This chapter should be a decent one… I hope. This chapter will probably seem like the third episode from the second season of Gundam 00. Keep reading and reviewing please. Please note that one of the children from the facility mixes English and Spanish together in a sentence.

Stella's Capture and Shinn's Heroic Rescue

Djbril was getting even more frustrated now that the Gundam Peacekeepers had made it's presence known as well as the Tsunami Guardians showing it's face after all the cowardly battles they fought the Earth Forces. There had to be something he could do to break up this alliance of Gundam pilots and the Tsunami Guardians… something that could turn the tide of Logos' campaign of slaughtering the space monsters and their traitorous Natural barbarian allies. He looked at the profiles of the three Extended pilots from the Girty Lue and was looking for something redeeming for one of them he could take back. He looked at Stella's profile and saw she was the strongest of the three Extended pilots. Her brute strength made her a perfect candidate to kidnap. There was one major problem to his plan and that was according to a spy on the Minerva, that she was in love with the strongest pilot on the Minerva, Shinn Asuka. He had three options: 1. Kill him in his sleep; 2. Kill him by laying a trap in case he decided to be the hero and rescue her; and 3. Have every mobile suit pilot swarm him and overwhelm him with a lot of firepower. …The second option seemed like better option considering that this Shinn Asuka would most likely try to be the hero and save the damsel in distress. Djbril nodded his head acknowledging his plan to laying a trap for the Minerva's hero. He needed to make plans right away. Either way he wanted Stella's unnatural strength and some filthy Coordinator who lost his slut mother, whorish sister and barbarian father wasn't going to keep him from what he wanted. 'But then again,' thought Djbril, 'I could use this space monster to destroy the Coordinators. I could use his hate, anger, all that destructive energy and destroy Orb with it. The Seirans still allow Coordinators to live in their borders and I can use one Coordinator to destroy them all. Then I'll kill him and the girl after the space monsters are all but extinct and forgotten.' With his plan thought and ready to go, he dialed a number to his agents on board the Neo-Dominion and gave them instructions to get Yuna Roma Seiran or his agents to do his dirty work for them. Djbril's plan was simple: Capture the Extended girl and wait for her Coordinator lover to show up rescue her and then either kill him or overpower him with sheer numbers.

Earth Forces Mobile Assault Ship Neo-Dominion

"Adam, we've got orders from Lord Djbril," William told his counterpart.

"What are they?" asked William curious. "Are we gonna eliminate Captain Nakamura ?"

"No Lord Djbril wants us to have Yuna Roma Seiran have his forces to capture the Extended girl Stella Loussier and a Coordinator pilot from the Minerva," answered William

"You mean that cutie that betrayed us to follow some brainless Coordinator?" inquired Adam.

"Yes, the cutie who betrayed us to ZAFT," answered William.

"But why does Lord Djbril want us to capture a stupid and talent less Coordinator?" William sarcastically asked Adam.

"How should I know what Lord Djbril wants?" shot back Adam. "We just need to do what we're told and that's that." William nodded in agreement and made the call to Yuna and arranged a meeting between him, Adam and Yuna.

Unknowing to William and Adam, Judy was listening to their conversation. Judy was now helping her best friend by spying on William and Adam for her and the Tsunami Guardians. Judy had sent a message back to Yuzu after Yuzu sent her a message to leave the Neo-Dominion. Judy had expressed in her last message that she would help Yuzu and help fight together like during their childhood days when they fought against bullies. Judy muffed the sound of her recording device being turned off to keep the two Logos bastards from knowing that she had become an informant. Yuzu had told her about the Gundam Peacekeepers and that the Extendeds joined ZAFT and the Minerva. Judy was surprised to hear that the three Extendeds from the Girty Lue would just screw the Earth Forces and join the enemy. But they were people who followed their heart.

ZAFT Trans-Atmospheric Battleship, Minerva

Stella was asleep on Shinn's bed as always after performing maintenance checks on the Gaia. She had seen the doctor about her constant tiredness after combat and/or performing her regular duties. She wasn't the only one who experienced the repeated tiredness. Sting and Auel also experienced tiredness after just performing their duties and prolonged stays in a combat situation. The ship's doctor thought it might be withdrawal symptoms from not using the capsules on the Girty Lue. The doctor predicted that the withdrawal symptoms would cease within a week. Shinn was at the firing range practicing with a pistol while thoughts ran through his mind. Rey had followed him to the shooting range hoping to talk to him and begin to weave the Chairman's poison into Shinn. The Chairman wanted Shinn under his control and Rey was his messenger. Rey wasn't able to get to talk to Shinn alone because Shinn was always around Stella, the Extended girl, was a distraction and needed to go soon; Sting and Auel would be dealt with soon after Stella was either dead or captured. Shinn fired off two clips and set the pistol he used on a shelf after cleaning it and setting the safety glasses and noise cancellers. Rey knew that Shinn was going to back to their room and be with the girl that distracted him from their plan. Durandal and Rey wanted Shinn to be their sword and wipe out all opposition even neutral nations that resisted the coming day when the Destiny Plan would be unleashed.

A week later, an Orb expeditionary fleet went and joined up with the Neo-Dominion so they could deal with the new threat from this new Gundam Peacekeeper force and the cowardly Tsunami Guardians. Once the major threat from the Gundam Peacekeepers and Tsunami Guardians was eliminated, Logos could finally make their move to destroy the Coordinators and even destroy the so-called neutral nations that secretly allied themselves with the PLANTS. Yuna met with William and Adam to discuss Lord Djbril's plan to capture Stella and lay a trap for the Minerva's ace pilot. Yuna didn't understand what was going on but agreed to go along with the plan.

