Disclaimer: Still don't own Gundam Seed or Gundam Seed Destiny
Kira, Athrun, Shinn, and Dr. Chanka made their way through the warehouse district on the southern edge of Orb.
The area was barren of life and the ground was nothing but stone and cement. The warehouses themselves were made of red brick and steel. Apparently the area of the district they were in was one of the oldest places on Orb.
"Athha should really fix up this place" remarked Shinn as the group made their way down the wide path between buildings.
"She tried a few years back, but one of the old members of parliament argued something about historical preservation" informed Athrun.
"That's stupid" said Shinn, rolling his eyes. His contempt for politicians rose even more.
"I believe that's what she said at the time" said Athrun, remembering how the blond nearly threw a lamp at the old man.
"How much farther?" asked Kira as he followed the geneticist. They had been walking for about a good forty-five minutes.
"We're just about there; I needed somewhere out of the way as well as cheap rent" answered Chanka with a sigh. His finances were starting to get low with the money he stole from LOGOS nearly depleted.
Kira nodded and did not say anything more. To say that he was in turmoil was the understatement of the year. Kira was near collapse and it took all the will power he had not curl up in a ball. The knowledge that Fllay was alive was one thing; finding out that he killed his own daughter was another.
Though he never met Stellar, he had heard about her condition and felt guilt about what happened in Berlin. Any justification he had in ending the life of the Destroy's pilot evaporated and left a new scar in his heart. Kira had a feeling that more were to come by the time that everything was resolved.
After another five minutes, the group arrived at the last warehouse in the district. The building was situated overlooking the ocean with a collapsed wooden dock next to it. The building itself was similar in design to the rest of the warehouses except that its roof was gray instead of brown.
Walking up to the small door in the front of the building, Chanka pulled out a set of keys and unlocked the door. Opening it, he motioned for the others to follow him as he made his way into the building.
It was dark inside and the trio of Gundam pilots, despite their enhanced eye sight, could not make out much of anything. Chanka however seemed to know exactly where he was going and walked farther into the darkness like it was nothing. Finding a light switch, the large warehouse was partially lit up.
The warehouse on the inside seemed to be cluttered. Old rotten wooden crates lined the walls as well as other various areas and the walls were thick in dust and dirt. The floor was also dirty as well with signs of someone attempting to sweep the dirt away. Some feet away from the entrance, there was some lab equipment which appeared to have been used recently and a few metal tables with various documents scattered about.
"I am sorry for the mess but any type of cleaning was futile" said Chanka as he made his way to one of the crates.
"What's with the equipment?" asked Shinn, looking around. There was a familiarity to what he was seeing but could not put his finger on it.
"For my research" answered the doctor, knowing what was to come next.
"That was your lab we found during the second war" stated Athrun in realization, the memories coming to light.
"Some of it yes; another sin that have to atone for" said Chanka in a sad whisper.
"Were you responsible for the deaths of those children?" asked Shinn angrily, his fists balled at his side.
"Yes and no; though there was nothing that could be done to save them, they deserved to die by other and more humane means" answered the geneticist.
"What do you mean?" asked Kira, curious and hoping to head off Shinn before he did something stupid.
"Most of the extended created were children that had suffered genetic deficiencies; they were discovered in orphanages and Blue Cosmos training camps, thus they were brought to the labs. The children's life expectancy was so low that in a way, the labs were a blessing to them" stated Chanka with belief in his voice.
"I fail to see turning them into weapons as a blessing" remarked Athrun with a frown.
"Compared to the short and painful life they would have had, I consider it to be" rebutted Chanka, turning to look at the Orb officer.
"Was it you that killed them?" asked Shinn in a low tone of voice.
"No, I would have administered a simple drug that would have painlessly ended their life; I was unfortunately moved ahead of the other children when it became clear that the lab was compromised by ZAFT" said the doctor with regret.
There was no response to that and the trio of Gundam pilots let the geneticist continue with what he was doing.
Chanka pressed a panel on the large wooden crate in front of him and the enclosure started to come apart electronically. It was obvious that the crate was fake and in actuality, a means to smuggle something without it appearing suspicious.
When the crate finally became undone, all that was left was a large life size cylinder containing young woman floating naked in it. She had long red hair and appeared to be unconscious. While Athrun and Shinn's faces flushed and averted their eyes, Kira just stared at the woman with recognition and took a step towards her.
"Fllay" was all that he said while staring at her.
"What is she floating in?" asked Athrun, still averting his eyes. The woman was quite attractive and he felt some guilt in feeling that she was beautiful.
"A type of stasis fluid that is oxygenized so that she can breathe; another piece of technology that I acquired from LOGOS" answered the man.
Typing a few buttons on the control panel located on the side of the cylinder, Chanka put in his personal password and stood back as the console started to emit a buzzing noise. The cylinder started to glow and it was apparent that something was going to happen.
"What is going on?" asked Kira, slightly alarmed. He wanted nothing to happen to Fllay and was worried for her safety.
"I am starting the process of resuscitation" informed Chanka, assuring the Ultimate Coordinator that all was well.
"Athrun, we got trouble" said Luna through the comm. piece in Athrun's ear.
