Hey peeps! I have the next chapter ready. I decided to use Akatsuki_Leader13's OCs, with his permission of course. I do not own Chris, Liz, or Johanna Dante, Saul, Ian, or Diana Kessel, John Alaric, the 11th Fleet, the Raven, or the Surge Gundams. They all belong to Akatsuki_Leader13. Nor do I own Gundam.

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Phase One: False Peace


C.E. 71 – War has been raging for 11 months between the Earth Alliance and the PLANTs. With their superior numbers, it seemed inevitable the Earth Forces would win. But the PLANTs unveiled new technology and began to gain the upper hand. Now, 10 months after the initial conflict began, the war is at a stalemate…


January 25th, C.E. 71

Aboard the Vesalius

Outside Heliopolis

Saul Kessel put on his helmet, a click signaling that it was sealed. He went to close his locker door and caught his reflection in the small mirror that was hanging on it. Brown eyes, half obscured by messy locks of black hair. His parents complained about his messy hair, but he did not really care how he looked. Yet it was another source of annoyance to his parents. Then again, he had always been the black sheep of the family.

The red coat heard another door slam and glanced over at another person on the team, or rather, someone who had been assigned to help out. Tao White, a white coat, looked back at him, her blue-grey eyes meeting his own brown. Her black hair stuck up in some spots, and she appeared to be about his age. Yet she was already a white coat.

Saul guessed it had to do something with her father's position, which was most likely the case.

But most of his thoughts revolved around the mission. ORB was supposed to be neutral, and yet they were helping to build new weapons for the Earth Forces. Wasn't ORB supposed to be neutral, like its ideals stated? So, why were they helping out the EA? It just did not make sense.

Yet, they were. And as a result, he and the rest of the team were supposed to attack the supposedly neutral nation's colony and steal said weapons so that they could be used against-

Yzak Joule shouted something at him, making him snap out of his thoughts.

"What was that, Yzak?" he asked his teammate.

"Jeez, how did someone like you get to become a red coat?" Yzak snarled at him. "I said, hurry up and get the rest of your gear on!"

Yzak frequently asked him how someone like him became a ZAFT red-coat, as he usually didn't act like one. And it was kind of true. Saul tended to be rather lazy when not in a combat situation. But, he was a skilled and, unlike Yzak, level-headed pilot as well as the best hacker on the team.

Tao grunted once. "Let him be, or I will report this to your commander." The female Coordinator growled.

Yzak just growled at Tao. "I can tell him to hurry up if I want!" he snapped back.

"Yeah, yeah, calm down Yzak." Saul said in a lazy tone as he put on his jet-pack and combat gear.

Tao proceeded to do the same thing, putting her helmet on last.

"It's no wonder, that with all the yelling you do, that your hair turned white." He added, making Nicol, Dearka, Rusty, and Tao all snicker at his comment as they left for the hanger.

Yzak scowled at him and was about to say something back when Athrun intervened.

"Enough, save your bickering for after the mission."

"Sorry." Saul replied politely.

Yzak just grunted as he made his way towards the hanger with the others.

Tao remained behind, shaking her head. "How did someone like him wind up becoming a red-coat?" she muttered as Saul just shrugged.

"One of these days, he's going to piss off the wrong person…" he muttered under his breath as he, Tao, and Athrun left for the hanger as well.

"What?" Athrun asked.

"Just talking to myself." Saul replied. "Good luck out there, Athrun. Let's hope that the mission goes off without a hitch, as many things could go wrong."

Tao nodded. "It had better, or it could be bad for all of us."

Athrun nodded. "Same."


Heliopolis, PLANT colony…

Kira Yamato looked over his laptop that held his work and sighed. Professor Kato had given him a large amount of work to complete and he was not even halfway done yet. And on top of it, the other guy who was supposed to be helping him on this had decided to take a break thirty minutes ago and had yet to resume working.

"You know, you could actually start working again." He said as he looked at the other person in the gazebo with him.

The other person, a Coordinator named Christopher Dante, was currently playing his guitar. Chris, as he preferred to be called, was sixteen years old and a few inches taller than him. He has greyish-green eyes and dark brown hair that was in short slicked back spikes. He was wearing blue jeans with a simple leather belt, a black t-shirt, and a grey unzipped hoodie. A pair of dog tags hung around his neck.

