Author's note: OC insert and canon story. All characters and settings from the Gundam Seed franchise are to be credited back to their rightful owners. No, I'm not one of them (unfortunately). As it is a FANfiction, by definitition I write it only for my and the readers' pleasure and I don't get a single cent from it. But I do claim maternity on my original ideas and characters. I'm sure you'll be able to recognize them on your own. I also want to specify that for some chapters the few phrases at the end are more or less heavily inspired or taken from the show 'Soukyuu no Fafner - Dead Aggressor'

I was first attacked by this show's plot bunnies ten years ago but only started writing it last year :3 First written for quizilla but I altered it a little to better fit as we can't post character profiles here. I hope you'll enjoy reading it as much as I enjoy writing it.

Phase-01: False Paradise

"...The refugee camps in South Africa have been suffering from chronic lack of food and aid items, putting the lives of 1, 2 million people at risk." – "We'll now bring you images from the Kaohsiung front where heavy fighting is taking place. According to information just received, the ZAFT forces have approached to within six kilometres of Kaohsiung. ...".

... Or so the news was playing on a laptop. But here in the space colony of Heliopolis, things were as peaceful as always. Well, it was a neutral colony run by the neutral Orb Union after all. That was only to be expected. It was a sunny day, fitting for the City of the Sun. The weather was quite warm despite the fact it was January 25th. People went about their own business, shopping, strolling in the streets, playing around, resting or playing in the parks... or doing their assigned work in a gazebo. A green robotic bird perched itself onto the laptop where a boy with dark brown hair was compiling data using a notepad as reference. He was dressed in light green pants, and a black shirt with a long white collar and a traditional Japanese feel to it with the separated sleeves and the seem on the right side, and modernized by the buckled red straps linking his sleeves, ornating his chest like Chinese clothing, as well as his pants right below his knees. A black choker was around his neck. The mechanic bird cutely tilted its head, uttering a 'torii'.

"Kira!"

The boy lifted his purple eyes to see his friends Tolle Koenig and Miriallia Haw. Tolle had curly brown hair, soft eyes like mint cream, and a nice face with a jovial expression and character. His simple shirt was the same color as his eyes with its sleeved slightly rolled up, under was a blue tee-shirt and he wore plain jeans. Miriallia (Milly) had short hazel hair that curved outward at the bottom and cerulean blue eyes, a cute face and a sweet, kind and mature personality... although she was a terrible cook, and more independent and strong-willed than she appeared. Her turtle neck, knee length dress was of a zesty orange. Her long sleeves were also separated from the dress and showing her shoulders. Her bodice from her chest down was a light yellow and had front tails.

"So that's where you were! The professor has been looking for you. Huh? Seren's not with you?"

Suddenly, a brown robotic flying squirrel popped up on the fence at Kira's side and then jumped and stuck itself against Tolle's face, almost covering it completely. With difficulty, the student managed to detach the limpet-like object. He approached, leant forward, and saw a girl with reddish chestnut brown hair that fell down to her shoulders, sitting on the grass, her back to the gazebo. She was wearing a short sleeved teal tunic, opened at the shoulders and whose hem rose up at the sides, an asymmetric peach-yellow jacket that fell lower on the right hip and the left side was enhanced by two to three long creases. Her cropped pants stopping just below her knees were of the same color as her jacket but of a lighter shade. At her feet were teal ankle-high boots decorated by a buckled strap. They had four centimeters light wood-like heels. And at her neck was hanging a stone of a coral hue held and fastened by a brown leather string. She also had a laptop on her lap. A number of windows were open: a chess game, a shogi game, pictures of experiments, scientific data on natural and genetic modifications of plants... as well as her work for Morgenroete Incorporated.

"Ah, there she is too!"

"Tche, I've been found out." She cursed, her hazel eyes still fixed on her laptop. "It's all because of you Chacha!" She angrily waved a fist at her squirrel that was now flying in circles before her, as if taunting her before landing on Milly's shoulder. The amused short-haired girl petted him affectionately.

