False Peace

PHASE 01

Year 70 of the Cosmic Era. Due to the Bloody Valentine tragedy, tensions between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT quickly developed into a full-fledged armed conflict. No one doubted that the superior in numbers Earth Forces would claim a quick victory... But these early predictions proved to be false. Almost eleven months have passed since the war began... With no true end in sight.

January 25th

Heliopolis Technical College

2:01 p.m.

The day was clear, the simulated sun burning brightly in the coloured blue skies, not a cloud in sight. Students were milling about as the college emptied and they began to head for home. Chatter filled the air, and the once empty school-grounds were filled with students of all ages.

Inside a wall-less structure, at a picnic table sat a brunette boy, his violet eyes focussed on the screen of his laptop, which sat in front of him. He seemed oblivious to the din around him, as if in his own small world. He was typing quickly, his hands seeming to be a blur across the dark keyboard.

On his shoulder sat a small robotic bird which seemed to be watching his progress. The bird's crimson eyes flashed a little, and it spread its yellow wings for a moment before settling back onto the young man's shoulder, chirping mechanically every so often "Birdy?" It had a green body with a yellow underside and torso.

A few feet away, Miriallia Haww watched as her friend worked tirelessly and rolled her blue eyes skyward in affectionate exasperation. Crossing her arms, she resisted the urge to go over and begin scolding the boy, and instead straightened a crease in her dress. 'He's going to work himself to death one day.' Hearing footsteps behind her she looked over her shoulder to see a fellow friend, Tolle Koenig and smiled. "Hey Tolle."

"Hey." Tolle replied cheerily, before blowing upwards to move a lock of his unruly brown hair out of his pale blue eyes. He idly shrugged his bag to his other shoulder, his right hand sliding into his pocket. He looked over to see the brunette boy absorbed in his work, and he chuckled. "Busy at work again, is he?"

"Always is. I really think the professor puts too much on him." Miriallia told him with a dramatic sigh, running a hand through her hair. "Kira never has time for a personal life anymore." She noticed Tolle nod hastily but looked incredibly sheepish for some reason and she immediately became suspicious of it but said nothing. Finally she muttered in annoyance, getting irked that Kira never even looked up, "It's basically like he becomes a computer himself or something when he gets on that thing. Where's his 'Off' switch?"

Unable to resist the joke, Tolle elbowed the girl gently in the side and said with a stage whisper, barely able to contain his laughter, "I know where his 'On' switch would be."

"Ew, no way." Miriallia started giggling too, not really able to help herself either. She examined the boy with a little smile, knowing he worked hard always, and that was why he was so absorbed in what he was working on. She finally shook her head slowly and sighed dramatically, "You could set off a bomb right beside him and he'd never notice."

"Probably so." Tolle agreed with a smirk, watching Kira more closely. The boy's violet eyes were narrowed in concentration, brow furrowed and lips pursed, looking for all the world like he was working on an atom bomb than an assignment. Cupping his one free hand around his mouth, he called "Kira!" but the boy didn't even spare a glance up at him.

Rolling her eyes and looking very exasperated now, Miriallia marched into the 'shelter', stood behind him and poked him in the sides, hard. The boy jumped with a yelp and she grinned, looking quite smug at having finally captured his attention. "Well hello Kira Yamato, here to stay in reality for a little while?"

Kira Yamato smiled sheepishly, not really knowing if he was to apologize for spacing out or to pretend to be annoyed at her interruption. Deciding he'd be sheepish today, he said pleasantly and apologetically, "Sorry, Professor Kato has me working overtime on this stupid project... I never got to finish it last weekend, I was just working out the kinks in his program..."

"You told me on Friday that you were going to work all weekend, what happened?" Miriallia asked with raised eyebrows, not buying his story one bit and both Kira and Tolle looked sheepish and ducked their heads at her remark. She scowled, crossed her arms and said firmly, "Did you two go out and see a movie this weekend when I told you to work on your homework?"

"Miri don't be mad, I've been stuck at home all week I needed some time out." Kira protested, using her pet-name in an attempt to calm her down, but she didn't wilt at all. Knowing she was going to kick his ass if he didn't do something to placate her, he hastily added, "But I did do work, see?" He showed her the screen, which currently was showing almost thousands of numbers, letters and complicated formulas.

Miri peered at the screen and then rolled her eyes skyward once more, knowing that he knew she didn't understand what he did for the professor. But she did admit to herself that the professor had been giving Kira a lot of work and he didn't really get many chances to do things other than work. But she didn't say that aloud and told him instead, "Fine, I'll let it slide this time, but you really need to get caught up with the stuff he gives you. It's amazing you can manage to keep your grades above average with all this extra stuff."

"I have to keep my grades above average." Kira pointed out with a little sigh, before noticing Tolle had been staring intently at his laptop screen. "What is it?"

"Another news development?" Tolle asked out loud, pointing to the smaller square on the screen which showed a reporter standing in front of what appeared to be a battlefield. Kira clicked to enlarge the picture, and it was indeed a battlefield, showing a humanoid machine flying just behind a building that the reporter was standing in front of. "Where is this?"

