AUTHOR'S NOTE: As promised, this one's another new chapter. This one focuses almost exclusively on Shinn, Stella, and how the crew of the Minerva reacts to this unexpected new addition to their numbers, as well as sets up one or two other elements that were cut from prior chapters of the previous version.

PHASE 28: New Surroundings

August 15th
Lagrange Point 3
Space Fortress Artemis

Since arriving back at her home port of Artemis, the Alakhshya had been on standby, though what little damage she had taken during the Battle of Theophilus had already been repaired. However, despite her requests, she still had yet to receive replacements for the mobile suits she'd lost.

Captain Natarle Badgiruel was in her quarters when she received orders from General Harrison, an old war buddy of Vice-President Marshall who had replaced Gerard Garcia as Artemis's commander, to report to his office.

She knew that on Earth, a major offensive was under way against the Atlantic Federation at Heaven's Base, but the Eurasian Federation space forces were not expected to participate in the offensive, so she was a little curious as to what this was about.

"I've reviewed your request for additional units, Captain." Harrison began in his almost sepulchral baritone. He was a tall, thin man, with high cheekbones and deep-set, piercing blue eyes.

"Unfortunately, production of the CAT1 beyond the initial trial run is currently slow, so I cannot replace the ones you have lost in as timely a manner as I believe you would like."

Natarle opened her mouth to speak, but Harrison held up one long-fingered hand, and she remained silent.

"That said, I do believe it is important that your ship and your crew be at full combat capability, so we will be supplying additional Windam units and pilots…and Aktaion Industries has a couple of new models that I think would be a good fit for the 501st."

-"New models, sir?" She asked skeptically. She remembered the Dominion and its three new models, which while impressive on paper, had proven - in large part due to the unpredictability of their pilots as well as the incompetence of those pilots's handler - disappointing.

-"Yes. I think you might find them…interesting." General Harrison continued as he handed her a data pad, which showed the specifications of one of the two mobile suits…She scrolled through, and reviewed the second new model as well.

She could see why the General thought they'd be a good fit.

'No,' she thought, 'not just good. With the right pilots, these two would be the perfect addition to the ship's combat capabilities…'

"I will, of course, leave the selection of the pilots to you, Captain." General Harrison was saying. "You can choose from among any of the pilots here…"

-"General?" she asked. "With respect, I think I already know who the perfect candidates are to pilot these particular machines."

-"Oh?" General Harrison replied with a raised eyebrow. When he asked who she had in mind, Natarle gave him both names. After a moment's thought, General Harrison agreed to have the two she'd asked for transferred to her ship.

Dismissed, Natarle returned to her quarters, and smiled.

August 16th
Portsmouth Naval Base
LHM-BB01 Minerva

An armed MP met Megan Kinney on the dock when she arrived early the following morning, bringing with her several crates. The crates were carried by orderlies who'd come with her, and the little group was led onboard the ship to the medical bay, where Doctor Thompkins was waiting.

He greeted the new arrival formally, with an expression of polite skepticism.

"Good morning," Kinney said as she introduced herself. "I understand that you were responsible for Stella's treatment while she was on board the Minerva some months ago."

-"I was." Thompkins replied. "Though I admit that it was a difficult endeavour. And I frankly find that anyone could do something like this absolutely detestable."

-"I agree." Doctor Kinney responded, catching Thompkins by surprise. "And I wanted to thank you - your efforts saved her life. I have spent much of the past few months attempting to reverse the damage that was done to her. As her treatment is still ongoing, I came here to provide my notes and some equipment and supplies, so that you might continue once the Minerva leaves Portsmouth."

-"Is that so?" Thompkins replied, his expression changing. "I would be much obliged if you could walk me through the treatment and what I'm expected to accomplish."

-"With pleasure, Doctor." Kinney replied.

Meanwhile, Stella was introduced to the rest of the crew by Athrun, who described her as a volunteer recruit who would be joining the ship effective immediately.

This was met with some surprise and concern, particularly from several crewmembers who recognized her from her previous stay onboard, including the nurse and the two MPs Shinn had attacked when he took her off the ship.

Shinn had been careful, and none of them had been injured, but the fact that he had escaped more severe punishment still rankled in spite of his subsequent accomplishments.

