Gundam Seed: The Federation V 3

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

9. Making Preparations part 1

A/n

Here is the next phase, hope you enjoy!

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Phase 9: Making Preparations Part 1

January 25th 71 C.E.

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Heliopolis Interior

Murrue was somewhat overwhelmed by the situation she was now in. She was now in command of the Archangel due to the chain of command succession and all the officers above her dead. Not only was she in command of the ship when she never expected to be, it was during a time when things were rather bad and heading toward crisis if it wasn't already in one. There was a growing list of things that needed to be done as quickly as possible to prepare for ZAFT attacking them again. With that, the serious shortage of crew to work on those tasks in the time that there likely was to work with didn't help. She was just trying to figure out where to start on the list of tasks to be the most effective for all of them. Murrue may be an officer and gone through the training the majority of OMNI officers did. However, she didn't think that training had made her ready to command a warship as a captain. She lacked field experience that those like her mentor Admiral Halberton and Captain Locke had possessed. Yet, she was expected to fill that kind of leadership position for what was left of the Archangel's crew in this time of crisis.

She didn't kid herself, what Lieutenant La Flaga had said about ZAFT coming back to attack and trying to finish the job they had started was almost certainly the truth. Murrue was sure ZAFT would come back and attempt to either capture or destroy the Strike with what it had done before. It would be much the same for the two unknown mobile suits the Archangel now had onboard. The colony wouldn't serve as a deterrent for all that long as they had already come in and attacked the neutral colony. It made the Lieutenant's point about them not being able to waste time and stand around doing nothing was not the idea to go with. Time would be limited before facing enemy forces again. She nor others may be able to predict how much time that could be, but the enemy wouldn't wait forever. With that in mind, the time there was while the colony still had an atmosphere would need to be used efficiently.

Prioritizing the list of tasks would help determine how effective any preparations for fighting ZAFT would be. The Archangel was in need of most supplies, including critical ones if the Archangel had to make a tactic retreat from the colony. While the critical supplies were being sought out more than other supplies, gathering any of either category would take time. Then bringing the supplies to the ship was only half of the task, they would also have to be stored properly. Aside from the supply acquisition, the three mobile suits should be brought to the ship so they could get resupplied and receive any needed maintenance to be ready for combat when that came up. Doing that should be straightforward and she would trust Chief Murdoch and those under him would manage that fine. Yet, getting the two mobile armors to the ship and doing similar treatment as the mobile suits would be a challenge and time-consuming. The list of tasks was just getting longer the more that Murrue thought about what needed to be done.

Originally, the next two to three weeks had been scheduled for loading the Archangel and readying her to move out of the colony. But ZAFT's attack had disrupted all the carefully laid plans that had been made so the work wouldn't draw attention from those in the colony or others that may be looking into what OMNI could be doing around the colony. Murrue had heard some of the chatter that there were hints being seen that some could be looking into the work they were doing inside the colony. There had been whispers of the Federation potentially catching wind of them doing something with Morgenröte. She couldn't say how true that could've been, but clearly ZAFT had been seeing OMNI had been around the colony and had been looking into that. Assuming that signs of working around the colony hadn't been noticed by others by this point were folly. However, that didn't change the results of the mistake that had cost lives now.

Moving the mobile suits into the Archangel's hangar would be best done by the teens who had already piloted them. Yes, that didn't change the point they shouldn't be involved with the fruits of the G-Project, but it was too late to be stubborn about that now. They had become involved with their friends and that couldn't be altered right now, nor could a superior officer clear things up since none were available. Murrue did consider having someone supervise them for a moment while they did the task. Yet, she dismissed the idea after thinking about what had already happened with the teens and her. Mr. McGregor would unlikely appreciate someone watching him do the point and cause issues with the one that she set to supervise. The oldest teen had proven to Murrue he couldn't be made to do something easily. And if one forced him, he would respond harshly as he had to her threatening his friends by putting a gun to her back.

Mr. McGregor had already shown he was pretty good with delegating tasks to others and seeing that things got done. The young man had shown that for the group of teenagers, he was the one they all looked to for instructions of what to do. He also had a clear grasp on the current situation and saw as seriously as others did with ZAFT being a threat to them all. He had already seen signs that he understood the wisdom and benefit to work together for the survival of them all. While he may not be the most trustworthy, he had proven the safety of his friends was a priority for him. She could count on that determination McGregor had to have him more inclined to help the Archangel for the moment.

Murrue may not like using that to have the help of the teens, but the situation didn't allow her or the remaining crew to do much else. Thus, she felt it would be best to ask McGregor for his help and hope he would agree to do so. He could see to the suits getting to the Archangel simple enough and whatever method he chose to use would likely work out better than others telling him how to do it. Murrue faced Tyler, "Mr. McGregor, I know that our current situation isn't ideal for any of us, but I would ask for the help of you and your friends." She bowed her head in apology to the young man as she felt it would help the changes of him helping voluntarily. "I do sincerely apologize for you all being dragged into this mess. Yet, we are extremely short-handed as you can see, so we need what assistance we can get. I promise we will do what is in our power to help all of you get out of this alive. With that in mind, are you willing to help us in our time of need?"

Tyler blinked at what the woman had just asked of him. He knew the current situation was not good for any inside the colony interior and not in shelters. Federation reinforcements were on the way, but he couldn't say how long it would be before they arrived and could help. None in his group could get to shelters at this point, and even if they could, they would be locked out of them. Thus, Tyler, his friends, and Rusty were stuck in worsening circumstances that they couldn't change at this time. The point frustrated him, but he knew that complaining or whining about it wouldn't do anything to help. That wouldn't stop him from doing whatever he was able to in order to help his friends and keep them alive. But his viable options were fading fast leaving working with OMNI being the best one for the moment.

Nevertheless, Tyler hadn't expected Miss Ramius to ask them to help as she had. It was a step up from what Tyler had come to expect from OMNI personnel. It had Tyler kind of hoping the woman would be willing to cooperate rather than order them around like soldiers. Yes, it was in their best interest to help the ship and its crew since it would help their chances of survival. But that didn't mean Tyler would let the OMNI officers that were remaining from ZAFT's attack order them around. It also suggested that Tyler may get to have say on how the help came and the methods used. That was freedom he would work with and enforce if he had to with the OMNI personnel. So, it left Tyler wanting some clarification, "The apology is certainly nice," he admitted. "But what kind of help are you asking for and to what extent?"

Murrue could respect somewhat that the young man wanted to have clarification on things. It implied he wanted to avoid unneeded misunderstandings and conflict between the teens and the crew. The less problems between those on the Archangel, the better and smoother things would likely go. "Any help you all can provide would be appreciated," Murrue replied. "As for you, I was hoping you could manage getting the mobile suits handled and where they need to go. Beyond that, we will take whatever any of you can assist with. Time is of the essence if you haven't seen that, so there isn't the time to be picky."

Those that remained of the Archangel's crew all stared at Murrue with what she had just iterated with the oldest teenager. Her asking the teenagers to help was odd as they had nothing to do with the G-Project and should not be around it. Truth be told, they should have headed for colony shelters to hunker down for their safety. Yet, Murrue was asking for their help with what could be done for the ship and crew before ZAFT came back. Not just that, she was asking two of the teens to work with the mobile suits which were supposed to be part of the project. None of the crew left knew about the teenagers or had really seen them that any could recall. Most hadn't interacted with the colony's inhabitants more than they had to during the work on the G-Project. Yet, now, the acting captain was trusting these young people with helping them when they had little reason to.

Tyler was a tad surprised by Miss Ramius's request for him and Kira to manage what happen to all three mobile suits in the colony. While the standing situation may be bad to dire, the woman was trusting Tyler with several things which OMNI normally wouldn't to "outsiders." Tyler specifically didn't expect any of the OMNI to trust him, it was what he had been kind of working toward. It had been the form of attention he had intended to get focused on him so Rusty wouldn't be suspected of being anything more than a citizen of Heliopolis. Heck, Tyler had put a gun to the woman's back, it was illogical for her to trust him with anything right now. And yet, she was "asking" him to assist the OMNI personnel with their preparations.

Yes, it was in his current best interests to work with those here as it would benefit his friends and Rusty in helping them stay alive longer. He had begrudgingly accepted that would be the case until Federation reinforcements arrived to help get things in proper order. But the woman was giving him a lot of responsibility without anyone watching him over his shoulder by the sound of it. OMNI didn't tend to do that from Tyler's experience, so it had him curious why she would do such a thing. Granted, they couldn't imagine just what they were getting with him and the skills he had as a Federation soldier, but he wouldn't tell them that. He would use whatever skills necessary to protect his friends period, those with the OMNI vessel were just benefiting from that temporarily. "Well, I'm not against seeing to the mobile suits," Tyler replied with a shrug. But then he focused his gaze on the woman, "Although I am curious why you would entrust such tasks to me. At least do that without having another watching over me while I do them which you didn't mention."

Natarle had been listening to the exchange between Murrue and the teenager, which appeared to be the oldest among them. She couldn't say why her friend had been addressing that particular young man. Perhaps he had shown signs he was some sort of leader of the group of the teenagers, Natarle couldn't say with what she had seen yet. The request of help from the young people didn't sit well with her. However, Natarle understood the admission Murrue had made about them being short-handed. It was the truth, with the survivors of ZAFT's attack, they didn't have enough to be considered a "very light" skeleton crew. There was much to do before ZAFT came back and attacked again, and the personnel they had wouldn't be able to do what was needed in the time they likely had. Thus, the teens helping with some of those tasks was something may Natarle not like, but she would accept the point with circumstances as they were right now.

However, Natarle wanted the answer to the question the teen had just posed to Murrue about him being in charge of the mobile suits. None of the teenagers should be allowed around or near any of the mobile suits the Archangel had to work with now. They had no business with them or being around them at all before or going forward. They weren't involved in any way with the G-Project and so, they weren't to be around it or know more than they already did. That they knew anything about the project was an issue which would have to be addressed once the ZAFT force outside the colony was dealt with. Murrue and Natarle would have to see to that, which Natarle would remind her friend of when things weren't at crisis level. The teens could help with other things that didn't involve the mobile suits, Natarle would find tasks for them if she had to for that.

Yes, from what had been said, two of the teens had operated all three machines while ZAFT had been assaulting Morgenröte. Natarle could accept that there were Coordinators around Orb's colony since the nation was a neutral one of Earth. She had heard that the Orb Union, much like the Human Federation welcomed and accepted Coordinators within their territories. Thus, finding some around the colony wasn't outside the realm of possibility even if Natarle hadn't expected it. However, for those two to operate the three mobile suits was a concern that she felt was not being given the proper attention it should be getting. For the two teens that had piloted the suits were Coordinators showed that the project hadn't advanced as much as hoped. The G-Weapons were intended to be operated and piloted by Naturals, not Coordinators. It was a big point for the G-Project, to nullify the advantage that Coordinators in ZAFT had over OMNI for the last four years.

With all that in mind, Natarle didn't like what her friend was suggesting with some of the help she was implying the teens would be expected to do. Sure, they needed what help they could get for the Archangel and all onboard to survive to see another day. Their situation may be dire, but that shouldn't mean they put aside or abandoned military protocol and procedure. Thus, what Murrue was suggesting should be completely out of the question. None of the teenagers should be near the mobile suits without intense supervision at the very least. To suggest anything less than that was a serious violation of OMNI rules. "Lieutenant Ramius," Natarle snapped. "I feel that I need to state that what you suggest goes against protocol in multiple ways. Are you sure you understand what you are saying should be done?"

Murrue was well-aware that having the teens help them with needed tasks would be questioned by some. She may not know military protocol and procedure as much as Natarle did, but she knew enough to understand what she was suggesting would be more than frowned down upon. Having the help of civilians was not looked upon kindly by international law or the agreements between the three main factions of humanity. If it was voluntarily given, it wouldn't be as bad, but that was rare with the war going as it was by what Murrue had heard. However, the current situation made viable options severely limited. Thus, they had to do things that OMNI protocol may frown down upon to survive right now. "I'm aware that OMNI protocol would not agree with this decision," Murrue agreed. "But we don't have much of a better choice to go with right now with circumstance as they are."

