AUTHOR'S NOTE: So the next two chapters will contain a mix of new content, stuff that was removed from the previous chapter, and stuff that was pulled from the next one.
PHASE 22: Aftermath of Bloodshed
May 12th, Cosmic Era 75
Hamburg, Eurasian Federation
'I swore I'd protect her...and now...' Shinn thought as he held Stella in his arms, tears flowing down his face.
Some part of him still refused to accept that Stella could be dead. He removed his glove and, very gently, laid his finger on her neck, checking for a pulse.
His heart skipped a beat. He felt a pulse!
It was extremely faint, but definite - she was still alive!
He knew she had to get medical treatment, and fast, or else she really would die. He debated taking her back to the Minerva, but dismissed the idea immediately.
During the battle, he'd seen two black Windams he thought he'd recognized from the battle with the Alliance and Orb in the Med. A mobile suit's range was not long, so they had to have come from a base or a ship nearby. Maybe even...
He stood, carefully lifting her as he did, and clambered out of the mobile armor's cockpit. Just as carefully, he stepped off to the ground. As he did so, he heard the rumble of thrusters, and looked up as the same two black mobile suits landed, one to either side of the Impulse.
Nearby, the Minerva had landed.
With the battle over, ZAFT and surviving Eurasian Forces spread out in the city, as relief efforts began. Standing at the window, his fists clenched, Yzak looked out at the devastation.
"This is just...have the Naturals completely lost their fucking minds?" He asked aloud to nobody in particular.
-"It sure looks like it." Arthur said as he walked up. "I have to say, sir, I don't know what we can accomplish by fighting these kinds of battles. I understand the Chairman wants to coexist with the Naturals instead of repeating the mistakes of the last war, but if there are people we have to eliminate, shouldn't we do it right away? Otherwise, I don't see this war ending for a long time...if ever."
-"You may have a point." Yzak said. Then he turned back to the console. "What's the word on the Impulse? Any movement?"
-"No, sir" Abby replied. "It's still stationary near the destroyed mobile armor. Two Eurasian Forces mobile suits are closing in on it."
-"What the hell's that moron think he's doing now?..." Yzak grumbled.
At that moment, Abby announced. "Incoming communication, sir! Signals show it's coming from an Alliance carrier!"
-"Put it through." Yzak said shortly, and the monitor showed an older man, a man Yzak recognized. "This is Yzak Joule, commander of the Minerva."
-"A pleasure to meet you again, Captain." Brennan Marshall replied. "Though I wish it were under different circumstances. President Baum and I are here at Wilhelmshaven Naval Base. I wanted first to thank you for your assistance, and second to offer you the use of our facilities here if you need to repair or resupply your ship."
Yzak pondered the offer. The ship was largely undamaged, though had sustained some hits from the giant mobile armor's indiscriminate attacks. It was nothing that couldn't wait until Gibraltar, and Yzak was about to decline. But Athrun, who'd limped his way up to the bridge after Shinn took off to watch the battle, got his attention.
He had a theory as to Shinn's curious behavior, and he wanted to see it through.
-"Wilhelmshaven's not that far from here; I say let's let this play out - if nothing else, we can at least resupply before heading back to Gibraltar." Athrun said.
-"I doubt this is a trap." Heine, who was also present, concurred.
-"All right." Yzak nodded. "Marshall at least we know is a man who can be trusted." Yzak then returned to Marshall.
"Thank you for your generous offer." he said stiffly, "I appreciate it."
-"Not at all." Marshall replied. "It's the least we can do for our allies."
Meanwhile, Shinn was standing at the foot of the Impulse, watching warily as the pilot of one of the black Windams rode a lift cable down from his cockpit and walked towards them, removing his helmet as he did so.
He was dark-eyed and pale, with silver-blonde hair, and somewhat taller than Shinn.
"You're the pilot of that mobile suit?" Sven asked evenly.
-"Yeah." Shinn replied, eyeing the other pilot warily.
Sven's eyes shifted from the dark-haired young man to the woman in his arms, whom he recognized as one of the Extendeds that had been onboard the John Paul Jones.
He wondered what she was doing here and why this ZAFT pilot had her.
He then briefly wondered if this was the same one who had brought her back to the Jones after she'd gone missing some time back.
It was a strange coincidence if so.
"She needs to get those injuries treated." Sven said flatly, "our ship, the John Paul Jones, is moored at Wilhelmshaven. Our CO's offered the use of our facilities to your ship, if you need it."