Kira had known him for only a couple of months, and he was actually surprised when he met him. Kira had heard rumors that Chris frequently picked fights with people, leading Kira to believe that he was a violent person. This was something that Kira would later learn was not true. Though he did get into fights, Kira had never even seen Chris start a fight. Rather, all of the fights he got into were either in defense of someone getting bullied by someone else, or to protect himself.

"I could," Chris said as he continued to play his guitar. "But you're so much better at this than I am."

"Professor Kato asked us both to do this. So could you please get back to work?"

"Alright, alright. Tell you what. You finish that page you're on, then I'll take over for a while and you can take a break. Deal?" Chris asked.

"Deal." Kira replied as he got back to work.

The younger Coordinator was so engrossed in his work from the professor though, that he did not hear another person creep up from behind him. When the hand laid itself on his shoulder, Kira jumped at the touch. He let out a yelp as his computer fell to the ground with a CRASH.

"Akira! Don't do that!" Kira rasped as he struggled to get some air into his lungs. Sixteen year old Akira Nishikama just laughed at the sight. "You are too easy to scare, Kira. Lighten up!" the other boy giggled.

Akira, like Kira, was a Coordinator, but second-generation, just like Chris. He wore his black hair pulled back at the bottom, flowing down to his middle back. The boy also had golden eyes and was very muscular but not too much, due to his black belt training in martial arts. Akira was also very skilled at mechanics. He wore a white jacket with a black line on the arms on the outside while a red t-shirt was underneath. Blue jeans and white tennis shoes completed his outfit.

Kira just sighed before he saw his computer on the ground. "Aw shit!" he cursed as he ran over to it and inspected the laptop for any damage. "There better not be any damage…" the brown-haired boy muttered as he looked it over.

The black-haired boy just let out a sigh as Kira stood up, satisfied that there was not damage to the computer. "You should not have done that! Chris and I have work to complete!" Kira explained as he faced Akira.

"From who?" the golden-eyed boy inquired. "Professor Kato." Kira replied. "You know, you still have to help me on this." Kira reminded the other boy. As the two boys stood there, a news report on an invasion launched by ZAFT came on. Kira's mechanical pet bird, Birdy, flew in and landed on Chris's head.

"Birdy, birdy!" the thing chirped. Chris waved his hands above his head, trying to get the robot to leave. "HEY! Get off!" the boy snarled as the thing complied.

With Kira and Aki' chuckling at the scene, it really made Chris mad, but not as in real anger…just a fake anger.

"Hey! Kira! Aki'! Chris!" a voice called. The three Coordinators turned to see Tolle, Nisha, Miriallia, and Chris's younger sister, Elizabeth (also a Coordinator and one year younger than Chris) run up to them. Aki' was Akira's nickname considering how the two names sounded too similar.

Nisha Itsuno was Akira's cousin, who was a Coordinator just like him, but First-Generation. His father was Akira's uncle, and a Natural to boot. He wore a t-shirt with 2 green lines running down the front of it, and blue jeans that had a hole below the right knee. He wore white sneakers to complete his outfit. His hair was light blue, and his eyes were a brown color.

Elizabeth, or Liz as she was called, was an inch shorter than Mirillia, had green eyes and light brown, almost dirty blonde colored, shoulder-length hair. She was wearing faded blue jeans with a rip in the left knee, and a bizarre purple and black striped hoodie.

The four walked up to the gazebo where Kira had been working. "Hey Tolle, Mir, Nisha, Liz!" Chris chirped as the four reached them.

"So this is where you were hanging out?" Tolle asked. Kira nodded. "Professor Kato was looking for you."

"He has more work for us?" Kira asked. "I think so." Mir replied. "He asked us to bring you to him right away."

"We haven't even gotten done with what he dumped on us yesterday!" Kira whined. Aki' just smacked his head in annoyance. Who knew that Kira was such a crybaby?

"Yeah," Chris said in agreement. "Why can't he do some of this himself?"

"Why are you complaining? Chances are, you had Kira do most of it anyway." Liz said as she sat down by her brother.

"Well, he should give it to Kira. He's the more tech savvy one." Chris said in his defense.

"Did he just give us this work to do because we are Coordinators?" The boy asked. His black-haired companion just shook his head.

Tolle, Nisha, Mir and Liz sat down beside Kira as Aki' did the same thing. They were watching the news broadcast on the laptop Kira had with him.