The next day the Minerva, Archangel and the Argama left port from Dioqua in order to reach Gibraltar. Captain Gladys had a bad feeling that the Alliance was gonna target them again. Murrue had the same feeling too; she experienced the feeling when ZAFT had chased the Archangel half way around the world. The three captains agreed to arrange a formation to ensure a safe journey to Gibraltar. After the three ships departed Dioqua they got into their defense formation and headed towards Gibraltar. None of them were aware of the trap lying in wait for them.

Dardanelles Straits

Yuna had a nervous look on his face as he was on board the Neo-Dominion. The two Logos agents had sent a small squad of soldiers to Yuna's flagship and forced him on the Neo-Dominion to ensure that he wouldn't try to double cross Lord Djbril's campaign of extermination. Yuna would be William and Adam's hostage indefinitely once the Gundam Peacekeepers and Tsunami Guardians were also exterminated as well. Logos definitely wanted the planet's oceans to run red with the blood of the Coordinators and those Naturals who were found guilty of betraying their own species. William and Adam brandished a pistol in a hip holster ready to shoot the foolish Orb ruler when his usefulness had expired. Orb was going to get wiped off the face of the Earth as well ZAFT and the traitorous Naturals with their blood staining the ocean as well. Many people on Earth had tried to fight the Earth Forces cruel efforts to wipe out Coordinators and most of them ended up getting killed as traitors to their species. Coordinators went to any nation that would shelter them from the blood thirsty Earth Forces soldiers. Yuna was trying every thing he could do to minimize the entry of Coordinators into Orb territory in order to show the Earth Alliance that they were on the winning side; but with Morgenroete's chief of engineering encouraging the people to accept Coordinators into Orb, it was difficult. Yuna's thoughts were interrupted when an alarm sounded warning the combined fleet of the three enemies.

"Captain Nakamura we've got three incoming ships," reported Judy as read the radar screen, "identified as the Minerva, Archangel and one unidentified ship deployed in a defensive formation."

Captain Nakamura, sitting at her captain's seat ignoring the idiot Orb leader and the two blood thirsty Logos agents talk as she had to maintain her professional look. Secretly, she wanted to shoot the Logos agents like her former Deputy Captain, Yuzu Akihara. Yuzu's replacement was another Logos agent by the name of Sergei Mendez. Born in Moscow, he was to born to Spanish father and Russian mother. Good with tactics and able to be flexible when the tide of battle changes, Sergei can constantly adjust parts of a battle strategy to make the overall plan a success. An Extended that was kidnapped from his parents during a family gathering in Paris; he is the only Extended to have his memories intact because he left mementos when anticipated his memory was going to be erased. Even to this day, Djbril and the handlers at Lodonia have no idea that Sergei still retains his memories and that he hates Logos with a vengeance.

"Deputy Captain Mendez," Captain Nakamura said to Sergei snapping him out of his trance. "Deputy Captain, we need you at your station." Sergei sighed and nodded as he got to his station.

"All hands Level 1 battle stations!" exclaimed Sergei. "Activate Gottfrieds, load tubes 1 through 6 with Korinthos load tubes 7 through 12 Sledgehammers. Ready Valiants and Igelstellungs!" Sergei made an angry glance at William and Adam before getting back to his duties. The Neo-Dominion's weapons were activated and focusing on their targets, the Gundam Peacekeepers.

"Target the Minerva!" ordered Captain Nakamura.

"But we have our…" Adam began to protest before getting cut off by Captain Nakamura.

"Stow it, Ensign Jacobson!" Captain Nakamura exclaimed sternly. Adam looked at Captain Nakamura in disgust as he turned to his station.

Yuna didn't want to be on the Neo-Dominion but William and Adam still on the bridge he couldn't leave during the battle. Yuna made sure that he followed the directions of the two bloody thirsty Logos agents and set the trap in place. Mitsuki was anxious to get some payback on the traitor who ordered her mobile suit's sabotage; Johan couldn't care less on who got killed as long as he got to enjoy the thrill of competing against other Earth Alliance mobile suit pilots to see who could kill the most enemy pilots in battle. Michael just wanted to kill… plan and simple; he didn't care who the enemy was as long as the battle didn't take too long and so long he could get back to his game in progress.

Orb Mobile Assault ship Archangel

"Captain Ramius, we've got a fleet of ten Earth Alliance ships and about sixteen Orb ships," reported Lacus. This got Murrue's attention when Lacus reported that Orb ships were mixed in with an Earth Alliance fleet.

She sighed and quickly gathered her thoughts before sitting up and giving her orders.

"All hands Level One Battle Stations!" exclaimed Murrue as she regained her composure.

"Level One Battle Stations!" repeated Yuzu as she took over the role as the Deputy Captain on the Archangel at the request her father. "Activate Igelstellungs, ready Gottfrieds One and Two, ready Valiants, load tubes One through Six with Wombats, load tubes Seven through Twelve with Sledgehammers, set Helldarts on Standby ready to fire on my mark!" Murrue looked at Yuzu and noticed she was organized like her last Deputy Captain, Natarile Badgeral when executing defense orders.

ZAFT Trans-Atmospheric Battleship, Minerva

"From the looks of it I'd say the Archangel is readying for another brawl with the Earth Forces again," observed Arthur.

Captain Gladys sighed and also gave orders to her crew.

