Entry 11: Shinn's Calling


'When... did this all begin?'

Shinn's thoughts drifted to and fro between the worlds of both conscious and unconscious. Of course he knew where 'this', being those headaches and strange images, began; when Junius Seven was destroyed last year.

'Why... did this all begin?'

Ah, now that was the real question, wasn't it? The heart of any mystery: the 'why'. Why did this start? Why was it connected to Junius Seven? Logically speaking, there was no reason for it.

Who was he kidding? What may as well be memories of a past life would not, in any way, shape, or form, be logical.

Slowly, he tried to open his eyes. Light was bleeding in through the new hole in the roof, making it hard to see.

"Hey! Wake up!" he heard Cagalli Yula Athha shout. "Damn it, man! You can't just sleep forever!"

Shinn let out a small groan, and forced himself up, coughing up dust as he did. "Mayu..?" he asked weakly. "Where's..."

"Shinn!" his sister called out. She looked slightly battered, but not too injured.

Shinn allowed himself a sigh of relief. "What about everyone else?" he asked. "Are they..."

Cagalli shook her head. When Shinn looked around, he almost immediately wished he didn't.

Bodies crushed under large slabs of concrete, and blood pooling all around them.

"Oh... Oh god, they're..." Shinn muttered, before Cagalli grasped his shoulders.

"Keep it together, Shinn!" she yelled. "Yeah, this absolutely blows! But you've still got a job to do! You still have to protect your sister, right?" Shinn nodded hesitantly. "Good," she said, lowering her voice. "Remember that mission. Keep it in your heart, and you'll survive, got that?" Shinn nodded again. "Good. Now, we need to get out of here. On your feet, buddy."

Shinn rose shakily, then moved to help Mayu up. "What's our plan, anyway?" he asked. "Those people, whoever they are, aren't exactly shooting exclusively to kill. It's like they're... carpet-bombing the place."

"What I think is; we need to commandeer one of those Mobile Suits," Cagalli stated, as she rummaged around in a locker that had fallen on its side. Then, of all the things she could have handed to him, she passed him a rocket launcher. "You know how to use one of these?"

"I can tell you where the trigger is," Shinn admitted, "but not the safety."

Mayu gave her brother an odd look. "Why... do you know that specifically?"

"What do you want from me? I visit the arcade a whole lot during my free time."

"And that might just help keep us alive," Cagalli stated. "Safety's here, and currently on," she pointed at on particular switch on the launcher. "The plan's simple, okay? You hit one of the MS' in the cockpit, then we board the thing and throw out the pilot. Got it?"

Shinn nodded hesitantly. "What... what about the pilot?" Mayu spoke up. "What'll happen to them?"

Cagalli gave the young girl a sad look. "If it comes down to it," she said, retrieving an assault rifle from the locker, "I'll do what has to be done. No matter their motives, they're killing our people. I won't stand for it, mark my words!"


The three slowly climbed out of the wreckage of the bunker, and looked around. Shinn checked the left flank, while Cagalli checked the right.

"Mayu, stay close to Cagalli," Shinn instructed quietly.

"But... what about you?" Mayu asked. "Are you going to be in the most danger?"

"Maybe, but... If I can keep you safe, that's all that matters."

"Don't be too reckless, though," Cagalli called out. "Being a hero's good and all, but no one wants a dead one."

Shinn nodded, and they all ran out into the open sunlight.

Almost immediately, the grey, hulking figure of a GINN landing in front of them.

Shinn wouldn't say that he wasn't afraid. But, right now, what scared him most was what would happen if he did nothing at all. So, taking aim, he found his target at the GINN's centre of mass, and fired.

Generally, there wasn't a whole lot a foot soldier could do against a Mobile Suit. For that reason, anti-tank weaponry went through massive upgrade in terms of explosive and stopping power. Were a 21st century RPG to go against a GINN, it would have a hard time so much as scratching the paint. A Cosmic Era RPG against a 21st century tank, however, had the power to blow it open like a bullet through an orange.

Suffice it to say, the rocket hit the GINN, knocked it over, and left the cockpit fully exposed to the elements.

"Good shot!" Cagalli called out. "Come on! Let's move!"