"Taiwan apparently. I think Kaohsiung." Kira replied quietly, and Miri leaned in as the reporter's voice grew louder.

"I'm within several kilometres of Kaohsiung where the sounds of fierce combat continue to echo."

Tolle looked startled when he read the date on the bottom of the broadcast and Miri blinked in surprise while Kira merely looked stone-faced. "If that was footage from last week... Kaohsiung probably was already beaten."

"Yeah." Kira agreed quietly, shutting off the computer after saving his work, really not wanting to hear the rest of the details from the report again, having already listened to it several times. He had overcome his shock and know was simply stone about what had happened.

"Kaohsiung isn't very far from us." Miri said slowly, thinking over the details from the report. Sighing quietly, she asked herself, "Will the homeland be alright if Kaohsiung falls? Will they come after us next if they aren't satisfied with what they did?"

"The homeland will be fine. There's nothing to worry about." Tolle told her nonchalantly, looking as though he couldn't be bothered worrying about that. He shrugged and conceded at her disbelieving stare, though he still looked carefree, "Oh they're close for sure, but our nation's neutral. They won't risk attacking us, we've got nothing to do with the war. And I really can't see ORB turning into a war-zone."

"Really...?" Miri still didn't look too certain, though her faith in her homeland's stance was strong, she wasn't too sure about how ZAFT behaved around neutral countries. But she wanted to believe her home would be safe, so she pushed aside her doubts and agreed quietly, "I guess you're right..."

Kira was silent, watching as his winged machine took into the air, flying a circle around the small little building. His memory flashed back to when he had gotten that machine, almost two or so years ago, when he lived in Copernicus with his childhood friend.

The cherry blossoms were in bloom again, though they weren't the real variety found back on Earth, it was a comforting enough environment. Kira looked at his friend who idly straightened his hat over his navy blue hair, and his normally laughing aqua eyes were slightly troubled. He was holding a mechanical bird in his hands and held them out to Kira. The bird hopped into Kira's hands after a moment, and Kira held it close.

He smiled at Kira and told him honestly, keeping his voice firm yet hopeful, "PLANTs and Earth will see eye to eye. There won't be a war. The evacuation doesn't mean a thing, it'll be fine." He smiled at the bird, which had jumped on Kira's shoulder and continued hopefully, "You'll come with me to the PLANTs later, won't you?"

Kira closed his eyes for a moment, relishing the memory as much as he could. He really did miss his friend, he'd found it horribly lonely in Heliopolis when he first came. Thankfully he had met Tolle, Miri, Sai and Kuzzey, the four of them had quickly befriended him and made him feel more at home.

"Kira?"

"Wha!" Kira nearly fell over at the sudden sight of Tolle staring curiously at him. He managed to catch himself by hanging onto the back of the wrap-around bench, and shook his head to clear his thoughts which had turned to static.

"You dreamer." Miri teased, ruffling his hair with her free hand while she held his books in her left arm. "C'mon Kira, we can't keep Professor Kato waiting. He'll be really ticked off if we do."

"Ah, uh, okay!" Kira stammered hastily, getting to his feet and gathering his books as quickly as he could as Miriallia and Tolle raced ahead, laughing at his slow progress. Shoving it all unceremoniously into his bag he shouldered it quickly, jumped the table and chased after them yelling, "Hey wait up!"

Heliopolis Hanger

Earth Alliance Ship

2:30 p.m.

The ship shuddered slightly as the restraining arms from the hanger clasped the olive coloured carrier. Lieutenant Mu La Flaga looked out the window with a little sigh, running his hand through his unruly blond hair. He straightened the blue jacket he was wearing, looking over at his friend who was fast asleep on the bench, looking for all the world like he didn't give a damn about what was going on.

Mu sighed and shook his head, listening to the dark auburn haired man snoring slightly as he slept. He was wearing the exact same attire, a light blue jacket and grey pants, though his jacket as always was unzipped and open, sleeves rolled up and he looked like a casual mess. His scraggly hair as always was also in casual disarray, his normally sharp emerald eyes closed as he snored. Mu spoke to his sleeping friend as he shook his head sadly, "How you can sleep when you're so close to doing what you're going to be doing for the rest of your life is a damn miracle Halberton."

The man continued to snore, casually sprawled out on the hard plastic of the bench from the table. They had been sitting in the Mess Hall, waiting for the order to come to the bridge along with the other five pilots destined for the secret service. His friend had fallen asleep in his boredom, leaving Mu awake and growing nervous about their current position. 'I really don't like being anywhere near a 'Neutral country'. Especially with what's going on, ZAFT could be anywhere and I just bet they are... Hiding in wait for us.'

Finally getting annoyed by his friend's carelessness, he kicked the bench and yelled, "We're under fire!" Halberton promptly woke up cursing and fell off the bench, causing Mu to start snorting with laughter.

"You son of a bitch." Halberton said genially, getting to his feet and cuffing Mu aside the head in an almost brotherly gesture. He rolled his head to the side to crack the bones in his neck back into place, and rolled his shoulders back after, emerald eyes sparkling. "How long was I asleep?"

