AUTHOR'S NOTE: This next chapter consists of the rest of what was originally Phase 4, dealing with the Minerva's arrival in Orb. It will also include some additional new content intended to flesh out and more thoroughly establish the political situation in Orb as well as the Eurasian Federation.

PHASE 05: Bared Fangs

February 15th, Cosmic Era 75
Eurasian Federation
Paris

In his sprawling office in the Palais de l'Élysée, President William J. Baum slammed the phone down, biting back a curse. The reports coming back on the recent fall of Junius Seven and its impact throughout the Eurasian Federation were not good; coastal regions everywhere were inundated, millions were without power. By some miracle, the main military base at Wilhelmshaven, on the northern coast, had suffered minimal damage, though most of its vessels at anchor had been destroyed. Early casualty estimates were catastrophic, to say the least.

And now, despite the fact that he had been in regular contact with his opposite number in the Atlantic Federation on negotiating a deal over several particularly difficult issues, Copeland was suddenly unreachable.

From early reports, the western coast of the Atlantic Federation had been catastrophically damaged, as had much of the coasts of East Asia and the United States of South America. He was still waiting to hear from the African nations, but the outlook was grim there as well - though sparsely populated overall, a massive percentage of their populations was concentrated near the coasts.

And for all he knew, Brennan Marshall - his closest and most trusted ally in the contentious government of Eurasia - might be dead. He'd been in contact with Eileen Canaver - a pleasant woman whom he'd met at the memorial delegation the previous year - and had the full assurances of the Supreme Council that the PLANTs would step up to the plate.

But he was reading over the reports from Riyadh about their assets in the Gulf, and the news was, if possible, even worse. An attack by renegade ZAFT mobile suits had devastated the refugee camp at Bandar-e-Abbas, though the timely intervention of the 501st had prevented significant deaths.

"Rankov, you magnificent bastard. Remind me next time I see you that I owe you a glass of Cognac - and from the good bottle, at that." He said aloud to the empty room.

A barrel-chested man of fifty-five with close-cropped salt-and-pepper hair, Baum wore an impeccably tailored grey suit. He had never served in the military, though he might have looked the part. He was a career prosecutor before entering politics ten years prior, and was one of the most well-liked members of the Eurasian government for much of that brief career, which had helped him rise to the highest office.

Nonetheless, he had a deep respect for the armed services, and had drawn the finest members of the military establishment into the heart of his administration, including the lean, handsome veteran pilot who'd become, for all intents and purposes, his aide-de-camp.

It had been a tough few years since his election; A fierce opponent of Blue Cosmos and a vociferous critic of the policies that had led to the terrorist organization gaining such a strong influence in the Alliance's politics, Baum had made it his duty to excise the organization and its allies from the halls of power in Eurasia, a move he knew had not been mirrored in other nations, and which had made him enemies both in politics and in the military. But it had, he reflected, been worth it. His wife had recently said that she was proud of the work he had done, and of the nation he had built from the ashes of the Bloody Valentine War. Her words had made him more proud of the blood, sweat and tears he, Marshall, and their allies had spent, politically speaking, on reforming their country.

And now, with this, everything he had done - everything they had done was in jeopardy. He knew their work wasn't done - the military, especially in western Eurasia, remained largely in bed with Blue Cosmos and its backers. But he was dedicated to making sure his administration excised their cancer once and for all.

He feared, however, that with the fall of Junius Seven, another war was almost inevitable, one that might destroy months of negotiating and working with the other member states - especially if Copeland and his friends in the far East had their way. 'Shame the relatively more moderate Rodgers isn't President in the Atlantic Federation instead of that prat Copeland.' Baum fumed.

"Mr. President?" Jacqueline Seydoux, one of the most senior members of the Eurasian Parliament, asked in flawless English as she entered, her tone somewhat tentative. She was another one with a soft spot for Marshall, who'd never been involved in politics before Baum tapped him as his vice-president. Then again, Marshall had a gift for making almost everyone he met like him. She was also deviously clever, an experienced hand with friends in high places all over the Alliance. She'd been invaluable to them in their efforts these last few years.

- "Oui, Jacqueline?" he replied in thickly-accented French, which made her smile.

- "We have word from Orb, sir. They've made contact with the Minerva in the Pacific Ocean."

"What the hell's the Minerva?" Baum asked, puzzled. Then he remembered a conversation with Brennan the previous week, just as Jacqueline replied.

"It's a ZAFT warship, sir. They retrieved the memorial delegation in orbit, and have made landfall in the South Pacific. They're on their way to Orb now, and according to the Orb government, Monsieur Marshall and the others are all onboard. They're safe and sound, sir."

"First goddamn bit of good news all day." Baum replied with a sigh of relief. "Merci."

