I own nothing save my own characters and machines.

Cassandra Joule is the creation of Artificial Life Creator.

Samorei Joule and Keinn Legwitz are the creation of NukeDawg. The Black Knights idea is also his, and is used with permission.


Minerva, Alex and Cagalli's quarters


The buzz of the intercom jolted Alex out of a soup of nightmares. A light sleeper ever since the Mandelbrot Incident five years before, he had a tendency to have flashbacks in times of stress. Thus it was that he was grateful for the interruption.

"Strassmeier," he said, accepting voice only. Beside him, Cagalli murmured something inaudible in her sleep.

"Commander, we've received an urgent message from the Homeland," Meyrin Hawke said. She hesitated, as if she didn't believe what she was saying. "Junius Seven's orbit has begun to decay."

Alex sat bolt upright, waking Cagalli in the process. "What did you say!?"

"Junius Seven's orbit has begun to decay," Meyrin repeated. "Estimated to enter Earth's atmosphere within a week."

Alex swore savagely under his breath. No way this is a natural happening. The remains of Junius Seven were supposed to remain in orbit for at least a century. "I presume there's going to be a meeting of some sort."

"Yes, sir," Meyrin said. "Captain Gladys has called the Chairman and Commanders La Flaga and Zala. She's requesting you and Lady Cagalli as well."

"We'll be there in a few minutes," Alex said, and cut the circuit.

Cagalli looked at him in confusion, blinking groggily. "Alex, what's going on?"

"Something I never thought would happen," Alex said grimly, reaching for his uniform. "Junius Seven is falling out of orbit."

Her jaw dropped. "What!?" she said, suddenly wide awake.

Alex laughed without humor. "That was more or less my reaction," he said. "There's not a snowball's chance in hell that this is a natural occurrence."

Cagalli disentangled herself from the sheet. "How long do we have?"

"Less than a week," Alex said. "If we don't stop it, the death toll will make the Bloody Valentine look like a paper cut."


Briefing room


Even after more than a year of marriage, Cagalli was still amazed that Alex could look so impeccably groomed despite having been awake for less than ten minutes. There was no sign of stubble (okay, that wasn't surprising, since his friend Doctor Vincent Lockwood had come up with a safe beard suppressant a year before), his hair was straight (he never seemed to have bad hair days), his uniform spotless, and his eyes clear and alert.

Mu La Flaga, by contrast, was looking decidedly rumpled. His uniform was untidy, his hair in disarray, he was bleary-eyed, and wasn't bothering to hide his yawns. He was, however, awake enough to glare at the white-uniformed FAITH operative. The message was unmistakable: You can't have been up more than ten minutes. Bastard.

"I'm sorry to disturb you all at this hour," Talia said, "but I believe you already know why."

"All too well," Athrun said. "Junius Seven is falling."

Alex leaned forward, blue eyes sharp. "But why? There's no way this is a natural phenomenon."

Talia sighed. "Unfortunately, we don't know the cause. The Joule team is on its way, but we haven't heard anything from them yet."

"I don't see how it could be natural," Cagalli put in. "Junius Seven was expected to remain in orbit for another century, wasn't it?"

Siegel Clyne grimaced. "It would appear that our expectations were in error. Our observation posts detected the change approximately three hours ago. If it enters the atmosphere…"

Everyone winced. If even a part of the wrecked PLANT colony reached the Earth's surface, the results would be catastrophic. Earthquakes and tsunamis were the least that could be expected. It would be destruction on a scale never before seen.

"So what does this have to do with us?" Mu asked, frowning at the captain.

Athrun turned to face him, emerald eyes hard. "It's obvious, Mu," he said flatly. No one wondered at his tone; everyone knew of his very personal connection to Junius Seven. "We stop it, by any means necessary."

"You said the Joule team is involved?" Alex asked Talia. At her nod, he leaned back, looking slightly more relaxed. "Good. Yzak will go far to preventing any funny business."

Talia raised her eyebrows. "Are you expecting trouble, Commander?"

