI prototypes ahead of them. "Although, I would say we are still in a problematic situation even though we aren't trapped in the factory anymore."

Tyler could see what was in front of them just as well as Rusty could. It was three against Tyler right now ahead. Not that he couldn't handle such odds if he was put to it, but Tyler rather not face those odds if he could avoid it. However, he didn't feel he would be given a great deal of choice in facing those odds with circumstances as they were currently. The two GINNs should be manageable with what Tyler had at his disposal with the Shadow. But with the two OMNI prototypes on the field complicated things. They had both appeared to have activated their armor systems giving them color. One of them appeared to be using the original garbage operating system, so it would only be a potential hinderance. Yet, Tyler couldn't say much about the other one other than what he'd gotten from seeing the specs for the unit and that it was under ZAFT control. That was why Tyler was facing potential odds of three versus just him. "Oh, I'm well-aware things haven't improved for us all that much if at all," Tyler remarked flatly. "I fear that will be the situation we will be working with until further notice I'm sorry to say."

Rusty knew things weren't going the best to put it mildly. If there was a way for him to reach his allies, he could potentially get them to stop for long enough to explain things somewhat. But options seemed to be limited in the current circumstance. Rusty glanced at Tyler, "I fear I already know the answer to this, but is any of the radio and communications equipment for this suit working," Rusty asked hesitantly. "I think I could convince them to stop at least for a moment which we can try to explain things somewhat."

Tyler appreciated Rusty's suggestion about him trying to talk his comrades down. And if things were ideal, Tyler would be willing to give Rusty the chance to try and do that. But the Shadow's communications equipment wasn't working properly at this time. The long-range radio functions were unusable until they got work done and likely a part or two repaired/replaced. The short-range radio functions were essentially stuck enough that the channel it was on couldn't be switched. Thus, the Shadow's communication abilities were not usable for the time being for anything beyond the general Morgenröte channels which few if any involved in this were using. "I would love nothing more than to let you attempt to convince your comrades," Tyler started. "Unfortunately, like you have guessed, this suit's communications equipment as it is right now won't permit that. All I got to work with is short-range radio on the Morgenröte channel it is on. I can't switch that without work that there isn't the time for with our circumstances."

Rusty had figured things were "not good" for them currently. And with their appearance outside, they would be seen as an unknown to both sides. With ZAFT, unknowns were treated as hostile until proven otherwise. The only other option which communications could even potentially take place was with Rusty's helmet radio. The issue with that was the range was limited to twenty-five at best, twenty meters more realistically. Being able to get within that range and not be attacked was slim honestly. "I figured that was the case," Rusty muttered. "If we could get closer in with maybe the red OMNI prototype, then I could do something."

Tyler twisted around and stared at Rusty at his last line. He couldn't think of what closing distance or getting close to the Aegis would change for their situation. It wouldn't change that the Shadow's radios couldn't reach out to any of the OMNI prototypes as things stood. But Rusty seemed to have an idea in mind that may help the two of them. And right now, Tyler was willing to hear any idea no matter how crazy it could be. That didn't mean he would go with a crazy idea, but he would hear it out at the very least. "You care to tell me what getting closer changes for us," Tyler posed. "I don't see what that does, but I'm willing to hear you out about it."

Rusty gestured to his pilot suit's helmet, "I have a radio in my helmet," he answered. "But its range is limited to twenty meters or so for it to work effectively."

The option that Rusty had brought up wasn't impossible by what Tyler could figure. It would be difficult for an average pilot, but Tyler was far from an average pilot. Doing the point with the GINNs wouldn't do much but if Rusty knew the pilot in the Aegis, that could change things enough. With what the Shadow had to work with, Tyler was fairly sure that he could get within the suggested distance for a brief period. The question was would that period be long enough for Rusty to get the attention of the pilot. "Is that so," Tyler remarked. "I believe I can get you within that distance for a brief period. That period won't be longer than a few seconds, but if you can use that, I would say that's a good plan to work with in this situation. So, get ready to use that helmet radio of yours."

Rusty didn't think questioning how Tyler intended to get within the close distance would be a good idea. The guy had shown he could get things done, but it was best to just leave the methodology to him and not argue with it. The current circumstances were such that logical thinking wasn't the most helpful thing to rely upon. A few seconds to work with would be hard to use to get a message across. Yet, if that was all Rusty got to work with, he would make the most of it to try and improve things for them. "I'll take what I can get to work with," Rusty replied. "If you get us within that distance, I'll do what I can."

Tyler turned to face forward again with the "plan" agreed upon for them. He took a moment to activate the Shadow's Phase Shift armor to give an advantage for him to work with. The Shadow went fuzzy and then the suit's coloration changed to black overall with blue on the feet, sides, and back of the knee sections, both sides of the torso, and the thruster apparatus on the back of the suit. Red accents came to the ankles, hip coverings, vents on the chest and the outside of the shoulders. Once the Phase Shift armor had deployed, Tyler focused on the Aegis ahead of him. He took ahold of the throttle with his left hand and the joystick control with the right. The goal he had in mind now was to get to the Aegis and potentially separate it from the GINNs. If Tyler could manage that, perhaps he could give Rusty more than a few seconds to talk with his comrade. The more Rusty could talk and explain things, the better things should be for them.

Tyler had the Shadow take a step forward toward his target which was the Aegis. Thankfully for Tyler, the Shadow had eight thrusters to work with for what Tyler could do. The top two boosters which were housed on the upper back inside of either should set in shrouds and were a little heavier duty than the other six thrusters. Along the center line of the back were two sets of twin thrusters, one set near the top of the back and the other sat behind where the cockpit is. The last two boosters for this machine were a little below the top two heavy boosters and pointed outward somewhat but were able to pivot. And all the thrusters could pivot somewhat to help in directing pushing power that came from them. Tyler had all the thrusters adjust so they would give him powerful forward momentum. The Shadow tilted forward on the next step it took toward the Aegis before it ignited its thrusters.

Athrun had been turning his attention to getting the Aegis out of the colony and back to the Vesalius, but then the unknown mobile suit had come out of the ruins of the factory. It felt like a moment later that the unknown was charging toward the Aegis. Athrun blinked and found the unknown was still coming at him. It set its shield in front with the clear intention of ramming into the Aegis. He didn't have the time to do much other than try and get the Aegis in a more defensive position to receive the oncoming machine. Athrun gritted his teeth when the impact came. He would've cursed if not being thrown into shock with his name being said into his helmet radio. And it wasn't his name that caught him completely off guard, it was that he recognized the voice as none other than his friend Rusty's.

Tyler transferred the Shadow's momentum to the Aegis which extended the time Rusty had to say something to his comrade. However, he had been forced into a double take for a brief moment at the name that Rusty called. The last thing that Tyler had communicated with his friend Athrun Zala was through some letters. In those letters, Athrun had mentioned something about his father pushing hard for him to enlist in ZAFT. Athrun hadn't wanted to do that from what he wrote, but Tyler hadn't heard if there had been an ending to that. Yet, apparently, Athrun's father had gotten him to enlist in ZAFT in the end. Never had Tyler imagined that such could and would lead to him facing off against one of his best friends. It was one of those times in life that proved fate could be truly cruel. And Tyler would curse this as something the war had brought about which shouldn't happen.

There was little time to curse the unforeseen circumstances as one of the GINNs went into a dive at the Shadow. Tyler had figured one of the two GINNs if not both of them would turn their attention to the Shadow when it went for the Aegis. As much as he would rather not fight the GINN pilots, he wouldn't get that choice. So, Tyler swung the Shadow to face the oncoming GINN so he could defend himself and Rusty. He toggled the switch for weapons which the suit had that wasn't visible outright. Two sections on either side of the torso flipped out and upward before the seventy-six-millimeter machine rifles came out and flipped up to active position. Target cross-hares appeared on the forward display for Tyler to show where the machine rifle rounds would go. He didn't hesitate, merely pulled and held down the trigger to start the barrage of bullets to be sent at the GINN.

Athrun had been sure he'd heard Rusty's voice calling out his name for that brief moment. That had only happened when the unknown had crashed into the Aegis. That would suggest Rusty was in the unknown mobile suit. Where Rusty could've found the machine, Athrun couldn't say with what he knew. Yet, it didn't matter in the end since it still meant that Rusty was still alive somehow which Athrun was more than willing to take. Why Rusty had used his helmet radio instead of the mobile suit's radio, Athrun couldn't begin to guess. It was possible that the machine Rusty was in had problems with its communication equipment. How Rusty had survived and come to be in the machine he was didn't matter right now. With him alive, he could return to the Vesalius with the others who had made it. Yet, the current situation was making that difficult to see done.