She left, and Baum sat down with a sigh of relief, before pondering the situation. He decided Copeland and Rodgers, with Junius Seven to deal with, had enough on their plate. He'd give them a ring in a couple of days to see where they stood.

"So Brennan was right, and the PLANTs have a trans-atmospheric warship of their own now?" He mused aloud, remembering as he did so the legendary Archangel of the previous war. It was a shame, he thought, that the class had been discontinued. "That's not gonna go over well…we'll have to keep a real close eye on that one."

Shaking his head, Baum set about pouring himself a glass of that Cognac and making a mental note to save the rest of the bottle for the next time Rankov was in town.

Orb Union

Motoko Kayabuki glanced at the locked office door with a concerned expression, before returning to the document she was reading.

Olive-skinned and black-haired, the twenty-nine-year-old Kayabuki had formerly been employed in the office of Prime Minister Homura during the previous administration. A Coordinator, she had been forced out of that job once Lord Unato Ema Seiran took office, only to be offered a position as personal assistant to Lady Cagalli herself. Then, six months ago, she became a member of the Council herself when her predecessor retired, with the backing of Lady Cagalli and Representative Yano - an old friend of Lord Homura Athha - over the objections of the Seirans and their own allies.

She loved Orb, and she loved working with Lady Cagalli, who represented everything the nation stood for. And now, she was missing.

On top of that, in her absence, the Seirans were pushing for an alliance with the Atlantic Federation, an idea she found repulsive. Then there was the document she was reading, an early report of the damage to the northern coast of Orb following the fall of Junius Seven.

Representative Yano suddenly entered, closely followed by Lady Rondo Mina Sahaku. A beautiful but somewhat intimidating woman, Lady Sahaku towered over the elderly Yano, yet Motoko was not worried - unlike her brother, she knew that Mina supported Cagalli in her role as leader of Orb's Defense Forces.

"Representative Kayabuki." Mina spoke.

"Lady Sahaku." she replied respectfully. "The reports you had asked for are here."

"Thank you." Mina responded. "For my part, I have good news: We have word from ZAFT that Representative Athha and the Delegation are safe and on their way here."

Motoko let out a sigh of relief. The sooner Lady Cagalli returned, the better. She could put a stop to the Seirans' ambitions, she was sure.

"Once they arrive," Representative Yano continued, "an emergency meeting of the Council has been scheduled to discuss the situation and what next steps we should take to resolve this crisis."

"Surely, you don't agree with the Seirans?" Motoko questioned. "Joining the Atlantic Federation?"

"No, I do not." Yano replied curtly. "I believe Vice-President Marshall is with the delegation - perhaps it might be worthwhile to speak with him."

"Lord Unato will never allow it." Mina replied. "However, there is merit to the idea of discussions with the Eurasian Federation. I shall speak to Lady Cagalli personally."

Mina collected the reports, and when she confirmed that there was nothing else to be done until Lady Cagalli returned, Motoko dismissed her staff, announcing that she was, herself, heading home.

As she did, she pondered the upcoming meeting. She was sure that Lady Cagalli, like Representative Yano and herself, would oppose an alliance with the Atlantic Federation. But the Seirans had allies among the other Representatives. The only one Motoko wasn't sure of was Representative Nakamura - he tended to avoid involving himself in the political struggle between Cagalli, who opposed the Atlantic Federation, and the Seirans.

An old friend of her father's, Motoko suspected he perhaps could be convinced to side with Lady Cagalli, but he was also self-interested to the core, and he might balk at taking sides…she would have to talk to him privately when she had the chance, and hope she could convince him to help them protect their nation and its ideals…

February 17th
LHM-BB01 Minerva
Pacific Ocean, en route to Orb

Several days later, as the ship continued to sail towards Orb, Athrun stood alone on the Minerva's stern deck, thinking.

Following their previous conversations, he'd been keeping an eye on Shinn over the past few days, and noticed that there had been some improvement; though he feared the kid would never accept Cagalli, he was at least less violently hostile towards her. Actually, Shinn seemed to go out of his way to entirely avoid the Representative, though he'd been somewhat surprised to notice that he seemed to have been rather more pleasant with Marshall. Then again, this didn't suprise Athrun. Though he hadn't known Mwu LaFlaga well during his time on the Archangel, there was something about the lanky ex-mobile armor pilot turned Vice-President of the Eurasian Federation that reminded him of the late Hawk of Endymion. He seemed to have a knack for getting people to like him.

He was just thinking of heading back inside when he heard footsteps, and was surprised to see Yzak had come out as well.

"Arthur has the bridge right now. I figured I might as well take a minute to talk to you." He said shortly. After a few moments, he continued "It's been almost three years. You've been in Orb the whole time?"

-"Yeah." Athrun replied. "I don't really get up to the PLANTs anymore. I'd thought of going after the memorial ceremony - I've been meaning to visit the graves of Nicol and the others..."