"Captain, I'm always expecting trouble," Alex said. "I didn't survive some of the nastiest battles of the last war by taking foolish chances."

Considering the fact that he was present at Heliopolis, Talbadiya, Alaska, Panama, Orb, Artemis, Mendel, and Jachin, Talia had to grant the point.

"In any case, we need to alert Orb," Siegel said. "I do not believe that any of their space fleet is in range to assist…"

Cagalli shook her head. "We don't have much of one, and it's all at Ame-No-Mihashira," she said. "Mu and I are the only Orb people in a position to help."

Siegel nodded. "Nevertheless, your government needs to be informed, if only to prepare for the worst."

"I'll contact my father," Cagalli said.

Athrun looked at Talia's exec. "What's Yzak's mission?"

"The Joule team will place Meteor Breakers at strategic points on the colony remnant," Arthur Trine said. "Since we can't keep it in orbit, our only hope is to break it into small enough pieces that it burns up before impact."

"Let's hope it's enough," Mu said quietly.

Cagalli silently agreed. She and Mu were the only Earth-born (well, technically she wasn't, but Mendel didn't really count under the circumstances) individuals present, and both were inwardly shuddering at what would happen if they failed. Orb, as an island nation, was in even more danger than most.

She felt Alex take her hand, and she looked up. "Don't worry," he whispered, softly enough that the others couldn't hear. "We'll make sure the planet is safe, one way or another."

Cagalli took a deep breath. "You're right."


President Copeland's office, Washington, D.C., Atlantic Federation


Four men sat in the dimly lit office. The mood was grim, even more so since their last meeting earlier in the year. Not only were there pirates to deal with, but now the remains of a space colony were about to come crashing down on them.

"That concludes the report from Phantom Pain," Field Marshal Tobias Simmons said. "The remains of Junius Seven will enter the atmosphere in less than a week."

Hiram Dalton, Director of Central Intelligence, grimaced. "What kind of damage can we expect?"

"If it makes it into the atmosphere intact, widespread destruction," Simmons said bluntly. "Nuclear winter, flooding, earthquakes, you name it."

"Do we have anyone in range to intervene?" Copeland demanded.

Simmons nodded sharply. "Phantom Pain and the Seraphim are both in range. We have reason to believe that the new ZAFT warship will be dispatched; there's already at least one ZAFT team in the area. There's a good chance the drop can be averted."

"The question is," Lord Djibril said softly, "whether we want to avert it."

Copeland, Simmons, and Dalton all stared at him in disbelief. "What did you say?" the DCI asked.

The leader of Blue Cosmos waved a hand. "I'm not suggesting we should permit Junius Seven to enter the atmosphere intact. However, a few relatively large pieces would work wonders as far as propaganda is concerned."

Copeland and Simmons both nodded slowly, but Dalton grimaced. For all his experience as a "spook," deliberately sacrificing so many people didn't sit well with him. He didn't care how many Coordinators perished, but the vast majority of Earth's population were Naturals.

"And how large is 'relatively'?" he asked carefully.

"Perhaps the size of a large office building," Djibril said. "Enough to wreak havoc, but not damage the world beyond repair. After all, we can hardly claim to be 'for the preservation of our blue and pure world' if we allow anything beyond that."

Bastard. Loyalties aside, Hiram Dalton had no use for mass destruction. Why even destroy the PLANTs if we don't have to? Just kill all the space monsters, and take the colonies for our own use, if we can. Anything else is a waste.

"What about Orb?" Djibril asked, turning to the President.

Copeland's lip twisted. "The new head of the Seiran family read Ambassador Phillips the riot act over the Armory One attack. They're going to be trouble."

"Is there anyone in Orb we can co-opt?" Djibril persisted. "Or at least get Athha to see reason?"

Dalton laughed harshly. "Not a chance in hell. Unato and Yuna Seiran are dead, and no other Alliance supporter ever had any influence; Sahaku didn't count, since he was using us. As for Athha, leaving aside the fact that he hates our guts on general principles, his daughter is married to ZAFT's second-ranking ace, and a FAITH member on top of that. I'm sorry, Lord Djibril, but Orb is a complete write-off unless we flat-out conquer them."

