A/n

Okie dokie, Phase 30 is the first tipping point of the Destiny timeframe. My standard disclaimer applies, and I give a reminder that the timeline I have for this story is not necessarily the same and quite often is different. With that out of the way, on with the Phase.

Phase 30: The Shattering of Peace

October 14th, 73 C.E.

-Tyler's pov-

Orb Union

I came to a wakeful state and was almost instantly reminded of how I'd waved the 'white flag' to Sakura's incessant stalking of me last night. Yep, she was still in my quarters, in my bed… honestly, I swear Sakura needs to learn that no means NO, it is not an encouragement! Sakura was still cuddled up against me, no doubt with a smile plastered on her face, even if I can't see it right now. There was one thing going for me at least, my clothes were still on where I had put them, so that means that Sakura didn't cross the forbidden line! Although, I wasn't exactly interested in having this situation, there isn't much I can do about her being here at the moment. I may have threatened to oversee and help with tossing her off the Normandy, but honestly, I doubt even the whole crew working together could do the task, not if Sakura was fighting back and she would.

Anyways, it took me time to get myself out of Sakura's hold, before I went for the bathroom. I know that Lisa at the very least, would understand if I had a feminine scent on me when I came onto the bridge. Heck, I would just have to mention Sakura's name and Lisa would drop the subject as she is aware of my issue with her. However, as my problem with Sakura is what I consider a private affair, I'd prefer to keep it that way, it would be better to not explain why I might smell like I spent a night with a woman when I had little choice in the matter as to what happened. After I cleaned myself up, I put on my normal uniform and then exited quietly out my quarters as to not wake Sakura, I don't want her to catch me and drag me back into my room and have her way.

I headed to the bridge and found crew members at their stations, meaning that they had listened to me saying the Normandy would head out early in the morning. It was quite nice to only have to say things one time and have them followed, it saves stress and frustration. The dock authority soon gave us the go ahead to leave the dock and sail out to open water. The Normandy left port and set its course towards the Republic as our orders told us to do, and from there we would probably head back up to space to resume duties. The journey to the Republic was quiet with no encounters or issues coming up. It was kind of nice to have an easy trip for a change, but as we were traveling underwater as the Normandy had that capability, it was more of a given that the trip would be uneventful.

When the Normandy came into range of Shina, the Republic's military command told us to dock at Teswa R&D. It was kind of odd to be told to dock at Teswa, more so since Sakura is specifically onboard. The policies that pretty much say that outsiders aren't to be allowed inside the complex without express permission from specific levels of authority first was still firmly in place as far as I know. But then, as Sakura is one of the ZAFT champions, that might be the justification, the champions are seen differently than others. Hell, three out of the remaining eight work with and for the Federation Military, while four still are with ZAFT and Sakura is "retired" for the moment. Then there's also a rumor that I've heard, which suggests that Lanus Treize might have begun working with the Federation as well recently, but I've not been able to confirm or deny the rumor.

Lars Paris drove the Normandy into the bay that the valley which led to where Teswa was came out to. As we approached the far wall of the bay, an opening to a tunnel revealed itself and we entered the tunnel, which was a bit tight for the Normandy. Paris proved his skills as a pilot getting the Normandy through to Teswa's interior, most of us on the bridge did clap for him, including myself, for there wasn't a single scratch on the ship and with mere feet on either side for margin and it was impressive piece of work.

After the Normandy was locked into the docking area of Teswa, I dismissed the crew for shore leave, but told them to keep com-devices with them in case something serious came up. The mechanics here took the Aurora off the ship and hauled my mobile suit deeper into Teswa to get the needed work done. However, I didn't feel comfortable not having a mobile suit ready to use at a moment's notice, even if the chances of problems coming up were slim right now. So, to remedy that, I tracked down Carlos to ask him a favor, and when I found him, I did see that he had a ten-year-old girl with him today. "Hey Carlos, good to see you again my friend," I greeted.

Carlos turned and smiled at seeing me, "Tyler, indeed it's been awhile, you're almost a stranger these days. Yet, I applaud the entrance, very neat of you to come onboard the newest ship class. I take it you're assigned to the vessel," he replied.

I shrugged, but was smirking, "Yes, you are correct, I didn't plan it. Don't ask me why or how, I'm still trying to figure out who's bright idea it was to make me a captain AND give me a ship with a better than decent crew. So then," I said, going to my knees and coming to the girl's eye level. "This little lady a new intern Carlos, I didn't know that you recruited so young, though I can't blame you for scoring in the cuteness area."

Carlos went from smiling to beaming as she chuckled a bit, "Oh, maybe someday she will come and work here, that's going to be up to her, I certainly would give her a good reference. But then, with Mira being my daughter and 'daddy's sweet little girl', I have a bias I do admit," he replied.

Oh, so this is the daughter he has often talk and boast about, I can kind of see why now. I focused on the girl, smiled and waved, "Hello little lady, my name is Tyler McGregor and I'm a friend of your dad." She waved back at me but said nothing, I rose back up and looked to Carlos, "My friend, I've come to you to ask a favor." Carlos nodded for me to go on, "The Aurora took a bit of a beating and so, has been taken into the bowels of the complex for repair. Yet, you know me by now, I like to have a machine to work with if the need arises, just in case the worse happens so I can do my thing. I was hoping that the X09A Justice could find its way onto the Normandy, so think you can make that happen?"

Carlos took the time to consider what I was asking of him, before he answered me, "It is my recollection, that the mobile suit that you are referring to belongs to a friend of yours and so, I would think that they would be the one to ask."

"That said friend is responsible for the Aurora being here to get repairs, so I don't see an issue with me borrowing his mobile suit. It's only until the Aurora is good to go," I countered.

