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

KentLinuxStadfelt: I have had permission to use these new characters for a while, so no, they are not new. :3

CT7567Rules: You will see Flay in action soon enough. :3 And Shinn will grow over time, so you will see that for sure. :3

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

Just a Crazy Man: No, it does not. :(

A0930: Ok, as for Keller, he does want NASA to be in a position of power, but that is because NASA is actually the middle ground for that accepts Naturals and Coordinators. If NASA doesn't have enough power, then whose to say if NASA would be defeated. And trust me, that is not what he wants to see. You will see everything soon enough. :3

Titanic X: Glad you like it. :3

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

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

Phase Two: Those Who Call For War

Aboard the Minerva

The poker game was intensifying. Tristan had cut his losses and quit. But Shawn was still determined to defeat Dale's unbeatable poker face. Shawn glanced at his hand. A full house. Dale was going down. "You're going down, Dale. I call."

Dale laid his cards on the table. Three eights, a two and a four. Finally, the poker king was beaten. Shawn's smile widened. "I-"

"All hands report to Level One Battlestations! This is not a drill! Armory One is under attack! I repeat..."

The three ZAFT green coat pilots instantly stood up, their game forgotten. "What the hell? Who'd be crazy enough to attack us here in Armory One?" Shawn said.

"Does it matter?" Tristan asked. "We're under attack."

Armory One

The Specter rammed it's sword through the chest of a mobile suit, piercing the cockpit and the pilot. Treize kicked the GuAIZ off his sword and glanced at his nearby teammates, just as a strange white mobile suit appeared. These pitiful mobile suits were of no interest to him. But the white machine...Well, that looked like it was something much more interesting. He quickly checked the Specter's library. There was no match. "Of course. Those bastards hid this one from us." Treize said to himself. "No matter."

The white mobile suit reminded him of the famed Strike of the last war. Treize briefly wondered if this machine's pilot was as good as the late Kira Yamato and Heero Yuy had been. It didn't matter. He had bested Yamato dozens of times in simulators and he would defeat this one as well. Wing Zero was whole different story though…

"Why is this happening?" Shinn asked. "Are trying to start another one? Another war?!"

Starting another war? Was guy really that foolish? Treize laughed. "Start another war? Of course we are! We exist only to fight in wars and kill people like you Coordinator! Like all soldiers do! If you're too weak to understand that than you don't belong in that machine!" he replied. "Allow me to fix that!"

The Specter raced forward, its sword raised. Shinn separated his swords and crossed them together, blocking Treize's attack. "Not bad. You've got some skill." Treize commented. "But you're no match for me."

Treize activated the Specter's powerful Vernier boosters, propelling it forward and knocking the Impulse to the ground. Shinn quickly started to get up, but Treize appeared above him, swinging his Tempest sword down. Shinn swung his own swords up, forcing Treize to pull back or be impaled on his blades. This allowed Shinn to get back on his feet. At that moment, however, the Abyss appeared, swinging its spear down on the Impulse. Shinn countered by delivering a kick to the Abyss's mid-section. The Gaia, in its mobile armor mode, lunged at Shinn. The Impulse jumped up, dodging the mobile suit.

"Sting, Stella, Auel, surround him." Treize ordered. "We'll overwhelm him and take him apart."

Heero grunted as he fired his machine's Gatling guns at the Chaos, preventing the pilot from getting close to the new white machine. The Chaos fired on Wing Zero, but Heero was able to dodge it with little difficulty.

The legendary machine jetted upwards to avoid getting hit by the Chaos's weapons, which were two DRAGOON pods. The Perfect Soldier then whirled around and fire with the Gatling guns once more. He could not risk using the Twin Buster Rifle inside the colony, not with so many people around.

Heero looked down, only to see a quartet of GINNs running forth, weapons drawn and firing.

This would not end well…

Shinn grit his teeth as he blocked the descending spear of the Abyss with his swords. But the moment he blocked the shot, the Specter tackled him, sending the Impulse to the ground. Shinn had to admit, while the pilots of the Gaia and the Abyss were skilled, the Specter's pilot was on a whole other level. He had never fought someone, either in a simulator or training matches, with his level of skill. Shinn hated to admit it, but he wasn't sure if he could beat him one on one. Much less take him with it as it was one against three.

An unknown machine and a quartet DINNs appeared, firing on the stolen machines. The Chaos, the Gaia and the Abyss engaged the mobile suits while the Specter stood over the Impulse, a foot pinning it to the ground. It's Tempest sword raised above the Impulse's chest. Shinn's eyes widened in horror as Treize smirked.

Suddenly, the one armed ZAKU Warrior lunged at the Specter with its tomahawk, allowing Shinn to get back up as Treize dealt with it.

Athrun swung his axe down. But Treize blocked it with his shield and before Athrun could react, trust his sword into the side of the arm holding the axe, severing it. Treize then grabbed the ZAKU, turning it around and using it as a shield. Athrun swore as he tried to get them out of the Specter's grip. But there was little he could do. Cagalli, Flay, Lord Uzumi, and himself were now little more than a human shield for the Specter.

"You coward!" Shinn shouted.

"Only cowards and weaklings don't use all resources on the battlefield." Treize said with a sneer. "What will it be? Gonna attack me at the cost of his life?"

Shinn scowled, but didn't move. He couldn't risk it.

"Drop your swords." Treize ordered.

Shinn complied, letting his swords drop onto the ground. "Good. Now catch!"

