Battle of Endymion Crater...A CGUE around blasted a Moebius out of existence with his machine gun. " "
"ISAF"
Phase 1: False PeaceJanuary 25th, C.E. 71
Heliopolis...Kira Yamato, a 15 year First Generation Coordinator, was working on his assignment given to him by his teacher Professor Kato. In another window on his computer was the latest news on the war, more specifically the Kaoshiung Spaceport and it's Mass Driver. The footage was a week old and the Spaceport, and probably the whole of Taiwan, have fallen to the ZAFT Forces. The reporter in the foreground had a grim look on his face as he reported the battle, wearing his flak vest and Kevlar helmet. In the background were two GINNs as they decimated the Earth Forces positions around the Spaceport."It sounds like the Earth Forces have lost their first Mass Driver," said Kyle Matsutani, an old friend of his from Copernicus before they evacuated back to their respsective nations before the war. He and two others, Athrun Zala and Arleen Bettany, have been friends with Kira since C.E. 61. They had to split up because of the tensions between Earth and the PLANTs. Athrun went back to Aprilius City, Kyle and Arleen's families left for the Antarctic L2 Colony Cluster, while he and his family left for Heliopolis, it was then he got the suprise of his life, when on September 20th of last year, Arleen and Kyle came to Helipolis, and were attending the same class as him. Back to Kyle, he was the same height as him, had black shoulder length hair in a wolf-tail, had light green eyes and always a good friend to have around, when you get stalked by bullies constantly. He was wearing a black leather jacket, tan shirt, and green cargo pants, and what looked like the civilian version of ZAFT Forces boots, as he looked at Kira's computer screen."Yeah, Taiwan apparently..." he said as he looked at the destroyed city around the reporter. He could'nt believe why people are so stupid sometimes, whether they be Natural or Coordinator. The young Coordinator was so engrossed in his work from the professor though, that he did not hear another person creep up from behind him. When the hand laid itself on his shoulder, Kira jumped at the touch. He let out a yelp as his computer fell to the ground with a CRASH."Akira! Don't do that!" Kira rasped as he struggled to get some air into his lungs. Sixteen year old Akira Nishikama just laughed at the sight. "You are too easy to scare, Kira. Lighten up!" the other boy giggled.Akira, like Kira, was a Coordinator, but second-generation. He wore his black hair pulled back at the bottom, flowing down to his middle back. The boy also had golden eyes and was very muscular but not too much, due to his black belt training in martial arts. Akira was also very skilled at mechanics. He wore a white jacket with a black line on the arms on the outside while a red t-shirt was underneath. Blue jeans and white tennis shoes completed his outfit.Kira just sighed before he saw his computer on the ground. "Aw shit!" he cursed as he ran over to it and inspected the laptop for any damage. "There better not be any damage…" the brown-haired boy muttered as he looked it over.The black-haired boy just let out a sigh as Kira stood up, satisfied that there was not damage to the computer. "You should not have done that! Kyle and I have work to complete!" Kira explained as he faced Akira."From who?" the golden-eyed boy inquired. "Professor Kato." Kira replied."Hey! Kira! Aki'! Kyle!" The three Coordinators turned to see Tolle, Nisha, Miriallia, and Arleen run up to them. Aki' was Akira's nickname considering how the two names sounded too similar.The voice belogned to Tolle Koenig, a friend of Kira's after he arrived in Helipolis, as he came over to them with his girlfriend Miriallia Haw in tow. Like Tolle, she was a recent add to his small band of friends. Accompanying them was another girl, with reddish-orange hair, Cerulean blue eyes, wearing a red leather jacket, white pants, and wearing black ankle high zip-up boots. Her name was Arleen Bettany, another old friend of Kira's from their days at Copernicus. When they came unexpectedly to Heliopolis, he was happy to see them again, but then he was shocked when he found out that they are not just friends, but girlfriend and boyfriend, now! Apparently something must've happened when they went their seperate ways almost three years ago. He shook his head of the thought.Nisha Itsuno was Akira's cousin, who was a Coordinator just like him, but First-Generation. His father was Akira's uncle, and a Natural to boot. He wore a t-shirt with 2 green lines running down the front of it, and blue jeans that had a hole below the right knee. He wore white sneakers to complete his outfit. His hair was light blue, and his eyes were a brown color."Hey Tolle, what's up?" Kira asked him.Tolle then decided to give him the bad news. "So this is where you were at. Professor Kato's been trying to get a hold of you two." He pointed to Kira and Kyle.Kyle just face-palmed as he knew what Prof. Kato wants. Sure being a student in college was fun and all, but at the same time it can be annoying. Kira knew as well, but he asked the obvious question anyway."We haven't even gotten done with what he dumped on us yesterday!" Kira whined. Aki' just smacked his head in annoyance. Who knew that Kira was such a crybaby?It was then Arleen answered his question, in that all too sweet tone of hers. "Yes, he didn't say why, just told us to bring you two to him right away.""Man, I swear! Why does'nt he do his own damn work. I mean come on! Sure we're good at what we do, but we're not Supermen!" Kyle whinned.Arleen's reponse was to bop him upside the head. "Dont be a cry baby!"The five other students just looked at the two, and Miriallia leaned over and asked Kira the obvious. "Are they always like that? It's hard to believe that..you know.""Well, after being together for so long since before they even met me, I guess it makes sense." that was the only answer he could think of and just when Miri was about to ask another question Arleen truned her head at her fellow students, and asked in a all too-sweet voice. "Hm? Did you guys say something?"Their reaction was to sheepishly smile and Miriallia just casually wave at her, "Uh, nothing"It was then the sound of the news report caught their attention and the five students looked at Kira's laptop, Tolle stating the obvious."Huh, some development in the news?"Kyle nodded his head as he gave his answer "Yep, this news footage is a week old so ZAFT has probably taken control of Kaoshiung by now."Miriallia looked at the footage, a concerned look on her face. "Kaoshiung is not too far from ISAF territory. Will the homeland be alright?"The Orb Union was a member nation of the Independent State Allied Force or ISAF, founded a day after the Alaska Declaration, as one of four nations who signed the East Falkland Declaration, including the founding member nation, the United Republic of Antarctica, who declared independence and neutrality, All of them not wanting to take part in a racial war of genes. Tolle, ever being the smart-aleck that he was came up the obvious answer."Yeah, I guess it's okay to assume that. Oh they're close by, but our nation's neutral and we're part of ISAF. And even if they did, the Human Reform League will keep the Advance European Union under control." "The AEU… needs to be destroyed!" Akira snarled as he glared at Tolle. The boy gulped as Nisha stood up."What is with you?" he demanded. "Ever since that day, things haven't been the same for you!"Aki' was silent as he looked down at the ground. "…""Well?" Nisha asked. "Aren't you going to say something?""It's nothing…Just leave me alone…" Akira murmured before walking off."That was weird." Mir said."Still, I have to say we're pretty safe." Tolle said as he returned to the topic at hand. "Especially here in Heliopolis. After all, why would anyone want to attack Heliopolis? We're neutral, and there's absolutely nothing here."Kyle and Arleen shuddered at what Tolle said. They have'nt told Kira about why they were really in Heliopolis, and that they have joined the ISAF Armed Forces. Kyle just had one thought to Tolle's question. "Tolle, you have no idea what the Earth Forces, not to mention 'we' are