PHASE 16: The Place of Sin
March 30th, Cosmic Era 75
Orb Union Government Headquarters
Cagalli sat in her office, looking angry. Standing across from her was Prime Minister Unato Ema Seiran, looking confidently at her.
"As I was saying, I understand your being concerned about our fleet." The Prime Minister was saying.
-"Concerned isn't the word for it, Unato. You saw the report same as I did - and frankly, that such a thing happened is unacceptable." She interrupted.
Unato knew she wasn't talking about the Archangel, but rather about the fact that the Orb ships had, along with two Alliance carriers, attacked the Minerva.
"I'm a little puzzled at the presence of an Atlantic Federation carrier with our fleet, if what you told me about the Eurasian Federation having requested our assistance is the truth." She continued.
-"Well, I honestly am not sure either. It's possible that..." Seiran began, but Cagalli cut him off once again.
-"I'm not interested in your excuses." She said, her temper rising. "I've been in touch with Vice-President Marshall, and he has told me his nation sent no such request. Now, I want you to contact our fleet and order them back, immediately."
-"I understand, Representative. And we've been trying, but unfortunately we haven't had much success - with the distances involved, it's very difficult to reach the fleet. But we'll do our best." He said confidently.
-"Thank you. I expect to hear from you as soon as you've reached them."
Seiran bowed, and left. The instant the door closed, she picked up a glass paperweight on her desk and hurled it across the room, where it shattered as it hit the wall.
Soon afterward, Motoko Kayabuki entered, carrying a stack of documents.
"Lady Cagalli," she asked when she saw the broken glass on the floor, "are you all right?"
-"No, I'm furious." Cagalli replied darkly. "But never mind that - I'll clean it up later. What do you have for me?"
-"The latest reports of the coastal reconstruction efforts." Kayabuki replied. "It's proceeding slightly behind schedule, but apart from that, well enough."
Cagalli grunted. "Behind schedule" was not what she wanted to hear, but as she read the document she'd just been handed, she admitted that things were going as well as could be expected under the circumstances.
"Lord Unato Ema was in here…was this about the fleet?" She asked, and Cagalli smiled. She'd always been a sharp woman - that was part of why she'd wanted her in her own office after the Seirans forced her out, and also why she and old Yano had backed her appointment to the Council in her own right.
-"It was." Cagalli replied absently as she filed the report away in her cabinet. "Where's Mina?"
-"At Military headquarters, last I heard." Kayabuki responded. "She's been in contact with Ame-no-Mihashira checking on the construction of the Tsukiyomi."
-"I want you to let her know I need to speak with her, as soon as possible." Cagalli asked. Motoko nodded, then left, understanding that there was no more she could do for now.
Within the hour, the tall, dark Commander-in-Chief of Orb's Defense Forces strode into Cagalli's office.
Without preamble, Cagalli began to speak.
"Mina, I need your help," she said. "I've been trying to get Unato Ema to contact the Second Defense Fleet at Suez, but he's stonewalling; He's told me they're unable to reach them and I suspect he may be lying. I need you to try and reach them - without going through Military HQ directly."
-"It is possible. I may need some time, though." Mina replied respectfully.
-"Do your best. Please. I'm concerned that if the Alliance leads them to attack ZAFT again, they may be destroyed."
-"Colonel Todaka is the best we have. It would be a sore blow to lose him, but I think we needn't worry. Still, I will do what I can."
-"Thank you. Please let me know as soon as you've been able to reach them." She said gratefully.
Mina swept from the room, and Cagalli slumped in her chair, exhausted. As she sat there, she found herself thinking of Athrun, somewhere in the PLANTs - unless he had returned to Earth?
Then she wondered what Kira and the Archangel were up to.
April 5th
Çanakkale Seaport
LHM-BB01 Minerva
Nearly a week had passed since the Minerva had arrived at Çanakkale, and repairs were continuing on the badly damaged vessel.
Thanks to the assistance from the port's sizable facilities, in addition to the supplies and personnel brought in from nearby Bandirma, the repairs to the ship itself were nearing completion, and work was begun as well on repairing the mobile suits.
Nonetheless, with the loss of the GOUF Ignited as well as the ZAKU and the death of Rey, their fighting strength was sorely diminished.