"Lower the bridge," ordered Captain Gladys. "Go to Condition Red."

"Yes ma'am," acknowledged Meyrin as she tapped commands on her keyboard to lower the bridge and she switched to the ship COM system. "Going to Condition Red, going to Condition Red; all pilots board your machines and standby."

Once the bridge was secured below deck, Arthur took over and ordered their countermeasures.

"Activate CIWS, Tristans and Isodle," ordered Arthur, "load missile tubes One through Six with Parsifals, load tubes Seven through Twelve with Dispars."

"Have the Impulse, Savior and Murasame Rouge launch and provide aerial cover from the sky," ordered Captain Gladys. "Have the Gaia on the deck on point defense with Blaze ZAKU."

"Understood Captain," Stella acknowledged before ending transmission with the bridge. Stella sighed in uneasiness; she didn't want to work with Rey. There was something about Rey that made her uneasy… no it wasn't it, she just wanted to fight alongside Shinn. But… she would listen to Captain Gladys and do what she was told.

On the bridge, Captain Gladys received word from the Argama that they readied their defenses for oncoming attack. The captain then took a quick breath and ordered the group to open fire on the combined fleet and try to punch a hole through the fleet. It wasn't going to be easy with the sheer number of surface ships and the possibility that the Earth Forces might've developed mobile suits for underwater combat. For Captain Gladys it was either charge through and make a quick dash to Gibraltar or duke it out with enemy and risk damaging Orb's military even further. The battle began when Orb forces launched their mobile suits and opened fire on the three ships with scatter shells. The Minerva moved in front of the Archangel to cover it while they dove into the water. Archangel had to change their tactics because unlike the Minerva, the bridge of the Archangel was fixed and couldn't move down a deck to shelter itself. Murrue and the Archangel crew would use the Valiants and disable the Orb ships without having to kill any Orb soldiers. Shinn thought Kira's idea had softened them up too much but he hoped that once the ships were disabled they would give up and stay out of the battle. Shinn watched as Stella went to the catapult in Gaia. Like Stella, he too was uneasy about her working with Rey but he hoped that Rey would work with her.

Earth Forces Mobile Assault Ship Neo-Dominion

Adam and William saw that their target had deployed from the Minerva; William turned to Adam and he gave a slight nod and keyed a secret message to the Windams lying in wait. The message read: "Target One has launched; capture Target One. Leave Target Two alone and slaughter the rest." Adam quickly hid his PDA. Captain Nakamura, however, saw what Adam was doing and said, "Once we're done with our mission, I'll deal with you later about having communication devices on the bridge."

"Unlike you Captain, who doesn't know when to learn her place, I was carrying out orders from Lord Djbril," snapped William. Captain Nakamura shot William and Adam both a dirty look in response to their comment.

"I have no intention of joining Logos," Captain Nakamura said to both Logos agents. "Never have and I never will join Logos."

"You have no choice," said Adam, "otherwise you'll lose command of this ship. Either you're with Logos or you're with those space monsters who have to be slaughtered."

The ship shook as the battle began and both sides engaged each other in battle. Captain Nakamura noticed that the Archangel was missing from the formation.

"Captain, a majority of the Orb Fleet has been immobilized," reported Sergei.

"What, how?" asked Captain Nakamura surprised.

"I don't know," answered Sergei.

"What do you know mean you don't know?" demanded Adam. "You're supposed to know everything once you're in battle!"

"Shut the hell you bloody thirsty bastard!" countered Sergei as he remembered to keep his attitude in check before pulling out his pistol.

"We'll worry about shooting each other later," said Captain Nakamura as she pointed to the battle, "but first we have to destroy the enemy."

"And capture one of the traitors," added William. Captain Nakamura and Sergei looked at William confused as William explained that he and Adam had orders from Djbril to capture the Gaia and it's pilot. This would lead to Target Two to try be a hero and rescue Gaia's pilot and then he would be captured and forced in the service of Logos to wipe out the Coordinators. Captain Nakamura was uneasy about this plan. She thought that they should make sure that the second target was killed to ensure that no one would try to rescue the traitor; but the Logos agents threatened to put her in brig if she didn't obey the plan.

"Heads up we've got Murasames and new Astray Shrikes," said Athrun as he read off the readout on his radar screen.

"Man they're really pulling the stops to kill us," remarked Lunamaria.

"I really think that they're being controlled by those Logos guys Mu warned us about," said Kira.

"I agree with Kira," said Sai as he launched from the central catapult of the Minerva. "There's no way Orb would attack us unless someone is controlling them."

"Alright, enough with the chatting and what ifs," said Shinn as he launched from the central catapult, "let's just get through these guys and get away while we can." Everyone agreed as they launched from their respective carriers.

The battle, already in progress seemed to going smoothly until a squad of Windams silently crept up the side of the Minerva, waiting for the Gaia to move to the edge and have it's back turned to them. As fortune would have it Stella did move toward the commando Windams and she had her back to them. The commandos made their move and captured the Gaia and Stella. Rey saw the Gaia get captured and pretended to not notice; he would just lie to Shinn and say that Stella was killed and then he could take advantage of Shinn's grief and take control of Shinn. Unknown to Rey, Luna passed by and also noticed the Gaia's capture. 'Shinn's not going to be happy when he hears that Stella got captured,' thought Luna as grimaced uneasy. Two hours passed before the three ships managed to break through the combined fleet; when Shinn returned to the Minerva, he breathed a sigh of relief and began looking around for Stella hoping to spend some alone time with her. Rey was about to step forward and lie to Shinn telling him that Stella was killed when Luna beat him and spoke up.