building here."Elsewhere…Akira rammed his fist into the side of a wall, making a low THUNP!How could they know of the anger that he felt right now? Ever since that day…"GGRRAAAHHH!" the boy snarled as he whirled around and walked towards the gazebo again. Then he stopped. Getting into a martial arts stance, Akira let out his anger through the moves of his body. It was his way of calming down after someone mentioned the AEU…While Akira did hate the ones who had been responsible, he did not hate all Naturals, considering how he was friends with some of them. The ones he didhate, however, were the leaders of the ones who killed her, Blue Cosmos.Meanwhile, Kenneth "Falcon" DiFalco shot bolt upright in bed, gasping, soaked in sweat.It had happened again. Yet another night ruined by nightmares; memories of terror and pain. "Get overit, Falcon," he told himself, getting out of bed. "Endymion was seven months and twenty-three days ago. Your war is over, soldier."Falcon was seventeen, 176 centimeters tall, with medium brown hair and Prussian blue eyes; a nasty scar ran diagonally across his left eye socket. He'd come to Heliopolis in September of the previous year, along with his parents, and enrolled in a technical college as a way of keeping busy and out of sight. He had good reason for wanting to remain somewhat... anonymous.Now, at 0700 hours, it was time for him to get ready for his day. "Probably uneventful,"he thought. "Not that that's a bad thing, all considering; now I understand how Sophia feels."Not that Falcon had seen his sister recently. He still got the occasional message, but Sophia DiFalco, nine years his senior, had effectively vanished from his life eight years earlier, when she entered a science academy. Even after graduating, Sophia had mostly stayed away, living on her own who-knew-where, doing who-knew-what.
Falcon wasn't particularly concerned. They'd never been thatclose, and he had his own problems. The scar on his face was the least of them."But for right now, I'd better get ready or the Prof will have my head."After taking care of a few necessities, Falcon pulled on his usual slate-gray trousers, t-shirt, and boots, before going over to his desk and examining a few other items... like the Order of the Nebula that sat in a prominent place. He took it from its case, hung it around his neck, and slipped the golden medal itself into his shirt, where it wouldn't be noticed.That done, he slipped the black polymer eyepatch over his left eye socket, and reached for the short sword that also rested on the desktop. It was slightly curved, with a red-twined handle over pale ray skin, and a matching red scabbard; anyone familiar with ZAFT top-gun uniforms would have noted the Japanese wakizashi matched the color of said uniforms. He also possessed the longer blade, the katana, but it was presently far, far away.Falcon stuck the weapon in his belt, edge-up. That left one more small item, and he looked at the shoulder-holstered machine pistol with a measure of distaste. "Man, I hate these things." Not that he subscribed to the idea that guns killed people, of course; he simply had a few bad memories about them.Nonetheless, he strapped on the shoulder holster and the grabbed his backpack. Only part of it was used for his college assignments; it was mostly filled with certain items he didn't want left behind in an emergency.Finally, he pulled on a slate-gray trench coat and matching gloves, completing the ensemble. He was as ready for his day as he could be."Except for one thing,"Falcon thought, remembering. Before leaving the room, he picked up a small, handheld computer. Something of an accomplished hacker, he had a specific task in mind this day. An old acquaintance of his, someone he'd met over the global networks before the N-jammers made them inaccessible, had asked him for help obtaining some data; they were to meet at the college."Well, then; time to go."Without a backward glance, he swept out of the room and the house; his parents would already be at work, so there was no need to say goodbye.Falcon had no idea he would never see them again.Heliopolis Harbor
Marseilles-III Class TransportThe Earth Forces vessel steadily moved into the harbor of the resource satellite, guided in by the Heliopolis Traffic Control Room staff. The staff we're on edge as this is the last day the Earth Forces will be staying here, and the sooner they're gone the better. As the docking procedures were complete, the captain of the old transport heaved a sigh of relief as he turned to the two Earth Forces officers who helped him get here on time."And there you have it. This old ship has completed her final mission," he said as he let his officers visor cap float in the zero-g. "You both did an excellent job of getting us here, Lt. La Flaga and Lt. Friedrich. I am in your debt." he thanked as the two individuals turned. One Mu La Flaga, a blonde haired, blue eyed man at the age of 28, and his companion, Cornelia Friedrich, with shoulder length black hair tied in a low pony-tail, brown eyes, and at the right age of 25."Sir, I'm just glad we made it without incident," Mu said and then Cornelia asked his next question."Any ZAFT vessels in the vincinity? You know, just to be safe?" she asked a little concerned.The Captain answered them in the affirmative. "We spotted two, but it's no cause for alarm. They know they can't attack us now we're docked."Mu just smirked and Cornelia just shook her head at the irony of it all. Mu then ask the question she knew he say "Because it's Neutral Territory? What a joke that is."The Captain laughed a bit, "Well it's thanks to Morgenroete we progressed this far. We should be thankful at least that Earth has recognized ISAF.""Excuse us sir?" one of the pilots that Mu and Cornelia were assigned to protect requested as he and his comrades saluted the captain and he returned the gesture, and then they were off. Cornelia and Mu were having second thoughts about all this."Think they can handle themselves, alone on the ground?" Mu asked with concern. The Captain reassured him."I know they're young, but they are all top guns picked to pilot the G-weapons." Cornelia wasn't convinced"Even still, I dont think they're ready, sure it was Rena that trained them, but, I dont know," the Captain could tell what she was thinking."Well if you two were assigned to the project, you'd stick out like a sore thumb. No offense," Mu smirked sheepishly, while Cornelia just looked out the bridge window. One of her friends Murrue Ramius was one of the people assigned to the project. She lost one friend when she disappeared all of a sudden, and she did'nt want to lose another."That's true," the man known as the Hawk of Endymion admitted. "But there's still something..."The Captain looked at him sidelong. "You're still worried about him, aren't you? The pilot who nearly killed you, at Endymion?""It wasn't just Endymion; we tangled a few times before that. But yeah. Him.""You're worrying over nothing, Lieutenant. The Grimaldi Falcon hasn't been seen since the fighting at Nova, last July. Come on, man, if he was still alive we'd know it.""I suppose so..."Still, Mu couldn't help but be nervous. The last time the Earth Forces had assumed the Grimaldi Falcon dead, after rumors of his severe injuries at Endymion, he'd made them pay for the assumption, at the resource satellite Nova; originally owned by the Republic of East Asia, it was now the space fortress Boaz, guarding the PLANT homeland, and the Grimaldi Falcon had played a not inconsiderable role in bringing about that particular ZAFT victory."Never pays to underestimate the grayest of all the Gray Demons,"he thought. "No wayis he dead."ZAFT Forces Ship-VesaliusCaptain Ades of the Nazca-Class Vesalius was on edge, he knew this is a bad idea as the small ships carrying the commando team headed toward Heliopolis. If ISAF ever found out about this there will be hell to pay. Despite his advice to wait for a reply from the Supreme Council on what to do, his commanding officer though was not one to be called patient."Try not to look so frustrated Ades" said Rau Le Creuset, as he floated by him"Well I dont see any harm on waiting for an reply from the council.." before he can finish, Rau cut him off."It will be far too late. I