"About an hour or so you idiot." Mu told him with a smirk, causally ruffling the older man's already mussed hair. He straightened his jacket and told him, "I don't understand you Justin, how can you be so fricken laidback about all of this?"

"Heh." Justin shrugged, not even looking the least bit interested in what was coming next. "It's nothing new, I'm just getting upgraded, what's the big deal? I'm leaving my Moebius behind for bigger and better machines, I really don't get what all the fuss is about."

"You're going to be the first one shot down with that attitude." Mu joked, smirking at Justin's mock insulted expression. He smiled, feeling slightly envious about what Justin was about to do. His friend had been promoted out of the thousands of potentials who had the skill, himself included. He wasn't truly jealous, he understood why, he just was slightly envious. "Really man, at least get a bit serious about what's going to happen out there. It doesn't mean you're indestructible just because you get a G."

"Heh, man I invented the word 'indestructible'." Justin chuckled at this, straightening his shirt. The rustling movement caused the pendant he wore around his neck to fall out of his collar and into sight. With a rueful smile he took the crucifix pendant and put it back underneath his collar. "I'll be fine La Flaga, but you ought to be more careful, your jealousy's showing."

"Burn in hell Halberton." Mu chortled, pulling the man into a headlock and mussing about his already ruffled hair with his free hand. Justin struggled and they exchanged playful punches before the intercom suddenly rang , a cool female voice ringing out.

"Lieutenants La Flaga and Halberton to the bridge immediately."

"I guess that's us." Justin said nonchalantly, glancing down at his watch. "Well well, 2:45 already, I guess it's time for us to roll out?"

"For you to roll out, not me." Mu reminded him with a forced smile, knocking him gently on the head as they started walking down the long halls to the bridge. "I'll be heading back to Alaska after all of this calms down, you know that."

"What, are you gonna catch a ride back down to Earth with Charlie and the others?" Justin asked with raised eyebrows, having not expected this. Mu shrugged, not really sure how to answer and Justin looked troubled. "Man, that sucks... You just got back from Alaska, why head back again with the rejects and Charlie? We could use ya here, even if you're piloting a Zero."

"Be nice about Charles, his daughter will come and beat your ass if she heard you badmouthing him." Mu chuckled, knocking Justin on the head once more to add emphasis to the playful warning. "And besides..." The jovial tone he had been using fell and he pocketed his hands, shrugging his shoulders a little, blue eyes dying, "They don't really need me anyway, I was just an escort. After you boys get suited up, you won't be needing me, I'm better off heading back home anyway."

"Back home, feh." Justin grunted in disgust, face pulling in a scowl as his emerald eyes narrowed with dislike. "What's left in your future if you're the last Zero pilot left? They won't need your talent anymore if you never get fit with a real suit, you'll be retired and forgotten before you know it. Then what?"

"No idea. But my orders are to head back to Alaska now that you jackasses got here safely." Mu replied with a little shrug, though his face was stone and his eyes were troubled. 'Justin's right though... If he's gone, it does make me the last Zero pilot in the Alliance, then where am I at? Back in Alaska to twiddle my thumbs till the war's over?' "I was an escort Justin, you knew that. Nothing else. I'm going back to Alaska while you guys get fitted and trained here."

"It's all a load of bullshit." Justin grumbled as they entered the bridge. he changed his attitude in respect to the captain he had been serving under for the past few months and nodded politely his way. "Sir." Mu repeated the action and the man nodded back.

He sighed heavily though in relief, and smiled at the two young men, tossing his cap away and it spun in the zero gravity. Running his hand through his very short dry blond hair he said to the young men in a faint accent, "Well, it looks like the last mission this old girl will ever see is completed. It was a long run, but it worked out without a hitch... You served admirably Lieutenant La Flaga, I'm grateful you came along like you did."

"No thanks needed Captain." Mu told him with a wave of his hand, and Justin rolled his eyes and looked away. Mu continued in a more forced cheerful tone, noticing his friend's obvious annoyance, "I'm just glad it went without incident..." He looked towards the still open hatch of the hanger which led to the outside of the colony and asked, "Are there any ZAFT vessels in the area?"

"There's two but it's nothing to worry about." The captain replied airily, waving his hand as he gestured to the screen with his other. Justin immediately scowled and Mu's eyes darkened and narrowed as he looked at the screen. The man shook his head at the suspicious looks on their faces and told them almost tiredly, "You know they can't initiate in any hostile actions, mainly firing on us while we're docked here."

"Because it's Neutral territory?" Mu asked in a slightly scathing and sarcastic tone, looking incredibly unconvinced. "That's a joke."

The man laughed, clearly amused by the lack of belief in the young man's tone, Justin had snorted in agreement, both thoroughly unconvinced in their safety. "You know it's thanks to them our plans have gone so far anyway. We're fortunate that the Earth Alliance has recognized them as all but a nation."

