"Why did I let you talk me into this, Gilbert?" Talia mentally asked herself as she lay in Durandal's arms, the two of them resting after having sex, even though she already knew the answer. The failed pursuit of Bogey One took a lot out of her, and her ex-boyfriend had suggested she take a moment to rest. She agreed, and before she knew it, they were in bed together. She wanted to kick herself for behaving so unprofessionally aboard the Minerva, but at the same time, she felt oddly liberated.

"How's William, Talia?" Durandal suddenly inquired about her son, making her shake her thoughts away as she looked up at him.

"W-William?" she stammered, briefly taken by surprise by the chairman's question before regaining her composure. "Oh, he's fine, Gilbert. I had been making arrangements to bring him to Armory One, but after everything that's happened, I'm not sure that's a good idea anymore."

"We live in dangerous times, Talia," he cryptically replied, reflexively reaching out to tuck a loose strand of hair behind her ear, flustering her. "I'm sure it would be safer for him to be with his mother in a military colony than without her in the homeland, especially now that he's without a father."

Talia frowned at the mention of her late husband, but before she could say anything else, the sudden blaring of her cabin's communication terminal cut her off. Rising from her bed, she picked up her robe and began putting it on as she answered the call, setting the terminal to sound only so no one would see her or Durandal undressed.

"What is it?" she asked.

"Captain, I have the Supreme Council on channel one for Chairman Durandal," Meyrin replied, her professional tone tinged with urgency.

"Hmmm…" Durandal hummed with seeming disinterest as he got up and covered himself, though his mood would quickly change when he heard the council's report.


"WHAT DID YOU SAY!?" Cagalli exclaimed in horror at what Durandal told her in the Minerva's meeting room, her grogginess from being suddenly woken up now completely subsided. "Junius Seven is in motion!?"

"And what an amazing coincidence that you and Athrun came aboard to see this, princess," Durandal thought to himself before he answered Cagalli's questions. "I have no idea how this has happened, but what we do know is that the largest fragment of Junius Seven is moving towards Earth, and quickly."

"How could this happen?" Athrun rhetorically inquired, troubled by something disturbing the place where his mother died. "I thought Junius Seven was supposed to maintain a stable orbit around Earth for at least a century."

"Perhaps it's a collision with a meteor or some other external factor," Durandal dismissively remarked before getting to what mattered. "In any event, what we do know is that it's headed for Earth."

"What's going to happen if it falls?" Cagalli nervously asked, her hands becoming clammy with fear as she realized how endangered her friends, family, and homeland were.

"I think we both know what will happen if that colony strikes Earth, princess," Durandal explained. "However, the PLANTs are devoting all their energies to stopping this crisis and figuring out what caused it. I apologize for involving you in yet another situation, but the Minerva will be heading to Junius Seven as soon as the necessary repairs are completed."

"But of course! After all, we're the ones who are gonna-" Cagalli began to reply before catching herself on her poor choice of words. "Ah… I mean, this matter concerns us as well. If there's anything I can do to help, please, just ask!"

"I understand how you feel, princess, but please, remain calm," Durandal chided. "Rest assured that if the need arises, we'll be more than happy to accept your help."

Athrun remained silent, but couldn't help but feel sorry for Cagalli and the situation she had been placed in. Like it or not, Orb, and by extension the rest of Earth, was in peril, and the only people they could rely on right now were the PLANTs and ZAFT.

"It may prove difficult, but we are trying to contact Orb so you can communicate with your homeland, Chief Representative," Talia commented. "We're also trying to arrange for a ship to come pick you up as soon as possible."

"Thank you, Captain," Cagalli gratefully replied, trying to contain her anxiety over the looming threat of Junius Seven.

"We shall keep you informed if we hear from Orb or of any further developments," Durandal assured Athrun and Cagalli as he rose from his seat, thinly smiling. "In the meantime, however, I'd advise you to return to your quarters and get some rest."

Saying nothing else, Cagalli nodded, got up, and with Athrun following her, walked out of the meeting room, with Durandal and Talia leaving soon after.