Shinn was on the observation deck, looking out past the port at the city beyond and wondering how much longer they would be here.
There had been no sign of the Archangel since its disappearance following the battle, although intelligence said that the Orb ships and the Alliance carriers that had been with them were docked at Izmir a few hundred kilometers to the south, so he guessed that the Archangel probably remained nearby.
The thought of that ship and what it had done angered Shinn, and he supposed that, in the event the Alliance and Orb fleets attacked again, they would continue to intervene.
And if they did, the Freedom would be there too.
When that happened, he was determined to take down the mobile suit responsible for Rey's death.
"You're out here a lot." A voice suddenly said from behind him. Shinn turned around and saw Athrun, who had stepped out onto the deck as well.
-"I was just thinking."
-"About the battle the other day?" Athrun asked, and Shinn nodded. "Rey was a good friend of yours."
-"I've known him for years - ever since the Academy. I'm still having trouble believing that he's gone."
-"I know how you feel. In the last war, a very close friend of mine was killed in battle like that." He said, remembering Nichol, who like Rey had been killed in battle against the Archangel. Then there was Miguel, too.
He still remembered the rage he had felt when Nichol had died, and he suspected that Shinn might be feeling much the same he had then.
-"But why? Why the hell did he have to die? And what the hell were they even doing there in the first place?" Shinn asked angrily.
-"The Orb fleet. Their objective was to try and force the Orb ships to retreat, get them to return to Orb." Athrun replied. "Of course, it's their fault the Orb fleet was even placed in that situation in the first place." He added bitterly as he thought of his conversation with Kira only a few days before.
-"That's just stupid." Shinn snapped. "And now because of them..." He trailed off, angrily clenching his fist. He suddenly felt a hand on his shoulder.
-"Yzak said the same thing." Athrun commented. "Look, I know you're angry, Shinn. And believe me, I understand how you feel." Athrun said. "But revenge is not the answer. Trust me when I tell you that no matter how angry you are, if you let that dictate your actions...eventually, you'll do something you'll regret."
Shinn shook Athrun off, glaring at him.
-"How would you know?" He retorted.
-"Because the same thing happened to me." Athrun said shortly. "After Nichol died, I felt just like you do now. I was angry at the one who killed him, but mostly I was angry at myself - because I felt it was my weakness that had led to his death. More than anything, I wanted revenge. I allowed myself to get so consumed in my anger that I wanted to destroy the one responsible, no matter what the cost. It nearly destroyed me. And I don't want the same thing to happen to you."
-"Athrun..." Shinn said. It was the first time he had really addressed the older man directly by name. He looked at him, surprised at what he heard.
-"But I learned that killing someone for revenge doesn't solve anything. It only makes things worse." Athrun added.
There was a few moments' uncomfortable silence, as Shinn pondered what Athrun had told him, and how closely it mirrored his own feelings. But did that really change how he felt?
'Not really.' He told himself.
"Now come on, let's head inside." Athrun said, and turned towards the door.
Shinn hesitated a few moments, then followed him.
The two men went down to the ship's medical bay, where they found Heine, still bedridden.
"Oh hey, Athrun! And Shinn too." He said jovially. He winced as he pulled himself up to a sitting position. "I really wish they'd let me out of here; but they're saying I need to stay in here for a few more days."
-"Well, you were pretty badly injured." Athrun said. "How do you feel?"
-"Physically, I'm fine except for a broken leg and a couple of cracked ribs." Heine answered good-naturedly.
Then his expression turned serious as he addressed Shinn.
-"Lunamaria told me what happened. You okay?"
-"I'm fine." Shinn said vaguely.
-"You're a terrible liar, Shinn. Of course you're not "fine" - you're so angry it's written all over your face." Heine said, before addressing Athrun. "Don't suppose there's any idea where those guys went, is there?"
-"Nothing. They're probably still close by, but there's no indication of where." He said slowly, carefully choosing his words.
-"Oh well. Hopefully they won't turn up again." Heine said. At that moment, the ship's PA blared.
-"Athrun Zala, Shinn Asuka, please report to the Captain's office immediately."
-"Seems the Captain's looking for you two. Better get going!" Heine said. The two pilots nodded, then left.
