New chapter is up is up! Note: I do not own Chris, Liz, or Johanna Dante, Ian, Saul, or Diana Kessel, John Alaric, the 11th Fleet, Treize Zabiarov, Gyunei Ridden, Reccoa Schnieder, or the machines listed for the remaining members of the Le Creuset team, as they are Akatsuki_Leader13's and are used with his permission as such. I also do not own Xander Alexis, as he belongs to Mordalfus Grae. Nor do I own Matrin Nightengale, as he is Meteorthunder3's OC. I only own Tao White, Akira, Nishikama, Nisha and Taikyu Itsuno, Preisdent Marie Hilson, Gai Tatsuni, NASA/NAZAFT, the Presidential Murasame, the Raptor, the Dax, Wing, Traverse, and Z.A.M. Gundams, and the colony of New Juneau.

jmwilshaw1205: So glad to have a new reader~! :D I am glad you like my story so much! :3 As for new characters, I may, but that will come much later, once the first three arcs are complete. :3

CT7567Rules: I went with the F-22 and names the 'Musket' rifle that because that is what the Americans used in the Revolution in 1776. :3 So a bit of an honor to that time. :3

nbj- Inconsistent Guest: You obviously won't stick with a single guest name, so I will just call you 'inconsistent guest' from now on.

Just a Crazy Man: You would be right. :3

A0930: Heero disappeared after the end of the first war and no one knew where he went. Some assumed he was dead, others just assumed he was not even real. That is why some assume Heero is a fake. ^^'

Titanic X: Glad you like it. :3

Note to all readers: I am going to ask those who have an account to sign in and leave a review in order to know who is leaving it, or at least to put their account name on the review so I know who is sending it. If you want to sign in and leave a review, then feel free to do so. But if not, then at least put your account name at the top so I can see who you are. If you do not have an account, then feel free to leave a review anyway. Just no outright hatred of the story please.


Cosmic Era 72. One and half years of grim war between Earth and PLANTs ended following the space battle at Jachin Due. The two sides forged a peace treaty amid the ruins of Junius Seven. A place of unprecedented tragedy during the war. The former enemies pledged themselves to work for mutual understanding and to make every effort possible to maintain peace. As a result, the world once more on the path of stability.


Phase Four: Stardust Battlefield

The Debris Field

The Specter, the Abyss, the Gaia, the Chaos and the Z.A.M. Gundam, took up positions amongst the debris. The Blu Duel, Verde Buster and Rosso Aegis were staying behind with the Girty Lue to ambush the ZAFT ship. The Girty Lue had also deployed a decoy that would lure them to their position and leave them unaware of the trap they were walking into. Treize, in an ideal sniper spot, took aim at the advancing ZAFT mobile suits. He had the hanger crew of the Girty Lue temporarily replace the Specter's cannon with a beam sniper rifle. A weapon better suited to picking off mobile suits from a distance than the cannon. In addition to the rifle, he had changed the colors of the Specter's phase shift to something much more suitable. When he spotted the group, he was surprised by what he saw.

"The Calamity, the Forbidden and the Massacre are amongst the ZAFT forces." Treize said.

"What?! Is it them?!" Sting asked.

"Unlikely. They would have died long ago with their drugs. Either way, watch out." Treize ordered, taking aim at the group. "Don't attack until I fire."


The Bridge of the Minerva

"Bogey-1. I wonder what the real name of that ship is." Durandal mused. "A name reflects its owner's nature. But what if the name is really a fake? If something goes by a false name, does that mean that thing is fake? False by nature? It that what it would mean?" He turned to Athrun. "Alex? Or is it Athrun Zala?"

Everyone else on the bridge gasped. Athrun Zala? The son of former Defense Council Chairman Patrick Zala. A hero of the Bloody Valentine War. Cagalli scowled at the Chairman as orders were being given on the bridge. "Chairman Durandal, that's-"

"There's no need to worry, Representative Athha." Durandal assured. "I did not mean to accuse him of anything. I'm already fully aware of the actions taken by my predecessor, Eileen Canaver, against you and the others. However, if we are to talk, I'd like to talk with the real you, Athrun Zala."

"Mobile suits 1400 to Bogey-1." Burt reported.

"Has Bogey-1 made any sudden movements? Any changes in their bearings?" Talia asked.

The operator shook her head. "No ma'am. They're still traveling on the same course."

"What's going on here? Do they have something planned?" the Captain said aloud.

An instant later, both she and Athrun realized it. "It's a decoy!" the two shouted together.


John scanned the debris in front of them. He couldn't see anything yet. But he didn't doubt that they were out there. He glanced at his radar. They were nearing the unidentified battleship. They'd probably be able to see it soon.

There was nothing to indicate that they had spotted them yet, which wasn't uncommon in the Debris Field. Both pirates and his former forces had used the Field for ambushes because one could easily hide out here. They easily could be preparing an ambush for them. He kept his eyes on the area around them, searching for anything. Any sign of danger. Suddenly, he saw it. A flash. "Sniper! Scatter!"

Treize grinned. "For the preservation of our blue and pure world!" Treize roared as he fired.

The group scattered. Avoiding the first two beams, but the third tore through Dale's GuAIZ R, destroying the machine. "Dale! No!" Tristan shouted.

At that moment, the Gaia, the Abyss, the Chaos and the Z.A.M. Gundam emerged from their hiding spots, firing on the remaining pilots while the sniper continued to fire. "Damn!" John swore. "We walked right into this." One of Treize's beams narrowly missed the Farsight. "Oh? You think that you're a better shot than me?" John said, taking aim at the area were the sniper was firing at. "There's a reason why this mobile suit is armed with a sniper rifle!"