"But how did Junius Seven start moving?" Vino, one of the Minerva's mechanics, asked Shinn, Lunamaria, Rey, Meyrin, and Yolan as the six of them sat in the ship's lounge and discussed the reports of Junius Seven falling to Earth.

"Maybe a meteorite hit it," Yolan answered, unsure of what else it could be.

"But is the colony really on a collision course with Earth?" Shinn inquired, still not completely believing what he heard.

"Yeah, that's what I've been told," Meyrin answered, eliciting a sigh of annoyance from her sister.

"Goddamnit, first the raid on Armory One, now this!? What the hell is going on!?" Luna rhetorically asked in frustration, her mind mulling over potential solutions. "Okay, if Junius Seven is falling, what can we do to stop it?"

"Just break it up," Rey nonchalantly answered, drawing everyone's attention towards him. "Listen, Junius Seven is too big to be returned to its original orbit. Therefore, if we want to lessen the damage it will cause, break it up.

Shinn remained silent as he considered Rey's idea. While he bore little love for Earth or Orb, he'd still grown up around Naturals and was not keen on seeing them die.

"But it's huge!" Yolan observed. "Even if you break it in half, that's still eight kilometers!"

"Yeah! And how do you even smash something that big?" Vino added.

"And what about the victims buried there?" Meyrin sadly remarked.

"That's irrelevant," Rey pragmatically countered. "If Junius Seven hits Earth, we could be looking at an extinction level event comparable to the one that wiped out the dinosaurs."

Rey's comparison silenced everyone in the room as they tried to process what he said. Eventually Yolan said something in an effort to diffuse the tension.

"Oh well, if it's meant to be, it's meant to be," he darkly joked, drawing a dirty look from Luna that didn't dissuade him in the slightest. "But hey, look at it this way, if Earth goes, things will be a lot less difficult for us on the PLANTs."

"HOW COULD YOU SAY SUCH A THING!?" Cagalli indignantly screamed as she and Athrun entered the lounge, the two of them having eavesdropped on the conversation until she heard the now flinching Yolan make light of the world's impending destruction. "'IF IT'S MEANT TO BE!?'"

Rey, Luna, Meyrin, Yolan, and Vino reflexively stood and saluted Cagalli as she continued her tirade, while Shinn turned his head away in contempt. For his part, Athrun, having failed to dissuade Cagalli from getting angry, silently stood next to her in case things came to blows.

"Do you not understand what will happen to the Earth if Junius Seven hits it!? How serious this is!?" Cagalli continued to admonish while Shinn's anger slowly rose to a boiling point. "Do you know how many people are going to die!? Do you know what you're saying!?"

"I'm sorry…" Yolan meekly said, though it did little to stem Cagalli's outrage.

"Is this what people from ZAFT really think about Earth!?" she asked, drawing Shinn's gaze back to her. "We all suffered in the war that destroyed Junius Seven! I thought things were changing under Chairman Durandal's leadership, or are you just going to keep adding fuel to Blue Cosmos's fire!?"

"That's enough, Cagalli," Athrun said from behind as he gently grabbed her arm, wanting to take her back to their room before things got worse. Unfortunately, things had already gotten worse.

"Yolan was just kidding, you know," Shinn derisively told Cagalli, unwilling to give her any leeway, even if he thought his friend went too far. "Or has Orb forgotten what a joke is since I left?"

"How dare you!" Cagalli said as she tried to walk towards Shinn, only for Athrun to tighten his grip on her arm.

"Shinn, you better watch what you say," Rey half-heartedly warned.

"Yeah, you don't need to be so hostile towards Athrun and Cagalli just because they're from Orb," Luna added, having become fed up with her friend's attitude.

Shinn heard his friend's words, but was too caught up in his vendetta against Orb to drop the matter. "Oh, I almost forgot, she's some sort of VIP," he snarked, a cruel smile appearing on his lips. "A princess of Orb, right?"

"What the hell is your problem with me!?" Cagalli snapped, uncaring of Athrun's grip on her arm or how she looked as a head of state right now.

