71 C.E. – Heliopolis Space Colony
The white ZAFT CGUE, heading towards the ground at max speed, sliced through the orange mobile armor's main gun, shocking the Natural pilot as the CGUE promptly ignored him and continued onwards.
"I'll sink you now while I still have the chance!" Commander Rau le Creuset of ZAFT, pilot of the white CGUE, yelled in his cockpit, heading towards the inert Strike still kneeling on the ground.
With a cry of panic, Kira Yamato, the pilot of the Strike, quickly activated the Phase Shift armor on his mobile suit before powering it up into a standing position. Before he could do anything else, however, the world around him boomed and shook, and Kira stared in shock as a massive section of forest blew up in flames. His shock was only magnified as a massive warship – white in color scheme, with two distinctive front "legs" – flew out of the newly made hole in the ground. Even the white CGUE stopped its interception path as it turned to stare at the emerging Earth Alliance warship.
The world froze for a few moments. And then it promptly restarted when the CGUE broke the trance that everyone fell into, blasting towards the white warship and firing at its bridge. The Alliance legged ship evaded by turning starboard, a rather impressive feat for such a large warship to accomplish in the artificial atmosphere of Heliopolis.
Accomplishing his goal of making the Earth Alliance ship divert its path away from the last remaining Alliance G-Weapon, Rau pushed his mobile suit back towards said G-Weapon, intent on eliminating it before it became a greater threat to ZAFT and his own end plan.
"Let's see how you handle this," the masked commander muttered, switching his ammunition type before firing a barrage at both the Strike and the people standing around it. The Strike dropped to a knee to block the bullets that flew towards it, making them ricochet off as the people around the Strike hit the ground in an attempt to dodge the CGUE's fire.
"Not even enhanced ASPV?" Rau questioned, a tingling sense at the back of his neck. It was a rather worrying thought that not even his armor penetrating rounds could so much as dent the Phase Shift armor on a G-Weapon. He could only imagine the implications of such technology if the Alliance managed to implement it onto its mobile armors – or, heavens forbid, their own potential future G-Weapons and mobile suits. The tide of the war would drastically change.
A flurry of missiles flew out of the Earth Alliance warship, causing the CGUE to deviate from its path to dodge. The coordinator easily outflew the projectiles, causing them to detonate on unintended targets, most important of which was the central support beam of the space colony. Under the pressure and strain, it was already heavily weakened, and the missiles that subsequently impacted on it caused the massive support wires to fray and snap, sending explosions down the entire shaft.
"Wha- you gotta be kidding me," Kira cried, activating the Strike's targeting computer. The Strike swung its large Agni Impulse Cannon over its back, cradling it under its left arm as Kira tracked the CGUE through his targeting computer, finally finding a lock-on after a few seconds.
"Wait! That's too-" Murrue Ramius yelled in shock. Unfortunately, her cry came just moments too late. The Strike, hoisting up its massive Agni Impulse Cannon, fired into the sky, targeting the white ZAFT CGUE mobile suit unit that was harassing the orange Earth Alliance mobile armor and the white legged ship.
The red-blue blast of energy tore through the artificial atmosphere of the space colony at a speed the CGUE's pilot did not expect. Rau le Creuset had barely enough time to register the danger before he realized the powerful beam that the Strike had just fired was heading towards him. In a vain attempt to avoid the shot, he pushed down on his controls, trying to escape the brunt of the Agni's beam.
Unfortunately for him, it was too late.
The Agni's beam blasted right through the right arm and torso of the CGUE, annihilating the arm, the rifle it held, and the cockpit that contained one of ZAFT's most respected and well-known commanders. The CGUE's remains spun in mid-air for less than a second before exploding in a bright ball. Not in the least deterred by the errant and now-destroyed ZAFT mobile suit, the beam emitted by the Strike's Agni cannon continued its path, impacting the side of the space colony and tearing straight through the reinforced metal that protected Heliopolis' occupants from the cold vacuum of space. With a bright light and an explosion, a circular hole was carved through the side of Orb's colony, the pressure difference immediately sucking out air and other items from inside Heliopolis into outer space.