The unknown was facing off against Lester's GINN at the moment and that was the last thing the mission team needed. Athrun was about to connect a channel to Lester and tell him to wait a moment, but didn't get the chance. The unknown suddenly revealed that it had two hidden machine gun rifles that there had been no hint of before coming out. The rifles quickly began unloading bullets rapidly at Lester's GINN. Lester was forced to veer off from the stream of projectiles. Yet, Athrun could see some damage had been done, implying the rifles had likely been employing armor piercing rounds. He felt if he were to "confront" the unknown, he could make more progress than if Miguel or Lester did. The Aegis was "ready" enough that he could say it could be used in combat even if Athrun didn't intend to do that.

Nonetheless, before Athrun could tell Lester to let him deal with the unknown, things changed again. Miguel had turned and started toward where Lester was to assist, but something crashed into him before making it there. Athrun identified the object that had crashed into Miguel as yet another unknown mobile suit. Much like the one Rusty was in, it hadn't been in the mission data at all. However, unlike Rusty's, the second unknown looked different than the OMNI prototypes. It was still humanoid and had a "face" much as the prototypes did. It did have what appeared to be a flight system in the form of a backpack. The suit also had a shield and rifle for combat by what Athrun could see.

Tyler hadn't expected to see the other mobile suit from the back of Morgenröte. His plan had been that only the machine he was in would get involved with the ongoing mess. He hadn't seen any evidence or even a hint of others being around Morgenröte while he had been there. But apparently, another had entered and taken the second machine after Tyler and Rusty had left. He couldn't say who was helping them at the moment, but Tyler wouldn't complain about the assist right now. Yet, the surprises didn't end with the appearance of the second Morgenröte mobile suit. "Tye are you okay," asked the voice of Kira. "You seemed to need a bit of help."

Tyler hadn't expected his other best friend to appear in this situation any more than Athrun being present. It was more possible for Kira to pop up than Athrun with Kira being around the colony. Regardless of how or why both of Tyler's best friends had come into the current situation, it caused a conflict. Kira wasn't a soldier and didn't like fighting the vast majority of the time. Thus, for him to actually get into a mobile suit was unexpected in Tyler's mind. There was no video connection with the Shadow, meaning that part of the communications equipment likely wasn't working properly either. However, Kira assisting in the current situation could help it come to a fair conclusion. He changed the odds that Tyler had been facing from three against one to three against two. That may help Tyler and Rusty to talk down Athrun and have him do the same for the others. "I wouldn't say no to your help, even if I don't like you in a mobile suit cockpit," Tyler replied. "Things are already unpleasant if it wasn't obvious."

Kira could see things weren't going well for the colony or its inhabitants right now. He wasn't so ignorant to not see what was going on and was doing horrible things to the colony. Kira couldn't say what could be done to get things going in a better direction with the circumstances as they were. But if there was anyone that could come up with a plan to do something, no matter how impossible a task may seem, then Tyler was that individual. Kira may not know how Tyler could get things going in a better direction, but he had faith his friend could do something to achieve that. "I can see that," Kira stated. "You got any ideas on how to change things for the better?"

Tyler had a running plan in mind for the situation that he and Kira found themselves in. The goal was unchanged, ZAFT had to be "convinced" to leave the colony interior. If the one that Rusty had reached out to was truly Tyler's friend Athrun Zala, then he could be convinced to pull back out of the colony. The issue was the two GINNs wouldn't let Rusty have time to talk to the one he had reached out to without interruption. Thus, separating the ZAFT machine was required to get Tyler's loose plan a good chance to work. If he'd been working with the previous odds of him versus three, that would be far more difficult. Tyler couldn't really count on the OMNI pilot in the last prototype to be very helpful with the OS in the state the Shadow's had been before Tyler had done the work he had. Kira using the other machine was a different matter and one Tyler could work with in this. "I got one that should get the desired outcome," Tyler admitted. "I will need you to keep the attention of at least one of those ZAFT machines. I'll work on the red one as my idea needs to start with that one. We just need to get ZAFT to go away, and I'm sure enough that I can use the red one to get that to happen."

Kira couldn't say why the red mobile suit was different from the two other ZAFT machines. But there was clearly something about it, which Tyler knew yet hadn't mentioned that set it apart. He wasn't against getting ZAFT to go away, for that would help the colony. And "forcing" them to back off and go away didn't require killing which Kira wasn't comfortable with. However, it certainly sounded like Tyler had a plan to get ZAFT to leave if he could get some time with the red suit. Kira may not like Tyler's plans all the time, but with what had been happening, he knew it was best to trust Tyler and whatever he had in mind to do the job. There was the other mobile suit that wasn't with ZAFT and Tyler hadn't said anything about that which Kira had been able to tell. "Keep the ZAFT machines busy," Kira iterated, "I should be able to do that with this machine. What about the other mobile suit which ZAFT seems to be chasing?"

The suit that was still under OMNI's control would be of no help in the current circumstances, Tyler had no doubt about that. With the state its systems were likely in, the machine would be more a hinderance to any effort than anything. It could potentially provide some distraction for Tyler's plan to work with, but that wasn't a sure thing. Yet, if it were taken down, that would cause more damage to the colony than already had been done. Tyler really wanted to avoid further collateral damage for the colony if at all possible. "From what I've seen," Tyler began, "that other machine won't be of much help for our goal. Keep it in mind but focus on the GINNs for the time being. I should only need a few minutes to get the part I have in mind with the red machine done if I'm not interrupted."

Back with Athrun, Miguel, and Lester, the three were glancing over the two unknown mobile suits that had appeared. The two hadn't been in the data from the mission brief, not even potential hints of them being around Morgenröte. The first one to appear had already shown it was capable and dangerous with ramming the Aegis and then shooting at Lester with hidden weapons. Lester's GINN had taken minor damage from the unknown's hidden rifles and said the ammo had been non-standard. There was little to nothing about the second unknown thus far as it hadn't done anything to show its capabilities yet. The "simple" mission they had been sent on had certainly turned into something they hadn't foreseen. "Another mobile suit, and one that wasn't on reports," Lester uttered. "I'm starting to think things are getting out of hand in this."

Miguel wouldn't necessarily disagree with Lester with the current situation. The mission data had been on the money before the unknowns had popped up. Sure, one enemy prototype had been retained by OMNI, but that could be changed given some time. However, the appearance of the two unknown mobile suits had changed the whole situation. The two were too dangerous to be ignored, Miguel was certain of that. But with how they had been moving, they would be more difficult to capture than the last enemy unit. "Yeah," said Miguel, "there was nothing in the data from the brief about either of these machines. And they are moving better than the others did by what I can tell." Miguel paused, "Okay then, we can't just leave and ignore them."

Athrun knew that Miguel had a point with the unknown mobile suits. But with hearing Rusty's voice from the black unknown, Athrun had to see if he had just been hearing things or if Rusty was really still alive. If they were going to split up and engage the suits, Athrun wanted the black one so he could either confirm or deny what he'd heard. The Aegis's operating system was good enough for simple combat if that became needed. "I will take the black unknown, Miguel," Athrun said. "The Aegis is good enough to be able to do that, and there is something about it I want to check on."

Miguel couldn't say what Athrun was talking about with wanting to check on something with the black unknown. But if he wanted to work on that one, Miguel didn't see a reason to tell him no. The enemy unit was unpredictable and Athrun tended to do well adapting to such when pressed. Thus, Athrun should be okay while the other two were dealt with and then he and Lester could go and help Athrun with the black one. "If you want to work on the black one, I'm not against it," Miguel replied. "Just watch yourself against it, that thing has shown its unpredictable."

Murrue was trying to process the shift in the situation which had occurred. She had been facing off against three enemies that had a serious advantage over her. Things had been grim, there had been no real way to sugar-coat it. Then had come the appearance of the first unknown mobile suit from the husk that was Morgenröte's factory. It had born some serious resemblance to the X207 Blitz, so much so that Murrue had thought one of her colleagues had managed to board that machine. However, after a moment of glancing the machine over, Murrue had seen the suit while similar looking to the Blitz wasn't the same. It had different equipment, and its phase shift armor coloration also differed from the Blitz. Instead of the shield weapon system that the Blitz had to work with, the unknown seemed to have a shield and rifle separated from one another.