have a sixth sense of these sort of things," the masked commander replied as he gently tossed a photograph of a strange mobile suit toward him. When ever Ades had a discussion with, he always felt a chill go up his spine as the masked man continued, "Should we fail to act now, later we will pay with our lives for our reluctance." he said as he took his seat next to Ades. "The Earth Forces' new Mobile Weapons. We must secure before they can move them"Heliopolis-Mass Transit StationThe group of friends were nearing a mass transit station when Falcon ran into them. "Hey, Falcon," Tolle greeted him. The relative newcomer to Heliopolis wasn't exactly a friend of theirs; in fact, he hardly said a word, and what he did say tended to be delivered quite emotionlessly. But he seemed to be a nice enough guy, if you got past the icy exterior."Hey guys," Falcon replied with a nod. His one-eyed gaze and toneless voice were forbidding, especially coming from someone so young, but after fours months they were used to it. "Going my way?""Yeah," Mir answered. "Care to join us?" She, for one, was somewhat intrigued by how the youth spoke so coolly, yet used casual syntax and grammar; and she was determined to sometime get somekind of reaction out of him."Sure." Falcon's good eye narrowed, seeing the trio of teenage girls standing in front of the station. "Huh. That would be Flay Allster and clique,he thought. Typical gossiping behavior, I see." After the last year or so, there was little trace of the carefree teenager left in Falcon DiFalco.They nattered on for a few moments, then Flay's companions turned to Mir and rather energetically asked a question; something about a letter to Flay from one Sai Argyle, another of Falcon's new classmates."They have no idea how sheltered they are,he thought.They live here, in this "neutral" colony, with no understanding of just how quickly that could change... especially if ZAFT were to get hold of the information I uncovered."Falcon's thoughts were interrupted by a clearing throat behind them. "Ahem... if you're just going to stand there, do you mind if weget through?"He flicked his cyclops-like gaze over the black-haired woman and her two male companions, all of whom wore sunglasses. "Military",Falcon thought. No mistaking it. "They must be part of the G-weapons project."Calmly, he stepped aside. "After you... Ma'am."The woman shot him a sharp glance before nodding and stepping past. "Who is he, and how much can he know?"Ignoring the chattering teenage girls, Natarle Badgiruel, Arnold Neumann, and Jackie Tonomura climbed into the mass transit car that waited in the street."Just look around this place," Badgiruel commented as they left. "So peaceful."Neumann raised an eyebrow. "Yeah?"The black-haired Earth Forces Ensign pulled off her sunglasses. "To think there are already people as young as them fighting on the frontlines." She glanced back the way they had come. "There was something strange about one of them," she added. "That kid in gray, with the eyepatch... he knows something."Neumann shrugged. "Why worry about it? I mean, he can't know anything about the G-weapons... can he?""There wasthat hacking incident the other day," Badgiruel pointed out. "I know it doesn't look like he got anything, and we managed to isolate the data on the sixth unit before he could get that deep, but you never know... Oh, well. He probably just thought
we looked military; probably nothing to worry about."In the coming months, she would be very glad that this young man had deduced certain things.Morgenroete College, Professor Kato's labThe door slid open as Kira and the others entered the lab. There, waiting to greet them were their friends Sai Argyle, Kuzzey Buskirk, and one other they did'nt recognize. The person was wearing a brown coat, a grey cap, hazel eyes and had blonde hair as she looked away from the group. Kyle and Arleen, being in the ISAF Armed Forces, recognized her right off the bat that it is Cagalli Yula Attha, the daughter of the Chief Represenative of the Orb Union, Uzumi Nara Attha. They concluded that she came here to invetsigate the G-weapon project that the Earth Alliance and Morgenroete were building, and if their hunch was correct, the G-weapons Liberty Electronics and Morgenroete have built in secret without the Earth Forces' knowing.Deciding it will be best to get her alone when no one was alone, the two went about their buisness and listened to Tolle's teasing of Kira's little crush on Flay Allster. Arleen scoffed at that, she knew about the Allsters thanks to reading about them in magazines, watching News Bulletins, and from her father, Joseph Bettany, a member in the Antarctic Government Council. And to her, she hated George Allster with a passion, just because he hated Coordinators. She decided to make it her 'personal' mission, to see that Kira find someone better than Flay Allster. But, even though she hated her father, Flay to her was just a misguided soul, who needs to be reformed.Falcon walked up to Cagalli. "You're Falcon?" she asked quietly.He nodded. "And you'd be Cagalli Yula." It wasn't a question.Identities established -neither realized the other was operating under a false one- Cagalli looked about to make sure no one was listening. "You have the data?"Falcon nodded, and drew the small computer from a coat pocket. "You were right," he said in a low tone. "Morgenroete is constructing five prototype mobile suits for the Earth Alliance, and a new class of mobile assault ship to carry them." He tapped the screen, holding it where she could see. Cagalli studied the data carefully, trying to keep her face composed. "Father, how couldyou? "We're supposed to be neutral, and yet you're-""Relax," Falcon said softly. He didn't know what was bothering her, but he didn't really need to. "I don't think this will drag Orb into the war, if that is what you're worried about. From what I know of Chief Representative Athha, he'd find it simple enough to disavow any knowledge of Morgenroete's actions... and the PLANTs would buy it, too.""How would youknow?" she demanded.He shrugged enigmatically. "It is my business to know that." Falcon jerked his head at the door to the facility's hallways. "If you want to see it with your own eyes, I have the access codes to get into the hanger. It might even be a good idea; my data is incomplete."Cagalli tilted her head. "What do you mean?""There were a few files I was unable to access," he explained. "When I tried, the computer physically isolated itself from the rest of the network; which makes me wonder if there's something else in there." "It would be just like those treacherous bastards in the Earth Forces",he didn't add.But, unknown to any of them, ZAFT commandos have placed explosive charges in areas around the Earth Forces' new warship, Archangel, and around the observation booth, in order to get the officers in the process.ZFS-Vesalius"It's time" said Le Creuset as he gave the order to move out of their hiding spot."Weigh anchor! Vesalius Launch!" shouted Ades as the warships engines roared to life and they were off, with Heliopolis in their sights, and the prize that awaited. As the colony readied its defenses, the Archangelprepared to take off if needed. Then, the explosives went off, tearing into the hanger and killing the pilots, entire crew and crew members in the hanger.Nearby, another ship, undetected by the ZAFT Forces or the Heliopolis Traffic Control Room, watches. They could intervene, but only the mobile suits were to do the fighting, while the ship stayed behind to monitor the area. That didn't sit too well with the Captain at all."Ahh! Damn it! We're allowed to launch our mobile suits, but the Morningstar is ordered to stay back!? Ughh!" The Captain, one Trisha Hohenheim, a former officer of the Atlantic Federation, before she was forced to leave, due to finding out something she shouldn't have, couldn't believe that command was ordering her to stay back and watch, while ZAFT was about to attack a Neutral Colony with two of her people on it! It was then another voice got her attention."Try to calm down Captain. A good ship captain never loses her cool." the voice belonged to the Commanding officer of the ISS-Morningstar's Mobile Suit team, Canard Pars-Harkin, son of one of ISAF's best Admirals, and the leader of their nation of Antarctica."I know, but out of all the Mobile Suits we have, three of them don't have pilots! And the pilots we chose for the 2 G-weapons are on Heliopolis! Which is about to be attacked, and we cant do anything about it." She said. Canard nodded his head and then decided he better do something. Heliopolis does have it's own militia and is equipped with mobile suits and a good amount of TSF-6 Vertigo fighters, but the pilots of the Vertigos are green and there are only 4 Patriots to protect the colony, and ZAFT's mobile suits outnumbered them 3 to 1."I'll get my team ready. If the situation gets dicey, give us the word, and we'll launch," Canard told her and that made her relax a bit. "All right Commander, but hurry, I bet the Heliopolis militia can't last long without our help." she informed, which she nodded and he left the bridge, hoping he wasn't too late.Undisclosed location…
