Standard Disclaimer: I own little, some is mine, but most isn't, especially that which is actually from Gundam SEED.

Summary: A new take that will have hopefully a new twist.

Mobile Suit Gundam SEED: Dogs of War

A man shifted in his bed as dreams came to him. He was once again in the thick of a battle. The enemy was successfully advancing as he split his attention between yelling at the idiot on the Command HQ Channel and handling a rapidly, downward spiraling battle that was turning more and more into defeat.

He tossed, awaking his lover from her sleep as she dabbed his forehead to give him comfort as she knew he was reliving the battle. It had not bothered him for some time, how close he came to death, but this time…

This time it marked something else as he dreamed and knew that soon, very soon, they shall meet again.

Cairo, Egypt, Holy Commune of North Africa

July 21st, 0070 CE

Metal shearing metal, the rapid, rhythm reports of gunfire, the shrieking of shells, the unheard cries of the wounded, this was a battle fought between two giants that the ants ignored in order to combat each other. The whirling of death continued as a four legged machine of war with command markings and customization leapt up, its claws ready to tear into armor, but were met by a shield, the shield of the warrior before it. The warrior began pushing, lifting back, up against his opponent's weight with a scream of servos and roaring battlecry. The enemy ace commander was thrown into the air, but landed with some shocking grace despite the many rents and tears in the battle damaged machine.

"Oh that was beautiful!" the Desert Tiger called out, full of joy and happiness at fighting an opponent who could fight back with equal strength and skill.

Andrew Waltfeld, or Andy to his friends and lover, smiled at the challenge before him. The enemy ace was battered just as bad, but ready for more. This was a fight he would long remember, as it was the first time that someone was besting his machine as was well with a standard two legged model. This warrior (he refused to call him anything less!) was a true joy to fight and fight again and again.

The head of his machine lifted up, the BuCUE's single eye began glowing a brilliant red as the machine itself found joy in the fight as well.

"We call to you, to fight, you wonderful warrior and that excellent machine of yours!" the Desert Tiger and his stead charged forth, as green eyes flashed to life before them and both man and machine made ready to receive and return full force.

Claw and fangs met shield and sword in a battle that would unknowingly become legendary.

Elsewhere, a young man looked out the window of his home. To the outside world he was just a hidden silhouette. He stared at the world beyond, bathed in the light of the Moon, seeing nothing, but the battle that he had fought. He stood there as a pair of arms wrapped themselves around him, their silent question and desire being answered as he turned from the window.

His war was over… at least that's what they say.

Heliopolis, United Emirates of Orb

January 25th, CE 71

1032 Hours Lagrange Three Standard Time

Heliopolis Colony… is a small, older Island Three-class Cylindrical Colony in Colony-Resource Class thirty kilometers in length and ten kilometers in diameter, not counting the large asteroid to which it was currently anchored, belonging to the United Emirates of Orb, a neutral nation in the war between the sponsor nations of the Earth Alliance and the rebellious PLANTS. In the sea of stars, it and other Orb and neutral colonies are the islands of peace in the small lagoon that is apart of the sea of stars now being alit with the fires of war. It is here, where the Orb Union sends it's best and brightest to learn at the Heliopolis Technical College, far removed from both politics and war.

An island oasis in the dreaded war now going on, many have come to seek peace from the hellish war that began with the destruction of first the United Nations General Assembly and later, several days after the declaration of war, the tragic battle that resulted in the destruction of Junius Seven by a nuclear missile.

On that day, February 14th Cosmic Era 70, war between the Production Location on Ally Nexus Technologies, PLANT, and the sponsor nation organization, the Earth Alliance, saw a war that had been brooding for years come to full scale blows. The PLANTS, through their Zodiac Alliance of Freedom Treaty, ZAFT, managed to rob both space and Earth of not only nuclear weapons, but also of Nuclear Power.

The military leaders of the Oppose Militancy and Neutralize Invasion Enforcer, OMNI Enforcer, didn't see the crisis for what it really was. Neither did the civilian leaders, as it was expect that the much larger Earth Forces would triumph over the smaller ZAFT Forces and reoccupy the PLANTs in just a few short weeks. This was not to be the case as ZAFT had introduced the mobile suit, a new weapon of war that would revolutionize warfare for years to come.

The Earth Forces fought back, but most of their battles were terrible defeats, while on the other hand, the overlooked national armies of the various powers, often referred to as the Federal Forces, fighting against ZAFT proved to be more competent then the fledgling OMNI Enforcer.

Because of this war was a war of genetics, caused by reckless scientific advances in the genetic field and old fashion human greed and jealousy, the Coordinators as the genetically modified humans were known, had grouped their smaller numbers in ever more Coordinator oriented communities while that which they gave up became territory of the vastly numerically superior unmodified Naturals, who stroked by such groups as Blue Cosmos, often supplied by Weapons Manufactures and wealthy bureaucrats for returned assistance and support to maintain their power. Through these backroom and shady deals they struck out at pockets of Coordinators.

In response, groups advocating the total extinction of the Naturals were created, the equal to Blue Cosmos being the Coordinator Liberation Army.

In the midst of this growing chaos, as both sides found themselves unable to bear the other, the third bloc, the neutrals who, for whatever reason, cared more for the potential of both working together simply choose to protect themselves and actively sought to combat those two groups when they crossed into their own borders.

Heliopolis, as a state and territory of the United Emirates of Orb, became a symbol through both the Technical College and the Morgenroete Industries facilities on the colony.

Nearly a year into the war, the two warring factions had been deadlocked for the few weeks with no there appearing to be no end in sight to the bloody carnage and rising global death toll from disease and starvation, terrifying the neutrals, but to those on Heliopolis, it was peaceful and all was right in the world.

One of those who was concerned, but no more so than others, was a young First Generation Coordinator lad with coffee brown hair and light amethyst eyes, named Kira Yamato. He was built lightly, with an average build and had a face that seemed to be innocent like that of a child, one could almost say he was naïve and innocent, save for the vicious scar that ran like claws of a wild animal on his chest and another smaller scar across the bridge of his nose, courtesy of the CLA for his steadfast refusal to abandoned his Natural parents and join them. Kira Yamato, to those who knew him, held no sympathy for the PLANTs, especially after the Neutron Jammer drop on April 1st, Cosmic Era 70, better known as the April Fool's Day Crisis. He, though, by all rights, was a top computer specialist and programmer, which had both Morgenroete and the Orb military competing for his attention.

This is where our story begins, at least for those who would play a major role, but once more for this hero who went by the name, the Sword of Freedom.

"In the Frontlines" by Jess Rabble, "Where there's war, there's the Combat Journalist!"

"...I'm currently standing only a kilometer from the frontlines, and the sound of combat is becoming less intense. Official reports suggest that ZAFT's offensive is beginning to wear down, with an Earth Alliance counterattack driving them back. Unofficial information, however, suggests that Kaohsiung spaceport is, in fact, on the verge of falling to enemy forces..."

Kira Yamato continued to type away, never once imagining the road which he would travel. He was listening to the news as he worked feverishly to catch up on all the work that his professor kept dumping on him as well as his schooling from his time away from the College. If he could, he would have left when the guy kept dumping things on him, but Kira knew that wasn't right and that he had to make up for some time away from the College.