Treize threw the ZAKU into the Impulse. Shinn caught the mobile suit. But as soon as he did, the Specter jumped up, firing its cannon at them.

Shinn, acting on reflex, threw the ZAKU out of the way and jumped back. The ZAKU crashed into the ground. Athrun was fine in the pilot's chair, and Flay managed to brace herself against the side of the cockpit, reducing the impact on her. Lord Uzumi was fine as well, shielded by the seat. But Cagalli wasn't so lucky. Her head slammed against the side of the cockpit and she fell onto Athrun. "Cagalli!" a worried Athrun shouted.

She was unconscious and bleeding from a head injury. He had to get her out of here now. He got the ZAKU back onto its feet and took off.

The ZAKU's departure didn't even register on the minds of Shinn and the Extended. Shinn drew his rifle and fired at the Specter. Treize fired up his boosters again, launching him higher into the air. Most of Shinn's shots missed while the few that did find their mark, hit his shield. Treize fired the Specter's multi-phase beam cannon again. Shinn jumped back, narrowly missing the beam. The Specter landed and Treize drew his beam revolvers, firing at the Impulse. Shinn struggled to dodge his shots.

Treize fired his cannon. Shinn dove to the right to avoid it. But as he did, Treize fired in his path. The beam hit the ground in front of Shinn. The explosion knocked the Impulse back and knocked away its rifle. Treize snickered. "You're right handed. I can tell you. Because you favor dodging to the right." he explained. "I knew that if I fired at you, you would most likely move to your right to dodge it. Quite predictable. Your machine might be an excellent mobile suit. But it's clearly wasted on an inferior pilot like you."

"Shut up!" Shinn shouted as he stood back up.

Treize ignored him. "How about this? You power down your machine and climb out. And I spare your life-"

"No way!" yelled Shinn as he fired on the Specter.

Treize dodged the shots effortlessly and shook his head. "You truly are a miserable example of your wretched kind. Your piloting skills are lacking and you're rude, Patchworker. I was offering you an excellent deal and you don't even let me finish. No matter. I'll kill you and take what's left of your machine."

Treize drew his sword and rocketed down from the sky, heading for the Impulse at the Specter's maximum speed. There wasn't much Shinn could do and they both knew it.

Suddenly, Treize stopped, feeling a pair of pulses. A trio of beams shot past him. Had he been moving forward, the beams would have hit him. Both pilots as well the other Extended, turned towards the source of the beams.

"Hey thief! Those belong to us!" A GINN pilot shouted, firing at the Specter as Luna and Rey fired on other stolen mobile suits. "And we want them back!"

"Pathetic. I will get to you in good time." Treize said, dodging his shots and drawing one of his beam revolvers.

Sting and Stella joined him, firing back with their beam rifles as Auel fired the beam guns mounted on the Abyss's shoulder fins. Luna and Rey evaded the shots as they fired their beam assault rifles at the four.

As this was going on, Shinn rushed towards where the Impulse's swords laid. Treize glanced at the Impulse. "Sorry. I can't allow you to do that, inferior one." he said, rushing after Shinn and raising his sword.

But just as he reached the Impulse, Shinn grabbed his swords and spun around. Two blades met one. Shinn and Treize battled to overpower the other. As they clashed, the other pilot drew his tomahawk and rushed towards the Specter. Just as he reached him, Treize hit the Specter's Verniers and shot up into the air. The pilot swore as he stopped his charge. Treize kicked the pilot's ZAKU from behind, slamming it into the Impulse.

Auel fired his beam guns at Rey's ZAKU, forcing Rey to duck under his shots, drawing his tomahawk as he did. Rey lunged forward, swinging his axe. Auel blocked Rey's attack with his spear, only to follow that up with a knee into the ZAKU's chest. Elsewhere, Sting, who had broken away from his fight with Heero, and Stella traded shots with Luna. The beams from the Extended forced Luna to take cover behind the wreckage of a hanger. Luna reached for one of her ZAKU's grenades. "Let's see how you like this!" Luna said, tossing the grenade at the pair.

The grenade landed between the Chaos and the Gaia. The two pilots dove away just as it went off, allowing Luna to fire back at them.

Outside Armory One

Unbeknownst to the ZAFT forces at Armory One, the Girty Lue, cloaked under its Mirage Colloid, closed in on the ZAFT space port and nearby vessels. Its hangers open. A Z.A.M. Gundam, a Blu Duel, a Rosso Aegis and a Verde Buster were launched.

The Z.A.M. Gundam and the Buster slowly headed for the spaceport while the Duel and the Aegis head towards one of the patrol ships.

The mobile suits slowly headed for the dock, undetected by any of the ZAFT ship or those in the space port command center. Gai Tatsuni grinned as he piloted his Z.A.M. Gundam towards the unsuspecting Coordinators. He glanced back at the lagging Verde Buster. He stopped and grabbed the Buster's arm, opening a private contact channel. "Come on, Xander! Hurry up! I wanna wipe out some Coordinators!"

"Don't worry Gai. We'll make it in time to start the attack. And we'll make them all pay for existing." Xander replied, glancing out at the PLANTs. "Shame we can't stay to crush the Patchworkers' feeble hourglasses as well."

The two male EA officers reached the dock, keeping out of sight. Three Laurasia-class warships were inside. All unaware of what was about to happen.