"Enough of this!" Athrun yelled as he forcefully pulled his girlfriend behind him and turned his attention to Shinn. "I will not let you provoke the Chief Representative of Orb into a trivial fight!"

"'Trivial!?'" Shinn indignantly barked as he walked towards Athrun and Cagalli, his smirk giving way to an expression of rage at Athrun's choice of words. "You don't get to call what happened to my family 'trivial.' They all died because of the Athhas! My parents believed in Orb's ideals, but in the end, they and my sister were killed at Onogoro! I will never forgive the Athhas for what I lost, nor will I ever listen to their self-serving bullshit again!"

Cagalli felt the world shrink to the Minerva's lounge as she processed Shinn's words, a multitude of emotions going through her head. Regret, guilt, sorrow, but most strongly of all, rage. Perhaps Orb couldn't save everyone, perhaps her father should've done more to deter the Earth Alliance, and perhaps, as head of state, she needed to be the bigger person, but right now, she would not, she could not, let this stand.

"How dare you…" she whispered, tears welling in her eyes, futilely trying to suppress her fury before giving up. "HOW DARE YOU! HOW DARE YOU SLANDER MY FAMILY AND COUNTRY!"

"Cagalli, knock it off!" Athrun tried to admonish as he turned to face his girlfriend, his ears ringing from her scream, but she wouldn't have it.

"Shut up, Athrun!" she angrily insisted before pushing him aside and directly facing Shinn, who was taken aback by her reaction. "YOU THINK MY FATHER DIDN'T TRY TO SAVE EVERYONE!? YOU THINK YOU WERE THE ONLY PERSON WHO LOST FRIENDS AND FAMILY AT ORB!? I HAD TO WATCH AS MY FATHER REMAINED BEHIND TO PREVENT THE EARTH ALLIANCE FROM PLUNDERING OUR COUNTRY, A DECISION THAT COST HIM HIS LIFE!"

Now it was Shinn's turn to be left speechless, not expecting a head of state to react in such a way. While his hatred for Cagalli remained unchanged, a weak feeling of sympathy entered his head, confounding him. Gritting his teeth and clenching his fists, he began walking towards Cagalli again, only for Athrun to put himself between them again.

"Back off, right now," Athrun warned, clenching his own fists in case they came to blows. Instead, the young redcoat, tears welling in his own eyes, walked past them and left the room.

"Hey Shinn, wait up!" Luna called as she ran after him while Rey gave an apologetic nod to Athrun and Cagalli before following her.

Now that the situation was seemingly resolved, Athrun turned to face Cagalli, who had wiped the tears from her reddened eyes.

"Come on, Cagalli, let's go back to our room," he gently told her, which she nodded to in the affirmative as he took her hand and led her out of the lounge, both of them hoping no one else heard or saw that altercation.


"Come on, Shinn, talk to us!" Luna insisted as she and Rey followed Shinn to the bunks, ignoring the curious looks of the crewmen they passed by.

"Leave me alone!" he snapped back without breaking his pace, frustrated by his conflicting emotions.

"Luna, you're not going to get Shinn to open up if you keep needling him like this," Rey observed as the three of them entered the bunks, making her turn around and give him a frustrated glare.

"Whose side are you on, Rey!?" she rhetorically asked, to which he responded by uncharacteristically raising his hands in appeasement, before turning back around to Shinn, who had thrown himself onto his bunk, back turned to her and Rey, and pulled Mayu's phone out of his pocket. "Shinn, I understand that Cagalli being on the Minerva is bringing back painful memories, but she's right. You're not the only person who lost family that day, and it's not fair of you to take your grief out on her."

Hearing this, Shinn put away his sister's phone, turned around to face Rey and Luna, and sat up. "You don't get it, Luna!" he angrily retorted, making her flinch. "The Earth Alliance attacked Orb with mobile suits they helped them develop! If they hadn't done that, my family might still be alive!"

"You don't know that, Shinn," she gently replied before crouching down to meet him at eye level, her sudden closeness flustering him. "And I don't think they'd want to see you acting this way."

"You don't know what you're saying, Luna," he maintained as he looked away, even though her words had taken root in his head.