Treize noticed the black and white mobile suit taking aim at the area he was in. There was no way it could accurately hit him at this distance. The mobile suit fired and to Treize's surprise, the beam was heading straight for him. Treize dove out of the way just in time. The beam struck a piece of debris behind here his mobile suit's head had been. "You wish to play, Coordinator? Fine, I'll play." Treize said, taking aim and firing at the enemy mobile suit.

The Chaos's pods launched and started firing on the Massacre, Forbidden, Wing Zero, and Calamity as the Abyss fired on the quad while the Gaia and Z.A.M. Gundam descended on the Impulse, the Strike Raven, and the GuAIZ Rs. Stella fired her rifle at the Strike Raven. Flay sidestepped the beams and fired back her beam rifle and railguns. The Gaia jumped back, firing as she flew back into wreckage of a colony. Flay chased after her. "Hold on." Tristan called out, chasing after her. "A lady shouldn't go into the unknown unescorted."

Flay nodded and the two dove into the wreckage.

The Z.A.M. Gundam fired both of its beam rifles at the Impulse, Gai laughing as he fired. "Come on! Let's dance Coordinator!"

The Impulse flew up, evading the beams while firing back with his cannons. The EA officer spun, allowing his machine to squeeze through in between the beams before firing the grenade of his left rifle. Shinn fired one of his railguns, piercing the grenade and the rifle. "Yes yes yes! Finally, an opponent I can wipe out! Gai cheered, drawing one of his beam blades. "Let's give them a real performance!"

"Gah! Tricky bastards!" Orga shouted, trying to destroy the Chaos's weapon pods.

Annoyed at his inability to hit the pods, Orga turned and fired his Schlag and Scylla cannons at the Chaos. The Chaos dove out of the path of the beams. The beams flew towards the Forbidden. But the beams bounced off of the Forbidden's shields and headed towards the Massacre and the Abyss. Martin instinctively dodged the beams while the Abyss barely managed to avoid the beams.

"Shani! You bastard! You almost hit me!" Martin shouted, firing his beam weapons at the Forbidden.

The Forbidden dodged the incoming shots. But the Chaos wasn't so lucky. The shots slammed into the Chaos, tossing it back. "Are these guys insane?!" exclaimed Sting as he righted the Chaos. "They're attacking each other!"

Shani roared as he swung his scythe at the Chaos. Sting raised his shield just in time. The shield was shredded by the scythe. Sting dropped the wrecked shield and drew a beam saber. "Crazy bastard!" Sting shouted, swinging the saber. "You're obsolete!"

Shani laughed as he continued to swing his scythe wildly at the Chaos, preventing Sting from getting close enough to hit the Forbidden. "Dammit! Take this!" Sting shouted, launching his pods again.

The pod's beams were again deflected by the Forbidden's deflector shields. But this was what Sting wanted. He moved in close to the Forbidden, intending to stab the Forbidden as it raised its pack up. Suddenly, the Massacre's beams slammed into the Chaos's back, knocking it downward. "Hmph. These punks aren't so tough." Martin commented as he pulled back his weapon.

"Treize! Where the hell is our covering fire?!" Sting shouted as he pulled himself up.

"Didn't you just say those guys were obsolete?" Treize said as he continued his sniper duel with the Farsight only for Wing Zero to fire on him as well. "You should be able to beat them with ease."

Elsewhere, two machines and an unseen ship made their way into the battle zone.

The invisible ship opened fire on the Girty Lue, just missing the engines. The EA ship fired back, missing the unseen vessel. This made the Minerva crew members stare in shock. Just what had happened there?

The two new machines, the Wing and Diver Gundams, opened fire on Sting, making him move back. "Gah! Now what?!" he growled.


The Bridge of the Minerva

"Captain! We've lost Bogey-1's signal!" exclaimed Burt.

"I've also lost the signal from Dale's unit!" Meyrin added. "Also four-no, six-heat signals at Yellow 60, Beta! It's the Specter, Chaos, Gaia, Abyss and one unknown!"

"Locate the enemy! Locate Bogey-1 immediately!" Talia ordered.

She was no fool. The Commander of Bogey-1 knew that they were following them and had left a decoy for them to follow. Undoubtedly, the real Bogey-1 was moving to ambush them while they were struggling to figure out what was going on.

Not to mention the new ship that was unseen out there as well as the appearance of the Wing and Diver Gundams…


Aboard the Girty Lue

Neo smirked. They had caught the ZAFT ship completely off guard. It was time to deliver the killing blow. He raised his hand. Captain Lee nodded. "Launch the mobile suits." the Captain ordered. "Start the engines and fire missile tubes Five through Eight. Target the enemy battleship with the Gottfrieds."

It did little to worry about the newcomers. Like they were a challenge anyway, being from the PLANTs and all… Still, he had to be wary.

"Deploy the old Daggers. We need to keep the new ship at bay."


"Heat signature detected at Blue 18 Mark 9, Charlie!" Burt turned to Talia. "It's Bogey-1. Distance: 500."

Arthur glanced back from his station. "What? But how?"

"Three mobile suits incoming as well!

"On screen." Talia ordered.

A trio of mobile suits appeared on the screen. Athrun's and Cagalli's eyes widened. "That's the Aegis, the Duel and the Buster..." a surprised Athrun said.

"Undoubtedly, new units based off the original GAT series units." Durandal commented.

"Captain! We're being targeted by Bogey-1!"

"Fire anti-beam depth charges! Turn 30 degrees to port! Target with the Tristan!" Talia said as Bogey-1 fired a spread of missiles.

"We can't, ma'am! Mobile suits at Orange 22, Delta." the radar operator reported.

Talia grit her teeth in frustration. "Engines to maximum. Go around the asteroid. Use it as a shield."

The helmsman turned the ship as hard as he could, practically hugging the asteroid. The missiles hit the rock, the force of the explosions shaking the Minerva.