"And that is a dicey proposition at best," Simmons put in. "If we fight Orb, we fight ZAFT, and vice versa." He brought up a map on a wall screen. "ZAFT has a large force stationed in Orb; we've confirmed the presence of AMF-953 BABIs, TMF/A-802 BuCUEs, TMF/A-803 LaGOWEs, ZGMF-1000 ZAKUs, and UMF/SSO-3 ASHs, the new amphibious model. Combine that with Orb's various Astray models and the new Murasame, and you have a recipe for trouble."

Copeland winced. "Indeed. Why do I have the feeling that I haven't heard the worst of it?"

"Probably because you haven't, Mister President," Simmons said sourly. "The ZAFT forces are under the overall command of Andrew Waltfeld, but even that isn't the worst."

The president growled under his breath. "I know perfectly well what the worst is, Field Marshall," he said. "The traitorous Archangel, and that space monster Kira Yamato."

"And his nuclear-powered mobile suit," Simmons agreed. "He's dangerous enough by himself; when paired with his ZAFT friend Athrun Zala he's virtually unstoppable."

"Surely they're not that good," Djibril said.

The Supreme Allied Commander snorted. "Lord Djibril, I was at both Orb and Jachin. I saw Freedom and Justice in action firsthand. Trust me, sir, the danger those two pilots and machines pose cannot be overstated. None of our pilots even came close to defeating them in the last war."

"Do we have anyone who can take them now?" Copeland demanded.

"I don't know, sir," Simmons said. "There is little battle data on the pilots, mainly because few survive battling them. As for the machines, we have no solid data on them at all; the data Orb had in the last war was destroyed when Uzumi and his cronies fled." He pursed his lips. "The closest would be Neo Roanoke and Xavier Hunter. The Extendeds are good, but nowhere near Yamato or Zala's level, and the new GAT-X pilots are simply too green." He didn't add that Gustav Krieger was only in the military at all because Djibril had insisted.

Djibril raised an eyebrow. "You're certain no data on those two machines survived Uzumi's escape from Orb?"

Simmons snorted again. "The Spider of Artemis personally saw to that. He's a very thorough man, Lord Djibril. He's also as dangerous to us as Yamato and Zala in his own way. Not only is he an ace pilot in his own right, but he is also a master strategist."

"In any case," Copeland said, "we have to decide how we're going to deal with the colony drop. Marshall Simmons?"

The field marshal nodded sharply. "With your permission, Mister President, I will instruct Captain Roanoke to monitor the situation and act as he deems necessary."

"Very well," Copeland said. "Lord Djibril?"

"I agree," Djibril said promptly.

Dalton swallowed a grimace. He didn't like it, but there was nothing to be done. "Concur, sir."

"Then it's settled," the President said.

Dalton still didn't like it. Something's not right here. Though he disliked Coordinators, he'd never trusted Blue Cosmos, and he despised Djibril. There are more important things than just wiping out space monsters. Unfortunately, there was no way a terrorist could understand that.


Nazca-class destroyer Voltaire, bridge


Normally the crew of the Voltaire enjoyed their job. They had the latest in ZAFT technology at their disposal (save for the Second Stage Gundams and the Minerva), and both the commander and his exec were famous heroes from the first war. Being picked for the Joule team was widely seen as a plum assignment.

There were, however, drawbacks, most notably the commander's ferocious temper. Yzak Joule cared deeply for the people under his command, and they were unfailingly loyal to him, but he was said to be capable of blistering laminated armor when angry.

Like now.

"I don't believe this!" Yzak snarled, slamming a fist into the rim of the bridge's tabletop display. "Junius Seven falling!? What in blazes is going on here!?" He took a deep breath. "Sorry," he said to the very nervous comm officer. "What's our assignment?"

