Alright! Done! The second chapter is done. Now, I remind those of you that are just stumbling onto to this chapter that I have posted two chapters tonight. So check out the previous one first. And it have been brought to my attention that missed some things I needed to change from Mail's work in the last chapter, I'll get it fixed tomorrow.
Phase Twenty-Four: The Place of Sin
"Damn…" Tristan grunted as he pulled his unconscious teammate up the main stairs. "You're heavy, you know that?"
But Gekido didn't respond. "Ha ha ha… Next time, you're carrying yourself."
Ahead of them, Shinn and Rey reached the end of the stairs and the facility exit. "It's alright Rey, we've made it," Shinn said, dragging Rey back to their mobile suits.
A few minutes later, all four had reached their machines. Shinn and Tristan had placed their incapacitated teammates against the Impulse's foot. "I'm gonna go grab a kit and try to bandage up his head as best I can," Tristan said.
Shinn nodded his head. "Right. I'll contact the Minerva."
As Tristan headed to his GuAIZ, Shinn grabbed the cable of his machine, riding it up to the cockpit. He quickly powered up the Impulse, opening up a comm channel. "Minerva, this is Shinn. We have an emergency. Request immediate assistance."
"Impulse, this is the Minerva," Meyrin replied. "What is the nature of the emergency?"
"Both Rey and Gekido are down. They need medical attention." Shinn paused. "This place…this place is…I honestly don't know. Get the ship here now."
"Understood," Captain Gladys said over the channel. "I'm launching the Minerva. We'll be there ASAP. Hold on until then."
Shinn let out a tired sigh, a hand brushing his hair. This place, Rey and Gekido, those tubes… He had no idea what was going, and a part of him didn't want to know.
Later That Night
Talia stared at the abandoned facility, wondering what had been and what caused the reaction among two of her crew as ZAFT personnel finished setting up camp in the facility grounds. Hopefully, some of those questions would soon be answered.
"We've finished checking the inside. We've disabled and removed all explosive devices. Biological abnormalities: negative," One of the ZAFT officers reported as biohazard crews withdrew from the facility.
"I see. Thank you," Talia replied.
Well, that eliminated the possibility of them having been exposed to some kind of biological agent that caused their reactions and meant that they were in no physical danger. Unfortunately, it still left the question of why it happened.
"But that means we still don't have an explanation for what triggered Rey's and Gekido's reaction," Arthur said, voicing her exact thoughts.
Regardless, now that the facility was safe, they could enter the building and get some answers.
"Captain, the Savior is here," an officer called out from one of the nearby consoles.
A moment later, the Savior, in its mobile armor mode, soared overhead, before transforming back and landing next to the Impulse and Yzak's new GOUF Ignited.
They had moved most of the Minerva's mobile suits outside, in case the Alliance attacked. It would be much faster for the pilots to board their machines and take off outside, rather than launch from inside the ship.
Once the Savoir had landed, it powered down and Athrun disembarked, approaching Talia and her XO. "When I got back to the harbor, they told me you had taken off," Athrun explained. "So what's going on? Something unusual happen?"
The Minerva's Infirmary
"I'm fine. Really," Shinn said, zipping up his coat as one of Dr Grant's nurses fussed over him.
"You may feel fine at the moment, but you could have exposed to a potentially dangerous substance," Dr. Grant replied. Although we haven't detected any gases or viruses around the facility at this point, it's better to be safe than sorry."
"What about Gekido?" Tristan asked, concerned for his friend and teammate.
"Well, his head injury isn't that severe. He'll have a headache when he wakes up and he will have to be sidelined for any missions that may take place over the next few days, but otherwise he'll be fine."
Rey laid on one of the beds, the curtains drawn, hiding him from the others as he recovered mentally. His mind was still lingering on old memories from the earliest years of his life, before Rau found him, before Rau saved him. Across from Rey, lay Gekido, a bandage wrapped around his forehead and unconscious.
"It was careless of the Captain to send the four of you into an unknown facility like that," Grant said, disappointed in what had happened.
"Well we check everything out before he entered," Shinn replied.
At that moment, Rey pulled the curtains back and stood up.
"Rey," Shinn said, a concerned tone in his voice.
"Thank you," Rey politely said, putting on his coat. "I'm feeling much better now."
"Are you sure?" Dr Grant asked. "You're welcome to stay longer."
"No thank you. I'm feeling much better now," Rey replied.
Physically, he was fine. Mentally…well, just some old wounds opened up again. He would recover in time.