Three forms sat around the table, one female and two male. The female looking form turned to address the two males."Now, as you know, the war has been going on for one year as of today. That day, the attack on Junius Seven, is now known as the Bloody Valentine tragedy. We have pledged our support to ZAFT and the PLANTs, but we are not going to try and kill the Coordinators. Those are not the orders we have given our troops." The female began.The first male form then spoke up in a Spanish accented voice. "Do not take this the wrong way, but what is our reason for fighting the Earth Alliance?" he asked.She looked at the first male form. "The Earth Alliance is not controlled by a group known as Blue Cosmos. They are a separate group. They believe that the Coordinators are destined to wipe out all Naturals from existence. That is not true. In fact, most Coordinators could care less about wiping out all Naturals." she explained.The second male form looked musing for a minute before he spoke up next. "What do we know about Blue Cosmos? I mean, their thinking is along the lines of…them…" he said.At the mere mention of the word, chills ran down the spines of the other two forms. The female form then looked at the second male form."You are correct about that… You see, we believe that the origins of Blue Cosmos stem from the A.D. era, which included two nasty world wars, the second one involving the origins of the group we are fighting today. During the Second World War, there was a group called the Nazis, which wanted a genetically pure world. Everyone was to have blue eyes and blonde hair, and everyone else was declared inferior. The Nazis tried to genetically modify humans, which led to the fear of genetically engineered humans. Now, I can understand where they are coming from, as all of us here are afraid of that as well. Yet, that does not mean that Coordinators are inhuman. They have the same base DNA as the rest of us. That is what allows us to see them as human." The female form said, but there was still more she had to say."Many of us fear the day when we can modify personalities, which is why we have laws that prevent that. But still, there is recent intelligence that suggests that the terrorist group has such technology. However, we cannot tell if that is true or not at this present time. Still, if this technology ever fell into the hands of someone who wanted to create the race of superhumans that everyone fears deep down, then the world of the Nazis will have come into creation…" she trailed off, leaving the other two forms to only imagine what such a world would be like.The first male form then slammed his hands down on the table before them. "We have to find and destroy that technology!" he declared as he stood up.A wave from the female form urged him to sit down. "We cannot do what you have suggested until we have confirmed that the technology exists. The intelligence only said that it is suspected of being in existence, not if it exists or not." She reminded him.
The first male form growled before sitting down. "Still, we have to ensure the peace will come back. The only reason I am not objecting to this is because we are the only ones who can ensure that ZAFT and the PLANTs exist without fear."A grunt from the second male form signified his turn to speak. "I agree that we are the only ones who can protect the PLANTs, but why must we be allied with both sides?" he asked."We can't seem too supporting of one side." The female form replied. But, her companion had brought up a good point. "You do have a point though…We can't just ignore the possible threat of an attack from the Earth Alliance. We have to be allied with them for our survival."A grunt came from the first male form. "Your nation is the most powerful on Earth. Who can yoube afraid of defeat? No nation in the Earth Alliance wants to challenge you."
The female form glared at the first male form. "That may have been true before the nations of the planet began to form alliances, but now we wouldn't stand a chance. That is why we formed an alliance, to ensure that we can survive in the C.E. era." She snarled back.Her second male companion just leaned back in the chair and folded his arms. "We all know the reason why. There is no reason to repeat it." He said calmly."We all agreed to work together to protect the PLANTs from the Earth Alliance, or more specifically, Blue Cosmos. That is all that we can do at this point. Even if there was more that we could do, it still would not make much of a difference. All we can do is uphold our pledge to the PLANTs for now. When more information becomes available, we will be able to act on our own. Until then, there is nothing more we can do…"Hidden location…The female form entered a darkened room, which was just fine with her. She closed the door, walking over to a desk which held a video of the past, a time in which many things had been decided that affected the present…-Flashback Video-"We have just made the breakthrough that everyone has wanted to see happen. Today, we have just created the first generation of Coordinators, as the enhanced shall be known from this day onward." A male scientist explained as cameras flashed around him."From today onward, humans will now be able to control their genetic destiny. Parents will be able to prevent all sorts of diseases in their offspring, thus enabling them to live healthy lives. Future generations will be given what their parents were denied, a better chance at life!" the scientist continued.Applause rose from the gathered crowd. Many people were eager to rush the man, but the police in front of the lab prevented such an act. Lives would be changed for the better, and no one would ever try to stop what people had desired for so long. But, many did not realize what the future held for the genetically enhanced. And it was not what they had hoped for…-Break-"Would you care to tell us how the future will embrace Coordinators? Many people are eager to hear about the possibilities." A female reporter said.The man chuckled. "Well, I can assure you, we can only enhance the bodies, not the souls. That is the one thing that we cannot control. But, what I can tell you is that the creation of Coordinators will lead to a new era for all humans. No one will be suffering from diseases that we have sought to cure. Instead, they will now be immune to those diseases. Genetics has taught us that we can control what we are, and who we are. I fear, however, that there will be those who have bad illusions about Coordinators, and they will try to wipe out the Coordinators that have come into existence."A stunned look crossed the reporter's face. "What do you think that those people will do to the Coordinators?" she asked."Those people will try to claim that Coordinators are inhuman. In reality, they are human. We all have the same base DNA, and that is what makes them human just like us. But, the future is uncertain. I can only take a guess as to how those people will react to Coordinators. I can only guess…" the man sighed.-Break-"The United States has just announced that an attack on a Coordinator and his family has occurred. Police are trying to find the ones responsible, but have no suspects at this time. They hope to have someone found soon." The news reporter said, a grim look on his face.
