Cosmic Era 71: Heilopolis, a colony of the Orb Union

ZAFT Nazca-class cruiser Vesalius: outside Heliopolis Control Zone

Yui Takamura sighed as she checked her wakizashi before putting it in it's scabbard, then checking her suit.

"Yui?" Athrun Zala asked as her knocked on the door, carefully lookin away. "You ready yet? Everyone's at the insertion boats."

"Yeah, I'm ready," Yui replied, grabbing her helmet. "I guess I still have some reservations about this. I mean, technically, Orb is a neutral country."

"How can they be called neutral after they helped the Earth Forces build those mobile suits?" Athrun asked.

"True, but I doubt the main government know about it. Remember how Orb's government is set up? I'll bet you bottom credit this was set up as a side project by one of the Houses."

Yui said, gathering her hair in a bundle and locking her helmet on.

"Yes, but the government doesn't exactly exist in a vacuum," Athrun said, then shrugged. "Well, enough of that, I guess it'll be up to the politicians to sort things out afterwards."

"Your father among them." Yui pointed out.

"True." Athrun sighed. "By the way, Yui... "

"Hmm?"

"Why are you carrying only one of your swords?" Athrun asked. "Don't samurai usually carry two?"

"Yeah, we usually do." Yui answered. "But, for this operation, we're most likely going to be fighting in close quarters, so I'd most likely be reduced to stabbing with a katana.

Not exactly practical."

Yui then smirked as they reached the insertion craft which would carry them to the objective. "If I had my katana with me in here, it'd be banging against poor Yzak's helmet

the whole trip down."

"Gee, thanks for the consideration." Yzak Joule grumbled, a scowl on his face. Now, get in here, you're holding us up!"

"Yeah, yeah," Yui said, preceding Athrun into the pod.

Heliopolis Resource Colony

"Gah... Kira, are you done yet?" A silver-blue haired woman groaned, fixing the ponytail she was sporting.

"Almost there, Juli. I'll check your work when I'm done," Kira Yamato said.

"Thanks," Juli Mason said. "Jeez, why is it that the Professor picks on us so much?"

"Tell me about it," Kira replied.

"Hmm?" Juli hummed, looking over at Kira's computer. "Hey, is that..?"

"Kira! Juli!"

"Eh?" Juli looked up. "Oh, Tolle, Miri. What's up?"

"Nothing much," Tolle said, as Birdie, Kira's robotic bird, came down to land on it's owner's shoulder. "Professor was looking for you two."

Kira groaned. "Again? But we're still swamped with what he gave us yesterday!"

"Yeah," Juli agreed. "What's with all the assignments lately, anyways?"

"Ours is not to know, for we are but lowly college students." Tolle said sagely. "And also to get you two to the lab."

"Jeez, okay, okay." Juli groaned, packing up her keyboard and screen.

"Eh?" Mirialla said, looking at Kira's laptop, currently showing a news report. "Isn't that Kaohsiung?"

"Yeah," Kira said. "Looks like the fighting there has gotten pretty intense, and with this report being a week or so old... "

"It's possible that the city was captured by ZAFT, right?" Juli finished. "Right," Kira nodded.

"Kaohsiung is pretty close to the Orb mainland," Mirialla said. "Will we be okay?"

"Relax!" Tolle said. "It may look bad, but just remember, we're a neutral nation. We'll be fine."

Juli had to roll her eyes at this. "Neutral... right. Okay, let's get going," She said, shrugging on her tan duster coat.

Helipolis, Car Terminal

"Heads up, Miri," Juli muttered under her breath. "Tongue-tied Kira in five... "

"What are you talking about... oh, right," Mirialla said as she spotted Flay Alister talking with a couple of her friends. "It's... a little sad, isn't it?" She said under her breath, looking

over at Kira.

"I truly agree," Juli said. "However, it is not our place to do something about it... yet," She finished, smirking.

"True," Miri nodded, then caught wind of what Flay and her friends were talking about when Misha-one of said friends-asked Miri if she knew that Sai had sent Flay a love letter.