I managed to get Carlos to agree to get the Justice on the Normandy. And while the Normandy is docked at Teswa, I thought I could have some R&R before the orders came to head back up to space like the crew is getting. Going back on board to retrieve my things, I found that Sakura had disappeared somewhere, and I wasn't interested in knowing where she had traveled to. I still worry that she might do something that could get her in some way on the Normandy in a more set position that could give her time with me, I wouldn't put it past her. However, I don't have any evidence that can prove that Sakura was up to something, so I have to keep my mouth shut for now. Anyways, I headed back to my house, to check on it and to get some peace and quiet that I don't often get to enjoy. I was thinking I could get a quiet night, which I would love to have as those had been rare for me lately, but no, that wish was slapped away from me and by my mother no less.

Now, don't get the wrong idea, I love and care about my mother, she always makes time for me should I ask. As she's willing to do such for me, I don't usually say no when she requests things of me as she doesn't make many of those. So, when mom called me and asked if I would be willing to do something for her, I said yes without knowing what I was getting into. Only after mom gave me the details, did I kind of wish I had not said yes so readily, for what she requested was an idea that I'm not fond of. I've never enjoyed or liked attending events that are meant to be socializing for high class people, they're usually boring and stupid in my opinion. I had been 'forced' to go to such things when I was a kid, all trusted up in a formal outfit, then endured others, usually women cooing over how 'cute' I looked. Nevertheless, my duties with the military and timing have normally got me out of attending events such the last few years.

However, mom had gotten me to agree to attend a 'party' that was happening tonight. The party itself was one of the bigger events within the Human Federation and is called the "Horizon Jubilee", which is held to remember and celebrate the founding of the Human Federation itself. Every five years the event is held and hosted by one on the member nations and was normally attended by big wig figures from the other member nations and even had attendees from the Alliance and the PLANTs. The event was a good way for dignitaries to talk to each other without others influencing them, and thank goodness, there was no press allowed inside the gathering! This time around was the Republic's turn to host the Jubilee and I know that those who had been organizing and planning the event had been stressing horribly about the whole thing.

So, as I had stated to my mother that I was go to this party for a 'period of time', I didn't have a legitimate reason I can use to get out of attending this. Be that as it may, I refused to wear a suit for it, that left me with my formal military uniform and though I wasn't against wearing the outfit, I don't like wearing if I don't have to, but it's as formal as I get these days. Nonetheless, I knew that there would also be other military personnel at this event, so I wouldn't be out of place in my uniform, meaning that it should work out for me. Yet still, the gathering sounded like a long and boring affair to me like most social events like these and I didn't see a reason why I would enjoy it. So, I put on the blue and black uniform, which the top had been changed from what it had been before, since I'd gotten a promotion. My uniform used to have three gold bars and a star on the shoulder and sleeve cuffs, with a more elaborate looking star on the neck collar. Now to signify me being a captain, I had a fourth gold bar added to the three, still kept the star, but the more elaborate star was replaced by a silver eagle crest.

As I headed for the venue that the Jubilee was being held at, I was silently praising whoever it was that helped arrange Sakura disappearing. If she was still around, then she just might have schemed to pose as my date and that would make an already tiresome event worse. Still, I have to admit, the reactions she would get would no doubt be amusing to view, since Sakura still gives off a cold and scary air to most. Anyways, when I arrived at the place, which happened the Minister's residence, I got out of my car and handed the security fob my car over to the waiting staff member. I did gain a small smirk at seeing the gob-smacked expression on the guy's face as he stared at my car. "As long as she comes back looking like she does now, feel free to take her out for a bit," I said casually, "Rein in the desire to joyride though."

One would think that I had given the guy an amazing gift with the way he bowed to me, I waved he off and made my way inside. The main great room was decked out splendidly, definitely was decorated to impress the guests! Then, one glance around the room, and I could see that a number of high standing people, political and non-political were in attendance tonight. And it wasn't just high standing figures from the Federation that were here, I could pick out a few that were clearly from the PLANTs and even some from the Earth Alliance. Although, this event is to celebrate the creation of the Human Federation, some here have other reasons for attending, like under the table deals, unofficial talks, the stuff that's done off the record type of thing.

I blended in with the other guests here and avoided notice by most, though I did spot some 'oddities'. The first and easiest difference with this event and the last one, there was a good amount of security personnel hovering around, sign of the rising tension as of late. I agree with having such in place, but the amount made it a tad tense for at least some of us here. Second, there were some particular groups that I saw that… stuck out to me, most in non-nice ways and some in clear unpleasant ways. One in particular, which was made up of what looked like crisp business suited men, caused me to wonder and worry. One of the reasons, was that the 'leader' was a younger looking man in his early thirties and the guy gave off a seriously bad vibe. He looked fine, had short grey hair, fair complexion, purplish lipstick for whatever reason, but hey, everyone has their personal quirks. His blue eyes though, what I saw in them even for the short period of time told me a great deal, and I didn't like what I got.

From the bits of conversation that I heard from the group, I was led to believe that they could and likely were members of Blue Cosmos. Unfortunately, that organization and a few others like them have survived the heavy scrutiny that had been happening since the Alliance-PLANT War came to an end. It was the one thing that the Treaty of Junius Seven hadn't covered or dealt with, the groups and organizations that had the rhetoric of hatred and malevolence that caused parts of the war. There were certainly steps taken to make things harder for them after the war, but not to entirely get rid of them. I decided to steer clear of the group, for I'm not interested in interacting with them, me being a Coordinator, the one that pretty much got their previous leader captured, stuff like that would not reflect well for me with them I'd bet.

I made my way towards the other side of the room away from those that were putting off bad vibes. I came into a mix of Equatorial Union dignitaries and Representatives from Orb, which were much better company in my view. There weren't any among the group that I knew personally, but then, I had been working undercover for a time while I had been doing cleanup. It's where some my expertise lies and what got me into the Specialized deplOyment tacticaL Antiphon Squadron. My talent with messing with computer systems in many ways is something else, it's why the Alliance isn't fond of me, even if they aren't aware I'm the one responsible.