The faculty was still less than pleased with his disappearance for little more than a year.

The white collared black coat closed with a red string over the right chest and red string tied detachable sleeves to show his long red shirt underneath the coat with green slacks with red bands around the knees and black shoes wearing amethyst eyed coffee brown haired youth of sixteen allowed himself to look back on the past as he watched his lime green and khaki yellow with little red beady eyes pet robotic bird named Tori fly past and he remembered his friend, Athrun Zala. Kira never did find out what happened to his friend and or what became of his mother. Kira knew though, that Patrick Zala was a man he would never get along with. The two differed on opinions; perhaps Athrun had been right about his father once, but not anymore.

At that moment, his friends Tolle Koenig and his girlfriend Miriallia Haw, Mir to her boyfriend and friends, arrived and Tolle decided to spook Kira a little. Kira jumped, as a normal school boy would from being spooked. Though his foot had caught Tolle in the shin and now the boy was hopping up and down on one foot while Mir looked exasperated. The two boys were such good friends, even with the pranks that Tolle normally played on Kira.

At that moment, a digitized woman's scream followed by more screaming caught the two new arrivals attention. They saw that Kira had been listening to the Battle of Kaohsiung or at least something to do with the fighting over Kaohsiung. They were concerned and curious about what was happening.

"It looks like ZAFT is really attacking towards Kaohsiung this time," Tolle stated, the average height mocha brown wavy haired green eyed teen looking subdued in his blue shirt with white long sleeve light coat grey slacks and blue and white sneakers, "is it as bad as they're saying?"

"Yes, maybe even Kaohsiung has already fallen, but I some how doubt it if the Federal Forces were there," Kira said as he closed the screen on the laptop and shut the machine down, "At least that's what I think and even then, it still depends."

"Kaohsiung," Mir said nervously, "That's close to the homeland isn't it?"

Mir was dressed in a dress with orange shoulders, an orange skirt, and Victorian-era white main body with an orange bow in the middle with orange detached sleeves knee length white socks and brown shoes. She had average brown haired with blue eyes, and like her boyfriend and friend, and she was sixteen with her birthday the following month on the 17th and Tolle's April 11th and Kira's May 18th.

"I wouldn't worry about," Tolle said, easing her fears, "One its still plenty far away and Two we're neutral, I can't see Orb becoming a battlefield, especially anytime soon."

"Be that as it may," Kira spoke, "things can change, or haven't you been listening to the news out of the PLANTS?"

"KIRA!" Tolle looked murderous at the boy who was supposed to be helping him to calm Mir.

"Just kidding," the younger of the trio said with a smile, "I knew that would get a reaction out of you!"

"I got your reaction right here!" Tolle shouted as he began wrestling with Kira, though Kira, as always was sitting on top of Tolle in the end with the boy beneath him struggling to get free and win.

Mir was always being left wondering what to do with her boyfriend and his best friend Kira. So she decided on why Tolle and she were looking for Kira in the first place. Though, from the look on Kira's face, she knew he was sentencing their professor to some painful matters and the deepest, most fiery pits of hell. Though, she knew he would not only do it, but in record time too.

OES Crescent Glow

Heliopolis Strabo Port, Heliopolis Harbor

1014 Hours, Local Standard

"Well we've made it," the age captain of the Marseilles III-class transport, Captain Thomas Riley Brandon, said while turning to look at the tall, lanky, and athletically built man with a mess of blonde hair with blue eyes, "and it was must assuring to have your escort Lieutenant La Flaga."

The tall, thin and wirily built elderly captain was right. They had encountered some pirates, none of whom lived long enough to report the mobile armor that the Crescent Glow carried, especially not with the two special mobile armor units she carried. Captain Brandon just now needed for ZAFT to leave and he would go on home, his mission complete and his retirement awaiting him as he had hit his limit both in age and endurance, but at least he had been able to teach a new breed of military transport captains and crews.

"Hmm… Seems that way," the famous ace of the Grimaldi Front, Lieutenant Senior Grade Mu La Flaga said as he turned from the view of the Strabo Port.

"Yes and it would seem that luck is with us as I can transfer that extra pilot and her machine over to the Osea since she is here after effecting a rescue of a Heliopolis Patrol Ship, HAHA!" the Captain had just completed both tasks he had been assigned and thus his return to his wife was that much sooner!

"Excuse us captain," a man with brown hair and a young face suddenly interrupted, "but may we take our leave now?"

"Yes, yes," Captain Brandon made a shooing gesture, but smiled and gave a nod and a return salute as the several men departed quietly, "Our final mission, for both ship and captain now complete," he said solemnly, praying that they could make a difference.

"So young and green," LT(SG) La Flaga stated forlornly, both envious and annoyed by those facts.

"Yes, but they are top guns from the academy, specifically selected to pilot our new units," the captain spoke up in their defense, "but only time can really tell if they have that natural touch to help turn this war."

"Speaking of the war," glad for a change of venue, "what of those ZAFT ships that have been following us," looking with blue eyes towards the three dimensional holographic navigation sensor monitor.

"Three ZAFT ships, including a Gideon-class Light Cruiser, a Nazca-class Destroyer, and a Luarasia-class Frigate, but no sign of the other two ships, Nazca and Luarasia respectfully," the captain noted from both memory and what was being seen.

"Quite the force," the ace muttered, but was none the less heard by the captain.

"Yes, but even if they suspect something, they need hard facts before they can do anything and you know how the PLANTS are at this point," the captain stated confidently, and he had every reason to be.

"Because this is a neutral colony right?" the famous Hawk of Endymion as the ace was widely known as asked, wanting an honest opinion.

"More like the fact I know this colony is better protected than she appears, including you yourself at this time," the captain was indeed confident.

In the next port over, which is the Actis Port, was a Manhattan-class Battleship and two Faithful-class Destroyers. These were the newest and until the launch of the Pegasus- and Archangel-classes, the Manhattan-class was the most powerful ship in the fleet! Add in their TAS-MAF4F/B Wildcats and Bombcats and even ZAFT would be hesitant to attack.

Of course this did not count in the fact that Heliopolis had thirty mobile suits and fifty mobile armor units for self defense, even if they were second hand dated units. Heliopolis also had the Morgenroete facilities and possibly domestically made mobile suits which just added to the colony's defenses. The troops and mobile suits were well trained and highly refurbished by the best arms manufacture short of the Western Arms Company and Jing Province Armories. There was also the ten Tomozuru-class Patrol Ships, even if one was out of action for a short spell, for defense and could carry two mobile armor units each which added an additional twenty mobile armor and that was a lot of firepower short of a purely military installation.

With that kind of firepower only a fool would risk an attack!

ZMS Gamow

Heliopolis Airspace

1036 Hours, Local Standard

"Huh, that's odd," the veteran sensor operator was most differently convinced at what he was seeing at the edge of the Recon GINN's radar range, launched from the Nazca-class ZMS Hertz, which had extended his own.

"What is it," Captain Zelman asked, already nervous about the upcoming operation, which was already under way.