-"But then this happened." Yzak interrupted. "And Orb? What do you think they're going to do next?"

-"I'm honestly not sure." Athrun answered, pensive. Orb's political situation these days was...precarious. The two old friends stood in silence for a few moments, before Yzak spoke again.

-"You should come back, Athrun. To the PLANTs." Athrun looked over at Yzak, surprised, as the other continued. "I'm sure there'll be some obstacles, but I'll do everything I can."

-"Yeah, but I..." Athrun started to say, but Yzak interrupted.

-"The truth is, I probably should've died a long time ago. After what I did, I was going to be executed. Dearka, too." Yzak said. Athrun stared, shocked at the statement. He hadn't known, but Yzak briefly explained that the two were both court-martialed: Dearka for desertion, and Yzak for the incident in orbit.

"But then, Chairman Durendal pardoned us both. He said something at the time: "Though it was we adults who started the war, it was the young who fought it. And if we label the ones who made a mistake "criminals" and punish them, then where will the future leaders of the PLANTs come from?"

Athrun almost shook his head - that sounded exactly like Durendal, or at least such was his impression of the man.

"Yzak..." Athrun said, surprised that Yzak, who had in the past been so hostile towards him, would speak to him like this.

"Combat is the only thing I know." Yzak said. "But also, I think that I can make a difference - for the PLANTs, for the friends who died...that's why you have to do something too. You have the ability - hell, you're a better pilot than I am! So why let that go to waste?"

Yzak turned away and headed back toward the ship. "Just...think about it." Then after a moment, he added "And if you tell anybody what I just said, I'll kill you!"

Athrun smiled, but he soon returned inside as well, still unsure of what to do next.

Soon enough though, Athrun was looking upon a familiar sight as the Minerva finally arrived. On the bridge, Yzak had taken over for docking maneuvers.

"Starboard 2 degrees, decelerate 20%." The helmsman, Malik, repeated the instruction as he obeyed.

-"Port Control One to Sierra Antares One, arrival confirmed." The transmission came in from Orb's port control authority. "From this point on, link nav-com to guidance channel Iota Bravo. You are clear for port entry."

-"Sierra Antares One," Yzak replied, "Iota Bravo channel confirmed, linking nav-com." Once the computers were linked, the ship rotated 180 degrees and slowly pulled into the dock in reverse, then stopped.

On the dock, a small group of people stood waiting. Among them were Unato Ema Seiran, the current Prime Minister of Orb, and his son Yuna Roma, along with some of their colleagues.

"So this is the Minerva, ZAFT's latest and most advanced warship," Unato Ema commented. "Seems our princess has returned home with trouble."

-"It can't be helped, Father." Yuna replied. "I'm sure Cagalli never imagined she'd be involved in something like this. And we can't exactly rebuff the ship that's safely returned our head of state...for now."

Moments later, Cagalli was the first one to disembark, closely followed by her bodyguard. She saw the Seirans and their fellow members of the Council. She was, however, troubled by the fact that Rondo Mina Sahaku was absent. She would need to speak with her later.

"It's good to see you back, Representative Athha." Unato Ema said, bowing. The others did likewise, as the Prime Minister continued "I cannot say how relieved I am to see you return home safely at last."

-"I'm sorry that I couldn't be here during this crucial time. Thank you for taking care of things in my absence. Please bring me up to date on the current situation as soon as possible." Cagalli replied. Unato Ema nodded, then turned to the two ZAFT officers, who saluted.

-"I'm Yzak Joule, Captain of the ZAFT ship Minerva." Said the taller of the two, a hard-looking man in a white uniform, a thin scar on his face.

-"Arthur Trine, Executive Officer." The other introduced himself.

-"I am Unato Ema Seiran, Prime Minister of the Orb Union. We are most grateful to you for bringing our Chief Representative back unharmed."

-"Thank you," Yzak said, "though what happened was unexpected, we regret very much that Representative Athha had to go through all that trouble. Furthermore, we express our condolences for your losses in this tragedy."

His tone of voice was respectfully impassive, but in the back of his mind he thought 'I don't trust this pig. Plain as day he doesn't want us here.'

-"I appreciate your thoughtfulness." Seiran replied. He then turned to Cagalli and addressed her. "We should make our way to the administrative building. I'm sorry to have to insist on this immediately upon your return, but there are a number of things we must report."

As the group turned to leave, Yuna put his arm around Cagalli's shoulder, then looked condescendingly back at "Alex".

"Oh, and we're grateful for your services, Alex. You may submit your report later - for now, get some rest. We might ask you to act as an intermediary between us and the PLANTs in the future."

-"Of course." Alex said.

-"Pussy." Yzak muttered under his breath, low enough that only Athrun, standing right next to him, heard.