Cagalli and Shinn quickly ran up to the GINN, and began climbing the sides of it. When they finally got on top of it, the two leaned over the hole, and aimed their weapons at the pilot.

What they saw, however, shocked them greatly.

The pilot wasn't some middle-aged man in a pilot suit. Instead, what they were face to face with was a young, blue haired girl with red eyes, dressed in what amounted to a high school uniform.

Two things caught Shinn's eye immediately: First, was the pair of white rabbit ears she seemed to have on her head. Whether they were an accessory or not, he wasn't sure. Second, though, was a small, diamond shaped collar around her neck that periodically flashed red.

Perhaps what was most evident, however, was just how afraid this girl was.

"What... the fuck?" Cagalli asked, lowering her gun in shock. "It's... just a kid..."

"Warning," a robotic voice spoke. Shinn was fairly certain it came from that flashing collar. "This unit has been compromised. Now beginning Fail-safe Protocols."

The light on the collar began to flash faster and faster, and the girl began to panic greatly. "N...No, please!" she begged, trying desperately to get the collar off. "I'm sorry! Please! Don't!"

"H... hey! What's wrong?!" Cagalli called out, trying to get closer, only for the girl to push her back, and throw her out of the Mobile Suit.

Shinn tried to reach for Cagalli, yet missed. He looked back at the girl, and saw the tearful fear in her eyes. Overwhelmed by a strange dread, Shinn reached forward to try and help her some way, any way.

"I..." the girl muttered. "I don't... want to die..."

Then, as the collar became one solid red colour, the world was filled with a bright light, an explosion, and a scent of mixed smoke and blood.


"So this is the inside of the Archangel," commented the violet haired Hieda no Akyuu. "Such a unique look to it. It's like a microcosm of another world."

"In a way, that's exactly what it is," Murrue Ramius responded. "I must thank you again for agreeing with this idea of ours, miss Akyuu."

"Think nothing of it, Ramius-san," Akyuu replied. "When Kosuzu-chan told me that you and your friends started looking into my situation the very moment it was mentioned to you, I thought it was just a good showing of your characters. What surprised me most was when Reimu-san approached me to endorse your research."

"The feeling is mutual," Murrue said. "I think it might have something to do with the conversation she and Athrun Zala had a few days ago, but what it was about is something only known between them, Marisa, and Kosuzu." As they passed the door to the mess hall, where several members of the crew, including Dearka, Nitori, and Mu, were putting on some sort of comedy act for the others. "Though, I am surprised you were willing to give our research a chance."

"The Great Hakurei Barrier was established in Meiji 18, over 100 years ago," Akyuu explained. "I have been living and reincarnating for much longer than that. Since my first life as Hieda no Aichi, all I have been able to do from birth to death at thirty was write the Gensokyo Chronicle, and provide humans with information about various youkai. I was there during the first years of Gensokyo as it is now when I was Hieda no Aya, and compared to then, these last two decades have been the most interesting ones I've ever lived. Truthfully, I... I want to continue to observe it first hand. I mean, look at all this!" she gestured widely at the Archangel interior. "This is the wildest thing to have happened in any of my lives! Falling Heaven, defeated by an unknown vessel! The secret god Matara, defeated in a passionate battle that restored light to Gensokyo! This is the sort of thing that future generations would not believe happened, and I don't want my telling of it to end in just two more years."

Murrue allowed herself a small smile. "When I was first told about you, I imagined someone far more reserved than this. I'm rather glad to see you still have such a positive outlook on things."

"To the majority of humans in the village, I have to remain reserved and dignified," Akyuu said. "With friends like Kosuzu-chan and Reimu-san, as well as Outsiders for that matter, I can allow myself to just be me. It's... liberating, really."

Murrue laughed lightly. "And to think, you're actually three years older than me."

Akyuu joined in on the laughter. Despite the fact that there was a whole 20cm difference in height between them, none would have ever guessed that Akyuu was the older of the two, both in terms of spirituality (reincarnation) and literally (Murrue was only 25, while Akyuu was 28).

"By the way, if you don't mind me asking," Akyuu said. "Is that Kira Yamato fellow here today? Whenever I had the chance to speak with Athrun-san, he nearly always brought him up."