The John Paul Jones
"While the Blu Duel, Verde Buster, Strike Nior and Gaia escaped with relatively little damage, we're going to be up all night working on the others, particularly the Abyss," the hanger crew said.
Neo nodded as Stella affectionately clung to his arm. "Yes I know. We didn't expect that they'd take so much damage in that last sortie."
"True. But by fixing them here instead of returning to Suez, we're really pushing our luck."
"I hear you, but it can't be helped. If they were damaged to the point that they could no longer function, then we'd have a good reason to go back. But Stella and the others are still healthy," Neo replied, glancing at Stella.
Stella smiled and nodded. "Yeah."
Another officer approached the pair. "Captain Roanoke, sir," the man said with a salute.
"What is it?" Neo asked.
"It's the lab at Lodonia sir," the officer replied. Stella frowned as Neo pulled away from her, moving towards the officer. Lodonia felt familiar to Stella, but she couldn't remember why. "There was an accident, and they failed to demolish the site. To make matters worse, ZAFT found it."
Neo let out a tired sigh. "You're kidding me."
"We've notified Suez and they're scrambling to do something about it. I thought you should know, sir."
"The dialysis is complete. Your blood has been purged of the excess of drugs."
Treize opened his eyes. Every inch of his body ached, but he had experienced worse, much worse. Treize rose from the stretcher he was laying on, sitting up. He glanced down at his arm, at the tubes inserted into his veins. "However, your body be back at a hundred percent for another forty to forty-eight hours," the doctor droned on as Treize pulled out the tubes. "Also, I've locked your administrator at its lowest setting as your body is still recovering. After forty-eight hours, when your body has fully recovered I'll release the lock and set you back to your normal."
"I'll be at a hundred percent in thirty," Treize said, getting on to his feet.
"But-" the doctor started, but Treize ignored him as he left for his quarters. He needed to change back in his uniform and report to the Captain.
The Lodonia Facility
Talia, Arthur, Yzak, Athrun, Heine, Suiren, Shinn and Saul silently walked through the dark corridors, reeking of death. Nicol and Dearka had initially joined them, but they both left soon away, unable to stomach the smell and the sights they saw. Bodies were lying all over the place. Some were wearing the white coats of doctors, others, the white uniforms and nurses and orderlies. But most were clad in simple beige clothes with a metal collar on their necks. Most horrifying of all, those wearing beige were all young children.
And all of the bodies were stained with blood…
On the ground laid a doctor, his head bashed into an unrecognizable mess. Nearby, a young girl was slumped up against a wall, trails of blood leading down from several bullet wounds in her body. The body of a blond haired nurse clutched a dead child to her chest, as though trying to shield it from an unseen attacker. But the child she held was driving a knife in her chest. A teenage boy was sprawled across the floor, staring up at the ceiling, knife wounds, both deep and shallow, lining his body, and a bullet hole in his forehead.
Above the ground, resting on an exposed part of the ceiling stood two ravens, giving a silent vigil to dead lining the hallway. Yet oddly, none of the bodies showed any signs of being picked on by the scavengers. It was as though the horrors of what had happened here were so great that the scavengers dared not tough the remains, lest it poison them.
Suddenly, Arthur's foot bumped an empty bottle, causing it to roll across the floor loudly. Arthur turned, following it with his flashlight until it hit the wall and stopped. He pulled up his flashlight, gasping in horror. "What in…heaven's name…" Arthur uttered, horrified at the sight. "What kind of place is this?!"
What they had thought was a wall, was in fact a series of large glass cylinders filled a clear liquid. Inside, floating in the fluid was a naked ten year old boy, his empty, lifeless eyes staring at them. Worse, they could see the outlines of more bodies in the other tubes.
For a few minutes, no one said anything, until Talia gestured towards the body of a doctor lying a foot away from the door at the end of the room. His back was torn, bloody mess. Clearly, someone had jumped him from behind, stabbing at him repeatedly until he died, perhaps even for a bit afterwards. A few inches from his outstretched right hand laid a keycard. Talia pointed her flashlight at it. There was writing on the card, reading, Self-Destruct Authorization.
"A mutiny. That's what it looks like," Talia said. "They were going to blow up the lab but…" She trailed off, everyone realizing what had happened.
"But what's with all the children?" Arthur asked the one thing he couldn't figure out.