The appearance of the unknown machine was beyond unprecedented to Murrue, she had never seen the unit before. That implied that Morgenröte had been designing and building units of their own potentially with some of the developments of the G-Project. What was odd was none from Morgenröte had given even a hint they could be doing such things while the G-Project had been going on. That point could be concerning to disastrous depending how far the data Morgenröte had used had gone. With ZAFT capturing most of the G-Weapons, that was a serious problem already. If Morgenröte had passed the data on to others, like the Federation, that would be a separate but equally if not worse set of issues for OMNI. ZAFT getting parts of the G-Project would come with a cost which OMNI would have issues paying when that came up. However, the Federation would hand out worse consequences taking into account the damage to Heliopolis and that such had occurred because of OMNI being there.

If Murrue needed anymore signs of conformation as to her suspicion about Morgenröte's activities, she got it a minute after the first unknown had popped up. That came in the form of a second unknown mobile suit appearing on the battlefield. The second unit didn't bare much resemblance to any of the G-Weapon designs. But it was clear that it had some of the fruits of the G-Project like its phase shift armor system. The other things which Murrue noticed was the two unknown mobile suits seemed to be moving better than they should if they had the same operating system the G-Weapons did.

It brought up the question if Morgenröte had somehow come up with its own Natural-use OS and just hadn't shared it with those on the G-Project. If that were so, it wasn't exactly unexpected with Morgenröte since they didn't share everything of theirs, but it would certainly be mean. It wouldn't be the first time that the point would've come up since the start of the G-Project. However, the point had been becoming a friction issue between those working on the G-Project and Morgenröte. It had been getting worse over the last year, though Murrue had not been among the group that were snapping about Morgenröte doing that. She had found it kind of odd since things had been going well enough between Morgenröte and those from the G-Project. But those were questions that would need answers later rather than now with the situation as it was. The fact of the matter was the two unknowns were unintentionally helping Murrue's chances of making it through this battle with the Strike intact. That was still her goal, and she would take any help she could get regardless of where it came from right now.

When Tyler had turned his full attention back to those he'd been facing, he found the three hadn't moved much. He wondered if the GINNs and Aegis were conferring with one another much like Kira do he had been doing. It was a natural response to a situation getting a "wrench" thrown into it and unknowns would certainly qualify as a wrench. Tyler would work with the unexpected potential advantage to reach for the opportunity to get Rusty in touch with Athrun. He felt that if Rusty could get Athrun to listen and tell him of what he'd found out, then Athrun could help them get ZAFT to leave. Things had already gone badly for the colony and its inhabitants thus far, it couldn't take a great deal more and manage as it was. The sooner the direction could be effectively changed, the better things could be in the colony.

The next moment, Tyler noted that one of the GINNs turned its attention back to the remaining OMNI machine. The other GINN focused on the suit that Kira was in while the Aegis had its attention on the Shadow. That worked in Tyler and Rusty's favor as they needed to be able to separate the Aegis from its fellows. Tyler had the Shadow take a few steps to his left to see how focused the Aegis was on them. A smile came to Tyler's face when the Aegis matched the same movements the Shadow had done. It told him that the pilot of the Aegis may be willing to hear out Rusty if given the opportunity. "It seems your short message got the right attention, Rusty," Tyler remarked. "We got the machine we want more than interested in us. That may mean they are willing to hear us out about the current situation."

Rusty had been watching the machine Athrun was in mirroring the movements that Tyler was making. He wouldn't disagree with Tyler that Rusty's call out to Athrun had gotten attention. The question was, would that be enough to have Athrun willing to listen for long enough for Rusty to explain things. So much had changed after Rusty had been saved by Tyler McGregor. The first was that Rusty was alive when he wouldn't have been if Tyler hadn't dragged him away from his comrade and behind cover to block the grenade shrapnel. Then he'd learned of the Federation presence here at the colony. Tyler may not have said anything definitive, but Rusty suspected that the Federation had been looking into OMNI's activities here and were working toward stopping them in some way. He had no proof of that expectation, but it made the most logical sense to Rusty for a Federation like Tyler agent being at the colony. So, Rusty nodded, "I hope you are right about that."

Athrun had been matching the movements of the black unknown. He was surer now that he hadn't been hearing things when Rusty's voice had come to him. That didn't answer any of the questions as to how Rusty was alive as the grenade had blown up right where his friend had been. Then, there had been no hint to any other mobile suits being around the Morgenröte factory in the mission data or the what the team had seen when inside. That was why Athrun had volunteered to face off against the black machine, Rusty was likely inside the cockpit. Thus, when the black suit ignited its thrusters and took out the air, Athrun did the same with the Aegis. The black machine flew before landing in a plaza a distance away from the factory district Morgenröte had.

Tyler came down to land in the nearest plaza the commercial district of Heliopolis. The plaza had the space to have two mobile suits move around to a degree and it did not have rubble scattered around it. Ideally, there would be no fighting in this area, but it could handle some if that did come up. He waited as the Aegis followed and landed a short distance away from where the Shadow had come down. This wasn't about showing force, it was about extending a chance to talk and help with understanding. So, Tyler knew it would be best to show he had no intention of fighting the Aegis straight away. Once facing the Aegis again, Tyler had the Shadow raise its hands showing it was wielding no weapons.

Athrun had faced the black machine and a moment later, found the machine had raised its arms up. The gesture was unmistakable as it was to show that one had no weapons to use against the other. He hoped that meant that his expectation that Rusty was in the cockpit. Athrun really wanted his friend to be alive and well if that was at all possible. Losing any on this mission was bad, but he didn't want to have to lose a friend that he had made during ZAFT's basic training. Thus, Athrun didn't have the Aegis grab any of its weapons since the one he was facing hadn't done so. Athrun couldn't say how this would go, but he wanted to be hopeful things would go the best they could.

Tyler had the Shadow take slow steps forward toward the Aegis. He didn't want to potentially spook the Aegis's pilot by rushing over to them. The current circumstances already made things difficult and most jumpy about all around them. There would likely be one or two chances to convince Athrun of the true facts of the situation. ZAFT really needed to leave as soon as possible for the colony's sake. If they stuck around, they would shoulder a good portion of the blame for what had happened to Heliopolis. There would be a Federation patrol or more heading toward the colony if Lisa had reported what was going on to Federation High Command which Tyler expected she had by this point. Time was of the essence even with ZAFT being clueless about that.

Athrun didn't have the Aegis move as the opposing machine began slowly closing the distance between them. He wanted to know if he had been right when he had heard Rusty's voice. The unknown was showing signs that it didn't want to be hostile toward him thus far. Athrun wouldn't have been able to do this with Miguel and Lester around as his comrades would've stepped in before this could go further. So, separating from his allies was the best way for Athrun to check if he had been hearing things or not effectively. Things had been going downhill shortly after entering the colony from Athrun's point of view. If Rusty was in the cockpit, it would be one of the few good turns of events this mission had occurred.

Tyler kept closing the distance between him and the Aegis, slowly but surely. He hoped that Rusty was ready to talk his comrade down from being potentially combative. The Shadow still had no way to change its short-ranged radio channel as much as he wanted to. And as Rusty had said, his helmet radio was much more shorter ranged than the Shadow's radio was. The machines would have to be right next to one another for Rusty to be able to use his radio. But so far, the Aegis wasn't doing anything to counter them which was somewhat encouraging. So, Tyler kept up the pace as the Shadow was closing the distance toward the Aegis.

Rusty was observing Tyler and him getting closer to the Aegis slowly. He was confident that if he could talk to Athrun, he could explain things more to his friend. Rusty and Athrun had become close friends during ZAFT's "survival course." The two had bumped into one another and had come to the agreement working together would benefit them both. That fragile trust had become a friendship within a day and a half into the course. They had opened up to one another and that had transformed the trust of comrades into friendship. And Rusty was sure that the friendship would carry through in this situation as well. So, when the Shadow got close enough, Rusty activated his helmet radio once again, "Athrun."

Words couldn't say nor do justice to the relief Athrun was experiencing at hearing Rusty's voice again. He hadn't wanted to consider what he had heard before to be nothing but wishful thinking on his part. Yet, hearing Rusty's voice again said Athrun hadn't been just wishing he hadn't been hearing things. "Rusty, you're alive," Athrun uttered, "I thought you were killed by OMNI. I saw an explosion happen where you were taking cover."

Rusty felt a smile come to his face to Athrun's response. He wouldn't deny that he had gotten seriously close to being killed. If not for Tyler dragging him away from where the grenade had come down, Rusty would've been killed. With the wound in his leg, he wouldn't have been able to move far enough in time before the grenade went off without assistance. "Yeah, it was close I'll admit," he replied. "If not for assistance from an unforeseen source, I doubt I would still be around."