"ORB wouldn't be too happy if they heard you speaking about them like that. Especially considering where we are." Justin commented wryly, gesturing to the hanger they were currently sitting in. "Whether or not the Earth Forces consider them a nation doesn't mean they don't pack the political power of one."

The captain shrugged idly, as if to dismiss the topic and he looked down at his watch and said cheerily, "Well, I'm afraid that'll be all the time left. You six ought to be heading down to the G Units."

Justin didn't move though the other five young men already had ventured towards the elevators and began disappearing. He glanced over at his friend who merely shrugged, then back to his soon-to-be former captain. "Uh... Sir, I don't know if..."

"Go on Halberton, you have to go." Mu told him with a wry little smile, thumping him good-naturedly on the back. "If it makes ya feel better I'll walk ya out, that is if I'm allowed." He added, glancing back at his superior who shrugged once but nodded.

Justin shook his head but Mu followed him down to the elevator anyway, and they spoke for a few moments about what was in store for either of them.

"What's the name of the ship you're supposed to be on after getting suited up?" Mu asked again, watching Justin roll his eyes, and he smiled sheepishly. He already knew, he really did just want an excuse to talk to him for a few more minutes.

"The ArchAngel, Mu. And you already knew that." Justin said wearily, dragging his hand down his face and spotting his friend's sheepish grin. 'He wants to stall.' But he wasn't interested in stalling any longer, if he had to go he wanted to just go faster. "And I'm set to pilot the GAT-X105 Strike. What other obvious questions do you want answered?"

Mu rolled his eyes and shrugged, understanding Justin's growing sour attitude. Justin was glaring at the wall, appearing to be even more irked than he was before. "Are you really happy with the path you chose? Cause you look pissed to me."

"When I want your opinion I'll give it to you La Flaga." Justin growled under his breath, gloved hands curling into fists at his sides.

"Don't snap at me man, I just asked you a simple question." Mu retorted with raised eyebrows, startled a bit by the snap.

"Yes, I'm pissed off. I didn't think we'd end up getting separated again, I'm kind of sick and tired of being on my own." Justin grumbled, shoving his hands unceremoniously into his pockets, glaring at the wall. "What am I supposed to do on my own again? Those idiots are just kids. I'll go insane after two days."

"I'd sneak onboard with ya but I'd probably end up getting my ass thrown out." Mu joked weakly, and Justin smiled back just as weakly, glad that somebody was trying for a little levity. "It's better than heading back to Alaska all over again, stuck behind a damn desk."

"Touche..." Justin sighed, running his hand lazily over his face once more, now glancing up at the ceiling. Justin smirked a bit and said to attempt a joke, "I bet you anything the captain's going to wind up being a real hardass."

"Then maybe I won't sneak on." Mu chuckled, amused by the attempt, at least he was trying. He looked thoughtful then smirked and said cheerfully, "Big tough hardass guy, eh? Alright then, let's make it a bet. Ten bucks that you're screwed with one real jackass of a captain."

"Well you just made me a whole lot happier about going on the ship." Justin replied with a roll of his eyes, but he was grinning. "Okay, if you're wrong, I get the ten." Mu smirked and they shook hands on the bet before the elevator stopped at the opening. "I guess this is it."

"Take care man, I'll see you in Alaska." Mu said cheerfully, whacking his friend gently in the shoulder and earned a faux-punch to his in return.

"See you."

Vesalius

Bridge

"Try not to look so frustrated Ades. It really isn't necessary."

Captain Fredrik Ades watched his commanding officer float from the lower part of the bridge up to the upper deck, examining a few scattered photographs on the map. The man was tall, taller then he was and skinny, almost oddly so. He had long wavy bleached blond hair, but his eyes and most of the upper part of his face was concealed behind a white mask. Ades sighed and said wearily, "Well I don't imagine it'd be too late if we waited to hear back from the council at least."

"It would be too late. I have a sixth sense about these things..." Commander Rau Le Creuset replied in that oddly quiet tone of his, his expression remaining hidden behind those blue glass eyes in the mask. He waved a gloved hand and tossed one of the pictures of the supposedly "top-secret" G units towards Ades, who snatched it out of the air and examined it with a stone face. Rau nearly smiled, though it was too hard to tell and added, "If we don't seize the moment now, while we have the chance in our grasps, we will pay for it with our lives for our reluctance. We must secure those new weapons from the Earth Forces before they are moved to a new location and we lose sight of them again."

"I suppose you're right in saying that Commander Le Creuset..." Ades replied with a short sigh, glancing down at the floor where the future pilots, or future dead, were waiting for the shuttles to take off. "I suppose you're right."

Down below the pilots readied themselves into their suits, and entered the shuttles with little words spoken between them. They boarded the shuttles quickly and calmly, still no words being spoken, as if they were scared to speak among each other.

Boarding the shuttles took only a minute or two, and then the shuttles were off, zooming towards Heliopolis at a surprising speed. The first shuttle of the two hit the surface and scattered the two pods it had been carrying, the second close behind. The pods snapped open with a quiet hiss, releasing the ten soldiers who had been inside. Six of them were wearing red uniforms the other four clothed in a dark green.