"Recent news from the hospital where the Coordinator is being treated for injuries says that he is in stable condition. Cops have reported several persons of interest, all claiming to be part of this group called Human Purity. The claims were discredited by the police investigators, who have charged the suspects with a hate crime. Their motives are unknown at this time."-Break-"The Coordinator children have begun to show their talents, and yet many are still too young to be showing their abilities. Many parents have been trying to keep the press away from their children, and with a good amount of success. But the press still persists, causing several cases to go to the Supreme Court for violation of the right to privacy. We can expect to hear the Court's final ruling within the next few hours. Three years into the legal battle, the highest court will decide if the press has the right to come after the Coordinator children of these families." A male reporter said, the Supreme Court building behind him."We have just heard the Supreme Court's ruling, which has gone in favor of the parents of Coordinator children. This is what the Supreme Court justices had to say.""We of the Supreme Court have decided to rule in the favor of the parents of Coordinator children. The press has violated their right to privacy, and thus denied the children the right to live a modest lifestyle. In light of this ruling, we hope that the Congress will make and pass laws that will protect the right to privacy for all Coordinator children born to Natural parents."The Chief Justice said as she looked to face the cameras. Lights flashed before she turned and walked back into the Supreme Court building."And there you have it. The Supreme Court's ruling has made it illegal to hound the families of Coordinators. This is a huge landmark case in the legal rights of Coordinators, which will hopefully affect the future generations yet to come."-End Flashback Video-The female form sighed as she shut down the video. How had it come to this, when all that was intended was the chance to better the future for humanity? The answers that she sought never came.'Damn Blue Cosmos! They were the ones who started all of this!The form thought angrily. They had to claim that Coordinators were the creations of the Nazis. But the Coordinators were never the creations of Nazis. Blue Cosmos… They have no idea on what they are trying to do. The whole group is like the Nazis, attacking anyone who is a Coordinator. Each of the members claims that the Coordinators are impure, so they are like a modern Nazi group. Crazy…'She looked out the huge windows before her. The stars were shining, visible even from the residence. A small smile crossed her lips before fading again. What was the point in attacking Coordinators, even if they were not doing anything wrong? It did not make any sense to her.A frown crossed her face as the form sat at the desk. What was it that Blue Cosmos was up to? No one knew, not even her armed forces. That was what bothered her to no end.Who was running the group that they were facing? And what was their motive for attacking the Coordinators? And how did they get the Nukes needed to blow up Junius Seven?More questions than answers were appearing, making things difficult in terms of understanding the war. She frowned at the thought. They needed answers if they were going to truly decide their place in the war. More questions would only hinder them anyway. It was not going to be easy, and she knew it. It would not be easy at all…Heliopolis, Morgenroete Factory District…Lieutenant Murrue Ramius felt the tremors of the explosions rock the colony."What happened? Did ZAFT open fire on us?" Taikyu Itsuno shouted as the violent shaking subsided. He was Akira's uncle and an engineer of the factory district."I'm not sure, but we have to get the G-weapons to the Archangel, now!" Murrue replied to the Morgenrouete crew chief.Transport vessel, Seventh Orbital Fleet, Heliopolis Harbor"ZAFT?" Mu asked. The ship's Captain nodded. "Two vessels, Nazcaand Laurasia-class. Confirmed deployment of mobile suits prior to jamming of communications.""Figures." He and Cornelia were in his flight suits now, Mu cradling his helmet with its distinctive white feather emblem under his arm. "Have Luke and Gayle board their Moebius units," Cornelia instructed. "Don't deploy them yet!"Without waiting for a reply, the Zero pilots left the Bridge, heading for their own machine. "This is bad." Mu thought. "Well, could be worse; looks to be the Le Creuset team, which means the Grimaldi Falcon won't be here; last I heard, he had his own team."Professor Kato's Lab...The tremors that the crews had felt shook the lab, sending all sorts of equipment to the ground. Akira had to grab onto the edge of a lab table to steady himself. Kira and his friend Sai also did the same thing. Kyle made sure Arleen didn't get hurt by using himself as a cushion, not that Arleen would've bothered since she was a soldier like him. They looked at each other and both knew what that was. Tolle after helping Miriallia get up after he also used himself as a cushion to soften her landing asked to no one in particular."What the hell was that!? A meteoroid!?"Kyle, not being a ISAF soldier for nothing, immediately countered. "Are you kidding me Tolle? That didn't feel one bit like a meteoroid."Falcon realized before anyone else in the room what was going on; his little hacking device had picked up the effects of the N-jammers."ZAFT is attacking," he announced calmly. "It would be wise to evacuate this area, immediately.""You'll get no argument from me," Tolle concurred. "Let's go!"Dropping what they were doing, the students, led by Sai, headed back into the hallway, trailed by Falcon and Cagalli. They went quickly to an emergency stairwell, which was already filling up with evacuees."What's going on?" Sai demanded of the first person he saw."I don't know," the man replied, not missing a stride."It's ZAFT," Falcon repeated. He listened for a moment. "Mobile suits have entered the colony; GINNs, from the sound of it.""Why would ZAFT be attacking? It's not like we have anything of value." Nisha added.Cagalli's eyes widened. "You're sure?" she whispered to the one-eyed teen. He silently nodded. "Then I think it's time you showed me those machines."Falcon nodded again, and they took off running down a side passage.Kira saw them go. "Hey, wait! Where are you going?" He quickly headed off after them, ignoring Tolle's protests. Arleen and Kyle did the same and went after them."Wait! Guys, get back here!" Nisha yelled as he too ran off in an attempt to bring the other students back."I'll go get them. You guys just reach the shelters!" Aki called back as he followed the others.Artificial Hill overlooking colony interior...Yzak Joule looked through his binoculars as he looked at the targets they were after."There they are. Just like the Commander said," the Redcoat observed"What, that if we prod them long enough, they'll come out of their holes?" said fellow Redcoat, Dearka Elsman."Yeah, after all, the Naturals are stupid and pathetic," Yzak sneered."Especially ISAF? After all they did to try and stop the nukes from hitting the PLANTs?" Said Nicol Amalfi with deep respect for the ISAF Forces."They're the only exception. Besides, knowing them and how sneaky they are, they probably used this as an advantage to get data to upgrade their MS Forces. That's what I like about them," Yzak