AUTHOR'S NOTE: New content once again. This particular chapter, like Phase 28, is focusing primarily on Stella, and in particular how things have changed for her onboard the Minerva in the aftermath of the Battle of Heaven's Base.

PHASE 30: Where She Belongs

August 19th, Cosmic Era 75
Heaven's Base
LHM-BB01 Minerva

When the four Gundams returned to the Minerva, the hangar was packed with crew waiting for them.

The Destiny entered the hangar first, closely followed by the Knight Saviour, then the two Impulse Gundams.

Aves and his team immediately moved in to secure the damaged Impulse Gundams so they could be repaired and returned to their spots in the #3 catapult launch bay, while the pilots disembarked.

Shinn made a beeline for Unit 2, where he found Stella still seated in the cockpit, her helmet in her lap, breathing heavily. As soon as she saw him, she smiled tiredly.

"Shinn." She said.

"We made it." He said, smiling. He was exhausted too, but he was worried about her. This was her first combat sortie since joining the Minerva. He guessed the Doc would want to see her again as soon as possible, but he wanted to make sure she was okay. "You're fine, Stella. You're safe."

He held out his hand, and she unstrapped herself and took it.

She nimbly climbed out of the cockpit and followed him.

He spotted Athrun and Lunamaria in the middle of the throng, and hand-in-hand, they wended their way through the crowd to reach them, while congratulations rang from all sides.

"Way to kick ass out there, Shinn!"

-"Can't believe you guys took down another one of those things - that was awesome!"

-"You were amazing out there, Stella!"

The crowd pressed in around them, and Stella's hand tightened around his, but she saw the expressions of the people around them, she heard what they were saying, and she relaxed, smiling again.

Finally, he reached Athrun and Lunamaria.

-"Shinn! you were incredible out there!" The latter exclaimed.

-"So were you," Shinn replied.

-"All thanks to your help." She said. "And thanks for backing me up out there, Stella!"

-"You're welcome." Stella said a little sheepishly.

She wasn't used to this. She'd never been thanked, much less congratulated, for her performance in battle. It was just something she did because she was told she had to.

And all of these people…

She had been so afraid, since arriving on the ship. Afraid of them. She only felt safe when Shinn was here.

They all looked angry, or afraid, or both. But now, they were all smiling, and she wasn't afraid anymore.

One of Aves's crew came up to them, looking a little uneasy.

"Hey listen, Shinn. Stella." He said. "I wanted to apologize for what I said before."

Shinn recognized him as the one who'd been muttering about them, before Aves had told him off a couple of days earlier.

"It's no big deal." He said. "But thanks."

"You really were amazing, out there." He said, looking at Stella. "Thanks."

Stella cocked her head in an oddly endearing gesture, then smiled. "Thank you." She said, and the crewman, jostled aside by the crowd, shrugged.

-"I better get back to work getting Unit 2 repaired before the boss tears my head off again," he joked. "She'll be good as new before you know it!" And he was gone.

-"Good work out there," Athrun finally said, "the both of you."

-"Thanks, Athrun." Shinn said.

-"Now come on, let's try to get out of here - the Doc's gonna want to check her over after all this."

-"Stella, you go with Athrun, and I'll see you afterwards, okay?" Shinn said, looking at her.

She nodded.

-"Okay."

He pulled her into his arms, hugging her tightly before letting go, and Athrun led her out of the hangar.

-"Guys, come on!" Lunamaria exclaimed. "I'm bushed, I'd like to get changed and get some rest!"

As they made their way from the hangar to the Doc's domain, Athrun watched Stella carefully, and also watched the reactions of some of the other crewmen they encountered.

A few still seemed wary, but most did not, a dramatic change from only a few days before.

They greeted her by name, or thanked her, as they had in the hangar.

Stella, still seeming slightly on edge, was nonetheless much more comfortable than she had been on previous trips.

-"Ah, just in time." Doc Thompkins said when they arrived, thought Stella still flinched when she saw him. "I was just about to call up to the bridge to have them bring you up here."

-"Doc. Shinn and I figured you'd want to see her after the battle."

-"You were correct. And where's Shinn himself?" He asked a little sternly.

-"Still in the hangar, as far as I know." Athrun replied.