One of the reds halted before a large square passage, red lights sparkling inside of the darkened square. Upon closer inspection they were motion-activated lasers, burning their bright red colour almost in warning. The first red looked down at his watch, which read "1:00" in minutes. The colour switched to orange and suddenly the lasers simply went out.

Not wasting any time the ten flew into the square with aid from their backpacks with propelled them forwards with surprising ease. The first red halted at a cross-roads of sorts, looking around almost inquisitively. Then it signalled to the group, which promptly split up into threes, four heading down right, three heading straight and the other three heading left, all in complete silence.

The group of three which had headed to the straight went quickly, each holding a pack with numbers and letters inscribed into what looked like keys. They flew through the open hatches, now having each split up themselves. The first green set the pad as silently as he could onto a box which resembled a fuse box. Typing a quick combination onto the keys, the pad's green light turned red with the four numbers glowing eerily; "10:00".

The other two quickly placed their pads into position, and then flew off to rejoin their comrades which had already met up back at the crossroads, then all began to head straight once more.

Down below, in one of the meeting rooms deeper inside of the laboratory...

"Who's that Sai?" Kira asked quietly, gesturing over his shoulder to the blond figure who had been leaning on the wall and calmly watching the group. The person hadn't moved since they had come in, nor had they said anything, merely adjusted their cap, kept their tawny eyes either on the floor or on the ceiling.

Sai Argyle shrugged weakly, looking over at the person for a moment before back to his friend, adjusting his orange-tinted glasses calmly. "I don't really know, the professor told me they were asked to wait here, that's all I was told... But here, this is yours, isn't it?" He reached into his pocket and handed Kira a desk.

Kira examined the disk with a weak smile and sighed, "I guess this is more to the program Professor Kato gave me earlier... I'm really kinda getting tired of all this work..." He spotted Miriallia, Tolle, and Kuzzey, a blue haired young boy who was also one of their friends, talking and laughing in the far corner by a computer.

"Was it work from Morgenroete like the last time?" Sai asked with interest, having been told all about what his friend had been doing to help out with the professor's work. It had seemed like high priority, which was leaving the brunette boy exhausted. "Or something new?"

Kira examined the disk and then shrugged, saying mostly to himself, "It's probably just new work for the frame module or something like that, hopefully it's not too much work like last time, I'm still working out the kinks in the last program the Professor gave me, he's really piling it on... I think it's just a program analysis this time, he probably wants me to check it over."

"Y'know I really think you'd be better off if he just hired you." Sai chuckled, straightening his glasses and handing Kira one of the work laptops that he had been saving for him. "At least that way you'd get paid for all the work you do. Or do you get extra-credit for this stuff?"

"I wish." Kira laughed out loud, slipping in the disk into the laptop and taking a seat on the edge of the table. "I don't get money or extra-credit, all I get is exhausted. Mom says I should just refuse to help him."

"Maybe you should listen to her." Sai advised, examining the tired look on Kira's face as he began to read the code on the laptop's screen. His violet eyes were running down the list, and he had gotten that serious look on his face again. "How are things?"

"Beside all the work I'm doing? And aside from being exhausted? I'm doing alright." Kira replied with a hint of a smile, and Sai chuckled knowingly. "And how about you Sai? Things going okay with Flay Alster?"

Sai's smile faded a little and he said weakly, "I don't think there's any 'thing' to be going well. She doesn't reply to any of my emails or letters, I think it's time for me to give up." Kira looked sympathetic, and Sai smiled slightly, happy to see someone wasn't going to tell him he should be pushing more. "Oh well, I suppose I can try again one more time, but... I am sixteen, I do have my life ahead of me. And besides," He nudged his friend and teased, "maybe you can ask her instead."

"Between my schoolwork, homework, and this work, how in the world am I going to handle a girlfriend?" Kira asked in an exaggerated tone of voice, and Sai started chuckling again which caused Kira to smile, happy to see his friend in better spirits. "Ah, besides, it was a stupid crush two years ago, I'm over it. And I really don't need a girlfriend, I'm way too busy as it is."

"That's probably true." Sai laughed, and the two continued to talk cheerfully, glad to get their minds off of their own troubles for the moment. As they spoke, a sudden rumbling sound caught their attention, followed by a thunderous explosion and the entire lab shook violently.

"Holy shit!" Kira cried out in surprise, nearly toppling out of his chair. He spotted Miri getting to her feet, looking baffled, everyone else was just as confused as he was about the sudden tremor. "What the hell was that?"

"A meteor hitting the colony?" Sai asked, adjusting his glasses which had flown askew from the force of the shock. "Or..." He met Kira's eyes and they both said at the same time; "Something else?"

Kira got to his feet, and on silent agreement the five teenagers rushed outside, hoping to see something that could have caused the huge tremor, or at least find some news on what had happened. As they ran down the hall, Kira's shoulder brushed a young woman's, and he whirled around to apologize, "I'm sorry."