Anyways, I gave proper greetings to those around me and that came up to me as I know that my mother would expect me to show good manners, which she taught, or rather drilled into me. After a few minutes, I found myself face to face with a woman that appeared to be about the age of Sakura by my estimations. She had features that denoted that she was from the area directly west of the Equatorial Union's western border. The woman had blue eyes and medium length straight black hair that framed her face and it had a bun at the back. Once she saw that I was looking at her, "Ah, an unfamiliar face," she said before she bowed to me, "Hello, my name is Marina Ismail."

Ismail? I've heard of the name, mostly as in reference to the current head of the Equatorial Union. The nation has a kind of representable monarchy, where the 'royal' is the head of the nation, but also works with its parliament. So, the name Ismail has been gaining a bit of renowned as it belonged to one of those that had been instrumental in bringing the civil unrest in the Equatorial Union to a close and unified the Union again. Yet, I hadn't heard said person was a woman… the things you learn, no?

I returned the bow, "I am Tyler McGregor ma'am, it is an honor and a pleasure to meet one of those who helped stabilize the Equatorial Union. From talking with those that hail from the Union, you are quite the advocate of peace and fight for the people," I replied.

Marina smile, "Oh, you have spoken to some from the Union," she asked.

I nodded, "Yes, during the down times, it's not uncommon for soldiers like myself to tell others about my homeland and they tell me about theirs. Those I've spoken to speak highly of you, Miss Ismail, a few even said that you showed yourself to be a real miracle worker with your part in dispelling the civil problems that were occurring," I iterated.

The woman shook her head, "Oh no, I wouldn't say that I did any miracles, I merely did what I could to help the citizens of the Equatorial Union."

Hmm, she's humble as well, a good package for a leader if you ask me, but I've been spoiled as my mother has been and is what I see the good picture of a leader is. So, I chatted with Marina Ismail for a little while, and found she had come from humble beginnings. She hadn't been born in the Union, but to the west as her physical features display in the area that had been once called the "Middle East" before the Reconstruction War, which is now a part of the Eurasian Federation. Unfortunately, that area of the world is one of the harder pressed and economically ravaged parts of the world, even now a days.

Marina was interested in hearing about the Republic, for apparently, this was the first time that she had come to the Republic itself. She had of course heard stories of the Republic of East Asia, most do along with the Euros Coalition, their many stories about the two founding nations of the Federation. I was even told, that when she was a child, it was stories of Federation member nations were places that all were equal and had the same freedoms that had motivated her through the hard times. I would bet I would've heard more, but then mom came up to where I was, "I had been informed that the group from the Union had arrived, but I had yet to greet you all personally. I hope you are all enjoying your time here, if not, then I have failed as a host and must remedy that," mom greeted.

Miss Ismail turned and faced my mother, "Minister Blass, it's an honor to meet you in person," she greeted.

I watched for a little bit the exchange between my mother and Marina Ismail. However, socializing especially in an environment like this party, is something that tends to bore me. My mother's reputation on political stage is difficult to argue or deny, for she has earned and solidified it over the years. Yet, that reputation also makes her harder to approach by many, though once they meet her in person, they see she's a much easier to get along with. But, as I had made clear some time ago to my mother, I have little to no interest in politics, I didn't listen much to the exchange.

In fact, I snuck away while the conversation went on and move around the room, still avoiding the group that I had spotted before and I noted that others were starting to do so as well. I did get a drink when I got near the food and drink set out for this event. After some moseying around, I came to be in the presence of a person that I knew and certainly didn't expect to meet here. The man that was in front of me, was just under six feet in height and a Natural-type human. His hair was blonde, short and kept neat, and did somehow go with his grey eyes. The man was in his early fifties, though he looked physically a tad younger and had the name of Frederick Algreus. This man was in essence, my boss' right hand and second in command, for he is the other Admiral that was over SOLAS. Honestly, Admiral Algreus was easier to deal with than Admiral Raine is, but I normally get to work with my boss directly, lucky me.

When Admiral Algreus saw me, I saluted, "Admiral Algreus, I didn't imagine I would meet you here sir," I said.

The man returned my salute, "At ease Captain McGregor, no need to be so formal, I'm here due to circumstances," he replied.

Upon further inquiry with Admiral Algreus, I found out that he was around the Republic due to a chain of events that had occurred. There had been personnel that had been identifying high players in the growing turmoil, much like had been done before and during the early stages of the First Alliance-PLANT War. According to the Admiral, he and a few other members of SOLAS were here watching the very group I'd been keeping distance from. Apparently, my intuition had been right on the money with that lot being dangerous in several ways. The 'leader' who was one "Lord Djibril", had been under the microscope of the Federation military, specifically the Intelligence Agency and SOLAS as he was the assumed new leader of Blue Cosmos after Azrael was captured and sentenced.

Our conversation shifted to other things, and I did manage ask Admiral Algreus about the rumor about Lanus Treize. After all, if Treize had sided with the Federation, that would be a huge plus as his tactics and commanding skills have proven incredible and are prized when he worked for ZAFT. Heck, as I stated already, three of the remaining eight champions have done wonders at improving the quality of the Federation military, even if they hadn't meant to. I wouldn't doubt Treize would have a similar effect if not a more powerful one. I was told that, as it happens, the rumor turned out to be true, Lanus Treize had left the PLANTs and then was recruited by Federation High Command. What the man's reasons were for 'retiring' and leaving the PLANTs, I couldn't begin to guess, but no one would hear me complaining in any way to have a tactical genius like him on our side!

After the conversation with Admiral Algreus came to a close, we separated, and I quickly began to think of a way that I could slip out of this party and not be noticed, specifically by mom as she got me here. Nonetheless, lady luck saved me the trouble, but fate also had a hand in me getting out of this event. The 'get out of jail free card' came in the form of Lisa calling me with news that involved me. It's by no means the first time that she has bailed me out of something I was in, one of the perks of Lisa and I being friends. However, what she was calling me about wiped any hint of a smile that I had or had been forming on my face fast.