Shortly thereafter, numerous trucks carrying supplies and personnel arrived from Morgenröte, and more extensive repairs were begun on the Minerva. Yzak approached Matt Aves, the ship's chief maintenance and mechanical officer, with specific instructions.

"Listen, I think we should be fine if we leave the ship's hull repairs to Morgenröte, but I don't want them inside the ship, Aves. Keep an eye on things - only your crew handles the internal repairs; They've promised us whatever materials we need, make sure you do a perfect job."

-"Yessir." Aves replied, and Yzak dismissed him. Then, to Yzak's annoyance, Arthur approached.

-"Are you sure about this, Captain?" he asked. "There's nothing wrong with resupplying here, but personally I think we should hold off on the repairs until we get to Carpentaria."

-"Duly noted, Arthur. I can certainly see your point, but I think we'll have them repair the ship's hull anyway."

-"You certainly don't want to jeopardize safety just to keep a military secret." Said a female voice. Yzak turned and saw two people approaching. A man, short, broad and gruff-looking, and a woman.

She had short, brown hair, and Yzak thought she looked familiar, but couldn't quite place where he might've seen her before. "It can be pretty tough on a commander if a ship - especially a warship - isn't in top form at all times."

-"And you are?..." Yzak asked, raising an eyebrow. Her tone indicated that she spoke from experience, yet her attire was that of a civilian mechanic.

-"I beg your pardon. I'm Maria Vernes, of Shipbuilding Division B. I'm in charge of your ship's work crew."

-"Yzak Joule. Captain of the Minerva and commander of the Joule Team. Pleasure meeting you." Yzak replied, shaking the woman's hands.

As he did, he couldn't shake the feeling that he knew this woman from somewhere...but where? The answer, for now, eluded him.

After a few more minutes' small talk, Vernes and her surly companion - who hadn't said a word - left. Yzak noticed Arthur still staring after the woman, and he smacked the other man in the back of the head.

"Stop drooling, you pervert. And do your job - make sure nobody except Aves and his team gets inside the ship; I want these Morgenröte guys working on external repair only."

-"Y...Yes sir!" Arthur stammered, and headed off.

Yzak, for his part, headed back to his quarters, thinking. Morgenröte...There was something there. Maybe had he seen her during their brief covert insertion into the country, years before? No, that wasn't it...but it had something to do, somehow, with Morgenröte...

And then he had it.

Onboard the Minerva meanwhile, Shinn, Rey, and Luna were in the rec room.

-"So, we're in Orb." Lunamaria said. "You know, I've never been here before. You think they'll let us disembark?

-"It's entirely possible." Rey replied. We're likely to be here for several days until repairs are complete and the ship is resupplied. The Captain might allow limited shore leave. "What do you think, Shinn?"

-"I really don't care." the latter said curtly, shrugging. "Just as long as we're out of here as soon as possible."

-"I don't think we'll be here any longer than the Captain deems necessary." Rey said in a conciliatory tone, reluctant to set Shinn off again - as they had seen, the subject of Orb was a touchy one. "And even if the Captain grants us shore leave while the ship's repaired, I'm sure he won't mind if you prefer to stay onboard.

-"Still, with what just happened," Luna started carefully, "With Junius Seven and all...what do you think will happen? Do you think the Alliance…"

-"The terrorists were using ZAFT mobile suits." Rey said. "And that battleship that attacked us was deploying Alliance Daggers. I think we have to assume they may try to blame the PLANTs."

-"Yeah, you're right." Shinn said harshly. "Bastards'll probably use the attack as an excuse to declare war on us." The idea horrified Lunamaria, but she addressed Shinn.

-"Be fair, Shinn; under President Baum, the Eurasian Federation at least has made significant strides in cooperating with the PLANTs." she countered. "And remember how quickly they offered to help our relief forces."

-"That's true - look at what happened in the Persian Gulf. The Eurasian military sent their new land battleship, and they still welcomed the forces we sent from Gibraltar to assist after the attack was thwarted." Rey replied.

"Unfortunately, Shinn might still be right. The Atlantic Federation and the Republic of East Asia remain strongly anti-Coordinator, and the government of South America is divided even though they supported the PLANTs prior to the war. It's not beyond possible that the others might pressure Baum into supporting a declaration of war."

-"I bet that's exactly what they'll do." Shinn sneered. What Athrun had said before about Cagalli and Orb might be true - he wouldn't know. But the Alliance was another thing altogether, and as much as he had liked Marshall, he had no idea what Baum was really like. The Atlantic Federation, however…from them he knew what to expect. And nothing Athrun or anyone else could say was going to change his mind.

-"But what about Orb?" Lunamaria asked. "They're not going to...they're not gonna side with them, right?"