"Afraid you just missed him," Murrue answered. "The last battle took a bit of a toll on him, both physically and mentally. We've given him paid leave to recover, so he and Tenshi have gone off to the Garden of the Sun for a while."

"Kazami Yuuka's place? That's certainly a surprise," Akyuu commented. "I would imagine people their age would want somewhere a bit more... private, if you get my meaning."

"Gross," Murrue muttered. "Besides, I'm sure of a few things: That those two will be responsible," that caused Akyuu to bark out a laugh, "that Yuuka will give them the space if they do, or, if all else fails, that she'll absolutely use it to mess with them."

"Ah, the fallback idea," Akyuu said. "Gotta love it."


The ringing in Shinn's ears died down first, before his vision returned. If he were to be truthful, he might have preferred it the other way around.

He could faintly hear Mayu and Cagalli calling out for him, but that sound was largely overridden by... something quite unpleasant. A faint bubbling sound, like someone gargling water after brushing their teeth.

Shinn reached up to rub his eyes, and immediately noticed the wet, sticky feeling on his eyelids. No, perhaps it was more on his hands. The texture was... familiar, and not in a good way.

Slowly, he opened his eyes.

There was a lot of blood, over every surface he could see. His back was against the left wall of the cockpit, so the blast didn't knock him outside, at the very least.

His gaze wandered to the rabbit-girl that had been the pilot, and... he immediately regretted his decision to do so.

Where there had once been that flashing collar, now was a bloody, gaping hole. Shinn was no expert on human/human-esque anatomy, but he was fairly certain he could see the back of her throat through the gore.

A small sound, almost a squeak, escaped Shinn's throat. It didn't take a rocket scientist to piece together what had just happened. As the shock finally set in, tears began to stream down his face, and he clasped a hand over his mouth to keep the bile from rising.

The tiniest of groans escaped the girls mouth. By some cruel, twisted miracle, she wasn't dead yet. Hastily pulling himself to his feet, Shinn rushed to the girls side, and pulled her out of the chair.

"Hey! Can you hear me?!" he shouted. "Come on, stay with us!"

The girl's eyes half opened shakily. They had a dull, murky glaze to them, as if light could no longer enter them, yet still she saw Shinn.

She tried to speak, yet the best she could manage was incomprehensible gurgling. Her expression was one that knew she was dying, and was afraid of it.

"He... help..." she barely managed to say. "My... people... my family... They..."

"It... it's alright," Shinn said weakly. "I... I'll save them. I swear! So please... please just hold on!"

The girl gave a weak smile, and gently placed a hand on his cheek. "You're... kind..." she said. "We were... lied to... about you Earth-dwellers... huh?"

A faint glow emanated from her hand, and passed into Shinn. When the light died down, the hand fell to her side. "Hey! Stay with me!" Shinn called out.

No response. Not even a slight movement of the eye. This girl Shinn knew nothing about... was dead.

Shinn's jaw clenched. Small, desperate grunts escaped his lips, before finally...

"AAAAAAAHHH!"

He let out a hollow, despairing wail.


Cagalli was unsure of what to do at the moment.

Shinn had been up there for quite a while. She knew, at the very least, that he was still alive; that explosion hadn't been massive, and she'd heard him yelling.

Now, though, he was crying. It was a cry one heard often in the line of combat; a cry of sorrow, despair, remorse. A cry of someone who wished they could have done more to save a life.

"Shinn..." Mayu muttered. "Cagalli, can't we go up there and help him? He... he might be hurt!"

"I know, but..." Cagalli trailed off. "I've heard this kind of crying before... It's..."

She paused, as she noticed that the sound had stopped. There was a brief shuffling of movement, before Shinn jumped out of the cockpit covered in blood, and that girl in his arms.

"Shinn! Are you..." Mayu called out, yet froze when she saw the state the girl was in. "Oh... oh my god... is she..."

"That... wound..." Cagalli noticed. "Does that mean... that collar was..."

"A bomb," Shinn answered coldly. "She's... not the only one with one tied to her neck."

"What... What kind of inhuman bullshit is that?!" Cagalli shouted. "How can anyone fix bombs to their people?!"