"Just keep moving, you don't want to be here." The young woman answered grimly, her dark grey eyes narrowed, pale face drawn as if in exhaustion and tension, looking incredibly pale against her dark hair. "Trust me. Get the hell out."

"Are you–" Kira made to say, but he stopped himself, staring at her in puzzlement. He looked as though he recognized her, but he didn't know where. "Do I..." He started, but another tremor shook the building, and by the time he straightened, the dark haired girl was gone. "What the..."

"Kira, c'mon!"

"I don't know, it might not be safe to go outside." Kira said quickly, the place shaking again. The lights overhead flickered and died out, and he looked around, eyes quickly adjusting to the darkness. "We should really go somewhere safer, I don't like this at all."

The group headed to the stairs, and that was when Kira realized the young blond had disappeared from their group. "What the..." Turning around, he swore he saw a flash of blond hair around the corner. "What happened to the professor's visitor?"

"No idea, I think they took off when the tremors started." Sai replied, opening the door to the stairs by using the emergency codes. People were filing up the stairs, each one looking more nervous than the last. Confused, he asked, "What's going on?"

"We're being attacked by ZAFT!" A panicked man cried out, and the man behind him shoved him out of his way and continued to hurry up the stairs. The first man continued hastily, voice shuddering with fear, "They just dropped out of nowhere on the colony! We're all being evacuated, you better come too!"

"Dammit, I'm going to look for that kid!" Kira swore, turning on his heel to run back to where he saw the flash of yellow hair. He felt Miri grab his sleeve, and she looked terrified at him leaving. With a weak smile he gently pried her grip from his arm and told her seriously, "I'll be alright, just go on without me, I'll be right back. Promise." With that said, he took off at a run down the hall towards the factories.

It didn't take long, he knew the factory inside and out. He spotted the figure running full tilt down the left hall, towards a dead end. Striding faster he caught up with them, hastily grabbing them by the arm, "Hey! Stop running, it's a dead end! Why did you take off?"

Tugging their arm away, the blond fixed a deadly glare on him with their startling tawny eyes. "Stop tailing me. You best catch up with the others before this whole place collapses." As if on cue, a huge shockwave of dust nearly blew the both of them over, knocking the girl's cap clean off, revealing choppily cut but silky blond hair.

Kira blinked, a bit startled by what was hidden under the cap. "You're a..." He stammered, still startled, having assumed they were a boy from the way they carried themselves, "A girl..."

"Yeah, what'd you think I was?" The girl replied with a snap to her voice, crossing her arms and looking very annoyed. "Well? Let's hear it!"

"N-Nothing, I just assumed..." Kira began hastily, blushing a little in embarrassment. He looked around, the blast had knocked out the east wall, where he had just come from. 'I'm effectively cut off from the others...' "Now what..." He noticed the girl had started walking again, right towards the dead end he had tried to stop her from taking. "Hey!" He called in surprise, hurrying forwards once more, grabbing her arm again, "Where do you think you're going?"

"I need to confirm something with my own eyes. On my own." The girl replied stubbornly, yanking her arm away, her glare enough to wither roses or set something ablaze.

"And what about me? How am I going to get back to the other block?" Kira asked skeptically, but she only scowled and looked away, as if saying it was his own fault for following her. He admit inwardly at her look, 'I shouldn't have followed her if I wanted to stay away, but...' "Alright, fine then..." Looking around, he called up his mental map of the entire building. 'The factory block should be that way...' "The factory block should still have shelters left... C'mon." Taking her by the arm he took off at a quick run down the right hall.

"Wait, I–" The girl tried to argue but faded into silence, running behind him with surprising speed of her own. She mumbled under her breath, "I just didn't think... We'd get involved..."

"Don't worry." Kira told her firmly, keeping as much reassurance as he possibly could in his voice to keep both her and his spirits up, "We'll be fine, just keep running."

Other End of the Factory

"You have got to be kidding me!" The woman snarled violently under her breath, throwing herself down for the tenth time in the past two minutes, hands busily reloading her gun as the gunfire erupted like thunder over her head. She felt the many scrapes in her hands and knees ring angrily in pain, but she ignored it, focussing on the sudden flurry of ZAFT soldiers that had suddenly materialized out of nowhere.

'They're after the G units.' She could still hear her friend's voice in her ears, ringing almost as loudly as the gunshots that had killed him seconds later. She didn't have time to mourn her fallen comrades, if she didn't act quickly she'd soon join them. She loaded her gun again, taking careful aim, before another flurry of gunfire had her ducking for cover. "Dammit!"

She glanced over her shoulder, at the three units that were lying just beyond her line of sight. She swore again. There were just too many soldiers, she didn't have a chance at running for it to get one out herself. 'This is insanity. I can't believe we let our defences down this much...' She glanced over her shoulder again, trying to gauge the distance between herself and the closest G unit. Still too far.

She took a deep breath, steeling herself for what she was about to do. Roaring a string of curses she stood up and emptied her barrel, hoping to at least hit someone and take them out for a few precious moments. Chaos. She ducked again as soon as return gunfire shot back at her, followed by a tremendous crash that knocked her clean off her feet.