"But still I can't believe you can do this much."

"I am a woman. Of course I can multitask. My opponents aren't very good this time so it's fine." Although she kept quiet about the all-nighter she had pulled to get most of her work for the Morgenroete done and only leave the finishing touch for today. She might kind of like to hear their nagging that she should take better care of herself and not concentrate so much on something that she'd forget to eat or sleep... (because nagging means caring) but much more than that, she really disliked unduly worrying them. It was not like an all-nighter or two or three or four or five would kill her after all. Well, she did have some unhealthy habits, but that was fine, really. She preferred by far when they were smiling and having fun.

"Yes, yes, yes..."

"Come on, professor Kato ordered us to bring you two over once we found you."

Kira and Seren whined. It was natural for them to help the professor but the boy had not finished the previous assignment that had been given to him and the girl had hoped she could finally work on her hobby. Nonetheless, she shut her computer and stood up. The others smiled. She might complain or grumble, but in the end she always helped and took extra good care of them. She was the type whose actions were more revealing of her true self than her words. Well, that was only when people asked things of her... And to hide how much she really cared. Usually she was quite frank and friendly, yet without meaning to, she had a tendency to secrecy and cold distance, and her dry wit had vexed more than one person in the past.

She wanted to help better mankind yes, but that didn't mean she'd pour her heart to just anyone and everyone. She took little trouble to cultivate acquaintances that did not appeal to her (and with those she could be quite cold, merciless, uncaring and scornfully, caustically ironic and cynical) and did not truly give herself easily... perhaps because her instinct and judgment of human nature was too good for that. And since she was so fiercely independent, she disliked interference by others, however helpfully intended, and would only accept it on her own terms. And while she was habitually a calm and moderate person, simmering anger and resentment might cause blunt harshness or worse, a tense, threatening silence which might suddenly burst out in eruptions of extreme temper. Because of that she didn't have many friends.

But when she judged someone worth it she became a tenacious friend faithful for life and ready to sacrifice anything for her comrades. She upheld sincerity and truth more than anything. Well, she wasn't so naïve that she'd expect anything like that of people in general, but when it came to people she would consider as close friends or family, lying or pretending was not something she could easily forgive or accept. In this war-torn world, to be able trust and be trusted to such an extent was an irreplaceable treasure. She was liked for her strength and depth of character and her open, genial, humane, persevering and sometimes cute, tsundere-like personality... But her intelligent, logical, clear and quick mind, her all too sharp intuition that bordered on clairvoyance tended to scare people, or at least make them a bit wary and sometimes bitter. Although her appearance made for a nice bonus...: deep, rich, warm, lustrous, reddish chestnut brown hair, an attractive, well-proportioned, physically fit body, a charming face with regular features, smooth lightly tanned skin with a healthy glow, a piquant smile, and witty hazel eyes that could look at her chosen people with disarming honesty and discernment.

The news on Kira's laptop was still playing about Kaohsiung. At Tolle's request, he enlarged the window to full screen dimensions. Behind the journalist in his bulletproof vest, ZAFT Mobile Suits were devastating the city. If this was from last week, then Kaohsiung had probably already fallen... Milly was worried because Kaohsiung was pretty close from here, but her boyfriend reassured her.

"You shouldn't worry about that. Even though they're close by, we're a neutral entity. There's no chance Orb would become a battlefield."

"Really? It's okay if that's the case."

The war... as they saw Torii and Chacha flying together, Kira and Seren were reminded of another day three years ago... it was on the moon, in Copernicus City where they had been attending a preparatory school for years. And it was also where they had met. Or more exactly, she and Kira had met in the shuttle that had taken them from Orb to the moon. And on the moon they had befriended a boy, who was like them, a boy with dark blue hair down to his neck and kind emerald green eyes. He was really kind, smart, reliable, but a bit quiet and reserved, and awkward too, sometimes. And he hated war. His father had called him back to PLANT, and on an alley bordered by blooming cherry trees, he had come to say his goodbyes and give them parting gifts...