Shinn gently put the body down by the debris of a small building. "I promised her," he said. "Promised I'd save her people. I... I don't know how to do that, though."

Mayu, in response, ran up and wrapped her arms around her brother. She couldn't bring herself to say anything; she just sobbed in sympathy for the pain her brother must be feeling.

"We... we'll figure something out, yeah?" Cagalli said hesitantly. "You, uh, think you can get the GINN moving? If we want to make a difference, then..."

"I know," Shinn muttered. "I'll see what I can do."


It didn't take long for Shinn to get the GINN back on its feet. Sitting in that pilot seat, however, was very uncomfortable. Someone had recently died in this same seat, after all.

Yet, that wasn't the only thing plaguing his thoughts at the moment. There was this dull sound on the edge of his hearing. Like people whispering just out of earshot.

"Shinn, you hear me?" Cagalli called out from the left hand of the GINN, where she and Mayu stood.

"I hear you," Shinn responded. "What's our next move?"

"We need to get to the port," Cagalli said. "If I recall correctly, the Izumo-class ship known as the Kusanagi is taking of refugees there, and should be taking off in a few hours."

"Focus on keeping ourselves alive, got it," Shinn muttered. "Mayu, hold on tight, yeah?"

"Right!" Mayu called back.

As Shinn began to move the MS, he looked around the bloodied cockpit. Aside from the obvious thing, it was... rather personalised. From the roof hung two pendants; one a small carrot, and the other a crescent moon. On the left wall, covered by the blood and some slight charring, were photographs. Shinn pulled one off the wall, and tried to wipe the blood off, to decent effect.

In the photo were four girls, one of which he recognised at the same one who had just died in his arms. The other three looked quite similar to her, in that they had red eyes, rabbit ears, and the same uniform. They looked... he wouldn't quite say 'happy', but they looked like they were having fun, at least.

And now, that fun of theirs would never return.

"I don't want to die."

Shinn blinked in surprise. Who had just said that? None of the communication equipment was on, and it sounded far too close to have been Cagalli or Mayu.

"I don't want to die."

Another voice, slightly different from the first. Was it... all in his head? Was he imagining this? Or... was he, instead, hearing their voices?

His mind flashed on that faint light that had come from the girl's hand. Did that... do something to him?

Shaking his head, Shinn took another look around the cockpit, and noticed a handle of sorts peaking out from under the console. He pulled it, and found that it was a combat knife. Why a combat knife was under there, or all places, he wasn't sure, but it was giving him an idea.

"Hey, Shinn! Heads up!" Cagalli called out. "We're coming up on the port, and I can see two Mobile Suits trying to attack it!"

Checking one of the two remaining monitors, Shinn zoomed in on the two MS'. They were both that blocky model Cagalli had called the Strike Dagger. "I see them," Shinn replied, as he gently put his two passengers on the ground.

"Shinn..." Mayu said weakly. "Do you... really think you can do it?"

"I don't know," Shinn admitted. "But, I'm going to try anyway."


Taking a deep breath, Shinn charged forward at the two Strike Daggers. The only weapon his GINN had was a small beam pistol, which was still a far-cry from precise enough for his goal. But, one of the Daggers had a GINN's sword. That would be his first target.

The Daggers quickly noticed him approaching, and made him their priority target over the space-port.

Shinn fired a few blasts from the beam pistol, hitting the blade-wielding Dagger in one of its knee joints and the cockpit, making a decent hole in it. The second one, carrying a Cattus recoilless rifle, took aim and fired at him, blowing the right arm of his GINN, the one carrying the pistol, clean off. Shinn reached down and grabbed the handle of the knife in the cockpit. He only had one chance at this to save both of them, so he'd have to make it count.

As the blade-wielding Dagger stood back up, Shinn tackled it chest first, and using that momentum, flung himself out of the GINN and, with very, very careful aiming, went through the holes in both cockpits.

Shinn would not say he flew; that implied he had a modicum of control mid-flight. No, Shinn Asuka more accurately catapulted gracefully, and landed in the cockpit of the Strike Dagger.

The Dagger pilot, a blue haired rabbit-girl, looked rightfully terrified, considering a knife-wielding young man covered in blood had just jumped into her Mobile Suit.