-"I don't know." Rey said. "Ideally not, since Orb is a neutral nation. Either way, hopefully by the time anything happens - if it does - we'll be gone and on our way to Carpentaria.

Behind Rey, Shinn stared darkly out the window, from which he could see the shore of the little nation he had once called home.

While this was going on, Athrun had returned to his quarters, a small apartment on the premises of Orb's military HQ. After some time spent thinking about what he'd seen and heard, he decided he had to go out. He put on his jacket and went out to his car, a sleek, low-slung black sports car. Then he left, driving somewhat faster than was reasonable. He soon reached his destination, and found that the small house he'd been looking for had been destroyed.

He slowed down, but he kept driving, keeping an eye out. He'd gone a few miles when he spotted a group of kids standing on the beach, looking like they were playing. In the midst of the group was the tall, elegant silhouette of his former fiancée, Lacus Clyne.

He pulled over to the side of the road, and as he got out he spotted his old friend Kira Yamato as well, watching.

"Hey, it's Athrun!" One of the children said as he spotted him.

-"No, it's Alex!" said another, and as he approached the kids ran towards him, arguing all the way about his name.

Lacus and Kira still followed. The latter was pale, his features drawn and his hair thinner than it had been, but he smiled as he greeted his old friend.

-"Athrun."

-"Welcome back," said Lacus. Once Athrun's fiancée, now she lived with Kira. "That was quite the trip."

-"I hear you had quite the time too," Athrun said with a small smile.

-"Yeah," Kira said, "the house washed away. Lacus and I moved over to the orphanage. Miss Murrue and Mr. Waltfeld are staying there too."

-"So I guess you guys are doing okay, then?" Athrun asked, and both Kira and Lacus nodded.

The kids, clearly, were doing fine, but were getting more boisterous, and quite loud.

Perceptive as ever, Lacus noticed Athrun had something on his mind, so she herded the kids off down the beach a ways, leaving Athrun and Kira free to talk.

From wherever he'd been perched, Birdy flew over, landing on Kira's shoulder. When Lacus yelled for them to go ahead, saying she'd bring the kids back later, both got into his car and Athrun drove off.

"Everyone knows by now what caused that thing to fall, right?" Athrun asked. Kira nodded.

"I was up there - led the memorial delegation's mobile suit escort team. We got to Junius Seven, and there they were. One of them…"

Athrun hesitated, but Kira didn't say anything. Finally, Athrun continued.

"Their leader, I think, told me...he called it his daughter's tombstone, and he said that the only true path for Coordinators was the one Patrick Zala...the one my father had chosen."

Kira did not respond, silently pondering what Athrun had just told him.

As they drove towards the large house that now housed Reverend Malchio's orphanage, Athrun asked "Remember that time we were both here in Orb? I asked you what should we really be fighting against, and how are we supposed to do it?"

-"Yeah."

-"Then you told Dearka and I, we can all look for that answer, together...but...I still haven't found the answer."

-"A long time ago, Lacus told me something. "Neither will alone, nor strength alone will be enough", she said." Kira said after a while. "I didn't understand at the time, but now that I look back I think I know what she meant. I was in the PLANTs at the time; it was just before ZAFT attacked JOSH-A."

Athrun looked over at his friend. In three and a half years, he had never heard him talk about this; that short period of time, after he had nearly killed him. Athrun knew this had to be at the time, or shortly before, they had stolen the Freedom.

"At the time, more than anything I wanted to get back to Earth; because I knew that my friends were down there, and I had to protect them." Kira turned to look at Athrun. "Before that, I was lost; I didn't really know what to do. But that was my reason for fighting. And I think that when you find it, find what it is you should really be fighting for, you'll know."

-"Thanks." Athrun said sincerely.

Soon afterwards, they pulled into the driveway, and Athrun stopped the car.

Kira's parents were here too, and his mother, Caridad Yamato, greeted both of them as they arrived. The three of them entered the mansion, where they waited for Lacus and the children to return.

Meanwhile at the Orb government's headquarters, Cagalli had returned to her office and was hard at work trying to coordinate efforts to send relief to areas of the nation that had been affected by the fall; thankfully the damage, while widespread and in places quite considerable, was not so far beyond their ability to deal with.

And she had people she could count on to help. In the office with her was Councilwoman Motoko Kayabuki, the youngest of the other members of the Council, and the only woman besides Cagalli herself.

She'd worked for her uncle Homura, the previous Prime Minister, and had evacuated Orb during the previous war, returning after its end and helping the badly battered nation rebuild. Now, she was doing her best to help Cagalli deal with the aftermath of the fall of Junius Seven.

Cagalli only wished the others could be so accommodating. She'd been in a foul mood since leaving an emergency meeting of the Council convened by the Seirans. They and several others were pushing to enter into an alliance with the Atlantic Federation, a possibility that she found utterly repellant. Thankfully, she had been able to stonewall them, with assistance from other members of the council who had been loyal to her father, including Kayabuki.

