Disclaimer: I do not own anything that is related in anyway with the popular Japanese Anime known as Mobile Suit Gundam SEED, including its sequel Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Destiny. I only own my own story, the plot of said story, and any characters that I have created. So please no lawyers I have no money to give them.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Divergence

A Mobile Suit Gundam SEED AU Novella

Written and brought to you,

by William R. Woods
aka "Deathzealot"

With input and ideas from SethMKlein

Author's Foreword:

With Honor of a Knight now officially been Discontinued and NaNoWriMo fast approaching I decide to start a smaller project able to be easily produced in the thirty days I had for NaNoWriMo. So I decided on this which was an older story idea I had back when I first started Honor. Basically this story follows the series and canon in general all the way up the aftermath of the Battle of JOSH-A, where it then goes off differently from the series. Basically I am going to have the Dominion having a very different fate then what it was in canon. In fact this idea originally came to me from three sources, one I always wanted to do something similar to bondfan's Story of Heroes which has the story starting similar to how I have it here, and secondly the idea to do something different with the Dominion came from Maileesaeya's excellent Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Dauntless before finally my original idea to shift the point of view to a different set of characters, granted the original idea had it for the crew of the Kusanagi but I have since decided to do it on the Dominion.. So credit is where it is due, so please no flames telling me that I am ripping off someone, for acknowledge that these people had the same idea I did but before I even thought of it. So I am giving credit to those who really deserve it.

Anyways with that out of the way I must mention a few other things before getting on to the story itself. First of all some characters introduced in this story are ones that I am sort of borrowing from other animes. For those who have read some my other fics, I sometimes like to borrow other anime characters and fit them my stories. Secondly this story should be from the point of view of Natarle and her crew, therefore it is not on the Archangel or any other ship from the TSA. This is of course very different from other stories which mainly have the POV on the Archangel like the series itself. Next several of my ideas from Honor or some of other stories shall make appearances in this story. For example the Odin Class ships shall make many appearances throughout this story. This is thanks to many of these ideas becoming a sort of catch all for all my stories, and that I can not resist changing around the last half of the series. Finally I like to mention that thanks to this story starting later in the series then other stories, it shall be a lot shorter then you are use to. So some fair warning before someone asks me about it.

Anyways that is about it I think it is time to get to main event, and I hope everyone will enjoy this new story from me. Thank you all in advance!

Chapter BGM Asu he no Houkou from JAM Project

Prior Phase: The Pebble

Many have asked me over the years since the First War: Why did I do what I did? Or What Started it all? Well the answer to those questions are pretty simple, for while I was on board the Archangel during its journey from Heliopolis to Alaska I learned much from not only my captain Murrue Ramius, someone that I now gladly call my friend, but from others on the ship as well. This was perhaps the beginning but what really started it all was like an avalanche it was just one tiny pebble that started it all…

Taken from the introduction to Captain Natarle Badgiruel's A Soldier's True Duty

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Officer Quarters
Heaven's Base, Iceland
May 12, CE71

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On the coastline of Iceland is a small Naval base, though it looked small compared to other bases around the world. It is in fact a far bit larger for much of it laid underground with various labs, workrooms, and other facilities to support the base. In one of the small officer's quarters located in the base's residential section a short black haired woman wearing an Earth Alliance uniform stared at the computer screen on her desk with a frown. On the screen was all the known data on the AFS Archangel her old ship before she was transferred off the said ship. According to the displayed data the Archangel was now considered Missing in Action presumed destroyed along with the rest of the JOSH-A Defense Forces. The woman sighed before turning her head to look at the framed picture sitting on her desk showing herself along with two others, a long brown haired woman with a large smile on her face and a short blond hair male who had a cocky smile on his face. In between the two of them was the woman looking very uncomfortable compared to the two others, but she was smiling slightly. The woman smiled softly at the picture before turning back to look at the data wondering if it was true, but she had a feeling that it was not. Suddenly, someone knocked on the door to her quarters, blinking in surprise she got up from her desk and moved answer the door. With a press of a button on a panel besides the door, it slid open revealing an average looking man with a dark brown hair and mustache standing at the other side of the door.

"Ah! Natarle, I got the info you wanted," the man said with a deep British accent and a smile on his face patting the pocket of his uniform jacket.

"Vasil! That was quick, I only asked you yesterday. Anyways come in," Lieutenant Commander Natarle Badgiruel replied waving her quest inside. The man one Lieutenant Commander Vasil Tannith of the Atlantic Federation Military Intelligence, smiled once more before stepping inside the quarters.