"Another ship sir, fast one at that," the sensor operator reported.

"Is it friend or foe?" Captain Zelman knew they had only two other ZAFT ships and maybe, just maybe a couple of ships harassing the nearby Eurasia Space Fortress.

"Unknown? That can't be right?" the sensor operator checked the information hurriedly, including what he knew of the OMNI and Federal ships and equipment, before checking a recent addition, "DAMN IT!"

"What is it?" the Combat Controller asked as she prepared to release the GINNs that had been straining to get launched.

"New model, similar, but different from… DAMMIT! Another new Earth Forces ship!" he knew they were in trouble if that was a second ship with a complement of mobile suits, but something was odd.

"Damn it indeed," Zelman was already contacting the Nazca-class ZMS Vesalius, the team flagship, knowing full well that the commandoes were already inside the colony too deeply to be either abandoned or recalled, though he was relieved to hear the ship was heading away from the colony and by proxy them, but it was a reminder that they had to complete the mission or abort before it was too late…

In fact, it was indeed far too late…

As the Sword Breakers came upon the hidden dock, what they found shocked them.

There were two ships and more mobile suit prototypes!

This was not at all what they had been expecting. They had what they thought would be enough to destroy the larger ship, but the second, smaller ship was a new factor they hadn't taken into consideration. They had been told that the intelligence was exact and that they were fully prepared to deal with the one ship, but now...

Well, they did have enough explosives to sink about four or five battleships and damage critically at least two or three more. Perhaps it was enough, perhaps as one member put it, too much. They would just have to make do, but that didn't account for the prototypes they didn't know about which they saw getting loaded into the smaller ship.

With a few quick hand signals, the group moved out, they had to be now extra careful. There was a greater security presence than planned for. So time was no longer the primary factor. It was stealth and time, together.

Though among the number, one of the ones without questions, thoughts she began to entertain. She wasn't the only one; one of the red coats was questioning the mission. She ideally wondered if he was right and that was all it took. She was quite knowledgeable about history and knew that only a few had to be involved and in all likelihood, Orb was swiping Atlantic Federation technology. That thought alone reminded her that she was Orb born and bred and had joined ZAFT out of peer pressure when her family, rest their souls, had moved to the PLANTS. Now she knew and quietly signaled her fellow disenchanted and he nodded.

Their bombs would do minor damage and they would leave signs of their presence. Hopefully the OMNI guards or Orb guards would notice. If not, the ships would survive, hopefully, and so would the colony.

Though her eyes turned to the one being loaded with the twin cannons on its shoulders and she could see another one with a long, scoped rifle on its carrier, but it was the one like the apparent sniper unit that caught her attention.

That one seemed to call to her; all of a sudden she wanted to be in that mobile suit and to pilot it for more than just Orb, but for something greater.

The fellow turncoat reached her and tapped her out of her daze and they nodded and went to work again, they needed to hurry, the others were already finishing planting their explosives, that combined would be enough to render not only the dock unusable, but would surely destroy any ships in it and then some. The explosives were soon set and the two joined the others.

The group then gathered itself up before moving out to their assigned points to follow to the exit. Once out and regrouped, they all had a breather before they were to do anything more, especially after the find they had made.

'Please,' thought the disillusioned redcoat, 'Someone find them or by the North Star let some hope shine!'

Little did he know there would be some hope, a great miracle would unfold in the future.

Kira, Tolle, and Miriallia had long ago come across Mir's red haired and steel colored eyed friend Flay Allster who had was wearing a two piece left chest black pin closed pink dress with red shoes, who had been happy to hide behind her. Apparently she had just gotten a letter from her fiancé, Sai Argyle, and two of her friends had been pestering her about it. It was nothing new and happened all the time when Sai sent Flay a letter, even though they lived on the same colony.

Kira often got a kick out that when he heard about them. He knew for a fact that Sai was often busy and couldn't always call and visit Flay, because of school and sometimes Flay was off colony. People just didn't use the mail system, which at this point in the war was more reliable than any other method, for more than just love letters. The two obviously didn't know anyone off colony, at least not too well to send or receive dispatches from, something Kira was grateful when his friends sent him letters, as they had a greater feeling than a phone call or e-mail message.

Flay had chosen to finally make her stand behind Kira, who had chuckled and informed the two that Sai was not always able to call or visit at good times. The two deflated, but cheered back up when Flay said she'll go clothes shopping with them. That was when a woman in a plain brown business suit, ordinary glasses over blue eyes with shoulder length brown hair and another woman in a dark and unassuming business dress with dark sun glasses with two men in similar attire cleared her throat and Kira just lazily looked at her.

"If you none of you are going to take a car at the moment, may we pass then?" she had asked, but it had been rhetorical and Kira could tell she was not what she appeared, same with the three with her.

"Ma'am," Kira said politely with a nod of a head, in very specific fashion, hinting at something that surprised the three, but not the fourth, as he stepped aside to let them through, the others following his example.

Once they were gone, Flay looked to Kira and he nodded and Flay decided to stay close to an emergency shelter for the time being.

Once the trio of girls had headed out in the following car, Kira and his two friends had started out for Industrial Sector, before Kira took a detour to collect something.

Now the trio was a quartet with Kira's mother Caridad Yamato riding next to Mir.

Caridad was a woman who appeared in her late twenties, which she wasn't, she is 34 years old. She has purple hair, naturally occurring marking her as an Enhanced Natural, or the child of a Natural and Coordinator parentage, mix or half breed if one wanted to be crude with the first and inaccurate with the latter. She is quite beautiful for her age, as Enhanced Naturals, like Coordinators, age more gracefully to put it 'mildly.' Her hair is longer than shoulder length and she bears a resemblance to Kira, but others could see his father's influence in his birth.

Her height is about slightly less than Kira's own and he's still growing, her eyes are a dark teal and her figure makes many women jealous, though Tolle had once mention she was average at the bust line. That had earned Tolle a few lumps on his head from Kira and Mir and the wavy haired brunette made it a point to not try to be cavalier about Kira's mother.

Orb Medical Authorities are still baffled by a strange issue of her sight for she switches between blindness and being able to see perfectly and other authorities, including Coordinator authorities, including Doctor Mikhail Coast, in a wide range of fields, have thus far been also unable to provide an answer.

One theory is that chemicals of unknown make is the cause and given the past that the Yamato family had with the Coordinator Liberation Army, none of it pleasant for both parties, none were surprised as they were still developing technology to fully understand many of the chemicals the group likes to use.

Today, she is blind, not at all uncommon, and as such she is wearing a pair of dark blue wrap around sun glasses so if her sight returns, she will be able to see with minimal fuse and no permanent damage from any bright lighting source. She was dressed in an orange short sleeved shirt with knee length blue skirt and white shoes with white socks.

The group soon arrived at the joint Morgenroete Incorporated, Heliopolis Technical College School to Work Research Center. The three were students learning at the HTC and Morgenroete was hoping to hire them directly or at least learn something from these gifted young minds. This joint venture was in fact one of the keys to success of the civilian business and the prosperity of the colony and thus were vital to the wellbeing and future of Orb.