"Ah!" Kira exclaimed. The destruction was magnified on the Strike's cockpit screen, and Kira could easily see his mistake. Already, cars, destroyed buildings, and other objects were flying out, and while the area they were in was still relatively intact due to the sheer distance from the hole, eventually the space colony's life support systems would fail and cease to compensate for the increasing amount of oxygen leaving Heliopolis.
The legged ship swung around, matching its spin to the rotation of Heliopolis before finding a large deserted patch of land to settle upon. The damaged orange mobile armor, missing half of its main gun and all of its gunbarrels, also landed, finding a perch on top of the white warship's center external landing pad.
The Strike, for its part, picked up its ground companions, moving towards the legged ship as per Lieutenant Ramius' commands before climbing into the open hanger on the ship's right leg. It had barely just deposited its passengers before a cry came from deeper in the hanger.
"Lieutenant Ramius!" The lieutenant and her civilian companions turned to see a uniformed dark-haired woman run towards them, a few other uniformed men following close behind.
"Ensign Badgiruel," Ramius greeted, turning to meet her nominal subordinate. Badgiruel saluted.
"I'm relieved to see that you are safe!"
"And you," Ramius replied, slightly smiling at the other woman. "I'm pleased that you were able to protect the Archangel. You saved us."
With that, the Strike's cockpit popped open, and Kira stuck his head out. Badgiruel and her entourage gawked at the young teen as he descended from the Gundam.
"Come on," one bulky looking man exclaimed. "He's only a kid. You mean that child piloted that thing?"
As Kira's feet touched the ground, his friends ran up to him, and his mouth crept into a smile at the thought that his friends had held such concern for him. It was heartwarming, to say the least.
"Lieutenant Ramius, what's going on?" questioned Badgiruel, confused at the appearance of such a young person as the pilot of the Strike. Ramius only glanced at Kira with a look of uncertainty before any reply she was formulating was interrupted by a new voice.
"Wow, what a surprise." Ramius turned to see a blonde man walk towards them, clad in his distinctive purple-accented flight suit.
"I'm Lieutenant Mu la Flaga of the 7th Orbital Fleet," the man said, smiling as he saluted. The two women, along with the other uniformed people, saluted back.
"I'm Lieutenant Murrue Ramius of Sector 2, 5th Special Division."
"Ensign Badgiruel of the same Division."
Mu dropped his salute as expression turned more serious.
"I'd like authorization to board this ship. Who's in charge here?"
Badgiruel grimaced, and Murrue turned as she noticed the dire change in expression on the other woman's face.
"The captain and top officers of this ship all perished in the battle. I believe that Lieutenant Ramius is now in that position of responsibility." Murrue turned with widened eyes.
"Only about a dozen or so of us survived," Badgiruel continued, "mostly non-commissioned officers. Fortunately, being in the shaft, I managed to escape danger."
"The captain?" Murrue exclaimed. "How…"
"Oh man, this is quite the disaster," Mu muttered, cradling his head in one hand. "In any case, please give me permission to board, Lieutenant Ramius. The ship that I came in got shot down."
"Ah, sure, I grant you permission." Murrue's voice had a uncertain quality to it, the kind of wavering voice one would expect of an officer who had been given an impromptu battlefield promotion under the worst of circumstances.
"And who's that?" Mu asked, turning to Kira.
"As you can see, he's a civilian teenager. For some reason, he was in the factory district when the attack happened. I let him in the G-Weapon. His name is Kira Yamato," explained Murrue. Mu hummed in approval as he looked over the teenager.
"Th-thanks to him," Murrue stuttered, "we were able to destroy a GINN and CGUE while protecting this machine."
"A GINN and CGUE?" Badgiruel asked, shocked. "This kid did that?"