Athrun still had several questions that were coming to his mind with Rusty being alive. And the last line Rusty had said only increased the number of questions coming to him. Of course, should he get the opportunity to thank whoever the "unforeseen" source was, Athrun would tell them how grateful he was they saved Rusty's life. But there had only been OMNI personnel around the factory shortly after he and the others entered the factory. There weren't any OMNI personnel that Athrun could think of that would risk their own lives to rescue a ZAFT soldier. If someone with OMNI had, Athrun would still thank them for what they had done by saving his friend. Yet, the unforeseen source was more likely to be a worker around Morgenröte logically speaking. "Whoever it was that saved you, they have my thanks," Athrun returned. "But where did you find that mobile suit?"

Rusty was aware that time was limited, McGregor had made that rather clear in what he'd said so far. From the moment the two of them had met, things had been rocky to say the least. With the Federation having a presence in the colony, it meant they had something going on around it. And that said that ZAFT's mission had disrupted whatever the Federation had been doing around Orb's colony. McGregor hadn't said what the Federation was doing around the colony specifically, but that wasn't entirely necessary. For all the ZAFT mission team members knew, they had helped OMNI not have to deal with the Federation's response that had been coming their way. It didn't matter if what ZAFT had done had disrupted the Federation's activities, there would be a price to pay at some point. If Athrun could help with getting their two comrades to leave sooner, that was the priority. "It doesn't matter right now where this machine came from," Rusty stated. "We have more pressing matters at hand which need to be addressed."

Athrun was kind of confused at Rusty's reply to him. He answered the question, saying there were more pressing matters to address first. The existence of the two unknowns was something that needed more information. But the tone in Rusty's voice said there was something that was more problematic which would need to be seen to before anything else. It sounded like Rusty had discovered something that the mission team hadn't been aware of. If that were so, then it would explain why Rusty was trying to get to the point. "What matters are you talking about, Rusty," Athrun questioned. "By your tone, they sounded like they're serious."

Athrun couldn't understand how right he was about what Rusty had learned was a serious issue for them. Learning of the Federation's presence at the colony complicated ZAFT's mission in several ways. ZAFT infiltrating the colony could very well be seen badly at best and far worse for the PLANTs. The incident could and likely would go up to the Supreme Council and the leaders of ZAFT, probably even Admiral Treize himself. Thus, if those inside the colony didn't leave before things became worse, it would only make the incident far worse. So, Rusty hesitated for a moment before he spoke again, "Things are far more serious than we expected them to be, Athrun." Rusty paused for a moment, "I found out the Federation had a presence here at the colony."

Athrun was caused to pause and have a double take in response to what Rusty had just said. If Rusty was right about there being a Federation presence around the colony, that would seriously complicate what ZAFT had been doing. Stopping OMNI from getting mobile suits was important, Athrun wouldn't dispute that point. However, should the Federation have agents around Orb's Heliopolis, then it suggested the Federation had been looking into OMNI's activities. It wouldn't be a surprise if the Federation had been investigating what OMNI had been doing, not with how friendly Orb was with them. Heck for all ZAFT knew, Orb could've requested the Federation come and look into what OMNI was doing so OMNI couldn't accuse Orb of backing out of whatever potential deal had been struck.

With the Federation involved, what ZAFT mission team had done thus far would be seen badly, there was no question about that. The Federation could and likely would hold ZAFT accountable for the attack on the colony. They may even get the Supreme Council involved which would make this mission into a political incident. Athrun had seen enough of politics to know that incidents of those kinds were messy and could have heavy consequences. The point that OMNI had been trying to develop mobile suits would unlikely work as an excuse or justification for what the mission team had done. And Rusty sounded completely convinced that the Federation had a presence in the colony. His friend wasn't inclined to lie or exaggerate about things like this when it could be so serious. "Are you sure the Federation has a presence in the colony, Rusty," Athrun inquired evenly. "That would certainly complicate things in ways we need to address immediately."

Tyler felt it would be best if he came into the conversation. The half which Rusty had given did concern him that Athrun was wasting precious time asking questions. He could explain things more efficiently and get the standing issue across. However, for that to happen, Tyler would need Athrun to switch the Aegis's com-channel to the one the Shadow was on. He brought up the radio settings to see the exact details of the current channel so he could tell Rusty. When Tyler noted the needed details, he twisted around in his seat as he could. "Rusty," Tyler began, "Tell your friend to switch their radio to the channel on ninety-five point three at range of sixty to seventy hertz. That's the channel I'm stuck on." Rusty hesitated for a moment before Tyler continued, "I can iterate things in a fashion to get the needed information across in the time there is to help him understand."

Rusty told Athrun to switch to the specified channel that Tyler had told him to deliver. Athrun was confused at his friend telling him to change his radio channel. He could only assume that it had something to do with the black suit's radios having some sort of issue. But the helmet radio had been working just fine, thus Athrun's confusion to Rusty's request. Still, Athrun did as Rusty requested, though it took a moment with the Aegis's operating system still as jumbled as it was. Once the channel had been changed, Athrun spoke again, "What does switching the channel do," he asked. "Is there something wrong with the machine's radio? The helmet radio seems to be doing fine for the moment."

Hearing the voice only made the situation more frustrating to Tyler as it confirmed it belonged to his other best friend Athrun Zala. He'd hoped at hearing the name just had Tyler wrongfully assuming things, but it had not been that way. This was definitely not the way he wanted his path to cross Athrun's again. Fate was truly being cruel to have Tyler facing off against one of his best friends. Tyler exhaled heavily in response to Athrun's questions, "It allows me to join the conversation Athrun." Tyler shook his head in frustration, "I was getting tired of listening to only Rusty's half of the conversation. And time isn't something we have a great deal to work with to be honest."

Athrun was shocked at the answer he'd gotten though more at the voice that had given it. The voice had been instantly recognizable, how could he not know the voice of one of his best friends? Yet, that in itself didn't make sense to Athrun as he couldn't think of a viable reason for Tyler McGregor to be around Orb's Heliopolis colony. That was before Tyler had gotten together with Rusty as the two shouldn't have been around one another. That wasn't to say that Athrun doubted the two would get along. He felt the two would get along swimmingly as they had some things in common when it came to their personalities. "Tyler," Athrun questioned, "What are you doing around here?"

Tyler knew there wasn't the time to go into much detail about what he was doing around Heliopolis. There wasn't even much opportunity to talk about how he had encountered Rusty with circumstances as they were. Things needed to shift the direction they were going in as quickly as possible. "There isn't the time to tell the tale Athrun," Tyler remarked. "But I am the unforeseen source that Rusty mentioned saved him from getting killed by an OMNI grenade if that is any consolation. I felt there was enough death going on that could be prevented that I wouldn't stand by and let him get kill for all the stupid crap going on today."

Athrun was still processing that Tyler was there and that he'd been the one to save Rusty. Saving Rusty was something that Athrun could see Tyler doing, that was just the kind of person his friend was. Tyler would risk his life to help and save others when he could and had the opportunity, that was just how he was. And Athrun was grateful that Tyler had saved Rusty's life, he wouldn't wave that point off. That didn't answer the question of what Tyler was doing around the colony, but that wasn't as important right now as he'd said. "I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for rescuing Rusty from potential death, Tye," Athrun replied. "I thought I had lost a friend today before hearing his voice again."

While Tyler was glad to make Athrun's day as he would always be, there were more important matters to get to. He didn't doubt Federation forces were on route to the colony as they were speaking right now. It was more a matter of time of when they arrived rather than if they got to the colony. The mess there wouldn't be seen kindly at all and right now ZAFT appeared to be to blame for it all. That wasn't the truth, but appearances wouldn't agree with that with the situation as it was. Tyler didn't want Athrun and others to be blamed for this just because they had gone into something they hadn't known about. He wouldn't say the same about their mission commander since they should've vetted things and didn't appear to have done so much if at all. "You're welcome for saving Rusty," Tyler stated, "but there are more important things to get to. What Rusty said about the Federation having a presence here is true. I say that as one of the agents of the Federation around the colony."

Athrun was taken aback once again at hearing his friend say he was an agent of the Federation. Tyler had never said anything nor come off as someone that worked with the Federation before now. Sure, his mother was one of their political leaders, but none outside of Athrun or Kira really know who Tyler's mother was. Granted, Tyler had mentioned something in one of his letters that he had taken on a new job, yet he hadn't given any detail beyond that. Athrun hadn't imagined that job had something to do with the Federation or its military as Tyler had just implied. That only added to the real possibility of there being an incident with the Federation because of the mission ZAFT had been on. "I take it the Federation was doing something with looking into what OMNI was doing," Athrun posed, "correct me should I be wrong."