No one answered, either not wanting to voice their thoughts on the dead children or unwilling to accept them. Talia stepped over the body and entered the room, everyone else following behind her. The room was small and had only a single computer terminal and chair. However, two of the walls were lined with small glass cases, filled with something, but they couldn't see what in the dark.
Shinn pressed his face close against one, but instantly let out a startled yelp as he jumped back. Inside the case was a human brain. Athrun pointed his flashlight on the wall, revealing that all of the cases were filled with human brains. Everyone was disgusted at the latest sight in a long string of horrific sights they had seen so far, but none said anything, for it was a far tamer sight than the others had been. Athrun quickly lowered his light as Saul approached the terminal.
It was the only reason he had come along, otherwise, Saul would have left with Nicol and Dearka. "Alright, let's see…" Saul said, his fingers dancing across the keyboard, trying to ignore the brains around him. "Wow…high-level security and encryptions…They definitely didn't want anyone getting in."
"Can you crack it?" Talia inquired, looking over his shoulder at the screen.
"Of course, I can hack it. It may be high-level but it's not the worst I've seen," Saul reassured. "There. She's cracked. Now let's see what…Shoot…"
"What? What is it?"
"While they were trying to abandon this place, they initiated a data purge. Fortunately, something stopped it. Likely around the same time that all those people were killed. Unfortunately, I can't tell how much data was lost or damaged." Saul paused for a moment. "What the…There's sections that appear to be under even heavier encryptions. Damn…I haven't seen encryptions this heavy since Orb. It will time to crack those."
"Well, bring up what you can," Talia said.
Saul nodded, bringing up the first available file. "Okay… Year 64, July… 11 rejected, 3 admitted," he read out loud. "August… 7 rejected, 5 admitted."
"Rejected…admitted? What are they talking about?" Arthur asked.
"They're records," Talia answered, a noticeable tremor in her voice. "Of the arrival and departure of test subjects…of children."
"The Extended," Yzak said, gesturing towards the walls and the human brains they held as it fully dawned on him. "This is where they made them."
"Yeah…This is one place I never thought I'd set foot in," Saul added, still typing away. "Just seeing what those guys went through after the war was bad enough, but this place is worse."
Shinn blinked his eyes in confusion. "Extended?"
"I've heard rumors and stories about the Alliance's Extended," Talia replied. "Though they detest genetic manipulation, the Alliance and Blue Cosmos are not above creating living weapons through the use of drugs and other means. Humans who exist only to fight. This is their experimental production facility. With drugs and other means, they were able to reconstruct and enhance their bodies, enabling them to compete against Coordinators. They were then subjected to the most rigorous combat training imaginable. Those who weren't competitive enough or who couldn't keep up with the rest, were discarded mercilessly. That's the kind of place this was." She paused before asking, "Who are you talking about? Have you encountered Extended in the past?"
"Yeah, we have and so have you," Yzak answered. "During the Battle of Jachin Due, Saul, Nicol, Dearka and I battled against a trio of strong Alliance pilots. However, in the middle of the fight, they stopped as their bodies were racked with agony. We brought them aboard the Archangel-"
"We? As I recalled, you wanted to leave them there to die," Saul said, interrupting him.
Yzak ignored him and continued, "They were going through crippling withdrawal from combat drugs they had been given. They were in agony for months before their dependence on the drugs ended and the damage it did to their nervous systems were repaired."
"Of course, little good it did them," Saul added. "They had nothing beyond their names and the skills they had been given. No memories of their past, no idea if they have family out there somewhere, or anything like that."
Talia solemnly nodded her head. "But you said that we've met them as well. When was that?"
"They were the three pilots with Commander Alaric," Yzak replied.
Shinn staggered back upon hearing those words. They had come from this hellhole?! He hadn't believed it when Commander Alaric called them victims, but after seeing where they had come from…
Suddenly, someone stepped into the doorway, cocking a gun. Everyone turned. Standing in the doorway was a young boy, no more than twelve, wearing the pale, bloodstained clothes and dark collar of one of the test subjects. His eyes were gray with tears trailing down his dirty cheeks, his left eye twitching every few seconds while his head was completely hairless, but there noticeable surgical scars across his head. He had a pistol in his hands, aimed at them.
"Whoa now…" Talia said, raising her hands as she tried to calm him down. "We don't mean you any harm. My name is Talia. What's your name?"
"The voices…Those voices…They won't stop…" he mumbled. "I killed them…But they won't stop! They won't stop screaming!! Why won't they stop?!!"
"No one's screaming," Talia said, keeping her voice low.