She told me that a report had come in, along with orders for the Normandy and they weren't nice at all. According to the most recent communication from a number within the Space Fleets, the largest mass that made up the ruins of Junius Seven had broken free of its stable orbit within the debris belt. The rock was now on a course that would have it colliding hard with Earth which would have catastrophic consequences and repercussions if that doesn't change! There was little to no information as to the means that had started this event, for the ruins of the colony shouldn't break the orbit it was in without outside influence. ZAFT already had sent a group to help prevent the mass from striking Earth, using a tool called 'meteor breaker', meant to break up large rock masses. A portion of the Space Fleets had been mobilized to assist in this effort, but the sudden change in movement in the ruin, was still troubling. It implied that there was a group responsible for this and their intent was to do harm to Earth and its inhabitance.

The Normandy was ordered to launch back into space via the Shen Long mass driver and proceed to ruin and assist in its breakdown with all possible speed. The orders and mission are fine, I have no issue with them, but I just have a bad feeling about this turn of events. The timing and means that someone is using, it's more than harsh to the point that it's fanatical and wrong. I told Lisa to recall the crew, even if that cut short the shore leave I'd wanted to give them, but the situation demands action. Then I headed out, got my car, and from there headed back to the Teswa R&D complex to get back to the Normandy.

Within the next hour, the Normandy with all of her crew back onboard, had come down at the Shen Long facility and were being hooked in to use the mass driver. Space boosters were attached to the top center of the wings, which had been shifted to their flat parallel position for launch. Once everything was ready, the Normandy shot down the rails and then was catapulted toward the vacuum of space. When we finished our ascent, we set course towards the coordinates that had been given for the large mass hurdling towards Earth.

-Line Break-

-Neutral pov-

The group of Nazca and Laurasia class ships that had been sent from the PLANTs to break down the ruins of Junius Seven, came into view of the colony remains. The commander assigned to lead this task force, was Nicol Amalfi, while Yzak Joule would be the one leading the mobile suits on the field. Nicol had been apprehensive when he had been told that the ruins of Junius Seven had started moving towards Earth. What was left of the former PLANT-type colony, had been in a stable orbit among the debris belt, there was a select few natural occurring events that would change that and all of them would have been obvious and hard to miss. So, the logical explanation for the change in the ruins' position, was a group had done something to move them and that was bad.

Dearka, who was one of the pilots in this task force, had agreed with Nicol, while Yzak had just said there was a need of focus on the task. But then, Yzak hadn't been pleased when Nicol had been made a commander of this mission. Yzak had been proud of his friend Nicol when he had been promoted to commander, but not that it had come before his own rank of commander had come. Dearka and Miguel Aiman had tried to help solve the issues between the two, heck Dearka had even contacted Athrun Zala and asked for his help with the problem. Nonetheless, with time, the two had come to the understanding that they would agree to disagree upon things, and that had helped to smoothing things between them.

Once in range of the colony mass, Nicol sent out orders for mobile suits to launch out and for the meteor breakers to follow them. Nicol then opened a channel to Yzak, "Yzak, I know you don't entirely agree with my reasoning for the need of caution but keep your eyes open and do be careful. There is still something that feels off about this," he said.

"Okay fine, this will be routine, so there's really no reason to, but if it quiets you down, all of us out here will keep alert," Yzak replied.

Nicol told all the ship captains to stay alert, as this setup was far too suggestive of a trap laid for those that came. It was only a few minutes later that a group of 'GINNs' appeared out of nowhere and started attacking the mobile suits set out. The model of GINN was the newer High Maneuver Type suit that was black and purple in color. It appeared to be armed with a sword, a shield, and a beam carbine rifle to use. The other fact about these mobile GINNs, was that they were quickly proving to be a match, if not slightly outperform the ZAKU pilots that were defending themselves. Dearka could tell fast, that their opponents weren't novices, much more the opposite really, "These guys are no green pilots, there experts!"

Nicol could see that Dearka's observations were valid and didn't need to hear Yzak's cursing to reinforce the idea. The issue was that this attack had brought the operation to break up the ruins of Junius Seven to not only a halt but threw risk of it being thwarted completely. There were a couple of spare meteor breakers carried, but not enough to make another attempt if all the first collection were lost. Nicol considered going out in a mobile suit himself and assisting those out there, but before he decided to do so, the ship's sensor officer reported that the Minerva had arrived on site. Nicol had the com-officer open a channel to the Minerva and he explained the situation to Captain Gladys, asking for their help. Captain Gladys said that she would send out the mobile suits that they had, and Nicol thanked her.

The work to escort the meteor breakers continued, though the attackers made that frustratingly difficult. Nicol was starting to hope that this mission would still end in success, even though there would unfortunately be lives lost as an exchange. However, the appearance of an unknown vessel dampened the hope. The ship looked to be longer in length than a Nazca-class, but shorter than the Alliance's former "Archangel-class". As a matter of fact, as Nicol stared at the ship, there were a number of features that appeared similar to the Archangel. From its linear catapults, to the basic overall structure, even though it looked to have four linear launching catapults, two on the top and two on the bottom. Its bridge tower was around the same place, and Nicol knew that fact as he had gone for the Archangel's bridge tower a few times. The ship was also armed with beam turrets, six in total and likely had an array of missile launchers in it somewhere. The ship was in ZAFT's registry as "Bogey One" identified by the Minerva and had been responsible for the issues around Armory One almost two weeks earlier. As Nicol kept looking at the ship, the more he felt that it would cause trouble, more so with the operation that was going on.