"Shinn," Luna started softly and nervously, "S-Stella was… she was captured during the battle."

"SHE WHAT?" roared Shinn as his eyes widened in shock.

"Forget about her Shinn," Rey said calmly as he stepped forward and put his hand on Shinn's shoulder. "Besides we have to reach Gibraltar for our next assignment and await…"

"To hell with getting to Gibraltar," interrupted Shinn as he stepped back from Rey and got back on the Impulse as he got it ready for launch on the catapult.

'I'll force my way into that Earth Forces fleet get them to tell where Stella is,' thought Shinn as ran a check on his systems.

Captain Gladys came on the visual COM and said, "Shinn I can't permit you to leave the ship."

"But Captain we can't just leave Stella behind to those monsters in the Alliance," protested Shinn.

"I know that but we have to find someplace to hide ourselves for the time being," replied Captain Gladys.

Shinn was upset at Captain Gladys's last comment but he had no choice but follow her order… for the time being.

Earth Alliance Extended Research Facility, Lodonia

Djbril walked into the viewing room above where Stella was being held. He saw, on his way up to the viewing room, that some of the soldiers and handlers had black-eyes and even some had busted lips from trying to get the prisoner under control. Stella was bound tightly and secure so she couldn't get away. Stella had cuts and bruises on her face from the handlers restraining her. The handlers wanted to get her back on the drugs and hypnosis treatments but Djbril told them to give the traitor's lover 72 hours before restoring the control they had over her. Djbril noticed that Stella was still in her flight suit; he wondered why Stella chose to be a traitor to her species by following a space monster. 'It doesn't matter,' thought Djbril as he observed Stella sitting there propped up in the chair looking helpless, 'we'll get two useful puppets to use in our campaign. Once their usefulness is done then we'll throw them away.'

"Excuse me Lord Djbril," said one of Djbril's servants, "I have two Earth Forces soldiers who wish to see you."

"Bring them in," Djbril ordered his servant. The servant bowed and went away to bring the soldiers. The two soldiers came in and Djbril recognized them as the two agents he placed in the Neo-Dominion as Adam Winchell and William Jacobson.

"Welcome, welcome Adam and William," Djbril greeted his agents warmly. "Please come and sit. Is there anything else to report?"

The Logos agents sat down as directed by Djbril and began to make their report.

"Lord Djbril you need to replace the bridge staff," began William, "especially Captain Nakamura."

"Is there a reason for this request?" Djbril asked kind of confused by William.

"The bridge staff doesn't follow our orders," answered Adam. "We've had a couple of chances to destroy the Minerva and at least one chance to destroy the traitors on board the Girty Lue."

"I see," replied Djbril as he leaned back on his chair and listened to his two faithful agents.

ZAFT Trans-atmospheric Battleship Minerva

"I'm sorry Shinn," Captain Gladys said to Shinn as she saw the shock on his face to her response. "But we can't go looking for her. We have orders from headquarters to keep on course to Gibraltar. They've assured me that they'll look for Stella."

Shinn stormed off in anger wanting to save Stella. Captain Gladys sighed in frustration, understanding Shinn's frustration of wanting to go and rescue Stella. She thought of something she could do for Shinn without getting him in trouble for going against orders from Headquarters. She knew Shinn was going to go rescue her regardless of their orders to make it to Gibraltar. Then Captain Gladys had an idea; she sent a message to Captain Ramius and see if Commander La Flaga could help out Shinn, since Commander La Flaga was in Logos and with his knowledge Shinn could find Stella.

Orb Mobile Assault Ship Archangel

"I think we should help the kid," said Mu at the small meeting of officers. "Besides we can't leave a Gundam pilot behind to be tortured and turned back into a weapon for the use of Logos."

Kira agreed considering that Stella helped to protect Lacus and was a fellow pilot in the Gundam Peacekeeper force. Yuzu produced a data pad that had blue prints on certain Earth Alliance facilities. She handed the data pad to Murrue and she looked at a blueprint of one facility when Mu turned and asked Yuzu, "Hey Yuzu, does that data pad have a blue of the lab at Lodonia?"

"Uh, yeah it should have the blue prints," answered Yuzu. "It should also have security details for the place as well." Yuzu motioned Murrue to return her data pad back to her which Murrue did.

"Then we're all in agreement?" asked Lacus.

"Yeah, let's help with the rescue," chimed in Cagalli. Everyone was in agreement; no one on the Archangel was going to Stella behind to Logos.

Back on the Minerva, Captain Gladys received the message from Murrue that they would help Shinn rescue Stella. She smiled and breathed a sigh of relief. Right now she wanted to get rest from the day's disaster.

"Forget it Rey!" snarled Shinn as he threw Rey's arm off his shoulder.

"You have to forget about her and focus on our mission," said Rey trying to be rational.

Rey's last statement caused Shinn to snap as he channeled a lot of physical power into his fist and punched Rey knocking him on the ground. Everyone in the lounge saw Rey falling to the ground and the angry look in Shinn's eyes. They could see the blazing fire in his eyes before he stormed off back to his room for an idea he had. He got in his room and searched for the Earth Forces flight suit he still had from his time on the Girty Lue and remembered it was in his locker in the pilot's locker room. He quickly hurried to the locker room and to his locker but not before grabbing the Earth Forces patches he had in his foot locker. He was going to sneak into the Earth Forces with pilot uniform he had, put the patches he took off and put them back on. His plan was simple: sneak aboard an Earth Forces ship, gather information on Stella's whereabouts, find and rescue Stella and destroy the facility she was kept prisoner. There was one problem to his plan. If he approached the Earth Forces in the Impulse, they'd shoot first and ask questions later. He thought about how to solve that problem and it was a tough problem to solve.