"Well Nat the majority of it was easy to get, the only hard part was the report on the Archangel but I managed to get some info on it and a bit more that I found when I was digging. It did not make me happy at all, and I don't think it make you any happier as well. Not to mention I found something else much worse when I dug a bit further," Vasil said using his nickname for the woman in front of him before his smile disappeared as he sighed as he sat down in one of the two chairs in the quarters.

"That does not sound good," Natarle said with a frown of her own looking at her friend of many years. The two had been friends since they first met while in the Naval Academy with both of them First Year Cadets. Three years later at gradation the two would go their separate ways with Natarle going to college on a Navy bought scholarship while Vasil went into the Intelligence business. The two meet up a few times over the years before the war started, but when it did both friends where hard at work, though Vasil would keep in touch during the first year of the war. So when she heard about Vasil being assigned to Heaven's Base, she asked him to look up what happened to the Archangel.

"No it does not. Here read it for yourself," Vasil replied with a frown as brought out a data viewer from underneath his uniform jacket and inserted the data chip into the slot on the side, before handing it over to Natarle to read. With a frown the black haired Lieutenant Commander took the offered viewer and started to read. As she read the reports Vasil had on the viewer, her face with through many different emotions from a blinking surprise, to angry as sin, before settling on hard core shock. Finally she sighed and looked over at Vasil.

"It's all true Nat," Vasil said before she could ask him anything. Natarle sighed and looked back at the reports in the data viewer.

"Damn! The entire battle was an elaborate trap for ZAFT! I can understand springing a trap on the enemy, but this is ridiculous! They basically murdered the entire defense force, Eurasian mind you, as well as the attacking ZAFT forces," Natarle said ranting as she gritted her teeth in her anger.

"Not to mention seven or so thousand civilians living in the city of Fallbrook which was five miles from the base itself," Vasil said with a sneer as he looked angrily at the data viewer. For that bit truly angered him for like Natarle his family was a military one, with many of his ancestors in the military, and one thing that his family always taught him was that the military's job was to protect the civilians at all cost. It was one lesson he always took to heart, and never backed down from it. For several seconds both officers glared at the viewer before finally starting to calm down. With a sigh Natarle and looked to see Vasil starting to sigh as well.

"I am almost afraid to ask what this extra stuff you found is," Natarle said finally with a fearful expression. With a sigh Vasil picked up the data viewer and entered a few commands into the small computer like hand held before handing it once more over to Natarle.

"I found this when I was digging through the various stuff on the Cyclops system, and while I always suspected something like this I never thought I would right in my suspicions," Vasil replied with a frown looking at the wall not seeing it but looking at something else entirely. With a sigh Natarle braced herself mentally and looked at the viewer in question. Once more her face went through a few expressions before settling onto shock.

"Thirty-five Percent of the Atlantic Federation section of the Earth Forces is Blue Cosmos Members! Many of whom are senior officers!! This is unreal. Yes it has been much rumor and speculation ever since the Bloody Valentine that some members of the Earth Forces were Blue Cosmos but this is ridiculous," Natarle commented with a shake of her head. Vasil smiled sadly at her before nodding at her.

"Yes, but anyways enough of the bad news, check out the file under the name of Phoenix Angel and you should have your good news," Vasil directed as he got up and stretched a bit as Natarle looked back down at the viewer and typed a few commands herself before bringing up the required file. After a few moments reading she found herself smiling and sighed in relief.

"I can not believe it! The Archangel has done it again and come back from disaster. I wonder what is so special about the ship that has it coming on top every single time," she said with a wide smile before shaking her head.

"I know what exactly makes the ship so special but the Strike was all out destroyed and its pilot listed as MIA. What could have happened to bring back that infernal luck that has been on ship's side since Heliopolis," Natarle commented out loud before shaking her head, harder this time, and looked up at the amused face of Vasil.

"Anyways I better get ready, I am finally getting some leave before I get my next assignment and I believe you need to get back to your post," Natarle said looking around the room realizing that she had been so worried that she had not started really to get ready yet. Vasil laughed lightly before nodding at her.

"Yes I believe I need to get back, for my boss may wonder where I ran off to," Vasil commented as headed for the door with a smile, but paused looking back at Natarl who was smiling at him.

"Oh and Nat?" Vasil said not with a large frown on his face. Blinking in surprise Natarle looked at Vasil in confusion.

"Keep the viewer and show it to people you trust, perhaps that father of yours. The password is Avalanche," Vasil said before disappearing through the door without another good bye or anything. Left in her quarters alone Natarle Badgiruel found that her world had changed once more and it was not very good. Looking at the viewer she picked it up from were she had dropped it and set it aside on her desk, before she turned around to start get ready for her leave.