For a moment, Shinn stood there, motionless. Then he nodded. He carried Stella into the Impulse's cockpit and immediately started up the Impulse and prepared to take off. As he did so, a communication came in from the ship.
-"About damn time!" Yzak said shortly as Shinn picked up the communication - sound only, which Yzak noticed.
-"The mobile armor is destroyed." Shinn replied. "No damage to the Impulse." There was something in his tone of voice that told Yzak that Shinn wasn't telling them everything.
-"Well done. The ship is going to head to Wilhelmshaven Naval Base for emergency repairs and resupply. Get the Impulse airborne and meet us there."
-"Roger that." Shinn replied, and cut the link. The Impulse, flanked by the two Windams, took off, and the Minerva followed.
The mobile suits arrived first, and Shinn immediately recognized the Jones - a carrier they had faced several times in battle.
The two Windams landed on the carrier's deck, and Shinn did likewise.
He climbed down out of the Impulse's cockpit, Stella in his arms, and he saw a group of medics with a gurney waiting.
His expression hardened when he recognized the woman, Megan Kinney.
Her own shock at learning that Stella was here in Germany was compounded by the unexpected reunion with this dark young man who twice - no, three times now, she realized - had saved her life.
She realized that if Stella was here, she had to have been piloting that monstrosity, and silently cursed Rice and O'Donnell for putting her through this. Her only satisfaction was that, with that land battleship obliterated by the ZAFT ship, both of them were probably dead.
"I'm a little surprised to see you again." she said tentatively. Shinn, glaring at her, did not reply. Carefully, he laid Stella on the gurney, and stepped back. He turned again to look at her.
"I'm sorry." Kinney said sincerely. Shinn's expression softened somewhat, as he guessed correctly that the woman had not had a say in the decision to make Stella the pilot of the Destroy. She had not even known.
-"Just make sure she survives." He said sharply. Then he turned away, as much to hide his tears as anything else, and headed back towards the Impulse.
Athrun had made his way to the starboard deck, and he stood leaning against the balustrade, watching the devastated city of Hamburg go by as the ship slowly headed out.
He shook his head, appalled at the destruction he saw.
A short while later the ship arrived at Wilhelmshaven, where he was altogether not surprised to see the Jones, nor the Impulse on its deck.
It struck him as slightly incongruous that a ZAFT machine looked so perfectly at home standing in between two Windams on a Spengler-class carrier's deck.
It reminded him once again how similar the Impulse, as a conceptual successor to the Strike, was in design and capability to the Alliance's own mobile suits.
As he watched, the Impulse took off from the deck, and as the Minerva set down and came in to dock a short distance down from the Jones, the catapult opened to allow the machine to enter.
Athrun turned and headed inside, leaning on his crutches as he did so.
Later that day he, along with Yzak and Shinn, headed outside and down to the base, where they were met by President Baum himself, along with Vice-President Marshall and a battle-scarred officer of the Alliance named McCaffrey.
-"I wanted to offer you all my thanks for all of your efforts." Baum said gratefully after introductions were completed. "Particularly to you, young man." He added, addressing Shinn.
-"Thank you, sir." Shinn said, his expression neutral, though Athrun thought he caught something in his glance.
-"Well, I will be speaking with Chairman Durendal later today, and I will certainly make sure to tell him how critical your ship, Captain Joule, and your young pilot were to ending this situation. In the meantime if you need anything, the full resources of this base are at your disposal." Baum said, then turned to leave.
Yzak nodded and turned to leave as well, followed by Athrun.
McCaffrey looked at Shinn, who hung back a step. And the scarred old veteran addressed him. "I also wanted to thank you, young man. Also, Dr. Kinney asked me to pass along a message: her condition is stabilized. Treatment will take time, but she'll make it."
-"Thank you." Shinn said gratefully. He shook the older man's hand, then turned to follow Yzak and Athrun.
-"What was that about?" Yzak muttered, addressing Athrun as he glanced back at Shinn over his shoulder. Athrun did not reply, but he knew precisely what that was about, and there was a small smile on his face as the three headed back to their ship.
Several days passed. Repairs to the Minerva were completed quickly enough, and Gibraltar had ordered them to stand by for now. A supply ship had been sent north with replacement mobile suit parts, which would allow them to complete the repairs to the ZAKU.
Athrun wanted to talk to Shinn about what had happened during the battle, and so he headed to his quarters and knocked at the door.