'I'm going to die,' she thought to herself. If not by this kid, then by the bomb around her neck, that was beginning to flash faster and faster.

Unknown to her, however, was that Shinn heard her thoughts. As quickly as he could, he reached his free hand out, and grabbed the collar. "I won't let you die!" he shouted, and swung the knife up.

It was an impossibly close call. Shinn could barely get his fingers between the collar and the girl's neck, and when he brought the knife through the collar itself, the point of the blade very barely nicked her skin.

But, the plan still worked. The knife cut through the the plastic casing and wires of the collar, and Shinn made sure to quickly through it out the hole in the Dagger.

His plan right now hinged on one simple aspect; that the second Dagger pilot would try to look into the cockpit. It was a stupid, highly illogical thing for the second pilot to do, but, fortunately for Shinn, they did anyway.

The collar flew gracefully through the air, and when it exploded, it took out the second Dagger's main camera.

Now for the second illogical action that his plan hinged on; that in their panic to see, the pilot would open their cockpit.

Fortunately again for Shinn, the pilot seemed inclined to act illogically, and the cockpit opened.

He had one shot at this. One chance to make this jump. To save this second life, all he had to do...

was fly!

He had about a 30cm run up before jumping, and had to cover roughly 10m in the air in order to reach the other MS. Despite all logic, though, when Shinn took the leap of faith, he found himself feeling lighter than ever. Despite all logical laws of aviation, Shinn Asuka soared through the air, and made it to the second Dagger.

The pilot, much to his anger, was barely older that his sister. Hell, he could see that the freaking pedals had extensions on them. She had big red eyes that were filled with absolute terror of him, the same rabbit ears (if a bit shorter than the last one), and hair that was somewhere between red and orange.

The girl -nay, the child- quickly pulled out a gun that looked less military and more cosplay. Shinn allowed his expression to soften slightly, as he kept his eye on the collar that flashed faster and faster.

"It... it'll be alright," he said softly, placing a hand on the girls gun and lowering its aim. "I'm here to help you." 'Please, believe in me,' he thought alongside his words.

Whether she heard his thoughts or not, Shinn wasn't too sure. But, at the very least, she did believe in his words. Slowly, Shinn reached out, got his finger under the collar as it began to flash faster still, and with a quick swipe of the knife, removed it from her neck and threw it out of the cockpit, where it exploded midair.

The child grasped at her throat in disbelief, before looking at Shinn, wide-eyed. "I'm... not going to die?" she asked. God, even her voice was that of a child.

Shinn shook his head. "No. You're not," he said. "You're safe now, I promise."


Cagalli was beginning to feel a strange sense of deja vu.

All three Mobile Suits had gone quiet for a few minutes now, after Shinn's... we'll call it 'supernatural gymnastics'. Even a Coordinator would have a hard time leaping ten meters like he did.

From the first Dagger, a figure crawled out slowly, before gently floating down to the ground. Mayu hid behind Cagalli, who didn't aim her rifle at the rabbit-girl, but did hold it at the ready.

"Friend or foe?" Cagalli asked hesitantly.

In response, the girl took out a... strange looking gun, and held the hand up to Cagalli. "Friend," she said. "That guy... he saved me. Saved us."

"Us?" Mayu repeated. "You mean, the second one is..."

Everyone looked up at the second Dagger, and saw Shinn jump from the cockpit with the pilot, a very young girl, in his arms.

When he landed, the rabbit-girl ran up to them. "28!" she called out.

The red-orange haired girl opened her eyes, and saw her fellow rabbit running towards her. "17..?" she muttered weakly. Then, with tears falling from her eyes, she leapt from Shinn's arms to hers, crying heavily.

Mayu ran up to Shinn, and quickly hugged him. "You... you really did it," she said. "Shinn, you saved them..."

"I... I really did, huh?" Shinn asked, sounding just as bewildered. He tried to move, yet found he almost lost his footing, were it not for Cagalli quickly bracing him.

"Easy there, tough guy," she said. "What you just did was something that could give even the greatest Coordinators in history a run for their money. Leave the rest to us, yeah?" She looked over at the two rabbit-girls. "What about you two? You coming with us?"