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Edwards Advanced Testing Facility
Atlantic Federation
May 14, CE71

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Over the years since the Cosmic Era calendar various old United States bases and airfields where rebuilt to serve the Atlantic Federation's Military. One of these bases was the former Edwards Air Force Base, which had been rebuilt in the early years of the Cosmic Era to serve as a launching base for various extra-orbit packages during the early days of the Space Colony program, before the Mass Drivers where built. For years afterward it would remain unoccupied after the Mass Drivers made such bases obsolete. Years later the base would once again be brought back online and would once become a testing facility for new aircraft designs. In fact the base had taken part in the early testing of the Mobile Armor prototypes, before the mobile armor became only a extra-atmosphere project. Over the years following it would test various new fighter designs for the Atlantic Federation's growing military. Finally when the war started it became one of the center pieces in the Earth Alliance attempt to create their own Mobile Suits. During the first months of the war various failed prototypes would be tested at Edwards and only when Morgenroete offered some help that the mobile suit testing was briefly moved from Edwards to the Morgenroete facility at the Heliopolis Colony. Now mobile suits had once again been brought back to Edwards and unlike before the base would now serve as a training base as new pilots were brought in to train on the newly produced Alliance mobile suits. While earlier mobile suit pilot training had taken part at other bases around the Earth Alliance, Edwards would be one of the two bases to train pilots on the GAT-01A1 Dagger Mobile Suit, unlike the other bases which trained pilots on the more basic GAT-01 Strike Dagger Mobile Suit.

The first group of pilots where now arriving as a VT-50 Preybird VTOL Personal Transport came in for landing on one of the bases helicopter pads. After a brief moment of judging the wind the transport's pilot easily set the large VTOL transport onto the tarmac. After the transport safely shut down its engines a hatch on the side of the aircraft was opened and several uniformed people stepped out onto the tarmac. One of them a short blond haired officer looked up at the sun and blinked at the brightness.

"Lieutenant Commander James Focker?" a voice asked of the blond officer. Surprised the man turned to see an officer of the Atlantic Federation Air Force fast approaching the group of arriving pilots.

"Yeah I'm Focker," the blond pilot said as he walked up to the jogging officer, who nodded at Focker before saluting.

"Sir welcome to Edwards, if you follow me I shall lead you and your men to the barracks to get settled before the briefing," the officer said waving his arm over to a group of barrack buildings. James Focker nodded at the younger officer before catching something out of the corner of his eye. Turning his head he saw ten kneeling mobile suits in front of a hanger. Blinking in surprise James turned to the Air Force officer.

"Are those the mobile suits we are going to be trained on?" James asked with wide eyes at the younger man. Surprised the Air Force man turned to look at the mobile suits as well before nodding.

"Yes sir, those are the GAT-01A1 Daggers. I know you and your men had for the last few weeks been training on the GAT-01 Strike Daggers but I believe you would like these a whole lot better then the rush-job that is the Strike Dagger," the man replied with a hint of pride in his voice. Nodding James turned to look at the Daggers with almost glee before turning back to follow the young Air Force officer to the barracks with smile on his lips, for things where now shifting and James was going to be in the middle of it. For all it took was a small pebble to start an avalanche and while the Strike Daggers where the pebble these new machines where the avalanche that followed.

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Poster Chapter Notes:

Well here is the first chapter of Divergence and right off the bat things are starting to change. While Natarle may have known in canon about the Cyclops we never really saw her reaction but I can believe she was not too happy about it. Also there is a reason for the data on Blue Cosmos which would affect the crew of the Dominion later on. Natarle maybe a bit out of character, but I try not to make my writing match to much with staying in character for I manage to go overboard or to little so I just don't worry about it.

Anyways one of the other main character gets a small introduction here at the end, and yes basically James is basically Roy Focker from Macross/Robotech. Just changing his name around and fitting him into the SEED universe. His past and story will slowly be revealed as the story goes on.

Also I like to mention that there is no solid data on when the Strike Daggers start rolling out and I personally tend to believe that it had to be three to four weeks before the Battle of Panama for the Alliance had to have time to train those pilots. Therefore I put the roll out of the Strike Dagger around early May or late April, which gives the pilots time to train.

Anyhow that is about it and I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I am quite proud of it myself. But please leave a review and tell me what you think of this. Anyways time for this tired writer to head for bed. Ciao!

Next Time on Divergence… Phase One: Intermission