She was also grateful for the support of Rondo Mina Sahaku, whose skill had made coordinating relief efforts far easier than it could have been.

Mina's support, though reassuring, had come as a surprise to Cagalli. Tall and darkly elegant, she and her twin brother Rondo Gina Sahaku had been enemies of her father. It had been they who had masterminded, during the Bloody Valentine War, Morgenröte's secret deal with the Atlantic Federation's National Defense Industries to produce the original GAT-X series.

However, Gina had died under mysterious circumstances near the end of the war. Since then, Mina had proven to be Cagalli's staunchest and most valuable supporter in the Orb government. After the Council meeting, Mina had accepted from Cagalli a very delicate assignment, and she had left soon afterwards.

In other good news, Durendal had taken a shuttle back to the PLANTs, while a second shuttle carried the delegation members from the various nations of Earth to take them home as well.

Suddenly, she looked up and out through her open office door, where she was very surprised to see that Unato Ema, Yuna, and a couple of their supporters on the Council were waiting outside, looking askance at the dark-skinned, broad-chested Ledonir Kisaka, who stood nearby. Kisaka had also been a valuable friend and ally since the War, and she trusted him implicitly.

"What is it now?" she mumbled, noticing that Kayabuki also looked concerned. If those two were here, it could only mean more bad news. Reluctantly, she motioned for both of them to enter.

"What is it?" She asked shortly.

-"The Alliance has issued an ultimatum to the PLANTs, demanding that they disarm their forces, hand over the terrorists responsible for the Junius Seven attack, and that the Supreme Council be disbanded, with the new administration subject to Alliance supervision."

-"That's absolutely ludicrous. There's got to be some kind of mistake!"

-"No," Unato disagreed, "there's no mistake about it - the Atlantic Federation and the rest of the Alliance have released a joint statement; should the PLANTs refuse to agree to these demands, they'll be declared a hostile enemy state and a threat to humanity. The Alliance warns it will do whatever it takes, including the use of force, to eliminate the threat."

-"The PLANTs have until midnight to comply." Yuna added, looking condescendingly down at her.

-"Damn it." Cagalli swore under her breath. Outside, the sun was setting. She drew a watch from an inside pocket of her jacket. Six o'clock. Only a scant few hours before the Alliance, she knew, would declare war on the PLANTs. She looked over at Yuna, thinking of how much she would love to put him in his place...ideally with a well-placed punch. She refrained.

"Is that all?" she asked coldly. Unato Ema nodded, his expression impassive. Yuna looked smug. The others, including Kayabuki, seemed taken aback by her tone. "Then get out. It's late, and I still have things to do before the end of the day."

As they left, she addressed the big colonel, who in Athrun's absence seemed to have decided to take his place as her bodyguard. "Let Myrna know that I'll probably be eating dinner here at the office." He nodded impassively, then left, closing the door.

She locked it, and they got back to work.

Meanwhile, as Rey had predicted the Minerva's crew had been granted shore leave. Shinn had initially planned to remain onboard, however he changed his mind. Changing into civilian attire, he left the ship on foot, alone.

Luna, Vino, Yolant and the others had gone into the city, but his destination was along the coast.

The sun was setting when he arrived in a large, elegant park, with a tall pillar standing as a memorial. When he had last walked along this shore, it had been undeveloped, just a narrow dirt path surrounded by trees. But now there were flowers, and stone-paved walkways, the place where his family had been stolen from him obliterated by an artificial beauty. As he looked around, he found himself thinking back to that day - June 15th, CE 71. The day his entire world had been destroyed.

As he looked around, tears streaming down his face as he remembered the horror of that day, Shinn suddenly he saw something - a large stone standing at the shoreline. There were flowers around it too, and someone was standing there. Wiping the tears from his eyes, Shinn walked closer.

"Is it...a memorial?" He asked the stranger. Though he looked only a little older than Shinn, the stranger's brown hair was thin and he looked pale, almost sickly. He nodded.

-"Yeah, looks like it. I'm not too sure though - y'see, it's the first time I come here myself." The other man replied, before turning away. In the background, Shinn heard singing, the voice vaguely familiar. "The flowers are finally starting to bloom." he said. "Unfortunately, they'll wither eventually because of the spray from the breaking waves."

-"Perhaps it means they can't be fooled." Shinn replied, "No matter how beautiful the flowers are, people will always eventually just wipe them out."

The stranger looked at him, puzzled.

"Sorry. I didn't mean anything by that." Shinn apologized.

-"It's okay." The other man said. Then, hesitantly, he continued. "I saw you were crying, earlier. Did you...lose someone?"