Tyler figured that Athrun would put the pieces together what the Federation was around Heliopolis doing. Athrun was smart and had a good brain to work with so could figure out things better than the average person could. That didn't change the results which was the mess ZAFT and OMNI had both played a part in creating. But Athrun seemed to be getting to the same point that Rusty was at when it came to understanding how serious this situation was. "Still quick on seeing the bigger picture I see," Tyler admitted. "You would be correct, but that isn't the point anymore. ZAFT has helped make quite a mess inside the colony and I wouldn't doubt without too." Tyler paused to take a breath before he dropped the real piece of information that needed to be put out. "There are Federation forces on route and racing toward the colony by this point I don't doubt. With that in mind, ZAFT needs to leave immediately, or they will be blamed for the majority of what has happened to this colony."

Athrun's eyes widened at what Tyler was saying. Should Federation military forces be coming to the colony, that certainly changed things for the ZAFT team here. The Vesalius and Gamow wouldn't be able to take on an average Federation patrol with what they had to work with. None of the OMNI machines were ready for serious combat if the Aegis was anything to go by. And it would take time to get them close to that state for going against mobile armors. Federation space fighters were more capable in combat than OMNI armors ever were. They were seen as equals to ZAFT mobile suits which would make fighting against them even harder. "Are you sure, Tye," Athrun asked. "Not that I doubt you, but that would seriously complicate things if it is true."

The patrol that was supposed to come around to bring OMNI to task and confiscate their project was to come into range of the colony in less than twenty-four hours as of 0800 the current morning. Thus, that was now expected to be less than eighteen hours by this point. There was really no way for ZAFT to get out of responsibility completely for what was happening. There was enough video evidence which would've reached Federation High Command to not nail the team involved. "A patrol will be here in less than fourteen hours if not sooner with the colony being attacked. And that could and likely will have more than just a single patrol coming to deal with this now," Tyler returned. "So, yes, things are already complicated and will only become more so my friend."

Athrun had been worried before, but he was now extremely concerned with the answer Tyler had given. To have less than fourteen hours to prepare or respond to a Federation patrol or more would be difficult. Most of the OMNI suits couldn't be fully adjusted in that time frame to be useable in combat. Even should the Vesalius and Gamow run, they would unlikely reach allies before the Federation tracked them down and caught up with them. So, as Tyler implied, it was certainly best for ZAFT to pull back and not look more involved than they already were. Athrun could get Miguel and Lester to pull back and leave if he told them the Federation would be getting involved, he was sure of that.

However, there was one thing which Athrun wasn't okay with doing that. If Athrun left with his comrades, he felt that Rusty wouldn't be coming with them. It sounded like Tyler was the one in the pilot seat of the black machine rather than Rusty. Athrun had suspected that Tyler could be potentially skilled as a pilot or something similar. Yet, there hadn't been much to say his friend could be or not. But the way the black machine had been used said that Tyler was good and likely received training of some kind. That would fit him saying he was some sort of Federation agent. Athrun didn't want to leave Rusty again as the last time had gotten him nearly killed. But there seemed to be no way to avoid the idea as much as Athrun cursed the point. "That wasn't what I was hoping to hear," Athrun admitted. "Is there any way that Rusty could be transferred to the machine I'm in or one of the GINNs?"

While Tyler would like to get Rusty back to those he had come with, there wasn't the time to do that right now. ZAFT needed to leave as soon as possible, or things would become worse, there was no question about that. Tyler was willing to keep eyes on Rusty and help him as he could to stay alive and not get caught by OMNI. That would take work on his part, but it wouldn't be any worse than the crap that Tyler was already dealing with due to the day's events. It would take time for Tyler to get Rusty back to ZAFT territory, but he would manage as he could. "Sorry, there isn't the time right now to do that," Tyler returned. "However, I will promise you that I will keep an eye on him and do what I can to keep him alive and not let him get caught before getting Rusty back to ZAFT territory."

Athrun was well aware that Tyler making a promise was a serious thing. His friend didn't make promise to others, especially friends and family lightly. When Tyler made a promise, he fully intended to do what it took to keep it to the best of his abilities. Athrun had seen proof of the lengths Tyler would go to keep his promises. So, if Tyler said he would do what he could to help Rusty not get found out by OMNI and get him back to ZAFT territory, then Athrun would believe it. That didn't mean Athrun liked Rusty would be among those that wouldn't hesitate to imprison him or even possibly kill him. But Tyler being around Rusty was at least somewhat comforting as Athrun's friend had a knack for getting the best possibilities to happen. And there wasn't the time to argue about what Tyler was stating in concern to Rusty. With Federation forces on route to the colony, things were already going in a bad direction with ZAFT. It was best to mitigate the situation in what ways possible. Thus, Athrun was conflicted with what he was facing in this situation. "I will do what I can to get my comrades to leave," Athrun iterated in a frustrated tone. "But I can't say if they will believe me right away."

Rusty knew that what Athrun was saying was true, their comrades would not take a change as serious as they knew at face value. The problem with that was time was against them the longer it took for ZAFT forces to withdraw. Should Federation forces arrive and there still be ZAFT mobile suits within the colony, this "incident" would morph into a potential bloodbath. The Federation wasn't inclined to be aggressive, but with ZAFT attacking a neutral colony, Rusty couldn't say what their response would be. Yet, perhaps mentioning the Federation had become aware of what was happening here would help things along. "Athrun," Rusty started, "I think if you mention you found out that the Federation have been made aware of what has happened here, they may at least listen."

Athrun could see the logic of Rusty's suggestion to mention the Federation coming to the colony. It certainly would cause Miguel and Lester to at least pause for a short period of time. In that period, Athrun could do what he could to convince the two to leave and return to the ships. Commander Creuset would have to understand that with the Federation getting involved, there was a need to step back and assess things again. The commander may have a reputation for being aggressive, but even he would see the hazard there was with circumstance as they had become. If things got much if any worse, then it would be guaranteed that the Supreme Council would become involved with the incident and what was coming from it. Athrun would doubt that any on the Council would be happy about what ZAFT was doing in Orb's colony. "I'll do the best I am able," Athrun returned. "Just make sure that Rusty isn't found out by OMNI Tye."

Tyler was counting on Athrun to get ZAFT to retreat from the colony. Things were already bad enough without ZAFT sticking around for all that much longer. The situation was going to likely be messy once the Federation patrol arrived. If ZAFT cooperated, then the incident could be managed somewhat better, the best of a bad situation really. Should they not, well Tyler didn't think it would go nicely for ZAFT. The blame was on the mission commander, Tyler was surer of that now than before. The problem was that those under that mission commander's command would also be seen as a threat when they had just been following orders. "I will do my utmost, man," Tyler replied. "Just get ZAFT to fall back. I doubt I need to say things are already bad with circumstances as they are. They don't need become worse than they already are with the consequences that will be coming for all involved."

The Aegis lept into the air and headed back to where the two GINNs had been fighting the last OMNI machine and the other Morgenröte suit. Tyler was sure that Athrun would do what he could to stop the fighting and get things moving in a better direction. That left him and Rusty by themselves in one of the colony's commercial districts. That did help Tyler in one way with a task he now had on his shoulders. He needed to get Rusty into a different outfit as soon as possible for a couple of reasons. And to help Rusty as he'd promised Athrun he would do to the best of his abilities, Tyler had to make OMNI not suspect him of being with ZAFT at all.

There were a few standing issues with assisting Rusty as things stood right now. OMNI would nap Rusty were he in his ZAFT pilot suit for all that much longer and they encountered him. So, being in the commercial district gave the opportunity for Rusty to get a different outfit and ditch the ZAFT pilot suit. If Tyler could find a colony terminal, then he could do more to make Rusty seem less suspicious to any OMNI personnel. He could create a convincing ID file for the colony so it would appear that Rusty was part of the colony's inhabitants rather than someone from outside the colony. Tyler was already coming up with a loose plan to work with to do what could be done for Rusty in the current circumstances. He turned to Rusty, "Now that we've done what we can for the immediate problems. We can now turn to doing some things to help you not stick out when we encounter OMNI personnel as I don't doubt, we will soon enough."

Rusty wouldn't disagree that there were some things that needed to be done with Athrun going off. Rusty stuck out with his pilot suit, he wouldn't deny that. And as Tyler said, it wasn't a matter of if they would encounter OMNI personnel, it was when they would. Before that came up, Rusty would have to do something to not be seen as an individual from ZAFT. What Tyler had in mind for that point, Rusty couldn't say. But Tyler had proven he was resourceful and could get things going in a better direction even when others would have extreme difficulty. Frankly, Tyler was the only one that Rusty could count on for the time being for his safety and well-being. So, whatever Tyler had in mind, Rusty would go along with it for the time being and hoped it would keep him from being discovered by OMNI.