Juli looked at a crestfallen Kira sympathetically. As Flay argued with her friends, someone cleared their voice behind them.

"If you're not getting in, mind if we do?"

Juli and the rest of the group turned to see a short-haired woman, sharply dressed and wearing sunglasses, with two similarly dressed men standing behind her.

"Oh, we're sorry," Tolle said, moving aside, letting the woman and her companions take the next car.

"What's your problem, anyways?" Flay hissed, annoyed at Misha, then the three took the next car, already talking about shopping.

Tolle waited till the car was out of sight, then turned to Kira, grinning and clapping his shoulders. "How about that Sai, eh?" A love letter to Flay?" He turned away as the

next car pulled up "Looks like you've got some competition, Kira Yamato!" he said, as Mirialla passed by Kira, grinning.

As they walked by, Juli patted Kira on his shoulder. "Not helping... ." He muttered.

"Aw, just give it time, I'm sure something will happen," Juli said as they got in the car.


On the way to the lab, Juli spotted a bookstore and motioned Kira to stop there.

"I'll just be a sec!" Juli yelled as she headed inside the shop.

"Ah, man, again?" Tolle groaned. "Why is it every time we pass by, she has to stop here?"

"Well, it is the only store on Helipolis that carries that particular title," Kira said.

Just then, Juli came out of the store, looking dejected. "They're sold out... " she grumbles as she drags herself into the car.

"Okay, remind me again why you do this every time?" Tolle asked.

"Because the Orb Union is about the only nation in the Earthsphere that stocks and sells it without either ridiculous price inflations or outright banning for some stupid reason."

Juli grumbled. "And it was the newest one as well!"

Kato Seminar Work Area, Morgenrete Factory District

Juli was sulking the rest of the way to Morgenrete. Once in the lab, they were met by the much talked about Sai Argyle, with their other friend Kuzzey Buskirk helping to

set up the experiment.

"Hey, guys," Juli said, waving.

"Ah, Kira, Juli. Good, you're here," Sai said, holding up a pair of disks. "Professor left this for you two."

Kira groaned, taking one of the disks. "Again... ?"

"Hmmm," Juli said, looking at the other disk. "I've got a stress analysis on the frame. What about you?"

"A program analysis," Kira sighed, then caught sight of the blonde haired person standing in the corner. "Uh, who's that?" he asked Sai.

"Apparently a guest of the Professor, he was told to wait here." Sai said, shrugging.

"Where is the Professor, anyway?" Mirialla asked.

"More importantly," Tolle said, getting Kira in a headlock. "Ask him about the letter?"

Sai blinked. "What letter?"

"It's nothing, really!" Kira said, struggling to get out of the headlock.

As Mirialla tried to help get Kira out of her boyfriend's clutches, Juli sighed. Just another day at Helipolis Tech, she though, then went to help Kira out of his predicament.

**************************************************************

Outside Helipolis, the ZAFT infiltration boats touched down, allowing the soldiers inside to disembark. Quietly, they made their way to one of the unused maintenance hatches,

opening it and waiting for the sensor net to cycle off before heading in. Once in they quickly headed for a junction before splitting up, Yui heading in the same direction as Athrun

and Rusty, a fellow Redcoat on the team. Once through a few more shafts, they caught sight of one of their targets.

Wow, so this is what the Earth Forces have been working on. Very impressive, Yui thought. Too bad it'll never sail.

Working quickly and quietly, the regular soldiers planted charges around the dock of the new ship. Enough, it was hoped, to doom the new ship before it even sailed.

Athrun nodded as the last of the charges were planted, then hand-signaled the group to move to the exit for their next objective.

*************************************************************

On the Vesalius, Rau Le Crueset nodded. "Our pilots should be nearing the objective now," he said, nodding to Ades.

"Right," Ades said. "Weigh anchor! Vesalius launch!"