Natarle couldn't quite believe what she was hearing from her friend. Sure, she understood that protocol couldn't be followed strictly in every situation, things didn't always work for that to happen. However, blatant violations of OMNI guidelines would only cause trouble. And there was something about the oldest teenager that nagged at Natarle. She couldn't say what it exactly was, but she was suspicious of the young man. "You can't be serious," Natarle stated in a flat tone. "You are suggesting we let that teenager," she jabbed a finger at Tyler, "Should be allowed to operate machinery like mobile suits that we have under our control." Natarle paused as she saw the young man smile at her in response to her statement. The smile irked Natarle a great deal. It felt like the teenager was mocking or daring her to reprimand him. There was a clear lack of discipline with the young man, and such would be trouble she had no doubt. "Letting him do such is reprehensible enough, but you imply he should do so without someone to properly supervise him through the whole process!"

Tyler hadn't been able to keep in the smile that had come to his face at the black-haired woman questioning Miss Ramius. The reaction had been amusing to see, more so when it came from a remark of his. When she had started snapping out her reply, his smile had tried extremely hard to morph into a smirk. Tyler managed to prevent that from happening, but it did catch his attention in a way that didn't come up for him often. It fed a "habit" of his which was him prodding those who gave amusing reactions to his behavior. Tyler was well-aware that the habit or interest was seen by those who knew about it as a flaw of his. His mother had made sure among others to make him aware and not let him forget the point. But he just couldn't help but prod those who gave such good and hysterical reactions to what he did. It just tickled something in him that he couldn't ignore, so he usually didn't put much effort in doing so.

The woman made it clear she had a problem with him taking care of the mobile suits for one reason or another. Why the woman had an issue wasn't of any interest to Tyler at the moment. The response was more potent than Tyler was used to getting from any of the OMNI personnel he'd been around during his military service. It was one of the better reactions that he'd seen since a mission he had been on close to a year and a half ago. He felt a dare would spur the woman on to show more hysterical responses for him to see. The only reason Tyler hesitated was time was of the essence, so he knew he shouldn't heed his habit too much right now. Yet, he just couldn't stop himself from giving a retort, "You or any other are free to watch me work, Miss," Tyler said drawing the woman's attention to him. "I will state for the record that it will be a waste of time since I'll be ignoring any that shout orders at me that I don't feel like following." Tyler paused for effect, "As I recall, it has been stated that we don't have the time to spare for work or tasks that aren't a priority with things as they are." Tyler shrugged, "It says a lot more about you than me I would think, but that's my opinion. Feel free to correct me should you like."

Murrue could see from the expression on Natarle's face she was more than willing to snap and snarl at Mr. McGregor. His response could be him prodding Natarle or calling her out, Murrue couldn't say. He had stated his intention that he wouldn't be taking orders from any of them if he didn't agree with them, which she had expected. However, there wasn't the time to waste on an argument between the two. As much as Murrue was curious as to who would win said argument if he took place, now wasn't the time to let that occur. The two could argue about differences of opinion and view at a later point and on their own time when the ship wasn't under crisis conditions. Murrue had already stated that they couldn't be picky about the help they could get or where it could come from right now. There was more than enough work to be done while there was the time to work with that there wasn't the time to waste on stubborn foolishness.

The fact of the matter was they were shorthanded, so they didn't have the time or personnel to spare for doing supervision on jobs as Natarle was demanding. Even with the teenagers helping with the work, they unlikely had enough to complete all the tasks the Archangel needed done. Pointless jobs couldn't be given attention no matter how much others may want or demand for them to be seen to properly. To make the best preparations, all needed to work on their own sets of tasks rather than worrying about others being worked on. Murrue would be the one overseeing things for the Archangel as she was in charge now. She would be the only one doing that until she stated and delegated the idea to others.

Natarle may not like or agree with asking the group of teenagers for assistance in those needed preparations. Her friend had made it pretty obvious that she didn't like the idea when Murrue had suggested it. But the Archangel and what was left of the crew weren't in a position to refuse where help came from with standing circumstances. Her friend would have to accept that point for the moment with Murrue telling her to do so. "Natarle," Murrue began, "There isn't the time to argue about this. I'm not making a suggestion for you to debate. I may be asking him, but I'm telling you to accept this and move on for the moment." Murrue would love to have another to manage the mobile suits. However, with the experience they had, McGregor and Yamato were the only ones that could do anything with them right now. "The two teen Coordinators piloted the mobile suits we have at our disposal while none of us could do much with them. There is plenty of work that needs to be seen to right now that we can't spare a person to stand around and watch the mobile suits be moved."

With the matter settled in Murrue's view, there was one more thing that needed to be decided before the work was started. She may be the acting captain for the Archangel now, but she knew there was the need of a vice captain. Captain Locke had shown that having a second-in-command could make a leader more effective in their position. By the line of succession, the one that was in line for the acting vice-captain position was Holland as she was the next below her. She had seen Holland was good working with people and getting things done as needed. He had also been able to see things Murrue had missed while they had been working around Morgenröte. Those qualities were ideal for a right-hand officer in Murrue's mind. She had no doubt that Holland would make a great vice-captain for the Archangel, better than she would an acting captain in her opinion. So, Murrue turned to him, "Holland, with succession as it is right now-"

Holland knew what Murrue was asking even as she was speaking. He'd seen it coming his way the moment it was made clear that Murrue was the one to take command due to succession. He was right below her in rank with those that were on the G-Project. The line of succession would have him being working beside her if followed. If they weren't facing the crisis they were, Holland wouldn't be all that much against the position. He didn't feel the vice-captain's position wasn't the place he could help the most and that was what mattered right now. The fact of the matter was Holland felt he was better at being a liaison between officers and crew than commanding people.

It was something he had accepted that shortcoming of his after leaving the OMNI military academy. Sure, he'd gone through the same officer training as Murrue had, but she had done better than he had. Holland was fine and even proficient with managing small to medium groups working on tasks. Commanding a crew with what was looming ahead for the Archangel would more be detrimental than him doing good. With that in mind, Holland cut over Murrue before she could get her statement out, "I'm not the pick for a vice-captain's position, Murrue," he stated firmly. "I may have gone through the same officer courses as you and Natarle did, but I didn't score as well in those as the two of you. I feel I would be much more effective as a liaison than a bridge officer. I don't know the bridge stations as you do. It would take time for me to learn which we unlikely have to spare."

Holland paused thinking on how to word to Murrue that Natarle was a better pick for the acting vice captain than him. Natarle had worked more with the ship crew and more specifically those who were assigned to the bridge than he had during the time of the project. She had also been assigned as a bridge officer so would know the positions far better than him. The other reason Holland felt Natarle would be better as a vice captain was, she knew OMNI protocol and procedure than he did. A first officer or vice-captain should be able to help advise the captain with what the best actions were. And if needed, he could help the two as he could even if he wasn't in the position of commanding officer. "In my opinion, I would say Natarle would be a better individual to work with as your second-in-command than me. She knows protocol far better than I ever did and also knows bridge operation as well as you do. I will be more effective working with Murdoch and others than being a commanding officer saying what goes."

Murrue was forced to pause at Holland's statement after cutting her off saying he would be the acting vice-captain for them. In her mind, she had felt Holland would be a great choice to be the one for the crew to look to for orders along with her. His scores as an officer at OMNI's military academy weren't among the top, but they had been above average from what Murrue understood. Granted, he didn't have as much experience with bridge operation, but she didn't doubt he could pick it up quickly enough. His experience with the crew may more be focused on those who had been working around Morgenröte, but that wasn't the only experience he had. Like her, Holland had been required to do shifts around the rest of the crew regularly. And from what she'd seen, the crew worked well under him during those shifts. Captain Locke had remarked that Holland was a good officer, and Murrue agreed with him. Nevertheless, with him declining the field promotion there wasn't much she could do to change it. Murrue didn't want to order or force Holland into a position he was unwilling to take on. They had become friends during the G-Project, she didn't want to do harm to that.

Murrue was now left to consider his suggestion of having Natarle as her second-in-command. She didn't have anything against making her friend Natarle the acting vice-captain she would work alongside. Her friend was a good officer and had talent in the point from what she had seen. As Holland said, Natarle knew more about OMNI protocols and rules than Murrue did. Her scores in commanding others had been slightly higher than Murrue's had been but that was due to her adherence to protocol and procedure. Yet, that quality could also become a problem with the crisis they were facing right now and potential future situations. Natarle would need to learn to be at least a little understanding and even somewhat lenient to violations when they did happen with necessary reason. Murrue felt Natarle could become so if she was given the chance. "I will consider the idea," Murrue replied. Then she turned to Natarle, "Natarle, get with Murdoch and find out what needs to be done for the Archangel please. We can discuss the position that you may be asked to fill and the views that you brought up later."

Tyler watched the exchange between the three for a moment. He understood about the chain of command and line of succession stuff. How could he not with how it had been drilled into him during his basic training he'd been required to go through. Yet, most missions and work he had done during his service didn't have such come up since he didn't work in large crews or groups that required such. Tyler would admit when required that he didn't do the best with others giving him orders. It more came down to respect and him not having much for those he could be put under the command of. He was of the mind an officer should earn the respect of those under and around them before expecting their orders to be followed without question. Most higher-ups within Federation High Command understood that issue with Tyler, or at least they would read the note that implied the idea on his profile.

With that in mind, Tyler shook his head as he quickly lost interest in the conversation the "adults" were having about who had what position. There was work to do which he and his friends could see to in order to help with the survival of the ship and their own as well. Tyler could delegate the tasks he had in mind they could do to help out to his friends better than any of the OMNI personnel could. He would bet he had more experience than most of them if not all when it came to practical field command experience and directing people with his military service. Plus, he wouldn't be fully entrusting the safety and well-being of his friends to OMNI personnel while he had any say in the matter. Miss Ramius may have shown she could be different than the average OMNI soldier/officer, but he hadn't seen enough to know that as a fact. So, he would be keeping a close eye on each and every one of his friends while they were around this OMNI vessels.

As for tasks they could do, the gang could go explore the ship and get the layout while there was the time. Some could be sent out to forage for supplies while there was still an atmosphere inside the colony. He wouldn't doubt all in the gang had things they would like to get if possible before things got any worse than they already were. Those two tasks could be seen to by all but Kira and him. Kira could be taken to get the Asuka and brought to the ship so it could be charged and resupplied. Tyler would move the Shadow and Strike to whatever docks the mechanics on the ship told him to for the same. Once charged, they could then help with the resupply process and speed it along. All of that could be done just fine and more efficiently without the ship's officers interfering with the work. They couldn't complain or waste time if they managed that and even if they did, Tyler would handle any fools that would do that.

With the general plan made, Tyler turned to his friends and got down to business and delegated out instructions. He would have three groups assigned to the tasks he had in mind. Of course, He and Kira would be on the mobile suit stuff since no one else could do the point. Sure, Rusty could pilot, but if he did that, there would be far too much unwanted attention on him and questions asked. Thus, Rusty couldn't do the task with the mobile suits without blowing his cover, instead helping with the other work. Tyler felt it would be safe to have Rusty help Kira in retrieving the Asuka. With that in mind, he told Kira and Rusty grab a vehicle so they could go bring the Asuka to the ship. Rusty could bring back the vehicle in case they needed to use if for something else.

Next, Tyler told Tolle, Miriallia, and Lacus to find a vehicle as well so they could head out and see what supplies they could find for the gang that they may need. That led to the discussion of what all of them wanted to be picked up and what kind of items they could need. Lacus found some paper and began writing down what each of them asked for from their places of residence. Most were wanting personal items, which Tyler had no issue with and didn't see anything wrong with the requests. He asked for a bag which he had back at his apartment which contained specific supplies. It was a duffle bag which he'd packed in case things went south in a serious way and he had to evacuate or something along those lines. Tyler described the back and made sure to state that the bag was best left closed as it would be found as.