Meanwhile, the Strike and Asuka were still fighting against the two GINNs after the Aegis had left with the Shadow. Murrue had become somewhat desperate by this point as she was doing what she could against the GINN which was focusing on the Strike. The unknown black machine had flown off drawing the Aegis with it. That did help even if only a little as it made one less potential opponent for Murrue to have to worry about. It didn't change that Murrue was left facing off against one of the GINNs. The other unknown suit had turned white overall through the phase shift armor though the torso was dark blue and grey. had quickly begun exchanging blows with the other unknown mobile suit. The Morgenröte unit appeared to be doing quite well at keeping the other GINN busy. Murrue would take what help she could get at the moment which would make her situation even a little more manageable.

Her main issue was still the operating system the Strike was working with. Murrue was well aware that the system had been a "work in progress" to put it mildly. The system's development was on track according to Lieutenant Corts when she had asked him last. The plan had originally been for the OS to be worked on along the way to the Ptolemaeus base. The needed adjustments would need time and testing in order to may the operating system not just usable, but fully functional as well. The current state of the system was barely allowing control of the Strike in the current circumstances. And her avoiding the attacks sent her way thus far were more to luck than her piloting the Strike. Yet, Murrue feared that the luck which had been helping her wouldn't last for much longer.

The other problem Murrue was dealing with was the gunshot wound in her right shoulder. One of the ZAFT soldiers had managed to get in a good shot at her inside the factory. She had been ignoring the injury since it had happened with the circumstances as they were. Murrue knew that she would need to have the wound addressed and get attention sooner rather than later. But while the battle was ongoing, Murrue would have to ignore the pain and the slow bleeding the gunshot wound was producing. That was easier said than done, but she would not let ZAFT obtain the Strike. ZAFT may have stolen four of the G-Weapons, but they would not get the last one, Murrue would make sure of that. Thus, she gritted her teeth as the GINN came at her once again and she had the Strike stumble out of the path of its attack.

At the same time, Kira was holding his own against the other GINN. He had quickly begun using the Asuka's beam rifle against the ZAFT machine. Kira quickly realized that the GINN pilot was skilled, and this couldn't be their first fight by any stretch. It may be the first actual battle Kira had been near let alone involved in, but he had his reasons for doing what he was. Kira would do everything he could to protect Lacus, even if he had to do things he wouldn't do if given a different choice. He didn't want to kill the ZAFT pilot if there was another option to resort to before the end of this fight. The war already took more lives than it should in Kira's opinion, he didn't want to add to those numbers if he could avoid it. Unfortunately, Kira feared this would only be the first of many battles he would be drawn into.

Kira glanced over to the "OMNI" suit that Tyler had referred to before going off and drawing the red machine with him. The glances he had gotten between fighting the GINN which was focused on him had not been encouraging. It was clear that the suit was working with the operating system version that Kira had found before modified the Asuka's own. The machine was stumbling around and getting lucky with avoiding strikes from its opponents. But whoever was piloting it was likely no easy task for them. The operating system Kira had seen before modifying it with the Asuka had been insanity to put it mildly. The garbled mess that the operating system had been so fragmented that calling inefficient would've been extremely generous. He would applaud whoever was trying to use that operating system to get the mobile suit to move much at all. Kira refocused back on the GINN that was going against him who was starting to rush forward toward him. He aimed the Asuka's Igelstellung CIWS guns at the GINN and pulled the trigger.

Miguel had rapidly seen there was a difference between the last OMNI unit and the unknown which had remained after Athrun had gone after the other one. The movement from the unknown was superior to the last OMNI suit, comparable to a GINN's. Miguel had to veer off when the unknown sent a stream of bullets his way. It seemed to have something like the OMNI machine with interception guns in its head, yet the unknown had accurate targeting. Then there was the beam rifle it had with it which it had already used against Miguel. That weapon was a dangerous one, Miguel had been able to tell that right away. A shield could protect a GINN since they had anti-beam coating, but armor wouldn't be of much use from what Miguel had been able to tell.

The pilot of the unknown wasn't all that bad either from what Miguel had seen thus far. They didn't seem to have a great deal of combat experience, but they were adapting rather well for one that didn't have any apparent formal training. If they'd had military training before this, Miguel would be much harder pressed to hold his own against them. The sheer adaptability of his opponent was somewhat frightening if Miguel was honest. It was the strongest adaptability Miguel had seen in an opponent bar ZAFT's champions. That point had Miguel on-guard since this was sending shivers up his spine. The longer this fight went on, Miguel feared the chances he had of leaving it alive would grow dimmer. The unknown was more capable than a standard GINN with no special equipment.

It was a minute later that Athrun's machine reappeared close by. Miguel couldn't say if Athrun had finished off the other unknown or not. The unknown that Athrun had gone after was more unpredictable than the one Miguel had been going against. But his machine looked to be essentially undamaged from what Miguel could tell. However, he hadn't been gone for long, so it made Miguel wonder what happened with the black machine. With what the unknown had shown already, he wouldn't imagine it would be a difficult opponent. "Athrun," Miguel began, "Did you already finish with the black unknown already?"

Athrun had expected the question which Miguel was posing. He hadn't taken off following the black unknown all that long ago. If not for Athrun hadn't been rather sure Rusty had been in the unknown suit, then he felt he'd be in much more trouble. No, he hadn't considered or even imagined that his best friend Tyler could be the pilot of the black unknown. Yet, both of those points were strange, but they had "taken a back seat" as the phrase went with what they had told him. For the Federation to have a presence at Orb's colony was concerning enough before ZAFT had come around. ZAFT had likely interfered with whatever the Federation had been doing in relation to OMNI's activities.

Tyler saying there were Federation forces on route to the colony wasn't good for the mission at all. It strongly suggested that the Federation's military had been informed of the mission team infiltrating the colony. It wasn't supposed to become an attack on the colony, but Athrun couldn't deny that OMNI's reaction had made it so. However, looking at the current situation without knowing the lengths that ZAFT had gone to mitigate effects to the colony and its inhabitants, it would appear ZAFT did infiltrate and attacked it. And Athrun didn't doubt that would be the way the Federation's military would see what was going on should little change. That should be motivation for Miguel and Lester to listen to what Athrun had to tell them before they left the colony. They needed to fall back and regroup before the Federation arrived around the colony in the best-case scenario. "Miguel, I need you to listen to me," Athrun stated firmly. "We need to fall back and regroup quickly. There are facts we weren't aware of which change this whole situation."

Miguel had his GINN leap back and glanced over at the red OMNI machine Athrun was piloting. The tone caught his attention as it was firm and held an air of truth in it. It made Miguel think that something in the fight Athrun had been in with the black unknown had revealed something to him which was important. The appearance of the two unknowns already proved the data the mission had been using was incomplete. That could and likely already had put the mission into jeopardy. The real question was what kind of complications there could be with the lack of data. There were some complications that even Miguel could understand would change the whole situation if they came up. Thus, Miguel felt it was best to at least hear Athrun out even if he had to still fight against the white unknown suit. "What facts are you talking about, Athrun," Miguel asked. "We can't just fall back without a good reason. The last enemy machine needs to be captured or destroyed before we can consider the mission done per standing orders."

Athrun knew the team's standing orders just as well as Miguel and Lester did. But with the Federation's military going to be involved with this chain of events, those orders had to change. Tyler had made it clear that Federation forces were already on route to the colony and that they would be here in hours. The damage already done to the colony was more than the mission plan had estimated would occur when dealing with OMNI. What had been done would already be taken non-nicely by the Federation Athrun had no doubt. That was the reason it was best that those left of the ZAFT team should leave before more happened which could be traced back to them. The last OMNI prototype could be dealt with by the Federation likely better than ZAFT could do. Heck, the Federation could demand that the other four prototypes be handed over to them and force the point. "Miguel, the Federation is becoming involved in this," Athrun stated. "They have forces on route here as we speak."

Miguel's thoughts came to a halt at what Athrun had just said. The Federation and its military getting involved with what had occurred in the colony was beyond bad. It was the worst potential complications that could come up with this mission. Commander Creuset had said the chances of the Federation getting involved were low but was still possible. Miguel didn't want to believe what Athrun was saying, yet it sounded like he was convinced of what he was saying. The idea was too dangerous to dismiss without hearing more about it. "Are you sure about that Athrun," Miguel questioned seriously. "If what you say is true, then I would agree that orders would need to be reassessed. But I need something more than just you saying the Federation are getting involved to pull back."