Elsewhere, the Blu Duel and Rosso Aegis silently approached the underside of a patrolling Nazca-class. "How typical of the Coordinators to rely upon their technology and distance from Earth to protect them." Reccoa commented. "How fitting that we should kill them where they feel safest."

Aboard the hidden Girty Lue, Captain Neo Roanoke glanced at his watch. By now, the Lieutenant and the others should have stolen the machines and would soon be making their escape. "Sir. The mobile suit team is in position." one of the Girty Lue's officers said.

Neo nodded. "Activate Gottfrieds. Load missile tubes with Sledgehammers. Target the port Nazca-classes. Fire!"

The Girty Lue's Gottfrieds fired. The beams tore the first Nazca-class. The Girty Lue's Mirage Colloid deactivated as it let loose a barrage of missiles at the second ZAFT warship, destroying it too.

Gyunei grinned, igniting his arm mounted beam sabers. "Time to cast into the void, Space Aliens!" he yelled, moving in front of the warship.

He roared, charging at the ship's hanger. He drove the blades into the hanger, cutting a strip out of it. Gyunei pushed the Rosso Aegis's chest up against the hole. He fired several beams from his Scylla II cannon into the hanger. Explosions blossomed across the ship's hull. A moment later, the ship exploded.

Alarms went off in the spaceport control room. The Laurasia-class ships started to leave the dock, heading to attack the intruder. "Let's get it started!" Xander shouted. "For the preservation of our blue and pure world!"

"Yeah!" Gai shouted, hitting a button on his console. Rock music blared into the cockpit and every channel. "For the preservation of our blue and pure world!"

Confusion reigned across the ZAFT forces in the dock and nearby it. An unknown ship had just appeared and destroyed two ZAFT vessels while a third had been taken down by a mobile suit. And now the comm channels were all filled with music preventing them from effectively communicating with the nearby ZAFT vessels and even those within Armory One. Before those inside the warships and the dock itself could react, beams and missiles tore through the hanger. A beam tore through the bridge of the first Laurasia-class. It crashed into the dock floor. Several of the Verde Buster's beams and missiles tore through the thrusters of the second Laurasia-class, causing it to crash into the spaceport control room. Explosions tore through the spaceport, claiming the last Laurasia-class.

Armory One

Everyone stopped as they felt the vibrations from the battle outside the colony. "Damn." Treize said, glancing up. "Sting, Stella, Auel. We're leaving."

"Aw... Already?" Auel whined. "What about that one?"

"Leave it. Our orders are to take these machines back to the ship. We can deal with that one at a later date." Trezie replied. "It's time to leave."

The Specter, the Gaia, the Abyss and the Chaos took off, heading towards a distant section of the colony wall. "Come on. We're not going to let these guys escape." Heero said over the com-line, taking off after them.

Shinn, Rey, and Luna followed him, startled at who he really was but kept on firing at the fleeing Extended. But a few moments after they took to the air, one of the thrusters on her ZAKU, exploded. "Lunamaria! Are you alright?" Rey called out as Luna's ZAKU started falling back.

"I'm fine. But I can't sustain my altitude."

"There's nothing you can do. Fall back to the Minerva." Rey said.

"Right." Luna said, her red ZAKU pulling away from the group.

A warning light went off in Shinn's cockpit. The Impulse was running low on power. Fortunately, running low on power wasn't a serious problem for the Impulse. So long as it wasn't cut off from the Minerva anyway. "Meyrin, launch the Force Silhouette." Shinn said, calling the warship.

"Roger. Launching Force Silhouette now."

A moment later, a flyer was launched from Minerva. Shinn detached the Sword Silhouette and deactivated Impulse's phase shift. The Force Silhouette then attached itself to the Impulse back, boosting the Impulse's battery. Its gray armor turned white and blue.

'Interesting. So that machine is indeed heavily modeled after the GAT-X105 Strike.' Treize thought as he watched the Impulse. 'Figures. The best weapon the Coordinators have is ripped off from our machines.'

The Impulse and the ZAKUs started firing at them. The four Extendeds evaded the shots as they continued towards the colony wall. A beam from the Impluse narrowly missed the Gaia's side. Stella let out a frustrated growl as she turned around and fired on the Impulse. Shinn sidestepped her shots and continued to fire on her.

Outside Armory One

"C'mon Coordinators! Dance to my music!" Gai said as he fired on a pair of GuAIZ Rs, destroying them. "No no no. That was terrible."

Another GuAIZ appeared, firing on him. Maia sidestepped the beams. "Okay. Once more. With feeling this time." he sneered, firing back on the mobile suit.

A beam tore through the GuAIZ's right knee. Another beam severed its left shoulder. The damaged GuAIZ staggered back. But Gai didn't let up. He continued to fire on the ZAFT machine. Blowing off its head and remaining limbs. "That's better. Still not good. But better." the EA officer said, aiming at the GuAIZ's torso.

A shot rang out and GuAIZ exploded.

The Verde Buster fired its beam cannon and gun launcher at a Nazca-class, hitting the warship's hanger as a GuAIZ R was about to launch. Xander laughed as a fireball consumed the entire hanger and its mobile suits. The Rosso Aegis, in its mobile armor mode, grabbed a CGUE in its limbs. Gyunei smirked as he squeezed the mobile suit, crushing its body. "Oops... I broke this one." he said, laughing. "Someone bring me another one!"

A pair of GuAIZs fired at him. "You'll do!"

He fired his Scylla cannon. The beam pierced one GuAIZ as the other tried to dodge it. But he was unprepared for the curving nature of the beam and was hit too.