When Athrun and Shinn arrived Yzak's cabin, they found him at his desk. He was reviewing something on his terminal, which he closed as they entered.
-"Good. You're both here. I need to send you two out on a reconnaissance deployment."
-"A recon mission? What do you want to send us out on such a lame job for?" Shinn asked, frowning. Athrun was about to say something, but Yzak beat him to it.
-"Zip it, you insubordinate little punk." the Minerva's captain snapped. "First, this is an order straight from Headquarters. Second, there's nothing "lame" about it."
Shinn did not respond, but looked resentfully at Yzak, who continued.
"We've received some pretty solid intel from local residents about some kind of Alliance research facility in the middle of nowhere not far from here." He showed them the facility's location on a map. "There's not much movement now, but it is a facility that is of significant size, and in the past the locals have seen a lot of heavy activity in that area - vehicles, including mobile suits, coming and going from there. We don't know what the hell it is, but it is extremely important that you find out. You head out at first light tomorrow morning."
-"Right." Athrun acknowledged. Shinn said nothing, but nodded sullenly.
-"Good. Athrun, the Saviour's repairs aren't complete, so you'll be taking my GOUF Ignited. I expect you both to do your best - and bring it back in one piece, we can't get another one!"
-"Sure thing." Athrun said, fighting to keep his amusement at Yzak's annoyance from showing on his face.
Yzak, who knew him well, was not fooled.
-"Then that is all - you're both dismissed."
The two saluted and turned to leave the office. Before they left, Yzak spoke again, addressing Shinn.
"Oh, and Shinn? Talk to me like that again and I'll throw you in the brig." Yzak concluded, glowering at the younger pilot.
Shinn apologized and he and Athrun left the office. Once they were gone, Yzak reactivated his terminal and returned his attention back to the file he'd been reviewing.
It was the report of Lunamaria's following of Athrun, and what she had reported corresponded with what Athrun himself had told him, the morning after returning to the ship.
He closed the file and encrypted it, then ejected the disk and slipped it into a file drawer in his desk, which he locked. Then he pocketed the key and headed up to the bridge.
The following morning the Force Impulse Gundam launched from the Minerva, closely followed by Yzak's blue GOUF Ignited.
Athrun had taken the time to familiarize himself with the GOUF's controls and its capabilities, though on a simple recon mission he did not expect any combat.
Still, this was deep in Alliance territory, and in a region moreover where there was significant unrest.
He thought it prudent to be ready for anything, which is why he was launching with the GOUF Ignited's beam rifle and a shell-firing aerial gunlauncher, which were both stored on hardpoints on the GOUF's waist.
Their target was quite a distance from Çannakkale, so they arrived as the sun was beginning to set.
Both mobile suits landed just outside the facility, and Shinn and Athrun disembarked. Both were armed with a pistol, in case of an unpleasant encounter. However, as they entered the facility it appeared to be deserted.
"What...the...hell?" Athrun asked, his eyes wide with shock and disgust as he opened a door into one of the parts of the facility and found banks of computers, behind which were row after row of enormous glass cylinders, sealed off and containing some kind of liquid, in which human bodies were floating. The entire place stank of rotting flesh.
-"What is this place?" Shinn asked as he followed, looking around with a horrified expression on his face.
-"We have to report this to the Minerva." Athrun said after tearing himself away from the grisly sight. "This place is abandoned, but it might be rigged. Come on." And the two left the room, heading back to their mobile suits.
"Right." Yzak said when he heard Athrun's report. "The repairs on the Minerva are mostly finished. We'll take off as soon as possible. Hold until we arrive."
Within twenty minutes, the ship left port and took off. They circled around the city itself and headed inland towards the lab.
At the same time, additional reinforcements including an Explosives Ordinance Disposal team and several groups of armed ground troops headed towards the lab over land. The entire group travelled overnight, arriving at the facility in the small hours of the morning.
Wary of possible enemy attack, Yzak ordered the Minerva to land several miles outside of the facility, then he and Arthur hitched a ride with the approaching ground forces and EOD team, along with Doc Thompkins, the ship's chief medical officer.
When they arrived, Yzak, Arthur, and Thompkins waited while the ground forces moved in, thoroughly searching the entire facility. They found that the entire facility had been rigged to explode, with numerous charges laid throughout the complex. The bombs were methodically disarmed, while the ZAFT ground forces swept through each floor one by one, making sure the entire facility was clear. In addition to explosives, they were searching for any unusual chemical or biological agents as well.