Shinn himself stood by in silence. He'd been afraid of something like this, but Athrun had warned him to keep his temper under control, and he was making every effort to do so.

But then Abigail Windsor stepped forward and introduced herself.

"Welcome aboard," she said. "Since you're one of us now, you're going to need a uniform, right? I've got a spare I can let you have, if you want."

Surprised at this unexpected act of kindness, Stella blushed a little.

-"Thank you." she said quietly, relaxing slightly. She still seemed frightened as she looked around, but soon enough, Athrun dismissed everyone, and though there was still some uneasy muttering, nothing more happened.

Moved, Shinn thanked her as well.

Later, Yzak summoned Shinn to his quarters.

"All right," Yzak said irritably, "you got us into this mess, kid. Anything that happens with her is entirely on you. Do you understand me?"

-"Yes, sir." Shinn replied.

-"Good." Yzak replied. "Now, from what that Doctor was saying last night, the girl's-"

-"Stella." Shinn interrupted without thinking. Yzak glared at him, and he apologized.

-"Stella's treatment is still ongoing." Yzak continued. "We're getting information on what that treatment entails and how to proceed moving forward, as well as some supplies and equipment. She is to report to medical for treatment every day until such a time as Doc Thompkins can certify that it is complete. Under no circumstances do I want to see or hear that you've been anywhere near medical while she is in there, got it?"

-"Yes, sir." Shinn replied, keeping his irritation at this unexpected development under control.

Yzak, however, noticed Shinn's reaction, and a part of him was surprised that he hadn't lashed out yet.

-"It's not strictly regulation, but as there's nowhere else to put her, she'll be bunking with you." Yzak concluded. "Now get out of here."

-"Thank you, sir." Shinn replied, keeping his expression neutral with great difficulty. But as soon as the door to Yzak's office closed, he smiled.

They would be together. And Stella was safe.

That evening, the Minerva set sail, along with the rest of the fleet.

Kinney had spent almost the entire day with Doctor Thompkins, and stepped off the ship minutes before it was to depart.

The last thing she'd done was to speak to Commander Joule and deliver to him what little paperwork had been available at Lodonia itself for Stella, which Shinn, Yzak, and Athrun were able to use to fill out the necessary paperwork, so that Stella formally became a soldier of ZAFT and a member of the Minerva's crew.

They were also able to get ahold of a flight suit that fit, which was also loaded onboard in one of the ready room lockers. What few personal effects Stella had, which Kinney had brought with her, were separately brought by an MP to the quarters she would be occupying.

She hadn't seen Stella or Shinn all day, though she'd been hoping to run into them.

At that moment, they stood hand in hand on the Minerva's stern deck, as the ships set sail, both in uniform. The Jones was with them.

"The last battle...at least, I hope so." He said.

Standing on the docks, Doctor Kinney watched the ships go, and Stella and Shinn both saw her. They waved to her in farewell, and she waved to her young daughter - for so she thought of her - and to the dark young man to whom her heart was given.

She was happy for her; Stella was free now, she would never be used the way she had been all her life.

But she could not help but think, as she said good-bye, that she probably would never see either of them again.

And so she stood on the dock, watching, until the fleet disappeared over the horizon. And then she turned and left, heading home.

The following morning, Shinn was in the hangar, nervous, but working through a combat simulation on the Destiny.

Stella was in medical, and as much as he wanted to be with her, he obeyed Yzak's orders.

"Hey."

Shinn looked up, out the open cockpit as he heard the voice.

-"Athrun." He replied without looking up. "What'd you need?"

-"Kinda wondering what you're up to." Athrun answered. "Also, I thought you should know: She's been assigned to the Impulse."

-"I thought Lunamaria was piloting the Impulse." Shinn commented, finally looking up.

-"Lunamaria's assigned to your old Impulse." Athrun clarified. "I'm talking about Unit Two."

-"Oh. Right." Shinn replied. He'd forgotten that at Gibraltar, they'd used the spare Core Splendor to deploy a second Impulse Gundam.

Since they didn't have a pilot for it, he'd figured the spare would go back to being a spare - he'd never guessed they'd actually deploy it.

-"I don't expect her to have any difficulty adjusting," Athrun said, "but you know that machine better than anyone. I'm counting on you to help me get her ready for it."