More ZAFT mobile suits approached the four pilots. Reccoa fired her beam guns, taking down a trio of GuAIZs and a CGUE. "Pathetic." she said. "These Coordinators are utterly hopeless."

"What's taking them so long?" Gyunei impatiently asked, slicing a pair of GuAIZs in two. "I thought this was supposed to be a quick grab and run. Don't tell me that Big Bad Treize is losing his touch."

"Hey! You better watch your mouth." Gai shot back, firing his shoulder cannons at Laurasia-class. "That guy won't like hearing that. He'll kill you for saying that."

Elsewhere, aboard the Girty Lue, Neo was growing impatient as well. He had expected better of Treize. Out of all of the Extended, Treize was the best and normally the most reliable of all three generations that had come out of the labs. Even an unexpected problem shouldn't have kept him busy for long.

While the combat abilities of the Extended were incredibly high, even they would eventually be overwhelmed by the sheer numbers of the ZAFT forces undoubtedly heading to aid the surviving forces of Armory One. "Have my Exus prepped for launch." he said, rising from his seat.

The Extended were finally nearing the colony wall. Unfortunately, Stella had become obsessed with destroying the Impulse. As a result, she was dangerously lagging behind. "Come on Stella!" Sting called out as he fired at Rey's ZAKU. "We need to get out of here!"

"No! I can beat him! I will beat him!" Stella yelled back as she swung a beam saber at the Impulse.

Shinn blocked the saber with one of his own and then slammed his shield into the Gaia's chest, knocking the black machine back. "Fine then." Auel said with a smirk. "I'll guess you'll just stay here and die!"

Stella froze. Her eyes widened as her body trembled. "Die... Am I going to die? NO! I don't want to die!" she screamed, rushing towards the colony wall.

"Idiot!" Treize shouted as he fired his beam revolvers at Heero. "Why the hell did you use her block word?!"

"Hey. It got her moving, didn't it?" Auel replied in his defense.

As the ZAFT pilots and the three remaining Extended pilots battled, Stella reached the colony, firing at it, desperate to get back to the Girty Lue, back to Neo. Back to where she'd be safe. Her beams slammed into the wall, damaging it. She continued to fire.

"Dammit." Shinn swore as he watched the Gaia fire upon the colony wall. He had to stop them from damaging the colony any further. He raced toward the Gaia, when the Specter shot out in front of him.

Treize fired at him, forcing Shinn back. "Not so fast, inferior one. You have to get through me first."

Suddenly, a golden blast flew towards the Specter, forcing it to dive out of the way. "I don't think so." Heero growled, bringing his machine towards the pair. "You will not escape me!"

Heero powered up his engines and flew after the Specter, knowing that the pilot was more than the ZAFT pilot could handle. He fired a low-power blast from his machine's rifle, despite the risk of destroying part of the colony.

The Natural growled as the Specter barely dodged the beam.

Treize growled as he dodged the blast that had been fired at him. How could this pilot be so good, given that it was a ZAFT officer? Could this guy be an ace?

"Time for you to die, Coordinator!" the Extended shouted as he fired on the legendary machine that was now following him.

"I am no Coordinator." Those four words clinched it.

Treize could hardly believe who he was facing. The machine that he had always failed to beat in the simulators was right in front of him! 'This is…the Berserker of JOSH-A?!'

Things just got harder than he had expected…

ZAFT Aid Station

"Who's in charge here?!" Durandal asked as he and his bodyguards approached. "I need a status report now!"

Ian Kessel and a ZAFT officer approached the group. "Chairman, it's not safe here." Ian said. "Please sir, get to a shelter."

"How can I head for shelter when I don't even know what's going on?!" Durandal argued.

Ian sighed. He opened his mouth to say something, when a ZAFT officer approached the group. "Sirs. We still can't reach Dock Control or the outside."

Ian shook his head. "You want to know what's happening, everything's gone south. Our GuAIZs and older mobile suits are torn apart by the stolen prototypes while most of our ZAKUs were either destroyed or badly damaged in the first minutes of the attack. And we have no idea what's happening outside the colony." he explained. "Now please sir, at least get to the Minerva. There's not much you can do here and if worse comes to worse, the Minerva will be able to get you to safety."

Durandal scowled as he glanced at the docked warship. "Fine."

Outside Armory One

A trio of GuAIZs headed for the two Extended pilots and the two EA pilots, only to be suddenly cut down by three barrages of shots, from three different directions, destroying all of them. Neo recalled his Exus's gun pods as he glanced at Armory One, looking for some sign of the other team.

It didn't take him long. He spotted a portion of the colony wall glowing red from weapons fire. They were blasting through the colony. "Xander." Neo called out. "Have you ever blown a hole in a colony?"

"No sir. Not yet." came his reply.

"Well now's your chance. Treize's team is trying to punch out a hole for their escape. These are their coordinates. Use your remaining missiles and help them out." he ordered. "Everyone else head back to the ship."

"With pleasure sir." Xander said, heading for the site as the Z.A.M. Gundam, Blu Duel and Rosso Aegis returned to the Girty Lue.

When Xander reached the site, he unloaded his missiles. They hit the already weakened wall as Stella fired another barrage. It was too much for much for the wall. It exploded.

The ZAFT pilots all gasped as an explosion tore through the colony wall. An instant later, air started being sucked into space, pulling the Gaia outside the colony. Treize smirked as he pulled away from the Impulse. "Sting, Auel, the door's been opened. Let's go."