It was also a heavy security environment and to date, only terrorist sympathizers have tried anything and failed do to the fact that Orb National Special Defense Force soldiers guarded this site.

Once the guards checking the identities of the small group confirmed it was them, they were allowed through, a minor hassle at best for them. They were then parked and on their way to their research room as the car was taken in for a recharge before being put back on the byways for use. Private ownership of vehicles was extremely rare in Heliopolis and other colonies of the classic Island-class. As such, everyone used public transportation, though Heliopolis was more of a College Colony despite her mining capabilities.

Kira and company soon arrived at their research room and began talking with their two friends, Sai and Kuzzey, who were already there. Both were informally dressed, but by any standards, Sai was dressed well with a half red and half yellow coat where the two colors met it looked like flames meeting. He had white good slacks on with a brown belt with grey buckle. On his feet were black shoes and his shirt was black as well with a small pendant hanging around his neck, a gift from Flay and his ever present orange tinted glasses sitting on his nose.

Sai was honey brown haired with dark green eyes and along with Mir and Tolle had a clear European heritage, though Sai was also visibly of Asian descent, as opposed to Kuzzey and Kira's clear Asian heritage.

Kuzzey is a dark haired and eyed boy, the youngest of the five of sixteen year old youths, wearing a hoodie with a green circle in the middle and green sleeves and hood with dark green main body with a yellow stripped inside the circle and about it as well. His running shoes were dark green with teal bottoms and his pants were a crème color.

Throughout their entrance to the room, Caridad felt a familiar presence she hadn't felt in sixteen years. As such she turned to the blonde that was in the room and knew that all hopes to keep the two apart had just fallen through. There had been reasons, damn good ones at that, but here was the other.

Kira had noticed the girl in a dark double breasted coat with purple buttons, tan slacks, reddish brown shin length socks, dark shoes and dark large hat and made inquires, though Sai asked if Kira was sure it was a girl.

"Even in that coat, which also conforms to her figure, she has a slightly noticeable bust line slightly larger than Shizuka. Also you can tell from the smell of shampoo and soap that she's a noble from the homeland along with the noticeable tan that is rather reflected well like that of the pale exotic look of Lady Mina Sahaku when she returns from Earth," Kira had said, earning him as smack on the back of the head from his mother, a stiff blushing blond, and Tolle screaming for mercy when Mir had pinched his ear for laughing at Sai's tomato red face while Kuzzey was repeating in his head, 'I heard nothing, NUT-THING!'

Caridad immediately apologized for Kira's words, saying that even she, as his mother, couldn't undo the damage done to him so long ago and with the things he gets into these days.

The blond had simply allowed the seemingly insult to wash over her like water off a duck's back, though she did note that Kira was wearing what appeared to be military leggings on his lower legs, though she dismissed as a fashion statement.

"I actually find that to be nice to know," she chuckled with a shake of her head to clear it and to plan how best to keep an eye on this seemingly young boy, but growled at the group's looks, "for someone NOT to mistake me for a boy!"

The group chose wisely to get to work, though Caridad noted that the girl, Cagalli she knew for certain, had an attitude.

'Probably hates being called princess,' Caridad wondered for once in a long time if they had done the right thing.

The group began to joke and laugh while Cagalli awaited Professor Kato, the group's teacher and contact with Morgenroete. As they worked, with Tolle being trapped in an out of control simulation suit while the others scrambled to figure out what happened, how to turn it off, and find out how the what happened, life went on in the colony. Indeed, all was peaceful as children played soccer, Flay and her friends shopped, and people went about their lives as the group of students finally found out what had happened and began to correct it. No one knew of the three warships more that had started their attack on the colony. The alert siren on the bridge of the Crescent Glow alerting her master as he was leaving the bridge as jamming began immediately as the three ships moved out and that no one who was not part of the staff at the port or members of the Heliopolis Defense Force already in the port…

…Save for one young man with a sixth sense for danger, who managed to alert the others seconds before all hell broke loose when the bombs detonated.

The explosions were powerful and ripped their way through the hidden dock, killing or wounding all those caught in the blasts. The dock was quickly reduced to a useless wreck with heavy causalities from the repeated explosions that began to feed on whatever it could to sustain itself from munitions to the oxygen tanks of the space suited personnel. The last second details that the crews had been over going once alerted to what was happening had the misfortune of adding to the total dead, but by some fluke saved several key members of both crews.

Leading the attack was an orange ZGMF-1017C Miguel Aiman Custom which stood out against the average gloss grey ZGMF-1017F GINN and ZGMF-515B CQUE. Miguel Aiman of the Le Creuset Team had orders to lead the attack of his team's mobile suits. He was quite confident that they would simply overwhelm the second hand GINNs and a bunch of dated mobile armor that Heliopolis had to offer. What he hadn't been expecting were quite clearly not second CAT-06S Space Leo mobile suits armed with 90mm Mobile Suit Machine Guns.

"Space Leos!" cried out a rookie member of the ZMS Musai, Gideon-class CL, before a Space Leo snapped it's machine gun up and fired, turning the GINN into a short lived fiery comet.

"How did they get Space Leos?" a veteran pilot shouted, barely dodging death and trying to return the favor and succeeding in getting an Orb GINN.

"Does it matter?" shouted Miguel, "fight back! Worry later!"

The pilots rally and fight back and it soon becomes apparent that things would turn in their favor.

Joining the battle, a number of MAW-01 Minstrels sortie, providing more of a nuisance than an actual threat, one lack luster GINN pilot lazily shot at one, only for the pilot to somehow dodge and return the favor with fatal consequences for the ZAFT pilot.

The Minstrel comes standard with 40mm Vulcan cannons, just like its combat built cousin, and as such the pilot, knowing a little about fighting mobile suits from pirate encounters, walked some fire up the body of the GINN, piercing the cockpit and killing the pilot. The 40mm rounds also hit fuel and power lines and the GINN went up in a short lived sun. As telling as any grim reminder to the other pilots that Mobile Armor was still dangerous despite the supposed superiority of the Mobile Suit.

The battle though had barely begun, but most of the inexperienced Orb pilots had been killed. While they did have combat experience, countering pirates is far different from fighting an elite team of combat professional soldiers. That being said, their machines were also on the order of higher quality with mostly the best ZAFT had to offer in terms of parts and equipment and some of the finest most experienced pilots were also at the control of the machines in question with smart and capable rookie pilots who had graduated at the top of the their class.

No less than the best was in the Le Creuset team.

This was made ever more true as they tore through twenty of the TAS-MA2 Moebius Mobile Armor units and quickly sank three of the nine active Tomozurus and crippled another two outright!

Of the thirty mobile suits, only ten were left.

This amounted to six ZGMF-1017A GINNs and four Space Leos with the remaining twenty active Moebius and four active Tomozuru-class ships with only five surviving Moebius from them as all that was left and revealing something so simple that had been overlooked...

Heliopolis' defense force was mostly green rookies, many not even graduated from flight or naval school!

