Disclaimers:
I DO NOT have the rights to Gundam Seed, GSD, its characters, mobile suits and its setting. They are all property of Bandai and Sunrise. I'm just borrowing them for a bit. This is purely for enjoyment purposes. The original characters in this story are mine and they each got a little tag on them stating they they are mine. Removal of said tag will result in a fine or imprisonment.

Author's Notes:
Remember in the last chapter I said I was back in the writing groove? Well, I'm stuck in a rut. Something I'm familiar with. And it didn't help that my writing time was taken over by playing Metroid Fusion and as of right now, Saints Row: The Third. That game is FUN!

One main reason why I'm having such a hard time right now is because I have some difficulty in being descriptive. Like in this chapter, the main ship of the Organization makes its debut and I tried to describe to you readers what the ship looks like from my thoughts and I have trouble with that. The scene with Shinn and Rey was a tough one as well because I had to pry into the mixed emotions of Shinn just after he followed orders and killed Athrun and Meyrin, so I had a hard time with that as well. I will probably have an even harder time when I have Shinn meet up with Lunamaria sometime soon and have to deal with that situation. I know where I want to go with it, but I have a very hard time trying to get it into text. I want to make it like readers can feel for the characters, but trying to get it down on here is one thing I have problems with.

I feel like I sort of rushed this chapter since I got most of it done a week ago. It's mainly because of my describing problems and writing exact emotions. Anyway, I hope you enjoy Phase 3.

In The Shadows
Phase 3: Enter the Terminator

For Shinn Asuka, having a whirlwind of emotions only made him more confused about what he had to do a mere few hours ago. He was forced to kill Athrun Zala, suspected for being a secret agent for LOGOS who stole secret ZAFT files for the dreaded organization. Not only that, Chairman Gilbert Durandal also said that Meyrin Hawke, Lunamaria's little sister was assisting Athrun, making her a part of his plans. Having Athrun actually betray ZAFT against was troubling, but hearing he corrupted poor Meyrin was beginning to make his blood boil. God only knows what Lunamaria is going through right now. Meyrin was her only family left and Shinn deeply regretted killing her.

"Are you still thinking about the events that have taken place?" A cool sounding voice called out from the empty locker room that Shinn was in. He turned to the voice and noticed that it was his friend, roommate and close confidant, Rey Za Burrel. The young man with shoulder length pale blond hair proudly wore the ZAFT Red uniform, indicating that he's an ace pilot, just like Shinn and Lunamaria Hawke.

"I hate being confused despite the glaring evidence in my face. It all boils down to one question: why would Athrun do such a thing?" Shinn asked himself, not caring if Rey was in the room.

"You do know that the pilot of the Freedom was one of Athrun's partners in LOGOS. And we all know he didn't take the news very well and began to question Chairman Durandal's motives for the future." Rey answered, getting straight to the point.

"I remember that. Plus I also remember that pointless slap he gave me for it. Okay, so I killed his friend. I understood how close he was to him, but I never question anything the Chairman ordered." Shinn said. The young man had a lot of respect for Athrun, but his reaction for killing Kira shocked him deeply.

"It might have been the reason that he defected to LOGOS in order to gain revenge for his friend's death. He has been acting a bit strange since that person's death." Rey answered,

"Don't remind me. But I'm more upset about Meyrin. I mean, was she really helping Athrun all this time?" Shinn asked,

"We might never know why Meyrin went with Zala or if it was him that swayed her to his way of thinking. Either way, you had to perform your duty and pushed your personal feelings to the side. However, I should tell you that the crew of the Minerva are in very good spirits by your recent actions. You have given us a very big boost in morale." Rey answered. It was true that the crew of the Minerva were riding high with optimism after Shinn's victory against Kira and the Freedom and the fact that a major traitor in the ZAFT ranks was eliminated by Shinn as well. His nickname of the Super Ace seemed to prove itself right with each passing victory. Rey's words of encouragement was working on Shinn and the young man was feeling somewhat better about the situation.

"Yeah. You're right. I do feel a bit better now. I had to eliminate a potential enemy and there is no room for personal feels in war, even though I had to kill Meyrin as well." Shinn said, but he was still torn by the fact that he had to kill Meyrin as well. Rey sensed this and he knew that it would be a good idea to speak with Lunamaria and try to comfort her.