After the list was made, Tyler turned back to the last task he had planned for them to do. It may seem the least important of the three, but in Tyler's mind, it was the most needed for their group. As they would be "trapped" on the Archangel for the foreseeable future, they would need to know the layout. The more they knew of the ship and where certain rooms and facilities were, the better off they would be in the long run. Tyler may know the general layout of the ship since he had seen and studied the blueprints of the ship, but that didn't tell him everything. He knew more about the ship's systems than the layout to be honest since he didn't think there had been a need to know the layout. Tyler instructed Sai and Kuzzey to go and explore the ship's layout the best they could without getting in the way of the ongoing work. If they could make a fair map, that would be great so they could work with that going forward. That would be an ideal outcome for all of them with their situation as it was currently.

All in the group understood the instructions given to them from Tyler with how he'd explained them. They were also all relieved with him taking charge in the crazy situation. His calm demeanor with him being as collected as he was helped as well. That Tyler was staying calm and not letting all the worry and stress from all around them get to him was comforting. It was because of that quality which made him a pillar of strength for the gang to rely upon in hard times. With the plan made and laid out, they parted ways to set about doing the tasks Tyler had given them. Sai and Kuzzey headed into the hangar so they could reach the rest of the ship, so they could begin quietly looking around the ship and map it out. Tolle, Miriallia, and Lacus quickly found a vehicle and headed off to gather the supplies requested by the gang. Rusty and Kira acquired another vehicle before Rusty drove off to take Kira to the other mobile suit not on the ship.

Once his friends had headed out to work on the tasks he'd given them, Tyler turned to the task he got to do. He was now responsible for the two mobile suits and getting them to docks in the hangar among other things. The task should be simple enough even if it would likely be tedious for him to work through. The Shadow would be easy since he knew its operating system and responses well enough to have it move as he wanted. The Strike may take more work depending on the state of its operating system. Tyler didn't doubt Kira's work as he suspected his friend had done alterations on the suit's OS. He would be surprised if Kira hadn't with the garbage state the Shadow had originally been in. But Kira may not do as much as Tyler would to get things working smoothly. The Asuka likely had a similar framework as the Shadow which wasn't fully OMNI and that made a difference. Thus, he had a feeling he would need to do adjustments to the Strike's systems to get it working smoothly.

Aside from getting the Strike ready, Tyler would like the cooperation of the ship's mechanics and workers. They would be the ones that would know the hangar and which docks were best for the mobile suits to go into than he would. During his service, Tyler had learned it was best to work with rather than against those that kept a ship running behind the scenes. And there had been one in an orange jumpsuit which Tyler assumed was the chief of the mechanics/engineers. Finding that man was the first thing for Tyler to do so he could get his task done. It didn't take very long for him to find the man he'd seen before within the hangar. Tyler observed the guy barking orders to the workers and doing so in a manner he had come to expect from chief mechanics of a ship. So, he made his way over to the guy so he could talk about the hoped for cooperation he really wanted. "Excuse me sir," Tyler started, "Could I have a moment of your time?"

Chief Murdoch had been handing out jobs to do to his boys after the "meeting" that had just occurred. There hadn't been much in the respect of answers during that, but Murdoch knew there was work to do so no time to complain. The Archangel was far from ready to fly out of the colony and be ready to take on ZAFT forces or even run away for very long. Lieutenant Corts had already conferred with him and was working on the movement of supplies onto the ship. The man was one Murdoch had come to respect during the time the G-Project had been running for. The shifts that he had worked with Corts had been smooth and efficient, which Murdoch appreciated. With Holland working on supplies, it freed up him to focus on making the ship ready as possible.

However, Murdoch's concentration was interrupted when someone called out to him. When he turned, he saw the oldest teen that had been addressed was there. Murdoch had been curious about the group of teenagers, more so when it had been said that two of them had piloted the mobile suits on the ship now. The idea had sounded outlandish at the time, but the acting captain had seemed sure of the point. Murdoch hadn't known what to think of the young man from what had come during the meeting. Sure, the kid had aimed a gun at the soldiers earlier, but it had appeared the kid was protecting his friends and Murdoch couldn't fault that. The kid had stood his ground, and Murdoch could certainly respect a person that did that. And Murdoch wasn't against the young people helping around the ship. The help was certainly needed with how shorthanded they were with ZAFT's attack having killed most of the crew.

Murdoch hadn't missed Ensign Badgiruel's reaction to the suggestion of the teen moving the mobile suits. The woman had something irking her even if she hid that with citing military protocol. If there was some sort of protocol for the circumstances they were in, Murdoch would love to hear what some thought the right way to deal with this mess was. Personally, he didn't have an issue with the kid moving the machines if he could do that smoothly and not disrupt the work going on. The kid approaching him suggested he may want to work with him and his boys, which would be nice. Getting cooperation from others wasn't something Murdoch got to see all the time with the G-Project. "Yeah kid," Murdoch replied, "You need something? We're all kind of busy if that wasn't obvious, so if you needed something then be quick about it."

Tyler would have to be blinded not to see the work going on around the hangar. That was one of the reasons he was here so that he didn't disrupt that flow anymore than he had to. It was one of the reasons why he wanted to work with the mechanics on the Archangel the best he could. It was a life lesson which Tyler had learned from many, there were certain groups/types of people you did well not to mess with or make enemies. Mechanics and engineers were one of those groups one shouldn't mess with since they were the ones that kept a ship running. Ship officers may give out the orders to the crew on any given ship, but they weren't the ones that made sure things ran as they should. Thus, Tyler held the view that it was best to be in the good graces of those it actually mattered and could not make things much worse than they may already be.

With that in mind, he knew it was time to show the manner he had and make nice with those that counted. So, Tyler inclined his head in response to the question, "I suppose I would be a kid to you," Tyler remarked. "My name is Tyler McGregor. And I can see that you and others are very busy, I would have to be blind not to see that." Tyler paused to consider how to word his request so it would be received the best possible. "As for what I need, it is more what we can do for all of those in the hangar right now I would say. If you didn't hear, I'm expected to move two of the mobile suits into the hangar and put them in docks by the acting captain." Tyler gestured around the hangar, "While that is a task to be done, it is my hope that we can work together and not cause a disruption in the workflow."

Tyler thought about the best way to go about laying out what he had in mind. The mobile suits could assist with the supply movement process, he knew that. However, with all three having battery power low, they couldn't be used right away. To change that, the machines would need to be moved into docks and cables plugged into them so they could charge their batteries. Tyler may be able to move the suits, but he couldn't connect the equipment to resupply them, he wouldn't deny that. Because of that, Tyler needed the help of those in the hangar to get his task done and things moving forward. "If we can cooperate, then we can get the mobile suits into docks and charging their batteries," Tyler stated. He stopped as he wanted to appeal to the man and get his help to make things smoothly. "I'm aware that you and those under your charge are likely being taxed and overworked with recent events. I would be shocked if you lot are being appreciated as all of you should." Tyler gained a smile as he continued, "If the machines can be charged, I know my friend and I would be more than willing to assist with the moving of supplies onto the ship and hurry that along."

Murdoch blinked at the response from the teenager in front of him. The introduction was nice of him since it showed the kid had and knew how to use manners with others. The young man noticing how overworked they were with all that had been going on was notable. Most on the G-Project had pushed for things to be finished sooner than scheduled other than those like Captain Locke. It had been bordering on abuse at times in Murdoch's opinion. It had become more noticeable in the last few weeks as the officers pushed harder to complete things faster. It wasn't like Murdoch and the other workers had been slacking on any of the tasks they were given in the last two years. But one wouldn't see that by how several of the officers and crew acted sometimes.

Nevertheless, McGregor seemed far more reasonable than the officers that Murdoch had been required to work with overall. He was also realistic about getting tasks done efficiently and not just demanding results. By the sound of it, the kid implied he would be more than willing to work with Murdoch and his boys. And not just work with them, but on their terms rather than dictating them himself, which wasn't something they tended to see. Frankly, Murdoch wasn't about to say no to one doing the needed tasks cooperating as they did so rather than just add to the list of things to do instead. "I appreciate that you are willing to help make things smoother kid," Murdoch commended. "Haven't been seeing a lot of that for a while not and it is nice to be treated like a person that should have an opinion heard. I'll get some to guide you to a dock for each suit you bring in."

From the response, Tyler wouldn't doubt the man and those like him had been essentially abused in some form or another by the OMNI personnel they worked with. They had been overworked and underappreciated, it was obvious to him. He'd seen the idea from OMNI and the Alliance during undercover missions often enough. With what he'd seen, Tyler knew what kind of treatment officers gave to those that did the smaller stuff. OMNI and the Alliance wouldn't admit the occurrences publicly if they were asked, but such did happen unfortunately. Tyler was glad he could do something to make their work a tad easier at the very least. Those that were doing what they could to get the ship going smoothly certainly deserved a break. Tyler may not be able to give them that, but he could lighten their workload ever so slightly. "I will certainly start moving them," Tyler answered. "The first will be fairly quick to move and get into a dock. The second one may take a bit longer, though I can't say just yet."

Murdoch nodded at the suggestion McGregor had given about how to get the mobile suits into docks to get work done on them. He then jogged off into the hangar to tell his boys to prepare for mobile suits to come in and get put in docks. Tyler spun around and headed back to the catapult leg where the mobile suits were. He climbed into the Shadow as it would be the first machine he would move into the hangar. Tyler had the suit rise up and turn to face the end of the catapult that led to the hangar. The Shadow turned and came through the airtight shutters would be with the catapult was in use coming into the main space. He spotted some in the same type of orange jumpsuit below that Murdoch had been wearing. They were waving and directing him over to the center of the large room where there was a docking cage was coming to a stop at.

Tyler had the Shadow take careful steps forward, maintaining the clear path that had been made for him to use. The docking cage appeared to be what was essentially standard for mobile suits that Tyler knew of. He had the suit stand a little in front of the cage before having the Shadow turn one hundred eighty degrees. Once the suit's back was facing the cage, Tyler had the machine take measured steps back toward the cage. He was listening hard for the sound that would signal the Shadow was touching the back of the cage. The gentle bang came to his ears which got Tyler to stop the Shadow where it was. Tyler glanced around and found he was being given the thumbs up sign from the nearest workers in the hangar. He took that as the Shadow was positioned where it should be for the cage to be utilized properly.

Once the Shadow had moved back into the docking cage and stopped on the platform, the cage began closing. The catwalks were shifting and wrapping around the front of the mobile suit, locking it into place. The cage was slid back to the storage area for mobile suits where the equipment needed to do maintenance and resupply could be hooked in. The cage stopped when it reached the storage area, those in that area began moving cables to ready position to plug into the suit. Lines quickly were connected to the Shadow's battery so it could start charging since that was seen as a priority. Other equipment was being moved into place to do the machine's resupply for its arsenal and other systems.

When the Shadow came to a stop, Tyler had the cockpit hatch open so he could get out and do what he needed for the Strike. He came out of the cockpit and dropped down to the nearest catwalk that was right next to the cockpit. Tyler glanced around and saw that cables and lines were being hooked to the Shadow. The CWIS guns had popped up, likely so the workers could access the ammo cases. After taking that in, Tyler strode along the catwalk and began making his way down the cage toward the deck. Once he reached the deck, Tyler went up to the closest worker and asked them if there was anything else he was needed for in relation to the Shadow. He was told they wouldn't need him to help with the mobile suit in the docking cage, they could do the needed work.

Tyler did ask them about getting the Strike into the hangar and in a cage as well like the Shadow. The reply he received said it would take a few minutes to get a cage moving toward the center of the hangar. That would be fine as it would likely Tyler to get the OMNI machine working smoothly and moving to the hangar. He mentioned they could take the time they needed since it would take him a bit to get the Strike moving smoothly. Tyler did note that the few workers he had been talking to did seem to be relieved and pleased to be told what was going on to some extent. He could sympathize with the position of being out of the know of what was occurring around you. It was why Tyler had a tendency to scan over the Federation's Information Network regularly. It also made him wonder potentially how much the workers had been abused by the OMNI officers had been putting them under.