Athrun knew him just saying the Federation was coming wouldn't be enough. But he knew Tyler wasn't inclined to lie, even less about Federation forces coming to the colony with things as they were. Time was of the essence right now as the longer this went on, the worse it would be seen to the Federation when they arrived. "I'm absolutely sure, Miguel," Athrun replied. "The longer we argue this will make things worse for all of us when the Federation arrives around here. If that doesn't happen, then I will take the blame for us pulling back and not capturing or destroying the last OMNI prototype. But we need to fall back to regroup and reassess things before doing more with the Federation coming this direction."

Athrun really seemed to believe the Federation was heading for the colony from what Miguel could tell. He was inclined to believe Athrun in this as he wasn't normally one to exaggerate about things in this type of situation. And frankly, it was better to pull back and then have to deal with things later than risk things becoming a fiasco with the Federation. There was more benefit to doing as Athrun said than not from what Miguel could figure. Then Athrun said he would take responsibility if it turned out he was wrong about the Federation becoming involved for the team. The commander could deal with the potential fallout which would come if the Federation were to come upon what had been done to Heliopolis. So, Miguel accepted what had to be done, "Okay, as you seem convinced, we will pull back for the time being." Miguel switched his channel over to talk to Lester, "Lester, we're pulling back for the time being. Things have come up that we need to address immediately. We can come back for the other OMNI prototype later. The data we have on the two unknowns need to be taken back to the ships so it can be viewed."

Kira didn't move forward as the two GINNs stepped back and took off into the air. As he watched, the GINNs and the red OMNI machine flew off toward the port at the other side of the colony. Kira couldn't say what got ZAFT to pull back and leave, but something about the red machine that had followed Tyler seemed to have something with it. He wondered if Tyler had gotten something across to the red machine's pilot that had changed things. It was quite possible as Tyler had a knack of shifting things in his and others favor when he was put to it. But it seemed that the fighting was done for the time being at least which Kira wasn't against. He didn't like the fighting and definitely didn't want the colony to suffer from this. Kira had managed to protect Lacus from potentially getting hurt and that was what counted to him. Sure, he didn't know where Tyler was at the moment, but his friend could handle himself as he needed to.

Kira had the Asuka turn to and face the white, red, and blue mobile suit which had been defending itself against the other GINN. The suit had managed to not get damaged visibly that he could see. However, it had contributed to the damage done to the surrounding area which wasn't nice. Whether the pilot had intended to do the damage or not, which Kira wanted to believe they didn't, the damage was still done. With all the fighting, most of the colony's inhabitants had likely made it to shelters by this point. The announcement from the colony control had helped that be somewhat more efficient which Kira was thankful for. He hoped his friends had gotten to a shelter safely as it wasn't safe outside in the colony right now. There was no guarantee that ZAFT wouldn't send more mobile suits into the colony given time. They seemed to be committed to getting the white mobile suit who had been stumbling around as they had attacked it. And until Kira could confer with Tyler and get his view, he wouldn't hold his breath that ZAFT was done with whatever they were after.

At the same time, Murrue was breathing hard with the two GINNs having left along with the Aegis. She had somehow survived the fight and not lost the Strike to ZAFT as she feared she might with circumstances as they were. Murrue didn't kid herself, if not for the two unknown machines, she wouldn't likely be alive, and ZAFT would've taken the Strike. She owed her life and that the Strike wasn't in enemy hands to the two who had appeared from the main factory. Where the two mobile suits had come from wasn't important for the moment and such questions could be answered later. ZAFT may have left for now, but they would very likely be back given some time. Murrue needed to get the Strike to the Archangel if it was still operational and see what the captain had in mind for getting tasks done.

Murrue had already tried to reach out to Lieutenant Corts while she had been fighting against the GINN. There had been no response from her comrade to any of the communications Murrue had sent. He had been supposed to go for the Aegis when he had gotten to the factory interior. Corts had said he would organize others along the way to give them the best chance they could have against ZAFT. Murrue couldn't fault the man for doing what he had stated, he cared about those that were under them, and she admired that quality. But she had never seen Corts inside the factory before she had entered the Strike. Murrue took that and lack of response to her messages to most likely mean that Corts and those with him had been killed during the ZAFT attack. There was a slim chance Corts and some others could be alive, but those chances were more wishful thinking as much as Murrue didn't want to admit that.

There would be a great deal to tell Captain Locke when she got to him, most of which Murrue wished she didn't have to deliver. She seemed to be the only survivor of those who had been around the G-Weapons. There was a chance she could find some while going to the ship, but it was extremely unlikely. The situation was close to the worst-case scenario it could be without being the very worst-case. And as for herself, she needed some medical attention quickly before her shoulder become something she couldn't ignore. Thus, her options to go with in the current situation were limited. The best Murrue could think of doing was asking for help from the pilot of the unknown mobile suit. She owed them a thank you for their help already since she was still alive right now.

Murrue had the Strike turn to face the unknown mobile suit that had remained around where she was. The black suit had flown off somewhere else drawing the Aegis off for a time. So Murrue couldn't say where that one was, but it would potentially pop back up around them given a little time. With things as they were, Murrue was more than willing to cooperate with whoever had saved her life and move on from there. She cycled through the com-channels to see if she could find the one the unknown was using. It took a minute, but she got a response from one of the Morgenröte channels. "Unknown pilot," Murrue began, "Can you hear me?"

Kira had been checking on Lacus and making sure she was okay when the radio began crackling and then a voice came over it. He hadn't expected the one in the red and blue machine to reach out to him. The voice sounded like a female's which was also somewhat shocking to him. Kira had nothing against females, but they tended not to be frontline soldiers that Kira had seen in the war thus far. That could've changed, but there hadn't been any evidence in the news reports that he'd seen lately. So, Kira pressed the switch for his radio, "Yes, I can hear you," he answered. "Are you alright?"

The voice which had responded to Murrue sounded young. Yet, Murrue was in no position to be picky with those that had helped her out in a time of need. She had seen some of Morgenröte's workers had been young. Murrue had assumed that those had been interns of some sort that Morgenröte had working for them at Heliopolis. For all she knew, the one she was talking to was one of those interns Morgenröte employed. The two unknowns were most likely made by Morgenröte when Murrue took the time to consider it. That didn't make the potential tech they had which came from the G-Project any less concerning. However, things were bad already, Murrue didn't want to complicate things more than they already were and make her job harder. "I've been better I admit," Murrue admitted. "I may not know who you are, but I want to thank you for helping with the ZAFT GINNs."

Murrue paused for a moment thinking about what needed to happen next. If this young man was willing to help her, then Murrue could get things done more efficiently. Time was of the essence with ZAFT going to be coming back at some point. Murrue could walk the young man through helping with her shoulder before they moved onto other things. Yet, it would be best for Murrue to discuss what needed to be done face to face with the young man. She could explain things better facing her savior rather than over a crackling radio channel. But the surrounding area was essentially in ruins now from the fighting. So, they would need somewhere else to go and discuss things. Murrue had the Strike glance around so she could scan the area for a place she could use to talk to the young man. She spotted what appeared to be a park of some sort which would do well enough for what she was going for. It had the space needed for two mobile suits to stand and allow their pilots to exit them. Murrue had the Strike shift back to face the white machine, "If you don't mind," Murrue started, having the Strike gesture at the park a short distance away. "I would like to speak to you face-to-face."

Kira wasn't against talking with the woman in the other mobile suit. They sounded reasonable from what they had said thus far, hopefully, they would turn out to be so. Maybe whoever he was speaking to could explain what was going on for the fighting to have happened. Tyler hadn't said anything to help Kira figure out what had led to ZAFT coming into the colony as they had. He felt that Tyler knew something about what had been going on, even when he hadn't said anything. Tyler had appeared in the factory and hadn't taken the same route as Kira and Lacus had, meaning he knew a different route which Kira didn't through Morgenröte. Kira would love to go looking for Tyler, but that may need to wait for the moment. Kira pressed the button for him to use the radio so the woman wouldn't hear what could be said in the cockpit. He then glanced back at Lacus hoping she may have an idea of what to do.