Luna was about to say more, but was interrupted by Rey placing his hand on her shoulder.

"Come on, Luna, you've said enough," he politely insisted. "Shinn needs some space right now."

"Fine, but we're going to have a talk about this," she said with an exasperated sigh before getting back up. "We're here for you if you want to talk, Shinn, don't forget that."

Shinn silently nodded at Luna and Rey before they left the room, after which he curled back on his bunk, picked Mayu's phone up, and scrolled through the photos she had taken to destress, but his friend's words remained in the periphery of his thoughts.


Cagalli initially felt justified about screaming at Shinn while she and Athrun went back to their room, only to quickly realize she had acted in a way unbecoming of the Chief Representative of Orb. At the same time, though, she felt like admitting she had been wrong would be an admission that Uzumi had also been wrong. By the time she and Athrun got to their room and went in, she didn't know how to feel.

"Athrun, I'm-" she began to say before being cut off by her boyfriend turning around and holding her tight.

"It's okay, we're alone now. You can let it out," he told her, too keenly aware of her pain to be angry at how she treated him.

At first, Cagalli tried to finish what she was going to say, but all that came out of her mouth were pained cries. Eventually, she gave up, buried her head in Athrun's shoulder, and started crying while he comfortingly stroked her hair.

"It's not right! IT'S NOT RIGHT!" she sobbed out of grief, not only for her father, but for everyone else she lost in the war. "My father, Asagi, Juri, Mayura, and everyone else who died gave their lives to protect Orb and its people! Was that all for nothing just because they couldn't save everyone!?"

"No… no… it wasn't for nothing," he gently assured her while trying not to think about the friends and family he had lost. "But it's as you said, we're not the only people who suffered during the war."

Between her tears and Athrun's reassurances, Cagalli couldn't help but think of the lesson her father imparted upon her. He who kills will in turn be killed in revenge, creating a cycle of violence and vengeance. Even now, two years after helping stop a war that nearly escalated into the mutual destruction of the human race, that cycle seemed to remain nigh unbreakable.

"I know," she muffledly replied, her frustrations still present. "But how can we fix anything if people won't understand each other?"

"We both know that doesn't matter," he calmly insisted, being painfully reminded of his own father, whose final words weren't about his son or his late wife, but of his belief that Naturals needed to die for the Coordinators to live. "All that matters is to keep living to honor the people we've lost, and to keep fighting so more people don't have to join them."

Hearing what she told Athrun at Jachin Due being paraphrased back at her, Cagalli looked up at him, taking him by surprise with her tearful smile.

"You've really learned, haven't you?" she teasingly asked, her attempts to lighten the mood eliciting a warm smile from her boyfriend.

"Well, I learned from the best," he teased back as he wiped the tears from his girlfriend's eyes, after which he led her to the room's bed. "I'm not sure if it's even the same day anymore, but it's certainly been a long one."

Nodding in agreement, Cagalli smiled and climbed onto the cot. Right before Athrun went to sit on the chair in front of the bed, though, she suddenly reached and lightly grabbed his hand, stopping him in his tracks.

"Please keep holding me," she softly requested, making his heart skip a beat.

"I-It's a single person bed, Cagalli," Athrun stammered, half-heartedly trying to think of a reason he could politely turn her down.

"I'll give you as much space as I can," she insisted. "And more importantly, with everything that's happening, I just want to feel something good."

Realizing he wasn't going to win this fight and that he also needed a moment to not think about what could be the end of the world, Athrun simply nodded and climbed into bed with Cagalli, who immediately wrapped herself around him, both of them feeling comforted by their shared warmth as she fell asleep in his arms. For the better part of an hour, Athrun tried to join Cagalli in slumber, but despite his best efforts, he couldn't stop thinking about Junius Seven and the powerlessness he felt when he watched its destruction three years ago. While the desire to never feel powerless again had caused him to make numerous bad decisions, the most painful consequence of which was nearly killing Kira, his best friend, he realized he had to do something. If not for himself, then for Earth, for Orb, for Lacus, for Kira, for Cagalli, and, perhaps most importantly, so that the place where his mother died didn't become a worse weapon than the nuke which killed her.