'Hey wait a minute,' thought Shinn as he wondered about the Archangel's mobile suits, 'doesn't the Archangel still have one of those Earth Forces mobile suits? I'll go to the Archangel and ask if they still have one of those mobile suits.' Shinn nodded and quickly finished reapplying the patches and quickly changed into the uniform and borrowed Lunamaria's Murasame Rouge and went to the Archangel.

"Captain, Shinn just took off in Luna's Murasame," Vino reported to Captain Gladys.

"He what?" asked Arthur in surprise. "Do we know where he's…"

Captain Gladys cut him off and said with a little grin her on face, "He's going to the Archangel to and see if they'll help him rescue Stella."

"I wish I was that brave and crazy," commented Arthur.

"Well people do crazy things for those they love and care about," said Captain Gladys before turning to Roux.

"Roux, I want you to back up Shinn when he escapes with Stella," ordered Captain Gladys.

"You really think he's going to rescue Stella?" asked Roux with her eyes closed.

"Knowing Shinn," answered Captain Gladys, "he's not going to leave without Stella and there's going to be a trail of destruction ."

Roux opened her eyes and walked out of the captain's quarters to pilot's locker room and changed into her flight suit. Captain Gladys had offered to replace her AEUG pilot suit with a ZAFT pilot suit in which she politely declined. Once Roux boarded Z Gundam, Captain Gladys came on visual COM.

"Roux, I want you wait 30 minutes after he launches from the Archangel," instructed Captain Gladys. "It's possible that the Archangel go on the rescue mission with him to provide him support."

"Roger Captain Gladys," acknowledged Roux.

Orb Mobile Assault Ship Archangel

En route to Earth Forces Research Facility, Lodonia Laboratory

"Please I need your help," pleaded Shinn as he fell on his knees before Murrue and Mu.

"Well considering that you and Stella helped in protecting Lacus," began Murrue, "we had planned on helping on anyway."

Shinn looked at Murrue and saw she had a smile on her face and he stood up and gave a curt nod of appreciation. He breathed a sigh of relief and then a thought came to him as they began to take off.

"Hey do you guys still have an Earth Forces mobile suit left from when you got those deserters?" asked Shinn.

Mu pondered Shinn's question when Yuzu overheard him and answered quickly, "We still have one Windam left in the mobile suit bay."

Shinn thought about his plan of getting into an Earth Forces base and the last Windam fit the bill for getting into the Earth Forces ranks without a hitch.

"I'll need to use it," requested Shinn.

Mu and Murrue looked at each other and smiled at each other. Murrue then turned to Shinn and said, "We figured you'd say that. I'll talk to Mr. Murdoch and he'll get the Windam back up and ready for you to use."

"Do you mind if I bring it back?" asked Shinn as he was about ready to head to the mobile suit bay.

"Kid, you can trash it for all we care," responded Mu. "Besides its taking up space in our hangar and we some space in the hangar."

Shinn smiled a little bit but then turned to the elevator to help with fixing the Windam he would use to enter Earth Forces territory and rescue Stella. Mu took one look at Shinn and gave a big sigh.

"Man, when that kid intends to do something, nothing stops him," commented Mu.

"Kinda reminds me of you," replied Murrue, "and all the crazy flirty stuff you pulled."

"Well at least I didn't have a short fuse like Shinn," added Mu. Murrue sighed and had to agree with that.

In the mobile suit bay, Shinn worked with Murdoch to get the Windam ready for it's final mission. Murdoch programmed the self-destruct to go off remotely on Shinn's command; Shinn worked on programming the OS of the Windam to be compatible with Extended pilots. It was a crazy idea he had but it was worth putting his life at risk to save Stella; he loved her and would give his life to see that she was safe from harm. He remembered Stella training him to pilot a mobile suit using the OS for Extendeds and it was hard for him at first but he had remembered the little tweaks he made to the OS so it would be compatible for both Coordinators and Extendeds alike. Shinn was able to remember the tweaks he made programmed them into the Windam's OS. Murdoch was amazed at Shinn working in the Windam's cockpit; it reminded him of Kira, when he was always busy in the cockpit of the Strike making adjustments to the Strike's OS after a battle or maintenance on the Strike. Those thoughts left a grin that Shinn noticed as he took a break from working on the Windam's OS.

"Why are you grinning?" Shinn asked Murdoch, who quickly wiped the grin off his face.

"Oh no reason," answered Murdoch. "You just remind me of Kira, when he piloted the Strike. He always had a serious look on his face when he was working on the Strike" Shinn felt embarrassed, but shook his head and went to the lounge to grab something to drink. 'I can't take a break now,' thought Shinn as he began turning back to the Windam but felt his fingers ache from all the typing he did on the Windam's keyboard. Murdoch noticed Shinn was coming back; he turned and walked toward Shinn and stopped him from taking another step.

"Hey I don't have time for breaks when…" Shinn was cut off by Murdoch when he began speaking.

"We know you want to go rescue that girl from the Earth Forces," began Murdoch, "but I don't think you want to be tired from working too much.

"Leave the rest of the work to us and we'll finish the final touches while you go rest awhile we finish up," finished Murdoch as shooed Shinn away from the mobile suit hangar.