Talia turned to Meyrin. "Meyrin, order Shinn and the others to return to the ship at once." she ordered. "Prepare all remaining units for launch as well." Then she turned to helmsman. "Malik, continue to use the asteroid's surface to avoid further fire." Finally, she turned to her XO. "Arthur, prepare to return fire."

"Launcher Five, Launcher Ten; Dispars, fire!" Arthur said as the ship continued to shake from the missed shots of Bogey-1.


John swore as he searched for the Specter. He had lost sight of his opponent among the debris. He was better than this. He should have been able to keep his opponent in sight. Clearly, his skills had dulled more than he thought.

At that moment, a text message appeared on his console. The Minerva was under attack, just as he thought. A two pronged attack. One force to draw out and engage their forces while the other force ambushes the Minerva. "Listen up everyone, the Minerva's under attack." John said over the comm. "But we can't do anything to help them until we beat these guys. Stay focused on the enemy here. Not on the Minerva."

Elsewhere, Flay and Tristan slowly moved through a large corridor of the wrecked colony, searching for the Gaia. Directly ahead of them was a four-way intersection. The path on the right was gone, leaving nothing out in space. Both the left corridor and the corridor ahead of them were cast into darkness. "I'll look left. You look right." Tristan said.

Flay nodded. "Got it."

Both spun as they entered the center of the intersection, facing the side paths. Both quickly scanned the area before them, expecting an ambush. But there was nothing.

Suddenly, the glow of the Gaia's two beam blades lit up the hallway ahead of them. The Gaia, in its mobile armor mode, lunged forward. "Look out!" Flay shouted, diving out the hole.

At the same time, Tristan dove into the opposite corridor. Stella glanced at both directions for a moment before leaping out the hole after Flay. She transformed the Gaia back and fired her rifle.

Flay spun around, block her first few shots with her shield before returning fire with her rifle, railguns and machineguns. Stella dove down, evading her shots. Suddenly, Tristan appeared behind Stella with his beam saber drawn. Stella spun around, blocking the saber with her shield before she kicked the GuAIZ in the chest, following up with a stab to the cockpit.

The machine blew up, leaving Flay with the Gaia.


Constitution

Aisha watched as the Wing and Diver were forced back by some old Daggers of the Earth Alliance. It had been some time since she had seen those.

"Prepare to fire on the Daggers." She said as the guns targeted the new additions to the battle zone. "Prepare the Freedom's Light cannons."

The cannons, unseen due to the armor, turned and got a lock into a trio of Daggers. They fired, taking out the machines in a few shots.

Elsewhere, the Diver and Wing were engaged with a few Daggers as well.

Akira slashed one Dagger in half before turning to another, beam sabers at the ready. "Damn these guys! What have they been up to?"

"Stay focused, Aki'." Tao replied. "But I do find it strange that they would be here as well. Stay alert and complete the mission."

The two went back to the battle, more than ready to help out the new ZAFT ship.


Xander grinned as he combined his rifles. Below him, the Minerva traveled through a shallow canyon in the asteroid, desperately firing its weapons at him and his teammates. It was time for him to do what he did best. "Bang."

The Verde Buster's beam cannon, gun launcher, rifles and missiles fired. A few of the missiles impacted the ship's hull, but the rest of his shots missed, hitting the asteroid instead.

"Bah. You missed them. Let me show you how it's done." Gyunei said, heading for the ship.

"Dispars, Neidharts, fire!" Talia shouted.

The Minerva's missiles streaked towards the trio. Gyunei was forced to stop, so he could shoot down the missiles heading for him as his comrades did the same. "Wow! That was impressive." Xander mocked.

"Shut up!"

Talia grimaced as the three enemy mobile suits shot down or avoided the missiles. "We can't do anything as long as they've got our backside." she said to her helmsman. "Can we pull around?"

"No ma'am." Malik replied. "Dodging their fire is all I can manage at the moment."

"What about the ZAKUs?"

"It's no good ma'am. We don't have a clear launch vector for them."

Athrun gritted his teeth in frustration as he watched on. He felt completely helpless. Everyone else was going what they could to protect the ship from their attackers while he was stuck here, unable to do anything to help. Even Flay, the mother of a young child was out there, fighting against their attackers. So why was he sitting here, doing next to nothing?


"You will not keep me from finding my father!" Martin roared, firing his beams at the Chaos.

Sting transformed the Chaos, diving out of the path of the shots. He raced towards the Massacre, grabbing its shoulders with the Chaos's talons. Suddenly, the Calamity appeared, its bazooka aimed at the Chaos. "Eat this punk!" Orga shouted, firing his cannon.

Sting swore as he barely managed to dive out of the path of the beam, letting go of the Massacre in the process. "Orga, you idiot! You could have hit me!"

"Like I'd miss." Orga shot back.

Martin grunted before looking around for the Chaos. But it was gone. "Dammit! Where the hell did he go?" he said, turning the Massacre's head around.

The Calamity hovered beside the Massacre. "Doesn't matter. We'll hunt him down."

Shinn twisted and dove around debris, dodging Gai's shots as he chased him. He quickly spun around, firing a barrage of missiles at the Z.A.M. Gundam, forcing the Earth Forces pilot to stop and shoot the missiles down. Using the opening, Shinn switched to his cannons and fired. Gai evaded the beams and fired back with his shoulder cannons. "This is so exciting!" Gai gleefully said. "But like all performances, it has to come to the end. To the grand finale!"

Gai discarded his shield and drew his other sword. He laughed as he rushed towards the Impulse. Shinn fired his cannons, but Gai sidestepped the beams and continued. The Impulse drew one of its beam javelins and thrust it forward as the black machine reached him. Beam javelin met beam blade.