-"Good." He said. "I still don't want to see him around here while we're working with Stella. Still a little fearful, isn't she?"

-"Guess so." Athrun said. "She was fine earlier though."

-"Well, the kind of damage that was done can't be undone overnight, or even in a few days. We're making progress, though."

-"Well, I can think of a few people who'll be glad to hear that." Athrun replied as Stella, with some coaxing, took her place. Athrun noticed that the Doc did not strap her down.

The same nurse was in the office, still looking uncomfortable around Stella, which was unfortunate but understandable.

He guessed it would be worse if Shinn were here, which was why he'd been ordered not to be.

He stepped outside and waited.

He was exhausted - they all were. But he knew that Yzak was still at the base, while the Eurasian forces and even a handful of Atlantic Federation teams that had come as part of the fleet were moving in, systematically sweeping the base and establishing control over it.

Once that was done, Chairwoman Joule would go over and formally accept the base commander's surrender, along with Yzak and Captain McCaffrey of the Jones as the leaders of the fleet, and take custody of Jibril and the members of Logos.

Later that day, Athrun was in his quarters, resting.

There was still no word from the base, but Councilwoman Joule had left a little earlier to meet up with Yzak and Captain McCaffrey, which told him that Heaven's Base was well and truly in their hands.

After leaving medical, they'd found Shinn, Luna, and a couple of the other pilots in the rec room, and they'd immediately cleared a spot for Stella to join them, sitting next to Shinn.

There were a few less-than-friendly sidelong glances from a couple of people - notably one of the MPs Shinn had knocked out - but not as much muttering as there had been just a day earlier.

'I shouldn't be surprised,' Athrun thought, 'but after today, there's no denying that she's one of us. They'll come around.'

Yzak would call him naïve, but Athrun really believed that.

As for Stella herself, from his observations during the afternoon she was finally starting to settle in as part of the crew, for the most part.

She still never left Shinn's side, which was for the best - with his reputation, nobody wanted to pick a fight with Shinn, who was probably the most skilled hand-to-hand fighter onboard except for Athrun himself.

"I'm starting to think that Yzak was worried about her for nothing." He said aloud to the empty room.

"Well, he'll be annoyed about that, but he should still be relieved."

That evening, Yzak himself returned to the ship, along with Councilwoman Joule. Athrun immediately headed up to Yzak's office to meet them.

Yzak seemed to be in a foul mood, which worried Athrun.

"What's going on, Yzak?" He asked.

-"That cowardly sack of shit escaped, that's what's going on." Yzak replied angrily, sitting down.

-"What?" Athrun replied. "Jibril escaped?"

-"Correct." Councilwoman Joule replied. "The members of Logos were all present at the base and captured, including Bruno Azrael, but Jibril himself was nowhere to be found."

-"Azrael?" Athrun asked. "As in Muruta Azrael, the leader of Blue Cosmos during the last War?"

-"Yes - Bruno Azrael is his father." Ezalia replied. "Muruta Azrael was killed when the Dominion was destroyed at Jachin Due, which is when leadership of Blue Cosmos passed to Jibril, but his father remained a member of Logos. He's in custody, along with every other member who was present - a few of the ones we've identified are also missing, including Alwin Ritter and Celestine Groht."

-"Damn." Athrun swore. He recognized those names - the Ritter and Groht families were lower noble families in Orb.

'If they're still there…' He thought, fearing what might come next.

"What about the ones that were caught?" Athrun asked.

-"They'll be taken prisoner onboard the Desmond and transported to Gibraltar." Ezalia stated. "From there, we'll get in touch with President Baum and the Supreme Council to decide how their prosecution will proceed. As for the others…"

-"Wherever they are, we'll find the fuckers." Yzak supplied. "What about the new girl?"

Athrun reported Doc Thompkins's latest results from Stella's checkup, as well as his impressions of the change in the situation onboard the ship vis-à-vis her presence.

Yzak's reaction was almost exactly what he'd anticipated.

-"All right. Well, we set out for Gibraltar in the morning; Councilwoman Joule will get off there and return to the PLANTs. As for us, we'll either stand by there, or make our way from there back to Carpentaria."

Understanding himself dismissed, Athrun left, and went down to find Shinn in the rec room.

"What?" Shinn exclaimed when Athrun told him what he'd just learned. "Jibril's not in there?"