The taller of the two, 17, looked slightly surprised. "You'd... take us with you? Why?"

"Well, this guy did just jump from Suit to Suit to save you from bombs that we assume your bosses strapped to you," Cagalli said. "Don't get me wrong; we have a lot, and I really do mean a lot of questions we'd like you to answer. But before all that, you two deserve to live. Got a problem with that?"

17 was at a loss of words. "Sis..." the child, 28, spoke. "Can we... please trust these Earthlings?"

17 looked at 28 for a brief moment, then nodded. "Alright. We'll trust them," she said, before turning back to Cagalli. "Thank you, miss. We... we can't repay you enough for your kindness."

"Let's just make you we all live long enough to cash that in, yeah?" Cagalli said, before getting one of Shinn's arms over her shoulders. "Come on, let's get to the ship."


Uzumi Nara Athha may have been on the old side, but he was no stranger to tense situations. When the sound of gunfire and destruction immediately outside the space-port stopped, his mind began to race with possibilities as to why.

"Sir!" the voice of Ledonir Kisaka shouted. "The Kusanagi is ready for takeoff!"

"A few more minutes," Uzumi responded. "I refuse to leave even a single person behind."

"I understand that, sir," Kisaka said, "but..."

"Dad! Kisaka!" the familiar sound of Cagalli's voice shouted from down the port. Looking her way, Uzumi noticed that she wasn't alone, as she was carrying a boy that looked badly injured, and was followed by three girl, two of which looked... odd, to say the least, but now wasn't the time for that.

"Cagalli!" Uzumi called out, feeling a sense of relief wash over him. "Are you alright? Is there anyone else still coming?"

"We're still alive," Cagalli responded, "and... I don't think anyone else is coming."

Uzumi's jaw clenched. It was a bitter pill to swallow, but one he'd have to regardless. "I understand," he said. "All of you, get inside. We'll be taking off at any moment."

Uzumi hung back half a minute longer, just to make sure, as Kisaka guided the five onboard. Letting out a slightly defeated sigh, he followed them on to the ship, and sealed the door, before pressing a few buttons on the nearest communications pad.

"Uzumi to the bridge," he said, "you're clear for takeoff."

"Roger that, sir!" the pilot on the other end spoke, before the line was cut.

Letting out another sigh, Uzumi entered the hanger where the majority of refugees were situated. His eyes immediately wandered to his daughter and the four she brought with her.

That boy, at the very least, seemed to be awake and in not a lot of pain. Judging by the spread of the dried blood on him, it wasn't his own. The girl with dark hair was trying to clean most of that blood off him, so Uzumi assumed they were related in some way.

Then, there was the two girls with brightly coloured hair. Not only did the two stand out like sore thumbs, what with those rabbit ears, but right now they seemed heavily focused on something that looked akin to praying. Whatever it was, it seemed to hold the boy's attention.

The ship began to rumble with the buildup of thrust. "Everyone, brace yourselves!" Uzumi called out.

Then, the Kusanagi launched. To anyone who had been on a train or bus and didn't have a seat, the g-forces were kind of like that, only several times stronger. For the people in the main hanger, keeping a low centre of gravity was the best course of action.

As the Kusanagi broke off from the end of the mass driver, Uzumi found it curious that none of the Mobile Suits outside were trying to shoot at them.

His intrigue, however, was overridden when the youngest of the two rabbit-eared girls slipped from the others grip, and came tumbling towards him.

"28!" the older of the two called out.

Uzumi wasn't sure how he felt about a child being referred to by number (actually, he did; he hated it with a burning passion), but that thought could wait. Bracing his stance, he opened his arms and caught the girl, barely moving an inch.

The child let out a small sound of surprise, yet her grip around Uzumi tightened regardless.

It was roughly 25 minutes before the Kusanagi broke free of Earth's gravity. Zero-g set in quickly, and everyone began to immediately feel the weightlessness of space.

From a door a few levels up, several workers with lengths of rope came in. "See to it that everyone gets to somewhere they can properly rest," Uzumi instructed, before looking down to the child in his arms. "Are you alright, little one?"

"Y... yes, sir," 28 responded, looking at him with big, round eyes.