"What is it Luna?" asked Athrun, bringing looks from everyone present.
"There is about a group of nine men in plain clothing closing on your position. They appear to be armed with some serious firepower" informed the woman.
"Do you have any weapons here?" asked Athrun to Chanka, pulling out his pistol.
"What is it Athrun?" asked Kira, becoming alarmed and pulling out his own weapon. He started carrying a gun at the insistence of Cagalli in order to protect himself.
"We got some people closing in on us; looks like whoever is after you Doctor has found you out" informed the Orb Admiral, looking around for defensive positions.
"I have a few weapons over there in that crate; I must tell you though, its going to take another five minutes for Fllay to be ready. If we rush it, she could die" informed Chanka with a frown.
"Great" said Athrun sarcastically. Walking over to the crate that Chanka pointed to, he opened the top and pulled out an assault rifle, throwing it to Shinn.
"We need to protect Fllay" said Kira and both he and Athrun moved one of the large crates so it would stand in between the cylinder and the entrance.
"Where are they at Luna?" asked Athrun, as he moved behind a crate near the entrance some feet away from the lab area. He had the pistol leveled at the door and was glancing around to see if there were any other places accessible from the outside.
"Four of them are moving to the front where you guys went in and the rest are circling to the back" said Luna.
"Have you contacted the authorities?" asked the Gundam pilot.
"Yes; they're on their way. Do you want me to move in?" asked Lunamaria.
"No, we can't risk damage to the warehouse at this time. Get ready to move when I call you" ordered Athrun. Until Fllay was ready to come out, Impulse could not be called in for the risk of damage to the structure.
"Are there any other entrances to this place?" asked Shinn, looking towards the back.
"Just in the back, but the entrance is barred" answered the geneticist.
"Shinn, me and you will cover the back area; Kira you cover the front. Can you fire a gun Doctor?" asked Athrun.
"I am a decent shot" answered Gendo, taking the second assault rifle out of the weapons crate.
Athrun nodded and both he and Shinn made their way to the back of the warehouse. Both Kira and Chanka stood next to the cylinder with the crate shielding them from the entrance from where they entered the building.
"Three minutes till resuscitation" informed Doctor Chanka, reading the display on the console. The liquid in the cylinder started to drain onto the ground.
The door was suddenly kicked open and two intruders made their way into the building, pistols in hand. They were dressed in plain looking clothing and appeared to be of Asian decent. Looking around and seeing nothing, they made their way forward towards Kira and the geneticist's position.
Catching the duo of intruders by surprise, Kira appeared from behind the crate and fired his gun at the men. He managed to hit one of the trespassers in the chest and he went down hard. Kira then ducked back behind the barricade as the other man returned fire.
Chanka took the opportunity of the man's distraction towards Kira's position to engage the survivor. The assault rifle recoiled and very loudly fired at the remaining intruder. The man was, like his partner, was caught off guard and torn to pieces by the rapid bullets.
Two more men appeared and the doorway, armed with sub-machine guns. Both Chanka and Kira ducked and hid as machinegun fire riddled the crate. Pieces of wood were splintered off and it looked like the crate would not last long with the type of punishment it was taking. Fortunately, there were metal beams inside the crate which stopped the bullets from going straight through the container.
An explosion could be heard from the back of the warehouse and seconds later, the sounds of another gun battle could be heard. Kira hoped that Athrun and Shinn were alright.
The gunfire against the crate stopped and Kira peaked around the corner to see that one of the intruders was rearming while the other was covering him. Looking over at the geneticist, Chanka nodded and both rounded the corners of the crate at the same time.
The man covering his partner saw Kira first and was about to fire when he was taken down by Chanka. His partner raised his own gun, only to be hit in the head by Kira. Both were dead by the time they hit the ground.
The sounds of the other gunfight ended and after a few minutes, Athrun and Shinn appeared. Kira was checking the bodies for identification while the geneticist was checking on the condition of Fllay.
"Did you find anything on the bodies?" asked Kira, coming up short. The four intruders lacked any identification of any kind.
"Nothing; hopefully we can get something with their fingerprints" said Athrun looking about.
Kira nodded and turned his head to see what the status of Fllay was. The cylinder was now completely empty of fluid and now open. Chanka was helping the naked girl lie down and wrapped her in a type of blue robe that had been lying on the table.
After a minute, Fllay's eyes opened and she sat up. Seeing Chanka, she smiled in innocence and the geneticist smiled back. As the doctor tried to help her up, the girl looked around.
She clutched Chanka after seeing Athrun and Shinn, whom averted their eyes once again with traces of red on their faces. When she saw Kira, her eyes widened and she opened her mouth partially. Kira smiled at her and took a step forward.
Fllay screamed.
Author's Note: Sorry to leave you guys with an evil cliffhanger; I assure you that the next update will be up before the year is up, so hopefully you won't have to wait too long for an update.
The next update should appear after Checkmate and Sins of the Father; I am still trying to get the next update for GS Homeworld, but mimicking my friend's work is proving harder than I thought.
I also am working on my updates for my Eva fics as well so that might damper my schedule, but I'll try no too let that happen.
Please R&R