praised, as this was uncommon from the normally hot-headed, stuck up, Redcoat."We should hurry. Shiho, Miguel, and Olor will be here soon" said Athrun Zala as he looked at the Mobile Suits still in their cradles. He knows Kira's here and he hoped he got to a shelter in time."Yeah, we would'nt want to keep Yzak's girlfreind waiting," Dearka teased and that caused a few of the commando team to snicker, and made Yzak see red, but he knew they have a job to do and did'nt want to keep Commander Le Creuset waiting.A moment later, three GINNs appeared over the nearby Morgenroete factory district and opened fire, destroying many of the vehicles that were escorting the mobile suits.They activated their jetpacks and flew over to three of the six machines, as well as a box that was sealed, while the GINNs systematically destroyed the rest of the escort vehicles. "What is that one?" Nicol asked."Ignore it, as it is probably just a part that is being transported." Yzak replied as he landed beside the other pilot. "Destroy the parts we can't carry and the factories." Yzak ordered over the com. "According to intel, there should be six machines.""Rusty, Tao and I will continue on to the factory." Athrun said. "Yzak, you guys take these three.""Alright." He said before turning to the rest of the team. "Listen up, those who take one of those machines, disable the self-destruct first."Dearka, Nicol, Yzak, and half of the ZAFT soldiers there landed near the transport vehicle of the first machine and quickly wiped out the guards closest to it.Hallway in Morgenroete...Falcon quickly noticed the five people coming up from behind, but decided to ignore him; Cagalli, on the other hand, glanced back at them in irritation. "What are you doing? Stop tailing us!"It was then that Kyle said something that shocked everyone except Arleen and him. "Oh please, do you really want to try and get yourself killed? Lady Attha?" he said the last with an amused smile.Cagalli looked like a deer caught in the headlights, while Kira raised a eyebrow in confusion. Before he can ask what he meant by that, an explosion made the wall and ceiling collapse, blocking their way back. The gust of wind that came from the explosion blew Cagalli's hat off and Kira's eyes widened as he found that it was a girl he was chasing. He only said one thing of the situation, and it was the wrong one."You're a...girl?" Kyle smacked his forehead at his friend's stupidity, while Arleen giggled, even at a time like this, and Cagalli gave an insulted glare."Yeah! What did you think I was!? Come on, let's hear it!" She snapped, and Kira was at a lost of what to say. Another explosion knocked them back to reality."We don't have time for this." Falcon pointed out. "He's right." Nisha agreed."It appears this isn't a good place to be. Let's get outta here!" with that Kyle grabbed Cagalli's arm and the seven of them ran down a path.Outside Heliopolis,
ISS-Morningstar...The situation looked grim outside as Heliopolis Mistrals, bravely but foolishly took on the ZAFT GINNs, and they were being cut to pieces. Then the Militia's Mobile Suit Force and TSF-Vertigo Fighters relieved the Mistrals, and began battling out with the ZAFT Forces, and as predicted the green pilots of the Vertigos didn't stand a chance as the GiNNs were slaughtering left to right. Calls for help we're coming like crazy.
"HELP! SOMEBODY GET HIM OFF ME! AUUGH!""HIMURA! NO! DAMN YOU BASTARDS!""ALL VERTIGOS PULL BACK! THESE GUYS ARE VETERANS! YOU DON'T STAND A CHANCE AGAINST THEM!"Trisha had had enough! The GINNS were slaughtering the Vertigos, and the Patriots were having their hands full! She had to do something or there wont be anybody to save. She made her decision."That's it! Tell Canard to have his team out there with their Cavaliers and help out the Militia Forces, NOW! And try to get in contact with Head Quarters! Tell them we need the go-ahead to engage, move it people!" Trisha's order was final as the bridge crew carried out her orders. Tanya Koulikov, the ship's CIC operator, got in contact with Canard."Commander Harkin you're ordered to engage and help out the surviving Militia Forces, and please hurry, they're getting slaughtered out there!" she said her voice having a touch of fear in it."Copy that Tanya! We're going!" said Canard as he sealed his helmet visor. "All right everyone we got our orders! Our job is to help out the Militia survivors! Is that clear!?" he ordered and he got a affirmative from all his pilots including his second-in-command and girlfriend Yumi Nagase. He smiled as an Aile pack was attached to his Mobile Suit. The Cavalier was brand new and untested, so this will be a trial by fire for it. He took a deep breath as his machine got on the catapult."All right! Canard Pars-Harkin, Cavalier, lets go!" with that he hit the throttle and the brand new mobile suit took off followed by it's brethren, as they sped toward Heliopolis to help out their comrades.Morgenroete factory district…Rusty, Tao, Athrun, and the rest of the ZAFT soldiers reached the storage area of the remaining two machines. They had managed to avoid combat thanks to the destruction caused by the two GINNs, so they were grateful for that.They were now at one of the side entrances of the storage area.Athrun opened one of the doors slightly, Tao opening the second while his friend threw in two grenades. A pair of explosions followed."Go, go go!" Athrun cried as the rest of the team ran inside.Factory Area...The seven teens ran down the corridor and when they finally reached the end of the tunnel they came upon a warzone. Earth Forces soldiers and ZAFT commandos were engaged in a gunfight as they fought over the two metallic-titans sitting in their berths. Kira was awed and shocked at how streamlined and slender the mobile suits looked, even more streamlined than ISAF's Patriot Series."Hey, those are.." he began to say as Cagalli went on her knees feeling sad and betrayed."I knew it. The Earth Forces' new Mobile Weapons." and with a deep breath she screamed out, "FATHER I KNEW YOU BETRAYED US ALL!"Falcon's keen eye caught sight of movement atop the X105 Strike. "Down!" he said sharply as Kyle and him dragged their companions out of the line of fire. Arleen was not happy at that!"Are you trying to get us killed, Lady Attha!? There's no time for that!" with that the two ISAF soldiers in disguise hoisted the two of them up and continued on to the sheltersMurrue Ramius was shocked to see it was actually a group of kids that set her off. She was thankful she missed and cursed herself for as a yelp from one of her men got her attention. "Those were children? And that one... he looks familiar..." The sound of gun fire brought her back to reality."Damn it! Hamana! Hurry! We need to get these machines out of here!" she screamed as her gun jammed and she resorted to her pistol.As 3 GINNs provided covering fire back at the bridge for their comrades who are rewriting the OS to the Earth Forces new weapons, Yzak was impressed with the weapons it had, but frowned at how they made an OS like this piece of crap."I cant believe Morgonroete thinks thispiece of junk OS will help them!" he shouted his dislike at the poorly assorted OS."I guess that means they haven't cracked the problem yet. Liberty has the same problem too, but their close." Dearka replied to his friend."Yeah, I know, well I'm done. How 'bout you Dearka?" he asked his teammate."It's running smoothly. It'll move," with that the Duel and the Buster stood up."Nicol?" Yzak asked the youngest of his team."Almost done...there!" he said as he brought his machine up."Where are Athrun, Rusty and Tao? Sure taking their time.""We'll worry about that later. Right now let's get these back to Commander Le Creuset before they get damaged." with that the three G-Weapons took off the 3 GINNs as escorts as they headed back to the Vesalius.Morgenroete factory district…