-"My family." Shinn nodded as he replied. He indicated the spot where he had been standing. "It was right over there. The four of us - my parents and I, as well as my little sister - we were trying to get to the shore, to evacuate when the Alliance attacked. Her phone fell out of her purse, and I cut down the hill to try and get it." He withdrew the phone from his pocket. "As I was picking it up, there was an explosion, and I was thrown to the bottom of the hill. A mobile suit had fired a shot that had hit the hill...all of them were killed."

-"I…I'm sorry." The stranger replied.

-"Thanks." Shinn said. The young man had never spoken of this to anyone - not even Rey. And yet, for some reason, he was telling this man whose name he didn't even know. But there was something about him that made Shinn think he could be trusted. "I'll never forget that machine." he said slowly. "The mobile suit that murdered my family. I saw it as I looked up, after it happened. It was black and white, with large blue wings. I never saw it again."

But after the war, he had searched for it, while he was at the Academy. It had taken months, but eventually he'd found it…he knew its name, now: the ZGMF-X10A Freedom Gundam.

-"I see." The other man said slowly, after a moment's hesitation.

-"I went up to the PLANTs after that. I haven't been back here since." Shinn said.

-"Oh. You were on that ZAFT ship that docked yesterday." The other man said, a sudden look of understanding in his eyes. "Then I guess I should thank you for your help - I can't imagine how much worse it might have been if you hadn't done so much."

-"Thank you." Shinn said. Then he held out his hand. "My name is Shinn Asuka." The other man approached, and up close Shinn saw that he did indeed look in poor health. He shook his hand.

-"I'm Kira. Kira Yamato." At that moment, the woman who'd been singing walked up, but Shinn didn't really notice her. His eyes were fixed on Kira, who continued, "It's good to meet you."

Shinn nodded, and then turned away, and looked for a moment out west, towards the ocean, where the sun was setting. After a moment, he turned around and left, walking slowly away down the hill and back to base.

Kira stood, watching him leave.

'Did I really…?' He started to wonder, but he could not complete the thought. Standing next to him, Lacus wondered who that young man was, and why Kira seemed so distressed as he watched him leave. She took his hand in hers.

Comforted by her presence, Kira turned around and they walked slowly away, back down towards the path that led to the orphanage.

11:55 PM
Lagrange Point 5, near the PLANT homeland

Since President Franklin Copeland had issued his ultimatum, the Atlantic Federation had dispatched the entirety of their lunar fleet from the moon, while across the PLANTs were deployed every team that was ready for combat, including the Voltaire and Rousseau of the Hahnenfuss Team. The last line of defense was the gigantic mega-carrier Gondwana, a massive spacecraft that itself carried nearly two hundred mobile suits, almost half the present defense force.

Then, at midnight, the attack began.

The Alliance ships all launched their mobile suits, many equipped with heavy anti-MS bombardment equipment - the new Doppelhorn Strikers. Meanwhile, the ZAFT defenses launched. On the Voltaire, Dearka was first to launch in his Gunner ZAKU. Shiho followed in her GuAIZ. At the same time, the Robespierre began launching its own mobile suits; first out the ramp was the same orange Blaze ZAKU, followed by a mix of GuAIZ and GuAIZ-Rs.

"First wave is entering firing range; all units, weapons free!" She communicated, and they opened fire.

It was a massacre; though outnumbered and in many cases outgunned, the GuAIZ and even the GuAIZ-R had the advantage in speed and maneuverability, and were superior in close range combat.

Soon casualties were mounting high on both sides. The orange Blaze ZAKU that was leading the Hawkins Team tore through enemy formations with astonishing ease, and before anyone could so much as fire on him had taken out two enemy ships. The Hawkins Team's other mobile suits did nearly as well, too.

For her part, Shiho soon found herself engaging multiple enemy Daggers, which tried to use the slim advantage their numerical superiority provided. Dodging an initial attack and blocking a second, Shiho used the GuAIZ's mobility to close in to the nearest Dagger, goring it with the twin beam blades mounted to her shield. Turning on the others, she fired the beam rifle towards one of the others, taking it out with a double-tap to the torso.

In that split second, the last Dagger closed in, drawing a beam saber and attempting to slice off the GuAIZ's rifle arm. Shifting slightly, she parried with the GuAIZ's beam blades, then fired the two hip-mounted extensional arrestors, which tore the Dagger's legs off, throwing it slightly off-balance. She leveled the rifle against the cockpit block and fired at point-blank range. Shoving the ruined Dagger away, she moved out and continued to engage the enemy as they closed in.

Dearka, meanwhile, was providing long-range fire support using his Gunner ZAKU, targeting any enemy Dagger he saw with Doppelhorn Strikers, using the greater range of his high-energy long-range beam cannon to pick them off before they could do too much damage.

"The Naturals are fighting pretty smart, for once." He muttered. "They're keeping their ships way in the back, where we can't get to them."

