Phase 1 - "Shattered Peace"

"Shireikan, what is the answer to question number eight?" The black haired youth was jerked out of a daydream by the teacher's questions. Blinking sleepily, he glanced at his notebook and replied,

"Um, ZAFT stands for Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty. The militia protect the PLANTs and is made up of civilians."

The teacher nodded in approval and continued to talk about the impact the PLANTs had on society. Done with his student duty for now, Shireikan, better known as Shi, went back to his daydream. Shi had been in the middle of an intense battle with ZAFT forces. As was usual in his daydreams, he was the hero; in this case he had just finished shooting down three GINNs in a damaged Moebius amour. The teen kept one ear on the teacher, copying down notes whenever it was necessary. As the bell rang, Shi gathered up his books and departed the class for his locker.

After school was done for the day, Shi walked home. His hazel eyes looked out over the space colony, secure in the thoughts that it wouldn't be attacked. After the attack on Heliopolis, all the Earth Alliance space colonies were in a panic, each wondering if they were next on ZAFT's list.

Paleis was located at Lagrange Point 1, and was the closest space colony to the PLANTs.

Paleis had traded with the PLANTs in the past, but since the war started most contact had been shut down. With this thought in mind, Shireikan walked up the front steps to his home.

He had lived in Paleis for his entire life, but Shi had been actually been born on Earth. He had been sent to live with his grandparents after a illness killed his parents days after his birth. The teen had never seen Earth except in pictures or videos, so he felt no connection to the war they were fighting with ZAFT. Being a neutral settlement, the colonies at Lagrange Point 1 had signed a peace agreement with ZAFT and the Earth Alliance. Many of the people living at Lagrange Point 1 were Coordinators who didn't want to fight in the war. For the most part, people here accepted them and even became friends with the Coordinators.

Entering the house, Shi dropped his schoolbag by the kitchen table the called hello to his grandparents.

"Hello Shi. How was your day at school?" His grandmother asked, looking up from her knitting. His grandmother had always knitted for as long as Shi could remember. She knitted everything from baby clothes to blankets and sweaters. Besides knitting his Grandmother was and excellent cook, and was often called upon to cook for community gatherings and such.

"My day was alright. We talked about the war between the Earth Alliance and ZAFT in class today. Apparently ZAFT is winning the war, even though the Earth Alliance has more people."

The teenage boy replied, adding: "If you need me, I'll be in my room."

With that, Shi turned and headed up to his bedroom to read.

- - -

All of Paleis was dark, except for a few stores that stayed open 24 hours a day. In his room, Shi slept soundly, dreaming of space battles. Elsewhere, in the main control room of the space colony, it was anything but quiet.

"Sir, radar indicates heat sources heading in our direction from the moon."

"What? Impossible! Why would the base on the moon attack us? We're a neutral colony! Check your systems again!" The head chief growled at the worker.

"I just did, sir. The beams are heading towards Lagrange Point 1. But the origin isn't from the moon base, sir. They're coming from outside the limits of the base!"

"WHAT! It must be ZAFT!" Put all security teams on Code Red, and sound the evacuation alarm." The man ordered as flashing red lights lit up the room.

Shireikan was awakened by the evacuation alarms howling, and he grandfather shaking him roughly.

"Shi, wake up! ZAFT is attacking! Get dressed and come with me now!"

Still half-asleep, Shi pulled on a pair of jeans, a white shirt, and a black vest and followed his grandfather. The old man lead him out the back door and down a side alley, then continued to weave through the darkened streets. Panting, Shi struggled to keep up to the pace his grandfather was setting.

"Grandpa, where are we going?" Shi finally asked as they left the city limits and headed into the park surrounding the city.

"There is no way that this colony can defend itself from an attack from space. The only way to protect Paleis is to fight ZAFT in space, not from the colony. I would do it, but I am far too old to be racing around space." Turning towards his grandson, he continued. "So, I want you to do it for me." Shi opened his mouth to protest, but his grandfather held up a hand. The pair had stopped inside a large clearing. Striding over to one of the trees, the old man pressed on the trunk. Shi was about to ask what was going on when he heard a click and the ground started to rise.

Shireikan stared as the ground rose higher and higher, exposing a machine beneath it. It looked humanlike, and was much taller that Shi. It's head, arms, legs, and waist sections were white, with the chest section being a dark purple. In the middle of the chest was a red hatch, obviously a door. As he watched in amazement, it split in two and opened, revealing a seat. From the top section of the hatch a wire came down with a hollow triangular section at the bottom.

"That, Shi, is a GM. It's the only weapon Paleis has. I entrust this GM Command to you. Now, go out there and fight!" His grandfather said, his voice shaking slightly.

Numb from shock, Shi put his foot in the foothold and gripped the cord as it lifted him upwards towards the massive machine.

- - -

Yes, I'm using the GMs, which means the Earth Alliance won't be using the Daggers. Paleis is a made-up colony, but I've tried to make it similar to other colonies seen in Gundam Seed. Phase 2 is already done, I just need to make a few changes to it. Reviews are welcome as well as any questions.