Athrun opened fire on an armed employee while Rusty and Tao looked at the two machines. The man fell to the ground dead while a female cried out "NICK!" Rusty then fired on a man who had been wielding a pipe as a weapon, making him drop it. He fell to the ground, only to get back up a few seconds later and wander over to one of the shelter areas supposedly."Hey Athrun! We got a problem here!" Rusty shouted. "Someone screwed up! There are five machines here!""What?""Take a look!"Athrun took a glance at the Earth Alliance mobile suits. With all the fighting, he hadn't really paid any attention to them. But now he realized that someone had made a major mistake. There were five prototypes in the warehouse, meaning that there were eightmachines, not six like their intel had said. 'How could our intel be that off?'"We have to destroy those other three machines!" he ordered. "Someone has to get into those machines and activate the self-destruct!"Tao glanced back at Athrun. "Let me take one of the machines. We can destroy the other two as we take them." She said.Athrun nodded. "Very well, can you take the one closest to you?" She nodded and ran off towards it.But Rusty, who was to receive the Strike, then fell to the ground dead, killed by a gunshot wound to the back which was fired by the man he had injured earlier. He was on one of the prototypes as well, bleeding from his left shoulder, but alive.Factory District..."YOU'VE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!?" Kyle shouted out in frustration as he noticed that all the Shelters in the area have locked down. He had one option left, and he looked at Arleen and she nodded in understanding. "Guys, there are Shelters in the Left Block, go there and get in a shelter! I'll take care of the Princess!" Kira was confused by that, "How are you..?""There's no time! I'll tell you all about it later, now just go!" Kira wasted no time in arguing with him as he knew how serious he was when he was like this."Alright! But you better tell me when you get back!""Agreed! Now go!"With that the four boys turned around and headed back toward the Left-Block. Arleen looked worried as she saw him run back toward the fire-fight."You think he'll be alright?" she asked with concern. Kyle didn't say anything at first, then with a sigh, he told her truthfully, "I don't know about Falcon, but Kira, Aki and Nisha are Coordinators just like us, we don't go down so easily."She looked at the at the corner their friends turned at before saying, " I hope you're right.""Wait," Falcon said. His eyes went to another door. "Kira, Aki, Nisha. You guys get to a shelter; I've got business elsewhere."Nisha blinked, confused. "Huh? Wait a minute-""Just do it," the one-eyed teen said calmly. "I have something else to do here." He advanced to the door, bringing out his computer again. "I can handle myself."Nisha had not the slightest idea what was going on. He'd expected that this rock-like youth would show at least somereaction to this situation, but he didn't. Just as calm and collected as always, as if he'd been in a battle before.It was fairly immaterial, though. Falcon seemed determined to continue on. "Okay, then. But be careful, okay?" He didn't know the other teenager very well, but he didn't want to see him dead.They turned, heading back toward the factory floor, while Falcon began work on the door. "Let's see... A simple enough lock, though I imagine it would do fine against most people; and on the other side... Hm."There appeared to be several ZAFT soldiers on the other side of the door, which meant he was about to have problems.Falcon opened the door.Waiting on the other side were indeed several men in ZAFT green, and they whirled at the sight of the youth in the gray trench coat. "Hold it, you-"Falcon felt a twinge of fear, but then took a deep breath. Find the center,he thought, remembering his martial arts training. Find the center, and-His training took over, and his body was on autopilot.The first man went down with a roundhouse kick to the jaw, breaking his teeth and his neck; the second got off a shot, catching Falcon just above his right hip.He staggered, but recovered, grabbed the soldier's arm, and yanked, dislocating it; a knife hand to the neck finished him, and Falcon turned to the third.The third soldier saw what happened to his comrades, and he decided to do something drastic: he reached for a grenade, and pulled the pin."Idiot!Falcon thought, and moved quickly for the door to the next room.When the pin is pulled, Mr. Grenade is notour-"The grenade exploded, killing the man who held it and propelling Falcon through the door; the closeddoor, that is.He hit the floor in a heap and just lay there for a moment. "Now I remember why I never joined the infantry," he thought muzzily. "Ouch."It was about then that he realized his trench coat was on fire, and pulled himself to his feet. "Wonderful," Falcon muttered, and ditched the smoldering coat in a hurry."Hey, you! Stop!"Falcon turned quickly, and spotted the lone man in green coming at them, assault rifle raised. "Can't have that." His hand went to his side, and in a single, smooth motion, he drew his wakizashi.That stopped the ZAFT soldier in his tracks. "You!""Yes, me." Falcon ghosted forward, blade ready in a two-handed grip. "I don't know you, but I'm sure you know me."The soldier looked stunned and betrayed, and Falcon knew precisely why. "Traitor!""I never betrayed the PLANTs; everything I do is for their safety." Falcon's eye narrowed. "Unfortunately, that means I must do this." The blade flashed out.After the meaty thump and the sound of head and body hitting the floor separately, he closed his eyes and tried to get control of his breathing. He felt ill, and had to fight back the nausea. "Come on, Falcon," he told himself. "It's not the first time you've killed, and it won't be the last. Get a grip."But it wasonly the second time he'd used the blade to kill... and the first time had been completely different.Once before, along with his best friend, the blond-haired son of a member of the PLANT Supreme Council, Falcon had been in a life-or-death situation on the ground. That day, he and his friend had been forced to kill; but that had been by hand, foot, and commandeered pistol. Never before had Falcon used his sword training in a true battle, and it made him sick.
He pushed it down, though, and forced himself to continue on.Falcon had moved no more than five steps before he realized he was on a catwalk, and that there was an opening leading into the huge container next to him. A container big enough to hide a mobile suit...Moving quickly, Falcon tossed his wakizashi into the cockpit and yanked his backpack open. From it, he pulled a flight suit; cut in ZAFT top gun styling, it had several distinct differences: the helmet's visor, like Mu La Flaga's, showed only a narrow strip over his eyes, and the suit itself, where a standard was colored red with gray trim, was instead slate gray with black trim.And on the black helmet was an emblem: a pair of gray feathers...