Meanwhile, Yzak ordered Shinn and Athrun to head to medical for a complete checkup. Predictably, Shinn protested.
"Why? There's nothing wrong with us." He said.
Yzak looked about ready to punch him, but Athrun intervened.
-"The Captain's right, Shinn. You might feel fine, but all the same it's better to be sure. Come on."
"Hmm...nothing yet. No sign of any unusual viruses or gasses, but we haven't ruled out everything." Thompkins commented as he checked them both out. "Frankly, I think it was careless of the Captain to send the two of you into a place like that by yourselves."
-"We checked it out pretty thoroughly before going in." Shinn protested, but Thompkins ignored him and continued with his work.
-"Well, it looks like you both check out." The doctor said once he was finished. "There doesn't appear to be anything wrong with either of you." Shinn gave Athrun an I-told-you-so look, and the older man shrugged. They left and headed back towards the facility, where Yzak was receiving a report on the status of the search.
"The EOD Team reports all explosive devices disarmed and removed, sir. The interior is clear, no sign of chemical or biological abnormalities."
-"I see. Thank you." Yzak said, as he turned toward the facility, wondering what atrocities had been perpetrated here…
Earth Alliance Naval Base
Izmir
Sven Cal Bayan and Mudie Holcroft were in a bar on the premises of the naval base of Izmir, which belonged to the Eurasian Federation - albeit of course, this particular base was commanded by officers who chafed under Baum's moderate policies and longed for the days when Blue Cosmos had held sway over the government. As a result, they received a great deal of sub rosa support from the Atlantic Federation.
None of this actually mattered to either pilot.
They glanced up at the screen, which was reporting on the latest battles between the PLANTs and the Alliance, both on Earth and in space, as well as the ongoing unrest in the region.
They were currently discussing the battle that had taken place a few days prior. Sven was preoccupied in particular by some of the machines ZAFT had fielded against them, especially that new model aerial-type.
"It seems that ZAFT intends for this war to continue, judging by their rolling out another new model." He commented. "In spite of Durendal's claims otherwise."
-"So what?" Mudie commented callously. "That's fine by me. It's like my teacher used to say, anyway: The only good Coordinator..."
-"Is a dead Coordinator." A voice interrupted.
Sven and Mudie turned towards the entrance where they saw an officer in a black uniform, his rank insignia identifying him as a Captain in the Atlantic Federation military. The black uniform meant Phantom Pain.
Sven looked appraisingly at the newcomer - tall and gaunt, with dark skin and high, prominent cheekbones, black hair tied back. He recognized Lukas O'Donnell, whom he knew by reputation. Originally from the Eurasian Federation, O'Donnell was a veteran of a number of campaigns against ZAFT during the previous war including both the First and Second Battle of Victoria.
Apparently, he was the teacher Mudie so often spoke of.
She had recognized him too, and greeted him with a small smile, saluting him. Sven saluted as well.
"At ease." O'Donnell said. "You'll be Major Sven Cal Bayan, then?"
-"Yes, sir." Sven answered.
-"Well, as you know, the Jeanne d'Arc is leaving tonight; she's been ordered to head into the South Atlantic - I suspect to keep an eye on the African Community and Gibraltar."
-"Well, I suspect that the SAU will be moving against them before long, especially if the Alliance plans to capture Gibraltar." Sven commented.
-"A shrewd assessment, and very likely correct." O'Donnell commented. "Regardless, you two have been reassigned to the John Paul Jones, under my command."
-"Yes, sir." Sven said impassively.
Mudie acknowledged the order, pleasantly surprised at the news that henceforth she would serve under her former teacher again. The three of them remained in the bar for some time catching up and discussing the current situation, then headed back to the Jones, where Sven and Mudie settled into their new quarters.
Meanwhile, the repairs were ongoing, especially to the damaged Orb mobile suits, but also the machines onboard the Jones. After returning, Lukas headed down to the hangar to keep an eye on the ongoing repairs.
Stella was standing next to and slightly behind him, as he stood facing the Gaia. A little farther down, Auel was arguing with the two technicians who were trying to calibrate the Abyss after its repairs.