The Chaos's pods reattached themselves. "Roger. Withdrawing."

Rey and Auel clashed. Tomahawk met spear. But Auel won, cutting through the handle of the tomahawk, just above the ZAKU's hand. Auel grinned, spinning his spear. The butt of the weapon hit the white mobile suit, knocking it aside, allowing Auel to regroup with his teammates. "I'm coming."

The trio fled into the gaping hole, escaping into space.

"Shinn, come on. We're not gonna let these bastards go home after all they've done." Rey said, racing after them.

Shinn shook his head and followed Rey. "We can't just let them escape. Not after what's happened."

"Right, now let's go!"

The Minerva's Bridge

Talia Gladys, Captain of the Minerva, scowled as they watched the Impulse and the ZAKUs fly through the hole in the colony.

"Captain!" Meyrin Hawke, the Minerva's Combat Information Control Officer, called out. "The Impulse is running low on power! Only three hundred seconds at most!"

Talia stood up from her chair. "We cannot afford to lose the Impulse as well. Prepare the Minerva for launch." She turned to the ship's guest. "I trust you don't have a problem with that, Chairman."

"No." Durandal quietly replied. "We really have no other choice at this point."

"Commence Minerva launch sequence." the Minerva's XO, Arthur Trine said over the intercom. "The ship is now switching to combat status."

"Gunnery crews, FCS contact. All personnel, set all projectile weapons to Grade One."

Talia turned to Durandal again. "Mr. Chairman, please disembark now."

"No Talia. This is not a situation where I can just stay behind and wait for reports." he replied. "I have duties along with my authority. I will accompany this vessel. Please allow it."

Talia just shook her head. There was little she could. If he wished to stay on board, she didn't have the authority to stop him.

Athrun landed the damaged ZAKU onto the open catapult of the new ZAFT warship. Cagalli had regained consciousness, but was still in daze and possibly had a concussion. Athrun parked the ZAKU in the Minerva's hanger and opened its cockpit hatch. He and Cagalli left first, riding the cable down to the ground.

"You there! Don't move." a maroon haired girl in a Red Coat uniform ordered, a gun trained on them. "Who are you? And how did you get aboard that ZAKU?"

More ZAFT soldiers, as well as members of the hanger crew and four regular ZAFT pilots gathered around her. Unsure of what was going on.

"Lower your weapon." Athrun replied. "This is the Chief Representative of ORB, Cagalli Yula Athha and her father, Lord Uzumi. I am one of her attendants, Alex Dino." He then gestured at Flay, who had reached the ground. "And this is her assistant, Flay Allster. We were caught up in the commotion during our meeting with Chairman Durandal. And since we were unable to find shelter, we were forced to borrow this machine to protect ourselves."

Luna and the soldiers lowered their weapons. "ORB's Chief Representatives?" a very confused Luna asked. "But why would they be here?"

"The Representative has been injured!" Athrun said. "She needs medical attention. And is the Chairman aboard this ship? If so, we need to see him immediately."

Luna nodded. She wasn't really sure what to do. So she figured that she would have to take them to the Captain to get this all sorted out.

Outside Armory One

As the two ZAFT pilots entered space through the hole, both Rey and Shinn felt a presence. Rey's eyes widened. "Look out!" he shouted.

Beams rained down on them from a number of different angles. A beam blasted the Impulse's shield from its hand. Another grazed the left side of Rey's Phantom, carving a gash on its head. A third beam severed the right shield of Rey's ZAKU But thanks to his warning, those were the only beams that hit them.

"So this is what was keeping Treize and the others busy." Neo said as he continued his attack. "It's my fault. I should have expected there to be more prototypes we weren't aware of."

Shinn and Rey struggled to evade the beams from the Exus's gunbarrels. They had all seen the intruders' ship. But there was little they could do while they fought just to evade the beams. "Dammit! Where the hell are all these beams coming from?" exclaimed Shinn.

"Gunbarrels." Rey replied. "Just like our DRAGOON system, only wire-guided. One guy can attack from multiple directions at once, making it difficult to fight such machines. Especially against someone that can use them to their maximum potential. Just focus on staying alive."

Rey took aim as he continued to dodge Neo's shots. This was the tricky part, trying to track something that was almost always moving while having to dodge the shots of the gunbarrels. It required a great deal of skill and luck. He fired. A beam pierced a gunbarrel. But just after he fired, another gunbarrel fired at him, hitting his rifle. Rey swore as he and Shinn fired their backup rifles at the mobile weapons. Shinn's shots were too slow, utterly missing his targets. Rey did a bit better, able to better predict where the weapons were going. But he still missed his targets.

Neo smirked. "Not bad. But not good enough. Now I'll take that fifth one if you don't mind."

But at that moment, a massive set of doors on Armory One started to open. Everyone stopped and turned to the doors. The doors finished opening, revealing the Minerva. The dock clamps detached themselves from the ship. The Minerva took off, its wings unfolding.

Neo then took notice of another presence, one that was much more experienced in combat than he was. He turned around, only to see a machine that was thought to have been destroyed. And in its right hand was the infamous Twin Buster Rifle…

"So, Wing Zero has arrived…time to see if the pilot is the real deal, just like the machine…" he smirked as he flew by the legendary unit.