"That is correct, Shinn. However, I do want you to talk to Lunamaria. She's probably devastated by the fact that Meyrin was corrupted by Athrun Zala. I'm nowhere near as close to her as you are, in addition I have to file my report to Captain Gladys." Rey said,

"I know. I'll speak to her. I know she might hate me for this, but I have to talk to her. I might be late in sending my report to Captain Gladys, though." Shinn said,

"Don't worry. I am sure she will understand. I'll see you in the mess hall tonight, all right?" Rey said as Shinn nodded to his wing man and friend. The light blond haired young man left the room, leaving Shinn alone once again to gather his thoughts.

The crew of the Eliminator were preparing for the arrival of their bigger, sister ship, the Devastator. It took the crew of the opposite ship an extra few days because they misjudged their re-entry point from space and ended up deep in the Gulf of Mexico in the Atlantic Federation. The original rendezvous was supposed to be near Gibraltar Base, but thanks to the mistake, the original arrival day was pushed back. After over three days of traveling underwater, the two ships finally arrived at the new rendezvous in the waters off of Val Verde. Once the two ships arrived, they began the long process of marrying the two into one, giant ship with The Captain and the bridge crew overseeing the merging operation.

The process began with the Devastator's front bow pushing away from the ship and split into two, almost looking like a pair of jaws that seemed ready to eat the Eliminator. Instead, the jaws unhinged themselves as the extended part of the bow acted as an elbow of sorts The smaller of the ships, the Eliminator, attached itself into the slot that appeared when the Devastator's front bow split into two and each side acted as an arm and looked to hug the smaller ship as it attached. The arms housed the ship's Lohengrin-type Positron Blaster Cannons.

"Docking with the Devastator is now complete." Jenkins said as the monitors were showing that the connection phase was successful,

"Bring the Terminator online." The Captain ordered. Within seconds, the joined cruisers began to charge up with the power from the now combined power plant, activating many of the new ship's features. Corridors were joined and connected, power couplings were attacked and energy flowed through them. Various vents, pipes and shafts were merged and have begun to deliver air and water throughout the merged ship.

"The Terminator is now operational, Captain." Jenkins answered.

At first glance, the newly formed Terminator bares no resemblance to any space cruisers in the Earth Military and or ZAFT. The ship seemed to look like a giant medicine pill, a very curvy design that makes it perfect to disguise itself as a big asteroid with the right equipment. The back of the ship houses the three giant engines that made the back of the ship seem swollen. The middle engine was from the Eliminator, which was detached first and put into place as the Devastator began to connect. The two engines of the Devastator detach and make a gap for the third engine to connect into place using magnetic technology. The separation of the engines was the reason the back of the ship has that swollen look as the outer hull morphed into its new shape, gaining extra pieces that now hide some weaponry that can be unveiled during a battle, which mimics the Archangel and the Minerva in how it deploys its weapons array.

It also has the same weapons as the two ships with a few differences. Besides the two Lohengrin cannons in the "arms" of the ship, the Terminator has two Gottfried 225cm high-energy beam cannons located on the back where the engines are and can maneuver to any angle. The ship has not two, but four Valiant 110cm Linear cannons mounted in the four corners of the ship for reasons unknown except for aiming at enemies at any angle. Because the ship is over twice as big as the Archangel, it has double the number of missile tubes. The forty-eight surface-to-ship missile launchers and the thirty-two surface-to-air launchers are located in various sections of the ship with the majority of them located in the stern section. A small number of missile launchers are holed up at the front bow of the ship with a section of small missile tubes for the Helldart ant-aircraft missiles. Another section for Helldarts are housed in a secret area near the mobile shut hangar with one final batch at the rear of the ship underneath the engines.

How the ship deploys its mobile suits is different from the Archangel and many ZAFT ships, which uses linear catapults to launch suits into battle. The suits move into a staging area where a bulkhead door seals the suit in, creating an airtight lock while the chamber is depressurized or filled with water depending on where they are. This prevents the vacuum of space from getting into the hangar while in space as well as preventing water from flooding the mobile suit hangar while the Terminator is underwater. Once the change in the chamber is complete, the outer hull is opened and it acts as a platform for the suit to launch off of. It takes a ready to battle mobile suit just under ninety seconds to walk to the chamber, seal the bulkhead door, depressurize the chamber and open the outer hull hatch to allow the suit to fly into battle. There are four total mobile suit chambers, two on each side, for the suits to enter and exit the Terminator during battle, which are all adjacent to the middle of the mobile suit hangar

"Excellent. Call the crew in the mobile suit hangar for a quick briefing." The Captain ordered.

"Understood, Sir." Jenkins said.