"There really won't be a war... between the PLANTs and Earth." He had handed Kira the green bird and Seren the flying squirrel. "I don't think there's any point in evacuating but... eventually you'll also be coming to PLANT, right, Kira, Seren?"

Tolle snapped the two from their daydream, scaring them, and they left together.

Outside the colony, a ship from the Earth Alliance entered the port. The captain took his hat off and let it float away. With that, this ship's last mission had been completed without a hitch. He thanked Lieutenant Flaga for having safely escorted the ship here.

"No, we're lucky that nothing happened en route." The handsome blonde-haired, blue eyed, 28-year-old mobile armor pilot answered politely with a smile. "Any activity on ZAFT ships in this area?"

They were tracking two, but even if they entered the port, they couldn't do anything.

"A neutral nation, right? What a joke."

"But thanks to that, the plan has been able to proceed this far." The captain laughed indeed. The fact is that Orb is a part of Earth." Then crew members saluted and left. Mu La Flaga asked if it was really alright for these people only to disembark but they were the top guns who had been chosen to be the G pilots. There was no problem. It was better for people like him to go home instead of pacing around attracting attention.

Behind an asteroid, two ZAFT ships were observing the colony. And two sub vehicles had left in direction of the colony. The captain Fredrick Ades of the Nazca-class destroyer Vesalius was troubled. He didn't think it would be too late to wait for the answer of the Supreme Council. But the masked Commander Rau le Creuset disagreed. It WOULD be too late, his sixth sense was telling him so. If they let things slip by now, they would eventually have to pay for these actions with their lives... They had to move quickly and seize the Earth Army's new mobile suits before they were transported away from here...

When Tolle, Milly, Kira, and Seren arrived at the free car rental service, they saw popular red haired Flay Allster being teased by her two friends. Since she and Miriallia were friends they greeted each other. The girls (Seren excluded) immediately struck a conversation about how Flay had got a letter from Sai Argyle and wouldn't tell them about it. Kira was shocked. Tolle looked at him and smiled knowingly. Seren turned away, uninterested by the discussion but slightly riled at Kira's reaction. She knew he had always found Flay cute which was true physically. She always dressed and did her hair elegantly with a romantic feel to it. Her front locks were gathered at the back of her head in a high ponytail. Her ultra pink turtle neck knee-length dress had long puffy sleeves, and a knotted ribbon at her left hip. She looked and behaved like a princess in a doll-house. But Seren had never liked her, although she didn't hate her either. There was just something that didn't sit well with her, something that was wrong. But she had no idea what. She had no idea why each time she would stare in Flay's eyes that were the dark bluish gray of a storm cloud she would imagine them distorted with hatred, disgust and rejection. She trusted her instinct though. Someone coughed behind them, politely attracting their attention. It was a woman with short black hair and black sunglasses. She was accompanied by two men.

"If you aren't getting on, may we go first?"

"Ah, sorry, please do." All the youths stepped back to let them pass. The three boarded a white car and drove away, just as Flay got tired of her friends' teasing. The next empty white car stopped, its four doors opening automatically. They got in and drove away too. Tolle teased Kira. A letter from Sai. How unexpected, Flay Allster. But it sounded like a formidable enemy had appeared before Kira Yamato-kun. Milly laughed as Kira vainly tried to deny the implied meaning behind his friend's words. Seren snorted inaudibly. For the same reasons as earlier, she didn't believe Flay was one for him, although that was only her yet baseless personal opinion so she never mentioned it to anyone. Then again, it was obvious from the way she acted as she was not the type to bother trying to hide it. And when asked why, she would only reply an indifferent 'who knows' with a tone clearly expressing how troublesome it would be for her to think about a proper answer that she couldn't really give anyway. They boarded a car too and Kira drove to the Morgenroete Factory where the four of them, and Sai Argyle, and Kuzzey Buskirk worked as robotic engineering students.