Upon arriving at the place that the Girty Lue had been told to investigate, Neo and the crew of the Girty Lue viewed a most curious scene. Neo found himself looking at what appeared to be ZAFT forces fighting one another, why he couldn't guess. The mass that was the ruins of Junius Seven was moving towards Earth and that was not okay at all! Neo ordered the three mobile suits that were on the Girty Lue to launch out and shoot down ZAFT forces. Right now, ZAFT looked to be threatening Earth and that was unacceptable! Plus, the ZAFT warship that had been pursuing the Girty Lue and had beat them somehow was around as well. A third chance to take down that ship was of interest, and there would be little to no debris that could be used to hide.

The Gaia, the Chaos, and the Abyss headed out from the Girty Lue and zoomed towards the fighting that was lighting up space. While they did, the Girty Lue pointed its bow towards the Minerva and began firing its weapons at the ZAFT warship. This was an opportunity where the Girty Lue had a shot at sinking the Minerva and the Federation wasn't around to interfere at the moment. Until they showed up, and Neo didn't doubt that they would at some point, there was less to cause problems.

-Line Break-

-Tyler's pov-

The sight of the huge chunk of what had been Junius Seven, brought home the real importance of this mission. Signs of battle being waged around the mass brought on a sense of urgency, for it confirmed that a group or multiple groups were to blame for this situation. Of course, order for mobile suits to launch were given and they went out, but from them it was also learned that the fight was more complicated that first impression said. By what was being sent back, two groups of ZAFT mobile suits were fighting one another, one larger than the other. The larger group was also at the same time, setting and deploying the meteor breakers while the smaller group was using new model ZAFT mobile suits to harass them and picking them off, thereby preventing the meteor breakers from doing their job. There was also the Minerva here and the unclassed Alliance vessel, adding to the mix that this situation was becoming.

So, it wasn't difficult to decide whom the help was to be given to and who it was that would find themselves in a worse situation. However, as this is such a serious problem if things don't change soon, High Command had apparently authorized the use of new mobile suit models. The new suits were kind of similar to the Excel Fighter, but I wouldn't doubt they can outperform them in a few ways. Plus, the majority of them had different equipment than the others, in the form of two high-energy beam cannons mounted on the backpack section. The new models were mostly for use by special forces within the Mobile Suit Core, I would assume and they were called the ZEL Defender.

The Federation forces moved in and began defending those working on deploying the meteor breakers. I myself, left Lisa in charge of the Normandy and headed down to the hanger, for I wouldn't stay out of this battle, not with Earth's wellbeing in the balance! Granted, I didn't have the Aurora, but I'll use the Justice, even though it doesn't fit my usual fighting and piloting style, I'll do what I have to. Athrun wouldn't mind me borrowing the machine and putting it to a good use, I personally guarantee that. Chief Volyon had taken having a different machine than the Aurora in stride, the man hadn't even batted an eyelash, just grunted and got to his work. So, the Justice was ready to go out and I merely sail across the hanger and to the remaining mobile suit's seat.

I pressed the button that lowered the seat into the cockpit and shortly afterwards the cockpit closed and sealed. I got down to bring the machine's operating system up, refreshing myself on the arsenal and systems that the Justice had to work with. The mobile suit excelled at tactics and mobility, and where mobility is something I do like and use, tactics that utilize multiple pieces isn't my strong suit. I can manage that if a situation requires such, but I tend to be better with stealth, mobility, and precision striking. I finished my refresher course by the time the Justice was moving into the airlocks to the linear catapult. When the Justice came to launching position, I was ready and itching to get out to the battlefield. The launch signal came shortly and I gripped the flight controls, "Tyler McGregor, Justice, heading out!" I zoomed off, deploying the Justice's Fatum-00's wings after I was clear of the Normandy.

The viewed the field in front of me, I could see that allied forces were defending against the rogue ZAFT force and the Alliance forces from interfering with the meteor breakers. Also, another difference with the new model Federation mobile suits, there were a few that were tan and orange, while the rest were two shades of blue. The ZEL Defenders were doing well against the GINNs, taking them by surprise using their beam rifles in their saber mode, which makes the rifle into a long beam saber. Wasting no more time with watching, I flew forward towards the nearest rogue ZAFT mobile suit, aiming my beam rifle. I pulled the trigger and hit one of its thrusters, cutting its mobility down an amount. I used the time that the GINN took to notice it had taken a hit and then identify the responsible party, to eliminate the majority of the distance separating us. Storing my beam rifle, then drew one of the beam sabers and ignited it as I rushed towards my target.

The GINN had just enough time to draw the sword it had and block my beam saber, but I forced them back with the forward momentum I had. I used my beam saber to shove my opponent back, before rushing forward, spinning out of the way of the blade swung at me. Using my beam saber, I sliced through the mobile suit's torso like a hot knife through butter, then quickly moved away from the machine. Both halves of the mobile suit exploded and I moved on, firing the Fortis beam cannons at the other trouble making GINNs.

However, as I focused my attention on the newer GINNs that were interfering with the operation to break up this mass hurdling towards Earth, I was forced to evade incoming beams. When I turned to see who it was shooting at me, I saw one of the stolen ZAFT mobile suits that had been encountered around Armory One. It was the blue and white one specifically, the Abyss if I recall the name that Talia Gladys mention correctly. Now what the problem making Alliance force was doing around here, I couldn't begin to guess, nor would I really care normally. Honestly, it's very possible they are here to stop this event and simply have their eyes crammed so far up their a**es, that they can't see we're doing the same damn thing! Whatever their reason, they were NOT helping in any way to prevent half of Junius Seven from falling to Earth.

Taking in the scene, I spotted the green machine, the Chaos I think, taking on the blue and white suit that had been pursuing the stolen mobile suits out of Armory One. The black one was fighting a red ZAFT ZAKU, which just left the blue machine, which was facing me. A white ZAKU Phantom was also entertaining the Alliance mobile armor from before. I took out the Justice's beam rifle and started my approach of the Abyss, who was shooting its arsenal at me as I drew closer. Although the Abyss had more beams and weapons in general than the Justice, the Justice had far better mobility. It meant, as the phrase goes, no matter how powerful the weapon, it is useless if you can't hit your target with it. It quickly became clear to me, that the pilot of the Abyss was getting frustrated that he hadn't hit me, for his efforts were getting worse, not better, the classic problem of letting your emotions get the better of you in battle. After I'd closed more than half the distance, I set the Justice's shield in front of me and put on a burst of speed, at the same time, the Abyss fired its multi-phased beam cannon. Instead of moving out of the way, I blocked the beam with my shield and kept surging forward ever closer to the Abyss.