"Hm. I came here as an escort for the pilots that were supposed to be given these machines. Where are they?" Mu questioned.
"They were all in the control booth when the … bombing happened," Badgiruel finished sadly. Mu frowned at the thought of his charges perishing during the battle. "I see," he quietly replied, before walking up to Kira. Mu cut an imposing figure in front of Kira, towering nearly a head over the sixteen-year-old.
"Wh-what is it?" Kira asked, curious.
Mu smiled. "You're a coordinator, aren't you?" Kira sharply inhaled, and looks of shock appeared on everyone's faces, including his own friends'.
"Yes." The nearby Alliance security forces readied their assault rifles as Tolle jumped in front of Kira, ready to defend his friend.
"Can't you see that Kira's not a threat to you all?" Tolle cried out, standing in between Kira and the Alliance soldiers.
"Lieutenant Ramius, please explain youself," Badgiruel requested, confused at the sudden turn of events.
"I believe that the circumstances speak for themselves. Kira here is someone who's here in Heliopolis to escape the war. It's natural for some coordinators to seek the refuge provided by Orb. Am I wrong, Kira?"
"No, you're right. Especially since I'm a first-generation Coordinator." Muttered rippled through the crowd of assembled Alliance personnel at the statement.
"Meaning your parents are Naturals," explained Mu. He turned, rubbing the back of his neck. "Well, I apologize for causing such a stir. I was just curious." He looked up at the gray mobile suit. "On the way here, I observed a number of simulations. None of the pilots could get the machine to do more than just move." Mu morosely grinned at the thought, which clearly showcased the difference in skill between even high-end Naturals and a Coordinator. "Man, oh man. At any rate, we should get going. There's still a ZAFT team out there, and we can't stay in this colony forever." He began to walk away before stopping and turning slightly.
"On the other hand, it seems like he took out Rau le Creuset of all people, so we've had quite the miracle today."
71 C.E. – Outside of Heliopolis Space Colony
The command center of the ZAFT Nazca-class ship Vesalius was a flurry of activity, and much of it was a mess. The Le Creuset team had largely succeeded at their objectives, but now they were down a Le Creuset, and the loss of their commander had greatly impacted the morale of the warship, even as Le Creuset's second-in-command tried to restore order.
In the accompanying Laurasia-class ship Gamow, it somewhat better, as many were still unaware of the commander's demise and were carrying out his final orders of equipping the remaining GINNs with D-equipment.
"D-equipment, huh?" Dearka Elsman, one of the pilots of the stolen G-Weapons, commented as he looked out of the pilots' lounge window. "Does the commander intend on capturing a fortress?"
"But what will happen to Heliopolis?" the green-haired Nicol Amalfi asked, concerned at the use of such force against the space colony.
"Can't be helped, can't it?" Yzak Joule responded, his white hair firmly in place courtesy of gel. "Serves them right, calling themselves a neutral state." Nicol grimaced at the bloodlust pouring off of his fellow Coordinator. A beeping from a side monitor interrupted their conversation, and Nicol floated over to accept the message. His eyes widened at the memo that was being broadcasted throughout the ships of the Le Creuset team.
"No…" Nicol gasped. Dearka and Yzak both turned to look at the green-haired Coordinator.
"What's the matter?" Dearka asked, more concerned than his fellow Coordinator about Nicol and the message.
"The commander… he's dead."
A/N: And the journey begins. A lot of this chapter was straight from Episode 3 of the series, but as the story continues, I'll stop using the script of the show so much, except to guide the events of the story. Much of the dialogue (and plot) in the coming chapters will be more original, especially once they reach Earth. Already, there are massive changes happening in the Cosmic Era. In addition, Kira and Cagalli are NOT twins. That was an unnecessary plot contrivance that irrevocably changed the one relationship with the most chemistry in the whole show (though I am also a fan of AthrunxCagalli). Please review, favorite, and follow to stay tuned for the next chapter!