Uzumi gave a small, warm chuckle, as his mind flashed on the days in which Cagalli was as young as this girl. Gently, he placed a hand on the girls head, and ruffled her hair.

At that point, he made the somewhat startling discovery that those ears were not accessories.

"Good lord," he said under his breath. "I have... many questions all of a sudden."

"We all do, dad," Cagalli spoke up, as she, Kisaka, and the other three approached him. "Is there somewhere we can talk about it? And..." she took a sideways glance at Shinn, "a change of clothes for this guy?"


Ten minutes later, at they all found themselves standing (or, in some cases, floating) in the captains quarters.

Shinn, after a quick cleanup, was now dressed rather uncomfortably in an Orb military uniform. That mostly had to do with the fact that they didn't have uniforms sized to 14 year old boys, and in a way, he saw that as a good thing. The slightly mortifying fact that he was having to wear a small woman's uniform, on top of the slightly tighter crotch region, was nothing compared to the relief that the military didn't rely on child soldiers.

"So, now that we're all accounted for," Uzumi said, "perhaps we might start at the beginning? Cagalli, what can you tell me?"

"Honestly, dad? I'm not the one that can tell you anything," Cagalli said. "These two girls, on the other hand..."

Uzumi and Kisaka glanced at the rabbit-eared girls, and immediately, Shinn moved into their line of sight. Uzumi gave a kind smile in response. "At ease, young man," he said. "I mean them no harm."

"I'm sure you mean that, sir," Shinn replied, "but for their peace of mind -and my own, for that matter, I'd rather be here."

Uzumi let out a small chuckle. "You are a noble man. What is your name?"

"Shinn Asuka, sir," he said, before motioning to his sister. "That's my sister, Mayu, over there."

"Well, it's a pleasure to know there are such upstanding youths like yourselves," Uzumi said. "How about you two? Do you have names?"

"No, sir," 17 responded. "I am Lunar Army White Heron Corp Soldier Number 17, and her, 28. We... were not given the privilege of having names."

Mayu had a shocked look on her face. "Having names is... a privilege to you?"

"What... sort of fucked up system is that?!" Cagalli yelled.

"Cagalli! Please!" Uzumi shouted in response. "Your anger is not misguided, but this is not the time for it." Cagalli didn't look pleased, but she kept quiet afterwards. "Now, you said 'Lunar Army', correct? Should I take it that you two are from the moon, then?"

"Not the moon you're familiar with, at least," 17 said. "We Lunar Rabbits were the original inhabitants of the moon in our world, until a thousand years ago, the people that would eventually call themselves Lunarians came."

"A tale as old as time," Kisaka muttered. "Humans going to places they don't belong and stealing from its previous inhabitants."

"Lunar Rabbits and Lunarians," Uzumi muttered. "Such ideas beg belief, and the proof of them stands before us. Tell me, then; if you're from another dimension entirely, why are you -or rather, the Lunarians- attacking us?"

17 merely shook her head. "Our commander... never told us that. We're just foot soldiers; expendable fodder. But, Lunarians are rather extreme when it comes to what they view as 'impure'."

"And... what's that?" Mayu asked.

"Life and death," 28 said softly. "It... all comes down to those two, I think."

"Life and death, huh?" Uzumi muttered. "Progress and decay, history and potential, the power of change within all that call the universe home..."

"Um, dad?" Cagalli spoke up. "You're... doing that philosophical tangent again."

Uzumi cleared his throat. "Apologies. But, I think I've figured out their motives, at least," he said. "But, what does that mean for the Earth of your world?"

"To my knowledge, when we came here three years ago, they had yet to launch an invasion," 17 answered. "Earth in our dimension isn't as technologically advanced as yours, so I can't say as to why that is."

"Prideful," Uzumi said plainly. "From the sounds of it, these Lunarians are a prideful bunch. No doubt they want to prove their strength by using weapons made by humans better than the humans themselves, and show they've become something outside the cycle of life and death. It's sickening, really, that they can kill and kill with no regards to the lives of anyone."

"Damn bastards," Cagalli cursed. "How can anyone do such a thing?!"

Shinn clenched his jaw. Words were not enough to describe the seething hatred that burned within him right now. As if that wasn't bad enough, whatever change had occurred in him meant that he could feel 17 and 28's fear.