"Appears that there is a lot of fighting in Taiwan." Tolle remarked as he stared at the screen. "Yeah, Looks like ZAFT has its eyes on Kaohsiung and its Mass Driver, if they haven't already taken it over." Chris remarked. "That has to be the target." Aki' murmured as he observed the battle as well.

"That's not far from ORB. Do you think that they will be safe?" Mir asked as she looked at the black-haired Coordinator.

"Don't worry. ORB is neutral. ZAFT isn't going to attack it. The Earth Alliance isn't gonna do anything either. As long as they don't lose Panama or Victoria, that is." Chris replied. "Yeah, besides, even if they did, the Human Reform League will keep the Advance European Union under control." Tolle added. Akira then flashed a glare at Tolle, startling the Natural boy. "What is your problem?!" he exclaimed.

"The AEU… needs to be destroyed!" Akira snarled as he glared at Tolle. The boy gulped as Nisha stood up.

"What is with you?!" he demanded. "Ever since that day, things haven't been the same for you!"

Aki' was silent as he looked down at the ground. "…"

"Well?!" Nisha asked. "Aren't you going to say something?

"It's nothing…Just leave me alone…" Akira murmured before walking off.

"That was weird." Liz said as she looked at her brother. "I'll say." Chris agreed.

"Still, I have to say we're pretty safe." Liz said as she returned to the topic at hand. "Especially here in Heliopolis. After all, why would anyone want to attack Heliopolis? We're neutral, and there's absolutely nothing here."


Elsewhere…

Akira rammed his fist into the side of a wall, making a low THUNP! How could they know of the anger that he felt right now?! Ever since that day…

"GGRRAAAHHH!" the boy snarled as he whirled around and walked towards the gazebo again. Then he stopped. Getting into a martial arts stance, Akira let out his anger through the moves of his body. It was his way of calming down after someone mentioned the AEU…

While Akira did hate the ones who had been responsible, he did not hate all Naturals, considering how he was friends with some of them. The ones he did hate, however, were the leaders of the ones who killed her, Blue Cosmos.


Hanger…

The Creuset team moved into position as they neared the Archangel's secret hanger. A signal from the team leader, Athrun, meant it was time. The signals were not needed however, as the team knew what they had to do.

All of them split up and planted explosives in the entire hanger. Once that was done, the team regrouped and made their way towards the colony interior. Phase two was ready.


Vesalius…

Rau Le Creuset looked at the watch on his wrist and grinned. The time was now. By now, the team should have infiltrated the colony and planted the explosives to take out the ones who stood in his way. Phase two could now begin.

"It's time…" he said to Captain Ades.

"Prepare to launch!" the captain declared as the ship's engines powered up and propelled the vessel forward.

The instant the ship and its companion reached the colony, alarms sounded in Heliopolis's dock control room, in the control room of an Earth Alliance vessel, and in the Archangel's control room.

As the colony readied its defenses, the Archangel prepared to take off if needed. Then, the explosives went off, tearing into the hanger and killing the pilots, entire crew and crew members in the hanger.


Heliopolis, Morgenroete Factory District…

Lieutenant Murrue Ramius felt the tremors of the explosions rock the colony.

"What happened?! Did ZAFT open fire on us?!" Taikyu Itsuno shouted as the violent shaking subsided. He was Akira's uncle and an engineer of the factory district.

"They have to have." Nick Dante replied as the tremors faded completely.

"I'm not sure, but we have to get the G-weapons to the Archangel, now!" Murrue replied to the Morgenrouete crew chief.

"The Blitz, the Buster, the Z.A.M., the Surge, and the Duel are all set to go! But we still need more time to prep the, Raven, the Aegis, the Wing, the Diver, the Strike and the Striker packs for transport to the ship!" Chief Dante replied. Then he turned to face several workers.

"Carter, Wilson, Johanna, take your crews and get those four machines to the Archangel! We cannot be having ZAFT obtain the weapons!" he ordered.

The two men nodded and set about doing the task while the woman, Johanna Dante, looked at her husband with concern.

Nick put his hands on his wife's shoulders. "Don't worry about the kids. They're smart and are probably on their way to the shelters right now. They'll be fine. Right now, we have a job to do. We'll find them when we're done here, I promise."

Johanna weakly nodded and joined the rest of the crews as Taikyu turned to go and help as well.