"Hmm...we never imagined all three of our machines would come back sustaining such damage - especially the Abyss." Lukas commented.
-"I know." replied the officer who was in charge of the repairs. "But we might be pushing our luck by trying to repair here instead of pulling back to Suez."
-"I see your point. However, it can't be helped." Lukas replied. "If they were damaged to the point they could no longer function, then we'd have a good reason to return. But even the damage to the Abyss isn't that severe. And Stella and Auel are still healthy." He concluded, looking at Stella, who nodded, smiling.
At that moment, a crewman walked up to them and addressed Lukas directly, speaking in an undertone.
"Captain O'Donnell, sir. It's about the lab at Lodonia."
Frowning, Lukas stepped forward, away from Stella, who looked over at him with a curious expression. "There was an accident, and they failed to destroy the site." The crewman said in an undertone. "To make matters worse, ZAFT found it."
-"You're kidding me." Lukas muttered. If ZAFT had found Lodonia, that was trouble. The other man shook his head.
-"We've notified Suez and they're scrambling to do something about it. But I thought you should know, sir."
-"Thank you. We'll have to see what we can do about protecting ourselves if the worst happens." He said. The crewman left, and Lukas headed back towards Stella.
-"It's getting late, Stella. Why don't you and Auel go find Dr. Rice, and he'll get you all to bed." He said in a falsely optimistic tone. Stella nodded, and left the hangar. Lukas soon followed, headed for the bridge.
Auel and Stella, along with Dr. Rice, were headed towards the Extendeds' room, when Stella suddenly spoke.
"The lab at Lodonia...what is it?" She asked in a small voice.
-"Don't you remember? It's the place we lived before we came here." Auel said casually.
-"That's right." Rice commented impatiently. "Now come on Stella. Time to sleep." He opened the door, and Auel walked in first, then Rice.
"I wonder what brought that up." Rice mumbled.
-"To make matters worse, ZAFT found it." Stella repeated softly, remembering what she had heard."And then Lukas said..."
Rice stopped cold when he heard what she had said. And if that wasn't bad enough Auel heard too, and he panicked. He immediately headed towards the door, and Dr. Rice had to grab him by the arm to restrain him. But Auel struggled, and he was surprisingly strong for his size.
"Come on Auel, calm down, damn it!"
-"Calm down! How do you expect me to calm down?" Auel retorted, turning on him as he broke free. "That lab is where my mother..."
'Shit. The stupid little brat said his own block word.' Rice thought as Auel suddenly froze, his expression frantic and terrified.
"Mo...mother...is she...still there?" He asked, shaking. "Mother...Mother's gonna die!" He screamed.
'Damn it.' Rice swore inwardly. Not only the stupid little lab rat was going frantic from using his own block word, but now he'd used Stella's as well. He turned towards her.
She looked frightened, but for some reason her reaction was less extreme than he would have expected.
"Die?" she whispered, shaking slightly. Then she started walking, out the door.
-"Stella, stop right there! Stop damn it, you little..."
She ignored him completely, leaving the room. And then she started to run. A handkerchief fell out of her pocket as she did so. Dr. Kinney moved to follow her, while Rice continued to struggle with Auel.
"You, and you! Go after her!" Rice ordered two of the orderlies who were at the nearby control console. The two of them scrambled after Stella, and Rice turned to his colleague "And Kinney, help me get this one under control, damn it!"
Dr. Kinney walked slowly towards them and crouched in front of Auel. As she did so, she discreetly picked up and pocketed the handkerchief.
"We're going to have to wipe them clean again." Rice said.
Kinney did not respond, but preoccupied herself with getting Auel to calm down. Privately she wondered about Stella, and hoped they could prevent her from doing something that might end up with her injured, or worse.
Stella meanwhile was still running, and the two orderlies were having trouble keeping up. "Die?" she muttered as she ran, "But I don't...want to die. I'm scared."
Suddenly, she stopped, as a flood of images she didn't understand flashed through her mind. Dark hair, red eyes. A promise.
"Protect..." Her eyes narrowed, her expression determined.