But what he did not know was that it was the real deal…

New Juneau

The NAZAFT officers looked over towards Armory One, which was also a PLANT, only to see the signs of a battle going on.

It was something that ZAFT could handle, they figured, so they left the battle alone.

But one officer, Lt. Akira Nishikama, could not get the battle out of his head. Being a Bloody Valentine veteran, he had a feeling that the battle was not a normal one, or at least one of the battles that had become more common in the aftermath of the previous war.

And he was right…

Washington D.C.

President Hilson was unaware of the battle taking place in space, but that did not mean that she was no busy with other things that were just as important. She looked over the reports on the missiles, pleased that the outfitting of the NJCs had been completed. It was not long now…

An attack on the PLANTs was what NASA was expecting, but they were not sure as to when it would occur. That was what was bothering her. The Earth Forces had not made a move since the end of the previous war, where she too had seen action, despite being the President of the United States.

The president sighed as she looked back at where the White House security was located, knowing that she had only a limited ability to roam where she wanted to. She smirked though, knowing that in battle, she could roam without any restrictions. If she was ever on the frontlines again, she would have the ability to go wherever the troops went.

That was the one advantage she had now, and it was only because of the mission she had pulled off during the last war.

Closing her eyes, President Hilson wondered if her family had truly attained peace now that the one behind their murders had been killed.

'Mother, Father, Brother…are you all happy now? Are you finally at peace? I hope you are…'

-Flashback-

A young girl ran around, her older, adopted brother hiding behind a bush. The young boy was shaking as his sister peeped around at him.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

The boy gulped and emerged in a timid manner. "I-I'm just s-s-scared is a-all…" he murmured softly.

"Hey, it's okay. No one will hurt you here." The girl said reassuringly. The boy seemed unsure about her claims though, but he still followed her regardless.

The house had a nice big front yard, with three trees on either side of the walkway and porch. Blue siding lined the house, with two stories of it standing tall and proud. Black shingles lined the rooftop, but those were actually solar panels in purpose. The garage, on the right side of the front yard, had a white door, with a lone car in the driveway. The lawn was nice and neat, with flowers along the sides of the walkway and driveway.

Inside the residence, people had gathered to see the new member of the family.

The young boy was shaking as the members of his new family glared at him, or so he thought. In reality, they were looking at him in an unsure manner.

"So, this is the boy you took in? I find it hard to believe that he is so friendly. He looks more timid if you ask me." A woman said as she glanced at him.

"Hey, he was taken in from a Blue Cosmos supporting family. They treated him badly since he refused to accept their ideals. It would only be natural for him to be nervous around other family members who thought the same." His adoptive father, Senator Mark Allen, replied. The senator looked back at his newest family member with a calming smile.

Still, the boy shook in his socks.

"Still, I am unsure about this. What if the family reacts?" another man asked.

"We will worry about that when we come to it. Right now, he needs to be treated with respect and kindness. He is still recovering from his ordeal." Senator Allen replied.

Mackenzie ran towards her father, panting as she reached his car. "Father…*pant*…An…*pant pant*…Andrew…Ab…ducted…*pant*…Blue Cosmos…"

Senator Allen looked at her, a furious look on his face. "What?!"

"They…took him…to…the old…library…to…burn it down…" his daughter replied.

This made the older man even madder. "Get in!"

"What?"

"GET. IN. NOW!"

Mackenzie gulped but did so anyhow. There was no messing with her father when he used that tone on her.

Andrew Henry Allen-Guss looked at his adoptive father with a happy grin, relieved to be free of his past once more…

Senator Allen looked at his daughter, glad that she was alright…

Maria Allen smiled as she watched her family play around, feeling at peace with herself…

-End Flashback-

The president cried as she closed her eyes once more.

The pain never seemed to fade away, even with time…

Pentagon

Defense Secretary John Keller walked through the halls of the Pentagon, a report in his hands. On the piece of flimsi-paper was the data on the AEU's latest military movements. He read it over, several things catching his eye.

"The AEU has decided to try and declare war on the PLANTs? Not again…" he moaned as he threw his head back in exasperation. This was the fifth time he had heard about the AEU's plan to do that, and once again, he would need to try and talk them out of it.

"I'm surprised we haven't used an ICBM on them yet…" the older man muttered under his breath. As if the president would allow it…

Keller looked up as an aide approached him. "Sir."

"There you are." The Defense Secretary said as he walked up to the aide. "I need you to take this to the president."

"Sure thing sir." The aid replied as he took the report.

With that done, the aide left, leaving Keller alone in the Pentagon's hallway…

AEU

A man looked over the data on the new machines, pleased with what he was reading.

"Soon, those Coordinators will fall to us…" he said with glee, a sneer on his face.

Armory One

Shinn fired on the machine with the large rifle, hoping to get a hit. "Damn it! This one's fast!" he swore as he tried to hit the machine again.

The pilot just dodged the blows, either gloating at his actions, or just plain mocking him. Shinn then fired once more, but the machine took the blast on its shield with no trouble at all.

"Just who is this guy?!" Shinn growled.

On the Minerva, Captain Gladys had visual on the Impulse. And the machine he was fighting as well…

New Juneau

The crew of the ship was soon onboard as the colony's hanger bay opened. "All crew members of the USS Constitution, prepare for launch. Repeat, all crew members, prepare for launch!" a male voice said as the crew ran one last systems check.

The hanger doors revealed the outside of the colony, which was now facing the Armory One direction. Engines began to whine as they powered up. With the thrust provided, the new ship moved out into space, and headed for the battle.