-"Sure thing." Shinn replied. He'd spent ages working with Lunamaria to get her familiarized with the Impulse while they were at Gibraltar. Now, he was going to have to do the same with Stella, but in a fraction of the time.

He wasn't sure he could pull it off - but then again, Athrun had managed to get a feel for the Impulse's capabilities easily.

-"Where is she, anyway?" Athrun asked. "I figured she'd be with you."

-"Medical." Shinn replied, his trepidation evident in his voice.

-"I see." Athrun replied. "Well, we'll talk about this again later."

And he left. He made his way from the hangar to the medical bay, where Doctor Thompkins was hard at work.

"Remarkable." the latter muttered to himself. Stella was on the bed, strapped down and motionless, her eyes following his movements warily. "These results are completely different from what I saw last time. There's still an elevated level of certain chemicals that shouldn't be here, but it's far lower than before."

He motioned to the nurse working with him, who stepped forward. She flinched when she saw someone standing in the doorway, but relaxed when she recognized Athrun.

-"Excuse me." Athrun announced himself, and Thompkins turned around.

-"I'm rather busy at the moment," Thompkins replied, "unless this is important."

-"Sorry." Athrun replied. "I didn't mean to interrupt - I just wanted to find out what was going on."

-"Well, there are still a number of foreign substances present, and certain natural chemicals are still present in abnormally elevated levels, but overall, there's a sharp change in her results. Adrenaline production is abnormally high, but that may be a normal physiological process - it's difficult to say."

-"Meaning stress." Athrun commented. "Well, she's strapped down in an unfamiliar environment - it'd make sense, I suppose."

-"I guess having Shinn in here might help, since he clearly means a lot to her," Thompkins replied, "but I'd rather not take that chance, and I've told the Captain as much."

-"I know." Athrun replied. "Shinn's been ordered to stay clear - he won't come near here while she's under treatment, much as he'd like to."

Thompkins reached for a document on his desk and read it over, then turned back to his patient.

-"We're almost done." He said soothingly. "Just one more little test, and then Athrun here will escort you to your quarters."

-"Where's Shinn?" She said quietly, fearfully. "I don't…"

-"He's fine." The Doctor continued. "He can't be here right now, but you'll see him soon."

-"Doctor," the nurse addressed him in an undertone, "It might be better to sedate the patient while we work."

-"No." Thompkins replied. "We don't know enough about what we're dealing with here to make that determination yet - a sedative might affect the test results in ways we're not sure of."

Meanwhile, Shinn left the hangar and headed to the rec room, where he found Lunamaria, Vino, Yolant, and Abby discussing the situation.

"Man, I don't know about this." Yolant commented. "An enemy pilot, joining us now?"

-"Well, nothing we can do about it." Vino commented. "Though folks onboard aren't happy."

-"I don't have a problem with it." Abby commented. "She seems nice."

-"Well, I…" Lunamaria started to say, but then she noticed Shinn. "Shinn! Wha…what're you doing here?"

-"I was in the hangar trying to get ready for the battle, and I guess I needed a break." He replied. "What about you guys?"

-"We were just…"

-"Talking about Stella." Shinn interrupted as he grabbed a drink and sat down, looking around at the others. "I heard."

-"Well, you can't blame people for being nervous!" Lunamaria commented. "I mean, she was an Alliance pilot - and after what she did to Heine…"

-"I know!" Shinn replied. "So what?"

He should have guessed people would react like this. They just didn't understand. And that wasn't the worst of it…if it got out that she'd been the pilot of that mobile armor…

-"Look, I'm not trying to upset you," Lunamaria said, "but you have to understand, it's a weird situation."

-"She's from the Eurasian Federation though, right?" Abby asked. Shinn nodded - the documents they'd filed had listed Stella as being from Bandirma. Whether that was true or not, nobody knew for sure. "And aren't they our allies now?"

-"I guess…" Lunamaria replied. She didn't like it though, and neither did a lot of others. She wasn't sure why she felt so hostile herself; She and Shinn had never really been anything more than friends, and being around her was obviously good for him.

-"How'd all this even happen?" Yolant asked. Then, he remembered something. "Hey, isn't she that girl that…"

-"Yes, she is." Shinn interrupted, knowing what Yolant was about to mention and very keen to prevent him from telling the whole embarrassing story. "I ran into her again later."