He noticed that a formation of Daggers slipped past the first line of defense and moved in to attack the Voltaire. He fired a volley of missiles from the launcher on his ZAKU's back, following it up with a shot from his Orthros beam cannon. Two Daggers went down in the initial volley, and the other narrowly dodged the canon, only to fall victim to one of the Hahnenfuss Team's GuAIZ-Rs, which took it out with paired shots from its hip-mounted "Pollux" railguns.

Though the battle was initially close to evenly matched, it became clear very quickly that the longer it went on, the more likely it would be that the Alliance would be defeated. Or so it seemed.

However, the Alliance had made their plans carefully, and thus far undetected by the PLANTs, a second force was waiting, hidden.

"The main fleet has engaged the enemy, sir!" Said the CIC officer on the leader of that fleet, the Agamemnon-class Antinous.

-"Good," said its captain, sounding pleased. "Everything is going as planned. Let's get started here, too."

The Antinous, Eurymachus, Demoptolemus, and Polybus took off as the captain of the Antinous broadcast to his fellows "We shall show the Coordinators once and for all that their kind has no place in our blue and pure world!"

All four ships began launching their mobile suits. Behind them, the six Nelson-class ships that made up the rest of the fleet did likewise. Every mobile suit carried the same equipment: Two enormous back-mounted, single-shot missile launchers, each carrying a single Mk5 nuclear missile.

However, a single ZGMF-LRR704B GINN Long Range Reconnaissance Type spotted the mobile suits as they were closing in.

Despite its antiquated design, no suitable replacement for the GINN LRRT had yet been developed, so it remained in service long after the standard GINN, as well as the CGUE, had been retired. Recognizing the payload of the enemy machines, the pilot immediately relayed that information to the PLANTs, as well as to the Gondwana.

-"DEARKA!" Shiho yelled as she received the news. "Enemy units incoming from polar orbit! The bastards are carrying nukes!"

-"DAMN IT!" the other man roared in frustration. "These guys we're fighting...they're just decoys!"

Both machines shot upwards, moving in as quickly as possible to intercept the nuclear attack force before they could launch. Unfortunately, they were too late. Every one of the Alliance mobile suits fired both their missiles, with their deadly one-megaton nuclear payload.

"We're too late!" Dearka yelled.

When the news arrived, three Nazca-class ships that had been standing by were launched from ZAFT's primary military station at Aprilius.

Among them was the Marie Curie, carrying new equipment which totally occupied its hangar bay and protruded far out past the end of the ship's bow. Additional components were mounted over both its lateral thruster units. On its bridge, the tension was so high that even the Captain was shaking with nerves. They carried an untested, experimental weapon system, and the lives of every man, woman and child in the PLANTs rested on their shoulders.

"All systems, status normal." Came the call from the ship's weapons station. "Quantum fresnel terminals online. Operation time, seven seconds. Now tracking targets."

-"We only get one shot; bring them in as close as possible." The captain ordered.

-"Pre-charge, online. Activating Stampeder. Ready to fire."

-"FIRE."

There was a flash of light from the equipment on the ship's bow, which spread outward until it engulfed every missile fired at the PLANTs. Deep inside each missile's warhead, the action of the Neutron Stampeder forcibly triggered a runaway fission reaction, literally ripping apart the volatile radioactive core and forcing the missiles to detonate well clear of their target. Nor did the devastation stop there.

The blast wave swept past the missiles until it engulfed the mobile suits that had fired the missiles, obliterating every last one of them. Then it continued until it reached the ships, which still carried dozens of nuclear warheads in their holds, which all detonated at once; the catastrophic nuclear explosions that wiped out the fleet as a result were so enormous that anyone who happened to be looking up towards the PLANTs from Earth was able to see them.

On Aprilius One, the Supreme Council in its entirety stood in the spacious office allotted to the Chairman; Durendal himself was seated at his desk, the others standing. Every eye was turned to the screen that showed the battle, including the destruction of the nukes, only a short distance from their target.

"All nuclear missiles confirmed destroyed. The nuclear attack fleet has been totally wiped out." A collective sigh of relief swept through the room.

-"That was a close call," said Kasim, his relief obvious.

-"Thank goodness the Stampeder made it in time." Leitner concurred.

-"Maybe, but it was a one-shot weapon; with its quantum fresnels melted and the breaker activated, the system is no longer functional." Ezalia Joule intervened.

-"I don't think it'll work again - they'll be ready for it next time." concurred Eileen Canaver, and Parnell Jesek nodded.

-"In any case, the Gondwana reports that the Alliance fleet is withdrawing back to their lunar base." Ezalia concluded. "This battle is over."

It was Durendal himself who spoke next, looking around at the other members of the Supreme Council.

-"I can only hope that this reversal puts an end to things...at least, for now."