Then a not so normal quartet of mobile armor made their appearance. They were followed by the Crescent Glow, barely escaping ahead of the destruction of the four ports that made up the harbor. The remaining inactive Tomozuru-class ship was among the many causalities of vessels including another Tomozuru that had been preparing to depart to join the defense, though both succeeded in launching three of their four combined mobile armor, the last one destroyed with its mothership. The leader of this group took a look back into the part and was glad that the Port Control had been hit by High Explosive rounds and that saved the men inside the port from very dreaded death in vacuum. Still, Lieutenant (SG) Mu 'Peregrine' La Flaga, was not too pleased to see the port get shot up.

"It's the Hawk of Endymion," one GINN pilot shouted before a Linear Cannon Slug went through his Mobile Suit.

Patrick Luke and Rhyner Gail relaxed as the first shots were exchanged and a GINN lost an arm and retreated, they were young, but they had been in some tough fights with ZAFT, though neither pilot was exceptionally experienced, but they were still good. The other pilot, a redhead woman named Selveria Cross, First Lieutenant of the Federal Air Force, had been hitching a ride to her meet up with her new unit which was deployed not far from Heliopolis, only to learn they were in the next port over, but there had been little actual time to transfer her over. She was also not a member of the OMNI Enforcer, but a test pilot of the Federal Forces and as such she was given the TAS-MAF6F-2 Hellcat, the Federal Forces replacement for the aging TS-MA2mod.00 Zero.

Though as a test pilot, she has seen limited combat action, all of which was on Earth with Fighter Squadrons or with one of the Rover Squads, notably the Desert Rovers who continued to prowl and harass all of ZAFT Forces in North Africa.

Her unit had even encountered the famed Desert Tiger and lived through one of her fellow Squaddies abilities. The man who was now a living legend among the Federal Troops had been supposedly killed or badly wounded, but she heard he was off somewhere else and that the Desert Tiger looked forward to settling the match that had been a draw at the Battle of the Cairo. She could only hope that he would turn up now, as she could really use some of his encouragement and strength as she fought to keep the bile down and out of her mouth and by proxy helmet.

"Cool Hands," Peregrine spoke up at that moment, "Take Storm and support the right flank, but don't go too far, keep close," Cool Hands Luke gave a copy reply as he and Stormy Gail both broke off to support the Moebius fighting on the right side of the colony, "You're with me gorgeous," Christina rolled her eyes.

"My call sign isn't gorgeous Peregrine," Selveria angrily stated, "its Stiletto," she said with justifiable pride, but that was a story for another time.

Getting an icy chill feeling at the way she said that, Mu La Flaga wisely chose to risk his life in a turning dogfight with the enemy. He closed in on a GINN that was desperately trying to put some distance between the Hawk and himself. He failed to do so, simply because he panicked and the Zero managed to catch him in an All Range Attack.

Professor Kato's Lab

Same time

Tremors shook the lab, sending various pieces of equipment falling to the ground.

'A bomb?' thought Caridad as she steadied herself but she was grabbed by Kira and Sai.

Once the tremors died down, Kira called out "Is everyone alright?"

"I'm okay," answered Mir with a wince and a sore arm.

"Nothing new," said Caridad as she began to blink and see the world around her, "but good fortune as any I can see for now."

"That's good," spoke Kuzzey as he rubbed a sore spot were he was hit by some flying object that was now non-recognizable, "sore here, but I think I'll live, thanks Kira."

Kira nodded as Tolle began to groan.

"I'll be fine," groaned Tolle as he climbed out of the exo-suit he was in and popped his back.

The blond girl that had been waiting for the Professor, nodded when she spoke up as well, "no harm, though I am curious as to how you knew that was going to happen?"

"Are you well Kira?" Mir spoke up first though, concerned for her friend.

"I wouldn't be standing if I weren't," stated Kira mildly, staring at the ceiling with narrowed eyes. He had been through worse and had practically ignored the tremors.

"Did a meteor hit the colony?" asked Sai, forgetting what Kira had said just prior to everything.

"I doubt it," said Kira, "or we probably already be dead."

"I agree with Kira," Tolle said, "but we should get to the shelters just in… Does anyone else hear a loud ratta-tat-tat sound?"

"It's called a war," Kira said without preamble, "and staying here to get shot is not on my 'to do list' today," as he began to lead the others out of the broken room, once they had all the surviving data they were working on.

The Hellcat though was in a turning fight with a pair of mobile suits, one chasing her and the other being chased by her. Normally this would have been a death sentence, but because she had grown up in space for a portion of her life, she had that instinct to turn the whole of space into her deciding advantage. This is one of the reasons she why she had an ATT patch on her sleeve which marked her as a graduate of the Advance Tactical Training academy.

The chaser was a GINN, normal color save for tally marks on its chest, arrayed like ribbon badges from a dress uniform. The one being chased was another GINN without any identifying markings, save for the seal of ZAFT and the other usual marks. This made for the usual issue facing the Earth Forces, for was it a new guy or not, maybe even an ace in the machine in front.

Still, she was an ATT top graduate with honors, fourth in her class and it showed as she chopped power and positioned herself in a place that forced the chasing GINN to go around her, leaving it with no way to strike at her, but with the Hellcat's Gunbarrerls, Selveria was already ensuring that the ZAFT pilot couldn't just reach out and grab her.

The GINN shot by and DID try an attempt at grabbing her mobile armor, but the Gunbarrels thrusters came to life and joined by the maneuvering thrusters on the craft, swung just under the attempt, the pilot trying to kick out, but only receiving a burst of Forties that tore the leg off and struck a spare magazine. The GINN exploded as Cross shot away on her main thrusters, locking up the other GINN and getting it with a dual burst from the Linear Cannon. The two kills was the norm for the Federal and OMNI pilots using the new mobile armor, now that they had something that could get them to, through, and from battle.

Yet, this wasn't a normal battle, so she was already expecting to pass the Hawk's record of GINNs for a single sortie.

Yet, one had to live to get credit…

Elsewhere

"That's it," said Yzak smugly as he looked through his binoculars. "Just like Commander Le Creuset told us."

"What? That if we prod them enough, that they'd come out of their hole?" replied Dearka.

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

Fellow Red Coat Calvin Ramirez shook his head at Yzak's comment. "Don't underestimate your enemies Yzak. That will get you killed. And remember, the Naturals were the ones to create us in the first place or have you been listening to the CLA when I haven't been looking."

"I can't stand the CLA Natural lover!" Yzak shot back, though he didn't like the CLA as anymore as the rest of the group and he made a pointed glare on the point.

"I don't love Naturals," he replied. "Nor do I hate them. They're simply people, just like us. But that's enough of the philosophical debate that is better left for another time. We still have a job to do. Miguel and Matthew will soon be here."

A moment later, three GINNs appeared over the nearby Morgenroete factory district and opened fire, destroying many of the military vehicles that were escorting the mobile suits as well as some supply trucks and abandoned civilian vehicles.

"Why are there three mobile suits, not that I'm complaining, just wondering?" spoke the only female green coat in the group, Mino Shibakawa.

"We are attacking a heavily defended colony," Ramirez pointed out and everyone remembered which country it belonged to.

"I still say this was a bad idea," another Red Coat spoke and the only other female and a Red Coat at that, in their group nodded as well.

"They're done, move," spoke the Sword Breaker's leader, Juan Valdez.