-"No. He seems to have escaped shortly before the base fell."

-"Damn it." Shinn swore under his breath. "Cowardly piece of shit…he abandoned the others and ran to save his own skin."

Athrun sighed.

-"Yzak said pretty much the same thing."He said. "I guess this isn't going to end so easily as that after all."

-"Yes it will." Shinn replied, and there was a hard edge in his voice that Athrun had only rarely heard before. "We're going to find that bastard. And when we do, I'll take him out myself."

The following morning, Shinn awoke alone in his quarters.

"Stella?" he called out, but there was no reply. She wasn't there.

Slightly panicked, he threw on his uniform and left his quarters, heading straight for the hangar, then the rec room.

She was nowhere to be found in either place, but he did find Athrun in the rec room, along with Lunamaria.

"Have you guys seen Stella?" He asked.

-"No," Luna replied, "I thought she was with you."

-"She's not." Shinn replied. "I'm worried something might've happened."

-"Calm down, Shinn." Athrun advised him. "She can't have gotten off the ship. Stay here, I'll look for her."

-"But…"

-"Stay. Here." Athrun repeated.

-"Fine!" Shinn replied, sitting down.

-"I'm sure she's fine." Lunamaria said as Athrun left.

-"You're probably right," Shinn said. "Still, I can't help but worry…after everything that's happened to her…"

Athrun, meanwhile, started searching, thinking about where she might be.

He had a hunch, so he started heading towards medical when he heard someone humming in a slow, hesitant sort of way.

He followed the sound, when he heard another voice.

"Hey!" The voice said. "Looking for something?"

The reply was too faint to overhear, but Athrun rounded a corner and saw Malik, the helmsman, taking to someone.

"Medical? Yeah, I can take you there - I was on my way to the bridge, but we can stop by. Follow me."

Athrun debated whether to step in, but Malik walked past him, closely followed by Stella, who looked quite relaxed, and started humming again, much less anxiously than before.

He smiled, and let them continue on their way.

'Guess she tried to head to Medical on her own and got lost. Well, it's a big ship, and she's only been onboard a few days.'

Malik hadn't noticed him, but Stella did, and greeted him quite cheerfully.

"Good morning, Stella." He replied, and Malik nearly jumped out of his skin as he turned around.

-"I'm sorry, sir." He said, saluting. "I didn't see you."

-"At ease, Malik." Athrun replied. "It's no problem. I was just looking for her, actually, but it seems like you've got the situation under control. Get her on down to medical, and hurry up to the bridge."

-"Yes, sir!"

Athrun returned to the rec room, where he found Shinn pacing back and forth.

"Keep pacing like that, you'll wear a hole in the floor, Shinn." Athrun said, and he looked up. "She's fine - she just got lost on her way to see the Doc, but Malik's taking her there."

-"Oh." Shinn said, looking visibly relieved as he sat down and slumped in a chair. "That's good. Thanks, Athrun."

-"See?" Luna said. "I told you there was nothing to worry about! C'mon, she's one of us, isn't she? No way anyone onboard would want to hurt her."

-"I guess you're right, Luna. Stupid of me to worry like that."

-"Well, maybe a little bit." Luna replied. "But on the other hand, it's kind of interesting that she tried to get there on her own. Really starting to get used to being here, isn't she?"

-"Seems so." Shinn commented. "And after yesterday, there's no questioning that this is where she belongs. With us."

Athrun grabbed a cup of coffee, and the three pilots started discussing the battle and what they had learned in the aftermath.

They were still talking about it when she walked in a half-hour later.

"Stella!" Shinn exclaimed. "You scared me, leaving like that this morning without saying anything."

-"I'm sorry." She said, looking a little downcast. "But Shinn said he's not supposed to go with me to…to Medical."

-"I know. I'm sorry." He said. "I didn't mean to upset you. Did you get lost?"

-"Yeah." Stella said, looking a little tense at the thought. "But I met Malik, and he helped me. Then the doctor told me how to find you."

-"You like the Doc?" Shinn asked, and she shook her head firmly.

-"I don't like that place." she said, absently fiddling with the seashell around her neck. Athrun had noticed she sometimes did that when she was worried…come to think of it, he'd noticed Shinn had an identical seashell around his neck, and occasionally did the same thing.