"Taikyu, I think we'll need your help here. So don't leave to help with the weapons. There are enough people helping with that." Chief Dante ordered the other man. Taikyu nodded in reply.

As Chief Dante looked over, he saw Lt. Ramius drawing out her sidearm. "How did ZAFT find out about this?!" he asked as he too got his gun ready.

"I have no idea, but we have a job to do…" she murmured as they got ready to fight.


Surface, Professor Kato's lab…

The tremors that the crews had felt shook the lab, sending all sorts of equipment to the ground. Akira had to grab onto the edge of a lab table to steady himself. Kira and his friend Sai also did the same thing. Chris also grabbed a desk as well.

As the shaking died down, Chris had to ask. "Is everyone alright?"

"Yeah," a boy named Kuzzey replied.

"I'm okay…" Mir groaned.

"I'm fine." Tolle remarked.

"Yeah, I'm good…" Nisha muttered.

"Same." His sister replied.

The lab assistant nodded.

"Did a meteor hit the colony?" Sai asked. Akira just shook his head, but not in the way everyone else was thinking.

"I don't really know for sure, so we should get to the shelters just to be safe." Liz said.

"I have to agree with Liz." Chris said. "We don't know what's going on. The smartest thing to do is get to the shelters."


Undisclosed location…

Three forms sat around the table, one female and two male. The female looking form turned to address the two males.

"Now, as you know, the war has been going on for one year as of today. That day, the attack on Junius Seven, is now known as the Bloody Valentine tragedy. We have pledged our support to ZAFT and the PLANTs, but we are not going to try and kill the Coordinators. Those are not the orders we have given our troops." The female began.

The first male form then spoke up in a Spanish accented voice. "Do not take this the wrong way, but what is our reason for fighting the Earth Alliance?" he asked.

She looked at the first male form. "The Earth Alliance is not controlled by a group known as Blue Cosmos. They are a separate group. They believe that the Coordinators are destined to wipe out all Naturals from existence. That is not true. In fact, most Coordinators could care less about wiping out all Naturals." she explained.

The second male form looked musing for a minute before he spoke up next. "What do we know about Blue Cosmos? I mean, their thinking is along the lines of…them…" he said.

At the mere mention of the word, chills ran down the spines of the other two forms. The female form then looked at the second male form.

"You are correct about that… You see, we believe that the origins of Blue Cosmos stem from the A.D. era, which included two nasty world wars, the second one involving the origins of the group we are fighting today. During the Second World War, there was a group called the Nazis, which wanted a genetically pure world. Everyone was to have blue eyes and blonde hair, and everyone else was declared inferior. The Nazis tried to genetically modify humans, which led to the fear of genetically engineered humans. Now, I can understand where they are coming from, as all of us here are afraid of that as well. Yet, that does not mean that Coordinators are inhuman. They have the same base DNA as the rest of us. That is what allows us to see them as human." The female form said, but there was still more she had to say.

"Many of us fear the day when we can modify personalities, which is why we have laws that prevent that. But still, there is recent intelligence that suggests that the terrorist group has such technology. However, we cannot tell if that is true or not at this present time. Still, if this technology ever fell into the hands of someone who wanted to create the race of superhumans that everyone fears deep down, then the world of the Nazis will have come into creation…" she trailed off, leaving the other two forms to only imagine what such a world would be like.

The first male form then slammed his hands down on the table before them. "We have to find and destroy that technology!" he declared as he stood up.

A wave from the female form urged him to sit down. "We cannot do what you have suggested until we have confirmed that the technology exists. The intelligence only said that it is suspected of being in existence, not if it exists or not." She reminded him.

The first male form growled before sitting down. "Still, we have to ensure the peace will come back. The only reason I am not objecting to this is because we are the only ones who can ensure that ZAFT and the PLANTs exist without fear."

A grunt from the second male form signified his turn to speak. "I agree that we are the only ones who can protect the PLANTs, but why must we be allied with both sides?" he asked.

"We can't seem too supporting of one side." The female form replied. But, her companion had brought up a good point. "You do have a point though…We can't just ignore the possible threat of an attack from the Earth Alliance. We have to be allied with them for our survival."

A grunt came from the first male form. "Your nation is the most powerful on Earth. How can you be afraid of defeat? No nation in the Earth Alliance wants to challenge you."