"Shinn. You have a moment?" He asked.
The door opened, and he walked in. Shinn was seated at his desk, the computer on. Heine was standing behind him, looking over his shoulder. Recovered from his own injuries, Heine had dispensed with the crutch he had used, though he still walked with a slight limp.
"What are you two doing?" Athrun asked. Heine saluted briefly, which Athrun returned.
-"Shinn - it's Athrun." Heine addressed the other.
-"Yeah, what is it?" Shinn asked without looking up. Athrun shook his head. Then, as he looked at the screen, whatever he had been about to say was driven completely from his mind.
-"Is that...the Freedom?"
-"Uh-huh..." Shinn replied vaguely. Then he swore under his breath. "Damn...why can't I beat it?"
-"He reacts incredibly fast when the camera turns towards it...impressive use of thrusters as well - he flies it like it was an extension of his own body." Heine commented, thinking of how swiftly the Freedom had disarmed his own GOUF Ignited when they faced it.
-"The Freedom is more powerful than the Impulse - or even the Saviour." Shinn said thoughtfully, glancing at Athrun over his shoulder. "Yet he controls it so easily...how does he do it?"
-"Shinn, Heine...what are you two doing?" Athrun asked, concerned.
-"Isn't it obvious? I'm running a combat simulation against the Freedom." Shinn replied. He'd gotten this idea weeks earlier, and had been working on it ever since. After getting out of the brig, unable to make any progress, he'd asked Heine for help. "You got a problem with that?"
-"Why would you want to do something like that?" Athrun asked.
-"Because it's strong." Shinn said simply. "I've been doing some research, and as far as I know, the Freedom is the most powerful mobile suit in existence anywhere - so if I want to improve my skills, I can't think of a better opponent to practice against."
Shinn had an ulterior motive in wanting to be able to defeat the Freedom, however: Revenge.
The Freedom had killed his his parents and his little sister, years before. Then, it had killed Rey. And now, it had nearly killed Stella.
"Besides, we might have to fight against him again. And I think it's important that somebody at ZAFT knows how to take it down." He said. "As it stands, nobody knows what it'll do next."
-"Shinn's line of thinking makes a good deal of sense." Heine interjected. "The Freedom is powerful; old friend of yours or not, I don't know what his intentions are, but he is not part of our forces."
-"Maybe so, but Kira is not our enemy." Athrun protested.
-"Isn't he? What makes you say that?" Shinn asked, his tone rising. "He attacked our ship at the Dardanelles, and quite apart from killing Rey, a lot of our crew lost their lives because of him, remember? And he damn near killed you, too."
Unsure of what to say, Athrun did not reply.
-"Ultimately, it's up to Headquarters or the Supreme Council to tell us who we fight. And I know you'd rather not fight him, but I still think we should be ready in case we have to." Heine added, "In light of your own past experience, we'd be grateful for any assistance you could give us.
Athrun hesitated. He thought of the battle, and then he remembered their conversation after the battle in the Dardanelles. Kira had made his intentions clear enough when they had spoken; And, as much as Athrun disliked it, he had chosen to oppose the PLANTs.
Heine was right - they would probably have to fight him again…
May 16th
Hamburg
Brennan Marshall knocked on the door to the big office in the battle-ravaged Hamburg Rathaus building, then entered.
Inside, he found his boss deep in a conversation with Jacqueline, his pretty French assistant, who greeted him with a smile.
"Bonjour, Jacqueline." Brennan answered in almost-flawless French. Then, he turned to face Baum, who was looking at him with an annoyed expression. "Mr. President."
"Brennan." He replied. He sounded tired, which made sense after everything that had happened in the past few days. There was a bottle of expensive cognac on the desk, with two glasses. One was untouched.
Brennan knew that Colonel Rankov, the commander of the Compton, had been an old friend of Baum's. Rankov, who shared the President's love of fine cognac, had perished in the battle at Warsaw.
"You have news?" Baum asked.
-"Yes, sir." The Vice-President replied. He and his staff had been manning the phones almost day and night since the attack, coordinating with their colleagues throughout the nation. "We're ready to proceed."
-"You are certain we have the support we need in the legislature for this?" Baum asked.
-"We do." Marshall replied. "I wish it hadn't come to this, but all we need is your go-ahead to proceed."
-"Very well. Contact Claudia for me, would you?" Baum asked. "I want to make this announcement myself, and we'll need her input to draft the statement."