Tyler turned back to the catapult so he could get back to the Strike and get to work on that machine. As he went, he felt the already "long" day which he had been experiencing was going to be longer still. Tyler once again felt the wish he could just find a bed and collapse onto it and have the day be over. There was still so much to do with what was looming ahead that it was giving him a slight headache. But Tyler would push forward in order to protect his friends from potential harm that could come their way. It wasn't looking like it would be easy at all and was seeming less so the longer Tyler thought about it. The thought came to him that he seriously needed a vacation when the opportunity came up. He'd been getting that feeling off and on as of late, but the feeling was stronger now than it had been before.

Tyler closed the rest of the distance to the Strike and took the zip line to reach the cockpit. He clambered into the pilot seat and settled in before activating the machine's operating system. Tyler watched as the system loaded and arrived at the main display screen. He then looked over general settings for the operating system and couldn't stop the sigh that escaped him. He'd figured the Strike's OS wouldn't be pretty even after what adjustments Kira could've made for it. But Tyler was seeing the signs he'd underestimated just how fowl the garbage which was the suit's operating system was. Sure, he had assumed whatever OMNI had put together wouldn't be pretty, it wasn't their style of system design. His missions around OMNI and the Alliance had reinforced the point.

The Shadow's OS had not been nice, really clunky and unfinished, that was the best Tyler could say about what he'd started with. In comparison to that, the Strike's system was lower than a rudimentary program. Granted, Kira's work had made it into a usable system and allowed the mobile suit to move around okay. However, the OS was still pretty bad and needed work to get it going anywhere near smoothly. Tyler did see areas of the system that could be improved to help it get into better working order. It would take a few minutes to get things adjusted but that was fine. It was easier as Tyler had done the work on the Shadow, and this would be loosely similar to that. So, he brought out the keyboard and began making the adjustments that would get the system closer to where Tyler wanted it to be.

After the adjustments were made and the system was updated, Tyler had the Strike rise to its feet. He was measuring the suit's responses to his input to see if the improvements had done as he hoped. The Strike's movement was fair, though some of the controls' feedback was jerky from what Tyler could tell. The Shadow's performance was better compared to the Strike's which was sluggish seen side by side. More work would be needed to streamline the suit's operation, but that wasn't his problem to deal with right now if it would be at all. If the mobile suits were needed, Tyler felt he and Kira would use the Shadow and Asuka rather than the Strike. He hoped that such wouldn't come up, but that hope was fading by the minute unfortunately. So, instead, Tyler focused on having the Strike slowly make its way down the catapult toward the hangar.

At the same time, Tolle, Miriallia, and Lacus had quickly found a vehicle to use for their task Tyler had given them. The vehicle was more a van which Tolle had selected. His reasoning had been since they would be picking up things to bring back to the group, they would need the space the van would provide. The list that Lacus had made wasn't exactly short with what had been requested by the gang. Then there was potentially what else they may find while foraging which they could bring back. And going away from the ship was helping all three of them to not think about what had occurred in the catapult. Tyler and Kira being under threat by the soldiers hadn't felt nice or been acceptable to any in the gang. Sai may have been the one to step forward first, but that didn't mean the others wouldn't have done the same. Sure, the situation had ended okay, but it still didn't feel right to any of Tyler and Kira's friends.

Tolle felt the gang weren't the only ones that had an issue with what had happened. He'd heard some whispers as they had headed out to find a vehicle from some of the OMNI personnel. Tolle's group wasn't the only one that was heading out to go and retrieve things for the ship. There were several of the workers that were doing the same, but they were seeking out specific supplies for the Archangel. From what he and the girls had observed, those seeking the supplies had gone for the trucks rather than the other vehicle types. The two vans and regular small vehicles were left alone by those from the ships. Kira and Mr. Mackenzie had got into one of the smaller vehicles as his group had reached the van. From what Tyler had said, Kira would be going to the other mobile suit so it could be brought back to the hip and be recharged.

His attention was drawn back as Miriallia and Lacus were discussing the best route to take when they reached the van. Tolle slid into the van's driver's seat as Miriallia was ironing out the route's details. He didn't mind his girlfriend planning the route they would take, she was better with directions anyway. Tolle would admit Miri was a great navigator which was why he relied on her for such things. After waiting for a moment, Miriallia explained to Tolle the route that she and Lacus had come up with. The route was simple enough and would have them start at the farthest destination first. With the colony's atmosphere thinning due to the hole that had been made in the colony wall, time was of the essence. So, Tolle started the vehicle and drove them off toward the first stop their route would have them go to.

As Tolle's group headed off to work on their task, Kira and Rusty had gotten into one of the smaller cars. Rusty took the driver's seat since he would be driving back to the ship after dropping Kira off. It only took a few minutes for Rusty to drive the two of them to reach where the Asuka had been left. Rusty parked the car and let Kira out who walked up to the mobile suit. Kira climbed into the cockpit of the Asuka after ascending with the zip line. He activated the operating system which came up quickly enough. The battery's power level was rather low, but it should be enough to let Kira get back to the Archangel. Mr. Mackenzie had the vehicle to get back to the ship so wouldn't need a ride back. So, Kira had the Asuka rise to it full height and turn toward the Archangel.

Rusty watched as Tyler's friend boarded the mobile suit and a moment later had it stand. It wasn't the same as watching Tyler pilot the Shadow, but it still caused him to pause at seeing the Asuka heading for the OMNI vessel. The performance was better than any of the prototypes that had been acquired from what Rusty would guess. And it wasn't just the smooth performance, it was the clear signs of the piloting skill Mr. Yamato was showing. Sure, he wasn't at the same skill level as Tyler was, but he wasn't a novice. It made Rusty wonder if Yamato hadn't had some sort of training that contributed to his piloting skills. The guy had seemed like a normal civilian from what he'd seen. Rusty shook his head and brought the vehicle around so he could head back to the OMNI vessel.

It didn't take long for Rusty and Kira to make their way back to the Archangel. Rusty drove the vehicle up the supply ramp which was free at that moment. Kira had the Asuka walk into the catapult and down toward the entrance to the ship's hangar. He quickly spotted some on the deck waving at him to get his attention. Kira watched as the workers below seemed to be directing him toward the center of the hangar area. He moved the Asuka as he was being directed and observed a cage sliding out to the center of the hangar. He glanced around the area and found the other two machine were already in cages which had been moved into a place further back in the hangar. Kira turned then backed the Asuka into the dock and the catwalks swung into place around the mobile suit.

Once the Asuka was locked into the dock, Kira exited the suit's cockpit. He scanned around to see if he could spot Tyler around somewhere. Yet, he saw nothing of his friend while he had been searching. It wasn't exactly a surprise that Tyler may not be around the hangar. There was a lot of work to be done, so Tyler would likely making himself busy. Kira was feeling the climbing tension that was going around the ship and it was making him uncomfortable. But he could kind of understand Tyler's wish to stay busy in order to not give attention to the growing tension. It seemed like a good idea to occupy the mind with circumstances as they were. Perhaps Kira could use one of the mobile suits to help with the supply process once they were charged enough.

Back with Tolle's group, their first destination was Sai's place as it required the farthest travel to reach out of all of those the route would take them to. Sai had asked for a few things to be picked up and had given Miriallia the key to the house his family lived in. When Miriallia had opened the door and pushed it inside, the three saw the first signs of the panic which had griped the colony's citizens. It was obvious that there had been rushing around with things littered in most of the rooms. Miriallia had searched for any note or something like that which could be from Sai's parents but found nothing. Sai had asked them to at least look around to see if there was something from his parents while they were there. While Miriallia had been searching with the help of Lacus, Tolle had sought out the items that Sai had asked for. They couldn't waste all that much time at any one place with things as tense as they were. Thankfully, Sai hadn't asked for a great deal, more some personal and family items which were simple enough to find within the house that Sai and his family had been living in.

When they were finished at Sai's house, the group moved to Miriallia's next followed by Kuzzey's to collect the stuff on the list. Tolle's place was the fourth stop followed by the house that Kira stayed in while he had been going to college at Morgenröte. There was nothing out of the ordinary at the residences they visited. Much like Sai's home, there were signs of rushing about and a quick exit by those who had been there. The signs of rushed exits were taking tolls on the trio the more they saw of it. It was a reminder of the chaos which the fight between OMNI and ZAFT that happened less than two hours ago. It echoed the things the news networks had been saying about the ongoing war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT. Before this, the new had been more stories about something that was far away and would never come to them. However, now they had seen what the war was doing with their own eyes, it felt more real tan it had previously.

The last destination on the route that Miriallia had planned out was Tyler's apartment which was at the edge of the main residential district. The three arrived outside the door to Tyler's apartment when they realized none of them had entered their friend's living space before this. Tyler had always come to one of their places instead of them going to his before now when they considered the point. The idea had never come up that any of the three of them could remember and it caused them to pause for a moment. It wasn't that Tyler was secretive necessarily, but he didn't give details about things if others didn't ask him directly. It wasn't a bad quality for Tyler to have, but it normally didn't come up with the gang. There had just been a form of trust that had been established which wasn't questioned any longer when it came to Tyler.

The girls blinked when they started taking in Tyler's apartment while Tolle just stared at the sight. Tyler's apartment appeared much cleaner and organized than any of them had expected. Sure, Tyler had shown he had an organization system he used, but this was the more stark example of the point any of them had seen. Miriallia had even asked Tyler where he had learned organization. His answer hadn't made a lot of sense other than he had learned it from his family. Their friend didn't tend to say much about his family other than them living around the Republic of East Asia. In fact, Tyler seemed to go out of his way to change the subject when it went toward his family. It had seemed odd at first, but they had just accepted there were some sort of issues between him and his family.

After getting over the mild shock of seeing Tyler's living space, the three moved to the bedroom. It was where the "duffle" bag which Tyler had asked for was located according to him. Lacus asked Miriallia and Tolle if Tyler had mentioned what was in the bag when she had been writing the list. They had said he hadn't said anything specific about what the duffle bag contained that they could remember. The only thing which Tolle said he could recall Tyler saying was the bag had stuff which he could utilize for any "foreseeable issues" that could come up. They found the duffle bag since it was exactly where Tyler had said it would be located. Tolle immediately had questions about the contents when he lifted the bag and found it was not light. The weight alone said there was an amount in the bag and not just like clothes, but there had to be other things in it. The size would allow there to be several things in the bag if organized carefully which Tyler likely had done. The girls helped Tolle heft the bag out to the van as he was having some trouble carrying it alone.

They checked over what they had compared to the list Lacus had made for them to work from. All the items on the list had been acquired with the route that Miriallia had drawn up. Tolle recalled that Tyler suggested they see what they could gather for the gang while they were out and about. It wasn't a bad idea while there was the time with a breathable atmosphere in the colony interior. The OMNI ship may be supplying itself, but there were things they wouldn't see as "priority" they could search for. Tolle brought up the idea which Miriallia and Lacus agreed to do before they headed back to the Archangel. For the girls, neither felt that general hygiene products would be in the supplies being fetched by the OMNI personnel. It may not be important to those they were work with for the time being, but they saw them as important. So, the three got back into the van and Tolle drove them off to the commercial district.

Back on the Archangel, Tyler had slipped away shortly after getting the Shadow and Strike into docking cages. He would return when the mobile suits would be decently charged and use them to help the mechanics bring supplies on the ship and store them. He was inclined to assist those that would give the ship the best chance to make it through what ZAFT would send their way. Plus, Tyler didn't think much of the OMNI officers that the ship had to offer right now. The two armor pilots were okay, but they weren't commanding officers, more field officers. There was a notable if not a stark difference between ship/vessel officers and those who had rank on the field and combat situations. Those working on battlefields and off of vessels tended to be more practical and reasonable since they saw what the war was doing firsthand. Ship officers were taught "protocol" and "procedures" which higher ups claimed was to be followed for everything, even events that had never been imagined. Thus, it was practicality versus technicality in Tyler's mind when comparing the two. So, Tyler would be making himself unavailable for those officers for the time being.