"Are you mad?!" the boy exclaimed, the shaking in his hand. "They're screaming constantly! I killed them but they won't stop screaming in my head!!"
"Calm down. We can help you," Talia replied. "We can you from here and make you better."
Unfortunately, the words 'make you better' didn't react well with the boy. He began screaming at the top of his lungs, firing off a few shots. Everyone dropped to the ground instantly as bullets hit the ceiling and the glass cases on the wall. "GET OUT OF MY HEAD!!!" the boy screamed, putting the gun to his forehead.
"No! Don't!" Talia cried out, trying to stop him.
BAM!
The boy's lifeless body collapsed to the ground. For a moment, everyone was silent. "That's it!" Saul exclaimed, breaking the silent as he stood up. "I'm getting the hell out of this damned nuthouse. I'll send someone down to set up a datalink with our terminals outsides. There's no way in hell I'm spending another second in this place."
No one could disagree with him.
The John Paul Jones
Sting, Auel and Stella were walking to the mess hall when Stella suddenly said, "The lab at Lodonia…"
Her male teammates stopped, looking back at her with questioning looks. "What?" Sting asked.
"What is it?" Stella asked, trying to remember why it was important.
Sting blinked in confusion, wondering why Stella was asking about it. "That lab at Lodonia? Don't you remember?"
"That's the place we lived before we came here," Auel added.
With her question answered, the two resumed walking. "I wonder what brought that up," Sting commented as he stepped into the mess hall doorway.
Before Auel could reply, Stella spoke again, uttering, "To make matters worse, ZAFT found it…"
Once again, but froze and turned to their female teammate. "What?!" Auel shouted, beginning to panic.
His mother was at Lodonia. If ZAFT had found it, she was in…was in…
"I have to stop them! I have to stop them!" Auel yelled, starting to run to hanger.
But he only got a few steps before Sting grabbed him, stopping him. "Come on! Calm down, will ya!"
Auel broke free and spun around. "Calm down! How do you expect me to calm down!" he screamed. "That lab is the place where my mother-" He froze in horror. Auel had just used his block word. "Mo… Mo…ther is…she's…still…there…"
Sting's eyes widen in horror, knowing his teammate's block word. "Hey! Cut it out Auel!" he said, grabbing Auel by the collar.
"Mo…ther… Mother…could… Mother's gonna die!!" Auel howled in terror, tears trailing down his eyes. "Mother could… No! I can't let that happen!"
"Die?" Stella uttered in a monotone as she watched the pair. But something different happened. She started walking away. "Die…But I don't want to die… I'm scared…" Suddenly she stopped. "Protect…" Images of Shinn appeared in her mind, images of him protecting her. "Protect," she said, sprinting down the corridor, heading for the hanger.
Minutes later, Stella entered the hanger, running past several crew members as she reached the Gaia and climbed in. "Open that hatch!" she ordered, powering up the Gaia. "Open it or I'll rip it apart!"
But Stella didn't even bother waiting for them to do anything. She turned around and started forcing the hanger door open. It didn't take long for her to do it. After all, the hatches were designed to withstand an external force trying to open it, not something forcing its way out.
Stella leaped out of the hanger, transforming the Gaia before it landed. "Lodonia… Lab… Protect… Mother…" she uttered, heading for Lodonia.
The Lodonia Facility
Unfortunately, while none of them desired to stay in the facility, they had to. They needed to make sure that there weren't any survivors still around, so Talia had ordered them, along with other ZAFT personnel, to search the entire facility for anyone that might still be alive while other teams we sent in to begin the retrieval of the bodies for a proper burial.
Suiren and Athrun were searching together through more hallways. Unfortunately, all they found was more blood and bodies. Suiren had a hand rubbing her temple, trying to keep back what she felt emanating from the entire facility. That was until she reached a door. She stopped at a closed metal door, feeling something faint but familiar. It was almost exactly like the feeling she got whenever the Specter's pilot was near her, but with the rage and bloodlust toned down, leaving the wrongness of him at the forefront. She placed a hand on the door and was instantly bombarded by an overpowering surge of images, voices and feelings.
Needles pierced her arms, filling her veins with fire.
"Give him more…"
Red began to fill her vision. The fire was threatening to burst from her body.
"More…"
"But Doctor…"
"More…"
She couldn't keep the fire in anymore. It was tearing her apart. She had to release it. She yelled…she screamed…she howled…she roared…
"RAAAAAAGH!!!"
"My God! He's broken loose!"
"He's gonna kill us all!"