They activated their jetpacks, flying towards four of the machines while the GINNs systematically destroyed the reinforcements.

"Destroy the parts we can't carry and the factories," ordered Yzak over the comm. "According to the Intel, there should have been about seven machines, but!"

"There's four here which means the other three must still be in the factory, not counting what Intel missed!" spoke Rusty over the comm-link as he opened fire on the guards below as he dodged some fire himself, but the man behind him took a hit in his propellant tank and vanished in a fiery explosion, "Mort just brought it!"

"Shiho, Rusty, Joey, and I will continue on to the factory," spoke Athrun as he caught down one guard for getting one of theirs, "Yzak, you guys take these four."

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

Calvin, Yzak, Nicol, Dearka and half of the ZAFT soldiers landed near the transport vehicle of the first machine and quickly wiped out the guards closest to it, but counter fire from with in the vehicle killed two Sword Breakers.

"I got this one!" shouted Calvin after he cleared it with a grenade and he climbed into an open side hatch on vehicle. "You guys get the other three!"

Let's see what Orb and the Earth Forces have come up with.

A Leo pilot screaming for help on a clear frequency, panic clearly in his voice, but the GINN got to him before he could get any help and cut him down with its sword.

Another GINN trying to enter the port was caught by the OES Crescent Glow and blown apart by the ship's defenses even as another GINN was peppered with fire from a surviving Minstrel and flew into the wall of the dock, but making a spectacular dodge, avoided becoming one with the wall.

"Splash One!"

"The other one is pulling back!"

Another Orb Moebius was caught inside a defense pattern and the Richard and the Gamow shot down, even as four of the remaining six Minstrels were also destroyed.

A GINN dropped in behind another Leo and speared it from behind with its sword, while another GINN also speared it from the front, a move that proved fatal as the GINN was shot by the dying pilot's last act of defiance, destroying both Leo and GINN while the first GINN got away.

Cool Hand's Moebius was then hit by enemy fire, grazing damage and he recovered, but a bazooka armed GINN landed on top of the mobile armor and fired downward into cockpit, killing Luke outright and turning his mobile armor into a spreading debris cloud.

The Musai then moved in and fired its main cannons and that was it for the Crescent Glow, she began to head straight for the side of the colony, her engines gone, flames dancing, explosions ripping her internal structure to pieces as she fell helplessly towards Heliopolis, the crew in a panic at the inevitable.

'We've done all we can and it was STILL not enough,' Captain Thomas Riley Brandon thought with dread and panic, but soon resigned to inevitable knowing that help was coming too late to save them and with a painful farewell, 'Goodbye Marie,' the captain watched as his ship crashed into the colony wall and…

The OES Crescent Glow was no more.

Heliopolis Technical College

Everyone was in a panic as the college shook and rattled and let out noises no building should. The halls were full of people and guards trying to both get out and make sure everyone got out safely and orderly. The ground continued to rumble and the building began to sway slightly, adding to the fear and pandemonium.

Not so with Kira Yamato and his mother, who could safely move on her own now that her sight was returned.

Both had been through worst and they had become a center of calm in a raging storm, helping to evacuate people by keeping them calm by being calm themselves and giving words of assurance and courage.

Still, people like Sai were in a panic. Sai even attempted to activate the elevators, only to be reminded that there was no power and that in an emergency they were death traps waiting to happen. Sai's unintentional mistake though had been slightly humorous when a guard had made light of Sai's choice of escape. This had helped to calm down people enough for the door to the stairwells to be forced or the hinges blown.

"What's going on?" a girl asked and a man in the stairwell answered, "ZAFT's attacking the colony, several mobile suits are inside!"

The blond bolted at that, much to Kira's displeasure as he bolted after her. Caridad, though, had been held onto preventing her from following. Which turned out to be good as the passage was soon blocked by debris. There was no going after them.

"We need to leave now people!" barked one security officer at the terrified people, "keep moving in an orderly fashion so we can get out of here right NOW!"

It didn't take Kira long to catch up with the blonde. Unfortunately, the second he did catch up with her, part of the hallway behind them collapsed, sending them stumbling to hands and knees.

"You're a girl!" Kira exclaim.

"Yeah! What'd you think I was?" she asked rudely, before a thought came to mind, "and how did you forget I was one?"

"I...ah...just thought that-" said Kira in his defense, looking embarrassed at having forgotten that fact, though she was nice to look at, but something stirred with in him, something like a forgotten connection.

A tremor shook the building, interrupting him both verbally and mentally.

"I think we should get out of here, now," spoke Kira as he picked himself up.

"I agree," said the girl as she got back up, "You go back. I need to check on something. By myself!"

"Are you kidding? The entire hallway has completely collapsed. We can't go back that way," said Kira as he took hold of her, "but I know you from a report I once read and that you are an Orb Noble, but I'm the qualified one here, so I'll lead!"

Looking back over his shoulder, he thought about his mother and friends even as the blond began to show some concern as well for his position.

"Yeah, there's no way for us to go back that way now," said Kira as he led her off, "but there should be more shelters in the factory district. C'mon!"

Morgenroete Factory District

Athrun, Rusty, Joey, Shiho, and the ZAFT soldiers with them, were near the hanger of the remaining Earth Forces machines, both known and unknown. They had for the most part, avoided combat, thanks in part to the distraction caused by the GINNs.

They had quietly moved around to one of the smaller side entrances of the now heavily guarded warehouse, but they had still encountered scattered resistance.

Athrun slowly cracked open one of the side doors that had been left unguarded for some reason and he and Rusty tossed in grenades. A few seconds later, there was a pair of explosions.

"Go go go!" he ordered to the rest of the team.

They charged into the warehouse, guns blazing.

Elsewhere

Calvin sighed as finished rewriting the machine's OS. He couldn't help but wonder about this rather crappy OS. You'd think that Orb and the Earth Forces would have been able to come up with a proper OS for these things, but he knew that they were probably going to do individual calibrations from there. He knew he would if he was among them, makes adapting a general OS a bit harder, but better performance with the equipment.

"Well, I'm done," he said over the comm. "How are you guys coming?"

"What? Already? How the hell can you be done so fast?" shouted Yzak in disbelief.

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

"You always were the fastest at with these things," said Nicol.

"What can I say, I know the language of computers and if it wasn't for this war, well…" he trailed off, "you guys better hurry up, but I just got a really bad feeling."

Of course, Calvin knew it was gonna take them a few more minutes before they were done. The only reason he was done so fast was that he was gifted when it came to computers. Though he could hear them going overtime at typing at them over the comm-links they had.

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

'The GAT-X204 Surge. Hmm… Phase Shift Armor. That sounds impressive. Let's see what this thing's got for weapons. Wow! I'm really going to like this thing! Now for what's under the ho- I hope I get to keep this baby girl after the mission!'

As Calvin got done with that thought he heard Dearka check in, "I'm done and in love~!"

"All I can say is enjoy, cause I know I am!"

Morgenroete Factory District

At that same time

Athrun fired off a burst of rounds at an armed Morgenroete employee. The man fell to the ground, though a Police SWAT officer took his place and made them pay for killing the man.