-"Already done." Marshall replied. Claudia Jean Bailey was the Press Secretary. He'd called her that morning, and she had made arrangements to contact all of the major networks ahead of a broadcast the following morning. "She expects we'll be ready to go by 0900 tomorrow morning."
-"Very well. Alea iacta est." Baum said in a resigned tone. The die was cast.
True to her word, at 8:30 the following morning, every single one of the major news networks reported that a major announcement was expected soon.
At 9:00 sharp, as every news network in the Eurasian Federation watched, Claudia Bailey stepped behind the podium and stated that President Baum would address the nation, and added that he would not answer any questions. Moments later Baum himself appeared and took his place behind the podium, then began to speak.
The broadcast was also relayed to the PLANTs, as well as to Orb, where in the main government headquarters, the entire Council of Emirs watched with bated breath. Glancing around the room, Cagalli noticed that even Asahina, Kawaguchi, and the newly-appointed Councilman Himura looked nervous, and with good reason.
After the Second Defense Fleet's return, Cagalli had used the incident to force both Unato Ema and Yuna Roma out of office, with the aging Councilman Yano taking Unato Ema's place as acting Prime Minister, while Himura had been appointed to replace Yuna.
She knew Himura to be an ally of the Seirans, but she'd had no choice but to allow his appointment. Still, she hoped that the more circumspect Nakamura would support her after what had just happened in Eurasia.
She'd read the reports - Minsk, Warsaw, Berlin and Hamburg leveled, millions of dead - most of them civilians. She also knew that numerous ZAFT forces, coming to Eurasia's aid, had been destroyed, and from what Mina had told her, the Minerva's Impulse had almost single-handedly destroyed the mobile armor.
She shuddered as she thought of the Impulse, remembering its pilot. The brutality he'd displayed outside Orb, and again during the battle in the Med, according to Colonel Todaka's reports, frightened her, as did Shinn's obvious hatred of her and her father.
'I lost my entire family, because of the Athhas!' He'd said. 'When you spouted off that garbage about "defending the nation's justice", did you ever stop to think about how many lives would be lost as a result?'
She also knew, from Mina's sources, that the Archangel had been present at the battle.
Cagalli was shaken from her thoughts when Motoko Kayabuki, sitting next to her, quietly addressed her, and she saw that Claudia Bailey had been replaced by President Baum, who, in Cagalli's view, looked exhausted. Then, he began to speak.
"Good afternoon. I come before you all today on the gravest possible matter. Approximately five days ago, an Atlantic Federation strike force consisting of a large land battleship and approximately thirty mobile suits launched an assault on the city of Warsaw, accompanied by an enormous mobile armor."
"This force annihilated two Eurasian Federation land battleships, as well as two entire teams of ZAFT mobile suits including Lesseps-class ships that came to the assistance of our beleaguered soldiers. The city was subsequently leveled. We later learned that Minsk had already suffered the same fate. Each of these cities had a population of nearly two million. Early estimates of the death toll in both cities put it at ninety percent - at least."
"This weapon then continued on towards Berlin, where it was once again engaged by the courageous forces of the Eurasian Federation Armed Forces, aided by ZAFT's relief forces, while an evacuation was under way. In spite of these heroic efforts, an estimated eighty percent of the city's four million souls were lost."
Baum paused for a moment, then continued. "This monster then continued on towards Hamburg, where it was once again engaged by our forces, supported by ZAFT. Under the supervision of Vice-President Marshall and myself, much of the city was evacuated before it arrived, but nonetheless we currently believe that forty percent or more of the city's population has perished. Relief efforts are ongoing at all four cities as we speak."
Taking a deep breath, Baum stopped speaking once again. His hands were shaking, his knuckles white where he clutched the podium.
Cagalli stared, horrified. This was even worse than the reports she'd received suggested.
'Four cities burned to the ground…why?'
President Baum seemed to be gathering his thoughts, but finally he continued to speak.
"It has been my hope and my goal since you elected me to this office to enable us to come to a lasting, peaceful coexistence with our neighbors here on Earth, as well as in Space." he said. "My opposite number in the Atlantic Federation seems to have decided otherwise, declaring war on the PLANTs, and now launching this unwarranted, inexcusable attack against us, an attack that has already claimed far too many lives. It is with great regret therefore, that I must hereby announce that the Eurasian Federation is now officially at war with the Atlantic Federation."