Nearby, the Abyss fired its Callidus and twin triple barrel cannons at the Forbidden. Shani used his beam deflectors, once again sending the beams off in random directions. Several beams flew at the winged machine, Wing Zero. Unbeknownst to him, the Specter was targeting him from a distance. "Now what do we have here?" Treize said, taking aim at Heero. "Die Coordinator scum!"

Treize fired his rifle. Heero didn't see him, but Shawn did. "Look out!" Shawn yelled, his GuAIZ pushing Wing Zero out of the way.

The beam pierced the GuAIZ and it exploded. Heero whirled his machine about, firing on the stolen machine.

"You try and attack from behind. That's a move that an inexperienced pilot would do." Heero remarked as he dodged the shots that Treize unleashed on him.

Treize dodged the blast from the Buster Rifle, but that did not faze him. He was too thrilled at the prospect of fighting such a well-renowned ace. "I believe that I am a far more experienced pilot than you give me credit for, Berserker of JOSH-A." he replied.

Heero's eyes widened at the mention of his nickname. How did this pilot know who he was?

"How did you know that?" he asked, his tone a bit angered.

"Who could not know of your feat? Wiping out a Cyclops System is something that no one else, Natural or Coordinator, can do. And your machine is so distinct, no one else has it." The pilot of the Specter replied. "Now, enough play. Time for you to die!"

Heero dodged a shot from the Specter, Wing Zero flying upwards to get out of range.

The beam cannon followed Wing Zero, but when it fired, Heero brought up Wing Zero's shield, taking the blast with ease.

"So, it is true. That machine really is the one that destroyed the GENESIS cannon…" Treize mused with glee. Fighting such a strong ace was such a thrill!


The Bridge of the Minerva

The Minerva shuddered as the Girty Lue and its mobile suits landed more near hits. Talia let out an annoyed, tired sigh. "In this position, we can't even use half of our weapons." she said. "The very rock that's protecting us from the bulk of their attacks is restricting our ability to fight back."

"Captain! Incoming missiles!" Burt shouted.

"Shoot them down!" Talia ordered.

"But Captain, they're not on a direct course for us."

Talia turned her head to Burt's station. "What?"

Talia may not have realized what they were trying, but Athrun did. He shot up from his seat. "Captain! Pull the ship away from the asteroid!" Athrun yelled, trying to warn them before it was too late.

Unfortunately, he was too late.

The missiles streaked past the Minerva, impacting the asteroid just ahead of them. Debris rained down on the Minerva. "Pull us out! Pitch 15 degrees!" Talia ordered.

The Minerva started to pull away from the asteroid as more missiles raced towards them. "Reduce thrust by twenty percent!"

Though none of the missiles hit the ZAFT ship, chucks from the asteroid slammed into the Minerva, leaving large gashes and dents in its hull. A massive chuck of rock crashed into the Minerva's path, blocking their escape as more debris rained down around the ship, pinning the Minerva.

"Thrusters Four and Six are damaged." Arthur reported.

"Captain! An additional mobile armor approaching." Meyrin added.

Talia grabbed the phone on her chair. "Abes, launch the ZAKUs."

"Yes, ma'am. But the catapult is blocked by debris." Abes replied.

"I don't care if they have to walk out. Just get them out there!"

"Yes, ma'am."

One of the Minerva's catapults opened. A white ZAKU Phantom, equipped with a Blaze Wizard Pack and a red ZAKU Warrior with a Gunner Wizard Pack emerged. The two ZAKUs took off, heading towards their attackers.

"Alright! Real opponents!" Gyunei said, transforming his mobile suit into its mobile armor form and racing towards them.

Luna fired her cannon at the Rosso Aegis, but Gyunei effortlessly dodged her shots. Gyunei laughed. "Ah! Here, try this!"

He fired his Scylla II cannon at the duo of ZAKUs. Rey and Luna sidestepped his first few shots, but were caught completely off guard when the beams started to curve. "What the hell?! Curving beams?!" exclaimed Luna as they evaded the beams. "How is that even possible?!"

"I have no idea." Rey replied.

A Tristan gun aimed at Gyunei, forcing him back.

"Damn ship!" the Extended swore as he backed off.

Nearby, Luna and Reccoa squared off. Luna repeatedly fired her cannon, but she couldn't hit the nimble Blu Duel. "You've made a poor choice of weapon, Coordinator. A long-range cannon should never be used for close-combat." Reccoa said. "Smaller beam rifles should be used for this kind of combat."

The Extended pilot fired her beam guns at her. Luna ducked down, avoiding her beams. She then tried to take aim and fire on the Duel again, but Reccoa kept on firing, preventing Luna from getting a clear shot on her.

Elsewhere, Rey and Xander battled. Much like the duel between Luna and Reccoa, Rey stayed close to the Verde Buster, reducing the effectiveness of his weapons. Xander fired off a barrage of missiles at the ZAKU. But Rey either dodged them or shot them down. He then threw a grenade at the Buster. The explosive impacted the mobile suit and exploded, throwing it back.

Rey aimed his assault rifle at the machine and was about to fire when Rey felt a shudder crawl up his spine. He jumped back, barely dodging the Exus's beams. "Xander!" Neo called out. "I'll deal with him; you take care of that warship."

"Yes sir." Xander replied, heading for the trapped Minerva.

"It's just you and me, Mr. White." Neo said, launching his gunbarrels. "Let's see what you got."

The Minerva shuddered as the Verde Buster started to fire on the warship through a narrow space in between the rocks. "Where're Shinn and the others?" Talia asked.

"They're still fighting the other mobile suits, ma'am." Meyrin answered.

"Doesn't this ship have any more mobile suits?" Durandal asked, a note of concern in his voice.

"Yes. But we don't have any more pilots." the Captain replied.