-"That was when you sent that emergency signal, right? While we were in Bandirma - Chen told me about it." Abby replied, and Shinn briefly told them what had happened.

-"What are the odds, though?" Lunamaria laughed. "Of all the random encounters, it had to have been with an Alliance pilot."

-"Well, I didn't realize it was her…not until Lodonia." Shinn commented darkly, his fists clenched tightly as he remembered the horrors he'd seen. The horrors they'd put her through, and who knew how many others…

At least, that was over.

Once Doc Thompkins was finished, Stella was released, and she followed Athrun out of medical.

She stayed close behind him, avoiding eye contact with any crew member they happened to see.

'She's as scared of them as they are of her…' he thought as he saw the expressions on their faces as they went by.

The sooner he found Shinn, the better - she only seemed to relax around him, and many of the crew tended to give Shinn - whose ferocious temper was matched only by Yzak's - a wide berth most of the time.

That in itself was odd since Shinn, volatile as he was, rarely flew off the handle unless Orb or the Alliance was brought up, and in the past few months he'd gotten a lot better about the former.

Athrun personally suspected that word had got around that he'd attacked three members of the crew when he broke Stella out, and that this was a contributing factor.

At Athrun's insistence, one of the first things Shinn had done after getting out of the brig was to apologize to the three in question, but all the same he guessed that they'd discussed it during his weeks in the brig.

'I just hope there isn't trouble…this next operation is our biggest yet. Damn it.' He thought.

Athrun doubted that Shinn was still in the hangar, so he intended - as the Doc had said - to bring Stella to her quarters. But he passed by the rec room and saw Shinn sitting with Lunamaria and the others.

"Shinn!" Athrun hailed him, and Stella instantly looked up. The change in her demeanor was astonishing.

Instantly, the fear was gone, and she smiled when she saw him.

Turning around, Shinn saw them.

-"Athrun! Stella!" He responded. They both entered the rec room, and within moments, she was sitting next to him.

"How'd it go?" He asked.

-"According to the Doc, there's major progress since the last time she was in there," Athrun reported, "but we've still got a ways to go. Said he's never seen a case like this before."

-"Makes sense." Shinn replied.

-"Listen, a lot of the crew are on edge." Athrun continued. "You're gonna need to be careful."

-"I know." Shinn replied, simmering resentment in his tone. "I guess we should head to the hangar."

-"Why?" Lunamaria asked.

-"We're gonna need to spend every second we can down there if we're going to get Stella used to the Impulse before the next op."

-"Stella will be launching in Unit Two." Athrun added when he saw Lunamaria's confused expression, "Captain's orders. Shinn and I are going to help her familiarize herself with it."

-"Oh." Lunamaria replied, unsure how she felt about that. "Well, good luck then."

The three of them left.

-"It's going to be interesting." Abby commented. "With two Impulse Gundams out there. I wonder which Silhouette she'd use."

-"No idea." Vino replied. "I'd say the Force Silhouette would be a good place to start, but we got rid of those ages ago."

-"Right - I was in the hangar when the Storm Silhouettes were delivered," Yolant added, "they offloaded the Force Silhouettes and put them in instead."

Lunamaria thought about the times she'd faced the Gaia in battle, a sour look on her face. She was good, that was for sure. And the more she thought about it, the way the Gaia fought reminded her of Shinn a bit.

And he'd excelled with the Storm Silhouette in particular.

-"I guess the Storm Silhouette might suit her, if previous battles are anything to go by."

-"You mean that other machine - the ground type?" Vino asked. "It did seem kinda similar, except I don't think it could fly, could it?"

-"What about when it took out Heine's GOUF though?" Yolant questioned.

-"That wasn't really flying." Vino defended himself. "It was more like a powered jump."

-"Yeah, you've got a point there." Yolant admitted.

Athrun, Shinn and Stella reached the hangar, and Athrun watched her carefully. She still tended to flinch whenever one of the crew looked at her, and the expressions were often still unpleasant, but she wasn't as panicked as earlier, so he surmised that his earlier guess had been correct - being around Shinn helped keep her calmer.

'This had better stop, and soon.' He thought.

"This the new pilot?" Matt Aves asked tersely when he saw the little group, and Athrun nodded. He then led them towards the #3 catapult, where the two Core Splendors were stored.