"For the love of God, let us out!"
"Thank you for donating your bodies for science gentlemen…"
"NOOOOOOO!!!"
"HELP ME-AAAAAAAARGH!!!"
Suiren stumbled back, clutching her head. Athrun appeared behind her, grabbing her shoulders. "Suiren! Are you alright?" he asked, worried about her.
The sheer force of it had been too much, leaving her temporarily in a daze. "They did terrible…horrible things to him…drove him mad…and he tore them apart with his bare hands…" she uttered without even realizing it, her eyes beginning to water. "…And he loved it…he loved inflicting pain on them…God…he loved it so much..."
"It's alright Suiren," Athrun said, slowly guiding her back outside. "I'm going to get you out of here."
The John Paul Jones
Neo rushed into the hanger with Treize behind him. Instantly, he could see the empty spot where the Gaia stood and the hanger door that had been forced opened. "What happened?" he demanded.
"Sorry sir. She ran in here and boarded the Gaia before we could stop her," a crew member answered. "She forced open the hatch and ran."
Neo bit back a curse. "Treize, take the Specter and bring her back," he ordered. "Alive."
"Yes sir," the Extended replied, rushing towards the Specter.
Lodonia
Once they were outside, Athrun set Suiren down at one of the tables that had been set up. Suiren looked and felt a lot better, now that she was outside the facility, but she still hadn't fully recovered. "Are you going to be alright?" Athrun asked, sitting down next to her.
"I will be," Suiren quietly answered. "That place is…is filled with so much pain and suffering. It was just too overwhelming for me."
Nearby, the first of the bodies were being brought. There were too many…too many children among the dead. Stretches carrying two, three, even four small bodies, were being taken past them and lined up on the ground.
There had been times when Athrun had hated the actions of the Earth Alliance. The Bloody Valentine Tragedy, the invasion of Orb, the repeated use of nuclear weapons, the declaration of war following Break the World, forcing Orb to join forces with them, were examples of their actions he despised. However, he had never truly hated the Earth Alliance has a whole. But seeing the bodies of those children, and the horrors that they and countless others had suffered, made a part of him utterly hate the Earth Alliance, and wanted to see it burn for its crimes here.
He couldn't help but wonder if this was how the men and women who dropped Junius Seven felt.
"Stella! Return to the John Paul Jones at once!" Treize demanded as he approached the Gaia from above. But there was no response from Stella. "Fine. You leave me no choice. If you do not return at once, you will die."
…Nothing happened and the Gaia continued racing towards Lodonia. "What?! The block word isn't working?!" Treize angrily shouted as the Gaia rushed ahead. "That's impossible!" He paused, shaking his head. "No matter, I'll stop her the other way."
Heine, Yzak and Shinn collapsed down next to Athrun and Suiren, looking pale and worn out. "There were no survivors," Heine said, his voice utterly devoid of its normal light and humorous tone.
"There was no one else alive?" Athrun asked.
"None that survived," Yzak answered, sounding exhausted.
Athrun could tell from his tone that he shouldn't inquire into what that meant exactly.
"This is crazy! It's unbelievable!" Shin angrily exclaimed. "They go on about Coordinators being a mistake and a crime against nature, and then they create these!?"
"Shinn..."
"How the hell can they say tinkering with genes is wrong when they are doing things like this!?"
"I couldn't agree more," Athrun started.
Unfortunately, that was has far as he got. At that second, Burt's voice came through the radio in one of the nearby consoles, where the Captain, the XO, and a number of ZAFT officers were. "Captain! One-no two incoming mobile suits! It's the Gaia and the Specter!"
"What?! Just the two?" Talia asked.
"Yes ma'am."
Talia spun around to the pilots, four of whom were already on their feet, only Suiren who hadn't fully recovered, remained sitting. "Go! Defend the complex," she ordered as the four were already running to their machines.
Treize drew his beam revolvers, firing in front of the Gaia's path. Stella didn't even slow down, she just leaped to left, her beam blades slicing through the forest. "Damn this blasted girl," Treize growled. "This would have been so much easier if I didn't have to being her back alive."
Suddenly, the Specter's radar started to beep. Treize swore. Four contacts were approaching. ZAFT mobile suits. "Annoying insects," he said, twirling his revolvers for moment before firing at them. "I'll crush you all then bring her back!"
The Impulse, the Savior and the GOUFs pulled apart, dodging his shots. "We need to be careful," Athrun said. "If they came here to destroy the facility, they may have been equipped with special equipment. We need to take them out without destroying them."