"Hey Athrun! We got a problem here!" shouted Rusty as he ducked to avoid a burst of fire that came at him for his loud shout, "someone really, totally screwed up! There are least six machines I can see here!"

"What?"

"Take a look."

Athrun took a glance at the Earth Forces mobile suits. With all the fighting, he hadn't really paid any attention to them. But now he realized that someone had made a major mistake. There were at least six prototypes in the warehouse that could be seen and what looked like trailers hidden further out of view. Meaning that there had been more than a dozen machines, not seven like their Intel had said.

'How could our intel be that far off?'

"We have to destroy those machines!" he ordered as he signaled Shiho and Joey to make a flanking move, "someone has to get into them and activate the self-destruct!"

Heliopolis Airspace

Some time during all of this

Marie Josephine Julie Jeanne Anne Jacqueline Buffet, she always wondered why she had a long name, ran her new beam saber into a GINN then cut downward splitting the suit nearly in half. The lavender haired Enhanced Natural woman with her same colored eyes took a second to wipe away her sweat soaked long hair from her face. At the age of 15 she was the youngest in her group and was originally from a Eurasian Colony. Now she was cadet in the Orb National Space Defense Force, training to pilot a CAT-06S Space Leo she was currently handling.

Like the others of her cadet class, she had been learning on the refurbished Leo that had been set aside for them to train in. They were to pilot the new space Astrays when they finally came online. Three preproduction and evaluation units had been manufactured, but they were assigned to three top pilots with other preproduction test beds that happened to be aboard the OUS Akagi, but that ship was in reserve at another colony owned by Orb. The Akagi's sister,the OUS Azuna, flagship of the Azuna-class Battleships, the hull of the Izumo-class, but with greater firepower and purpose built from start to finish was supposed to be in port, but she a fouled engine and the only spares was at the same colony with Akagi. These ships were longer than the smaller Izumo-class and as such carried the same number of mobile suits, but were built to fight other warships more directly, 'when they were around to do battle anyway!' Marie thought bitterly.

Now though, as Marie looked longingly at the remains of the dock where the ships of the No. 3 Patrol Squadron had been, she knew that Orb now had only twenty Patrol Ships left, along with two old Inazuma-class Frigates, based on older AFSF Frontier-class Frigates the forerunners of the current Drake-class and appearing the same, but on a smaller scale. Rubbing the salt in the wound, it would take months to repair the colony so no new ships and mobile suits would be coming from Heliopolis. Now she was wishing she had decided to tag along with Michel Yvennes, her boyfriend for only a few months.

Then a yellow GINN with red trim and stripes dropped in on her as she barely dodged the slash from its heavy sword as she fled off with it chasing her again. Unknown to her, the pilot was ZAFT's Yellow Fever, Nikolai Muller, a Eurasian born Coordinator still stewing over the fact he has yet to get the Order of the Nebula. He was a man known for many things, few of them good, but one thing he liked especially was what he called Reading and those who knew the art he called Readers and there were only a few he feared, three of the top were a certain missing Federal Forces pilot, a man he had meet with Rau Le Creuset, and the one called the greatest, Lacus Clyne herself!

He watched his opponent, who he figured was female and an Enhanced Natural at the very most, dodged left and right, jinking here and there, trying to lose him, but the Yellow Fever was hot on her trail. He fired and she dodged, he was running her out of fuel before he went in to capture her. They needed information on where the Leos came from and he was certain that she had other uses for his group, the Coordinator Liberation Army, especially now that Patrick Zala seemed ready to join them. They zipped and zoomed, the two them moving at speeds that would leave civilians gaping at the moves pulled at those speeds… until Mu La Flaga interfered with that!

Flying in with a battlecry and a hail of death, the Yellow Fever was pushed instantly back!

"Some day Mu La Flaga!" Nikolai yelled over the radio pulling his now legless GINN back and out of the fight, "Some day!"

Being the fourth GINN shot down at Endymion left him stewing even worse.

"Fallback, we're all that's left!" Peregrine ordered her, which to Marie's horror was true.

All of the other Orb mobile suits had been destroyed and the mobile armor had also been destroyed, leaving only herself, the Federal Mobile Armor, and the two Earth Forces' Mobile Armor left when a Minstrel shot boy and dodged a fatal attack from a GINN. She tracked and fired on instinct and the GINN's left leg exploded off with the shot and was forced to withdraw. The Minstrel came about and chose to stick close by her and together with the two other surviving defenders they withdrew to try and check ZAFT's advance and get some time to assess their situation.

At that moment, a screaming yell and orders and commands and Stormy Gail's mobile armor shot by the two… in two exploding halves.

They now were just four, but ZAFT seemed to be retiring.

As Kira led the blond into the factory district, they found a war zone. Armed Morgenroete employees and Heliopolis Police Forces were fighting off ZAFT soldiers around six mobile suits.

The mobile suits were unlike anything they had seen before. ZAFT's mobile suits tended to be bulky and simple looking things while these ones were slimmer and more elegant. They reminded Kira of something he had left behind, not by choice either. A longing now erupted in him and the desi-

"Father, I knew you betrayed us all!" the girl shouted, bringing Kira back to reality.

Suddenly, an armed, orange jump suit clad female Morgenroete employee spun around and aimed her rifle at them and got of a pair of single shots.

"C'mon!" shouted Kira as he grabbed the girl's arm and started running, "we have to get out of here!"

The brunette woman that had shot at them was surprised to see civilians muttered about it to herself, before the death cry of a SWAT officer shot in the neck brought her back to battle as she barely dodged some ricochets.

The two quickly reached the nearest shelters. Two of them were full, but the third had a green light over the door, signaling that there was still room in that shelter.

Kira pushed the call button and a voice came over the intercom.

"Is there someone out there?" the voice asked.

"Yes. My friend and I need to get in. Please open the door," said Kira.

"Friend? As in two of you?"

"Yes."

"Sorry but we're full to capacity as it is. Try the shelters in the left block."

"My friend is a noble girl," Kira said forcibly, "At least take her!"

The man sighed and said, "Okay, but we can only take her, one of the others in here isn't going to need any fresh air anytime soon anymore."

The door opened and Kira looked at Cagalli. The blond made it clear she didn't want to get in, not without him. He began to push her in, when he heard a familiar sound and pulled her to the side in time as a grenade blew apart the next lift over!

"Hey! What are you doing? Let me-" the rest of her cries were silenced when she saw Kira push a young girl into the lift and the door closed, sealing the shelter.

"You have a wounded child coming down instead! LOCK THE SHELTER!" as Kira spun, dodging fire and seeing the face of the leader of a small six man team of Sword Breakers.

"Little Kira! Is that you? My so you still live traitor. Prepare to p-?"

-BLAM- -BLAM- -BLAM-

Kira looked to see four OMNI Soldiers charge, the leader a wounded officer with a M6D side arm firing 12.7x40mm AP rounds into the leader and the two rocket totters who getting ready to destroy the shelters. The man was soon in close and pistol whacked one with such force as to cave in the man's helmet deeply. The CLA man fell dead, his visor half coated with blood and grey matter from the devastating strike, but he was quickly avenged as another fired into the officer, the man jerking like a puppet as he fell dead.