The female form glared at the first male form. "That may have been true before the nations of the planet began to form alliances, but now we wouldn't stand a chance. That is why we formed an alliance, to ensure that we can survive in the C.E. era." She snarled back.

Her second male companion just leaned back in the chair and folded his arms. "We all know the reason why. There is no reason to repeat it." He said calmly.

"We all agreed to work together to protect the PLANTs from the Earth Alliance, or more specifically, Blue Cosmos. That is all that we can do at this point. Even if there was more that we could do, it still would not make much of a difference. All we can do is uphold our pledge to the PLANTs for now. When more information becomes available, we will be able to act on our own. Until then, there is nothing more we can do…"


Hidden location…

The female form entered a darkened room, which was just fine with her. She closed the door, walking over to a desk which held a video of the past, a time in which many things had been decided that affected the present…

-Flashback Video-

"We have just made the breakthrough that everyone has wanted to see happen. Today, we have just created the first generation of Coordinators, as the enhanced shall be known from this day onward." A male scientist explained as cameras flashed around him.

"From today onward, humans will now be able to control their genetic destiny. Parents will be able to prevent all sorts of diseases in their offspring, thus enabling them to live healthy lives. Future generations will be given what their parents were denied, a better chance at life!" the scientist continued.

Applause rose from the gathered crowd. Many people were eager to rush the man, but the police in front of the lab prevented such an act. Lives would be changed for the better, and no one would ever try to stop what people had desired for so long. But, many did not realize what the future held for the genetically enhanced. And it was not what they had hoped for…

-Break-

"Would you care to tell us how the future will embrace Coordinators? Many people are eager to hear about the possibilities." A female reporter said.

The man chuckled. "Well, I can assure you, we can only enhance the bodies, not the souls. That is the one thing that we cannot control. But, what I can tell you is that the creation of Coordinators will lead to a new era for all humans. No one will be suffering from diseases that we have sought to cure. Instead, they will now be immune to those diseases. Genetics has taught us that we can control what we are, and who we are. I fear, however, that there will be those who have bad illusions about Coordinators, and they will try to wipe out the Coordinators that have come into existence."

A stunned look crossed the reporter's face. "What do you think that those people will do to the Coordinators?" she asked.

"Those people will try to claim that Coordinators are inhuman. In reality, they are human. We all have the same base DNA, and that is what makes them human just like us. But, the future is uncertain. I can only take a guess as to how those people will react to Coordinators. I can only guess…" the man sighed.

-Break-

"The United States has just announced that an attack on a Coordinator and his family has occurred. Police are trying to find the ones responsible, but have no suspects at this time. They hope to have someone found soon." The news reporter said, a grim look on his face.

"Recent news from the hospital where the Coordinator is being treated for injuries says that he is in stable condition. Cops have reported several persons of interest, all claiming to be part of this group called Human Purity. The claims were discredited by the police investigators, who have charged the suspects with a hate crime. Their motives are unknown at this time."

-Break-

"The Coordinator children have begun to show their talents, and yet many are still too young to be showing their abilities. Many parents have been trying to keep the press away from their children, and with a good amount of success. But the press still persists, causing several cases to go to the Supreme Court for violation of the right to privacy. We can expect to hear the Court's final ruling within the next few hours. Three years into the legal battle, the highest court will decide if the press has the right to come after the Coordinator children of these families." A male reporter said, the Supreme Court building behind him.

"We have just heard the Supreme Court's ruling, which has gone in favor of the parents of Coordinator children. This is what the Supreme Court justices had to say."

"We of the Supreme Court have decided to rule in the favor of the parents of Coordinator children. The press has violated their right to privacy, and thus denied the children the right to live a modest lifestyle. In light of this ruling, we hope that the Congress will make and pass laws that will protect the right to privacy for all Coordinator children born to Natural parents."The Chief Justice said as she looked to face the cameras. Lights flashed before she turned and walked back into the Supreme Court building.

"And there you have it. The Supreme Court's ruling has made it illegal to hound the families of Coordinators. This is a huge landmark case in the legal rights of Coordinators, which will hopefully affect the future generations yet to come."

-End Flashback Video-

The female form sighed as she shut down the video. How had it come to this, when all that was intended was the chance to better the future for humanity? The answers that she sought never came.