Tyler vanished from the hangar with little effort and no one appeared to have noticed him doing so. The idea had first shown how handy it could be when he had been "required" to go to social events with his parents. Tyler had rapidly discovered he didn't like being fond over by adults or other people which had been a thing that happened to him often as a child. Thus, he had turned to figuring out ways to escape notice and attention of those he was around. He had quickly found the skill set was freaking handy and developed the vanishing act the best he could. The vanishing act had only improved after he had enlisted in the Federation's military. The SOLAS training had refined his skillset further which had only made him better at infiltration, which some of his missions required.

When he had escaped the notice of those on the ship working on things, Tyler took the time to reassess the current standing. His friends were working on the tasks that he had delegated to them which would help their situation. Tolle's group would take a bit of time to gather the items that had been on the list Lacus had written up for them. The duffle bag that Tyler had requested the three to retrieve had things which should help in most situations which could come up. He hadn't mentioned what was in the bag as there were things since it would be better that his friends do not know about for the time being. Aside from the clothes in the bag, there was some Federation military equipment that he felt it was better to have if a need came up. His friends weren't aware of him being a soldier in the Federation's Military just yet. He would tell them when the right time came, and he felt they would understand not saying anything.

Kira and Rusty had gone out to retrieve the Asuka and bring it back to the ship so it could start charging and resupply. It gave Kira something to do and not dwell on what he had accidentally done with the Strike's beam cannon. Tyler knew his friend would need his attention diverted from what was bothering him to be able to function in the current circumstances. Kira was a "worry wort" so he would dwell upon things that shouldn't be given serious attention. He wasn't at fault for the circumstances they were all in right now, ZAFT and OMNI had pulled them into the crapshoot they were in the middle of. Worrying about what could have been done wasn't going to help any of them. Tyler would love things to be different for them, but that wasn't a possibility right now.

Thinking of Rusty reminded Tyler of that particular collection of issues and work that he had to see to. He was fully dedicated to making sure Athrun's friend wasn't caught, harassed by, or harmed by any of the OMNI personnel on the ship or from other places. Tyler had made a promise in good faith to one of his best friends and that was a serious thing to him. Currently, the more Rusty worked and wasn't in the spotlight of OMNI, the better it would be for him. Rusty needed the least amount of suspicion on him as possible. He was still in "hot water" as the phrase went with the position he was in. Rusty was still technically with ZAFT even if he was not physically with them right now. However, as long as that wasn't discovered by the OMNI officers they were around, then things should work out. Tyler would make what arrangements he could to help Rusty stay out of trouble since he promised Athrun he would do what he could.

Lastly, Sai and Kuzzey were working on "mapping" out the layout of the ship they would all be stuck on. With the colony's atmosphere getting thinner the more that time that passed, being outside was not a good idea for much longer. And with shelters not a viable option, the gang to reach and get into a shelter by this point. Thus, the only option the gang had to go with was being on the ship to keep themselves safe with circumstances as they were. With that in mind, the Archangel was the only safe place they could go with circumstances as they were. Along with that, Sai and Kuzzey's work would be of value to the rest of the gang with them learning the layout of the OMNI vessel. Tyler would work with them to create a map for them to work with as needed going forward. Plus, they would unlikely be noticed by the crew rushing around while they worked. That would keep them out of trouble and be unnoticed by the officers and potentially be called out by the officers.

Tyler shortly headed outside after vanishing so he could wait for Tolle's group to arrive back. He wanted to grab his duffle bag before he started looking for a set of quarters on the ship that he could work with for himself. Tyler wanted and preferred to select a set of quarters where he wouldn't have to share with others right away if at all. He had considered for a moment going with quarters that could be shared with Rusty. That would make helping him simpler from the get-go, but there were other things to consider. With Tyler being a member of the Federation's Military, he was capable of doing things that OMNI nor his friends would know about. It was better for that to remain that way for as long as possible in Tyler's mind. So, sharing quarters with others would make anything he could do from the background harder. That wasn't to say that Tyler wouldn't be keeping an eye on Rusty and the whole gang while on the OMNI vessel, for he would.

Until Federation reinforcements arrived, Tyler would have to think about his actions. Working with OMNI temporarily was keeping his friends safe for the moment, but that could change. ZAFT would be coming back to cause trouble, Tyler was sure enough about that he was counting on the idea. His options of what he could do and not blow his cover were more limited than he liked. Tyler knew he would have to wait and bide his time until an opportunity came up he could use. With his friends' lives on the line, he didn't want to wait, but there was little else he could do right now. Tyler was brought out of his thoughts when he heard a vehicle coming closer. When he looked up, he found a van approaching with Tolle was in the driver's seat.

Tyler waved them over to which the vehicle pulled over to where he was standing that was out of the main lane of traffic that was being used by the Archangel's supply train. He asked the trio how their task had gone with them returning. Tyler was pleased to hear Tolle saying they had picked up lots of stuff before returning. Miriallia mentioned they had visited each residence of the gang for the items that had been requested. Lacus said they had managed to acquire all the items that had been on the list. He hadn't believed the three couldn't retrieve the stuff requested by the others. The task of collecting things should be simple since the colony was essentially empty with the evacuation of the citizens. Thus, there was nothing that should've blocked their path to get to the places the items were.

Tyler was about to say they had done a good job, but then Tolle iterated some of the other items they had picked up around the commercial district. The list of items from the commercial district did include some things which he hadn't expected to be found. Most of the stuff they collected would be helpful with things that could come up in the near future. And with them back, the three of them could help the rest aside from Kira and him on exploring and mapping the ship. While they did that, Tyler and Kira could soon assist with getting supplies onto the ship to speed the process along. It would work out for them well enough and not draw attention from the OMNI personnel. That was a goal that should be kept in mind as at least one of the officers seemed suspicious of them.

Tyler smiled and nodded to the trio saying they had done good. He then said he was more than willing to help get the items they had acquired onto the ship. Tyler hoped that Sai and/or Kuzzey had found a room or two they could stash things in and not have it discovered and taken potentially. If they hadn't, they could use the opportunity to pick out quarters for themselves and put things there if need be. Should it be necessary, Tyler would confront the OMNI officers and tell them to shove it and mind their own damn business. Hopefully, things would work out in their favor and Tyler wouldn't need to go and argue with the officers. He would rather avoid the idea for the moment if he could. Tyler was stressed enough as it was, he didn't need a pointless argument to add to it.

Lacus and Miriallia began sorting the items while Tolle and Tyler walked up the ramp into the storage bay. Tyler quickly spotted a cart that they could use to transport the collection of stuff onto the ship. He and Tolle pushed the cart down the ramp and to the van. It took a few minutes, but the four of them loaded up the cart with all the items the trio had acquired. Tyler couldn't help but appreciate the "haul" his friends had gathered as the cart filled up and stacked higher. Tolle and Miriallia pushed the cart up the ramp with the help of Tyler and Lacus pulling while guiding it onto the ship. Once on the ship, Tyler guided his small group out of the hangar and to the deck lift. None of the OMNI crew or the workers approached them as they were moving through the storage area. Not a single one even gave their group a glance as they made their way

Tyler knew the "general" layout, like where main common areas were and loosely what was on each ship deck. With the work going on, he figured the crew decks would be the best place for them to be around. The preparations didn't need many around the crew decks that Tyler could think of. So, when the cart was on the lift, he hit the button for the mid-crew deck. It was Tyler's hope that Sai and Kuzzey were somewhere on the deck. They had been exploring the lower crew deck when he'd last seen them. The two could help with sorting and storing the items on the cart and speed up the process. And to their good fortune, Tyler's hope turned out to be true since the two were in the hall with the lift for the mid-crew deck.

Sai and Kuzzey had been exploring the ship as Tyler had set them to. They had finished the hangar and weapon decks so far. From what Sai had seen, none of the adults seemed to notice them looking around as they had been moving through the decks. They had been taking some notes on things which had stuck out during their explorations so they could tell Tyler when they saw him next. The two had turned around a corner when they saw the deck lift open and some came out of it. It was a split-second later Sai and Kuzzey recognized Tyler, Tolle, Miriallia, and Lacus with a loaded cart between them. The two approached their friends to see what was on the cart and if they needed help with the stuff.

Tyler asked the two if they had seen any potential rooms, they could consider storing the items in. Sai and Kuzzey shook their heads in response to the question. Tyler had known there was a fair chance he and others would have to find rooms to store things in. Hoping his friends had found places would've just saved some time, but it wasn't an issue that couldn't be dealt with easily enough. So, Tyler directed his group along the mid-crew deck toward the crew quarters. They could pick from all the sleeping quarters to lay claim to and then start storing their things in. He told his friends to pick out a room or two that they could use as their space until further notice. His friends stared at Tyler for a moment, not quite believing what he was telling them in regards of choosing a room for them to use.

Sai was confused for a moment at what Tyler had said about them "picking" a set of quarters to use as their own. This ship belonged to the OMNI people, not them, the gang was more just guests that had been caught up in things. They didn't have much say on where they would go with the colony's atmosphere tinning as it was. But Tyler was implying they should make a place for themselves for the time being and not ask the OMNI officers about it. Sure, Tyler had made it rather clear he wasn't fond of those from OMNI or rather how they would do things. Sai could understand the feeling if how they responded to Tyler and Kira when they had admitted they were Coordinators was anything to go by. The reaction of the soldiers had been horrid and uncalled for and Sai knew he wasn't the only one that saw it that way.

Sai had heard about how the Alliance didn't like Coordinators and saw them as the "enemy." With ZAFT being made up of Coordinators, it made loose logical sense when he thought about it. However, why that should mean every single Coordinator was evil and should be feared and hated was where Sai couldn't understand. Yes, he'd known his two friends had been Coordinators before this, it had been rather obvious with some of things they could do. But it had been Tyler that had drilled in the point that Coordinators were still human beings and had limitations just as the rest did. That point had helped the gang accept that Kira and Tyler may be Coordinators, but they were first and foremost their friends. And Sai wouldn't believe that Coordinators like Tyler and Kira were uncommon. The Federation welcomed Coordinators, and they lived in peace, so the idea proved Coordinators weren't inherently evil. The hatred some had of Coordinators was one of the factors that had kept the war going for years now.

Nevertheless, Sai was concerned that Tyler was pushing for them to make a place and not involving those that were in charge of the Archangel. It had almost seemed like Tyler was trying to stick out and be scrutinize by the OMNI officers on purpose. Sai couldn't say what reason Tyler could have for wanting to do that. His friend normally worked to not stick out from those around him as of seemingly habit. He had been scratching his head as he had been thinking about what reason Tyler could have for the point. Tyler may do odd and even crazy things sometimes, but he always had a reason for what actions he took. It nagged at him as the gang worked to unload the cart and put away items. It was nagging so much that Sai decided to ask Tyler directly. So, as the others were storing things, Sai approached his friend, "Tyler, I wanted to ask you something if you don't mind."

Tyler looked to Sai, wondering what he could possibly want to ask him. Granted, things had been hectic for the last two or so hours, but they were managing for the moment. He had made it clear that his friends they could ask what they wanted of him and he would answer them as he could. However, there were questions that he was unable to answer with military protocol that he had to try and follow as he could. If he didn't, he would have to explain the point to his boss and Tyler avoided having to face his boss when he could manage it. "Sure," Tyler replied, "You can ask me a question. I thought I made it clear that any of you can ask what you want of me and I'll answer as I'm able. There are some questions that I may not be able to answer for one reason or another, but those tend to be rare."

"Why are you drawing attention to yourself when it comes to the OMNI officers," Sai asked. "You seem to be going out of your way to stick out from the rest of the gang and have them watching you instead. That isn't like you Tyler. You normally work not to stick out from those around you out of some sort of habit. I can't figure out what benefit you drawing the attention to yourself provides. It has been nagging at me since you don't act without a reason."