"What the hell!?" Yelling, she scrambled back to her feet, and that was when she saw two machines lifting themselves to their feet frown the second factory district. She paled, only able to really stare up at the machines in shock. 'X-103 and X-102... The X-207 was over there too...' Much to her horror, she watched the machine get up moments later as well, and she felt as though her stomach had dropped out of her.

There were three left now, and she looked around hurriedly, counting the seconds down in her head. She watched from the safety of her cover as the three units flew off, leaving a mess of destruction behind them, and she inwardly winced when she thought of the number of dead that there was now. 'Too many to count right now... If I keep thinking about this I'll never make it out of here... There's the X-106, 105 and 303 to worry about. I need to put them first.'

Biting her lower lip as she reloaded her gun again, she captured her fear and locked it away, deciding to worry about it some other time. 'Alright Murrue... Breathe... Now!' She threw herself over the wall, hands steady as she unloaded her clip again, and much to her satisfaction she watched as her last shot slammed into a red's stomach and sent the soldier flying over the X-105' s leg. He didn't get back up.

"Rusty!"

She turned as quickly as she could, but she wasn't fast enough to dodge the bullet that just scraped her shoulder and she fell back. The other ZAFT soldier was standing there, smoking gun in his hand as it was aimed for her heart. Her gun clattered out of her hand when she fell, and she didn't make a move to try and grab it, it was already empty. And she knew the other soldier knew that. He aimed his gun.

She closed her eyes, and mentally recited a brief prayer, waiting for the bullet to come and end her life. It didn't come, instead a thunderous explosion rang out and she twisted to lie on her stomach, hands flying over her head to protect herself. When she looked back up the ZAFT soldier was already gone, a twisted heap of metal lying a bit away from the 106. She raised her eyebrows, alarmed by the destroyed machine. 'That was one of ours... Dammit.'

She spotted another one of her own lying dead a few metres away, and quickly ran over to relieve the corpse of its gun. She carefully ignored the corpse's face, knowing if she looked she might just break down and ignore the world around her until she herself was shot. She ran.

It was a quick enough sprint, she made it to the 105's leg quicker then she figured she could make it, and heard the yells of surprised soldiers all around her. She steadied her gun, and began firing all over again.

"Father you betrayed us all!"

The shout made her turn, her soldier's instincts screaming at her to shoot, but she froze when she looked up to the second level of the building that amazingly still had survived. There were two children up there, a blond kneeling on the floor, seeming to be in tears, the second was a brunette boy, who pulled her up and they began to run to the shelters.

"Kids? What are kids doing out here?" She wondered out loud, temporarily distracted from the chaos around her by the sudden appearance of children in the middle of a battle zone. "That isn't normal."

Up in the stairs, Kira hastily tugged the girl along behind him, frantically searching for the doors to the shelter. He could tell she was still upset, something that baffled him entirely. He hadn't understood her outburst when she saw the humanoid machines in the factory, though it had surprised him, it had completely upset her. She seemed to know much more then she was letting on, and as much as he'd have liked to pull her aside and ask questions, he had no time.

He finally found the door to the shelter, and pounded angrily on the intercom. She sniffled behind him, wiping her eyes dry on her sleeve and fixing that stubborn expression back on her face. The box squawked suddenly, and he yelled over the din behind him, "We need shelter!"

"But we're uh... We're full down here."

"Then take my friend, she needs it more then I do, I can make it across the district!" Kira yelled in frustration, hitting the closed doors with a closed fist, amethyst eyes burning in anger. "Please!"

There was a hesitant silence, as if they were debating what to do. Finally the voice whispered, "Fine, we can take her."

"Get in." He said roughly, gesturing to the now open doors of the shelter, but she just stared at him with wide tawny eyes, uncomprehending what he meant. Not having time but wishing he did, he seized her wrist and easily pushed her into the small slot, tying the belt for her.

Now she understood his intent, and quickly began thrashing to try and get loose. "No!" She gasped, trying to get at the belt but he was too quick for her, forcing her wrists at her sides. "You can't, what about you?!"

"I can make it across the district, just get in!" Kira exclaimed fiercely, slamming his hand on the button that would seal the doors. She had no time, he didn't let her go until the doors hissed, and then she was pulled down and out of sight. He sighed softly, allowing himself one moment for relief.

A thunderous roar had him running again, and he hissed softly under his breath as the gunshots had him ducking every so often. It was so chaotic, he had no idea if it was him being shot at or not. He looked down from the rafters, spotting explosions that covered the ground in black and grey smoke.

"Lieutenant Ramius!"

He skidded to a stop, suddenly spotting a brunette in the rubble, hiding behind a crate as gunfire continued to shriek overhead. He could see another soldier calling to her, trying to get her to run across the open battlefield for better security. Behind her, a green coated soldier was loading a gun, aiming directly for the space between her shoulder-blades, it was a perfect shot.

He reacted instinctively, and yelled over the din, "Behind you!" The brunette whirled, gun in hand and fired a single shot. The green soldier fell with a grunt of pain, he didn't get back up.