Eliminating the remaining distance, I thrust the Justice's shield forward against the multi-phase beam cannon emitter. The effect was near immediate, the weapon gave off a short but hard bang and ceased firing. I pulled back a short way and noted that the Justice's shield had taken damage from my maneuver, the shield structure was still overall what it was supposed to be, but the top layer had warped to a degree. However, upon looking ahead of me, I saw that the Abyss had not only taken moderate damage to the multi-phase beam cannon emitter, but a portion of the torso had taken a beating in the exchange. Then the energy arcing around the beam cannon, said that the multi-phase beam cannon was out of commission for the time being.

Next, I used the Fortis cannons, making the Abyss back up away from me and was going to take out one of the two beam boomerangs that the Justice has to get the opposing suit to pick up the pace. Yet, the Abyss retreated back towards the Alliance vessel, which reminded me that targeting that could get the other two stolen machines to tuck tail and run. So, that in mind, I took aim and let off a volley of the Fortis and beam rifle in the direction of the Alliance ship, even if it was a distance away from where I was. My first shots missed, but I kept up my barrage and it didn't take very long for me to score a hit on one of the beam turrets. The Alliance vessel fell back a bit, and so did its mobile suits, which solved that part of the interference problem.

I turned back to the ruin itself and saw that about half of the rogue GINNs had been destroyed by this point. The new Federation mobile suits showing off that they had superiority in mobility and effective weaponry. I flew into the fray and got down to the work of taking down those who were meddling in this and preventing the necessary breakdown of the rock mass moving towards Earth. The new GINN model might be faster and more agile than the general one, but they still can't match the Justice with its HiMAT mode active. I switched between employing a combination of using the Justice's beam rifle at the same time as an assault by the Fatum-00 was being made with its turret guns and Fortis beam cannons firing at the designated target and combining both beam saber and charging forward and sending the beam boomerangs at my opponent.

My method of attack was either unexpected or just different enough to the GINN pilots that I was fighting against, that it was effective. Needless to say, the rogue group had quickly found itself hard pressed into a defensive stance and not the attacking one they had started with. Yet, if the leader could be found and identified, they could be dealt with and there was a possibility that the other GINN pilots would back off or give up. Of course, it was as likely that all of them would have to be shot down to bring this to an end, but one can hope for a better outcome. It took some time, but I managed to make my way to the one I believe is the leader of this rogue group. I engaged them in combat and was treated to a rant that definitely was towards the top of the ludicrous scale.

"How dare you use our Justice against us! We are doing what is needed and what is right! The Naturals need to be taught a lesson they'll never forget! Justice and necessity demands that they experience the same that they did to us!" Screeched the GINN pilot.

Taking out a beam boomerang in one hand and holding the Justice's combined beam sabers in the other, I threw the boomerang and rushed forward. The GINN evade the boomerangs initial pass, then focused on my frontal attack with the beam sabers and shield. However, the opposing pilot apparently forgot that boomerangs have a tendency to pass by something not once, but twice, the first going forward and the second is the return. And so, the I spotted the beam boomerang on its way back, on course to score a slice on the GINN's right leg if I'm seeing correctly. I pushed the GINN back and moved the Justice away and was satisfied to watch the beam boomerang neatly cut off the lower right leg of my opponent's machine. I caught the boomerang and stored it back in its rack and kept facing the GINN, waiting for it to make the next move.

"Curse you! For the crimes done in the past, my daughter's tombstone must fall! It's the only way that this world will ever change and get on the path to a better future. Can't you see that?! Patrick Zala knew it all along, the only true path for Coordinators was the one he had chosen for us," ranted the pilot.

The last line the man had spouted, had struck me to the heart, for I was opposed to the idea, and it tarnished the good memories of Patrick Zala. Athrun's father should be remembered for the good that he tried to do, not the foolish crap that had come when he had become completely blind. I charged forward again, yet instead of attacking the GINN directly with weapons, I twisted out of the way of the countering sword and got behind the mobile suit. I grab it tightly, and then dragged the GINN down towards the rock mass we had been fighting above. Just before we both crashed into the surface of Junius Seven, I let go and kicked the GINN down into the surface, then landed hard on top of the machine, both pinning it down and imbedding the mobile suit into the rock. I leapt upward, using the Justice's beam rifle to destroy both engines the GINN had, effectively trapping it here in the ruin, before I landed a short distance away from the GINN.

I opened a com-channel to the GINN and gave my opinion of the mentality of this man, "Your 'justice' you claim to have on your side, is nothing more than venomous revenge and that will never be the same as true justice! You are wrong about the path for Coordinators, going forward alone will only end in destruction and darkness! We're all human beings and every one of us deserves a chance to live, no type of human inherently deserves to die. The real Patrick Zala would be disgusted and horrified at what you're doing," I took a breath and kept going, "Although, you falling and burning up in the atmosphere is better than you deserve for what you're attempting to do, yet it will do. You and your comrades are prime examples of humankind's true enemy, for you are hell-bent on murdering innocent human beings of all types to achieve you revenge. None who lived on Junius Seven would ever want the remains of the place they called home to be used to bring down horror, death and destruction. And you shame and dishonor your daughter along with those who lost their lives by doing a stunt like this!"