The other three wildly fired back too far off in their aim to hit anything in front of them, but Kira watched as they quickly recovered never the less, though only two now. The two jumped behind cover and one threw a grenade even before he had finished landing, killing one man, but his buddy got off a shot with his grenade launcher attachment even as he was drilled by several bullets to the face. The grenade killed the two, but the last soldier was wounded mildly.

"Get out of here!" he yelled as he pulled the tags from his comrades and ran off to where there was shooting.

Kira nodded to the man as he past, only patching over his wound, it would take too much time to treat it. Kira turned to a still stunned Cagalli as she sat her legs tucked back and splayed out with her hands on the ground to support her. Her face showing that she didn't know what was happening and had gone into a mild case of shock.

"Come on, let's get going!" Kira demanded as he helped Cagalli's stunned form up, giving her a quick slap that focused her and noting that stray rounds had ruined her coat and shirt, but amazingly they were only grazing hits and none touched the blonde.

The two were soon on the move, with Kira guiding a slightly shell shocked Cagalli.

Warehouse

When Joey Steeler saw the last commando go down in his group, he knew it was now or never and he nodded to Mino. As the rest of ZAFT soldiers were still trying to strike from the front, Mino and Joey made to seize a pair of the machines and were surprised to find Shiho already near one. It didn't last long as they slammed into her with enough force to smack her head against the torso's side and knock her out.

They quickly disarmed and bound Shiho and prepared to move out when an explosion occurred, one not caused by the current exchange of fire.

"This place is starting to blow!" yelled Joey as his fellow confederate nodded and hoisted herself and Shiho up and into the machine they were next to as Joey fled to another mobile suit, this one was well armed from what he could tell and he slipped in unnoticed, save for a couple of late arrivals that boarded two of the other machines.

Another explosion rocked the catwalk Kira and Cagalli ran back into the warehouse on. They were halfway across the catwalks when they spotted a ZAFT sniper on another catwalk, aiming at that woman from earlier.

"Look out! Behind you!" shouted Kira as he promptly pushed Cagalli to the ground as bullets danced just behind, before, and above them, all in space they should have been occupying.

The woman spun around and fired at the sniper, killing him and running out of bullets.

"What the hell are you two doing here?" the voice of another brunette, one Kira recognized from the rental stand and from around the campus, rang out from on top of one of the mobile suits.

"Long story! Don't worry about us! We're heading to the shelters in the left block!" shouted Kira back to her.

"There's nothing left through there!" the Morgenroete employee yelled from her position.

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

"You two! Get down here now!" ordered the first brunette they had saved as the SWAT officer, the last one, was caught by a grenade shielding the other brunette and killed.

"Doesn't look like we have much of a choice," said Cagalli as she came back too, "now the question is, how are we gonna get down there?"

"I got an idea," replied Kira before he picked Cagalli up bridle style and leapt over the railing and onto the middle-left mobile suit that the woman was on with Cagalli at first starting to object, than starting to demand, and left screaming as she went along for the ride.

"I know I'm gonna regret that in the morning," spoke Kira, as he noted that Cagalli wasn't just good looking, but quite fit that she had to outweigh Flay and Mir by some, but a bullet's ping made him remember the shooting zone he was in.

"What's going here? Why is ZAFT attacking?" he shouted at the woman as he took cover and kept Cagalli down, even as a bullet scraped along a buckle on his coat before he took cover.

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

"RUSTY!"

"Isn't that a treaty violation?" Cagalli demanding, but trying to keep her voice down, even though she was still shouting out her exact spot to anyone listening and everyone was.

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

"Damn! This place isn't gonna last much longer!" she said as another explosion tore through, "get in the mobile suit! We need to get out of here!"

Kira nodded, when a regular Police officer arrived, he was only one of at least four of the defenders left, not counting the two teens.

"She wants' the blond in the other machine now!" he shouted over the din of explosions.

The whole warehouse was going up in flames. There was no time for arguments and Kira sent Cagalli with the man. He quickly scrambled up the side of the next mobile suit, followed by Cagalli. He began to fire, when a sniper's round found an opening in his vest. That sent both ladies tumbling into the cockpit, followed by the sound of an assault rifle firing and then suddenly cutting off.

"What now?" Cagalli demanded of the woman, not knowing that the other brunette had been wounded and Kira had dropped his weapon after a ricochet hit it.

"You pilot, I tell how," she responded, she was no good with the systems in battle, she was simply unskilled where as she was skilled at making them.

On the machine Kira had landed on, he and a ZAFT red stared at each other in shock.

"Athrun?" breathed Kira.

"Kira?" asked Athrun, incredulous. Athrun's stance slacked, and Kira stood up, putting his eye level almost even with the blue-haired soldier across from him. The brunette woman lifted her gun, aiming it at Athrun, who jumped back, evading the two haphazard shots, the last of the clip given to her by the officer. The woman stood up and knocked Kira into the cockpit of the mobile suit before dropping herself in.

"I can at least save this, even if I'm not a pilot," the wounded woman said, more to herself than Kira, "I will save at least the Strike."

A massive explosion tore through the warehouse as the GAT-X303 Aegis, the GAT-X115 Mirkwood, the GAT-X116 Highland, the GAT-X104 Resolute, the GAT-X105 Strike, the GAT-X220 Priest, and lastly MBF-P04 Yellow Astray broke through their cradles and stood up eyes alight with recognizing their new pilots.

Well that's done, finally, four months, give or take, mostly give.

Well, if you're reading this, than my proofreaders deemed it good.

As for the new Gideon-class, I felt that ZAFT needed a little more firepower than a destroyer and a frigate. I will also be dumbing down the ZAFT ships and their firepower somewhat, because with all that power they may very well be Dreadnaughts!

Even the Six Original Frigates avoided heavy combatants!

Cruisers losing to Destroyers in gunnery combat, no way Jose. That's simply not possible, unless you have a group of destroyers. The ZMS Versalius one shot-ing the much larger OES Montgomery is quite doubtful, very doubtful at that and completely ludicrous to boot. Anyway you slice it, the Nelson-class is heavier in the armor department and it is extremely doubtful that the class would have armor that wouldn't be resistant to beam attacks so late in the war.

This way things are more even and more realistic, it is simply a fact of military combat that the Nazca is either too big to be a Destroyer or not a Destroyer at all either a Heavy Cruiser, Large Cruiser, Battlecruiser, or a Battleship!

This is also means I'm downgrading the Drake-class from Frigates to Sloop of Wars, a slightly smaller class, slightly smaller than a Corvette, but Corvettes are fast attack ships in comparison, while the Sloops are escorts ships. This allows them to be built in an incredible numbers, but not with the firepower to tackle a force of larger warships unless they greatly outnumber them and can swamp them through sheer mass fire tactics with their missiles.

As for the Gideon-class, they will have firepower able to compete with the Nelson-class being cruisers and all. The Gideon-class is in fact the Musai-class and further specs and design appearances will appear in the future. There are other ZAFT ships and there will be new Earth Forces ships, but all will be given their due.

Sincerely,

F-14 Tomcat Lover