Shinn protested but listened to Murdoch and went to lounge to grab something drink and went to the crew's quarters and took a nap while Murdoch and the rest of the crew mechanics finished off reassembling the Windam's feet. It took some doing but the Windam's feet were assembled from spare parts from the Strike. Murdoch woke Shinn up from his nap and revealed the Windam to him. Shinn nodded in approval of the work. Murdoch nodded in approval as well and handed the remote detonator to Shinn.

"The Windam's rigged to blow when you want it go," said Murdoch, "just make sure you and the lady aren't in the blast radius."

"Don't worry about that," said Shinn. "Once I get Stella, we'll recover the Gaia and make our escape."

"And I'll lead the diversion," said Kira ready in his pilot suit along with Andrew Waltfeld and a few Orb Murasame pilots.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" asked Shinn a little worried.

"You worry about rescuing Stella," answered Lacus as walked into the hangar, "she is a nice person and it wouldn't be right if we didn't rescue her from Logos." Kira gave a curt nod in agreement.

"You worry about rescuing Stella and we'll worry about the Earth Forces mobile suits," said Kira. Shinn nodded and boarded the Windam. The launch door opened and Shinn launched from the Archangel. He mouthed the plan to himself silently. He was supposed to find a convoy of Windams nearby and join the formation; Shinn would make the excuse that he was returning from a black-ops mission against Eurasian rebels in Central Eurasia. Once he was in the formation, he would follow them to Lodonia, the lab where Stella was probably held according to Commander La Flaga. It made sense since Stella and her teammates came from the labs at Lodonia. He flew for an hour before finding a squad of Windams heading for Lodonia; Shinn told the squad leader his fabricated story of being on a black-ops mission in Central Eurasia. The squad leader allowed Shinn to join the formation and the flew to Lodonia. During the flight, Shinn overheard some of the mobile suit pilots talk about the important prisoner being held at Lodonia. Two pilots were outraged by Djbril's plan to use someone for a trap. Shinn's eyes widened when he heard that Djbril had placed a trap for him. 'This changes everything ,' thought Shinn as he thought about what to do when got there now that he knew he was walking into a trap. Shinn spent the rest of the flight thinking about what to do until they got to Lodonia.

Earth Forces Research Facility, Lodonia

Once the squad of Windams landed, Shinn disembarked from his Windam making sure he had the remote detonator with him once he found Stella. He checked his back pocket and the detonator was there. He grabbed a pistol along with two clips for it and some grenades Momo Ashton left for him. Shinn took a deep breath made sure that his helmet was tinted so the cameras couldn't identify him. Shinn made his way through the facility and was horrified to see that the Earth Forces were training and torturing children to become soldiers. It was horrible for Shinn to see; he watched as a little six year-old girl was roped to a pole and was about to be shot. Shinn heard as the little girl cried, "I want my mommy, I want my mommy." Shinn saw that a nine year-old boy stood armed with a machine gun ready to shoot the little girl and three handlers armed themselves with a pistol. The boy was struggling to pull the trigger but couldn't pull it because he could see the tears following from girl's eyes. Shinn looked into his pack left for him by the four mobile suit pilots that deserted the Neo-Dominion and noticed that a silencer was placed in there for him. Shinn was pleased to see that he had silencer to use along with the pistol. He threaded the silencer as fast as he could to hopefully save the little girl. Shinn could hear the handlers shout at the boy to shoot the girl. Once the silencer securely threaded to the pistol's muzzle, he pointed the pistol at the boy from a corner covered in shadow. The boy refused to shoot the girl and handlers became furious with him as they readied their pistols. Shinn changed his target to the handlers and shot them quickly before they shot the two kids. He came out of the shadows and talked with the children. Shinn untied the little girl and turned to the boy.

"Hey, mahalo kind sir," said the little girl as she bowed to Shinn.

"She said thank you," the boy translated for Shinn. "Ashley is from Hawaii. My name is Eric Sanchez, I'm from la Madrid en la España."

"He said he's from Madrid, Spain," translated Ashley. "Hey, are you from ZAFT?"

Shinn nodded as he put his index finger up to his mouth to indicate silence. Ashley and Eric looked at each other and gave each other a curt nod.

"Let me guess you're here about the prisoner that's being held in an empty surgery room," guessed Eric. Shinn nodded and he replied, "She's important to me and to the Gundam Peacekeepers."

"You're talking about the new alliance of Naturals and Coordinators, right?" asked Eric.

"Yeah," answered Shinn softly.

"Oh, you're in love with the prisoner," said Ashley in a playful teasing tone. Shinn's face became red from embarrassment as he nodded to Ashley's question.

"Oh relax, we won't tell anyone," assured Eric. "We'll help you out; what do you want us to do?"

"Start spreading word that the Gundam Peacekeepers are coming to attack the facility; spread the word to anyone who was some beef with the Alliance and try to keep it on the down low."

Eric and Ashley split up and began spreading word to anyone they knew who had a beef with the Alliance about the incoming attack on the facility. Once word had spread to those chosen to know about the attack, Ashley headed to the server room and took it over to provide Shinn with technical support and Eric went to work on surveillance watching any Logos agents he knew about and any aggressive handlers that might slow Shinn down. Ashley used her genius to create a private line between the security room, her computer she stole from a Logos tech nerd and a headset she gave to Shinn. The headset had been reprogrammed for communication by Ashley's computer and anyone else linked to her computer. Ashley took a deep breath and attached her wireless headset to her left ear and began checking her system.