Who was it? Who was it he'd have to hate? Who out there valued the lives of their own people so poorly?

As if to answer his prayer, Shinn grasped his head in pain, as a wave of... something, assailed him.

"Young man!/Shinn!" cried out the combination of Uzumi, Mayu, and Cagalli, who all rushed over to him.

When they made contact with him, however, they found their perception of reality... shifted.


The four were no longer in the captains quarters of the Kusanagi. Instead, they were standing in the hanger of a ship they knew nothing about, and all around them... were Moon Rabbits as far as they could see.

"What on earth?" Uzumi muttered. "Where are we?"

"None of them can see us," Cagalli noted, as she waved her hand in front of one of the Moon Rabbits, who didn't so much as blink. "It's like we're... astral projecting or something?"

"Is that even possible?" Mayu asked.

"It's the Lunar Rabbit telepathic network," came the voice of 17. "To cut a long story short, we Lunar Rabbits are kind of psychically linked to each other."

"Is that... why I can hear your thoughts?" Shinn asked, showing signs of strain.

"It must be," 17 said. "When 92 died, she must have passed along her ability to access it to you."

"Hey, Shinn! Look," Cagalli called out. "All the Lunar Rabbits... they have those collars!"

"Collars?" Uzumi muttered, before investigating further. True to his daughters statement, every Lunar Rabbit had a black collar that ended at the centre of the throat with a small diamond shaped object that flashed red every 15 seconds. Unfortunately for Uzumi, he recognised those collars well. "Those... those are Slave Collars! They were outlawed by the Earth Alliance as far back as the start of the Cosmic Era!"

"You're telling me those things were made by our humans?!" Cagalli exclaimed.

Then, something in the air changed, as all the Lunar Rabbits suddenly stood at attention.

The four followed their gazes to the higher level of the hanger, where they saw someone that was neither human nor rabbit. A silver haired, red eyes woman in beige and purple, with a single white wing on her back.

"That's... a Lunarian?" Shinn muttered bitterly. "They certainly look like a pompous ass."

"That's Kishin Sagume," 17 answered. "As far as strategists go, she's dangerous, but her ability to reverse anything with her words makes her the quiet type."

From up above, Kishin Sagume cleared her throat, and Shinn sarcastically pondered on that whole 'quiet type' statement. "Soldiers of the Lunar Empire," she said in a very loud voice. Really starting to worry about that statement. "Once more, Earth of the Cosmic Era has fallen. Once more, the Lunarian Army has proven its strength in purifying the world."

"Oh my god, shut up about that," the thoughts of one Lunar Rabbit echoed. "We literally couldn't care less."

"However, our work is far from done," Sagume continued. "Two vessels have escaped our assault this time around. One from the colonies, and another just recently from the island. But we will not let them escape for long."

"Christ, we get it," another Lunar Rabbit thought. "This dimension has no magic, so your ability to reverse things with words doesn't work. We GET IT; you can talk as much as you damn well want."

"Oh," 17 muttered. "I... did not realise that fact."

"That bad?" Cagalli asked.

"When Sagume-sama talks about her plans, normally her ability makes it so that the world works completely against them," 17 answered. "If just being in this dimension negates that..."

"However!" Sagume continued. "We will not stop here! As long as Earth continues to be a pit of impurities, we will continue to fight! For the sake of purifying the world!"

"For the sake of purifying the world!" responded the Lunar Rabbits, though their thoughts ebbed more into apathy and contempt at the idea.

"Kishin... Sagume," Shinn muttered venomously. "I see now. You... are our enemy."


A/N:

Now we begin Arc II, or 'The Destiny Arc', if you would.

Nice guy Shinn with new, replacement trauma, an invasion of the Lunar Capital from the fourth dimension, and some highly inappropriate jokes in Gensokyo. You know, standard stuff.

I do worry about how I'm portraying Sagume, though. Especially with the fact that I'm using 'CE has no magic, therefore Sagume's ability is nullified' as an excuse to make her talk like she's Char freaking Aznable. Not an idea I had going 'in', per-se, but I may as well roll with it.

Well, onwards we go.