"Captain, what if we blow away the debris in front of us with the Tannhauser?" Arthur suggested.

"We'll just end up blowing up more debris around ourselves."

It was then that Athrun thought of it. "Captain, how many of the starboard thrusters are still active?"

"What?" Talia said, turning to face the young man.

Durandal nodded his head. "Six." she answered. "But even if we use them to get out of here, we'll just be a target again."

"Captain, fire up those thrusters and at the same time, fire all of your still functioning starboard weapons at the asteroid." Athrun ordered.

"But-"

"The force of the explosion should push the ship and the surrounding rocks clear of the asteroid."

"If we do that, the Minerva's hull will be further damaged in the process." Arthur argued.

"Our top priority is to get out of this situation." Athrun shot back. "If we stay here, we'll be sitting ducks."

Talia sighed. "He's right. Do it."

"But Captain-"

"Do it Arthur. Prepare to fire all armaments on the starboard side. Fire them simultaneously as we initiate a maximum burn on our starboard thrusters." Talia ordered.

Arthur reluctantly nodded. "Yes ma'am." He turned to his console. "Preparing all starboard armaments for firing."

"When I give the signal, fire the starboard thrusters."

Meanwhile, the Girty Lue advanced on the trapped Minerva as Xander continued to fire on it. The combined firepower of the ship and mobile ship would be enough to severely damage the Minerva if not destroy it completely. "Bogey-1, distance: 150." Burt reported.

"All hands, brace for shockwave impact." Talia said. "Starboard thruster at maximum!"

The remaining starboard thrusters of the Minerva activated, pushing the ship against the rocks pinning them. "All starboard weapons, fire!" Arthur ordered.

The starboard missile tubes fired off a spread of missiles as the starboard Tristan beam cannon and Isolde triple cannon fired. The explosion threw up rocks into space. Xander cursed as he fired every weapon his machine had to protect himself from the flying rocks. The rest of the nearby mobile suits stopped fighting and turned to the asteroid. The Minerva, battered but still functional, emerged from the asteroid.

"30 degrees yaw!" Talia ordered. "Fire at Bogey-1!"

"Targeting Tannhauser at Bogey-1" Arthur said.

The powerful positron blaster cannon unfolded from the front of the warship as a wave of dust and rock headed for the Girty Lue. "Evasive maneuvers! Hard to port!" Lee ordered as the debris reached his ship.

"Fire!" Talia shouted.

The Tannhauser fired, the beam tearing through the dust cloud, grazing the starboard side of the Girty Lue, damaging it. The Minerva flew past the Girty Lue as smoke poured out of the damaged carrier.

"Damn." Neo cursed. "To think that they would actually manage turn things around like that..."

Suddenly, Rey fired on the mobile armor, but Neo dodged his shots. "We're withdrawing! Lee, fire the signal flares!"


Heero and Treize were still duking it out with each other, the two pilots trying to get the upper hand on the other. While Treize had the better machine and performance-enhancing drugs, Heero had the experience and the Zero System.

Immersing himself in said system, he closed his eyes, drawing upon every plan the system was feeding him.

Treize saw the machine come to a stop, and grinned. Now was his chance! As he flew in for the kill, Heero's eyes snapped open. He fired the Twin Buster Rifle, but Treize dodged it. Heero stared in shock as the Specter got really close to his cockpit, cannon firing. He could not dodge…

Suddenly, the Strike Raven appeared in front of Wing Zero. The beams struck its shield, sparing both machines any damage. "Are you okay?" Flay asked, not taking her eyes off the Specter.

Heero grunted. "Fine. Get out of the way. This is between me and that pilot. You will only hamper my effectiveness."

"Pest." Treize said, pulling out his beam guns. "I'll destroy both of you then!"

At that very moment, flares were shot from the Girty Lue, signaling their retreat. "Dammit!" Treize said, punching the screen. "Everyone, time to go."

"But I'm not done!" Gai complained as he and Shinn continued to trade blows with his swords and his javelin.

"Yeah!" Auel added as his spear and Shani's scythe were locked in a test of strength.

"I said, it's time to go. Am I clear?" Treize said.

"Okay..." Gai said before he kicked the Impulse in the chest, knocking Shinn back, allowing him to withdraw.

"Yeah yeah, I'm going." Auel grunted as he pulled away from the Forbidden and headed back.

Nearby, the Gaia and the Chaos left their opponents and headed for the Girty Lue.

"This is not over." Treize said to the ZAFT and ORB pilots before raced off, joining his teammates.


The Bridge of the Minerva

"Captain. Bogey-1 and its mobile suits are retreating." Burt reported.

"The Impulse, and the ORB mobile suits are critically low on power while Wing Zero has returned." Meyrin paused for a moment. "We also lost Shawn, Tristan, and Dale."

Talia sighed. "Ship status?"

"Due to the explosions earlier, Engine Number Two and the port side heat sensors were critically damaged." Arthur answered.

"Captain Gladys, we've done enough." Durandal said. "We need to stop and lick our wounds before planning our next move. Plus I can't risk keeping Representative Athha around here any longer."


Constitution

"Fire the signal flares. They are retreating." Aisha said as the crew nodded.

The three flares fired and lit up space as the Wing and Diver headed back to the ship, leaving behind a bunch of Dagger remains.


The Minerva's Hanger

A Short While Later

Heero exited Wing Zero, only to catch sight of Athrun, Cagalli, Flay, and Lord Uzumi waiting for him.

He floated down to their location, but only after he locked down his machine.

"Cagalli." He said flatly.

"Heero!" Cagalli cried as she jumped onto him, hugging him. "It's really you! Where have you been" she asked as she pulled away from him.

"Everywhere."

"How did you survive that blast?" Athrun asked.