Minutes later, the two crews of the ships have been brought together in the main mobile suit hangar of their now combined ship. The crew of the Eliminator were completely dwarfed by the much larger crew of the Devastator by at least four to one. The Devastator is home to the big mobile suit hangar, most of the living quarters of the crew, the Research and Development lab, a highly advanced sick bay and a far superior mess hall. The mobile suit hangar has the most crew assigned to make sure it can keep the ship's fleet of Mobile Suits battle ready.

The smaller Eliminator houses the Bridge for the two ships, the CIC, the weapons department, prisoner cells, a very small mobile suit hangar and probably the most important two places for the crew of the combined Terminator, the Sports Bar and the Recreational Center.

Most of the crew has gathered in the hangar when Vincenzo arrived along with his Haro, which he carried in his arm like a helmet. Unlike the multiple Haros Lacus Clyne has in her possession thanks to Athrun, this particular Haro is colored gray and is roughly the size of a basketball. Clearly, it is much bigger than Mr. Pink and a bit on the vulgar side. Upon arrival, the gray Haro wiggled out of Vincenzo's right arm and began to bounce around the hangar, flapping its ear-like flaps happily.

"What up, bitches? What up, bitches?" Gray Haro said cheerfully as it bounced up and down on the ground, flapping its covers rapidly causing everybody to shoot eye daggers at Vincenzo. They are not fans of his Haro.

"Haro, shut up!" Vincenzo said as he grabbed the bouncing Haro in mid air.

"Still trying to get that piece of shit Haro to work right? You know it's your fault for programming him to say nasty things all the time." One of the crew members said. Before Vincenzo could shoot back with an insult, the Captain arrived with the rest of the bridge crew for the briefing.

"Okay, people! If you're done fooling around, I want to update you on the current situation." The Captain said loudly. The rest of the crew shut up and stood at attention as Vincenzo made his way a group of three people who stood in front of one of the mass production mobile suits. Once everybody was settled, the Captain began.

"It seems like Supreme Chairman Gilbert Durandal is riding a wave of good luck. People on earth are already rejecting LOGOS and they are going after them with effective results." The Captain began,

"Wait. That's bad for us, isn't it?" A young man with a Russian accent asked,

"If you recall, one LOGOS member got all butt-hurt and gave Durandal classified information on LOGOS and fed it to the people of Earth in order to get them and Blue Cosmos gone. He maybe planning something else that is big, but we have no clue what." The Captain answered,

"Is Durandal trying to become the savior of Naturals despite them trying to off the people in the PLANTS?" Another young man asked. He was clearly from America and he looked more like a businessman than a member of the organization, wearing a nice looking silk shirt with a ark colored tie and dark gray business slacks. He was standing next to the Russian while Vincenzo looked on with Haro in his arms and a girl with long black hair and red eyes stood with the group.

"Not all Naturals dislike Coordinators. It's all due to Blue Cosmos' influence." The young lady with long black hair said,

"You're right. Blue Cosmos and LOGOS have manipulated the minds of the people here but Durandal is trying to make a bridge of understanding between the two races. Also, our teammates hidden in the PLANTs haven't gotten anything about Gilbert Durandal's plans. His actions seem genuine since he believes that having LOGOS due their anti-Coordinator antics is bad for both sides, since it continues the war." The Captain answered,

"Probably he wants to really have peace between Earth and the PLANTs." The sharp dressed man said,

"I doubt it." Vincenzo said snidely,

"Enough, Vincenzo. We also learned from our people in the PLANTs that Athrun Zala and another person were eliminated by ZAFT due to stealing sensitive information and tried to defect to LOGOS. However, I feel that Durandal decided to remove Zala since he wasn't useful anymore. So they killed him and the person he was with and made it look like they were traitors." The Captain said,

"Athrun Zala, the son of the late, genocidal Patrick Zala? I do recall that he once defected from ZAFT before to join forces against them and the Atlantic Federation." One member of the mobile suit mechanic team said,

"Sounds like ZAFT really doesn't like defectors. I bet you Zala messed up something small and that was it for him." The Russian man added,

"Sounds more like Durandal has some Italian mafia genes in him, asking somebody to do a hit on a guy he doesn't like." Vincenzo said,

"He must be one powerful guy to order something that elaborate." Another mechanic also added. That alone started the gathering crew to gossip about Durandal's powerful reach in the PLANTs.

"Are you all done gossiping, people?" The Captain asked annoyed. The crew immediately silenced and the older man coughed quietly before continuing the briefing.