'Damn Blue Cosmos! They were the ones who started all of this!' The form thought angrily. 'They had to claim that Coordinators were the creations of the Nazis. But the Coordinators were never the creations of Nazis. Blue Cosmos… They have no idea on what they are trying to do. The whole group is like the Nazis, attacking anyone who is a Coordinator. Each of the members claims that the Coordinators are impure, so they are like a modern Nazi group. Crazy…'

She looked out the huge windows before her. The stars were shining, visible even from the residence. A small smile crossed her lips before fading again. What was the point in attacking Coordinators, even if they were not doing anything wrong? It did not make any sense to her.

A frown crossed her face as the form sat at the desk. What was it that Blue Cosmos was up to? No one knew, not even her armed forces. That was what bothered her to no end.

Who was running the group that they were facing? And what was their motive for attacking the Coordinators? And how did they get the Nukes needed to blow up Junius Seven?

More questions than answers were appearing, making things difficult in terms of understanding the war. She frowned at the thought. They needed answers if they were going to truly decide their place in the war. More questions would only hinder them anyway. It was not going to be easy, and she knew it. It would not be easy at all…


Hanger…

"That's it…" Yzak Joule purred smugly as he observed the people coming out. "Just like Commander Le Creuset told us they would."

"What, that if we prod them enough, they will come out of hiding?" Dearka questioned his comrade. "What do you think?!" Yzak shot back.

"Of course." Yzak replied in his cocky tone. "After all, the Naturals are stupid and pathetic."

Saul just shook his head at Yzak's comment while Tao slapped her face in annoyance. "Don't underestimate your enemies, Yzak. That will just get you killed. And remember, the Naturals are the ones who created us." He replied.

"Natural lover." Yzak shot back.

"I don't love Naturals. And nor do I hate them. They're simply people, just like us." Saul rebutted. "Enough of this philosophical debate. Matthew and Miguel will be here soon. So we still have a job to do!" Tao snapped.

A moment later, two GINNs appeared over the nearby Morgenroete factory district and opened fire, destroying many of the vehicles that were escorting the mobile suits.

They activated their jetpacks and flew over to four of the six machines, as well as a box that was sealed, while the GINNs systematically destroyed the rest of the escort vehicles. "What is that one?" Nicol asked.

"Ignore it, as it is probably just a part that is being transported." Yzak replied as he landed beside the other pilot. "Destroy the parts we can't carry and the factories." Yzak ordered over the com. "According to intel, there should be six machines."

"There's four out here, which means that the other two must be inside the factory." Saul said over the com-line as he opened fire on the guards below.

"Rusty, Tao and I will continue on to the factory." Athrun said. "Yzak, you guys take these four."

"Alright." He said before turning to the rest of the team. "Listen up, those who take one of those machines, disable the self-destruct first."

Saul, Dearka, Nicol, Yzak, and half of the ZAFT soldiers there landed near the transport vehicle of the first machine and quickly wiped out the guards closest to it.

"I got this one!" Saul shouted as he climbed in an open hatch on the side of the vehicle. "You guys get the other three!"

'Let's see what the ORB and the Earth Alliance have come up with.'


Lab…

More tremors shook the building as Chris and everyone else from Professor Kato's lab reached the elevator and stairwell.

"What's going on here?" he asked no one in particular.

Akira looked at the elevator, which Sai was the nearest to. "Let's just focus on getting out of here." He snarled.

"Akira's right. We need to focus on getting out of here first, and then we'll worry about that later." Sai agreed as he pushed the elevator call button.

The second he did, the power failed.

"We'll, it looks like we're taking the stairs." Tolle replied as he pushed open the stairwell door. Nisha held it open while everyone else filed in before he also entered, the door closing behind him.

There were other people climbing the stairs towards the surface and the pods that were up there.

"Hey! Do you guys know what's going on?" Tolle asked them.

"I heard that we're under attack by ZAFT." One man said.

"Yeah, there are mobile suits inside the colony." Another replied.

"What?" Chris shouted in disbelief. "Why the hell is ZAFT attacking us?"

"Yeah. It's not like we have anything of value." Nisha added.

Suddenly, the blond-haired guy that had been waiting for Professor Kato took off down a hallway.

"Wait! Come back!" Kira shouted as he chased the guy.

"Kira! Tolle shouted as his friend took off.

"Wait! Kira, get back here!" Nisha yelled as he too ran off in an attempt to bring the other back.