I took-off upwards and left the man to his fate, watching the meteor breakers activate as I climbed and seeing the ruin split into two pieces. As the two rock slabs moved away from each other and appeared to move in paths that wouldn't strike Earth, weapon fire began hitting both masses. It was the safety net that the Federation had gotten into place when the realization that someone had made Junius Seven start to travel towards Earth. Federation vessels were unloading what they had at the chunks, breaking them down further before they enter the atmosphere. The smaller the rock masses that fell to Earth, would either burn up in the atmosphere or would be hopefully do less damage than they would do before. I scanned around, looking for the Normandy to return so that we could see if there was anything else that could be done.

I saw the Normandy chasing after the two largest chunks that had begun to gain an orange glow as it came into contact with friction from the atmosphere. Putting on a burst of speed and headed in the direction of the Normandy, which was entering the upper atmosphere. Along my way, I caught sight of the Minerva also chasing the chunks of Junius Seven downward towards Earth. The Normandy brought out its positron cannon and fired at the nearest rock and made it smaller as the fragment fell. I came to sail alongside my ship using the Justice's arsenal to blast at what fragments I could hit, while setting the shield in front of me to cut down the heat a margin. The Normandy deployed its ablative gel as it descended lower into the atmosphere and kept firing at what chunks it could target.

Upon looking to the left for a moment, I witness the Minerva with her main wings taken in as she began the descent as well. Both the Minerva and the Normandy using their positron cannons to keep blasting the ruin fragments to make them smaller. We did eliminate the dangerously large fragments nonetheless, it was clear that there would be a number of fragments that would crash down on Earth and those hits wouldn't be pretty! However, the impacts would be less horrid than what it would have been if Junius Seven had stayed as one large mass. Yet, even that fact brought little comfort to me as the Normandy continued its descent through the atmosphere with debris zooming downward towards the planet's surface.

-Line Break-

-Neutral pov-

The event Junius Seven's change in course was observed and watched from many places on Earth itself as the efforts to stop the mass unfolded above. Leaders around the world watched and worried about what could happen if something the size of Junius Seven collided with Earth. The impact alone would be a cataclysm, and what would follow in its wake would be likely just as bad should the large mass strike the planet. Even when the ruin was split into two, it left enough possibility of debris falling to Earth and hitting with great force hanging over the planet's population. All the leaders of the world agreed that the public should be told of the impending disaster that could happen, faction differences were put aside as this threat was faced by all.

The announcements to the public were grave as a danger of this magnitude hadn't been faced since the end of the Alliance-PLANT war. News broadcasts told the truth, uncensored and as was known, the simple fact that the ruin of Junius Seven was hurdling towards Earth in what had been confirmed as a collision course. There were those trying to divert the rock mass' course at the present time, but their chances of success were shrinking. Panic from the masses was marginally contained, but the fear of the inhabitance of the world was evident everywhere.

However, the efforts of those breaking up the ruins of Junius Seven, were not in vain nor too late to prevent a serious cataclysm. The majority of the mass that had been the colony ruins were sailed in paths that would miss colliding with Earth itself. Nevertheless, there were still groups of fragments from Junius Seven that descended down through the atmosphere, especially ranging above and below the equator. After calculations were made as to the general zones of impact, warnings were sent before the rocks began their journey down, and many were evacuated from the estimated impact zones announced. People around the world moved to the shelters that had been built in case of a cataclysm, others watched and held their breath as they began viewing the fragments rain down from the skies.

None were immune to the event, even on the Marshall Islands at an orphanage; Lacus Clyne, Caridad Yamato and Reverend Malchio had listened to the broadcast of what was going on above in space. Caridad and Malchio went about gathering the children up so that they could all proceed to the heavy shelter built under the orphanage. Lacus went looking for Kira, as she hadn't seen him for a bit of time. There were usually two reasons for her not to see Kira during the day; he was playing with a group of the kids, or he had gone out for a short walk. Lacus knew that Kira was worried about both Tyler and Athrun lately. Tyler was still working with the Federation Military and that still held elements of danger with such a job, especially with the ones that Tyler would get. Athrun was actually packed up, much to Cagalli's displeasure so that he could go back to the PLANTs.

Lacus found the one she was looking for on the beach the house was next to, Kira was looking upward at the sky. He did such often at both sunrise and sunset, she joined him sometimes and the pastime was pleasant. However, when Lacus gazed in the same direction, she gasped as she saw the orange lines made from the debris that was falling through the atmosphere. It saddened Lacus to see the clear evidence that the time of peace that had been achieved after the previous war, was coming to its end.

The world was shaken as the first group of fragments that crashed down in the Euros Coalition in the area that the city of Athens and effected the immediate surrounding area. Close to the same time, a collection of fragments struck made a spread across the southern parts of the North African Community and the northern areas of the South African Union, causing damage to a number of settlements. Those areas were but the first to experience the rocks impacting, they were followed by the Atlantic Federation, specifically along its east coast, more the northern half of the coastline. The rain of debris was heavy in the areas of the city of Philadelphia as well as Quebec City to the north. Also, fragment groups from Junius Seven came slamming down in the area of the shared border between the Republic, the Equatorial Union and the Eurasian Federation. And lastly, several fragment collections splashed down in the oceans of the world, mostly coming down around the equator longitudes both to north and to south.

The fragments' impact was only the beginning of their effects to the Earth, for other disasters, both natural and unnatural occurred as a result of the rocks hitting. Tremors rolled out from the impact zones and traveled outward and caused earthquakes and damages to cities a short to moderate distance from the impact zones. Tidal waves and strong tsunamis, typhoons and hurricanes were stirred up from the pieces of Junius Seven that crashed into the oceans. Even after the disasters, the world was left reeling from the effects of the colony pieces coming down on Earth.

Not even a day went by from the time of impact, before Chairman Gilbert Durandal and the other representatives from the PLANTs communicated the wish to be of help and assistance to all of those that had been affected by the falling of Junius Seven. Earth may not have suffered the worst scenario possible, but it had taken a beating and was still reeling and would be for a time going forward. It was generally agreed by most that there were two things that needed to be done to help move on from the event; moving what was left of Junius Seven away from Earth and the long-term recovery from the effects of the fragments striking Earth.