Tyler had thought he had been playing his part in being the one OMNI would be suspicious of well enough not to be noticed. He had his reasons to draw the crap they would unload. He was better at taking the hit from others and not getting burned by it when such happened. Tyler was protecting his friends from potential hardship OMNI could shove onto others. Also, he was shielding Rusty from being discovered as a member of ZAFT. Plus, he knew how to effectively deal with those being suspicious and harassing him when it came up. So, Tyler sighed, "From some past experience, those from the Earth Alliance and its OMNI can be really stubborn and troublesome to those they may drag into their business. I would rather deal with that myself than have any of you swept up in a mess. Dealing with messes is a skill set I have developed over time, please don't ask why, I would rather not talk about it."

After getting Sai to accept his answer, Tyler grabbed his duffle bag and headed back to the deck lift. He intended to find himself a set of quarters on the upper crew deck where the officers' quarters should be. Officer's quarters would suite him better while on this ship since it would be meant for one individual and allow privacy. He assumed that him selecting one of the officer's quarters would be challenged or argued about by some of the OMNI personnel. Tyler was more than ready to dress whoever had an issue with whichever quarters he chose to use for himself. There was a part of him which kind of hoped it would be the black-haired woman who had snarled at him before. He felt arguing with that woman would be entertaining for him with the reactions she had given him already.

Tyler looked into a few of the officers' quarters on the upper deck to see what he had to choose from. The first few were okay, but appeared to be more for junior officers from what he could see. Tyler preferred a bit more space if he could get it to work with. And since the was a shortage of crew, especially officers, the majority of the officers' quarters were available to pick from. If Miss Ramius or Badgiruel if Tyler recalled the woman's name right had a problem with him taking a set of officer's quarters, they could complain to him all they liked. Once he found quarters he liked, he would make them his and there was nothing others could do about it. The two female OMNI officers could kiss his rear end for all Tyler cared, it wouldn't oust him from the room he would choose.

After the third set of "junior" officers' quarters, Tyler skipped several so he could get to the next level of officers' quarters from those. The second set of quarters that Tyler looked into with the mid-officers' quarters had him pause. The bed was not too small even if it was built into the left wall. There was a desk on the right side of the room and what appeared to be a sofa of sorts the far wall. Tyler entered the quarters and checked the door on one side and found it led to a personal bathroom. The quarters fit what he had been looking for, so he decided to take them and make it his own. Tyler went over and dropped his duffle back onto the bed. He would unload, sort, and store the items contained later when he got some time. Tyler did take a moment to change the locking code for the quarters so others wouldn't enter and try to take the quarters from him.

With the quarters selected for himself, Tyler went back to the corridor. He took a moment to memorize the landmarks which would make sure he would know which quarters were his now. After doing that, he headed back to the deck lift so he could go back and check on the progress of his friends. Upon reaching the mid-crew deck, Tyler found the cart was almost empty from the load it had carried onto the ship. He did help with unloading the rest of the cart without much thought. However, Tyler did notice Lacus slipping away as the items were all almost stored away even if the others didn't. That had him curious and a tad worried about his female friend since she was separating from her friends that cared. It had appeared that something was occupying her mind and troubling her to some extent.

Tyler didn't like seeing friends having internal struggles and just stand by while doing nothing. He wasn't the kind of individual to leave a friend who was clearly in need, and he ignore them. There was already more than enough trouble for the gang to be dealing with without adding more. He was shouldering most of the hardship himself so his friends wouldn't have to the best he could. Sure, the ZAFT force outside the colony wasn't making his job any easier, but that wasn't the point right now. He was also aware likely more than Kira how hard the current situation must be for Lacus. She was from the PLANTs, its military had attacked the colony without warning and viable provocation. The girl had to be having doubts and unpleasant thoughts about it all he wouldn't doubt. So, Tyler tailed Lacus, staying far enough behind for her to not notice him following her. He would get her alone and see if he could get her to talk and help her through whatever was bothering her.

Lacus had made the decision that she needed time to think after helping Tolle and Miriallia gather things for the others and storing them. From what she'd seen as they had been pushing the cart through the ship, the OMNI personnel and workers were essentially fully occupied. They shouldn't notice her moving around or even leaving the ship for a bit. To say there was a lot on her mind with what had occurred in the last two or so hours would be an understatement. Her head was spinning with all the things which shouldn't have happened to Heliopolis. Sure, there were facts missing which could potentially explain why ZAFT had done what they had, but she couldn't say. There was just so much to process that Lacus was having trouble deciding where to begin in sorting her thoughts.

She felt that the ship's interior wouldn't be a helpful place for her to sort out her thoughts with all the work going on. With that in mind, Lacus went to the deck lift and took it down to the hangar deck and then exited the ship into the colony. She headed to the park her group had been in before the fight against the CGUE had happened. The place wasn't that far from the ship so she could get back before the colony interior became more dangerous. She could be alone for a bit and sort out of her thoughts and try to determine what the best course of action she could take. She could potentially have some influence with the ZAFT force outside the colony. The name "Clyne" had some weight, Lacus knew that even if she didn't use that often if at all. Most ZAFT mission commanders and captains would at least pause if she could talk to them. If she could explain what they had been doing, then maybe she could get them to stand down.

At the same time, Tyler had followed Lacus as she had left the Archangel and gone to the park. He had observed the girl was very preoccupied with whatever was troubling her, so much so that she wasn't aware she was being followed. Yes, his skills made others figuring out he was following them extremely unlikely, but that wasn't the point for the moment. It was clear to Tyler that Lacus needed someone to listen to her concerns and worries, not talking back or over her as she got them out. He had learned the art of listening as he'd been growing up. Most who knew of his family, few as those were, would think it had been his mother that had taught him the value. Yet, it was more his father which had made sure Tyler understood the real value of simply listening to others and not saying anything.

Lacus took a seat on one of the benches as Tyler stealthily approached her. From what he could tell, the girl was lost in her thoughts and was ignoring the environment around her. It was a rarer expression that Tyler had seen with Lacus when she was around him. She tended to be calm and friendly to those she was around as far as he knew in the time he had been acquainted with her. The girl was considerate and normally thought a decision through before committing to it. That seemed to be a core piece of her personality which served her extremely well. It was because of that which made her worrying and fretting that Tyler was seeing so out of place. And while it was a stressful time with circumstances as they had become, this stood out more to Tyler which concerned him.

Tyler reached the bench and stood behind it for a moment, staring at Lacus who didn't show a sign she had realized he was there. A full minute passed by and there was no change that he could recognize. Tyler exhaled heavily before he came around and sat his butt down on the bench. Glancing at the girl, she still showed no sign that she knew he was there at all next to her. He was concerned before about Lacus's behavior, now he was more than worried about what could be bothering her. Tyler knew that keeping in one's worries tended to make them worse, not better. With that in mind, he cleared his throat to get the girl's attention, "Ahem, Lacus, you seem to be in want for some company from what I can see" he remarked. "Perhaps you are trying to work through something that is troubling you?"

Lacus flinched in response to Tyler's voice with how unexpected it had been. She glanced to her left and found Tyler sitting there. She hadn't heard anything or noticed anything which would've told her someone was following her, let alone Tyler. Granted, she had seen that Tyler had a knack for popping up and disappearing into crowds without being noticed. But that didn't explain to her how Tyler had just appeared seemingly right next to her on the bench. It was kind of scary just how good Tyler seemed to be at appearing and vanishing with this example. Not that Lacus felt Tyler would use it to scare others, that wasn't the kind of person he was. Yet, it didn't hint as to why he had followed her off the ship. Yes, he was a friend to her, but she needed time to think more right now.

As much as Lacus would love to deny it, Tyler wasn't wrong that she had things troubling her. How he was so good at reading others, Lacus couldn't say, and she was a tad jealous at the skill. She wanted to sort out her thoughts before making a decision on what to do by herself. However, Lacus wouldn't deny that company may be helpful for her to sort things out. Her thoughts were so chaotic that she really could use help figuring out where to begin. She appreciated that Tyler wanted to help, but there was a lot for him to do she didn't doubt. Lacus didn't want to be a burden to her friends since she didn't have a great deal of genuine ones. "Why did you follow me, Tye," she asked in a controlled tone. "There seems to be a lot of work to do which you could help with. I can work out things myself, though it is nice of you to be concerned."

Tyler instantly picked up on the tone Lacus had and it got him to sharpen his attention. The girl was hurting and was seriously worried about something, he could take that away from her tone alone. He suspected that whatever was troubling Lacus was related in some way to some degree to ZAFT's attack on the colony. What the relation was exactly, Tyler couldn't say, but he could see it was weighing her down. So, he took a deep breath, "You certainly seem preoccupied with something when you slipped away and wandered off," Tyler remarked. "If you haven't noticed, I'm not the type of person that just sees a friend wrestling with things and look the other way. With things as they are right now, there is little I can do to occupy my time with the adults running around as they are. So, I followed you since you seemed so down about whatever is occupying you. I have found that having a listening ear is more helpful to work through things than most else is. And others do tend to say that I'm good at keeping my mouth shut about things I'm told rather than blabbering to any that ask. I'm willing to lend you my ear to listen to what's troubling you and see what advice I can give to help you. We are friends, are we not? Who better to talk to in times of difficulty than friends who care?"

Tyler's opinion had validity as much as Lacus kind of wished it didn't right now. It destroyed any reply that she could come up with to get him to leave her be. The line about a listening ear was one that she had heard in different forms before this. Her father would same such things from time to time. The time which she remembered being told the value of a "listening ear" was from one of her earliest memories with her mother. To know another was listening to what you had to say about a problem you were dealing with was comforting, Lacus had experienced the point herself. The issue had been few would understand what she was going through at the moment that were around. Talking to any of the OMNI personnel or adults wouldn't be wise, she knew that to be true. But her friends here around Heliopolis wouldn't understand much since she hadn't told them a great deal about herself. That left Kira and Tyler for her to go to for advice or to hear her out about things.

Lacus had considered going to Kira and speaking to him for a moment. However, when the male armor pilot had mentioned the name Creuset, that had made that idea much harder. It wasn't the man himself which complicated things, though he didn't help the current situation either. The things Sakura had said about Creuset hadn't been good or encouraging for the man that Lacus had heard. The "stories" which Sakura had told her hadn't been good at all, more created a picture of a serious troublemaker. That was what she had to go off of as she hadn't met the man personally that she was aware of. It made her wonder such would've been assigned to some sort of mission around Heliopolis. Mr. Treize had been leading ZAFT long enough to know how to effectively do so without making ZAFT appear as the "bad guys."

With Creuset involved, it brought up something that she had become aware of recently. It had been from a letter which had come from her arranged fiancée, Athrun Zala. She had mixed feelings about the arranged marriage which was looming in her future to Athrun. He was an extremely kind individual, and she did like and enjoy his company when she was able to get it. However, she wasn't as interested in the arranged marriage that had been set up by her and Athrun's fathers as others were. Lacus wasn't as vehemently against it like her older sister had made unmistakably plain. Yet, if she were given a choice, she would much rather spend her life with Kira and have Athrun as a friend. However, with Athrun's letter, he had mentioned his service in ZAFT had recently changed to have him working on a different team. The name Creuset had been mentioned almost in passing since his letter was more focused on working with some friends of his.

Lacus hadn't thought much about the letter's contents at the time she had received it. She had been more focused on the upcoming trip to Heliopolis to get time with Kira that had been in the works for her. However, that letter and its contents were coming back to haunt her now with a vengeance. Should Athrun still be a part of the Creuset team as his letter had implied, that would complicate things further than they already were. Athrun wasn't the type to knowingly be involved in the type of thing which had occurred to Heliopolis. But it was possible and even likely at this point that Commander Creuset hadn't laid out to those that had attacked the colony what they would be doing beforehand. Lacus didn't imagine that most ZAFT soldiers would be in favor for attacking a neutral colony, although there could be some.