Stella dimly recognized the tiny little blue fighter, but wasn't sure what to make of it.

"Stella," Shinn explained, "this is the Core Splendor. It's a fighter that's also the cockpit of a mobile suit."

-"You mean, I have to fight again?" Stella asked, sounding frightened.

-"We all do - together." Shinn replied. "I used to pilot this one. And I'll show you how to do it. You'll protect me, and I'll protect you."

Shinn's words seemed to calm Stella, who nodded.

- "If Shinn's going to fight…then I'll fight too. With you."

He opened the cockpit, and guided her in. She strapped herself in, and they got to work, ignoring sidelong glances from crew members who saw them.

"Wonder if he's gonna run off again." One of them muttered.

-"If you've got time to run your mouth, use it making sure these mobile suits are in top shape!" Aves ordered sharply, and the cowed crewman left, getting back to work on prepping Yzak's DOM Trooper.

They worked non-stop for several hours, running a number of simulations.

After breaking for lunch, Athrun obtained permission from a reluctant Yzak to conduct a field test, and under the watchful eye of Athrun in the Knight Saviour, Shinn took Unit 1 while Stella launched in Unit 2 to practice combining, docking, and operating the Impulse in flight using the Storm Silhouettes, as well as recharging using the deuterion beam system.

Most of the afternoon was spent on this, following which the three machines returned to the Minerva and the two Impulse Gundams were reloaded.

From the bridge of the Jones, Captain McCaffrey watched the tests with keen interest.

"Hmm…they've never fielded two of those machines before." He commented. He noticed right away that the movements of the red one weren't as smooth as the blue one, as if the pilot was unfamiliar with the machine, though by the afternoon's end, it was moving much better.

"It's a shame she's still being made to fight, even after everything that's happened." He mused as he guessed the identity of the second machine's pilot. "But that kid's different - like Kinney. He doesn't treat her like hardware."

As he watched the three mobile suit return to their mother ship, he returned to keeping an eye on his own men, knowing that this time, she wasn't being forced to fight by assholes like O'Connell. If she was fighting, this time it was by choice, of her own free will.

In the Minerva's mess, Shinn and Stella sat together in a corner, and Shinn, seeing the way some of the crew were glaring at them, had to fight to stay calm.

'None of them understand…' he told himself. 'They don't know her like I do.'

Lunamaria, watching them, remained pensive. She still wasn't sure how she felt about the presence onboard of someone who, until very recently, had been their enemy. But despite her own initial jealousy, she was starting to realize how much she meant to Shinn. He was happy with her, happier than she could ever remember seeing him before.

And that was enough, she felt. Though she sometimes wished Rey had been here to see it. She wondered how he would have taken something like this.

Still, she was worried that there'd be trouble.

She wasn't alone. In his office, Yzak sat grumbling. Arthur had the conn, and he was glancing over a report from Thompkins, who'd again expressed misgivings about the situation.

And he was waiting for Athrun to update him.

As if on cue, Athrun announced himself, then entered.

"Well?" He asked without preamble.

-"She's good. Not as good as you or I, but I don't think anyone else could give her any trouble."

-"I'm more worried about her giving us trouble." Yzak replied. "Any chance she might turn on us?"

-"None." Athrun replied. "She's as scared of the crew as they are of her, but I doubt she would do anything unless she was provoked. And if that's the case, Shinn's the one we'd need to worry about more than her."

-"That's certainly true." Yzak commented. "Still, I don't like this."

-"I know." Athrun replied. "But I'm willing to give her a chance."

-"Of course, you of all people would say that." Yzak replied sarcastically, referring - as they both knew - to Athrun's defection in the previous War.

But all the same, he trusted Athrun's judgement.

"All right. We'll wait, see how this plays out. But if there's any trouble, I'm throwing her and lover-boy overboard."

-"If you say so." Athrun said with a smile, then left.

On his way back to his quarters, Athrun ran into Shinn and Stella.

-"Tomorrow morning, same thing." He said. "She goes to medical, then we'll meet you in the hangar to keep training."

-"Got it." Shinn replied, and Stella simply nodded. They then separated as Athrun headed for his quarters, and Shinn and Stella for theirs.

They went to bed, and soon both were asleep, as the ship steadily continued to head towards its destination, and what many hoped would be the final battle in a war that had already claimed far too many lives…