"That kid?" Murrue murmured to herself, looking up to see him standing there with a look of relief on his scared face. She felt a moment of gratitude, but she quickly pushed it aside, having no time to worry about something that insignificant when her life was on the line.

"Ugn!"

She turned, Bryan had been killed. Pain echoed in her chest, but she hid that as well, reloading her gun and firing for the shooter who'd killed him. 'Dammit! Another one gone.' The shooter fell, helmet cracked by the expert shot in between the eyes. She looked around hastily, trying to find a way through the mess of scraps, bodies and weapons to find a clear run.

She dove, and made it by a hair before more gunfire erupted, hitting the metal with metallic thuds that echoed harshly in her ears. Shaking hands holding her gun tightly, she turned and waited until the gunfire ceased to return fire herself. She didn't wait to see if she'd hit anything, she ducked immediately to reload and wait out another silent period.

The silence stretched, and she took a quick peek over the edge of the container. No gunfire. She didn't breathe, staying silent. The seconds ticked by, feeling like hours. The silence remained. She took a breath. Now she looked over her shoulder, where the kid had been. He still stood there, eyes wide. "Hey!" She yelled up to him, voice echoing in the now eerie silence, "Come here!"

"Don't worry about me!" Kira yelled back, voice much more hoarse than usual as he tried to get the image of the dead soldier out of his mind. He shook his head, forcing himself to take the image out of his head and back to the matter at hand. "I'm going to the shelters in the left block!"

Murrue inwardly winced, shaking her head and calling back, "There's nothing left behind that door!" If he'd been hoping to get away from the gunfire, he was sorely mistaken. The G units and soldiers had made short but easy work of the rest of the blocks, it was all a mess of rubble and bodies.

Another explosion rocked the factory, she dove down before realizing it had struck the corner where the kid had been. He was on his back, staring at the flaming debris in horror. 'He has no idea what he's dealing with, does he?' Sympathy made her wince, but she shortened it, becoming a soldier again. There was time to deal with emotions later, she couldn't feel now. She had to act. "Come down here!"

Much to her horror he looked down, as if measuring the distance between the rafters to the floor. He placed his hands on the railings, took a deep breath and threw himself over the edge. He landed on his feet, then fell to his knees, she was sure he'd broken something.

He got to his feet hurriedly, looking as though it had been nothing. She gaped at him, shocked. 'That was... Suicidal... What the hell was he thinking?' She shook the disbelief from her head, looking around hurriedly. It was at least a hundred metre dash to get to the nearest G Unit, if they made it there they would be relatively safe... 'Better all or nothing in this hand of poker Ramius.' She reminded herself bluntly.

He raced alongside her, she had to throw him down more than once when gunfire burst out. She placed a gun in his hand but he never fired it, she kept hers up and aimed at all times. They made it to the leg, she tossed him up before following as quickly as she could, shoulder screaming in pain by the time she forced herself up.

She heard an oath of pain and whirled around, seeing her fellow soldier shot in the neck and fall to his knees, only for another bullet to hit him square in the head. "Hamana!"

And then a bullet shrieked by her ear, embedding itself deep in her already injured shoulder before passing all the way through. Her knees gave in and she fell.

"No!" Kira yelled, bounding back as quickly as he could to the fallen woman's side, seeing the blood beginning to stain her orange jumpsuit. The soldier threw away his gun, pulling out a knife instead and he jumped up onto the unit's leg to finish the job. He got to his feet, arms outstretched protectively as he stood in front of the woman. 'Not on your life!'

And then time froze. His eyes widened as the soldier stopped dead in is feet in front of him, greenish blue eyes reflecting the shock and horror of his violet ones. "A... Athrun...?"

"Kira?"

Murrue hissed under her breath, forcing herself to ignore the pain and she lifted her gun. The red suited soldier bounded away, and she swore softly, getting to her feet. She stumbled, and felt the kid's arm wrap around her to steady her. She shot him a grateful look, and he helped her to the centre of the suit, where the cockpit was. It hissed open when she pressed the release hidden below the armour, and she jumped inside, and he followed.

The X-105 Strike came to life, eyes flickering gold as the world around it continued to become engulfed in flames. Another explosion rocked the hanger, anyone left inside was dead now. The Strike stood, cables from the back snapping off as it stood, the metal manacles around its feet breaking with snaps. The fire burned, and in the middle of the intense glow of the flames, the golden eyes stared out. Ready for battle.

AN

My god (falls over and groans) I got the first chapter done and I honestly hate it, lmao. Now I have to write out battle scenes, may god strike me down if he loves me now. Yeah I know, I rushed things, I took things out, I screwed things up, I couldn't get it all in without shooting twenty pages at least. T.T It's things like this that make me wanna quit writing, lol. As I was reminded (thank you) I should clarify something. GSE (first work) is NOT playing a role in the series, as in it doesn't go GSF, GSD and then GSE, GSE was it's own story with no connection to this work. Now that I've got that cleared up... PLEASE REVIEW!

Sky