Introduction: It is Year 71 of the Cosmic Era. A war between coordinators and naturals was raging. In the midst of all the hatred and the deadly clash between beliefs, was a country tolerant to any human being. The country's name was Orb. It has been 36 hours since the Earth Alliance gave Orb its difficult offer of either surrendering or be destroyed. Representative Attha knew that Orb was no match against the Earth Alliance so he issued an evacuation order to all of his people. The M1 Astray Corps were already called into combat. The Archangel had been launched and both the Freedom and Justice Gundams were battling tirelessly against the combined efforts of the Forbidden, Calamity, and Raider Gundams. In the middle of all this destruction stands Shin Asuka, the future pilot of the ZGMF-X56S Impulse Gundam. This is the story of Shin and his experiences that led to the events of Gundam Seed Destiny.

Phase 1: Orb's Ultimatum

"Shin, hurry up. We have to get out of here."

"Yes mother. Come on, sis, let's go. The Earth Alliance mobile suits will be here any moment."

"Shin, help me, I'm scared."

"It'll be alright. I got you. Arghhhhhhhhhh."

A beam rifle had just gone off and impacted in the vicinity. A crater was left where the beam hit. The trio quickly recovered from the aftershock and took flight once again.

"Hurry, sis. We have to get out of here. Mother, let's go."

Flash, another beam came towards them. Overhead, Shin caught a glimpse of the Calamity and Forbidden Gundam. All of a sudden, an explosion occurred. Shin stared in horror as his mother and sister were taken from him in one brief moment. He reached out towards them, but his efforts were futile.

Despite the impact's deafening sound, Shin heard a voice cry out.

"Shin!"

Shin dropped to his knees, his eyes were filled with tears of sorrow. He lashed back his head and screamed with all his might. "Noooooooooooooooooooo. Sis, mother, you can't leave me like this. Noooooooooooooooooo."

Then a man grabbed him. "Come on, do you want to die here? We have to get out of here as soon as possible."

Shin was speechless. The shock of his mother and sister's deaths had torn him in two. His mind fell into a dark chasm. The void was all he can see. His sorrow had drowned him and he seemed ready to give up living. But, deep in his mind, a voice called to him. It called for vengeance. And thus forth, Shin was consumed in his hatred towards the Earth Alliance. In his mind he saw a visual of a black seed. He then regained consciousness.

"No, I must get revenge, revenge for my family."

He broke out of the man's grasp and rushed off into the forests. Shin ran as far and fast as he could. All that he could think of was an instrument he could use to extract his revenge. "Things were perfect here," he thought, "until those monsters from the Earth Alliance came. I was perfectly happy, and my sister was too. My family could have lived peacefully here. But, those power hungry dogs ruined everything. Curse them, I wished they were all dead. Now, I know nothing can bring my family back."

As he was running, Shin came across a ten year old girl. She had been separated from her family and was crying. Shin walked over towards her in hopes of comforting her and said softly, "It's going to be okay."

"Sniff, how do you know? Have you seen my mommy? Sniff, I wanna go home."

"It's okay little girl, climb on my back." Shin took her over his shoulder and ran off in the direction of the nearest evacuation port. As the little girl was clinging on to his shoulders, Shin was reminded of his own sister. Before he knew it, tears were rolling down his eyes.

"What's wrong?" the little girl asked.

"My family was killed about half an hour ago in the crossfire," Shin replied as he choked through the tears.

"It's okay, mister. Just because they're gone, doesn't mean their spirits have left you. My mommy told me that even though people die, their spirits will always watch over you."

Shin felt quite comforted. They soon reached an evacuation port. The ship was getting ready to launch. All of a sudden a voice cried out, "April, thank goodness you're safe."

"Mommy!"

The pilot quickly walked up to Shin and said, "I'm sorry, but there is only one more seat available. One of you will have to remain behind."

"Of course I will stay behind," said Shin as handed over April to the man.

"Will I ever see you again?" April asked in a worried tone.

"Of course," Shin replied. "I'll be on the next ship and we'll meet up later."

"Okay. Bye, mister," said April as the ship was getting ready to leave.

Shin stood near the port as the ship took off. He watched it cut through the ocean. Then he saw something that made his blood run cold. The Raider Gundam was flying overhead and saw the escape boat. It took aim with its dual cannon. Shin was in a state of absolute shock. His face became white. What happened next was brief, but extremely painful. The beam from the Raider Gundam's cannon sliced the ship. Everyone on that ship was dead. April was dead. His rage began to consume him and in his mind he saw the black seed again. This time the seed burst and he rushed off to find an instrument to dish out justice towards the nefarious actions of the Earth Alliance.

He ran for twenty minutes until he came across an abandoned hangar by the cliffs. It was surrounded by wreckages of M1 Astray units. The ground was littered with the bodies of his countrymen. Overhead the remaining M1 Astrays were battling the oncoming Strike Daggers and Vtol Fighters. As he proceeded into the hangar, he saw it. It was an M1 Astray unit. It was unscathed and perfectly functional. Even though he had no experience piloting a mobile suit, he knew that he must take it into battle. He swiftly climbed up to the cockpit and got in. What he saw inside was nothing like what he had ever seen before. The control systems were very sophisticated, but there was no OS. "That's why this unit was never taken out into battle," he thought. With haste, Shine began to work on the OS.

"Okay, set propulsion to a 45 degree angle. Adjust the angle of movement and redistribute its overall weight density." It was just like what he learned in the technical college. Within fifteen minutes, the OS was completely written and the mobile suit was functional. "Okay, the M1 Astray is equipped with a beam saber, a beam rifle, and a shield. It's not much, but anything can be a dangerous weapon in the right hands."

"It's payback time," Shin shouted. "I swear by the ruins of Orb that I will avenge you dear sister. I will avenge my family. I will avenge you too, April." With those words, Shin took off in the M1 Astray and charged off to battle.