"What?! You want us to take them down without destroying them?!" Shinn exclaimed.
"Exactly."
At that moment, the Gaia attacked, leaping into the air and firing at the Impulse and the Savior. Athrun dodged the beams while Shinn blocked a few with his shield before the Gaia collided with him.
Nearby, Treize continued to fire on Heine and Yzak. The two GOUFs split apart, coming at the Specter from different sides, but it still managed to track them, firing at a revolver at both of them. But that didn't stop them. They continued to race towards the Specter, drawing their swords. The blades swung at the Specter, but Treize narrowly pulled up in time.
"Fast, but not fast enough!" Treize shouted, firing on them as he soared upwards.
"I'll show you fast," Yzak yelled back, dancing around the beams as he raced after the Specter.
Athrun fired on the Gaia, managing to blast off the beam rifle stored on its back before the Gaia struck him and bounced off. As it soared, the Gaia transformed back into its mobile suit form. Stella landed, trying to find her rifle. But neither Athrun or Shinn let up. Shinn fired at her as he rushed towards her, forcing Stella to protect herself with her shield for a few moments before leaping into the air, to avoid his shots.
But Athrun was waiting for her, firing his rifle as she raced upwards. "Shinn, I'll distract the Gaia, you come at it from below," Athrun said.
Stella drew her beam saber and pulled her shield in front her, moving towards the Savior as it rushed towards her. Once Athrun drew close, Stella attacked, pulled back her shield and swinging down on him. But Athrun was faster, sidestepping her blade as he rushed past her.
At that instant, the Impulse shot up, its beam saber drawn. Before Stella could mount any kind of defense, Shinn sliced through the front of the Gaia's chest, tearing up a large gash. The Gaia fell, crashing violently on the ground. It was down.
Shinn landed next to the fallen machine, taking a closer look at it. He looked into the exposed cockpit and gasped. Lying in the cockpit was the unconscious form of Stella…
"Hmph. Inferior girl," Treize said in contempt of his fallen teammate. "You can stay here and die for your stupidity and weakness."
Yzak roared as he lashed out at the Specter with his heat rod. Treize pulled up shield arm. The whip coiled around the shield and the Specter's arm. Yzak pulled back with everything his GOUF had, pulling the Specter's arm, causing it to drop its revolver.
As Treize fought to free himself from the GOUF, Heine, his window of opportunity, struck. His heat rod wrapped around the Specter's other arm and he pulled, causing Treize to drop his remaining gun and pulling right arm away from is left. "Let go of me, you test-tube bastards!" Treize shouted as he fought to free himself.
The heat rods activated, releasing an electrical discharge into the Specter, shorting out its systems. "Now Athrun!" Heine shouted.
Athrun, in the transformed Savior, raced towards the Specter. At the last second, the Savior transformed back and drove its foot into the dark mobile suits. At that same second, Yzak and Heine pulled back their heat rods.
Like the Gaia, the Specter was thrown down, crashing into the ground.
"Alright, he's down," Heine said, looking down at the immobile Specter. "Is it just me or does he seem…weaker than he did in the last battle?"
"Maybe it's a different pilot," Athrun suggested, thinking the same thing. There was no way that this pilot had battled Kira to a standstill. Either it was a different pilot or they had been injured in last battle and wasn't able to fight as he had.
"Shinn appears to be checking on the Gaia's pilot," Yzak said, staring at the Impulse and the fallen Gaia. "Athrun, take a look at the Specter. Make sure the pilot's out of commission."
"Right."
The Savior dropped down, landing next to the Specter. Athrun powered down his machine and climbed out, making sure he was armed before leaving. He walked over to the Specter and carefully climbed onto its body, heading for the cockpit hatch. Athrun pulled the hatch release, opening the cockpit hatch. Athrun climbed in, his sidearm drawn. The Specter's white haired pilot laid unconscious in his seat, blood trailing down the side of his face. Oddly, there was a black and white mask on his face that remained Athrun of Rau Le Creuset's. Athrun didn't know why, but he felt complied to remove the mask, to see the face of the Specter's pilot, the face of one of their toughest enemies. He reached up and pulled off the black and white cloth masked. "No…" he uttered, horrified at what he saw. "It can't be…"
But there was no mistaking that face. Even if the hair didn't match, the face did, right down to the small scar under his left eye.
Chris Dante had come back from the dead…
What can I say? I lied. Treize always was Chris.