The complication which was tormenting her came with Athrun's involvement. Kira and Tyler had often mentioned Athrun was their shared best friend between the two of them. And from what Lacus had gleamed from them, their friendship was one of those that was strong and bright even with the distance that there seemed be at times. However, with Athrun on Creuset's team, it made the real possibility the three would face off against one another in the near future. The last thing which Lacus wanted was the three friends forced to fight one another. Friends fighting each other rarely if ever ended well for any party, history made that rather clear. Yet, Lacus didn't want to be the cause of hesitation that led to potential harm for either Kira or Tyler. So, Lacus couldn't stop the sigh that escaped her, "I don't know where to begin," she uttered. "Things are getting more complicated than I thought they would become with this simple trip."

Tyler said nothing after Lacus had spoken, waiting for her to decide what she could say to him. The opening line said a lot yet, also left a great deal left unsaid that really should be put out to be dealt with. He would be shocked if Lacus hadn't learned some sort of stress management techniques. Tyler could only imagine she would need to do so with her being a singing idol. Combined with that, she had shown to him she had good general management skills and could employ them when she needed. The girl was quite amazing as an individual when he considered it. Kira really didn't know just how freaking lucky he was to have a girl like Lacus interested in him. Tyler had tried to help his friend see it, but nothing he'd done had done much to help Kira see the point.

With that in mind, Tyler highly doubted what was troubling Lacus had to do with the "relationship" she was working on with Kira. Thus, he could only assume that what was bothering her was a different personal issue which had suddenly coming up. Helping with other's personal issues wasn't something that Tyler did the best at, though he did try his best to assist especially for friends. It was clear that something was bothering and occupying Lacus's mind, and Tyler did want to help the girl if there was something he could do for her. Yet, as the silence from Lacus kept going, he became worried about some possibilities that could explain why Lacus wasn't giving details. There were subjects that Tyler couldn't do much to help with even if he attempted to. Then there were a few things which Tyler couldn't help with or if he tried would make the situation worse.

The worst thought which flashed in Tyler's mind was that Lacus's issue could have something to do with her older sister Sakura. He had met Sakura some time ago, and they encountered one another ever once and a while much to his discomfort. Tyler didn't have anything specifically against Sakura as a person in general when it came to the woman, and she was at a distance. Sakura was definitely a beauty, there was no way that Tyler couldn't see that with their interactions. Tyler could only assume the stunning looks much like Lacus came from their deceased mother. Yes, when at a distance, Tyler had little qualm with Sakura and loose interactions with her. But he rarely got much of a choice or say in having distance when it came to the woman.

No, it was when Sakura got closer to him which Tyler started having serious concerns and problems. Many would think it was due to Sakura's reputation which had firmly established with her military service. The woman was well-known to be cold and unyielding to any around her. She was the cold commander which you didn't cross and did whatever she ordered you to do. However, that wasn't what Tyler saw when it came to Sakura Clyne as much as he kind of wished he could. The array of issues Tyler had with Lacus's sister were horrible to him for several reasons. The point which was the most irritating and incensed the array was the way Sakura was around him specifically. That serious "difference" of behavior was a crap storm to be sure in his opinion.

The situation which Tyler faced when it involved Sakura came up since the woman was "fond" of him. It could be referred to in several different ways, she had a "thing" for him, or that she was "attracted" to him. Regardless of how one put it, in the end, it was still problematic in his mind. For her to be fond of him wasn't where the real issues came into play, it was the magnitude which that came in that bothered Tyler so much. It had gotten to the point that he could accurately call her a stalker of him which had made things worse. Thus, Tyler didn't recall any of the "cuddling" or "other" signs of affection Sakura had shown him fondly. The woman had shown him that she wanted to be the one in control of a relationship and Tyler wasn't okay with that at all. With that established, most would think that Tyler and Sakura wouldn't get along with each other as their personalities countered one another and Tyler would say that should be absolutely correct.

At first, he'd tried to not acknowledge what Sakura had done, but that attempt hadn't last long. The woman made it clear a silent lack of acknowledgment wouldn't deter her in any way in spending time around him as she could. Tyler had kept trying to hint the "nice" way that he wasn't interested in being around Sakura in the way she obviously wanted. That hadn't gone any better or more effectively than him attempting to use no acknowledgment to say he didn't want what Sakura was offering. Heck, even a clear refusal hadn't stopped Sakura from pushing for him to return her affections and Tyler had tried that several times. In fact, his refusals that he had given to Sakura had only seemed to spur the woman to continue her pursuit of him.

Nevertheless, all of that went unseen somehow by the world around them which Tyler couldn't explain. He had tried to tell others about what he dealt with when it came to Sakura, but that quickly had become a waste of time. Not a single person that Tyler had mentioned the stuff with Sakura to had believed what he'd told them. That was what hurt the most, none ever believed him including his two best friends. Thus, he was forced to suffer in silence essentially and have to deal with such without any form outside help. Tyler hadn't mentioned much to Lacus, merely one instance and it hadn't gone any differently than it had with others. He couldn't say if Lacus was aware of her sister's interest in him, he kind of doubted it. And he couldn't say how Lacus would feel about the interest Sakura had in him. Frankly, Tyler had no real interest at this time in having an intimate relationship with a woman. Sakura had essentially made any thought of that unpleasant to him for the time being. With that in mind, Tyler's smile faltered a margin, "Um, Lacus," he started but hesitated slightly, "the issue that's occupying you," Tyler paused again, "it wouldn't have to do with your sister Sakura, would it?"

The mention of her older sister caught Lacus off-guard a bit, especially with it coming from Tyler. What was troubling her didn't have to do with Sakura, but for Tyler to jump to that conclusion was odd. Yet, thinking about her older sister reminded her of the state of the relationship the two of them had. To say it had become strained would be an understatement, and Lacus didn't like that one bit. She loved Sakura, her sister had helped Lacus through hard life events like losing their mother. Her older sister had become somewhat the mother figure in Lacus's life since then. She longed for those earlier days when the two of them had gotten along so well and to an extent inseparable. Those had been much happier days in Lacus's life when it came to her sister and her.

However, then the war had started which had really been what had initiated the strain and helped it to grow. Sakura had enlisted in ZAFT and that had her aware from home far more often. Lacus had been proud that her sister had wanted to protect the PLANTs, but Sakura being away hadn't been nice. The distance was uncomfortable for Lacus then and was more so now. She had tried to lessen it over the years but hadn't seen much success as of yet. The ongoing war had changed her sister which had worried Lacus. The despondency that Sakura had shown during the times she had dropped around home had been frightening. Things had seemed to balance out to some extent from what she had seen with Sakura, but that hadn't stopped Lacus from worrying. Then there had come a change with Sakura around two years ago stuck out in Lacus's memory.

It seemed the change had come around the time that Sakura had Tyler had first met. However, she hadn't heard much detail about that from either of them about that event even when she asked. Lacus clearly remembered the time that she had questioned Tyler about the event, for he had shutter notably at the mention of the meeting. She had tried to press for some detail about the experience from him which made Tyler so uncomfortable. It would've been understandable for him to be uncomfortable around Sakura, most unfortunately were. But his discomfort seemed to be from something that most didn't feel around her sister, or that was what her intuition said. Yet, when Lacus pressed him, he would say nothing specific at all, instead, he had quickly changed the subject to avoid further questions. While Tyler's response had been more than odd for him, it was not as unexpected as what she'd seen from Sakura. Her sister hadn't given any more a straight answer than Tyler had about their meeting, or what happened with it. That was odd for Sakura as she tended to be the type that would be straight to the point and blunt when she answered questions. However, what Sakura had said had made it clear how much she had liked the event. Lacus had been more surprised with the smile and happy tones her sister had been using back at the time.

The few things Lacus had gleamed from what the two had mentioned in some form, they somehow knew each other more than just passing acquaintances. To what extent that relationship went beyond acquaintances, she could not say. Tyler did not like being around Sakura, that much had been clear enough, but then few did with how she was with other people. But her intuition had been saying it wasn't in the same way as everyone else would avoid her sister for Tyler. On the other hand, Sakura seemed to have an interest being around Tyler which Lacus couldn't begin to guess. Those were the best details Lacus could figure out when it came to Tyler and her older sister. She would love to know more about what was going on between the two, but neither seemed willing to elaborate. So, Lacus gave Tyler a slightly confused expression before she shook her head, "No, it's Commander Creuset and his team which is bothering me right now."

The mention of the troublemaker Creuset assisted Tyler in having an educated guess as to what was worrying Lacus. La Flaga saying the name referring to the one that was responsible for what had happened had explained several things to him. Tyler had already been building a decent picture off of the information that Rusty had given to him. But the mention of Creuset had filled in the questions of who could be foolish enough to push what had happened. The file the Federation had on the man wasn't short and made it clear he didn't make things easy. However, Lacus bringing up the troublesome man's team made him wonder if his friend knew something about it. Sure, Tyler was aware that Athrun was on it with his encounter with him. That wasn't nice, but he would see what could be done to change that point as he could. "I won't deny that having that man involved complicates things," Tyler remarked. "I have heard stories about him and none of them paint him well at all. He is seen as a troublemaker and skirts the rules when he can get away with it."

For Tyler to have knowledge of Commander Creuset was kind of unexpected. Granted, Tyler had a knack for knowing things, she had seen the idea for herself to know it was there. Where Tyler had heard the stories he had, Lacus couldn't say. But he wasn't exactly wrong about Creuset since he did tend to cause trouble with his actions more often than not by what Sakura would say. Yet, it wasn't just Creuset being around and in charge of the ZAFT force that had attacked the colony that was the issue. It was Athrun being on the team that had more than likely come into the colony during the attack which was haunting her. But she didn't know how to phrase the point to Tyler to not be sorry for what she said to him. However, Lacus didn't want to lie or leave her two friends in the dark about Athrun being on the side of those who attacked the colony. Tyler and Kira did deserve to know the truth about Athrun being under Creuset. "I don't know how to put the idea," Lacus admitted. "I'm sorry, I'm trying to figure out a way with this."

Tyler realized that his friend somehow knew Athrun was on Creuset's team and so was involved in this. He appreciated that Lacus was trying to be nice and not just drop a hammer. It would be better for Kira than himself, but the thought was still very nice of her to have. But Tyler was of the mind that it was better to have the facts stated and just hurt feelings and then do what you could to patch up things. To dance around saying the truth didn't usually help, merely delay dealing with things. So, while it was difficult to Lacus, Tyler wasn't so delicate that her saying the truth would damage things between them. "Let me guess," Tyler started, "You are trying to figure out how to say that Athrun Zala is on the other side at the moment, correct?"

Lacus had been lowering her head in shame that she couldn't put what she wanted properly. Yet her head had snapped up at Tyler's question to her about Athrun. He somehow seemed to already know that Athrun was under Creuset's command even when she hadn't told him. Could it be that she had been so transparent that he had been able to just see the answer for himself? She had thought she had been doing well at keeping in control and not showing something was bothering her. If she couldn't fool Tyler, what were the chances that she could do that with Kira? She didn't want Kira to figure out himself that Athrun was on ZAFT's side, and they would likely be forced to fight one another. "How did you," Lacus started.

Tyler cut over her, "Know that Athrun is one of the ZAFT pilots that stole the prototype suits?" Lacus nodded slowly in response. Tyler took a moment to consider what to tell his friend of what he knew thus far. It would be unwise to reveal Rusty was a member of Creuset's team just yet, but that was where a good portion of Tyler's information came from. He would tell the gang eventually who Rusty really was so they could understand he wasn't an enemy to them even when he was with ZAFT. "I drew the red machine away and while separated, I found out Athrun was piloting it." Lacus turned her gaze away from Tyler as she interrupted him, "You sound like you're fine with fighting Athrun."

Tyler was caused to pause for a moment since he hadn't been trying to imply what Lacus had said. He wasn't at all fine with facing off against Athrun in battle, nor would he ever be. Yet, he knew that such was a real possibility in the future if things didn't seriously change. But with the short talk Tyler had with Athrun, he felt things wouldn't be as bad as they could be. He was holding his breath that would be the case, even when it could very well not be. So, Tyler sighed tiredly, "If that's what you think then you are dead wrong," he stated firmly. "I am not and will never be 'okay' fighting a friend let alone one of my best friends." Tyler paused in hesitation of how to say what he wanted to get across, "I may be able to fight with a mobile suit or other machines, but that doesn't mean I enjoy doing it. I dislike war for it forces many to either kill or be killed and I firmly believe that it isn't naturally in the nature of humans to wish to do that. We have to train and change ourselves to do such things and even then. But I was able to have a

bit of a short conversation."