As the two ZAFT ships launched from their cover, deploying GINNs as they went, alarms sounded at both Helipolis Central Control and the Earth Forces cargo ship at the port.
"Damn!" Mu La Flaga muttered as he dropped into his Mobieus's cockpit. "Launch the ship, the harbor is about to be taken over," he ordered, as a pair of Mistrals from Helipolis's

militia raced by. "Have Luke, Gail and Grace launch in their units," he said, launching into space. "Damn, talk about balls... is this you, Rau Le Creuset?"

"Don't know, but these guys are certainly skilled enough!" Grace Hallaway remarked, racing by Mu in her own blue colored Mobieus Zero. "Heads up, two from above, two o'clock!" With that, she jetted up and boosted, meeting the charge of a pair of GINNS, racing past them as they tried to fire. "Not today or ever, boys." Grace said, spinning around and launching her gunbarrels to surround the two mobile suits, managing to blow off an arm and a leg off the two suits in the resulting barrage. "Two out of it, god knows how may more" Grace remarked, firing her railgun on another GINN, taking it dead center and blowing it into pieces. "Make that three."

"That's good, but some made it past us!" Mu warned, then winced as a Mistral caught a bullet stream and blew up.

Grace turned, spotting several mobile suits heading into Heliopolis proper. "Hope they're on the ball in there."

Assault Carrier Archangel: Heilopolis secret dock

At the secret dock, the Archangel's captain was busy with getting his ship ready for launch. "Damn!" he snarled. "Of all the times for an attack." He turned to the senior crew,

gathered with him in the dock control room. "Alright people, it's either we launch now, or Heliopolis falls and we lose all we came here to do. Prepare for launch and combat!
Ensign Badgiruel, have Lt. Ramius get the G-Weapons aboard as soon as she can. If she cannot, then she is to try and use them in a fighting withdrawal."

Ensign Natarle Badgiruel, now in Earth forces uniform, saluted. "Yes sir!" She then turned to leave the command center.

Just then, the charges set around the ship detonated, filling the bay with fire and explosions. The dock control room was completely obliterated.

Kato Seminar Area: Moregerete

At the lab, the tremor was enough to send the students to the floor. "What the hell was that?" Juli wondered, picking herself up. "Everyone okay?"

Everyone nodded, even the Professor's guest.

"Was it a meteor?" Sai wondered.

"Doubt it, we'd have more warning." Tolle said, pulling himself out of the exoframe.

"In any event, let's get out of here and head to the shelters," Juli said.

"No argument here," Kira agreed.

As the group filed out of the classroom, then ran into a group of Morgenrete employees, heading for the exits as well. "Hey, what happened?" Sai asked.

"Don't know," One of them responded. "All we know is ZAFT has invaded the colony!"

As the group gasped at this, the mysterious blonde broke away from the rest, running down the opposite way. "H-Hey!" Kira shouted, running after her.

"Kira!" Tolle yelled. Juli then gave chase to the two "Juli! You too!?!"

"I'll keep an eye on them! You guys just get out of here!" Juli yelled back.

Soon though, it was apparent that she had lost sight of them "Dammit, what now?" she groused. Just then, the floor rumbled. "I just had to ask... " she groaned, before the floor gave way

under her. "DAAMMMMIIITTTTT!!!!" she screamed as she fell.

******************************************************************

In Heliopolis, three trucks were leaving the Morgenrete hangar for the spaceport, while the ZAFT team watched from a ledge above. "Well, I have to hand it to the Commander," Yzak said.

"You mean the part where they start panicking due to a little nudge?" Dearka said, smirking. "What'd you expect? The Naturals are stupid and pathetic, after all."

"And yet, they manage to build these suits practically under our noses," Yui retorted, pulling a laser designator out of her equipment bag.

"You mean you actually like these morons?" Rusty Mackenzie-another of the ZAFT redcoats-thought to ask.

"More like respect them, for trying to fight at our level."

"Enough!" Yzak said. "Hurry and lase the target so Miguel can cover us."