"I'll go after them! You guys head to the shelters. We'll meet you there!" Chris said as he took off after the trio as well before anyone else could stop him.

"Chris!" Miri cried.

"I'll go get them. You guys just reach the shelters!" Aki called back as he followed the others.

It did not take the two of them long before they caught up with the three of them. The second they did, however, part of the hallway behind them collapsed. Chris and Aki' were sent stumbling to their hands and knees.

"You're a girl!" they heard Kira shout.

Chris and Aki' both looked up to see that the person they had thought was a guy was indeed a girl.

"Yeah, what did you think I was?" she said rudely.

Kira, looking embarrassed, said in his defense. "I…ah…just thought that-"

Another tremor shook the building, interrupting him.

"If you don't mind, we have a bigger problem than that!" Akira snapped. "He's right." Nisha agreed.

"I think that we should get out of here, now." Chris said as he picked himself up off of the floor.

"I agree." The girl said. "You four go back. I need to check something out. By myself!"

"Are you kidding? The entire hallway has collapsed completely. We can't go back that way." Chris said.

"It would be suicide to even try to remove that stuff in the way." Nisha added as he motioned to the rubble blocking their path.

"There's no way for us to go back now." Kira said. "But there should be more shelters in the factory district. C'mon!"


Morgenroete factory district…

Rusty, Tao, Athrun, and the rest of the ZAFT soldiers reached the storage area of the remaining two machines. They had managed to avoid combat thanks to the destruction caused by the two GINNs, so they were grateful for that.

They were now at one of the side entrances of the storage area.

Athrun opened one of the doors slightly, Tao opening the second while his friend threw in two grenades. A pair of explosions followed.

"Go, go go!" Athrun cried as the rest of the team ran inside.


Elsewhere…

Saul sighed as he finished rewriting the machine's OS. He couldn't help but wonder about the crappy OS. He'd thought that ORB and the EA would have been able to come up with a proper OS for these things.

"Well, I'm done." He said over the com-line. "How are you guys doing?"

"What?! Already?! How the hell can a lazy ass like you be done so fast?!" Yzak shouted in disbelief.

Dearka chuckled. "Figures you're the first one done."

"You were always the fastest at this kinda thing." Nicol said.

"What can I say? I know the language of computers." He replied. "You guys better hurry up."

Of course, Saul knew that is was gonna take them a few more minutes before they were done. The only reason he was done so fast was that he was gifted when it came to computers.

He decided to pass the time while he waited for the others to finish by looking over the specs of this machine.

'The GAT-X209 'Surge'. Hmm…Phase Shift Armor. That sounds impressive. Let's see what this thing's got for weapons. Wow! I'm starting to like this thing. I hope I get to use this baby after the mission is done.'


Morgenroete factory district…

Athrun opened fire on an armed employee while Rusty and Tao looked at the two machines. The man fell to the ground dead while a female cried out "NICK!" Rusty then fired on a man who had been wielding a pipe as a weapon, making him drop it. He fell to the ground, only to get back up a few seconds later and wander over to one of the shelter areas supposedly.

"Hey Athrun! We got a problem here!" Rusty shouted. "Someone screwed up! There are five machines here!"

"What?"

"Take a look!"

Athrun took a glance at the Earth Alliance mobile suits. With all the fighting, he hadn't really paid any attention to them. But now he realized that someone had made a major mistake. There were five prototypes in the warehouse, meaning that there were ninemachines, not six like their intel had said. Then a thought came to him. What if the box he had seen outside was actually another machine as well? Then…wouldn't there be a total of ten?

'How could our intel be that off?'

"We have to destroy those other three machines!" he ordered. "Someone has to get into those machines and activate the self-destruct!"

Tao glanced back at Athrun. "Let me take one of the machines. We can destroy the other two as we take them." She said.

Athrun nodded. "Very well, can you take the one closest to you?" She nodded and ran off towards it.

But Rusty, who was to receive the Strike, then fell to the ground dead, killed by a gunshot wound to the back which was fired by the man he had injured earlier. He was on one of the prototypes as well, bleeding from his left shoulder, but alive.


Entrance…

Aki', Kira, Nisha, Chris, and the girl all reached the district, only to find ZAFT soldiers and employees fighting one another.