USS Constitution

Aki' was in the bridge with several other members of the crew, Tao in the captain's seat. The blue coat looked over at his superior. "Are you sure that the ship is ready for its combat debut?" he asked.

"Yes, I'm sure of it. If I wasn't, then we would not be heading into battle, now would we?" she replied.

The lieutenant just sighed. "I just can't believe that a new war is about to begin. Isn't this how the last war began?"

"No, the last war began through a nuclear attack on the PLANTs." Aisha replied as she looked back. "The current situation is not the beginning of a new war, or so I hope."

That made Tao look down. "So do I, Aisha. So do I." She then looked back up, glancing out the bridge window.

"Bring us to the site of the battle. Full speed ahead." She ordered.

With a whine, the engines increased thrust to maximum power and the ship's speed increased greatly. They just hoped that it was enough to get there in time to make a difference.

Washington D.C.

The Defense Secretary looked back at the President, who was now getting into The Beast, still unable to believe that despite what she had done in the past, she was still in office. Many had criticized her actions in the past, but she had remained by her convictions, despite the pressure to resign more than once.

Her family had not been well-known in most other arenas of the political field and lifestyle, but when it came to Coordinator and Natural rights, in the beginning, they had been called crazy and ignorant. In the end though, they had come through for both groups, and it was all because of their persistence.

Keller could just barely recall a time when Coordinators did not have the same rights as Naturals, but that had all changed when the famed Senator Mike Allen had come onto the scene. He had pressed for the Coordinators to have the same rights as Naturals, only to be shot down. The senator had been threatened and called a Coordinator-fanboy, but he had stood by his ideals, even in the face of the more experienced Senators calling for him to resign.

That had been back in the 20s of the C.E. Era, when he himself had been only a boy. And even then, it had been unthinkable that Coordinators would be treated equally in the U.S. And yet, now Coordinators were treated the same as Naturals.

When the Coordinators had begun to appear in NASA, people had demanded that they be kept in check through harsh laws that discriminated against them. And it had worked until those Coordinators began to get older. Their parents had been unhappy as well, and had begun to demand that their children be treated as humans instead of products, but their pleas had fallen on deaf ears, and when something had been done about it, the laws passed had lacked effective enforcement.

But then, a little-known senator had stepped onto the scene, pressuring the members of the Senate and House to pass effective laws, even though it fell on deaf ears. That senator had been Senator Mike Allen, a senator only in his third year.

Senator Allen had spoken out against the harsh laws against Coordinators, calling them unneeded and going too far when Coordinators were human as well. But he had been shot down by the senior Senators, called a naïve fool, and just shoved aside for more important matters.

When the ship of George Glenn had announced that an alien fossil had been found, the lawmakers began to act, but too slowly until Senator Allen had said that future voters would be disenfranchised from most rights including the right to vote. Then the Human Recognition Act of 0027 had been passed, but like all laws dedicated to protecting Coordinator rights at the time, it lacked a means of being effectively enforced.

Then, when the ship returned to Earth and studies on the alien fossil began, Coordinators began to become more accepted because Glenn had done the impossible: he found an alien specimen. People began to accept Coordinators as the next stage of human life, and that led to new recognition as being human.

Then, in C.E. 0032, Coordinators in Chicago were attacked, and Blue Cosmos was found to be guilty of the acts. Despite there being no laws to protect Coordinator children from the attacks, the Blue Cosmos members were found guilty of attacking children and other serious charges that carried harsh prison terms and the death sentence. This led to riots in cities all around the U.S., which got press attention from every news station around. Everyone could see the parents of Coordinator children marching to get the attention of the Congress and the rest of the government, and it worked. The police also joined in due to several of the officers being parents to Coordinator children too. There was no way for the marches to be ignored, and when Senator Allen spoke up again, calling on Congress to act, they did. He pushed through massive law reforms in Congress, which they agreed to. And it worked.

Then, two years later, Senator Allen's work finally paid off. The Human Recognition Act of 0034 was passed, but with major reforms and revisions, as well as effective enforcement. And that had been the Allen Family's first major achievement.

Keller shook his head as he looked back at the presidential limo driving off, bringing himself back into the present.

Reflections were good and all, but not when he had a job to do.

Still, he knew that it was also because of the president's father that the next big law in Coordinator rights had been passed. In C.E. 42, the late Senator Mark Allen had pressed for the Coordinator Protection Act of 0042, but in addition to protecting the Coordinators from discrimination, it also protected the Naturals from losing their jobs to Coordinators. It had been hailed as the most comprehensive law protecting Coordinators and Naturals ever passed.

That had been when the Allen Family had become the Allen Political Dynasty, a feat the only the Kennedys had achieved before. Of course, there had been other Allen family members in the political arena that had been vital in those two laws being passed, but it had been the Senators Mike and Mark Allen that had pressed for those laws to be passed the hardest.

And it was now their greatest legacy…

The president looked on as she rode in The Beast, the buildings of Washington D.C. rushing by as she was taken to the airport where Air Force One was stationed. She was aware that she was going to the AEU to try and work out something regarding the Coordinators, but the doubts of a successful trip were on her mind.

The current success rate with the AEU was not even one meeting high, and she doubted it would even get that high as well.

Still, President Hilson knew that she had to try or at least work on breaking ground to reach a compromise. But even that seemed to be impossible. She just had to take it as it came, and what happened was what happened.