"Right," Yui said,pulling the trigger on the designator and sending the coordinates to the ZAFT suits in the colony.

As the coordinates were received, the GINNs dived in to attack the convoy. "Remember, only take out the support units. Don't damage the trailers!" ZAFT pilot Miguel Aiman ordered, pivoting

his suit to take care of a missile launcher car that was targeting him. He then spotted the infiltration team making their move. "Heads up, our team's coming in."

"If you get in one, make sure you disable the self-destruct!" Yzak ordered, firing his SMG. "There should be two more... "

"They must be back in the factory," Athrun said. "I'll take Rusty and Yui to grab them."

Yzak nodded. "Okay, and make sure you wipe out the factory as well," he said, landing at one of the trailers, entering as Athrun, Rusty and Yui led their group to the factory.

Morgenrete Factory District

"Owww... " Juli groaned, laying at the bottom of the hole she fell into.

"Juli?" a synthetic female voice queried.

"Ughh... five more minutes, Mom... "

"Juli, this is your Situational Awareness Module AI assistance module ‘Emi', her arm computer stated. "Are you injured?"

"Ugghh, just my pride, for falling for something so cliche," Juli groaned, getting to her knees, and seeing her vision swim before her. "Oww.."

"As I do not understand cliche, I shall ignore it," Emi stated. "Beginning diagnostic assessment mode: Look up."

Juli sighed and did so, making note of where she fell. "Okay, the swimming vision is gone, sort of."

"Look down."

Juli did so again. "Again, my vision seems to be normal. Is that all, Mom?" she sarcastically said.

"Assessment mode complete: You have a slight concussion," Emi said. "However, you are already recovering, so it should not impact on important tasks."

"Good to know," Juli said, looking around. "So where are we, exactly?"

"Scans indicate we are several levels below our former position, still within the factory block," Emi said, projecting a map of the area. "Now calculating a route out... please prepare weapons, the possibility of combat is still high."

Juli felt a click from her coat. Nodding she reached into her pockets and pulled out her two Banshee pistols-two large bore pistols, colored a dark green. "Right, now which way?"

"Displaying optimum route." A screen flickered on Juli's arm computer, showing a map with a highlighted route.

"Right," Juli nodded, heading in the indicated direction. "I hope Kira and the others are okay."

**********************************************************************

Up above...

"The Earth Forces new mobile weapons... Father, I knew you betrayed us all!!!" the blonde-girl, as it was revealed after Juli's fall-yelled, looking down on the factory floor, and the samurai-like mobile suits laying there.

Kira managed to pull her up and start running-a good thing, since one of the technicians below wheeled around, firing a shot at the retreating pair.

"They're... just kids?" Murrue Ramius whispered, startled at what she almost did. A bullet from one of the ZAFT soldiers whizzed by her however, pulling her back into the fight.

"Hey, Athrun!" Rusty called, ducking behind one of the factory vehicles. "Intel screwed up! There's one more machine than what they said!"

Athrun looked, and realized Rusty was right; there were supposed to be two more machines, there were three instead, one near the door to the factory itself.

"Dammit... Yui, can you get that third one?" Athrun asked. "Rusty and I can get these two."

"Right," Yui said, jetting off, a squad of soldiers following her.

Elsewhere...

"See, there's a shelter here." Kira said, running up to a shelter entrance and pressing the call button, the girl in tow.

"Is there someone out there?" a voice called over the shelter's intercom.

"Yes, my friend as I need to get in," Kira said.

Silence issued for a second. "We're full up in here, but there should be shelters in the left block."

"Can you take my friend at least? She's just a girl," Kira asked.

"... Okay, sorry." The shelter entrance lit up and the door opened.

"Okay, get in," Kira nodded, pushing the girl to the door.

"W-wait, what about you?" the girl asked.

"Don't worry, I'll get in the other shelter," Kira said, pushing her into the shelter elevator and pushing the call button.

"But... !" the girl said as the shelter lift descended into the shelter itself.