"Back to the matter at hand. We also have reports that the infamous Archangel had survived the assault from the Minerva a few days ago and have made it back to ORB waters." The Captain said,

"The Archangel? The same Archangel that got its ass kicked a few days ago when we found that nuke powered mobile suit a few days ago?" The young lady with black hair asked,

"I heard that ship has survived a great share of battles because one of their mobile suit pilots is a Coordinator." The American man said,

"The very same ship. From the reports we have gathered, ZAFT went after that ship just after Durandal revealed LOGOS to the world. And he made people believe that the Archangel was also a part of LOGOS since they pretty much ruled the Earth Alliance." The Captain said,

"And ORB is part of the Earth Alliance, despite their neutrality leanings. That makes sense. Anyway, what are your orders, sir?" The American man asked,

"Keith, I want you to lead Vincenzo, Ronin and Selene in a strike against ZAFT and battle against that new machine they unveiled for the pilot who destroyed that Archangel mobile suit. They are probably going to take out Heaven's Base, the new Headquarters of the Earth Alliance." The Captain said as he pointed to the group standing in front of the mobile suit. The group of four young people were the main mobile suit pilots of the Terminator.

"Heaven's Base in Iceland? Isn't that were many members of LOGOS are hiding, including Lord Djibril?" The young American named Keith asked,

"That's correct, Keith. ZAFT want to get their hands on LOGOS since popular opinion is against them." The Captain answered,

"Sir, I got a question I need answered." Vincenzo said, raising his hand so he could be heard.

"You, Vincenzo? This better not be a retarded question as usual." The Captain said harshly,

"If we go ahead with the attack on Heaven's Base, we are allowing Lord Djibril the window he needs to escape the planet and make other plans god knows where since LOGOS is persona non grata here on Earth. We all know he'll continue to make havoc in the name of killing every Coordinator for 'A Blue and Pure World'." Vincenzo answered. His answer nearly shocked everybody in the meeting. Mario Vincenzo is the a crazed psycho who usually doesn't think straight most of the time. It is one of the side effects of the Gamma Glipheptin he takes before battles to give him that edge. So hearing him voice a very legitimate concern about a aspect of the mission was out of left field.

"If our mission were to stop this war, that would be a point of interest. However, we know Djibril will try to escape to an Earth Alliance base to regroup and attack the PLANTs. If both sides are so eager to kill each other off, why don't we let them and if they realize what they are doing, we'll the door to their destruction ourselves." The Captain answered,

"You're right about that, Sir. That is why we joined this group. Because both Naturals and Coordinators are idiots who are both too dumb to live." Keith said,

"So what happens if we end up meeting the Minerva during the fight with that new suit at heaven's Base?" The Russian man named Ronin asked, clearly worried about the power of the Minerva.

"You all better avoid it like the plague." The Captain answered,

"That's not very comforting." Selene said, she being the young lady with the long black hair and piercing red eyes.

"War is not comforting at all, Selene. Besides, you all have taken out even bigger ships than the Minerva in the past." The Captain said,

"True, but the Minerva and even the Archangel are in a class by themselves. They are the Premier League of ships while we have been taking out ships that are in League One or League Two." Selene added,

"For now, we will make our way to Heaven's Base underwater. It'll take a day or two to get there since we had to deviate from our original travel plan. Until then, I want the mobile suit maintenance crew work on getting any more secrets out of that ZAFT mobile suit Leeroy and Jenkins found a few days ago." The Captain ordered,

"SIR, YES SIR!" The large mobile suit mechanic team said loudly at once,

"Research and Development will assist you in finding any secrets we can use from that suit." The Captain added,

"Orders understood, Captain." The head of R&D answered as the rest of his team saluted in acknowledgment,

"The rest of the crew will resume normal duties for now. As for the pilots, resume your normal daily routine. Try to relax and get some simulation training in before the next mission." The Captain said,

"You got it, Sir." Keith said as he, Ronin and Selene saluted. Vincenzo on the other hand really didn't give much of a salute, but the Captain expected that from the purple haired young man.

Closing Notes:
This chapter took a lot of time to make. I tend to have trouble describing things and exact emotions of characters. I can see how hurt, anxious and worried, but I can't put that into text. Plus I have another worry. I've never written a mecha battle before and there will be a major battle in a couple of chapters. And add the planned scene with Shinn and Lunamaria, I have a few major issues to get through and that is why I pretty much have slowed down in writing this.

Until next time, keep your mobile suit in tip top condition, make sure your Haro doesn't get wet and be ready to sortie in a moment's notice. And please do drop a review or two if you enjoy this new chapter.