Slowly removing himself from Cagalli's embrace so as not to wake her up, Athrun then climbed out of their cot, after which he gave one last glance to his girlfriend, memories of the destruction of Jachin Due suddenly flashing through his head.

"STOP RUNNING! The hardest battle… is to keep living!" she had cried out to him, dissuading him from staying behind to die with GENESIS.

"I'll come back to you, Cagalli, I promise," he softly whispered to her before leaving the room and making his way to the Minerva's bridge, Durandal immediately noticing him as the bridge crew picked up the Voltaire and the Rousseau, the two Nazca-class vessels which had been sent ahead to place meteor breakers on Junius Seven, on their sensors.

"Something the matter, Athrun?" Durandal inquired, somewhat genuinely surprised to see him on the bridge.

Athrun politely nodded at Durandal before turning his attention to Talia, who had swung around when she heard his name being mentioned.

"I know how difficult this might be, but I'd like you to lend me one of your mobile suits, Captain," he requested, much to Talia's chagrin.

"Difficult is right," she replied. "Do you really think I can let a foreign civilian pilot a mobile suit under these circumstances?"

"I understand, but I can't just stand by and do nothing," he tried to reason. "Please, are there any machines I can use?"

Trying to avoid an international incident, Talia was about to double down on her refusal, but was interrupted by Durandal before she could say anything. "I'll allow this as a special case on my authority," Durandal intervened, taking the captain by surprise.

"Are you sure about this, Chairman!?" she asked, trying to hide her irritation at her authority being overwritten.

"This is a noncombat situation, and with what could happen if we fail, the more machines that are piloted, the better," Durandal argued. "And you must know how skilled a pilot Athrun is."

"Fine," Talia relented as she turned back to Athrun, realizing she wasn't going to win this argument. "Athrun Zala, report to the hangar immediately!"

"Yes, ma'am!" he sharply replied with a salute, slipping back into his old military discipline before departing to the hangar, allowing Talia to give her thoughts to Durandal.

"Chairman, I understand your reasoning, but as captain of this ship, I would appreciate you respecting my authority and judgment more often," she respectfully requested, eliciting his characteristic thin smile.

"My apologies, Captain," he replied, the tone of his voice leaving her unsure of his sincerity, but there were more pressing matters to attend to.


Lacus contentedly smiled as she watched Kira tutoring the older children, as she was wont to do whenever she completed her chores before he concluded classes for the day. When they first moved into Malchio's home two years ago, Kira had been depressed and withdrawn, spending most of his time wandering the island, reluctantly babysitting the children whenever Malchio was away, and occasionally leaving the island to visit his parents, with Lacus accompanying him. It was understandable, of course, on account of being haunted by the friends and comrades he had lost during the war, but as his partner, it pained her to see him suffering so much.

As a result, when Kira came out of his shell and began actively helping Malchio educate the children last year, she was overjoyed, a sensation that only intensified when he started teaching the older children how to program. He had told her how much he hated using his computer knowledge to program mobile suits during the war, so it pleased her to see him imparting what he knew to young minds, who would hopefully use what they'd learned for peaceful pursuits.

Having gone through the basics with his students, Kira decided he needed to demonstrate advanced programming to them before they did it themselves, and Lacus had graciously loaned him Mr. Pink, who was now hooked up to his laptop, for this purpose.

"While Mr. Pink appears to be a simple robot, in reality, he and the rest of Lacus's Haros are programmed with hundreds of commands that allow them to talk and move," he explained as he scrolled through the list and disabled one of the commands. "For example, I just turned off the command that lets him jump. Mr. Pink, would you please try jumping?"

Having grown antsy as a Haro could be from being forced to stay still, Mr. Pink tried to jump off the table Kira put him on, only to find that his movements were limited to rolling around.

"Damnit!" he exclaimed, eliciting giggles from Lacus and the children while Kira blushed from embarrassment over having forgotten to turn off his cursing, after which he toggled the jump command back on.

"And now it's back on, so would you please try again, Mr. Pink?" he asked the Haro, who obliged by jumping in place. "So, any questions?"