Heero just looked towards his machine. Athrun was stunned. "Wow…That Gundanium is really something else." Cagalli murmured as she recalled Heero's story that he had told her and the other members of the Archangel crew back during the first war.

"I must say, if we knew how to make such a strong armor, we would not have to rely on Phase Shift armor." Lord Uzumi noted as he looked at Wing Zero as well.

At that moment, the PLANT Chairman came down as well to greet the most famous ace of the previous war.

"Ah. You must be the Berserker of JOSH-A. Welcome aboard the Minerva. It is an honor to have someone who played such a key role in stopping the last war on our ship." Chairman Durandal said as he extended a hand to Heero. "I am the PLANT Chairman, Gilbert Durandal."

Heero looked at his hand with a hesitant look and suspicion in his eyes, but he then took it. "Thank you. I believe that you are going after those machines still?"

"That you are right about." Durandal replied. "Your help would be most welcome."

"Zero mentioned another war if this is not brought under control." Heero said.

"Yes, that is true. We can't allow that to happen under any circumstances." Durandal agreed. "But I am curious. How did you manage to get in Armory One?"

"I infiltrated ZAFT." Heero replied. "I also kept tabs on the groups after the war, and managed to sneak Wing Zero inside."

"I see, so how long were you undercover?" the chairman asked.

"Over a week, most of it spent in my machine." Heero replied.

"Well then, I would imagine you are in need of supplies. Feel free to make use of the ship. I would show you around myself, but I have my own duties to attend to." Durandal said as he turned to leave. "Perhaps one of the crew could show you around."

"I will." Luna said as she floated up to the pilot of Wing Zero.

"Very well, then." The chairman agreed. "Also, please show them to some rooms. It will be a bit before we can regain our lead on the other ship."

"Yes sir!" Luna said with a salute as Heero noticed the mechanics drooling over his machine.

Athrun also noticed this and spoke up. "If I could make a suggestion, sir?"

"Yes?" Durandal asked.

"Order your mechanics to stay away from Wing Zero." Athrun said.

"And why is that?" the chairman asked as he looked at Heero.

Heero was calm as ever, but he had an ice-cold glare in his eyes. "Wing Zero will self-destruct if anyone tries to enter the cockpit or gets too close and wipe out this ship and the entire crew." He said, making the mechanics jump back.

"I see. Very well, then. No one is to touch Wing Zero without Heero Yuy's permission." The chairman ordered as he left the room.


Captain's Quarters

Captain Gladys was in her room when the Chairman entered.

"I see you are back from the bridge?" he asked.

"Yes, and I was looking over Heero Yuy's data and combat achievements. It would seem that his machine is the real deal." She said as she looked up.

"Yes, that much we have confirmed." Durandal agreed.

Gladys sighed. "What I find unusual is that he is a Natural, yet he can beat even the best Coordinator pilots out there." She said as she looked at the image of Wing Zero in the hanger.

"That machine of his…I believe that it is the key to his abilities, as well as the computer system it has on board." She murmured.

"A machine can only take someone so far. It is really the abilities of the pilot that make the machine formidable. And sometimes nature can make a better Natural that surpasses even the best Coordinator that can be created in the lab." The chairman replied.

He was impressed by the young man's abilities, which included the destruction of the famed Cyclops System and the GENESIS cannon. But all of it came down to his genes, and he was just a mere Natural. That was what it all came down to in the end, and nothing could change that.

Durandal looked back at the image of Wing Zero. This was about to get interesting, that was for sure…


Washington D.C.

President Hilson was in the Oval Office as she read over the reports of a battle that New Juneau had picked up. It appeared the Lord Uzumi, his daughter, and two of their attendants were unable to be contacted, which meant only one of three things.

"They're either on a ZAFT ship, captives of the EA, or dead. But the latter is unlikely, as they would have been killed, then ejected into space, and the ORB ship in the area did not find any bodies or even send a report to us, so that means that the first two options are the most likely…" she murmured.

Looking back at the picture of her family, she walked back towards where the Vice-President was sitting. "We need to get in contact with the ORB ship that was in the area. Can you do that?" she asked.

"I can." Vice-President Young replied. "But it will take some time."

"Just do it. I need to know if Lord Uzumi and his daughter are still alive."

"Yes, ma'am."

With that said and done, all she had to do was wait.


Few hours later

"So that's where Lord Uzumi and Cagalli are." Captain Toth said as he spoke to the President of NASA over the com-line.

"I see. Thanks for clearing that up." President Hilson said.

"Don't mention it." The ORB captain said before he closed out of the communications.

The president sighed as she leaned back in her chair. "Why did Armory One have to be attacked?" she murmured as she looked over at the Vice-President.

"I don't know, but something tells me that this is more than just a mere theft." He replied as he stood up from where he had been leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest.

"You think so?" President Hilson asked as she sat up.

Her vice-president nodded. "I do. If you recall from past experience, this is not the first time such a thing has happened. This is the start of another war."

"Damn it!" the president swore as she slammed her fist down on the desk. "This can't go on!"

"I know, and that is why we need to talk to the Chairman as soon as possible." Vice-President Young said as he looked at the president.

"Agreed…"

When the vice-president left, the president was able to reflect on what brought about the decision.

NASA had recently been sent the data of the Armory One battle from New Juneau, which had not been easy to get, considering the distance of the new colony from the rest of the PLANTs. It had been only thanks to VEDA that the data had been sent to the colony, which had then sent it down to Earth.

Her decision to address this with the chairman of the PLANTs was the only way to try and ensure that a war did not come about again.

She recalled the disaster that was the first war, and her mission that she had undertaken to protect NASA. That had been the hardest thing to do, but she had done it.

Even though the government of NASA had been against her decision, she had managed to get them to see her side of things. Then she had been allowed to send an agent on the mission, which he had pulled off with flying colors.