"How peaceful it is here..." The young black haired woman took her sunglasses off, revealing her purple eyes. The car was driven by one of her companions who asked what she had meant. "And yet, youths around that age are already being sent to the front lines..."

On the asteroid side of the colony, a group of people landed, six wearing olive green suits and six wearing red suits. Heavy metallic gates opened, revealing a tunnel. The passage was barred with a number of lasers, but they were deactivated. They entered.

Kira, Seren, Tolle and Miriallia arrived at the Morgenroete factory. Kira passed his ID card. Once their identities as students from Professor Kato's seminar class were confirmed in the control room, they were allowed in. Tolle was still teasing him about the letter, saying he was gonna ask Sai if he didn't dare to. And Seren on the other front seat was stubbornly looking away.

They entered a room full of computers and instruments and in the middle was what looked like a robotic cosmonaut suit. Two other friends were already there, Kuzzey Buskirk... and Sai Argyle, who rejoiced that Kira and Seren had – finally – arrived. But there was also someone else. A person with blonde hair that barely reached her shoulders, a hat, and a brown coat. Seren approached the visitor and stared curiously for a moment before going to her desk. That person seemed awfully familiar but for some reason she couldn't remember where she had seen her. It was strange since she usually had quite a good memory. Kuzzey told Tolle that she was the professor's guest, apparently she had been told to wait here. Kira and Seren asked where the said professor was. He had summoned them and he wasn't here?!

At a crossroad, the intruders in green and red suits looked down through a grid and saw a large white ship with some touches of red. After a few sign exchanges, they divided themselves into equal groups and split up. And each fixed a bomb at a strategic place...

Sai handed Kira and Seren their new work, which, as they thought, was boring.

"And where's the professor? Don't tell me he's gone off somewhere while leaving us with all the work, that slave-driving, no-good professor." Seren asked threateningly.

"Now, now, isn't it because he has acknowledged our abilities that he leaves us alone more and more often, especially yours, Seren, Kira." Sai, too, over the time, had grown used to handling the girl.

"Well, that may be... but still!"

Then Tolle engaged Kira in an immobilizing hold, his right forearm against his neck and his left forearm under Kira's left arm.

"More importantly, ask him about the letter!" Tolle 'menaced' his friend. Sai didn't know which letter they were talking about. The purple-eyed boy stammered it was nothing. He didn't have the guts to ask. But Tolle insisted and tightened his grip. And like this they kept bickering until Milly told them to stop as Kira was choking. While they weren't looking, the blonde guest tried to open the door to the professor's office but it was locked. However, she had been seen by a dark brown haired girl. She was more interesting than the usual bickering... with the fact that she was a new head, and she was always curious about new heads... especially since she couldn't help but feel she knew her despite having no memory of it, and the fact that the professor rarely brought that sort of guest, and that this rude guest would try to open the door when she thought no one was looking...

"It's time." Le Creuset declared. The captain Ades ordered to clear all moorings. The Vesalius was taking off! In one of the colony's control room and all Earth Army ships, the alarm rang. Heliopolis contacted the ZAFT ships but there was no response. The chief controller took the device.

"Notice to the approaching ZAFT vessels! Your actions are in violation of a treaty with our nation! Stop your ships at once! ZAFT vessels! Stop your ships at once!" However, there was no answer. Even worse, a powerful electrical interference was coming from the ZAFT vessels! This was clearly an act of hostility! Mobile suits launched from the Laurassia-class and the Nazca-class battleships.