"We've been ordered to deploy Meteor Breakers on the colony ruin," the other said, visibly relaxing. "The Minerva is on its way, and will assist."

Yzak felt some of his fury drain away. Knowing that ZAFT's newest warship was coming, and knowing just who was on that ship, was very reassuring. Four experienced aces, and one of the prototype machines. "Any sign of that new Earth Forces ship?"

"Nah, but that doesn't really mean anything," Dearka Elsman said. "That thing has Mirage Colloid, and even the Seraphim is hard to find in the Debris Belt. Remember when Kira and the others escaped after Artemis?"

Yzak snorted. "Yeah. Never thought I'd be glad we never vaped that ship." Never thought I'd be friends with the guy who gave me a scar, either. "What about Orb?"

"None of their ships are in range," the comm officer said. "Lady Cagalli and Commander La Flaga are on the Minerva, though."

"We knew that already," Yzak said, but without heat. He'd come to know and respect the Hawk of Endymion in the latter stages of the first war, and of course Cagalli was part of his family now. "What about the Valkyrie? Are they in range?"

The other shook his head. "I'm afraid not, sir. According to the report, the Strassmeier team is currently in Orb."

Yzak sighed in resignation. "Would've been nice to have their firepower, but it looks like we'll have to do without. All right." He looked at Voltaire's captain. "Signal the Rousseau. We're heading for the remains of Junius Seven."

"Yes, sir."

Yzak returned his attention to the display. Theoretically they were close enough to break up the colony debris with plenty of time to spare. That wasn't good enough for him, though; he'd seen enough operations go bad to be very skeptical of intelligence estimates. Operation Spit Break was supposed to be a cakewalk, and look what happened there.

He sighed again, memories of the Cyclops flashing through his mind. Though he'd heard Mu La Flaga's description of the Endymion Cyclops, it hadn't prepared him for what would happen at JOSH-A.The sheer power of the huge microwave generator had haunted his nightmares for weeks afterward.

This has the potential to make that look like a firecracker. He looked out the forward viewport and prayed that the Minerva would arrive in time.


Minerva, crew lounge


The mood was somber when Shinn and his friends gathered in the crew lounge. Talia Gladys had a informed the crew of the crisis an hour earlier, and some of them were still in shock. Even at the height of the first war, only a few fanatics like Patrick Zala had suggested devastating Earth, and even fewer had listened to them.

"Who could be behind this?" Shinn wondered, half to himself. "There's no way this is natural."

"Whoever it is, it'll be someone from the colonies," Rey opined, leaning against the viewport. "Give the devil his due, the Earth Forces would never try something like this." He smiled slightly. "After all, they can hardly claim to be 'for the preservation of our blue and pure world' if they're dropping colony debris on the planet."

Keinn snorted. "No argument there. That nutjob Nazi I was fighting kept ranting about preserving the purity of the race. Well, if Junius Seven falls there won't be a race to keep pure." He looked at Shinn. "You're from Earth, Shinn. Think we can expect any help from Orb?"

Shinn shook his head. "Just Lady Cagalli and Commander La Flaga; they don't have enough of a space fleet to help much here."

"And what they do have is concentrated at Ame-No-Mihashira in case the Earth Alliance gets the wrong idea," Rey agreed.

"So it's up to us, then," Shinn said softly, thinking of his old homeland. Though he was now a citizen of the PLANTs, he still bore love for Orb, and the thought of Orb being hit by the tsunamis that would inevitably result from a colony drop filled him with rage.

He agreed with Rey that the perpetrators were almost certainly from the PLANTs. It was hard to believe that any Earth-based group would go so far as to drop a piece of debris the size of Junius Seven's remains on the planet. That ruled out Blue Cosmos, and pretty much any environmental terror group.

"Why would anyone do this?" Meyrin wondered, sounding more than a little plaintive. "What's the point?"

Shinn shook his head. "Who knows? There are plenty of nutcases out there."

"Sometimes even in Orb."

The group looked at the hatch in surprise. Cagalli Yula Athha stood a few meters away, her head still bandaged but looking otherwise normal.

