Chapter 1: The Rise and Fall

Chapter 1 Part B: The Fall

Legend

Italics shows character thoughts

Word shows Date

February 14, C.E. 70

They sat on the mobile armor carrier, called 'Roosevelt', in the pilot prep area. There the pilots of the two squadrons, besides Violet who was given a separate suiting up room, got dressed into their pilot outfits and did their own thing to prepare themselves for combat.

Scion was already dressed and sitting on a bench thinking silently as were the other pilots.

I can do this. I've worked for a year to get to this point. Besides, the mission is as simple as could be. Protect the ship from any hostiles. No objectives and no changing of plans. Just protect, that's all. Any coordinator that comes near the Roosevelt will be shot down by me! I'll show that Naturals can be better then Coordinators!

He stood up and walked into out of the room and into the launching bay, where the mechanics where prepping the catapult and all the machines of the pilots. Scion walked to his personal Moebius and climbed into the cockpit.

"Okay, lets run over the OS real quick. Normally a Moebius didn't need an OS because of its simplicity, compared to mobile suits, but Scion decided that it could only help him in combat to have a little edge. He even installed one unto Axle's and Violets machine.

His fingers went steadily over the keyboard checking the numerous systems in the machine but all in all it took roughly one minute to go over it all since the mobile armor didn't need much working with. It was just a fighter plane after all. Scion also had it outfitted with heavy missiles that were used for enemies on your tail, thus they could be fire backwards if needed.

"Are you ready for flight Lieutenant? If you are we can launch your squad first. Once we are into enemy space that is." The chief mechanic spoke through the com.

"…Yes, though my machine feels a bit heavier then normal." Scion responded calmly before strapping himself in securely. He noted that the man seemed oddly on edge, as if something was up.

Soon Axle along with Violet and the other squad were ready to go. All of them gave the green light and were prepared to launch.

"So, we go first eh? Lucky us…" Came Axle's unsteady voice over the com.

"Just lock on and fire…oh and move around a lot."

"Thanks Violet…."

"Anytime."

Any normal day that would have been funny but Violet was being very serious when she spoke to Axle. He had no combat training in the simulators unlike her and he wasn't a genius pilot like Scion either and that was a mystery in itself, she had never heard of someone passing flight training with top honors early and certainly not in six months time. He was either really lucky or something else entirely. She would find out soon enough.

"Okay you guys. Knock it off and lets get going okay? We are fixing to launch." Said the young squad leader.

"Yes sir!" Came over the com from the two pilots. They were ready.

Alarms went off and everyone began to scramble as the commander of the ship sent everyone to level-one battle stations. Scion sat in his Moebius as it was being lowered unto the catapult for launch.

"Launch when ready."

3...

2...

1...

"Lieutenant Scion Kazuma, launching!" As soon as the words came from his mouth he could feel the G-forces hit his body as he was launched from the ship and into the deep space around Junius Seven with his wing-mates following suit soon after.

"Form up on me and be ready to scramble." Scion said over the secure com-link.

"Roger." Axle seemed more secure now, though Scion worried that it wouldn't last him.

"Understood sir. Forming up." Violet, as always, sounded calm beyond her experience.

Scion had only know his squad for one day, at least in the respect of them being a squad. He had known them before hand in training and knew both of them, Axle more then Violet, pretty well. He knew they were good fighters, maybe not the best but they would do.

The three mobile armors circled the carrier as to make sure their radar missed nothing. The other squad worked with him to make sure they wouldn't miss anything coming from any direction. It wasn't long before explosion could be seen in the distance and reports of losses came flooding in.

Scion gripped the controls of his machine and repeated his mission to himself over and over to keep himself from flying off and going after those ZAFT mobile suits. His thoughts were soon interrupted by an incoming transmission.

"Kazuma! Enemy mobile suits spotted! Ready your squad." It was the voice of one of the staff from the bridge of the ship.

"Understood! Moving to intercept! Axle, Violet! Alpha formation."

They responded by obeying the command, Alpha formation being a triangular formation for quick scrambles or to give concentrated fire power, and going to the new coordinates. They soon saw the shape of three enemy mobile suits, three GINN mobile suits.

"Okay, I everyone scatter and see how they react. We'll engage depending on their movements."

Scion found it strange how they did this so quietly. Scion could feel his hands starting to sweat and he hadn't even fired a shot yet. He assumed it was from worrying about Axle and Violet. They didn't have top scores like him and he worried about their ability.

As the three mobile armors scattered the three mobile suits scattered in a different fashion. Two of the GINN's came after Scion and his Moebius and the other went after Axle and Violet.

Damn. They must have found out I'm the leader by our formation.

Scion immediately began evasive maneuvers, at least Axle and Violet outnumbered the other GINN two-to-one. Though that put him in a predicament with him being outnumbered. About the same time as this went on came reports that the other squad had also engaged the enemy and that Roosevelt was firing it's guns in support.

The GINN's began firing bursts from their MMI-M8A3 76mm Heavy Assault Machine guns. Those were guns meant for ground conflicts though or to punch wholes in a warship, either way it was lucky that he ended up with them using those.