London, England

Ten hours later

President Hilson sat in the Embassy of the United Kingdom, the Prime Minister of Britain before her. The man was in a black suit with grey hair and green eyes. He gave off the air of an experienced politician, which she was not.

"So, I hear you want to talk about the issue regarding the Coordinators, right?" the Prime Minister asked as he folded his hands in his lap.

"Yes, I do." President Hilson replied as she leaned back in her chair, her arms folded over her chest. "And I do not want to talk about NASA's supposed wrong-doing in supporting the Coordinators and their rights. That has occurred in the past every time I have come here, and frankly, I am sick and tired of it."

The Prime Minister nodded. "So I heard. But you can relax. That is not what I want to talk about."

That made President Hilson gape in shock. She shook her head before she hit her head on the side a few times to make sure she was not hearing things. "What did you say?"

"I said I did not want to criticize you for your actions in the Coordinator rights arena. Why is that such a shock?" The Prime Minister asked.

"Sorry. It's just that whenever I have come here, I have never heard anyone say such a thing. Mostly I have been met with representatives, never the Prime Minister before. But I heard that you were recently appointed, am I right?"

"Yes, I was. Just a few weeks ago, to be more precise."

"Then you are aware of the current situation with the AEU?"

"Yes, I am. And frankly, I am disappointed in the way they have acted in recent years. Going as far as to launch an invasion on your soil was a bit too much and was too far extreme a reaction to what you had decided to do. Of course, that is just my personal opinion, not that it matters."

"Oh, it does matter. Believe me, I know that all too well." President Hilson replied as she reflected on her family's achievements. "Personal opinion can lead to new things if actions are taken, whether those things be great or bad."

The Prime Minister nodded. "I see. Well, shall we get to work then?"

"Yes…"

Next day

As Air Force One headed back to the States, President Hilson could not help but feel a bit of pride at her work. It had also helped that the new Prime Minister of Britain was more open-minded on the issue of Coordinators, so that had allowed her to make great progress on her goals of ending the world-wide hatred of Coordinators.

She looked out the window of her room, her eyes landing on the capital of the nation. The American Flag waved proudly, as if welcoming her home.

The President smiled a bit at the sight, but she knew that her work was far from done.

She had yet to accomplish what countless people had failed in, and that was going to be her biggest task yet…

Pentagon

Keller looked out the window as he observed the flag at its full height. Today was a day when it was at normal flying height. He could recall days when the flag was often flown at half-mast. Even if today was not one of those days, he could recall the days that it did as if they were just yesterday.

The most recent was in September on the 11th. It had been a day of sad memories, when lives had been lost for no reason. And soon, it would be the three year anniversary of the Junius Seven attack.

The lives lost on that colony brought tears to Keller's eyes as he recalled seeing that flash of light. The missile had been unkind to the people living out their lives normally. And it was all the result of Blue Cosmos, the ones behind it.

When had the Coordinators done anything wrong to deserve the hatred that they received? It did not make sense to him, to just attack someone for being different.

Keller just hung his head as tears fell down his face. No one deserved to die that day… No one deserved that fate, even if Blue Cosmos said they did.

Deep down inside, he was afraid of what would happen if the group managed to take out the president and the rest of the Washington leadership. Everyone in the upper leadership was, even him.

Even he was afraid…

Air Force One

President Hilson sat in the bedroom of Air Force One, looking out the window at her home. She could recall a life that she had once had, one that had her family being alive.

Closing her eyes, she felt the tears roll down her face. Even now it hurt…

The president hung her head, her fears of being found out coming forth. She was afraid of what Blue Cosmos would do if they realized that she was really Mackenzie Samantha Allen, the last member of the Allen family.

Her close friends had vanished from her life, and she had started anew, but she felt she had betrayed them by changing who she was. But it had all been for survival right?

Right?

Nothing seemed to be right and wrong anymore. There was no thin line, but that did not matter to her. After all, no one else could see the line…

Her home had been left empty. She was now gone from people's lives, the lives of her friends, and her own life.

It was rare that she had the opportunity to reflect like this, but she felt it was not good for her to do such a thing. It brought back too many memories she wanted to hide forever. Her past life she tried to run from, but no matter what, she could not.

Running was the only thing she had done, and it was the only thing that she knew. It was the only life that she had known for the past 20 years now. But when she had taken on that mission last war, she had not been running from her past to be exact. She had decided to face it in order to take out the man in charge of the group responsible for her family's deaths. But still…she had taken on a false name and identity to hide herself from Blue Cosmos. So she had been running even then…

Why did she run from her past when she did not have to? Why did she flee from her family's legacy when it was one of greatness? She was not brave… In fact, she was a coward for running from her past.

Everyone called her brave for taking on such a dangerous mission. But compared to facing her past, that had been nothing. Even her time in special ops seemed tame in comparison to what she had to face on a daily basis.

Why did it always have to be so hard to run from her past? Why couldn't she just have a normal life where she did not have to run for her life on a daily basis?

She looked over her scars on her body, wondering why she had to survive when her family did not. It made her feel lost, like she was searching for her family, unable to find them. She wanted to see them again, but they had been claimed from her.

President Hilson could only look back at the flying American flag before leaving the cabin. She had a job to do…

The war begins with the theft of five new machines. But while the theft is an act of war, what does NASA plan to do? Two new ships launch, but what will happen with this battle? Read on to find out~! :3

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

Anyway, read and review! ^^