Still, it was up to her to bring about a peaceful resolution…


Pentagon

Defense Secretary John Keller looked over the data that had been sent to him from the president herself. According to the data and based on past experience, this was just the start of another war.

"So, it begins again…" he muttered softly as he looked out at the massive buildings that made up the capital of the United States. It seemed that his nation could barely stay out of war, even in times of peace.

Yet, it always seemed to be them that also brought about the end to wars that they were involved in. Perhaps the United States could use that it its advantage, if they could that is.

He sighed again. How could his nation ever hope to bring about peace from war if they profited off of war themselves? It just did not make any sense.

"We profit off of war, and yet we desire to bring about peace…just how contradicting can we be?" he mused. It was ironic, and yet everyone in the nation truly desired to bring about peace. A nation that was a powerhouse of both military and economic might, capable of more than profiting off of war, desired peace, which meant no more war, and no more profits.

The alliance needed the money true, but they could get in other ways besides just war, right? If that was true then, why did they still profit off of war? He knew why, and it was because NASA was the biggest arms maker aside from the AEU, which surpassed NASA until a few years ago, when the Executive Order 88742610 had been repealed. Yet NASA was still far from its full strength, which was the downside of such an act.

NASA had put that order into place to restrict their own abilities so that they would not go back to their old war-waging ways, and yet war had forced them to repeal it, and forced them to go back to their old ways of being capable of waging war.

It had all been a failed attempt at becoming truly peaceful. The nation had been in the process of becoming a pacifistic nation, and yet war had forced them to regain their old title of superpower, a title that the United States now despised despite it being their greatest weapon, and their greatest reason to intervene in world affairs in the past.

'War was what forced us to nearly take on a pacifistic nature and become a peaceful nation, and yet war was what also forced us to reclaim the title that we had given up so willingly all those years ago.' The defense secretary thought as he looked back at the flag that was above the five-sided building.

His home nation was now on the path to becoming the strongest nation once more, and it was all necessary, or so he had been told.

Deep down, Keller doubted it really was necessary, because they hadn't been the ones to win the first war. It was the Clyne Faction, not NASA. That was what worried him. He was concerned that the president had become enthralled in and addicted to the lust of power, and the mere possibility of being able to wage war again was possibly making her excited. Yet she did not show any signs of the power lust that were well-known to almost everyone in the government.

"What are you playing at, President Hilson?" Keller murmured.

There was no reply…

The U.S. was determined to bring about peace, but the nation drove itself on war. Why would such a nation want peace? Keller knew the answer, but it was not so simple he knew. The reason the U.S. wanted peace was because they wanted to see all humans be free, free from suffering, and free from hatred. But at the same time, it was up to the rest of the world to change. The U.S. could not force them to change, as it was up to the individual nations and their citizens to change on their own.

Even if the U.S. wanted to force the rest of the world to change, it would still be up to the people to change, not the U.S. forcing them to. As if the nation would go that far anyway…

It was in the American nature to be wanting peace, even if it was at a cost. But what that cost was, Keller wished he did not know.

The U.S. was more than willing to risk its ideals to bring about peace, but not in the way that he meant. What Keller knew was that the U.S. was willing to risk taking on the Earth Alliance and losing in order to try and bring about peace and acceptance of Coordinators.

It was ironic to him. The very nation that was famous in the past, was now infamous in the present. They were infamous for their ideals and acceptance of Coordinator citizens, but in the past, the nation had been famous for their ideals and human rights acceptance. They were called weak by the AEU and other nations that were similar to the alliance now, but back in the past, the U.S. had been called strong for their willingness to work on promoting human rights.

A nation that was once called strong was now called weak, but it was the opposite in the past. The nation had been called weak once, but then was called strong.

Keller could only wonder if the rest of the world considered the U.S. strong or weak. It really did not matter, but what did matter was if they were proving to be an example of how to treat other human beings, regardless of gene enhancement or not.

The idea of treating Coordinators as human seemed to be considered going against the laws of nature, but they were human, despite their origins being different.

Even now, the AEU considered the U.S. rebellious for treating the genetically enhanced as human. But it was not like the AEU had any power over the alliance of NASA anyway…

Still, all Keller could do was hope that the U.S. was setting a good example for other nations to follow. But, as with everything else, that was up to the people to decide…

He closed his eyes and sighed. Like everyone else in the administration, he longed for those days when people had trusted one another, and actually worked with each other to get things done. Back then, the world had been on the road to peace, and they were so close in achieving it, only for George Glenn to bring it all crashing down.

True, the man had not been at fault for what had happened, after all, he had just revealed his secret to try and help humanity, but that had been the start of it. After that, the rest of the world had reacted with such hatred for those people, the enhanced, and the ones who created them. No one had expected that.

The responses had been far worse than when the U.S. had averted the Reconstruction Incident, as the near collapse of HRL member China had become known. Of course, that had been when the planet had had leadership that was actually committed to promoting human rights and peace. People had not rioted in the revelation of China's near collapse. Rather, they had supported the decision the planetary leaders had made back then.

Keller looked out the window, still contemplating on whether the U.S. had the right to react to a near war that was about to begin. True, they are a nation that was affected by war, but given what they had gone through before, he was still unsure if it was the right thing to do.

No one was truly correct on anything or everything…


New Juneau

Aki' floated by the massive windows that marked the center of the colony after NASA's new ship had docked, wondering if Nisha was still out there somewhere. He closed his eyes as he gripped the pendant he had been given by his sister, his scar being all that remained of Nisha's presence. The NAZAFT pilot then drifted by a window, looking out at the vastness of space.

He recalled his fear of killing his own cousin. When he had been in ZAFT in the last war, Aki' had been trying to avoid killing Nisha, but in the end, Nisha died anyway. When the two had moved on from their past hatred for one another, Nisha had admitted that he had been afraid of killing Aki' as well. But then…

Tears began to float away from the Coordinator's face as he reflected on the times he had had with his cousin.