Lacus was a tad surprised to hear this coming from Tyler since she had never expected the point. She had found Tyler to be a fun-loving teenager albeit with a mischievous side to him that came out sometimes. But right now, he was talking about the war as if he had maybe fought in it, yet that couldn't be right. Tyler was no soldier, he was too nice a person to be a soldier in the ongoing war. Although she didn't disagree about how war does horrible things, and it wasn't in human nature as she believed much the same. "Sorry, I didn't mean to imply that you would like fighting Athrun or anything," Lacus returned. "I'm just worried that thing will only get worse looking forward right now."

Tyler could fully understand worrying about what could be ahead. That had been what the last few days had been for him in a nutshell. Sure, he had more experience in mitigating a situation to be less bad than Lacus possessed, but that didn't make things feel much better. He didn't want to worry Lacus right now, there was more than enough of that going around right now. So, Tyler waved a hand in dismissal, "No worries, I know you were trying to be nice about telling me Athrun was involved, and it is appreciated. I certainly can understand worrying about what's ahead but happening more than I like lately. It's why I'm keeping such a close eye on the gang and you Lacus while doing what I can. I will be the first to say I will be relieved when this long day comes to its end, I assure you."

Lacus appreciated that Tyler was being understanding for what she was going through right now. Knowing another could genuinely sympathize with what you were going through helped even if only a little. It sounded like he had been aware Athrun was involved and likely was already doing something about that. That didn't help Lacus figure out how to tell Kira the point when she got the chance, and at that thought her shoulders slumped. It was Tyler's voice that got her to glance back up at him, "But as for telling Kira," he began, "I think he should be informed rather than him finding out himself. While it won't be pleasant for him to hear, it will be worse for him to discover the point during a potential battle." Tyler leaned back and gazed upward as he continued after a second, "I doubt it'll be pretty at first, I'd be surprised if it is. Kira won't like the fact that he may be put into a position to have to fight Athrun anymore than I do. However, I think it is better for him to make the choice of how to deal with the point than force him to do that in the heat of the moment."

Tyler recalled the brief conversation that he'd had with Athrun before ZAFT had retreated the first time. Athrun hadn't been aware of him being around the colony which was understandable as Tyler hadn't mentioned anything about that in his letters. He had been quick to see what the Federation team had been there doing and how ZAFT had stepped into a messy situation without knowing it. While Athrun had been worried about Rusty, he also knew it was best circumstances didn't get worse even when they had since then. Tyler would've loved more time to talk with Athrun and get on the same page with him, but that hadn't been an opinion back at the time. "I believe Athrun is already considering what he can do to mitigate things from his end after the short chat we had," Tyler remarked. "I essentially made him aware of what was general going on and what ZAFT had stepped into, and he clearly understood what I was saying to him. I'm confident that Athrun will do what he can to avoid fighting against us directly in the near future."

Lacus was left to consider what Tyler was telling her both about Kira and Athrun. That Tyler had talked with Athrun however brief it could've been could help prevent future problems or at least make them less of an issue. It still left informing Kira about Athrun's involvement in this whole situation. Lacus wasn't looking forward to doing that when it came up. She didn't want to just shove it off onto Tyler even when she felt he would be willing to do the job. Even with Tyler's assurances, Lacus was still worried about how Kira would take Athrun's involvement in this whole situation. Yet, she did agree with Tyler that it was best to tell Kira before he found out himself the hard way. Lacus gained a small smile as she realized how right Tyler had been about having another listening to her as she spoke her thoughts. "Thanks for listening to me go on," she said. "You were right that having another listening to you can really help in dealing with an issue."

Tyler was more than willing to help a friend when they were trying to work through a problem. It came with a good feeling that he couldn't get enough of. And with recent events, Tyler really could use as many good feelings as he could get and work with. He would've said it was nothing to worry about and that he was glad to help but never got around to that. His thoughts were interrupted as Lacus leaned over and brought him into an embrace. Tyler wasn't one to normally accept gestures like hugs from most people, even friends were kind of rare. Lacus was a friend, and nothing beyond that as she clearly wanted something with Kira that Tyler's naïve friend was oblivious to. He knew the hug was one to show gratitude and Tyler wasn't one to not acknowledge such. So, he regained a smile and returned the hug, "Hey now, what are friends for," he questioned, "We support each other through the hard times and stand together during the good ones."

While Lacus was grateful to Tyler for listening to her as she got out what had been worrying her, she was still curious about something. Tyler had brought up her older sister Sakura before they had dived into the issue Lacus had been worrying about. He hadn't gone into detail about why he thought Sakura had been involved that Lacus remembered. It made her wonder once again what it could be that Tyler could have against Sakura. The two said and implied such different things about the other that it had been so confusing. Lacus still couldn't say what was between them at all other than knowing one another in some way. "Say Tye, why did you think I was having problems with my sister Sakura," she asked. "You seem to have some sort of issue with her."

Tyler managed to hold back the flinch that tried really hard to go through his body at the mention of Sakura. He had been just making a wild guess about what was bugging Lacus, though he had been hoping to be wrong. Yet, his smile did vanish from his face since Sakura was essentially a nay-say subject for him. It wasn't a surprise if one took the time to think about it when you took into account what Sakura would do around him. He didn't like the "stalking-like" behavior that Sakura resorted to when it came to Tyler. Frankly, it creeped him out and so he avoided the woman the best he could, so he didn't have to deal with that type of thing. The issue with his friend's quest was Lacus hadn't believed the few things he had tried to describe to her about her sister. So, Tyler was left with the dilemma of what to say in reply. After a moment, he used his right hand to scratch the back of his head, "Oh um," Tyler hesitated, "it's been a while since I've seen her and well." He paused for a moment considering the wording to use, "your sister can at times be hard to be around and everything so, I just thought," Tyler stopped and just shook his head, "Never mind, it's nothing to worry about."

A/n

And I'll leave off there for this phase. This would've been longer originally if I hadn't split this and the next Phase into two. It would've been longer than I try and keep Phases at. I don't want to overload any of you readers so I try and keep Phases down below 30k so it isn't too much. That will "hopefully" mean that the other half of the original Phase should be done within two weeks or less, but no promises. But let's get to the highlights and explanations rather than me rambling on about my writing habits.

Now, starting with the first scene this phase that starts where we left off on. To say Murrue is overwhelmed would be an understatement. I feel that canon touches upon it but doesn't do much more than that. So, I wanted to expand on Murrue's feelings as this is something that I don't know if any would just "take in stride." Any in the military can correct me or educate me with this version of promotion/succession. But promotion through the death of superior officers doesn't seem nice when you think about it. In Murrue's case, she is like five or likely more spots down the chain of succession before she would get command. Thus, not only is she dealing with the deaths of those she knew and worked with, she is not shoved into the position of command without any previous experience beyond those she had charge over around Morgenröte.

If that wasn't bad enough, she is in that position during a time of crisis which is much harder. Don't mistake Murrue's worries as her being out of her element entirely or her panicking as it may come off as. She understands circumstances are not good and she will need to do what is possible to mitigate things. Much like any that are dropped into an unexpected position, she will have a learning curve to get through. With that in mind, I would ask you give her a break and take it easier for a bit. Murrue is growing in the story, and it will take time for her to develop, which is not always nice to have to get through. But she will have help for that as this story keeps going, I assure you, so please be patient with her for a bit.

For those that have read the original and even the second version of this story, you will see the first signs of the relationship which will be between Tyler and Natarle. You returning readers should recall that Natarle isn't fond of and very much dislikes Tyler's attitude and all that comes with it. This is the first instance of the point in this version of the story that I wanted to introduce the idea for the two. And do remember, Natarle's mentality has he relying upon military protocol and procedure to direct her actions. That is very important to keep in mind as it will help explain Natarle's reactions to Tyler better. As an example, the smile that Tyler gives Natarle irks her as she sees it as mocking which it kind of is, but not entirely. That example is also the introduction to one of Tyler's "habits" or flaw, call it what you like to you readers. I'll say it, Tyler enjoys prodding those that react strongly to it. Natarle is a prime example of the point, she takes the bait the vast majority of the time much to her frustration.

Okay, let me go into for a moment the section about the officers succession. I know canon doesn't go into great detail about this other than Murrue becoming the Archangel's captain and Natarle its vice-captain. However, I want to instill the point that Murrue wasn't high on the chain of command and succession. There were several above her that would've taken the captain's chair if they were still alive. This also hammers in the point of how much of the original crew the Archangel was supposed to have was killed. Holland may be second in line when it comes to rank, but I feel he will be better not as the vice-captain. And honestly, it wouldn't be nearly as fun if Natarle wasn't in that position later. Sure, the stuff between her and Tyler would still happen, but it wouldn't have as much fun if she isn't in a position like the vice-captain.

Moving back to Tyler's group in this scene, as he has shown already, Tyler knows how to delegate and get things moving. He also wants to keep eyes on his friends while around the Archangel if that wasn't already obvious. Sending them out on tasks allows Tyler to have things done while there is the time and keeps his friends out of direct trouble. Specifically, he wants to keep Rusty out of the direct attention of the OMNI personnel with him being from ZAFT. So, he hands out assigned tasks to his friends before he starts his job of moving mobile suits. His interactions with Murdoch are fairly straightforward so need little elaboration.

Let's shift to the "errand running" which the gang were set to. Of course, there is Kira and Rusty who were set to get the Asuka and bring it to the Archangel. I want to highlight for a moment Rusty's observations he makes about Kira piloting the Asuka. Yes, he compares Kira's performance to Tyler's which isn't fair, but that's al that Rusty has to go on with the "gundam-type." Yet, Kira's performance was still better than what had been expected from the OMNI prototypes from the data Creuset had provided. The other thing which Rusty notices is that while Kira may not be as good as Tyler when it comes to piloting, he does have some skill in the idea.

With Tolle's group, their errand may be simple on the face of it, but there is more to the point than is stated. Remember, the colony's atmosphere is actively even if slowly thinning as they work. With the time constraint in mind, Miriallia who essentially is the navigator have the trio go to the farthest destination first and work their way back. For the details as to what was picked or happened at each destination, I want to make these characters seem more human with the small details. Now with what was picked up at Tyler's apartment, well, you readers know that Tyler's preparations are not what normal people do. The duffle bag has stuff he doesn't talk about or use around others, not just Federation equipment, other things too.

Let's shift to where Tyler and the trio are back at the ship and unloading. I want to say at this point, Tyler may know about the Archangel, far better than his friends, but it is still not as much as he will later. He knows more about the ship's systems than the specific layout of the vessel as that was part of his targets as part of the investigation team. Now the gang starts claiming rooms to use at this point, it may change later. The quarters that Tyler chooses will not, but he selected them carefully for himself and what could be ahead. I didn't want his quarters to be the best or the least of the officer's quarters, more the middle of the road if you will. Remember, he wants to get the attention of those on the Archangel, but not have the constant scrutiny.

The last scene which is the one between Tyler and Lacus does have some things I want to go over. First, I wanted to show that Lacus isn't just a girl that isn't informed like she can come off as in canon. My girl is different and will be going forward for those who haven't read this story before. I also wanted to better give a sort of introduction for Lacus's older sister Sakura who will come into this story soon enough. The other thing which I wanted to show was the friendship that does exist between Lacus and Tyler. They may have met because of Kira, but that was just the start. There is not nor will there ever be any romance between Lacus and Tyler, they will be just friends.

In conclusion, I hope you enjoyed this Phase even if it isn't action packed as previous ones. Phases like this are more to drive the story forward rather than the battling and fighting which some enjoy more. As I always do at the end of these phase, please some of you take a moment to write a review and tell me what you think of the Phase, have questions, constructive criticism. I appreciate all of it and if you don't want others to see it, you can PM me and tell me directly. Peace out until the next Phase!