"But I have to go, don't I?"

-"Just for now." He said. "Soon, you won't have to anymore."

-"Good." Stella said. "Doctor…he is nice though."

-"Yeah," Shinn said, "he really knows his stuff. And he's never going to hurt you. He just wants to keep us all safe and healthy."

-"That seashell…" Athrun asked, curious. "Did Shinn give that to you?"

She nodded.

- "Well, actually she's the one who gave it to me." Shinn replied. "She found it in Bandirma. I got the idea to split it so we'd each have one."

A dull flush crept up Shinn's cheeks at the memory of the event, and Athrun fought the urge to laugh.

-"Of course you did." He said. "Y'know, something similar happened to me one time during the last War."

-"What, you rescued a pretty girl who fell off a cliff?" Lunamaria commented. "What is it about men and doing that?"

-"No, not that similar." Athrun replied, fighting back a laugh. "But I ended up stranded at one point early in the war on a little island in the Pacific, not too far from Orb - Dearka, Yzak and I were pursuing the Archangel and the VTOL carrying my mobile suit was shot down by one of their SkyGraspers. The SkyGrasper was also shot down by the VTOL before it went down, and the pilot ended up on the same island."

-"Who was the pilot?" Shinn asked.

-"Cagalli, of all people." He replied, surprising Shinn. "We were both rescued eventually, but we were stranded together for quite a while."

Shinn shook his head. Seemed every time he thought he had Cagalli Yula Athha figured out, he learned something that surprised him about her.

He was starting to think that Athrun might be right about her.

-"Who's Cagalli?" Stella asked.

-"She's someone who's a very good friend of mine." Athrun simply said, and Stella nodded.

"Well, time to get to work." Athrun finally said, and the little group left the rec room.

Shinn, Stella, and Lunamaria headed to the hangar, while Athrun went up to medical to get the Doc's report, then up to Yzak's quarters.

On his way up, he overheard a couple of crewmen talking in an undertone, and recognized the subject of their discussion as Stella.

As he turned the corner, he recognized them as the two MPs who'd been on guard duty in the hangar the night Shinn broke her out, all those months ago, and found it somewhat encouraging that, from what he'd heard, one of them had been defending her to his still-wary comrade.

"Gentlemen." He said, nodding as they both saluted.

'The faster this situation resolves itself, the better.' He thought. 'I'm just glad it's not looking like trouble much anymore…'

August 20th
Orb Union Government Headquarters
Office of Cagalli Yula Athha

Cagalli Yula Athha looked up, a concerned expression on her face, as the door opened and Rondo Mina Sahaku walked in.

Murrue Ramius, Andrew Waltfeld, and her old friend Juri Wu Nien were also in the office.

"Mina." Cagalli asked. "Do you have news?" She asked.

-"I do indeed, Lady Cagalli." Mina answered with her customary formality. "According to the latest report I have from my sources, the battle at Heaven's Base is over. The base has fallen."

-"I see." Cagalli said carefully, her expression neutral. She was still not sure whether this was good news or bad.

-"The members of Logos have been captured by ZAFT and the Alliance Forces. However...this is still unconfirmed, but my sources tell me Jibril himself was not captured."

-"What? He escaped?" Cagalli replied, suddenly worried.

-"He did, apparently." Mina nodded. "I'm still waiting for confirmation. But apparently he deserted the others and made a discreet exit shortly before the base surrendered. Chances are, he headed to Victoria or Panama. Kaohsiung is also a possibility, but less likely given the much longer distance."

-"I hope you're right." Cagalli replied. "Please try to find out more, and if you can to determine where Jibril might have gone."

-"Of course, Lady Cagalli." Mina acquiesced, and with a brief bow, she turned and left.

What worried Cagalli wasn't so much that Jibril had escaped, but where he might have gone.

Though it was certainly likeliest that he would have fled to Panama, and Victoria was also a possibility, there was a slim chance that he may have chosen to come to Orb instead.

She knew that, although they were no longer on the Council, the Seirans retained quite a bit of influence. She simply hoped that they would not go so far as to shelter Jibril.

Because if they had, then it was a certainty that Orb would be attacked next, and she wasn't sure if they could hold off that kind of attack...

She would have to hope, and to make what preparations they could, just in case.