Scion pulled down the targeting system, for the rear mounted missiles, over his eyes as they began to gain on him and get dangerously close with their fire.

Come on…come on….shit!

He had to abandon the target to escape heavy fire. He did a three-sixty degree circle and decided to hell with targeting and fired one of his two missiles loads blindly at the enemy. The rear mounted missiles blasted off into the open space. The GINN's easily avoided the blind firing but one of the pilots let his guard down.

It was all Scion needed. He had brought his machine around and readied his linear gun on the one suspecting GINN and fired. The heavy gun punctured the machines weapon bearing arm causing it to explode, along with it's weapon. The machine drifted to the right, the pilot being thrown into shock, and Scion decided not to give it the chance to come back before putting another hole in it's lower torso. After a second of strange silence it dissapeared behind the explosion that comsumed it.

I got one…I got one…I got one...I got on--

Scion's celebrating was cut short by the return of the second GINN, the pilot had been thrown off by the explosion of his ally and couldn't react to save his friends life or take Scion's.

"Damn it!" He shouted to himself as he began rolling to the left his machine while also veering to the left to avoid direct fire from the enemy gun.

"Get off my tail you Coordinator freak!"

He pulled back on the control stick of his machine and began to try and loop behind his opponent. When he was successfully above his opponent he heard the blipping from his radar.

"Oh, great what now?

From the direction of the ship came his two wing mates, who had just taken care of the other GINN with some difficulty. They opened fire with their linear guns on the last remaining GINN mobile suit. It dodged the shots with barely room to spare, he hadn't been expecting the reinforcements to come from the enemy side.

"I got you know, Coordinator!" Scion hollered as he descended on his target letting his linear gun unload on the GINN. It took two hits before exploding. Afterwards Scion regrouped his squad and began to return to the Roosevelt.

"Lieutenant Kazuma." Came the voice of the ships commander from the Roosevelt.

"Yes sir? What is it?"

"We are at our destination. You've done enough. Return to HQ."

"Destination? We are to protect your ship commander. I don't understand."

"….We need good pilots like you. I can't let you be killed, I've sent Alpha to finish our job."

"Killed by what? We just took three GINN mobile suits."

"Nuclear attack."

"What! What do you mean!" Scion was growing more and more alarmed at the news. He noticed that Axle and Violet didn't know of the attack nor did it seem that they could hear this conversation over the com, it must have been blocked.

"This ship is carrying nuclear missiles. They've been loaded unto your machines as well."

"The EA can't do that! There are innocent people on that colony!"

"It will be either said to be a mistake or that the colony self-destructed. No more talking though. You are to withdraw this instant…or I will have you punished."

"Commander! Why wasn't I told of this in the mission brief!"

"...The higher ups must have thought you wouldn't have gone through with it. Not everyone hates Coordinators you know."

Scion stared forward at the colony in front of him.

"Not everyone hates Coordinators"

But I do...I do hate them...they took everything. My moms praise, my teachers praise, my school goals, my pride...my pride..

"No! This is wrong Commander! Despite if we hate them or not we just can't do this! We can't!"

"And what will you do Kazuma? Will you revolt? Will you protest? I'd adivse you against it...a Natural defending Coordinators will draw the attention of other darker organazations."

"It--"

"I wil hear no more. You have been given your orders. Follow them."

"I can't! I won'---"

The sound was deafening. All at once one could see the violent explosion as it consumed the colony. Such bright colors could be seen from the nukes detonation point. The shock wave came with massive force and blew the three ship squad into the black of space.

"Holy shiiiit!" Axle yelled before the shock slammed into his ship.

"..Oh my god!" Was Violet's response.

"NO!" Scion couldn't say much more.

The three mobile armors were thrown away from the colony as it detonated. None of the three could see anything as their machines rolled and sped off further from the colony, from ZAFT, and from any EA forces.

Soon the explosion died and the pilots were able to regain control of their machines. In silence they sat in their cockpits staring at the horror before them. The colony was no more, at least in the sense of it being in one piece. It was no more then large chunks of steel and metal, of brick and gravel, and of death and destruction.

They all sat in awe and fear of what was before them. It was horrific and it was something they had allowed.

All the while Scion wondered...did he hate them that much? Did he hate them so much that he would take the life of a innocent Coordinator? Did he really hate them that much?

Then another question came to mind, did he hate them so much that he would allow himself to be blinded into helping the extermination of the colony? Did Coordinators even deserve such hate?

All these questions and more pounding inside Scion Kazuma's mind as he made for safety...

Though at the time Scion didn't know if safety was with the EA...

Author's Notes: So with this chapter we come full circle. You will know see what Scion does afterwards and where his choices take him, this is still roughly eleven months before Kira enters the Strike Gundam and begans his part in the war.

Other then that I think this chapter came out pretty well. Though I found it a challenge to write about the Moebius fight scene since it was a figher plane and couldn't get into close combat and it couldn't turn on a dime. Other then that I think the chapter came out fairly well.