"Okay you two," began Ashley as she checked the COM system, "give me a check on your headset."

"Eric here," responded Eric, "es buen aquí."

"Shinn Asuka, I'm still waiting where you left me," reported Shinn.

"Alright I've got you two tagged on my tracking software," said Ashley as she constantly typed commands on her computer. "Okay Shinn, the prisoner is still she's been left; head down the hall thirty meters and then take a right. Eric, keep an eye on the security cameras and the prisoner."

"Sí," acknowledged Eric.

Shinn walked thirty meters and turned right to another intersection and waited for Ashley to give him another set of directions. Eric kept a close eye on the cameras looking at the door to the server room and monitored Stella.

"So far, so good amigo," said Eric over the headset as he kept a stern eye on the cameras.

"Okay Shinn head twenty meters down the hallway and turn left," instructed Ashley. "Once you do that, head fifty meters till you get to the medical wing."

"Got it," acknowledged Shinn as he continued his journey into the facility.

"Un momento Shinn," said Eric. "Dos Logos goons are getting ready to turn right and in your direction, amigo."

"I got 'em," responded Ashley as she furiously typed commands to cause a malfunction to a nearby electronic lock. "There, now they should respond to the malfunction."

"Copy on the door malfunction," confirmed Eric. "Los Logos goons have stopped; better get a move on it amigo before they fix the problem."

"Roger that," acknowledged Shinn as he hurried past William and Adam while they were busy swearing and cursing on the door malfunctioning.

Once Shinn made it past the two Logos agents, Ashley typed commands to release the electronic lock on the door. This caused William and Adam to stumble forward out the door and on the floor. Shinn wanted to laugh but he had to keep his focus on Stella. Shinn made his way to the medical wing entrance and discovered that an electronic lock was keeping him from entering.

"I need help entering the medical wing," requested Shinn.

"Working on the lock now," said Ashley as she hacked into the electronic security system. Shinn waited for three minutes before Ashley cracked the system and released the electronic lock for Shinn.

"There you go," said Ashley cheerfully as she went back to the map she had on Stella's location. "Now enter the wing and head forty meters till you reach a Y intersection; turn right… no turn left and proceed fifteen meters."

"Ashley," called Eric, "no miro en el hospital."

"Working on that," responded Ashley as she took over control of the Medical wing's security system and transferred visual to Eric.

"Ah, yo miro," Eric said in Spanish, "gracias amiga."

Ashley nodded and took a deep breath as she grabbed a soda can stole from a vending machine by hacking it's dispensing program and opening it and took a drink. Now Ashley felt refreshed and was able to focus on her task.

While Shinn was making his way toward Stella, the Archangel and Minerva began it's advance to the Lodonia laboratory. Rey had protested Captain Gladys's motives but Captain Gladys wouldn't change her mind in their joint attack on the Earth Forces' lab. She told Rey that they were crippling the Earth Forces military strength and Lodonia's destruction would reveal to the world about more atrocities that the Earth Forces were committing. The last statement pleased Rey and said he would make sure that Chairman Durandal was notified of the successful mission. Meyrin sent a reply to the anonymous freedom fighter of the mission's start.

"Heads up guys," chimed in Ashley, "I just got word from the Minerva that they're on their way here and get here in three hours. We better get to her before Djbril suspects something's up."

"Sí, ensegiuda, right away," acknowledged Eric.

"Roger that Ashley," responded Shinn as he stopped at his destination.

Shinn peered in the window and saw Stella bound to a chair and a little blood running down her face from what looked to be from interrogation.

"Hey I found Stella!" exclaimed Shinn.

"Shh, keep it down amigo," instructed Eric. "The walls have ears."

Shinn was puzzled and then understood that there might be someone listening nearby.

"I'm releasing the lock now," Ashley informed Shinn as her fingers danced on the keyboard as she quickly typed commands to release the electronic lock.

Within thirty seconds the electronic lock released the door and Shinn opened the door slowly and with caution. Once he opened the door he slowly approached Stella sweeping the wide room with his pistol. As he approached Stella he noticed a viewing window from a luxury suite. Shinn went back to the door and turned toward the window aiming his pistol at the viewing window looking to see if someone was watching. Luckily for Shinn, no one was watching and he slowly moved toward Stella. Once he was at Stella's side he holstered his pistol and gently shook her awake. Stella slowly opened her eyes and saw an Earth Forces mobile pilot taking off his helmet. She noticed that it was Shinn that snuck into the facility to save her. She was happy and wanted to say something but Shinn quieted her and began cutting rope to free her.

"I knew you would come for me," Stella whispered softly to Shinn. "I just knew you'd come."

"Shinn, Djbril is heading your way," warned Ashley. "You'd better hurry and get her out of there before he gets to the viewing room."

"Can you stall and buy me some time?" asked Shinn.

"I'll try and hold him off," answered Ashley, "but I can't promise to hold him forever."

"I don't need forever," responded Shinn. "I just need a few minutes to get back into the main facility."

"Why are you going back into the main facility?" asked Ashley.

"I need to find the Gaia Gundam," answered Shinn.

Ashley paused and Eric chimed in, "I saw the Gaia in a separate hangar."

"Hold on a minute," said Ashley as she tapped her keyboard relentlessly. "Eric is right about Gaia's location. Back track to the facility; I'll release the door to let you and your girlfriend back into the facility."

"Roger," acknowledged Shinn as he helped Stella out of the chair and left the large room.

Once Stella was on her feet, she gently pushed Shinn away but held his hand. Shinn lead the way back to the facility.