At that moment one of the orderlies caught up and grabbed hold of her arm. She turned and slammed him in the throat with the edge of her hand, cutting off his air supply. He let go, grabbing for his own throat, and she kicked him, knocking him into the other orderly. Then she started running again. She soon reached her destination: The hangar.
Before any of the mechanics realized what had happened, the Gaia was activated.
"Open that hatch!" She demanded over the Gaia's communications system. "Open it, or I'll blow it apart!"
The officer overseeing the repairs realized what had happened, and grabbed a phone - he had to get to the Captain. The communication came through to the bridge, and Lukas picked up immediately.
"What is it?" He asked. Then as he heard what they were saying, he swore, slamming down the handset, and left the bridge, heading for the hangar. When he got there, the Gaia was gone.
"Idiots. Why did you let her out?" He asked harshly.
Then he turned towards the hatch, and saw that they hadn't.
True to her word, she had indeed blasted her way out of the hangar.
Lodonia Laboratory
Yzak and Arthur, along with Athrun and Shinn, had entered the lab and were exploring it.
As they entered the room where Athrun and Shinn had seen the bodies, Arthur let out a cry of disgust and covered his mouth and nose with a handkerchief. The stench of blood and rotten flesh was overpowering.
Athrun and Shinn walked behind them, as they continued throughout the facility. Everywhere they found corpses, apparently of medical or scientific personnel. All around them the ground was dark with dried blood.
Arthur swept a flashlight across the next room they entered, and screamed. The beam had fallen on a cracked glass compartment like the ones they'd found throughout the lab. The corpse inside was that of a child, who appeared to have been no more than five or six years old.
"They're all children..." Athrun commented, horrified. Shinn looked aghast at what he saw, his expression a mix of disgust and anger.
-"What in heaven's name...What is this place?" Arthur exclaimed as he swept his flashlight along the wall, revealing still more glass compartments, each one containing the corpse of a child. Their apparent ages varied, but none of them looked older than ten. "What happened here?"
-"A mutiny..." Yzak muttered. "That's what this looks like. They were going to blow up the lab, and the personnel here protested. So they killed every last one of them...but why didn't they destroy it? The charges were set and rigged, so why didn't they blow?"
-"But what is this place? What's with all these children?" Arthur asked.
-"That's what we're trying to find out. Now come on." Yzak said shortly.
Two of the walls of the next room they entered were lined with brains - human, judging from their size. There were dozens of them, in sealed glass cases.
In the center of the room were a couple of computers, which appeared to still work. Yzak sat down and started searching for more information.
"Here we go. "Year 64, July, 11 discarded, 3 admitted. August. 7 discarded, 5 admitted." He started to read. "They're some kind of records...of the arrival and departure of test subjects - going back almost ten years."
-"In other words, children." Athrun supplemented as he pulled up similar, more recent records on the other computer. "They're the Alliance's so-called "Extended Humans" - I'm sure you've heard about them."
Then he saw something else, someone he recognized.
"Clotho Buer..."Biological CPU" for the GAT-X370 Raider." He mumbled. He kept scrolling, recognizing the pilots of the Forbidden and Calamity as well. And then…
"Shinn, come here a second." He said. Shinn turned to face him, looking puzzled.
-"What is it?" He asked. He walked over to the console and looked at the screen. At first, nothing struck his eye. And then he saw a face he thought looked familiar. Light blue hair, blue eyes...where had he seen that face before?
He looked at the name: Auel Neider.
"Auel...Neider..." Below was a unit designation - GAT-X731 Abyss - and data on a mobile suit. Shinn recognized the amphibious mobile suit they'd previously encountered.
Then, something came to mind, something he had heard very recently.
"There must be someone who would worry if you were missing. Who are you usually with? What about your father, or your mother?"
-"I'm with Lukas...and Auel. Father? Mother?...I...don't know."
A horrible suspicion began to take shape in Shinn's mind. For a few moments, he refused to believe it. But then as Athrun continued scrolling down the records, he saw her.
"It...can't be." He muttered, horrified. But there it was, irrefutable proof.
Stella Loussier was her full name. Listed as the Biological CPU for the GAT-X388 Gaia, which he recognized as the black ground type he had fought in the Indian Ocean, which they had encountered again in the last battle.
There was no possibility of a coincidence - the photo made it clear: it was unmistakably her.