Left alone, Kira looked back the way he had come, then started running back through the factory district.

Morgenrete Factory

In the factory warehouse, the firefight was still raging. Yui's team neared the unknown mobile suit, jumpsuited techs standing around it, hands raised.

"Good call, gentlemen," Yui said, landing on the chest of the suit. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'll be taking this suit."

"Actually, ma'am... "

Yui's danger sense went off as she ducked a rifle shot. Diving into the cockpit, she looked up to see her own team aiming their rifles at her, as well as the visibly armed technicians. "What is the meaning of this?!?" she yelled.

"Our apologies, ma'am," the Greencoat who had tried to shoot her said. "But we need that suit for a different purpose. Unfortunately, this means no witnesses, so... " he aimed his rifle again, then jerked as a shot hit his flightpack. "What the hell?"

Everyone looked up as a blue-haired girl wearing what looked like a trenchcoat leaped into the area, two large pistols blazing. "Sorry, but I have a particular dislike for sudden turncoats," the girl quipped.

"Shit, where'd she come from?" Another Greencoat yelled, putting up his rifle, then choked as a shot caved in his chest.

"H-holy... " one of the techs stammered, then shook himself. "G-get her!"

The two groups fired at once, but the girl was somehow dodging all the firepower leveled against her. Her own shots, however, weren't so unlucky, thinning out the assailants with each heavy boom.

"Dammit... " the lead turncoat muttered, drawing a bead on her. "Dodge this, you... gakk.." He felt a sharp pain in his back, and slowly turned around to see Yui with her wakizashi held in front of her, the blade dripping blood. "I... I see... .my apologies... Leader... .I have failed you... ."

He then fell of the suit, with Yui jumping after him. "Dammit, what the hell is going on here?" she muttered. She then heard a click behind her.

"That's my line."

Yui turned around to see the girl that had helped her pointing a large pistol at her head. "You have my thanks. I really don't know what had happened here."

The girl shrugged. "No big deal. I was going to stay hidden until you left, but with that scene, I figured I had to intervene." She scowled. "I hate turncoats."

Yui nodded. "This is going to cause a hell of a shake-up back home, that's for sure," she said. "The question is, now what?"

The girl shrugged. "Well, the place is coming down around us, and I figure I can get out of here before that happens, so you go on, finish your mission," she said, lowering her pistol.

"You sure about that?" Yui had to ask.

"Yeah, the way I see it, neither one of us is really in a shape to fight right now," she said, as the ceiling rumbled. "Besides, that."

Yui nodded, turning to the mobile suit. "Again, my thanks. May I know who saved me?"

Juli nodded. "Sure, I'm Juli Mason, from Mars. The Free Republic, that is."

Yui smirked. "I noticed, from the lack of German." She then saluted. "I am Yui Takamura, of ZAFT. Until we meet again." She said, then bowed and got into the mobile suit.

"Yeah... don't ask me why, but I get the feeling we'll meet again... " Juli muttered, getting away from the mobile suit. "Emi, where's our exit point?"

"Approximately 50 meters ahead and to the left."

"Thanks!" As Juli ran for it, she saw the suit stand up, suddenly changing color-from a uniform gray to a deep white with blue highlights. "Well, that's something... "

"... Athrun?"

"What the... Kira?!?" Juli skidded to a stop, spinning around to see three people on another mobile suit, one of who she recognized as Kira.

"Kira?!?" This was from another Redcoat, standing with a knife ready to strike, but then had to dodge as the injured woman-who was the third person in that strange scene-fired a pistol at him.

The Redcoat retreated to another mobile suit as the woman pushed Kira into the cockpit of the suit they were standing on, then jumped in after him.

I get the feeling this is going to suck... Juli thought, as the two suits started to stand up, and a fireball raced through the warehouse.

Yep, my day is truly sucking right now! she thought as she took cover, and the GAT-X105 Strike, GAT-X303 Aegis, and the GAT-X205 Sabre broke though the warehouse into the colony itself.