'Nisha…Why did he have to die? He did not deserve that fate…not Nisha, a kind, caring person who had so much to live for…'

Even after the end of the war, Aki' still had dreams in which he saw Nisha's machine blow up and where he could not do anything to prevent it. It made him so mad; mad at Nisha for his sacrifice, mad at himself for not preventing it… He often cried himself to sleep in the aftermath, but even then it was still hard to accept.

The Z.A.M. Gundam had been supposed to survive. It hadn't. Aki' still had the emotional wounds from that day, the day when Nisha had been killed.

Aki' recalled how close he and his cousin had been before he had joined ZAFT. It had been a life that he had never thought would end. But when the tenth anniversary of his sister's death had gone by, Aki' had decided to join ZAFT to get revenge on her killers.

That had been the start of the downfall of that close relationship. In the end, when Nisha had died, Aki' had wished that he had never joined ZAFT. If he hadn't, then Nisha would still be alive, and they would still be close.

Nisha had suffered a brutal death, and all because of his selfish decision to join ZAFT to avenge his sister.


The NAZAFT commander looked out at where the battle had recently taken place. Debris floated around the site, but that was all that was left.

No one had expected a battle to occur so quickly given the fact that peace was expected to last for a few more years before another war broke out. But given the circumstances, there was a likely chance that war would break out sooner than expected.

The fact that several new machines had been stolen by the Earth Alliance from ZAFT bothered her greatly. That meant that ZAFT had gone against the Treaty of Junius Seven. Of course, there was no one to enforce the treaty and make sure that the signers followed it, so it was to be expected.

She sighed. It was just like them, to be neutral on all issues that came up now. She recalled the days when they had been active, or more specifically, what her grandparents had told her that is. What she had been told was that they had once been a great organization that led the world and settled disputes between nations. There had been no need for war with them in charge. But, when they became neutral, all that changed. War became more pronounced, and nations began to distrust one another after George Glenn's revelation. Who knew if a nation or alliance was producing super-soldiers using the techniques that man revealed?

No one could be trusted anymore. The nations of Earth wanted to try and get rid of the genetically enhanced that now existed, for fear of a life of enslavement by them. Naturals hated the Coordinators all because they had abilities that Naturals lacked, all because they were given a better chance at life, all because the Coordinators were given better genetics.

So Naturals claimed that Coordinators were aggressive and mean, that they could defy physics by lifting up a car with hand, that they could leap over a one story building with just three jumps, etc. But what most Naturals failed to realize was that Coordinators were only optimized to bring out maximum growth and potential, not defy the laws of physics and gravity. All that occurred during genetic enhancement was the best of a person's genes was brought out.

People in Blue Cosmos/LOGOs failed to realize that Coordinators were conceived naturally and born naturally. They were not born in tubes, on order, etc. Their genes were just enhanced to give them the best start at life as possible. No Coordinator was made to be a physics-defying superhuman. It was just not possible. There were limits to what even Coordinators could do at their very best.

Looking back at the planet behind the colony, the NAZAFT commander just shook her head. Even now, there were those who wanted to kill as many Coordinators as they possibly could. No Coordinator was safe on Earth. Therefore, that left only the PLANTs as the safe haven for all Coordinators to live in.

She sighed. Her white hair was sign of her being a Coordinator, so she was also a potential target, even with her American citizen status. Even American Coordinators were not safe on Earth, well, outside their home nation that is. Outside the United States and NASA, any American Coordinator was ripe for taking down.

It made her sad as she recalled her brother, a Natural, getting killed all because he had a Coordinator sister. Anyone who had a Coordinator family member, or a Coordinator friend, was also killed, according to Blue Cosmos/LOGOs, because they were now 'impure' humans.

Only those who killed Coordinators were accepted as the 'true humans'. That made the NAZAFT commander sick to her stomach as she clenched her fists. Her home, NASA, was one of only two places that were safe on Earth for Coordinators, and even then they were still targeted.

When would the petty hatred between both genetic types end? After all, they were all human right? That being said, they all thought like humans, breathed like humans, bled red blood like all humans, and ate like humans right? They even all slept like humans!

No one was deemed safe on Earth unless it was in ORB or in NASA, the only two places on Earth where Coordinators could live openly without fear of prosecution. ORB allowed Coordinators in only if they accepted the nation's ideals while in NASA Coordinators were allowed the exact same rights as Naturals, even the sacred right to vote!

That last one made many EA members, mainly the AEU, very upset because that meant that Coordinators would be allowed to hold public office, which was what NASA allowed to happen to piss off the AEU even further.

With Coordinators now holding the offices meant only for the 'real humans' in NASA, the AEU had backed down, which meant that they had avoided an all-out war with the most powerful alliance on Earth.

But still, the NAZAFT commander knew, who knew how long it would be before the EA would make another move?

Time was not friendly to those who challenged it, and that was what the Earth Alliance had done. Now, all NASA could really do was observe and take a side if the need ever arose.

And that the alliance wanted to avoid at all costs…


ORB Union

A male form smirked.

Soon, the assassin would be ready, and he would be able to take the throne like his family had always desired!

He laughed, his laughter unheard by anyone except his father, his maids, and his servants.


The battle ends as the thieves escape, but more issues loom on the horizon. But new issues begin to arise, and NASA finds itself slowly getting drawn in at the forefront. What happens next? Read on to find out~! :3

Anyway, you all know this, but I will put it anyway. Constructive criticism is appreciated as are reviews. Flames, AKA, hate-filled/spamming reviews, WILL be reported and/or deleted depending on if they are signed or not.

Anyway, read and review! ^^