An unofficial alliance between ZAFT, many within the Earth Alliance and the Federation was made for the task of repositioning the remains away from Earth. A group that tended to ally itself with the Federation, known as the Junk Guild, volunteered pitching in by lending use of the device they called GENESIS Alpha. The device was a previous model to the very nuclear weapon used by Patrick Zala during the previous war but was designed for launching ships or large objects extremely long distances. And so, through the combined efforts of those working to move Junius Seven, the colony remains were moved beyond the area that the Federation termed as Lagrange 6.

That left working through the aftermath of the disasters caused by the impact of the pieces of Junius Seven. As promised, the PLANTs sent humanitarian aid to the states of the Earth Alliance and the member nations of the Federation, though the Federation did thank them publicly, even if others did less so or not at all. For some life started returning back to what it had been, while with others, it would never be the same again. And so, the world's course began changing due to one single event, and there were those who were intent to take advantage of the opportunity provided by the event.

Particularly, the man that was known as Lord Djibril decided that it was the perfect time to make the move that he had been planning for a long while. With his influence as the leader of Blue Cosmos with Muruta Azrael out of the way, and a member of LOGO's board, Djibril knew that he could prod the world to shift to demanding that Coordinators be exterminated. Perhaps not right away, but it would get things moving in that direction and that was a step towards the right path and it would be a small success. Djibril could show the patience in obtaining his goals, for that had been the mistake made often by those before himself, moving too fast and being impatient. It was one of the main reasons that things were as they are currently, fools that made haste, get not but waste when all was said and done, yet Djibril would take care not to do such things.

The first step Lord Djibril took, was to use the event of the rain of fragments from Junius Seven by making what happened before the chunks fell public knowledge. In this action, Djibril emphasized the fact that a "ZAFT" unit had started the whole event in motion, even providing photographic and some video evidence to prove his point. All of this was done to manipulate public opinion so that they would cry out for Coordinators needed to pay for what happened. Controlling the public consensus and opinion was the key to both getting what one wanted and keeping yourself from being suspected as long as the manipulation wasn't traced back to the source and Djibril made sure to cover his tracks. The previous war between the Earth Alliance and the PLANTs and ZAFT had gotten respectably close to setting for eliminating Coordinators. So logically, the same idea should have the same chance of success, some tweaking would be necessary, but the obtaining of big goals usually do.

Djibril was satisfied to see that the results of his more in-depth "report" of the colony drop event, was as he wanted. The leaders of the Alliance, especially those in charge of running things within the Atlantic Federation, became enraged and accusatory of the PLANTs and ZAFT. The hatred and fear of Coordinators was being rekindled as Djibril had hoped and as a bonus, Logos would get a fair to good increase in its business. The two years of "peace", profits had not just declined for Logos, it had fell by a problematic margin. As a paramilitary industry, war was one heck of a business driver and provided lots of profit as a result and so it would again.

However, Djibril was disappointed that not even one of the Federation's member nations listened to report of ZAFT being responsible for the recent event. There was no disagreement in the accounting or "mucking of the waters" that could provide a chance to stir up changes. In fact, the news networks which the Federation pretty much ran, were distributing a different version of what brought the ruins of Junius Seven raining down on Earth. It even angered Djibril, but he kept himself calm when others were around. The reaction was a classic display of the Human Federation's famous "Stance of Neutrality". Their high and mighty, more righteous that thou cry, 'the Federation will protect and maintain the ideals and principles we hold, standing united together'. The sediment was quite annoying as far as Djibril was concerned and rather stupid as well.

The stupidity and annoyance of the Federation's mentality had been reinforced during his attendance to the Federation's Horizon Jubilee recently. The party was more an opportunity to broker a few business deals, even when the Federation so rarely agreed or listen to any. It was a frustratingly untapped market that none of his associates or he had managed to get into, though all of them had tried multiple times. It was as a shining pile of gold that was sitting there untouchable and taunting business men like himself. Djibril had not possessed high hopes with the venture, the leaders of the Federation may have been there, but none of them were easily influenced, not even the newest one Marina Ismail, the Equatorial Union's head. Heck, Djibril had even conversed with the "Dragon of the Republic" Ellen Blass, the Republic's standing political leader for the last eighteen years, but the woman had been horrendously stubborn, but annoyingly polite, just shut him down.

Djibril accepted for the moment that influencing and manipulating the Federation was not likely going to happen. Let them keep their stance of neutrality for as long as they wanted, in the end, it would be their undoing. Even now, Djibril gained a smile at the thoughts of the operations already being planned by the Earth Alliance, thanks all to a simple prod in the right direction. The results would be entertaining and satisfying in ways that little had for the last two years.

Phase End

A/n

Alright, closing remarks for this Phase, a few things I want to draw emphasis to from this Phase. The first is actually at the end of this Phase, about Djibril, he hates Coordinators like in canon, but I want to show him as different than Azrael was, yet similar. I picture Djibril as not as good an actor that Azrael was, but more business minded and so has a different kind of patience and persistence. Next, I'm aware that some will say the party scene I had Tyler in, feels like a filler and not contributing to moving the story forward. However, there was a point to that section, mainly introducing Marina Ismail and Frederick Algreus, along with showing that members of Logos do pop up in the open but aren't blatantly obvious. Finally, the other little tidbit that I put in this Phase that some might note, was what I said about Lanus Treize, which will be explained later on. Keep the reviews coming, they are helpful and appreciated, even if they call me out on things that I missed. Peace out until the next Phase!

Ken Wise

Thankfully, you will see that Shinn is different than canon in a number of ways and his view of Orb and the Federation is the first. But, there is much of the story to come, so I won't spoil what is to come.

ChuChewy

Thank you, I have fun writing the scenes with Sakura and Tyler, it gives me a chance to give Sakura a different feel than her cold and intimidating reputation implies.