I've always wondered what would happen if Kira acquired the STRIKE NOIR as opposed to the FREEDOM in SEED.
Having said that... the Earth Federation is the butt-monkey of the show, being at a technical disadvantage ever since the latter half of SEED and never seemed to recover. Their crowning achievement of mobile suit design was probably the NOIR. The Destroy became third-rate after Stella's death, and we've seen no better replacement.
You know, the Feds in UC weren't saints, but they weren't the butt-monkey. The Earth Federation in SEED gets punched, maimed, thrown aside and eventually cast away by just about every faction in the series, even by their own people. Funny now that I think about it. How does it stay in power like this?
- Tak