There were two Mobile Suits that were GINNs as well, fighting off the tanks that were in the area. The girl was staring at the Mobile Suits in shock before she spoke again.

"Father, I knew that you would betray us all like this!" she screamed. This brought Nisha, Aki', Chris, and Kira from their thoughts as they remembered the situation.

A female employee then whirled around and aimed her gun at them.

"C'mon!" Kira cried as he grabbed Aki's arm and the girl's arm and dragged them both to the shelter pods with Nisha following them pulling Chris. "We have to get out of here!"

The quad reached the pods, only to find that two of them were full. One still had room though, as it had a green light above it.

Kira pushed the com-button and a voice came over the speaker.

"Is someone else out there?" a voice asked.

"Yes, my friends and I need to get in. Please open the door and let us inside." Kira requested.

"You have more than one friend with you?" the voice inquired. "Yes." Kira replied before the voice answered again.

"Sorry, but we're full to capacity as it is. Try the shelters on the left block!" the voice replied. "At least take the girl and boys with you!" Kira snapped back.

"We'll take the girl, but that is it. You and your friends need to get to the shelters on the left block instead." The man sighed.

The door opened and both Chris and Kira shoved the blonde-haired girl inside. "HEY! What are you doing?! Let me-" her cries were cut off by the door sliding shut, meaning that the shelter was now full.

"Let's go Kira, Nisha, Chris!" Aki' said as he ran for the shelters on the left block. The black-haired boy moved so fast, Kira could not keep up with him as the other Coordinator leaped from one catwalk to the next. "No wonder he is so good at getting behind me…" Kira murmured as he ran halfway across the catwalk. Chris had reached the halfway mark as well by that point.

Nisha, on the other hand, had reached the other side by the time the boys were halfway across. He kept running, unaware of what awaited him as well.

Then Kira saw a ZAFT sniper aiming at the woman the four had run from earlier.

"LOOK OUT!" the boy cried, making the woman whirl around and fire on the sniper, killing him.

"CHRIS! KIRA! What the hell are you two doing here?!" the voice of Chris's aunt, Johanna, called out from on top of one of the mobile suits.

"Long story! Don't worry about us! We're heading to the shelters in the left block!" Chris shouted to his aunt.

An instant later, there was an explosion from the left block.

"Both of you! Get down here now!" the woman that they had saved ordered.

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice, Kira." Chris said. "Now the question is, how are we gonna get down there?"

"I got an idea." Kira replied before he leaped over the railing and onto the middle mobile suit the woman was on.

"I know I'm gonna regret this." Chris said before jumping off the other side of the catwalk and onto the machine his aunt was on.

He landed on the machine's left shoulder. A little sore, but otherwise alright.

"What is going on? Why is ZAFT attacking us?" Chris shouted as his aunt fired off rounds from a pistol at a ZAFT soldier.

"Long story! Basically, ZAFT wants the machines that we've been building." Johanna replied as she fired the last rounds in her handgun, killing the soldier.

"Isn't that a treaty violation?"

Johanna was about to reply when an explosion tore through a part of the warehouse. Flames quickly spread through the warehouse.

"Damn! This place isn't gonna last much longer!" she said. "Get in the mobile suit! We need to get out of here!"

Chris nodded. The whole warehouse was going up in flames. He quickly scrambled into the cockpit, followed by his aunt.

Tao, who was in the fourth machine, swore silently to herself as she stared at the state of the OS. "How could the Naturals design such a piece of crap?!" she muttered as she set about rewriting the OS.

Taikyu, now recovered from the shock of the bullet strike, was standing on top of the fifth machine. Aki' saw his uncle and jumped down onto it. The boy landed with no trouble on the catwalk near the chest.

"What are you doing here?!" the boy asked. "Just get in, Akira." The man snapped. "I am, I am!" the Coordinator replied as he did so.

"We have to get out of here NOW!" the woman snarled at Kira as another explosion blew throughout the compound. As another massive explosion blew apart the storage area, the GAT-X303 Aegis, ORB-04-A Wing, GAT-X308 Diver, GAT-X305 Raven, and GAT-X105 Strike stood up from their berths…

Now, the battle was about to begin…


I hope you all liked the chapter. Don't forget to read and review afterwards. Please let me know what you think. I would appreciate constructive criticism, but any flames will not be tolerated. If any flames are given, they will be reported. Just a warning for you all. Let me know what you think!