Tension was rising inside the two Earth Alliance vessels hidden within the colony. The captain of the largest one ordered everyone to calm down, and let Heliopolis take care of that. Panicking would be playing in the enemy's hands. They had to continue supplying the ship. He then told the short black haired woman from earlier – and her fellow soldier who had been driving the car – to go get Lieutenant Ramius and commence transfer of the G-weapons. They obeyed and left. The commander of the Vesalius informed his subordinates that they would move in once they had crushed the mine area. Defensive weapons left the colony to attack the Ginns while inside, everyone remained completely oblivious. Flay was shopping with her friends, like many, many others. The robotic engineering students were doing their work, or trying to, because of Tolle's involuntarily messing around, his girlfriend sighing, Kuzzey failing to save him, and the others typing on the computer, supervising things, or laughing.

A woman with medium golden brown hair down to her shoulders, wearing a green cap and an ocre working suit ordered everyone to hurry to the Archangel when suddenly, a series of large explosions took place, many around the large legged white ship. Its captain was killed along with all those in that room. The blast reached those who were in the shaft like the black haired woman. The whole colony shook. Mu La Flaga headed out in his Moebius mobile armor and asked the captain of his own ship to leave too. The port was going to be taken over. The Ginns destroyed the defensive weaponry and some entered Heliopolis.

Standing on a promontory, the intruders who had stealthily infiltrated earlier had seen what they had been looking for: the new mobile suits developed by Orb and the Earth Alliance. They were there, just like Commander Le Creuset had told them. His friend agreed. "If we poke them, they'll come out of their hole." It had really been exactly as their commander had said. Naturals were stupid after all. The Ginns received the coordinates. Miguel Aiman felicitated Yzac for his usual efficiency. And they headed in that direction.

Just outside the space colony, the battle was still raging. But the defenses were overwhelmed by ZAFT's superior skills and weaponry. The only one who could actually put up a fight was La Flaga thanks to his high special awareness resulting in his celebrated proficiency at employing the remotely controlled gunbarrels pods of his orange TS-MA2mod.00 Moebius Zero.

"Lieutenant Ramius! We've lost contact with the ship! Situation's unclear!" Someone said to the brown-haired woman with the green cap. Suddenly, two Ginns attacked the convoy. She got down, avoiding damage, cursed ZAFT, and ordered to prepare the X105, the X216 and the X303 for combat. They had to get them out the factory district! She ran to the factory while the pilots in the ZAFT mobile suits shot down all the military vehicles they could see.

In the shaking factory, the electricity had stopped working time ago. The engineering students opened the door and asked the evacuating personnel what was going on. ZAFT was attacking. Mobile suits had entered the colony! They had to hurry up and evacuate too! The blond guest gasped and started running in the wrong direction, followed by a curious and concerned Seren. That blondie seemed to know things one wouldn't expect her to... Tolle screamed after them. Kira told him they'd be back soon and chased after the girls.

Military jeeps attempted to retaliate but their rockets were evaded and they were shot down too.

"Destroy everything we can't carry." Yzac ordered. "According to the report there should six units. Are the three others still inside?" He wondered.

"Rusty, Luke and I will go. Yzac, you guys take these three."

"Okay, we'll leave it to you. When you board them, immediately disarm the self-destruct first." The twelve landed and instantly engaged the enemy.

Kira grabbed the two runaway girls, and chided the one he didn't know for going the wrong way and the one he knew for not stopping her (and letting her curiosity get the best of her). The blonde girl told them both off for having followed her and that THEY should hurry up and run. Suddenly, there was an explosion behind them, blowing their hair and the guest's hat. The gust died down but the air was thick was smoke and dust.

"A... girl?" Kira muttered, looking surprised at the unknown blonde.

"What did you think I was until now?" She retorted. The boy stammered a little. "Just go! There's something I want to check here first!"

"That's easy to say! To where? We can't exactly go back!" Yamato shot back. The girl glared at him. Because of their indecisiveness, Seren took her by the hand just as her childhood friend took her other hand. They ran down a passage.

"Let go of me, you idiots!"

"Idi-"

"Hey, y-" However, both stopped when they saw her crying.

"To think things would turn out this way... I..."

"Don't worry! We'll be saved!" Kira began.

"There should still be shelters left in the factory district!" Seren added.