"Lady Cagalli," Rey said, saluting.

She waved that away. "Please, don't bother. I'm not ZAFT, and I hate being formal." She moved to stand near Rey at the viewport. "Besides, four of you are Alex's students."

"I wouldn't want to presume on that relationship," Rey said.

"Give it a rest, Rey," Keinn said, rolling his eyes. "Everyone knows she hates being treated like royalty. You want to make her blow her stack?"

Cagalli laughed. "Don't worry about it, guys. I don't like that kind of thing, but I can handle it."

Shinn couldn't help chuckling. He'd had more contact with the Lioness of Orb than most, so he was well aware of how she viewed her own "noble" status. Even when they'd first met, at the Junius Three colony in C.E. 71, he'd noticed her preference to be just one of the gang.

"Has Orb been informed of the situation?" Luna asked softly.

Cagalli sighed. "Yeah. Unfortunately, as you probably know, Mu and I are the only Orb people in a position to do anything. After Kyoji Seiran hammered the Atlantic Federation ambassador, we have to keep our fleet close to Ame-No-Mihashira in case the Earth Forces try anything."

Of course, it wasn't just Orb units at the Sakakus' space station. ZAFT had four warships, two each Nazca and Laurasia-class, posted there, as well as four teams of ZAKUs based directly on the station, and Troy Cadwallader and his Dreadnought Gundam.

"Come on, guys, what are you so moody about?" Keinn said bracingly. "We'll break the colony up, and blast whoever's behind it into dust. That's all there is to it."

Shinn couldn't help grinning. That's Keinn for you. "You're right. Once we get past this, we can go back to hunting those bastards who attacked Armory One. I'd like a little payback for the nerve gas."

"Me, too," Luna said. She winced at little, recalling that her ZAKU had blown a hole in the colony wall. Assurances from a number of people, up to and including Chairman Clyne himself, that it wasn't her fault had only partially assuaged her guilt.

Keinn laid a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, Luna," he said, sounding unusually serious. "We'll make it."


Seraphim, pilots' ready room


"What are we being diverted for?" Jean-Pierre asked, staring incredulously at his commanding officer.

Xavier Hunter didn't so much as twitch. "We've been directed to make for the remains of Junius Seven, and take whatever action Captain Roanoke deems necessary."

"That's crazy!" Markham protested. "We should be working to stop the colony drop, not sitting around waiting for Captain Roanoke to make up his mind."

Hunter's gray eyes suddenly appeared even colder than usual. "Be careful of your words, Ensign Markham," he said softly. "You're dangerously close to insubordination. We will take whatever action is needed to preserve the purity of our race. That is paramount, Ensign."

Jean-Pierre carefully kept his face expressionless, but inside he was seething. He agreed with Markham; stopping the colony drop was more important than anything else at that point. If they just sat there, the consequences for Earth could be catastrophic.

Mu can wait, right now we need to make sure we still have a home when we're through.

"In any case, rest assured Command has no intention of allowing the remains of Junius Seven to strike, at least not intact," Hunter went on.

Translation, Command wants a few smaller pieces to get through and cause some local havoc, thereby providing us with some nice anti-PLANT propaganda, Jean-Pierre thought sourly.

"Also, since ZAFT will almost certainly send ships as well, so we may be able to kill two birds with one stone," Hunter said. "That is all."

Once the commander was gone, Jean-Pierre rolled his eyes. As far as he was concerned, interfering with a ZAFT attempt to stop the colony drop was tantamount to dropping it themselves. However much he loathed the so-called PLANT Supreme Council, he knew perfectly well that with Zala dead there was no way they would let something of that magnitude go on unchecked.

Krieger, predictably, was untroubled; it was common knowledge that he practically worshipped Lord Djibril. Judging by his expression, he was confident that any damage to the Earth's surface could be managed, so long as the colony fragment didn't enter atmosphere intact.

Which means he's even more psychotic than I thought. Jean-Pierre shook his head. "I don't like this."