Kira smiled when he saw several of his students raise their hands, an expression that grew wider when he saw that Lacus also raised her hand. While he was going to pick one of the children over her, he always appreciated her interest in his area of expertise.

"Lacus! Kira! Please come down here!" Malchio uncharacteristically yelled from downstairs, drawing everyone's attention to the doorframe.

"Coming, Reverend!" Lacus immediately replied as she powerwalked out of the room and down the stairs, concerning Kira.

"I'll be right back, kids," he assured his students before making his way out and going downstairs, where he saw Lacus, Malchio, and several of the other children watching a breaking news broadcast on the TV. Coming to a stop next to Lacus, he joined them in watching it, his heart sinking at what he heard next.

"We now have confirmed reports that Junius Seven, the agricultural PLANT destroyed on February 14th, 70 CE, has, by currently unknown causes, been pushed out of its orbit and is now moving towards Earth," the anchorman professionally announced, his fear only betrayed by the sweat glistening on his brow. "Governments around the world are advising citizens to evacuate coastlines and urban centers and to seek shelter where they can. This is an unfolding situation, and we will provide further updates as they come in."

A multitude of emotions coursed through Kira's head as he took this information in, fear and horror being chief amongst them. Simultaneously sensing her partner's terror and needing a source of comfort for herself, Lacus reached out and took Kira's hand in hers, somewhat putting him at ease.

Rising from his seat, Malchio, despite his blindness, turned to face Kira and Lacus, regarding them with a serene expression completely at odds with the situation they all found themselves in.

"Kira, Lacus, I need you to help me get all the children together, after which we'll make our way to the nearby bunker," he calmly instructed, reluctantly ignoring the concerned murmurs of the children around him. "Do you understand?"

"Yes, Reverend," Lacus firmly replied, tightening her grip on Kira's hand as she turned to him. "Come on, Kira. We'll get Birdy and the Haros as well."

Too shocked to speak, Kira simply nodded in response before following his partner back upstairs, where his students were still seated. "Children, please go downstairs right now," Lacus instructed, not wanting to startle them as they looked at her and Kira with curious expressions. "Reverend Malchio will explain everything."

Murmuring amongst themselves, the children got up from their desks and moved past Lacus and Kira, quickly leaving the two of them and Mr. Pink alone in the room. Lacus then went to retrieve her robot, but was stopped by Kira refusing to move or let go of her.

"Kira?" she concernedly asked as she turned around to face him, letting out a small gasp as she saw that he was on the verge of tears. "Oh, Kira…"

"There's going to be another war, Lacus," he mournfully told her, having already come to the conclusion that Junius Seven's orbit being destabilized wasn't an accident or some freak occurrence of nature. "I just know in my gut that this will lead to a new war."

"You don't know that, Kira," she tried to console him as she walked up and wrapped her other arm around him, having already pieced together what he meant. "And even then, that doesn't matter right now. What matters is making sure we all survive this."

"I know, but I'm scared," he replied as he returned her embrace, her touch being the only thing keeping him sane at the moment.

"I'm scared too," she admitted before putting on her brave face. "But I also know there's nothing we can't do if we're together, so let's be brave for the children."

To punctuate her point, she then softly kissed him on the cheek, giving him the strength he needed to keep going as he felt energy return to his legs.

"I will," he calmly promised her before ending the hug and retrieving Mister Pink, after which they collected Birdy, the other Haros, and any remaining children before going back downstairs, where Malchio explained the situation before they all gathered supplies and made their way to the bunker.


"Well damn," Neo thought to himself as the Girty Lue approached Junius Seven, thankful that his mask hid his concerned expression from the rest of the crew.

As expected, the Alliance Council had been less than pleased about Phantom Pain's unsanctioned operation against ZAFT, but, as the closest ship to the falling colony, their court martial had been delayed so they could investigate. Hopefully, this would buy Djibril time to negotiate lenient treatment for them once this was all over.