"Okay, we're back in the main facility," Shinn reported to Ashley.

"Proceed forty meters and go left," instructed Ashley. "Then head down the hallway for thirty five meters and take another left. This will take you past the lair of the evil guy."

Shinn and Stella made swift progress as they lightly jogged to the hangar where Stella's Gaia was being held.

"Alright Shinn Eric and I have to get this revolt underway," said Ashley as she packed up her stolen laptop. "I have disabled the security cameras in the hangar. But you'll need to let me know when you get to the Gaia; because there's a self-detonation feature if anybody tries to pilot it."

"Got it," acknowledged Shinn.

Stella was silent the whole time Shinn was communicating with Ashley and Eric. She weakly smiled at the fact that Shinn had found allies in the facility who helped him find her.

Djbril was not happy with having to deal with malfunctioning doors and his day was going to get worse once he entered the viewing room. He entered his room and went straight to his private viewing room to check on his prisoner. Instead of looking out the window, he grabbed a wine glass and some fancy Tuscany dry white wine. He was in an angry mood he thought that a glass of wine could fix.

"Hey Ashley," Shinn said over his headset, "We need you to deactivate the self-destruct on the Gaia."

"Give me a minute to set up," said Ashley as she opened her laptop. "Okay the self-destruct on the Gaia, right?" Ashley typed fast for a Natural being turned into an Extended.

"And presto," said Ashley as she closed her laptop, "no more self-destruct on the Gaia. Good luck Shinn; make sure you take care of her and protect her."

"Hey don't say that," said Shinn as he and Stella got in the Gaia.

"Amigo don't worry about us," assured Eric. "You just get tu novia out of here before the fireworks begin. Leave it to us to cause the damage and chaos."

"If you don't hear from us," said Ashley, "then you make sure you lay a lei of Hibiscus flowers at a memorial on the Big Island at a shrine dedicated to Hawaii's greatest king. The shrine is where the souls of Hawaiians go when they die."

Shinn tried to protest but Stella pulled him in Gaia's cockpit and she suddenly gained a sense of renewed strength as she piloted the Gaia out of the hangar. Once out of the hangar, the Gaia began destroying certain areas of the facility where children weren't being held. Stella told Shinn she was marking the right targets for the rescue force to hit so they didn't kill any children by mistake. The Gaia then headed into the forest to wait for their rescue. Once in the forest, Ashley came on Gaia's visual COM.

"Where are you two at?" asked Ashley.

"We're three kilometers west from the facility in the forest," Stella answered for Shinn.

"I see the damsel in distress is fully alert," observed Ashley. Stella was going to counter back but Shinn told her it was Ashley's way of playfully teasing. Ashley then said, "Alright make sure you two stay there and I'll let the Minerva know where you two are so they don't hit you. Just make sure you both don't get caught by the Earth Forces."

Shinn and Stella gave a nod of acknowledgement as Ashley cut the transmission. Shinn gave a sigh of relief and took off his helmet. Stella took her helmet off as well after transforming the Gaia into it's animal form to hide it in the forest. She smiled and turned to Shinn who smiled back at her. Within an hour of their escape, the fireworks began as the Gundam Peacekeepers attacked the facility and liberated the children. The facility fell within an hour but Djbril escaped as the Gundam Peacekeepers began their attack. Kira looked for Shinn and Stella in the forest as directed by the six year-old genius from Hawaii. Much to Kira's surprise, Shinn and Stella weren't in the cockpit of the Gaia but napping under a tree nearby. Kira was puzzled on how Shinn and Stella could sleep through a battle that was happening nearby.

"Hey Shinn, Stella," Kira called to the sleepy couple, "need a lift back to the Minerva?"

Shinn and Stella slowly woke up and were startled by the Freedom. Kira apologized and asked the same question to them, which they politely declined stating they could get there by themselves. Shinn and Stella got back on the Gaia and headed back to the Minerva. Once they got out of the Gaia, most of the crew were there greet them. They gave both of them an applause for the actions they did. Everyone applauded Shinn and Stella except for Rey, who gave Shinn a nasty glare. To Rey, Stella was nothing but a distraction for Shinn and with Stella back on board the Minerva he wouldn't be able to control Shinn.

Three months past after Lodonia's destruction and many fact anti-Coordinator factions were either giving up and forcibly disbanded by the Gundam Peacekeepers. The Earth Forces had retaliated by driving into Western Eurasia and unleashed new destructive weapons to draw out the hard pressed band of peacekeepers and stretched their patience and ability to work together as a team. Rey eventually left the Minerva after Operation Angel Down ended with the Archangel's supposed destruction. Shinn had received a new Gundam called Destiny and Rey had received the Legend and asked for a transfer to the Lunar Fleet. Chairman Durandal was puzzled by Rey's request and figured out that he was unsuccessful in trying to get Shinn wrapped around his little finger. The PLANT Chairman made a decision that he would come to regret once the Archangel showed up at Gibraltar and aided in the Minerva's escape and defection. Now with the Minerva as officially a full time member of the Gundam Peacekeepers, Kira thought things might get smoother and that there would be fewer operations. The three ships then took off and headed into space to retrieve Commander Yszak Joule and Commander Dearka Elsman since they joined the Gundam Peacekeepers once they learned that Chairman Durandal was going to unleash the Destiny Plan. The group planned on heading to the moon but were blinded by a flash of light and found a mobile suit floating lifeless with four people gathered around it.

"Great now who the hell are they?" asked Shinn as he eyed the mobile suit.