With the ease of long practice, he pulled on the flight suit, then dWith the ease of long practice, he pulled on the flight suit, then ducked into the cockpit. "Well, well. Fancy rig." Unlike the other prototypes, there was a second seat in the rear, which he ignored for now; he was far more interested in the state-of-the-art displays around the pilot's seat.Falcon sat down, strapped in, and pulled a cable from his flight suit. It was nonstandard, and appeared to be a power cable; whatever it was, he attached it to the mobile suit's power supply, and turned his attention to the controls."A little different from what I'm used to, but a mobile suit is a mobile suit, even if it is an Earth Forces machine with a horrendous OS..."He was prepared for that eventuality, however; after seeing the data on the first five machines, he'd written up a replacement operating system -purely as an intellectual exercise, he'd thought at the time. Now, it just might save his life.Within moments, the OS had been uploaded, overwriting the previous program, and Falcon turned his attention to the mobile suit's specifications. "Hmm... GAT-X107 Raptor..." he murmured, bringing up an image of the machine. In appearance, it closely resembled the Strike, but with a hardwired, modified Aile Striker pack on the back, and a Panzer Eisen rocket anchor, like that of the Sword Striker pack, permanently mounted on the machine's left arm.The changes to the Aile module were quite interesting: a pair of what appeared to be beam cannons were mounted on top, and four pods of some kind were attached to it, one on each of the vernier modules. "That's peculiar..."Falcon brought up an equipment list, and nodded appreciatively. "Rocket anchor, beam rifle, Igelstellungs, beam sabers, the two cannons, Armor Schneiders... Phase shift armor... Death Blossom System? That... that looks like... Can it be?"The so-called "Death Blossom system" was the four strange pods; and when activated, they revealed themselves to be self-propelled remote beam emitters, tethered to the mobile suit with control wires.In other words, it was an energy version of a Moebius Zero's wired gunbarrels. A weapon which only Mu La Flaga could use... or someone with nearly identical kinesthesia scores...Falcon smiled to himself, something he would never have done around other people. "If the other five machines are this good, the Earth Forces will have a fight on their hands, with at least three in ZAFT's possession..."Then he remembered why hehad left ZAFT, and his smile faded. "Of course, that means I have to fight ZAFT myself..."Falcon took a deep breath, using the techniques he had always known (but never from wherehe knew them) to push back his anger... and his sheer terror. "Forget it," he whispered. "N-jammer Cancellers are still far from workable, and without them GENESIS cannot be used. As long as that remains true, you still have a chance."Pushing aside his emotions completely, Falcon gripped the controls, caressing them. "Oh, it has been far, far too long since I last flew... Though I must now face my former comrades, my purpose remains the same. Therefore... it is time to leave."He brought the Raptor to life, and began to press forward against the enclosing container. Falcon was going back to war.The situation was grim for Murrue as she continuously fired at the ZAFT invaders with a rifle she took from a fallen comrade. Then she heard another subordinate give out a death yell, as he was shot in the head by a ZAFT pilot in a red uniform."HAMANA!" she yelled and fired a single shot that smashed through the ZAFT pilot's helmet visor and he fell back dead. When Athrun saw his friend fall he saw red."RUSTY!""Let's go Kira, Nisha!" Aki' said as he ran for the shelters on the left block. The black-haired boy moved so fast, Kira could not keep up with him as the other Coordinator leaped from one catwalk to the next. "No wonder he is so good at getting behind me…" Kira murmured as he ran halfway across the catwalk.Nisha, on the other hand, had reached the other side by the time the boys were halfway across. He kept running, unaware of what awaited him as well.Then Kira saw a ZAFT sniper aiming at the woman the four had run from earlier."LOOK OUT!" the boy cried, making the woman whirl around and fire on the sniper, killing him."That kid again. Why did he...?" Before she could finish the last of her men was killed, and she turned around and killed the last of the green coat commandos."Come down here!" she ordered, now desperate to get the last machine out of there, "Thanks, but I'm heading to the shelters in the Left-Block, don't worry about me!" he shouted back just wanting to get out of there."There's nothing beyond that door!" just as she said that the said passage exploded in a huge fireball blocking the only way there. "Hurry and get down here!"Realizing he had no choice he ran onto a catwalk and to the shock and surprise of the Earth Forces Officer he jumped off and landed on the leg of the Strike. Just then another Redcoat came out of the shadows and fired at the Lt. hitting her in the shoulder, before his gun jammed, and then took out his combat knife. He used his jet pack to get up on the mobile suit, and went in for the kill, and then, just when he was about to finish her off he came face-to-face with a person he hadn't seen in three years. Kira was the same as he saw one of his close friends."Athrun?" he said in shock.The soldier stopped, eyes wide as he couldn't believe what he heard, "Kira?"The wounded Lt. used this chance to ward the ZAFT pilot away with her pistol. Not wanting to get shot he jumped back using his jetpack to get over to the other machine. Murrue then shoved Kira into the cockpit of the Strike, and then she jumped in. Athrun, into the Aegis as the entire factory was exploding all around them. The Strike and the Aegis left their cradles as they got as the building exploded in a fireball.Tao, who was in the Diver, swore silently to herself as she stared at the state of the OS. "How could the Naturals design such a piece of crap?" she muttered as she set about rewriting the OS.Taikyu, now recovered from the shock of the bullet strike, was standing on top of the fifth machine. Aki' saw his uncle and jumped down onto it. The boy landed with no trouble on the catwalk near the chest."What are you doing here?" the boy asked. "Just get in, Akira." The man snapped. "I am, I am!" the Coordinator replied as he did so.We have to get out of here NOW!" the woman snarled at Kira as another explosion blew throughout the compound. As another massive explosion blew apart the storage area, the GAT-X303 Aegis, ORB-04-A Wing, GAT-X308 Diver, and GAT-X105 Strike stood up from their berths…Secret Hanger...Kyle, now wearing a black and green custom ISAF flight suit made by the Orb Union, hurried to his machine, as Arleen dressed in her red with white trim suit, and Cagalli came out in a regulation pink. When they approached the far side of the hangar, Cagalli stopped, eyes wide at what she was seeing. They looked just like the mobile suits in the other Hanger, but they look a little different.Well, you coming or not!?" said Kyle as he closed his helmet's visor.Cagalli didn't argue as she followed him up the stairs to lift to his machine, while Arleen boarded the lift to her machine."You get in first behind the seat. I'll come in last" he ordered her."Whatever you say" Cagalli said under her breath and she entered the cockpit, then Kyle got in, and Arleen got in her Mobile Suit. The two started them up as the large door slid down, and both gave a deep breath then shouted the names of their machines."Kyle Matsutani, Rogue, TAKING OFF!""Arleen Bettany, Vigilante, LET'S HIT IT!"The two Gundams then took off in to the Interior of Heliopolis, into the unknown journey that awaited them.Disclaimer: All OCs and mobile suits belong to their original creator.