"Assuming there's even an Earth left after this," Neo darkly mused before turning his attention to the situation at hand. "Helmsman, report,"

"Sensors are picking up two Nazca-class vessels and at least several ZAFT mobile suits in and around Junius Seven, sir," the crewman replied. "We have visual now, sir. Magnifying."

"Could ZAFT be trying to push Junius Seven into Earth?" Ian inquired, quick to assume the worst from anything involving Coordinators. Neo, however, was less certain. Silently observing the zoomed in footage, he quickly noticed what appeared to be a GINN High Maneuver Type II destroying a GuAIZ R before dodging a shot from a green, red, and sandy brown-colored mobile suit he immediately recognized from his gene donor's memories as the GAT-X103 Buster.

Seeing what seemed to be a battle unfolding, Neo immediately began deducing what was going on. As much as the rest of his compatriots might like to think, his gene donor's influence told him that the PLANTs wouldn't have anything to gain from destroying Earth. Therefore, it was more likely to assume that ZAFT was trying to avert the planet's destruction, while rogue elements were trying to ensure it.

"Helmsman, contact the ZAFT forces on the international distress frequency immediately!" Neo forcefully ordered before turning to Ian. "Lee, have Sting, Stella, and Auel report to their machines and standby for launch!"

"What's going on, sir?" Ian asked, having yet to put two and two together himself.

"There's no time to explain! Do it now!" he snapped back, much to the captain's chagrin as he opened the intercom.

"Extendeds, report to your machines immediately and standby for launch!" he commanded as Neo looked back at the helmsman.

"Sir, we've managed to establish communications with the Nazca-class, audio only," the helmsman reported to Neo before he could impatiently ask for a status update. "Their commander is speaking now."

"Bogey One, this is Commander Yzak Joule of the Voltaire," the voice of a young man impetuously declared, having clearly been briefed on the Girty Lue. "State your intentions immediately, or we will be forced to assume you are hostile."

Ian, incensed at being talked down to by a Coordinator who was almost certainly younger than him, opened his mouth to rebuke Yzak, but was silenced by a gesture from Neo, who responded instead.

"Commander Joule, this is Captain Neo Roanoke," he professionally replied, choosing to avoid revealing the name of his ship until absolutely necessary. "We came to investigate the cause of Junius Seven's departure from its orbit, only to discover that ZAFT forces appear to be fighting each other. What the hell is going on?"

"You expect me to tell the vessel that raided Armory One what's going on!?" Yzak indignantly asked in response, too angry at the unfolding situation to completely think logically.

"That's not important right now!" Neo countered. "What matters is preventing Junius Seven from hitting Earth! Tell me what you're doing, and how we can help!"

The communications feed from the Voltaire briefly went dead as Yzak listened to input from the ship's captain before quickly returning.

"Fine!" Yzak angrily conceded. "We were deployed to place meteor breakers on Junius Seven to break it up and reduce the damage it would inflict on Earth to survivable levels, but we're under attack by unknown forces piloting GINNs."

"Hmmm…" Neo murmured as he took this information in, though the lieutenant commander to his right had other thoughts.

"Do you really expect us to-" Ian began to dismissively remark before being cut off.

"Be silent, Lee!" Neo forcefully demanded before returning his attention to Yzak. "Forgive my second-in-command, he has a narrow view of the world. What's the status of the meteor breakers?"

"Currently intact, but I'm not sure how long we can defend them without assistance," Yzak replied as he swallowed his pride in preparation for what he was about to ask. "Are you willing to help us?"

"Yes, we are," Neo immediately replied, much to the shock of the rest of the bridge. "Transmit your current IFF to us so our mobile suit pilots won't register yours as hostiles, then they'll launch to assist you."

"Transmitting now," Yzak informed them, too desperate for immediate help to protest such an action. "Done. Voltaire out."

"Sir, are you sure this is wise?" Ian asked once the transmission ended while Neo reviewed the codes. "What if ZAFT uses this as an opportunity to recapture their mobile suits?"

"That's a risk we have to take, Lee," he bluntly answered, rolling his eyes in annoyance under his helmet. "The preservation of our pure and blue world requires Earth to exist, and if that means temporarily working with Coordinators, then so be it."