"Join the club," Morton Callahan said with a snort. "I may go in for scorched-earth tactics, but this goes way beyond that."

"Perhaps," Starr said quietly. "Still, I'm willing to trust the high command. Their plans have gotten us this far."

Jean-Pierre's eyes narrowed slightly. He'd never much liked Terrence, Starr, though he didn't loathe the mysterious pilot the way he did Gustav Krieger. Something about the Terra's pilot just made him uneasy. He'd never been able to put his finger on it.

With a shrug, he dismissed the thought. It could wait until they had dealt with Junius Seven. One thing at a time, Jean-Pierre. First the colony fragment, then Mu. When those are done, then you can start thinking about Starr.


Minerva, bridge


"Approaching remains of Junius Seven," Yardbirds said. "We have the Voltaire and Rousseau on radar and thermals."

Talia nodded. "Understood."

"The Joule team reports that they have begun placement of Meteor Breakers," Meyrin said. "The Duel and the Buster are flying escort."

A soft, almost subliminal chuckle sounded behind the command chair. "That's Yzak, all right," Alex said. "Never misses a chance to be in the thick of things, even if it's just an escort run. I shudder at the thought of him being chained to a desk."

Bart Heim turned in his chair. "He wouldn't like it, sir?"

"He'd go mad inside a week," Alex told him. "He's a lot like Cagalli, actually, a warrior rather than a politician."

Talia smiled at the byplay. "Anything besides the Joule team's people out there, Bart?"

Heim shook his head. "Nothing solid, at least. I keep getting an odd reading on the thermal scanner, but it's probably nothing."

"Don't be so sure," Alex said. "Remember, it is very likely that the colony fragment's fall is no accident. Whoever is behind this is probably still nearby…" He trailed off, gazing worriedly out the forward viewport.

Talia frowned, very slightly. Though she was several years older than the FAITH operative, he was actually more experienced than she was. If the Spider of Artemis was concerned that there was more to their situation than was readily apparent, she was willing to take notice.

"Is there something on your mind, Commander?" she asked.

He shook his head, not in denial, but merely an effort to clear his thoughts. "I'm not sure. The last time I was here I had a run-in with Mikhail Coast, so I could well be imagining things."

Talia doubted that. One thing Alex Strassmeier was not was overly imaginative. "Perhaps we should go to alert status…"

"Status change!" Heim said suddenly. "The Joule team is under attack!"

She whirled, staring in shock at the unmistakable green flashes of laser fire. "Meyrin, Condition Red! Deploy our mobile suits at once!"

"Yes, ma'am!"

Alex was already making for the bridge hatch. "I'm going out there as well."

Talia nodded absently, focused on the main task. "Do you have an ID on the attackers?"

"Checking…" Heim said. His jaw dropped. "Captain, they're GINN High Maneuver Mark IIs!"

She swore under her breath. "Meyrin, warn the mobile suit team that they will be facing ZAFT models. Chen, set point defense to auto."

"Yes, ma'am!" they said in unison.

It looked like they were about to earn their pay.


Open space, ruins of Junius Seven


Yzak Joule was having a bad day. Much as he enjoyed a chance to take his Duel for a spin, he really preferred that there be something to shoot at. Escort duty bored him, though not as much as a desk job would have.

At least things were going smoothly thus far. His team's GuAIZ Rs were placing the Meteor Breakers ahead of schedule, and everything else was quiet. Despite his preference for action, Yzak knew that the less eventful this particular mission was, the better.

"Talk about milk runs, eh, Yzak?" Dearka commented.

Yzak snorted. "Don't get too comfortable, Dearka. It's quiet for now, but you can bet that whoever's behind this isn't happy with us. We have to make sure this colony fragment is broken up before it hits atmosphere."

"I know, I know."

Yzak rolled his eyes. That's Dearka for you, he thought with weary humor.

One of his GuAIZ Rs disappeared in a green flash.

Yzak cursed incredulously. "What was that!?" He spun his machine around, just in time to see another GuAIZ evaporate. "What in blazes is going on!?"