Tolle, Mirillia, Sai, Kuzzey, and others left the building to see a Ginn firing. In the factory, the shooting continued. Suddenly a red suit collapsed, dead.

"Luke!" One of his friends yelled in anguish and threw a hand grenade in retaliation, killing his murderer and a few more people.

Kira, Seren, and the girl bolted from the hallway and stopped against the railings. Below them, three grey mobile suits, different from any ZAFT mobile suits, were lying down. And around them, between the containers and the supplying trucks, the battle was taking place. There was an explosion. The blonde girl sank on her knees and started sobbing again.

"I knew it... the Earth Forces' new model of mobile weapons... FATHER, YOU TRAITOR!" She yelled, in intense emotional distress. The noise alerted Lieutenant Ramius of their presence. She aimed at them. Kira and Seren noticed it, took the fallen girl by the wrists and dragged her away. Crying was no good now, they had to run! The older woman shot once but stopped when she remarked they were children. Away on the road, two of the stolen mobile suits rose from their transport trucks. Yzak Joule and Dearka Elsman had finished updating and calibrating the OS. Yzac especially was quite appreciative of his new 'toy'. A few seconds later, the machine controlled by Nicol Amalfi stood up too. Dearka worriedly complained about the lateness of the three others, but Yzac was sure they'd be fine if it was them. In any case, they were heading back now with these three. And while they and one Ginn took flight to return to Commander Le Creuset, Kira, Seren, and the female stranger arrived before a shelter door. They contacted them only to find out it was practically full. It was impossible for three, but if it was only one person it would be alright. And so the two students forced the other in before running toward the 37th shelter. They looked down. The battle was still going on. The woman who had almost shot them told 'Hamana' and 'Brian' to get the units started.

"Behind you!" Two voices warned her. Instinctively, she turned around and shot the man in a green suit, killing him. She was shocked to see it was two of the kids from earlier who had alerted her. Suddenly, her ally at her left was shot down. She leapt, took his place and his weapon and killed his murderer. She yelled at the teens to come but they turned her down. They were going to the shelter in the other block.

"There's nothing but a door there!" And at the youngsters' left, there was an explosion. They had no choice but to come down. "This way!" She ran up the giant robot's leg. The two youngsters jumped down on its chest. Then, another ZAFT soldier in a red suit was shot down. He had been firing from behind a car.

"Rusty!" In a fit of rage, the last red suit of this squad left his hiding place and ran toward the mobile weapon, firing away, killing the one who had killed his comrade. Ramius cried the name of her friend, aimed at his killer, but was shot in the shoulder. Kira and Seren hurried to her. When the enemy noticed his weapon was empty he threw it away and drew his combat knife before lunging at them. Seeing that, the dark brown-haired girl charged at him, ready to protect her friend no matter the cost. After all, it was in fear of that very moment that she had practiced hand to hand combat. But upon recognizing the aggressor despite the helmet he was wearing, she stopped dead in her tracks.

"A...thrun...?" She uttered in complete disbelief, her hazel eyes staring into his shocked emerald ones.

"What?" Kira said, just as incredulous, looking above her shoulder.

"Seren...?! Kira...?!" Athrun exclaimed, also freezing in his tracks, as disbelieving as his childhood friends, the moment of their goodbyes replaying in their minds. Taking advantage of the confusion, Ramius aimed at him again but he backed away before she could shoot. She shoved Kira in the cockpit and was going to do the same with Seren but she stopped her, saying she was going to pilot the last one and protect it.

"Can you really pilot one of those things?!"

"Since I must, I will." Seren replied with utter certainty, going to the last unit.

How can I leave it to ZAFT if they're just going to cause more destruction like here?! And amid the smoke and flames and continuous explosions, Athrun and Seren boarded their units. And in the blazing inferno, the three giants moved and rose, their eyes glowing.

This was the beginning of our journey. If we can live through this, let's not forget our smiles up to today. Someday, we will return to paradise. We had no doubt about it.