Unable to come up with a convincing counterargument, Ian simply grumbled in silence while Neo opened a direct line to the docked mobile suits.

"Sting, Stella, Auel, the situation has changed," he began to quickly inform them as he transmitted the IFF. "ZAFT is trying to break Junius Seven up so it won't destroy Earth, but currently unidentified terrorists are attacking them. We are going to help ZAFT do their job, and I am sending you new IFF codes to prevent confusion on the battlefield."

"Aw man, Neo, are you saying we can't just kill all of them!?" Auel petulantly complained, having never been ordered to not kill Coordinators before.

"That is exactly what I'm saying, Auel," Neo firmly admonished. "Is that going to be a problem?"

"Uhhh… no sir," Auel defeatedly replied, eliciting chuckles from Sting and Stella.

"Good, now get going," Neo ordered, involuntarily smiling when he saw the Chaos, Gaia, and Abyss launching from the Girty Lue a minute later. Phantom Pain existed solely to do the Earth Alliance's and Logos's dirty work, so it pleased him to do something he hoped could be called heroic. He even considered going out in his Exus to help, but, suspecting that Ian might try to undermine his authority in his absence, decided against it as he, beneath his mask, narrowed his eyes at the man.


Even though he remembered leaving Mayu's phone in his locker, Shinn couldn't help but feel his flight suit for it as he waited for Luna in the Minerva's ready room. He had hoped looking through his family photos and listening to his sister's voicemail would calm him down like it normally did, but he couldn't stop thinking about what Luna had said about his family. Hearing the door slide open, he turned around, hoping to see Luna, but instead saw that it was Rey, much to his involuntary disappointment.

"Shinn," Rey politely greeted as he floated up to him, having already noticed that he wasn't the person his friend had expected to see. "Are you feeling better?"

"Uh, I guess, thanks," he half-lied, not wanting to be a burden. "Hey, I want to apologize for how I acted earlier."

"It's fine, Shinn," he assured him. "I know what it's like to lose family."

"Well, uh…" Shinn awkwardly stammered, unsure of what to say before deciding to change the subject. "Uhm, have you seen Luna?"

"Oh, you didn't know?" Rey asked in response, prompting an arched eyebrow from his friend. "She's showing Athrun how to use a Blaze ZAKU. He offered to help us deal with Junius Seven, and the Chairman accepted it."

A multitude of emotions went through Shinn's head as he heard what his friend casually described. Surprise, confusion, interest, and even a small amount of jealousy. Before he could say anything, however, the intercom cut him off.

"Attention all pilots. The Voltaire and Rousseau have reported coming under attack from unknown forces. Report to your machines and prepare for combat immediately," Meyrin announced, much to the surprise of the pilots and hangar crew listening in. "Additionally, Bogey One has been detected approaching Junius Seven, however, we have been informed they intend to assist us in repelling the attackers and breaking the colony up, so do not attack them unless attacked first. I repeat, do not attack Bogey One unless ordered to."

"That's certainly a coincidence," Rey dispassionately thought to himself before turning his attention to Shinn. "You heard her, come on."

Nodding, Shinn followed Rey to the hangar, but his thoughts remained focused on Athrun and Luna, even as he boarded the Core Splendor.

"What do you see in him, Luna?"


Author's Note

Am I being too indulgent with Cagalli? Probably, but one of my biggest criticisms of SEED Destiny is that she lost her fire and became too passive. Even if Shinn's anger at Orb makes sense, I think Cagalli not being allowed to defend Orb made her look weak and him look like an unsympathetic asshole, to the detriment of both characters and the show as a whole.

Also, while I think the Earth Alliance becoming more antagonistic in SEED Destiny made sense, I didn't like how they always assumed ill-intent from the PLANTs. Additionally, I think having Neo realize that the ZAFT as a whole isn't behind Break the World and offering to help the Joule Team defend the meteor breakers is a good way to show he isn't a complete bastard and is more like Mu than he wants to admit right now, even if it won't change much in the long term.

Thank you for reading this chapter. I hope you enjoyed it, and, as always, feedback is appreciated. Until next time.