"Commander Joule, we're under attack!" The contact ended in a chopped-off scream as a third GuAIZ exploded.

Yzak clenched his hands on his control bars. Bastards! "Stay focused, people! Dearka and I will handle these guys!" He switched frequencies. "Minerva, this is Commander Joule. We need backup, fast!"

"Already on the way, Commander," a female voice said. "Beginning mobile suit deployment."

Yzak gritted his teeth, fending off a laser blast with his shield. "Make it fast," he grunted, finally catching a glimpse of his opponent. "We're dealing with ZAFT models, High Maneuver IIs."

"We know," the girl responded. "Our people are already being warned."

Dearka fired his gun launcher, missing by a hair. "What kind of help can we expect, Minerva? These guys are tough."

"Two ZAKUs, one of them a Phantom, one Murasame, and five G-weapons, Impulse, Strike, Akatsuki, Anubis, and Justice." Minerva's parasite operator sounded just a bit smug. "Will that be enough?"

Yzak grinned despite the situation. "Yeah, I think so," he said, launching a missile salvo. He sobered. "As long as they get here quick; I don't know how long we can hold out."

"Understood."

His worries appeared well-founded. The renegade mobile suits were living up to the High Maneuver designation, moving quickly enough to be difficult targets even for a machine as powerful as the Duel. They were making mincemeat of the GuAIZs.

Yzak fired again, finally clipping one of the GINNs. This is insane! These guys are obviously renegade ZAFT, so why would they pull a stunt like this!? A follow-up shot missed, and then he had to evade a retaliatory burst of laser fire.

He was having a really, really bad day.


Seraphim, hangar


Jean-Pierre La Flaga settled into his cockpit, pulling on his helmet as he did so. To his disgust, orders had come down from Captain Roanoke to interfere with the ZAFT operation…carefully. They were to attack both the renegades -which the GINNs clearly were- and the ZAFT regulars. Special priority was to be given to the FAITH pilots, Strassmeier and Zala.

"I'll happily destroy those renegades," he muttered to himself, making sure that he wasn't transmitting, "but this is a really stupid time to be fighting regular ZAFT. They don't want Earth destroyed any more than we do."

Krieger, naturally, was eager for the fight. Part of it was because the Extendeds were going with them; he loved a chance to see them in action. To be sure, Jean-Pierre welcomed the additional firepower, but Krieger's demeanor was even more disturbing than usual. And that's saying a great deal.

Morton Callahan hadn't commented beyond saying he'd follow orders. Hardly a surprise; the Irish pilot wasn't exactly known for impulsiveness, despite his facility for causing mass destruction. He also never drank, an unusual trait in a pilot.

Zebulon Markham, frequently Jean-Pierre's sparring partner, shared the Rapier pilot's sentiments. Despite his persona, he disliked anything likely to cause mass death, no matter who it was that was dying.

Starr, as usual, was unreadable. For reasons known only to himself, he'd spent the last few hours before their mission briefing tweaking the Terra's software. No one had questioned him about it; the other pilots had long since learned to let him be when he was in that kind of mood.

Enough woolgathering. Jean-Pierre keyed his comm. "Jean-Pierre La Flaga, Rapier ready for launch."

"Acknowledged, Lieutenant," Seraphim's parasite operator said promptly. "Good luck out there; show those space monsters who's boss."

Jean-Pierre firmly suppressed a sneer. "Will do, and thanks." He gripped his control bars. "Rapier, launching!"


Author's note: And so Break the World begins. While Yzak and the others work to stop the colony fragment, Blue Cosmos intends to use it to their own advantage.

Again, sorry for the late update; I seem to be having trouble getting into it. I shall do my utmost to remedy that. I should also mention that, despite initial appearances, the coming battle will be anything but one-sided.

One last thing. NukeDawg has produced a crossover fic among his Jade Series, my Valkyrie's Run, and Storm Wolf 77415's Song of the Storm Wolf. However odd the concept might be, he has carried it off quite well to date.