Lacus had been observing Kira throughout the fight he'd been in against the ZAFT GINN. He had done amazingly well in the fight against a trained ZAFT soldier. She didn't like that Kira had been shoved into he position that he was required to fight to protect her and himself. Lacus couldn't say what ZAFT was doing sending forces into Heliopolis. The colony belonged to the Orb Union, which was the last neutral nation of humanity currently. That alone should have ZAFT not sending forces into the colony since it could be seen as a declaration of war against Orb. The Supreme Council was supposed to prevent such actions from being taken with the war against the Alliance still ongoing. The only thing which was coming to Lacus's mind was the ZAFT commander that was around was one that saw little wrong with "skirting" around protocol and standing treaties. Her sister had mentioned there were some in ZAFT that were like that unfortunately.

When Kira had looked her way, she could see he was silently asking for her opinion about what they should do next. The offer to talk from the woman in the other mobile suit wasn't a bad thing in Lacus's view. She was worried they hadn't seen any sign of Tyler since he had drawn away one of the other mobile suits. Yes, she knew that Tyler was able to look after himself when he was required to do so, but that didn't mean she wasn't worried about him. Yet, there was not much they could do for Tyler right now. If they went searching for Tyler, they could waste time before finding him they could be doing something that was in their best interests. Thus, talking with the woman was likely the best thing they could do before seeing what they should do next. She frowned with circumstances as they were for them, "I think talking to her would be helpful," she remarked. "We are rather limited on what we can do right now. Getting to any of the shelters that are not full will likely be hard for us as things are. So, we need more information before making a good decision on what to do."

Kira knew that Lacus had a valid point with needing more information before making a logical decision for themselves. He was concerned about Tyler, but they had no hints as to where he was and what he was doing right now. There was little way to change that for the moment as much as Kira cursed that point. So, as Lacus said, talking with the woman in the other mobile suit was the best option to go with for the moment. Thus, Kira nodded before he faced forward again and pressed the switch for him to talk on the radio again. "I'm not against talking face to face," Kira said. "Lead the way to the park you were gesturing at, and I'll follow." Kira watched as the other suit began moving rather clumsily over towards the park area they had gestured to a moment ago. After the Strike had taken a couple of steps, Kira had the Asuka move forward and follow the other machine.

---

That is where I will leave off for this phase. Oh boy, there is stuff to talk about from this Phase I can assure you. The length of phases like this one will hopefully be less than 30k words going forward, but I don't guarantee that. Yet, let's get to the fun and explanations rather than me just stating wishful thinking.

Let's start with the opening scene with Athrun as there are a few things I want to touch on. I know that we are aware Rusty ain't dead since you readers went through the last phase. However, Athrun doesn't know that and only saw the grenade explode where Rusty had been taking cover around. Thus, Athrun believes Rusty is gone at the start of this phase. The reason this is as important as I'm making it out to be is the friendship that exists between Rusty and Athrun. In canon, there is a hint that Rusty is more than just a comrade to Athrun, but little more than that. My story will have more development for Rusty than canon ever gave him as he deserves a chance if you ask me.

Another thing which I want to bring up from this scene is the first real look of the friendship that exists between Athrun and Rusty. I have mentioned in the previous versions of this story though references a "survival course" which ZAFT puts its soldiers through during basic training. The course is quite literally a week of defending oneself by whatever means necessary with only a knife and a very basic emergency kit each is given. The proctors have guns, but those enrolled in the course aren't told the guns are loaded with rubber bullets. In fact, the enrollees are told the proctors have guns and will be doing everything to try and take them down during the weeklong course. Thus, the course is not just to teach survival, but the value of working with others for a mutual goal even if it isn't stated outright. In Athrun and Rusty's case, I will go into more details later, but they met early on in the weeklong course and agreed to work together.

The last point I would like to highlight is Athrun's capabilities and mindset shown in this phase. He is quick to comprehend things and see the most likely possibilities of a situation. Case and point, he could tell the Aegis was intended as a leader unit of the prototypes OMNI had made. Athrun also noted the "new" systems the Aegis and the other prototypes had which would be concerning for ZAFT. There is the Phase Shift armor of course, but he also sees the transformation ability the Aegis has. Remember OMNI isn't the first to come up with "mode shifting" for a mobile suit, nor is even ZAFT, it was the Federation's military that came up with it first. But such isn't common knowledge yet, so Athrun is seeing the transformation ability as something OMNI came up with to combat ZAFT's BuCUE and the like. And then the further development of beam weaponry is something Athrun notices. Before this, beam weapons were used just by ships, not by mobile suits or armors.

Moving on to the scene outside the factory where the fighting starts between the mobile suits. There are a few things which I want to pilot out in this. The first I want to bring up is the new part which Murrue comes up in. I know her side of the situation doesn't come up previously, but I felt it could provide perspective. She knows that things for her are beyond bad. Murrue, to her knowledge is alone with all of her allies had been killed by ZAFT during the first part of the attack. She also is aware the G-Weapons were not ready for real combat or even field testing at this time. Physically, the prototypes are more finished, but still need some work to be considered complete. The operating system as we know is not finished or even really functional overall as they should be. Murrue doesn't know the details on the OS, it was handled more by her colleague which is named Corts. So, as in canon, the Strike is stumbling around as Murrue is doing her best to pilot the machine. The phase shift armor helps, but Murrue knows that she needed something drastic to make it through the situation she was in.

Next in this scene, we have the Shadow appear, in the style that Tyler has a knack for if it wasn't obvious. For those who have read this story already, you know the Shadow is based on the X207 Blitz, but isn't the same. The general framework may be close to identical, but equipment and options it has are different. But for the body of the suit, just think of the Blitz as that will be close enough. This is the first hint that ZAFT has that the data provided by Creuset was incomplete. Much as Tyler mentioned in the last Phase, the Shadow and the Asuka were built by Morgenröte, not OMNI, but ZAFT nor OMNI knew about them. And the reason that the Shadow and Asuka move better is the modifications Tyler and Kira do, just to state for the record.

Shifting to Tyler's perspective, can anyone blame him for not liking the odds he finds himself and Rusty facing? Rusty puts it rather well with saying their situation may have changed somewhat, but it is still as problematic as before. And with things as they were, Tyler figures that would be the point they would be working against until further notice, which is true. Yet, this is the first instance that Rusty does make a difference in the story with his involvement in this scene. Convincing Athrun to listen didn't happen before and wouldn't happen in canon. It also makes Athrun and Tyler aware of the other's involvement in the whole situation and likely events in the future.

I want to take a moment to turn back to Murrue's view as she brings up an interesting point or two in it. She didn't know of the existence of the Shadow or Asuka anymore than ZAFT did. Yet, she can see fruits of the G-Project the two machines have straightaway. Murrue confirms that the Shadow is similar enough to the Blitz as she mistakes it for the Blitz for a moment. She does have the thought that Morgenröte could've built machines of their own with some of the developments of the G-Project. That is a concern to those in OMNI as they are aware how friendly Orb and its Morgenröte are with the Human Federation. I would point out however, that Murrue isn't like those such as Natarle who are against the Federation's interference with OMNI to an extreme extent.

Let's go back to the conversation between Athrun, Rusty, and Tyler. The first thing I wanted to point out is Athrun was taking a risk going after the Shadow. Sure, it paid off in the end, but he wasn't sure if he hadn't just been wanting to hear Rusty's voice and didn't hear it in reality. I doubt any of us want to lose people we care about, so for those who had gone through that, you may understand Athrun's view in this. Moving onto the actual conversation itself, I ask you to remember time is growing shorter before others come around and see what has happened to the colony. Thus, Rusty understands that time is of the essence and answering questions that didn't progress things in the desired direction weren't necessary. Some of you may ask why Tyler didn't enter the conversation sooner. To that I would state Tyler wanted to give Rusty the best chance to convince his allies of the graveness of the situation.

The final point for this Phase I wanted to address is the separation which ends out happening with Tyler and Kira. This is different from the last version and I have done it for a reason. Tyler will have some things to do with Rusty for his defense going forward which will come soon enough. This is due to the point that for the time being, Rusty will be with the "group" that is with the Archangel. When that will change, I can't say at the moment as I am still considering the point. There will be changes ahead with smaller things, but I will not say more than that so I don't spoil what is to come.

In conclusion, I hope you enjoyed the Phase as it is now. I know I had some bring up the earlier phases needed work and revision, which is what I am doing. It takes work and time which I have trouble getting these days. I ask some of you take the time to write a review and tell me what you think of the story thus far and/or this phase in general. That can include comments, constructive criticism, and questions, but I would rather not have burns and things like that if you readers would be so kind. You can also PM me to ask questions you don't want others to see. There is also a poll on my profile asking if you readers would like me to expand the prologue into multiple phases in the future. Peace out until the next Phase!