Rage like nothing he'd ever known before burned through him, and he only dimly heard Yzak as he spoke.
-"Though they profess to detest genetic manipulation, the Alliance and Blue Cosmos are not above experimenting with the creation of living weapons through drugs and other means; humans who exist only to fight. They don't even consider them as anything more than equipment. "Biological CPUs", they call them." he spat angrily, "Just another part for their mobile suits. And this was their...production facility. With performance-enhancing drugs and other means, they were able to enhance their bodies, enabling them to compete physically against Coordinators. Then they were put through the most rigorous combat training imaginable. Those who couldn't keep up were discarded mercilessly."
They left the facility, disgusted, and Yzak got in contact with the Minerva.
"We'll gather as much data as we can now - I'm sure a team of specialists will be here soon. Although I can't see the Alliance leaving this place in our hands. Keep an eye out for enemy forces."
-"Yes, sir." Bart replied, then Yzak cut the link.
-"This is crazy." Shinn said angrily. "It's unbelievable. They go on and on about Coordinators being a crime against nature...and then, they do this?"
Athrun, who was seated nearby, looked up at him, as Shinn's tone of voice rose. "How can they say tinkering with genes is wrong, when they're doing things like this? What the hell kind of monsters are these people?"
-"Shinn..." Athrun started to say. He briefly wondered at the violence of Shinn's reaction, but he knew from experience that Shinn had a temper. Besides... "I couldn't agree with you more. It is wrong, what they're doing here."
At that moment, a communication rang through on the console near to which Yzak still stood. The face of Bart Heim once again appeared on the screen as he contacted them from the Minerva. "Captain. Our sensors are picking up one incoming mobile suit. It's that new ground-type."
Shinn overheard the transmission.
'Ground type...it's the Gaia.' He thought, remembering the data he'd seen. 'Could it be...?'
Still reluctant to believe it, Shinn immediately ran for the Impulse. Athrun stood and followed, boarding the GOUF Ignited.
"Just one unit?" Yzak asked. "Any sign of backup?"
-"Negative, sir."
-"What the hell..." Yzak wondered. Then he picked up a radio and opened a link to the two mobile suits, their pilots already aboard. "Shinn, Athrun! Defend the complex. You got that?"
-"Yes, sir!" came the simultaneous reply from both pilots.
Moments later the Impulse and GOUF Ignited took off, moving on an intercept course towards the swiftly approaching Gaia.
Shinn accelerated as the Gaia neared.
"Careful, Shinn!" Athrun cautioned. "If it's here to destroy the facility, then it could be carrying some kind of explosive. Defeat it without destroying it completely."
-"I know." Shinn said firmly. "That's exactly what I plan to do."
'But that's not the reason why...' he thought. 'I have to…'
The Gaia leaped, firing its twin back-mounted beam cannons.
Shinn dodged the attack and, aiming carefully, fired at its right wing.
The Gaia dodged, then Stella shoved the throttles forward, slamming the Gaia into the Impulse.
The Impulse nearly crashed on the ground below, Shinn only just righting it in time to land. In front of him, the Gaia too was on the ground, having switched to mobile suit mode.
Stella was about to attack when, from above, Athrun fired the GOUF's beam rifle. She blocked the attack and, reverting to quadruped mode, leaped, aiming to cut the GOUF in half like she had the last one.
Athrun narrowly dodged and countered with the Slayer Whip, electrocuting the Gaia.
The enemy machine fell, but Stella righted herself for a second and fired the Gaia's twin beam cannons at the GOUF.
Athrun dodged the attack and countered with the beam rifle, firing a pair of shots that clipped off the Gaia's wings. Knocked off-balance and reeling from the blow, the Gaia crash-landed on the ground below.
The impact knocked loose its beam rifle, which fell to the ground, damaged and useless.
The damaged Gaia stood with some difficulty, but before it could attack Shinn moved in, saber drawn, and aimed a vertical slash across its torso.
Stella screamed in fear as she backed away, but she was not quite fast enough to avoid the attack and the blade carved a narrow gash across the entire length of the torso. The Gaia fell to the ground, and she was knocked unconscious.
Shinn focused in on the cockpit, and through the groove cut into its torso by his saber, he clearly saw his fear realized as he recognized the pilot.
"It is you...Stella."